Eulogy for a Friend, Part I

So as most of you have heard by now, we had to put my sweet little cat Autumn to sleep on Sunday. I think I've totally cried my insides out at this point. But every time I think it's stopped, I realize I was wrong.

On Saturday night I noticed she wasn't behaving normally, and she was leaving little drops of bloody urine around the house, so I decided to take her to the vet first thing Sunday morning for what was obviously a bladder infection. What I didn't know, and what the doctor told us was that she was also in renal failure, and her pancreas was inflamed. There were things he could do to try and treat her, but what would fix the one would do things to hurt the other conditions and vice-versa. It was so hard to realize that ultimately she wasn't going to recover from those things, and it would just be more humane to her to put her to rest than to have her suffer through a slow and painful decline of her systems, just so we could spend a little more time with her. It was the hardest, most awful decision I've ever had to make, but she is at peace now. Craig and I were with her as she passed, and I know she knew we loved her.

I probably haven't had more than 6 hours sleep since Saturday night when I realized she was very sick. I'm going to post a memorial blog just as soon as I can get it together long enough to do so. (I've written most of it, I just haven't added the pictures.) Our other cat, Shiva, seems a little more needy than usual too, and you can tell she occasionally looks around like she expects her companion to just come around the corner. But with a little patience, and a little extra love and attention, I think she will adjust okay. (I'm not so sure about me.)

The vet is going to have her ashes returned to us, so when Craig and I move to our new home, we can place her in a comfortable, sunny spot where she can always stay a part of our family. Craig's dad also suggested we put a birdbath near her, and I thought that was a really nice idea.

So please love your own furry family members a little more tonight, in memory of the dear, sweet little friend who had so much unconditional love for everyone, and whom we all loved so much. We will miss her.

Upheaval

Just when you think everything is going to be okay, and is going along nicely...

Our landlord informed us last night that she is raising our monthly rent by $150 as of July 1st. We already pay an outrageous price for this place:
2 BR + loft, 2 bath, living room, dining room, washer/dryer included, etc = $1600/month.

I pretty much told her she's out of her mind if she thinks we're going to pay $1725 for this place. (The least reason of which is that we can DEFINITELY find a comparable and/or newer place for cheaper.)

I can't complain too much because she's really been the nicest, and the reason she's raising the rent is because she's gotten married and is officially converting this condo she owns to a rental property. Her ARM came up, and she had to refinance, and now she owes more money due to her new interest rate. So in order for her just to break even, she needs to raise the rent.

While I'm totally sympathetic to that, I'm still pissed.

This leaves us four options:

1. Stay and pay that ridiculous rent for a place that isn't even worth $1600/mo.

2. Find a new place to rent in the area. Which gives us 2 months or so to work that all out and get packed, etc.
However, Craig has given me the ultimatum that he doesn't want to move again unless it's into a house so...

3. Buy a house.

There's no fucking way we can afford a house in this area.

(For laughs, you may like to check out http://www.zillow.com. It will display a "heat map" of house values in a particular area. Check out your own house value! BFE is starting to look pretty good.)

That means we'd have to move somewhere else entirely. I'm lucky with my job, because I'm a regional resource. I can move a lot of places on the East coast. Craig would have to quit his job. Which sucks, because he loves his job.

4. Buy a condo/townhome.
That, we could afford. However, why would I buy something when I'd still have to share walls with other people?




We don't know what to do.