Five Things Friday

Apparently I haven't done a five things Friday in a while now, so here's my top 5 things that have happened or that I'm excited about from the past week.

1. I have 18 days left before first semester is completely done. During that time I'm down to 1 paper, 3 quizzes, and 4 exams. 
   
2. Pitch Perfect 2 Trailer: I can't lie, I loved the first movie eve if it was ridiculous. It appears I will be loving this one too if it's anything like the trailer. While I'm at it, I'm completely fascinated by the new Cinderella trailer also. I love these re-made Disney movies.
   
3. Indy has gained enough weight that we're able to try dropping his steroids to 1x/day. We're still crossing our fingers that it's not lymphoma.
   
4. I passed 2 kidney stones. Go team. Also, it hurt. A lot. Sadly there are still two left so surgery will be happening in December. After exams of course.
   
5. My cheap Christmas bathroom set from Amazon.
   

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday. I'm headed in to work my 2-12 hour shifts tomorrow but hopefully people want to stay out of the hospital for the holidays and it's not too busy!

Usual Lazy Updates Post

As always too busy and/or lazy to write a full post.

• Indy is hanging in there- not losing any more weight and not vomiting or having diarrhea anymore. However we're now battling a resp infection (see IBD tab)
• Stetson's hips are worse although not painful (he gets the good drugs) and he recently was treated for an ear infection and skin infection. $$$$. Sigh. On a good note, last Wed was his 2 year anniversary surviving cancer and give that the average lifespan is 1-2 years with chemo and surgery I am blessed to have gotten to spend 2 full years with him
• School has less than a month left in this semester. All seems to be going okay but I feel like I'm at the edge of a breakdown on a weekly basis. Luckily many of my classmates are on the same boat so we support each other
• My artist finished up one part of my LOTR tattoo. There's more to be done but there's things that need to be paid for before that happens
• My sister and nephew are doing well and enjoying Japan. I still miss them but have adjusted to never seeing them so it's all good
• My youngest cat is now obese. It's stressful trying to get one cat to gain weight and the other one to lose weight
• My job is awesome. No complaints
• I ended up in the ED last Tuesday in excruciating pain and ended up passing 2 of my stones at the same time, in the same day. According to the CT there's only 2/5 left so I must have passed the smallest one without knowing. I'm really hoping the other 2 will come out b/c I would LOVE to avoid surgery in December
• I feel like I'm so overwhelmed that I'm not able to enjoy the holidays. Usually the time between Halloween and Christmas is a happy time for me, but I still haven't changed out the spring decorations on the mantle. Our only tree this year may be the little pre-lit white one from WalMart at this rate. I did manage to dress up as a box of Crayons to answer the door on Halloween though. Progress
• I ran a 5K just for the cupcake medal and free Gigi's cupcake afterwards (not sure if that was in my last post). I hadn't run in months so that was a rude awakening although I managed a 13min/mile

And  few pictures...

Large glasses of wine are good

My life

My not-so-little overweight food hoarder

Gigi's 5K

Baer's well visit

Post-ultrasound Indy

Box of crayons

Becoming an ED frequent flyer

The Stetson man on his 2 year post-cancer anniversary

The finished LOTR Ringwraith

Cats and I getting warmed by the fire

A Comprehensive List of Things I Love About Fall

Because everyone needs a list detailing the season that they love. Also, the photos below are NOT mine. If you'd like to know where they're from (aside from Google) just email me.

1. Pumpkin spice lattes. That includes ones made by Starbucks and those made at home by Coffeemate
   
   
   
   

1. Boots. I collect boots. Now I can wear then without looking like a freak.

   

   Yes, I want these

2. Decorating for fall. Soon my entire downstairs will be decorated with autumn colors including the mantle...especially the mantle
   
3. Pumpkin spice candles. It smells better than cat litter.
   
4. Halloween. Not so much the trick-or-treating but the decorating and the candy. I especially enjoy shopping for Halloween decorations.
   
5. Pumpkin spice Oreos. Yeah, you read that correctly.
   
6. ABC Family 13 Nights of Halloween. Don't judge, I love Hocus Pocus.
   
7. Apple Cider. Spiked or not, specially warm, it's good stuff.
   
8. Gourds. This weekend I plan on going to a local farm and buying many. And by many I mean enough that it take several trips by myself to get them from the car to the house and then several hours to decide how to arrange them.
   
9. Pumpkin-cranberry bread. It's the only seasonal thing I can bake and I didn't make any last year. WTH???
   
10. Carving pumpkins. Alister and I aren't masters at it but we can come up with some good pukey pumpkins.
    
11. Pumpkin pie. Yum.
    
12. The weather. I can wear jeans! And boots! And scarves! Oh my!
13. My dogs no longer hate going out. In other words it's cool enough for them to enjoy a walk without overeating, and lie in the sun without panting to death.
14. The leaves changing. They're more beautiful up in the mountains but any glimmers of gold and orange make me happy.
    
15. Camping/hiking. The mountains of NC are perfect for this.
    

I hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as I am!