ok, finally a post
welllll. sorry everyone. i'm back. i apologize for the delay. i didn't mean to leave you all hanging like that. i've been sick (more on that later) so just haven't had it in me to get anything posted. not all that much has happened in the past month anyway, so you haven't missed out on all that much.there was one thing as was hinted at on that las
t post, we did indeed get a cat. i know, shocking, a Miller got an indoor cat! i think it was on Saturday, Feb 11. the cat we had thought we wanted (Lily from the last post) was adopted during the week, so she wasn't available. we visited several pet stores who offered adoptions, as well as the humane society. as i was just typing, the cat just climbed across my laptop only to sit on top of my right arm of all places (guess her ears were burning). ok, that's better. we were close to taking a younger cat from the human society, but we just weren't sure. it seemed just a tad on the over-energetic/mischievous side. the last place we checked was the Petsmart here in Noblesville. the first cat we played with was pretty mu
ch not interested in people. so, we played with this older cat a couple cages down. Chrissy was hooked in just a few minutes. the cat instantly took to us and was climbing all over Chrissy. we decided to go for it! so, Hazel entered our home.Hazel is roughly 5 years old ... and fairly small (about 9 lbs). that's about all we know. she seems to have been part of a good home before, she definitely enjoys being around people. after only an hour or so of exploring her new home, she was comfortable with us and had found her litterbox! she loves to climb up on Chrissy's lap (she's definitely her favorite human) in the evening and just nap. if she's not around, even I will do (as in she is now leaning up against me and sleeping). all in all, she's a very laid back cat. she loves to nap on top of the air vents (i think she is hinting that i keep it too cold in here). she goes into crazy, psychotic play mode when given a "hit" of catnip. i always thought that was some urban legend ... NOT TRUE. she goes completely nuts for that stuff. i think we let her OD a little bit yesterday afternoon ... she took a LONG nap after the high wore off. she has gotten into a little mischief, mostly being in places where she shouldn't (on top of the stair rail, in the basement, counters, etc.). she also ate most of one of our orchids (grrrrr...). Chrissy has been doing a good job of keeping her and her litterbox clean (no bad smells except her breath after eating; only one or two episodes of me feeling allergic to her; minimal hair around the house). so, we have cat. Andy seems suspicious, but they haven't met yet ... and hopefully they won't.
in other news, we got a fun visit from my mom yesterday afternoon. we ate a great meal at The Cheesecake Factory (mmm, fish tacos and cheesecake) and strolled through the new Crate & Barrel at Keystone. she brought some great cake along, which reminds me, i need to get another piece in a few minutes. for my birthday she got me this awesome orchid (no pic yet) as well as ... get this ... Porta-pit chicken (not to be confused with the Porta-nailer that i used to install the hardwood floors)! for those of you who are unfamiliar with this ... you would be confused as to why this is a good present. it's only the best tasting chicken you've ever tasted! i've only ever seen it in northern Indiana, so it's always a treat for me to have it again. i can't wait to eat it tomorrow night.
apart from the above, not all that much is new around here. we watched a lot of Olympics. we were happy to see Crash and Reese Witherspoon win Oscars last night (but still think Joaquin Phoenix should have won, although we didn't see Capote to compare). we went out of town a couple weekends: for Chrissy's dad's birthday and my mom's birthday (left our camera at Chrissy's parents ... thus some of the better pics of Hazel are "unavailable" for posting). i was going to put a storm door on the house on Saturday, but it turns out our old house needs a custom door (custom = opportunity to charge twice the price). that should be here in about 1.5 weeks and supposedly will take less than 1 hour to install (thus saith the display model). that should help us with draftiness at our door ... something i should have done months ago. i also did a little outdoor cleanup to get a jump-start on spring and tossed down some grass seed in the areas where last fall's weed-n-feed showed us where exactly we had that weed part. so, that should help our lawn look a little more decent this year.
ok, regarding the sickness thing. this is a little more personal than i like to go on a blog ... but i know mostly friends and family look at this (if you don't know me, feel free to skip the rest of this posting) ... and frankly, i have a selfish reason for writing about it: i want your help (plus it will do me good to write about it). the sickness has really been two-fold. first, i got a pretty annoying sinus infection in late Jan/early Feb. mainly i was dealing with a lot of sinus pressure, congestion and tiredness. i finally gave in and went to urgent care about 2 weeks ago when i started feeling worse (you know it is bad when i go to a Doctor). i've been on an antibiotic since (1 more day). the actual worst part of the sinus infection turned out to be ... me. i was getting overly stressed about symptoms and thinking i was way sicker than i was (i went from "having" cancer to diabetes and menengitis, i might as well have been Mr. Burns -- having every disease known to man, but they were working in equilibrium, mysteriously keeping him alive) ... thus ending up making myself sicker (getting worked up, anxious, etc.). i went to our family doctor about a week ago to check the progress of the sinus infection and he decided to make sure nothing else was wrong with some blood tests, more for my peace of mind (blood tests all came back good).
i think the sinus infection part is pretty much done, but part two of the sickness is still there ... and this is where i want your help. i think that the the extreme stress of the rush to get things ready to move in, then an intense move-in day and "moving in"... plus the normal stresses in my life (work, etc.) left me physically, mentally, and emotionally spent ... empty ... gone ... toast. i found myself constantly tired and generally disinterested and unmotivated. yeah, probably a bit of that scary sounding "D" word snuck in on me (not officially diagnosed though, but the Doc said getting myself talking about my stresses would be advisable). i think that probably weakened my immune system, leading to the sinus infection. from there, my weakened mental/emotional state took me down a rough road. my lack of appetite during the worst times took me to a weight i haven't seen since high school. i don't recommend it as a diet plan.
the good news is (thank God there IS good news), i do think i am getting better. i've been generally feeling more like myself for about the past week now. moreso the last few days, but i still have moments of relapse. Chrissy has been doing a good job of getting me to talk about things ... something that is not exactly my strength. i'm not totally there yet, but the start is there. here is where i want your help. i really would appreciate your prayers for my physical and mental/emotional state. i have really felt God's presence through these tough times, comforting me when i really need it. it can only help to get some more of those requests lifted up to Him on my behalf. you can trust that they are truly appreciated. these next few weeks look to be very busy/stressful at work, so i'll need any help i can get to help me through.
i'm a firm believer that good can come from everything and i think my lesson from this situation became apparent about a week ago: i need to work much harder on my relationship with God and my relationship with Chrissy. its amazing what God and my wife can do for me, if i only open up my life and let them. i can't stress this enough. don't learn it the hard way like i am.
anyway, sorry about the "heavy" content of this post. since most of you i don't get to see regularly, i felt you deserved to know what was happening. plus, like i said, i think it is a positive step for me just to share what is going on. i'm trying hard to keep "unstressed", keeping a positive attitude, praying a lot, and getting lots of hugs from my wife. oh, and i think Hazel is trying to help ... she's still laying beside me, obviously, Chrissy isn't home from her Bible study yet :-). i promise, it won't be a month until the next post. adios.
posted by Chris and Chrissy Miller @ 10:13 PM
1 Comments:
I'm glad you're feeling better and are being honest and open about what is going on. I'm also glad you got a "therapy cat" :) Pets are good medicine. Seriously though, please don't try to "tough it out". I don't know anyone who regrets going to the doctor too early and I know a lot of people who wish they'd heeded their body's signs and gotten help sooner. This is a Miller Family Value that we could stand to lose in my opinion.
Peace,
d
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