Kitten's Mewsings

Today is my mom's 79th birthday. Her mom's birthday was also today - thank goodness mine's in April. She often mentions the one time she asked her dad for a cake for her birthday so he stuck a candle in a fruitcake, so I baked her a cake tonight.

It's been just a few hours since she was released from the hospital because they can't do anything for her here in this rural area during the holiday season. I live over 300 miles away, a 7.5 hour drive - which for many of you outside the U.S. is a distance of several countries, but for me didn't even cross state lines. About 90 minutes into the drive yesterday, I got a call from my dad saying there was something wrong with mom's liver and she's being admitted to the hospital. My brother sent me a text a bit later saying mom looks like Marge Simpson.

After dropping off birthday and Christmas presents at the house, we made it to the hospital. She hadn't actually been admitted; she was still in the ER 7 hours later. I entered the room and dang, my brother was not kidding. She is an alarming shade of yellow. The doctor explained to us that there's a mass inside pressing on her gall bladder, preventing it from filtering bilirubin. The nearest place that can put in a stent to drain is another 100+ miles away, this time crossing state lines. Due to the holiday, she's likely not going to be seen there until Monday, six days away. Let's not forget that mass, which is probably cancerous. Since there's nothing more they can do here and apparently the buildup is turning her yellow but isn't immediately life-threatening, she's discharged from the ER.

She's also been dealing with the dementia that she had watched her own mother and brothers deal with before they passed. I keep having to explain that she's not going to the doctor's to get this fixed tomorrow.

It's looking likely that she won't be celebrating her 80th birthday.

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This article recommends "Best Gender-Bending Anime". I've been a fan of anime that explores gender for some time (Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Jellyfish, etc.) although most of my personal favorites aren't to be seen on this list, I think it does give me some ideas for ones to watch in the future.

We've been so fortunate lately. Our health is good and aurican14 has been making plenty of money at work. We've been able to do lots of traveling, and our most recent trip was to Tokyo. I got to meet anotherfmafan and she is just wonderful!


Her necklace is inspired by Roy - how cool!

Due to some unfortunate issues with our flight we have a pair of tickets we need to use within a year. Where should we go next?

They're pretty sure I don't have cancer, although I didn't get any answers about what these lumps are made out of, like cysts or fat. The ultrasound tech said that cancer shows up as a black blotch on the screen, and mine did look like calm white waves.

We celebrated my recovery from surgery in February 2020 with a trip to San Francisco. I'm packing my bags now to go back!

aurican14 and I found a couple lumps in my breasts a week ago. I went into the doctor, kind of expecting her to say something along the lines of, "Oh, those are normal lumps of fat, just stop eating everything in sight and you'll be fine." Instead, she agreed they felt "anomalous, and also what about this third, larger lump?" so now I'm waiting on them getting around to schedule me for imaging and it's hard not to worry. Like, I still haven't even had a chance to meet most of you yet.

Here's Buddy on aurican14's shoulder. He's very friendly and loving, and just what we needed since we missed our cats so much.

Today I bring you a piece of m/m original fiction that had me crying *a lot* but it ended on a hopeful, happy note. I related all too well to Caio.
Here is C7 by Oh Kashi (王菓子): https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/c7/

Flynn passed away on Black Friday. I hadn't posted about it yet here for many reasons, not the least because losing both my kitties in such a short time was just too much. My house is so empty without them that I'd rather be elsewhere.
( Pics of my beloved brown tabbyCollapse )

May 2021 bring you better fortune.

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Ten years ago I could barely begin to imagine a life of independence. I think 25-year-old me would be amazed at the life I live now, even if it's not exactly as we imagined.

No miracles, but I did in fact get my degree although not in teaching, specifically. I found a partner, but we're not about to open a daycare anytime soon. I no longer live with my parents - I live with my husband in our own house, and I do it pretty independently. I still need help with some tasks in the morning and with meal prep - aurican14 puts my compression hose on and combs my hair, and cuts up food for me to cook - but I have my own job, and I still volunteer at schools when they aren't closed due to pandemics.

The kid isn't a kid anymore and towers over me. He went off and joined the military and I couldn't be prouder.

FMA did get a live-action film, and Ryosuke Yamada did a fine job in my opinion :D

So that major surgery I mentioned in my last post? It's gonna be within the next couple of weeks. I've had time to get used to it, especially after my first (minor) surgery. During the procedure, called "hysteroscopy & laparoscopy with myasure" to which they added a D&C and moved some organs around while I was out, they found no evidence of endometriosis...but the surgery was a bit of a bust. I still have the pain, which they don't know what's causing it but they assure me that removing my uterus will make it go away.

I'm gonna be out of commission for about 6 weeks - got any recommendations of things I should watch or read?

We've had our house for a little over a year now. It's hard to believe where we were a year ago, when we had very little money. Now we've been travelling & have bought things we could never have afforded before, like a new car. We've been very blessed.

Medically; though, I'm not doing great. They've figured out what kind of edema I have (lymphedema praecox), & it's not treatable. Today I was diagnosed with endometriosis. I'm going to have menopause chemically induced to confirm, but most likely I'll need a hysterectomy before my 35th birthday. I'm sad/scared right now.

aurican14's mom passed away 3 months ago. We never had a great relationship, but it'd vastly improved following our marriage. What news do you have?

I'll be meeting happymediocrity in a couple hours. Wish me luck - it's the first time meeting someone I've known solely online.

The hubs & I are taking a trip to San Francisco since he's got a 3-day weekend and money. Neither of us has ever been there before. Have you?

We found a house in southern Oregon, & our offer was accepted! Now we just have to wait for closing on July 6, the day before my little bro is getting married (again).

We're moving later today, once I get some sleep. We tried to find an apartment near our new home, but the closest we could find was in northern California. Our new home for the next five weeks is a motel room. The town has the dubious distinction of being near one of the US concentration camps during WWII.

aurican14 is being flown to L.A. by his work to complete some training, so I'm staying with my parents during this time, all just 3 days after our move. I wish gas prices weren't so high right now, haha.

Later today, aurican14 is getting his doctorate. He's already been offered a job by a branch of the "family business", but it means we're moving to southern Oregon. It feels a bit bittersweet 'cause that's the region cheshirejin lived in. We always said we'd meet up someday.

Pretty much right after his graduation, we're taking a trip (over 9 hours from here) down there to look at houses - the hubs wants to buy one, which means a mortgage, & mortgages are complicated, not to mention that since I've largely been out of work for almost a year, we've used up pretty much all our savings which means making a downpayment will be challenging.

Wish us luck!

In just a few hours, we'll be flying to Florida for a pharmacy convention. I've never been to the east coast so I'm very excited. We're going to spend the first few days doing all the touristy things, then while my husband's at the convention, I'll be exploring on my own. If you know of fun things I should see in Orlando, let me know!

I was scrolling back through my journal when I happened upon this post: https://sexkitten426.livejournal.com/60404.html baroqueangel asked me several questions, but my eye was drawn to the last - "Where do you want to be in 5 years time?" I am exactly where I wanted to be, younger self. It's good to have that reminder. So, where do YOU want to be?