Hella Stella

The past two days reminded me why I need to get better sleep during the week. The weekend arrives, and I feel so drained that I pretty much want to nap the hours away. I fell asleep three times yesterday in completely random places! Not cool at all.

I still got some fun things done, exhaustion aside. There were two birthday parties, both of which allowed me to catch up with some friends and consume tasty snacks. One party featured the ever-popular unexpected queer dancing (I've had Prince in my head ever since), while the other featured unexpected adorable baby cheeks.*

I also cleaned parts of the house, which is no small feat when you're *this close* to passing out on the couch. I've officially put away my summer clothes and I've taken out the Rubbermaid of hats and scarves. My BH and I did a grocery shopping at the Superstore, which is madness at any time, but especially on a weekend. Oh well. We're fully stocked up on black beans and white vinegar, at least. What more does a person need? (plenty more, but I like those two things)

Lately I've been fiddling with our finances, since this is the last year (I HOPE) that we'll be splitting one salary into a billion different directions. Basically I'm going to spend the next eight or nine months just trying to make things work: paying bills, paying debts, putting aside for a trip to Japan. Then I'll reevaluate and retool again. This is about the only time I actually enjoy doing math.

I've also tried to encourage myself to stay organized by overhauling my system of keeping lists and notebooks. I may have mentioned that I am joined at the hip to my notebook. It's a hard cover, lined, ring-bound book and I keep track of my life in it. Recently, I decided that I could change my unmovable system, which I've been using in some form since high school. I needed the rings and hard cover when I was in university or shuffling between part-time jobs - this made sure the book didn't bend when I threw it in my bag, as well as letting me open the book all the way around for ultimate list access.

Now that I have a grown up, full-time job (and have for several years), I think I can be a bit more flexible. Gone are the days or morning class, afternoon shift, evening shift, homework until 3am. Now I'm using a black, lined Moleskine for my lists, and a bright green Moleskine for my finances. It even sounds grown up. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised at how well it works. I was just so attached to my ringed babies, I suppose...

So... Are you all asleep? *tap tap*

What can I say? I find notebooks almost as exciting as organizational shelving. Y'all are just lucky that I don't have any more room for shelving in my apartment, or you'd probably all be comatose by now.

*I was hoping to put up a picture of said queer dancing, but most of the pictures feature my boobs or somebody's fine booty. My camera has a mind of its own! Totally not my doing! Promise!

Things have improved! It's amazing what a $250 emergency vet visit can do (besides cause me to panic and grab my credit card).

Morty quickly got worse after the initial, uh, explosion, and we decided not to chance it. Turns out he caught some sort of exciting bug out and about that was wrecking havock on his guts. The vet was sweet and was very kind to my nervous pup. Even when she did that weird anal probe thingy.

Now my baby is feeling much better:


Thank you antibiotics. Not so much the anal probe.

Morty got to meet two Newfoundlanders in the waiting room, and judging by the look of pure joy on his face, he was thinking "OMG, A BEAR! Where is the bum end? Can I smell it?"

Other than the vet visit, I had a great weekend. I got to hang out with other people's babies - holy cute! Meet little Maggie:




Yes, she smiles like that pretty much all the time.

I also cleaned out my basement, which until today was about as messy as we left it when we first moved in. I even opened a window and used the clothesline. What a feeling! I even had a talk with Andi this morning about growing lettuce, and dude, that makes me some happy. Lettuce! Imagine!

My BH finishes classes soon, and I think I'm almost as excited as he is. One more year and we're home free. He went to the barber today and got his hair cut and his beard shaved off. He looks about five years younger. I never worry much about changes in his facial hair - he pretty much just needs to concentrate and VOILA! Beard. The smooth face is pretty nice though.

Hope you all had a lovely spring weekend. Open a window and celebrate!

Oooh, yesterday was a bad day. So very bad. So very unnecessary. But hey! Today is a new day, and I am home sick from work so I can get me to a clinic again. Bastard sickness. Am I going on week seven now? I've lost track.

It's nice to be home. The apartment is finally starting to come together, and the painting is done. Pictures of the finished product will come. The NEON GREEN is very bright, but not so much neon as it is lime. The front room is a very, very light purple. It's a relief to have the painting done, but holy hell was it a lot of work. We have some very patient friends with some very useful edging brushes. And sand paper! Who knew?

Anyway, Morty is thrilled somebody is home to play with him. I was all, "Hey Morty! I'm home after all!" and he was all, "BONER!" I guess that shouldn't surprise me, but he's learning how to gyrate his hips, which is a little unnerving. So much for the innocent puppy look. Next time I introduce Morty to someone, I just hope to God he doesn't start the Slow Hump.

Speaking of Morty, I have found my camera cable! You know what that means. Picture update.

PS: Has anyone else noticed that my graphics have mysteriously disappeared? Is it just me, or are they really all gone?

Some things on the agenda over the next few days.

1. Get my cough checked out. I've had it for a month, and my BH is starting give me the Worried Medical Expert look.

2. Thank my landlord for the new toilet that was installed today! Did you know our toilet has been broken since the day after we moved in? I probably didn't mention it because broken toilets are gross.

3. Paint stuff. Namely the kitchen walls and my rusty antique milk can. Hello, tetanus.

4. Go to the Nordique spa and sit in the steam room until I am a shriveled prune. Then drink alcoholic beverages! What could possibly go wrong?

5. Cut all my hair off. Oh wait, I did that last night. It was awesome.

6. FINISH UNPACKING. I know I'm being a bit hard on myself, seeing as how I work all day and therefore have very little time to tackle the mess of boxes... But still. I would like it to be over already. A place for everything and everything in its place, right?

7. Buy a full length mirror. Not only do I get dressed in the dark, I also get dressed without the help of a mirror. Considering that I'm not very good at wearing appropriate office attaire as it is, the results have been disastrous.

Otherwise, I'm a bit in denial about the fact that it's already August 7th. Funny, but I've been out of school for three (three?) years now and I still get the back-to-school jitters as September approaches. I wonder if that will ever go away...

Morty went to his first puppy class today.

I think he did very well, other than the growling and the boner. He is a special boy. But driving to puppy class by myself with Morty strapped into the seat beside me? Hellishly stressful. Remind me not to do that alone ever again.

Now Morty has fallen asleep on my BH, who is also asleep. If you ask me (not that you have a choice in the matter), they are two of the cutest boys in the world. Oh, Morty just upped the cute by eating in his sleep. Now he's licking his chops. Now he's grunting. Holy dang.

To drastically change topics: I've just about had it with strangers coming into my house. This place still isn't rented, and my lovely property manager keeps bringing people over in the hopes that someone will want the house for the next eleven months. The short lease is scaring most of them away, but I am crossing my fingers that someone will just take it already. I detest having people I don't know looking at my stuff. It makes me feel itchy. Besides which, my purse went missing right after the latest strangers left today, and I was momentarily convinced that I was robbed. Thankfully my bag had just been moved during cleaning. Still. They could have been psychos. Psychos with really greasy hair who were happy to chat about hip dysplasia.

I guess the upside to having random people in my house is that I clean a lot more. Today, I soaked my bathroom in vinegar and wiped it right down. Then I swept, folded laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and tidied the office. Sometimes all I need is an excuse and some time alone. Presto: clean house!

Jo's buy-no-crap resolution is intriguing me.

I always feel surrounded by stuff I don't need. I often wish I had a little extra in my bank account. Although, admittedly, I sometimes need a real wake-up call to do something about it. You would think having a house that looks like a disaster zone would be that wake-up call, but so far? No dice. My housemates are getting ready to move to their new house, so maybe when they truck their things out of here, I'll have a chance at getting my shit together instead of sifting through someone else's stuff. Every time I start to organize, I end up finding boxes of things that aren't mine, and then I get peeved and give up.

The hound dog we've been looking after goes back home today. Poor Morty. Who will he hump when Lucy's gone? Damn well better not be my leg. He's learned a lot about socialization in the past week though, so that's a big plus. I think he actually grew quite fond of Lucy in the end. He even spooned with her at one point!