Yes, it's me... in the wee hours of Monday morning! I was sleeping through the wind and all but was woken up after 3 hours because of my $(#)(@*@ legs! Hard to say if it's the arthritis in the knees or the crazy pains in the feet... or a combination of both. Heck, it could all be due to the healing process which is an interesting journey on it's own. Who would have known that healing, which we see as a very positive thing, can also be a physically painful thing? I didn't! For some reason, I just assumed that once we stopped the chemo treatments... and since I had done so well on them... the healing portion would be a piece of cake. Uh... I'm learning differently ;)
Soooo, here it is, 4:46am. I went to bed about 1am, read a bit, fell asleep and was back wide awake by 4am because of the pain in the $)(*)_#@ legs! So, I have taken a 400mg Motrin and a 5mg Oxycodone. 45 minutes later I think they are starting to kick in... keep your fingers crossed!
For those of you reading the blog who live in the Lower Mainland, and/or Victoria... what about that wind we are having and have had all night, eh?? Not quite as bad over here in the West End as that storm last November that devastated Stanley Park, but still... pretty strong winds. What is really interesting is that next door to me, just outside my living room windows, they are redoing the underground parking (fixing cracks, re-insulating, etc). So they have all the entrances to the underground tarped off (you'd almost think it was a leaky condo building except it's only the underground parking that is tarped off). Well, the winds have been going all night and the huge tarps are now shattered into shreds. Being that it's a long weekend for Remembrance Day, the company that is doing the work won't be here until tomorrow (Tuesday)... so when they get here they are going to find those tarps in a real mess :) I see the rains have now started too... oooh, it's nasty out there! I sure hope it blows over by 10am or so when I'll have to take Bridget out. She is not going to want to go out if it's like it is right now :)
Speaking of Bridget... it was her birthday yesterday. Yes, the little darlin' is now 10 years old! I can not believe I have had her for 9 1/2 years!! I got her when she was 6 months old. At the time, I couldn't understand (and still don't) why anyone who got a puppy at 8-10 weeks old, could then turn around and want to give it away at 6 months. I know it happens a lot for a variety of reasons... I just have never understood how people can do it. Hahaha... and I had no intention of taking on a 6 month old puppy! I figured that there must be something wrong with the puppy... whether it was for health reasons or behavioural problems. I had seen the ad in the paper and since it was in the neighbourhood, I decided to go have a look. Not to take on the puppy, but I wanted to see what a young miniature schnauzer looked like... I had never seen one, and at the time I think I had only met one adult miniature schnauzer. I did have a list of what I was looking for in a dog... non-shedding, non-excitable, non-barker, well-behaved, etc. Hahahaha... well, as soon as I saw Bridget, she ran circles around my head when I sat on the sofa, she barked and yodeled up a storm at me while I was trying to talk to her owners and get health information from them... and she was downright hilarious, demanding I pay attention to her and not her owners! She was everything I was NOT looking for in a dog... other than she didn't shed and it sounded like she was in very good health. So, for $700 (what they were asking for her), I told them that I must have her... in that one visit we fell in love with each other... and have been ever since!
I mean... how can anyone not fall in love with this little face and little cuddler?
And fall in love, I did... at first sight! I had taken on the responsibility for looking after this little bundle of energy. This picture was a picture of her at about 5 years (I don't have any of the puppy pictures on this computer... I'll have to dig in my various disks to see if I can find them. A lot of pictures from 10 years ago are hard copy 35mm pics... I didn't have a digital camera back then).
Anywho... I have no complaints of the last 9 1/2 years. Bridget has been nothing but a source of joy from the moment she came to live with me. At first, I was a little concerned since she never did have a moment of separation anxiety from her owners. I had taken a week off work so that we could bond and I would be there for her if she went through any kind of anxiety or separation problems. The little monkey didn't have one moment of being upset... and we bonded from that first day. I do know now, she can get anxious when I leave her with friends and don't come back at night... but as long as she is with people she knows in a home/environment that she knows, she does pretty good and does settle down... but she is definitely a Mommy's girl :)
The difference between what she was like when she was a puppy and what she's like now? She tends to sleep more. She is perfectly content to stay home (where she is super secure) and she will sleep all day and all night. At the same time, if you take her out for a walk... she is raring to go and will walk forever... acting just like she did when she was young...full of spunk and perkiness! It does upset me somewhat that I can't walk like we used to, so she is NOT getting the long walks that we used to go on. I'm a firm believer that a dog remains healthy if they are exercised daily and fed a good diet.
Ok... what else has been going on this week? Yes, I HAVE actually started my Christmas shopping!! I guess I should since there's only what, 42 days left until Christmas? I enjoy Christmas shopping if I have an idea what I want to get people. It's when I don't have any ideas that it can be frustrating and I have to question why we are doing the gift thing when no one can come up with ideas of what to buy someone? It obviously means that we really don't need anything so we are just falling into the commercialism of it all. When that happens, I do not enjoy the shopping experience.
This year, we are doing something different (different for us) for the family Christmas gift exchange... and I think it's going to work well. In the past, we have always bought for each other. Since there are no "children" in our family, it meant we were all buying for adults.. .and there are now 11 of us when you include spouses and extended family. 11 gifts that you aren't necessarily able to come up with ideas for all 11 people... not to mention the expense because this does not include friends. So, we are doing the "everyone throws their name into a bucket, then everyone gets one name they have to buy for", instead of 11 people. Along with the name, the person has put together a list of things they enjoy, need or suggestions for what they'd like to have. This gives the giver an idea of what would be appropriate for that person... and since none of us are buying for all 11, we can afford to give them something they actually could use or enjoy. When we get together at Dad's on Christmas morning... the gifts will all be under the tree with the name of who it's for on the tag and they all will be from Santa... so the givers remain annonymous. Other than Dad (grin)... he will get gifts from all of us, so he will be pampered on Christmas morning from all his offspring and extended family, who he has helped out throughout the year :)
Hahaha... but, with any Christmas shopping... I fall into the common trap where the intentions are to go out and get gifts for others, and I end up buying for myself!!! LOL!! This year is no different :) While over on Robson Street the other week because I was there for an appointment... I hobbled around to some of the stores. Lo and behold, there was a luggage store. Now when I woke up that morning, I had no intention of buying luggage... nor had I thought of that on any other day. But there we had all these sets of luggage and I got to thinking (danger! danger!). When I go to Hawaii, I use a hockey duffle bag, which works great as far as enough room goes. You can get a lot of stuff in a duffle bag!! Only problem is, there is no support in a duffle bag. When you pick it up by the handles on either side, the bag collapses in the middle. Not a big deal but awkward... and you do need some physical strength to lug the thing around since it doesn't have wheels or a handled to navigate the bag.
Well, there was this set of bags that were gorgeous... a totally different colour than I have seen in luggage before. I couldn't buy the whole set, but I did end up buying the big bag and a carry-on bag that has compartments for a laptop, accessories, as well as for meds, a change of clothing, documentation, and I can put my purse in it as well. Here's a picture of the two bags I got:
I love the copper/bronze colour. There are plenty of compartments so both pieces can hold a fair amount of luggage and accessories and one can definitely be more organized than with the duffle bag that had one compartment... the inside of the duffle bag. I am seriously thinking of going back to the store this week and getting the medium size bag as well. The bigger bag (which is in the picture) is perfect for smaller trips... but I'll be gone for almost a month in January and since you can check two bags, it makes sense to have them for when you need them. If I leave it too long, there will be no way to get a matching bag... so I'm justifying the cost (grin)
Oh my, but this is a lot of early morning babble... and I haven't even made a cup of tea yet! I'm just enjoying the quiet early morning hour and watching the storm outside, while doing a major blog babble :)
I did go see a production of Sondheim's "Marry Me a Little" on Friday with Shelley and Stefan. This little production is a real gem when handled well and the group that put it on did a wonderful job with it. It was put on at a little theatre venue in the back of the Havana restaurant on Commercial Dr. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, with a cast of 2 (3 when you count Kevin Michael, the musical director who was also part of the show). The show involves 3 single people, each in their own apartment, and through song, face the angst and joy of falling in love. The director, Peter Jorgensen, and the set designer, Lance Cardinal, pulled it off real well with a single apartment set, but where the actors treated it as their own apartment... and you really did believe they were in separate apartments. The show has another week's run and is really worth seeing. I'd also advise going for dinner first at the restaurant... fabulous food!
Ok... I think this is enough babble for now. If it's still windy when it gets light, I'll try to get a picture or two... but for now, I'm signing off!
Ciao!
Cheryl
