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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Camera ~~~~ *cry* 

I wish I had a camera!!! I carved a cool cauldron into my pumpkin and with incence in it... you can see the "cauldron" smoking! It is SOOO cool!!!

One of Those Days... 

Ever have one of thise day? You know... one of THOSE days... The kind of day where al you want to do is scream. SCREAM! The kind where EVERYTHING annoys you and EVERYTHING is overwhellming. The kind where you just want to hibernate for 3 months and tell everyone and everything to just F*off and leave me alone. You know... one of THOSE days....

Well that is the day I am having.

I couldn't even find indulgent nummies at the grocery store without getting frustrated... with myself... cause I can't make up my bloody mind.

The morning started a bit off and hectic. I had gotten to bed late. I had the most rotten evening with my paper proposal. I am not in class because I am so out of sorts. The day at work apparently went ok. Even the class was happy with whatever I did. I had two classes in from Dawson (Susan Palmer's classes) One yesterday and one today, both at 11:30am. I had no prep, not that I even remotely know what was expected of me. I winged it and gave the a condensed crash course in Wicca/Paganism 101. Then I toured them around the store and answered their questions. I very very briefly showed off the corsett at work. No, no one got a picture. if you really want to see, here is a pic of me in it at my house warming/birthday party.

Now I am home and ate some pilsbury croissants... they are comfort food. It is 3pm. I am so tired. *sigh* And M-SB will be out of the house at a poker game most/all night. It just isn't my thing. I will go carve a funky smaking cauldron into my second pumpkin. Then bug Ash to come help set up for kiddies. I wonder if there will be many/any. None go around at my parents' place. They all go to parties instead. I hope some kids come. Then I will do a short meditation memorial for my grandfather.

Then... I will try to make some sense of the paper proposal without screaming or slitting wrists.

Monday, October 30, 2006

stuff & stuff & stuff 

Sunday I was up for breakfast with the neighbors. Mmmmm.... Great food and great company. After some personal time and writing fanfic, I carved the pumkin I had. It is a black cat with its back arched and its tail puffed. Thanks Autumn and Ash for saying it looked good. I was beginning to hate it. I hate the slimyness of pumkin guts. And it never carves as well as the picture in my head. I roasted some pumkin seeds and shared them. The bunch I raosted for Autumn just had salt on them. The bunch I raosted for me were shake'n'baked in the spice mix that Alison gave me. Mmmmmmm.... And it is so easy.

RAOSTING PUMKIN SEEDS
1- let seeds dry (I skipped this part, it works better if you don't)
2- wash and lightly towel dry them
3- mix them with salt or whatever spice mix you like (BBQ or whatever)
4- spead in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet
5- bake at 300F for 10 minutes
6- stir them and flip some over as best as possible
7- continue baking for another 5 minutes.
8- let cook
9- ENJOY!

Before leaving Ash told us something furry was stuck in our tailpipe. FURRY!? Before we headed out for the afternoon, M-SB pried as much as he could out. It was white cut nylon cording. There are times I hate LaSalle. This is one of them. This is not uncommon behavior for the area. Who knows how long it was in my tailpipe. I don't do lots of far or fast driving, so I would not notice any great changes in my car's behavior. But I am sure the garage would have said something about it when I had my tires done. But then, maybe they just didn't notice. Well, most of it is out now.

We header out to move WW to his new appartment. Well, M-SB helped him move. I figured we would be in their way (I am not good to move with). So I brought up Take The Lead for Aurora and I to watch while the guys moved. They were done just before the movie was over. At least done moving a bunch of stuff. The turtle tank would take more time to find a good spot in the new place and then dismantle it and move it. Another day.

At home again, we had subs from LaSalle Drive In. memories from the past. I spent alot of my childhood and teen years here. LaSalle Drine In was where you ordered pizza and subs from. They were classic. They still are. I ate my entire 10-inch sub!

After I stared at my paper proposal thingy. My teacher STILL had NOT sent me feedback. I shuffled the outline a smidgeon, cleaned up the formatting of the text, and then put it away in frustration. I will finish it up tonight.

Today I have to work. I have no idea what to wear. I want to dress up. People are coming to the store for interviews and stuff. Well, I have to go get ready.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

OMGs! 

Ok... must add to my wishlist. A movie that ties in teaching to help the difficult kids with something totally creative like damcing... oh and Antonio Banderes... "Take the Lead". MUST MUST MUST OWN!!!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Love and Hugs 

Aurora lost a dear kitty friend today. My love and support go out to her and may his passing to the other side be quick. His love for her will always be present.

HUGS.

WHHHRRRRRRRLLLL 

The day whirled by so fast i barely noticed it. I came in the store feeling grouchy and out of sorts. But that settled down once I ate something and got some hugs. The day was busy with sorting the books on the shelves and restocking mania.

In the afternoon, I got a phone call. And thus begins the onslaught of media for Halloween staor attention. Global Television will be in tomorrow (today?... Thursday) at noon to interview the manager (me) for magic and running a store or something vague like that. Global is usually very good and respectful I have done several things in the past with them. Then CBC Radio called trying to get an radio interview live set up for Saturday. TRhey were very puchy and I was not prtepared to commit anything. I shunted that onto the MPRC. IKES! What do I wear for tomorrow? I will be on TV... IKES!

The evening was quiet. I got my laptop up and running and wrote some fanfic while the CMS class was going on. That was fun and the time FLEW by!

Then home to start laundryand waste time on the computer.

Evil coven groupmind!!! I was craving for a few days something pastry-like, no... cake-like... but fluffies and smaller and sweet.... I came home with halloween cupcakes and devoured 5 of them. Been wired all night since. Too much sugar running through my system!!!

I managed to sort out some CUPS Yule Fair stuff. But now it is late/early. CRAP! The laundry!!!
GRRRRR...... I wanted this done yesterday.... like Tuesday yesterday. I will go down and toss the stuff into the dryer. Then... off to bed. The sugar has worn off.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

decent 

Yesterday was decent. I am still mildly congetsed and copughing some because of it. The humidifier is now in my room and I can sleep again at night with it. Yesterday I got some tidying done and my paper printed. I wrote some more on my fanfic before class and then dashed off. Class was good. One of the students did her article presentation. She did really well. Ikes! She just raised the bar for the rest of us! I do mine in 2 weeks. My teacher has yet to give me feedback on my draft paper proposal. But I did suddenly discover how to narrow it and use a section as proofs in another section to keep it more concise.

When I got home, M-SB was hungry and cranky. So we went out to get some food. I have yogurt again. I have been craving some all weekend. After dinner, I wrote more fanfic. I am liking my story so far. And apparently so are others. I am hoping to write a chapter each day. Hopefully I will finish it before November 3rd or 4th when the next episode of Avatar airs. That episode could undo my storyline. So... I have a deadline.

Maybe... maybe I will compile it and edit it and see if I can get anyone to do some graphics of key scenes. Then I will print it and have my own little book. heh... That sounds kinda silly. Not like anyone would actually care but me. The online crowd is enjoying it as it is.

Anyways... I am off for a LONG day. I will try to bring my laptop with me and see if I can connect to the internet after work while I wait for the class to be over.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

uhhh... ya... still up... 

This is the downside to resting all day. You can't sleep at night. Dinner was a different perch recipe from the same website. It was not too bad. I think I like Ocean Perch. We watched Full Metal Alchemist the movie. It was really good! So now... I have concluded that I want to own the DVD set so I can watch them over again. We don't keep things like this on the computer after downlaoding and watching them. They just take up too much memory space.

Well since i could not sleep...

I did my Taoism paper and sent the draft to my teacher for review.

And I engrossed myself in the Avatar Portal Forums. I was even coaxed into writing. It was FUN! I started a fan fic about Zuko. It is called "Never Forget Who You Are..." and is posted in the fanfic section of the forum.

Now I am tired and off to bed.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Day of Rest 

That is what I had. Like last Thursday, I spent much of this day just resting. I woke around 10 and dallied on evil ebay for a while and then made lunch from some leftovers. I cleaned up chaos that Tsuki reigned all over the house with papers and stuffs that he managed to dig out of gods know where. I washed dishes and then crashed again. Up for some more web browsing in hopes of another avatar episode. No luck. Maybe next week. Then crashed and rested again. Now I am up cuz I just can't stand to lay down sick anymore.

I am going to do some office tidying and more kitchen cleaning. Then I will start a new dish for supper. Ocean Perch. I hope it turns out of.

Afterwards, I will write up my Taoism paper and email it off for review.

Then, I think we will watch the Full Metal Alchemist movie.

It has been a grey and dreary day. Rest is kinda the only thing I could do as I had no motivation to do anything. Hopefully it has done me some good and I will be less sick. This is crazy.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Yule wishes 

So today's coven meeting was awesome and so productive and full of great debate abd discussion. In the end... I want cross-country skis.

Yes... thus begins the Yule Wishlist (it is important to put some "impossible" things on it as you never know when the impossible will happen... i wished for a car one year and guess what my parents did... they helped me finance one!)

- cross-country skis
- Honda Ruckus Scooter or a Honda Elite scooter
- kitchen curtains
- the 40cm billy oak and the oak benno from Ikea to finish the livingroom
- heavy duty front loader washer & dryer and bottom storages (x2 one for each machine)
- kitchen aid standard mixer red
- Obiwan's lightsaber (not the cheapo one... the $100+ one)
- school fees (as I am no longer on bursaries for school)
- stand-up eisel for painting
- internal CDR/DVR drive (so i can read and write CDs AND DVDs)
- MP3 player
- Dragon Ritual Drummers CD set
- Holy Clothing stuff you think might look good on me (i fit shirts and dresses M and skirts L)
- new FujiFilm Finepix digital camera
- anything off my Amazon or Think Geek wishlists
- gift certificates to Ikea
- gift certifiactes to HMV
- movie passes (SO WANT WANT WANT otherwise we never go out to movie theatres)

So much for the Goodness 

I did not sleep last night. I was too hot. I was too cold. I was congested and choking. I was coughing. I was thirsty. The cats were making noise or trouble. I finally fell asleep at 7am. The alarm went off at 7:30am. I moved it to 8:30am. M-SB got up for breakfast as we were hosting it. He forced me up at 9am. I was barely functional. I was cranky. I am still tired and cranky and barely functional. I am going to try to take a short nap before cleaning the house and having coven.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Goodness 

Finally some goodness to this week. Even if it is very very small goodness. Goodness is goodness and I will accept it where ever. My sickness is fading. That is goodness. Today I slept in a bit. My mom loved my bad poetry.

After waking and whatnot, M-SB and I headed out to get baby clothes for his cousin's first birthday. Emily is such a CUTE little girl! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY EMILY!

I love M-SB's family gatherings. They are so traditional and full of love. Everyone gets together all through all the extended families. There is never a sharp mean word, not even as a pseudo-joke. My family gatherings are so small and tense. And rarely will my whole family actually be in the same room. I used to dream that one day they would. I am slowly coming to accept that that will never happen. I will have to find joy through being part of another family. I am so glad to be part of M-SB's family.

Her party was wonderful. And in the end there were bets on M-SB. His sister is getting him a combo b-day/Yule gift of an exercise bike. He plans of losing weight and the "gut" and thus being "flat-bellied" by Yule. Thus the bets. $20 he doesn't make it. Two months is not quite enough time. I think he can do it, but realistically... I don't think it can happen till Imbolc. Well... we shall see, won't we?

We bought a bright coloured carpet for the front door. It makes for a cheery welcome before you enter our home. And thanks to Autumn who found us the shoe rack we were looking for, it is all nice and tidy there! Tsuki got a couple new toys too. Hehe... he is so easy to please. He has the end of a paper bag and an empty toilet paper roll. He has learned "up" as a beg command and sorta has "sit" before receiving any treats.

We closed this day with watching Escaflowne, the movie. The art was wonderful, much better than the long series. But the condensed story... SUCKED! Oh well. I wait with bated breath for the Full Metal Alchemist movie to finish downloading, for Battlestar Galactical season 3's newest episode to download, and for hte next episode of Avatar to become available.

Tomorrow's plans are simple. We are making traditional breakfast for the housholds. Then run some errands (get the exercise bike). Then clean house... GODS I miss having Alison over. The tightened budget meant I had to ask her not to come for a bit. I hope to restart that in November. And then we will have out coven meeting. Our coven and the other BFC coven(s) in Montreal are going to have a table with crafts at the CUPS Yule Fair this year. We need to decide what we will have on that table. What on earth am I going to make? M-SB is going to try to have some chainmail things. WOOHOO! And I think there will be incense by one of our other coveners, and maybe bath salts... but we have lots to plan.

Monday I need to arrange to get some software and then set up a website for out coven(s). Damn... I also have to get that paper done. I have it almost all worked out in my head now. I will send a tentative outline to my teacher for comments. I think I will do that tomorrow after coven. That way he can get feedback to me by Tuesday and i can work on refining it before it is due on the 31st.

If anyone has invites me/us to Halloween parties. Her is my official apology. I am sorry, I cannot go. I have a paper to work on. As I am going to be working on my usual homework days, I need that weekend for homework instead. Then in November, I will not exist to most of the world of social events as I work my ass off for various projects due between November 28th and December 2nd. I toyed with NANO this year again... but am not really ready to make that commitmentment. I just cannot add to my plate at the moment. There is enough there already. Maybe next year.

All in all... this has been a good day.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Friday 

Well... all kinds of things have happened around me. A couple friends broke up. And another couple of freinds got laid off of work. The chaos at the school yesterday scaring my mom some....

So many things.

One good change, I am actually starting to feel more well than sick.

Today I wore my lovely new skirt. But the rain and slush and then even snow didn't make that experience very exciting. I think i will wear it again with my corsette on haloween.

I come home and made ground cherry jam with some apple chunks as my plums were not good. Next time I will use apple sauce. But otherwise, it was a remarkable success. I love this new cold jam preperation method!

Now off to have some chili and alcohol ro celebrate the wake for the lost jobs downstairs.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Gifted? 

Today someone asked me if I had any special gifts. Do I? What kind of gifts are we referring to? Can ordinary gifts be extraordinary too? Do I have enything I can consider as a specialty that is unique me?

So I thought and I thought. What am I good at? What do I always come back to? Teaching. I am good at learning information and putting it into a format by which others can learn it and then passing it on. But this isn't really a "gift" is it? It is just an ordinary skill. That brings me back to an earlier discussion I had with my specialty students about whether teaching was an art or a science. Then I thought more. And I looked at the wonderful plaque that the community gave to me for all my hard work (and yes, I still cry when I see it). I am good at sticking to what I believe and standing up for what I feel is right and sticking it out when everyone else gives up. I am still standing here to help others up. But is that a gift? Or is that just stubborn determination? So after some more thought, I fell back onto teaching. Why?

My mother is a GIFTED teacher. I hope to be like her in that... one day.

So here is a little tribute to her:

Standing there in green in gold glows
I see your aura
You stand in light and strongly rooted to the ground
You are an anchor
a tree
a golden glowing apple of knowledge
Your wisdom flows out
your heart flows out
it touches everyone
and they learn
Even the most difficult child
even the most unruly class
are brought to quiet respect
in awe of the light
holding onto the hope and love you bring
with the knowledge that you share
your words and lessons
they touch each and every one of them
and they learn
I hope to be as good a teacher
I hope to glow as you do
I hope that my students are likewise touched
most of all
I am grateful to have such an incredible teacher as my mother
you have no idea how much I have learned from you
You are a gift to the students
you are a gift to me
a gift I hope to absorb and pass on as you have
blessed be

Cloaking Shield? 

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=0a7c8c67-c2d2-4668-bf07-72a77a1a37bd&k=48954

This is news today! Scientists made the first invisible shield, imperfect... but there... by bending microwaves.

Resting... 

I spent most of the day in bed resting and sleeping. I bet I won't be able to sleep tonight.

However, I am REALLY glad I did not go to help my mom at school today. There were psycho moments. The kids are all half panicked and dramatic about various school violence and shootings that they have read or heard about in schools around Montreal. Today they were completely hyped and in the class my mom was subbing in. there are at least 5 children that can snap into psychotic in a moment with the right trigger. And that is extactly what happened. One snapped. A pair of scissors flew through the air and hit another child in the head. The hysteria was massive. The kid who threw the scissors had to be driven home because a mob of parents were at the school doors threatening to kill him. It was rediculous! REDICULOUS! And DANGEROUS! STUPID! The kid that was hit with the scissors was fine... just a small bonk. The scare made the situation out of control though. I am glad my mom is ok. She was scared. Psychotic grade 6 kids are big and dangerous kids, not like little grade 3 kids you can pick up. These ones can pick you up and smash you to bits.

If you have school aged kids... I strong STRONGLY recommend you enrol them into a private school or homeschool them.

In the public system, the minister of education thinks it was a good idea to integrate serious case spoecial needs kids into regular classes and fire most of the specialists who know how to handle them.

Ok... before I rant more and make myself sick indoing all the resting I did today, I am going to stop and tidy house and bit to start supper.

decisions 

I have decided to just stay home all day. I am going to try that thing called "rest".

more changes... ugh 

Well, the cold I have changed again. I am not coughing, which is good. But now I am sore throat and congested with aches and fever and mild headache... and blocked ears. I slept. Slept till 2am, then till 3am, then till 9am, then till 11am. But it was restful sleep.

My mom wanted me to come out to help her teach today and then to be at her house for some serious pampering. It was very tempting. But I just want to not go anywhere. I just want to rest. Novel thing, eh... me... wanting to rest. I opened the windows to air out the house. And I want to clean things up because... ugh... the house is a disaster. So much for that rest.

I think I will go see a doc today before my MPRC volunteer shift. I will take my homework with me. First thing is first... lazily and liesurely, I need to tidy things here a bit and have something to eat. I bought some chicken soup and orange juice. And a can of Boost. The boost will be first. It is full of vitamins which I am sure I am currently lacking with the terrible eating habits i have had during this illness.

Lately, I have been noticing that I am clenching my teeth alot. Now my jaw and teeth are aching.

Maybe I will see the doc and skip the volunteering and go to my Mom's for some pampering.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Change... ugh... 

Oh how quickly things can change. The doc who initially looked at me Monday... was actually a nurse. She did not see anything wrong that some rest would not solve. And to tell the truth, Monday I was seriously feeling really much better. Then Tuesday happened. Well most of Tuesday was ok. I slept ZERO all night but slept well for 5 solid hours in the morning before class. Class went great and I came home to a burger and Full Metal Alchemist. By 11pm... everything went downhill. The fever escalated with the sore throat and the nausea. The toilet was my best friend till 4:30am.

So now what? I came to work. Tomorrow I will go for a proper checkup to see if i have some sort of throat infection or something. It doesn't feel like flu, nor a throat infection, just a bad coughing cold with occasional brutal fevers... that just... won't... go... away! *sigh* I have been exhausted all day at work, coughing, fever, mild nausea... but am feeling currently a bit better.

Stupid sick thing.... yes... techical term a la Scarlet... my cold changes hourly. It is very annoying.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Wasted effort 

I got to sleep in. It was wonderful. I felt considerably better. The cough is still here. Ugh. I took a LONG HOT shower and headed out to the doctor before everyone had fits at me.

That was the biggest waste of effort and time I have done lately. I sat around for over an hour and was seen to be told: "Oh you have that bad cold and cough. Everyone is getting it. Just get some rest, have lots of fluids and out a humidifier in your bedroom. Take cough medicine and it will clear up on its own. Your lungs sound clear. You cough is bad because you have had chronic bronchitis and athsma but the cough is not bronchitis. Now, go home and REST."

Rest... ya... that... I had some this morning and that did wonders for me. But I don't get that luxury very often.

I picked up kitten food on the way home and stuff to make enchiladas for supper. Then took my nice $50 boots back to wallmart for a refund. I need the money and they gave my ankle the worst bruise. So, no biggy.

I miss not having Alison over today. I asked her not to come for both reasons of money and i was not sure when I would have been home to let her in. But I am so regretting it. I missed her. Now there is lots to do in the house that I feel NEEDS doing that will piss me off and distract me from my homework.

Guess I will go clean the kitchen and start supper. I will work on my paper while supper cooks. Tomorrow is paper writing mania... then class.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

burnt 

I feel exhausted. I slept so-so and was awake at 6am. I managed to snooze again till 8am when I wondered if we were doing breakfast with the neighbors. Then turn off the alarm and passed out. I woke at 9am-ish when HRH knocked on the door to ask if we wanted waffles or pancakes. I was barely conscious to answer. I managed to wake some by watching some Avatar fan vids. Waffles were amazing. Coughing after was not.

I went upstairs, took some tylonol and passed out again.

I got up in time to sweep the house a bit before a ritual. The ritual went really well. Congrats.

The coughing started again while we were just chilling. Coughing is exhausting. I will see a doc when I wake up tomorrow. After shuffling the finances, I discovered just how broke I am. I will have to shuffle more... because I won't be able to buy any meds otherwise. *sigh* Mom will have to wait longer. Sorry Mom. I do want to pay you for the car. And you will just have to accept that I love you as your birthday gift for now. I am too bloody sick to do more. Summoning the energy for the ritual... might have been as bad an idea as working 2 solid days in a row or driving stressed for 3+ hours.

We reheated some Chinese food and watched Full Metal Alchemist for a while. It was peaceful.

M-SB wanted a break from FMA, so I am here blogging.

I have also been looking at some of the articles for my paper for Tuesday. I have some ideas. I just think that may paper is not narrow enough of a topic even though my teacher thinks it is. Maybe I am being hard on myself. Maybe not. As I read for my subject, I am seeing how much I do not know about it and how many different options I could take. I also don't want to just rehash the work of someone else nor do I want to recreate the wheel. How do I make it my own take? How do I take so much information, so much reseacrh that could take me years to read, so much info that is not even translated, and so much that I "understand" of the Tao and have no words for and write something on it is such a short time? Tuesday's paper is a prelude for the actual paper due November 28th. It needs to be a solid thesis (however do I write one?) with a thorough outline, methodology, bibliography and purpose. The final paper has to be about 30 pages... the size and depth of my undergrad thesis. Being sick and trying to work is killing me. It is also making it VERY hard to get this done. But if I don't work, I will starve. It is times like these I question the worth of my studies. Is it worth all this stress and hard work? What will it really get me in the end? Will I be any better off? Why am I bothering? Do I still care about what I am doing? Does anyone else?

*depressed*
I am going to go lie down....

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Frustrated 

I slept badly for no reason.

But I did get out to Con*cept and it was a good day. I saw some folks i haven't seen in ages. I chipped in for a b-day gift for someone whose birthday I am missing tonite because I feel like crap. And I commissioned... OMG's I can't believe I did... I commissioned the cover art for the novel I have been quietly working on. I am sure Karine will do a wonderful job. Seeing the tiny sketch she did was seeing my characters coming to life and it was AMAZING! She needs more details. I need to look back at the story. I have not looked at it for some time.

My camera is officially DEAD! My batteries blewup battery acid incide my camera. I tried to clean it and put in new batteries. Nope. DEAD. *GRRRR*

By the end of the day, I was coughing again... despite meds. Yes yes yes, I am going to a doctor. Monday. First thing. I promise. Watch me be suddenly all better by then.

Now I am home and M-SB ordered in Chinese food. I am already in jammies. I feel like crap from working 11hrs yesterday and then another um... (8:30am - 7pm)... and coughing and coughing and coughing. We will watch Full Metal Alchemist. If we have Battlestar Galactica season 3 episodes downloaded, then I will make M-SB watch it with me because people keep talking about it around me and I am tired of spoilers. It is moments like this I wish I had cable and TV. *sigh*

I do have a little idea of my paper for Tuesday, so I should be able to put something together Monday. Gadz! I am so behind in readings for that class.

*cough cough*
*sigh*

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Fixed... sorta... 

So today I locked Tsuki into Kitty Jail for a few hours this morning and the rest of the cats out of the bedroom. I managed 2 solid hours of sleep! I feel considerably better for it. I had some energy and so I tidied the house a bit, started laundry and washed dishes. Then I called mom and let her know I would not be able to help her sub. I feel a bit like a shit now because I forgot that today was also her birthday! I will call her in a bit and wish her a happy birthday. I want to get her something fun for her birthday and just thought of what. I can't say here... because SOMETIMES she actually read this blog.

I got the articel from the Gazette that they did on my home. YAY!! Thanks for those who held copies for me. It turned out ok! YAY!

So I took the car in to get fixed today. After depositing my paycheck and some student fees, I actually had enough to get all 4 tires. So that is what I did. And the tires were cheaper than I thought because I had the estimate for the wrong sized tires. So $422 later and I have new winter tires. They let me know that there are other really important things that need to be done on the car. The is a rod thingy and a thingy attached to that to my steering wheel that needs to be replaced before they can do a wheel allignment. That is next top priority. They say to not let that go for more than a week or 2. It will cost me $240. Then there are the breaks that need replacing. That is another $240, but that can wait till next month, ideally before the snow though. Then there is another thingy that needs fixing for $100 but that can wait a bit longer. My "check engine" light is on. They said it will cost $60 to find out why and then who knows what to fix. And I have my headlights to fix and some paint and rust to fix. *sigh* A little at a time. By the time I was done, There was no point to go in to my volunteer shift at the MPRC. next week. While I waited, I managed to read through an entire article I needed to read for my paper due on Tuesday. It was REALLY INTERESTING!!! Women & Daoism....

So i picked up M-SB from work and did a mini grocery stop for hamburger pickles.

Now we are home and I had a bizarre phone call. Bell called to apologize for not sending me a bill since I moved and that it will arrive soon with adjustments for this error. FINALLY! I had no idea what I owed them and was just sending them a little chunk of money each month, hoping.

Now that the litter is cleaned and the laundry shifted, and dinner almost ready... We get to watch something while we eat. That 51 episodes of some kind of anime is Full Metal Alchemist. I was uncertain if I would like it. But I do!

OH! And for those who want to know where I am getting my Avatar fixes from:

Avatar Portal
http://www.theavatarportal.com/episodes.html

Enjoy!! I can't WAIT till the next episode is there!!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Will it never end? 

The cats kept me up till about 2:30am. I slept for 30min and was wide awake for no reason. I managed another 30min around 8am before I had to get up for work. And in mu rush to get to the bus (since i can't take the car), I forgot the daytime Tylonol Cold meds. I have been coughing all bloody day. *pout*

My Daoism books came in the mail. And I got a comic from Astro. Oh... and folks saved me the Saturday article. It turned out ok! *relieved* I am surprised my mom did not call me about it.

The status of CMS is odd. Only 2 students showed up for the Wednesday class. One dropped to a distance student as he cannot make it in. Another dropped the class entirely due to his own finances and will try again next term. The rest are AWOL. I hope the Friday class goes better. We will have to contact the students and find out what is up.

As a result, I will only to the two front tires on the car and live with the old ones on the back. There are just too many other things that need to be paid.

This week and weekend are CRAZY!!! I have no idea where I am going to manage to write my paper for Tuesday's class. Tomorrow go to get the new tires (and do a session at Curves to kill time). Then rush out to help sub with my mom and give her a birthday present. Then rush back to do my volunteer shift at the MPRC where I will be reading for said paper. Friday I am working the 11-hr shift at the store. Saturday I am working for the store at a convension (Con*cept). Sunday I have coven. Monday... I read and write the damned paper. I really need more time for this. I feel very F****ed!

And I am still sick. Coughing... hot... sore... congested... I am so busy I won't even be able to go to a doctor till Monday... and I am sure I will be no longer ill enough to bother by then. Mind you... if I am still this sick by then, I will DEFINATELY need to see one. I am so tired. I wish I did not have to stay to lock up after the CMS class. I am blogging because I cannot really focus on anything, and thus am amazed if there is any coherence in this entry. I am also dreading bussing home. The bus always makes me nauseous.

**ONE HOUR LATER**
I wish there was somewhere confortable to sit and read. Then maybe I could do some Taoism readings.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Update 

Still sick. Tylonol sinus/cold/cough is my new best friend. I did some fridge cleanup and took out the garbage, but was too late to take out the recycle. Grrrr. After a little cereal around 2:30pm, I felt a bit better and decided to tackle other things for the day.

The apology was accepted from both Autumn and my mom, though my mom layered it heavily with guilt and the warning that now I owe her $750 for this month and yet another $500 for November and I had best get myself sorted out. *sigh*

I decided to stay home from school. This being sick is very FRUSTRATING!!!!!

Curves got paid. I still have $150 to pay to my old Hydro. They are getting grumpy about it. I sent them $50 to hold them for a bit. I stopped over at Candaian Tire. They have my good Nordic tires on special. But for my car it will cost around $500 for all 4 tires. As I did not have that, I scheduled to go over for Thursday to give a chance to have student payments in. Worse comes to worse, I will get 2 for the front and live on the old ones on the rear for another year. I then stopped into Walmart hoping to find some basic workout clothes (sweats) and some fall shoes, something dressy. I found the sweats. They were $10 for the pants and $10 for the shirt. Unfortunately they did not have my size in anything but... *shudders* pink. So I did not get any.I did however find TWO nice fall shoes. Some dressy black healed shoes for $15 and dressy practical high-top shoe-like dark reddish brown boots for $50. So that went well. Also got the needed cat litter. Off at Loblaws I got milk and burgers and $3.99 pizzas. I was going to get frozen lunches from Walmart as they are only $1.25 whereas everywhere esle they are $1.89 or more. But then I remembered I made some frozen meals. So I didn't bother.

Every muscle aches. I don't know whether that is from the tense stress of locked muscles for 4 hours driving on the spare to get home from Ontario or from the all night of coughing. It is probably both.

M-SB will be home soon. He is going to make mozza ball soup and sausages. I am going to wash dishes till he gets home. Then read one of my readings. When he gets in and, gets the litter cleaned and starts dinner... we will sit down and try to decide what to watch. I think first will be the latest 2 episodes of Avatar. But then.... we have Escaflone, 51 episodes of another anime he downloaded, and 2 seasons of Battlestar Galactica to rewatch to refresh for the new season. What shall we watch?

I am starting to feel hungry. That is a good sign, isn't it?

Weekend Recap: NIX the "improvements" 

So, Friday I thought I was improving.

Saturday we drove out to "exciting" Oakville, Ontario to meet with M-SB's family for Thanks Giving. We drove through annoying chunks of traffic and construction, but the view of all the lovely coloured leaves and trees was spectacular and made for a wonderful drive. We arrived around 5pm, but had already eaten out around 3pm. So I relaxed from the drive and ate some food a bit later. Everyone was bored by 7pm. While there was debate as tyo what to do, I read through one of my Taoism readings. The final decision was to go see a movie. We went to see the Illusionist. I liked it. It was different. The story unfolded and the cinematography was excellent! The guys (M-SB, his brother and one of his cousins) were not so impressed. *shrug*

We slept a broken sleep as some folks stayed up chatting, some folks woke early, and others were hungry by 8am and woke the rest of us for breakfast. I was still congested and mornings are rough. Being sick was getting beyond frustrating. We had breakfast at a restaurant where I discovered that my eating habits while sick mean small to little appetite. Breakfast was too big, delicious, but too much. We then did a little shopping at M-SB's mom needed photo paper and ink for her mini photo printer. M-SB also bought a new game for his DS thingy.

What we did that was LOADS of fun in Oakville was play Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Putt!!

The local LCBO was our next stop where we got Fireball whisky and Iced Wine with Brandy. Mmmmm...

Dinner was great. I do actually love his family GT's. It really feels like family! Everyone from all generations are together right out to the extended families. I learned to fold an origami crane from M-SB's brother. I wonder if I can remember how now. The we closed the night with playing Star Wars Monopoly. We had a blast! I curled up for bed earlier than everyone else with the newest member of the family (4 month old Julian... M-SB's other cousin's son). It was too noisy downstairs for the baby to sleep, so I took him up in his mini-baby spiderman hidabed.

There was much broken sleep... again. But Monday looked beautiful out and we hoped for a nice leisurely drive home. We hit more traffic. We hit rediculous traffic and constuction. Then we blew a front tire. We put on the spare and had to limp home under 80kph. From that point, the drive should have taken 2.5 hrs as we were just outside Cornwall. But instead of being home by 5:30, we got home around 8pm.... in a foul mood.

Our neighbors were wonderful with some turkey dinner ready for us. We unpacked and settled in. They had taken wonderful care of our cats who were clamouring for our attention. We decided to drown out the frustration of the day by opening some of the new Iced Wine. Mmmm... Autumn came up to share with us. we had a great long chat sitting on the kitchen floor with the cats and the wine. Hehe.

Last night... sleep... was... well... what wsleep.
I was up at 2am to shut the cats out. I was up at 3am to let Cloak in and to begin the night of coughing. I woke M-SB. The alarm went off at 6am then 7am then I was coughing by 8am through most of this morning as I was trying to get some sleep.
My morning plans were completely shot.
I feel like CRAP! AGAIN! STILL!
I must have wronged some god somewhere somehow for this shitty bout of weeks. It has to have been a god, because only a got can ruin things like this as soectacularly as this.

New plans:
-Apologize to Autumn for not coming to help clip her cats claws
-drive (limp) to Canadian Tire to see about new tires
-apologize to mom for not paying for the car payments as I have to replace the tires
-pay my curves installment
-burn CD's for CMS level 2 as it somehow slipped my mind in the haze of being sick
-bus to school though I will just stay home
-read homework and work on paper
-tidy house
-rest and pray to be well

Friday, October 06, 2006

Improvements 

There are distinct improvements in my health. I am still sick... but now I am functional... almost. I am unbelievably tired. I can taste food and smell somewhat. I have a bit of an appatite. Therefore... I am improving.

Today I took Tsuki out in the car for a ride to the store. There he visited with folks and the other cats while I took photos of the store for the store blog. Tsuki was great ing the car! All my boys are fairly good in the car. We even left him for 20min in the car while we got some dinner at Loblaws. I picked up a packet of his favotie Iams kitten wet food as a treat. We had dinner and watched an episode of Avatar: the Last Airbender.

NEWS for Avatar fans: The voice behind Iroh (Zuko's Uncle) passed away. The man's name was Mako and he actually died last July. There is discrepancy as to whether he finished the season's episodes or not. There is an instance in Season 2 Episode 35: Tales of Ba Sing Se where you hear a different voice. So they may be trying to slowly integrate a new voice. That same episode, they made a tribute to Mako. I wepped much. If you have not yet seen that episode, bring a kleenex box with you, cuz you will weep too.

M-SB is now babysitting Liam while the neighbors are out at dinner. I finished up some dishes and work on the store blog then kept him company a bit while I drank tea and read more of my Tao readings. But the tiredness was just overpowering. So now I am off to bed. Tomorrow we drive to Oakville for Thanks Giving with his family. I will bring my homework and stuffs. So, you will not hear from me till Monday evening.

Have a great Thanks Giving everyone!!!
And remember to give thanks for all the wonderful things, great and small, that are part of your life. Things like, your roof over your head, the food in your fridge and on your plate, the company of loved pets and friends, for family, and for your life and freedom. Blessed be to one and all! Oh... and Thank you!

Sleep, blessed sleep... 

I slept. It was wonderful. I fell asleep around 2am ans was woken a bit by the alarms. M-SB kissed me on my brow before he went off to work which stirred me enough to notice, but did not wholly wake me. I woke when he called around 1pm. Ya... I slept till then. Then I just lazed in bed till now amazed that I slept. My cold is slowly moving into my chest. I am coughing less and am less stuffy.

I slpet too becuase we locked the cats out of the bedroom last night. The door got closed with the thoughts of "if you are going to kill each other out there... do it quietly."

They are all still alive. Oh... and hungry. Hmmm... so am I. That too is a good sign.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Sick of being sick! 

Well, I slept all of 30min at best... the 30min just before M-SB left for work. He kissed me goodbye and then I was awake again. I spent the night unable to sleep. I was stuffy, or sniffly, or coughing, or hot or cold or disturbed by everything. When I am sick, I am hypersensitive to things like light, noise, airborne irritants that would not normally irritate me. Even with the bedroom door closed, I could hear the cats BREATHING on the other side. M-SB's breathing and shifting kept me up too. The brightness of the moon drove me crazy. The coughing and tickling in my throat.... I tried eatling jello, but it didn't really help much.

I have no idea how I survived today at work. I was like 10% there. I don't even recall the day. Well, I recall cleaning the cat litter. My sense of smell is starting to return. The coughing though was very persistent all day. I could not eat. I was a;lternating between fever, cough, hungry and extremely nauseous. I tried to have some peanutbutter dumpling. Meh. I tried to have an energy drink. I dump half down the drain at the end of the day. I had picked up DimeTapp for the cough. OH GODS! Like Nyquil.... it make me completely sick to my stomach. So food-wise... I managed a raisin bagel. Eleven hours of sickly hell.

After work, I wen back to get night-time tylenol cold extra strength. It deals with coughs and fevers and does not make me want to puke. I wanted another bagel, but the bagel place was closed. Cranky, I decided I wanted my Soy ice cream and goldfish crackers from Loblaws. (NOT TOGETHER!!! EWWW!!!) M-SB is making me chicken soup for supper. I wanted the goldfish crackers to go in it. The ice cream was to be for in the night to soothe me. Loblaws was closed too. *pout*

Well, at least I got my soup.
And I did get treats from the pharmacy that are not in the freezer (chocolate swiss rolls, mini may wests, and mini croquets). Mmmmmmm.

Ok soup is cool enough to eat. I will watch some more Avatar, eat soup, have night-time tylonol, and a treat. And with luck... get some sleep.

*AAARRRGGGHHH!!!* 

I am still NOT asleep. My cold is keeping me up and now with a minor annoying cough. Tsuki is not helping. He is being a destructive BAD kitten... a NOISY destructive bad kitten.

My nose is stuffy and persistently itchy. My throat is contantly having this tickle that is driving me crazy.

This is not what I need night before an 11-hr shift.

But then why should I have ever expected to have a nice vacation?

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

So End the Vacation 

The day... went by. I do not recall most of it. I hate being sick. I managed to make some kraft dinner for lunch... and some tea. The i went down for a couple hours nap before heading out to be the security for tonight's level 1 CMS class at the store. There are so many new things that I was a bit overwhelmed, feeling sick as I am. I hope to feel better tomorrow. I want to be able to really appreciate all the decor and new stock. Tomorrow I work the 11hr shift. I like that now and then. I can usually get alot done. Thankfully I have most of Friday off. I can rest before the long drive to Oakville.

Oh before I forget... One of the CMS students brought be wanton soup. So when I arrived, I did not have to find food that my wicked cold (I don't get little one frequently... I rarely get them but when I do... dear gods they are wicked) would allow me to eat. Thank you so much, Karyn. You were the evening life saver.

Vacation Last Day 

Still sick... but at least today I woke with no fever. Last night I had very broken sleep becuase of stuffiness, cats, being too hot or too cold. I slept some on the sofa then some in bed. As M-SB left, he said something to me about fog. I did not really register it. Now that I am fully up (I wanted to sleep more, but oh well) I can clearly see what he was talking about.

FOG!

There is think London-like FOG outside. NEAT!

Today I am drowning myself on Vitamin C, advil for sinus & cold, juice and soup. I need to be at the store to mind it while the class goes on.

I hope to get a bit of tidying done while I feel ok. The newly potted plants all need watering. And I have a ton of reading to do for homework if I can manage it. It really bugs me that I have lost 3 days (including today) of my vacation to me being sick. I wanted these days for getting caught up on things like homework and sorting. *sigh*

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Vacation Day 6 part 3 

sick.

gods... shoot me, please, shoot me know.

or make it go away....

NaNoWriMo? 

Well I am still really sick. Too sick to get meds without bloody company. ARGH! I have to wait for M-SB to get home. And on top of it all... I am now monthly cramping. This is truly a rotten day. My ears are blocked funny so all sounds are wierd. I can't tell one sound properly from another nor from it came. It is really annoying. Being sick is such an interference to my personal productivity. I am not the kind of person who can sit back and do nothing... especially when force down by illness. This makes me moody.

I had butternut Squash soup and meds that did little to help. I am about to make an herbal tea and try a different med. I can't have regular yummy tea because it makes my throat all scratchy. I wasted time trying to do nothing. I sat bundled in a blanky in M-SB's office chair watching the rest of Noir. I can't read, that requires mental activity. My head is way to fuzzy to retain anything.

Now that I have finished all 26 episodes of Noir (having watched the last 10 today), I needed a distraction. Checked email for the hundredth time. Moaned over my finances.

And then found a novel whose outline I have and have been wanting to write. The whole story is in my head from start to finish. But getting into writing is so hard. How do I phrase the images and feelings of the characters? Then I recalled someone saying to me in the MPRC: "you should do Nano this year." I don't know. Every year I think about it, but never do it. I am always so busy. I look at the folks that I know who do it and am astounded by their dedication. So astounded that I am too daunted to try to compete. I will never get close to 50K within a month. Also, how can I dare? I have school and 3 jobs and a major research paper due at the end of November. Then I think shyly to myself that it would give me something fun to do when my brain needs to think of something else. Well, it is only October. I have a month to keep considering this.

I think I will go watch the movie Autumn loaned me. Oh ya... and herbal tea. And somehwere I think I have daytime Tylonol.

Vacation Day 6 part 1 

UGH!

I am so sick...

Too sick to sleep.

Stuffed up.
Ears blocked.
Head pain.

And Tsuki does not like my plant on the table. He decided to rip off leaves and shred them (not eat them) at 3am as loadly as he can. My poor Hibiscus. He is in my office now, recovering... one big flower has opened. Yay! Below is a pic of it. No... the cat did not deleaf it as badly as you think. Most of those leaves were lost from it being in the chill of my front balcony and not getting enough water. Tsukli destroyed the leaves of only 2 branches.


Now I am going to go be sick with some jello on the sofa and try to read homework.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Vacation Day 5 

Still sick. Thankfully my nose if not stuffy. My head just feels stuffy and achy into the back of my throat and my ear sometimes block. And I have been sliding back and forth between headache and fever. None so bad as to ruin my day, just bad enough to be noticed and be annoying.

I was up early and out to my appointmant at Curves. I have to have $85 yet to join. I will hop to have it next week.

On my way home, I stopped in at LaSalle Junior and LaSalle Senior elementary schools to let them know that I am available for subbing. They are plenty closer than Herbert Purcell in Pierrefonds.

I grabbed some lunch and then off to the bank. I started up my RRSP for $25/month. We discussed a Student Line of Credit, but I need to bring in proof of income... and I need a cosigner. *sigh* I just don't make enough money or have a good enough credit rating to qualify on my own. My credit rating is improving. I have no "bad debts" now. And haven't for almost 2 years. I am working hard at getting things under control. Every month I get rid of some sort of debt, or at least put a dent in it. September was a clearing of many things. It is still a struggle. But I am getting there.

Alison came over while I was at the bank. M-SB instructed her on what I wanted done. My houseplants are all cleaned up now. And those that needed repotting were. She potted some of the balcony plants, They are still on the balcony as they are not good for kitties. They will go into my office once I find a home for some things in my office. Anyone need a 17" monitor? Anyone need a keyboard? Both good, bot work, both taking up valuable realestate in my office. (email me if you are interested: cougora@sympatico.ca) The place is also all cleaned up. The weather was not good for tackling the garden outside. We will hope it is better next Monday. I love having her come by.

While Alison was here, I managed to get through 2 more reading sections for my Taosim. Three more to go. She brought me Hot & Sour soup from a local Chinese food place. Spicy. I am having it now. I spent most of the afternoon reading on the sofa bundled under a blankie. I am tired of it now. I want something other than soup and orange juice. I am not a very good sicky. I hate being down. 4 hours was MORE THAN ENOUGH!

New Toys 

Well, not for me. New/renewed toys for the cats... namely Tsuki.

Yesterday Cloak was sick. I sat on the litterbox hood and puked over the side... a huge spray that suddenlycovered Tsuki's toys. Tsuki was like "EEEEWWWW MOOOOOM! Claok ruined my TOYS!!!! WAAAHHHH!" Claok successfully coated the empty toiletpaper roll tube in his puke. And Tsuki WAS playing with it. It was like the end of the world. All the other toys were missing. And those he could see... were no longer in a state for playing with. *ew*

Today I dug out the balls from under the sofa, bed and snake tank. I found a crumpled paper, too. Tsuki loved the crumpled paper for about an hour until he lost it who knows where. We finished a toiletpaper roll and so he got the empty to play with as a replacement for the one Cloak ruined. That brought several hours of joy! And even better, when my orange highlighter began to fail, I capped it and tossed it to Tsuki. He learned how to wack it with his paw to make it twirl. He repeated this with each paw to be sure he could make it spin each direction. Then picked it up in his mouth and ran off with it.

I am glad I can amuse him some with recycled toys like these. But I know he needs some serious toys soon and a real scratch post. And stuffies are not good toys for him as he kinda destroys them in his exhuberant play.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Vacation Day 4 part 4 

Now... where did I leave off?

Oh ya, I was reading. Well, M-SB put together the little side table and I put in the files. Claok and Tsuki found the displaced iron candle stand so fascinating that they played around it. It came crashing down on top of them. It gouged the newly painted wall (M_SB was much upset) and left chunks of kitty fur all over. The coffee table it landed on, however, surviuved like the durable old thing that it is.

We started the roast after that.

Then back to my reading a bit. I could not concentrate. Liam wailed again. Poor little guy is sicker than me and it is making him all cranky. I made tea and aimed to rescue Autumn. When I got downstairs, she had managed to get him to sleep. Oh good. She took the tea and I let her know that dinner was just about ready. Yes, M-SB planned on sharing the ham roast. You see, we alternate doing breakfasts every Sunday. But since Ash was out at 4am to go to work this Sunday (his vacation Sunday) we chose to do dinner instead. I played Neverwinter Nights for a while. Ash was still not home by 7:30pm, so I went down to let Autumn know to come up and eat, we would save some for Ash.

It was nice to sit about chatting and eating. Ash showed up to join us about 20min later. I hope our efforts helped ease their rough weekend. I had a good easy weekend. I wanted to help ease theirs.

Alas... I am still behind in readings. Taoism fascinated me, so why am I not motivated to do my readings?

I am off to bed now. I am still sick. I will chug down some more orange juice before bed.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with Curves and then LaSalle Junior Elementary... and then the bank... and then Alison is over.

Vacation Day 4 part 3 

I dallied a bit while M-SB showered. Then off we went to my parents' place. We picked up this sofa side table. The top lifts up to reveal a consealed file space. Neat. I will move the personal files there. Then get a one of the doylie's out and after the hibiscus gets cleaned up tomorrow, it will go on top. M-SB says it should fit between the shelves where we have the blank spot.

We put together the ham roast. It is now in the oven. It should be ready by the time Ash gets home. M-SB is now attaching the legs to the thing my mom gave us.

Oh we will inherit her dining set. Wow... a dining set. Table with glass top protector, 2 insert leafs and 5 chairs. But that is later. She is looking for something she likes to replace it with. When she gets her new one, we will get her old one.

I also got some orange juice. I am waiting for it to thaw. My throat is still soar. I will kill this cold with vitamin C. I refuse to be sick.

Cloak is preventing me from typing any more. He has grabbed my hand in his huge paws. So I took a picture with the free hand. He is unimpressed.


Vacation Day 4 part 2 

Part 1 was "SICK" as that is how I woke. Today's blog are likely going to be a series of short entries throughout the day as my attention span is short due to me being sick.

M-SB made me breakfast and brought me juice while I sat on the sofa bundled up shivering and reading my Taoism textbook. I got through the introduction. I am now only 5 reading sets behind. I needed a mental break and desperately needed warmth. So I went around the house and narrowed the gap of the outer windows to 1/2 an inch open and closed all the inner windows. Then I turned on the heaters in the kitchen, my office, and the bedroom. The scent of bruning dust on the baseboard heaters reminds me of my childhood when I lived in LaSalle. M-SB is making me some tea while I blog. The house is heating up rather quickly and nicely just from these 3 heaters. I am no longer shivering.

I am determined to get through a large chunk of the backlog of readings for my Taoism class today. I just need to give my brain chances to unplug from it so I do not get frustrated with it. I think I will play Neverwinter Nights while I drink my tea and wait for Autumn to be ready to go to the art store.

Sick 

Yup. I am officially sick. The chill finally seeped into my system and I am officially sick. Stuffy, soar throat, achy, congested, frustrated kinda sick.

Now that it is October 1st, it is time to close up most of the windows from the chill... and maybe consider turning on heat. I forsee burnt paws in my future as the cats learn about electric baseboard heaters.

Wishlist need ASAP: Rotating space heater for livingroom.

Why? Because I needed the valuable wallspace that the heaters are on and thus refuse now to turn on the heaters because I will have to remove the furniture from the walls where the baseboard heaters are.