Well, it's almost a musical. The big brat is doing most of the singing and the little one is doing almost all of dancing and jumping and acrobatics. Although I'm really not sure how, she seems to have a way with him. She jumps on him, chases his tail and follows him allover the house. He let her into his food bowl after he was there first. I was shocked!

She just gets right back up again when he swats her across the floor. It's really great entertainment. Heh. She bites him all the time so it's not an uneven fight. And he doesn't beat her until she's pestered him for a good long time. I think he's being very patient.

Thanks to my mom for the great idea to bring the kitten home right away instead of waiting a few days. Her rationale was that the brat is used to sharing right now. She's was very right. The brat barely threw any hissy-fits compared to what I was expecting. I'm very proud of him.

My mom was so wonderful to me this weekend. Instead of my original plan to drive to Nipawin this weekend to pick up the brat and come home Sunday, she brought the brat to me and were even waiting for me when I got home at 1 a.m. on Friday night. That was a fantastic surprise after my two weeks of travel. I don't know how anyone does that on an ongoing basis.

We chatted for about an hour after I got home. Giggling and talking about lots of things. It was perfect.

I spent a lot of the rest of the weekend sleeping. That did wonders for my energy level and cold. However, the pink-eye still hasn't cleared up. I probably need to go see my doctor again.

My new friend wouldn't let me leave Toronto without experiencing something uniquely Toronto. YAY!

While I woke up with my first ever case of pink-eye (blech!) and decided to blame on Toronto, I got to discover why so many people love this city.

I thought that it would feel like Calgary, but worse. It's so not. Toronto is what it is. Am I going to explain that further? Nope, don't feel like it. Heh.

Maybe it was who I was with that made all the difference. She was able to show me bits of Toronto that I found fascinating and a lot because she was a wonderful hostess to her city. She explained a lot of things to me about the city and the reason behind things and all kinds of exciting information. She's a really great storyteller. And she looked up information on the places we were going in the city and everything. We went to new places that she'd never been before either which I thought was a lot of fun for both of us.

Where did we go? She drove me down Lakeshore because it is a very interesting drive and then took me by the university where I was enamored with all the old buildings. Then she took me to Casa Loma. So happy!!! I got some pictures. And then we went to the Bata Shoe Museum. Then to dinner at the Gypsy Co-op (a place that would rival Calories!) on Queen St. W. Of course, on the way there, I saw some very shiny stores. One in particular was named the Silver Snail. My friend said that we'd go next time. YAY!

There were a lot of tempting things. And the next time, she also said we'd go to the Royal Ontario Museum which I really, really want to see. Of course, it's only open late on Fridays which is happily the night it's free.

I apologize to all the big cities that I assumed were like Calgary, but worse. You have already grown up and know who you are.

Edit: I totally forgot to mention that for about a minute driving down Gardiner Expressway there was the completely unbelievable smell of cookies baking. My friend knew exactly when we would get into range of the cookie factory. So completely unexpected and heart-warming.

I'm awake.

It was absolutely wonderful to see my kitten this weekend. My friend indulged with me hours of kitten enjoyment. I should have been home doing laundry or income taxes, but this was so much better. She's been keeping me wonderfully posted on my kitten's life at her house. She growls wonderfully - she sounds like a large wild cat such as a cougar or tiger. It's startingly to hear the sound from such a small kitten. And she's gotten a wonderful nickname from her captors. She will have to tell you about it because I only remember the pronunciation.

Not only did I get kitten time, I got gaming time - the first time in a really, really long time. Except that time in Calgary a month ago. And the time before that the first weekend in January. YAY! Anyway, D&D was played and fun was had by all and I got to know more than the boys and someone described her vision of the gamer girls she knows in Saskatoon. My official title, you ask? Original Gamer Girl. I don't see it, but I was still pleased with the thought. Two other friends do NOT want to know their official titles in this particular person's world although I laughed heartily at the thought of telling them.

I don't give people on the street money. I just don't. My charity of choice is the United Way because I want to help those that are trying to help themselves. I want to help the people where I live because that's where I can make a difference not only for me but my children (should I have any). Everyone makes their own choices here and this is mine. It's not the only thing I give to, but it's my main one.

Tonight, I gave someone $20. It was the way she asked. It was in her voice. It was the fact that her baby was asleep inside her coat. It was that she asked if my co-worker who could drive her to her aunt's had a car seat for her baby. I didn't give her money at first because I just don't. But when I almost started to cry leaving her there, I couldn't do it so I ran back to her with my money and another co-worker's money. And she gave me a hug and I wished her luck. I know all I did was fix her situation for tonight, and what she really needs is someone to believe in her so that she can start to help herself and build a future for her child.

And my face is wet for so many reasons that I'm not strong enough to ignore right now.

I had to drop off my kitten at her babysitter's house where she will be for two weeks. I got a small glimpse into what it must be like to leave your child for the first time. Now, all you mothers, don't be getting uppity about the comparison - I said a glimpse and a small one at that. I realize it's nowhere close to the feelings in connection with your own child, but the feelings of protection and not wanting to leave them has to be somewhere on the same path, just much closer to the beginning.

So on the heels of the drop-off taking 2 hours I couldn't really spare, I stopped by work to do two small quick things. And in the time I was in the office, which was less than 5 minutes, I got a flat tire. And then called CAA, remembered that I hadn't renewed my membership and it expired a week ago (they were very nice and sent the tow truck anyway), and waited for them to come. They came and changed my tire to the spare which he kept calling a training wheel because it was itty bitty. And then halfway home, that one went flat. I drove home anyway because I was exhausted and cold.

And now I'm really tired and not ready for my trip and I didn't get enough done today, but tomorrow will come whether I'm ready for it or not. I'm gonna get a few hours sleep now.

This weekend hasn't been as productive as I'd like, but at the same time, I really needed all the sleep and relaxation I had instead. Now I get to do all the things I was supposed to have done yesterday. It'll be an adventure!

On Tuesday, my dad came to visit me which I quite enjoyed. We had a good chat and he brought me some shelves for my office and bedroom. I have to varathane them before I put them up, but it's a small price. I also have to varathane the edges of my desk yet. I realized that I really should varathane the part that is against the wall as well which means taking it off the wall which brings out the lazy in me. [sigh]

I'm planning on sleeping, doing laundry and varathaning next weekend when I'm at home.

While not my news to celebrate, a friend got some fantastic news last week that I couldn't be there to celebrate with him. It was the most lonely (and single) I'd felt since he left Saskatoon.

As it is tangent day in my head, my dad brought me a rose in a swan holder while he was here. It's beautiful. I absolutely love getting flowers when I'm not wishing for any. Good luck in guessing when that is! ha ha

My new kitten likes to sleep under the covers. My other one has never liked that - I think he always felt trapped whenever something was overtop of him. He likes to know he can get away if he needs to. Maybe that's just the paranoia of old age though.

If I have time today, I think I'll make a cake. I've been craving one.

I fly out to Winnipeg first thing in the morning. It's going to be extremely busy and very rewarding experiences in the next few weeks. I'm sure that by the weekend, I'll be exhausted.

My little one just slide down my back. I trimmed her claws this morning for the first time and she's feeling pretty useless without them. She actually has to jump to get places inside of climbing and so she's whining a lot more.

My dad also chopped some wood for me (I really did try to do it myself, but it didn't quite work out) so I've had a few fires this weekend. I love watching a fire burn. Kitten learned hot.

Now off to do chores. Boooo...

I've known for a while that my chiropractor is a good person. Genuine, funny, and looking out for his patients' best interests. Today, that went to new levels. He was just about to walk out of the treatment room and then turned around and closed the door again. He paused before speaking, unusual for him, and finally asked if could ask me something personal. And I'm thinking, "You have put your hands just about everywhere on my body, including my pubis bone, and now we're going to get personal?" What I said was, "Go ahead." Another pause before he says, "When you are ready to start dating again, I have this friend that you might like to meet."

While it costs me $49.50 just to take a cat to the vet, let alone any services provided on top of that, she's worth it. She had her first vaccine today, the poor thing. She's sleeping it off. When I woke her and put her down in front of her food dish, she ate which I thought was a good sign although she really wanted to be sleeping still. I know she'll be better in the morning. Remember how I said she's growing fast? Well, two weeks ago she weighed in at 0.85 kg. Today she weighed 1.20 kg. She's 140% bigger than she was two weeks ago. That's pretty impressive.

In other news, my dad brought me some shelves today that he may just put up for me tomorrow if I can be cute enough. [grin] Unfortunately, I get my stubborn streak from him so it may not happen.

And I didn't buy anything that I didn't need at the mall today. Only painter's tape and some gift cards for work. And I even went into a clothes store and stood in front of the popcorn store and looked at cool socks and saw a new ducky shower curtain. Left all that stuff there. It's a step towards financial freedom. I even looked for Mirrormask, but I knew I'd buy it if I had the chance so I didn't look very hard.

I cuddled my poor kitten to sleep earlier and now I get to do it again. It's one of those simple pleasures - having a warm purring kitten curled into your neck while you drift off to sleep.

Tonight was my last kung fu class. I'm really going to miss the classes. The teacher is really amazing. I think I'm going to take this beginner class again in September. I'm definitely going to try to keep up the routine in the meantime. I was able to shovel snow for an hour on Sunday without any pain or soreness in my lower back. [hurrah!] All because of what I've learned in this class.

Other wonderful things since my last post include watching my kitten learn to pounce, bring me her toy mouse repeatedly in bed, see that she can now reach the edge of the tub, learn some of my behaviours like when I'm leaving the house and having a shower, and no longer chase my shoelaces. Stripey ones can be taught. Of course, the cutest thing was when I got home from work today, she came to the top of the bannister from upstairs and poked her head through to see if I was really home. So adorable!

I have a fabulous new 'do. I've become a stripey one.

There was a lonely guy who decided that life would be more fun if he had a pet.

He went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he finally bought a centipede. It came in a little white box to use for his house. He took the box back home, found a good location and decided he would start off by taking his new pet to the park.

So he asked the centipede in the box, "Would you like to go to the park with me?"

But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit, but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again, "How about going to the park with me?"

But again, there was no answer from his new friend and pet. So he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time; this time putting his face up against the centipede's house and shouting, "Hey, in there! Would you like to go to the park with me?"

A little voice came out of the box, "I heard you the first time! I'm putting on my shoes."