The countdown...

Alexander arrives in the US this Sunday. ALEXANDER ARRIVES IN THE US THIS SUNDAY!!! Yes, I am more than excited. I have so much to do and so little time. He's shipped his things yesterday and there are all of the last minute preps to take care of. It seems like this has been a long time coming but I know we're both super excited to finally get to this time in our lives. At last!!

(You can't see me but I'm doing my happy dance right now! :D )

Rest in Peace Sweet Baby Brigitte

I had to have my little Brigitte put to sleep today. She had a stroke last weekend. She seemed to recover somewhat and came back home in just one day. Then she had another stroke. I got the call from the vet today that she was much worse and there was nothing else to be done. I chose to go and be with her in her last moments and I'm glad I did. I could see and hear just how much she was suffering. She quieted down when she saw I was there but she was unable to lift her head or move in any way. I petted her and spoke to her as the vet gave her the injection. She just quieted down, closed her little eyes and slept. And she was gone.

Though I only had her with me a short time, I loved her immensely and will miss her forever.

Sleep well, my little furry angel.

Jack Frost nipping at your nose....

The view from inside my car on this frosty November morn.

An architectural nightmare...

I work in beautiful downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin and though over the past few years there have been many improvements that I can appreciate, I have to honestly say that downtown Kenosha is an architectural nightmare! Don't get me wrong. We have some very beautiful buildings. Our post office and court house being two of them. But in both those cases the city fathers, for some reason, have attached some of the ugliest "necessities" around! The post office, for example, is gorgeous...from the front. At it's backside is a flat, squatty dock where the trucks pull in. I get the need for a dock but it could at least look like it belongs to the building. The courthouse too is great but it's flanked by the modern monstrosity that is our "Safety Building" on one side and a parking ramp on the other. Again, both well needed buildings but, seriously, make it work! Across the park from the courthouse is Reuther High School. Again, a classically beautiful old building but isn't it about time that pile of rubble that once was the entrance off of Sheridan Road be completed and cleaned up? Are you listening Kenosha Unified? Um...probably not.

The building I work in used to be an old roller rink. It was Red's Roller Rink at one time. For those Kenoshan's reading this (yes, that means YOU, Paul! Haha!) Red's was a fixture for all grade school kids in Kenosha for years. I think every 5th grade class had their class "trip" to Red's. This building is situation across from the new(er) Trolley Barn and almost right on the harbor. It's beige with a brown stripe. Not just any beige...it's a kind of yellowish beige that can only be duplicatd when you have a UTI, if you get my drift. And the horizontal stripe...well, I like to refer to it as the "skid mark". Granted, we are a small not for profit and we did make great strides in beautifying by doing some nice landscaping out front. Across a parking lot from us is another business building. It's short, squatty and two toned. Apparently someone defaced it at one time with graffiti and the owner painted over it...badly...in a different color. It's an eyesore!

My point is this. There are many fine improvements going on in downtown Kenosha. Storefronts are coming back to life after many years of being empty. There are new businesses going in - restaurants, coffee shops and stores. Harbor Park is a jewel in Kenosha's crown. I love it and use that area often for walks, nice days out and about, and the Harbor Market. I'm even a fan of our trolley system just because it's unique and fun. I just wish the downtown association would pay some attention to the existing buildings and make sure that they are being kept up in a manor fitting the architecture that does exist there. They need to set some standards that will keep Kenosha on the right track and make our downtown a beautiful, thriving city center.

I love Kenosha. Lived here most of my life. It's good to see the downtown coming back but I do wish it was coming back in style.

Sometimes it's just like that...

I had a helluva weekend. Mine started at about 11am on Thursday. I was at work and started to feel really, really sick and felt myself getting sicker by the minute. My throat was swelling and my sinuses were blocking and I was getting dizzy. I went home to bed! Some Tylenol and salt water gargle were just the thing but for the next three days I was miserable.

If that wasn't enough, my little Brigitte cat had not been acting herself all week. She was hiding alot and hissing at Arnie which she never does. Then over the weekend she had some kind of episode that scared me. She lurch back, made this horrible guttural noise and her eyes rolled back in her head. She was like that for about 5 minutes and then she just as suddenly snapped out of it. But after that she didn't seem able to use her back legs very well. On Monday morning she was cowering behind the bathroom door and I was all but convinced she was about to die. Thankfully, Alex talked me through this. He's a rock! I got her to the vet who, after a brief examination, said he thought Brigitte had a stroke! They kept her over night to do some tests and observe her.

I picked her up today. She did indeed have a stroke but there was no neurological damage and she is once again able to use her back legs. Her glucose was pretty high which the doc said was from the stress and the only other thing wrong with her was she had a slight impaction in an anal gland which they just squeezed and fixed. Brigitte was so mad at me when I went to get her. As soon as she saw me she started meowing loudly at me. She did it all the way home too. When we got inside Arnie just about did a back flip when he saw his best friend finally home again. She came out of her crate and ate right away. Then she went and hid for a about a half hour.

I was beginning to think she was going to hide all night but finally she came into the living room, jumped on my lap and head butted me about a hundred times which is "I love you" in Brigitte-speak. So, all was right with the world. Until...

I had to give her her first dose of medication. I dabbed the pill in butter, gently reached down and touched her head under the auspices of petting her, suddenly gripped her head firmly while forcing her mouth open with the same hand. I slid my buttered pill finger down her throat and then clamped her mouth shut until she swallowed. She did it but she immediately ran under the table. I thought she was probably going to spend the rest of the night angry at me but instead she rubbed against my ankles and then climbed on the couch where she likes to snooze. She's there right now, with her pal Arnie, and, yes, all is right with the world.

Hallelujah!!

At last, we have approval from the embassy! The visa is approved and Alex will be on his way soon!! Wheeee hoooooooooooo!!!!

And so it is finished...

Usually, when I get to work at 7am, I am quickly followed by Margaret and Kathy. Today I was the only person here. My staff is gone. They've moved on to their new positions with the other agency. It sure is quiet in here. The cubicles are bare. Many of them have been stripped of their computers and desk supplies. I've emptied my email inbox. For the first time in three years, I have absolutely no email in there!

So, now I am on to a new career journey. For the next three months I'll be writing program procedures for our agency's newest program. Come January, I'll be delving more deeply into the world of services for people with mental illness and alcohol and other drug addiction. I'll be co-supervising this new program, teaching a new batch of case managers and nurses to work as teams to provide quality mental health services in a community setting. I'll even have a small case load of my own for the first time in almost seven years! And, to tell you the truth, I'm excited!

I will miss my old staff. I'd worked with some of them for many years and there were tears shed yesterday as we all said good bye but the future looks bright on both the professional and personal front for me. I love where I work and appreciate that they appreciate what I can do and have made it possible for me to stay right here where I belong.

I sense all good things on the horizon!