Frodo

Frodo is my cuddly cat. He purrs and purrs that even my mom hears him while I am talking on the telephone. That is one of the reason I have adopted him. I picked him up at the Rockwood vetinary and we fell in love instantly when I picked Frodo up and he began to purr. The worker there introduced Frodo by saying that he was a nice cat. He is white with black and gray patches on him and he is the world's best fetcher in the history of cat retrieving. I don't know if any other cat plays fetch like a dog but Frodo sure does. My friend Tim says, "I swear that cat is half human." Frodo always wants to play fetch especially when I am on the telephone. He had an athletes ball where you squeeze it to gain strength in your fingers. Frodo just fell in love with it and now it is down in size to a tiny little ball but he stills insist on playing with it.
He likes my routine in the morning. I get up, turn the coffee maker on and have a bath where he sits and watches me. He likes to watch the water drain out of the bath tub. I often put words to his expressions..."But mommy, where does the water go?" He is very careful not to get wet. It was a cinch to get him not to play with the Christmas tree. My friend, Nella said to spray him. I transformed a Windex bottle into a squirt gun. Once he started to play with the ornaments on the tree, we squirted him but unfortunately, I think there was some Windex left in the bottle because Frodo had his eye half shut. But he never touched the tree again and we did wash his eye out with a warm face towel.
Nella slept over once and she said my cat would pounce on her at any moment. "Frodo is a nice cat and wouldn't hurt a fly," I said. Five minutes later...pounce. Nella made a b-line for the door and I kept Frodo in my room...aw tranquility with his master. There never was a peep out of him the whole night. He was content to sleep with his master.
When it is time to clean the apartment, Frodo stops to watch me and he has this guilty look on his face as if to say, "but mommy, I want to help. I can lick the dishes clean."" Very funny Frodo. You're a cat and you have paws not hands," I say to him. He waits patiently until the whole apartment is clean but I must admit, he is scared of the vacuum cleaner and insists on hiding underneath my bed.
I feel guilty leaving him alone and I always reassure him that I will be back. Once I stayed in my apartment for four days and Frodo just couldn't get enough of me. He was so used to me that when I tried to go out, he had this sad look on his face, so that I felt sentimental and I didn't go out.
My sister and her husband got a Christmas present for Frodo. It was a ball of catnip. He literally atacked the ball and wouldn't let go of it. My brother-in-law asked if he is supposed to do that because by then, my sister and my brother-in-law jaws fell open. I said it was like a drug and he would be there for a while. My brother-in-law was hesistant to leave Frodo alone in case he choked on the fuzzy stuff on the ball, so I retrieved the ball from him, Frodo's now favorite toy and put it on top of the fridge. I felt it was mean to take away his new toy but if it could save his life, it was worth it. I didn't get anything for Frodo for Christmas but he didn't mind as long as I was there to cuddle with him.
Frodo is my faithful companion and i love him like a baby. Right now, I couldn't imagine a world without him.

Books

Frodo is my cat. I got him when he was a little fella at the Rockwood Veterinarian. A lady who happen to work there, picked him out for me. I said I wanted a male kitten since I had a male cat in the past and he was pretty friendly. Frodo started purring in my arms and it was love at first sight. The lady said to me, "this is a nice cat." And Frodo was.
The name comes from a hobbit in the "Lord of the Rings." I am surprised that so many people do not know of Tolkien and the "Lord of the Rings." For those of you who do not know what a hobbit is, it's a small creature, not really human but they live on the friar in little dwelling places built in the sides of hills. They very much keep to themselves except for Frodo and a couple of other hobbits. They went exploring. And that's basically what fantasy is about; traveling to unknown lands.
I think people are afraid they'll lose themselves in fantasy and never come back. That only happens in fairy tales like "Inkheart." A lot can be said for fantasy. Indeed we did a whole subject on it in grade twelve English which was probably my favorite subject in high school. I was the only student to have completed the book; "The Once and Future King." That was because I was addicted from an early age to reading excessively. I loved the nights at my sister's house where I could go and close the door and enter the world of Harry Potter.
A couple of times, we went to Chapters and I came out with "Gone With the Wind." My sister exclaimed, "you just had to buy the thickest book in the whole store!" I think it is even thicker than "War and Peace." There was a television episode on the cartoon "Peanuts," and Charlie Brown had to read "War and Peace" during his summer holiday's but didn't manage to get through it. He judged the appearance of the book rather than it's content. I read that book two and a half times.
My all time favorite books are, "The Chronicles of Narnia." Everybody who knows me, knows this about me. I talk about it obsessively and know when the next movie is coming out. It is "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," and it comes out at Christmas 2010.
Fantasy to me, is like traveling. You pick a book, and in it, you travel to a new world. Robert Jordon, the author of "The Wheel of Time," series is good for that. He creates an imaginative world where you discover knew laws and a hierchy of citizens as the main characters travel all over their world. It is a very addictive series and almost as popular as Harry Potter. I see people reading Robert Jordon and Harry Potter on the town buses. Unfortunately, Robert Jordon passed away, so another person is finishing his books. If you want to read a large book, then I suggest a Robert Jordon book. Some of his books, are even thicker than "Gone With the Wind."
I am the type of person that has to read the book before I see the movie. I am in the middle of rereading Harry Potter because things I saw in the movie did not necessarily happen in the book. That's Hollywood for you. I have, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," one of many of the Chronicles of Narnia, and I've noticed the movie makers have added a little humor to the movie that wasn't in the book and I can point that out to friends who watch the movie with me.
I don't confine my reading to fantasy. I read some non-fiction here and there just to add variety. But I must say, I have a weakness for the imagination and where it will lead you.

Anywhere but nowhere I want to go

Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of bed or maybe I didn't consume enough coffee. For whatever the reason, I was taking bus right, left and centre and never ended up to where I wanted to go. My destination was "Len's Mill;" a craft store with a bunch of useful items for your home. It's a great place to Christmas shop but I happen to get on the wrong bus which led me to the other end of town in Nella's neighbourhood. Should I or shouldn't I visit Nellla today? She would probably be in her nice cosy bed. I didn't want to disturb her. I know that I don't like surprised visits. But maybe I would shake off the sleep from her eyes and add a little sunshine to her day. What I really wanted was for her and I to go to "Len's Mill," together.
My friend Shelly or an acquaintance got on the bus, spoke to the bus driver and declared that I was definitely on the wrong bus. The logical thing to do was get on the right bus which was the York bus. As the bus started to move out of downtown, I realized that it was going in the wrong direction. I thought that the road must be closed, so I stayed on thinking I would get to my destination within one of these hours. But no...the bus was headed down Gordon Street and I asked the bus driver if it was the Gordon Street bus. "Sure is," he replied. I was headed either for the grocery store or the university library. I got off at the university but I I missed my stop closest to the university and had to walk a short distance craving a coffee. Believe it or not, they sell coffee in the library and you can even bring your lunch while working on projects if you want. Times have changed since I was a student at the university. Despite the long lineup for the use of the computers, it is a really good place to hang out and be creative. I feel young enough to be a student but I refused to put the like into my vocabulary. We all have those periods of time where all we want to be is cool. Wear what everybody else is wearing to keep up with the latest fashions. Now that I am forty, I wear whatever looks nice. You could say that I have my own fashion and definitely my own tastes.
I am a bit frustrated that I didn't get everything done today. I had Larry on my mind. Larry, a friend, is in the hospital and hardly coherent. He is in bad shape and I do hope he get's better. He is the kind of person I thought, who didn't require the hospital; one who was resilient. But I guess everybody needs there down time and some more than others. Anybody could go into the hospital, they just don't realize it. It is a psychiatric hospital, which having been admitted there myself in the past, I've lost friends; friends that I thought would understand. But let's face it. People get scared when they hear the word mental illness and either panic or start to run. What most people don't realize, is that if you face a mid-life crisis, where are you going to go?
I wanted to do all these things today, but really ended up doing two; visiting Larry and writing in my blog. I guess all is not a total loss. I visited Larry yesterday, and he seemed to be in his own little world. He doesn't want to eat or get off his bed, which is very uncharacteristic of Larry because he loves doing things and he loves food. This is not the Larry I know. It is almost like talking to a diffeerent person. But I have to tell myself, that people are helping him in the hospital and that is a good thing. Christmas will be different this year with Larry in the hospital but my friends and I will have to be patient and adjus.

The Sea Wall, Stanely Park Island

My sister and I set off for an eight kilometre walk by the ocean in Stanley Park. She said she had walked it before but wanted to again. By the time we were finished, she said that she would walk it counter-clockwise next time. I didn't have my walking shoes on but my boots were pretty comfortable. As we walked each kilometre, the number of kilometres were displayed on rocks. We were getting pretty hungry and tired and we had already eaten our packed apples. So, we spotted a restaurant called the Tea Room. It was very elegant and we both ordered fish and chips. A birthday party was being celebrated at the next table. A gentlemen had a big birthday present cradled on his lap. They were drinking wine and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The service was excellent and the fish was fresh. I would say it was an upper class restaurant and it was an honour to eat there. Most people were drinking wine but I thought I would save money by not ordering wine. Besides, we usually had it at night and to my surprise, my sister insisted on getting the bill. A we were leaving, we picked up our coats at the coat room and to my surprise, a fellow, who looked like the owner of the restaurant, helped us in to our coats. I've never experience this service before. Our coats were soaking because we experienced rain and drizzle on our walk.
We came across some rocks and I decided to take two for Nella, a souvenir for her from Vancouver. I picked the prettiest two rocks I could find and I thought she would like them. As it turned out she did and named them after my sister and my brother-in-law. Nella has a thing for rocks and it seems that everybody bugs her for collecting rocks except me. Her dad says, "you've got rocks in your head." I thought that was so mean. I collect stuffed animals; mainly frogs and some could classify that as ridiculous but when it comes to frogs, I get obsessive. When the frogs happens to be Kermit, I do flip flops in my stomach. I noticed that there was a car ride for the little children at the Aquarium and who would be in it? No other that baby Kermit the Frog. I hardly said anything to my sister. I didn't want to sound child like but I wished that I was that young again to riding beside my best friend.
There were several beaches on the sea wall but someone said the water is not clean enough to swim in; not that I would go swimming in the middle of November but I would consider it if it was the summer. There must be places to go swimming in northern British Columbia. It was nice to be able to see the ocean. I've only seen the ocean once before and it was the Atlantic.

Who killed Kermit

Kermit and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. He always has a positive attitude. "It's not easy being green," but he sure manages well despite his appearance. I have a Kermit the Frog in my apartment. I am so dedicated to frogs that I have a collection of frogs mainly because I have a friend, Larry who keeps on sending a frog to me once and a while. I am frog, having a French Canadian last name but I don't speak a word of French. I hated the subject in elementary school, so I didn't take it in high school. My dad can speak French but he didn't manage to teach his children, although some of my siblings can speak it because they took French in university. I can speak a bit of German, which is somewhere in my genetic makeup. In Vancouver, I was watching Kermit sing "The Rainbow Connection," on YouTube. I am very honored in having been called Kermit the Frog as a nickname. My brother-in-law started to get a little worried about my obsession with Kermit, so he said, "you know he is not real, right?" I was jolted into reality and replied yes to his testing on my mental capacity.
So, back in Guelph, Ontario, my friend Nella and I, decided to set up the old Christmas Tree. The box holding the branches fell apart and so we had to grab a bunch of branches in our arms. We laid them on the couch when having finished this task, I realized that a web foot sticking out of the branches. And lo and behold, it was Kermit's. We suffocated Kermit! What a tragedy. I wanted to take a picture but had run out of film. As we sorted out the branches by size, Kermit regained consciousness and sat admiring us decorating the Christmas Tree. When we were almost done, I sat down and accidentally bumped into Kermit. He immediately sang his amphibian song and scared the dickens out of me. Kermit had got me back. I must of put the branches on Kermit; not Nella. The only thing missing was alcohol while decorating the Christmas Tree.
Nella and I, went to mass the next morning and I said hello to Father Ken at the end of mass. He was pouring wine in a bottle. I told him that I needed wine to decorate my Christmas Tree. Father Ken said he had never heard that one before and laughed. I told him about my trip to Vancouver. "It rained everyday except Sunday but I had a great time." The moral of the story is, don't mess around with Kermit!

At Night in Downtown Vancouver

My brother-in-law was waiting around the corner after the symphony. He had the car and we were free to go to dinner wherever. My brother-in-law chose "Oysi Oysi", a Chinese restaurant. I have no idea what Oysi Oysi means but we were greeted by a a generous waitress who was entitled to a big tip but unfortunately her shift was over before our meal was ended. I didn't know what to order so my brother-in-law picked deep fried vegetables that were delicious, rice, and a soup...I think it was meso soup which my sister had the ingredients to. I noticed that my sister was eating with chopsticks. It would be hilarious for me to try since I am not that great with my hands having a form of mild cerebral palsy. I would probably pick up something and miss my mouth by a long shot.
I asked why my brother-in-law chose this restaurant. He said, "it was near to where I lived. " (My brother-in-law had to leave my sister for a month or so, find an apartment in Vancouver until they found a town house in which they could live in together). "I was hungry and looked for a nice restaurant. Everybody is nice here and they enjoy working her and they smile a lot too."
The waitress always kept our cups filled with Chinese tea that we had to stop her from pouring us more. We saw her go and a friend of the managers began to take over. He told us how he vacationed down south and how people recognized him and called to him, "Oysi, Oysi," whatever that means. If I find out what it means, I'll let you know. He told us how he would relax on the beaches with a good book. I wanted to talk to him about books, me being an avid reader but I was succumbed to shyness. I thanked him for the food and since the restaurant was closing, we decided to go. My brother-in-law generously paid for the dinner and we went on our way home.
My brother-in-law and my sister prefer the television to be on when we come back to their townhouse. I wasn't used to having the television on since I only get one channel and usually indulge myself in a book. But I got used to it on and that night there was a documentary on "Seabiscuit," a racing horse in the middle of the second world war. I have a fascination of horses and when I was little, I rode them. It was expensive for my parents though they found a way to pay for my lessons. I was captivated with the documentary. I have the book, "Seabiscuit," at home but never started it. Now it is on my list to read, since he was really a miraculous horse. My brother-in-law was upstairs probably doing work on his computer.
Seabiscuit made the headlines all the time. It seemed he never lost a race until a bold horse appeared and he won because the rider of Seabsicuit slowed down thinking he was still in the lead. As it turns out, he couldn't see the horse coming from behind since he was blind in the right eye. But the owner didn't mention this struggle to the doctor's because it would mean that he wouldn't be able to ride a horse anymore. The owner fell off quited a bit and had to spend some time in the hospital to recuperate. But he always got back in the saddle again. I didn't know my sister was that interested in horse riding but it was a miraculous story and I'm glad I was there to see.

At the Orpheum Theatre

You walk through the doors and you see red carpet everywhere; up the numerous staircases to the top balconies. There were volunteers on each floor to talk about the history of the building or to guide you to your seat. The chandeliers hang from the ceiling lighting this amazing theatre built around 1911. There was a display of all the famous people who came to this theatre and we checked it out but I didn't recognize anybody at first but then maybe just one or two. This beautiful architecture was once considered to be taken down by the city and used for a parking lot but many people fought this argument and won. I was ecstatic to see the grandiose of this beautiful building in downtown Vancouver.
I didn't pack any dress clothes, not expecting to go anywhere as elegant as the theatre but my sister provided me with a coat and a beautiful scarf. I had my long brown boots, so the coat hid my clothes and I didn't have the urge to go anywhere during the intermission so nobody discovered that I was under dressed. I wished that I had brought a dress for this night at the theatre. I had the same old earrings I wore all week long so I wouldn't forget anything but as it happened, I forgot my mitts at my sister's and my sister mailed them to me. The Ontario weather is so much colder than in British Columbia. We found out that pansies could thrive during the winter months.
We arrived early at the theatre and got tickets for the bargain price of $15.00/each. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra was playing Strauss; six songs, Opus 68 and Elgar symphony no 1 in A flat major, opus 55. I had never heard of these pieces being played before since I mainly concentrate myself to Baroque music. I am a lover of Bach originating from my studies of music at university. I am in love with the Brandenburg concerto's and happen to listen to the same music over and over again.
Sir Andrew Davis was the conductor and Celena Shafer was the vocalist. She sang six German song with great animation of her posture. My sister wondered what language she was singing in and I said German, having taken a German course in university. I once had a plan to study music in Austria and preparing myself for this grand endeavor by taking an introductory German course. Celena's singing was excellent. She said it took a toll on her voice with the range of notes; some very high and other's low. She had to be a soprano. I could sing in alto in the University of Guelph choir. I plan to join the choir in 2010.
The strings were excellent; something I wished to play but I had to come to terms that my hand would never stop shaking due to my mild cerebral palsy. I was greatly discouraged when I tried to play the violin, hoping that every thing would turn out OK but it didn't and I had to accept that and sell my violin. There were two large harps and they sounded beautiful in harmony with all the strings. I'm only sorry that didn't know the music, otherwise I could explained more about the music to my sister. When you hear the word Strauss, you think of waltzes but I didn't hear any waltzes but just and endless piece of music.