Had a mini-breakdown last night. Watching the "Tragically Hip" do their final farewell concert. Alcohol and crying was involved.

The house sit is really exhausting me. Always some animal barfing, peeing, or on top of me. I've never handled this many animals and all of these animals are really poorly trained. I have numerous bruises and scratches and my stress levels are high.

DH is doing what he can to help but I'm just totally overwhelmed. Must last out another 6 & 1/2 days.

Am going to my cousin's 50th birthday celebration tonite. I don't think I can stay more than a couple of hours but I'm hoping it will give me a bit of much-needed relief. Just to sit with other people.

I know I will come back to the sit with some sort of mess waiting for me.

I think another bout of crying will be in order but I'll skip the alcohol tonite. It's not helping anything.

Dagmar

That's awful Dagmar. Do the clients just live in filth and not care?

I pet sat for years before I had kids. One client had 7 corgis. They weren't house trained and they had nasty personalities. I've never liked the breed as a result.

One of my kitties has woken me up the past two nights puking. Then this morning he puked on the bed so I'm currently washing everything in sight. Ugh...

Dagmar, I am so sorry about your feeling trapped in that mess, and glad for you that you'll get some respite, and that it's time-bound, there's an end date to it.

One more day here at my mother's. I still haven't emptied the dresser drawer in the guest bedroom, which was the modest task that I set myself for this visit. An old postcard album that I pulled out first took up half of yesterday, as I was taking out the postcards and listing them in batches on eBay.

This clearing-out would be faster if I didn't insist on wringing small sums of money from it, mostly too low for the effort involved. There's some kind of virtuous feeling from thriftiness, inherited from my frugal mother, who was born into a very poor family.

Oh, and yes, I feel like I've hit a high weight, though without a scale to confirm it. Dinner last night at Red Lobster was crab legs, a grilled lobster tail and broccoli, with two glasses of unsweetened iced tea. My mother likes the chain restaurants where she feels like she knows what she's getting or gets a lot for her money.

Again, I'm still in the land without scales and therefore, without visible or measurable consequences.

I'm lingering a day longer than planned, as an appointment with an Upstate eye doctor cropped up on my calendar. I must have made it last year for this same time period in 2016. They called my mobile phone as a reminder, which is the only way I remembered it, as I did not log it onto my calendar. It's for mid-afternoon today and they'll dilate my pupils, so I can't depart until tomorrow.

Very slow progress on ridding my mother's house of stuff. Yesterday I threw out a stack of photographs of scenery without people in them, dating back to the 1970s, and also travel brochures. The lesson is not to bring home many souvenirs or views because no one ever looks at them again, after maybe one instructive session for friends or relations, those who stayed behind & have never been there. And they probably don't enjoy those sessions at all.

Also, I got rid of old maps. My late father was a man of maps. I still like them, too, because they are more permanent and static and provide more context than the immediacy and evanescence of the GPS. But they were badly outdated and it occurs to me that I'll probably never pick up another road map in my lifetime, just as I'll never buy a vinyl record again (not being a hipster or antiquarian).

saef You are inspiring me to start chucking out the stuff from my own house that I know I'll never look at again. I have no one to foist all of this stuff on either - no kids or relatives - so I'd like to start now, rather than leaving a mess for someone else to clean up.

I did give a final "family heirloom" to my cousin for his 50th. It's a crystal decanter that my mom bought when she first came to Canada and worked for a crystal and fine porcelain importer. My cousin likes his "sippin whiskey" and I thought of him 3 years ago when I started sorting out all my mom's stuff and came across the decanter.

He seemed to like the gift (and the bottle of premium bourbon to put in it) so that was the last piece of my family stuff I had to give anyone.

Dagmar

Good work, saef. And you too, Dagmar. You have to be in the right frame of mind to do this kind of thing. I do it a little at a time, and try to keep at it. My uncle's house was quite a challenge. I used to sit down and think/rest quite often.

Strange days here. I had a meal out last week (very unusual) which threw me. I'd forgotten my rules and ate some things which really didn't suit me. Then I upped the weights in my corrective programme which has put me off kilter (exhausted, not thinking straight etc). And it's taken me three days to complete three financial/admin tasks, due to duff information and having no printer at home. My digestive system seems to have jammed up with some of the emotion involved. Looking after myself by keeping warm and drinking 'Nuit Calme' tea which is the most soothing tisane ever.

My weight has decided to skyrocket again. It was down Saturday and I was starting to feel better, then yesterday it was up 2.5 pounds and then another 1.5 today. I'm guessing it's a combination of larger/later dinners than I'm used to and some sodium. Trying not to get frustrated as I know I eat more when dh is here and he's leaving soon for another extended trip. He has a weird work week with later nights than normal and I have some evening things as well that are limiting my exercise (like the chiropractor yesterday), so not the best combo.

I'm taking the day off tomorrow (though my boss hasn't approved through our online system so I hope I am!)-- I've scheduled my mammogram (3D for the first time-- not sure if it feels different) and bone density tests. I also need to get bloodwork done and hopefully bring the cat back to the vet to follow up with her kidney disease. So, fun day! I have to laugh whenever I get my bone density screening as it is at a retirement community and I'm literally decades younger than any of the other patients. I'm always the only one with a cell phone out. I think I'll bring my book to read and be "old school"!

Back from vacation and back up weight-wise. I also have a new goal--my BFF and her boyfriend are booking the Smooth Jazz Cruise in February 2018 and asked DH and me to go, too. So, I need to lose weight for that as well as lose weight for next year's golf tournament in August. I haven't made a plan, but will be working on it.

Bad news this afternoon: A call from the co-op president. My apartment's sustained some water damage. I don't know how bad yet. No, not a flood -- we have a flood wall up. Well, at least, not that kind of flood. This water came from the apartment overhead, where the kitchen sink was apparently clogged while the water ran & ran. That kitchen lines up with my kitchen, so it's likely to be my kitchen that was harmed, perhaps my dining room.

I am feeling pessimistic tonight, though I'm not as agitated as my mother. I'm just resigned to it, while she's angry.

I drive home tomorrow, and the insurance adjuster comes on the next day. I won't be there for that. That's a day of meetings for me, with six scheduled for stuff that had to wait while I was on vacation, and I really need to be in Connecticut for that.

You just can't seem to win when it comes to water, saef. So sorry. Hoping that any damage is minimal.

That said, a friend from my Labrador board lives in Louisiana. You can imagine what she's dealing with. Thankfully no damage to her house, but she has to park far away and use a canoe to get home. And her commute to work is fraught with dealing with road closures.

Totally sucks, saef. Totally.

Saef, I'm sorry for what you may come home to. On the plus side, you've endured disaster and overcome severe physical trauma; I suspect you are a strong and resilient person now.

saef, I am sorry to hear this. Here's hoping you don't find very much damage. (I've been putting off clearing out the U-bend under my kitchen sink. It's now today's priority job.)

Tummy News *breaking* My abs are looking a lot better, all of a sudden. I think it could be because I've been able to add weights back into my corrective exercise routine. This was last Thursday and this Monday, so only twice so far. I do love weights. I complain sometimes when I'm ravenous and really wiped out the next day, but I do love them really.

Seeing my trainer today which should be fun. And fish for tea, which is always good. I'll go to the fishmonger and see what looks the best.

It's been a bit quiet here recently. When September comes we'll all be here, with sharpened pencils and fully-charged devices. Michele and Shannon are already showing us how to do that.

Lurkers! You're very welcome to join us. Please don't feel you have to be a top class maintainer to be here. You really don't. If you've lost and kept off a pound you're eligible! Look at me - I'm no poster child for maintaining and there are probably a few others as well ...

And ... you don't have to apply to join. There's no charge. We don't take up references. Just drop in and share a few words. And keep doing that from time to time. We welcome any support we can get! Looking forward to meeting and supporting you.

Last day at my mother's. I am depressed today because photographs arrived in email from the co-op president last night, after I wrote here. It's worse than I'd even imagined. Water soaked into the kitchen walls in brown runnels. Water soaked into everything on the baker's rack that holds the microwave, vintage cookbooks, a Victorian still-life painting up top, a basket for potatoes. Portions of the ceiling plaster fallen in, on the floor, bared to the rafters. Overhead fan still there somehow.

How long does it take to gut and renovate a kitchen? I had not planned for this. How do I cook in that apartment, let alone live there? And how eat healthily with an unusable kitchen?

And now more negotiating with insurance adjusters. I did this for the flood, again after my accident, and now for a third time.

Another sorrow is that I really like --- liked? -- my upstairs neighbor, Julia, and I wonder what on earth caused this to happen. Julia's just a little older than me, though she has more physical ailments, I think chiefly with her hip. She's funny and smart and kind, one of my favorites in the apartment complex. I hate having this awkwardness to deal with.

Our kitchen reno took 6 weeks saef. It sounds like they'll have to replace the ceiling and wall - drywall demo, replacement and repainting should take about a week to two weeks.

Microwave, hotplate, slow cooker are all appliances that can be used in the living room - we did it. And we got our water in great big bottles from the market and then refilled the bottles from the tap as needed.

I washed our dishes in the bathroom sink. If you have a dishwasher that wasn't affected you can still use it with the kitchen being renovated - just cover it with a heavy sheet of plastic when not in use.

And finally, we ate a lot of take out deli BBQ chicken, bagged and/or premade salad, bread or rolls, and fruit.

Dagmar