Play Time

This is what Frida does when she wants to play with Morty.

He hasn't quite figured that out yet.

Thanks to Milan for the shot (although I suspect I might have taken this one). Thanks to Milan for letting me hold his camera long enough to take pictures of my dogs.

In other news...

Our EcoLawn is growing! We planted it in mushroom compost this time around and it seems to be working.

I'll update the house blog with pictures soon.

Tah for now...

Certain Sort

I'm still recovering from the weekend. The Venus Envy gang held our annual Certain Sort Pride party, and lord it was fun. I learned a few things:

- Although four beers normally doesn't get me drunk, four beers on an empty stomach gets me quite drunk indeed.

- Pride is a good excuse to wear dresses that are otherwise too small.

- Apparently I have a temper when people talk to me as though I have no brain.

- Eating pho at 3am is an excellent idea.

- I ended up with a lot of boob shots on my camera. Maybe this new boobage isn't so bad after all!

In other news, Frida has decided that pooping outdoors is overrated and that pooping in the dining room is way more awesome. It's... not fun.

Not related to poop: One of my songs is going to appear in a Canadian-made short film! I signed contracts and everything! Very exciting.

New Mission

My body has been feeling out of sorts lately.

It feels out of shape, mostly, as well as uncomfortable and tired. All the time.

After making several plans of attack to deal with this feeling (eating smaller portions, eating better, being social, exercising more [FAIL], throwing myself into cleaning, sleeping through the night, reorganizing my closet, magically shrinking my boobs, etc), I have decided that all my planning sucks. It doesn't work, I get annoyed, and then I feel worse. FUCK PLANNING.

No, seriously.

So then I made a new plan, because I don't know how to deal with problems any other way. I make a list, I formulate a plan, I act on said plan. Even if that formula has not been working out so well lately.

My latest plan is this:

1. Master stupid iTunes even though I hate stupid iTunes, fill up my MP3 player with good music. This is key to getting anything done in my life - the soundtrack. But Jesus, iTunes pisses me off.
2. Buy myself and my BH a full city gym pass, pool and all.
3. Be creative about this, because I don't actually have money to buy the passes.
4. Make a schedule and follow it as best we can. Be exercise buddies. Try not to make too many excuses.
5. Eventually feel less like a turd.

I don't know if this plan will fail like the other plans. It's certainly possible. But I need to do SOMETHING or my head is going to explode.

In happy music news, I've ended my gigging hiatus and I've started booking fall shows. And it looks like a gig at my favourite cafe (Raw Sugar) with one of my favourite people (Shawna Caspi) is going to be a real possibility. Yay!

Peach Pie

This weekend was a busy one, culminating with a baby shower for a friend of mine. Since I have an allergic reaction to traditional baby showers, when my friend asked me to host, I decided to go for something a little less conventional (thanks for the idea, Offbeat Mama). A few snacks, some great art supplies, and plain onesies to decorate. I think it was a success.... She left with a gigantic personalized wardrobe for her kid, and I didn't need to play baby name games. Victory!

The downside to hosting the shower was that I had to fast-track the unpacking process. That was also the upside, I guess. Although I'm exhausted, my dining / living room looks totally awesome. Just don't peek in the bedroom, because that's where I stashed the boxes! Shhhhh....

My BH is back from the woods, where he was staying for three whole weeks. It felt like FOREVER. I'm glad he's home and baking up a storm. Come visit us if you want peach pie, and no, that's not a euphemism. His return was a sharp reminder that we need a bigger bed, however.... A double mattress does not fit two adults and two bulldogs.

This week we're re-planting the EcoLawn, which died an awful death during the heat wave. We bought a bunch of mushroom compost, and those seeds are going to be cradled in its earthy embrace. Here's hoping we have a lawn before the snow falls. If not, I'm going to pave the backyard. Just kidding. But really, I hope those seeds grow.

I've started using my closet studio, and although it still needs a floor and some shelves, it's pretty much the greatest thing. When I want to play guitar, I close the door, and voila! No howling dogs, no distractions. It's beautiful.

You know what's coming up? PRIDE! There's going to be some wild queer partying and some fun parade action. My BH and I bought rainbow bandannas to dress up the bulldogs. It's going to be a gay old time. Are you guys going to any Pride events?

Over and out!

Progress

After getting a whopping two hours of sleep last night, I called in sick to work and proceeded to go into Nutso Unpack Mode on my house.

The lack of sleep was caused by the allergies of both my BH and Frida, who alternated shifts of extreme itchiness and unhappy groaning, which I was unable to snooze through. I had planned to sleep the day away, honestly, but my house called me with a voice I couldn't refuse.

Sometimes I feel ridiculous for not being done the housework, but then I remember a few key things:

We only really moved in on July 1, so it's been a month and a half of unpacking / reno time. During this month and a half, I've worked full time hours and my BH has been away for three weeks.

So. Not surprising that we're not living in a gleaming paradise, but I'd still like to finish up.

I think I've done five loads of laundry, one of which was particularly victorious, because it unearthed my favourite bra (it's been missing for weeks and I was getting a little put off by its absence). I've washed the floors, unpacked 90% of the bedroom, organized some recycling and garbage, given Morty a bath (holy hell he was stinky), gotten my closet studio working, and eaten a fabulous piece of peach pie (my BH is back and baking, oh yes).

We were supposed to have company tonight, but the plans fell through, which means I can clean some more. Not sleep, do my nails or go out for dinner.... But CLEAN.

In happy news, I'm recording songs on my new computer. The takes are rough, and the songs are old, but I'm thrilled to be here anyway.

The Cat Came Back (Unwisely)

Cat: Meet bulldogs.

Bulldogs: Please don't eat the neighbour's cat.

They kindly obliged, but Frida did get out. That cat can run.

xo

Stella

Night Owl

In order to lose some weight, aka some boobage, I am eating less and cutting down my sugar intake. I'd like to think it's doing some good, except that I ditched the scale during the move and I have absolutely no clue how much I weigh. Not good planning.

You know what else I threw out during the move? Our TV. It was old and partially chewed up by doggies, but it worked. I reasoned that we were going to buy a newer TV when we were more settled, but I miscalculated one thing.

We went broke.

So now we are without an old TV and also without hope for a new TV. Not good planning, yet again. We've had plenty of offers from friends who have old sets collecting dust in their houses, but I'm starting to notice that we are oddly productive without a television. Go figure. Maybe I should hold out for a bit longer, although I really miss watching Harry Potter.

Tonight promises to be stormy and humid. I'm also quite hungover and moderately grumpy. I think I'll stay home with a very long to-do list, and knock off the chores one by one. My top priorities are painting the recording closet and reorganizing the bedroom closet. I'm also annoyed that our mitre saw is still living on top of the kitchen table, so I'll move that if I can. I wouldn't mind giving the floor a good mop too.

Yes, I know, that's a lot for one evening.... Luckily I'm a night owl!

Hole in the Heart

Is it wrong that I'm getting excited for fall?

I love summer. LOVE summer. I'm a hot weather gal, through and through.

But I am crazy about fall, and in a fight, fall would pin summer to the ground with one hand behind its back.

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I've been a little off this week. My parents had to put down the family cat, and although she was sick and no longer all that happy, I feel her absence like a hole in the heart.

She was always my cat. I picked her out from the Humane Society. I was incredibly fond of her, and spent most of my days with her on my lap or next to me somehow. I haven't lived with my parents for a long time, so I didn't get to see her as much... But it still feels like a kick to the stomach.

Losing pets is so incredibly shitty. They really become a part of your life.

I guess eventually you get used to that hole in the heart.

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A definite pick-me-up is the knowledge that my new computer is arriving sometime this week. Because I'll be using it to write and record music, it feels like I'm waiting for the delivery of some powerful creative machine. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but I'm looking forward to the process.

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I finally updated the house blog. Mosey on over if you want to see one fuck of a bathroom reno.