Thursday, September 30, 2004

more normal

The only benefit to getting sick or just generally feeling crappy is how good it feels to get back to normal. I think about this every time that I've been under the weather. This morning when I woke up, for the first time in a while, I felt not too bad. It's nice.

As I have mentioned before, I exercise each morning during the week, before I head into the office. This morning was no exception. I will admit that I moved a little more slowly than I normally would, due to my recovering from the previously mentioned mystery illness. I have also mentioned before that I watch Dr. Phil while I move my butt. This morning's episode was, at times, both infuriating and amusing. The good doctor and his lady wife interviewed the former governor of Texas and his librarian. He's such a putz, dub-ya. In keeping with Dr. Phil's theme of "family first," they discussed the charming Bush twins and what it was like to raise them. Much like he does anytime there is a camera shoved in his face, dub-ya picked one line that he liked and kept repeating it, ad nauseum, throughout the course of the interview. In this case, his line was "ya gotta tell your kids you love 'em." Nothing controversial there is there? At the end of the interview (which had been taped at the fake-ranch in Crawford), Dr. Phil asked the audience for questions about the interview. They only actually aired two questions, both of which were pretty forgettable. While one woman stood up and asked her question, I noticed a lady sitting behind her, shaking her head strongly the whole time that the question woman was standing. You could tell that nodding lady was not a dub-ya supporter and was probably quite disgusted to have discovered, upon arriving at the studio, that she was going to be subjected to an hour of bush family values.

On the upside, next week, Dr. Phil and Robyn will be talking to John Kerry and Teresa Heinz-Kerry. I'm sure that a discussion with the Kerrys will make for far more interesting television.

One thing that made me smile today: Tonight's presidential debate. I'm really looking forward to watching Senator Kerry mop the floor with dub-ya. The little chimp won't know what to do or say without Cheney whispering in his ear or a teleprompter in front of him. It should be a good night!

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

the brightness

There are several things that I really love about this time of the year. The colours of the trees in autumn are just gorgeous to me. Having to dig out old favourite sweaters to snuggle in on a chilly day is not so bad either. One of the things I like best though is the brightness. This morning, when I was driving Mark to work at 5 a.m., the moon was insanely bright. I thought that our flood light was on when I stood in the driveway but it was actually the moon. Amazing.

Just now, when I popped up (and outside) to get my lunch out of the kitchen, I noticed that the sun is crazily bright today too. The air is so clean and clear and the sky is cloudless. When I walked into the building from outside, I was blinking for several seconds, trying to focus. The sun was that bright, it was very neat.

One thing that made me smile today: Just now, as I was walking back to my desk, I noticed that there was a chestnut in the corner, near the door to our office. Our offices are in the basement of an old building. We actually have our own entrance to the building, underneath a veranda. Anyway, some silly squirrel has probably put the chestnut there for safe-keeping. A couple of years ago, I found one in a hanging plant in my back garden and another on top of the gas meter at the side of our house. It really amuses me that they think these are safe places to hide food. It shouldn't, but it does. Squirrels really are dumb.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

easing back

Well I'm back at work today. I don't feel 100% terrific but I don't feel quite as bad as I did yesterday. Yesterday I slept a lot. Like all morning and most of the afternoon. Unfortunately, last night, I didn't sleep well at all. It wasn't until about 3 a.m. that I really got to sleep. If I got up at 7 normally, this would have been okay. Of course, I get up between 4:30 and 5 a.m. so it didn't really help.

Basically I'm a little groggy so I'm not moving too quickly at the moment. The morning went by fairly quickly. I've got a long meeting this afternoon that I'm hoping will fly by. Given the subject matter that we're covering, I expect it will. We've got a lot of ground to cover in a 2 hour time frame. The problem with whatever it is that is getting me down is that really, it's more irritating than anything else. I mean, I feel run down, tired, achey, flu-y but not the flu, sort of like I have a cold but kind of like allergies, all at the same time. It makes me wish that I'd just come down with a major hum-dinger of a cold and get it overwith but that doesn't seem to be happening.

One thing that made me smile today: When I was on my way back to my desk from the kitchen, with my lunch just a little while ago, I saw a tiny brown bunny eating grass on the front lawn in front of our building. It looked a lot like the bunny that was living in our back yard for a while this summer. They are just so cute to watch. I know that they can be a huge pest if you have a nice veggie garden but I don't have one so I can appreciate them for their cutenesss and not be bothered by their destructive habits.

Monday, September 27, 2004

sick day

I didn't go into the office today. I felt like hammered crap. I was up and down like a yo-yo last night and felt terrible this morning when I got up. Mostly I feel weak and dizzy and cold. Getting under the comforter is about the only thing that feels good right about now.

One thing that made me smile today: My bed. It's comfy and warm and I spend entirely too much time in it today but actually, it made me feel much better.

Sunday, September 26, 2004

sleep or coma

Oh my goodness. I never sleep in, almost never anyway. Ordinarily when I do, it's like, until 7 or 8 a.m., max. This morning though, I didn't crawl out of bed until around 11 a.m. When I woke up, I felt rested, for the first time in a week. I actually didn't have big black circles under my eyes. I hope I don't have trouble sleeping tonight, that generally happens when I sleep this much.

We just got back from running errands. Mark nicely took me out for breakfast too. It is a gorgeous day here today, nice and sunny and breezy. It's a little cool but it's lovely all the same. I have to say, despite all the sleep I got last night, I'm kind of dragging my butt again. It's a weird thing. Just going to a couple of stores and then eating a meal has worn me right out. I could actually use a nap right now. I won't do that to myself but, I could.

One thing that made me smile today: The whole sleeping in thing and working on getting rid of this bug I have made me smile. I really hope that whatever it is that is making me feel like crap is going to leave me alone.

Saturday, September 25, 2004

saturday, on the deck

Today was a lot of fun. For the first time in a long time, I got together with a bunch of friends from work. It's a bunch of women who I used to work closely with; some of them are no longer with our organization and some, work in different departments than I do now.

We did a potluck / barbecue thing and I haven't laughed so much in a long, long time. There were about 8 of us so there was a nice variety of salads and stuff and the meal was delivious. The company was fabulous too. It's so weird when you are used to seeing people, every day, to suddenly have that stop. One of the girls had quit and moved on, another had been fired, a third had been constructively dismissed. The nice thing about today was that we were all able to pick up like we've not been apart. We're planning to do this more often now, possibly every month. It had been almost a year since we'd done this and that was waaaay too long. Email only works for so long. Unfortunately, my cold got the better of me and I had to drag the two girls I was "designated driving" out of there around 7:30 and head for home. It was a good visit though. We got there around 2 p.m. so, given how I'd been feeling all week, lasting five hours (while breathing in the beautiful, fresh air) outside was pretty impressive.

One thing that made me smile today: The friend who hosted our barbecue today has a 6 year old son. He was running around with his sister's stepson (long story) and just before we left, they were roasting marshmallows on the fire. I laughed my head off watching their cheeks bulge out (as well as their eyes) as they stuffed handfuls of hot, gooey marshmallows into their little faces.

Friday, September 24, 2004

tgif

I have almost made it through this week. There were times when I thought it would never happen but, here I am, just a few hours to go until I can take to my bed. That's right, I'm feeling like crap again. How boring is all of this huh??

Ever the martyr though, I'm at work again. Today has actually been a productive day despite the way I'm feeling. I've actually accomplished a lot this week, although at times it didn't feel like I was doing much more than spinning my wheels. Next week should not be as bad hopefully. It definitely could not be much worse.

One thing that made me smile today: It wasn't so much a smile as it was a small grin though... at around 10 a.m. this morning I realized that in actual fact I was not going to die and I probably wouldn't have to go home. I still felt like crap but it was a kinder, gentler type of crap. Guess ya just have to be grateful for small favours at a time like this huh?

Thursday, September 23, 2004

summer again

It was actually hot today, and humid, and summer like. It was great. I had the first session of a 16 week web-creation course today. It was very very basic and I don't think I'll really be learning anything new until we hit about week 5 or 6 but, I will have a certificate at the end of it and it's something I'm glad that I've got an opportunity to do right now. The instructor seems really great and I'm taking it with two people I know so it should be fun as well.

Today I actually felt a little better, better than I had all week. Hopefully this means that whatever I've been fighting has passed. I do know that I've slept very well the past couple of nights and have so far avoided having to take any cold meds or the like so maybe I'm on the mend.

After work tonight, we went out and did a bunch of errands. Groceries and the like. The stores weren't actually too busy and it wasn't a completely horrendous process, for a switch. I have plans to see some friends this weekend for a barbecue so I've been trying to get as many of my weekend chore / errands type of things out of the way so I can take Saturday off. So far it's going pretty well and, at most, I might have a couple of loads of laundry to do over the weekend but hopefully not much else. I probably shouldn't say anything touch wood but I'm starting to get back into a routine at home again and am feeling organized for the first time in a looooong time. I'm one of those folks who really needs that or I feel really frazzled. I'm not getting my hopes up too high but it would be really nice if I could start to feel more organized at the office at well. I know that this is like asking for a small miracle but you never know huh?? Stranger things have been known to happen.

One thing that made me smile today: Team America: World Police. Mark is a huge fan of Thunderbirds and Supercar. Recently, we've been watching the old Thunderbirds shows on YTV and BBC for Kids. They're so cheesey and wonderful that they always make me laugh my ass off. Anyway, we saw and ad tonight for Team America: World Police and cannot wait to see it, supermarionation AND the South Park team, how can you go wrong??

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

hump day

This is turning into the longest week evah! I cannot believe that it's only mid-week. Work is insanely busy and I'm still feeling really yucky. Everyone at work just keeps getting sick and giving it to one another. I realize now that I should have stayed home regardless of my meeting schedule but I didn't. I'm still new in this job and I don't feel comfortable doing that at the moment. Even if I wake up tomorrow feeling like shit on toast, I'd still have to go in because I'm starting a course tomorrow afternoon and can't miss the first session (because this is actually something I want to do!).

Anyway, I'll try not to moan too much. I'm just really looking forward to the weekend at this point, and to getting some much needed rest.

One thing that made me smile today: The weather was seriously nice again today. Not hot but nicely warm, breezy, just lovely. Although I know that fall is officially here, it still doesn't feel like fall. I guess the almanac got it right when they said we'd be having a great autumn. So far, so good.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

fighting it

It's been a fun week so far. We still haven't heard why the person who got fired last week got fired. I don't even want to know the specifics, I'm talking about knowing that the person it happened to even has a clue. I'm not sure that they do. It's very demoralizing and sad. I don't know that the folks higher-up can really appreciate how things like this make us "little people" feel.

For the past couple of weeks now I've been fighting a cold or something. I've felt like crap but, both yesterday and today, I had stuff on my calendar that I couldn't miss. It's not a nice feeling, to drag one's ass into the office, feeling like hammered crap, when you should be able to stay home, get some rest and get rid of whatever it is. I keep hoping that it'll pass and I'll start feeling more normal soon.

Anyway, the result is that I'm a little wonked out and am having a hard time concentrating. My blogging this week probably won't be all that interesting or creative but I'll try to do this week's TV Tuesday all the same, here it is:

1. What's your favorite all time spin off? Which show did it spin off?

In recent years, I haven't found spin-offs to be as good as they once were. When I was a kid though, spin-offs were not bad. I can think of one "favourite" of mine which was actually a spin-off of a spin-off: Good Times. Good Times was a spin-off from Maude, which was itself a spin-off from All In The Family.

2. What do you consider the worst spin off ever? Why?

Joey. Oh my goodness. We actually watched this last week and it was horrible. I mean, I wasn't a huge fan of Friends but I figured with Drea de Matteo in it, how bad could it be? Apparently, really bad. Kinda makes you wish that Dante hadn't whacked Adriana

3. Is there a show that's ended that you wish they'd done a spin off for? Which one?

No actually, I can't think of a thing.

One thing that made me smile today: Getting home tonight and seeing Mark. When I feel as bad as I felt all day today, getting back to our little house and vegging out and seeing Mark just made me feel sooo much better.

Monday, September 20, 2004

oh Skeeter, how are we supposed to get along without you now?

I am beyond sad.
Opry Star Skeeter Davis Dies
By Barry A. Jeckell

NEW YORK
(Billboard) - Skeeter Davis, a veteran of the Grand Ole Opry, died Sunday (Sept. 19) at Nashville's St. Thomas Hospital. She was 73.

The artist, born Mary Frances Penick in Dry Ridge, Ky., had battled breast cancer since 1988.

After meeting Betty Jack Davis in high school, she adopted the name Skeeter Davis so the duo could perform as the Davis Sisters. Recording for RCA, they scored a hit with "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" in 1953, but faced tragedy when Betty Jack was killed in a car crash in August of that year. Betty Jack's sister Georgie joined to carry on the group until 1956.

Davis scored her first solo hit in 1958 with the Chet Atkins-produced "Lost to a Geisha Girl," which reached No. 15 on Billboard's country singles chart. She joined the Opry in 1959, the same year she earned a Grammy nomination, the first of five in her career, for the song "Set Him Free." The track reached No. 5 on the country tally.

Davis scored a huge crossover hit in 1962 with "The End of the World." Beyond reaching No. 2 on the country chart, the track also hit No. 1 on Billboard's adult contemporary tally, No. 2 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on the R&B list.

Other country hits included "(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too" (No. 2, 1960) and "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" (No. 8, 1964). She also recorded hits with Bobby Bare and George Hamilton IV and collaborated on an 1985 album with NRBQ, "She Sings, They Play."

Davis married and divorced three times, first to Kenneth Depew, then to Ralph Emery, host of the television show "Nashville Now," and later to NRBQ bassist Joey Spampinato.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday (Sept. 22) at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

Sunday, September 19, 2004

sunshine day

The temperature dropped here the other day. The result has been a clearing out of the air and the sun is shining so bright that it's blinding, even with sunglasses on. I'm not complaining though, it's gorgeous. I think that the cooler nights are knocking everyone out. I know that I've slept better the past couple of nights than I have in a few weeks. It's a nice feeling.

It's so gorgeous in fact that I should probably seriously consider getting out into the garden and starting some of the fall cleanup that I have to do. The bottom line though is that I don't feel much like doing it. We worked our buns off yesterday and I'd really like to have a quiet, lazy day today. I'm almost certain it won't work out like that but I'd like to try anyway.

One thing that made me smile today: It's early but something has already made me smile: the quiet. Right now, I'm the only person in the house who is awake and up and moving around. I love these rare early mornings when this happens.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

pooped

I am pooped. What started out as a lazy day turned into quite a busy one and I'm feeling the effects of it right now.

Mark took today off and when we went to bed last night we weren't entirely sure what we were doing. Originally, we had thought about taking a trip down to Syracuse to do some shopping but we had sort of vetoed that idea at bedtime last night. This morning, we both actually slept in a little bit (which felt great, I don't get to do that nearly often enough). We took our time easing into the day. I got my list out and figured out all the places we needed to go today and stuff we had to get done. Amongst them, I needed to get to the laundry (which multiplies in the hamper I'm sure!) and he needed to rebuild his computer.

Not only did we get those things done, we got all of our errands finished, Mark made a terrific dinner and I did a fair amount of cleaning in the kitchen. Right now, as I type this, I'm totally tired. We had talked about walking down to the street to go to the fair tonight but were both too tired to even think about it. Admittedly, the only reason I wanted to go was to take some photos of the midway at night. When we drove by last night it looked pretty good, considering how tiny it actually is.

So, it's Saturday night and we're heading off to bed before 9 p.m. Aren't we just the biggest pair of party animals you've ever seen??

One thing that made me smile today: The big pile of clean laundry that is folded and ready to be put away. Honestly, I thought that there was no way I would get it all done today but I did. I mean, I still have some ironing to do but at least everything is clean. It's a simple thing but it made me smile!

Friday, September 17, 2004

terrible

Someone in our office got fired late yesterday. When I came into work this morning there was an email in my inbox, with this person's name in the subject line. These types of emails mean one of two things: the individual has been fired or they are leaving for a better job. Unfortunately, in this situation, it was the former rather than the latter.

Of course, there was no notice, no reason given, it just happened. This has happened before and I'm sure it will happen again. Now I understand that things relating to HR matters much remain confidential but it's a terrible blow to morale when these things happen because you start to wonder "who's next?" Will it be me or the person I share my office with, or one of the managers on the second floor? I felt like I was going to throw up or that my head would explode all day long.

Other than that though, it was an okay day. Seriously though, I was never so glad to see the end of the day roll around. I can feel my headache creeping back from just thinking about it. Yuck. In attempt to take my mind off of things, we're heading out in a few minutes, to do errands and grab a bite to eat.

One thing that made me smile today: Mark. He always makes me smile when I've had a shitty day. He has a great gift for putting things into perspective for me and making me see past the emotional crap so I can deal with the logic of a situation. He's wonderful.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

rant

I don't watch a whole lot of tv. I mean, we watch our fair share but, except for Canadian Idol, we mostly watch "good" stuff. BBC Canada, PBS, HBO, etc. I have a guilty pleasure that I'm not too ashamed to admit to most days. I like Dr. Phil. Let me re-phrase that, I like the Dr. Phil TV Show, him, I go hot and cold on.

Every morning, I get up around 5 a.m. and I workout at home before going to the office. If I didn't do this early in the day, it would never happen. Anyway, I really like to watch the good doctor when I'm exercising. On tape, his show takes about 40 minutes to watch and that's generally about how long I workout for. All summer though, it was repeat city so I didn't watch him.

His new season, the third, started this week. Last year, he tackled weight-loss this year, he's fixin' to "heal" America. He's "adopted" a town and will deal with family issues, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, domestic violence, you name it, he'll heal it. It's a continuation of those exploitive shows he did last year with "the Dr. Phil Family" and the "Anatomy of Divorce" couple. If you haven't seen these before, you can read an overview of them on his website.

Now, when the "Ultimate Weight-Loss Challenge" started last year I was interested. I had begun my own fitness/weight-loss program in January 2004 and watched the challengers get fitted up with new precor equipment, medical check-ups, personal trainers, consultations with nutritionists, etc. Of course, he was hitching a newly released book to this series but the book was actually solid. At Christmas, I picked up a copy of it on sale, and it's a good read. He offers good advice about sorting your head out before you try to fix the fat problem. It's not rocket science really, it's common sense. Most of it, I was already doing but it was an interesting read nonetheless. This year, as I learned about half-way through the first episode, Dr. Phil has a new book out: "Family First." I saw copies piled up at Costco last night. Season 3 is going to be one long info-mercial for the book it seems.

I will admit, it made me angry. The weight-loss book was one thing but this, it's disgusting. He's going to exploit these sad people from a small town in Texas to sell his book. Of course, it didn't make me angry enough to stop taping the show, afterall, my workout's go much quicker when I can yell at Dr. Phil along the way. Still, it's really irritating how during each segment, he shamelessly plops a plug for the book in. It's a little sick.

One thing that made me smile today: Getting home from work. Tonight I was so happy to pull into our drive way and see our cute little house. This week has been dragging on and on and on (despite me wishing otherwise) and today was a particularly brutal day at work. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy a peaceful evening with my hunny in our very own house. What could be better??

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

idol chatter

So, tonight is the final night of da idol. We haven't been as glued to the tube this year as we were last year. I guess not having a hometown kid in the competition is the reason. Part of it, I think, is that generally, the talent pool was better this year. Of last week's top 3, we would have been happy to see any one of them take it. They're all good in their own way and we don't hate any one of them. Maybe that's the second time round thing. The judges knew better what to look for early on. Perhaps the country is getting smarter about voting. Either way, it's not really music that we enjoy to listen to but the competition is interesting to watch all the same.

pretty as a picture

Personally, I think Kalan has a better shot at it than Theresa, although I like Theresa more. From the beginning I thought the two of them, along with Brock, were the best singers in the bunch. In my opinion, Kalan lacks a sparkle that Theresa has in spades. He's very good, technically, but doesn't show much emotion. She's just so sweet and charming in a down-to-earth, "prairie girl" kind of way. I'd love to see her take the whole thing. Honestly though, whoever the winner is tomorrow night doesn't really matter. She's only one out of the entire top 10 who I can see having a sustainable career in music. Theresa's a very talented girl.

One thing that made me smile today: We had our dinner done, the dishes washed and put away and I'd put the ingredients for a loaf of 12 grain bread into the bread machine before 6:15 p.m. tonight. We actually had time to go out and do a few errands tonight after dinner (which is something we almost never have time to do). I even had time to blog a bit before da idol started. How's that for time management??

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

fuzzy headed

My brain feels like it's floating in ginger ale today. Sleep deprivation will do that to you, I swear it!!

On the weekend, at some point, Mark hurt his knee. We're not sure exactly how he did it or what he did to it but it's bothering him since Sunday night. Last night, in the middle of the night, I think when he tried to roll over, it woke him up. When he woke up he screamed out in pain. The screaming woke me up. We were basically up from about 1:30 'til 4:30 a.m. We get up at 5 a.m. so you can see how lovely this was for both of us. Fortunately, this morning, I was able to find our trusty old tensor bandage and I bandaged him up. He thinks it might have something to do with a ligament or something. If it's not better in a day or so, I'm carting him off to the doctor's. We cannot have any more nights like last night. It's not good for anyone. Really!!

As I suspected it would, work is still crazy. There is just too much work to get done right now. I don't think it would matter if I stayed at the office until 8 p.m. each night (which, by the way, I am in no way prepared to do!), it wouldn't get done. Everyone is in the same boat and they're all getting sick. This is a rotten cold that has been circulating. Personally, I've been fighting against it for about 3 weeks. So far, so good. I cannot get sick right now so I won't. There! Pfffffttt!

On the family front, my uncle had heart surgery today. I haven't talked to my folks but I had a message from my mum a while ago (at work) reporting that he's made it through okay. He's in recovery or icu, with lots of tubes and everything. It's pretty creepy. A friend of my mum's is in too so they've been going back and forth between them. My cousin (his daughter) and her family are on their way home from Alabama. I suspect that they'll be glad to see her dad and have an excuse to move out of the path of Hurricane Ivan.

One thing that made me smile today: I haven't had to pull my fall / winter clothes out yet. So far the weather has been staying really hot and sunny. I mean, I know that fall is coming and that I'll have to deal with it eventually but I'm really hoping for later, rather than sooner. I want to still be able to wear shorts and sandals and have barbecues with friends and stick my fingers in my ears and sing (loudly) "la-la-lahhhhh" whenever someone mentions that autumn is approaching. I know it's on the way, I can see the Halloween crap in the stores. I'm not stupid. I just would like to wallow in my denial for a little while longer.

Monday, September 13, 2004

quickie

I don't generally wish my life away but I'm really hoping that this week goes by
quickly. Work is really piling up and there is no end in sight to this pace. It's sick I tells ya, sick!!! Today went by in a bit of a blur and I'm sure the rest of the week will too. Keep your fingers crossed boys and girls!!

Anyway, let's start the week off with something a little mindless, here's the "Monday Madness":

1. You are given $1 million. You must give it all away before the donor gives you $1 million. Who would you give it to?

I'd divide it up amongst my family members.

2. If you had $1 million what would you do with it FIRST?

Pay off my mortgage and other debts.

3. Do you participate in lotteries?

Yes, but only usually when the jackpot goes above $10 million. We don't usually think about buying a ticket until it gets up that high.

4. Name 3 of your best physical features.

I like my eyes and hair (usually) and I have a nice skin (thanks mum & dad)

5. ..... 3 of your biggest virtues.

Probably "Hope,"Fortitude" and "Prudence." 'nuff said.

6. ......3 of you biggest vices.

Chocolate, chocolate and chocolate.

7. ...... 3 of your favorite pleasures in life.

Spending time with Mark, traveling and spending time with myself.

8 If you were a member of the opposite sex, what would you choose to do for your occupation?

I imagine I would be doing the same thing.

9. If you were to come back after death as another animal, what animal would you choose to be?

A human.

10. What kind of 'baby' are you... water, clouds, beach, garden?

Water baby, definitely. I love to spend time in and on or near the water.

One thing that made me smile today: We had a really yummy dinner tonight. Mark made an excellent (and I mean totally fucking awesome) pad thai.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

more work stuff

Actually, I'm not bitching. Not much anyway. Things are settling down and I'm accomplishing a lot today. We have one more round of office moves tomorrow and I've been responsible for coordinating that. Once that's done (hopefully around this time tomorrow), I'll feel much better.

Anyway, I'm a couple of days late but here's the TV Tuesday for this week:

TV Tuesday - Week 22 - Kid Shows

1. When you were a kid what was (or is if you're still a kid LOL) your favorite show?

It would vary, from year to year. Consistently though, I was a huge fan of both the Flintstones (which is not really a kids show) and Sesame Street throughout my entire childhood.

2. What is the silliest kids show you've ever seen? (You can use stupidest, most outrageous, worst, etc if you prefer!)

Silliest was probably "You Can't Do That on Television," which was made, just up the road from here in Ottawa. It had a good gross-out factor for kids and it was usually pretty funny (unfortunately, it doesn't hold up for me anyway).

3. If you could be any character in a kids show (past or present) who would you be? Why?

I think it would be cool to be Big Bird, from Sesame Street. He's totally tall and can see over everyone and he seems really nice and sweet and loved by everyone.

One thing that made me smile today: Living on the top of a hill. Today, we're getting the tail-end of Hurricane Frances. It's been raining heavily all day and there is flooding all over town. I work in a basement but we're also at the top of a hill here so I'm not too worried about it. Given how hard it's been raining, and how long it's been coming down (about 8 hours now), I really appreciate how lucky we are to not live in a hurricane belt. I'll take the snow over hurricanes any day of the week.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

mid-week blues

I'm not exactly blue. I'm not exactly even overly stressed right now. Yesterday I was a bit of a mess. Knotted shoulders, tension headache. That was all kinds of bad. Today, I have just as much work on my plate but I'm trying to take it in stride and not get myself into a state about it. It's not easy but I'm sure it can be done.

Our computers are home are behaving badly again. We've narrowed it down to something being wrong with our router (again) or SP2 is just making life difficult. Whatever the cause, the result is an intermittently slow connection. Actually, it's just plain old crappy. Sometimes it works, and it is great. Other times, there is no connectivity. It's also possible that our cable modem is shot. Whatever it is, we'll get it figured out over the weekend. It's not the end of the world, it's just irritating when you're spoiled and used to speedy service like we are.


One thing that made me smile today: The Frosh. A little while ago, when I went upstairs to get my lunch, I could hear the wall of sound that the orientation groups make. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I look out over the lawn in front of our office. On the hill, I could see the Commerce Frosh sliding down the hill, to my right, I could see purple people leading the Engineering Frosh in a jumping up and down exercise and all over the place, in between and everywhere, small clusters of Arts and Science Frosh followed their Gael leaders around. They look incredibly young and happy. I have to say, I'm a little jealous.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

back on board

Back to work, back to school, back to stuff.

After weeks of being all over the place at home and not having much of a routine, we're getting back into our groove starting today. I'm really happy about it too. It sounds simple but it makes such a huge difference to me. I wish I had more to say but honestly, work is insanely busy today so I must scoot.

One thing that made me smile today: Dubya made a "victory" speech yesterday in Missouri. During the speech, he said, "Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." It's funny but it's sad. He's just pathetic.

Saturday, September 04, 2004

nothing newsworthy

The weekend has been uneventful so far. Mark's working today, he's going to be working all weekend actually. Labour Day weekend is a busy busy time in his line of work. We have a long weekend booked for later on in the month though so it's not so bad.

I really need to get some new fall clothes but I just couldn't face the mall again today. I deliberately went out really early to avoid the mobs. I'm hoping that if I wait a couple of weeks, for the "back to school" crowds to lighten up, I'll get some bargains. I can't really afford to spend a fortune on a fall wardrobe this year but I really need some new pants for work.

Other than cleaning and running around, there isn't much news to report today. It's just a lovely, boring, lazy Saturday. Here's hoping it turns into a lovely, boring, lazy weekend!!

One thing that made me smile today: By 2 p.m. today, I had finished all of my errands, done the laundry and the ironing and had put my feet up. Sitting back and vegging out feels soooooooooo good after the week I've had!!

Friday, September 03, 2004

happy friday

It's almost labour day weekend. It feels like fall should be here soon. The nights are cooler now than they have been for months. The days are getting shorter. I'm thinking about sweaters. It's weird.

The summer seems to have flown by in a blur this year. I guess that happened because we didn't really go away anywhere or take a big chunk of time off. We took a few days here and there and just hung around the house, working on projects. If I hadn't switched jobs this spring, I may have taken more time off through the summer. Unfortunately, I didn't really feel like I could, not this year anyway. We hope to take some time during the fall though, goodness knows I still have a bunch of vacation days that I've not booked yet.

One thing that made me smile today: I know it's early yet but reading the text of John Kerry's speech from last night made me smile. There was no way I could stay up to see it (because it was way past my bedtime last night) but it's nice to see the Democrats exhibiting some backbone against all of the lies that have been thrown around at the RNC this week.

In case you missed it, here it is:

A New Course For America
Remarks of John Kerry


Springfield, OH - The election comes down to this. If you believe this country is heading in the right direction, you should support George Bush. But if you believe America needs to move in a new direction, join with us. John and I offer a better plan that will make us stronger at home and more respected in the world. We offer responsible leadership and with your help, we’re going to bring that leadership to the Washington!

For four days in New York, instead of talking about real plans for creating jobs, strengthening the economy, expanding health care, and bringing down gas prices, we heard almost nothing but anger and insults from the Republicans. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because they can’t talk about the real issues facing Americans. They can’t talk about their record because it’s a record of failure.

Tonight, President Bush got up and told us that he’s got a plan for the economy. That’s exactly what he said four years ago. But with the largest deficit in American history, I don’t think we can afford four more years of this president’s plans. That’s because for four years, this president has taken us in the wrong direction.

But the plans he offered tonight are just more of the same policies that are failing at home and in Iraq now. And we know he won't change them. In fact, the President is quite proud of the fact that not even failure will force him to change course.

You all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander-in-chief. We’ll, here’s my answer. I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.

The Vice President called me unfit for office last night. Well, I'll leave it up to the voters to decide whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And that only scratches the surface. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America. And together, you, John Edwards and I will do that on November 2nd.

For four years, George Bush has stubbornly misled America and taken us in the wrong direction.

He's misled America's workers – he told them his economic plan would create 6 million jobs. The truth is we've lost nearly 1.8 million since George Bush took office. He said his plan would create 266,000 jobs in Ohio. Instead Ohio has lost 230,000 jobs since he took office -- 112,000 jobs since the recession ended in November of 2001. Earlier this week, his Labor Secretary even said outsourcing was good for America. I don’t believe that. John and I have a plan that will put an end to tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and reward companies who create and keep jobs here in America. And we have a plan that will give tax credits to employers who create new jobs – and we’ll eliminate capital gains taxes for those who make long-term investments in their small businesses. We’ll also help small businesses meet the rising costs of health care – costs that keep so many of them from hiring and expanding.

For four years, George Bush has misled America's families – saying he had a health care plan for America. The truth is he's done nothing as 5 million more Americans have lost their health care, bringing the total number to 45 million people without coverage nationwide. In Ohio, 114,000 people have lost their health coverage since bush took office, bringing the total number of Ohioans without coverage to 1.4 million. John and I have a plan to make quality health care affordable for all. Because we believe that your health care is as important as any politician’s in Washington, DC.

When it comes to getting gas prices under control, George Bush has misled America. America is more dependent than ever on Mid-East oil. John and I have a plan to make America energy independent by investing in new technologies and alternative fuels. John and I believe we need to rely on American ingenuity and brainpower to ensure our country's freedom and independence, not on the Royal Saudi family.

Worst of all, George Bush misled America when he took us to war in Iraq. The truth is, when it comes to Iraq, it’s not that I would have done one thing differently, I would’ve done almost everything differently. I believe it’s time we had a president who told the American people the truth.

We need to take America in a new direction. And we have a specific plan to do just that. So tomorrow morning, John and Elizabeth and Teresa and I are hitting the road on a bus tour across America’s heartland. From here, we’ll go out and talk with Americans in towns across Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. And because a stronger America begins at home, we’ll talk about our plan to create jobs, cut taxes for the middle class, lower health care costs, and make America safer and more secure.

I believe we can be stronger at home – we can create jobs again, get health care costs under control, and make ourselves independent of Mid-East oil – but George Bush's policies won't get us there. And I believe we can be more respected in the world – but it won't happen with George Bush's arrogant, go-it-alone foreign policy.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Convention Idols

All summer we've watched da Idol, half-heartedly. At the beginning of the top 10 competitions, I told Mark that Kalan, Jacob & Theresa would end up in the top three. Right now, they are in the top 4 so we'll see.

We didn't watch da Idol at all the week of the DNC. During the Democratic Convention, we were glued to C-Span. Unfortunately, we've not been able to stomach much of the republican convention this week. Both of us end up hollering at the TV and throwing the remote in disgust. It's tough to hear so much hatred and so many lies. It's pretty disgusting what they have had to resort to without a strong record to stand on. I heard it referred to as a "pit of hate" on the radio today, it sure seems to be an accurate way to describe it.

Sad but true.

One thing that made me smile today: Having lunch with Mark. He wasn't working today so he came down to campus and we had a picnic by the lake. Ordinarily, I eat my lunch at my desk so getting away from the office and sitting by the water felt really good. The sun was warm but it wasn't too hot and it was pretty cool to watch the sail boats go by.

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

hump day

I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep well last night and would have loved to have stayed home and rested but I couldn't. I'm here, in the office, taking my lunch break and typing this entry.

Last week, everyone in the office was sick with something, either a weird virus that caused vertigo or a cold or even pink eye. Earlier this week, I was feeling stuffed up (yes, I'm going to whine a little) and was terrified that I too, was getting sick. I had a bad cold already once this summer, I was not thrilled at the prospect of getting another. Fortunately the stuffiness passed but I'm still feeling yucky so maybe I have something afterall. Maybe it's why I didn't sleep last night, I don't know.

The week is flying by so that's kind of good. I've had a lot of meetings which I'm not thrilled about. My boss is away and I'd hoped to use the time to get things caught up but it's not looking like that. I'm also pissed because we've been invaded by these worker guys who are doing wiring in our building. They are making huge messes, stirring up dirt and bugs and all kinds of crap and I'm not entirely convinced that the stuff they are stirring up isn't responsible for everyone being sick in here. /whine

One thing that made me smile today: I actually had an excellent customer service experience this morning. I had to call Manulife about an issue to do with my insurance policy. I called first thing this morning, about 1 minute after the phones opened. I was greeted by a woman named Catalina and she was actually nice, helpful and courteous. I've had some pretty horrible experiences with customer service recently so I wasn't expecting much. Catalina restored my faith in phone service. Yay Catalina!