Life is just one damn PART DEUX

F--- off I'm isolating!

 

Isolating is interesting. I like my new cave!

 

 The Coussin de pouvoir is safely mine for one day more...

 

Fernando felt someone should stay up and watch Minion when we got home. He called in sick so he can stay home and watch her, since I had my last career workshop to attend this morning. So I stayed up all night (we got home from the vet around 1 AM) so he could get some sleep before his watch begins. He worked at 7AM, and he does a physically heavy job so he needs to keep hearty and healthy. Whereas I sit on the couch and eat bonbons all day (as he likes to say). And I wasn't sure I could have slept much anyway cause I was feeling so wired earlier at the vet.

Of course now I've been feeling knackered since about 4 AM. It's just hit 7. Also, my daily headache pills knock me out and I finally took those an hour ago, so I am sitting here writing about my cats as a way of staying awake. Anything more passive (TV, reading) and I'll be a goner.

My friend Swiss Girl scolded me for pulling another all-nighter. Hapoo. I really did want to stop doing them, especially since I usually get a bad headache from them. But when the babies get sick... you do what you have to do, right? But if I wasn't doing all-nighters for non-kitty-emergencies then THIS sort of night would be much less common. I am fool.

Oh, there she is, on the move again. Excuse me I must go spy on my cat.

She was having a drinky-poo.

Life is just one damn thing after another

So now one of the cats is sick. Minion vomited up an elastic band last night (well, 5 AM Monday morning to be exact, before I went to bed). Lately she's discovered elastics and is OBSESSED with them and as much as we've tried to hide them from her, the little evilness found one. She's also eaten ear plugs too.

By the time I woke up at 2:30 PM she wasn't eating anymore and had vomited several times. I gave her some malt and she vomited up a hairball and seemed to feel better cause she rampaged around, harrassed Haley, and played her jumping game. But she still would only eat the teeniest little bite I gave her, and as the day went on was napping more and more, and then threw up again at 6 PM and 11 PM.

So off to the motherloving emergency vet clinic, the scene of my last spending spree which my husband hasn't stopped publicly making fun of me for since.

The vet doesn't think there's anything seriously wrong. She palpitated her guts, and Minion she didn't feel anything hard in her bowels; and she took x-rays and her stomach seemed to be empty etc. She thinks she might have an irritated stomach because of the elastic and then hairball, and then the vomiting just kept irritating it more, and on it went. She gave her a shot to temporarily stop the vomiting so we could then give her a pill to soothe her tummy.

Now we just watch to see if she gets better. If not, it's back to the doc in 24-48 hours. Right now she's sleeping. I left the cage for her to hang out in. (Message to K: Yes, NOW she's "isolating.") But a minute after taking this picture Haley went by, trailing a cat toy and miauling, and Minion POPPED! out of the cage and excitedly watched her. So... she's not totally out of it.

Minion in cage. Haley inspecting.

 

Minion watching as Haley circles past with cat toy.

Haley's been having a great day. Minion occasionally stole her best spot (the Cushion of Power), but otherwise Haley was able to play without being attacked, and no one tried to take her food, and she got cuddles, and a chip, and basically got to be One and Only Remaining Cat again.

I warned Haley that if she's the one who left that elastic out for Minion to eat, and she really DOES become One and Only Remaining Cat again... there is going to be hell to pay. She may not be able to outplay Minion, but I do not underestimate her ability to outwit and outlast. All I can hope to do is outthreaten.

It's hard living with a pintsized sociopath. [For those who don't know, Haley confessed here to having offed our last two cats.]

At least Fernando understood a little better what happened to make me spend all that money last time. I was able to explain it better. Tonight's vet did this:
- She told us what she thought was most likely
-- best case: upset tummy, needs pills
--worst case: something obstructing, needs surgery
- She told us the first tests needed to make some judgments
- We did those first tests
- She made an informed opinion, which was to go on the Best Case Scenario, but ask us to return in 24 hours if Minion didn't improve
- Checked if we were comfortable with that, and mentioned that if Minion didn't improve it might be because it was something else entirely, something serious that she could not rule out (kidneys, pancreas, etc.)
- We said ok to first level of treatment, end of story for now

When she went away, I realized that the last vet was just Super Uber Unbelievable Cautious Woman. She never even made a diagnosis, not even after subjecting Haley to every test on the planet. I'm the one who guessed in the end that it was a urinary tract infection. She was too cautious to want to make a diagnosis.
- She told me every single thing it might be (which was understandable because Haley's symptoms were vague) - she was a bit... alarmist
- She wanted to start with first simple tests, I said yes
- First tests brought optimistic results, and AT THIS point most vets probably would have made an educated guess that it was a urinary tract infection, sent me off with antibiotics, and told me to come back if she didn't seem to improve
- But this vet refused to rule out kidney disease, pancreatitis, liver failure, cancer, ebola, the Bubonic Plague, and seemed very alarmed and felt it was quite necessary that Haley stay the night for observation and be seen by the internist and have an ultrasound, not just of her bladder but of ALL her internal organs
- poor Haley had her entire abdomen shaved... it's still growing back
- they would have kept her even longer except that as she started to feel better her natural charms reasserted themselves and they no longer felt equal to the task of emprisoning her

Now that I've been through the experience of An Alarmist Vet, I think I would be able to recognize one again. But man. They can do a number on you. Especially when you just put another of your cats down 6 months earlier.

Anyway. Here's hoping Minion just has an upset tummy.

snowstorm?

What time did this snowstorm start? I went to bed late, at 5 AM. I do not remember seeing a snowstorm starting at that time. It must have been snowing and I was so out of it I didn't notice.

When I woke up at 2:30 PM there was no snow falling. But apparently, in between, I missed a major snowstorm. School closings, traffic issues, I see the tractor working away out in the parking lot. Missed it all. Man, I was tired.

Look at this cute pic from the weather site, captioned: "A night's snowfall dashes someone's plans."

Hapoo... or as they say in French: 'apoo

Excuse all these posts about improving my French. I had a very emotional week. Other than events like cats dying, which is a very specific type of Emotional Poopiness, it's been at least 15 years since I've gone through something like this. Longer. So just as when Sherry was sick and dying, I obsessively comparison shopped for purse organizers on etsy, now I'm anchoring myself to the stability of Language Learning. You can just skip it all and then pat me patronizingly on the head. I'll understand.

I'm building myself a little repertoire of online tools. When I want to compose something in French I've got two sites that correct both grammar and spelling, with explanations of why. They catch different things which is why I've taken to using both. They also contradict a bit, which is why, you know, don't let robots take over the world.

[As I write Minion is going apesh*t all over the apartment. She had a long nap after supper so now she's filled to the brim with beans. I think Haley's hiding in her cupboard box until it's all over. Fernando left his coat on the treadmill to dry, and Minion's sitting up top on it, doing a real number on it.]

[Oh there's Haley! Wow, she was nearby after all. Brave cat.]

[Now Minion's cake-facing her attentively.]

So anyway. I've got a good French dictionary widget, which I've just discovered has a verb conjugation function! But my Fr-Eng widget SUCKS and I can't find another.

And now I'm tired and I don't know why I'm still up and writing this.

Movies in translation

I'm pretty happy with this new French channel I subscribed to. It's amazing how many movies look "good" when you're picking them for language practice, and not just for entertainment.

They have a couple movies I've always wanted to watch but haven't yet... (This one's about a small town where the statue of a "little Negro," like you see on the cover, goes missing from someone's lawn.)



They have a couple of my top faves, which should be funny to watch in translation. Especially musicals? (That's a weird translation. Why not Sept femmes pour sept frères? The Seven Brides of Red Beard??)



Amadeus is a must-see because the first time I saw it was in the theatres, in dubbed French, with my French-speaking cousins, when I first moved to Quebec and only spoke English. I did not understand a thing. I didn't even know the movie was about Mozart, going in. Since then I've seen it a zillion times.








And there's fun movies I've seen in English but it's been awhile so I'll enjoy seeing again in French:



And they have a bunch of fun old movies, mostly 1950s-70s. Though nothing will persuade me to watch Deliverance again. I don't care what "squeel like a pig" is in French.

 Today was Fernando's day off. We didn't watch French TV, but for a few hours we spoke French. I said one thing to him in French and he said (in French): If you want to get better in French we should be speaking it all the time! I said (in French) that'll get very tiring. But he refused to give up, even though his French is worse than mine.

He went to English schools and he's dyslexic so he doesn't really remember rules well; but he grew up in Quebec, and his work place is much more bilingual. More importantly he's not embarrassed to speak in French no matter how broken it is--he just confidently barrels ahead. That's what I was complimenting him about.

Then he tried to tell me I had to write all my 365 letters to him in French! He gets a little carried away mon mari. I said, when I have the energy, chérie. ;-)

Blog-a-readin' and what to watch

Watching stuff in French as "homework" is fun. It feels like slacking off. But the dishwasher's running and my TV's old and not very loud, so I'm taking an internet break. Going to read blogs. If you're a fellow blogger and you notice I only show up on your blog once a week, it's cause I tend to catch up on everything about once a week--sort of like reading the Sunday paper. I have a feed reader, and I dive in and immerse myself for a few hours.

I just watched the Jamie Kennedy movie where he wakes up in a coma and reforms his old breakdance crew with his oldy friends. It's one of those movies that no one will watch with you, not even on TV. My moment had finally come--husband off playing D&D, movie on TV in French, perfect excuse for me to finally see it. I can understand translated movies, and commercials, the easiest. People don't speak as rapidly as in more natural French-Canadian movies, I guess.

And then there's the French-French movies where everyone's speaking fast, using words I don't know, and speaking like they have marbles in their mouths. A friend recommended a series called Les Rois maudits for me, which they had at the library. But the dvd didn't have French sub-titles, and my TV didn't have French sub-titling for it either, so it was hopeless, I just couldn't follow. I'll try again another time. (My friend who recommended it is not only francophone, but she's Belgian--she laughs in the face of European accents! She can smoke them under the table!)


Speaking of Jamie Kennedy, I had never recognized him in Romeo and Juliet, did you??

Today I switched some of my cable channels and picked out one that plays movies in French. I also found some free programs I can watch, on video-on-demand:

Fortier - I've seen most of it in subtitled English, but I can either rewatch it all, or find the parts I missed. Fantastic ensemble series about a psychologist who helps a Montreal police crew with their investigations. She's awkward, doesn't drive, takes her dog everywhere, and has loads of baggage. And naturally there's a great ensemble crew--the two grizzled street cops, the computer nerd, the cheerful forensic geek, the too-sauvé lawyer, and their boss who has a crush on our Fortier. It's full of top Quebec actors, mostly serious well-written psychological drama, but with enough humor to keep it human; and the show actually finished after I think 5 seasons, so it has closure. Super recommended.

Toute la vérité - A law show my friend Swiss Girl recommended. She started watching it because she knew where they were filming. If you knew her... you'd know that says everything about her. But anyway.

Lance & compte - Translates as "He shoots he scores." This was a huge hockey drama series in the '80s and I'm sure I'm the only Quebec inhabitant who never watched it. They have all the seasons!

Nos étés - The last time I wanted to brush up on my French I started this series and I love it. It's about various women of a Quebec family as they visit their summer house, through the generations. They only had two seasons posted years ago. Earlier this year I started season 3 but I don't remember where I was up to. Will go back and pick it up again!

The types of intelligence: IQ & Berzerker

Minion is definitely the smartest cat I've owned been ruled by* in awhile, at least in terms of memory. If I spill a niblet under the dishwasher, she'll sit there for awhile trying to fish it out; and she'll be there a day or two later to retrieve it when I move the dishwasher.

Today she was crouched at the edge of the dishwasher in desperation, and when I moved it to hook it up to the sink she was still crouched by it. I moved it around some more and finally one of her toys popped out. I don't know when it got under there, but it wasn't in the last few hours.

A couple days ago I was pulling all the stray items out from under the couch that had gotten stuck there, and as soon as she saw me doing that she rushed to my side and crouched down, almost vibrating as she watched something under the couch. I realized she had her eye on one of her favorite toys and was waiting for me to fish it out for her. Who knows how long it's been there. Every time I hit one of the toys out she'd excitedly check which one it was, realize it wasn't the little gold sparkle ball, and go back to her intense watching.

When I finally retrieved the gold sparkle ball (which is very light) she was so excited she immediately batted it right back under the couch.

lol

I had to find a broom and get it out again.

Mind you, Haley has her own kind of intelligence--she has the intelligence of a survivor. She has the instincts of a lone wolf, a fighter, a killer, taking-care-of-#-1. She has Wolverine Intelligence. Ready to go into a Berzerker Rage whenever necessary. (I've mentioned before that she refuses to let me cut her toenails. She let me do it once, when we first met, to fool me into thinking she was a docile, sweet cat. But once she got into our home and realized what she was up against, that was it.) Snickety snick!

If Minion and Haley were on a super hero team together, they'd bicker endlessly, but be great together in a fight.

* Thanks to Nancy for reminding me that "owned" was the inappropriate mot de choix here. :-) I usually try to be more careful. After all, my kitties don't mean the same to me as the couch I'm sitting on, or this computer I'm writing on. My mother likes to instead say Being Their People.


I take the reminder seriously, because it's the ownership attitude towards animals that leads to treating them cruelly. Which is a great poopiness.


As the magnet on our fridge says: "Our cats aren't our whole lives, but they make our lives whole."