Calf Muscles & Double Entries

The Auckland half is getting closer and closer and I had just started to feel I was turning the corner.  I was up to 25km weeks, the runs were getting easier, and I ran my first ever 5kms that took less than 30 minutes; and wouldn't you know it; my right calf has started playing up.  After the first pain I went out again a few days later for 8kms.  It was then quite sore and I took a whole week off.  5kms yesterday has left it a little sore.  I hope it doesn't get any worse; time is short...  It will be tricky to continue training over the next 2 weeks as will be in Canada.

In other things, did you ever start to wonder about the origins of something you're in the middle of every day?   So was the case today for me when someone asked who invented Double entry accounting.  I had no idea.   Wikipedia doesn't have a clear answer either but it appears to date back to approximately the 13th century in Florence/Italy.  Big names angle in the write up including the Medicis.  And certainly Leonardo da Vincis mate Pacioli put it into a math book by the late 1400s.  I can't imagine being an accountant pre-calculator or pre-computer. It would have been a bit tedious for me, I think.  I think my career would have led me somewhere else... 



 

Training for Auckland Half

A few months back a friend and I snuck under the wire, registering for the Auckland Half Marathon on the weekend, and finding out just a day later that  it was full.   I was really keen to do a longer race; my first and only half marathon was in early 2007 during my first year in NZ.  I thought the October date would be good as it would help me keep up my jogging during the dark winter months; however that idea failed.  As soon as May rolled around I pretty much stopped.  I have only started going out 4 weeks ago a couple of times a week after work for the 5km return jog along Rocks Road.   This is one of the few region locales I don't mind running in the dark.  Only this past weekend have I increased my distance doing a trial jog of 10kms.  I've now got 3 months to go and 2 weeks of that I will be in Canada. 

I've got a few things to battle this time around:  I got the dreaded black runners toenail when i swapped running shoes last year.  I did another switch on the weekend having visted the Shoe Clinic and ran on the treadmill for the assessment of the new shoes I am trialling.  They couldn't figure out what is causing it however I'm hoping my new Brooks pair of runners will be kinder to my feet that Mizuno or Adidas have been.  Mizuno felt great when I bought them, but I have been getting blisters on the same foot as the black toenail.    Adidas felt big and clunky.   I've been out for 16 kms so far in the new shoes.   They have a 30 day return policy so I have a bit more time to figure it out...  Wish me luck.

Of cats, jogs and dresses....

And already the shortest day has gone flying on by. 

Since I last posted my household has expanded by 2. 
First with Lulu the seal bicolour ragdoll kitten.  She came the North Island and was born in January.
Second was Tinkerbell, the blue bicolour ragdoll kitten. She is another North Islander and she was born in October.

How this all happened is that Jasper was lonely and upset after losing his sister so it was time to get him some company.  The decision was between 2 kittens.  One was younger and I decided to go with her since I thought she would be more trainable.  This was Lulu.  What I didn't anticipate was her energy level.  Jasper was not impressed with her... so along came # 2 who was still available about a month after Lu arrived.  The idea was that since she was quieter she would likely take the pressure off Jasper.  It pretty much worked- Tinkerbell is now often playing with Lulu- although I think sometimes that even as another kitten, Lulu has too much energy for her.

Lu is a lapcat - she is the most burmese like ragdoll cat that I've met to date and can sometimes be found sleeping under the covers. In additional to her cuddly/friendly personality she has 2 other personalities:  hyper/playful, and HUNGRY. 

This is Lulu

This is Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell's personality type is TIMID with a capital T.  She is also affectionate, but mostly in the middle of the night when you are not threatening.  She does however have hunting instincts and LOVES to chase the feather mouse.  It took her nearly a week to come out from under the bed after she first arrived at her new home.   She has settled down  a lot and does love to be petted, but she is definitely not a lapcat.
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In other than cat news, I have made an exciting discovery.  I have a new almost favourite vegetable. I can't decide whether it trumps the tomato (which I still consider in the veg category), but if not it is a close second.  Bok choy is SO yummy.  Yum yum yum.

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In the past week or two, I've been reminded how very much I love living skies.  So many beautiful and changing views out the back yard over the neighbours roof, day or night.  I feel lucky... even though I'm not in Sk with its living skies.

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I started jogging again last week.  Oh how very hard it is... I've been out 4 times for 5kms along Rocks Road after work.  This is a decent place to run in the dark after work as the sun goes down.   I feel so very our of shape even though it was only 2 months since I was more or less regular on the roads.  I must really start to kick into shape as I'm registered in the Auckland Half Marathon in less than 4 months!

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I've started wedding dress shopping.  I guess this is a very big and important decision given I've already had a dream or two about it.  In one I was wearing a knee length blue and red one.  Haa haa. I'm curious to see what I finally decide to go with.  I have a while to make a decision yet with a wedding date of next year.

2 weeks later

Two weeks ago darling Allie didn't come home at night and there was a night of anguished worry. And yet two weeks on, time has marched on, just as it always does. I can't help but be thankful that the flyer drop at least brought with it finality- even though the news was bad. I was fully ready to get up the next day and continue the search, and even though hope would have faded over time if the hunt was not successful, I would have kept looking and looking for my girl. More than I can say I feel for those families of the "presumed dead" with a feeling of dread- and yet still a glimmer of hope.

But in the aftermath of tragedy there are always things that stick out... When I was looking for Ms. Allie I dropped about 20 flyers off at targeted houses in the neighbourhood. I got an amazing response rate. In addition to the one person who had seen her the day she disappeared, and then the one who found her, I had two futher phone calls from people who had seen white cats. I also had one from a near neighbour who said she often saw Allie in the afternoon in her yard and told me she'd keep an eye out. It was so encouraging to find out there are so many thoughtful neighbours in the neighbourhood, regardless of the sad outcome.

Also- I have a calendar on my desk at work. The day I found out about Allie the quote on the day's calendar was from Pericles. "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." What stuck out in my mind is that if one little cat can have such an influence on one person, think about the influence each of us as individuals can have...

And suddenly, all of those little annoyances about her becoming charming in my memory. Cleaning the closet tonight I found a roll of tin foil. I left it there to perpetually keep covering the bottom of the bed to deter her from scratching it. It's a good reminder to think of those close in our lives with the perspective that those little things are the things that make them "them", and special, and to not sweat the small stuff.

Jasper has been rather lost since Allie went missing. Always a foodie, he has not seemed overly hungry. In fact today was the first day he had a full breakfast and dinner. He has been meowing a lot and searching, still. I don't want him to spend his days lonely so the plan is to get another kitten. She will be another ragdoll, completely different in colouring to Allie, but I hope she will come with the laid back ragdoll personality that I have come to love. I expect it will be a difficult introduction and transition between her and Jasper. But this time I do hope my two kitties will be able to spend years together. More than 2 1/2 years, I hope...

A very sad day- RIP Allie

Allie (Sept 3,2009-Mar 29,2012)

It's been a long while since I posted. But today I have a heavy heart, and need to express it- so here goes.

I grew up on a farm and have always been an animal lover. On the farm I had cats like Tigger and Puff to dogs like Lassie and Lady, to cows like Dusty and Columbi, to rabbits like Easter and Brownie, and horses like Apache and Star to express that interest and passion upon. When I was 17 and trying to decide the direction of my life I agonised over the decision of whether or not to go be a vet. Until then, this had been my long time expectation. Ultimately, in what was for me a moment of unusual clarity, I decided it was wrong for me for a number of reasons, but promised myself I would own animals instead.

When I moved to Regina for University for so long I lived without animals until finally I moved into a flat with people that had a cat. I was in Regina for 10 years, but never long enough to make the commitment that owning a pet myself entails. When it came time for me to move on from KPMG and learn more about the world, I chose NZ due to it's "not too hot, not too cold" climate, and because I understood it was a pretty laid back place to be. But 10 years on, I still hadn't kept my promise to myself.

After 2 1/2 years in NZ, I had managed to shut off a part of my practical nature that tends to make most of my decisions and allow a bit of my heart to decide. I finally decided I was settled enough to remember my promise to myself and get myself some animals. My heart settled on the ragdoll cat- which I had seen at a recent catshow I visited in Wellington. That was the one and only time I'd seen them, but they were just what I wanted. After research and much waiting, my beautiful little girl Allie arrived via an Air New Zealand flight and my darling boy Jasper arrived about 6 weeks later.

Life changed for the better in those moments. There were many annoyingly challenging kitten moments such as Jasper's SLOWNESS to learn the litter box and their affinity for playing with the venetian blinds in my first house. But there were so many good moments to make up for it. There was little Allie jumping off the bed to use the litter box in the wee hours of the morning the first night I had her and then wanting back up but being unable to get up herself. I remember as kittens how they used to watch me in the flowerbed out the window and meow at me, and how scared of the pumpkin plant I was growing that they wouldn't cross it. There were many moments of playing with Allie after we discovered her favourite toy was a simple string. I loved how she would drop her toys (e.g. octopus and mouse, and later string) in or near her food bowl and pretend she was eating them. This summer, as a 2 year old her focus changed and she really wanted to be a big hunter. She caught and released her first 2 birds this summer. I was so proud of her... Particularly the one not long ago where I was home sick from work and the bird flew right into the house and she was on it. Despite her timid nature- she would occasionally show that she had the heart of wild creature.

Then the night before last she wasn't home when I got home from work. A flyer drop yesterday brought initial hope, as someone had spotted her, but the second phone call was the heart breaking one. She had been hit by a car. She was found by an animal lover a block over from me- and he buried her next to his dog who only died last week as well.

I can ask the why questions... Why: how? She was a timid cat. Not one to venture far from me if I was around. Not one to venture far from the back yard- and certainly not on her own without her braver brother or people around. If you would take her out for a walk she wouldn't go far from you, would always keep you within about 5 m of you. What could have caused her to go so far away and on her own? This behaviour was so completely unlike her. I can only imagine that perhaps she saw a bird, and she let the wild creature in her take over and follow it further from home than normal, until she got lost. I could have never anticipated that she would get so far away from her quiet street so far from busy roads and find the danger that she found. The world is not a safe place and every living moment bears a risk.

I can't begin to express my grief in this moment. She was not only a pet; she was a part of my family. Since I got her there wasn't a night where she didn't sleep with me on my bed if I was home. I'll miss her snuggles, her constant demand for grooming and string playing, and how she would kick kick kick with her back legs when she was playing as we did every morning before I left for work. Animals are loyal. I only hope that I can be as loyal to those important in my life as she was to me.

I wish I could explain to her brother Jasper that she is gone and won't be coming back. He will have the real adjustment and he just doesn't understand.

I will always be an animal lover and will never regret letting these wonderful creatures into my life.

Irving Townsend said :

“We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our
own, live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way."

And CS Lewis said

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable."

My animals certainly have had my heart and will continue to do so. There are many more who do not have people to love them and to love. If you've read this and related and it has touched your heart, in memory of Allie make a donation to your local animal shelter. And for those of you with pets (or any of your loved ones for that matter), live each day as if it was their last. Thursday was just another day when I went to work, but when I returned, things were different.

My final plea in memory of Allie is to let those desires of your heart be expressed: be the real you. Follow through with those promises you have made to yourself. Allie had a short life, but she enrichened my life. RIP Allie girl. You are already so missed.