mo money, mo problems

we'll, i WISH we had more money after today! grrrr...today was not so fun for the wallet!

over the weekend, i noticed that our cat mango had been using the litter box rather frequently but when i would check it after she got out, there would be nothing in there. so for a few more days i watched her and also noticed that she was drinking more water but not peeing that much. so i tried to get her on base with the vet but they were booked until mid november (its hard to get ANY appointments on base!!! i hate it!) so i called off base to a clinic in bitburg that we took her too when we first moved here. luckily they were able to get me in the next day (today). well, mango HATES her kennel as im sure it brings back awful memories of the trip from the states to here (15+ hours alone in a kennel on a cold plane) so she was pretty pissed at me the whole time while she was in it. brynn was so cute on the drive there as she tried singing to mango to help ease the tension but of corse that didnt help! mango isnt too "friendly" with brynn so when she hears her voice, she meows her nasty meow and swats at her! so yeah, the 15 minute drive to the vet was pretty exciting!

the vet needed to get mango's temperature so of corse, the ole rectal thermometer was used! poor cat! her eyes bulged out so far that i thought they would pop out! so, they think mango has a bladder infection so i have to give her these antibotic drops for a week and collect a urine sample somehow. i dont know how thats going to work as she uses a littler box (thankfully, she never has accidents) and i dont plan on following her around when she goes in there! so if any of you guys have any ideas, let me know! so yeah, 69 euro later ($91) we were free to go.

before we took mango to the vet, i was on base this morning as brynn has dance class every tuesday. on the way to base while on the autobahn, my car was shaking and acting funny so of corse i was concerned. we had JUST had crap fixed on it back in august so i was mad that it was acting funny again. so i met up with steve and we drove to the hobby lobby shop on base and i went inside to see if they could take a look at it. luckily, they had a spot open in the afternoon so i took steves car home and told them to call steve when they figured out what was wrong. well, as soon as i got back home, steve called me and said, "youre never going to believe what they found". so i asked and he said that those stupid weasel marten thingys ate up our spark plug wires AGAIN! UGH! this happened to us last year too! we heard about these nasty rodents getting into the hoods of peoples cars and chewing on their wires (to stay warm and to keep their teeth sharp i guess?) when we first arrived but didnt think it happened too often. well, we are living proof that it DOES happen so make sure you spray your engines in the winter with rodent spray! i wish we had a garage or something as this wouldnt even be an issue...so yes, to get new spark plug wires (which were JUST replaced in august!!!) + labor is going to cost us $150. well, its pretty crappy timing as i was about to buy tickets to florence/rome for us for thanksgiving but steve is making me hold off on that...grrrr! so it looks like we are going to be spending yet another thanksgiving in the farm area's of bitburg! hooray! grrrrr....nothing like seeing a bunch of nasty cows to make your holiday seasons special.

on monday, my friend emily and i hit up the costume shop in wittlich to get some last minute things for our halloween costumes. our family is going as pirates so i found a wig for myself and a "chest wig" for steve as his pirate shirt is open in the front and he isnt hairy (thank goodness! chest hair is nasty!) enough to play the part! it should be fun!

oh, and sorry for not posting pictures yet of my new hair cut. i didnt pull my camera out on saturday night when steve and i went to a party for his work so give me a few days.

hope everyone is doing well!