All's Well?

Got the call tonight that Dad went through surgery fine and now stays in the hospital for the next few days. My mom is the one who is talking to him so I can't play the 'Spanish Inquisition' on the guy. So I'm taking things as good news until I hear otherwise.

The living room has now been re-painted to an earthier shade - much better. I'm thinking the dining room is next but I learned all my mistakes on the L/R so hopefully there won't be buckets of trauma.

Today is my Aunt's B-day so I'm going to my Mom's tonight for dinner. I was exhausted last night when I got up so went back to bed at 9:30pm and got up at 3:30am. Have no clue what that is going to do to the ol' sleep clock.

Other than that, I'm hanging on my by toes.

So, you know, situation normal

Not Well Over All

Got a call from my mom tonight.

My father, who is working a half a world away has to go in for surgery. My mom called it Dad's waterworks. Apparently hasn't been doing well for a year (first we hear of it) and his prostrate is huge.

I tried for calm while talking to my mom but inside I'm flailing all over. Stones and urinary tracts I can handle with a steel fortitude. Sure I'd be worried but I'd also know that after the operation every thing would be fine.

It's the word Prostrate that's giving me nightmares (tried to sleep with Bob and had nightmares for 4 hours). I don't imagine the prostrate just swells when irritated but it's what I'm hoping for.

So any extra thoughts or prayers would be so greatly appreciated.

My dad is just a pup yet.

Half Way?

The ceiling is finished in the living room! We didn't have to tear the damn thing down so all is fine.

Tonight I filled holes in the wall - plaster walls don't get tiny holes, they get gaping wounds that make you want to cry. You pull a nail out of the wall and a 3 inch round crater is staring you in the face.

So I filled holes, did my 'paid' job (I forget so many things when I have a project and I remember last night that I should get my spread sheets for work up to date! And I forgot my Doc's appointment. That's going to cost me.) and just finished putting up the first coat of primer. Since the walls were a burgundy colour the coat of primer has a halo of red peeking through.

This will come as a shock but I have a pristine view of paint and I'm fighting the urge to put up another coat of primer so that the walls will be pure white before finishing with my two coats of grey paint.

You all know I'm lazy so even I'm flummoxed by my odd behaviour.

And fumes?

Holy stinky headache ville!!

So I cranked a few windows open on this -3 degree night. Brrr. All the same, I don't think we should be closing the house up with this kind of stench. I don't remember paint fumes being so bad!

What else? *drums fingers on keyboard*

Oh! So just before I go to bed (in the early dawn) and when I first get up (it gets dark early now!) my first thought is Emma.

Ah, Emma. My hard done by kitty. I shove a pill down her throat twice a day (I think it's over in a few days) and then the needle.

Now, you would think with all this medicine stuff I would remember I have things I need to take also.

Dumb Cindy. Might explain some of the headaches I've been getting.

And finally!

I got THE book today.

I called Chapters to ask if the book had arrived at their store (whole schmaz about shipping fees to home and crap so I had them sent to the store) and no, it hadn't arrived. I was told they were very good at calling people when books arrive in their store. That it's a daily event.

So I head off to my BF's house and the phone rings.

It's Bob, Chapters called to tell me the book arrived.

10 minutes people!

Oh, well. At least I have the book. Problem is I started Nalini Singh's short story in between painting and all the other stuff so it'll be a bit yet.

Wow, That's Leaving Lots Of Marks!!!

I pride myself on my painting skills (seriously, just go with it, I don't have much) but tonight I may have just created a nightmare that I can't fix by myself.

This means Bob will have to get involved.

This means there may be some serious grumbling when Bob gets up in the morning. Since I will super anxious and sleepy I'm bound to unleash a bitchy C-Rex.

In the spirit of the holidays I wanted to get my living room painted top to bottom.

I moved all the furniture last night (except for the 2 large sofas and a hutch because I had nowhere to put them) and put all my plastic down, found the tools and in general had everything ready to go for when I started tonight.

Except tonight I wanted to buy an extra gallon of that ceiling paint that goes on pink and goes to white. I didn't think my 3 partial gallons were enough. Bob remembered that we should have had another couple buckets so I went without. Turns out we didn't but he did find a 5 gallon pail of Zinzer primer - this stuff can cover nuclear waste it's so friggin' tough.

Blah, blah, blah - I'm getting there!

Tonight I mix the three partial gallons together and decide that it should be plenty to cover my 25' by 15' plastered ceiling.

Perfect.

I start only the pink is going white so fast I can't keep track of where I am. So I end up over doing some areas which immediately brings my attention to the fact that the ceiling is now bubbling and peeling.

Okay, it's not a huge problem. It's only doing it in one spot.

But my brain is already working (Yeah, not a minute too late) and I have a vision of the previous owner of the home painting the ceiling say 40 years ago. What kind of paint would that person have been using?

OIL!!

Holy friggin' ------

I've finished the entire ceiling because I figure, why get nailed for a little mistake when I can get in trouble for a GI-NORMOUS mistake.


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Ugh.

I went back in and noticed more spots bubbling. I'm trying to remember if this happened once before and Bob said not to worry that once the paint dried the bubbles would recede. I mean, I've done a few reno houses and I'm pretty sure this came up before.

So I'm kicking myself because if I had only used that damn Super Primer I would have been in the clear.

Now I'm just hoping it all dries out cause if not, poor Bob will have to put up a whole new ceiling. And he doesn't have that kind of time before Christmas and hell, who needs to spend a whack of cash on drywall and mouldings right now.

I suck.

Wish me well.

UPDATE!! Hooray!! Those bubbles are starting to dry and flatten out. Oh Happy Day!!!

No seriously, I was a wee bit scared of the morning.

I'll leave it tonight and put on the second coat tomorrow instead of doing it again tonight. I normally have rooms painted in a day or two but I'm going to let this paint cure completely before I put on the next coat. The good news is the next coat will go on smoother.

LOL Cat to celebrate!


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This Was Way Too Hard!!

As you can see, the spirit found me!

I don't know what is different about this year from the previous 3 but I'm so ready to decorate and go shopping and find neat-o gifts and stuff.

Of course, the odds of 'neat-o' gifts is slim because we all shop in the same hemisphere so, not sure how we can surprise each other.

But screw it, I'm feeling the spirit. Even wanted to put up our tree (we have a fake blue spruce with snow on it) but then remembered I really, really, really want to paint the living room before I spend another Christmas in an off burgundy room. It's hideous and I've been living with it for 3 years.

Thing is, Bob wants me to remove all trim since one day (ONE DAY) we'll be replacing it all.

Did I mention the house has been trimless in areas for 3 years?

Like I said, screw it. I'll take the damn trim off as long as I don't have to have bing cherry walls anymore.

On another note, this template was a bitch to put on. Would I love to have my widgets back? Yeah. But then I can't really make out how the template is created and changes are terrifically bad.

Why are there not more clean line Christmas Layouts (that's the new term)?

Anyways, let's just say doing this template almost sucked the spirit right out of me!

I wanted to put up a countdown ticker like C2 does but I'm not sure I'm up to fiddling with the damn template again.

You know, I swear a lot for a person donning the Christmas Spirit.

But then, you all wouldn't recognize me if I was all pussified.

It's a word.

Update on Emma - she's huge, her fur is glorious and she's one happy kitty. Bad news is she has to go to the vet for the day tomorrow so they can create a baseline on her diabetes. (then she comes home for another week and then back in for a day and so on)

She's so going to hate me tomorrow.

Course, I think the vet may have to create a stress baseline for me. I'm not willing to lose another limb just before Christmas!

I'm figuring 200 bucks just for tomorrow.

Ow.

Ow.

*deep breath in*

Feeling the Spirit dangit!

Yay!!!

After an hour of fuming I've decided to let Bob live.

Luckily it's 1am and he's sound asleep so when I discovered some mail under stacks of crap and came across a package that looked like a book, I didn't holler or scream.

I'm a great wife!

I have no clue when it showed up but I'm betting Bob's response will be 'I told you!'

Lately Bob has been telling me things either as I'm going to bed, at noon if he comes home (seriously, I wake up hours later and wonder if I dreamed it) or as I'm waking up.

Things don't compute during those times people!

All the same, I swear he said not a word cause I would have torn that package open and danced with glee.

Instead I wiggled with glee because I was still working on not pounding up the stairs and giving Bob a good shove off the bed.

Like I said. I'm a great wife.

So HUGE THANK YOU TO NATH!!!!

I had no idea it was a trade size book so I lucked out huge!

Also, I haven't seen a copy of it at either of the local bookstores cause I might have bought it if I had and another contest would have ensued.

But I'm lucky.

Phew!

I'm very excited to read the Singh short story but I think I'll wait until Monday.

This weekend is busy. Bob's family having dinner at their place on Saturday and then my best bud is coming for dinner on Sunday.

So Monday sounds perfect!

Seduce Me At Sunrise Lisa Kleypas

The good news, I liked it.

The bad news, I had me some problems.

Cindy Blurb:

Oh, wait! Pet Peeves or Silly Cindy Thingies

1. I'm not much on books where the H/H have known each other most of their lives.
2. Especially if they grew up like siblings.
3. Ages of the H/H would have been helpful in the beginning of the story so I didn't have to do awkward math to figure out just how long these two people lived in the same house *like* siblings. I never really figured it out.

Maybe I should have saved those for the 'awkward review' section of this post.

Oh, well. You've been here and seen worse with my brain.

Cindy Blurb (for real this time) :

Dammit, wait.

I have no writing steam, so this will be morbidly more awkward than normal.

Fun.

Cindy Blurb (shut up) : We have Kev Merripen, a gypsy boy that was raised by a brutal Uncle who used him as a fighting machine. His childhood isn't played out long in this book which is nice because I'm not much for flashbacks but it was enough to know Merripen never had it easy. His tribe was attacked at some point and he was left for dead.

Win Hathaway's father found the boy near death and brought him home to his family. The boy was almost feral and wouldn't let anyone near him until the day Win came into his room. An immediate connection was made.

Lord knows how old there were cause I sure don't. Maybe it was revealed in the previous book which I haven't read. Bad Cindy.

So, there is some growing up where Kev stays on the outer lining of the family, learning about trust and what it's like to be cared for. Then Win's father dies and her mother shortly follows. While reeling from this the Scarlet fever hits the family and Leo Hathaway, Win's brother and Win are close to death. Kev remembers an herb that could cure or kill and both are given the dose.

Win and her brother survive but Win is not the same and lives the life of an invalid unable to do normal tasks without being winded. She decides she must go away to get better because she wants a life with Kev (even though he wouldn't think of touching her).

Years later - again, can't remember and still don't know how old anyone is - Win comes back stronger and with a fresh need to get on with her life. She also comes back with a suitor but it's Kev she wants.

Kev wants Win to have everything but him and believes she must be kept in a glass case to be safe.

Romance ensues.

Well, romance to a point.

There is a scene where I didn't think much of Kev Merripen and I didn't think he was acting at all like a hero. The scene made me cranky and if I had been Win I'm not sure I would have forgiven it as fast as she did but then, she knew what she wanted and that was Kev.

All the same, I liked Kev because he was extremely rough around the edges. Even at the end of the book I got the impression that he wouldn't become this huggy lovey dovey kind of person with his family. With his kids and wife sure but not with the rest of the people he had grown up with.

I liked that Win's family knew about her love for Kev and always supported it even when Kev was being an ass.

Yeah, that's right, I said ass.

But I do so love men who can be asses.

Just sayin.

There is a mystery to be solved about the origins of Kev that the new Brother in
Law Cam goes after with vigor even though Kev could care less about his past. There's the suitor issue. There's tension between Win's need of a normal life and Kev's need to protect her life at all costs.

Oh, I should mention that I found the family quite fresh. I liked the intelligence of the siblings, that no matter how the older kids try and protect the younger ones, they know exactly what's going on.

Though once again, I found confusion in what the house was like that they lived in. For some reason as kids I thought it was like a small cottage but when it's mentioned that Kev is re-building it after a fire (from the first book in the series I would imagine), it sounds like a much bigger and regal home.

All the same I'm keeping this book because I do love the way that Kleypas does sexual tension.

That said, I'm going with a straight B for those things I found confusing and for that one scene that got me a bit riled up.

Okay, that's it.

Not sure if this helps you or makes it more confusing for you.

Glad I could help.

I'm So Behind!

I haven't been able to do my blog rounds for like 2 weeks!

I blame my mom.

Tomorrow night I have some work to do and a call in to the best bud and then I plan to plant my butt in the chair and read all your blogs. If not tomorrow then Monday. Expect comments on posts from weeks ago.

Bad Cindy.

And since I've been up since 6am - yes, you read that right - I was able to get to the bookstore near our home. (We had my family over for a turkey dinner so that my Dad could enjoy it before heading back across the world). They didn't have Demon Bound by Meljean Brook (even though the computer said they had 3) or Broken Wings by, uh, crap.

Anyways, I was talking about how the brand new store had these awesome futuristic computers and tada! my old store has them too!! So all I did was order the two books at their kiosk and they will ship to the store for free. (I've been worried I'll get nailed for shipping since they changed their policy)

If I had had more time I would have placed a huge order but Bob was waiting in the car and I had to get to the LCBO before heading home and cleaning the main floor of the house. Stress was the order of the day.

But it's over and tomorrow we go to see my Dad off.

Monday I plan on the beginnings of my yearly hibernation ritual.

Sleep, sleep, sleep!

Tuggin' on my Too Funny Bone

1.) I went to the bookstore tonight to track down 'The Book' that Kristie (J) is so excited about.

I got there and stood staring at the books.

Uhmmmmmm, huh.

I head over to the computer thinking something will shake loose but see if you can figure out my problem.

I stood over that damn computer and all I could think of was THE QUEST.

*shakes fist at Kristie for naming these events!!*

I figured it out when I got home and went to Kristie's blog. I'll be honest and tell ya I figured the horrible cover would have drawn my eye. Course, it's not out till November 8th so that would be one, two, ah-ha, a triple UGH!

2.) I have made myself 3 (baked) chicken fingers with sweet and sour sauce and fresh boiled potatoes with butter, salt and pepper 6 out of the last 7 nights for my nightly dinner (that's between 2 and 3am for those of you wondering). I'm not obsessive compulsive although I'm sure I could have the tendency if I let it get out of control (hand sanitizer anyone?) but I get into food phases that can last months to years on end. I have taught myself to break out of them but it's usually to do with laziness. This year it was discovering a local potato grower and I'm telling you, I have never had such wonderful potatoes in my life! They are even great mashed up which I was worried about but I have them with Thanksgiving turkey and about rolled on the floor in complete ecstasy (yes, I know it's sad)

Aside: I wrote the above 2 about a week or two ago and I have eaten all the chicken fingers in the house. My jeans all feel too tight now. Back to WW for me!

3.) This isn't funny as much as sublime. A new Indigo store opened up (the grand opening isn't until next weekend) and Bob took me there tonight even though his back is out. Poor guy. But OMG!! What a beautiful store. There is an aisle that is a room unto itself that is brightly lit and its where all the magazines are - it's so pretty. The journal section almost made me weep. Romance section didn't knock my socks off because they didn't have Meljean Brook's Demon Bound out, of course, The Quest book wasn't there or the newest Nalini Singh Christmas Cat book.

OH! The computers were fancy, futuristic bright white orbs that had touch screens.

I spent 108 bucks on books. I bought their 25 dollar card even though it chapped my behind. So I've decided to keep track of the money I save over the next year and we'll see if it pays to buy the card. So that will be on the sidebar under the books read.

4.) My sleep is so messed up that I can't think straight. It's funny in a way but I'm shocked at how lost I am. And Bob has been underfoot for the past few weeks because of a project he's on. I know I mentioned it before but I'm missing my routine.

5.) My dad is home and on Saturday I'm doing up a nice turkey dinner with all the fixings. My favourite dinner. I know. It's very funny.

I'll end on that note. I hope you are doing well and reading lots. I will hopefully had a review up of a book in the next week.

You know I mean one of my 'Cindy' reviews.

Just warning ya.

Woohoo - Yikes!!

Love the change I woke up to today!

Congrats to my American Friends with their new President - I hope he will help us all find our way!

And Bob's off and we're going to go to Toronto.

Hence the YIKES in the title.

I'm taking my anxiety meds with us but I'm silly excited. I just hope I'm awake enough when we get there. We went to an appliance store yesterday and by the time we got there I didn't care cause I was so tired. I went to bed at 8pm last night and got up at 4am.

Time change, general enui, I just don't know. I can't figure myself out so I've decided 'Fuck it' and I'm going to go shopping with my hubby in Toronto.

I'll take positive vibes if you have any left after all the energy from yesterday.

With that all in mind, this is the song that keeps playing through my head:

100 Bucks? Yes, Please!

The Book Binge ladies have done it again!

Another awesome contest where you not only get to buy a great book by an extraordinary author, you get the chance to win 100 dollars to spend in a bookstore of your choice!!

Excited?

I am!

What's the deal?

If you buy Demon Bound sometime in the next two weeks and send us proof of your purchase - either a picture of you with the book or a copy of your receipt - we'll enter you to win a $100 gift certificate to the book store of your choice.

That's all you have to do: Buy one book and you'll be entered to win $100!!

If you want to double your chances of winning, announce this contest on your own website and/or blog and after you send us your proof of purchase we'll throw your name in the hat twice.




Remember, you have until Sunday, November 15th to enter!! Don't delay, buy your copy today!!!

To read more go here and see how you can enter to win and get an extra chance of winning by posting on your blog!

They've managed to bring together two of my favourite things. Money and Books.

Perfection.

Swinging In

Father is home for the next week.

Check.

The next week will be family 24/7.

Chee-e-e-eck.

I will need lots of naps afterwords.

F*ck Yeah!

Oh and it's month end for work. Good news is I've been keeping pace better and not getting behind.

Also, things are afoot.

This has Bob underfoot and messing with my routine.

Finally called Best Friend last night and she was all upset and wondering what she had done to make me mad. She had been leaving messages but it's been 2 weeks since we talked.

1. My mom - enough said. (have I told you all about the reno of her den and the two straight weeks of mom time? Just checking)
2. My sleep and BF's new work schedule.
3. Bob's underfoot.

Went to see the Godkids for 1/2 hour tonight - two gloomier gusses I have yet to see. Where is the Halloween Spirit?

Wasn't here. I had to go back to bed when we got home. Bob answered the door and maybe 12 kids. Boo!

Finally - I have no 'ME' time.

OH, Best Bud moving back home so more time with her also.

Bye-bye 'ME' time.