Just When You Thought Things Were Going Well

It's odd that sometimes when you think things are at their best unbenounced to you they're really on the cusp of total collapse. I've been busy putting out fires. That seems to be the theme of the day. The Carmella-cam stopped working altogether and it required about 3 days of talking to 3 different companies to come up with a solution without paying through the nose. Finally I reached a supervisor that believed in good customer service and by that time I was hoarse from all the hours spent on the phone. The Geek Squad is going to send a guy over on Monday to fix it. The supervisor I spoke with on the phone said it could be a defective router and she is going to leave instructions for him to bring another one just in case. It could also be that the set-up was configured wrong to begin with and re-configuring it might fix it. I also requested that the guy speak with the camera manufacturer Linkseys to be absolutely sure that he is connecting it to the web correctly so it will not fail when he leaves.

All this came after I received some very upsetting news which required alot of extra work on my part that I should not have had to take on and then my autoimmune disease flared up horribly. The last thing I needed was to have to clean up somebody else's mess and it seems as though the ramifications just keep coming.

The one constant was that Carmella was here the whole time by my side. Thank God for dogs because if you're looking for loyalty they will never let you down. There is a permanence to them you can't get anywhere else.

The woman from whom I'm supposed to be buying the rubber stamps of my pictures has dropped off the radar again. That always seems to happen whenever I ask a question in my e-mail. If I were not so tenacious she would have lost the sale completely, but I will still place the order although this has dampened my enthusiasm to get it as soon as possible quite a bit with all the stops and starts. I'm running out of energy with all this being required to drag people that has been happening lately.

Yesterday when I went to take a bath I found that I was bruised all over. The past few days I'd been in awful pain throughout my body and then the next day it felt as though my muscles had been torn and were itching as though healing some damage. Then I noticed the bruises. That is very strange. I have had the pain many times but bruising is new. I hate to go to the doctor because he is not thrilled about having to treat something that isn't easily fixable and I have to drag him too each time I go in there. If he's tired of it that goes double for me but what can you do. We all will get something serious that we can't shake sooner or later and I don't have the luxury of going home and forgetting about it. I have to deal with it everyday whether I want to or not. Some days I barely notice it and other days I'd have to die to feel better. That is the nature of the beast. I just try to enjoy my life as much as possible, to make a difference, and make the best of it.

I see alot of parallels between Carmella and I. Even she seems to be getting the same reaction from her vet. He wants her to be instantly better and it just doesn't work that way. She, unlike me, is cured of the disease, but it will be anybody's guess whether all the damage will heal or not. I finally received an e-mail from Dr. Norwood about the possibility of putting her on an anticonvulsant. Apparently he'd tried to call Dr. Sears about it but his voicemail said that he was unable to retrieve his messages, so he never got it. He said that if Dr. Sears thought it was worth doing he would go ahead and prescribe it. I e-mailed him and told him Dr. Norwood was trying to get ahold of him and have not heard back. I wrote Dr. Norwood and asked whether Klonapin would be safer than Phenobarbital in terms of risk for liver damage and said that I would hate for her to have to tough it out for at least 4-6 months while waiting for her body to take over and heal the jerking and that it must really be making her tired and sore to have that constantly. Dr. Norwood has fallen out of contact again after my response e-mail.

One thing I have noticed is that Carmella seems to have a hip that comes out of place on one side as if it's loose in the socket. I'm not sure when that started, but I discovered it one day when I put my hand on her back and she walked forward. I could feel it. I asked Dr. Norwood about that in my last e-mail as well. I hope it's not hip displaysia. It occurred to me that it might be because she does look like she has some German Shepherd in her and that breed is prone to it.

Right now she looks very much like a German Shepherd and also has alot of Pit Bull characteristics. She's still gaining weight and has become very muscular. She doesn't have an ounce of fat on her!

Sometimes in the morning after I let her out she will jump up on my bed and snuggle up while I'm watching TV.

She has gotten better about not chewing on me but still goes through times when she gets rambunctious with open jaws, especially when she's been outside running around and chasing squirrels. Yesterday she just about pulled my arm off trying to get to a squirrel through the computer room window as I was holding onto her collar. She sounds like a hound on the hunt, desperate to grab these furry animals that frequent the back and front yards as commonly as leaves. Occasionally one will stand right in front of the window on the porch teasing her as if it knows she can't get out that way.

I got another bill from CareCredit and the total is still pretty big after Carmella's procedure and the one follow-up visit to Dr. Norwood a few weeks ago. I have a 2 day show coming up on November 14th and 15th which is this coming weekend. I hope customers are not going to be too penny-pinching because of the economy because it would be nice to be able to pay off another big chunk of that bill.

This show is one of the few a year offered by the GA. Microenterprise Network that I belong to. These shows usually are connected with various conferences. I wish they held them more often, but usually they are only offered once or twice per year. The entry fees are relatively low ($50 or $60) as they are geared towards low-income small business owners. This particular one is connected with The Refugee Women's Network, Inc. and takes place at a hotel in downtown Atlanta. The location is good and I usually do well at conferences of this type.

Yesterday I spent all day literally just organizing my jewelry and putting price tags on items that I'd been listing on Etsy since my last show. I didn't realize how long it had been and just how much inventory I'd built up in recent months. The gray duffle bag I carry to shows weighs a ton and I have about 4 large ziplack bags full of jewelry, a full earring rack which holds about 24 pairs of earrings, more on earring cards, about 5 stand-up flocked necklace display boards, and a few rings, not to mention a whole tray of softies bracelets! Since I have nobody to go with me I have to use a minimum of small displays; just what I can carry. I often wish I could have a more interesting set-up, but that would involve more hands to carry it, and as I don't have a vehicle that would be next to impossible. I'll be happy if I can sell half of this stuff. That would lighten my load considerably.

Last week I finished a copper bracelet that is along the same lines as the piece "Hint at Something Deeper". I figured out that if I used a certain type of beadcap it looks like the seedhead of a poppy.

Copper Poppy

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/