You've Got Mail

When John and I bought our home, the address was suspicious to us. Without telling the Interwebs exactly where we live, suffice to say it sounds like a fake address.

As such, we've been receiving a crapload of fake mail. Residents at our house apparently include:

Bonita Chiquita (can't remember what she got, but it was pretty hilarious)

Bily Joe, who gets a bi-monthly LEGO magazine (which I thoroughly enjoy reading)

Julia Childs, who is getting a request for renewal (or some such) from Money Sense magazine

There've been assorted other pieces of junk mailings--cruise magazines, one-off mailings, etc.-- addressed to people who don't live here, and who probably never have. I suspect this anyhow: the previous owner lived her for 44 years before passing on, and the place doesn't look like it ever had tenants. It was way too clean when we got in.

More mail to fake people to come, I'm sure. I look forward to the next issue of LEGO magazine.

Mega post

1. Belated Happy Luke Skywalker Day! May the Fourth Be With You!

2. Running toilet=Repairs=Not quite repaired=Water everywhere, leaking through the floor and into the kitchen through the ceiling=Repairs v.2=Fixed. Thanks, Dad. You're the best!

3. Got a bike! Haven't had a chance to ride it yet, but I'm excited to! Came with a free helmet, plus the added incentive of looming HST, plus it was on sale. Couldn't resist.

4. Breaking in wedding shoes at work. Not knowing how to walk in heels, I've gotten advice that's all over the map, from "suck in your gut, stick your chest out and pull your shoulders back" to "pretend you're wearing antlers" to "walk toe first." I tried to do all these things. And now I've forgotten how to walk like a normal person.

5. Twenty-four days left before I lurch down the aisle. Halp.

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I would like to be there now pleaze ok thx bye.

7. Also, this:

Smartikus J. Cat, Destroyer of Worlds

It's been a little over a month since we adopted Smartikus, and he's all settled in and comfortable now. Perhaps a little too comfortable.

It's hard to determine most days if he's being affectionate or just a jerk because he knows he can get away with it. Even as I'm typing this post, he is purring and getting right in my face so that he can get a shot at my cereal milk. I'm trying to ignore him, but he keeps tapping me: just a little reminder that he's here. Tap, tap, tap. Hi, Mommy, gimme yur fud.

And now he's pushed my elbow and made me spill a spoonful of cereal down my front.

Other affectionately jerky things he's been up to:

• Chewing through both mine and John's cell phone charger cords (that's just plain jerky)
  
• Waking me up just before my alarm goes off every morning by jumping on me, poking my face, giving me wet willies (he actually licks his paw and smears it all over my face and, if he can, my mouth)
• Attacking my hands or feet if I try to sleep in too late. (Mommy, wake up! Wake up! The sun's out! Wake up! GIVE ME LUV!!!)
• Sitting directly in front of my computer screen and helping me write (No, Mommy, I like this letter ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;)
• Sitting right on top of my overtime manuscripts, no matter where I put them (I help you, Mommy! I keep the plot under my bum!)
• Climbing onto my back and shoulders at least once every day--I can't decide if this is some display of dominance or affection (I shnuggle! I shnuggle you lots! AND NOW I BITE YOUR ELBOW AND RIBS!)

Other fun things we've learned about Smarty:

• He plays fetch with balls of crumpled up paper. No dollar-store toys for him!
• He's bananas for bananas.
• If he likes you, he'll reach out and put a paw on you and give you a meaningful look, just to let you know he's there for you, bro.
• He talks a lot.
• He has cold kitty breath. Very odd to feel when you're sleeping and he decides to give you a little nuzzle.
• One of his favorite places to be: on top of the fridge, where he can survey his domain and watch the squirrels outside.
  

Despite the jerkiness, he always makes up for his bad behaviour by being shnuggly. He really is our dream cat.

To Whom It May Concern...

We've started receiving Christmas cards for the former and now deceased owner of our house. Up until now, I've written Return to Sender--Deceased on all mail for her. Most of it was from charities she probably donated to. But something tells me treating Christmas cards from friends overseas would be...how should I put this...dickish.

What do I do? Write a letter Regretting to inform you to the sender? Do I forward personal mail to the deceased's son, who is probably still heartbroken over her death? I don't know if I want to bother him with it during the holidays.

Help? Advice?

I'm baaaack...

Whew.

All moved into the new house; cat's settling in nicely; Halloween's over; most of my immediate writing projects are being put to bed now; Trojan scareware seems to have disappeared from the computer for now....

Time to blog and post pics!

Proof that I did the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk on Sept. 12,
the day after closing my house:

Before and after shots of the living room and kitchen at my new place:

Living room before:

Living room after (no, it's not yellow, that's just the lighting and camera. And it's fuzzy.):

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after:

My baby's got his Masters of Journalism!

Smartikus J. Cat, the newest addition to our home/family
(Charmander: "GONNA GET U!"):

Halloween costume contest at Harlequin: almost the entire proofreading department came as a pink sheet and Post-It note flags for the editor (we use this pink sheet as a control sheet so that everyone's on the same page). Our group won second place!

Note: the girl in the silver box is a proofreader, but she came as a Lite-Brite. It worked, too.

So yeah, been kinda busy. Now that things are a little more settled, I might actually get some other stuff done....

Life: an update

Renovations on the new house are on hold as we await the electrical inspector's okay. It's a frustrating time as we wait to get more done. We can't patch or close walls or put kitchen cabinets up until he says to go ahead. All I can do right now is pack.

John is sick with what sounds to be a nasty respiratory infection. I'm loading up on good food, lots of sleep and lots of hand washing to keep the illness at bay. Everyone in my office is sick, so it's been like trying to dodge mist.

Meanwhile, because our life isn't interesting enough, we're adopting a cat. A friend of a friend has to give up her furry companion, so John and I've decided to take him in. He sounds perfect for us. Three years old, neutered and declawed...and his name is Smartikus. We knew as soon as we heard that name that he'd be perfect. We get to meet him tomorrow, and hopefully, we'll be moved in and ready to take him home at the end of the month.

GAAAH

In the ongoing saga of paperwork associated with homebuying:

Scene 1: Catch-22
Got home insurance finally. YAY! It was a big to-do since no one would insure a house with 100% knob and tube...which really doesn't make sense since I need home insurance to get into the house to take the knob and tube out so I can get home insurance. Biggest catch-22 ever. Managed to work it out with TD Insurance (thank you, Suke!) but there's lots of paperwork that needs to be done, plus the rewiring all needs to be completed 30 days after my closing date. ACK!

Scene 2: Bran helps with weight loss
Did an interview with the mortgage insurance people regarding my health. I guess they're trying to decide whether I'm going to drop dead suddenly. My favorite question went like this:

Questioner: Have you recently lost any weight?
Me: Hmm...well, maybe about five pounds.
Q: And can you tell me why?
Me: ...Er...I pooped?

I'm still waiting to get the A-OK from them--John and I are both young and relatively healthy, but I'm gnashing my teeth until then.


Scene 3: Father Time treads softly
Today I learned it would take 10 days or so to process the request to withdraw funds from my RRSP under the Home Buyer's Plan so that I don't get charged tax on it. I'm seeing my lawyer and need to give him the balance of my downpayment and the fees etc. next Wednesday. And Labour Day is coming up. That gives me 7 days to deal with this.

Moral of the story: shoulda withdrawn them waaaay earlier.


Scene 4: In which we plan our house
We've purchased new appliances at the Brick, but the kitchen cabinets and counter from Ikea are on hold until a little later in the month--supposedly, there'll be a kitchen event in the fall and we're going to cash in on that when it comes up. I just hope that's sooner rather than later. I want to get this place started and done so I can sleep in my new house, dammit.

I'm happy to say that some very nice friends and colleagues are volunteering to help with the kitchen demolition and painting later on. They shall all be well pizzaed and beered. Assuming I still have money when we get to that point...