Musings on a Small Life

Another mid-week, a third of the way through June already. My days are a blur. My life is a blur! Someone at work, not in our office, commented to me yesterday about how busy I am and that things must be stressful. I laughed and asked, "Why, does it show?" She replied that yes, it does.  Yikes. Apparently I need to do a better job of plastering a smile on my (exhausted) face. Anyway, I had a nice walk down along one of our waterfront parks on Sunday. I had assumed, heading down, that all the midge flies would be gone, but ugh, no, they still were swarming. I kept my mouth closed, took some pics, and didn't linger. Took off my cardigan once I got out of the park and shook it out, shook everything out. ::Shudder::  Snapped with the little Elph, so pic quality not good.                     I had my MRI yesterday (lower back). That was fun. Several of my co-workers have had at least one, so I...

I talked with Mom when I got home from work. Harry has his colour back and she said his face was almost normal. Yesterday she told me he had no facial distortion. So (sorry Mom) who knows what the truth is. My aunt might be more direct/honest with me (Mom has a tendency to downplay everything), but I've not had a chance to talk with her. Anyway, the bottom line is that he'll be in the hospital for 2 - 3 weeks and then they'll look at what he needs for rehab--and whether that's done in-home or in another facility. I told Mom that I'll be very disappointed if he goes home at all at this point. I love Harry dearly, he was there for me in many ways when my own dad was not, back in my early- to mid-twenties, but I think he's past the point where Mom can care for him in their home and I think he needs to be in a care facility--as much as I do not wish that on anyone, let alone anyone I care about. But it's not realistic for Mom to care for him any longer, un...

The vet called me at work this aft (I had called in the AM to find out if the results were in yet, but the vet was in surgery most of the day). Anyway, he called around 3:30PM and told me the results were negative for cancer, Derry's lump really is just a fatty lump. Thanks goodness! I'm celebrating by drinking too much wine. Rye would be preferable, but the lineups at the liquor store would have been too crazy, and I was able to get a couple of bottles of wine at the Wine Rack on my way home. [Feel free to stop here. The rest is all my week stressors coming out.] It's been a hugely stressful week, not only with Derry, but also with Mom and Harry (who ended up in ER a few nights ago, via ambulance). Long story there, but the bottom line is that while his organs are, for the most part, fine, the deterioration in his brain is marked (they did a CT scan as well as MRI, x-rays, etc.). Mom had called on Tuesday evening to tell me all this had taken place Monday evening/...

So all of a sudden (or so it seems) Nicki won't touch any paté food, not his favourite Fancy Feast or the ProPlan, even with FortiFlora on it. Not even a can of leftover Friskies chicken paté I still had from feeding Toby. He'll give it a lick or two, then walk away, even though he's obviously hungry. I'm wracking my brain trying to think if he started this before the vet visit or after, but all I know for sure is that it's been last couple of days, at least. He will eat his kibble, any treats I give him, and he'll certainly eat the ProPlan salmon and rice (with gravy). He lapped up the Friskies gravy in their chicken dinner (pieces of what's supposed to be chicken in gravy). I don't want him to have those "sauce" type foods, as they have wheat and sometimes soy too, and I prefer to stay away from corn, soy and wheat. But if that's all he'll eat right now.... I can't think what the issue is. Is he somehow associating patés ...

I'm still trying to wrap up the one big project due at the end of the week. I've got most of it done, and it's with my boss now, waiting for his review, corrections, edits, etc. So if it's not done by Friday, at least I won't be the hold-up.   So yesterday was a mere one-glass (of wine) day, and I think today will be about the same. It's an improvement! Oh, by the way, I had my gas and water meters replaced a week ago, by random selection (definitely not by my choice). When I was doing laundry in the basement on Saturday, I noticed a small pool of water accumulating below the pipes of the water meter. Hey, great job, huh? The guys came back early this morning to fix whatever it is they did wrong the first time--the younger of the two was the same, but the older man wasn't. Probably a good thing, I hope he has more job experience and that the leak is resolved. Purrs from the boys and peace from me.   Oh, which reminds me: Derry and Ni...

The little front space at #36 Clergy Street, south-facing, has daffodils up and almost ready to bloom. Seriously.  I saw them early this morning, did a double take and stopped for a closer look, but sure enough...daffodils they were. We still have snow banks from the plows. The sun wasn't even up yet, though, so I didn't bother snapping a pic, as it would have been too dark and grainy. But yesterday it was +7 Celsius, so just perhaps Spring is on her way after all. *** BTW, the moon was glorious this morning, as I was heading to the bus stop. She was hanging low in the sky, had a golden glow. Beautiful. Looked to be full too, which might explain this week's work craziness, at least in part. With (unwanted) changes afoot, and the ongoing neighbour insanity, I've had to print out some inspiration for myself, found via a Google search: I've also decluttered my cubicle space, discarding or taking home most of the "stuff" I've accumulat...

So far I've had no luck finding progesterone cream here. Supposedly it can be purchased at one's health food store, but the best known shop in our city doesn't carry it. They have a few other options for PMS and menopause, some herbal and some homeopathic. I did find this: Though I'm more than skeptical it will make any difference at all, I'll try it for a month. There's also a menopause formula, which I subsequently saw on-line, though they didn't carry it. Another store might, however. My thought process was that not only are my hormones out of whack even more than usual now, but that my home life also is very stressful (for me, maybe not for someone else in the same circumstances). Plus it was on sale. And it can't hurt. Might not help, but won't hurt to try. And if I don't notice a difference, I'll move on to something else. Would that "serenity" were that easy to achieve. Ha!

Why, oh why does everything at work fall onto one's desk at once? Any "one." It's the same for us all. There's some unwritten universal law about this, feast or famine. I actually had to email the director of a government agency yesterday, about an annual data project we do (mostly me, because it goes up on our web site), and tell her that for the first time ever , I didn't think I could make her November deadline. (Keep in mind I'm just the flunky research/admin assistant, pretty low on the food chain.) There's just so much happening right now. I told her I was freaking out over the thought of a missed deadline, but that I just couldn't guarantee getting the project completed. (I've never missed a deadline that I can recall, am always early for appointments and meetings, etc.) As it turns out, another university can't meet that short deadline either, so she's going to extend it by a couple of weeks. That will help, at least a bit....

Zylkene: http://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/site.aspx?i=pr184036 I just called the clinic to get the name. They can't give it to me without seeing Derry; it has to be prescribed. But she said all the vet clinics get it from the same source. "Zylkene is a revolutionary new product used to help cats and dogs cope with stress. It is a food supplement made from a protein found in milk (the same molecule that helps babies relax after a milk feed). The active ingredient is a peptide (a protein molecule) which is able to bind temporarily to certain receptors in the brain. This has a calming influence similar in some ways to tranquilliser drugs, but without the side effects associated such as sedation or memory loss. It has been clinically proven to be effective in dogs and cats." I just called my current clinic and said I wanted to get it in to try with Derry before going to any pharmaceutical. The woman at the desk wasn't familiar with the product, said she h...

I don't need comments to this, just rambling. No emerg vet visit, thank goodness. I slept in clothes (comfy) last night, just in case, had his medical history at hand, etc. Will do the same tonight. Derry has been in and out of various litter boxes at least a dozen times today, sometimes not doing anything, sometimes just a tiny dribble. Three times more substantial clumps:  3cm around 10AM, 4.5 cm around 2PM, and 4 cm around 4PM. He did, or tried to do something in the garden too, but I haven't any way of measuring that. I had the outdoor litter box covered up because of the forecast rain, otherwise I could have seen whether he really did anything. So tomorrow afternoon he'll go to the vet, something neither of us will want to endure. The vet is not a proponent of alternate medicine, of course. I've got two bloggers sending me calming treats: One is made by Vetri-Science ("Compose") and the other is Pet Naturals calming treats. Same ingredients, slig...

Tell me why I have to be an adult and suck it up all the time? You know, pull on the big girl panties? Because really, sometimes I just feel like hiding out for a while and pretending the world and my responsibilities don't exist. Just for a few days. Am I the only one who feels like that, even at my age? LOL. Nothing serious going on, I'm not having a "bad" day, just would like some down time. Which I'll get with Dad's visit, since he'll be here next Friday. I'll be taking the week of June 20th off and I'm not checking my work email! So there!  :-P As for a few other things... Here's the ginger cat I thought was abandoned or neglected and took to the humane society last year--long story. It's somewhere in my blog archive, so I won't rehash it. I won't even bother looking for the links. Obviously he's still around his home and doing okay. I snapped this a couple of days ago, walking on that street. Also snapped that...

Yesterday I had intended to go out and do something, anything , given that my Saturday was spent painting and working in the house. But my body just wouldn't cooperate. I can remember the days when I could contort my limbs into bizarre positions while doing home projects without significant repercussions. Alas, those days seem to be over. I was at absolute full stop yesterday. Up at 4AM as usual, went back to bed at 8AM and didn't get up till after 10AM (!), then lounged around and read (mostly outside) all afternoon. Drank beer (okay, it was a lite beer). No chocolate, I polished that off on Saturday while doing the painting. Today's been another matter. I knew , coming in, that things would be a bit crazy. I have a number of projects, or pieces thereof, that are on the go and when I got in, there were too many things at once for 7AM on a Monday. Plus my boss is off tomorrow, heading out of province on a conference for the rest of the week. Can you say frazzled ...

For some reason, I feel more wound up and stressed about Annie today than ever, in spite of the dried-out clump she made this morning. Maybe it's because she's been hiding out in the basement in her cube again, last evening and this morning. Maybe it's just because I'm so over-tired and over-stressed and just plain stretched to the max. Would that I had a naturally calm, roll with the punches personality, rather than this nervous, easily upset one. And maybe I should make an effort to get out of the house this weekend and do something for my self. Not cat-related. I actually haven't been to a movie in years, but have heard only good things about "The King's Speech." Perhaps, if I'm in the mood, I'll go on Saturday afternoon. Unless I'm having another crisis because Annie's taken a turn for the worse. Which, of course, is possible. But I hope not probable. It's all good, right? It'll be okay, right? Nicki out in the ...

Well, not quite. A lot of extra sleeping -- or at least resting -- because my body has crashed from the stress/adrenaline. I look like something one of the cats would puke up. No call from the on-duty vet; gee, why am I not surprised? It's been very hard today to go without hearing how Annie is doing. By now she must have given up all hope of coming home. Okay, I know non-humans live more in the moment, but still...I really need her to come home soon. The vet had said, referring to the x-ray, that she had those few inches of stool left, then her colon was clear. So has she passed it all? If I hear her say tomorrow that she has to pass yet another few inches I might scream. Define "few inches," then. Because "a few" means three. And I know she's passed at least that much. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Deep breath, repeat the mantra (thanks, Cheri, I've been saying it all weekend), wait and see what Dr. Buchanan says tomorrow. There's an A...