Blarg

Vet appointment went okay... she has a small "rodent ulcer" (google it) that could be caused by all sorts of things. It could be from an allergy, cancer (though they did not find any cancerous-looking cells when they did a small swipe of the lip), or auto-immune disease. The vet said that steroids should be given first to see if it goes down--if so, it's probably allergies. However, it could be a disease--(not life-threatening usually)--in which the ulcers will probably re-occur and we will have to get steroids maybe two-three times per year, depending. The only way to figure out exactly what is causing it is a biopsy which runs $400 +. I'm thinking this is pointless, especially if it is allergies. We go in Monday or Tuesday to get the steroids for her.

Even though she's probably going to be okay, it is exhausting to be concerned about a favorite pet or animal. I tend to not think about it most of the time, but when I do, or when I look at her lip, or go to the vet, it's very tiresome because just like a parent with a child, it becomes very important to help the animal and figure out what's going on. It's also frustrating to have the vet simply say it could be a number of things blah blah, and hack out the $73 for the visit and cell check. We have spent about $300 on Ava this summer alone. Before that, she was the healthiest cat.

So on to the money issue (with me, anyway)--it sucks to have a cat that is sick, a car that has horrible gas mileage (we knew this would be the case, but we decided for an suv anyway), and a wedding coming up within the year. It also sucks that the wedding costs a huge amount of money, even to just rent a tent/table/chairs, or get a caterer. I'm realizing, though, that it will be a much more enjoyable day if I just pay the money for people such as the caterer, so it's worth it. I've just been putting it off....

On a good note, this weekend is j's family reunion and bbq. They roast a pig and cook more meet under the huge bonfire in a deep pit (really fun to watch it get put together). There is always some sort of band there--always family members (one day I'll do it! haha), and plenty of drinks. Usually we camp in tents for the weekend, but since we are coming from a farther distance, and we're bringing both animals--I, at least, will be going home to sleep each night. I'm helping with breakfast tomorrow morning--6 30 am--but some good coffee will help with that. On Saturday, I'm probably going to sneak away from the crowd (probably 150 or so this time around) to hang out with my family, since my house is only about 20 minutes away from the farm. A college friend will be there as well. I went to middle school, high school, and comm college with him for years, only to find out later (we ended up at the same college) that he is J's cousin! Very strange to find this out because I had known him for much longer than J. It's nice to know we'll be extended family, and I have another familiar face to see this year at the bbq.

Enjoy your weekend. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures to share with you. :)