Oh my gosh... I've just had three of the most grueling days I've had in years. I feel horrible, haven't even had a chance to check on anyone's thread let alone post. I'll "try" to catch up with everyone tonight and tomorrow.

Long story short (well..I'll try) ... Sunday afternoon (and into evening).. finished Claudia's taxes, and then she took me grocery shopping (what a sweetie she is). By the time we got finished, I had a headache and pretty much stayed away from the computer.

Yesterday, my aunt (the one who wanted me to put Mike down) called and asked me to take her to do some errands and shopping (her daughter would pick me up, and we'd leave from her house and then she'd take me home afterwards). We do this on occasion because my aunt is 83 years old and caring 24/7 for my 53 year old cousin who's severely disabled, and my aunt seldom gets to have a day out or a break. The older daughter lives with the two of them and the three of them can't really go out in this weather together since Pam can't take the cold.

Anyway... my aunt and I spent almost 5 hours together, and when we were finished doing everything she needed to do, she wanted to stop at Arby's to get some sandwiches. Long story short (or is it too late?)... she was walking into Arby's and tripped on a broken sidewalk that was up about 3" higher than the rest. If you've ever seen an 83 year old woman fall flat on her face.. it's not pretty... scary as hell. OMG... I was so afraid she had cracked her head, but her guardian angels were holding her up because even though her glasses and face hit the sidewalk, her head was spared. Her only pair of glasses broke, and she had bruises all over her face. I could have died.

I got her into Arby's and "finally" got the bleeding to stop. She didn't want to go to the hospital, but I wasn't going to take her home like that without being checked. (Her daughter... who is soooooo overprotective of her mother and won't even let her take a bath without checking on her two or three times while she's in there... she drives her mother absolutely nuts) would have freaked. Well... I called the squad (under her protest) and told them she didn't want to go to the ER, but I felt she at least needed her vitals taken (she has extremely high blood pressure). They came, and although her blood pressure was high, she seemed to be ok to go home. I tried to get her to go for x-rays and a ct... but she's "really" stubborn and refused.

By the time we got to her house, I was right.. Kathy totally freaked... I knew she was going to blame me... but even though I knew better, I also knew it wasn't anyone's fault. Well... Kathy wasn't as bad as I thought and drove me home without incident.

After I got home, the stress from the day must have hit me, because as beautiful as it had been (60 degrees), I was freezing and had to turn the heat all the way up to 75. I put my flannels and bathrobe on before I could even pretend to be warm. By 7:00, I was so tired and had a headache and by 8:00 I went to bed.

Poor little Katie got so confused with the break in schedule. By the time I let her out for me to go to bed, it was raining, and she just didn't want anything to do with going potty. So I put her in the cage and set the alarm for 10:30 so she could go out (at a more normal time)... the rest really helped, and Mike and I stayed up for an extra hour so she could play for a while after pottying in the rain.

WELLLLLL....... today was another day... phone rings at 8:40... it's my aunt... will I take her to the ER... she's had a headache all night, couldn't sleep, and face is all swollen. OMG.. I'm thinking blood clot. Cousin picks me up... go get my aunt... cousin stays with sister... go to ER... get out of ER 5 1/2 hours later (thank God everything checked out fine except sprained wrist). During the time we were in ER... cousin calls FIVE times... keep telling her we're waiting for her to go to CT... waiting for CT report to come back... waiting for more x-rays... she ends up screaming at me on the phone telling me it's "her" mother, and I have no right to tell "her" yada yada yada and then she hung up on me. I did nothing wrong... never raised my voice.. nothing, just answered her questions. She just has this horrible fear that I'm taking her mother away from her. I'm sure it stems from the fact that it's so hard for the two of them to go out together, and when something like this happens, she feels she should be with her mom. Hell, I'd feel the same way, but I'd be happy there's someone who could help and sure as hell wouldn't feel like they're trying to take her away from me (and even if I did feel that way.. I'd wait until I knew everything was fine before I'd bitch about it). The last time she called, I just handed the phone to my aunt.. I didn't want to deal with her anymore.

By the time we left the hospital... I decided I didn't want my cousin to drive me home... not in the mood she was in.. she can be downright evil-sounding. I don't need that crap in my life, and like Dr. Phil says... if it bothers you... don't do it... or don't go there. So I opted not to deal with her.

Called my brother to meet me at aunts house to drive me home... we got there about 1/2 hour before brother did so we parked on the corner of the street so I could avoid cousin.... aunt was really worn out and still hadn't eaten or even had coffee so I took her home, pulled car in garage and told her to tell cousin my brother was picking me up because (lie) I didn't want aunt staying home alone with disabled cousin while (irate) cousin took me home. I stayed outside and lit a cig to wait for brother... cousin comes STORMING out of house screaming at top of her lungs... "MY mother was in the hospital, and I could call...." as soon as I heard her first words and saw her face... I picked up my hood and started walking .... she followed me screaming and swearing the whole time for about 4 units (townhouses)... when she realized I wasn't going to talk back (and her mother was yelling for her to stop) she turned and went back into the garage... I could hear her screaming more than 1/2 way down the street (screaming at her mother now). My brother got there before I could get to the end of the street... my poor aunt.. she doesn't need or deserve this... she stayed outside the garage door until she knew I was safe in my brother's car.

Sooooooo... that's what's happened to me and why I haven't been around. My poor puppies have been really tolerant of everything going on. I felt so bad that yesterday, I didn't even have the heart to correct Katie for messing in the house. It wasn't her fault the schedule was messed up. Mike is so wonderful... he's tolerant ALL THE TIME!!! I just love this boy soooooo much. I look at him, and my heart melts. He is so good and so understanding. I know "someday" Miss Katie will learn... but I'm sure it's going to take her a very long time... right now, she's just concentrating on being a baby. LOL

She was suppose to get spayed today. I guess everything really does happen the way it's suppose to. Yesterday I couldn't find a ride to pick her up, and then I heard we were suppose to have a huge ice storm and lots of slipping and sliding this morning, so I rescheduled the appointment (can't get in again until April 28th :-( ) I was really pretty upset that she will more than likely go thru a first heat. On the other hand... things work out the way they're suppose to... if we had taken Katie.. I wouldn't have been home to get my aunt's call, and I don't know what she would have done.

I'm not looking forward to Katie going into heat (she'll be 6 months old on the 7th). It's been a "very" long time since I've had an un-altered female. I don't know how long it lasts or how Mike's going to react (I might have to keep her in her cage to keep "my" sanity).

Hi Judy... We're going to try to get back into a routine. Of course now with the cold, windy rain.. Katie doesn't even want to be outside (I don't blame her.. I just let her out and she almost got blown away). She didn't pee, and I'm 99% sure she's planning on doing it in the house this time.. I've just got to watch her so close.

Hey Debs... You got that right... thank God for Pepto Bismol. I hate the stuff too.. the only reason I even have it in the house right now is because Katie had the poopy poops after her rabies shot, and the vet told me that's what I should give her. I'm glad I got it.

I miss chatting on Skype with you too... hopefully tomorrow will be a more "normal" day, and we can chat for a bit.

Ok... I'm gonna go get something to eat. I'll try to catch up on the threads in a little while. I hope everyone is doing well and all the PINs are healthy and getting the treatment they need.

Love & Blessings To All of You