Musings on a Small Life

I hope a little steam therapy helps Nicki, because he had another asthma attack this morning, just before 4AM. Who knows how many he's having during the day when I'm not around. Anyway, I'm going to double his evening dose now, till the cold and dry weather is over and the humidity is in a normal range (40-50%). And I bought another humidifier while out running errands, a small one (though it claims to be meant for "medium" sized rooms, whatever that's supposed to be--no square footage listed).   You should be able to see the steam, if you look closely. Maybe if I stick my face in the vapour (not too close!), it will plump up my dry, aging skin. Ha. I already have a cool mist one, but find it essentially useless, even though I run it constantly. But maybe this one will help a bit more. I intend to use it in my bedroom at nights, for ME (for a change). I won't run it and leave it unattended, not with that water going at full boil and with ...

Nicki's been symptom-free for a month now, 33.5 days in fact, then this AM around 4 o'clock he had an asthma attack. Not as prolonged or as severe as he would have had in the past, but I can't think what set him off. I had noticed, a couple of days ago, that he seemed like he was going to sneeze or cough, particularly yesterday, but since it didn't morph into an attack I let it go. So I had to give him the Ventolin, which he fussed about (not sure if it has a different smell/taste than the Flovent), and then do his regular Flovent at 6AM. I don't know what would have triggered it, am wondering if it's the older inhaler (down to less than 20 doses and I never go below 10) that I've been using in the mornings (I always use the newer inhaler for the evening doses because asthma attacks tend to happen at night). So I used the newer inhaler for his morning dose instead, in case it's related to a reduced potency/effectiveness as the old one gets used up, an...

Nope, I'm not kidding.  I was walking to the Centre this morning, to catch the bus (nice out, minus 13-ish windchill only minus 22) and when I got to North Park Street I heard him. I came to a complete stop, thinking I heard wrong or was hallucinating, because I'd heard a cardinal as I was walking through our complex. But it was a robin! He sang several times, then didn't sing again, and I couldn't spot him in the early morning light, among all the tall trees. He needs to fly out of town where he'll have food for another 2- 3 months, because spring sure isn't coming early this year. This was the view yesterday, as I was walking to the Centre around 8AM, for my dental appointment. Definitely not much in the way of sustenance for any early bird.                 We still have a cold alert for our area, with dangerously low temps in effect for a while yet. We're all well and truly tired of it. However, we ...

Can I keep track of the days?  That's rhetorical. So what's new...What's NOT new is the minus 33 Celsius temps for overnight and into tomorrow morning. This is an upcoming holiday weekend and it's supposed to be the coldest yet. I hope this is the worst of winter and that things start to improve, because soon I'm going to curl up under my covers and not bother to come out. I'm grumpy, low, low, grumpy, low, and did I mention low? You get the picture. NOT in the mood to blog. Four more days till the 4th anniversary of Annie's death, on February 16th. Do I have to explain further? Valentine's schmalentine's, I really dislike this event. I have a post scheduled for the boys on their blog, but frankly, I could give a rat's ass about it and just want it all over and done with. On a better note: I was off yesterday, a "vacation" day that entailed taking Nicki to the vet in the A.M. for his regular anal glands, plus a check. No d...

Golly gee, guess what we're getting this weekend, all weekend and into Monday? If you said another 25 cms of snow, you'd be right! I know I bitch and moan and complain every. single. winter. but this is ridiculous. We'll probably end up with as much snow as we had last year, if we haven't yet reached that point, only in a more compressed time frame. Maybe even more snow. Shudder. I have nothing good to say or write about winters in our region, I just don't. I don't think Nicki and Derry do, either, as it keeps them mostly housebound. I finally did shovel the back space yesterday, enough to get to the gate in case of emergency. So at least the boys can sniff around a bit if they want to. The work week has been okay, nothing untoward. I had two physio sessions and things are coming along. Two more sessions next week, then once a week after that, as it will be mainly my compliance with the exercises that moves things along by that point. I ...

After the 25 cms of snow Sunday/Monday. Pics snapped Tuesday AM, heading to and from physio. Comments are off for wordless Wednesday.  :-)           Peace .

...I didn't clear my driveway. I can't. The snow is light (except for the plow's leftovers), but I can't manage it right now, the drifts are far too deep. I went back and forth with the owner of the property management company and I just can't go there right now. Obviously he doesn't know anyone who would clear the driveway for a reasonable/modest fee. (Yeah, right. Thirty seconds with the truck/plow that does our street, a bit of cash under the table. But whatever.) So I got home to this:  I managed a path and called it quits. We're getting more snow this week, anyway. The workers I have coming this month (routine furnace, other) will have to park on the street. (Technically that's not permitted and vehicles can be ticketed, part of our bylaws.) Well, I won't mess up my body further by trying to clear it all out by myself, so this is as good as it gets. I need to find a group of awesome women who want to retire to Costa Rica and sha...

[Comments are off for my weather rant!] The earth could open up and swallow the entire city and still the university would be open. (Click to enlarge if you actually want to read the message.) Even elementary and secondary schools are open today, though no school buses are running. City transit was on time at 6:45AM, though. All three buses I took into work were bang-on schedule, no doubt because there was so little traffic on the roads. It was pretty much white-out conditions, though. I emailed our property management company to ask if someone could shovel my driveway later, for a reasonable fee, and explained that I'm having physio for hip/back issues, had set myself back by shovelling last week and didn't want to do so again. I've not heard back from anyone yet, though. If no one can do it for me, I'll be facing several feet of drifts in the driveway when I get home. (Not kidding, it's all blowing into my driveway right now, as it does when the wind is...

The more desperately you have to pee when you get home, the tighter the knot on the laces of your wet, snow and salt-covered boots. No further words needed.  :-) It's a quiet weekend at this end, the usual post-payday running around/errands. Nothing exciting to relate there. We're freezing our asses off, of course. Check out the forecast for tonight and tomorrow (metric temps and amounts). Bitter windchills and more snow. Forty-seven days till the Spring equinox. Which doesn't mean spring's arrival here, but means we're getting closer. The boys seem okay, just getting stir crazy. Nicki was a wild kitty yesterday evening, though you'd never know it from today's pics. He's resting up for tonight, I guess. Derry has been doing much the same, pic from Saturday afternoon. Oh, I made a silly purchase today, a big $10 on three small LED candles. Every time I'm in Walmart or Jysk or some other store and have seen them I've be...