!! Happy New Year !!

We're away for the next couple of days, back online late Friday.

Possibly maybe :-)

So, I'd like to wish you all in a advance a very happy, healthy, successful and loving 2009 - after all, we've come this far so why not go one step further in our journey towards fulfilling our dreams?

For some, it will be a move across the country; for others a new job, a new relationship, a new baby, a new pet, a new home, a new blog... all new adventures. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as you keep moving.

And hey, if by next year you're still exactly as you are now, well that's good too - as long as you're happy, smiling and aren't wearing the same skivvies. Ewwww.

I leave you with a quote and a visual:

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. ~Henry Ward Beecher

See you all next year, folks!

\end of Life Rocks post\

I'm a smartie, not a delinquent!

I was supposed to work today but decided that life had to be bigger than a job, it really had to. Sick of office work.

So I took the day off and instead enjoyed a late night yesterday, a late sleep-in this morning, a very windy yet sunny walk with the kids in the field, two breakfasts, popcorn, then lunch... and now we're heading out to run errands downtown, followed by a leisurely pasta dinner and a drink or two.

Besides, it's my big boy's birthday today (he turns 5! oh my, how time flies...), it's the eve of New Year's Eve and I am learning to enjoy life rather than be a slave to the paycheck and what others think of me.

So yeah.

*smiles*

Blogland gets a tad deserted around the holidays so I don't feel too guilty about disappearing a bit, myself, however I do miss the busy gossipy times...

Tomorrow we drive out to my dad's in the boonies and his dial-up internet connection is a disaster sooo I don't think to be online much until next weekend. I'll have to leave you with some really juicy stuff before leaving, then.

Let me come up with something later ;-)

PS: Edited to add: click HERE to see unbelievable cuteness turned into beauty, after going through plenty of gangly :-D

\end of Happy Hooligan post\

Tastes like chicken

...and for today's lunch we have...

see more pwn and owned pictures

Or, as Prin put it... "no wonder ham tastes salty".

Monday morning blues

Or pinks.

Either way, going to work SUCKS.

Amen.

Is housewifing wrong?

I mean, I love working just as much as anybody else: the financial independence, the sense of accomplishment, the fun coworkers, the paycheck, the paycheck, the paycheck.

Sigh. Not looking forward to tomorrow morning, bleh! Why the fuck do I have to work, isn't everybody else still on holidays? *cries*

I think I wouldn't have minded being a 1950's housewife, to be honest. The tacky feathered mules, the dry martinis at 5pm, baking bread and scrubbing floors. Hours in the hair salon, gossiping about the friar boning his house cleaner. Greeting my husband at the end of the day with a hot meal, spending his money on new wallpaper for the guest bedroom. That kind of thing.

OK, I'm kidding!

A little.

Getting my own business off the ground will be house-wifey, though, don't you think? I mean I will get to stay home most of the day, decorating and painting the kennel, our house, landscaping our gardens. I'll be dogsitting once we have clients, so that'll be like having kids in a way.

I'll have to feed them, do the dog laundry, exercise and groom them. I can have that beer in the middle of a hot summer day if I so choose, and when things are quiet I'll finally have a kitchen big enough to bake bread in.

Hey! Housewife to the doggies, LOL! I hope Vegas won't mind...

It's my dream life, and it will all come true in a few months.

Hard work up ahead. Very hard.

I can't freaking WAIT!

In the meantime, it's up again at 7am tomorrow morning for a day in jail, oops I mean the office, and then another one, and then a few days off to celebrate the New Year. We're driving to my dad's (with the furkids), thankfully Vegas drives now so I can relax in the car on the way up. I suck at driving long distances. Meaning further than 30 minutes.

*hangs head in shame*

So tired. I rested on boxing day but that was it. Got swollen raw hamburger instead of back muscles, breathing hurts and there's nothing I can do except take anti-inflamatories and hope for the best.

Wow listen to me, I'm turning into an old gummer. I should take my glass of ovaltine and head to bed for 8:30pm to complete the picture.

Sorry, folks :-o

\end of Miserable Cow post\

Winter moon

Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair.
~Minna Thomas Antrim

Bitchin' bargains!

Books. I like books.

I like going to the bookstore and finding a bargain table right there for my greedy little hands to paw through, awesome books that I would have paid a lot more to get anyways (they were 4 for $10! woohooo! I got 8 books today!).

What I don't like is when these books get SO good, that I'm left incapable of putting them down until the wee hours of the night, then I can't sleep cuz the book still isn't done and my brain's on 5th gear and aren't the damn holidays supposed to be netting me MORE sleep, not LESS?

Books. I have a love\hate relationship with the really good ones.

Oh and the super loud giant snowplows were clearing our street at 2am too. It's a conspiracy to make us all living zombies.

Sean Of The Dead is on TV right now, seems appropriate.

So today is a giant ice-rink outside, one of my dogs went down the cement stairs on her chin and Vegas followed on his arse. He's been limping all afternoon, the poor man. It's impossible to walk anywhere since the sidewalks are pure suicide, it's raining and foggy and absolutely gross outside - a perfect day to snuggle on the couch with hot tea and homemade sweets.

Really, is there anything better than getting a tin full of your favorite childhood treats as a Christmas gift, baked specially for you by your mom?

I didn't think so :-D

Next Christmas, when I finally have a kitchen, I'm going crazy with the baking and since we'll be broke with a big mortgage on our backs, I guess everyone's going to have to be happy with tins of goodies instead of store-bought presents.

I can already hear the cheering!

Right, I need to go back to my book and perhaps some popcorn now - check out the ice-capades photos on my photo and dog blogs if you want to have a laugh.

\end of Bruises Glorious Bruises post\

Boxing day is for...

...lazing around in jammies all day, eating cake and watching bad 80's horror films on the telly.

...feeling grateful, warm and fuzzy about the Christmas holidays this year - what a blast!

...not shopping. Fuck that!

...watching Vegas break a tourette's sweat courting his kettlebells. I wish I were half that brave, specially since I need to fit in my wedding dress in two weeks.

...debating on whether to take a nap or not. Neck is sore and headache won't go away yet I'm too lazy to sleep. Go figure.

...cuddles. Lots and lots of cuddles.

/end of Boxing Day Bravo post/

Short and sweet

...I would like to wish you all a very...

May the season's jolly joys warm the cockles of your heart, may the hang-overs be gentle and the family feuds non-existent! Oh and you can eat all the sweets you want the next two days, they're magically free of calories during this short window once a year.

S'true.

Santa told me so!

Thanks for the kind comments on my last post (except Vegas and Mike, you meanies!), as you know I'm so short on time for blogging since I started this new job that I prefer visiting your blogs and chatting there rather than answering you individually in my posts. Maybe I just need to manage my time better?!

*ponders about getting a maid and a chef*

Ah yeah, one can always dream :-D

Well, we're almost ready for the big celebrations here. I just need to put the finishing touches on Vegas' gifts before everything gets piled up under the tree, the beer is cooling in the fridge, tonight's picnic stuff is ready, the ooey gooey butterscotch caramel lava cake will be baked soon - for you quebecois, that's a fancy way to describe un pouding chômeur! - and tomorrow's food & presents are all ready to bring over to my brother's for the family dinner. Just pray the roads are clear, driving anywhere this time of year is taking your life into your own hands.

So. I can almost kick back and relax soon! Wooooo! All this after having worked this morning, too... thankfully I'm off until next Monday, looking forward to lots of zzz's and shopping.

What? I'm a girl! Everything's on sale!

Be good, be brave, be happy and be sure to do only what your heart is happy doing, no matter what that is. Ciao!

/end of Off To Sex Up Santa Now post/

Long-overdue rant

My blogging gumption is sitting on a back burner these days... Have ya noticed?

*opens eyes wide in astonishment*

Days are strange lately. Been having quite a few heated discussions with Vegas over trivial stuff, which end in us yelling at each other and it's so crappy. It never lasts long and there is plenty of making up afterwards but I'm left every time with a residual feeling of "yuck" that is hard to shake. So dumb and most of it is my fault, which I blame on extreme tiredness and feeling frustrated that my life is on hold until April or so. Until we buy our house in the country and get the fuck out of this city, until I can finally set up my dog kenneling business.

Facing a long, harsh winter isn't optimal, either.

Right, OK, it's not all doom and gloom since it's Christmas super soon, then New Year's, then we get married, we have a short honeymoon, it's my bday not long after that, then St-Valentines, then Vegas leaves for a week-long visit to the UK. At that point I will probably officially lose my mind.

I might need to hand out shovels to you guys so you can scrape me off the sidewalk like old dog doo.

Almost lunchtime, then another long undending afternoon of work. Then one more tomorrow. Then five glorious days off. I can do it, I can do it, babysteps will lead me to springtime and to my life-long dream. Must not falter, must keep my head high towards the horizon.

Is that Santa I hear?

/end of Lord Jeebus or Elvis Help Meh! post/

*Nods sagely*

Tomboys are an assertion of reality, of practicality.
Forced femininity is a waste of energy and resources,
and therefore of oneself. Live to live.
~Morgan Torva

Snow day

It's a winter white-out today... Big, fat lazy snowflakes piling up into giant snowdrifts and covering everything in a soft white blanket of pretty. Sure am glad we don't have to drive anywhere in the next couple of days, the roads are a nightmare and will likely be worse tomorrow.

I took the kids out twice this afternoon for a play in the snow, it was that lovely. Now the weekend draws to a close and I hardly saw any of it go by... Still 2.5 work days to go before I can kick back and enjoy the holidays, and I need to get crackin' on a few things - Christmas stockings don't fill themselves, unfortunately!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and to all Montrealers, happy shoveling! :-)

Bizarre sex poll

So according to recent voters, sex happens pretty much weekly or hardly at all - how does that work?!

*ponders, then gives up*

Only three days left until Christmas Eve and I work two of those days. Ack! At least all the presents are wrapped for the fambly gathering on the 25th and I also managed to spend over two hours tonight wrapping Vegas' gifts, too. Stupid paper, so beautiful yet so difficult to tape on account of the sparklies. WHAT was I thinking!

I still need to put all the bows and bling on them before Santa puts them under the tree on Wednesday.

What? He works for free for two days per year, might as well use him. It's a good thing, too, cuz I kinda blew my budget (again) this year.

It's crazy, really.

No matter how many gifts I get, it never seems like it's enough. Or that they're OK. I hate consumerism and prefer to spread thoughtful and sweet gifts throughout the year yet here I am, suckered into the hype and stressed about it all being perfect. It MUST be perfect.

*hides under couch*

But ya know... it IS a special day, we decorated this year cuz it's important to Vegas and it grew on me. It's his first year away from `home` (ie Britland) and I want this Christmas to be special, after all this is his forever home now... Nothing wrong with starting our life together on the right foot. With red stockings.

Other random thoughts:

I need to catch up on blogs, this is ridiculous. Where does time fly?!

Finally slept last night after 3 days of utter insomnia. I hope to repeat it tonight.

Any suggestions for stocking stuffers? I'm stumped this year.

I've done no Christmas baking this year, it's so sad :-(

Tomorrow's snow storm is gonna make getting around the city impossible again for a few days. Crap. Just when I need to do groceries for festivus!

And so life goes on, one blitz day at a time. I hope you are all well and on holidays (lucky bastids), let's not lose sight that tomorrow, December 21st, is the shortest day of the year and after that it's all uphill. Yey! Now that is what I call season's cheer!

/end of Spread It Like A Turkey post/

A toast to the weekend

Wine is sunlight, held together by water.
~Galileo

Insomnia, I cast thee OUT!

If I don't get a proper night of sleep, I may just keel over and die of exhaustion.

So not fair: tossing and turning for hours, not being able to sleep yet too tired to get up and do anything else is a helluva lot of work, but apparently not enough for the stupid BRAIN to STFU and submerge, already! All this WITH sleeping pills too!

*sighs dramatically*

I'm looking forward to the holidays not for the presents nor for the food, but for the few days of vacation time to be able to blog! And sleep!

My best sleeping hours are between 3 and 9am.

Is that weird?

*fights not to nod off in mid-sentence*

We got our weddings ring made last week, we pick them up this Saturday. Oooo! We went with white gold (to be original... LOL!) and got them engraved, hopefully on January 10th I won't find out that my ring sports something like Pwned! or Now You Shall Obey! You never know, with Vegas...

I kid, I kid. He wouldn't do that to me.

This is just about the most boring post ever written. I'm sorry!

/end of Calling The Sandman post/

On evolution

When you are through changing, you are through.
~Bruce Barton

How to make me smile...

First, you could visit my Snapshots Blog to see the pretty winter photos, and remind me that it will melt soon (soon, right?) and everything will be all right. Right? Yes. OK then!

Second, you could be sweet as my blogger friend Dolce who, out of the goodness of her heart on a crummy winter Monday, handed me this beautimous award!

Thanks, girl! I loves it!
Third, you could gracefully accept that I pass it along to a few awesome bloggers... The rule of the award is to write about 5 addictions then pass the kudos to 5 bloggers (I think). In no particular order, I'm addicted to:

• Blogging (DUH)
• Hair conditioner
• Eye drops
• Vegas cuddles
• Potato chips

OK not super thrilling but it's 10pm right now and you can't polish a turd. I will now try to pass the award to people I missed the last time:

Busy Bee, for being both such a faithful and entertaining blogger but also a reader whose comments and insights I look forward to every day.

The lovely Sian for making me dream. Her life is a fairytale, which she captures beautifully with every post. You'll have to read her to understand.

Roshan, who is one of the most prolific and passionate bloggers that I know. Never a dull moment over in his space! Oh and did you know he's in India? Yeah. Maybe he'll send me some sun in a can now, LOL!

Mike, who will be humiliated to get such a `girlie award` so half the pleasure is in torturing him. He he. OK seriously, it hurts to read his posts because half of me is laughing to stitches and the other half is grimacing in eeeeew! (that is a compliment)

The Constantly Dramatic One should get her very own award just cuz she's so damn ossum. She tells it like it is, baby! And I like it!

Now I'm off to bed cuz Mondays shouldn't be stretched into infinity.

Peace, out!

/end of Have You Seen My Mojo? post/

On the bright side...

Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system.
~P.J. O'Rourke

Mondays are for monkeys

Office monkey. That's my new, self-apposed title.

Sigh.

I have a feeling I'll be slugging back alot of coffee today... just a hunch. That's what you get for slacking off on a Friday, I guess.

Seeing as I'm short on time for blogging these days - and I don't see it getting better - I hope you won't mind if I don't respond to you individually in post comments anymore. I'd rather spend that time reading your stuff and commenting there - hey, it's all about priorities, LOL!

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post, the one about the grannie. I'm glad it brought you all comfort and a smile.

However, I didn't post it to get kudos or anything, but I thought it was such a perfect illustration of Karma and being linked, and also the incident affected me so much, well, I couldn't stay quiet about it. The counterbalance to all of this are all the homeless people that litter the sidewalks full of Christmas shoppers, sitting there freezing and some of them crying - specially the old ones - it all makes me feel ill, sick to my stomach.

I can't help them all and even giving them a bit of money isn't really helping, it's a tiny band-aid and that's it. Society is limping, crippled on broken crutches and I just have to learn to deal with it. I guess.

But the damn least I can do is take charge when Karma says ¨here you go¨. I don't want thanks for it, I want to be able to sleep at night without my conscience kicking me in the shins.

Gotta love the conscience.

\end of Life Is A Circus post\

'Tis the season to... Not Diet!

Great food is like great sex.
The more you have the more you want.
~Gael Greene

Everything for a reason

My below post from last night about following your inner guidance wasn't random...

Something pretty awesome happened to me yesterday and I'd like to share it with you.

I left work about half an hour before my usual time, turned left to walk home and there, on the street corner, an old lady stopped me to ask for directions to the welfare office.

I had to remove my iPod headphones and ask her to repeat the question a few times as she had no teeth and I couldn't understand what she was saying. She was lost, cold, hard of hearing, had a thick cataract in one eye, was illiterate and had a hard time keeping her balance on the super icy and snowy sidewalk.

I didn't know where the welfare office was but I couldn't leave her there - the more questions I asked her, the more I had to help her. She was such a sweet granny too, answering as best she could and just hanging onto my arm for dear life.

She had apparently taken the bus from across town with her roommate, whom she lost sight of near my office. She said she was 64 but she looked 84 and wasn't entirely coherent - she didn't know her address nor her phone number and kept repeating things.

At first I thought she'd be OK if I brought her to the subway station so I gave her a ticket (she didn't have a penny on her), but as we shuffled along and I asked more questions, it became obvious there was no way in hell I could leave her alone.

It took us 20 minutes to walk 2 blocks!

We finally made it to a city access office and at the information counter I found out that indeed, there was a welfare center on the 3rd floor... which had closed 10 minutes before we got there.

So my only other option was to put her in a cab and pay the driver to take her home - only, where did she live?

I asked to see her wallet for ID, and was dismayed to find only 3 hospital cards in it. With 2 different addresses and not one matched what she was telling me where she lived.

No ID, no money, no transit card, NOTHING.

Although she had on clean and relatively new clothes, she had no purse, no winter boots, no scarf and her coat didn't button all the way to her neck. With the temps starting to plummet way below freezing in the dark, I could do only one thing: walk her to the police station which, luckily, was just next door.

Montreal police ROCK.

The immediately asked me what the situation was and just took charge. They searched their database for her name, the name of her roommate (who also had the appartment key, apparently) while I supplied her with endless tissues so she could finally blow her nose.

It was taking a while so they asked for my contact info and assured me they would make sure she got home safely, not to worry and to go home. I guess they must be used to elderly people wandering and getting lost...

Gawd, it was hard to leave her.

How the hell does one get attached to a toothless, rambling grannie so quickly?

I felt like I was put there at the right time and at the right place to make a difference. What would have happened to her if I had left work 5 minutes earlier or 5 minutes later? And why was I compelled to be so protective of her like that?

That's what I meant about Karma, about believing that something ties us together, about doing what your inner voice guides you to.

I hope she got home OK and that someone is taking care of her. I hope she's not alone, I hope she has enough to eat, I hope she's not cold. Fuck. Why didn't I stay and get her phone number at least, so I could call and check today.

Hard to let go.

Very hard.

\end of Inner Turmoil post\

On being yourself

Every time you don't follow your inner guidance,
you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.
~Shakti Gawain

Gods and monsters*

*refers to a song by Psyche, youtube it if you're interested

So, my question from yesterday's post seemed to have piqued some curiosity. I guess I should have been more specific... When I asked if you believed in God, I rather meant God as in a deity, a higher power or being, or even gods plural if you wish.

In my mind there is a clear distinction between "deity" and "religion" as to me, the two are mutually exclusive. You can believe in both, in only one of the two, or in neither; you don't have to believe in religion to have faith in a higher being.

I'm not sure what I believe in. I've not seen or experienced any evidence of "God" and I certainly don't believe in religion, however I'd like to believe we are all linked by some higher power out there... maybe Karma? I mostly do believe in a spiritual afterlife of sorts, of reincarnation and the like - but not linked to a God or to religion, if that makes sense to you.

And then again, this wavers depending on the events going on in my life at the time ;-)

The funny thing is that close to 80% of the world's population has Faith, they maybe don't all believe in the same thing but they believe in something.

I don't mind being part of a minority, and I totally respect what the majority is doing as long as it works for them. Like they say: "Whatever makes you happy!" It's when faith and religion come to blows, browbeating and fanaticism that I draw the line. Don't push your beliefs on others and everybody will get along just fine.

Aetheists get crapped on all the time for being "religion haters" and whatnot but really, they represent 20% of the pie. How many wars can they spurn in the name of Nothing?

On the other hand, crusades, religious wars, sects, screaming preachers, kids with bombs strapped to their chests in the name of their God... the extremists that poison it for everyone. That's just wrong, plain wrong.

Love your Gods but please, respect those that love other Gods or don't believe in them at all.

Is that so difficult?

/end of Crawls Back Into Non-Conformist Cave post/

On poetry

"To be a poet is a condition, not a profession."
~Robert Frost

Thursday drive-by posting

OK people, you need to start voting on the poll now (please!) cuz I'm really super curious: are you all thieves? Or are thieves just particularly attracted to polls? LOL!

Not much to report besides work eating up most of my days... Evenings should be for running Christmas errands but it's a suicide ice rink out there the past two days sooo until the fecking city salts the sidewalks, me staying home and out of crutches!

Tonight's dinner is silky cream of butternut squash soup served with a dollop of sour cream, fresh baguette, pâté and some red wine. A perfect light, warm winter dinner. I need to work on a bunch of pics for my Snapshots Blog if my brain doesn't fall into a giant coma first... The weather might have been shite lately but it sure produced gorgeous exotic ice-wrapped trees that sparkled in the sun this morning, so I took advantage of that while I could.

Inspiration's been sorely lacking lately, so when the mojo hits: ya take it.

Ending the post with a loaded question:

Do you believe in God?

/end of What A Question! Post/

Dr. Suess Bible

One of the best Kids In The Hall sketches ever! I dare you to watch and NOT giggle!

Happy slippery, wet, icy, cold and miserable Wednesday, everyone!

Ain't got nuthin'

My brain's as empty as a bag of oreo cookies on snacking night. Wrung out like a towel after a wash n'spin cycle. Flat as a pancake.

Mmmm. Pancakes.

We got a crapload of snow today, I think it's quite pretty and refreshing... Mind you, the car's under a white mound right now (I love my seven-minute walk to work) so I didn't have to deal with any commute nightmares - thinking of poor Prin here, among others - I send you all virtual booze to unwind!

Or a punching bag, whichever you need most.

I'll bet it all melts within two days, just for the hell of it. Yey! Mucky salty slush!

My to-do list is about a mile long now. How did Christmas get to be only 15 days away all of a sudden? WTF? I've almost no shopping done, zero wrapping, and the stores are now bursting at the seams so the hell if I want to get crushed in there - aaaaaaa!

These 40+ hours of work during the week are really putting a dent in my lifestyle.

Crap!!!

/end of Must Get An Early Night post/

Alternate realities

The Great Way has no gate.
Clear water has no taste.
The tongue has no bone.
In complete stillness, a stone girl is dancing.
~Seung Sahn

The first Noel...

Considering that so far, our "first anythings" have been pretty crappy - I hope that today has turned our luck around and that we're good from now on...

Our first Christmas together should be rockin'!

Vacation days are all set and family visits planned out, nothing too stressful but no boring bits either, woohooo! We be happy. I promised Vegas I'd try to get into the holiday spirit because "I love him that much" and it might be rubbing off on me.

Or the garlands and tacky decorations he hung everywhere are laced with air-released drugs. Wheeee! Only they did nothing to tame the freaking headache :-(

So. Saturday we went to pick out our tree, a fragrant six-foot tall baby that we named Gene. Got him all settled in to stretch and warm up and then found out that Gene is an alcoholic.

Gene drinks.

And drinks.

How can a tree possibly drink so much water?? Geez! And then for our thanks he shed a crapload of needles everywhere... Ah well, it's the price to pay for the real thing, eh? He sure smells good.

Today we got lights and a bright star for the top, put on our santa hats and the cheesy 1950's "Christmas classics" music and went crazy with the decorations!

Naked Gene: Trussed-out Gene:

The Vegas who stole my hat:

Do I tell him he looks silly, or do you?... he he.

We had a blast today and I'm sad the weekend disappeared so quickly. Now starts another long week of work, arctic temperatures (for the next two days) and the countdown to Christmas Crazy. Hope you all enjoy it too!

/end of Another Evaporated Weekend post/

Guess who visited today

Yep. "The PMS headache". Regular headaches and even migraines can be controlled and tamed with meds but oh nooo, the PMS bitchy jackhammer head refuses to budge no matter how many drugs you throw at it. Bastid.

Will blog tomorrow with an update on the weekend cuz I know you all want to see the "before" and "after" pics of the christmas tree!

I'll even throw in a photo of Vegas in a santa hat as a bonus.

/end of I Need Morphine post/

I get to marry a shark!

He he. A pool shark.

Last night we went out to play a few rounds with some friends, knocked back some beers and holy shit, Vegas had us all fooled:

"I'm very bad at pool"
"No, I swear I'm crap at it"
"I only played videogame pool"
"OK I used to play snooker like 15 years ago"

Good thing that I was on his team (cuz I seriously can't play to save my life), had I known he could clear a table by sinking impossible spectacular shots, hell I would have put money on the game and that would have paid for the christmas tree we bought this afternoon!

I'm seriously impressed.

He totally got some this morning, he he!

*stretches kinks out of neck*

I want to go out for vietnamese food tonight but gawd, I think I'm still full from Thursday night's cheese fondue party. We went to a friend of ours for dinner and, in true gay man fashion, he plied us with booze, a fondue fit for kings and speaking of kings (think Elvis here) dessert was:

"Kevin's Super Trashy Southern-Style Apple Dumplings"

Peel, core and halve a few apples.
Wrap each piece in Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough.
Place in baking dish, cover with thick mixture of melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Pour half a can of Mountain Dew over the whole thing.
Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

I swear on my mother's head, you will NEVER guess the ingredients to that recipe unless you see it made. One bite and I was in heaven, the kind where your mouth is so happy you forget sex exists.

Yes, it's that good. Sex In A Pan.

Right. OK. I'm packing on the calories and pounds like crazy and it's nowhere near crimmas yet... Sigh. I need to find a way to exercise, painlessly, in this crappy time of year. Too cold for walking, no snow yet so nothing to roll around in with the doggies.

Oh and yes, the naked tree is slowly warming up in a corner of the livingroom, it smells so nice. I was totally against the whole "let's decorate this place gaudily" shinding Vegas was insisting on, but now that we went out and got a bagful of kitch, I think it'll be a blast.

Cheesy christmas music from iTunes: check
Tons of tinsel garlands, knick-knacks, stars and candy canes: check
Stockings for the doggies: check
Santa hats in His and Hers: check
Seven year-old Havana Club rhum: check

Looks like we're all set!

/end of Happy Weekend To Everyone post/

Ode to children

"Children are contemptuous, haughty, irritable, envious, sneaky,

selfish, lazy, flighty, timid, liars and hypocrites,

quick to laugh and cry, extreme in expressing joy and sorrow,

especially about trifles, they'll do anything to avoid pain

but they enjoy inflicting it: little men already."
~Jean de La Bruyère, Les Caractères, 1688

What I want for Christmas…

..a haircut
..a business plan for the kennel
..bigger boobs
..dogs that bath themselves
..a healthy liver so I can drink at parties
..a two hour massage three times a week
..to only need five hours of sleep per night
..sterility (yey no more birth control!)
..a jacuzzi tub

...and what I will probably get for Christmas:

..two days off work
..horrid wrapping paper that keeps tearing
..lineups in grocery stores
..a hangover or two
..no sleep
..a cold
..long hours of driving to see fambly
..an angry credit card statement

Yey! Best time of year evah!

/end of Sarcastic post/

Making haste

"I don't know why it is we are in such a hurry to get up when we fall down.

You might think we would lie there and rest for a while."

~Max Eastman

Fun with Jeebus

First: good morning!

Second: it's a bit strange writing a post in the evening so that it shows up in the morning... Since days at work are now too busy to troll blogland, I don't want to lag behind too much on blabla sooo this is what I gots to do.

*pats self on back for effort*

Work is going well, the people are so very nice and hey, every Wednesday morning is fruit day! Platters of fresh sweet juicy sliced fruit, cheese and crackers for everyone. Nice! And the first Friday of each month is beer afternoon - which happens to be THIS week. How lucky can I be? LOL!

Still, my brain's reeling. I haven't gotten a real night of sleep in over a week. So frustrating... gonna resort to sleeping aids tonight. Yeah. Wine and nytol!

So. Vegas is nutters - see what he made me watch??


ROTFLMAO!! I almost cried laughing! Who thinks of these things?! Could be a good demo for the churches... imagine the slogans?

On another tangeant, the current poll results are a bit surprising. Either people who read this blog are liars, or they have low standards when choosing a partner. OK I kid, I kid! You guys rock.

/end of And Now I Have To Roll post/

In lieu of a post... food for thought

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in.
~Leonard Cohen

The eyes have it!

If you want to know why I don't leave the house without makeup, maybe the below photos will set the story straight. My skin is splotchy, my eyes are normally so dry they look like cherries, I have to pencil in my brows and there's nothing I can do about those damn wrinkles *cries*

However!

The geniusses (geni?) behind war paint - aka makeup - are my superman, here is a sample of what good stuff can do!

No eye makup on yet:

Now with L’Oréal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara and some eye shadow:

See? No contest! It's Zombirella va Captain Glam!

I really love the stuff: it glides on smooth (a freaking miracle to find a mascara that does NOT clump!), the white base coat is a bit creepy at first but then it gets 100% covered by the coloured mascara - I am wearing black - and... best of all... it washes off very easily with soap and water! Another miracle, LOL!

Ya know, it's supposed to retail in Canada for about $15 a tube but I love it so much that I'd bite the bullet and actually buy some. And if you know thrifty me... you know that's a huge endorsement!

Girlies, don't hesitate to try it for yourselves! (except those who are born with natural beauty and don't need to wear any makeup. No bragging here either, please! *shakes fist*)

/end of Wow I Love This Stuff! post/

Stretch, yawn, collapse

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown

is the belief that one's work is terribly important."
~Bertrand Russell

Looong and sexay!

Yey! The lovely folks at Matchstick.ca have once again pinged me to be part of a new Word Of Mouth (WOM) marketing campaign, this one for L’Oréal Paris Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara. Look at the amazing kit I received to kick it all off!

[click photo to enlarge details]

A set of cosmetic brushes, an eye shadow quad, liquid eyeliner and two tubes of Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara, all in a practical travel bag.

Mission:

Try the product, compare it with what I normally use (and other mascaras I have used in the past), give it a rating and a performance review, discuss it with you gals - cuz let's face it, I doubt that many of my man-fans wear mascara much - and hopefully spread the good word on this new item!

Yes, I wear makeup on a quasi-daily basis... at my age one needs all the face bling possible to pull attention away from the dark undereye circles and wrinkles! Life is fatiguing, you know.

*picks lint off feathered slipper*

I'm away at work all day with - gasp! - no blogging access so I count on you all to behave until my return tomorrow night.

And then you shall see pics of my eyes :-D

/end of Hot Damn I Wish I Were On Vacation post/

On imagination

"When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge."
~Tuli Kupferberg

The retirement

You know when people retire they get a watch? (photo clicks way bigger)

Well the company retired itself, in a way, so this is the wimmins version of the watch everybody got at the farewell party. Awe. I thought the gesture was quite lovely, even if half the people will prolly auction off the goods on eBay, LOL!

Oh and curiously enough, the last poll revealed that nobody wants to be a smartass balding cannibal, the ideal seems to be a hot fugitive with martial arts and driving skillz.

jason bourne 33%
austin powers 26%
indiana jones 13%
luke skywalker 13%
clark kent 6%
james bond 6%
hannibal lecter 0%

Why am I not surprised!

/end of Sunday post/

It huuuurts!

My sides have a stitch, for cryin' out loud!

I just read Spaz's two hours of hell and if I had an award for "best post ever on the shits", I promise it would be handed to him on a silver platter!

Oh my freaking jeebus.

That guy is brilliant!

I lost it

If I could erase last night with a magic zapper, I'd feel a bit better. What a fecking disaster.

Let's face it: some people are meant to drive and others are not. I abhor travelling of any kind, just have me "there" and nevermind the "getting there", please. PLEASE!

Yesterday, after running a slew of errands, the plan was for me to meet Dakotah's breeder (who was driving in from Ontario) at the Olympic Stadium in preparation for the weekend's dog show so she could see the furkids and we'd catch up and stuff - easy 'nuff, right? I mean I live just 10 minutes away! ETA was around 4pm so I figured that by 6pm I'd be home, Vegas and I could have a relaxing Friday night together just mellowing out and stuff.

Ha ha! Not!

Delay, delay, finally got the call at 6:15pm so I set out shortly after that. Instructions were to go to Parking B and then meet on the showfloor, sounds simple enough, right?

Only if the building in question isn't the Olympic Stadium.

I swear those fuckers built it to torture civilians.

Parking B wanted to charge me $12 on a cold, rainy and deserted night just so I could drop something off on the exhibits floor, I whined a bit and the lady gave me 30 minutes but NO MORE. Whew! I felt lucky :-D

Drove around in circles until I found a door leading out, crossed a long rainy pavement and entered... the wrong building. The security guard told me I was in the back end of the stadium and that I had to go around "that way" until I reached the front. Crap.

Do you know how fucking far that is when it's sleeting and blowing and you have two excited dogs in tow?

I finally get to the front of the place, which is the loading dock. Can't get in there either since I'm on foot, so the guy at the gate pointed me to another hall and said "go there and they'll let you in". I run some more, enter the hall and... it's deserted, everything's locked up and there is no one in sight.

All the while I have my friend on the cellphone and she has no idea where I am either, I'm sure I drove her mad with my screaming...

I run back to the loading dock booth and want to cry, at this point I can't feel my fingers and the dogs are looking at me like I'm nuts or something. Time is ticking, I need to move the car out of the parking lot, the attendant says "come back in your car and you can get in" - aaaaaaaa!

Off we go again (30 minutes of jogging in the rain at this point), I get in the car and of course the gas tank has been in deep orange for a while, so I need to find a gas station before stalling.

So typical.

Drive some more, fill up the car, then circle the stadium in vain trying to find the entrance to the magic loading dock - I have an address but it's pitch black outside and greasy rain is fogging up my windshield while the stench of wet dogs make me gag - I'm having the time of my life here :-D Errrr.

Oh! There it is, finally! I make the turn and almost ram into a metal gate, chained closed and padlocked.

They closed the fucking ramp.

Was it wrong of me to give up at that point?

A dinner of Honeycomb cereal can only take you so far on a cold rainy Friday night... I call my friend again and we arrange to meet at a Tim Horton's for coffee, she gives me the directions and I head off to wait for her there.

Only after driving and driving some more, no Tim Hortons - only endless dark residential streets. I figure she must have given me the wrong directions so I turn around and try another road. Another dead end there after 15 minutes, I pull over to call Vegas and was trying very hard not to bawl on the phone... it was past 8pm at that point and the dogs were still in the car, such patient creatures!

I loathe Montreal east. LOATHE it.

Call my friend again and she's at the Tim Horton's waiting for me, she gives me the cross-road and it turns out I had given up one block too soon.

Figures.

Finally make it, we have a hot chocolate and donuts, catch up with news and it was so lovely to see her again, I mean she lives 7 hours away so how could I miss this opportunity, you know?

After saying our goodbyes I figure I'm about 15 minutes from home, no so bad since it's 9:20pm. Only I didn't take into account all the fucking red lights (I caught them all) and not being able to turn left on the street I was supposed to... which led me to GETTING LOST with no map in the car and no GPS.

It took me 40 minutes to get home.

All in all, it was a shitty Friday night: poor doggies had no run and no dinner, I was stressed out of my gourd and wanted to punch something really, really bad. Vegas sat around all evening watching TV, playing xbox and eating. I wanted to kill him. Twice.

Sigh.

It was an extreme over-reaction that I can only explain by sheer mental and physical exhaustion and stress, either that or I am near a nervous breakdown so watch it, youse, watch it!

Needless to say, I scrapped all weekend plans that involved driving and socialising. It sucks because I really wanted to go to the dog show and I was supposed to attend a family dinner out east tonight :-( Right now my self-preservation instinct is all I'm holding onto.

If I wasn't working, it would be a whole other ballgame.

I am seriously wondering if I did the right thing, because right now the new job feels like a noose around my neck.

Fucking money. It kills people.

/end of Really Really Long Boring Post post/

Giving thanks

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when

our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
~Thornton Wilder

Like, love and parties!

I really really like my new colleagues - and that's saying alot after being stuck in a small stuffy hotel meeting room with them for two days straight! Bad catering, stale coffee and death by powerpoint would be enough to dampen most people's will to live but you know what? These guys still rock and I just know I'll have a blast working with them :-)

Oh and if that wasn't enough, tonight was the "adieu"-slash-christmas party of my now-defunct old company.

Was super happy to see the gang again... they're like family to me and everyone was thrilled to hear about my good fortune (awe!), I skipped the drinking cuz I need to be gentle to my recuperating tummy and we left early-ish but I still had a blast.

Oh and everyone got a really lovely branded stainless-steel watch... the very last item produced with the company logo. Sad to see the end of a era, it really is like losing a best friend. I know I know, I'm such a nerd! But if you had worked there you would know what I mean.

That watch will fetch a killing on eBay someday. Not MY watch, am never going to sell it, but others might. Crazy what some fanatics will pay for collectibles.

Vegas is chainsawing and shooting alien monsters on his xbox right now.

I will never understand the fascination.

Gore, guts, more gore and exploding brains. FFS!

OK the sweetheart did spoil me again tonight with a beautiful card and a little gift "just because"... I often wonder what I did to deserve him! Oh wait... I let him play hours of gory xbox on the TV and nevermind my cooking shows. It evens out :-D

Have any of you ever given a homeless person more than $5?

/end of Sorry For Rambling Your Heads Off post/

*waves once then disappears*

I'm alive!

Barely.

Hope I don't pass out from exhaustion in the hot shower.

What a day.

Hope to catch up with blogland soon... I miss you guys.

I choose to be a warrior :-)

"Whatever you are be a good one."
~Abraham Lincoln

Last day of freedom - sniff!

I really was geared towards taking the month of December off to get my act together, to rest, bake cookies, sleep, just enjoy life and the holidays. Hah. No such luck. I start my new job tomorrow and oh I'm so not ready for it... sniff.

Can't complain cuz it's a great place - same saddle different horse - and it's so very close to home... but still. Our dreams are on hold until spring or early summer so I have to bite the bullet, plow ahead and just focus on holding on just a bit longer in this stinking city.

Right now the snow is melting into thick slushy puddles, mixing in with the rain to torture pedestrians and drivers alike with cold muck. Nice, eh? LOL!

At least I get to see doggies and friends this weekend, it's Montreal's big annual dog show and I can't wait! Yey! Gonna get doggie supplies, do lots of research and gather information on potential partners, surrounding kennels, etc. Will also see Dakotah's breeder and meet a fellow facebook friend for the first time, gotta encourage her and her 4-legged racer in the flyball tournament on Sunday. I'm such a nerd.

Vegas is working from home today, laundry's in the dryer and the dogs are passed out cold. Domestic bliss, I tell you!

I need to run a few errands today and well, with my tummy still kicking me in the figurative nads, I'm glad to be taking it easy. I've decided to shun meat and spicy foods for a week and see if that helps any... am also taking probiotics and if nothing helps, then I don't know. Never had to deal with this stuff before and am terribly annoyed. Grrr. Weak system!

Hot damn I'm boring today. Soooo sorry... ah well maybe then you won't miss me so much the next few days, as I'll have no blogging access during work hours and will probably be dizzy-headed in the evening eh? I believe they call it "shellshocked"!

I'm so born to be a housewife.

PS: don't forget to go vote in the poll! I need dreamers!

/end of Work Stinks But It Brings In The Pennies post/

Where to begin?

For starters, it was a very lovely trip. Lots of driving in two days but well worth it - we even had snow for the doggies to play in this morning!

If only my stomach virus hadn't resurfaced again, rendering me like this guy:

Yep, that's about the gist of it. Blah.

I couldn't really enjoy all the incredible food my stepmom aka "Martha Stewart" made and that pissed me right off... plus feeling like utter crap while stuck in traffic is never brilliant. Oh well am home now and crossing fingers I don't have to go through another episode of head-in-the-toilet.

Starting my new job Wednesday morning and I need to be in top shape!

Will try to go catch up on all your blogs if Mr Nausea lets meh.

/end of Short post/

Share the love: Project inspiration

Wayfaring Wanderer has launched a new project that tickled my fancy...

The rules are very simple: "Create a blog post featuring a photographer that inspires you; In the post, offer a brief explanation as to why you chose that particular photographer" so here is my choice of photographer that gets my mojo going: Jim Robertson from Black Gull Graphics.

Why this particular photographer? Easy 'nuff:

The United Kingdom. Rugged coastlines. The sea. Shimmering, frothy waves. Vast expanses of jewel-like oceans, mirroring breath-taking sunsets. Expressive low tides captured forever in pinks, blues, and earthy sensual tones.

His photography grabs me by the soul and just won't let go... if that isn't proof of a great artist then I don't know what is. I hope you take the time to visit his site and who knows? You too may fall in love with the sea :-)

Invisi-techno

I read a supercool t-shirt slogan yesterday: "Heck is for people who don't believe in gosh." LOL! Vegas if you're looking for crimmas prezzie ideas, well there ya go :-D

No time to blog this weekend... we spent the afternoon at my brother's celebrating my nephew's 1st bday - small gathering, we were only 17 people, split into two tables for spaghetti, wine and chockit cake - yet somehow it sucked up all the hours and here we are, 7pm and no dinner ready yet. Ack!

I can picture it now, little nephew a gawky teenager bringing home his first girlfriend and the parents whipping out "the photos aunti techno took" of him eating fistfuls of chocolate cake, smeared from head to toe in frosting... it was his first taste of the stuff and boy did he ever like it! hehe. This is so gonna bite me in the ass someday.

Anyhoo. Tomorrow.

We leave bright and early to go spend two days at my dad's, crossing fingers it goes well... it's only 3 hours of driving but I haaaaate driving, plus my dad better behave... am a bit nervous about that but Vegas said he would be there to shield me from any unpleasantness, should anything happen. Awe. The doggies love it there so I think it should be ok.

Time for dinner & a movie now, I'll catch up with the blogging world by Tuesday. Just didn't want any of you to think I was being snobby or anything :-D

/end of Have A Great Weekend Everyone! post/

Breathe easy

"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."
~Moshe Dayan

Hurdles, humps, bumps in the road

Well, I got the job offer last night - yey! Except it's not what I was expecting so there will be some negotiating today... sigh. Why can't things just be easy from the get-go?

I seem to be hitting alot of walls lately and it's getting discouraging. Having to say "no thanks" to the first offer, pushing back, enduring the stress of back-and-forth negotiation, fighting for what should have been there in the first place. Again today, still trying to resolve an issue from my old job - wankers are giving me a hard time about something and I refuse to lay down and take it. Gaah. It gets old pretty quick.

I just want to move on and start a new life, you know?

Anyhoo. The sun is shining, it's bitterly cold in the wind (waaaay sub-freezing temps) and Vegas is working from home today so all is good.

The exterminator was here this morning so hopefully the mouse issue will be resolved shortly... and this afternoon I have to bring melonhead to the vet's for his annual thyroid testing to make sure his daily meds dosage is still on track. He loooves going there so much, I'll have to video the big knucklehead making a spectacle of himself - it's too ridiculous.

He'd sell his soul for a cookie :-)

** edited to add: check out his video! **

Taking it really easy today... no house cleaning (well... only a bit), we'll maybe go out for a bite tonight if I can't be arsed to cook. The next three days are full of travelling and social stuff so we don't mind keeping to ourselves for now. Yep, we love our cave! LOL

Oh and yey for the cheap gas these days!

/end of Friday Blabla post/

Nighttime

"In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar,

but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing.

It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time."
~Somerset Maugham

Little things = big brownie points

Girls, you'll understand what I mean... it's those sweet little gestures that your men do on a daily basis that make your hearts melt, right? OK maybe on a weekly basis, but still. The oil in the gears, the frosting on the cupcake, the gloss on the lips!

(Vegas you might want to skip this post as it's about you)

This week's tally includes:

• The way he squeezes the toothpaste tube juuust right, so the goods are always on top and nothing is messy
• When I am feeling icky and he goes out to fetch me a cold bottle of Perrier... even if he's in the middle of making us dinner
• He takes care of the doggies in the morning so I can get that extra bit of sleep, even if it puts a dent in his schedule
• When he comes home with a cute little present for me "just because"
• He knows how to work me out of a bad mood, fast. He just knooooows!
• No matter how fat and grotty I feel, he'll always say I'm beautiful... and then kiss me to prove it
• His laughter when we watch our favorite movies. I loves it.
• The way he lets me dream, and dream big - because we are a team and can do anything we want!

It's easy to count my blessings on a day like this, even if I'm a bit stressed with a few loose ends re: old job, still waiting on news re: new job. I know these are temporary things that will get resolved soon, no big deal.

** breathe **

/end of Still Trying To Relax, To No Avail post/

On destiny

"Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action;

actions form habits; habits decide character;

and character fixes our destiny."
~Tryon Edwards

And then there was Fate

Well. I won't bother you too much with details on the horrid sleepless night I had, interspersed with nauseating nightmares (even got Vegas queasy when I gave him the outline), suffice to say I'm not in the best of states today.

Still no appetite so no breakfast, forced down a fast-food lunch of loaded calories to punish my stomach but clearly I am not the boss in this situation...

ARSE!

Um. Well. I must be born with a horseshoe up my butt because despite feeling like shite and looking the part, I nailed that job interview this afternoon. Yep. They want me to start next Wednesday!

I tried to push to December 1st but oh well... it is how it is, I guess. Fate, destiny, lucky "right time, right place, right person" kinda thing. They're totally awesome, eh? I think I'll love it there :-)

Did I mention they are a five-minute walk from my place?

He he!

OK time to get the kids from the dogsitter's, then it's dinner for everyone, red wine and a movie for mom n'dad.

PS: thanks for all your encouraging good luck vibes, they WORKED!

/end of Wow, Talk About Fate! post/

Now I lay me down to sleep...

"Life is too short to sleep on low thread-count sheets."

~Leah Stussy

Melting hours!

It's mid-afternoon Tuesday, and I never saw the day go by.

OK so I got up at 10am after dozing on and off for two hours, but still. Why is time flying by so quickly? mutter

I ate way too much last night and spent most of the evening lamenting the fact while trying to breathe through cramped lungs... daaaamn you, chocolate cake! Sigh. I sinned and I paid for it, moving along...

Hey. I have a job interview tomorrow afternoon!

*w00t*

It's a very interesting fun company a mere 5 minutes walk from my place, so crossing fingers I have what they're looking for. This would help alot for when Vegas and I apply for a mortgage in February, keeping right on track with our plans to open a kennel by the summer. Oooo! So exciting.

Please send me all the mojo & good luck vibes that you can!! :-)

/end of Short Tuesday Must Clean The House now post/

The beast sleepeth

"Sometimes imagination pounces;
mostly it sleeps soundly in the corner, purring."
~Leslie Grimutter

This is... bizarre, yet refreshing

Well, here we are... my first Monday in years as an unemployed gal.

Wow.

Am too ambivalent about it to say whether I'm thrilled or throttled... hopefully the dust will settle in a bit and then I'll be able to see clear.

Yes, I slept in late this morning and it felt good... tended to the doggies like a good momma, ran a few errands and am now debating which housechore to attack - uggh.

Still no email nor phonecall about that potential job interview, it's not looking good IMO. Blah. Vegas tells me to give it a rest and that jobs will come (to tide us over until next spring when we get that kennel in the countryside up and running), but frankly I just don't know how to rest. It's against my DNA!

At least I have tonight's dinner all lined up, like a good wifey... making a baby spinach, fresh fennel and grape tomato salad, then a veggie rice pilaf served with leftover sweet baked squash. Dessert, of course, will be more of that devil's food cake... and let's not forget the wine!

Mmmmm caaake... so moist, so yummy...

I may be jobless but I'm certainly not a lazy housewife watching soaps all day! LOL

The laundry's calling, chat to youse later.

And beeehayve!

/end of Chatter Chatter post/

Pucker up

Is not a kiss the very autograph of love?
~Henry Finck

Belated scones

Remember the cheese scones I made the other night? Well, here they are... Admittedly they look like crap in the photo but trust me, in real life they were pretty rockin'... served hot with melted butter, perfect for dipping in creamy soup! :-D

Um, yeah... I just made another cake... it's cooling right now and the whole place smells like a warm chocolate hug. The icing will go on later and then we DIVE into warm fresh cake with a tall cold glass o'milk, how about that for a Sunday night?

Confession: dinner is spicy olive-oil roasted fingerling potatoes, fresh poached asparagus with lemon and creamy baked orange squash with butter and brown sugar.

Gotta fatten up for the long winter months ahead, no?

*grins*

Had an interesting time this afternoon - Vegas wanted to trade in some of his xbox games at the Future Shop downtown so off we went... Only when we got there, people were streaming out cuz of the fire alarm! LOL! Shivering employees in t-shirts huddling around the entrance, stamping their feet to keep warm while impatient customers said "fuck it" and just left...

We waited around a bit and finally made it in, got the goods and left in record time. Yep. Empty store, twas awesome.

No fire, just a false alarm of course.

Well, tomorrow is Monday and it's gonna be strange. I'm officially unemployed now.

I should feel more stressed about it but man, I'm just too tired... Looking around this place makes it worse - sooo cruddy, it will need hours of work to get it clean again [price to pay for months of laziness] and I know I'll feel all better when it's done. Logical! But... ugghh.

Laundry and ironing.
Washing the floors and carpet.
Bathing one of the dogs.
Complete kitchen cleaning, including fridge and stove.
Bathroom mega-clean.
Trip to the locker to drop stuff off.
Banking, phone calls, post office.

...and I really want to get some colour and a haircut!

*runs around flailing arms*

Notice the list didn't include a potential job interview or looking for work. Sigh. Melonhead accidentally nailed me on the chin with a back foot while I was grooming him this morning, so I have a nasty red crusty scratch to show the world now. Supercrap.

Kay, gotta finish the veggie dinner now.

/end of I Love Cake post/

Can't sleep, how annoying!

Gaaah!

I gave up after an hour of tossing and turning, so frustrating... I think I fell asleep OK around 11pm-ish, but woke up at 1am and that's it. Look at the damn time-stamp on this post, you'll see what I mean.

Had to take a muscle relaxant cuz the neck n'shoulders are acting up again, and as I cannot swallow pills I have to chew those mofos - fuck they taste terrible. To kill that, I munched on a chocolate bar and of course Vegas chose that moment to stumble out of the bedroom, all concerned, "what are you doing? why are you eating chocolate? why aren't you in bed?"

I love being loved :-)

Somebody please tell me Joan Collins is a freak. There is no way a 75 year old woman can look that starched without plastic surgery of sorts. NO WAY. Why all the damn denial? Google her yourself if you don't believe me!

*shakes fist at liars*

Watched "Best In Show" again tonight, my god did we ever laugh. Some movies never grow old, eh? Those Spinal Tap guys rock!

"That movies goes to eleven."

OK well, my brain's still on overdrive, my foot is tapping and these damn meds are not doing their job yet. Crap. I'm so grateful I have at least a week to sleep all I want!

/end of Sleepless In Montreal post/

Rainy Saturday...

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Closure

Well, that's it.

Eleven years of history tucked away in my bag of memories now, it's all done. Today was my last day at work and it's officially over, I said a final goodbye to my empty office, turned and walked away with a heavy heart.


Many, many people are devastated by the acquisition and an abundance of hot tears were shed this afternoon, as reported by Vegas... I was lucky enough to have left early to run an errand so I missed the waterworks, but being at the tail end of three long weeks of mourning and winding down, I was actually relieved to walk away.

And so begins a new era.

Am happy to have attended my friend's funeral tonight, all this after getting an email from my dad that his little companion, a rescued mutt named Kemo, had passed away on November 3rd.

They spent every day together the past 7 years, 24/7. They were inseperable. It took him this long to be able to write a word to anyone, the grief being too great and overwhelming... He never thought it would hurt this much. How could I have warned him?

And so ends an era.

I'm tired.

I hope to sleep for a week.

Crossing fingers that I have a job interview next week though, it's looking quite promising... Yeah, I need to work for a bit before we move out of the city in the spring - crunching numbers gave us a realistic goal of April and I'm already counting down the days.

Enough time spent dreaming, now we're making it a reality.

Wouldn't anyone do the same?

/end of Friday Night Heartaches post/

Not! Again!

The mice are back. Got another one in the trap, dunno what it was eating since the bait was over a month old, but still. EEEWW!

I've been promised that an exterminator would be called, this was Wednesday night and still no news so guess the landlord will have to be phoned again - crap! crap! crap! Kept the little grey bugger in the dog freezer (I tossed his friends out a couple weeks ago, damn), I am so grossed out now it's not even funny.

*pause for breath*

Still at work today, it looks like Monday will be the last day - finally. What a slow excruciating death... And speaking of death, this evening I have to attend my friend's funeral so please excuse my sombre mood.

Sigh. Rain predicted all weekend, too.

On the bright side, my cheese scones rocked last night - served hot with melted butter, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside (cuz of the cheese), I took a photo for you droolers out there and will post it tonight.

If you can wait that long :-D

Oh and check out today's Dog Blog (link on right-hand column, top). It's worth it if you need a giggle... and that ends today's contribution to the innernets, the mojo's taking a break.

/end of Happy Friday, Everyone! post/

Tap this!

"I really don't think I need buns of steel.

I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon."
~Ellen DeGeneres

I would sooo enjoy getting fat

Not being fat, just getting there.

I know you know what I mean.

I blame Vegas. Damn brit and his book collection, one of which was Nigel Slater's Toast. If you don't know the man, he's a famous chef in the UK, writes alot of kickass cookbooks and whatnot. Very yummy.

Anyways.

Toast is an autobiography of sorts where he goes through his childhood foods, a play by play of what he ate throughout the years and trust me, it includes alot of sweets. Ohhh dear lord, the sweets.

Only I didn't understand half of it due to cultural differences.

"Hunny, what's a treacle tart?"
"Hunny, what's mashed swede?"
"Hunny, what are Hobnobs?"
"Hunny, what's trifle?"

...and so on.

Yes Vegas is a very patient man :-)

For his efforts though, on my way home from work yesterday I stopped by a shop specialising in European food imports and found not one, but two kinds of biscuits mentioned in the book! OK I was dying to try them but I was sure the man would also be thrilled. He didn't disappoint!

I got Ginger Nuts and Hobnobs.

Reeeeeeeerrrrr!

After I'd stuffed my face with about five Ginger Nuts and two Hobnobs (this is pas 11pm at night, you know), Vegas giggles and metions that "possibly, Hobnobs are the most calorie-dense biscuit in the UK. Don't look on the package. Don't do it!"

So of course I looked.

Holy mother of jeebus. 190 calories and 9 grams of fat for two little cookies! BASTIDS! So not fair!

Best. Cookies. Ever.

*cries*

So yes, I have been enjoying getting fat the past week but now I have to say goodbye to those fries, burgers, danishes and mountains of bread. Vodka rosé sauce and tortellinis. Dim sums, cheese and ham calzones with meat sauce. Buttermilk biscuits. Chocolates, oh the chocolates. No wonder there's been hardly any room for fruits and veggies in my diet.

I am the michelin man in the making. My freaking thighs are close to rubbing together, how awful is that?

Been eating my emotions and this needs to stop! Normally my appetite disappears when I get stressed out, so am not sure wtf is happening here. Oh add the fact that I abhor any kind of exercise and well, there you go. Gaaaaah!

I seriously need help.

/end of Damn You, England! post/

Just wanted to say THANK YOU to Toughgirl101 for this lovely blog award...


It totally made my day!

I shall pass it along to a few special peeps, remember to pay it forwards!

Katie
Chica
Lady Banana
Daring
Frank

I think I gave awards to most everyone else before (Prin your blog is private so can't really direct people to it, they'll hate meh! LOL! But of course you get the award too).

Heck. Please, everyone: just take it! :-)

Diary of a BAD DOG

Sorry folks, I got nuthin today.

But the Dog Diaries (click link on top right colum) were updated, at least somebody had something to day. *shakes fist at melonhead*

Chat later...

*crawls back in cave*

Too blah to blog

My mojo's gone, sucked dry by days on end of pounding headaches, neck and shoulder muscle spasms, sleepless nights and a general sense of loss and mourning.

My last day at work is Thursday, my friend's funeral is Friday night, and after that I hope to sleep for a week to find myself again.

I'm scared shitless of the future.

I need a haircut

I want to have this hair again instead of the dry bale of hay on my head:

Why is my hairdresser pregnant? Sigh.

I also want some colour back, I look like a ghost with dark circles under her small red eyes (f*cking 5th day of pounding headache due to ugly knots in base of neck, grr).

I can't wait to get out of this polluted cramped city, where parking at night equals 15 minutes of fruitless circling around your neighborhood blocks so that the next morning, you're forced to drive to work to avoid a parking ticket and then there is still no parking anywhere so you pay $10 for a space in the day lot- mutter.

Does my mood show?

~insert moment of distraction, aka maths ~

5 days of headache
4 pieces of cake
2 degrees above freezing
27 eye drops
1 best man in the world
2 best doggies in the world
79 hugs and kisses
13 Advils
_____________
= 133 "good times"

We're all balanced out, then. Goody. Time to pretend to get back to work, answer some emails and avoid phonecalls that don't matter one bit anymore. I need a coffee IV.

/end of Blabbidy Bla post/