In Kae’s recent post, she talked about having an incredibly busy week. Her husband pointed out “it’s all just regular life stuff.” And it IS! But why does all the life stuff have to happen at the same time? Couldn’t we spread things out a little more???
This week has been crazy for me. Work, school, concerts, a blogger meetup, Christmas prep… yes, it’s all life stuff, and mostly things I WANT to do. It’s just a lot, all at once.
On Wednesday I had an “elfing” day- my usual day off from work, and I spent it doing Christmas prep. I printed out some photos to go in Christmas cards (I only put a photo in cards for relatives who haven’t seen the kids all year), bought wrapping paper, went shopping with my son (he bought some Christmas presents). got a new strand of lights for the tree to replace a broken one (hmm, I wonder how that happened, FOXY???), got some packages ready to mail, and then at night we had my daughter’s winter concert. These are all things I love, but it took ALL DAY. Thank goodness Wednesday is $5 sushi day at Sprouts, because I definitely wasn’t cooking.
Then, there’s Charlotte. This situation is definitely adding to the stress. Yesterday morning I put her food down (she lives in our bedroom now) and then left to do all the usual morning things to get ready for school/work. Well- my husband left the bedroom door open, Foxy got in, and ate Charlotte’s food WHICH HAD HER THYROID MEDS IN IT.
I was freaking out. One dose of thyroid meds won’t hurt him… will it? WILL IT??? For the first time I thought… maybe this is too much for us.
Sadly, Charlotte is not improving. We stopped giving her the steroids because she hasn’t been eating for the last couple days and we thought maybe it was due to the steroids? (This is how, by the way, Foxy ate her food- she just let it sit there). The fact that she isn’t eating also means she hasn’t had her meds, because they go in her food. She’s drinking water though and using the litter box.
I’m still not ready for the end yet. She still purrs when I pet her, and I’ve started taking her for little walks outside at night (obviously with me carrying her). She seems to enjoy it!
I haven’t entirely given up. This morning she ate a couple bites. She’s not in any pain- if she were, it would be a different story. My son is home, so he can check on her while I’m at work. So… we’re hanging in there. As my daughter said, “Charlotte is a fighter.”
In less depressing news (let’s end on a high note, for God’s sake) tomorrow is our State Championship football game. The band will travel to the game, as they did last year. Unfortunately I’ll have to miss it because of work, but I’ll follow along as best I can. Everyone is excited about it! GO BULLS!
Do you feel like you have a lot of life stuff right now?
Top photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash
17 Responses
I’m going to eagerly monitor these comments and see if anyone, on December 11, answers your question there with, “no, not too much going on right now!” hahaha! 😉 YES I feel like I have a lot of life stuff right now! It’s frustrating, honestly, and it’s the same thing every year. I want to enjoy the holidays but I find it hard to fully enjoy the season when I also feel pulled in a million directions. I actually always feel like if I could just not WORK in December, that’d make all the difference. ha. Back when I worked in the hospital and worked 12 hour shifts, I had way more days off than I do now. I soooo miss being able to go out shopping, do wrapping, bake, etc on a weekday! (I mean, there were definitely other negatives to that 12 hour hospital schedule, don’t get me wrong! But I do miss that one particular aspect.) What I really need to do is save a couple vacation days for December to take some “elf days”, as you say… but I tend to use them up on trips or other things, so this isn’t really possible for me usually!
I don’t have much going on- shppng for holidays is next weeks problem. And today I got to play with cats at the animal shelter! End of semester means I have free time. And I’m in denial/ignoring some life issues. Which really frees up some parts of the day! .
You give Charlotte such good care! Glad she enjoys her “walk” with you.
Life stuff. It’s all the stuff that makes living worth it, right? And yet it does seem to have a habit of all piling on top of one another, the good and the bad. I love that you are taking Charlotte for walks outside. What a nice way to spend time together. She sure is lucky to be your cat, Jenny. ❤️
Oh Jenny. This is so much, my friend. Good things, hard things, life things. Just SO. MANY. THINGS.
I’m so glad Paul is home as I feel like he’s a wonderful anchoring presence, but I also hope you get some relief from all the competing demands and that Charlotte starts to show marked signs of recovery.
Sending hugs <3
I still need to order a few more gifts and then I will have to wrap them all when I get to my parents’ house next weekend — I’m having them all shipped there so I don’t have to haul them up with me and I know they’re all in one place. And I have 6 more work days to get through, and I have to pack for two weeks away. So not really a lot, but kinda?
That’s so sweet that you’re taking Charlotte for “walks” to see the lights! My dog is almost 12 and she has had arthritis for a few years which has slowed her down but she still loves to go on her daily walk, which is mostly sniffing haha, but I know someday it’ll be hard for her to walk. We’re planning to get a wagon to carry her in so she can still go outside and sniff everything, but hopefully that won’t be for a long time!
Your Wednesday sounded like a full-time job on its own! That’s a marathon, not a day off.
And poor Charlotte. I’m glad she’s still purring and taking little night walks with you. That says a lot.
Hang in there, Jenny! You’re juggling a lot, and you’re doing it better than you think.
Oh Jenny, my heart goes out to you with the Charlotte situation. We had a similar thing with Barkley, in that I was always assessing if it was the end or not. In the end, he made it easy and I knew immediately. My vet told me “if he’s still excited to get treats and go for a walk, he’s okay.” Anyway, I can’t think of this anymore because it was such a sad time, so I’m going to pivot to…
A day of elfing! I love that term.
Jenny, I can tell you from experience that having a sick pet automatically tips the balance from “busy” to TOO MUCH. I know the phase that you’re in right now where every bite of food that goes into her mouth is cause for celebration. Enjoy every bite, every purr, and every stroll outside. The status is still “not today” and that’s all that matters. I’m sending you all hugs. Team Charlotte!
Definitely a lot of life stuff going on! And work. And more. But all is well.
It’s heart-breaking about Charlotte. She has a lovely family around her! If she still seems to be happy then that’s good. How lovely of you to carry her out for walks!
I have horrific memories of Ester’s last days and she was so purely MISERABLE. We definitely made the right decision to let her go to cat heaven but I still cry when I think about it. That was the worst summer of my life.
Hugs to all of you, including Charlotte.
Gah this is really hard. As someone who has been on steroids A LOT I can say that they make you extra hungry, so the steroids aren’t making her lack of hunger worse… I wish they were an appetite suppressant, then I would hate being on them a little bit less. The walk around the neighborhood with her sounds so wonderful. LIsten to your heart – you’ll know when it’s the right time to say goodbye. 🙁
This month has been so extra for me. Last week was almost all fun things (holiday party, dinner w/ a sales manager I love, book club dinner, double date, volunteering at the kids’ book fair, celebrating Taco’s party, hosting his party!) – but it was TOO MUCH for one week. And Phil was pretty snippy w/ me about how much I was gone, plus he’s stressed because an important person has been out on leave at his company for 3 months and he’s picking up a lot of slack. And then there’s my PTSD that makes me so very fragile and I’m not sleeping well. I could go on and on. I am not a fun hang, is what I’m saying.
Oh no. Poor sweet Charlotte. I think I either didn’t comment on the post when you mentioned this or I forgot about it by the time I sat down to comment. I feel for you. It must be so hard. I do love that she’s getting to take a tour of the neighborhood. You’re such a loving pet mama. Thinking of you.
I have to say that having cleaned the house for the party on Wednesday and getting a start on Christmas gifts (that same day while Coach was off – I told the woman checking me out when I was buying clothes that I swore I wouldn’t buy this year for Mini and Curly) has made me feel a little calmer – esp the house. What a gift to have my study clear of clutter. I told the kids I was gonna sleep in here, because it looks so ordered. Life with two traumatized girls who need constant connection and validation and correction ( not in that order) and vigilance to keep them safe – welp, that equates to life is always full of ‘other’. I say this as I just got off of a zoom with our fam therapist about the latest (repeated AGAIN) issues with Kay. It’s exhausting. Oh, having my poem done early (but taking extra long at the printer, gah) has also freed up my burdened feel at this hectic time.
I hope the game goes well – so exciting!
Oh Charlotte…this twilight period of her life, near the end but not there yet. It’s so hard. I’m glad you are taking her for little walks, and that she is comfortable and purring. I’ve done this dance. With Mulder it was was pretty obvious, but with our last dog Genevieve, it was much less clear and we really struggled. I’m glad Charlotte has such a loving home. Take good care of yourselves. <3
I’m so sorry to hear about Charlotte’s decline. It is so hard. It’s nice that your son can be with her. (((Hugs)))
I love the idea of an Elf day. It puts a fun perspective on hectic holiday errands.
Oh Jenny, you do have a lot on your plate right now and worrying about Charlotte just adds to your stress levels. I hope you’re doing okay – I missed you linking up today and hope you’re okay.
My heart aches reading about Charlotte, i cannot imagine that happening to our cats, which one day they will.
I will be that person in the comments who says I don’t have a lot going on, but I’m also single and I don’t have children so my holiday season is a lot more low-key than most! It can still get stressful, but thanks to my anxiety that likes to remind me “one day everyone will be dead and Christmas will be miserable,” I try to ENJOY the craziness and traditions.
Charlotte <3 <3 <3 You gave her the best final few days. That's something I take such comfort in after Dutch died.
I feel you – this is such a busy time of year (and I don’t have half the stuff going on as people with kids and I know it!)
I am sorry to hear that Charlotte is not improving… but as long as she’s not in pain, you can see how it goes.