This rambling post brought to you by Finals Week! And Emmett stress! And Cooper stress! And too much coffee! Way, way, way too much coffeeee!
I teach two writing classes each semester at the local community college. This week is the last week of the semester, which means frantic grading of all the work they “forgot” to turn in earlier in the semester, plus final projects in one class (2000 words times 15 students…) and administering the final exam in the other class tonight. And grading it all tomorrow.
So, a handful of updates:
- The update about Emmett is… there’s no update. The oncology resident called on Friday to say that, turns out, the sample size wasn’t big enough. He’s going to call our local vet to discuss. Two possible courses of action: wait and see (which I HATE) or surgically remove it (which I also HATE). I’ll keep ya posted, but in the meantime, thank you all for the wishes and positivity!
- We’re still testing different ingredients for Cooper, but I can say – most assuredly – that dairy is NOT an option. I tried cottage cheese. Let’s just say… actually, no… let’s not say. I need to put that one behind me. Shudder.
- On another Cooper note, and unrelated to the cottage cheese incident because it happened the day before, he is no longer tremor-free. After months of no tremors, he had a prolonged one super early in the morning. Which got me thinking that maybe he hasn’t actually been tremor-free after all. Now that it’s cold, he’s been waiting until 3 or 4 am to climb into bed with me. He’s all knees and elbows, so it wakes me up every night. This particular morning was closer to 5 am, and he draped himself across my legs. I thought he was licking his feet, so I sat up to say something like, “OK. If you wake me up every dang night, the least you can do is not lick yourself on top of me!” But, instead, I saw the shaking. So, now I’m wondering if he hasn’t been not tremoring after all, but rather tremoring overnight/early morning when I wouldn’t notice? And since he had literally just woken me up, I was more cognizant? Hm.
- A few of the gift guide prizes were inadvertently shipped to me instead of the winners. Sigh. I’ve been getting everything organized to ship out, and I tossed this box on my desk. Newt moved in. She seriously hasn’t left it today. I think she lives there now.
It’s kind of nice knowing exactly where she is versus when I was wrapping Christmas gifts over the weekend and kept shutting her in the storage closet. Oops. - Finally, I spent a big chunk of the weekend cooking and baking, and I whipped up a Christmas cookie recipe for the boys for my next guest post on Positively! I’ll share it when it’s live, but here’s a sneak peek at my “helpers” helping me clean peanut butter off a spatula!
Hope you had a lovely weekend and that your week is off to a great start!
Now, to go make another pot of coffee….
I love reading your updates!! Good luck on the testing, I had no idea you were teaching. Goodness!! No wonder you are stressed!!
“How do you catch a cat?”
Put a box/bag/sheet of paper on the floor and walk away.
🙂
I’m looking forward to the recipe as I’m elbow-deep in cookies too and would love to make some for the Spoiled Boys.
We hate waiting we have had our share of that with our little grandmonster girl. Hugs stella rose
Sounds like you have a lot going on! Hopefully things will slow down and somehow Emmett will get some good news instead of 2 bad options!
Your Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Still keeping you in my prayers for good news for Emmett, as well as for Cooper. It’s scary that he could still have those tremors and no one would know because of the timing! Not like you can watch him 24/7. Although, I’m sure it feels like you are, anyway. Yeah, like you want to have a camera on your bed running while you sleep, just in case. 😉
How wonderful for you to be able to teach classes on a subject you love. Look on the bright side: most people will NEVER have that kind of validation. That’s awesome.
Take it a little easier on yourself. Hydrate, relax and count your blessings.
You have a GREAT career, a WONDERFUL husband, AMAZING friends, including all of us who read your blog and think of you as a friend, and some FANTASTIC furkids.
No matter what happens on the downside, the PLUSES will outweigh the bad.
Hang in there; everyone who knows you is sending good wishes your way.
Prayers for your furkids and Happy Holidays for you all.
Leslie, Maddie, Wishbone and Cole ( Emmett’s long-lost brother, in spirit).
Ughh, why do things always seem to gang up on us when it’s so close to the holidays, as if preparing for the holidays wasn’t enough.?
I feel for you about your little predicament with Emmett’s lump. Making the ol boy go through another procedure At his age and his liver counts being a bit off I can understand your apprehension. You have some experience from his previous lump so know what to looks for if you do wait and watch. Hopefully you can figure something out that you are comfortable with.
Poor Cooper 🙁 I’ve been racking my brain to try to figure out why Cash’s head tremors have returned. We’ve made no changes to his diet, he had his last preventative heartworm treatment well over a month ago, yet he’s been tremoring. I have thought in the past that maybe it had to do with his activity level during the day, that over stimulation/activity or under stimulation or little activity may contribute. I also have wondered if it may be a spinal or nerve issue, (like a pinched nerve or pressure on a nerve) and that’s why Cash’s usually stop when he gets up or stretches his head/neck for his treat or if he moves around alot they stop. Maybe a doggy chiropractor could help?
Lastly about the dairy, do you think it could have been dairy all this time? Coop used to get Greek yogurt quite regularly didn’t he? Do you think he developed the dairy issue due to his hypersensitive tummy? Do you know if he can have dairy as an ingredient in a product?
So many questions so many theories and so many possible answers? Aren’t you glad I responded to your post and gave you even more to think about!? (If you hadn’t already thought of these)
I hope things slow down soon for you all so you can enjoy the beauty of the season with your families, the boys and Newt
Sof an Cash
Sounds like you’ll be glad for semester break when you finally put grading behind you. Hope you get some good news soon. Sounds like you could use it.