Today = another eye-roller.

   Work is really busy. And normally I like that, but it's a little much even for me right now. I'm beginning to long for the days when I had time to eat lunch, or go to the bathroom at least once in a 9-hour period. (Is "sudden bladder explosion" covered under Worker's Comp?) Today we caught an issue that is going to cause quite a lot of reworking of digital files, & Ginny & I worked right up to the minute that I had to leave to get my hair cut.
   The haircut helped relax me; Bob always gives a scalp & neck massage—is it any wonder I've stuck with him for 10 years?—and the products he uses smell great. By the time I was driving home I was feeling spent. I couldn't wait to get home, change into my PJs and lie in bed & read & watch TV until I fell asleep. (This was at 6:30 pm, mind you.)
   Got home, greeted the dogs, patted Gyp & headed up the stairs, when Atom intercepted me. He looked very happy to see me and was purring. Me, not so much. He looked like the victim of a car crash: on his left side, the fur on his face was caked with blood, his ear was red, inflamed and full of blood & pus. My mind flashed to Frankenstein's monster. Zombie cat. That scene from Indiana Jones where they're eating brains right out of the monkey's head. 

   My first worry was traumatic injury, but he acted fine, and the dogs had been confined to the kitchen all day, so they couldn't have been involved. Next I wondered if his eardrum had somehow ruptured. I snapped my fingers softly around his head to ensure that he could still hear out of his left ear. He reacted instantaneously, a great sign. He must have scratched it himself. Sure enough, I touched his ear & he melted in ecstasy. He was super-incredibly-itchy.
   I called the vet & rushed him over there, & the vet confirmed my diagnosis of allergies—plus a side of ear infection that had set in. He gave me ear ointment & Prednisone & sent us on our way. That's twice in as many weeks that Dr. Rad has helped me with an urgent pet issue. He is my hero.
   The next morning Atom was looking better, though his ear still looked shocking. He must have been grateful, because when I went downstairs to feed the cats, he greeted me with this:

   Of course I feel sorry for the mouse; he is adorable. (Look at those tiny FEET!) But even so, I don't want mice taking up residence in my residence. This was Atom's 3rd trophy since we moved into the house nearly 6 years ago. The first mouse was killed & left in the dining room. The second was live. I awoke to a racket at 2 am, flipped on the lights & ran downstairs, to see Atom sprawled at the bottom of the stairs with his paws clutched together. When I said, "What have you got, Atom?" he lifted his paws as if he didn't remember, and the mouse made a break for it. Atom pounced on him again, and I grabbed the wastebasket. Between the two of us, we trapped him & I left him in the garage to ponder his fate until morning, when I released him in the cement drain behind the house. He ran like he was on fire, so I was sure he wouldn't return.

   Anyway, between Taylor's bee sting last week, Atom's ear trauma, all 4 of them needing vaccines recently, and a round of flea-killer for all 4 that also included Predisone for Taylor—who is apparently ALLERGIC to fleas—the attack at the dog park, and 2 trips to buy prescription cat food for their sensitive stomachs, I've had about enough trips to the vet. But at least for today, Atom earned his keep.