Gift of RA

Yesterday we took my Versa in for service, about 1000 before the 89,000 service.   I noticed a thumpity when I was going very slowly about a week or two ago.  Not very noticeable at first, but this week it was much more pronounced.  I had asked Eddie if he noticed anything, just to sure I wasn’t imagining it.  He noticed it too and I have to admit, it made me uneasy.  So we went in Saturday to do the service and have them check it out.  Later  we had a phone call to tell us the transmission gave out.  The CVT valve was being chewed up, they found bits of metal in the oil pan.   I couldn’t have times it better if I’d planned it.  So now I have a loaner car, another Versa but a little different.  They said it would be at least a week for the new (remanufactured) transmission to come.  Fortunately they had extended the warranty for it, so it won’t cost us anything.

I saw my Mom Friday and she was a little more alert, but after she had the chocolate, she started dozing.  She managed one cookie but seemed very sleepy, so I left the other two for an afternoon snack.  I didn’t stay that long because I had a lunch date with my close friend Kathie Brody, we haven’t done anything for several months because we were both busy.  I emailed her to see how she was doing and she had been gallivanting to Italy, New Orleans and not sure where else.  However, the past 2 or 3 weeks she has been taking care of Suburu, her cat.    As she put it:

Himself has been very sick and I thought I was going to lose him a couple of weeks ago.  He’s still thinking about it but for the moment he has decided to stay. The doc said he has very high blood pressure so I give him a pill and cream every day (the cream was my idea, not the vet’s!) and she also said maybe a little piece of cartilage has broken loose on his spine and floated down and lodged so he doesn’t know where his hind end is.  He can no longer jump up on my lap or his chair, even his low throne.  Poor baby.  He is very quiet…so I think he is making up his mind.  I know why he came into my life all those years ago (17, I can hardly believe it) which was to teach me how to love again.  Now that I am taking the classes with my Shaman and living consciously and opening up my heart, I am wondering if he is thinking his job is done.  If I hold on to him too long then he can’t go help someone else, but … it is a tough decision.  I hope he makes it for me.  At the moment he does not appear to be in pain. His meowing is very quiet and his purring motor is very quiet, but it still works. He vomits a few mornings a week but often he is polite enough to do it on the hardwood floor.  So I am pretty worried about him and haven’t come to grips with it yet.

Kathy sent me this when I had asked for a healing from a difficult situation.

I asked Kathie about him as we were saying good-bye, she said he is not in pain, is fine but very quiet.  So she is just waiting to see what he decides.  Still brings tears to my eyes when I think about him – he has been a very special cat for me.  We really haven’t met face to face, he is usually upstairs sleeping when I go to her home.  But he has given me several messages over the past  years and apparently does only for me.  She says when I call or email, he always knows and comes into her lap, he only does it with me.  I am very flattered and appreciative.

We had a delightful lunch at Queen Mary Tearoom.  We had a lovely lunch, though both of us looked for a lighter meal.  They have a wonderful phyllo dough pastry dish with cheese and not sure what else that is wonderful.  Now I find something like that feels too heavy, so I tried their Bacon Leek Quiche and it was very good.  They had a green salad and a lot of wonderful fruits; I was comfortably full but didn’t feel I ate too much.  We talked about what she has been doing, what I’ve been doing as well as having fun with the waitress.  They are so friendly and welcoming there, they had a new one on her first day, so we had fun with her as well.  I always think I am going to try a different tea but find I go back to Creamy Earl Grey.  It was a beautiful day, in the 70’s – my kind of weather.  We are not going to let so much time go by before getting together again.

Thursday I had a meeting at the radio station about my show.  They have an opening at 9:30 on Tuesday morning – Erik thinks my show would do well on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I don’t have a sponsor signed up yet, but everything has lined up so well and so easily that it’s time to put up or shut up.  It was a little scary but also exciting – I had to decide if I was going to take a risk and make the leap of faith or not.  I had read somewhere that until one commits, things don’t appear.  I think of Moses and the Red Sea – I always thought the water just parted and they went across.  Turns out they had to start walking into the water before it parted.  I thought about it and when I told Eddie I wanted to do this, it is very important to me, he said “Go for it”.  I decided on Friday I was going to do it – I sent an email to Brian and Erik to get the show on the road.  However, they won’t get it until Monday and I am not sure how long it will take for them to respond.

I have been thinking a lot about the show, who I would invite as guests, what to talk about as well as sponsors, a web site  – it will be interesting to see how it develops and how it all works.  It’s a big step, I will be signing a contract for a year.  I was so pleased that both Erik and Brian really like my idea and concept, also the name Finding The Gifts.  I didn’t want to use Gift of RA because it felt too confining and specific, this way it can expand and extend into other areas.  One will be dealing with My Mom’s dementia, something a lot of people are now dealing with.  I will also talk about dealing with a chronic illness because although illness may be different, there are some basic things  we have in common.

It’s been an interesting week, up and downs and a lot of surprises.  I am pleased to find I have had more energy and accomplished a lot of things I have been meaning to do.  It also has been tiring and I have been sleeping with my bunny in my arms, she helps me go to sleep more easily at night.  I also registered for my 50th high school reunion on Sept. 27th – it’s going to be fun and interesting.

Tags: 50th reunion, Creamy Earl Grey, CVT valve, Kathie, leap of faith, loaner, Moses, Queen Mary Tearoom, radio show, Red Sea, Seattle Summer Day, Suburu, transmission

This entry was posted on August 24, 2014 at 11:34 am and is filed under Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.