Month: November 2021

Vacancy

/ justdrivewillyou / Leave a comment

I lost my stepmother and my father-in-law earlier this year. One of my favorite bloggers, John Pavlovitz, wrote this post back in 2015, but I just read it tonight, and it spoke to me. For all of us who miss someone this holiday season, whether for the first time or the fortieth, I offer this:

https://johnpavlovitz.com/2015/11/26/holidays-and-empty-chairs/

Peace and comfort to you all.

Larry

What Are You Thankful For?

/ justdrivewillyou / 1 Comment

Better yet, who are you thankful for?

Is there someone in your life that you’re thankful is there? A parent, a friend, spouse or partner, sibling, child, teacher, pet?

Someone who brings you joy, love, inspiration, companionship, who gives meaning to your life?

Or, was there once?

As the Thanksgiving holidays approach, perhaps it would be a good time to let them know just how thankful you are for all they mean to you. Even if you think they already know.

If they’re no longer here, just give thanks to God, or the universe, or whoever it is you thank, for blessing you with them.

Among many others, I’m thankful for all of you, who take a minute out of your day to read my occasional babbling, and even to babble back sometimes.

As many reasons as we can all probably come up with to not be thankful, let’s be sure to acknowledge the things – and especially, the people – for which we can give thanks.

And not just on Thanksgiving.

In closing, I leave with you this thought I’m borrowing from a fellow blogger who posted this recently:

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.” – Henri Frederic Amiel

Happy Turkey Day, everybody.

Straight Shooter

/ justdrivewillyou / 14 Comments

So, I’ve learned a new skill lately.

Giving a cat a shot.

Our girl Lizzy had been losing weight at an alarming rate these last few months, so we got her in to see her vet. That’s a chore right there, because Lizzy is, shall we say, not the best patient when she goes in for a visit. She gets kinda growly and hissy. So, before we take her in, we have to give her a pill to mellow her out.

Problem is, she ain’t too good with pill-taking, either. It’s a two-person job; my wife holds her while I try to shove a pill down her throat. (Lizzy’s, not my wife’s.)

Anyway, after several blood tests, a sonogram and an endoscopy (Expensive!), Lizzy was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and was prescribed shots of B-12 weekly and steroids daily.

Now, neither my wife nor I had ever given anyone a shot before, so we got a quick lesson on administering injections, after the vet explained that many cats who have trouble with pills and liquids seem to do better with injections.

So my wife said, only later realizing her pun, ”Well, I guess we can give it a shot!”

It took a few tries for me to get the hang of it. I was nervous, at first, unsure of how Lizzy would react; I didn’t want to hurt her. By now, though, I feel like I’m pretty good at it. Once in awhile, she’ll wince or voice a mild protest, but usually, she acts like I didn’t do anything. And then, I can just go back to petting her to her heart’s content. (And mine.)

And yes, it’s way easier than pills or liquids.

And it seems to be working! The vet told us at Lizzy’s checkup yesterday that she’d gained two pounds. (Lizzy, not the vet.) This was great news. So the vet told us we were going to start decreasing the steroid dosage, and see how that goes.

We don’t like giving our girls medicine but, you know, we love ’em, so what’re ya gonna do, right? They may be 13, but they’re still our babies!

Get well soon, sweet girl.