Caly

A couple of pics of Caly from my last trip:

She was looking very cute and I went for my camera, but then she moved and just looks annoyed in this pic. She got blinded by the flash.



Couldn't get her looking at the camera.


She seemed to be good with me right off the bat on this trip. I think she's learned that two people giving her attention is even better than one.

Mmmmm, chocolate

Someone just walked into my office and offered me the last piece of Leonidas Belgian chocolate from a box she brought in. Her husband frequently travels to Belgium for work.

She didn't knock, but she came bearing gifts, so I'm not cranky about that one. :)

I miss the Leonidas stand in Moncton. :(

Just knock

In my office, I sit with my back to the door. I don't like doing that, but it's the only way I can sit. My chair back is high and obstructs the view of my phone, meaning that people can't tell when I am talking on the phone. This would not be a problem if people walked up to my door, knocked, waited for me to say "hello" or some kind of response, and then proceeded into my office.

Instead, I am constantly bombarded by people walking straight into my office, without knocking, chatting away at me [in some cases very loudly] like I am able to listen. Not only are they disrupting my phone call, but they're also wasting their breath because I am trying to concentrate on whatever problem the person on the phone is having. Other people walk in so quietly, without knocking, that by the time they are standing beside me and begin to speak, I've jumped 10 feet in the air because they scared me. I am often absorbed in my work and don't hear someone enter. My co-worker has to answer the "Is she on the phone" question multiple times per day. I can only imagine how aggravating that must be after the 10th time in the run of a day.

Knocking and waiting for a response doesn't seem to be in some people's realm of capability. How about this? Walk up to my door, come in, and step two steps to the right, then they would be able to easily see if either my in-use light was lit, or they'd be able to see the receiver's cord stretched out, indicating that I am holding the receiver to my ear. Simple? You'd think so.

This has been annoying me to the point where I have thought about trying to place a light on the wall above my desk that will indicate when my phone is in use. I've searched around on the internet for such a device, but all I can find are circuit diagrams of how to make one.

I just don't understand what's so hard about knocking before entering.

Tired

I'm feeling the jet lag today. I didn't begin to attempt sleep until 1:30am, and had to get up at 7am for work.

I had a tight connection and a bad flight yesterday. It started out by the plane sitting on the tarmac in Vegas for an hour, waiting for a storm to pass and a place in line to take off. Since I didn't have much time for a connection in Montreal even if things were on time, I was starting to wonder if I was going to have another overnight visit with my brother and SIL.

The flight itself was annoying, to say the least. The people in the row behind me seemed to enjoy using my chair back as support, so I got jostled around every time they moved. The man in front of me couldn't seem to decide if he was going to sit straight up or recline, and thus kept hitting my laptop. While trying to watch a movie through this, a flight attendant walked by and suddenly there was water all over my head and running down my neck. I was pretty pissed off, and about to point out to her that she should watch where she was going, but the speaker came on and they asked if there was a doctor on board. Complaining about water when someone is sick is petty, so I mopped myself up and silently thanked the fact that she hit me instead of my open laptop. When we landed, we needed to wait for EMTs to board before we were allowed off. I had to run for Customs, so I didn't have time to stop and complain about the water incident. I made it through Customs without a problem or wait, but then had the usual 20 minute wait for my luggage. It came off the belt and I grabbed it and ran for the agent. I then ran for the connecting baggage drop-off, and thankfully this time I made it. While I enjoy seeing my brother, I really just wanted to get home.

The flight to SJ was ok for the most part, with the exception of the guy sitting next to me who didn't seem to understand or care about having his carry-ons stowed. He had two, and they both sat at his feet. He had them between his feet, of course meaning that he encroached on my space. I am not a large person, but I like my personal space. I was annoyed, but didn't make a big deal out of it. At least I didn't get water dropped on me again.

I wasn't feeling too bad when I arrived at work this morning, but I'm now feeling pretty tired. I am looking forward to going home, starting the fire, hitting the couch, and catching up on the TV I recorded when I was away.

Technically no longer single

Last Friday, John and I went to the Old Orange County Courthouse to become legally married.

It was not exactly what I had in mind anytime I pictured myself getting married. For me, weddings always involved my church, statements before God, and the joy of leaving the building as husband and wife to go celebrate with family and friends. I intend on having that wedding... just not right now. The civil wedding plans were a necessity in order for us to submit John's immigration application with a much better chance of being accepted. In the government's eyes, if you're getting married anyway, just do it and then apply for immigration. They don't make any allowances for religious beliefs, and we don't feel like gambling on an unmarried immigration application and taking even more time to get answers.

It took me a while to work through my feelings about a civil wedding. At first I didn't seriously consider it an option; it was a last resort. As time wore on, and I thought about my dislike at the idea of having a hasty, unplanned church wedding for the sake of the government, I had to look at this option realistically. I spoke with a lot of people about it, being the type of person who relies on input from others to make decisions. My friends and family all seemed to say "why not?" (except my mother, as could be expected.) My priest was hesitant, but understanding the reasons behind a civil wedding and that it was not intended as a replacement for a church wedding, he accepts this decision and will marry us later in the church. After months of thinking, talking, and deciding, I was finally accepting of going forward with a civil wedding as a means to an end, with a promise of the religious aspects to be fulfilled at a later date.

It's kind of funny because I spent so much time leading up to the wedding worrying about how much things were going to be different and how much my life would change. Now that it's over, well, things are pretty much exactly the same. We are still apart, having to chat via IM or phone, both frustrated and lonely. John kept telling me things wouldn't be changing after we got married, and he was right. :)

The ceremony itself was the epitome of short & sweet. The whole thing was complete in under an hour and we didn't even have to refill the parking meter. We arrived, filled out our forms on a terminal, and we were the first ones called in of the bunch of us who were waiting. The deputy clerk verified our IDs, took our money, and had us sign the paperwork. She then took us to a corner room with a podium and we stood there and had the ceremony. We recited vows and that was it. I was pretty nervous leading up to it, but about halfway through my vows it hit me that this ceremony was just another step in the paperwork process -- I'll still have my opportunity to don the white dress and recite the vows surrounded by people who care about me.

After the ceremony, his mom took some pictures of us out in front of the courthouse. Then, as is the custom after a wedding, we went to Sam's Club. Seriously, we did. It makes for a funny story... "So, what did you do after you got married? Did you have a reception or celebration?" "We went to Sam's Club." I've been laughing about that ever since, LOL! After stopping there, we did go to Olive Garden for lunch. It's just that we were done at 11am and it was still early for lunch, and I wanted to stop there at some point on my visit. What? You wouldn't have done the same? :)

Had it not been for John's mom coming down and joining us to be our witness, the ceremony would have been incredibly lonely. While a wedding is technically just between two people, it is really an event that should be shared with others. We purposefully didn't ask for anyone else to join us for the civil ceremony, but I have to say that I am looking forward to having lots of people around for our church wedding. I'll try and keep that in mind when I start thinking about the money we'll have to spend to hold this event.

Since I arrived in Vegas yesterday, work colleagues have been asking me why I am not on my honeymoon or why John wasn't joining me in Vegas. What some fail to realize is that we won't really and truly feel married until it happens in front of our family and friends, and [for me] God. I am not wearing a wedding band, I did not wear a real wedding dress, and I will not be changing my name right away. All of those things will happen with and around the church wedding. Technically we will have 2 anniversaries. Some people have asked me which one we will celebrate. That's the least of our worries!!

We started to fill out the paperwork for immigration this weekend before I left for Vegas. John has to get police clearances and medical examinations completed before we file. Those will take some time to assemble, but I hope not too long. As expected, once we began actually filling out the paperwork, it created more questions. As we detail everything, we're also gathering questions which we will need clarification on. At least we have a decent legal contact now who will answer our questions.

I left SoCal on Monday in yet another tearful goodbye. I spent some time walking the Strip tonight but with the cold wind and being by myself, I wasn't finding much to do. I don't gamble, drink, nor can I afford to see a show right now. I have already filled my suitcase to the brim with a couple of items I bought in SoCal, so I can't do any more shopping because I don't have any more room (plus the stores nearby are expensive). Now I just want to go home. If I can't be with John, I just don't feel like being anywhere other than home. I leave tomorrow, and then it's back to work on Thursday.

For pics, click here.

V-day

A happy valentine's day to you all, if you choose to have one, or if you choose to ignore it, happy wednesday. I received a dozen red roses today (my favorite) from John. Thanks :)

A large storm is coming our way today, so tonight for me will be spent at home, avoiding the storm and chatting with John. Pretty much a usual evening. We'll go out for dinner next week when I'm in SoCal.

An update on my car: I happened to be talking to one of my co-workers in PEI yesterday and mentioned how I wasn't looking forward to paying in the $400 range to fix it while only having a few months left on the lease. He mentioned that he had a local supplier who sells a cheaper version of the part I need, sort of the no-name brand of part, with a 1 year warranty. Since I won't have this car a year from now, that makes no difference to me. So, I am able to get the same part for $78 +tax, then take it and just pay the 1h labour for installation. I should end up coming in under $200. That is a huge help in the money department.

Week of broken items

Yesterday the ABS warning light came on in my car. Not wanting to mess with my brakes, I took it in to be looked at today. The good news is that nothing is wrong and I am driving around safely. The bad news is that the speed sensor needs to be replaced in order for the light to go out. That sensor does not come separately, of course, but as a part of the whole wheel bearing assembly. Even after my discount, this will cost me over $400. I can ignore the light, but my lease is up in 3 months and I have to turn the car back in without problems like these. I still haven't done anything to fix the cracked front bumper, which will be an even more expensive problem. I just replaced a different wheel bearing a month ago. No more 4 year leases for me -- next time I am going to purchase or make sure my warranty is the same length of time as the lease.

My zipper also broke off on my winter jacket. This has been a pain in the ass the last few days. Now I'll have to get a new zipper put in it, which is annoying because I'll have to be without it while I drop it off to be fixed. It's just never the same when you have to rip open the original seams and re-sew a new area.

Basement

I am posting in chunks today, as the thought of a mondo update has been keeping me away from blogging.  So, small updates it is.

 

The only good side effect of the extreme cold is that my basement has not flooded again.  My Dad hasn't had the time to come over and start ripping up cement to make a big enough hole for the sump pump.  He is actually in Ontario getting cataract removal surgery today.  I hope he makes out ok.  They do one eye today and the other eye next month.

 

I did put a dent in some of the reorganization I needed to do in the basement.  I sorted and sifted through my stuffed animal collection, picking out animals which I feel could find a better home than in a box in my basement.  I hate giving animals up, which is why I am still left with 5 large plastic bins full of them, plus the animals I keep upstairs.  I sorted them and put them into a different bin depending on the type: my oldest animals, which I am keeping for sentimental reasons; my Beanie collection, and miscellaneous animals which I want to keep but aren't necessarily part of a category.  I ended up with a box of animals which I couldn't remember who gave them to me, or they didn't really hold any significance, so I decided to donate those animals to another home.  DARE is always looking for donated animals to give to children, so that is where I send them since my Dad's company is involved with the program.

 

By the time I was finished sorting and putting the animals into the bins, my label maker ran out of tape.  I bought new tape but haven't yet made it back down to the basement to label the last bin and begin the even larger project of sorting through my books.  That's the next step in the process.  A lot of these boxes haven't been sorted through in any kind of detail since I moved into my house, almost 3 years ago.  Some books have been boxed for even longer than that.  Should be interesting to see what long-lost items I find.

 

This is also a necessary step to make room for a large comic book collection which will need storage space in the [hopefully] near future.  Plastic bins are nowhere near as fun for Caly to pee on.  :)

Ring

I dropped my engagement ring off to be sized on Thursday January 18th. They said it would likely take two weeks, but they would call if it was done earlier. I left them my work phone number, since their operating hours were 10-6 during weekdays and 10-4 on Saturdays.

They called and left a message on Friday January 26th that my ring was done early... but they called at 5:40pm and I had already left the office. Since that was the only number I gave them, the message sat on my voicemail at work until Saturday at 3:30pm, when I happened to stop in my office and pick something up. By then it was too late to drive to Moncton to get it. I cursed myself for only leaving one phone number, for not thinking to check my work voicemail from home, and for a rare time where I didn't stay late at work and would have been here to get the call.

Last week was insanely busy. In order to be to Moncton before 6pm, I would have to leave work at 4pm. There was no way I could leave early last week, and also, strange as it was, there was no work reason to go to Moncton. I debated driving up on a few different nights, first Friday, but then I saw the forecast was for snow. I thought about Wednesday, but I couldn't leave early. Finally, I resigned myself to getting up and going on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse and at the last minute, the forecast changed and the weekend storm again prevented me from going. Still cursing myself at this point, and starting to go insane... I don't have John here, this ring is all I have, dammit!

Finally, this week on Monday, I decided I was leaving work at 4pm and driving to Moncton come hell or high snowbanks. It was a pretty windy drive, and biting cold, but the roads were bare most of the way so the drive was reasonable.

So I finally got my ring back, it fits much better now that it is 1/2 size smaller. They also cleaned it and buffed out the scratch I had put into it. I am relieved to have it back.


Morals to this story:

1) Winter sucks and often changes your plans
2) Leave 2 phone numbers or obsessively check voicemail

Garbage

A few days ago, when I was at a remote location, I replaced some equipment.  On the old equipment I wrote "GARBAGE" with a Sharpie and left it by the door, since it wouldn't fit in the garbage can.

 

This morning I picked up a voicemail from someone at that location asking me if they should throw it out.  Apparently I wasn't clear enough.

 

*bangs head on desk in frustration

Weird USB Drives

You all know how much I love stuffed animals, and how I can't stand to see them in "pain" to the point where I am unable to eat food shaped like animals. The pics below are of the winner of the top ten weirdest USB drives of 2007, according to fosfor gadgets.




































I admit, the bear is cute, but the fact that you have to remove its head in order to use the drive... I find that a bit disturbing! I'm trying to pretend that this bear is just sticking his head in the USB port to look for something. That takes my mind off the fact that his HEAD WAS REMOVED. Poor bear!!!!

Identity crisis

One L. Two Ss. It's really not that f***ing difficult.

This happens to me too often for it to be a typo or bad luck, and it's usually the same people over and over again. People just don't give a crap how they spell my [real] name. I think that's rude. It's especially annoying to see my name incorrectly spelled when 2 lines above the body of the email, in the To box, the email server has correctly resolved my name and displays it. Hey, shit-for-brains, look up! See that name? Yeah, that's how you spell it!!!

I have enough trouble with my last name as it is. Having my first name misspelled just adds to it. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Seriously though, how do you handle these people who don't seem to give a crap? I want to, but can't, be unprofessional about it at work. I am, however, incredibly sick & tired of seeing my first name get mangled. I've come to expect it with my last name, but come on -- my first name is not difficult, and the company address book can tell you how to correctly spell it. Any suggestions?

I just realized

that I will be on the West coast for the Oscars. I won't have to stay up until 1am to see the end of the show! Woo-hoo!

Lonely finger

If you see me not wearing my engagement ring, it is just because I dropped it off for sizing yesterday at itaCast in Moncton. I've had it for 10 months now and it has been loose all but a couple of days during that time, so I decided it was time to have it fit me a bit better. Unfortunately when I sized myself initially, I didn't take into account that it needed to fit more snugly -- until now I'd never worn a ring on a regular basis.

It may take 2 weeks to finish the sizing, but I trusted getting it done there instead of locally. They do all of their own work on-site so it doesn't get sent away, and it was cheaper because that was where we bought the ring initially. If anything ever did happen to the ring during sizing, dealing with the store that sold it to us, they would be more likely to help us out.

I've never been a ring person, but I adapted quickly to wearing my engagement ring. It feels odd now when it's off my finger. I'm wearing my high school grad ring right now so I don't fall out of the ring-wearing habit. I keep doing a double-take though when I look down and see the crest instead of my diamonds & sapphire. :)

If anyone is looking for jewelry, I recommend going to itaCast. They have good stuff, and the prices are better than anything else I've seen. They'll even build something based on a picture or your own design. I'm glad I followed Jenn's recommendation. :)

Friday Feast

Appetizer
What comes to mind when you see the color orange?

Halloween, my favorite holiday.


Soup
Did you ever get in trouble while you were in school? If so, what was it for?

Once for looking out the door and down a hallway. Once for joining the crowd and slamming desk lids. I lived in fear of getting in trouble, so I really never did anything to get into the situation.


Salad
Which topping(s) make up your perfect pizza?

Ground beef and bacon


Main Course
Do you believe in UFOs/aliens/etc.? Why or why not?

I think there are other beings out there in the universe. I am not convinced that they do anal probes, though. I don't think alien visits to Earth are as widespread as some think. We're just not that interesting. It's hard to believe that humans are the only things out in space though.


Dessert
What color is your bedspread/comforter/quilt?

A light shade of purple, of course! What other color would I have?

Unfortunate event #2

This is not turning out to be a great week. On Monday night, I was at home, watching TV. I decided I'd better head downstairs to check the fire, and I was greeted with another flooded basement. I had been downstairs a couple of hours previously and it was dry, so needless to say, I was pretty surprised to see the amount of water.

My first thought was that the same problem I had before was back again. I checked the door and it was not flowing in through the area where I previously had a problem. There are 3 holes in my cement floor for pipes, two are in the future bathroom and one is by the sewer pipe in the storage room. What happened was that the water table reached so high a level that it came up through the holes and overflowed. The all rain-no snow winter we've been having has meant an excess of water hanging around, and Monday's rain was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The ditch that runs through the back of my property was also water-logged and stangnant, when it is normally supposed to be flowing. This wasn't helping the water level either. I called the City to come and look at the ditch, since it was them who required it to be installed. While they couldn't dispute that it was having an effect on the water table, the ditch itself wasn't directly causing the flooding in the basement. They were supposed to go back and look at the ditch yesterday and possibly clean it out a bit to get things flowing again. I haven't heard back from them, but will have to keep an eye out and see if the ditch gets better.

I called my Dad, who is in Boston with my brother at the diabetic clinic this week. I explained how the water was coming in. Supposedly double drain tile was installed when my house was built, but as anyone who watches Holmes on Homes knows, who knows if that is actually true. Dad recommended a sump pump as my cheapest, easiest, and likely best solution to prevent that from happening again. Once he's back I will have to get his help to get one installed.

I rushed around and got everything up onto plastic as best I could that night, but I now have some empty, soggy cardboard boxes hanging around. I plan on investing in some big plastic Rubbermaid totes to replace the large cardboard boxes I was using. I was also lucky that John had installed a door for me over the holidays. It had been lying on its side on the floor, and may have been damaged if it hadn't gotten installed.

I'm worried about finishing my basement though. Thankfully I had not invested in refinishing any more of the basement yet. I would like to get my bathroom finished next, and that would have a ceramic tile floor, so not a big deal if I had to deal with water again. The hard part is thinking about finishing the rest of the flooring. I had no plans anytime soon to put anything down in there, but it makes me wonder if I ever want take that risk. Realistically, after the sump pump is installed and working, the chances of my having another flood are reduced. There is always a risk of a crack in the cement, but you never know if that will occur in any home.

So it's been a stressful week for me. I've had no success changing a circuit board on my mother's hard drive, so all of her data is lost (unless I want to pay $125 on eBay for the same model and hope it works). Now I have a basement that is again recovering from a flood. Someone reminded me yesterday that bad things happen in threes. I hope that third thing is the work-related problem I'm having today and not anything else personal. I've taken enough hits right now, thanks!

Playing ostrich

I bought a new PC a few months back. My old one has been sitting around on the floor, waiting for me to find the time to set it up and give to my mother. I finally decided that I should stop putting it off and get started on it this weekend. I'll ghost her hard drive, leaving her with a usable PC and then I can take her existing hard drive and pick away at the new install as I have time over the next few evenings.

I go over to my mom's house, which is empty because she's working this weekend. I try and boot into Ghost from her floppy, just to make sure it works. It doesn't start the first time, but comes right up again on the second try. Ok, I should be all set. I hook up the secondary hard drive, and turn on the PC. It will not boot. I won't boot from the floppy, the old hard drive, nothing. I put it back the way it was; it still wouldn't boot. Angered, I disconnected everything and trudged to work, where I could plug the two drives in and do the ghosting. Everything went fine while at work.

I returned to my mom's house, hoping to be able to plug the drive in and have the PC boot up. Still no luck. Great, this means I have to spend the weekend totally setting up her PC so she has something to use. Not how I'd planned to spend my weekend, so I was a bit cranky about that. I spent last night installing XP, SP2, and the 68 updates after that. Then I imaged the new install so that the next time I had to do this, I wouldn't have to go back so far. When all of that was complete, I called it a night.

I got up this morning and turned on the PC, aiming to get the programs installed and the data moved over onto the new hard drive from the old. I started by installing anti-virus. This is the part where things take a big nose-dive.

I am sitting here, watching the status bar for the install, and all of a sudden I hear a noise that sounds like "pewwwwwwww" and the distinct smell of smoke. What in hell was that? The PC was still going, so it couldn't be the power supply. The install was still running, so it wasn't the hard drive. I walked around and started sniffing the PC, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Couldn't see it right away. I walked back around to the PC, where an error message had popped up. "Write delay error on D:". Oh crap. That was the ghosted drive that just went up in smoke, the one with all of her data on it. There are no other backups.

Irony: the model name of the drive that burned is "Fireball".

Now I have to tell my mother that she has lost all of her data, and though it wasn't exactly my fault, she had entrusted it to me. I'd like to stick my head in the sand right about now.

A Not-So-Merry Christmas

My younger brother is, again, back in the hospital. It's the safest place for him right now. His swelling/bloating is so bad that he can't wear anything on his feet and his clothes are too tight. His kidney biopsy results came back and thank God the damage isn't progressing as fast as they thought. The kidneys are inflamed but he is not in dialysis stage yet, and they are giving him a new drug that will try and get him under control. The drug is new and not extensively used yet, so that is why he must stay in the hospital so they can monitor its progress. He won't be leaving the hospital this time until the fluid retention is gone, which means he will be in the hospital over Christmas. He also has MRSA, a form of staph infection, which means you have to dress up in gown, mask and gloves in order to visit him.

His "loving" girlfriend is still leaving tomorrow for Ontario, despite his poor health and hospital admission. If John were in the hospital, I wouldn't be leaving him behind. But at least it will be better with her gone -- she won't encourage him to ask for early discharge or get into any arguments.

So I guess this means I will be packing up some Christmas dinner and taking it up to him at the hospital. We can't bring his gifts up to him because he can't really use them, and with the staph infection, it's better to have as little exposed to it as possible.

Christmas Meme

Stolen from Mare & Kowy. First meme I've felt like answering in a while.


1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate. The only opaque beverage I like. I don't like eggs, even nogged.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Actually, neither. Santa would leave unwrapped presents on the couch, in the same room as the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored all the way. I dislike plain white lights. They're BORING. Christmas is colorful in my world.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. I don't need mistletoe to get kisses, I just ask John. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Following Nana's rule, December 1st. As a kid, we never decorated until after my Dad's birthday on Dec. 9. Lately I will begin decorating on the first weekend after Dec. 1 as I don't have time during the week.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Hmmm, good question. Likely turkey.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
The year my dad gave my mom her sapphire ring was memorable. It was the happiest I'd ever seen her. Also, the year my younger brother opened up a present and saw that it was clothes, then chucked it over his head and kept on going with the other presents. Or the year my older brother caught my younger brother downstairs in the middle of the night, called out to him, and my younger brother ran screaming back upstairs and slept in way past the wake-up time.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Our Gr. 4 teacher deemed it her duty to tell us. I found out about the Easter Bunny after seeing a receipt. My mom had asked me to go through a stack and forgot she had written "Easter Bunny" on it.

9. Do you open a gift on christmas eve?
I used to, but I don't anymore.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Usually with a lot of frustration. By the time the tree makes it into the house, I'm tired and frustrated. As for decorations on the tree, I like lots of lights, and there must be Bubble Lights. I prefer real garland to beads. I have many ornaments that were gifts or mean something, so it is always a very personal tree.

11. Snow! love it or dread it?
Right before and during Christmas, I love it. After Christmas, no thanks.

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, but I have weak ankles and don't last too long before needing a break.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
The year I got my first TV for my room. I still have that TV, it's in my office at home. I asked for one for a couple of years and was so excited to finally get one. And it was a color TV!

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Spending time relaxing. It's so stressful leading up to Christmas that I really enjoy the break from work and shopping and preparations.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
I don't really have anything specific to Christmas. I usually only do moco cakes around xmas.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Spending Christmas Eve with family, usually my mom's side. We used to host big parties with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. This year I am not sure if anything will be happening, which makes me kind of sad. Hopefully something will develop.

I also always make a point of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch.

17. What tops your tree?
A star.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
I'll admit I am selfish; I do like receiving. But I take great pains with giving and work hard to make sure I don't give a crappy gift.

19. What is your favorite christmas song?
Good King Wenceslas

20. Candy canes:
Tasty, but only the traditional ones. Flavored candy canes = yuck.

21. Favorite Christmas movie?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

22. What do you leave for Santa?
We used to leave cookies & milk. Sometimes a carrot for the reindeer.

But? But?

There will not be a Fromage 2006. I was looking forward to more Ed The Sock skewerings of videos.

Yodel

My brother made it through his biopsy today without problems. He seems to be doing ok and can go home tomorrow. Phew.

I went to the funeral parlour tonight in support of a co-worker who just lost her daughter. The lineup took an hour to get through, the amount of people there was incredible. She seems to be holding up fairly well considering the situation. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to lose a child though. Keep her in your thoughts/prayers.

I received notification tonight that my blog is now eligible to switch over to the new beta version. Great! Only when I tried it, it notified me that it couldn't process it. Apparently I have too large a blog, with posts and comments combined. Yay. So I'm stuck in the old version until they get more support for it.

I had some very confusing conversations about life insurance today. I signed some paperwork to increase my policy, but it isn't finalized because I didn't have a void cheque with me. After a conversation with my Dad tonight, I'm not convinced I should have proceeded with it. Since I still haven't handed over the money, I have time to take the paperwork and consider my options. I think I will do that. Despite (or maybe in spite of) my past financial background, I find investments of any kind to be very confusing. I don't fully understand them and I don't think I asked enough questions of myself today before going in to see the agent. I think I will take some more time to think things over.

It's in cases like these where I feel kind of dumb. I feel like I should know more about financial things, seeing as how I studied them for years. I guess that explains why I didn't make a good accountant. I just don't like admitting that because I worked so hard toward it.

Scott, Mare and Jack came over to help hang my outside lights on Sunday. Thanks for the help! My house is now finished being decorated, with the exception of getting a tree. That task will be next weekend's project. Dad is taking me up to the tree farm again, past Browns Flat, to cut one down. With the chain saw, of course. :)

Caution: contents under pressure

Just because a bottle of water is not carbonated does not mean that it is not under pressure. I exploded one on myself this morning at work. It was funny, after I cleaned everything up.

Saturday is my Dad's birthday, but I hope to still be able to make it to the Pub. Been a long time and I could use some karaoke. I could use some fun, period. Between my family crap and work crap, I'm not really having a good time anywhere.

I started my decorating this week. I have all but two sets of lights up inside. I need to purchase another timer, slap them up in the window, and then I'm all set. I did an online shopping blitz this week and now have most of my presents purchased. All that is remaining is to buy a couple of things for John's sock, and to do the bulk of the purchasing for my grandfather's sock. I should be able to knock that stuff off in one trip. Wrapping Central is set up in my basement. Still need to talk to Dad about going to get a tree, perhaps next weekend.

2 weeks to go until John arrives. I am really looking forward to some more quality time together. I'm glad it isn't as long between visits this time.

Oh hey, I got some news this week. I have a meeting for work that involves me going to Las Vegas at the end of February. Haven't been to Vegas before, and it is within driving distance of John. Something to look forward to in the middle of winter.

Help with lights

If anyone could spare the time this weekend, I could use some help with my outdoor Christmas lights. I just need to get two strings along the gutter of the front of my house, which involves a ladder, and not something I can do myself. My very tall younger brother usually helps me with that, but he's not well enough to stand on a ladder right now.

If you could lend me a hand, please let me know. I'd appreciate it!

Tired, already and still

Wow, am I tired. I just got back from vacation and already I could use another one. In the couple of days I have been home, events have been going so fast & furious that I definitely know I’m not in Kansas (or California) anymore.

My brother’s diagnosis of Lupus has been met with his unrealistic expectation that he will get better. His condition will not improve, but according to the doctors, it is quite manageable. Unfortunately his home situation is causing stress that isn’t helping, but he refuses to stay anywhere else for a while to rest and get away from the tension. He’s an adult and has to make his own choices, but he’s making poor ones right now. It’s difficult as his family to not step in and take over and just start telling him what to do. He doesn’t seem capable of taking care of himself. I keep waiting for the mechanism to kick in that will make him realize he needs to smarten up and straighten his life out. He has made a couple of positive steps this week, so I am hoping that trend will continue, if he can just stay out of the hospital. My mother had to take him up to the hospital again last night because his blood pressure was dangerously high. The doctors were checking for risk of stroke from blood clots, but they did eventually send him home.

I got stuck in Montreal coming home from California on Monday night. While I was angry that they wouldn’t hold the plane for me, it did give me a chance to see my older brother and sister-in-law. I haven’t seen my SIL since April and my brother since my grandfather’s funeral in June. It was a quick visit but any visit is good with them.

My older brother and SIL have actually decided to come home for a visit this weekend, and it will give him a chance to talk to my younger brother in person. YB looks up to OB, and it will make YB feel better to have a visit with OB. They are flying down tomorrow and arriving in Fredericton, so I have to drive up there to pick them up. With the possibility of bad weather, I wrote to my Dad (who is on vacation) and asked to borrow his truck for tomorrow, in case I need it.

I have not been feeling very well since I got back. The mental stress with all of this family circus has been taking its toll already. I am also jetlagged and feel like a cold may be inevitable. I feel like I could sleep for a couple of days straight.

One positive thing that happened this week with regards to my brother’s health is that he was able to finally reach the clinic in Boston and make an appointment to go down the second week of January. They specialize in diabetes but also look at your overall health. He’ll get better attention and more doctors who know what they’re doing.

Other than family issues, not much else has been going on. I aim to try and decorate for Christmas this weekend, before things get any busier. John shipped me his old TiVo, which I have installed and it seems to be working quite well so far. I am feeling the usual bout of loneliness after having been with John for a week. Welcome back to reality, which contains cold weather and stress.

Pattern

It seems to be a pattern that when I go away, something unexpected goes wrong at work, and my brother winds up in the hospital again. I am now 2 for 2 on this trip. My brother went back into the hospital today and they think he has Lupus.

Quick update

We saw Casino Royale yesterday, very good movie. My only complaint is that Daniel Craig mumbles a little bit so sometimes I wasn't able to catch what he was saying. What really surprised me was the couple in front of us who brought their two children, age range of 3-5, to see the movie. At first we thought they had come into the wrong theatre, and perhaps meant to see Happy Feet. But no, they brought their kids to see Casino Royale. Responsible parenting at its best. From the utterances of other children in the theatre, they may not have been the only ones to do so.

We had a good lunch at Macaroni Grill with Chris & Cynthia before the movie. It was nice to see them again, and I'm glad I could provide them with some real Maritime maple syrup. I brought some for John too, as well as the obligatory vanilla 1/2 Moons.

Last night we took a quick trip to Target to pick up a couple of things, and then stayed in. I almost passed out around 8pm, but I managed to keep myself awake until 10 in an effort to adjust to the time. True to form though, my cell phone went off at 5am. Listen to my voicemail message people, I'm on vacation!!

I'm on my own today since John has to work, so I'll be hitting the stores across the street. Hopefully I will see some good xmas presents for people I have left to buy for.

Sunday morning in SoCal

I arrived without incident yesterday at LAX, actually landed a little bit early. John was there waiting for me, and asked if my trip was uneventful, which it was because I don't have his travel bad luck.

We drove back to OC and stopped at Subway to grab some lunch to take home and eat before heading to Costco. I can't explain the discord that comes from hearing Christmas carols being played in Subway and then stepping out into 27°C sunny weather. It seems like an alternate universe. John says it's not right to be hearing carols this early, because they should be waiting until after Thanksgiving.

Caly is not thrilled with my presence, as usual. She's been a fairly good cat lately, especially since John has been locking her up in the bedroom when he leaves the apartment. There have been some times recently when he's forgotten to close the door, but she hasn't gone out and peed in the living room. However, when John left for the airport yesterday, he forgot the door, and she left a nice, wet paper towel in her usual spot. She knew I was coming and expressed her displeasure, I think.

We headed to Costco to get some steak for supper, and discounted movie tickets. I quickly got distracted by the allure of Costco, and we managed to leave without the movie tickets, so we had to go back again and buy them. Teasing me with the Costco trips! I need to go back and spend longer in there so I can look things over.

Last night we headed to church and grilled some steak for supper. I managed to stay up only until 9pm, which actually isn't too bad considering I had been traveling all day. I tried to sleep in this morning until about 6am, but didn't make it past that. Not bad though for my first day here.

Today we are headed to Yorba Linda to meet up with friends and see Casino Royale. I'm looking forward to the movie, I think it will be good.

One leg through

Well, I'm sitting in the airport at Montreal. The first leg of my trip is done, and now comes the 6h flight to LAX. I'm going to try and sleep through most of it.

The first flight was uneventful, I actually had the seat beside me empty so I stretched out and slept. Customs agent asked me when I was getting married and if it was on this trip. The baggage guys were again very friendly.

This trip kind of crept up on me, if that's possible. Work has been steadily busy, and the days have been droning on in the same pattern of work, sleep, work, sleep. I'm glad it's vacation time so it will break up the grind.

I've been busy getting ready for winter so I don't get caught doing things at the last minute. The driveway markers are in the ground before it starts to freeze. The winter clothing is now in my closet and the bucket of hats & mittens is upstairs. I took my boots and shoes in to be repaired and re-heeled. I sprayed them all with weather protectant as I do this time every year. When your footwear is expensive, you need to take good care of them.

November is always the month in which I do the bulk of my Christmas shopping. I am finished shopping for my nephew and mother, and my Dad because he asked us to make a donation instead of getting him a gift. I have one thing bought for each of my brothers, so I just need something to put with it. I have a few things for John, some of which I shipped to SoCal and will bring back with me on this trip. I have a couple of things bought for my grandfather, but still need more for him. The only people I have nothing for yet are my cousin/goddaughter and uncle - I am still waiting on a list from each of them. I will hopefully get a good chunk of remaining shopping done while I'm away - I took 2 suitcases this time. :)

Well, almost time to board. Better hit the bathroom!

A tree made for me!

Look! It's like they made a tree just for me! On sale at Wal-Mart.

Influences on a young mind

I had a memory float back into my consciousness the other day.

It was one day in Grade 1, and I was trying to get people’s attention for some reason. I don’t remember for what reason, but I think it was important to me and not some kind of attention-grab. It may have even been an attempt to help the teacher get the class’ attention, but I can’t be sure. The memory is somewhat fuzzy, but I do recall the feeling of what it was like to be up on my desk, with everyone below. I don’t remember the specifics of my getting in trouble, which of course I did, for standing up on my desk and likely yelling or speaking in some fashion to get everyone’s attention.

From that time on, I can only recall a couple of instances when I had gotten into trouble at school, for very minor things. I remember myself as being quiet and reserved, pretty shy, always chastised for being “smart.” My motto was (and still is, to an extent), be quiet, follow the rules, and you won’t get in trouble. I have to wonder how much that incident with the desk influenced me to form that rule and become who I am. What would have happened if the teacher hadn’t been there, and others started listening to me and followed what I had to say? Would it have affected my personality in some way? Would I be a more outgoing person? Would I be more of a leader and less of a follower? Would I take more risks?

I have always had a huge issue with acceptance from other people. Being “smart” meant that I was different from the rest, and to compensate for that, I tried to fit in as best I could in other ways. I always tried to follow whatever was the latest fashion trend, usually with poor results – no matter what I did, I could never get my hair to do anything like anyone else (some of you may recall my mentioning that I never got invited to the Hair Convention, where all my peers were taught the current “in” style). I always ended up separated from the pack, a fact that my mother pointed out to me one day when she said “no wonder you have no friends.” I know that statement had a huge impact on me, but I don’t know if my mother even recalls having said it. Since that day, I have tried to do anything to make myself acceptable to others. You can’t make people like you, but I have always tried to make myself as agreeable to others as I can… but I still blame myself when someone doesn’t like me. In my mind, it’s never their loss, it’s mine. I know that my view is backward, but I have never been able to fully correct it. I think I am slowly but surely working on it and getting better at it.

I worry about someday having children, how impressionable they are, and how many ways you can influence them negatively. We are not perfect, therefore our children are not. But it makes you wonder how the simplest of comments or actions may somehow have a huge impact on the person that child becomes. What would happen if I made a comment to my child, a comment that I might consider innocent, unimportant, or forgettable, but the child absorbs and reacts to it in a different way? I may have just changed that child for life without even knowing it. This thought alone is enough for me to steer away from the idea of having children. Add to that my perfectionist and OCD tendencies, and I think I’d go insane. For now, I will stick to my plan of not having children until I’m ready to handle the responsibility. I’m just not there yet (and possibly may never be, who knows).

In the meantime, I wonder about the events in my childhood that shaped who I am. Or maybe I was just that crazy girl in Grade 1 who stood on her desk on day.

I knew this would happen

Once the TSA announced their new air travel requirements, I knew something like this would happen.

Yes, it's a website for travel size items. Yes, they are offering free TSA-approved bags with your order. Unfortunate that they can't spell Ziploc correctly, considering there is a picture right there beside the text.

Happy Halloween!

A big Happy Halloween to everyone!

I can't seem to stay awake today. I've absorbed other people's tiredness and now I feel like pulling a George Costanza and sleeping under my desk. Well, not really, but it's a nice thought.

Oh, the horror! The HORROR!

Last night I decided I'd better check on my pumpkins, see how they were doing. Little did I know, for they had turned into Zombie Pumpkins.

As you recall, I stood out in the rain, dedicatedly shopping for pumpkins a couple of weeks ago. Apparently two of them went moldy. The soon-to-be Bon-o-lantern has a bit of mold on the stem, but I hope that's the only place it is present and I can get at it with bleach. At least the pumpkin I had bought for someone else was ok. I bought 3 for myself thinking, well, if one rots, I'll be ok. I didn't expect 2 of the 3 to rot and the 3rd to look like it was starting.

So there I was today, scouring the West side at the last minute for pumpkins. The Pumpkin Patch only had zombies. Sobeys didn't have much left either. I did manage to dig through the pile at the Superstore and found one, and found another at the Co-op. They're smaller, but still look pretty good for carving, other than a short stem. Beggars can't be choosers at this point.

A disappointment, to be sure. These were decent-sized pumpkins with good stems... but were defective at the time I bought them, so it was only a matter of time.

I hope the pumpkin crop is much better next year.

No! Not again!

Why, Andy? Why?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061026/en_nm/arts_duranduran_dc_2

I'm glad I got to see the 5 of them in concert together while it lasted.

For those who seem to have all the answers

This entry does not refer to the regular readers of this blog.

My current situation with John, being geographically far apart, is difficult. We make do as best we can. It's hard being asked every single day how things are going when you have no news to share. It just serves as even more of a reminder that we are apart, something of which I do not need to be reminded; I am acutely aware of that. I am dealing with a whole range of issues in trying to get him here, including time, thought, emotion, and paperwork.

What is particularly frustrating is the inability of some people to take our relationship seriously. I was on the receiving end of a comment today that went something like this: "It's hard to keep things going when you only get to see each other every 2-3 months." I already feel like hanging a sign around my neck that says "No progress on move," so to have that comment also directed to me almost sent me over the edge today. This person is married, but I am not sure they understand the concept of being engaged. The exact wording of their comment and tone was phrased in such as way as to imply that I am simply "dating" John.

Being engaged means that we are committed to each other, plan to get married, and spend our lives together. It does not include quitting because we only get to see each other every couple of months, sending the ring back because it was "too hard." If we actually did that, it would mean we couldn't commit to one another and shouldn't be getting married in the first place.

To those who ask why I don't just pick up and move to SoCal: You first. You move to another country and let me know how quickly and easily you were able to accomplish it. You sell your house, get out of your car lease, and dispose of a good portion of your assets. Figure out what to do with your RRSPs now that you'll be living in a foreign country. Quit your job and find a new one. Contemplate leaving your friends and family, who you see very often and rely on for support. Go from a very quiet, slow, and relatively inexpensive way of life to a non-stop, crowded, smog-filled lifestyle. Learn how to drive on freeways. Live in less than half the space you used to have, among two people instead of one, and pay the equivalent of two mortgage payments every month for that reduced living space. Yes, there are certain things that would be sacrficed by moving in the other direction as well, but you cannot make a flippant remark about "why don't you just move the other way" as some kind of instant cure to all of our problems.

Why can't people understand that this process takes time? Moving across your own country takes a lot of time, money, organization. Moving to another country is a lot more complicated than that. Canada does not have any immigration provisions for fiancé(e)s, making it all the more difficult for us to "prove" our relationship in order to bring him here. Getting married in order to facilitate the immigration process comes with its own whole set of issues. Moving to another country is not an easy thing to do, from all respects. Complex situations take time and dedication. In the meantime, don't insult me by demeaning the level of my relationship or making it seem like you have all the answers.

The end of an era

The arrival of TV Guide in my mailbox is always anticipated. I read the glossy sections from cover-to-cover, and place it on my coffee table for reference. Mare can always been seen picking it up and reading it when she comes over to visit. It's a staple item in my house.

I've been a subcriber since I moved out from home in 1999, and before that we purchased off the newsstand for years. The print edition has been my right-hand mag for most of my life (which means I may watch too much TV, but let's not throw stones). To this day, my mother will still sometimes call me to ask when a particular show is on.

Last Wednesday, I noticed I had still not received next week's issue. Usually it arrives Monday or Tuesday, or later if it is post-long weekend. A bell went off in my head that this is usually the time of year when my subscription runs out, but I hadn't remembered seeing a renewal notice. It was highly likely that I let the renewal get buried on my desk, so I flipped through the papers to find it... not there. I grabbed the last issue I had and looked at the date. Yes, it had indeed expired with that issue. I wondered what happened to my renewal notice, and the fact that I am a "preferred subscriber" meant I should have been auto-renewed, so I decided to give them a call.

I reached the call centre and the agent told me they "were having trouble with the renewal notices the past 2-3 months" but that I could renew by phone, so I went ahead. My next issue will be the one dated Nov. 11. I'll have to purchase the few weeks in between, but no big deal.

The next day, I received an email from John. He remembered our conversation from the previous day and had forwarded me a news item that said TV Guide [Canada] is ending its print publication next month. I was shocked, but after the news sank in, I wasn't surprised. I guess the writing has been on the wall for some time now, and it does make sense that a print edition is unable to keep up with the frequently changing schedules of the networks.

TV Guide has made a few changes over the years; some good, some bad. I didn't mind when it physcially expanded into a larger format, though some say that spelled its death. It was just a larger size, the listings were the same, and that is the most important part of the magazine. The change made about a year ago was one that almost caused me to cancel my subscription. They decided to combine the Ontario and Atlantic Canada editions into one issue, and list everything exclusively in Eastern time zones. Way to piss off anyone in the Atlantic time zone... the whole point of buying it was to have listings in our own zone. I was just about to write my complaint letter when they made some concessions and put the times in "10am/11amAT" format. I wasn't crazy about it, but at least I didn't have to add an hour every time I read the listings. This combination of regions also meant that I received information on plenty of channels only received in Ontario, and those were the stations that took precedence on the grid. It became cluttered with information that was useless to me, but the good still outweighed the bad. I will miss not having the magazine sitting on my coffee table.

What I discovered later was that TV Guide also announced that it will become a web edition. I found that quite interesting. They actually tried that route a few years back, but suspended the service for some unknown reason. I used their website very often, and was actually starting to consider using it instead of my print issue when they decided to cancel the online edition. I will be interested to see how they design it, how user-friendly it will be, and how region-specific it can get.

In a world of competition, it may indeed have a tough time competing. There are plenty of online listings services out there, even those that cater to the combination of my city and TV provider to give my exact channel lineup. At minimum, they will have to provide that same functionality. Where I think they can find their niche is to focus on items specific to Canada. For instance, did you know that Anne Heche's love interest on Men In Trees (Jack) is an actor originally from Dartmouth, NS? If the new online site can keep me informed of TV schedules as well as provide that Canadian aspect, I'll gladly switch to an online version. I wish them luck.

But please, no more articles written by Ben Mulroney.

Look at me, watching Canadian TV

I've never been much of one for watching any Canadian TV shows. Most have just not held a big appeal to me and always seem to have that hokey Canadian low-budget haze. The allure of the American networks has always been too strong to really have me consider watching an episode of Beachcombers or The Littlest Hobo.

While flipping through the fall preview of [Canadian] TV Guide this year, being encouraged by the reviewers to give a couple of Canadian shows a chance, I took the plunge. Both could be called chick shows, but conveniently I am female, which is likely why they appeal to me.

The first is a new show on CBC called Rumours. Based on the original Radio Canada French-Canadian show, its two main leads are co-editors of a women's magazine. The catch? One of the editors is a male sports journalist, only working there for the money. The writing for his character is quite funny. I've watched the first 3 episodes so far and I'm enjoying it. Me, watching the CBC for entertainment other than Just For Laughs! Imagine!

The second show I've picked up this fall is called The Smart Woman Survival Guide. I caught a mini-marathon of this show a few weeks ago and I love it. This show is definitely aimed at a female audience (it's on the W Network, duh!). It is a smart and funny show that is sort of an homage to Pop-up Video with its tips appearing on-screen. Not a show you can watch in the background or do something else at the same time -- you might miss a tip. The show has already been picked up for a second season.

I hope both of these shows can gain/maintain an audience. It's nice to see some different, high quality content for women on the Canadian airwaves. Let's hope it continues to develop into lots of other good shows.


Stop humming the Littlest Hobo theme song. I can hear you.

Munchy

I ran across a new product in the grocery store and decided to give it a try.



I couldn't decide between the Brown Sugar & Cinnamon or Honey Oat flavors, so I decided to go with both. I found both flavors to be quite tasty. I don't know if they are WW-friendly, but they do have healthier ingredients than the other snack foods I eat.

Neck much better

Feels almost normal tonight.

Eye is getting better, but seemed a little blurry today. Will need to monitor it.

I've been feeling like I have either been fighting off a cold for the past month, or have developed an allergy. I've never had a [known] allergy before. I don't care to start now, despite it being a common occurrence to develop an allergy around this point of life.

I've been on a mission again lately. Both Sobeys and Superstore seemed to stop carrying my favorite grape juice crystals, the stuff I always have in my fridge and drink all the time. I was in the West Superstore on Saturday and happened to be near the product manager. Good timing. I stopped to ask him why it was no longer being carried, and he suggested I call back on Monday or Tuesday and he'd be able to give me an answer. I called back this afternoon and he said it was just a change in product number. He had found the new number for the grape crystals, and submitted an order for them while I was on the phone so he wouldn't forget. I had previously requested the item be re-stocked at two different Sobeys stores, but the Superstore is the first to give me a clear answer and solution. Hurray for the Superstore!

Look, Ma!

No cavities!

I had a successful trip to the dentist today, after a very unlucky streak of having to go back for fillings. While I like the people there, I'm glad not to have to go back for another 6 months. :)

On the down side, I awoke this morning barely able to move my neck. The heat from the shower helped this morning, but I am still not able to turn it without pain. I've been dubbed "Mrs. Roboto" today at work.

Pain in the neck

No, not an expression, but a reality. I have a pain in my neck, one which does not seem to want to go away today. This pain occurs where my shoulder meets my neck, and feels like I have pinched a nerve. It seems to start when I sit up in bed, or sit up on the couch. Since nothing is pressing against my shoulder or neck, I'm not sure how to avoid this from happening... other than to not sit up with a pillow at my back. Not exactly the option I was looking for.

I also seem to have done something to my eye. Thankfully, Creepy Red Eye has not made a return (though it would be fitting for Halloween). This time seems to be an allergic reaction of some sort. While I was on the phone with John on Friday night, I rubbed my eyelid. There must have been something on my hand that my eye didn't like, and it decided to get red and swell. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had a puffy eyelid. Very odd. Tonight it is still red, but the swelling seems to be dissipating. Hope to be better soon.

I started the woodstove for the first time of the season today. I forgot how much I missed the warmth and comfort of it. Despite my dislike for the falling temperature, I do enjoy fall. The colors, the smells, the feeling of anticipation. It's a comfortable time for me, and I'm glad it's here. It's a time where I haven't yet grown tired of making sure I'm home to keep the fire going, or being weighed down from the winter clothing. That will come soon enough. For now, I will enjoy the season.

I haven't been blogging much, as you've likely noticed, if you're still checking this site now & then. I have a few reasons for that: John and I have no progress regarding his move, work has kept me very busy, and I just didn't feel like I had anything new to say. Not that writing about my sore neck is that much of an improvement, but at least I'm writing something.

Every day for me lately has consisted of wishing for some kind of progress on John's situation, getting angry at the lack of movement, and struggling with what I can do on my end to hurry things up. The months drag on and we still have no progress, the immigration process looks very daunting for an unmarried couple, and we seem to be very much stalled when it comes to the work side of things. I continue to pray for some answers, good or bad, so at least we can have some progress. It just seems like time keeps ticking away and I feel like we're walking up the down escalator. When do we catch a break?

Work has been really busy, but I hope now that my weeks of working every night are over, maybe I can go back to coming home at a regular time again. Now I just need to work on not having popcorn for supper at least once a week.

How much I love Halloween

can be evidenced by the fact that I stood out in the pouring rain today, shopping for pumpkins. Had to, before all the good ones were gone. Got thoroughly drenched, but I managed to find some decent ones. Slim pickings, though.

Pumpkin Carving Party

October is here, and the countdown begins for Halloween! I will likely decorate the house this weekend, since I have the extra day off for Thanksgiving. May also take a look at the pumpkin crop this weekend and see if there are some good ones available yet.

My tenative idea for the Pumpkin Carving Party this year is to hold it on Sunday Oct 29, around 3 or 4pm, depending on the number of people expressing interest. Since this is the first day of Standard Time, the sun will set shortly after 6pm. This should give us plenty of time to light the carved pumpkins and still get home at a decent time for school/work the next day.

Is this a good or bad time for you? Does this conflict with anyone's schedule?

Thanks

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the birthday wishes. It's been a low-key birthday, but one well spent with John. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else (especially since it's 25 and sunny here today.)

John is feeling better after his earlier cold/flu symptoms. My brother is out of the hospital again, but I may start a pool on how long it takes for him to be re-admitted. *shakes head.

What's the message?

My brother went back in the hospital again yesterday. Dad tells me he's in good hands and no one has suggested I go home but I have to remain on guard to change my plans. I haven't been able to reach my mother because she's been up at the hospital.

John is sick at home today. He's supposed to be picking me up at the airport tomorrow for our long weekend together.

What are you trying to tell me?

Looney Tunes Vol 4

Click here to see the list of toons that will appear on the next Looney Tunes DVD set. 2 of the discs don't look so great, but the Speedy Gonzales disc looks good, and I am really happy to see "Operation: Rabbit" and "Roman Legion Hare".

Oh goody

The good news: on the 5th year I attend this conference, I finally get the king size bed I asked for. It's about time.

The bad news: The high-speed internet in this hotel is not free. It is $10/day. There's not even a free wireless hotspot in the lobby. I lugged my laptop all the way to Kentucky for this?! I'm more than slightly pissed, as you know how much I rely on the internet as my main form of communication with John. I just finished traveling all over the Maritimes and had free internet wherever I went, yet a supposedly higher-class hotel such as this resort makes you pay. GRRRRRRRRR.

Guess I'll be expensing this one, as I will need access for work as well as personal reasons.

Just ain't like it used to be

My flight to Montreal was uneventful. Not being able to take water on the plane really sucks as all that Air Canada gives you is a small glass, about 2/3 full. Going to be a very dehydrating day. I hate forcing liquid into me in a rush in the terminal before boarding, so I've avoided buying any bottles of liquid.

I stopped in the food court and had a burger, knowing that my choices were limited once I got past customs and security. By the time I finished, my luggage was waiting for me and the line for connecting passengers was pretty much non-existent. I got up to the customs agent, preparing for the inevitable dumb questions they ask whenever you have to check off that the purpose of your trip is business. She asked me where I was going, for how long, cutting me off as I spoke. She asked what the conference was for. I replied, it's for our point-of-sale software. She said she was confused and didn't understand. I told her it was a user group to discuss software. She then asked where the software was developed. I replied Nashua, NH. She gives me another confused look and says, in the US? Apparently this agent has never heard of New Hampshire. She then asked me if I was traveling by myself and let me go through.

The luggage guys in Montreal all seem to like me when I come through. I can always count on them to give me a smile and do the heavy lifting.

I proceed back through security, behind people staring at the items you can no longer take in your carry-on as though it were a shopping opportunity. I get up to the scan area and do the usual removal of shoes, unearthing of laptop from bag, and getting it all on the belt, hoping they wouldn't search both my laptop and bag like they did in SJ. My shoes and laptop came through fine, but my bag sat just beyond the gate for a good 2-3 minutes. I could see it, but I know the rule about not grabbing things until they're free of the barriers. Waiting, waiting, ok now it's coming through. I grab it but then the security guy grabs it from me for searching, after hugging and kissing his co-worker. The guy says to me, you don't look too happy about that. Well, NO SHIT, JACKASS. Do you think I'm happy to have you go through my stuff? Do you think I'm happy to not be able to take a simple bottle of water with me while I travel? Or remove my shoes? Or take out my laptop? Or have all this take extra time because as the guard, you could have taken my bag and searched it instead of smooching your co-worker? This is so much fun! YAY! Outside voice told the Jackass that my expression was because I was tired and he could search through anything he wanted.

I long for the good old days of air travel. Security is a necessary part of today's air travel, I have to agree. However, there must be a better way than having to beam with the sunshiniest smile I've got at the prospect of being searched. "You bet you sure can search through my stuff! I love it!"

My heart-on-sleeve tendencies don't help me in the least. Gotta work on my poker face.

On the road again

The time has finally arrived for me to go back and visit the "friendly" skies. Since this is the first time I've flown since the tighter carry-on restrictions were put in place, I did as much research as I could before packing my carry-on.

Despite a detailed list of allowed and disallowed items on the gov't website, I still ended up throwing my tube of chapstick away. United Airlines specifically mentions chapstick and lipstick in a tube is allowed. The CATSA website did not mention this specifically. I decided if a US airline thinks chapstick is ok, I'd probaby be fine. I guess not. I anticipated that may be a problem so I made sure the tube I brought wouldn't be missed if I had to throw it away. But it's still aggrivating to have conflicting information when you're traveling between countries.

I am quite happy to be air-traveling by myself today. Usually it's annoying as I can never leave my heavy carry-on with someone while I quickly run to the bathroom, etc. I have recently decided that it's better to travel by yourself than with someone who is so annoying you feel like punching the crap out of them. I will bear the weight of my carry-on with glee today at the prospect that I have no one else to worry about.

My brother, although he's been making what I think are terrible decisions, has been steadily growing more healthy. He started back at work this week doing half-days.

My grandfather has finally had enough blood transfusions that the doctors feel he is able to withstand pacemaker surgery. He is scheduled for this surgery on Monday as long as his check today is fine. I hope he comes through it ok and is better for it in the end.

Boarding time. I have to fly to Montreal, Chicago and the Lexington. 2-3h wait between flights. I brought lots to read!

Re-learing the relaxing

Relaxing. I need to remember how to do that. The past month has been very stressful for me, whether it be self-induced or outside pressures.

I have help at work now but it seems I am working even more than before. Even with help, I still feel buried and overwhelmed with the amount of things I need to do. I spent 3.5/5 nights this week at work, in addition to being there all day, and two days of those were travel. I am getting sucked into the vortex again. Being a salaried employee, I don't get paid overtime. I have to remember that I can never get everything done, and I am entitled to time for myself. Which, after working Friday night and not even managing to have supper, is what I've tried to do this weekend.

I spent yesterday and today reading True Believer. I hadn't read anything by Nicholas Sparks before, but I did enjoy this book and his style. It was a relatively easy read and I found myself absorbed by it. I've been commenting for weeks now on how much I needed to just relax for a week and read books. I may not have a week at my disposal to do so, but a long weekend is better than nothing.

For the first time I am not really looking forward to attending the conference in a couple of weeks. This year it has become a means to an end for me getting to California for a few days. The last couple of years have seen me teaching other users, which I admit I love doing. It's great showing someone a part of the software they never knew existed, and something that changes their outlook on their processes and procedures. I'm not sure where my melancholy is stemming from when I think about this trip. Part of it has to do with the venue. I can't say as I have longed to visit Kentucky. I'm sure it's a beautiful place, but it just doesn't hold the same desire for me that Tucson did. I had always wanted to visit Arizona, even before the "let's get together with a guy I talk to online" plan. This year it just seems like I'm thinking, "Kentucky, whoopee." I hope it proves me wrong, but I don't think anything will be better than finally arriving at John Wayne Airport and seeing my fiancé circle around 5 times before he can find a spot to pull over and pick me up. :)

I think the other part of the melancholy is just a feeling of seeing the same old, same old. Same people. Same topics. Same pressures to switch to the next big software. I have joined an exclusive customer group this year, and the conference will be my first meeting with them. Maybe that will spice things up a bit. This group meets 3 times/year, so I will be getting to do some additional travel for work to [usually] nice spots in the US. Round about February or so will be the next meeting, and it will most likely be somewhere warm. The last 2 meetings have been East, so if I'm lucky the next one will be West and again I may be able to tack on a trip to SoCal.

Lately I feel like John and I are back at Square One when it comes to moving. Things have been going at what seems like a snail's pace because we are waiting for decisions that are beyond our control. Someone asked me the other night about whether he would be here for xmas, and I didn't know what to answer. I had hoped he would be settled here by then, so I really hadn't given it much thought. Now I am throwing ideas around about going there in February. Something needs to break soon for us. This stretch between July and September is the longest we've been apart, and it has also been the most difficult. We've been talking by phone more than usual, especially after our tolerance for sitting in a chair at a PC has reached its limit. Nothing compares to actually being with the person, though. I continue to plug away at things and do what I can, but with my impatient nature, it's not easy. I would rather go through this waiting period than not have him in my life at all... but I can't promise not to be cranky that we're not together yet.

This week I am off to Yarmouth and Halifax for work. With the craziness that has been going on here lately, I am actually looking forward to getting out of here for a few days, even to the Evil City itself. A temporary change of view will be nice, and when I return, I can start packing for Kentucky, and more importantly, California.

Lunatic Fringe

Since my brother was admitted to the hospital, I have been up there every day with the exception of Wednesday (had to go to NS for work) and today (recovering from mental meltdown). It's been exhausting. He's been having some personal life issues in addition to his health problems, and those two things combined are just totally exhausting to deal with.

My parents are on opposite ends of one particular issue. Unfortunate, as I had hoped they'd be on the same page for once.

My brother's heart issue is improving and they have moved him out of the coronary unit and down to internal medicine. Apparently the staff in this unit don't bother to read charts and like to argue with you when you chase them down for the proper medication. Getting decent care has been incredibly difficult. If you don't have family present with you, I don't know how you survive in that hospital.

On the down side, my brother has been officially diagnosed with Addison's Disease. He will have to take a steroid for the rest of his life, in addition to being diabetic. The doctor says he will likely leave the hospital feeling better than he ever has, because they think this issue went undetected for a long time. So that part is good, but it will likely cause him to remain in hospital most of this week as they monitor how the steroid affects his blood sugar.

I took today off from hospital duty because I was thoroughly exhausted. I woke up early but forced myself back to sleep until 11. I did some errands. I took a long walk around the perimiter of the Nature Park, and the exercise helped to relieve a lot of stress. I watched some TV and did my laundry and ironing. It was good to have some time to myself. I'm actually not minding a Monday at work tomorrow -- work will be a welcome distraction from family problems.


In other news, I bought a new PC. My old PC had reached its upgradable limit, so it was time for a new one. I'd been putting off the purchase for quite a while, not really sure what I wanted and not wanting to spend a lot of money. While I was in Costco a couple of weeks ago, I found a PC and monitor that had both been marked down. The monitor is a 19" LCD, and it's nice having the extra room on my desk. The PC has an AMD Athlon dual core, 1GB RAM, dual layer DVD+/-RW drives, card reader, and other things I don't need but it was a lot of PC for the price, and should last me a lot longer than the lesser models I'd been looking at, so I am quite happy with it.

Brother update

My brother has had a "fun" few days. First, a mistake in his medication meant that he wasn't getting enough and set his progress back. Then, his IV came out and he wasn't getting enough insulin, which was sending his blood sugar sky high. He had a test today that showed a 30% reduction in the fluid around his heart, so we now know he won't need the aspiration. Phew. He is stronger now and can walk down the hall and sit up a lot longer than before. So overall he is doing better. He definitely won't be out until next week at the earliest though. He's being sent for more tests for other things, so they may move him out of the coronary care unit and into another unit after his heart issue is substantially cleared up. I don't care how long he's in there, as long as he can get his health back under control.

There are issues other than health going on which I can't discuss here, but I am really worried about him. I hope when he gets better he will start taking better care of himself, on all levels.

Younger brother in hospital

My younger brother was admitted last night to the hospital, in the coronary care unit. He has pericarditis, brought on from his bout with pneumonia that he couldn't seem to shake. It is serious but hopefully treatable with medication. We'll know more in a couple of days whether or not the drugs are working. If they show progress, great. If not, he'll have to have an aspiration (i.e., stick a needle in his chest and remove the fluid.)

I'm going to cancel the work trip I had planned to NS this week so I can be close to home. My mom has been up taking care of him. There's not a lot I can do per se, but I just want to be around in case I'm needed.

My grandfather had a rough week last week, culminating in his loss of eyesight for a brief period. After a blood transfusion it returned, but this is not a good sign. They are trying to get his platelets up so he can get a pacemaker, but they are just not getting up high enough. My aunt is up staying with him because he's a little dizzy and disoriented at times and can't really stay alone right now.

Please keep them both in your thoughts/prayers.

Heading out of town

I have a busy next few weeks, work-wise. I will be heading out of town for most of the next two weeks. These trips are a way to intro my new co-worker as well as take stock of our equipment. This week involves trips to Bathurst, Charlottetown, Moncton and maybe Amherst. Next week is Yarmouth, Halifax, Truro, New Glasgow and Amherst if not visited the week before. Then on the last week: Grand Falls, Woodstock and Fredericton, possibly all in one day.

Unfortunately this means I will have to miss most of Theatre on the Edge. I will be able to see the Dance Collective tonight, but then won't be home until sometime on Friday. After a long week of travel, and preparation for travel again all of next week, I'm not sure if I'll be at any of the weekend events. I'll just have to see how tired I am and what needs to be done around the house.

I'll be glad to get this over with. I don't enjoy long car trips. I won't be driving, but that sort of makes things worse because I also can't read in a car. The upside is at least it will help keep mileage down on my leased car. And I can go to Costco. :)

Too busy to blog

I've been too busy to blog this past week. Having finally hired help at work this week, I didn't have time to write anything and barely had time to answer personal emails. The week went fast, and I must say it's nice to have help again at work. Competent help at that. He's come up with a number of good ideas, which all involve a lot of work, but will make a lot of improvements. I'm looking forward to having a lot of this stuff implemented. I'm going to have to do a bunch of traveling in the next few weeks, taking him around to the various locations and introducing him. Not crazy about the travel part, but after that is done I should be back at home again until I head to Kentucky.

I've been very glad for this long weekend. I really needed an extra day off. Having to save every vacation day I can in order to be able to see John means that I can't take the occasional day off here and there to just relax. People keep asking me if I am taking summer holidays without remembering that vacation time is the only way I get to see John.

I spent Friday night at home, not doing anything in particular that I can remember. Saturday I got up, hung around the house, chatted with John and went to my hair appointment. After hair I went to church, where it was our first week with our new priest since the Redemptorists had left. Our new priest is a cousin of my recently departed grandfather, so there is a small family connection there. He said mass at my grandfather's funeral.

After church, I headed home to grab a few things and then up to the Peninsula for Dave & Jody's annual camp party. Thanks to Dave & Jody for hosting, and Dave for cooking my steak. :)

At the camp party, I discovered upon setting up my satellite radio that I was missing some channels. Apparently the company decided to remove some from the listing AND raise the monthly fee. I wrote them an email last night, expressing my displeasure. They gave me a standard, pre-written answer in reply. I would not agree with it, but I could understand if they had removed certain channels from the lineup and replaced them with Canadian content... but that is not what happened. They simply removed channels without any notification to their customers. I'm growing increasingly tired of being denied access to the same things as Americans, and this one I find particularly perplexing. It is a paid service, from what I understand is not subject to the same Canadian content regulations as traditional radio... so why are certain stations being blocked? Back in April, the Canadian listing dropped the ClearChannel content that was being offered in the US, which mandated commercials on certain channels. Those stations I don't miss, as I found them to be repetitive of one another anyway. But why block the movie soundtracks, tropical, opera, and hit list channels? I may be canceling my Canadian service and signing up for the US service soon. It's cheaper, even with the exchange factored in, and I would get more channels.

I just ran a spell check on this blog. Apparently Blogger's spell check does not recognize the word "blog." Oh the irony!

I finished reading Something Blue, which ended up being not as bad a read as I thought it would be. The protagonist is not the most appealing character at first, seeing as how she's very self-absorbed. Her transformation is what makes the novel worth reading. If you like chick lit, that is.

On Sunday my younger brother came over to pick up the Calais mailbox key. By the time he reached my house, he wasn't feeling well enough to drive back. I drove him home, stopped at the grocery store and Zellers to pick up a few things, then went back home to get ready for the pool party. Dad was waiting in the driveway with a giant truck full of wood -- my winter heat source. Unfortunately the truck is so heavy that it dented my new pavement. *sigh. It's still too soft to handle large trucks, but what can you do? I sought the help of Jenn & Stew to drive my car out to my brother's place so I could drop his car off to him, on the way to the pool party. That being done, I headed to the Valley.

The pool party garnered a very nice, sunny day, thankfully. A big thanks to Suzy and Chris for hosting and feeding - the burgers and cake were delicious. Despite my lack of love for pools, I did dangle my legs in for a bit and it was refreshing. That was as far as I was comfortable. :)

Today was my extra day off. I spent it sleeping in until 11am. I took an hour walk in some windy weather, which was starting to feel like fall. I got back and watched an episode of Star Trek. After that, I got to work on a couple of things that needed to be done. First was swabbing the deck -- there were a couple of dirty spots that needed cleaning. Dad may be coming over to apply the waterseal this week. After I finished that, I headed to the basement to move the 1/2 rank of wood remaining from last year. I didn't want the oldest/driest wood buried at the bottom of the pile. So I moved all of that over to the other side of the room, and will use that first when I have to start the stove again. The new wood will be ranked in its usual spot sometime this week.

Tonight I baked cupcakes to take to work tomorrow. I also read for a bit. I guess overall it was a good day off, but not long enough. I could really use a week off just to spend around the house. I have still been putting off that touch-up painting I need to do. I did buy some grass seed, finally, but haven't thrown it around on the lawn holes yet. Maybe I can work away at that stuff in the evenings this week, before I start hitting the road for work. I hate to start wishing for fall already, but since that's the next time I'm able to see John, it's on my mind. I miss him a lot.