Musings on a Small Life

Goodbye, November. You were a blur of work projects, appointments, and OCD worries over Derry. Thanks, though, for the amazing weather, last Wednesday's freezing rain and snow notwithstanding, of course. And thanks for a few amazing sunsets. Now, December, you could take a lesson from your "sibling" and bring us milder-than-usual temps too. You know, as your holiday gift to us. [No update on Anne today. As of last night she still was in Emerg, waiting for a bed in the cardiac unit. Thanks for your good thoughts, my friend will appreciate them.] Universal Blessings, Light and Mercy to All Beings.

I got a call from an out-of-town friend this morning, at the office. Her 85-year old mom, Anne, had a heart attack yesterday (plus has pneumonia), and their hospital transported her from their town about an hour away to our city's cardiac unit. The friend will stay with me tonight, then head to Ottawa tomorrow morning to pick up her sister and bring her back. Beyond that, I don't know what's happening, or even what the prognosis is. I haven't seen Anne in quite a few years, but I remember her well and hope she can pull through. She's a tough cookie, but age is a factor, and she's had other health issues recently too. I guess this post is just a reminder to savour those "strawberries," (see yesterday's post), because the "tigers" are ever-lurking. BTW, I'll apologize here, too, for not being able to leave comments right now on all the blogs the boys and I follow. I know it's "blogging without obligation," but I still f...

I'm impressed the tree's still up and intact, but it's early days yet. Ha. Derry has been producing normal output today, knock on wood. I spoke with his vet a short time ago to ask for a few days' worth of pain meds to have on hand, just in case of emergencies over evenings, weekends or holidays. It's a small price to pay for six months of peace of mind (six months is the shelf life). I'll pick up the syringes later this week, after we're paid. I hope I'll not have to use them, of course, but there's only the emerg clinic in the west end available in the off hours. And of course it costs almost $200 just to walk in the door. Not something I want to do unless it's a true emergency. And so another work week has begun. With my morning meeting and then physio appointment, I felt like I wasn't even in the office today. I'm toying with the idea of taking Friday off to get some things done, but I'll see how work goes over the next couple o...

Okay, so yesterday just after noon Derry made a quarter-sized pee clump in one of the boxes upstairs, then a normal clump in the second box. But a short time later, when I was in the basement, he came down and made a tiny, dime-sized clump. UTI recurrence! Never mind my blood pressure and stress levels--through the roof, that should go without saying. Then, around 7:30PM he made a normal clump downstairs (5cm x 5cm), no fuss. Whew , I thought. But 20 minutes later, he rushed upstairs into the newly-cleaned litter box and made another dime-sized clump, with a big meow. (As in ouch !) Have I slept? No. This morning, around 3:50AM (I got up just after 3AM because I was just lying there anyway), he did his business with no fuss or muss. So (a) I'm not sure what's going on--seems like a UTI recurrence to me, though perhaps not acute at this stage, and (b) I'd like to try something homeopathic (besides Cosequin) that does not have to be administered into the mouth like a pill...

Such a trite post title, but I couldn't resist. Snapshot of this afternoon's sky, from my bedroom window. I hope someone out in blog land has exciting plans for the weekend. I don't, as we're not paid till Wednesday and I'm coasting on fumes, as it were, till then. Next weekend will be my running around weekend. This weekend I have no excuse to forgo the housecleaning. I'll probably put my Christmas tree up too, possibly Sunday. I'm sure the boys will be a great "help" to me while I'm doing it. But it's very bittersweet this year, as Annie's not here to lend her paw and snoopervisory skills. Sometimes I feel bogged down with grief, even 40 weeks and 2 days after the fact. But a little Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby holiday music will perk up my spirits, and I'm sure the boys will keep me entertained. Have a lovely and fun weekend, everyone. Universal Blessings, Light and Mercy to All Beings.

Even though we've had above-normal temps for November, and will again into the weekend, we woke up to freezing rain, then snow this morning. Some of us were not impressed. Some of us spent the day in our "happy place," pretending it still was summer. All but the last pic were snapped from inside my building and the adjoining one. It's supposed to hit +7C tomorrow, so all this should disappear. Fingers (and paws) crossed. But oh, yes, this definitely is a reality check from Mother Nature: This is Canada and it's winter ! Universal Blessings, Light and Mercy to All Beings.

Value Village's 50% off for SuperSaver club members, in advance of their general 50% off sale tomorrow. (With apologies to those who get the heebee jeebies at the thought of wearing second-hand clothes.) Seven long-sleeved tops (two turtlenecks, one mock turtleneck, the others crew neck), one multi-coloured blazer (got it for $6.50), one adorable cat print ($2, needs to have its cheap plastic frame painted black or perhaps be re-framed), one scarf ($2), one very well made over-the-shoulder bag with a padded shoulder strap and oodles of compartments ($1.50), and five novels. OMG, I was in bargain heaven! I'm jazzed about the black bag/purse most of all, because the small knapsack I purchased in September from Bentley fell apart on me last weekend (crappy thing). I'll bet this one lasts a heck of a lot longer. People get excited about buying a pair of slacks for $30 or $40...I get excited about spending $1.50 and $2 on my things. $50 will get you an entire season's wa...

I can barely even remember the week. Two dental appointments and work training, plus the usual. Very exciting. And a potential conflict (not with my immediate co-workers, with the former co-worker) which I discussed with my boss today, because I felt I had to be fair to him, as we'll now be working more closely with this person's current department. And, in fairness to me, I wanted to know if we would have to move our office space to become one big happy family, because I really don't think I could share space with this person again. And if it ever came to that, I might have to consider other work options. But the answer to the rumour of the office move is no, at least not in the foreseeable future (as in years). So I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about it. And let me just add that I have a great boss. I'll never have a better one.  One of several downtown bed and breakfasts. Snapped this AM. Nicki's in the dog house again, for having broken someth...

Every holiday season I order at least one new-to-me CD and these came yesterday evening from Amazon.ca. (Poor UPS delivery guy didn't show up till after 7PM--very busy, he said. No kidding.) Love the Verve label Christmas Jazz CD and the Dean Martin one too. Both get two thumbs up. I do like the Celtic Thunder CD also, though I had been expecting more of a Celtic sound. (I had ordered it just  based on Amazon customer reviews.) Still, all good choices, and I spent the day in my "happy place" while at the office, listening to these CDs and to other holiday music.  :-) I hope you had a few minutes, at least, in your own "happy place" today. Universal Blessings, Light and Mercy to All Beings.

Just shy of two hours to do my paltry outdoor holiday decorating: lights on the fat shrub, garland and bows around the garage door and on my little step railing. No wreath on the door yet, though. It is early, but our +13C weather will be coming to an end soon. Like today. And I didn't want to be out there in a coat and gloves later this month, trying to get it all done.   Too bad I didn't have quite enough garland to go to the bottom, but I did the best I could with what I had, and it still looks festive. I did walk up to Rona (big home and garden box store) this morning (missed their 15% off sale yesterday), and saw lots of lovely trees and holiday decorations, but didn't buy anything other than the bows you see. They had a couple of gorgeous artificial pine trees I coveted, maybe I'll see if anything is left over after Christmas, on the Boxing Day sales. Right now I have a good cup of tea beside me and Perry Como (yes!) singing about tidings of comfort and joy. Ano...

Today. Now . Christmas carols playing (yes, on November 12th), a glass of wine, some sushi (just the grocery store kind), and--wonder of wonders--my holiday shopping done. Except for the boys--that will wait till December. And--another wonder of wonders--shopping done slightly under budget. (It's a small budget. LOL.) Granted, I have only Mom, Harry and Dad to buy a few things for, but Mom also has a birthday on December 19th, and I always send a few little things for both birthday and Christmas. I'm exhausted and achy, but I feel great and the choral music is putting me in my "happy" place. Maybe the light wine is too (a shiraz rose--I'm not a wine connoisseur at all, so am content with the inexpensive wine I bought). Also putting me in my happy place is the knowledge that I don't have to set foot in the mall again for anything, unless I choose to go for myself. It's just one, truly perfect moment.  :-) The boys will have their perfect moment once I...

Okay, maybe not quite "nerves of steel." One of my regular bus drivers (female) told me about a product called Nervoheel for anxiety, tension, stress, etc. She gets it at a local nutrition/supplement/alternative health care store and takes it as needed. Apparently when she's really upset/anxious, she gets a "bee sting" sensation on one of her arms. Someone she knows told her it was literally the nerve endings in that area, and she finds that taking a Nervoheel tablet calms her down and eliminates the sensation. Her physical sensation sounds much the same as my "nettle under the skin" on my abdomen. So now I'm wondering if this is related to my being so anxious and upset and stressed much of the time. After Googling it a couple of days ago and doing some reading, I picked up a bottle (50 tablets is all that store sells) to try for a week or two (one tablet three times a day). http://www.homotoxicology.net/Documents/Brochures/Nervoheel.pdf http://...

The trouble with being part of the Cat Blogosphere is that when I see all the rescued, fostered, and adopted cats and kittens, I want to go down that road again. Never mind that all the "cons" far outweigh the "pros." So, as I was walking home from work yesterday, I had an overwhelming kitten-urge and stopped in at the local "mom and pop" pet supply store on my route. I used to shop there all the time, then gave up trying to get anyone to eat "premium" canned food, since it all was going to waste, regardless of brand or flavour. (Why can't they make that stuff as appealing as the crap in the grocery stores? But I digress.) This store always has kittens and young cats from both our local human society as well as the one from which Derry and Nicki were adopted. I saw only three there yesterday; all the others were playing somewhere. (They're allowed to run free for most of the day, which gives them great socialization with other cats and ...

No pics, not one snapshot, even of the cats. Saturday was errands, among them, the hunt for new litter boxes. You'd think it would be easy, right? Ha. I want giant-sized boxes that are deep, with regular openings at the short end. Maybe I should stick with Rubbermaid storage containers (I also use two of those, as well as a couple of 10-year old, worn and scratched boxes). Did a few other errands on Saturday too, plus the usual housecleaning, etc. All the boring life stuff we have to deal with. And had the usual hormonally-induced state of worry about the cats and money. OMG, I'd rather be a woman than a man, thanks, but sometimes the hormones get out of control.  :-P Sunday I had one of those ice-pick in the brain headaches, presumably also hormonally-related, so it wasn't fun. Still, a friend came up for the afternoon and we went for coffee at Starbucks with her ex-husband, then made a Value Village run. It had been ages since I'd been to V. V., and I got a few to...

My neighbour, the one with the two scary dogs, has her house up for sale--sign on the front lawn this afternoon. (Okay, so it's against the condo bylaws to have "for sale" signs out, but there it is anyway.) Yay! Let me help you pack, lady. Because I won't miss you or your nuisance dogs, though I will miss your sweet tabby boy, Niko, very much. And who will love him, after you're gone? I do so hope he'll be okay. Her unit could sell in a day or two, maybe a week tops, if she doesn't over-price it. These places go very quickly and there's pretty high turn-over, since they're cheap "starter" homes, really. She's done a lot of work, though, so when her agent has pics on-line, I might take a look (nothing up yet). So I certainly could have new neighbours for the holidays. But I'm putting it in writing now that I fully expect the Fates, with their sick senses of humour, to give me 20-something neighbours that party every night, a...

I had to pick a poem to memorize in grade 5, and for whatever reason, it was Walter de la Mare's "Silver." I don't think we had much from which to choose. Hand-held at full-zoom through my bedroom window just a bit earlier this evening. Contrast adjustment but nothing else. I love that camera! I've never forgotten the poem, can still recite it. It doesn't strike my adult self as "great" poetry, frankly, but the images it conjured in my child's mind have stayed with me all these decades. Maybe that's enough to make it "great," from a certain perspective.  :-) Silver Slowly, silently, now the moon Walks the night in her silver shoon; This way, and that, she peers, and sees Silver fruit upon silver trees; One by one the casements catch Her beams beneath the silvery thatch; Couched in his kennel, like a log, With paws of silver sleeps the dog; From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep Of doves in silver feathered sleep...

So Nicki eats his few bits of kibble this AM and goes out for a few minutes, as usual. I get the canned food ready, still sprinkling a bit of FortiFlora on it to entice both of them to eat it. Nicki takes a few bites, then forgoes his "stinky goodness" in favour of hunkering down in front of the stove, trying to get under it. Oh, peachy , I think, because of course I have no sense of smell and if there's a decaying rodent under there, I won't know unless I move the stove out. And I want to do that at 3:30AM? Or worse, what if it's a live rodent or even bat? I'm not scared of either, but I certainly don't want to deal with them in the house. Nicki continues to look for something for quite a while, then makes his way to the basement--very odd behaviour for him in the morning. He and Derry hang out down there for a few minutes, with me wondering what the heck is going on, then I coax Nicki back up and he goes outside again. Derry joins him, and I think, ok...