UPDATE: rented!

*** *** ***

A day late and a dollar short, but the apartment will be ready for occupancy December 15th. Pass it on.

4 1/2 metro Beaubien
available December 15

Google Map of the neighbourhood.

• One double bedroom and an open living room & kitchen. About 55 m2/600 sqft
• Very bright 3rd floor of a triplex.
• Balcony in front and back.
• Very spiffy new kitchen and bathroom with lots of storage.
• New front-loading washer and dryer.
• Stove and fridge.
• Newly varnished hardwood floors and lots of original 1929 details.
• Quiet street with big trees and non-metred parking
• Six minutes on foot from Metro Beaubien and 3 minutes from Parc Marquette.
• Grocery stores, pharmacy and a bakery with good bread around the corner.

Please, no smokers.

kitchen - yes, those are solid wood cabinet doors

to make room for more storage, we replaced the tub with a glass shower

that's a full cabinet over the sink; more hardwood doors

original 1929 china cabinet in the corner of the salon

might be the bedroom

might be the office

new front-loading washer and dryer

Mark and I have just gotten back from the polls.

This morning Poupoune and I dressed up in our winter clothes and went to pick up my suits at the dry cleaners, partly as an exercise to see how cold it was before going out for a longer walk this afternoon. The weather was really quite warm and beautiful, so when I got back I traded my coat for sunglasses, and the dog for Mark, and we headed out to the local school to cast our ballots.

As we left the house, Mark locked the door but didn’t set the alarm. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen him demonstrate this level of trust in his neighbours. Chalk one up for becoming Canadian!

Then Mark cast his first Canadian vote at the gym of the local high school.

Outside the local high school gym, about to cast his first Canadian vote

Then… oops, I had left my wallet in my coat after coming back from the dry cleaner’s. No ID? No problem. Mark has ID, and he’s a citizen, and we both have our voting cards proving that there’s someone with my name living at Mark’s address, so all he had to do was swear that that someone was me, and voilà, I voted too. He’s so Canadian, he can even secure voting rights for other people!

I’m hunched over my computer at 1:38 in the morning, rocking and waiting for the ibuprofen and acetaminophen to kick in so I can go back to bed. It’s three and a half weeks since my last period started. I’m forty-five. Aren’t my cycles supposed to be getting longer, not shorter?

Pepe has been dancing gamely through life, through kidney disease and most recently through epilepsy. He sleeps a lot. His appetite is poor even when he’s hungry. He’s losing weight and his coat is not as smooth as it was. He’s often not steady enough to cock a leg when he pees and not aware enough that he’s peeing to stop walking. A visitor recently petted him while I was holding him and he didn’t bite her — a first, I think. Poupoune is becoming more and more aggressive towards him, apparently responding to his weakening condition and moving in for the kill.

And when I come home he dances towards me, dances happily in circles.

… then he has a seizure. He’s been having them daily for the past week or so. We tried him on phenobarbital but it made him ataxic and he couldn’t walk. I was in Winnipeg but Mark says he looked frightened, as if he thought he was dying. We have an appointment tonight to get a prescription for another medication but if it doesn’t help then he may only have a couple of weeks left.

Mark, do you have video of Pepe dancing?

Alison: Oui, bonjour?

Caller (with southern accent): Excuse me ma’am, do you speak English?

Alison: Yes I do.

Caller: My name is Chris. How are you today?

Alison: [pause] Chris, are you a telemarketer?

Caller: [sadly] Yes I am.

Alison: I’m sorry, could you call someone else?

Caller: [sadly and tiredly] Have a nice evening, ma’am.

Mark has been writing an iPhone app since before Christmas. Now’s your chance to get in on the fun!

Clean My Screen