MURDER OUT MY WINDOW (NOT REALLY BUT....)

I was sitting in my chair here, minding my own business, when a cacophony of bird noise erupted in the tree right beside my open window.  A giant magpie had landed on the tree and two wee yellow finches (Cookie you were right) went crazy!  That black and white bastard was after their babies!  The finches nest right there in that tree.  It was awful!!! 

 My window is too high up for me to go outside and jump and yell at ground level to have any effect.  So I took the screen off my window, grabbed all the shoes nearby on the floor and threw them out the window at the magpie.  It took four shoes!!!  I waited a while and he came back.  This time I threw one of my Timberland boots at him.  He left.  Now I have to go find all my shoes.

I have purchased a sweet synthesizer!!!  Monte just bought one and when I played it I fell in love with the sound.  I used to have one before the fire and I loved it.  Its going to be a couple of weeks before it arrives and I can't wait!!  I had planned on putting a beautiful mirrored console table in the one spot left in the living room.  But not anymore. A messy synth on a stand, complete with bench and cords and speakers is going there.  Now when people come to visit they will have to listen to my latest creations!!  Hahaha!!  Maybe if I feed them too they won't mind so much.

My jeep is on its way finally!  It has been shipped.  The guy said it can get hung up at Anisis Island, waiting for a truck to bring it up.  Probably it will be a month before it gets here.  Thats okay, as long as I know its on its way!

I have put a call in to a piano tuner.  I am going to get the piano tuned for the first time since I moved from the big house!  It sure needs it.  When I googled piano tuners in Kamloops, the two main names that came up were Ferrar and Lance Regan.  I have used both these guys, back in the early 70's! Some things never change.  I have put a call in to Lance Regan...I remember he played for quite a while when he was finished, and it was fantastic.  I had my own private little concert!  Ferrar was good but I didn't like his 'F's'.  They sounded off.  He probably has much better equipment now.

I had a bit of a panicky moment...you know the kind when after you have moved and you have been through everything then you remember something you haven't seen?  Well this morning it suddenly dawned on me I hadn't seen my antique, claw footed piano bench.  Its worth a bundle and I am going to need to get the leg fixed and start using it.  So I went out to the garage, but there isn't really anything out there, including my bench.  It wasn't anywhere that I could see downstairs.  Then I remembered that there is a tiny foyer outside Monte's area and bingo! there it was with boxes stacked on it.  I had Monte bring it up and I am now going to try to find a furniture doctor and get it fixed.  Its so pretty!  One leg has come out of its socket and I know through horrible experience with Bill that you need to leave it to the experts!

Whilst I was letting Molly out this morning, I was leaning on the front door jamb, and I could hear water trickling and rocks sliding.  I walked over to look at my neighbour's yard which, until yesterday, had trenches dug all through it.  I don't know why but they had put everything back, packed it down and replaced all the gravel and plants etc.  You would never have known it had been totally dug up.  But...water, a lot of water, was burbling up in one spot near the house and the gravel was beginning to sink and the water was running into their hole they had dug to allow a basement window to be added.

Now this was about six in the morning.  But it looked bad enough I felt I could wake the neighbour.  So I went over and rang their bell a few times.  Finally a sleepy pyjama clad person came to the door, somewhat annoyed.  I think she is a shift worker and had gone to bed not long before.  I quickly told her what was happening and that woke her up!  A city guy arrived not long after with a water key and shut the water off, but now its shut off here too.  When I phoned the city to let them know they were somewhat perturbed.  There is something screwy with all the water around here. Work is constantly being done in the neighbourhood.  I want my shower but it isn't on yet, and its noon.

My brother is coming up tomorrow.  He phoned last night and was mentioning that Antonia is in the Kootenays and he didn't have plans for this long week end.  So I suggested he come up and spend it with us!  April and Myles are coming up Sat. evening after April gets off work.  And we are all going to the Pow Wow this weekend.  yay!!!!!

Well gotta bounce.  Banking, costcoing, fatlady storing....things to get to!  TTYL

GODDAMMITTTT!!!!

There are some things Bill used to do or be like etc...that I am beginning to truly understand.  I wish he was here so I could tell him that 'I get it now'.

Garbage day:  he used to start the weekly battle the night before garbage day.  He would wing things around, curse and swear, yell at us for putting the wrong thing in the wrong place, he would go through April's personal garbage etc...He constantly turned garbage day into a nasty competitive game of "Beat the Garbage Man"

As I mentioned before, I came across the garbage/recycling handout from the city.  There are four hundred rules on that thing, from where to place the wheels at the curb to 'make sure there is six feet between the garbage container and the recycling container'.  AND....from April to November do not put your container out before 4:00 am, due to bears.  Please make sure your container is more than half full, do not cram the garbage down, make sure the lid shuts completely and put the garbage out by 7:00 am.

So if you put your garbage out anytime before or after 4-7 am, you can be horribly fined.  And keep that stinky shit in your closed garage. (so what do people do if they don't have a garage?)

This morning I set my alarm for 6:45 am.  I am always awake way way before that but I forget to take it out.  I was sitting here reading just before the alarm was due to go off and I hear the garbage truck.  I bolted out of my chair, dashed out there to discover he had already gone by!!!  He was down the street finishing off my road!!  I saw another lady down there from my side of the street haul her container over in front of the truck and got him to empty it.  So now I have to have that stinky, and its a bad one this week, crap sitting around my place for a whole nother week!  I think I am going to call the garbage people, give them my address, tell them I am leaving my garbage can down by the curb this week, not in my garage, tell them why and suggest they had BETTER NOT GIVE ME A TICKET.  And from now on the garbage goes out the night before.

Monday afternoon, there was a ring at my door and upon answering I discovered Peter!!!  I was so happy to see him, he is truly one of the nicest guys you could ever know.  Molly went crazy when she saw him.  Clearly she has been starving for some lovin' and attention.  As usual we launched into such interesting conversation.  I fear I talk way too much with Peter..he makes it so easy!

Monte and Levi arrived home around six thirty loaded down with Chinese food.  So we sat around and ate yummy food and talked even more. And then Peter did the dishes!  I made sure Monte took note.  Then they took off to the river for a swim.  In the end though I don't think they actually got into the water...too cold.

I have put myself on a rotating schedule.  I read for an hour, then work for an hour, then read, then work.  If I don't do that, absolutely nothing gets done.  I am slowly but surely purging my storage room.  Now that Monte is working all the time its hard to get rid of the garbage bags of stuff.  First, the night before garbage day, I fill the container to the top with purged stuff, making sure its more than half full, the bastards.  Then I start filling garbage bags.  

But due to two recent moves, and sending off acres of stuff to the dump or where ever, I am down to the nitty gritty difficult things to get rid of.  But you know I don't want the kids to have to clean out all this stuff should I kick off.  And I definitely don't plan to move again, or if I do it will be to a much smaller abode, so, stuff gotta go.

  One whole shelf down there, a big big shelf is Native art.  I hung on to a lot, most of it awesome stuff, because of Bill.  But now its next on my list of gotta go.  That will free up quite the space.  There just always seems to be more boxes of things.  I think they propagate when I am not looking.  At least Monte has his stuff under control.

Well its almost time to start the schedule clock.  9:00 am starts the first work hour!  I have some reading to do before then.  Have a great day Peeps!!  TTYL

AND FUN WAS HAD BY ALL

I have just had such a lovely few days!  Busy busy though.

On Friday Kathy came by with my new chair!  She has a van and I asked if she would mind picking it up for me, saves me ninety dollars.  The chair looks fantastic in there!  But now I am going to have to phone the furniture store and tell them they need to take responsibility for fixing my other one.  They will have to send someone over to fix it.

Cookie arrived mid afternoon and it was so exciting to show her my new house.  She had not seen it yet and she loved it...especially the view.  The view from here is pretty spectacular and its fun to weather watch.  The weather here in Kamloops changes so dramatically from minute to minute.  We went to Original Joe's (another first for her) for dinner and sat up late talking.

Monte went around and dropped his resume off at a bunch of places and got a job immediately at Panago, doing basically everything...kitchen, prep, driving etc...He was pretty stoked!  He started there with training on Sat. and now he is getting phone calls from everywhere that he put in a resume...he definitely would have ended up with a job.  This will be so good for him...a great way to start back into the work force.

Once in a while Cookie's cousins all get together for an evening of visiting, eating and having a hell of a lot of fun.  Saturday night was the latest one.  And I was lucky enough to  go along and join in.  God! did we have a good time.  It was held in the back yard, a very beautiful back yard, of one of her cousins.  Everybody brought an appetizer and the food was spectacular.  I had a chance to visit with so many I hadn't seen in so long.  And as the night wore on, and the stack of empty bottles piled up, the fun got crazier and louder!  So much fun!

Yesterday Cookie left for home around noonish.  Last night Kathy and a friend, Sue, and I went to an event called Chefs to Farm, or Farm to Chef, can't remember.  It was held way out past Westsyde at a winery out there.  Many little tents were set up.  Every other one was food (small bites) and wine or beer from various breweries and wineries.  There were 300 people there so it wasn't too crowded and it was so beautiful.

We walked around and ate and drank.  I stuck to iced coffee mostly, just not much of a drinker.  The little food bites were delicious and the people were fun and Kathy knew a lot of them, so I met tons of people and generally had a hoot.

I had to drive home due to two ladies doing a little imbibing!  And on the way to Sue's out in Valleyview we drove towards the most vivid beautiful rainbow.  And on the way back up the hill towards home we drove into a gorgeous sunset.  Best way ever to end a great day.

Now its ridiculously early, the birds are whooping it up just outside my open window, Molly is snoring in the oddest disturbing way and my feet are cold...unheard of in summer in Kamloops.  It has been so cold.  Today I take possession of the dresser that was mailed to me...or rather I ordered.  It comes this afternoon.  So this morning I am going to figure out where it is going and get a path cleared.  And it seems my kitchen is in need of regulating...again.  Never ends!  TTYL

GLAD TO SEE THESE AROUND

THE SUNSET ON THE WAY HOME

ONE CHEF WAS PUTTING OUT ROASTED CARROTS ON A STICK AND YOU COULD PICK DIFFERENT SAUCES TO PUT ON THEM...THIS ONE HAD CHIMICHURRI SAUCE..SO GOOD

SAME CHEF MADE THESE LITTLE CHEESECAKE BITES

STRAWBERRY TOMATO FILLED WITH SCALLOP CEVICHE

I THINK THIS WAS SALMON, TOMATO, KALE AND GARLIC SCAPES

PRETTY AWESOME DAY YESTERDAY

The day started well and ended well!  I woke up so danged early though.  I can't seem to get past five in the morning.  And if I do manage to get back to sleep I have stupid unreasonable dreams.  Mind you, lately, I have been dreaming about Bill.  And I love them, even if I am fighting with him or impatient! Mostly though we are travelling, kinda going through his bucket list a third time.  When I wake up, it always makes me smile.

Another weird thing, lately, when I wake up slowly, you know when you kind of open your eyes briefly then shut them and repeat until you are awake?  Well, lately, when I open my eyes, everything is a shocking lime green.  So much so I keep my eyes open!  In about three to five seconds it fades to normal.  So I shut my eyes and do it again and....bright lime green.  It is the strangest thing!  Its like when you have been sitting in one of those green outhouses for a while and when you come out the world is pink for a wee while.

So...yesterday.  I got up and mobile by 8:30.  I was so close to having the house pretty much clean.  I actually don't have much stuff upstairs here.  Every time I am tempted to go to Winners or something, I just think about how empty my house is and I don't go.  Just now in my bathroom, it came into my conscious brain that I have a medicine cabinet on the wall.  I honestly had not noticed it or thought about it before now!   I open it and of course it is totally empty.  Thats what I like.  Bare empty space.  Less policing necessary!

I got busy and did laundry, dishes, kitchen floor, purple room junk, I got Monte to do garbage/recycling, packing stuff downstairs etc...It's still not pristinely clean but sure better than it was.  Around 11 Kathy phoned.  She was with Ollie and her mother and they wanted to see the house before we had lunch at Cora's. So they came up and had the tour and then we were off to lunch.

Cora's, if you have never been, has an amazing menu and the food is delicious.  But....if you are with someone that has trouble making up their mind what to have, with a normal menu, best not take them to Cora's.  All of us fast deciders still took fifteen minutes to choose.  Their menu is positively daunting.  Pages and pages of the most delicious stuff you ever saw, complete with pictures.  In fact the five of us couldn't help but laugh and laugh as we ploughed threw it.  It took forever to choose!!  And the amount of food they give you is crazy!!!  No way could I eat a whole order!  Kathy and I ended up splitting lox and cream cheese bagel with a ton of fruit and a side of potatoes.  Mmmmm....so good.  And lots of laughter, stories and fun.

It was so nice to come home to a cleanish house with not too many chores to do.  I read...and read....and read.  Monte had gone swimming with Peter and Levi and upon arriving home, with Levi they went downstairs and set up his band room.  You have no idea how loud drums are until you are in the same room with them.  Scares the hell out of Molly, and thats when she is upstairs!

I melted dahl and subjit, heated up naan and fed the boys supper.  Levi ate the meal whilst drinking grapefruit beer...yech!!  Glad someone is drinking it!  Imma sticking with my Corona thanks!

And I ended the day perfectly with an episode of Master Chef, even though I can't stand that broad judge, and then read and read until I fell asleep.  I have six books on the go so there is one for every possible mood I may be in.  I LOVE it!!!  TTYL

COMPLICATIONS

I woke up early this morning to take out the garbage.  You have to take it out between 4 am and 7 am.  SHOVEL LIST.

Anyway, when I got back to my chair I hopped onto facebook.  I had some catching up to do.  I started to notice just how many memes there are..cute or meaningful or mean or philosophical, all of them meaning something to the poster.  I try to treat them all with respect, whether I agree with them or not, because they are reflecting the poster's frame of mind at that moment.

This morning there was a meme posted by Kate, one of Bill's relatives.  It was a post about grief.  It was a nice little idea about grief never ending, just changing.  The little ditty was nicely wrapped up with the idea that grief is the price of love.

Which is true I suppose.  Maybe it never ends, just changes in intensity.  And I suppose you can call grief a 'price' for feeling love for someone.  But I think we complicate a very simple thing as we humans so often do.  Grief is just missing someone...thats all.  And of course as time passes and you get used to that person not being there anymore, grief becomes manageable.  

Bill died nine months ago.  As time has passed I have become more practised at missing him.  Certain situations, certain 'things' make me miss him, in that moment, with more intensity.  But as time passes those moments become further apart and less emptying.

And this is the time when a lot of people complicate this natural progression to becoming 'okay' with losing a loved one.  We complicate the process by hanging onto those moments of missing them...for fear of forgetting.  

So as that little meme said....'grief never ends'...if grief is the missing your loved one never completely going away...I am very okay with that.

On a related but different topic, I have noticed through the years as I have met people that have lost loved ones, they don't talk about them or mention their names.  Obviously not ALL people do that, but so many do.  I love to talk about Bill.  I still complain about him, I still mention the things he loved, I still say his name all the time, I still tell the kids "your dad would have loved that', I still make fun of him, I sure don't eulogize the man! and I still love him.  TTYL

I WONDER WHERE DISAPPEARED POSTS GO

I wrote a whole dang post last nite and it disappeared.  I wonder where they go.  And if anyone out there reading this is a poster of some sort, you know there is no going back.  I learned a long time ago that there is just no point in even trying to re write it, just shut the lappy lid and move on.

I didn't say very much though.  I have literally spent since Fri reading.  I have read five books now.  I learned all about forensic accounting...way more interesting than that actually sounds.  I learned about prisons at the turn of the century, so essential knowledge.  And I learned about Russian atrocities and  an escapee, a successful one.  And I read two post apocalyptic books..my all time fave reading.  My candy reading.

What I didn't do was pretty horrific:  all my weeks and weeks laundry, all the garbage still in the kitchen, my bathroom, finish Maui unpacking (seriously), and clean purple room.  But I am not even one bit worried.  Know why?  Cookie is coming on Friday.  Ask any of my kids...they'll tell you.  When Cookie is coming, one way or the other, one day or another, the house gets clean.  By Fri. nite it will be spotless and ready!

I did make one forage out into the metropolis.  Well, actually I didn't actually go down into the city, I stayed up on the hill.  Its funny, every place I live I create a mental boundary and it takes dynamite to blast me past it.  In North Van it was the bridge.  In Langford it was the freeway.  Here in Kamloops its the hill.  Thats why I ended up going to an iffy questionable dog groomer...she was up here...not down the hill.

Anywhooo, I went to Canadian Tire and bought shelves for my closet.  I have no dressers or such, the reason my Maui stuff is not unpacked.  I do have a walk in closet with a few shelves and a hanging pole, but that just isn't going to cut it.  I have a purple dresser coming in the mail.  Its due to arrive at the end of this week.  That will help.  But I need to build those shelves and get my clothes put away.

I shall post some pics of the colour scheme I have going on.  Its been kind of fun slowly putting stuff together.  Well I am off to bed.  I truly must get some things done tomorrow.  One of them being going out to Jeep and rattling their cage.  I want my jeep.  TTYL

I ALREADY POSTED THIS PIC BUT I PUT IT HERE TO SHOW HOW THE CHAIR I BOUGHT TO PUT IN THE LIVING ROOM IS GOING TO LOOK STELLAR!!!

THATS IT!  I LOVE IT!!  ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS KIND OF FUNNY AT THIS ANGLE

THIS IS THE RUG THAT IS ALSO COMING IN THE MAIL.  I LOVE IT AND IT WILL BE A LOVELY CONTRAST TO THE BLACK.  IF NOT THEN IT WILL LOOK SPLENDIFEROUS IN MY PURPLE ROOM

THIS IS THE DINETTE I BOUGHT INSTEAD OF ANOTHER GLIDER

A CLOSE UP OF THE MATERIAL ON MY CHAIR

MY PURPLE AND GOLD DRESSER THATS COMING IN THE MAIL

A KID HIT THE FLOOR

Sometimes you should speak up and sometimes you should shut up.  I should have spoken up.

I was in Nature Fare...a lovely health type grocery store the other day.  As I was poking around in the produce area I noticed a little one, about 14 months old, standing, walking around in a shopping cart.  Those carts tip over sooo easily and not putting your kid in the cart like that, unrestrained, sort of falls in that category of things we ALL know...don't leave kids and dogs in hot cars, breast over bottle, don't text and drive, don't leave your kids walking around the main part of the shopping carts.

I almost said something to the mother and grandmother.  They weren't even watching her!!  I moved away and chose not to say anything.  And yup...you guessed it...over went the shopping cart and I seriously actually heard the kid's head hit the floor!  Of course mom dropped to the ground and gathered up the now screaming hysterical baby, grandma righted the cart.  A little group of us women gathered. And I couldn't keep my mouth shut.  I shook my head and basically said that leaving a kid  in a shopping cart like that is tantamount to child abuse.

The grandma reacted very negatively to me I must say.  She shouted something like.. stay out of it and this wasn't the time blah blah blah.  I responded with something like ...well jeez we all know this...what the hell???  Fortunately for me the ladies around me all nodded and agreed.  I left.  Next time I will speak up!!

Speaking of shopping carts...today I was in Costco and I heard a father I was passing by ask a question of some sort of his older kid sitting in a shopping cart.  Still feeling kind of upset about the other incident I took a closer look, just in case intervention was needed, when the kid answered.  And I swear to God, that kid's voice was deeper and more manly than your average logger.  What???  The kid wasn't very big, a boy, who appeared to by around eight yrs old.  It was just downright creeepy.  I must confess I hung around them for a bit just to hear that kid talk!  It was so so odd!  And he had the bushiest eyebrows!  Its like his pituitary gland went crazy five years too early.  Soooo creeepy!!!

Monte is in Vancouver until tomorrow.  He went down on Thursday.  I have had a lovely few days to myself here!  I did go down to Kathys on Thursday, they are out of town right now, but Jo was there with Ainsley.  Had a great visit.  And Anne came over on Wed. and we visited all day, just like old times!  She and I went out for Greek food Fri. night.  We sat in there for three hours and talked.  I remember one time years ago she came to Bamfield, while we were still living in the trailer, and she and I talked for 17 hours...SEVENTEEN!!!!!  We never run out of things to talk about!

Now its bedtime...tired and sleepy.  TTYL

HOLY JEEZ!!! SAVE ME FROM THAT WASHER

  As we passed through the laundry room several times today, it became evident that something had died and rotted in there.  It got so bad even Monte noticed.  I finally stopped to investigate.

  Does anyone out there have one of those new fangled, shiny steel, front loading washer/driers?  Well the washer stinks...bad, like rotting flesh.  I mean there was nothing in there, the door was shut and it was warm and wet in there...but to stink like that?  Okay, time to put a wash (without clothes) cycle on and see if that makes a difference.  So....

And  what the hell is up with those washers?  Why can't they just freaking fill with water then rotate around and around and wash the damned clothes!!!!!!!!!!

No!!  It seems not!!!  First it spins to the right one half turn.  Then to the left one half turn.  Then to the right.  Pause.  To the left.  Pause. To the right.  Pause. Pause. Pause.....Squirt...about a cup of water enters the machine, and I can see all this, in utter amazement, through the glass door.  To the right, pause, to the left, pause...several more times.  Squirt...a couple of more cups of water.  WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT??????  I had to walk away.  I was getting those familiar knots in my gut.  Those knots indicate that I want to pick up whatever it is and pitch the freaking thing out the back door.  And I closed the laundry room door so I can't hear it doing that. 

 Oh My God...why can't they just quit when they have something that works just fine.  We will see.  This time tomorrow night there had better be no smell and I am NOT leaving the washer door open to dry it out...there is no room to do that.

And today all my plans to drive the neighbour crazy with Molly barking fell through.  I met her.  I liked her.  Damn!!!

April and Myles discovered a wasps' nest behind the clap boards on that neighbour's house.  They need to know.  So I went over there and knocked on the door.  I was a little distracted by a humungous inflated, like higher than their house huge, kids bouncy thingamajig.  The engine was roaring and blowing air into the contraption.

The kid and its mother answered the door and were extremely friendly.  The kid talked.  And talked.  And talked.  I heard all about how he put that contraption together and changed the blown hoses blah blah blah.  Clearly an indulged only child.

I finally talked louder than him, and his contraption's engine, and informed her of the nest. They have a mega birthday party happening this week end and she freaked out.  Doesn't want kids getting stung, knows that you have to spray WD-40 into the nest, needs a ladder, husband is gone for two weeks at work and ends this whole diatribe with "I NEED A MAN!!!'  Seriously!

Anyway, we got to talking and she is actually really friendly and nice, if a little helpless.  So I shan't be making Molly bark in the bedroom.  I did notice a giant water gun like a canon, that can be aimed somewhat, pointing right at our house.  I better shut those windows its aimed right at!

I did have a lovely little interlude at lunch.  I met Dana at a place near her work and we had a wonderful visit.  I got caught up with all her family news.  And there are some big changes in their lives right now, exciting but hard.  It was good to hear about the kids and their doings.  Both kids are boys, one in uni and one in grade twelve.  Both really smart and super bikers (cycle) and skiers. Next time we meet she is going to bring her mom...which is great, I really like Mary Ellen and look forward to visiting with her.

Anywhoo...I am going to head into the kitchen right now and make subjit.  Potato, carrot and cauliflower.  Our fave.  I shall plug my ears as I pass the laundry room door.   TTYL

THE CHAIR SAGA CONTINUES

Well, I did succeed, sort of.  I went over there to the store and took my receipts in, ready to do battle.  I found the guy I bought them from, a really good salesman and a likeable guy.  He tried really hard to convince me I had to go through with the sale, even though it was their bad that the chair didn't arrive.  Apparently they ran out of the material I had chosen after the first one was made and had to wait for it.  They have just started the second chair and on the contract I originally signed it said I HAD to buy it once it was started or pay a 25% restocking fee.  250 bucks.  I don't think so.

So I got a little forceful and said that it was their fault and I wasn't prepared to wait another two months blah blah blah.  Plus I found a kitchen dinette set for exactly, to the penny, the same price and said I wanted that, not another chair.  Long story short I got my way...no chair but a dinette set that I have to wait two months for.   Gahhhhh!!!!

Meanwhile, the chair that is here is not quite right.  It dumps you forward and tips over backwards really easily.  When you look at it it doesn't sit right, it tilts too far forward.  So after much looking (by Myles, a perfectionist thank goodness) and checking google images etc...Myles finally found that the whole top (seat up) was put on the base backwards.  It needs to be removed and turned around and reattached.  Geez!!!!  I will have to take it back and have them fix it.  I am NOT looking forward to that I must say.

I took Molly in today for a trim and clean up.  I almost didn't leave her there.  I picked the place because it is literally two minutes from the house. After making the appointment I read the reviews.  And they were BAD!!!  People were not happy with the woman or her place.  But, being a bad dog owner I decided to check it out anyway.  Its so convenient, for me anyway.

Due to certain things I won't go into, I had to be late.  I phoned her, from a place I won't mention, to tell her.  She was pissed off and very short with me.  So hoping she liked dogs better than humans, I hurried and got there only fifteen minutes late...and I don't know what her problem was.  She was in the middle of shearing off a giant unidentifiable dog and obviously not going to be getting to Molly anytime soon.  There were about nine smaller dogs running around the room, snapping and growling at poor Molly.  She panicked so I held her a while. 

 The woman, a large olderish cranky looking person told me to just drop her and leave.  No signing in.  No checking to see if she had her shots.  No taking any info.  Soooo sketchy.  But I dropped her into the melee anyway.  And all you doggie people out there can go ahead and hate me...it's okay.  I figured that if there were that many dogs running around she couldn't be all that bad.

Monte went in at two and picked Molly up.  He had a long wonderful convo with the lady about music.  It cost only 45 bucks.  And Molly is cute as hell, anals cleaned out, toes clipped, ears cleaned...the works! When she got home she ran around like a crazy dog, rubbing her back on the carpet, bashed into furniture and sproinged all over.  Happy happy!!  And we shall be going back to that place..no fuss, no third degree, no oooh awwww, just clipped, cleaned and tossed back.  I'm happy.  Molly's happy.  Works for me!

Right now there is an appliance guy here installing my newish washer and dryer I have dragged with me from North Van.  They are gorgeous and only used about two years.  Way newer than the oldies in here right now.  You have no idea how long it took me to find a guy that would do it.  All the installers will only install stuff you buy from their affiliated store.  I am so happy!  The only drawback is the machines are smarter than me.  And I don't have the manual.    Slowly but surely I am checking off all the zillion things on my to do list.

April and Myles were here for the week end and it was so relaxing and enjoyable.  Ape and I went down to the farmer's market on Sat. morning.  And it was a doozy!  Jeez! we bought so much stuff we couldn't carry anything anymore!  Beets, blueberries, chard, salad greens, flowers, cherries, honey, jam, bread, cheese and on and on.  Thankfully we parked in the PAYED parking which was really close.  That lot was empty!  It was so funny watching the locals drive in circles and circles looking for free parking, finally parking six blocks away cuz they didn't want to pay a buck 25 for parking.  I'm from Vancouver.  A buck 25 is a deal and a half I must say!

Yesterday Myles and Ape and I went to Costco.  Myles drives a truck so I took advantage of the moment and bought an upright freezer plus a ton of meat.  I love it!  No buried food anymore!  You can see it all right there in front of you!!!  Its kind of hard to open but when you shut it it suctions itself shut.  You can hear it.  So cool!

Kathy and Kerry came up for a coffee last night and we all sat out on the deck and watched the sun go down.  Honestly, there is no question in my mind that I am home.  I took a second last night while everyone was visiting to just feel it and know...this is where I am supposed to be.  I've loved the other places I have lived but this is home.  I have finally lost that 'waiting' feeling.  It always felt a little like I was putting in time, not sure for what.  Now I know.  Okay enough of the maudlin' stuff.  I am going to take some pics and put them here.  First up...Molly!  TTYL

MY AWESOME WASHER AND DRYER

MY AWESOME UPRIGHT FREEZER

THE LIVING ROOM

MY STUPID BACKWARDS CHAIR

BEST BREAKFAST IN KAMLOOPS

HOW CAN YOU NOT BUY THIS DELICIOUS GREENERY?

SHE REFUSES TO SLEEP ON THE FLOOR

BLOGSPOT SUCKS

I really need to look into switching blog hosts.  This one is awful.  If you are one of the fifteen that gets it by email you won't be getting them all.  Not that it matters.  I don't know why it just skips a bunch then starts emailing them again.  Stupid thing.

Several people have mentioned me getting one of those bendy beds instead of a chair.  I think I would look into it except for one reason.  Its the arms of the chairs that is the most important component of my sleeping.  They keep me from rolling onto my side.  In a bed I would have to stack pillows under my arms and they have a way of wiggling out and onto the floor.  I like the support of the arms.  I am sure that one day I will climb into a bed and it won't start hurting within ten minutes.  I keep trying anyway.

I got off the phone with the furniture store about five minutes ago.  They did NOT call me back yesterday.  So I called them this morning and talked to a manager.  They show no evidence that they owe me either a chair or a thousand dollars.  F---kadoodle!!!!!!!  This means a battle and I don't feel like battling.  The only reason I am not panicking is because I have the receipts and evidence.  I sat down with their very complicated receipt yesterday and did the math.  They owe me.  

So today, the guy had the exact same paper I had, I went over it inch by inch to no avail.  He just couldn't get it.  So I finally told him I would come over today and could he please make someone with half a freaking brain available, one that can do math!

I wish I could sleep past five in the morning.  My eyes are too dry for about an hour or two to read (pills I take do that) and tv simply sucks.  After the first hour of news it starts to repeat and now that I have downsized my channels to the minimum there isn't anything on the telly to watch either.  I did find the latest episode of Master Chef though on the pvr.  But I can't stand that woman chef judge person they have on there this season and it has taken the pleasure right out of that show.  

Alrighty this post has really gone south.  Signing off now!  TTYL

I'M GOING TO KILL HIM

It is not even seven in the morning yet and there is this stupid kid next door yelling.  He is on his deck, about ten feet from my window, that due to the 100 degree heat HAS to be open and he is yelling, "MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM"  Holy SHIT!!!!  Just a minute......

Okay that took care of it.  I just went to my window and yelled "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP"  He shut up.

The household next door I am not going to enjoy.  I could already tell.  This neighbourhood is definitely not like Langford.  Snotty bunch of people I tell ya.  The MOM of that brat is about the most unfriendly uppity person possible.  I haven't seen a husband in evidence, only a snotty grandmother.  They won't look at you if you arrive in your driveways at the same time and if by accident there is nanno second eye contact, they literally shrivel and turn away.  I have actually said hello and they don't answer.  And their kid is UGLY!

I have had a couple of great days!  On Tuesday Peter, Marisa's (the housesitter) boyfriend dropped by a little after noon to drop off keys.  We (I) talked and talked and talked and talked...when he left it was 8:30!!!  I never even thought of food or anything.  What an awesome kid he is.  I have met so many terrific young people in the last couple of years.  Gives one hope for the future!  They are coming over again later today and I am really looking forward to it!

Yesterday I made my beet salad components whilst waiting for the furniture guys to arrive.  A couple of months ago, I purchased two love seats and two glider rockers.  The love seats are for the living room and the gliders are for the purple room.

Unlike my absent jeep (shovel list), my furniture did arrive.  So in comes the awesome love seats and in comes the first glider and then....that was it.  And I paid nine hundred plus for that second one, which was absent.  What???!!!  The receipt definitely showed that I paid for two.  Ah jeez, another battle.  So I phoned the store and got a hair brained twit that didn't know her elbow from her a...ole.  Apparently they will call me today to straighten it out.  Yeah.  Sure.

I loaded up my cooler, put on my bathing suit, wrapped a couple presents and headed out to Tobiano (Jocelyn's) for Ainsley's first birthday party.  What a wonderful time we had.  We floated around the pool for a couple of hours which was awesome as it was 39 degrees out there...(over a hundred F)  Then we made burgers and salads and sat out behind their place and had a hoot.  The food was totally delicious.

  The beet salad was really good. I had never made one before and it was delicious.  I think it was the dressing that made it so good.  It was half a cup of frozen orange juice concentrate, half a cup of olive oil and quarter cup of balsamic.  You put that on anything and it'll taste good!   I left about nine and came home to an incredibly hot house.  

Molly barks when no one is home.  I just learned this.  Stupid dog.  And she shits on the floor.  AND I step in it!!!  So we have to shut the house up so her barking doesn't annoy the neighbours.  BUT....I just had a stellar idea!!!  I will set her up in the bedroom that is four feet from the neighbour's house with the brat in it.  And I will open that window wide!  They have a window right there that is always open.  Hahaha...they can litsten to her bark for hours and hours.  I will leave her food and water and her bed in there.  And when they come aknockin' to tell me to stop her I will make a bargain,  you shut your kid up before 8 in the morning and I will keep my dog away from windows.  

I am going to try to load a pic or two of Ainsley eating her blueberry shortcake birthday cake.  And today I will go and take pics of my empty living room and dining room.  Well not empty anymore but you know what I mean.  TTYL

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE SHE HAS HER LEGS PULLED UP.  SHE SAT LIKE THAT THE WHOLE TIME.  SHE DOES NOT LIKE THE FEEL OF GRASS AND WOULDN'T PUT HER FEET DOWN!

HAD THE YOU KNOW WHAT SCARED OUT OF ME LAST NIGHT!!!!!!

Yesterday was a productive Sunday.  As I said in the last post I was going to 'Steve Jobs' my upstairs then take pics.  Well I haven't finished yet but I will today. So no pics yet.

I did get the dining room emptied out.  My voice echoes in there.  I love it.  And it won't take long to get the living room into the same shape.  I need to call the painter to get the door, fireplace, mirror (if possible), and stairwell, and two bathrooms painted.  Then I am going to be very reluctant to put anything in there!

You remember me mentioning Emily's boyfriend Austin who lived in Victoria?  His family is from here.  And I also posted pics of his brother Levi when he visited in Victoria.  Austin is in Korea teaching english but Levi is here in Kamloops.  He lives downtown and works at an art gallery.  He also plays a mean bass guitar.  Monte hauled out his amps etc to the family room and Levi came over for a jam session.  They were amazing!!!  I cannot fathom how they do it but I totally enjoyed the music they made!!!  Hopefully shades of whats to come!

As you know I sleep in a large lazyboy chair, much to my chagrin.  I would so rather sleep in a comfy bed....I really miss that.  I try now and again but within ten minutes my right side is so painful it takes my breath away.

So last night I shut down all lights etc and go to 'bed'.  And I went straight to sleep.  Some time later I was suddenly awakened to shaking and crashing and my whole world just simply turned upside down.  It was SHOCKING!!!  Shortly after it started and awakened me it suddenly stopped and I could feel all was not right.  I honestly thought we had had a massive earthquake!!  It took about fifteen seconds for me to realize that my head was on the floor and my feet were way up in the air and my chair was tipped over backwards under me.  I must have somehow moved up too far on the damned thing and it tipped over backwards scooting me onto the floor, but not all of me. 

 It took me a good minute or two to
 maneuver myself off the chair without knocking all the stuff around my chair (garbage can, coffee table thingy with a million things on it, my fan, computer etc...) every which way.  I finally had to do a basic feet over head backward somersault to get righted.  No easy task when you are a robustly built broad I must say!

Then it was time to go back to the chair and back to bed.  But now I sleep in fear.  Its not like I was moving myself up purposely and accidentally went too far...that all happened in my sleep.  Now I don't trust this chair anymore.  Dammit!  TTYL

JEEP FIGHT

I do not trust auto dealerships.  Back in '97 I bought an Expedition from Dearborn Ford up here.  I ordered it and it took forever to come.  Finally they phoned and said it was in.  So Cookie and I drove up to get it, but a day earlier than I said I would be coming.

They couldn't find it.  We sat around and twiddled our thumbs (I am not too sure for how long and I don't want to guess...Cookie remembers details like this and I don't want to get into trouble LOL!!) but it seemed like a long time.  Finally they drove it around the building and brought it over.  And...when we went to look at it, there were a bunch of kilometres run up on the odometer and there was golf stuff, balls or something, in the back.

Clearly someone had been using my new vehicle.  This was the first year they made the Expedition and it was kind of an anomaly.  We found out the owner of the dealership had been tooting around in MY vehicle.

So, when I phoned the jeep dealership and they tell me that its going to be weeks and weeks yet, they can't really say how long, how there is a huge demand for jeeps right now, all the hipsters are buying them yada yada yada, my hackles get a little rattled.  I am not totally buying it.  The jeep comes in, someone right there sees it, wants it, and they think I will wait a couple more months so they sell it.

I got mad finally.  I was really nice at first as I drilled him about dates, times, guesses etc..  He actually started stumbling over his words.  So then I asked him when it was reasonable that my deposit would be returnable.  When you make a deposit, which isn't small, it is non refundable if you change your mind, which seems ridiculous if these damned vehicles are so in demand.  He said that the deposit was absolutely NOT refundable. And I said that if they can't perform better than they have been I just may want my money back.  I am not waiting forever for it.

What pissed me off is they were supposed to keep me posted every two weeks about the status and progress of the jeep.  I never heard word one from them.  It took a phone call from me to find out its going to be months.  Grrrrr...I am going to start going in there every now and then to check.

Its so wonderful to be back.  I still have to unpack some boxes, but they are downstairs in the storage room, out of the way.  All the lamps I own and the stuff that goes with them are in the living room and the dining room has a folding table in it with stuff on it.  Today I am going to Steve Jobs my upstairs.  Other than the one lamp I am going to keep in the living room I am going to completely empty it out.  There isn't much in there.  Same with the dining room.  I will keep one table in the kitchen with two camp chairs.  I love the house being empty!

Yesterday we had a surprise thirtieth anniversary for Kathy and Kerry.  They were shocked!  It was put on by her girls and held out at Tobiano where Jocelyn lives.  So I am putting a bunch of pics on here that won't interest many except those that know them and their friends.  When I get finished today in the house, I will take pics and I will take some outside too and post them on the next post.  TTYL  (safari keeps crashing so I will have to post this and come back and see if I can load the pics)