Musings on a Small Life

There was an unexpected package for me in yesterday's mail, and when I opened it up, it was two tie-dye totes from Trish over at Katnip Lounge . Her husband makes and sells them on his Etsy shop and I had purchased a small one a few years ago (longer?). Trish actually remembered (!) that I'd said at the time I'd love a larger one to use as a shopping bag. So now I have one! It's super-heavy weight and durable and will be perfect for cases of cat food, groceries, etc. Note that she included a bonus small tote too! So a huge thank you to Trish and Scott, it was a lovely surprise. I asked that she let me know when he starts selling the larger ones, as I'd like to buy one or two.  *** Update on Mom's hubby, Harry: He's still in hospital, still only eating a few teaspoons of pureed food a day, has lost a lot of weight (and he was frail to begin with). The big concern is the fluid in his pleural cavity; they're going to try draining that,...

I honestly don't know why I even try. I'd been in Dollarama on Saturday and happened to see some door/drawer knobs, brushed "nickel" (the cheap version), two for $1.50. Couldn't go wrong at that price, so I bought a bunch to replace the ugly green painted knobs I've had on the "kitchen" doors and drawers for years. Well, of course Mr. Murphy had to drop in for a visit. Every stupid knob needed a different length screw, because of varying thicknesses in all the drawers and doors, so what should have been an easy thing turned into a LONG exercise in mega-frustration and much cursing. It's just a good thing I have a ton of screws of varying sizes, all neatly sorted and arranged in my tool box. And you'd think the drawers would all be the same thickness, but nope...no, no, no. And gee, the last drawer, the bottom one with my plastic wrap and foil and baggies, well, the damned thing fell apart as soon as I unscrewed the old knob. That was th...

Or maybe I should write the "mature lady" look.  :-) I had a hair cut today and had the length whacked off, so I can grow my hair back into its usual bob. (I'd tried something different in April that did not work.) So I hope that by the end of the summer my hair will be chin length again. I didn't do anything to the pic except auto colour adjust and "clone" out the spider plant sprouting out behind my head. And while it's very rare for me to allow a face-on pic, I wanted to show the glasses. You know, the ones I'm not wearing very much, because they're so hard to adjust to. *** Update on Harry: He had a "major" mini-stroke (TIA), not a full on stroke, apparently. His speech has been affected and his cognitive abilities significantly impaired. He spent a day or two thinking he was in Newfoundland, then somewhere in the U.S. I'm not sure where he thinks he is today. Poor Harry. He'll be in the hospital for 2 - 3 weeks ...

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...

I talked to Mom around 5PM my time. She wasn't able to meet with the neurologist after all, as he was called away for an emergency. She hopes to meet with him tomorrow, sometime between 10AM and noon. Harry's colour was good today, she said, but he's not showing any signs of recognition (of her, of his daughter, etc.) Still can't speak, is trying to mumble. No facial distortion, but the stroke was on his left side and he's unable to move his right limbs. He can move his left arm at least a bit, but Mom's not sure whether he can move his left leg. That's pretty much all she has and therefore all the info I have. She was speaking as if he was going to come home in a day or two, but I told her there's no way that's going to happen. His daughter had told Mom that if Harry can't come home in the condition in which he left (pre-stroke), there's no way she (Mom) can care for him. Mom knows it, but I think she needs some sleep (got maybe a couple of...

Harry had a stroke this afternoon, in the car as they were heading home from the casino. Mom only realized it when she pulled into her garage and Harry wasn't moving to get out of the vehicle. Of course she called 911 and the ambulance was there within a few minutes. Mom said it wasn't more than half an hour all told before they were at the ER, with the stroke team waiting. So he's alive, and for whatever it's worth, had recovered his speech enough to say "Bye" to Mom when she was leaving.  There's no further info, she might know more tomorrow when she talks to the neurologist. In amazing universal timing (truly), her younger sister is flying in to visit her tomorrow, from Toronto. (A pre-scheduled trip.) I am so glad that Mom will have someone there to help her, to give her a much-needed hug and helping hand for several days. The mid- to long-term picture for Harry, if there is one, isn't exactly pretty. And Mom very likely can't ...

I had a good extra-long weekend, had taken Friday off for Nicki's vet appointment. That was surprisingly and mercifully quick -- his anal glands were very full and were easily expressed. I'm waiting for the vet to get back to me on a couple of things, one asthma-related for Nicki, and one allergy-related for Derry. Regarding probable allergies (Derry), I Googled and read both vet and owner sites that state cats under 15 pounds can take 5 mg Loratadine (for allergy symptoms) daily. This was something I asked the vet about, but he'd not heard of the specific med (I take it daily right, now most common brand is Claritin, the regular one, NOT Claritin D). Anyway, I "risked" it Friday night and gave Derry the half-tablet (they come in tiny 10 mg pills and I have a pill splitter) and he was fine. He's had one a day for the past three days and I think they're helping--at least Derry's not sneezing and snuffling nearly as much and I'm not up every...

I caught one of the new express buses up to my transfer point yesterday afternoon, 4:10PM. I recognized the driver, he's been around for at least a handful of years if not more, and I've been on his buses before. (He's very heavy on the pedals, it's not a enjoyable experience.) I sat in the first seat behind the back door, up a step from the front and mid portions of the bus, and I had a partial view of the driver from an angle and could see him in his rearview mirror.  We'd gone only a block or so before jerking caught my eye and from where I was sitting it seemed the driver was struggling with the steering wheel. The thought that flashed through my mind was it had frozen and he couldn't steer the bus, or that he was trying to adjust the tilt of it, as can be done. But that wasn't it at all. When I looked up into the mirror, I could see he was struggling with his left hand and/or arm. The entire way up to my transfer point, his left han...

Actually, both yesterday and today have been "scattered" days, the kind where you're pulled in sixteen different directions at work and are struggling to get one single thing completed. I have notes to myself all over the desk, to try to keep track of everything, but I swear the older I get the more disorganized I get. Or at least feel!  :-) Anyway, it's a lovely spring day, flowers are in bloom, leaves are starting to come out, so no complaints at all.     Nicki, whose last coughing attack was April 25 (somehow triggered by his vigorous purring), had an asthma attack at 4AM today, as I was getting up. No purring involved. I've been trying one morning puff and the usual two evening puffs since May 1st and have been expecting an attack from that slight decrease, so I went back to his two morning puffs today. I have a sneaky suspicion that even the max dose of Flovent isn't going to be enough to keep Nick's asthma in check as we go forwar...

I had my eye appointment today and the upshot is that yep, I need glasses. Progressive glasses, meaning essentially bifocals without the lines, or so I assume. Progressive , to be politically correct and not acknowledge we're an aging society. As this will be my first pair of prescription glasses, I'll get them locally, probably at Costco's optical centre. Future pairs can be ordered more cheaply online, when I know what I'm doing. I told the doctor that I'd have been disappointed if I hadn't needed a prescription, given how much I find my vision has deteriorated over the past handful of years.  :-D Otherwise all looked fine, my eyes are healthy, no sign of disease or macular degeneration, etc., thank goodness! So I'm looking forward to becoming progressive! LOL!

We have a student starting tomorrow for the summer, and he emailed me earlier to ask what his work hours would be, if he needed to bring anything, etc.. Hi Ms Last Name , he wrote. I replied, told him to call me "Kim," that we're all informal here. I didn't say that calling me "Ms Last Name" makes me feel ancient. (He's about 21 years old, a real cutie, reminds me of my "old" boss's elder son at that age.) I gave him the info he needed, and then only afterward realized that I've been working here, in (essentially) the same office, for more than half his life ! OMG! Too funny! It's a bit of a whap upside the head when things like happen, even though age really is only a number and we can feel like we're many different ages throughout just one day. Anyway, it was just a head-shaking moment for me.  :-) Two other cuties, who also are "ageless" to me: Nicki and Derry having a good roll yesterday ...

This little robin was inside our bus shelter yesterday morning, perhaps waiting to greet the super-nice driver. You have to look closely to see he's on the inside of the plexiglass!     We (me and the other woman from my complex who takes the bus at the same time) were trying to gently shoo him out, and as you can see, he got scared and pooped. Not scared enough to fly out, though! Eventually he slipped out and onto the grass behind the shelter, then flew off. I have no idea why he was in there -- maybe he flew into the glass and was stunned for a bit? Whatever the reason, he didn't seem to be injured, thankfully. I wouldn't mind inter-species bus passengers. Actually, some of the two-leggeds on our public transit seem like other species.  :-P Peace .