Freak Magnet Dave

This past weekend was Thanksgiving for those of us up here in the great white north. The good folks at Ripley's are calling me because for the first time in humankind, someone actually lost weight over the Thanksgiving weekend. That someone would be me. I can't believe it. Somehow I managed to lose 1 1/2 lbs on this homage to gluttony holiday. My body fat has now gone down to 25%. Woohoo!

Sunday we had The Squeeze's younger brother and his two sons over for dinner. It was the usual fare. I kept the pre-dinner snacks light so we wouldn't be too stuffed to eat dinner. Then we broke out the usual suspects. Turkey & stuffing, mashed potatoes, lots of veggies, gravy. The Squeeze and I each had a full plate of food and halfway through them, we felt stuffed. There was a time when we'd finish it no problem and go back for more. One plate was the limit, and after that I could hardly manage to sit up and lean forward in my chair. The Squeeze's bro brought his trademark pumpkin pie for dessert. Good stuff. Of course, we did have to wait an hour or so to enjoy it or we would have died after our first bite.

Monday The Squeeze and I drove to Hooterville where we met with Weezie and the kids at her new house. Very nice place. Good neighbourhood. Nice sized rooms. She's had a crew of people in there painting and getting the place ready to move in at the end of the month. The paint colours are very fresh and cheerful. But enough of that....

We swapped vehicles (rather than go through the nightmare of taking the kids' car seats out of Weezie's SUV and installing them in the Ark, and swapping them back a few hours later) and took the girls to my brother & sister-in-law's place for my family Thanksgiving gathering. It couldn't have gone better. My nephew and my niece had their daughter and son, respectively, there, and they're right there between the ages that Zoe and Brynn are. There was even a 5 week old puppy there, much to Zoe's chagrin. I just don't quite get what there is about a soft, fluffy, cute little puppy that makes a two year old shriek in terror. Then again, this is the same kid who had a meltdown over TMX Elmo. Brynn didn't even flinch. Even when the puppy jumped up and knocked her over on the lawn.

They both had a good time playing, getting passed back & forth between relatives, eating lunch. Everything was perfect until Zoe veered from her path back up my brother's laneway and jumped right into a mud puddle. Those things are like magnets to kids. When I called Weezie to let her know we were ready to bring the girls back to her place, I let her know about the puddle incident. I told her that only the shoes, socks and dress were affected. She laughed and said "well, what else is there?" The diaper was not involved, but did need changing anyway.

On a sad note, our 20 year old cat Calicoco appears to be on her way out. She's been off her food for over a week. I had her at the vet's last Monday for bloodwork and X-rays. She wolfed down the food they offered her while she was in their care, so of course we bought some of that. She's now lost interest in it. The vet said her liver enzymes are elevated, and the X-rays show either a mass on her liver pushing against her stomach, or her innards are just sagging and shifting. Of course a $500 untrasound could pinpoint that. And there's the option of surgery. Oy! She's 20!

She's been peeing outside of her litter box. So far she's keeping it in the laundry room and not going on the carpet or hardwood. The Squeeze discovered that she had been going under the basement stairs and peeing under there. I caught her doing it behind the furnace. This morning, there were two puddles right there in the middle of the laundry room. I dread the thought of waking up one morning or coming home from work and finding her dead on the floor. I think we might be taking her in to be put down in the next couple of days if things continue like this, and I'm sure they will. :o(