November/December 2012

Time to catch my breath, for the last couple of months have been like jumping hurdles through a blizzard of emotion and activity. I can't believe the end of another year has come and gone. Just a week after my previous post, I lost a cat of 18½ years. She was a big part of my life. We shared my first apartment, made it through college, university, finding a career (or three!), working long hours and crazy shifts, moving in with new animals and a husband, then becoming a mom.  She was my cuddler, slept in baskets, loved yogurt. She amazingly endured countless medical exams, pilling and injections with excellent compliance. Pepper struggled with her immune system since she was a kitten, and in elder years, her kidneys began to fail. With every minute of her last twenty-four hours spent next to me, she slept peacefully in my arms as I softly whispered how much I loved her.  I still long for her presence, but I am so thankful she was my cat and constant friend.

William and Pepper on our last morning together.

My sweet friends sent cards and Halo's mum brought beautiful flowers in her memory.

November quickly drew to a close. I enthusiastically began preparing for Christmas. I love holidays. I'm inspired by all the decorating, baking treats and comfort foods, listening to inspiring hymns, best of all is entertaining our loved ones. Those festive activities bring out the kid in me. Our house can often resemble a department store display. I have several themed trees and 6000 lights.  Yes, I give Lampoon's Christmas Vacation a good run! This year we visited Toronto's Black Creek Pioneer Village Lamplight event and had the best victorian experience ever.  William adored watching a live fiddle performance for the first time. I watched my dear cousin dance in The National Ballet of Canada's production of "Nutcracker".  We hosted several dinner parties and Clover loved every second of the excitement. Needless to say, we managed to enjoy a lot of chaos.

Santa and his helpers haven't forgotten about our sweet girl.  She was spoiled with a lovely basket of puppy toys, treats and a new coat. Her very favourite presents were the reindeer antlers. They keep her busy! She wore her Christmas collar and enjoyed a plaid sweater from Grammie too. In fact, for the first few days, Clover didn't seem to want to take it off.  She'd snuggle it like a blanket or run away when we tried to unfasten the velcro.  Silly dog, but it made my mum beam with pride!

Grammie ventured into the canine department of a pet store for the first time in decades to pick out a gift for her grand-dog