Hired Help

The thought occurs to me that if I were going to hire help, I’d hire a housekeeper, not a masseuse. I just finished vacuuming the carpets, washing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen, building the window shelf for the cats, WAIT! STOP!! I haven’t told you about that yet!

The windows in this house are all relatively high. The cats can’t see out the windows, especially Himmy. So, when Amy was home, we checked into getting something store-bought to help in that regard.

I figured that the kitchen window was probably the best window to use--all my squirrels are visible from there--but it’s three feet off the floor. So we found a shelf that attaches to the windowsill and just kinda hangs there. So how would Himmy make that transition from floor to shelf? I’d have to build something. So, if I’m going to build a ramp or stairs, I might as well build the shelf as well. And I have. It’s all set up except for the ramp and the carpeting. Maybe tomorrow.

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I suppose that it should come as no surprise that I haven’t received a short-term disability check yet. So I checked with my HR contact today. She did some investigation and the results came back that the insurance company is waiting for some info from my doctors. “Who’d a thunk it?” I talked with them and they are "looking into it."

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As a result of chemotherapy, I am also experiencing some neuropathy or nerve damage. I have occasional numb spots on my hands and feet. At least they aren’t causing me pain, yet, although that may end up being a possibility. So my ears are ringing and my hands and feet are numb, all due to the chemo.

Another side effect (S-FX) of the chemo is a personality change. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it yet or not. But it is there. I’ve been watching it for some time now, wondering how bad it’s going to get and how well I’ll be able to control it. So far so good, but it does pop up occasionally. And that’s on top of being tired, hungry, low or high blood sugar, etc.

And it’s not as if I haven’t gone through this before. (I am going to have to write that story one of these days.) So, if you hear me say or do something that may not sound like me, it may not really be me but the chemicals talking.

And remember, a change in brain chemistry doesn’t mean that the person in possession of the brain is a bad person. (You know whom I’m talking about. I hope things are going well with that situation.)

I stopped spanking my kids when Ben was about ten or so and came up with different ways of disciplining them. I wasn’t big on hitting them in the first place, but one incident brought home the need to change.

Amy had been giving me some “trouble” one day and I spanked her for it, only to find out that Amy, as a Type I diabetic, was experiencing low blood sugar. She wasn’t responsible for her actions at that point in time, her blood chemistry was. I still can feel the shame I felt when we tested her blood and found just how low her blood sugar was. Out of all the things that I’d take back if I could, that one incident tops my list. It wasn’t just the spanking, but how I felt about her for being such a brat at the time. What I was thinking about her was totally unjustified.

It was then that I made the resolution not to hold people responsible for their actions when the problem may be their blood or brain chemistry. So please think kindly of me if I should err. You know that I wouldn’t want to and wouldn’t mean to, but life happens sometimes.

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So here I am, it's after ten and I'm tired. I'd like to got to bed, but I'd just have to get up in two hours to take my pain meds. Then I'll probably have trouble getting back to sleep. So I guess I'll stay up for another hour or so, take my meds a little early, and hope I fall off to sleep quickly.

This makes two posts in one day. Wow!

Hasta luego, amigos!