If it's Saturday, we must be in...?

IBR Update: Well, crap. Both of Ken’s GPSs have crapped out. On one, the touch screen really wasn’t working already, but he used it as a backup/rerouting machine while the other had his main planned route with all the bonus locations he planned to hit. The latter one apparently went kablooey. So he bought a cheap one at Walmart. The upshot is that he’ll have to plan a route and stick to it, as opposed to making some changes/new decisions based on how things are progressing. Which, alas, is where he really shines.

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The other day the clerk in Trader Joe’s asked me if I had any plans for the weekend. I stared at him blankly. What is this “weekend” you speak of? I work most days, taking days off when something specific is happening. The fact is, today is the first day all week that I have had things hard scheduled (other than Textile Guild on Tuesday night).

First I went to Elizabeth’s with a bunch of stuff for her to sell on eBay (I’ll be making garb for her son in exchange). Then I had a confab with Teresa. In a few minutes I’m off to the vet to pick up Eostre.

Then tomorrow is the IBR checkpoint in Santa Ana, and my only hope is that Ken arrives early enough that I can give him all his stuff (tires, food, etc.) and still get home before it gets dark. Originally I planned to stay the night at his mom’s if it got late, but it looks like I’ll need to be home to give Eostre subcu fluids…

(Oh, and I still have a zombie eye)

So, on Wednesday night, Eostre apparently decided that the several thousand dollars we’ve spent on Grimoire this year* made her feel left out, and she made clear her need to visit the ER vet. Thankfully Morgana was home and free so I didn’t have to navigate the streets at night (which I would have done if I’d had to, but the stress of driving when I’m blinded by the halos of oncoming headlights and street lights on top of the stress of having a sick cat is less than optimal).

To keep the story short: Her creatine levels were elevated, indicating possible kidney disease, so they’ve been giving her subcu fluids and antibiotics and whatnot. The ultrasound of her kidneys came back normal (normal to the point of looking better than the kidneys of a cat her age should even look, because she is a mutant, I tell you), which means if it is kidney disease, we’ve caught it at the very beginning. As of today, they’ve confirmed she also has a urinary tract infection, poor thing, so they’re sorting that out as well. Hopefully she’ll be able to come home tomorrow (her creatine and other levels are going down, but they’d like to get them all the way down).

I visited her today, and she was delighted to see me; wouldn’t purr but demanded scritchies until the air was clouded with white fur. She’s been on a hunger strike, but she ate a bit when I asked her to, so that was good. The vets were somewhat amused by how adorable she was, because apparently when I’m not there, she turns into the Tasmanian Devil and attempts to claw people’s faces off. She can be a bit…feisty. :-)

So, I’m hoping it’s just an infection and not Chronic Renal Failure, but even if it is CRF, most cats can live comfortably for years under proper supervision. Which would probably mean that now each cat would be on his/her own separate expensive special food, and they’ll have to be separated at meal times. What joy.

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Tuesday I toddled off to Textile Guild and worked on a couple of peplos and hemmed a linen hankie to embroider. I’ve been struck with the desire to finish a bunch of little handwork projects in various stages of completion, and that was especially nice when I was recovering from the food poisoning. (Relatively simple fiddly things to do with my hands while watching hours of TV.)

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Yesterday was full of errands, some for things to bring Ken at the checkpoint on Sunday. However, bleah, it’s too hot to run errands. In fact, the heat is making me want to do nothing more than flop on the sofa and read, which is a problem when I have things like, oh, deadlines to deal with. Sigh.

Speaking of deadlines, now I must get back to work.

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IBR Update: The first checkpoint was in St. Charles, IL, on Wednesday, and at that point Ken was in the 38th position (out of 101 riders). His extra fuel cell’s gauge has been a little wonky, and yesterday he ran out of gas 1.5 miles from the town he was planning to get gas in. Another rider he knows actually went into town to get him gas. (They’re pretty much expected to stop for one another if there’s an emergency, so it’s especially wonderful that this guy took precious time out of his rally schedule to help Ken. Hail chivalry!)

In fact, Ken says one of the nicest things about the IBR is the camaraderie. There’s something about riding along some random highway, he says, and seeing one of the other competitors—there’s a connection there, you know? Very cool.

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*A few months of thinking he had cancer, then a little while of exploring pancreatitis and parathyroid problems and whatnot, to then conclude that he just was going to produce too much calcium and we had to give him subcutaneous fluids every other day or so, until he finally spontaneously just got better. On his own. Bastard. (She says affectionately.)

Too long to tweet

I keep thinking of things to update on Facebook and Twitter, but all of them are too long. Meanwhile, the journal languishes. If I only had a brain…

Okay, first the stuff that those of you not on Facebook and Twitter didn’t get.

Thursday night I decanted the herbal vinegars I made in July at our Herbal Guild meeting. One is a champagne vinegar infused with lemony things: lemon zest, lemon verbena, lemon thyme, that sort of thing. (I don’t have the recipes with me, and I know we were out of one ingredient but substituted another.) The other is a red wine vinegar infused with garlic, red peppers, cilantro, and I think green onions. That one is especially nice! Now I want to make Chinese food!

I also hung out with Morgana and saw their pictures from Faerieworlds. Sigh. I wish we could’ve gone, but at the same time, I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with the 100°+ temps.

I had the opportunity to hang out with Christine on Friday, and I couldn’t pass up that! We had lunch at Macaroni Grill, then worked at Barnes & Noble for a few hours. I did some research so I could finish up my proposal for Seasoned With Danger and got some work done on OOTFP.

That night our friend Lareej had an apartment-warming party; I got a ride with Morgana and Brian. Although her apartment is tiny, Lareej has amazing thrift-store fu as well as amazing decorating fu, and the place is lovely. She had masses of food, too (including a variety of cheeses she obtained after asking my advice, because lo, I am the Demigoddess of Cheese). Alas, we had to leave early, because we all had to get up early for Crown Tournament the next day. Lareej was riding with Ismay and Alexander (leaving at 5 a.m.), and I was originally going with them, but I ditched them to ride with Morgana and Thomasina (leaving at 7 a.m.). You can see why.

Crown was hot and muggy, but was worth the trip to be there when Alexander was invited to join the Order of the Pelican. We ended up ditching the event early because of the weather, though, and Alexander joined us for the ride home. We stopped at a dairy tourist trip that boasted a gazillion types of cheese as well as ice cream; in fact they had a few kinds of cheese (the sage cheddar was quite nice) and Dreyer’s ice cream, but the ice cream was worth it, really. We later stopped at Claim Jumper for dinner before heading home and collapsing.

Alas, it was not to be a good night for me. I ended up with a migraine (or at least a very bad headache; I can’t always tell the difference) and food poisoning. So I spent yesterday very quietly and gently watching movies and napping for the most part. My headache went away by early evening, but came back full force during the night. I went to the chiropractor today and she put me to rights; let’s just hope it was enough! She also worked on my middle back (which I strained during the yarking), commiserated with me over my demon eye (I burst blood vessels during the yarking), and helped me figure out the culprit of the food poisoning: the incredibly yummy salad from Macaroni Grill. Because, you see, it was spinach, and I’d tucked the leftovers in my computer bag while working with Christine at B&N, and then I’d taken it with me for lunch at Crown.

I’ve kept things pretty quiet today, but there was stuff I had to do, like clean the cat boxes and tidy the kitchen and whatnot, which has pretty much wiped me out. I’m planning an early night, perhaps after a nice hot bath. Maybe a little more TV and handwork projects (I’m in a finish-little-projects mode, which is nice.).

Well, it’s taken me several hours to write this, so I suppose I should post it and move on. But before I forget…

IBR Update: Ken just called (5 p.m.) to say he’s doing great and getting lots of points. :-) He’s in Florida, BTW. He has to be in Illinois on Wednesday…

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Currently Reading: Flora Segunda, Ysabeau Wilce (just finished); The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney, Suzanne Harper (about to start)
Lately Listened To: Lullagoodbye, Taylor Mills
Recently Watched: Boston Legal; Hard to Hold

And so it begins!

IBR update: Ken's plotted his route and is getting a good night's sleep before tomorrow's start. Lots of pictures of him here.