Reprieve!

This weekend I got to escape the House O' Scorpion and head to my parents' lake house with two of my really good friends. I will admit, before leaving, I washed all of my bedding and then remade my bed- except for my pillowcases. I folded those neatly and sealed them in Ziplock bags. You know, so that nothing could move into them over the weekend while I was gone.

Brief aside, I am SERIOUSLY considering buying something like this to hang from my ceiling. When did my bedroom turn into the rainforest??

Anyway, the lake was lovely. What I did not anticipate, however, was bringing this with me:

Making himself at home.

Due to our scorpion problem, our landlords had the exterminator out Friday, right at the time I was supposed to head to the lake. As I didn't want Ramses in the house with the chemicals, he got to come with me. Have cat, will travel.

The dogs came too, of course. They seem to enjoy being at the lake house- there are lots of deer to bark/spook at, after all- and I'm sure they appreciated their mom not being a nervous wreck for a couple of days.

"Ready? And, turn!"

They did not like, however, the sound of the water lapping at walls of the dock. While the rich people with houses right on the water looked on from their lawn chairs, I took my two scaredy-cats down to water-level to see how they would react. The Corgi, after running away from each wave that came in, tentatively strode out about ankle-deep (aka not at all deep) and decided she might like the lake after all. The water dog? Couldn't even get near the waves. He stood back and stared at the spectators with a look that clearly said, "If you come and save me now, I'll be your dog forever."

Fortunately for him, we didn't stay too long, so he didn't have to rehome himself.

As my parent's lake house is in a small, East Texas town, there really was not much to do- which was great. We sampled the local cuisine by going to 2 of their 5 or so restaurants- Bubba's Too and Smokin' Gun BBQ- and found the best and worst of small town eats. We went to Bubba's on Friday night, and we got there about an hour before they closed. They had run out of fettucini alfredo, and, when I asked about the salad bar that came with two of our meals, had apparently already shut down the salad bar. No exchanges were offered; no quick salads from the kitchen either. They then brought out our food, which was very good- however, the chicken fried steak I had ordered turned out to be chicken fried chicken on the plate. I figured that after the salad bar incident there was no way I would be getting the steak- at least, not without some form of spit on it- so I happily ate the chicken. The waitress was... interesting (we dubbed her Werepanther Chrystel after the True Blood character that shared her likeness). At one point she asked us if we were on something. I guess the good folks of that town aren't used to the crazed giddyness that comes with the start of each weekend?

Smokin' Gun BBQ was excellent- so much so that we went back a second time (and were recognized for doing so). The chopped beef sandwich was great, but the chopped beef baked potato was even better- and huge. One of my friends got a slice of strawberry cake that was literally the size of Texas. We joked that, in the event of us all quitting work and staying at the lake house for a while, we'd probably have enough cake to live off of for a week or so.

All in all it was a lovely weekend. And it was definitely nice to sleep in a bed without worrying (much) about scorpions becoming entangled in my clothing while I slept, awakening me only by stinging me repeatedly (my new fear).

Today it's back to the grindstone- and on maybe 3 hours of sleep. I did finally attempt to sleep in my bed again for the first time since Tuesday, but I woke up every 30 minutes or so- sometimes gradually, sometimes by immediately sitting up in bed and brushing at myself frantically. I'm seriously considering going to bed as soon as I get home from work and sleeping until about 9- when it's dark and scorpion activity increases- and then, I don't know. Taking up late night tv watching for the rest of the night. As I am unable to ride right now due to doctor's orders, it could work out for a little while. Maybe until the first cold snap- in 4 months or so.

Yeesh.

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I'm not sure what this makes me, but...

I slept in my truck last night.

It was very uncomfortable. I lamented the fact that the driver and passenger's seats have little cushion-y sides on them, rather than the whole bench seat being flat. It was hot, and I had to crack the windows, exposing myself to any flying insects that found the sliver of an opening. I could only lay on my stomach to accommodate the shape of the seats, and I had to fold my legs in a diamond shape.

And yet...

Once I fell asleep, I stayed asleep. I did not wake up numerous times in a panic, thinking there was a scorpion on me. The peace of mind sleeping outside in the truck gave me over having to sleep in the "infested" house was worth it.

I woke up very appreciative of my truck and the safety it afforded me... which is still a better love story than Twilight.

Sorry, that only felt right.

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Wherein Kristin loses her mind and moves into the middle of the ocean...

If you read my post yesterday, you will recall that I opened my eyes to find a scorpion making its way across my pillow towards my face. I can think of better ways to start my day, for sure. Like, waking up to find it's 10:00 AM and I've overslept 3 and a half hours before a job interview. Or, inversely, waking up thinking I have 3 hours to still sleep only to discover I beat my alarm by 3 minutes. At least those scenarios, while frustrating, aren't so traumatizing that I can NO LONGER SLEEP EVER AGAIN.

The first half of yesterday was fine, in spite of the drag having an adrenaline rush so early in the morning leaves on you. I had 9 whole hours I could get away from the house and not worry about scorpions! Well, minus the time I spent yesterday slapping at myself every time my hair or shirt tag brushed my skin. Which was probably the equivalent of about 3 hours.

As the day progressed, however, so did the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I had to go back into the house. I had to somehow sleep in the house. How in the world was I going to manage?

Fortunately, I was spared from some of my usual Wednesday evening time in the house by going to a painting class, where I painted this:

You lush.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, considering I haven't painted anything since probably 3rd grade.

I also ironically drank some wine while painting wine, so heading home, the scorpion thing didn't seem like such a bad deal.

Until I got home. And there, looming in a deceptively comfortable looking state, sat my bed. Calling to me. Beckoning to me. "Sleeeeep. SLEEEEP!".

I wasn't having it, however. I got ready for bed, which didn't consist of much considering I slept fully dressed, turned out the light in my room, and peaced out. Romeo slept in there on his dog bed, as he is a brave boy, but Fiona, Ramses and I stayed in the living room.

I turned the lamp and Christmas lights that are still strung up in the living room (like a coupla rednecks) on, along with the tv, and sat down and played solitaire. Over. And over. Trying to tick away the nighttime hours, when scorpions are most active. But then, alas, my phone started dying, so I had to go plug it in and then go back to the couch, where I just stared at it for a few minutes. Finally, I gingerly picked up all of the blankets that were draped over it and moved them across the room, then went through all of the cushions, one-by-one. I found some forgotten cheerios, but no creepy-crawlies. I then looked over the sides, back and front of the couch, and the space around it. Nothing. So, I carefully laid down in the fetal position. I was up and down for a little while, from the tingly sensations washing over my skin that felt like little segmented feet, but I finally chilled out and kind of dozed off sometime after 12.

BUT THEN THERE WAS A SCORPION CRAWLING UP MY CHEST AND...! I jerked straight up, breathing fast and hard, only to find no scorpion. Apparently my cruel subconscious dreamed it was running up my body. After my heart finally slowed from its frantic tempo, I got up to check the time. 4:00 AM. I threw a small tantrum that it wasn't time to get up yet, and, after checking the cushions again, laid back down again. I noted that the tv was playing an episode of Law and Order with my favorite agents (Detectives Goren and Eames), which apparently comforted me enough that I could drift back to sleep. I guess I figured that at least if I died by scorpion sting, they'd be around to make notes and give my last regards to my family. Or something.

And I think I managed to stay asleep until a little before 6:30, when my mind reminded me that was the time yesterday the scorpion decided to drop in on me. I figured I could call the night a success as I had seen no actual scorpions, got up, and got ready for work.

But now I am SO exhausted. In fact, I wore my glasses today so I could take a nap at lunch in my relatively safe office. Is this my life now? Until winter hits in January, I'm not sure I'll be able to feel safe in my bed, let alone my house. I at least get to spend the weekend with some friends at the lake house, but I have another long night between now and then. I'm just hoping I can make it to the house without falling asleep at the wheel tomorrow evening.

I know I'm obsessing, but scorpions are my biggest literal fear (only behind my biggest figurative fear, zombies), and waking up with one has not been a kind experience for me. Or it, I guess, since it's no longer with us.

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Sixth Sense...?

This morning, around 6:30, I awoke to the sound of my cat doing something on the floor at the foot of my bed. I have a lot of papers right there, and it sounded like he was chasing something through them. So I turned on the light, got out of bed, and grabbed a flashlight to look for intruders of the barbed-tail kind.

He was hitting the bed where the blanket is tucked under the mattress, and he was holding his paw in the air, like he had been stung. I CAREFULLY looked through the blanket and under the bed with my flashlight, not finding anything. I looked around the papers that were scattered, as well. A cap that had been sitting in the area had been knocked under the bed, so I carefully fished it out and looked it over.

After finding nothing, and because I was still very sleepy, I shook my blanket out (just in case) and [foolishly] laid back down, turning off my lights. I thought that maybe Ramses was just playing with one of his mouse toys, and that's what all the ruckus was. I couldn't shake, however, the feeling that there was something in my bed. I felt like there was something crawling on me. I sat up again, turned on my lamp, got out of bed, and checked myself out in the mirror in the bathroom. Still, nothing. I went and laid back down again, feeling very drowsy. This time, however, I left my lamp on.

I can't tell you how long I laid there afterwards. Maybe 3 minutes? I had the blanket wrapped around my arms and shoulders. Suddenly, my eyes shot open, and all I saw was something brown walking on my pillow towards my face, probably about 3 inches away. I shrieked, swung my blanketed arm at it, knocking it away, and leaped out of bed. Somehow I managed to grab my glasses in the process. I screamed probably 5 more times, for good measure, then went and stood in my bathroom, shaking and hyperventilating. About 30 seconds later, my roommate was at my door, asking if I was ok. I think I said no. She came in and just said, "Where is it?". I said I didn't know, I had knocked it off my pillow. She went and grabbed a shoe, and I shook myself out, making sure it wasn't in my hair. I heard her come back in my room and start smacking the floor, so I walked back out to find a pretty big scorpion crushed on my floor. At this point, I was pretty numb, just kind of passively observing. She scraped it up with a dust pan and took it outside while I cleaned the spot it had left on the floor.

Scorpions have long since passed spiders as being my #1 fear, ever since I found the first few in my house about a year ago. Last summer, while I was living alone, I found one on a shirt I was about to pack into a suitcase. I wish that was the extent of my experience with them.

Sunday, I picked up a pile of towels off my floor to go dump them into the washing machine. I was walking through the kitchen when I suddenly felt a pretty intense prick on my back. My roommate was standing there, so I asked her if there was something on me, because I felt like I had been bit. My hair was down, so she had to move it to the side, meaning she didn't see the large, hair-colored scorpion on my back between my shoulder blades at first. "Don't move. Seriously don't move." I knew then what it was. I apparently balled my hands into fists so hard that I broke the skin of my palms with my nails and didn't realize it. She knocked it off my back with a towel and told me to get out of there, so I ran, flailing (as I am wont to do), and lost my glasses in the process. As I stood there, blind, apparently the scorpion followed me across the floor (but thankfully not up my leg), because she killed it about a foot and a half from where I was standing. Oddly, aside from feeling like a very intense mosquito bite for about 15 seconds, I didn't have any other painful sensations from being stung. A red welt came up on my skin but went away shortly after. I did take a benadryl maybe 5 - 10 minutes after being stung, so maybe that's why I didn't have much of a reaction, but I feel like I got off easy- everyone I've talked to has described being stung by these guys as feeling like someone lit a match under your skin. Some people have numbness and tingling, and apparently temporary paralysis is not uncommon as they unleash a neurotoxin. I'm wondering if it accidentally brushed me, which someone said no way, or if it kind of missed. Apparently they have two kinds of venom- one for killing their prey and one for warning predators off- so maybe I just got the warning venom. Either way, I'm afraid that next time (which I hope there isn't one) I get stung, it will be unexpectedly horrible.

Both of these guys have been big, adult scorpions. After this morning, I feel like I'm being targeted. I thought with my animals sleeping in the bed with me they would avoid me, because, you know, dogs and cats seem like predators of scorpions. But apparently not. I have no idea how I'm going to sleep tonight. Probably very lightly.

Apologies for not having pictures, but I am not the kind to sit still while there is a deadly insect on me/walking toward my face. As it is, I'm sitting in my desk at work whacking myself at every little tingling sensation on my skin.

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You're like coming home!

~me, getting into my English saddle for the first time in months!

Finally, after weeks of waiting for 1) good weather 2) Sienna's feet to grow out 3) my knee to have a good day 4) just plain free time, the planets aligned and I was able to try Sienna out English. I think she makes a cute hunter pony:

In addition to throwing a new saddle and closer contact riding at her, I decided to go ahead and throw a new bit and bridle at her, too. Why not overload the circuit board on the first day? She was a little unsure about the bit at first, but otherwise, she handled it like a champ.

We did lots of trotting out, figure eights, and worked on getting on the bit. I think she likes the freedom that comes from a less bulky English saddle, and, on my end of it, I think the closer contact was easier for her to understand. The second time we rode English, I asked for the canter, and it was so pleasant I didn't know what to do with myself. I stopped with the circles and let her navigate my perilous backyard, full of fencing, pipes from the underground tank, and trees. And we cantered through it all, no problem, stopping immediately upon my "whoa". Apparently it was more than my roommate's foal could handle, as she took off and ran around the pasture in a frenzied fashion for about 10 minutes, but Sienna didn't care at all. I think she's just so lazy that the thought of being stirred up by the crazed baby didn't even cross her mind.

As Sienna was listening so well, I decided to go out for a "hack" down my road. We had to stop briefly and eyeball a road sign that signified a sharp turn ahead, but then I asked her to go around it, and she was like "sure thing". We went up and down the embankment several times without issues. On our way back home, a rabbit ran out in front of us, and I locked up like I did with the deer from several posts back. Sienna didn't bat an eyelash. She definitely saw it, but the only one that jumped was me- and I don't think she even noticed that.

Man I wish Chica was sound so I could force someone to go trail riding with us!

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Money money money money... MONEY!

Own animals, and at some point or another, you will probably have a medical emergency. Or several. At the same time.

I balk at taking myself to the doctor when I'm sick. "I don't want to pay the $35 co-pay! I'll just take an Advil and hope for the best." But when something happens to one of my animals, to the vet we go.

Ramses had been acting for the last 2 weeks like he was trying to start up another bladder infection. He had been licking his genital area repeatedly, but his urine production was normal, and he wasn't in and out of the litter box like last time. I had been monitoring his output like a crazy person, and I was just starting to think we had nipped it in the bud, when Wednesday, it decreased exponentially. That evening, it was down to a trickle.

I took him to the vet the next morning, and they did an urinalysis, which came back saying he had a bladder infection and crystals in his urine. They decided to keep him for the day to see if his output would increase, to make sure his urethra wasn't blocked- a life-threatening emergency that can and will end in a painful, horrible death if not treated. Basically, the urine backs up in the bladder, which can result in severe kidney failure*.

They sent him home with me yesterday evening and told me he had not urinated all day, so I needed to watch him. If he still hadn't urinated by morning, I needed to bring him back in.

I brought him home and set him up in my bathroom. Several times he got in and out of the litter box- nothing. Not even a drop. He was also walking a little funny. Otherwise, he ate a little, he drank some, he rubbed on my legs, he played with some toys, he climbed into a plastic bag, and he laid next to me, purring. But the no urine thing was making me more and more nervous. Finally, I called my vet's emergency number.

He told me he would meet me at the clinic at 10:15 that night, and he would probably have to catheterize Ramses. Fortunately, he said he would not charge me the emergency fee. I dropped Ramses off and gave him lots of loving (and apologies for having to leave him). The vet called me right before 11 last night to let me know that he had gotten the catheter in with no problem and he would call me with an update in the morning.

I called first thing when the clinic opened to see how Ramses had passed the night. They said he was doing well, and I could come visit him if I wanted. I went on my lunch break to see how my little boy was doing.

Not a happy camper with his IV and catheter

When we went back and the tech first opened the cage, he hunkered down, not wanting to be touched or messed with anymore. But when I said, "Ramses", his head shot up, his eyes met mine and lit up, and he started purring and kneading his paws from the moment I started scratching his head. He spent our entire visit purring and rubbing on me. It made me feel happy for myself, but I felt so bad when I had to stand up, shut the cage, and leave to go back to work. I probably cried the whole way. Due to his catheter leaking, his underside was damp and soiled, as was the towel he was laying on, so I had some techs get him a new, dry towel so that he would be more comfortable. The vet found me and told me that Ramses had been blocked, but there was no blood in the bladder, so it was caught early, which I am very thankful for. He said they will probably take the catheter out tomorrow morning, and then Ramses can hopefully come home Monday.

I miss my cuddlebug so much. This weekend won't be the same without him. But I am so grateful that he is doing better. I feel like God has really showed me how much He loves me through this experience- especially with the "Don't worry. Just smile." billboard I suddenly noticed on my way back from visiting Ramses, while I was thanking God for taking care of him.

*Unfortunately for me and everyone else who has a male cat, urethra blockage is very prevalent in male cats, who have very tiny urethras. Female cats' urethras are larger in diameter, meaning crystals and other things that don't belong in the urine can pass through safely. Crystals form in urine that is not at the correct neutral pH- struvite crystals form in alkaline urine, and oxalate crystals form in acidic urine. Ramses had struvite crystals in his urine. One way to combat this problem is to make sure your cat gets PLENTY of water so that his urinary tract is continually flushing out. Cats do not have a good thirst response and therefore do not get the water intake they need from just drinking. Adding canned food to your cat's diet helps him to get the water that he needs while he is eating. Plus, a lot of cats think they are receiving a special treat whenever canned food is offered! Ramses will now have to be on a prescription diet for the rest of his life that helps prevent crystals from forming- there's a dry food and a canned food- but paying for that is better than paying an emergency vet bill to get him unblocked again!

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Eek!

Fiona earned her keep the other night.

My roommate and I were sitting on the couch watching tv. I was eating dinner and therefore not really paying attention to anything going on around me. Meanwhile, my roommate noticed that Fiona kept staring at her. She did the whole is-she-looking-at-me glance a couple of times, then finally realized she she was looking slightly over her head. She turned around to look behind her. Here's how it went from my POV:

*roommate turns around, looks right over the top of my head, and INHALES SHARPLY*

I don't know how I managed to keep my food from flying off my plate, but I leapt off the couch, screaming "WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT IS IT??", thinking there was like a hive of wasps landing on my head. Then, I turned around to find this crawling across the curtain right above where I had been sitting:

Safely (?) ensconced in the trash can

With its tail extended (how it was walking), it was about 3" long. I said a few choice words, then yelled "Get a trash can!" and ran for the fly swatter. I was afraid it was going to get to the end of the curtain and abandon ship, and then I'd have to move because I'd know it was hidden in the house somewhere. I don't do scorpions.

Fortunately, we were able to knock it into a small trash can, and then we took it outside. I foolishly tipped the trashcan where I couldn't see it, and it shot out of it faster than we expected- thankfully the opposite way from my foot. She got a few good stomps in and crushed it.

Fiona got lots of extra lovin' that night.

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