You know how sometimes things just really suck? Right? Well, I caught the H1N1 virus about a week and a half before this Xmas. Wasn't done with shopping, no goodies made, no cleaning done, no decorating accomplished-you get the drift. So I laid down for about a week. Towards the end of that week I would get just enough energy to clean one window, put up two wreaths, put out a few Santa's, etc. 10 minutes at a time I would do just a tad towards the holiday, so bit by bit I was getting something done; albeit, very, very slowly!
Anyway, it looked pretty damn good by the time I went back to work for a half day, then off on my four days of vacation. The day I went back to work (two days before Xmas), my 17 year old kitty (Brisco-a huge, golden Main Coon)was acting weird, and when I went to pick him up, he yowled in pain. So off to the vet we went to discover he was going to need surgery and had to stay the night. I went from the vet to work and when asked by one of the girls I work with, what was wrong with Brisco, I said he's having surgery because nothing says Christmas like a burst anal gland!
So good news, he did great and we brought him home on Christmas eve day with an e-collar, totally drugged out, staggering and with a drainage tube in his butt! He was exiled to our bedroom so he could merrily drain onto our bedspread, because of course, the towels we put there "somehow" did not end up staying under him. We had to keep him in a quiet place which was actually hysterical since we always have our traditional Christmas eve get together for family and friends and our two son's friends that night. Quiet? I don't think that describes it! But it all worked out-every once in a while he would stagger out to see what was going on, and he provided entertainment because of his cool haircut! He was shaved from his mid back down to his tail. They had left fur on his back feet and a tuft on his tail! My three year old niece came in with her family and saw him. She then stated "Lion-Roar". Then she kept saying "nice lion", it was so cute!
To make a long story short (or not), what started out as a crappy week, to say the least, didn't turn out so bad after all. I got the important stuff done, got out and finished shopping, my sweet old Brisco wasn't as sick as I was afraid of and is recuperating nicely, and my family and friends had a great time. I was better and not in contamination mode, so that was a relief, and oddly enough, I caught some cheesy Xmas shows on TV when I was stuck laying down, and they were nicer than I remembered those kinds of shows being. Probably because I was feverish! I guess what I learned from the past couple of weeks, was that if you just get to do the main things that are really important to you, and relax and let go of the expectations (most of which are yours anyways), you can still have a great time. Life could certainly be worse and I know it is for so very many people, so count yourselves lucky with even a half empty cup, cuz it could be a broken cup instead!
Love, Zeus
