Winter hits with full force

Completely unable to sleep last night, so took myself to the basement where I was completely unable to sleep in a different location. Must have been 4 or 5am before I dropped off. Was awoken at 9 by Mrs. Ottawacker telling me I had to take Charlie to the vets for her anti-rabies shots – so dragged myself out of bed, found Ottawacker Jr. sitting in the chair reading, coughing and spluttering, and then made coffee and toast and took the cat to the vet. As I suspected, Ottawacker Jr. wasn’t going into school.
 
I know the vet – Doug Hopwood – quite well, as he has a son the same age as Ottawacker Jr. and he plays football too. But today I learned that he is the master of passive-aggressive revenge. As I pulled into the car park, it was clear the place had not been ploughed – the snow was pretty deep and was, in all honesty, a pain in the arse. The vet had sellotaped his apologies to the door, saying that while he pays for snow removal – and had, indeed, paid Kevin XX for snow removal – Kevin XX had once again not turned up. Providing Kevin XX’s phone number and email address to boot. It was a masterpiece of explanation, and one I applaud fully. Charlie was well and only hid in the basement for an hour upon my return. Leaving Ottawacker Jr. to hold the fort, Mrs. Ottawacker and I went to buy our Christmas tree from Habitat for Homes (an annual tradition) and baulked only slightly at paying $85 for a sapling.
 
Tree erected, if not decorated. It was bloody cold out there – and I am not in much of a pro-Canadian winter mindset at the moment. Snow, freezing rain… we’re getting it all. Did the laundry to take my mind off it all.