Wrapping Up August (#WriteMotivation, etc.)


Breaking my hiatus for a bit of an update, because there’s been a lot going on.

First, I have a (rather timely scheduled) post up at the RRFS blog – Overcoming Writing Obstacles: When Life Legitimately Interrupts.

August #WriteMotivation… did not go well. I’ll be bowing out of September’s #WriteMotivation, as well, as I start gearing things up for NaNoWriMo, and trying to recover from the hell that was August.

Yeah, remember how I thought July was going to bust my ass? Evidently August just wanted to skip straight to “let’s see exactly what it takes to break Rebekah”. And in some ways… I did break. I think I experienced the closest I will hopefully ever be to actually having a nervous breakdown. Heck, it might have BEEN a nervous breakdown. Not really sure…

So what HAS been going on?

My sister moved in with me and my husband on the 17th.

Tabby, my 13-yr-old cat that I’ve had since I was 15, went into full kidney failure.

The brand new alternator in the car went out (it was literally two months old). Fortunately, it was under warranty.

My… SD (sperm donor aka biological father) returned home after two months of rehab after the heart transplant.

And my mom was called for federal jury duty.

All of that probably wouldn’t have been too much for me to handle, if it hadn’t all happened at the same time. Heck, I probably could have handled most of that FINE, if the Tabby Adventure hadn’t happened at all.

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Those of you who follow me on Twitter, or are friends on Facebook (I couldn’t yet handle posting it to my public facebook page, it was a bit personal and almost everyone on my Facebook page is also a personal friend), already know most of what is going on with that.

For those of you who don’t know:

I took Tabby to the vet the afternoon of August 22nd. I had noticed some things going on (IE: he was peeing on the floor a lot instead of in the box, and it didn’t look/smell like normal urine, but was the consistency and smell of water; he wasn’t eating as much as normal, etc.) and had talked to my veterinarian/best friend (Laura) on Wednesday. Thursday afternoon was the soonest I could get an appointment.

During the initial part of the appointment is when we figured out why he wasn’t eating much – he had an infected tooth. So while he was showing interest in food, it was literally hurting him to eat, so he was only eating until it hurt too much. He also has a bit of arthritis in his back hips/legs. He was also extremely dehydrated.

Then we did the blood test, because the tooth problem most definitely did not explain the urine.

When the results came back, (15 minutes later, because they can run the test in the office – isn’t technology wonderful?) it wasn’t good. One of Tabby’s kidney values was too high… and the other one was so high it couldn’t even read it.

Laura was realistic – but hopeful – with me. She explained what those numbers on the test meant, and what options I did have. I will be honest – I spent money on this cat that I didn’t really have to spend. But at this point, I’d rather deal with a little debt than deal with the grief of saying goodbye. Especially since there was hope that he would pull out of a bit.

He stayed at the vet clinic for four days (yay IV!), and unfortunately at the end of it, while he was feeling better and wasn’t severely dehydrated anymore, his kidney values hadn’t come down significantly. We brought him home last Monday (a week ago). I have to keep track of his hydration, and supplement with subcutaneous fluid injections as necessary. He doesn’t like this. He’s more cooperative about his new easy-on-the-kidneys diet.

Tabby with his fur boot (front right leg) - they had to shave his leg to put the IV in.

Tabby with his fur boot (front right leg) – they had to shave his leg to put the IV in.

I don’t know how long I have left with him – but really, even if a cat is healthy at this age, we don’t really know. What I do know is that he’s eating, he’s drinking, and he’s playing. He’s energetic and acting completely like himself. So as long as he’s happy and not suffering, I’ll do everything I can to keep him around.

So the family things I’m  just taking a day at a time right now. Nothing bad has happened today. Hopefully it stays that way.

So, August #WriteMotivation…

  • Crit Cloudy for Eris
  • Finish my 2nd Cousin’s quilt
  • DO NOT TOUCH CATALYST. 
  • Finish reading A Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
  • Make significant progress on getting healthy – no white flour or refined sugar for the month.
  • Reevaluate my social media “platform”.

So 3/6 overall, which really isn’t bad considering everything that went on the second half of the month. And while I’m not doing #WriteMotivation for September, I will be prioritizing finishing that quilt. Eris and I have talked, and I’m off the hook for Cloudy until she finishes her next round of revisions. And… I just haven’t been at the mental capacity to process Rothfuss’ writing, so it has been lent to Laura (yes, the best friend/vet) for her to read because she was waiting on it from me.

And with that, I will be popping back into my blog-hiatus realm to plot and strive for new things and creativity! There are some huge changes coming for my blog, and I think you guys are going to like them – but most importantly, I’m going to like them.

And you should sign up for my newsletter so you can be the first to know everything happening behind the scenes! The first one will go out tomorrow.

*hugs* Have a fantastic September, everyone!

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