rockstar

So this is crazy weekend.

Waterfront.

I hate it. It's so busy- and I get so distracted by people, I'm of no use- I just lose the conversation.

Tonight I started out on my walk and ended up running into travwho, little buddy and t.lam down by the pier. I joined them for a bit, we walked down to the end (all the carny rides are running) and watched for people we knew- the one good part of the weekend is that everyone comes home. 

We ran into a bunch of the youth group kids that we worked with this year- and that was about it. 

Till we started to walk back down to the board walk.... there, coming up the pier was my favourite square headed man. 

Jacky's back in town!

He's a hug that feels like home.

sweet ride

Last night was a busy night at GTI dinner. There were several new people out from the community, and some returnees that we haven't seen since winter. 

One man I was glad to see was the farmer- lives in a small village a few kms out of town, he has some land, a place to live. He deals with some mental health issues, but keeps mostly to himself- and helps out other people where he can. AND he plays guitar.

The farmer hasn't been around since Januar

y- he took his van off the road- removed the plates, and cancelled the insurance. He's had some friends staying with him since then, so we weren't too too worried- he had company, and we had fairly regular updates from a variety of people. 

I'd asked A & M earlier in the week to say hi to the farmer and let him know he'd been missed- but I didn't expect to see him at dinner when he walked in. 

I didn't think too much about his van- I figured that he'd gotten it back on the road. 

Until dinner was wrapping up.

PaSheff came back in the building and asked me if I had my camera.

what letter are we on?

Time gets away from me. 

Just like it does for everyone. 

When I have a moment, it's gone just as soon as it's realized. I'm ok with that, but sometimes it makes me sad.

I get lonely. I get frustrated. And a lot of the time I wonder why I'm running so hard.

Last week on my walk I ran into some friends on the street, they were just finishing an evening bike ride down to the lake and were all smiles as they headed home. One of them said to me as we chatted, "Do you have your bike on the road yet?" 

It was the third time in as many weeks that she'd asked me.

I tried to hold it together, and laughed it off- saying I'd get to it eventually.

Now.. I could have skipped going for my walk and fixed my bike (read- pumped the tires, greased the chain, fought with the brakes) but... I couldn't. I talked with Roomie2 about it when I got home...

Sometimes I get to the point where I just don't want to do anymore. I'm one person.. and yes, I've become pretty independent. (I've lamented this before) But sometimes... all I want to do is turn to someone and say "could you please do this for me?" To turn to my invisible husband and say "honey, could you take care of this one thing for me?"

And... well... that's not an option.

Which is why on the week of summer... my bike was still tucked in the garden shed.

Sunday afternoon though, that changed. A dear friend came to the house, pulled the rusty bike out of the shed- and proceeded to give my bike it's spring tune up. 

I cried.

And then I went and scrubbed some of the winter rust.

Did you know you can use tin foil to shine chrome????

I have good friends.

Bunday Monday AND Good and Lovely

AND wedding of Miss Jenny to Hippy Bob... I've already run into her.... and already forgotten to call her by her married name. Miss Jenny is now Mrs. Jenny, I'll try to get in the habit.

The wedding was great, a perfect mix of two great peoples, made me smile. And though my only dance partners were drunk gay men and one stunning Sicilian woman, the dance (and Karaoke) part of the evening was so much fun.

Sunday found us (Miss errr. Mrs. Jenny, mandamanda, Superwoman, the Sicilian, and some others) out at the Oasis for a short but sweet set by the Good Lovelies as they blew thru town on their "Riches to Rags" tour. ( .. so called as they've quit their jobs to do what they love.... they're going to make it just fine...) I've written about how much I love their music before, if you get the chance to see them in person- I recommend it.

(And Lovelies, if you're lurking here, welcome back... I Google myself all the time ;)

tv

"honey, Tripp had a mental breakdown, and now he's a sausage... he's not in a better place"

best thing I've heard from the television machine in a long time.

wedd'in

Jenny and Bobert are gettin' a hitched this weekend... 

things to expect:

Friends

laughter

Music

Tie Die

Food

Karaoke

This will be good.

Also good: I went shopping today. To find a dress. 

This wasn't something I was looking forward to... I don't want to spend any more money. I was having a conversation with someone today about weddings... trying to think how much money I'd forked over in the past 10 years for friends wedding stuff... clothing/ bridesmaid dresses, gifts, hotels, showers, drinks-stagettes, traveling...  

Anyway, that's not my story. 

I went shopping. For a dress, and I found one. It took me forever to decide.. I didn't bother to look at the tags, I knew the store, I knew I didn't want to go into the city... so I just went with it. 

When I got to the cash, the lady there smiled, and rang it in... and said the magic words "it's been marked down." 

Not only that... it was half off (since I decided to buy a shirt too)....

Grand total?

$14.00

I'm still grinning.

folklore

This is where I'll be reading my books.....

Ok, I won't keep you in the dark any longer... and I checked with superwoman, and she was excited to hear that it would be on the blog....

I am going to play hostess with the mostess at a local B&B for the Canada Day weekend!
Not only that... but it's Superwoman's B&B... and, well- everyone already knows that all I want to be when I grow up is... her. (ok, that doesn't sound creepy in the least does it? lol... )

This is where I'll be serving breakfast..... mmm, fresh homemade bread.

Click the first picture... it should bring you to the website.

hint

... hint #1

I wrote about it awhile back .... and it requires some cooking.

...soooooon.....

now... not this weekend... but next weekend.

Have I told you what I'm doing?

Bunday Monday- munch

ok, forgot it was Monday again.
and now I'm not at my computer... soooo, from the archives.....

early morning bunny munch.


uh, except the picture won't load.

pretend you see a beautiful strawberry leaf, kissed with dew.

mmmm berries.

...

there was some conclusion.. thanks for your prayers, thoughts and positive energy.... I took Saturday off from life - read an entire book, bbq'd my dinner, had a nap, went to the bean... But I should have written an update.

Some things went down on thursday that gave us a glimpse of what our friends at GTI have to live with. The difference is- we can stand up for ourselves, and not live in fear of the repercussions of standing up... One of our team went over on Thursday to get the full story and handled the situation beautifully- so well in fact, that property guy called him that evening to "apologize" and invite us back to put on breakfast and our usual activities.
As one of our team said

Bottom line, everything is back to normal. I used to think I knew what normal was.

continue to pray for the team... things like this can take a lot out of us. Also, please pray for the summer, that we'd be able to find a few people who would be willing to help out for one or two nights so that some of us can take a week off.
Pray for E- that she wouldn't take the brunt of people's frustrations, and for N as he decides what to do next in regards to the tribunal- we heard that he may have been bullied enough that he's decided to drop the case... not cool. And most importantly, pray for our friends at GTI, that there would be some peace- and maybe some things go right for them.

I guess I should add some praise to that end too... praise for the way we are being supported (in prayer and financially... and thru gifts of meals and coffee!) Praise for resolution.. for safety... for friendships, for concerts and stories, and for no dead mice in the milk jug this week.


more at Ruth's blog

Prayer Ninjas, just to keep you in the loop- here's what's been going on the past 24 hours or so. (Prayer email sent to my church family back at my home church).

 Things have been going REALLY well at GTI lately, some great new friendships have been developed with people who even a few weeks ago wouldn't darken the door of the meeting room. One of the local Tim Hortons has taken us on, and is providing day olds to our newly established breakfast party (once a month to help meet the needs for food the week before cheques come out). We've had a concert with a bluesman from Toronto, and have a storyteller booked for this month's breakfast. 
I've been really excited about some advocacy and awareness things I've been able to do with a young family I've gotten to know better in the past two months, Please pray for them as they deal with some of the cuts to funding that they have relied on in the past.

But of course... when things get good... there's always something that's going to be a challenge.....
here's a copy of an email I just received from one of our full time folks....


> Church at Our House wrote:
> > Hi.
> >
> > Just got a call from E (a very vulnerable resident of Greenwood) who 
> > has taken the first couple of rounds of flak. Property guy came over 
> > and yelled at her twice already today because N has given Property Guy the 
> > letter re:Tenants Rights.

[N has been working towards getting the landlord tenant act to cover his accommodations, this is a 3 month process, and he reached his 3 months yesterday... and delivered the letter this morning]

> >
> > As of now, our team are banned from the property and from talking to E, for some reason.
> >
> > E is in everybody's bad books, even though she had nothing to do 
> > with it.
> >
> > As of now, there are no more Dinners on Wednesdays or church on 
> > Sunday. Or Breakfast next week, one assumes.
> >
> >property guy told E that the owners will have to find someone to run their 
> > jewelery and dry cleaning businesses until after the hearing on the 
> > 2nd. Don't know what that means.
> >
> > E has been told to deliver these messages (part of her punishment, 
> > no doubt), but she can't sit waiting for round 3, so she's going to a 
> > friend's house for the day.
> >
> >
> > All this because a guy wants his floor fixed. 

It's very frustrating... I have a newsletter nearly finished at home that I'll get sent out to you tonight to fill you in on what we've been up to the past two months... again, these are super exciting times... and super difficult.
Pray that E wouldn't have everything dumped on her, that N would get his floor fixed, and that Property Guy would.... hmmm... well, that we would continue to love him the way God loves him... and that he'd chill out a little.
Thanks for all your prayers!

i) coming up with a negative of goodness

Sometimes... I hate things.
Tonight I was talking with a friend at GTI (community dinner night) about an agency that was working with her to help her thru some things.

I was so frustrated by the end of the conversation- sitting there, trying to be encouraging and supportive, but seething inside about the way she had been treated.

I DON'T GET IT!
There are so many things set up in our community to help ... and yet... there's so little communication between people.. that things are getting missed.
I offered all I could. A listening ear to a frustrated friend. The only practical thing I could give was a new brochure that listed all the help agencies in 'Umberland (our county). She and her partner poured over it... so surprised to see what was actually available to them.
Another friend had been listening and piped up... "is there anyone in there to help with my teeth?".... and smiled her trademark toothless grin.

I'm beat this month. - I was going to say "today", but in counting the number of days I've felt like myself, against the number of days where I haven't... I'm coming up in the negative with goodness. I'm not people'd out... I'm just hurting to much for some... and wishing that I had more time to do more....
more
more
more
I'm greedy for time -to make it feel like a dent is being made in all this wonderful mess.
Sometimes... I love things.

h) or... Bunday Monday... the travel package

It's hard to get a squirmy bun to hold still .... look, Fynn Pants went to paris!

I pride myself on my observation skills... saying that, something is going to be glaringly missed by me in the next 24 hours... or I've pissed someone off by missing something this week/end.

But non the less, I pride myself on my observation skills- mostly of people- their emotions, their needs. That's how I've always gotten by.

This afternoon I was sitting at the desk at work. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a slip of paper laying on the ground by the door. I couldn't figure out how it had gotten there.. it hadn't been there when I came in... but I made a mental note to pick it up the next time I had to get up.

Moments later... the phone rang for my coworker. 

I stood, walked to the door and hollered up the stairs that the phone was for him. As I hollered, I reached down (without really looking) and picked up the paper.

Except that I didn't pick up the paper.

Because there was no paper.

I went back to the desk and sat down.... out of the corner of my eye... 

yup. 

The paper.

This time, I stand up walk towards the door.... and nearly drop to my knees laughing.

It was a sliver of sunlight coming through the basement(office) window, as I leaned towards it, it got blocked by my body... when I stood up and backed away it came back.

By the time my coworker came downstairs the light had shifted and there was no trace of my "paper"... and he kept looking at me as if I was demented.

Normal day in the group home.

Oh, that and the screaming and swearing at me.

999f

"I don't care what people you're from.... that's funny"

I have no idea what that was in reference to tonight, but I was laughing too hard already by that point for it to even matter.

Work was rough today... one of the guys is having a hard time... which translates into a lot of emotional energy to support him. Cross reference that to a emotionally .. um.. distanced? co worker... and you get me giving more than I have an needing a drink.

Not that I turn to drink after a hard day.

right.

Today was the busker's festival... much better than last years, last year I couldn't find any buskers. Although, last years wasn't nearly as bad as the winter fair.. where they closed most of main street for a street hockey game... This year, there were buskers, I even caught a show. 

It was HOT. It's been frickin' hot the past two days... nearly got up to 40 yesterday, and I heard 38 quoted a few times today. 

I spent the evening down at the park by the beach with some friends. We were all lounged out in our chairs, sweating after a large BBQ dinner, when out of NO WHERE... the wind changes directions..... and I kid you not... the temperature dropped 15 degrees. Maybe 20. In a matter of ten seconds we went from sweat to frost. At first I thought little buddy had taken up smoking... then I realized I could see his breath.

I've never experienced anything like that before. Thankfully MamaWho had some extra sweaters, and we bundled against the cold best we could.

Where's ma'touque?

showings.

another house showing today.

as in... friday night.

as in an hour after work... because yeah, I want to come home from work and clean crap and then leave after work. That's always what I want to do.

when we were moving.. and for the first three weeks, I always used "movin to good times" as my label for a post about our house.

999d

I figured out how to install Ypp on the Mac.
I am one happy pirate.

Elbowmarie, Officer - Sage Ocean.

It's been a long time since I could play- the old computer was freezing all the time during battles. It was very sad. Now, the thing is, I love my crew/friends so much, that I hardly ever get around to actually PLAYING. I spend all my time catching up with me hearties.

999c

ok, I missed lots on the interwebs last weeek!

THIS

is something you need to watch!!!
it reminded me, my plants NEED to get into some dirt... and soon.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda... yadda yadda yadda.

I have baby worms! (yeah!) hopefully sometime soon, I'll have enough to actually make a dent on the compost! (side note... when I got the worms, I only got a 1/4 pound, big bin, few wormies, little eating going on still.... now, the pill bugs on the other hand.....)

Me and the Mac are making friends. I turned it on for the first time this evening.... have you ever turned on a Mac for the first time? All I could think was "my computer LIKES me!" ... if you've set one up... you know what I mean.
Hopefully I'll get it figured out enough to put it to use... uh... after I plant my little green babies.

ACTUAL quote from the dollarstore the other day (I hate the concept of the dollarstore, but my budget requires that I visit once in awhile)
(said by the woman loading her three LARGE reusable shopping bags)(in a really loud voice so everyone could hear)
"now, I know you're all mad I'm taking so long, but you all need to switch to reusable bags too... I CARE about my children... I CARE about their future and the environment!"

oh my goodness the irony of it all nearly killed me.. I pretended to have a coughing fit to cover my guffaws.

let's pretend (or) makeshift bunday monday

ok, I hate to do this to you.
But so much has happened in the past three days... well...
Yet again, I forgot this was Monday...
here's a little somthin' somthin' to tide you over.

Yes, I know I've used this before... BUT- there's a darn good reason. I had to steal it from my own flickr account since this isn't my computer. Remember how I said my computer was making gross noises? and remember how I'm always complaining about my ageing computer? and remember how mostly I'm a big complainer and I never spend anything, and I never finish anything I start? remember all that?

I pet a cownose stingray today.
AND
I bought a MacBook.

yup... big day.

I'm not currently ON my new computer, as I've only just taken it out of the box long enough to confirm that "YES, it is a computer". And I haven't really stopped to breathe since Friday.... so, today we're pretending.... welcome to post 999b.