A Sad But Merry Christmas

I unabashedly adore Christmas, and I usually try to partake in all things related to the festive season, but this year was a fail. Although I finished all of my Christmas shopping well ahead of time and decorated our flat with lights and baubles, there was no ice skating, visiting the Christmas markets, or drinking hot chocolate and mulled wine.

J left for San Jose a day before I left for Los Angeles, and I made sure Casper was all ready for our absence. I really wish it was easier for animals to cross borders, as I would've loved to take him with us. In any case, it was just as well as the animals back home kept me busy while I was there.

It was my first day back in LA when I took the dog to the vet for an ear infection. He's a big dog (67 lbs), and it's near impossible to get him to the vet. It turned out to be useless as he was so aggressive that the vet couldn't examine him even with a muzzle on.

It was my second day back in LA when I found blood on the floor and followed the trail to my cat who was bleeding from her stomach. I went into full-on panic mode, and herded her into her carrier and took her to the same vet. Another useless visit, as they said she was too old for their office to handle. 

I ended up driving her straight to the VCA Animal Hospital in West LA, which is a top notch facility, and I highly recommend anyone with a sick pet to go there straightaway. The first thing that struck me was just how sad everyone in the lobby was. The second thing I noticed was the sheer amount of tissue boxes. The vet's office on Christmas Eve is a very sad place - the only reason you could be there is probably a pretty bad one.

I guess you could lump me in with one of the pretty bad cases as it turned out Kitty has cancer. The good news was that it hadn't spread to her organs yet, and there was a good chance that the growths on her stomach and her chin were mast cell tumours. Surgery of mast cell tumours can be curative, and I took her home with surgery scheduled on Friday. A big thank you to my little bro and his wife, who were with me the entire time and kept me company while I was waiting while the tests were run. I would've fallen apart without them there to keep my mind on other things.

I returned to the vet on Friday to some bad news. The staff oncologist saw the slides of the growth on her stomach and thought that there was a good chance that the growth on her stomach wasn't a mast cell tumour, but carcinoma. The prognosis for carcinoma is quite poor - 6 months is the average life expectancy. We ended up going with a more aggressive surgery in case it is carcinoma, and Kitty had to stay two nights at the vet recovering from a radical mastectomy. J and I were scheduled to fly out during that time, and my older brother agreed to pick her up and administer her medications during her recovery. I'm so, so grateful for my family helping me during this difficult time.

Kitty's back home now and recovering. I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from the vet on the biopsies of the tumours, and I'm hoping that it isn't carcinoma. Kitty's been with me for 17 years, and I'm just not quite ready to let her go. But I'm moving forward with the goal of making the rest of her life as comfortable as possible and not trying to prolong it by any means necessary, which just wouldn't be fair to her. This visit was the first time I noticed how old she had gotten - her face looked a bit grizzled, the fat pads on her paws were small and hard, and she had lost a lot of her fur. It's so strange and hard to see her grow old and get sick when I can still clearly remember the day I brought her home.

Our dog also got to visit the VCA, and he had to be sedated before his ear could be examined. He's so agitated that the vet said that he fought the examination even under sedation. Luckily, he's healthy and fit other than the ear infection, which requires a cleaning and medication regimen for the next month. My older bro has his hands full taking care of the dog and Kitty, I really can't thank him enough.

J and I are both back in London now, and I've been sleeping more hours than I've been awake. I think I was pretty stressed while I was in LA, and my body is in recovery mode now. I lost a good chunk of weight while i was there, which tends to happen when I'm really stressed out, and I suppose I'm working on putting it back on.

There were some good parts to this Christmas. I cooked a goose and ham for Christmas Eve dinner, and we had a wonderful time opening gifts with our larger than ever family. My older brother officially got engaged, and he did a beautiful job with the ring. It was lovely having a full house for Christmas - it made it feel really festive, and I can tell that my parents love having six kids now. I got to see most of my cousins, even if only for a few hours, and it was nice to see everyone happy and healthy. And it looks like we've got lots of weddings in 2014! 

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of my friends this time around, but I think they'll understand and forgive me with all the animals being sick. Hopefully, I'll get to return to LA soon and make a proper visit next time. Much love to you all, and I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas!

Around Town

I'm pretty smug about the fact that I finished most of my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, which is a good thing since our Christmas list is a mile long! The added bonus is that it gives me time to enjoy the run-up to the holidays without panicking about what to buy everyone. 

I still have a few odds and ends to pick up, which means I'm venturing out around town despite the cold weather that's settled in to stay. I don't mind since it's a good opportunity to see some of the Christmasy things that have popped up for the occasion.

We went to Selfridges this past weekend and saw this 3D printing pop up shop next to the jewellery department. You step into this booth where they scan your body and print out a mini 3D version of you! I was this close to getting a mini-me made for my parents, but the £159 price tag convinced me otherwise. But I haven't ruled out having one made for J's office so that he can never escape me. Muahahaha.

We also went to brunch with some friends at Caravan behind King's Cross station, which is a great tapas restaurant that also serves the best coffee in town. A simple thing, but I liked that they decorated the trees in the plaza.

Not exactly a Christmas thing, but there's a giant St. Bernard that lives in our neighbourhood. He seemed ancient when we first saw him 3 1/2 years ago, but he's still around and roaming the hood. Unfortunately, he was whimpering from an earache yesterday. He normally lolls about on the pavement, but his dad got him a sofa to lay down on while he's sick. Lucky dog.

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

It was about time for our annual sojourn to the countryside to do some clay pigeon shooting, so I was more than ready when J was invited to Holland & Holland by a work colleague. Lucky me, I usually get to tag along to these outings, and I was more than pleased to break out my hunting jacket for the occasion.

I think this could be one of my favourite photos - our best imitation of countryside gentry.



We chilled out in the reception room as our instructor got our shooting equipment ready and warmed up with some hot coffee as some stuffed animals looked on. J got to use a 12 gauge shotgun, while I stuck with a smaller 20 gauge.



We had an hour of shooting scheduled, and we were lucky that they could fit us in as it's currently gaming season and hunters were out in full force with their deer hunting rifles. Our instructor was a former instructor for the US military so he was full of amusing anecdotes in between teaching us how to shoot properly. A bit overqualified to teach a couple of lawyers to shoot for an afternoon, but I wasn't complaining.

I was good enough to hit most things so long as the instructor was telling me when to shoot. Otherwise, I got overexcited and jumped the gun. Sounds about right.

J was disturbingly good. I blame it on all the videogame playing.



We finished the afternoon off with a pub lunch at the Old Orchard on Park Lane. The portions were huge, and the ambience was really cosy especially since they had their Christmas decorations up. Another point in its favour was the roving bloodhound. Dog = win.



It was a great afternoon in the country, but my shoulder's still a bit sore from the shotgun's kickback. J swears up and down that his shoulder feels fine, but I'm happy to report he's sporting a shoulder bruise just like me. We are a couple of badasses. Lol.