How to look like a dumb starfish.

As any of you who actually read my crap know. I’ve been conspicuously absent recently here at the home of my blog. To be honest I haven’t done any writing over the past couple of months which is unheard of for me. Usually you can’t shut me up (even duct tape is only a temporary gag) but work lately has consumed all of my time.


It’s funny, many times I wished for the promotion I actually received on June 28th of this year but damn, it’s hard. The job itself isn’t unknown to me and I am capable of doing the job but the work piles up and just when I think I’ve got a handle on it, I look around the desk and table space of my office and sigh. Piled up are projects and file folders, initiatives and principles. Many of these items I thought of in the spirit of innovation and setting a good foundation to my leadership role at work. I always forget when I open my big fat mouth with another idea it means more work.

Now I bitch, whine and complain but truly this past couple of months while insanely busy have been rewarding. I feel like I’m making a difference and I am a part of something worthwhile. Still it’s exhausting to be eating, sleeping, thinking work. I’m not a workaholic by nature, I strive to do a good job and work hard but I’ve never put work first. These past couple of months have been crazy and I’m feeling the consequences now as it takes me over two weeks to get over the flu.

I’m even dreaming work. Do you ever have those dreams where you’re at work, doing everything wrong or naked or doing something really stupid? Please say yes, or I’ll feel like a total nutcase. Anyway, I’m having dreams all the time so when I wake up I feel like I’ve already been at work for hours! Why can’t I dream about fun things, like sleeping?

So, as you can see I’ve been a barrel of laughs. I got sick a couple of weeks ago when I had a week off, boy do I know how to have a good time. I’m pretty sure if I’d told Scott we were going to spend the whole week in bed for our time off together he would have pictured something totally different than reality.

Have you ever had a cold sore? I get them now and again when my immune system has been down, but it’s been a couple of years. Well luckily for me I made up for lost time, I got a cold sore the size of a Buick last week, which was especially fun given I was in a Manager’s course networking with other Manqgers. Nothing says “sexy” like a giant scab on between my lips and nose; although for once other people got to speak, because I was too worried about drawing attention to my beauty mark.

In totally unrelated news the two year old has taken a liking to Sponge Bob Square Pants, which is just super. It’s Logan all over again where Scott started to relate our life to Sponge Bob episodes. “This reminds me of that episode of Sponge bob where Patrick....”

Speaking of Patrick, have you seen those lovely “Snuggy” blankets in the stores or on tv? Who actually buys that crap? I saw one the other day that was bubblegum pink for breast cancer awareness. Excellent cause but if I wore the pink snuggy I’d look like Patrick Star (see picture). Not to mention then I’d be tempted to wear it places like Wal-Mart.

So my two year old (who likes Sponge Bob or “babob” as he calls him) also have some favourite sayings. “eeewwww grosh” and “okeydokey”. That kids cracks me up. Except when he decides he’d like to be attached to me like a leech. Like this morning when I was puking my guts into the toilet bowl while trying not to throw up on Finnegan’s head. That was super fun.

As I often say, I need to get out more and if I’m going to feel like I drank a litre of vodka yesterday I wish at least I could have enjoyed the fun of it first. Now I’m off back to bed, I’m apparently in a competition with the two year old to see who can have an earlier bedtime. I’m winning.

Mittens the destroyer - goodbye my friend.

My companion, confident and friend, mittens the destroyer, 18 years old, which they say is old for a cat left the living today but it wasn't nearly enough time for me to spend with him. He listened when I needed an ear, cuddled when i needed a hug and became larger than life in the eyes of a little girl. From six weeks old he would climb onto my bed, bury his head in my hair and knead like I was his mama. He did that until a week ago, and where he used to leave little holes in my head from his claws, he now leaves a huge hole in my heart that I cannot begin to imagine I will ever be able to fill again. A cat that believed he was a person, I don't know if he ever knew, he was so much more, he was everything. There were times in the last 18 years I honestly did not know how I was going to make it through, where he would insert himself in my lap, wrap his arms around my neck and bury his head in my shoulder. So many times I held on for life. I love you Mittens, you helped me go on so many nights, I hope you knew how much you meant.


There are so many wonderful memories I have from this larger than life cat, from his love of human food and his obvious belief that having the highest seniority in the household meant he should have a dedicated spot at the dinner table AND a full plate of food. The memory of his paw slipping up from Meghan’s lap to scoop vittles from her plate as efficiently as possible. From his conviction that he ruled the roost to the reality that some days he truly did, to his moments of vulnerability where he would climb into my hair and knead, he was engrained in the very fabric of my life. My heart feels broken and I have a hard time coming to terms with the cold fact that never again will he be able to hold those broken pieces together with his love.

I love you Mittens, I cannot imagine a life without you, my tears fall where you should be and this ache in my chest is unbearable. I know that it will get less painful with time and for that I am thankful. Mittens, if you’re out there in kitty heaven somewhere I hope you know the imprint you left on not only me but this whole family. Goodbye my friend, thank you for getting me through the last eighteen years knowing unconditionally I was loved. I hope you know so were you.