1) Pet update - The woes of my dear girls continue.
Originally, Zelda couldn't get in for the frightening sounding radioactive iodine treatment until January, so we were trying to figure out what we can do in the meantime to help her out. We had about a week's worth of the medicine that was donated to us left and had to order some more. Meanwhile, I purchased a scale whose main purpose is measuring the weight of human infants in order to monitor her weight.
BUT THEN! They called and said they had a cancellation, so I took her in for her initial consult yesterday. If she's deemed an appropriate candidate, then she'll go in on October 28, which IS REALLLY SOON.
Hannah had her third round of anti-diarrhea medicine and *whomp whomp* it came right back. Now we're doing more blood tests.
2) Make versus set the table
Because of Zelda's penchant for jumping on the table and my husband's penchant for having overly crazy rules re: food safety, our strategy is that we have placemats we use only for meals that live in a drawer on our dining room table. Before each meal, we take them out and place them on the table and then we put them back in the drawer at the end of each meal. Easy peasy.
It is easy. You know what's not easy? For me to figure out what to call this. I think the "correct" usage is "set the table." Hey, I'm plating dinner, can you set the table? That's right, I think. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAY. I say "make the table." Can you make the table? Because you MAKE A BED and my brain does not understand that these are two separate idioms.
3) In the mail
I have been woefully remiss in not acknowledging all the dear people who are sending me snail mail! My husband recently observed that I get more snail mail than anyone else he knows. I love it all. If you've sent me something recently, please know I love it and I've taken it to my office to hang up with all my other postcards. (Allison, the wax seal sort of worked. It was still sealed shut, but any decorative bit did not make it through international travel.)
4) NaBloPoMo
I'm quite excited about NaBloPoMo next month, although I have to admit to starting to stockpile ideas from Bloglandia. If anyone asks a question or makes a fun post idea, I have started writing it down because while I do write most weekdays, I feel the additional weekend posts may be a real struggle for me this year. ALSO! Commenting! When will I have time to comment? I'll have to figure it out.
5) Work joys
Last Friday a lady called me from North Carolina. She tells me that she's 78-years-old and she went to my school in the 1960s and she never graduated. She wants to finish her degree. Ha ha ha. I email the registrar's office for her transcript and take a look - transcripts from the 60s are wild - and sat down to figure out a plan for her to graduate. What a fun part of my job!
I met with a student (first year who brought it like 30 credits of AP/dual enrollment/whatever else) and I created a path for her to graduate with a graduation date of May 2027. She was so excited and - I swear this is a direct quote - said "it makes graduating seem so real." I was excited by her excitement, although the niggling voice in the back of my head was saying "those fifteen credits you're taking right now didn't make it real?" Let's ignore that back of my head voice.
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Who else is doing NaBloPoMo? What's a recent joy in your life?
Yay for Zelda's treatment being moved up, and hang in there Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever used the phrase "make the table"...making is for beds and setting is for tables. But also I don't mind it.
Yay for snail mail!
I know I don't have the bandwidth for NaBloPo but selfishly I am looking forward to enjoying everyone else's work. I know I'm not 100% in commenting in non-NaBloPo times, and on the one hand I feel bad but on the other hand it means that everyone is writing such good stuff that there is so much to say in comments.
Yay for work joys! All that I do is pay people, so if I'm doing my job right they don't know that I exist.
TGIF peace out!
NaBloPoMo is already exhausting me. I'm contemplating the following options:
Delete1) Just not participating and trying to comment more. I'd keep up my regular posting schedule.
2) Participating, but keep it so that I'm doing the same amount of writing during the week by pre-writing weekend posts.
3) Participating, but realize that I'm going to do some low effort posts and not get upset with myself for that.
4) Just doing nothing and taking November off from the blogging world. LOLOL. I would never.
You do have a time of it with your pets, but you treat them so well. I hope you all get good results soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing those two are cute or they would not get the best medical care. Ha!
DeleteI'm so glad that Zelda got an earlier appointment. That had to be a big relief. But poor Hannah! What is happening with her gut? I'm so sorry that you have to worry about these girlies.
ReplyDeleteAs far as NaBloPoMo--I've participated in the past, but I don't know that I want to do it this time around. It feels like someone/something being The Boss Of Me, and I'm just not about that.
I love that you're helping the 78-year old woman finish her degree, and I really love that she wants to do that. Bravo to both of you!
The 78yo lady is coming to my office later this week, so I'll do an update when I learn more. I'm so excited about it. She still does have a lot to go to finish. LOL.
DeleteMe! I'm doing NaBloPoMo this year! I'm getting excited- it's coming up SOON.
ReplyDeleteI love the story of the 78 year old woman wanting to finish her degree. What's her major? I would love to know what's going on in her life that she decided to do this now.
Ugh on the pet woes. Poor Hannah. And, I hope Zelda's treatment helps her.
You deserve all the snail mail you get! I wonder if you'll get any Halloween cards this year.
Jenny, in the 1960s, her major was History. She had made pretty good progress on it, actually, but dropped out in her junior year. I just typed a bunch of stuff that might be in violation of FERPA, so I'm just going to say that I think she still needs a couple of semesters to finish up, so I'm not sure if she's going to go for it. I'll keep everyone updated.
DeleteLook at that - a cancellation, thank heaven for those. Poor Hannah. And poor you - I'm assuming this means you're still having to deal with lots of gross clean up? Snail mail is so fun. I used to write tons of letters when I was in college. A dad whose kids I used to babysit for (I counted the couple as friends - we are still close) once told me, "Ernie, you're the most letter writing-est person I ever met." I'm planning to do NaBloPoMo. I've been stockpiling blog post topics for that time. I think I'm gonna have a theme even, but not sure I'll have enough posts to keep that up. I love that a 78 year old woman wants to finish her degree. That's awesome. I can only imagine what the older transcripts look like. 'Make the table' made me laugh. For a minute, I get your pets names mixed up and I thought Hannah was jumping on the table. ;)
ReplyDeleteA theme! Way to make NaBloPoMo even harder! I can just barely remember to post daily!
DeleteI like make the table! I also need ideas for NaBlo-- maybe we need a grouple google doc?
ReplyDeleteA Google doc is an excellent idea! I'm going to put one up next week - we'll see if anyone adds to it.
DeleteThe work projects you featured are AMAZING. How fun!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour poor girls. I hope the vet gets their issues under control quickly. Glad that Zelda may be getting in earlier than planned.
I definitely say "set" the table, but "make" sounds good too!
My work is so much fun. I really can't explain my job very easily, but I do love every second of it.
DeleteDr. BB is not sure if he wants to make Zelda a radioactive kitty, so we're sort of undecided what path we're going to take with that. We're just going to wait and see what the vet says after her bloodwork comes back next week.
I like make the table! I think it's cool when people have their own little language quirks within their household! Hooray for Zelda's appointment being moved up. Dang for Hannah's digestive issues. I'm not doing NaBlo - I know that it would make me miserable to blog every day! 🤣But I do look forward to reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteI 100% understand why people don't post every day. It's exhausting and can sort of make it seem like homework!
DeleteI love that the 78-year-old woman wants to get her degree! I wonder if she'll be able to attend college for free because of her age—so many schools offer free tuition for seniors. It's so inspiring! This just made my morning. 🌈
ReplyDeleteHmmm...that's an interesting question. I don't know if we would since she would be out of state. But there have to be scholarships and grants open for this sort of thing, right?
DeleteSorry Hannah's tummy issues persist, happy about Zelda getting her treatment earlier... and absolutely love the story of the 78-year-old's degree completion journey. You helping them makes you a superhero in my book!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness that both of my girls are cuddly or I would be super grumbly about their health woes. It's not their fault, of course. I just want them to feel better.
DeleteCan you make the table! Ha, why not. It's as good as set the table and way better than lay the table because, dirty.
ReplyDeleteHelping a 78yo graduate WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE COOLER.
It's going to be so much fun! She's coming in tomorrow and I can't wait to meet her!
DeleteI'm so glad that Zelda was able to snag a cancellation! Now we need Hannah's tummy issues to resolve. Poor girl (and mom and dad).
ReplyDeleteMy recent joy was my trip to the DC area to visit my sister. It was such a fun trip. Paul is an excellent travel companion. I told him he gets an A+ rating. It makes me look forward to other trips in the future!
I think it's awesome that you do one-on-one trips. It seems like so much fun for everyone!
DeleteI say set the table... I've never heard make the table but you're right - why do we make a bed but not a table?!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm doing NaBloPoMo... still deciding but leaning towards participating.
I love those stories. I hope the 78-year-old woman will be able to graduate. What a cool story!
I've never had so much angst over NaBloPoMo. LOL. I think I'm just going to go for it and if I don't succeed, then that's okay, too.
DeleteThat lady wanting to graduate after so many years. I love it...
ReplyDeleteSorry the pet saga continues.
Definetely doing NaBloPoMo.
YES! That lady came into my office last week. Not sure if she's going to through with it, but it was fun to see her in person.
DeleteWell, did you make it to Zelda's appointment yesterday? I know you've been sick---I hope it worked out.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the woman who is going to finish her schooling and get that degree---yay for her!
Well, you know, and I know it is 'Set The Table', you just want to be funny with your husband. (that's my best guess)
NaBlogPoMo: I can do that if it means posting once a week. 😜
I am so excited you'll be joining for NaBloPoMo... I know it'll be a lot (of fun) and I don't want you to put too much pressure on yourself... you comment/read when you can and you post when you can. It's going to be ok... it's mostly fun to connect :)
ReplyDeleteYes! It will be so much fun to get a deluge of posts every day. AND! AND! I'm seeing names on the list of people I've not read before, so that's fun. New blogs!
Delete