Internet Asks: How Are You?

Um, yes. Hello there, Internet. It’s been a while. The last you heard, I was happily abusing my rental car. It was June 1st.
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It’s been busy. First, & most happily, C had her baby! I got to be a labor coach, & it was a long & epic battle for her. It ended in a C-section, one stubborn & perfect little baby, and one doped up C. Babe & mama are both doing well – and my goodness the little wee cheeks on C’s babe! I wanted to eat them up this morning when Am & I went visiting. I didn’t though; the babe was asleep. And it’s rude to eat other people’s babies.
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Less than a week after that sweet & high point, there was the low point. As I was driving home to Saskatchewan with Am to see Mom ‘n Hugh, & Mom’s friend Debbi, things worsened for Hugh. Our intended 4-day casual gab’n’chat changed. Am & I were down for a little over two weeks, and we went from vigil, to wake, to mourning. I think recovering is still a ways off.

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(I don't believe that I'd mentioned in this blog what was happening. Hugh had been diagnosed with a serious cancer last summer; he responded well to chemo, then things sort of crashed in late May, with more cancer & sickness & hospital visits. I had hoped he was going to rally & recover, but he didn't. We lost him the evening of June 15th. He was at home, where he wanted to be.)
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I know in my head it’s June, but my heart hasn’t signed up for the summer yet. It was beautiful & warm & sunny in Saskatchewan, but it seemed like a dream. It’s a beautiful & warm sunny day today here at home, but again, it just doesn’t seem real.
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It feels like I lost June. I’m just treading water, trying to believe that June, & summer, & happiness are out there, but I feel like I’m mostly going through the motions. It’s a good face I’m painting on – even I buy it, sometimes, and with time it will settle in again, that it’s summer, & that good & happy things happen. Until then, I’m so thankful for Amoryn – mentally, I’m sure that the comfort I derive from her has to do with the evidence of life in the face of death, with life carrying on, etc etc. But really, I just love having her in my arms & having her little round head on my shoulder.
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Mom, I feel so bad for your loss, for what you are enduring. I know what I’m feeling is nothing compared to the loss that you have; but me posting about where I am here in this blog makes me feel better. I think writing out the answer to the “How are you’s?” makes me feel stronger; and the answer here can be as long or complex as I need it to be.
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So, how am I.... I guess I'm working through it. Talk to you later, Internet,

K.

Rental Car Abuse

So the Jeep now has 4 doors that all lock. Verrry exciting, especially if you recall that for about 6 weeks, one of the doors did not lock, courtesy of some criminals at Brentwood Station. (I'd call them hooligans or punks or somehting, but really, I don't mind a lot of hooligans & I'm quite fond of some punks. So I'm sticking with a simple descriptive term. Criminals.)
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In order for the fix to occur, I had to leave the Jeep at the repair shop for a week. THis meant that I got to zoom about town in a rental; a Suzuki XL7, I think. It was gold for sure. And, similarily to that good old song, "3 Dressed Up As A 9", this was a minivan dressed up as an SUV.
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Now, I did no lasting harm to the minivan; I just wasn't maybe the typical renter. There was the IKEA trip, followed by the scrapyard trip, followed by trying to get the mud off our steel-toes while fitting the rusty bits of metal in around the IKEA stuff. (Luckily, Amoryn was safe with Auntie C., or S. & I probably wouldn't have dared to try IKEA. And then there was the garden center... and the sand & the dirt from the garden center... and Costco... and Walmart... and Toys R Us... all of which involved large, unwieldy things being stuffed into the car.
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All in all, I got the feeling that the Suzuki was more accustomed to less hauling. It did okay, & I liked the power sunroof. But all in all, I'm happy to have the Jeep back.
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And now that I've told my story & established that the internet is working, I'm going to go & finish rearranging the basement. Wish me luck!

2 FO, OMG.

Yes, that's right. I've cast off on one of my many current knitting projects, verrrrry exciting. And today, one of my cost reports that I've been mashing my brain into mush over had it's first ever, on-time, perfectly correct release.* Amazing, eh?
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Once I download the camera pics, I'll post a pic of FO #1 (FO=Finished Object). It's the shawl I started in the Bahamas, and finished here, mostly knitting at the train stop. I could get about 1-1.3 rows done in the trip from McMahon to downtown. I knew it was going to be light & airy, but soft & warm, & I find myself enchanted with it far more than I expected. To the point where the pics feature me wearing it, and also a fuschia t-shirt underneath. Fetching.
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The cost thingy, well. I have learned a lot about databases & array formulas & MS Access & MS Excel, & while I don't know if it's made me a better person, in a while, when it finishes sifting to the bottom of my brain, that info is going to earn me more money. Provided I ever marshall my reserves & gird my loins & march in to my boss's cubicle & ask for a raise.
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I know I should be earning more**, but ack, this whole business of asking for rate increases, it's hard. I've read studies suggesting that women are underpaid in comparison to men, solely because they find it so hard to ask for that any kind of recognition, let alone MONEY! ANd it's true, It's hard. I will ask. I know I will. It's just... blech.
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In other news, I'm taking an evening class in natural dyes, which I'm enjoying, but is pretty much reinforcing what I thought about organic dyes to begin with. Pretty, interesting process, but probably too toxic & time consuming for my life/kitchen/personal hobby fetishes. BUt interesting, nonetheless. And surprisingly technical.
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And in non-technical news, Amoryn is awake, & hungry, I bet! She's also very solidly into the 97th percentile for height & weight, which reall, no big suprise, right? And she was very brave at her shots, & very good during the last car trip.
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*Let's not talk about the first three versions, which were more "cobbled", "makeshift", "in development", or "rickety".
**At least, for my position, seniority, & industry.

Bliss

Yes indeed. Sar, Cor, & I spent a lovely day at the spa. I had a hot stone massage, which was so relaxing that I actually thought that I'd melted & couldn't tell where the hot stones were anymore. It was lovely. Divine. Splendid. Verra nice & well worth the price.
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There was also brunch to start, then hot-tubbing pre & post treatment*, a nice relaxing veg in the Serenity Room (really), and a rain shower where I think I used more water than some third world countries consume in a month. I'll tell them it was Oil & Gas that used all the water up if anyone asks.
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When I got home, Amoryn was simply beside herself to see me. So gratifying. So lovely.
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And that was my day. How was yours?




*-spa lingo.

Uunnnhhhhhgggghhhhhhh

When the alarm went off this morning, I groaned. And I sounded like Chewbaca. Yesterday, I almost chucked a bag of moldy cheese down the stairs & put the dishcloth in the garbage. Et cetera.
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In other words, this head cold is not letting up. At all. And I have so much things to accomplish that my inability to process verbal talking out of my head plus the sneaky sinus headache that keeps flirting with a migraine is seriously screwing with me.
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Yes. So of course I'm posting on my blog, knowing that teh Intarweb is sympathizing with me.
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It's probably sympathizing with Amoryn too; although she is just a little crunchy, she doesn't seem to be as sick as I feel. I'm thinking that she would have progressed from crunchy to out & out bitchy if she had the sinus headahce. Or maybe she does, but her little skull is still soft enough that it flexes, instead of resisting the throb, thus creating the headache in adults but not infants? At any rate, I'm letting her sleep an extra hour this morning - she hasn't stirred & I think she really needs it, the regular sleep isn't letting her get ahead of her cold or her tooth.
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Oh, & by the way? Breakfasts for sneezing babies are especially challenging when they consist of cream of wheat porridge & yogurt. *wipes glasses off. wipes tables off. wipes high chair off. wipes shirt off. rinse cloth & repeat.*
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I'm off to wake my girl up, which is totally the high point of the day's current plans.

We’re Baaaaack!

Yes, we’ve returned from the Bahamas.

(View from our balcony of the pool & harbour.)

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To this.

(View from the back door of the snow back on our deck.)

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I know, but we’re still happy to be back.

(Happy child.)

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I think the best parts of the vacation were a) unwinding & losing track of the days b) Amoryn getting so much mommy AND daddy time - I think she really loved that part of things c) hearing about the snow on our way out to the pool after one of Am's naps. But around all of that, it was lovely. It was idyllic. It was gorgeous the whole time we were there. There were beaches, and ocean, & blue sky galore. Amoryn as very good on the flights, she loved the water, and she ate pretty darn everything the first couple days, then mellowed out of her growth spurt & really concentrated on her love of cheese, yogurt, & fruit. I diligently (& constantly) applied 45SPF La Roche Posay sunscreen, because I had a theory that a sunburnt baby would be No Fun At All. I didn’t get to test my theory, thankfully, because of all the sunscreen**** application.

Would that I had been so keen on slathering myself – I burnt quite remarkably mid trip or so (maybe it was Wednesday? I don’t remember, we lost track of the days.) It wasn’t bad enough to really throw a kink in our style, but I did stay covered up for a day or so. (The man burnt too – a little wee bit, but it is all glorious tan now.) I’ve got tan lines now! And freckles*! Huzzah! (* Although not too many freckles, because I religiously wore my new Tilley hat. Which I lurve, lurve, lurve.)

(Although it may look like it, I am not looking at the man in the speedo exiting the ocean.)

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And I peeled. I started peeling on the 2nd last day we were there, and I’m still peeling. I thought that I was all done peeling, until (disgusting alert! Don’t read if you’re squeamish or eating!) I was in the tub last night & noticed large-ish shreds of my skin floating by. Yecch. I’m glad the man wasn’t in town & was spared the actual indignity; he just gets to read about it. (Assuming he reads this. Do you read this? I don’t talk about you much here, you know. Maybe I should…)

(I'm peeling, in this shot.)
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Along with the peeling & the dry skin, I hab a head code. Actually, I’m not that nasally, but my throat is pretty froggy & I sound like I;m trying to do an imitation of Sam Elliot. Of course, for the imitation to really be a hit, I’d need a mustache too. Did Sma Elliot ever do a Got Milk? Ad? He really should’ve, if he didn’t. (I just asked Google, a quick check makes me think that he hasn’t.)

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Speaking of mustaches, some of my family visited over the weekend. (I know, that segue made no sense. It's late, I'm tired, & I've got a head cold.) I'm pretty sure that I made more sense when Mom, H, A, & Z were here. Even if I didn't, it wasn't really that big a deal; the real star of the show was, of course, my darlin' Amoryn, who loved the visist & all the attention. It was a lovely visit, but it wouldv'e been nice if the wweather let us go for a walk or a swing or something. That uncle sure has a lot of energy that he needs to burn off! I coulnd't get the photos to slideshow on tv, but I managed to show some of the trip videos via the tv.

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I'm really am feeling like quite the technological Genius*** - tonite, I installed my new portable hard drive, hooked up two USD hubs, downloaded iTunes, and attached my DVD burner. Next up - downloading the videos, editing, compiling, & burning, then sending them off to family! Golly, what will the man say when he gets home & finds that my laptop has been so busy!** (**LAME computer joke. Really awful.)

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Of course, this post is the last computer thing I'm doing tonite - I'm off to eat some cobbler & go to bed.

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***- Wile. E. Coyote pronunciation, natch.

****-I originally typoed "sinscreen" - wouldn't that be handy in Vegas!

Yihooooooooo!

We is on vacation. The bags is packed, the flights is tomorrow, the living, it is good.

(Actually, I should say flight - direct to the Bahamas.)

We're taking lots of picutres, talk to you when we get back!

Love, us.


PS: Regarding the last post, it's actually "Gotta Skate", not "God of Skate". Which makes it not nearly so funny to me.

PPS: Amoryn's birthday party was awesome! She was great, even with the teething & the vaccination the day before & the strangers singing directly at her & everything! More on that later!

Unsuspected Source of Information

The man & I were watching the curling final yesterday afternoon. After catching part of one one particularily garish, spangled, fringed, figure-skated extravaganza of a commercial, I said, "Holy cow, are the ice capades coming to town or what?"
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"No," the man says, "It's Kurt Browning's God of Skate Seven."
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I burst into laughter. It was just such a ludicrous sentence to come out of his mouth. I may have got the number wrong, it could be Kurt Browning's God of Skate Four or Eight or something. I can't say for certain, and I'm loathe to ask Google. What would Google think of me? (google does keep track, you know.)
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As well, the title - Kurt Browning's God of Skate Seven - makes me think of the Pay-Per-View Adult Entertainment titles - you know, Mistiii Raynes presents Hott (x-rated verb of choice) Action XVII.
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And that was pretty much my Sunday afternoon. How was yours?

Easter!

Easter was busy.

I dyed a bunch of stuff.

Of varying types & colors.

And made a bunch of stuff.

And ate a bunch of stuff.
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It was good.
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(I also did a lot of bookkeeping, but that's not as exciting to photograph, so.)

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(And yes, I did a bunch of stuff with the girl, & she was all adorable & stuff, but I'll put that in another post.)

Heh Mar 12

Heh Mar 12, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

You see that spoon? That purple spoon? It's no longer a token spoon, it is a spoon of action. If I load it with food, she successfully puts the spoon in her mouth & eats the food!

(As opposed to waving it around, smooshing it in her hair, dropping it on the floor...)

Trouble At The Playpen.

(Lest you think I'm being dramatic, "Trouble at the Henhouse", a Tragically Hip cd, croseed my mind as I eased out of Amoryn's room at 2:47am.)

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But there was drama, never fear. I awoke to hear Amoryn fussing, & waited to see if she was going to soother herself back to sleep, which is what usually happens. Nope. Fussing gave way to crying. I even gave it an extra second, because the man is in Fort sMac. That means I have to go out into the cold dark world & there's no warm hot water bottle of a man waiting in bed. Anyways. As I'm pulling on my housecoat, I hear Amoryn's cry turn to a different tone, a downright scream.

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"What on earth?", thinks I.

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Well. Amoryn sleeps with a small menagerie of stuffies, there's a caterpillar, her bear (THE bear, as opposed to a bear), a singing bunny, a grey cat, & another bear (pink one, as opposed to pink two). The bunny looks like he's holding a star, & his arms are attached to each other, forming a smallish loop.

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Amoryn had stuck one of her arms through the loop of the singing bunny somehow, and as I came into her room, was screaming at the absolute top of her lungs whilst flailing her arms about & clubbing herself in the face with rabbit, which just made it all worse.

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It's ok that I've been laughing about it all day, because I didn't laugh at her then. I just extricated the bunny, soothed her, picked her up, dropped the bunny in the laundry (bad bunny! washing machine for you!), changed her bum, soothed her some more, and put her back to bed.

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Then I laid in my bed, and listened to her talk the whole experience over with the bear. She went to sleep after 40 minutes. So I guess I'm also laughing because I'm a little sleep-deprived & sort of punch drunk. Heh.

Well, I'll be spatted.

It may be one of the signs of the Apolcalypse.

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I was just surfing through patterns, on the hunt for a swimsuit coverup concept, & I found that you can upload photos of your own projects at Burda.

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I'll gice you a second to see if your imagination can take you where apparently, a lot of Europeans go.

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Give up?

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How's about high heel spats:

This is the 2nd of two pairs; the first one was really ugly.

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And there's Tinkerbell. Clap if you believe in fairies, children!

Amazing. A little overposed & overexposed, but still. Nicely done, but why?

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And it goes on, & on, & on. There are some genuinely brilliant things, but there's also this:

Which is titled "Rückenansicht von Farbexplosion ". I don't think we need subtitles for that, do we? She does look totally hot, but really, that much red tulle? Farbexplosion, indeed.

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The truly astounding thing is not that people made these things; but they made them from a pattern. (Or at least, started from a pattern.) That just blows my mind, man....

She's so happy!

Smiley girl Feb 24, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

She really is. Unless, of course, she's tired or hungry, or has just bonked her head. But hey, we all feel like that, right?
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Tomorrow, Tuesday, is my first Tuesday going to the office while Heather watches my girl, which makes this the first two-office-day week. I think I'll miss my girl, but it'll be a relief to be able to get the Tuesday workload done so much easier, & I do enjoy going to the office & using a different corner of my brain.
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And this is my last week of spinning class - mixed emotions - I really enjoy the class & learning & being around like minded (similarily obsessed) women, but I really really go through baby withdrawal - daddy puts her to bed, then I leave early the next morning before Am is awake, then when I get home she's usually having her afternoon nap. So it's almost 24 hours with no baby smooshing! Well, okay, it's more like 22 hours, but man, I miss her. I think it's worse because she's right there - just asleep, so I could wake her up & squeeze her....except I'm not that crazy. Well, maybe I am, but I do like my sleep, & respect her need for sleep too.
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Speaking of sleep.....zzzzzzz

lolCat of the day.

I find this so funny. That's all. Thanks ICanHasCheezberger, you rock.

Dyed pencil rovings, stage 2!

Dyed pencil rovings, stage 2! Feb 18, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

Now, I know the previous photo looked good, but it didn't truly capture incandescent & angry tone of the orange. So I plunked it all back into the slow cooker, this time, adding only blue kooaid to the water, as opposed to sprinkling the powder directly onto the wool, then plastic-wrapping. I didn't use vinegar either time, & it seems to have worked marvelously! I'm in the process of spinning this into (very uneven & lumpy) yarn. It's quite lovely & subtle, soft peachy-browns fading into blue, with occasional little hits of orange. I think I need to work at bit more at finessing my handling of the rovings though - it had started to matt/felt just a little bit, which is making it hard to draft well to spin it with my spindle.
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Did I mention I'm loving my spinning class? I'm loving my spinning class.
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As well, I just figured out that I can use Flickr to post into Blogger, so I can blog/upload photos in one fell swoop! Huzzah!

The rovings, after stage 1. Feb 18

The rovings, after stage 1. Feb 18, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

Yes, a success: dyeing things in the slow cooker worked marveloussly - it wasn't hot enough to melt the cling wrap seperating the colors from each other; it cooked all the dye into the wool - for once, the ater was totally clear! It was awesome.

The Best of Soul Train Feb 16

The Best of Soul Train Feb 16, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

This was on. The Best of Soul Train, I mean. I think I was meant to dance on Soul Train, because I totally bust moves just like these people do. Well, maybe not liek the performers, who were... spectacular, as in worth of spectating. Their ensembles, in case you can't tell, included varying headgear inspired by ziggurats, filmy organza wings, lyrca leggings (covering one or both legs), and sequined bras & codpieces/hot pants. It was amazing.
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I can't wait to tune in next week to see what else the Best of Soul Train has to offer!

It smelled like spring today.

It was Wednesday today, which is obvious, yes, but Wednesday has come to mean not the middle of the work-week, but swimming lesson day! Swimming lessons are awesome, with the only awkward part the post-swim shower & change. Today's shower was mucho better, as I brought along a sling & used it to keep Amoryn braced on my hip. It may seem a little weird, but have you ever tried to shower holding a naked baby, shampoo her hair, rinse your own swimsuit, and not drop anything, especially the baby? And no, I am most certanly not going to ever, ever set my girl down on the floor of the shower. I wear flipflops in there for a reason, a good reason, a reason that involves all those stranger's feet & the warm, moist, hospitable environment that 10 showers in a single room create. *shudder* I gag in horror when other women set their babies down - BARE-BOTTOMED! - but I try not to judge. Sure, maybe you can't hold them, but land's sake people, put down a towel or something. That baby is going to get something awful or WORSE on its poor little fat bottom.
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So yes! Moving away from that awful scenario, it was Wednesday, which is in between Tuesdays & Thursdays, which are both engineering office work days where Am gets a babysitter & I get spreadsheets. Of course, I'm doing some bookkeeping on the side now, so "work" is creeping in all over the place. But I still want my Wednesday to be like a little mini-weekend day for Am & I - minimal housecleaning, fun stuff like playing all afternoon, with no momma doing dishes. (Although Am does enjoy that - it gives her an excellent chance to sneak up on the catfood.)
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So we went for a stroll! We strolled to the mailbox, we strolled around an easment to a different cul-de-sac, & we explored a "new" playground. It had a nice quick baby-friendly slide, which Amoryn adored (I was holding her from over the side, of course), it had a rocking horse which was quite a bit too big, a dinosaur that was quite a bit too dirty, and a little rocking car that was quite interesting. And there were two swings - one baby-bucket ("for VERY SMALL CHILDREN"), and one regular swing (whose warning I did not read before sitting on). Swinging was warmly recieved, as always.
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And as we strolled home the long way (because we could), there were wafts & very occasional gusts of spring flirting with my nose. I know spring's not ready to put out yet, but it makes me feel good that she's starting to fix her hair, & decide what to wear, & put on some perfume, & get ready for the big date.
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And now I have a date with my bed & my little green fuzzy booties, which are an anniversary present from the man. They have removable heatable insoles, & I've been sleeping with them on, & I lurve them almost as much as I love the man. He's so cool.

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I shall leave you with this warm idea from I Can Has Cheezberger, http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Who Trusts A Weather Forecast More Than Five Days In Advance?, or Why I Don’t Care About the American Election

I'm officially tired everything about the American election. It's not until November, people! We're Canadian; we don't even get to vote! Why is it everywhere - including my hip-hop radio station?
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I hardly pay attention to our own government's doings because really, they are beyond my control. And the people in power, they're liars. Even if they're not inveterate liars about everything, they get forced into it. I know this. It's a fact. I'm a liar too - but in a small scale, as my powers are small.
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I say "All right, we're going to clean up the toys & then go for a walk." But the weather changes or Amoryn has a giant poo or something else and poof! it's nap time & I'm a liar. Good intentions butter no bread, I'm sure someone's granny says that.

Epic toy spill coupled with noxious diaper derails stroller plan... news update at 11.
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Despite my best efforts, it happens occasionally. The scale of power that the goverment controls is so much more massive that it turns into "We're going to change health care / cut tax/ end child poverty." But then... there's the deficit / Senate / giant lighting bolts form God. So they turn into liars. This is the way it is; I end up voting for who I think has the best intentions. Mostly. Sometimes I pick based on who's the biggest loser - who's going to really appreciate my vote? (Here in a very conservative riding, I generally vote Green. An added bonus - as I haven't voted the government in, I can vetch about them all I want.)
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Now, I do accept that the American election is important to Canada, & thus to me. The election isn't until early November though! I have things to pay attention to right now, that are really important. Like lunch.

Fears that the electoral majority are won through their stomachs founded, new study reveals.

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And then later, doing more laundry so that the girl can wear her almost too-small 18-mo clothing, instead of her slightly too big 24-mo clothing. Hmm.

Big baby bending budget - critics worry when will mad growth end?

(Our 10-month old girl in her 24-month coveralls & shirt. So sweet! Luscious baby wale-corduroy!)
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Well, even if I decide to move her into her 24-mo clothing, I still have to wash the outgrown stuff before I put it into the hamper to save for as hand-me downs. (I always thought it was Handy-Downs, as a a kid. Or maybe Han Dee Downs...)
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Anyways. Please, please media & the rest of the universe, conspire for the day so that I hear something other than "Obama", "Hillary", "Blue state", etc. Thanks.
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Now, let's get back to lunch! And the new melamine turtle bowl! Yumm!

Ha. Arg. Gotta go.

This isn't nearly as funny - or illustrated - as Whoopee's blog about phone copmpanies - http://yetanotherbloomingblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/brief-working-notes-for-epic-norse-war.html - she even features antique nudity. Really.

At any rate. I just got off of the phone with two different employees of HBC. The first one I called to cancel the Mastercard that they were automatically upgrading my Bay card to. I was already irritated, I admit; I'd spent an hour + sorting & filing reciepts into piles so that I can do the bookkeeping for them later. And to find a letter, letting me know that I get a Mastercard! Without any effort! Oh boy! Be sure to spend lots!, well. It increased my irritation. I called the number to say "No, does not want", and went through their automated system. The automated system subjected me to a lovely 2 minute spiel about all of the wonders of the Mastercard, then said "if you don't want, press 2". I did, then pressed 8 to speak to someone further. It simply seemed too easy to cancel it that way; there was no verification, no nothing. Also, I wanted to know who I had to call to remove my name & phone number & address from the apparently inexhaustible array of amazing offers, special deals, incredible events, & free* things. The woman I spoke to spent another 2 minutes trying to make sure that I really understood how special I was to the HBC, that I should feel honored that they trusted me enough to recieve such a special offer with such amazing perks, and so forth. Eventually my mantra of "Does not want... remove from list... does not want... remove from list..." sank into her consciousness. Then I asked about the cancellation - well, she can send out a letter to me, but first, let her confirm that address. "Well, I will give you the cancellation number provided to me, then you can pull up my address." "All right!" she says. "Then can I have you address to confirm?" "No. It's the same address as is on this letter, that arrived in the mail yesterday. I haven't moved." "But I need to confirm," she says. I am not giving my address out to anyone; I'm quite certain that even though they have it already, there is a secret database that they store recalcitrant, master-card-free addresses in, then set them up to be automatically dialed by a fax maxchine at 2 am & recieve mailers about Enhancing! Your! Male! Parts! "Why don't you read me the address you have, & I can let you know it's the same", I say, adopting her cloyingly sweet wheedle. "I cannot do that." she replied, finally dropping the sucrose. "Well then, I'm not giving you my address, you can't confirm, so mail the letter confirming canellation or not; but give me the number to remove myself from all of the free* offers etc. She did, grudgingly, I chipperly apologized for being a bear, & wished her a verry nice day & hung up before she could get out one last time, how much I really mean to the Bay. It was like a verrry weird breakup with a passive aggressive needy boyfriend, using a script.
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My loins fully girded, I steeled myself for another ten minute quest into the automaton world of HBC. I was surprised & completely disarmed to find that the phone was answered on the third ring by a man, named Doral, who had me un-subscribed & feeling quite happy in three minutes flat.
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Other than bearding various telemarketing lions in their dens, I've been pretty busy. I've got all sorts of knitting things just completed & on the go; pictures & a post to follow at some point (I know, you can't bear the anticipation...), I've been working more for the office, I've been taking the girl to swim lessons, I've tried to get to the gym for myself too, and well. I've been busy. It's not you, it's me. I did manage to update FLlckr yesterday - I resolve to try & get it done weekly, if nothing else, because it takes faaaaaaaar to long to do it monthly. Plus also, it leaves the grandparents & other baby fans in the lurch.
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Speaking of the babe, she just started singing, so I'd best go & get her, stuff some lunch in both of us, then head off to my old office, where I am picking up some work to do from home. Yes. I now have three jobs - Amoryn, the engineering office, & the accounting office. (Not counting work that doesn't pay in baby snuggles or cash - which leaves out keeping track of our company AND housework as jobs.) Stay tuned to see how the balancing act all works out... assuming of course, that I have time to post!


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