Musings on a Small Life

That post title is a take off on a very old (Anglican) hymn, the first line of which is "Crown him with many crowns, the lamb upon his throne...." (I don't recall more than that.) I had my second permanent crown done this morning (the first a number of years ago). The dentist had done the temporary crown two weeks ago. Once again, it was fun times in the chair...not...as she kept giving me more freezing throughout the process. Apparently not only am I very difficult to freeze, my teeth (or lower molar, in this case) are super-sensitive. Yay me! No further details needed. Let me just say, for the record, that I'd prefer NOT to be crowed, ever again! More fun for me was watching my two tabby boys enjoying yesterday's sunshine. (Click to enlarge for best viewing.) My Smoochy Boy (Derry) and my Purr Bug (Nicki).  I hope everyone is having a great day with plenty of sunshine and no crowns, at least not of the dental variety. :-) Peace.

Saturday : Out the door at 7:10 AM to bus to Walmart Over to HomeDepot for several indoor plants for the office Checked Michaels (nothing purchased) Dollarama PetSmart (stock up cat food) Bus back to the mall transfer centre Frustration level through the roof re: the time I spend waiting for and travelling on buses Did something I've never done before: Took a taxi home to unload my bags (into the garage), then had the taxi take me up to Costco. Worth the money, saved me significant time. Prescription pick-up at Costco (long line up at the pharmacy) Bused to the Centre Loblaws and then Loblaws garden centre to see what they have PetValu (more stocking up of the boys' food) Home to do cleaning/other chores Don't remember when I finally got to sit down, but I did watch the Kentucky Derby race (not the lead-up coverage) This cute bunny was between the Walmart entrance and the bus shelter, and was totally unconcerned about me being so close, camera in hand. ...

Poor "little" bear, he didn't have a good time at the vet on Wednesday afternoon. (No one has fun at the vet/doctor!) The good news is that the x-ray showed no problems, all organs are normal, no kidney stones (unlike Nicki). His blood work also came back favourably, with a couple of values in the high-normal range and one just below low-normal, but on par with his results in 2017 and 2015. The urine analysis also came back okay, nothing seemingly amiss at this time. However, while he was there, a woman brought her dog in, with porcupine quills sticking out of his mouth. (No pic of that.) Apparently it's not the first time this has happened, as the dog, which looked like some sort of large schnauzer, is a farm dog. So they took him back while Derry was there getting his tests, and were trying to remove the quills without sedating the dog...ugh. Unfortunately the dog was not a happy camper, was quite vocal about the process, ended up very agitated and snarl...

A lot was packed into last week: our former director's official retirement on the 23rd, plus an informal get-together on the 27th after work at a downtown pub (just his immediate staff and our new director), two hours in the dentist's chair for me last Tuesday, getting a temporary crown (I don't freeze properly, it took a lot of needles), plus a doctor's appointment last Thursday. The work week in itself was emotionally exhausting, and I was very surprised, when I got home on Friday, to have a sudden outpouring of anger over how things had gone over the past six+ years since our department merged with the other. I guess that, subconsciously, I wouldn't allow myself to experience the depth of emotion while he still was here. And in the end, he's human, he did the best he could under the circumstances, and I know this intellectually. However, I think it will take a bit of time for me process my negative emotions and forgive my former boss, to make peace wit...

Snapped at PetValu on Saturday. A local small animal rescue was there, and the tortie is from our humane society, up for adoption. I love her expression in the second snapshot! :-)  As always, comments are off for "wordless Wednesday". Peace.

I think this was the boys' first real tussle outdoors since the fall. Snapped on the weekend, with its glorious, glorious sunshine! (Not the greatest snapshots, best to click to enlarge and scroll through.) The boys got nice and dirty...and I got the brush and a cloth to wipe them down before I'd let them back in the house.  :-D Peace.

Nothing to do with horse racing, or even cats, in fact. It's "down the stretch they come" for our outgoing director, and for this part of our work lives for us all. One more week and he retires, his last day is the 27th. Monday the 23rd is his work retirement reception and his staff (us) have done their best to prepare a little speech and presentation. Three of the four of us (the women) have spent the week running around gift-buying too, with the funds collected, and coordinating decorations, etc. Funny (no, it's frustrating ) how that seems to fall into the domain of those with more estrogen. Estrogen in theory, because let's face, there's not a lot of estrogen left at our end! We'll do something private, within just our sub-group, on his last day.  Craft beer at a pub sounds about right.  Wherever did 17.5 years of our lives go? For me, most of it has been spent treading water (or trying to). Strange how life waits for no one, how life ...

Worst. April. Weather. Ever. The ice pellets and freezing rain continue. We're hunkered down inside for the second consecutive day, which is almost unprecedented for me.  Weather aside, Mr. Brat (Nicki) had quite the adventure early yesterday AM.  Juncos in the back space yesterday afternoon. Just before 6 AM I heard a faint, plaintive meow, the kind that means someone's in trouble, trapped in a bureau drawer or some such. I went hunting for Nicki, and it turned out that he had gotten behind the old bedspread I had tucked around the box spring propped up in the spare room (I'd thought to keep it and just get another mattress, use it for a guest bed, now that I have my new platform bed). Not only behind the bedspread, but he'd gotten himself inside the box spring itself (the underside) and was wedged up in the springs. He was NOT happy! With some help from me he did manage to extricate himself, and while he was fine, he just about gave me heart fail...

A very happy 11th Gotcha Day to the Nickster, Tricky Nicki, Snickerdoodle, Mr. Brat, Mr. Purr Bug! An update on his most recent vet visit: He went on Monday afternoon for the full meal deal--anal glands, claws, Advantage, upper airway x-ray, full bloodwork panel and urinanalysis. Poor boy, he was NOT happy with me for some hours after we got home! Anyway, we both survived and his test results came back the next day as normal, no diabetes (my serious concern). His airways look good too, so the asthma currently is controlled with the Flovent. Yay! He does, however, have some small kidney stones which will need to be monitored regularly. I don't know if there's anything I really can do to get rid of them, as reading indicates that diet can't remove them. Water will keep things moving, of course, though he's already drinking quite a bit. His diet has been mostly canned food for years. Anyone have experience with feline kidney stones? Mr. Brat last night, o...