Musings on a Small Life

Last night I dreamed that I looked out my bedroom window, saw the next door neighbours loading stuff up into their truck, and was thrilled they were leaving. Only to find out (still in the dream), that all he was doing was repairing the living/dining area floor and they needed to move things out so he could work. Well, crap. Even in dreamland my hopes were/are dashed. Worse yet, this afternoon's "20 minute" nap (which turned into 1.5 hours) brought a dream in which the mother came and stretched out beside me on my bed (yes, fully clothed, in case anyone was going to ask), while I was lying there, to chat about life stuff while the hubby and kids were out. Gaggghhhh! Bring out the crystals and sage to protect me! Heck, throw in a little holy water, too. Man, if my dreamworld brings anything else like that tonight, I might never recover. There's a story behind this little (okay, big) guy, or one like it, but I'll have to let Derry tell it on the...

The vet called a short time ago, finally able to catch up on non-appointment stuff. He said Nicki's blood work was great, no problems. His EOS level was high the last time (think it was the EOS--eosinophils--I'd have to check). Can be related to allergies, parasitic infections, etc. In Nicki's case, I think it's been allergies; I know it's not parasites. Or highly doubt that it is. In any case, apparently all is well now. I'll pick up a copy of the the blood work results (and urine analysis) the next time I'm in. His UA also came back with good results. Urine pH is down slightly, between 6.5 and 7.0. It was at 7.0 back in the fall, as was Derry's. Between 6.0 and 6.5 is desirable. So there is something to the grain-free canned food with added water theory advocated by the vet at Catinfo.org . The urine is highly concentrated, though, which is typical for him (and for Derry too). Apparently he had amorphous crystal fragments, not a concern to the ve...

...I actually found three that fit and that don't require hemming. Four pairs on Friday at Wal-Mart, eight pairs at Sears on Saturday and sixteen, yes, sixteen, pairs at Value Village today. Three at Value Village were great. Actually, one pair of jeans at Sears were perfect, great fit and the right length, but too pricey at $40. I don't buy anything that's not a good deal. There were two other pairs at Sears that fit nicely but were a bit too long and I don't like to hem. Besides, they were even more expensive than the jeans. (I tried them on only because the very nice, helpful sales clerk gave them to me.) However, I'm happy with today's slacks: two pairs of black (one denim, one light weight fabric for work) and one pair of navy striped cotton slacks. $5.99, $5.99 and $7.99, which beats one pair for $40 all to heck. Oh, I do love bargain shopping! BTW, the navy striped slacks must have had a very interesting scent accompanying them, as they prompted a bunn...

We have winter again (crazy concept for February in Ontario). A few centimeters of snow; that's nothing. It's the freakin' minus 25 Celcius windchill we had today and will have tomorrow. I refused to venture out at all today--almost unheard of for me, for a Saturday--except for quickly clearing the driveway. Coffee with a friend tomorrow morning, but at least he'll pick me up, no waiting at a bus stop or trundling off on foot. Snapped around 5PM this afternoon. Even Nicki's not impressed with the temps or snow. Our City's greenhouse is open Sunday afternoons now, starting tomorrow. I won't be going right away. Maybe next weekend or the weekend after. Next weekend's the cat show, though. One of last year's greenhouse snapshots. I finished kitty blanket #11, which really is #10, this morning. The one I had on the go last weekend still is on the go. I put it aside to see how the remnant "unknown fibre" wool from Wal-Mart would knit up. Quick...

I had the annual furnace cleaning/inspecting this afternoon, for the maintenance plan I buy. (Which actually has been very handy in the past, several times.) All's fine, igniter replaced (gas furnace). But for the first time, I had the option of signing up for equal monthly billing over the year. Apparently they've always had this option, but no one ever suggested it to me before. I'm glad this guy did, it's much easier to budget $25 per month than to shell out $300 at once--at least for me. So another one of those little boring life details has worked out just fine, at least for the moment. Nicki was very well behaved, by the way. Usually he makes a pest of himself, but he mostly stayed upstairs with me while the guy was here, only going down a few times to check things out. I was impressed. Derry hid under the guest futon, of course. Oh, I've seen the now-moved-out neighbour back a few times, including this afternoon. So the new owners don't have the keys y...

So far the first two days of January 2012 feel just like December 2011. Huh, what a surprise. I wonder why we make a big to-do about January 1st. Even when I was with my ex, we never made a big deal out of the "new year," would just go to a house party or stay home. Certainly most of us don't keep the resolutions we make, which is why I don't make any. I think if I were inclined to do that, I'd want to do it on my birth-day, the true beginning of a new year of my life. Anyway, I'm back to work tomorrow and content to get back into a routine. I've been off since the afternoon of December 22nd, and I made it through to New Year's day without getting bored or having my mood plummet. Usually I don't make it this long, puttering around on my own and not having much human interaction. But this holiday has been very enjoyable, lots of reading, some shopping (mostly necessities), and of course the knitting, knitting, knitting. I'm only on kitty blank...