There's Always Something (Maggie Shayne)

It should be a fantastic week. I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, and it culminates in a trip to a resort in Scottsdale, Arizona this weekend. I have a rush of titles, five of them, coming out between now and December, with the first one (Moon Fever) hitting the shelves this week. I have a booksigning at one of my favorite stores tonight, The First Edition in Norwich NY (5 to 7 p.m. for the locals.) It's fall, my favorite season. I've decorated for Halloween already. There are ghost lights and skull head lights hanging from my shrubbery, a lighted witch on one door, a giant skull on the other, pumpkins and gourds on the front porch and a little scarecrow on the lawn. I've been having fun lately with people I love. I got paid, caught up on bills, the writing is going great.

But there's always something. Abraham calls it "contrast." Bad things happen to show you what you don't want, so that you can better identify what you do want. Once you know what you do want, you can begin lining up with it emotionally and vibrationally, and then you get it. That's how things got to this very very good place for me. One by one I was shown stuff I didn't want, and so I turned my focus to what would be better, and things got better, and better and better.

I guess if you get too comfortable, you stop growing, so you have to get some more stuff you don't want, to keep you growing and expanding and becoming better.

Okay, I get that. So this week, my refrigerator seems to be failing. Food gets warm, liquid leaks out the bottom, I crank it up higher, and it gets better, but then it gets worse again. Got it. I don't want a broken refrigerator. I need to focus on a working one. I'd actually been thinking one of those retro-ones that looks like it came from the fifties would be nice. Maybe this is how I'll be pushed into getting it. Also this week, I've learned that I don't want a washing machine that no longer spins the water out of the clothes. They come out dripping wet. I'm going to pull it out today and try to see if the belt has broken or slipped off. If that's not the problem, then it's beyond my Ms. Fix-it abilities and I'll have to start looking for a new one. And of course the lawn mower is still busted. I found a problem--maybe not THE problem but A problem. I ordered the parts, and I'm going to try to fix it myself. But I'm not convinced the one issue I found (a broken lift mechnism on the mower deck) is the same thing causing the engine to belch black smoke. So I may need a new lawn mower too. Or maybe what I need is a handyman who can fix little things like these for me at a reasonable price. That would be a real blessing!

But those mechanical breakdowns are minor issues compared to the big one. Sally is sick.

One of the things I learned that I didn't want over the past few months was to be housebound because of my elderly dogs. It was becoming a real problem. I wanted to travel, but I couldn't because no one could really care for the dogs but me. I tried leaving them with family, but it was really too much to ask. Then I found a great kennel, and though it's 42 miles away, it seems to have become the perfect solution. At least, for Wrinkles, the little English bulldog, it is. She loves it there and comes home happy, healthy, clean, spunky and perfect.

But last weekend, I left the dogs there for the second time, and for the second time, Sally, the Great Dane, came home with what I'll delicately refer to as an intestinal problem. The first time, it only lasted a day, and she was fine again, and I chalked it up to stress. She's a very nervous dog. But this time, it's far more serious. I picked them up Sunday and she's been sick all week long, and it seems to be getting worse. I had another quick overnight trip Tuesday/Wednesday. That time a neighbor volunteered to care for the dogs, and I let him since it was short notice for the kennel and Sally loves him. I was sure things were clearing up Tuesday, but Wednesday night when I got home, it was clear Sally's condition had worsened. I was up with her every hour and a half to let her out, and even then she had one accident. I saw blood this time, too. This is way more serious than stress.

This morning I intend to call the vet and see if I can run a sample over there to see if there's a parasite or something. Taking her to the vet is going to be a real challenge, since I don't want this intestinal distress all over the interior of my new car for the third time and it seems inevitable that's what will happen. Of course I'll take her if the vet says she needs to see her. My hope is that she can diagnose the problem and prescribe somehing that will help the poor thing. If she can't do that without an in-person visit, I guess we'll try doggie diapers and stop every ten miles or so.

And I've got the Arizona trip this weekend to contend with. It's far too important to cancel. Wrinkles will be fine at the kennel. I'm just very worried about leaving Sally. The neighbor, who adores her, insists he doesn't mind watching her. He's home all day, can take her out every hour to prevent accidents, and only lives within walking distance, so I think that might be the best solution for this trip. I guess I have everything covered. It's just that there's a part of me that's afraid she's not going to make it, and if she dies while I'm away, it's not only going to break my heart, but leave me with a heavy sense of guilt. She's losing weight visibly. All within a few days' time. It's shocking and scary.

Anyway, I'm calling the vet as soon as they open and we'll take it from there. I'll do everything I possibly can for my ailing pal. So vet today, booksigning tonight, Wrinkles to the kennel Friday morning, a wedding to perform Friday night, Sally to the neighbor's Saturday morning and then off to the airport.

(I didn't have enough to fill my life for a while there, so I told the universe I wanted more. Maybe I need to crank that one down a bit, hmm? Focus on some down time now and then.)

And next week, I'm going to have to have my car professionally cleaned.

There really is a ton of great stuff happening. Lots of positive, wonderful things. It's just hard to focus on those when your pal is looking up at you with sad eyes and you have to leave her and hate to. And a washing machine that works is kind of crucial at the moment, too.

Are you listening, Universe?

Until next time, when I hope to have a much improved situation to report,
Maggie