Worst photo ever...hahhaa

Probably wondering wtf is up with my eyebrows in this picture huh? This was my idea to show my darling daughter how I feel about her penciling in her eyebrows... again.

See - she did this before she went traveling and on a daily basis it cut me deep inside to see those Brooke Shields/Caterpillar Atrocities she would draw on herself. She did not do it right before the trip once she got them all shaped and prettified or during...until now...

She is so friggin lovely it boggles my mind why a person would want such a feature to be the only thing you notice on their face. Admittedly, I am no fashionista or glam gal - I do not know shit...but if all I can do is STARE IN HORROR at your eyebrows I am pretty sure I am not the only one so quit that shit. I won't post a picture of hers or she will fly back just to light me on fire...I am also too chicken to post this on Facebook b/c I do not want her mad at me. (haha coward)

It is Friday....FML I love Friday. This has been a rough work week...any time a consulate changes their policy re: document authentication not only does the volume of my work increase but it results in an influx of emails and calls from frantic ppl shitting their pants b/c they have to have their documents PRONTO - thus it becomes my problem b/c that is my personality...I suck up everyone's anxiety and make it my own. Fun times. It will simmer but until then it will be a little hairy...better than slow and boring though that is for sure.

Ms A is enjoying Melbourne....such a city gal. She has found some work starting next week, not her ideal but it will tide her over until something more to her liking comes along. She has made a bunch of friends and seems to be reveling in the experience...even if she is starving. Starving by choice. The hostel has a bit of a kitchen issue...no oven, very busy and she is just not in love with cooking in general. She needs to get in a groove is all. She send me some great little gifties that arrived a while ago...some really cool chopsticks and a cloth koi wall hanging for the wall once framed. I have so many cool chopsticks (thanks Chris and Fangfang)...

Pool is still closed...they are replacing the boilers apparently. Big job....it's ok b/c my knee is not better yet....I have turned a corner though and if I keep favoring it and taking it really easy it might eventually be its old self again. But will it really? I am only 43 and every time I friggin hurt myself (which 95% of the time is due to exercising for the love of gawd!) I am never quite right again...that seems a big young for that. Thanks obesity. You are awesome. I am at a crossroads right now - the degree of my antisocial behavior/agoraphobe tendencies is getting a bit uncomfortable even for me...I am recognizing the need for a shift or I will be "that person"...you know "that person"...the one that ends up on the news b/c it took weeks for the cops to find her in her hoarder house, dead and rotten. I know if I died my fucking cat would eat me too...eyeballs first...tender eyeballs. That pisses me off. Ingrate cat.

23 JUMP STREET....hahahaha I laughed...a lot. I really enjoy those movies. I actually hope they do a 3rd one.

Let's talk about TEA:

I like a good cup of orange pekoe tea (you know the stuff gramma's drink, the stuff the english love)...with sugar and milk....mmmm but I am trying to wean myself off it mainly b/c I would rather have  NO tea than use artificial sweeteners b/c they just gross me out....and herb teas are just a cruel mean joke....hot, good smelling water with NO TASTE....smelly hot water. Rude. Until this tea came into my life...
It came in this variety pack I got for Xmas (thanks Aunty Pam or Maggie or whoever it was - you rock) and it is amazing. IT HAS A TASTE TO GO WITH THE HOT WATER SMELL!!! I actually had to check and make sure they didn't sweeten it b/c it wasn't bland and gross. I just ordered myself a whole tin online...I am stoked. Let's not talk about tea anymore. Gawd.

A few concerts coming up....end of the month - Heart with Jason Bonham on drums (his dad as the Led Zeppelin drummer, John) and they are doing a set of LED ZEPPELINNNNNN covers....if you have never heard Heart do Led Zeppelin covers I just feel sorry for you. They made Robert Plant cry ffs....Heart made Robert Plant weepy. FML. I cannot wait.

July 3 Holly McNarland rolls into town, Sidney actually (BOO! SIDNEY!) but I am going anyway despite the pain in the ass to get there and back. I have wanted to see Holly McNarland live since the early 90's so 20+ yrs of pining shall end soon...Love the gals with big voices....would kill a nun riding a donkey to see Sinead O'Connor live too.

Funny Face McGoo

Nice hanging with Maggie and Sidney last weekend...Sidney seriously makes the best faces of all 3 year olds ever. He is a true ham. Maggie did not get much rest unfortunately but...she claims the escapism was good for her. Her due date being the beginning of Feb. 2013 is creating some issues b/c she has 2 staff members who did not bother to consider the implications of them spitting out babies in Jan. 2013 and April 2013. See the issue there? Not enough staff to operate a business...and replacing them is not easy as few people on PR are qualified so.............she could very well end up like a Chinese Rice Paddy Woman (EDIT: this is not intended as a racial slur at all...Asian women who farm and work hard are hardcore and are not afforded such pampering as North American women are - it was used as a complete compliment) and pop the baby out and have to go right back to work which is fairly bogus. Not quite what she had in mind for certain. We won't talk about how all of this has impacted her prenatal care and plans to birth in Nanaimo with the previous Dr who knows what went sideways last time re: her blood disorder...now she is stuck in PR unless she is flown out due to emergency. Ugh – complicated BS.

Interesting volunteer training on Monday...we split up into groups for 3 to do an exercise and I asked them both why they volunteered (I like getting in people's heads)...one lady said she had always wanted to and also wanted to learn more about abusive relationships b/c 15 yrs ago she had been married to someone (9 yr relationship) who busted her arm...the hospital staff and friends and family all told her to leave him b/c she was in an abusive relationship – in the 9 yrs they were together he got physical 4x...we have been learning that not all relationships of this nature are 'abusive'....abusive relationships generally entail a level of manipulation, control and other mindfuckery and sometimes but not always physical abuse...so as this woman has been going through the training reading about all the factors and such she is realizing he was not a classic abuser at all...he had a shitty temper once in a while and acted like a fool and hurt her but there was not ever mindfuckery, manipulation, emotional abuse or anything that would constitute it as an abusive relationship (he went to meetings and groups and counselling and always maintained he was not like those men but that is also a typical response – he told her he never tried controlling her or make her feel worthless or bad – he never tried to downplay his behaviour or make excuses)...so while the 3 of us are talking about this she says that relationship was amazing for her...she was 95% happy with him....me and the other gal in the group look at each other and I announce I have never been anywhere near 95% in my life in a relationship...and the other gal agreed she never had a 95% relationship either...the woman also says that in the 15 yrs since she left him b/c she felt she was under such pressure to do so she has never been in another relationship b/c no one she meets measures up to her ex husband...total regret...

I have been thinking about this a lot since...mainly b/c I am relationship retarded and this blows my mind. In the last few years I have basically come to the conclusion (that is obvious to everyone else on the planet that has ever been in a normal relationship) that being in a relationship requires a certain amount of compromise/shit eating (not literally)/selling out of one's expectations...I get it – humans are not perfect...I know I could never be anyone's be all end all perfect companion b/c I am way too neurotic and psycho – but it all comes down to acceptance which I am apparently really shitty at. Perhaps if you really love someone acceptance comes easier (I assume this to be true) in which case I have yet to really "be there"...so...anyhow...it was interesting b/c I think ppl assume if someone breaks their wife's arm they must have an abusive relationship...it is easy to assume that...I would assume that even now...but really sometimes ppl are just assholes with horrible tempers and do stupid horrible things and external factors are involved and are not necessarily abusive as a whole. This makes me rethink some of my previous judgments about certain people and really clears up some I had...case in point I have 1 ex who was abusive and covers the gamut of behaviors to be a textbook abusive asshole...this is no surprise @ all – I knew he was back then and studied him like a science project until I ended it which then brought on the fun of dealing with such an asshole after a breakup...I changed my # and email account and never looked back... he stopped calling my boss at work trying to get me fired after I called the cops. Revisiting his personality via FB 12+ yrs later did not last long b/c he is the same asshole and Wendy P and I had fun mocking him before I blocked him finally. Fun times...the rest however are just regular people...some losers - some not...

The Led Zeppelin reunion concert last night at the movie theatre was great...such a kick ass band...closest I will ever come to seeing them live so I savored every moment. No Quarter was my favorite of the night...I could have curled up in my seat with a blanket and just closed my eyes grooving to that forever. I drank Lisa's drink by accident...no big deal right? Yeah – unless I would make out with someone I don't generally want their spit in my mouth...no offense to Lisa at all...but we aren't friends "like that"....so I am rather mortified that I got her spit in my mouth and in turn she got mine in her mouth b/c now it is like we are lesbians or something crazy.

Lisa was kind enough to part with her old record collection and gave me dibs...oh it is 80's madness!!! I gave back the Jimmy and Kristy McNicol record and a few other gems (haha) but scored some Streetheart, Blondie, BeeGee's, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Dr Hook etc Oh and don't forget BONEY M!!!!!! BAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA too funny. Thank you Lisa! Come over and listen to records please!

Robert Plant you sexy bitch...

1970's Robert Plant

Jimmy Page's music room

You know what was cool about pre-internet and pre-paparazzi? People like Robert Plant could knock up his ex-wife's (8 yrs divorced) sister and have a child with her without it ending up on TMZ or Jerry Springer. I have been on a Led Zeppelin kick as of late after watching It Might Get Loud - a documentary where Jack White, Jimmy Page and The Edge sit around jamming and talking about music. It was MASSIVELY excellent to watch - I am not in love with The Edge at all in fact the show really showed me the difference in the caliber of artistry...don't get me wrong...it's not like The Edge sucks he just pales in comparison to me...Jimmy Page's music room..omg. Look at it...all that vinyl...cds...and watching him play his favorite records while he is smiling like a kid in a candy store...amazing to me. Anyhow it refueled my Led Zeppelin love...such an amazing, timeless band. Upon stalking Robert Plant a little I read that one of his children - Karac Pendragon Plant - fml it gives me a total boner that a man would name his kid a cool as shit name as Karac Pendragon - seriously blows my mind) - anyway, Karac died at 5 yrs old and the song All of My Love was written for him which is such a lovely song anyway, knowing the meaning behind it is sweet.

I almost made the perfect waffle this morning...my next waffles will be PERFECTION...no lie. (wow that is really boring to report - much more fun when I was screwing them up left, right and center)

I am going to go for a good hard walk tonight once it is dark and see how my foot feels after... ::falls to knees praying to the universe to not let something shiny distract her from this objective::