Monday 10 January 2022

January 10, 2022

 Well, that was interesting. I am referring to the traffic that my most recent post, lamenting the state of health care and the present restrictions (again) in Ontario. I appreciated all the comments. We are now done with that, so things don't start to go in a direction that I never ever intended. Enough said. 

Shall we get back to our regular programming? Today I drove to a town about forty-five minutes from my home for an orthodontist appointment. Remember? I still have Invisaligns on my teeth after about two years or so and I am FINALLY able to see the end is near. At the next appointment, all the little knobs and bumps (attachments) will be ground off my teeth and the tiny metal post which anchors a tiny elastic band will also be removed. Yeehaw! Of course, nobody will see my nice straight teeth except my immediate family, as half of my face is always enclosed by a mask. Some day...

However, the other part of this tale is WINTER IS BACK !!!  Good old snow squalls and white outs. It was manageable when driving north / south, but driving east / west was a bit "knuckly" at times. I put the four way flashers on a few times, just to be even more visible. We've been lucky up until now with weather, so grinning and bearing it!

Here are some "snaps" as my grandmother used to call them of our regular life over the "holidays" (can you call them holidays when you are retired?).



We played a game at Christmas and Murphy chose the best seat in the house.



We discovered that Murphy also watches tv. He's actually quite engaged, for long periods of time. He's not picky about what he watches and got pretty involved in the series, "Narcos". 


We celebrated son's twenty-second birthday recently. This is the standard chocolate layer cake that I make for everyone's birthday. I'm not a big decorator, but it's always good. Yes, he's about to touch the flame. That's likely just to annoy me. 


We played the same game at son's birthday. Murphy adapted his use of the box. 



We had take-out Chinese food for his birthday. A few days later, the bag is still being put to good use. 

39 comments:

  1. Cats do love their boxes (and, it would appear, paper bags). It must be something to do with being closely confined in the womb before birth.

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  2. Our cat got more fun out of the boxes and bags her gifts would come in than the gift itself.

    God bless.

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  3. I believe that is in the first chapter of "The Mother/son Handbook". I also do not recall that it comes with an expiration date.

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    1. Mother/ son relationships! I also have a daughter. They are quite different ( go figure).

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  4. Happy birthday to the birthday boy and I am just in love with Murphy. Makes me miss my kitty....even though I have a sweet (sometimes) pup to replace him. xo Diana

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  5. Happy B-day to your son. Your chocolate cake looks delicious. The photo of Murphy watching TV with your husband is very funny. I've never seen a cat watch TV. Murphy is quite a character and must entertain you all.

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    1. We’ve had lots of cats and this is the first one to watch tv.

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  6. Happy Birthday to your son, but it looks like Murphy is the favourite child around your place!

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    1. That’s hilarious because he signs things ( like cards) “the favourite child”!

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  7. Happy Birthday to your son! Murphy looks like he got everything he wanted for Christmas....a box and a bag. That's a happy cat. :)

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    1. Indeed. He was a bit ticked when we took the tree out as he slept under it. I think he thought it was his.

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  8. That Murphy is a real cat. Good looking, too.

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  9. Murphy is adorable!
    I love the funny Birthday photo; don't our kids just want to get a reaction out of us?

    I also had invisalign and finished with it almost a year ago; boy, was I happy to be able to chew gum again! Hopefully you already knew this, but they surprised me with the fact that I would have to wear them to bed nightly. For eternity. I had no idea, but I'm doing pretty darn good and I've only missed a few times over the last year.

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    1. Yes, I did know that. But if I no longer have to have little hooks and shelves on my teeth for most of my meal to get trapped on, I’ll be happy. ( Also , looking forward to not “ indiscreetly “ levering my Invisalign’s out of my mouth with other people close by when I want to eat ( restaurants- when I can go back in them, for example). That’s cool- I didn’t know you had them as well! I wonder if I’m the oldest Puerto get them? My son was done with his before I got mine, I think!

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  10. Happy belated birthday to your son!! The cat is so cute (but I really didn't say that since my corgi isn't fond of them). And yes, I think you can still call them holidays, even if you are retired :)

    betty

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  11. That is a really cute cat!! Lovely photos, of cat and son!! We are looking forward to a few snow flakes tomorrow. Maybe. Brrrrr. It's cold here but nothing like your cold 😅

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  12. I also got invisalign as my teaching career was coasting to a close. I found the experience fairly unpleasant. For the first six months, they irritated my gums and caused some bleeding. My Kindergarten students loved to raise their hand and tell me my teeth were bleeding in the middle of a lesson. I also didn't enjoy trying to have a serious conversation with parents when I struggled to enunciate some words. I'm still miffed about the fact that after my invisalign process was over, I didn't get one single compliment on my newly straightened teeth. No one noticed!!! So, even though I'm supposed to wear them at night, I don't. It's my little act of rebellion.

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    1. Thank you!!! Nobody has said that their invisaligns hurt them like that. I absolutely was in agony with mine due to all the talking I did all day long. Other people said, "Well, I talk all day and they didn't hurt me", but nobody talks the same (and enunciates and projects) like an elementary school teacher. Yes to gum pain, yes to using dental wax, yes even to damaged edges of my tongue. By the time things would calm down, it was time for a new tray and it would start all over again.

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  13. Murphy is so gorgeous. Nice photo of you & your son. Now I want to bake.

    I read all the comments from your earlier post ... which certainly was an interesting exercise. ... Mary-Lou =^[..]^=

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  14. One of our cats loves a basket of dirty laundry. She will sleep on the clean laundry in a pinch. The other cat, naww, give her a fleecy type blanket or piece of clothing any time.

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  15. I love seeing "real life." Murphy has the box thing down well! And I love that you could celebrate your son's birthday. We were caught in one of those Ontario white-outs once and it was a harrowing drive. Be careful out there!

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    1. He was home from college over the holidays. Surely you must have white outs in Michigan??

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  16. Murphy is gorgeous. Glad you posted those pictures to make me forget about the dental stuff. Our Phoebe watches TV too, especially programmes about animals. It's appears that they can see flat screens welll - with the old cathode ray tubes they didn't seem to see much at all.

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  17. Murphy is a sweetheart! You look lovely Jenn. Yes, winter is back. Just wish there was more snow with this deep freeze.

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  18. Murphy is such a cutie. He obviously loves boxes and bags and looks so sweet in them.

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  19. I love all the photos of Murphy. He's adorable! You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.

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  20. Our birthday cake is always chocolate with a layer of raspberry jam in the middle. Murphy seems to certainly make himself comfortable.

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  21. Happy belated birthday to your son! 22! A fun age. Cats and boxes go hand in hand. I had received a package about two weeks ago and as soon as I emptied the box, my two cats claimed it. So I added a blanket to it and they are ridiculously thrilled with that. At least they are easy to please!

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  22. Lovely looking cake! I used to make a chocolate cake like that for my girls' birthdays but they liked when I made marshmallow as the filling. Having never cared much for marshmallow .. it was a labour of love only done because it was requested.😁

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