A VERY Unexpected Christmas Eve Surprise

Christmas Eve dinner is traditionally held at my mother-in-law's house,

and this year was no different in that respect.

What was about to happen after dinner, however, we had no clue.

It was definitely very non-traditional!

It began pretty sedately.  We took some family photos while we were waiting 

for dinner to be ready.

After dinner was over,  my mother-in-law disappeared.

Minutes later, an elf emerged from the bedroom,

and she looked very familiar!

You see,  she had recently performed as part of the "Dancing Elves" troupe 

in New York City with her 3 sisters and brother-in-law.  

You might have seen them in Times Square,

entertaining on the streets,

 in the subway stations,

and even on the rink in Rockefeller Center.

I think her moments of fame and fortune must have gone to her head,

or maybe she just wanted to go solo.

We were treated to a dance show by an 85 year old elf!

After the show,  she posed for pictures with her fans.

Vance's cousin, Janis, had made the "elf" video a few weeks before Christmas

and emailed the link to everyone in the family.

While it was all very funny at the time, 

I just discovered something even funnier.

My husband was just looking over my shoulder to see what I was writing about,

and I scrolled through to allow him to read this post.

He was confused when he saw the photos of the video.

HE HAD NEVER SEEN THE EMAIL

and

HAD NEVER SEEN THE VIDEO.

When his mother had appeared in the elf costume on Christmas Eve,

he had no idea why.

He said, "I just thought she was losing her noodle!"

LOL!!!!!

I Met a Handsome Man Today

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. 

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. 

~Khalil Gibran

As I headed out into the cold, damp morning for a run,  I just wanted

to hurry up and get it over with.   I usually like to run in the sunshine

or at the end of the day when I can take in the beauty of the sunset.

But there was no hope for sun today.  I just wanted to finish and

go home for a hot shower.

As I rounded a corner,  I saw an animal crossing the street up ahead.

I couldn't tell at first if it was a large cat or a small dog, but as I neared

it became clearer.  Definitely a cat.

It walked up a driveway and sat next to a tree.  Something about the

way it looked at me told me it was friendly.  So I stopped running and

bent down.  I softly called to him and almost immediately he began

walking toward me, unafraid.

Meowing and purring, he began rubbing against my knee, thoroughly 

enjoying the attention.  He was remarkably handsome and sweet!

At one point, as I was fiddling with my iPhone to take a picture,  he

seemed to get impatient because I had stopped petting him and he 

hopped on my back and put his paws on my head!  But I wasn't 

camera-ready yet!

After a few minutes,  I said goodbye and started walking away.  

He meowed and started following me!

I couldn't resist another snuggle and this time I picked him up.

I'm sure he is a well-loved member of some lucky family!

When we finally parted ways and I continued on my run,  

I felt much lighter on my feet and in my heart.  

Even without the sun, 

 the day seemed much brighter.

I'm Radioactive, Radioactive...

Our oldest pet, 13 year Momo, has had quite a month! 

It all began in early October when she went to the vet for her annual checkup. We had noticed lately that we could easily feel her spine and collarbone when we petted her, but she was eating well and didn't act or look sick. So when she weighed in at only 9 lbs (she was 12.5 lbs 3 years ago), our vet, Dr. Prichard at Ellington Center Animal Clinic, told me he suspected she had feline hyperthyroidism.

A blood test confirmed his suspicions and we were given two options for treatment:

     1)  We could treat her with oral medication.  It would not cure her disease 

          and would need to be given daily for the rest of her life.  The medication has

          a high risk of side-effects, including harm to other bodily organs. The cost of

          medication and blood tests to monitor her condition could cost $800 per year. 

     2)  Treat her with Radioactive Iodine.  This is a one-time treatment which is a cure.

          The cost of treatment is $1500.  There are no side-effects.

After researching the disease and treatment methods,  it was clear that the only treatment that made sense was the Radioactive Iodine.  While it was more expensive up front, it would be cheaper in the long run.  More importantly, it was a cure with no side effects. 

On November 1,  I drove Momo to Pieper Memorial Veterinary Center in Middletown, CT which has a Radiocat facility on its premises.

Momo joined 4 other cats who would also be receiving a Radioactive Iodine injection that day.  They would all be staying in a room in the basement of the clinic for four days until the level of radiation in their bodies reached an acceptable level.  Radiation is expelled through eating and drinking, peeing and pooping.

It was hard to leave Momo for so long.  She was very scared.

I brought along her favorite food and cans of Bumble Bee tuna!

This would be her caretaker during her stay.  He was a very nice man

who has 9 cats of his own, and promised to call me every day to let

me know how Momo was doing.

The Radioactive Iodine is absorbed quickly into the cat's bloodstream and the diseased thyroid tissue. Once in the thyroid, it destroys the overactive portions of the thyroid gland.

No anesthesia is required.  It does not destroy healthy tissue.  It does not damage other

tissues or organs.  Thyroid function returns to normal within one month.

When I picked up Momo 4 days later,  she was still somewhat radioactive.

I was given instructions on how to safely care for her over the next 2 weeks 

as she continued to emit radiation.

                 1).  People could only be within 3 feet of her for 20 minutes/day.

                      She could not sleep with us on the bed.  We needed to wash

                      our hands after touching her or any of her bodily fluids.

                 2)  She was supposed to be kept inside and we were instructed 

                      use flushable cat litter for two weeks.  

This seems pretty simple in theory, but not so simple in reality.

Momo's main mission in life is to sit on my lap and get petted.  I couldn't sit on the couch and watch TV at night since she would see it as an invitation to snuggle.  I needed to watch TV from a stool in the kitchen!

Perhaps more troublesome was the change in cat litter.  She boycotted using the litter box because of the strange litter.  After ruining 2 dog beds to radioactive cat urine,

we let her outside to go to the bathroom.  We weren't supposed to do this, but had no choice.

It has been one month since her treatment.  At a follow-up vet visit today,  Momo is now back to a healthy weight.  She has gained 1.1 lbs!

And the nodule on her thyroid is gone.

Here are some pictures of this beautiful girl from this past month:

 Momo waits patiently for some turkey on Thanksgiving.

 Here she is cleaning up after eating her breakfast.

 She spends much of her day on her blanket on the couch.

 Momo enjoys looking out the window.

 When she's cold, she sleeps next to the baseboard heater.

 In the evening,  she snuggles with me on the couch.

If left untreated,  hyperthyroidism would most likely have taken Momo's life with 6 months to a year.  We feel very fortunate to have a healthy, happy cat after a pretty simple treatment.

We hope to have many more years with Momo!

This Is NOT About Knitting

I recently finished knitting this beautiful afghan for my family room.

The front side of the afghan has nice clean lines between the colors:

The backside shows where the yarn changed color,  and doesn't look quite so clean:

There is one problem.  

When I was 3/4 done, I changed the yarn at the wrong time 

and this happened on the front of the afghan:

I noticed this after I had knitted another 48 rows of 120 stitches (5760 stitches).  

At that time I had a decision to make. 

Rip out the 5760 stitches and make it right, or live with it. 

In my younger days, I wouldn't have even taken the time to think about it.  

I would have made it perfect, no matter how long it took me to do it.

At 57, I've faced my imperfections many times.  

I no longer dwell on them.  

There are no internal beatings.  

I've made plenty of mistakes over the years 

and learned that most of the time they aren't a big deal.

But I've also learned from them.

I haven't been the perfect mother.

 I remember very well the time I clipped 4 week old Kerry's fingernails and drew blood! 

Every fall, when I eat my first freshly picked apple, I have flashbacks to the day I totally lost it and screamed at 4 year old Adam for not trying to eat an apple with the skin on.  

I must have been having a bad day.

I'll never forget the day I got a $250 speeding ticket on my way home from Walmart because I was trying to make it home in time to get my kindergartener off the school bus.  I had lost track of time when I was shopping. My heart raced as I pictured little Annie having to ride the bus back to the terminal because her mother was missing.  The officer had no sympathy for my explanation for my tears.  But luckily the bus was a little late and I made it back in time!

I've been far from perfect in other aspects of my life too!

My garden looks great in the spring, but with the heat of late July and August my enthusiasm wanes and it gets overrun with weeds.

I sometimes resent my dogs for the amount of care they need and feel guilty about it.

I feel like I SHOULD feel guilty that my husband has to go to work every day and I am a stay-at-home mom with an empty nest, but I DON'T. 

I hang up on sales calls rather than taking the time to politely turn them down.

One time I told my neighbor I would take her dog out to go to the bathroom when she was away overnight and I FORGOT! (This was during the menopausal years!). I felt so bad when I remembered the next morning and confessed. From that point on, I always set reminders on my phone.

When Annie was in high school and called for a ride home after track practice, she almost always kept me waiting for 5 or 10 minutes. In spite, one day when she called for a ride I finished a tv show I was watching before I picked her up - and made her wait for ME.

I have cheated at cards. It really bothers me when my husband has a long winning streak playing Rummy. One day, Annie and I spent over an hour devising a system of hand signals and gestures so we could feed each other the cards we needed to beat him.  I'd like to say I have regrets, but I don't.

A few years ago I knitted an afghan for my daughter.  During the project, I MIGHT have decreased a few too many times in an attempt to make it a bit narrower.  I thought it wouldn't be noticeable. When I finished it was almost triangular. When I gave it to her, I told her it was a combination shawl + afghan and we call it a "shafghan".

Last year, when I was cutting a mat of fur off my cat's neck I accidentally chopped her whiskers off on one side too.

I've said things jokingly to people I don't know very well and stayed up all night, unable to sleep, because I realized they might have thought I was serious.

I once got sucked into a fake "phishing" email from our bank that resulted in my husband's identity being stolen along with access to our online banking. We had to cancel all accounts and credit cards and still have a credit freeze to prevent further trouble.  Boy, did I feel stupid!

I'll never forget the time I mistook nail polish remover for eye makeup remover.  I thought I was going to lose the sight in that eye!

My memory is lacking.  I rarely remember someone's name, even a minute after I was introduced.

I swear my neighbor remembers more about my children than I do sometimes!

I forget to pick up the dry cleaning.  I forget where my husband is on business trips.

I forget a ton of things!

I hold myself back from participating in things because I am afraid of failing.

I lack certain social skills that make it difficult for me in large social situations.

I am not always aware of slang terms, especially referring to drugs of any kind.  My kids will never let me forget the time we were watching Friends and a character said "I smoked a doobie", and I didn't know what it meant. To make matters worse, when I took a guess and said "He farted?", they almost peed their pants from laughing so hard. :)

I could list so many more.

You can strive for excellence, but you will never be perfect.

When I look at the afghan on the sofa,  I don't always see my mistake.

I don't see it, but I know it's there. 

The best thing is:

I don't care.