Sorry I haven't been on much lately, but I've been pre-occupied with a Microsoft exam I scheduled myself to take on Friday (one of the 3 I need for my MCSA - I already have one done, but need these other 2). I am taking it now, after a long delay, b/c Microsoft is running a 2nd-try-for-free promotion on any IT Pro exam you sign up for between Feb 28 and May 31, 2005, so I need to get them done ASAP!

I don't feel ready at all - I'm sick of cramming already, though I know that's what the next couple days will be - I'm sure I'll probably have to take this test (70-215, supposedly the hardest of the 3, most people I know who took it took it twice before passing) again, but hopefully I can take it for free and not have to pay for it a second time.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that we took Bailey, Leila, & Leo to the vet on Monday as planned. In fact, that took up more of my day than studying, which wasn't too good, but oh well. They're our "kids", and that's the most important thing.

Anyway, everything went smoothly. There were a few surprises - first of all, our original estimate for all the stuff we were having done to the 3 of them was $417, but it ended up being $500 (YIKES! We're kinda broke right now b/c of all the expenses w/purchasing our first home, me looking for more full-time work, etc.). Bailey was the cheapest - he had no probs - they gassed him, gave him his regular shots & exam, and microchipped him. He was hissing when he first woke up, as he was before he was "gassed" (we were thinking "What else is new? It's the vet!") groggy when we brought him home, and today he's back to normal.

Leila was good for her "gassing", shots & microchipping, but the first extra costs creeped in with her. Somehow, she had ear mites!?! They actually had to clean her ears really thoroughly. They of course then gave us the ear drops for all of our cats b/c if one has them, they all might, especially if they snuggle, which they often do. All we can figure is that back in Sept 2004, when we thought Leo was having a recurrence of his ear mites from before we adopted him, we took him to the vet about his incessant ear scratching, but they couldn't find anything in his ears, except build-up. It sucks that they can't find ear mites all the time. Anyway, since then, the cats have been scratching their ears quite a bit (not Bailey, usually, but the other ones have), and we cleaned each of their ears regularly, and we attributed it to the really dry conditions in our rental house. Well, I guess Leo may have had them first & passed them to Leila, and possibly to Claudia, but to a lesser extent. We're not going to treat Bailey as much, b/c his ears are absolutely clear (the doctor didn't see signs of mites with him either), as usual, but we're supposed to give them all ear drops for a couple of weeks. Good times!

Leo had the expensive procedure - the full dental cleaning - as well as his shots (plus his 3-year rabies shot/tag, which Bailey & Leila already had last year - he had the microchip already - AVID is what they use around here). It became more expensive b/c they had to extract his front left canine tooth (his "fang") b/c it there was an absess on the gums and the roots of the tooth were coming out up there and it was getting messy - they said it would've been quite painful for him before too long. I'm glad they pulled it, since it was probably causing him lots of pain - it was also the tooth that was chipped when we adopted him. So, we also had that cost, plus the 2 meds we have to give him for a couple of days - pain med & antibiotic. Let's just say our Leo is quite the "stoner" right now. It's funny. He does seem to be feeling lots better already. No telling how long that tooth was bugging him - that probably explains a lot (that and the ear mites that we thought were there but no one ever saw in 3 trips to the vet in Sept, Nov & Dec for various other things)! He seems happier and peppier (unless that's the drugs, but we don't think so), and I just wish there had been some way for him to tell us about his tooth, but oh well.

Sorry so long, but I just had to update you all on the cats & their crazy expensive trip to the vet. We just have to take Claudia for her annual stuff in June, so hopefully that won't be crazy like yesterday!

Wish me luck on my exam (try 1 and possibly try 2, depending on Friday's outcome)!