Is That Hamlet?

Remember this little face?

In May of 2016, my friend, Becky, rescued this kitten from a storm drain where he had gone during a pouring rain to stay dry. He joined my family in July of last year when three homes fell through for him.

They grow kind of imperceptibly.

He's brought energy and giggles to the house.

He's my lover, particularly on a Sunday morning, when I sit down for breakfast and an hour of computer time before tackling the day's events.

He can be a pain when he wants attention but I want to play World of Warcraft. One of the best $50 I spent was for an impact case for my phone.

He turned a year old in April, so we had the obligatory vet visit.

At his first visit, he weighed 3 pounds. Let's add 10 to that. I was a bit horrified. Pilchard topped out at 13 and Mija was 12 and I worked to get them down to right around 10 pounds each. But the vet said she wasn't worried. He's a big cat; I mean look at that furrball on my table up there. Thirteen pounds on him is okay.

I still spend more time yelling, "Hamlet, no!" than I want to. He chases the girls and Mija really doesn't like it. Pilchard encourages it and will go looking for him. She will also growl at him if he wants to come inside and she's by the door. I realize this an exertion of dominance but I yell at her to knock it off.

He has learned to stay on the deck if I have the door open. That is a wonderful thing. The late spring gently warm days are wonderful if I can have the back door open. But, during the winter, when we'd go outside to sit in the sunshine, he'd go running off the deck. I rued being able to ever leave the door open again. The girls don't leave the deck if they come outside. They are skittish and usually don't go out even if I'm out there. I don't know what changed but he is usually very good now. If he leaves the deck, "Hamlet! Deck! House!" and he comes running.

For his birthday, I squirted some aerosol whipping cream onto a plate. Mija and Pilchard weren't quite sure what this stuff was so they didn't clean off their plates. He happily finished theirs. I don't feed him anything different than the other two. He thinks he wants people food and is always in my face when I sit down to eat, but then he sees what it is and realizes it's not for cats. He stuck his nose into my tea back in February and started drinking, which prompted a call to the vet to see if English Breakfast was acceptable. He did it only one other time and my vet said it was okay as long as he didn't drink it all the time.

He also loves catnip. The girls aren't that fond of it. They like it but he loves it.

So, yes, this is Hamlet, quite grown up. I never thought I wanted another cat but he's been the purrfect addition to the family.

Beverage:  Klarbrunn Black Cherry Seltzer

deb

Thanksgiving Lights

Last Thanksgiving was a milestone birthday for me. I don't talk my age except to say Play-Doh and I share a birth year, although it was "born" in April and I was born in November. For this occasion, I went to Virginia to spent the holiday with Carole and Larry. I returned the day after her November 28th birthday. It had been several years since we'd celebrated together.

Thanksgiving dinner was at Larry's parents' house. In the full tradition of American largess, the sideboards groaned with food. Baked turkey, deep-fried turkey, Virginia ham, mashed and scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, creamed and whole kernel corn, cornbread, rolls, applesauce, pickled beans, beets, stuffing and dressing, items I'm forgetting and macaroni and cheese. Mac and cheese is a southern Thanksgiving tradition, I learned. We don't serve that 'up nort'. There were two birthdays to celebrate on Thanksgiving Day in addition to my birthday on Saturday and Carole's the following Monday. I forget how many different desserts there were. We came home with so many leftovers, we didn't cook the whole time I was there.

The next day, we played board games and decorated the house for Christmas. It was 72 degrees out. I had to remind myself this would not last once the sun went down and that was truth. We watched my Hawkeyes beat the snot out of Nebraska in football and then went to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens for their annual light show. Carole and Larry have annual passes to this place because they have become a Pokemon hot spot and Larry loves Pokemon. They figured out they only have to go to 2.5 Pokemon events to pay for an annual pass and the Ginter holds more than that, plus all their other events, per year.

We met friends, Jon and Becky. A cold front had moved through during the football game, dropping the temperature 20 degrees and triggering drizzle. Still, we figured, if we got there 30-45 minutes before closing, most people would be leaving. The timing was perfect.

The theme was "Living Color". The first section you walked into was green.

It's a couple mile walk to go everywhere. There was a section for kids with a rainbow maze and tents of multicolored lights.

My little camera didn't do very well with photographs in the dark. I needed a tripod. Some things, like this tree, where I could place the camera on a post, came out fine. But a lot of the photos were blurry.

I love this photo, however.

There was a fence and I could sit the camera on the fence and depress the shutter. Enough light from the decorations meant the shutter speed was fast enough to capture the view.

In the middle of the park is a lake. Across the lake from the kids area was a large pavilion where tropical plants were. This was the view from the path up to a watch tower.

Inside the pavilion was warm and humid, prompting our glasses to steam over. As if the lights around the gardens weren't enough of an attraction, there was this tree in one of the back rooms.

That's Jon and Becky. It was an amazing creation, assembled in the same place every year specifically for photographs. 

These last two photos were taken with a cell phone camera. For my Disney trip in October, I need a better camera. I like the portability of my palm-sized one, but I need something better to capture the moments. 

In spite of the nip and drizzle in the air and the few times we had to contend with obnoxious, undisciplined children and the adults who didn't care, it was a magical event. There are Christmas light events around me which I've talked about attending and never have. I need to go. 

Beverage:  Water

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 7

Mija and Pilchard were very unhappy through August and into September, as Hamlet learned the house. I've talked about how I know when I'm being "yelled at". The tone of the meow changes. I heard that alot.

The three of us were not prepared for a kitten's energy. He ran everywhere. He pounced. He jumped. He attacked. I felt, on some days, that all I did was break up fights. Pilchard, especially, was not happy.

I spent a lot of time saying, "Hamlet! No!" Sometimes I wonder if he thinks that's his full name. He took over Mija's spot in the recliner...

...which angered her to the point that she followed me around one day, for a full hour, meowing angrily. I sometimes felt I wasn't giving the girls enough attention. It's hard to spread myself equally when I see a belly just ripe for rubbing.

We had an issue with sneezing at the beginning of fall. The girls didn't catch anything so we considered he had some kind of allergic reaction to something.

He learned, by the end of September, what time I came home and I would see him in the window of the office, waiting.

Or he'd be by the back door.

This was very poignant for me because Rascal, who looks a lot like Hamlet, used to do this, too. Having been outside, he tends to try to sneak out, but he knows his name and he goes inside after my getting really mad at him for leaving the deck.

He follows me downstairs when I do the laundry, but when I say, "Hamlet, upstairs," he goes. He discovered the laundry chute and that's the best thing in the world. He goes down the chute and onto the top of the furnace where it's warm. He follows me into the bathroom and will come running from anywhere in the house if he hears me go into the bathroom. He likes to sit on the edge of the tub when I shower which can result, as it did yesterday, in him falling into the tub during the shower. I had to get another toothbrush because he chewed on the one in the holder. That's now his and I keep mine in the medicine chest.

Any food, ANY food, I have, he needs to see, smell, taste, touch.

I was worried because I caught him lapping down some of my room temperature tea. The vet said that's okay. He's also stuck his nose in my Godiva liqueur-laced hot cocoa, which is less good than tea. He doesn't get that cats don't eat a lot of things people do. If I'm eating it, kitten needs to investigate.

Things have slowly, slowly, settled down. During football season, when I'm streaming games on the computer or watching them on TV, he learned that mom gets excited and the best place was not the living room. It was really quiet one afternoon so I went into the bedroom at half-time and found this.

I was shocked as the girls appeared to not want anything to do with Hamlet. Two weeks later, I caught them doing the same thing. It's not all the time and usually when there are clean clothes, but this is still done.

And we all co-existed when we were all outside on the deck in those last warm days of fall.

He sleeps with me, usually next to my legs. Sometimes, he will climb on me, lie down and start purring. That lasts for about 20 minutes and he wanders away. He will also lick my chin which isn't all that appreciated at 2:30 in the morning.

We have made our peace. He recognizes Pilchard is top cat. He has a tendency to jump Mija, something I am trying very hard to break him of. I have caught both girls chasing him, Pilchard moreso than Mija. We've reached the point where he will see Pilchard in the hall and I'll hear that little trill cats make to communicate with each other. He'll lie down and the two will wrestle.

It's been trying. There is no question about that. I was unprepared for kitten energy. His nickname is "Kitten Britches" or "Britches" for short, but mostly I use "Hamlet" as I don't want him confused. My house looks like a pet store's toy department exploded. He started to bring balls back when I tossed them, but he hasn't in some time. I guess I need to work with him. They all did well when I went to Virginia in November. The guy I hired said they all came out to see him when he came to feed them. Hamlet is into big cat food now. I have to feed him in the bedroom because he will shove the girls off their dishes. I'm hoping he'll grow out of that.

I know I did right by this guy. For all the "Hamlet! No!", the boops on the nose, the chasing, the growling, the extra expense for food and vet bills, my life is much more with him in it. Thanks go to Becky for recognizing a plaintive meow and rescuing him. When he wants to snuggle, which the girls have never wanted to do, any and all stress I could have melts.

He's something of a celebrity within my World of Warcraft guild, too. "ARG! Life with kitten britches!" "What did he do now?" How could anyone resist that face? I sure couldn't.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 6

I might have had a lot on my mind at the end of June, beginning of July. But helping Becky find a forever home for the waif in the bathroom was never far away. I posted and reposted the photos. I sent inquiries to no-kill shelters in the east and southeast Virginia area. All were full of kittens. They empathized, but no one was willing to take a kitten. Then a co-worker of Becky's came forward.

She would provide the kitten with a home. Her son had seen the photos and was in love. They would come get the girl the week before I was slated to come to Virginia on vacation. I was thrilled. Then it all fell apart.

I'm not privy to why it fell apart; it just did. We were back to square one. Becky was devastated. "I don't know what to do. It can't live in my bathroom. At some point, Zia (one of her dogs), is going to figure out how to get the door open and I fear Zia will kill her. And there's the whole allergy thing." I looked around my house. I have two girls I adore. Was my house and my heart and life big enough for a kitten? I decided it was and I offered to take the kitten if no one came forward.

Becky pushed everyone at the hospital where she worked. She showed countless people the photos. No one wanted her. So, the day after I arrived, she and Jon came to Carole and Larry's to play games and to bring this little gal, who I was taking home with me. I couldn't come up with a girl's name. I struggled and struggled. I always told myself that if I ever got to name a female cat again, she would be called "Rosalind", after the main character in Shakespeare's As You Like It, one of my favorite plays. But, as I drove east, it just didn't sit right. I finally settled on "Esme", for "Esme Weatherwax", a character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I don't really like Esme, but nothing seemed quite right.

"The naming of cats is a difficult matter. It isn't just one of your holiday games." --T.S. Eliot; Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. 

We put the kitten in my bedroom with food, water and her litter box. The bedroom was about twice the size of the bathroom, plus, there were windows she could look out. She warmed up to me almost instantly and spent half of the night sleeping either on or next to me. We let her come out of the room, supervised, the next day. Carole's cats were unimpressed, except for Jacen and Jaina. Jaina was upset and hissed, growled and spit at the kitten when it came out of the room. Jacen, on the other hand, was really excited to meet Esme and the two of them chased each other, tumbling around on the carpet under the bed. Becky had done a very good job of socialization. There was one problem. This was not a girl. This was a boy.

We had a huge laugh. In Becky's defense, she'd never cared for kittens so had no idea what to look for, shall we say. Well, that changes the naming convention, doesn't it. Esme Weatherwax went right out the window. Immediately, I knew what his name would be, "Hamlet". I don't know why; I just knew. My first cat had been named "Shakespeare". This felt right.

On Monday, July 18th, I left Virginia at 5 in the morning with a kitten under the passenger seat of the car. That's where he stayed the entire trip home, coming out only to use the litter box and to have food and water. When I stopped for food myself, I would check on him. He was quite the trooper. The next day, he went to the vet.

Becky had mentioned she supplemented the wet and dry food with milk supplement for kittens for the first couple of weeks he lived with her. My vet was impressed. He seemed healthy. She felt he was around 4 months old which would be consistent with his size and needing milk supplement when Becky found him. We drew blood to check for feline leukemia. He had ear mites, which was to be expected and he also had fleas. I wound up having to treat everyone for fleas from July through last month. But other than those issues, he's a healthy kitten.

He spent the rest of July and most of August living in the office. I would go in and play with him but contact with the girls was minimal. I would put him in my bedroom and leave the door open so the girls could go into that room and smell his scent. After being in the office for a month, I let him out when I was home. Over Labor Day, I let him out at night, too. No one was allowed into the basement through the month of September, something Pilchard was not pleased with. My rationale was that he needed to learn his name and to come when I called. There are so many hiding places in the basement. One step at a time. He was spayed in September, getting the rest of his shots at that time, too.

There was a lot of hissing, yowling and growling. I opened the basement up in mid-October and allowed Hamlet to go outside during the end of October, when we had some wonderfully warm afternoons and weekends.

But have I made the right decision? Mija and Pilchard are not happy.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

How Was Your Summer, Part 5

This story begins in May. My friend, Becky, who lives in Richmond, Virginia, came home one night during a rain storm. She parked and started to run into her house, but was stopped in her tracks by the most pitiful meow she's ever heard. Investigating, she found a kitten in the culvert near her house, trying to stay up out of the water. Angry that someone would dump a kitten in the first place and then double angry they would do that during heavy rains, she fished it out of the culvert and took it to her neighbor next door. This lady is, unfortunately, a cat hoarder. The woman was very dismissive and told Becky to leave the kitten, with food, in a cat carrier on her font porch. "Momma cat will come looking for it."

Becky checked in but it was clear that, after 2 days a) momma cat wasn't coming and b) the woman wasn't feeding the kitten. Outraged, Becky took it and the carrier into her spare bathroom. She gave it a warm towel and immediately ran to the pet store for food and litter.

When she got her settled in the bathroom, she posted the above photo on her Facebook page.

The poor thing was terrified.

It wouldn't eat and it clearly didn't want to have anything to do with Becky. She is allergic to cats, as is her husband, Jon. They have 3 rescue dogs and the dogs were going nuts over the smell of a cat in the house. She knew she needed to get this kitten socialized to have any chance of finding it a home.

It finally ate the day after it was brought into the bathroom. She came home and checked on it and the food was gone. She had used the litter box, too. But this whole idea of a human was not something she was excited about, particularly, as this human smelled like a dog. Becky persevered and, by day 6, she was coming out of the carrier when Becky was around, to eat.

There was initial interest in the kitten. People who know Becky know she is going to do right by an animal. She kept the carrier clean and she made sure there was fresh food and water daily. The big thing was socializing the kitten to humans. One of the dogs barged into the room and the kitten fled under a shelf unit.

It took 30 minutes to get her out.

Eventually, the kitten warmed up to Becky and to Jon, but he's much more allergic to cats than Becky is and he could only be with the kitten to play for 30 minutes once a day.

She was an inquisitive ball of fluff, friendly and active and clearly fond of exploring and of Becky. The first home fell through. A second one came forward, but it, too, fell through. Becky started calling humane societies and shelters in the Richmond area. There are no-kill shelters but they were at capacity with kittens and a friend told her not to take the kitten to the Richmond Animal Shelter. They may advertise as no-kill, but they will probably put the kitten down because they have no space. How could anyone resist such a face?

I thought about it. I did what I could from Illinois; reposting and offering to bring the kitten back to Illinois if someone was interested. Finally, a colleague of Becky's saw the post, showed her son who fell in love with this gal. She was going to have a "furr-ever" home.

Or so we thought.

Beverage:  Belhaven Oatmeal Stout

Deb

We Love Jon and Becky

I have these friends, Jon and Becky, who love dogs. They have 3, all of them rescues. In sending me Christmas presents, they did not forget that I am a cat lady.

This is hilarious; catnip in tea bag shaped toys. The girls have been argumentative with each other for almost a month now. I'm not sure what happened but I came home after work and found the small shelf unit in the office tipped over. They have nearly come to blows since the incident and it frustrates me so to hear growling and hissing.

I put these up, after fishing them out of the big box of wow back in December. Thoughtfully considering that the girls might need more stimulation, I got them out last night. They were a huge, huge success.

I dangled a bag each, over their heads. Mija knocked hers down and proceeded to roll on it.

Pilchard grabbed it and stood on it.

Both were excited to have something new to play with and the catnip contained therein was very potent.

They tossed their bags into the air and chased them around the living room. The couple of times they came in proximity to each other, they stopped, looked at each other and went back to playing with the toys. To further promote that they can be in the same room peacefully, I tossed Pilchard's bag into the box she currently adores. She followed and promptly laid down on it. I tried to get the toy so I could dangle it over her head but she wasn't moving.

After about 10 minutes of chasing, Mija decided that simply being near the bag was sufficient.

They spent the next 5 minutes just lying on or near their bags. Then they wandered away to sleep off whatever effects the catnip might have produced. They don't seem to have long term effects as some cats do. They like the raw stuff. I only give them organic catnip. They don't spend hours rolling on their scratchers when I add new catnip and, once I handed each of them a tea toy, played for about 10 minutes before stopping and just resting. Later, Pilchard pulled hers out of her box and dropped it on the floor. I heard them, much later that night (grumble), each take a turn chasing a bag around the living room.

It remains to be seen if this helps with the antagonistic behavior. I'm hopeful because it's just as stressful to me to have them fighting as it is for them to be fighting. They had a lot of fun last night. Fun helps.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb

A Comparison of Sorts

While looking for some information to send to a writer for the online magazine, Wired, I stumbled upon the following list for "What it costs to get married" in 1870. This list is the minimum each party should have when they marry. Given that we're going to be celebrating a wedding in a couple months, I found this very interesting. I'm not sure what these prices are in today's dollars. The list is copied from the North Iowa Times of 1870. I don't have an actual date of the paper. The photo is of the wedding of my friends, Becky and Jon Hutcherson.

Uniform for the Bridegroom
1 black cloth suit.......................................$75.00
1 pocket handkerchief...............................      .35
2 shirts, plain bosom.................................    5.00
1 nightshirt, ruffled...................................    4.00
2 paper collars...........................................      .05
1 necktie....................................................      .25
1 pair socks...............................................      .50
1 fine comb...............................................      .75
1 bottle bear's grease.................................    1.00
1 pair night drawers, ruffled.....................    2.50
1 bottle whiskey, sour...............................    2.00
1 paper cloves...........................................      .15
1 cork screw.............................................      .25
1 cake honey soap....................................      .25
1 bottle cocktail bitters.............................    1.50
1 ivory toothpick......................................      .20
1 bottle whiskey, straight.........................      .20
1 paper, chewing tobacco.........................      .20
2 bottles pickled oysters...........................    2.00
1 box seidlitz powders..............................      .75

Grand total for the groom.........................$98.65

The Bridal Trousseau

6 chemises, plain with ruffling............................$23.00
2 do., wrought....................................................... 25.00
4 night dresses, plain, edged with ruffling............ 20.00
2 do., embroidered................................................ 30.00
6 longcloth drawers, tucked................................. 27.00
3 do., trimmed with work..................................... 24.00
2 longcloth petticoats, tucked............................... 20.00
1 do., trimmed with needlework........................... 18.00
3 corset covers, trimmed....................................... 15.00
do do, extra nice.................................................... 30.00
3 low-necked merino vests.................................... 10.50
1 French Cambric dressing gown.......................... 18.00
do flannel do.......................................................... 30.00
12 pair white cotton hose....................................... 12.00
6 pair Lisle thread hose..........................................  9.00
12 linen Cambric handkerchiefs............................ 12.00
2 paddings.............................................................. 10.00
12 pair garters.........................................................  3.00
do boxes hairpins....................................................  3.00
6 hem-stitched handkerchiefs.................................  7.50
2 French corsets..................................................... 20.00
1 woven hooped skirt.............................................   5.00
1 duplex elliptic skirt..............................................  5.50
7 pair gloves, assorted............................................ 14.00
3 pair boots............................................................. 12.00

The bride's total is a whopping............................$402.50

Seidlitz powder is a laxative. Funny that a groom "needs" this, although with the oysters requirement, who knows. Oysters were considered an aphrodisiac so it's quite humorous that the groom needs to supply these.

I have no idea what the "do" is short for. "Longcloth" is plain cotton which was made to long lengths, thereby negating the need to piece sections together to make clothing. It was coarser than the Cambric cloth. Cambric was, and still is, a very fine grade of cloth. This is akin to denim versus shirt cotton. It's interesting also, that the list for the bride makes no mention of her dress for her wedding. This is just what she needs to bring along to start housekeeping.

So, guys, get those toothpicks, bear grease, oysters and whiskey. Understand, though, that you're going to have to lug a couple of trunks around because your lady loves "necessaries" aren't going to fit in an overnight bag.

Beverage:  Orange Juice

Deb

If The Shoe and Sock Fit

So I bought a dress for this here wedding what's upcoming. Me. I bought a dress. Let me tell you about that.

When I went to visit Carole and Larry at the end of October, it was to, mainly, participate with my clan at the Central Virginia Celtic Festival in Richmond. That Richmond is a 2 hour drive from Carole is a bonus. I tacked extra days onto the trip and that meant I had time to go with my daughter to shop for a wedding dress.

The first time we did this, it was fine. We got lost trying to find the stop but she got a lovely dress, not the one she initially wanted, but something she liked and something that looked good on her. This time, we picked up Larry's mom, Donna, and the matron of honor, Andrea, and headed to Springfield to a large Alfred Angelo bridal shop. I don't think I've been in one of these stores, ever.

Carole tried on several. My daughter does her homework and had prepped for this adventure by printing out a list of the dresses she wanted to try. The one she really liked looked good on her. It would have been a lovely dress. But, to make sure she had seen everything, she asked the clerk if she could suggest something. Given her likes, the gal came back with an amazing dress. Carole came out of the dressing room and the three of us just knew it was 'the one'. Carole needed a bit of convincing, but she did come to see that what she bought is perfect and reflects her personality.

Then it was Andrea's turn. The bridesmaid's dress Carole picked is going to be stunning. Donna found a suit that, when she put it on, she just glowed. She had some health issues going into the end of fall and to see her looking so pretty and so happy filled us with happiness.

Carole picked out a couple of dresses for me, and they were nice, but didn't grab me. I really wasn't going to buy a dress. I can sew. I sewed something for the first wedding. I can go, after Christmas, with Pam, as I did before, and find a pattern and material and make a one-of-a-kind dress I will like. In that spot, however, surrounded by ideas, I got to thinking that if I could find something, it would ease my mind about having just the right outfit. With help from the clerk, we picked out a two piece set that I can't wait until it arrives. When I put it on, I knew it was right, it was "the one". I've never, in my life, spent that much for any article of clothing. I don't have to worry about finding the time to make something. The next step was to buy shoes.

I said, at the time, that I would wait until the after Christmas sales and yes, that was the perfect time to go shoe shopping. I am in love with Clarks shoes. They fit so well and are incredibly comfortable. I'd figure out a way to buy a pair for the wedding. On New Year's Eve, allowed to leave the office early, I headed to the Clarks store. Shoes were on sale 50% off. Huzzah! After 45 minutes of trying on pairs and pairs and having an incredibly patient sales clerk, I came home with these.

My dress is black lace over a wine red crepe. Originally, I was going to get black shoes. What other color was there for an evening wedding? Then, I'd have them for any other dressy event. When I saw these on the shelf, I was drawn to them.

The dress doesn't show up for another 2 weeks, but I know they will be perfect with it. There's enough of a heel to feel dressy but not too much that I feel I'll topple over. I never really learned to walk in high heels so this size heel is comfortable for me. I'm so excited. They even look good with jeans.

I posted the above photo to Facebook and friends asked if I was intending to wear those socks to the wedding. While I laughed, I have considered just what I want to wear. I figured I'd get a pair of black trouser socks or a pair of knee high nylons, but what if I wore something from my sock stash? The shoes are comfortable. I should be comfortable in my stockings. Carole and Larry, Meredith and Jon and Becky contributed to my sock drawer this Christmas.

This is an excellent haul. I gathered them all up and decided to see how they would look with the shoes. I call these "Seuss socks".

Then there's the variegated ones.

These are close to the color of the shoes. I'm not sure that's the look I'm going for, you know.

The toe socks are great to wear around the house,

But it was uncomfortable to wear them with the shoes. Given that I can have my toes cramp on me, due to my RA, I don't need to wear socks that scrunch my feet. These are best in my tennis shoes.

Yet, the splash of color, the riot, actually, is intriguing. Maybe that's what I'm going for. I'm going to look good and I should also reflect something of my personality. Today's socks have potential.

They don't "go with" anything. They clash with the burgundy of the shoe and won't match the dress at all. But they are comfortable and fit in the shoe. I could whip off the shoes in the middle of the reception and dance in these, like I'm going to dance, right, but the thought is nice. I have 3 more to try. The pink peace sign socks are thermal and are too heavy to get into the shoes.

With Christmas decorations packed up and put away, we begin the countdown to the wedding. I have roughly 10 weeks to decide the important subject of what to wear with my dress and shoes. There will be more experiments, I promise.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb

Stiffness

At my last rheumatology appointment on January 31st, Dr. Francis mentioned that, of all her patients, only 2 had NOT complained about joint pain or stiffness this winter. She said it's been a very hard winter for those of us with arthritis or other joint problems. She said there's no literature about this theory she has but she thinks the cold shrinks the capillaries that deliver blood to the joint. Without this blood flow, it's worn muscle on bone and that causes inflammation which causes pain. I'm not sure how one would go about proving this either but it's as good of a theory as any other to explain how much I hurt.

And actually, in going through this assessment I do before every appointment, I wasn't quite as bad as I thought I was. I'm not really in a lot of pain. It's more stiffness. It is taking me about 5-10 minutes longer in the morning to get going than it did, even back in December. I try to build that into my morning, by getting up earlier, but I find myself still running behind simply because I'm slow. She put me back on Prednisone for the month of February and, if necessary, into the first 2 weeks of March, just to get through winter's last gasp here, help with the moving about and ease some of the aches that crop up from time to time.

But, in the last 10 days, that hasn't helped. The pain has been in the middle of my butt-cheek, radiating over to the hip and, particularly with my right leg, down the leg to the knee or, sometimes, the top of the calf. As the prednisone kicked in, the left side pain went away. The right side has lingered.

I realized it reminded me of the sciatica I had when I was pregnant. The medications you are given to alleviate sciatica cannot be given to pregnant women so I wound up spending a lot of time off my feet with my legs elevated. I find that now, it's a good way to ease the pain, too. But my friend, Becky, who is a doctor of physical therapy said elevation of the legs needs to be combined with movement. So, once an hour or 3 times a day, if I'm busy, I get up and walk around the office. It helps, but it just isn't making the pain go away.

This is so frustrating. I have a lot of things I want and need to get done. Floors need to be dusted, dishes washed, laundry done. But I can't be on my feet for long periods of time because it eventually hurts, very much, to move or stand or bend. I've moderated my abilities as I've learned what I can and can't do with this disease, but this pain is something else entirely.

Dr. Francis decided I needed to be on a Medpred pack. A what now? I've never heard of this.

I started yesterday with the top row. Each day, the pill count is reduced. It was kind of depressing to see my oatmeal bowl surrounded by all these pills since Saturday and Sunday are my days to take my weekly RA meds and there are a lot of those. But if it helps get through this, then it's necessary.

So, I'm on day two. I've been able to do a bit more than yesterday, but I'm still achy and sore. I'm going to do some reading this afternoon because I can elevate my legs which helps, plus, I've been up and down the stairs to do laundry and move things from upstairs downstairs.

What would also help is if we didn't get snow for a week. Although I take it slow and I bend my knees and not twist to toss the shovels full and I have a shovel that is designed to take some of the stress off shoveling, the sheer amount of snow we've had to shovel this year has contributed to my achiness. Hurry up spring. I'd rather be out raking the lawn than moving white stuff from one place to another.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb