baskin' in it's glory

apparently when you hand in the piece of paper that says what you would like to have "artfully" iced on your ice cream cake, they make an EXACT reproduction of what you have written... only in icing.



this had me laughing for a good ten minutes, with tears. totally worth it.

they want a saint but with a cowboy mouth

had a great weekend. i'm doing that thing where you spread your birthday out over several weeks because i can't handle being in large groups anymore. well not so much "can't handle" but definitely "don't enjoy". it's really not the same as it used to be. i would much rather have an actual conversation with three other people than sort of remember seeing 20 different people in a loud and packed bar where all you can say is "hey how are you?" and "good, how are YOU?". boring.



i'm still loving this snow business. not so much yesterday when it turned to mush and i discovered that my boots aren't as waterproof as previously assumed.



anyway the weekend started with a play: cowboy mouth. here is a terrible photo of the beautiful set. great job by all involved. it was pretty intense, but that's generally how i like things so i really enjoyed it. there are laugh-out-loud moments and also hold-your-breath moments. also a lot of what-the-hell moments.



beautiful night.







was treated to a hotel stay afterwards, where i promptly fell asleep at 10:30. you mean i don't have to do dishes or clean stuff up and this bed is the most comfortable bed ever goodnight! i need to work on my partying ability.



saturday went out to a bar. didn't drink too much, didn't stay out too late.



walked on sunday.



also made a point of lazing around with the cats a lot this weekend.



birthday chin scratches. imagine if my cats had birthdays that i knew? thank goodness i don't know them so i can save myself that embarrassment.



heard a noise. look how WIDE those eyes are. she was craning her neck to see around the corner. there was nothing.



stock still.



then, a family skate.



THEN cake.



it was a great, packed weekend. last night saw delivery from banjara and a movie. just what i needed after so much activity. the fun continues tonight and again next weekend. i'm spoiled.


if i were into horoscopes this would have me very confused. the first is from the "if your birthday is today" section and the second from the aquarius section, from the same source. okay well what is it? do i have to motivate myself or is the world going to make it all happen?



i think i know the answer. the right path is never the easy one.

they'll tell you it's not you but they don't wanna ruin what they know

why we laughed in the first place

things have been a little crazy and i've been a little overwhelmed. a lot overwhelmed.



i'm trying to stick to routine, and keep to the things that keep me sane, but mostly as a result of said overwhelmed-ness, i am drinking too much, eating too little, not taking care. taking care of everyone else though. it's got to end. this girl is spread too thin, has been for a while and she is reaching a breaking point.



so watch out, or i'm going to flip your log.







how tall are you stella? that mysterious growth-tracking list was left by the last tenants. were they measuring a dogs back? stella has gained weight. she's just over 6 pounds. that's three pounds below the low side of average.





on the upside: good friend visits





good drunk walks home in the wind.

good rakija. tastes like paint thinner but is strangely satisfying.







anyway, i don't know, i'm all over the place. i need some grounding. i also need more hours in the day. and more strength would be good too. strength, clarity, resolve, focus are all in short supply these days, so i apologize if when we've hung out i seem like an awkward, frantic...mess. if it seems like i'm elsewhere it's because i probably am.

all the things we could have done

sunday soup

as it turns out, sunday soup is quickly becoming a habit. this week it's Everything Soup. just use a bit of everything you have, but white onion, celery and carrots compose the trifecta of savory broth (in my opinion, as well as the opinion of my foremothers) so try to include those.

my other additions this week were mushrooms, chickpeas, red pepper, spinach, potato and broccoli stalks (saved them from going in the compost). pretty much everything that needed eating.



having a batch of soup for the week simmering on the stove while cutting squares for a quilt and doing yoga is pretty much a perfect sunday. i don't know if this means i'm getting old or what, but saturday was pretty busy and it was nice to catch up with myself. 

A Special Place in Hell

On New Years Eve day, some absolutely worthless piece (or pieces) of shit cut holes in the fences at the Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, and four wolves escaped. They shot and killed then dragged away the alpha male. His name was Haida. Here he is:



I don't think I need to talk about how beautiful he was. Here is the last picture taken of him, his daughter Molly nibbling his chin and his son Luna (who also escaped).



The alpha female (Granite) was only just found, she had been shot twice (and has been walking around with two bullets in her legs causing blood loss as well as agony) but might make it. Here she is when she was found by the side of the road, where she finally collapsed:



Tranquilized and being tended to by the vet:



The two young males (below) have been spotted but have not returned. They will likely not make it longer than a month in the wild. The rest of the pack, now without leadership, is confused and has lost their hierarchy.



Way to go, dickheads. You not only got your selfish prize but you have also brought upheaval and strife to an entire group of innocent animals. I cannot, by any stretch of my imagination, understand how someone could do something so disgusting and evil. I hope that WHEN they are caught (they will be caught) that they are made an example of. They should be locked out of their houses to fend for themselves and hunted without mercy. BY WOLVES.

update here

i've been a miner

like a lion but tiny

i know i haven't posted a lot of cat photos lately, and that you're probably pretty upset about that, so here you go.

i guess we should talk about the new year

it's been a week and it feels pretty much the same. december flew by-it was so busy. i didn't realize until i was putting away xmas stuff how much insane work i put into it. every day, doing things around the house, buying stuff, preparing for the party or for the week away, buying presents. every single day there was a list of things i had to get done. i kind of live on that though. now that it's over i wander from room to room, trying to get things done when nothing needs to be done. i feel stuck and like i'm not being productive, so i've been attending old projects, finishing things, tying up loose strings.

twenty-thirteen is the year of the purge. it's been ongoing for a while but getting rid of things i don't use/that are weighing me down is my continued project. this applies to everything. one thing that is a huge pile is my investment statements for the past 10 years. i keep all the reports. do i need these? i doubt it. they're in a box under my bed. wouldn't it be nice to NOT have that box under my bed? that empty space would be blissful. i could fill it with nothing.

besides the non-resolution outlined above, i have an actual one: i am going to make a quilt. it is going to happen. i am going to cut all of my scrap fabric into evenly sized squares, and eventually i will turn them into a simple quilt. this will also help with my non-resolution as i have a pile of scrap fabric that will no longer be taking up space.

so, new years eve we had no plans to speak of until we were invited to sparky and joelle's for a low-key champagne hang. as usual, joelle was in full executive chef mode, making amazing pizzas, one with homemade tempeh bacon. yeaaahhhh. was good.



rob and tami brought a bottle of ice wine care of their landlord, and it was very suspicious. very, very sweet. i don't know that much about ice wine, but i don't think it's supposed to be murky...



i drank it anyway. i survived.

people milling.



the countdown snuck up on us. there it is! cheers!





i think rob was making some kind of hilarious speech, which i cannot remember (ice wine, regular wine, champagne). or maybe he was just talking.



hopped into a cab at about 1:15, it was a new year's miracle.

the next day, the ever lovely natalie hosted a small new year's day brunch. this is her icicle collection on her front stoop. now that you sort of know what her front stoop looks like, don't stalk her please.



dad on the left, newly-engaged on the right, ADORABLE baby in the middle. LOOK at that sweater. oh i could have just run away with her.



speaking of being adorable, Holden was yelling nonsense at "the outside", then coming back in victorious. then he would go yell at the outside some more, then come back in. it went on for a while; he sure showed that snow who was boss!



pam and frank were toasted, rings were admired, and delicious, delicious pancakes were consumed. biggest congratulations to those two, and huge thanks to nat for giving my hangover a sun-filled lovely home to disappear into.