Just when I thought October was hectic with my trip to Taiwan, November really kicked my ass. John’s work schedule picked up even more: he was on the east coast at the start of the month. Then while he was there, his nephew (oldest sister’s 2nd kid) passed away unexpectedly. C was 15 and severely autistic. He had gotten sick for several days while at school. On Wednesday/Thursday, his mom picked him up, took him to hospital: doctor thought it was a bad flu. That night he died in his bed. We flew to Maryland for the funeral and my god, John’s sister gave the eulogy for her son!! I was so moved by her words and her strength. The whole thing just really made me reflect again on the frailty of life and just the importance of really treasuring relationships with people you love…
While all this shit went down, Remy got sick with vertigo (idiopathic vestibular syndrome). I came home from work, and she was suddenly all imbalanced and wobbly– her hind legs just kept sliding out from under her. She had been totally fine just that morning, so I thought she’d had a stroke while I was at work. I took her to the emergency room… the condition turned out to be vertigo, and she’s almost fully recovered now (2+ weeks later) but I made the mistake of asking the vet her life expectancy, given her size and overall health and he told me she’s about there (!!!) at 13/14 years old. So as you can imagine, I was already all emotional from C’s death, John was away, and then, even though her current illness was recoverable, I just started thinking about life without Rems. Needless to say, I was a sobbing mess. Thankfully, November has a lot of holiday days, so I’m slowly getting my shit back together on some of these days off.
In other news, we had our annual Halloween festivities at work. I went in there determined to win the “most creative costume” contest, but fuck, I came in second. And the winner’s costume was lame!! I don’t want to say it, but “It’s fucking racial, man!” Judge for yourself!
I’m still horseback riding, but I’m getting frustrated with my slow progress. I lost some weight (don’t spaz, just 5 lbs.), and I feel like it’s weakened my core strength or something (realistically, I’m probably just out of shape because I took a break from yoga). Anyway, it’s not cool to have my thigh cramp/seize up while riding. The lesson’s only an hour long! Wtf? How am I gonna be an authentic cowgirl if this shit keeps happening? I know, I need to start exercising again… But for tomorrow’s lesson, wish me luck. This weak-ass bull is getting old.