I just finished putting 3 coats of dark red paint on the walls of the bedroom. (Go here for photos) Well, a couple of the walls since I'm going to have to move all the furniture still in the room (nowhere else to put it) against the dry walls tomorrow so that I can do the unpainted walls. I'm pretty happy the way it turned out although it does look a little like I killed someone and painted the walls with their blood. Not that I would ever consider doing such a thing. <cough cough> My hands after a few days of rest off work are now back to cramping rather badly from holding a roller. Alas...

I had a nice Christmas. I worked a half day on Christmas eve, then came home to prepare dinner with Mum. We had the traditional Christmas eve tofu lasagna, caesar salad, bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, finished off with egg nog cheesecake. It was fabulous! I got lots of little treats in my stocking including a cute t-shirt, a telephone headset (for MTA conference calls), some dangly earrings, chocolate, a spearmint candle. Mum also bought me a pretty scarf, a Théophile Alexandre Steinlen print of "Tournée du Chat Noir" (which is appropriate since I have a couple chats noirs) and a full set of matching cutlery (80 pieces or so) from Ikea. I feel so grown up now that everything matches. No more random forks picked up from wherever for us. No siree. Theo said he'd get me a CD stereo for the car so that we don't have to try to rig the discman to play through the speakers anymore. Woo hoo!

We then went to Victoria on the ferry to see Theo's family. We hung out with his brother, sister-in-law, Mom, Nenna and Grandad, as well as our niece Emily and our brand-spankin'-new niece Julia, who was born the day before we arrived. We tended to be on Emily duty so that she would feel like she was still getting all the attention she needed despite the interloper in her house. She was totally enamoured of her little sister but sometimes seemed pretty jealous of this other person on her mom's lap. It was super-cool to be around such a newborn baby, despite the fact that they stole my number 1 baby name. Now I'm going to have to come up with some back up names for the kids I don't plan to have. Curses!

My buddy Matthew was here for a few days from Toronto. It was so great to see him though I'm always a little self-conscious of how little stuff I can think of to do to entertain someone from out of town. We went out to eat a bunch of times and I dragged him around all day with me yesterday shopping. He was a pretty good sport about my dithering and even volunteered to be my beast of burden, carrying all the heavy packages. He bought some pants. Then the crew got together to play Mutants and Masterminds: Exiles. My character was surprisingly effective during the butt-kicking aspect of the night. It was cool.

I've been sick all weekend and it has made me super cranky. There's simply too much to be done at this time of the year to be stuck in bed convalescing. But there's also too much to be done to be stuck with a lingering illness as I ready myself for the slog from now until Christmas, so I spent most of the weekend in my jammies attempting to de-stress enough to get better. I am taking almost 2 weeks off starting mid-way through the 24th, and I'm sooooo looking forward to it. I'm going to get to relax. Yay! Although, my idea of a relaxing Christmas vacation is going to involve painting several rooms of my house, but it is going to feel so good to have time to do it.

It's been snowing on the mountains and they look especially pretty from our deck.

I've spent a busy couple weeks working and bustling around the house. To replace the ugly blinds I found in the carport when we first moved in, I installed new curtains in the living room, which keep the room much warmer, after several false starts involving bad curtain choice and bad curtain-rod installation techniques. The finished product (thanks for hemming them, Mum!) worked out really well.

I also installed a canopy over our bed. I was at Bonnie's baby shower on the weekend and when I went to get my jacket off her bed, I noticed this beautiful canopy. I asked where she got it and went there the next day to buy one. I totally love it and it has inspired me that I need to paint the bedroom a nice, deep red, not orange as I had planned at one point. The unbleached cotton and cheesecloth of the canopy don't work perfectly with our current flannel "Bed Time" sheets but at this point in the year I consider being warm more important than being stylish (I wish I'd had that sense when I was freezing my ass off on Halloween, or during my entire teenage years in the frozen North). Morgan likes the canopy too.

Greetings to all on Remembrance Day. I never quite know what to do with myself on Remembrance day. It's nice to have a day off but it isn't one of those 'yay' holidays. It's a rather somber day which as a kid was always experienced freezing my butt off in my Brownie or Girl Guide uniform (little skirt in November in Northern BC = bad idea) doing a march around the city from the local Legion, then returning to said Legion for Hot Dogs and Hot Chocolate. My dad was a Scout leader as well as a former member of the Australian Army Militia (Reserves) and he marched every year up until he was too sick. So I feel I should be reverential, but don't quite know how to pull it off other than to not run around being all carefree and happy that I'm not at work. I sometimes watch the ceremony on TV (I've had more than my share of freezing my butt off at cenotaphs).

I awoke this morning and decided I might have a lazy day in my pajamas but instead spent the day outside helping Mum rip out dead plants from the garden. We then excavated an evil hydrangea (I have always disliked these plants, and after today, perhaps have moved up the scale to despising them) from its long-term resting place in the back garden. When we first moved in Mum hacked it back mercilessly in the hopes of destroying it but it bounced back with a vengeance, doubling in size. We decided moving it to a more appropriate locale in the garden might make it less of a bother so with mindless optimism (on my part anyway) we set at digging the sucker up. It took 1 and ½ hours, a pitchfork, 2 shovels and a saw, but the thing is out. Unfortunately, we blew ourselves out so badly that we didn't have the energy to rip out other plants and dig an appropriate hole for it elsewhere in the garden. If it dies in its temporary pot home, I won't be too sad.

I spent Saturday and Sunday up on the roof cleaning the eaves and putting up the Christmas lights. I know it's too early for Christmas lights but I didn't know how long the good weather would last so I figured I might as well get them up on a warm(ish) sunny day rather than waiting until December 1 and who knows what. I won't plug them in for a few more weeks even though I love their pretty blue LED glow.

I drove to Bellingham yesterday for lunch with Karen (yummy Thai food) and a run on Costco for Zone bars and the Co-op for veggie bacon (facon). The highways were terrible in the rain but at least the border crossings were smooth and I now have lots of Zone bars and facon. Yay! I popped in to Bed Bath and Beyond while I was there because I'd heard so much about it, and am a sucker for housewares. I admit that I probably own an excessive amount of appliances and kitchen stuff but somehow this S'mores kit struck me as one of the most excessively unneeded piece of consumer garbage I've seen in a while. I mean, you make S'mores around a campfire not in your kitchen with specially shaped graham cracker holders and a fondue-type marshmallow griller. It made me feel dirty, and not in the good way.

Mum and I went to see Ballet BC perform on Thursday night, which was great. We did our usual ritual of a quick (& delicious) tapas dinner at El Patio before the show then walked up to the theatre. Watching professionals perform always inspires me to keep at my ballet classes. I mean, I got over any aspirations to be a professional dancer in University when I realized what an adequate dancer I am but they make it look so easy that I think, "If she can do that so easily on her pointe shoes, maybe I can try a step about 1/10th as hard in my class without being such a chicken." Anyway, the show was great, with them performing a lyrical classical number to Dvorzak's Serenades, then (my favourite) a really cool modern ballet number called In and Around Kozla St (Warsaw). I was surpised by how much I liked the modern number because I often find modern ballet kind of annoying and incongruous but Serge Bennethan's choreography didn't have that forced and "Oh, look. We're doing ballet but with really weird angles because it's modern. Get it? Weird angles equals modern" feel to it. There were a bunch of really interesting lifts - which I always enjoy - though it wasn't always men lifting women but often each other, which makes lifts look even more challenging. In another moment, two dancers danced their way across the entire stage for about 2 minutes while attached at the mouth in a kiss. It was remarkable the number of movements they were able to execute in that position. The program finished up with Carmen which was well done, and looked like a lot of fun to perform for the dancers, and was easy to follow, but didn't have the same impression on me that the previous number did.

I currently have 4 days off (woo hoo!) and have been trying to figure out what to do with myself. I ran a few crazy plots through my head about attempting to switch our bedroom and office on my own but there's no way I'll be able to move all that furniture alone and I wouldn't want to see the look on Theovis' face if I suggested it as a fun weekend activity. I think instead I will do some relaxing and socializing. I'll save facing Theovis' unhappy face for when I need help putting up the Christmas lights in a few weeks.

Spent much of the morning running around compiling the appropriate documents to apply for Citizenship of Australia by way of descent. I've been meaning to do it for a while but finally got the forms online, collected all the various documents and headed down to the Australian consulate. Unfortunately, the consulate wasn't in the same building I went to 9 years ago for a Visa, but the nice man at the desk gave me directions to the new location 4 blocks away. I tromped up there and arrived to find out that I have to send the documents to Ottawa - apparently a "Mission" is different to a "Consulate". Curses! Luckily the woman was quite nice and photocopied and certified my documents so I didn't have to send originals via Canada post. I then joined Theovis at his office for lunch with the gang, got spanked at air hockey then went to the post office to mail my application to Ottawa.

The other thing I've been up to is helping my mum with her application for her Permanent Resident's card - which she's left to the last minute, as is her habit. A coworker of mine, also from Australia told me this horror story about getting a visa to go to the US - spending the whole day at the US Consulate waiting in line (actually waiting outside the Consulate in the rain, because of security measures). At least she got a double frisking out of it. But, as I was searching online today, it looks like Australia is one of the countries with an agreement with the US which allows them to travel to the US on a "Visa Waiver Program".

From what I can tell, she's fine to travel to the states on her Australian passport, but why did Jennifer need a visa? It's getting awfully complicated, especially since Mum only needs the visa because she will have to transfer planes in either LA or Honolulu on her way to Australia. I understand increased security measures, but it seems ridiculous that she might not be able to go home in the spring because no one flies to Australia without a stop in the US.

To make things easier in the future, I ordered her an application for Canadian citizenship. Starting last year, the Aussies don't make you give up your Australian citizenship if you take a second. It might take too long for her to be able to use it in the spring for her trip but at least she'll be able to vote for the first time in 36 years.

Went out last night to see the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets playing at the Marine Club. It was a bunch of fun except being the keeners that we are, we arrived ridiculously early. It's so rare that we go out anymore that we don't have a clue what time things really happen. That said, at least we got good seats to see the bands but it was freezing down our end of the bar and I had to spend the entire time wrapped up in my cloak rather than showing off my hard-won costume. Oh well. We were really pleased with how our costumes turned out regardless, and Theo got a prize for his. Unfortunately, the prize was a CD of the first opening band who write kind of catchy songs, but their female singer has some serious pitch/tuning issues which makes them a bit of a chore to listen to. Also, the two opening bands had long sets which forced the headlining Thickets off the stage about halfway through their set. That was totally lame. We then wandered through downtown attempting to hail a cab at 2am and freezing our super-asses off. My invisible jet would have come in very handy at that point. Eventually we made it home and ate a box of Annie's (basically non-chemical KD (Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for any Americans)). It was yummy!

My dad died 3 years ago today. It's a strange statement to type a)because he's gone and b)because I can't believe it has been that long already. I had a real moment of sadness the other day while working on an older guy who just kind of reminded me of Dad. I quickly pulled it together because patients don't really like it when you cry on them (and who can blame them). It's interesting how the weight of the situation sometimes hits home. You're wandering along perfectly okay for ages but a small thing really reminds you of what you've lost and the tears appear. That's the hard part. Something that reminds you of the vibrant person who used to be in your life, not their absence in itself. Grief is a strange, strange thing.

Getting all ready for Halloween in a couple days. I started thinking about Halloween at the end of September then dropped the ball for about 3 weeks then have been in a scramble to try to pull something together. It would have been easy if someone had carried the Wonder Woman costume I wanted to get but no-one in Vancouver had Wonder Woman this year. I could have, I suppose, asked Mum to sew it for me but I feel bad for the numbers of times I ask her to do that kind of thing. I figured I'd give her a break. After much sulking I decided that I would go as Lady Deathstrike from X-2 (as opposed to the freaky one in the comics). I constructed some fingernail-claws but quickly realized that I would only be able to wear one hand's worth or I wouldn't be able to do anything all night. Walking into the bathroom and asking someone else to undo my pants just seemed a little invasive. And wearing only one hand seemed lame, and the "creepy" grey contacts I ordered didn't look any different than my regular (lovely) green eyes, and I didn't actually have anything to wear that would be appropriate, and... Anyway, I decided that that costume wouldn't work so I tried on everything we have in our "Tickle Trunk" but it all seemed lame too. There was much costume anguish. Until this past Monday when, after donating platelets, I decided to drive to Bellingham where I'd seen a Wonder Woman costume in the mall. If they didn't still have it I was going to buy something and just wear whatever it was. Luckily for me, they did have it and I was able to drive home a happy woman (especially since I picked up a couple boxes of Zone bars on my way out of the Mall). Yay!

I forgot to mention in my last entry the fact that I got my hair chemically straightened with that crazy Japanese Ionic process (I'm still not sure whether it's a Japanese technique or whether you get to have hair like a Japanese person - either way, I'm thrilled). It was a total pain in the arse for the first 3 days because I had to leave it perfectly straight against my head. No putting it up. No tucking behind my ears. No getting it wet. For someone who has worn her hair pretty much in a perma-bun for years, it was a bit of a shock to have it down all the time. And it meant no major exercise for a few days because I couldn't put it up or get it sweaty, but at least I could still do Pilates.

As soon as it was washed, I was ecstatic. My hair looks longer now, minus the curl, though it's funny that people keep asking me if my hair was curly before. They also keep noticing the streaks, which I've had for a year and a half. I guess the perma-bun hid more than I thought.

Every time I do an update I promise myself that I will do another one in a reasonable length of time. And I fully mean it when I say it, yet I don't follow through. I always have a big list of excuses but I won't bore anyone with them. Anyhoo, this is what was up for my summer.

We went to a few weddings in August and September. My friend Danae from highschool got married to a guy she's known since she was a little kid but only reconnected with a few years ago. It was all very sweet and romantic although they were probably the longest, most tedious speeches I've ever sat through at a wedding. Oh well. I'm especially fond of her because she saved me the first day of school in Grade 11 when I'd just moved to Port Coquitlam from my tiny hometown and we were told by our homeroom teacher to choose locker partners. I looked around with a panicked expression until this non-psycho-looking girl asked me if I wanted to be her partner. Yay! As it turned out, she was also into music, theatre and dance, and was dating an older guy so we got along famously. We stayed in contact intermittently through University but retained a pretty close connection. She's just presented her Doctoral dissertation a few weeks before the wedding, which took place a couple days before she and husband Geoff were driving to Missouri to take on a teaching job at Southwest Missouri State University so she's quite the multi-tasking superwoman. Plus the fact that a woman I went to high school with is both a Doctor and teaching at a University is pretty freaky. I feel way to young for that, but I guess I'm really not. Eep.

Theovis' sister Chandra also got married in August. For this event we got to reconnect with Theovis' family from both sides. His brother Murray (different father) spent a fair bit of time with Theovis' father Theo when he was growing up and is pretty close to him. He also lived with Theovis' sister Chandra (different father and mother) for a few years so is pretty tight there. It's kinda complicated relations wise but it all worked out and we got to hang with a whole bunch of the family. Our niece Emily was a joy, as always, charming the heck out of all of us at both the wedding and the reception, where she gave me a real workout. We also got to meet the newest and smallest of the Theos (our new nephew), and I managed to get a photo of all three generations of Theos. It was very sweet. We also got to meet a brother Theovis and I had never met before, which was pretty cool. Here's a photo of all the various siblings, none of whom have the same two parents. It makes my family seem pretty damn boring.

Speaking of my family, my brother James showed up here in early September and hung around for a week. We didn't get a chance to see too much of him, since he's seeing a girl who lives here and wanted to spend more time with her, but he came and hung out a few times, then kindly painted my bathroom, after repairing the lousy drywalling job I'd done during our renovations last fall.

I ripped up the hideous and filthy carpet that has plagued our living room since we moved in. I didn't want to tear it up until I could buy rugs and I never wanted to pay to have it cleaned because I was going to rip it up. A vicious cylcle ensued until I got a bee under my bonnet and just did it one weekend. Check out the transformation of our living room here.

Theovis and I just got back from spending the Thanksgiving long weekend in Whistler in celebration of our 7-year wedding anniversary. It is so hard to believe that it's been 7 years already but there ya go. We had a nice time even though the weather was complete crap until today. Over the years we've developed a pretty philisophical attitude about holidaying in the rain, since it is almost always raining around our anniversary, and it was pouring on our wedding day. But, sometimes it's nice not to get soaked while exploring a new area, so it was great that things cleared up today and we were able to take the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain for some sightseeing.

I've been bustling around like mad since the Canada day long weekend painting and doing other home improvement projects. The old, hideous ceiling fan in the dining room died when I tried to change the lightbulb, so I got to replace it with a much less-hideous one. Unfortunately, the wire from the switch was also fried, so I had to wire both the fan and the light to one switch until I can be bothered to take it all down again to rewire the light switch.

Buoyed on by jealousy of Toren's awesome sketches of our characters from our Exiles game of Mutants and Masterminds (yes, I'm roleplaying again for the first time in around 8 years), I've decided I have to learn to draw. I have never been able to draw because they don't teach you in school. They just say "draw" and you're supposed to be able to. Sorta like running in gym class. You're just supposed to be able to do it. If someone had actually broken down the steps and taught techniques and skills, maybe I wouldn't have fled from art (and gym) classes as soon as possible and would have been able to draw (and run for that matter) without having to teach myself at 30. Alas...

Armed with "How to draw comics the Marvel way" - a chesnut from 1977 by Stan Lee, I am learning the basics of shape, shading and perspective. So far I've drawn a bunch of cubes, cylinders and circles - plus a recognizable Wolverine, starting with basic form and working outwards. It's pretty cool.

I attended the 20th Anniversary celebration yesterday at the West Coast College of Massage Therapy, where I spent 2 hellish years getting my massage therapy diploma. It was interesting to be in the school environment again, because although it has changed the location of the campus, walking into huge rooms filled with massage tables, anatomical charts, skeletons and overhead projectors brought back some strong flashbacks. I am much happier looking at it from 7 years' distance.

That said, I'm actually considering returning to the school to take some upgrading courses that would prepare me to undertake the Bachelor's of Science in Massage Therapy Program that is currently being developed. Because I did a 2 year program, and they've expanded to a three year, I'll need to take some classes that weren't offered while I was in school in order to be eligible for the proposed Bachelor. I love the idea of being able to progress forward with my education but at the same time am really freaked about the idea of returning to do a pile more schooling. I don't have those fond memories of college and university as the "best days of my life". I merely remember the stress and anxiety, with a vague hint of the excitement of gleaning knowledge. I did promise my dad, though, when I was leaving University to pursue Massage Therapy that I would return some day to complete my degree. At least this way it would be in my chosen field.

Plus, I could be one of the many massage therapists who will be able to shake of the mantle of inferiority we've held in the healthcare field because we "only have a diploma". That would feel pretty damn good.

I decided to skip yoga this morning so I could spend some time doing updates again. Here are some photos I've taken recently.

We saw this rose growing in an alley, amid some razor wire. I could say something deep about beauty blooming amidst ugliness, but I won't. The poppy is growing in our back garden. The daisy in the front. The mountains are a view from our deck. Gotta love those Lions.

I've also been busy replacing our old futon frame bed with a new snazzy metal one. The girls found it very interesting to "help" - i.e. sit on things I was trying to move.

While hiking a few weeks ago, I came across the strangest sign, I think ever, in a women's washroom. It has never occurred to me to perform the kinds of acts they're asking you not to, but I guess there must be a reason they put these signs up...

Under no real category, here's a photo of the sexy - yes, I said sexy - Kitchen Aid mixer I got with my Airmiles. With it, I made a cheese ball to take to a party. It was cool. Also, here are my toes on my birthday, just after I had a pedicure. The colour is "Pistol Packin' Pink". I'm anti-guns, but for cool names like that for nail polish. Go figure.

I finally have access to a digital camera and have been snapping photos like crazy, and I wanted to share them with this update, but they're all on the other computer, and the two computers won't talk to one another anymore so I can't upload anything until Theovis is finished with his project. So I'll just say that photos are coming.

We're currently hoping to buy a new - new to us, anyway - to replace the incredibly sexy Mum-Mobile. We had it inspected and it needs a little work so we're still in the decision process. Keep your fingers crossed for me because I really want to be able to do more road trips, and I think this car would help us do this a whole lot more comfortably and consistenly.

Happy Father's Day!

Last year this wasn't a pretty time of year for me. I wasn't dealing with not having a dad on Father's day very well, but this year wasn't nearly as tough. I'm sure my mental state heading up to the date makes a huge difference, but I guess I've also just got to suffer through enough of these special occasions to make them flow a little easier.

Theovis had a good chat with his dad, and I was able to take pleasure in their increasingly-close relationship rather than feeling jealous that I don't have a dad to chat with anymore. And if I look at it really objectively, I got to have a close relationship with my dad for 27 years, while Theovis has really only been reconnecting with his over the past 10 or so.

When I'm less objective, I can confess how much I miss him and how much it sucks not to have him nearby anymore.

Spring is here and I'm restless as hell.

Here's a list of things I've been considering doing as hobbies to entertain myself:
• Taking a woodworking class
• Returning to University to complete my degree
• Making beaded charm bracelets
• Learning to play guitar or bass - then -
• Starting/joining a Rock Band
• Painting the bedroom orange
• Re-painting the bathroom a different shade of blue
• Tiling the entire bathroom the same as the tub surround
• Refinishing the kitchen cabinets
• Taking a yoga class
• Travelling to Venice to write a novel (Hey, I didn't say they had to be rational)

Gah! Just spent an entire evening waiting for a phone call that never came. I was supposed to meet up with a girlfriend to go dancing. We both were incredibly excited about it when we spoke several days ago, and yesterday for that matter. I phoned the place she was supposed to be several times and left messages on her mobile without any success. As it turns out when I got home many hours later - I went out with other friends while waiting for her call on *my* mobile - she'd sent me an email, probably before I'd left home in the first place to bail on me. I still feel like total crap.

Well, things didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped working in two clinics at the same time. I really liked the new place, but I really felt myself being pulled two different directions and figured it was more important to focus my energies toward making the practice I've built for the past 2 1/2 years a real success. I'm glad I gave it a shot, though, because it showed me which direction I should be moving.

I'm finding myself getting spring fever as usual and am getting back on the renovation bandwagon. Once the bathroom was (mostly) finished in December I just couldn't bring myself to keep working at it. But I went to "Ladies' Night" at Revy last night and am all energized to do projects again. I bought a new light fixture for the bathroom and am going to make a second go at doing the florescent light in the kitchen. Last week - instead of getting started on my taxes - I pulled up the carpet in the hallway to expose the hardwood floor. It looks really nice, but now I need baseboards, and a carpet runner to slow down the kitties scrabbling around the corner when they're playing chasies.

How come I always have so much more energy when I'm avoiding something unpleasant?

I have managed to be so productive the past couple weeks, I don't quite know what to do with myself. I'm on the go 18/7 for sure (a gal has got to sleep!) This morning following our lower body workout, I prepared a casserole for tonight's dinner, ran the dishwasher, had a shower, walked to work, massaged for 3 hours solid, mailed a birthday present to my brother, bought groceries, walked home, emptied the compost pail, aerated the huge composter, rearranged the living room, emailed, watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, went to ballet class then came home, ate dinner, tidied the kitchen and ran the dishwasher again. I think I'm exhausted!

I decided to check out my lovely friend Ms. Pink's website as I'm sitting here and noticed a link to this fun little game:
test yourself at fontlover.com!

And speaking of fun little online games, Theovis created this South Park-ized version of me with a goofy little generator (and a bit of Photoshop).

Another new year has begun and I'm making a real effort this year to be more focused on my Massage Therapy career. Last year I was so scattered, especially at the end with the renos, but I'm ready to give my career its needed focus and energy this year.

I finally built a website for my practice at http://www.katedouglass.com. I started this process in July of last year but totally dropped the ball. I am kind of appalled at how long it took me to get it together to do this, but I'm focusing on the fact that it's done - although there will be needed tweaks of course.

As you may notice on the website, I have also started work at a second clinic this year - working 5 days a week at massage therapy is something I haven't done for about 5 years but it was time to do something to prop up my income level. I'm not entirely sure how well my body will react or how long I'll be able to keep it up, but it is worth a shot, anyway.

I've also gotten back on the BFL program - eating right and exercising after a long break due to no room in the living room to work out, plus gratuitous chocolate consumption over the holidays. It's tough getting up at 6:15 but well worth it for my increased energy levels and overall feeling of health.