Ran into someone I didn't expect to and felt so many confusing and conflicting emotions my heart stopped.

I don't really want to elaborate; just wanted to put that into the ether. How can this happen still? It just...

Cappucino and Maltesers... breakfast of champions!
Originally uploaded by sadsillyness.

Cappucino and Maltesers... breakfast of champions!

Bwahaha. I dropped the kids off at school, picked up funds to be deposited into the council account, and came home and had evil breakfast. Photo evidence shown above.

I remember when I was a kid I couldn't wait until I was grown up so I could have ice cream for breakfast if I wanted, etc. Then I actually became a grownup and felt the need for things like eggs and toast and whatnot. But every once in a while I indulge that little girl in me clamoring for bad non-breakfasty things.

The snow is still lightly on the ground. We'll see if it lasts the weekend.

Oooooo it's Friday the thirteenth! I would be worried if I were into that superstitious mumbo-jumbo. It's also the day after Alistair Crowley's birthday. It's also the day that Lemony Snicket finally ends the Beaudelaire children's saga. I'm most excited about that last bit of information.

I ordered books one through ten from C's scholastic order, and eagerly anticipate their arrival. Only 30 bucks for all ten books! Talk about steal. I don't care if they're paperback. I just saved a kajillion dollars without even trying. Now I only have to buy 11 to 13 (and probably also the Beatrice Letters). The nice thing is C is just about getting to the age where she would absolutely love these books.

I am so glad my kids are bookworms. In the age of electronics, it's tough competition against television and video games. Don't get me wrong - my kids love those things too. Everything in moderation, right? But they will plunk down and read/be read to for hours and hours without getting bored.

The auditors are gone from work hurrah! From the email from my boss it looks like they were impressed. Now we are on to employee review time - interviews etc. I'm a little nervous as this is my first formal review since starting there. I'm sure I'll be fine but there's this stone at the pit of my stomach just agonizing over it.

Ok time to go to the mall and see about some books. This weekend I'm supposed to go to a book club gathering to drink sake, eat sushi and sashami and discuss Memoirs of a Geisha. I absolutely loved the book. The beginning was a little slow - I found the preface would be a turn-off if that was how you were to judge the book. But man oh man. Interesting? You bet your bootiepie.

Ok time to go. Seriously.

Let it Snow!, originally uploaded by sadsillyness.

So we had flurries today after all. I'm very glad I sent the kids with hats and mitts and boots.

Took C to the mall tonight to re-pierce one of her ears. When she got them done initially, one side got pierced crooked and as a result her body rejected it and pushed it out entirely. She's all better now thanks to her bravado and a little emla cream. She's all better now and it was pretty exhausting.

I put in the other earring so that she wasn't lopsided earrings wise. They look nifty and she is very happy with the result. It's given her something to talk about at school that is for sure.

Time to go pretend I'm a bear and hibernate a while on the couch, with some cappucino and a book or movie. I will probably end up watching Aeon Flux for the fifteenth time this week. I cannot help that I am a sap.

Here's hoping the snow goes "poof" and Halloween is warm.

The forecast over the next day or so includes FLURRIES. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Over.

So for the first time since, well to be honest since ever, I took the kids out boot shopping early, in preparation for the impending doom aka Canadian winter. We managed to find boots for K right away at Payless. However, we are now running into a problem with C. She is size 4 generally but to make the boots last we'd have to go 1/2 size to 1 size up. That brings her into ladies sizes. That is fine whatever but most women's boots at payless are for fashion not function, and come with a kickass heel on them. So we tromped through Sears to see if they had any - suuuure they did. For 99 bucks a pair. I'm not about to spend that much on a pair of boots I know that my daughter is going to outgrow in a year. Call me miserly all you like - it just doesn't make sense, fiscally speaking. So we went to my last resort - Zellers. There she hemmed and hawed and tried on fifty bajillion pairs until she finally found a decent, affordable pair of black lace-up boots that will keep her feet warm up to temperatures of 20 below celsius. Hurrah, says I. I still ended up shellng out about 90 bucks total for both of their boots - yowsa. But I know they'll have warm feet and the boots will fit them through the cold season.

So naturally they wanted to wear them this morning. Not only that, they wanted hats and mitts, too. Who was I to argue against that point - it's 4 degrees out there, and the wind is getting mighty chilly. At first I figured "oh boy my kids'll be the only ones decked out at school" but nope, lots of kids were dressed more warmly, except of course for the age 11 and up crowd. They're too cool to be cold.

That's it for today. I mostly just wanted to rant about how friggin expensive women's boots are. I mean it wouldn't be so bad if I could wait until mid-season to catch a sale, but I can't do that in this situation.

So we rescued a pidgeon last night.

On the way to take C to brownies, there it was on the ground, all puffed up and scared but unable to fly away. K & C were pretty upset about it. I promised C that when we were finished dropping her off, K & I would take the pidgeon to the SPCA. We ran into Hammer & her daughter Z on their way to brownies as well, so Hammer K and I ended up performing operation: bird rescue.

I grabbed a bunch of paper towel from the church bathroom when I dropped C off and we picked up mister pidgeon who was docile as docile can be. Hammer bravely held onto the pidgeon as we drove to the SPCA. I would not find out until after the deed was done that she is indeed terrified of birds. She managed to end the adventure unscathed, and all was well. Then we went to the bank to make deposits and while I was waiting for her, Sir T pulled up so I spoke with him for a minute or two before we took off again.

K proclaimed an interest in going to Dollar Giant, and offered to lead the way for Hammer. (I really have to find a better name for Hammer, which I dubbed her as due to the title of her blog.) I ended up buying an air freshener due to the fact that my car now smelled like injured pidgeon, not something too terribly enticing I can assure you.

Then I came home and gabbed with ME for an hour or so, and then called it a night, good deed done and feeling sleepy.

Almost time to take C to brownies tonight. For supper I made chicken balls and home-made sweet n sour sauce. It is hella easy and damn, son. So tasty. When I was pregnant with C I used to have weird food cravings and aversions. One of my favorites that I ate for most of the second trimester involved putting pickles, mayonnaise, and this home made sweet n sour sauce on toast. No joke, I ate that like the dickens. That and bologna sandwiches, which may not seem weird, but considering I absolutely hate most processed meats, it's weird for me.

Wow, that was a strange digression. What was I on about again? Oh, right. Supper. So yeah. chicken balls and pineapple rice and etc. JG came to pick SO up for work and had supper with us. He and ME are looking to move in together come the New Year. This is a big step but hardly surprising - they are pretty happy with each other and it's the next logical move.

Ugh, audit. Still going on this week but the auditor guy isn't so bad. By the time it's done he'll be sick of us though. We chirp the same greeting into the phone ten thousand times. Seriously.

As for the titles lately: I have been using snippets of tunes that are stuck in my head. A rather gauche version of that livejournal thing where you can post what you are currently listening to. Today's title is from a Pulp song, "Like a Friend". I love Pulp. I had this song stuck in my head all day. I don't typically post lyrics but with this one I cannot help myself. Here's the end bit:

You are that last drink I never should have drunk
You are the body hidden in the trunk
You are the habit I can't seem to kick
You are my secrets on the front page every week.
You are the car I never should have bought
You are the train I never should have caught
You are the cut that makes me hide my face
You are the party that makes me feel my age.

Like a car crash I can see but I just can't avoid
Like a plane I've been told I never should board
like a film that's so bad but
I got to stay 'til the end
Let me tell you now
it's lucky for you that we're friends.

Was up late last night watching Batman Begins w/SO and then Basic on my own. I really enjoyed that movie - for once I actually agree with a film-maker's change in the script in that initially, in the movie Basic it turns out Travolta's character was actually the bad guy. The ending that was re-scripted gives it a better twist.

I lent the movie to my parents and my father actually stayed awake to watch it - a great compliment to Hollywood, who usually inspires snores from him, and mom giving him the synopsis when he wakes up five minutes before the movie should end.

I wish the weather would make up its mind. I also hope it's nice for Halloween. My FIL is taking the kids out trick or treating this year apparently - they had already conspired with him on that take. So I guess I get a break this year. Why am I so pouty about it? Probably because I love this holiday as much as they do, if not more.

Woke up to the cat chirping in my ear. Here's why - the cordless phone was emitting beeps and blips to let us know it was low on the battery. This woke kitty up, who in turn woke me. Seven am and it was dark as night out. When did that happen? Nobody invited old man Winter - tell him to come back later, it's early and we're not prepared!

Time to head for work. Auditors are coming back this week.... *grumblefuck*

Thanksgiving was full of lots of turkey and potatoes and desserts and... well... poker.

Not at the inlaw's today though. At my parents' house last night. I cleaned my family out. My brother had no idea I was a card shark which made winning against him all the more fun.

SO had actually spotted me the 5 bucks to play. The interesting thing is, they don't usually let girls play poker so I was one of those genius ideas dad had to "mix things up, keep it interesting". So there I am, playing on borrowed money, and it ended up just being my brother and me playing it out for about an hour. I finally crushed him like a bug. He had no idea what to do, he was flabberghasted. So of course we went for round two, this time I spotted SO with some from my winnings. I cleaned up the second round as well, and turns out I went home 40 bucks richer. Woohoo!

Because you know. Nothing says Thanksgiving like gambling.

I love gmail because it lets me talk to my friend V who is all the way in the UK. For free. Thank you, internet. Thank you, gmail.

I'm too tired to discuss anything else - due to sleeping issues (no, not again, rather consider it "still"). Also I have the supermario music in my head - the boss monster music, mixed in with the music you get when you go down the tubes.

ba-da ba-da ba-da! ba-da ba-da ba-da!

Still no idea what to be for Halloween so I'll probably cop out and go as a pirate or something easy like that.

Ran into P at EB today who reiterated the need for a bunch of us to get together to play Risk. My October is filling up fast so we shall see.

What should I be for Hallowe'en? A bunch of us were going to go to a dance as the cast of Gilligan's Island, until I discovered the date of said dance was the very same day as our anniversary. While it would be cool and all to canoodle as the Professor and Marianne or whatever, I'd much prefer quiet time with my boy.

However it does not mean I cannot dress up while taking the kidlets on their Spookyween adventures. So. Any ideas? Usually I am full of them but at present I'm drawing a blank, and now is the time I usually begin to prepare for it.

The autumn blues are fast approaching and with each step my heart gets a little heavier, my words a little slower, my thoughts a little lower.

It isn't that I'm one of those people counting down, anticipating, and thus causing it to come. It just... sneaks up on me and creeps into me so slowly that I can scarcely believe it when it hits. I do my best to fight it off, but there you are.

The trouble with this is, in previous jobs I could more or less decrease my exposure to people and let it pass. Where I am working now, there is no break from it. I am more or less entrenched in socialization, in talking talking talking all day. In a way I guess it's good, but in a way it sort of irritates me. I need space. I can't breathe.

I am smart enough to realize it will pass, as all things do; and the winter will put my heart to sleep and my mind will spin like a snowflake and land in the cold and thoughts will freeze up and I will dry up and wait for spring. And spring will come as it always has and the sun will warm me and my mind will wake up and I will feel alive again.

In the meantime, it's me and my sappy prose. Amigos till the end.

I have that Aimee Mann song stuck in my head.

So the audit is going well thus far. The auditor appreciated my taking the time to show him how we process certain aspects of things, he also appreciated my forebearance in answering his questions. He also liked that I tended to anticipate his questions and provide the answers beforehand. Here's hoping it was for the good. My boss was hella curious to see what he asked me about, so I told him, and he looked relieved at my answers, so hooray!

They have this co-appreciation system at work called "applause", which allows you to send words of thanks to your fellow employees for their efforts. The clever thing about this is, every single applause you get goes through your boss, so they can see how often you are recognized for your awesomeness. This helps come employee review time. I am averaging receiving 3 of these a month, which is no small feat for someone as new as I am, and especially working in the department I do, which is mostly about getting complaints, you know?

Parent council meeting at the kids' school tonight was... guh. No words. C had a good night at Brownies although she was a little cowed by the fact that she was the only member of faeries present so she had to sing the faeries song all by herself. She did it by golly though; that's my girl.

SO is watching Lois & Clark in the other room as we speak. I will watch the occasional episode with him, but for the most part I could care less. There's a reason why that show died after its fourth season. Although I found the episode featuring H.G. Wells quite amusing, I must admit.

I just finished of an individual package of Famous Amos cookies all to myself. Ask me if I feel guilty.

My cousin JPk just got engaged - this is exciting news and I am very happy for her.

I'm also very tired so it's time to sign out.

So. Very. Tired.

We're having an audit this week at work - which is fine in and of itself, but considering I've only been there six months, I do feel a little pressured having the auditor more or less hanging over my shoulder all day asking me about processes, and why I do what I do, and what to do when I don't know what to do, and etc.

Also roped myself into doing parent council stuff at my kids' school again this year. What doesn't kill you... certainly doesn't make you breakfast, that's for damn sure.

Mmmm, breakfast.

I had a bagel and strawberries & cream flavored cream cheese this morning. It was a little slice of heaven, as I have not had any substantial breakfast in probably literally a month of Sundays.

Time to get the daughter ready for Brownies & myself ready for council meeting. And probably cook supper somewhere in there. Ugh. ugh.

Ever do a random search on something, and then for whatever reason, came across something/someone you hadn't thought about in a great long while?

That happened to me today, and it brought back this whole flood of thoughts and memories.

Which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't stop me right in my tracks and set my heart apace and make me wonder if I should pursue for more information. Curiosity killed the cat.

Meow.

Why is it when I have a cold, I crave Pop Tarts? This is an oddity I cannot explain even to myself. Odder still is that when I eat one, I then feel very ill over the whole damn thing (but not in that whole "oh I hate myself for eating a Pop Tart bla bla bla" sort of way) and wish I'd never knew Pop Tarts existed. Tricky, tricky. I have decided not to cave and eat one this time. Take that, Pop Tart!

I had like, twenty people tell me on the phone today that I sounded terrible. Well no shit. Really? Because I thought I sounded fine, thank you. Hah. Others complimented the voice for some reason. Ever been hit on by someone over the phone? It's pretty funny, actually. Funnier still when it's a solicitor.

I got a bunch of free samples of things in the mail today, which leads me to believe a friend might have had them sent to me, since I never sign up for that sort of thing. Which is fine but if it increases my intake of junk mail I shall be very put out.

Ok time for rest. My chest feels heavy and my eyes woozy.

So from Smallville-a-thon land we move on to Lois & Clarksville. SO may just drive the fangirlness for Superman right out of me... feh, who am I kidding, right? I've said it tons of times, I love Superman like nobody's business. I love the whole lexicon and ideal enough to defend the recent abomination that Bryan Singer tried his best to save.

My cold is rapidly depleting what little source of energy I have had lately. This should make things interesting this week; paired with this is an appointment with a gynecologist on Wednesday that I now may have to reschedule for erm, natural causes.

I can't believe I just alluded to that on a public blog. Bwaha.

I am rapidly understanding that C is soon going to need a bra. Holy crap. I don't know if I'm ready for this.

Ugh time to go buy some Dayquil or something and face the music. On the schedule for this week is a school council meeting, C has badge night at Brownies, my mom is insisting I take the kids to visit her Wednesday (mom and I are in the 'arguing lots about everything' cycle of our relationship - it actually goes in cycles where we get along great and then can't stand each other. Mostly because I have a mind and my own opinions and my own life and she refuses to recognize that), and I think that's about it... my 6 yr anniversary w/SO is coming up October 21. Technically we've been together a lot longer than that, but by official capacity of the bond of marriage, it's only been six.

Ok seriously time to go.