Quick Check-in On New Year Resolutions

How's everyone doing with those resolutions? Weight sliding off? Relationships healthy? Houses gleaming? Quality time indulged in with kids/spouse/pets each and every day? And best of all, nothing riles you because you are zen and one with the universe? 

Yeah, me neither. But slow progress is being made. Here's a quick check on how those resolutions are holding up.

1. Keep alive the Christmas fish. Check. The fish are alive and well and we love our little guys. Best of all, no smell. Only one more week until we can add more fish. Can you sense the excitement?
2. Maintain a 25-mile/week running base until summer training begins. I'm close. I'm averaging closer to 21 miles but I've got races at the end of the month so I'm motivated to up the miles.
3. Yoga and weight train. I'm all over this one. Yoga 3x/week and I'm doing 8-minutes in the morning weight training which so far is working well.
4. Clean the house weekly, together. Umm...next resolution, please.
5. Dena in charge of finances. That's right, I rule. I'm freaking out at how fast money goes out the door. I think I liked it better when I wasn't paying attention. But I already have a much stronger grasp of our household budget. More to come.
6. Get a physical. It's only been 15 years since my last one. I have a doctor's name to call this week for an appointment.
7. One hour of TV per day in January. So far, so good. I'm inundated with books and haven't missed time spent loafing in front of the boob-tube.
8. Meditate 5x/week. Sigh. This has been on my resolution list for the past 8 years. I think I've sat down for 3 sessions so far this year. But I haven't given up hope on this one just yet...
9. Read local paper. I'm doing more of this. I'm not doing it daily but also don't know that I WANT to do it daily. Right now I'm aiming for about every second day.
10. 2 "new" things each month with Blair. We've got this month's scheduled. A Paula Poundstone concert and a friend of mine who is a comedian is performing in town this weekend and we're going to see her. Apparently we need the laughs.
11. Exhibit more patience. This is the goal Blair asked me to work on. When I asked for an example, he said: "When we go to Wal-mart and there's a line, a lot of times you roll your eyes and huff and look annoyed. Maybe just work on calming down a little in those situations." Okay, fine. But I had to point out that I am NOT upset that there is a line. Lines happen. What I'm huffing about is the person who has decided to hold an in-depth conversation with the cashier who they apparently haven't seen in a month, forgetting to pull out their wallet to pay while where is a line 10 deep behind them. Or--my favorite--watching the cashier whose register locked up simply abandon all hope and just stand there and stare at the machine in the hopes that it may come back to life. How about calling a manager or someone? But no... she just stands there. That's where I lose my patience. But no more. I'm on a nice campaign. Stand back and watch the sugar drip off me.

I've got a few more private/professional goals that are coming along nicely as well. All in all, 2008 has held good things thus far. Hope it's the same for all of you.

Volunteering At A Local Animal Shelter

Laying printed out on the corner of my desk is a flyer for volunteers needed for the Rockingham County Animal Shelter. They need people to clean cages, feed and water animals, take pictures of the animals, escort animals to vet hospital if needed, and help answer the phone and assist the public when they come in. There is a disclaimer on the site, "Can be heartbreaking and tough to deal with so must have a strong heart and the will to help. It is also rewarding to help get animals adopted and into loving homes."

I desperately want to help but I'm so afraid. Our shelter is... struggling. Most animals are held only 24 hours before being put down simply because there isn't the staff to care for them or the room to house them or the money to feed/care for them. I just don't know how I'd do going in and being surrounded by animals that I know are scheduled to die in the next 12 hours. It makes me practically throw up just thinking about it.

But then I get angry at myself. So it's hard. What a pitiful excuse. Isn't it better that these animals receive love and attention--no matter how brief--before they die? Wouldn't knowing they at least had someone be kind to them for a short respite be better than nothing at all?

Then I think of having to stand and walk away at the end of the day from wagging tails and sad eyes and maybe little puppies or cats that are so eager to give their love to someone and who would make ideal pets if only there were time, if only someone would give them the chance and... I don't know. It scares me. Really scares me, having to do that.

But maybe... with time... it becomes a little easier. Never easy. I keep thinking, I need to let someone else do this. Someone with a better suited temperament who won't burst into tears before they're even in the door. But what if there is no one? What if everyone is waiting for someone else to pick up the slack? It's the animals who suffer.

So I think I'm going to do it. Make the call. I can't guarantee I'll last. I'll try. I will. And maybe it won't be as awful as I'm dreading.

I Sense a New Cat Story...

Tell me this experience won't make it into the book.  For the past couple of weeks Blair and I have noticed that Olivia has some very small scabs on her skin. We first thought maybe Lucy had swiped her. But the scabs stayed and showed up in different places. They didn't seem to hurt or bother her but we wanted to get them checked out. So I had the vet look at them yesterday when I took the cats in to get their nails trimmed. (That's right, my girls have a standing every 6-week manicure appointment. They're more girly than I am.)

"Flea allergy," said the vet.

"I thought of that," I said. "But I've checked her for fleas and there's nothing."

"Doesn't matter," said the vet. She went on to explain that just one flea can bite a cat but the cat can have a reaction to the bite which spreads through their system. With the complete lack of winter we've had here for the past 4 years, our flea/tick/mosquito problem has been huge. Since the cats are indooor only, chances are Blair or myself carried a flea inside that had the audacity to bite my baby kitten.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

Here's where the fun starts. We need to give Olivia a PILL every other day for the next month. Have you ever tried to give a cat a pill? There are jokes about it on the Internet. My vet showed me how. With Olivia on the exam table, she cradled the skull in one hand, prying the upper jaw away from the lower with a flick of her fingers.

"Do it like this," she said demonstrating. "Then take your finger and stick the pill way back in the mouth. If you think it will be a problem there is a pill gun available."

Yeah, like I'm really going to aim anything, no matter how much it's meant to be helpful, at my baby's throat. No, I told the vet, we would forge ahead.

When Blair got home I informed him of the situation. He looked depressed.

"A pill? Seriously? For a month?" He sighed. "Well, at least the vet gave her the first one."

"Hey, that would have been a good idea," I said. "Only I didn't think of it. So it's you and me and a cat and a pill tonight."

Suffice it to say that our attempt to give Olivia her medication did NOT look like the vet's easy-as-pie demonstration. I held her while Blair shoved the pill in  her mouth. We didn't see it come back up so we're hopeful we did it right.

Meanwhile, both of us are concerned Olivia is going to start avoiding the sight of us. She didn't sleep with us last night for the first time in weeks. Maybe it's not related. But maybe it is.

More to follow, I'm sure...

Funny Tidbits in Life

Over the past couple of days I've been mentally collecting amusing events that have occurred in the course of everyday life. By themselves none is probably worthy of a full blog entry but I'll just do what writers do, which is to throw them together, call it a collection, and sit back and collect the royalties.  So, enjoy...

• When Blair and I went out before Christmas with our friends Pam and Michael, we had a discussion about being pampered at certain hotels. I mentioned that the staff on our Alaskan cruise must have been either psychic or else had spy cam's in place. We could leave our cabin for no more than a minute and when we returned, the room would be straightened. The giveaway was always that the toilet paper would be folded in a small V-shape. I mentioned how much I loved coming back to the room to find the v-shaped t.p. The next day at home, I walked into the bathroom to discover Blair had folded all the toilet paper into v-shaped ends.
• My mom was visiting this week. I had a gift certificate for Banana Republic so we stopped in there. As I came out of the dressing room in various tops, mom's praise grew more effusive. "Oh, that is so beautiful on you." "Oh honey, you are gorgeous in that!" "Oh my God. Look how beautiful you are." People in the dressing rooms around us were quietly throwing up. I was almost buying into the hype until I came out in this bright kelly green tee Mom had insisted I try on. I wasn't wild about the color but Mom raved about how I looked. "Really?" I asked, spinning around. "Well, maybe..." Just then I caught the sales clerks eye. He gave me the once over, a little frown formed on his forehead as he ever-so-slightly shook his head "no".
• I dropped Mom off at the airport today. As she was checking in, the United clerk informed her the flight was delayed an hour due to mechanical problems. "The flight I came in on  had mechanical problems as well," said Mom. "I know, it's the same flight," said the clerk. She sighed. "They need to stop sending that stupid plane."

That's it. Hope your 2008 has started off with some laughs as well.