Can You Hear Me Now?

If you’ve sent me an email in the last while, I will get back to you eventually. I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment with work and life, and the slew of emails that hit me recently are going to have to wait. I’m much better at a sentence or two on Facebook then I am at composing letters these days!

So, I am watching The Bachelor this season. I haven’t watched a Bachelor in a few years, but I did watch The Bachelorette last season after seeing DeAnna Pappas on Ellen a couple of times and deciding I liked her. From the very first episode with the 25 men there, I had Jason pegged as THE ONE. And every week that she asked him to stay, I squealed in delight. When he was one of the final two, I was 100% positive they would end up together and live happily ever after. When she chose Jesse, I screamed at the TV and cursed her stupidity. Naturally, DeAnna and Jesse have since broken up, but JASON got the gig as the new Bachelor. So I want to see who he ends up with; he seems like such a nice guy, so real… and that little boy of his? What a doll. Of course, to add some extra drama to the series (because it so needs more drama) DeAnna will be coming back and most likely telling Jason she still loves him and wants to marry him… so, yeah, I’m looking forward to watching this season. Except for the parts they air before going to commercial, all the dramatic scenes coming up that aren’t nearly as exciting as they make them sound, which is one reason why I stopped watching it years ago in the first place. “Reality” shows have a bit of a PROBLEM with that. There was a girl from Calgary there the first night, but she was sent home (no surprise, as she got no time alone with him; damn polite Calgarians need to step it up in the pushiness department in cases like this). There is still another Alberta woman there (although she lives in Vancouver now). Her name is Jillian and she has an interesting theory about men and what they put on their hot dogs. I like her, and at this point am rooting for her, just because. I’m sure I’ll change my mind by next week.

We had a Chinook Friday night! That means, the weather has warmed up and it is quite possible the snow in the parking lot will melt so that I can actually take my scooter out this week. I tried to go the other day when it was sunny, but we have just had too much snow this winter already, and the parking lot is dangerous. Lumpy and topply and in need of a good plowing, right down to the cement. So I turned around and came back inside, sad and defeated. I really want to be able to go out again!!! I never mentioned that when I went out on the 31st the parking lot was about like it is now, and although I made it, it was not without incidence or close calls and “Oh My God!” yelps. So I won’t be taking chances like that again. Not until they make mini snowplows to attach to the front of scooters.

Last week when I had to turn around and come back inside, I called my dad for help. I really had to get to the bank and deposit a couple of cheques. So the following day my dad and brother came over and we drove to the mall with my wheelchair. I was able to get my banking done and refill a couple prescriptions, and picked up some valerian root to see if it would help me sleep (it didn’t). We also went to the newly-renovated Smitty’s restaurant in the mall, which has completely turned itself around. The food was great and the service excellent. What the…?

So, sleeping… still not doing it. I’ve increased the amount of time I spend on my Chi Machine, which I think is actually helping my hip pain a bit and relaxing me. Other than that, I still lay awake for hours and hours and hours every night. At the suggestion of a friend I ordered a Litebook, as I’m 99.9% sure I have SAD and have been meaning to get one of those for ages. I hope it arrives soon and that it helps. I was actually told many years ago by an occupational therapist who was giving me tips for sleep (this is a long term condition that has gotten a lot worse over the years) to get two hours of sunlight every morning, which is not possible in this climate. So this light will give me that.

One of my clients I’m doing some work for today has an accountant that just pisses me off. He is so condescending to me and talks to me like I’m an idiot. He also gives me ridiculous year end adjusting entries that make no friggin’ sense and changes things that didn’t need to be changed in the first place. I won’t get into it because a) it will bore the hell out of you, and b) you won’t get what I’m talking about unless you are an accountant or bookkeeper yourself. It’s just… sometimes the bookkeeper is NOT an idiot, and her insight into the company books, since she works with them every week as opposed to you sticking your nose in once/year, might be worth a phone call before you go bullying her with your God-like behaviour. Making a remark like “the owner is not subject to EI” when I have been processing the owner’s payroll and T4 for umpteen years and OBVIOUSLY KNOW THAT is redundant. Shut up.

Well, I’m off for another Chi machine session, some food, and a little Golden Globe red carpet action.

(Edited to correct the year. But the direct link and feeds shall forever say 08…)

Ahhh, it’s 2009. I sure hope it is better to me than 2008 was! I think I say that every year. It would be nice to see some improvements instead of this downhill slide I’ve been on the past couple of years.

I hope I can get some sleep this year! I need to figure out how to get comfortable, my hips are in so much pain. I haven’t been to my Chiropractor in ages and of course he is on holidays right now, so when he gets back I definitely need to see him. But even he probably can’t fix me up, I’m going to need some hip cushions in my bed or something. I think once I get comfortable, I may be able to sleep without pills. I was hoping the 5-HTP I’ve been taking for depression would help with my sleeping patterns, as that is tryptophan (found in turkey and warm milk) but I think I need to take a few at night in order for that to help my sleep. I take one with each meal as it is, I don’t know if that would be too many. I have to look into it further. I watched a TV show yesterday where they compared different sleep aids; the winner was Nytol’s natural sources which is Valerian root. One person chose 5-HTP and one chose an antihistamine. No one chose Melatonin, which I used to use but is useless to me now. It’s probably cheaper to buy straight valerian root capsules than to buy the Nytol brand. I remember also trying that years ago and guess what? It didn’t work for me, either. So what next? My mom suggested I talk to my doctor about medicinal marijuana, which is probably a good idea.

Oh, speaking of herbs, on the news today they announced that Stevia (an herb sweetener) has been approved for use by the FDA and should start appearing in some foods and drinks later this year. I think that is awesome! I can’t touch Aspartame (gives me headaches, plus it’s just plain evil) and am always weary of Splenda because it is a chemical as well. I’ve had Stevia packets around for years but never add sugar to anything so I never use them. Plus, I don’t know what the Stevia to sugar ratio is. It’s not 1:1 like Splenda and sugar is, so I never used it in baking or anything. I’ll leave it to the experts. And will be first in line to buy Stevia sweetened Coke!

My phone rang in the wee hours the other morning while I was quietly resting and hoping to drift back to sleep (which is my usual state). It was my least favourite company on earth, Sammons-Preston. After all the shit I went through with them after I ordered my exercise platform, they never did charge my Visa card for it. They charged me for the freight, shipping and taxes, but not the table itself. So they’ve been sending me a statement every month. And every month I send them an email (I’m not wasting the time to call those F*ckers) telling them they need to bill me the proper amount (less the measily $100 credit I was given for all the hassle I went through) and then charge it to my credit card using all the information I gave them when I originally ordered it online. In JULY. Every flippin’ month I’ve been doing this, for 4 months straight. WTF is wrong with their customer service department? So, the other day, my phone rings at 7:50 a.m. while I’m TRYING to sleep and it’s still DARK OUT FOR GOD’S SAKE, I don’t care if you’re down east where it is 2 hours later, look at the f*cking area code you are dialing.

Anyway, this woman calls and the only reason I answer is because no one in their right mind (who knows me) would call me that early unless it was an emergency. When I found out who it was and that she was calling because I still haven’t paid my bill, I tore a STRIP off of her. I told her they billed me the wrong amount, that I’ve been emailing them every month, that they have all my credit information from my initial order, blah blah blah. She insisted she has no information regarding any of the above and I told her that maybe she should look into what happens to emails sent to customer service, why they are continually ignored, and to call me back LATER, and hung up.

Needless to say, I was unable to fall back asleep and they never called me back later.

Speaking of F*cking, I watched Young People F*cking last week, and it is HILARIOUS and fabulous. I suggest every adult in the free world check it out. It should go down in history as one of the best movies of 2008 period, never mind that it’s Canadian and Canadian movies often suck. I felt a personal connection to this film because Todor Kobakov composed the music. Now, I don’t know Todor personally, but he is in a band with my friend Lindy, so I think I’m entitled to a connection. Lindy and Todor wrote and recorded that awesome Maynard’s candy commercial jingle which is the best original commercial jingle of all time.

Anyway, check out the trailer for the movie:

And now go rent it!

I really need a new kitchen floor.