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Friday, May 30, 2008

Been Busy 

I have had a very busy week. I am enjoying the roller derby volunteering. Then again... I just like being on my skates! I have to learn alot of rules and such in order to be a ref. The first game I will be working at is this Saturday. I am excited! For more information, check out http://www.mtlrollerderby.com/

I had several doctor appointments. I got that straggling blood test redone. I have no idea why one of the results was high. I hope it is normal this time. I also had my knee checked and went for x-rays. The x-rays didn't show any fractures. My knee is feeling much improved, though still sore on and off. I have another doctor appointment on June 5th to talk about blood test results and x-ray results. I am trying not to be nervous.

The squirrels are growing up so beautifully. The white one is still white/silver with blue eyes. Ron is going to design and make a new cage for them. Liam saw them today and was so excited. So were some stray outdoor cats which were shooed away by Ron and Liam. I will be putting the cage outside on the balcny when I am home and the weather is reasonable so they can get used to sounds and smells of outside.

Today was a wierd day. I went to bed super early last night feeling like I was crashing hard. I was alseep immediately. I was not in any state to wake up early today and was glad I was not needed at work. I had the worst migraine for most of the day. I struggled to sleep it off. I took super-advils and buried myself in bed till the migraine passed. I woke up sometime around 5pm. I woke up with my back feeling all kinked. *sigh* Otherwise... I feel fine now.

I edited and cleaned up my paper intro and methodology sections today. They still need expanding. I will be doing that tomorrow. I also have to write up the historical background for Paganism in about 10 pages. OY! That all has to be emailed to my teacher. Meanwhile, I need to arrange to meet the Grad secretary for info about some policies.

The bank and stuff screwed me over this week. I have to go tomorrow if I can and speak to someone. I lost $120 in fees to mishaps. That has hurt BADLY!

Tomorrow I get to have tea with WinterWolf. Afterwards, M-SB and I will meet him and his GF out at Clyde's in the evening to see our freinds perform a concert. Invisibles will be on stage again at last! YAY!

Lastly... I have been busy making web[pages for my coven. Check them out!

http://www.mtl-magicalcircle.ca/BFC/index.htm

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Birthdays! 

Yesterday was my neice's 18th birthday. 18!!! OMGs!!! 18... She isn't the little baby I remember holding in my arms anymore. She is all grown up and in college studying psychology!

Today is my grandmother's birthday. This is cool because she is great-grandmother to my niece. We have 4 generations in our family! My grandmother is feeling a bit lonely as many of her relatives are moving out of town. I will have to do something special this week for her.

Anyways... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two amazing women who have made a wonderful difference in my life!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Rest... 

So I ate late last night. I need to fast for minimum of 12 hours before the bloodtest. So I decided to sleep in this morning. M-SB even kept the bedroom door closed while he was up and about this morning. THANK YOU! I slept in. Actually slept in!

Now I have to get my butt in gear and get to the blood test so that I don't lose my ENTIRE day.
And... so I don't starve to death. I am already hungry. *sigh*

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Updating 

So... the day has gone by and I did very little... or so it feels.

I had a doctor appointment where I have a new form for blood tests tomorrow. And I had to go for an X-Ray for my knee. The doctor appointment took up the morning. I went to lunch with Roo and the place was nice inside. The food was mimi, the price was stupid expencive for what we got. I then spent most of the afternoon for the X-Ray. I was allowed to look at it myself. YAY! No fracture of the knee or patella. No ligament tears. The bone is bruised and swelling. Advice so far until my doc looks at the X-Ray and changes her advice: ice it daily, keep bandaged or in a brace for support, exercise it so it doesn't stiffen up or lose flexibility, don't hit it or kneel on it, and don't over-do it. When it hurts, stop, rest and ice.

I went to Reno Depot looking for big bags of squirrel feed. No luck. I came home with plants instead. A ginko sapling which will have to be moved a few years after planting if it survives. Some fresh curry plants. A creeping fuzzy Thyme. I looked at my garden today and OMGs! It loved the haircut we gave it and it looks wonderful! I have to cut it back again now as some things are starting to over take other things. Time to tame the herb garden. I didn't find the things I was looking for to hem in my mint. I will have to keep looking, maybe at Canadian Tire.

I would like to thank folks for their help and support and money to help care for my squirrels. You have no idea how much help your little bits are.

Tomorrow I have to go to my bank and have a fit. This week I got paid and deposited today. Meanwhile... a ton of things auto went out of my account and bounced in the 24hrs of receiving my pay check and depositing it. Each NSF carries a $40 fee. which now means the money I deposited no longer can cover the things it is supposed to. *frustrated*

Well, I am going to tackle the DEEP cleaning on the bedroom. I will check back here once I am done. Maybe write some fanfic or something to change headspace before tackling the next house task.

Morning... 

Improving.

Last night I found a lovely little mini-dock covered entirely by a tree. I sat under it and was temporarily swallowed by its branches, the water around it and the night sky peeking through the young leaves.

I even managed some sleep when I got home.

Today I have a doctor appointmewnt to see about getting blood tests redone that I neglected before Yule and to have my knee looked at to see if I did any serious damage.

The rest of my day is devoted to cleaning as I was not able to arrange for a cleaner this week. I also want to have my paper introduction written. A busy day. Need to sort the finances that took a dive last night as well.

I really wish this chill damp weather would stop and balance out. The cats are going nuts and so is the pain in all my joints.

Squirrel update:
They are BIG and very SQUIRREL now. I need a new outdoor cage for them ASAP. I am going to call my dad and see if we can make one together.

Do-Over PLZ 

Some days are like today.
Wish I could call a do-over.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Birthday Love to my Husband 

My husband's official birthday is Yule. That means is is often forgotten or swallowed up by the holiday festivities.

Sooo... he chose a different date for himself. Some of you already know it. Many people forgot, though. *sad* If you didn't know or forgot, it was Tuesday May 13th.

On that day, I made him canneloni for supper, something he has been wanting for a while. And I played videogames (super mario party) with him all evening.

Today, I am baking him a chocolate cake with a middle layer of cherry pie filling and home made whipped cream for topping.

Happy Birthday, my love!

Recovery from the not so comedic "Comedy of Errors" that was Yesterday 

Yesterday was bad... for both me and M-SB. I didn't blog details as I was just so frustrated and the frustration continued after the previous blog. Here is a run down. i can kkinda laugh now, but yesterday I was not happy.

4:00am - M-SB & I woken by noise, something outside
5:00am - city hammering noises wake us again
6:00am - sun blares in the room to add to the noise
6:15am - cats knock over squirrel cage sending seed and water EVERYWHERE, I clean for 15min
6:30am - roofers across street make more noise
6:45am - cats think that world is awake and so mom and dad should be up and feeding them
7:00am - sun is still blaring and alarm goes off for round 1 and is reset
7:30am - neighbors next door run heavy machinery to mow lawns and clean them
8:00am - M-SB give up and leaves for work, I struggle to get a bit more sleep
9:00am - the previous hour was broken by the neighbors machinery noises
9:15am - I give up on sleep and strt to get ready for work
9:20am - people start calling me about every 5-10min for stuff or wrong numbers interrupting my trying to get myself ready for work
9:25am - squirrels get fed, but take off in two different directions in the house
9:40am - Squirrels are back in cage and fed, I am late, I get more phone calls, cat poops on floor, I am late for work and leave poop on floor
9:50am - car dies from lack of gas 10-20 feet from gas pump, I push it to pump
9:55am - i call work to warn them i am late and leave a message
10:20am - i get to work and everyone is frustrated and didn't get my call
10:30am - I am settled into work and i have to serve "special" clients

I get breakfast and normalcy sometime around 11:00am...

That was yesterday. After teaching CMS, I went to Robyn's and we sat by the water where it was peaceful. I didn't want to go home. Home is noisy, messy and frustrating.

I slept well at Robyn's... thank the gods.

Now I am home and sorting things out. Gonna do some cleaning, empty the car, see if dad is putting summer tires on my car, and pack up for Gaia Gathering. OH! And maybe figure out what I am talking about before I have to talk.

I am still so tired.... like I am burning out. I just have nothing left in me to give anymore. So little that when someone asks me "can you... when will you... " I lose my shit.

I am going to have some tea and brunch.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Squirrel-y-kin Chaos & Conferences 

Ok... the squirrels are growing and are adorable. They nibble all kinds of food now and love blueberry apple sauce... well and flavor of apple sauce. They are bigger, hungrier, and way more active. The have their cuddly moment, usually 20min after eating ALOT or during their nap times. Otherwise they want to play play play!

They have started teasing my cats for entertainment. This resulted in the cage getting knocked over... at 6am this morning.

Feeding them is getting to be quite troublesome. It is fine if there is one, but with two running out of the cage every time i need to take bowls in or out, I can't control them. I need a bigger cage for them pronto. Ideally, I need someone to adopt one so I can focus on feeding one and not two. It is also eating into my budget. It would be nice if I had help.

CRAP! I need another 3 days between now and Friday. Like Thursday needs to be 3 days. I am going to Gaia Gathering Conference and speaking twice on two different topics. I need prep time. I need to find my notes and make them coherent for speaking from. I also need to prep stuff for the vending tables and make signage and stuff. AND, I have to meet my dad who is putting on summer tires for my car for me. I will not have him come over to my disgustingly messy home this week for constructiony things. I have been so damned busy that I haven't had time to do stuff.

Ok... need NEED some days off with no work work work and running around. DESPERATELY!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Kill... KILL KILL KILL 

Stupid fucking construction whatever the fuck they are doing outside acroos from my home!!!
Working as early as 6:30 AM...
KILL! KILL KILL KILL!

So fucking tired... so want them dead!

I thought that shit isn't supposed to start till "reasonable work hours" like 9am. If I am not allowed to make noise any earlier... then that law ought to also apply to them! DAMNIT!

*GROWL*

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Awesome Fun 

Coven was great and productive.

I got lots done on the volunteer project for the Avatar Forum.

Then I went roller skating at the Recreotheque in Laval with Roo & Mae. I had a ton of fun! I look forward to going back. I did take a spectacular tumble that will color my right knee and elbow several shades of purple. But I am not deterred. I still had fun. Nothing broken, just bruised. My confidence on my skates is renewed. I am decent. I still need practice, but I did ok!

In the morning is Mother's Day. Tell your mother that you love her.

MOM! I LOVE YOU!

I start the morning as Mom of the squirrels and clean their cage and bathe them. The I make pretty cards for both my mom and M-SB's mom. We will drive out in the morning to surprise my mom with dark red lilies to add to her lily patch. She doesn't have THAT color in the lily patch. The afternoon will be spent at M-SB's mom's for BBQ. I have no idea what he is getting her. I will bring homework with me for when I get bored if we stay there long. OH! I also have to bring the squirrels.

If you are a Mom, have a wonderful day!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Off Day 

No... not day off... an off day.

I woke sick sick sick from cream that was iffy the night before. I couldn't really get going till about 3pm. I managed to feed the squirrels a couple times in between being ill. The left them behind as I headed to work to observes and work with one of our employees under evaluation.

I had this nagging depressed feeling all day. When I realized that no one was going to be home when I got home anyways, I decided I didn't want to be home at all. I felt miserable for a gazillion tiny insignificant reasons. To cheer myself up and feel loved, I bought myself a rose and some pretty clothes. I wandered Angrignon shopping center for hours.

Finally came home and plunked mysef in front of the computer to work on the avatar forum project I began a couple months ago.

Gotta go now... having my first meal of the day... some pasta comfort food.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Moving Right Along and Wondering WTF 

So the paper is in... and the grade is not. I am not sure if that is a neutral sign or a really bad sign. Is my paper that bad that he is seeking opinions from the department again? I am trying not to be in a panic about it. I just emailed the teacher to ask what is up.

Other than that, I met with the teacher who is doing my guided research paper. I have to prepare stuff for ethics concent for interviews and prepare my intro and historical context background by the end of the month. I am so very psyched! I feel good about THIS paper. Started getting material now and thinking about stuff for it.

I was supposed to present it at the Gaia Gathering Conference... but they are having some difficulties getting organized. I am still waiting to find out if I am presenting or not. *rawr*

And what the frak is up with my cats! Cloak especially! Running and causing unbelievable amounts of trouble!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Trying out! 

There seems to be lots of "trying out" going on with me and my friends.

Roo is trying out as a volunteer ref for roller durby. I wish her best of luck. And thanks, but no thanks, I do not think I am up for being a volunteer ref. It is a mix of time and money and energy that I cannot afford. Maybe I will go with you one day to a ref training thing and watch or keep you company.

Arin and Liam went to try out the LaSalle Library for the first time. It is a great place! Lots of options and resources, a fantastic kids section with a special program for kids too! I like best that I can send them a request list for books I think they ought to have and they generally acquire them! How cool is that! There are only 2 other public libraries I am that comfortable with (Cote-St-Luc Library and Dorval Library).

Today my squirrels are trying out new things to their cage. I put in a water bottle and a NEST! They are uncertain about both. In fact, they ignored the water bottle completely and were frightened of the nest. I stuffed Murmles into it and she seemed ok after that and explored it. She liked it a bit better after I tossed one of their favorite towels over it. Silly squirrels.

Also today, I am trying out a new cleaning girl. She is a community garderner and a gorilla garnder. She will be speaking about "community gardening the Pagan way" at the Gaia Gathering Conference in Ottawa. She is hired to be my new home cleaner as my other one has returned to Australia for the next 3-6 months. The new girl is Pagan and a wonderful person. Her name is Emily. She is different from my other cleaning girl. More thorough and yet manages to turn the place upside down a bit while she goes. It gets put back, but is a shift in energy I am not used to.

We tried out the new Norwex products I have. WOOHOO! They work just like they should! I am very impressed!

Off for dinner and then out to the garden to see how Emily does there.

Monday, May 05, 2008

New Cage 

Thank you Owan for the new ferret cage for the baby squirrels! They are loving it so far.

Here are some pictures:


Twitch above has snagged a piece of dried pinapple and LOVING it!


Murmles on my green pouch for contrast as she sits in my lap after suckling back puppy milk formula... and leaving me milky splotches where she wiped her chin on my pants.
More pictures are available on my facebook.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

So far So good... tired but ok. 

Yesterday I wanted to just die ... I was so tired from having to care for squirrels, go to wirk WITH squirrels and rush back with them and go out for dinner then since their feeding schedule was off, had to get up at 3am. I got up this lorning at 8am to feed them again and gave them an early feed/play/clean (with Arin's help... THANK YOU) at around 11am. Then I pushed their feeding to 5:30pm... that was a hard stretch for them.

I went to Karyn's surprize birthday party! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Otherwise the day has been blissfully quiet. I put some books away but have not really had energy to do much sorting or cleaning as I had hoped. I spent a bunch of time scouring Amazon (.com and .ca) for book I will need for my summer research project on Pagan conversion and in preparation for creating a Pagan Comprehensive exam in September. Hours and hours are book hunting and cross checking and a couple hundred $$ spent. OUCH! And that is not even close to the list of books I want to get. I just have to break up my purchases for mu budget allowance.

No scooter for me... *pout*

Oh well... other things are more important, like paying off debts and bills and school.

Oh... I am planning on a Norwex even at my house. Email me if you want to come. I am aiming for early June. I need confimred people as she is coming in from Ottawa and I have to pay for her gas. So I am asking that we divide the $40 in gas by however many of us are present. So... bring your friends! Bring your family! Let me know! scarletcougar@gmail.com I will have a exact date once I reach her and see when she can come.

3:30AM... am I crazy? 

Ya... apparently I am.

Yesterday was nutty. I had to work the store 10am - 6pm and then be at a dinner at 7pm. All of that was over the times I had to feed squirrels. I was up at about 6am to feed them and hoped to sleep till 9am when I done. Nope... that didn't happen. Too much stress about needing to be awake for work on a Saturday. So on about 4hrs sleep, I trundled to work... squirrels in hand. I squeezed in an extra feeding time for the squirrels in order to offset their feeding schedule. The reason was that I couldn't keep the swuirrels in the cold car during the dinner and couldn't feed them at their usual feeding time (8:30pm). I got to work and fed them at 10am. I usually stretch their feedings to every 5hs. This time they were fed every 4hrs. This way they gor fed at 2pm and again at 6pm so I could drive them home in a rush and pick up M-SB (instead of him meeting me downtown as planned). We went to dinner and were home for 10:30pm when they were fed again... thus I am up now at 3:30am to feed them... and will be up again at 7:30am to try to get them back onto the regular feeding schedule.

The dinner was great! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Hobbes and Karyn!! Much love and hugs! I got to see folks I don't see very often also! It was great. The food was ok, more expencive than I would have paid for what we got. It tasted good though.

I thought about the scooters... and the more I think about them, the more I want a real one and not an electric one. I really want the Honda Ruckus. Oh well.

I will focus my budget into books for my next research project instead.

Ok... the formula is at the right temperature. I am off to feed squirrels.

Friday, May 02, 2008

What did I do today? 

Well... not much. I took care of squirrels, watched the movie "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" and washed a load of dishes.

Part of me feels very guilty for doing almost nothing today.

I am at work now doing something. Well checking on staff and planning my next week. Oh and waiting for the husband to show up.

I am so out of routine.
Next week, I get back into going to Curves and start up my rollerskating.
Hopefully I meet with my teacher and plan my research project.
Cleaning/gardening girl comes on Tuesday.
And I have to plan and budget for Gaia Gathering conference.

At 8pm, I will feed and bathe the squirrels. DAMN they desperately need a bath. I think they bathed themselves IN the applesauce!!

Lazy Day 

After this early morning being up to feed squirrels and HATING the noisy crickets in the gecko tank, I went back to bed and lazed there till noon. Just because I could! It was wonderful.

Now though, I am hungry.
I fed squirrels again. 3 syringes of formula and some apple sauce.

I got an email about a cage! However it is not big enough.

I got an email about an electric scooter. It is $300 and can drive about 25km/hr. It is faster than I can bike. But is not a 50cc scooter like I really want. I might go try it out on Sunday and see how I like it.

Morning! 

The squirrels seem to be doing ok. Twitch was a bit "off" last night when I fed her around 7:30pm. Not sure why or what was up. She seems ok today. I gave them applesauce to try since they seemed interested in the apple slices but weren't sure about swallowing the nibbled off bits, just licking the juiciness. They LOVED the applesauce. And like babies, they got covered in it head to tow. A bath is in order sometime today.

I am exploring scooters!!

THIS or THIS are the ones I reallly like, but can't remotely afford.

Here is a list of other ones I am emailing about:
http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/mcy/657368030.html ($650... there is an identical one for less)
http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/mcy/649830131.html (Old... but if it works...)
http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/mcy/658615582.html (also old... but if it works...)
http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/mcy/657377144.html (electric... this is the identical one for less)
http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/mcy/657126719.html (a white one... meh)

I emailed them all for more info. I guess we will see who hasn't sold yet and what extra info they give me.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Hunting 

I am hunting for a good cage for the squirrels. The ferret cages I looked at at Nature Pet Centre are $100. And they will only be good for the squirrels for 6 weeks before I need bigger. I don't want to spend $100 for 6 weeks use. But I need something VERY soon.

I need help finding something. It cannot be something the squirrels can chew through. That means no mesh, no wood, and not most plastics.

This makes things challenging and expensive.

I am open to ANY help or suggestions.

Numb... done... 

Done...

OMGs!!! I AM DONE!!!
The paper is finished and handed in to the teacher.

Now I feel numb... and lost...

I... um... guess I will go clean stuff?

HAPPY BELTAINE!

Squirrel News 

I called a variety of places. No one takes them in.

This is the website where I got my first information on caring and rehabbing:
http://squirrelworld.com/ifounda.html

The Ecomuseum gave me the number to a licensed rehabilitator.
Stephanie Bouchard 514-969-4699

Anyone can call her for information about rehabilitating wildlife.
She currently has her squirrel quota and gave me great advice to rehab these babies that I have.

Syringe feed every 4-5 hours about 0.4cc of pupply milk formula till that are 8-9 weeks old.

At 6 weeks introduce juicy fruits that are sweet (apples, ornages, pears, watermelons) and continue feeding formula. Also, get a proper cage for romping and climbing.

At 7 weeks introduce Farlee baby pablum cookies (not banana flavor), put a dish of rat chow or squirrel feed into the cage so they can get used to the smell. Keep feeding forumla.

At 8 weeks do half the feedings of formula in a saucer to start them into lapping and licking and draw them away from suckling. The other half of the feedings should be by syringe.

At 10 weeks put cage outside for periods of time to get squirrel used to outdoor sounds and smells. Feed the squirrel feed, fruits and veggies and nuts, and formula. The formula can be every 5-6 hours, suckling only twice while the rest is in a dish.

At 12 weeks, set them up in a large outdoor enclosure and start to wean off of formula using water in a rat water bottle or in a bowl with solid foods in another dish. formula goes into a dish twice a day with one suckling time.

At 14 weeks start soft release. They are starting to hit the play and puberty phase of their lives and will want to explore. They may also suddenly turn from friendly to nippy and wild (unhandle-able) at this time so be careful. They will still need food and formula. Soft release means opening the door so they can go out into the yard but run back for safety. formula goes into a dish once with one suckling time.

At 16 weeks stop giving formula, or only put some in a dish.

At 18 weeks, take away the in-cage nest to force them to make their own Fall nest. They will likely have a little of their own in the fall.

They may return to you for food throughout the year. You can set up a squirrel feeding space in your yard or balcony. Be wary of raccoons though.

If you want to keep them as a pet, they require LOTS of handling and may still be nippy as they are a more nervous rodent than the average rodent pet. Remember that for once they get to 10-14 weeks. Fast movements or loud sounds may make them bite and turn ferral. A pet should be kept in a LARGE enclosure outdoors and/or indoors with a proper nest.

It is HIGHLY discouraged to keep squirrels as pets. Soft releasing is the best as they will also be ready for hibernation which is part of their natural cycle. Keeping them as a pet takes them out of their natural cycle.

OK... all that being said... I have alot of work ahead of me.
What am I looking for? I need a ferret cage, the tal kind. Or some kind of 2'x2'x3' cage.
I also need puppy formula and squirrel feed. The feed can be gotten from Reno.
Money is also helpful so I can get supplies.
*sigh*

Today I will be working on my paper in the hopes of finishing it. Tomorrow I will go out to price cages... as craigslist turned up nothing.

Distraction: craigslist has scooters! Gods I want one! They have some electric ones for as low as $400. Maybe as a reward for finishing my paper I will go look at scooters.

Off to see if the neighbors can take the squirrels.