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ShinyHappy - Thoughts for August 16th - 30th
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Oh, but I've been a lazy little weblogger! So many days with no updating. I've been trying not to feel badly when I miss updates in recent days, but six days is a bit much for me.
The missed days have been full of stuff to write about, so it's a shame that I did not and will therefore be condensing them into one entry. My memories of those days are slightly fuzzy in places, however, due to the hardcore bout of insomnia I've been trying to deal with over the last week. Ugh. My sleep schedule is messy right now and I may have to take some drastic measures to get myself back on a proper cycle. Progress updates will ensue. Hopefully.
This was a lovely weekend for a few reasons. May, Dan and Noah arrived in Ottawa on Friday and will be leaving sometime tomorrow (Wednesday). We got to spend every night hanging out with our fabulous friends over at Colin and Jen's place. There was much in the way of watching movies, talking, laughing and eating. What made the weekend even more lovely for me, however, was that Mom, Mimi, July and Rowan came to visit on Saturday and had the opportunity to meet all of our dear, wonderful friends. Jen and Mimi had met before, but everyone else was meeting for the first time and I was thrilled that they were. So many of my favourite people in one room together was very happy-making.
It was Mimi's birthday on the 23rd, so I ordered a slab cake from Loblaws for her since I wasn't able to be in Kingston. The Glebe Loblaws makes a rockin' white slab cake and I'd gotten one for the baby shower I hosted for my cousin's new baby. I wanted to get the same kind, but I kind of mistakenly ordered the same size I'd ordered for the shower. Instead of getting a half-slab, I probably should have gotten a quarter-slab. I ended up sending an entire plateful home with my mom and Mimi, took an entire plateful over to Colin and Jen's and still had an entire plateful here to eat on my own. Andrew can't eat it, so it's all up to me. I'll get through it somehow.
Andrew's parents are away on a trip right now and we've had the car for a few days to facilitate our late-night hanging out sessions over at Colin and Jen's place. On Sunday Andrew had the car parked in front of our building to take advantage of not having to feed the meter, which was a normal thing to do and we have done so many times in the past. However, neither of us remembered that it was also the same day that the Rolling Stones were playing at Lansdowne Park, not terribly far up the street from us. So that evening when we happily traipsed out the front doors onto the street, expecting to hop into the car and drive over to see our friends we were instead met with the sight of an empty series of parking spaces, the meters covered with hoods that had 'no parking' symbols on them. Argh!
A series of frustrating phone calls later Andrew managed to track down the car and was able to retrieve it the next day from the lot it had been towed to. Total suckage. Andrew felt very badly about the whole thing, but we all tried to comfort him by telling him that these things happen. They just do.
I have no batteries for the camera right now, which makes me sad because I haven't had any new pictures of Mong to flaunt. His octopus is getting very ratty now and Mong has torn chunks of its rabbit-fur head off. I coaxed May and Jen into going into the pet store with me when we were out for coffee so I could see if they had any like it, but alas, they did not. I ended up buying Mong a little squirrel with a floofy tail that reminded me of a Beanie Baby toy that Alannah's cat used to freak out over. I don't remember what animal it was, but it had a big fluffy tail and drove the cat nuts. I hoped that Mong would similarly freak out about the squirrel, but so far he hasn't seem overly impressed. He likes it, but it isn't wild crazy fun or anything. No. Right now he's thoroughly enjoying a small scrap of brown paper that got torn off of a cardboard box. He's purring like crazy and running around the apartment with it. Apparently that's wild crazy fun.
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08/24/05 More B.U.M. for Mong's butt!
Today Andrew showed me a really neat website. It's called Guess the Dictator and/or Television Sit-Com Character and it's fun! Andrew was impressed with its accuracy and I was all like, "Ooooh, I wanna try too!" So I looked over his shoulder while he clicked answers for me. I thought hard and tried to come up with a kind of obscure sitcom character, but after a while it became pretty obvious that I simply don't know enough trivia about Balki Bartokomous. Andrew said that I sounded just like Ms. Swan from Mad TV (looka like a man). Anyhow, I did some more research on Balki and finally got the thing to guess correctly for me after a few incorrect guesses on its part. It's very entertaining stuff. If you're up on your sitcom characters anyhow. Oh, and dictators ... I guess.
Andrew was exhausted tonight, but Colin and Jen called to see if we wanted to go over to the Clocktower pub with them and hang out for a bit. Andrew decided he was up for it so off we went. We'd already eaten a big old spaghetti dinner so did not partake of any edibles, but I was fascinated by Jen's dish of walnut fettucini. It looked quite delicious and I may have to try it sometime in the near future. As long as there are no mushrooms in it. Jen says there aren't. You never know about these Jens, though. They could be making stuff up.
Anyhow, we sat and chatted and drank drinks and yakked for a while, and some interesting blog talk was also had. Now that Andrew is blogging (he did a quite lengthy blog entry tonight, actually) he's discovering for himself how easy it is to think, "Oh, I can't talk about that; I'm going to write about it in my blog!" I never do that! Ever! Colin admitted to talking about whatever he wants and letting people deal with reading it again in his blog. There was also talk of the fact that, like me, Andrew is (for now) writing his blog in basic HTML rather than using blogging software. I was tempted to get fancier quite soon after I started this blog, but my webspace provider doesn't let me use things that require perl scripts. That's O.K., though. I'm quite fond of my wee setup now.
I'm mulling over the concept of starting a Mong blog, though, since the major MongCon of this weblog might not be to everyone's taste. The only reason I haven't been subjecting all y'all to more pictures of him this last couple of days is because the camera ran out of batteries.
Oooh, today I got a lovely package in the mail from Jerome! And he sent not only gifts for me, but gifts for Andrew and Mong as well! My gift was a French Kitty figure, which is about the cutest thing I've ever owned. Look at her cuteness:
Jerome says that she's a gift for me, but I think perhaps Mong might fall in love with her if I take her out of the box. Hmmm. Anyhow, he also sent a book for Andrew; Winnie Ille Pu Semper Ludet. Translated, that means 'Winnie-the-Pooh will always be playing'. Yes, he sent him a Winnie-the-Pooh book written in Latin. It's quite nice-looking and has a picture of Winnie on the cover wearing a toga and crown of leaves. Mong's gift was the B.U.M. box that it was all shipped in! Yay for Mong! It's a bit bigger than his other B.U.M. box which is a blessing because Mong's butt is also bigger now. Thank you, Jerome! You are such a wonderful, giving friend. You made us all very happy.
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08/23/05 Mong is not a flying cat.
Not a whole hella lotta interesting stuff is going on here at the old apartmentstead. Andrew has been very busy working on a project for work and hasn't had a lot of free time to go jive dancing or shoot clay pigeons with me. Mong is usually very busy with projects of his own as well, such as sleeping and being bad. Those are his main concerns. He's been especially dedicated to badness tonight. He has a fixation on the shower curtains in the bathroom so we often have to loop them up over the curtain rods so that he won't climb them and get them even more snagged and ruined than they already are. A lot of the time, though, he can be found lurking in the bathtub, peeking sneakily over the edge trying to decide if he's going to attack whoever is near. He likes to pull the hair trap out and fling it around, and that drives me nutso because the hair trap is very important to me. I shed like a persian cat in summertime.
The other day I was doing dishes in the kitchen and heard what sounded like Andrew running around the apartment. I wasn't sure what would cause him to dash about like that, but figured I'd find out eventually. And yes, moments later Andrew came into the kitchen with a funny smile on his face to inform me that no, Mongkut does not like airplane rides. Gee, I wouldn't have thought that! I just asked why Mong had been taken on such a ride, and of course he'd been doing something naughty like eating Andrew's papers or eating his calves. Yesterday he did walk on Andrew's iBook and delete an email he was reading. Andrew was able to retrieve it, thankfully, and even made excuses for Mong about it later. That's love.
I was very pleased to see that many of my friends are going to die horrible deaths just like me, and some exactly like me! The mire death seems to be fairly popular among us least-evil folk. Andrew will eventually take the test and update his spanky new weblog when he gets a few moments to himself. I'm predicting he will not sink in a mire. Bwa ha.
I have a little something here for all the women reading. It's very common to read in magazines and whatnot that OH NO YOU COULD BE WEARING THE WRONG SIZE BRA. Places like Silk and Satin and La Senza have 'bra specialists' that will help you find the right fit. If you're like me and a teensy bit uncomfortable with strangers poking at your boobies, you can go to this bra fitting website and see what they think. You just plug in your info and it tells you if you're wearing the right size. So cool. No, I will not tell you what size it thinks I should wear.
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08/22/05 Of horrible deaths and fresh-baked cats.
I took the What Horrible Edward Gorey Death Will You Die? test today. Here's my death:
You will sink in a mire. You like to think you're
normal, but deep down you really just want to
strip off your clothes and roll around in
chicken fat.
What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by QuizillaWhat fun! What horrible death will you die? Hmmmm?
I was talking to Jerome on the phone tonight and after a lengthy conversation about nuts (that was free of any sexual innuendo at all) I informed him that I was going to make a Mong-centric entry tonight. It's the truth, too. Although it's not specifically about Mong. It's about cats in general; he's just the obliging cat model.
See, all the cats I've known (and I'm sure pretty much every cat out there who is bodily able) sits in a particular posture that I call 'Cat Loaf'. It's when they tuck all of their legs underneath themselves and wrap their tail tight against their body, making of themselves a neat loaf of cat. See Mong demonstrate here:
Very cute, no? Well, I was sitting in the living room with Andrew the other night and for whatever reason mentioned the Cat Loaf. Mong was not loafing right then. Instead he was all curled up at the end of the sofa. So, I asked Andrew what he would call that particular formation. His response was, "Croissant." Croissant looks like this:
As you can tell by the grumpy ears Mong was not quite as obliging a cat model at that point, having gotten sick of me walking around him and popping the flash while he was trying to nap. Poor dude. Anyhow, from Croissant we move on to the next cat posture: 'Baguette'!
Lastly we come to Mong's own patented sprawl. I thought about it and really tried to come up with a baked goods-related name for it, and finally settled on the closest thing I could think of: 'Funnel Cake'. Even though it's a fried dough, I think it's fitting:
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08/19/05 Rain, rain, won't you stay?
It was a rainy day today. I love rainy days. I'm not sure why, but they make me happy. I'm not only happy when it rains, but I'm pretty happy when it does. Going for walks in the rain is especially nice (with an umbrella, of course). It wasn't just rainy today, though; it was cool. Oh, blessed cool air. When I went for a walk to the Loeb I actually wore my fleece, it was that cool out. It wasn't raining by the time I did that, but it still had that rainy feel so I was content.
On my way there I walked past one of the homeless guys who sit on the sidewalk outside of the Loeb. I didn't have any loonies or toonies with me so I made a mental note to give him some when I left the store with more change. I did that, but as I was nearing home and walking past the liquor store I saw two young guys panhandling on the sidewalk there. One of them was holding a sign that read something like, "Homeless and Hungry. Please help us out." The one holding the sign caught my eye as I was reading his sign and flashed me a big grin, so I stopped and opened up my purse to fish for a bit more change. I sometimes feel a bit weird handing people money when they're sitting right outside of the liquor store, but decided to do it this time. As I was pulling out some money the kid holding the sign pointed at his feet, which I hadn't noticed until just then were covered in plastic bags. "I was sleeping under the bridge last night and someone stole my shoes," he told me.
I was flabbergasted. "Seriously?" I asked him. He nodded sadly.
His friend piped up, "Yeah, Ottawa is getting just as bad as Toronto."
I was still stunned. "Someone stole your shoes?" He nodded again.
I left them there with some of my change, not really sure if I'd been taken for a ride or not. The mismatched plastic bags tied around his ankles were certainly convincing, but the paranoid skeptic in me knew it could also be a good ploy to get a little more change out of people. I don't know. In the end I figure the best route is always generosity, especially when I have a roof over my head and food to eat.
Andrew surprised me greatly tonight by doing something that I was sure he'd never, ever do. No, he didn't buy me a donkey, or an SUV. Even better; he started writing his very own weblog! Yay, Andrew! I'm so happy to have a blogging fiance. He's even threatened to mention Mong from time to time (as if the little freakshow doesn't get enough web presence through me already).
We're now eagerly awaiting Maysie's public entry into the blogging arena. Go, May, go!
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08/16/05 We love Colin despite his pho pas.
Sometimes I get powerful cravings for pho. I mean, really powerful. Almost as powerful as my recent cravings for broccoli, and let me tell you; my cravings for broccoli are getting out of control. I want broccoli all the time. I daydream about it and its delicious greenness, its refreshing taste. Mmmmmm ... broccoli.
Ahem. Pho. I get cravings for pho, too, and today I thought to myself that it would be lovely to go out for pho later this week with Colin and Jen. I ran it past Andrew, and sent Colin an email informing him and Jen that if they were interested in getting together with us on Thursday night for pho that we would be delighted. Colin wrote back to say that Thursday was, for various reasons, not so good schedule-wise, but that tonight seemed like a fine night for pho and he and Jen would also be delighted if we could partake of pho with them around the hour of seven in the evening. I wrote back to say that we were simply over the moon at the prospect and that seven was a lovely hour for pho, at which time we would anxiously await their call.
So, we waited for Colin and Jen to contact us about the pho. We made our necessary preparations and watched the clock as the hour of seven rolled around. It rolled right on by. We shrugged, since lateness isn't exactly unheard of in our circle of friends. After seven was truly out of sight we tried calling them. You know; just to see if they were held up in some manner. No answer. Eight o'clock loomed and Andrew tried Colin's workplace. Then the cellphone. Still no answer. Eight thirty was upon us and we decided that since our stomachs were well and truly rumbling that if we hadn't heard from them by nine we'd go ahead and make our own dinner here at home and eat it in fittingly high dudgeon.
At almost the stroke of nine Colin sheepishly appeared on iChat (which Andrew had open on his laptop) to very apologetically explain that he had forgotten about us. Yes, our friend Colin had forgotten us, leaving us stewing in the juices of hunger and Canadian Idol while he did useful things like banking. THANKS, Colin!
Honestly, Colin felt very badly about the whole thing and invited us over to watch a movie with him and Jen. So Andrew and I ate some supper (broccoli, yay!) and went to hang with our loving (yet forgetful) friends. We watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events which was quite entertaining, but now I feel I must read the books so I can say that they are better than the movie.
I went to the doctor today. Since moving away from my hometown I've come to realize what a lovely luxury a doctor really is. I've been going to walk-in clinics since leaving Kingston and it kind of sucks to never know who will be seeing you or how long the wait will be. The last time I went to this clinic I waited for at least two hours to see anyone and the doctor that saw me was definitely a hustle-'em-in, hustle-'em-out type that didn't check anything I thought he was going to. Today I went prepared. I brought a book with me, determined that I'd wait as long as I had to, immersed in the trials and tribulations of Jane Eyre. To my shock I was immediately admitted and immediately face-to-face with a doctor, a lovely man who listened to me and asked all kinds of questions. He even did stuff like check my blood pressure and listen to my heart. A great walk-in clinic doctor. Although I was less enamoured of him when he said he thought I should get some bloodwork done, which makes my stomach feel like it lives in my shoes every time I get handed one of those hated brown and white requisition forms. Bleargh.
Basically they just want to check and see if I'm diabetic yet, which I don't think I am but it certainly can't hurt to check. Oh, wait. It will hurt. I'll hurt my arm when they pin it to the table with a giant needle. Yeah.
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