Well, Jen and Brandon just went home, after staying for more than 6 hours at our place. What a lovely, lovely time! I was so excited before they got here, and I was so excited while they were here, it was kinda silly. We played Scrabble, went out to dinner at White Rock Beach, and then came home to play a game of Risk (didn’t finish, but I don’t know anyone who’s actually finished this game before). And they wanna come back! I’m so pleased! I love hangin’ out with them — they’re awesome people. If only we lived closer, y’know? That’s okay, cuz they’re willing to come and they’re always welcome in our home. Good to have good friends. I’m so ecstatic when we have friends come over to spend time with us…

Besides that, Jenbug and I got pretty close over the last few months. Don’t know what it is, but when I’m around her she just makes me happy. She’s a cutie patootie, and she and Brandon fit very well together. How cute!!

We have many games to go through now — we’re probably going to try Pictionary, Parcheezi, errmm… other games. Haha. And maybe even bowling next time around. That sounds like a lot of fun. A day of bowling and then dinner perhaps.

This weekend has been pretty good. Chelsea stayed over two nights and then we had Jen and Brandon come over. Good people make my life feel extra good.

Gran downstairs has a beautiful grandfather clock — it sits so nobly and defiantly among the rest of the organized clutter of the house. It’s by the bookshelf full of books in her reading room, and there is something about the presence of this very grandfather clock that makes the home more livable, more beautiful. I’ve always loved grandfather clocks. I think they are an age-old tradition that can easily be put into our modern times because of the many different styles they come in.

For a long time, I’ve debated over whether or not we should get a grandfather clock. The only reason why I haven’t is because of space limitations, but I think with our next home, I may have to convince Dave to seriously consider one. Perhaps this Hermle Contemporary Grandfather Clock in the hallway, greeting all the guests, or even placed beautifully in our little library of books to make the room seem more archaic yet welcoming. Regardless, the site gives us a lot of options to choose from when browsing for a clock that would match our other wooden furniture beautifully.

Upon reviewing their blog site, I was impressed to come by this particular entry, that speaks on tips about moving a grandfather clock. I think this would’ve been handy when we were moving Gran’s grandfather clock from her old home into her new home downstairs! Boy we had a rough time with this particular feat because the thing had to be moved from an upstairs condo into another house altogether across the city. We ended up having to hire movers specifically for this royal piece of furniture because she didn’t want to damage it.

However, I think I will probably want to get a grandfather clock after the big move into our new home, not before it. Wouldn’t want to damage such beautiful artistry by moving it.

The TV shows are back. All of ‘em. From America’s Next Top Model (which we are both hopelessly addicted to — don’t laugh!) to Grey’s Anatomy to Desperate Housewives. Heck, they’re even introducing a lot more other shows that look interesting, including Bionic Woman and Chuck. Our nights are going to be filled up. I think what we may end up doing is recording them and then watching them on the side. It’s easier and we don’t have to deal with commercials (which I think are the death of the brain cells, truly).

Hey, speaking of in season (ha, smooth transition, right?), I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. What the hell? That means we have to start our Christmas shopping soon. Like, really soon, since we have a buttload of people to get things for. I am going to try my hand at creating Christmas cards this year. I’m more motivated now since I’ve done the wedding invitations by hand. Just don’t know what to do yet, though I have a bit of an idea. Hopefully everyone will like it.

This weekend, Jen (from work) and Brandon are coming over for a visit — finally! I can hardly contain myself, it’s so exciting. We have lots of choices: from playing games to watching Friends together (haha!) to going to the beach and shopping to maybe even bowling. We’ll probably just stick with playing games and then going out to dinner by the beach or something. It’s so neat bringing someone from the outside into our little world up here in Canadaland. I’m excited to show her around.

I remember back in college, Will had me try some pills that would induce me to eat more, and therefore gain some weight. Vitamins of some sort, I remember. I guess they do the same category of actions as the hoodia diet pills, but reverse: diet pills make me want to not eat as much, while those pills I had in college made me want to eat more. It worked for a while, and I don’t remember any side effects, so I guess it was effective. Don’t know why I didn’t continue taking them. I think my metabolism is just naturally like this: I can eat 5 meals a day (and sometimes do!) without gaining one pound. In fact, sometimes if I skip a meal, I end up losing a pound. Kinda scary when you think of it that way.

I think regardless of how your body is shaped and formed, the important thing to remember is that you must be healthy. Skinny or not, health is key. It should always be key. Exercise because it is good for your heart, your body, your bones, not because you want to look good in a red dress. I always thought that mentality was kind of weird, actually.

Sometimes I wonder how they do it — how my clients do it. What I love about this job is that not only is it rewarding in the way that I get to help people and be of some usefulness to them, I also get a glimpse inside other worlds. I am so impressed with how people deal with changes, crises, bad news, good news, all types of news. I am impressed with the human resilience of our race. Even when they have families going through rough times, like through drug treatment or new pregnancies or having their kids taken away… it is so worth it to see just how other people do it. It makes me less involved and self-absorbed in my own life. It makes me appreciate all life. It makes me give gratitude to living, to life, to love. That through it all, we are all okay, we are all the same yet different. We’re all worthwhile.

Holy cow, has it really been almost a week since I last blogged here? Shame on me, seriously. Tsk tsk. Well, I haven’t been as busy as I usually am, so I don’t know what my excuse is. The weekend is here again, and it’s kept loaded. Today, Nephew Nick is coming over to stay the night with us. Lots of video gaming and geekiness going on, I think. He’s a good kid. Can’t wait to see him. Also, Jen (R) is coming over too. We’re just gonna hang around, maybe get some dinner or something somewhere. Not sure, since it’s more of a lax weekend. Jen (J) and I postponed our hanging out weekend to next weekend since we’re broke and have no money left for shopping sprees with each other, and she’s coming down with something and her puppy is sick. Poor babies. We had a really neat chat online yesterday. I haven’t yet chatted with a coworker, and it was a lot of fun. She’s a cutie patootie.

I guess I should start tidying up the house before Jen comes over. Gotta wash the dishes, do a bit of tidying, and sweep the stairs (I’ve given up on vacuuming it — hurts my back way too much). Next house we live in: no stairs, man. Or at least, no carpeted stairs. It’s a bitch to clean. Oi.

Anyone out there own a Dodge? I know several people with Dodges. In fact, Dave owns one. He has a Dodge Neon, 2000 or something like that. Or was it a 1999? I don’t really know the difference. The poor car is slowly coming into pieces. I bet he can use a whole bunch of new accessories for it, including new rear view mirrors (his left one has just completely fallen off, and the poor guy ties it together with a rubber band everyday). I was going through this site for Dodge Charger accessories, and I was looking at all the cool things they have for Chargers. I’m going to surf to see what they offer for other cars too… maybe I can get Dave something for Christmas for his car.

You know one of the craziest things I’ve seen on HGTV yet is home theater furniture. Well, I guess they’re not “crazy,” but I never realized before that there are people out there wealthy enough to have a freakin’ theatre in their home. That’s just amazing. My idea of “rich” when I was growing up was going to my aunt’s house who had a pool table in her patio and a ping pong table in her garage. I thought, “Dang, that’s a life — two play tables in one house!” I thought that was the ceiling of “rich.” Boy, was I wrong. I wish I was that naive again. Heh. Nowadays, people have freakin’ theatres in their homes, a room specifically made for wrapping presents (is that Donald Trump? I don’t remember), and swimming pool rooms. Extravagance knows no boundaries. Leave it to humans to make things unnecessarily bigger, bigger, bigger.

I made up a home chore calendar chart yesterday for Dave and me. It just basically lists all the chores we have to do every week, and whoever does them gets to sign off on them so that we know it’s been done. This will help me because sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with house duties. I specifically hate to do laundry and vacuum. I want a robo vac so badly, it’s not even funny. We used to have one, but it was the first and oldest model when it first came out, and therefore it broke down after about a year and a half or two. We put some good mileage on that thing too. It was on practically everyday. I loved having a clean house with a clean floor everday when I come home from work. Now, we’re saving up for one for Christmas again. Those things are so darn cool. Have you seen them?

I better finish laundry and vacuuming today, so I can sign off on that paper. Heh.

The winner of the pet photo contest (before I forget) is Kelly with her crazy ass submission of vampire dog. It was a very hard choice, but in the end, I realized I kept going back to her photo because of its uniqueness and great timing of the sign “Beware of Dog” with the look of the photo and everything. All the other entries are very, very cute, and everyone basically came in as a close second place. So Kelly, watch out for the mail. I’m sending ya the bracelet.

Never fear, there will be more contests in the future. Thanks to everyone who participated. It was SO great seeing everyone’s photos! You guys got some lovely animals in your lives.

My George has passed away. I am deeply sad, but also relieved because he’s no longer in pain. I feel like a part of me has been ripped to shreds, and the physical world is left a little less good because he’s gone. I can’t believe I won’t ever hear his voice again, or feel his grandfatherly arms hugging me tight, and telling me he loves me and that he is proud of me. I can’t believe my George is gone. I had a long, good cry today. I’m not surprised that he’s passed, and I was hoping it would happen sooner rather than later because the compassionate part in me knows that he was in so much pain — it would only be selfish of me to want him longer for my own needs. But still… my heart hurts. It physically hurts. It feels stomped on, and it feels like that good bit in my childhood has gone. A little of it that I want to hold on forever is gone. Another piece that I was proud of. I don’t have many of those pieces in my childhood, and George and Marian were big pieces.

California’s just not California without George and Marian.