Happiness Is...

A little freedom. A month ago I slipped on some black ice and broke a little bone in my left wrist - ouch. Our amazing neighbours gave up their Sunday to drive me to the hospital, which is about as generous and sweet as you can get. The doctor said it's a bone that doesn't heal well and I've been on meds for my IBD that have weakened my bones, so I've been crossing my fingers for four weeks hoping that there would be no complications. As of a few days ago, the cast is off, yay! There is still some pain and we want to rule out ligament damage so I'm starting physio next week. More fingers crossed that the pain subsides. I'll be busy catching up on a mountain of email and giving Christian lots of extra hugs for all his help this past month. In the meantime, I don't have to shower like the Statue of Liberty anymore! Yay! Happy weekend everyone!

Happy 2nd Pandaversary!

It's the perfect day to come out of blog hibernation: it's time to celebrate our second Pandaversary! Two years ago we met - last year we celebrated year 1. I can barely remember what life was like before Panda - she's such a constant, happy, sweet, goofy presence in our daily lives. Her joie de vivre makes it really easy to appreciate things you would otherwise be groaning about - like mountains of snow in February. It comes as no surprise that Panda brings smiles to just about everybody she meets - she's a real cheerer-upper, so if you're having a low day, drop by my Instagram and prepare to smile.

After some advice and requests from friends I've decided to start a Tumblr so that you don't have to wade through the rest of my pesky life to get your Panda fix, so stay tuned for that. Here are a few ways that you can celebrate Pandaversary:

- Take a walk outside
- Take a nap
- Share kisses and hugs
- Smile at a stranger
- Eat some carrots

Those are all on Panda's agenda for today. We love you Panda! Happy Pandaversary!!

Don't forget to support your local shelter. Thank-you Frontier Animal Society.

Crankiness Is...

See what I did there?

Actually I'm not cranky anymore. But the past several days have been a little trying. Of course, it's all because Christian was out of town - nothing like a change in your schedule for things to suddenly go wrong. And then, just like that, a bunch of good things happen and everything turns around. Funny, that.

Last week:
I lose my medicare card. Generally not a big deal, but for someone who regularly visits doctors and pharmacists, it's kind of a problem. I'm pretty sure I lost it while walking along a trail in Hudson (I'm thinking it fell out of my bag when I pulled out the camera) so I go to city hall to see if anyone has brought it in but no such luck. They give me the phone number of the trail maintenance crew and suggest I wait a few days and then call them.

Saturday:
Power failure. Last time Christian was away, we filled up the fridge with tons of food for me and then we had a 21-hour power failure that forced me to throw everything out. Luckily this one only lasts 2 hours but I spend every second thinking about all the food in the fridge.

When the power comes back on, I take Panda for a walk and come home to what looks like the hot water tank leaking (which would have been another kind of disaster). There's a huge spill on the floor... oh wait... is it… MOVING? ANTS. A CARPET OF ANTS ON MY FLOOR. COMING FROM THE CLOSET. I get the vacuum and spend the rest of the afternoon, evening and night vaccuuming anything coming out of the gap in the closet floor every five minutes. I'm afraid to stop and go to bed. Luckily the army stops its onslaught sometime around midnight, and when I come back down again around 6am, there's a manageable little gang of them waiting to get sucked up.

Sunday:
Exterminators arrive in the morning. Tell me it's the best case scenario, that they've seen way worse, that there are worse ants to have. That it's good I called them because if we deal with it now it won't become an epidemic that would send us to a hotel. Well that's good. It's time to spray the house. Do I have somewhere I can go for four hours? Hmm... I pack up some water for Panda, put Blue in the back yard with her water bowl, and off we go on foot to wander around Hudson for 4 hours. Did I mention it was 36 degrees Celsius with the humidex? And that we were out during the hottest four hours of the day? I try to make the best of it so we walk down to the beach, sit in the shade and watch kids and dogs play in the very low, very soupy lake water. We sit there way past the boredom stage, then I finally give in and let Panda sploosh around for five minutes. Then it's off to cool down at the drugstore, thank goodness Panda is welcome there. I slowly examine every item I can. Another stop at the health food store, then the hardware store, then it's time for the half-hour walk home. The house stinks to high heaven of cooked cabbage - that's what the anti-ant chemical smells like. It's 36 degrees, I'm blistered and slightly heat-stroked, I've just spent several hundred bucks on a bunch of ants and my house smells like cooked-to-death cabbage. I realize I've forgotten to eat today. I feel entitled to a little wallowing.

Monday:
Those five minutes I allowed Panda to sploosh in lake water? Deadly. She has bad hotspots on her lower tummy and back legs. If you don't know what a hotspot is, it's a very itchy rash that quickly spreads and becomes raw and very angry as your dog tries to lick away the discomfort and takes away all their fur in the process. It's so awful. Poor Panda. No more lake water in the summertime. I make an appointment for the vet, briefly consider driving her myself before ruling it out (I've only got my learner's permit) and make arrangements with the local cab company to pick us up. Panda gets antibiotics, anti-itch steroids and tons of cookies. A few hundred dollars later, we are back home in our cabbage-stinking house. Feeling pretty defeated at this point but there's a little glimmer of hope: Panda has lost 7 pounds! Way to go Fuzzbucket.

Tuesday:
My medicare card arrives in the mail! Some kind thoughtful person found it and dropped it in a mailbox. Then the nice folks at the post office mailed it to me with a little note. Such a relief. My dear friend Marie-Eve comes by for a visit and I get to hold baby Theo. I try a new recipe for lunch and it's delicious. Well well well. The tide has turned. Ants are gone, Panda is feeling better, my medicare card came home, and the smell is fading... a bit.

So - how was your week?