THAT MUCH CLOSER

This dessert was one of my favourite parts of my visit to the CNE…almost a month ago!!!  Where did September go?  Its been a crazy month, I’ve been sick for the last of it.  And, not just with a cold.  I had another bout with food poisoning, or maybe it was the stomach flu, on Friday.  It was not pretty and I will not go into descriptive detail, to spare you all, but it was rough. 

The terrible thing about being so ill on Friday is that my friend had planned a belated surprise for my birthday that night.  I had an idea of what it was, a spa treatment, but wasn’t sure exactly what.  Anyways, I left work pretty much a  hour after I went in (half of that hour was spent in the bathroom), there was no way I could have made it through the day, and slept when I got home.  I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it to my friend’s surprise and I felt so bad because I knew she would be dinged for the appointment.  Thankfully, I felt better by the late afternoon and decided to go.  I was feeling pretty frail, I had not eaten all day, and didn’t realize how frail I looked until my friend pointed out how pale I was when she saw me.  She had never seen me like that before and I had never seen myself like that either.  But, I guess when you’ve emptied your stomach numerous times, it shows.  After a lovely facial though, I got my colour back.

Anyways, September was not as productive as I wanted it to be.  I’m not behind, but I’m not as ahead as I’d like to be in the goals I’ve set.  I have to repair this leak in my master bathroom.  Its been leaking for a while (I hate to confess how long cause then you’ll all know how lazy I am) from the suite above me (thankfully into my bathtub), but I just haven’t put in a maintenance request to get it fixed.  If I want to sell my place, I need to get it fixed.  Moving is a pain in the ass, but now that I’m finally that much closer to what I really want to do, it’s worth all the inconvenience.

If  l learned from anything that’s happened this year, doing and thinking are two very different things and I’d rather be inconvenienced and doing something than just thinking about it.

GETTING ON TRACK

I can’t believe how fast time has flown by.  The summer is almost over and fall weather will be setting in soon…hopefully not too soon even though I love the fall.

I know the summer is coming to a close when the CNE is on.  And, like last year I’ll be going again this year.  If it weren’t for my nephews, I don’t think I would be going at all.  But, I know I’ll have fun….eating my way around the Ex, buying useless things (hopefully not too many of them this year).  And, losing to all the games along the way.  My favourite game at the Ex is the Fishing Game where you have this fishing rod with a magnet at the end and you put it into the water attempting to gather as many chips as possible that will reveal the prize you get.  My other favourite game is hitting the gophers back into their hole…great way to take out your aggression, beating the crap out of gopher heads.  Ahhhh…good times.

The past few months have been a roller coaster for me.  I’m only now getting more focused on where I need to be.  My condo should be ready to be put on the market in a few months.  I still have some work I need to do, i.e. cleaning, and the garbage strike of 6 weeks was no help.  Moving is stressful, for me at least.  And, this time I refuse to be rushed – the last time I moved, across the country, it was not pretty.  And, I only had 2 months to get it together – meaning, sell my place, pack everything and move.  Its not something I want to repeat.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to the weekend and enjoying some time with my nephews.  Even though most of the summer has been crazy, I’m starting to feel more focused and determined.

WEDDING WEEKEND

My friend’s wedding is this weekend.  I’m looking forward to it.  Its my first Italian wedding.  I was thinking about that this week, about 90% of the weddings I’ve gone to in my lifetime have been of the Chinese banquet variety.  I think I’ve only gone to three weddings that weren’t.  That was a bit shocking to me because my closest friends aren’t all Asian.

Anyways, I’m the chauffeur of choice to take my friend to the church.  So, I’m borrowing my mom’s car, which is a hell of a lot nicer than my own car.  I like my little clunker, but I don’t think she’s got much left in her.  Plus, my friend seemed a bit relieved when I said I’d use my mom’s car since she’s going away this weekend for a week in California.  I think the relief was partly cause my car’s not the greatest, but also because she wasn’t sure her whole dress would fit in my little car.  Too funny.  Her dress is gorgeous though and not at all too much.  Simple…exactly how weddings should be, in my opinion.

Speaking of dresses, hell, it was rough trying to find something to wear to this wedding.  I had an outfit for the wedding ceremony, but needed something for the evening.  I don’t like shopping, so that was the first hurdle to get through and then sorting through all the crappy things out there to find something decent was not an easy task.  And, there was a lot of crap out there.  I’m not super fussy about my clothes, I mean I’m super casual (maybe that’s the problem?) but seriously, everything I saw was yucky.  But, I finally found something (to my relief) late last week and picked it up a few days ago.  Its just a dressy top for the evening, I had to admit defeat and forget about wearing a one piece and just do the two piece.  I think I’ll be more comfortable anyways.  So, I’m set for the wedding and the reception.  I like wearing two different outfits, its the Asian wedding influence on me.

My friend is very happy and I’m very happy for her.  She found someone when she least expected to.  That’s the best part about it, when she didn’t think she’d find someone, there he was.

FAMILY VISIT

Life has been busy.

Any down time is a rarity these days.  Those quiet moments that I try to do at night?  Non-existent because I’m so exhausted at night that I curl up in my bed and fall asleep, screw the cleansing and calming of my mind.  For now.

I think that’s why I’ve been writing less, and I’m not talking about this blog, I’m talking about my journal writing.  I’ve been missing it, yet cannot compel myself to put pen to paper.  My mind is just not focused right now.  And, I have a lot of things I need to sort out.  I need to get focused.  Soon.

I am looking forward to next week.  I have some random days off, meaning I have a couple of days off during the week but not in a row.  My cousin and her husband are driving up from South Carolina so I want to spend a day with her.  I originally was thinking of visiting her during the Civic day long weekend, funny enough, and I had a few other places that I was contemplating, but after some thinking (damn the thinking) decided to delay it.

My cousin comes into town every few years.  Generally, she comes to stuff her face with as much Chinese food as she can without exploding.  She also shops till she drops, stuffing her car with as many Asian delicacies as is possible to pack into her vehicle.  Its quite hilarious to watch.  I remember one year she came, I think it was about 15 years ago or so when Chinese food was rare in the South and she had packed her car with so much crap it was overflowing.  She even used “secret” compartments in the van she was driving at the time to hide her food from the Customs officer. She owns a Chinese restaurant so she buys the stuff half for the restaurant and half for herself.

It’ll be good to see her.  My nephews are excited to see her too, both for the first time, so I know there will be funny moments.  It should be lots of fun, and I need this break from the norm (i.e. craziness) right now, so its a welcome change.

DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED

Late nights render me directionally challenged.

So, on Friday night I went out with my sister-in-law’s youngest and oldest sister (visiting from out of town).  We hit the Drake hotel, which has a lounge/restaurant on the ground level, a patio outside/upstairs and a little club down in the basement.  We tried to get into the patio, but that didn’t work after waiting for 45 minutes.  So, we went to the “Underground” in the basement where our names were on a list…I know, I felt really special.

The music was pumping.  I didn’t quite realize how pumping until I sat down about 8 feet from the speakers and my whole body started to shake from the bass.  I couldn’t hear myself think, and I had to shout when I talked. 

The music was great, we danced up a storm.  The DJ is a friend of the youngest sister, but it was just too loud and so we stayed for an hour and a half – we couldn’t take much more.  Once we left, we went down the street and stopped at a bar.  After the bar, we ended up at “Poutini’s House of Poutine” where we indulged in some, what else, poutine (for me, just fries and gravy hold the cheese) as our after 1am snack.

After eating we walked a bit and then we finally left for good.  I was pretty tired by then – haven’t had this much activity nor have I stayed up this late in a long time.  I’m used to quiet, chilled evenings with friends, this was not one of those nights.  Maybe this explains what happened next.

After dropping off one of the girls, I ended up..and I swear I drank only water….going the wrong direction on the Lakeshore trying to get onto the expressway.   That’s right – I went east on the westbound lanes.  A bit dangerous, but thankfully it was about 2am so there was no traffic (there was one car who graciously did not honk at me for being a dumbass)…otherwise I’m sure I’d be telling a different story.  I can only say in my defense that it was dark, it was late, I was tired, I only went a few meters east before realizing I was going the wrong way (I wasn’t that out of it) and I….was damn lucky there were no cops.

There is a reason why I don’t let myself out late at night.