return from hiatus

I never intended to be away for two weeks. Funny how that happens though huh?? The week before last was one of the busiest work-week's of the year for me. It was super stressful too. Our office puts on one of those "big and annual" types of events and it was held over the October 22 weekend. I wasn't as involved with it as I had been in previous years but I worked for a good chunk of the weekend all the same.

One of the benefits of being "not so involved" was that I was able to escape on Saturday, during the day. Mark and I took off to Toronto for what was to be a two and a half day break away. Saturday was terrific. We had a gorgeous drive to TO, saw some friends, had a terrific meal and opted for an early night. The next day, when I woke up, I was in a bad way. I had developed a cold and it had gone straight into my back (actually the top of my left hip but for the sake of argument, we'll call it my back). This is a weakness that I have developed as an adult. When I don't have a cold in my back, I'm as strong as an ox. On the odd occasion that this happens, the only thing that helps, is bed-rest and a heating pad. After a hot shower, I was feeling a little more mobile so we went on about our day. We did a couple of errands and I could feel myself loosening up, maybe this wasn't going to be quite so bad. By the time we got to our friends' for brunch, I could not stand up straight. Several hours later, I knew I had to go home. We checked out of our hotel early, grabbed dinner and then headed for home.

I was never so happy to see my own bed as I was Sunday night. This week was pretty ugly. Monday and Tuesday were spent on my back, on the heating pad. The last two days, my back has felt great, totally back to normal. Right now though, I have some kind of weird stiffness in my neck and cannot turn my head to the right. I feel old and broken right now. Honestly though, I think that this is just cold related. I still feel stuffed up in the mornings and I've had a small cough that comes and goes.

Stiff neck and all, we went to see "Ray" yesterday. I very much enjoyed it. The music, of course, was fabulous and I thought that Jamie Foxx was spookily good in his role as the legendary Mr Charles. For a long time, Mark and I had stopped going to the movies but we've now been to see two, in as many weeks. I must admit, I loves me a Saturday matinee. It feels like it's turning into something that we're going to be doing on a regular basis again.

Amongst all of this whining and crawling around, I've managed (with Mark's fabulous help) to get ready for Halloween. We don't go nuts and turn our yard in a cool cemetery like some of the neighbours do but we do put up our orange and purple light and get the skeleton and pumpkin out. I spent a couple of heating-pad-riding-evenings last week making up goodie bags. I have treats for 120 kids this year. That should be enough. Last year I had just over 100 kids at my door.

One thing that made me smile today: The time change. When I woke up this morning at 5 a.m. and realized it was actually 5 a.m., I was a happy kid. I have done a load of laundry, tidied up the downstairs and taken a few minutes to write in this blog with my found hour. What did you do with your extra hour?

finally finished

For a short week, it seemed pretty long. Actually, the time flew by but there was a tonne of work on my plate so it seemed long. Funny how you get a day off but the time you spend making it up later on the week really takes away from the break. Anyway, it's over and I'm happy.

Mark's cold is feeling much better today. Unfortunately, he smashed his fingers in a window this morning so he's in a lot of discomfort. He ended up having an unplanned day off from work today so he decided to put two of the air conditioners away. In his dad's room, the inside windows are really sticky (we have two sets of windows on each window -- it's an old house) and the big, heavy, wooden window smashed down on both of his hands.

This weekend, I think we'll do very little. He's got to get over his cold and I've got to rest up. Next week will be really nuts at work. Anyway, tonight we had a nice dinner out and we're heading to bed early. Tomorrow, we have a tonne of errands to do and we really want to see Team America: World Police.

One thing that made me smile today: We had picked up a copy of America the other evening at Costco. I finally had a chance to read a bit of it tonight and it is hilarious. If you like the Daily show, you should pick it up, it's terrific!

the finale

So the last debate is tonight. We're looking forward to it. On Friday night, Bush seemed slightly more coherent than he had in the first debate but I still felt that he was really under-prepared. You would think that his handlers and coaches would be able to do a better job brain-washing him but I guess they can't. I find it ironic that a man who had no record in Washington, prior to stealing the presidency, can criticize someone who has been in the Senate for 20 some years. I shouldn't be surprised either, I mean, he is also a chicken hawk who will criticize someone's service record. He's a twisted fuck.

I'm fighting a cold right now I think. Everyone around the office has something and I've been trying really hard to not get sick myself. I just hate how folks won't stay home when they are barking and coughing all over themselves. It's gross and no one wants your germs!

One thing that made me smile today: Free sinus medication. My doctor gave me a bunch of samples of a nasal spray that should help with the sinus problems I've been having lately. She's the best!!

back to work

The long weekend was nice but I find that you always pay for that day off. This week is shaping up to be absolutely insane here at the office. Oh well, c'est la vie, right?

In lieu of anything better to say today, here is this week's edition of TV Tuesday: Week 27 - New Seasons

1. Is there a new show that's caught your attention? Good or bad?

Desperate Housewives. I TiVo'd the first 2 episodes and we watched them last night. I hadn't expected too much, to be honest, but we enjoyed it. It's not the best thing I've ever seen but I like the tongue-in-cheek writing and the cartoony sets.

2. Were there any season premieres you were just dying to see? Did they live up to the wait?

We always look forward to the new season of NYPD Blue and this year was no exception. It was a good episode, it set the tone for the final season. I think it's going to be a good year.

3. What's your all time favorite season or show premiere?

I would have to say that it's usually the annual Treehouse of Horror episode of the Simpsons. The last couple of years, that's been the season premiere and it's always good.

~Bonus~ Did you ever end up liking a show that you disliked the premiere of? Which show? Why?

King of the Hill. When I first saw it, I didn't really care for it. A few months later, I was visiting my brother and watched it with him and quite enjoyed it. I've been a fan ever since. I can't tell you what it was exactly about that first episode I didn't like because I've seen it several times since and think it's funny. I just must have been in a weird mood that day I guess.

One thing that made me smile today: I got a terrific deal on some Halloween lights tonight after work. I got two strings of orange and two strings of this weird purple colour. Sometime this weekend I'm going to put them up in our kitchen windows. yay!

a day late and a dollar short

We had a nice dinner at my mum's tonight. It wasn't the same as seeing the whole fam-damnily at my Aunt's yesterday but it was nice all the same. For a change, we managed to survive an entire Thanksgiving weekend without having to eat turkey which was very nice.

Other than dinner at mum's, we didn't do much. I was still feeling a little crappy so we slept in this morning again. It was so nice to be so lazy. My head is still a little weird but overall, much better than it had been. I'm not sure whether I have a sinus infection or it's just allergies or what it is. I'll see my doctor this week so I'll ask her about it then. It's odd.

One thing that made me smile today: It was great to see my parent's today. As the crow flies, they don't live that far from us but we still don't see them very often. I don't remember the last time the five us got together for a meal. Yikes, that's sad huh?? Anyway, it was a very pleasant visit and a nice meal. I'm pretty sure that a good time was had by all.

sore

I had the sinus headache to beat all sinus headaches today. It hurt so badly that my teeth ached. Unfortunately, this meant that we couldn't go to Thanksgiving at my Aunt's place. We have enough romaine lettuce in our fridge right now to make Caesar salad for an army.

My head's still a little whoozy but at least I can almost focus right now. For the best part of today, I couldn't read or anything. It was pretty messed up.

One thing that made me smile today: Mark. He totally waited on me hand and foot today, trying to make me feel better. He is the best.

running around

We slept in this morning, quite late too. It was really dark and dreary when we woke up and I think that's why we didn't get up when we should have. It's okay though, I think we both must have needed the rest of we wouldn't have done it.

When we finally did get up and get moving, I called my mum. They were moving really slowly over at her place too and we decided to not bother getting together today. I'll see my Aunt and Uncle tomorrow at Thanksgiving dinner. It was kind of good that we cancelled because our day was starting really late.

Originally, we had planned to take a bunch of garbage to the transfer station. back in the spring, in our continuing effort to "clean sweep" our computer room/office, I had thrown a bunch of stuff out. Rather, I had bagged up a bunch of crap and we put it out in our garden shed. It's getting close to that time when we should be putting our patio furniture and outdoor stuff away for the winter so the trash has to be gotten rid of it. According to the city's website, the transfer station was open until 4:30 p.m. We got home at 3 p.m. from running errands. We quickly put away the groceries and filled the car with bags of trash. We got to the transfer station at 3:25 p.m. The guy was locking up the gate and the sign said that they actually closed at 1 p.m. Mark hollered over to him, asking if he knew where the landfill site was. Of course, he didn't have a clue. We decided to run over to the recycle centre because we knew that it would still be open and those guys might actually have a clue. Lucky for us, we were right. They were super friendly and helpful, although not exactly confident. I was informed that the landfill was still open but that the guy closed up at 4 p.m. and that "you'll never make it in time." After being given directions to the 4th Concession, I ran back to the car and we raced up there. We made it to the dump with five whole minutes to spare. It felt so good getting rid of all that crap. We'd already taken countless trips to Goodwill and Value Village previous to this, this was truly crappy crap-crap-crap. Now, we have plenty of room in the shed to pack away patio furniture and air conditioners. Yay!

One thing that made me smile today: When we were traveling from the transfer station to the recycle centre, we saw a huge turtle on Dalton Avenue. It was massive and we were really worried about it. We stopped our car, in an attempt to stop traffic so it could get across the street but this asshole in a sport car, pulled up and passed us, narrowly missing the turtle. We pulled up a bit and were just about to turn around and go help him out when a young guy in a pick-up truck stopped, got out of his truck and picked the turtle up. The turtle's legs were flailing and you could tell he was thinking "what the fuck buddy?? Leave me alone, I'll get there eventually." The young guy gently put him down on the other side of the road. It was so nice to see somebody do something like that. We honked our horn and cheered for him and then carried on our way.

tgif

What a week it's been. It's gone by so quickly, it's really hard to believe that it's Friday again. I'm happy but still surprised. Today was so busy, at around 3 p.m., I was sure that I was going to have to call Mark and tell him that I was sticking around until 6 or so. Fortunately, I ploughed through a bunch of stuff and left the rest. I walked away from it at my normal time. The chaos was sort of organized though so it shouldn't been too hard to manage when I get back into the office on Tuesday.

Today has been an absolutely gorgeous fall day. The sun was shining and it was very warm. I actually wore sandals to work today. Mind, this is the probably the last day I'll be able to get away without wearing socks for a very long time but that's okay.

The long weekend should be fun. My aunt and uncle are in town from Calgary. They've been staying at my mum & dad's place and we're planning to see them tomorrow. They have never seen our house so we'll have them over for the nickel tour. The house isn't really clean or anything but I'm not going to go nuts worrying about it. Most likely, I'll push the hoover around and tidy up a bit. I'm really looking forward to seeing them. The last time I saw them was Easter 2003 so it's been a while.

Tonight, the only thing we have planned is to watch the final presidential debate. I am really looking forward to it. I've never liked the Bush family and it's been horrifying to see what they have done to the US over the past three and a bit years. Early on, I got really frustrated by the news in the states and stopped following much of what was happening down south. I took an ostrich approach to it I suppose. Since the end of March though, I have been completely addicted to Air America Radio. I listen to it all day long at work. It's been so refreshing to hear the truth about what's going on.

Over the past few months, as things have ramped up heading toward the US election, Mark and I have been devouring everything we can get our hands on as far as American politics go. I've said this before, our government has it's flaws, as does any, but I think that they are a little more honest and open than the Bushes have been with the poor folks in the states. It breaks my heart that so much damage has been done by people who basically stole the 2000 election. Anyway, our fascination recently, feels like we're watching a sporting event. I mean, I understand how important it is for the entire world that Bush not be re-elected but, we can watch the goings-on with a weird sense of detachment. It's not unlike watching a really long, drawn-out, sports play-off series.

One thing that made me smile today: We have three whole days off. Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone!!

sunny sunny sunny

It's so bright again today. It's just gorgeous, cool, but gorgeous. I spoke a little too soon yesterday about the headache. It came back again last night so I'm wondering if it's not some kind of allergy. It's really only been a problem since the leaves started falling from the trees so that may be the case.

The whole thing has drained me though so I don't have much to say today. Because my brain isn't working very well today, here's the latest edition of TV Tuesday - Week 26 - Sports:

1. Do you watch sports on TV? If so, which?

No I don't. I will make an occasional exception for baseball but it's got to be a very good game. In our house, Mark's dad watches enough for all three of us.

2. Is there a sport you'd like to see more (or less) of on TV?

I pretty much tune it all out so it wouldn't matter to me one bit if there more or less of anything in particular on.

3. What's the most memorable sports moment you've seen on TV?

Probably the Toronto Blue Jays winning the world series for the first time. That was very cool.

One thing that made me smile today: It's kind of small and insignificant but I managed to get a couple of things off of my desk this morning that have been driving me nuts. They weren't complicated or anything, I just hadn't been able to get to them. It's a nice feeling, crossing things off of my never-ending "to-do" list.

good morning

So far so good today. I don't have a headache. I feel well rested. It's all good right now.

It feels a little strange to be wearing fall/winter type clothes again. It's definitely cool outside today and there is no way I could have gotten away with bare legs and sandals like I had done all last week. I'm not complaining at all, I like this time of the year, it's just odd, the adjustment period.

Anyway, clothes and sinuses aside, I'm really looking forward to the Vice-Presidential debate tomorrow night. I've quite enjoyed reading the post-debate who-haw since Friday morning. I'm sure that Edwards will make toast of Cheney tomorrow night. Should be good!!

One thing that made me smile today: Not having a headache. I feel really liberated right now. Having a pounding headache for days on end is no fun at all.

lazy sunday

Because we got so much done yesterday, we were able to just chill today. It was lovely. We actually slept in a little bit this morning. I did not get out of bed until well after 8 a.m. Nice huh??

We actually did not leave the house all day today. There really wasn't any reason to and I'm glad that we were able to hibernate a little bit. I'm truly a homebody at heart and sometimes, it's nice to just close the blinds and shut the world out. Mark made us a really delicious brunch of eggs, lox and onions and then we just watched a disk full of Futurama Season 4 on DVD. It was just what I needed. I still am not feeling 100% better so I couldn't really have done anything more strenuous anyway.

Sometimes, on Sundays, you just have to do nothing.

One thing that made me smile today: Ibuprofen. My head and eyes were throbbing all day. I think it's sinuses and it's making me crazy. The only thing that helped all day was my extra strength no-name Ibuprofen. Go drugs!

unrest

Coulda, shoulda, woulda but didn't sleep in this morning. I woke up at my normal time, around 4:45 or so. I was up for an hour or so and did go back to bed for another hour but it was by no means, the big lie in I'd planned for myself.

Instead of lazing in my bed, I got up and started into my mountain of laundry and then ran out to get some errands done. It wasn't horrible though and I was able to get a lot of stuff accomplished. I actually got all of the laundry done and packed my summer clothes away. The fall stuff is now out and put away, neatly. I even went shopping and picked up a few things for myself today, pants and tops for work mostly. It feel weird but good at the same time to be pulling out the sweaters and hoodies and be thinking about hunkering down for winter. I know that our summer is super short and that everyone always whines about the cool weather but I don't really mind it. I don't think I could live somewhere that didn't have a noticeable change in the seasons. I'd really miss the rituals I think.

One thing that made me smile today: Hanging out with Mark this evening. We both had a busy day today and were kind of wired tonight. We decided, kind of late in the evening for us, to watch the last two episodes of Six Feet Under that we'd had on tape for a couple of weeks now. It was so nice to just chill out with him, sprawled across the sofa watching two of the best hours we've seen on TV lately. I really heart Alan Ball!

the morning after

Oh my goodness but I'm tired today. Pooped totally. The lack of sleep was totally worth it: we stayed up over 2 hours later than normal to watch the debate last night. When we finally did go to bed, I had weird dreams about politics and house parties in our kitchen all night. It was very odd.

At times, I found the whole debate to be very frustrating. As I expected, as he usually does, dub-ya behaved badly. I thought that his posture was horrible and that he was so busy being defensive and sticking to two or three talking points that he missed the whole point of the debate. At the same time, I thought that John Kerry did a fine job of making his points about foreign policy, the war in Iraq and security, when and where he could. Bush was behaving badly, like a spoiled little brat who had a pout on because he wasn't getting his own way.

We watched the whole thing on PBS so I'm not sure how the other networks covered it last night. PBS seemed to stick to the "rules" as they had been laid out but I'm sure that other networks showed split screen shots of both candidates. I'm not an expert on these things and goodness knows that a) I have disliked dub-ya for a long time; b) have been against the war in Iraq from the beginning and c) am a fan of John Kerry's but, all of that aside, it seems like the good Senator came out on top last night. He definitely was cooler, calmer and much better prepared than his opponent. I am sure that the folks who work with him are thrilled to bits about the debate.

For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, I'm looking forward to the vice-presidential debate next week.

One thing that made me smile today: It's finally Friday!