Weekend (Cat) Update
Okay! Charlotte has been to the vet. She has: Hyperthyroidism Arthritis in both hips Conjunctivitis in one eye To be honest, I had noticed she wasn’t moving well and that one of her eyes was watery. I thought those things (along with the weight loss) were related and they were going to tell me she had cancer or something fatal. But! All these things are treatable. I mean, hopefully. Possibly. Let’s start with the arthritis- all she needs is fish oil for now, and she likes taking it so that’s not an issue. For the pinkeye (seriously? how did all this happen at the same time???) I have to give her eye drops three times a day. That’s really fun. Now. For the thyroid, she has to take two pills a day. At first I was dreading this, but it turns out if I mix it with a Churu treat, she gobbles it right down. The tricky part is- she HAS to eat the pill, and the other cats CANNOT eat it. So I have to supervise closely. If this works, I guess it will be for the rest of her life. I have to take her back in four weeks so they can re-test her thyroid and kidney function though, because they said sometimes when you treat hyperthyroidism, it can cause kidney failure. So fingers crossed. Yes, as you can imagine this was an expensive vet visit, but I’m SO RELIEVED we now have a treatment plan. And we’re submitting the bill to our pet insurance, so we’ll see what they do with it. (Side note- you might remember that when we got Charlotte nine years ago, my daughter REALLY wanted to name her “Beyonce.” LUCKILY we were able to talk her out of it. I always think of that when we’re at the vet and they come out to the waiting room to call us in- I can just imagine “We’re ready for Beyonce!” Cringe.) In other news, all week long I was looking forward to relaxing on the couch after my long run on Saturday evening to watch football. Guess what my husband decided to do? PAINT THE LIVING ROOM. Paint. The living room. SCREEEEAM!!! This was a real lack of communication between us. I didn’t tell him I really wanted to relax on Saturday night and he didn’t tell me he wanted to paint the living room, so… this is what happens. We had a tense moment when I snapped something like “Well I certainly hope you don’t think I’m going to help!” but then we settled down. He painted the wall behind me while I watched some football. There were things piled all around me on the couch, and the furniture was all covered in plastic, so it wasn’t exactly the cozy vibe I was hoping for. Sigh. On Sunday, I couldn’t really clean the living room or dining room because, ahem, they were still being painted. So I cleaned my son’s room (he’ll be home Tuesday!) and cleaned out the fridge- two important Thanksgiving prep activities. And I went shopping! Here’s my cart with SOME of the things we’ll need for Thanksgiving, and a charcuterie board on Wednesday. (I’ll do another round of shopping on Tuesday.) Guess who has the entire week off? My husband! (Sooooo… he could have painted on Monday and Tuesday while I was at work…?) And, my daughter. That means I can sleep a little later, hooray! Would you like it if you had a cat named Beyonce? Would you be mad if your husband decided to paint the living room without telling you? – I mean… I guess you can look at it as a “blessing.” The walls will look really nice! (Btw he kept the same color- it just needed a refresh).
Weekly Rundown- Nighttime Running
Hellooo! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah (thanks, ladies!) A big shoutout to San for hosting NaBloPoMo again this year (30 blog posts for 30 days of November). This week I had a lot of extra things going on, and as a result I shifted my workouts around. It worked out great- I should change things up more often! Here’s how it all went down. Monday 4 mile run to start the week! Later in the day I did Adriene’s yoga for lower back pain. Tuesday In the morning I did the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout (which is really catching on around the blogosphere, and causing people to think of me every time they see a bug) and an upper body strength workout. My original plan was to run on Wednesday morning, but we had a crazy early start for that day, so I got out for a 4 mile run late in the afternoon today instead. Wednesday My daughter had rehearsal for an all-county jazz band. Somehow, “all-county” always means the host school is as far away from us as it could possibly be. We had to go to Jupiter, which is an hour away WITH NO TRAFFIC, so yeah. Grr. Since I don’t work on Wednesdays, I was the driver! I drove a car load of people up to the rehearsal, spent the day up there (don’t worry, I had fun) and then drove back later in the day, conveniently hitting rush hour traffic both ways. Before I left in the morning I did Carline Girvan’s 4×4 abs workout. (Glad I got that run in the day before!) And in the evening I did Adriene’s low back pain yoga again. Thursday I started the day with the CG deadbug workout, then went to the gym for leg day. Once again, I decided to do Future Jenny a favor. I knew we would have a late night, so I got out for a run in the afternoon… … and then we drove up to Jupiter again for the jazz concert! It was fun and yes, a very late night. Friday Wow. I’m glad I did that run yesterday! I was able to sleep in a little and I really needed it. I did my hip stability exercises in the morning, and in the afternoon I meant to do yoga… but I took a nap instead. Heh heh. At night we had a football playoff game- we won, which means we have the next game on Black Friday. Saturday Another big day. I worked in the morning, then took our cat to the vet (update on that coming soon) and THEN… my runs later in the day have been going so well… why not get my long run done? I decided to do the first part on the trail, figuring I could get off the trail before it got too dark and finish on the road. The sun was getting pretty low and then I saw this: I originally thought it was some kind of feline- like a bobcat? I froze in place, but got out my phone to take a photo (as one does). He/she looked around and then ran back into the grass. I turned around and HIGHTAILED IT OUT OF THERE. I was cursing my stupidity for being out on the trail at dusk. We’re right on the edge of the Everglades, and the animals are out there, even if I don’t usually see them. I finished the bulk of this run on the roads with my headlamp, and in the words of Taylor Swift, it was “miserable and magical.” My low back was aching and I wanted to be home- but there was also something cool about running in the dark like that. Sunday On tap for today- sleeping in, OBVIOUSLY. Cleaning my wreck of a house. Shopping because oh yeah… it’s almost Thanksgiving!!! Yoga. Every week I vow to do yoga every day and every week I fail. You never know… this could be the week. How was your week? Do you like running at night? How is your Thanksgiving prep going?- I just have to start.
5 Things About This Weekend
We kicked off the weekend (see what I did there) with a football playoff game! Our team won 48-7, and now we wait to see… we will have a game on Black Friday, but we don’t know yet if it will be at home or away. I take Charlotte to the vet this afternoon. Send all prayers and encouraging thoughts my way! I’m dreading getting her into the carrier, and worried about what the vet is going to tell us. I’m doing a long run! Originally scheduled for Sunday morning, but I’m going to do it in the late afternoon/evening tonight instead. That way I can sleep in and relax tomorrow. …but then I have to CLEAN THE HOUSE. Boy, it doesn’t take long for the house to fall apart. I feel like we were barely home this week (so who made all the messes? The cats???) We really need to get it together. And, grocery shopping! It’s come to my attention that Thanksgiving is THURSDAY. I haven’t even made a grocery list yet, egads. Last year we had this: Along with mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, salad, pie…you know, the usual! What are you up to this weekend? Top photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
5 For Friday
Oof. It has been a week! Hooray for Friday, and hooray to San for suggesting a “5 Things” theme for NaBloPoMo, I picked up my library holds! This podcast on “gifting better.” On the latest episode of The Girl Next Door podcast, Kelsey and Erica talk about why gift giving seems so much harder nowadays, and give suggestions for doing it better. As always, it’s a fun episode. And this gift guide! Why are gift guides SO FUN! On the Happier podcast, Gretchen and Elizabeth have lots of gift ideas. I actually got two ideas from their list for things I want to give. But I haven’t forgotten about Thanksgiving… Julie shared a recipe for “Fall Bliss Salad” and I think we will make it for Thanksgiving dinner! And, a concert. Last night my daughter played in an all-county jazz band concert. Her main instruments are flute and piccolo, but she plays guitar in jazz band. The kids all played great. Super fun night! Happy Friday! Do you consider yourself a “good” gift giver? Do you like buying gifts or does it stress you out? Top photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash