Monday Bunday

much packing going on around here.. the front hall is a maze of boxes.
While going thru boxes in the sunroom I found one little one... and decided to see if it could still be put to use....

at one point in time it WAS useful... He even came home in it....

Happy New Year's Eve

It's come, yet again, to my attention that I need to win the Lottery.
And when I do...
le sigh.....

chew chew

Earlier in the week I'd finally broken down and replaced the remote that the buns had eaten. Rather... I replaced the remote for the TV that the buns had eaten. The remote for the DVD player... well, it's an old player... I'm not going to bother to replace it. Hopefully I can continue to remember which button is which.

Anyway, since this new purchase (on Christmas Eve-Eve... my one and only visit to StuffMart this Christmas) I've been so careful with the remotes when the buns are loose in the house. I make sure to put them up out of bunny reach... I flip them over on the couch so the chewy good parts are hidden.

Tonight I'm on the phone when I hear this chompy-chew noise from the living room. I don't think anything of it, merely "ah ha, they must have found my popcorn" (popcorn when you're not feeling well is SO great!), and I turned back to my conversation. But the noise kept going, and I wasn't hearing "little feets in a big popcorn bowl" sorts of noises... so I peered around the corner.

Only to discover Fynn Pants chewing happily on the remote that he'd flipped over.

He eats remotes the way I eat corn... one row at a time... only the buttons on the right side of the remote remain.

+ and -

on the positive::

I ate brie tonight
Heard some fun music
Visited with some fun people
Got out for a walk
Watched most of season 4
Finished season 4
Got to get dressed up and put on makeup


on the downside::

Drank a lot of Nyquil
Didn't dance (see re: Nyquil)
Had to leave the party early
Think I'm getting bedsores



You should be immune to colds and flu when you're on vacation.

Merry indeed

Christmas was lovely...
And as a special gift to myself, I've spent the last 20 hours on the futon alternating between sleep and movies, gorging on a pizza and drinking jugs of water. Next on the list, an afternoon at the Bean...
ahhh.. I love vacations.

BUT on the movie front.... RENT "ONCE". That's all I have to say. (well, I've MUCH more to say on the subject, but I'll not do the film justice, AJ gives it a good little run-down, read his version.) (even if you only have time to listen to the soundtrack.... here).
Also watched "Evan Almighty" meh.. not so great. And three episodes of season 4 Sopranos.

oldie but a goodie

this is the look we were going for.... instead my arms are scratched.
For some reason this is looking kinda pixal-y, might be this crazy computer... I'll see if it can be fixed when I get home.

Merry Merry

Merry Christmas everyone! (it's one minute after midnight and Christmas day will be arriving shortly...)

The past week has flown by, and I'm still wondering if I'll get the last few presents wrapped...
I keep forgetting little pieces of presents and cards in random places... Thankfully, Christmas doesn't rely on me being organized in my giving.

So happy birthday Jesus.
Thank you for giving me what I've got. For blessing me and my friends. And for the incredible people in my life. I have so much.

Bunday Monday

after several unsuccessful attempts at putting on the Santa suit... Pontouf is happy to be left alone.
Perhaps we'll be more sucessful later in the day?

!!M Wii

Now, for some of you, it's not nearly as exciting as Guitar Hero or Rock Band, (both of which make me dizzy) But I got a new game for my Wii last week.

Dad and Gale, thank you so much for the lovely birthday sweaters you bought me!
uh... I kept one, and returned the other two....
uh.... I hope you don't mind too much.
uh....Dad and Gale, thank you so much for the lovely birthday game of Mario Party 8 that you bought me! It's like a birthday party every day!

Me and the LStew rocked the game last night (where it's gone for a vacation while I pack... so I don't sit around playing it instead of packing... like how right now I'm sitting around blogging instead of packing. or wrapping presents). I'm really really looking forward to seeing pictures of Ma and Pa Stew on the Wii... those will be wallpaper worthy I'm sure!

Using the Buddy System

Once the Buddy System has been called, it's in effect for the rest of the evening.


There are some days when I just wish I had a recorder with me to keep track of all the items that really do need to be saved on the interwebs for all to read about.

"If you'd killed him, you'd be out by now" NurseDude said to Bethsheff during her 25 wedding anniversary concert/party... It was such a great night, so many lovely people came out to celebrate with the Sheff family! Music and food topped off the company (in perfect reflection of the Sheff household). Beth's wedding dress hung on display, and Manda Manda had re-created the kissing ball wreath that the Sheffs had stood under in their wedding photos.
Always a party at the Gallery :)

Since Manda, Ian and Maria had slaved all day getting food ready for the party, I'd sent them down stairs to enjoy, I puttered around the kitchen upstairs trying to clean things up so there wasn't a huge fuss at the end of the evening, it was pretty simple stuff, so I worked merrily away at it, occasionally zipping downstairs to visit or gather up dishes. I knew SOMEWHERE in the gallery there were more dishes hiding. As in... hundreds. But I couldn't find them, so I figured that they had been put into storage. After a near panic trying to wash dishes fast enough so we could put the cake out, I was shown the hiding plates... all was well.
Sort of.
I had erroneously started a conversation with Mr.RovingHands earlier in the evening, well before he had reached his "party peak" and loss of good judgement. The evening had continued on, and Mr.RH decided that he'd come keep me company in the kitchen... after a long and tortured 10 mins of hand and lip dodging while trying to do dishes, I escaped ...though not before hearing such gems as "you've got an emotional problem don't you? I want you to know that I'm here for you to talk out your deep dark secrets... if not now, maybe later baby? I can heal you." and "I am very attracted to this, (trys to caress my nose as I hold a large dirty roasting pan between us) I love your strong roman nose".
Him: "Come and smoke this with me... we click don't we? I knew from the moment we met... didn't you?" (insert me snorting a laugh back)
I: "thanks, but I don't smoke that stuff" (and now I'm scraping old food off plates into the garbage)
Him: "But baby, this isn't tobacco, don't worry, you won't get addicted"
I: (wishing this was some sort of script for a comedy so later with my friends we could laugh some more) "No, really, I'm not into that... ".

Eventually, I've had enough and decide I'd better just get to a safety zone before it goes from really creepy to harassment... I swat the hands away (again) and make a break for the stairs, Mr. RovingHands in close pursuit. I reach the bottom of the stairs, and with a look of panic and a strangled "help" in his direction, Aengus saves the day... steps directly behind me, blocking RovingHands and engages him in some discussion for a few minutes while the Buddy System is activated and all females are forewarned.
The rest of the evening continues in a lovely fashion... and Aengus wins Hero Of The Week status.

uh oh

Chirstmas is days away.
When will I have time to wrap everything?

I wonder what my boss would think if I were to bring everything to work with me on Monday?

I heard it on the radio.. on the wrong blog

I just wrote this lovely little piece on how I've been missing my CBC.

~And how the Christmassy tunes channels on the radio have been lacking in the Bing and Bowie content.

~About how I'd cancelled our Internet (effective 28 days from now)

~And how by doing that... it was the most hard hitting of the move preparations.

~About how my contract (for night sleeps) has the opportunity to be extended.. to September.

~And about various other thoughts...

and then I went to hit post and realized I'd been writing it under the wrong blog....

meh.

unnnga unnnga raaaahhhhwwww

Well, I survived the Quad shifts.
Thankfully one of them was a sleep shift, or I figure I'd probably have killed someone by now. As it stands, I left work and went to the Laundromat... and had to try not to cry while I was there... that whole "try to be human when around humans" thing wasn't quite working by the end of the 32 hours.
Last night (during the sleep shift), one of the men decided he just really wasn't into the whole sleeping thing (which in turn means I'm not sleeping). He got up the first time at 2:20. Walked out of his room (which is directly across from the room where my cot is set up) (oh, pardon me... did I say cot? I mean... the couch in the living room) and started talking to me... wandered out to the kitchen and continued to talk for a bit. I ignored him at first, hoping he was going to the bathroom... after a few minutes, I could hear him just standing around in the kitchen, talking away.
I sat up, and gently said "Elvis! It's time to sleep!" then laid back down and fell asleep the moment I heard his door shut.
20 mins later the door creaks open again. Talking again. Interrupting this dream where I've got to find the right nightie for this chicken I've found in the crawlspace...
I open one eye to see Elvis leaning in the doorway chatting away.
"Elvis brrrrraaaaaaawwwwwwaaaaa!" (not even able to form words at this point)
Elvis goes back to his room.
15 mins later I hear the door creak open again...
This time I don't open my eyes... this time I just open my mouth and grunt "unnnga unnnga raaaahhhhwwwwww!" As loudly as I can... without actually taking a breath deeper than my previously-sleeping-breath.
Elvis goes back to his room.
20 mins later.... this is getting old now.....
the door... the talking... the walking into the kitchen... I wait, in hopes that it's part of my dream, this time, I'm fighting with a friend about how to get the Donkey to do something (I knew I'd have donkey dreams this week). Nope, he's really awake.
I open one eye and see him standing over me. Creepy.
In my most whiney voice ever I cry...
"Ellllllvissssssss..... go to beeeeeeeed".
And he does.
And the next thing I know.
It's morning.
And I'm laying in bed (errr, on the couch) wondering if I've forgotten to set the alarm... as my boss walks into the house.

Bunday Monday (Sunday night)

waiting for my camera to charge it's batteries... sadly I'm doing a Quad-Shift starting tomorrow morning, soooooo we might have to wait until Tuesday.

Pray there's a snow day tomorrow morning.

12 days... like none other.

well, the count-down is on, my shopping is... near finished I think.
Most of my bedroom is packed (I did get rid of a lot of stuff, and I found three sweaters I forgot I had)...

Generally I don't consider it the Christmas season till I've had "Christmas in the Tub"... an annual event that has me singing Christmas carols along with the Nylons at the top of my lungs while enjoying a long hot bubble bath. The bubble bath is packed, and the Nylons are only on my computer this year... I think though, that this video has brought the Christmassy feeling to my heart..... enjoy!

a few more, and we could unplug it.

While I fully know it's illegal, and they must too, anything but laughing at the situation might just cause me to lose it.

Since we gave notice that we're moving I haven't seen the temperature go above 16 degrees.
(60 for you Americans)
Now, truth be told, I haven't been here much- but yesterday's low was 14.5.
(Photos have been taken with a cell phone sitting open beside the therm to record dates and times to use with community legal services when it comes time).
The good part is, at least now I don't have to keep the pop in the fridge.

Passive aggressive much?

Bunday Fursday?

ok, so Monday never happened.

ask me about this week... in a month. I'm sticking my tongue out too.




He's still got a bit of Baby-Face happening... I'm glad for that, he's nearing 5 months.

I can pencil you in for next year... maybe.

Dear December.

I'd really like a moment. One where I don't feel like I'm going to spew the contents of my stomach everywhere. One where I can catch my breath. One where I can see what needs to be done and get it done without abandoning something else.

Did I mention I'm moving in 30 days?

L.Bo

compile and file. then burn the file.

I'm hoping that as of tonight, I'll be able to say "remember that time we had the landlord from hell?". As opposed to "Guess what our psycho landlord did this time".

Pray that the pieces would fall together.
I'm sick of the heart burn and high blood pressure.

they make 'em young?

So, as for the distraction... (Sunday's post)
The priest.

No, not the old Spanish one (or whatever his background).
The young Italian one.
Not that I was attracted to him (not everything is about sex) (despite what others might tell you), I wasn't staring at him in lust... but the thing that caught my attention was the fact he was my age. I didn't know they made Priests my age. I mean... I know that a Priest at one point in time has to live out the twenty something's years... but I don't know, it just seems like Priests are born old.

So, aside from the shocker that, in fact; Priest do NOT materialize in ancient form; Nor the fact that I didn't know people still became Priests (I think I figured they really DID materialize in ancient form)(or, that we'd reached some sort of Priestly quota in the 70's); I was more concerned about his social life.

What does a young Priest do on a Saturday night?
(I mean, aside from Saturday night mass)

Does he have friends? Does he laugh at a dirty joke? Does he hope to all hopes that he can find a good show? Does he wear his collar to the movies?

I used to wonder the same things about pastors... if they went out for dinner or not.

Then I thought... HEY! I should ask the Priest out... not on a date... but you know, so he could get to meet some people his own age. But. But what if someone thinks I'm after the Priest? What if he makes some guy friends... are people going to think that he's after one of them? Does he only hang out with old ladies in their parlours drinking tea out of their grandmother's favorite china pattern? Or does he get together with the nuns for bowling? What if... what if he was hanging out with someone for coffee and then he DID like them... (turns out it really is all about sex after all). Or what if the church-goers got their panties in a knot because Priesty went out to a concert?

needless to say, I missed most of the message, and mumbled my way thru the last two songs.
anyway, I'm going to go try to find out his name.
people like friends.
right?

Bunday Monday

Being as I had an escapee this morning who's eaten into my blogging time, Monday Bunday's photos have not been uploaded.
Stay tuned for this evening's addition.

The young Priest (or) what to do on a Saturday night?

I visited the local Catholic Church this weekend. It was thru work, but I'd been contemplating going for a visit there for awhile, the timing just happened to be good.

Not much has changed there.
But a lot has changed too.

There's the physical changes, the building is older, the murals more faded, the faces I recognized have aged, as mine has too. There's scaffolding up, pews taken out, someone is trying to bring a newness to the old murals, holding the plaster back into place.
The same refrains are chorused, but the tune they are sung to has changed- I come from a straight spoken refrain background, but my last few years in the church the sing-song refrains had taken over... it seems the tunes they are a'changing (insert eye-roll here).

My visit brought up all sorts of strange memories, concerns, lifelong frustrations... and peace too. I love liturgy. So it was good to be back... BUT
here's the but::
There was one thing that occupied my mind the entire mass.

Part two will be added after work.....

Good Lovelies

I should really be sleeping at this point.


"You know it's been a good show when you don't even care that you can't feel your butt", was a comment I heard as I left the show.
True the seats were like rocks, but the show was both Good AND Lovely.
From the three fine young men who opened (a pleasant surprise in a town void of fine young men)(err... and I extend an apology to my male friends) to the fantastic performance put on by the ladies themselves.. there was not a single moment that I wished I was elsewhere!
Flying beer. Skinny Santa. Shared deodorant. Family ribbing. Great atmosphere (this was the first show at the JTTA building... Christine promises more to come.. so long as she can find the right "fit"). N'umberland community. Old Friends (I didn't even know you moved back here!). Whiskey. Candy canes. Audience participation. Tight harmonies. Beautiful lyrics. Introduction to some new writers. And dresses that tend to fall down.
really... what didn't happen tonight?
Ok, enough of the glowing on and on...But let me say, I really enjoyed myself, the band was entertaining (as always), and even though I just saw them a few short months ago, you can really sense the way they've come together/grown. I laughed most of the night... when I was breathing...I can't always breathe when there's a good harmony.
This was probably the most "fun"- but quality show I've seen out here in awhile, Congrats ladies on your one year anniversary!

what a lovely day indeed

I just had a lovely evening with a few ladies I love.
And they love me.

feels good to be loved.

Thanks for the night... even the part with the creepy breast cupping man.

A heads up for everyone, tomorrow I'll post a little story ... it might be a little TMI for you boys, soooo... whatever, read it, or... just visit the site to keep my stats up.
(I'm still a stats counter addict).

happy birthday to me!

(giggle)

You might remember dining with some raccoons.... carpets smeared with old food, faint smell of urine and stale smoke.

tonight, the most beautiful of quotes.

The entire area is an ice field, I could have skated from my car to the door, a few meager piles of salt dot the stairs to the building. People brace themselves to help others in and out.
The craft lady steps out the door with hot coffee grinds. She looks at me and giggles... "you know, I'm of half a mind to use these on the stairs... you know, for traction" , then she pauses and in all seriousness says, "but I'm afraid it will get tracked in on the carpet".

I lose it laughing.


ps. It's Christmas at our house now.

get a day timer. Do it.

I got my union card today.
I finished my probation.
I guess they're keeping me.
Having never been part of a union, or... better said, having no clue what being in a union means, I'm looking forward to this. More so, now that I've got the paper work that tells me I'm in the same union as the LCBO (That's Liquor Control Board Ontario for you "out of province-ers").
Go figure!

I spent a chunk of the day today at work catching up on odds and ends. I figured I should fill out my attendance record (since I didn't start one last week) but kept drawing a blank whenever I thought about Thursday.

I kept staring at the calendar, checking my schedual on the computer.... nothing was jogging my memory.

An hour after work I was telling someone about the Titanic exhibit at the Science Centre, and the Omimax film that I'd seen.

I stopped short.

right... I went to the science centre on Thursday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You may remember the last bus trip I went on as a chaperone.... This time we had my old bus driver from high school... not Milford, the guy who replaced Milly.... Charles. He always gave me the creeps.
Where was I going with this?
Every time I go on one of these trips I hear some strange things come out of J.Mac's mouth. This time was no exception. I think it was something along the lines of "I try to stay away from things that I might get addicted to. I've never smoked a cigar. I don't drink. I don't golf".

3rd time's a charm?

Dear December,

Maybe with the weather, the mail's not getting thru? Is that it? I'll look into that.

Ok, so this morning at 5:32 I woke up to the most awful of noises. December! I didn't know you could do that! I had to get out of bed to figure out what it was. Turns out, all that slushy snow was freezing. With each gust of wind the whole wet roof would contract, making creaking and groaning noises, cracking and sputtering. I honestly thought the roof was caving in. Which, then made me worry, because I didn't put away my laundry... or any of my papers this week... so my room isn't all the tidy- not a good thing if my roof is going to cave in and a handsome fireman has to sift thru the debris to find my lifeless body and breathe life back into me! On that note, I thought maybe I should get up and have a shower so I'd be presentable when they did find me.

I covered my ears and tried to get back to sleep, satisfied, that at least it wasn't freezing rain and I wouldn't have to admit to my boss I'd left the winter storm weather list at work.

At 7:30 the phone rang... my boss.
Activating the phone tree.
"We'll re-assess at 10:30, if the actual freezing rain hasn't started by then, we'll open at noon." She said. Mortified, I told her where the list was... she laughed, and I called the numbers she gave me. I got an answering machine for two of them... I'm just praying they were the right numbers.

Ok, so December... here's the real deal. I'm too excited having another paid day off, I can't get back to sleep!

wide awake, but exceptionally tired,
L.Bo

Monday Bunday (or) recap of recovery sunday

I stayed inside all day Sunday. I was iced into place.
The boys and I took the day to be a day of recovery from life.
It worked out well. Warm socks, PJs, a sweater and a blanket, I didn't need much more.

Fynn, when not flying around the house at top speed, could be found sleeping under the futon... Pontouf however, knew the unspoken rule of "move only if you have too". He moved from one comfy spot to another, waking only for grapes.
shesh.

or maybe I have your address wrong?

Dear December,

I guess you didn't get my last letter? The one where I asked you nicely to hold off for awhile? Or maybe I just didn't explain myself clearly.

See, December, I'm not that interested in you this year (YET).
Oh, I love your blankets of snow, your frosty designs on my window. I even love the crispy feeling in my nostrils when I breathe you in. But... could you hold off just a little while longer?

There are some people saying we're in for the coldest winter in 15 years, that the temperatures are going to be like when I was growing up... if that's the case-GREAT! I'd love to relive that... but, your drifting snow.... um, could that wait for another two or three days? I'd like to get out and finish my shopping... and, well, I hate to admit it, but I've left my "storm closure" list at work. If you're going to blow in anyway, please wait till I've got a copy at home.
please?
I'll celebrate Decemberween if you do!
pretty please?

much love and hopefulness,
L.Bo

do I use the same postal code as for Santa?

Dear December,

I'm just not ready for you yet.

Do you think maybe we could rewind and go back a little further? Say, to October? I'd be ok with it being October.
See, December, I promised myself that I would get all my Christmas shopping done early, and... well, I started in October, and.. never got around to finishing. SO, really... I'd like a do over.
Plus, I don't think I'm ready to say I've seen 29 Christmases in my life...

Sincerely,
L.Bo