Love Your Monday

It's Monday again, in case you guys have lost track of time (like me). And although I used to really struggle with Mondays, I'm glad to see it this week. Here are a few of the reasons Monday and I are friends again:

1. Today I am determined to go to work. I have to prove to myself that I can do this. I don't want to be completely disabled and that's how I feel. I NEED to do this.

2. It's payday and my paycheck for the 1st was sad. I've got to do better. I want to do better. I don't want to be a burden on anybody, I need to at the very least be able to pay for my car insurance, the internet at the mountain house, help Austin from time to time, pay for my own gas and the occasional Starbucks, pay for my own doctor bills and pharmaceuticals. Monday is a chance for me to earn some money.

3.  I'm anxious but I believe I can do this. I'm planning to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I haven't worked three days in a row in some time but I really need to do this.

4. On Wednesday after work we're heading to the mountain house - me, mama and three dogs. Thursday we're keeping Sarabeth and Jamie and I am soooo excited about seeing them. Getting through Monday means being closer to seeing my girls.

5. It's Spring. I love seeing all the Spring changes to my world. Even though I'm in the burbs and things aren't as pretty here, I'm still glad for the drive to work and the ability to enjoy my world.

6. On one of Oprah's new age/self help shows yesterday, I forget which one, she had Joel Osteen on and although I think his philosophy is a little too much new age, self absorbed and less dependent on God than I'd like my theology to be, they presented the concept that whatever you declare yourself to be, it becomes your truth. So if I get up in the morning and say, "I AM not able to work" then I live that truth. But if I get up and say, "I AM able to go to the office for a few hours and be productive and earn a little money" then I will strive to live out that truth. That's what I'm believing.

7. I have a reason to fix my hair and put on makeup and look a little bit cute.

8. Being at work means snacking less. My munchies have gotten out of control.

9. It's April! My birthday is in four weeks! My two grand-nephews - Ethan James and Adrian - have birthday this month. My friends Christy, Dewayna, Anne and Beth have birthdays this month (and probably lots of people that I've forgotten, please forgive me and remind me!) My cousin Christie has a birthday this month! My friend Mary's daughter Natalie has a birthday this month! My kids' best friend Joshy has a birthday this month! My friend Natalie (not to be confused with my friend Mary's daughter) is getting married this month! It's William and Kate's anniversary! The Beth Bag launches this month! Lots of red letter days!

10. There's so much dissension and anger and hate in the world. I am just one person but I can go out into the world and spread joy to every person I interact with... I can't make a difference for everyone but I can make a difference for a few.

My world has narrowed down to pretty much just one little room at the house in Riverdale and my little office and rarely anything different. I struggled at the pharmacy yesterday. I haven't been able to sit well enough to go to a restaurant to eat. Everything I do beyond sitting in my recliner is a challenge and everything I accomplish is a blessing. I can do this. I am so excited about Monday and I hope you are too. If you can get up, get dressed, drive to work, put in your required hours, drive home and be able to function to do the things you want to do, even if it's a long day and even if you'd rather be somewhere with your toes in the sand... focus on celebrating everything you can do because there are so many people who would love to have the kind of Monday you're going to have.

love and hugs, y'all!

Just Another Day in Paradise

This was going to be a facebook status update but I realized I had more to say than could (or should) fit in a short paragraph.
I'm missing work again today. Days like today - weeks like this week - make me wonder if I'll ever work again. After leaving work in tears on Tuesday because of pain... I've gotten up every morning since with the hope of being able to go in to the office and every time I've realized within a few minutes that it just ain't happening and if I forced it to happen, I would end up back in that same place of discouraging disappointment.
I'm having a lot of pain... searing pain in the dead center of my spine and in my left hip... I've got muscle spasms that won't let go... I have no feeling in my left leg except for tingling in my foot... my shoulders hurt (which is a new one) and my right foot has the same tingling minus the numbness in the leg (which is weird because the nerve damage is worse on the right side than the left). I've got the heating pad set to sizzle and can just barely feel the warmth.
I'm having a lot of anxiety. It's frightening to not be able to function. It's embarrassing to have to admit that you can't do what you should be able to do at the (relatively) young age of not-yet 45. I'm not depressed but I am discouraged. I want to be more than what I am right now. I make people uncomfortable when I am candid about how bad things are and people make me uncomfortable when they are understanding. I haven't quite figured out how to process pity. And I'm not even sure pity is the right word.
I get so annoyed with people who complain nonstop and I try to not be that person but I'm also afraid of being considered lazy or selfish or a slacker and I feel like I have to validate and explain what I'm going through but it just comes across as whiny.
I'm envious of people with their full time jobs and their income and their ability to actually go out to a restaurant and eat and their vacations to anywhere because I just can't.
And it's Holy Week which makes me think of Christ's sacrifice and His suffering and I feel so ashamed to be absorbed in my own pain without acknowledging His. Or the many, many other people who are going through so much worse than me. I feel unworthy.
And that's it. That's the story.
In other news... I just checked my emails from last week and there was an invitation to hear Tim Tebow speak at the church we were slightly affiliated with while we were in Jacksonville. Not that I would have driven that far or had the money or resources to make that happen and I'm sure that it was a crowded crazy house but ... man! I missed seeing Timmy!
Pop brought home Wendy's for dinner last night and I wasn't hungry for fries and a cheeseburger but that Frosty was EXACTLY what I wanted.
I had strawberry poptarts for breakfast and that was exactly what I wanted too.
I need to do a sugar detox because I believe a clean diet would go a long way in improving things but I only want carbs. Holy cycle of unhealthy habits, Batman!
And ... well, that's about all I have to say today.
Happy Thursday.

Things I Could Blog About

Remember when I used to work full time as a single mom of a teenager and still found time to blog every day?
Me too.
And although there's much more free time in my schedule, there's not that much to blog about.
Unless you're interested in the adventures of the fur babies - who I find constantly entertaining...
Or the adventures of my mom as she enjoys retirement...
Or the progress of Uncle Charles who is recovering from esophageal cancer. And he is recovering. Slowly.
Or Cody's new job which he ended up not accepting because his current employer made him a better offer that included health, dental and vision insurance, his own truck, some autonomy where he doesn't have to depend on his dad to wake  up so that he could go to work and a raise. He got everything he wanted without having to change jobs, that's pretty awesome for a still 22 year old.
Or the voyeuristic fascination I have with my former classmates who are all living large, exciting lives and who must not mind me watching since they keep posting. Such as Beth's handbag which is being launched in London in April. Because if I talked about "launching my handbag" it would involve slamming on my brakes and having the insulated lunch tote that I've been using for a purse go flying into the floorboard, spilling the contents all over the place, not black tie and cocktails and high fashion.
Or I could get you up to date on the Jodi Arias trial, even though I'm so bored with this latest witness, the Domestic Violence Expert, that I opted for the Big Bang Theory reruns instead. Travis Alexander is a combination of one long term relationship I had + one marriage that I had and I can understand being demoralized by this behavior (if it truly happened and I do believe, based on evidence in court such as text messages, that he was at least a little bit of a cad.) but I still don't understand the "he had it coming" defense. "He ran into my knife... he ran into my knife 29 times" (to paraphrase the musical Chicago).
Or the fact that I cried watching 19 Kids and Counting last night and not just because they were hinting that they might adopt. Oh. The. Humanity. Hopefully they wouldn't pass a home study. I cried over the producer having her baby in China and them taking that baby away from the mother for three days. That's insane. Human rights violation in my book.
Or the fact that I'm addicted to a snark website that is dedicated to poking fun of a mommy blogger gone crazy. So cray-cray that I don't dare mention the site here for fear that she'd come after me.
Or the fact that these two amazing little stampers that I ordered for my nieces came in the mail last week and I'm excited about surprising them with them when I'm in the mountains next week. I have to get ink pads to go with them but having a little stamp with their name on it is too stinkin' cute!
Or the fact that I have just about the best co-workers in the world and the most supportive employer that I could have dreamed of - who understand and encourage me without making me feel like a slacker for not being able to work more than an average of one day a week. I believe that those who extend compassion will receive it themselves and those who don't will one day wish they had. I am beyond blessed.
And the fact that I'm realizing that the pain is not getting better. I went into the office yesterday in pain and had a freaking meltdown over the fact that we were going out to lunch - so great is the pain of sitting in a restaurant chair and the extra steps involved that I had to own up to the fact that I was faking it. And by "it" I mean faking the ability to function because I really just wasn't able yesterday. Or today.
Or I could blog about the fact that I keep waking up in the morning thinking that it will be all better and it isn't and I'd be lying if I said it's not discouraging. It really is discouraging. Today I'm trying  a new combination of muscle relaxers and nerve block and mild pain reliever. I won't be able to drive but hopefully it won't knock me out cold and will allow me some cognitive function.
I could blog about how amazing my Castleville village is. If I could make a living playing computer games, I'd be a Rockefeller. I'm killin' it.
I could blog about the One Pot Spaghetti we made last night off of Pinterest. It's always bothered me to make spaghetti and end up with two dirty pans and a strainer. With this recipe you cook the meat (but we had some already cooked ground beef conveniently tucked away in the freezer, we just had to let it thaw) and add the sauce and two cups of chicken broth and a little water. Once it boils you add the noodles in the same pan and just let it all cook together. Brilliant!
And then I was telling Cody about it (since he does the cooking at their house) and he said, "yeah, just like hamburger helper". Oh yeah. That's right.
So I haven't really blogged much because there just isn't much to blog about.
What's new with you?

Friday By The Numbers

Is it Friday already? And me without a single blog entry since Monday... FOUR days? What a shame! I'll try to give some updates to my week but honestly... there's not much to blog about.

My Uncle is still in ICU. Mama spent the day up there yesterday and it was draining for her... and for me, home taking care of seven (yes, seven!) animals. I love our fur babies but I was having miserable muscle spasms and every time I had to get up to let them in or out it was excruciating. Of course, relative to what my relatives are dealing with... my pain is minor.

My pain IS limiting my activities. The current plan is for me to work 12 hours a week. Twelve. It's hard for me to engage in what's going on in the office - especially on a week like this one where there was widespread hail damage in our area and a spike in claims filing and I'm just barely there. But unfortunately, for now, that's all I can stand and to be honest, the pain is so bad during that time that I've started having anxiety before work just knowing that it's going to hurt.

Truth be told, there's not a whole lot of anything I do unless I absolutely have to because of pain. I went nine days in between doing my laundry this time because I couldn't push myself to lift the basket and carry it the ten feet to the laundry room - which is in MY ROOM - so it's not like I was hauling it to the laundrymat. Of course, since I spend most of my time in my pjs, there's not much laundry.

I used to love making it to "third day hair" because it meant that I had relaxed for a day. Today I'm on fifth day hair. FIVE DAYS. And it's not pretty.

I had a peanut butter sandwich for dinner last night because I was in too much pain to cook or go to the store to pick something up. Mom was in pain and exhausted from being at the hospital so she just ate leftovers. Pop played golf and ate leftovers. Me - heating the leftovers was too much but I slapped some peanut butter on bread and ate about half of it and fed the rest to the dog because it hurt too bad to eat. It took my tramadol too long to kick in for me to feel like doing anything. And then I just wanted to sleep because I had only slept about three hours the night before. And then I couldn't sleep because it hurt too bad so I read until I fell asleep.

There's news on the Cody job front but I can't share it yet. I told Cody I had intentionally NOT blogged for four days because I didn't want to slip up and share something that wasn't for public info yet. I haven't heard from Austin in over a week. Ryan called two days ago to complain about his insurance agent in Pennsylvania.  It really irritates me when people who work for the same company as me don't do their job well or don't explain things properly to their customers who then contact me and want me to try to interpret what they're being told. I'm fairly good at it but mostly I just want to call their agent and school them on being a better agent. Like the way I am... twelve hours a week.

We don't have coffee today and I don't want to make any because we only have Chock Full of Butts Nuts and there's not much I can do to improve the flavor. I need me a good, strong, cup of Cafe Bustelo, too strong to see through and so thick you have to stir it with a knife. Instead I'll settle for Dunkin Donuts with hazelnut flavoring. It's a drive thru (Starbucks isn't) and it's cheap. About two dollars for a large. And I can get a bagel or something. You know, because carbs are good for you.

The book I ordered from Amazon for one cent came in the mail yesterday. It's about a girl who briefly was in our gifted class in school, entitled "A Beautiful Child." I have already finished it. My eyes are not focusing well so it was hard but it was impossible to put down. I pretty much either finish a book in one day or never finish it. This particular girl, then known as Sharon, was a cute girl who was in our gifted class for about one quarter. The only thing that made her stick out in my mind was that once when we were debating the death penalty, she was challenged by one of the folks on the pro-death penalty side with "how would you feel if your mother was murdered?" and she screamed back, "my mother WAS murdered!" and ran out of the room. It was 1983, we were in tenth grade and everybody was dramatic but this was over the top.

As it turns out... Sharon (not her real name) was living with a man who kidnapped her when she was a young child after killing her mother... he molested her throughout her life, moving her from school to school so she couldn't develop any close bonds... he ended up murdering her when she was 21 and then killed her son five years later. Tragic. It makes me wish that I was less wrapped up in myself and my little group of friends when I crossed paths with her so that I could have somehow changed the trajectory of her life, knowing that there was probably nothing I could do.

I promised my friend Mary that I'd send her the book when I finish it but considering I've been driving around with Whitney's baby gift in my front seat of my car for a month, I'd say the odds of it getting there any time soon are slim to none. Who knows? I could have a burst of productivity and go to the post office tomorrow.

Anyways... down to just ten minutes until time to start getting ready for work. Only working four hours. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. Then I'm off for three days. I'll be back here next Tuesday with fifth day hair again before I get ready for work. Or maybe before then if there's something blogworthy. Pretty much lately it's been nothing exciting to write about.

Hope your life is much, much more exciting and that you have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend. Love and hugs, y'all.

Celebrate Monday!

The head cold has become a chest cold and it's making it hard to breathe, much less talk. I was a little hoarse last week and very nasal and hard to understand. Today my voice is raspy but I feel much better. Still got head congestion but that part is better.

I. must. get. out. of. this. house. I'm going to work, no matter what. I need the hours and I need to interact with 3-dimensional people. Not that I don't love those of you who live in my computer. You're the wind beneath my wings, I promise.

I am hoping that I can consume enough warm liquids to loosen the goop out of my chest and be able to speak clearly and loud enough by the time I go into work.

My back is more of a sharp, hot pain in the bullseye of the bulging discs, not the muscle spasms I usually wake up to. This is good. Crazy as it sounds, I'll take one hot spot over a whole cramping mass. My legs and feet have feeling in them today, which is awesome. So. Monday, I think I can handle you this week, by the Grace of God.

Monday has come like a Wedding Crasher, an uninvited visitor to our week. We can't get rid of her so we  might as well embrace her, make her feel welcome just long enough to be polite and then send her on her way. I know it's hard but we have to find... Reasons to Love Monday.

1. The creeping green crud has made me feel icky all through my respiratory system but at least my head doesn't hurt any more and I don't have the constant nasal drip. I don't know if I'm better but I'm at least better able to tolerate things.

2. I'm not the least bit interested in March Madness this year. Usually I'm working on my bracket and so forth. This year, notsomuch. Kentucky isn't playing and they're my favorite college basketball team so... I just don't care.

3. I can't wait to get to the office. I know I probably have fifty new emails and a couple dozen things I have to do, even if I can't find the voice to answer the phone. I love my job. I love the folks I work with and I'm happy to go and see them and do what little I can to help our agency be successful.

4. My socks match my pajama pants. Small victory, I know. But I'm wearing One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Dr. Seuss pajamas and the socks came from the clearance bin at the Rite Aid. For them to randomly end up matching and for me to just randomly grab that pair out of the sock drawer makes me super happy. I'm easy that way.

5. Coffee=good. Even though Pop bought Chock Full of Butts, I mean Nuts, I managed to doctor it into something warm and good. Although, granted, I can't really taste things still.

6. A good friend who has had a deep desire to be a husband and father got married last weekend. I have prayed this prayer for him for almost ten years, knowing that this was the desire of his heart. He and I have had several late night phone calls, emails and texts where his heart was just so broken, wondering if this would ever happen and I can't even begin to tell you how full my heart is, knowing that his prayers have been answered. Now I'm praying for babies... here's a video I'm sharing (without permission) with him singing the most perfect song...



If you want to see photos of the wedding, you can check out what the photographer posted on her website (and who doesn't like looking at wedding photos?)

7. My parents just celebrated their 47th anniversary over the weekend. They went out for dinner with my Aunt Ginger and Uncle Carl and Cody and Marquee. I was invited but passed... sitting for a long time at a restaurant is one of those things that really, really causes pain. They brought me back an awesome pizza (they went to Carrabas) that was enough for my dinner Saturday night, my lunch Sunday and lunch for Pop on Sunday.

8. Leftovers! Me and my mom put together corned beef & cabbage yesterday and it was soooo, sooo good! And there are leftovers! Can't wait.

9. Speaking of answered prayers... my friend Whitney in Jacksonville, the one friend I had there, the person who cared enough about me to visit me during visiting hours at the nut house because my only other visitor was going to be my mother-in-law and Whitney was afraid that she would try to talk me into going back to Michael (she didn't)... Whitney had a baby girl last Sunday. She ended up with an emergency c-section due to the baby's heart rate deceleration but baby Scarlett was born healthy and perfect at 6lbs, 15 oz! Mama and baby are doing well.

10. I love my perch, my nest, my window on the world. I can't travel and be in the places I want to be... whether it's celebrating the wedding of a friend... the birth of a new baby... my parents' anniversary... but I am blessed to be able to see what's going on in the life of my friends and loved ones. If my back problems existed in a Heather who lived fifty years ago, she would be a very lonely lady. I'm so blessed to live during the "information age" where I can continue to participate in the world in a way that doesn't cause pain.

My Uncle continues to be in ICU but I think the plan is for him to be able to go to a regular room today. My Aunt ended up in ICU herself by passing out... she's having issues with her blood sugar and blood pressure. When she is released from the hospital she's going to need to go home instead of staying with her husband and I know that's going to be hard on them. It's so often that caretakers end up being sick because their focus is on someone else. Would you continue to pray for them?

Here's to a great start to a wonderful week! Happy Monday, y'all!

Sorority of Suffering and Other Good Things About Pain

By this time two years ago, I had a pretty good idea that the back pain I started having that January was not a short-term problem. At that time, I began to accept this new "lot in life" and that has helped a lot over the last month while my ability to function has decreased. 

I'm on new meds to help the pain but the new meds have lots of unpleasant side effects that bring their own bag of troubles to the party. Then you have to sort of sort out in your mind if the side effects are side effects or symptoms. I am determined not to call the doctor to ask because he'll want me to come in again and see him this month and I just really can't afford it. 

And of course, getting whacked upside the head with a head cold was NOT on my bucket list. I don't know if there are any studies to back this up but I'm convinced that people who struggle with chronic pain are more greatly impacted by colds and flu. It's almost like you use up all your tolerance on the day to day junk and have no ability to deal with anything else. Let me tell you, I've been in full on misery for the past two-three days. Pop, Marquee and Cody have all dealt with this as well and Pop and Marquee seem to be on the upswing of it so maybe it is just a brief deal. 

I just have to hope it doesn't settle in my lungs. I'm constantly coughing up green slime, even when I'm "well" due to the granulomatic thing-a-ma-jig. Once my lungs become involved we're up for a bout of bronchitis and ain't nobody got time for that!

Add to that this sunburn like pain from over-exposure to the heating pad... just another one of those "to be expected" deterioration of sensitivity issues that I knew would happen sometime but am still frustrated when it happens. Without the heating pad I get horrible muscle spasms... there's so much numbness from my waist down that I don't feel the heat as warmly as it really is. I stayed off of it for the past two days and just relied on muscle relaxers and rest but all the red streaks on my back have faded to burgundy/brownish streaks - just like a sunburn turns to a little tan after a few days for me - so I'm using it again, carefully, on low. 

 Even at the risk of being labeled, "Wendy Whiner", I know that there is a Sorority of Silent Suffering out there... people who hurt in a way that nobody else quite understands or believes... and I want my Sisterhood to be able to find a way to keep moving forward even when it seems impossible. I feel like transparency is the only way to connect with others who feel the kind of pain I do... and I want people to be encouraged to speak up and say, "this really stinks" or whatever expletive serves your purpose best. The point of this blog entry was to talk about the ways that I'm grateful for the pain. because I think everything in life brings both good and bad and if we're so short sighted that we only see the bad, we'll miss out on life's greatest blessings and lessons. That's what I want to see and what I want to share with you. 

1. I was never a world traveler. I'm used to being a couch potato and a homebody so I don't really grieve not being able to roam the wide world. I'm not missing out.

2. When I feel like I'm missing out, all I have to do is log onto travel websites or travel blogs or watch Rick Steves on PBS or the Travel Channel. How blessed I am to have a window on the world!

3 People, some people anyways, DO get it. There are a lot of really concerned compassionate people in my life like my little aunt who said she wished she could take the pain from me for a few hours so I could have a break from it.

4. I do get a break from it... for a few hours every night... when the meds kick in at full force and I fall asleep. I eventually wake up with cramps and muscle spasms and crazy pain but there are a few blissful hours where I can escape. 

5. Pain has humbled me. It has helped me to understand people on a different level. It has made me understand that some of the people who come across as bitter and mean are really just people who are suffering in some way. I have learned that people don't have to be in a wheelchair or hospital bed to be legitimately uncomfortable. 

6. Pain has shown me who my real friends are. Once I lost the ability to be mobile and spontaneous, I really narrowed my world significantly. There are precious few people who want to just hang out with a couch potato, especially if that means they have to commute either up to the mountains or down to the 'burbs. It's not that I don't still love the folks who can't meet me where I am and it's not that I think they stopped loving me... I just understand more about their level of commitment to me and I appreciate the ones who come to me more than words can say. Like Stasha who would drop in unexpectedly and just curl up on my bed and chat... and Gina who drove all the way to Helen to spend a day with me..and a couple of other folks who hung out with me in the mountain house...  those visits are divine appointments to me.

7. I've learned to let go of the guilt. At first I would agree to do things, hoping against hope that I could manage and then when I couldn't and had to back out or not show up, I felt so guilty. There was a time that I felt guilty about not being able to work full time. I've felt guilty about not being there for my kids as much as I wanted. I've felt guilty for not being able to help much around the house and the burden I've placed on others but you know what? Apart from criminal or immoral activities, guilt is a burden we choose to pick up on our own. Nobody can give it to you unless you agree to accept it. I choose not to accept it. I am who I am, not by my own choice but by fate and all I can do is all I can do. 

8. I waste a lot less money due to pain. I used to eat out a lot, spend a lot of money doing stuff and buying stuff, especially groceries that would go to waste because I ended up not feeling like cooking. I don't go to movies or concerts or amusement parks or museums or malls.... if it involves walking, I'm probably not doing it unless absolutely necessary. 

9. I go to the Rite Aid a lot and am a gold member of their membership club which means I get 20% off everything in the store. This helps a lot. I'm also able to use a drug discount card which saves me a good bit off my meds. I'm in there so much that I catch a lot of things when they get marked down which explains the huge stuffed frog and huge stuffed gorilla that I have on my bed now. 

10. I have learned what an amazing family I have. From unbelievable financial assistance to things like that sweet comment my aunt made about taking my pain... I feel wrapped in a cocoon, like there is a safety net below my high wire act, like I am safe and secure and cared for, no matter what happens to me. Cody and Marquee and Mom will come in my room and hang out with me. Pop picks up my favorite things at the grocery store. Mom scoops the cat poop. I have not just one but two comfy, cozy places to live and I am never lonely. 

I could probably write another ten and maybe I will later. This is long enough! I just want to encourage you, if you're feeling like nobody *gets you*, like you're alone on the planet, like your burden is just too heavy, stop and look around for the good things. Even if you can only list one - you're still breathing - then start there and work your way up to more and more good things. Keep your focus on the happy. 

The latest update on my Uncle is that he is doing great. He may be moved out of ICU as early as Monday. He is a little confused - probably because of the meds - but he is definitely improving. Continue to keep Uncle Charles and Aunt Linda in your prayers. 

Have a great weekend, y'all! Love and hugs!

Feeding Time At the Zoo

My Uncle made it through ten hours of surgery yesterday and is expected to remain in ICU for the next few days. The surgery was complicated, there is infection and he is still in need of much prayer. My Aunt (his wife) has also not been well and this hospital stay creates a hardship for her, so if you would include her in your prayers.

And for my mom who, like me, really struggles with pain and fatigue, to spend an extended time in the hospital like she did yesterday was truly an act of will.

Fortunately Cody ended up having a shorter work day than expected so I didn't have to go pick up Marquee from school which meant that I was able to take pain meds after work as usual and it was a much easier day than I had expected. I had Doggie Daycare Duty but the furbabies were cooperative and even ate for me - crazy as it may seem - these dogs won't eat unless my mom is home. It's like they go on mini-hunger strikes when she isn't around. And Oscar, the rotten little dachshund, is normally fed by hand. But we managed yesterday....

I put Oscar's bowl on the stool that he and Stubby use to climb up on my bed and he went right to it and ate most of it.... and then we both started worrying that Lily the Greedy Big Girl was going to go after it. She's a sweetheart unless food is involved and she'd chew your arm off if you got in between her and something she wants to eat.

Then I moved his bowl to the arm of my recliner... and had Little Trouble Kitty on the left and Hungry Oscar on the right.

Good times.

I was a little stuffy after work yesterday but today I'm a full fledged snot factory and sleeping under a draft where Trouble is trying to tunnel out to the bird's nest on the window unit didn't help much. It's hard core misery. Relatively speaking. 

All of it is relative, isn't it? Anyways... it's Thursday and we're tucked in the nest today...

Happy Thursday, y'all.