Dan moved out last night, now sharing an apartment with his brother, Zhenya. He'd been here since Dmitry and I picked him up at the bus station at 2 a.m. on December 21st of 2007, so I'm going to miss him fiercely. Mind, I'm proud of his accomplishments and how well he's doing at Alcon, but that doesn't mean I like seeing him leave. He's promised faithfully to come visit occasionally.

This morning the vet called and said Boots has been deteriorating and he's pretty much done all he can for her. Charles went with me so we were with her to pet and love on her as the anesthetic injection took effect. The vet took her into the back to give the fatal shot. We didn't want to be there for that.

When I think of how full of life Don's and my home used to be, and how different it is now, it's very sad. Never would I have guessed back in mid-November that there would just be me, Dmitry, Joe, and Zeus (Max is here until Dan's settled in, but will shortly move to the apartment) at the end of January.

Just called the vet and Boots is running a fever of 104.5, which is apparently fairly high even for a cat. She's listless, not eating or drinking, and has diarrhea, so there's an infection going on somewhere inside her.

Which is why she's not been eating much, and they can't get the diabetes regulated. He's given her a couple of shots of antibiotics and wants to keep her overnight.

Poor ol' Bootsie-boots.

Either two loooong months or two incredibly short months, depending on how I feel at any particular moment.

It's been a hard row to hoe but thanks to the faithful, sustaining love of Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit, I'm here and managing alright. Life without my beloved Don has lost a lot - if not most - of its zest but still, I am bountifully and generously blessed and well I know it.

My daily prayer now is for the LORD to make me a joyful, godly, contented widow who is a worthy witness as to His love and care for those who trust in Him.

Instead of uselessly demanding of Him "Why?!?!" (an answer to which is not going to be forthcoming, in any case; as Warren Wiersbe said in "Why Us? When Bad Things Happen to God's People", Christians live by promises, not explanations), I thank Him for giving me the awesome gift of a happy 37 year marriage to the best man in the world, bar none.

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day in the upper 50's.  Gorgeous! 

Today is chilly, cloudy, drizzly, and with an ice storm warning for tonight through tomorrow.  Crud.  Already been the the store once but perhaps I'd better go again, as up to half an inch of ice is forecast.  

This morning my sis-in-law, Mary, and I went to our Achevez! meeting (it's a department in the Fort Worth Woman's Club) to paint bowls for the local food bank's Empty Bowl luncheon.  People pay $35 for a soup-and-dessert luncheon provided by local restauranteurs and bakeries and get to take a bowl home.

Here's Mary putting the final touches on hers (these were taken with my cell phone's camera so the quality isn't much):

My plan was to paint wisteria on mine, but I'm not sure anyone would know it without being told:

In a couple of hours I'll call the vet to get the update on Boots, who I hauled back to the office this morning.  For a cat who has spent most of the weekend laying on a dining room chair, she became quite energetic once she spied the cat carrier.  Had to chase her down to catch her and stuff her inside.

This morning I headed out bright and early.....for me, anyway....to Get Things Done. Returned books to the library, remembered to stop by the ATM so I'd have cash for the parking lot downtown, and went downtown to the city courthouse to take care of that stupid ticket.

Me and a whole bunch of other people. Mercy Maud, but there was a long line! However, I obediently took my place at the end and prepared to wait.

And wait I did. Took a good 30-40 minutes just to make it to a window, whereupon - shortly after the woman began the steps necessary to send me to a judge - the computers went down. After a bit we were told it'd be about 10 minutes, and they're sorry for the wait. The line lengthened. People began to point out they were running out of time on their parking meters.

After another 15 minutes we were told it would be another 10 minutes. Give the employees their due, they scrounged up quarters and gave them out to those who needed them. I congratulated myself on my foresight in paying for a pricey lot space and updated Facebook and played solitaire on my cell phone.

A solid hour and a half after I'd arrived, I was instructed to check off that I wanted a court hearing with a judge and sent on my way, told I'd get a court date in the mail.

Meaning I have to go BACK.

At least getting the accident report was relatively quick.

This afternoon the vet called and said while Boots is in no way out of the woods, I can go ahead and fetch her. Her ketones are down (albeit not eliminated) and her sugar level better (though, again, not exactly where it ought to be). She's to be fed a special diet, and fed twice a day, getting her insulin injections after eating.

Seeing as how most of the time I've no idea where the animal is, this is going to be a real challenge. She has to go back to the vet on Monday for a glucose test and to see how the ketones are doing. She may still wind up having to be put to sleep, but as the vet pointed out, we'd have done everything we can do.

And far from greeting Boots with rapture, I found Zeus hissing at her! Good grief.

First night in the new bed.

The BED is fine.

The night's sleep stunk.

Why? Because Zeus the cat apparently isn't accustomed to being by herself in the living room so sat outside my bedroom door for ages, plaintively meowing. Finally I gave up and opened the door a bit, whereupon she bustled in, insisting upon joining me in bed. Well, not so much IN the bed as ON me, doing that softening-up routine of hers.

Off and on, throughout the night.

Trying to sleep with a wide-awake toddler would have been more restful.

Isn't that the way?

Kirstin got back on Monday night from a mission trip to Monto, Honduras.  There's a village (I suppose you'd call it) of fifteen families - about fifty homes - an hour away in the Honduran mountains, and there is a chapel being constructed that is going to be dedicated to Donald.  Kirstin had hoped to have it called the Chapel of the Loving Father, but the bishop said they really prefer it to be named after an official saint, and though we're confidant Don is indeed with Christ, there's unfortunately no "official" Saint Donald.

His middle name is Ray, though, and it turns out a well-known saint down there is Raymundo, so the name of the chapel will be San Raymundo, because of Don.  There will be a plaque with info about him and a photo.  It's in the process of being constructed, and here are some photos I filched from Kirstin's Facebook page:

This is something!  It's the men mixing concrete for it:

No concrete mixers there, by jingo.  It's done the old-fashioned way. 

Note the nice steps:

The man in the black clericals is Bishop Muldoon, and the man in the maroon shirt is Father Celio.  Here's a photo of it sort of in context, as it were:

It will be dedicated when Kirstin goes back in July.  It's wonderful to think of Don being remembered in a remote village in Honduras!  He did like Central America when we were there, and had hoped to return some day.

Thanks for thinking of this, Kirstin. 

I'm looking forward to bed time tonight, that's for sure. ;^)

Need to get a bedspread or comforter set for it, as it looks rather bare with just the sheets on it.

The news about Boots isn't optimistic, I regret to say. The vet says she won't eat so they've had to force feed her a couple of times, there are ketones in her urine, and so far the insulin isn't bringing her sugar levels down near enough. He said he'd hoped it was just a simple case of feline diabetes but unfortunately it's a complicated case, and with her being an old cat, her prognosis isn't good. She may have to be put to sleep after all.

You'd think I'd learn to call before I go down to get a copy of a police report. Parked blocks away, popping $1.50 in quarters, hiked to the police station, waited for ages then was told nope, not here yet....they've got 3-5 business days to get it in.

Oh well. I'll try again later in the week.

Having gone to the vet to talk about Boots, and to the DMV (followed by a turkeyburger at Fuddrucker's), and to the police station downtown (though it wound up being an abortive trip), and to the grocery store, I decided to keep the momentum going and took Dmitry and his car (the one that was Jessica's before we got her the Malibu) to get it inspected and the oil change.

Two hours and four hundred bucks later, we're home. We're splitting the cost, Dmitry and I. Had some valve cover something or other replaced as it was leaking or doing whatever it is it isn't supposed to do, then threw caution - and money - to the wind by going ahead and having it tuned up (the mechanic gravely came in to show me the sorry state of the spark plugs) and the brake fluid replaced. He said the brake fluid could wait a bit longer, but even I could see how filthy it was and I tend to get nervous about brakes, so decided to have it changed.

Spent the time (since I hadn't prepared for a long wait by bringing a book) watching the inaugural parade....first of Obama's trek from the Capitol to the White House, then the first several entries in the actual parade. One hundred and two different groups! Wow.

Dmitry got to drive home from the Kwik Kar place there on University, and he didn't do badly, either. Tends to drive slooowly but with jack-rabbit starts, but practice will smooth that out. Before long I guess I'll have to let him actually try for a driver's license. He's so funny. Yesterday afternoon and evening Carolyn was over and they spent a fair amount of time just sitting in his car and talking. ;^)

Somehow my Social Security number was omitted from my driver's license registration or whatever it's called.

That's it. According to the woman at the DMV, it's purely an administrative error, my license is NOT invalid, and I should not have gotten a ticket.

Took three minutes to find out the police officer didn't understand what a particular acronym means. Thanks to Kathy for kindly picking me up and taking me there, as I was worried about showing up with an invalid license and it not be something easily fixed and they'd tell me I can't drive.

Of course, I still have to go to the court house and see about the ticket I ought not have been issued.