Just fired up my second little pot of coffee. I have a lot of blogging that I want to do! First I need to sweep out the cobwebs of my brain, and that means it is coffee pot post time. Lots of stuff happened this past week. I’ll address Journalfest in a different post.
I missed my connection on the way back from Seattle and had to spend the night in Atlanta Sunday night. The plane in Seattle rolled out of the gate on time, but turned back “for a passenger,” according to the pilot. I heard later in the shuttle bus full of Delta passengers on the way to the Days Inn that it may have been that there were two dogs on the plane without an owner present. Now that I can understand turning back for, but how the hell did that happen?
And boy, lemme tell ya, it was a squeaker. I had ten minutes before my plane took off, and it was on the other side of the airport. In the hope that it might be delayed too, I ran like a maniac through the airport, up escalators, down escalators, huffing and puffing and nearly having a heart attack by the time I got there. The plane was still outside the gate so I asked the agent at the next gate to call them to see if I could board. The plane was full because they gave my seat away. I burst into tears, mainly because I was so tired. It reminded me of that Joan Cusack scene in the movie Broadcast News except hers were hysterical relief tears.
So Delta gave me $12 for food and a room in the Days Inn for the night. I ended up with a day missed at work and when I finally got my luggage delivered to my house my favorite suitcase was twisted. Most of the stuff inside was okay, but I wasn’t very happy with Delta, needless to say. I mean, it was just luck that I made my connection on the way out to Seattle but at least that was due to weather.
I didn’t sleep in Atlanta, and I had trouble sleeping all week – just anxiety, I guess. I finally got rested up this weekend.
My thoughts were mainly consumed with the inspiration I am still carrying from Journalfest, the election, getting ready for the Indie Market, and Miss Jazz’s health. The Indie Market was cold, and I didn’t sell anything. But I enjoyed being a part of it anyway. I am buying Mandie’s pop-up tent for future shows.
Miss Jazz started limping about 2-3 weeks ago. She is 16 1/2 years old and has always been grouchy and uncoordinated, and she all but asks for the other cats to torture her by growling and slapping them when they are just minding their own business. Calico cats are notoriously grumpy. Still, we feel sorry for her. She would have been much happier as the only fur-child, and she and Sandy adore each other. He was the one who adopted her – she was found trotting down High Point Road (a very busy 4+ lane street in Greensboro) when she was small enough to fit in his shirt pocket, and has always been the spunkiest and smartest cat we ever had.
Anyway, by Thursday, I knew that it wasn’t something that she would get over on her own, so she went to the vet yesterday morning. Two hours and $275 later, we found out that her neck is terribly out of whack, she has a heart murmur and likely hyperthyroidism, a broken tooth, and probably a ligament injury in her back leg. So we have to weigh the options and carefully plan her treatment and care. There will be much more money spent just to be able to make that decision. They don’t want to do x-rays without anesthesia, and the anesthesia will be dangerous with the heart problem. However, if we treat her thyroid, that will be easy and her heart murmur will likely clear up. In the meantime, she is in awful pain and we are giving her opiates and heart meds this weekend. Monday she’ll spend the day at the vet, hopefully having an EKG/ultrasound if they can get the radiologist there, and having x-rays under light sedation, and her blood work results should be in about her kidneys.
I know what you’re thinking. She’s old, she’s had a good life, maybe the scales have tipped in favor of letting her go. This is Sandy’s ultimate decision to make. Right now, she still gets enjoyment out of life. She eats well, can use the litterbox when she chooses to, and can get up on the beds and the furniture. We will probably shut her into the computer room with her own litterbox and food when we are not here so that she can be guaranteed peace from the other cats.
But still, Miss Jazz may not have many more days left in this life. I hope that her next life will be just as lucky. We will miss her.
Yesterday afternoon Sandy and I took good naps then went down to a Local Arts Festival on State St. I got to see Chandra (an artist I met through our passion for mixed media and the Art & Soul retreat) and I had a tarot card reading.
I am fascinated with the Tarot. I don’t really believe that there is anything paranormal about it, but I do believe that it is an excellent tool for helping you sort out your thoughts and maybe seeing sides of issues that you wouldn’t have noticed before. However, I can’t help but find it very, very odd that The Hermit shows up in nearly every card spread I have had. This time it was the first card. It combined with a lot of very positive cards, like The Fool, The Sun, The Queen of Wands, and the Chariot. Basically, the interpreter said that I have a great opportunity coming, and that The Fool card means that I should take a leap of faith. Whatever I choose, I will either land on my feet or I will fly.
And on that note, I will end this coffee pot post and go change my clocks!
slowly she turned 