Hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to the lovely and talented harmonyheifer and impresaria1!!! Hope it's a great one, filled with joy and music!!

When you're up to your arse in alligators...

Colleen isn't sick -- she's wounded. This makes her all the more frustrated: she feels perfectly OK except for craving food, which of course she can't have, and being unable to get out of the house and do things by herself. It's a strain on her.

It's at least as much of a strain on me, since most of the things she can't get out and do end up in my bailiwick. One does what one has to, but perhaps the hardest thing is not being able to help her. Sure, I can cope with the physical stuff -- the TPN care is becoming routine, finally. What I'm having the most trouble with is not being able to comfort her, or calm her anger and frustration.

I sometimes have the feeling that we're both taking turns hanging on by our fingernails while the other grabs on to our ankles. I lost it again last night.

The fact that I'm fighting a cold, and at times can barely breathe, doesn't help at all. The fact that January is a particularly bad month for Colleen -- the anniversary of several deaths -- helps even less.