Catching up on a few things

First and foremost, Derry's blood work results (from last week) came back great, such a relief!

He still seems sad and lonesome to me, but then, so I am. I hope Nicki's energy is around, looking out for his "brother."

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As for other things, I survived yesterday's office holiday lunch at the university's conference centre. It was combined with another office, so a large group, and I ended up sitting with two of my co-workers, but also with two of the top people in the administration. They're quite pleasant, but I was distinctly uncomfortable, and a co-worker and I made a "French exit" after we finished eating (i.e. left without saying anything and went back to the office). I'm a social introvert, and I don't know how to explain it, but when I have to be in a group of more than a few people, I feel trapped and rather like I want to crawl out of my skin. Maybe that's some sort of anxiety? I don't know, I don't need to label it. I was just happy to get away and into the fresh air, walk back to the main campus.

Part of the conference centre is housed in a lovely old building, and it's been beautifully decorated for the holidays, as a couple of the snapshots above indicate. Every room had decorations, and there were multiple trees. So pretty! The decorations and the amazing food were the best parts of the event.

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On Sunday afternoon the founder of a local feral cat rescue group came to pick up the canned food I had for donation. I wasn't interested in trying to sell it or take it back to the stores, I preferred to "pay it forward" and have it all put to good use. There were many dozens of cans and I'm sure at least a few hundred dollars' worth, but her appreciation made the donation worthwhile. She said they were running low on food and almost were at the point of having to dip into the vet fund, so I was glad to be able to help out. A bit of good done, in honour of Nicki.

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Oh, I came home on Sunday after a run to Value Village (half price!) and saw that one of the trees behind my fence had been uprooted. I guess it couldn't withstand the latest high winds.

I emailed our property manager to let him know, sent a pic, but removal might be something that has to wait for the spring. The branches are in the way of one parking spot, though, so maybe he'll actually get this taken care of sooner than later. (The property management company is well known around town to be the worst, and it's always a struggle to get anything done. Never mind that it's rare to get anything done properly!)

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I found the two Willow Tree figurines, below, on Amazon, had ordered them a couple of weeks ago. the images are from Amazon's web site; mine are still in their boxes, under my little tree. 

I already have the one with the angel holding the cat in her arms, I got it after Annie's death almost 9 years ago now, and I will add these two after Christmas. They bring me comfort; I'd like to think that "angels" surround my fur babies and are holding them close.

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I'll wind things up with a pic of the tree at the vet clinic, and of a couple of the cute ornaments. I especially like the saddle.

 

The clinic serves both small and large animals, and I think many or most of the staff live out of the city, have land and various animals, so all the ornaments were rustic and farm-related. Very sweet.

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Finally, a cute graphic from Pinterest (with apologies if I've posted this before). I hope you're reading this, Santa!  :-)

Peace.