Updates, addictions, and confessions

I didn't mention in my previous posts that our dishwasher finally arrived. It took a lot of shopping and screwing around to come to the stark realization that we are married to the Maytag brand, because they're the only ones who manufacture a slightly shorter model that fits into our friggin' slightly shorter counters.

You might ask: Why would a 5'10" woman move into a house with slightly shorter counters? Oh, the things we do for love . . .

Basically, Eric wanted to move to Calgary for a variety of reasons. It's where he grew up. So we moved here & took over his parents' house. They moved to a condo. Here is the post where I explain it all, and is the root of all this bitching and do-it-yourselfing: Going Art Deco

My stupid addiction that comes and goes: Freecell. Yup. What a dumb game. I first encountered it in the early 90's when they upgraded our computers at work. I read in the description that it is said that every single combination of cards is winnable, even though some of the combinations seem impossible. Well, I rose to the challenge.

You know how Freecell lets you pick which game you want? I began with game #1. Then I played every single game after that. I stopped for a year, started again, stopped for another couple of years, started again, each time starting approximately where I left off. I probably overlapped a few times and played some games more than once.

I'm up to 20397.

I'm still recovering from this whatever I've had for the past 3 days, and instead of spending time with my daughter, she's in front of a movie and I'm playing stupid Freecell.

I'm thinking that today I will make a Big Outing. I think I'll take her to the library.

Ernie, are you reading this?

I've been trying to post comments on your blog, but this wretched new version of blogger won't let me. It keeps circling me around to the sign-in page.

So if it did post after all and if I'm repeating myself, apologies! All I said was that I wish I could come to Florida with you, and that your pendant is absolutely beautiful!

If anyone wants to see Ernie's beautiful work at Gypsy Gold Studios, go here: http://gypsygoldstudio.blogspot.com.

Good news & bad news

The good news is that I made a lot of progress in Garielle's room last weekend. I got the quarter round nailed all around the perimeter, and I primed all the baseboard, and began to paint it glossy dark blue. I also ordered a rug for her room. It will be in in a few weeks.

The bad news is that this weekend I feel like absolute shit. I have a raging sore throat and don't feel like doing anything. I can't remember the last time my throat hurt like this. I'm totally OD'ing on ibuprofen - it doesn't get rid of the pain, but it makes it more tolerable.

Eric says I should go to a walk-in clinic and get on some antibiotics. But they're not prescribing antibiotics like they used to, and besides, I can hardly remain upright long enough to sit in a waiting room. I just don't have the wherewithal to patch myself together, drag my sorry ass to some waiting room, sit in misery while longing to lie down, only to find out that there's nothing they can do but prescribe rest, fluids, ibuprofen, and all of that.

My throat hurt so bad the other night that I couldn't sleep. So last night I took 2 over the counter sleeping pills - my God, I need some sleep to get better, right? But my throat hurt so bad that it kept me awake anyway!

Eric is going to go get some of that stuff that you spray into your mouth that numbs your throat.

So, there goes another weekend, down the drain. Damn.

Designers are kidding, right?

The hottest look for Spring 07 is the "mini-dress." Clearly, folks are confused. These aren't dresses. Are these dresses? Tell me these are dresses. If you believe these are dresses, contact me as soon as possible - I have some tropical beachfront property in Saskatchewan you might be interested in. Heck, you can wear your mini-dress there.

Here's what Saks Fifth Avenue is offering:




































And here is what Nieman Marcus is offering:
























I have a newsflash for you designer fruitcakes out there. These aren't dresses. They're undergarments.


I just had a great idea - let's all of us women over 40 who are a little "overweight" actually wear these dresses. Let's wear them to work, let's wear them to church, let's wear them to the grocery store. The results will be so ridiculous and visually disturbing that rioters will storm the garment districts, demanding mumus for all.

Tomorrow: Happy Birthday, Mom!

Well, tomorrow you would have been 75. As you were eternally youthful, I can't imagine you at 75, but I'm sure you would have made 75 look positively smashing.

I'm drinking a martini tonight to celebrate your birthday, just in case I can't have one tomorrow. I'm going to a work-related function after work, so I might be able to get a martini. But, like you always said, martinis make you take back things you didn't even steal, so I might have to forego that in the name of professionalism.

I had three olives in the martini, as I always do - one for me, one for Sharon, and one for you.

I tried to play some songs on the piano tonight that you used to play, but it made me too sad.

If I really wanted to honour you, I'd wash the damned dishes and tidy the house. You never did like dirty dishes and a messy house.

If I had a cigarette tonight, I think I'd even smoke it.

I still think about you every day and you're still a big part of my life.

Chomping at the bit

Well, I'm back from the conference. It was a good conference.

However, after spending 2 days shut up in a board room all day, I now face 3 days shut up in a board room all day when I go back to work tomorrow, because we're having our on-site. This is an intensive review & analysis of our campaign, and helps determine our course for the coming year. Philosophically I'm on board with it, but I'm going to really go out of my mind at having to spend three more days in a board room, especially after I lost the weekend to a boardroom, basically, and have not had time to do what I want to do for quite a stretch.

And what do I want to do?

I want to move forward on Garielle's room, because I'm getting backlogged in my mind with ideas of things to do for the house!

So NEXT weekend I'm going to measure the perimeter, get the quarter-round, and . . . well, I was thinking about getting finishing nails and one of those counterset thingies, but I'm daydreaming about investing in a nail gun instead.

And I'm also going to put wood filler in all the craggy parts that could splinter.

If I can do all that in one day, then I'm going to paint primer on all the trim the next day.

Woo hoo!

In other news, I think I'm ready to go back to the gym. I'm feeling fully recovered. I can't go until next Saturday though.

Nothing like out of town visitors to inspire a cleanup!

So on Tuesday of this week, we have a visitor from Windsor coming to stay with us for a night.

Our cleaning lady is still in Fiji, and I haven't been feeling well for a month, so as a consequence, our house is in shambles.

Today we did the Big Cleanup. We're not done yet, but by the end of day tomorrow, we should be.

One of the things we're doing is taking a bunch of stuff from our basement to storage, which is something I've wanted to happen for awhile. Our guest room is in the basement, so we need to clear it out a bit. It's a finished basement, so it's not too dungeony for guests. It would be great living space if we got rid of all the boxes and piles and junk.

The only downside is that I was hoping to work in Garielle's room this weekend. The only chances I have are on weekends. Next weekend, I'm going to a conference in Regina. So that extends our current living arrangements, with all our daughter's furniture in our bedroom, for two more weeks. Urgh! And of course, that defers all the other things I want to get at.

This week and next week are a wash - there's so much going on in the evenings that I can't hope to do anything in Garielle's room on a weeknight.

Looks like I can't move forward until after the middle of the month.