Today was productive work wise, my new cover came for my chair that has begun to shed a layer, Brenda came to take the serger to get it working properly again, I stopped for a bite to eat at Encore and then it was off to Key City Theatre.
It is a much nicer colour than it looks here.
I can’t even believe it was 16 years ago that I last saw them perform. They were with Sum 41 in Victoria at Save On Memorial and it was the first concert I ever wore ear plugs for. I went with my boyfriend at the time and our 13 year old sons.
Tonight was great, the first half being acoustic and lovely and the second half being rock and roll, loud and awesome. The sold out crowd of all ages looked like they were loving it.
I am only posting the first video I took. Others may be found on my YouTube channel Geckosgal
After my early morning to bed, I was surprised to wake up only 6 hours later. I figured I may as well get up and get at it. It has snowed and was still coming down so I had coffee and watched shows before Brenda Tyson reached out to see if she could drop off her serger and some filmy material to do some sewing for the show. Of course I said yes, and she came and taught me how to use it in one quick and easy lesson. I sat for the next couple hours working at it and then decided I had better get to the office as I wanted to get ahead of the file I am working on. I stayed at it until around 6, came home and made dinner and hung up my mini art installment in my bedroom. It is a picture from Rae-Anne when she had her store, the white mask from my Auntie Trish, the other was made by the Real Green Fairy from Nelson, and the arm came from the Woodward’s store in New Westminster where I grew up . I was able to purchase it just before it shut down for good. I settled back in to sew and didn’t get far before there was an odd sound and the needle had broken. Very disappointing, but Brenda will come with another and change it out after work tomorrow. She is the principal and the middle school that two of my grandsons attend up the street.
I spotted this online and I think it succinctly explains how I feel. I charge for my time when it actually shortchanges me as I am efficient and a flat rate may be more fair to me. For example, I charge $60 an hour currently and if I have streamlined things so well that it only takes my 15 minutes to run a payroll, should I really only charge $15?
I stopped at Home Depot and traded the dead orange lightbulb that my lights came with for another . They were so cool about it and I do like them. They will look even better in the snow.
I set my alarm to be up and ready to get to the office in order to enjoy my zoom time with the available ABCers. It was lovely to catch up with the Madisons in Omaha, and the Keyes in Oregon. We had a great visit and then I set to work on a file for 5 hours before heading to Encore to settle up the invoice from last nights party. I had committed to bartend at Key CIty for the Burlesque show so swung home to make some dinner and head there. The evening was fun, as the atmosphere for this type of show is always interesting. I chatted with one of the performers from Nelson, The Green Fairy, who had her leather masks for sale and I was particularly taken by one that had to come home with me. It will go perfectly in my newly redone bedroom and I will hang it tomorrow. After the show my friend Monica invited me over for a visit and I have only just come home at nearly 2:30 am! I was so great to catch up and debrief our lives over the last while. I sure appreciate her in my life and am blessed by our friendship. It was a very full day and I feel a sense of relief from the darkness that has tried to envelope me this month.
What an incredible day. I started with a terrible sleep due to my elbow pain, which upon further research may take up to a year to heal… if I rest it. Didn’t really do that today.
I did take a Dr visit for my Mom by phone, go to my gal at the salon, back to the office, to a chamber luncheon meeting which was awesome, at Fire and Oak restaurant, back to the office, and then finally off to pick up the cake and head to Encore as I was to host this evenings volunteer appreciation party for Fisher Peak Performing Artists Society.
The event was an overwhelming success. The venue went above and beyond, the food was amazing, the door prizes, tokens for games and bowling time was just right. I saw so many people who had great smiles on their faces and many who said they hadn’t bowled in a decade.
I came in under budget, was able to share the love with other kids in the venue (extra tokens) and even cake at the end for anyone who wanted some.
I am not going to lie, I was very tired when it was all done but there was so much to be happy about, it filled my cup. At one point a long time volunteer came up to say goodbye and straight up asked if I was a paid person for the society. She was stunned to learn that I am a volunteer and called me ‘the glue’. That was a huge compliment and probably exactly what I needed in the moment. I accepted the compliment gracefully and assured her that I was not paid for my parts in the society.
I must say, I feel great having thrown a great party and seeing the joy our volunteers experienced. They are the backbone of what we do.
Is it being busy busy busy, is it spending time with relations, is it making money, having disposable income, is it owning all you do and choose to do?
I have had a tough time this month, am struggling to control my anger, to not over react to small things as the undercurrent is real.
I feel in many ways that I am going through the motions, people see what I share on Facebook, see a version of my life that is true but not the full picture.
I am a bit overwhelmed tonight in spite of being out with Bill and Deanne, Rae and Ash at Firehall for the Encore Tap takeover. We had good food and beverage and I was glad to come home.
I did like my curly hair that I unwrapped this morning.
I was busy at work, frustrated by the demands placed unnecessarily on me. I have a couple clients who seem to think I should care more for their businesses than they do. I am to remind them to send me information to file in a more timely manner so that they don’t forget!
I also had someone reach out for help who ghosted me back in 2017 for a bookkeeper I would never have recommended, and now has found he got what he paid for and needs me to fix his file. He seemed perplexed when I said no. Boundaries, I am learning!
I also had a lot to do in the last couple days for my volunteer work and that ate a lot of time. I can’t seem to get my communications clear and then it falls back on me to solve at other’s demand. Oh well. I can leave if it gets to be too much.
After work I decided I would go help with the costume and set sewing bee and I am really glad I did. I took care of ironing the edges of the cut canvas so that it was ready to sew and assisted with bobbin threading, etc. It was such a pleasure to work alongside the other 7 ladies. I brought home some sewing of scarves to do as well.
Once I got home around 9 I heated up my leftovers, and then wet may hair and spent time putting my new curlers in. They are lightweight and comfortable. I look forward to seeing how they feel and look in the morning.
My new lip colour that arrived yesterday had the funniest instructions. Information presented but not really very informative.
I had a stack of books in my room that didn’t make it to the living room bookshelves. They have a new home on my dresser and upon review… this is me in a nutshell. Under Sex for Dummies is a stack of Star Wars Puzzle and Maze books, a script and my family tree. The rest is just a crazy ass collection of all the areas of my life of the past 60 years.
And, I wonder why I’m single, lol. Or maybe I should say, look at me, I’ve done the work.
I don’t feel like I am living in a nightmare any longer, my room is a place of peace.
I was up fairly early, and got on with finishing the bedroom. There was still much to do and the hardest part to do solo was putting the second medallion and ceiling lamp up. It was especially difficult with my sore elbow which keeps barking at me when I touch it to any surface. A young man came and picked up my box spring as I don’t need it with the new frame. Rae and Roger came and picked up my old nightstand and the big shoe rack. The nightstand was one I got from Bennetts way back in the late 80’s or early 90s. I am glad they wanted to keep it in the family.
There is still some sorting of clothes to do, trim to put on the windows and art to hang, but overall it was lovely to crawl into a freshly washed, brand new set of bedding.
At 6 I went to Key City for a quick meeting with the costume crew head, Brenda Tyson and the director, Brenda Birley as well as a group of women who are available to sew costumes. I look forward to helping out.
I slept wonderfully in my new room, just need to get my ceiling fan fixed so I can have it running without the light. I still wake up hot. I spent the day finishing the paint job in my room. And then hung my TV. I have had the hanger since early 2020 but wanted to make sure I painted before I put it up. It took this long, sigh. And then I nearly died, well, that is what it felt like. I drilled and lagged the bracket up and did everything but hang off it before hanging the TV on it. And then weirdly, the top right corner started to pull out of the wall. I was stuck holding the TV up and couldn’t reach anything. I asked Siri to call Rae, I that desperately needed help, but she didn’t answer. I was not wearing socks thankfully, as I have monkey toes and was able to stretch and reach my drill with the right bit in it to release the set screws and take the TV down again. I then used a long wood screw and washer and made sure the bracket was strong enough for me to hang off it before hanging the TV once and for all. It is a bit crooked, but I am too worn out to adjust it at the moment. I will do it tomorrow. I posted my box spring for free on Facebook marketplace and someone is coming to get it tomorrow. It feels good to pay things forward especially when I have gotten my money’s worth. I went to Home Depot and returned nearly $60 worth of baseboard. I then went to Walmart and treated myself to new Canadiana bedding and some drapes. Things are slowly coming together and I will finish it off tomorrow.
I made a ground beef hash with Truffle Parm seasoning and added some Texas toast for a carb load. It was so good. I then ran a bath with an enhanced bath bomb and watched the finale of Loki. My body feels soft and my soul is revived. I am now tucked in watching Upload. I have been binging it today and was thrilled to see my friend Caroline on an episode. I texted her right away and quoted her character, because, that is what friends do!
I had a good sleep last night, and I woke to get ready to go to the Remembrance Day ceremony in Rotary Park. I parked up at the kids house and walked down but couldn’t find them all right away. I was enjoying the service and the addition of an electronic screen this year. I only wish the sound had been more consistent as it was hard to hear most of it. I finally saw one of the home stay students and moved over to where the family was standing. Poor Gene was en garde for a long time in the rain. It was especially poignant when during the bagpipe playing the lament, the wind and rain kicked up.
I saw Danika and the girls for a bit and then dropped off their advent calendars at her parents on my way home. Once I got home, it was time to get busy on redoing my bedroom. Just as I stepped out to go to Home Depot to pick up a few paint supplies, the Amazon delivery of the final advent of Family Games arrived so I delivered it and had a longer nicer visit with Danika and the girls. Gwen even ran over and hugged me for the first time ever. She is a real bundle of joy. I miss Emmy being excited to see me and suppose it may be her ADHD meds making the difference. I picked up a good amount of things at Home Depot, including trim.
The rest of my day was spent painting my bedroom and building my new bed frame. I still have some to do but am really happy with the results so far.
I barely remember this day as I just went through all the things and got them done. I did come home to remove my bed frame so that my friends could pick it up. I am happy to pay it forward as they are putting together a room so that Drs, here for their month or so rotation, have a place to stay. This makes me very happy. I worked until it was time for the Cranbrook Bucks game. It was the first of the season that I have made it to and we beat a tough team, Penticton Vees, in overtime. It was nice to hang with Bill and Deanne, and Sawyer. I stopped at Encore after to pick up my two Crowlers for the month so I have some beverage to enjoy while I paint and organize my room this weekend. My new bed frame was delivered today and I love the colour. It looks even better for real, cobalt blue is my jam. For tonight, I am sleeping on the mattress on the floor.
Honestly, I think it is good I don’t retain all the minutia of the day, it allows me to just enjoy the moments and feel like it was a good day all in all.
I worked out, I worked, I got annoyed, I booked an appointment to get Halloween colours off my nails, I felt better, I went back to work, I came home and made dinner, I ate, I didn’t smoke today …. And now I am worn out. Oh, it’s closing in on 10 pm, fair.
This morning I was once again up and on the treadmill. I watched another episode of Loki. I forgot how well my day starts when I do that. I also had a cold end to my shower, on purpose, and ate breakfast of grapes. It was a good start. I made it to the office way early enough to purchase 10 tickets to Alan Doyle on the family’s behalf with the early access I have. The show isn’t until Feb 27 but I am already looking forward to it. My day ended with a client in office and he feels the same way I do about U2. It was great to share my pictures and videos with him.
I came home just before 6 and rearranged my space, dismantled my deck railing and got ready for Roger and the boys to come pick up my couch which they are going to use until the kids are older and won’t kill a new fancy one. Mine is very sturdy, just too big for my space. I love just having the two chairs now, my space feels bigger and just right for me.
One of the things I like about Hello Fresh is trying foods I would not normally. I didn’t even know what Halloumi was and it is delicious and great to make a quick meal
A funny thing happened when I was moving things out of the way was that I found one of the missing pieces from my Marvel puzzle.
I was excited to wake up early and jumped on the treadmill for the first time in a long time. I was so rejuvenated. I had to stop at Safeway to order a cake for our volunteer party and grabbed some delicious green grapes for breakfast. I was also excited to get an email from Alan Doyle’s fan newsletter that he is coming to Cranbrook in February and I get advance sales tomorrow morning. Our whole dang family will likely go, so far 7 for sure. I will see how much the ticket prices are to confirm the kids. I made it into work in a most excellent mood, got a lot of work done and then headed to The Brick to test sit on couches and chairs. I am undecided whether I ultimately want a love seat or a Cuddler chair. For now I will have my two chairs in the living room as Rae is going to take my couch. It is super sturdy and they can wear it out before they get one when the boys are older and more respectful of the furniture. I think I don’t want to go cheap as it may be my last couch. I like trying out furniture. I know that when I find the right one, I will know. I have a two forerunners at the moment.
Ok, I started the day calling the makers of my bedroom ceiling fan and ordering both the receiver and the remote so I can see which one is the problem. I did get confirmation that I can disconnect the light wires and wrap them so that I can still use the fan until the new parts come. Off to the office I went and got a good amount done. My elbow is getting better even with the building of the carport which turned out to be harder on my left hand as I cut it on the second to last row we did. It turns out the cut was deeper than I thought and it was awkward to keep my right arm off the chair arm, and my left hand lifted off the edge of the keyboard table. Sigh. It will all heal soon enough.
I had people who wanted to come see and take my couch and chair for only $100 and we communicated several times in the day making the arrangement that I would see them at 5:15. I left the office and raced to Home Depot to pick up concrete deck footings to hold down my carport safely and then back home. I had just gotten there when I got a message that they got a free couch… oh well, it seems Rae may want it for there place as the kids have killed theirs and she just wants one to get them through until they are all a bit older. I told her just to come get it .
I put the weights in place but of course they are made for 2x4s and lumber is not true to size. The bottom rails are 2”. I put them in place on top of the rails for now. It is raining hard so I came in and made dinner, changed into my jammies and curled up to watch a little TV before I intend to tuck in early.
This morning I lit up the gift Ashlée found for me and they are so cute that they shall sit on my collector shelf to bring me joy all year, not just Halloween.
I slept fairly well, got up and made coffee and went back to bed to binge the third season of Only Murders in The Building. I usually can’t stand Martin Short but this show is brilliantly written and so entertaining. I am enjoying it very much. I hope they keep making it.
After that I got up and started doing random chores like trying to fix my ceiling fan over my bed. The remote is not making anything change and if I turn on the wall switch the fan and the light come on. I previously slept every night with the fan on and I have been overheating. Unfortunately I couldn’t get it to work even using the YouTube videos and the info on their website. I will have to call during the week. I changed my bed after taking photos of the antique frame and posting it on all the Facebook marketplaces. I ordered a new frame and side tables on sale from Wayfair. I also relisted my couch and chair.
I reached out to family and to Tracy to see if I could stir up some help to finish the carport. We had to wait for a bit of rain to pass and then just as Tracy and I started, Rae showed up with Will and Sawyer. The three of them raked 4 bags of leaves which was awesome. Tracy and I finished the carport just as it was beginning to get dark. It was a lot of work, but so satisfying. Somehow due to the uneven ground, it ended up skewed a bit. I had to work with it and let go of my need for it to be perfect just to get it done. My arms and hands are sore.
I finished taking the Halloween decorations down, took out all the garbage and came in to make some dinner. It was delicious and while I was making it I got a message that a couple is interested in my furniture. We will make a plan for them to come see it this week after work. I cleaned up and ran a bath. It was a special bath bomb and I relaxed through two episodes of Loki, watched Sister Wives and am now ready to tuck in to that fresh bed. It is an hour early but we did fall back to standard time last night so I had to change all my clocks and my system hasn’t adjusted yet.
I awoke to messages from ‘the guy’ and they were going well until I asked a few pertinent questions about his daughter and who looks after her while he is away working. The answers didn’t make sense. We had agreed to finally talk today. I researched where he said he is working, did a deep dive to try to find a sign of him or her online and even searched for obituaries of his wife and parents as he had told me where they had lived and died and how old he was when those things happened. There was zero online. This rang allll the bells. I did ask him about when he was born again and he told me the month and day but not year so I said “what year? Are we the same age?” And there was a very long pause in the conversation before he answered that yes we were both 60 but he didn’t say the year. It was a straightforward simple question. This was just another of the small oddities. There had already been times when I noticed an accent in his writing and others when there was none, as if it was two different people. He professed to be born in the states and moved to Canada when he was 3..
He hadn’t answered a question in a bit and I needed to get to a client’s so I said I was going to jump in the shower as I was getting annoyed waiting. Suddenly my phone rang through WhatsApp and I said Hello. On the other end was a rather high pitched, younger voice with what I think was a Dutch accent. He said he was surprised how low my voice was and I told him I was surprised by his accent. He tried to say that he had told me he lived in Italy for 4 years (when he was 15) as if that was to explain it all. I cheerfully said, “oh that’s something I have never asked you, how many languages do you speak?” And he hung up. I was not surprised, I just don’t understand what the point was. He never asked for money, in fact offered to pay for things. He did want to come here straight from his job in Belgium. I thought that absolutely ridiculous as he supposedly has a 13 year old daughter staying with his 85 year old aunt in Elora Ontario who he said he hasn’t seen in 5 months. He told me he sold his house there and will move to Edmonton in December. He said his daughter was fine with that but I don’t think any 13 year old girl wants to move, mid school year, away from her friends. Also, his reasons for moving to Edmonton were easily found on a website of the 10 best things about the city.
The part that made me question everything early on was when he said he couldn’t Video call me as it was not allowed with his contract for work, only to family for security reasons. He also said he was the boss on a project building a 4 story hotel out in the woods near Namur, Belgium. I questioned that early on as I had never heard of that being part of a contract and he jumped on me for wanting him to risk his job. This morning, I asked him what his favourite parts of Namur were after I researched it. He said he only saw it on his way to the site and that they aren’t allowed to leave the site without security so he doesn’t. The story just got weirder and weirder to the point that I have to wonder if he is in jail, but also how he has access to contact me.
I am glad I was so cautious and there was never any sexual talk. That was the interesting part as it was mostly getting to know each other conversation, and laughs. Such a shame and so, so pointless.
I shall brush the dust off from that Asshat and move on but it really was quite the timing. I have always believed that evil is connected in the world and it was just another layer of ugly laid on a weekend that reminded me that it has been 30 years tonight that I was raped and impregnated. I will state again that I do not wish it to not have happened or I would not have my amazing son, and granddaughter, but really???
I spent 7.5 hours at a client’s today and that was fun and took my mind away from it, mostly. I popped home to feed Missy and then grabbed cash and headed to Landon’s for a small group poker night. There were 8 guys, Landon’s Nona, and me. I was big stack right up until I was taken out 3rd, that and my bounties sent me home $55 up and I had my faith restored by a small group of good humans.
I wonder what it was in me that he thought he could manipulate. I have been beaten and bruised and psychologically damaged by way bigger monsters. I will not accept that treatment from anyone, ever again. I am my own best company who makes the life she wants. You can come along for the ride and have all the fun, but you can Not drag me down.
Last night after I blogged I realized I was hungry so I made shrimp tacos and they were delicious. I had the second serving when I got home tonight.
I received a text from Danika that they were in town for an appointment so I got ready and went and had coffee and a visit with her, Emmy and Gwen as Malcolm was running errands and Thea was sleeping. I am hoping to get up to Elkford for an overnight visit soon. It will be nice to spend some time with them.
After getting a bit of work done, I headed to Encore for the Founder’s lunch. Only $20 to enjoy all the new menu items coming up and pitchers of beer. I sat with Lallah, her husband and son, and Deanne as Bill was out of town. We had a great visit and I hope they do more of these. I wasn’t able to be at the last one, so this was a great experience. I like Lallah and getting to know her. She is a kindred spirit about volunteering. I nominated Steve Knowles for a community volunteer award from the Knights of Pythias. He is the backbone of FPPAS and I think well deserves recognition.
New veggie taco was delish!
After lunch I went back and spent some time chatting with the guy and got some things off my plate, work wise. I then went home to get changed so that I could volunteer at Key City for the Mt. Baker Band and choir night. My darling grandson, Gene, was in three of the performances; Senior Concert Band, Jazz Band and Choir. He is an amazing, good natured, caring human. Oh, and he got his learners today! How is it possible that I have a grandchild that can drive?! I managed to only get one decent video and a few pictures as I was working a door and we are not supposed to have our phones out. It was good to see some familiar faces, get a few hugs and support Gene and KCT
Slept better after smudging last night. It could be placebo effect as it calmed me and put me in a good space, but in any case, it worked.
I woke up to a good amount of snow on the ground and it still coming down. I headed to a client’s for the day and had a lovely view out the office window as we got a lot done. I plan to go back on the weekend and finish it off.
Came home and shovelled a bit, fed Missy and headed to pick up Lukas and Will, the two middle grandsons as I had, months ago, purchased tickets to Dogman the Musical at Key City. We all agreed it was a great show and Lukas pointed out that he was probably the oldest kid there (I may have been), but he was glad he came and enjoyed it. It really is the hardest kind of theatre for actors, all energy, comedy, singing and dancing, quick costume changes, etc. The are award winning for a reason.
triumphgal 