Catching Up

Ahh, that glorious time of year when life gets turned a little upside down with craziness!  The busy season is upon us here at work.  It's always a bit of an adjustment.  I love the slower pace and calmer days of winter, yet at the same time, there's an adrenaline rush that comes with the busier season, and the days fly by.

Here's a little of what's been going on in my world lately:

• Last week, I was handed one last blessed Snow Day.  Yes, a Snow Day in April... and it was magical.  (Well, for the most part.)  I woke to the news that the mixed precipitation and freezing rain throughout the night had cancelled school buses in our are (almost unheard of), and they were warning people to stay home if possible.  I literally work 5 minutes from home, so such warnings usually don't apply to me.  No matter how bad the conditions, I can almost always make it those 5 minutes down the road.  So I got up and showered, ready for the day, when I got a text from one of the bosses saying "Stay home today".  It turns out, the weather had knocked the phone and Internet down, so even if I did make it in, there wasn't much to do.  I jumped at the opportunity for one last Monday off.
• I made pancakes for breakfast.  My Internet was down, so I watched silly daytime TV like The Price Is Right.  I read.  I crocheted.  I made popcorn.  I watched a scary movie.  I literally did everything I consider to be a fun, child-like "Snow Day". I was supposed to host Spirit Cafe that night at our church because the minister couldn't be there, and I even got that cancelled so that I wouldn't even have to stick my nose out the door.  Right up until suppertime, it was bliss!!
• I had taken a container of spaghetti sauce out of the freezer for supper, and around 5:30 I started cooking the pasta and heating up the sauce.  Fave supper for my fave kind of day!  It was half-way through cooking and the power went off.  And stayed off.  I was a little ticked.  Through all the crappy weather of the past 24 hours, my power had only flickered on and off a few times.  Now that it was finally getting nicer out, the power goes off and stays off?  Frig.  I was sitting out the couch kind of stewing about the fact that my supper was only half-cooked and worried about how long the power might stay off, when suddenly I noticed there was some commotion outside.  A lot of people out on the sidewalks, and vehicles parked on the side of the road.  "What the heck is going on out there?" I wondered.  I stuck my head out the door and realized my driveway and house were surrounded by firetrucks and a police car.  Turns out the neighbour's house was on fire!
• I had heard sirens, but hadn't realized they'd stopped right next door.  No one can ever call me a nosy neighbour... I'm soooo unobservant!  So the fire caused a bit of excitement for the rest of the day, as I huddled with some other neighbours out on the sidewalk and watched the action.  Luckily, no one was hurt.  The house is still standing, but I doubt it is salvageable.  It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise lovely day off.  I'm just thankful it was a wet day and none of the other houses or buildings around were ever in jeopardy.
• I had a doctor's appointment last week to follow up on my heart palpitation problem.  The good news is, according to the ECG and Holter monitor results, there is nothing structurally wrong with my heart.  The bad news is, I'm still experiencing light flutters on a daily basis.  The doc tells me there is a procedure he can send me for at the Heart Institute, which he called a "re-wiring of the heart" - but he doesn't think it's necessary since I'm not experiencing any ill effects aside from the flutters.  He'd like to keep me on the medication I'm currently on, and to continue trying relaxation techniques and experimenting with ways to make the palps less annoying.  I agreed to that course of action, for the time being anyways.  
• Last Friday evening, I had my "Stephen King movie girls" over to watch the movie Christine.  After reading the book, I really wanted to watch the movie.  Last fall, I dragged the few friends I have who don't mind scary movies with me to see IT, so I knew they were the ones I had to call upon for Christine. We had a junkfood bonanza - pizza, chips and dip, candy, ice cream, pop - and watched the old '80's movie about a car that goes on a killing spree.  The book was way scarier than the movie, in my opinion.  Still, I enjoyed it and trying to identify certain characters, one of my favourite games to play during old movies.  "Hey!  That's Cougar from Top Gun!!  You know, the guy who freaks out at the start of the movie and can't land the plane?  Cougar lost it and turned in his wings! ...  Why does that old guy look so familiar? Holy crap, I think he's the old shovel slayer guy from Home Alone. It IS the old shovel slayer guy from Home Alone!!"  Good times, good times. ;)
• I was tormented by a headache for much of last weekend, which kind of killed the good vibes that came from the first warm and sunny weekend we've had in months.  I still made myself go for a little walk and sit out on the back deck for the first time this year and read in the sun. I should have been doing yard work, cleaning the deck furniture, a million outdoor things, but the head wouldn't allow it.  
• Currently reading:  First Comes Love by Emily Giffin.  And loving it.  One of the characters is going through something that I have given a lot of thought of myself, choosing to have a baby on her own.  Just reading about her process is definitely giving me the itch. 
• My latest Netflix ventures:  I finished watching Scandal, and then watched the Alias Grace series.  I LOVED it, and now I can't wait to read the book.  We heard about Grace Marks on our tour of the Kingston Pen a few years ago, and her story has fascinated me.  It only took me a few days to watch it, and then I moved on to Downton Abbey.  I had a hard time getting through the first few episodes, but now I'm hooked and loving it, too.  I can't wait to get home each night to watch an episode or two.
• We were totally spoiled at work yesterday for Administrative Professionals Day.  They took us out for lunch to our church's Soup & Sandwich, which is always such a nice treat, and while we were there, they presented us with take-out containers.  I joked that they had got us each a poutine as a gift, but when I opened it up, I discovered I wasn't far off!  We each received a gift certificate to the local chip wagon.  Woo hoo!  I loooove the chip wagon and eat there almost every weekend, so it will definitely be put to good use.  I am a lucky girl to work where I do, for people who care & treat me like family.  Thank you Mountainview!
• Tonight I'm starting an 8-week art workshop with my neighbour and artist extraordinaire Shannon, which I'm very excited about.  I have done many paint nights with Shannon, and I'm almost always thrilled with the art I get to bring home.  I'm excited to do a longer, more thorough and detailed project that will continue over 8 weeks.  Can't wait!
• This coming weekend is a busy one, and I'm already kind of sad about how fast it's going to blow by.  It's the hardest part about coming off my 4-day weekends in the winter.  Two days just seems SO short and goes by SO quickly, especially when there's lots of stuff going on.  Oh well.  It's all fun stuff.  A cousin's bridal shower, another cousin's stag & doe...should be a good weekend!