the yule log

* on christmas day, around 11am, i headed to my parents' place. YB and larry had been there for a couple of days already, and mom and dad's cable had been out since sunday morning. so, everyone was a little on edge. but, we had a lovely meal, opened presents and dad did not act like an asshat, which was a huge relief.

* larry and george continue to get to know each other, but the dynamic has shifted between them. george is now the dominant one, chasing poor larry like a bat out of hell. which, to be fair, is the way the dynamic should be between the resident cat and a guest cat. thankfully, larry's got a "safe room": trixie's bedroom. that's where his food, water and litter box are, and where he sleeps and relaxes (with the door closed so george can't get in). so, when he's scared, he runs right back into that room. they have supervised visits a few times a day, and – for the most part – george behaves. sometimes, he'll even flop down on the floor in a passive pose. but then... BAM! he starts chasing larry, who flees. we suspect this is george's idea of "play," because he's not actually aggressive (no claws or hissing or biting, just chasing), but it scares the bejesus outta YB's schmoopy feline.

* tomorrow, i begin my holiday movie-going. i'm seeing "american hustle" and "her," back to back and each with a different friend. then, on monday, probably "philomena" (with mom) and "gravity" (solo). i've also got "august: osage county" on my "see before i'm once again swallowed whole by work" list.

* speaking of, and though i am technically "off" work until jan. 3rd, i have work to do over the holidays. stuff i know i won't have time to do at the office – namely, all my writing. i've got an article on 2014 films we can't wait to see, midseason replacements we're psyched to watch and a couple of olympic stories that i've decided not to write (because i know they'll be vetoed by legal).

* best news of all so far this christmas, though? LARRY NO LONGER SMELLS!!!!!! at ALL!!!! the neutering totally did the trick, and his blindingly smelly pee is no more. i could not be happier!!!!! (and, since he's been staying chez mom and dad for almost a week now, so is mom!)

merry christmas!

i'm spending christmas eve at my place because YB is still without power. she and larry -- who's recovering from his recent surgery (and doing very well!) -- are bunking at my parents' house, so i'll be heading over there tomorrow. apparently, larry and george have had a couple of very brief, but very civil, face-to-face meetings. we'll see if that continues.

though i normally spend christmas eve with trix, i've enjoyed being on my own today. i went for a big walk, took a slew of photos, wrapped presents, attended mass and made dinner (vegan sausage with roasted potatoes). now, i find myself watching a Long Island Medium marathon.

despite the chilliness of my apartment (which hasn't gone above about 55ºF since sunday morning), it's been a really nice, relaxing day.

hope everyone has a merry christmas! wishing you happiness and peace and, of course, CAKE*. :-D

[*but not fruitcake, because fruitcake is not cake.]

careening into farcical

today, we were given an update from the client, preceded by, "this isn't good."

we were then informed that, due to legal restrictions, not only can we not use the word olympics, olympian, winter games, games or any permutation thereof in our olympics stories, but we can also not use any stock images from the olympics.

or of any athletes.

or of anything having to do with the olympics, winter sports, sports, medals or canada.

not even a hockey stick.

not even a maple leaf.

not even a figure-skating skate.

we also can't use illustrations of anything having to do with the olympics, winter sports, sports, medals or canada.

not even a hockey stick.

not even a maple leaf.

not even a figure-skating skate.

then we were told that any tweets we plan on sending out DURING the olympics (which start on feb. 7th) have to be sent to the legal department for approval.

by jan. 10th.

for.

REAL.

marshmallows

* tomorrow, larry goes in for his surgery. we're all hoping it's quick and (as) painless (as possible), and that he makes a speedy, problem-free recovery.

* for reasons unknown to me, we did not have a department christmas lunch this year. or drinks after work. nuthin'.

* i have not finished my christmas shopping. in fact, i only started today.

* my therapist feels my father has a very pronounced anxiety disorder, and that it's the cause of his often infuriating behaviour.

* i will be on holiday from dec. 24th through to jan. 2nd... maybe even jan. 3rd. i plan to see many movies while i'm off.

* speaking of movies, Grave of the Fireflies is screening in toronto on friday night, and i'm considering buying a ticket. it's supposed to be one of the best animated films ever made, but it's also apparently absolutely devastating. so, i'm on the fence.

* work continues to be a massive amount of work... and it looks like nothing will change until, oh, june. but i *am* getting a raise starting in january.

* i cannot believe it's already dec. 18th.

christmas baking 2013: a few glimpses

half-and-half cookies.

nut kipfls, before.

this thimble is, mom figures, at least 120 years old. it belonged to my great-grandfather, who was a tailor.
now, we use it to cut holes in tiny butter cookies.

tiny butter cookies.

an update to the larry update

test results are back.

larry's junk is hidden on the inside, so he has to have surgery next week to officially be neutered.

blood, urine and kidney function: all normal. PHEW!

YB is nonetheless worried, as any pet parent would be, but the surgery is already scheduled for next friday. larry will stay one night at the vet's and be home on saturday afternoon. trix is off for two weeks starting that friday, so she'll be home to care for him as he recovers.

and, once he's recovered and the remaining testosterone works its way out of his body, his pee should take on the normal smell of cat pee.

we are all relieved. :-)

cloud wave

this photo was taken this past saturday, as YB and i were out on a shopping jaunt north of the city. we pulled off the highway just before 8:30am, and saw this freaky-looking cloud formation.

though the picture doesn't quite capture it, the cloud looked like an enormous wave cresting to the west.  it was SO cool.

a larry update

so, larry is having a little bit of trouble. he's lovable and snuggly and cute and very smart, but something's up with his metabolism... and his... junk.

remember when YB first adopted him, and i said his pee STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINKS? well, it still does. i mean, it's eye-wateringly strong, and smells like the pee of an unneutered cat. more worrisome is how much he drinks and pees -- cats aren't big drinkers, and a normal pee schedule would be once or twice a day.

larry drinks water ALL the time, and pees five times a day. that, for a cat, is excessive and can be the sign of diabetes or, worse, kidney damage.

and trix was, rightfully, getting increasingly worried. so, she took him back to the vet for another once-over and brought along a small sample of his clumped litter (so the vet could assess the smell of the pee).

well.

the vet took one whiff and said that it definitely smells like larry hasn't been neutered. testosterone is what causes the extreme pungency of male-cat urine -- get rid of the testicles, the smell goes away. thing is, larry has no visible testicles... which could mean they never descended and are tucked somewhere inside. or, less likely, it could mean he's the victim of an incomplete neutering and somewhere there's a tiny piece of tissue still producing enough testosterone to cause the stink. they shaved a small patch of his nether regions to look for an incision scar but couldn't find one.

back to the pee stink: the vet said the smell was so strong that he couldn't take it, so he asked one of the assistants to remove the BAGGED sample clump from the exam room. that's how intense it is. did i mention that YB is unable to smell skunks? so, to her, larry's pee "isn't that bad." :-|

anyway, the vet took blood and urine samples, and larry's being tested for all manner of conditions. it's sad, though, because trix is now so worried that she doesn't want to get too attached to larry (too late for that, i think) in case he's got something seriously wrong. she doesn't want to buy too much food or too many more accessories, because she doesn't want to jinx his prognosis. the kidney damage is the biggest concern -- that's irreversible and, ultimately, expensive and terminal.

best case scenario: an ultrasound will reveal larry's hidden junk, which can be easily removed. his metabolism slows down to normal, the pee smell becomes normal and he and YB live happily ever after for the next 20 years. in the meantime, larry continues to be stinky but insanely cute.

what i thought would solve my blogging deficit

last week, i had an idea -- why not combine the long-defunct photo blog with this one so that, on days when i don't have time to write or don't have anything worth writing about (i mean, how often can i complain about work before it just becomes redundant noise?), i would post a photo i'd taken that day and quickly write a few sentences about it.

i even carted my point-and-shoot along with me every day last week. and do you know how many photos i took? ZERO.

so, you know, so much for that idea.

BUT, today i DID take a couple of photos, including the one above. it was my lunch -- a delicious sandwich i made. it's black forest ham, emmenthal, spinach, avocado (with pepper) and hummus, on a multigrain baguette. it was very very good. note: though the sandwich looks fairly small, that baguette was easily 8 or 9" long, so it was FILLING.

we'll see how the coming week fares, photo- and blogging-wise.