Discord

This weekend sucked. I think I would have rather worked.

Actually, it started out well enough. Dinner with the in-laws to show off our handy dandy home improvements. There was adequate ooo-ing and aw-ing at my sweet community fish tank and the Crimefighter's tank-o-beasties. Boogie is adored by his grandparents, so that was cool. The cats had to be quarantined as they cause instant near-death to their grandfather, but we anticipated that. They were even impressed, if unfamiliar with all of our ecologically friendly improvements like the rainwater collection system and the composter. OK, there were few raised eyebrows at the pile-o-rotting food in the backyard and they were a little frightened when the neighbor mowed his yard not once but twice during their four hour visit, but Steve frightens us all.

Today, though, was a day I hope I never have to do over. Ever had one of those? I believe the basis is that Boogie goes in tomorrow for his pre-treatment workup and tensions are high. We'll almost certainly be able to get rid of the heartworms as my little guy hasn't been alive long enough to have a truly nasty infestation, but the Crimefighter and I react to fear in different ways, neither very productive, and we're both terrified, so we are at each other's throats.

To top it off, weekends mean water changes for both tanks, never a fun thing. This week, the main filter in the cichlid tank decided to quit. This means a $250 trip to the PetSmart (it almost meant a $400 trip to Uncle Ned's, but we're trying to save since heartworms cost close to a grand to cure, plus the guys at Uncle Ned's were being wanky tonight). We drove all the way to the next town, plopped down money we hadn't intended to spend, brought the filter home and loaded it up, and ..... nothing. PetSmart sold us a non-working filter -- and it was the "top" of their line. Fortunately, the PetSmart is next door to the vet where Boogie is going in the morning, and Gerry had more than a little dose of mad going on. We're terrified that the remaining filter won't keep the beasties alive until tomorrow. Plus, all the bacteria in the main filter is dead. I won't even go into the time and effort it takes to grow a cichlid tank from fry to adults. They aren't exactly $4 guppies.

I also forgot to get my car inspected on Friday which means I have to drive the Crimefighter's Crimefighting Rocket to work tomorrow. While the Audi is a hot car, I realize where Gerry's affections lie, and I'm always a bundle of nerves when I drive it. To be honest, it's REALLY nice to pull up to stoplights and have people mouth, "I want that." At first, I thought people in Milford were incredibly forward; then I figured out it really wasn't me, but the wheels. Oh well. It's really better this way. There's not much call for barely pubescent boys in my life, so let them envy the rocket.

So, every animal is in minor crisis, except my cats. At this point, I'm scared to go check on them. It would cap off a gloriously suck-fest-y day to have them agitated again.

Wish my boy luck tomorrow. I'm really hoping they can't find much trace of worm activity in his blood. He's been on preventative for a year, and I'm not happy with Heartgard at this moment.

I am working my way through all the things I promised I would do -- slowly. Jane Eyre is coming along, although I did take a little Christopher Moore break. We all need one of those every now and then. I finished A Dirty Job: A Novel. Not too long ago, I got my hands temporarily on the audio version of his best work, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. a must read if ever there was one. Lamb is better, but Dirty Job was pretty good. Bad Christopher Moore is better than anything else I've read in a while. But now that that is done, I have two days before the two new Robb's are out, so I need to catch up on Jane and sit with my boy while he recuperates.