A new beginning...

Well, here's a start of something new for me...I'm trembling in my fuzzy slippers...am I going to say or do something really stupid? And will it be un-doable? I want to write about what life is like living with my 30-year-old daughter, 8 cats, 2 off-site dogs, (part-time with my 88-year-old mother), Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I also want to write about my hobbies that keep me sane: knitting, crocheting, reading, puzzling, and watching movies and TV with my daughter.

Why would anyone end up with 8 cats? Crazy is all I can say! We started out with a pair of gray striped tabbies we brought back from Germany with us in 1988. From there, we ended up with another, Tip O'Cat, Speaker of the House. He died last year just a month short of his 19th birthday. (Yes, I keep up with my cats' and dogs' birthdays!) We moved to the house we are in now in 2000 with just that one cat. Then my daughter brought home Vincent ("Vinnie"), then Minnie, then Phoebe. Minnie had babies and we kept all but two of the litter (Tigger, Shadow, Silly). She was with kitten when my daughter found her. After that it is all a blur. Minnie had another litter and we kept one of those (Rachel). After that, Minnie got fixed along with Vinnie who was the father of the second litter. We also had all the little babies fixed too! But then I received two more kittens as gifts (Bailey, Bella). The best gift of all came, however, in the form of two pounds of mangy, half-dead, tick-ridden, flea-bitten Himalayan/Ragdoll mix who came to our porch begging to be let in. Dolly is the love of my life (although any good mommy will tell you that she loves all her babies equally). I really do love them equally. They all have the most wonderful, endearing qualities. How anyone could be mean to a cat is beyond my comprehension! Just as an aside, in case anyone counted, we are now short two cats. Minnie passed away about 4 years ago. We took Bella to my mother's house and she has really gotten attached to her. I've told her that she is her cat now. I don't think I could have gotten out of the house with her anyway!

Our two dogs are also staying with my mother right now. Since we started going there regularly a year and a half ago, the older dog (Charlie) has gone almost completely blind with cataracts. He has always had health problems. He was the result of a puppy mill. Our younger dog is a loving little girl (Calliope) and was the best birthday present I ever received. I really miss them when we are at home, but Charlie has lost most of his sight while staying with my mother. He knows the layout of her house. I'm afraid he will do himself harm if he comes back home now. We have steps to the upstairs that I just know he would fall down, plus a pool in the back yard that is just waiting for him to fall in. If the latter happened, I don't think I would ever go in the pool again!

I had to look to see what was next on my list! Living part-time with my 88-year-old mother! Well I could write a book on that. She is a very good, sweet, caring person, but I can't seem to do anything right when I am with her. I have increased my stamina by 1000% in the past year and a half, but she doesn't appreciate the effort it takes or the improvement I've made while living with her! I struggle to do various chores around the house or try to treat her by cooking a meal or a dessert. At first, even doing something as minor as clearing the table and putting the dishes in the dishwasher was too much of an effort for me. With the Double Whammy of Fibro plus CFS, I am whacked out most of the time. Building up strength and stamina while dealing with the DW is akin to "one step forward, two steps back." For any task I do, I have to rest in double proportion. If I cook supper by myself (mostly by myself because my mother wants to "help" meaning watch over everything I do and correct what she thinks needs correction), it takes so much effort and energy that I end up in bed for the next two to three days! More later on this living situation.

Through it all there is my daughter...beautiful inside and out, extremely talented, possessing a delightful (and sometimes wicked) sense of humor. I have my sanity because of her. She is the main reason I strive for any improvement in my health situation. There is a whole block of my life that I don't remember, a time when I was so drugged that I didn't move to do anything but go to the bathroom. I didn't even sleep in my bed...just stayed in the recliner between my bed and my computer. She has waited on me, fed me, dressed me, even bathed me. She has given me the best care that anyone could ever give. I am eternally grateful for what she has done for me and the sacrifices she has made. She is honestly the best gift I ever received. I thank God every day for her!

I think I'm finally finished with this intro. My yarn "yarns" will spin themselves out over time. And I haven't even begun to tell of our travel-related serendipities, misfortunes, and downright disasters which Jennie and I experienced over the past year and a half. Good night (or should I say "good morning") for now. I'm hoping for sleep to come finally!