Monday!

If there were to be a universal sound depicting peace, I would surely vote for the purr. ~Barbara L. Diamond

First off, I have to update everyone on the cat -- she's doing MUCH better! Thanks to everyone for your healing thoughts, prayers and just plain good vibes. It was a long haul, and I'm sure we aren't through.

On Friday, I called the vet -- she still wasn't eating, and I was out of IV fluids. We talked for quite awhile, during which time he told me that I should pretty much resign myself to the fact that she was dying. He was especially concerned that she wasn't eating on her own. He strongly suggested hospitalization -- but the price was far more than I could afford, and I opted to continue with IV fluids and force feeding which is basically what they'd have been doing in the hospital. He did give me new antibiotics because the other ones made her gag and froth.

Then came the miracle.... just as we were deciding we might only have the weekend with her, Saturday morning she came upstairs and ASKED FOR FOOD. I put a couple tablespoons of canned food on a plate for her and she ate every last bite. Later, I noticed she'd eaten some of her dry food as well AND, after checking the litter box, found that all systems were "go".

By Saturday night she was starting to fight me giving her fluids -- she HATES being held in one place. Hates being held, period. And that gave me warm fuzzies as well because she was starting to act like herself again.

This morning, she's still eating (she ate three tablespoons of canned food this morning!), she's far less wobbly, and is back to being vocal, pushy and occasionally cranky.

I'm thrilled.

I'm not fooling myself -- she'll be 18 y.o. in January. I know her life is winding down. But we get to keep her a little longer... and that's a good thing.

So, thanks again to everyone. I can't tell you how much I appreciated you.

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In other news, school starts a week from today. I still don't have everything I need, but we're getting there. She'll have orientation on Monday afternoon, then Tuesday it all starts in earnest.

We did discover that there's a little boy coming in new this year with severe peanut allergies and they have "no nut/seed" areas designated, but for me it'll just be easier to not send DD to school with a PBJ or granola bars with nuts in them. Kind of makes things a little tougher, but I certainly wouldn't want to be the one who makes the poor kidlet sick.

We had a family gathering with in-laws and extended in-laws up at my DH's uncle's lake house yesterday (uncle will herewith be called "UB"). All kinds of people were there, including friends of UB. One of them, a lady named Cathy, came up and introduced herself and then said, "Oh, are you the writer?"

I'm pretty sure I stood there, mouth hanging open like a hungry guppy, before finally managing a "Um, yes."

She said, "I have your book! I can't wait to read it. UB read it and said it was wonderful."

You see -- here's the thing. I don't discuss my writing life with the in-laws. They are very, very, very, VERY conservative and while my writing isn't exactly erotica, it's still not something of which they would approve. UB is a little different -- the black sheep of the family, I suppose, so I have talked to him a bit and to his wife. But I was still taken aback.

Later, I put on my other hat (promotions company owner) and spent a great deal of time talking about promotion with UB's wife, who owns her own business. She's hired a promotions company to "brand" her and to get her set up on all the social networking sites, etc. We talked about marketing herself and so much more.

I really enjoyed them. I could talk for hours with UB, his wife and Cathy. They're well-traveled, very intelligent and interesting people.

How was your weekend?

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You Are Blueberry Yogurt

You are fast-paced and energetic. It seems like you have a limitless supply of enthusiasm. You are very mentally and physically healthy. You take care of yourself, and it shows. You are a very open person. You are both open to the world and open about who you are. You are energetic and even adventurous in the face of adversity. You have a lot of inner strength.

What Flavor Yogurt Are You?

Mostly right...

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