Cat Update

I am sure that reading about my Daycare World is becoming repetitive, boring and tedious (welcome to my world??) so I have decided to take a break from my young dependants and talk for a little while about my furry ones instead.

As I have mentioned, both of our kitties have been doctoring for quite some time. Junior Cat (who adopted us at the end of May) has had chronic diarrhea since we met and Senior cat developed pneumonia in August.

Spoiler Alert - Don't they look hale and hearty? Junior Cat is waiting for his turn at the water dish. He wasn't so patient in the days there was soft cat food in the dish.

 Dare I say it ... but things are looking oh-so-much-better for both of our furry felines. 

Senior Cat was my biggest concern. He wasn't able to bounce back from his pneumonia and his vet (after several doses of antibiotic didn't work for the long term) suggested steroids. If he had asthma, steroids would help. If he had cancer, steroids would prevent her from diagnosing and treating it ... but they would make him feel better. We opted for steroids.

The steroids finally got rid of Senior Cat's cough. This was a start. We then doubled the dosage and he (finally) started to gain some weight. The dosage was halved two weeks ago and (drum roll please) ... he hasn't looked this good since before all of this began.

He is still not quite back to his kitten-like ways. Wrestling and cat chases are short lived and sporadic. But they do happen on occasion. He has gained almost a pound (he was down to seven pounds) and although you can still feel the bones in his spine when you pet his back, they are now cushioned with a small layer of fat. His coat is lustrous and healthy, he is socializing ever-so-much-more and he is purring much more often (not the monster purr that was his signature ... but his purr is so much less 'rusty'). 

His eyes are soft and loving when he looks at me. I wish I knew what he was thinking. Is he faking it? Is he grateful that we helped him back to where he is? He just looks ... good. And happy. And grateful.

Andre hasn't slept on the back of this couch for a while (he used to 'live' here).

Meanwhile, our Junior Cat is flourishing in every way. His diarrhea never did appear to bother him (it did bother the rest of the household however). We tried everything. Strong and powerful antibiotics, intensive deworming absolutely no food besides the cat food that his previous owner insisted was 'best'. Last month, I talked to the dietician at our vet's office. She recommended a gastro intestinal cat food that they stock. It was guaranteed to work (even a money back guarantee).

Well, it took a few weeks longer than they guaranteed ... but I do believe it is now safe to say (I have been cautiously hopeful for a while now) ... but I believe it worked!! The side benefit is that our Senior Cat's turn around in health coincided with the introduction of this new cat food as well. His coat has never looked shinier. Shedding is down to a minimum. They eat this food like it is candy. I may have referred to this food a time or two as 'gold nuggets' ... it is expensive. But I think that it has been the turn around point for both of our kitties! I simply could not be happier. Or more grateful.

"I am healthy! Hear me ROAR!!" says Junior Kitty

 My gratitude is overwhelming. But it is tinged with sadness. Our vet diagnosed and treated Senior Cat with minimal tests. She went by instinct, previous experience and knowledge and offered her best guess. The dietician talked to me on the phone and knew exactly what to suggest. Junior Cat's symptoms were not life threatening but they were chronic. No one prior had been able to steer me in the right direction.

A life threatening and a chronic health situation were all but cured. Six months later, we are coming out the other side of this little mini drama of the cat-kind. I would be so much happier ... if only the same cures and diagnoses were working as well for many others of the non-cat-kind. 

Life is funny. Sometimes we get what we hope for. Sometimes ... we don't.

As happy as I am for my cats, I am saddened even moreso for those who have not been so lucky. If we can fix what ails us, we are very fortunate indeed ...

A Beautiful Family Filled Christmasy Kind of Day

I awoke this morning with a happy, contented heart.

I wandered down the hallway in the dark and went straight to the Christmas lights. I plugged in my external source of happy and padded on with my morning.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and settled in front of the computer. Everything that I needed was at my fingertips.

I sent off a few emails. I made a plan and a promise and I set sail in a direction of intent. I am giving my first gifts of the season.

I made a phone call that was set in motion by an early morning dream the other day. It was the right thing to do. I had no idea what I could do or say but by the end of the conversation I think I found one small thing that I could offer. Nothing much. But something.

My heart is feeling happy and full. Jeffery Straker's music has been the soundtrack of my day. His musicality, voice and lyrics make me feel light and happy.

I have played with my Family Book Project. I have not done anything new. But I have done something.

Creative gift ideas are starting to come to me. Nothing is blazing forward in a brazen and obvious way but I am hopeful that opening myself up to a quiet, light, easy and breezy day will allow my thoughts to flow and take me where I need to go.

This still may not be the Christmas That Stands Out From the Rest ... but I will work with what I have and be content with the results.

I really have very little to say but I did want to share this 'piece of happy' that carried me through the day. Take a minute to watch and listen to this:



If you enjoyed that, go to his website (https://soundcloud.com/jefferystraker/sets/jeffery-straker-website) and press the "Play" button on the top, left hand corner of the screen. Plug in some Christmas lights, follow the desires of your heart ... and you have replicated my day.

This is the best I can do to give you the gift of this perfectly blissful day.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I had such a crappy week and was feeling like such a grump tonight, I decided to bring out the Christmas decorations and get-that-job-done while I was in a terrible mood anyway.

I grumbled all the way, thinking to myself "This better make me all holly and jolly, dammit!"

Our Daycare-Proof Christmas scene

All of the lights are starting to make me happy

The China cabinet display changes a little from year to year but is still my favorite way to display all of my special Christmas gifts

And do you know what?? By jove, I think it worked.

I will wake up to a clean, organized and decorated house in the morning. All work has been tended. I don't have to work at my second job this weekend. And I think I just may wake up on the right side of the bed, knowing that I have put all of the big jobs behind me.

I just may feel holly and jolly after all.

Dreams

My nightmare had taken me to the edge of where my imagination dared to go. It was at this point that my conscious mind told my subconscious mind that enough was enough. I knew I was in a dream so I was yelling at myself, "Wake up! Wake up!! Open your eyes!!"

My eyes wouldn't open. My conscious mind was so confused. I was certain that I was dreaming but I couldn't get myself out of the situation I was in. I was locked in my dream state for what felt like an eternity. It was probably ten seconds.

Finally, finally my eyes opened with a jolt. And what playing in the background of my nightmare? An episode of "Supernatural" (this is my best guess according to my fully conscious deducing abilities this morning). Eerie music was playing which was definitely the back drop to the nightmare that I just escaped.

I had fallen asleep to the music on the Much Music channel instead of my usual go-to-sleep channel (the Home & Garden Network). The Home & Garden network never ever gives me nightmares.

Once I was safe, back in the land of home and gardening adventures I fell back to sleep and drifted into a dream state that nestled me straight into the middle of Family.

I dreamt of my uncle and his family. I dreamt that it was a vision of my cousin's wife that I followed. She was without a voice but she walked in front of me and led me to where I most needed to be.

In my dream, everyone-that-mattered surrounded my uncle and his family. There was little that anyone could physically do for them. All that mattered is that they were there.

So many subconscious thoughts led me to that dream. There was a thread of a story within the dream. The story-of-my-uncle was intertwined within one object that was carried forward through the storyline of his life.

One of my cousins contacted me yesterday about gathering memories for yet another uncle. I have an uncommitted weekend in my forecast. My dream has guided me to reach out to an uncle's family. I think I know what I must do.

Do you know what the moral of this story is? "Supernatural" led me back to my own "Home & Garden" ... was it only a dream? Or is there a deeper meaning to all of this?

A Vacation Throwback

Yesterday was a day lost to me. I took my very first sick day (from my daycare) yesterday.

The stomach bug that my four-year-old daycare charge brought into our home on Monday hit (at least) five of us within a 36 hour period.

I slept around the clock and then some. I honestly thought that I must be making a mountain out of a mole hill when I was still in bed at 3:00 in the afternoon. I had a bath, got dressed and assumed that I would be on my way. But I was depleted. I made it to the couch.

By 9:00 p.m., I thought that I was being ridiculous. I hadn't had a bite of nourishment all day. That is why the exhaustion levels were so high. That was when I remembered my 'last meal' on my cruise. Green apples and crackers.

I was in the throes of seasickness when my friend brought back a most special treat from the chef's kitchen. Granny Smith apples and crackers. Never have either tasted so good.

I smiled to myself as I bit into that first bite of apple last night. It took me back to a happy place. My Alaskan cruise holiday...

As people talk about vacations all around the world, I sit back quietly and I am happy that they are happy with their adventures. Each and every time, I silently hope that they had (or have) as good of a a time as I did when I went on my Alaskan adventure.

I am so incredibly grateful that I took advantage of the opportunities to go on a few extra curricular holidays when life opened up those possibilities. Do I long to do it all over again? In a word ... "no".

I savored the moments while I lived them. I packed up my memories in words or pictures or little moments that were imprinted in my heart.

I live a simple life full of ordinary things. But I think that it is a great gift when something as simple as a stomach flu can take me back to the vacation-of-a-lifetime. Simply by remembering the advise of a very thoughtful waiter. "Granny Smith apples and crackers" are what he lived on while his body acclimatized itself to his career on the open seas.

All I need to remember now, is to keep some ginger ale on hand to go along with those apples and crackers when the need arises. I can easily recreate my 'last supper' on my Alaskan cruise holiday. I just need a little dose of seasickness on the side.

Famous Last Words

"I'm ready, world. Now I can open my blinds and unlock the door and know that I'm ready for whatever the day has in store" - these are the words that I typed at exactly 7:22 a.m. yesterday.

I believe that I have learned to question the wisdom of ever telling the world you are ready for whatever it has in store. 'The world'  has a sense of humor and will laugh heartily as it tests your ability to confront the day's challenges.

I rolled with it when my four-year-old daycare charge got sick to her stomach. Profusely. Just as I  had started to prepare lunch. All over the love seat. And the floor. She was covered from the ends of her hair to the tip of her toes.

I bathed her. I changed her. I rinsed out her clothes. I cleaned up the couch & carpet. Then I went back to making lunch.

It was then, that I discovered that my pot had boiled over onto the burner despite the fact that I turned everything off the moment that I realized that I wouldn't be returning any time soon.

My little sick girl was laying contentedly on the couch.

Hey wait! She is laying down. She is still sick. Get something for her to lay on!! Quick!!!

I almost made it.

She got the couch and the floor. Not so much on her clothes this time.

Her dad sent me a text message in and around this time. Dad: "Do you want me to pick her up?" Me: "Yes please".

Just to assure me that I had done the right thing and asked for an assist from her dad, she threw up one more time. On the carpet, by the front door, before they had a chance to leave. I was 'that close' to making an almost clean break.

I scrubbed. I cleaned. I wiped. I swiped. All I could smell was vomit (that is what happens when you take a good, deep whiff of a dirty couch).

I didn't know if it was my imagination or if the scent of vomit had permeated the air. I found out later that I was wearing some of it.

Then my other three started waking up from naps. I fed the one-year-old his bottle. He actually stayed still for more than a few minutes. I savored those moments. They are rare and unusual. It is a very, very good thing that I did because ...

... the instant he started to move about, my two-year-old woke up. She smelled pretty funky. No, she wasn't sick. Just a diaper issue.

I cleaned her up and returned to my one-year-old and thought the air still smelled funny. No, it wasn't just something in the air. It was my one-year-old. I cleaned him up.

Then my other two-year-old woke up. I took a deep breath as I fortified myself for the home stretch of the day. Was I ready for this?

The air that I inhaled didn't smell too good. "Are you stinky?" I asked my innocent little girl. She simply replied "Yes".

Do you ever have a day that just plain stinks?!?? I did.

Well world, I'm not ready for a thing today. I'm still trying to figure out if the house smells funny. And if so, why ...

A Fresh Slate

A fresh slate is set out before me today. A new week. A new day. A new beginning. A fresh start. Waking up in the morning gives a person the chance to be courageous and try it all over again.

I hope that my weekend was a good investment in time and money. 

I spent a small fortune on a gating system that (I hope) will keep my new little one-year-old daycare imp out of mischief. He simply doesn't do 'no'. Three weeks and he is still touching that which is off limits and heads off into the kitchen whenever he wishes.

Today I can barricade him from the kitchen, the TV, the printer and the front door. I hope this buys me just a little bit of piece of mind. Because I really could use those moments spent on retrieving him from the no-go-zones so that I can hover over my new little four-year-old.

She is a sweet little girl and as long as I have my eyes on her, she is harmless. Sure, I have had to repeat the "No grabbing", "Hands off" and "No means no" rules many times but for the most part she seems to be respecting the rules we have around here. Until I turn my back. I walk back into the room and she is sitting on a two-year-old. No one is being hurt. No one is crying. It simply shouldn't happen.

I have a house full of little people who seem to have adopted the credo "If she isn't looking, we can do whatever we want to do". This belief is spreading faster than the common cold.

I have brought up a new selection of toys for the new week. Toys that don't require a great deal of energy when it comes time to clean up toys. I bought a few new educational toys which I will bring out one-week-at-a-time. I purchased some new games for our LeapPad.

The cold weather has broke and we should be able to get back outside. This is big. This is really big! I can't wait to bundle up these little packages of energy and let them run wild in the back yard. This is exactly when they decide that it is fun to stand beside the fence. 

I have moved things around in the kitchen a little bit to allow room for our 'kitchen gate' to swing and to easily bring in another high chair as things evolve even more within the next few months.

I reorganized the spare room so that there is more than a pathway from the bedroom door to the playpen. My new families have brought their own set of supplies for me to keep on hand and I hadn't found new homes for them. The bed was strewn with miscellaneous items of all kinds. 

I tended to many small housekeeping items this past weekend and the time that was left over was spent shopping and 'investing' in my daycare business.

I hope all of this buys me a little bit of a reprieve this week. The adjustments have been just a small bit overwhelming.

I just got word that one of 'my kids' won't be coming to daycare today. This will be followed by another that will be gone from Tuesday to Friday. This equates to a little bit of breathing space as we continue to adapt and adjust to our two new little ones. 

Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it in the air. I spent my energy (and my money) where it needed to be spent this past weekend. I know it was a good investment. New gates, new toys, new games, new strategies and a renewed sense of energy. 

I'm ready, world. Now I can open my blinds and unlock the door and know that I'm ready for whatever the day has in store.