Musings on a Small Life

You probably can guess from the (temporary) header pic that Dad and I were in Lemoine Point yesterday afternoon.  :-) A zillion chipmunks everywhere, more than I've ever seen at one time. It must be a good breeding year for them! Lots of ducks too, and they had no problem coming very close, no doubt are used to being fed by humans. It was a hot day, so lots of people were out sailing, even fishing. I don't think I'd eat anything that was caught from that water, though. Of course I took too many wildflower snapshots...I told you it was a sickness! We were pretty dehydrated, tired and sticky by the time we made it back to the car. We weren't walking even two hours, but stupidly didn't take any water, had gone right after lunch. By the time we got home, we were well overdue for cold beer. LOL. We had done some shopping in the morning: groceries, then shoes--just sensible dressy walking/work shoes and another pair of work shoes for me. I had wanted to find comfy wal...

It's been busy at the office this week--feast or famine, with the "feast" being a bit too bountiful right now. I'm trying to wrap up a number of things before Dad's arrival tomorrow and my upcoming week off. So of course I'm updating my blog instead. LOL. One cute perk, though: Remember my post about the little corner store ( MolaMola ) from which I bought that funky shoulder bag made by Global Mama s? Well, I was at the store yesterday for some munchies and the owner said he had a box of sundresses and skirts that were not for sale, but for give-away, and to help myself. I asked him repeatedly if he really wanted to offer me one, because he could be selling these, but apparently they are for promotional purposes and weren't intended for sale. So I took a fuschia sundress to wear around the house:   Bad snapshot, you can't see the criss-crossing upper part with the detail, or tell that it's got a hidden side zipper. I should have hung it up fir...

Yeah, okay, I've done several loads of laundry and wow, my oven looks sparkling clean, but that's it. I haven't even hauled out the vacuum. I figured, why bother, since I'll have to clean later this week before Dad gets here anyway.  Much more enjoyable to curl up with a book and to nap. I had a latté and espresso brownie with a friend yesterday, and we did some shopping too. And I walked the 5.something kilometers to Wal-Mart this AM for a number of items. Got my upper body workout hauling the stuff home. Hey, walking up a few blocks from the bus stop while carrying several very heavy bags counts, right? Goddess knows, it just about did my arms in! Five working days to get through, then I'll be off for a week. Hurrah. And since we all have our first ever performance review and follow-up this week (individually, of course), I'll be more than ready to get out of Dodge for a while after it's all over. (Don't ask. This is being enforced now for all sta...

Tell me why I have to be an adult and suck it up all the time? You know, pull on the big girl panties? Because really, sometimes I just feel like hiding out for a while and pretending the world and my responsibilities don't exist. Just for a few days. Am I the only one who feels like that, even at my age? LOL. Nothing serious going on, I'm not having a "bad" day, just would like some down time. Which I'll get with Dad's visit, since he'll be here next Friday. I'll be taking the week of June 20th off and I'm not checking my work email! So there!  :-P As for a few other things... Here's the ginger cat I thought was abandoned or neglected and took to the humane society last year--long story. It's somewhere in my blog archive, so I won't rehash it. I won't even bother looking for the links. Obviously he's still around his home and doing okay. I snapped this a couple of days ago, walking on that street. Also snapped that...

I know, I know, the old Hawaii Five-O line was "Book 'em, Danno," but in this case, it's definitely "Donna." Travel agent Donna (whom I use for work) has managed to get a fabulous return airfare for me, from Ottawa to Halifax in mid-September. I'm going because Mom really doesn't want to leave Harry at this time and we haven't seen each other in almost three years. Two years? No, I think it will be three years in the fall. Frankly, I'd rather she came here--I had a few sewing projects lined up for her and to be honest, I would feel more like an adult on my own turf, if that makes sense--but since that's not doable, Mom offered to pay the fare. So really I couldn't say no. I'm just glad that miracle-worker Donna got such a great deal, because air fare in Canada typically is expensive, with so few options for travellers. I'll take the train to Ottawa, then fly from there. That means the flight will be only an hour and a ha...

Happily, I'm still here out in cyber space today, and no harm has befallen me--knock on wood--at least yet.  :-D I'm working on an annual project at the office, nothing trying, just finicky detail stuff. Can't think why I'm dragging my heels over this, can't imagine why I'd rather be traipsing through the woods with my camera instead. I still have a number of little things to take care of before Dad gets here next week, plus need to start my shopping list--I always stock up because he has his rental vehicle for his trips. At least most of the cleaning is done. Obviously I won't get the trim finished/painted or the stairs done or the kitchen cupboards painted before he arrives. Mostly I'm looking forward to seeing Dad and to having a few days away from the office. Can't take the entire time off (not enough vacation time, what with other family obligations, plus my own life "stuff" here), but I'll take five days split up over the we...

Okay, so I've had some creative storytelling from Mr. Handyman today. My reply will be the last contact I make with this person, though I don't think he'd be inclined to email again. This is his response to my email this AM to come and get his things by June 20th: Geez Kim...keep the damn things then or throw them out. You actually called the police? I didn't know they were taking up so much of your garage. [WTF? I'm not a storage facility!] Just to let you know where I have been....I had an apartment and the day I was scheduled to move in, I discovered it had been rented to someone else. So I had to find another one. And I had to pay my existing landlord $30 a day to stay. Then, after finding a new place, the mover I had booked cancelled on me the morning of the move,. So I had to rent a U Haul Friday night and I moved all weekend. Oh...and this Friday, I go in for my first Chemo treatment for 2 Malignant tumours I had removed 2 weeks ago. Should you requ...

Just a block or so up from our office on campus there's a corner store, Mola Mola , that's been there forever. I've seldom gone in, only because I normally bring lunch and have no need to pick up anything. But they've always had awesome organic and fair trade stuff, which is pretty cool for a little corner store in our small city. I popped in Wednesday morning, in dire need of something cold and sweet--but not too sweet--to drink. The store owner (the son of the original owner) suggested a couple of iced tea drinks that were really good, low on sugar compared to others, and less expensive. Nice. Then I noticed he's now carrying fair trade bags: shoulder bags and laptop bags made by Global Mamas . In this case, women in Ghana. Turns out his store is the only retail outlet in all of Canada to partner with Oxfam to raise funds via in-store and on-line merchandise. How awesome is that? This tiny corner store on an obscure street in our small city. So today I ...

I have a conviction that I should fine a handyman without a conviction of possession of stolen property and violation of parole. Big surprise. Not. LOL. Well, I'm 99.99% sure it's the same guy, since the name, including middle initial, is the same and the age is correct. His last name isn't that common, there only two in the phone book, of which he is one. And the other doesn't have a first name that begins with the same letter. From court briefs in our local paper, posted two months ago. Not sure why I didn't find this when I was Googling him a couple of weeks ago. "So-and-so, 48, was convicted of possessing property by crime and violating probation. He was credited with six days of pretrial custody and sentenced to a further seven days in jail." These would be the times he was off "visiting his mother," I suspect. I don't have a problem with the criminal record, and I've no quibble about what he's done in the house--it's...

I really was blown away by the comments you were kind (and open) enough to leave yesterday. I hadn't expected that kind of sharing when I posted, was just "talking" about something that I've been struggling with, particularly since Annie's death (15 weeks today). I have the two blogs for this very reason: There are many things that I won't write about on the cats' blog, that's not what it's for. But my own...Well, here I have the freedom to post the absurd or ugly or joy-full or tragic. Life is messy and it certainly doesn't get "tidier" as we get older. I want you all to know how deeply I appreciate your honesty and openness and sharing. It really does help that others understand how I feel (in this case me, but could be anyone) regarding Annie's treatments, pulling in to oneself for self-protection (or distracting oneself from grief), the fears of impending loss. I think the sharing has immense value, because you never know ...

I've been thinking a lot about emotional resiliency over the past number of months, mostly because I don't seem to have it. Parental divorce, various moves, job changes, my own split from my ex, the brief rebound, loss of friends, Chumley's sudden death, then Annie's mysterious health problems and death....All these have taken me years to recover from. I'm still working on getting past Annie's loss, of course, still break down every now and then into sobbing fits. Yet I read various blogs on the Cat Blogosphere and elsewhere, see that they experience the loss of beloved fur (and human) family members (using fur family for example--loss comes in myriad forms of course), and still seem to bounce back and readily embrace another adoptee, knowing full well that in the future they will experience another agonizing, heart-wrenching, soul-destroying loss. Only they don't seem to view it that way. They seem able to accept the losses and changes and embrace the s...

Yesterday I had intended to go out and do something, anything , given that my Saturday was spent painting and working in the house. But my body just wouldn't cooperate. I can remember the days when I could contort my limbs into bizarre positions while doing home projects without significant repercussions. Alas, those days seem to be over. I was at absolute full stop yesterday. Up at 4AM as usual, went back to bed at 8AM and didn't get up till after 10AM (!), then lounged around and read (mostly outside) all afternoon. Drank beer (okay, it was a lite beer). No chocolate, I polished that off on Saturday while doing the painting. Today's been another matter. I knew , coming in, that things would be a bit crazy. I have a number of projects, or pieces thereof, that are on the go and when I got in, there were too many things at once for 7AM on a Monday. Plus my boss is off tomorrow, heading out of province on a conference for the rest of the week. Can you say frazzled ...