Life is a game.

Life throws curve balls at you sometimes. I thought the last 2 weeks were stressful. This week has taken the stress levels off the charts, and I’ve ended up with a stress migraine.

'Ken' bonding with Niel

 

We managed to get the new kitten – now renamed Ken ( or Kenny), to the Vet to get De flea-ed,  dewormed, and vaccinated. It wasn’t easy, he still is terrified of humans. Someone must have been very abusive to him for him to be so scared.  Anyway he had hidden behind the photo albums on the bookcase and was hissing at us. Actually Niel has made great progress with him. He hates me and runs under the sofa if I so much as look at him, but Niel has got him, cuddling and licking him, which is great to see. He’s been added to the cattery booking sharing a unit with ‘Henry ‘ our other kitten ( almost cat) as they are inseparable and it means we only have to pay for his food then.

This is our worst nightmare at the moment. We have to be vigilant to keep the cat door locked at all times, and we have to let the other two cats in and out constantly watching that Ken doesn't run out when we do so.

 

We thought surely that was the end of all the hassles and expenses. After new glasses, needing to see a lawyer, and putting in a very expensive gas fired heater in our rental flat to keep the tenants happy over winter. But no, that is too simple. The tenants then turn around and say they are moving out half way through our trip, when we can do nothing about it. We were depending on that rent after spending our savings on a heater for them. I was thinking to myself that at least we have stayed well and haven’t needed to see a doctor or dentist , and then I break my tooth off!!!!!!!

So what do you do? Cancel the trip? Complain bitterly in the hopes that will help somehow? Try to find a tenant to sign up in the next week (impossible)? Or just fore go the lost income and inconvenience, trust that they pay all their bills, and deal with it when we get home. You know I think we have spent more on the tenants in the last 12 months than we have made in rent.

Niel crossing the Motueka swing bridge. This is a very scary bridge that is twisted so that the wooden boards aren't flat, but at an angle. The bridge also moves sideways and up and down, and the fast flowing river underneath gives you Vertigo and makes you feel quite sick, I don't know how Niel manages to ride across it - I can't.

 

We have had our last long training ride. It has been difficult to achieve in the winter temperatures and lack of daylight. Our training is done. There is no turning back now. The dining room table is covered in lists of jobs to do and things not to forget. As for the money? Well we still have a little left over, due to our skill at budgeting and living within our means. Nothing in life comes easily. Nothing is handed to you on a plate.

Life is a game, and it is how you play that game that determines what sort of life you have. Even if it gives you migraine headaches sometimes.