Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Insecure Writers Support Group--A Harsh November



Diary of a writer:

November 4: Write witty blog for IWSG. Visit other blogs. Curiously tired after an hour or so. Fell asleep before lunch. Fever comes on strong along with cough--pneumonia suspected.

November 5: Go on antibiotics.

November 6: Third day of fever and cough is feeling like punishment. How did my older daughter put up with this crap for 10+ days? I'm losing it. Pneumonia is kicking my butt. Jello is my new friend.

November 7: Fever breaks. Energy nowhere to be found. I'd planned on resting up after the craziness of October, but this is ridiculous.

November 11: Take Jesse-cat to vet. Poor girl is eighteen with diabetes and now limping in both hind legs. Vet says it is severe arthritis. Heart murmur detected. Vet recommends special recovery food to boost her appetite and fluids (given by needle in loose neck skin) every other day.

November 12: Family trip to Hoopla yogurt bar. Older daughter gets ill that evening--howdy, Ralph! I regret sharing her yogurt and wonder if I'm next to worship at the porcelain throne.

November 14: Husband asks if I've heard what happened in France. With Sedona still ill and no cable, it won't be until Monday that I get a chance to learn about the extent of the tragedy.

November 16: Jesse is deteriorating. I consider taking her to the vet, but don't because it's my husband's birthday and I want him to have a nice dinner. After dinner, Jesse is not moving and I realize I can't let her suffer through the night. Arrive at emergency vet around 10 p.m. The doctor asks if I understand the process of euthanasia. Having gone it with another kitty two years ago (almost to the day), I say yes. Manage to hold emotions in check until I have to leave the room and her sweet lifeless body behind.

November 17: Go on two hour bike ride first thing in the morning to clear my head. It's freezing. I bike out to the end of the pier on Lake Ontario anyway and let the waves smack into me. When I get home, insane coughing ensues.

November 18: Pneumonia returns for round two. (Like, duh.)

November 20: New antibiotics doing terrible things to me. Switch to different medicine and buy more jello. Misery level reaches new high (or is it new low?)

November 26: Pneumonia gone in time for Thanksgiving. Subdued dinner with immediate family. High praise for my stuffing.

November 27: Attend Nutcracker ballet. It's gorgeous, but younger daughter completely bored by end of show. Entertains herself by grabbing my hands whenever I try to clap. What the . . . !?!

November 28: Get fantastic Christmas tree which fills house with its scent. Realize we own 100+ ornaments, but put every darn one on anyway.

November 30: Older daughter gets follow-up chest x-ray. Pneumonia (that she had in Oct.) all gone. Huzzah! Realize I have accomplished no writing for an entire month--will have to settle for surviving it instead.

Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh, creator of this monthly par-tay, and a shout-out to this month's cohosts: Sandra Hoover, Mark Koopmans, Doreen McGettigan, Megan Morgan, and Melodie Campbell! Rock on with your bad selves.

How was your November? Fun? Harsh? Nano Productive? 


29 comments:

  1. Yikes! What a month. Sorry to hear about your cat and all the sickness in your household.

    This - "Jello is my new friend." - made me laugh out loud for some odd reason....

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  2. Pneumonia is not fun! I had it twice as a kid. I'm sorry November was such a sick month for you and your family. Oh, but how I've dreamed of seeing the Nutcracker ballet.

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  3. Pneumonia is not fun! I had it twice as a kid. I'm sorry November was such a sick month for you and your family. Oh, but how I've dreamed of seeing the Nutcracker ballet.

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  4. Wow, what a month! Very sorry about your cat. They become family. Hope you can remain healthy through the rest of the holiday season.

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  5. Gosh you had a rough month! I'm glad everyone is recovering and I'm so sorry about your poor kitty. May December be filled with nothing but awesome things for you!

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  6. I had to put my best friend to sleep in July--on his sixth birthday, no less. He had kidney and liver failure. You read the post about my mother. Her response was "we need to go through these trials in order to form callouses on our souls." I kind of think she has more than enough callouses on hers.
    I hope things turn around for you. I'm sorry for the loss of Jesse.

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  7. Oy! Life throws such curve balls. I didn't even attempt NaNo because I knew it would be blasted out of the water before I got two days in. We do what we can, eh? So sorry about your cat.

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  8. My heart breaks that you had to put Jesse to sleep. I've cried every time we've had to do that with our cats. You need an event-free December.

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    1. Thanks Diane. It is so hard to let them go even when you know it's the humane thing to do.

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  9. Oh wow! I am sorry you and your family had to go through all that. Hopefully everyone is on the uphill climb now. You all deserve a party to celebrate health and happiness. Erika

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  10. You poor thing! I hope you and your family have a better month ahead of you guys;)

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  11. Wow, that's a nasty way to spend November! Pneumonia is no fun, and loosing a furry friend is even less fun. Hope that December is way better!

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  12. Egads! Well, I think you have a valid excuse for not getting any writing done. Glad the pneumonia is finally gone.

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  13. Glad to hear things are better now. You had reason not to get the writing done, Wishing Sunshine and Health in the coming months, I would say warmth, but most places are not going to get that,


    Happy Holidays
    Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

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  14. Glad to hear things are better now. You had reason not to get the writing done, Wishing Sunshine and Health in the coming months, I would say warmth, but most places are not going to get that,


    Happy Holidays
    Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

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  15. Poor you. What a lousy month. Hopefully, December would be better.

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  16. Forget November. What a lousy month. Listen to Olga (above). December will be better. Don't apologize for not writing. How could you with being so sick?

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  17. I've had months like that. It's hard with kids, because it takes so long for the sickness(es) to go through the whole family. It can only get better!

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  18. Oh my goodness! I do hope that December has arrived quietly and that you will be able to celebrate the holidays with joy and good health. Hugs to you and your family at the loss of your dear cat. I bet she's hunting up a storm in the Elysian Fields.

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  19. Oh my goodness! I do hope that December has arrived quietly and that you will be able to celebrate the holidays with joy and good health. Hugs to you and your family at the loss of your dear cat. I bet she's hunting up a storm in the Elysian Fields.

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  20. Kudos on surviving your life. So sorry about the kitty.

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  21. Wow, what an amazing post, Tamara. You brought tears to my eyes. I'm really sorry for the loss of Jesse. I've been through that once, and it was the most painful experience of my life thus far.

    I wish you a wonderful December - you're due.

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    1. I agree. Putting a pet to sleep or losing them in any way is such a blow. The house feels strangely empty even though she spent the last five years of her life sleeping in my bed.

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  22. Wow, you definitely did well to survive that month. Yikes. So sorry about Jesse. Hope Christmas turns out to be illness-free for you all.

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  23. Hugs to you for surviving that mess of a month. I failed at NaNo but I'm happy I did get 38,000 words done so I will be finishing this month.

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  24. What a rough month. :( I'm glad the end of it was much lighter and better.

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  25. A busy November! Wishing you great joy and fulfillment in December.

    Arlee Bird
    Wrote By Rote

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I will do everything in my power to visit commenter's blogs unless I've been abducted by aliens or my children get sick. (If my children get abducted by aliens, I will be very busy, of course, catching up on my sleep.)