Keeping in touch through Facebook

In social media venues I use Twitter and Facebook.  My Twitter account BunnyMummy2 has introduced me mainly to a compact network of tweeters who have a mutual affection for animals (mostly rabbits) that I have come to know strictly through cyberspace.  Facebook is the opposite.  All of my facebook friends are people that I actually have known and interacted with in my life.  I love facebook as a medium to know what is going on in their lives,  creeping on their pics, status updates etc makes up for a gulf that time and distance have created.  Some of my "friends" are loved ones and others are friends who have filtered in and then out of my life over the years and have come back into my life through facebook.

The last time that I had actually seen Mich had to have been at her wedding.  That had to have been 11-12 years ago...before that we had mastered the art of drinking Margarita's together...well maybe we never actually mastered the art, but we had fun trying.  Mich was the sweet one, I was the funny one and Anna was the one who always managed to get us home safely.....

It was no surprise when my sweet friend met someone who wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.  And with the responsibilities of life as a wife and mother it never struck me as odd that we lost touch after she married. When I have thought of her over the years I always ended the train of thought on her wedding day.  A day that I truly believed was the happiest day of her life.

When I logged onto facebook earlier and seen that she had changed her status from "married" to "separated" my heart fell to my feet.

Thank You for your Sacrifice

The sun is shining and I am enjoying a really good cup of coffee, after a late start to the day.

Reflecting on all the little liberties that I am fortunate enough to enjoy. Thankful that I do not live in a part of the world where citizens are oppressed or uncared for and very VERY thankful to those who fought and continue to fight to preserve this way of life for me and all Canadians.

Rememberance Day

Nov 11, Remembrance Day, is a day that we take a moment out of our lives to pay respect to the soldiers who have faced combat to defend our citizens and values.  One moment, on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. 


Many of us feel compelled to give more than a single moment out of the day and attend a Remembrance Day service.  I usually attend the service at either Old City Hall or the one at the East York Community Centre.  I like the former because of the big old Cenotaph seems to add dignity to the service, I like the one at the East York Community Centre because it includes local school children and members of the local Police, Firefighters, and service people.  All told the service and the time it takes to line up to put my poppy on the Cenotaph might take 30-45 minutes out of my life.


I will usually take a personal day on November 11th. Attending the service will be the most important thing I do that day (heck it might be the most important thing that I do all week, month, year), but it wont be the only thing that i do that day.  The day will usually include shopping of some type.  The William Ashley Warehouse Sale has began so I will likely end up going there. 


One place that I will not be going (although in all honesty I might have) will be to visit any Eddie Store.  Eddie  Bauer has decided that Remembrance Day is a day that I am supposed to remember to buy socks as opposed to Remembering the efforts of the armed forces.  I think it is disgusting that a day that is supposed to honor soldiers is being used to promote a sale

Give up Sunshine

This day is winding down. I am sitting here with laptop on my lap. Sooty is on the back of the sofa front paws on my shoulder purring up a storm directly into my right ear. She smells 1/2 like oatmeal dry bath spray and 1/2 like cod liver oil....more of it got on her than in her. The smell will dissipate as she continues to bath herself. It is worth the slight fish smell to see her coat look so healthy and shiny. Nice way to end a day.


When this day began it was like most days begin, with me not wanting to get out of bed. The alarm going off. Then again, then again, then again. Sooty coming upstairs and hopping up onto the princess bed looking for love. Hit snooze one more time while snuggling.

The sun is barely crept over the horizon and through the window I see the branches of the trees, their leaves changed color weeks ago and only a few have not been blown off yet. I want to lay in bed with my loving cat at my side and enjoy the beautiful day; but alas there are responsibilities. The first one is to flip the blankest off and get to hell out of bed.

Patter down the stairs and pour myself a cups of coffee, fill the bird feeder, put out some food for the kitties. The birds come, the cats come out to watch the birds. They are next door I think it is Georgie and Other. They are chasing each other, I have not seen those two play for a long time. A couple of squirrels arrive to clean up the bird food that the birds are shaking onto the ground. I am leaning against the counter, sipping my coffee, without effort there is a smile creeping onto my face, the squirrel climbs the lilac tree and attempts to reach the bird feeder, weather it is because the birds are harassing it or it realizes the futility of its efforts, it gives up and I chuckle. I would like to stay and watch some more but the day beckons.

Back up the stairs clean, groom, dress, damn I am late. I am supposed to be at my desk in 10 minutes. I still have not said good morning to Stu. My darling bunny is waiting patiently to be acknowledged. I kneel down to give him some cheek rubs and kisses. Then I head to the kitchen to get his morning meds. Instead of waiting patiently on his mat he follows me to the kitchen.....well not onto the kitchen floor but to the edge of the living room. His Medcam is pineapple flavor and he thinks it is a treat. But the treat he really wants is more cheek rubs. He does tooth purrs and it feels wrong to rush off when all he wants is love. Just two more minutes then I must go.

Driving to work I merge into the Don Valley Parkway, the valley is full of a low lying mist. Again the nearly naked trees are looking elegant and beautiful the mist adds a mystical shroud. I want to pull in to Taylor Creek and go for a walk, but I am already late for work.

The Lyrics of a Harry Chapin song include the line "we give up our sunshine, so we can buy what we need". Today feels like one of those days.

The Patriarch

I kinda left the tale of the feral cats hanging there......

I was looking for pictures that I have taken of White Kitty.   But it seems they are all on the camera that I left outside in the rain....and like the recipe for the cake in MacArthur's Park, I will never have them again.

White kitty is a big old dumb cat that comes around and eats the food that I put out.  I first noticed White Kitty coming around last winter, Sooty and Cleopatra would be taking advantage of their respective timeshare arrangement in front of the sliding doors, when one or the other of them would let out a blood curdling howl.  I would bolt upright from wherever in the house that i was and come running.

Seeing White Kitty shoving his butt up on the frost covered lilac bush never seemed like adequate reason to have my heart beating 200 times every minute.  I would explain this to my spoiled indoor kitties and encourage them to be tolerant of White Kitty, and stop giving me a heart attack.  When Beat Up Kitty comes around there is not such a violent reaction!!!

And Beat up Kitty was coming around on a regular basis,  winning my heart with her "I wanna trust you but life has been hard on me" attitude.   And White Kitty was commin around with a "thanks for the food now ya wanna rub my belly"  attitude.  Not saying White Kitty looks like the winner of most loved kitty of the year.  He was always showing up shivering in the dead of winter looking for a handout.  I thought he and Beat Up Kitty were rival Tom Cats fighting for territory.  In spite of the fact that my affections were leaning towards Beat Up Kitty, White Kitty seemed to be the dominant Tom.  He would show up on my front step when Beat Up Kitty was hanging out and Beat Up Kitty would run away.  Same thing in the backyard, on the roof of my neighbors shed.  In spite of the fact that Beat Up Kitty looks like the tougher of the two, White Kitty was seeming the Alpha.

Then one fine spring morning I stepped out the front door to see Beat Up Kitty sharing a amorous tryst with White Kitty in my driveway.  I told myself they were two Toms fighting.  But  Grizabellas kittens a few months later were the proof in the pudding,  White Kitty is the neighborhood Tom deadbeat Dad.

The Matriarch

It seems like the wild ones have always been around, but it actuality I think it has been about a year since the ragged old tom started showing up on my doorstep.  He had a scratched up eye, was missing part of his ear and appeared to have a serious case of mites or something that was making him scratch his ears raw.

My natural instinct was to provide some sort of care.  I started with food that was readily accepted.  Beat up Kitty became a regular visitor to my doorstep.  In spite of his appearance his demeanor was anything but aggressive.  He was serene and easygoing.  He never hissed or ran away, he did not show aggression or fear of me.  But in spite of all of this he would only accept my company if I stayed out of arms reach.  If I came closer he would step away. 

As time went on I came to understand that Beat Up Kitty wasn't just my Beat up Kitty but also my neighbors TomTom and another neighbors doorstep cat.

Then in April beat up kitty showed up at dinner time with a couple of young uns.  Humm methinks Beat Up Kitty is not the neighborhood Tom, but rather the neighborhood tramp.

My neighbor still calls her TomTom, I have renamed her Grizabella after the Heroine of Cats

Season 4 of Mad Men

From the beginning, I have been a Mad Men fan.  I love the perspective of looking back on a period of not so distant history and recognizing how much has changed.  There is Don Draper, holy yummy, Betty Draper giving her kids dry cleaning bags to play with, Sal Romano, living in the closet, and the big surprise was that there were gay guys that DIDN'T live in the closet. What we call sexual harassment today is a joke compared to this stuff.



And of course the fashion.  I LOVE 50s fashion.  I love the pleated structured dresses that the women wear.  Even the "skin tight" outfits of Joan Halloway seem like overcoats compared with the Lycra dresses offered up today.

As much as I love the show, there has been a basic element that, for me, has been lacking.  The characters have been developed but their positions at Sterling Cooper...well there has not seem to be allot of explanation about why they are "respected" in their field of expertise.  Don craps all over his female Jewish client, Pete spends all day gossiping and playing pranks with the Boys, and Peggy seems totally incapacitated by her inferiority issues, Joan is secure in her role as the pretty girl and will not tolerate any interlopers, Roger inherited his position and uses it to get laid, Bert has moved on from advertising and is evolving into a higher life form.  These are the people that Don chooses take with him when he sets out on his own.

When season three ended I was soo impressed with the way that loose strings had been tied up I actually wondered it the show was wrapping up. 

Then season 4 came along.  The pretty dresses and the historical perspective have worn thin and there is a sinking feeling in the pit of my psyche telling me that the downward spiral is about to begin.  I was not expecting find out that Peggy has a backbone, Pete schemes to get and keep clients, Don really has no integrity when it comes to who he sleeps with, Bert really does care about what happens, Joan actually does more that show up and look hot....Roger (thankfully) remains the 12 year old boy trying to avoid getting into trouble.


This past season has made things all come together.  I am feeling like all three pervious seasons were just laying the groundword for a tale that is going to be long, winding and very entertaining.