Been a LONG time - again!

Our 'dainty' cat, JB in his favorite pose. Give him a beer and a cigar and he's quite comfortable...He's doing quite well acclimating to the house and the dogs and Gert. In fact, a bit too well - he's taken to following me everywhere (yes, even the bathroom). He's more attached to me than Killian is.

So, it's been quite a while since I've updated the blog - a few things have come into play: John rebuilt my computer so my photos are currently not available until I get my double-external hard drives (which back themselves up - no more lost work!!), and I just haven't had time to get to it. But I will do a quick update, at least on Gert, today.

So, I can't sleep the other night, and I've been sitting in the living room since 3 am. Mom tottles down the steps at 5 looking for a cup of coffee and a few oatmeal cookies. I asked her why she wasn't asleep. Her reply:

"Damn knee. It gets up before I do." Made an appointment that day for a trip to the doctor.

So, we went to the doctor appointment last Monday to check on sleeping pills (must have better ones!) and more pain reliever for Gert's knee. Doctor gave her the next step up in the Fentanyl patch and gave me pretty strict instructions to watch her for side effects. So, Tuesday, put on the new heavy duty Fentanyl for the first time and have had many talks with Mom about side effects (getting 'goofy' is what we call it but, then again, if you know my Mom, you know that she never was quite 'right'). So, we're in the living room, she's watching tv. She looks at me and laughs and says 'I just saw a bird fly right in front of my eyes.' Cracked us both up but uh oh! Here it comes...

But, so far, no horrible side effects. We'll phase in the sleeping pill tonight. I've had another cold the last few days and wanted to wait until I felt better to watch her through the night - I'm sort of expecting some confusion and weakness when she needs to get up. So, tonight, I'll sleep in the guestroom (aka 'the dog room') which is right across the hall and will sleep lightly. But, she's doing quite well and is still on top of her game, humorwise.

More later.