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Archive for May, 2016

The Long Weekend

May 31st, 2016 at 06:03 pm

We tried to push ourselves to be productive this weekend and overall we were. I got the goat house and barn cleaned out, and sold a kid. We cleaned the house, mowed the grass, tidied outside, and even started cleaning out the boxes of junk that have been upstairs since we got married... Nearly 4 years ago.

Right now all three upstairs bedrooms are full of boxes of our old kid stuff, gifts/junk people gave us when we got married, random items we have no idea how they got there, and lots of building supplies, drywall, boards, etc.

Everything needs gone through, sorted, trashed, and organized. So it's a very large job.

It was kind of fun going through our old childhood things and sharing memories with each other. We moved everything into rubbermaid tubs to prevent future damage from the sun, mice, water, etc. We threw away two large trash bags worth of stuff, and only got about half way through one room. (The worst room)

Smidge the runt kitten is doing a lot better. I started using the sponge like several of you suggested, and it worked great! Thanks! After a couple days he stopped accepting the goat milk I was giving him, and seems to be eating well from mama now.

Finally Free!! Goodbye Debt!

May 25th, 2016 at 02:20 pm

Today when I went to make a payment on the computer I realized it would only leave a balance of less than $90... So I just went ahead and paid it off out of my checking account cushion!!!

Woot! All done!

Glad to be back down to one (large) debt. So much easier to focus when I'm not getting pulled so many ways. Now that the computer is gone, focus will be on keeping credit cards down, saving for vacation, and buying supplies for some house projects we have been slacking on. Once I breathe a bit, the LOC should start going down.

Goal 1 out of 5 complete.

Realistically I don't think there is anyway the LOC will actually be paid off this year. But a girl can dream.

Lots of Vet Bills

May 24th, 2016 at 02:40 pm

We are really fighting with the runt kitten to get it to survive. It seems... dumb. It wants to eat, but it can't seem to latch on correctly. It sucks in the wrong spot, or keeps letting go. It also won't latch onto a bottle. So I've been syringe feeding it. It is skin and bones, poor thing. It seems to be a little perkier today, so hoping it will eventually become strong enough to eat on it's own or take a bottle. My husband has named it Smidge.

Last night he nonchalantly said, "It is sure going to be sad to give away Smidge..." I said "NO, don't even think about it!" "Aww. But when you bottle feed you get attached to it."

Sigh. We do not need ANOTHER cat. 3 is enough. I told him if he wants to keep it then we have to find a home for Scrump. Which he doesn't want to do either. And I thought I was the animal enabler. lol.

My favorite goat had a bad hoof problem. I treated it for weeks as per vet instructions, but it wasn't healing properly, so I finally insisted and took her to the vet yesterday. They did minor surgery on it, and she already seems to be feeling better. Thank goodness. I was expecting to spend a couple hundred dollars, but was shocked when the bill was only $50. And that included a full bottle of antibiotic, and a jar of medicine which I can use later. Well worth it!

Got an appointment for the other dog to get her shots on Thursday, just in time to still get the discount. Then hopefully I will be done with vet bills for a while! At least until I have to take Scrump in and get her fixed. Ugh.

Another goat will be going home this weekend. Rather than put the money in the animal fund, I will probably use it to cover some of the vet costs from the past month. That is what the animal fund is for anyway. I still have 6 more kids left to be paid for and picked up, which will more than finish out the animal fund.


These animals are killing me this month. But I have been pretty fortunate really, not had many vet bills at all in several years besides the heart worm treatment, and regular vaccinations. Which is amazing considering I have over 30 pets.

I joke that my spending budget is 90% animals, and 10% junk food... That's probably pretty accurate. lol.

One More Payment and a Heroic Rescue

May 20th, 2016 at 02:24 pm

Computer fund is down to $242.11! Hoping that next check I'll be able to knock it out!

Unfortunately husband's laptop that was purchased with cash at the same time is continuously acting up. It's been sent back twice, and it just seems to get worse and worse. Right now I am in a battle against Dell to get them to refund our money and take it back. It's a piece of junk, and in a couple months the warranty will run out and we'll be stuck with it. If they take it back we will purchase a new, slightly better one for about $200 more. Husband has cash for this.

"Scrump" the cat, named changed from Zazzles. Had her kittens. Unfortunately she had them in the ceiling space above our sun porch. There was less than 18" height and not much more width, and she had them 20' back. Yikes! My dear, brave, claustrophobic husband wiggled up there and managed to get them out. Then had to wiggled back out, while avoiding puncturing through the drywall. I can't believe he fit and didn't have a panic attack. He is not a small guy.

4 kittens, one dead. We've got them moved into the sun porch and they seem to be doing well except one is pretty tiny. I'm not sure how well it is eating, so I'll have to keep an eye on it.

Animal Fund Update

May 16th, 2016 at 04:20 pm

FINALLY added some money to the animal fund. First goat was picked up, and I sent all of it in. Most of the rest of the goats are old enough to go home, but I am dragging my feet a little calling the owners because I don't want them to leave yet. lol. I'll miss them terribly. Plus I haven't received their paperwork back yet, so it's just easier to wait.

Animal fund will see a lot of progress soon. I did purchase a goat from across the country, and will have to pay two transporters, health checks, etc. So that will cut a large chunk back out. I'm estimating around $450. I've sold one of the babies I had planned on keeping to help offset this cost, so it shouldn't deter the goal.

I was not able to send any to the computer, but I am still figuring on paying it off this month if no large expenses pop up.

Back From the Vet

May 12th, 2016 at 03:04 pm

Just returned from the vet.

My female dog went into heat last week, and I did not think it was safe to bring her to a crowded vet, and travel in the car with my intact male dog. So unfortunately I had to leave her at home, and I will miss the discounted rates. Arg.

But I did take the outdoor cat, and the other dog. I got 1 year rabies and distemper for the cat, and 3 year rabies and distemper for the dog, plus a heart worm test. I also picked up flea meds for all the cats.

My total was about $160 which I don't think is too bad. Of course it's pouring rain, so both animals were wet and stinky. Poor dog HATES going indoors or in the car, so we had to drag him everywhere. Until we got home and he jumped out and ran right back to his goats. Funny how he can be so tough at home, but take him to the vet and the over 100 pound dog is trying to hide under chairs. lol.

Well it happened...

May 5th, 2016 at 03:06 pm

I got horribly sick again as an after effect of my sickness earlier in the year. I had still not coughed up any of the pneumonia so I knew it was only a matter of time. Well that time came.

Since Saturday I've been coughing or puking almost completely non stop. Severe pain in my lung, fevers, chills, sweats, and of course every muscle in tired and sore from coughing. No sleep to be had for several days for either of us. I had a round of antibiotics on hand because they expected me to get sick again, and I took them as soon as I felt myself going down hill on Saturday. I was barely able to avoid going back into the hospital.

If that wasn't enough, husband had some weird stomach pains which made him feel poorly, and we nearly had to take him to the hospital, but he is feeling better so we will wait and see. We think it is probably a stress ulcer, because he worries deeply about me, and his symptoms started a couple days after mine.

I'm happy to say that last night was the first night that I didn't puke, and we finally got some sleep. So I think I'm past the worst of it. Now that some of that junk is out of there, hopefully I can heal and feel better.

I am completely wiped out though. My throat is so sore and irritated from coughing that I lost my voice. And I haven't eaten much of anything since Friday so I've lost about 5 pounds.

I only worked a couple hours this week, but I don't care.

As a side note, the cats are all getting along pretty well now. But unfortunately I think the little kitten is pregnant. Frown Hard to believe since she was SO thin when I got her, but her belly has ballooned up pretty big. Arg. So it looks like I will be finding homes for kittens. Poor thing is so tiny, hopefully she only has a couple in there.