Still so busy

I've had a Cub Scout meeting tonight. We're trying to sign up new people. I'm going to be the treasurer for the pack this school year. I collected checks and cash.

Last night I took Brenna to the vet again for a follow up appointment. She's going to stay on antibiotics for her bladder infection for an extra ten days and then we'll see how she is. Her urine isn't as concentrated as it should be, so the vet thinks it's the beginning of kidney failure. I asked, and it's not a horrid way to go. She'll drink more water and get skinny before she dies. We're not even sure that's what it is, but I could try to slow it down if it is by giving her expensive cat food that she'll hate (almost all cats do) so I'd probably have to force-feed her. She'd get skinny anyway because she won't eat stuff she doesn't like. She barely ate at all when I got her because she hated the food I bought at first.

Anyway, she hates going to the vet's, she'll be thirteen next month, and I don't want to keep torturing her. As long as she feels good and gets lots of love, I'll probably not try to drag her life out with lots of vet visits and forced-feedings. Also, some cats live a very long time with only a small percentage of their kidneys working so it's too soon to say this is what will cause her demise.

If her bladder infection comes back after the antibiotics end, we'll go back to the vet's. I think they'll try X-raying her to look for bladder stones. The most common kind have been ruled out because she's got acidic urine (pH 5 they told me yesterday ), and the most common type don't form in acidic urine.

Tuesday I had a Brownie meeting with J and then right afterwards (I was late because they were in different locations but one started when the other ended) was Jessica's back to school night for parents.

My math homework took longer today than I had planned. Reading the section in the book and working out the examples when really fast. I was surprised when there were thirty questions. I was expecting half that. Instead there were a bunch about material that wasn't in the book (they might have been in the homework section of the book, but I don't bother with that since we are required to do homework on-line). I had to have an example of "show me how" to learn the formulae I was supposed to use to find the sum the values in an arithmetic sequence and a geometric sequence. The book only covered how to find the nth value in the series (sorry, I've bored my readers).

I'm doing very nicely in the math class so far. I finally had a test and not just quizzes and homework so I'm comfortable saying that now. I didn't miss any on the test (a miracle, I usually make a lot of careless mistakes). My next two tests and the final exam have to be taken on campus at a testing center, and I have to make arrangements at least two days in advance, so I'm more stressed about what happens if I have a sick kid. Normally I don't know my schedule two days in advance.

At my husband's office, the fax and Internet were both down and the office person was out so one of the technicians was answering the phone. While K was at preschool, I went there to see what I could do. Not much it turns out, but the technician and I got the Internet going again. He was supposed to call the phone company again if the fax machine didn't work after being unplugged for quite a while. We use either fax or e-mail for our answering service to provide us with information about calls they've answered, so it was hard to deal with both out simultaneously.

Irrationally upset

K cried a lot this morning about not wanting to go to preschool. I told her I'd stay a few extra minutes if she didn't cry when I took her there. She was a good girl and kept her word.

Yesterday a package of old clothing arrived from J and K's cousin. She had tons and tons of clothing she's outgrown. K picked out an outfit to wear from it, and topped it off with a cute little pair of hiking boots.

One mean little girl at preschool came up to us when I was there and informed K that her shoes were boy shoes. I told her they were girls' hiking boots and that K was tough (that bit's not true).

Anyway, I think it made K feel even worse. Then she didn't want to join the other kids who were playing together in small groups. She said she doesn't have any friends, and that appears to be true. The only other one not playing was a little boy named John who was sitting at a table crying for his mom. Maybe she'll play with him. If I were K, I think I'd hate preschool, too.

Happy 40th Birthday to Me!

Here's my cake in all its blazing glory. N hung around with our fire extinguisher, just in case.

We ate out for dinner. It was a sit-down restaurant, but I had a hamburger and fries. The kids had pizza. Mr. K had a club sandwich.

My mom, dad, and brother called me today, along with my friend since middle school, Karen. She called this evening, and we talked for a while, but didn't finish catching up. I hadn't spoken to her since spring, so we had/have a lot to say. She'll try to call again tomorrow.

I took my third quiz in math today. I missed a problem because of a careless error. I hate that. Next I need to take a test over the first three chapters we've covered. I have to do that by next Wednesday. Sooner is better so I don't have to re-study the chapter for which I just took the quiz. So far the math is not defeating me. Even though I sometimes screw up due to careless errors (such as not reading the question completely), I can say that I have completely understood all the material we have covered so far, but yes, I need to study the first and second chapter again before the test because I'm sure I've forgotten stuff already.

K cried and cried as I took her to preschool. I had to just walk away and leave her to her sorrows. She was smiling and working on a puzzle when I picked her up at the end of the day.

Too many meetings

This evening I went to a parents' meeting at K's preschool. I missed a Cub Scout committee meeting I was supposed to attend because they were at the same time and I had to pick one.

K's preschool has so many rules I can't remember them all. I have to cut hot dogs the long way before I cut them into slices if I send hot dogs. For birthdays, only pre-packaged, store-bought treats can be brought to celebrate. Kids have to ride in their car seats behind the passenger seat for ease of removal in the "carpool" line. (Thank goodness that's the side of the car K's seat is in. Her seat is in the only place I can use it really. If I moved it, N or J would accidentally unbelt it a lot.)

Tomorrow I have a Brownie meeting to take J to at 6:30 p.m. Then at 7 p.m., I am supposed to be at N's school for his parents' night. Obviously, I will be late. I'll need to leave the Brownie meeting at 7 p.m. and run home to drop of J before going to the parents' meeting. I'll have the same situation next Tuesday when J has another Brownie meeting and it's J's parents' night.

Just life

Mr. K has taken the kids to Target to look for a birthday present for me, so I have the house to myself. That's something that seldom happens, but it should be happening a lot more once K starts preschool next week.

My math class is going fine so far, but I've only had two quizzes. Once K starts preschool, I'll spend some uninterrupted time taking the third quiz. Then I'll study everything we've covered so far, and I'll take my first test. That should be more indicative of how I'm doing in the class than just two quizzes. I like the convenience of an on-line class, but I don't like doing tests, quizzes, and homework on-line. A lot of my study time is spent figuring out how to enter the answer so the computer will accept it. Writing answers out by hand is so much easier.

My brother sent me a mug and some candies that in no uncertain terms indicate I'll be old on my birthday (the suckers say "40 sucks"). I got enough candles for my birthday cake, but I haven't ordered my cake yet. I may be too late and then I'll have to settle for whatever Ukrop's bakery has available the morning of my birthday. I don't know what cake I want yet. Last year's petite Swiss chocolate tort tasted horrid. The raspberry filling tasted like it went bad and turned to wine. I dumped the whole cake in the trash. That's the cake I always get. I'd sort of like the lemon/almond torte, but I know Mr. K will hate it, and I'm not sure about the kids. I may get it anyway since I should get what I like on my birthday.

I think we are all getting sick of chicken around here. I bet we eat chicken nearly five days a week because it is usually cheaper than other meats. We had boneless/skinless breasts marinated in A-1 marinade and cooked on the charcoal day. They'd have been better if Mr. K hadn't over-cooked them. For the longest time he was afraid they wouldn't cook all the way and I'd have to finish them up in the oven.

Labor Day Weekend

We took the kids to the county fair yesterday. They had ride bracelets that let them ride all the rides they wanted for a flat rate. We hadn't planned on having to buy one for K. Last year even the merry-go-round made her cry. It turned out she loved the kiddie rides, so we had to get her a $20 ride bracelet, too.

I only rode on the ferris wheel. I bought a ticket to ride it.

I kept getting to jump the line to buy the bracelets and tickets because one side of the ticket booth had "Espanol" written on it, so that line was pretty much empty. I used that line and bought my tickets and bracelets by speaking Spanish poorly. It saved waiting in the hot sun in a long line.

J and I fished this afternoon, but we didn't catch anything worth mentioning.

Tomorrow we'll cook out in honor of the holiday. I got four New York strip steaks at the store, so the five of us will have to fight over them. Buying a fifth was just too expensive.

My cat is sick again. A little over two weeks ago I took her to the vet because she seemed to have a bladder infection. The antibiotics were used up about two days ago, and her symptoms are returning. I even found some bloody pee next to my toilet, where, oddly enough, she had been sitting.

I searched the Internet about that and saw that cats with cystitis will sometimes go to cool places like tile or the bathtub and have little pee leaks because the coolness of the surface feels better. I'm also switching her to an all canned food diet until she sees the doctor. My vet won't be opened until Tuesday because of the holiday.