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Monday, April 20, 2015

Scotland, and other brave things

Sue is either headed for or has arrived in Scotland!  Hope the trip is wonderful.

Due to the press of stuff, I might be an inattentive host, and an award ceremony is uncertain.  But feel free to circulate the W's and AW's, and nominate others as appropriate.  :)

AW:  Polly, the very shyest of cats, a cat who does not permit humans to pet her, a cat so secretive that many people think she does not really exist -- Polly decided to try curling up with her lifelong fellow rescue cat, Spot, even though he was sleeping at the human's feet!!!  Over 7.5 years, my friends, for this amazing breakthrough. 

What's the news with youse?

56 comments:

esperanza said...

W, on my mother's behalf: she has a tummy bug on her birthday. That seems unfair.

W: So, so tired.
AW: but it's because I had a great weekend, working with friends.

W: Me being gone is incredibly disruptive to the whole household. This dims my pleasure over the weekend considerably.

AW: I made a cool tie dye t shirt that is making me ridiculously happy for such a small thing

kathy a. said...

Oh, well wishes to mama. Yay about the good weekend!

Today was just one of those days -- pooping outside the box; a fake crisis that made me ask the Big People if they had borrowed something, which they had not; and an ally retired abruptly; and then there was the hour of phone hell on a SIL issue that might either have been important, or was a scam, but the agency in charge can't tell me which because of privacy. Also, my daughter misunderstood and bought antibacterial soap, and we have not used that supergerm promoter for over a decade.

But it was fried rice night, and lo, it was good.

kathy a. said...

It's too quiet! Miss you guys.

Pls cross fingers for the therapy thing tomorrow. In a sign that this is the right thing to do, I'm all busy organizing the Mountain O Crap. Which may not be as useful as cleaning closets or something. But my story, sticking to it, is that the closets are getting by fine for now, and one day will be theirs. ;)

esperanza said...

W: The kindergartner has reached Introvert Overload, I do believe. Not helping: Extravert Sister

kathy a. said...

Sending quiet time to Ma. Introvert. xoxo

kathy a. said...

*Ms. Introvert

esperanza said...

I'll be Ma Introvert, she can be Ms Introvert. Extravert Sister may need to go live with Extravert Uncle, with whom I had these very same conversations 30ish years ago. Sigh.

AW: well, supper and a good poop seem to have alleviated the situation a small bit.

W: if only she would think, "hey! I'm hungry!" or "hey! I need to poop!" instead of yelling at family members.

kathy a. said...

Esperanza, truer words were never spoken.

Unknown said...

Me am very tired.

kathy a. said...

Daughter just had a screaming meltdown because of bad stuff at work today. That kind of thing isn't even on my list of things to talk about with the therapist.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

I think several of us has a kid who spent part of the day melting down, instead of communicating what is needed. (Is E sick? Just having a rough time right now? Her tummy has was weird for a few days. But she's improving. Her appetite is back, although she tells me that her tummy is feeling "grumpy," whatever that means. Yesterday, she said it was a "little bit gassy," which was apparent to everyone that spent any time around her.)

W: I am experiencing capital-f Feelings. Some of this is hormonal (and connected to the aunt-Flo-related pain that is only slightly improved by Powerful Meds). Some of it is exhaustion from two days of toddler meltdowns. Some of it is wistful Road Not Taken feelings. My best friend successfully defend her dissertation (which is a huge AW), on the same day that I got a letter saying it's time to start paying back the student loans (W) and my mind is a jumble of happy and wistful. AND THEN today I had an appointment with my GP, and she's referring me to specialists to finally get rid of my fibroids (AW!), but she did a bunch of prodding about whether I'm sure for sure for sure that we're done having kids, since I'm young, and my options are pretty final regarding reproduction. And she expressed doubt that I'm certain, because she caught me on am emotional day. And I told her that if my only option for having another kid is leaving in the fibroids, then we're for sure done. And she was all optimistic about how sometimes it's not so bad the second time, and I was all "Do you remember last time?"

And I'm certain, and I'm being referred to specialists, but that mini-argument with my GP stirred up all my Road Not Taken feelings.

AW: I'm so glad that Mr. Q and I are on the same page about this. We talked after supper, and he made me feel a lot better about all the choices we've made.

kathy a. said...

((( QWP ))) GP sounds like she was projecting some wishes on you. Phooey. xoxo

esperanza said...

Oh, QWP, is it bad that I can't help but giggle a bit at a toddler informing you she's "a little gassy"?

There's a difference between regretting your decisions and sadness over what will never be. You can be certain you've made the right decision and still be sad over the loss of the other choice. It's grief. So there, GP. I get why she wants you to be certain, but it really sounds like the decision is pretty clear, especially since you're in such pain.

AW: spent two hours (!) catching up with a friend on the phone
W: which kept me up past a decent bedtime
AW: at least I had had a nap earlier yesterday

kathy a. said...

Yes, what Esperanza said about knowing you made the right decision and still being allowed to be sad about it.

Esperanza -- woo hoo for a great long phone call! totally worth it.

AW: Got some attention from the regional manager for the Stupid Major Pharmacy Chain about how people keep crashing through the local pharmacy, right by the checkstands, because the front is basically glass and cardboard and there ARE NO BARRIERS. Got bumped to the big guy after my complaint about the no-content response to my first complaint.

I swear that some of the clerks have ptsd, because this is the second whoopsie in under 2 years.

Big AW: Oh, pixies. Very good first appointment with the therapist today. Really like her. Good beginning plan of action. She's so positive! And reassuring! And she got it!

esperanza said...

Oh, that is wonderful news, kathy a (I mean the therapy bit). So glad that you clicked with her.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Oh, I'm so glad that your therapist gets it, Kathy.

W: the Naptime Nudist strikes again. E figured it how to remove a backwards sleeper, because it was a snap-up kind. So, now it's only zip-up backwards sleepers. Until she Houdinis her way out of those, too.

AW: boy, am I glad that we finally got a vinyl mattress cover for her.

kathy a. said...

Big fan of impermeable mattress covers.

SIL's birthday today, and she's doing well according to staff -- got cake, and flowers, and makeup and hair done. So we talked, and -- boy, do I hate this kind of dementia. Once I could make out the words, they were all about how the first ex is coming with a jaguar, and he's bought her clothes, and they are going back to the place they lived before the long-ago divorce. So I did the only possible thing, and wished happy birthday again.

Liz Miller said...

(((Kathy)))

Oy, QWP, I didn't have a houdini, but I utterly sympathize. And sending hugs to you over the sadness of the road not taken, even though you feel secure in the decision to not take that road.

esperanza said...

Remember my little buddy Waylon, with the fireplacing neuroblastoma cancer? He's still doing treatment, but some friends of his parents put together a benefit for him and his family this past Saturday. They raised $20,000. Wow. That's some good people. Though it won't make a dent in the medical bills, it will give them the ability for the whole family to travel to Sloan-Kettering in NY, which is the only place where they treat relapse of the fireplacing neuroblastoma in the brain.

Miranda said...

Glad the community is supporting Waylon and his family.

Glad your first session with the tally doc went well(that's what my friend calls his therapist and I've taken it)

Whines of pettiness: my heat just came on and it fire placing snowed today.

kathy a. said...

Memorial Sloan Kettering is wonderful, top of cancer treatment. My friend was treated there for her rare cancer. It is so wonderful that friends raised that much to help the family be there! If I recall, there are nearby reasonably priced places for family to stay; there might be a separate place for peds families. Sending love. xoxo

esperanza said...

Miranda, heater and snow is just wrong. Very wrong.

kathy a. said...

What esperanza said, Miranda. xoxo

Liz Miller said...

Feeling low-level dread, and I don't know why.

kathy a. said...

((( Liz ))) uck. xoxo

Liz Miller said...

Yes. May be PMS related. Tension in shoulders and next, feeling like something is sneaking up on me.

kathy a. said...

Stupid hormones. I've sometimes gotten tension headaches that start that way; passing the advil and a heat pack for the shoulder/neck area.

Miranda -- snow? Really? In the latter part of April? An Alaskan friend recently reported the rarity of NO snow in April. Hmph.

esperanza said...

Puke. From Sweet. In the next 3 days, we collectively have: one funeral, one wedding rehearsal, one wedding, one giant (serves 1400) church dinner to cook at/serve/eat/clean up, and three worship services. What could possibly go wrong with this picture?

kathy a. said...

Oh, Esperanza. That schedule is big enough already. Can someone stay with Sweet? Also, passing the antibacterial everything, fresh towels, and very strong good wishes. xoxo

Um, my SIL's care home is wondering about medical marijuana to help her anxiety and aggressiveness -- and putting out the best possible outcome, maybe they could ramp down some of the major drugs that keep her from hitting people but also make her more prone to fall. They have a psych who could do an eval, an RX, and follow up. There are no studies -- but if anybody needs a little mellowing out, she's the one. This is perfectly weird, but I kinda hope my husband decides to give it a medically supervised whirl, because we really really do not need to find a new place for her again.

kathy a. said...

This is unlikely to be an awards week, but please feel free to nominate. And keep on kvetching on!

esperanza said...

Well, the Powers That Be in charge of the spaghetti supper are likely to be understanding if I/we don't show up. But we are already down one Power with pneumonia. It's just hard to ask a non-relative to come stay with a puking Baboo.

esperanza said...

And I think I'd say go for the experiment with SiL. It's worth trying, anyway.

kathy a. said...

With luck, the puke was/is a short-time thing. xoxo

esperanza said...

As long as we're counting on luck, let's go for non-contagious, too.

esperanza said...

Oh, and a whiny whine: in the past week, I have broken a nail clippers and now the garlic press. They were metal. Who am I, Wonder Woman?

kathy a. said...

LOL, Esperanza! You are wonderwoman. But usually in a better way than having household implements up and die on you. ;)

Liz Miller said...

Esperanza, do you folks buy Blue Bonnet ice cream? There was a recall on it this week due to Listeria.

Metal that gets used often in stressful ways gets fatigued and breaks. If you bought those items at around the same time, it's likely they'd break around the same time, too.

And, surely among your parishioners there's someone who doesn't mind pukey kids? A pediatric nurse, perhaps?


Kathy, I hope your DH consents to the new medical regime. And I hope it works!

esperanza said...

Blue Bell and yes, it's the national ice cream of Texas. But we haven't had any. We rarely buy ice cream.

All I'm missing today is the spaghetti fest. And I'm so tired from being up late with Sweet that I don't even care. My next event isn't till Sunday, so we'll see what happens between now and then.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Old Skool time:

AW: pretty, new glasses!!
W: first new prescription in over a decade, and I'm feeling woozy.

esperanza said...

Oh, yes, the new glasses feeling. I always feel like my eyeballs are being pulled out of my face. Pleasant.

AW: Sweet somewhat better. No one else afflicted as of yet.

W: Mr. E highly grumpy because of All The Things

kathy a. said...

Yay about the glasses! Hope you adjust swiftly. It is such a change when one goes a while...

Yay about Sweet improving, nobody else down! Hope Mr. Grumpy becomes less so with all due speed.

kathy a. said...

On the road with my husband. He wanted to go back to his home town, where there are a number of commemorations of the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Very lovely memorial just dedicated at the local U. Concert tonight. Saw one historical exhibit; will see another today. Not the most upbeat, although we had a nice dinner last night, and bought products from the U's farm store.

One college baseball team is at the hotel, and several girls' softball teams in town for playoffs or something. Breakfast was a zoo, but kind of delightful to see all that happy energy.

esperanza said...

Mini puking. Ugh. She is not the tidy puker that Sweet is. Not tidy, like take the sheets out into the yard and hose them off not tidy.

Mr. E has made arrangements and will stay home with them tomorrow while I go lead church at my substitute preacher gig. Provided I can get this sermon finished. This is precisely the reason one should write one's sermon earlier in the week.

I am nothing but whines tonight, pixies, nothing but whines.

esperanza said...

Oh, and this is classic. I'm holding a vomit-covered paper towel that I have used to wipe off Mini's legs before I carry her to the shower. I ask Mr E (ok, I probably wasn't very polite, but seriously) to bring me a plastic grocery sack. So he asks me if I want a big one or a little one. Dude. I. Don't. Care. Bring me the damn sack right now.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Oh man. You deserve so many medals for ALL the puke you've had to manage this week, esperanza. Bleeegh.

Kathy, I hope you and your husband are having a good trip, and I'm glad you guys can commemorate the anniversary of the Armenian genocide in his hometown.

esperanza said...

Now I have the tummy bug.

Liz Miller said...

(((Esperanza)))

AW: I just gave my dad anti-procrastination advice he gave me 30 years ago. "As a wise man once told me..."

Queen of West Procrastination said...

My Grandma is doing really poorly. Thankfully, my parents are already up visiting her, and the rest of Mom's siblings are either already there, or nearly, because the doctor told them they'd better prepare themselves.

I'm not processing this information. (Oh, my poor sister. She and Grandma share a birthday, and it's coming up on Tuesday.)

kathy a. said...

((( QWP ))) I'm so sorry, and sending lots of love.

Your sister's birthday might be sad this year. But I hope there is a way to celebrate for her anyway, even if you are mourning for (or very worried about) grandma. It is always hard when celebrations and sorrows overlap. xoxo

Esperanza -- dratted bug. Hope you are feeling better soonest. xxoo Also, the bag dithering during a puke emergency is posse-worthy.

Liz -- that's karma coming 'round again, for sure. ;)

Queen of West Procrastination said...

AW: I successfully got us out of plans with Mr. Q's family, and showed up at my sister's place, armed with snacks (including ice cream). She and I both needed this, especially since our parents are up with Grandma, and our brother is on vacation in Europe right now. (Oh, my poor brother. At least he'll be home in a few days.)

kathy a. said...

((( QWP ))) Excellent! There is kind of a tradition with me and the sibs of bringing chocolate, beverage, and a tacky gossip magazine when someone is in need. I don't know how my cousin heard about it, but that's what she brought when my MIL was dying, and she was the only nearby one. xoxo

kathy a. said...

Also, she just came with her teen kids to be with me a while. An that was just good good good. xoxo

esperanza said...

If you can stand another tummy bug whine: Sweet's ordeal was done in about 12 hours. Mini's was 3 hours. Me? I'm still sitting here feeling like crap at Hour 24. Blech.

kathy a. said...

((( Esperanza ))) Things tend to hit adults harder. Much sympathy.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Oh no, esperanza! And it always hits me harder, too. Kids seem to heal faster.

kathy a. said...

QWP, please keep us posted, OK? Sending much love. Anything you want to talk about is OK, ok?