Thursday, April 29, 2010

As the Grateful Dead Put It...

...Sometimes the light's all shining on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been..."Truckin'" by the Grateful Dead

    For the last two weeks, I've been on deadline, getting Swan and Iris out. When I wasn't crunching that out, oh, holy crap, was I in hell. You know, the slice reserved for other people, that you walk through with them, but doesn't happen to you.
     Orion had a lump beneath his ear. Vet honest: at his age, lymphoma a very real threat. Not a good candidate for chemo between being 13 and having a heart murmur. Through my tears, I sobbed that if it were the worst case scenario, no treatment, keep him comfortable, and reevaluate as needed.
    The biopsy was inconclusive because of the inflammation, but the cells didn't clump together as they do in the presence of dark forces.  His white cells were elevated, but all else seemed fine. He's on a course of antibiotics and some herbs to clean his lymph system out. I chose not to repeat the biopsy at the followup visit--he's been acting fine, eating, dragging me on two 45 minute walks a day. So I told her that I was satisfied that it was an infection, and that we would leave it go at that. There's been no change to the swellings. The herbs will just take time.
     For now, we choose to be in the moment, we choose to be at peace. We choose, too, potato chips. They're not just for breakfast anymore.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Choosing the Higher Path

   Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I'm up on Facebook. So far, as I also mentioned, I finally was able to see what friends from other forums look like (all of you are quite gorgeous) and I was able to get a peek at some of my classmates from high school.
    One's thick blond hair had vacated the premises. It makes his eyes look bigger, and adds to his distinguished look. Another woman, who'd been kind and gentle and with a voice to make angels dance looked fabulous. Other had been beaten up by time, or their attempts to beat back time blew back on them. The meat jerky look brought on by over tanning is just not very attractive, is it?
       But there was one photo that caught my eye. I don't know what happened in the thirty plus years since she transferred to another school due to a prolonged strike senior year. I don't know if it was because she had been camping when the picture was taken, but the picture brought a vengeful smile to my lips. She had not been very nice to me, and she had been the leader of the popular girls cliqued since days at their elementary school in the part of town populated by executives from manufacturing plants.
     For about thirty seconds, I thought about sending something to the effect that she always had looked like five miles of bad road and now she looked as if she'd been dragged down it face first. The thought of the b-word crossed my mind.
     And then I thought again. She was, and will always be, less than worth it.
     I allowed myself an extra hair fluff and snarky grin the next time I went past a mirror.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Ok, I Surrender

I'm up on FaceBook. Oh, I dragged my feet, oh I resisted. But it was futile.
And Godde help me, I'm having so much fun. I know what the charming people I chat with in forums look like. I've made some business connections. And just chatted with a friend in Arizona.
Maybe this technology thing isn't so bad after all.