Freudenschade...
Our daughter is back at college after a nice month off. It was hard to let her go, as that is the longest we will see her for a year.
Today's term? Misery over someone else's happiness. It isn't complete misery for us, but.. unless some snafu happens, our daughter has an internship in DC this summer, which means we might see her for a week before and afterwards, but definitely not the whole summer. It's a fantastic opportunity for her, and we're thrilled for her. But as parents... we will miss her a great deal. I know this is part of a longer process where she eventually leaves the nest for good, but now that we've had a preview of how hard that's going to be for us, we want to cling to every possible moment that's still left!
Last Saturday was a good day. We went out to Tower Cafe to have French Toast (a long wait, but worth it), then went to see Hidden Figures. We've been waiting months for that film to open, and we finally got our chance, even though seating was limited to the front row. We saw it anyway! Very satisfying. Later, there was dinner at home and TV and conversation. *sigh* Over all too soon!
Sunday, I could feel the cold she'd had trying to "get" me. I took my magic "bug-be-gone" pills, and even went out and bought more since I was running low. But by the end of the day, it was clear they wouldn't save me. So, Monday I was home sick, napping and reading a gazillion Idol entries until my eyes burned, and Tuesday was back at work after a long, sleepless night. Last night was better.
Have I mentioned the money-pit better known as our cat? She started getting serious constipation around Thanksgiving, which we remedied at home, but then the combination of her being listless, cold, weak, and having lost weight meant a visit to the vet. She has early-stage kidney failure and a heart-murmur, and has now had antibiotics for a kidney infection... which resulted in unrelenting diarrhea. Meanwhile, vet bills are up to about $1500 now and they want us to do an electrocardiogram. We brought this little beast home from the shelter at age 4 (almost 5, apparently), and she's always shown signs of being immunocompromised but is otherwise well-loved and happy. We're trying to ride the line between extreme measures and losing her too soon, so we're holding off on the EKG, but she has special kidney-friendly food and various medicines that she mostly hates. She still isn't generating a lot of body heat (and by now is very happy to be wrapped up in a blanket, whereas all previous cats thought that was the first step toward death by jailing or something). But she's happy, and she's playful again. And the 4-day trip the kids and I made up to Oregon shows once again how attached she is to The Boy. He's really worried about when he goes off to college, since he's anticipating being in a dorm, where no pets are allowed. We would definitely let him take her, if he could. Trying to pass her off as a therapy animal would be pretty dodgy, though, and the the truth is that he's her therapy human. Yeah. (^.^)(__)~~
Okay, back to work. Late this afternoon there will be garage-biking (yes- we've had a solid WEEK of rain), and then trying to get something working for the new Idol prompt. Yark.
Today's term? Misery over someone else's happiness. It isn't complete misery for us, but.. unless some snafu happens, our daughter has an internship in DC this summer, which means we might see her for a week before and afterwards, but definitely not the whole summer. It's a fantastic opportunity for her, and we're thrilled for her. But as parents... we will miss her a great deal. I know this is part of a longer process where she eventually leaves the nest for good, but now that we've had a preview of how hard that's going to be for us, we want to cling to every possible moment that's still left!
Last Saturday was a good day. We went out to Tower Cafe to have French Toast (a long wait, but worth it), then went to see Hidden Figures. We've been waiting months for that film to open, and we finally got our chance, even though seating was limited to the front row. We saw it anyway! Very satisfying. Later, there was dinner at home and TV and conversation. *sigh* Over all too soon!
Sunday, I could feel the cold she'd had trying to "get" me. I took my magic "bug-be-gone" pills, and even went out and bought more since I was running low. But by the end of the day, it was clear they wouldn't save me. So, Monday I was home sick, napping and reading a gazillion Idol entries until my eyes burned, and Tuesday was back at work after a long, sleepless night. Last night was better.
Have I mentioned the money-pit better known as our cat? She started getting serious constipation around Thanksgiving, which we remedied at home, but then the combination of her being listless, cold, weak, and having lost weight meant a visit to the vet. She has early-stage kidney failure and a heart-murmur, and has now had antibiotics for a kidney infection... which resulted in unrelenting diarrhea. Meanwhile, vet bills are up to about $1500 now and they want us to do an electrocardiogram. We brought this little beast home from the shelter at age 4 (almost 5, apparently), and she's always shown signs of being immunocompromised but is otherwise well-loved and happy. We're trying to ride the line between extreme measures and losing her too soon, so we're holding off on the EKG, but she has special kidney-friendly food and various medicines that she mostly hates. She still isn't generating a lot of body heat (and by now is very happy to be wrapped up in a blanket, whereas all previous cats thought that was the first step toward death by jailing or something). But she's happy, and she's playful again. And the 4-day trip the kids and I made up to Oregon shows once again how attached she is to The Boy. He's really worried about when he goes off to college, since he's anticipating being in a dorm, where no pets are allowed. We would definitely let him take her, if he could. Trying to pass her off as a therapy animal would be pretty dodgy, though, and the the truth is that he's her therapy human. Yeah. (^.^)(__)~~
Okay, back to work. Late this afternoon there will be garage-biking (yes- we've had a solid WEEK of rain), and then trying to get something working for the new Idol prompt. Yark.