Happy Scale App Giveaway Winners

I just can't seem to catch a break! Just when Duck was seemingly back to his old self, the other cats, one by one, caught whatever it is that he was battling (likely a virus that caused an upper respiratory infection). Now I have FOUR sick cats! They don't need to be hospitalized, and let's hope it stays that way, but it just means that I have to do a ton of work keeping them comfortable here.

I don't want to write about it today--it's been super stressful and I thought this was over!--so I'm going to just announce the winners of the giveaway for the Happy Scale app premium version.

With everything that's been going on, I completely forgot to do this! I used Random.org to select five winners:

Ingrid
Katie
Maureen
Jodi
Deb

(I don't want to post last names for privacy reasons, but I've sent each of you an email--so please get back to me via email and I'll give you the instructions to claim the app :)

If you missed the post about it, here is a review of one of my favorite apps (what I use for tracking my weight): Happy Scale.

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Grandma's Jumbles

Well, the third time was a charm! (Third recipe, in this instance.) After two failed recipes yesterday, this one was a winner.

The name "Grandma's Jumbles" is what caught my eye while I was flipping through the heritage cookbook. I've never heard of jumbles before, but the recipe made it pretty obvious that they were cookies. I happened to have the ingredients on hand, so I baked these last night.

The most fun part about this recipe, though, was learning about the person who'd submitted it. This recipe was submitted by Betty McWebb to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society. The name didn't mean anything to me until I learned that Betty was also known as "Aunt Bett" as well as "Elizabeth Upham" (her maiden name). Are any of you familiar with the old children's book Little Brown Bear? It was published in 1942 and was written by none other than Elizabeth Upham. How awesome is that?!

Elizabeth Upham was born in 1904 on a farm in Flat Rock, Michigan (which neighbors Rockwood). Her father was a storyteller and her mother a poet; so it's not a surprise that Elizabeth was a creative writer and storyteller as well. (She signed her poetry "Betty" from early on, so I will refer to her as Betty from here on out.)

In the 1920's during Prohibition, Betty wrote this limerick which I think is hilarious:

Once Mable found dear hubby Jack,
Rejoicing that whiskey was slack,
But when mending by chance,
She found in his pants,
Five tickets to Windsor and Back!

(The Downriver area is only about 20 minutes from the Windsor, Ontario border. This made me laugh because the legal drinking age in Canada is 19 and when I was in college, it was a common thing to cross the border to go to bars. I remember doing that several times.)

Betty became a teacher in 1937 and married her husband "Mac" in 1940. She was a talented poet and storyteller, sharing her stories with all who would listen (and people loved them!). She sold her poems in the 1930's, and then in 1942, her first children's book 'Little Brown Bear' was published. The book is a series of ten short stories about life lessons for kids told through the eyes of a "little brown bear".

Betty was affectionately referred to as "Aunt Bett" by all who knew her and listened to her stories. In the 1950's, a group of children would gather at her house to hear her stories; she also told stories at the libraries and at the County Fair. She also taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.

She clearly loved children. Sadly, she and her husband lost their only child, a baby girl named Mary Ann, shortly after she was born in 1941.

Something I searched for and just couldn't find was the significance of was "Grandma"--as in, "Grandma's Jumbles". I don't know if she was referring to her own grandmother or if it was in reference to one of her stories. I read that in a past exhibit at a museum in Monroe, there were two life-sized papier mâché dolls that she'd made when she was young--one she referred to as "Grandma" and the other was of a favorite teacher. Odd! And I wish the exhibit was still there, because I would definitely go look at it.

Aunt Bett passed away at age 99. She was clearly well-loved by everyone in the community; it was fun to read about her!

Now, on to the cookies...

Grandma's Jumbles were a hit with Jerry and me. Noah and Eli thought they were just okay, because of the texture--it's more cake-like than your typical cookie (which I imagine is because of the condensed milk; that's the only ingredient that I don't usually see in cookies). I usually like chewy cookies as well--the chewier the better--but these were good! The texture actually reminded me of a light, fluffy quick bread. (This picture is a little blurry, but you can kind of see the texture.)

They definitely take on the taste of the nuts you use (I used pecans) so make sure you use a nut you love. She also stated you could use dates or raisins instead, but in the directions, she specified nuts; so that's why I chose to use those. And pecans are my favorite nuts in baking. These would probably be good with almonds, too!

As always, I made the recipe exactly as-written; I didn't substitute or modify anything. If something was unclear, I just made my best guess; make sure you read my notes after the recipe for any clarifications. The "printer-friendly" version is rewritten by me with the clarifications included.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Grandma's Jumbles

1/2 c. soft shortening
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 c. evaporated milk (undiluted)
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts, dates, or seedless raisins

Cream shortening thoroughly until fluffy. Blend in sugars and eggs and beat until smooth; stir in milk and vanilla. Sift flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and beat until blended. Add nuts and chill for one hour. Drop rounded tablespoons two inches apart on greased baking sheet and bake at 375 F for about 10 minutes. Burnt Butter Glaze: Heat 2 tablespoons butter until golden brown on low heat. Remove from heat and beat in 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup evaporated milk.

My Notes:

All of the ingredients were self-explanatory. Note that it's one CUP of evaporated milk and not one CAN. I almost poured the entire can in, and I'm glad I double-checked before doing that. (You'll use 1/4 cup of what's left later for the glaze).

I chose to use nuts--pecans--rather than dates or raisins because from the directions, it sounded like she used nuts. ("Add nuts and chill...")

The dough was definitely more like a batter when I was done and I wondered if I didn't add enough flour or something. There was no way to make drop cookies from it! After refrigerating for about 90 minutes, I pulled it out and it was thicker. It still was thinner than most cookie dough I've seen, but I was able to scoop and drop it onto cookie sheets.

I took them out after 10 minutes and they looked perfect--just barely baked through (I like cookies on the slightly-underbaked side).

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to drizzle the glaze all over or put a dollop on each cookie or what, so I just scooped a little spoonful and spread it right in the middle of the cookie--it ran down the sides a bit. I don't think it looked very attractive, but it definitely tasted good!

One thing I forgot to do was sift the powdered sugar before adding it to the butter. I'm bummed I did that, because it left some tiny clumps of powdered sugar in the glaze. It tasted fine, but it would have looked better if I'd sifted it first. You can see what I'm talking about below:

Overall, this recipe was a winner! I would definitely make these again. If you really don't like cookies with a cake-like texture, you probably won't enjoy them; but I always taste these recipes with an open mind and I really liked them. Jerry did, too!

And I'm SO glad I learned about Aunt Bett. (I'm sure if any of my local friends read this, they are going to be like, "Are you SERIOUS? You never knew about her?! There is a huge 9-ft. statue of a bear in front of the library that is dedicated to her." I just don't know how I missed this! ;) But I do remember the Little Brown Bear book.

This post is only a very tiny glimpse of who Aunt Bett was and all she meant to the community. I got this info from The Monroe News, The Toledo Blade, and Monroe Memories & More.

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Double Heritage Recipe Fail

Today, I thought I was really going to get ahead of the game. To take a short break from blogging up until Christmas, I decided I'd prepare a week's worth of heritage dessert recipes to post--one per day. But I'd make the desserts and write the posts ahead of time and then I could just close my computer for a week.

Yesterday, I looked through the heritage cookbook and picked out some recipes, then bought the ingredients that I didn't have on hand. And this morning, I started by making two desserts. They both needed heavy whipping cream (whipped), so I figured I'd do both of those back-to-back.

Something I don't typically do until AFTER I've prepared the recipe in the heritage books is find out whatever I can about the person who submitted it. I should do it the other way around, because sometimes I can't find out anything about the person, which isn't as fun. (My favorite part about this recipe series is learning about the people behind the recipes.)

Anyway, I made both of the recipes--one of them involved more physical work than I've ever done for a recipe!--and put them in the freezer as stated in the recipe.

After waiting several hours for them to chill, I took out the first one taste it and then write today's blog post about it: Frozen Cranberry Loaf. Sounds interesting, right? I thought so, too! That's why I chose it. That and I love cranberries.

When I tasted it, however, I was completely underwhelmed. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't something I'd encourage other people to try, either.

Frozen Cranberry Loaf: jellied cranberry sauce, lemon juice, sweetened whipped cream and nuts--frozen in a loaf-form. (I watched a Good Eats episode one time about "Ice Box Cake" and I really wanted to try making one. There are several in the heritage cookbook, and I think this would be considered an ice box cake.)

I hoped there was a good story behind the person who submitted it, so that I would have something to write about. Well, I had no luck there! With the last name of "Smith" and the first name being a gender-neutral nickname, well... I had nothing.

I decided to taste the other dessert and hoped it would be more promising. This was the one that would give me carpal tunnel syndrome if I didn't already have it! Haha. It was Apricot Mousse: gelatin, milk, apricot juice, bananas, canned apricots, sweetened whipped cream. (The recipe didn't specify what to freeze/serve it in, so I just went with another loaf pan.)

Unfortunately, the Apricot Mousse just wasn't very good. It was kind of meh, like the Cranberry Loaf. Not bad, but not good. (And it actually tasted much more like bananas than it did apricots.)

The part that nearly killed me was the instruction to "force" the canned apricots through a mesh strainer (it was about as easy as giving birth to a nearly-10-pound baby). I also had to mash and strain the bananas the same way. (If this had turned out to be a tasty dessert, I would have suggested just buying jarred baby food--apricots and bananas--because that's essentially what I produced with the strainer and whatever is left of my forearm.)

Needless to say, the recipe was not something I wanted to write about. I looked at the person who submitted it--and it was the same person as the Frozen Cranberry Loaf!

I was at a loss at that point. Not only did two of the recipes turn out to be totally disappointing, I also didn't have a recipe prepared for today.

I went back to the cookbook and flipped through it to find another. The name of the recipe caught my eye and I'd never heard of the person who submitted it. When I googled her, I found a better story than I could have even dreamed up!

I immediately went to the kitchen to make the recipe. It has to chill for an hour before I can do the next step, so I decided to post this as a little teaser for tomorrow--where I will share the recipe and the exciting person behind it :)

Whether the dessert turns out to taste good or not won't even matter. I just didn't want to rush the post tonight, because I really love the story behind the person and I want to make sure to get the details in there. So, check out tomorrow's post for the heritage recipe!

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So Spoiled!

Once again, I have pretty much nothing on my camera roll this week! So I'm going to skip Friday Night Photos--which is a bummer because I really enjoy writing my Friday posts. It's almost like a journal with a little bit of everything throughout the week. But hopefully I'll have more to write next week.

Duck is still doing good! Today, he seemed about 85% back to his normal self, so he's making good progress. The vet called me today with the results of his FUO (fever of unknown origin) blood work, and it came back negative for everything! I asked exactly what it was looking for, and this is what the vet sent me:

They've given Duck a broad spectrum of antibiotics to cover their bases as far as a bacterial infection after his surgery. The vet said there is another test we can do (where they swab his mouth) to look for a couple of different viruses (I think...?). That test is $170, which actually doesn't seem bad when you look at the entire vet bill from the past two weeks, but I asked if he thinks we'd be okay if we wait and see what happens over the next few days.

Since Duck seems to be getting better (no more fevers!) I'm hoping that this virus or whatever he has will run its course and be done soon. The only real symptom he has now is sneezing/congestion and that seems to be doing better today as well.

Anyway, I thought this was a funny story so I figured I could share this instead of photos today...

Duck has gotten super spoiled by eating nothing but canned food (the cats all LOVE canned food, but I've always used it for a treat--probably once a week). With Duck being sick, the vet stressed how important it is for him to eat, so I knew our best bet was to give him canned food. I think he'd be totally fine eating his dry food again now (after his surgery, he needed the soft food) but I've continued to give him the canned food because I am just happy he's home and he deserves to be a little spoiled!

Today, he revealed just how spoiled he's gotten, though. I grabbed a can of food from the pantry and brought it to my bathroom (where I've been feeding Duck, since I've been keeping him confined to my bedroom and bathroom). He was meowing like crazy, knowing that I had a can of food for him. I opened it up and scooped it out onto a plate, then set it on the floor in front of him.

He looked ready to dive right into it like he always does, but then he paused. He sniffed it, gave it a tentative lick, then sat down and looked up at me, letting out a single, "Meow?"

He didn't want that flavor! It was some sort of fish flavor. Duck will eat ANYTHING (he literally just had surgery for eating yarn) but he turned up his nose at the fish-flavored canned food. I thought it was hilarious (although it revealed just how difficult it's going to be to switch him back to dry food soon). I brought the food into the kitchen and gave each of the other cats a scoop of it (which they happily ate). Then I grabbed a turkey and cheese flavored can to give to Duck; as soon as I placed it in front of him, he dove in and ate it all!

It reminded me of one of our squirrels that we feed. The squirrels LOVE walnuts and that's what I  mostly hand out. I usually keep some hazelnuts and almonds on hand, too, but the walnuts are definitely the favorite among the squirrels.

We have one squirrel, though, who doesn't like walnuts and she'll hold out until I get her a hazelnut instead. It's so funny! The other squirrels all come up and grab whatever I have and happily move along; but she sniffs the walnut, then sits and looks at me expectantly. And because I am very well-trained by cats and squirrels, apparently, I got get her a hazelnut and she readily runs off with it.

I don't know why I find all this so funny, because animals are bound to have different tastes (just like we do). Duck is probably the smartest cat I've ever had, but he never fails to find ways to make me feel like *I'm* the one who is being trained!

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Six-Month DietBet : Weigh-In vs. Weigh-Out Pictures

Things are going well with Duck being home! I definitely bother him too often while he's napping to see if he feels hot, but so far, he's been about 70% back to his usual self. I still don't have the results from his FUO (fever of unknown origin) test--hopefully before the weekend!--but for now, I'm just trying to keep his fever down. I have to give him an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic once a day, and check his temp three times a day. (Also make sure that he's eating and drinking.) I'm so happy to have him home--I missed every little quirk about him!

Six months ago, just a couple of weeks after I started counting calories, I decided to join a six-month DietBet. I liked the idea of a long-term one so that I would have the weigh-in accountability as I lost weight. It started on June 14th and ended on December 14th. I did my final weigh-in (a.k.a. "weigh-out") yesterday.

I wasn't worried about whether I'd met my goal; I exceeded it by quite a bit. But I was curious to see how much the payout would be because I'd never done a six-month bet before. You can pay monthly or pay up front; I chose to pay up front because it's $35 cheaper, but you still get to split the pot evenly if you win. So, I made an initial bet of $175. All I had to do was lose 10% of my body weight in 6 months, and I'd at least win my money back.

There were 466 people who participated; and in the end, there were 144 people who reached their 10% goal. It was exciting to be one of them!

The results were finalized and the final payout was $394.84; after my initial bet of $175, that means I profited $219.84! I was shocked by this. I was thinking it would be closer to $20-30, because the four-week bets pay out practically nothing (in my experience, anyway).

Six months of working on my weight and it paid for Duck's FUO test and about one dose of his antibiotic--hahaha! (Hey, every little bit helps, right?) And most important to me was the weight loss; that's the whole reason I did the DietBet in the first place.

I hadn't planned to share my actual weigh-in photos. (I always feel awkward taking the "official" DietBet photos--am I supposed to smile? It's kind of like getting your picture for your driver's license at the DMV. You want to smile, but it feels embarrassing when there are 7,387 people in line watching you. And it's only for an ID, so a smile isn't necessary.)

Anyway, my point is that the official DietBet photos are awkward! But I thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side of my initial weigh-in versus my weigh-out. I'm cringing inside at the thought of sharing my "before" pic, but I'm excited to see the change in the area that bothered me the most... 

I usually tend to gain weight pretty evenly, but after having the lower body lift to remove my excess skin (10 years ago, can you believe it?!) the scar doesn't allow fat to form underneath it. So, I gain fat above and below the scar, which gives me love handles and saddle bags at the same time. See the big indentation just above my hips on my before photo?

Now, it's almost completely smoothed out! (It's not very noticeable in the picture from yesterday, but when I'm naked you can still see it. My weight has to be in the low 140's for it to be totally smooth.) But I'm ecstatic that it's not very noticeable now!

My total official weight loss for the six-month DietBet was 34.6 pounds. I had really hoped I would be in the mid-140's by the end of this year, but as you know, I've been going two steps forward and one step back for a couple of months!

I'm actually three weeks into a four-week DietBet, but there is no chance that I'll win it. After the last two weeks of emotional hell I've been through, I'm actually really surprised that my weight isn't higher than my starting weight was, haha. I'm going to do my best as far as counting calories and getting back to a good routine, but I'm not going to go to extremes to drop six-ish pounds in five days.

I have to say, after seeing the results of this six-month bet (and how helpful I found it) it's tempting to do another! It would be extremely difficult at this weight, though--I'd have to weigh roughly 135 by July 1st. That's essentially my goal weight, so it's definitely tempting. The Bet starts on January 1st. Maybe I'll see if Jerry wants to do it with me; his weight is the highest it's been in years, and I know he wants to lose the weight he's gained.

I think I'll see how the next couple of weeks ago as far as my eating patterns and then I'll decide if I'll join the Bet or not. Regardless, though, I'd love to see my goal weight again sometime!

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 29 (and Duck is home!)

(When I took this picture this morning and chose to wear the shirt "You have died of dysentery" I didn't really realize how morbid it was, considering we're trying to find out what's wrong with Duck. A little unintentional dark humor!)

I almost titled this, "The One Where Duck Came Home" (because Duck is HOME!) but then I realized I already wrote that title the first time he came home. I want to be absolutely ecstatic that he's here at home with me right now, but it would be more accurate to say that I'm *tentatively* excited.

We still don't know what is causing his temperature to spike every day. It was up again this morning, but the vet said that he can come home (I was kind of hoping he would suggest keeping him there longer because I am nervous about being the one to take care of him at home). He said the only thing they are doing at the clinic that I can't do at home is the IV fluids. If his temp should reach 105 or he stops eating/drinking, then he may have to go back in for fluids again.

At the clinic, he was getting an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory every morning and fluids throughout the day. They also took his temperature three times a day and did tests to try to figure out what's causing the fevers. The only thing we are waiting on now is the FUO test (fever of unknown origin)--they drew blood for it on Monday, and said it could be as late as Friday before getting the results.

I'm sure I'm going to be WAY overprotective of him until he's better (I am keeping him confined to my bedroom--just in case he's contagious with a virus or something, I really don't want to risk the other cats getting it). Needless to say, I'm going to be spending a lot of time in my bedroom for the next couple of days. We can get high on catnip and catch up on our TV shows ;)

As I write this, he's only been home for an hour or so. He was SO ANGRY the whole way home--he was in his carrier on the passenger seat and doing that really deep, throaty, I'm-going-to-burn-the-world-to-the-ground meow. That was actually kind of comforting to me because he was pretty quiet during the last couple of car rides (and now I know why--his temp was 106 on Monday!).

As soon as we got in the house, I let him out into my bedroom and he went crazy--he was head-butting me to pet him and it was like he was impatient that I wasn't petting him fast enough. I tried getting pictures, but every one of them turned out as a blur of black cat because he wouldn't stop moving. Here is a selfie of us I tried to take. Haha!

Anyway, I will write more tomorrow after I've had time to reunite with my little duckling and attempt my first rectal temperature reading (trying to give him his liquid antibiotic is hard enough; I'm really dreading trying to hold a thermometer in his butt for 20 seconds!).

It does not at all feel like a Wednesday, but I did manage to remember to do my weigh-in this morning. Today was the final day of my six-month DietBet--and I won! (I knew I would; my 10% goal for the six month challenge was 174-something pounds, so I reached it a while ago.) I'm curious to see how much it pays out. The four-week DietBets I've done have only profited me about $8-10. The six-month bet is structured a bit differently, so it'll be interesting to see.

So, my weigh-in this week:

I was at 156.8, which is up a pound from last week. And once again, I am actually quite happy with that! I've had the most emotional couple of weeks that I can remember in probably a decade and it's no secret that I'm an emotional eater. So I actually feel like I got away easy over the last couple of weeks. 

I'm sure my luck is going to run out any time now, so ideally, I will have a week where I'm not an emotional wreck and eating my feelings. Realistically, I have no idea what's in store this week as far as Duck goes, so I don't even want to make any guesses. I'm still going to try my best, though!

First thing's first: spending some quality time with Duck. I've missed him so much!

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Transformation Tuesday #52

Just a few words to update on Duck and then I'll post a fun Transformation Tuesday.

Duck's temp was back up to 104.0 this morning, so he wasn't able to come home today. Things were looking promising throughout the day, with his temp getting as low as 100.8 in the afternoon. However, it's now back up to 103.8. I can't write about it any more tonight. I'm more emotionally drained than I can ever remember being.

Let's please just focus on this awesome transformation... a huge thank you to Chris for sharing this today! Of all days, I really needed to see something fun and positive today...

---

We bought our house because we liked the location and did a ton of work--both before and after moving in--to make it our style. It's a 1955 rambler 'updated' in the 70's so the kitchen had the classic 1950's metal cabinets (that I love!), but almost every wall was covered in paneling; the floor was carpeted over the original marmoleum (that I also loved, but it was destroyed); and the countertops were replaced with a dark brown that wrapped up the back wall to the cabinets. It was a dark hallway of a kitchen.  

We immediately removed the paneling, skim coated, painted, tore up the carpet, changed the light fixtures and removed the popcorn ceiling, but kept the majority of it until the (original 1950's) oven caught on fire! I tore the island apart the next day; I loved the look of the original appliances, but the stove would shock you if you changed the temperature while you were touching the pan, and the oven fire was the last straw.

We removed the hanging cabinets and rearranged the base cabinets; plumbed a gas line for a stove and oven; rewired that whole wall and added outlets; replaced the countertop; and tiled the back wall in gorgeous blue glass tiles. A few months later, we had new marmoleum put in as a nod to the original flooring.

The old oven was 'wall' mounted, like they were in the 50's - you can see where it was in the 'before' picture on the right side of the island.  Taking out the oven and the hanging cabinets really opened the whole room up.

The before picture is from the real estate listing when we bought the house. The after picture is one I just took so I could send this in- I didn't even bother closing the cupboard. I've been meaning to send in a Transformation Tuesday but felt like it had to be perfect--today I felt like Katie is a friend that would see my kitchen exactly like it is and still accept me :)

Chris, it looks SO AMAZING! I love that you somehow kept some of the retro but modernized it at the same time. (And I am so glad you sent the the picture despite you thinking that it's not "perfect"--how many of us actually have picture-perfect houses?!) I really like those shelves that are mounted directly to the ceiling (from the hanging cabinets?). I've never seen anything like that before. Now I kind of want to do that over our snack bar! Your orange clock and tea kettle definitely caught my eye, too ;)  You guys did a great job!  --Katie

Thank you again, Chris, for sharing! I'm always looking for more transformations to post on Tuesdays, so PLEASE consider taking some before and after pictures of anything at all. To submit them, just email a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Include your name and a description of your transformation!

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The Duck Chronicles Continue : Day 11

One of these days, I will be able to write about something else! (Actually, please send me some transformations so that I can post Transformation Tuesday tomorrow.)

After our visit to the emergency room vet last night, I was feeling very confident that Duck would be feeling better, or at least not feeling any worse, this morning. When we got home last night, he was super energetic (the most I've seen since his surgery). I shook the treat jar and as always, he was the first one there. I went to bed feeling very hopeful.

This morning, however, Duck was very lethargic. Normally, he wakes me up by jumping on me (and lately, he's been curling up next to my neck when we are in bed); last night, he spent the entire night on my couch. When I got up and talked to him this morning, he didn't even turn to look at me.

I opened a new can of food for him, and he wasn't at all interested. He didn't want treats. I kept trying to pet him and brush him (which he loves) but he just kept going under the couch to hide.

I knew something was very wrong, so I took him to the vet the second they opened. They brought him inside for a while and then the vet came out to the car to tell me what was going on. His temperature was at 105.9!!! Anything higher than 102.5 is a fever in cats, and at a temperature of about 106.0, cats are at risk of brain and heart damage and it can be fatal.

I gasped loudly and had the sensations I did before the couple of times I fainted--my hearing got muffled, I started to get tunnel vision, and I felt like the ground was moving beneath me. I'm glad I was sitting down! Now I know why in the movies, they always tell people to sit down before giving them bad news.

The vet was still talking, but it took a minute for everything to register. I asked him a bunch of questions, but aside from wanting to know if Duck was going to be okay, the main thing I wanted to know is WHY this is happening. What caused the fever? The vet said he was confident it wasn't an upper respiratory infection, which is what I thought it was yesterday.

He did a chest x-ray and there was no sign of fluid in his lungs or around his heart (that's what I was most worried about). He did blood work, but I can't remember what he said about that. Because of the extremely high fever, it was definitely a medical emergency that they lower his temp.

So, the vet said he needed IV fluids and would have to stay about two nights. Again, I handed over my credit card and just told them to do whatever they need to do. I'm really glad that we built up our savings account after paying off our debt a few years ago, because I wanted to have money set aside for emergencies--such as this. We're blowing through it pretty fast this month, though!

I can't believe this all happened because of a piece of yarn. It makes me feel sick every time I think about knitting or crocheting now, so I actually spent the evening today organizing and photographing all of my knitting and crocheting stuff so that I can list it on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

I have a lot of really nice knitting needles that I'd saved up for and bought back when I was losing weight. I know I won't get nearly what I paid for them, but I'll feel good about selling them and then putting whatever money I get toward Duck's vet bills. I don't have a whole lot of yarn to get rid of, but I'll try and sell that as well. There are actually several things around the house that I've looked at recently and thought I should try and sell--so now would be a good time to just do it. 

The whole time I was working on sorting everything, Chick was right there trying to get into it all, of course! Today was a good day to work on it because Duck certainly would have been right there watching me, waiting for an opportunity to grab something ;)

While I was doing that, I got a great text from the vet saying that his temp was down to 101.8! They are reducing his fluids and watching his temp; if his temp stays normal, then I'll be able to pick him up tomorrow. They also sent me this picture--it made me miss Duck so much! (He looks much better than he did this morning)

I asked if they figured out why he got sick and the doctor really doesn't know. There is no sign of infection from his surgery, he doesn't have pneumonia, and his symptoms don't really make sense for being this far post-op. They said they could run a blood test that looks for all sorts of different problems, but it takes a few days for them to get the results (and, like everything else, it's expensive). I certainly don't want to have to keep worrying about him at home, wondering if his temp is going up, so I said to go ahead and run the test so we can hopefully find out what's wrong--and prevent it from happening again.

If you're a knitter or crocheter and you have cats, let my experience over the past 11 days be a lesson you won't ever have to learn the hard way.

I have an appointment with my psychiatrist tomorrow... the poor guy has no idea what's in store for him! ;)

EDIT Tuesday morning: Duck's temp was 104.0 this morning. Every time I think he's getting better something like this happens. He's going to have to stay another night at the hospital. This is killing me. 

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A Downer of a Post

I don't have a new picture for this post, so here is another from the webcam on Friday when I was writing my blog post. When I don't pay enough attention to Duck (like when I'm trying to type) he pushes his paws on my face until I pet him and look at him.

I've been feeling like a wreck for 10 days now. Just when I thought all was going to get back to normal and Duck was healing from his surgery, I woke up at 3:30 AM today when Duck sneezed in my face. He never sneezes, and I thought it was weird. Then he started sneezing several more times.

In between sneezes, he was making an odd sound--not a cough, really, but almost like clearing his throat. And he would partially open his mouth, like you do when you're waiting to sneeze. The noise sounded almost like something was irritating his nose or throat, making him sneeze. He seemed fine, otherwise, but I was getting pretty worried about the noises.

I called the vet (and of course, it's Sunday! They are closed.) I wasn't sure it warranted a trip to the emergency vet hospital in Toledo (if he was struggling to breathe, I would have gone in an instant), so I thought hard about what it could be.

The only thing that came to mind was that maybe it's a hairball. Remember how he wormed his way out of this recovery garment a couple of days ago and had totally groomed himself spotless? Since he hadn't groomed himself in a week, I'm sure there was a lot of fur that he swallowed.

I went to PetSmart to buy a product for hairballs (it's a gel that you squeeze a little onto their paw and then they lick it off (because apparently, chicken-flavored gel tastes good to cats). It kind of lubricates the hairball to get it moving.

I had another mini-breakdown today. All of this has been too much to deal with over the past 10 days. (And I know that there are people who have it MUCH worse than a sick cat; I just mean that relative to my own regular stressors, this has been at the top.)

I just feel so SAD. I hate to use the word 'depressed', because I don't know if this is an actual bipolar episode or not--maybe I'll feel completely better once Duck is better. But I am definitely feeling depressed right now. I've tried making myself go do other things to take my mind off of Duck for a little while, but I can't get him off my mind and I hate to leave his side. He needs help getting up and down because he's still having a problem with his incision and I want it to totally heal.

Today, I asked Eli to come sit with him for a little bit so that I could go start some laundry, clean out the litter boxes, start the dishwasher, and stuff like that. I even tried to go work on a project in the garage, but I just couldn't get excited about it. Usually my little workshop in the garage is my happy place!

I know that a huge part of the problem is that I don't get any sleep. I've had insomnia for as long as I can remember and nothing helps--and I've tried it all. I think I would just feel so much better if I could manage to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep (and my 3-4 hours is always interrupted at least a few times). When my rheumatologist said to me that the best thing I can do for fibromyalgia is to get a good eight-hours sleep at night, I literally laughed and then burst into tears in a matter of seconds, haha. If she only knew what I wouldn't give for a good night's sleep. 

I'm also really upset with myself about totally slacking on my recent weight loss. I was doing SO good for months and I felt like nothing could stop me--but right now, it's just so hard to even care. I feel like it's super trivial to think about when I would give anything for Duck to get better and be back to his normal self. He used to be super vocal, chatting with me all day long; other than in the car on the way home from the vet, he hasn't meowed at all.

Sorry this is such a downer of a post. I just need one really GOOD day where nothing seems to go wrong so I can recharge. Jerry has a week and a half off of work over Christmas, which should be something to look forward to, but after the past 10 days, the holidays just seem more stressful than anything else. It bothers me because Jerry LOVES Christmas and I have been the biggest downer ever so far this month.

I wish that "snapping out of it" was something that people could actually do! I need some Grinch pajamas--a onesie. That would totally fit my mood AND make me appear to be in the Christmas spirit, haha.

Anyway, I'm going cuddle with Duck and watch Wentworth (a show on Netflix I recently became addicted to). I *really* hope he's doing better tomorrow; if not, it's another trip to the vet.

EDIT: Almost immediately after I wrote this, Duck's breathing was really scaring me. I noticed that every time I petted him by his ribs, he would open his mouth a bit like he was waiting to sneeze. And then if I didn't stop petting, he actually did sneeze.

Then, of course, I do some googling and I'm convinced he's dying of edema of some sort. So, I once again packed him up in the car and we went to MedVet in Toledo (an emergency hospital for animal$). I was amazed at the care there. When they sent an intern out to get Duck from the car, she actually said I could go inside and stay with him if I'd like, but the appointment was going to be 4-5 hours long(!!).

I hesitated, wondering what to do (was this really an emergency?) and she said she'd be happy to check him out in the car and see if she thinks we should stay. I showed her the papers from the other vet and she examined him. She said she definitely does not feel like it's an emergency--his heart and lungs sound clear, everything looks good, he's eating and all that. So she said she felt 100% confident that we could wait and just call the other vet in the morning (if he's still having the problem).

I was so relieved to hear this. She was exactly the kind of reassuring person I needed to talk to tonight. (And funnily enough, she actually has two cats named after Friends characters too! She loved the Duck and Chick names.) AND, the best part? I wasn't even charged for the exam! I was dreading the bill from this visit (if I'd ended up staying) because the emergency room status makes the price much higher. 

Okay, so I'll at least feel better about this until morning. I was just terrified that if I didn't take him in, something horrible would happen during the night and I would really regret not going.

(I've been taking anxiety meds every single day this week and I'm still this much of a mess.)

EDIT Monday morning: Duck was NOT doing well this morning. Hiding, no interest in food or water, just not being even close to himself. I took him to the vet (again) and his temp was 105.9!! That is super high. Now he will be spending the next two nights in the hospital.

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Handmade With Love: Readers share their handmade items for sale

I feel terrible for getting this posted so late! I was hoping more people would contribute as they have in the past, so I kept waiting. And then as you know, last week was killer--all week long. But, better late than never!

Occasionally, I like to promote my readers' small businesses where they sell handcrafted items. As you know, I love anything DIY and crafting, so it's fun to see what others put out there. I love making things and people are always telling me that I should make things to sell--but it is very time consuming! I only bring this up because when people look at the price of handmade items they are usually in sticker-shock. When you add up the materials and the time that the artist spent working on a project, you can definitely expect to pay more. I never question paying more for a handmade item--simply because I know just how much time (and usually several mistakes and re-dos) go into it ;)

These readers are so very talented! I'm excited to share their small businesses with you. I was hoping to get this post up right after Thanksgiving so that there would be plenty of time before Christmas, but I just don't know if there will be enough time now. However, there are lots of fun gifts that are great for any time of year! (And for no reason at all.)

Here goes... 

Amanda at Green Artist Designs

My business is called Green Artist Designs. I am an artist, designer, & photographer who does a variety of things! I am trying to grow my online business so I can be a stay-at-home mom. I create unique wood burning art, custom pet portraits, greeting cards, art prints of my paintings and photography work, handmade rustic ornaments, and so much more!

Readers can use code RUNSFORCOOKIES at checkout for 15% off anything on my website! I also offer free US shipping on all orders. :)

Green Artist Designs can be found on Amanda's website here.

Lorie at H&H Jewelry Designs

I have a store on Etsy and have been there since 2006. I now run the store solo after my Mom and business partner passed in 2012.  I make handmade jewelry that is mostly Victorian or old world vintage style.  I love romantic feminine designs and I hope my pieces reflect that style.  Attached are a few of my designs but I have loads more on my Etsy site. Thanks so much!

You can find Lorie's Etsy shop here.

Amanda at The Beach Buster

My son loves playing in the sandbox but I didn't love getting sand all over the car and house. Other products on the market meant to remove sand left something to be desired so I decided to make my own. The Beach Buster glove makes it easy and convenient to remove sand from skin and objects. Simply slip on the glove and swipe it over the sand. The glove is filled with talc-free baby powder to make sand removal even easier, even on skin covered in sunscreen or bug spray. When the baby powder is gone, the glove opens so you can refill it, making it long-lasting.

You can find Amanda's Etsy shop here.

Kayla at Addy/Anns Creations

I'm Kayla, the lady behind this small business. I named my business after my daughter Adeline. I have been selling my handmade goods for almost a year. I'm a stay-at-home-mom just trying to find my passion as well as get beautiful pieces into others' hands. I create polymer clay handmade earrings, keychains, bracelets, and necklaces. Creating earrings and keychains is so fulfilling and I cannot wait to see how Addy|Anns grows!

- Kayla Baldwin, (Mom of 1 about to be 2, dog mom, and wife). You can find my Etsy store here and I post almost all of my updated work on Instagram. I'm offering a discount code for Runs for Cookies' readers: just enter RUNSFORCOOKIES10 at checkout.

Liz at craftxingbyliz

I make custom tumblers, keychains, pens, dog tags, ornaments, shirts, and more! I make these all myself, and I use resin, vinyl, glitter, and other supplies. I love crafting because of the joy it gives me when people receive their items, or they are gifted to them. I love seeing others happy!

You can find Liz's Etsy shop here.

Katie at Created by Kates

Modern day life runs quickly and I find my mind doing the same.

Creating a beautiful, comfortable, simple environment has been a goal of mine. No one likes clutter, but I need to have inspiring items around me to soothe my mind and drain away anxiety. Items that are not only useful, but beautiful are my favorite. The spark that pulls your eye and your attention when you are relaxing on the couch watching your favorite show or sipping your favorite drink in the backyard on a warm summer evening.

I strive to create useful, beautiful products like this as naturally as possible.

I welcome feedback and questions about any of my products or methods.

You can find Katie's Etsy shop here.

Cathy at Eleventh Avenue Crafts

My ETSY shop is Eleventh Avenue Crafts. I have had a super busy month and surprisingly have sold out of items! But you can check out my recent items to get an idea of what I make. I am closing my shop for the rest of the year and will open back up in January. I have a discount code that will be good the entire month of January. Please use RUNSFORCOOKIES for 15% off. Sorry I have nothing to offer right now!

You can find Cathy at her Etsy shop here.

And there we have it! Aren't there some seriously talented people out there?! These pictures just represent a small handful of their items, so make sure you check them out :)

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