TGIfrigginF

This has been kind of a rough week (does it seem I say that a lot lately?).  I feel like a dope saying that, since I realize just how wonderful my life is, even during these "crappy" times.  I've heard enough bad-news-by-proxy (dear friends who have lost a parent, online acquaintances who lost good friends or other family members recently, way too much death just all around) to know that I have little to complain about.  But still, I've been plagued by fatigue and overall crabbiness most of the week, and it's hard to tell how much of it is caused by external events vs how much of the crab-inducing external events are colored by my already foul mood.

Zach thought he was gonna have to go on a business trip sometime in December... as in, during baby-could-come-any-day time.  He's trying to get the trip re-scheduled for November instead (either during Thanksgiving week, which would suck b/c, you know, it's Thanksgiving but at least his parents would be here so I'd get some help, or the week before which would also suck b/c then I'll be 8+ months pregnant and have D to myself for several days).  If the trip still happens in December, he's just not gonna go.  Which then sucks for him work-wise, but is a HUGE relief off my shoulders.

Also, in continuation of Sierra's tooth saga, last night I took her to a cat dental specialist to get a second opinion on her teeth/gums since the vet I saw last month couldn't really tell me anything other than suggest a full cleaning.  This new doctor was able to tell me a lot more (Sierra has pretty severe gingivitis on one tooth which will probably need to be taken out, and the canine with the swollen gum might very well be another resorptive lesion... and there's also extended swelling next to it which she said is odd and could be a cyst or even a tumor. I know, fuck).  There may also be other teeth that are affected, but it'll be hard to tell unless they do x-rays.  So, currently our options are A) do a full dental cleaning, involving anesthesia and probably extracting at least 2 teeth, also x-rays to check her other teeth to see if any others need to come out, and then just wait and see if she has more problems down the road, or B) go ahead and pull ALL her teeth, which would mean no more worries of having to go through this again in another 6 months or year, but cat teeth are also apparently notoriously difficult to extract (especially the bottom ones, as the roots are multi-pronged and tough to get out, and the jaw is so thin anyway so not a while lot of wiggle room and there's risk of breaking the jaw) and so is not exactly a simple solution... though may be needed long-term anyway.

Option A could cost anywhere from $600-$1,300 depending on what all is exactly required when they get in there and which vet go with.  Option B would be about $2,000.

At this point I don't really know what we're going to do.  I relayed all the info to Zach after the appointment, but we haven't talked about it more since then.  I don't think either of us is exactly eager to make a decision one way or the other since, well, DAMN, that's a lot of money.  So for now Sierra's kind of like the elephant in the room at our house.

Also, Nev is going stir-crazy because I'm keeping her inside this week (she's a black cat, it's almost Halloween, I just don't even want to think about it).  So she's spending her days alternating between meowing forlornly at each and every door of the house (even to the garage), and then going and picking fights with Sierra.  Because, clearly, she doesn't have enough to deal with already, what with her defective teeth and all...

In happier news, I'm excited about our Halloween plans for this weekend, and for the costume I think I've pulled together.  There's toddler-friendly stuff going on both tomorrow and Sunday, and we should get to hang out with friends at each event, so yeah that will be nice.  I think the weather's supposed to be pretty good both days, too. And hey! I bought Halloween candy, like, three or four days ago and I haven't eaten ANY of it yet!  That deserves some sort of a medal, doesn't it?

Time for some Tums, tea, and (non-Halloween) chocolate.  'Night, all.