For a few brief, shining moments in my life, I didn't have to worry much about money. For most of the rest of it, I've bounced between cautiously thrifty and deeply underwater. I haven't been lucky enough to have full-time employment for my whole adult life. I've spent a lot of time underemployed, or in good jobs that were only part time. For the last four years, I have been without a paying job entirely. While I have the promise of a job starting this summer, our overall family income is about to be chopped in half. I'm already starting to sweat it a little, but if I'm careful, I won't fall back into the insane economic anxiety that tortured me during our leanest salad days when the kids were babies. I tried monetizing this blog during its first year by signing up for Adsense, but that turned out to be a steaming pile of scam from start to finish (and that finish was them dropping me for "reasons we refuse to explain because they would expose our proprietary practices" or something equally full of crap, as soon as I crossed the threshold of $100 for them to pay out). Someday I will make money with my writing, but that is still far in the future, from what I can tell. Until then, I'm going to learn how to do that super-couponing that so many of my friends are doing.
My mother's cat Hattie (short for the pharaoh Hatshepsut) had surgery this morning. Her snapped femur was connected with a plate, and at least one of the large muscles surrounding it was completely severed. She is recovering and heavily medicated. I posted pictures yesterday, one of her X-ray and one of her lying injured, in deep distress, when they first found her. There is still no clear answer as to what type of creature attacked her, although a stray pit bull had been wandering down their street, hanging out in front of the next door neighbor's house. For the first time in a long time, my family was not interested in rescuing this particular stray. They've found homes for at least a dozen dogs since they moved to this house on the border between the city and the country, where irresponsible Oklahomans think it's the perfect spot to dump unwanted dogs. My Elsa, and my grandpuppy Sheba were both rescues from my mom's street. All but one of the dogs she's had for the last fifteen years, give or take, have walked up to her front door. But after the horrible attack on her rescue kitty (they are equal-opportunity animal lovers), they are letting animal control make the call on this new dog. I am in full support of this decision.
My parents are both retired, and their fixed incomes are stretched to the limit taking care of the houseful of dogs and cats they have removed from the road in front of their home (where the speed demons like to fly in their cars of death -- Hattie's own mother died there when Hattie was a baby). The emergency vet, extensive surgery, and eight weeks of kenneling and pain pills to come will just about break them. They have decided to reach out and create a GoFundMe campaign. I shared details of it on my Facebook this morning, and dear friends of mine have shared it over and over. But unfortunately very few donations have actually come of it. I am very concerned over these costs, and I feel I must implore you, please, consider donating something. Even the cost of one venti latte, given by every person who regularly reads my blog, would add up to the cost of two bottles of cat-safe Tramadol, according to PetMeds online. So far they have been able to put a downpayment for the surgery on a credit card, but the bills are starting to add up quickly.
The GoFundMe link is http://www.gofundme.com/oxwmgo
Alternately, one of my good friends has offered to do a Jamberry fundraiser, and donate some of the profits of her sale to the GoFundMe campaign. If you want to get something for your money, and know that a portion of the sales will go to help Hattie, I was added on to an existing open party (the "host" of the party is named Vince -- that seems confusing, but if you see that, it's the right one). The link for that is http://jfontana.jamberrynails.net/party/?uid=827ec4a6-767d-4f57-879d-1bfd633b1f5f
The shares of the link are wonderful, but please, give a little bit at the same time. Every dollar helps. Hattie needs you.
I only had the one picture of Hattie herself, so in lieu of that, let me offer one of my black girls club: Athena, Jackie, and one of mom's rescues from 2008, Elsa. Also, some examples of Jamberry, if you did not know what they were before. (They're vinyl nail wraps that last longer than polish.)
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