Things Gone Bad Sometimes Turn Out For the Best

Yesterday was a day that did not (to put it lightly) go according to plan. Amazingly ... I believe that the day was enhanced due to the bumps and bruises earned along the way.

First on the non-agenda was an unexpected trip to the vet.

Our Senior Cat has been on antibiotics for his pneumonia for almost two weeks. His vet asked me to check in with her yesterday so that we could decide the best course of action for him. She highly advised keeping him on the antibiotics for a while longer because they appear to be making a difference. Since he is not back to his pre-pneumonia-self, she wanted to continue the treatment.

It is stressful to make your cat swallow a pill every twelve hours. I felt bad for him. He was becoming a master at finding ways to manoeuvre his tongue and spit it out and he started to pretend he swallowed it on a few occasions (and for all I know, he held it under his tongue and expelled it when I wasn't looking). So I asked if there was any way we could reduce his stress caused by this. She suggested taking him in for a shot that would equate to two weeks of antibiotics.

We turned this little task into a fun little adventure out of necessity. I have to work tonight (the only night their office is open  late) so we had to find a way to get him into the office during the day. I was taking care of only one child yesterday, so we eventually came up with the plan to take the double stroller. Room for two to ride! This was inspired by our memory of our Senior Cat in his kitten days:

We opted to skip the bonnet and we didn't strap him into the stroller but he managed just fine. I think that he had some pleasant flashbacks of the days when the kids used him as a live 'doll'.

This unexpected little task turned into a fun little adventure. But we wouldn't reap the full rewards until about twelve hours later.

He voluntarily came up and snuggled with My Son in the middle of the afternoon. And he purred. Loudly. We have had to convince and cajole with him to snuggle &/or purr. He did this on his own. It was a glorious moment. 

As the evening progressed (and progressed far later than anticipated due to the fact that we brought out old photo albums in search of the above picture from our archives), there was some cat wrestling. Later on there were a few cat chases. More time elapsed and there was more wrestling. Our Senior Cat  has not had such a spurt of energy in ages. 

We could see and feel such a vast difference in him within such a short period of this miracle drug being administered. I hope that the effects are long lasting and get him to a point where his body can take over and fight his own battles. 

This was the best gift that our day  had to offer.

I suppose the Fence Fiasco will make for a very good story one day. It sort of felt like a battle of "Us" against "Them". We didn't declare war and we didn't want to fight. They did. So they threw in the towel and walked off the job. 

There are more details to the story but the important part is that my Second Son got a Second Opinion and he was right to question how the job was being done. One should not be able to jiggle one fence post on a fence that is 110 feet long and actually see the the ripple effect the entire length of the fence. 

Then there was the bed bug scare. That was the tipping point of the day. If the bug that I had found had been deemed a bed bug, I was going to wave a white flag and give up. Thankfully life was done doling out the 'hard stuff' for one day and the verdict was ruled in our favor.

At the end of a very, very long day we simply sat in the middle of the living room and enjoyed our cats at play. Everything was all right in the world. Our 'cat came back'. At least for a day.

Some days are here to test us, teach us lessons, provide examples of what-not-to-do and how-not-to-treat people. Thankfully those very same days are often sprinkled with enough good stuff to carry you through.

It was an off day. But it didn't throw us off the good track. 

Onward.

And How is Your Morning Going?

Here is a glimpse at my day so far ...

I talked with our cat's vet this morning and we decided that the best way to continue his treatment of antibiotics was to give him a shot which will give him a two week dose of antibiotics without having to force a pill down his throat every twelve hours. 

The dilemma? I could only get him to the vet's office during my daycare hours. The solution? This:

Does this spell Crazy Cat Lady to the average man on the street or what?!?

We were literally a minute or two from home when I got a call from my Second Son. The Fence Crew (once again) showed up after I left the house (once again) after 10:00 this morning. I had asked my son to talk to them on my behalf because when I did try to voice my concerns-to-date yesterday, she talked over me and didn't listen. My son is forceful, yet diplomatic and communicates clearly. I felt fine in leaving this in his capable hands (even though he told me that I should be with him when he spoke on my behalf because this was my fence and my business deal - not his).

Long story short? This is now our fence is in its completed form. The Fence Crew walked off the job. And this is our new reality:

There are two sides to every story. I don't know that this story would have ended any differently if I had been present from the onset. But the end result was the absolutely disrespectful way that virtual strangers were speaking about my son, directly to my face. I gently reminded them that "You are talking about my son here ..." The response (unfazed and with no attempt to withhold themselves), "Well he's a jerk ...". 

I did my best to try to talk with them and hear their answers. But once again, they spoke 'over' my questions and answered little to none of my concerns.

Not good for business, people. Not good for business.

The end of this story will be fine. My son has told me that he will build the fence. It is my hope that they are fair and expedient in dealing with how we will handle the deposit that they received. My overall out-of-pocket expenses that I have budgeted for will remain the same. With any profit going in my son's pocket. 

I hope this ends well.

It is only noon. And how is your day going? 

P.S. (12:40 p.m.) - As if the day couldn't get any better, I found this little critter crawling on the floor at the foot of my bed a few minutes ago (which, when magnified, has some similarities to a bed bug):

This is not helping me deal with the paranoia that I am fighting in regards to our home's exposure to bed bugs. At all. An SOS email to my friendly neighborhood exterminator has been sent. Awaiting an answer...

Update to bed bug email. This was the response, "Looks like a weevil or small beetle". I'll take this one as a 'win'.

It Is Not Yet the End

I have one simple wish. I want to believe what people are telling me. Is that really too much to ask??

Some anonymous soul rated my daycare and within that rating, they rated my meals with a generous 4.25 out of 5. Why can I simply not believe this? Instead, I am racking my mind and available resources for new ideas and better ways to feed my young charges. I don't believe that my meals are anything more than adequate (if that, some days). I am grateful that no one is rating my after-daycare-hours cooking. Is there a negative rating?

Why can't I revel in the joy that someone out there was more than satisfied with my meals and meal planning? Because I know the truth ...

I cannot leave the potential that bed bugs have hitched a ride into our home alone. Have I checked everything and everywhere? Do I know what I am looking for? What if they do not leave evidence of their presence until they have been around a few months? Am I not finding anything because I don't want to find anything or because there is simply nothing to be found?

I called my friendly, neighborhood exterminator (again) yesterday morning. I was full of questions and concerns. I really and truly wanted him to come over and look things over with his expert eye and tell me that our house was in the clear. Instead, he answered all of my questions (and more). He assured and reassured me that I had done and checked everything that I should and could do. And he told me that he believes that even though our home is more at risk than our neighbors (simply because we have more people coming and going through our doors), in his professional opinion he believes our home is fine.

I tend to want to believe him because he could have offered to come over here and charge whatever he wanted to charge me to alleviate my worries. But he didn't. There was no profit gained by answering the way he did. I want to believe that he is right. But I am still afraid he is not. Because I honestly don't know if I have checked everything thoroughly enough.

Our fence project is not going well. The first few days (almost) went according to plan. I had to work all weekend and the Fence Crew appeared and disappeared after I left for work and before I came home. If it had not been for those that were at home and made observations as to the work ethic and method that was used to place the posts (it was not done according to the way I was told it would be done)  I would be none the wiser. They appeared to be doing everything they promised to do.

On Monday (the first day that I was home when they were scheduled to be here), I swear that they must have been hovering in the neighborhood until a few raindrops fell. At that precise moment, someone appeared on our doorstep and declared it was too wet to work. They would see how the afternoon went. The rain amounted to nothing more than barely wetting the ground. They never returned.

Yesterday, I left the house with my daycare family after 10:00. No fence people. Their (lack of) working hours astounds me. We came home four hours later. The fence people were there. I didn't have the energy to talk with anyone at the time so we simply settled back in at home and when I felt energized (enough), I went out and voiced the concerns that my Second Son noticed.

I said what I wanted to say. Almost. Then they began talking over me and filling me with reassurances. I want to believe them. I want this fence project to be completed. Now. Progress was being made (slowly). I was happy enough.

Until My Son came home a short time later (and the Fence Crew had mysteriously disappeared after yet another extremely short work day?) and asked me how my conversation with the Fence People went. I told him. He asked if I wanted to know what he thought (it was obvious that he was skeptical). After my daycare day ended we went outside and he showed me everything that was a concern to him. He took pictures. And videos. I don't want to know this! I just want our fence back. Even our old fence. We are fenceless. And I hate it...

I want to believe that if the Fence People simply complete the job, the fence will stand for thirty years. Instead, I tend to worry that My Son's concerns are valid and after piling snow against our wobbly fence for a winter or two or three, our fence will begin to lean over. It is an 'endless' expanse of fence. Leaning on one end is going to affect the entire fence line. And it is long.

So here I sit. Knowing that something must be said and done to rectify this problem. I simply don't know if I have the stamina to do it. I feel weak. I think my predators smell my weakness and are plotting to take advantage of their position ...

Why can't I simply believe that I providing adequate meals for my daycare crowd? Why can't I simply trust that the bed bug situation has been contained to its original owner? Why can I not foresee our brand new fence still standing at a 90 degree angle in five years??

Then there is the ongoing concern with our Senior Cat's health. At least his vet is honest enough with me which allows me to believe in what she says.

I see the truth that is woven in between all of those lines. The truth hurts. I simply want to close my eyes, forge through it and simply trust that it will all work out okay in the end.

"Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end"

~ Quote from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

That is exactly what I was most afraid to hear. It is not yet the end.

Our Sitting-on-the-Deck-Staring-at-the-New-Fence-Party

Four people attended; two dogs and a cat.

The fence was a no-show. 

I don't want to talk about it....

Empty as a Broken Jug of Milk

A have just one small piece of advice to pass along today:

If you ever drop a four litre plastic jug of milk down an entire flight of stairs ... do NOT cheer it along and hope for the best!

Instead, RACE it down the stairs and when you get to the bottom of the stairs and find that the plastic has inevitably broken open, hold the milk jug in a fashion where gravity will keep the remainder of the milk that is left in the jug contained.

Do not ask me what to do with four litres of milk. Throw it down the sink if you must. It beats sopping it up with a household full of towels.

All I can say is "Thank goodness we have laminate flooring".

That's all I've got this morning. I feel as empty as that broken jug of milk at the moment. I just may go back to sleep for a while.

A Few Kind Words

This morning, I was tending to the business of promoting my daycare business at one of the various on line sites where I am advertising when I spotted the tab "Review Rebuttals". The very idea that someone could write something derogatory about me and my daycare that required a rebuttal kick started my defence systems so I clicked on the tab.

I've checked on my reviews various times over the course of the year that I have been back in the daycare business. A year ago I did mention to my previous daycare parents that they were welcome to leave a review on my site, but no one did. I checked in from time to time. But the review section of my daycare ad remained neglected.

So I expected to find 'more of the same' when I habitually clicked on that very same tab this morning. I was wrong.

What I found instead was a 97% rating and a short paragraph describing what one of my previous parents (I could tell by the context of the message that it wasn't one of my new parents) had liked about bringing their child to my daycare.

First of all, I was in awe. I wondered who it was that left such kindness in their wake. Of course I had a few faces immediately come to mind. The wonder of it all. Someone likes me. They really like me!

Then (do we all do this or is it just me) I wondered "Why only 97% ... what did I do wrong??"

I clicked onto the details and found that my downfall was my meals. Why would that surprise me? I am just lucky that it wasn't one of my new daycare parents doing that review. I have been trying so hard to get these kids to eat anything, that I am trying whatever it takes to tempt their appetites (and it isn't all healthy).

Then I looked again. They gave me a rating of about 4.25 out of 5 for my meals. Five out of five on everything else.

I got a score that high on my meal planning?!?! Suddenly I was back on my cloud. I can cook. I really can cook.

A few kind words left by an unnamed friend-of-my-past has made my morning. Spread kindness into your world. You just never know who needs it the most. So be generous with your praise and you will never know what a difference you have made.

Measure of Success

"The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it's the same problem you had last year."
~ John Foster Dulles

I once asked my mother-in-law how things were going. Her response? "Same shit, different pile." I remembered that feeling well. I was so relieved to have stepped out of that life and into one that didn't repeat the same cycles.

I have talked with people about their jobs. I have heard the same stories with different names and faces many times over. Different factors at play but it felt like an endless repetition of the same old things. Time and time again.

I've made a few bold moves when it comes to destructive cycles within my world. I've packed up and moved literally and figuratively many times when the same problems kept recycling themselves back into my life. 

A person has the opportunity to do a little housekeeping with each move. I don't like to bring too much baggage from the past along with me. I prefer to pack up the lessons and leave the heart ache behind. It isn't that simple but it comes in time.

I think that is why I look back at 'A Year Ago Today' from time to time. I will scan the archives of my blog or go back into my journals to see where I was a year (or longer) ago and measure my progress. I like to utilize my past as a measuring stick and define myself accordingly.

When things aren't right in my world I tend to shake it up a little. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This past year? It worked! 

Using 'A Year Ago Today' as my measuring tool, I would say the year was a success! 

P.S. A year ago, I wrote this blog: http://colleen-lifeasiknowit.blogspot.ca/2012/08/this-holidaying-business-is-exhausting.html . Boy!! Did I learn my lesson from that holiday. This year's holiday was everything that one wasn't.