What's a Canadian doing in North Carolina?
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Life in general
We got the airconditioner fixed, thank the gods! Originally, the guy said it was the compressor, and that we'd need a new one at the price of $1400! Turns out, it was only a burned out wire that cost $150 :-p
Goes to show that you should get a second opinion not just on medical issues, but electrical as well! Meanwhile, the heatwave and drought continue. Its really getting a bit old.
Cousin Dee delivered her baby girl Xena who remains in hospital due to heart problems that will require surgery. She is in Toronto's Sick Kid's hospital, one of the best in the world, so we know she's in good hands. Thoughts and prayers would of course always be appreciated! Course of action will be determined tomorrow (Monday Aug. 20th), of when and what they'll do in surgery.
George & Bruno have once again completed basic obedience training at Pet Smart, and of course George will be going back AGAIN, because she went and attacked one of her classmates! The poor little thing, she scared the bejeebers out of him! We'll be going back until she finally decides that other dogs maybe aren't so bad :-p Probably til she's so old and senile she won't even recognize another dog, let alone be able to attack it! sheesh...rotten mutt...
Not much else goin' on really. We're still getting ready for Dragon Con, and we've been out shopping the past couple of days looking for bits and bobs for our costumes. James got himself a rather nice waistcoat type vest, and a dress shirt for his wizard costume. I have yet to find myself an affordable peasant blouse for my pirate costume, nor can I find just the right type of Hogwarts Professor type blouse to go with my witch costume. I have a pointy hat, velvet cloak and nice linen skirt, but no top. I was also looking for a corset for a vampire costume maybe, but the only affordable one we found didn't quite fit right. I may just go back for it and see if I can alter it a bit, take in the sides to make it fit better.
Problem is that 98% of my clothes that I have now don't fit because of all the weight I've gained. I also am finding it rather difficult to find every day clothes that fit me that I could bear to wear. And that I can afford. At the mo, I have 3 pairs of trousers that fit that I can wear to work, and maybe half a dozen tops, and 2 skirts. On the weekends lately I've been wearing sarongs and t-shirts. Its too hot for much anything else.
Shopping yesterday up in Asheville and there are half a dozen shops that sell skirts and tunic/peasant blouses, but for some odd reason, they're priced right out of my range! Back home, a broomstick skirt (you know the ones, hippy chicks and witches wear 'em!) in Little India and other neighbourhoods are like $10 or less. I didn't find any for less than $30 here, and they're the same dang thing! Wonderful Nepalese and Indian made tunics are $30 on up to $60, when I could get them at the Himalaya store in Toronto for less than half that.
We did get ourselves a small jar of Imladris Farm raspberry jam though!
And a couple of candle holders and paper streamer decorations (for PPD maybe) at a shop called Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade shop with handmade items from around the world. Some beautiful work in there, I could have spent $1000 easily, if I'd had it! I will most definitely go back there when I'm doing holiday gift shopping!
This week I have another follow-up appointment with my Endocrinologist. I still haven't been able to pay for the last one :-p I dunno if they'll be drawing blood this time. Probably. Which of course just costs more, on top of the $90 visit fee. My insuarnce doesn't pay for anything yet, because we haven't met the deductible. Probably won't before the end of the year when we start all over again either! I can't tell you how glad I am that Cousin Dee and baby Xena are in Canada and won't have to worry about debilitating hospital bills on top of everything else!
What a crazy system this is here! Just nucking futz! About one third of my wages go to pay health insurance premiums, and then I still can't actually *use* the health insurance because I have to pay $1000 deductible first! And I can't afford to pay the deductible, because so much of my wages go to pay for the premiums. Round and round and round we go...
If we don't go back to full time hours at EJV soon, I will have to start looking for a second job. Or a first job that'll give me 5 days a week. So far, there's been no mention of going back to 5 days a week. I just don't have the energy to hold down 2 jobs...bleah... ¶ 11:21 AM 0 Comments
Goes to show that you should get a second opinion not just on medical issues, but electrical as well! Meanwhile, the heatwave and drought continue. Its really getting a bit old.
Cousin Dee delivered her baby girl Xena who remains in hospital due to heart problems that will require surgery. She is in Toronto's Sick Kid's hospital, one of the best in the world, so we know she's in good hands. Thoughts and prayers would of course always be appreciated! Course of action will be determined tomorrow (Monday Aug. 20th), of when and what they'll do in surgery.
George & Bruno have once again completed basic obedience training at Pet Smart, and of course George will be going back AGAIN, because she went and attacked one of her classmates! The poor little thing, she scared the bejeebers out of him! We'll be going back until she finally decides that other dogs maybe aren't so bad :-p Probably til she's so old and senile she won't even recognize another dog, let alone be able to attack it! sheesh...rotten mutt...
Not much else goin' on really. We're still getting ready for Dragon Con, and we've been out shopping the past couple of days looking for bits and bobs for our costumes. James got himself a rather nice waistcoat type vest, and a dress shirt for his wizard costume. I have yet to find myself an affordable peasant blouse for my pirate costume, nor can I find just the right type of Hogwarts Professor type blouse to go with my witch costume. I have a pointy hat, velvet cloak and nice linen skirt, but no top. I was also looking for a corset for a vampire costume maybe, but the only affordable one we found didn't quite fit right. I may just go back for it and see if I can alter it a bit, take in the sides to make it fit better.
Problem is that 98% of my clothes that I have now don't fit because of all the weight I've gained. I also am finding it rather difficult to find every day clothes that fit me that I could bear to wear. And that I can afford. At the mo, I have 3 pairs of trousers that fit that I can wear to work, and maybe half a dozen tops, and 2 skirts. On the weekends lately I've been wearing sarongs and t-shirts. Its too hot for much anything else.
Shopping yesterday up in Asheville and there are half a dozen shops that sell skirts and tunic/peasant blouses, but for some odd reason, they're priced right out of my range! Back home, a broomstick skirt (you know the ones, hippy chicks and witches wear 'em!) in Little India and other neighbourhoods are like $10 or less. I didn't find any for less than $30 here, and they're the same dang thing! Wonderful Nepalese and Indian made tunics are $30 on up to $60, when I could get them at the Himalaya store in Toronto for less than half that.
We did get ourselves a small jar of Imladris Farm raspberry jam though!
And a couple of candle holders and paper streamer decorations (for PPD maybe) at a shop called Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade shop with handmade items from around the world. Some beautiful work in there, I could have spent $1000 easily, if I'd had it! I will most definitely go back there when I'm doing holiday gift shopping!
This week I have another follow-up appointment with my Endocrinologist. I still haven't been able to pay for the last one :-p I dunno if they'll be drawing blood this time. Probably. Which of course just costs more, on top of the $90 visit fee. My insuarnce doesn't pay for anything yet, because we haven't met the deductible. Probably won't before the end of the year when we start all over again either! I can't tell you how glad I am that Cousin Dee and baby Xena are in Canada and won't have to worry about debilitating hospital bills on top of everything else!
What a crazy system this is here! Just nucking futz! About one third of my wages go to pay health insurance premiums, and then I still can't actually *use* the health insurance because I have to pay $1000 deductible first! And I can't afford to pay the deductible, because so much of my wages go to pay for the premiums. Round and round and round we go...
If we don't go back to full time hours at EJV soon, I will have to start looking for a second job. Or a first job that'll give me 5 days a week. So far, there's been no mention of going back to 5 days a week. I just don't have the energy to hold down 2 jobs...bleah... ¶ 11:21 AM 0 Comments
Sunday, August 05, 2007
I am sooooooo ready for winter!
I can't handle this heat anymore! Its like 90F outside, and probably hotter than that inside. I breathe and I sweat, its disgusting. I hate sweating.
Bruno is pretty much living in the basement now, but I've got the dryer on doing laundry and its getting hot even down there. Poor thing :-(
ugh...someone please send large blocks of ice! ¶ 2:03 PM 2 Comments
Bruno is pretty much living in the basement now, but I've got the dryer on doing laundry and its getting hot even down there. Poor thing :-(
ugh...someone please send large blocks of ice! ¶ 2:03 PM 2 Comments
Friday, August 03, 2007
This'll put marzipan in your pieplate, Bingo!
Well, here's some photos from my short trip home. I really only took pics at Mum's birthday party, and as most of the party goers were family whom I don't know if they'd appreciate me putting their photos on the internet, I've only got 3 to post.
How's that for a run on sentence?
Me, Mum, Chrissy & AJ
Me & Charlene (not very flattering, but my arms are not quite long enough for the self portrait method of photography!)
The Party Tree. Quite fortuitous that my Mum is a hobbit with a big tree in her garden eh? ;-)
Plus, here's some pics of a couple of little trinket boxes I painted recently and donated to our local Pagan Pride Day ewitch auction to raise money for our PPD.
I bought blank boxes at AC Moore and painted them. The first I did was the Celtic Cat, and then did the Green Man. The boxes are fairly small, only about palm sized, so the detail work was really difficult. Each box took me about 3 hours to paint.
I'm totally new at painting, I haven't done any artsy painting since highschool, which was a very loooooooooooooooong time ago indeed! Well..except some wine glasses that my sister and I painted for her wedding 9 years ago. I have a tonne of art supplies that hubby got me last year, and that my Grandmother gave me, so I feel kind of obligated to get with it and do something!
My (paternal) Grandmother is an awesome painter! She's got some really impressive stuff hanging in her apartment. Mostly she works with watercolours lately, which is even harder than using acrylics or oils. As she says, with oils if you make a mistake you can just cover it up with some more paint. It doesn't quite work that way with watercolours.
She did one amazing portrait of Mother Theresa, it is so life-like, I'm just in awe of Momma's talent, and wish I could have at least a third of it!
I asked her why she doesn't sell any of her paintings, she could make a few extra dollars for sure!
She also does landscapes and city scapes, not just portraits. And, I believe she is self taught, I don't think she ever took any lessons.
My Muse left me several years ago though. I think it coincides with the thyroid problems, and when that started wreaking havoc with my brain, my artistic talents and ambitions all flew out the window. Its sort of coming back, but its really difficult to get into, and very daunting. I have so many pictures in my head I'd like to paint, but I just can't seem to get them to come out the frilly end of the brush. If you follow...
*sigh* Maybe some day... ¶ 9:55 AM 3 Comments
How's that for a run on sentence?
Me, Mum, Chrissy & AJ
Me & Charlene (not very flattering, but my arms are not quite long enough for the self portrait method of photography!)
The Party Tree. Quite fortuitous that my Mum is a hobbit with a big tree in her garden eh? ;-)
Plus, here's some pics of a couple of little trinket boxes I painted recently and donated to our local Pagan Pride Day ewitch auction to raise money for our PPD.
I bought blank boxes at AC Moore and painted them. The first I did was the Celtic Cat, and then did the Green Man. The boxes are fairly small, only about palm sized, so the detail work was really difficult. Each box took me about 3 hours to paint.
I'm totally new at painting, I haven't done any artsy painting since highschool, which was a very loooooooooooooooong time ago indeed! Well..except some wine glasses that my sister and I painted for her wedding 9 years ago. I have a tonne of art supplies that hubby got me last year, and that my Grandmother gave me, so I feel kind of obligated to get with it and do something!
My (paternal) Grandmother is an awesome painter! She's got some really impressive stuff hanging in her apartment. Mostly she works with watercolours lately, which is even harder than using acrylics or oils. As she says, with oils if you make a mistake you can just cover it up with some more paint. It doesn't quite work that way with watercolours.
She did one amazing portrait of Mother Theresa, it is so life-like, I'm just in awe of Momma's talent, and wish I could have at least a third of it!
I asked her why she doesn't sell any of her paintings, she could make a few extra dollars for sure!
She also does landscapes and city scapes, not just portraits. And, I believe she is self taught, I don't think she ever took any lessons.
My Muse left me several years ago though. I think it coincides with the thyroid problems, and when that started wreaking havoc with my brain, my artistic talents and ambitions all flew out the window. Its sort of coming back, but its really difficult to get into, and very daunting. I have so many pictures in my head I'd like to paint, but I just can't seem to get them to come out the frilly end of the brush. If you follow...
*sigh* Maybe some day... ¶ 9:55 AM 3 Comments
