Month: August 2010

Zombie walk and hymn sing

The hymn sing at Tom and Peggy’s was awesome, as was the potluck afterwards (whoever brought the masala chickpeas, thank you, they were YUMMERS).

The Zombie Walk was even awesomer, and my fave part was being part of a zombie mob that tried to overturn a post-apocalypse zombie fighting bus.  That and going to Tanpopo still in full zombie regalia and having all I can eat sushi with Katie K.  Happy me.

Grr-thwack

Zombie walk this aft.  Katie K and I will meetup at the Art Gallery and drag our shambling carcasses down the parade route.  I can haz corn syrup and food colouring, and clothes to sacrifice. Oh yes, there will be pix.

Church meeting earlier this afternoon.  I’m an invited guest rather than a regularly scheduled attendee; I suspect I am the Katelijne Adorne of my crowd, and happy I am that there is precisely one reader of this blog who will get the reference.

Leo is whomping up Finnish pancakes in the kitchen.  Lawsy me, and there’s BACOM tooooo. Linda indulged me by watching the most recent Futurama episode with us last night, of which much internet woo, and I have to say “The Prisoner of Benda” is one of the best episodes ever and it’s FULL OF MATH.

Tomorrow, hymn sing at Tom and Peggy’s (ever so much more fun than it sounds, my irreligious pals).  I’m thinking about going into work and doing some documentation, but I bet I turn lazy and stay home and watch depressing movies instead.  Leo and Linda will head out sometime Sunday.

It is my sad duty to report that Katie and Daxus are dating again.  Hence the title of the post. I am keeping my mouth shut (apart from giving Suzanne and my mother a heads’ up, and Paul and I had a brief and eyerolling confab yesterday) and hoping that a cooler head prevails.  It’s too bad that her staying away from him was a condition of tenancy.  As of the end of this month she’s homeless – you read me? – and only Paul is prepared to take her in, as Jeff and I -after a brief and dispassionate strategy session – do not wish to borrow more grief than is already our portion.

Did I say recently how much I love and appreciate Jeff?  He really is Made of Awesome.

The quinoa is as tall as me and four cobs of corn have set on.  I let the peas go to seed.

Leo and Linda safely arrived

Leo was happy to hear about the wireless.  His internet access during his trip has been somewhat variable.  It was good to catch up on the kids’ doings – Kevin working for a rafting company, Kathy inching towards pummelling UVic into submission and wresting from then some sheepskin, and John is in Afghanistan, from whence it is my earnest prayer that he returns safe to his family and loved ones.  Was amused to learn that Kathy is living with her equivalent to sister in law, just like my daughter.

We stuffed ourselves on schnitzel at the Balkan House, Jeff suggesting it as it is a brief walk from here.

Linda teaches developmentally delayed teens, and her stories were both touching and entertaining.  She has a parent who believes his son’s autism was caused by vaccinations.

Sigh.

Leo gave me my first guitar.  So if you ever got the Tapioca Song stuck in your head, it’s his fault.

busy tizzy

1.  Paul and kids over to watch latest True Blood.  Since I knew they were coming I went to Choices and got delicious om-nom-noms for them, like fresh bread and Dijon turkey and Avalon chocolate milk, which still comes in a glass bottle and is the best commercial chocolate milk in the known universe.  Even Paul had some and he stopped drinking cow’s milk years ago.  Damn, it’s fine!  Also edamame salad and fresh veg.

2.  Leo and Linda coming tonight…. can’t wait for them to meet kitties.

3.  Jeff biked to and from work yesterday… go Jeff. The last three 3 k involve about three hundred feet of elevation, so he was rather warm by the time he got back.  I took one look at him and asked him if he wanted some water.

4.  At church meeting last night (Nominating committee, my house) we had fun and got shiz done.  I was so happy to see everybody.  Now I have more work to do, even though an item came off my list!

5.  I’ll be doing a bed and breakfast thing in Bellingham in September but I don’t know which weekend.  I’ll be taking Katie for some CBS.  (Cross border shopping).  Clothing for women my size is more easily obtained Stateside.

6.  I’m helping train somebody at work, and as a consequence my house-fly strength attention span is even MORE truncated.  I’d like to thank her family for raising somebody so smart.  And she takes kick boxing classes, too.

7.  Keith was too – I don’t know – to check flickr for pictures of Animé Evolution, and when he said he didn’t know where pictures would be, I said, “You’re daft, check the flickrstream.”  Gosh all whacky, am I the only person in the world who knows how to use the internet, grump grump.  And there he was, in his costume.  Now I go looking for it and I can’t find it, but suffice it to say Keith made a GREAT Dr. McNinja. Grandparents are warmly encouraged to apply to him directly for photographs.

8.  Dropped by her workplace to see Lady Miss Banjola and inspect her tummy.  Yup, she’s knocked up.  She’s also artistically pale but I think she looks great.

9.  The spicy Thai beef salad yesterday was unbelievably yummy, but the transit time of 8 hours was accompanied by the burnination of a lifetime.  I can no longer eat hot peppers, unless I want multiple lashings of discomfort and abrupt departures from whatever conversation I’m engaged in at the time to flee for the house of ease.  It was worth it, but only just.  Ky can cook.

There’s more but I gotta go.

An anniversary of sorts

Twenty-nine years ago today I left my then legal husband, Phil, and moved in with Paul on Springhurst Avenue in Toronto.  It was during the CNE, and with the casual rain of coincidence that marks every part of my life, there were fireworks every night; we’d sit on the third floor balcony overlooking Lake Ontario and watch them.

Three years ago this past spring I moved out.  Our friendship is now more solid – and more civil – than it ever was.  But we had to go through a lot of dross burning off first.

Is Margot in the well, Eddie?

Eddie was screeching up a storm last night.  Jeff realized that something was amiss and got up.  He started following Eddie around, and Eddie went straight out the back door and to the garage, where Margot had been locked since Jeff had worked on his bike.  Eddie got many scritchings and “Good boy”.  (I locked Margot in my room all day last week, so you’d think she’d learn about doors…..)

Sorry, Eddie, we’re on to you.  You just PRETEND to hate Margot; like the rest of us, you haz succumded.

HOT, so hot

Between the heat and the hormones I had a very truncated night’s sleep last night.

I am very slowly getting organized around various church activities.  I requested a key (yes, if you have a joke about a church key, or redneck wrench, please insert here), dug into the website and confirmed commitments with those of the church who don’t have email.  I also commiserated with a sibling congregant about how married couples using the same email address is creepy (and f^ckyeah it IS creepy, especially when it means one of two things, that one spouse can read private correspondence to do with church matters or that one spouse is controlling the information spigot, and either way, EW!), and her response started with “Dude!” which just goes to show you which side of the digital divide I fall on.  I am attempting to get instructions and training for the sound system, if you can call that giant nexus of crap a sound system (and I don’t mean to beat up on the volunteer technicians because there are serious technical issues which will be neither easy nor cheap to resolve).

I rejoiced in learning (there had been hints, but now we know) that church start time has moved back to 10:30 am which is a) mostly the doing of the minister, who never gets any credit for having either brains or the welfare of the whole church in mind, which is bloody annoying for me as I find she has both and b) REALLY good news for the people who live in the hinterlands of our catchment area. Getting up at 8 to get to church is just plain horrid and you have to get up even earlier if you’re doing set up, so booyeah Rev Katie.

I have also, as of the last board meeting, gotten the okay to revive Chalice circles.  Go Allegra.  I really like small group ministry, especially when it consists of:

Meeting – checking in – lighting candles for joys and concerns – meditating – closing song – eating – socializing!

Now to consult Jeff about dates.

Church is going to eat my brain for the next two years; I know it.  Now I have to pace myself.

It’s true we’ve had a lot of departures in the last six months but sometimes the big trees gotta come down to let the little shrubs closer to the light.

New gal started at work yesterday – I think I’m going to like her.  Her uptake curve on new technology is impressive.

Mark October 16 on the calendar, we’re going to have a Social Justice Open Mic at church.

Church board

The board retreat today (I’m a trustee again at Beacon Unitarian Church) was AWESOME.  I think we really gelled as a board, but time will tell.

We’ve had some heavy, heavy losses in the church this year, some natural attrition, some resignations due to differences with either the board or the minister, and some people have retained their membership but largely withdrawn from church life.