Stresses

Still no sounds coming from the Dungeon. :o( I wonder what is happening down there. MouseGuy? Where are you?

Over at Sam's Place things are getting stressful at just the thought of having no technology. Don't you remember the two days we spent like that in September, thanks to Juan? You must have just gone beserk then!!!! I have to admit that I found that a little stressful myself. My computer is my lifeline to the outside world right now. Sad isn't it? I was never so happy to have electricity again after those two days. It's funny how we could go camping for two days and not think much about the lack of electricity, but in our homes, the story changes.

My stress for today is now gone. Grocery nights are stressful for me. Without a car, it is the most stressful task I have to deal with. Being at the mercy of someone else's schedule is bad enough, but when you have to find alternate arrangements, it is even worse. So all is well now...until next week. THen I shall deal with this again.

Keyboard, why did you say yesterday for the rain to "fill er up"? Holy lightening it rained hard yesterday and today. I've had about enough of it. I don't mind light rain, but this torrential, cold rain is piercing. I've been feeling chilled to the bone. My father, being a farmer, always told me I had chicken manure in my blood. Perhaps he was right. Brrr.... Cold rain go away and bring on the sun.

Too Busy

Today has been a whirlwind day. Too busy to say much tonight. Sure do hope this rain bring a nice spring behind it. Here's hoping for sunshine tomorrow.

Speaking Different Languages

It would appear that Keyboard doesn't function well in the early morning hours either. It is not just me. He was balking tackwards this morning. He was having a blonde moment too!!!!

Well guys...since you love that second language so much that I understand you use over there at work, I thought I would introduce you to yet another one. See if you can read this and understand what it says:

vi
isder
sominny
more
orsesasses
danderis
orses

Good luck!!! Hope you had a great day!!!!

Spring

I think spring sprung backwards today, but I am ready for it to spring forward again. I even have the outdoor electric grill ready to go. I have to say, though, that it did me no good whatsoever during Hurricane Juan. I still couldn't cook. Now I have a single burner butane stove. That should help in those instances again.

So...Keyboard won't wear shorts. Why not? Are you ashamed of your legs? We all have them. Well at least most of us. Trust me...if I could withstand the ridicule of wearing shorts as a kid with sticks for legs, I'm sure your shoulders could bear the weight of any comments you might get. Besides, I'm told that what we fear is never as bad as the reality of it. So, I'm sure your legs are fine. Dare to bare them, Keyboard. It's a heck of a lot cooler in the summer heat. If they are white, so what!!! Be proud of them anyway. I'm not a sun worshipper and could care less if anyone comments on my white legs. At least I can slow down the wrinkling process.

Keyboard, will you give MouseGuy a poke or something. He doesn't seem to want to come out to play with us. What a party-pooper!!!! I think he keeps himself chained in that dungeon and won't allow himself to see the light of day for a few minutes here and there. Sheesh!!! Are you sure he goes to work? Maybe it is just a virtual copy of him that shows up there. Perhaps he is still down there in that dungeon, never again to see the light of day. Come on MouseGuy. Take a couple minutes here and there to play with us. You're missing all the fun!!! We miss you.

OK. I am bored. Now what? I can't pick on MouseGuy. He won't come out to play with us. I've already picked on Keyboard enough today. Sheesh!!!!!! I'm lost. :-(

Putting Winter Away

With spring finally rearing its head, I can now begin to put winter away and prepare for spring and summer. The winter coats have gone to the back of the closet and the spring ones brought forward. Today I cleaned up the humidifier now that the heat is turned off and the windows opened. Oh the joys of living on the top floor of a condominium. The heat is insufferable in the summer, but at least the heat can be turned off earlier than in a house.

Speaking of cleaning up the humidifier, did you know that bacteria is pink? It may be a pretty colour, but it is rather gross. I guess I should have cleaned it up more often. Next year I will remember that. Yuck!!!

Next, I shall put away the heavy sweaters and bring out the shorts and t-shirts in preparation for those nicer days to come. I love the sunshine, but the humidity and I are at odds. I can't stand it at all. Clothes, no matter how little they cover, are still too much in that weather. It might be interesting (?), though, to watch all those different sizes and shapes wandering around the city naked. You might also want to watch where you sit!

I Concede Defeat

OK. I give up. I have decided there is one thing that I just can't do very well, no matter how hard I try. That would be carving a turkey. I actually think men do a better job of this, for some reason. Or perhaps it is just the men in my life always carved the bird or roast, and I never had to. I think the biggest problem I have is not having the right kind of knife. Have you ever seen turkey sawdust? I know how to do that. You use a serated-edge knife to attempt to carve it. You saw away at the flesh with this knife and, sure enough, you have a cloud of turkey sawdust surrounding the cutting board. It was quite a sight. I eventually gave up near the carcass and pulled off pieces with a fork. Oh well...it all goes down the same way.

The funniest part of cooking the turkey dinner was when I went to take the bird out of the roaster. I don't have meat forks anymore. I left those behind when I moved. So I was using steak forks to try to lift this bird out of the pan. I got it half way out of the pan, and the bird broke into 2 pieces. I had the meaty breast part in my hand. The backbone and drumsticks were still in the pan, with the legs stuck up its a**. Now, that is what I call laying spread eagle!!!!! All I could do was laugh. That has never happened to me before. It was hilarious!

Anyway, supper with the kids was nice, but they have left already, without doing the dishes of course. They still have so much they want to do with their friends. I imagine the day will come when they will want to spend more time with their mother. I look forward to those days. I only hope I am not in a rocking chair before it happens.

Happy Easter!!

What a beautiful day for Easter Sunday! I remember Easter's like this as a kid. I also remember the ones with snow falling, but I'm glad that is not the case today.

I will be enjoying a turkey dinner with my children tonight. I look forward to that. I hope you, too, will be enjoying Easter dinner with your families. I hope Peter Cottontail was good to you.

Have a great Easter!!!!

I have such an interesting life!!!

Well it is another beautiful day. I so wish I had a house so I could be outside doing yardwork, but it is not to be. So I am stuck inside cleaning up. I was just cleaning the bathroom and decided I should clean the sink and tub drains again. Well...let me tell you that there are some wonderful lovelies living in there. I used some baking soda and vinegar to loosen some of it up. That was just disgusting. Good thing I have a strong stomach for stuff like that. I guess I should invest in some drain cleaner before I end up with a clog. The wad of my hair that I took out of the tub drain kind of made my skin crawl. I even use a hair snare, but some gets through anyway and builds up over time. Yuck!!! Such an exciting life I live. Nothing more interesting to do than clean drains or do overtime from work. As a friend of mine who is in the same position tells me, "We so suck!" I think she is right. Even my kids want me to get out and have some fun. I tell them my day will come...someday.

I have to brave these Easter crowds this afternoon just to pick up a few groceries. It really bites to be at the mercy of someone else's schedule to get them when you have no car. I would have preferred to skip the crowds and get them this morning, but that was not to be. Oh well...you do what you have to do, right? Now if I could just convince them to pay for them as well. I didn't win the S7 last night. That went to two ticket holders in Ontario. There is always next week though...$25m then. Wow, now that could change my life. I might actually have one then. (teehee)

I'm a Big Sap!

Today is a beautiful day for Good Friday. Our praise band played this morning for a youth service at the church. It has been a little controversial for the past 3 years that we have done it. A solemn vigil is being held at the same time that we play uplifting music with drums, piano, guitars, and bass, and us singers of course. People believed that the solemnity should not be broken. Our priest, however, believed, as I do, that there is also something to celebrate here as there is with any death. A celebration of life, if you will.

The service was done by one of the parishioners, as has been the case for the past number of years. There is a barren wooden cross erected in the sanctuary beside the altar. The altar lays bare, the cross has been removed, the icon of Jesus and Mary and the crucifix at the back of the church are shrouded with black cloth. The sacrament has been taken from its storage cabinet, and the cabinet left open. The sacrament is then shrouded in white cloth at a small altar in the choir loft where we sang and chairs are set up for those wishing to take part in the vigil. The atmosphere is one of quiet, peacefulness, and solemnity.

Then the music begins with a fast-paced song with a celtic sound to it, and the people begin to sway to the music. After the gospel reading and sermon, people are asked to come forward, if they wish, to kneel at the foot of the cross and leave their burdens there and walk away empty handed, having put them in the hands of a power greater than themselves to help handle them for them. During that time, we sang two songs with a much softer tone to them that gave thanks for the debt that was paid for us all on that wooden cross that black day in Calvary over 2000 years ago. As people knelt there and prayed, and a few tears were shed here and there, I had difficulty singing as a lump began to rise in my throat. The meaning of this day is very powerful for me. I had to concentrate at looking at my words or closing my eyes rather than watching the people gather there, but still my eyes were drawn to them. Those were the most difficult songs to sing today. I'm just a big sap at heart! Then we finished with another uplifting song to carry us through the day, and finally a song of peace.

I heard a quote that said: If love is your greatest weakness, then you are the strongest person in the world. I know this is my greatest weakness. It can get me in trouble sometimes too when some people tend to take advantage of me. As much as that hurts sometimes, I can't find it in my heart to hate them—only to try to understand what is inside them that makes them do the things they do. Trust me when I say, this has been one of those weeks when I have tried to have this understanding for some people. But today, I am totally at peace and will go for a walk to enjoy the weather.

I warned you I was deep, philosophical, and a big sap! May your Good Friday be filled with peace and love. God bless!

Power

There are different kinds of power all around us. There is the power of sunlight and the terrible burns it can emit with its UV rays. There is the power of the wind, and we all know what that can do since September 2003. Power runs my lights and appliances. As I look around my apartment, the word power is all around me. It is on my TV, my VCR, DVD player, microwave, etc. Everywhere I turn there are reminders that power is important in my life. A powerplay is happening at work, and a lot of it I am in the middle of without wanting to be. There is tremendous power in words. Simple words spoken the wrong way can inflict scars that last forever. Kind words emit a good kind of power. It can produce smiles and peacefulness. There is power in hatred, and we've seen that devastation time and again on the news. Unfortunately, it has hit too close to home for many of us. There is a power in the universe that we cannot see. Some call it Mother Earth, some call it astrology, some call it God. Whatever you prefer to call it, I believe it is out there. Otherwise, where did the planets and stars in the universe come from in the first place? There are many things science just cannot explain. How did we all get to be here, alive and kicking? (No...I know that way, silly. I mean in the beginning of time.)

Personally, the greatest power I know is the power of love. Love can endure and conquer all things. There is simply no comparison. To love deeply gives a person strength; being loved deeply gives a person courage. Amen to that!!!!

A Better Day

Today has been a better day than the last couple, thank heavens. Thank you, Keyboard, for the hug. That is very sweet of you. One more day to put in then I have 5 off, not just 4. My EDO falls on Easter Monday, so I get the Tuesday off instead. I will end up bringing work home, but at least I will get paid overtime for it. Woohoo! I won't have to get up at 5:20 for 5 days!!

MouseGuy, I think perhaps it is time to sit down with that remote and figure the darn thing out. It may save some frustration. I thought men were the masters of remotes, aren't they? I know I get frustrated with them. Computers I can figure out. TVs, stereos, and the like are much more challenging, probably because I never took much interest in them.

You know you are getting older (or at least feel old) when...
Tonight was the last parent-teacher interview I should ever have to attend for my children. My son, hopefully if he gets his ducks in a row, will be graduating this year. After 13 years of pushing him to do more than slide by, I look forward to the day I can say, "Yes!! He did it!!" He certainly didn't take after his mother in that respect. I loved school. However, while I was there, I looked around at all the teachers. In one row, there was my grade 8 homeroom and social studies teacher, my grade 11 physics teacher, and my grade 12 physics teacher. I know two of them remember me, and I speak to them every time I am there. Mr. MacD informed me tonight that they only had 2 more years to go and they would be retiring. Good grief!!! Considering I only have to put in 7 more to go on early retirement, that made me feel even older. They must have been really young chickens when I had them as teachers. Where has the time gone?

Municipal Year End

I see on the news that the municipal government ended their fiscal in the black in spite of the natural disasters we had. That is good news. They also say that Rapid Transit is a go-ahead. That's good news for those in Sam's Place and the Dungeon. No lack of work for some time to come. Maybe you guys will finally be as busy as I am. I understand you don't do much over there!! Shall I duck?

Life

Some days life sucks; other days it blows. Today both sucks and blows for me. I hope someone had a good one to make up for it. I think I need a hug.

What a Rush!

It's a good thing it is Holy Week because I have been saying some extra prayers this week let me tell you. This is my story. Now, I am not looking for sympathy. I know I will find that in the dictionary between shit and syphillus. These are just plain facts.

On Saturday night my son attended a party at which his 2-month-old sneakers got stolen. I figured it wouldn't be hard to track down who stole them, considering not a lot of people have size 13 feet. I prayed that someone accidentally wore them home and would return them the next day. My son promptly reminds me that people are not as honest these days as they were when I was his age. He is probably right, and was, since they did not show up. Who would steal a pair of used sneakers anyway?

I didn't need this aggravation since living on a single (and pitiful) salary is not easy. Any extra expense like that is not easy to deal with. So I went to the bank this morning before I went to work and got some money for him to buy a new pair. Then I had to go to the mall at lunchtime to get a pair of insoles for his old sneakers because they are too big and have no insoles in them. At least it would be something in the interim until he could find some new ones.

The day seemed very long and dragged on, and I got ready to go home. I got home, unpacked my backpack and then realized my purse was not in it. Panic didn't creep in, it dove in headfirst!!! It was hard enough to find the money that I really couldn't afford to spend in the first place, but to leave my purse out in the open where it was nearly 98% certain to be stolen (a common thing at work) was complete panic. Luckily I found someone to take me to Halifax in a hurry to check. I had to get there before the outside building doors were locked because they require a card entry, which was in my purse. The rest of the inside doors are key coded, so I could get through those. Let me tell you that I prayed the whole way over there. I rushed into the building like I was trying to save a child from a burning building (not a pretty sight). I walked up to my desk. No purse on the desk. Panic began to take over more intensely. I still had my cabinet key in my pocket, so I unlocked my cabinet. Lo and behold, there it was. I had forgotten to take it out of the cabinet. Praise God!!!

Yes, perhaps it was a blonde moment, but it sure did cause a panic. At least I know my heart is still beating, because it was beating hard. I'll bet you I won't forget it again for awhile. Live and learn.

Happenings

Well...it is really quiet over in the Dungeon this week. Has MouseGuy been put in stocks and gagged?

Sam's Place is going to the apes. It appears that Keyboard now has a new toy. Tsk, tsk. Men and their toys. They just never grow up. Their toys just get more expensive. Perhaps he has purchased a webcam? Maybe a digital camera? It appears he has taken to posting his picture on the web for us all to see. He even provided us with the link. Way to go!!! So...will you be taking pictures of us all to post on your web site now? Do we need to be careful that you may be watching us with a webcam? I guess I really should pay attention to what I am wearing before I sit here to type, shouldn't I? Oh well...I don't need to worry. I don't have a webcam for you to see me. I wouldn't want those pictures posted on the website of horrors!!!

Here at Cloud Nine, well...nothing much new here. I'm off to help out my Mom this afternoon. Then it is some overtime and to watch my favourite shows tonight. Guess I need a life, huh!! Oh well...someday. At least it is a four-day week heading into a five-day weekend for me. The best part will be the turkey dinner. Yummy!!!

Philosophy Lesson

We have all heard these stories that have been e-mailed to us before about "I've learned..." Well a friend just sent me one today. I can agree with most of them and have experienced most of them, but there are some that really stand out at me from my life experiences. This is what I've learned:

- That the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can? (Superwoman syndrome. The suit just doesn't fit me the way it fit her.)
- That love, not time, heals all wounds. (This entails finding love elsewhere. Oh yeah baby!!!)
- That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. (Sure, it keeps them guessing what you are thinking.)
- That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them. (There is no such thing as a perfect man. *ducks*)
- That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss. (Oh yes...they sure will. Grab them while you still can. I've missed a few myself.)
- That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away. (I'm grateful to have had this opportunity. I miss him. He always made me laugh.) :-(
- That one should keep his words both soft and tender because tomorrow he may have to eat them. (Yes, I understand that crow is not that tasty. Yuk!!)
- That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. (Unless, of course, you need braces.)
- That I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it. (That's it...let it all out. You will feel SO MUCH better.)
- That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know this, but my &*#@$%! legs are getting tired from the uphill climb.)

The other thing I have learned from all these stories and jokes is that someone has a lot more time on their hands than I could ever imagine having. I need a job like theirs!!!

Note to Keyboard: Don't forget to change your watches too. You don't want to be late for work on Monday. Those are the clocks I usually forget to change. Who the hell decided we need to keep changing the time twice a year anyway? Someone else with too much time on their hands and wanting to screw up the world?

Update

Keyboard, I'm not in the habit of cooking dates. I might turn up the heat with the right person, but cooking them would go a little overboard. Besides, that would be painful. I'm not in the habit of inflicting pain!!! Perhaps your bifocals are no longer working??

Friday, Finally!!

TGIF!!! Today was actually a good day, though. The powers that be were out of the office today so it was quiet and peaceful. I could do my work without many interruptions today. We even took time to share a story or a laugh here and there today. Then my landlady took me to lunch, so I got out of the office for awhile. That was a bonus too. Trouble with going out to lunch, for me, is that with my food sensitivities, I can make a much more tasty meal at home. I get the blandest meals you can imagine when I eat out most of the time and pay a fortune for it. It kind of takes the pleasure out of it, but it sure is nice to have someone else cook for me for a change.

When I got home, my son had made supper for me. Another bonus. I didn't have to cook at all today. Woohoo!!!! I like that. I get tired of cooking every single meal. Take out is not an option nor is almost any prepackaged food. It's like getting back to the basics of a century or at least a half-century ago. Oh well...life could be worse. At least I am cheap date. No wining and dining for me. Not even popcorn at a movie. Now...what would I do on a date? That's a secret!!!

Can't think. Brain dumb. Inspiration won't come.

I think some April fool stole my brain or maybe it's just that work killed it today. Is it Friday at 4 p.m. yet?