Month: December 2024

More than most people in this instance I would, yes. However, I have noticed the same issue on two separate sets of drawings, and I don’t think that you see it, in your professional capacity. Which gives me pause. But, I think you will definitely see the issue when you have to go to press with those drawings and come face to face with the issue. A simple oversight. Whoopsie daisy! I’m sure we’ll get it sorted between all of us involved.

Wednesday is here! Another glum, gloomy, foggy, rainy day up for grabs. Any takers? Yes, no, maybe so? I need to clean a big more as we will have a guest this afternoon. So I’m going to run the vacuum around, and mop the floors, and clean the bathroom up just a bit. Happy hump day.

Somebody thought it was a great idea to introduce an Elf on the Shelf into our home, and now it’s this big obligation, and I fucking hate it. I hate the idea of surveillance for one thing. Lying to my kids about some “magical elf conduit to Santa” that moves around. Not only that it seems to be more of a way for parents to fuck with their kids, and be mean, more so than adding to the Christmas spirit of joy, and cheerfulness. Do you know how hard it is already to mask my hand writing to add Santa labels on presents, and now I have to write full on notes in yet another style of handwriting that isn’t my own, or Santa’s? It’s really tiresome. I love decorations. I love music. I love going to see lights, tree lighting ceremonies, Christmas markets, and school events. I like movies, plays, and books about Christmas. But this is a step I’m none too fond of. In fact I hate it.

I’d like to say that this is the end of my rant, but I’m more angry that it was foisted upon us without any considerations for the obligations it brings. No body even asked us if we wanted it. I know that we have expressed a disdain for the idea openly, and that was ignored. They could have bought it, and kept it at their own house, and done all of the little tableaus, notes, pranks, and more themselves. But no! It became our obligation to do all that, so that they could just bring it up, over, and over, and over again. Never dropping the subject. But also never doing anything significant with it themselves. Must be  nice. Just like them, constantly making plans for other people to have to do, with zero follow through required on their part. It’s kind of ridiculous. Now my kids are in the middle of it. Sure, cool. Use childlike wonder against us. Love it. Why not.

In other news the fog rolled in like this was an east coast town. So thick, and moist. Very damp out there today. Early this morning you could hardly see more than eight to ten feet in front of your nose. On the plus side the roads were clear, and it wasn’t icy. The rains have washed much of our snow accumulation away. Back to mushy green grass, and lots of mud. It’s a gay old time!

I don’t think I’ve been sleeping well because I am feeling exhausted right now.

Not a particularly nice day outside. Slightly below zero temperatures and a fairly heavy rain means we are likely to develope freezing rain this afternoon,evening, night once the temperatures drop again. Not a pleasant thought. Driving in modest snowfall is one thing, but black ice, or freezing rain is another, much worse thing to have to deal with. If I have my wauly that would mean ZERO additional travel after school today, should the conditions for freezing rain/black ice be met. Why risk it? Makes no sense.

In other news we had my eldest daughters tenth birthday party over the weekend at a local theater where we watched the new Moana 2. It was colourful, and charming if not particularly heavy on plot. All of the ten year olds seemed to like it, and my youngest, plus our five year old niece liked it a fair bit too. When they sat down and paid attention that is. Damn near cost me a good chunk of change, but that’s parenthood for you. I paid for the privilege of not having to clean up, make food, bake a cake, or entertain twelve kids of varying ages for the better part of three hours. Call it a narrow win.

Although I will say this, as the kids get older the friend group requires less entertainment from us parents, and more freedom to just hang out, be loud, and just talk nonsense amongst themselves. We watch out for signs of a physical altercation, but otherwise offer them the latitude to occupy themselves however they wish. Plus we had food served, cupcakes, soda, and candy. They were all set to make of it what they will. Daughter was pleased, all that mattered to us.

Wouldn’t be December without rain. Right? How odd. Pretty weird to roll right from snowstorm into rain. But what can you do? Nothing. That’s the cold hard truth.

My, my how time does fly by. Whether you want it to or not. Being busy seems to aid in said passage of time, but then again nothing really stops the clock, not even death. Here we are on a Saturday morning getting ready to go climb for 90 mi utes or so, depending on how well our hands, arms, thumbs can hold on for just one more climb. I might go and give the bouldering side of the gum a go today, I’m not sure yet. I like the rock climbing side because if I fall the rope is there to slow my fall. If you come off the bouldering side, you just come off and fall to the pads. I have a tendency to fall “funny” putting my knees and ankles in peril. I very much so don’t want to injure myself trying to get into better shape. I remember the hold I had to put on activity when I caught Covid to try a minimize the chance of developing Long Covid, which there has been no meaningful cure for since it turned up nearly five years ago now. Part of how I was up to 213lbs. That, and boredom, snacking, over eating, and a handful of other things I’m sure.

Little more than two weeks until Christmas break. Then the holidays, the new year, and we’ll be neck deep into winter at that point. A cold, and bleak period around these parts. Being able to count the number of blue sky days on one or two hands is the norm. Last year we had far more than normal blue sky sun filled days. It was glorious. I do love the lights, tree, and decorations up in the house, but you know what else I like? Space. Getting some much needed room back from removing the tree will go a long way in brightening up the living room during the day. One window is blocked by the tree and it feels a little glum in there during the day.

We are set to go to our first at home Leafs game next week. I for one am excited! It will be a late night for my daughter, with school the next day. So she might do ok for the first game just on adrenaline alone, but I think she will quickly grow accustomed to it over our four game stretch. Ha. Sadly we don’t have the same caliber of seats that we had in Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay for the Leafs last regular season game back in April. Four rows back from the ice, behind the net. Amazing for our first experience with the NHL. Kucherov scored his 100th point/assist. We got flags for fan appreciation day. It was cool. Very memorable.

Where did the last ten years go? She was  my tiny football sized baby being washed in the sink just a few moments ago! Now she’s a talented Taekwondo combatant, rock climbing, hockey fan, whom plays the saxophone. My oh my how time does fly. I should probably bake a cake or something for her to have once school gets out today.

That breeze could scour the frown off of a snowman it’s so strong. Yikes. Not only that but it is bitingly cold to boot. A dangerous mix if you have little ones whom don’t take much care with their exposed skin. Either by not zipping up coats properly, or failing to wear a hat or gloves. It worse splashing about in salt brine puddles to get soaked boots, and frigid wet socks. It’s a perfect storm for bright red cheeks verging on a waxy white, then it goes black from frostbite. It’s a real threat to small kids that don’t seem to take any notice of the weather, or the condition of their bodies until it’s too late. You’ll know once those plump bright red fingers start to thaw, and the burning sensation kicks in. My youngest used to howl in agony at that point. A lesson learned the hard way, as per usual.

Listen bud! I put three pairs of dry gloves in your backpack, and one spare set of mitts. No excuse for numb fingers! You didn’t want to wear your snowpants, and I couldn’t get you to take them into the school with you, so now you have to deal with that decision. I know it sucks. Try to stay out of the snowbanks today. Thanks.

That and other fun ice, cold, rain, weather related arguments happen all the time. Kids! Aren’t they clever. So that’s been my Thursday morning. Also walking the puppy in the windy snow drifts has been an exercise of my patience. I still am unable to tell if he likes the snow but hates the cold, or if he hates both, or loves both. He doesn’t react the same way throughout the day to snow, cold, wind, or anything like that. He’s a complicated puppy ok.

I need to find my boots, and get my snowpants situated by the front door. If the weather continues on like this we are in for a cold, and snow filled winter season this year. Wow. Still too early to guarantee a white, and snowy Christmas morning, but it looks like it could trend that way over the next few days atleast. I saw a random 5°C day on the forecast, but it could be an outlier. I don’t know, I’m no meteorologist!

The holiday party season kicked off last week with US Thanksgiving, so the calendars are filling up as we speak. Lots to do, places to be, and people to see. Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season. Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and Happy New Year to you all to. Ciao Bella

I had a video excerpt queued up for this segment but my phone, in conjunction with this app won’t recognize it, so I’ll have to do some back tracking in my work flow to see where I’ve gone wrong. I might have a button I forgot to toggle, or I’ve moved the file elsewhere during the production phase. No matter. It was a flyby over my war gaming terrain that is also available on IG, and over on YouTube. So some people have seen it. Not many, but a few.

I was thinking that because we are into December I usually start to panic that there was so much I wanted to do during the calendar year, that I start to try and do all of the things now. Or over the course of this month. I write short stories, I sculpt stuff, I work on my resin model kit, play guitar, and try to be in my woodshop, as well as working on tying up loose ends, and completing paid projects so that I can send off my last invoices before years end. This feeling is what lead me to writing on this blog every day, about three years ago. I would have had a hell of a streak except I made a technical error when fixing an old post that was having issues loading photos properly, and then I got discouraged and took my full 16 days of holidays off from here in a fit of rage. No matter. I still write daily, so I’ll consider it an unlikely win anyway.

I have a base with armature ready to go for my next sculpted monster bust. Haven’t come across any designs I’d like to attempt to bring to life. Or I have, but I’m too nervous to try and replicate the thing I was taken by. Playing the guitar more has been loads of fun. I recently took up indoor rock climbing, and that’s lots of fun, but it makes my hands difficult to use afterwards, so in truth I’m not playing as much guitar as I could be, because I physically cannot. Working thumbs, and fingers help alot. Not just for strumming, but working the strings along the fretboard. Kind of important. The resin kit has been stowed away since last spring. I can pick that up at any point in the near future. I’m still prepping, sanding, and priming the pieces. Long ways to go yet on that bad mother. I also have a HellBoy painting drawn up ready for paint. I just need to commit some time to getting on it. I think I need a new titanium white paint bottle, and that’s why I haven’t started. I think. I might try it as a water colour on paper afterwards too. Maybe dabble in some coloured pencils along with the water colours. I’ve seen that used to great effect recently. Very inspiring.

I stopped playing Diablo four a few weeks ago because work really picked up quite a bit, and I just didn’t have time for it. I’ve gone back to it once, maybe twice in the last four weeks. I think I’m nearing the end of Act III, but who really knows. They have the next expansion out already, so I know for a fact that it just keeps on going. I’ve had some fun with it. Maybe I’ll give Gears of War Emergence Day a try when that launches, or try a hand at Space Marines 2, since I actually finished the first one for the Xbox 360, nearly 11 years ago.

It is currently snowing, and I need to eat some breakfast. Happy Hump Day, Wednesday,  middle of the week day to you all. Ciao Bella.

Took the wee lad to his first puppy traing session last night, and other than loud whining towards the end because he was bored, and had disengaged, he did very well. Lots of sitting, recalls, eye contact, soft hand bumps with his nose, and one other item I don’t remember right now. He was the largest, and oldest puppy there by a wide margin, but he wasn’t a spaz or a terror to the four other teenie tiny puppies that were 5 or so months old. He deserved all the treats which he earned.

What this means for me is, is that for the next six weeks my Mondays are going to be very busy, filled with additional driving. Which all told, I’m not too keen on, but given how much room we had available to us, I could bring the whole family, or one of the kids to come and learn what they should be doing with the dog when we do our training sessions.

As we get ever closer to the winter equinox the temperatures around here will continue to plummet. I see snowpants, boots, gloves, and thermal underwear in my immediate future. I had hopes of going climbing today, but that might have to wait until tomorrow, or Saturday. If I don’t get to climbing by Wednesday then I have to wait for Saturday because my hands, and forearms need time to heal inbetween heavy exertions. I’m getting old that way. Physical activity, strenuous physical activity exacts it’s toll on me. I must heed that warning or risk injury. A fact of life for people my age.

I did a bit of digging yesterday after I sorted out my Q3 HST payment, and discovered that I am in fact 1/5th shy of what I did last year at this point. So unless I have an absolutely inhuman December I will fall short of last years huge successes. Not as far behind as I once feared, but by enough that I can feel it, and see the results financially. I was worried I would only achieve 50% of last years numbers, and had a very dismal outlook on things, but to know I’ll do 4/5ths of that year is better than I had feared. So not destitute, but not exactly rolling in it either. I should try to land one more larger corporate client, someone with money to spend on quality, but isn’t looking for a massive quantity of projects. Or, and hear me out here, I need to sell some custom furniture projects to fill in the gaps, or take on some minor traditional sculpting commissions. I’m open to either, but I’d rather just get more paid work and leave the side hustles to others, and just enjoy my hobbies, as, you know, hobbies. I like to be busy, but I hate to be run off my feet.

I should probably double check my math by starting my tax documents in Excel sooner rather than later. I don’t know how much I trust my back of a napkin math at this point. It’s not much fun, but I can usually get it sorted with one 8 hour day, and a whole bunch of typing! Also, sorting, highlighting, and entering in data from receipts isn’t my idea of a good time. I suppose I could open a document, and start things off now. We’ll have to see about that. Ciao Bella.

Typically I’d wait for tax time and then pay out both my HST, and my income tax all in one (painful) chunk, but given that last year they implemented a fine for doing just that I’ve started to pay quarterly. Which takes smaller bites out now, but may get me a few dollars in refund if my accountants adjustments work in my favour, if not, at least that portion is paid up already, and all I have to cover is my income tax portion. That’s a win. It also stops me from accidentally using the HST collected as my own money, and digging a hole for myself. Now that it goes out  quarterly I can’t use those funds to pad my accounts. I guess it’s better this way. Sad to see those dollars leave, but on the upside less of a pinch come April!

Paying HST also means I made money, and that’s a good thing. I’m thankful for the work I’m afforded. While I do not believe I will beat last year, I don’t think that I will be as far behind that leaderboards topper year as I once feared. I need to double check, I could be way off. Accounting/book keeping was never my forté. I’m slow at it, and I find it tedious. I’d rather be designing or making production pieces for somebody else’s campaign. I like artwork creation, and not number crunching.

It is Monday once again. I can do even more laundry if I want too. Can run the dishwasher if I felt like it, which… you know what? I do, I do feel like it. I’d like to have clean knives, and a clean plate for lunchtime. Even after several loads of laundry yesterday the kids have more clothes lying around, or in their mother’s hamper. The clothing situation around here is too much, too crazy. Too many articles between the two of them. My wife’s hangers are falling apart in her closet, and we can hardly squeeze the kids clothes into their closets they are so damn full. It’s kind of ridiculous. Ugh! Queue up yet another round of purges, and closet cleansings. A good old fashioned room cleaning would go a long way for all three of them! My room is getting full because I hide the Christmas gifts in there. But come December 26th, it’ll be back to normal, and all the cardboard will have gone out in the recycling. I do need to wash my comforter though, where the dog sleeps at the bottom of my bed that part is absolutely covered in black dog fluff, and atleast one dirty paw print that I’ve seen.

I need to send my last few Christmas gifts and call it a day on the festive shopping. I’ve got a scheduled HST payment going out, so I have to be more careful this month. Plus my eldest has her Taekwondo fees coming up again next week to cover off the next three months, and the blue belt test, and on, and on it goes.

Welcome to December, and the little bit of snow that came along with it. Certainly feels more festive with a dusting of white snow on the roof tops, trees, and lawns. If the snow could just stay off the roads, and all of our driveways it would be perfect! Very picturesque. So here’s hoping for a gentle winter, and a white Christmas full of joy, cheer, family, and friends. Ciao Bella.