Well a quiet morning. Eve and I went to the store for milk and to get something to blow the drain clear in the laundry.  I swear that drain blocks up every month and normal drain cleaner won't work because the blockage is well below the s bend in another pointless bend in the pipes.  I don't know who plumbed this place but they had a weird sense of humour.

Fortunately I found something from Liquid Plumber which uses compressed air to blow the clog away.  You make sure you have water in the pipes to help build pressure, then you block any overflows and use this tool to shoot compressed air into the pipes.  With the extra pressure and no place else to go, it blows the clog away and no nasty chemicals into the system.  Suits me given how often this particular drain blocks up. When it does I end up with water all over the laundry floor when the washing machine won't drain properly.

Also went back to the store where I bought my two dresses (for those who did not read my previous blog you may want to go back and check that one) and bought yet another dress.  This is the one I was originally looking at but my daughter walked in just as I was about to make my decision and talked me out of it saying I wasn't a  "blue" person.  Now I should be taking advice on clothes colours from someone who's entire wardrobe is made up of 20 or so pairs of black pants, and equal number of black tops, around 10 brown shirts and perhaps one coloured shirt which she rarely ever wears.

So not being entirely happy with either of the first two dresses I went back and got the blue one.  What do people think of this one? Which of the choice of three gets the most votes? I am personally leaning to the blue, although so far the sundress seems to be impressing most people and it was my last choice, so perhaps I am not seeing what others see. Personally I am not for all these prints preferring solid colours myself but it seems no one is making anything in solid colours at the moment.

Today the sky is blue and the weather is warm.  Such a nice change since the weather has sucked here lately.  Still trying to get my hot air balloon ride.  It has been cancelled three times so far due to weather.  Got it booked again for Wednesday evening, so will see what happens then.

Magpie called me yesterday from Excess Cargo, a store that buys up overstocks and such and sells them off cheap.  She had found a supply of really large canvases cheap, (really really cheap) and was buying some for herself and wondered if I wanted some.  I can't afford it but told her yes, get me one of each. I will find a way to pay her on payday.  It was too good a deal to let pass and she knows how I love to work on really large canvases.  I can feel the urge to paint again rising already.

Last weekend I think I finished a painting for my director at work. It is called, appropriately enough "The Wizard's Tower".  It is a landscape, rolling fields, and in the distance a tower on top of a bare hill.  In the very foreground of it all is a broken stone wall with a raven sitting on it.

I think it is finished,although maybe I will add a little moss to the wall.  I am not completely happy with it and think that little touch might do it for me.

Found Hilary, my cat sleeping in my bed when I went downstairs. It's a change since I found her sleeping in the bathroom sink and the bathtub earlier this week.  She is so frail and thin looking these days, although she seems healthy enough. She never did weigh more than a muffin anyway, being one of the smallest cats I have ever owned.  She has lost most of her beautiful trousers and the fur on her hind legs is now a little sparse making her look really odd.  Can only put it down to old age. I shall have to keep a close eye on her this winter as she likes to slip outside when we are unaware and with so little fur on her hindquarters, it would not be good for her to be outside for too long.

I have been trying to figure out exactly when she came to live with me. I am thinking it was 1991 but it may have been 1992. Either way she is an old lady now. Still as long as we don't tell her she doesn't seem to know. We keep an eye on her and she does seem to sleep a little more than she used to but when she is up and about she is full of spit and vinegar as my gramma would have said.  She still likes to play and she loves getting "high"on the catnip I am growing for her.  I had to move it to a hanging basket to save it from her LOL.

I wonder sometimes how I will take it when she finally goes. It seems like she has always been here. We were visiting with a friend many many years ago, when her neighbour announced he had something to show the kids and came back with a wicker laundry basket. Just as he approached us this little tiny face popped out of the top of the basket and I was lost.  Her two sisters were plain grey and much bigger than her but she was a little brindle tortie with a black stripe down either side of her nose, like a cheeta.  All in all a very surprised expression on her face when she was little.  needless to say she came home with me that day.

There have been a number of other cats come and go in the interum, and the two cats I already had when I got her have also passed away, but she just keeps on going.  She attached herself to my son and would only tolerate the rest of us.  When he left home the first time ten years ago, she was lost and wouldn't have anything to do with anyone other than letting us feed her for most of a year.  Then I guess she decided that if she was going to get any affection at all it would have to be from us so she came around to liking me.  When my son moved back home the second time last year,she immediately reattached herself to him as if he had never left.  When he came back the first time, he had brought another cat with him and she didn't like him much that time LOL.

Wow,what a ramble.  Guess this is the day for it.

Eithne

Ok so I have this wedding to go to in Mexico in October.  It will be on the beach and I wanted a new dress.

This being the end of the season this has an upside and a downside.  The prices were amazing as everyone is clearing out the summer stock, and the downside is that there isn't a lot to choose from.

Now my whole family thinks I should wear the sundress but when I look at it all I see is arm, like a lady wrestler.  I prefer the dress with the cap sleeves but they all say it makes me look pregnant. which I would also hate.

So here is my problem.  Which dress do I wear, or do I keep looking for something completely different.

I would add some sort of a shawl to the sundress which might help hide the huge arms a little bit.

Of course both photos suck but that's a different issue altogether LOL.

Eithne

I forgot to mention that last night I was stopped by the police on the highway.  Random spot check of all cars looking for drunk drivers.

The officer leans in the window and says "I guess I would be correct in saying you haven't been drinking tonight?"

Wonder if the fact that I was in my pyjamas had anything to do with it LOL.

So much for my daughter telling me that there is no reason I can't wear my pjs to go pick her up from downtown at night.

Eithne

Back to work today and being back on the phones wasn't too bad.  It is a bit like riding a bike I guess, when you know how to do it you don't forget. I had a customer tell me I was the best rep he had spoken to ever when calling the company, so I guess I've still  got it.

Eve is home and I swear she grew an inch in the past week.  She is so tall.

I am watching her sitting here flirting with Ryan, her uncle Chris's best friend.  I have to laugh.  Where did she learn that or does it just come naturally to little girls.  She smiles just right and bats her eyes at him and he is butter in her hands LOL.

Tonight she and I shared a toasted tomato sandwich made from the first two tomatoes to come out of our little garden.  They were so sweet it was wonderful.  I don't have as many coming along as I would have liked, but then given the rainy dull summer we have had so far I shouldn't be surprised.

I am going to try to rebook my hot air balloon ride for next Wednesday.  I have an early finish at work that day and then switch to a noon to 8 shift for the next four weeks as I have a training class scheduled starting on Thursday, so won't be able to book it for at least a month after that.

Today I booked my flight to Mexico.  I took a night flight out of Ottawa with a long layover in Philly.  It makes for a long trip overall but it is about $200 cheaper than if I left at 6 am and frankly given that I would have to be up at around 2:30 am to get to the airport in time to make the two hour early check in for a six am flight, it really won't be much harder, and frankly probably easier, since I can find a bench at the departure gate in Philly and curl up and nap.

I am so very excited.

I have been to Playa Del Carmen before as I won a trip there from my company a few years back for being the top sales person in Ottawa.  I had to travel with a group of other sales reps from the company from other call centres across Canada. That was ten days all inclusive with a friend, and this trip will be shorter, but I suspect the company will be more fun.

So, managed to make my way through a day on the phones, booked my Mexico trip, got to eat some of my home grown tomatoes and watched my beautiful little Eve turn on the charm and flirt with the men LOL.  I am so happy that she has that kind of confidence in herself and isn't shy, although with her mother and I around to influence her there isn't a lot of chance she could be shy.

Yep all in all a good day.

Thank you Goddess.

Eithne

Well tomorrow I am back to work.  I have spent the last week since coming home from fest doing absolutely nothing useful.

I attempted to book my hot air balloon ride, however the weather was not the least bit cooperative.  The ride ended up being cancelled every day due to unstable weather conditions and thunderstorms.  But then that has been our whole summer so far.

I have to try to rebook it again, however won't do that for a couple of weeks, as I am not sure how my work schedule is going to pan out.  I do start a new training group in a couple of weeks and then I will have a stable schedule for a month, so I will try rebooking it then.

I also didn't find the time or energy to go down the road and use my spa gift certificate to get that massage.  Actually I had lots of time but just couldn't motivate myself.

Eve is back from her vacation with her other grandparents today and I have to admit I have missed her a lot.  The house is so quiet without her.  Now the upside of that is that I actually got to sleep late this week, for the first time in three and a half years, and the down side is I miss her hugs every morning.  I keep listening for her and she isnt' there.

Swan is off in Scotland with her partner.  Huge mistake, but I know she has always wanted to go and he knew it too, so booked the trip.  In his usual fashion, he told her he would pay her airfare but she had to come up with the money for her accommodations and spending money.  Now what "married" couple plans a trip that way.  Who ever heard of a so called committed couple going dutch treat on a vacation.  (Of course it may have backfired on him as she managed to pull together about twice as much spending money as he did).  I strongly suspect he is going to ask her to marry him while they are on this trip and further more I feel she might just be foolish enough to say yes, or at the very least Maybe.  After all what else is she going to say when they are on vacation in a foreign country.  No, and then have him spoil the rest of the trip with his normal temper tantrums.  I tried to warn her but as usual she didn't  listen.

Why oh why is she still with this man when she keeps seeking solace in the arms of other men.  Isn't the fact that she feels this need enough to tell her that she is never going to be happy with this man or that she is never going to "make it work". Not looking forward to the post fest conversation with her.  I chose not to do it before she left.  No point in making even more stress for her while she is on her dream trip ( or maybe nightmare)

Grasshopper is in Ohio on some form of training course for her work,  so haven't had a chance to  speak with her since fest. She is stil trying to make her bad marriage work, now that there is a baby involved there is even less chance that she will learn and accept quickly but she has to stop trying to involve others in making him pay attention to her. Not looking forward to that conversation either.

Bear and Magpie are still getting settled into their new home.  They have a very busy schedule with weddings and teenager daughters parties, so that I wonder if they will ever get unpacked. LOL.  Perhaps when they are home and free one weekend soon I will go back out there and and lend a hand. I am so glad that there is one couple that at least appears to have it together and who seem to understand that to make a relationship work you have to give and take and cooperate and above all be honest with each other and not play games.  Funny thing is if you didn't know them you would think they had the most disfunctional relationship of all, just listening to the insults and comments they throw out at one another. LOL. But if you really listen, you realize that it is all done in fun and affection and that there is a deep seated respect and love for one another behind it.

Me, I am fighting what I figure is a kidney infection and suffering a lot of lower back pain.  Or maybe not as I am not running to the bathroom any more than I usually do.  I have after all a bladder made in Taiwan anyway.  Perhaps it is just the nasty damp weather and the arthritis which the doctors now tell me has moved into the lower spine.

Today I have moved my easel up to the living room.  I usually paint in my bedroom in the basement however with the weather being what it has been lately, it is uncomfortably muggy down there and I dont' have a dehumidifier or portable air conditioner, so can't realy work in comfort down there.  I promised myself I was going to paint during my vacation so I am determined to finish the painting currently on the easel.  It is a raven sitting on a broken stone wall, and off in the distance it a hill with a single stone tower on top of it.  It is for my director at work, the big big boss for my centre.  He has been a long time supporter of mine.  For some reason he has always thought the sun rose over my head, and supported me even when others thought he was nuts.  I promised him a painting for his new office but couldn't decide which of the finished paintings I already had would work, then decided that he would like the one I was painting presently.

Anyway, that is my life for now.  Very muggle like this week and nothing witchey at all.

Oh, and I am anxiously waiting for my credit card payment to post to my card so I can go online and book my next vacation:  Mexico in October.  Can't wait!