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.

Home sick today, which makes 2 days in a row that I didn't go in to work. yesterday I was taking care of C who had fallen ill (again). This time not her tummy tho- her neck & chest hurt. Last night K also got sick. So I was back and forth between the two of them while fending off a cold myself.

Also in between I was coerced into making chili for SO - he said with the weather being so dreary and cold, he had a hankering for chili, and would I please please please make some? So of course I obliged. It isn't like it is a gourmet recipe which would take hours of my time anyway, you know?

In any case, I battled a cold as well as took care of my family. Looks like the cold won. I woke up achey and bleh. My chest feels like a wall of bricks is resting on it. K has been crying on and off - overemotional and tired. C is not complaining, just sort of lying limply on the couch.

I'm going to go lie down shortly myself.

Here's hoping everyone has a much better weekend than me. My sisterinlaw & her friend P took this weekend off to celebrate his birthday - if it's anything like Sir T's, I'm sure they'll have a good time and not remember much save for the fact that they had a good time.

Mmmm warm bath may be in order. And large mug of tea.

What do you do to make yourself feel better when you are sick?

So Tokyo Rose is dead.

Most people only know the name from the song by Idle Eyes.

C is really enjoying Brownies - she was practically gushing last night, talking about plans and making new friends and how she got to stay in faeries again this year. I'm very glad she's enjoying it so much.

K was put out at first that she has something to do and he doesn't, but he's also been enjoying having us to himself. Last night it was just he and SO until I got home - went out with Hammer to wander through the new dollar store. I am greatly impressed and actually on my way there to get cheap boxes of Mrs. Field's cookies. I bet the Dollarama is taking a huge hit from it - the store is spacious, has decent merchandise, and is clean, and takes interac/credit/cash. My only true bone of contention with Dollarama is that it is cash only.

People who don't know the joys of dollar stores need to come shopping with me. I find some pretty terrific things when I am of the right mood. Useful things, shiny things, things that make you go "wtf?".

Ok off I go before work starts. Tonight is family bbq night at the school - should be interesting.

I have had a lot going on in my little life over the past few days. For those of you in the know - she seems ok, not sure what the heck happened but I'm thanking God for small miracles and keeping an eye on her in case her condition flips again.

For the record also, and in case you didn't know, my MIL is driving me absofuckinglutely nuts. I cannot begin to express the frustration I've been feeling toward her lately. It is a very long, very boring story and I don't want to get into it. Just saying for the record - she is driving me up the wall.

I need a rest and I feel I haven't had a true rest since yegads, I don't know. A long time. I need me time and I'm not getting it. Oh Angst! Oh Bother!

What I would really love to do is just call in to work, have a long hot bath, wrap myself in a warm robe, and curl up under a blanket and watch crap movies. No interruptions or anything. What I am going to do instead is drag my sorry self out to work, hope the phones actually work today (they were wonky all of yesterday, led to some interesting times let me tell you), and answer calls with patience and not get too cranky when people are ignorant to me all day. They have been lately - it's a cranky time of year in mortgageland, I guess. I don't take it personally but it certainly is taxing on the nerves. One solicitor was very rude however and I told him if he didn't stop I would end the call - well he went off and I hung up. I told my boss about it he said I did the right thing. Some people believe because of their stature they can push you around - well sir I do not pander to that.

Wow looks like I had things to say after all. I just feel all empty and dried up, wordwise.

Also, I'm not the best when it comes to grammar and spelling, but I have to say when I'm reading newsgroups I openly cringe at some people's contributions. It just floors me.

Ok, time to go procrastinate some more before work.

Had a lovely visit with my friend LT this evening, walking along the river with the kids. The kids collected some lovely feathers, among them a blue heron, crow, and cormorant.

It was sketchy at first whether or not we would even have a visit at all - I ended up bringing C home early today because of a tummyache. She seemed to be fine by evening though. I'm thinking maybe growing pains? She's blossoming a little too early for my comfort.

In any case, it was a good visit, as I hadn't seen LT in, oh, 4 years? Something like that.

My head is killing me though.

I'm literally seeing stars as I type this.

Anyway... off to pass out on the couch watching Sin City or something. Maybe I'll watch Mirror Mask - I had actually borrowed it from sisterinlaw for C, as she loves those sorts of movies, and adores Jim Henson films especially (think Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and the like).

Ooo it feels like the headache is starting to go away. Bless you, Advil for migraines!

Tomorrow the kids are going to be at the in-laws' for a sleepover - they had made the plans and all before I even heard of it. So I'll be solitary for the evening - SO is working afternoons this week. Not to worry though, I always have plenty to do and a visit is in the planning.

Now off I go to go do that passing out in front of the telly thing. Woo it's almost Friday!

I have that Kyprios song stuck in my head. It's a catchy beat but kinda sad.

Took the kids to "Take Back the Night" for a bit this evening to support some friends. K wasn't too interested and got antsy way too soon so there was no walking for us. But they made signs and got the picture anyway.

Going to see a dear friend tomorrow morning? evening? Sometime tomorrow anyway. She came up to participate as a speaker for "Take Back the Night" - I kind of feel bad not staying to hear her, but I've heard her before and know what she's on about. She totally understood.

Um. So anyhow. I was going to say something but I got hella sleepy all of the sudden. I'm the boringest person on earth lately when it comes to posting.

ME is trying to convince me to convince SO that we want to join them for all you can eat shrimp at Red Lobster this Saturday. Alas, this weekend is plugged full of things, and we promised to take the kids to the fair on Saturday weather permitting. We'll see.

Sunday is my friend's daughter's christening at 1, and then at 4 we have to be at the inlaw's for my sisterinlaw's birthday dinner. I already got sisterinlaw her present (read about waxing escapade on my previous post, possibly the post before that), but I'm making her a CD as well. I have this thing about making CDs. Because I'm a big music dork.

Ok, back at the laundry pile, which I totally neglected last night in favor of a long hot bubble bath and some logic puzzles. Meh, we can't all be perfect right?

I am sleepy but also in pain.

C's first night of Brownies was tonight - she had a really good time and I'm glad I signed her up for a second year. K was a little put out but then enjoyed his time just him and I. We went and visited my parents for a bit, which they also loved. Midweek visits are generally unheard-of come school time, so it was a pleasant surprise for them.

I stayed up late last night watching the brit comedy Absolutely Fabulous, borrowed from my sisterinlaw. I loved French & Saunders, and this was a spoof show put together by Jennifer Saunders. She did not fail me in the hilarity department. SO tried to watch some with me but he just didn't get it. He said "it must take a special kind of humor to appreciate this crap". What was amusing was he said this a few seconds after laughing at one of the scenes.

He ordered new parts for his dead machine, so I am preparing myself for a quick exodus of Mr. Helpful and the re-entry of OK Computer. I am hoping I am wrong, but I'm not holding my breath either.

I have 2 votes in favor of my setting this blog on "log in to read" posting. I am still leery of it - I might set up one of my other blogs as login only to test functionality and purpose.

Time to go do that laundry thing. Any minute now. Yes. Erm. Yes. Right away. Like, this instant. Truly.

I try but you see, it's hard to explain
I say the right things, but act the wrong way
I like it right here, but I cannot stay
I watch the TV; forget what I'm told
Well, I am too young, and they are too old
The joke is on you, this place is a zoo
"You're right it's true"

So I missed work today - migraine from hell and also overall stress from this whole fine nonsense. The prosecutor I talked to on the phone today from the courthouse told me to plea my case though - it's a long story but if the Crown is telling me I have half a chance, then hell. I'm going for it.

Took my sisterinlaw to the spa to get her legs done - it's her birthday coming up so I decided to treat her. She was looking forward to it with a little trepidation, but let me tell you: she's already hooked. She asked me sixty million questions on the pros and cons of the brazilian, which is not your typical dinner table talk, but was amusing nonetheless. I guess that can tell you how close we are. Since we both grew up with no sister in our lives, just brothers, it was easy to bond once I got involved with SO. She is considerably younger than I am but not so much that we can't get along.

C's first night of Brownies is tomorrow. Memo to self: fill out form.

So sleepy. Battling migraines all day will do that to you.

The fair is coming up this weekend. The kids are ecstatic about this fact. They are still young enough that everything holds interest for them at the fair, and old enough to enjoy most of it, and young enough that they still want their parents around to enjoy it with them. The kids make the fair fun. Otherwise I just see it with a disinterested stare. It's the same smelly food, cheap and tacky prizes, volunteers that are probably doing community service for their parole, rides that need to be fixed every few hours, animals pent up in little cages. I do have to say this though - I love a fair lit up at night. It's breathtaking, really.

C brought home actual homework today. It was math, patterns in numbers or somesuch. She finished it in five minutes, but it was homework all the same.

K brought home some things they had been working on in school. His printing is miles ahead of what C's was at this stage - it's amazing really. K is and always has been the type that you might think is slow, but really he is just absorbing it all and then BANG will show his learning off all at once. It used to concern me. I mean he didn't really start talking until he was two - we had his hearing tested and everything. He could hear perfectly fine. He was just absorbing. As soon as he was around 18 months he wasn't just saying the odd word; he was communicating concepts and stringing along sentences easy as you please.

Yeah. I just stared at the screen blankly for over a minute. Probably a good hint that I should hit "publish" and call it a night.

So I've been listening to Songs: Ohia on repeat lately. It is bluesy-slowsy-drowsy-zow.

I'm kind of sad because I didn't realize they were playing at Lee's Palace in TO this week- had I known earlier I would have made a point of finding a way to go.

Friday is here - how did that happen? The time is telling me it's 12:15 am - guess what I just finished doing? That's right, the employee review. I could have finished it earlier but I had a procrastination attack and cleaned my upstairs bathroom instead. Oh well. At least my procrastination was productive, right? Right???

you can't get here fast enough
i will swim to you

One of my favorite Songs: Ohia songs is Captain Badass. It makes me think of summer in the south for some reason. Hard to explain on typeface. Just... hmm. Nope, can't explain it. If you want the mp3 and have an email that can handle it, let me know, otherwise I could burn it if you're local to me.

Came home to supper cooked again. Wow. I don't know what I did but I have to keep doing it. It's times like these that help me to focus on the important fact that I am very fortunate in having SO for my chosen lifemate.


Ok I'm feeling the sleepies coming on now. Hooray for sleepiness! Take that, insomnia!

I have that Sneakerpimps tune stuck in my noggin. HELP!

Signed C up for Brownies tonight. K is wanting to join Beavers now, but I'm still waffling on it. I mean last year's seemed to be a disaster, and I'm not sure if it's even available anywhere in town at the moment. Plus he's six, and a boy, so I don't know if the dedication/attention span is there.

K's been pretty moody lately - crying at the drop of a hat. I think he's still adjusting to going to school everyday; he's been coming home just exhausted. He says he likes it but he is also very tired. He says it's also tough sometimes because he wants to play with T but sometimes he just doesn't get what T wants to play (this comes from T being incredibly, incredibly smart. This kid is gifted with a capital G, while K - well, K is special in other ways. As a result, sometimes K doesn't know exactly what it is T wants to play - I told K to just ask T to stop, wait, and explain to him).

I explained that he just needs to remember that friends won't always like all the same things, and that maybe he could suggest they take turns picking what to do. He also said that T disappears at recess sometimes or whatever and K can't find him. I said it's a big yard - and they don't have to play together every single time. But if he especially wants to play with T, all he has to do is just tell him so. K says it's hard because T sits in the middle of class and he sits at the front, and he doesn't want to get yelled at for trying to talk to T, because this teacher will totally yell if he tries. I gave K the option of maybe telling T when they are lined up at the beginning of the day - surely he can do it then? We'll see.

I think part of it is that K isn't used to actually having an option of someone he actually likes to play with at recess - last year was pretty tough on him, and he got pretty used to just sort of ambling and hoping someone would eventually let him play. Usually he ended up playing with C if she didn't have her "I'm older and don't want to be seen playing with my brother" attitude on.

I figure it'll all work out in the wash - it usually does with boys, and K & T are like peas and carrots for the most part.

As for C? She seems to be adjusting very well with her new class. She absolutely adores her new teacher, and she says recess has been pretty decent as well. She says she isn't always playing with the same people, but that her recess pals are pretty consistent, and that she is just so happy to be in a straight class with her friends. She is pretty bored with the school work, but her teacher has already said if C wants extra work to just let her know.

Guh. Work employee review time. I haven't even started the self-assessment, which is due by Friday, thankyouverymuch. I don't mind the whole whoring myself for that 1% raise jazz, but I just don't have the energy to fill out six pages of it. Meh. I hear my good friend Procrastination calling. Tomorrow night it is, then!

Blogger beta so far has been pretty decent - no loading issues, a little more user-friendly as far as interface goes, especially if you are new to the whole html razamajazz. Which I'm not, but it's nice to have an option if I'm feeling lazy.

Also I can access it from my google mail - niiiiice. It also allows for permissions - meaning I could set it up so that only certain people could see my posts, rather than the general public. I am toying with the idea - however, it adds an extra step for people to have to "log in" to my blog. Thoughts?

So I caved and switched to beta.blogger.com as regular blogger has been giving me more grief than it's worth. The good side is, I can post quickly now. The bad part is, I now have a dumb blogger bar at the top of my site, which I'd never had before. Boooo, blogger! Doesn't having a dedicated account with you for the past 5+ years mean anything???

C is on the pc beside me designing families for TheSims 2. Literally she could spend hours just making little people. She also enjoys the whole architectural design interfacing. Eventually she gets around to actually interacting with families - but that could be months ahead, as I tend to limit their onscreen time.

Got a text from SO today indicating that the cat had left us a little present - a huge dead mouse in the middle of our back yard. Looks like she doesn't need claws after all. I loves my kitty.

SO made supper tonight - he barbecued sole in a lemon-pepper marinade. It was very tasty. It was also odd as SO is not a big lover of fish - I mean, before we met the extent of his eating anything that came from water was limited to cans of tuna mixed with mayo to make sandwiches. After about a year or so in, he graduated to shrimp - but only the kind that comes in a ring. Now he is all "let's have this tonight". I'm not complaining - it's just a little strange to me, as for the past decade I've been begging him to eat the crap.

Just about time to go get C signed up for Brownies - HOPEFULLY. Space is limited; I have my fingers crossed and not much else.