Not That You Asked...

 Oh these cats! Gus has one job around here and one job only: to get me up in the morning early enough that I can let him out, feed Lucy, let her out, let him in, feed him some crunchies, let him out again and still have time to ice a latte and go back to bed to read till 7:00am.

Of course by the time I get out of the shower Lucy is perched on one window sill or another meowing hysterically because clearly, this time, I have snuck off and left her in the wilds, alone.

Recently Gus has been sleeping in and I'm on a course of muscle relaxers that my doctor hopes will break up my ever present migraine cycle.

So neither of us is bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.

I've been forced to set the alarm on my phone and as soon as it goes off Gus is up and ready to go, while I am fumbling and stumbling to turn off alarm and get to the front door ASAP.

The only day of the week he is guaranteed to wake up at 6 or earlier is Sunday, swear to God.

How does he know that's my day to sleep in?

The only time Lucy wakes me up is if I'm sleeping after 7 and Gus is out and she is in.

And that is with a gentle paw on my face. Not jumping up and down from my body to the floor, from the floor to my body, over and over like a feline robot.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this drug regime works because when I got home last night I had a letter from my insurance company stating that as of January 2016 they will only pay for 9 sumatriptane tables a month.

This is the medicine I take for my migraines and I take the full 27 that have been allotted me, there have been years that I needed a second  different prescription for back up.

If I only have 9 pills a month, I would possibly spend up to 15 days in bed with an ice pick through my head, unable to eat, think, work or let the cats in and out.

I'm a little rattled. Strike that, I'm totally freaked out. I suppose I could pay the full price for 27, close to 200.00 a month, though that seems daunting financially.

I had success with physical therapy but it didn't work the last try, maybe acupuncture? Has anyone tried that?

Any suggestions?

We/I have two months to solve a problem that has haunted me for years.


And perhaps there will be will be an answer that will make me shake my head in amazement that I hadn't tried it years ago.

What a drag it is getting old-er.

on a happier note here are two quick shots of what the pampered pets are doing as I am writing this.

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Truly my raison d'etres

Seeds Of Change

Still can't find my camera, only the charger. Found a camera GG left behind, but no charger.

One's a Canon, one's a Kodak. Never the twain shall meet.

So I've sent away for a charger for the Kodak. 19.95 seems like a safe investment.

We'll see. In the meantime I'll keep searching my files for a unpublished photo or one no one will remember 'cause no one read me then.

I got an exciting email today from  my friend Diane P asking me if I'd read/ heard of this offer:

http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/10/14/meet-the-new-england-innkeeper-moving-to-paris-and-giving-away-her-charming-inn/

I clicked it and indeed, there is a charming inn to be given away to a lucky someone with 150.00 to invest in their future and 200 words to spare. All you have to do is lay out your heart and  convince her that I/you are the right person to get said inn.

I'm in. Who else?

Wouldn't that be a fantastic next life?

I didn't know how much I would like to make a change until the window opened in front of me.

Of course we are talking Maine, long winters, late springs, 3 month top growing season, ice, snow,cold. Brrrrrr.

Then we consider lobster rolls, living close to Boston and some of my favorite people there, fall leaves, the ocean, and the fabulous slogan: Maine "The Way Life Should Be". I could use it as a hashtag on all my IG pictures.

Now there's a good reason to completely change your life: social media. But really,"Virginia Is For Lovers" has not done me a lick of good. And she, the innkeeper, seems to have found a girlfriend and is moving to Paris! Hello.

Of course 200 words...I do tend to run on a bit as you all know.

Will I get the inn? One chance on a million.

Will I decide to keep my eyes wide open and welcome change? Even seek it?

You betcha.

There I already sound like a Mainer. Off to look for a pic, maybe one of the cats?

Or maybe one of carnations. The flower I'm always trying to get our customers to love, no luck there.

Better luck with the essay, eh?

xo J

Small World And All That Jazz

Well this is perplexing....where is my camera?

And am I allowed to write posts without pictures?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it does it make a sound?
 

I could just hit publish and wait for answers but I will forge on ahead.

I have been busy hostessing.

If you are in University anywhere in the UK but mostly Cambridge and you are coming to Washington to do research, I guess you stay with me.

Every one seems to want "a proper room", not a hotel.. Once they get here they like to"go on a bit
of a wander". Everything about my house is "lovely". The cats are "gorgeous". And sometimes they want to go for a run but they have forgotten their "kit".

What more can an Anglophile want?

Cuppa? Don't worry someone is always making one.

The only problems that have arisen, and these are only problems for me, are sussing out peoples nationalities.

If you live in London and are a director at a hospital there, I think you will be English. But no, you turn out to be Irish.

If you say your place of residence is Berlin and you travel between there and Cambridge, I assume you are German. But I would be wrong, you are a Brit.

If you live in and study at Cambridge I assume you are British but no you're a German.

Geography has never been my strong point but I'm beginning to suspect there is a large international conspiracy to confuse me.

Have any of you heard about it in your homelands?

And if so assure "them" it is working.

These last two months have truly been my favorite time of airbnbing

I'm in thrall to the accents, the stories, the massive amounts of attention given to the cats. Who as you can imagine soak it all up shamelessly.

I shut down the inn at the end of October when B.(remember him) comes back from training and assumes his permanent position in the other bedroom. And hopefully at the grill.

But I have loved my months as an American Ambassador.

I've learned so much about other ways of life that it seems my world has exploded..

Since March I have hosted people from China, India ,Brazil, Australia,Cuba via Miami,one of the Stanzs, England, Canada and all parts of the USA.

Incredible experience. I recommend it highly. And to my friends' vast relief, appear to be coming through alive and unharmed, a little wealthier and a whole lot wiser.

 I have always been grateful for the kindness of strangers.