Friday Fun: Fun with Names

Categories: Music Notes, Random Thoughts

Moments Best Left Unwitnessed

While listening to music and doing a super-micro-clean of the kitchen yesterday, I bring you moments that are best left unwitnessed.

A strange duckwalk across the kitchen, completely lacking in any sort of bluesy-ness, as though undergoing some kind of seizure, in time with “Baby Please Don’t Go”.
The moment of realization, as your back feels a bit of a twinge, your air guitar playing needs work. Or possibly, a switch to air harmonica.
The sheer, unbridled joy, and not just a little tunelessness, with which “Born to Run” can be sung while scrubbing the sink. Accompanied, of course, by the periodic shrieking of “OH WOOOOOAAAAH!” along with Bruce, and mad gesticulation along to the lyrics, like some bad karaoke nightmare.
Telling the cat, without a smidge of sarcasm, that yes, Cinnamon, the Bee Gees DID have way more talent than anyone every gave them credit for. Because you know she can keep your dirty little secret.
Feeling somehow that “slinky” is not a word that describes you. Even if you’re doing your best Shirley Manson, purring “You can touch me if you want”, while cleaning the stove and cupboard with Lysol.

What?

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

grumble grumble

Okay, so I’m running on about 6 hours of the most ass sleep I have had in… well, let’s be honest here… DAYS actually. And I am chock full o’ PEEVISH.

Beware! Hyperbole and much TYPING IN CAPITALS FOR EMPHASIS ahead!

First off, full disclosure: I went to bed too late. But it’s just that I was SO BUSY! (Okay, I am lying. I was faffing.)

Regardless, it all started badly.

It all went pear-shaped in the middle of the night. I was dreaming dreams that were WAY too detailed and precise. It was like I was working in my sleep. Whose idea was that? Who, when they were inventing dreams, thought “ooh, let’s make some REALLY VIVID ones so that whoever’s dreaming them feels like they are WIDE AWAKE AND REALLY BUSY!”?? Show me the person who thought THAT would be a good idea, and I shall SMACK them.

So, here’s me, lying in bed this morning. dozing and waking and all peevish-like. Suddenly I hear “Blah blah blah! Blah-ty blah-ty blah blah! Blah blah!” Now, if you know me, and you know my neighbourhood, that can only mean one thing:

THE MAYOR!!

*(insert dramatic musical flourish here)*

Yes, the Stinking Bastard Mayor and the Stinking Bastard Mayor’s Wife. Outside talking. At whatever time it was in the morning. Now, to me, it just sounded like “Blah BLAH! Blah blah blah-ty blah!” but I imagine it went something like this:

The Mayor: Good morning, my wife!

The Mayor’s Wife: Good morning, husband!

The Mayor: Isn’t it a great morning!

The Mayor’s Wife: Why yes, husband, it IS!

The Mayor: It sure is a great morning to be a man! A great morning to be a man, indeed! A man who must go off to work, and enter the rat race, and bring home the bacon, and other manly cliches!

The Mayor’s Wife: It sure is, manly husband of mine!

The Mayor: Blah blah!

The Mayor’s Wife: Blah blah blah!

Or, something along those lines, anyway. Either way, whatever they were saying, it was bugging the crap out of me. Also, when I am very tired, I have supersensitive hearing, as though I have a killer hangover only without the frivolity and drinking beforehand. So they might have just been talking in regular voices (but that would have been a first, let’s face it.)

So then, I tried to get back to sleep. Only it’s Wednesday. And you know what that means: Festival of Garbage Trucks! Wheee!! Yes, the parade of garbage trucks came by nice and early this morning, rumbling slowly up and down our street like some smelly, slow Drag Night at the A&W. Up one side. CRASH! BANG! Then another truck.THUMPTHUMPTHUMP! Then a truck would go down the other side. SMASH! CRASH! Then another truck. BANG!

Finally I just got up with a big

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

like Charlie Brown, shook my fist in futility at the sleep gods, and stomped downstairs to make coffee.

Extra strong. With lots of flavoured creamer.

It’s going to be one of THOSE days.

It’s probably best I stay in today.

Sep

3 Comments

Categories: Adoption

The Weird Mommy

I fear I’m going to be one of THOSE moms. One of the ones that is not cool, doesn’t fit in, and is generally weird.

Seriously. I’m not even a mom yet, and already I am swimming against the current of Mommy-dom.

I feel I don’t fit in in so many ways. Not that it’s a problem — I’m okay with it — but I am afraid my kid is going to look at me in the eyes-rolling, oh-I-am-so-EMBARRASSED kind of a way. You know the look.

For one thing, I am over 40. I am going to be older than a lot of the mommies my child deals with on a regular basis. Because of the age difference, I likely won’t be part of the Mommies Who Lunch or whatever group of moms is getting together at any given time. I’ll have some gray hair. I’ll creak when I walk. And I fear that my age will make my child resent me, just a bit.

Also, I don’t act my age. So not only will I be an Old Mom, but I’ll be an Old Mom Who Can’t Dress Herself. I’ll still wear sweats and baseball hats and put my hair in ponytails. I’ll still be painting my nails blue or black or garnet or whatever colour grabs me at any given moment. Or I’ll be the Old Mom Who Does Not Act Her Age, And Not In A Dignified Way Either, as I still enjoy going to games (and, YES, hollering and cheering) and playing volleyball and have been known to run around and dig in the dirt and sit on the floor. So that’s not good either.

And then there’s the issue of not fitting in with the other Mommies. As an adoptive parent, there are a lot of boards and webpages and sites you can go to and share information with other adoptive parents, and I go to several. The parents there get along famously and are forming really close relationships. They all seem to be bonding and meeting up and sharing common interests. I am pretty much not. I just don’t seem to fit in terribly well. I don’t scrapbook. I don’t go in for tickers and blinkies in my signature. I am not fervently counting the days/weeks/months (except for as an informational thing on my blog). I don’t go to the get-togethers. I’m not planning on breastfeeding or homeschooling. So I’ve formed only a very few connections within these communities of people.

And within the international adoption community, there are a whole lot of fervently Christian people. There are Christian charities doing good works, and faith-based agencies uniting parents and children, and people who praise God for the progress they are making in their adoptions and the lessons they are learning. Once again, though, that’s not me. I don’t fit in with this community. I cuss a fair bit (as anyone who reads this blog knows). I’m often uncomfortable with overt religiousness and professions of faith. And so, I lack that kind of a bond with these good folks on these boards and blogs, as well.

So between my innate weirdness, and my lack of connections to these various communities of people, I fear sometimes that my child will be missing out on a lot. I wonder if I should be trying harder, or trying to change, or just doing something differently.

But then I look around at what I have to offer. I may not dress and act like the other moms, but maybe that will be fun. I have a love of sports and music and laughter and baking and gardening — and maybe these are things my child and I can share. I have a diverse and extended circle of friends and family and acquaintances that will be welcoming our child and will provide love and guidance and a social framework in which to grow and flourish. I will be fervent in my love for my child, and grateful for every day we have together.

And maybe, one day I’ll get tired of the ponytails and the weird colours of nail polish and hollering at referees. Or maybe not.

Either way, I may end up being the weird mommy. But maybe instead of the eye-rolling and embarassment, perhaps my child will instead think of me as fun and unique and understanding. I hope that he will think of me as someone who brought him into the centre of a loving extended family circle, that supports him and guides him with love and encouragement. I hope that through the diverse family community we form around him, he sees his world as ripe with possibilities, accepting of uniqueness and difference, and presenting endless opportunities. And maybe, from that, I can be a little bit cool.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

Hiding

Shhh. I’m hiding.

There’s a lot of stupid out there today, and I don’t want it to find me.

I had to go get Opus from her *ahem* SPA VACATION (read: boarding at the vet) this morning, and on my way there and back, encountered some of the stupidest driving and/or walking in quite some time.

Two people who had just had a very, very minor car accident walked in front of my car as I was driving along, paying no attention to the fact that they were walking against the light. So they very nearly had a very minor accident and a life-threatening accident, all in one morning.

Another psycho in a construction-rigged pickup was weaving all over the road in futile attempts to get 10 feet farther in traffic. He swerved into my lane and almost took the front end off my car. He then proceeded to disregard a red light, driving through it instead — and it’s not like he didn’t see it, because he slowed to a stop when the light was fully changed to red for a few seconds, and then just decided to go through the red anyway — and started screaming and pointing at the poor woman who was turning through the intersection and had to slam on the brakes and veer out of the way to avoid t-boning him.

I took a side street to avoid the crazy, where I encountered a lot of construction, and a city bus whose driver decided that, rather than wait and ease around the construction, he would rather sideswipe me instead to get around his construction pylons. (He missed me. By inches.)

It was a 10 minute drive there, and a 10 minute drive back. And I almost witnessed or participated in 3 separate accidents.

Sheesh.

It’s one of those days where I hate people. I love humanity, don’t get me wrong. It’s people I can’t stand. (Props to whoever said that first; I can’t be arsed to go look it up.)

So I am hiding in the cool of my attic with the curtains pulled.

The stupid will never find me in here.

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

A Largely Unsatisfying Time

We’re home again. Although we had a nice weekend, it was largely… unsatisfying.

With the dollar at par, we were hoping to get some much-anticipated and frankly, much-needed shopping done. But when we got to the mall in Buffalo (Walden Galleria) we found it stupid busy. It was like the Christmas rush we get here, mall jam-packed full of people… only All. The. Damn. Time. And it isn’t really that great a mall, quite frankly. I didn’t see much, but what I did see did not impress. So no clothing bargains for BDH or myself. I can do just as well online, without the hassles. We ate, and then we fled.

But we DID flee to the relative peace and quiet of a nearby Target store, where I did a little preliminary baby shopping, and a lot of pricing stuff out. I picked up a couple of sleepers, some bottles and bibs, a teething ring… just a few odds and ends. OH, and a mobile that BDH wanted to buy. Not a lot of stuff, but we wandered and found out what the prices were like and so now I know what I want to get and where to find it. And ohmyDog, the diapers are cheap. I will buy cases and cases of diapers.

We are beginning to think that the next time, we’ll go to non-mall shops. We love the shopping if we don’t have the stupid and the crowded. So we’ll just plan to go to a few specific stores in a few non-Walden-Galleria or non-major-mall locations, and I think we’ll enjoy ourselves a lot more.

And the main reason we went down, the volleyball matches, were frustrating and made me feel stabby. Although I enjoy watching the games and I like touching base with the girls we know and giving them our support and encouragement, it’s hard to watch sometimes. We can’t take our coaches’ hats off and just enjoy. There’s too much that needs fixing and too many things that we would change and too much that is frustrating to watch without being able to do anything about it. So it sometimes gets to be a challenge. We love to go and cheer; we just get a bit peevish.

So we packed up early, sailed across the border without hardly a moment’s delay (YAY!) and were home in time for lunch. And we were happy to be home with the cats and the quiet and the NOT crowds and NOT traffic.

As a fact-finding mission, the weekend was good. But as for the rest — it’s like when you are really looking forward to going to a restaurant, and then you order the completely WRONG thing. You’re glad you went, but you will know better next time.

Sep

6 Comments

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

Friday Fun: One or the Other

Time to make some choices!

Rainy day or snowy day?
Yogurt, sour cream or cottage cheese?
Colour photos or black-and-white?
Knapsack or briefcase?
Gregory Peck, Paul Newman or George Clooney?
Four $5 bills, two $10 bills, or a $20?
Hugs or kisses?
Coffee cake or apple crisp?
Cotton sheets or flannel sheets?
Mums, black eyed susans, or geraniums?
Biking or hiking?
Pen or pencil?
Waffles, French toast or pancakes?
Full moon or moonless night?
Halloween or Thanksgiving?

Some tough choices! Don’t sit on the fence now!

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

Cha-Ching!

The Canadian dollar reached parity with the US dollar today for the first time since 1976.

And we are going to Buffalo this weekend.

Oh I SO think shopping is in order. Target baby department, here I come!

Sep

Categories: Random Thoughts

Life’s Laws

There are certain laws in life that I’ve come to learn are true and cannot be denied.

The things that are worst for you taste the best.
Your hair always looks its worst when someone really attractive comes to the door.
If you’re nervous about visiting someone’s home, your sock will miraculously spring a hole in it.
Love and joy can be noisy. Especially when you need sleep.
Before you get that tattoo, remember that you’re going to be old one day and that skin will stretch and sag.
You can’t go home again, but you can shop there. (That one I got from Grosse Pointe Blank. But in my case, it’s partly true.)
If you put your garbage out the night before garbage day so you can sleep later, instead of getting up early, they won’t come to pick up the garbage until after noon.
You can tell a person’s character from how they treat wait staff in restaurants.
Class reunions only happen when you are overweight.
If someone drives by with music blasting really loud, it won’t be GOOD music.
Before you name your child, make sure it sounds dignified in combination with “The Right Honourable _____” or “Reverend _______”.
Real friends are the ones you don’t see or talk to for years, but when you do see them again, you just pick up where you left off.
You always run out of creamer just as you make a really good quality pot of coffee.
Life is more fun if you handle your goof-ups with good humour.
Being kind to strangers you deal with in your day-to-day-business costs nothing, but the rewards are endless.

Sep

4 Comments

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff, Fitness and fatness

Well That Was Ass

So much for waking up refreshed.

To wake up, one needs to have been asleep. And during last night’s sleep clinic combination of treats, sleep was not something I got a lot of.

I got glued and taped and wired within an inch of my life once again. But this time, the tech getting me set up said I had to leave my hair down. And this did not seem like much of a problem until they put The Mask on.

The mask is much like an oxygen mask you see in the movies, except bigger and harder, with 4 straps wrapping round your head to keep it in place, and a big hose hanging off the front. So, not only do I have wires everywhere, but I have them tangled in my long hair which, when the mask went on, was pinned to my neck and face and made me hot and itchy all night.

The machine the mask and hose are attached to blows pressurized air into your mouth and nose all night. Which is not bad, once you get used to it — unless you have to yawn, in which case it makes your ears pop and hurt. But goodness knows, you wouldn’t feel the need to yawn while going to bed, right? Also, you cannot even touch your face or talk or move without breaking the seal between mask and skin and changing the pressure. Well, for someone with allergies, who has to sneeze and blow her nose, and also who now has hair taped and pressed to her face thanks to Mr. Friendly Sadisto-Tech, I was miserable and hot and itchy. And had a desperate pain in my sinuses because, hey, pressurized air blowing up them and no way to blow…

But I tried to lay still on my back and deal.

I had longer wires this time, so I did not feel pinned to the bed, so I could move a bit. Until about 30 minutes in, when the wire taped in the middle of my forehead somehow got snagged. And then I was pinned.

The seal to the mask had leaks everywhere from my fussing and moving, and most of the night I had air blowing in my eyes, so they began to dry out. I had a headache of epic proportions, and they keep the room so damn hot… Two hours passed before I finally said I. Have. Had. It.

Now, I’m supposed to be on camera and miked in case I should need anything. Yet, for two hours of misery, the tech didn’t come in. Even when I called — which through a hard plastic mask is not easy — nothing. I was sitting up in bed and cursing a blue streak before he came in.

“Having trouble getting to sleep?” asked Mr. Friendly Sadisto-Tech, as the smell of cigarette smoke wafted over me.

Jeez… Ya think, buddy?

I asked to take a couple of Tylenol for my shrieking headache, which were in my bag ,which he so graciously handed to me. He asked if I need a sleeping pill, which he could call and get a prescription for. I said, no… I’ll try to get to sleep on just the Tylenol.

After 10 more minutes, I realized that the point of no return is coming. They need 4 hours of sleep for valid results, and there were only 5 hours and a bit left. I called for the sleeping pill. Because I didn’t want to have to go through this AGAIN.

So, after the pill, I slept. Not well, I believe, because I dreamt a lot about masks and how they kept changing size and I could not make each size work, and I began to feel like I was drowning. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, these nonrestful dreams coincided with the fact that the mask had come loose, or I had been pulling at it to try to refit it in my sleep — TWICE. Twice Mr. Friendly Sadisto-Tech came in and readjusted things. I went back to sleep both times, but was still fighting the fight against the parade of masks.

Finally, at around 5, I woke up, and dozed a bit, but had the driest mouth ever known to man. I eventually just said “Fuck it, get me out of here.” I made myself wake up fully so Mr. Friendly Sadisto-Tech would come and release me from all the tangle of wires and masks of somnolent hell. He came in and loosened the glue and quickly ripped tape off my face and neck and head, like some sort of bizarre torture. I was now, to add to sleepy, sore and pissed off.

I got the hell out as quick as humanly possible, and got into my car.

Now, here’s the scary part: This is a sleep clinic, where people go for sleep disorders. They’re generally not getting good sleep, at the clinic or otherwise. Sometimes, they’re given sleeping pills. And then, they’re unceremoniously chucked out en masse at 5:30 am — sleep deprived and possibly under the influence of a prescribed drug.

After bumping (gently) into the pay parking kiosk as I pulled out of the parking lot, I became acutely aware that I was not acutely aware. And also, that they should NOT be sending people out to drive after these things.

But I made it home safe and sound. I showered the glue out of my hair and the tape residue off my stinging skin, and crawled into bed.

So much for a miracle fix.

I woke up later this morning, and cried long and hard at the thought of 40 more years of being tired, for the rest of my life not ever knowing what it’s like to feel rested. I am more exhausted than I have been in a long time.

Maybe I’ll just go back to bed.

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff, Fitness and fatness

Think Sleepy, Comfortable Thoughts

… because tonight, I am at the sleep clinic again!

I need all the sleepy, comfy, relaxed vibes you can send me. Not to mention, good jammies (I have those, don’t send them) and 4 dollars for the parking lot (also have it, but if you want to send me money, send as much as you want. Preferably $20s and $50s. Crisp new bills only, please.)

The metal ponytail, the glue on the head, the tape across the face… OH JOY! Consider yourselves lucky I don’t do a video blog.

I hope to get some sleep tonight, but I am not counting on it. In fact, I expect to sleep like ass, come home, and crash for several hours.

But we’ll see.

What I am really hoping is for this CPaP machine to do the trick, and that I can get a decent sleep and feel a bit rested. Or at least, have the numbers and lines and graphs indicate that I slept better. Considerably better, even.

If I like it, maybe I’ll even get a little kitty-sized one for Bubby. (Kidding. Of course. She sleeps just fine. Napping is her forte.)

So… comfy jammies? Check. Water bottle? Check. Book to read? Check. Alarm clock? Check. (I can’t sleep without a clock. It’s a thing.)

I think I am ready.

Wish me luck.

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

I Should Be…

…doing many things. But I am not.

There’s so much to be done here, now that we are getting close to done our paperwork for the adoption. I have to get the baby’s room cleaned out, because right now it’s just a storage room. I have to shampoo the carpet, and paint, and assemble the furniture. I have to put up blinds, and buy a crib mattress, and decorate. And yet? I’m not.

The house needs cleaning. I should vacuum, and dust, and sweep. I should mop the floors and clean the basement.

I have a load of junk in the garage that needs hauling away.

And yet? I’m not.

It’s a brilliantly sunny, beautiful, quiet morning.

I’m sitting by an open window with a cup of coffee and a cat on my lap. I’m perusing the volleyball news online and taking my time waking up. Maybe we’ll have some eggs and toast in a few minutes.

I know that our life will change, and our quiet times like this will be few and far between soon.

I know I should be rushing around and busily get things done. But I spent so many years rushing to do things that I “should” do, and all I got for it was a paycheque and a lot of stress and sadness.

So instead, I’ve shifted my priorities somewhat.

I know that there are things to be done, and I will do them. I have a week full of days in which I have lists of chores to be done. I will just add these things to my list. I can put away the summer clothes and start to get out the winter clothes on laundry day. I can clean out the baby’s room bit by bit, and make sure each week I am ready to pitch stuff out on garbage day. I can vacuum and carpet clean in there on the same day that I vacuum the rest of the house.

There’s time for all that. But these moments, moments where I can enjoy a moment of beauty outside or a little inner peace, they don’t come around every day. And they’re the moments we should be living for.

I’ve got to learn to live in the moment more, and really enjoy it.

I want to do it to improve my quality of life, but also, to really enjoy my child when he or she comes home. I don’t want to be so busy doing what I “should” do that I miss out on things.

Baby talk. Moments of comfort. Singing songs. Late night feedings.

They only happen once. Blink and they are gone.

I’ve decided I should take time to live in these moments.

Sep

5 Comments

Categories: Fun Stuff

Friday Fun: Hello, Out There

I was debating whether or not to do a Friday Fun today because it’s been so very quiet in here recently. I thought maybe you all needed a bit of a break or something.

Are we getting bored of the Friday Fun? Are we not having fun anymore?

Is there anyone even out there? Am I talking to myself? Hello? Hello? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

But then I thought…

If you could be a character in a Dr. Seuss book, which one would you be?
What are 3 things on your bathroom counter right now?
Fill in the blanks: I can never ________ when I __________.
Choose: Bahamas, Bali or Bora Bora?
How do you like your eggs?
Tell me 3 things that are orange (and don’t say “oranges”).
What’s something that hasn’t been invented yet that SHOULD be invented?
How many keys do you have on your keychain?
What’s something that would make you happy RIGHT NOW?
Is this a good colour on me?

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

Feeling Fall

Things I love about the autumn:

The leaves turning colour
Casseroles
Days that are clear and sunny but not oppressively hot
Kids are back in school
Stews
Birds at the bird feeder
Sweaters
Squirrels out gathering nuts (and other things that are too big for them to carry)
Harvest and markets
The smell of fires burning in people’s fireplaces as I walk by
Pumpkin bread
Deer coming by the back fence
More baking!
Red wine
Tea in the evening

Things I don’t love about the autumn:

Mornings get darker
Rain and more rain
November
Trees bare of leaves
Snow flurries
Unpredictable driving weather
Cold
The barrage of Christmas songs and commercials EVERYWHERE
Feeling sleepy and wanting to hibernate
Shops getting busier
Winter is coming

And YOU?

Sep

3 Comments

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff, Fitness and fatness

My Sleep, It’s Totally Busted, Man…

Today was the day I had my appointment with a specialist at the sleep clinic to analyze my data from the last time I was at the sleep clinic. Remember that time? When people glued stuff to my head?

Stop your laughing, Tena. I hear you.

Anyway… the results are FASCINATING. No, I mean it… really cool! So cool, in fact, that I paid $5 to get a copy of the report to bring home and share with BDH and his mom and all you good people.

I am amazed that they got as much data as they did. And so, from the data, here is what I can tell you.

I have moderate sleep apnea. (You all know what sleep apnea is, right? It’s when you stop breathing when you sleep.) Apnea is dangerous in varying degrees. If you have severe sleep apnea, then of course the whole stopping-breathing-thing is very serious because, hey, you’re doing it way too much. But also, it can lead to increased incidence of heart attack and stroke. So that’s not cool. But me, with my moderate sleep apnea — I just have to be aware that it can get worse as I get older and can put me at risk of these things. Which is why it is good I am dealing with this now.

And now, because inquiring minds want to know, here are some interesting numbers and factoids about me and my sleep:

While I was at the clinic, I had 403 minutes available for sleep. (So, roughly 7 hours.)
Of those 403 minutes, I slept for 229 minutes. So, half the time I was in bed — or, in percentages, I have a 57% sleep efficiency. That is, in technical terms, The Suck. Which means I have to “sleep” twice as long to get enough quality sleep.
I fell asleep within 8 minutes of lights out. (That’s good.)
But then, I woke up again right away. (That’s bad.)
It took me 176 minutes to get into REM sleep. The average person takes around 100 minutes, so I take twice as long. And that is because my body fights going into REM sleep because it doesn’t want to stop breathing. And that is also The Suck.

I also got an analysis of my sleep stages and how long I stay in each, but I don’t know what that all that stuff means anyway.
Now for the really surprising numbers:

I stopped breathing 123 times during the night.
I stop breathing an average of 32 TIMES AN HOUR.
I stop breathing for an average duration of 32 SECONDS.
The longest duration I stopped breathing was — wait for it — 71 SECONDS.

So… yeah. That’s not good. My sleep is totally busted. I’m barely sleeping at night, even when I am in bed for 7 or 8 hours. No wonder I have been tired my entire life.

So, I go back on Monday night, when they will once again glue and tape stuff to my head (OH JOY). But this time, they’re trying me out on this MAGICAL MACHINE.

The machine is just a pump, basically, that forces pressurized air into your mouth through a mask. The air forces your throat to stay open so that you have unobstructed breathing. The pressure is just enough that it ensures you don’t stop breathing anymore.

Apparently, if it works, you feel rested and better THE. NEXT. DAY. If it works for you, the effects are immediate.

Can you imagine? I have never, NOT ONCE IN MY LIFE, ever felt rested when I woke up. I cannot imagine what that will feel like!

I sure hope the machine thingy works.

A full night’s restful sleep — oh, I can endure another night or two of the long wires if that is my reward.

Sep

Categories: Everyday Life Stuff

Monday Again

Hello, New Week.

Here we are at Monday again. Can you believe the weekend is gone so fast?

Kind of a shame for those who have to go out to work. But for me, well… just another day of things to be done here in the House of Peevish.

I used to hate you, New Week.

It was nothing personal — just the fact that it meant I had to go back to work.

But now, I am happy to see you. You bring some order back to my days.

I always know that laundry has to be done when you arrive.

Sometimes, you intimidate me. You with your long list of things to get done. Whenever you arrive I find myself going over and over lists in my head.

Sometimes it feels like you’re not here long enough to get everything done that I need to get done.

But mostly? I’m happy to see you, New Week.

I like your sense of order. I like your sense of structure — up at the same time, to bed at the same time, walk in the morning, “at X time we do Y…”

I like your optimism, as if to say, “Sure, we can get all this done! No worries!”

I like that nowadays, I am enjoying my time with you. I feel like you’re making my life slow down a bit.

Before, it was rushing by, and I was miserable. I hated my week.

I was missing my life.

But now, you help me enjoy it more, and live in it more. We get more worthwhile things done. We take time to think and enjoy and be.

So welcome back, New Week! Thanks for stopping by.

Sep

Categories: Adoption, Holidays

The Millenium… Again… For the First Time…

Ethiopia is celebrating it’s Millenium in a few short days. Although we’ve already had ours here, Ethiopia is on a different calendar and so their Millenium is celebrated this week.

Our friend Haze over at MummyHeart has an excellent synopsis of the Ethiopian Millenium and the calendar they use. There are also some interesting facts about the country itself.

Take a look. Read. Learn.

There will be a test later.

Sep

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Categories: Fun Stuff

Friday Fun: Sometimes, The Glass IS Half Empty

It’s been a stressful week, what with kids going back to school, and crazy workloads, and lots of running around, and stuff like that. And I am here to tell you… Stress is bad, people! Don’t keep it bottled up! Sometimes, we all need to just get it off our chest.

So now’s the chance. Take a deep breath, and complain. I’m listening. Just let it out, people!

What are 3 foods you dislike?
What noise do you hate?
What was your most embarassing moment?
What’s something that distracts you?
What’s one thing you did in your life that you’d go back and change if you could?
What’s something that makes you peevish?
What is something that you procrastinate about/avoid?
What personality trait drives you crazy in other people?
What’s a bad habit you have that you just can’t seem to break?
Why did you let me buy that?

There. Now, doesn’t that feel better?

Sep

Categories: Cats

Life With Duncan

10 things that become more difficult in the presence of a 6-month-old kitten:

Sweeping — Either he’s chasing the broom, or he’s chasing the stuff you’re trying to sweep up, or he’s sitting in the pile of schmutz you’ve just swept up (scattering it all over).
Leaving a room — Because he needs to follow you. He loves you, and he gets lonely.
Going to the bathroom alone — See#2. Also, the bathroom is a fascinating kitty wonderland of things to play in and watch and climb into.
Using a bathmat correctly — Bathmats are like small kitty wrestling arenas. Apparently.
Laundry — When he’s not reaching through the sides of the laundry basket to chase whatever is moving, he’s tunnelling into the dirty sheets pile. Or (new today!) he’s tasting the lint in the lint trap.
Opening any large package — He’s very helpful.
Closing any large package — He’s very helpful.
Plant ownership — Dirt is FUN!
Taking a step backwards — Beware of little tails.
Doing anything at all around 5 pm — That is when our little man wakes from his nap. He doesn’t wake up so well, so comes over and he chirrups and grumbles at you until you pick him up and cuddle him back to sleep. If you are lucky, you can put him down on a blankie and he’ll nap for another hour or two. If not (depending on how you look at it, that is) — you’re cuddling a snoozing kitty for another hour or two.

We wouldn’t trade our little man for anything in the world.

Sep

Categories: Adoption, Everyday Life Stuff, Random Thoughts

Woodstock

Do you remember Woodstock, the little bird from the Peanuts comics? The little guy who flew kind of topsy-turvy, all-over-the-place, sometimes-upside-down and sometimes not?

Well, this week and for the past few weeks, I’ve been kind of like Woodstock. I know where I have to go, but getting there is a little topsy-turvy and all over the place.

My weeks have been kind of… disjointed. I have random bits of this and that to do, in the middle of big projects to do, so it all feels kind of scattershot. It feels like I have no plan (and you know me, I like a plan).

A lot of odd jobs have had to be done for our adoption, that last push of paperwork before our file gets sent off to the government, then Ethiopia. I’ve had places to go and errands to run outside my usual stuff, and that has caused great honking gaps in my daily routine. Plus, there was that extra day off, so I feel like it’s not Thursday… although goodness knows, I could not tell you what day it actually IS.

But, the good thing is, it’s always moving forward. Things are getting done.

I’ve been going to and from the vet regularly. Just dropping off cats, and picking cats up, and taking cats to appointments…

I’ve phoned the government Revenue department (those tax people). And that was actually very PLEASANT, which is outside the norm for most people. (Of COURSE it was pleasant — they are in PEI!)

I’ve been to the adoption agency, and will be going again.

I’ve spent great honking blocks of time in a foreign country. (Okay, so it’s the U.S. But STILL.)

I’ve had LUNCH. With a FRIEND. *gasp!*

I’ve sat and knitted in an office cubicle while waiting to see someone to notarize documents. And I’ve had documents notarized, which is again an odd thing to do.

I’ve started a new writing gig, which requires the use of a new software, which I have already blown up in spectacular fashion.

I’ve walked. Early.

And my days will continue to be disjointed, at least for a little while longer, with passport photos to take and photocopies to make and doctor visits to arrange.

It’s been an odd few weeks. To and from, here and there, back and forth. I’ve had lots of detours and turns in my days. But at least, things are getting done. I’m getting somewhere.

Woodstock would be proud.

Sep

Categories: Fitness and fatness

These Shoes Were Made For Walkin’

But somehow, my legs are trying to tell me they were NOT. I’m feeling it, I can tell you.

I have begun walking again, because hey, it’s good for me. And besides, you can only get so many spam emails that say “You’re Obese! Stop It!” before you begin to think “hmmmm, a little exercise wouldn’t go amiss right about now…”

It’s really lovely, now that the weather is cooler and not so humid, and the kids are back in school. I love going for walks around the neighbourhood. In the early morning, it’s cool and quiet, but I am so tired. And often, it’s cool when I start out, so I throw on a jacket, but my the time I am halfway done, I’m melting because the temperature warms up. If I go later, the kids are in school so it’s still really quiet, but it’s a little warmer, and there’s a better chance that I’ll have dressed more appropriately. Going early buys me a little more time in my day, but going later is often more enjoyable and is a nice break in my day. So when I go depends on my mood and the weather forecast.

I’m having a hard time with the hour or so that it takes, though. I like to do between 4 and 8 km, depending on the time and my energy level. But to go that far takes at least an hour, and it takes away from the stuff I should be doing around the house, or my blogging. And so I feel like I am shirking my duties a bit. I feel kind of guilty.

But then, the other side of the coin: I enjoy the benefits. I like the quiet time to myself. I feel energized afterwards. And of course, it makes me feel more fit, and hopefully will help me lose some weight. I like to think the benefits outweigh the negatives, but we all know guilt is a big force. And guilt is, as always, in league with laziness… so when the two of them gang up on me, these feet don’t see the pavement. So it’s been a real big deal for me to commit to doing a walk each day.

I always listen to music when I walk. Walking with my iPod on gives me a couple of things to do. The music is good for keeping me from getting bored — which, let’s be honest here, I do REALLY EASILY — and it keeps me distracted from the growing complaints of my sore and tired muscles. But it also pushes me sometimes, too. This morning I had a song on that I played 3 times over, because the beat pushed me to walk a little faster and work a little harder. Music is good for me when I exercise. It has a positive impact.

Because of that, I am not good at walking with other people. I like to concentrate on what I am listening to, and so I am not terribly social. BDH used to walk with me, but he’d be chatting away about this and that, and I’d be completely ignoring him. We both got frustrated. If I don’t have my headphones on, then I can chat till the walk is done. But once the music is on, I’m focused.

I tried running for awhile, and I kept at it for at least a month, every day, but I loathed it. Good doG how I hated it. Always have. Even when I was in the best shape of my life, I found running incredibly boring. And as a mesomorph, built with big muscles made for jumping and power instead of endurance and distance, the strain of running on my joints far outweighs the benefits. Still, I have this bizarre fantasy-world image in my head of some lithe, willowy me (so you know it’s a fantasy) jogging along… Alas. Never going to happen. Not in a bazillion years.

But the walking? Perfect. I can walk for a long time and my joints don’t mind it one bit. I can speed up and get the aerobic benefits I need. And I like it, so I am far less likely to quit.

Well, until it gets really cold, anyway…

Sep