Musings on a Small Life

After taking a year or two off, the Ikea Assembly Queen has returned! My excitement for Friday evening: Putting together the little Ikea Tyssedal storage stool I'd ordered. It had been delivered on Tuesday, but had to wait till week's end for assembly. I ordered it partly because I'm always on the hunt for affordable double-duty furniture, and partly to see if I'd like the series. I've had my eye on a 4-drawer Tyssedal bureau for a while now. While I do like the storage bench very much, I now don't think I'd buy the bureau, as the series has a more traditional appearance than I care for. Still, if the price--and shipping costs--are ever right.... I had hesitated to order it because one reviewer had said it was difficult to assemble. I actually found it straightforward, didn't even make a mistake. Maybe having a couple of glasses of wine while I was putting it together helped? Nicki approved! It's currently up in my be...

Whew, I made it to Friday. Even with Monday off (vet days are NOT true vacation days, even if I do have to take them as such), this week has been challenging. I'm happy to see the end of it, even with more cold and snow on the way. Hey, right now we actually have sunshine (gasp!), so I'll just appreciate that.   The view this morning coming into my building. It's since cleared up, at last. I even get to leave work early today, but that's for a dental appointment later this afternoon. No biggie, just some bonding, so I'm delighted to be able to exit the cubicle in a few hours. BTW, the cart is a recent Ikea purchase, came on Monday while I was away. I put it together on Tuesday at lunch time, quickest and easiest Ikea assembly ever. I needed something to get a few of my plants off the window sill, with the blasting heat from the radiator. The poor things have been frying. I still have two pepperomias on the sill at either end, away from the vents...

Nicki had his regular vet visit on Monday morning, so off we went in the taxi, Nick singing the Song of his People the entire way.   Nicki later in the afternoon, with a full tummy and done for the day.   He's lost a fair bit of weight (down to 11.2 lbs from 12.3 lbs last April), so I wanted to have a urine analysis done, as well as blood work (along with the usual expression of his anal glands, his claws clipped, his mouth checked, etc.). I've been waiting for the results and finally the vet just emailed me: his thyroid is fine, chemistries are "in line" with last spring's, his Creatinine actually is a few points less this time, but there was a problem with one of the blood sample tubes for the CBC and the cells were hemolyzed (I had to look that up). The vet suggested that the lab run a urine protein/creatinine ratio (as they did last April), and then said that I could bring Nicki back next week for another blood sample, no further charge. ...

We're in the middle of a significant winter storm, with snowfall up to 25 cms (about 10 inches), high winds and bitterly cold temps. I got up at 5 AM and peeked out to see this: Where's my driveway?? By 7 or 8 AM, it had the added interest of a massive snowdrift: It might not look deep, but that was about waist-high, I guessed. (Correctly as it turned out.) I wisely went back to bed. Around 9 AM I could hear a plow outside on our street, so I sprung out of bed, threw on some sweats, and went out to see if the fellow would be willing to clear my driveway, and for how much. He was plowing a couple of driveways, so I thought he might be an owner, clearing for his tenants. He was agreeable, for $30, and I hesitated for only a moment. Sold! When he was done, I handed him two $20s, because I didn't have smaller bills, but he would only take one! So for $20 I got the seriously deep snow cleared out of my little driveway, and believe me, it was the best...

This is just a rambling post about some weighty things, no obligation to read now (or ever, of course). January 24th will mark the 12th anniversary of Chumley's sudden, unexpected death (blood clot). I find that I've been feeling very unsettled and extra-paranoid about the boys for the past couple of weeks, and I think that's why. It seems crazy, that a dozen years later (longer than Chum was even alive, let alone with me) this should still impact me, but there are some things in life you just don't "get over." Pic was taken by someone else, long ago. Wasn't he beautiful, even with his shaved tummy? The 8th (!) anniversary of Annie's death will come in February, on the 16th. I hate January and February, for so many reasons. Mom called me yesterday. Back in October/November, at the time I was being recalled for further tests after my regular mammogram, a friend of Mom's was going through the same thing. Only "N" wasn...

So tell me what the deal is with the whole show of dominance thing, because Nicki will do this all the time, and has for years. He'll be sleeping soundly in proximity to Derry, suddenly wake up, then get up and clamp down on Derry's neck, presumably in some show of dominance.  A little bit of grooming...    Often a bit of a tussle ensues, and if not, at the very least a standoff...      Then Nicki will settle down again, soon going back to sleep. Derry too! I get the dominance thing overall, but I don't understand why Nicki suddenly wakes up and does it . He can't be the only cat with this behaviour, so if anyone can shed a bit of light, let me know. Anyway, those snapshots were taken last weekend, and I haven't taken another pic of anything since then. I suspect we'll all be hunkered down inside for the next two days, as we're anticipating quite a snowstorm. Our Weather Network continues to forecast about 25 cm of snow (about...

I see it's been 10 days since I've done a blog post, so I ought to make an effort. I've got nothing, though. It's winter, it's freezing, I'm either at work or doing the usual stuff at home on the weekends. The boys are okay. I've been trying to cut back on their food, but Derry keeps getting fatter and the one who doesn't need to lose any weight, Nicki, has. He looks too thin to me now, but that might be just because of Derry's sheer size. I think I need some help in trying to get some weight off of him (Derry). It's tough, when you have two pets with two different body types and eating styles! I have nothing but admiration for the many who have a full house of companion Beings and who have to juggle so many different dietary (and health) needs! That in itself is almost a full-time job.   Nicki has a vet appointment on Monday the 21st, for regular stuff, and I've got a few things to follow up on (kidney stones, his weight loss, and...

We had about 10 cms of snow overnight Wednesday, so I took my little point and shoot to work with me yesterday and went for a walk at lunch time. Fresh snow makes everything, even the mundane, look like a magical winter wonderland!   This is Bella Most of it will disappear now with the milder temps and rain that's in the forecast. It's been a strange winter so far! Anyway, happy Friday! It's a short work week for me, but after the holiday break, even three consecutive work days feels looooonnnng.   Peace.