How many of us take ordinary things for granted?

This is a timely post for me as I really have a hearing issue at the moment.  I’m hard of hearing anyway and only have about five percent hearing in one ear.  I have bad allergies and my whole head has been stopped up for three weeks now.  This situation has made my good ear hard of hearing also.  It causes a lot of frustration in my house because I have to ask to have things repeated if I’m not face to face with who is speaking to me.  I rarely hear the phone ring or notice anything else going on in the house.  I simply can’t hear it.

This has made me realize how much we take the little ordinary things for granted on a daily basis.  I’m talking about the ability to hear, see, and speak for starters.  I know these are issues people don’t normally have to deal with, or at least not until they reach old age, and even then it doesn’t affect everyone.

The last month has taught me to cherish the senses I do still have, not that I haven’t always been grateful for those things.  I’m hoping this hearing problem will rectify itself as winter gets here, as much as I dread the thought of the cold months coming.

Problems like this never crossed my mind when I was younger.  Young people never think about these things.  They are too busy living life and having fun.  Nothing can touch them, or so they think at the time.

I lost most of the hearing in one ear after an accident when I was thirty.  I learned to deal with it once I discovered the constant ringing and buzzing sound was coming from inside my own head.  At first I would put the pillow over my head at night to block it out so I could sleep.  Then I tried the radio to mask the noise.  Finally the constant racket became normal, although I suffer from insomnia most of the time.  I’m extremely thankful on the rare occasions I can sleep all night without getting up to pace the floor, or lie in bed thinking half the night until I can fall asleep at dawn.

This new hearing impairment is a situation for me at the moment, but I will learn to deal with it if it never clears up because that’s what I do – survive and not let things hold me back.  I can still hear certain pitches of sound so I don’t entirely miss out on the birds chirping and my cats purring.

As if all this isn’t enough, last January I learned I have macular degeneration, so I’m stuck with these glasses that drive me crazy.  I can’t see out of them and I have to clean them twenty times a day.  It’s a pain in the butt, but if they will help my eyes, along with a different diet and eye vitamins and drops, I’ll wear them.  This is one sense I would hate to lose.  You have to face the fact you can’t do much without your eyesight.  My daddy was blind so I can only imagine how hard life was for him.  I’m too independent to depend entirely on other people for my existence.

I can still write and read and draw and sew and all the other things I like to do if I can see, so I can give the other senses up if I have to.  This isn’t a pity post, so please don’t feel bad for me.  I want to make everyone aware that what you have today isn’t necessarily what you’ll have tomorrow or sometime in the future, so guard your health if you can and be grateful for the simple things we all take for granted everyday.

Nursing a Sick Cat and Other Things

Comet - from Sunni's Photo's

My oldest furry friend, Comet, has had such bad allergies this year and she’s never had them before.  We had her to the vet for three allergy shots so far and she’s on her second type of allergy pills now.  What’s next?  I don’t know, but she’s not improving much so far.  

We’re a bit worried about all the atomic dust we have blowing around here all the time.  This is a result of being downwind from the atomic blasts done in Nevada in the 1950’s.  It’s so sad that the hand of man ruins this beautiful country.  Perhaps that’s a subject for another post.  Many people around here die from cancer and it’s no surprise when you see the sun completely blocked out by flying red dirt quite often.

If you’ve ever had a cat, you know how it is to administer a pill to these creatures who think you’re about to kill them.  Once they figure out you’re only trying to help, it gets a tad easier, but is still a struggle every time.  That’s where the pill-popper comes in.  This handy tool was a great find when I had to give one of my boy’s thyroid pills all the time.

From Sunni's Photo's - the Wonderful Pill Popper

This cat struggles to breathe every night, which is especially hard on her, just like humans when the nights are always worse than the days.  I have no idea why that is.  Last Wednesday she was finally sleeping, but on my side of the bed, so I left her there and slept on the couch that night.  What we do for our animals!

Koki - from Sunni's Photo's

However, my new bed on the couch was okay with my youngest one, Koki, because Comet hates her.  She can’t come near me if Comet is nearby unless she wants to be attacked, so she promptly curled up on my legs and slept there all night.  Of course, all of you can guess how much sleep I got.

On another note, we’ve been clearing things out and attending to repairs around here so we can move come spring.  At least the weather has been beautiful the last few days and we’re delighted to see it will be this way all week.  I’m trying to suck it up and store it away because the cold is coming, much to my dread.

I’ve also been working on the corrections of my mystery book and making notes for the NANO in case I have a total lapse of good judgment and talk myself into this added stress by participating in it again this year.

Thanks for visiting.  Tell me your cat stories, or anything else newsworthy, if you want to share.