Thursday, February 28, 2013

Too Much to Do

Too much to do.

        Too much to think about,

                 I'll write more tomorrow.

Right now I need to remind myself to breathe.


Anyone got a cloning machine or a Lorazepam IV drip?

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Tim Hortons Why Hath Thou Forsaken Me?




When I first started writing this blog, I confessed to being obsessed with Johnny Depp, cats, and Tim Hortons' Iced Capps.  Of the former two my devotion remains constant.  Of the latter, however, my love is wavering ever so slightly.

Sure, Iced Capps are still yummy and one of my favourite things to consume.  And yet, more and more, I've been going to Starbucks.  Traitor, you say!  Yes, I know, I know.  It's just that my Tim Hortons (my usual hangout spot), the one in the basement of College Park, recently did renovations.  Very bad ones, to my way of thinking!  For one thing, they've taken out most of the tables and chairs and made this huge space where their customers can make up four separate line-ups in order to get their coffee/snacks.  To me, this is like they're saying, "Give us your money and then get out!"

I can deal with that, though.  It's annoying and rude, but at least it's not aimed at me nor at people in wheelchairs - everyone is targeted!  What really made my blood boil was when Sarah and I met up at Tim Hortons for our Monday afternoon snack and we both saw that there was designated seating for people in wheelchairs - right beside the garbage/recycling receptacle!  I don't mean a foot or two away, no! I was practically on top of it, for goodness sake!  Also, the table was situated in such a way that only one person in a wheelchair could sit at it.  One side was free, the other blocked off.

As a person who has been denied access of buildings because of stairs all her life, who has been told that she can't sit at ringside to watch wrestling or go on fast amusement rides like her friends because of "insurance reasons," let me tell you this recent development feels like yet another slap to the face! I'm no different than anyone else, and yet, restrictions are always placed upon me (or people like me) just because I'm "different" somehow.

I'm temped more and more to make Starbucks' Peppermint Mocha Frappucino my drink of  choice.  Sure, it costs a  bit more, but it's worth it not to give a franchise that the best place to seat a person like myself is right beside the garbage!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Steak and Beer and WALKING DEAD

I've had a stressful day, so I'll have steak and beer and watch WALKING DEAD.  Muhahaha!

And then I'll paint ....


Tomorrow I'll unleash my fury upon Tim Hortons!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

So Much Work!

I'm watching Hershey play with his string with great joy and abandon.  I feel envious.  He eats, sleeps, plays, and gets petted and loved every day.  If he fights with Rascal occasionally, it's quick, straightforward, and there's no BS attached.

I want to be a cat.

          No, I don't.  I love writing and doing my art.

                    Yes, I do! 

All cats have to worry about is getting enough food and love.  No money worries for them. No stress/conflict regarding politics, religion, world news.  It's an easy life

                                     No, I don't.  I like getting fired up and passionate about things that matter!

This evening, I need to write emails, design and order cards, put more merchandise on my website and on Etsy, as well as do the employee schedule for the new pay period.  I need to get my papers in order so I can get someone to do my taxes.

No rest for the wicked, as my mother used to say.


Meow  ...!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Silliness at the Market

Perhaps it was because I had been depressed and stressed out ever since Thursday, or perhaps it was because I only had four hours of sleep last night (Hershey and Rascal were fighting each other until the wee hours of the morning), but whatever it was Sarah and I were cracking jokes and laughing about everything as we worked at the market.

There was this one customer who, after she bought of cat note cards told me that she had a "ginger cat" named Tigger.  "Not very original," she said, "but I think he likes it."  After the woman left, I turned to Sarah and said with a laugh, "What if her cat is secretly annoyed that she called him Tigger? He probably says, 'my mother named me Rocky, not a wimpy name like Tigger!'" I went on to say, "Yes, he's probably meowing, 'no no no no no, not Tigger - Rocky! Say it with me!'"

And then there was this funny misunderstanding between Sarah and I. Just as this loud, annoying kid was going by yelling, Sarah said "Yuck! Sea snail!" Sarah was talking about the jewelry stall across from me, because she was listening to a description of how they actually get the abalone. I said to Sarah with a smile, "Gee, for a moment I thought you were talking about that kid, and I thought, boy, Sarah, that's kind of mean!" And for the rest of the day every time a kid or baby went past us, we said "There goes another sea snail!"

Before all of this sea snail stuff, another customer came up with his baby and bought a pack of cards. As he was paying, he looked into my eyes and smiled, and I could tell how good-looking he was. After they left, I turned to Sarah and said, "Boy, cute dad! And the baby wasn't too bad, either!"

I kept referring to the fact that Mercury is in retrograde, because I'd read that it was happening now and would end on March 23rd. Sarah had never heard of this term before, and neither had my friend Leon. That's odd! They both thought it was the name of a band! I told Sarah maybe her boyfriend Gavin should rename his band "Wooden Sky" to "Mercury in Retrograde." Sarah laughed and said Gavin liked the name that they had. His band, she told me, started out being called "Friday Morning Regrets," and I said, "that's odd, shouldn't it be Sunday Morning instead?" Sarah said, "Sure sure, but I guess Friday is the new Saturday."

(By the way, Gavin's band just got nominated for a Juno! Congratulations guys! I guess you won't be changing your band name any time soon.)

Ok, that's all for now. I'm going to go chat with my cool, great, fantastic, brilliant nephew for a while, then go to bed.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Too Busy!


Sorry, everyone, I have too many things I need to do today.  I'll write tomorrow after the market.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Chapters of My Life with Mom

Bruce, Mom, Me
Dad, Bruce, Mom, Me, Aunt Marion, Uncle Harold

A Family Reunion
Birthday Party
Mom and I at Aunt Frances' Cottage
Entertaining Friends from High School
Friday Scrabble Night: Me, Mom, Aunt Joyce, Dave & Millie McCain
Getting Married To Rob
Mom & Me at My '08 Art Show
Tim Horton''s Best Customers


I love you, Mom, and miss you terribly.  It's been six months since you left this world.

               You were in every chapter of my life.

                                                                 What happens now ...?

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I'm Not Perfect

I'm not perfect.  I need to keep telling myself this and give myself a break.  This is what I learned today at counseling.

Guilt; I have tons of it!  If I don't wake up in the middle of the night from my mind attacking me with a thousand worries, then it is from the terrible feeling of guilt from past deeds.  Have I murdered anyone?  No.  Intentionally hurt or slighted anyone? No.  I'm not that type of person! I can't recollect doing anything heinous.

My guilt stems from small things, like never being able to take Rob to New York, or pawning the Royal Doulton figurine he bought me for our first Christmas together so that I could buy us food. I couldn't keep up the monthly payments to his computer repair correspondence course, nor could I help him succeed in his dream of being a drummer.  I loved Rob so incredibly much that I wanted to give him everything he yearned  for, and he felt the same way about me.

I have tremendous guilt where my mother is concerned as well.  In recent years, especially the year leading up to her death, Mom grew very repetitive, as elderly people often do. Week after week, she would tell me the same stories about her life, both from the present and the past.  It was endearing, frustrating, and scary.  I could see traces of my grandmother in Mom then, and I wondered if I, too, would have my mind gradually affected in such a way as I aged.

It wasn't the repetitiveness that bothered me the most.  My mother had always been a reasonable, pragmatic woman, and I had always admired this feature in her and tried to emulate it within myself.  However, during the last year of Mom's life she had been caught up in this terrible phone scam and had given a lot of her money away, thinking she was simply paying taxes on a million dollar prize she had supposedly won.  Bruce and I would convince her it was a scam, and then a few weeks later she would, rather sheepishly, say she had given more money away. It was at one of these times when I got so frustrated with her that I told her if she did it one more time I wouldn't speak to her again.  Seeing the hurt and shame on my mother's face, I quickly apologized, told her that I hadn't meant what I'd said and that I loved her.

I can't seem to forgive myself for hurting my mother in this manner, or for not being able to give Rob everything he wanted.

I can hear them both now ....

Mom: "You silly goose!  I've forgiven you.  Forgive yourself, live your life, and have fun!"

Rob:  "Stop worrying, Sweety! You were the best wife I could have ever had.  Who else would have put up with me?"

I'm trying take their advice, trying so hard, but my perfection complex keeps getting in the way.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Too Much and Not Enough

My mind and heart are full to the brim with conflicting thoughts and emotions.   I fear that one more word, one more feeling and it would all come spilling out of me, pouring forth, flooding this blog entry like a gigantic tidal wave.

I can't deal with it all now.

            Tomorrow I'll tell all ....

                                 Unless I'm painting.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Family Day Scrooge

Family Day?  Bah!  Humbug!  That's what I say!

Ever since Family Day began, I've hated it! I'm a very busy person. I don't like being prevented from getting things done that I need to do. I was going to pick up some items at the health food store, but it was closed. I was going to get my glasses adjusted, but the optometrist was closed too.

And\it's not like it's a holiday for everyone. My brother still has to drive a bus. Doctors and nurses and orderlies still work on family day. At College Park there are two Tim Hortons within that building, one on the main floor and one in the basement. Today the one on the main floor was open but the one in the basement was closed. So, only half of the Tim Hortons employees got the day off? Is that fair? It sounds like a holiday for employers so they don't have to pay all their workers!

But this particular family day was hard on me because it reminded me of the two family members I lost and still miss. I'm sure other people are in this same situation, or maybe they don't have any family at all. Do people in government think about this at all when they decide to make such arbitrary holidays? I doubt it.

There was one bright spot today though. a friend of a friend had her cat in the veterinary hospital for five days. They thought it was poisoned by lilies, and then they thought the cat needed a $5000 operation to remove a blockage, but today the cat woke up as healthy as a horse and went home to its owner.

For Kali and Egg this is probably the best family day ever!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Debate in my Head






Should I paint?


Or should I write emails?

Paint?

Write?

I think I've decided.  I should get my latest commissioned painting finished as soon as possible, but I have so many emails to attend to.  So, I'll get the correspondence out of the way and then tomorrow I'll paint, paint, paint!



Saturday, February 16, 2013

Another Market Day, More Snow


What a day!   Mostly good, with some anxious moments thrown in to make life exciting.

Sales weren't bad today, which is good!  A surprising amount of people came over to my table to say that they had heard my interview with Sook-yin two weeks ago.  That was cool!

Another surprising thing happened - Bruce and the kids dropped by to say hi before they went to the Auto Show!  They've never just dropped by to see me at the market before.  Aside from the usual pleasantries, I took the chance to tell Bruce about my funding problems and about Mom's will and the ridiculous court system.

I would have liked to chatted more with the three of them, but 1) they had to leave and 2) I had just found out that there had been a mix-up with the scheduling of my employees and I had to text people and see if this problem could be fixed - and fast!

I had been 99% sure that Yuula would be doing the 2pm-7pm shift, but it hadn't been written down in the Google calendar, so she had accepted a shift at her other job.  Fortunately, it all worked out.  When Sarah left the market at 2:00, my friend Leon jumped in and helped me sell my wares.  (I have such fantastic friends!) And then, around 3:30, Yuula left her other job and came to help me with the rest of my day.

I had one more surprise before I left for home.  A woman I hadn't seen in 25 years came to see me and thank me for sending me an invitation to Linkedin.

The interaction was both good and bad.  I used to always really like Jutta, and she seemed to be the exact same person with the same attributes: warmth, humour,, insight, and empathy.  She taught me about computers, modems, and printers.  She came to my family home, and my mother treated her to tea, cookies, and muffins.  When I first told Jutta that I was chatting to a guy on a BBS whose name was Rob but his alias was Thingfish, she was excited for me.

It was so hard telling her about Rob and mom (will it ever get any easier?), but then Jutta told me that her grandmother had recently died and that her parents had passed on a few years ago.  So, it felt like we were in the same boat somehow.

Coming home, I swore in my head about the frigid temperatures, but the snow did come down very prettily.

I must go to bed.  My neck is killing me.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Less of a Stress Ball

Ah, yes, I feel better today.  gtfrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrHG (that last part was from Hershey)

Yesterday and early this morning I was so stressed out. I don't know if I've ever been so stressed out in my whole life, and boy, that's a long time! The long and the short of it was that the bank account that I keep my Direct Funding money in has been dwindling inexplicably since July, and I have no idea why. I'm very careful to never go over my allotted hours, because I'm afraid of losing the funding. I'm not sure how I could live without having my employees. I would rather die than go back to an attendant program - and I'm not joking when I say this!

Well anyway, I'm supposed to have a $6000 float, and I don't know what happened to it! Every night for about the last three weeks I've been waking up in the middle of the night worrying about it. I hate money problems, they just tear me apart!

So, on Wednesday I'd had enough of worrying and I decided to do something about it. I went to the bank and applied for a line of credit to cover the float. I thought I was going to get it no problem, but the next day they called and told me that only rich bastards with land and stocks can get a line of credit.

Well, then I got a call from CILT, who administers the Direct Funding. They said they had seen from their records that I was having problems. The person kept saying that I must have gone over my hours, and I kept denying it.

So, last night I stayed up until 3am compiling all of my payroll records since July to send to them, and this morning I was relieved to see an email from CILT saying they would help me to fix the problem. Relief!
Before I went to the bank, I emailed my mom's lawyer to find out what was taking so long for him to probate my mom's will. He said the courts were confused because she hadn't put our middle names in the will. Like, did they think my mom had four kids with the same two first names? I love the colour red, but I hate red tape!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Not Much to Say on This Dull Day

Not much to say on this dull day. I had breakfast, wrote emails, got showered and dressed, went to the bank and then wrote more emails.

I'm going to have Swiss Chalet with Simone and a friend of hers. That should be fun!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Bad Wife

Shit! The Good Wife has no new episodes.

PAIN

Ever since yesterday, my right arm has been killing me.  Because of the pain, I couldn't sleep very well.  This morning I ate breakfast, got dressed and went back to bed for more sleep. Now my arm feels better, but my neck is killing me .Isn't that always the way?  Well at least I know my pain will eventually go away, or eventually subside. I can't wait till Thursday when my osteopath comes here and gives me a treatment.

I declare this an Anne Day.  I'm going to relax and watch The Good Wife, drink Porter beer and hang out with Simone. Well, maybe write an email or two...

Monday, February 11, 2013

Happy birthday, Dandylion





Happy birthday, Dandylion! You were born 23 years ago; I still have the birth certificate the pet store gave me to prove it.  A fiery red-head, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I brought you home eight weeks later/

You were a feisty little fireball who took no prisoners.  No wonder I fell in love with you; we were kindred spirits!

You loved only Rob and me, nobody else was allowed to touch you. Hell, some times you would get that look in your eye and Rob and I would know to back off. For the most part, though, we were like the Three Musketeers. You saw Rob and I go through both happy and sad times.

I love you, Dandylion, and there`s not a day that goes by where I don`t think about you or miss you terribly.

I`m not sure if I believe in the spirit world (although you did send me a cool message in Scrabble today) but if there is such a place I hope you and Rob are keeping each other company.



Sunday, February 10, 2013

Snow and Ramps



On June 24th of last year I wrote about the ramp at the AGO and how much I despised its mere existence.  I don't usually re-visit my rants in this blog, but I this particular topic needs to be addressed again.

Recently, I found out that the AGO had known about my blog and had, indeed, read the entry in question.  Their response, I`ve been told, was one of fear.  They were afraid of the repercussions that my words of frustration and fury might bring upon their heads.  (Apparently, some of my fans had tweeted the link of the entry about my hatred of the ramp directly to the people at the AGO.)

Sadly, nothing happened, despite the tweets and the conviction of my words, and despite the fact that my friend Aaron had voiced his disapproval of the terrible design when they had invited him to its Grand Unveiling.

Yes, the ramp is still there, all shiny and smooth,  tall and curvaceous. It still hides me from other customers as I slowly ascend or descend the steep, winding ramp.  I feel anger and humiliation knowing that people who are able to walk can use the stairs faster and with greater ease.

One of my friends tries to argue that the ramp is an art piece.  Maybe she`s right.  However, if this is so, then I say make it into an actual exhibit and give it the ironic title: ``Accessibility``.  So many things are designed for people with disabilities, and, for the most part, without our consultation or input.  It is because of  this arrogance of designers and architects and people who dream up convoluted social programs, that we are hidden away, our progress is impeded or halted before we can even begin.

It`s true that I took being snowbound with a grain of salt.  However, deep down, I fumed! I lost money because I couldn`t get to the market because of  the sidewalks weren`t shoveled properly and the curb-cuts weren`t cleared at all.

I`ll keep plugging along, doing my thing, and wishing with all my heart that my words will carry weight enough to evoke positive change.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Playin' Hookey



Mom used to say to me (and sometimes about me): "You can't keep a good woman down!"

Yesterday it snowed and snowed and snowed.  By late evening, after a full day of swearing in my mind about the weather, knowing that there would be no way I could get to the market in the morning if the sidewalks and curb-cuts hadn't been cleared, I decided to just stay home.

So, I played hookey from the market today. This sounds as I was a lazy, idle person.  Not on your life!  Knowing that I wouldn't be making my much needed income, I decided to be pro-active and work on some things which would pay off later on.

I designed and ordered more cards (also mugs and pens), packaged some merchandise to be mailed off, and I finished the painting of the Siamese cat Sansa.  Oh yes, and I organized my business receipts.  I'm hoping I'll get a HUGE tax refund this year.

I also communed with my animal buddies. Hershey licked "Yucky Drink" from my index finger, Oyster licked peanut butter from my thumb, and Rascal just sat there looking cute as usual.  They all whispered in my ear that I needed to paint them as a trio one day.  I agreed!

While I painted, Laura organized all my note cards and merch. She also put one copy each of all of my membership info cards into a binder. I love Laura so much! We have the same OCD for things like that.

All in all, it was a very productive day.


Friday, February 8, 2013

Snowed In

Bloody hell! It's snowing outside, and I doubt I'll be able to go to the St. Lawrence Market tomorrow. At first I cursed and raved and ranted, "Bloody Hell! I need money!" I knew that most of the sidewalks would be shoveled, but there would be snowbanks left from the plows at every corner.

Throughout the day, however, I became more fatalistic. So what! The St. Lawrence Market will probably be dead tomorrow, and I sure could use a day off. I'm not saying I'll relax particularly, but I'll be able to finish the painting of the Siamese cat and start another painting.

This will be a short entry. I'm going to eat some steak and vegetables, then drink a toast with Laura's maple syrup whiskey to Rob's love of snow. May you be running around happily in this cold white stuff, Sweetheart.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

There's Need and Then There's NEED

Love of My Life



Remembering Mom and LuLu




It snowed today, which reminded me of Rob.  And then I called my mom's accountant, which made me feel so sad and weepy. Grief is so fucking weird! Like with most of my mind I know that both Rob and my mom are gone, but at times, like talking to my mom's accountant for the first time, another part of my mind says holy shit, mom's dead! Why didn't anybody tell me?

This week both my osteopath and counsellor cancelled on me. Bloody hell! My neck and back and thumb are killing me! And I wanted to get some things off my chest with my counsellor.

So I'll get it off my chest here. Maybe not all of it because I'm very busy! I was remembering when Rob was in the hospital, he said to me something like if he died, I would be better off without him especially financially.  And Rob also said that I didn't need him because I had my employees. I know he wasn't trying to upset me, in fact I think maybe he was preparing me for the worst. What Rob didn't understand is that there's need and then there's NEED.

It's the same with my mom. Sure she was proud of my accomplishments and happy for my independence, and yet she too would make that same comment, "You don't need me anymore." Mom wasn't trying to make me feel guilty or upset, she was happy for me.

And yet in both cases I have this huge unreasonable feeling of guilt. I can replay over and over in my head the last words my mom said to me: "I'm not worried." She said it with a smile, as if she was embracing her fate. And now, I know it's crazy, but I can't help but think maybe if I had been just a little more needy, they might have fought harder to stay.

What they both didn't understand was, sure I'm strong and independent, but I need their love and support. I need to share my life with them. I love you Rob and Mom, and for the rest of my life I will need you and love you. It's not the financial or physical things I miss and need the most, it's the day to day emotional support. A smile or a phone call, these are the things that have made a huge void in my life.

There's need and then there's NEED.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

My Mind is Filled with Paint







My mind is filled with paint ...

                                 No words.

                                                Just paint.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Paint paint paint

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog because of painting.

Paint paint paint ...

              Paint paint paint ...

                       Paint paint paint!


I'll be back tomorrow, folks!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Cat-ronation St

"As busy as a one-armed paper hanger!"  I can't remember when or where I first heard this saying, but I've often thought it sure could have been said about me.

Today, I showed a new trainee the ropes and emailed another person about coming for her training shift tomorrow.   I mailed approximately 15 monthly membership packages out, only to come home and get two more ready for the post.  Intending to work on a commissioned painting of a Siamese cat tonight, I went to Curry's to buy art supplies.  However, I decided to work on less exciting things, like organizing the database of my Dandy Card Members and update my finances.

Today, at Tim Horton's, I explained to Sarah how my mind works: like my body, it`s pretty much always in motion.  Ideas, worries, memories, longing - and, yes, sometimes fantasies!  Do I mean of  a sexual nature?  Sure, sometimes! 

However, there are times when I fantasize about having my Cerebral Stimulator (it was implanted onto my cerebellum to lessen spasms when I was 18) being struck by lightning and suddenly having super powers.  One of the powers I'd have would be the ability to take a person's suffering (physical/emotional) and put it onto the person(s) who caused it in the first place.

And then, I told Sarah about another fantasy I have.  In my humble opinion, the writing on Coronation St. has been sub-standard for about maybe six months now.  My dream is to kidnap the writers, put them on a desert island, and then write the episodes myself.

We laughed about this, of course,  but then Sarah came up with a brilliant idea!  I could write an episode (or episodes) for a show called Cat-ronation St and then put it on YouTube.  We'd either use real cats, cat finger puppets - or both!

It sounds nutty, sure, but in my opinion, people like nutty.

Besides, I need another project to occupy my mind and time! I'm just not busy enough.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Things Are Looking Up!

Not too much to say.  Today has been split into two: one part was working hard (writing emails to new customers mostly), and the other was enjoying myself, hanging out with Motria and Yuula at the movies.

We saw The Life of Pi, which was very beautiful and very entertaining.  Still, however, I wouldn't add it to my list of favourite movies.  Like Yuula said, it was too emo.

I'm so happy!  Because of the DNTO CBC Radio One interview, I've received one commission for a cat painting, one order for a Dandy Card Membership, two t-shirt orders, and two donations! I hope the orders continue to come in - that would be wonderful!

Thank you, Sook-Yin Lee!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Mixed Emotions

The day started out with Laura putting my Frank Zappa poncho on me, and almost immediately I heard "Love of My Life" playing in my head, which made me very happy.

Although I didn't make a ton of money, it wasn't too bad for a February market day.  Except for one woman who sniffed and put her nose in the air when I told her one of my paintings was $55.00 (even though I really wanted $75.00 for it), people seemed more enthusiastic about my art than usual.  One couple came to my booth just to say that they had received a lot of complements about the Christmas cards they had purchased from me.  And, a man told me that he had bought a small painting of teddy bears from me three years ago. Incredibly, he also told me that he had thinking of flying to Orlando, Florida today to visit his brother, but decided to stay one more day just so he could see me and buy some cards.

I had brought my Ipad specifically so that I could listen to the DNTO radio show ... or, in this case, the podcast version. It was brilliant!  I loved it!  But, at the very end they played "Love of My Life", which I had requested previously, and, I don't know why, but it made me cry.

Well, I do know why.  It's because I miss sharing my life and achievements with Rob.  

A similar thing happened at Spaghetti Factory tonight when I was celebrating my brother's birthday with him and his kids.  We were having fun, enjoying ourselves, when our favourite waiter came and asked where Mom was.  It killed me to tell him, but I did.

Will these things get better?  I hope so.  In the meantime, I'm going to go bed, cuddle my cats,  and think about the man who chose to see me instead of going to Florida.

Friday, February 1, 2013

So Much to Saaaaaaaaaay

New Painting

Rob's Drums

"I Love You"



I do have a lot to say, but not too much time in which to say it. I did do a lot of things that I was meaning to get done, and that made me happy and relieved. However, there are still a lot of things I still need to do, and this makes me nuts and stressed out!

The things I got done:

I bought my brother a birthday present for tomorrow. Happy birthday, you old groundhog you!

My bags were overflowing with cards, so I took out the Christmas and winter ones and put them away for next year, and I did the same with my portfolio. I added the painting 'I Love You' - I hope the customer comes and picks it up tomorrow. I sure could use the money!

And speaking of money, I paid some bills. And I updated my credit card information on some websites because some schmuck used my old one.

Tonight I'm getting Laura to organize all my tax receipts for 2012. Woohoo!

And I made sure that all of my friends and family on Facebook knew about this article that was just written about me:  http://cerebralpalsy.org/artists-with-cerebral-palsy/anne-abbott/

... a lot of it was great, but there were definitely a few inaccuracies.Like for example, I am mourning the death of my mother and my "cousin"... I can hear Rob laughing now!

Things I haven't yet done:

I've told a lot of people about my CBC Radio One interview, but not as many as I'd like. So I guess I am telling everyone now: I'll be on DNTO tomorrow afternoon between 1 and 3pm talking about my gorgeous body! Check it out!

I haven't put Rob's drums on Craigslist yet. Maybe tomorrow.

And, I haven't put my membership packages together yet, but I'll do that tomorrow, too.

There's one other thing that I haven't done yet, but it's complicated, and talking about it here would only stress me out more.

So, that's all for now.