Nonsensical Dream

I often fly in my dreams these days.

Last night I dreamt that I was flying low to the ground over a school field then had difficulty getting any altitude when I flew alongside a road, but managed to soar a little when I entered an orchard. For some reason though spider webs and their inherent spiders kept getting in my way as I worked my way skyward through the pink blossom-laden branches.

Then I woke up.

What can this dream mean? I haven't the foggiest idea.

If Only I Had a Brain

Oh my poor befuddled brain. I can't seem to function today. Just trying to match payments to invoices seems to be beyond me. Ugggh. And I'm about to embark on preparing the PST & GST tax remittances. Please, please brain, work for just an hour this afternoon. I'm begging - PRETTY PLEASE with sugar on top.

It was around this time last year, under very similar circumstances that I totally botched up the GST remittance. I'll have to be very, very careful not to do that again. Focus, concentrate. Breathe.

This morning I found myself confused while making lunches. Really, how difficult is it to assemble a sandwich and two light snacks? According to what actually made it to work in my lunch bag - very difficult. I also think I'd better make a beeline home after work. I don't recall turning off the DVD player/TV in the bedroom this morning. The theme music for North & South will drift down the hallway to greet me when I open the front door tonight.

I wonder how dinner preparation will go tonight? Could be interesting.

Facebook Rant

I'm considering removing myself from facebook. It seems like such a waste of time and I find myself feeling ticked-off with people I don't even keep in touch with. Perhaps I should de-friend all the people from my past that I don't have any involvement with anymore, just keep the very few that I'm close to and of course family members. Maybe I just shouldn't let it bother me at all and get on with living. I love to see photos of friends I do keep in touch with so I don't want to miss out on that.

I feel hurt when old schoolmates de-friended me. I don't know what I've done to cause them to de-friend me and perhaps they're just cleaning house and don't feel the need to keep in touch anymore. Who knows?

I've even found that it has soured gifts that I've treasured all these years. For example I've had a Christmas tree decoration from KH from probably grade 9. She has just de-friended me on facebook and I feel rather hurt. What the hell!? Tempted to dig out the Christmas decorations and chuck her present in the bin. Take that! Like she could care less; but I don't want to see the decoration again - what's the point? I certainly don't want a reminder of her on my Christmas tree ever again. Sheesh.

Healthier Habits

I've been trying to eat healthier foods lately. Of course one's definition of a healthy food varies from person to person - my aim is to reduce my junk food intake. Things like pop, chips, fries, greasy items, cookies, etc. My view of food has also changed. I'm finally coming to the realisation that everyday is not 'feast day.' While getting healthy is my goal, losing some weight in the meantime would be nice.

I'm quite happy with my efforts to make healthier choices. Last night, for example, when I was yearning for something sweet, namely icecream or cookies, I managed to use some self-control and ate a banana instead. I'm celebrating all my small victories these days - life's too short not to.

Tonight I think I'll excercise. Don't laugh. Because I haven't been very active lately I'll have to begin with a very light workout. Some stretching, light cardio, more stretching: probably go for a walk with Daryle and Daniel after work.

Super Nose

SUPER NOSE has returned. Ugghh.

This seems to be my usual first indication of being pregnant. My normally non-smelly rather nasally challenged world vanishes and is replaced with a terribly smelly nauseating one. Let me explain a little: compared to most people I usually have a very poor sense of smell, the scent needs to be quite strong for me to notice it.

On the weekend I could barely stand to be in the house. The garbage needed to be taken out and even after it was gone I couldn't get the place aired out. An hour later, with all the windows open, the stench lingered - something like rotting onion. Even the lovely chicken curry I'd made a few days ago had taken on a putrid smell. I've had to chuck it as there's absolutely no way I can put it on a plate in front of me let alone place it in my mouth.

Clothing and fabrics have taken on a new smelliness. My bad habit of leaving a load in the washer overnight has meant that most of my wardrobe has a slightly musty smell. Ick. I can't even sleep in my own bed or on the couch without smelling IT. Everything smells musty: pajamas, pillowcases, couch cushion covers, etc. I'll have to break out the Febreeze to deodorize the furniture and do a lot of laundry for all the other items. Seriously considering buying new couch cushions - they really need to be replaced anyways. Oh, I mustn't forget to buy a bunch of new kitchen cloths, mine have all suddenly vanished into the garbage, noxious stinky things!

Even gardening has become disgusting. I never knew the terrible stench it creates. Reaching over to pluck a weed and - ewwwwwww, what the heck is that cat-pee-like smell? Just my paperwhites in bloom; who knew they stunk so much? The earth smells, the flowers smell and not all in a nice way, even the air smells (I think I can now catch a whiff of the neighbourhood skunk). My dear lovely garden, reduced to a stinky pile of ickiness. I don't think I'll be out there as much in the near future.

Along with Super Nose a workplace hazard has presented itself. My little office is located at the very back of the office near the washrooms. Normally, I'm the best person for this location (can't smell much), but with Super Nose I'm being tortured. I wonder if my co-workers will notice me jumping up to turn the washroom fans on constantly? June 1st, my announcement date, is a long way down the road - I'll have to endure things as best I can until then.

No Starlings Allowed!!

Starlings are disgusting. Of all the birds in this world I think I like starlings the least. On the weekend Daryle noticed a pair of them flying into our attic through the torn mesh covering a soffit vent hole. This means war!! Well, repairs to the mesh covering the holes anyway.

Being the handy guy he is, he made some nice stainless steel mesh screens tidily hemmed at the edges.

Installing them is no simple task though. After dinner he sets up the ladder and climbs into the attic. Being very careful to avoid the many nails poking through the roofing plywood and gingerly manoeuvring through the joists, he picks his way over to the tightest, most cramped part of the attic, where of course the soffit vent holes are located. It is so tight that he can't clearly see where the holes are, he can really only reach with his arms and hands, feeling for the holes.

Vent holes located, the next step is to remove the old torn mesh. Daryle asks me to pass him our floor scraper. We own a floor scraper? I had completely forgotten we have one, let alone what it looks like, but Daryle wants it for scraping off the old mesh from the vent holes. It's downstairs, near the hot water tank. Sure dear. As I enter the laundry room I see three nice little yellow plastic scrapers. It must be one of these. I call out "is it yellow?" Wrong, apparently it is metal and attached to a pole. Hmmm, ohhhh, you mean right here by the hot water tank. Sheepishly I pass the scraper up into the attic. Sometimes I wonder why he asks me to help him - I'm really not much help at all.

In addition to the cramped space, nails and general uncomfortableness of the attic he discovers of a few hibernating wasps. Yes, being in the attic CAN get worse. He squishes them and begins brushing them out through the soffit holes. But one isn't quite dead and manages to sting him. Ouch!!! Damned wasp - SQUISH!!

Determined to carry on and get this onerous chore over with, he now needs to attach the new screens over the holes. As he can't actually see where the holes are, he asks that I go shine a flashlight up through the holes from outside. I knock on Esme's door downstairs. "Can I borrow your flashlight? I need to shine it through the soffit holes." So, there we are, my sister and I, standing outside in the darkness, giggling like teenagers, shining lights (3 in total) up towards the soffit. What a sight we are! I can see the neighbours looking over - I wonder what they think we're doing.

The entertaining light show is repeated while Daryle fastens the mesh over the second set of holes at the back of the house. Arms tired, feet cold, and the giddiness long gone, we are relieved when our part of the task is complete. I head upstairs to give him a hand getting his tools out of the attic. Hold on a minute, he wants me to shine the flashlight up through the soffit holes at the very front of the house, by the front door. When neighbours drive by, I don't wave, I just quickly try to turn the flashlight off.

At 8:30pm Daryle heads down from the attic; exhausted, hot, stung, dusty, clothes torn and back scraped from the nails coming through the roof. He informs me that he'll resume fixing the last set of holes tomorrow night.

Things to look forward to.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the starlings, it would seem that they didn't like our attic for nesting. There was no evidence of a nest anywhere.