Cooper Homeless Saga Continued

We were informed by the property manager that she has sent us a letter stating that the owners want Cooper out of the house within 10 days from receipt of the letter. Bother. That's not going to happen. So I guess we'll let the 10 days lapse before replying to the letter. Then the ball is in the owners' court.

Did I also mention that the owners happily increased the rental of our house when we renewed our lease in December 2008? Yes they did. In this economic climate. Humpfftt.

Ash Wednesday.

Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.

"Remember man, that you are dust
And unto dust you shall return."

Today marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a period for penance and repentance in preparation of Easter.

On Ash Wednesday, Catholics are encouraged to fast, put on "sackcloth" and "sit in ashes". Not literally but basically if you can't fast, then at least abstain from meat, dress down and have some quiet time to yourself for the day. The first one I can sort of do, at least up until dinner since I'll be having chicken for dinner but at least that's white meat. The second bit about sackcloth, well, I totally forgot this morning that it was Ash Wedneday and decided for no reason whatsoever to dress up today. I have a red top on and matching siren red stilettos*. Can you beat that?! So much for dressing down. I don't know how I'm going to be able to slink around in mass this afternoon without someone noticing me clip-clopping down the wooden aisle. Third bit I will probably do at the end of the day.

So, 1.5 out of 3 things ain't that bad right?

* My champion husband of course had to remind me what I used to call my very sexy red stilettos. Due to the fact that the audience of this blog consists of my mom and aunts, I wouldn't go into details. Let's just say the name will cause a priest to blush or worse bar me from church altogether!

Lost and Found... again.

So guess what? I lost and found (thank gawd) my wedding ring... for the 2nd time. Well actually I didn't find it. Yuko found it for me. This time round, the ring went missing for a good 4 months. That's a new record. I just keep misplacing it. I take it off when I'm in the shower, when I'm cooking, when I walk the dog, so no surprise why I keep losing it. Let's just hope there will not be a 3rd time. Fingers crossed.

Marley and me.

I can't wait for this movie to be released in NZ.

Reminds me of the time Nugget dropped out of doggie kindergarten. And of Cooper destroying every single piece of furniture and non-furniture that he can lay his lil' paws on.

I feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only whose life is being run her psycho pet dogs.

Please I need a home!

Here is Cooper's appeal to Van (one of Stephen's colleague who has a house he's looking to rent out.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Cooper Dooper [mailto:homeless.coooper@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, 20 February 2009 3:37PM
Subject: Please I need a home!

Dear Mister Van,

Due to certain unforeseen circumstances that is completely not my fault (even though you might have heard otherwise), I have been kicked out of my house.

In return for a home, I am happy to offer you the following:

1. look cute while you take me out for my walks. I'm a guaranteed babe magnet.
2. greet you at the door with my tail thumping at 50 beats a second
3. sit by your side while you watch tv
4. keep your feet warm during those cold winter months
5. entertain you with my endless puppy antics

I come with my own matching red collar, lead, food, treats and erm.. two humans. (Apologies about the humans. They might be annoying at times but they supply the food and treats.)

Would you be kind enough to welcome me into your home?

I have also attached a photo to show you how sincere (and desperate) I am.

Lots of woofs,
Cooper

Busted!

Our housing agent left a disturbing voicemail on my cellphone yesterday saying that the owner of the house found out that we have been keeping a dog on the premises and was (to quote the agent) livid!

Crap. Cooper we've been busted!

Apparently, the father of the landlady came by last Sunday to tend to the grapevine that he planted in our garden and saw Cooper happily prancing around. We were on the flight back to Auckland then and Yuko (a friend who's staying with us for a couple of months) didn't know any better. He must have called his daughter and ratted us out.

So we're waiting on the landlady's decision on whether she wants us out of the house. I guess Cooper has been feeling rather bad about the whole incident since I caught him today at the laptop tapping away with a serious look on his face. Coopster was scouring the internet for dog-friendly accommodation in case we get thrown out of this house.

He looked so apologetic, I didn't have the heart to yell at him for using my laptop without permission!

Dulce et Decorum Est

I’d like to share one of my favourite war poems. I know this is kinda random but it is in line with the whole doom and gloom mood that’s been plaguing me since I got back. The mood will lift. But while it’s here, I might as well take full advantage of it.

Dulce et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped, Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum este
Pro patria mori.

The translation for the Latin “Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori” is “It is sweet and honourable to die for one’s country.”

Today.

I cried for days leading up to my flight back to Auckland. It’s not so much that I was terribly upset about leaving home. It’s more because I dread returning to Auckland. It’s not just one thing that’s causing me grief, more like a whole list of factors. It’s the loneliness, the lack of friends, the crappy job that I’m in, the very quiet city and the distance it is from home.

I’m feeling particularly lousy today probably because I just returned and Stephen is away in Melbourne. The shock will wear off in a few weeks, I’ll adjust back to being here in Auckland, and cheer up some. I’m more a glass-half-empty kinda person which probably doesn’t help the situation. I know I should try to make the most of my time here, try to occupy myself with hobbies, do more reading, study for CFA but it doesn’t really help to be honest. It gets especially difficult when Stephen travels and I’m left all alone. Sometimes I wonder if someone else in my situation would feel the same way as I do or whether I’m just making a mountain out of a molehill, thinking too much (as Stephen likes to put it).

I wonder if this is how my life will be – Working in meaningless jobs, uprooting myself every 2 to 3 years to follow my husband around the world for his career. On the whole, I'm really happy and proud that he found something that he enjoys and that he's so good at; but a small part of me really resent this whole arrangement because it seems that lately, my success in life is measured by how well my husband does in his career, how fortunate I am to be able to travel the world with him, how much money he must be making etc. (I've been told that to my face so I'm really not making it up.) I resent being envied because of what my husband does, instead of who I am and what I can do. I wonder if people do see that I used to be my own person, that I enjoy being able to support myself, that I was in control of my life. When did I become that person whose life revolves solely around her husband?

Today just is not one of my better days.

Patience.

This year, I will try to learn the art of patience. It's probably one of the more underrated virtues and personally, one of the most difficult to acquire.

"Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in the one ahead."

I will learn patience in little everyday tasks such as driving behind that old lady hell bent on going no faster than 30km/h, patience when being placed on hold for 20 mins without getting all frustrated and lecturing the first person that comes on the line about the importance of customer service, patience when listening to someone's side of the story without wanting to jump the gun, patience when waiting for Stephen to return home from his many trips.

"The years teach what the days never know."

I will try to learn patience in the bigger things in life. Patience with Cooper and for him to outgrow his endless puppy antics which sometimes make me want to wring his spotted little neck, patience with being here in New Zealand even though this is not a place I enjoy living in, patience with the people around me and with myself.

This is going to be one very zen year. Ohhmmmm.