Helllooooo

I've been away. Where, you ask? Why, I've been working. I am once again employed, same company as before, same ridiculous hours, it's awesome! Even though I miss my blog. And my sewing machine is neglected, and quite frankly, unless Rocco learns to sew (which would cut into his noveling time), I don't think that will change for a while. So, a list:

• First off, please save yourself, and don't try to get delivery at Swiss Chalet. You can't call the actual restaurant, you have to call the 1-866 number, and I won't go into details, I'll just say I'm two streets away from the restaurant, and after talking to three different people, I never got my perogies.
• The bedroom is painted. It's very, very green. There will be more pictures, but since I just finished the trim tonight, and one dresser is still in the hallway, and there's laundry (clean laundry!) on the bed, and nothing is back on the walls, well, there's just this one HOLYPOOPLOOKATTHECOLOUR picture. We're going to paint the furniture an off-white colour, and then I just have to get a plan for a curtain. While I do like it (I didn't at first; I felt like I was trapped in a lime), it's a difficult colour to accessorize.
  
• Today was for the dogs. As in, we went to the park with Rocco, and a friend and her 2 dogs. It was a very muddy day. I really need to get a picture of the hound looking pathetic in the tub; he will get in, and he will stay there, but he manages to make every part of himself extra saggy and sad.
• I just lost part of my blog entry, and that makes me sad.
• But I LURVE Kijiji! I got the hardware for our kitchen for $30 (for 22 pieces); according to my google-fu, it would have been $100 to buy at a store. Along with our liquidation sale sink, that saved us $500, I would say we're off to a good start.

• Let me show you the reason I'm so excited for this undertaking:

(Pardon the mess, etc, etc). Why? Why would anyone put the sink there?? I mean, I do know why. It kept the plumbing to a minimum, since the bathroom is on the other side of that wall, and that was the simplest place to put the pipes. But seriously? It's ridiculously awkward. Whatever, it's days are limited. And see the dent in the back of the sink? How does that even happen?? Oy.

• I stopped eating junk food. This was prompted by my recent run in with the scale. What the....? How did that happen??
• Also in the how did that happen list: how is it Sunday night already??

On that note, and since I'm saying nothing of any interest, I'm going to bed.

New Grass it is.

Yay, a list!

• We have chosen the colour. I think an off-white roman shade might be in order, since I can't really imagine what kind of curtain would look good with that, and not be super-girly. Or possibly brown... time will tell.
• I would like to make some mini-doughnuts but I ran out of brown sugar. Seriously, who runs out of brown sugar??
• I've been doing a lot of painting (work for Adam's grandfather) and it's making me feel like the blue collar Manny Coon (do not watch this if you're at work. But watch it, because it's awesome).
• I applied for a job at a doggy day care; they wanted a "creative blurb" so I wrote it from Rocco's p.o.v.; I'll be keeping you informed if I hear back.
  
  
• If I don't get to sew soon, I'm afraid it will heal over. Or y'know, the creative equivalent. I have a whole box of seat belts (that, as my sister pointed out, she not only got from a junk yard, but "scrubbed the neck sweat out of". Cheers. I'll make you something!) that I haven't had time to do anything with yet, not to mention the already coordinated material that should be made into Mug Rugs.
• #1 reason I need to be employed ASAP: I find myself watching Jersey Shore whenever I notice it's on. I don't even know why. It's AWFUL. It's the tv equivalent of clamato juice, except I would never drink that, so it's not really the same. Favorite Jersey Shore-ism: slopapotamus. (n): messy-drunk girl. (Like I said, I do know it's awful).

Pictures next time.
P.S. I haven't dusted yet, and the mirror is this light? It's shameful. Mea culpa...

Not much to say here...

Do you have any idea how long it takes to wash all the clothes that two people own? Aside from the fact that I loathe laundry at the best of times, the washer and dryer we have are very, very far from being efficient. I shouldn't complain, since they were here when we moved in, and they've saved us from dragging everything to a laundromat. But still. Maaaan.
In good news, we haven't had to travel to sleep for the last 2 nights. WE HAVE A BED IN OUR HOUSE AGAIN!! Our bedbug-free house. In the not too distant future, we'll be painting the bedroom OSCAR THE GROUCH GREEN. Exciting, non?

So there hasn't been any crafting. There hasn't been much of anything other than painting and washing and washing and washing. And by the looks of what I'm seeing right here, there desperately needs to be some dusting very soon as well. Ho. Hum. (Job. Job now. So I'm not sitting here seeing how much I should be doing here. Other than laundry). Actually, I think I'll blame the overworked dryer for making all this extra dust.

I promise a more exciting post next time.

I'm late! I'm late!! FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE!

Well, so much for a nightmare before Valentine's day! In keeping with the (my) norm, I'm a wee bit late, but my swap package will heading off as soon as I remove myself from the chesterfield.

Happy Birthday to my super awesome sister

She's super. And awesome. And that bottom picture pretty much sums us up.



*Please don't be jealous of my super awesome computer skills*. My scanner and I are having some issues. To be resolved at a later time.



No long flowery statements, I'm just very glad that she's my sister and that we're friends. And that we discovered a place that's very close by with awesome eggs benny and fish cakes.

Remember that giveaway?

Well, Jennifer (over at Hoodies and FlipFlops) got her loot today, and here's it is:

Some notecards, a measuring tape (I can't resist things in tins!); a vintage mug rug; some self-adhesive metal disks with magnets; some gift tags (I love these; I have a package for myself, and I love that they say "Made for" on the back); four reproduction 1930s fat quarters; and I had to throw in a Nova Scotia postcard. I hope she enjoys everything as much as I enjoyed the giveaway :D.

Laundry... neverending... laundry... *gasp*

Oh, we are not impressed.

Laundry was started at 7am. According the Brian, the Orkin Man, our clothes are not contaminated (but everything is going through a scalding wash anyway). Monday I'm taking most things to the laundromat, and I'm going to be fighting the urge to be that crazy person who travels everywhere with bleach wipes. Brian said it was likely that Adam had picked them up on the bus; ohmygodohmygodgrossssss. He also said that he wouldn't be confident that they would die from being outside unless we had a week or more of temperatures that didn't get warmer than -30. However. It will slow them down, so they're not moving anywhere. His dog picked up on 3 places (two dresser drawers and a wall outlet) in the bedroom, so we're getting chemically treated next week. For the record, should any of you find yourself in this situation, he said the worst thing you can do is try and treat the problem yourself with an aerosol spray; more often than not, it will disperse the bugs, and spread your problem.
Yea. Just what you want.
The good news is that they're just in those spots; upstairs and the basement are both clean. So the bedroom has been blocked off to keep the hound out. I had to go in there this morning. The Vapore machine was in there. I wasn't very happy about it, but I did it. I promptly wiped the entire thing with undiluted bleach. Clearly, psychologically, I'm a bit rattled. I forgot the broom in there, so I'll be making a trek to SprawlMart to get a new one. Realistically, I know that where it is is clean; I know that the bugs will stay where they are until they're drawn out by a warm body to feed (are you scratching now too?). However, the broom will be bagged, like evidence, and never used again. I can just picture them banding together, and saying, "Hang on, everybody! We don't have to walk, she's going to spread us all over the place!!".

Just Gross.

goosfrava.

So now, back to the good stuff. I finally finished two paint-by-number kits I started when I was about 11. Yea, that's right. No one can procrastinate like me. I'm a PROcrastinator.

And the one my dad painted when he was about 10 or 12.
It was always hanging in my grandparent's house; I had no idea it was a paint-by-number until a few years ago. They'll be framed and hung in the entryway.

And finally: Link-In over at WillyWagtail where you can share your cutting tools. Here are mine:

My green handled Fiskars are for paper. But just my paper. As Adam can attest to, since I won't let him use them. The Wilkinson Sword scissors were my grandmothers; they've got to be around 20 years old, and still super sharp. My Olfa ruler and Fiskars rotary cutter have gotten a lot of use in the last year; I'm sure at some point they'll work together to get me some shiny new stitches, and then I'll finally give in and get one of those newfangled suction handles. I jumped on the Clover bandwagon and tried out their stitch ripper and I have to say, it's the best ever.

As an aside: what the hell is up with the sister in Dirty Dancing?? (Not my favorite movie, but the options are limited this time of the morning). She spends the entire movie telling Baby things she doesn't want to know, until at the end when she tells her "You're pretty in your own way." Clearly Baby learned nothing by hanging out with the staff, cause somebody, as my mom would say is "cruisin' for a bruisin'".

This is turning into the week of my discontent.

First, I would like to say parchment paper has saved my relationship with banana bread. Which makes me very happy, as I love it so.

Unfortunately, the rest of the week has not been so good. First, the printer wouldn't work. Fifty-five minutes on online chat with Fayiz later, and it was determined that my printer, my month old-used 4 times printer, needs a new printerhead. God bless them at Kodak, the part is already in the mail. We got a snow storm this week, which I was complaining about, but I am currently o happy to have sub-zero temperatures. If anything, I wish it was colder. But I'll get to that. Last night, I made juice, and I thought I heard a crack, but didn't think anything of it until I opened the fridge and there was juice. Everywhere. Put the pitcher on the counter, cleaned up the fridge, picked up the pitcher: juice all over the counter. What the f-ing fudge?? The bottom of the pitcher had cracked when I put the frozen juice in it.

Okay.

This morning, as Adam was clearing snow, the Bobcat died, and he had to kick out the windshield to get out, because no one was around to hear him screaming at 7am.

Well then.

This week there have been several other annoyances, but in my current mental state, brought on from what we found yesterday, I can't remember them. Let me give you some back story. I gave Adam a hoodie for Christmas; he was very excited about it, and wore it right away. Not really a big deal, I don't generally wash new clothes. So we exchanged gifts, and I went home for Christmas, and around boxing day he was telling me that he was breaking out. We assumed it was something on the sweater, so he washed it, but he kept breaking out. So he went for an allergy test, he's been writing down everything he's eating, taking benedryl, and on and on, trying to figure out what it was. I got back at end of December, and since I wasn't having any sort of reaction, we assumed there was nothing in the apartment causing it, and we were chalking it up to stress.

Then I woke up with two bumps on my arm. Then one on my shoulder. Then I tore the bed apart. And found NOTHING. Overturned the box spring, and there....

clinging on the cloth....

was....

a wall louse. A BEDBUG. IN MY SLEEPING AREA.

*Insert complete Chris Crocker melt-down here*

I didn't sleep last night; I woke up about 85 times, thinking there were all sorts of creepy things all over me (and we didn't even sleep here). Everything that was in our bedroom has been bagged and is out on the deck (this is why I'm glad it's so cold lately. Bring on a sub-Arctic windchill. Please). The bed is out there, and will be promptly destroyed. I wouldn't lay back on that mattress for a million dollars. Srsly. I'm writing this while I take a break from steam cleaning the shit out of this flat (we're so very lucky that Adam's parents own a janitorial supply company, and we had access to an industrial vapor machine). The laundry will be transfered from the deck to the basement, where it will be hot-washed, and dried, sealed in clean bags, and put back outside. I'm not taking anything back in until the Orkin man is here and we know what exactly is happening. He'll be here at 6 with his bug-sniffing hound, and we'll go from there. We only saw two bugs, (grossgrossgross) an adult and a baby, and where there were no spots on the mattress or box spring, I'm really really hoping it's a minor infestation. I hate the word infestation. I hate all of this so so much. I know we're not dirty; I know this can happen to anyone, but that still doesn't make me any less inclined to drink some Lysol and burn the house down. The tenant upstairs says they haven't had any bites, and they haven't noticed anything. Thankfully, this building is old, and very solidly built, and it wouldn't be easy for anything to move from one place to the other.
And yes, this means that all my material, everything in my craft room, will have to be washed and dried.

*deep breath*

I'm sorry for the gross, disturbing, awful, nasty, crawly goddamn update. I don't even have anything clever to add; no advice on how to keep these awful bloodsuckers out of your house. Just please be extra-vigilant about the things you take into your home, because this is by far, the most stressful situation I have ever been in.

Now please excuse me, I'm going to wash everything I own, and dig my bed frame out of the snow.

Edit: Thanks for the love, ladies. It does make me feel a little less vile. The Orkin Man and his bug sniffing dog have put my mind at ease; we have a very small problem that can be taken care of on Monday. Disgustingly enough, they are in the bed, but I never will be again, so it's all going to be oooookkaaaay.

Joyous Rodent Day to you all.

First, for something completely unrelated: I have never seen a "Trudy" TV who wasn't a hussy or a lesbian. Interesting, I think.

HAPPY HAMUARY (in honor of Tim Horton's new ham sandwich).

It's Groundhog Day, which means a few things:

1. Rodents of the Maritimes have declared an early spring. I'm surprised they could get out of their little holes with all this snow.
   
2. I need to find a job because in 6 weeks, I'll either be employed, or asking for donations.

Yea. Exactly like that. Or more specifically like this:

So... I've been doing a little painting, and making many mental notes regarding the impending kitchen reno (which means we'll be saving and thrifting and buying accordingly and it'll get done when we have what we need) BUT I have a scheme and a plan, so the hard part is done.

I need milk and coffee and I should go out, as it's calling for another (on top of the 15cm/6" ish we got last night) 45 cm/18" today. I loathe the snow. Despise it. I know we don't get a lot compared to some places, but I think I was born in the wrong hemisphere; I am not designed for winter. I do love weather though. As a science, not as something that has to be salted and shoveled and cursed and fallen in. This is us today

Yay. Which brings me back to the rodent. Why do we have a fuzzy little guy ("Furry, not fuzzy." "Furry. Fuzzy. What's the difference?" "You don't know the difference between furry and fuzzy?" Anywaaaay....) forecasting the weather? Well this is what I found from here:

This tradition started in the 1700's in Pennsylvania with the German settlers
who lived there. They are called Pennsylvania Dutch today. This was called
Candlemas Day and occurred halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring
Equinox. The tradition said that if the weather was fair, then the second half
of winter would be stormy and cold. If the weather was bad, there would be an
early Spring. Here is the poem that the Germans would say:

"For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until May.
For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day,
So far will the sun shine before May."

Well then, we're in luck, because this Candlemas Day certainly blows. How a groundhog got involved, I'm not sure. I can only assume one of them wandered out unwittingly, and a tradition was born.