our yard

as i said in one of the previous posts, our yard is looking really good compared to what it looked like when we first moved in.  the grass is green, we finally have some grass in the backyard.  our palms are struggling but we are still trying to nurse them back to good health.  i am not sure they liked the transplanting too much.  we are still trying to figure out what to do in the backyard.

upset mommy

so it was suppossed to be molly's big day at banfield pet hospital.  all did not go as planned.  they told dr. that it was going to be 470 dollars.  well we all know he has never had a cat before but does $470 sound like a good price to you?  so while molly was sitting in a cage all day watching the dogs walk by, dr. decides to call cara.... the animal shelter that dr. so thoughtfully rescued molly from. he lets them know he is unhappy he paid for a spay and his cat has been in heat for 9 months now. somehow cara got in touch with banfield, told them not to do the surgery and that they were going to try and find one of their vets to do the "exploratory" surgery that needs to be done.  SIDE NOTE ... this exploratory surgery entails cutting a 6 inch long incision in my precious child, sitting molly's intestines on the table while they look around inside her.  now picture the doctor describing the surgery to me when i went to pick up a pissed off molly today.  i told him he needed to explain this to my husband because i don't do well with this stuff..... he kept on talking... i continue to start sweating profusely (because we all know that i can not handle any type of medical thoughts, experiences, encounter, etc.) i start hearing a high pitched beep that i always hear before i faint.  so i said "i'm sorry, i think i am going to faint, you have got to stop talking" and i turned around and sat down on the bench in the waiting room. whew. ok, i didn't end of fainting.

so molly sits in the cage for a total of ten hours today.  dr. might have cat scratch fever from the fight she put up this morning getting into the carrier and it did not sound like they were winning the fight when they put her back in the carrier this afternoon.  i am pretty sure all of pet smart was aware that molly was not going to put up with this shit. ( can i say that word on a blog?)

so cara wants to hook us up ( are those the right words..... i guess I mean "fix their mistake") and are considering paying for this exploratory surgery since they had a faulty vet do the first spay.  i am not too excited about this concept.  i do not want some untrained mexican ( if you are mexican i apologize that i a taking this out on you... i am kind of pissed off) laying my kitties intestines on the table looking or ovarian tissue some awfully trained veterinarian left in the most wonderful cat in the world.

now, molly is back at home and out of the carrier.  she has been in heat the past 4 or 5 days but the second i let her out of that carrier, she walked away and has not said a word since she got home.  either she didn't get any sleep because there was too much action going on in the boarding area or she is scared that if she makes one peep she will be returned to the vet.  whatever the reason, if we decide not to pay $470 for surgery, whenever she goes into heat, we will ask the vet to keep her for a few hours so she appreciates home even more and doesn't always want to drive her parents insane.  maybe we will actually get some sleep tonight.

gotta love a bog- great way to vent!~

surgery

i know panic right!  don't worry.  the only person... or should i say cat... that is going under the knife is our mollygirl.  molly has quite regularly continued her days in heat.  i would not be surprised if animal control showed up because it sounds like we are torturing cats at our house.  dr. has the week off since he finished his boards ( yeah!) so he will be dropping molly off thursday morning.  they can not just take her estrogen levels so have to go in for an exploratory surgery.... i tell you what.  if they do not find anything in there, i will tell them to take the stitches back out and take out SOMETHING.  this cat is not normal.  never in my life have i seen a cat act like this!  she has been spayed before because dr. can feel her scar so we know there is an ovary or ovarian tissue still in tact.  

also molly has had failure to thrive since she has lived with us.  i think she is still so tiny because she is not spayed.  spayed cats usually get a saggy belly that hangs below.  molly is still acting like a kitten and carries her toys everywhere with her and is thin as can be but eats all the time.

so anyways, pray for molly on thursday.  i am going to be freaking out because she is like my baby and i am not going to be there for her and will probably faint when i first see her anyway.  

ok,  well 13 more days until summer (seriously)! woo hoo. 

oh and to those who knew about my knee problems ( my knee was big and swollen and i had trouble walking for several days)  well turns out that all the running i was doing in my reeeeeeeally old tennis shoes was causing the painful and swollen knee.  so i am no longer popping advil all the time.  i am back to running normally in new shoes!  yeah!... still fat though.

step 3

as I type, dr. is at sylvan learning center taking his boards!  he was quite nervous this morning.  he started at 9 and it will take 8 hours.  he will then go back tomorrow for another 8 hour sitting.  he has been studying up a storm so i hope his nerves don't get the best of him. 

not too long ago, dr. took his inservice exam which everyone across the country has to take and got his scores back.  at first he was a little upset about it but after talking to others, he realized he actually did ok!  so proud of him.

i am enjoying a personal day at home today.  i took the day off so i could clean and make sure dr. had a good meal tonight.  he has the rest of the week off so i wanted to make sure he could just relax this week.

our veggies are growing... still slow but they ARE growing.  it looks like we will most likely get beans, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon and peppers out of our garden this year. the rest of our yard is looking great.  maybe the best on the street (besides the mansion house... how can you compete with people that have a gardener who trims their grass with scissors... seriously).  we have gotten compliments on how green our grass is.  neighbors have said they have never seen anyone in the backyard and have never seen it with that much grass in it!  yeah for hard work!

molly continues her days in heat.  hopefully while i am off this summer we can get her spayed "again" and I will be able to be her nurse.

we are still having fun with baseball games, cookouts, girls night outs and diners with friends.  the new residents are just now getting here so we are meeting even more people.  the wives alliance has their end of the year party this saturday night so that will be fun because all the husbands are invited. 

well 14 days more with kids for me and then it's SUMMA TIME~

Countdown

i give you a picture of dr.  just in case you forgot what he looks like!

just wanted to keep everyone updated on the countdown to summer.  25 days!

life is good in good 'ol mississip.  dr. is working hard in the sicu (surgery icu).  he will be in obgyn next month.  that means next month will be an easy month for dr. and he will get to deliver babies!  he has been working extremely hard on Q3 (call every 3 nights).  dr. is also studying for his boards which he takes may 4th and 5th.  please have him in your thoughts.  he has been extremely good at studying.  i wish i had as much willpower as he has!

spring is finally here.  well it has been here for a while, and with it, of course, is tornado season.  i know i am still shocked that mississippi has a tornado season.  we have been spared from any damage as all tornados have passed just south of us.

i am not quite as busy at school.  i have finally gotten out of the vanderbilt lesson plans an figured out how to write lesson plans in about 15 minutes.  this is wonderful considering it used to take me about 15 hours at the beginning of the year.  right now i am just coasting.  my centers are already prepared and ready to just pull out when we need to review topics.  my children's grades have progressively gone up all year and my entire class passed their state math exam.  yipee!

i took two of my kid's cases down to district to try and get them tested for special education.  both of them were accepted and one of them is even going to get home school!  yea!  needless to say i deserve to be coasting right now considering how much work i have put into everything else!

dr. has planted the vegetable garden.  we are growing beans, broccoli, corn, basil, tomatoes, watermelon, squash, canteloupe, cucumbers and an assortment of peppers.  believe it or not, most of them are growing (even though it is at a slow pace).  we are having difficulty with the canteloupe.  beans, squash, and cucumber are growing the fastest.

the front yard is looking great and i think is pretty much landscaped. now we just need a somewhat moist summer and it will look nice.

molly is fine and has had no real new adventures lately.  we still think she is only halfway spayed because every three months she roams the house for about eight days straight yowling as loud as she can.  we have learned to tune her out.  she is getting a little better with it.  at first she didn't want to have anything to do with us.  no petting, snuggling, or anything.  this past week while she was in heat ( which is not anything like a dog in heat) she cuddled with me every night just like normal.

jackson has grown on us a lot since we first moved here.  we have really been getting out and doing things with people.  i have two groups of friends.  one from school and one from the hospital.  therefore i have black girls night out and white girls night out. you can probably guess which one is more rowdy!  starting in july i will be the secretary/treasurer for the spouses alliance.  we have monthly girl nights out, play groups every friday, easter egg hunts, halloween parties, end of the year parties and are involved in a lot of community service.  it has been great being a part of this group.  all of us are in the same boat.  in a strange city with no money!  i have met some fantastic girls and meet about 3 new ones every month.  it is neat meeting them and going home and talking to dr. about different people and looking at their pictures on facebook to see if dr. knows them.  sometimes it turns out that he is really good friends with their husbands or was on call with them the night before.   

some of you have heard my stories from black girls night out.  that is a whole other blog!  needless to say, I would never give up the teachers i work with.  they are the most wonderful poeple i have ever worked with.  the principal .... not so much.

abigail hart allen is now 1 month and 1 day old!  

dr. and molly say hello.  ( well not really.  i am listening to some post-call snoring right now but i am sure if he was awake he would say hello.  and i am also sure that if molly could talk she would say hello or maybe hola.)

a day in the life of

...... molly.  everyone thinks molly is calm but i think she tries to fool people when they visit.  she is very much a people person ( oh.. i guess, people cat, would be the correct lingo).  these are just pictures from a day in the life of molly. in the laundry hamper, on top of the kitchen cabinets after walking across the curtain rod, asleep in dr.'s lap. you can click  on the picture to make it larger.

walking molly

well, everyone knows of molly's adventures outside and how it led to a infected paw and a cone on the head.  as much as dr. tries to put molly out.  i don't think she should go out.  our yard is surrounded by dogs on all sides and i just don't want to have a dirty cat lying around in the house.  she is perfectly happy looking out the windows and playing with the huge bumblebees buzzing around the other side of the windows in the sunroom.  so in attempt to compromise i have agreed to let molly venture outside but she may only go while on a leash!  yes, seriously a leash that is attached to a beautiful pink harness.  there is no getting out of this one!  at first she did not appreciate this compromise but now she doesn't mind it to much and she keeps looking back to make sure i am still there.