#7: a Louis Riel birthday in which the cat came back

For the first time ever, James's birthday fell on Louis Riel Day--Manitoba's newest provincial statutory holiday, which corresponds to Alberta's, Saskatchewan's, and Ontario's Family Day. I was surprised that it's taken other provinces so long to climb on board: after all, Alberta has celebrated Family Day since 1990 (probably in imitation of the U.S.'s Presidents' Day, also known as Washington's Birthday). When a new stat was first proposed in Manitoba, the Winnipeg Free Press reported that some employers feared it would be costly to implement. I say it's about time that employers start giving back; it seems to me that it's been a decade and a half since the average employee was expected to do the work of only one person instead of two or three. And I would think the rate of absenteeism, and its converse, presenteeism, would be highest in February, one of the bleakest months of the year; a stat might counteract that nicely. Actually, I didn't realize until 2001, when I compiled a list of holidays for an hr/payroll project involving many unions across the country, that provinces may observe different stats. I think we should standardize across the country, because everyone deserves the equivalent of NL's Regatta Day (more on that here and here). Essentially, if the weather's right the first Wednesday in August, you head down to the lake. Kind of like "snow day" or "storm day" in reverse, but for adults.

Thanks to family & friends who called to wish James a happy birthday; and if you didn't, no worries, 'cause he was becoming a little overwhelmed with all the extra attention. He enjoyed a mellow day at home: slept in, went to the gym, worked on his computer, enjoyed another slice of that PC Mississippi Mud Pie cheesecake, napped, retrieved Darth from the vet, picked up supper at the local Shawarma place. He claimed it was the best birthday ever, so who am I to argue.

James checking his hockey pool scores, Darth taking in the Phoenix vs. LA match
on the big screen (not visible in photo), remotes close at paw.

Yes, our little Darthy is home again. For those who missed it, we first noticed Darth was ill on Thursday. All of Friday he stayed put in one spot in the basement. I thought he had improved by Saturday, since he was moving around the house, albeit more slowly than usual. However, by Sunday afternoon he had thrown up at least two more times, and he was evidently dehydrated and spaced out, so I took him to Ottawa Veterinary Hospital (OVH). The vet took x-rays, which showed there was something blocking his intestine, and put him on IV to rehydrate him. I had to leave him overnight, but I saw him before I left, hooked up to tubes taped to his right front paw. The IV seemed to have an instantaneous effect, since he was curiously examining his environment and paid no attention to me. OVH called at 6:15 a.m. and again at 11:00 a.m.; each time Darth's status had improved. The vet advised to check back at 3 or 4 p.m., by which time he was deemed good to go. So we picked him up, and he seems as good as new. Fortunately, he did not require surgery (which we were told could have run $1200-$1600!!). Even so, the amount we paid to nurse him back to health could have sponsored an underprivileged child for a whole year and then some.

#6: spice girl

Dave & Ci & Nicole came over for coffee & cheesecake tonight, in honor of James's birthday tomorrow. I was able to use my Victorian Epicture mulling spices for the first time.

before & after: mulling spices & spiced apple juice

After our guests departed, I enjoyed our fireplace while sipping cider and reading a short story by Wodehouse. (I use throws because the cats' favorite perches include the backs of furniture, and I can think of better things to do with my time than vacuum for hours on end.)

#5: the things we do for love

...like posing in a front yard of snow when there's nowhere to go...

This month of photographic moments is supposed to be spontaneous and unstaged--but really, you know me better than that (or if you didn't, now you do). If that causes you any distress, console yourself with the fact that these photos were spontaneous in the sense that I said, "James, I want to take pictures of our snowbank right now" and out we went. The whole point is to convince you that, yes, we really have received a lot of snow, and by extension, to evoke sympathy for me, because I can no longer manage to toss shovelfuls of snow to the top of the heap. When the city plow cleared the street on Friday, leaving behind a ridge blocking the driveway, I tried. I called on my inner rural southern Manitoba genetic heritage with all my might, to no avail. So I decided I'd just shovel that ridge back where it came from: I dumped it bit by bit onto the street-side of the pile beside the sidewalk. I'm not certain there's not a by-law against doing that, but I figured if anyone was to challenge me, I'd inform them that I know somebody who fights city hall and wins, and I'd threaten to employ her to defend me.

nuffin' but a muffin: moment 4

I resisted the urge to take a photo of the snow pile outside our front door, which has once again reached mountainous proportions. Instead, here is one of the dozen muffins I baked yesterday. I only had one banana (it was a "giraffe banana"--Robyn's term), and the recipe called for two or three, so I added some frozen raspberries to the batter; the raspberries "bled" juice, hence the bluish tinge. I'm the only one eating them: curse that Men's Health plan! I'll have to exercise more self-control (or just plain exercise--I'm sure shovelling counts) so I don't fall victim to muffin top.

straight from the heart: 3rd moment

Happy Valentine's Day!

Addendum
Warning: not for the easily offended

So unlike some of my other bloggin' buddies, I didn't celebrate Valentine's Day in high style. No special dinners, no flowers, no chocolates (unless you count the small pack of Godiva chocolate-covered strawberries I indulgently bought for myself). Nope. Instead, James & I spent time together at the vet's with Darth. Our dear Darthy has had more than his fair share of hairballs to begin with, but when he threw up biley liquid, had excess teary goop, and seemed lethargic, I booked an appointment. ("Poor little bunny.") The vet, a pleasant young women with a t-shirt that drew attention to her cleavage, gave our Darthy Boy the once-over. She took his temperature, determined he wasn't running a fever, and offered that she could keep him overnight at the hospital for observation, and order bloodwork or X-rays; however, she said he might just be struggling with a really big hairball. Given the uncertainty in conjunction with the likely exorbitant fees, we decided to take the Darthmeister home with us and keep an eye on him. (James claimed that for $60, he, too, could have shoved a thermometer up Darth's back end and come to the same conclusion. I reminded him that we don't own a thermometer.)

In other Valentine's Day-related news, I somehow stumbled upon a Women's Health quiz the other day which asks its participants to distinguish between commonplace household objects and, um, shall we say "adult" toys. For answering 10 out of 12 questions correctly, I garnered the dubious distinction of being a "certified sexpert." I mentioned the quiz to James, who has quite the competitive streak. He had to take the quiz a second time to beat my score (she writes with a hint of smugness).

all thumbs, none green: moment the 2nd

This is a kalanchoe. I purchased it on impulse in summer. See, I had received a kalanchoe as a parting gift from a Mauro Centre exchange student and his fiancée. It came in the gorgeous Prairie sunset-hued woven flower pot/basket that you see above, and it had delicate little flowers of purple, pink, and orange. The basket survived; the plant did not. One of Darth's favorite pastimes is to chew on anything remotely resembling vegetation--even the synthetic moss at the bottom of our artificial ficuses--except for cat grass. Consequently, my first kalanchoe met an untimely end. The specimen you see above was to be its replacement. However, I seriously overestimated my abilities, and it has been on the brink of annihilation for quite some time now. I can't help but admire its refusal to give up the ghost, though, so I've decided to try to revive it, maybe even coax it to flower again, even though this Herculean task means I have to closely monitor the hours it spends in light and darkness. Wish me luck. The only plant ever to flourish under my care was a spider plant, and that was seven years ago. It certainly doesn't stoke my pride any to see that Wikipedia alleges that spider plants are "popular with beginners" for they are "very tolerant of neglect."
(For more about kalanchoes, see here and here).

room with a view: first moment

I've really been thinking for some time that I should post a picture of this phenomenon, so L's ("Worth It") challenge and the response of her readers exacerbated the impulse. Here's the view out of my second-storey home office window. They don't seem to build new houses with eavestroughs in Ottawa (probably saves the builders scads of cash), and with all the freezing, melting, freezing rain, snow, more melting, more snow, more melting, more freezing...let's just say I think this may very well be the youngest stalactite known to humankind. I'm thinking about backlighting it like they do for Niagara Falls at night.