The ants go marching one by one

I haven't disappeared or been eaten by the ants that seem to have made themselves at home in my kitchen.

(What are they doing? I found one a foot from the ceiling this morning. What did he think he was going to find up there?)

It's not a crazy infestation, but I seem to kill about 3 a day.  Even with the ant poison.  I assume they're feeding the spiders.So I can't kill the spiders, because they're eating the ants. I'm starting to feel like the old lady who swallowed a fly.

The weird spring we've had (cold/cold/cold/hot/warm/hot/rain) means my garden is planted, but the mulch is still in bags. The BBQ is out, but I haven't used it. The ants ... well, I've already mentioned the ants.  (I think some of them came in on the blue box.)

Things are starting to wind down for summer.  I have 3 boxing classes left, and am looking forward to the break. Pathfinders is over, with the exception of camp next weekend.

I'm ready for the lazy days of summer.

Except that I have tons of plans already, and thus I'm not sure how lazy they will be.

I'm going to Chicago for a weekend, my sister is coming here for a week or so, then my mom & my niece are coming to visit. I also want to get canoe-trip certified, so that's a week somewhere in there.


And, of course, there's lying in the back yard reading a book and going for a bike ride, and walking down by the canal at lunch.

I can't wait.

Adventures in laundry

A few months ago, I started using vinegar instead of fabric softener.

I haven't really noticed a difference.

I wasn't sure how well it would work after it got nice enough to hang clothes outside, but I've hung them outside for the last few weeks, and it's not a problem.  The clothes get stiff, but no worse than when I wash them with fabric softener.

(The exception was the summer that I lost the cap for the fabric softener - man, my clothes were soft that summer.)

A bottle of fabric softener lasts a long time, and I was afraid I'd go through vinegar a lot quicker, but I'm still on my first bottle. I haven't done the math to see which is cheaper, but I suspect it's vinegar. It's also a lot fewer weird chemicals, which is really my motivation. 

I'm glad I tried it.

Missing: One Spring

Three weeks ago, Ottawa was preparing for a winter storm.

Twenty days ago, school buses were cancelled and many people stayed home (or worked from home) to avoid the snow.

Yesterday, I sat in the change room at the gym. I listened to the others talk about how glad they were not to have to put socks on, and thought to myself, "Why am I the only sucker still wearing socks?"

I didn't wear socks today.

And clearly the weeks (months?) I spent looking for shoes to wear between boot season and sandal season were well spent.

Finally

I hung my laundry outside today.

It's possible that it's actually spring - although it was still plenty chilly when I brought the laundry in.

The rabbits seemed to agree, since two of them spent quite a while chasing each other around the back yard - with frequent breaks to nibble on the lawn.

I haven't gotten around to picking up all the trash that accumulates over the winter yet, but let's face it, sometimes that doesn't happen until July.

Last Saturday, the local Scouts delivered some mulch and compost I'd ordered, and they had to trudge through slushy snow to do so, so we've made a lot of progress in the last week.

It's about time.

I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home, so when I came down with a cold on Monday, I took advantage of it. I stayed home until Wednesday, but yesterday I really needed to go on - In part so that I actually got tired enough to sleep.

I left early to avoid traffic, and then finished my day from home.

So this morning when I woke to ice falling from the sky*, I thought I'd stay home again.

Then I realized that the odds of me going grocery shopping after work were really low if I hadn't left the house yet, and if I went to work, I could go out for lunch, so I went in to work.

It took me a while to chip the ice ** off the car, but it actually was a faster drive than usual. Driving home was fast, too.

That would be the silver lining to the "snow in the middle of April" cloud.

* not freezing rain - ice pellets.

** the freezing rain was before the ice pellets

Wanda's beautiful nails

Not How I Like To Start My Mornings

Yesterday morning, I went out to the car and put my boxing bag and laptop bag in the car. (My gym bag was already at work since I didn't make it to the gym on Tuesday.)

I got in the car and, turned the key, and ... nothing happened.

I tried again. Still nothing. Basically, it was acting like the battery was very dead.

I popped the hood and examined the battery. It was still there.

I went in the house and called CAA, then I called work to tell my manager I wouldn't be in for a while. I couldn't work from home, because I'd left my laptop at work.

I called the garage to see if they could fit my car in. I consulted OC Transpo to see how to get from the garage to work.

I ate jelly beans and mentally rearranged my plans for the day.

After about twenty minutes, I got a call that CAA was five minutes away, so I went back out to the car.

It started.

CAA arrived and I told them it was going. I called my garage back and they suggested it might have been ever so slightly out of gear.

I went to work.

It has started without a hitch every time since then.

But I still bring my laptop home every day.

The finished to-do list

Things I've done in the last week:

• Gone to the grocery store
• Gone to boxing
• Gone to the grocery store
• Put away the rag quilt pieces
• Put boards in the table
• Tried to replace a lightbulb in the kitchen that's been burned out since Christmas
• Broken a lightbulb in the kitchen
• Gone to the grocery store
• Replaced a lightbulb in the kitchen
• Vacuumed
• Mopped the floors
• Cleaned the bathroom
• Nagged Wanda to take all of her stuff to her room
• Made pumpkin muffins
• Changed salad menu to account for the fact that after three trips to the grocery store in a week, we had no oil in the house.  Well, OK, we had oil for my bike chain, but it's not really recommended for salad
• Made salads
• Made raspberry pie
• Cooked a turkey
• Made mashed potatoes
• Cooked cabbage rolls
• Washed dishes
• Planned an Easter egg hunt
• Participated in a (different) Easter egg hunt
• Gone to the gym
• Gone to physio
• Bought a pair of shoes
• Found one of my old weights for use in physio exercises
• Done physio exercise
• Gone to the grocery store
• Played the wii
• Had a lovely Easter dinner
• Returned a pair of shoes
• Bought another pair of shoes

 No, I haven't tried to fix the dishwasher yet.

This is why you should make a list

There was a bake sale at work today, and I had said I'd bake for it. I made a few things that were actually baked on the weekend, but decided I'd make Rice Krispie nests (with jelly bean eggs) the night before.

So yesterday, in other words.

Now, I box on Wednesdays, which means that when I get home, I am carrying my laptop bag, my gym bag, my boxing bag, and my purse. Totally manageable.

Yesterday, though, Wanda went straight from school to work, and she'd asked me to stop at her work to pick up her school bag.

Let's see, that means I was carrying Wanda's school bag, my laptop bag, my gym bag, my boxing bag, and my purse.

Oh, and a sub, because I'd stopped at Subway.

And it was garbage day, so I had to bring in the green bin and the black box.

And a it was CSA day, so I had to make a separate trip out for the cooler.

I finally got inside. The first goal was to eat - which I did - and then I emptied my lunch dish out of my laptop bag and my gym clothes out of my gym bag and my work clothes out of my boxing bag.

Then I emptied the cooler, and finally it was time to start the nests. I picked up the cereal box to get the recipe, and discovered the box was almost empty.

I gave up and went to take a shower.

While I was in the shower, I debated the wisdom of going to the grocery store. It was late, but I'd already bought the marshmallows, and I wanted to make the nests. Besides, I had to return some laundry detergent - or try to, since I didn't have the receipt.

I decided to go.

The store accepted the detergent for return, even though it was my mistake (thanks, Metro!) and I bought the cereal I needed. By the time I got home, it was 9:30.

The nests were in the muffin tin by ten, and I added the coconut straw and jelly beans this morning.

That's when I ran out of Saran Wrap.

It's beginning to look a lot like Easter

My dishwasher is broken. It's the latch, which is really irritating, and I doubt it will be fixed by Easter since, well, I've done nothing about it.

I don't really mind doing dishes, but I will have to get it fixed at some point.

I also need to clean my house, which is a disaster. You see, I have been very slowly working on a rag quilt, which is in pieces all over my living room. Not really conducive to having company for Easter.

The next step is to start sewing the squares together. I considered doing rows, but changed my mind - I am now going to sew four small squares into a bigger square, since that will be more flexible if I need to add more squares once I know how big it turns out to be.

Man, this would make more sense with pictures.

Anyway, I have a plan for the quilt, but let's be realistic - it's not going to happen by Sunday.

Maybe I should turn Easter dinner into a quilting bee.

Spoiler alert: I'm fine

I woke up this morning and the room started to spin. I felt like I was going to fall over.

Luckily, I was still lying down, so there was nowhere to fall.

Even more disturbingly, the numbers on my clock radio started jumping back and forth between horizontal and vertical. It was pretty much the behaviour you'd expect if your nose was a hinge that swung until your eyes were at a ninety degree angle to each other.

After about 30 seconds, it stopped and I got up. I did a couple of quick stroke tests (smiling, holding up my hands in front of me, standing on one foot) and everything was fine, so I went to work.

I was concerned, though, so I went to the ER after work (instead of boxing).

It took forever - which I took as a good sign, because if they thought it was serious, I would have had a pink sticker instead of blue.

When the doctor came in, he asked a bunch of questions and did some tests. One of the tests involved sitting up on the bed and looking at him while he lowered me so I was lying down. Apparently, when he did that my eye started jumping around.

All I knew was that I got dizzy.

End result - middle ear condition, not serious, just weird - and so close to textbook that he said he'd call his medical students in to observe if he had any.

New Directions

I've mentioned before that I used to work for a large high tech company - one that went through years of layoffs and doesn't so much exist anymore.

That means that I know a lot of people who  have been laid off.

Some people found new jobs that were similar to their previous jobs. Others went in a different direction - starting businesses, going back to school, changing careers.

A few weeks ago, I met with one of my former colleagues who made a change.  He had been a director of support and now has moved into financial planning - investments, mortgages, budgeting, etc.

It sounds like it has been challenging but intentional, and I hope it works out well for him.

When I was laid off the first time, I considered different career options. I ended up deciding to stick with what I knew. I never would have suspected I'd end up doing what I do now - I didn't even know jobs like this existed.


I wonder what I'd do if I got laid off again tomorrow.

Here we go again...

I started physio last week.

When I was a kid, I broke my arm. Ever since then, I have been able to crack that wrist. A little weird, but not a problem.

Lately, it has been getting more painful - and more like I have to crack my wrist, over and over.

And then I slipped on the ice and banged my wrist (as well as my head).

So anyway, I'm in physio again.

Just like last time, I actually feel worse than I did before I started. Working on the wrist seems to have made it angry - or at least made it move in ways it's not used to moving.

The snow last week didn't help, either.

Today, she taped up my wrist when I left. It hurt for a while, mostly because I couldn't crack my wrist. Now it feels pretty good.

I will have to tape it up again tomorrow.

Just in time for boxing.

Stupid Winter Wonderland

It snowed on Wednesday.

Not just a little snow, either - there was quite a large amount. Complicating the situation was that:
a) it came down pretty solidly all afternoon, and
b) it was just above freezing, which made the snow heavy.

When I left work, it was raining (from the 9th floor), but when I got to the ground, it was snow.

I had physio (hand issue) after work, and I was a few minutes late. When I was done, I got myself out of the snowbank I'd parked in and went home.

When I got home, my driveway hadn't been plowed, but I thought, "Hey, I can make it in anyway."

I was wrong. I got stuck.

So stuck that rocking back and forth didn't work.

I started work on getting the car out. While I was doing that, Wanda came home and started to help.  No luck.

One of the neighbours came over and helped.  Still no luck.

Eventually, we threw some salt under the front tires and took a break. 

About an hour later, we went out and tried again.  A different neighbour came over to help, and then another.  We shoveled and put carpets under the tires and shoveled.

It took about another hour to get the car out.

Once it was out, Wanda drove it over to the neighbour's (whose driveway was already clear) and parked it there.  I left it there until morning.

And then the snowplow came by and I had to shovel the end of the neighbour's driveway. Sigh.

That house used to have a bottom as well as a top

From the front step

Birthday B

Nine years ago, there was a little girl who had no interest in being born.  She was having a good time where she was.

(Her mom, on the other hand, was more than ready for her to get her act together.)

Her favourite auntie just wanted to take a shower. I was exhausted - I'd had a busy week, topped off with a flight across the country - and we'd been too rushed that morning for me to wash my hair.

I'd barely gotten my hair wet when she decided to stop messing around.  It was a quick shower.

Many hours later, there she was.

As often happens, she grew.

And grew.

And grew.

 

She learned how to read, and ride a bike, and send text messages telling me I'm not her favourite auntie (even though I'm pretty sure I am*).

She made friends, and is quite the social butterfly.

Ah!

She likes science (but not math ... at least not all of the time) and doesn't like being tricked into doing Brownie badges.

She likes Brownies, though.

B in a box

And boxes.  Hmm, there's an idea for a birthday gift ... where can I get a box?

Happy birthday, B!



* And now we'll see if she knows how to comment on a blog

Winterlude

So I made it downtown to Winterlude.

I'm surprised, too.

Monday was a beautiful, sunny day - and cold.  Very cold.

(Well, OK, it wasn't anywhere near as cold as it was a few weeks ago, but it was cold enough to make me whiny.)

It was a quick trip - I walked through Confederation Park. (Yes, that's the name of the park between the Rideau Centre & City Hall.  It took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure that out. Yes, I should have known the name, especially considering I was there 2 days ago.)

The ice sculptures were in really good shape - we got the typically end-of-January thaw early enough that they survived. The more intricate ones were actually under some awnings, which probably helped.

It has been a long time since I was at Winterlude, and even longer since I went anywhere other than Dow's Lake.

Many years ago, my department at work entered the snow sculpture competition. This was back in the days when:

• there was a snow sculpture competition, and 
• all you needed to enter it was $40.

We participated for ... probably 4 years? The first year, we did "Snow Men in Black", then there was one I don't remember very well, then we did "Will Work for Peanuts" (when Charles Schultz retired), and the last year, it was something about the Olympics (and some giant snow monster, as I recall). My role was mostly part of the snow moving team, but it was fun to participate.

And then they stopped that competition and I stopped going to Winterlude.

Anyway, after I walked around Confederation Park, I went over to City Hall to see the Rink of Dreams.  It was ... far less impressive than I'd expected.  (Don't we have similar outdoor rinks all around the city?)

Next was the highlight of the day - a Beavertail (Killaloe Sunrise, of course).  After that, I walked back to the car and drove home.

I was home for at least 10 minutes before my legs warmed up.

Confusion ahead

I've fully recovered from the concussion - I worked all day every day last week, and even went back to the gym on Thursday. I was pretty tired by the end of the day for the first part of the week, but by Friday I was back to normal.

Naturally, the only way to follow a full week is with a short week.

Tomorrow is a holiday here in Ontario. This holiday (Family Day) was added a few years ago, and I've only actually taken it as a holiday ... once, maybe? I've often ended up working it and taking the day off at another time.

This year I'm off, though. 

I was a little afraid I'd forget - in fact, on Friday I was predicting that I wouldn't notice until I'd been at work for a couple of hours - but now I'm pretty sure I'll remember. I'm considering going down to Winterlude in the morning, and I've created a to-do list that should keep me busy the rest of the day. 

There's no reason why I can't start on the to-do list today, but ... um ... I just haven't. Well, I guess laziness is a reason.

There's also no Pathfinders tomorrow due to the holiday, which means I will probably be confused about what day it is for the rest of the week.

Of course, that sometimes happens on a regular week, so it's not exactly unexpected.

I don't really feel like I need the day off - possibly because I spent last week on my couch - but I'm perfectly happy to take it anyway.

Now I see where I went wrong

So the whole "work from home on Monday" thing did not work.  I ended up taking a sick day.

I did work from home on Tuesday, though - and then felt worse on Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday I worked afternoons only, since mornings are worse than afternoons.  (It's not that I had a headache, just that I had no energy.  Typically, I'd step out of the shower and realize that I needed to lie down immediately.)

Naturally, I had to go to a Spark/Brownie/Guide/Pathfinder sleepover last night. My Pathfinders were there, as were some of my Sparks from last year.

The sleepover was at Cosmic Adventures.  For those of you who haven't been there, it's a giant indoor play structure.  Thankfully, it's also pretty good at absorbing squeals of overexcited children.

The first hour and a half was free play time, so I was able to sit (or lie) on a bench.  After that, we had a snack, made a craft, and did a quick scavenger hunt.

(The Pathfinders did very well, by the way.  They organized games and helped the younger girls with their craft. They even went to bed at a reasonable hour, and luckily my bed was far enough away that I have no idea what time they went to sleep. I warned them in advance that I was going to be useless in the morning and that they were going to have to help, and they did, even though they were obviously exhausted.)

I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, and I woke up around 5:45, which means I got ... not nearly enough sleep.

When I woke up, I had a "not enough sleep" headache, but otherwise, I felt fine.

Clearly my problem has been that I've been sleeping:
a) too much;
b) in a room that is too quiet;
c) on a bed that's too comfortable.

I hope I still feel OK tomorrow.

I have an inflatable neck pillow that I bring with me when I fly.  Naturally, I packed it for  my trip to San Jose.  However, once I was actually on the plane, I couldn't find it. 

I checked when I got to the hotel, and couldn't find it then, either.

Once I got back, it showed up in my purse very time I pulled out my wallet.  I finally took it out Friday night.

On Saturday morning, I got up and started breakfast. I noticed that it was snowing, so as soon as I finished eating, I slipped on some shoes and went out to find my phone. I walked onto the driveway, and immediately slipped.

I caught myself, took another step, and lipped again. I fell backwarsds and hit my head.

I lay there for about 20 seconds, then rolled over ahd tried to get up.  I fell the first time, but the second time I succeeded. I went tthe rest of the way to the car and found my cell phone immediately.  I carefully walked back inside.

I knew I was hurt, so I found my first aid book and looked up head injuries.  It was pretty convinced I needed medical attention, so a half an hour later, I was at the hospital.

I didn't have to wait long, but I was fine with waiting - I didn't feel the need to read or anything, as I was content to just sit there.  (I could have used my neck pillow, though, because I really didn't want to keep my head up on my own.)  After about an hour and a half, I saw the doctor and was told to go home and do nothing - no TV, no interenet, no reading.  Basically, the treatment for a concussion is to avoid thinking whenever possible.

I spent yesterday lying on the couch.  I was hoping I'd feel better today - and I do, a little - but I spent today lying on the couch as well. (I took a shower and then needed to rest for an hour before I had the energy to get dressed.)

Of course, tomorrow is Monday, and I'm supposed to be at work.  The best case scenario is that I work from home -  I don't want to go in to work and then be too tired to get home.

Man, I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Slow deductive reasoning

Just before I left for work this morning, I remembered my cell phone needed charging. I pulled it out of my purse and confirmed that it should be charged, so I decided to charge it on the way to work.

Then I went to work.

When I got to my desk, I went to grab my cell phone (it doesn't get reception if I keep it in my purse, so I leave it on the desk during the day) and ... no cell phone.

I went back down to the car. No sign of it.

I figured it had fallen out of my purse at home and, since I wasn't at home, there wasn't much I could do.  I called Wanda (because you can't text without a cell phone), but she was on her way to school, so she couldn't check for me.

I talked with Wanda again mid-afternoon, and she said she couldn't find it.

Great.

Before I left work, I called my cell phone and it went right to voicemail.

I wasn't sure whether that meant the battery had died or that someone was using the phone. Regardless, there wasn't anything I could do.

I came home and called it again.  This time, it rang before it went to voicemail.  I walked around the house, hoping I'd hear it vibrating. (I keep it on my desk during the day, you might recall.)

No luck.

I logged into my account online to confirm that no one was using the phone to call Hong Kong or some equally expensive place.  So far this month, I've used 4 minutes of calling.

Probably not being abused by someone who snatched it off the driveway, then.

I decided to try looking for it again in the morning.

And then, seconds after Wanda took the car to work, I realized that if it had no reception (and thus went right to voicemail) when my car was in the underground parking at work, but did have reception when I was home and the car was on the driveway, it was probably in the car.

I guess I'll see if I'm right in the morning.