Month: November 2022

Hard to believe that the whole 30 days of November have now come and mostly gone. Where did it all go? I know I did two reports, and a bunch of painting, and such, but it hardly feels like enough to warrant the disappearance of a whole month! I guess gearing up for Christmas and the Holiday Season really does create a kind of time bending, time warp zone, where everything else falls away. Very strange.

But now that we are starring down the barrel of December, that means birthdays, birthday parties, school trips, Taekwondo testing for new belts, dance recitals, school concert(s), and the actual festive holidays themselves, and the start of 2 full weeks of holiday winter break.

That also means I need to send out the last of my invoices for 2022. And figure out how to remain sane during my lull/down time. I know of atleast one or two mid winter projects, which is great news. Nice to know I’ll only have five or six slow weeks, and not nine to eleven of them. After Christmas, shopping will come to a complete stand still. Not for groceries, obviously, but no other “things” will need to be bought for a while. This may be off topic, but I did not notice any really good deals for Black Friday or Cyber Monday, or the newest Giving Tuesday (blargh!). I guess if you follow the pricing for stuff long enough, and then check over the sales the stuff isn’t even on sale. If it was $299.00 three weeks ago, but on Black Friday you as a company write NOW $299.00 was $399.99! I guess I think you’re totally full of shit. I want to pay a price that makes me feel like I’ve just bought it stolen. Or robbed you blind. What a crock. So of course, numbers will be down, they’ll blame the recession, and not corporate greed – as the company is at fault for not actually putting anything worthwhile on sale to encourage purchases. You can’t gouge us, and then complain that the shopping numbers are down too. Dick heads. Honestly.

The day is so dark I keep thinking it’s Friday, but we’re only on Wednesday morning. Hopefully today my wife will feel better. She spent nearly thirty (30) hours in bed, or asleep on the bathroom floor feeling ill yesterday, and late Monday night. Windows cracked open, fans going, Hepa filter on blast, meds that can be kept down in her system, and masked when in the room with us/just passing through. My youngest has her cough and runny nose back, after a very brief eight days without her post nasal drip cough. So another 8-11 weeks of coughing instore for her, and via round about way, us. I caught her the other day not wearing her mask in class, so of course she has come home a mere week later with a new bug. Fuck me. If more than 50% of this family are sick on Sunday I will have to cancel the birthday party. I’m sure that’ll go over like a lead balloon full of cyanide. Joy’s of parenting.

What are we to take from this ever present constant? The knowledge that to actually achieve our goals leaves us feeling empty, and hollow, bereft of direction, and losing our cause. Are we then to acknowledge that it is the pursuit of, and not the attainment of said goal that really fills us up with purpose, drive, and the get up & go to move through our days? Probably why all those wise folks said a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Right there, that’s as good as it gets. To set the course and follow it. Not to cross the finish line, and look back. Though, to finalize a project can take a load off your shoulders, certainly, but the real fact of the matter is, doing the thing, living the doing, is better than being done. That just leaves you adrift, well, until you find a new goal and set off on that path too. The treasures were the friends you made along the way. That sort of glib, pat phrase, really does have a kernel of truth to it. If you are hyper focused, you probably fought, or clashed with others on your path, instead of building relationships with people with similar interests and talents. Bummer dude. Self reliance kept many people at arms length. But that’s a whole other kettle of fish.

Busted out the iron today, for the first time in at least a year. Gotta melt some crafts under parchment paper to get them to stay in one piece. Not for laundry purposes. I’m not that duty bound, thankfully. We’re not exactly a three piece suit & tie family here. No dry cleaning runs being made around these parts. No sir. Wash, dry & fold only. The occasional pre-soak, or re-wash for a pesky grass stain. Perhaps even some pre-treatment prior to going for a plunge, but we don’t iron.

I did stop out for gas, glad to see it below $1.40/Litre, but I’d be shitting kittens if it goes even lower. Always a plus for us working stiffs, am I right. I’d like to go back to the $65 tank filling days if at all possible. Stopped off for snacks and beverages for the birthday party for my eldest this coming Sunday. Indoors this year. Masked if at all possible. I mean, I know we will wear masks, and a few others will do so too, but eh!?! Only so much I can hint & ask people to do, without it being mandated. Also we have someone to lead the gang of kids through games, so it’s not up go me keep them all entertained this year. That should be great fun. Happy about that. I might actually have a chance to enjoy myself? Hm. Maybe?

I completed a 50 page report in just under 48 hours, so that was pretty good. Gave me a full day and a half to rest up before I get the edits & final fixes back. Prepping for the next one as we speak. Although I think it’ll come in closer to Friday, if not next Monday. No rush. I’m in a good spot, now that 2 of the possible four/five (I’ve lost track) are out the door before December has even started. I am now comfortable knowing I won’t get all items in over the same ten day span, so I am relieved, and more than happy to chug along as the items come in now.

All bar one present has been wrapped now. My wife’s items finally arrived via the post. And I do hope my youngest’s gift arrives before too much longer. The notice said between Dec 8th – 29th. Which is a long stretch. I hope it comes earlier rather than later. In-laws are up next, my folks, and a few remaining nieces and nephews.

Speaking of which, I should go order that stuff now, so it has a chance to arrive before Christmas. Take care out there.

In a round about way, sort of? No- it won’t dispense the tape, or put a finger down to hold your paper in place, like a true friend would. Nor will it cut the wrapping paper in to appropriate sized rectangles. No, what it will do, is keep you at home, mere feet from your private restroom, and give you the time, inbetween bouts, to wrap your presents, whilst you listen to festive music. That’s about as helpful as it will ever get. On the plus side, nearly all our family gifts are now wrapped. On the downside, no concert, or family time at the Christmas Night Market in town last evening. Although, from what I hear I managed to avoid the kids having epic over stimulated melt downs out in public, so… we all had a bit of a shit time of it. Ha. With sweet moments mixed in.

Gauging just how many gifts I have for the whole family is a toss up until I actually set it all out in front of me after wrapping. Which reminds me I have stuff to send out still to family in the province. And I need to order stuff for my folks across the country. And I still have to go to the LCBO for the inlaws. So, while the immediate family is close to done. I do have two items coming via mail still left to show up, that will also need to be wrapped. But I’m not as close to done as I first thought. I did get my youngest niece and nephew done, wrapped, and delivered. So that’s a win. The excess birthdays this time of year means I thought I had more gifts for Christmas, but those go out the door for other kids, leaving a void. No matter. It will all come together eventually.

On the plus side I am way ahead of schedule for gift wrapping presents. I’m kind of proud about that. I usually hate wrapping gifts. But, because I was trapped at home, and needed to remain close to the facilities, i had nothing else i could do but wrap gifts. I could have read a book i suppose, but the gifts were the more pressing matter. Glad i got through it all in the 2.5 hours of time i had alone. If it doesn’t feel like you are giving up your time doing something else, it was not too awful to wrap presents all in one go. Loud festive music helped to keep me motivated. Well that, and frequent breaks to attend to ‘other’ things meant I didn’t wind up hunched over the bed for overly long stretches of time.

I won’t be putting anything under the tree for quite some time. I know these kids too well. The temptation of having to see gifts under the tree for 30 days before they can open them will drive them up the wall. So stashed in my room they shall stay until Christmas Eve. I know all of their sneaky tactics. The eye balling, the box press, the pick up n’ shake, the oops I tore open a corner, the trip and tear a whole panel. I’ve seen them all. I see the wheels turning. So it’s best for all involved if they remain out of sight for the time being. The tree looks good as is, so no need to further clutter up the room with temptations! We are down to the final thirty days before the big guy shows up. So Santa Claus is going to help parent for a spell. Santa, as we all know, makes credible threats, and provides stern warnings to children to behave as best they can, given the circumstances.

They are pretty good kids generally, they squabble a bit, but how many kids don’t? Seems pretty natural for them to do so. I could do with less of it, however, when they play nicely it can last for several hours, so that’s really lovely to see. I just need to keep in mind just how excited they are for Christmas under the surface. The addition of lights, and music, extra baking, movies, toy commercials, radio commercials, family visits, and events can really over stimulate kids that are so young. I try to remember that when things start to boil over, or either melt down in a fit of emotions, and visual over stimulation! It really is only one of two holidays that has such a massive build up. Between Halloween and Christmas no other yearly event sees so much pregame coverage. I’m not surprised that the kids all go mental this time of year. I’d be more surprised, if not worried about them if they didn’t, given the level of fuss nearly everyone puts into the Holiday Season.

Take care out there. I personally foresee a new refrigerator purchase in our near future, so there is always that to look forward to. I want to say that the fridge is atleast twelve years old now, or there abouts. So not great, but also not awful, as far as appliance longevity is concerned. Maybe a repairman could fix the moisture issue in the freezer section? I gotta look in to it further. Ciao Bella!

It has now been 346 days of writing. I am less than three weeks away from potentially achieving my writing goal for 2022. I am however busy today with my newest report (yay!) So I can’t expound on my thoughts just yet. I am happy to have two of the 4/5 reports in my possession, so it won’t all come the last week of December! Which is great. Maybe get one more next week? Maybe, hard to know. Either way, one or two per week can be doable if absolutely necessary, and not fry my wrists. Great news! Very happy.

So back to paid work for me. Hope your Black Friday / US Thanksgiving weekend is off to a great start. Ciao Bella!

Not much going down here today. Finalized a report, and spending some time trying to paint my Ogre Rogue. It’s not as awful as I had previously thought. I was rather upset, but with the addition of new colours it’s coming around a little bit. So best of luck to you.

Painting or sculpting skills, but in the five to ten years that I have been chipping away at both, I’m getting happier with my results. No major leaps forward using the airbrush, it brings it’s own set of hassles and limitations, but I think it is more consistent than what my dry brushing ever put down. Takes longer, and uses more layers to do it with the airbrush, but then you don’t get brush strokes visible on larger surfaces, and it looks buttery smooth. Which – for now, is something that I like.

I the last few months I have completed my Ape, Hellboy, Elf Barbarian, Warrior, and now my Ogre Royal Guard. I went in vastly different colour palettes for each one. As I tend to like greens and blues, and didn’t want them all to be exactly the same. I should try a blue one next, as I’ve gone through Pink & Purple, Reds, Blacks & Greys, Various shades of Brown, and Green & Yellows. So my Ogre Rogue should be blue. But I kinda want him to look more human, and go with skin tones instead. Maybe I will try the Ninja Turtle next? Either way, I will need to sculpt some new things, if i want to continue painting into the new year. Or pray that the large box of miniatures I picked up off of Kickstarter shows up in the next 3-6 months.

I had a spot of good fortune over the weekend, and one of my reports came in, so I blasted through that in 18 hrs or so over three days. I wanted it done before, or at the least, very early Monday, as it looks as though we had another CUPE strike day set for today (Monday). But crisis was averted, but I was ahead of the game, so I should have a quiet day today. I did the laundry yesterday, and found out my wife’s winter tires, and did some chores around the house in preparation of the kids being underfoot all day. Now I can chill out for a bit. Prep files for new reports that I know are coming in the next few weeks.

I started to watch The Family Stone on Disney+ last night (from 2005), and had forgotten just how much I hated Sarah Jessica Parker in that film. I watched many seasons of Sex in the City with an old roommate decades ago, and kinds didn’t hate her as Carrie Bradshaw, but… Yikes. Can’t stand her in this film. I’m not certain if it’s set in Christmas or Thanksgiving. Either way. I also dug up Trains, Planes & Automobiles the other day. That’s always good for a chuckle. Trying to get into the holiday spirit this year. I just couldn’t quite feel it last year. I was so very close. Right on the cusp – even. But never really found that childhood wonder that surrounds the Christmas break. I don’t know if it’s our decorations, or the threat of Covid, or the weather that tamped things down, but it really did fell muted. Like hearing your favourite song from outside the dance club, through closed doors, and a blacked out window. You know it’s there. You can hear it going on. You can feel it thumping in your chest. But… it’s not the same, as being awash inside it. Could be age, and that I’m grumpy. Ha.

Happy Monday to all who celebrate. Take care of yourselves out there. Ciao Bella!