Musings on a Small Life

I didn't get home till 4PM yesterday, and I had left the house at my usual 6:40AM. Honestly, I don't feel like I had a day off! LOL. On the plus side: I wasn't in the office at my somewhat cluttered desk: And I found two rain jackets on sale at WalMart, for $9 each. I couldn't choose between the fuschia or the royal blue, so I got both. I'd pay more than $9 at Value Village for a secondhand one, so thought I got a pretty good deal. My current too-big, too-poofy, lined windbreaker-style jacket, in an ugly green and purple, will return to Value Village in my next donation. I ate too many carbs, but avoided buying any chocolate or cake or eclairs or tarts along the way, no easy feat, believe me. I got three more annuals for small pots for the garden, all pink. Except for potting one, I'm done. I hope they all take, but if not...shrug. I didn't spend much this year, and had a leftover bag of earth from last spring anyway. I had low-lights pu...

I'm off work today...but I'm at the office at the moment to do a quick post. I have no internet or phone service at home right now, and only limited cable. Kind of bizarre I'm getting any cable at all, as all three services are bundled with our cable company. I couldn't stay home today (errands and mid-day low-lights and cut), so the tech can't come out until tomorrow evening, sometime between 5PM and 8PM. I didn't think I could make it till Thursday AM at the office before checking email and the blogs I follow, so I popped in for a few minutes. :-) This is what happens when we become reliant on all this "wonderful" technology! LOL. Have a great day, everyone. I'll be back at work tomorrow, so at least will have access to my cyber world then! Purrs from the boys and peace from me.  

I'm in the middle of endless Excel files, with two looming work project deadlines, but I have to share this, because, well, holy coyote! I stopped at Tim Horton's on the way to work this AM, to try their chai latté. Someone at work had told me, a couple of weeks ago, that Timmies has them. Ugh. Don't bother. It's a tea bag with frothed milk and however much sugar you want, not the lovely spiced chai liquid that makes wonderful lattés. Typical of Timmies, they can't do a decent hot drink. Anyway. I was walking to the office afterward, my usual route from that point, and as I was crossing into the parking lot behind the School of Computing I saw an animal skirting close to the building, zig-zagging a bit. And yep, it was a coyote!  I came to a full stop, freaked out, wondering where it was going. I was quite some distance away, but there was a young woman walking in its direction and when she saw it she came to a sudden halt, turned around and started...

It's a full moon tomorrow night. I swear on all that's holy that it makes me crazier than I already am. I got in to work this morning to a voice mail message from our business officer, questioning whether my boss's breakfast receipts at a receipt conference were valid, because if the conference provided breakfast, he couldn't expense it.  I immediately replied via voice mail, in a very snitty, uppity tone of voice that my boss has never submitted receipts that weren't valid, that breakfast wasn't included and that he doesn't commit fraud. Then I thought, oops, I'd better double check with him, because maybe the breakfast was provided and he chose not to eat it (the food being crappy, perhaps). So I emailed him and told him not to make me eat crow, please. And he replied that the conference "breakfast" was a sticky bun at 8:30AM and that he had real food in the hotel at 6:30AM each day, along with many other attendees who...

Spied yesterday afternoon while waiting for a bus. First time I've seen a car with eyelashes. I've seen antlers, wreaths, and other decorative items, but not eyelashes! Purrs from the boys and peace from me.

It's always like this, my first day back after a few days off. I'm totally disorganized, have so much paper on my desk (and I'm "just" the flunky admin person, not a high-up person) that I don't know where to start, so am ignoring it all and am blogging. Okay, I've done the year-end budget wrap-up already, and have scheduled a meeting, so I've not been completely idle this morning. I'm blaming it all on the fact that I'm wearing the wrong pants! I thought I was wearing black, because my socks are black to match the supposed black slacks, but when I got to the bus stop and looked down at myself in full daylight, I realized I'm wearing navy instead. Not a huge crisis, but I just feel "off," and that's translating into my work day. LOL. *** So, I'm still really happy with the bedroom paint colour. So happy that of course I had added a few smears to the carpet on Saturday, just for that special decorative touch. Not t...

Okay, I sucked it up and got 'er done today. Both coats. Started just past 6:30AM, did the first coat on the bedroom walls and the second on the closet walls and closet doors, cleaned myself up, went for groceries, came back, wolfed down some food and did the second coat. Then spent a couple of hours cleaning up, dusting, vacuuming, doing five loads of laundry (including all the bedding and the bedroom curtains too). I'm beyond exhausted. First coat going on, early this AM.   No Nicki-cats were smothered under the plastic drop cloth covering the bed, don't worry.  I didn't cover him, he wiggled up under there himself, of course. Last time I painted Derry added his personal touch--painted paw prints all over the hall floor and down the stairs. This time he was a good helper. It was me who got paint everywhere, of course.    Cat Guy: I beg to differ on painting being "fun" and "not that much work." All the prep. All the cutting...

Okay, so I'm in the paint store late this morning, getting a colour that's pretty darned close to the one I've been gravitating to for the past 15 months. I'm going with ParaPaints, love their paint, think it's fantastic. (Oh, and I end up with Para's "green tea," btw.) So I get two cans/gallons, and I also have two large shopping bags (the reusable kind) with me, filled with stuff. Not super-heavy. Not even near the amount and weight of what I haul around via the bus on a regular basis. There's a cop talking with a couple of guys at the counter, just chit-chatting, by the sounds of things. The woman who's waiting on me asks if I'm walking, and I say, yeah and busing, but if it's too heavy I'll just call a cab. The cop looks at me (he's older, mid to late 50s, I'd say) and offers me a ride home, says he's leaving shortly. I decline with thanks, assuring everyone there that the bus stop is just across...

A week and a half ago I ordered a small tie-dyed tote bag from the husband of one of the famous (or is that infamous--lol) bloggers, i.e. the Katnip Lounge human dad. He has an Etsy shop with tie-dyed hippy wear and sells tee-shirts, towels, bandanas, totes, and the like. Mine arrived yesterday! Pretty good transit time from the U.S., I think. And I'd like to point out that he shipped it right away, excellent customer service. Very reasonable shipping fee too. The tote will add a bit of colour and fun to my otherwise conservative (read boring, bland, dull....) clothing and accessories. And it will be perfect for my work lunches or for a few items like treats for the boys. I'd love a big one, too, large shopping bag size (hint hint). So thank you, "Scrotchy." I'll check back to see what else you might be adding to your on-line store!

You all know Spring's my favourite season, right?  :-) I've been snapping pics of the fruit tree blossoms like crazy! I bundled up on Saturday, with mittens (yes, it was that cold) and walked around a bit downtown with the little Elph, before doing my errands. Magnolias, on the way out. They're done now.  I don't know if these are cherry or apple blossoms, but they're so pretty.      One of the downtown B&Bs.    Hey, this isn't a fruit tree blossom!  :-) Another B&B  I think this still is a private residence--it used to be, at any rate. I know you've all seen pics of these buildings before, in previous years. Maybe these are crabapple trees? I'm thinking they are, but again, am not sure.        The lilacs are coming into bloom.  Someone told me what this is (probably in a post last year!), but I can't recall now.   I was able to walk the 2 kms t...

[Note: Feel free to skip this, since it's a run down on the service I went to today and isn't for everyone.] I went to a Presbyterian service this morning, my first. Wasn't sure I would go to any service (and how long am I going to church-troll anyway?), but it was conveniently located across from McDonald's (small coffee with double cream plus carrot muffin for $1.45). I had toyed with the idea of going there last weekend, but had skipped it. It's a lovely old church, with the congregation sitting in a half-circle. Similar to the first United church I went to several weeks ago.   All the women were giving little candles in honour of Mother's Day: As for the service itself, it was Communion, which apparently isn't given often. Now, I've not taken Communion in decades, but my experience then and even recently at the Anglican churches, is that you go up to the altar. In this instance the pieces of bread and rice crackers were passed around...

I had physio again this morning (good session, things seem to be coming along, albeit slowly). Of course I had my little Elph with me, since I carry it everywhere. Okay, not the work washroom. But see what just one week of sunshine and summer temps can do? May 1st   Today, a mere week later.   Plus a lovely tulip display!       Would that Spring could last several months, not the week or two (or less--ha) that we typically get. There's no season more soul-renewing and glorious for me! Purrs from the boys, peace from me.  :-)