My baby girl is like new again

Those of you who know me at all know that my dog is my child. Just like my cat is my child, but my dog I actually got when I was a child, and we have been through a whole lot together. She is 13 1/2, and I love her dearly.

Before we moved, she became very limpy. Her rear leg was sore, and she often favored it making stairs difficult and jumping on furniture impossible (this was part blessing and part depressing development). When the furniture jumping ceased for her, we passed a new law in these here parts of no more dogs on the sofa or the bed, so that the other wee canine didn't get benefits that Gabby couldn't get. We started supplementing her food with glucosamine tablets, which seemed to help quite a bit for a few months, but recently seemed to not be helping at all.

The move brought a lot of anxiety on my part - we have more stairs here then we used to have, and it was increasingly difficult for her to climb them on her own. Doing so involved getting her focused on the task, and ascending at a very steady pace. Any deviation from the pace or any distractions caused her to lose momentum, and then she would usually fall backwards. If we didn't have a hold on the leash or weren't paying attention, she could have toppled all the way down the stairs doing backward somersaults.

One evening we were watching TV in the bedroom and SB thought it would be nice to give the dogs a little treat and let them on the bed. Since Gabby couldn't jump up anymore, he tried to lift her onto the bed, at which point she snapped at him. This was devastating to me, as she is the sweetest, most gentle dog I think I have ever met, so I knew her lashing out like this meant that she was feeling a lot more pain than we realized.

I made an appointment with the vet with a very clear aim in mind. I just wanted to ease her pain. She is far too old for any surgery, or major procedure, but if we could get a medication or another treatment that would help at all, I was ready to try it. SB was concerned about costs, of course, but our vet is fabulous and usually presents tons of options taking cost into consideration. I was concerned she would say surgery was the only option, and then I would be faced with the decision of letting her go on in so much pain, or putting her down.

She told us that Gabby most likely tore a ligament at some point, and then the extra strain caused her cartilage to wear away in that knee. She said surgery was a possibility, but again age was a a concern. I told her that Gabby has led a fabulous life up until now, and I would just be happy if she was not in pain anymore. She suggested several different treatments, one med by injection, one by pill, and another dietary additive we could try. She said that if we did all of these things at once, we would definitely see improvement, but if cost was a concern, we may want to start with one and then trial and error what works best.

We decided on giving her Meloxicam in pill form. I was extremely pleased to find that since her last vet visit, Gabby has lost 10 pounds! That's huge for a dog, and I attribute it to their new holistic diet, because she definitely hasn't been up for any amount of exercise. But, because of this weight loss, we have to cut her pill in half, and then also shave off about 1/5 of that piece to get her the correct dose. We could have given her the liquid form of the medication, but it is 3 times more expensive, and we weren't even sure it would work.

So, away I went with these pills and a limping dog.

Within two days, it was like she was 5 years old again. The limping stopped, and she started a routine of finishing her dinner, then bringing us a toy to throw down the hall for her to chase. If we didn't throw right away she would bark at us until we did. She has an enthusiasm and vigor she hasn't had for years, even before the limping. Now our other dog looks at us like "when is she going to slow down again - I'm exhausted."

I'm pretty sure her joints are weak because I used to run with her on sidewalks when she was young. I didn't know it was bad for people and dogs at the time, so try not to do it, especially with dog breeds prone to joint problems.

Every night I look at SB and proclaim my amazement at how she has changed over the last few weeks. I am so happy that she is feeling like herself again, and can see how happy she is to be feeling better. I also almost started to cry when two nights ago she jumped up on the bed. I let her hang out there for a while.

Cuddle up

I just spent the past half an hour reading through the blogs on my blogrolling list complaining about how people don't update enough. Um, hello, hasn't posted since last week. Mmm, sorry. Ha. ha........ha

I made it through psycho Thanksgiving weekend, with the help of SB and some yummy Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes. MmmmmmMmmmmm. We had two pretty full days on Saturday and Sunday, and were pretty exhausted by the end, but managed to haul ourselves off the island to our friend CHAG's house for yummy Thanksgiving dinner. I had so much fun and was so stuffed with food I almost forgot that I was about to fall asleep in my soup. Then we had to visit a geriatric cat who needs fresh wet food four times a day. I'm not even joking. But she's sweet, and old, so I kinda like spending time with her. It's just not so fun at 11 at night after a big giant dinner.

Monday I went out alone to finish up all the cats and was able to finish my day by 2:30. When I got home, SB had fired up the fire place, and I enjoyed the best nap ever in front of it, with my cat. I cannot recommend this enough after a long six months. Just grab a blanket, get in your pjs, let your cat crawl into that nook your knees make when you crunch your legs up, turn on the fireplace and snooze. I felt like a four year old who passes out in front of the TV after being out sledding all day. This may become a new routine, along with my two hour baths in our big giant tub which include me, bubbles, a book, and an IKEA Optimal glass of wine**.

Also, the Hills was a recap episode last night, so no Hills Tuesday this week. :(


**for those of you out of the loop, the IKEA Optimal wine glass holds about half a bottle of wine. It's pretty fabulous, and efficient when getting up from the table, or out of the tub is just a big old pain in the rear.

When your whole body is constantly saying ugh

I have been feeling a little low lately. I'm not sure why. Ever since we went home for that wedding, I have felt this giant weight on my shoulders. Or on my head. Yes, definitely on my head.

Maybe part of it is that Labor Day was my benchmark for "get a break from work" because our summer months are insanely busy, and I desperately needed a break. But this year I did not get a break. Not even a little one. Yes, we flew home for five days, but along came the laptop and the Blackberry and work, she was being done daily. When I arrived back, suddenly EVERYONE wanted our services and I had client consultations coming out of my eyeballs. New dogs all around. This is all very very good for the business. But timing-wise, I am pooped. Now it is Thanksgiving, and I have to work the whole weekend. I meant to take days off during the week to balance it out a bit, but that didn't happen. And besides, a day off alone is just boring.

Actually, I think that is also a part of the problem. I'm bored. Yes, I'm busy. But things have become a little ho-hum. I get up and have breakfast and coffee while I watch Regis and take all the messages. Then I call everyone back, and send out reply emails. Then I have a group walk or cat visits or whatever is scheduled for my noon time. Then I come back and take the messages again and do more emails. Then it's administrative stuff til five, when the "office" "closes" and I go take a bath. Yesterday I really switched it up and had a run then took a bath. I know, that's just crazy. Would I rather be doing anything else in the whole big wide world besides this job - hell no. But I think I'm a little lonely. And things annoy me really easily, so any unexpected changes to the routine just make me angry.

Or maybe all of these things are just side effects and I am just going a little crazy again. Maybe I should take a trip to the pharmacy and see if feminine hygiene products make me cry.

Something's brewing there....

Wowie The Hills was good this week!

1. Spencer should be brought out and shot. First and foremost, he continues to grow that fugly beard. Also, he convinced Heidi to screw over all the people at work to get this job with more responsibilities and stress, and then he is ticked at Heidi for having to bail on their anniversary dinner because of an emergency. Hey, Pubic Hair Face, the world does not revolve around you. Grow up and get your own job.

2. I thought what Elodie did to Heidi was really low, and professionally pretty stupid, but aw shit I envied her and wished I had had that opportunity at one or two of my old shitty jobs. For those of you who missed or don't watch (who doesn't watch The Hills, though, really?), Heidi screwed over Elodie for a promotion, so this week E decided she quit. On her last day, Heidi approaches her to fill in for her at the Emmy's so she can have an anniversary dinner with Pubic Hair Face. The Emmy's are the day after Elodie's last day. (Don't even get me started on the fact that Heidi is supposedly E's superior and she doesn't even know she's quitting). Elodie says "Yes, anything for you." and promptly doesn't show up. So then Heidi gets the call to get her ass over there, leading to Pubic Hair Face's demon serial killer look of death. In short, Elodie is my hero slash I don't think I would ever hire her.

3. Audrina went off on Lo and Lauren that she is sick of the tension between them and Justin Bobby and that she can't take it anymore, then had a sarcastic rant about how she will just never see him again then to make them happy. Um, honey, your friends may not like Justin Bobby, but they are making a serious effort to be nice to him, while he is making zero effort at all. I don't think they are the ones you should be mad at.

4. Where was my Whitney? Oh, well, carry over from last week's episode - I thought it was absolutely hilarious when they were at the photo shoot and Whitney was predicting how mad Lisa Love was going to be, and then did her Lisa Love imitation: "Whitney....you do not have a future."

5. If Brody Jenner and Lauren don't hook up, I will be seriously pissed. All of this lead up and anticipation is killing me. Unless he comes to MTL to hook up with me instead. Then I wouldn't be so sad.

Digging in to the routine

My sister left this morning after ten days visiting. We had loads of fun - did tons of shopping, mostly, but she was also jonesing for a ton of relaxing so of course I was game for that. However, after all that relaxing I feel completely behind in my work, even though I'm not really, but you know that sinking feeling that you know are forgetting something......

While visiting, my sister took advantage of us. For our cable. She doesn't have cable. I know, I know, I almost asked for a DNA sample to prove we are related before feeding her when she arrived. She says she is not home enough to pay for it, and that she gets free movies from work anyway, so if she will be home she just brings a few with her. Meanwhile I can barely survive 8 hours of sleeping time without TV. It's on constantly - even if I'm not paying attention to it, I like to hear it as background noise. It was especially fun for her that there was a marathon of LA Ink on yesterday.

I've been able to catch a few of the new shows in amongst my routine of old ones, and I have to say I have been overall pretty pleased with the new, and underwhelmed by the favorites. CSI premiere was a little un-forensic, ER was a little too ER not enough character stuff. Law and Order SVU was a bit too dense - they tried to jam a two-part episode into an hour. However, I am totally in love with Dirty Sexy Money (maybe because I have a major hard-on for Peter Krause), and surprisingly charmed by The Big Bang Theory. It was friggin' hilarious. I highly recommend it if you like sarcasm, nerdy humor, and sarcasm. I wasn't impressed at all by Big Shots - in fact I could only make it through about 10 minutes before switching over to Without a Trace. And that is saying a lot, because I could have easily caught the re-run of Without a Trace on Friday night. I'm very sad, because I have also been known to have a hard-on for Michael Vartan. Maybe if I watch it with the sound off or something.

Jason is too devious

The Hills was kinda boring last night, but mostly because after the first five minutes it was kinda predictable.

1. Jason is such an ass. He and Lauren have been hanging out, and not once did he mention he had a girlfriend. He talked about re-hab (Lauren offered to participate in sober outings with him), he talked about needing clothing (Lauren offered to give him back some of the clothing she still had that belonged to him), and he talked about looking for a place (Lauren offered to help him find one). But no mention of a girlfriend. Then suddenly, in his own awkward "trying to be casual" way, he not only mentions that he has a girlfriend, but also that they will be moving in together and that Lauren is invited to the upcoming housewarming so she can meet the girlfriend. I think LC took all this news very very well.

2. Spencer had that fugly beard happening again.

3. Heidi is in full-on wedding planning mode, meanwhile Spencer hasn't even told his parents yet. Jen Bunny is even being skeptical. There was speculation yesterday on Pink is The New Blog that Spencer only proposed to Heidi in the first place to ensure more camera time for them. I would agree.

4. Whitney almost seriously effed up at work, and I was actually really disappointed in her. She should have known that it wasn't appropriate to take the band out before the photo shoot. Do that shit after work is done. Lest your bad-haired boss find out.

5. Jason's new girlfriend seems a little....seventh grade. There is one point when she deliberately interrupts LC and Jason and practically jumps him, then moves between him and Lauren and gives Lauren a "Bitch Step Off" look. Does she even know that Lauren and Jason have been hanging out all this time ALONE??? I love how when Jason asks what Lauren thinks of Katja, Lauren refrains from saying "she's a bitch/slut/rude-assed ho", and instead gets right to the point "I think you're being an idiot". Then she tells him he is rushing it wayyyy too fast. That is definitely the safe route. Because he is being an idiot. And maybe Katja only looks like a bitch/slut/rude-assed ho.

What to do, what to do

My sister is coming today!

so exciting!

What have I planned for her during her ten day sejour at my casa?

Nothing.

I have been too busy to even call her this week. So far I know I am picking her up in three hours at the airport, and then maybe we will go to the grocery store. Wooohooooo!!!

A few weeks ago when I went to NB, I saw my sister for like 3.7 seconds, and then she took off to Indiana for work. Before that, I hadn't seen her for a year and a half. You would think we might have some kind of list of stuff we want to do together, but, no, we do not. I know we will definitely do some shopping, because I have been saving my birthday money for two whole months so I could spend it while she's here. I thought we might join the 7 billion other Canadians flocking to the US to do some shopping. And next Saturday is my university's homecoming football game, so I think we will get SB to drive us and we will drink beer all day while screaming obscenities at no one in particular.

I highly doubt that my strict day-off schedule of pyjama-lounging and Facebook Scrabulous would leave her with a very satisfying vacation, so if you have any suggestions, please, let me know.

One day early - SO THERE

The Hills was awesome tonight and actually had me yelling aloud "Holy Crap!"

1. I was actually getting used to the idea of having Lauren and Jason possibly getting back together, and I was totally falling for their relationship tonight when they went through the whole public harassment from Spencer and Heidi. But then, on the preview for next week Jason reveals that he has a girlfriend, is moving in with her, and THEN at the housewarming they get engaged. Poor Lauren!

2. PLEASE!!! FOR THE LOVE OF PETE - I NEED MORE WHITNEY!!!

3. I was very disappointed to see that Audrina and Justin Bobby are officially boyfriend and girlfriend. I was not disappointed that I didn't actually have to look at Justin Bobby tonight.

4. What the hell is with Heidi and Spencer? Near the end of the episode she's talking about how they sent a drink over to try and smooth things over a little, but the whole time they were there they were making snide comments about sex tapes, and then instead of just sending over one of whatever they were each having they sent water and a Shirley Temple. That's kinda rude. Plus, I am not a big fan of people who can't take a hint and just leave the situation alone. Either she has amnesia, wants to fake being a nice person, or genuinely has deluded herself into thinking she was trying to be nice.

5. If I can't have more Whitney, then I will take more Elodie any day! After she called Heidi on being such a tool I yelled "Ho Ho Holy Crap!!!" at the television. She fell just short of saying "Lauren hates you and you don't know why, Audrina hates you and you don't know why, Whitney hates you and you don't know why - maybe you should take a look at yourself, because you seem to be the problem..." I hope this plotline gets developed further!

**Last minute edit:
On The Hills Aftershow, Elodie just said "If anyone ever asked to marry me and gave me an amethyst, I would punch them in the face."
I am loving that girl more by the minute!

A nightmare

Last night I had a dream that I was pregnant, and then gave birth. I was sitting at a table with a bunch of other ladies and we were taking a chemistry class. Everyone was pregnant, and suddenly I was like "excuse me, may we deliver my baby now" and then 10 seconds later I was climbing onto a bed in another room and giving birth.

In the dream I was not that happy about giving birth, and was particularly annoyed that my doctor in the dream was my real-life vet, and also that the nurse got me to lay on my stomach to give birth (?????). Then I was annoyed that the baby was a boy. However, I was less annoyed that the doctor, to make my trip home more convenient, put my baby in an easy-to-carry paint can.

The lower end of our expectations of disaster

Upon arriving back in town, I called our employee who had been caring for our terrors to let her know we were on land, safely, and to thank her.

"Hi, it's me. We're back safely"

"did you get the dryer to work?"

"Huh?"

We hadn't been home yet, and apparently the dryer was broken. To understand why this is funny, you must have a little background info.

This girl, let's call her X, has the worst luck of anyone I have ever met in my whole life. Even worse than my luck, so between the two of us, I'm surprised this business hasn't been run into the ground by now. Her cell phone is always broken. One time I tried to contact her, and she called me from a client's house "sorry, but when I was getting off the bus this morning the coffee I had in my pocket spilled and my cell phone got wet." What?

Once she went away for a long weekend and on the way home Monday morning their car broke down.

Then she went to NYC for a trade show and her flight got delayed from like 10pm til 7am the next day. Then there came a tornado to NYC. And flooding in Brooklyn. And X's plane got hit by lightening. It was on CNN. Upon landing, her travelling companion had filled out customs form incorrectly which subsequently landed them in Customs Hell for five hours.

A few weeks later she went to Vegas. Her flights were okay, but the day after she left I heard SB call out from the living room, "I think X arrived in Vegas." Why? "There's some flash floods just outside the city. Cars are floating away..."

And don't even get me started on how many of her bikes have been stolen, and the bike accident she got into 24 hours before our departure for the wedding.

But she is great, we love her, so we accept the deadly forcefield that surrounds her and keep our fingers crossed that things don't go too wrong.

When we arrived home, Charlie had explosive diarrhea. All over the living room. Then again in the night. This was I'm sure none of X's doing, because Gabby was perfectly healthy, I just think Charlie has a nervous stomach. He's fine now.

But the dryer seemed fried. When you pressed the button, it just made a WWWrrrr noise, like the motor was trying to go, but had no juice. I started pricing new ones, while SB cleaned up diarrhea. Then SB got in there and started taking it all apart. I was nervous. Nervous that either it wasn't that broken and he would wreck it, or that he would get electrocuted. Neither of these happened.

I am happy to report that SB fixed the dryer. Know what was wrong? Someone jammed the lint trap in and pushed a sock in there with it. And then the sock got eaten by the motor. Literally eaten. Big holes in it. It was probably me or SB doing laundry before we left, not paying attention. I'm glad that we don't have to get a new one. I'm sad my sock is toast.

Two days late....but I was on VACATION

Highlights from this week's episode of The Hills:

1. What the hell was with Lauren's date from Jersey? Did she look like the kind of girl who would be impressed by 40 cent t-shirts? I totally would be, but for crying out loud she works at Teen Vogue. And is from Laguna Beach. The last time she spent 40 cents on something was....never.

2. Why can't Jason stay out of the picture? I know we are supposed to hate him, but it's hard when we don't know the details of why they broke up. And he finally shaved, and got a haircut, so now he's super cute. I feel confused....

3. Audrina has the weirdest taste in boys ever. Justin Bobby is so dirty, I can't believe she would let her crotch touch the same motorcycle seat as his let alone hook up with him.

4. I WANT MORE WHITNEY!!!

5. Heidi is going straight to hell, and if I were Elodie I would start compiling dirt about her now so as to get her canned. I also love that every time she (Heidi) talks about Lauren, she gets this look on her face. You can totally tell she is ready to cry, but then she makes this really gross expression and tries to pretend she doesn't care.

Discuss.

Back!!!

Well hello there. Sorry for the absence, but I have been away. That's right. Off the island. Out of the province, even. I know, the insanity of it.

Two of our very dear friends made the jump to matrimony this past weekend, and we were lucky enough to be able to attend. The wedding was held in Digby, Nova Scotia, so we decided to meld the trip with a quick visit home to visit the fam.

I had a few trepidations about travelling (okay, billions of them).

1) our pets. This is the first time ever we have flown home, normally we drive and bring the brood along with us. But, this time we had one of our employees stay at the house to care for them. I know they love her, and obviously if she works for us I know she is more than competent and trustworthy, but for some reason I had anxiety. Oddly enough, though, once on the plane I rarely thought of them until we returned.

2) our business. Even though I brought the work computer and my Blackberry, I was still worried something terrible would happen and I would be out of touch. I tried to keep the work to a minimum, and only replied to emergencies of our regular clients, but I still felt like I didn't really get a break. However, I doubt I would have felt better if I was completely out of touch and had no clue at all what was going on. In fact, I think that would have driven me batty.

3) timing for the wedding. We landed Friday night. We drove to the wedding on Saturday morning. The wedding started at 2pm. It was 5 hours away. It was a long drive, and after checking into our hotel and getting dressed and ready for the wedding, we arrived in time for the ceremony, but missed the bride walking down the aisle.

4) travelling together. I just really hate going to NB with SB. Point final. I'm pretty sure I won't be interested in doing it again any time soon. Because travelling together to NB is pretty much like me going to London and him going to Paris at the exact same time and we'll just meet back up in MTL at the arrival gate. It's ridiculous and I think from now on I would rather we just vacation somewhere else, but together.

Aside from all the anxiety, it was so good to see my family, and to eat fried clams. More stories to come.

The Hills Tuesday

I adore the show The Hills - some people call it their guilty pleasure, but I see nothing guilty in it at all. It is hilarious. So, I am going to try to do The Hills Tuesday and list my top five things about the episode that aired Monday night. Today there are a few general things that I love just because it's my first Hills Tuesday and we've got a little bit of ground to make up.

1. Whitney is awesome - gorgeous blond, super clumsy/silly/goofy. Love her. Last night she made fun of the names LC's mom almost named her and made hilarious faces at the same time - "Cryssssssstal."
2. They call someone Justin Bobby. His name is really Justin. But some people call him Bobby. But they aren't sure why, and they think it's weird, so they call him Justin Bobby.
3. Justin Bobby drives an El Camino
4. Spencer and Heidi are ridiculous. And Spencer grew a fugly beard.
5. Spencer broke up with Brody Jenner - sadly this doesn't seem to mean that we don't have to look at Spencer's fugly mug anymore

Long weekend

I had two days off this weekend! In a row! My first days off all summer. I haven't even taken any of the messages that people left after five o'clock on Friday. People seem to think that I am available 24/7. Well, I'm not. So, the messages, they have not been taken, and if there are any emergencies in those messages, it is not my problem. And I'm only feeling about 80% guilty about that.

On my two days off we have been doing NOTHING. Which is pretty fabulous, although I think it would have been fun to have rented a cottage or gone on a day trip to the outlets or something like that. But that kind of thing takes advanced planning, a luxury that I do not have. So yesterday we went to a BBQ, and today we went for a bike ride and hung out at a street fair. And ate mussels and beer. Awesome.

Next weekend we venture east, to a wedding and then a very quick visit with the families. We were supposed to stay for a week, but because SB has some work stuff that needs to be tended to, it has been shortened to about 5 days. Two of which involve travelling to and from the wedding and attending the wedding. The upside to this is we now get to fly. The downside to this is that we will probably only see each other at the wedding, and the rest of the time we will be trying to visit our respective families and friends.

I just realized my hands still smell like mussels even though I washed them twice. Ugh.

Dear Cosmo,

You are a very cute Golden Retriever. Sure, your head is a little skinny, but I love your amber color. And I love your girly woof, even though you are a boy. I love how excited you are all the time. I love how no matter what you are doing, when I sit down on a rock, or bend to tie my shoe, you are all up in my business so you can get some affection.

You know the one thing that you could do to make me even happier, though?

Maybe you could resist rolling in dead things.

I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but really I think you could do it. Because I know how you hate to have your head washed off, and I know how I hate that wonderful smell of decomposition, that fills up the truck and also stays on my hands through at least twenty handwashes. So really, this could be win-win for us.

I'm not sure why you do this, but I suspect it has something to do with impressing the ladies, but dude, believe me, they are not having any of it. They tell me in the car after I drop you off.

So whadda ya say? Next time you happen upon a dead mouse or frog or squirrel or whatever the hell it is that you are finding in the brush, how about you just give it a sniff, and walk on by.

Thanks,
Jules

Sometimes you think you are unhappy, but really you are not

Summer has been very very hectic. I was prepared, and I started off strong. But it is just that summer is surprisingly very long. Longer than you would think, if you were say, enjoying your summer. And doing fun summer things. But if you are trying to organize the busiest schedules of the year, and doing payrolls with five hundred stat holidays, and fielding dozens of phone calls daily, and meeting new clients daily, and organizing key drops and pick ups and replacing cars and keys and employees, then summer, she is LOOOOOOONG.

But, I could be stuck in an office 12 hours a day. Working for someone I hate. Spending my evenings making voodoo dolls of said person and using my creativity solely to find new ways to manipulate said dolls. I would much rather spend my summer stressing out in my own office, aka my sofa, with my doggies mulling around. And some days we take our coffee on the deck.

And when I leave the office, I have to spend time with cute doggies and kitties that are not mine. How can that be bad? It can't.

When the fall comes, I will begin to write again. I am very excited. I should be writing now. I could be writing now. But I am not ready to put the pressure on myself to write daily when I know that realistically, that won't happen right now. In a few weeks, yes but now, impossible.

There are definitely some downsides to the work I have chosen. But there are so many more upsides. And I am proud of myself for being able to see them and value them. Two years ago, this would have been impossible for me.

I'll build a house inside of you

After three months of scanning craigslist like a fiend, I was actually able to score tickets to see Wolf Parade. I noticed an ad for someone who wanted to trade her tickets for Saturday night's show for any other night, so I emailed her and said if she had no luck that I would buy her tickets at a mark-up.

Then I forgot about it.

Then on Friday, she emailed me and asked if I still wanted the tickets. Hells ya! It was a bit short notice to find a friend who wanted to come with, so I asked SB and he said cool. Even though he doesn't listen to them much, he's heard them on my truck CD. Although on the way there he kept screaming "Wolf Lover - WHOOO" to which I had to explain that we were on our way to see Wolf Parade, not Wolf Mother, and Wolf Lover is, as far as I know, not something that exists.

The show was pretty amazing. The first opening group was a duet of a guy and a girl playing 70s and 80s rock covers. Whatever, they were okay. Then there was a group called Holy Fuck, and I guess you would describe them as instrumental - they had a drummer, a bassist, a keyboardist, and a guy who played what SB and I call "The Table". It appeared to consist of many many gadgets and plugs and knobs for twisting, and it made all kind of noises. It all looked very complicated, and they kept having "technical difficulties". They were actually very good, SB was very into them, which surprised me.

Wolf Parade blew my mind, as I knew they would. Not only were they amazing, but the crowd had fabulous energy. I have generally been known to avoid any shows that do not involve seat assignment, and that was probably the only thing that bothered me about this show. We stood in our spot for 3 hours, waiting patiently, and forming polite boundaries with the other people around us, then five minutes before WP came on, 4 loud, annoying, stoned guys pushed through and squished themselves in front of us. Everyone was annoyed and pissed off, but made the best of it. SB was not pleased, and I think that ruined the whole show for him.

They played lots of old stuff, and lots of new stuff, which sounded pretty great. It was at La Sala Rossa, which holds about 225 people, and has a small stage. I wish that the room had some risers or something - just gradual "stairs" - because then the space might be almost perfect. Or if the stage was higher. But I don't think the room is tall enough to lift the stage.

Anyway, during the set they played Shine a Light, You are The Runner and I am My Father's Son, Fancy Claps, and a few others from the first album. Fancy Claps was probably my favorite. Then the encore was This Heart's on Fire, which I can give or take, but then I'll Believe in Anything to close things out. This one BLEW MY MIND!!! It sounded amazing, the crowd was amazing, I just do not have the words this early Sunday morning to describe how spectacular it was.

On a side note, I totally didn't realize, but I took my first writing class with the keyboardist from Wolf Parade. I love their music, but I'm not the type to look up everything I can about the band. But when I saw him, I recognized him right away. So weird. I remember his writing was really great, but a bit too poetic for my prose tastes. Music seems to suit him much better!

Like Beethoven composing deaf....

Hey, did you all know I want to be a writer?

Yup, I sure do.

I went to school for it and everything, and every once in a while I sit down with an idea and put pen to paper and start working. And it feels good. It feels comforting and complete, and correct. This is what I should be doing - I fought it for a long time and am finally resigned to the fact that this is my calling, my vocation, my purpose. But it does not pay the bills, for now, so I usually do it in between shooting cats with insulin, sifting through cat litter, and trying to scoop doggie diarrhea off the sidewalk. Which I also love. Of all the jobs in all the world that I could have to pay the bills while my creative juices be a percolatin', I would not choose another.

Anyway, one of the things that stalls my writing is the following. I will get a great idea, that I am so into and so committed to and I start working it out and writing. Then I will start reading a book. And that book has a similar premise. Not the same, I am not plagiarizing via ESP, but very close. And then all my ideas seem not so fresh. Not so great.

Case in point:

As my Advanced Prose project, where we began working on a novel, I wrote about a girl who died, but was able to watch and connect with her earthbound family members and loved ones. I was really into the idea, the characters, got great feedback, it was really quite lovely. Then I graduated, and set it aside, and wasn't sure if I would come back to it. And recently I've been thinking about it again.

Until I started reading The Lovely Bones. Which is about a girl who dies, and how she is relating to her grieving family.

I'm sure that no idea is really truly fresh. And if it is fresh, it may be experimental, and I am so not experimental. So I'm sure I will always come across ideas that are similar to mine. But I just don't like to be confronted with the similarities as I'm working on the project. It makes me question everything that I add to the project from there on out.

So, to write, do I need to avoid reading?

Time to get back into bank robbing

Today I sliced my thumb open on a can top. I was cleaning it off so that the kitties' owners wouldn't come home to stinky, fruit-fly attracting cans. Usually I am very careful about these things, but for some reason my head was in the clouds. Maybe it was because I was visiting this kitty and I am in love with him:

There have been a number of occasions when SB has had to remove this kitty from my pocket so as to avoid me "accidentally" bringing him home with me.

Anyway, you know that feeling you get when you hurt yourself? It's like you are in slow motion, and there is no pain at all at first, but you feel the slicing, broken down into like milliseconds. You have enough time, in that briefest of seconds, to think to yourself "How am I such a moron that this just happened to me?" and then in real life you yell "Fuck" and throw the can top into the sink. Still no pain, but you are scared to look. Scared to know just how crazy that crazy-assed cut is that you just did to yourself. For a second you think that maybe you imagined everything. But then you feel the tiniest twinge of a sting.

I looked down and the blood was running down my thumb, onto my wrist. I rinsed it under water, and I could feel the coolness of the tingle of water on nerviness, and that almost imaginary flapping of the tiny little slice of skin.

This job has changed me in many ways. And my stupidity has changed me in innumerable others. But they have now officially changed my actual identity. My left thumb print is forever altered.

I'm thinking of starting a new business

I have been back on the craigslist scene this week, getting rid of more furniture. I sold our old kitchen table and chairs, and our old office desk. Now it's just to get rid of those barstools, and our living room/dining/kitchen area will have been purged. Most of the stuff from IKEA we had bought in As-Is for 1/2 price or less, then we used it, and most of the stuff I got at least 1/2 price for it. So for the most part we made money. I'm thinking of just buying random things from there and selling them on craigslist as a side venture.

Now that we have also purchased all of the big pieces of furniture, we are thinking about side tables, wall hangings, lighting. These things always stump me. Not looking forward to this stage of the game!

I'm really feeling un-inspired lately. Work was pretty psycho there for a while, and though now I have more time for myself, I still feel the hangover and am exhausted. I had booked myself to mostly take today off, but for some reason wasn't able to stick to that. I had a few visits, did some banking, then call backs, schedule changes, emails, and before I knew it it was 4pm. We are also interviewing a candidate tonight for a full-time position, so I'm really hoping that will go well. If it doesn't, it might mean trouble for the trip we are planning to NB in a few weeks.

Feels like 1988

In my plight to convince SB that we absolutely need a digital SLR, I think I mentioned that I broke out the old Minolta SLR a few weeks ago to snap some fabulous photos. Today I dropped off two rolls of 24 at my local Pharmaprix, and now I'm waiting for my prints, and, more importantly, my CD of photos.

I have to say, the whole process is quite exciting. What could be on there? Will they turn out? Will I be hugely disappointed? The anticipation is a bit overwhelming for my convenience-filled little life.

Dropping off the films was a bit surreal. There was no line-up, and when I told the girl I hadn't done this in a gazillion years she just chuckled. I actually said goodbye to the film. I said "Bye little films". The girl chuckled at this, too. Then she asked me if I just wanted the CD, or if I wanted the prints too. If I was one step more environmental I would have said "CD only", but I'm paying for the prints anyway, and who knows, some of them might be frameable as-is.

Although she couldn't have them ready in an hour - ugh, the suspense! - they will be ready today, and I can't wait to pick them up. But, for $6 a pop, that's $12 that could have gone towards a DSLR, and that's not even including the gas there and back two times. I am going to keep a log book of how much I spend on photos. Hard data wins him over every time.

Things left to do before I will post pictures of our place ***NOW WITH AN IRONIC EDITORIAL****

1. Sell of a whole bunch of stuff.
We currently have about five more tables than we should have, plus a big giant wardrobe I would like to heave, and a work desk that is dis-assembled and will most likely never see the light of day again. And two bar stools that were left behind by the previous owners.

2. Buy a bunch of stuff.
We just got our dining set, which is gorgeous, albeit made wrong (two chairs would NOT go together, so we have to exchange them, but four chairs are great, so it's usable). Now we need to get a new sofa, because the one we use right now is spoken for and shipping out next month. We also need some extra seating (haven't decided between two club chairs or one love seat) for in front of the fire place, some lighting, all our picture frames, and a side table. And a buffet. And some bar stools that don't look like they are made out of old railroad ties.

3. Clean.
Because with the summer rush, I have sadly fallen out of my cleaning routine. The bathroom is clean (yay me!) and the kitchen gets tidied about every second day, but pet hair and dust abounds in the living room and bedroom.

But the paining is done, and SB installed a beautiful chair rail.

So that's it. But we love it. Too bad summer has interrupted our settling in routine.


***ED:
That second to last line says "But the paining is done..." Obviously it should say "painting", but I think subliminally, I really did mean to say paining, because the worst is over. The rest is just tiny details to drive me nutso from here to eternity.

The downside

Probably the greatest part about my job is that I get to hang out with tons of pets who aren't mine, but for a little slice of the day, I can pretend they are. I get to cuddle the cuddly ones, and play with the playful ones, and not have to get a special permit to have 30 animals in my home.

The downside of this is that I begin to feel like they belong to me. And then something terrible happens, and I am left devastated.

Two nights ago one of the dogs we walk was admitted to doggie ER because her owner found her collapsed when she arrived home in the evening. This morning I got word that she died in the night. She was only 4. I don't want to write details here, but I am just so sad.

Not always knee deep in very bad things

For my birthday, my Mummy treated me to a spa day. She said she wanted to get her hair done in that Fancy Place I go to (it's really not so fancy, but they use fabulous products), and that for my birthday she wanted me to come too to get my hair done, or a massage, or whatever.

I had my hair highlighted once, and while I loved how it looked, I am terrible at keeping things like that up, so I thought that wasn't the best choice. I was in need of a haircut, though, so I hopped on that one. Mummy said she wanted me to pick something else too.

A massage, while nice, isn't practical since we have them covered in our health insurance - in retrospect it would have been a bad idea to get all relaxed up and then get the phone call that our Jetta had died. I don't get manicures because I bite my nails and pick at the skin around, and it's just never going to get better. Putting a little paint on there to highlight my red fingers is just isn't pretty.

And while I HATE feet and hate having mine touched, it is theoretically sandal season, so I went with a pedicure.

I've only ever had one pedicure prior to this one, and while it was okay, it wasn't life changing and I could never justify spending my own cash on getting one (it had been a gift). I had gone to another, reputable spa to get it, and so I assumed that that was it. Just ho-hum. They had paraffined me and scraped and massaged and painted, but it just was so so.

But my Birthday Pedicure was oh so fabulous. She soaked my feet, then rubbed them with an exfoliant, then she razored them (sounds scary, but is so not scary), and then, I shit you not, she Dremel-ed my feet. A real Dremel tool, that said Dremel on the side and everything, with a little foot-Dremel attachment. And then all the lotion and polish and stuff.

Two weeks later and my feet are JUST starting to get all dry again. I wonder how we can get pedicures included in our medical insurance?

VDC strikes again

Actually, VDC has been quite good these past few days. He's becoming more used to us, so he will actually chance it and wander into the hallway before hissing and spitting at us. This morning I arrived along with one of our employees, and while she was preparing the injection, I was shooing him out from under the bed.

The bed has a wooden frame, but it's a platform bed, so it's not very tall, as there is no boxed spring. I have moved this bed twice a day for the past week or so, but for some reason today when I pushed it (knees bent, both hands), I twisted in a weird way and totally wrenched my back. My lower back so of course now it hurts to stand and sit and stuff. VDC is ruining my life. And I don't even want to sit with the heating pad because it's so bloody hot outside anyway, and I feel like it would be dumb to be sitting inside, in the A/C, heating up my back.

I just finished reading Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, and I have to say that it was quite enjoyable. I really love her writing style, and I wish she had been able to finish it. If you are looking for something to read this summer that is not too fluffy, I would suggest this book. I was a bit worried because I had just read Night by Elie Wiesel, and wasn't sure I really wanted to read another book about WWII, since Night is pretty depressing. But Suite Francaise is about the German occupation of France, which I had never read anything about, and it was about how different people dealt with it, all through the social classes.

In other summer news, our pepper and tomato plants are slowly producing fruits. I took two orange cherry tomatoes off one this morning, and two super-hot peppers off another. I'm not sure why we got so many hot pepper plants - I don't even think we'll eat them. But the little tomatoes taste SOOOO good! Too bad we only get like two tomatoes every three weeks.

Like a Kitty Cat Rodeo

We have come upon a case of a Very Difficult Cat. This cat hates us. When we enter the apartment he hides, and if we try to dig him out of hiding he hisses and spits and growls and yowls.

This is not new for us - we take care of loads of nasty cats. I don't know what causes their attitude problems, and I don't know if they behave this way when their parents are at home, but we have lots of cats that hate us. We just feed them, clean their litter, check their plants, ignore the kitty and get the heck out of there. Once I was even cornered by a cat. He chased me into the bathroom, wherein I slammed the door in his face and promptly scooted out the door to the master bedroom.

But the Very Difficult Cat, you see, he needs the insulin. The insulin for the food processing and the living. So we can't ignore Very Difficult Cat because if we did, he would probably die. Or at the very least go into some kind of coma. (SB suggested it might not be so bad to let him go into the coma - at least then we could touch him without losing part of our arm). When I met VDC for the first time, his owner gave him his shot very quickly, after sneaking up on him, but then he was just a normal lovable cat. He let me pet him and everything. But now, as soon as he hears us coming up the stairs he hides. And then we have to dig Very Difficult Kitty out of his hiding spot, while trying not to lose an eye (we have at least purchased some protective gloves, because that first day was hard on my arm....) and inject him with his insulin. This is a two-man job. On the weekend SB helped me, and it was quite an experience, which I will describe at a later date.

Every visit (twice a day) as we go up the stairs, I ask SB "Do you want to wrangle or shoot?" He generally would say wrangle, and then after donning the gloves and preparing the Blanket of Terror (we lay it over kitty as a gentle restraint, but when he sees it coming he tries to kill it), he says, "aaah, I think I wanna shoot." And then we have to switch, and VDC gets all worked up while waiting for us to kill him, aka give him life-prolonging insulin. Generally he will pee at us as a last line of defense. Awesome.

All of this makes me think of how we would be as parents. I think we make a pretty great team - poo makes me vomit, but SB seems okay with it. I don't mind being bitten or scratched, and SB has a winning smile. I picture us trying to change a diaper on a squirmy toddler. Me gagging, SB trying to grab the feet. I think we have good instincts, but may have to fine-tune our technique a little. Hopefully we could teach a kid not to hide behind the toilet when it's time for their Triaminic.

For what may have been...

I'm not sure if this is true for everyone, but I have always had a few guys in my past who I have thought of with warmth, and always wondered "what would have happened if I'd ended up with him?" All great guys, all were great friends at the time, always had that little extra something between us, but the timing was never right, or whatever, and nothing ever happened. Or in some cases nothing much ever happened.


For me, there were probably less than a handful of guys who fit this criteria. Met them all in high school while I was in a relationship, we spents loads of time together in different capacities, and I have always wondered what would have happened.

Through the magic of The Internets, or more specifically, Facebook, these doors are slowly closing.

One boy seems to be a perpetual drifter - still just out there for the good times and not really that serious about much of anything. He still looks great, so that's a bonus, but I think I now require a little more character and go-getterism than I used to.

Another boy's looks have changed - not for the better. Now, I know no one is going to look like they did in high school, and I'm especially sensitive to The Weight Gain, as I have admittedly packed on more than a few since 1997. But this boy went in the opposite direction. He used to be cute, wasn't a big guy, but had great hair and a great smile. Now he looks like a heroine addict. Maybe he is.... And his hair is shaved off. Unless he's an actor with a part in Schindler's List, I think that daydream is done.

There are still a few who are not on Facebook, and although I would love to know what they're up to, I kinda hope they don't join. Because when I mentioned this decline in my long-lost possibilities, SB said, "well, I guess you're just going to have to learn that this is the best you're gonna get. You're stuck with me."

Yes, I guess that's what this means.

One thing to smile about.

One super fun thing that happened last week that I forgot to mention - my Mummy brought SB and I some super yummy lobster! We had a fabulous feast on Thursday evening, and it was AWESOME.

When I was little, I would only eat the "Little Legs" of the lobster - I liked to squish the meat out using my teeth. Then I graduated to eating those and claws, when they were properly cracked for me. I eventually was able to crack them myself. A few years ago I got over my phobia of eating the tail - the digestive tract runs along the top of the tail, and I was always terrified I would accidentally eat part of it and die. But now I am confident in my poop-peeling ability.

I still refuse to eat anything in the body/head of the lobster. SB tried to get me to dig into the meat on the side of the "ribs", but I kept getting these crunchy parts which really skeeved me. And don't get me started on the gross green stuff. Once I got all crazy and tried the red eggs, but quickly spit them out. So dry and gross they remind me of peas, which I HATE. Not that they taste like peas, but the texture is close.

I remembered the lobster feast this morning, and smiled. But I remembered it because I scratched my hands up breaking open the tail. And that memory was triggered by the fact that I spent the morning trying to give an insulin injection to a pissed off cat, who then scratched up my entire arm and hand, then shit in the closet.

I'm not loving my job so much this week.

and my head is still spinning...

well, what a week it has been, people. You can't even begin to imagine.

Last Wednesday, my Mummy arrived. Planned trip, that I had been quite looking forward to. I knew that I couldn't take time off, but that I could lighten my schedule a little. SB's parents had just left on Sunday, so we had two days to clean the house up a bit, and take care of the laundry and other stuff that had been dragging a bit while they were here.

We picked Mummy up Wednesday, brought her here to show her the new digs, and had a nice quiet evening in. Thursday she came with me while I walked my group, and we had another relaxing day.

Friday, we had booked a spa afternoon - she wanted to get her hair cut and colored, and wanted to get me a pedicure and haircut for my birthday. In the morning we did a few errands with SB, and on our way back home we got a call from one of our employees who we had sent to the mechanics for a check up of our Subaru. Huh, guess what? Subaru is dead. Some kind of fuel line problem that is expensive to fix, but that makes the car unsafe to drive. Huh. So, we go home, and SB meets her at the shop and gives her the Jetta, which has had a touchy transmission lately, but we hadn't been able to book it to be fixed, and SB has been driving it just fine.

Mummy and I leave for the spa - I asked SB if he would like to drive us so he can have the truck in case he needs it, but he says no. I leave him my cell phone, and ask him if he wants me to bring his in case he needs to reach me for something. He says no.

I have a great time with my hairdresser, talking about paint color choices, and other decorating stuff since she just moved as well. My pedicure is amazing, and the lady is halfway done applying polish when some other lady asks if I am me, then says I should call my boyfriend when I can. I immediately tense up, and the girl is still putting the applicator back in the bottle while I'm halfway out the door to find my Mummy and her phone.

Ya, so the Jetta died.

Died, like wouldn't run and had to be towed. SB had to bike over the mountain to get to the employee and the car so that we could use our Roadside assistance to tow it. So we have to start worrying about a game plan to get the Jetta fixed, and also be sure that our employee had a car. (Ultimately, we've decided to have the business buy the Jetta, and will use it as a doggy mobile. SB won't have a car for now. I think he's hating that already and it's been two days)

Saturday was my birthday, and Mummy and I spent the morning shopping at a street sale which was fun, except that my phone kept ringing every five seconds with either problems from our weekend employee or a client who I had "made myself available" for, and by "made myself available" I guess he thought that meant answer thirty phone calls in a day to get his travel status for his trip back to the city. We went home and had some downtime, and I thought I might have time for a little nap before dinner, but then the weekend girl called because she couldn't get into an apartment. I rushed over to see what the problem was and was able to get in in 2.7 seconds.

We arrived at dinner at 6:10 and were told it would be a three hour wait for our table of 8. I know that large parties are annoying for restaurants on a busy night. I know it's hard to estimate how long it will take. But people, if you don't take reservations, you need a better system than telling everyone "It'll be three hours" and hoping they walk out. I was almost in tears. This is my favorite restaurant, and my friends were on their way for 7 (in Emma-speak, though, that's 7:30-8), and it's my birthday and nothing is going right. Luckily, our favorite hostess was working, but just in the back, and she saw me and said she would look into it. We were seated at around 8:15 (**yes, I know, it's still 2 hours, but the rest of our party didn't arrive until about 8, so that's cool)

I don't even remember what we did on sunday right now. I think it was probably pretty fun. Or at least nothing broke that day.

Monday, started well, Mummy's last full day in town, so I tried to get all my work done in the morning so we could hang out later on. We picked up a rental car, since our employee was using our truck, and all the other cars are dead or dying. SB gets the Jetta to our mechanic so he can start repairing it. Get an email that my weekend girl is quitting.

We finished up Mummy's visit with a fun trip to the old Port for a nice dinner and caught a few Buskers.

So to recap:
1. Two cars died on Friday the 13th.
2. My birthday was almost a bust.
3. We lose another employee, albeit she has given us four weeks' notice, so hopefully we can make it work.
4. Poor Mummy barely had any fun her whole vacation.
5. Poor SB barely had any fun on his whole vacation - he's been "off" for two weeks - one of which his parents were here and he worked on the condo with his dad, some projects he had been planning. The second of which....he still wasn't done all the condo projects. And then two cars died. and then when he finally went back to work, he had to take the metro.

Ya, I think that's it. I think I should play the lotto this week, because good luck better be coming soon....

Wherein I beg someone to buy be something

In the past I have begged for a Nikon D40x. It is a digital SLR camera. A pretty basic model, but the key here is that it is a)an SLR and b)digital.

In 2000, I bought myself a 35mm SLR for Christmas. It was the first time I ever spent a ridicuous amount of money on anything for myself, and I fell in love with that camera. I took photos of everything, and learned a lot about the technicalities of photography - how do use aperture and shutter speeds to get the look you want. Then I had a crash course in developing black and whites, and fell completely in love with the whole deal. I took my camera to Europe with me and shot about 20 rolls of film, hauled them back, paid for developing, and absolutely loved about 90% of the shots I took.

Then came the digital age. No more economy of shots, no more lugging around of film, no more waiting in line at the photo counter. Just pictures pictures pictures. My mom bought us our first, fabulous digital camera which took great photos, and had lots of fabulous options. Then it got stolen. Then we replaced it with something similar. And it was equally great and convenient and the pictures, they were there, on the computer. Ready for uploading and the photoshop, if either of us were photoshop savvy. For a point and shoot, both of these digitals have treated us very well, and given us some really great results.

But yesterday I broke out the old 35mm SLR. Even just looking through the lens, I can see the difference. I snapped out 11 whole photos before I started worrying that I was taking too many and put it away for another day. And I just know that when I finish the film, and find a photo developing place that's close, and wait in line, and deposit the film, and then drive back an hour later and pick up the photos and CD (because really, all I want is the CD so I can UPLOAD), I know that those are gonna be amazing photos.

But you know what would be even more amazing? If I had taken them with a Nikon D40x and was able to upload them 10 seconds after taking them. And was able to erase the bad ones from history immediately. And could take as many photos as I wanted and not have to pay to develop them if I didn't want. Ever.

please please please please please buy me a Nikon D40x. Or even a D40.

I saw The White Stripes last night!!!

They still amaze me!

They started their set super hardcore with Blue Orchid, then Icky Thump, then after that it was all a blur. I remember some Cold Cold Night, We're Gonna Be Friends, hints of I Think I Smell a Rat, Black Math (my favorite WS song EVER). Their encore was Hardest Button, I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself, and Seven Nation.

I know last time I saw them I retracted my professed love of Jack White, and professed my undying love for Meg. But I take that back again. He's hot people. Just accept it. Of course last time he had a crusty mustache (the Crustache), so it took away some of the appeal. And while Meg is certainly quite an attractive little lady with amazing arms and boobs, sometimes while she's drumming her drums, her hair covers her face and she reminds me of the chick from The Ring.

I must also say that Jack White must be an extraordinary lover. At least, if his seduction of a crowd is any indication. He teases with a few bars of one song, then swings you into another one until you forget what he had worked you up to because what came next was so great. He did this a lot with I Think I Smell a Rat. They also did this extremely hot drum sequence at the end where Jack set aside his guitars, got behind Meg and pounded away (at the drums, you dirty people), but was kinda nuzzling her neck. Hot. They took extra long to come out for the encore, and I'm pretty sure it's because they were making out. Okay, probably not, but that's what I was imagining was going on.

I promptly came home and made sure my sister was able to get tickets for their show this week in Moncton. She cannot miss them.

If you want to see photos and some crappy video, and you are my friend, go check out my facebook page.

In desperate need of a day off

So, I'm tired. Almost burned out, I would say. And not that I've even probably been working THAT hard, but it's just like a ten times faster pace than I'm used to, for like ten times more days in a row than I'm used to. But I'm still tired.

The in-laws are visiting this week, and then my Mummy comes next week (yaY!). In a week it's my birthday, so I'm pretty excited Mummy will be here to meet my friends when we go for dinner. Tomorrow night is the White Stripes concert (WOOHOOOOOOO!!!), and next Tuesday we're seeing Tool (I bought SB tickets for his birthday).

Work was pretty busy there for a few weeks, but now we are back to full-staff, so it's a bit smoother. Except for one pesky client who is being REALLY annoying. They always surface at the most annoying times.

The condo is still coming together - SB is going to put up the chair rail in the dining room tomorrow, we have to finish painting the kitchen, and then we need to buy our furniture. We have picked out a dining set, but we are still completely unsure about which sofa style we want, what color is best, etc.

My first day off in two weeks will be on Saturday, so I'm pretty stoked about that.

Ooh, and I ordered books from Chapters on Friday and they arrived today - not bad considering there was a holiday in there. I love ecommerce.

Not sure what I was thinking in the first place

Yesterday I trekked to IKEA Montreal to buy a laundry hamper and some clothes hangers. They did not have the hamper that I wanted, and I was sad. But, when I checked online it said that IKEA Boucherville had them in stock. Boucherville is completely out of the way for me, but I really wanted these hampers and REALLY didn't want to go to IKEA on Saturday. So, I decided to make a fun South Shore shopping trip out of it. After going to Boucherville, (where I got my hampers - woohoo) I decided to "stop" at Promenades St. Bruno. These could nearly be construed as "on my way home" if they weren't so not actually on my way home at all. But whatever, there is a Gap and a Banana Republic, a Starbucks and a Jugo Juice.

As I pulled into the parking lot, my gas light came on. I actually noticed it, which is a big bonus since I rarely see it and it doesn't have a bell indicator. I did my little shopping trip (bought a new pair of summer pants and a tank top), and got back in the car to leave. I figured I would drive through the parking lot away from the highway I drove in on and would probably find a gas station. I completely circled the entire mall, no gas stations in sight. I took the next road out, still no gas stations and it brought me back in a complete circle to where I had started. So, I got on a secondary highway heading back into the city. Surely there would be an exit with a gas station close by.

I took the first exit, into a town that I recognized the name of, drove for like ten minutes, and still no gas station.

FINALLY I found a gas station. I pulled up, went to do the Pay at the Pump, and found that it was not in fact a Pay at the Pump, but one of the old spinning number pumps. That you have to lift the lever to get it to work. Which took me a second to figure out since I haven't seen one of those pumps since 1987. Then I had to wait in line for 10 minutes while everyone in front of me paid for their gas and 8 million lotto tickets.

What is the moral of this story, you may ask?

Stay away from the South Shore. And if you have to go, do not go alone. They want us to run out of gas so they can mug us of our high-tech technologies, like digital watches.

A girl just needs her MTV

When we moved almost two months ago, we switched from Starchoice satellite to Videotron, our local digital cable company. I was very sad about the switch, because Starchoice had always been very good to us - great service in general with very few interruptions, fantastic customer service when we had questions or problems, and it was just a very good experience in all. But, cable was cheaper for almost all the same channels because we bundled it with phone and internet. When I called to cancel our Starchoice, Eric said it sounded like I was breaking up with someone. And I felt like I was.

Our new cable company has been pretty good so far too - our last experience with cable was terrible, but at that point it wasn't digital groovy cable, it was just regular plain old cable. Programming-wise, we no longer had time-shifting, the Documentary channel, or MTV. Halfway through the first month, I was annoyed that a lot of my shows were conflicting, so I called and signed up for time-shifting for $3 a month. Then all the shows were done, and time-shifting wasn't useful anymore.

But you know what is useful? All the time? Especially on Saturday and Sunday when you are doing laundry and chores and like a little background noise that is actually entertaining?

MTV!!!

I SOOOOO missed MTV for the past two months. I especially love the MTV Canada VJs who crack me up, (especially Jessie and Dan). And the Real World. And My Super Sweet Sixteen. And Run's House. And....... Everything!!!

So I finally went online (now that we finally got a bill with our account number on it) and dumped stupid Time-Shifting, and added back MTV. And I also threw in the Documentary Channel so SB would stop whining.

Hopefully this will make Saturday Chores more palatable.

All hail the Queen of Craigslist

I love craigslist. In the past week I've sold two sofas. And now I have offers on a dresser I posted two hours ago. It's pretty fabulous. I think it helps that we have some pretty great stuff to get rid of, and we take pretty good care of it. I haven't even had to negotiate at all, they just take my price and go. I love it. I'm thinking of selling The Woodge.

We have painted our dining room/hall and our living room. All that's left is the kitchen. But I've had enough of the priming and taping and rolling and removing the faceplates, then replacing the faceplates, and the cleaning of the brushes. So I told Eric he is solely responsible for the kitchen. I'm sure at some point I'll break down and do it myself, since he's been so busy lately with work.

Saturday we bought all the flowers and plants for our patio and potted them. I'm not so into plants, but Eric let me buy a bunch of herbs and tomatoes and stuff, and I find those interesting enough. I hate plants with no flowers, so that was another requirement. Once we have finished installing all the pot-hangers I'll take a photo to share.

Completely unrelated, there is a TLC marathon of Little People Big World. I can't look away.

The worst part is that during all the painting and crap, it was beautiful and sunny outside. Then yesterday we took the day off, and although it turned out okay, it started with a deluge.

Taking a moment

I've had a non-stop week. I can accept that - I had things planned, stuff I wanted to get done around the house like vacuuming, painting, bathing, you know, those kinds of things. But we're busy, so I haven't had a chance.

But how does my busy day start today?

A dog peed on my foot.

I had consultation with a new client, and the dog was excited and jumping everywhere, and he peed on my shoed foot. Then he peed on my little clipboard/binder thingy that I love, and I had to throw out half its contents. And all day all I could smell was pee, even after I changed my socks and washed my feet. So gross.

Hurricane Summertime

So, apparently last Thursday was the first day of our busy season. No one called to inform me that Busy Season would be starting a few weeks early. But whatever. Thanks for that.



I really enjoy meeting people who really care about their pets. That's probably the thing I like the most about this time of year - people who want us to visit their cat twice a day even though Fluffy is terrified and hides under the bed the whole time leaving us to do our little chores and then just hang out. I love those people. And not just because they are great customers who believe in using professional sitters instead of asking Great Aunt Joan to come by. Great because they love their pets, and are fun, and they appreciate us. So that's one thing I love about this time of year - cause right now I'm getting calls left and right for new client meetings, and it's actually pretty exciting.

Aside from that, this is a crazy time of year. Full of cancellations, vacations for staff (theoreticaly before the Busy Season - thanks for coming early Busy Season!), last minute additions, last minute key drop-offs/pick-ups, and I'm sure we will end up with some kind of vehicular issue. Last year during this time we were taking over the business (one year today - woohoo!), having a few, hmm, staffing issues, and generally just trying to get our legs beneath us before the whole thing took off without us. After a year, I feel we are chugging along pretty nicely. We've tried all kinds of different promotional stuff to get growing, gotten to know lots of other great service providers, and come up with a pretty fabulous group of ladies for our team. I feel pretty great. I think we are far from finished growing, and I'm so happy doing this job.



So, let this be a lesson - all it takes to be happy in life is:

a)doing something you hate for long enough

b) doing something you think you can live with, but realize you can't

c) losing your mind

d) a stroke of luck finding your dream job

e) another stroke of luck to be able to take over the company of that dream job and be your own boss.



That's it. Easy recipe, huh?

Sweaty and disappointed

That pretty much sums up my Sunday.

SB and I spent the WHOLE DAY painting - and we have only finished the hall and dining room. I hate masking tape. And I hate cleaning paint brushes. And I hate teetering on a kitchen chair trying to reach that one little spot with a brush that's a bit too big, but if I just bend my body in an ess and reach my arm up over my head like that I will be able to reach just right......ah crap, I got paint on the ceiling. And the sweating - bucketloads. Even with the air conditioning on full-blast. I must say, I was very pleased with the behavior of our pets, though. Nary a one of them stepped in any paint tray, nor did they rub their head/ears/butt/tail on the walls. Simon hid out most of the day, Gabby cowered in fear in the bedroom, and The Woodge (aka Charlie) relished in state-sanctioned time on the bed. I peeled off the masking tape this morning, and re-installed all the switch plates. There are a few touch-ups here and there, but overall I think we could start our own painting business. If doing so wouldn't cause me to have a full-on nervous breakdown.

Now that we no longer live out there, you know, on the East End, where no one goes, ever, people are around us and our pets more often. And they ask, why do you call Charlie "Woodgie". The answer: we aren't really sure. We used to call him Woofie, because when he woofs it's really deep and obnoxious. Then it just morphed into Woodgie. And I love to call him The Woodge. So, you may be seeing his name as The Woodge.

Last but not least, after bathing myself, we watched the final episode of The Sopranos. I, like pretty much every other human on earth, was pretty disappointed in the finale. I, also like every other human on earth, thought the cable had cut out, and I already had my pen out to write a strongly worded letter when the credits started to roll. WTF? I was so ticked. Thank goodness I had SB, who, in a moment of clarity, became extremely philosophical. "Well, Tony just said we need to look back on the good times...so no matter what happens, ever, we need to see that his life won't ever change. He'll always have to be looking over his shoulder, dealing with this crap. Right?" Oh, SB. I love you so. I'm still not happy, but I feel a bit less ripped-off. Things I did love:
1- Phil getting whacked
2 - Tony trying to get a free psych visit out of AJ's therapist
3 - Paulie and the cat
4 - Tony visiting Uncle June - loved loved loved this scene.

So now we wait for the movie - it took 19 months at a time between seasons, so I'm sure by the time I'm 87 it will come out.

Color color everywhere

The saga continues with the paint selection process. When we bought the place it was painted in oranges, peaches, yellows. Our floors are oak/honey. We do not have a sofa yet, but have several options that are tentative, and all are either mossy browns/mocha/beige colored. Our TV furniture and coffee table are dark brown, as will be our dining table.

Do you know how hard it is to pick out one or two blues and a tan/beige????? I brought home ten sample chips last week, thinking SB wanted grey with a blue tinge, but it turns out he wanted blue with a grey tinge. And which walls will be painted dark blue, and which will be light? and where will the tan be painted? And should we use a light and a dark tan combined on different walls in the dining room and hall? And don't even get me started on the kitchen and bathroom.

I'm also trying to sell our old sofas/sofa bed. I love craigslist. I have already had two people who would like to see the sofa. It helps that it's an IKEA sofa so people know it's ok quality and you can buy different colored slipcovers if you feel like it. Hopefully I can get rid of that. Maybe I'll sell off Charlie while I'm at it.

I can't wait for this weekend as it is Ems' birthday celebration - woohoo! It's at a bring your own wine restaurant, so you know it's going to get crazy! Still have to pick up her gift, but today my errand was to pick up more paint chips. Tomorrow can be present day.

The day my world crashed down around me

Today I realized that I am not, in fact, the lost love child of Martha Stewart and Cormac McCarthy.

Can I write? I like to think I can, and I really love it, so check.

Those are all the McCarthy traits. Oh, and my reclusiveness.

Can I bake? Hells ya. Check.
Can I cook a presentable dinner for 2-6? I have been known to, so check.
Can I keep a clean house? I have been working my ass off since we moved, and finally have a bit of a routine, so yes. Check.
Am I handy? Just spackled, patched, and sanded all the GIGANTIC ASS craters the previous owners left. Also was able to jimmy our storage shed when SB had a little accident involving the lock and a rolled up rug on the weekend. Also figured out how to un-install one of our kitchen cabinets while SB and his friend spent a minimum of ten minutes trying to push/hammer/pull it out. So, Check on the handy thing.
Can I decorate?

Um.....

I don't think I can decorate!!!

Paint color choosing has proved to be about as much fun as pulling out my toenails. And don't get me started on how many conversations/arguments SB and I have had about choosing a new sofa. At least we have a dining set pretty much firmed up, although I'm sure in a week SB will decide he has changed his mind. Or the one we have chosen won't match whatever color we finally settle on, and the whole thing will have to go back in the mix again to figure out what's more important - the perfect color or the perfect dining set. Grrrrr.

On the bright side, the dishwasher that came with this place, that on the outside looks like a giant steaming heap of crap, is actually really fabulous. It is fast. And the dishes come out nice and squeaky and super dry. It could be quieter. And it definitely could be prettier. But man are our dishes clean.

Happy Thursday!

I just finished eating a ridiculously disgusting number of tacos. Homemade, with tons of veggies, but tacos none the less. Yum. The even more disgusting part? I would eat another one right now if SB hadn't been giving me weird looks that suggested he may leave my ass if I took one more bite.

For lunch today I had Subway, which I haven't had in a while. I was pretty excited, until the girl asked what I wanted.

"A 6" Spicy Italian on Brown.

She turned around to grab the bread, but grabbed the Italian bread.

- No, brown bread please.

She smiled and mumbled okay, grabbed a brown bread, then cut the bread, then asked what kind of meat I wanted.

- The Spicy Italian.

- You said you wanted brown

- Yes, brown bread, but Spicy Italian sub.

This confused her, so she called over one of her cohorts.

- Spicy Italian please.

- That's a kind of bread.

- No....I'm pretty sure it's a sandwich. It's listed right there under the BMT - see - on the menu there...

They both stared blankly at me, then called over another cohort.

- Can I have a Spicy Italian sandwich please?

- Sure....

Then he went on to explain it to the two other dimwits.

The rest of my sandwich construction went okay, until it came time for the sauce.

- Mayo please

Another blank stare.

- Mayonnaise? Mayo.....

Still staring blankly, then she calls over smart guy who knew what sub I was talking about and told him she couldn't understand what sauce I wanted. He looked at me.

- Mayo - I would like to have mayo."

He turned to her, and I sweart to god, said "Mayo." And then she put mayo.

Off my meds again...

Thus, randomness abounds. Sorry about that, but I keep finding myself thinking of millions of funny little things a day.

My whole life I hated mayonnaise. I'm not sure why, but for about 25 years the very sight of it skeeved me. When I worked at McDonald's I refused to make the McLobster without rubber gloves on because I didn't want to get any of the lobster/mayo mixture on my hands. I was lost and starving at many many many functions because people serve two things at gatherings for lots of people: macaroni/potato salads and chicken/egg salad finger sandwiches. I ate a hell of a lot of crudite.

Then, three years ago I suddenly got over it. I think it was the appeal of the yummy greasy Moe's french fries served alongside the mayo, but I gave mayo a try. Now I have been spending the last three years trying all kinds of things I previously wouldn't eat. Here are some things I have been particularly enjoying:
1) egg salad sandwiches - I eat about two a week. So good.
2) fries and mayo - nuff said
3) fries and flavored mayo from Frite Alors, the Belgian fry place down the street.
4) McChicken sandwich, which I previously ate with only ketchup, but which is so much better with mayo
5) Wendy's Bad Burger (aka Big Bacon Classic) - I used to order the regular burger with only ketchup. This is way better.


All of this to say, I think I have deduced how that extra 15 pounds crept up on me.

Things I am pondering today

- it's amazing how long it takes to get used to the fridge door opening the other way, after having it one way for over five years.

-it's amazing how dull you will let your little mini milk bag cutter get. The old green one worked more like a hack saw by the end of it. The new one slices right through. Great $1 investment.

-why do my allergies make my feet itch? Why, oh why?

-do dogs get headaches?

-I always thought the very definition of a burrito was that it had refried beans in it. Tortilla, beans, meat = good. This weekend at Taco Bell I found they serve some of them with rice instead of beans. Am I the only one who finds this disturbing?

It's hot out there!

Wowie, I can't believe it's May! Two days in a row of hot hot summertime days. Woohoo. Except I've been kinda busy cleaning the house and doing the laundry. But I was still able to spend a few hours each day just sittin' outside. Chillin'. Well, not really chillin', because it's hot. But you know.

This weekend is Ems's birthday. Happy Birthday Ems!!! I forget when we're celebrating, but I think it's sometime around Christmas. Because that's when everyone can finally get together. But Happy Birthday now, until then!!!

Also, SB's bro's birthday was yesterday and guess what? We're celebrating at the Keg tomorrow night!!! WooHooo!!! Haven't been to the Keg in a while, because of that pesky mortgage we have now, so I really can't wait. When I got the email invite, I literally squealed. Which made Charlie raise his eyebrows at me in that way he does when he's thinking of eating my toes.

I've been trying to do some writing this week. That's right people, actually writing. My chosen career path. It's really hard. When did it get so hard? The problem isn't the actual writing, it's the fact that I have about 300 ideas in my head for stuff I'd like to work on, and I try to start one thing, but keep thinking about the other thing, so I put one thing aside, and work on the other thing for a bit, then get more ideas about one thing.

That's all for now peeps. I'm trying to update more often, because it annoys me when people never update, and then I realized, hey wait a minute, I never update. So now I'm updating. And if it's crappy, I don't want to hear about it.

That sh*t is funny!

Have you seen this? It's so wrong. And yet, also, so funny. Just the way I like it.

What about this? That's just funny. What can be wrong about that?

So, as you can see, I haven't been up to too much. I am a little scared to undertake any major tasks, projects or responsibilities because I'm terrified of what will go wrong when I do so. So I'm just keepin' on keepin' on, as they say.

We did some dog sitting this weekend, which we don't generally do, but I was feeling generous and the price was right. Our little houseguest, Chester, was very sweet, and very quiet, so basically the opposite of Charlie. The only thing that was slightly annoying was his obsession with our cat, and Simon's subsequent hatred of Chester. I've never heard Simon growl before, but there he went growling. Growling from the top of the kitchen cabinets. Growling on the sofa table. Growling from the top of SB's head at 3:30 in the morning.

TV season is wrapping up, which is sad, but also good because we all know I am a slave to TV, so maybe now I will actually leave the house once in a while. There are tons of fun things to do in our new neighborhood, and I can't wait to participate. There's a dog park right up the street, where our dogs can go and not interact with other dogs, but waddle from person to person to see if anyone has any spare cheese. And, how convenient is it that there is a fantastic fromagerie right down the street?

If only I knew a guy...

The Sopranos has three episodes left. In the last few eps, we have seen Tony struggling with a gambling addiction, which I thought was a bit random because they have shown him gambling maybe once in the past. But whatever, he kept losing and losing and losing, but couldn't stop gambling. This past episode showed Tony get into a car crash with another main character (I don't want to wreck it for those of you who haven't seen it yet), and other main character had become a point of concern for Tony. So instead of calling 911 right away, Tony covered Main Character's nose and let him choke to death on his own blood (in Tony's defence, it wasn't looking too good for Main Character anyway).

After this, there are funerals, etc, and then Tony takes a trip alone to Vegas. He puts down a chip in roulette and wins. Then wins again four times in a row. His conclusion is that Main Character was a drain to him, a curse, vexing him to have continued bad luck. But now that he's gone, Tony's luck has changed.

My question?

Who do I have to get bumped off to have some good luck for once?

On Friday, our business van died. Dead. Towed away and scrapped. This, not even two months after our computer died. Not even two weeks after Hiring Fiasco 2007. We have a new used van now, and hopefully the other business vehicle will keep on keepin' on, but it has never looked good for that one, so chances are slim it will make it through the summer.

Other than that, things are lovely. We are dog sitting for one of our clients this weekend, so keep your fingers crossed that it will go well!

Ever the optomist

This morning is Regis and Kelly's Mom's Dream Come True show. Total tear-fest - sad stories, hardships, reunions, community activism, etc.

While enjoying my coffee and fighting off tears (two people deployed to Iraq miraculously brought back to thank their sister for taking care of their little boy for over a year while they are fighting a war - come on, who can keep a dry eye for that?), there was a story about a woman who has adopted 8 special needs kids.

Not like missing a toe kids, kids who are in wheelchairs for life, with severe brain damage. Blind kids. Stuff like that.

And while her town was following her around as she picked up all her gifts from Regis and Kelly, I found myself thinking "She must get a giant benefit cheque from the government..."

This leads me to believe two things:
a) I am going straight to hell
b) I watch WAY too much Law and Order

You know what curiousity does...

I have a problem. But, after having a fun conversation with friends, I don't think it's that uncommon.

I become interested/obsessed with cultures/religions that I have no knowledge of.

For instance, Mormons. I started reading dooce's blog a while ago, and became interested in Mormons. Why won't they drink coffee? Why do some take many wives, and some don't? How do they get around that law-wise? You know, just general questions. Then the show Big Love came on and I became obsessed with knowing more. Scratch that. Wondering more. I will rarely google Mormons. But when SB had clients from Utah, we each wondered if they had a few sister wives at home.

Where I work, there is a large community of Hassidic Jews. I'm obsessed with knowing about them. Them, I do google. I see them every day, I want to know what's up with the hats, and the wigs, and the no touching the stove on Sabbath. In relation to the stove thing, I was working a day with one of the employees, and while I was dropping off some dogs, she was in the car waiting. One of the Hassidic wives came out and asked her if she could come in the house and turn the stove down. They aren't allowed to touch the stove, but they still use the stove on the Sabbath and get other people to turn it on/adjust the temperature. (Isn't that kinda cheating?) When I came out and the employee told me this, I was aghast "and you didn't GO IN????"

So, all of that to say, I am very curious about other cultures and religions. I want to know all about their tights and curls, and 10 million children and multiple wives and abstinence from caffeine. But I'm always worried that it will come off the wrong way, and be offensive. So I never ask the questions. Although, I don't really know any Mormons, and Hassidic men are notorious for ignoring women (apparently it's disrespectful to their wives...). But if I did, I'm still not sure I'd ask.

Anyone else feel like their head is splitting in half?

I used to think I was the only one, but tons of bloggers that I read regularly are complaining of the same problem.





Chronic Sinusitis.





I never had a problem with my sinuses until my first year in university, when I go the mother of all sinus infections. I thought I was dying. I laid on the sofas in the common TV room for three days before I could go to the clinic (of course I got sick on a Friday night...). And ever since, I have been blessed with sinusitis about 3 times a year.





My nose is not runny. My throat is fine. I don't have a fever. I just feel like someone has shot golfballs up my nose into my sinuses.





I take allergy medicine. I take decongestants. I take pain reliever. Even my friend NyQuil isn't so helpful. It was so bad last night, it was waking me up. It is seriously affecting my enjoyment of our new place.





I'm thinking of trying this:

Anybody else done it?

I'M ALIVE - I SWEAR, I'M ALIVE!!!

Hey all!!!! Here I am!!! Right here!!! Behind all these boxes!!!

The move went well on Friday - although I'm starting to wish that we had hired unpackers instead of movers. Between sleeping, finding someone to hire, having them tell us they found another job, trying to establish my wireless connection, unpacking, putting together furniture, and trying not to strangle my dogs who become needy little wusses when we move, I find myself still buried in boxes. Good thing our place is so much bigger than the other place.

I am starting to really hate hiring people. People in general are the bane of my existence and make me want to cut off my leg and beat myself in the head with it, but finding someone to work with is particularly horrendous, as it turns out. We always said how lucky we have been finding people, and it turns out we have been. Because now it's a big fat suck.

The problem is, I like routine. I like when things stay the same, and run along smoothly and everything is sunny and right in the world. And the past month has been nothing like that. Not even a little bit. But I'm plugging along.

Whipped

I am still alive. At least for now. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning. I walked all day, which was semi-fun, but had its stressful moments (another dog ran away today - we found her, but I'm starting to develop a complex - they only run away on me!). I think the worst thing today happened this morning. I was walking a dog who is really sweet, but not reliable off-leash. We had a very nice walk, sniffing the trees and leaves that have surfaced since the nice melt last week. (Mmmm you know the smell...mmmmm), and I was thinking, awe doggy, you aren't so bad, you get a bad rap. I love you.

Then we saw a little Jack Russell terrier, and Doggy is okay with other dogs, so I thought "let's say hi." Doggy said hi nicely, sniffed nicely, all very nice, then he go SOOOO EXCITED. I've never seen him so excited. It was like he found a bone made of roast beef. And chicken. And cat poo. Anyway, he was spinning and spinning and jumping and spinning like some kind of doggy dervish.

Long story short, I think I dislocated my shoulder. But I'm only starting to feel it now because of the madness of the rest of the day. Tomorrow, I may be dead.

Some quick updates

A week and a half until we move. I'm starting to get slightly stressed, although it probably has more to do with the insane amounts of computer issues we have been having. I finally ordered all our phone/cable, etc today, and now just have to finish packing (still throwing out tons of stuff each garbage day). Work has been pretty good- although one of our full-timers is leaving, we found a really great girl who we're really excited to be hiring. That's a load off, but there is still the training to do, which is always complicated. We'll get through it!

Computer-wise, after getting all the data recovered, we decided it was time to get a new computer. I can't say I was that upset with this outcome - I've been wanting to switch to a laptop since we bought the business. However, I was not that excited to get Windows Vista, and it turns out I was right.

This operating system bites the big one.

Not one of the programs we have loaded with it has been fully functional - MSOffice, Acrobat, Blackberry software, Simply Accounting. You know, just all the programs we need to be a functional small business. I have spent the last three days randomly testing different things and surfing the internet trying to find solutions. I'm ready to tear my hair out. Basically, Bill Gates isn't satisfied with ruling the universe, he now just wants to fuck with people and so has made an OS that will only work with like four programs, all of which were launched at the same time as Vista, and all of which cost about a billion dollars.

But it is very pretty.

A bit more calm, I guess

So, the idiot tech guy did nothing for me. Nothing! We dropped the computer off on Monday night at 5:30 and were told the tech guy would be there Tuesday at 10am. At 11am I called to get a progress report and was told the tech guy was on a service visit, and then would be taking lunch, and would be back at 1.

At 1, I tried to call to get an update. I got put on hold for 10 minutes. I hung up and drove over to the store. It took them 20 minutes to send someone to tell me that the tech guy still wasn't back yet. I asked if he had looked at the computer before he left. It took them 10 minutes to find my computer, bring it out, and tell me no one had looked at it yet. Where is the tech guy? I asked. "At lunch, he will be back in five minutes" It's 1:30, I was told he would be back from lunch at 1. "Yes, 1 is when he is usually back" Then how do you know he will be back in five minutes, when he is already half an hour late? "Five, maybe ten minutes, he will be back". Can you call him and see when he will really be back? "No. Five, ten minutes he will be back." Give me my computer.

So, then I'm stressed out AND pissed off.

I get home and SB says that maybe their work tech guy could take a look at it, but he can only come by late afternoon and we will maybe have the data back the next day. This is better than nothing, but my schedule is still not done and I don't know if I've forgotten any Tuesday appointments.

Then I get a facebook message from Ems's Brian: I hear you're having computer problems...

I call him up. He graciously offers to take a look at it, and at the very least he'll hopefully be able to retrieve our data.

Two hours later, I'm home and able to work from my mac. We've decided the old computer is pretty much a write off. I just don't trust it anymore, so don't feel like paying to fix whatever the problem is (it will now start up, run okay for like five minutes, then randomly shut down...) just to have it break down again in a month. So, while we save/figure out where to get money for a new one, we will use mine and SB's computers.

And for the record, Brian Williams is a data extraction guru.

So much stress

I haven't been this stressed in a while. I'm generally a very easy-going person, especially now that I'm back on my meds. But, last week we had some major work done on our Jetta, and then we had some work done on the work van. One of our full time girls gave her notice and will be leaving next month - we're sad. But, I'm glad she gave plenty of notice cause it makes finding someone a bit less stressful. And then our sale was finalized for the condo, which is not stressful, but very exciting - we have our closing in two weeks. Then yesterday our work computer wouldn't turn on and I hadn't done the schedules for this week yet, so I'm hoping that I didn't forget anyone. And I'm hoping that the stupid tech guy can fix it and have it back to me by this afternoon.

Other than that, things are great. We keep throwing out at least three bags full of garbage twice a week, just of stuff that's been sitting around that we're ready to chuck. Or shread. Phone bills from 2001 anyone?

The Sopranos had a GREAT first episode - there was just enough snippets to update us on some of the other characters, but also a good juicy plot.

This week is more packing and cleaning. People are starting to visit the apartment tonight, so we have to actually keep some semblance of normalcy to help our landlady get the place rented. She shouldn't have a problem, it's a pretty great place.

Probably my best discovery in a while - Simon would disagree

Have you ever gotten a little baby kitten, and he's so cute and puffy, and sweet. And then he grows up, and still so cute, and it's time to chop off his balls, and you're okay with that, but they also ask if you want him declawed, and you then face the eternal moral dilemma.

Yes, yes I would love to have him declawed. And my furniture would love it too. But I'm not sure I could live with myself knowing my kitty had been robbed of his claws and first knuckles forever. With no hope of defending himself if he ever escaped. Or for that matter, no hope of defending himself from an ever-grumpy Basset Hound who would later come into his life and become his eternal nemesis.

So you don't have him declawed, and you feel good about it. Until it's 4am and he's sharpening his claws on the wooden doors of your $500 wardrobe. Then you don't feel so good.

I have become increasingly anxious about the claw situation (and other situations too, but don't worry, I'm back on my meds) because we are moving soon (have ya heard?) and are probably getting a bunch of new furniture which we would prefer to not have scratched up. Then I found this.

Cue the angels singing and sunshine through the clouds from above.

These are the best things ever. Guilt-free. Easy to put on (although Simon doesn't love having them put on, it only takes about five minutes to apply them, and five minutes for them to set). And, if your cat is a boy and is really pissing you off, you can get back at him by buying the pink ones. I highly recommend them.