Category Archives: Grrrr
Staccato
I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.
~Mother Teresa
Huzzy went to sea.
It’s a b!tch trying to do everything by myself one-handed.
Holiday season is upon us.
Holidays without Huzzy suck.
This is our third in a row away.
Never spent one with him as husband and wife.
Next year we should be together for sure.
Dog is sick.
He always gets sick right after Huzzy leaves.
Stress, I think.
Trying to clean up liquid poop off the carpet one-handed sucks donkey balls.
Big ones.
A good friend’s autistic daughter’s service dog had emergency surgery today and had 2 1/2 feet of intestine removed due to a blockage and death of the intestine.
They need prayers because infection is a huge possibility.
I was laid off today.
They said they decided they need an HR person… and I’m a PR person.
I think they mixed up their alphabet.
Maybe someone missed their Sesame Street time.
I was laid off 15 weeks after I started.
You have to work for 17 weeks in Washington to get unemployment.
Asshats.
Today sucks all around.
That is all.
P.S.
PR person for hire. Friendly, whip-smart, house broken and doesn’t bite (usually). Slightly broken but will be fixed, hopefully to 100%. Inquire within.
Standing Up For Yourself
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.
~Henry Ward Beecher
I have a strong “will.” I am here two and a half weeks post-surgery typing with just one hand.
But you know what? I’m here because I stood up for myself and for what I knew I needed. Even when doctors didn’t believe me or thought they knew better.
Check out my latest SpouseBuzz post for details!
The Dangers of… Volunteering
It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.
~Tom Brokaw
I love volunteering and have been doing it steadily since I graduated from college. Except for this last year since I moved. In January, I put an application in to become a foster home for the local humane society. Of course, we were in the process of buying a house so we needed to wait until we got one.
Cute little boy kitty (sorry for the fuzzy photo)
And then Huzzy’s dad died… so that put it back even farther.
So finally, the Thursday before Memorial Day, I had my chance. An email came through requesting a foster home for two semi-feral eight week old kittens. I’ve dealt with semi-ferals before and also spooky animals, including dogs and horses.
Everything has been going well. In just a week, I had them where they were fine with me holding them and petting them (that’s HUGE… they were hissy, spitty things when I got them). Today, I have the little girl beside me in the main part of the house (they have their own room). She’s cuddly, loves to lay next to me and loooves being pet. She also likes the dogs and will rub on them and lick them if they nuzzle her (as long as she’s on the couch… she’s still scared on the floor). She’s almost ready to be put up for adoption but still runs when I approach her. She also hasn’t met the vacuum yet, either.
Her brother is a bit father behind. Sunday night I decided it was time for him to come into the main part of the house (his sister had already been out four times). He stayed on the couch with his sister and me but then got down and hid under the recliner. He was there for an hour and a half. It was getting late, so I decided it was time for him to to back to his “room.” He ran out from under the recliner and when I went to scruff him (grab him by the extra skin on his neck… perfectly humane and great for kittens… actually makes them feel safer), he turned around and bit me before I could grab him.
And he bit me hard. It wasn’t his fault… he was just terrified and felt he had no other option. Poor baby. And before you say he’s a bad cat… just 12 hours later, he was purring in my arms and rubbing his nose on mine. He was just scared.
I looked at my finger and it wasn’t bleeding yet but decided to wash it out and put some Neosporin on it. By the time I got the bathroom, I had blood running down my arm. My sink was filled with bloody water. I dried my finger with a paper towel. What I saw scared me. There was something fleshy pushing out of the wound. I decided to throw a bandaid on and head to the ER.
I felt really silly going to the ER with just a bandaid on. I figured they might laugh at me, but that fleshy stuff was scary.
All this for one silly little (adorable) kitten bite
Turns out, the hospital is glad I went in. Cat bites have a 50-80% chance of infection. They immediately put me on an IV drip and wrapped my finger in a splint because it was such a deep bite but they don’t like to stitch them up since it increases the chance of infection. The finger splint is to keep me from bending it. Not bending it will help it heal, and it needs all the help it can get.
Of course, we found out I was allergic to penicillin about 15 minutes into the IV. My tongue started to swell, so they had to stop that IV and start another. That was an hour long drip.
And true to form, I had to drive myself to the ER because Huzzy wasn’t here. I now have to watch for infection (though I’m on doxy for 10 days) and Cat Scratch Fever. My discharge papers say that if I get an infection, I’ll most likely have to be hospitalized (because it is on the hand). And I guess Cat Scratch Fever is more common with kitten bites/scratches. Fun.
I also learned tonight that Huzzy (who is at his dad’s house getting the motorcycle and any stuff he wants and helping his brother deal with stuff) found out the tires on the trailer he was using are bald. He was supposed to leave tomorrow morning. So he could get here in time for my birthday on Friday. Which now won’t happen because he has to get three new tires for it (oh, his truck broke down on his way TO his dad’s and was stuck in Rapid City, SD for nearly three days over Memorial Weekend).
Oh, and of course, our washing machine died on Saturday. So Mr. Murphy… go away. I’ve had enough. Especially since Huzzy has now been told he IS going to join the boat on this deployment (meeting them somewhere in the ocean). He’s not even deployed yet and Murphy is here in full force. Ugh.
A Post I Wrote a Few Weeks Ago
No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.
~Euripides
I wrote this post nearly three weeks ago on the 10th. It kinda gives you some updates as to what happened that week. I have more updates (not about the same subject) that I’ll get up next week to bring you completely up to speed with my life. Well, at least the huge things.
—————————
Wrote on Sunday, April 10th as I was flying from Seattle to St. Louis for my father-in-law’s funeral:
So the last week has been pretty tumultuous for us. Saturday the 2nd, we were told we could finally sign on our house. The sellers were kind enough to allow us to take possession of the keys but since the house would not officially close until Monday, we could not live there until then.
That helped because Huzzy started boat duty on Sunday and started working LONG hours. As in 20 hour days with the addition of duty night every other night. For example, he went to work at 0300 on Thursday because they were putting the boat in dry dock and then was supposed to have duty watch that night and then would have to work the next day until 1800 or so.
We had two different guys on two different days (Saturday and then Sunday morning) help us move the heavy stuff. That was fantastic. However, I still was left helping to move heavy stuff that apparently my back/neck/shoulder wasn’t ready to move. I may have a bulging disc in my neck and I’m waiting on xrays to confirm it. Either way, my neck is sore as heck and feels stiff and unable to move properly. And the tingling in my fingers is back.
Anyway, we were supposed to close Monday. But in true Wuzzy household fashion, that of course didn’t happen. Someone somewhere screwed up what is a normal, everyday thing and the house didn’t close until Tuesday. That gave us two days to move out of the rental.
Now, you may have noticed in my second paragraph that I said Huzzy was “supposed to” have watch Thursday night. If you read my blog post Thursday, you know that his father had a massive heart attack and it wasn’t looking good. Apparently after the heart attack, they had a hard time getting him back and his brain was without sufficient oxygen for more than an hour.
They dropped his body temperature down to 93 to help combat the swelling of his brain and to give his body a chance to heal. Unfortunately, over the course of the next two days, he had a few cardiac arrests and by Saturday, his liver and kidneys started shutting down.
Luckily Huzzy was not out to sea and the command allowed him to fly home. We were up at 0200 Friday morning to get him to the airport. Let me just say here, I LOOOOOVE Southwest airlines. Did you know they have military fares? And not the “military fares” that many airlines have that are more expensive that normal prices.
Now, these military fares are probably not cheaper if you are able to book way in advance, but for those who need last-minute flights or the flights are expensive, this is perfect. We paid $480 roundtrip for Huzzy’s flight (and my subsequent one that I’m on as I type this) the night before he left, which included all taxes. That was only $240 one way. And of course, as with all Southwest flights, these are fully changeable with no change fee and you only pay the fare difference if there is one. My flight two days later was the exact same price as his so I suspect the military prices don’t change much. And of course, you get to check two bags for free, which is an anomaly these days.
Anyway, Huzzy was able to be there with his brother when they had to make the hardest choice a son or daughter could… to remove life support and let their father go. He was not coming back and his body could not regulate its own functions, including his blood pressure. He left this world with his friends and family at his side and he did it very quickly after the support was removed. He was ready to go.
So that’s where we are right now. I’ve done this before. It’s been just a little more than six years since my own father died of a heart attack and I was left at the age of 22 being in charge of his entire estate and the funeral planning and everything. Because of that experience, I’m going to be able to help Huzzy and his brother as they deal with their own dad’s death and the subsequent events and things that have to be dealt with after this happens. Neither of them has really experienced a loss other than a grandfather, so this is something that is new to them.
I’m glad I’m going to be able to help them out and maybe alleviate some of the stress by being the one who gets everything organized and makes sure things are done and does all those little things and details that seem to slip by when you are dealing with immense grief. The funeral, or Celebration of Life, is going to take place on Thursday. I had figured it would be Tuesday or Wednesday so I bought plane tickets for Thursday but, again, that’s the beauty of Southwest… I’ll be able to change it no problem.
Speaking of alleviating stress… a certain blog follower of mine is helping me out. I put a call out on our boat’s FRG page asking if anyone could help me and watch our two dogs while I was gone. Several people responded but the person who is going to watch them, apparently, also participates in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In. Small world. I had no idea any of my followers were on the same boat. And apparently one of my Twitter peeps is also on our boat! Too funny.
P.S.
I was not paid for or solicited for my opinions on Southwest. I’m just extremely grateful for their service and for what they offer military.
What I’m Giving Up For Lent
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.
~Harriet Beecher Stowe
Dear World,
I have thought long and hard about it and I’ve decided I would like to give stress up for Lent. I think I could sacrifice what has been a constant in my life for the past couple years. I mean, I’m at least willing to try.
Unfortunately, with my heart dog possibly having a tumor/cancer and may have to be put down, a house that doesn’t seem to want to close because of stupid banks who were supposed have this paperwork completed SEVEN MONTHS AGO, landlords that can’t seem to tell us if we can stay longer in the house and may only give us a few days’ notice to leave, me still being on unemployment (and since I’ve just passed the year mark, I’m getting really depressed about that) and other stuff… I’m not sure if that’s even possible.
Maybe, instead, I should just give up my sanity for Lent. Yes, my sanity. It seems to be leaving me anyway. That is what I’m giving up for Lent.
Let’s just hope it comes back AFTER Lent. Seriously.
Signed,
Wifey, who doesn’t want to be a homeless-jobless-heartdogless, person next week.
P.S. My only saving grace is that Huzzy is home right now. I’m not sure I could do this without his support. I hate that they are in hard-core training again for their right-around-the-corner deployment. It feels like he just got back a few weeks ago. Oh wait… he did.
