Spring Has Sprung

May just seems to keep on going on and on…or at least the last half of May. I have no clue where the first half of May went. The trees are FINALLY blooming here. It feels like forever ago (2 months) that we were in Victoria, BC and got to see all the beautiful trees and flowers in bloom.

It’s geocaching season again! I’m so excited. Warm up your GPS boys and girls, it’s time!

It is also Ultimate Frisbee time. There are a bunch of people who get together to play. I hadn’t tossed a Frisbee in well…let’s see…6 years?…and nervously, I met up to play. It’s informal and a BLAST! And on a nice note, I am not all sore today. The first night I played, by the next morning, even my feet hurt! The agony! But, I went back for more last night. I’m not much of a runner, but there is nothing like playing with strangers and your husband’s colleagues to make you want to run your butt off. That and the killer mosquitoes that are just waiting for you to pause long enough so they can descend upon you in a dark cloud and suck you dry. It doesn’t matter if you have ‘Off’. These guys have a nice big bottle of ‘On’.

Now if only I could snatch that Frisbee with one hand instead of my ‘clap’ grab move that I rely on…

Celebrity Look Alike

I tried the My Heritage Celebrity look alike thing online. Is it a good thing if it thinks you look like Donny Osmond and Justin Timberlake? On the flip side, it says that I also look like some females. Specifically, Lindsay Lohan and Marcia Cross and tee, hee, Monica Lewinsky too. My friend looks like Darwin. Which, actually, he kind of does. I think it is the beard though.

Oh the wonderful things you can do on the web when you are procrastinating writing a synopsis. Or rather editing it down into a few, concise and witty few pages. No pressure here. Just trying to hook people with it. Eeeeeeee…

Maybe I should go play Lego some more…

Hang on, my husband is out of town and the Internet is still working. Woah. That is cool.

Fitting in and Mishaps

The other day I met some great people who are totally on the same page–a page of which very few people even know about around here-or so it feels. You know, like sell off your overpriced Alberta home and move to somewhere like Nova Scotia and live mortgage free–yes! The funny thing is, I think they thought I was all mainstream. Which, I am. In a lot of ways. But, in a lot of ways, I’m not. I finally felt like these were some people where I might fit in.

The quest of all ages, finding a place to fit in. I read an interesting idea in Chatelaine magazine. There was an article on tattoos and how it used to be that people got tattoos, etc to show that they truly didn’t fit in, therefore they marked themselves to prove that they didn’t fit in and never would. Well, I have never ‘marked’ myself, but I know people who have. But, you can see it in their eyes before you really notice the tattoos or whatnot. As for me, well, it never really bothered me an awful lot, I suppose because I know who I am. Sometimes it gets a bit lonely though.

So, I am thinking of seeking an agent. I have a couple in mind that I have been researching. Wish me luck.

As well, wish me luck with my computer. My hubby tech guy is leaving town for two days to present at a conference. I can guarantee that the Internet will go down for sure. Last two times he has left town in the last month, it has gone down before he was even that far away. It’s like it knows. And it is not like I am a technological dolt or anything…it just wants its daddy.

So, if you have read about my little technology mishaps I had earlier this month, this should amuse you. But first, a little about nightlights. It gets dark, they turn on automatically. Right? Okay, well, we have a fun little Sponge Bob one that I plug into our bathroom socket every night for our daughter. The other night, I plugged it in as usually and my hand slipped and I thought, hum, something is not right. So, I tested it. Broken bulb. Okay, no problem. I pulled out a replacement and plugged it in, closed the door to make the room dark and still no light. Weird. Maybe I put the bulb in wrong. I turn on the overhead light and put the bulb back in nicely. Okay, there. Hang on. The nightlight is on. I turn off the overhead light. The nightlight turns off. Well, ffffffaaaaa. I just made a nice ‘day’light for our bathroom. Don’t ask how, but we now have a nightlight that only turns on in the light.

I really don’t know how I do it.

Dead Trees and My Trip to China

Well, what to say? Hubby got a promotion, but has to move buildings. In fact, he will now have a half hour commute instead of a nice 20 minute walk.

I got offered a job. I said no. Am I nuts? Possibly. But, I don’t think so. I want to try this new avenue of writing novels. I have to give it a decent try.

We have a beautiful new tree. You see, last year we got one in trade from a tree farmer. So, we got a nice Royalty Crabapple. Anyway, long story short—it didn’t make it. So, what do you do with a nice dead tree in your front door? One that weighs 750lbs. Hmm… Oh yeah, and you don’t have a lot of money.

So, we decided a tree spade would be the best since our front yard is pretty minuscule and basically the only place for the free replacement tree was where the dead one is. Problem is, ATCO (gas company). Some bozo though it would be great (for them) to run not one, but two lines through our front yard. Parallel to the sidewalk and of course, two metres apart and right smack dab in the middle of the yard. So basically, you have to have a tree up against the house or the sidewalk. Right. That’s EXACTLY where I would plant a nice big tree.

Anyway, once realizing this problem last year, I dug nice, big 4 feet deep holes (2) for the trees a metre away from where the gas lines were flagged. Okay, a little closer. And I was painfully careful because see…once upon a time seven years ago, I was talking on the phone with the guy we bought our first house from and the house next door blew up as they had hit a gas line. Yeah, so a little paranoid here.

Anyway, too close to the lines for the tree spade’s comfort—which is perfectly reasonable. Who wants to hit a line? Anyway, I started digging out the beast, known informally, as the f***ing dead tree. I got it about 1/3 of the way out (that is a lot of dirt, if you are wondering), the tree spade guy calls and says, “hey, if you dig down and get me a visual on that gas line, I can dig out your tree with my spade and get rid of it for you.”.

Nice.

Well, gas lines are way the hell down there. Right next door to China as a matter of fact. And how the hell do you dig that deep without making a huge hole?

Well, I did it. Long story short, we have a nice new, beautiful tree that is going to be absolutely fabulous to climb when it gets bigger and we will have gorgeous blossoms every spring and it better not f***ing die on me.

And, no, you don’t want to know the full story—like the fact that our dead tree is sitting on a trailer in our front yard and a bobcat left huge ruts in our yard and definitely, not how much the tree spade cost. The tree might have been free…but…oh, don’t even ask.

So anyway, I went and saw Jann Arden last night. A last minute thing. And SO worth it. We were on the floor and everything. And man, the crowd was so polite. All sitting nice so shorty pants like me can see. And Jann is funny. She knows how to put on a show. She jokes and talks and mixes old and new songs together. And before you know it, she’s done. You’ve laughed, you’ve cried.

Oh man, does her voice rock. I forgot how great her voice is. The first note she sang, it just hit me, like WOW! I like the stuff she has written. The covers she does don’t showcase her voice in the same way.

Anyway, as I was listening to her sing, and actually, even before her—her opening act, JP Ho made me realize, just BAM, that I can do THIS. I can. I really can. That guy got up there in front of us all with just his guitar and shared songs that he had created. It was just all him out there on stage, on the line. Just him bearing it all and doing FABULOUS! And I just thought, Jean, you can do this. (Not sing, but write.) I can put myself out there. I need to stop being chicken. Yes, people will try and redefine me, but whatever. At the end of the day all I ever am, is just me, right?

I remember the first time I saw Jann Arden. That was mid-90s. In Lethbridge. I didn’t actually go to her concert, but I went to HMV and bought two of her CDs and got her autograph. But what was really memorable was not the fact that I was a university kid who really couldn’t afford to buy two CDs, but that the kid in front of me. (He was maybe 13-14.) And he asked Jann to sign his cigarette package and she refused. She said something to the effect, “I’m not signing this. Smoking is bad for you. When you are walking down the beach when your older pulling an oxygen tank behind you, it’s not going to be cool and I want no part in that.” She was polite, but firm and totally won my respect.

The Universe Gets Even

Today’s Life Lesson: When the universe zags, it is best if you zag too.

What a week. I’ve had weeks like this before, but they never cease to amaze me.

On Tuesday I managed to break my water glass with a plate at breakfast time. Just a simple clink and SMASH! Okay, that’s a whoops. Later, doing my hair after getting out of the shower, I grab my husband’s mouse container and squeeze a bit out, only I break the whole dispenser bit right off the top. CLICK! Broken.

Okay, now I know something is up. I have broken two items very easily since getting out of bed less than an hour and a half ago. (WOW! Maybe there was a nuclear disaster over night and now I’m a super hero! Not.)

Next stop, to the city. I pause outside the car. I’m taking my hubby’s baby. The VW Golf. Do I dare? I look over the car. Will I really do it in? Can we afford for me to take it when I am breaking things?

I think back to the day I did in the shower in my apartment, my skirt zipper and then jumped in my car to go to work. That was the last time I ever drove that car.

I think back to the day where I did in two blue trucks in one morning. Then my parents gave me the blue car…

So, is this really a break three things day, or is it just a coincidence? And if it is a break things day, is a three day or a four day? Hmm… I look over at the other car sitting there looking all tempting. Hmm… I look at the VW. The carseat is in the VW. VW it is.

So, how far did I make it? I made it to the city and back. But, I had my third break of the day after only about 10 minutes on the road. Should I pass this semi or fall in a distance behind? I remember considering it. Should I stay in the pass lane and go faster than I want to, or slow down and fall in a few hundred yards behind it?

I opted for behind and got a nice, big, hard rock dead center of the driver’s side of the windshield. There’s number three.

So, back to the original question, is it a three or four break day? By now I am repeating the mantra in my head that goes something like this: I am at one with the universe, I am at one with the universe….

So, am I done breaking things? Am I back in synch? Was the universe trying to tell me something? Like that day I went to go see my sister-in-law who lived less than two hours away and the trip took me ten hours, but I never got more than an hour and a half away from home? Yeah, there were lots of signs telling me not to go after I looked back over that morning’s events.

It turns out that I was done, but I had passed it on to my daughter. We got home and she wanted to fly her kite. Before or after lunch I had asked. Before. So out we went. 2 minutes later…kite broke. Just a simple PLINK up there in the sky. Her little princess kite drifting off into big piles of muddy dirt.

Yes, I retrieved it and gave our glue a workout. We’ll see if it sticks. (Come to think of it, I have had an awful lot of things to glue lately…)

So, I thought the universe and I were done.

We so weren’t. I only moved on to new avenues. Called technology. All issues (cross your fingers) seem to have miraculously resolved themselves (knock on wood). But, I did have a day without internet *gasp*. Plus, a little ghost icon in my taskbar for a day or so. And multiple freeze ups. I am notorious for causing computer freeze ups. I should really be some sort of a tester for a computer company. Anyway, up to now, my hubby’s old Compaq has been invincible for me to freeze up. Finally, a piece of technology that can keep up to me and my I-need-it-now-and-here-and-this-too-while-your-at-it computer needs.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, I finally messed it up. Multiple scans for this that and the other thing—nothing wrong here. Huh. Well, I never…

So now, running beautifully. Maybe because I went and griped at my poor best bud who serves as everyone’s ear. Oh, and did I mention my tech guy (hubby) is out of town for a couple of days? Yes, and coincidentally, computers problems began before he was even 5km from home.

He’s like my tech good luck charm, but with only a 5km radius or something.

As well, the universe has something against either K.D. Lang or Belly Dancing DVDs. If you find out which, could you let me know?

You see, I have tried to order a CD and a DVD set and a novel two times. When I get to check out. Poof! No more Internet connection. Interesting. Anyway, not 12 hours later, I try again. Novel is now sold out. But, DVD set is now $5 cheaper. (Sweet.)

Oh, god. I am now downloading office 2003 updates. This will slow down this baby for me. Always did with my old Toshiba. That poor thing. Cross your fingers and do a little prayer for me.

Anyway, back to my story (a little multi-tasking going on here. BTW, did you know multi-tasking is actually a woman thing? We’ve been doing it for eons. At least mothers.) So the novel is gone, the DVDs cheaper. YES! So, then I remember that I have yet another gift card upstairs!!! (I’m on the last remaining workable computer in the basement by now.) Go and get it. Dodidodido. Get it unloaded on the site. Yes! $30 in gifts now for moi! I love books. Hey look! The new Harry Potter is dirt cheap if I order it now. It’s like half price. Yippee! I’ll take that too. And on to check out.

No connection. Sh*t. Not again.

Anyway, eventually gave up. Reset our equipment a few times before that and stupid, stupid, stupid, flicked off the power bar to do a reset before realizing that yes, the poor, poor computer is plugged into that power bar too. Don’t say it. The universe already has. And it has oomph.

So, eventually as I said, I gave up. And then after no phone (we have VoIp) for most of the day, I finally give in and call Shaw to see if the Internet is down in the area (lots of rain and lots of construction). Well, no. It is fine, but as I said earlier, I am stupid, stupid, stupid.

Okay, it isn’t the universe hitting me over the head anymore. It’s just me being dumb. So, yeah, basically, he told me how to reset the modem. I know how to do that, by the way. But, somehow, I failed to notice that it was no longer one of the many blinking boxes hooked up to the power bar. No, no. It is the nice blinking black box that has been moved to the other side of the room and is behind the big chair.

I was his dumb female of the day caller. Oh well, we all have to take turns, right? Well, today was my turn. So, yes. I had Internet after that. Sporadically. Now, funny thing. It seems to all be okay.

And no, I haven’t tried to buy that stuff online yet. I don’t exactly have my courage back yet.

So what did I do instead of the Internet and network dependent stuff that I was going to do today? I mudded and sanded the bathroom walls. And I must say that I did a very nice job, thank you.

So what was the universe trying to say to me today? Get off your couch loving butt? I don’t know. I wish I did. The universe is something I want to be in tune with.

Anyway, I think (hope) the universe is done punishing me over the technology stuff, although I haven’t yet seen if the show I recorded with the VCR worked or not. Cross your fingers for me, will you?

I’ve got to restart my computer to let the updates take effect. Wish me luck!

P.S. I love you, universe! XOXOXO