Kitty on the Mendby Angie
7 Apr 2009
4:04 pm2
Jaquie’s lab results came back with mostly very good news: No feline leukemia or AIDS, no thyroid problems. Most everything was normal except for elevated liver enzymes and slight anemia. It looks like something made her a little sick, and then not eating for so long and becoming dehydrated just compounded the problem. I took her back in today for a 2nd round of the same injection as yesterday, and bought all new food to replace the old stuff.
Besides being irritated at having to go back to the vet, have another injection, and ride around in her carrier again – in the RAIN, no less – Jaquie is already looking more normal. I’m so relieved!
Trip to the Vetby Angie
6 Apr 2009
4:04 pm0
Jaqueline has had a very trying day. We looked online last night and found a place called Altamont Cat Hospital. Besides being only a two minute drive away, it had several high reviews online. I called them first thing this morning and made an appointment for 10:40 – their earliest available. I left a message for Jim telling him when I was heading over, then had the unenviable task of forcing Jaquie into her carrier. She cried during the entire drive.
After filling out some forms, the nurse took me and the little patient back to an exam room. Jaquie was weighed, her teeth examined, and her ears and eyes explored. The nurse asked me several questions, then left us alone while she reported to the doctor. Dr. Matthews came in next; she poked and prodded and rubbed and stretched, as she discussed her concerns and possible prognoses with me. She looked relieved when I agreed to the tests and initial therapies she felt were necessary.
First was a blood test, requiring a small spot of skin on Jaquie’s neck to be shaved. She actually had to be poked twice, because the first draw “hyper-coagulated” almost as soon as it was out, and was rendered unusable. I have no idea what that might indicate, and Dr. Matthews either wasn’t forthcoming or simply didn’t know either. Then came x-rays, which didn’t turn up anything definite. Next was the terribly insulting thermometer, with a perfectly normal reading.
Last of all was something to help her begin to feel better right away: because Jaquie is very dehydrated, they gave her a subcutaneous injection of fluids, with a few medications mixed in (antibiotics, and some Zofran to help pique her appetite). It took a long time, but Jim showed up at that point and Dr. Matthews was able to explain what they were injecting and show him the x-rays and everything. We finished up, brought Jaquie home, and gave her some of the special “anorexic diet” food that the vet sent with us, of which she is getting about a teaspoon an hour.
It was quite an ordeal but, once home, I really think it was worth it – she has been eating the new food quite willingly, and already seems more perky. We’ll know more difinitevely when the lab results come back tomorrow or the next day, but so far it seems that she’s on the mend.
Skinny Kittyby Angie
5 Apr 2009
9:04 am1
Last night, Jon (who is staying over for Conference weekend) mentioned that Jaquie was looking a little thin, and I was inclined to agree. When Jim and I were upstairs later, getting ready for bed, the subject came up again. We had noticed that she had missed some easy jumps in the last week or so (scraping up my leg on one of them), and that she has seemed an odd combination of physically placid but more “talkative” than normal. None of these individual symptoms had seemed alarming, but when we began to consider them together, we started to worry.
We wondered if she was hungry, but Jim said he had checked before coming upstairs and her food dish was full. Then he asked me when was the last time I actually put food in her bowl. When I answered, “Over a week ago, I think,” his eyes went wide with concern. He couldn’t remember the last time he had filled her dish, either. He thought I had been doing it, while I thought he had. This, apparently, is the downside to the whoever-notices-it-empty-fills-it system.
I gave her a couple of treats I keep in our room that she adores, and she gobbled them up. They were hard, so that ruled out anything wrong with her teeth. Then Jim took her downstairs to examine the food dish in question. Apparently, some of the hard food had gotten wet and was clumped, so he dumped it all out, and gave her all new food and water. She wasn’t much interested in the new food either, though. He then offered her some tuna, and she was willing to eat a little of that – not entirely encouraging, however, since she’s usually willing to eat a lot of tuna.
Poor thing – she must have just been starving for a week! She had a little more tuna with some dry food mixed in this morning. I’m just hoping that the wet, old food was the culprit and that she’ll bounce back quickly.
Grocery Hoppingby Angie
31 Mar 2009
12:03 pm6
When I lived in Orem, I was loyal to one grocery store: Macey’s. They were friendly, inexpensive, and relatively close to home. Oh, I made convenience stops at Harmons, Albertsons, or Smith’s sometimes, but Macey’s generally took care of everything I needed.
Here in California, I have struggled to find any one store for the majority of my shopping. In our little Springtown area, there is a PW Market close enough that I can walk to it, if my load will be light coming home. After having a horrible experience there once and noticing that their produce isn’t very good, however, I haven’t been back often. Safeway has some neat things: fresh-ground peanut butter, a gelato counter, and an extensive kitchen-ware section that takes me there every other month or so (there are no proper kitchen stores in this city!), but their stuff is generally pretty pricey. It was wonderful, though, to have Safeway delivering groceries for a few weeks last year, when I had surgery – what a great service! I visit Costco once or twice a month to stock up on pantry and freezer items (I never thought I’d say so, but their salmon and shrimp are so good!), but I have learned to never buy bread or produce there.
The one store that has the best blend of everything I like & need is probably Nob Hill – a friend of mine suggested I go there several months ago, and it is a really great store: decent prices, yummy bread, nice variety of healthy stuff, and really good produce. Their staff is very nice, too. Unfortunately, they’re way over on the other side of town. I usually take my shopping there on the weeks that I have my blood tests, since it’s right by the lab. Trader Joe’s is near there, as well, which has a lot of unique items, good produce, and reasonable prices. My husband loves it when I shop there, because I usually bring home one or two interesting new things to try.
Last of all, I try to save some of my grocery money each week to go to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. It’s out in Pleasanton, which is about a 20 minute drive, but it is such an interesting and rewarding experience that I really feel that it’s worth the extra time. I’m learning more about when different fruits and veggies are in season, and it’s neat to actually get to know the local growers.
Consequently, I find myself grocery hopping. I guess that with my resolution to get more fruits and veggies on the table, a husband who is avoiding cow milk (we’ve tried soy, rice, and almond so far – our dentist says it’s healthier), and a cat who is rather particular about her litter and the brand of food she eats, on top of just trying to save money, I can’t expect to find everything in one place.
What’s Today???by Angie
15 Dec 2008
12:12 pm2
This morning, my darling husband woke me up saying, “Do you want your surprise? Do you want your birthday present?” When I got my blurry eyes open and mumbled something silly in the affirmative, he told me to look under my pillow. There was a slip of paper that read:
“I have a tongue, but do not taste; I’m glad – it’d be unpleasant.
I have a ‘soul,’ and so I’d like to help you find your present.”
…which led me to my closet, where I found another clue stuck in my right tennis shoe, which led me downstairs, which led me to the cat, which led me to Mr. B, which led me to the clock, which led me to the TV…behind which was a large package wrapped in brown paper:
I got a Wii Fit! I’m so excited! Jim made me breakfast, too, and then headed off to work while I started playing. The little animated balance board even put on a birthday hat and tossed some confetti around, since today is my birthday! Amazingly, my “fitness age” was 29…which isn’t my real age…but pretty close! I thought that was pretty cool, considering the last time I tried a Wii fit, it guaged me at 64 or something. I guess my Pilates is working even better than I thought! Anyway, I love it! Thank you, Jim! And, thanks to my friends and family for all the warm wishes via phone, email, Gchat, facebook, Geni, etc.!
Thanksgiving at Our Homeby Angie
30 Nov 2008
10:11 am0
This was our first year to host Thanksgiving in our own home, with family coming into town to join us! Roger & Kathy flew in with Dallyn (whose Phantom touring company has brought him to San Fran this month) on Tuesday. Jon drove over from Emeryville and spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with us. It was so much fun! With only six of us (all adults), we tried to keep things simple. I think we had it pretty easy, cooking-wise.
What did we serve? Why, turkey, of course! We actually “salted” our turkey instead of brining it, and it was fantastic! We also had stuffing (but not stuffed into the turkey), and fantastic gravy. Then there were mashed sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, rolls & jam, salad, and – for dessert – pecan pie and cranberry pudding. Yum – I’m getting hungry again just writing about it all! Our table was beautiful because my friend Joleen Mills let us borrow her Fall decorations and china table settings, and Kathy and I bought fresh cut flowers for the centerpiece.
With Dallyn and “Grandma Hoffman” in the same house, we had lots of family-wide video conferences with the Bayles family. Kathy and I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday cooking. Also, while Jim was really sick last week, we discovered a new X-box game that hooked us both: 
“A Kingdom for Keflings.” This was a big hit with our visiting relatives, so someone was playing it at almost any given time throughout the weekend. On Thanksgiving – our last evening all together – we had family prayer together, and talked about the many blessings our family has to be grateful for. We all expressed gratitude for our families and the Gospel during these troubled times, as well as for the secure jobs we each have right now. It’s been a wonderful season of Thanksgiving!
Early Morning Seminaryby Angie
18 Nov 2008
12:11 pm3
My already high esteem for the youth of our ward and stake has been kicked up another notch today because for the first time in my life I did something that they do all year round: left the house before 6:30am to go to early morning seminary. I was substituting for Mary Coolbear, a friend in our ward who teaches the 15-year-olds (that’s 10th grade, right?). I knew about a third of the kids in the class, and they were all just fantastic. A little chatty, of course, as teenagers tend to be, but very polite and helpful to me as a substitute (it also helped that a couple of the boys know and really admire my husband). No one was more than five minutes late, and everyone was wide awake though the entire class. I was very impressed!