Monday-10:15am

On this balmy (30 degree) foggy morning...

...the men are working on the roof while it is warm out.

Miss Karma has still been sleeping a lot.

She doesn't even want to play with her string toy yet... 

...but seems to take comfort in lying with her assortment from her toy box.  (I had to pull them out for her.)  

Last night was actually the very first night I slept pretty well since last Tuesday.  (Stress + lack of sleep = fibro flare time again.)  I had only been able to catch a couple naps each day and I don't function well at all on 3-4 total hours of sleep.  Certainly not unexpected, of course, but we're hanging in there.

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Some of you pet folk who have had to deal with sick furbabies might know what a headache it is to deal with leaking urine and anal glands--and the antibiotics have given her a touch of diarrhea--awk!  I have towels all over the place.  I am wiping her bottom several times a day, but there is no way I can do all that much more until she stops the dribbling and drabbing.  

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I have an apartment inspection this afternoon for Federal Housing.  I thought I might be able to clean the place up more before Bob comes, but--honestly--I am just plain hurting too much to deal with it.  Bob has been my annual inspector for about 13 years, so he knows what it normally looks like.  I'm sure he'll understand.  After all, this just shows exactly why I am housebound and need a cleaning girl, right?

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That's why the state gave me Caroline to clean every other week.  Vacuuming is really hard on my lower back...can't get down on my knees without a lot of pain and them swelling afterwards...can't lean my weight on my bum arm or I set it off with what I call "shooters" (knife-like pain shooting up my arm)...damaged the rotor cuff in my "good" arm from overuse...when I have the fibro flares I am hobbling about and semi-to-barely functional...

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...but, you just don't like other people to see what truly bad shape you're in sometimes, you know?  Dagan and Leah have really seen me at my lowest...like after the move here where I spent the first week in bed with boxes all around me.  (They set up my bed and the TV & phone--came over every day to make sure I had something to eat--was in too much pain to even nuke food, let alone deal with unpacking.)  There's been a couple of times when Caroline has come to clean and I have been in my robe because I couldn't even get dressed.

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But today--I'm not that bad--have showered and I will be dressed before Bob comes at 1pm.  ;)  But there are spots all over the carpeting in the hallway and the rugs...and kitty litter tracked all over the apartment because Caroline hasn't been here for a month to vacuum.  (Her dad was dying--they had the funeral last week--I feel so badly for her.)  I didn't want them to send anyone else in the meantime--and who knew Karma was going to get so sick, right?  Now I feel badly that Caroline will be coming back on Wednesday to such a mess!  I will not ask her to clean the carpeting, but it needs to be vacuumed thoroughly before I can clean spots.  And Dagan and Leah have a portable spot cleaning machine for carpeting that they'll bring over later on--when Karma has stopped leaking--no point until then...

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Confession day, I guess.  

Karma is feeling down because of the embarrassment of having a dirty bottom, she doesn't feel well yet, and doesn't trust me so much because I am shoving pills down her throat twice a day.  She goes from wanting me to stay away from her to climbing up on my chest for long cuddles.  

Me--I'm down because Bob will see (and I have to face) that I can't clean my own carpeting.  Dumb?  Probably.  But I even pick up before Caroline comes.  You know us Scandahoovians.

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Anyways, Karma seems to be moving around more this morning.  She asked to go out twice already--the balmy weather, of course.  That's a good sign.  Oh, and she has been drinking lots of water all along, for the people that asked.  I hope that by the time I post on Friday she will have a dry bottom and I will be feeling more functional.  

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I have read every comment from all you wonderful people!!  I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I'll have to just tell you all that here.  I hope I will be able to start reading blogs again this week sometime and that I didn't miss out on too much these past couple weeks.  I'm just not physically able to spend much time on the McLap yet--but Karma and I should both be feeling better soon.   

Have a great week!  

Things always do get better.

I'm patient.  :)

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"Dive deeply into the miracle of life and let the tips of your wings be burnt by the flame, let your feet be lacerated by the thorns, let your heart be stirred by human emotion, and let your soul be lifted beyond the earth."

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan