Can You Hear Me Now?

I got my hair cut and coloured today. I wasn’t going to get it coloured, but when I told my hairdresser that I was just going to buy a box and do it myself because I can’t afford it right now, she gave me a deal I couldn’t pass up. “If you colour it yourself you’ll just mess up”. Thanks for the vote of confidence!! I’ve coloured my own hair a million times before, thankyouverymuch!! Yes, it’s harder with just one hand, but that’s what mothers and girlfriends are for. She told me my roots are a lot darker than when she first met me; a sign that my natural hair colour is, indeed, a lot darker than I want to admit. A part of me wanted to get it coloured a dark blonde and then just let the natural colour grow in so I can see what it is, but I changed my mind when she said she saw grey. I have never seen a grey hair on my head before, and I’d like to keep it that way for awhile.

Last night AND the night before, Shawna and I went out for dinner to a 100% gluten free restaurant called A Tasty Menu, that also has vegan/dairy free versions of their breads and some meals. On Wednesday I had a grilled veggie sandwich with sweet potato fries (YUM), and last night I had PIZZA!! Green peppers and pineapple on a super thin GF/DF crust with soy cheese… it was soooo good! It’s pretty exciting for Shawna to know she can go to this restaurant and order anything off the menu and not get sick, and I’m thrilled to be able to eat out during this cleanse. I’m going to drag my dad there this weekend, methinks.

So I actually clicked on an ad in Facebook the other day. It was for a local pet grooming business. I emailed the manager, Amanda, and asked her if she does or knows anyone who provides mobile pet grooming, and could come by and trim my cat’s claws. She wrote back that she’s not a mobile service, but she does live close to me, and could swing by after work one day and do it. So she came by today. It didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it might, considering my kitties don’t like to be man-handled a lot. But she’s a pro. Pepper took it like a big girl, curled up in her arms and it only took a few seconds to do all 4 paws, she didn’t flinch once! Pita, on the other hand, squirmed and whined and made noises I’d never heard her make before. The second it was over, she raced off, then came right back and jumped up on Amanda’s lap to be pet and cuddled. No fear, there. She also ran into my bedroom to watch as Amanda did Pepper (who was asleep in my room as usual) because she always has to be where the people are and the action is. After Amanda left, both kitties took turns hanging out on my lap, and it was absolute heaven for me when they did their usual kneading on me, to not get poked by sharp claws. Ahhhh!

Since I started this cleanse a week ago, I haven’t been to the mall for a latte or food of any kind, nor have I ordered anything in. So I guess that makes up for the extra money I am spending on organic food. SPUD now carries organic cat food too, so I’m slowly weaning my cats onto it. I hope they like it. So far, their litter boxes have been a lot easier to clean because they don’t go as much! Oh, and for myself, I discovered these spritzers that are sweetened with fruit juice only, no sugar-sugar or artificial sweeteners, so that is a nice break from water water water.

Over the past week, to keep my spirits up and make me laugh, I have been watching my seasons two and three DVDs of The Office. I even downloaded the Dunder Mifflin desktop wallpaper I kept seeing on their computers. And, although I laughed my ass off (and I’ve seen all the episodes several times before), as predicted, I cried after the last scene of the last episode of season 3 (#8 in that Top 10). Gets me every time. Damn you, Jim and Pam!

Other than that, and a few other little outbursts, the crying is starting to subside. I think I have almost successfully completed my withdrawal from Paxil. What great fun this has been! I’m still not sure what my new *normal* is, that may take awhile yet. But the worst is definitely over.

I haven’t taken any photos in ages, so I leave this entry photo-less until another day. Ciao!

You must, must, must see August Rush.

It’s been an emotional few days. First, my friends Lisa and Russ got engaged. We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later, it was just a matter of making it official with the ring and stuff! So that was done on Thursday. Then, the worst thing that could ever happen, Lisa’s dad died suddenly on Friday. He had a heart attack while fishing alone out at his cabin. I like to think he made sure his daughter was going to be safe and happy in her life by getting engaged to a great guy, and then he went off to his favourite place to go fishing, and died peacefully and quickly doing what he loved, knowing his kids were going to be fine (Lisa’s brother is getting married in a few weeks). I just can’t believe it happened, so close to Father’s Day, and he was only 62. I LOVED Lisa’s dad. I talked about him in this entry a few years ago, the first time I spent Christmas Eve with Lisa’s family. I’m heartbroken, and can’t even begin to imagine what Lisa, her mom, and her family are going through. It looks like, after the first funeral I ever attended was for Lisa’s uncle, that my second will be her father’s. It’s so very sad.

Saturday morning is when I learned of Sam’s death, as it happened late the night before. The news came in an email from Lisa, which I read just as my Home Care worker walked in the door. So I burst into tears as she was asking me how I was, and me and crying are kinda ugly. I’m one of those criers who can’t talk or breathe when I’m crying. So it’s rather useless to try to get anything out of me. Poor Harpal, she had no idea what was going on. I managed to calm down while in the shower and was able to tell her what had happened when I got out, but that just made me start blubbering even harder all over again. You know how it is… anyway, I managed to pull myself together by the time my mom and Bob arrived to take me to the chiropractor, but there was no point in putting on make-up, lemme tell ya. I even remembered to bring my chiropractor the sonic mole repellers I got for him off eBay. He’s been wanting some for awhile and wasn’t able to find them/order any himself from anywhere. So in comes me, eBay expert extraordinaire! He was very pleased.

My mom stayed over on Saturday, and you would not recognize my office!! She re-organized everything. Well, I helped a little, but she totally outdid herself. My air conditioner (did I mention I got an A/C for my birthday? Wheee!) was being installed on Sunday, so I needed some help with my filing and getting stuff out of the way to make room for moving the filing cabinet to the other wall and re-arranging things a bit. My mom has a tendency to overdo it and would not stop until she was happy. Gee, I wonder where I get it from? Anyway, she worked her arse off until I made her sit down and watch a movie with me. August Rush. We cried and cried and cried, so the second it ended I sobbed “okay, now you have to watch PS I Love You!” (The whole cute Irish musician theme was going on with me… I WANT ONE). I really love Video on Demand, especially since I received my last bill and none of the movies I had rented in May were on it. So on Sunday, we watched Dan in Real Life, because I love Steve Carell and it was time for another dose of him. I cannot WAIT for Get Smart.

I had a dream about Steve Carell last night. I drempt that he was just like his character on The Office in real life, and I was the only one who truly understood him and loved him (SO not true, I would smack Michael Scott quite hard at times if I knew him, but in my dream he was the love of my life) and it broke my heart to watch him try so hard with other women who just didnt get him and dumped him harshly. I was his best friend who was always there to pick up the pieces, and he had no idea how I felt, and I just couldn’t tell him. I was so angry at these women who treated him like shit and didn’t realize what they had, and wished so hard he would just SEE ME. I do believe I have played that scenario out in real life on a couple occasions with male friends in my past. It never ended happily; no Vanessa Williams song here. Oh, and I was doing some sort of treasure hunt thing with all the cast of The Office on my team, Jim being the leader, Michael being at home crying over his last girlfriend, and me running over there whenever I had a break from the treasure hunt to tell him it would all be okay.

Aaaanyway, my A/C was hooked up on Sunday thanks to handyman Ian, a friend of my mom and Bob’s. He brought his puppy Rosie over, and while Pepper ran and hid in my bedroom, Pita stayed in the living room by the coffee table and just stared. Rosie ran around my apartment sniffing everything and chewing cat toys, and then she spotted Pita. She wanted to play, she meant no harm, she wandered over in Pita’s direction. Pita hissed and hissed at Rosie and eventually Rosie went away. But then she came back, and when she got too close, Pita hissed and SMACKED Rosie across the face, claws first. Rosie whimpered as only a puppy can, and ran away. Poor little Rosie. Mean little Pita. She does NOT like dogs, and I don’t know why, because she’s been an indoor cat since the day she was born, so it’s not like she’s ever had a bad run in with one. Two other dogs have been around her in the past, all perfectly sweet and harmless (and very small), but Pita would have none of it and Pepper always hid. I guess we know who’s boss around here.

Today, I got up and sat in my clean and organized office and turned on the A/C just because I could. Actually, it’s warming up this week, so it was good timing getting it installed yesterday. Not that it’s HOT out, but the sun beats in here pretty strongly and heats up my apartment… I tend to need a fan on me when it wouldn’t be necessary if my windows faced another direction. But today was a gorgeous day!! My friend Joelle picked me up and we went to My Favourite Vietnamese restaurant (next time we'’ll go to hers) and chowed down. Then we went to her place, stopping for a Slurpee on the way. I haven’t had a Slurpee in YEARS! We sat in her yard for hours and I talked so much my speech was slurring really badly. It actually started slurring in the restaurant, which is how I know I’ve talked too much. Also the fact that Joelle was way ahead of me in the eating department. So I told her she needed to do the talking at her place, to give my mouth a rest so I could talk normally again. That didn’t last long, though. I was talking really funny, but Joelle said she could understand me. Tonight, I will NOT be making any phone calls. That’s one of those MS symptoms that only pops up once in a blue moon, but when it does, I need to take a night off from talking. Oh, the horror!

*Sung to the tune of “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee.

I have sooooo much to talk about since my last entry. Like, 5 entries worth! But of course I have no time. It’s my 40th birthday and I’ve got lots of plans the next few days!

So, for the time being, here are some cat pictures to tide you over.

Pita caught at the end of a yawn.

Snugglemuffin.

Invisible Teddy Bear

Please vote (5 cheezburgers!) for Pepper’s LOL pic at I Can Has Cheezburger to get her on the main page!! Thanks!!

Mandatory daily stretching exercises

I got myself some hot pink streaks for my birthday. I am 40, after all! Heh

I decided to do an update because Maggs tagged me with the above award, so I needed to put it up here, and figured I may as well update while I’m at it.

The rules for the “You Make My Day” award are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness, inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through e-mail or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved. So to pass it on and keep the love going ~ here are 10 of the 100’s of blogs that keep me inspired and bring a smile to my face. Please check them out when you have a few minutes…perhaps there are some new friends to be made!

So that’s how it works, and here are 10 blogs that make me smile and/or inspire me regularly:

Maggie
Kerri
Scott
Sylvie
Shauna
PostSecret
Big Fat Deal
Robyn
Sandee
I Can Has Cheezburger (Seriously cannot go 10 minutes without a peek over there haha)

I’m not going to let them know I bestowed this honour upon them, but if they happen to check their referral links and end up here, they are free to recognize it if they want

Lots has happened since my last update, and wouldn’t you know it, I don’t have much time here. For starters, I saw my dad for the first time in almost 6 years. One thing I have realized, is that he may never change, but I certainly have. Hopefully that will be enough for us to have a relationship of sorts. It has never been a question of love; it’s more about how to have a relationship with him without him trying to take over my life. I am an independent person, and he wants to take over and do everything and have all the answers, and in the past this has caused me more stress than you can begin to imagine. (There’s other stuff, too, but I won’t get into it). Anyway, hopefully we can set boundaries that will keep us both happy. I know after spending a few hours with him yesterday evening, that I’m much better at handling his personality than I used to be. Rather than get stressed out, I let it slide and just shrugged it off as *just the way he is*. I have learned, if nothing else over the past 6 years, to allow people to be the way they are and live their life the way they want and not let it get to me. Their problems/behaviours/choices etc. are not mine to worry about, unless they are hurting me (or my family, or children, or animals, or…). I am a mere observer. Wow, I think I’m growing up!

On a whim today, I decided to get my legs waxed. OUCH!! Facking OUCH!!

Last weekend was supposed to be a lot of fun. CD release parties galore, including the Calgary one for The Polyjesters. So what do I go and do?? Fall and twist my ankle, of course. I stayed in with my foot up, icing it. My mom was here, and without a show to go to, that gave her the time to clean out and re-organize my cupboards. Gotta love moms!

I’m switching my TV from our regular Shaw Cable (I just have the basic cable) to Telus TV. I’m excited! I didn’t realize everyone has to be digital by 2009, and I’ve got a pretty old TV here. So I’m getting a free digital box, one year of basic cable for free (which is $10/month cheaper than Shaw anyway! Wheee!) and extra channels I’d like (to get those great HBO shows and A&E, the Learning Channel, etc.) for only $6.00/month. I’m really pleased! My neighbour has it, and loves it. It’s great that Shaw finally has some cable competition.

Anyway, I’m crazy busy with work, and outta time. Catch ya later!

Thursday, March 20 ~

Did you know my babies are two years old now? I don’t know their exact birthdate, but I know it was the first week or so of March. And I still love them more than anything! They make me laugh out loud every day. It’s awesome. I highly recommend at least two cats per household.

Ah, yes. I remember it well.

And so do they.

I’m insanely busy with work at the moment, but today is full of other stuff, and I don’t have time to devote to work before I have to do something else, so I’m writing this. It’s much easier to be interrupted during a blog post and then pick it up where I left off, than it is work. You see, today I had Home Care at 10:00, a Home Care nurse/supervisor is coming by at 12:30 for a meeting/assessment, and then my friend Shawna arrives from Winnipeg sometime after that and will be heading to my place straight from the airport. I get her for a few hours before she goes to another friend’s to spend the night, and then I’ll see her again on Sunday. In between, she will be with her boyfriend. Remember, the guy AH brought out with him, like, 3 years ago, when we were dating, and I wanted to go out when Shawna was in town, so I told him to bring a friend? Yeah. That guy. They’re still together!

Hmmm… reading that old entry reminds me that I used to have a life. I really miss Christine, too! She’s living in Ottawa now, going to law school! Who’d a thunk it? Ahhhh, the days of only needing a cane to get around. Before all the surgeries and falls and broken wrist and extended hospital stays and weight gain and anti-depressants… God, I’m working on getting back there, I sure hope I can.

Speaking of AH, yes, we still talk and stuff. I actually got rather short with him on the phone the other day, when he called me in the middle of the day when I was knee deep in work. My head was wrapped around what I was doing, and he asked me “has the government made new laws or something?” Huh? “my (brother/nephew/cousin I can’t remember) received a bill for $500 for filing his taxes late. Why?” How should I know? Is he incorporated? Yes. When’s his year end? Don’t know. Well, it depends on when his year end is, how late he filed, how much he owed when he filed… I can’t help you if you don’t know all that, the CRA charges penalties and interest to late filers when they owe. Duh. I’m busy, I gotta go.

I haven’t heard from him since then, can’t imagine why. I get stressed when I’m really busy and the phone rings off the hook for all sorts of reasons. It’s that time of the year…

My psychologist at the Clinic for Mind/Body Medicine has moved her office over to the hospital close to me!! I’m sooooo happy. No more sitting in a car for over an hour each way. Best of all, both my weekly commitments (to Troy’s for work, and this appointment) are in the NE not too far from me, so none of my regular trips will be long ones. AND I get AH as my driver a lot when I go to places nearby. AND, this is the hospital with a Second Cup right in the entrance I use, so I think I literally cried tears of joy when Jennifer told me she was being transferred there.

The Home Care nurse just left. Wow, we went over a lot of stuff! I’m really excited. She’s referring me to a foot clinic, where they can make a bunch of stuff to help me walk better, including fixing up the ankle/foot orthotic I had made a couple years ago (when I broke my wrist and was staying at Carewest, where the physio dept. got one made for me - to help my right foot lift up when I walk - but I have never been able to use it because I can’t get it on by myself or even with help!) and special shoes and a lift for my right leg, which is shorter than my left leg. My gait is so messed up from all these years of funny walking (and breaking my ankle in 2002). She’s also going to check with their volunteer centre to see if she can find someone to go to the pool with me twice/week!!! Someone to help me get in and out of my bathing suit. She said it may take a couple of months, but there is hope that I can get back in the water. YES!!! Next week my Home Care worker, Harpal, is getting training and supervision to exercise with me 3 mornings/week, so if I get that exercise M-W-F and then can add in water exercise Tues. and Thurs., PLUS stuff to help me walk better and safer (so I actually will walk more), I am ON MY WAY. I’m so excited. She’s also referring an occupational therapist to get me a new walker… mine is wrecked up and an old model. Pita has pretty much ripped the foam off the handles, and the plastic tray I use every day is cracked and broken.

I LOVE SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE!! There, I said it. We may not have a perfect system, but until I saw Sicko I didn’t realize just how GOOD we have it. I’d be living on the street if I lived in the U.S. with the amount of health issues and hospital stays I’ve had! Plus I’d probably have to buy my own walker. Which are, like, $600. Now, if we could just get air conditioners for persons with MS made a medical necessity instead of a non-medical appliance that isn’t covered by Aids to Daily Living, that would be nice.

My friend Sheldon made the funniest video ever, but he recorded it on Facebook, so I don’t think you can see it unless you have a Facebook account.

Please go here to laugh now.

If you’re unable to see that, I filmed it off my computer using my camera and uploaded to You Tube, but obviously the sound and quality is not nearly as good as the original. I’m hoping Sheldon will start a comedy channel on You Tube and upload videos so we can all watch his silly antics on a regular basis.

Friday, March 21 ~

Shawna showed up yesterday afternoon, and we went to the mall. Big surprise, huh? I bought Easter stuff for Jason and Sheldon ’cause we’ll be seeing them on Sunday, including a singing duck which I hope will become the official mascot for their Kitchen Radio. Anyway, we ate, shopped, and talked. Then I ended up getting caught up in Thursday night television without finishing this up. I think I’m going to like that new show Miss Guided, unless it’s on opposite The Office when it comes back. There is no contest. But Miss Guided was funny, and I love Judy Greer.

Okay, well, I better get my ass in gear and get some work done today! Happy Easter everyone, enjoy your weekend.

The litter boxes were cleaned and aired out to dry.

“Okay, let’s trade”

We have a winner!

I found my last disposable camera the other day, one that I was using when I got my digital for Christmas in 2006. I got the pictures developed, and there were a bunch of cute ones on it. These are a couple of my favourites; I’ll upload the others soon, there are some cute ones!! Pita and Pepper don’t hook up like this often, anymore. I miss those days…

Pepper reminds me of the girl in the pink dress in the Charlie Brown dance

Speaking of Pita, it’s getting worse with the trying-to-keep-her-inside. I thought it was getting better, after I accidently shut her out in the hall when I didn’t know she’d snuck out there, and it took about an hour and a lot of her whining before I realized it. I thought, “good! Now maybe she will be scared to go out there again…” but that didn’t last long. Now one of the women who works in the rental office next door (the one who doesn’t get mad at me when Pita is in the hall) has taken to letting Pita into the office to roam around. She just loves her. OKAY, that’s nice and all, but now Pita KNOWS there is all this life out there, other places to go, people to see… today, after it took forever to get her back inside, she walked around whining and moaning for two hours. She kept going to the door and crying. Sigh…

This is the best comeback of the week year:

The woman is now weighing the pros and cons of having skim milk versus two percent milk in her latte, and she says, “God, I don’t know, I just feel so, like, fat today. I feel like such a big fat cow.”

Then she turns to me, and she says, GET THIS, “How do you stand it every day?”

I blink.

The adorable pierced-and-tattooed boy en flambe blinks.

Several heads in the cafe pop up because nobody can believe this woman actually said this to a total stranger. I feel as if the sitcom camera is pulling in tight for a closeup on my reaction.

But the gods of snark are smiling upon me today. I reply, straightfaced, “You know, it’s normally not too bad, but today I’m having one of those days where I feel like a shallow dumb bitch. How do you stand it every day?”

I wish I could have been there! I don’t get comments like that, I think because I’ve got a walker or scooter or something as my shield. People must think I have enough to deal with, without the fat remarks (to my face). But I’ve certainly been subject to them in the past, even when I wasn’t, what I would consider, “fat”. People can be so rude it’s astounding.

Speaking of being rude, I’m trying my best not to be, and to be happy about the fact that a crazy lady is planning to move into my apartment building, and most likely using me as a reference. Brenda has called me a few times over the past year with some pretty crazy stories and cries for help. Now she may be my neighbour. I really don’t want that… she says she will be here on Thursday to look at the place and fill out the application. I may actually talk to the office about her, because she is trouble. You know when your gut just SCREAMS at you to stay clear of someone? Yeah. I’m already worried.

So… work is picking up in a major way, today one big client delivered their entire year’s worth of stuff, and tomorrow another one will… which means between now and the end of March, when their GST’s are due, I’m swamped. I’ll also get a few more tax returns to do. I did my own yesterday, and woo hoo! Decent refund coming. First time in a long time, thank you medical expenses (I wrote off my electronic lift chair, and all those Quantum Release Therapy sessions added up!) I spent over $4,200 on medical related stuff. Ouch.

So what I’m trying to say, is expect even fewer updates than usual.

Pita’s eyes ended the last entry, so Pepper’s tongue ends this one.

Another week goes by, another update… I meant to do one earlier, but I had a fall on Tuesday night, hit the back of my head, and knocked my equilibrium out. It’s been difficult to see at all, everything is blurry and spinning, and never mind my balance. Non-existent! Computer time has been fairly minimal. Yesterday I saw my chiropractor and he made some adjustments and gave me some homeopathic drops. I’m not as spinny today, but my vision is still really bad; blurry and seeing double. He said it would take a couple days to straighten out, and to take these drops every 1-2 hours, so hopefully that will help. I see my regular doctor on Wednesday as well, so I’ll see what he says if it’s not better by then. I’ve never gone for an IV cortisone drip like most MSers have at one time or another, and this is the first time in my life I’m actually considering it. Whatever will help my vision and balance get back to how it was before, which was bad enough!

Anyway, I’ve been busy since my last update. On Monday night I was taken out for awesome Indian food by two of my favourite people, Jason and Sheldon. We pigged out. Oh, my, I love that stuff… samosas, pokora, curry, vindaloo, butter chicken, naan bread… yum!! We were sort of celebrating the completion of their new CD artwork, on which I worked hard editing the lyrics. So they took me to dinner as a thank you. And, because it had been a loooong time since we’d hung out! Anyway, the CD is ALL done now, and should be ready to buy in time for Christmas. Keep an eye on their website and Facebook group for the latest updates!

Lovely self-portrait attempt of me and Jason

I love Jason!!

Sheldon and the FOOD. Sooooo good.

Pay It Forward update:

On Tuesday, I went to the mall and piled up on things for the ladies and kids at the shelter… I bought many pairs of pajamas and slippers! The store that had slippers 2 for $15 last week now has them at 2 for $12! We now have about 10 pairs of ladies slippers (sizes 5 - 10) and 6 pairs of kids. I bought some 2 piece pajama sets in a variety of sizes (small to 3X) and a couple nightgowns. I also took a swing through Dollarama for hair brushes and emery boards. I added a few pictures to the Flickr album, but I kept everything in the boxes because it is just too hard to lay it all out to take photos, I hope you understand! (The cutest slippers are at the bottom of the box. Darn!) Anyway, I’m getting lots of stuff, but still need more! Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far, and if you re able to help out (all $$ is going to buy necessities for the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter) please use the PayPal button below, or contact me (donna@innereyes.com) to send money another way.

Tuesday night I fell trying to close the office door behind me to LOCK PITA IN to keep her from running outside when I was going to open the front door. That damn cat! I love her to pieces, but she has caused me about 4 falls now (including the one when I broke my wrist) because she always has to run for the frickin’ door and out into the hallway. I don’t know what to do with her!! I can’t chase her or even bend over to pick her up without falling, so she gets out there and then I have to wait until someone else comes along to help, or she jumps up on my walker (at which point I can lift her inside) or she comes back in on her own accord. Which she doesn’t do anymore, because she likes the hallway… she knows behind every other door is a person who could potentially pay attention to her. Every time someone enters the hall, I ask them to “please scare my cat back inside!” and they go “awwww, she’s so cute…” and pet her and give her love. So of COURSE she wants to be out there! Sigh. The landlord has given me shit because “cats are not allowed in the halls, people have allergies” but I can’t HELP IT!

Wednesday morning, blurry eyed and screwy visioned/unbalanced and all, I had to go to a client’s. The second I opened the door, Pita raced between my legs and was out in the hall. Roaming up and down, crying at every door, looking for attention. Rolling on her back, showing off her cute tummy, waiting for someone to come along and snuggle her. I stood in the hallway with my winter coat on, which made me really hot; they keep our hallway at a ridiculously hot tempertaure, made only worse when you are already wearng your coat. Normally I am just walking out, so it doesn’t affect me much; but this time, I couldn’t leave until Pita was back inside, and the heat was really getting to me. The heat combined with Pita frustration got to be too much… then a door opened at the end of the hall, and Pita ran towards it. Three people exited the suite, including my landlord, who was showing an apartment to these two other people. Oh, crap. “No pets??” said one man. “uh - cats are allowed” said my landlord, as she shot me a dirty look. I was almost in tears. The heat, Pita being a brat, PMS, embarrassment… I cried out “she keeps running out the door and I CAN’T GET HER!!” (I may have stomped my feet like a 3 year old) My landlord tried to calm me down by saying, “it’s okay, I got her…” picked Pita up and put her inside my apartment. I apologized and said “I am JUST SO HOT” and she said she wasn’t allowed to turn down the heat. (Year round sauna in our halls, it’s nuts!) Anyway, I tried to keep my stupid tears at bay as those two men commented on how cute my cat was, and then went outside in the cold air to wait for my ride to work. Within seconds in the cool air I felt better… it’s so weird how that is.

Oh yeah, also on Tuesday I received a call from UPS about my electronic lift chair that I had ordered off eBay (to save $$). Because it was coming from the U.S., and was in a huge cardboard box. it was considered freight, and I needed to hire a broker to get it through Customs. Ack! I was referred to a one-time brokerage firm, and they helped me with the paperwork and charged me over $100. Thankfully, I only had to pay broker fees and GST. N0 duty. Thank GOD. The chair then crossed the border Tuesday night, and would be delivered on Thursday.

Thursday I was supposed to go out for dinner with my friend Melanie. I told her about my condition after my fall, and that it would be best if I didn’t go anywhere. So she offered to come over and hang with me instead, order food in, stuff like that. Cool! I received the call from UPS about my chair around noon, and they said it would be here within the hour. Then Melanie called, and asked if she could come over now, because she had been out shopping and didn’t feel like going home and then all the way out here again. Okay, sure, but I’m not even DRESSED. Anyway, UPS arrives… one guy with this huge cardboard box on a dolly. “I can’t get it through the doors” he says. “Can’t you take it out of the box?” I ask. He’s not authorized to do that… “we’re not furniture movers… we just deliver to your door. I can leave it on your patio.” (He couldn’t get it through my patio doors because of that big pole I have in the middle). So, brand new electronic lift chair on the patio in the freezing cold. There is no way Melanie would be able to lift it in. So, I call my client Troy… he does upholstery work and has big Sprinter vans and technicians who are used to moving around furniture. Fingers crossed, “Hi Troy, it’s your favourite bookkeeper…” wink wink. Troy, because he is amazing and awesome, was at my place within an hour with one of his techs, Dave. (I managed to quickly shower and throw clothes on just in time for Mel’s arrival moments before). They unpacked the chair, moved it inside, set it up (”we work on these kinds of chairs so if you ever have any problems, we probably have the parts to fix it”), removed my old ripped up recliner and all the cardboard to take to the dump, and were off. Talk about service!!! If you are in the Calgary area and own or buy a piece of furniture from a major retailer (La-Z-Boy, Leon’s, The Brick, etc.) and it needs repair, you tell them you want Customer Choice Upholstery to do the repair!!!

So, in the end, the chair is here, safe and sound, and it is perfect… however, I am very lucky to know someone like Troy. Otherwise I may have ended up needing to pay a furniture mover a LOT of money to come on such short notice and do all of that! Plus to remove the old chair… a junk removal place had quoted me $111! I emailed the eBay seller and warned him to advise any other potential Canadian customers (I was his first) of the extra fees and work involved with getting their chair moved in. The chair cost me $999 US, plus $175 UPS shipping plus $105 broker fees… still a savings overall (this chair costs about $2,000 here) but I’m going to have to get Troy and Dave nice thank-you gifts!!

This is why it’s called a Lift chair. No more struggling to get up! (Spots are from my camera. Oops)

Fully reclined. Everything important within reaching distance… latte, water, vitamins, drops, remotes, books, kleenex…

Melanie and I broke out a bottle of wine, watched Elf, ordered Chinese food and just hung out. We were celebrating her birthday (which had been on Monday) and the fact that she landed a sweet 3 month contract working up in Fort MacMurray for mega $$. She left Saturday. I hope it works out for her!

Me and Mel at Pam’s birthday party a couple weeks ago!

Friday my monthly housekeeper came, which was good because I am pretty useless for any of that at the moment. Melanie had helped me load the dishwasher and stuff the night before. My intentions of working on Friday were tossed out the window… I’m just too OUT of it. I just watched a movie that night with one eye and spent a lot of time cuddling kitties in my new chair.

Saturday (yesterday) was the chiropractor, and hopefully I’m on my way back with my equilibrium. My mom and Bob took me out to eat at this Asian place they had tried once before, but I was not a big fan. LOVED my spring rolls, but hated my curry… I guess an Asian restaurant isn’t the best place to get a curry dish. I sent it back because the chicken was nothing but stringy fat. Gross! Most of the menu was pork or seafood dishes. I’d rather stick to my Favourite Vietnamese Restaurant and my #50 chicken satay, any day of the week!

Today I slept in something awful, (I mean, I slept in late, not that I slept in… like… something other than my bed) and finally decided to shower around 4:30 when I could no longer stand the smell of myself. It’s one of those days…

Time to take more drops and rest my eyes settle in for the night… PayPal link below is for my Pay It Forward project! Thanks!

New favourite hangout - the piles of clothes going to the Salvation Army.

Pay It Forward update:

Pictures of the things I have ordered and am waiting to arrive are on Flickr, right here. Not included in the photos yet are the things I already have here, such as lots of Dove soap, shampoo and hair products, and a bunch of stuff my friend Lisa brought over yesterday. Very soon my home is going to be filled with stuff for the shelter. Please, please, please, if you haven’t yet, send a few dollars my way to help fund this project!! There’s a PayPal button at the end of this entry, or you can send an email money transfer to donna@innereyes.com

As I mentioned, my friend Lisa came over yesterday. She is so amazing and wonderful. I don’t see her often, but when I do, it more than makes up for it. She pulled her car up and first unloaded a box and a bag of goodies for the Women’s Shelter. Then she parked her car and walked in with even more stuff… my Christmas present (we exchanged them now, but won’t open them until Christmas… last year we didn’t get around to doing that until March, so we figured since we had each other’s gifts, we better do it now!), a stocking full of toys for the cats (and treats and wet food) PLUS three foam containers… “I didn’t think we’d have time to go for lunch, so I thought I’d bring lunch to you!” She stopped at My Favourite Vietnamese Restaurant and picked me up an order of my #50 chicken satay!!! (Plus food for herself). On top of that, a container with CAKE. ‘Cause, you know, I hate the Cake.

How awesome is she??? LOVE!! (Seriously, thoughtful people who remember those little things, like what your favourite dish from a restaurant is, or that you love your pink Crocs and sunflowers, are the sort of people everyone should have in their life). She played with the kitties and even found one of their favourite toys waaay under the sofa. Now I will be kept awake all night listening to the little fluffy bird chirp every time their claws touch it. Thanks, Lisa

Lisa helped me get out of my apartment safely on my scooter, keeping Pita inside. She runs out EVERY chance she gets now (it’s gotten really bad) so I have taken to locking her in my bedroom every time I run over to the mall. I’m not gone very long, so it’s okay. I just can’t keep her away from the door when I’m on my scooter. It’s a little easier when I’m on foot. Today I knew I was going to be gone for a couple of hours, so I didn’t want to lock her in a room. So I’m glad Lisa was there to help. When she opened the door, there was a box from Amazon there… My Flight of the Conchords DVDs!! YAAAA! I knew what I’d be doing all weekend.

And what was I doing at the mall for a couple of hours, you ask? Since I’m NOT shopping anymore until I receive more donations? Well, I was getting my hair done. And what, exactly, does a turning-40-in-less-than-six-months-woman do to her hair, just for fun, these days?

She puts in pink highlights.

What the hell, right? You only live once. I’ve always wanted to… then I saw Avril Lavigne on TV the other night, and it reminded me. (Even my mom said “oh, GOOD! I was thinking about that when Avril Lavigne was on Dancing With The Stars! That the pink streak would be so cute on you…”) So, I did it. Except I did more than just one pink streak (I think that look suits longer. straighter hair). My intention was to have a few thin, light streaks throughout (a la Rachel McAdams), but my hairdresser sort of did what she wanted, and they ended up thicker and darker than I intended. But I don’t care! I think it’s fun.

Ahhh, the lighting in my bathroom… it actually looks like more streaks, and darker, in person. So maybe after a couple weeks of shampoo it will look like this!

Friday night I ventured out with my new hair, and was hit on by more men in that one night than I ever have been before, so perhaps the hair is a good thing…? Or maybe it was the fact that it was a divey, smokey bar and most of the men there were older and drunk? Whatever.

My friend Jon (that I met at Pam’s party the week before, so really he’s Pam’s friend, but I’ve decided to steal some of her friends for myself) is in a band that was playing at this bar on Friday. It was their first gig together, so they can’t be expected to play the A-circuit bars quite yet. I didn’t think there were any bars left in this city where you are allowed to smoke, but I guess the Official Public Smoking Ban doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2008, and until then some bars can pay the government a certain amount to be able to keep smoking. Or something like that. Anyway, I was surprised when I walked in and could barely see through the smoke… it was GROSS. Everyone there was smoking… because it’s probably one of the few places left they can!

I seated myself at the only available table and started to get hit on. I was waiting for a couple of Pam’s friends to join me, but I knew they’d be about an hour… I wanted to get there a bit earlier, get a decent table, and eat something. I normally don’t mind sitting by myself for awhile, but I’m not normally hit on so much by drunk old men, and surrounded by smoke. Ick. Jon did sit with me for awhile, which was nice, (he’s a sweetie) and I gave him half my pizza. Got to keep those drummers fed. The first band started playing, but Tricia and Chris weren’t there yet. Two men were standing near me, looking for a place to sit, and I heard one of them say “maybe if we are really nice to this pretty lady over here, she will let us join her…” I told them I had friends coming, but they were welcome to sit until they arrived (they looked totally harmless). It was a good move, because they were really nice and fun. Even after Tricia and Chris arrived, these two guys (John and Art) stayed at our table and we all had a lot of fun. John even bought us a round of drinks. They left earlier than us, however… John kissed my hand and they were off. After (John) saying things to me like “I need someone to do my taxes… I should get your number” and “I should get your email address and send you these pictures blah blah blah…” he didn’t actually GET my number. My own fault for not having business cards on me? Still, he could have ASKED FOR A PEN. He was cute. Damn. And once that seat beside me opened up again, along came another drunk to chat me up. Sigh.

Aaaaaaanyway, the band was really good! Tight. The place was packed (read: SMOKE) and they rocked the joint. Who likes to rock the party? I like to rock the party! (Sorry, I break out in Flight of the Conchords sporadically) Around 1:00ish, while the band was still jammin’, Tricia and Chris gave me a ride home. And a couple Advil for my throbbing headache (from the smoke, not the music). I came home, peeled off my smokey clothes and threw them in the hamper. I’d have taken a shower too, if I wasn’t so tired.

Saturday was a lazy, sluggish sort of day, as a day after being out late/having a few beer usually is. I watched all the Flight of the Conchords episodes

On Sunday (today), my mom and Bob came over and did some of their usual stuff around here to help me out, and Bob installed a light above my kitchen sink. My mom also added an Oil of Olay pack to the Women’s Shelter box (and they brought me a couple empty boxes, because I will need them!) And dinner! Mom brought her roaster with chicken, carrots and potatoes and heated it up here. That’s one of my most favourite dinners on earth, and probably the easiest to make. Except for the gravy part. If it’s not in a can or “just add water” package, gravy will not be included. No problem for my mom, however. Oh, and a great salad, with a delicious dressing she just threw together with “olive oil and a few things from the fridge…” I so don’t take after her that way. I wonder where it all went wrong…

I’ve got a really busy week. TONS of work, a couple of appointments, and a couple dinners out. Jason and Sheldon owe me a dinner or two because of some work I did on the editing of their lyrics for the new CD. Which should be out SOON. I think the artwork is holding everything up at the moment! I have copies of all the songs (”it will be a lot easier for me to check the lyrics if I can actually hear the songs as I read along… maybe you should send them ALL to me…”) but it’s just not complete without the whole package in my hands!! Anyway, we’re supposed to be going for dinner this week, and Pam’s my friend Melanie and I are doing that as well. It’s her birthday tomorrow.

Have a great week, I’m not sure when I’ll have time to update. But I should start receiving all those things I ordered in the next few days!! Send me $$ so I can get more!!