Wednesday-8:30am

I kept busy all day yesterday. Karma napped, of course.

Had Caroline help me drag the clothing rack down from the storage area with my winter clothes and coats. Switched them, but haven't dragged it back yet. I might wait until I have help--possibly Friday. Dagan and Leah might be coming to switch up my furniture and bring their old TV over (big one!) on Friday night!!

Leah suggested we start getting together for Craft Night again here pretty soon. Maybe on Wednesday nights--next week or the week after that. Now that they have two cats over at the townhouse (Chuck and Michal's), she wants to make up some cat toys. Chuck and Michal's cats have never had a string toy!

I sent her a picture of what I have left from when she got a supply of things at Sportsman's so we could repair Karma's string/wand toys. (Karma loves to chew through strings, as I have mentioned, and she can do it very quickly! I have to hide her string toys on top of bookcases!) That had to be at least a year ago--maybe more? Sounds like fun! I am sure Leah is glad to have cats around that don't hiss at her.

Did I tell you Karma hissed at Caroline last time she was here? Not yesterday, but two weeks ago? Caroline came in--but instead of hanging around in the kitchen for a while and getting the bucket out of the pantry, she had to use the bathroom. Karma was parked in the hallway in her usual position for observation and--who knows?--thought Caroline was going to step on her--pick her up (she hates that)--attack her--or what? Now, Caroline followed her usual routine yesterday and Karma was fine--no hissing. Karma not being friendly or at least polite to people is very distressing to me. I am a Minnesotan, after all.

Anyways, I know a lot of you have probably gotten this email, but...

do you recognize these men?

They're Eddie Haskell, The Beaver, and Wally Cleaver!!

Now that made me feel old--hehe!

The stye is almost completely gone. I can now officially empathize with anyone who has had one. Mine were fairly small and gone in two days--but it is amazing how irritating and painful they can be! I didn't even know what it was. So grateful for the Internet. :) :) Even told me what to do.

This "being on days"--I may have created a monster! Now Karma waits on the floor by the bedroom door until she can tell I am waking up (how she can tell, I am not sure yet--because if I knew I'd try to hide it), and then she meows for me to get out of bed!! With my entire previous lifetime and recently totally irratic menopausal sleeping patterns that is something she has only done a couple of times in her life (she's 3 1/2 years old)--and I said "no!" and that was that. Not any more.

And now most nights, about 10-15 minutes after I have gone to bed--and Karma knows I am almost alseep and won't be wiggling about, I suppose--she comes up and plops down next to my arm with her head on the headboard for a pillow. And I think she is staying right there until I get up the first time--these days around 2-3 hours later since I am sleeping better--tada!

OMG!! A normal routine! I don't ever remember having any routine! It's like pod people have taken over my body! Karma even likes it--hehe! I think these new pills may have something to do with it??? But I am liking this having a routine, so I just go to bed--even if I am not super tired--between 11-11:30pm. Sometimes even earlier! May not seem like a big deal--but for a person who used to go to bed between 12-4am normally for as long as I can remember--going to bed at "a decent hour" just seems like a fairy tale or a dream.

I very literally could not physically go to sleep at a "normal" hour for as long as I can remember. If I laid down--I just tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. I have taken night jobs because of it. Avoided morning classes at college. Suffered all week long at jobs going with little sleep every night--only to collapse and sleep 12-14 hours stretches on the weekend or whenever my days off were. This was a fact of life for me.

When I hit menopause the sleeping (or lack of it) went totally crazy! Instead of going to sleep even at 4-5 am--sometimes I couldn't sleep at all. Or I was going to bed at 9am--or not at all for 2 days--or 4pm--or noon--or 7pm. I was often awake for 24-36 hours at a stretch--and not because I wasn't exhausted, but because I was unable to sleep--insomnia. That has pretty much been the last year--year and a half or so. So--this being on days--for more than just a few days--wow! I have stepped into the Twilight Zone! But I am enjoying it! And now I have a cat who wants me to get up in the morning! Will wonders never cease?! :):):)