The Turtle Invasion

Poor Uter, she reminds me so much of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. I mean, just look at that worried face, and this picture was taken before the other turtles arrived.

Turtles, you may or may not know have very specific environmental requirements. Obviously they need a tank, but they also need a basking rock or log and basking light, and finally they need food. They don't really need love, but they do need their owners to keep them on a schedule.

My brother, who is moving out of his apartment tomorrow, but not into the new apartment until Saturday, came over last night with his two turtles and we started a game of musical tanks. Uter has been removed from her tank, and has lost her basking bulb. Today she will have to make do with a regular 60 watt, which will give the illusion of sun, if not the benefits of an actual basking bulb. This is unfortunate but necessary, as I was afraid that putting a basking bulb in the only lamp I had left could cause a fire.

Johnny Cakes, I know he's named after some sort of food, but I don't spend enough time in the states to know what that food thing is, or if he looks like one. He has always made me think of a hamburger,or a Dagwood Sandwich. This picture isn't the best, but I can tell you that he is easily 3 times bigger than Uter. As such he had to be given the biggest tank. Poor Johnny Cakes, he's such an easy going turtle, but last night he was headed for a meltdown, too much change, and now to have to spend the day with a dog (he's not used to dogs). I started to worry so I sent Uncle Tim a text message and he told me that if Johnny Cakes doesn't settle down I should sing to him, apparently his favourite song is "Let it Be". It's funny, who knew that turtles were so sensitive.

Bender is another story. Because Bender is very close in size to Uter it was a bit of a toss up as to which one would be given the medium size tank. However, we had some set up work to do so I told Uncle Tim to put them both in the medium tank until we had the chance to get the 10 gallon set up. So he did, and luckily he was standing there fiddling with some cords because it wasn't two minutes from the time we put Bender in until she climbed on top of my poor Uter. I'm sorry, but I will not tolerate that kind of behaviour in my home...not even from turtles who can't be expected to know better. So that decided the issue, Bender, who should be named "tiger", was given the smallest tank.

Bender is by far the most adaptable of the lot. Predictably Uter started freaking out. I didn't worry too much about that since Uter freaks out about going to her feeding bucket. Johnny Cakes was freaking out as I said already, and Cadie didn't know what to make of the whole thing, she just wandered from room to room sniffing, trying to figure out what was going on. At one point she stopped in front of the big tank and seemed shocked to find there was a giant turtle in there, but then, I like to think that she recognized Johnny Cakes' distress because she turned around and came back to the living room. At the same time Bender was just hanging out on her basking log.

This morning everything is better. All the turtles are settled, though only Uter and Cadie (the dog) ate, at least I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to get by until Saturday

The Move Continues

.The move continues. I can honestly say that I have unpacked almost 30 boxes today, but I’m no where near done. In spite of that I’m pretty tired, and I know that I’m not going to have a ton of time tomorrow. But I think I have a plan, and I believe, perhaps naively that a plan will help you overcome almost anything.


Cadie is not fairing as well with the unpacking as she did with the packing. Every time I drop something, or make another loud noise she jumps and runs to hide in the bathroom. When she was very young we used to leave her in the bathroom while we were out, now that she is older, I am looking to let her have the run of the apartment, because she doesn’t like the bathroom. So, I can only conclude that she is not enjoying all of the chaos associated with the move. That being said, I think that I have another 2 days of pretty intensive unpacking to do. I am almost done with the closets and I am finished with the almost 20 boxes of books. One of my major jobs for tomorrow will be taking the empties down to the garage.

We had a rough start to the day, got up a little late, not too bad, but a little late. Then we headed out to the park, where we got rained on. Still, I’m dedicated to making sure that Cadie gets her exercise, particularly when I have a ton of things to do, that will keep me from hanging out with her. I figure that it’s not fair to expect her to sit still endlessly while I work, so I try to make sure that she is looked after before I dive, headlong into my chores.

That being true, Cadie got to go back to the park later this afternoon. This was great; the sun was shinning, the air was warm, it was a wonderful late afternoon break. The walk back was good too, except for one incident involving a couple of labs, and a family who, unfortunately just got too close to each other.

One of the real challenges in the city is the closeness to your neighbors. I love it, I’m a chatty person by nature, and so I like knowing that I can always find someone to talk to, even if it’s a stranger. The issue around this, is having space for larger dogs to run around and play. There is a growing tension between dog owners and non-dog owners in my neighborhood, mostly as it relates to the use of our path. The people with the biggest complaints are the joggers who get annoyed that they have to dipsy doodle around the dogs. I don’t have much sympathy for them, it’s not a track, if they can’t cope with city traffic, they should think about moving out. But I worry about the families. Dogs and families are synonymous to me. I get that there are lots of people who dislike dogs, but still, I think that dogs are a nice addition to most families. I wish we had better off-leash areas in this neighborhood, I think that would help ease some of the tension.


Anyhow, rant ended, my head is feeling a little better, and I’d like to knock off another 2 boxes before bed

Cadie Scarlett Comes Home

So it’s all over, except of the unpacking. On the whole it went pretty well. WE worked pretty solidly all day yesterday, I was up early to make a huge pot of chili, and start moving some boxes, and get ready for today. My dad, my brother and Salt’s mother were over last night, and I was dismayed to hear that I did not appear to be prepared for today’s move. That didn’t last, they got me back on track, and I am pleased to tell you that the move was more or finished by noon today. I mean, it’s still a little bit of a disaster in here, boxes everywhere, and I have a lot of teacups that still need permanent homes, but this is fairly minor in the bigger scheme of things.

I am very fortunate, I will tell you the least of the reasons why, and then the most of the reasons why; I am very fortunate to have some wonderful antiques. They were obscured in the last apartment; however, they are now being properly showcased. More than that, I am very fortunate, not just to have antiques, but I have mementos of both of my grandmothers in my home. And while the one is still alive and only a phone call away, the other has been gone for almost 9 years, so it’s nice to have a space where I feel so connected to them both.

Secondly, I am most fortunate to have great friends and family. In all I had 9 people here to help me today, and over the weekend, help that was needed and appreciated. Moving is crap, no one likes doing it, even if you are moving to a wonderful new place, it’s still crap. I’m very thankful that I have the week to really put this place together, but I would still be wadding through furniture and other miscellanea if I hadn’t had such a great team this week. So a big, big thank you to all of those very dedicated movers, shakers, and readers of this blog.

Cadie is handling the move quite well. She was panicking a little yesterday, so she stayed with Salt today, while we did the bulk of the work. And I’m glad for that, she doesn’t need to be stressed like that, and I couldn’t have been able to do my part and still look after her. So a big thank you also goes out to Salt for being such a good paws pal.

As my dad and brother were packing up to head out I had a terrible accident. I tripped on something, God only knows what, and I fell, and hit my knee cap on the marble door jamb. I screamed out the foulest of profanities, in front of my new neighbors. At first I didn’t know how bad it really was, but now I’m convinced that it’s nothing more than a bad bruise, however, if it’s really bad tomorrow I will go to see the doctor. I did my best to reduce the swelling, I sat and watched TV with my feet up, and I made sure to cool the area with a pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream, it’s so great to see that modern medical treatments can be both effective and delicious.

Cadie has been very quiet tonight; she didn’t sleep well last night, and has already put herself to bed. I regret that I am going to have to wake her up, but, alas, it is bathroom break time.

So, off I go to enjoy my first night alone in my new home. Tomorrow is another day!

Last Night

I knew it was going to be bad day when I got up. The day before a vacation is never a good day. Still, I had to give it a shot; I mean if it hasn’t been today, it would have been yesterday. So I spent about 11 ½ hours at work today, trying to tie up loose ends, and came home to a world so wet the dog wouldn’t venture out into it. The good news is that I think I did a pretty good job, and I am comfortable being out of the office for the next week. The other good news is that I found a bottle of wine in my fridge. God bless you mystery wine!

It’s days like this that make you really value good relationships. People you can call who redirect your vision, and remind you of everything that you have going on for you. I have very good friends and family, and of course doggy. Tonight I also got the keys to my new place. Too bad I was half sloshed by the time the supper brought them to me.

I did manage to get my bedroom closet moved, as well as my new TV stand. And, as mentioned earlier I got some celebrating done.

This is my last night in this apartment, and it is bitter sweet for me. I’m going to miss the view, and the bright sunshine, but I am getting a new place that will be all mine.

Capturing the Moment

I am starving, I’ve been hungry since this morning, I have no idea why. I’m currently on my 4th glass of orange juice for the evening. Not surprisingly I am also feeling heavy. The apartment still looks like a war zone, I’m sorry to say that I have all but lost the willingness to care. The only thought that keeps running through my mind now is that I need to have the place in reasonable order for when my friends come to help me move on Sunday. My feet are getting colder and colder as the days go by, but strangely enough I am looking more and more forward to this move everyday. I am also looking forward to being off work for a week, but I kind of wish the Olympics were still on so that I’d have something to watch.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who has lent me her camera. Cadie and I skipped our evening walk tonight and stage a photo shoot instead. I think that Cadie is a born performer. She waited patiently while I was setting up the shot and then gave me a winning smile almost every time, they look so cute, and I can’t wait to get them uploaded. I also took some photos of Uter, they are less engaging. But he is less trusting, he saw me headed his way and he retreated into his shell. So I also have those photos which are more funny than cute.

A lot of my friends are quite good with cameras, and take fantastic photos. I’m more than a little jealous. When I was in high school I had made up my mind that I was going to be a photographer. I was the one who always had a camera in my hands, and photos from last weekend’s party. Aside from the playing I did tonight I haven’t taken a photograph since my trip to Greece 4 years ago, and even then I didn’t take many, and I was unimpressed with the quality. A good friend of mine went to China at about the same time, so when we got back we had a photo-viewing party and I was very embarrassed by the quality of my photos compared with hers. Mine were pale and washed out looking, she had the most vivid and fabulous photos. Did it make a difference that I was still using a 35 millimeter? At any rate I’d love to get back into this. In particular I would shoot a lot of video of Cadie walking down the street. It’s pretty funny stuff.

Anyhow the next thing that I am going to try to arrange is for some photos of Cadie and I to be taken. It’s been a long time since I’ve had even one of the two of us taken and I’d like to have something current. I have a lot of frames that need a good photograph.

Plans and Alterations

Moving is for the birds. I went to go and grab Cadie running harness today so that we could go for a jog, only to discover that I have packed it. I have narrowed it down to two possible boxes, but it would still take me a good 45 minutes to find it, so I have decided that Cadie will be not be coming for a jog now until after the move. Also, my home looks like a bomb has gone off here. I know that housekeeping isn’t my strength, but this is ridiculous. I took Toby’s mother down to my new apartment tonight to let her see what it looks like, and much to my despair, the new place has a very similar appearance to the old one. The bones of the new place are much nicer, but it is still dirty and has a lot of stuff sitting in weird places, just like my current apartment. I just feel like I’m starting to lose my mind. I mean it’s so bad that today I cleaned my desk to try to calm myself down.

Moving takes so much effort that poor Cadie isn’t getting the attention she needs either, I’m really anxious for the move to be done and over with. Things are going so much better at work, it would be nice to get the home life humming again too. Then I could really lower my blood pressure, get my head back together and start to work on the other problems in my life. One step at a time I guess.

One of the things that I didn’t include in yesterday’s blog was a close call that Cadie and I had. While crossing the street, with the right of way Cadie and I were almost mowed down by a crazed driver. I saw her speed up as she came flying towards us, I would have been safe no matter what, but it was close with Cadie. I gave her leash a good strong pull, and the crazy woman missed her by inches. I didn’t mention it yesterday because it upset me to the point that I was nearly crying, but now I’m much more angry about it, so I can handle talking about it. All I would like to say is that had Cadie not been on a leash I wouldn’t still have her with me. Still I don’t think we’ll be crossing that street again any time soon.