Musings on a Small Life

I did stay home on Wednesday, in no shape to function at the office, and syringed that FCV Protect stuff into Nicki every 2 - 3 hours. It was a good day for him, because he got treats after, every time. Belly up to the treat buffet! It did seem to help, and he was less sneezy that night. However, I was back at work yesterday, so he got only 2 morning doses, then 2 after work and in the evening, and by 9:30PM the violent and repetitive sneezing had started again. I gave him another dose, all was well till about midnight when the sneezing started again, and I lay in bed till about 1AM before giving up to go down and give him another dose...with more treats. Not a sneeze from him this morning--though he spent the rest of the night downstairs, not on my bed, where the sneezing often starts. Of course I was up at 4AM per usual, so it's been a week of little sleep. I'm too old now to easily bounce back from this kind of sleep deprivation. Anyway, it will all be worth it if--...

Thanks for the concern and purrs. Nicki's sneezing continued all night and I had maybe 3 hours of sleep. I'm not sure if I'll go into work today, or go for the morning and ask to take a half-day. I can dose him every 2 hours with the FCV Protect stuff, to a max of 10 doses per day. I'm worried this will end up progressing to completely blocked nasal passages again, the steam therapy, the coughing, the antibiotics of last winter, blah blah. I think I'll start syringing the homeopathic stuff into him, instead of sprinkling into his food, maybe it's more effective that way. If you could keep him in your thoughts, I'd appreciate it. And Derry too, because even worse would be both of them sick again, as they were back in February/March. Thanks.

I’m definitely running on sugar today! Around 11PM last night Nicki, who was sleeping on my bed, had another sneezing fit, the first since the latter part of June. (He’s sneezed a lot in the past few months, but not like this, upwards of a dozen times in one go.) This is how his severe URI started last February. So the poor boy spent the rest of the night sneezing off and on, though his subsequent fits weren’t quite as bad as the first. Is it allergies? I have no idea to what, as nothing in the house has changed and I’d have thought that outdoor allergies would be done with. Is it the virus he had last winter, cycling around again? (It’s not the Herpes virus, that’s about all I can say.) Derry, meanwhile, felt the need to be glued to my side all night, so every time I shifted position, which was frequently because of hip pain, he followed me and tucked himself in tight, often lying on my hand or outstretched arm. Plus I was up three times for myself, whereas once is the norm. Oh, man,...

Monday, I'd really like to know why you come around so quickly, without fail. Anyway, it's another work week and so far, so good. But it's early days yet.  :-) Last week the endless stream of loud chatter around me drove me batty. The joys of working in a cubicle. Who knew people could talk so much, and for so long, every. single. day? I'd never pipe up and say anything, though, because in our group, I'm the only one in a cube out in the open, and so I'd be the one at fault and told to chill. Never mind that the rest of them are tucked away in offices and don't hear it all. I bought a new upright vacuum cleaner from Amazon.ca, on sale, got it last Thursday. Such an "exciting" purchase. Turns out it's pretty much the same as my existing Hoover, just a bit lighter and smaller overall. The  new Hoover. At least it's sage green. I love shades of green. My existing one is making unhealthy screaming noises, after only two yea...

I think just about every news agency, even those in the U.S., will be carrying the news of the terrible and tragic events that unfolded in Ottawa today, on and around Parliament Hill. I don't need to go into details or rehash the few details currently known (or being made known). My thoughts and prayers are with the Reservist's family and friends and colleagues. This follows hard on the heels of the military death and death of the suspect in Quebec two days ago. Crazy.  This is Canada . Unimportant, quiet little Canada. It's mind-boggling. (Though it should be noted that the motivation for today's "incident" is not known to us at this time.) Then, just a short time ago, Mom called to say that she and Harry were in a car accident today. Neither is hurt, thank the gods; nor was the other person involved. But the right front of Mom's car is entirely crumpled in and she suspects the car will be deemed totalled. It seems, from the sounds of thi...

I'm Googling, but not getting much help for this workplace etiquette question (lots of suggestions when it's a personal party/lunch), so thought I'd toss it out to anyone who might read this: I have to send an invitation to a number of people, mid-level management level, "inviting" them to join us for a farewell lunch for a coworker in two weeks, to be held at a local restaurant. The catch is that we're not paying for it, it's a buy-your-own lunch deal. I can't think how to word this positively and tactfully! Any suggestions? Bonus: Weekend pics of the boys.  Derry and the dead hosta stalk Bet you think there's a cat on the other side of the fence. I certainly did. But nope, it turned out that Nicki found that dead stalk offensive, and after a few minutes of staring at it like this, he killed it.  Peace .

I remortgaged the house a couple of weeks ago, for the third time, to clear the debts, had to add an extra year to the amortization period. It feels like I’ll never be free of it. And if the Universe/Fate doesn’t give me a few years’ grace period of being house and vet emergency-free, I’ll be screwed. Again. But for the moment I'm doing my best to budget and to take out a weekly amount in cash for groceries and cat food, so as not to spend indiscriminately. (Swiping the debit card is so easy!) I did add in enough to the new mortgage to be able to replace the old, hideous laminate kitchen counter top with a less repulsive one. The money is put aside (what I estimate, plus a cushion). I truly hope it won't take the full amount, as I need a few small household items, like a new vacuum. The hubby of my former cubicle-mate will do it, but I don't know when. Obviously not as soon as I had hoped! We have a co-worker who’s leaving in early November for greener pastures (a ...

I debated doing a post for Nicki's "birthday" (this is the d-o-b the shelter had put on his papers), given that I'm not blogging at the moment, but then thought, what the heck. Who knows how many more birthdays any of us has? Better to celebrate! So happy birthday, Mr. NickMan! You still drive me crazy almost every day, though you've mellowed somewhat in your middle years. I'm just not sure about your very vocal, unhealthy nighttime obsession with Mr. Owl (stuffed dog toy), but I love you anyway.  :-) I hope you'll share many more birthdays with me, and with Derry too. Smooches and headbutts. And a pic from Wednesday evening. Peace and universal Light to all. Maybe I'll feel motivated to do an update soon. :-)

Dad left on Sunday around 3PM to head back to Ottawa for the night, and got home to Vancouver early afternoon yesterday, his time. The only thing left for me to do is to detox from the enormous quantities of food and drink. (Seriously, I had fries twice in the 9 days. Along with chicken, wraps, an awesome real burger, desserts, Italian, Austrian, bakery items, wine, sangria, rye, beer, cider...you get the idea.) We took lots of pics around town, in Gananqoue, went up the Skydeck off the Thousand Islands Parkway, and did go to Prince Edward County, both to the County Cider Company and then to Lake on the Mountain for lunch. The weather was glorious and hot, and we couldn't have asked for better. The Skydeck. Elevator up, stairs are not permitted.  The view from the open top level. I took my Fuji with the 30x zoom lens.            From the middle level, I think. Hard to remember.     In another week or two...

It takes a father-daughter team 2+ hours, 3 shots of rye (me), half a large bag of potato chips (each), and one cold beer post-"construction" (Dad).   Comments are off.

Dad arrived last Friday at supper time. Since then, it's been almost non-stop food and drink. I think I'm going to explode.  :-P At Montana's Restaurant on Saturday afternoon for a late lunch.  Cooking breakfast. We've been to "Lemony" Point (Lemoine Point):             And to the "trail" along our waterfront (Portsmouth Olympic Habour to Lake Ontario Park):    The now-empty maximum security prison in the distance.               And to Gananoque: The swan has lost his or her mate since last year.          I thought at first that this was a beaver, but I do believe it's a muskrat. (I Googled pics of both.)                 Dad's picking me up before noon today, and surprise, we're going out for lunch. LOL. Probably will walk somewhere afterward, but I don't...