Neck has tightened up again. You know, this morning I decided that having a head that can rotate left and right and pivot up and down as well is a good thing. In fact, I was downright enjoying myself moving my head about.

Oh well - a hot bath before bedtime and some range-of-motion exercises will hopefully loosen things up again.

I'm loving the fact that the neighbor cat and Loki are providing me with lots of cuddles (Devi and MK do too, but on their schedules.)

So I had stupid meetings all day and I didn't call my aunt. The one on hospice, you know? And I managed to be "busy" all weekend, too. Some of this is my phone avoidance, but I think some is actually some actual dread that, you know, my dad's little sister is DYING and I'm afraid of the next call being the last. And really, not the time for procrastinating this shit. I hate being a grown up.

Doggy kisses!!!!

My mom's kitten and the 2 other kitten's in her litter dying have made me a bit paranoid about my 11 year old cat. I am seriously not sure I can take it when she goes.

I got dog kisses! I was bending down to give her scritches and she leaned way up to give me a face lick.

YAY!

I think I just needed to say that aloud to get me off my ass tomorrow.

It's so hard, Sara. I never called my grandmother when she was in the hospital last year. She got better, but still.

And, um, meara, hope your week gets better and brenda, the progress is great. I thought I'd made some tonight... Neighbor cat has issues and tonight when I went over, she wanted pets right away and to play! (Normally, she must inhale food before she wants that) and I was congratulating myself on what a good petsitter I must be when I noticed she's knocked over and unscrewed the catfood container (that is barricaded in a stool and I put that lid on TIGHT) and so had probably eaten kibbles until she couldn't anymore. Petsitter FAIL!

But I made her run around a lot and rubbed her belly.

I'm 45. Do I round up or down??

The rule is, round to the even number. Sorry 35-year olds.

Some what the fuck political news:

David Vitter, Louisiana senator, supports birther lawsuits against Obama. [link]

Newt Gingrich considering presidential run. [link]

What the fuck?

She really is progressing. You have to be so careful to avoid sending her into a defensive crouch (I accidentally did it today a time or two). But left on her own, and not feeling threatened, she is very gradually pushing a tiny bit further and further.

(One of her quirks - everything I've read or know about dogs says get down on their level rather than coming down from on high. No. No no. She is okay mostly, and getting better, with me or sometimes others reaching down from a standing position. If you crouch, it's game over. She just goes into this half crouched, frozen position. Awful. I know Bonnie says not to think too much about what's in their past. But it is very clear that anything that smacks of being restrained or boxed in puts her into total lizard brain territory.)

Also, meara, being pushed out of that room for a few days totally has her moving around the apartment more. She alternates sleeping between that room (mostly at night) and my room (mostly during the day) but she's not so quick to retreat to the second bedroom now that's she's learned it's not the end of the world not to have that refuge all the time.

In animal news that I don't even know what to do with, the cat appears to be going vegetarian. @@.