Hi There.

So yesterday there was a surprise in my mail! My step-mom Lisa saw that this was on my Etsy favourites somehow and bought it for me! This is another piece that’s for my future office!

I didn’t realize it was a block print (a print on a block of wood) or I wouldn’t have favourited it, honestly, I thought it was a paper print that I could frame and I thought it was a lot bigger because I didn’t read the description very well, but it’s still beautiful and I still love it and I am SO proud of Lisa for navigating Etsy well enough to purchase something! Now if only we can get her to put her tutus up on there, we’d be laughing!

Speaking of Etsy, I got a convo this morning saying that I’m featured in a new Etsy treasury so you should check it out!

So work….work….work…work….I’m getting really really burnt out. On Sunday nights I cry because I have to work the next day and I don’t want to. I cry before work because I dread doing it. I’m just burnt out, like I said. I’ve had to take days off first because I now have carpal tunnel syndrome/repetitive stress injury, but also because of dentist and doctor’s appointments and I have to make those days up on weekends because there’s really no such thing as a day off with this company unless it falls outside of your 40 hours. And then sometimes I get asked to work a weekend day because someone else is sick or needs a day off or whatever, which is fine, I don’t mind doing it, but I’m burning out.

My boss #1 warned me in the beginning that this job was very very boring and I didn’t really believe him because in the beginning it was really interesting, I mean, I’ve been involved with the online porn industry for 10 years and to finally see the business side of it was really interesting to me, but now, almost 10 months later, I’m bored out of my skull because really it’s the same 30 e-mails we get over and over and over and the responses are always the same. And that’s the job, it’s not like I can do anything to make it more fun, it’s just what I have to do.

And maybe I sound like I’m whining, I don;t mean to, I should be lucky that I even have this job and I feel that I am lucky, but I also need some time off so I asked boss #2 if I could have a week off, unpaid, to just do nothing. Not even go online. ANd she said she’d ask boss #1 and have an answer for me by the end of the day.

We really really can’t afford for me to do this, but it’s either that or I have a nervous breakdown so I don’t see any alternative. Depending on what my boss says, I’m aiming for the first week of July because that’s when Blake wants to take off too and if I don’t have the same time off as he has then I’m just stuck at home with kids without any kind of transportation and I’d like to hit up the beach for at least a little while during my vacation, if I get one. We live 10 minutes away from the world’s longest freshwater beach and I’d like to make use of that since it’s basically free.

Blake mentioned the fact that he’d like to go to Militiagan during the week he has off and I was just like, no. That is MORE stress and I don’t need any more of that, thank you. Even if he went alone or took the kids, it stresses me out when I’m home by myself with no car so just, no.

He said that was fine, so good.

Blake’s having lunch with some woman today who he wants to carpool with to save money. I have nothing further to add to that, I just felt like saying it.

I have a mosquito bite in the edge of the meaty part of my right hand and it’s driving me absolutely mental because I can’t scratch there. I am VERY allergic to mosquitoes so when I get a bite, it can stay itchy for up to several months, even after I’ve scratched it into a bloody welt. Often I have mosquito bites from the summer that are still itchy in the fall despite being almost healed sores. I don’t know how that’s possible but I hate it and it’s been that way my whole life.

I’ve started working on Cammity Jane again at the insistence of Madison, who has read the whole thing several times and believes it to be her favourite book ever. She left me a note in the binder I use for it that says this:

“Dear Mother Darling,

Holy fuck! You’re an amazing author and I love you so much!!! (For it and in general.) Despite who wrote the book, I’m POSITIVE it would turn out to be my favourite!!! That sounds AMAZING what you have figured out so far, and I’m SUPER excited for the outcome. HURRY UP!!! :o) <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3″

I also have her on video explaining what it would be like if I didn’t finish it, but I’m tired and lazy and don’t feel like putting it up on YouTube at the moment. I’m also working. I’ll put it up later.

But there you have it, my first fan. I let her read the notebook that has EVERYTHING in it, complete plot lines, the ending, everything, and when we got home from yoga last night she was freaking out and wouldn’t let me go to bed because she wanted to talk about it.

So maybe, if I get a vacation, that’s what I’ll spend it doing. I dunno. The thing also needs an actual title because Cammity Jane doesn’t fit since I didn’t end up making her a camgirl.

Anyway, that’s all I have to write about for now. I was going to post a bunch of Pixies covers I found this morning but I’ll save that for another day. Happy Tuesday!

EDIT: My bosses have okayed my vacation week. Yay! Maybe I’ll be able to breathe again after that!

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Help RAPS win $25,000!

My friend Phaedie loses one of her friends at least once a week. That’s because she works for a high-capacity cat sanctuary in Richmond, British Columbia, run by the Richmond Animal Protection Society, and unfortunately feline leukemia and feline AIDS is a part of the job, especially when dealing with such close quarters.

To keep cats out of shelters, people need to spay and neuter their pets and that’s what RAPS is aiming to do with Pepsi Canada’s Refresh Project contest. Their aim, with the $25,000 to be won, is to help low-income families spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets in order to help curb the already problematic business of sick, unwanted pets.

So how can you help? It’s easy. Click here and vote. You can sign in using Facebook connect so it really does only take 2 clicks and you’d be making a world of difference for animals and their people. Plus you’d be making Phaedie and I incredibly happy.

We need to try and get them to #1 or #2 as only the top 2 spots receive funding. Currently they’re in 3rd place, so we need to make a solid push to get then into 2nd! I know people don’t have money to give to every charity that comes their way, but if you’d normally be clicking on Farmville crops anyway, please use your mouse-fingers for this as well and help make a difference in the world. Thanks.

The contest voting is until June 30th, it’s a daily vote and I’ll be posting every few days to remind you to vote in case you forget.

I JUST MADE THIS POST PUBLIC.
It was previously “friends only”.
But since I’m no longer friends with Jesse or Jen, I decided there was no reason it should still be “friends only” so there it is in all its horror.

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Help RAPS win $25,000!

My friend Phaedie loses one of her friends at least once a week. That’s because she works for a high-capacity cat sanctuary in Richmond, British Columbia, run by the Richmond Animal Protection Society, and unfortunately feline leukemia and feline AIDS is a part of the job, especially when dealing with such close quarters.

To keep cats out of shelters, people need to spay and neuter their pets and that’s what RAPS is aiming to do with Pepsi Canada’s Refresh Project contest. Their aim, with the $25,000 to be won, is to help low-income families spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets in order to help curb the already problematic business of sick, unwanted pets.

So how can you help? It’s easy. Click here and vote. You can sign in using Facebook connect so it really does only take 2 clicks and you’d be making a world of difference for animals and their people. Plus you’d be making Phaedie and I incredibly happy.

We need to try and get them to #1 or #2 as only the top 2 spots receive funding. Currently they’re in 3rd place, so we need to make a solid push to get then into 2nd! I know people don’t have money to give to every charity that comes their way, but if you’d normally be clicking on Farmville crops anyway, please use your mouse-fingers for this as well and help make a difference in the world. Thanks.

The contest voting is until June 30th, it’s a daily vote and I’ll be posting every few days to remind you to vote in case you forget.

So, a couple of things:

First, look at this momma cat giving her baby a hug:

Now go vote for the kitties as they need to be in the #2 spot to receive $25,000 that will be used to spay, neuter and vaccinate the pets of low-income families to lessen the burden of unwanted animals on local shelters. It’s for a good cause, click click click and spread the word!

Secondly, Urban Outfitters are a bunch of thieving douchebags. Just take a look. They plainly stepped on the little guy and there’s really nothing more to say on the matter other than I really wish I had $55 to buy her Canada necklace to show my support but I’m a little overextended these days so I can’t, but I’ve bookmarked it and I will. BUY HANDMADE! (Edit: Oh snap!)

Thirdly, for those of us doing the Sketchbook Project this year, this girl is doing testing on the new paper to show us what works and what doesn’t so be sure to check it out. She mentions Inktense Pencils by Derwent, which I totally forgot I even had, so I think I’m going to be doing something with those in my book because I really loved them when I used them for “Five O’Clock Abortion“. They’re pencils, but when you wet them, they turn to ink and become permanent and the colours are really vibrant, not really like watercolours at all.

My Lush order finally got here but I didn’t take pics of everything because it was actually a really boring order visually. Here’s what I got though:

Ocean Salt Cleanser
This shit is THE BEST. Unfortunately I discovered it late so I have a whole thing of Dark Angels in my fridge and a whole brand new bar of Coalface in my Lush drawer that is just going to go to waste now that I’ve found this product because it makes my skin sooooo soft AND it got rid of the weird acne I got on my face after trying the Cupcake fresh face mask that I was apparently allergic to, that Dark Angels and Coalface just made worse. Ocean Salt is a little pricey ($30.95) compared to Dark Angels ($10.95) and Coalface ($11.95) but it WORKS and I can’t put a price on that. I just spritz with a little bit of Tea Tree Water Toner after I wash with it and I don’t even need moisturizer and my skin’s soft as a baby’s bottom.

Lemon Days and Ginger Beer Bath Bombs
I got 2 of these for Madison’s friend Eryn who saw them on the site and decided she wanted them. I personally think they’re gross because they make your water look like Mountain Dew but hey, she’s bathing in it, not me.

Buffy
I got a big ol’ chunk of Buffy, which uses rice to exfoliate the skin and rich cocoa and shea butters to moisturize. You use it in the shower and the heat from your body melts the product into your skin and the water rinses away the nubby exfoliating bits. Then you’re supposed to air dry so you don’t wash off the butters. I’m VERY excited to try this and I think Blake is too. I also got a body butter tin to keep Buffy in but she’s way way way too big to actually fit in it.

And finally…

Limited Edition Perfume Kit
I got this because it’s impossible to tell what scents you like from a website and I figured this was a good way to try them all.  It comes with: Imogen Rose, Orange Blossom, Lust, Tuca Tuca, Karma, Breath of God, Vanillary and The Smell of Freedom. Madison really like Vanillary and I really like Karma. I really dislike Breath of God because I think it smells like bug repellent and I think the other are just okay. I’m going to try them on my skin though, rather than just sniffing them in the bottles.

The samples I got with this order were Ocean Salt, which was a bit redundant considering I bought a huge pot of the stuff, but that’s their promo right now so whatever. I’ll use it for travel, along with the empty ones I have from going to the actual Lush store. The other sample I got was Demon in the Dark, which I have zero interest in because apparently it’s minty and I don’t like minty things. Blake might like it though because I think it’s supposed to be manly. Who knows.

So that was my Lush order. On Saturday our “local” store is having a party for the release of Dirty in North America and if it’s raining I think we’re going to go and get Blake some Dirty stuff since the plan is actually to take Madison and Eryn to Canada’s Wonderland but they can’t do that if it’s raining.

Anyway, that’s all I have to report. Today is Day 3 of no smoking and aside from being really pissy (because I’m also on the rag), I think I’m doing okay. I’d kill for a cigarette of course, but the cravings are winding down and I’ve been eating a ton of gum, which has helped.

So Happy Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I don’t want to go to Burning Man.

Blake and I had planned on going in 2012 and flying out to his sister’s in Tahoe, leaving the kids there and then going to Burning Man with his sister’s friends who know all about it and go every year.

But I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be stuck in the desert, all sweaty and dusty and gross and without a shower for a week. I don’t want to live on peanut butter sandwiches. I don’t want to deal with the logistics involved. It seems like a whole lot of hassle for an unfun time. So I don’t want to go. And I’ll totally resent Blake if he goes alone which admittedly is unfair but there it is all the same. I just think I’d get really bored out there. I’d look at the art once or twice which would take a whole day, maybe two and then what do I do for the rest of the time? Sweat my tits off in a tent I guess?

I don’t “camp”. That’s the thing. I just don’t do it. I’m with my friend Missy when she says “why would I want to be homeless on purpose?” I don’t shit in filthy port-a-potties and I don’t sponge bathe. I don’t get up at dawn, I don’t sleep in tents, I prefer not to sweat. I just see myself bitching and complaining the whole time and pissing everyone off and it’s not like we’ll be able to just pack up and leave if I’m not having a good time either since we’d be going with other people.

I don’t eat whatever’s available. I am very very picky and I get pissy without food. Also I’m just not cool or thin enough to be there. Have you ever looked at pictures of the people at Burning Man? They’re always skinny 20-somethings with perky breasts – or at least that’s who they’re taking pictures of. My coolest clothes are A) dry clean only, B) winter-friendly and C) not desert-friendly and I don’t see anyone buying me a whole new wardrobe any time soon.

So there it is: I don’t want to go to Burning Man. I like the idea of BM. I wish I was the type of person who could deal with the logistics of going to BM. But it’s not me. It would just be lots and lots of stress with little to no reward, especially since I’d have to go without a week’s pay to even go on top of all the costs associated with going.

If we had like, an RV and could somehow drive there? Then I would consider going, but as things stand it’s not going to happen.

Why that all popped into my brain, I have no idea. I think it was because Ronny & I were talking on Twitter and he said we all need some time to ourselves to just “be” and this is the next opportunity to do that that Blake and I have planned. Or not planned as it were, but an idea that’s been kicked around to the point of even talking to his sister about it. I wish I was adaptable enough to do it but I just don’t think I am and that I’ll just end up miserable and stuck in a place I don’t want to be. I just don’t think there’s enough Ativan in the world for me to do it.

So anyway….yeah.

Today is Day 1 of no smoking and I feel like I’m holding up pretty well. A little weepy, but I think that’s a PMS thing rather than a quitting smoking thing.

I have cramps so bad that earlier I honestly thought I was going to throw up all over my desk so I was in the bathroom reading on the bathroom floor beside the toilet for a while just in case. Thank god for my co-worker, Dott. She had my back while that was happening, although I didn’t tell her what was up. I ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich which helped and I’ve been taking Tylenol 1 every hour which is horrible for my liver but at this point I really just don’t care.

Today is Oprah’s final episode and I know I’m going to lose my shit completely during and after it. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t even remember TV without Oprah and the fact that my friend won’t be on TV every day at 4pm anymore is really going to break my heart. I don’t care who takes her timeslot, I won’t be watching. I have her OWN channel but the only good thing on it is “What Would You Do? OWN Edition” where they do hidden camera stunts to see if people will do the right thing, stick up for the underdog, that sort of thing. And then there’s “Oprah: Behind the Scenes” but they changed the timeslot of that show without warning so my DVR doesn’t record it anymore so I’ve only seen a few episodes and I think it’s almost finished. If they rerun it, I’ll watch but I’m not going out of my way to watch it now since it’s almost over. The rest of the shows are really lame, like there’s a couple about psychics (fraud!), Shania Twain has her own reality show, Chaz Bono has his own reality show, neither of which interest me in the slightest. Lisa Ling had her show “Our America” which sounded interesting but really wasn’t from the few episodes I saw because they changed the timeslot on that one too so my DVR didn’t record it. It was a documentary series about fringe societies in the US, basically, like transgendered people, heroin addicts, sex offenders, super religious people who handle snakes, that kind of thing.

There has been talk of Oprah having her own show on OWN but I don’t think that’s going to happen because I think she really just wants to retire and man, she deserves it.

Oh, one thing I did miss this season was the episode where they did the book club thing for Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. I’m sure it was mixed in with something lame and that’s why I missed it (if it sounds stupid on the show blurb on the TV guide, I delete it) but if anyone knows what it was mixed in with, please let me know so I can catch it in the reruns which I think are going all summer.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I’m reading The Witching Hour by Anne Rice for the second time and as all good books do, it’s making me feel like shit, like nothing I write is good enough. I think my ideas are solid, but my vocabulary and descriptions are sub-par. I’ve lost interest in Cammity Jane again because these books I’ve been reading have given me incredibly low self-esteem and it doesn’t help that Madison and I were the only ones who seemed to care that I was even writing them again. Plus my editor is apparently too busy these days to edit it and if he’s not interested and stuff, I didn’t see any reason for me to be interested. All of the above just pummeled my self-esteem as a writer into nothing and I feel like I don’t have anything left to say that I can’t say in a blog. I thought I was doing well at the fiction thing and then I read some good fiction and that was the end of me.

Blake gets mad at me because I think too much about “what comes next” rather than simply writing whatever it is I’m working on but I can’t help it. And “what comes next” with Cammity Jane was plaguing me. I don’t know how to release a book. I don’t know how to lay out a book (I know I know, a friend offered to lay it out for me, so I shouldn’t worry about that but I do because what if it goes the same as editing has gone? And since I’m not paying these people, what right do I have to complain? None!). I don’t know how to make people buy the book. Lulu.com is a fucking scam and as a Canadian I’m not sure if I can self-publish through Amazon. And what if it just sucks and people don’t like it? Then what? And should I sell for 99 cents for Kindle versions like some self-published author recommended on some link I was sent or is that just selling myself short? I don’t know ANYTHING about Kindles and Nooks and iPads as I would never own any of the above, let alone how you would lay a book out for one one of them or all of them or whatever.

I can’t not think about this stuff. Blake says to just write the damn thing and not worry about any of that but I can’t. I don’t think I’m capable because if there’s not a purpose, a reason to do something I don’t see the point of doing it. If it’s not going to be published, I don’t see the point in writing it. If no one cares that I’m writing it, I don’t see the point in writing it. (And Madison doesn’t count.) And some people matter more than others. If my editor doesn’t care that I’m writing it then what’s the point? (And that’s not a dig at you, dear editor, you’ve got shit on your plate and I understand that.) I just feel wholly unsupported by damn near everyone. It’s about 1/3 finished and I have the whole thing planned out, I know the story from beginning to end, it’s just a matter of actually writing it which I have little desire to do because of said lack of support.

Blah. I’m throwing a temper tantrum. I’m in pain and I really want a cigarette and quitting now was the worst idea ever.

Speaking of writing though, my Fiction Project book was received yesterday and IS going to be in the show even though it was late. I got confirmation yesterday. So yay for that, the $30 I paid in shipping for it to get there as soon as possible wasn’t wasted! The books will be touring with The Sketchbook Project 2011 and they’ll start in June in Seattle and end up in Chicago. The dates can be found here if anyone wants to go see my books, both for the Fiction Project AND the Sketchbook Project because both will be there.

Next year the tour’s actually coming to Toronto, which I’m excited about. I have my sketchbook but I haven’t put anything in it yet or made it a cover. It’s not due until January and while that seems like plenty of time, it sneaks up on you or at least it did me last year, so I should start on that soon.

Well, I can’t think of anything else to write about and I think I’m done my whining and crying for the day so I’ll just tell you to vote for the kitties and be done with this post.

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Help RAPS win $25,000!

My friend Phaedie loses one of her friends at least once a week. That’s because she works for a high-capacity cat sanctuary in Richmond, British Columbia, run by the Richmond Animal Protection Society, and unfortunately feline leukemia and feline AIDS is a part of the job, especially when dealing with such close quarters.

To keep cats out of shelters, people need to spay and neuter their pets and that’s what RAPS is aiming to do with Pepsi Canada’s Refresh Project contest. Their aim, with the $25,000 to be won, is to help low-income families spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets in order to help curb the already problematic business of sick, unwanted pets.

So how can you help? It’s easy. Click here and vote. You can sign in using Facebook connect so it really does only take 2 clicks and you’d be making a world of difference for animals and their people. Plus you’d be making Phaedie and I incredibly happy.

We need to try and get them to #1 or #2 as only the top 2 spots receive funding. Currently they’re in 3rd place, so we need to make a solid push to get then into 2nd! I know people don’t have money to give to every charity that comes their way, but if you’d normally be clicking on Farmville crops anyway, please use your mouse-fingers for this as well and help make a difference in the world. Thanks.

The contest voting is until June 30th, it’s a daily vote and I’ll be posting every few days to remind you to vote in case you forget.

What a weekend! Mine actually started on Friday because I had Friday off due to my wrist. We bought me a brace which I wore Friday, Saturday and all day Sunday and my wrist appears to be 1000x better. Then yesterday I put it back on as soon as I was finished work so that helps too.

On Friday we also ran a million errands in Barrie and went out for lunch, which was tiring but fun.

Then on Saturday I read and read and read since I couldn’t paint with the brace on and I finished Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Night by Elie Weisel and I started The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, which I’ve read before, a long time ago, but I’ve forgotten most of it so I plan on reading the whole series. While we were running errands Blake also bought me the new Sookie Stackhouse book so that’s on my list of things to read too.

Saturday night we had a Keep Off the Lawn/End of the World party with Ronny & Alex where a good, drunken time was had by all. I was dead tired though and the alcohol only amplified my sleepiness so I wussed out and went to bed at like, 12:30am while they all stayed up and partied until 5am. Then in the morning when Blake woke up, he made us all a big, greasy breakfast, Ronny & Alex bought us all slushes and Ronny, Alex, Wes and Madison and I planted the seeds for the front garden. I forgot to take pics of that happening but that’s probably for the best because aside from Wes & I, everyone was pretty toe up.

A couple of days prior to the party, Madison helped me plant my sunflowers and morning glories. The morning glories I got are called Grandpa Ott and they’re a deep purple. I’m not totally sure they’re going to grow where I put them, but I remain hopeful. They’re in the flower bed below the front part of the porch and I’m hoping they’ll climb up the porch’s spindles. I also planted some sunflowers there too so hopefully they’ll climb up those as well.

While we were outside I took pictures of my Lady Slippers and Bleeding Hearts because the latter is blooming like crazy. First the Lady Slippers:

Now the Bleeding Hearts:

Not bad for questionable plants I bought at Wal*Mart!

The front yard will be all cosmos and bachelor’s buttons as per usual, but this year I planted way more white cosmos than pink ones and a lot more of the stranger varieties than the normal ones. I should have taken pictures of all the seeds but I forgot. Roughly we planted about 4.5lbs of seed in the front. We had bowls full of them.

On Sunday Blake and I went to see Bridesmaids, which was “shit your pants” funny. I don’t want to give anything away but there’s a scene with Maya Rudolph in the street that had me laughing so hard I was crying, I’m laughing now just thinking about it. When we got home from that movie, we decided to watch Catfish, which is a documentary about meeting someone from the internet and it was very very interesting, I highly recommend it.

Yesterday I worked and then read for the rest of the night because I had my brace on and couldn’t paint. Oprah’s final 3 shows started yesterday so I’m hoping to get caught up on them this evening while I paint. I have to finish my 3 multicultural fairies painting this week or I’m going to lose my mind. Trying to keep that thing safe and dog hair free has been a majorly stressful thing because it’s just so big. I told Blake how I couldn’t sell that painting because of its size and the fact that even shipping it to the US would be like, $80 and where would we even find a box that big? and he said anything is possible and that if I sold it, he’d find a way to ship it. The other problem is that I’d have to ask at least $450-$500 for it and I don’t think anyone would pay that so I probably won’t even list it on Etsy. Whatever. It can just hang in my house I guess.

Anyway, that’s life in Sunnyland right now. Today is cold and rainy so I hope the weather is nicer wherever you are. Happy Tuesday!

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Help RAPS win $25,000!

My friend Phaedie loses one of her friends at least once a week. That’s because she works for a high-capacity cat sanctuary in Richmond, British Columbia, run by the Richmond Animal Protection Society, and unfortunately feline leukemia and feline AIDS is a part of the job, especially when dealing with such close quarters.

To keep cats out of shelters, people need to spay and neuter their pets and that’s what RAPS is aiming to do with Pepsi Canada’s Refresh Project contest. Their aim, with the $25,000 to be won, is to help low-income families spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets in order to help curb the already problematic business of sick, unwanted pets.

So how can you help? It’s easy. Click here and vote. You can sign in using Facebook connect so it really does only take 2 clicks and you’d be making a world of difference for animals and their people. Plus you’d be making Phaedie and I incredibly happy.

We need to try and get them to #1 or #2 as only the top 2 spots receive funding. Currently they’re in 3rd place, so we need to make a solid push to get then into 2nd! I know people don’t have money to give to every charity that comes their way, but if you’d normally be clicking on Farmville crops anyway, please use your mouse-fingers for this as well and help make a difference in the world. Thanks.

The contest voting is until June 30th, it’s a daily vote and I’ll be posting every few days to remind you to vote in case you forget.

This is totally Photoshopped but I don’t care, it had me rolling.

Two churches located across the street from each other. At least the Catholics have a sense of humor.

For those of you who rely on my to be a human guinea pig for Lush products, let me just tell you how gross Aromaco deodorant is: it leaves white crap in your armpits to the point of looking like a yeast infection, it smells like mold, it does NOT keep your “pong”, as they say, at bay and it scratches the shit out of my skin.

In short, tyhis shit sucks and I will never buy it again. In fact, I’m so annoyed by it, I’m thinking of having Blake take it back to the store in exchange for Butterbal bath bombs or something because obviously “natural” deodorant ain’t my thang.

That is all.

Last night Blake took us out for dinner to Swiss Chalet where we pigged out on ribs and then we had to go to Wal*Mart to get dog food and diet cheese, so I went to the garden centre there and got pansies and alyssum for my window boxes out back and while I was there, I also picked out a bright pink gerbera daisy (I think that’s what they’re called), which I put in a pot along with the leftover pansies that wouldn’t fit in the window boxes. And yes I am proud of that run-on sentence!

It stopped raining long enough for me to take pics, so here they are!

Admittedly the window boxes are a little unimpressive, but as the summer goes along, the alyssum will start filling in the empty spots and the pansies will spread out to fill the box completely. Or at least that’s the plan.

I didn’t save the little stick-ums that say the names of the flowers so I don’t know what kind of pansies I have, but I liked these ones because they looked like Johnny Jump Ups.

I love alyssum. It’s so versatile!

My kickass gerbera daisies! I love them!

These are the pansies I planted around the gerbera daisies.

Voila!
These are actually going to go in the front, I just haven’t moved them yet.

Blake and I planted all of these pretty much in the dark because it was dark when we got home, so they may be a little crooked, but that’s okay, they’re just flowers and it’s not like I’m in any garden tours or anything. We also had to take down last year’s sunflower stalks since the birds are done with them and I’ll be planting this year’s sunflowers – lots of them! – this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, my boss gave me the okay to take tomorrow off to rest my wrist for the long weekend. I don’t get Monday off, I could have had it if I asked for it, but I think 3 days is a good rest for it and I’m going to get a wrist brace at Shopper’s Drug Mart tomorrow to help things along.

On Saturday night we’re having a Keep Off the Lawn/End of the World Party which may just be Blake, Madison and I, depending on what Ronny & Alex are doing. They still haven’t gotten back to me so I’m not sure what’s going on yet. Rain or shine though, we’ll be planting the seeds in the front for the wildflower patch and I’m going to pay the kids to weed first. I’m not sure what’s coming up in there yet because I haven’t looked exactly but from where I sit when I smoke, I can see dandelions and they have to go.

Planting the seeds is the easy part, all you do is scatter them with your hands and then stomp on them to dig them into the dirt. Wild flowers are not picky.

For the sunflowers all you do is rake a trench, pour the seeds along and then cover them up. All pretty easy stuff that won’t affect my wrist too much and the stuff that does, I have helpers to help me with. I’m very grateful for my friends and family. <3

Of course after you plant all the seeds you have to really soak the earth so they can start growing. Luckily it’s been raining all week so the ground is already nice and moist, but we’ll have to get out the hose and soak them after they’re planted anyway.

I am so looking forward to this, you have no idea. This is definitely my favourite part of spring. Oh and another thing that’s happening at some point this weekend is that Blake is going to be raking out the back garden so we can plant veggies in it next weekend. We still need to buy more dirt for the upside down planters and larger tomato cages than the ones we have because last year they were insufficient, but my seedlings are doing good, the cat hasn’t eaten any of them (*knock on wood*) and we should be good to plant by next weekend. Right now we’re all drinking pop and iced tea like crazy so I can have the 2L pop bottles for mini greenhouses for the seedlings. You cut the tops off them and put them in the earth upside down over your seedlings so frost (and cats!) doesn’t get them. So far I think we have 4 bottles but we need like, 12? Or more? I’m not that worried about it, but it’s something we’re working on.

Anyway, my kwish is ready and I’m starving and my wrist is hurting from typing this so I’m going to shut up now and go eat! Happy Thursday!

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Help RAPS win $25,000!

My friend Phaedie loses one of her friends at least once a week. That’s because she works for a high-capacity cat sanctuary in Richmond, British Columbia, run by the Richmond Animal Protection Society, and unfortunately feline leukemia and feline AIDS is a part of the job, especially when dealing with such close quarters.

To keep cats out of shelters, people need to spay and neuter their pets and that’s what RAPS is aiming to do with Pepsi Canada’s Refresh Project contest. Their aim, with the $25,000 to be won, is to help low-income families spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets in order to help curb the already problematic business of sick, unwanted pets.

So how can you help? It’s easy. Click here and vote. You can sign in using Facebook connect so it really does only take 2 clicks and you’d be making a world of difference for animals and their people. Plus you’d be making Phaedie and I incredibly happy.

We need to try and get them to #1 or #2 as only the top 2 spots receive funding. Currently they’re in 3rd place, so we need to make a solid push to get then into 2nd! I know people don’t have money to give to every charity that comes their way, but if you’d normally be clicking on Farmville crops anyway, please use your mouse-fingers for this as well and help make a difference in the world. Thanks.

The contest voting is until June 30th, it’s a daily vote and I’ll be posting every few days to remind you to vote in case you forget.

In my last post, I said I’d show you all my Lush drawer so here it is. Obviously this is only about half of my stash, the other half is in the bathroom but because my bathroom is currently a disaster zone from Eryn & Madison cutting hair last weekend, I decided not to take pics in there. (But I would be happy to list the things in the bathroom if anyone cared, which I doubt,l but I love talking Lush so if you want the list, I’d be happy to oblige!)

Here’s the drawer:

As I’ve mentioned before, when I get a Lush order I but everything up into single-serve pieces, which is why everything is in baggies.

These are Karma bubble bars cut in half because in my opinion, you only really need half to get loads of bubbles.

These are Sunny Side bubble bars (which should be used whole, imo, or you won’t get the glittery water effect), some Karma soap, half of a Big Blue bath bomb and a Summer Pudding soap (to the right).

Lots & lots of Summer Pudding soap, which smells amazing and has crushed almonds in it for exfoliation. There’s also another half of a Big Blue in there and Karma bath melts on the bottom right.

A closer look at the Karma bath melts, which I believe should be used in halves unless you have a big tub.

A couple of Dragon’s Egg bath bombs surrounded by lots of Karma soap.
What can I say? I love Karma.

I use the fold-top baggies but I cut them so the fold top isn’t a fold top anymore. It’s easier to knot the bags that way. So that’s my Lush drawer.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been using Ocean Salt along with Tea Tree Water and Vanishing Cream and then doing The Sacred Truth fresh face mask and the acne caused by the fresh face mask called Cupcake has pretty much completely reversed itself! I’ve also been using Lush’s Aromaco deodorant but I’m not sure if I like it or not. I find it scratching to put on and I’m not sure I like the smell. It still smells better than B.O. and it doesn’t have the harmful aluminum whatevers in it so that’s a plus, but still it’s scratching as hell to put on and that’s even after I cut the top layer off with a knife to get at the creamer stuff in the middle. I’m not sure I’m going to stick with this one.

In other news, I have carpal tunnel syndrome that hurts like a motherfucker but so far is manageable with heavy doses of Naproxen. If it gets any worse, I’m going to ask my boss if I can take a 4 day weekend to rest my wrist because from what I’ve read, that’s the only thing you can really do for it. I can’t type with an ergonomic keyboard, even if I wasn’t using a laptop and I’m not sure what you do about your mouse when you have carpal tunnel. Either way, with the Naproxen it’s feeling better so I’m not going to stress out over it for the time being.

Two doors down they’re building a house and it’s very noisy and annoying but even more annoying is the fact that one of the ASSHOLES working on it ran over my recycling bin yesterday when they were pulling out from being parked on the side of the road and he didn’t even stop to apologize. Behold:

It’s a goner. Blake’s apparently getting us new recycling bins on Friday when he has the day off and I’m hoping he gets us the big kind so no one can run over them again. That shit pisses me off, I mean, if the guy apologized it would be one thing, but he didn’t so it’s another thing entirely and I don’t know who to even complain to about this because there are lots of guys working on the house and I don’t know which one is like, the foreman or whatever. And I have a feeling it was the guy in charge who did it, so there’s no one to complain to. What a shithead.

Madison turned 13 on Monday and she now wants to go to a mixed sex sleepover at a friends house in town. I’ve said “no” and plan on staying that way but she’s been bugging me about it every single day since she brought it up on Saturday. The kid’s driving me crazy and who the hell are these parents who are hosting this thing? Since when do we have mixed sex sleepovers at 13? And I’ve especially said no because I happen to have a pretty big feeling that Madison’s been experimenting with alcohol while at other friends’ houses with her friend Eryn who brought alcohol to our house a little while ago and Madison supposedly made her dump it out. It was one of those premade Mudslides or something. But child please, as if I’m going to believe you JUST dumped it out without sampling the goods first? Gimme a break, I wasn’t born yesterday.

So no, Madison is not going to a mixed sex sleepover at a questionable parents’ home with questionable friends.

And speaking of my terrible children, Wes is at home today instead of going to the zoo with his class because…well, it’s a long story. Blake signed the permission slip and gave Wes the money to go and Wes put it in his bag. Then a note came home saying that Wes hadn’t turned in his money & slip so Blake asked him what happened to them and Wes said he lost them. Blake told Wes to check his bag and Wes said he did. So Blake said that since he lost it he couldn’t go on the trip. Then Wes’ teacher calls Blake at work and basically begs for him to let him go to the zoon, so Blake gives him more money and a new permission slip and goes to put it in his bag and that’s when he found the envelope with the original money & slip. Because Wes either didn’t look well enough or lied about looking, he was not allowed to go on the trip. Now he’s complaining to me all day that he’s bored and I’m thinking we should have sent him to school anyway but the reason we didn’t is because if he went to school, they’d still let him out for lunch and recess and we wanted him to be bored and we wanted him to have to endure hearing about how awesome the trip was tomorrow when he goes back to school. But the kid just doesn’t understand that I’m not fucking around on the computer here, I’m working (I realize I’m also writing a blog, but I consider that part of my work too). Anyway, he’s driving me crazy.

Annnnd that’s all I can really think of to write about so I’ll end this here and get back to work. Happy Wednesday!

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Help RAPS win $25,000!

My friend Phaedie loses one of her friends at least once a week. That’s because she works for a high-capacity cat sanctuary in Richmond, British Columbia, run by the Richmond Animal Protection Society, and unfortunately feline leukemia and feline AIDS is a part of the job, especially when dealing with such close quarters.

To keep cats out of shelters, people need to spay and neuter their pets and that’s what RAPS is aiming to do with Pepsi Canada’s Refresh Project contest. Their aim, with the $25,000 to be won, is to help low-income families spay, neuter and vaccinate their pets in order to help curb the already problematic business of sick, unwanted pets.

So how can you help? It’s easy. Click here and vote. You can sign in using Facebook connect so it really does only take 2 clicks and you’d be making a world of difference for animals and their people. Plus you’d be making Phaedie and I incredibly happy.

We need to try and get them to #1 or #2 as only the top 2 spots receive funding. Currently they’re in 3rd place, so we need to make a solid push to get then into 2nd! I know people don’t have money to give to every charity that comes their way, but if you’d normally be clicking on Farmville crops anyway, please use your mouse-fingers for this as well and help make a difference in the world. Thanks.

The contest voting is until June 30th, it’s a daily vote and I’ll be posting every few days to remind you to vote in case you forget.