10

Well, we ended up pulling the troublesome tooth and it was indeed cracked on the root side.  But the pain didn't go away.  It seems there is something going on with the nerves in my face and I'll need to see a neurologist.  I went to see my primary care doctor and she agreed with the endodontist about it.  So, I waited the 10 days for the referral to arrive and called and made an appointment.  I won't be able to go until October so, in the meantime, I am on some medicine for nerve pain.  The medicine made me a little sick at first but now it just makes me very tired.  I'm on a very small dose so it just mostly takes the pain away, but I'm glad that it does that much.  If I want a stronger dose I have to have John talk to his sergeant and then I call the doctor's office at 6 a.m. the day I want an appointment and wait on hold for a while and see what appointments they have left and then talk to John's sergeant about the time we got so that John can take me.  (We only have one car so things get tricky with appointments.)  So, we'll see how it goes.  The site of the tooth excavation has been healing up very well, so that's happy. :)
John had started the preparatory Physical Training to start Air Assault School this month, but they decided that due to his prior heat casualty (heat stroke) that they should reschedule him to come in after the heat of the summer is over.  But, he will be starting WLC (I don't know the acronym haha but I do know it's some kind of leadership training course) soon and he is looking forward to that. =)
Also, this month we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. ^_^  We decided we would go somewhere nice in Nashville for dinner to celebrate over the weekend.  I looked at reviews online and found a lovely restaurant called Etch, so we got a tiny bit dressed up and started driving up there on Saturday with what should have been enough time to get there for our reservation.  However, suddenly the traffic on the freeway came to a complete stop.  (We found out later that there was an accident causing traffic to be at a stand still for about 6 miles.)  And there was a steady stream of cars going back up the onramp! o.o  We were right by the onramp, though, and going to be late so we went with them and followed a stream of cars along an alternate route for a while and then got back on the freeway after we were past the congestion.  We called to let them know we might be late and were doing our best to make it.  But, make we did and only 7 minutes late. =D  We were treated very nicely at the restaurant and it made the night special. :)  We had roasted cauliflower for an appetizer and some rosemary bread and then I ordered the pork tenderloin and Johnny had the lamb chops.  For dessert I had the lemon meringue that came with blueberry sauce, blueberries, and some lavender cream on top.  It was exquisite!  Such delicate flavors.  Johnny was adventurous and tried the homemade rye whiskey ice cream which was very creamy and subtle.  The drive home had good traffic, just some heavy rain that we are getting used to here.  Thunderstorms happen a lot here.  It can be cozy, but a little scary sometimes (especially for kitties).

Me with my dinner. :)

Johnny being adorable. =)

Desserts!

Our waiter was sweet and took our picture. ^_^

Patches hiding and telling me how much she doesn't like thunder.

It was a happy anniversary.  It doesn't seem possible that we've really been married this long.  There have been a lot of hard times and a lot more wonderful times.  We're so grateful we could be together this year.  Next year at this time John should be deploying again so celebrating together this time was extra sweet.
The kitties are doing well.  They try to keep out of trouble though sometimes they just can't help themselves. ;)

Patches loves to play in the boxes that only have packing paper left in them.  Getting back out was a problem for a while, but she's getting the hang of it.

"Please don't tell Dad I'm up here."

Zoe needs to do everything Patches does.  And get in all the same trouble.  Patches usually looks down at me smugly like, "Yeah.  I'm up here.  Whaddaya gonna do?"  But when I found Zoe on top of the cupboards she looked very alarmed and got down quickly.  She was very worried so I only scolded a tiny bit. ;)
They take good care of me during the day and I'm just doing my best to get things done slowly for a while.  And in the evenings and on the weekends we enjoy our time all together. :)

Zoe is 3! :)

Time has been going by so quickly!  Sadly, we are still slowly unpacking.  We are trying to get rid of things we've been holding onto that we don't use or don't need as we unpack, so we try to get some done in the evenings together (easier to make those decisions when we are both here) when John gets home from work or over the weekends.  I've still been pretty out of it so that makes it hard.  I feel so bad that it's taking so long, but am also feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything right now. :(
Things are still up in the air about my tooth.  We decided to do a last ditch round of medication and did more steroids and antibiotics together for about a week to see if the tooth would calm down.  It was pretty effective, but now we are just waiting to see if things flare up again.  I didn't get as sick on the medication this time, but since it has finished I have been very tired and weak.  The tooth seems to be gradually getting a little more painful, but I am just waiting to see if it gets bad enough to give up or not.  If we wait and wait and it stays calm, we can finish the retreatment with a new root canal and a crown.  If it becomes problematic again while we wait (which it seems to be veering toward), it will need to be extracted.  My endodontist wants to send me to an oral surgeon in that case because he is pretty sure the tooth will break during extraction.  So, we'll see what happens.
It was Zoe's birthday on the 15th!  She turned 3 years old. :)  We did a special tuna dinner cat food for their dinner and gave her a new scratchy bed and a couple of toys.  We could really tell it made her feel special and she's been very cuddly since.  She's never been a lap cat, she likes to just sit next to us.  Not much of a cuddler.  But then last night she snuggled down on my lap for around a half hour!  It feels like we've gotten closer to her by making her feel special that way. ^_^

The kitties playing with Zoe's presents.

Zoe on my lap again this morning (pardon the jammies lol).

We also started running together this week. =)  John is now attached to a cavalry unit that does a lot of physical training and I want to get in better shape, so we decided to join forces.  Johnny is teaching me better running form and we did some various drills, as well.  We found a nice little area with lots of trees where the street loops around, just perfect for running laps.  I admit I have blisters and am pretty sore, so we're going to wait a couple of days for my feet to recover before going out again.  It was cool to learn some of the things that John does every day and for him to be my coach for a little.  He says he was a little surprised by how well I did and encourages me that I am going to be a skilled runner by and by. :)  I feel like it brought us a little closer to each other by adding this new aspect to our relationship.
Life can be daunting after a PCS move.  Completely new place, don't know anyone, someone else packed our stuff so we can't find anything, since we found our new place to live online... we're kind of in a not great part of town, moving always takes its financial toll... there's a lot of stress involved.  Adding in all the dental weirdness, it's been really hard.  But, we're learning how to work together more and more and we're just glad to be together.  We found out John shouldn't deploy again until next summer, so that is good news that we'll have another year together.  Life beats the crap out of you from time to time.  Sometimes it gets us down, but we're not out. ;)  We're going to enjoy our year together here and make the best of it. =)  North Carolina was scary at first, too, but after a while we found a lot to love and I know we will in Kentucky, too.

In the Process

Well, things are less scary now that we've been here for a little while.  We're medium unpacked at this point.

We were on a quest to find the microwave so we could eat out less and home more, even frozen dinners for a while.  I'm trying to wash the dishes I unpack and then put them away, so it is taking longer, but then I'll know they are clean.  And the big heavy boxes are still blocking the dishwasher for now.  The movers decided to put boxes in front of closed closet doors, all cupboards, anywhere to put things away so I have to unpack and just put things anywhere until we can make our way through.  We got the washer and dryer all hooked up and ready to go - after switching out our 4 prong plugged cable for a 3 prong plugged cable (I'm sure there's a better way to say that but oh wellz).  We scooted things so we can open the fridge a little and a few cupboards. :)  Once we found the microwave and set it on the counter, something was wrong.  It's "face" was looking at the floor.  It had become mutilated somehow in the move.  They put one thin piece of packing paper on the bottom of the box and then the microwave on the bottom so I'm guessing the box got dropped or something.  Or... twisted. lol  In any case, it was rocking back and forth dramatically if touched because all four legs couldn't touch the counter at once.  So, we'll report that and we went and got a new one with some of our dwindling dollars.  We also replaced the lamp that was broken the last time we moved with an adorable pear lamp from Hobby Lobby. ^_^

It spoke to me. ;)
Part of why I'm a little behind with the unpacking is that my tooth has flared up again.  (The one they did the root canal on but punctured the sinus and I got to move with a swollen face.)  I took all of my azithromycin and things felt better and seemed fine and I made an appointment to visit my new dentist so we can put the crown on soon.  Put then it became painful again so we went in earlier and saw another dentist at the same office.  He looked at it very carefully and looked over the x-rays and notes and has decided I should see an endodontist about it.  I have an appointment to see one this week to see if they think I'll be able to eventually get a crown done, have surgery, or if extraction is needed.  At this point, I don't even care if I lose the tooth.  I just want the pain to stop.  My new dentist also said to stop wearing the night guard my last dentist made me because a rubber guard can make night clenching worse (which it has been) and exacerbate the problem with this tooth.  Also, until Wednesday I am on Loritab to manage the pain.  So, I'm a little tired and out of it for a little.  But it's very nice to have the pain management.  I'm just very nervous about it all.
Patches has been loving her jungle of boxes.  She will play and play in packing paper and boxes and then come and take a break on an available lap or the cat tree and then continue when she wakes up.  She doesn't see a need for change and the more boxes disappear the more displeased she is about it. ;)

Patchy on Daddy's lap

John is going through inprocessing at Fort Campbell, which takes a little longer here than it did at Fort Bragg, but we don't mind. :)  We appreciate some time to breathe.  Some days he's gone all day, some days just part of the morning.  It does make scheduling my dentist appointments a little tricky, but we're working it out.
Miles always used to steal my hair bands/ponytail holders and play with them and when we got Zoe she loved that idea, as well.  Patches can take it or leave it.  She likes toys that make noise. ;)  But, since Zoe was a kitten her favorite thing is to get a hair band hooked over her paw and she'll just sit there happily wearing it like a little bracelet.  It's so cute!  I got a picture and had to share. :)

A light yellow hairband is around the foreleg on the right. :)

I also got a tiny gift bag that a necklace came in that Zoe has "borrowed" that she carried around by the drawstrings like a little purse.  But as I followed her around trying to get a picture she became highly suspicious of me and now hides it from me.  Haha.  I might not get a picture of that cuteness, after all.  They're such funny kitties.  They make things a lot brighter in our world.
Another thing that's been helping us with the stress of moving and life has been reading aloud to each other again.  We kind of slacked off for a little but when I've been not feeling well lately John will read to me and it is very comforting.  We just finished The Secret of NIMH (Excellent!) and are working on Hatchet now. :)  And I am reading The Great Gatsby to Johnny.  It's fun to share favorite books with each other that way.
I have a feeling it will be a good summer. =)

We made it.

So, we're here... It's been eventful, we'll put it like that. lol
Okay, so the day before the movers come to pack our things, I was having withdrawals from the few days I was on prednizone and vomiting and sick sick sick.  So, poor Johnny did a lot of the getting ready alone.  The next day I stayed in the room we'd cleared out so the cats could have a place to be and I snuggled with them while the movers packed everything.  That night as we were about to leave to have dinner with a friend, we realized John hadn't thought to save any of my shoes from being packed... we didn't make it to dinner, after all.  We found some cheap flip flops to keep us going. The next day, my face was swollen up and red at the area of the sinus that had been punctured during my root canal.  So, we had to run to the dentist for an emergency appointment and a prescription for different antibiotics.  Most of that day was spent running from place to place getting signatures.  The housing people were nice enough to let our cats stay in our cleaned apartment while we did that.  We barely got everything turned in to S1 in time (like... we had 10 minutes left on a Friday).  If we'd had to wait til Monday... it would have really sucked.  So, we picked up the cats, raced to the vet we were very late to see and got Patches's tummy looked at one more time and the last little stitch with the knot in it taken out.  Then we headed to our hotel for the night and unloaded our needed personal items.  We got the cats a little used to the room and then headed out again.  John dropped me at the mall to find shoes that wouldn't destroy my toes while he went to pick up my prescription.  I found some Merrells on sale - that brand works well with my long narrow feet - and got those and John picked me up, medicine in hand.  Then we went and had some dinner and went back to the hotel to sleep.  The cats kept me up a lot because they kept jumping on things to explore through the night.  We had planned to get up at 5 and leave at 6:30, but we ended up leaving closer to 7:30.  Thankfully the medicine had started helping and my swollen face was less swollen and less red.  And we drove and drove.  We had 11 hours to get through.  A day or two before, the driver of the truck with all our goods in it called and said that he could probably get us our things on the 1st instead of the 13th.  So we were going fast to get there in time to get our stuff.  I slept a lot, feeling ill and hurting, Patches in her carrier on my lap, Zoe in her carrier in the back seat.  They would meow for a while and then sleep and then meow and then sleep.  We stopped twice to use bathrooms.  When we arrived the moving truck was already here.  I hadn't realized that the 2 bedroom apartment I'd rented was actually a trailer.  (Looking online only is tricky. v.v)  It was pretty small, just a kitchen/living room and two small bedrooms and two small bathrooms.  We'd had a living room, family room, giant master bedroom with big walk-in closet and master bath with a big closet and cupboards, a giant kitchen, 2 moderate sized bedrooms upstairs with big closets, 3 bathrooms, a laundry room, and 2 storage units out back.  And guess what?  We filled up that place over the 2 years we were there. x.x  It didn't fit.  So we had to rent a 3 bedroom and transfer the contract over.  The movers were willing to take the big things like the couches over to the new unit, but everything else - our bed, our chest of drawers, all the boxes, bookshelves... all were still stuffed into the smaller unit.  So for the next few days we've been carrying things across the little road to the bigger unit.  One day the maintenance man stopped by and said that he'd help us with the big stuff. =D  I was so happy!  And yesterday our neighbors offered to help with the last boxes.  I'm bruised all over (prednizone makes you bruise easier, anyway) from all the boxes and furniture.  Today we're just cleaning up the smaller unit and getting the last little odds and ends out and we should be down to one unit. :)  And a tower thing should get here in the mail soon so we can use our phones here!  That will be a relief.  Having the internet is glorious!

During our moving times, we have found a CUTE little restaurant called the Ice Cream and Sandwich Shoppe. ^_^  That brightened our day considerably.  Good food and good ice cream = happy Johnny and Tiney.

Also, in the midst of the chaos, the kitties needed some Mama time.  Zoe was stressed, Patches thought it was awesome and this is the lawless place where she gets to jump on everything.  Haha.  We're not thrilled about her new-found joy in jumping on the counters just after we'd gotten her trained not to at last, but we'll teach her again. :)  So, I cuddled the Zoe and let her hide from the changes for a little.

And Patches calmed down and cuddled next to us, too. ;)

And now even though there are boxes everywhere and it's a mess, the old unit is cleaned out and locked up, we have internet, we found margaritas here, and the cats have their tree back.  So it's pretty okay. ;)

More getting ready... lol

Things have felt like they're going too fast and too slow at the same time.  We have a little less than 2 weeks until we move.  The frustrating thing is that the army changes rules and doesn't tell you.   They changed the way clearing works on Fort Bragg from the last time we moved; John was doing things like the past two moves. He was even asked his plans and told his chain of command what his plans were and no one said anything, but later they said it was wrong and he is being punished by having his leave taken away.  A lot of people have dropped the ball with this PCS.  So, he'll still be going to work every day until we leave.  So, a lot of getting ready is on me, except I'm ill from the antibiotics for the root canal/sinus injury and watching over a just-spayed cat and making sure she doesn't bother her stitches. x.x  There is stress.
So, last week we checked where we were on the housing waiting list for Fort Campbell.  #375 of 450ish.  And we had movers scheduled.  And no one cares.  That is the main thing I've learned since we've been in the military: your problems... no one cares about them.  At all.  John was given his orders late.  Housing wants us to prove it or they'll charge us $325 for telling them we're moving late.  They worked out a deal with us that two days after talking to them they would come and inspect the house for damage and we'd have to pay all damages up front and out of pocket and then they'll waive the fee.  So, woozy and tired on Percocet and Augmentin I tried to help John clean the house, but he mostly ended up doing it himself while I was feeling ill on the couch.  They did the inspection and we'll just need to replace a few sections of blinds that kitties thought were so fun to play with. lol  That should be $20 and the standard pet cleaning fee will be $30.  Things on this end are going faster than normal.  We'd been told we'd be moving "sometime in June" and now we have to be out by May 31st.  I'd assume it would be that way next time, except that last time it was a month later than they'd previously said. *sigh*
I didn't know what to do about housing at Fort Campbell.  Someone we know here had been at Fort Campbell a while back and said they'd lived in Hopkinsville about 20 minutes from base and it was a smaller town and nice for them.  So, I went to Craigslist and started looking.  I found some apartments that looked pretty nice that we could afford in our Basic Allowance for Housing (or whatever it means - BAH) and called their office to ask about their pet policy.  The woman that answered the phone was so nice (another thing about the military and all things on base - they don't have to be nice to you because you have to go to them and most the time they're not nice to you) and is also a military spouse and knew everything I would need to do and need to know.  So, I talked to John and talked to my parents and we decided to take it and I put down a deposit over the phone to hold our unit.  Such a relief!  We cried.  Also, if you live on base, they take all of your BAH money, whether your housing is nice or crappy.  We were paying the same for the place we couldn't open our fridge cause it hit the other side of the kitchen as we are paying here.  Both were Fort Bragg housing, so that's the way it is.  (And the pics of the Fort Campbell housing for our rank were not promising and guaranteed that we'd have all linoleum flooring through the entire apartment.  But the place I found has carpet and vinyl. :D )  Living off-post, the BAH amount goes to you and if you choose somewhere less than the amount you are given, the leftover goes to help with utilities and other bills. :)  So, we will probably be saving money living off-post anyway because we chose a place less than our BAH.  (You can, of course, also choose somewhere more than your BAH and pay the difference but that would scare me too much. lol)  Also, this way I'll have access to any public transportation and maybe have a life off-base... lol  We'd like to get a second car soon, but since our pay cut that is further down the road.
We had been trying to get Patches spayed for some time now, but her respiratory problems kept coming back a few days after we'd stop her antibiotics. :(  And there can't be breathing problems when they're going to have anesthesia.  After getting the apartment, the spay was less pressing because we don't have to register them with the on-post vet, but she has been getting older, so we decided to do it anyway.  She should be healed up just in time to move, getting her sutures out the day before the movers come to pack up the house and we can get her last couple of shots in Hopkinsville. I found a vet there and made her an appointment and I also found a place in the next town over that sells the cat food we use, so all should go just fine.  She is recuperating nicely.  We made her a little shirt to protect her stitches.

Our stuff is going to be packed up on the 29th and loaded and shipped out on the 30th (though those dates have changed several times in the past week x.x).  I need to pack all we will need, anything valuable we don't want broken, everything the cats will need, and the cats in one small car and hope we're fine until the movers arrive.  lol We'll be spending a couple of days in a hotel here (I think I found a good one that allows pets) and the rest of the time using an air mattress in our new place. (Saves $ and easier on the cats.) We've done this once before, but it's still nerve-wracking.
I think the transition will probably go fine, but I can't help but worry all along. :S  I'm going in to see the dentist again tomorrow because the pain has gotten worse again and spread to my jaw so they need to look at it and probably take an x-ray.  At least I'll have a dentist to transfer to right away.
Lots to do!  But we can do it. :)

Getting Ready

April went by so quickly!  May is here and I wasn't ready yet. ;)
Well, we are starting to get ready to move at the beginning of June.  It seemed like this distant thing that would happen later but now it is upon us.  So, John is getting all of the paperwork and signatures done.  I've been trying to catch up with laundry and dishes and figure out what things we'll need to take with us in the car and what we'll need to get rid of before the movers come to pack everything up.  It will only be about a 9 hour drive this time instead of a few days, so that will be good.  Though this trip will be made with 2 kitties in the car with us instead of just one. o.o  I'm not sure how that will go.  I will discuss it with our vet and see if they will need any drugs for the journey.  I might need some, myself. xD Just kidding.
For some reason we have not been able to beat this Upper Respiratory Disease for the cats.  The sneezing has kept coming back and coming back.  So they are on medicine again.  Patches has to be on some strong antibiotics because she needs to be sneeze free for 10 days before she is spayed.  We've had to postpone the appointment a few times.  x.x  It is stressing me out because she is getting older and older.  But, we should be able to get it taken care of on May 17th.
I ended up needing a root canal on the last tooth that needed a filling.  Not what you want to hear when you think you won't have to be back at the dentist for 6 months. Haha.  So we set up the appointment and had it done.  However, this tooth rests against one of my sinuses and apparently the sinus got punctured during the root canal.  The day after the procedure I suddenly had constant draining for 3 hours straight from the left nostril (the root canal was on my furthest back upper right tooth).  It freaked me out.  So we went back in to the dentist and he said he thinks the sinus has been punctured and there was some bleeding in the sinus and my body is doing its best to heal.  So, I will need to make sure I put heat on it and take antibiotics.  My teeth hurt, my sinuses hurt a LOT.  I feel stressed out because I need to get ready to move. :(  And the money I was saving to help us move is slowly being eaten away at by vet and dentist bills.  But, it will be okay.  Right now all I want is for my face to stop feeling like it's buzzing.  The dentist said as the sinus heals it will stop buzzing and the pressure and pain will fade.
The kitties have been getting closer and closer to each other.  And they have been adorably monitoring me.  They have been sleeping by me and sniffing my face periodically to make sure I'm okay.  It's really cute.  They have become such loving little sugar bears.

We're excited to see what Fort Campbell will be like for us.  There's just a lot to do in the meantime! o.o  We'll keep you posted. ;)

Johnny turns 32! =)

We celebrated John's birthday this weekend. :)  It's fun having our birthdays so close together.  It makes a "birthday season" every year. haha
For my birthday we went to the lovely Turkish restaurant, so we wanted to do something completely different for John's birthday.  We actually kind of spread his out over Friday and Saturday.  He finished work early on Friday so we decided to go out and celebrate early, as well.  We went to a place called Smokey Bones.  They have ribs and burgers, different meats and bold flavors. =)  Johnny had a giant club sandwich and stew and I had a cheeseburger (with bleu cheese and avocado... yumyum) and sweet potato fries.  Then we had a big piece of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.  It was awesome. >:)

He is definitely pleased. ;)

The birthday boy. ^_^

I like making him feel special.  He turned red just having the waitress bring him free cake and tell him "happy birthday." :3  He's so adorable.  He doesn't like a big fuss, but I insist on a little fuss.  ;)

Happy. :)

On Saturday we had a lazy day.  Johnny and the kitties even took a nap all in a row. :3 

Cutest nap ever.

The cats have been getting along so well.  They play all the time and now they are totally cuddly and adorable!  It makes me so happy.  Zoe was so lonely and all I've wanted was for her to feel a little happy again.  I know she'll always miss Miles.  But, having a baby sister is giving her life some brightness again.  Which Miley would want. :)  Zoe and Patches are definitely becoming the sweetest furry sisters ever.

This. Is. The. Best.

 Then we just decided to do something simple and went out for Chinese food for dinner for his birthday day.  And forgot to take pictures of it. v.v  Sorry about that.  (Hey, we got the picture with the eyebrow and the cake, so I'm happy.)  It was very low key and fun.  We got a couple of groceries on the way home and watched some Conan and fell asleep early.  =)  Everything a Johnny could want.  He values simplicity.
So birthday season has been a good season this year. ;)  I love that we have been together for it this year.  Good memories. :)