Home Again

I'm safely back from Curacao! I had a wonderful time, but it was a long day back, so more details will have to wait. But they'll be coming, I have so many pictures to share!

Hanging In There: State of Me

It's never easy to lose a beloved pet. I remember a scene from a book where the main character's pet has died, and someone says it's the worst thing about pets, "they never live long enough." Mom is missing Maggie too, which sometimes helps me (we commiserate about automatically looking behind our chairs before standing up) and sometimes doesn't (like when she mentions missing Maggie in a rare moment when I wasn't thinking of her).

I also have this lingering, throat-clearing-cough thing going on, and considering that I started getting over my cold on January 1, enough already! I did not want to have throat drops on my packing list for the trip at the end of February, but I have to have one within arm's reach at all times, so yeah, I'm bringing them with. Sigh.

My second bag...

I am still, somehow, doing my FIGs every day, though wow, on February 1, I had no idea that compassionate vet care was going to make the list. However, I realized in the first week that seeing friends was always going to make the list, and have made a point of going out, even if I'm not feeling like doing it, because I have a good time. Even Monday night, when I was so sad about Maggie, seeing my knitting friends and talking about everything but Maggie was a good distraction. 

Light fixture from dinner Tuesday night: 

Crystals formed in a Damp-Rid bag:

Weird, right?

The trip will be a good distraction too, I suppose, though it can be a struggle to feel the same level of excitement for it that I did before. Hopefully I will be able to spend a few days not thinking about her (or, more realistically, not thinking about her very often), but coming home to her not being here, not wondering how long she will punish me for being away before she gets on my lap, will hurt. Ah well, first-world problem to be saying that in regards to a trip to the Caribbean! I did some looking back, and it seems that the last time I went out of the country was to Canada in 2011 (PEI! Anne!), and before that, to England in 2008. A long time ago! But my passport is still good, so not impossibly long.

We leave before the crack of dawn on Sunday, and it's unlikely that I'll blog while I'm there, but I'll be back here eventually. Y'all behave.

Maggie

The cancer moved so fast. She was fine a month ago, and today it was time to say good-bye. She will be sorely missed.

Dropping Things, but Hey, Read!

I'm so wound up with worrying about Maggie (current situation is that we don't know yet, but it isn't looking good) that I'm dropping the ball in a lot of things in life right now. There are things I should be doing that I just don't, like when I noticed on Wednesday, just by chance, that I hadn't paid a credit card bill that was due today, and things I want to do but am not, like reading and commenting on blogs, and tasks that fall in between the two, like working on clearing out my email inbox. I'm mostly working, reading-reading-reading, and fretting, which manages to fill all my time and then some.

I did try to catch up on a few things yesterday, and came across a post from the other day where where Engie wrote about the ubiquitous READ posters that were always in the library and bookstores when I was a kid. I have a similar one, not from the American Library Association, but from the publisher when this book about the Muppets came out. I had to keep Kermit, and it's on the back of the door of my office even now.

A Small Thank You to Past Me

Years ago, I was on vacation and got too much sun on my back, resulting in itchy peeling. So I bought a back scratcher.

Fast-forward to today, and I use this thing all the damned time, so thank you, past me, for not putting enough sunscreen on your back on that beach day! Who knew it would be paying off all these years later.

Do you have anything to thank past you for?

Bad News. Not Sure Exactly How Bad Yet

I wanted to let y'all know about this, it felt like ignoring the elephant in the room otherwise, but this isn't something I can talk about much yet. 

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Maggie was looking very round in the middle, a very obvious change. I took her in to the vet last week, and from the X-rays it looked like something was going on, but they couldn't tell exactly what. There was some fluid, which they were able to sample for testing, and they took blood to test as well. 

Nothing obvious came back, so yesterday I took her in for an abdominal ultrasound. And, yeah, looks like it's some kind of carcinoma. They got some cells to test, and we should hear next week some time, what kind it is, and thus what the prognosis is, what treatment is available, all that. I'm trying not to freak out too much yet, but it's hard. My baby girl.

Truer Words, Etc.

You know, this is so me it should have my name on it:

Is it you, too?

Just Saying

On one of my posts recently, I don't even remember which one, there was a cartoon I wanted to add to the post but I couldn't find it online anywhere. I had a feeling that I had cut it out of the newspaper and put it on my fridge, before I moved, and while I might very well have it in a drawer somewhere, I had no idea where, so I went on without it.

And then a few days ago, it popped up in my FB memories! So here it is. A screenshot of a clipping. How high-tech I am.

My First F.I.G.

Elisabeth of the blog The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist is leading by example for a month of small gratitudes in February, calling it The F.I.G. Collective. The idea is to make a point on noticing at least one thing every day to be grateful for. I printed out her tracking sheet, and while I don't plan to blog it every day, I did want to kick the month off with my first.

Yesterday after my haircut, I was going to the grocery store to pick up coffee on sale and noticed some small tents set up in the park. It turned out to be the day of the monthly Art in the Park, and while there were only a dozen or 15 tents, I figured why not stop in and browse a little. 

Some days, the browsing is its own reward, but I actually bought a few things this time. First off, I saw this flock of wooden birds next to an artist's tent.

Ibis and egrets and flamingos, oh my!

They're so cute, but I don't have any yard I can stick them in. However, it turned out he had a few that stand, so I snagged an egret to take home. 

His name is Philbert (no, I don't know why, it just is). I also bought that pretty wood bowl, after having a nice chat with the artist. He had so many items of a wide range of wood types; it was a cool set-up. The grain is mesmerizing.

I may have a thing for wooden bowls...

We have Philbert up on a shelf, keeping an eye on things. He's a good bird.

My F.I.G. for today is having dinner with a friend, which I'm very happy about! Have you found any FIGs lately?