12/29/2003

All we got for christmas was...

We had a great time this year. It was hard to leave my parents' place on Christmas day, especially since my whole extended family was there AND my cousin Marie announced that her soon to be baby was actually going to be TWINS - the first set EVER in our family!!!

Anyway, for those of you who are innerested here's what we got.

ME:
- green amber bracelet my brother brought back from his vacation in the Dominican Republic
- a mini-moose
- some cash from both of my grandmothers
- socks
- red long sleeve cotton top
- my very own custom-made skirt from Dirty Skirty (My friend Kate Jackson's new clothing company selling stuff out of Peachy Fresh in Yorkville)
- some yarn

KIRK:
- Black Death Malt Liquor t-shit
- grey t-shirt
- socks
- gift certificate to Old Navy
- set of motorola walkie-talkies for the cottage
- bottle of red wine from the Dominican Republic

BOTH OF US:
- dark blue table runner
- 2 hand thrown clay wine goblets with cobalt blue and black glaze
- 7-cup Cuisinart food processor
- beautiful white quilt with blue and yellow applique made by kirk's mum
- quilt rack - made by kirk's mum & dad
- set of 12 wine glasses
- some placemats
- lots of candies and chocolates
- lots of gourmet coffees and cookies from gift baskets my father had received (he works in the construction business and gets TONS of that shit at Christmastime)
- set of blue jersey sheets
- couple of Christmas tree ornaments
- antique crystal salt & pepper shakers
- antique glass butter dish
- antique green glass
- neat little magnetic screwdrivers
- small plastic massager with nubby wheels you rub all over your back (mmmmm...)
- glass candy dish
- ceramic Christmas tree
- mini Christmas house thingy that lights up
- knitted dishcloth
- a fire's worth of firewood
- a whole whack of leftovers

OSCAR:
- hand sewn, plush zebra pattern dog bed from his Uncle Missy
- rawhide chews

THE POUPEE:
- catnip mice

metro-what?

puhleeeeeeze...

12/24/2003

mmmm...smells liiiike....

I can't believe I'm up so early. I guess I'm excited!

Kirk baked cinnamon rolls last night. sooooo gooooooood.

We're going to spend a some time with our families for the rest of the week. First to my parents for the traditional Italian Christmas Eve fish/seafood dinner and then on Christmas Day we're driving out to Kirk's parents' place (2 hour drive) where we'll stay for a few days.

I've actually been looking forward to Christmas this year, which kinda surprises me 'cause usually I'm depressed (like everyone else it seems). When I was 14, my grandfather was dying of lukemia over the Christmas holidays. He died near the end of January and it left all subsequent Christmases feeling empty and sad. Grandpa was the Christmas-iest person I ever knew.

Every Christmas we travelled to my grandparents house for a giant Italian feast and Grandpa would unveil his latest "presepio", which is essentially a diorama of the birth of Jesus with the manger being the central focus. Grandpa's presepio was extremely elaborate and quite a sight. There were mountains and grottoes with hundreds of figurines including angels announcing the birth, the three wise men on their journey to deliver their gifts, shepherds tending to their flocks, carpenters building stuff, small houses lit up in celebration and even miniature christmas trees. Every year he sought to out do himself. My favourite was when he added a small pond with ducks and swans and a working waterfall. As a child I could sit for hours just looking at it, imagining stories for the little scenes Grandpa had lovingly created.

I decided that this year, in honour of my grandfather, I would scrap my usual cynicism and make the most out of this holiday. I've spent the last few weeks crocheting and painting gifts for the people in my life that mean something to me and I've enjoyed every single moment of it. Plus I LOOOOOVE giving presents! While receiving is fun, giving is the best part for me. I can't believe how much stuff I made (I'll post pics to my art site over the next week or so). I even got a REAL tree (I've always had artificial ones - UGH I know) decorated with ornaments Kirk has received from his parents since his childhood. Awwwwwww...Gives me the warm & fuzzies.

Oh Grandpa, I miss you!

*sniff *

Yes, I'm a sap.

12/22/2003

RED MEAT

I totally forgot about this comic!!!!

12/15/2003

These women are my heroes!

must blog

I've certainly been slacking off on my blogging duties in the last little while. The chaos before Christmas is making things a little hectic. With feeling icky last week and my friend's issues, life seems a little lackluster lately.

The week ended great though since we went to Kirk's company Christmas party at Butt'r. The drinks were great...and the food was amazing...if a little pricey even though was on his company's tab. I did cringe a little at the $40 carribean lobster tail menu option.

The service was impeccable and our wine glasses were always filled. That's why Kirk and I stumbled home, our bellies full of organic greens with walnuts & dried cranberries with chive vinaigrette, pepper steak & frites and yummy salmon in tarragon cream sauce, around 10:30pm. Don't remember too much about that. I do, however, vividly remember suddenly waking up at 2:00am to stumble s'more around the apartment to turn off all the lights, the TV and unlpug the tree (seems we felt the need to turn them ALL on when we got home), gulp down a couple of advils and a LOT of water and climb back into bed.

I was hung over until yesterday. GAWD I'm a wimp.

12/09/2003

headache BEGONE!!!!

OK...so that didn't work.

Well I figured out what the puke-y feeling was all about. Unfortunately part of the joys of being a modern woman is being on the birth control pill (Yes, I know there are other options...but it usually works for me) to stay UN-pregnant. BUT when you forget to take one (as I had) and you have to take 2 at once, well...it wreaks a little havoc on the body. It can simulate the symptoms of pregnancy, like morning sickness, even though you aren't preggers. So that, plus my caffeine intolerance made for a pretty messy day yesterday. AND, today I have a nasty sinus headache and cannot stop sneezing...sigh...

On a brighter note, I have been crocheting like a frickin' maniac and finished a few more paintings. I'll be posting pics of all my new stuff after christmas, so's I don't spoil things for anyone.

Toys that kill

Christmas is coming - YIPEE!!!!!

12/08/2003

blurgh....

I had a tea this morning and the caffeine is totally making me nauseous. Miz G suggested I make some bay leaf tea (3 bay leaves steeped for 5 minutes, stir in some sugar and voila!) and it's working. ...slowly...

I've had a recurring problem with caffeine ever since that time I overdosed on coffee. It was back one morning in my first year of university while I was cramming for an exam. I had 8 cups of coffee and half a pack of cigarettes in 2.5 hours. I managed to just pass the exam (though my hands shook like crazy) and gagged and lurched at all food smells until 6 AM the next day. Since then, I've quit smoking (mostly) but the tantalizing lure of caffeine seems to get to me every so often. I had a latte yesterday at Jet Fuel and was fine until I took a few sips of orange pekoe this morning.

I still feel icky-ish...but it's subsiding...

Update about my friend: Boyfriend was released on bail and they will be getting some counselling and help to try and figure out what to do about all this. Friend has promised me she will seek individual counselling (ourside of what she'll do to help her boyfriend), though it may not be with the number I gave her. She also told her family and his and everyone is being supportive. PHEW! I'm so proud of her. I think I'm going to cry...

12/05/2003

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?

A friend called me last night to tell me that her boyfriend got a "little agressive" with her...and by that I mean "REALLY agressive". He shoved her and grabbed her by the throat. She called 911 and had him arrested. HE spent the night in jail and was going to be released this morning. Yes, friends, this is a real mess. Does she stay with him and get help to sort it out or does she kick him out on his sorry ass and move on?

I'm resisting telling her what I think she should do. I mean, it just happened yesterday and she's really freaked out - not exactly a good time to be making big life decisions (they live together, so it's not that easy a choice). She is a friend (I've known her since we were 14), and yes I want to keep her safe and make things better for her, but I don't have to live every day with the decision that gets made. I told her I am always here to listen and support her, whatever her decision (which was REALLY HARD TO DO) when a part of me (most of me, really) wants to go over there are break his knee caps with a baseball bat.

The problem is though that (I never thought I'd say this) I kind of feel bad for the guy. Let me explain. He is a good person who cleaned up his act like no one ever thought he could all on his own, but the pressure of the real life and responsibilty just became too much for him and he snapped. It's so sad to see someone come so far only to fall. hard. I'm not excusing his actions, but I do know that good people often make BAD choices and even HUGER mistakes.

...sigh...

She's afraid to tell her family and other friends because they'll all just try to step in and fix things the way they think they should be fixed (yeah, like beating him with an inch of his life with a shovel) when what she needs is compassion and emotional support. The only thing I could do was suggest she talk to someone to help her - that I believed she was strong enough, and smart enough to figure it out for herself but that counselling can show you what you can't see when you're in the middle of it all. I want her to be empowered to make the right choices for herself, even though they wouldn't be what I would do. I gave her my therapist's number. I hope she'll call.

...sigh...

I want to cry.

12/02/2003

i am addicted

There are very few shows that I feel the need to watch on a regular basis but this is one of them. I love it because it is beautifully styled and shot, the acting is first rate and the plot is intellectually challenging.

The other two are Buffy and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

i love volvos buuuuuuut.....

whaaaaaaaaaaaaa????

let it frick'n snow

So, I woke up this morning and everything was white. This happened last week but it went away. Maybe it's here to stay this time.

Gee, Your Car Smells Terrific! You Feel OK?

car smell can make you sick??? Who knew? I did. When I was a kid, my parents bought a new burgundy (ahhh...the seventies...the decade of burgundy) Pontiac Grand LeMans that made me feel like barfing every time I rode around in it...until the new smell went away of course. To me, it smells like puke...and to think, there are arseholes out there who buy air fresheners to purposefully make their car smell like puke. ICK.

11/25/2003

i wish i was brave

This site rocks.

11/24/2003

still full from dinner on Saturday

Kirk's mum and her family usually have a get together a few weeks before Christmas (holy crap it's only a month away). It's usually some kind of potluck affair...but this year, we went to the Mandarin.

'Cause nothing says Christmas like a north americanized chinese buffet. Shit, I can't believe how busy that place gets on a Saturday night...but I guess when you live in Barrie, there ain't much else going on. I couldn't believe how much food people can pack away at that place. Homer Simpson would be proud. I'm still full.

I'll be taking Oscar to the vet tomorrow. He's got this weird rash around his puppy crotch area so I'm thinking it might have something to do with his little bladder control problem. I hope he's OK, and that the vet bill won't be too expensive.

11/21/2003

oscar is a baaaaaad boy

This morning Kirk and I woke up around 7:30, we let Oscar out of his crate (yes, he sleeps in a cage) and the first thing he did was run over to our couch and jump up on it. The second thing he did was pee all over it.

He did the same thing last Saturday when Kirk's parents came to stay with us, except on the floor. I'm going to keep a close watch on that little sonofabitch cause I want to make sure there isn't anything medical going on. Personally, I think he's just being a dick because our schedule has been all over the place. We shall see.

11/17/2003

cranking your head into a wall hurts

This morning Oscar barfed all over my bedroom floor. The dumb mutt decided to scarf down all his morning food before Poupee The Glutton (the cat) got into it and ate it so fast it upset his tummy. As I was scrambling to clean it up and make it to work on time, I smashed the side of my head into the corner part of a wall. I now have a lovely egg shaped bump. It actually sounded like my head cracked. It didn't but it sure sounded bad.

This has happened before.

Back in 1996/1997, I was living alone around Avenue Road and Dupont. Was a work evening, and I decided to vaccuum my kitchen where I had neglected to close all the cupboard doors. I was leaning down to pick up a scrap of something, and stood up. The corner of one of those cupboard doors made contact with the top of my head and the next thing I knew I was lying on the floor and the Poupee was sitting on my chest meowing at me.

Oh...and there was this other time when I woke up at 3 in the morning for a drink of water. Kirk and I had moved in together a few months earlier into a 1 bedroom apartment in a swank hive-type building on Bay Street. We had a 2nd room off of the living room that was all windowed and termed The Solarium. Well, the window in that room was usually open to get the air ciculating, but that night it was freezing, so I decided to close it. I took one step into the room and slightly fractured my nose by smashing it into the closed sliding glass door that enclosed the room. I ended up with 2 slightly black eyes. Of course no one believed me when my response to their "What happened?" was "I walked into a door"; including the doctor at the walk in clinic who checked it.

11/11/2003

...sigh...

HOLY CRAP! (said a la Peter Griffin)

It's Tuesday already.

I feel really stuck lately. It's like I'm on the verge of a major transition in my life. I can feel it happening beneath the surface but I just can't make it all make sense.

My job is kinda boring. I do office administration and bookeeping. You know, pay bills, track expenses, invoice clients, keep things tidy, filing, opening mail, collection calls, and anything else that my employer needs me to do around here. I never had any formal training in this area but am an organizing freak and love to help people solve problems, so it seems to work out well. I'm also helping my employer plan the next big move with her business. We get along great so it's pretty painless. I'm also learning lots about the ins and outs of running a small business. One day, I would like to be doing all this stuff for my OWN business.

I just want to make art and stuff all the time. On the weekend, Kirk and I found 2 whole series of craft/crocheting/sewing encyclopedias from the late 70's - about 40 volumes in all. So I have a lot of planning to do to start using them to make stuff that I can give as gifts for holidays and birthdays and stuff...maybe even sell. Then I want to plan to do something with all of my digital photography and artwork, even if it's to get more of it framed and up on the wall. My goal with these is to do some kind of show/sale with it - at some point - maybe next summer. i'm going to also try and get out and see more art - try and soak it all in - find some inspiration.

Things with Kirk are amazing. We have our good and bad days like everyone else, but the good days are starting to outnumber the bad - which is a major shift - compared to the first 2 years we lived together. We're both learning to compromise and communicate in a way that doesn't hurt ourselves or the other person, which makes things more light and fun when we need it to be. PHEW! For a while there, I think we were both convinced that it might not work out. It's been 6 years now, and we're finally realizing how lucky we both are to have each other and that there's nothing we can't work through together.

All this, plus taking care of a dog that is more like a person than a pup, spending time with my family, trying to eat well, work out, blog, go to massage therapy and trying unsuccessfully to keep my home clean, I have very little time left over to spend with friends - who I love dearly and miss like crazy.

When I was in my early 20's it was easy...but now that I'm quickly approaching 30 it seems impossible...sigh...30...I'm not sure what to feel about this upcoming birthday (it's in February). Part of me feels like this is just another year, but everyone else I run into seems to think it's super important. Maybe because it's the beginning of a new decade in my lifetime. I wonder how much that has to do with how I'm feeling over all.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like a lot of people I know/meet who are roughly my age are going through similar changes in their lives. What do you think?

11/07/2003

i blog with renewed vigour

So I can't friggin believe that my last post was on Monday. Christ on the cross, what's going on?

Well nothing much really. Things are picking up at work. Since I'm only there 2 days a week, I kinda have to pack it all in... the days usually go by super fast. So fast that I haven't spoken to my grandmother yet this week. DAMN. I tried to interrupt her weekly routine last week, by offering to take her grocery shopping with me last Friday, but NOOOOO...she wouldn't do it. My aunt (who lives with her) says I should keep trying. Grandma needs to get used to changing her routine. They'll be moving in a year or so from Willowdale to Brampton, where she'll be living in my aunt's house...instead of the other way around. But she's been living her life with the same schedule for years. But her body just doesn't function like it used to with her arthritis...sigh...poor grandma, she's 50 on the inside but 80 on the outside.

I wonder what I'll be like when I'm 80 and my granddaughter (will I even have any??) forgets to call me.

11/03/2003

i love to crochet

Kirk and I spent most of this past weekend by the fire. I've been a crocheting maniac. Over 2.5 days, I've made 4 hats and 2 scarves. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I'm not going to post pics of them just yet 'cause most of them will be given as Christmast gifts.

I have a whole trunk of yarn (yes...I said trunk) that I've promised Kirk I will use before I buy any more. Buying the materials is just as fun as making the stuff. I'm like Homer Simpson at an all-you-can-eat buffet in yarn supply stores. It's a feast of colors and textures that just sucks me in. Choosing is always a little chaotic for me. I just want to take them all home with me.

Plan to do some more as Kirk and I continue our co-dependant lifestyle currently obsessed with Buffy - Season 5.

10/29/2003

halloween shmalloween

I've always had a hard time getting into it. Pretty much since the year I was 13 and my parents told me that I was getting a little old to be dressing up, oh that and having to coerce them into taking my brother and I out every year. Kinda took all the fun out of it for me.

...sigh...

How sad. I kind of just want to sit by the fire and watch movies all night and crochet.

10/27/2003

i love my grandma

Update about my grandma's italian pension nightmare:

Last Wednesday we successfully twisted the arm of the broad who kept giving us a hard time into just getting the damned thing done. I called my dad almost in tears the night before, not wanting to have my grandma deal with any more crap from those fuckers. He told me the only way to deal with those self-important blowhards is to intimidate them. So, when we showed up, I pulled out a pen and a pad and laid it on the desk, making a big production out of it so the person "serving" us could see that I was going to take notes - and it worked.

I suppose I could have offered to bribe her to get it done.

i spoke a little too soon

PHEW!!! Looks like I won't need to get another job after all.

Last night I subjected Kirk to the joyful process of doing our personal and business budgets (ick). It looks like we'll be ok...we'll just have to tighten our belts a little.

Thank goodness. I was really starting to freak out, and in turn freak Kirk out - which is never a good thing (sorry poops!!!).

I guess I was worrying that our new heavenly retreat would end up being some kind of massive albatross, which is the LAST thing I wanted.

Now I can relax (as much as someone like me CAN be relaxed) and be as happy as a REN.

10/24/2003

The party is officially over.

I'm having a hard time letting go of that "go-go-go" stressful bullshiat I've been living with since we decided to buy the cottage. Part of me feels like it isn't real - even though we spent 2 days there. I think it's probably the fact that I have to WAIT until next spring to actually DO the stuff we've been planning to do with the place.

...deep breath...

Well I guess it felt pretty real as I was post-dating cheques for our mortgage payments. Man, I'm going to have to get another part-time job now. I know it's not the end of the world, considering I've had it pretty easy workload-wise since my accident last summer. ICK...Time to check out the want ads.

10/21/2003

devil's lake ROCKS

Kirk and I spent the weekend at our new property on Devil's Lake...it's actually named Salerno Lake but the name was changed years back. I guess they had a leetle trouble selling lots.

It's the most amazing place. Seriously.

There's no running water, an outhouse and the cottage leans a little but there IS hydro so I have NO COMPLAINTS...plus it's fuggin' beeeootiful.

See?

10/20/2003

CBC News: B.C. hit with more rain, flooding forces 800 to flee homes

Dear Universe,

In the last year alone, Canadians have suffered asian insect infestations, SARS, BSE, hurricane Juan, drought, forest fires and when we look for something good to take us into the annual SAD season you give us floods?

I think you can do better than that!?!?!?!

(btw - the recent election of the Liberals in Ontario doesn't count)

10/19/2003

sine yo piddy on da runny kine

Note to Ren:

While you wait for my next posting, watch this.

It's just sitting there...waiting...

c'mon!!!!

It won't change your life...but it will make you giggle.

10/16/2003

i vow to blog more often

Grandma and I went to the italian pension office again yesterday. Once again, they told us that we didn't have enough information to process her paperwork.

I understand that this information is needed to ensure that she's still eligible for her pension next year but COME ON. I love my grandmother and am getting sick and tired of useless government workers treating her like a second class citizen. Just because she's old doesn't mean she is deaf, dumb and blind. Christ, her mind is just as sharp as it was when she was 50, but these arseholes talk to her like she has the intellectual fortitude of an infant.

We're going to have to go back sometime next week.

...sigh...

On the bright side, Kirk and I finally closed our cottage deal and are just waiting to have the keys sent to us. As long as they get here by tomorrow, we're heading up there on the weekend. YAY!!!!! I am SOOOOO STOKED!!!

BUT...I'm starting to feel icky now...I think my poor body was just hanging on for dear life during the stress of this closing...now I'm paying for it with intense reactions to every allergy I have. yay.

Note to Ren: I lurve you too, you dirty whore.

10/14/2003

no moooooooooore

Dear Turkey dinner leftovers,

Why must you tempt me with your deliciously intoxicating tryptophan?

Sleepily yours,

zzzzzz........

10/13/2003

uuuuuuughhhhhh....

so full.

spending the holidays with both Kirk and my families means 2 HUGE meals within a day of one another.

i have eaten turkey for the past 3 days...ENOUGH I SAY!

10/06/2003

i am a lazy blogging biatch

Here's what happened last week.

Monday
1. Went to work.

2. Went to see Queens of the Stone Age at the Koolhaus with Missy and Melissa. Bumped into an old co-worker, Scott. We worked together at a company that shall remain nameless (I try to NEVER mention their name in ANY context - I prefer to forget as much as I can about that period of my life). He was one of the few who made working at that shiat-hole tolerable. Anyway, we got there just in time to catch the 2nd opener The Distillers. They rocked out pretty hard but I wasn't blown away by them. Maybe it's cause the singer (who is HOTT!) sounded too much like Courtney Love who is a scary, scary lady. The Queens were amazing. They have lots of energy and are toight, ass-kicking musicians!

Tuesday
1. Went to Katrina's Studio. I'm worked on a pencil drawing of some tchatchka carved horse that one of Katrina's other students brought in. When I'm done I'll upload some photos of it to my art web pages.

2. Visited my Grandma. I took her to the Patronato Acli office which is supposed to provide information and assistance with Italian pensions. My Grandma's a landed immigrant and is still an Italian citizen so she gets a small pension from the Italian government. Basically every few years they do a survey of all pension recipients to make sure they're still alive. Apparently there's a BIG problem with people dying but still recieving their pension cheques.

So, Grandma had to bring all the requested documentation and ID in to the office to submit everything to the Italian government. They were fairly rude and unhelpful, as we had expected (I've taken her there before). Turns out my grandmother's most recent photo ID is an Italian passport that was issued to her in 1965. The person who was "helping" us told my grandmother she needed to update her ID (which makes sense). That means a new passport, which will probably cost her about $200. Needless to say my grandmother wasn't happy and proceeded to give the woman behind the desk an earful, who dealth with it by excusing herself to go to the washroom and not coming back. Man, my Grandma's a fiesty biatch. Now I know where I get it from.

Anyway, now we're going to have to go back there sometime soon or Grandma won't be getting any pension next year.

Wednesday
1. Went to Katrina's Studio. Worked on an oil painting that I'm just not liking.

2. Picked my mum up at the hospital. She had laser eye surgery to remove a cataract on one eye. Spent the afternoon with her and my brother (who is a chef and personal trainer) and we watched Daddy Day Care. I finally bit the bullet and asked my brother to help me get into shape. I'm so tired of being sore all the time from the accident last year when I was hit by a car crossing the street. I get repetitive stress injuries like mild carpal tunnel over a few days instead of over the course of weeks like most other people. BLECH. Marc's going to kick my ass into shape starting this week. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and my mum can see better now without her glasses for the first time EVER since she was 12.

Thursday
Was supposed to work but was sick. Stayed home and crocheted.

Friday
Still feeling like crap, but good enough to go for my regular therapeutic deep tissue massage. Genevieve has MAGIC FINGERS. But I was pretty useless for the rest of the day.

Weekend
Not much to tell. Originally Kirk and I were going to go up to the cottage this weekend, BUT since we haven't closed yet (GAHHH!) we couldn't go. There was also a DigitalEve Toronto board meeting (I'm a member of their Advisory Committee) that day that I missed (DAMN!). It was a meeting to help transition in the new board of directors but I just couldn't get it together to go. I was still in pretty bad shape. Basically all I managed to accomplish all weekend was some cleaning, grocery shopping, tea with my friend Kathleen, napping and crocheting.

And today I have wicked cramps. YAY!

9/29/2003

i love kitties!!!

I'm sitting here at my part-time job...and Felix, my employer's 7-month old kitten, just jumped up on my big-ass desk chair and lay down behind me (yes, there IS enough room for two!).

awwwwwwwwww....

life has its ups and downs

UPS:
1. Dyllon gave me the SWEEEEETEST haircut on Friday night - it's got a neat 30's bob kinda feel to it. I'll try and get a pic up soon. Maybe something before and after-y?

2. Our condo is neat and tidy. (see yesterday's entry for details)

3. The swell folks at the Cabbagetown Pet Valu taught me a new way of holding the Oscar's leash so he doesn't yank my arm out every time I walk him. We've taught him "heel" and I know he knows it...but he's only just over a year and a half and can't contain his excitement. Especially if you say the words: "park" or "play".

DOWNS:
1. A new delay means that we now have to wait until the 8th for the property to close instead of this Friday like we were hoping. GAHHHHHHH!

2. My allergies are driving me MENTAL. This year has been the worst EVER for that shiat.


Well, so far I'm 3 for 2 so that's not too shabby!

9/28/2003

i am an organizing freak

Kirk and I spent today reorganizing our home office/art studio/workshop space. We were planning on checking out the Word On the Street with my friend Angela, but I couldn't find her phone number anywhere. (Sorry, Angela - I thought I had saved your number in my cellphone phone book but no...all that's there is "41")

It worked out for the best anyway. All of our money is tied up into the closing of our cottage property. Instead of torturing myself with a whole bunch of books that I can't buy, we decided to take the bull by the horns and wrangle our monstrosity of junk into a usable workspace. I can't believe how much shit two people can accumulate over a month and a half. Here's what we found:

- old lump of chewing gum
- dustbunnies the size of a small mammal
- knitting/crochet patterns, yarn, buttons, needles, hooks
- plum pit
- pens, pencils, paintbrushes
- nasty end of Oscar's rawhide chewie
- porn
- business cards
- ashtrays, roaches
- styrofoam containers, jar lids
- magazines, invoices, catalogues, receipts, junk mail, bills, post-its
- dried pools of cat puke
- staples, screws, nails, thumb tacks
- measuring tape
- photographs
- books
- lightbulbs

9/26/2003

i love weird movies

Kirk and i watched this movie the other night on one of the movie networks. The acting was solid, the script was well written and it was an interesting take on the standard motley-crew-solves-a-mystery-survives-a-traumatic-event-and-learns-to-work-as-a-team storyline.

Sadly, we missed the end cause we're addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I hear they made a sequel last year which basically went straight to video.

Anyone see it?

me wantee smash 'puter

Commenting service up, but email notifications not working.

Maybe I'm just impatient. Hell, I know I'm impatient. I'm so impatient that I tap my foot, drum my fringers AND glance at my watch every 3 seconds while nuking food in the microwave. When I'm at the computer Kirk's nickname for me is "Clicky".

I just like to have things be...well...the way I like them.

NOW.

That's not too much to ask for is it?

===============

Ok...i'm sleepy now. Time to cozy up against the human furnace.

9/24/2003

comments

trying to get a commenting service of some sort on here...wish me luck.

stress makes me nauseous

Kirk and I are trying to buy a cottage and we are 1 week away from our closing date.

Why buy a cottage at 29, when we should be galavanting about recklessly spending all of our hard earned money on drugs, booze and travelling the world you ask??? Here was our reasoning:

1. We wanted to do this before we either get married or start pro-creating. Let's face it, who has spare cash lying around for such an occasion after experiencing either.

2. We wanted to do this before we retire. Who the hell wants to wait that long for something that may never even happen.

3. We figured that after blowing all our savings and acquiring a nifty mortgage on our condo in Cabbagetown in 2000, that this would be a GREAT idea.

4. We'll have an amazing place to go to whenever we need to get out of this stinking city and be one with nature.

So, after all that thinking, we spent a month and a half jumping through hoops to get the finances together.

Now we're stuck in a daily cycle of faxes, phone calls and voicemails between us, our lawyer, the realtor, the mortgage broker and the property vendor's lawyer.

...sigh...

I was hoping this whole experience would be empowering and exciting. Instead I feel nauseous. Go figger.

9/23/2003

dogs will eat anything

Yesterday V was telling me that she had to pull a dead bird out of her puppy's mouth recently.

....mmmm....putrid rotting dead bird. Sounds like a tasty treat, no?

Here are some of the things that Kirk or I have coerced Oscar to drop or pried out of his clenched doggy jaws:

- tea bags (he barfed for a few hours afterwards - scared the shite out of us)
- dog/cat food (this one is his favourite - it's the first thing he goes for whenever we visit someone with a dog or cat)
- tomatoes off the plants on the deck (damn him! i loved those tomatoes)
- rotting food out of a garbage bag left out on the sidewalk
- Kirk's stinky wool socks
- Missy's takeout pizza slice
- newspaper
- used tampons or pads out of the bathroom garbage (man, I HATE it when he does that)
- frisbees
- slobbery sticks
- opened tin cans out of the recycling bin
- slobbery tennis balls
- dog shit (hard or soft, new or really old - oscar had no visible preference)
- a mummified bird wing
- toilet paper
- newly dead bird
- cat turds from the litter box (made his breath smell NASTY for a few hours)
- my underwear (shudder - next to tampons, this is the most disturbing one for me)