A Crazy Cat's Life

Normally I express this comment near the end of the semester. This time, I'm doing it for the holidays. This has been a really crappy holiday season and I'll be happy when it's all over. There's a long time superstition that "deaths come in three's." I'm not very superstitious but that thought had been going through my head especially after George and Grandma's deaths. Well, the saying now holds true this time. I found out recently that my friend Lynn's father passed away. He was such a sweet man. He was 98 years old, been married for 51 years, and was a Holocaust survivor. Last week, he had been admitted to the hospital and while he was there, the nurse forgot to raise the sidebar of the bed and he fell out, breaking his hip in the process. Because he couldn't sit up, he developed pneumonia and passed away Christmas Eve. I liked the man very much and I will miss him. Considering all that has been going on, I'm holding up ok. ...

I know I'm a day late in wishing a happy holiday to everybody but this year has been a bit depressing. Here's a little Christmas meme I found and I'm sharing with all of you. I'll tag whoever wants to do it: 1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both :) 2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Depends on how tired Santa is *wink* 3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I prefer white but this year Darren wanted colored so we have colored. 4. Do you hang mistletoe? No. As if my husband doens't have enough excuses. LOL 5. When do you put your decorations up? Anywhere between the day after Thanksgiving to a few days before. 6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My nanny's homemade manacotti. 7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Hearing all the gossip around the table at Christmas dinner. You'd be amazed at what people reveal after having a few spiked egg nogs. LOL 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Sant...

We got some very sad news today. Bear's grandma passed away this afternoon. We knew it was going to happen since her health had been deteriorating since the stroke. I just wish that the stroke had taken her so she wouldn't have had to suffer. She was a really good woman. A stubborn, little Italian woman whose presence would fill up a room. I had lost the last of my grandparents many years ago and she became a surrogate grandmother to me. She gave me some gave me some of the greatest gifts over the years, most importantly her love. I always enjoyed it when she had come up from Florida to visit and she would tell me her stories about her past and her family. I just wish I had taken the time to write down all of them to remember what life was like for her. Grandma. I will always love you and I will miss you. Rest in peace.

One class down, one more to go until Christmas break. Not a moment too soon either. This past Wednesday, I handed in my portfolio for my Life Drawing class. We got to see everybody's portfolios during the class as we each put our work up on the wall to show our progress over the semester. Between missing five classes and three assignments, I was a little sad to see my work going up there. Everybody else had such a fantastic variety of work while my portfolio only consisted of about 15 pieces. I wish I could've done all the assignments and made every class, but I know there's no way I would've been able to with the way my depression has been over the past few months. This upcoming Wednesday, my final project for animation is due. It's one of those weird "it's Wednesday but it's a Thursday" school scheduling nightmares. I guess I shouldn't complain 'cause it gives me an extra week to get my work done. I've been devoting my time th...

OK. It's official. The Buspar is going down the drain. My doc put me on it as a "boost" to the Lexapro but I'm having a lot less fun than anticipated. I think I've got every single negative side effect going on for it: headaches, fatigue, nausea, you name it. I've only been on it for about a week and a half and if it's troubling me this much, it can't be good. This means one thing: a complete change in meds. At least the semester is almost over. This week has been a living hell for me. My depression has a nice firm grip in me right now and it's getting hard to shake. This, topped with those lovely side effects I've just mentioned, have been making my life a nightmare. I just wanted to spend the entire week in bed with the covers over my head, either sleeping or reading a good book. Escapism is a Good Thing. Even the Fuzzies have noticed somethings wrong. Tonight they all flocked around me like they were protecting me from something....

Oooh. Looks like the weathermen were right this time. We're getting a very nice snow storm today. Right now, I would say we've got five inches on the ground. The forecast is for a total of 5-8". I think we're going to be towards the higher end of that. Here are some pictures I took from our front balcony of the snowfall:

/O.UPG.KOKX.WS.A.0002.051209T0600Z-051209T2200Z/ /O.NEW.KOKX.HS.W.0002.051209T0600Z-051209T1800Z/ NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-WESTERN PASSAIC-ORANGE- PUTNAM-ROCKLAND-NORTHERN WESTCHESTER- 429 AM EST THU DEC 8 2005 ...HEAVY SNOW WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM EST FRIDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON HAS ISSUED A HEAVY SNOW WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM EST FRIDAY. LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION LATE TONIGHT...AND WILL BECOME STEADIER AND HEAVIER AROUND DAYBREAK ON FRIDAY. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES FRIDAY MORNING...BEFORE STARTING TO TAPER OFF FRIDAY AFTERNOON. BETWEEN 5 AND 10 INCHES OF TOTAL ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED BEFORE THE SNOW TAPERS OFF FRIDAY AFTERNOON. A HEAVY SNOW WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN ...

When I got out of Animation class yesterday, I called Darren and found out that Grandma had been readmitted to the ER and it looked like she wasn't going to make it through the night. Supposedly, the hospital doctor who was too keen on freeing up a bed released Grandma before her pneumonia had cleared up. Luckily, the doctor at the rehab place recognized that and sent her back to the ER. By the time she had gotten there, she was severely dehydrated and had fluid in both her heart and her lungs. I will admit that I have huge fears about hospitals, but I wasn't going to let it stop me from seeing her one last time so I went straight there. Oh my god...walking through the Acute Care section of the Hackensack hospital ER really freaked me out. It brought back the whole slew of bad memories from when I was there being treated for a pulmonary embolism. But I fought through the panic attacks. Thankfully Grandma was in the Expansion area and not Acute. By the time I got there, h...