Alone Time

Alex started a new job a few weeks ago and along with it came all kinds of stuff, like better benefits and other good things. It also came with crappy hours. So now, we see each other for an hour every day, if we're lucky. We're really like ships in the night now...I'm sound asleep and have been for hours (in theory, when the insomnia isn't visiting) when he gets home and he's only been asleep for two hours when I'm rudely awakened by my alarm to start the day.

For the first few weeks of the new job, I was taking classes two nights of the week, so I didn't notice how much time we weren't spending together, but this week, now that my class is over, Alex's absence is pretty apparent. Evenings are long...I haven't read this many books in such a short period of time in I don't know how long. Parts of the house are spotless because I obsessively clean them, other parts of the house could do with a good scrub because I obsessively ignore them...Classes don't start until September, so I guess I'm going to have to find some other way to keep myself occupied before I go nuts!

Coffee? Ice Cream? Walk? Yoga? Dinner? anyone!?!?!?

One...two...skip a few...ninety-nine, one hundred...

That's a lot of sheep. So I should be snoozing by now.

But I'm still AWAKE....

The ceiling is still white.

The alarm clock is going to go off sooner than it was four minutes ago, fourteen minutes ago, forty minutes ago, an hour and a half ago, when I last hit the snooze/light button.

Warm milk is gross.

I've reread the same page in my book six or seven times and I couldn't tell you what happened. Or what happened in the last 50 pages or so. I could make something up and chances are it will so bizarre it could be its own book, not related at all to the one I'm actually reading.

I can't be bothered dragging myself down the hallway and taking a warm bath or shower.

When I close my eyes I see moving boxes and computers with viruses and some bad guy stealing all the money out of my bank account. All 43¢ or whatever negligible amount is in there in the minutes before pay day. Not that that has happened or anything, it's just the insomnia taking hold.

I JUST WANT TO SLEEP!!!!

For the past few nights, I've fallen asleep just before Alex has come home from work, only to be jolted awake when I hear the front door open and decide the bad guy now has a key to my house and has come to steal the coffee...he can't have the coffee, I need it to make it to work in the morning!!!!

I know, I know, it's still early for a lot of people, but it's way past my bed time.

Insomnia remedies anyone?

Mutter, mutter, mutter

Today has been one of those days...you know, when nothing really goes wrong, but that doesn't mean that it really goes right either.

My computer at work contracted a nasty cold and my well structured list of things-that-must-get-done-before-the-end-of-the-week exploded and spewed crap all over my desk. Well, not really, but I sure didn't get much done without the use of a computer and now have to go get new bank cards etc because it was a program that captures key strokes and I did some online banking this morning.

The computer is at the computer hospital until further notice, which means I will be travelling between home and my boss's office (while he's away for a few weeks). Neither of which are close to my office or the piles of paper that need to be data-entered and then filed. Grrr....that situation will be remedied in the next couple of weeks though, when we finally, after months of maybe-next-month-the-downstairs-people-will-move-out-so-
the-upstairs-next-door-people-can-move-in-and-we-can-move-over-there move to the office directly next to the boss is actually happening.

Aw grumpy...you should go to bed instead of boring the poor people with your complaints...

Looks like the mutter mutter mutter might be a clear indication that I am indeed from another planet...I've even begun talking about myself in the third person...okay, enough of that, I'm going to try to get some sleep now.

Once Upon a Seven Part Series of Kidlit

NO SPOILERS - I PROMISE

I am now on my second read through of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I can't believe how quickly I read it the first time, even with countless distractions yesterday. Now I need to reread it because I am positive I have missed all kinds of important details.

I won't spoil the ending, or the middle, or even the beginning, but I will say I was surprised and not surprised at who died or didn't die. And while I really was unsure how it was going to end, it ended one of the ways I had thought it could end.

Since I finished reading it, I have been checking out some of the "spoilers" that were floating around the internet before Saturday and while some of them are very accurate (especially when the Spoilers had taken the time to read the photographed copy of it) some are totally inaccurate and almost humorous.

Now I'm just waiting patiently for someone else to be finished too so that we can have conversations like:

"Could you believe it when...?"
"Did you think....would happen?"
"I totally knew that was going to happen..."
"Hey, one of my theories was right..."

Until then...NO SPOILERS! I promise!

Back from the "Island of the Secret Love Nun"

Friday, before we went to the VanDusen gardens for the Harry Potter party, I came straight home from work to finish the book I was reading, Island of the Secret Love Nun. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to finish Harry Potter and Love Nun book was good, so I figured I should get to it!

I got the book for my birthday from my friend Michelle who works at a book store and was determined to get me to read "something different." The bright pink cover didn't scare me away and it was a very interesting, imaginative book. I love that it was totally off the wall, but made me want to read more and more and more.

So today, before the library goes on strike, I think I will venture out to see if they have any more of Christopher Moore's books. I guess Michelle's plan worked. (Oh, and I needn't have worried about how long Harry Potter would take to read.)

Who Dies?!

Well, that's still a mystery, cause I haven't finished the book yet. I decided when we got home at 1:00 this morning that I would put off starting the book until morning. I want the book to last forever because it's the last one, but at the same time, I really want to know what happens. Taking a computer break and not looking at any "unsafe sites" is one of my prolong-the-experience tactics.

I should know better. I have loved rereading the first books so much that I am sure that once I have devoured book seven in its entirety I will be content to reread the series over and over and over.


The Harry Potter Party last night was a lot of fun. Lots of people had very cool costumes, lots of kids (and grownups too) were very excited to be there. The rain held off from the time we walked through the entrance to the Gardens until we got back to the rock star parking we found for Stacey's car. The mist from all the rain made the garden eerie in a very good way.

There was much discussion about turning off cell phones and hermiting away until the last page of the book is turned by many people who *never* *ever* turn their phones off and can't imagine being disconnected from the world for long. Facebook, online newspapers, other social networking sites, Yahoo, MSN, and email in general were to be shunned. It's amazing the response to a "kids' book!"

Aleksandra, Shannon and Alex, waiting patiently

"Why am I here?"
"Because, secretly you like Harry Potter and one day you too will succumb and read the books!"

Hogwarts Express

Alex tests out the Goblin Gold

Looks like Voldemort takes many shapes. The lady on the left doesn't look like a Dark Wizard, but she's marking Aleksandra!

Aleksandra, scarred

Shannon is scarred too

Fawkes the Phoenix

Trust Snape

Dumbledore

Whoosh....it's midnight...here come the books!

Shannon and Alex

Alex and Stacey, ready to go home and read the book

Countdown to Harry...

Eight hours and counting. I sure hope the rain goes away in time to see lots of little Harrys, Hermiones, and Rons. Sounds like we're going to the party with a Hermione (and a grump too...someone doesn't like rain!).

I'm very excited to get my new book and spend some quality time in an imaginary world, but I'm also sad that this is going to be the last book. And nervous about who she might kill off this time...oh well, I will enjoy the Harry party and then make sure there is a box of kleenex nearby while I read the book, just in case! And I'll be sure to become a hermit until I'm done. There have been all kinds of warnings today to avoid your email and the internet if you want the ending to be a surprise.

No spoilers here...not now anyway. And if there are later, well, I'll make sure they're very clearly marked.

Upgraded (Downgraded?) to Restricted

Check it out...

I'm now Restricted



because of these words: poop (3x) bitch (2x) limbs (1x)

apparently hurt, dead, gun, suck and all those other words I checked before mean nothing in the rating...

Now I should do some work...no more procrastinating...even if I excel at it!

Does a G-rating make me boring?

Too bad if it does...



My only flagged word is death x1, so obviously this works by scanning the text and not looking at the context and it doesn't dig into archives and I'm not about to check out each page of my blog.

Out of curiosity, I checked out the ratings of some of my daily fixes.

F365	G	No bad words found
Heddy Bear	PG	hurt (5x) dead (2x) punch (1x)
what's-her-lips	PG	death (6x) gun (2x) suck (1x)
dooce	R	dead (2x) poop (1x)
Crazy Aunt Purl	PG	poop (2x) bitch (1x)
Post Secret	G	suicide (1x)
The Globe and Mail	G	drugs (2x) breast (1x)
Nanny Shanny's 365 site	G	punch (x1)

Interesting...not sure how accurate though. The most interesting is that two poops and a bitch are only PG, but two deads and a poop make an R rating (I guess my rating is going up as soon as I hit publish!)

The Across the Lake Swim, Part Eight

It's that time of year again.


Yesterday morning I got up nice and early to cheer Team Hardcore and Punk on as they once again swam with Ogopogo. This is the first year I didn't participate. I have never actually done the swim (I'm sure we all know how much I LOVE swimming), but every year that I was in town, I was in a spotter boat and last year I dragged Alex along with me.


Kelsey came across the finish line first and I almost missed her. She was easy to identify in her yellow swim cap, black bathing suit, and goggles. It was nice that no one else was dressed the same way.

Rebecca emerged from the water not long after and this time I was paying better attention.

Yay girlies!

Of course, after the swim, swimmers, boaters, and spectators all need some sustenance so off we went to the Bohemian for brunch.




mmm...blueberries

We gathered later for more food...the flames are deceiving - they're not burning anything, just making the bacon good and crispy.

And of course brunch and burgers just weren't enough so we had to go get ice cream...

along with half of Kelowna.

How do you end a good day? The same way you started it of course, in the lake...this time trying to cool off a little bit before bed.