My Day Off

Today was the day I always dread each year...the day my two remaining Shih Tzus get their annual check-up.  As it is, their groomer now works at their vet's office, so we got it all in one day.

I have to tell you, I'm a real coward when it comes to watching them being examined much less get injections.  So now they get groomed and get their shots afterward.  Then the office staff call me to tell me the dogs are ready to go home.

I sat home and fretted this morning waiting to hear.  At last the call came in the early afternoon.  I was informed they are both just fine.  Whew.  Big load off my shoulders...they will celebrate their fourteenth birthdays next month.  Plus, we already lost their brother Sparky two years ago to cancer.  He and I took lots of trips to the vet together in the course of his illness.  That is the reason I'm so skittish about the vet these days.

Other than allergies, understandable due to the amount of pine pollen in our backyard, they got a perfect report.  They'll be taking their prescribed pills to deal with the coughing.  Ming gets 1/2 a pill twice a day.  Miss Myrna gets 1/4 a pill twice a day.  Glad I had the foresight a few years ago to invest in a pill cutter.

Today my brother and my niece took Dad out to lunch and drove him around so I could have the day off. I really appreciated it.

I haven't done too much but putter around the place waiting for the vet's call. But it was a nice respite for me.
I didn't even work on my third novel or work-in-progress.  My second book, Swept Away (Mimi's Story) is at the publisher being read for editing.  So I started the third one, His Wicked Lady (William's Story.)  That one has a component about life upon the "wicked stage..." I've already passed 13,500 words on the way to at least 90,000. Given my sometimes hectic days, I'm amazed I've gotten as far as I have.  Oh well, I enjoy the down time when I can zone out and into my story.

Recently I've been very homesick and nostalgic about Texas.  So during such times, I think about where I will move when it's time to return.  I was thinking about going back to Dallas, where I grew up, or Austin where I spent twenty years of my adult life, or some smaller town in between...

I saw an episode of American Canvas on the Ovation Network last week.  It took place in Austin.  That settled it.  I'm going back home to Austin when I leave Florida. I'll be back hooking horns for UT, dining at Threadgills, watching the bats fly out from under the Congress Street Bridge, and enjoying the prosperous live theater community...sigh. I've got friends in the area and hope to get reacquainted.

I've missed one couple especially.  Bill and Pat Farnsworth, a couple of lovely folks with whom I worked there.  As I sit here listening to my new acquisition, a cd of the Best of Peter, Paul, and Mary, I think of the Farnsworths.  PP&M gave a live concert at UT one of the first years I lived in the area.  Bill got us tickets for my birthday.  As a surprise, they were dead center on the second row from the stage.  We all had the best time enjoying their wonderful music and singing along...When it was over everybody rushed the stage to speak to them.  We women were hemmed in on both sides and couldn't make it out.  But lanky Bill, with his long legs just stepped over the front row seats and had a great animated conversation with them.  I can see him now.

Bill, if by some chance you find this, I just listened to Stewball and sang along as I typed...Ahhh memories.
Guess it's no surprise that an old hippie would want to go back to one of the friendliest cities in America for us.

I grew up in Texas and it is forever imprinted on my heart and brain.  I will stick to my guns that my blog will not criticize or be negative or be a forum for politics.

However I do want to say one thing...Ted Cruz is NOT a native Texan, nor is he indicative of most people there.  You can make your own conclusion to that one...

Take care, especially you caregivers out there.  Take a bit of time for YOU, take a walk in the spring sunshine (if your snow has melted), have a good meal with friends, listen to your favorite music, or watch your favorite movie or TV show...In April, both Game of Thrones and Outlander return for new seasons.
I can't wait for them...Right now I'm enjoying the second season of the British version of Broadchurch.

There's a wealth of pop culture out there for us to enjoy, no matter where we live.

Until next time...Ming and Miss Myrna Loy say hello...this is the first picture I had of them.  They were about six weeks old. Ming is the one on the right looking like the Alpha he is.  Miss Myrna Loy is in the center looking like the scamp she is.  My late beloved sweetheart Mighty Manfred the Wonder dog (aka Sparky) is on the left.

Here's to the Caregivers

It's been a hell of a few months, lots of emotional downturns and updrafts over which I have no control.  It's like being in a super cell storm in Texas in April.  You get slammed up and you get slammed down. And nobody gives you any ruby slippers...

Stress eats at your sleep, robs you of your appetite, makes you wish you could take a drink now and then. (And I don't mean chocolate milk.)

Is it any wonder I bury my head in movies at night? Or write fiction to escape into a different world? Listen to hard rock from an earlier age, singing along at times, as I beat my fists into the air to the throbbing drums?

I don't mean to ask for pity, don't want it.  I came into this "job" with my eyes open, knowing full well what to expect.  After all, the first half of my professional career prepared me for what I do now.

I have to tell you, some days, prepared or not, are absolute hell.  You cry and fret, worry how you will deal with all the problems. And you have to face it, some problems you cannot solve. You can't bring your loved one back to the person he/she used to be.  That person is gone with infrequent glimpses of the past self shown to you.

Bottom line? You wake up every morning wondering what new pain you will have today, what new problem will pop up which you know you won't be able to fix. You take a deep breath and do the routine things that make your world seem normal before the emotional hit comes.  You hold on to the mundane like a lifeboat hastily leaving the sinking Lusitania...the only thing protecting you from the frigid water. (Sorry I'm currently reading a new book about that disaster.)

So what I would like to suggest to you out there who know folks who are caregivers - Make them laugh. Give them bits of normalcy, remind them they're decent people.

Believe me, they need it.  Your small act of kindness will give them something to hold in their hand when the night is long, something to help them through the endless darkness in which there is little evidence of light.

You'd be surprised how little it takes some days to be the one light in the darkness which surrounds them.

I've taken a strong liking to the Marvel movies, personally...I watch Captain America and Thor, my favorite Marvel heroes, almost any time I can...beefcake does help a girl, even an old one like me...

Til next time.