MIA'S 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mia!

Just look at how big she has gotten...

MIA AND THE FISH

I've gotten many comments and emails on if Mia likes the fish tank or not.

SHE LOVES IT!!!

Mia likes to sit by it and chase the fish around especially when I feed them

I'm not sure if you can see it in the pictures or not but all the way around the tank under the glass lid there are openings where you can stick your hand into feed them

Well it took Mia about a week but she finally found these openings and loves to put her paw in and "bop" the fish. I can't tell if she ever hits one because it all happens so fast!

Many a time I have found Mia with wet paws and wet spots on the carpet around the tank. One morning I woke up and found a fish on the carpet. This has happened before so I'm not sure if the fish was a jumper or a victim of Mia's!

When questioned Mia ignored me and kept on grooming her wet paws.....

MIA 8-14

As you can all see Mia is doing great!

She has re-cooped from her Spaying nicely

I think she's gained weight, at her check-up a few weeks ago she had gained 1 lb since her surgery but Mia has been eating as if she was a horse and I can tell she has filled out some.

She was super skinny when I first got her and she looks much healthier now :)

PAST WEEKS UPDATE

Gosh I just realized it's been five days since my last post, I've really been slacking this month. I'm going try to update you on whats been going on around here.

Last Friday was a crazy busy day and I feel like I drove all over Western Massachusetts. It all started at 8am when I had to drop Mia off to be Spayed(Finally!!). Because I had bought a discounted Spaying Certificate online for $65, I had to use participating Vets only. The closest one to me was in Blandford which is only about 30 minutes away and I have to say it was a nice relaxing scenic drive. I was familiar with the area so I had no trouble finding the place. I was just going to have her Spaying done there and then transfer to somewhere closer but I fell in love with their staff. Everyone was just so nice so I'm going to continue to use them.

I was unsure how much this was going to cost. I knew that there was a $40 office visit but was unsure if Mia would need shots or medicine. I had obtained her kitten shot records from her last owner to show what she had gotten already. It turned out that she needed her Rabies shot(once a year) and Distemperment Shots(3 part shot over 3 months). I also purchased a tube of some sort of medicine which would help with hairballs(Mia just started getting them last week). The total for everything was $81.55, not too bad! I do need to bring her back at the end of the moth so they can check her incision and give Mia her next distemperment shot.

Mia 4 days after surgery

Her little incision and her shaved belly

Already returning to normal. I was afraid at first because she stayed under my bed for the first few days and only came out to eat and use her box. This is what she did when I first got her so I was afraid she was regressing some but yesterday she was out and about like normal!

In between Friday while Mia was being spayed I went to Physical Therapy and did some grocery shopping at Walmart. I didn't need alot but wanted to get some of the "Free" deals posted over at Money Saving Mom's Blog. Everything went well until the cashier tried to scan my coupons for Jergens lotion. I had picked up the trial size(2oz) for $1.97. I actually had 4 different coupons to use, 2- $2 off any Jergens and 2- $1.50 off any Jergens.

Now to give you a little background I had also picked up other trial/travel size items and had used coupons to get them free and all those coupons went through but for some reason the Jergens ones were beeping. At first the cashier told me I couldn't use them and I needed to buy the big bottle like the coupon picture showed. I explained to her that the coupon said "Any Size". She then said I should be able to use them and called over a Supervisor. The Sup looked at the coupons and then tried to hand them back to me and say I couldn't use them. I refused to accept them and asked for a manager. The manager came over and was extremely snotty and did the whole eye rolling thing. She tried to say I couldn't use them. I refused to take no for an answer since I knew I was right.

Now mind you the line is huge behind me and I can hear people starting to mumble and say stuff but I stood my ground! Then she swayed a little and pushed through the 2-$1.50 off coupons but was trying to refuse the $2 off coupons saying that the coupon was more than the price of the product and I couldn't do that. I then stated out loud for everyone to hear that I still was not accepting that answer and I could stand here all day and hold up the line. I asked her what she cared anyways since when she sends the coupon in Walmart would get their $2 back. After one final eye roll she pushed them through but only for $1.97 each, whatever that was fine with me since I wasn't looking to get the overage.

So moral of the story ladies, stick to your guns and stand your ground and if your in the right you will get what you want!

By the time I got home Friday I was so tired and my pain level was unbelievable :( Not only is there a problem with my neck and shoulder but my therapist also found a problem in my back. My back usually only hurts on and off and only on the lower right side, I didn't think it was related and never thought to mention it. He was saying that if something is off in your back then it would throw your whole spine off and may be part of the source of the pain in my neck.

Oh great just what I need more problems. After my visit yesterday the therapist told me that he thinks I'm making progress but doesn't think I'll be able to return to work in August. He is going to recommend another month of the program. I agree with him because although I am starting to lift more, there is no way I would be able to do it repetitively for 8-10 hours straight. I know my Dr will be OK with it, I'm just not sure if Costco will extend me another month or if the disability co will continue to pay me. I just have to wait and see what happens Aug 1st(I have Dr appt and then meeting w/ Costco).

In between all my pain this weekend I baked some muffins for a coworker who's Mom had passed away. Danni and I didn't want to do the traditional send a flower thingy so we decided to make a goody basket. I baked muffins and Danni made Cookies and Cinnamon Buns and another Co-worker bought some fruit.

Cranberry w/ Walnut Crumb Topping

and

Blueberry Muffins

I forgot to take a picture of the finished basket but it looked real nice. Danni and I had gone over to Michaels to buy the basket. All the baskets were 50% off which was a nice bonus. We needed one that was short and long versus tall and round and found a nice one that was $3.99. We also grabbed some purple ribbon(co-workers fav color) and some purple shredded paper for bottom and a clear large bag/basket wrap.

When we got to register the basket rang up at $1.99(50% off price) and I had a 20% coupon for the rest of the regular priced stuff. Our grand total was $6.27!!! Can you believe that?? I don't think I've ever gotten a basket and wrapping stuff for that low!

When we got home Danni took the purple ribbon and a roll of purple and green w/ flowers she had at home and weaved it around the top of the basket. By the time we were done the basket looked fantastic and we were so proud of ourselves and more importantly our friend loved it and immediately commented that we had remembered and used her favorite color. It's so nice to be able to brighten a friends day just a little!

THIS AND THAT

Yikes! I had no idea it's been five days since my last post. I've either been busy or in pain and haven't gotten on here much.

Wednesday I volunteered to take my niece Nevaeh for the day. I need to start doing more things and lifting more weight in order to go back to work so what better practice than to chase a two year old around for nine hours. By the time she left I was exhausted and very sore. I think all my muscles were aggravated. They were just as sore Thursday when I woke up so I rested all day.

Friday I had an appointment for more Trigger Point Injections at 8:15am. I had three shots total and this time I asked him to put one into the knot at the bottom of my scalp. He said it would feel weird since there is no tissue there and boy did it ever. Right after I went next door for Physical Therapy. They give you a deep tissue massage to work the medicine through the muscles.

By the time this was all done I was in pain and wanted to go home but I had to run to Costco. I was suppose to have a two day paycheck deposited and when it didn't show up Fri morning I called our payroll clerk and she said she had forgotten to key it in and would issue me a manual check if I could stop by and pick it up. No big deal because I needed to pick up a prescription anyways(our ins co makes us get them there).

I was pleasantly surprised by my paycheck. It was more than double what I expected. Being out of work so long and living on 60% of my salary, I had completely forgotten what I made regularly! I decided I would treat myself to a manicure and pedicure. My Manicurist couldn't fit me in for an hour so I ran across the street and into Pet co to get a scratching post for Mia. She is destroying the corners of my couches and everyone said this would help(update~3 days later she is still tearing up the couch). I than went over to Barnes and Nobles and picked out two new paperbacks and a Mint Mocha Frappachino at Starbucks. Hey.. I decided to splurge a little on myself since I've been so frugal lately! The pedicure was great! I love sitting in the massage chair and having it work on my muscles. It felt good after the injections earlier that morning. When my nails were all done I went home for the night and started reading one of my new books.

Saturday I got up and had a few chores to do. Vacuum, empty cat box, take trash out, etc. I wanted to get it done early so I could rest for a while since we were planning on going to a New Britain Rock Cats game. I love to go to Red Sox games but they are so expensive so this year I don't think I'm going to go so this was a great alternative. It's approx $27 for a pair of tickets and it's a fun night out watching baseball! Well as it got later in the day it started to pour so we scrapped that idea and decided to try again next weekend.

Even though I really wanted to go I was OK with skipping it since I decided I would get up at 5 am Sunday morning and drive down to the Cape. My parents have a second home there and were spending the weekend there with my sisters and their families. I am not a fan of the Cape and never go but thought it may be a nice surprise for my Dad to drive down for the day and hang out with them.

When I woke up this morning I looked on the intranet for Cape Cod's weather and learned it was gonna pour all morning and most of the afternoon so I decided the 3 hour drive each way wasn't worth it to hang out inside because of rain. So that idea got scrapped and I went back to bed.

A LOOK OVER THE LAST WEEK

First up is my beautiful niece Nevaeh. My sister Danni made her a nice breakfast of mini pancakes with fresh blueberries and syrup. I watched Nevaeh pick up a pancake and then ever so carefully squished it all in her mouth! She is so darn cute!!

"What Titi?? See it all fits!"

As you can all see, Miss Mia is adjusting nicely. She has a great playful personality that comes out more and more each day. She's a great companion to have around.

I spoiled her a little with a whole bunch of new toys which she loves!

Earlier in the week I had read from Andria over at Boy Crazy how she makes these Glazed Orange Brownies and they're a big hit. Turns out it's a Paula Deen recipe and I absolutely love her so I thought I'd give it a try. They came out great!

CATCH UP

I've been slacking the last few days on posting. Monday was payday so the first thing I did when I got up was to order Mia's Spaying Certificate online. She is now coming out of her heat which is good but I still need to have her spayed since this will just repeat itself over and over. I'm assuming I may have to go through one more heat cycle before I have her fixed. I'm not sure how fast the certificate comes in and I can't make the appointment until it comes plus the old owners ordered a copy of her kitten shots from their last vet which is out of state. When I called to ask if the vet was still participating in the spaying program I was told that unless I could prove Mia had her kitten shots, they would have to be repeated and thus I would have to pay more. The vet also said they preferred not to spay them when they're in heat. It's much more dangerous for the cat and it cost more so I'm assuming by the time I get all the paperwork in and make the appointment Mia will be in heat again and I'll have to reschedule. Whatever, at least it's getting taken care of!

After the certificate was ordered I called and paid a few bills over the phone and then it was off to pick up Danni. We were both going to Walmart to do our monthly shopping. It's the second month we've used coupons so we were excited to see how much we would save. The trip took us a little over 3 hours which isn't bad with stacks of coupons and a 2 year old! I spent $150.51 which was right on budget. I was thinking I wanted to be somewhere between $150-$175 so perfect! Since I had tons of condiments, beverages, spaghetti sauce and plenty of snacks(all that free Chex Mix!!) I focused more on meats, my freezer was completely bare except for a turkey. I also got some frozen veggies, rice, and potatoes.

Danni did real well too! She feeds a family of three everyday plus she has 3 step kids that are always around, two of them are 18 and 21 year old men so I don't have to tell you what they eat! She also has a huge in-law family that are always around on a daily basis. We do alot of big family diners/hangouts(approx 2-4 times a week). She ended up spending $300 and some change! Not too bad for feeding that many people! Danni had almost $70 in coupons!!

Once we were done with all of our shopping and we got back to her house I had to transfer all the stuff to my car and then once I got home drag it up to the second floor. Oh, did I mention that I didn't park in front of the building like I usually do but in a side lot instead cuz they're re-roofing the building and dropping all kinds of shit and I don't want anything to fall on my car! So needless to say I had to drag the groceries across the parking lot before I climbed the stairs. Now remember I can only lift on my left side which is my non dominate side so it isn't as strong, this whole process took many, many trips. Once it was all done and put away I was tired and in excruciating pain:( and I flopped on the couch and did nothing the rest of the evening.

Tuesday when I woke up I had all my usual pain plus a sharp stabbing pain shooting up my neck. I had an appointment at Physical Therapy so I was hoping that would help. The therapist gave me a deep tissue massage and the muscles still wouldn't loosen, as usual. She tried manual traction next but that didn't work either. She asked if I wanted to try mechanical traction, my usual response "Sure what have I got to lose".

That helped a little. When I left it wasn't as bad but still not feeling great. I still had a few more errands I wanted to run though so off I went. I needed kitty litter and some wet cat food. The grocery store by my house has it cheaper than Walmart so I waited to get it. Plus I wasn't in a rush, the box isn't due for a few more weeks, I use those once a month crystals but because I only get paid monthly and I know it's an expense I will occur this month I just went to got it over with. I found out that the store doubles coupons everyday but only up to $0.99. I had some coupons so it worked out well. Next I went across the street and stopped at CVS to do the Charmin/Bounty deal. It was the last thing I wanted to do for the week there. After I got my $10ECB I went back in and got case of water, fabric softener and a Father's Day card. On my way out I picked up a couple of June Monthly Deals Flyer. Although I've already seen it online I like to keep a hard copy to reference through the month and Danni need one too.

Next I headed over to Dave's Soda and Pet Food City. I wanted to look at cat toys. I bought two when I got Mia. One is lost and I've looked absolutely everywhere and the other was a feather boa thingy that she loves and has totally pulled apart and destroyed. I had gotten it at Dave's so I figured I would go back and get another. They were all out so I got her a few other feathery things and a couple of balls with bells in them. OMG she loves the balls. It's all I heard yesterday and overnight. I'm glad she is adjusting so well!

This morning I woke up in pain again probably mostly due to the rain(it's pouring). I had a early appointment to have three more trigger point injections and then an appointment immediately after at PT to work the medicine through the muscles. I'm very sore right now but figured I would post now cuz I know the pain will be much worse later.

When I got home I called my work to ask about my vacation time. The thing is my disability co may not pay me this month depending on what the paper work the Dr passes in says. I cant afford not to get paid since I live alone I need to be able to pay next months bills. A thought popped into my head when I was at PT about my vacation time. The way it works at my employer is whenever you got hired is your anniversary date so every year on that day you get next years vacation allotment. You are only able to carry over one week and the rest you must use or lose. I rollover on July 20Th and haven't used any time this year obviously because I've been out of work so I called to find out how much I had and if I could use it this month just in case disability co doesn't pay me. I found out I have 167 hours!! 127 of them must be used before July 20Th or I lose them. I'm hoping to return to work around July 1st which is when my next Dr follow-up visit is so if I'm not allowed to use them now then I'll have to take a four week vacation as soon as I come back. That would be real silly. The payroll clerk told me she would look into it and call me back. Hopefully they will let me use it, it's much more reassuring to have a back up pay plan!!

***UPDATE***

The payroll clerk called me back and I can use my vacation time to get paid this month if I don't end up getting paid from the disability co. Even if I do get paid by disability since I'm only earning 60% of my salary, the payroll clerk said she can supplement me also to bring me up to 100% if I want to use up my vacation time that way. Awesome!! This is such a relief because I was starting to worry about paying next months bills. I knew if I put my brain to it I would be able to think up something!

Whew... One disaster avoided for now!

BIRD WATCHING

Still in heat....

Miss Mia is taking a break from floundering around the carpet and meowing to watch the birds outside our apartment window

MIA UPDATE 5-29

Uuuggghhh.... What a night.... Mia is in heat!!

The last few days I noticed that she was becoming more and more affectionate but just thought she was getting use to me and all the new attention I was giving her. Mia's also been meowing at night since I got her. The first few nights it was just a little but then it got to be more and more. At first I thought she wanted more wet food, I only feed her one can a day but leave dry food down all the time. I would shoo her and tell her that she wasn't getting anymore and she should eat dry food if she was hungry. The next night as soon as I went to bed the meowing started again but this time she still had a little wet food left so I knew it wasn't that and since she sits by the front door when she does this(not over by the open window), I assumed maybe she was missing the other cat she use to live with.

Now none of this meowing has been annoying so far. Mia starts as soon as I get into bed for about 10-15 minutes and then stops till around 8am, plus her cry is so soft it wasn't agonizing to listen too. Yesterday however I noticed she started meowing a little bit more during the day and was rolling all over the carpet and then I saw her start kneading her back legs, kinda like she was walking in place. I was concerned because I had never seen any cat do this before and was afraid she was going to start peeing around the house. You see, my last cat Olivia was never fixed and I never saw her go into heat in the ten years that I had her, so I had no idea what to look for.

Thank goodness for the intranet. I researched her symptoms on various sites and all said she was in heat. In fact she clearly displayed every symptom the computer said she would. I kinda thought she may be too young for this but did you know they can start heat cycles as young as four months?!

The first day I got her I started calling around my area looking for a vet. My last vet was over 45 minutes away and I didn't like them so I wanted to switch to someone else. The couple I got Mia from said that she had had all of her kitten shots but was due for a checkup and they would look into getting her records from their vet to pass on to my new one.

The place closest to my house said it was $44 for a office visit plus a $14 one time record setup fee. OK $58 was no big deal and I could work with that. I next asked how much it would be to spay her and declaw.... $619!! I actually gasped into the phone and asked the lady if she was kidding. I thanked her for the info and said I was going to call around and call back if I chose to make an appointment. All the other places I called were right around the same ballpark... Yikes!! I had no idea that it cost so much. I figured for now I would take her in to be checked out and save my money for the summer and whenever I could afford it would have Mia taken care of. I figured I had plenty of time since she was so young still, Boy was I wrong!

The other night before I even realized she was in heat I was watching the local news and every week they spotlight a pet from the local SPCA that is up for adoption and give all sorts of info. One of the things they were talking about was how in June they were running a program to help Spay or Neuter pets in the area. Our SPCA use to have a hospital attached to it where you could go and get reasonable priced vet care but due to lack of funds last summer it closed so we are no longer able to have our pets fixed at the SPCA. I decided to call and see what it was about but found out it was for low-income families and even though I'm only making 60% of my salary being out of work, I still make too much to qualify. Are you kidding me?? It's not like I'm rolling in the cash over here. I live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings account!

While I was on the intranet looking up her symptoms I thought I'd see if there were any programs available and I actually found one! FriendofAnimals.org offers discounted certificates to get your pet spayed or neutered. The cost of a female cat was only $65!! The way it works is you order and pay for the certificate online and once you get it in the mail you can call a vet from their list of participating vets and make an appointment to have your pet taken care of. I checked out the list and found a vet on there that was approx 20-30 minutes away... hey if it's gonna save me over $550, I'll take the drive!

So I have a solution to my problem however there is a few hick-ups. I don't' get payed till June 2ND so I won't be able to order the certificate till then. Then I have to wait for the certificate to come in the mail, hopefully this won't take long. Then last but not least, they won't fix a cat that's already in heat so you have to wait till between cycles. I'm really praying and hoping the whole process doesn't take more than a month!

SILLY MIA

Another Relaxing day at home!!

MIA 5-22

As you can all see Mia is adjusting nicely. Today she was out in the living room with me most of the day. This morning when I woke up I found her curled up in my big comfy chair. She let me walk right up to her and pet her. Usually she won't let you get too close. You have to catch her but once you have her she's real calm and lets me pet her and brush her.

This afternoon Mia found the cat grass plant I placed in the window. She sat there for hours nibbling and watching birds.

After she was done bird watching it was nap time again. Back to the big comfy chair she went. Look at this pose... Talk about being relaxed!!

This evening I sprinkled a little catnip on her boa and Mia played and played until she passed out!

MIA UPDATE 5-21

Well I'm happy to report that Mia is doing great. She ate a whole can of wet food last night which is excellent. I have placed a bowl of dry food down that I leave down all the time and yesterday morning I opened a can of wet food and finally around 7:00 last night she gave in and licked the bowl clean! Mia is coming out more and more and loves to be petted(if you can catch her hahaha). I think in a few weeks she's gonna be an amazing friend. As you can tell from the photos below I went out and bought her some toys to try to get her to come out of her shell. Mia went crazy and rolled all over the living room for a good while. What till she finds the Cat Grass Plant I bought her that I set in the window. I'm sure she'll love it!

MIA

INTRODUCING

MIA!

Her first night went well. For the first four hours she pretty much hid under the bed. Came out a few times to sniff around but as soon as she caught me looking at her, she would take off back under the bed. Around 11pm last night I heard her go into the litter box... Phew at least she knows where that is already. Once I went to bed I heard Mia come out from under the bed and go to the box again!

When I woke up this morning I couldn't find her at first but eventually saw her behind the couch. She let me pick her up and brush her. She was shedding like crazy when I got her and being allergic to cats I want to try to keep this under control. The allergies don't' bother me that bad unless the fur is flying around the house so I'll just keep up on it and I'll be fine. Currently she is sitting in the window watching the birds. I'm a little worried cuz she hasn't eaten yet but I did place her by her food so she does know where it is. I'm hoping by this evening she'll go over and eat some!

MY NEW FURRY FRIEND

I'm so excited, I got a new kitty today!

As many of you know my cat Olivia passed away in March 07 after eating some of that bad pet food. It shut her kidneys down and she lost an incredible amount of weight in just two weeks. The vet said unfortunately there was nothing they could do and I lost my dear friend of ten years.

I was very upset and wasn't sure if I ever wanted another kitty. Living alone though, a kitty is the perfect companion for me. A few months ago I started having the urge to get another one. I started looking at the MSPCA websites trying to decided once and for all if I wanted another or not. I'm very afraid of getting a "bad" kitty. I don't want one that will destroy my house or pee outside the litter box. My Olivia was so good that she always used her litter box until the very end when she had little control. That experience of cleaning up cat urine(although it only happened 3 times) is awful. The smell never really comes out no matter what product you use. I ended up throwing away sheets, bedspreads, and pillows uugghhhh!

Today when I was checking the mail I noticed a sign hanging on the bulletin board above stating free kitten to good home. I thought about it for ten minutes and decided I would just stop by and have a look at her. Of course I fell in love immediately(although I didn't tell the woman that). She said that times were tight and feeding two cats was expensive. Their other cat is older and the kitten is about a year. Also her and her husband go to school and work full time so they were afraid the kitten wasn't getting enough human attention and was withdrawing some. They wanted to find her a home where she would get lots of attention. Perfect for me, being out of work I'm home all the time and when I do go back I'll only be gone for 9-10 hours a day versus the 16 hours they're gone everyday. I told her to give me a few days to think about it and I'd let her know either way.

Before I even got back to my apartment I had made up my mind that I wanted her. I grabbed my purse and headed to the store to get litter pan, food, bowls, brush, and poop scooper. I was so excited to get home and get it all set up. By this time about 3 hours had gone by so I decided I would call the woman and tell her I wanted her. The woman called me back right away and told me to come on down and get her. This time I got to meet the husband too. They were a super nice couple and I could tell they were concerned about her and wanted to make sure she got a good home. I told them to stop by and visit her anytime. I brought Mia(they named her but I like it!) home and placed her in her litter box right away so she would know where it was. She got a little scared and took off under the bed. I placed some food down hoping she would come out, I didn't want to go after her and scare her more. So far Mia's come out a few times and sniffed her litter box and food and then ventured into the living room and explored around but then ran back under the bed. I sure in time she'll be fine. Yeah I have a new furry friend!! I'll post a picture as soon as she'll let me take one.

So Welcome Home Mia!!!

I know you and I are gonna be great friends!