Month: December 2022

That 2022 was definitely a year. Some good, some bad, some great, and some terrible. COVID-19 played a direct part in much of this. For better, or for much much worse, it is here to stay. Waiting in the deepest cells of our bodies, waging a war only some can feel outwardly. Attacking immune systems, causing dysregulation. Clearing a path for other bacterial or viral infections to dig in and gain a foot hold. Truly frightening stuff. But I digress. On the other hand events made a come back in 2022, and companies as a whole increased their marketing spend, investing in packaging, branding and all manner of things. So on the work front it was clearly a better year than 2020 & 2021. I’ll have to see if it was one for the history books, but it was certainly better than the last two years that is for sure. Freelancing during COVID-19 was, is, a difficult tightrope to tread.

I managed to write a whole second book of interconnected short stories. I made even more wood working projects than ever before. Including a few small furniture pieces. I was rather proud of myself for those items. Mostly small end tables. My dream of a live edge coffee table will have to wait as my slabs had suffered some catastrophic failures requiring an all new plan to utilize the most wood I could. Turned out ok, I think.

I was able to sculpt seven items, with an eighth started but nowhere near completed. I also painted six of my sculpts, and got some much needed practice with my old airbrush unit. I painted some board game pieces, my sculpts, and a model kit.

So I’d like to maintain the momentum if I can into the new year. Also this year (2022), while clearing off old lingering projects I did the panel lining, and decal work on my 1/100 ZZ Gundam model from 2019/2020. And a blank VF-1 Macross Gerwalk model kit that I had built and then left unfinished for more than a year. I was aiming towards starting my G-Systems Best mech resin model, but I have opted to try one more model kit build up before I get into the really pricey resin model. I want a chance to improve on steps I mucked up prior to trying the highest quality item I have. Cautious optimism! And a revised plan of attack. I am writing out my steps to approach the new model once it shows up next week. That way I can be meticulous, and know that I’m not skipping over, or forgoing anything vital for the sake of speed. A good plan, I think.

I didn’t do as much home DIY this year, as 2021 was the year for that. That was the first year both kids were in school, and I took the opportunity to work unencumbered! It was a blessing, as those Covid rules kept the kids home for spits and spurts all school year long. Glad I used my time wisely in the beginning, because all that isolation, and restricted movement played havoc with my plans. This year, it was more cleaning, and building furniture for around the house. Lots of storage items for kids toys.

I don’t think I built any miniature war gaming terrain this year. But I did buy a bunch of D&D miniatures from Kickstarter. Going to be a long while before I see those delivered. And even longer before I get them painted for a game!

I’m rambling now. All the best for New year’s eve! Enjoy the new year! Ciao Bella!

Screamed the young woman from the bottom of the decrepit stair case. Her clipped words echoing down the long bare central hall of the rustic Victorian townhouse. The peeling wall paper doing little against the spoiled plaster walls to limit the ear splitting echo. “And what good would that have done, you silly shit!” Comes the shrill answer from the attic. Followed immediately by a rattling coughing fit, and the shaking of the patinaed light fixtures, causing dust mites to tumble from the gaps in the busted ceiling. “You never take my advice! You ask me thousands of questions, and ignore all of my suggestions! I hate you, you old fucking cow!” Booms the young woman, pausing her pacing at the foot of the stairs just long enough to tear a piece of thumbnail from her teeth. “That’s the spirit, you little shit! Fight for your suggestions then. Win me over in our dinner time debates if you think they are so much better than what I’ve written.” The disembodied voice replies, a little less shrill, and with just a hint of a laugh. “Oh sod you then. See if I have any answers for your thousands of questions on the next one!” Replies the now motionless youth, gathering herself and her voluminous skirts. “Oh my deary. You say that now! But what of my next manuscript? Can you truly contain yourself when the opportunity for input arises?” Barks the raspy voice from the attic, with a choked laugh.

The sounds of a type writer tick, tick, ticking once again fills the somber air of the run down Victorian townhouse. Rain pelts the cheap leaden windows. Water pools along the mouldy baseboards. A lone candle flickers as the youth rushes past it with her skirts all a skitter. “Bitch”. She mutters to herself, as she moves along the hall towards the kitchen. Dust trails her foot steps on the roughly worn carpets. A knock at the front door goes unnoticed.

The air is thick and scented in the downstairs foyer, with oil lamp soot. The candle flames in the lower levels sconces leave trails of soot up the walls. The burned edges of the old wall paper curl and writhe in the air. From the attic a steady thrum of the typewriter can be heard. From the front door a louder and more insistent knock persists. The clanging of pans in the kitchen just about drowns everything out. Atleast until the clanging, and tick, tick, ticking is interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

With imminent and sustained rain on the forecast too. I hope it goes well for the eldest one. Has had their mind on snowboarding lessons since the one, and only one they had last year. Six full hours of on the hill private lessons, a lunch break and some tubing for the day. I expect an exhausted, and soaked child to collect at the end of the day. With Day Two on Monday. Let us hope the rain fall is far less than expected, and that the snow makers can keep up with the temperature fluctuations. Luckily the hills are not that far from us, so I don’t think I need to sit there for all six hours of the lesson. I hope.

Otherwise today is Friday December 30th, and the days on the calendar are running out if you need to complete a project in 2022. I have a few new 3d renders to do later today, or tomorrow depending on how the travel to and from the ski hill goes. Let us all join hands and pray! For safe passage and a healthful informative day on the slopes with no major accidents or mishaps. Amen! And also with you.

What the hell is going on. It was only just Tuesday for about 30 seconds. Man, all this snow, and shoveling has got me discombobulated. My back is aching, and my arms & chest are sore. I’m good for snowfall for the whole rest of this winter. Come January third you can take it all away. That, or I need to shake it loose and buy a second hand snowblower of my own. A push button start with hand warmers, and which operates by itself, and is really quiet too. Just a few items on the wish list. But in reality, I’d be happy if it starts and stops when requested, and can chew through harder snow deposits from the road ploughs. That last third of the driveway would save me at least an hour with a snowblower after the town has come by to salt & plough after a storm.

Not sure what is on the docket today. Likely more snow clearing, and shoveling. Gah! I hate this part of winter. I detest it with a raging hot passion.

Getting all the way out into the woods in the heavy deep snow only to realize you do not have the required tools at hand should things not go immediately to plan. Did the snowblower start on the first pull? No. No it did not. Did we have the correct sized scrench to pull the spark plug to see if that was working. Also no. Did the primer bulb flood the engine? Possibly. Did the motor not turn over at all, without a single cough, rumble or hint of a start. Also yes, by way of no. No hint it even runs at all. Did the snowmobile battery have long enough leads to be changed over and start up? No. That required us to find, strip, and cut copper wiring by hand, or with a screw driver and a bit of a blade to perform some much needed mechanical surgery to give the battery leads the additional inch it needed to reach the battery terminal. Fun times. Fumes, gasoline, the cold, and thigh high snow to shovel through to uncover the shop & bay doors. Not our finest moments. Have already spent several hours shoveling deep snow out here. And most likely will spend even more hours doing so later on aswell. It’s inescapable at this point. Lessons learned. A sore back earned for my troubles. C’est la vie!

First off, you start with a handful of children clumping around on the hardwood floor over top of your bedroom mere hours after you manage to fall asleep. That right there will wipe any rose coloured glasses off your face. Two, let those same children anywhere near breakable items that you cherish, and then spend weeks gluing them back together into a not quite right state. Follow me for your tips & tricks. Hit the bell, give us a like, and subscribe!

Luckily we have our regular stuff ready to go out, and a handful of plain boxes that can accompany them. I’ll need to get on top of the rest of the cardboard before next Tuesday. No matter. I don’t have it piled up five feet high in the kitchen counter this time around, so it won’t bother me as much that I didn’t get to all of it immediately. There were bigger fish to fry, such as it is. So I can push back my major cleaning to another day.

Not only do I need to detach the recyclables from the trash. I also need to break down those bulky clam shell plastic toy packages into little bits so that I can fit more of the regular family trash in the bag, and not just air with a few bits of unrecyclable plastic. If that makes any sense. No matter what we always seem to produce garbage. Not something we’re terribly proud of at this point. It seems to conjure itself out of thin air. Milk bags, wrappers, and what not.

I believe today is Tuesday. Hard to tell just off of the top of my head. I had a wicked head ache develope around 2:00pm yesterday, and then I slept a bunch, and still went to bed just after ten pm, so I know I was tired, and a little out of it temporarily. This is a weird time of year when nothing makes much sense, and the days feel very similar, and I feel a bit off with nothing much I can do about it. I’m not going to take down our decorations until New Year’s Day, so for now we get to enjoy the lights and tree a little while longer. It’s going to cut open my arms anyway (the faux tree that is) so I’m ok with leaving it up for a few more days. Perhaps I will wander around the house aimlessly. Moving wistfully from room to room, just starring out the windows. Watch the snow drifting on the wind. Listen to the breeze against the glass. In truth I’m scouting out the mess in each room before I conduct a major garbage purge once the family goes back to school. Broken toys, wrappers, boxes, miscellaneous scraps of whatever they have accumulated since September. Hidden caches of laundry under the beds, and that sort of thing. Then it will all get secreted out of the house in garbage bags, ready for collection in January. Other gear can be sent to the cottage to live out the rest of its life there. That way we need to cart fewer and fewer items back and forth each time we visit. Then we can just hop in the car and whip off to the cottage without having to pack four separate bags of toys/games/puzzles/dolls for every occasion. The mezzanine at the cottage is the new collection point for older, and less used toys. Beats throwing them away. And the infrequent use makes them last longer, and more of a novelty item when we actually spend any time there. A win/win situation for all involved. Less in the dump, more longevity for things we have purchased, and the other younger cousins can get some use out of it all too.

I think we need to sort out our toys more so than purge them. I think that would go a very long way in tidying things up around our tiny bungalow. Space is at a premium, so we need to find a better way to store our things. I’d love to not have every doll migrate into the family room, if we can help it. I do need to have a real thorough cleaning of the art station & cubby. I think much of the pens & markers are dried out, and can get tossed. Old scribbled on colouring books can be recycled, and old artwork can be put out on the curb too. I hate to be ruthless about such things, but we don’t have room to store every single scrap of paper the kids doodle on. Ideally alot of this toy/doll horde would go into the basement. But I have major cleaning to do down there too. Change tables, and larger infant toys got dumped there. I need to either take it all to the dump or find someplace that would accept much of it as a donation. Then I can transition the kids to moving much of their mess down stairs. No matter. It won’t get done today, nor this week as far as I know. Stay safe out there. Ciao Bella!

And it’s done. Poof! Just like that. The kids aren’t taking it well. Luckily we held a few small items back because we know our kids well enough to realize that the Christmas feeling needs to last more than one 24 hour day. Not that day two is an extravaganza anywhere near comparable to the actual day, but we will still have a cooked family brunch, gather around the tree once more, and listen to Christmas music, watch movies as a family, and open the last two small gifts we left in reserve under the tree from yesterday. Hard to justify two full months of build up, starting November 1st, and them blowing through it all on what was to be Day Two of the Winter Break!

Luckily everything comes in packaging that makes a huge mess, and takes a while for each toy to be broken free. So the kids will be occupied for a day or two more trying to spring dolls from their clear tie down trays. Those white, translucent tie downs will be found scattered throughout the house for days, if not weeks to come. So I have that to look forward to. I also have a few hours worth of work sorting recycling to do for tomorrow. I imagine that the green truck will be delayed a while tomorrow given just how much packaging the average family will have to send off at the curb these next two weeks.

I hadn’t planned on it, but I cooked a hot brunch for our guests yesterday. Scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, English muffins and Sparkling white wine with no pulp orange juice. I’m glad I had enough to go around of all items with the impromptu meal. Had either of my kids bothered to eat breakfast I probably wouldn’t have done so, but the Christmas morning excitement jitters curbed their appetites first thing in the morning. And I could see the H’ANGER building in the two of them as the day wore on. So best to take a break and have everyone eat together to ward off any fights about how only so & so had to eat, why not you, wah! Wah! Wah! But I digress. It is nice that our Christmas has become smaller and doesn’t require extensive socializing, and heavy planning nor execution. Not only that, but no long distance driving between cities, towns and houses on multiple days over the break. A blessing for certain.

And on that note, have a great Boxing Day slash Monday December 26th, 2022. Ciao Bella!

To all who celebrate, a Merry Christmas! And to all others Seasons Greetings, and Happy Holidays. I hope this storm doesn’t ruin your plans, or add any additional hardship. I hope your kids didn’t wake up at the crack of dawn excited about a potential visit from the jolly fat man! May you enjoy delicious food, and the undivided attention of those you love.

I have chilled champagne and pulp less orange juice calling my name this morning! Time to eat as we wait for guests to arrive so that we can begin to open our presents. Today is going to be a long, long day. The recycling bin is going to hate me by the time this day is through!

All the best to you and yours. Ciao Bella!

**MANAGEMENT STATES** Squish Mallow beatings are to continue until sufficient morale boost has been achieved. That is all.