random photos--

yup, I'm still here-- just haven't been taking very many photos lately! Here's a couple from the last few weeks...

Butters, soaking up some sun on the patio.

It's gotten a bit cooler out, now that fall is here-- we can finally leave the sliding glass door open so that we (and the pets) can relax on the patio and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. When I lived in the Midwest, I would wait forever (it seemed, like it, anyway) for spring to arrive so I could enjoy the outdoors... now here in Arizona, I wait for fall, for the same reason!

random self-portrait-- do you know how difficult it is to get a
decent picture of the back of your own head? it's hard to do!

I've been letting my hair grow out now for most of the summer (not a smart time to grow your hair out here in AZ, but I had to go through the summer with longer hair sometime, I guess). This photo was from a few weeks ago; I think I took it because it's finally long enough to pull back with a clip (so I can get it out of my face- and off my neck- if I need to). And, bonus: even with how thick and heavy my hair is, the curl is staying! My goal is for it to be to the middle of my back; we'll see how much longer that takes... I'd love to be able to braid it, eventually. (Mom, do you remember braiding my hair when I was little?? I seem to remember you'd pull it really tight- lol!)

Butters, waiting for a belly skritch...

This picture is from just yesterday; Butters looks  slightly goofy here because she just got a bit of a haircut, so now she can air out her belly! The haircut wasn't by choice, exactly, but I had to take her to the specialty vet on Friday for an ultrasound, and they needed to shave her belly to perform the test (she did really good during the ultrasound, too- they didn't have to sedate her at all). She's been having some health problems for quite a while now; she's been losing weight, and also has been peeing on the floor (which we've come to learn is the universal cat signal for 'hey, something's wrong here because it hurts to use the litter box') for a couple months, so we've been trying to figure out what's going on. 

We thought it might have been kidney disease (which is what Pandora had), but the blood tests really didn't show that. The ultrasound showed it pretty clearly, though; she has bladder stones, which is a 'concretion' of sandy grit made up of of minerals and crystals, that moves around and is scratching the inside of her bladder-- no wonder it hurts her to pee! Now, we just have to wait to find out when she can have surgery to remove it, and what changes (if any) we'll have to make to her diet to avoid a recurrence.

I went estate sale-ing this past Saturday (hit a thrift store, too), and found some more cool things-- I'll post pictures soon!