Monday, November 04, 2024

Life Updates

1) The cat is officially radioactive. More to come on this (wait until I tell you about the stockpile of used litter in our garage!), but suffice it to say that the cat is unhappy, we are unhappy, and one of us is regretting persuading our spouse that this is the best course of action, gold-standard of treatment be damned.

2) Yes, the dog still has diarrhea. No, I don't want to talk about it. 

3) COVID kicked my ass and I still feel pretty crummy. No, I don't want to talk about this, either. There have been some moments of marital disharmony surrounding this and while I don't want to talk about marital disharmony, I do want to say that when someone takes over my chores for three days and then complains that it is an "unsustainable way to live," I might argue that the patriarchy has really won. I have a full-time job AND do these chores EVERY DAY of the YEAR. 

4) There's family stuff. There always is. My mom is doing really well and that's the great news. The bad news is that this election is really a problem for my relationships with a lot of family members and the holiday card list is getting smaller and smaller. I am staying up at night worrying about this election and I see bad things no matter how things turn out. 

5) I mean, the election is what it is. If you are a US citizen and have not already voted or made a plan to vote tomorrow, what are you waiting for? It's literally the fate of the democratic world (and, honestly, if you want to get started thinking about nuclear war, the entire world) at stake. Because of my husband's work, this election has added even more stress to what is a stressful time. 

6) I don't want to end this on a downer with nuclear war and stress. It was my one-year anniversary at my job last week. That's cool, right? I love my job, my co-workers are great, and I'm going to go to work late tomorrow because I am going to vote. 

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What's new in your world? Any radioactive pets? 

21 comments:

  1. Oh dear! That sounds like a bunch of difficulties. Cat littler is a problem. Our girl drinks a lot of water and pees a lot of pee. That makes the litter heavy and that makes the garbage bag heavy. Each week, I wonder if they will take it, but they have so far. I think we are all crossing our fingers wrt the election.

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  2. Wow, I can't believe it has been a year already at your "new" job! I remember you announcing that like it was just yesterday. I guess that means that I have almost been gone from home for a year, as I was probably in the throes of decluttering when you announced that. Congrats on your anniversary!

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  3. Well, shit. I hate all of that for you except the WONDERFUL JOB THAT YOU LOVE AND DO FANTASTICALLY GOOD WORK AT.

    I wish I were Superman and could fly around the Earth and either make it go backward or forward, whichever would make you happiest.

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  4. Well no- I don't have any radioactive pets, or pets with diarrhea, I'm not recovering from Covid, and I don't have family drama. So I guess I'm pretty lucky! I am worried about the election though. I can't believe that it is TOMORROW. All we can do is band together- can we have some kind of Cool Bloggers Election Support Group? I think we should start one.

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  5. No glow-in-the-dark animals here, thankfully. Congratulations on your one-year anniversary!

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  6. Oh wow, Engie! One-year-anniversary already! It feels like just yesterday we were all celebrating this "new" job and yet it also feels like you're such an expert at what you do and belies the just one year mark. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

    I'm sorry about all the other crappy stuff--#1 and #2 especially and the double punch of #3. Stay away from the dark thoughts this week and let's hope for the best, eh? <3 Perhaps next week will dawn a bit brighter.

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  7. Yay for 1 year! Down with the patriarchy!

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  8. I can understand that disharmony. Hopefully a bit understanding and appreciation is coming put of it.

    Congrats on the job. It is great if the job is fun and the people are nice.

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  9. Oh, not cuddling the cat would be terribly hard! And ooh, #3 has me seething. Someone needs to think about what he said. What an unfortunately corollary to your being sick. I hate that for you. Happy job anniversary, at least!

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  10. Love the job anniversary. Glad your mom is doing better. The rest is...not great.
    I'm not American, but I literally feel like I'm on the edge of my seat here in Canada. I mean...we're not THAT far away. My Christmas card list is changing a lot. I have new bloggers on the mailing labels...but I'm removing some people who never ever send a card in return. Life is too short.
    Sorry about Hannah and Zelda. And yes, it is insane the amount of work most women do in addition to their jobs and other responsibilities (many of which only fall to them because they are women).
    And having tense family relationships is it's own hellish experience.
    Thinking of you friend. Wish I could pop over and bring you a hot tea and give you a giant hug.

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  11. Sorry that I lol'ed at your husband's comment.... it's not funny, but you know, it sort of is. ha. Only thing I can say is maybe it was secretly a good thing for him to get to experience the reality of your daily life...??

    Congrats on your 1 year anniversary! I remember you being so down and depressed about your long job search, and look at that. Sometimes things do work out. :)

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  12. Happy workiversary! And, so glad about your mom. The rest felt wildly relatable - well, I haven't had a radioactive pet... YET - so I am just going to say "solidarity" and hope we get some sleep soon. In my world, I am trying to have less strong reactions about work stuff (because I can't have strong reactions about everything, it's exhausting) and trying to navigate my daughter's tweenishness (I've decided it's a word) in both its good and bad embodiment, haha sigh.

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  13. Well I had a terrible nightmare last night that my family was posting on social media about how I voted and wanted to debate about things like abortion and then I was disowned. I was yelling in my sleep and Phil tried multiple times to wake me up but I would just fall back into the dream... So I hear you and can relate to how you feel... I am very glad to be off social media right now as I am less exposed to the crazies out there. When I was on social media, I had to block my older sister because her views on things were so upsetting, and I did not need that stress when I was pregnant/had a newborn.

    Oh Dr. BB. Now you know how very good you have it.

    All the cruddy stuff aside, congrats on your 1-year workiversary. I vividly remember your job search and how, well, demoralizing it was at times. So I am so very happy that you are happy in your role and love your coworkers! We spend a lot of time at work so it's really important to like the people you work with!

    My update: my infusion that was scheduled for that I've been living for got cancelled because they don't have the IV saline that I get along w/ the meds because of the hurricane supply chain issues. I really about started to cry when the scheduler called to tell me on Friday. They can't even reschedule it because they don't know when they will have the meds back in stock. But my something good is that I have Wednesday and Thursday off from work to use as mostly shouldless days! Of course that means that Mon/Tues/Fri are absolute disasters full of meeting after meeting. I had someone send me a message at times as she was trying to schedule something on Friday and asked if my calendar was actually that full? Yep... it really is (but partially because we have a teacher's conference for Taco and a dr appt for Paul plus literally 7 other meetings. (see previous comment about the challenge of taking a 10 minute walk).

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  14. Sending you all my best wishes, Engie. This is a lot to deal with on top of a very stressful election. I can't even watch the news or be on social media right now.

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  15. We Canadians are worried about this election as well. Please America, do not go back.

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  16. Dang it - I drafted a comment this morning, and I just refreshed the page without realizing. Anyway, I'm sorry about radioactive cat sadness. That's so hard, because how does one explain the lack of cuddles to a cat? The household tasks . . . grrrr. Well done reflecting on the positive - it's great that you love your job and the people that come with it. That's a win for sure.

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  17. Oof. You had a tough week my friend and I am sorry about all the election anxiety is adding to it... not just the outcome but what it will mean for the nation and family relationships.
    I also think your martial disharmony proves that we need more women in charge and educate men about all the "unseen" work that we do on a daily basis (without complaining!).

    I am happy to hear your mom is doing better, that you're doing better, and I hope your pets both are getting better, too.

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  18. I hope that your husband hears himself when he says things like how unsustainable your burden is. Maybe it's time to re-balance the division of labor. I'm so sorry that Zelda's radioactivity is making you all miserable, that SOUNDS miserable. I hope that once this time of misery is in the past, she will live a long and healthy life, and you will both feel better about making the decision that you made.

    UGH on the diarrhea, poor Hannah! I wish I knew the answer for you. Our Genevieve used to have that issue, and the vet gave us something for it that was maybe an antibiotic I can't remember, and it really helped. She hated taking it, it was very bitter. I had to trick her and as soon as she figured out one trick is was on to another. Not good.

    I hope I will sleep tonight, though perhaps tomorrow night will be more difficult, with likely not knowing the election results.

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  19. Happy work anni! It's a big deal, and a happy thing to celebrate on election week. Also yay that your mom is doing well and the rest of the family stuff doesn't matter. I'm sending all of the good vibes your way for Zelda, Hannah, and for COVID recovery.

    I've noticed that the household tasks are "easy" when I do them and unbearable and unreasonable when others get brought into the fold. Harrumph.

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  20. Sending hugs Engie, and congratulations on yuor one year job anniversary. Yay for good jobs. The household tasks ... we do have a way to go. When I was working longer hours and the kids were all home we had a cleaner until COVID hit and she couldn't come. Because everyone was home we divvied up the chores. After a couple of weeks G piped up saying the cleaning was easy (he was assigned our bathroom) and that instead of having a cleaner when COVID lifted, get a gardener instead. A few weeks later I asked him whether he was actually scrubbing the shower tiles and base. I realised then why he thought it was so easy. Let's just say that the cleaner was reinstated once restrictions lifted.

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  21. One year at your job! Woop, Woop! I'm glad you found something that's such a great fit for you. <3

    I'm sorry about the radioactive cat and the diarrhea dog and the family drama. I am so anxious about this election. I don't know how I'm going to get through these next few days (?!) while we wait for it to be called. Deep breaths.

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