Wow. Hard to believe that in ten short days, well be boarding a flight for Japan. It’s been five years since our last trip and we are looking forward to checking out our old haunts – Pizza Serinkan, Butagumi, Esquisse, the basement dessert floor of Ginza’s Mitsubishi – as well as all of the new places we’ll discover. I much prefer the flight from Vancouver as it’s shorter and the time difference not as great but, all the same, it will be great to return to my home away from home. The only drawback will be not having Sharky around. In the month+ we’ve had him, we’ve really grown to love the little guy and I know we’ll miss him, just as I’m sure he’ll miss us. Not too much I hope as he’ll be spending the two weeks with our amazing vet tech and accompanying her to work every day where he will, no doubt, become the clinic’s defacto mascot.
Things are slowing down considerably as we head into the year’s end. I’ve got that new pilot rewrite to hop on, a couple of scripts to review, a contract to close, and still awaiting notes on the comic book project that, alas, probably won’t be addressed until the new year as I have no intention of working while in Tokyo, Osaka, and Montreal. Meanwhile, my other two pilots are out and making the rounds. Everyone is in the post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas holiday mode so I don’t expect to hear anything from them either, but I’m willing to be happily surprised. A fairly relaxed week ahead will include a zoom session with a friend who is now an executive at a horror studio, and a Friday lunch with another friend.
Goshdarnit! My Snow Monkeys are in danger of falling out of playoff contention in one of my fantasy football leagues, barely holding onto a playoff spot in another, and face elimination this week in my Guillotine League where only three teams remain from the initial nine that started the season. I’m going to need big games from Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, and Michael Pittman in addition to whoever I decide to play at RB2 be it Rachaad White, Kyren Williams, Jaylen Warren, Rhamondre Stevens, or Deandre Swift. But I suspect it will all come down to TJ Hockenson on Monday night.
So, how does this upcoming week look for all of you?
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Wow — that is quite a busy life! Lots of moving parts. I hope you will get a green light for a series for one of your projects.
I’m so glad you guys will get to go back to Japan. I hope you have a lot of fun and am looking forward to your posts. I’m glad you found a fantastic sitter to take care of your pets since you have been in Toronto. That gives people such peace of mind and when I do it, I love that they don’t need to stress.
I have to catch up on your posts again. Life is kind of crazy right now for us. Between having to care for my sister now from afar, my niece who had a liver transplant on December 31/January 1 has now been in the hospital almost 2-1/2 and going on 3 months), and Patrick having the year of horror health-wise, I’m tired. He goes to get a teeth cleaning (and whatever else they may find–cavities, etc.) in a hospital on Monday because no one can get near his mouth to try to clean it any other way. Our insurance hates this. The hospital overbills. Last time he had the same thing done it they had the nerve to charge the insurance company $45,000. I bet you that is like an all-time record for overbilling a simple teeth cleaning that takes him about 10-15 minutes tops. And he charges $2000 to do it. I shake my head each time and tell him, “You know my NEUROSURGEON charged only $4000 to take care of a delicate spinal procedure where the surgery took almost 2 hours??” You can tell he gets mad about that. Then he goes into his speech about how he is the ONLY dentist in the area that does this (not actually true–I checked), but he is the only dentist who will cut hair and do any other things that the parents ask him to do under sedation. Crazy, right?
Well, back to my Christmas madness. I started two weeks early this year. I’m glad. The tree had a change out in lights (you do know it stays up all year, right?) and we put the ornaments back on. We don’t decorate outside the house. Patrick is doing a Christmas craft that I think is going to be a big hit. We got started early with that. He hated doing the first ones, but we made him follow through and now he doesn’t seem to mind and might even enjoy it. I’m making my lists of who needs to have what present so I’m on target and on schedule. This weekend I have to go through my phone and get the best pictures of my clients’ pets so I can get them a pet-themed gift from Vistaprint. Then I need to finish the Christmas letter and start the 250+ Christmas cards to send out. Get gifts for friends and neighbors and then Christmas is done. Jeff and I got our Christmas gift a few months ago (new Xbox console so we could play Starfield. We are thinking about a trip in January, but we aren’t sure yet. Somewhere close.
That’s outrageous re: the insurance!
You sound quite busy, Hilda. As usual! Wishing your niece a speedy recovery.
Tell Akemi on Monday I’m going to Sam’s Club! Woot woot! Later this week I have an appointment with a Medicare Advantage Insurance guy. I’m being forced on Medicare in January as I turn 65. I’m sure every American has seen those annoying, endless, monotonous commercials. They are more irritating than the political ads leading up to an election. And those will drive you insane.
Akemi has never been to Sam’s Club. Is it like Trader Joe’s?
Hmmm, maybe she went to a Costco? In Vancouver? Costco is just like Sam’s. I have not been to Trader Joe’s. I thought it was more like a fancy-smancy grocery store. There is one nearby in a rich neighborhood but I have not gone. Figured it would be expensive. I’ll have to go sometime and see what they got!
I am very much looking forward to (our) trip to Tokyo too!! 🙂
@PBMom – you must have the energy of 10! That is crazy a hospital would charge that much! Praying this next year settles down for you a bit.
Our Sam’s club will let you checkout on your phone. I wish more stores would do that.
I’m moving to Tasmania in just over 2 week’s time so things are a little crazy! The house is filled with boxes and everything’s a mess. The cats are very suspicious that something is going on! I’m looking forward to your Japan blogs to distract me from packing and unpacking!
Have a great move!
{{{Hugs}}} Hilda! Don’t worry about Christmas Cards. I hope you get your trip!
Good luck on your move @LINE NOISE!
Have you found a puppy or an older dog, @Ponytail?
Taking Sharky to the Vet Hospital during the day is a good idea. All those smells/sounds will keep him occupied and the ladies will love on him. The Akemi/Sharky reunion will be broadcast worthy!!!!
I hope you guys will have a great time in Japan. Takes lots of pics!
This past week my parrot Zoie had taken a sudden turn for the worse which prompted me to set up an emergency appointment with the Atlantic Veterinary College in PEI (who are excellent) and where she has been before. Based on her behaviour, I thought she had a stroke, so they set her up with a blood test and a CT scan right away. Good news/bad news – we now have a likely answer to what has been affecting her all along, including her feather plucking. Bad news it has all the symptoms (dilated stomach, inflammation, low blood nutrient levels) of Avian Bornavirus, which is very serious. It’s a chronic virus that attacks the nervous system leading to an immune response that causes damage to the CNS and various organs. The reaction has even caused encephalitis/meningitis which is almost certainly the cause of her vision loss. Ultimately, progression of the disease can make it impossible to absorb nutrients and would be fatal. That said, we may have caught it in time enough to reduce the harmful symptoms. They have her on a number of anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and an anti-fungal – the latter two being in case the symptoms are caused by an infection of some kind (possibly a secondary infection from her reduced state). She did not test specifically positive for the virus as that would have taken yet another blood test and I didn’t want to put her through that again that day. Her symptoms match up with the bornavirus almost exactly but the symptoms could also be caused by some kind of other infection so they’re not ruling that out.
So, we’ll see how it goes. She’s definitely not out of the woods and it is a very serious condition. I wondered how she would have caught such a thing but it turns out it can lie dormant for years or even their entire life without surfacing. So, she could possible have even caught it from her mother through the egg.
Trying to take it one day at a time.
Sending positive thoughts your way, Gary.
I know you’ll have a wonderful time in Japan. Sharky will be well looked after. Looking forward to seeing your adventures. Will you pay a visit to Star Bar?
I’ve been so busy lately. It’s been quite a year. I had a seizure in January, diagnosed with epilepsy. I’m working on stress management and getting 8-9 hours sleep. Work has been the cause of the stress. I’m not really ready for Christmas, but have a week of annual leave in late January.
@Hilda – Sorry to hear about your family health issues. Sending lots of love your way. Hope everyone gets better soon and you get to have your holiday.
@Line Noise – I will wave to you from Melbourne. All the best with the move
@Gary – Sorry to hear about Zoie’s illness. Sending lots of love to her.
Chev