Amy's Journal

All ready for Christmas

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:50:22 GMT

Today we went over to Tyler’s grandparents’ house in the evening (the ones on his dad’s side). They are just so sweet. It was a really nice visit. We brought over our wedding album to look through with them. Tyler’s grandpa had been too sick to make it to the wedding (he has cancer), and so it was especially nice to show him the pics. We had shown him our unofficial photos the day after the wedding itself, but the “real” photos are just so good. They really enjoyed them. They had presents for us too, from some of the family members on Tyler’s side that hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding. One of Tyler’s uncles is a potter, and he gave us a few pieces, and Tyler’s grandparents bought a few more pieces from him to give us so we have quite a lovely set now, serving platters, a big salad bowl, and a veggie steamer. They are just beautiful.

The grandparents were so sweet with Tyler too. They didn’t make him feel guilty at all for not having time to visit lately. They were just happy to see us. They were encouraging and excited for him about his job, and just all around supportive in the way that family is supposed to be. It made me feel really good to know that Tyler has some sort of that type of family around. He sure isn’t getting any of that from his parents these days.

We didn’t get to see his other grandma yet, but are planning to do so in between Christmas at the New Year probably. At this point we don’t even know where she lives, since she has been moved into a home and Tyler’s mom hasn’t told us which one (and communication has pretty much broken down altogether, so asking may be a challenge). I will probably try to get the information out of Tyler’s sister.

One thing that made me really sad that Tyler’s grandma (the one we visited today) said about the other grandma is, that Tyler’s mom is afraid to take her out of the home for Christmas, because she may make a huge fuss about not wanting to go back. I knew she was unhappy at the home, but this sounds worse than I had realized.

As far as Tyler’s grandpa goes, he actually seems in great health and great spirits, considering. He was in the hospital for a few weeks and just got out a few days ago. He is on an all-liquid diet right now and has lost a lot of weight (which in itself was probably not a bad thing for him, as he was a really big guy, but it’s weird seeing him so skinny). Other than that though, he really seemed happy and not unhealthy.

Tyler’s mom has a way of making everything sound more terrible than it really is. Not that having cancer and being given a terminal diagnosis is ever a good thing. But his quality of life right now actually seems very good, considering. And I think I have a realistic idea of what his diagnosis means, with the line of work I am doing now. I am not sugarcoating it for myself by saying that he seems really healthy and all that. Obviously he is not really “healthy” but like I said, he seemed in good spirits, and at this stage of things that’s huge and really quite wonderful to see. I think part of the reason Tyler has been having trouble seeing his grandparents is because of the grim picture his mom paints of the situation. He gets anxious thinking about how hard the visits will be. And they really aren’t that bad. Like I said, the visit tonight was really quite lovely.

After that visit we went to the mall to do a bit of last minute shopping. I am now officially done and I think Tyler is too. I really tried not to go too overboard with gifts this year, and I think I did OK, but still I have managed to spend way too much money over all. That always seems to happen. I did do a lot of gift buying at the markets though, so at least some of the money went to other artisans/crafters.

Another great gift we got was from Tyler’s cousins, a set of microfiber cloths and a microfiber wet/dry mop. They are really great and I have been cleaning all evening (kind of like when I first got a magic eraser, you start seeing little smudges everywhere and wanting to wipe them). It came in a big box and Pao of course went right in it, and Ciaran went nosing in after her. I didn’t get a great photo, but I think you can get the idea.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Sugar cookies

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:06:58 GMT

Today I…
- woke up in time to have tea with Kate and Sara (just barely)
- went to physio
- had some people over to buy goddess beads
- baked sugar cookies
- went to Wal-Mart and bought presents for the dog
- wrapped presents, and caught myself taking off the price stickers for the dog’s teddies – as if she’d be able to read them or something!
- visited with Carolyn

The sugar cookies came out really, really good.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Perfectly Wasted Day

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:01:34 GMT

Today was a great day off. We slept in really late. We ate leftover pizza. I watched tv and knitted. I did very little housework but just enough to not feel completely useless. And we went out and bought groceries which we badly needed.

My photo has my completed hat. I am proud of it because I did the pattern myself too. Although I didn’t really write it down very thoroughly so I don’t think I can post it :/ I made a little matching bag too which I am trying to felt right now. It may be a total mess because it was also not from a pattern. I have no idea if it will look like a piece of crap when it comes out of the washer or not (it sort of did going in, but since it was getting felted I was hoping I could shape it a bit that way, I think it’s normal for felted stuff to look retarded before it gets felted). Anyway we will see.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Regretsy makes me laugh

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:33:39 GMT

I always laugh at bad photoshopping, but this one was just awesome. Regretsy featured an Etsy listing for a photoshop manipulation of your beloved deceased pet. It was so popular on the Regretsy community, that the forum’s host held a contest. The rest was some of the most ridiculous photoshop jobs and all featuring the same stupid cat.

Being a loser and liking Twilight as I do, I think this one is my fave:

Tyler and I have 3 days off in a row, together, now. It feels like we haven’t seen much of each other in the past few weeks since we have both been busy, so we are really looking forward to some quality time!

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Sooo tired

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:51:03 GMT

I just woke up for a bit because I had to pee and feed the dog, but I am going back to bed. I did the turnaround shift last night/this morning which always tires me out so much! Then after work instead of going home for a nap right away, we went to the Christmas party at the music school Tyler teaches at. I was really not the life of the party. I had a glass of wine and that didn’t help wake me up at all, and Tyler has this thing about not liking to be the first to leave anywhere (or really anything but the last to leave). So all the hinting I was doing about not wanting to stay didn’t get me anywhere, even though we were supposedly just going to pop in. When we finally got home my tummy was really upset, probably from snacking on too much junk today (between all the cookies at work, and the chips/dip/crackers/cheese at the party). So I was in a crappy mood. I really felt like picking a fight but instead just went to bed. I slept a bit and woke up just now but like I said, I’m going back to bed. Working early again tomorrow morning, then a few days off, then Christmas! I don’t think working the Christmas shifts is going to be bad at all.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Crazy knitter

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:55:25 GMT

The hat is now finished but needs to be blocked.

Tonight was sort of busy at work. And I am working the turnaround shift which means I have to get up and go back to work in about 6 hours or so.

The most exciting thing that happened today was, I was eating special k with yogurt bits in it for breakfast, and it totally turned the milk pink. Then Tyler was rushing me out the door so I didn’t finish it all, and I didn’t flush the last bits until after I got home. Well, later on, I found a puddle of pink vomit in the back room with kitty kibble in it. I definitely suspect Pao, she is always getting into human food. I guess this time it didn’t agree with her tummy. I have heard that milk really isn’t all that good for cats.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

And the days of running out of oil are over

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:47:08 GMT

The heat pump was installed today and it’s up and running. It was kind of embarassing today because I thought they were done in our suite, I had just gotten out of the bath and was sitting on the couch in my bathrobe, towel around my head, and knitting while I was waiting for my hair to dry a bit, when the heat pump installer guy just walks in. This was all at about 4:30 pm which somehow seems to make it worse. He was like “oh, sorry don’t mind me” and I was like “umm no you don’t mind me.” I looked like a total freak. He was like “So, what are you knitting?” … meanwhile I’m trying not to laugh. Honestly I am just glad I was at least decent, if funny looking. It could have been worse. I am not really that modest especially around my own home. But the knitting was definitely the final touch that made the situation extra awkward. Sometimes I don’t realize how weird I am until I see myself through someone else’s eyes.

Ciaran was very well behaved today, which impressed me. I was worried that with people coming and going she would be a complete spaz, but she was actually really sweet. Apart from farting really loudly and repeatedly while the technician was giving us all a demonstration of the controller (and then lieing on her back and showing her tummy in her sluttiest fashion, trying to sucker a belly rub out of the guy, as if all the farting wasn’t enough). I guess her and I are both not exactly the most ladylike. Don’t they say that dogs are a lot like their owners? I don’t fart in front of company and I don’t show off my vag in front of them either, but I am not always exactly socially acceptable.

Anyway the house is nice and toasty warm, and hopefully we won’t be cold again. It was definitely a good thing to get done and I am glad that we did it, in spite of how much bitching I did along the way.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

And I thought candlelight was supposed to be flattering

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:58:21 GMT

I look like something from a horror movie. Anyway, today was really a weird day. The electricians were working away all day and we had no power. It was a bit cold but not TOO bad because it isn’t too cold outside. Mostly it was just like… what do you do without power. It’s weird how much we rely on it. I went out for part of the day, picked up some handspun yarn from one of the Moss st vendors. It’s a beautiful turquoise and I’m going to make myself a hat and maybe some fingerless mittens if I have enough left over. Or a small scarf. I love that there are still people in the world who do things like spin and dye their own yarn. It is so much more interesting looking than the store bought stuff too. Very pretty.

The electricians ended up taking longer than I think they had planned to, and it got dark before they were done. So I ended up lighting some candles. I couldn’t even really cook so I had crackers and cheese for dinner.

It was actually kind of nice and cozy, if a little weird to be stuck in the dark and quiet.

I went to work but it turned out I had gotten double booked with somebody else. I live so close to my work so I was like whatever, I’ll just go home no big deal. I wasn’t really in the mood to work anyway, something weird about the day. Last night I had a bad anxiety attack in the middle of the night too. No idea where it came from. I just woke up to Tyler trying to calm me down, apparantly I was breathing really hard and sitting up like I was having a nightmare. I don’t remember any nightmare, but my heart was sure racing. Whenever that happens to me, I end up feeling a little off all the next day. It doesn’t happen to me that often anymore at least.

So anyway I was just at home chilling out and checking my email and doing my other internet stuff that I was DIEING to do because I’d been without the power all day. I was chatting with my brother online and he was saying he almost had enough money for an xbox, and could I get him a gift certificate for Futureshop for xmas. And I was like fuck that let’s go get you one right now, I’ll pay the difference and I’ll even give you my old tv for your room! So we had fun going out and getting it and getting it set up. My parents don’t really understand the importance of video games but I do, and I do love spoiling my little brother with things that the parents don’t really approve of.

Now Tyler is home and we are going to trim our tree.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Fell asleep on the couch and now it’s midnight

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:20:40 GMT

I hate that, I fell asleep on the couch around 9:30 and woke up shortly before midnight. What the hell. Totally unintentional. Sometimes I think I have narcolepsy. Or maybe it was the winter ale I had with dinner.

Today was sort of hectic. There was all sorts of noise in the morning because the electricians were getting started doing the upgrade that is getting finished tomorrow. Then, while we were out doing Christmas shopping in the afternoon and buying our tree, Carolyn calls me to say the chimney sweep has come over today afterall (he wasn’t supposed to be here until Friday). So we came home and he was finishing up. The fireplace is still smoking, but it’s a bit less than before so I guess cleaning it was a step in the right direction. Another guy is coming back in a few days to try to figure out why it is still smoking. I really hope we can get it figured out because having a fire would just be so nice.

So the electrical upgrade is almost done, tomorrow the power gets turned off and then later in the day back on. On Thurs the heat pump is getting installed and we will have to figure out what to do with our leftover oil. It’s a real bummer that we have leftover oil that we JUST had to buy, but I guess it is just how it worked out and I have to get over the monetary waste. At least we have been nice and toasty warm this week instead of freezing cold while waiting for the install.

We got our tree today, but it’s only about 3/4 of the way up. It’s leaning a bit and undecorated. I think tomorrow night we are going to do the tree trimming. There was just too much going on today.

I played cello today AND got time at the torch. Weird to suddenly have time to do more than one creative thing in a day like that. It’s nice to be off school for a few weeks.

Phaibun says Merry Christmas.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Really pissed off

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:50:42 GMT

Tyler finally got up the nerve to call his mom today. I’ve been telling him he had better call her soon to let her know he and I are both working on Christmas day, because if we spring that on her at the last minute, I’m sure we would never hear the end of it. He hasn’t wanted to call because usually, she just doesn’t pick up, or doesn’t call back. If he does talk to her, it usually doesn’t go very well. We haven’t actually seen his family since the wedding in August, even though they live only about a 5 min drive from us. Tyler has basically given up trying to communicate with them, because his dad just isn’t a phone or visit person really, and his mom is impossible to communicate with.

Well anyway the phone call tonight did not go well. It went something like this, as far as I could tell:

- Tyler asks how his mom is doing; she says she’s been really busy. He tells his mom his job is going well, but he’s been really busy as well with work. He says he has got a promotion. She does not congratulate him, but instead goes “oh yeah your sister got promoted at her job too.”

- Tyler says he has to work Christmas, his mom starts bitching about that.

- They start arguing about who hasn’t called who, and she starts on him about how he never visits his grandparents. He reminds her of the last time he called, asking her to take him to visit his grandma (who has recently been moved to a nursing home), and she refused. She tells him that his grandpa (who was diagnosed with terminal cancer sometime this year) has been in the hospital. He gets mad that she never told him. She said if he called more, he would get updated on that sort of thing. She starts ranting, he puts the phone down for a second so as to try to regain his temper, and when he picks it up again, he hears a click as she is hanging up.

I know that both sides probably have real grievances here, but I do see Tyler trying to build bridges, and I don’t see his mom doing that. I basically feel like she (and, by inaction, his dad too) gave up on him when he had his psych issues several years ago and ended up in hospital. Actually, they may have given up on him even earlier than that. But now there is just no relationship, and I think Tyler is done trying to build one. I am feeling so mad right now too. I’m just so fed up with this whole situation. I hate seeing Tyler be so unsupported. I feel like his whole life, all his parents have done (especially his mother, but again, his dad too through inaction) have just beaten him down, always focusing on the negative and never giving him any support. My parents have always been more like real parents to him than his own have. They have always been so much more supportive. I know he hasn’t always made all the best choices, but he is a good guy. His own mother doesn’t know him at all. And yes she’s dealing with her own stress right now. I know that. But fuck, still, he is her son. He has made so many wonderful changes in the past few years and I don’t think his family really knows it, or maybe even doesn’t care.

I think we might end up not even seeing them at Christmas. And that makes me sad. But like I said, Tyler seems really done with trying to build the relationship back up, and something tells me that his parents aren’t going to be the one to extend the olive branch. Things are just going to continue to degrade until we are complete strangers from them.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

So tired!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:07:32 GMT

I am feeling soo exhausted. The weekend went really well though! I think it has just been a combo of all the stuff going on – between work, the Christmas shows, and final exams. I just feel wiped. Not in a bad way though. Today I came home after the teardown, had some dinner and a beer, and just fell asleep. Honestly when I woke up at about 10:30 pm I thought it might be morning again, I’d slept so deeply. I am still tired too and I somehow doubt that I will be up for too long before I go back to bed.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Moss st Christmas

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:27:18 GMT

Today was the first day of the Moss st Christmas market. It went really well! It was busy, but didn’t have that same frenzied busy feeling that the Touch of Saltspring did. Also we had more space so our booth didn’t feel as cramped and it was easier to get in and out.

My mom let me go home early so I could have a nap before my exam tonight. So I came home, had a nap, had some food, did a bit of last minute studying, and went to the test feeling pretty refreshed. I think it went fine.

On the way home I picked up some ingredients to make Nanaimo bars, because our household is sending a care package to a mutual friend on Monday and I wanted to bake something to include for him. I was so dumb though, I left one of the bags at Safeway, I came home and was missing ingredients. So I called the store, and sure enough they could confirm that someone had left a bag, but they had reshelved everything. So I had to go through my receipt, figure out what I was missing, and go back to the store and pick it all out again. That was lame and embarassing. If it hadn’t been necessary baking ingredients, I would have probably just not bothered going back! The bars are in the fridge now. The middle layer was really difficult to spread nicely and I even dumped the whole thing on the floor at one point (amazingly, it stayed in one piece, and was sitting on top of parchment paper in the pan so the actual food didn’t touch the actual floor, it could have been way worse). I think writing exams must make my brain sketchy. I still get test anxiety. I think the bars will be fine though. Hopefully it will still look like three layers.

Here are some pics from the market today.

[nggallery id=66]

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

So tired today

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:53:52 GMT

Ok, so I didn’t drink *much* today. I certainly got nowhere near drunk at any point. I was out to lunch with the girls from work for a Christmas type get together, and had a bellini (which I have to say was quite weak). Then, at my parents’ house while getting some stuff ready for the market tomorrow, I had a very small glass of cognac (which I had to try because it was very expensive and aged). But at work, I was just SO sleepy. I couldn’t seem to shake off the drowsy feeling (I want to stress that I was NOT drunk at work, not even slightly tipsy or even feeling inebriated at all, just TIRED… big difference). I am glad I didn’t pass out at my desk is all I can say. Especially in that last really quiet hour there.

I don’t think I will drink anything before having an evening shift at work again, though. I think it wears my system down a bit processing the stuff.

It is very cold and feels like it might snow. I love it when it snows, but at the same time, I kind of hope it doesn’t snow, since that will probably keep people away from the market this weekend.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Kind of blah today

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:26:06 GMT

It was fucking freezing last night. Our room temp actually went down to 53 degrees F. That’s just under 12 C. I didn’t sleep very well. I kept waking up in the morning and feeling for the heat vent (next to the bed) to see if the oil had come yet. It hadn’t. I got so chilled last night and my stomach was really acting up, I think maybe in part due to being so cold that all my muscles were tight. Today my stomach has been feeling crappy all day too. It was my brother’s birthday (he’s 17, which is crazy to me!) so I went over there for lunch. I was feeling really tired and kind of sick so I didn’t stay for that long. I went home and cranked the little space heater in the bedroom, and just passed out until it was time to go to work. I was tempted to call in sick to work but I went, it was warm at work at least. When I got home, it was hot in the house – the oil has been delivered, and the heat pump is getting installed next week, so we actually have a half tank to try to burn through now. We are going to enjoy the warmth and just crank the heat as much as we want for that week.

Ciaran’s tummy is looking better and she’s definitely scratching less. The fleas (and mice too) have probably all died from the cold spell that occurred in our house overnight.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

A very productive day off

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:46:39 GMT

I got a load of stuff done today. I have really needed like a full day to just get shit organized in my house. I reorganized one of our cupboards and cleaned up the computer room so all the extra computer bits aren’t just lieing on the floor, but are actually stored away. This meant I could actually VACUUM that room which is really important seeing as we may have a bit of a flea infestation still. I vacuumed the whole house very thoroughly today, including all around the baseboards etc again. And the animals are treated. So the house just feels like a better place. I also organized all our sheet music collection so I can find things again. We have a ton of music. I even found some of our duets I thought we had lost, so tonight we played through a few more, including one we had never learned before so that was really fun. I actually played quite a bit today, because in between cleaning and organizing I kept picking my cello up for bits here and there. I started playing actual music today, not just etudes.

The shitty thing that happened today was, we ran out of oil again. I knew it was going to happen because the weather has just gotten colder, and that’s always when it happens. It wasn’t too bad until later this evening, when the house really started to cool down. We have a space heater on in the living room which makes it tolerable in there. I had to run out and buy a second heater for our fish tank, since the one from Petcetera was barely adequate when the room temperature was normal (now it’s 61 degrees in here and dropping, we normally keep it at 66 during the day and 68 in the evenings when we are at home and up). Still pissed off about that piece of shit heater but don’t know what we are going to do about it. The new heater will be enough on its own, once we have heat again. Apparantly the oil is being delivered tomorrow morning, so we won’t be cold for long. Other times this has happened to us, we have been without heat for several days.

I was really pissed off earlier, because we have been planning on getting a heat pump, and it’s just been taking so long for it to happen. I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault in particular, because Trevor (upstairs neighbor) and Peter (downstairs neighbor) have been working really hard to get all the permits and everything we need to get it installed. But I’m just starting to feel fed up with the whole idea. I want to be warm NOW. Last winter we ran out so many times because we kept thinking the heat pump was just round the corner.

But it sounds like we are actually getting the heat pump, for real, before the end of the year. So, I am over feeling like I don’t even want it anymore afterall. I know it will be a great thing once it’s here and working. It’s just such a bitch freezing to death in the mean time. It would have made more sense to me to pay for oil this winter, on a payment/auto-delivery plan, and then got the heat pump in the summer when we don’t even need the furnace. Of course, the logic behind getting it ASAP is that there is money to be saved by doing so. I can’t argue with that, and I have to be grateful for the work my housemates are putting in on this project. I just wish it wasn’t taking so long.

Well anyway that’s enough of a rant. Like I said, I think it’s all going to work out. If we don’t get the heat pump before the half tank of oil that is getting delivered tomorrow runs out, I will probably shit a brick and possibly go postal on everyone who was ever involved in the idea of having a heat pump. But we will see.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Mouse issues

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:15:10 GMT

So we definitely have mice in the house. This morning Carolyn called me, asking me to bring Pao up to try to help flush out a mouse she thought was in her cupboard. She said she heard scurrying and “chewing” noises coming from in there. I brought Pao up, and we emptied out the cupboard, but could not find any mice, although we did see evidence they had been there (droppings, and chewed up bits of cracker crumbs and things). I left Pao up there for a while but she never did find any. Apparantly Pixel (downstairs cat) has caught yet another mouse though. Griffyn (upstairs cat) is kind of hopeless. He is a cat who meows at the birds in the tree, asking them nicely to come down, and no he doesn’t have much luck hunting that way. Pao and Pixel both seem to be good at the catching of mice, and I think Phaibun would probably be good at it too because he’s very quick and stealthy.

We bought some neons for our aquarium today – a little school of 6. We miss Sammy though, he was a really cool fish. Probably not right for our tank anyway, considering how big bala sharks can grow, but even so, I really liked him a lot.

Not much else to report. Today was a pretty lazy day. I had physio, I might be being discharged soon so that’s good news, my knee is doing quite well and I’m almost at the point where I can start an exercise program on my own at the rec center and not need to go to physio anymore. I haven’t been biking much because the weather has been pretty lousy, but I have been out a few times and I think it’s helping to strengthen my knee up. I’ve been playing cello a little bit almost every day and enjoying that too. I have tomorrow off too so I might do some more house cleaning then. I want to do a really thorough vacuum (like move the furniture, and go all along the baseboards etc) to really try to clear out any remnants of fleas, now that we have the animals all treated at once and with decent stuff. Ciaran seems to be scratching less and actually really seems to like me rubbing the lotion into her tummy. I think it feels soothing to her skin because normally I don’t think she’d like something cold and slimy on her! I am starting to believe in home remedies, at least in some cases. Obviously there are some things that require actual medicine. Another example of home remedies is the tea I have been drinking regularly, which seems to be greatly *greatly* helping my stomach. The fennel tea in particular is really good if I start feeling crampy in my bowel. I’ve also got a really nice tea from aronia berries that Tyler found for me. Plus a whole cupboard full of different teas that I have been delving into (because I always get given tea, or buy it from time to time if I see something that looks really good, but rarely actually DRINK the stuff.. up until lately anyway).

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

RIP Sammy (the shark, not my brother)

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:53:51 GMT

We flushed Sammy the bala shark today. He was fine yesterday, then today, just floating for no apparant reason. No injuries I could see. The tank has been sitting at 73-75 though which is apparantly within his comfort zone, but maybe lower than he’d like. We are still having issues with the heater. It isn’t even coming on all the time. I could argue that it was just not able to heat the water, if it was actually on all the time, but it isn’t. It’s just stupid. Sammy was my favorite and I’m sad he had to go. We will probably buy a new Sammy at some point though.

Today I ran errands all afternoon, including a bit of Christmas shopping, and buying some Advantage for the animals (flea medication). I just don’t think the stuff we had been using was working well enough. Maybe it would have if we could actually spray the animals all over without them freaking out/running away. But Ciaran hasn’t stopped scratching since we first saw fleas around, and her poor little tummy especially is getting really red and irritated and she is now starting to lose some fur. I saw another flea on Pao the other day, and flea poop in her coat. The Advantage is freaking expensive though, but from what I have heard it really works well. We might just keep them on it year round. Its actually not that pricy if you look at it on a monthly basis, it’s just because you have to buy it in a 6 month pack, and buy it for cats and the dog, that makes it so expensive all at once.

I used a recipe I found online to concoct an anti-itch lotion for the dog. I hope it’s OK for her. It’s mostly aloe vera, with some witch hazel and tea tree oil in it. It’s supposed to be really good for bug bites on humans too. I just put it on her tummy where she is really irritated, and she seemed to actually like me rubbing it on there. She hasn’t been trying to lick it off and it seems to be helping with the scratching. She’s still scratching occasionally but not as vigorously or as often as before.

I’m still pretty tired from this weekend – two fourteen hour days in a row – so I’m basically laying low for the next few days I have off. Then, I will do next weekend, and all the craziness will be over – school and craft fairs both. My last exam is Sat night. I’m not too worried about this exam but it will still be nice for it to be done with.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

This definitely made me LOL

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:12:24 GMT

Pao totally caught a mouse today. I saw her in the kitchen acting sort of funny, and then realized she had a mousie in her mouth. I followed her into the bathroom. The mouse was now nowhere to be seen, but she was batting at the shower curtain. I lifted it up and the mouse was racing around the bathtub! Then Pao leapt into the bathtub and caught it again. I grabbed her, and grabbed the camera. She didn’t drop the mouse so I got a few photos. I put them both outside. It was awesome.

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I am very tired, on my dinner break, after work I am so going to crash until at least mid afternoon tomorrow. It’s been a long weekend. Today our sales seemed a bit better though, I didn’t stay until the end because I had to go to work, but I am feeling hopeful that we did OK!

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

A Dark & Stormy Night

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:42:39 GMT

It is just wild out there tonight. Super stormy with some snow flurries, mostly just really crazy winds and cold. I didn’t have to be out much thankfully, just to my car and a short drive home from work.

Today was a long day and I am about ready for bed. It was about the same as yesterday sales wise. I got a bit of Christmas shopping done. Trevor paid the house insurance today and now I owe him about $500, ouch. I still have a decent chunk of money in savings but I’m scared to use it since I need some of it for school. So I guess I am a bit bummed we don’t seem to be having as good a sales this weekend as we did when we did this fair two years ago. However, the sales haven’t been completely terrible, it’s just that they were SO good the last time we did this show, that it is a bit disappointing. Craft shows are just so unpredictable. And you never know, maybe next weekend the Moss st will be better. Or, it might be awful. Just can’t know. Either way we will manage to pay the bills and all that, but wow owning a house is expensive!

Here are some photos from the show. Our booth sure looks good anyway!

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Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

First day of the first show

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:17:32 GMT

Today was the first day of our first show. It was a long day – the show actually went from 10-8 today. My mom stayed the whole time, for some reason she was OK with me leaving at 4 so I didn’t argue! My feet and legs got really achey from standing for so long, and I was just tired from all the chatting and from having been up early.

Anyway it was sort of disappointing. It wasn’t TOO bad, I mean we had OK sales but not really that great considering how long the day was, and comparing to how we did at the same show two years ago (we didn’t do last year). It was weird because there were a ton of people there, but they didn’t seem to be in a major buying mood. And the ones that did buy were more likely to buy small items. Also sort of unusual but good for me was that my jewelry was a big seller. I usually find that it’s really hard to sell my jewelry. I probably should make efforts to improve my jewelry display and sales tactics, because when I look at actual jewelry sellers’ booths, they are way more organized and professional looking than mine. I’m more about the beads than the jewelry design itself. I don’t know, I guess that’s a thought I will finish later. Maybe next year at the Moss st market I will make an effort to have a better jewelry display. But, whatever I am doing seemed to be working today. My lariats were my best seller.

There are so many factors to consider when you wonder why you did well or poorly or average at a show. It kind of makes me crazy because I start obsessing. Here are some thoughts I had on today…

- we have a lot of different products right now, and maybe we are competing with ourselves
- the venue was overly crowded and all the people were clearly feeling claustrophobic (some people even said this out loud at our booth, that they were enjoying the show but it was way too crowded for them)
- the economy is still sort of shitty and people are nervous
- there was another vendor selling wine bottle platters at this show

I think the crowded aspect was big today. And while the show did have a really good vibe, in terms of the energy of the crafters anyway, I didn’t feel it as much from the audience. People seemed hesitant and lots walked by not just our booth, but seemed to walk by almost everyone’s. There was just a feeling of people shuffling around a large area trying to get out of the crowd. And perhaps the craft fair as an entertainment event rather than a shopping event was more peoples’ focus due to the economy.

Also I never know how to find the right balance between leaving people alone to browse, and trying to chat them up. I’m not very skilled at the sales pitch thing but I do try. Sometimes I feel kind of pathetic in my attempts (especially when people don’t hear me saying hello to them, because my voice is too little.) However sometimes it gets very tiring when many people seem very disinterested in what you have to say, and you feel like you’re saying the same thing over and over.

At any rate, we still have two more days, and it’s really hard to know what will happen. So I am optimistic that we still might make some good coin. I’m not depending on this money anyway, it is basically determining my Christmas shopping budget, so if we don’t make a ton then I will just have to be a little leaner with my gifting.

I trimmed my hair tonight. I do have proper hair scissors but I was a little worried it was a bad idea. I don’t think I did too bad though. I really just took off about a half inch from the bottom and didn’t do anything in the way of layers, except for the layers I sort of have around my face, I noticed one side was really lopsided so I trimmed that but now I think it looks worse. I decided to stop before I ended up with really short bits. You can’t really tell anyway since my hair is all long, so what the hell, I guess this will tide me over for a week or two until I can get a proper hair cut. It feels like I got the worst of the split ends and stuff off, it’s way less tangly now. I find that split ends make my hair tangle sooo much and then it gets snagged, and I start losing bits of it. Actually when I washed it tonight, I felt like less hair was shedding.

We bought three more zebra danios for the aquarium tonight because one of our original three was getting picked on by the other two (tail nipping). Apparantly danios do better in larger schools and don’t bug each other as much. So now we have 6 of them. No more floaters in the tank though and everybody seems to be doing quite well!

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Ok I really need a hair cut

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:27:51 GMT

My hair is damaged and staticy and pissing me off so bad. I need a hair cut and I just can’t seem to find the time.

Today we did the setup for the big christmas show this weekend. It was kind of a nightmare out there, just everyone bustling around and really stressed and you could just feel the energy. They made the rows about 2 feet too narrow, so although we were told we could have a 7′ square space, that meant we were encroaching on our neighbors by about… well 2 feet I guess. So they got 5 and we got 7. We got there first though, and our structure is the size that it is, it was designed for a 7′ space. We didn’t have power yet and I still have to print some signs out before I go to bed. I don’t have price stickers on everything yet. This is how these things always go though. It’s not like our usual weekly moss st market where it’s all laid back, this is a more serious show. It should be good though! I am looking forward to it, just felt a bit of the stress tonight. It didn’t help that I had to leave before I wanted to. I kept looking at the clock and saying “I’m going to take off” then fiddling with stuff more.

I finally had to tear myself away with stuff undone, and I was about 10 min late for work due to crappy traffic coming back into town (not that it really matters with my job, but I’m a very punctual person and being late bugs me). And there were a load of messages on the phone I had to deal with, and I hadn’t eaten, although I did have food with me I didn’t get a chance to eat it until later on. So it was just kind of a hectic feeling afternoon/evening.

And, I have to get up pretty early tomorrow. So I am going to go get my printouts done and get to bed.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Just one more exam

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:50:36 GMT

Today I woke up, put my hair in pigtails to disguise (however feebly) the fact that it was unwashed, I put on my finest old sweats and went in to school to write the stupid essay exam. I was sort of worried about it because it was another one where we had to write three short essays in 50 mins. I hate writing by hand. There were 5 questions to choose from, they weren’t too bad though. I wrote about:

1. Communication difficulties between doctors and patients and how this can be improved
2. What Canada needs to prioritize with regards to mental health in adults and children
3. The effects of a positive attitude following diagnosis with a chronic and/or life threatening illness such as cancer

This was for health psych. I felt like I answered each question fairly thoroughly. I brought up lots of examples from things we had talked about in class. I don’t think my essay writing was as good as it would be if I could proof read it and edit it, but I think it was coherent. Just maybe not QUITE as organized writing as I would like. There just isn’t time in 50 mins. I wrote about 2-3 pages on each subject so my pencil was just flying the whole time, and afterwards my hand hurt. I do so much better with a keyboard. I can write neatly enough but I just have trouble organizing my thoughts on paper.

So that class is done with, and I just have a final left in my other class, it’s not until the 11th. Also I am less worried about it, as it is the exact same format as our midterms for that class, and I’ve been getting really high grades on all of those so I think I have figured out how to study for them. (That’s why I was worried about the exam I wrote today, I didn’t feel like I knew how to study for it, but I guess I did ok. I probably studied more than I needed to in fact, as the questions were much more general than I had expected). I have a 91% average on the midterms for that class, but my grade is going to go down due to a 10% portion for class participation, and I’ve skipped that class a fair amount, so have missed probably half the days when we had class participation going on. That’s basically a whole letter grade I will have lost for trying to maintain my sanity. Which really pisses me off but I knew that every time I skipped that class, there was a chance I’d be missing “class participation” (which involves sitting in groups for 10 mins and brainstorming, then somebody from the group answers a question on the board).

Some days though, I just haven’t been able to make myself go to school. Probably a lot of days this term. But I feel like I’ve come through the term quite well overall, in spite of all that, I am probably going to get decent grades (I am guessing an A- in each course), and I actually feel like I’ve learned something from the health psych class at least. So it wasn’t all a total waste. I am doing next term, taking two classes including the fucking stats course. Ugh.

After the exam I went over to the library and spent ages trying to figure out where the music collections were. They have changed everything since they renovated. I finally had to ask. I took out Tyler and I’s old fall back duet, by Stamitz (who was a string player from the classical period who had a fondness for the viola and actually wrote some stuff for viola and cello). The library only had one of the duo’s though, there are a few others that we have played in the past but I can’t find anywhere in our house. I went to the music store on my way home and they didn’t have them either, so I guess we will have to order them online or something.

Then I went to the pharmacy, paid a stupid amount for drugs (my health plan is the type that you submit receipts to get reimbursed rather than them paying up front… a pissoff). And then came home and crawled back into bed. I only napped for about 2 hrs though so that wasn’t too bad. Then we got up and played the Stamitz. My hand is sore today from yesterday and I have a blister raising on my little finger, but I feel a bit more like… confident or something with the instrument again. It actually seems to come back pretty fast, the basics at least.

Ciaran has been scratching a lot, but I’m not sure if it’s still fleas, as the cats seem to have no fleas now and I still have yet to find one on Ciaran. I’m worried she might be getting dry winter skin or something. She’s really irritating her skin in some places from scratching and her hair is thinning on her tummy from it. I think maybe next week if it doesn’t clear up we’ll have to get her in to see the vet. I just don’t know if she’ll calm down enough there for them to actually look at her skin.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Holy shit, it’s December

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:53:47 GMT

There are Christmas decorations all over the place at work. It’s kind of disturbing.

Last night I was hit with a longing for my “old life” (ie, when I used to be a cello player), in a big way. I don’t know what triggered it exactly. It does happen to me from time to time though. It gave me major insomnia. I pulled my cello out of the case and it felt both foreign to me and so familiar at the same time. I even cried this time which usually doesn’t happen. I then went to the websites for all the adult amateur orchestras around that I know, looking at rehearsal schedules, and I even emailed an inquiry out to one of them that I might be able to join. I don’t know that I have time for it, but I just miss playing so much sometimes. Today I played studies and my fingers are so weak. My brain still remembers what to do, but the muscles are not there. I have no callouses, my fingers are soft and useless. But suddenly I feel like maybe I should start finding the time to play every day and build my ability back up. Maybe we can get a small string quartet together for a weekly reading session, or maybe I can join one of the orchestras for a little while.

I guess it all comes down to… with my life… I don’t have it all figured out just yet. There’s still a lot of stuff going on under the surface that is unresolved. I still have a lot of emotion attached to my cello. I never really chose to stop playing, but it’s been almost 8 years since I have played it seriously. That’s almost exactly as long as I ever DID play it seriously.

Anyway, I have no answers about this. Just lots of wondering about what my future holds, and what it could hold if my problems with anxiety weren’t a factor.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Day off but the craziness is starting this week

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:15:30 GMT

Today was a day off. Tyler was teaching this afternoon. I went over to my dad’s to help him with some graphics stuff. Then I came home and went for a little bike ride before I had to pick Tyler up. I didn’t go far, just around the neighborhood for maybe 20 mins, but it felt so good. I really like bike riding and I think it is good for my knee to get it moving like that (because cycling isn’t really impact at all, but it gets the joint moving through its range of motion quite smoothely). I just have to take it easy at first since my muscles are weak, especially in that leg, and I have to try to focus on keeping my knee in line with where it should be. It has a tendency to want to turn inwards which puts more stress on the joint, this is due to muscle weakness. The muscles have gotten really weak because I favor the leg, since it hurts to put weight on it. Now that I’m basically healed from the surgery though, there is less pain than there was BEFORE the surgery and I guess once I get the hyaluronic acid injection there will be even less pain. So it is getting easier again to work on strengthening the muscles up, which will in turn help protect the joint better.

This next week or two is going to be really crazy, so I am trying to mentally gear myself up for it. I have exams, I have big Christmas craft shows, and work as usual on top of it all. We should make a decent amount of Christmas money from the craft shows though!

Tonight we have new House to watch.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

Uneventful

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:49:53 GMT

A fairly uneventful day. Took Tyler to work. Napped. Picked him up again. Went to work myself. Quiet tonight at work. I was knitting a scarf. Still haven’t been out on my bike, the weather has been shitty. I have tomorrow off so maybe if it isn’t too wet I will have a go at it.

Originally published at Amy's Blog. Please leave any comments there.