Marilee J. Layman

06:24 pm: Off Schedule
I decided I should pop out today and get the cash for next week. Usually I'd do it on the way to the library, since the credit union is just a few blocks before, but I don't want to stop while I have the cake in really hot weather.

I thought of a better combo of beads for the first bidder and photographed those in the living room (Shiva immediately tried to abscond with them and was very unhappy at being not only pushed aside, but specifically out of the way of the light) and she thinks they're gorgeous, so that's it for those.

I'm really tired from yesterday and I'm going to nap now. I'm not doing so well at getting up earlier to practice getting up at noon on Saturday, but the urgency will probably get me up then, anyway.

Tags: beading, health

06:16 pm: Fledglings!
I was worried because I've only seen two fledglings this year, but today there's half-a-dozen house finch fledglings and two cardinal fledglings!

I spent a few hours in the recliner with the heat and vibration last night and I feel fine today. I have to be more careful about standing/walking too long.

Lucila is here cleaning and Spirit has been brave and watching.

I had two bids on my livelongnmarry custom beadwoven necklace, and the first one was from someone who didn't have an LJ and couldn't know the second bid was made, so I offered to make her one, too, for her donated bid, and she's been giving me color and style elements. I'll have to spend some time in the workroom tonight.

Tags: birds, cats, health, jewelry

07:10 pm: Pullin' the Ivy, Pullin' the Ivy, Pullin' the Ivy Today....
I've got a big mound of detached ivy on my porch. When it dies and dries, I'll put it in the newly-empty new cat food bag and take it to the trash. I had the rice maker make me oatmeal for when I got up, and I planned to eat it after I fed the cats, but then I went out and hacked at the ivy and completely forgot about it until a few minutes ago when I went into the kitchen because I remembered I needed to eat. Didn't remember about the oatmeal until I saw the rice cooker, though.

I got a letter from the private disability company today and it has a new form for my poor primary doctor to fill out, plus forms for me. I'll have to drop by Kaiser next week and fill out a form and hand it over to Medical Records to give to the doc. I'll give him my emergency info sheet so he won't have to write all the diagnoses and meds.

I'm still behind on the WashPost and last night found a cartoon that seemed appropriate:



which comes from the official site.

Tags: health

11:55 pm: No More Online Today
I just read email and ran through the bead board since our BFAC deadline is coming up, but since I slept from 4:30-10:30pm (big headache), and that was all I did today, I'm going to sign off in a few minutes and try to get up on time tomorrow and work through the extra day!

Tags: health

07:20 pm: Great Cholesterol!
I got my lipid panel results back and not only is everything in the right range, it's well on the good side of the range! I haven't had results this good since before I got sick! It has to be the fish oil capsules the primary had me start taking.

I can hear the cars at the Speedway. It's a few miles away, but I've always enjoyed the sound on summer Fridays and Saturdays. Some developer bought it and will start building houses after the season is over, but maybe the housing economy will be bad enough he'll keep leasing it to the Speedway.

I went and got money for next week and ate at Tony's -- Greek salad, garlic bread, and iced tea -- and then came home and noticed the fountain was off. I went into the guest bathroom and the GFCI was off, so I got a screwdriver and pushed the Reset (I found out last year that I'm not strong enough to push it without a tool) in and the fountain started. This happens when it gets really wet, and since I don't use the outlets in the bathrooms, I don't know about it being off unless I have the fountain set up and it isn't running.

The rains yesterday left very wet seed with green on the birdfeeder and I had just a few things in the dishwasher, so I took them out and washed the feeder. Now it's drying, but in the meantime, I put some seed on the porch. I also got out the reacher in the storeroom because more mulch made a big pool yesterday and I made a more permanent channel to the hole down to the drain under my porch. As long as I was on the porch with the reacher, I pulled volunteers -- a lot of them were from my upstairs neighbors begonias. I should probably leave those. The maples have to come up, though. I didn't work on the ivy, though, I'd done enough leaning, so maybe tomorrow.

Shiva is very excited about all the mourning doves eating from the seed on the porch and is flat on the ground in front of the screen door (I opened the windows), just waiting for one to come close enough he can get it through the screen. Spirit has spent the morning in the recliner.

While I was out, I saw two good vanity plates. Here's a reference everyone will get: LTB OHMY and one that some will: IAM LOST.

Tags: cats, errands, health, politics

06:34 pm: Erranding and BFAC Project
I was very tempted by the bananas on the counter after I got up, so I put them in the cupboard where I wouldn't eat them. I took the recycling to our bins, dropped Humans off at the library, put the giant birdseed box, collapsed, in the cardboard recycling dumpster at Public Works, and dropped a DVD in the drive-by box at the post office. Then I went on to Kaiser to get stuck for the lipid panel. As I left, one of my neighbors drove by and waved, so when she came home after I did, I went out and asked. She's been with Kaiser for one year now and likes it so far; I've been with them and the HMO they bought when they came here for 31 years.

I had planned on eating at Olive Garden because they have that lovely sorbet and fruit dessert, but something distracted me to Red Lobster, next door. I had the lobster pizza, which wasn't bad, but didn't taste much of lobster, and a mediocre key lime pie. Next time I go that way, I'll keep going to Olive Garden.

I finished my BFAC project last night and put the pictures up today. I don't hurt as much today, a lot of the muscles have loosened, but I'll still take narcotics tonight. I have to stay home tomorrow anyway, it's Code Orange. I'll mail this to my friend AJ, who is the board member who's photographing them for the auction next year, on Friday.

Tags: bfac, errands, food, health

04:40 pm: Nice Weather, Too Much Pain
I think the pain is because I didn't scoop seed from the 50-pound bag long enough. I thought I got enough out that it would be safe to lift the bag and pour the rest in. Wednesday night, I'll take the big deal pain meds and see how that works, since I don't need to go out on Thursday.

Tomorrow I'm getting stuck for the lipid panel. I emailed to find out why I hadn't seen results yet and my primary doc is off until mid-July, but the nurse replied that it hadn't been done. I even took a printed list of tests to the lab, and they didn't do the last one! The nurse said she'd give me the results after I get the panel done.

I was out filling the birdfeeder today, putting more water plus a bit of bleach in the fountain, and thinking I should try hacking at more ivy that is advancing on the porch. But I hurt too much and Lucila is coming soon, so maybe Thursday. It's only 81F out there and not very humid, a lovely day for summer.

Remember when I told you about the prisoner found dead in his cell? He was strangled. Seven prison guards and an "undisclosed" number of supervisors had access to him in those 20 minutes. The FBI is investigating it as a civil rights matter and the Maryland State Police are handling the primary investigation.

I didn't finish my BFAC project last night -- between getting online late and Making Light having eight new threads, some with hundreds of posts, I finished online at 3am. But I'm starting much earlier today and hope to finish the project tonight.

Tags: beads, health, politics, weather

06:59 pm: The Neurologist's Appointment
ETA: Sometimes brain seizures can be subtle, and look like dissociative episodes -- now that makes more sense.

It's the longest drive I have to a doctor and soon after I got on I-95 north, we slowed down to 25mph. I wondered if I'd have to call and explain why I was late, but the speed picked back up after we passed an area where there was work on the side of the road. I got there about 30 minutes early and they took me right in. The neurologist is not sure what's wrong, since I've lost weight, which would not normally make my phenobarb level go down. She also noted some odd things that have happened to me recently as "dissociative episodes" -- not my favorite phrase. (On the way up, I had turned the steering wheel on a curve and wondered why the dashboard didn't turn, too, then I remembered that of course, it wasn't supposed to, and then I thought "Oh no!" -- that kind of thing.) I also told her Dad had died of Alzheimer's and she interrupted me and said "no, no, no." So apparently I'm not showing any signs of that.

I had a phenobarb level taken at that lab and then headed home. I'm to increase the phenobarb by 17.2mg tonight and take another level in two weeks. There was a place on I-95 south where a pair of State Police (first a car, then a motorcycle) were clearly watching for speeders to catch, but since we were going 15mph, I think that was a waste. After I got onto the Prince William Parkway, I stopped at an Uno's and had dinner. I'd been craving a chunk of meat, so I had steak, mashed potatoes, and a Caesar salad and then headed on home.

The news says the Washington Animal Rescue League has rescue cats and dogs again, but this time from Iowa where people have lost everything and can't support themselves, much less their pets. I wish I could afford another cat. Shiva has been sitting next to me -- he must be psychic, we're going to take a nap now.

Tags: cats, health

06:52 pm: Cooking!
Sorta. The Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker is cooking pearl barley in fat-free chicken broth. In a bit, I'll put oil and a dab of butter in a small pyrex casserole and add onions, zap, add mushrooms, zap, and then keep warm in the toaster oven. To be mixed when the barley is done.

The rheumatologist released the labs she ordered and they're all normal except for increased leukocytes and increased C-Reactive Protein. The first is because of the autoimmune diseases and the second means I have inflammation somewhere. I've had that for about six months and we haven't figured it out yet.

The birdfeeder went through the dishwasher last night and was dry by 2am, but I didn't feel like taking it out then, so I took it out this morning. The birds are happy. No squirrels yet.

Shiva scared Spirit so much last night with grabbing her, that she stood on the printer and yelled. I carried her down to the bed, where she stayed with me. Shiva came in and yelled because she was on the bed and left. When I woke up later, Spirit was gone and Shiva was sleeping with me. Then when I woke up for good, nobody was there. I think Shiva is jealous that Spirit is spending time with me in the bed. Back when Giorgio was alive, he and Spirit would come say goodnight and then sleep in the recliner. Shiva would come and sit with me while I read and then either cuddle up or sleep at the bottom of the bed when I slept. Most mornings, all three of them were cuddled up at the bottom.

Well, Giorgio isn't here anymore and Spirit is spending my reading time with me and I think Shiva is jealous. Spirit has just very gingerly climbed onto the couch to sit next to Shiva. He isn't paying attention to her, but he hasn't grabbed her, either.

Tags: birds, cats, food, health

06:44 pm: Busy Day and Long Onhold with Verizon
I took the trash and recycling out today -- extra recycling since I had Luke's and my physical spam phone books, then I dropped the Social Security stuff at the post office drive-by, and went on to Kaiser where I remembered I hadn't had extra water before I left. They have a water machine and cups, so I had three cups and was able to pee. I had to lie to the phlebotomists -- if the lab software gets anything other than midnight for fasting, it will mark the fasting labs as "not fasting." I last ate at 1am and was there just after 3pm, so it was plenty of time, but if I told them 1am, they would mark 1 in the software and it would assume 1pm. So I told them midnight.

I've been having some trouble remembering to eat recently. I've had a few days with 18-20 hours without eating and at 1am Wednesday, I realized I hadn't eaten in 25 hours, so I zapped a frozen meal. I need to do better at that.

After labs, I went to Zabb, the Thai restaurant in the same shopping center as Kaiser, and had one of their June specials: Crispy Duck with the Chef's Special Mango Sauce. I asked if the sauce was sweet and was told no, so I ordered it. It was very good. It had two chilis on the menu, but just gave me a minor buzz at the top of my throat, and then only when I was actually eating peppers. They were playing jazz (real jazz, not Kenny G crap) and soon after I came in, a jazz piano piece started -- an arrangement of a familiar and unlikely song -- and I watched carefully as nobody else noticed it was the theme music from The Andy Griffith Show. I also noticed that all the customers were white, all the staff were Thai, and the music had been created by blacks. It would be nice if we could mix better.

I got gas ($3.999/gallon) and picked up mail on the way home. When I checked my email, I had two pieces of mail that weren't addressed to me, and shouldn't have gotten through Dreamhost's filters. One was clearly spam, the other was not so clear. It was from Verizon and besides not being addressed to me, it had a not-very-clear mail path that implied it didn't necessarily come from Verizon. It said my contract would be up in August and my DSL would go up $9.00. I tried to sign on to verizon.com, but it wouldn't take my ID or password (and I was c&ping them from the file I originally typed them in), so I gave up and called. After 38 minutes on hold, I got a guy who first told me it had to be spam. Then I told him I was pretty sure the phone number listed was one of theirs and yes, it was. I let him look at my account and he said I could save $2 of that $9 by taking another year contract. I told him that was the thing -- if they increase the amount, I'll cancel and use the free dial-up, so they would lose all my internet (still have the phone line for dial-up). He said I should just wait and see. Maybe it wouldn't increase and I could continue, and if it did increase, I could decide then. That makes me think he didn't see a notice. We'll see.

Tags: dsl, errands, food, health, music

09:22 pm: Out Of the House!
The neuro nurse woke me up and I have an appointment on the 24th. She offered me one each of the next Fridays, but they were both 8:30am and I'd crash on the way. The guys finished the lining on the topping right before the storm struck and I went out after to get the van. Lost balance twice, but no falling. The topping squeaks under my shoes, like rubber. I took the copies of last year's taxes to the post office to mail out to the private disability people -- partly because I was so glad to be out and partly because the longer it takes to send them, the more they think you're trying to cheat them. It was much cooler outside, I could have the van windows down!

Shiva's excitement has been getting a bit over the top. Twice last night he grabbed Spirit and held her with his gums. He really scared her, and the second time I caught her and brought her to bed with me, since he can't hurt her there. (I don't think she was hurt -- no teeth to make holes -- but she had big wet areas of fur where his mouth was.) Today he's been attacking the wood grain in the laminate. I keep offering toys, but he's not very interested.

I just ate, so I don't know if I'm better yet or not. We'll see.

Tags: cats, health, weather

09:24 pm: Better Now
I think it was probably just food poisoning. Apparently there's salmonella going around in tomatoes and they're not allowed to be served/sold raw until they figure out what's going on.

I spent most of the day sleeping in the recliner yesterday, getting up for water/rehydration fluid and toast, and Shiva woke me up for faucet water at 10:30pm and I realized I needed to move the van. So I gave him water from the sink while I put shoes on and headed out. As I expected, the most convenient line was filled, but the next line had a spot and I took that. I didn't recognize any of the cars, so I had to hope that the one I picked to stabilize on as I stepped up on the sidewalk didn't have an alarm. Then along the sidewalk down to where I rested on the retaining walls twice, another car to step down from (I knew this one didn't alarm), and across to my curbcut and inside.

It was only 77F outside, but I was totally wet. Not sweating, humidity. I actually went to bed at 6am and went out to get the newspapers first and the entire building was wet from the humidity. The heat index here was 102F today, so the topping is kind of convenient because I can't go out anyway. I have to stay in until the change hits on Wednesday.

They did the topping today and must have used some kind of a blower to get the sand and stuff off the pavement, and that blew it into the windows. Shiva was under the covers off and on for a few hours. Every time the motor came close and then the sand blew, he was under. The last time was close enough that he hid in the shower. My TAB neighbors looked disgruntled that they had to walk about a block.

I got up late and have had more toast and some chicken noodle soup and it's setting better. I still feel a little off, but I'm sure that will change.

Tags: cats, condo, health

05:05 pm: Not Online Today
I read email, but I'm just going to post this and then be off for the day. I either have the flu or food poisoning and I hurt like crazy.

Shiva is crazy today -- he's been dashing and jumping and playing -- and it makes me wonder just how long his teeth hurt him, if this is because he feels so much better now.

Tags: cats, health

01:09 am: Back From the ER!
I got there at 8:30pm and left at midnight. I spent two hours of that waiting -- first to see the doctor, then for a bed, then for results. Then again, I read two old WashPosts and had my rehydration fluid. The Prince William ER has changed since I was there last -- there's now a big triage area with its own doctors and then, if necessary, you get a bed. I had physical exams by both the triage and ER doctors, labs, a chest x-ray, EKG, and CAT scan. Everything was within normal limits for me (I'd taken a printout of my last labs) except the phenobarb which is a little low, but wouldn't cause loss of balance.

The ER doc told me to call Kaiser Neuro and tell them he thinks I should have an MRI. I'll scan the notes and results and send them to Kaiser Neuro tonight in an email instead.

I expected to have to do all this, just tomorrow, at Kaiser. The ER was very well-designed and teh staff very good, but they have real emergencies to deal with and didn't need me taking up a bed. So far, Kaiser emergency docs 0, me 4.

I slid the bracelets off after I got home (the allergies one smelled like crayons!) and gave them to Spirit, but Shiva took the allergy bracelet away and played with it.

Tags: health

06:53 pm: Surprise!
The WashPost had an article on a college graduate who won a literary prize. She describes winning it as:

"I knew it was coming, and I was thinking, 'I hope it's someone I know.' I was running through names -- it'll be Lindsay, it'll be Riley -- and then I heard my name, and I didn't believe it. I sat there for a few seconds, and someone was telling me to go up there."

and I remembered the time that happened to me. In my senior year of high school, I had no doubt I'd make regional chorus, but during regional chorus, a friend and I were both up for state chorus. I had figured that we both might make it, we both might not make it, or she might make it. So I was sitting in the balcony of the theatre with my friend Kenny listening to the four alto names being called and when they called the third name and it wasn't hers, I slumped back. I didn't make it. Then Kenny was pounding me on the shoulder -- I'd made it! I had to get downstairs and up on stage! And then at state chorus, I made alto soloist. Kenny and his folks came all the way from Virginia Beach to Blacksburg so I'd have someone there to support me. (In hindsight, this was his folks trying to make up for mine -- Kenny and I were not only just friends, he was gay.) And after the solo, his mother gently told me that I had let the other alto from our school talk me into doubting myself and I should always remember this. I've tried.

I walked down to get the van today -- I remembered that one of my neighbors put in hand rails for the stairs at the other end of my building, so I could lean on those and rest and then rest on the clusterboxes (and re-tie my left shoe) and then out to the van. I brought it back in and loaded it with the recycling and took that up to the recycling bins I use. I then went to Petsmart because a vet I know said I should look for canned food with the highest proportion of protein for the cats. I've been giving them Giant's Companion brand, a 5.5 ounce can that is three for $.89 and has 11% crude protein. I went through all the 5.5oz cans at Petsmart and the only one that was higher than 7% was Science Diet, which had 11% crude protein and was $1.69 per can. This was not a hard decision. I left Petsmart with only memories of the kitties they have to adopt (all tuxedos for some odd reason) and went to have lunch at Olive Garden. I had the chicken and gnocchi and then the Berries and Zabione dessert without the zabione because I don't like it. So it was sorbet with strawberries and blueberries. Very good.

I stopped at Giant on the way home and bought enough cans of Companion to get through to the next grocery trip and I bought another bottle of Systane eye drops. The opthalmologist said the Systane is thicker than what I'd been using and might be blurry at first, but wouldn't last as long. For me, it's been lasting longer. I haven't had any eye pain since I started using it. It does blur for about four minutes, but that's okay. The problem was that I dropped the cap when I used the drops last night and it must have rolled under the headboard, which is too much moving, so I had to throw the bottle out. Then I came home to find a note in my door knocker that they're topping our section Monday and we have to be out at 8am.

Power went out again last night from 12:30-1:30am and I called and asked. She pinpointed where I was within a half-block and said they were still working on the line that was damaged yesterday and had to turn it off to finish it. When I got home today, Luke told me the power had been out for 30-40 minutes while I was out. So I've reset channels and time for TV & peripherals three times in two days! I found out last night that the two sections we're divided into for topping are also on different power lines. Only this lower section was out last night.

I've been having some trouble the last couple of weeks with losing my balance. No consciousness problem -- I'm not dizzy, not weak, just suddenly I'll realize I'm tipping and I put a foot out to stabilize and then go on. The only change is the increased colchicine and I couldn't find any losing-balance side effect for that, and the doctor said that wouldn't be it. It happened three times today, though (maybe because of the heat and humidity), so I called Advice. She talked to the Kaiser emergency doctor who said I had to go to the ER because I might be having a stroke. Two weeks is a really long time to have a stroke! And I have Peapod delivering food today and I would lose about $200 in food and penalties if I wasn't here when they arrived. So we agreed that I'd go to the ER as soon as I put the delivery away. I probably do need a phenobarb level, I haven't had that in a while, but I'd rather not pay $50 copay for it. If something exciting happens first, I'll call 911. Don't worry.

Tags: errands, health, power, self-confidence

08:41 pm: Daylight, or Not
Well, I slept from 8pm to midnight yesterday, finished up online, read two old papers, went to bed to read another 90 minutes, and turned the light off and went to sleep at 9am. Oh, and I brought the paper in, leaving Luke's at his door, after it was light and I used the reacher. So I set the alarm for 3pm and actually slept until 4pm.

I had checked to see if the birdfeeder was dry at 7:30am before I went to bed to read, and it was moldy, even in dry spots, so I brought it in and put it in the (fortunately empty) dishwasher and ran it. I got up to open the door before I turned the light out so it could dry, and then put it out and filled it up after I got up this afternoon. I'm washing bed linens today and Lucila came by to say they had an appointment for Jesus on Tuesday and would Monday or Wednesday be better for me? Wednesday is, and that's what I changed on my week list. I ordered from Peapod -- it was eight weeks this time, so I ordered eight weeks worth of the heavy and bulky things.

It seems to have been twilight for a long time, and cool enough that we could have the windows open again. Shiva has been begging for more soft food but I would like him to eat more dry food. Then again, if I don't have to buy dry food, maybe all soft food is not so bad. Hmmm. I set the VCR to watch the new USA show, In Plain Sight, which is about a US Marshall running a witness protection program in the desert. Apparently she does what she thinks is right, no matter the law. It'll give me some beading time later tonight, even if I don't watch more than the pilot. Laurel thinks you need to watch more than the pilot to really get the feel, so maybe I will (remember, her times are CT).

Tags: birdseed, cats, food, health, laundry, weather

06:04 pm: Out and About
Shiva had his last antibiotic dose this morning, but he was still mad at me. I went to the library and picked up Alma's two new books, dropped the graduation card at the post office, and then had my psych appointment. He thinks the Celexa is fine and I'm to see him again in four months. (I have a number to call him if I need to, but I don't expect to need it.) Then I had the labs the rheumatologist wanted done and got gas. I've had and have a lot of longer trips this month, so I think it's two fillups this month instead of one.

I got home and Shiva was in the safe haven because the landscapers were here. He's afraid of loud motors. If I'm home, I can reassure him and he usually stays out, but I wasn't here.

Not enough sleep last night again (I didn't read before sleeping, I thought just going to bed might work and it didn't) so I'm going to have a short nap again.

Tags: cats, errands, health

04:42 pm: Three PM...
...is the moment for silence and memory. It probably made a difference that I lived on Navy bases and was a Navy brat, but we always had memorial things on memorial days. I don't think that happens as much anymore.

Shiva did his stay-under-the-covers thing again, but he still got his Clindamycin. Two more doses -- I think we'll both be happy. I got groceries and bought a graduation card for a teen I haven't seen in a few years. The picture that came with the announcement shows a bright, classy person I wouldn't recognize.

I had to reload the reusable bags outside the Giant again. I asked the bagger to balance them weight-wise and he didn't understand what I wanted. At first I thought it was language problems, but later it became obvious that he had mental limitations. The cashier told him "just put a few things in each bag" and I decided not to argue that that wasn't what I asked for, and so I rearranged things outside. While I was doing it, I got a divot taken out of the back of my right hand. I don't know by what, but I had blood dripping from my hand by the time I got to the van and I sat in the heat with frozen things for a few minutes while I held a kleenex tight on it. It's a little crescent, that would be an interesting scar.

I'm going to start washing the cat blankies and then take a timed nap. I really want to get up when the alarm rings!

Tags: cats, errands, health

07:31 pm: Nice Quiet Day...
...other than giving Shiva meds and warm compresses. He's definitely feeling better and the abscess appears to have stopped abscessing and is partially scabbed.

I woke up from my nap yesterday at 11:30pm and was online until 3:30am and then read an old newspaper to keep up. I went to bed late enough that I got up at 2pm today. My eye was stuck together both times again, but it was easier to get open today and it didn't scream "swollen" anymore.

I got money for next week and had lunch at Tony's. I had one of their specials, I forget what they called it, but pieces of tender veal with mushrooms and asparagus on penne in a light brown sauce. Plus salad and garlic bread, and my usual iced tea. More laundry, and I just went down to sit on the bed and put the clips in to keep my hair out of my eyes. Spirit followed and I spent 10 minutes petting her tummy and telling her how pretty she was.

The ER vet staff called to see how Shiva was, and agreed that he didn't need to be seen until the dental vet sees him on Friday. So my duty tonight is more compresses, another batch of meds, and a couple more old newspapers after online.

Tags: cats, food, health

06:30 pm: A Day of Semi-Rest
Since I usually go to sleep at 4am, I thought I might be able to just stay up until 7am when the car shop opens, but that didn't work. I set the alarm for 9am, took the car over, drove back, and one of the mechanics drove it back to the shop. I called the dental vet and he insisted that he had done nothing wrong and didn't need to see Shiva again until next Friday, when it was scheduled. Big ego. I reset the alarm for 2pm and woke up with my right eye swollen shut. I got it open, flushed out cat hair, and gave Shiva his first meds today. Then he ate most of a plate of soft food. I'll need to give him smaller amounts. Spirit had all of her packet food, plus the snackies.

I got a call about 5pm that the shop had replaced the front brake pads, lubed the driver's door hinges (it was squeaking), and filled the window washer fluid. However, the van failed the emissions inspection -- the NOx was too high. Fortunately, my current sticker lasts until the end of June, so I had them send a mechanic over and I drove back and paid for what was done so far. The shop isn't open again until Tuesday, and I have doctor's appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we put it on the schedule for Thursday to work on the emissions.

My rheumatologist wrote that "Monday is fine" so apparently she forgot it was a holiday, too. My appointment on Tuesday is at Manassas, so I'll get the labs done then. I just finished a load of towels and hankies -- having a goopy cat uses those up quickly.

I'm going to take a nap. I'm still short a couple hours of sleep and I'm hoping I'll see better out of my right eye if I have it closed for a while.

Tags: cats, health, van

10:28 pm: Doctors For Me, Shiva, and the Van
Yes, quite a day.

I had a rheumatology appt today and wore a skirt because I knew she'd want to look at this place on my upper leg. It hurts a lot when I get up from sitting. She says it's just a lipoma and it doesn't like stretching after being scrunched for so long. I've been having a lot of pain at the base of my right index finger, some swelling, and I don't have full range of motion. I was thinking arthritis; she thinks it's gout, so my colchicine is increasing.

I also told her that the opthalmologist wanted me to take Restasis for my dry eyes ($100/month!) and that Restasis is just cyclosporine in an opthalmic solution. I'd looked back and this dryness -- the IVs and then rehydration fluid, dry eyes, dry skin -- all started when we stopped the cyclosporine, which is what saved my life in the second renal failure. So I was supposed to do some new labs today to check for a new autoimmune disease.

I stopped at home to change into pants (it's hard to get in and out of the car in a skirt) and found Shiva still in the safe haven. Yesterday I saw Shiva's chin was swollen and I touched it gently and he recoiled, so I was going to call the dental vets today, but I got home too late. There was no indication he'd been out of the safe haven while I was gone -- so I pulled him out. I took him to the bed to look at his chin and I touched it *really* gently and big gushes of reddish-yellow goop came out. He has an abscess. Fortunately, my container of hankies is right there, and I was able to get all the stuff that came out from that tiny touch. Then I changed to pants and called the emergency vet and told them what was happening and that we would be on our way. I got him in the carrier and out and there.

The vet cleaned the wound, opened it up a bit, and blood clots came out as well as more goop. He has a little fever, but then, he has an abscess. His back gums are swollen, but the front is healing well, except there's a bit of tooth sticking up (it may be coming out from the surgery). They shaved the bottom of his chin and it's all bruised, too. They gave him an NSAID shot and a bolus of sub-q fluid and gave me more pain meds and an antibiotic for him and I need to put warm compresses on his chin a few times a day, to draw out the goop.

On the way home, something on the right side of the car started sounding metal-on-metal, changing incidence proportionately with the speed, and the van smelled "hot." So when I got home, I left him in the cage for a minute while I swapped out towels in the safe haven. Then I let him out and he was much more active than he's been the last couple of days and wanted food, and he ate some of the soft food without water. I gave Spirit her dinner, too, then called the car shop and explained to their voice mail what was happening and I'll set the alarm for 8am or so and take it over and come back. I don't want to drive something that smells hot.

So no labs tomorrow (I emailed and explained) and no taking him to the dental vet tomorrow (I'll call them). My upstairs neighbor would loan me his car and I *might* go for that, but it's very low and the door doesn't open wide, and it's really hard for me to get in and out. Then again, the doctor and dental vet may be insistent. What a day.

Tags: cats, health, van

07:46 pm: Barely Moving
Me and Shiva. He has the attitude -- he's still really mad at me -- but I was able to get the pain med in just on the bed (only has to go in the mouth, not down the throat). And the dental vet just called and the woman at the desk gave me the wrong two things to watch -- it's attitude and elimination. It's okay if he doesn't eat or drink until Saturday, even. He's definitely been eliminating (had an IV during surgery). So I went down to tell him that and he'd had some of the very watery AD slurry I'd taken down earlier.

He shed like crazy yesterday so I furminated him and misted the area with water and thought I got all the fur under control. But when I went to bed, I got hair in both eyes and had to take generic Benadryl, so I got up late and had trouble walking from walking so much yesterday. I had too much to do, though, so I did it.

I took trash and recycling out, then got more snackies at PetSmart and had lunch/dinner at Chili's. A friend told me the Big Mouth Bites (sliders) were really good and Chili's is in the same shopping center. I saw them as a platter, but with both onion straws and french fries, so I looked at the appetizers and ordered the appetizer (came with onion straws) plus a house salad. The server asked if I wanted the platter instead and I decided just to say no instead of explaining I'd purposely ordered that way to get the salad instead of the fries. They were very good, but the onion straws were amazing.

A friend came by to tell me that the reason I wasn't seeing feral cats anymore is because we have a group of coyotes in the woods behind the buildings (about 20 feet). The woods go linearly for miles following the sides of the branch, and apparently the coyotes have worked their way in this far. Now that they've killed all the small mammals (nobody's seen fox, deer, groundhogs, raccoons, etc., either), I guess they'll have to move further inward.

Now to start washing the cat blankies that I usually do on Mondays.

Tags: cats, errands, health

06:01 pm: Self-Caging Shiva
I got up, put on my bathrobe, prepared his meds, and got him with the towel. After he was done and I let him go, he jumped off the recliner headfirst into the wire mesh trash can by the recliner. While I was putting the foot down, I was trying not to laugh. He went around in circles a few times and then figured out his head should be up and jumped out just as I was reaching for the trash can. How embarrassing! He's still only eating the AD in a slurry and in the past, he's been on dry food by now. I'm glad we have the dental vet appointment.

My left eye was stuck together today and it was itchy again, so I flushed and I think it worked. I have a lot of goop in that eye, though, so I'm not putting the fountain together today. Too cool and dank outside, too.

The tornado hit the county to our southeast -- no dead, two hurt, about a hundred houses damaged, most because their roofs were lifted off. There's tested and tried bolting that will keep a roof on in a tornado/hurricane and adds less than $100 to a house. I can't believe people don't automatically build houses with that. The flooding is worse north of here, but is expected to spread as more of the water comes down the geography. There are lots of trees down all over the area.

I ordered Chinese food -- not only do I not feel like zapping something, my glands are swollen and my throat is sore. When I post this, I'm going to go put out more birdseed. I found a place online that sells hulled sunflower seeds 50 pounds for $84.93 with free shipping while the increase locally gave me 40 pounds for $73.59 (including tax) and that will save me five cents a pound. I'm going through two pounds a day right now, so that will be a big help.

Tags: birds, cats, health, weather

06:01 pm: Sun!
It's actually colder than yesterday, but it feels warmer because of the sun. I went off to get more birdseed (this is getting much more expensive with the increase in the price of seed and having to get it more often) and stopped on the way back for souvlaki and onion rings.

When I got in the car to go out, in the car between the birdfeed store and Roma restaurant, and in the car on the way home, I felt like the left side of my face had globs of fat on it. Now, that's the side that's partially-paralyzed and I sometimes feel that side of my face is longer and I know that means I'm too tired or stressed and take a nap. I'm not sure what to think about feeling like it has globs of fat (it doesn't -- I looked in the mirror and felt with my hands), but my eyes are really hurting, too, even minutes after I put the drops in, so maybe I'll take a nap anyway.

It's nice enough to have the windows open, so Shiva is smelling out the kitchen window. Spirit is just curled up next to him.

I thought of the Changes idea for yesterday's post because of changes I'm making now that Giorgio is dead, and then I didn't put any in! For a few years I've put the pull cord for the kitchen blinds up on top of the fridge so he wouldn't eat it like he did the last two. I'm trying to train myself to leave it down now. I meant to get flowers at the store yesterday to see if Shiva eats them. Giorgio did and so there was no use in having them. I've moved some glass items back on top of a tall chest of drawers because the other cats never dash up there. But the hardest thing is the goodnight saying. For years I said "Time for ni-ni, Marilee and kitties ni-ni. Spirit and Giorgio, and Shiva and Marilee, everybody ni-ni!" I'm trying to make it more like triplets -- Spirit and Shiva and Marilee -- but sometimes I forget and then I cry. The cats don't seem to notice as much.

Tags: cats, health, shopping, weather

05:50 pm: Restaurant Trial and Baseball Question
I decided to try one of the restaurants with coupons today. I'd always thought of it as a boozy noisy place, although I don't know why, but I was right. The bar was full and the few people in the restaurant were mostly drinking liquor. The coupons' "Great for kids" was not true for kids I know. It was a bit dilapidated and there was a floor for a band & dancing with lights and disco ball. The steak & cheese with onion rings was good, though, and when I asked the young waiter what kind of bands they had, he ended up sitting with me and talking about music (leaving to seat more people). He didn't know what folk was and had only heard soft jazz, that abomination. So I sang bits of songs for him and while I didn't get the idea that he was really interested in the different styles of music (he didn't know who B.B. King was, but recognized "The City of New Orleans" and "Blowing in the Wind"), he was interested in knowing about them.

So we talked some more and he wants to go to college to be a psychiatrist but doesn't have any money and I told him he could work his way through or a lot of the Ivy League colleges are now giving grants instead of loans. He said he got a 3.5, which is pretty good. So I may go back -- the food was okay and he was interesting to talk to.

I turned out to be out of ice cream so I gave Shiva the "cream" part of a creamy chicken soup last night and he liked that. He didn't want skim milk today (I'd like him to have some protein), so I may have to open another creamy soup and join the veggies and chicken from the two for my dinner. The vet didn't return my call and when I called earlier, I got that her phone couldn't connect. I just tried again and left another message.

In the old WashPosts I was reading last night, there was a review of the eating places at the new stadium. I wasn't too interested because I don't expect to go, but then they had a rating system where I knew the ends -- Home Run and Error -- but not the relative positions of Run and Hit. I even read the reviews to see if I could tell the difference that way, and I couldn't. Anybody know?

And also in the papers, there was an ad to get a coupon from Allergan's Refresh Tears at http://www.refreshmyeyes.com and I've learned those are sometimes more general (I use the Refresh Celluvisc at night), so I looked it up. It is indeed more general -- $3 off any Refresh product -- so I printed one out and the prompt stayed up. I ended up printing 10 of them (expire 12/31/08) and although they do print the rest of the page black and you have to wait for it to dry before printing another on the back (other end in first), that's a good bit of savings. It made my black ink level go down about a quarter, which is about .70 and that's still a good deal. Maybe some of you are interested.

Tags: baseball, cats, food, health

09:33 pm: Much Pain, Strange Dream
I'm still having trouble finding a way to get Shiva food without Spirit eating it. Maybe tomorrow I'll try two pouches and two dishes and see how that goes.

I woke up with a lot of pain today and went to get groceries, came home and got mail for me and Luke (our maillady is retiring next Friday -- I suppose things won't go as well for a while), then took pain meds and napped for five hours.

My last dream before I woke up was weird:

I had been in "my" house and then there was suddenly other people there (many of them you guys) and lots of extra furniture and electronics and when they were sure I was okay, most of them started leaving with their stuff. They'd taken care of me for at least a week, but they wouldn't tell me for what, and the cats were gone. I kept trying to figure out if I'd had a stroke or went crazy or what.

Now, I forgot to take the rehydration fluid yesterday and I'd only had meds and a glass of water at that point, so now I'm drinking a lot and will zap something. I really hope it isn't predictive!

Tags: cats, dream, health

06:27 pm: A New Bird!
I've had a new bird the last week and finally took the time to run one of the bird ID website and identify it -- it's a dark-eyed junco. It's 83F today and I have the windows open (not too hot when I had the AC on overnight until noon) and we have lots of birds and squirrels today. Shiva has been very happy about it. Spirit has been cuddling up to him.

I swapped the two serial splitters for the four-way and put the two two-way and the extra cable in my AV drawer. I took my friend AJ's descriptions for the boy scout auction items and printed them out on postcard paper and packed each item in something nice. I put them all in a box to give to the mother of the boy scout of whom I'm fond tomorrow at bookgroup. My bookgroup load is growing: the DVD player (if nobody wants it, I'll take it to the charity thrift shop), a totebag, the boy scout stuff, presents for our librarian/fan leader on our 6th anniversary (a hardcover copy of All Seated on the Ground and a copy of Jason Shiga's Bookhunter -- which I carefully read before wrapping it), my totebag, and the bookgroup book. Tomorrow I'll add a beadwork box and my non-BPA water bottle with the rehydration fluid in it. Good thing I have that collapsible rolling crate!

I feel pretty good today, I may try some form of cooking later. My labs were normal-for-me for the rheumatologist, but worse for the nephrologist -- my BUN is up again and my GFR down (means kidney disease is a little worse than it's been for a while), the ferritin and iron are both better than last time, but not normal, and my CO2 has dropped again, a lot. The blood sugar is down to 90, though, which is good.

Tags: birds, bookgroup, cats, health

08:05 pm: Cables and Cables
I'd had my earlier two VCRs, one DVD, and one TV set up so I could do a lot with one remote (a benefit of my TV) but that didn't work with the new DVD/VCR last night so it took me a while to cable it and I ended up using two splitters serially. Everything works -- both the DVD & VCR record and play, I was able to set it up so I could access the TV from the DVD/VCR remote, and, if the second VCR is on, change channels on it. I can record on one and watch the other. I put some .jpgs on a flashdrive and it showed me them, too. Won't show anything other than movies or .jpgs, though. I didn't try dubbing between DVD & VCR or editing a disc -- I don't think I'll use those and it's not important enough to test now. I got the DVD box down and packed it up.

I'd fasted after midnight (actually after 8pm, I wish I'd remembered earlier that I planned to do labs today) and the pain kept me awake. If I took the codeine, I would have slept all day and lost the benefit of the fasting. The twisting of cables made skin breaks on my right thumb and index finger, so the tips of those fingers have bright purple vet wrap on them. I finally got up at 9am and started running errands. What had originally been the lab and PetSmart extended to Radioshack (four-way splitter -- no three-way -- the clerk asked if I was just connecting my VCR to my TV and I thought a moment and said "trust me, I need this") then taking accummulated cardboard to recycling, then labs and PetSmart. A brief trip back to Circuit City to return something and I was so sleepy and had so much pain -- walking and standing -- that I knew if I came home I'd be in the recliner and not eat. I went sort of next door to Friday's and had a Cobb Salad and then came home at 1:20pm. By 1:30pm, I was in the recliner with the cats. I woke up at 6pm.

I'm not going out tomorrow so I'll swap the four-way splitter in tomorrow. I'm doing pretty well at using the remote without the directions, but I'll keep them by the recliner for a few more days.

Ah, my lipid panel just came back -- everything is where it's supposed to be except I'm still 6 points high on triglycerides. Not too bad.

Tags: electronics, health

04:52 pm: Zombieland
I feel like I'm not quite connected today, which is unusual because although I have new pain (the left side of my left foot -- the rheumatologist says this happens because I don't have enough flesh under my bones), I haven't taken pain meds.

I did, however, get the BFAC auctions up. There's a wonderful "Spam Guard" beaded doll, a great collar with cabochon, a lovely bead-embellished mermaid tapestry, a spectacular sunburst necklace, an amazing beaded bead necklace, a striking abstract necklace, and a flowery lampwork and bead bracelet.

I used the bathrobe protection to dose Shiva last night and this morning. Last night he slept snuggled up to the side of my legs, but today he's a little scared of me. He hasn't eaten a lot in the last day, and he hasn't pooped for two days. I'm debating calling the internal medicine vet tomorrow and seeing if they can see him and thus pay for two sets of bloodwork.

I'm reading The Carpetmakers for next Saturday's bookgroup. I'm a third of the way in, and nothing very interesting has happened yet. I should have known -- OSC "found" the author.

Tags: bfac, books, cats, health

11:01 pm: I Should Have Posted This...
...before my nap. I woke up in a lot of pain today -- the base of my right big toe and base of my right index finger are probably gout flares, and the right wrist pain and right knee clicking are osteo, but I think my right shoulder is catching Shiva.

He stopped grazing last night about 10pm -- I think the steroid shot wore off -- but was very loving at night again. It was 81 today so I planned to wear one of the new tops I bought and I decided I should stop before I put outer clothes on, put my robe on, and catch him for meds rather than chance the top being damaged. I did that, and it turns out he still doesn't want me to open his mouth, but if I show him the syringe, he'll open the front of his mouth enough that I can put it in. He has to get two doses at a time. Then I got dressed and came out to feed them and he was very enthusiastic about that, too, until I put the dish down and he ate a bite and dashed off. He ate snackies and finished the dish later on.

I went out to have lunch. Sometimes I just really need cheese fries, and a half-portion at Glory Days fills the kind of oval platter that most places use for a dinner. I discriminately ate it down to toaster-oven size and will have the rest soon. When I came in, there were four moms and four kids (two boys, two girls) and they were all having a lot of fun without being difficult. They were very creative playing with plastic sharks, which seemed to come with their ice cream sundaes. I was facing a screen with ESPN Headlines and every so often across the bottom would run "So-and-so to announce future in conf. Monday" and I kept thinking, now that would be a great conference!

I came home and started online but hurt so much by 5pm that I took pain meds and napped. A very close thunderboomer woke me up at 10pm. Shiva insisted on fresh dry food, so I threw out the Meow Mix and special Science Diet from yesterday, washed and dryed the dish, and put down some normal Science Diet dry food and he started eating. Maybe antibiotics work faster in cats.

I've been catching up online and moving laundry around and such and will now be up late reading LJ and ML. I never heard from the vet, so I'll call her tomorrow. If she has any sense, she'll have her phone off in class.

Tags: cats, food, health

06:48 pm: Catfood Roulette
I had a bit of cheese before bed and Shiva ate all three pieces I put down for them. He kept cuddling up with me last night, but was stand-offish today. He never had any wet food or snackies.

I took newspapers to recycling, then went to Circuit City to look at DVD/VCR remotes. I found a remote I think I can handle, and the DVD/VCR was an internet return so it was cheaper than usual. I'll read the manual tonight and hook it up tomorrow.

Then I had lunch at Logan's Roadhouse, which I had a coupon for, and enjoyed Southern Fried Catfish with a salad and broccoli. Two yeast rolls, but only two peanuts (a pail of peanuts on each table). The entrance to the restaurant is on the opposite side from the parking lot and you have to walk on an uneven board deck surface (it's suspended over a catchwater pool), and I was thinking Rick and family and I would go there when they come in May and I should check it again.

Then on to PetSmart where I got more wet food and snackies, plus a small bag of a new type of Science Diet. I stopped for the mail on the way in, and Shiva was waiting at the door. He was very enthusiastic when I washed the dish, and nudged his head in when I put the SD on half the dish, but wouldn't eat. I put Meow Mix on the other half and he had one bite.

I had a stiff envelope from Kaiser and I was thinking it was a brochure or something, but no, it's an occult stool collection kit with USPS-approved return envelope. It is time to do it again, but I wasn't expecting to get it in the mail.

Then when I was gathering what I needed to glue some beadwork to a finding (small project) in the workroom, I heard Shiva bark twice. When I came out, he and Spirit both came out of my bathroom to look at me as if nothing had happened. I went out on the porch because of the glue fumes, but haven't heard anything else from them.

Tags: cats, dvd/vcr, health

08:57 pm: Things I Forgot
I got a letter from a doctor yesterday about a study for people over 40 who have diagnosed osteoarthritis in the hip or knee and controlled BP. I was pretty sure it was for a new NSAID, but I called and was told someone would call me today. The doctor called and when he told me it was for a new version of Naprosyn (Aleve) with something to keep the BP down, I told him I couldn't participate. He kept on describing and I interrupted and told him that ibuprofen poisoning caused my first renal failure. Then he said "We don't want you in the study" and I said "Me too!" and we hung up. I know he didn't get my name & address from my doctors, so I wonder if it was from the Stanford Online Arthritis Study I did a couple years ago. I meant to ask, but it took too long for him to get that I couldn't have the study med that I forgot.

I had my upstairs neighbor's proxy with me in the homeowner's meeting. I thought it went better than I expected (and the council chambers have been redone with an easier slope for the audience since the last time I was there) but we did have someone complain that because he bought one of the two largest models, he has to pay more in condo fees. He wanted us to calculate by how many people lived in each condo (he lives alone) and three of us tried different ways to explain that this was how our condo was formed and we can't change it (and nobody in their right mind would charge by residents). Why don't people read the materials, if not before they buy, at least within the three day regret period?

Tags: condo, health

08:28 pm: Not Cataracts, Dry
Okay, bad pun!

I finished online early last night and hurt enough that I took pain meds and slept in the recliner from 7:30pm-12:30am. I decided to do some beading instead of reading old newspapers and then went to bed. I woke up at 9:30am, even though the alarm was set for 11:30am, and thought I'd go back to sleep, but when I was still awake at 10am, I got up. This let me read one old newspaper before I left for the opthalmologist appointment. (The cat feeding happened as yesterday, and maybe that's what it will be.)

My eyes got dilated (and still are, a bit, it's never lasted this long before) and he looked carefully. He said the cataracts are not ready to come out, in fact they're not much worse than last year. The reason I'm seeing fuzzy is that my eyes are dry, and this is with as much OTC stuff as I can use. He said I can try another OTC drop which is thicker but doesn't last as long or he could order Restasis which is $100/month. I'd only pay $25/month until it dropped me into the Medicare Plan D donut hole in about November and then I'd have to pay actual cost for everything. So I'm going to try the other drops first, and hope that warmer weather will help with the dryness, too.

I stopped at Internal Medicine to weigh on the electronic scale and I'm at 313. This is 45 pounds in 14.5 months, so I've already lost March's pounds. Just as well, the Minicon hotel has limited food choices and I will be eating more than usual.

I had the drop-in sunglasses and decided I was seeing well enough to go eat at Red Robin -- the pot roast "burger" and iced tea, as usual, and then came home in Friday evening rush hour. I'd read another old paper while waiting at the doctor's and the restaurant, so I don't feel so bad about beading last night. I signed on long enough to answer email, but I was still sufficiently dilated that it would have taken me forever to get through other things. I watched Law & Order from Wednesday and beaded. I'm only using two beads right now, with a set pattern, and really different colors, so I don't have to see them clearly. By the time I finished the show, I was ready for online.

Tomorrow I have bookgroup, so a late post again.

Tags: beading, cats, health

04:28 pm: Spring!
Today I saw pansies and daffodils and the maples are budding. It must be Spring!

I took the newspaper recycling out, plus put a filter in the trash -- I usually swap furnace filters every other time Lucila comes and let her take it to the trash, but I forgot this week. Then I mailed a package to a bead friend and stopped by the Giant to get another cucumber and container of grape tomatoes. It turns out that you need two grape tomato containers to three cucumbers for the portions I like of the Greek salad.

I have the sliding glass doors open and a window in the kitchen and it's getting a bit cool (since it's only 57 outside, the sunshine is bringing a lot of the warmth) but Shiva is stil smelling the outdoors.

Shiva was on the cat part of the counter when I put their dish together, so I gave it to him on the counter first. Spirit whined. Then I put it down on the floor and Spirit had a go at it. I brought the paper in and gave them snackies which Spirit came to eat, and Shiva went to finish the plate. I think they got about equal amounts.

I hurt a lot today -- my wrist hurts again and my legs and back hurt. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, but not one that will help -- I see the opthalmologist about the cataracts.

Tags: cats, health, weather

10:55 pm: Slept the Day Away
I was reading the 2/17 WashPost last night. One of the business columnists takes a few people/couples each year to help them get rid of their debt and work out a budget. This year, she took three military families and while I was reading that, I started going over my budget in my mind. Two hours later, I'd figured that the only things I could realistically cut down on is to stop buying so many books and to stop eating out twice a week. I'm not sure I'll do that -- for one thing, I'm already buying many fewer books the last two years because of the emphasis on fantasy and paranormal, and for another, I think of eating out as part of my socialization. I finished the paper and got to bed late and got up when the alarm went off at 2pm. But by 3:30pm, I was very sleepy again and slept four and a half more hours in the recliner. The cats were very good -- they didn't ask for food at 4pm.

Their morning feeding was not as bad as the last few days -- I made one plate, Shiva got started on it, and three times when he started to leave because Spirit stuck her head in under his, I got him to come back. The fourth time I couldn't, so I got the paper and then started with the snackies because Spirit likes snackies more than he does, and he got to finish the plate while she was in the living room eating snackies. Maybe I'll try snackies first tomorrow.

I'd planned to take the newspapers to recycling today and do the taxes, but those are now moved to tomorrow.

Tags: cats, health

06:30 pm: Phenobarb, Chicken, and Cat Fights
I forgot to say yesterday that I got a DHL overnight envelope early in the morning. What was in it? The phenobarb that I put in a refill for on 2/11, that the doctor made new refills for on 2/14, that I ended up waiting at the pharmacy with an empty bottle for a refill on 2/28. My guess? They found it behind something.

I microwaved and prepped and froze another 40 meals of chicken for the cats last night. I made the mistake of giving them a small amount and Spirit screamed at me most of the rest of the night.

Feeding Spirit and Shiva in the mornings has been interesting the last few days. I used to give all three of them an ounce of chicken under a packet of wet food and there was no problem. So when Giorgio died, I started giving Spirit and Shiva about .66 of an ounce and a full packet to split. Friday, after I'd put their dish down and started doing other kitchen things, Shiva barked at Spirit. Really, a bark. I couldn't figure out what happened and I said "What!?" and Shiva ran and hid.

So yesterday, on Doris' advice, I tried two dishes. They both went to separate dishes but when Spirit finished hers, she started on Shiva's. He barked again, and now I know why. So I was not very coordinated this morning and I put down a single dish again, but then I remembered and watched. Shiva even moved over to Spirit's side to try to get food, but then barked and left and hid in the castle. I let Spirit eat about her portion and then put the dish on the ledge in front of the castle and Shiva ate it. I had to give him his share of snackies up there, and he hasn't been out yet, even though I've been out of the recliner for hours (he usually takes over the recliner when I finish with skimming the paper and taking my BP).

Tomorrow, two dishes, and I'll move Spirit and hers to a bathroom and find out if Shiva will eat his. I'm washing bed linens and Spirit has been yelling at me to play with her on the bed, but I think a little yelling will do Shiva good today.

Tags: cats, health

06:24 pm: Gusting Winds
I napped five hours again last evening and got up to read Making Light and an old newspaper (don't want to get behind on catching up) and finish the last Asimov's. I start A Canticle for Leibowitz tonight for bookgroup Saturday. I was once again up late enough to hear the newspapers arrive, but 1) they were on the stoop, and b) I used the reacher, so although I was kind of wary about getting them, I was fine.

I'm sorer than I thought. All the bruises are on my sides so I keep waking up and rolling over and I don't want to take codeine at this point. I might sleep in the recliner tonight.

I got out and into the van for the first time -- minor pain -- and took a letter to the post office drive-by box, got money for next week at the ATM, and ate at Tony's, where they've decided to save money by telling us our numbers and expecting us to remember them instead of giving us paper with the number on it.

It rained the last couple of days, so all the blood is off the stoop. When I went out today, the sky was blue, but by the time I got to Tony's, there was a giant grey mass moving in from the west. It rained a bit while I was in Tony's but cleared before I left and didn't start again until I got home. However, while driving home on a small street between houses, a gust of wind moved the van over about two feet. It's still blowing out there.

My friend Laurie used some of Giorgio's (and Smudge's, because the friend who'd done the earlier beads had stopped due to her lupus) ashes to make a memorial bead for him (and one for Smudge). They came today -- perfect -- and she sent me the rest of the ashes back. I'll put them back in the plastic bags and screw up the box bottoms and put them back on shelves. The beads will go with the other memorial beads.

Tags: cats, errands, health

06:16 pm: Angry Dreams
My stepmother woke me up this morning to tell me that the doctor thought Dad might be hanging on because not everybody had told him it okay to let go. She asked if I'd tell him that, and I said yes. I told him that when the body is ready to go, you really need to let it go. I reminded him that I'd thought about this a lot during the times I was close to dying and there's no use in being in pain just for a few more days, and that it was okay to let go. Then I went back to sleep, but I woke up at least three times, having dragged myself out of angry dreams where people were strangling me. The alarm went off at noon and I just turned it off and then managed to actually sleep for three hours. My wrist was about the same when I got up as it was when I went to bed and it's gotten better since. I was able to lift a 64oz bottle of cranberry juice without any pain.

I emailed my primary doctor last night because I knew he'd have gotten the info from Advice about the fall and I told him I just had a minor sprain. He emailed right back - reading his Kaiser email at 8:30pm! -- and said he could see me today if I wanted. I wrote back that I thought I could handle this, but I'd call if I needed help. My back is starting to hurt more so I think I'll have more Tylenol 3 tonight and see if that will ease it enough to feel better.

I'm going to try to do the chicken tonight, or at least half of it.

Tags: family, health

08:33 pm: Up and Moving
I slept 11 hours -- six in bed and then five in the recliner because I didn't want Luke to worry about the shades being shut. I have a minor sprain in my right wrist and the scrape has to be redressed every time I wash my hands. I don't have OCD, but I do that often enough that the dressings are taking some time. I'm not as achy as I thought, although my back is starting to hurt from sitting up. I may take a break and watch New Amsterdam in the recliner.

I had planned to stay home today and tomorrow, but I'm not going to do some of the things I'd planned. If I can't do the chicken prep for the cats by Saturday morning, I'll freeze it and do it next week. Good news -- I got mail back from Social Security where they tell me it's been determined I'm still disabled. And an interesting part of it is the amount you can make and still be disabled -- this year, $960/month -- as long as you don't work more than 80 hours a month. Which means I should think harder about something I can do when I'm 65 and the private disability is gone.

So I expect to be online tomorrow, and maybe with fewer breaks. Shiva was very loving in bed last night -- he knew he was wrong and wanted to convince me he loved me. I got far enough with my BFAC project last night to project that I needed four more tubes of one bead and I ordered that today. I don't know if I'll be able to bead tonight or not. You're supposed to keep moving the joint when you have a sprain, but it might hurt too much.

Tags: cats, health

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05:11 am: Fall Down Go Boom
I'm writing this now because I may be too achy to type and sit up tomorrow.

I was just getting ready to go to bed about 3am when I heard the papers come. Usually Luke is up before me and gets the papers and leaves mine at my door. I thought I'd do it for him and went outside. The papers were on the ramp and I picked one up okay, but when I was bending for the other, I fell. It's a short ramp, just a step-worth, and I fell off to the side on the grass, primarily landing on my butt. I did hit my right hand and scrape part of my palm on the concrete stoop and it was bleeding like crazy. I muttered and said "damn." I'm really bad at cursing. I managed to sort of roll up onto the stoop, throw one paper at the bottom of Luke's door, and then scoot up to where I could reach the doorknob.

I threw the paper in first and then while I was scooting in (the laminate was an excellent idea -- once I was in the door, I could scoot very easily to a chair to pull up on), Shiva bounced out over me. Once I was up, and had a hankie wrapped around my hand, I tried going out to call, but I'm not very stable (no brain injury, just from falling), and when he did come close, he was scared of me (he knows he's not supposed to go out). So I put the shades up on the sliding glass door and went out and tried sitting in the chair on the porch, but he was still afraid.

I came in to call Advice (partly to document the fall and partly to make sure I could just treat this scrape like a little one) and shut the sliding glass door, but left the shades up. About 10 minutes in to talking with the Advice nurse (they talk to you a while to make sure you don't have a head injury -- have to describe things three or four different times), he came to the sliding glass door and I went to open it and he stepped away, so I backed off and he jumped back in. I shut the door and sat back down to finish with the Advice nurse. I kept assuring her that I was able to recognize broken bones, that I will be very achy in the morning, that I just needed to know about the dressing. I can just make sure it's clean and put generic Neosporin on and dress it. I'm going to go take night meds and some Tylenol with codeine and go to bed. I'll call them again if there's any problem.

Don't worry if I'm not online tomorrow.

Tags: cats, health

09:01 pm: Good News, Bad News
The nephrologist says the 18-month crash is over and I can have 60gr of protein a day! She says the pain I'm feeling behind the scar from the open kidney biopsy is where the muscles didn't heal right and I'm using them too much. So less sitting up, standing, and walking. I asked her to translate that into the chart as "needs electric wheelchair" and she said she would.

My cousin Lori emailed that our grandfather died today -- there was no function in the brainstem and they just kept him alive long enough for the local family to gather. No news on Dad, so I assume Sue was wrong (or manipulating me).

I found out last night and this morning that I'd been off on two other things yesterday -- I realized as I was ready to turn the light out that I'd forgotten to give the cats their 4pm dry food and they hadn't complained, and then this morning, I realized I forgot to get down another tupperware of chicken thigh bits from the freezer to thaw in the fridge, so they just got the pouch stuff today. They didn't complain about that, either. I've been doing pretty well today.

Tags: cats, family, health

08:51 pm: Chick'n Lick'n Not
Last night I made the Greek Salad and it tastes just right. I calculated that it cost me about half to make an equivalent amount here than to get it at Tony's, although they serve a croissant and a piece of cheesebread with it. I had Triscuits with it, which was fine.

Today, I've been off a little. I went out to get gas (3.16!) and realized as I got home that the little door for the gas tank was a bit open. I was hoping I hadn't forgotten to put the cap on and then shut the door, but the cap was there. I guess I just didn't shut the door well enough. Then I toasted some bread in the toaster oven and got a teeny little burn on my finger because I wasn't careful getting the toast out. I did two loads of laundry and the first load, towels and hankies, was meant to go on hot. I looked at the dial, thought "Hot, good" and put stuff in. When I went back to move it to the dryer and put the second load in on cold, I realized it'd been on cold all along.

I did the auction pages for next week's BFAC and I kept screwing up the template. I finally flipped it to read-only. I haven't had to do that before.

So I'm not cooking and prepping chicken thighs for the cats tonight. That takes a knife. At least I've gotten good enough to notice that I can't use a knife before I actually use one. I probably won't be up to it after the long drive to the nephrologist tomorrow, so I moved it to Thursday on my list. The package says to use it before 3/8, and that will count. If I'm still off tomorrow, I'll have to call the neurologist, but probably it's just something temporary. I'm a little sleepy, too.

Tags: food, health

06:40 pm: Auction Time!
I put up our first week's auctions for BFAC. We have a purse embroidered with a dragon, a beaded vessel, a beaded-bead necklace, a beaded necklace with a carp focal, an amulet bag with Kokopelli on one side and Thunderbird on the other, a beaded mirror, and a beaded cuff bracelet -- some really neat stuff, and just the beginning!

My arthritis is coming out today -- my right wrist hurts so much that I'm typing left-handed. Spirit and Shiva are cuddled up on the couch and I'm doing laundry. A nice quiet day.

Tags: bfac, cats, health

11:16 pm: Pain and a Nap
Apparently fiddling with cat furniture and then later detailing the litterbox was too much. I hurt like crazy when I got up, but I took the SSA envelope to the post office, the book to the library, and ate at Tony's. When I got home, I started online but had to take pain meds and take a nap.

Last night after cleaning and filling the litterbox, I went down to the bedroom to tell the cats. They were cuddled up with Mr. Teddy and when I said "The litterbox is clean and I put new litter in," Shiva's ears perked up and he jumped off the bed, waggling his left rear foot -- it must have gone to sleep. He proceded to use the litterbox even though he was stil waggling his foot for another minute or so.

A couple things I forgot to mention. I got most of my labs back Friday week ago, and one on last Monday. Most were within my normal range, but my parathyroid is slightly elevated. Maybe just an odd thing, since I don't actually get much calcium. The Celexa came Friday, and I have email from the pharmacy (new with the new system -- it tells you the med has been shipped and the cost, but not the name of the med) that implies that the statin is on its way and I just put that in yesterday. So things seem to be settling out at the pharmacies.

Tags: cats, health

07:53 pm: Sittin' in the Pharmacy, Watching the World Go By
Well, that's what it felt like. I used the last phenobarb last night. When I checked for it last Thursday, since I normally would have had it two weeks ago, they said it was packed and ready to ship. I got the mail on the way out today, and no meds. I had to wait for it to be refilled there (and according to the clerk, I wasn't the only one) and it took longer since phenobarb is controlled and the pharmacy didn't have the paperwork, the mail order pharmacy did. I had them check my Celexa while I was there and it shows shipped. I figured if it doesn't come by Monday, when I run out, I can go sit again. I'm also annoyed that it costs me $5 more to pick up a refill at the pharmacy than to get it in the mail and it's not my fault I have to pick it up there.

At least I got most of an old newspaper read. And I had an interesting conversation with a four-year-old. He was playing he couldn't move his leg and I said I had that happen for real. He asked how I walked then and I told him I used a walker. He asked if the right leg worked, and when I said "yes," he seemed satisfied.

I had to come straight home because Peapod could come as early as 4:30pm. They've only done that once -- one of the regular drivers said he was so close to me it was silly not to stop and deliver here first even though my delivery was scheduled later -- but I still need to be here. They're not here yet.

I've done laundry and have a lot of hankies to fold. I really hope to stay home tomorrow.

Tags: health

07:45 pm: Out Gout!
I woke up with a gout flare at the base of my right little toe. I decided to still go to the grocery store, but I won't be trying to make Greek Salad tonight. When I stopped for the mail, my check had come, so I came home, offloaded groceries and put them away, and filled out a deposit slip. I'm surprised they got it here this fast. Usually it turns up on the 28th, and if it arrives after the end of the month, they have to pay us a 10% penalty. So I was thinking the 27th, but the 25th is much better. I went and deposited it and paid all the beginning-of-the-month bills.

I got the right numbers for reading glasses from Zenni last night and ordered them (I was right -- add the Sphere to the Add) -- nice red geeky glasses. I called Kaiser Vision Services this morning and asked about having these adjusted and the clerk said "Yes ma'am! You can bring anything to be adjusted. That's part of your benefits as a Kaiser member." I suspect she meant any glasses; I'm pretty sure they don't do cars. Then I called about the new center in Manassas, but Customer Service couldn't find any evidence of it. The next time I'm at the center, I'll ask around in admin. If they really have to put a brick entryway in, they can at least make a nice concrete walkway in the middle.

I've figured out what I'm going to do for this year's BFAC project! I need to finish what I'm doing now and sketch out what I want and then get going. It has to be turned in by July 15th. A friend who lives in Tucson bought me some new metal mesh ribbon at the Gem Show, in purple, of course, which I expected, but when it arrived today, there was a neat freeform bead, too! As she noted, there are fewer freeform beads these days and she knows I like them.

Tags: beads, glasses, health

06:47 pm: Ice is Not Nice
This batch of water went north of us again, so we just got freezing rain. By the time I got up, only the tops of the trees and bushes still had ice and the sidewalks and roads were wet. It's going to freeze again tonight, though, which means icy roads.

There was a 30-car pile-up in Gaithersburg, MD, during morning commute, and a large tree fell over a two-lane bit of a major Arlington evening rush hour route.

We've been pretty quiet here. I didn't set the alarm last night because I've been gradually more and more sleepy during the day this week. I actually only slept an hour more, but it seems to have done the job. My back still hurts from all the sitting up straight and standing up yesterday, so I'm not going to cook today. I was going to assemble soup/stew. Maybe Sunday. I've got a couple of loads of laundry done and have some ideas for next year's BFAC kit.

Tags: health, weather

07:57 pm: Sometimes You Need the Rainbow
The sky was blue this morning and the temperature cold. I went to get my haircut first, and she did a good job. Then I went to Kaiser where both the line to pick up meds and the line to check in were longer than I've ever seen them. I had to wait to check in for 10 minutes, and then another 15 minutes before a pharmacist was free to see me. The new pharmacy software (and new procedures and process) have really hit them hard. I showed the pharmacist the box for my steroid inhaler and told her that my side of the Kaiser software had said the mail order pharmacy was refilling it for a week and I would run out tomorrow. She looked it up and they have it filled and packed, but it wouldn't be here by Saturday, so she put in a refill for it there. I'll just use one and then the other. I asked about the mail order phenobarb and she said it was filled but not packed, but that's okay because I have four more days of that. I'm okay with the other meds.

So I went to get labs and since I'd had so much trouble getting them to do all the right standing orders, I'd made a file with the list of all my standing orders and printed off a copy to take. I hope that worked. After that, I went back to the pharmacy waiting room and waited about an hour. Some of the supervisors were helping people as they came in and I talked to them -- all the pharmacies are far behind and the one in Largo had 60 people in line! I'd taken an old WashPost so I had something to do. Finally my name was up on the screen and then I had to stand in line another 20 minutes. This is one of the reasons I usually get meds mail order. Even when things work right, I have to stand up too long.

The supervisors told me we're going to have a big new "green" building for the clinic in a year, about two blocks away. I'm going to call Customer Service and see if I can get them to not put brick at the entryway.

When I left Kaiser, I stopped at the PetSmart in the same shopping center to get wet food for the kitties. When I came out, the sky was gray and it was even colder. We're to have "wintry mix" tonight and tomorrow but it may clear for Saturday.

But when I got home, things brightened up -- many packages had come: My BFAC kit for this year (can't say anything, I know other BFACers read here and they don't get to know until they get their kit), books, Spirit's teddy bear, and her alligator. I took the alligator out of the box, threw it at her, and she sniffed it a few seconds and then started play-disembowelling it. That's my girl!

I'll sleep with the teddy tonight so it doesn't smell strange.

Tags: cats, health, weather

05:50 pm: No Snow
At least not yet. There's been flurries off and on, but nothing made it to the ground. Apparently Maryland got most of this batch. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold but dry until late, so I should get those errands done, too.

Today I took the trash and recycling out, then deposited a check and went on to the IM vet hospital. I took them the rest of the baby food, since we don't need it, and also a switchplate with a cat like Giorgio. I wrapped it in a tiled image of all three, with Giorgio's tail over Shiva's neck. They decided to save it for the head vet to open.

I still couldn't contact the mail-order pharmacy and called my clinic pharmacy and she said they can't do anything as long as it's in process with the mail-order pharmacy (they're all owned by Kaiser). It turns out I do have a good number for the mail-order pharmacy, it's just so busy it's going to the standard refill recording prompts. I have enough through Friday, but I'll take the box with me when I do labs tomorrow and talk to the chief pharmacist. They can't mean me to be without a steroid inhaler that I use two times twice a day. I printed out a list of the labs to do this time, I hope that will get the right labs taken and processed.

Tags: cats, health, weather

05:55 pm: Windy Gusts
Usually I wash cat blankies (and then kitchen and bathroom hand towels) on Mondays, but when I went back to get the blankie from the end of the bed, Spirit and Shiva were cuddled up on it. I came back to the computer and turned on my camera out here, but when I went back, they were awake:



Spirit appears to be turning her head almost entirely around. I decided I could just wash the blankies today (and that blankie and the heating pad blankie are in the wash now) and let them stay.

The wind woke me up gusting this morning and when I headed out to get new birdseed, the van was buffeted. At one point I stopped for a light and a piece of rubber/plastic fell down on the windshield from the top. I got out and saw that just a tiny bit was holding it on, so I separated that bit and brought the long piece back in the van with me. After I picked up the birdseed and had the van pushed a bit by the winds on the way back, I stopped to have my regular lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and then went in to my auto repair place to ask about the long strip. He said "glass shop" which is just a few blocks away and I went up there. The guy there asked the brand of the van and said the strip is just decorative. I can have it glued back in, but don't need to. So for the time being, I'm not.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow -- we're predicted to get a dusting to an inch -- and I had a list of errands so long for tomorrow that I'd already moved some to Thursday. But Thursday has a 30% chance and Friday a 60% chance for wintry mix. I can put some of these off to next week, and the doctors will understand if I get labs late, but I'm going to have to start pinning my front hair back because it's so long it's driving me nuts.

Kaiser's mail-order pharmacy has a new system and some of my meds are late. I'm going to have to check earlier tomorrow when they're still open.

Tags: cats, health, weather