Blogmas Day 29 – Happy Ending part 2

The rescue lady who picked Buddy up came back over today to drop off a humane trap for the other cat.  After showing me how to use it she told me what had happened to him after she picked him up.

He got an immediate vet check and was determined to be about 5 years old, definitely intact male (as I knew he was).  It meant sadly though that there was a possibility that he’d been out for almost that long since he hadn’t been fixed but I’m kind of doubting that.  A lot of people just don’t get their animals fixed.  But he settled in quite fast and they got to see that sweet cuddly side I did which made me super happy.  Sometimes fear can get the best of an animal, and I knew once he had gotten comfortable with me that if he didn’t have a family missing him, he’d easily find one.  He was just too sweet.  So he got his shots and got fixed and was settling well, and they are going to continue to see if he does have a family missing him somewhere, and if not he’ll go up for adoption.  I keep checking the site and facebook page to see if/when he comes up on their social media.  If we didn’t have so many animals, and if Zachary wasn’t such a territorial butt, I’d have kept him.  Or at least fostered him.

We also have a set plan for the grey missy.  I have to let her know when I’m planning to trap her so that the cat can be picked up immediately since you don’t leave a cat in those traps too long.  She’ll get seen by a vet and from there we’re going to see what to do with her.  She offered some measure of assistance if it’s determined the cat is truly feral and will be returned outside in which I’ll be acting as her caretaker (I already am, to a degree).  But I think the more promising plan is for me to foster her.  Since she’s so skittish the lady is going to get me a large dog crate, one that will be big enough for a small litter box and food and water bowl and have kitty stay in that for a bit.  Then hopefully she’ll get comfortable that I can then let her out in a room, and go from there.  The hope is that she’s not so feral or skittish that she can’t adapt to a home environment and I truly believe she can, she just needs time.  At least with me working with the rescue as opposed to trying on my own I have more support and guidance.  Plus I think the readiness in which they’re willing to get her in for a vet checkup and possibly a spay surgery if she needs it is because she has a foster to go to.  So as much as I absolutely hate that she’s outside in this damn cold and snow despite clearly wanting to be inside, she won’t be outside for much longer.  She’s hunkering down somewhere close, I give her plenty to eat and a blanket so her little paws get a break from the snow while she eats and the shed is open to her.  It’s the best I can do for now and that has to be enough.

Blogmas Day 28 – Winter Veil

My favourite World of Warcraft holiday, although I wish there was more to do every year.  I love the holidays because they bring the player base around a little more, everyone breaks out the holiday toys and you can always be sure that there are players around to help you do daily quests.  And of course every location, even the most remote of places, get all dressed up with wreaths and lights and trees.  Warlords, as shitty as an expansion as that was, even gave us the option to decorate our garrisons with all sorts of goodies.  Decorations, a dancing snowman, even getting to dress up your guards in holiday garb.  I still hate the female holiday suits though, they’re stupid and ridiculous and in serious need of a revamp.  It’s one of those stupid things where the item on a male character is a reasonable outfit and the same item on a female results in a stupidly tiny skirt and a top that just barely covers her boobs.  Seriously.  If they could reverse that one year without telling anyone, that would be absolutely hilarious.

I’m going to aim for finally getting my holiday title this year.  The last achievement I need is a PVP achievement, and I’m super terrible at PVP so it’s a challenge.  But I managed to do it for Halloween, I’m sure I can do it for this.  It’s only 50 players instead of 10, how hard could that be?  I’ll pick off players in the Dalaran Sewers just like I did last time, hehe.

Blogmas Day 27 – Happy Ending

It’s been a good day.

The lady who contacted me yesterday about coming over to scan Buddy (the name I’ve given to the stray boy) was good to her word.  He had since warmed up to being inside and was his cuddly self, though went and hid understandably when she came in.  She had brought a carrier which surprised me but I didn’t think much on it.  Unfortunately Buddy didn’t have a chip which kind of put me back at square one with trying to figure out if he has a home or not.  He’s intact, which could mean either he had been lost for awhile and had owners who either hadn’t gotten him fixed yet or didn’t want to, or he got booted out because they didn’t want to spend the money on a surgery and he was spraying.  Neither of which is good, but at least the former would have meant someone was missing him.  Anyway after we determined there was no chip she told me some great news – she had managed to convince a rescue who was already taking six kitties from a nearby vet to take him as well!  I can’t quite adequately put into words how happy it made me to know I wouldn’t have to face the dilemma of keeping him locked up in a room or putting him back out, neither of which I wanted to do.  So knowing he was going somewhere where he’d be safe and warm and could crash until either owners were located or he could be put up for adoption thrilled me.  I hate that we have such a stray problem in this city and so many of these poor guys are stuck out in the cold when they should be inside somewhere warm.

She also talked to me about the other stray kitty that I’ve been feeding.  She and Buddy hung out pretty much all the time and I figured they were probably keeping each other warm, which made me hate my inability to get her inside all the more.  I figured if he was in with her, she’d relax a little more.  She said she would bring over a live trap and ensure I know how to use it, and went over how to set a feeding schedule for her to make it easier to trap her.  The whole process is expected to take about a week from setting the feeding schedule to putting the trap out, so thankfully kitty won’t be out for much longer.  The goal is to get her to come around during the day so that she can be here when I trap the kitty.  So good news at last.  I’d been unsuccessful trying to get a rescue’s help for her on my own, I guess I just needed the right person to cross my path.

Blogmas Day 26 – Rest Day

Did very little today, and glad for it.

The pain in my back is literal hell, so I sucked up what ended up being a painfully uncomfortable car ride for some Voltaren and coffee.  So far it hasn’t done much yet, hoping it just needs time.  I would have stayed in bed all day if that wasn’t a monumentally bad idea.  You don’t want to be lying down too much or moving very little with sciatic pain, which kind of sounds weird but really the longer you’re down the worse the pain gets.  You now you’ve pushed it when it’s impossible to bend without your back screaming at you and having a incredible time of trying to even do it.  Movement helps to loosen things, although you can’t overdo it either.  Thank goodness there’s no snow expected for the next few days.

There are plenty of leftovers today from our Christmas Eve feast so that’s been the food for the day.  Unfortunately no leftovers from the turkey which bites.  Mom’s considering getting a second smaller turkey and I’m not inclined to talk her out of it.  It’s funny how something can be so part of your routine that when you don’t have it or do it you feel like something’s missing.  And who doesn’t love turkey leftovers?

Actually I did a little more than just the coffee and Voltaren run.  This sweet stray boy I’ve been caring for has been brought inside for the night because of this cold snap.  He’s been coming in to warm up for awhile, and at first my kitties weren’t bothered by him.  Curious, but not bothered and he wasn’t bothered by them.  So I’d let him in to eat, warm up, have a snooze and then reluctantly put him back outside.  He made good use of my shed, but if I had the extra money I’d have gotten him to the vet and once assured of a clean bill of health kept him inside.  Anyway, tangent.  Zachary soon decided he didn’t like this guy indoors and I sequestered him to the spare room, checking on him regularly and giving him food and water.  A rescuer contacted me and he’ll be getting scanned tomorrow, so hoping he has a chip and I can get him home.  He’s too sweet to be outside.  I just wish I could have gotten his ‘girlfriend’ in too, but she’s super skittish and won’t come near the door.  No idea what I’m going to do about her, but for now she’s hiding out somewhere and I feed her plenty every day, it’s all I can do right now.

Blogmas Day 25 – Merry Christmas

Boy what a long day!

Still hurting like hell, but we got up, packed up the breakfast Mom made last night and the turkey and the presents for the kids, grabbed coffee and headed over to my sister’s.  It’s so much easier with the three kids to do gifts there than here (and the toys would have to be taken over there anyway).  The kids were still on their high from gifts with their parents so keeping them from attacking the packages was a task, haha.  But they’re good kids.  Amon got a giant The Batman Movie lego set, and a smaller one that was Mr. Freeze and his giant mech.  Leah got a 3 piece set of a stroller, a chair and a diaper bag for her dolls (and Puppy, no doubt) My Little Pony themed of course and another giant My Little Pony castle, and Ethan got a Batman lego set for his age bracket and a Pup Patrol lookout tower that’s practically as tall as him.  Needless to say I am so glad that thing isn’t at my house!  All the sounds, oh my gods.  I’m sure my sister is once again grateful for having a finished basement where all those toys can go to.  So while he was having a ball sending his pups down the giant slide and turning the Lookout Tower and Leah was zipping her stroller all around the house Amon and I set to building some of his lego sets.  I forgot how much fun those things were, I may need to get myself some in the New Year.  I put on A Garfield’s Christmas while we worked at it and it was fun to see him getting into it.  He’s quite picky about what he watches so it’s nice that I can share something like that I’ve always loved with him.

After a couple hours and getting the turkey on we went home for a bit, then went back for dinner which turned into a longer night than I think anyone anticipated.  I didn’t want to spoil the visit by leaving early (though I really wanted to, I hurt like hell by this point) but you get into conversations and then next thing you know it’s 11pm.  It was fun but I’m definitely paying for it now.  Going straight to bed and not doing a damn thing tomorrow except getting coffee.

Blogmas Day 24 – Crazy Christmas Eve

Well yesterday and today did not go entirely as planned.

Last night the condensate pump on the furnace turned out to be leaking.  I could hear the motor running when the furnace was off when it shouldn’t be running, went downstairs and found a hell of a lot of flooding.  My outdoor tent was soaked, there was a large puddle of water and a nice big headache.  Talked to my property manager, but of course with it being the holidays no one would be able to come out until after Christmas.  But he assured me that the motor and furnace would be okay and we’d just have to deal with the water overflow.  At least by that point it had slowed down and was leaking a lot slower.  So it could have been worse really.

Unfortunately what that meant was falling behind with my plans.  Ended up getting no baking done, fell behind on cleaning and had to make it all up today which was not the plan.  I mean what are you going to do, certain things needed to be done, but it was unfortunate.  Pinched my sciatica on top of it all, so I’ve been trying to rest my back as much as possible.  That’s a pain that doesn’t easily go away on its own.  And my dad was working today so didn’t get to see him either.  What a crazy Christmas Eve to end the year on.

At least it eventually got done.

So now mom and I get to enjoy Jólabókaflóð (pronounced yo-la-bok-a-flot), the Icelandic tradition of exchanging books and chocolate on Christmas Eve.  We’ve been doing it for several years now when a website I can’t recall published an article about it and it suddenly caught on.  And why not, it’s a fabulous tradition!  There wern’t a whole lot of books that caught my eye this year but I did get The Legend of Drizzt volume 4 to add to my collection.  I’m one of those that doesn’t just collect a series but has to have the same style too.  It’s a quirk.  Of course, I have to work my way through the rest of volume 2 and then get through volume 3 before I can even get to it but the point is it’s now on my bookshelf and that’s all that matters.  That and I have copious amounts of Ferrero Rocher to keep me company.

Blogmas Day 23 – The Day Before the Eve

I honestly can’t believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve already.  These past couple weeks seem to have flown by (but don’t they always?).  The snow has paused for the time being, and the sun has returned!

For however much longer the sun will be up, anyway.  We’re also due for more snow over the next few days so I’ll enjoy the daylight as long as I can.

In the meantime, getting the last bit of details done before tomorrow since I want to do absolutely nothing except what floats my boat and a bit of food prep for Christmas dinner.  Also plan to visit my dad if he’s not working which is a tradition I’ve tried to hold onto as long as I can, and drop off a Christmas present to one of the ladies at my local Tim’s that I’ve become good friends with.  She loves seeing Dalila, so puppy will be getting a good bath tonight so she’s all fluffy for the holiday.  Also getting the urge to purge stuff which I’m trying super hard to ignore for the time being.  More important things to get done first.  I swear my flows are all wrong, I always get the inclination to clean house or go out into the garden or write at times where it’s just not possible at that moment or I hurt like hell.  Then again my life’s a chaotic muss of stuff so I guess it’s not surprising, haha!

Blogmas Day 22 – Snow Coming Down

Well today’s the first day of days getting longer, not that it’ll be noticeable with the current weather.  Lots of clouds and lots more snow.  Well they did say we’d get a lot of it this year.

I love the way everything looks in the snow.  The pine trees, the outdoor Christmas decorations, the lawns, everything.  We’ve had a few green Christmases in the past and I don’t think I could ever get used to it.  I’m sure it probably doesn’t phase anyone who’s lived in places where it doesn’t snow, after all you know what you know.  But no matter where I keep my roots or how badly global warming possibly fucks up our environment, this holiday season will never be complete without a dusting of snow.  If only winter didn’t linger as long as it usually does though…

The downsides kind of suck though.  Side streets take longer to get plowed out, and by then the snow is so packed down because of everyone driving that they don’t plow well.  Some people get pretty stupid when the weather goes bad and make problems even worse.  Going somewhere?  Plan ahead, traffic’s going to be slow.  Kind of sounds like first-world problems reading that, and I suppose it is since things could definitely be a lot worse.

I could live further north where they get far more snow than us!

Whelp, time to go get the shovel again…

Blogmas Day 21 – The Season of Jol

And so winter officially begins.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and research to get ideas to do my own little thing tonight.  Couldn’t find a Yule log which I really wanted, will have to see if I can happen upon someone who decided to cut down a tree and re-purpose a piece of it.  Birch would be ideal, oak would be even better.  I have to watch what I bring in the house since the house panthers and the diva have a penchant for being too curious kitties and chew on things.  So no poinsettias, no holly, nothing that’s a health hazard.  I know some people will just keep those things out of reach but I don’t want to take chances if a petal or something happens to fall off.  Makes me too paranoid.  Besides, fake stuff lasts longer.  Still want a Christmas cactus though, still have yet to get one.  Maybe this’ll be the year?

It’s interesting how many old cultures revered this time of the year.  Especially with all the similarities, the acknowledgement of light.  You can see it in Saturnalia with the Greeks, Alban Arthan with the Celts, I haven’t looked beyond the European-ish areas of the world but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if Asian cultures, natives and such had similar beliefs.  Often the beliefs revolve around a male figure but some reading I did into the Nordic beliefs point that belief may have been in a female deity as opposed to a male one.  I’ve been finding a lot of that lately, hidden female figures of the season.  I’ll definitely be spending a good chunk of the new year doing this research.

For tonight though, I’m going to enjoy the snowfall and light some candles, and quietly observe this most wonderful night of my year.

Blogmas Day 20 – Rough Times

Seems Christmas 2017 is going to be a hell of a time for a lot of people.

I’ve been seeing a lot of post from friends and acquaintances on Facebook and elsewhere having to deal with all sorts of things.  Health issues, the prospect of having to endure shitty family members, not having anyone around for the holidays, trying to get things done.  My DM called our game for the rest of the year because his brother was in a super bad accident and he’s going to be understandably spending a lot of time caring for him.  That’s got to be one of the worst in my opinion.  Hopefully his brother has a quick and full recovery.

I’m working hard on refusing to let the mounting stuff I want to get done get the best of me.  I’m so behind.  Cleaning that has yet to be done, baking that has to be done, gifts I wanted to whip up that I just don’t seem to have the energy for.  It’s frustrating but all I can do is pace myself and whatever gets done, gets done.  Sometimes you just have to accept your current best for what it is and make the most of it.