I'm so tired...

I posted my day on the wrong blog.

Actual vegan restaurant eat-ahj

Fernando and I went to Aux Vivres restaurant for the first time last night, for supper. We'd never been--it's all vegan, which means I don't care if the food is mediocre, I'm gonna eat a lot! A starter, a dessert, everything!

The actual seating is really minimal so there was a line to get in, and a line pretty much the whole time we were there; but we only waited about 15 minutes I think.

Fernando had borscht, and I ordered us a starter plate of dips--more so I'd know what's good for any future trips. The vegepaté was fine, good tapenade, hummus is always good. The tofu dip was just okay, and there was something carrot-based-fishy-tasting that neither of us liked. I suspect it might be what they use for their bagel and lox.

Fernando then had the mumbai plate, which tasted good.


I ordered a dragon bowl--and they had three other types of bowls. It was so good. Next time I wouldn't have a starter, so I could finish it all. It's inspired me to try making a dragon bowl at home again. I tried one from Jae Steele, but it didn't turn out very well--I think it's helped having it made by someone else first so I know what the goal is.

(pic off their site)

We ordered dessert to go: chocolate banana pie, faux cheesecake, and truffles.

The truffles weren't sweet enough. The chocolate banana pie was good, but I'm not a huge banana person anyway. However the cheesecake... holy cow. Each layer was perfect, my DAYS. In my pre-vegan days I never met a cheesecake I liked as much as I loved this little spot of sugary goodness.

(pic from their site - it looked like this, but paler)

As they say in French: menoum menoum!

movies and les films and la télé

So after the horror of Le Nèg, the next day I watched a sort of romantic comedy called Les Crabes dans la tête (Soft Shell Man in English, but it's a French-Quebec movie). It was great. Yesterday I watched a translated Breakfast Club while picking out pictures for my collage. I was never a John Hughes fan because I didn't identify with any of his characters, but the scene where they're all sitting around admitting why they're really there was even better than I remembered. It's too bad their careers all got Hughes-stink on them and they ended up as silly extras in other people's comedies.

Today I watched another episode of Toute la vérité (exshellent) and started up Fortier again since it's something I can watch while doing other stuff (yet it's still SO GOOD!) Then Fernando and I watched Snow Walker and Nanny McPhee (in English.)

My current French problem: My dictionary widget is too good. Each definition has the kind of information you get in big fat heavy dictionaries that you only need at the university level. Not what you need when you're looking for a quickie 5-word definition. I'm trying to find another one...

Ho hum, that's about it. Life's been good this week since the cat came back. Peaceful and unremarkable. I'm back to my old self-adoodle.

maxin' and relxin' with a bucket of soapy water

I went to my bedroom to take a nap, and ended up pulling out the dryer and washer (they're in my closet) to clean behind them instead. My idea of downtime seems to have taken a strange turn.

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."

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!

Organization and Kittization and Illustration at Casa di Mabel

Productive day today. Did some paperworky things, library run, and organizing the livingroom. We don't just watch TV in here--we do paperwork, and work on our hobbies, so it's always filled with all kinds of Life. Teeming with life!! Now is the time to get to all that organizing type stuff.

Like my jewelry. I had it squished onto one messy shelf, but I moved this unit to my livingroom. So I finally dug out the wall organizer my mother bought me a dog's age ago, but that I could never find when I needed it/and always found when I didn't.

 

Ahh menowz. That's better! My organizational heart glows every time I walk past.

Now I need to figure out what to do with my scarves when the winter ones move into the front hall cupboard.

KITTIES

Then there are forces in my apartment that are beyond my control, like kittatudes.

Fernando always complains that I don't sit next to him on the couch. Of course, everyone knows that sitting in the middle of the couch is poopy cause you don't have a side table for your drink! But I'm nothing if not resourceful.

I found a good sippy cup.

And I use the side of the couch as my side table.  [Note the blanket my husband gave me for Christmas. You see why he's worth sitting in the middle of the couch for.]

[File folder, clipboard, basket with gum and glasses etc, kleenex, headphones, magazines, stack of books, letters from grandmothers, folder for book ideas, camera, etc.]

My "side table" was made bigger one day because Fernando took the back cushion off for some reason, and Haley stole it. She almost never comes off it. It's the perfect size for a cat, and for some reason Minion lets her have it.

Strategically placed on sideboard dividing kitchen from livingroom. The Haley sees all the action. Excellent view of eating activities at the kitchen table.

 

An artistic rendering in one of the daily letters to Fernando. (Can't remember if I mentioned it here, but Fernando has challenged me to write him 365 letters this year.) I don't draw very well, but I like illustrating my letters, and he likes them.

More illustrations:

Feeding time.

Treebeard from Lord of the Rings.

My one claim to fame: the ability to not sleep

I had so much fun with my career coach lady today, and then the always fun supper with Swiss Girl. I'm all wired up! But I got exactly 0 hours of sleep last night, so if I go make myself lie down in bed I WILL sleep. But it's hard when I know there's still more drama unfolding in Egypt. Ahhh!

When I left home this AM my lungs hurt and I wanted to throw up while trapped on the highway bus! But made it through sans incident. Surprisingly feel not too sick, though I've been awake for... 22ish hours?

Swiss Girl and I were theorizing on why I'm still able to survive on no sleep, even in my 30s. Better able, in fact, than when I was in my 20s. She says I've trained myself. I think it's because most people when they pull all-nighters in college in their 20s, they do it with coffee; but I've never liked coffee, so I just did it with loud music and inherent nighthawkitude. And that's why over time it became an actual skill, as opposed to something age-related. (Well... not to say I'll be able to do it once I'm 47.) It's not stamina, it's... finely tuned athleticism.

;-)

Oh go to bed already.

I'm back... and I'm not very good with math. I've been awake 36 hours. But who's counting?

good news

turns out i bought a ton of extra cold meds the last time i was sick, so i wouldn't be stuck!

note to self: 1 box of kleenex not enough backup

Still sick... but at least the cats are offering moral support

Quel night. Between 10 PM and 2 AM I got in 2 hours of sleep, then finally sat up and read my graphic novel for awhile. It felt like I was never ever going to be able to sleep again. It's very weird to feel exhausted, but convinced that you'll never fall asleep.

My added problem was my nose was SO runny. If my nose was too up towards the ceiling (when I was lying down I mean) then The Runny Stuff would run back into my throat and make it killer sore. If I put my nose forward towards the mattress, it would start to dribble out and I'd need to blow my nose. Neither of which is conducive to sleep. I finally put some towels on my pillow and said F**K IT! I'd rather dribble on my pillow and fall asleep in disgusting body fluids than not sleep at all from a sore throat. (This is what sleep depravity does to you.)

I finally slept from about 4 AM til 11. It was fitful, but it was Real Sleep. I still got a little bit of sore throat (I suppose even when unconscious one resists dripping mucous onto one's pillow) so I have a lot of vague memories of feeling the left side of my throat starting to get sore, so I'd roll over and fall back asleep. Then the right side would get sore, so I'd roll over again. Back and forth all night. And I thought to myself: I'm getting a nice even tan.  I felt more than my usual pity for rotisserie chickens.

Today I don't feel as absolutely wretched as I did yesterday evening. Tomorrow I have a job seminar thingy in the morning, and a job coaching seminar in the afternoon, and then meeting a friend for dinner. So hopefully tonight I will fall asleep EARLIER than 4 AM. Fingers crossed.

I've been waiting for Fernando to call after work because I've run out of High Quality Tissue! I use cheap stuff, but keep 1 box of expensive stuff for colds, but my one box has run out. And I'm running low on cold medication. But I suspect he's not calling me on purpose. Yesterday he said:

- I might grab a bite at Scores after work.
I said - Call me anyway before you go. I might need something. I might need you to come home and care for me!
He said - You won't need me, you'll take care of yourself.
And I said - Call me just in case!

So I'm afraid he's not calling for fear I'll make him come home. [starts sobbing] I just want the Good Kleenex. [sobs harder] I just want more meds!! [breaks down]

Evil Minion says she'd make a trip to the store for me, if only she had opposable thumbs. What a good girl. Haley has offered to kill Daddy for me when he gets home. She too is a good girl, in her own way.

Now I have to go do my job coach homework.

Oh, good news though--Debbie Travis' book LOST. Ha ha!

My cold gets worse, as does my disdain for Debbie Travis

Sickness
Great--I finally get past the headaches, and now I have a cold. The cold seemed little at first, but I'm not sleeping! Yesterday I woke up after 5 hours and couldn't fall back asleep. Great, I thought, I'll get a good looong sleep the next night. I was asleep by 2 AM and awake by 6 AM. Wide awake. Had to read a book in bed til 8 AM. Then slept in 1.5-2 hour increments til I finally got up at 1:30 PM. I had a mini dream each time. Like having little movies.

And it's not being sick that's keeping me awake--my only symptom is a stuffy nose and when I lay down it's fine.

In rebellion against Debbie Travis (see my facebook or Mabel Talk) I took out a graphic novel last night, and that's what I've been reading in bed. It's really good. Fun House by Alison Bechdel - she of the Bechdel test (that's why the name caught my eye at the library.)




My Debbie Grudge
I'm listening to Canada Reads, after hearing that Debbie Travis was a tool again today. Oh my days, she's ugggghhhhhhhmeeeehhhhhhhblehhhhh. She's saying The Reason we read is to be carried away, to escape. There is not ONE REASON why we read!!! She's saying it about movies too!!!

I'm just going to sit here and trash Debbie Travis, hope you don't mind.

I dislike the way they're doing Canada Reads. I don't think the participants should be the ones to vote, I think listeners should vote. Or audience members in the studio, if they want to be *sure* people tuned in. But I also almost feel like... each book shouldn't have its own defender, cause it makes the discussion stilted at times. Gomeshi has asked them "Which of these books is written the best?" and they're all saying "My book!" except Sara Quinn, because she's the only one whose book has been voted out. She's being honest and saying Carol Shields. They keep trying to say "My writing is best because it's accessible!" or "Because you get lost in it!"

Come on. You pick up a book by someone like Nadine Gordimer, and it's hard to read, and difficult to get through, and hard to get "lost in" but... oh my days. By the time you're done, it's sitting somewhere deep inside you. The writing happens at a whoooole different level.

I wouldn't choose Gordimer, or maybe Shields or Toni Morrison as a book to get people reading. But if we're talking about best writers, let's be honest.

Out of the books left, the one I'm most interested in reading is Best Laid Plans. Bone Cage sounds interesting, but maybe a little too sad for me.

Debbie:
* skipped pages of the Carol Shields
* Didn't finish Best Laid Plans - didn't think it was worth her time, isn't interested at all in Canadian politics (But then she voted against The Bone Cage.)
* Debbie: "It's very rare that we read books twice." Jian's reply: "Or you could finish this one!"

Awwww Laraque is heartbroken that The Bone Cage was voted off. He's an athlete and he wanted people to read it so they'd have a better understanding of what Olympic athletes go through--so they'd stop focusing so much on medals, and more on the effort and the striving. He's really upset! Well, if you're an Olympics fan, maybe you should read it! I'll give Debbie this, she's saying nice things to Laraque.

Ooh Laraque is officially throwing his support to Best Laid Plans, and judging by Sara Quinn's comments I think she will too. Maybe we can boot out Debbie's book! Which is too bad, because I know someone who loved The Birth House. But... I'm all about the grudge now.