The Rest of the Story

My morning started at 7:24 a.m. when some nebulous sound woke me. I'm not one to stay in bed if I'm wide awake, so I rolled out. The sensation of little pain when I did it surprised and thrilled me. Compared to the last three weeks, my pain level felt like a 3. That's manageable if I'm careful. 

Yesterday I still could not accomplish much but felt I could go to my Monday night Shut Up & Write meeting at Panera. I'm glad I did. I wrote for an hour and got just over 1300 words. It feels wonderful to be writing again. I don't know if it's any good, but telling the story is so awesome. 

The meetings are relaxing and fun. We write the first hour, and the next hour we talk. We've had new folks join us at nearly every meeting. My experience is that writers are some of the nicest folks you can meet. I'm truly grateful to be able to join in.

Now I have a story to tell. Some of you may know that I adopted two kittens from the Humane Society several months ago. They're about 6 months old now, and I really enjoy their company now that Sarah and Chaz are gone.

Jet & Kiki both fell ill about 2 weeks after I got them and I spent a small fortune on vet bills. Kiki got well with the meds, but Jet had to go back a week later for a secondary illness and get more meds. All together it was over $300 for two strays. What can I say? I don't believe in letting an animal suffer.

They both recovered eventually and wreaked havoc on my life.

Kiki is sneaky and a curtain climber. She's getting better, but punishment has been pretty harsh. I've thrown pillows at her and dish towels. She's smaller and daintier than Jet and has a very sweet disposition. You don't pet her unless she wants to be petted, and she'll leave the room if you try.

Jet, alternatively, is quite the lover boy and typical male. The constant attention when he was very ill turned him into a demanding boy. He loves being petted and sleeping on your lap. When he plays, he plays hard, running, jumping, and tossing mylar balls for up to an hour. I'm usually a wreck by the time he's done because he insists that I play ball or he gets it hung under my chair or behind something he's not supposed to mess with.

In fact, he messes with anything he's not supposed to mess with, and that's pretty much every knick knack I own. Some are special as they came from all over the world. Oh, and anything dangling such as yarn or power cords is irresistible to him. He's everything I hate in a cat. But he's absolutely adorable when he's good. Well, let's face it, we all love to be loved. Jet loves me. His love is centered in gratitude, and so I tolerate the odious behaviors. He too gets pillows and towels and quite a few yells.

Jet is also an unrepentant thief. He steals everything; Chapstick, hair ties, phone styluses, and my eyeglass repair kit (which I found under the file cabinet ). Kiki watches with interest from a corner of the room. Sitting there like a tiny Sphinx, wondering if he'll use up a life this time or if he'll get away with it. He often gets away with it. He's even started getting on the counters, an absolute no-no, and Kiki watches. She's too small to make the leap yet.

This last two weeks, Jet has been sick again. He's had a terrible bout of diarrhea. I've wracked my brain trying to figure out the cause of it. There's been no new food, no trips out of the house, nothing that I can find that he could ingest. The mouse traps are out of reach. I keep the counters free of foodstuffs because of mice so there wasn't anything there. I also worried because I take some pretty toxic medicines and I'm always afraid I'll drop something they might eat and it would kill them. My search revealed nothing that could be the cause. I decided it was probably a virus and next Kiki would be sick. They insist on using the same litter box no matter I put two down.

But Kiki didn't get sick. In fact, she's fine. Jet, on the other hand, has diarrhea the consistency of soft serve ice cream after about 5 minutes and he's barely making it to the box. The hideously messy substance smells like an outhouse. I'm cleaning the box several times a day, including wiping down the sides with bleach wipes! It's so awful I keep the Lysol spray handy. I decided this week I should take him to the vet. I delayed because I was sick with a cold, in a lot of pain with the back and hips, and the expense of the $400 heating repair overruled me. 

This morning I was getting coffee ready when I notice a cup on the stove I keep my bacon drippings in. I keep it tightly covered with a heavy foil cover, and it has never been a problem. For several days now, I've found the top off. I figured I'd dislodged it moving things around, but I couldn't believe I'd leave it open all night. I don't have bugs or mice at the moment, but I've had issues in the past and I'm careful about leaving things open or out. No food and bleached counters keep them away.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared. I picked up the cup. I haven't cooked with bacon drippings in some time, and as I said, that lid is never off unless I take it off. I created it, and it's worked well for years. I make a new one regularly. It's been off at least 4 times this week ... that I can remember.

I studied the contents. I can't be sure. I turn and look at Jet. He must sense something because he looks back from a crouched position and then darts into the den. The effects of bacon grease on a cat's intestinal track can't be good. I mean, I don't think it will kill him or anything but ... it can't be good. In fact, I suspect it could cause diarrhea the consistency of soft serve ice cream setting out for 5 minutes. 

After a discussion about this I may have said something like, "Well, if you did that, you deserve what you got." I put the cup in the fridge until I can clear it out.

Now I'm going to have to go buy bacon and fry it up to get more drippings. Imagine the trouble that's going to be.

Light in the Tunnel

We've made it another day, but what a few weeks it's been. I've been more or less crippled by hip pain for more the last three weeks. I'm not sure why it suddenly flared up so much. I've been having problems in my lower back for months and didn't know what was triggering it but now I suspect it is actually my hips. I'm sure there are also some pinched nerves in my lower back, but that's been secondary this time around.

For two of three weekends I've needed a cane to walk when I got up in the mornings. I've missed going to the gym because I feared I'd make the problem worse, but to my surprise, working with the weight machines made it better. I stayed home the last 4 days. The pain was just too much.

Today, in the late afternoon, I realized it felt better. I've thrown everything at it: medicines, both topical and pills, heat pads, hot showers. Nothing seemed to help but the acetaminophen, which probably helped the inflammation. I'm not supposed to take it because of the risk to my liver. I can only say that taking it is the lesser evil. Today, I hope, is a turning point.

Since I felt better, I went to the writer's meeting and knocked out 1412 words. I've been attending the Shut Up & Write meeting on Monday nights for three weeks. It feels so good to write again. So far, I've written just over 3000 words at the meetings. I've avoided trying to write at home this last 3 weeks because I wasn't feeling well anyway and thought trying to make myself write would only lead to further stress and more blocks.

I've met several new people at the meetings, too. We use the last hour to chat and get acquainted. That's a bonus for me since I don't get to socialize much these days. 

I can't get too optimistic but it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel. If I can keep going, I might get something accomplished.

If you're a writer, looking to connect and write with other writers in person, I encourage you to look up Shut Up & Write to see if there is a group in your area. If you're in S. Indiana, look up our group.