I've hit the bottom many times, and it's not always that bad

( Dog pics. May include cat. )

can I say again that this heat is killing me? Or something is. My legs ache, my head aches, my brain couldn't think its way out of a wet paper bag and a seven-minute walk to the grocery store feels like climbing fucking Everest - only without the snow. Oh, and my fucking ELBOW is playing up again.

got dragged over to sister T's to visit mum and niecething and have a Family Conference last night. Mum is looking immeasurably better. That ghastly swelling (ascites) has vanished, her colour's back to normal, she's starting to have more energy.

Family conference was about Grimmauld Place. Mum's friend Nigel had a key cut and went there with a prospective cleaning lady. Cleaning lady took one look and refused to have anything to do with it.

When Mum told me about this on the phone she was expecting me to go over there and deal with it myself before she'd go near the place again. Sister T said much the same thing, and added that a. I'm not entitled to whine about feeling crappy because I am not raising an OMGBABY, and b. she's liable to strangle Mum before much longer so I have to CLEAN NOW IMMEDIATELY THIS MINUTE.

Mum firmly believes that the place was a gleaming Better Homes showpiece before I moved in there and turned it into a pigsty, by the way. Never mind the contents of five other households that she's crammed in there, never mind the ten long years of not cleaning before I moved in, and the year of not cleaning and forgetting to empty the litterbox after I moved out - it's all my fault, my mess and mine only. Because of course, Mum doesn't shit, pee, cook, eat, spill things or get dirty, and her cat doesn't shit, pee, eat or shed hair. *rolleyes*

Thankfully, when the whole family got together on it, sanity prevailed - that, and they know damn well I won't clean the place single-handed. The plan is that when sister T can drive again in a week or so, she's going to drive Mum and I there and we're going to tackle it together. It's still going to be a ghastly grind of a job, but at least I'm no longer expected to tackle it alone from the ground up when I'm not even up to the walk over there at the moment. Huge relief.

even though I was driven there and back last night, the whole thing still knocked the stuffing out of me - or perhaps there wasn't any stuffing to knock in the first place, I dunno. All I've had the energy to do today is lie on the couch watching BSG and some desultory message board posting.

Highlight of my day: watching Squish and Cassie hunt flies. Squish is the more spectacular hunter with his giant balletic leaps, flying ears and clopping jaws, but Cassie is just as dedicated and far more efficient. Between the two of them, the odd fly that wanders in through the mostly-shut windows has a life expectancy of approximately four minutes. If it's lucky.

Not only that, but she eats the ones she kills. Oh how I love living with predators!

P.S. Yes, I am using the same soundtrack two days running. I can't stop playing this particular song at the moment. Will upload it for anyone interested. Love it love it love it love it.

I've hit the bottom many times, and it's not always that bad

( Dog pics. May include cat. )

can I say again that this heat is killing me? Or something is. My legs ache, my head aches, my brain couldn't think its way out of a wet paper bag and a seven-minute walk to the grocery store feels like climbing fucking Everest - only without the snow. Oh, and my fucking ELBOW is playing up again.

got dragged over to sister T's to visit mum and niecething and have a Family Conference last night. Mum is looking immeasurably better. That ghastly swelling (ascites) has vanished, her colour's back to normal, she's starting to have more energy.

Family conference was about Grimmauld Place. Mum's friend Nigel had a key cut and went there with a prospective cleaning lady. Cleaning lady took one look and refused to have anything to do with it.

When Mum told me about this on the phone she was expecting me to go over there and deal with it myself before she'd go near the place again. Sister T said much the same thing, and added that a. I'm not entitled to whine about feeling crappy because I am not raising an OMGBABY, and b. she's liable to strangle Mum before much longer so I have to CLEAN NOW IMMEDIATELY THIS MINUTE.

Mum firmly believes that the place was a gleaming Better Homes showpiece before I moved in there and turned it into a pigsty, by the way. Never mind the contents of five other households that she's crammed in there, never mind the ten long years of not cleaning before I moved in, and the year of not cleaning and forgetting to empty the litterbox after I moved out - it's all my fault, my mess and mine only. Because of course, Mum doesn't shit, pee, cook, eat, spill things or get dirty, and her cat doesn't shit, pee, eat or shed hair. *rolleyes*

Thankfully, when the whole family got together on it, sanity prevailed - that, and they know damn well I won't clean the place single-handed. The plan is that when sister T can drive again in a week or so, she's going to drive Mum and I there and we're going to tackle it together. It's still going to be a ghastly grind of a job, but at least I'm no longer expected to tackle it alone from the ground up when I'm not even up to the walk over there at the moment. Huge relief.

even though I was driven there and back last night, the whole thing still knocked the stuffing out of me - or perhaps there wasn't any stuffing to knock in the first place, I dunno. All I've had the energy to do today is lie on the couch watching BSG and some desultory message board posting.

Highlight of my day: watching Squish and Cassie hunt flies. Squish is the more spectacular hunter with his giant balletic leaps, flying ears and clopping jaws, but Cassie is just as dedicated and far more efficient. Between the two of them, the odd fly that wanders in through the mostly-shut windows has a life expectancy of approximately four minutes. If it's lucky.

Not only that, but she eats the ones she kills. Oh how I love living with predators!

P.S. Yes, I am using the same soundtrack two days running. I can't stop playing this particular song at the moment. Will upload it for anyone interested. Love it love it love it love it.