Too much to do and too little time.

Loki and Kazon had their annual visits last weekend.

Not so good.

Loki’s asthma has grown so acute that they won’t even do a simple dental procedure to clean up a bit of tartar on his teeth.  Several of the vets agree that the anesthesia would likely kill him.

So instead of teeth cleaning, they’ll attempt to do some general scraping each time they see him.  They also recommend Feline Greenies on a regular basis.

I was thrilled to hear that.  Greenies happen to be one of The Kids‘s favorite treats.  They get them regularly.

Kazon’s visit was more problematic.  He has bacterial and yeast infections in both ears.  That can be treated.  Ear drops do not agree with him, of course, and I must pay the toll with extra lovin’ and extra goodies.

He also has a cavity.  That requires a tooth extraction.

He goes in for dental surgery next Friday.  Next weekend won’t be happy around the xenogere household.  Hell, next weekend will likely encompass a certain amount of pandering on my part and demanding on their part simply because Kazon had a bad day.

And I will give in to the demanding.

Add to that a simple truth: This is the first time Kazon has been anesthetized.  I don’t know how that will go (although I do know he’s such a baby that I will spend months paying the emotional bill for this).

Grendel and Vazra both go in this weekend for their annual exams.  I hope that goes well and doesn’t add to the growing burden of malfunctions already in play amongst these felines.

Then comes me being on call this weekend.  That never goes well, always demanding too much time and giving so little in return.  And it results in working 12 days straight before seeing any respite in the melee.

Something else popping up on the ol’ radar is a trip to the family farm.  Dad’s health has been problematic at best; Mom’s job has been overly demanding; my siblings offer no support whatsoever.  It behooves me to get out there as soon as possible, even if for nothing more important than a visit, an opportunity to sit a spell with the folks.

Although I’ve finally completed the outline for “The Kingswell Chronicle” as a whole—something I’m thrilled about both as an accomplishment and as a voluminous tale eager to be told, Dreamdarkers needs additional work so I can begin on End of the Warm Season.  Then Centralia.  Then whatever comes next.

Yet I still need to deal with relocating coupled with finding a new job, neither of which can be seen as simple in the current economy.  It seems many companies persist in their hunts for candidates without actually engaging any new employees, a practice with which I’m quite familiar given my many years in management.

That makes finding a new job all the more difficult, however, and relocation on top of that becomes a challenge beyond measure.

I go on, though, go on looking, go on writing, go on caring for my children and my parents, go on going on in a hostile environment assaulting me on all sides.

Things cannot always be this way.