Musings on a Small Life

First, thanks for the Gotcha Day wishes for Derry.  :-) I got only one snapshot of him last evening; we all were pretty low energy/low key. This morning I caught him curled up in the new kitty condo, though of course he was facing away from me and the camera. Anyway, things are pretty quiet at the office right now, one more day to go. So nothing exciting for me to post, just a few random bits of inspiration. That's still the best thing about FB -- I'm constantly being inundated with uplifting images and quotes. Something has to stick!  :-) I so need this re: work and neighbours! I've printed it out for the office and it will be my daily "prayer" for 2016. I saw this next one today and it hit home, as the "story" (stories) I tell myself have been mostly negative for my entire life.   Inspiration of a different kind from HGTV's FB post today. Lovely! They would be kitty toys for sure. Actually, it would be fun to do that with ...

A very happy 8th Gotcha Day to Derry, who came home on December 21, 2007. I can't believe how quickly the years have passed. First few days -- everyone's seen these pics before, I know!       I sincerely hope the Universe will grant us another 8 healthy, happy years together. But however long we have, you have been an amazing gift and blessing (uh, except for the almost-nightly sleep disruptions) and I'm so thankful you chose me as your caretaker. Smooches to my baby bear.  :-) *** And yesterday the  boys got a wonderful early Christmas gift from friends Robin and Chuck , who came for a visit.   They had purchased this awesome stand for their cat Sam, who sadly passed two weeks later, last year. I had suggested they donate it, but they both wanted the boys to have it -- very kind and generous of them! Nicki was the first in (Derry was upstairs, avoiding company, of course), but eventually Derry came down and played in it...

Happy birthday to my mom, who is 75 years young-at-heart (I hope) today.  :-) Mom: Click for full size. My post is late in the day, because it's been another crazy, on-the-go day, but at least I made it. I hope you've been having a fabulous day! Love and hugs from me and purrs from the boys. Peace .

Our work holiday luncheon. Two tables, with all the "managers" gravitating to one and the peons to another. Good food...unless you were a vegetarian. We have two in our group and apparently there were bacon bits in all the veggies. Hmm. I didn't notice. I can't smell on a good day, and right now I'm completely stuffed up with a head cold anyway, which obviously impacts my ability to taste too. (But anything I don't have to make myself is good as far as I'm concerned; I'm not picky.) And then we had a stupid RE-gift (yes, re-gift) exchange. Let's give away the crap we don't even want! *Rolling my eyes*. I actually had to get something from a coworker and make a little joke out of it, because there's nothing left in my house to give away.  *Headdesk* I'm so glad it's over. I must buy a Lotto Max ticket on my way home. $60M. $5M for me, $55M to give away. Hey, you never know. Another adorable scanned-in holiday...

No, nothing cat-related, nothing exciting. Just yesterday afternoon's sky, as I walking home from the bus stop. I so rarely catch the setting sun now, but the timing was just right for once! Have a great day, everyone. Peace .    

Thanks, guys, for the positive vibes. I saw my dentist this AM and she did the percussion test, also took x-rays. There's nothing dire right now. It's possible that the lower molar with the crown (that had a previous crack, hence the crown) will need root canal down the road, but the x-ray was inconclusive. It's also possible that the adjacent tooth (closer to the front), which has existing cracks, will need to be filled. But both are a wait and see, and her recommendation is that I continue to take an anti-inflammatory every day, at the max dose, and give things some time to settle down. She said I could always call and get her to prescribe antibiotics and anti-inflammatories if things don't improve. I'll see how it goes through this week and then do that if I need to next week, before she takes her Christmas vacation. And in the meantime...no more melt-downs that involve gnashing of teeth. LOL. Peace. Sunday morning sky

....you will be punished BY your anger." It's a great fake Buddha quote , one that I'm experiencing at the moment. Last Wednesday evening, for whatever reason, I had a meltdown over the next door neighbour noise. That entailed a lot of gritting of teeth and silent screaming out of sheer frustration. Thursday I noticed that the right side of my mouth was sore, the teeth super-sensitive. I didn't give it much thought, just that it was peculiar. Friday it was worse, so when I toddled off to bed that night, I popped my night guard in, something I haven't worn in a very long time (year or more). Saturday I spent the day in the worst pain I've experienced in my life, ever . Easily a 25 on a scale of 1 to 10. Over-the-top excruciating pain radiating from my jaw up my face and into my ear. I got Tylenol 1s and popped those, and Advil, all day, like they were candy. No more night guard for me! (I originally stopped wearing it because I found I clenc...

Crock pot soup...life. Aren't we all making it up as we go along? I haven't any life wisdom. I don't even have any crock pot wisdom.  :-P  What I do have is leftover veggies, broth, chicken and seasoning cooking away at home at this very moment. I love my crock pot. Now that I have one that works-- actually cooks the food--I'm using it all the time.  I also have 10 remaining work days for the year and trust me, I've been counting down for a couple of weeks now. I have cute earrings too: I bought these when Dad and Hélène were here and we took that day trip to the County, but I'm wearing them for the first time today. I do like owls! And gee, I have an extra $20 because I had four numbers on last week's Lotto Max draw. First time in my life entire life I've won $20. Okay, really I have an extra $15, because I bought a ticket for this week's draw. Hey, you never know. Finally, I have a half-day workshop coming up on Friday morni...

8AM and I'm still in my jammies. Can't believe it. I have to head out around 10AM to mail Mom's birthday and Christmas box, as well as my holiday cards-- finally got that all done yesterday evening. I was out the door yesterday at 7AM, up to WalMart for stocking up (litter, other heavy stuff), cabbed it home around 8:30, then was out again at 9AM for various errands: Costco (quick in and out for prescription pick up), Henry's Camera (way too much money spent on things needed for the new Nikon, thus eliminating the 48% savings on the camera), Michaels (crafts), Jysk (nicely renovated, still crap merchandise), Dollarama, PetSmart and finally, Farm Boy for a few groceries.  I gave up after that. Six hours of running around, then house stuff that had to be done that took the rest of the afternoon and evening, including the wrapping and boxing of Mom's stuff, the cards, etc. Thankfully, I do not have that kind of "to do" list today! Not the nices...

In that middle-aged female way. Ha! This could be me this winter! I was so warm this morning at home that I had to change from my tee-shirt and light sweater to just a long-sleeved cotton tee with a dressy scarf for work. Usually by now I'm sporting three layers, including the thermals. Mind you, it's been unseasonably mild, so maybe it's just the weather, not me. Ummm, right.  :-p Anyway, it's all status quo here this week. The neighbours (mother and both kids) had a highly "entertaining" melt down Wednesday afternoon, before the father got home. I had Derry in my arms and my ear pressed to the wall, trying to hear better. Ha. The QuietRock drywall muffles things so that you can hear screaming, but not hear clearly unless they're close to my side. I may never call the police, but I reserve the right to do so. Somehow that makes me feel better, knowing I can . Nicki now is snotty sneezing. I'm going to pick up antibiotics for him today af...

The 18-seat commuter plane to Toronto, November 25 A deep, heartfelt thank you to Judy, who chatted with me while waiting to board that little plane to Toronto. You kept me distracted when I needed it! I hope your flight home to the Sudbury area was a safe one. To Heather (blue sleeve on far right), who offered to hold my hand on takeoff, because you saw the tears were rolling down my face, out of fear, in spite of the two Ativan I had taken in only 12 hours. I was grateful for that hand! I hope the visit with your brother in Calgary goes well and that your travels are safe too.     You can see the blur of motion from the propellers on the far right. Over greater Toronto, heading for Pearson Airport.     To the older gentleman I sat beside on the Toronto-Halifax leg: Thank you for chatting with me and keeping my mind occupied. You, too, don't fly well and so understood how I felt. I hope your short stint to Halifax for work went smoothly--as...

I'm flying out to Halifax early Wednesday morning, for a few days with Mom. Some of you know that I don't fly well at all (I have Ativan for this trip) and right now I can feel my anxiety levels rising off the charts. The plane out of our city seats only 18, and just the thought of it makes me want to hyperventilate. It doesn't help that every time you turn on the news there's a plane being diverted for one reason or another, or a plane crash. Aacckk! Of course the pet sitter will be taking care of them; she's stopping by after work today so I can go over everything with her and give her the four pages of notes. Four pages for three days away...That's reasonable, right?  :-D Nicki's improved on the Prednisolone and is back to eating. I have no clue what the root cause of the fluid in his ear is. Viral? When I get a cold it almost invariably goes to my right ear (like now), but I've not heard of that happening with cats. I'm sure it's p...

Nicki on the red carpet. I had a whole-home humidifier installed this afternoon, with the hope it will help air quality in the cold, dry winter to come. It was a three-hour, noisy procedure. Derry hid under the bed the entire time, of course, and Nicki alternated between going downstairs to check out the work, going outside, and needing comfort and reassurance (I presume) from me. He did great, though, even taking his Flovent as one of the guys (there were two) came upstairs to turn the furnace back on. He didn't miss a breath; I was impressed! I had taken the afternoon off work, and was able to put up my holiday decorations before the furnace guys arrived. I think it's the earliest I've done it, but I can't do it either this weekend or next, so it was now or in the December cold. I opted for the sunshine and +10 Celsius weather. The only thing I didn't put up yet was the wreath, and of course I'm not turning on the lights until the end of t...