Was in Vancouver today dropping Carly off at her other, less important friend's place, and on my way out I dropped by our Kits house. It's been empty for December, although it looks likely we'll have a renter for January.

We had the floors refinished last week, and after I stopped wanting to make sweet, sweet love to them because of how freaking beautiful they look now, I sat in the middle of the empty living room with Corbin and just... stopped.

It feels like I've been going full speed for quite a while now. Christmas was lovely, but busy, with a one year old to wrangle in a non-baby proofed house. Carly's visit has rocked and we've spent many an hour watching Buffy or SATC, but it's not "quiet time", nor would I want it to be. The weeks leading up to Christmas were busy and full, with barely a moment to call my own.

And when I took that time in Kits today, and felt that grounding that I always feel there, it was nice. More than nice, I didn't feel that mixed emotion I usually feel there, the happiness at being there tinged with the sadness that I don't get to stay. I just enjoyed the moment, and let the house wrap itself around me.

I lingered longer than I needed to and puttered a little. Threw old newspapers into recycling, replaced the registers which had been pulled out for the floor refinishing, threw out an old coffee cup. When I locked the door, I didn't feel like I was being locked out, for once... just that I'd be back again.

I think today I felt certain for the first time that I will get to live there again one day. I don't know when or how, but for once it seems like an inevitability, rather than a slim chance.

Gakked from medie is a meme:

Ask me about my unpopular fandom opinion, and I shall spew forth some vitriol for you. Or, you know, express an opinion. Depends how I'm feeling, really.

(Feel free to be specific.)

Izzy signed "more" to me yesterday! Several times!!

So damn cool.

I don't quite understand why Urgent Care is so vilified by the Ontario Health System. I was in and out in 1 hour, diagnosed with a flu that's aggravating my asthma badly and a script for prednisone to help calm it down.

If I had gone to ER, it would have been 8 hours of waiting to catch hell for bogging down the emergency with a silly little bug. there probably would have been no prednisone, just a lecture.

I am not enjoying the "improved" system. I am not seeing many improvements, to be honest. I'm just hearing more bitching from the medical staff about the other aspects of health care, and why have I been such an idiot to get sick?

No, really. The after hours doctor's clinic has no information on anything for today, and can only send me to ER. The urgent care clinic doesn't open til 9, and judging from the number of people who were there at 8 when they're supposed to open (except for the little tiny sign on the door saying it wasn't, we'd never have known), it will be a madhouse. And I would really rather not spend 8 hours in the local ER ward.

The point of being on their after hours list thingy is that I don't have to juggle like this. Of course, it would help if the doctors actually left information on what to do after December 26. The nurse has NO information on which doctors might even be a possibility for today, if any.

Hopefully you see me again today. If not... send chocolate to the Cambridge ER. I'll probably need it.

The allergies I thought I'd been suffering since Christmas day are obviously not allergies. I can say this with some conviction since I'm pretty sure that as of this morning I have a lung infection. The horrid wheezy sounding breathing, coughing up yellow crap, and general feeling of trying to breathe molten lava instead of air is giving it away.

Sami's left eye is swollen and reddish looking... probably scraped while she was at the spa. Apparently she'd made friends with a Newfie named Bruno, and I'm going to take a guess that they weren't daintily playing tea party during social time.

The upshot is that shopping with a friend is cancelled, and I am instead going to be spending today at Urgent Care and the vet. Woo-bloody-hoo.

2009, please to be just stopping now, k? And 2010, please be dull, boring, uninteresting, and just overall uneventful. I would be rather pleased if you could underachieve as much as possible.

But rest assured it's for a good cause.

There has been xmas madness. And much wine drinking and Buffy and SATC with Ms. Milne. And baby wrangling. Also this annoying head cold.

Am somewhat exhausted, but happy.

More updates later, not to mention photos. One is tentatively titled, "Grumpy Christmas Elf."

G'night.

Booking the hotel here in Cobourg was fun. Expedia changed the rate about 5 times before I could finally convince them to take my credit card info and let me have the room. The price kept going up, naturally, but was still less expensive than the competition, so we came anyhow.

On check in, the front desk dropped the rate to their Christmas rate, which basically saved us about $40 off the total of our stay. :)

Just got our bill slipped under the door. We were charged $40 less per night than we were quoted on check in. We basically got a night free, and then some.

If I ever book here again, to heck with Expedia. The hotel's ideas on charging are way better!

I promised to return and write more long form, but this proves to be difficult with so many distractions. Especially during the HOLYday season.

I am constantly and continually floored by the way "we" have turned our time for holy reverence into consumerist propaganda and how making sure you buy presents for everyone has taken over doing something "nice" for someone. As long as you buy shit, you don't need to give people any of your time! Time you have now freed up to watch more consumerist sponsored television, where we will fill your imagination with more shit to buy.

What happened to poor shepherds and exalting the meek and humble? What happened to wassailing and family gathering by the fire. What happened to any sense of peace during this season?

That said, I just bought myself a car, a GPS, and am splurging on electronics a-plenty for my family. Mostly because I want to make them happy, and I am the only person they think "knows everything about computers". So it's my job to bring them all into the 21st century.

Hope the season gives some peace to all of you out there in lj land. Mine will be hectic with 2 family gatherings and an in-laws move, all capped off with a tremendous new years eve celebration to end all celebrations!

Le sigh.

Thank you everyone so much for the birthday wishes. You all make me happy, and I appreciate it tons. :D

*hugs to everybody*

It is ironic in some regards that while we have had one winter storm, so far more snow has been seen by the Netherlands and Maryland than in Southern Ontario.

Really, that says more about global weirding than a gaggle of politicians in Copenhagen ever could.

Yogurt scrubs, as administered by Izzy.



Shall we get a close-up?



I swear, Casey looks YEARS younger.

The Muppets theme in Hebrew, for some reason.


More OyTunes at Regretsy, if you're interested.

EDIT: In fact, the maintainer is a connoisseur of odd music. I know there is at least one of you on my flist who enjoys covers - go, now! to view and sample her mp3 collection!

Hell, he's more than welcome to check my email from the last month, year, or whatever. I haven't sent or received anything I feel the need to hide from him. In fact, if you DO have "secret" correspondence, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate your behavior.


The exception, of course, would be e-receipts, which could possibly ruin a Christmas or birthday surprise. ;)

On the one hand, this insomnia thing totally bites. It's 4:45am, both my babies are sleeping, both will likely wake up sometime between 6am and 7am, and I'm AWAKE. And that sucks.

On the other hand, this is probably due to the three (or was it four?) martinis I drank tonight, and I can't possibly bring myself to regret that.

Gonna try for that sleep thing yet again.