[Insert Witty Title Here]
Still not doing the Gratitude Meme, which is just as well, not because I am not grateful--I am, very much so--but because I've just been too busy with life and, after a week of mostly distressing news without a single full night of sleep, my heart is heavy with worry for other people and my mental acuity is hovering somewhere between that of a sodden lump of kleenex and a particularly sophisticated strain of bread mold.
In other words, I'm exhausted, worn out, and really, really hoping that tonight is the night on which I can actually sleep all the way through. I haven't slept in over 30 hours and apologize in advance if this post contains egregious spelling errors or is just plain incoherent. (At least I'm making the sleep-deprived look work for me, though. Thinking of calling it Zombie Peacock Chic.)
But. As I said above, I am very grateful for a number of things right now. These are a few of them:
*Technology. While it's true that technology is also enabling a number of idiots to conspire with other idiots to do very idiotic things just lately, technology is also what has allowed the doctors to reassure my dad that no, he wasn't having another a heart attack, and he's perfectly healthy, and there's a totally identifiable (and benign) cause for the pain that sent him to the emergency room this weekend. (Really, he's fine. And thank goodness.) Technology is also what allowed me to stay in touch with my friends in the UK these last few days, to be assured that they're still safe and to keep them company (virtually, at least) when they needed it. And technology is also what's facilitating quite an amazing recovery response from other people, organizing community support and clean-up efforts and mobilizing brooms and donations and very kind, brave, conscientious people.
In short: technology YAY!
*Leading on from that last point, I'm grateful that there are more decent people than there are horrible ones, and more people who make the right choices than the wrong ones. I'm grateful that there are people look out for one another, who feel outrage when outrageous things are happening to others, who clean up messes that they didn't make and help solve problems that they didn't create and make others laugh and smile when things feel bleak. I'm grateful that there are people, in short, who care for the world beyond their own immediate circle of self-interest, and the effect that they have on it.
In short, I am grateful that humanity responds to the worst with its best.
*I am grateful that my vet and her kitty-centric practice are wonderful, thoughtful, and dedicated medical professionals who care for my cats like they were their own and who go above and beyond--even at weird hours and no notice--to make sure they're well and happy. (I am additionally grateful that they forgive poor Othello for morphing into a growling, defensive, drooling hellcat whenever he has to see them and politely believe me when I promise them that he's really nothing like that under normal circumstances.)
*I am grateful that Othello is okay once again tonight, after a hellish 18-hour period during which he completely ripped open his sutures at an inconvenient hour, so that I had to bandage the wound myself, wait until I could get him to the vet this morning (they opened early, just for him), and sit up watching him all night so that he didn't rip/fling off his bandage and make things worse. A small surgery (and a Cone of Shame) later, he is now right as rain, and I can cuddle him without worry.
*I am grateful for the enduring comedic value of an animal wearing an Elizabethan collar.
*More prosaically, I am also grateful for the following small but intensely appreciated comforts: the Mighty Boosh box set that helped keep me awake (and entertained) all through last night, the waiting room at the vet's office (which conveniently comes equipped with a Keurig coffee maker and therapeutic kittehs who insist on climbing into my lap and demanding cuddles), and the Original House of Pancakes, which was conveniently located near to the office, was the source of my first actual (delicious) meal of the day, and provided me with a wonderful waitress who never let me see the bottom of my cup of coffee and was endlessly patient with my sleep-deprived vagueness.
*Last but not least, I am very grateful that I have a bed with butter-soft sheets and fluffy pillows, and that I will be sleeping in it shortly. Hopefully for a long and blissful time. *g*
In other words, I'm exhausted, worn out, and really, really hoping that tonight is the night on which I can actually sleep all the way through. I haven't slept in over 30 hours and apologize in advance if this post contains egregious spelling errors or is just plain incoherent. (At least I'm making the sleep-deprived look work for me, though. Thinking of calling it Zombie Peacock Chic.)
But. As I said above, I am very grateful for a number of things right now. These are a few of them:
*Technology. While it's true that technology is also enabling a number of idiots to conspire with other idiots to do very idiotic things just lately, technology is also what has allowed the doctors to reassure my dad that no, he wasn't having another a heart attack, and he's perfectly healthy, and there's a totally identifiable (and benign) cause for the pain that sent him to the emergency room this weekend. (Really, he's fine. And thank goodness.) Technology is also what allowed me to stay in touch with my friends in the UK these last few days, to be assured that they're still safe and to keep them company (virtually, at least) when they needed it. And technology is also what's facilitating quite an amazing recovery response from other people, organizing community support and clean-up efforts and mobilizing brooms and donations and very kind, brave, conscientious people.
In short: technology YAY!
*Leading on from that last point, I'm grateful that there are more decent people than there are horrible ones, and more people who make the right choices than the wrong ones. I'm grateful that there are people look out for one another, who feel outrage when outrageous things are happening to others, who clean up messes that they didn't make and help solve problems that they didn't create and make others laugh and smile when things feel bleak. I'm grateful that there are people, in short, who care for the world beyond their own immediate circle of self-interest, and the effect that they have on it.
In short, I am grateful that humanity responds to the worst with its best.
*I am grateful that my vet and her kitty-centric practice are wonderful, thoughtful, and dedicated medical professionals who care for my cats like they were their own and who go above and beyond--even at weird hours and no notice--to make sure they're well and happy. (I am additionally grateful that they forgive poor Othello for morphing into a growling, defensive, drooling hellcat whenever he has to see them and politely believe me when I promise them that he's really nothing like that under normal circumstances.)
*I am grateful that Othello is okay once again tonight, after a hellish 18-hour period during which he completely ripped open his sutures at an inconvenient hour, so that I had to bandage the wound myself, wait until I could get him to the vet this morning (they opened early, just for him), and sit up watching him all night so that he didn't rip/fling off his bandage and make things worse. A small surgery (and a Cone of Shame) later, he is now right as rain, and I can cuddle him without worry.
*I am grateful for the enduring comedic value of an animal wearing an Elizabethan collar.
*More prosaically, I am also grateful for the following small but intensely appreciated comforts: the Mighty Boosh box set that helped keep me awake (and entertained) all through last night, the waiting room at the vet's office (which conveniently comes equipped with a Keurig coffee maker and therapeutic kittehs who insist on climbing into my lap and demanding cuddles), and the Original House of Pancakes, which was conveniently located near to the office, was the source of my first actual (delicious) meal of the day, and provided me with a wonderful waitress who never let me see the bottom of my cup of coffee and was endlessly patient with my sleep-deprived vagueness.
*Last but not least, I am very grateful that I have a bed with butter-soft sheets and fluffy pillows, and that I will be sleeping in it shortly. Hopefully for a long and blissful time. *g*