I can't believe I've gone so long without posting. I just haven't felt like coming on to Xanga in a while. I have been doing more facebook.

Last weekend we had two friends from the U.S. come visit us. It was great having them.

Work continues to go really well. I was sort of put in my first semi-dilemma today. Next week is Canadian Remembrance Day, which is essentially Veteran's Day. Each year the school does a school-wide assembly and my job is to get together the readings/reflections that the student leaders will read during the assembly. Obviously, being a Catholic school, they wanted something inspirational. I found a piece written by Pope John Paul II (not exactly my favorite person in the world, but he actually wrote some nice stuff on violence and peace). Well, the drama teacher who is helping to put together the assembly felt the piece was too controversial since it says things like "violence is evil" "war belongs to the tragic past, not to the hope of the future" "don't train for war and killing" etc. A lot of our students are from military families, we have faculty who are military, and we have invited vets to the assembly.  I asked around the school, and while many teachers liked the sentiment, they too, felt it was a bit too strongly anti-war. Odd when the writings of one of the most conservative popes in memory is deemed too radical for a... um... oh yeah, CATHOLIC SCHOOL!!! (rolling eyes.... on another somewhat unrelated topic, I wonder how many of those who didn't want the pope's position on this read, would be the first to run to the pope's position had it been me asking to start a gay and lesbian student alliance???). Anywhooooo... the librarian, who I really trust and like, suggested that until I am permanent in the school, and not just a possible one-year-hire, that I find something a little more agreeable. I actually found a really nice poem by Maya Angelou called "When a Great Tree Falls" that deals with the death of good people. I figured that would keep people happy. So I compromised my stand. For this year anyway.

Not much new going on. Cyprian keeps getting better and better each day. The stitches are out, so no more cone/collar for him, which he is delighted about. We still have to keep him from jumping and running for several more weeks, so we bought one of those baby gates to keep him from going up and down the stairs. A couple of times we have left the gate ajar, and he managed to work his way upstairs, so he must be feeling pretty good, but still, we want to follow vet's orders. We will pick him up and put him on the bed with us, then pick him up and put him down so he won't jump up onto the bed. I actually don't think he has yet the ability to jump up that high, so he will meow when he wants up.

The weather here has been turning really cold. Even saw a few snowflakes in the air this past week while I was waiting for the bus. Nothing stuck, but it was awesome to see snowflakes in October.

We were going to go to Toronto for Halloween with Charlie Brown and Pave, but because our savings account was literally depleted for Cyprian's surgery, we had to cancel our plans. I guess Panchito and I will stay home Halloween, watch some scary movies on DVD and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. On the plus side, we are going to go to Mexico City for Christmas to visit Panchito's family. I'm really excited!!! I have never been to Mexico, nor have I met many of Panchito's relatives, so this will be a great trip. I just told him we will start building back up our savings account AFTER Christmas. It is cheaper to fly through the U.S. than a direct flight from Canada, but again, the specter of bigotry haunts us. Because of Panchito's status in the States, he would need to apply for a U.S. visa even if it is to stop at an American airport to switch planes. UG!

Saw some interesting movies on DVD recently:  "Trick 'r Treat" was one of those movies that had been on the shelf forever before being released direct to DVD. This is usually never a good sign, but this one was actually really well done. It is more creepy-fun than it is scary. It's fun in the way that "Drag Me to Hell" was fun this past summer. It is a series of 4 mini stories tied together as a sort of anthology.

Also saw "Grace" , a small indie horror movie that tries to be a bit of "Rosemary's Baby". Again, not a very scray movie... more gross than anything else. But still, well made and well worth a watch.

Our cat Cyprian had his operation a week ago. From the waist down he now looks like something Frankenstein would dream up. Two large jagged scars on both sides of his hips. He was so drugged up when we brought him home. He has had to be on 6 different meds; several for inflamation and pain, and a couple for his eyes. Apparently, when cats go under anesthesia, they are very prone to their eyes drying out and developing ulcers on their eyes, so we have been giving him meds for that. We also have had to quarrantine him to the hallway. He is now able to walk better, but at night, since we cannot watch him, he has to wear one of those horrible plastic cone pet collar things to keep him from chewing on his stitches. He hates that cone collar, and I hate seeing it on him. But, he has been such a little trooper and hasn't complained too much. The stitches come out next week, so at least we can get that collar off him at nights. Panhcito is here during the days to watch him, so he doesn't have to wear it then. Also, its going to be 4 more weeks before he can start jumping up on furniture again. That will be hard to keep him from trying. He just loves to get up on things.

Thanksgiving is on Monday here in Canada. Canadians don't make a very big deal about Thanksgiving, which kind of sucks, but since it falls in early October, at least it gets celebrated and not lost as the start of the Christmas season like it does in the States. It will also be odd when American Thanksgiving comes in November to be at work that day since it is just another day here in Canada.

I swear, when life decides to shit on you, it shits on you good!

We noticed that our baby Cyprian was having a hard time getting himself onto the bed and the tables and windowsills. Then we noticed he was taking the stairs very cautiously. We took him to the vet last week and they called us with the results of his xrays; turns out he has fractured not one, but BOTH of his hip sockets. I am guessing he did this during one of his death-defying leaps to try and reach the downstairs bedroom windowsill. Sometimes he makes it, and sometimes he doesn't... and when he doesn't he comes crashing down on the floor not graceful like a cat should but like a clumsy puppy dog. And to top it all off, the surgery to fix his fractures is going to cost $2100.00 YES, that would be TWO THOUSAND dollars!!! There goes the last of our savings (and I was just getting it growing again). UG.

I was at the school board offices last week picking up my new laptop that they are giving us (woo-hoo), when Blah, whose job description is "advisor" (whatever that means) to the boss, saw me and asked me to come see him when I was finished. So, I swing by his office and Blah asks me how's it going at the high school. I started going on and on about how much I loved my new job, how great the people are, how wonderful all the students have been, etc. He laughs and says "Well, don't get too used to it." My heart skipped a beat. He told me that the woman who I am filling in for is thinking of returning to work in March. "She was thinking she'd like to come back in December, but she hasn't been feeling well, so maybe March. And she might be part time, we don't know." I just stared at him dumbfounded. I was told the job would be a year's position. I knew that the fine print in the contract I signed (after they interviewed me, by the way... they never told me in the interview itself) said the position was for a year UNLESS the "incumbent" decided to return, and then they would give me a two week notice.

My boss had told me not to worry about what happens after the year is out, and now here is Blah telling me it could be March!!! I just hate this. I have this great new job, I am really starting to connect with the students, I have made some friends among the faculty, and it might be taken from me. The woman who I am replacing was diagnosed with breast cancer and she took the year off for chemotherapy. I feel so torn. On one hand, the poor woman has cancer, and I would want ANYONE who was stricken with that terrible disease to make a full recovery. On the other hand, her recovery means my loosing a job I have come to really like. Talk about a bind!

I am trying to take it all in stride. So much could happen between now and then. I will live positively in the moment, act as if I were staying permanently, do my work and do it well, and let's see what life has in store for me. Send me good thoughts 'yall!