Pretty Bike and Nice Weather

All through Kyle's growing interest and desire to get a motorcycle, I was quite unsure and worried. But I have to admit, it is pretty cool, and he couldn't have found a more perfect bike. It just suits him (and us, really) so well, the color and style. I'm really glad that he found something so perfect for him, and right at the perfect time too. It is a very pretty bike. He rode it to and from work for the first time on Friday, and parked right in front of the house when he got back, so I took some more pictures.

We haven't made much progress on finding me a jacket yet, and we haven't bought boots yet, but once we have all my protective gear, I'll be excited to take a ride on the bike. :) The weather was beautiful this weekend and I wished we could go on a ride together. Kyle taught me how to start it up, and I've been learning a little bit about motorcycles here and there (hard not to, as that is what he talks about most of the time). Kyle not-so-secretly wishes for me to learn to ride and wants to buy me a bike too. Uhm...

But for now, Kyle will be the one doing all the riding.

Darwin is Back!

I got a call from the vet this morning, and I was expecting to be told what was discovered during Darwin's surgery, but instead was told that she had eaten most of her food, used the bathroom, and was up at the front of her cage, waiting to go home. So I went to go get her! Of course, we still don't know about what was stuck inside her, and if she continues getting sick we will have to bring her back, and they will do the surgery. I was also given some special wet food to  feed her for the next several days, to help her digestion, but otherwise no medication. She has been home since about nine this morning, and has been eating and acting pretty normal, though grumbling and hissing at Huxley more than usual (I don't know why she decided she didn't like him once we moved here), and drooling occasionally. I've been trying to clean up her backside without her getting too upset, but we may have to attempt a bath this evening, as she is not the most sweet-smelling cat at the moment. The vet will call to check in tomorrow morning; hopefully we won't see any signs of trouble. But for now she is curled on my lap, napping with her head in my arm.

 not gonna put it away just yet...

Update on Darwin

Hux smells his sister on my shirt...

We just got back from visiting D at the vet hospital. The doctor, Dr. Gudgel, was really nice and let us come visit after our phone call, even though they are closed on Sunday. It was wonderful to see her, but sad seeing her in such a sickened state with an IV in her shaved leg. She was a bit of a mess from having an enema in the morning and throwing up again, but she was very happy to see us and I didn't mind one bit having to change my shirt afterwards (also Hux went crazy when I got home; he definitely smelled his sis all over me). The vet is going to see how she is in the morning, but as of now his plan is to do an exploratory surgery early in the morning, to see what exactly that "something" inside of her is. It is staying in one spot, and he said it could be a tumor, inflamed lymph, or a foreign object, but from any scans they can't tell. Whatever it is, she hasn't really been eating still. She is a tough little kitty though, and aside from being sad to be stuck at the vet and not at home with us, she seemed to be doing alright, still alert and strong. It made me feel better being able to see her. Hopefully we can bring her home soon, healthy and happy. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and concern!

Instagram the Week

weekend pancake breakfast, his and hers

handsome new green shirt

feet

Gomez!

puff pancake with apples

Hux

dotty dress on a sunny day

ingredients

lemon puff pancake (Feb 28th was National Pancake Day, who knew. seems like it was pancake week around here...)

horizontal and vertical stripes

kitty shirt :)

Kyle's bags back from Iraq finally

I got Hux some more of his favorite toys. If you notice he is attacking my hand as I'm holding these. He likes them that much, he would bite the hand that feeds him.

sometimes I eat a bowl of green beans and watch Jimmy Fallon

sick Darwin :(

healthy Huxley

nails are dark purple; I've never gone dark before

Kyle arrived home from work

a little backyard barefoot blogging. we've got some weeds

Hux napping on camo

making a salad

Oh, and I will be posting my #marchphotoaday pictures on my facebook page each day!

Darwin is staying at the veterinary hospital for the weekend. They're going to give her a fluid IV and liquefied food and see how that goes. They didn't want to send her home and have things get worse over the weekend. 

Sick Kitty

resting after a trip to the vet and a bunch of shots

Poor little Darwin is sick. She threw up Wednesday morning once, and was fine the rest of the day. Thursday early morning she was throwing up more, didn't eat or drink much through the day, and was sick again in the afternoon. Luckily Kyle got home from work early, a bit after three, so we were able to get her to the Temple Veterinary Hospital yesterday. She had a fever and the vet felt something hard in her intestines; maybe she had swallowed something she wasn't supposed to (though that is more like something Hux would do). As it was later in the day, he couldn't do an X-ray then, but gave her three shots (antibiotics, one for the fever, one for the vomiting) and instructed we bring her back in the morning for the X-ray. We got her home and she started drooling like crazy (like a slobbery saint bernard or something). She seemed confused herself, swatting at her drool, whiskers and nose soaked, dripping on everything (sorry for the visual). So I called the vet to check she wasn't reacting poorly to the medicine or anything. He said it was just her vomiting working its way out and the medicine kicking in. She stopped after a while, and ate and drank a little. Poor sweet D.

a little bit scared at the vet

Today I took her in to the vet at 8am for the X-ray. I was expecting them to call after a few hours at most, as I was pretty sure they said it'd be a few hours, but fast forward to 4 in the afternoon and I still hadn't heard anything (and been resisting the urge to call them since about 1). So I called and was told that the vet hadn't even looked at her X-ray yet. ... The vet called back half an hour later. To summarize: the X-ray didn't give any answers as to what might be causing the block in her intestine, they did something called a barium swallow that is therapeutic and like pepto bismol and found that there is an area in the intestine it is not passing through, they had a crazy day are going to keep her overnight and X-ray again in the morning and see if anything has changed, and go from there. She doesn't get any food tonight in case they have to explore or do surgery tomorrow. I said OK a bunch of times and then I cried. I do not like this.

March

It is March! 

I love the Instagram app on my iphone (love love love), and this month I will participating in the March photo a day "challenge" via Fat Mum Slim. It should be fun. I will either post them here week to week, or all at the end of the month. Or you can follow me on Instagram/twitter @mrssmcp for daily updates. I will also post them on my facebook page. 

What else this month?

Oh, a little thing called our first anniversary is next Wednesday! woohoo! IHOP here we come. That is the extent of our plans so far. 

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I may be hearing some more grad school news, and making some decisions.

THREE months until the wedding. Three months. Three, guys.

I will be sending out invitations!

I'd like to take a trip to Austin, to check out UT's MSW program and meet with some folks.

Pi Day. A great day in 9th grade geometry class. I might have to make a pie this year... 

It is probably going to turn into summer here. I have a horrible feeling. Too soon, Texas. I am not ready. 

More dishes to try:

tabasco and asparagus quinoa

pork chops with garlic and red wine

cranberry scones

I would also like to try a Shamrock Shake, as I have never had one before, and it seems this time of year they are a "thing."

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And there was talk of going to Austin for St. Patrick's Day. It is on a Saturday...And a great holiday for maybe wearing my military ball shoes :)

I am going a little bit crazy being at home all day during the week, no vehicle to even run out for groceries or  anything, nobody to talk to but the kittens. And they're cute but not very chatty. I'm not one who is good at not being busy for long, and I'm really feeling it now. I'm trying to appreciate free time though, before work and school starts up. Luckily, Kyle got his motorcycle license figured out the other day, and parts are on the way to attach to his bike so that he can carry things he needs to get back and forth to the base.

D was a bit pukey this morning, so there may be a trip to the vet in the future. I'll keep an eye on her...

Wednesday Wedding: Invitations

I wasn't sure what to do for WW this week, but since invites have become my main priority for the last week, I thought why not write about what I know and what I've been working on.

I found my invitations months ago, as I got my Save the Dates to match, and those were sent out in October. I wanted my invitations to be fairly simple, formal, and still fun. I am pretty particular about how such things look, what fonts are used and colors, and Wedding Paper Divas have made the process quite simple and customizable (though they couldn't quite make my first plan happen, unfortunately). Since we're not actually getting married, and we already have the same last name, I had to alter the text from what you would typically see on an invitation. It would look kind of weird to see "Sarah McPherson and Kyle McPherson invite you to blah blah etc..." At least I think so. I finally ordered the invitations yesterday; they will make them according to changes I've requested (like colors), and email the proofs to me to check over before they print out 90 copies and mail them to me.

Our Save the Date, on our fridge, you know, so we don't forget when it is.

and some screen shots from WPD

It's not a big secret what my invites/save the dates look like, so I don't mind sharing some photos, and there are some changes I've made. I've personalized and ordered the invitations, response cards, and information cards. We will just need to include a little slip with information our registry, which we have yet to create. The invites will go out mid-March, if all goes as planned!

Anyway, that's my invitation experience, pretty painless so far! *knock on wood* I will probably do another post on the invitations once they are all mailed out and I start to get RSVP cards back :)

I also just found this awesomely simple idea for some decor. I was planning on having striped straws at the wedding anyway (see the invite?), and this garland would be so simple to make. I found it via Studio DIY. Hooray crafts!

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Pancake Day

Aside from it being the kittens' birthday, today is National Pancake Day, so I discovered thanks to facebook. They are giving away free pancakes at our favorite place, IHOP, but we're due to go for our anniversary next week. I decided though, to attempt another puffed pancake, this time with lemon! This sounds like a good idea, and generally was, but I was the only one home at the time, and those things are big, too big to be completed by one person alone. And you can imagine they don't save well. So, some of it went to waste. But it was delicious! All you do is sprinkle a lemon all about, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Better than the apple one I made the other day (though I believe that with some experimentation, the apple recipe can be perfected). The lemon, however...definitely a winner. Just make sure you have someone to share it with. :)