It was just a regular, nose in the books, kind of day. Nothing out of the ordinary to report except my horror that it is Paul Stanley’s 70th birthday. Tick tock, the clock is ticking. To see the people from the posters on the walls of my bedroom turn… old, is somewhat unsettling. Many are dead, or show up on celebrity rehab and others are subject of documentaries and exposés.
My antihistamine seemed to do the trick today, no sneezes! Dinner was Hello Fresh and was light and filling. The rest of the evening was puzzling, literally.
There was one fun thing in the middle of the afternoon when I took a Be My Eyes call. I read a graph with viscosity levels of various foods for a gentleman in Toronto. We ended up having a great chat about Whole Foods, skiing, and beautiful BC. He longs to come out West to see the Sunshine Coast. I was able to tell him about Gibson’s where the iconic Persephone and Molly’s Reach are from the Canadian classic, Beachcombers. I like helping out and get more from it in the end.
Midway through the day every day and then midway through the evening every evening right now I can’t stop sneezing. In order to avoid this unpleasantness I am going to start taking on schedule antihistamines. The eye watering that comes along with it is especially annoying and I regretted wearing mascara today. I did get some big work out-of-the-way which included a three hour zoom assist with a shared desktop and a client in Kimberley. I seem to be doing OK on the Noom food awareness program. My mistaken box of hello fresh arrived including a meal full of peppers that I gave to Sean. He appears to have forgotten it at work. Oh well at least it is in the fridge. I warmed up another serving of the shepherds pie I made at the beginning of the week and it was possibly even better. And then settle down to watch my shows and finish the picture I was working on although I am sad it is done. I really enjoy doing it and the subject matter of course is right up my alley and I think it looks good enough to frame. I should be looking for other pointillism pictures on sale because it was so relaxing. I did start a 39 x 13“ puzzle that I got a while ago of the skyline of downtown Vancouver, a place near and dear to my heart. Vancouver is a place I would like to introduce my friends to. Jake and I used to be really great at finding gallery openings and two-for-one specials at museums and things but I wonder if they even exist in these pandemic times.
The news today is that the theatre will still be able to run at half capacity until the end of day the 18th of February. Hopefully by then things will open up again. That will be half way through the run of the show which means we have a good chance of finishing the run with potentially full houses. In the meantime we just have to get butts in the seats. These guys have done a lot of work on an intense character driven show. The set is under construction, the lights and audio are being worked on, costumes and props are coming together… all the things. This is good.
I am so tired but accomplishing all I must at the moment. I have pushed aside my MusicFest invitations to get through this month. When the show is on it’s feet, I will switch gears. I have surprisingly only heard from one person so far reaching out to confirm his spot on the crew. He always does first so it made me smile he was right on cue. I did a lot of work ahead of the cancellation in 2020 but am willing to take that chance again. It is something to look forward to.
When I shut down the file I was working on for my client who owns a couple Cannabis shops, the timer made me smile. Synchronicity.
I came home and made a spaghetti squash, topping half with a few tablespoons of bruschetta and a bit of cheese. It was tasty, healthy and filling, all the right things.
I wish I could figure out why every year at this time my nose starts to run, seemly coincidental to the melt. Maybe something is released and is in the air. Maybe there is too much cat hair in my house now that she barely steps out due to the weather. I guess I could vacuum and dust and see if that helps… someday.
I worked long and hard on many payroll files today. I was glad for the quiet and few interruptions. Unfortunately there are at least three away taking precautions to feel or stay healthy. I was exhausted from concentrating so hard and glad for having done groceries and came home to make a pizza with a wholewheat pita, some bruschetta and grated cheese under the broiler. It was tasty and a good serving even if I gobbled it down. The rest of the evening was spent watching 90 days and then the first two episodes of “And Just Like That” which was a heart-wrenching trip down memory lane. I look forward to more.
It is my first husband’s 65th birthday today, the father of my daughters. There are so many thoughts flying in my head when I stop to really think about how different our lives would be should my post-partum depression not have been left untreated. We get along very well now. Every once in a while I completely forget that we were married once, that we despised each other for a time, that my heart raced in my chest when I got the news he’d been nearly killed in an accident, years ago. I think it even stranger to process that he is retirement age today. I was a stay at home mom when we were together. I cooked and cleaned and sewed and canned and crafted and did all the things.. and I left when I was barely 25. Now from the vantage point of 58 it is hard to feel so much closer to the end than the beginning. Bill is already 5 months older than my Dad was when he died. It felt too young 18 years ago, now it proves to be a life cut too short. Bill is a good man, and life became what it was supposed to for both of us. I envy what he has, I cherish what I had in the years between. It’s funny though, how often I am reminded that I am the one who left. For this whole month whenever I glanced at my calendar I wondered what we would do to celebrate Bill. I found out after the fact, that it happened last night. So I wished him a happy birthday on Facebook, like every one else, and got on with my day.
I guess I really needed to sleep because 11 1/2 hours later I woke up quite refreshed. My throat is no longer sore, there is still a little catch in my chest but that is normal for me and I only had to blow my nose twice today so really it’s a win-win. I didn’t manage to get outdoors or go for any long walks but I’ve made tremendous strides at the file I needed to work on and I made Food that gave me four portions of delicious shepherds pie. I have started to cook for myself again without the HelloFresh kit. I am rather enjoying it and when they billed me for a kit I didn’t want today that included things I am allergic to I called them and cancelled completely and they refunded today’s even though it’s all ready on the way. Another win-win.
I think it’s time to stop working as it’s 948 at night and do a little bit of my pointillism before I go to bed. I have had the handmaid’s tale on in the background. It actually gives me a lot of stress thinking this could be a real thing or knowing that there are women in the world treated that poorly. I have felt like a possession at times in my life so that could be what gives me the tightness in my chest when I watch shows like this and yet I am obsessed at the same time.
I never really got dressed today. I was outside a couple times trying to break up the snow that had compacted off the roof but it was impossible. Because of the rising temps the whole place continued to shudder occasionally when more let go and landed with a thud. Mostly I watched shows as I did my Jack picture. It is really coming along which of course makes me obsessed. I was assisting a client off and on and then just got to work on their books. I stopped for dinner, home made air fries and then kept working right up until now. I used to always work better in the evenings. I am pretty stuffed up, just took a prescription antihistamine and will tuck in soon. I even gave Ash my hockey ticket.
Although I got much done today, I was, in the back of my brain consumed with thoughts of my Booster shot later in the day. I have had a sore throat that seemed milder today and I have blamed it on it’s coming to be after the heavy use of Pinesol near my office earlier in the week. Although I would think that to be the norm, there was always the chance that I had picked up the virus. As I have not got a fever or extreme tiredness, nor a headache, I decided to go for it. It turned out to be a very pleasant experience with Claire, the woman giving me the shot. We chatted travel and she was entranced by my tales of Peru and the UK/Paris. Our mutual friend, Paula was the nurse in charge and she came over to give us the gears and get me that shot. I am now 3x Pfizered and like the others, feel nothing in my arm. I spent the next bit of time picking up a paper at my old Dr.’s office, making an appointment at my optometrist and enrolling at the new Urgent and Primary care clinic, hoping to get a new Dr. All of these were in the old Cranbrook Mall, which back in the day was a thriving commercial centre and seems to have found a repurpose as a medical mall. There you can see a physiotherapist, get and X-ray, rent from the Red Cross, get a CPAP machine or glasses, have your hearing checked, pick up a prescription, see a Dr and even grab a meal at the Spice Hut. It really is a great concept and there is plenty of parking and all on one level for easy access.
After shopping for groceries with my Noom lists in hand, I came home and unloaded all the healthy delicious choices, made some dinner, chatted with my Mom and messaged with my Auntie Trish in Washington state. She misses her family and at nearly 79 thinks she will never see her only child, my cousin Andrea in Alberta, again. I am sorry for her. I know she loves her little community she is in but no one can easily visit her now, nor for such a long time. I miss my semi-regular stops to see her.
After that I crawled into a tub and watched Red Notice. It was highly entertaining although Ryan may be type cast…
The other thing I did today was order a couple boxes of Rapid tests from a company in Vancouver. I am splitting a box with The Guedes’s and the other will be available upon private request from any cast and crew working on our show. I think that will give everyone involved another layer of comfort. They worked out to just over $10 each which is cheap security. Testkits.myzone.com
It was odd how many new foods I noticed at Safeway. I don’t know, if there are supply chain issues, there certainly are odd things getting through…
I was perusing my Twitter feed when I noticed a comment on my sons that made me laugh
The melt continues, can’t even tell how much shovelling I really did and I still can’t clear my side walk though as it is so dense
I have a bit of a headache so I took a couple Ibuprofen and look forward to no alarm tomorrow. Sweet dreams (or good morning!)
The scale was friendly again today and made me even more motivated to stay on task. I think the number 1 and 2 things I have changed the most are the amount of water I am drinking and the resistance to snacking endlessly at night. I am nearly out of green apples and I will need to get more as they are an easy go to. They taste good, have a satisfying crunch and are only 95 calories each. Far more enjoyable than the snack bag of chips (or 3). I am still having the occasional one of them but far less. I highly recommend the Noom program. https://www.talkable.com/x/3hbSjc
Went out to find the snow that fell off the roof had made a compacted mess and I couldn’t even shovel it all before I left. I was hoping it would be melted away when I got home but no such luck. Poor snowman had taken a hit as well but he’s a tough cookie and will live to annoy his partner again.
When I got to work and there was only one parking spot left at the back end of the row and I had to kind of sliding sideways to avoid the snowbank and the sidewalk. When I left work I was the only one there and it looked like I just was a terrible person practising asshat parking and like I had done a Tokyo drift to park there sigh.
Today was a combo of show and work and seemed to take forever to end. I came home and made a couple poached eggs with a little of my friend’s homemade dill dressing drizzled over them. It was delicious but I wish I’d had some sliced cukes or tomato to go with. I will have to make a proper shopping list soon. The rest of the evening was spent texting back and forth with my friend Mark , watching my shows and doing my picture craft. Drinking ta and water all evening was also good for me.
There is nothing much I can think about other than the snow crashing off my roof. There will be a peaceful period and then a huge thud that makes the cat leap out of her seat. I shoveled some of it when I got home but got nervous it would keep coming down on me so I will have to hope I can even move it in the morning. It even pulled the kayak hook right out of the wall.
Dinner was good but I had to get creative with the ingredients that were left after throwing out the frozen zucchini, spinach and parsley. I cooked up some pasta shells and layered them instead. It was tasty but a few more calories and I want to be careful as I have lost 6 pounds so far using Noom. I am learning to be more aware and choosy about my eating.
I am not feeling well but there has been a heavy use of Pinesol at work since the new janitor hasn’t started yet so the manager is cleaning during the day. It is irritating my nose and throat even if I wear my mask at my desk. I really do hope that is what the headache and irritation is about. I will take drugs and go to bed and see if I feel better in the morning. I will keep my distance as usual, just in case. I wish I could get a rapid test to be sure. I still have a sense of smell, so there’s that. I am going to be unimpressed if I have gotten the ‘vid.
I received an email that the show at Key City Theatre, 9 to 5: the musical, was cancelled due to the virus. I am sad for them, they put so much work into it and had one performance on New Year’s Eve. It was supposed to have a two week run starting this week. We have decided to keep going with our show until we hear we can’t. All precautions are being taken.
The day seems a blur again of work, CCT and FFPAS. There were moments of dropping and running, others of strict concentration to get payroll and remittances and sales taxes filed. The second banner was hung, concerns of close Covid connection were shared, Board meetings were attended, opinions shared…
The snow people are at it again. I have started a captioning post on Facebook due to the ongoing stress in their relationship.
I am so grateful to have super deals happening for advertising at the moment. One of the cast members works for two of the affiliated radio stations in town and was blessed by his boss with free ad spots. That is such a gift! He was also given permission to be interviewed with the Director at the other station in town. This was a surprise to both of us and will make for a great interview a week before the show opens. I made a time mistake on the press release but it is easily fixable and the rest of the press and posters going up is exciting. Things are rapidly moving along. I stirred a few pots today in and out of board meetings. That’s ok. I am not only here for my good looks, lol.
It is melting today and was freaky every time I stopped or cornered and snow began surging off my car. This was exacerbated by the fact that somewhere under my seats is a maraca that Emmy made out of a pringles can and popcorn kernels. It rolls around and sounds like something is oddly happening outside the car.
I listened to Bob Sagat comedy shows all day and he really was as crude as everyone said but you can’t help but be charmed and laugh at his delivery.. most of the time. Gone too soon, only 65.. sad.
I rushed home after we properly hung the banners to make my dinner but all the vegetables had been frozen before delivery. I reported it and hope for credit and just made the pork chops, seared in a pan and then air fried. DELICIOUS!
I just realized what time it is and that I should be in bed! I had a pretty intense day taking care of things for two paying clients and two non-paying gigs. I did enjoy it all and even got a walk in to go pick up the posters for the show as tomorrow is the big info release day. The article should be in the paper, we hung the one banner that arrived and will take care of the second one tomorrow, I prepped the posters by cutting the tear away slips and ripping one off to make people curious. It is a bit gimmicky but I hope it gets attention. The strip has the theatre website on it where you can buy the tickets. Every one took some posters and made a plan to hang them around town and in Kimberley. Once I got home, after supplying all the media info to Ashlée so she can make magic on our Facebook site, I ate some of the chicken I had cooked the other day and then started on the Christmas present she gave me last year. It was very good for destressing and I got lost in it. I only got two colour done but I am enjoying myself. And now to get some sleep!!!
I got up and made a coffee and settled in front of my puzzle, determined to finish it today. Mission accomplished!! I did get interrupted by a text to go for a walk with my neighbour and decided that was the exact thing I needed. As it turned out, I was right. The sun was shining, the conversation was great and the birds and icicles were fascinating.
I finished the puzzle and packed it away, madly began cleaning and then my friend Diane arrived with a scrumptious meal of shrimp and salad and fruit salad for dessert. We laughed and chatted and watched the 3rd and final in the Get Back documentary about the Beatles as we took down my tree together. My place feels huge with it gone. It was so nice to catch up and to feel safe to do so as we both are super Covid vigilant.
I settled to watch a show and got a message from my cousin to see if I was up for a call. She had been in Kimberley for the holidays to visit her 93 year old mom but we didn’t get to see each other to mitigate the risk. Two hours later we said goodnight. There are few people I can talk that long with on the phone. She is one of my people. There is nothing I can’t say to her, nothing that would shock her or make her love me less. She is a gift. I mean, I know I was a cute 2 year old when she met me.. what can I say. It was good to express my fears. I obsess these days about not being a burden to my kids. I am afraid that my mental health will turn me into someone that stresses them more than brings them joy. It is important to face those realities but it also keeps me living in fear of the future. I need to, as she reminded me, live in the moment and enjoy it. It is important to my mental health and really just to good quality of life on the daily. I will make it my mantra to just breathe and be. Here and now. I cannot control the future and will trust that no matter what I am loved and supported.. no matter what!
The absolute best part of my day was chatting with the ABCs who were available to Zoom meet. It feels like forever. There is talk of a desire to meet in the UK when Good Health allows. I would not be able to do that this year so it is hard to hear but I was ‘just’ there. Have to manage my hopes and dreams within my budget and redoing all the major things within my house have me paying down debt for now. Travel is not off the plate, just hanging on the rim. It was lovely to awake on a spectacularly sunny winter day to no further shoveling and then good company. There were more sad things happening than usual, but also some great things as well. The one picture I took looks like we are having such a serious moment. I believe we were listening and supporting each other, which is the best gift we all give each other. I have never made a better impulsive decision than to have decided I was going to Peru in 2013. It is the trip that turned into a lifetime journey!
I decided to go to the hockey game tonight and the same team that we apparently beat in OT last night won 5-0 tonight… sigh. The numbers are really down at the games too. I wonder how much that has to do win the virus spread happening. I heard a rumor that could affect an area of my life but until I hear from ‘the horse’s mouth’ it is just that, a rumour. Water off a Duck’s back
Sad news today that we have lost another icon. Sidney Poitier died today at the age of 94. It really is extraordinary how long people live now. His movies are some of my earliest movies. To Sir, With Love is one of may favourite, especially belting the song at the top of my lungs on the bike. It was on my mind ever since I hard the news.
I volunteered for Key City Theatre tonight and as much as I am so tired, I enjoyed the evening. It is the weekend of the Banff Centre Mountain Book and Film Festival. There were 7 short films this night with the shortest being only 5 minutes. I have to say they were all amazing but one took the cake. I defy anyone not to be moved to a good mood immediately upon seeing a Grizzly Bear Cub with the hiccups sitting on a log.
The day was full of shoveling and working. It is warmer now at least.
I imagine there is much stress this holiday season in the Ukraine. It is so hard for me to imagine that there is any war going on in the world at all. To imagine that Russia is trying to take over land of another country forcefully is so strange to me. I am sure I am oversimplifying it but seriously? How are there border wars for actual ownership. Here we are in Canada dealing with truth and reconciliation as well as Land Treaties and in other places in the world they are still taking ownership of others land… My family has roots in the Ukraine. I have never been there but would love to go some day. I only hope there is a beautiful place to go to.
On the home front, there was much shoveling again. The snow is still acting weird, hanging way out and also not melting in my car on the short drives I am making. Mr and Mrs Snowman are not speaking, seems he brought home something that is causing oozing sores.
Brett made a new item with his 3D printer that absolutely baffles me as it moves and has hinged joints. It printed as is with only the red added later. I don’t understand how the negative space works. It really is incredible.
Tonight was the first dinner I have had as a repeat as I loved it the first time. The only difference is that I left out the zucchini due to it being frozen in transit. Finished the 3rd of 4 puzzles in the collection and started sorting the last one.
I got my flu shot today and although my arm hurt for a bit I have no other feelings except joy at getting it done.
I sent the info to the printer for the posters and to the media outlets today. Tanner of Harbinger Design Co. has done a fabulous job of putting each different size together and has had a lovely nature through it all. I suppose it helps that I have been more patient than ever. These are trying enough times and she is volunteering a great deal of time.
I finished the evening sipping a lovely caffeine free tea out of my new mug. It works just as well for that as it did for Gin!
Today was very productive. I got a full 8 billable hours in, took down the work Christmas tree, packed away my office decorations, worked on theatre things, went to the rehearsal to drop off the e-cigs and meet Barry from the local paper to take photos for the press release I sent for publishing next Tuesday and set up Missy’s new drinking water fountain. I am hoping it keeps her from drinking out of George’s fish bowl. After that I made dinner and nearly finished my puzzle.
I am getting excited about the show now that I mulled over the idea of pulling the plug as the Omicron numbers are climbing rapidly and there was a death in Cranbrook. I decided we are going to keep going until we are told we can’t. We are following all protocols, have a half capacity house and it is being staged for least risk with distancing, etc. I gave the go ahead to start building the set! It was nice to check in today.
The property assessments came out today and my place went up 15%. I paid 128K in Aug of 2018 and it is now assessed at 171800.00 and that would not take in to account the improvements I have made: Kitchen, bathroom, all appliances, furnace and AC, and fence. Truth be told, my mortgage is as low as a decent car payment per month so I would be foolish to sell. The trick is to not leave debt behind. If it can be sold to pay anything I owe when I am gone, that is perfect. I have always thought that way about assets. A little morbid maybe. Oh I also booked my booster for next Friday! I get my flu shot tomorrow sonI will be all protected.
The snow is hanging like an awning off my roof which tells me I am not losing heat out the ceiling. It looks cool but it will all drop on my sidewalk to the front door eventually. I hope I am home so it doesn’t freeze there when it does. It was very fluffy today.
I hope you all had a good day, full of purpose or rest, whatever you need most. Or maybe you just need to know this book exists…
Some days I am an extraordinary communicator, others, I don’t even want to listen to the voices in my head. For some reason, I can’t figure out I had brutal insomnia last night. I probably should have started reading. Then the alarm went off and I thought, hmm what was that? Oh, crap, get up, get on the treadmill, back to regularly scheduled programming. I shoveled and cleared and finally made it in. I think there was a stressed air as the building had a leak on the far corner from my office and there was much bustling around. I took the first perceived to be judgy question and snarked back. I honestly got out of my car saying to myself, just smile and say Happy New Year. FAIL! It really was on me for reacting to subtext. By the end of multi-purpose Marnée day, I had worked on 11 paid and 2 unpaid files and put together the press release for the play. We plan to start selling tickets next week!!! That means the show is just over a month out. I will go to the rehearsal tomorrow night to see where they are at. I am so grateful for Tanner and Kimberly who take my slightest changes and run with them. We have come up with some pretty great advertising. It was important to me to make each thing it’s own design on the theme, banners, online poster, in life poster, website banner, and program.
The new advice from the Provincial Health Officer is that people work from home if they can, get all available shots (I booked my flu shot for Thursday, still waiting to hear on the booster) and don’t spend time with anyone outside your home basically. I have opinions about lots of choices people are making but only can do me and mind my beeswax.
I seem to be ripping through this puzzle, maybe my brain is just back in gear. yay!
Brett finished the creation on the 3D printer and it’s pretty cool that contraption.
It took me an hour to clear snow before making it to work. It was snowglobulous. Unfortunately the 1 hour payroll turned into 4 hours. I discovered an error the previous person had made in setting up the vacation pay so I took all the time necessary to reconcile it and add it to the 5 employees pay. I am glad I caught it on the first pay of the new year. That combined with the theatre work, left me getting home at 7. That is ok though as I worked on the advertising and paid some bills to get the list shortened. There was another 45 minutes of shoveling when I returned! I made dinner of frozen cordon bleu and brown basmati rice, at and puzzled and watched my 90 day shows. I feel like I am on the other side of the mud pit. I am not exhausted all the time. I am experiencing abdominal pain though so hope I hear from the specialist soon for my next scan. I just looked out the door and it seems there was only a skiff more since I last cleared. Let’s see what the morning brings.
I puttered at chores, watched a whole season of SNL and finished my puzzle finally. I also watched a movie that the kids were watching last night while I was with the others watching Goblet of Fire. The movie today was called New Year’s Eve and has very star imaginable in it. It was a very talented hallmark style movie. I enjoyed it very much! I also liked binging SNL, just easy watching and often funny.
I remembered to take the steak out of the freezer that I have been waiting for the right day to enjoy. I don’t remember ever having Bison. I just pan fried it and it was so incredibly tender and tasty. Well worth the price for the rare time I eat steak. I am mostly a seafood person which is good as I signed up for Noom the other day. It allows me to eat anything but has recommended foods for calorie control. So far I like the program. It is motivating, easy and factors in all aspects of my life. I will start meal planning and cooking from my own kitchen rather than the Hello Fresh and Good Food programs. That will also save money. I will let you know how it goes.
triumphgal 