the flying squirrel

Back in Belleville.

My aunt was doing better than we were expecting. She was in good spirits and talking (while she had the breath, anyway). So while it was still a sad visit, it wasn\'t as heartbreaking as I\'d prepared myself for. So I was thankful for that. She\'s going to fight this thing to the end, if only to prove everybody wrong. My family\'s got an impressive stubborn streak though it.

So also I got to see my sister, who I haven\'t seen since Christmas, my uncle, who I haven\'t seen since Thanksgiving and my cousin who I haven\'t seen in years. It was a good visit all \'round. I\'m still planning on a trip in May sometime. I\'ll have to see how things pan out...

I stayed at my sister\'s place last night, since my uncle only had room to put up my parents. My sister\'s roommates were out of town or something. I got to sleep in their bed. This meant I also got their cats. The one cat—the tom—was fine, but the other one... There\'s something wrong with that one. She would try to cuddle up close, which was cute at first. Then she would start pawing at my armpits for some reason. Cute, but annoying. Then, still pawing my armpits, she\'d slowly unsheath the claws. That\'s when she got chucked across the room. She\'d also try to suckle my pillow when she was cuddling up, which was just weird. That cat\'s kinda messed up.

I finally managed to pick up a watch for my five year service award for work. We were told to go find something for ourselves, rather than just being given pens. It\'s a nice watch, too. I think I\'m going to have it engraved, so I remember what it\'s for if nothing else...

Back to Waterloo tomorrow. I didn\'t get a chance to clear the day off with my boss (since he took a last-minute day off on Friday). Should be okay, though.