Vacuous in Vancouver

I marked my first night home & alone in Vancouver by watching the movie 'Sleepless in Seattle'. 

On a recent trip to Seattle with a girlfriend, we went on a tour that took us past (amoung many other places) the houseboat that was featured in the movie. They played a clip where Jonah shows his Dad the letter from Annie, and Sam replies:

Come here. I'll show you a sign. 
(looking at a map) Where's Seattle? And Baltimore? Right there! 
There's like 26 states between here and there. That's a sign.

We laughed and laughed, because we'd just found out that Sean had been offered the job in Baltimore, and it really did feel like a sign.

On an unrelated note, if one more person comes up to me and sings 'Goodmorning Baltimore!' they will be walking away with fewer teeth than when they came. I vow here and now to never, ever see Hairspray again.

The apartment is empty save for some random orphaned furniture, the cats, myself and the dust bunnies. It feels very big. Time seems to pass very slowly. Actually, time seems not to pass at all. I'm working 6 days a week, and it just feels like repeating the same day over and over again.

I'm also hungry, and poorly equiped to remedy this. I'd put aside some old pots & pans, dishes & cups, but was so incredible stunned during 'The Great Pack' that I let the movers pack everything I'd put aside. I do have a kettle though, and thanks to 20 years in Girl Guides, I could cook a surprising array of foods in a ziplock freezer bag. 

But right now, I'm sticking to instant oatmeal. I can't tell you why I bother eating it. I'm convinced it's the poster-child of depressing foods. And it tastes like wallpaper paste. Or maybe that amino-acid gruel they eat in the 'real world' in the Matrix.

Oh well, I might as well hunker down and get comfy, because I'm here for 6 long weeks. 

Where do I park my Dog-sleigh?

Hold on to your toques folks, I have some news!

We're moving to Baltimore!!

... well, actually we've sort of already moved. Okay, that's not technically true either. Let me break it down:

• I am currently situated in Cockeysville, Maryland, USA. 
• Sean has started working at his new company and is officially (and legally, so no need to call the INS) living here.
• We are in a stinky, awful 'Suites Hotel' that turns into a ghetto version of Studio 54 on the weekends.
• I leave to go back to Canada on Saturday.
• My new hobbies include; screaming like a crazy person at the GPS, freaking out at my poor husband when unexpected things happen, spontaneously bursting into tears, and apologising even more than usual.

As you can imagine, this is a really big change for us. I would venture to say that it is an even bigger change for me, as I've always lived within 10 kms of where I was born & raised. 

So there's a hell of a lot to say & share, but I have things I have to do! I'll just say that while this is a completely terrifying thing we're doing, it's a once in a lifetime chance at a fresh start, opportunity & adventure.

Max & Leo

Lesson in parenting #41: Give Attention Equally.

Ok, so we're not parents, and maybe I'm crazy, but I think we learn a lot of lessons in parenting from our pets. This is ideal, because no matter how much you screw up a cat, it's not going to grow up to be a kleptomaniac, a serial killer, or one of those people who have a melt down if their food touches on the plate. It's sort of like a dry run, with no consequences. Well, except for the occasional poop on the carpet.

Back in May, our 6 yr old cat was diagnosed with Diabetes. He was extremely sick and almost died. He was drooling at the mouth and had lost the use of his hind legs when the diagnosis was made. He had been showing mild symptoms for months, but we didn't clue in. He deteriorated very quickly and got medical care just in time.

We were devastated by the diagnosis, and worried about how we were going to pay for it all. We went through weeks of testing every 3 hours or so, 24hrs a day, trying to get him regulated. Our vet was telling us to do one thing, and new veterinary science, as well as online communities were telling us another. It was a tough decision, but we finally broke with our vet and started treating Max with the guidance of an online community called FDMB. Within a week or so, following their advice, we had Max on his way to being regulated on insulin, and we've since been able to drop his dose twice. If things keep going well, we might eventually have him off insulin for good. For now, it's enough that Max is well, and we don't have to test him a million times a week!

Now that things are as normal as they're going to get, Max gets 2 shots a day, at 7am & 7pm. Both cats also get fed at shot times, so Leo has adapted to Max's routine.

It broke our hearts yesterday when we finally realised how much we've been neglecting Leo since Max got sick. Sean was playing fetch with Leo, and when he brought the ball back, Sean said "Good Boy!". Leo immediately looked up at Max, then dropped his head and slunk away. We usually say "good boy" to Max after his shots, so I guess Leo has connected those words with Max getting attention.

So now we're trying to give more attention to Leo, to balance out all the time spent with Max. Are we crazy cat people? Definitely, but they do seem to teach us lessons that can be applied to other aspects of life.