18 days, 6 dollars and 6 rabbits

August 26th! My my, where does the time go?

Well, here we are and happy new year!

You'd think, and I'd hope, there'd be more for me to blog about. I do catch myself during the day thinking "oh, I should remember this and blog about it" and my mother, likely the last Light and Flaky fan standing, certainly asks me for new posts. Today I promised I'd write, so here I am.

It must be said that owning two homes is mucho work, especially when one is upwards of 180 years old, and that has really zapped my time. Whoa is me with such first world problems. Acknowledged - I have nothing to complain about.

One thing that has not taken my time is my usual drink. I have now gone 18 days without an alcoholic libation. It would have been 19 but BlueGirl at the dollhouse forced a mimosa down the gullet on New Years day.  My hangover and I protested violently, but in the end, there was no denying my jovial Italian host. The end of my resolution to not drink for a month is in sight, the countdown numbers are now smaller than what's in the rearview mirror and my liver seems happy.

Make no mistake, don't think it's been easy for me. Our well stocked party pantry calls to me upon my daily arrival home. Just yesterday CJ's husband turned 40. A 40th birthday and not a single bubble to tickle my throat in celebration.

There have been 2 Thursday night dinners with the boys - complete with Kitkat's eye rolling at the first. A hunting trip with my cursing cousins, where hot toddies usually keep me warm and sane, saw numerous beverage consumption opportunities slip through my fingers as if I were trying to grasp the liquid itself. Perhaps that's why my aim was better than usual and I was able to contribute more to our haul. Or was it my frustration?

And contrary to what Elmer Fudd has told us, one does not want to be very very quiet when hunting for rabbits. You actually want several loud, heavy footed folks to flush the brush while you lay in wait on the other side.

Let's see, what else have I been up to? Oh right, complaining (insert your high maintenance jokes here). That foolish polar vortex forced me to forgo my usual method of transport to work, Molly the bike, and "ride the rocket" (insert your dirty jokes here).

Picture it. Toronto, 2014 a polar vortex and frozen streetcar brakes. Frozen brakes! Obviously the TTC does not abide by The Bay's "we're made for this" mantra. I get that it was extreme weather and am not suggesting they operate the car in an unsafe manner, but if the brakes weren't working, why was it out in the first place?

Long story short, the streetcar I was on, and by my count, 6 others that got stuck behind it, got, well, stuck. "Buses are coming" an admittedly charming and good natured TTC member told us but one look at the waiting masses told me that there weren't enough buses in the city.

Fur hat flaps down, collar up and Anna Kendricks Cups song on my lips, I headed for home. The "two bottles of whiskey for the way" lyrics tortured me a bit when I turned up 4 km later with popsicle like fingers. Streetcar nor bus passed me on the way, so my choice to walk was sound.

And so was the e-mail I sent to the TTC customer service hotline for just this last Friday, quite a nice letter and TWO tokens, a $6 value, turned up in my mailbox. I had a picture of the tokens but it's a bit of a let down after the rabbits.

This high maintenance squeaky wheel says justice was indeed served.