Reflections

All things remain the same. My poor better half, P remains unemployed, my 3 year old, Lanes, has yet to receive her PR card, and I’m still going slightly mad between these two issues. Actually, I have officially given up trying to even figure out where in Canada Lanes’ card is, or what’s going on with it. It’s like a stale bad joke.

It has been an emotional rollercoaster of a week for me. It started off on a really bad note, when I found out that one of my coworker’s/friend’s from Sri Lanka had passed away. I normally try to control my emotions around Lanes, but I couldn’t help but cry when I heard the news. I was skating around on thin ice all week, and this news made me feel like I slipped through the cracks and was drowning in a cold lake of misery (I’m using ‘Canadian’ imagery like ice & skating as part of my assimilation process).

Lanes, slightly concerned that her mom was going loco, immediately began drawing smiley faces for me and she gave me her favorite Spongebob Squarepants Valentines Day card which she got from a classmate. She also decided I should feel better because Daddy was going to get me a puppy. If only P knew.

Any old how, one of my most fond memories of my friend was when he came to my office (he was in a different building) with his wife’s gall stones. The poor woman was operated the day before and he was so fascinated by her post-op souvenir, he had to bring it in for me to see.

A certified germaphobe, I nearly passed out when he emptied the contents of a tiny jar onto my table, right by my keyboard. Then I became rather dizzy with panic when he strongly urged me to touch them because they were so cool. Not wanting to overshadow his enthusiasm, I gingerly prodded one with my index finger(while 2% of me marveled that 24 hours ago it was residing within his wife).

Fortunately for me, like any true germaphobe, I was armed with a wide array of disinfectants. When he left, I quickly reached into my supply of disinfectant wipes and scrubbed my finger and my table ferociously.  I added some disinfectant gel to the mix and ran up to wash my hands too for good measure. Stones aside though, he would come visit almost daily, with no biological byproducts, for a mid-day break and we’d have a really good chat.

I regret that I never told him about this blog. He would have had a good laugh, but he began ailing soon after we moved here, and as much as he loved to read, he was not the web surfing type. I guess now he has front row seats to the series of comedic errors that is my life.

In other news, my cousin had extended his stay and he was around this week as well. It was rather trying because we kept butting heads initially, and this eventually led to a major showdown. Once the dust settled from the fallout, we finally realized the root of our issues, and now have moved onward and upwards in our relationship. I think.

While my cousin and I were playing Russian roulette with words, P, ever eager not to get involved in family dramas, or any dramas for that matter, waited a squeamish distance away from us until all was well, under the guise of babysitting Lanes. 

At least my nutty sister is safely tucked away across the border. I would hate to think what adding her into this crazy mixture of relatives would do. I’d probably spontaneously combust from angst, which would be no good in this dilapidated building, which by the way, is still on ‘Fire Watch’.

I still don’t know what it means. As some erudite tenant wrote on the notice in the elevator ‘what does that mean? Happy Valentines Day mom’. I guess ‘Fire Watch’ is like ‘Baywatch’ without the hotties? I wonder where I can audition? I just made the smoke detector go off in our living room while trying to roast an acorn squash. I wonder if there will be firemen scaling the walls within the next few minutes.

To add insult to injury, for two days we had five hour water cuts. I guess it makes sense when a building is on Fire Watch. Some neighbors are complaining that they have little water in their bathrooms after these infamous cuts. The heaters also seem to not be on as high as they need be, because of condensation issues in the loos I guess, or maybe due to the Fire Watch. All I know is that this week we had snow twice and I felt the heat was inadequate.

I’m feeling chilled to the bones, but the weekend was sunny and beautiful. P was getting ready to ensconce himself before the computer, but I put my foot down and made him go outside with us. A little coaxing by Lanes helped, as I’m noticing that he finds it a little hard to resist requests that begin with ‘Daddy?’

If P had his way, well I guess he’d have a job, but he could literally spend all day and night scouring the internet for jobs and making tailor made resumes per job. If the world ended, the only survivors would be P, his computer, and a couple of roaches. He would still be typing away, undaunted and oblivious to the fact that the world had reset itself and evolution was taking place all over again.

On Saturday, we went into Vancouver to visit my parents’ friends and we had a lovely visit. All three of us enjoyed the drive, and I loved seeing the snow capped mountains, nicely juxtaposed alongside tall buildings. I hope one day to have a view of the mountains. On Sunday we went to Church, did some errands and took Lanes out for a shake. She feels no outing is complete without having a good chocolate drink and possibly some French fries.

I had decided to get Lanes a pet, something along the lines of a goldfish or two. My cousin bought her a ZhuZhu pet, which is like a mechanized hamster. Lanes grins and says it’s her pet monster, not hamster, and he lives inside her faux fur trimmed clogs. It’s actually quite a cozy fit and I’m rather impressed at her ingenuity.

I was happy that Lanes had a ‘pet’ that didn’t eat, didn’t poop, and couldn't die. I was wrong on the last count because her little pet monster flew off the table and we thought it had come to sad end. We told her he was sleeping, when she asked why he was no longer his frisky self.

P was out and about and saw another one on sale and quickly bought a replacement ‘monster’ (that’s what I was planning to do with the goldfish—just keep replacing them to avoid awkward talks about life). The first pet miraculously came back to life and now we have two pet monsters. The green one lives in the left clog, and the grey one in the right one.

So another week has gone by, with nothing new happening. P is still doing his best, Lanes has embarked on a mission to find me a black lab after hearing stories about my late dog and companion Muttley, and I am fretting and dreading any potential bureaucracy that comes with getting a learner’s permit—and that shall we what next week’s blog is about. Until next time….

This blog entry is dedicated in loving memory of my dear friend Anton Enas.