Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Sick Day

Feeling down and out with this cold/flu/throat infection thing. I feel like I swallowed two golf balls covered in fire ants while simultaneously being beaten with a baseball bat. I want to sleep and then sleep some more. But oddly enough I still hate just laying in bed. I have been in bed since last night at 5pm. and I have slept for rather a lot of that. When I have not been asleep I have been staring at this computer waiting for something to entertain me and make me forget I feel like I have been hit by the dump truck of misery and quite frankly it is boring. Being sick is boring. I would actually much rather be at work where at least I would feel marginally useful. I am going back to sleep. Bah humbug.

Friday, September 17, 2010

A weekday morning!

The last few mornings I have been trying an experiment. I have deliberately NOT set my alarm clock. Rather then tossing and turning and cracking my eyes open every 10 mins. I have decided just to wake up the first time I look at the clock. Okay not the FIRST time because today that was sometime in the 4am hour but the first time it is reasonable. What I have discovered is that my body gets up all on its own at about 6:20am with no ill side effects. I get up, take the dogs out for their business. These days it is still dark at 6:20 so I have to grope around in the dark a bit to find my robe or sweat pants but that's not so bad. I have a cup of tea, I hang out on Facebook, check out Flickr, read the paper online and watch the sun slowly creep into the sky. Some mornings if I am feeling ambitious I throw in a load of laundry or scoop the litter box but mostly I just give my self an opportunity to wake up at a more leisurely pace. As a result I have noticed I am less hostile in the morning when I rouse my sleeping husband at 7:30ish. I forget less and feel less frazzled as I am running out the door in the morning. I feel less guilty about being away all day because I have spent roughly an hour extra hanging out with the dogs. All and all I call my little experiment a success... and just in case I keep on sleeping? I have a back up alarm set on my cell phone to tell me when it is 7:30 :)

Monday, September 13, 2010

... signifying nothing.

Today was one of those Mondays that give all the other ones a bad name. Although it started off great with a very productive 6:30 start it quickly went to shit, literally Oliver had a poop accident while I was in the shower and Lulu peed on the dining room floor while I was getting my shoes on to take them out. I wasn't going to let this dampen my spirit. I made a cup of tea, folded some laundry, put a new load in and checked my facebook. I also got Gil up and dressed and we both out the door with plenty of time to spare. I knew I would have a little extra work on my desk when I got in today because I was off on Friday but I wasn't expecting the MOUNTAIN of work waiting for me. Nor could I have foreseen the 8 billion customers would call first thing in the morning each with an urgent rush order. Certainly I didn't predict the my co-worker would be out sick with the flu so I would have to juggle the madness on my own with no time to stop for breaks or lunch.
Anyway I got through the day just fine with the help of many cups of tea and a very understanding boss. But when I got home my tummy started bugging and now it has developed into a fully on tummy ache which totally sucks. I had plans to get some stuff done this evening but I really only did dishes and some laundry, which I suppose is better then nothing. The house is really starting to come back together which is making me very happy. I just need to put in a little effort everyday to keep  it that way. I don't want to slide into winter funk and have the house look like one of those crazy houses on Hoarders. It helps that I am hosting book club at the end of the month and really want people to not think I live in a sty. I can't wait until the Autumnal Equinox so I can bring out all my beautiful fall decorations. I think I might love them even more then Christmas decorations.
Anyway it is getting late and I have another full day tomorrow. 6:30 comes SO early.
Sweet dreams.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Another round of Sunday mornning muisings.

Sunday morning, dogs are sleeping, husband is sleeping, cats are wandering the house in pursuit of phantom bugs and the tea is steeping. The only noise is the low hum of the dish washer and the rustle of the trees outside. That will change in the next hour as it is Air Show weekend I live under the flight path so I plan on enjoying the quiet now. Speaking of things changing... We have truly gone from summer to autumn in the blink of an eye. This morning I have all the windows closed and I have pulled out socks and a sweatshirt. I don't mind at all, this 10-15 degree weather is my VERY favorite but it is just weird because last week it was 41 with the humidex. It really is like someone just flipped a switch.
I just walked into the kitchen and found Mango on the stove trying to eat the beautiful Gerbera daisies that Aimee brought me yesterday. I guess I know who spilled the vase all over the dining room table last night. The same dining room table where my laptop and camera were resting for the night. That is one lucky cat let me tell you. If either were permanently damaged she would be in the stew pot tonight.
So in totally not related news I have decided to submit a couple of my pictures into a photo competition. It is a "just  for fun" thing but I am pretty excited. I have working hard at improving my skills. It isn't easy with no training whatsoever but I plan on fixing that soon. In order to keep my self out of the depth of despair about our canceled Mexico trip I plan on focus all my energy on getting better at photography and planning a trip to NYC. I don't want to give into the winter blues this year so I am developing a game plan.
Gil just woke up and we are going to have some breakfast  

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Lest We Forget.

All my life I have been touched in some way by Remembrance Day. We always attended the ceremonies both because my Poppa served in WWII and because my brother was a drummer in a Scottish pipe and drum band and he was usually playing at these events. It was always cold and rainy and as a child I was bored after the first ten seconds. 1984 my sweet mother passed away the day before Remembrance Day and it has tainted every subsequent year.  Because of I was so young when that happened I never grew to appreciate the true meaning of the day. I was mired in my own loss for so long I did not see that we were coming together to give thanks and gather comfort for a much larger loss. And then September 11th 2001 happened.
It was the first time in my consciousness that the world lost together, suffered together, wept together. It was the first time I felt depth and breadth of humanities ability to unify, to love and be compassionate. It was also the first time I truly understood the hatred people can harbour in their hearts. This is my Remembrance Day. And though I will continue to honour the great men and women who serve in the Armed Forces on November 11th. I will continue to be sad and grateful for all they sacrifice; I can't help but feel my connection to 9/11 in a much more visceral, tangible way. I will be able to recite for the rest of my life when I was, what I was doing, how I felt and how my life was directly changed by that day. I am so fortunate that none of my loved ones were lost that day. I have no direct connections with anyone involved in the events that unfolded but I am a member of the human race and that is enough to have been wounded by that day.
The years that have followed, the wars, the loss of lives, the insane rampant racism, the civilization living in a constant state of hyper alertness, these have taken a toll on our humanity.
We can not honour the fallen with violence. We can not grieve with malfeasance. We can not heal with hate. As the great Doctor said "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Don't burn a book today. Don't look with suspicion on a man getting on an airplane because he looks "Arab". Don't cast judgment on a woman who chooses to express her faithfulness and fidelity to god by covering her face. Don't left fear a suspicion take a foot hold in your heart. Remember what happened 9 years ago, feel it, talk about it, try and understand why it happened. Be angry and sad and mourn but then go out into the world and love because that is how the good guys really win.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Sorry I have been so absent lately. I have been focusing on the picture a day blog and it ate my brain a little.
Last week I was totally consumed by getting my neurotic dog healthy again. In the course a massive anxiety induced melt down he managed to shed 12 lbs. which is a lot when you are dog, specifically when you are a Greyhound with precious little mass to start with.  It took many days of hand feeding and gentle encouragement not to mention some very expensive anti-anxiety meds but he most certainly on the mend. In fact he seems to really doing well on these pills, he has become much more outgoing. The other day he was even PLAYFUL. In fact he got so excited that he bit me. Of course I freaked out and screamed (it was a reflex) and he ran back to his crate but not for very long, he recovered very quickly as did it. No worries about my hand, he didn't break the skin.
Lulu continues to be a crazy bag of fun. Her daddy isn't too impressed with her this morning because she had a MASSIVE pee in the kitchen. He was on pee duty because I have the day off and wanted to sleep in. Poor daddy, no one likes to wake up to a lake of urine in the kitchen, but that is why I get up at the ass crack of dawn, I don't want to spend my morning cleaning up the pee.
Anyway. I have been negligent but I promise I will try harder. I have some food stuff to tell you about so stay tuned!