Musings on a Small Life

I did a post on the boys' blog late this afternoon, so apologies for repeating here. Nicki's Flovent dose of 125 mcg (110 mcg US) just isn't working, he's been having several bouts of asthma (that I'm home for) daily, and today was particularly bad, with three severe bouts so far, all about 4 hours apart. All the reading I've done seems to indicate that for moderately and severely asthmatic cats, that dose is too low, and that 250 mcg (220 mcg US) twice a day is needed. So I popped into my vet clinic this AM on the way home, after checking that Nicki's vet would be there and be in-between appointments, and spoke to him. He consulted their new feline health text (seriously, they don't know anything about feline asthma), and while the current protocol does recommend 125 (110) mcg, it also states that doubling is fine in difficult cases. There's also a new med (which might or might not be available here) that combines both the inhaled steroid w...

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I loved that it was GREEN.  :-) Today is Boxing Day and in Canada that means HUGE sales. It's THE big day of the year for deals, akin to the U.S. Black Friday. I had intended to brave the crowds and the holiday (reduced) public transit schedule, but by 7AM my body was insisting it needed sleep, not running around. So back to bed I went for a couple of hours, and now I can't be bothered to get dressed and head out. I think I might even nap this afternoon...if I can stay awake till after 12PM. Funny how it's only when you come to a full stop that you realize how exhausted you really are.  The boys had a great Christmas; Mom had sent them two catnip kickeroos and Nicki went "crazy pants" over the gift bag, before I could even open it. And I gave them a new feathered wand and some catnip mice. They played hard for an hour or so, then slept for the rest of the day! Enlarge to view. Mom had sent lots of goodies,...

A very happy Christmas Eve to all; may your holiday be filled with Light. And with good food and drink, as well as good company too--four-legged and/or two! Yesterday our "big" boss said the office could be closed today if we wanted to use a half-day vacation for the morning (the university closed at noon), so after a quick debate with myself, I opted to stay home. I even slept in till 5AM this morning! I had FedEx reroute the Ikea package to work yesterday, because they don't deliver after work hours and don't have a pick-up depot in this city (stupid). Anyway, I got it without problem and one of my co-workers gave me a lift home yesterday afternoon.      All the necessary tools assembled, including a cat to snoopervise!  Nicki limbered up before assisting.  Only a few pieces to put together. A one-shot-of-rye project.    Nicki had to check the box to ensure I wasn't overlooking any little bits.  Nicki exhaust...

A mere two and a half working days and we'll be off. Yippee! I think there will be only two of us here on the 24th (we close at noon) and while I won't be wearing my jammies, I'll be as close to it as I can get and still be respectably attired (i.e. black stretchy lounge pants--not my old paint-stained sweats). We had our office luncheon today, on campus. The boss paid for a drink for us all to start, which was lovely. Then I had the seared salmon ( love salmon), the pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert, and a cappuccino. I'd like to say I'll be too full for supper, but portions weren't huge. That'll be my excuse, anyway. Freebie stuff: I love freebie stuff. Don't we all? I actually logged in to my AirMiles account this morning (something I do maybe once every couple of years or so) and redeemed most of my remaining "dream" AirMiles for a convection/toaster oven. There were two or three on their list, but the Cuisinart one had better rev...

I'm SO proud of Nicki I could "bust a gut!" I filled the prescription for Flovent on Saturday (meds are cheap at Costco, couldn't believe how inexpensive compared to the online price I had seen), gave him the first dose Sunday night. He resisted a bit as usual, but we managed. Gave him dose #2 this morning and we got through that too. I was so proud of him I don't even have words. I'll keep him on the Prednisolone for a week or so (alternate days), to ensure the Flovent is in his system (takes up to 7 - 10 days) before discontinuing. Provided he remains reasonably compliant with the mask and inhaler. Fingers crossed for us, please . Two things: 1. If you'd said to me, a couple of months ago, I'd be doing this I'd have said you were nuts. 2. If it weren't for Sharla (Isabella and Angel's human over at Beaded Tail ) going this route for Isabella's asthma, I never would have had the courage to try with Nicki. I...

Our "big" boss's holiday party was last night, at her house.  I survived. :-) Before I ramble, I have to say that I'm working on about 4 hours sleep, because I didn't get to bed till after midnight and was awake around 4:45. So I might not make sense...but do I ever? Random thoughts: Her house is much, much larger that appears from the outside. Tardis-like, really. No wonder she has a cleaning service come in once a week. She gave us a tour, because they had the home built and still are working on it. Some (if not all) of her bathrooms are bigger than my bedrooms. Really lovely, no doubt about their standard of living. Three kids (I knew that), who have every conceivable toy and who are in martial arts, skating, soccer, etc. I guess that's typical today, but it's so not my own experience. My "old" boss and his partner/wife were no shows, as she was sick, apparently. I'll never know if that was true or an excuse, but it's ...

We had our first major storm of the winter season yesterday and into last night, and I'm so done with it. Snapped mostly from inside at the office yesterday:     I don't know how much we got--we were slated for 15 to 20 cms, and I'd guess we got the 20 cms, at least. I was up around 3:30AM today, and out before 4AM shoveling the little driveway. Good thing it's only car-width and length. Pics below snapped on the way to the office this morning.  My favourite old limestone row house.    The custodians must have been on campus by 4 M, plowing and shoveling.               For those of you in non-snow climates who think it all looks pretty, YOU come and shovel 8+ inches of the stuff, and slog through it on foot. As for me, I'm soon going to be counting the days till Spring. Ha. Peace .

With deep gratitude today to: 1. My cousin, who is sending Nicki and I long distance Reiki healing around his asthma and the Aerokat, etc. Yes, we're still working on that, almost 4 weeks after we started. Took two weeks for him to relax with the mask alone, and when I added the chamber to it, it was like starting all over from scratch. It's been "fun" for us both. No meds yet; I might get to the point where I have to force it on him or give up, but I'm still willing to give him a bit more time. 2. To the sales associate Ann(e), at the clothing outlet store (sells Alia, TanJay Nygard) for all her incredible assistance, as I was shopping for almost two hours this morning to find dress slacks and dressy tops suitable for "cocktails and h'ors d'ouevres" at the "big" boss's home next Saturday night. One of those "must attend" events from a work political standpoint, at least this first year that we've all been sha...

Ahhh, now today I got to see something that made my entire day, if not my week. Not the poor pigeon carcass, of course, but the hawk! Look at this magnificent hawk! I spied him/her around 8:15AM because it was "raining" feathers as I passed beneath this tree while popping over to the adjoining building on campus. I looked up, and there was Mr. or Ms. Hawk having pigeon for breakfast. Of course I ran back for my camera, and I'm very grateful I always carry the little Elph, even though it's not my favourite point & shoot. Just a very few of the many feathers. I brought two of the larger ones home for the boys.  I went out at lunch time for another water refill and took my camera with me, just in case. S/he was still there, in the same tree, just hanging out. Probably digesting.  :-)     What a sight. I've heard hawks (or one hawk repeatedly) in the cemetery this year, occasionally seen them circling high above, but it's been many...

One of the inspirational articles I read recently suggested you could "retrain" your brain in part by keeping a gratitude journal and listing three original, non-repetitive things for which you're grateful, for three consecutive weeks. Now, a gratitude journal (my "happys," I used to call them) isn't anything new to me, and we all know the benefits of practicing gratitude. So I took up the challenge on November 24th and have been going it faithfully for nine days now. However, I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to come up with different things for which to be grateful on a daily basis. Sure, the regulars are easy: health, paycheque (and/or job, if you enjoy your work), food, clothing, shelter, loved ones (two and/or four-legged)...that's all the "normal" stuff that the majority of us in our country have, albeit to varying degrees. But in my day-to-day life...That's harder, because I can't repeat myself. I get to wri...