Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny day ..so of course, what was I doing on such a lovely day? When I really wanted to spend the time outside, anywhere, watching birds and playing in the garden.
Huh .. well .. I was shopping, of course! What else would one do on such a marvellous day. I’m being sarcastic, of course! When I first started my day I’d fully planned to just go to one or two stores, then zip home.
However, along the way I was caught up in a time warp and lost my way.
It all started at Canadian Tire. I’d gone there to purchase another large container of that amazing laundry liquid “Ecos” … all natural ingredients, I love this soap. If, that is, one can really love something like this and not be thought of as weird, or anything. 🙂
I found myself slowing down, wandering the aisles. Spent some time in the gardening section, looking at bird-feeders. Then through the sale items. Decided to pass on those great deals on nested Pyrex bows, with lids. A good deal, but I already have a cupboard full of such items. They would make a great gift, but my friends and I have discontinued gift giving and instead we spend time going for walks, talking … these are gifts. The valuable kind .. priceless, really.
So I bypassed these types of deals and went to the cashier. I guess that I shop at this particular store location a lot .. as the employees and I are getting to know each other .. enough that we can talk about things. Yesterday’s cashier is a lovely mother of two growing sons! Her eyes shine when she talks about them and it’s always a pleasure to see how proud she is of them and I think, how lucky these boys must be!
Heading to my car, I look up to the sky and feel so happy to see the clear blue and the puffy white clouds. This is going to be an amazing day .. soon I’ll finish my errands and can run outside to play!
I’d decided to give my first ever Christmas card to a Veterinarian! I’ve had dogs and cats for most of my life and during this time, I’ve taken them for many vet visits, as one does when one cares for the animals under their care.
However, I have never experienced such professional and friendly rapport between a vet and an animal before our visit with Dr. Chan for acupuncture treatment for Youbou.
To start out with, at the beginning of November, DH and I were so very concerned about our little Youbou! We noticed that this poor little guy’s energy was just gone. His eyes were lusterless, his hind legs were powerless, and he could only move by dragging himself around. We were so sad.
So thus began a series of vet visits (another vet) .. little Youbou was subjected to x-rays, blood tests, mobility tests .. all to no avail. He was given a cortisone injection and this seemed to help him move about. Then a few days later, the symptoms returned. This time he was given prednisolone (or something like that). This seemed to help only a little bit. He seemed to be slipping away from us and we thought that it would only be a matter of time before we would have to say goodbye to him.
Then I remembered our neighbour’s dog .. one day he’d obviously been in great pain, it was evident on his face and the way he slowly, carefully, descended from the seat of their vehicle. They took him for acupuncture treatment and now he is back to normal.
So I contacted Hillside Veterinary and was able to make an appointment with Dr. Chan. Not only is she an amazing Veterinarian who truly cares for her patients, but she is also a highly skilled Acupuncturist.
At our first visit, little Youbou was in such terrible shape and simply lay quietly while the Dr. carefully placed a series of fine gold needles over Y’s back and a few in his foot. We talked and she explained the process. I noticed that she was very gentle with Y and when the session was over, the needles were removed and she massaged his little back and legs.
What an improvement when we got home. He slept most of the day. And was walking .. a little bit. Now, to date, Youbou has had 3 treatments.
And you know what! He’s been pushing doors open, standing on his hind legs, and pushing with all the strength of his little body. A few days ago, he ran into the living room, racing around the room, onto the sofa and back out to the kitchen. Oh. Wow. We feel that she has given him his life back. and for that we are so very grateful.
So I just wanted to thank her for this gift of Youbou’s miraculous recovery back to a better than ever active life! An amazing gift of getting his life back. We are so happy …. imagine that, we thought we were going to lose him and look at how active he is.
Thank you thank you thank you
As I headed to my car, I thought, ok … so now it’s time to take a little trip to Hillside Mall .. it’s close by and I haven’t been there for a very long time. Logical, right?
Found a parking space and wandered inside. Little did I know that I’d be spending most of the day here!
I had a great time, happy shopping experiences .. then, looking up at the skylight overhead .. noticed the sun was shining, so just wanted to go home. However, my feet had other ideas and soon I was visiting such a variety of shops. Enjoying conversations with other shoppers and store clerks.
My parcels were getting heavier and heavier as I went from store to store .. and I actually forgot a parcel in one shop, then retraced my steps and found it again!
Stopped in one little shop that sold all kinds of gizmos for cooking .. laughed with a fellow shopper who was choosing gifts for herself, to place under the tree. “What do you think” she asked me, when we were looking at vegetable peeler’s. “Do you think that I’ll like this when I unwrap this on Christmas morning?” “hmmm” ..I replied, “I think that you’ll be very surprised and happy for such a thoughtful gift.” …So we talked in this vein for a few minutes .. total fun, being silly. Perhaps this set the tone for my shopping experience.
Bumped into someone I used to work with, years ago .. we chatted and caught up with each others lives up to now. She’s been going through a rather challenging time and we talked about that. Better times ahead.
Finally decided to call it a day and out I went to look for my car. Oh no .. the sun was setting, the day was done. Wah. Oh, well, I reasoned, I did have fun and couldn’t remember the last time that I’d just spent the major part of the day in a mall. So, I chalked that up to another gift to myself …. the gift of aimlessly wandering .. ha ha ha
Well, no shopping for me today. Absolutely none.
So that leaves me with a few good options. Finishing those gifts. Playing outside. Enjoying the antics of the cats as they go about their day.
All kinds of things to do.
🙂
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