Sigh.. I've written and re-written various posts in previous days, but due to the overwhelming amount of pessimistic (and defeatist) attitudes surrounding me currently, I keep falling into the trap of making this into a diary entry, when I promised myself I would not do that. To focus on a couple positive things, I am happy to say that summer has finally arrived - with temperatures hanging around 28 degrees (give or take a few), and lots of sunshine and I have the trucker's tan to prove it... (For those not in the 'know', that's when one shoulder is blazing red (actually my whole arm) and one is still snow white - very sexy, kind of a yin and yang sorta thing goin on there... ;) Anyway, in order to distract myself from all the stress of details and having to run in fifty directions all at once, while at the same time jumping up and down waving pom poms and shouting 'Isn't this FABULOUS!?!' at the top of my lungs all the time (yes I'm being figurative here), there are still a few things I can smile about in life. One being myself and my frequent 'adornment' of various kinds of foods and sauces that I seem to be intent on wearing. I figure if you can't laugh at yourself, you're in trouble... So last night, it was ketchup and mustard, smeared up my forearm, while I was meeting a coworker and her husband to check out a washer/dryer set that we may purchase for our tenants (for an ouchy $600, but I digress)... Today it was peanut butter, pasted neatly all over my face, while I chatted with a techie guy about my broken computer (since fixed at least) and with my boss about this and that. Gotta love that you never discover these things until about five minutes after they've left the room, and I have to wonder how they all hold a straight face while they talk to me, but anyway.
That reminds me of another sweet moment I had on the weekend. My sister and I brought our dogs to a little town outside of Ottawa called 'Almonte'.


It's pretty, with big old houses (with their own style that has been dubbed the 'Almonte style' by architects), and various old mills resting on the banks of the river that runs through the center of the town. Anyway, we decided to go 'all out' and ordered ourselves some poutine, which was a challenge to eat when one arm was 'tied' to a gigantic puppy, but we managed. Then we went for a walk down the main street, and finally found an icecream place that served soft cones from outside (through a window). So I ordered a cone for my sis, one for me, and of course, one for the dogs to share. :) It was absolutely the cutest thing, and a moment that really reminded me why I got my doggie friend in the first place. He'd never had ice cream before, so he licked at it, 'gingerly', with his ears all screwed on sideways, and his eyes squinted against the cold. Then my sister's dog got a turn. She's a tiny little German Shepherd, but her huge personality makes up for it. She reminds most people of a 'Raptor'. Anyway, she did a typical 'dyno-bite' and bit half the ice cream off in one go, which of course made her panic, chewing faster and faster to get it down as it was ice cold. Anyway, this went on until the whole cone had been eaten, and ended with her having ice cream on the tips of her ears, and my dog with it streaked across his cheeks. It was a nice to have a genuine giggle over something for once, and really made me appreciate what an adorable pair of animals we have. :)
We move into the house in the next few weeks - actually we get possession of it in less than two weeks. I'm feeing apathetic, as it's the safest emotion to have at the moment, especially when everything rides on the ability of everyone involved to muster up some courage and soldier on with a little enthusiasm, which is currently lacking on all fronts.
Anyway, I will blindly charge forward, as there is no going back, and I know my money is being invested wisely, and I have made one promise to myself which is to take me and a like-minded female friend (or group of) and go relax for a week in Southern France, perhaps next year or the following one - definitely before I'm 30. With all the other things we've accomplished so far, it'd be a crime not to get a few 'dreams' out of the way before life really does bog us down. I'm hoping my other half can do the same for himself too one of these days.
Well, it's lunch time. Gonna go get some rays (with sunscreen on this time).
xo