Happy Halloween!

It's a quiet night around this house - it's been a long day, my head hurts and I'm just pooped out. Dominika and I had this whole thing planned for tonight while we were going to hand out candy, but we're both just not feeling up to it. Our original plan was to dress up as white gangsta's and essentially make complete fools of ourselves but have a good time doing it. It seems as though Halloween has snuck up on us - we didn't carve any pumpkins - Dominika just happened to have a pumpkin that one of her students carved for her that we stuck out on our front steps, but that is the extent of our festivity. Perhaps next year will be better. Tonight my evening will consist of playing with my new camera, putting together a puzzle and curling up on the couch to watch some good quality television while perhaps munching on some Halloween candy.

This next little tidbit is more on the sad and disturbing side, so animal lovers read with caution.

Last night when I got home from work at 9pm I had no idea what I was up against for the next 2 hours or so. My parents were getting their ducts cleaned yesterday and that required doors in the house to remain open for a good 6 hours. We have a dog and a cat - particularly a cat who loves to escape at any given chance. It is not unusual for him to wander the yard and the back lane and usually comes back to the house every hour or so to check up. Yesterday however, nobody saw him from 9:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night when he had come to the back door with a painful meow. At first we even questioned if it was Kitty as this cat looked quite dishevelled. It was Kitty, but something was off about him. At a closer look we discovered that he had been hurt - his stomach was bleeding, but he wouldn't let us check out the extent of his injuries, but we knew that they were quite bad. Kevin and I rushed him off to the vet where we discovered that Kitty had been in a cruel fight with some animal that had done a fair bit of damage to him. Poor Kitty. I'm not an avid animal lover but I do happen to like my own and I felt awful that Kitty had been hurt so bad. The vet was able to look at him right away and it turned out that the cut we had thought was going across his belly was instead going lengthwise up his entire body - approximately 8 inches. Thankfully his abdominal cavity had not been opened, but he was going to need surgery and LOTS of morphine. I have never seen something quite so awful in a very long time. The emergency animal hospital was great - they did the surgery that night and called us at 1am to let us know that Kitty had done very well and that he was going to make a full recovery all for the low price of $1200. You might be thinking we are crazy for paying that much for a cat, but it's Kevin's cat and he loves him very much. Kevin and I talked at the vet and debated whether or not it was worth it, but the vet assured us that this would be a one time cost and that Kitty would make a full and complete recovery. Kevin was willing to pay the money, so that was that. By 11pm Kevin and I were home in bed and Kitty was getting fixed up. We were amazed and slightly appalled that a cat receives better treatment at a hospital in comparison to people. Kind of sad! We're not sure what exactly happened to Kitty, but the vet thought the tooth marks on his body resembled that of a dog, but it could also be another type of animal. Only Kitty knows for sure.

Kitty came home today and is fairly groggy and slow moving - not his typical self but he will be in a few days. He is no longer going to be an "outside" cat but rather an inside only cat

This is Kitty sporting his new looks - I feel so bad that he is in so much pain. Never did I think I would get this attached to a cat, but I did!

To end off on a happier note, I got a very special present today from my parents: My Camera! It was a grad gift from my parents and it finally came after a long wait. I'm pumped to start using it and I anticipate lots of picture taking in the weeks and months to come. Amber, we'll have to get together sometime after the baby is born to "play around".