I did it! I finally got up at 6:00 a.m. (You can stop laughing now.) It only took about a month to accomplish this. I’ve had a handful of 6:30 mornings, and plenty of 7:00s, but today I finally made it up just a little after 6:00. Now we just have to see if I can repeat this.
As I mentioned earlier, we have Gracie on powdered Chinese herbs from the vet. (Our vet is a very kind man who wears tiny yin-yang earrings and prescribes things like powdered Chinese herbs.) The first day, I had to mix the herbs with some honey, put that mixture in a syringe (not the needle-type, the medicine-squirting-type), and squirt it into her mouth. Um. Easier said than done. I attempted this in the afternoon, and Jesse wasn’t home so I was on my own. Gracie may be small, but she sure can put up a fight. We ended up with the goopy brown honey mixture all over Gracie’s face, all over my arms and hands, and all over the kitchen floor. At one point, I had the bright idea of trying to smear some on her foot so she could lick it off. Ha. Yeah. Don’t do that.
The herbs are supposed to help her digestion. She’s had problems since day one with this, and we’ve tried all the different foods we can find to try. We’ve made our own. We’ve added canned pumpkin. We’re now at the point with the herbs that she’ll eat the powder when it’s mixed with her food, so at least there’s no honey involved anymore. I’m hoping this does the trick, but we’ll see…
Snapshots: Jesse shaving in the bathroom while I’m putting on makeup, both of us reciting the whole “she’s a witch!” scene from Monty Python. An impromptu crock-pot dinner of chicken with white wine, orange jest and juice, and sage from the garden. (At least the herbs have done fairly well.) Making a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, and then a day later cooking green beans from my parents’ garden with chicken stock and bacon, and the whole house stubbornly refusing to let go of the bacon smell until it got cool enough one day to throw open the windows and turn on all the fans.
Last night, I took a shower and put my hair up in pink sponge rollers. My mom used to put my hair in those before bed sometimes, and awhile ago I found a couple of very cheap packs of rollers, so I bought them and promptly did not use them. But, I decided to finally give them a whirl, so I put them in last night. As I lay down, I remembered just how awful it was to sleep with a head full of rollers, spongy though they are. In fact, I think the curlers are why I was able to get up early this morning. After the alarm went off, I couldn’t go back to sleep.
6 Comments
Refresh my memory, why are you striving to get up at 6am? It’s still dark outside, isn’t it? I stay in bed when it’s dark unless I have to be somewhere or do something early.Same with roosters, they crow at break of dawn.
I just wanted to give “being a morning person” one last shot (a real attempt at starting the day earlier). I do tend to get more done when I get up earlier, and I want to be as productive as I can be, within reason of course.
Someone within hearing distance of us has a rooster that crows around lunchtime. Now, that’s my kind of alarm clock.
According to one of my textbooks, we really are hardwired to be night owls or early birds. (I just have found anything about why I never meet other early birds.)
How’d your hair turn out?
And I hope you haven’t tried changing cat foods frequently because that on it’s own would be a good reason for digestive upsets! Otherwise, I remember hearing at some point that cats don’t like things that taste sweet, and sticky honey sounds like a messy nightmare. I’m glad that mixing it with her food is working out better!
I enjoyed the collection of snapshots.
The hair turned out pretty good! I still have to figure out if it’s possible for my hair to not equate curly with frizzy, though.
We’ve had Gracie on the same food for a while (the Wellness brand, after you and my vet both suggested it within a few weeks of one another–I took that as a sign!). We try not to switch her food around, but over the course of her life with us we have tried multiple foods to see if we could find one that helped her digestion troubles. The Wellness food seems to be working the best so far, though there are still some lingering issues I am hoping will be eased by the herbs.
You know what? My cat Tabitha had digestive issues as well. Her poo used to smell so heinous, that the vet told me that I had to change cat food to something that had more protein to it (i.e., more expensive). So, I ended up buying Spot’s Stew brand from Pet Co. Spot’s Stew has all of these amazing ingredients (almost like people food, really), and they have a sensitive stomach formula. That’s what the cats were eating for the longest time, because Tabi’s stomach issues immediately disappeared (no vomiting, normal poo, etc.). Unfortunately, Spot’s Stew is $20 for a 6 lb bag, and I don’t make enough money yet to afford that. I weaned them onto Purina’s Natural Cat Chow, and her poo actually isn’t bad like it was before, but it’s not quite how it was on Spot’s Stew. Maybe if the Wellness doesn’t work, you could try Spot’s Stew as a last ditch effort. The sensitive stomach seafood formula is the blue bag.
Curlers! Fun to play with, and fun for crazy curls, but yeah, not fun at all for sleeping. Just be glad it isn’t an expected pat of the beauty ideal anymore. MY mom has a scar on her forehead at her hairline from sleeping in curlers as a girl.
Well, I applaud you, not only for getting up at 6:00 but also for your 6:30 and 7:00 mornings. It isn’t easy. If it makes you happy to put in this effort and possibly change your habits, then of course I support you, but as a fellow non-(early)morning person I encourage you to embrace your inner sun-waker! Let yourself enjoy the benefit of sleeping until 8:00, or whenever, for as long as your lifestyle allows!
Last note: Chinese herbs for your cat = awesome! I hope you have good results. Since my om is an acupuncturist, I am very familiar with taking Chinese herbs. Fortunately, I don’t have to get smeared with honey in order to take mine.