The Tail of Two Cats and other Brambles

The truce is off. Stormy got too close to Via and all hell broke loose. They both hissed and growled and fluffed their tails. I scooped in to pick up the little one and his heart was beating a mile a minute. The coward retreated to my bedroom again.

He has been a busy one today...climbed all over and inspected most of the first floor. He is such a good kitty too...litter trained AND using the scratchpad. Bonus.

Got up to SNOW on the ground this morning. And I had already burned put away the damn shovels already...oh, but it wasn't that much...melted by mid-afternoon. But serious...WTF??? It's mid-May.

Did I mention the really great mother's day card I got from the non-resident teen this week? She knows how much I prefer the handmade cards, no matter what her age...so she bought me the standard Carlton, and then tucked a little handmade one inside. It reads "Thanks for always being there and for being the hippest ma on the block! Ha Ha, that was cheesy! Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks, and I love you!" I cried. She is the only person in the world that really gets me. Thanks, kid. I love you too.

now, thanks to bubblehead, I have to go watch The Breakfast Club and turn off that Frank Zappa...man he must have had some interesting drugs when he wrote Don't Eat The Yellow Snow...I am not in the headspace to listen to it tonight!

Stormy - the newest resident feline...welcome to the crazy house, my boy. 

Times When Using the "F" Word Was Appropriate

This cracked me up...I wish there were visuals to accompany, but alas, you must use your imagination! And remember...they are just in fun...

"Scattered f___ing showers, my ass!" -Noah, 4314 BC

"How the f___ did you work that out?" -Pythagoras, 126 BC

"You want WHAT on the f___ing ceiling?" -Michelangelo, 1566

"Where did all those f___ing Indians come from?" -Custer,1877

"It does so f___ing look like her!" -Picasso, 1926

"Where the f___ are we?" -Amelia Earhart, 1937

"Any f___ing idiot could understand that." -Einstein, 1938

"What the f___ was that?" - Mayor of Hiroshima, 1945

"I need this parade like I need a f___ing hole in the head!" -JFK,1963

"Aw c'mon. Who the f___ is going to find out?" -Bill Clinton, 1997

I had a bunch of pics sent to me, but this one is my favorite...it took a sec for my brain to catch up to my vision though...heh heh 

Ten Heads - No Ears

I saw that written in the local paper yesterday in relation to a protest against a town council...I laughed my ass off...someone had it on a sign.

The rabbits must be in a high production part of their 7-year cycle...I saw ten on one 8km dirt road I went over last night. One even sat still instead of running off the shoulder into the bushes...looked just like a chocolate easter bunny!

Missed a doctor's appointment today...RATS! Now I have to beg the gate keeper tomorrow for a squeeze in appointment...she's a tough nut to crack, that receptionist.

My neighbor finally cancelled the movie channels on the dish subscription we share...now I am forced to watch all those other channels...heh heh...

Tomorrow is my Friday - I have the real one off and unless I do something serious like apprehend a kid tomorrow (which is what no one wants) I should be able to ACTUALLY take the day off on Friday. I have had to reschedule my relief day so often because of court matters with my job.

I got my Mother's Day card in the mail today - a lovely Hallmark as well as a basic handmade one...she knows how much I adore handmade cards, and even though she's almost 19 years old, I still want that handmade one! They are so much better...and I got two last year :-)

Home Remedies

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto. The blockage will be almost instantly removed.

2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

3. Avoid arguments with the little woman about lifting the toilet seat by simply using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough.

7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will forget about the toothache.

Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really are:

You only need two tools - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

Remember:

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.
If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You get another chance.

And finally, be really nice to your family and friends; you never know when you might need them to empty your bedpan.

The Case of the Exploding Firepit

Yeah, that's what happened. We gathered around the newly constructed firepit only to suffer shrapnel wounds...apparently the bricks I bought (with the help of the not so trusty Central Building Supplies yahoos) are not so heat resistant, and once the fire got going, they did too...exploded into a million pieces and shot out like cannon fire. There were injuries, myself included suffered a nice little burn on my top lip that blistered immediately. Great. We got our smores in spite of the torpedoes as we thought it was just the wood...then I got up in the morning and noticed that the plastic bag that was out there had brick melted to it...and so I went to inspect and discovered the bricks had crumbled to not a hell of a lot.

So in I marched to the building store and demanded a full refund for my bricks. The guy who helped me happened to be the guy who sold me the bricks and tried to back out of it saying, well you did get the bricks you wanted though, right? Um, no. When I went, I told you what I wanted to build and asked you to show me the right bricks. You even suggested a pattern to lay them in at the bottom of my pit, and measured for the size to calculate how many bricks I would need, wrote it on a slip with the brick code and sent me out to the yard. Asshole. So he caved and refunded my money.

If I wanted to be a super bitch, I could have told him I was going to sue them for injuries, pain and suffering....but I wasn't wearing THAT hat today...I left it in the car...

so now I have to dig out all that shit and throw it away, and get some sand to line the pit with, which will be fine and won't explode on me. Stay tuned...

Mother's Day

I'm sure many bloggers will be writing today about Mother's Day...I'm no exception. This one is particularly noteworthy for me as it is the first one I have spent apart from my daughter. She moved out last June to attend university and live on her own with her boyfriend.

I miss the handmade cards created in high secrecy, the flowers picked from a neighbor's yard, the cold burnt toast and juice served in bed, and the big hugs from those skinny little kid arms.

I can take comfort however in knowing that I did my job well and have raised a wonderful daughter who is very independent and moved out before her 19th birthday to live on her own. She will be 19 next month and honestly I don't know where the years went! Then I sit and think about all the memories I have of her in each of those years and wish I had them to live over again, even the rough times.

so dear daughter, if you are reading this, thank-you for being my daughter and allowing me the experience of being your mother. I have thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Today's Toiling Effort

Thanks to my friends R. and A., we completed the new firepit in my backyard! The idea began to take root earlier this year after my landlord and neighbors used a tractor to pull a few stumps out of the back yard. They asked me if either of those spots were good for a firepit as I had mentioned I wanted to make one, and since they already had gaping holes in the yard, I figured sure, why not. But then after it was dug out (but not constructed) I realized this morning I didn't really like the spot...too close to the house, I was concerned fire might travel through the huge roots sticking into the pit, and I couldn't really dig it smooth with all those friggin roots left behind, as well, I couldn't see the sunset. So I dug a new hole farther down into the yard, on level ground, with NO ROOTS! And I used the dirt and sod from that to fill the previous hole. Then we were cooking...add a layer of sand and gravel for drainage, a layer of brick, and then a ring of local stones and we're set! I bought a couple of tiki torches at Wal-Mart, and spent some of the afternoon gathering stuff to burn. No one around me burns wood, so there was plenty to gather out here in the country. My neighbor built a new corral last year so I can have all the old posts to burn, which is GREAT!

So the "christening" of the new firepit happens tonight with some friends gathering to roast marshmallow, have some s'mores, beer, and whatever else they want to bring. Here's to the official beginning of spending-time-outdoors-now-that-I-won't-freeze-my-ass-off season!

my brand new firepit

lovely sunset, taken from my front patio last night 

My New Toy

I did it, I joined the rest of the country and bought a digital camera last night. I had thought about buying one for several years, ever since they first came out. And when the non-resident teenager was in house, she bought one and I used hers. It was a very simple model, cheap with low resolution, but did the job and got me used to working with digital pics. Then my parents got one, and my sister got one and I was able to use theirs when I visited. My brother had had one for a while before them as well. and they are all Kodak Easyshare cameras.

Now I will be scoping the neighborhood, taking endless amounts of photos. My plan is to take the camera on the road with me when I work as I often come across beautiful scenery and alas, have no camera with me. And of course, if a child needs a picture taken of them for my file...I am ready!

So the next post will be my first picture taken with the digital camera...

The Male Face

Little known fact. Did you Know?:
A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of male face a woman finds attractive can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.

For instance, if she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features.
However, if she is menstruating or menopausal, she is more prone to be attracted to a man with scissors lodged in his temple and a bat jammed up his ass while he is on fire.

Just thought you might want to know.

How can it be almost Friday already???

Here I sit, in front of the 'puter, wondering where in the hell the week went. And why I haven't posted since Sunday. WTF? I was in Halifax for the past day and a half for a conference, which was great, although a serious topic (child sexual abuse) but good presenters and a chance to meet up with old friends I hadn't seen in a while. Of course, a trip to the city also means shopping...only went to one store, Hill Tribe, and I just LOVE their clothes and other items! Granted I can't afford their regular priced clothes, but they have WONDERFUL sales and I made off like a bandit today...and I bought a TALL KITTY! You know the kind, wooden sculpture, painted, made in Indonesia. I just love it!

So tomorrow is Friday...THANK GOODNESS! I am on call, but hoping for a rather slow week, if possible...and good weather so I can get out and swing in the hammock...not my new one though as I still don't have it and might not even get it now...found a sticker on my door today from UPS and a COD fee of $98!!! WTF???? Criminal, that's what it is. I paid a small fortune for the damn thing in the first place, and now they want to charge me extra for WHAT? So I intend to have a conversation with them tomorrow. Its likely some ridiculous border fees, and I won't be paying that much...fuck that to hell with that. wahhhh....

Sunday Ramblings - Read it or Not

funny how one letter can change a word. like read + y makes it ready. And live can be love, head can be heed, and bed can be bad...

I've been reading a bit about parents and others all in an uproar now that their child has discovered blogging and how dangerous it is to put their information up on a blog, such as first name, town they live in, etc. Ok then...lets think about how it was done before blogging and net...check out your local city newspaper where you have wished your darling daughter a happy birthday...not only have you given her date of birth, her full name, her siblings, who her parents are, what grade she is in and what town she lives in. Um. I think that information has been available for many years. Granted not to the whole world, but there are many newspapers online with similar information which are available to the whole world. And to top it all off, you have your daughter's picture in there, front and centre. Think about this and then tell me your daughter is "putting herself out there" in a blog. You have done it before she ever thought about it.

Spring is having some difficulty finding its way to Nova Scotia...we got a little taste of it a few weeks ago and Mother Nature, in her own bitchy sweet way, took it back and told us to suck it up, its too early. Regardless of weather, there I was last night in the rain, planting a rosebush, my first ever. And I have been working on my fire pit. Its not quite warm enough to be outside to enjoy it yet, so I haven't finished it.

and just where in the hell are my packages...I ordered the 3rd season of ER from e-Bay about two weeks ago, as well as my much anticipated Clark Jungle Hammock, also ordered two weeks ago...whassup?

the damn flies have finally let up and now I have to shovel them out of the basement...is there any known use for dead flies? Let me know, I have thousands here for ya...

I miss my kid...sniff...why do they have to grow up and move away? sigh...

This Road Has Breasts

Well, frost heaves at least...driving along for work today on my way to a client's home and there were two clear bumps in the road, looked just like a set of breasts, and were about 4-6 inches high...there were in the pavement of course, JICYI...

The roads in this province are nasty...pot holes everywhere and shoulders falling apart. The American tourists are apparently complaining that they won't come back to visit unless we pave the roads again....well fuck off then don't come. Its MY tax dollars that paves the roads here, and if they are to be improved upon, it will be for ME! Sure, you folks bring something to the economy here, but you also bring a lot of cheap shit with you so you won't have to buy it here, you drive a million campers on our crappy roads, making them worse and not paying to park them since you find yourselves in every Wal-Mart parking lot around and do not contirbute to the hotels and cabins, and cook your steak dinners at home, not contributing to the restaurants, buy up all the cheap land and then to add insult to injury, file for a Tax Refund for taxes paid in our country...the very taxes that contribute to our road condition...

So yeah, see if I care if you don't come. I can't stand getting stuck behind your little convoys anyhow, especially on the windy two-lane highways on my way to a client's house...thanks for making me late.

Yahoo for another tourist season being thrust upon us...

Gender Designation

You may not know that many nonliving things have a gender.For example:
1) Ziploc Bags — They are Male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.
2) Copiers — They are Female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm them up again. It’s an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.
3) Tire — Male, because it goes bald and it’s often over-inflated.
4) Hot Air Balloon — Male, because, to get it to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under it, and of course, there’s the hot air part.
5) Sponges — Female, because they’re soft, squeezable and retain water.
6) Web Page — Female, because it’s always getting hit on.
7) Subway — Male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.
8) Hourglass — Female, because over time the weight shifts to the bottom.
9) Hammer — Male, because it hasn’t changed much over the last 5,000 years, but it’s handy to have around.
10) Remote Control — Female…… Ha! You thought it’d be male. But consider this — it gives a man pleasure, he’d be lost without it, and while he doesn’t always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying...

yet another reason you shouldn't pass out at a party...your friends will do something to make you look stupid! Thank goodness I never pass out! 

Here's a Monday morning chuckle... 

The Bitch Within

I had a really good post written...and lost half of it. Thanks Blogger. So now you get the abbreviated version.

I tried to go to the movies Friday night with the kid, even went rummaging through the reconstruction at Park Lane Mall on Spring Garden Road to the theatre area to buy advance tickets as we weren't sure when it opened. We get there and park in the underground garage, only to have to walk down a ramp to the floor below for an operating elevator. The movie's dialogue track doesn't play. No one fixes it. The Bitch within stepped out. She demanded her money back from pubescent customer service and bitched the whole way back to the car. The elevator wouldn't go to P3 and both the bitch and her daughter didn't recall not getting it in the first place on P3. Once the bitch figured it out, she attempted to convince her daughter of the fact they had to get off a floor below or above and walk down. Daughter is not convinced. Yelling ensues, and although they do just as the bitch suggests and locate the car easily, the daughter still isn't convinced. The bitch tries to get her money back for parking since the movie wasn't playing as promised. No go. Parking guy chuckles and says have a nice night. Daughter still isn't willing to let it go. Raves about how bitch has embarrassed her tonight. Bitch muses whether child is trying to razz mother up or is genuine...it has happened before...

After some well earned silence and the trip home to daughter's apartment...the evening resumes in good spirits and they watch The Family Guy on DVD...sure, its not The Amityville Horror as planned, but it works.

The bitch has retreated...

A Bloody Massacre

Sheesh, ya go away for a few days and leave the resident feline unsupervised and I come home to a bloody massacre! I'm happy with her victim - the late brown mouse, but what a friggin mess she made. When I first got in the door, I saw a pile of something out of the corner of my eye, assuming it was a pile of cat puke...but then I thought I saw a tail. So I finished what I was doing (setting up the Betta - Bubbles) so when I finished, I took a look...and it was a huge brown mouse...headless. I found the head about 4 feet away...there was blood from one end of my bedroom to the other. Thank goodness she didn't take it to my bed! There was scraps of fur, body parts, and blood all over the place, including the bathroom across the hall. I am guessing that the mouse fought the good fight by the mess left. Good thing I don't have a weak stomach and the weather is still cool...a couple of HOT HUMID days like we get in the summer would have made quite the stench out of this scene.

in any event, I am proud of my housebound kitty for taking care of business for me...even if she did make a mess!

Its Hump Day

and I love it! I am on training for the next two days once this day is over, in the big city. I get to see my kid, and those of us going on training are going out on Thursday night to a great pub. Whoo hoo! In other less enjoyable news, my roomie told me she is planning on moving out soon, like next month. She wants to get her own place and her mom is coming to visit for a month, and so on...YIKES! Now I have to cover all the rent and expenses and I don't know if I can. Just when things started to ease up for me a little, I am going right back down into the pit of debt...whine...maybe I will have to scope for a new roomie, but I will try the summer without one and see how it goes. I'll miss having roomie around, even though she was rarely here. She's a cool gal and a good roomie.

I just hope this day doesn't go on forever!!!

Clark Jungle Hammock

I did it. I bought a Clark Jungle Hammock. I have always HATED how I felt after sleeping on the ground while camping, no matter how many different types of sleeping pads, cots, etc I used. And then last summer I tried my nylon hammock on a trip and it was WONDERFUL, with just two drawbacks - flies and dew. With this hammock I will eliminate both of those! I can't wait to get it and try it out in the back yard. No more aching back and hips from a rotten sleep on the ground, and what a wonderful idea! Ok M. and K., time to plan our first excursion! May 24 will be upon us before we know it...I wonder if it has a pocket for beer...

and you know what

I think I got a sunburn today...bonus!

When Is Enough Too Much

I hurt right now. I was rather productive today, and cleaned out my car, vacuuming it through and got out the armor-all, cleaned the trunk, and polished up the windows. After that I tackled the flower beds, snipping and raking away all the dead stuff from last year. I bagged and dragged all the garbage and recycling to the end of the driveway. I filled all the birdfeeders again (not a big task, but in the list!), I finished a load of laundry, washed the dishes, vacuumed up all the frigging flies AGAIN, along with the dust bunnies...they are ganging up to get me, the bastards. I even had the wet/dry vac out to clean out the car, including the ice frozen in my spare tire compartment...how in the hell...

so now I hurt. I might not be able to move tomorrow. You would think I just ran a marathon for pity's sake. What a wuss. Well, this wuss is taking to her sofa once again. whine. sigh....

Saturday in Seclusion

I love Saturdays. You can choose to stay out drinking all night sleep in or get up early (which I normally do and did today). You can choose to do all your household crap today or leave it for Sunday. Personally would rather get it done ASAP so I can relax the rest of the weekend. I have Monday off, so it is a long weekend for me.

I did a presentation yesterday to the interagency committee in our area - probation services, transition house, family services counselling, restorative justice, rcmp, addiction services, etc, you get the picture. So I had been asked to present on how our agency (children's aid) responds to domestic violence. Easy enough. Then they asked me how do our workers cope with the high stress we deal with daily, especially after an apprehension...I tipped my arm up to my mouth and said we drink...well, at first you could hear a pin drop, then the laughs came. I was only half-kidding...heh heh...then the gal from addiction services hauled out her cards and asked if I needed to bring some back to my co-workers...it was quite funny...

so here I sit, sniffling, hacking and coughing my way through another weekend. But loving that I am NOT on call, so I don't have to listen to anyone whining and complaining that things are not right in their corner of the world and expect me to solve it.

I think I will go check out my sofa again...

Thank F?$! It's Friday

It has been a busy, busy week! I felt like I was juggling every day, but the work got done, believe it or not. And after my hellish weekend and the rotten son-of-a-bitch cold I had, I am impressed that I made it. Although I did bail on a transport tonight, but hell, I went yesterday to the same place and did all the paperwork...let the other gal go there tonight. I just wasn't up for another 3 hours in my car this week!!!

Sigh. Well, as always, when I do an apprehension on the weekend, its because I am on-call for the week. We have a 5-day hearing, which for a weekend apprehension, always falls on a Friday. And when I am on call for a week, I always get the Friday off, no questions asked. Except when I do an apprehension. Then I have to reschedule the free Friday off as I have to spend the day in court. Nice. Just how I want to spend my Friday. And today it was in the afternoon. Yes, Your Honor. I have given up my Friday off to be here with you so we can get this show on the road...so get going!

At least I didn't get a speeding ticket this time. I was watching my speed closely. It was the last thing I wanted today! I was struck though, while driving back with the Bras D'Or Lakes on my right, just how beautiful they are from that side of the lakes. The last time I was in Sydney (1.5 hours away) they were all frozen, and while still beautiful in their own way, they were awesome today. Bright sunny skies, gale of wind, so you saw the whitecaps everywhere. And there I was, flitting along the highway like it was the coast of the ocean...oh yeah, it was partly that too...I don't much like all the driving I have to do for my job, but the scenery makes up for it sometimes! I can't wait until I can take my breaks at the beach again.

So now what is the weekend plan? Putter, lounge, eat, and sleep. I bought a ton of movies the other night at Movie Gallery - $2.99 each with buy two get two free...whoo hoo! There are also some replanting I have to do, now that I have my herb garden all done.

What a TRIP.

driving home from M.'s tonight and it was SNOWING! I turned on the highbeams because I live in the country and want to see well ahead if there are any bumps animals in the road. Turning your high beams on in the dark while it's snowing is just downright trippy whether you have a buzz on or not! There I was, creeping down the local highway at about 30kms under the speed limit because I can't see the damn potholes in the road or should I say, what is left of the road when you have to dodge the potholes like an obstacle course...dammit the roads are nasty in Cape Breton...Nova Scotia for that matter, but Cape Breton is downright nasty. My poor little car almost gets lost in them.

Anyhow, its snowing directly into the headlights on the drive home, so I am feeling rather Han Solosish as I cruised through starfields snowfields...

Ok, that's enough snow...got my trip, now STOP snowing. Thank you and good night.

I Don't Know What The Hell Happened!

I left home at 3:30pm on Saturday to get a few things in town, picked up some gardening supplies as it was a beautiful day here and was just checking out at Canadian Tire when my pager went off...it went downhill from there.

Of course, can't get into details, but that one call had me busy with a difficult family until 4am, and saw me back at it the next morning from 10:30am - 8:30pm. And I'm still not done.

All I wanted to do that day was plant some herbs...and instead I ended up working with the most challenging family I've ever come across. And I'm sick again too. WHINE!

It's All About Me

Taken from devilboss at Fruit and the Devil a nice little list...lets see what I come up with.

I Live: in rural, catholic, conservative Cape Breton

I Work: for Children's Aid

I Think: about work no matter how much I try to leave it at the office

I Smell: local herbs

I Listen: classic rock the most - lovin The Doors, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, April Wine, Rush...

I Hide: my mailman my bills and any other important papers...because I can never find them!

I Walk: to the end of the driveway

I Write: every day, in many ways

I See: the resident feline curled up next to the computer

I Sing: all the time, especially in the car

I Can: think for myself

I Watch: ER, Survivor and The Amazing Race

I Daydream: about dancing with Matthew McConaughey

I Fall: for a foreign accent

I Want: to share my life with someone

I Cry: less than I used to

I Read: constantly, for work, for pleasure, for personal development, whatever!

I Love: my daughter, more than anything else in the world

I Rode: a horse up the side of a volcano in Guatemala last year

I Sometimes: say stupid things

I Fear: I will die by falling through the ice and being trapped

I Hope: there is a soulmate for me

I Eat: alone, most of the time

I Quit: worrying what others things all the time

I Drink: Alexander Keith's Light

I Play: The Sims and Freecell

I Miss: the feeling of my daughter snuggled in my lap, asleep

I Forgive: but I don't often forget

I Drive: all the time for work and personal..4000kms last month alone!

I Dream: of never being packed on time and missing my flight/boat/bus/train

I Have: too much "stuff" and need to pare down again this year

I Remember: being a child and moving into a new neighborhood every few years

I Don't: tolerate incompetence well

I Believe: me

I Owe: a lot to student loans!

I Know: that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans (John Lennon)

I Hate: dawdling service (Augustus MacRae, Lonesome Dove)

I Feel: tired

I WANT...

...a mustang. I saw one today, a dark red one zipped by me. It was the dealer's show version...I noticed the papers in the windows and when I drove by the dealer a few minutes later, the pedestal was empty. I heard it before I saw it...vrrroooommm...and I was instantly jealous. I normally don't care a whole lot for material things, but have wanted a mustang since I don't know when.

And I don't even like Ford cars...Found On Roadside Dead, Fixed Or Repaired Daily, Fast Only Rolling Downhill, Failed On Race Day, Fails On Rainy Days, Found On Russian Dump, For Old Retired Dudes, Fix Our Rusty Doors, Fucked Over Rebuilt Dodge, Forget Ours Reconsider Dodge, Fuck! Our Ride Died, Failure Of Research & Development...well, you get the point...for more car anacronisms acronyms, check out this site

but I want a mustang anyway.

What's UP?

an interesting meme from someone on Blog Explosion. Wanted to link to them but couldn't get back to their page, even through blog history...sorry!

1. _Halloween_ is more fun to celebrate than any other holiday.

2. The last vacation I took was to _Belize and Guatemala_

3. The next vacation I plan to take will be to _Thailand_.

4. I'd really like to be more _thin_.

5. I can't remember the last time I _spoke to my friend Natalie_.

6. The book I last read (or am currently reading) is _As the Crow Flies by Ann Marie MacDonald_.

7. The last program I installed on my computer was _Word Perfect Office (hate the program but it was a work thing)_.

8. When it comes to food, my weakness is _pizza - piping hot, with lots of cheese_.

9. I really look forward to spending time _with my daughter_.

Rubber Pants and a Bicycle, and a twitching kitty too

Weird. That's what I thought too when I drove past it today. There was a man walking a bicycle along the side of the highway, wearing yellow rubber pants, you know the kind with suspenders. It wasn't raining and the roads were not wet. He was carrying a couple of shopping bags with stuff in them. All I could think of is MAN it must be uncomfortable and HOT riding that bicycle in rubber pants.

Then there was the twitching kitty...awww...I wanted to cry, I swear. I came along a kitty in the middle of the road that had just been hit and was in convulsions. It truly freaked me out, as well as saddened me. I wanted to stop and pick it up, but in 5 lanes of busy traffic in an industrial town where 18 wheel trucks number high, I wasn't about to join said kitty in her despair. It was a calico, just like my own kitty. Of course when I got home I scooped the resident feline up and smothered her with affection. I can't get the image of that twitching kitty out of my head though...

the resident feline - Via...ain't she cute? I'm so glad I keep her inside! 

Sniff, Snort, COUGH, Hack

Gawd, I hate being sick. Just when I thought this stupid cold of mine that I picked up in Halifax last week was easing back...its back full force today. I am tired of all the sniffing, snorting, hacking, coughing...I swear I have used a two boxes of tissues already. The cough medicine I use is disgusting and its not even Buckley's. It works, which is the point, but I gag while taking it. I have eaten my weight in candy and cough drops in an effort to stifle my cacking. I have surely coughed over every surface in my house and office, despite my feeble attempts to cover my mouth, but when one is in the throes of a coughing and sputtering fit where lung tissue is brought forth, it ain't easy.

And then there is the RASP in my throat that never seems to go away. I have asthma, and the puffers just ain't doin' it for me. So each breath, no matter how much I gag and cough, are tempered with a little rattle and rasp. Great. Just what I need. And I am SOOOO tired. Its hard to believe I once had a sleeping issue...I put my head down on the pillow of the sofa yesterday for what I thought would be my usual 10-15 minute cat naps and woke about 5 hours later...WTF? So THATS when I knew my cold was on ROUND TWO. I have never been able to nap that long.

Oh, and since I have been sick and tired, or tired and sick, those pesky body jerks are more pronounced...I think my coworkers will soon catch me at it...most of the time I can try to turn it into a shift in position, but when one's head snaps sharply to the right and left foot shoots out to the right...it ain't always easy....sigh.

Nothing Like a Barbecue

Yesterday REALLY marked spring for me - I bought a new barbecue and we had our first of the season, complete with potato salad and grilled pork chops....YUM! Of course, it wasn't without incident...

Began shopping for the barbecue grill in the morning - first stop was Wal-Mart, of course...saw a really nice one for $129 with a blue hood on it, made out of what seemed like porcelain on steel/case aluminum, whatever...it was purty...but then I spotted one almost as nice for $79 so kept that in mind. We checked out grills at Crappy Tire Canadian Tire but saw nothing under $200 there, so back to Wal-Mart it was. Waited for about 20 minutes for someone to come with a cart to take it to the cash for me as it wouldn't fit in the shopping carts. A much older gentleman who usually works the garden centre in the summer helped me out, nice fella, and as I went to lug off the new tank, he let me know that Wal-Mart actually sells new tanks that have already been purged and filled - BONUS! so I bought one of them instead, and it saved me another trip.

Got the BBQ home and delegated my father the responsibility of putting it together, informing him there was to be no supper until it was assembled as supper was relying on the BBQ...and if anyone knows my father, this is the ultimate motivation to get things moving along. WELL, I don't know if the book had issues or my father but that poor BBQ was assembled and unassembled (?) 3 times until it was put together properly....and he lost as screw. Thankfully I still had my old portable one and we punked a screw off that one and it fit perfectly...voila!

Then I had to light the grill for a bit to burn off the factory smell and all that...went to check the grill after a bit and it was topping out at 650C...eek! S0 I thought I had best turn it down a little before throwing on the chops...put on the chops, they stuck to the new grill (forgot to oil it!) and got them ripped off without too much damage, and went in the house for a minute to check on mushrooms and onions on the stove and during that minute to 90 seconds, my pork chops took it upon themselves to BURN. Dammit. I'm not used to this much grill power! I have used a portable table-top grill for so many years, and having to wait for nearly 30 minutes to cook the damn things. Managed to cook the chops on both sides, with 5 of the 7 burnt crispy...which incidentally, my mother LOVES and ate nearly two full blackened chops...YUCK, but her favorite part.

All incidents aside, t'was a lovely barbecue...now it feels like SPRING!

Sunny Saturdays

Well, FINALLY it has warmed and dried up here...the temperature yesterday reached a whopping 8C, ha ha ha. Today is beautiful and sunny as well. Having said that, it looks like it will be raining for most of the week beginning on Monday, but I am OKAY with that. I don't have to shovel rain, and I found out that my sump pump works...

My parents are here for a few days again, although the condition of my house is somewhat less than spotless due to my infirm nature this week as I cough up a lung struggle with a nasty cold. And they are sure to point it out to me. Last week when I saw them at my brother's house, my dad mentioned that it was about time I vacuumed my car. Um, what were you doing in my car? He is right though, I put about 4000 kms on my car in March patrolling for cute hitchhikers so there was a lot of eating done in there and it gets messy...now that I have a sunny day, I wonder if he will volunteer to vacuum my car for me...

My mom and I will likely head into town to do some shopping today - she lives in a tiny outport where there is just one store and no road to Wal-Mart (so deprived). She has already been out clothes shopping on the way across the province. She is a Cotton Ginny freak like I am and bought a bundle there. About 75% of what is in my closet came from that store, I just LOVE their clothes.

Time to do battle with the flies again...

Thar she BLOWS

So I got up this morning to just a dusting of snow on the ground...I think the rest blew away...phew! Cheticamp was not as lucky. Drove up there today with M. for work and they hadn't even begun to plow out their mess...I had to drive through and OVER snow drifts today, and through so much slush...not to mention the WIND! There was les suetes warning out today and Cape Breton sure got it. My car almost blew off the road a few times...WHOOSH. A truck did overturn on the Seal Island Bridge today and is still blocking traffic to Sydney...thankfully I didn't have to go in that direction today! I am driving there tomorrow, but plan to take another route...

It's still blowing a living gale here now, but I'm home and don't care anymore. Me and the resident feline are in for the night for our favorite night of television.

OK, ENOUGH ALREADY!

Well, the weather is sure to drive me right off the causeway and into the ocean for sure. Yesterday it began to rain, which is great...then poured...still great...then the heavens opened up...still loving it...then I went to bed and in the quiet of the house heard a motor running...WTF? Turns out its the sump pump and it cut in about every 45 SECONDS!!! I timed it. I never lived in a house that had one, so when it began running, I didn't know what the hell was going on. So the sump pump ran ALL NIGHT and roomie nor I got much sleep...even after ear plugs, the iron bed I slept on picked up the vibrations all night....and I thought a vibrating bed was going to be more enjoyable than this...

So it rains all day...fine...good riddance to icky snow blobs all over the place, covered in dirt. M. and I were off to Antigonish for some shopping and before we left to come back, the snow began...drove through a storm to get home, gale of wind, snow on the road. WTF??? I guess it is March's last kick in the ass. If I have to get up and shovel tomorrow morning, I think I will drive my car off the causeway...

Return of the FLY

ok, what in the hell is up with all the flies in my house??? I should have known something was up when I moved in - there were two fly swatters, very well worn. I moved here in June, so didn't see many and the windows were all open anyhow. Now my windows are all closed with plastic on them to keep out the winter drafts and the damn flies are bouncing and pinging off of that...I was away for the weekend and there must be a hundred or more dead ones on the floor...I am beginning to feel like I am in the Amityville Horror...except without the blood oozing from the walls...

WTF

well, I was surfing for porn blog explosion while watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...what a weird friggin movie! I ended up turning it off as Johnny Depp was just annoying. Perhaps I was not stoned enough in the right frame of mind for it, who knows

I went to sell my soul have my tarot cards read yesterday with the kid...hers was bang on and mine left me disappointed. He asked us each to think of a question and not tell him while he read, then you reveal the question in mind. I wanted to know if I would meet another mate, although I was pushing a question out of my mind - what is next for me in my life...so he told me I needed to get a life and while I'm busy finally living live, I will meet someone, but not too soon...so it looks like no prospects in the near future, if I can believe what he said. He made us tapes to listen to again later, to see if it makes any sense.

tonight is a trip to the theatre for a movie...if we can agree on one that is...

Dare I say it is SPRING???

well holy shit, I think spring is finally here! The sun is out, the air is warm and its Easter! I can't wait to get out and enjoy the day...feels like hammock time...heh heheh

Goodbye to Crappy Jobs

inspired by someone I forgot to blogmark on blog explosion is the newest "list" of mine...crappy jobs once held by me...in some semblance of chronological order

1. pin setter - sure...a few quarters to dodge bowling balls to set pins...was also child labour, as I think I might have been 6 or 7 at the time
2. short-order cook at the snack bar (on the military base I lived) - lots of opportunity to meet servicemen! I dated two real nice fellas I met there, Chris and Raoul who were US military guys...downside - GREASE, GREASE, GREASE and being worked off my feet during an exercise where 2000 guys showed up on the base and not everyone is enthralled with mess hall food, so came to the snack bar
3. cashier/floor clerk at the Canex (military base store) - slave labour. $3.85 an hour which was less than minimum wage and snotty major's wives who thought I worked for THEM. Bitches.
4. cashier at Sunoco in Mississauga - worked with a stupid idiot everyday for low pay and kept missing the bus as they stopped running about the same time I got off work
5. cashier at a Gulf gas station - so busy I nearly pissed in my pants from lack of breaks
6. working on the roads in outport Newfoundland - half decent pay for hard labour...manageable if I didn't have to work with my self-righteous sister-in-law who lived with a black cloud over her head...quit after two days...that was enough of THAT.
7. cleaning apartments on campus for good pay - the filth that I encountered made me sick daily...roaches, grease, moldy food and dishes, you name it...and all in apartments rented by educated people, mostly foreigners...disgusting work
8. waitress/short order cook at the on-campus bar - grease, grease, and more grease for shitty pay catering to the masses, some of which were attending on daddy's dollar so whined about everything
9. security guard - BORING and tiring as most shifts were overnights...upside - working with trained dogs (dobermans and german shepards) for crappy pay
10. stock-taking for crappy pay and horrible hours and an asshole for a boss who granted no breaks - left that one pretty fast after telling the boss he was an asshole
11. prep-cook for East Side Marios - worked to death for 3 times the hours I signed up for...and I also nearly broke my hand in the dough mixer - had to go to hospital
12. research assistant for and English professor - good pay but the driest of the dry work...hard to keep from nodding off and he was so pretentious and self-righteous that during my last term with him, we mutually agreed I couldn't work for him any longer

I'm sure there are others...that was traumatic enough for my memory...thankfully I now work as a social worker in a job that I enjoy for much better pay...I have EARNED it.

Hip Hop and other random thoughts

ok, its Easter...bring on the chocolate! I was at the zoo this morning, aka Wal-Mart...thankfully they were very well stocked...now that I'm in the city for the weekend, I'm not used to store shelves being this well stocked...in the small town where I live, our Wal-Mart is pathetic during the holidays...when it's out, its out and no one replaces it. So I got the goods and headed back home again to sew up some Easter bunny pyjama pants for the kid. So far I have the pattern cut out...whew...ha ha...anyone who knows me, knows I can whip them up in no time. I forgot my friggin sewing kit though, so only have a little thread and dammit I can't justify buying MORE thread when I have about 10 miles of it at home...so I will get her pants done and possibly a pair for myself.

This afternoon after I pick the kid up from work, we are going to a little shop called Little Mysteries Books to have our tarot cards read...the kid has never had them read before so this should be interesting! I have had mine read a few times, and for the most part they were good readings, but interesting to go to a perfect stranger. All reports say "Steve" is a good reader. In any case, we just wanted to do something different and fun this weekend now that she has pretty much grown out of any other Easter traditions like searching for eggs...

meanwhile, back in the sweatshop...there are easter bunny pants waiting to come to fruition...

my daughter had a similar pose when she was just 2 days old...I should have known... 

this looks like something MY friends would pull on me if I passed out at a party...heh heh... 

this cracks me up everytime I see it... 

Where in the Hell is Spring???

Ok, I have had it! Where is spring? I want it NOW! It snowed again here today, and calling for more tonight. NOT FAIR NOT FAIR NOT FAIR! Sunday was the first day of spring and it was FREEZING out that day. My friend M. and I went for a walk with her dog and darn near perished (of course I am exaggerating). I want spring days where the sun is warm on my face, the water is running from the snow melt, and little children are out playing with skipping ropes...ok, I have gone one step too far...little kids are inside playing Game Cube or building websites...sad, I think. I remember the spring days of my youth...it always meant a new skipping rope, you know the kind - either pink or light orange rubber with a white and pink (or light orange) striped handle. We would tie them together often to make a long one, or to tie someone up...heh heh...we also got a new ball, the "pepsi" ball that was red, white, and blue...and I always had a little chunk taken out of mine before too long. I also remember playing marbles in the spring, and getting new ones in a velvet bag. love those big ones. Remember digging little holes in the dirt for them to roll into. I don't even remember the rules anymore, but I remember having a lot of fun, playing on the side of the street, where the little green and yellow weeds would poke through and we'd hit them with marbles.

See, now I am in the mood for spring but its not here yet!

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain...

Well Stand Me Up And Call Me Luggage

As if SB (stupid bitch) and EX (ex-husband) didn't already have enough going on to concern me, the non-resident teen was chatting with SB's adopted teenage daughter last night(who was over visiting) and she spilled the beans on her mom. If you want more background, see the archives and look for the post on March 7, 2004 - The Incredible Life of My Ex-Husband.

So during the chat, SB's daughter informs NRT that SB has no driver's license. She hasn't for many years. It had been permanently revoked...PERMANENTLY??? This stupid bitch has been driving my daughter around for the past few years along with EX and her daughter, EX's daughter from first marriage and little grandchild. I was PISSED to say the least. It had to be nasty to lose your license for life...I wonder what she did. Then SB's daughter coughs up that SB has been driving drunk for years and case in point - EX called NRT last night from a party they were at, and both were loaded drunk. They then LEFT the party, with SB driving. OK. enough is enough, I will be having a little CHAT with some RCMP friends of mine tomorrow. This woman is a menace and I would feel really stupid if something happened to her daughter or EX. NRT has resolved to never get in the car again, thank goodness. She's nearly 19 now, so I can't "forbid" her, but thankfully she has good sense. And she had just been in their car last week.

Stupid Bitch has earned her name, no doubt in my mind.

Like a Bag 'O Hammers

Went to Halifax yesterday with a friend/co-worker to do some work/play/shopping. Spent far too much money, but par for the course...get a little extra in my pocket and I have to SPEND it. Anyhow, there we are in the Atlantic Superstore in Antigonish on the way home to Cape Breton, and my friend M. is walking towards something, so I look at what she's looking at, not seeing the flat pallet on the floor (empty) and trip over it, going down like a bag of hammers...an elephant charge couldn't have made more noise...I skinned over my knee and arm, and there are sure to be bruises in the morning. The most noise came from my palms I think, smucking the pallet (it was covered in cardboard). Everyone came running...I just felt like a complete tool and slunk off into the back of the store. I could have been a bitch and complained LOUDLY to the staff, but instead, mumbled to M. "great way to treat your customers, trip them" and was on my way.

But I bought a cool pop-up hamper before I left!

Had some good Chinese food today - certainly glad THIS wasn't MY fortune! Actually what I got was "You constantly struggle for self improvement" - hmmm. 

Think Good Thoughts

I picked this list from an e-mail sent to me by a friend (Tammy) and wanted to rename it simply Good Thoughts. I've altered a few of them, and highlighted ones that give me special pleasure based on my own experiences with them...so when you're feeling low and want something good to think about, or when your mind wanders and you're obsessing about your problems, refer to this list and I'm sure you will find at least one thing that brings a warm glow, little smile, or fond memory.

• Fresh-picked corn, barely steamed and dripping with butter.
• The smell of the air as you approach the ocean shore.

• Sheets dried in the sun.
• A kiss from your child when their friends are around.
• A girlfriend/boyfriend who listens.
• Strong arms wrapped around you.
• The purring of your cat curled up in your lap.
• Knowing that you have made a difference in someone’s life.
• Husbands who cook.
• Feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.
• Your daily chat with a loved one.
• The deep silence of an empty church.
• Giggles.
• Secrets told to you in strict confidence by your teenage daughter. (although they are sometimes pretty scary)
• Losing even one pound.
• A call from someone just to say “I love you.”
• Someone asking ”how are you?” and really caring about the answer.
• Comfortable shoes. (run Forrest, RUN!)
• Sitting in a field picking and eating strawberries.
• New crayons.
• Forgiveness.
• Touching feet in bed with your husband in bed.
• A still lake at dusk.
• The scent of your baby’s skin.
• Someone saying you did a good job.
• The aromas wafting from your mother’s kitchen at Thanksgiving.
• The guts to say you’re sorry.
• Slipping under fresh sheets after a warm bath.
• Laughing out loud.
• Express checkout lines.
• First light on an empty beach.
• Listening to a child read his first book by himself.
• Favorite old songs on the radio.
• A full moon on a clear night.
• The scent of your husband’s undershirt. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)
• Sitting outside on a summer evening watching fireflies.
• A letter from your best friend.
• A place to call home.
• The conspiratorial twinkle in your child’s eyes when you share a private joke.
• The sound of rain falling on the roof.
• Chocolate.
• A down comforter on a cold winter night.
• Gentle Men.
• A favorite chair.
• Your dog’s welcoming bark as you turn your key in the door.
• A child’s head resting on your shoulder.
• The quiet after a snowfall.
• Wide hips. (OH we know what that means...)
• The wisdom of children.
• The deep, fresh smell of damp earth in a pine forest.
• The morning stillness of your home before anyone else has awakened.

• Unconditional love.

Snow Woes and Pros

Well, whether I like it or not, winter has reared its white head again. We received about 30 cms of snow again last night (12 inches for the yanks) and it looks like December all over again. So I have some woes and pros for this new development...

Woes:

- just when I thought winter was over, we have a fresh new batch of snow

- I can't find my f-ing wind pants so must shovel in just my bare pants

- the wind is raw and I am freezing in my bare pants

- I went outside directly after a shower and my hair froze to my head

Pros:

- my snow fairy is still plowing my looonnng driveway for free before I even rise in the morning

- my horse-owning neighbor has been out for sleighrides today with Darby the horse and I was invited to take a turn in the meadow...whoo hoo! It was a lovely ride, and I hadn't been on one in years!

- Once the wind calms down again, it might even be nice for another snowshoe.

- the snow as light as feathers and took nearly no sweat or backbreaking at all.

- my friend Mel found my wind pants and is going to bring them to me

Intense Saturdays

Well, along with the usual sloth that accompanies Saturday for me, I also began reading Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search For Meaning and then while checking out the movies for tonight, I came across the movie, The Pianist. I hadn't seen it before and thought it would bring more meaning to the book I was reading. If you hadn't read the book before, it's about psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's own experience in a concentration camp during the war. The Pianist is about renowned pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's own ordeal during the war, successfully evading concentration camps, working in a German Work Camp in Warsaw, then hiding out until liberation.

Through both mediums I indulged in today, I was humbled. Here I sit in my own home (rental, but secure) surrounded by tons of my own things, a full kitchen, heat, among other luxuries. I realize that I throw out more food than they survived on. I don't know what to do about my humility, but I am certainly grateful for my good fortune, even if it doesn't seem like a fortune at times when I am "broke". Watching the movie, reading the book - I realize there is a different meaning for poor than I am ever used to. Boy, are we lucky.

Ode to a Tatoo

thanks to Cosmo-Tini at Failed Southern Lady for the inspiration of my next post...my tatoo. It's not as interesting as her story, but is a story nonetheless. It was the summer of 1982 when I was dating Joey, a real rough around the edges sweetie. He had a hard life, and I got to know his dad and step-mom really well, and remained friends for years after. Anyhow, Joey had a tattoo of an arrow on the top of his hand, between his fingers and thumb. His friends also had one and I was very envious. Back then, few teenagers actually had tatoos, and girls were a rarity. Now it seems every teenager has one on their ass, ankle, breast and shoulder. So I wanted one, and penned one in for a while to see if I would like it. I did. Their tattoos were not professionally done, so one late night at Adrian's house we decided to have a go at it. His younger brother Cecil got out the india ink, a needle and thread.

I didn't need any numbing because I was already pretty out of it. I was 16 and thought I was invincible! He wrapped the needle in thread and dipped it into the ink, and off Cecil went...he was also pretty out of it and made a bit of a mess of it. All the guys were watching intently, in shock that a girl would get that tatoo. So I felt pretty cool, and it was a great night.

My mother kept telling me to wash it off and then I had to break down and tell her it was a tatoo. My entire adolescence was all about shocking them, so while she flipped out, it was just something else to shake their head over.

Now here I am, 20+ years later and I look at the tatoo and can't imagine not having it. It hasn't really faded and while I have toyed with the idea of turning it into something else, I am quite attached to it. My daughter is also attached to it and I recall a conversation we had about it a few years ago as she began tatooing her body - she didn't want me to do anything with it because she felt it was part of my identity. Because it's on my hand, I can't really hide it when working or meeting new people. Most of the time I forget that its there, I'm so used to it.

So here I sit, thinking of my next tatoo and remembering the last...it was so many years ago. To be 16 again!

Is it Spring Yet???

Well, just when I have been fooled into thinking spring is around the corner, we get word that a storm is coming tomorrow. Great. Just when I was polishing up the ol' bbq...actually, when I was digging the cover out of the snowbank. Most of our snow is gone now and its been somewhat mild, so was hoping the worst of winter was over, not that it was even that bad of a winter. But I am DONE with it! whine, whine. So I stocked up tonight before coming home (out in the country) so hopefully I will be able to stay home all weekend until its cleaned up again by Monday. I'm on call, so who the hell knows...

How to lose a tooth...

otherwise known as ROCK CANDY. I had bought some at the Candy Store in Arichat for Valentine's Day and when the resident teen came home, I was going to give it to her. I had purchased two sticks of rock candy - chunky crystal like colored candy on a little wooden stick. I couldn't find it when she was here and I looked EVERYWHERE. I couldn't figure out what in the hell happened to the friggin candy. Then today when I was browsing the cupboards (nearly a month later) I found them - in a white paper bag, in the cupboard, next to the pasta. WTF was I thinking? I have no idea why I ever put them up there. I usually take stuff like that and poke it in my bedroom somewhere...anyhow, now I am munching on the rock candy and holy shit it's hard stuff! I am not much of a candy eater, but although I was fearful of my teeth, I CHOMPED right in...

Hey, it's me! Trekking through our snow of the past... 

missing in action

that's what happens when my parents come to visit...I worked myself into one big muscle ache on Saturday, cleaning and preparing for their visit. Hadn't seen them since the fall of 2003, and they had not been to my current home so it had to sparkle, lol. They arrived on Sunday morning, around 8am direct from the ferry that got in at 6am. Yesterday we hung out, watched some movies, and basically ate our way through the day. I took my mom next door to visit with the neighbor horse, where he nibbled carrots off her palm. Today I whooped my mother at cards, then my dad and I went for a walk in the woods, but the snow was crusty and we fell through more times than not, making for a tricky walk. We had 4 deer in the back yard today, early morning. After the walk, my parents and I played cards, where my mother whooped the both of us...

Tonight, more movies and of course...CURLING. Yesterday was also a few hours of CURLING. Oh, and this afternoon included CURLING. did I mention curling? I don't particularly like curling...actually, I really DON'T like it. I can't stand all the yelling - SWEEP! HARDER! GO! So much pressure...

Anyhow, good news in the past few days - my daughter got a new job at a fruit store and she starts tomorrow...no more greasy fries and burgers!!! Way to go kiddo...now how about a discount...

Whimper...Whine...

Oh how I hurt - let me count the ways. You'd think I have just completed a triathalon...you would be wrong. I cleaned my house from top to bottom today. It wasn't filthy, but many things had not been done for some time...some not since I moved in here (sweeping the basement stairs!) so now the house looks good for my parent's visit tomorrow...but I can hardly move. I used to have the stamina for this stuff when I was in my twenties...now time has stomped on me and wear out easy. If I'm like this at the ripe old age of 38, I will be immobile by 50.

Time for another drink...

The White Glove Test

Yup, my mother is coming to visit tomorrow with dad. She may be legally blind but you can bet she will spot dirt, especially in the home of one of her children. So today is all about CLEANING. I also had to clean and tidy the basement, my father's domain as he likes to "putter". So far I have stripped the bed for them, tidied my bedroom and the spare (where I will be hanging out), done all the dishes (with my roomie), and am halfway through the bathroom. It has to sparkle. I still have to herd up all the dust bunnies and dust MONSTERS and then wash all the floors. I don't have any carpeting, so this will be a large task! I should also freshen up the fishtank (small amount of algae there) and make sure all my plants are watered. Most of them came from my mother and she will be driving her finger in each and every one to check and see that I have not been neglectful. I should be sure to hide the ones that are not doing so well, heh heh...

The last I will do is DUST the living room. It accumulates and doesn't really bother me that much, but she will find it. I know I should just let my parents see my house as is, but this pressure gives me the motivation to finally clean it up well as I have been slacking off a bit. I too like a nice clean house. It will soon be time to start drinking...

Test of Time

Test of Time - thanks to Hairy Hoser

X & Bold the ones you've done:

( ) snuck out of the house - oddly enough, never attempted

( ) gotten lost in your city - no, but plenty in other people's cities

(X) saw a shooting star - great show of the perseids last August - me and roomie, laying on a sleeping bag in the pasture, watching them fly by...then we heard coyotes and got nervous...

(X) been to any other countries besides the United States

(X) had a serious surgery (DNC count?)

(X) gone out in public in your pajamas - hell yeah, to classes all the time, to the store, to the mall, to the movie store...the list goes on

(X) kissed a stranger

(X) hugged a stranger

(X) been in a fist fight - in high school

( ) been arrested

(X) done drugs - I ain't naming them

(X) had alcohol

(X) laughed and had milk/coke come out of your nose

(X) pushed all the buttons on an elevator

(X) made out in an elevator

( ) slept in an elevator

(X) swore at your parents

(X) kicked a guy where it hurts.

(X) been in love

(X) been close to love

( ) been to a casino

( ) been skydiving

(X) broken a bone - toes, arm x2

(X) been high

(X) skinny-dipped

(X) skipped school - hell yeah

(X) flashed someone

(X) saw a therapist

(X) done the splits - its been MANY years

(X) played spin the bottle - come on grade 7 parties at Timmy Hurley's, or Steve's

(X) gotten stitches - eye, twice (as a child) and my hand (BSW placement)

(X) had an IV

( ) drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour

(X) bitten someone - my daughter - she bit me first though

(X) been to Niagara Falls - numerous times, last time in 2002

(X) gotten the chicken pox

(X) kissed a member of the opposite sex

(X) kissed a member of the same sex - there's that spin the bottle game again

( ) crashed into a friend's car

( ) been to Japan

(X) ridden in a taxi

(X) been dumped

(X) shoplifted

(X) been fired - yes, by some dumbass english prof at UW...worked for him for 4 terms and during the 5th, he hired a new assistant and we DID NOT see eye to eye...so he fired me. Just as well, I got a much better job the same day.

( ) had a crush on someone of the same sex

(X) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back

(X) stole something from your job - you mean we can't take those pens and notepads home?

(X) gone on a blind date - too many, almost all losers.

(X) lied to a friend - only if telling the truth would hurt their feelings - small stuff, like you look fat in that skirt...

(X) had a crush on a teacher - does a TA count in uni?

( ) celebrated mardi-gras in new orleans

(X) been to Europe - twice

( ) slept with a co-worker

(X) been married

(X) gotten divorced

(X) had children

(X) saw someone die - at my side while giving CPR

( ) been to Africa

(X) Driven over 400 miles in one day - hell yeah, drove from one end of Canada to the other, averaging 1100 kms a day from Waterloo to BC, and from Waterloo to Cape Breton by driving 21 hours straight.

(X) Been to Canada (almost every day of my life!)

( ) Been to Mexico - not but been to Guatemala and Belize

(X) Been on a plane - both commercial and military

( ) Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show

( ) Thrown up in a bar

( ) Purposely set a part of yourself on fire

( ) Eaten Sushi

( ) Been snowboarding

(X) Met someone in person from the internet - tons...many of my LINK friends from uni and several blind dates

( ) Been moshing at a rock show

( ) Cut yourself on purpose

( ) Been to a moto cross show

(X) lost a child - if miscarriage at 14 weeks counts

(X) gone to college

(X) graduated college - 3 times - BA '99, and '01; BSW in 2002

(X) done hard drugs - many moons ago I had quite an acid trip, or 2, or 3...

(X) tried killing yourself

(X) taken painkillers

(X) love someone or miss someone right now - will always miss my little girl...she's going to be 19 this summer...

Finger and Hand Gestures

Bet you thought it included the middle finger...you would be wrong. I was on the road most of the day today and people are so friend here in Cape Breton that wherever you go, someone will raise a hand, a few fingers, you know, like when you steer with your hand on the top of the wheel and lift your index and middle finger, possible a third. Most people do it because they assume that they know you, as the towns are all small-town and they do know everyone that lives there, however when I travel there for work, they generally don't know me, and so I will often wave back...heh hehe...and sometimes I wave to everyone, whether they wave or not just to confuse them...its rather funny looking at the expression on their face when they pass me and realize they have absolutely no idea who I am and they just waved to someone with purple hair.

I had a bandanna over the purple hair today as often it makes me stand out like a sore thumb in some of the remote towns, like Cheticamp. I remember taking another worker with me and she was beginning to get a little paranoid over all the stares...which are pretty normal for me, but they really bothered my co-worker until she realized they were staring at the purple hair...so she relaxed a little, ha ha. Picture it, two unknowns in town in winter (off-season for the many tourists that frequent during the summer) and one has purple hair. I love it!

I hope they all went home today wondering who in the hell waved to them...

Imagine getting off work to shovel this car out. Taken in the parking lot of a call centre (non-telemarketing or I would say they deserve it). These particular ones handle things like airline bookings and stuff like that. 

how's that for some snow! This was taken in St. John's Newfoundland this winter. 

Decisions, Decisions

I think I have finally made one, and since I talked about it out loud, with both my supervisor and executive director, I should probably follow through, ha ha. I am going to go for it - apply for work up north in the fall. My chosen town would be Whitehorse so will try to hold out for that if I can. I won't really begin looking until this summer (the process is usually a couple of months or more) and hope for the best, although if a good opportunity comes by sooner, I may jump at it. I really need to get on top of my student loans before I drown in interest, so that's it. I'm going. And I would like to come back here. I like my house, my job, my coworkers, my living situation...its only the salary that needs work...

wish me luck!

Germaphobic

That would be me. I hate getting sick. More than that, I dislike being around people who are sick, regardless of how sorry I feel that they are sick. I am more afraid of getting sick. And this past few weeks it has been surrounding me at work. Over half of the people there have a cold right now, and some are very miserable with it, and it has been lasting for days. There is barking, coughing, sneezing etc...I have thus far managed to avoid it. It is sure not to last. Although my roommate was the first to get sick, I haven't gotten it from her. Phew!

The last time I was sick, it lasted about 3 weeks...mostly the whole time I was on vacation in BC last fall. Some swear by echineccia or vitamin C supplements. I just swear by staying AWAY. No hugs, kisses, sharing of food.

I can get sick all on my own - pass me the rotten bacon...