lower case ramble

i could barely sleep last night because i could not find a good place for my hand to rest where my bandaged finger would not brush up against anything. i normally fall asleep on my side and then roll onto my back at some point once asleep. well, laying on either side was not going to happen, so i was lying there for what felt like a few eternities before the sleeping aid kicked in. about two hours later i woke up in absolute agony so i took more tylenol 1 and lay there for another eternity before i was able to fall back asleep. i repeated this until 9am when i called the surgeon's office and asked for a prescription for something stronger so i could actually sleep properly. it seemed like they could not believe i was in so much pain but said they would track down the doc to get a prescription. um... wtf? my finger was cut in half length-ways, pulled back, had a mass removed and then got stitched up and my nail reattached. excuse me for having a pain tolerance where a baby aspirin doesn't take all the pain away. that surgeon was such a dick yesterday, it doesn't surprise me that he doesn't offer his patients painkillers. hell, i had to stop him from starting the procedure yesterday because i could still feel everything at the tip of my finger.

me - "wait! i can feel that!"

doc - "really?! even here?" puts down scalpel

me - "yes, i can totally feel that."

doc - "hm... i guess i'll give you another shot."

when he was done, he said "ok, you're done. take the bandages off in four days and get stitches taken out in ten." then he turned and walked away. as he was walking away i said, "thank you. i've waited for this day for 17 years." he turned and muttered, "oh, yeah.." then kept on walking. ah well, despite that jerk we (jules and i) went out for a celebratory lunch afterward while i was still feeling no pain. then i came home and finished watching the first season of 30 rock and started watching the second season (thanks to borrowing them from our gay boy neighbour downstairs). that show is hilarious 95% of the time (tracy morgan gets really annoying sometimes).

i'm waiting for julie to get home... it's boring at home when there are limited things i can do.

i really should have taken more than yesterday and today off work... i'm not looking forward to driving or typing all day with one hand (this took forever to type). oh well, at least i wont be bored.

Of Lesbians and Surgeries

My angel is on the couch post surgery.

What a day. It has been coming for me since the day we met (and I researched it to bits on the 'net)...for Jenn it has been since she was 13. That finger....

A tumour has been causing her immense pain. And today a surgeon who would best be relegated to the, "need some customer service" skills division, removed it. She is in pain as I type...but I have medicated her with 30 Rock, Tylenol 1 and a lot of beer and hard spirits. I know it is ever so wrong but at the same time, the 'lovely' surgeon offered nothing. We shall be I am sure, at the Medicentre at some point in the next week.

Lentil and ham soup is stewing...I am back on the homemade soup business for my beautiful little gimp when she is off work on Wednesday and I have to be a slave to the economy (non profit or not...). Gosh I hope she is in less pain....she has a couple of Ty 3 but those are from 1983 and last measures only.....

In other news....my job is like The Devil Wears Prada but with no fashion... I may have mentioned it...still at four days a week and ten hours a day, I do have three wonderful days (sort of, when I am not being consumed by that not done) left to be me....I have been offered a pay rise so long as I work Fridays (pah! so demanding...hee).

I have booked my flight to Fredericton to see my wonderful ex wife and my wonderful ex girlfriend (who as we know now live in harmony with their GORGEOUS twin girls)...rather Jenn has...it IS true us lesbians from the East Coast are all the L Word. We got an amazing calander of the twins from them, just amazing..I think when I look at them my whole world aligns....I melt. Jennifer has been very amazing to come in to the lesbian family I had of former loves who I still love dearly and she truly meets me where I am at. You know you have a keeper when....smile. Janine and Rachel along with Anna and Catherine are my Canadian family aside from Dandyland (my Dandeneaults!)...that I am seeing them soon....I only wish that Jenn were able to come. I know I will miss her incredibly...

Some great Aunt of Jennifers is now on the line offering us what sounds like a bedroom set! Blimey! I think this means Jennifer is coming out to the family via donated furniture??? Ye Gads.

Until soon,

jules

Warm!

YAY!!!!!!!! Warm weather!!!! It was a gorgeous 5C outside today. The snow was melting like crazy making the streets pretty much soup. The ice melted on the floor mats in the car so I tried taking them out to pour the water out, but they're hard to get out because they're attached to the floor with two hook thingies that are hard to undo... I guess so the mat doesn't slide around and bunch up under the brake pedal or something. *shrug* Anyway, I nearly poured all the dirty water onto the floor of my car instead of outside on the pavement before I managed to unhook it. That would have sucked.

When I got home I nearly got stuck in the parking lot of the apartment building. The stupid couple who maintains the two buildings are so useless. The parking lot NEVER gets plowed, no matter how bad it gets. Last year the entire parking lot flooded really bad because the sewer drain ended up blocked with melting ice. The city had to come and fix it. Next to the sewer drain there were two HUGE pot holes as a result. What did they do to fix them? Filled them in with white landscaping rock. Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I can't even imagine how bad they're going to be come March.

Last Friday, Julie and I came home around 11:30 pm and found a sign on the door that said the locks had been changed. WTF?! We had to buzz them to let us in - they had placed new keys under every one's door. No explanation given. Then, yesterday we came home to find a new door altogether. The door that was supposed to be replaced last winter because it's broken (it just flew open and shut unless you make sure to hold it as you were opening or closing it). This time we got a piece of paper under our door with a message that pretty much said, "As you may have noticed, we have a new door. Oh, btw, please give back your old key." Um.. okay.

Our lease was up last month... they still haven't brought us our new one. I guess we're living here without being under contract. Cool. I wonder how they plan on getting paid...

Another week

Let's see... reason why I haven't blogged in the past week in no particular order:

• Was sick Jan 5 - 8 with some mysterious stomach cramping thing
• Started writing a SVU fic
• Had a root canal
• Slept 15 hours on Saturday
• Have had doubled commute times due to really crappy weather
• Super lazy

It's funny, I think of great things to blog about when I'm in the car or at work or just before I fall asleep at night. But not when I'm, y'know, sitting at the computer with the web browser open. I think of a lot of great things when I'm in the car. Maybe that's why some people install computers in their cars! Super dangerous web blogging while at a stop light. Sounds great...

I got a hair cut after work today. My hair was practically half-way down my back and my layers had grown out. I didn't think it looked too bad; I was just annoyed with how it seems to tangle more after and take twice as long to dry once it gets past a certain length. Apparently my co-workers thought differently because for the past two weeks I've had people come up to me asking when I'm getting my hair cut. I ask why and they shrug and mumble, "I don't know... just wondering. It's getting pretty long..." Um, yeah, so? Well, someone better comment tomorrow or else!

I'm watching CSI right now. It's apparently Grissom's last episode. I can't imagine the show without him on it, but the blow is significantly lessened by the addition of fellow Canadian Lauren Lee Smith (aka Lara from The L Word). I guess when Jorja Fox left the show, they needed to fill the gay-lovin' quota.

My mother turned 51 on Sunday. Man, time flies. The family gathered at my grandparents' place for dinner. When dinner was over, my mom, my aunt, my grandma, Julie and my sisters were sitting around the table talking about different things when my sister started telling my mom how she loves her more than me or my other sister. My other sister naturally countered with something else and then I joined in. It went something like this:

"Mom, I was the first one to wish you a 'happy birthday' this morning, so I love you the most."

"Mom, I bought you breakfast this morning so I'm the daughter who loves you the most."

"Okay, but I brushed the snow off of mom's car today, so clearly I love her more."

"Yeah, but I gave her a back massage yesterday."

"Well, I cleaned the kitchen!"

"You're supposed to clean up after yourself in the kitchen anyway, dumbass."

"Yeah, well shut up."

"I clearly love mom the most because I moved out."

"Mom loves ME more because she asked me to move back in!"

"Yeah, that's because you were in trouble and she wanted to keep an eye on you."

"I love mom the most because I got a job working for the same company that she does!"

"Yeah, well so did I. Until I got fired..."

On and on it went until we were nearly in tears from laughing. My mom was highly amused.


And lastly, only five more sleeps until my surgery. I can't wait!!!

Damn PC

My computer is frustrating the hell out of me. I had a friend of mine who used to work for Dell format my laptop yesterday. After it was done, the performance looked promising, but today I received another blue screen error and it's slower. :(

Today is the one year anniversary of Julie and I moving in together. :) Still as happy, if not happier now. I sure feel lucky...

How it gets done in Britain

 . . . the reason the people stopped charging Jennifer's account was because the conversation Jennifer mentions, went like this:

JULIE:  Hello??Hello?

TELEPERSON:  Weeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllll howdy!  And how's your day going M'am...hope it's going suuuuuuuupppper.....

JULIE:  (Monotone)  Well seeing as though your company is charging my Visa for things I do not even use, I would say it is not going so bloody super......M'am.  

TELEPERSON:  Ooooooooooooh, so sorry to hear that Mam, please give me your Visa number and we will right that wrong in one wonderful second

JULIE:  (Monotone but now with a little sass and 'British' edge) If you think I am one of those people who will now tell you such information then clearly you are not aware that I know how your scams work, and yes, while I may have inadvertendly signed up for something, I think we both know who is in the wrong here so I would suggest you look me up by my last name and initial only and we shall go from there shall we....and then you are going to tell me exactly which site you obtained this information . . . do I make myself abundantly clear . . . 

TELEPERSON:  Absoooooooolutely M'Am....how's the weather doing where you are...let me just one second....oh my....yes indeeeeedy....okay M'Am....

I did not blame Teleperson who likely can find no other employment and loathes it as much as we do, but the marvellous way she spoke to me was priceless.  I love how these companies suggest they are a huge, incredible places that are wonderful to work for (as they are working for YOU afterall...aHem) and yet really it is just four people in a shipping container in Montreal nipping out for ciggie breaks every 10 minutes and drinking way too much coffee....

One of the charges Jenn had could not be reached due to their..."Abundance of services our operators now work in our many departments...which you can find on our website" (or some such, which can not be found on their professional looking site).  You see, I have a website under construction (not for naughty purposes) and I know how darn easy it is to make one person look like 50. 

So yes.  There you have it.  Lesbian in shining armour, coming to my tender-heart's rescue with a clipped English accent and a slight case of PMT....if you care to have your Visa charged monthly I could do the same for all of you know...should you ever need it, which you never will....

New Year

Happy New Year to everyone!

With the year all shiny and new, I've been thinking about what the next 12 months will hold. This month will involve a root canal and surgery for my finger (yay!). March includes my 31st birthday (nudged fully into my 30's now). The end of May and beginning of June has Julie flying to New Brunswick (her first Canadian home town) to see her ex-wife and ex-girlfriend and her 2 year old twin girls. This year hopefully has some sort of trip that both Julie and I take, whether close by or a plane trip away, we're determined to go some place together for once. Actually, she really wanted me to go to New Brunswick with her, but unfortunately she's going right at fiscal year end at my work and with everything that goes with that, there's pretty much no way I would get time off approved.

I've made a decision to stop drinking alcohol as much. Not that I was overdoing it by any means, perhaps a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer every two weeks. It's just really expensive and carb-filled and I really don't want it to become a habit where on the weekend I'm at the liquor store. It's no help for stress, even though it feels like it at the time, and it's not a substitute for a sleep aid or painkiller. Anyway, I want to cut back on that...

I'm not making a resolution to eat better or to lose weight (both of which I need to do) because I don't want to set myself up to fail that expectation of myself. Instead, I've made a resolution to use up all of the food that comes into the house - including leftovers, that bag of salad that ends up sitting on the bottom shelf, the bag of carrots that get forgotten, etc. This, in a way, forces us to eat a little better. We're already bringing good things home from the store, but sometimes those good things end up forgotten or seem too high maintenance on a weekday evening when all we want is something fast. We've been trialing this for the past week and it's been working. We've both been cooking more and been more creative in the process. It's been kind of fun, actually. :)

I'm also going to get out of the apartment more and inject myself in social settings. Whether it's walking down a trendy avenue with cool shops and coffee bars or just walking around looking at things. I drive 25 minutes to work in the morning and 35 minutes home in the evening and I do not see what's happening around me. I see the car next to me and the pedestrian about to cross in front of me and the gas station sign I glance at to see what the price per litre is this week... but I don't see anything. The Telus building downtown always has Christmas lights on it... four or five outlines of Christmas trees that blink on and off at different intervals... it's one of the things that marks the holiday season for me... but this year, I've barely been able to glance at it as I drive by it EVERY DAY. Why? I'm driving on a long, three lane icy bridge in rush hour traffic and cannot take my eyes off of my lane for more than two seconds to glance to the side and marvel at the sight. Finally, about a week ago, I was on the other side of the river, stopped at a light, and I could see it straight ahead of me on the other side of the river bank. For those 10-15 seconds, I stared at it and got to see all the light sequences. It made my whole day. Now, of course you ask, 'why the hell didn't you make a point of going out to see it before then?' Well... really, it wasn't a conscious thing until that moment at the stop light. So anyway, I want to become more pedestrian in 2009.

Today, Julie and I went to Best Buy and picked up season 3 of Criminal Minds. That show is such a guilty pleasure. I also picked up the 3rd volume of the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons. I loved Tom and Jerry when I was a little kid. I actually cannot believe my parents let me watch it but I suppose it was different time then (gosh, am I that old that I can call my childhood a 'different time'? Yeesh). The package actually has a warning that it's for the Adult Collector and not for children. And then on the discs themselves, there is a full screen, well-worded disclaimer about the content. Watching the first three shorts on the first disc, I can totally see why they needed it and why they updated Tom and Jerry to fight in a much less violent manner (and speak).

Off to bed... work in the morning. Blah... oh well, at least I have weekends back. :)