This would only happen to my cat.

The last time we talked about Jasper, he was a zombie-face kitty. That mishap is healed and his fur is growing back in. But, since he can't go two weeks without needing some sort of medical attention, today we were back at the vet, getting the good doctor just a little bit closer to a wealthy retirement.

This week, the diagnosis is sunburn. Apparently Jasper has been spending too much time sitting in the window, because the skin on his poor little ears is cracking and peeling and scabbing, causing all of the fur to come off with the scabs (the picture was taken pre-sunburn). We shot him up with some antibiotics, and I have to rub sunscreen--yes, the people kind--on his ears twice a day and bring him back next week for a check-up.

Of course, it's possible that it's not just sunburn. The vet listed a few other far more unpleasant guesses, but for now we're treating the most straightforward choice.

As for me, I got to go re-do my blood draw and pee in a cup today, because my labs from last week came back all wonky and my blood tested like an elderly man's. Now I have a junkie bruise on my arm and I've had to suffer the humiliation of giving my pee cup to a hot sailor all over again. If you haven't been to the Naval Hospital Lemoore lab, two words: man candy.

Remember last year when a magazine article convinced me that I had a squamous cell carcinoma on my arm? I'm getting that little growth removed at the end of the month. The doctor was 99 percent sure from looking at it that it's nothing, but I decided to have them take it off for cosmetic reasons (and also because such things are free while Jason's in the Navy--hooray Tricare!). It's a simple outpatient procedure that only takes a few minutes. I'm kind of excited for it, actually.

What excites me the most, though, is that Jason will be home in 48 hours! I wish I could just go to sleep and skip forward two days.