If Bags Packed Themselves.....

  Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

 I am slightly organizationally obsessed. I have to be because I have about a million and one things going through my brain at any given time, and if I don't write them down, they will disappear like a Houdini out of  his milk can. Years ago I started leaving a notepad and pen at my bedside, and as things popped into my head, I'd flick on the reading light and jot them down, and lie back down. The thing is, if something's on my mind, I just can't sleep. If I remember something I need to get done, or some other idea flits through at warp speed, it needs to get into writing or it is gone. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and realise how much I have actually written and it really surprises me! About the time I started this nightwriting, I had also managed to train myself to write down my dreams as soon as I awoke as that's when dreams are clearest. An old journalism prof suggested it, and it really did work. It does work . It is amazing sometimes to reread your dreams when you have written them down pretty much subconsciously. In the last few weeks, the nightwriting has emerged from the backseat and I am at it full force. It has kept me sane and organised and it may even be here to stay this time.

If bags packed themselves, mortgages paid themselves, houses built themselves, books I want to read magically appeared out of nowhere, and I had all the time in the world to enjoy a slow pace, knock back a few pints with my friends and just really enjoy the idea that, as of Friday I will be away from "it" all, I would be one happy girly. Unfortunately for us all, that's not how it really works out, so I am scrambling to get everything done, and making sure that there will be progress here on the house while we're gone so that well, you know, we have somewhere to live when we get back!

We have walls! Too bad that's not all one needs to actually live in a house in the winter! One might need something called a furnace, possibly some mud and tape on those walls, a finished staircase and some flooring could be nice but I can live without it for awhile.  In between ripping down and rebuilding another roof, Jer has somehow managed to set up most of all we need to get done while we are away. Progress is good. I've learned that after this harrowing and tumultuous year,  as long as there is progress, timing doesn't matter as much as I thought it would. We are slightly under the gun as the house we are living in right now is for sale, but really? It's a crap time of year to buy anyway, so I'm not overly worried about being thrown out on our asses. If it happens, then, well, we're adaptable......we can roll with the punches.

Jasper is onto us. If he even gets a whiff of any bag-packing, we are done. It is possible that we will suffer a canine revolt like no other. If he's smart, he may even get the felines into it. That's trouble triplefold my friends! Though Jasper is the epitome of 'adorable', he can be vicious in his revenge. He will seek and destroy, and it is usually something that, if you no longer have it, it will in some way impede on your goings on. Anything important is up high now! We have left him before. Many times actually, for months at a time. He stays with Mum and Dad and lives a cozy, spoiled life with them during our away days. He has comfortably settled into depression in the past when he has seen the packs come out. He finds a spot on top of the mountain of stuff to perch himself on, and he just lies there, looking up with these puppy dog eyes, looking up as if to tell you how incredibly sad he is that his two best pals in the world are leaving him. This time, he goes to my Mum's tomorrow, before we pack. He'll still know something's up, but it won't be as bad.
We went to Toronto on Saturday for our office Christmas party. It sounds kind of ridiculous to say about the city, but it was a nice respite from the constant goings-on here. The sky was just brilliant that evening.
Absolutely gorgeous. They put all 10 of us and our husband, wives or whatevers' up at the Park Hyatt at Avenue. Apparently they have taken a liking to me over the last year I have decided to grace them with my presence (!!) and kick-ass work ethic. Seriously though, the room was swank! We brought a bottle of wine. I had a bubbly bath in the smooth and cool marble tub, drank wine and listened to music. The restaurant where we have dinner, Fieramosca on Avenue, is an Italian bistro-type resto with a private room and patio off the back. It's a good thing they put us in there and shut us away from the rest of the patrons because we were beahving badly!
I have three bosses essentially. Two of which are the owners' and one which is the Controller in the business . One of the owner's Tom, and his wife Irene live in the Cayman Islands-ahem, tax evasion, ahem- so Christmas is the only time we see them. First on the agenda; Lychee Martinis. Done and done. Good food, good drinks, too much funny business out on the patio and before we knew it we were drunker than sailors just off the boat and talking like the true truckers were are! Or we were that night anyway!
The next day I was awoken by a raging hangover. I got up. Stumble, stumble. Oh, still drunk, back to bed please.  King size bed. I realised how different sleeping can be whilst bedding down in a King sizer! Oh my. So nice. When I finally did get up for a shower, I noticed two things; it looked like a freakin' bomb had gone off sometime in between sobriety and absolute drunkenness, and an envelope had been slid underneath the door. Hmmm. I racked my brain. What happened??! Was this the bill for damages of some kind?! Oh noooo..... what really happened last night? I retrieved it and ripped it open in a panic. Bonus!!!! A bonus!!! Oh! Overly decent bonus too!!! The hangover dropped into second place.
Eventually we got off on our merry and slower-than-usual way. We hit the Groundhog Pub on Bloor and inhaled a lovely brunch with loads of coffee and water. The day was magnificent! Unusually warm for this time of year. Certainly beautiful enough to almost forget about our pounding noggins. It was +11 and sun-shiny-beautiful! The drive home was good. Psychedelic Sunday on Q107. My favourite. Good tunes, a nice drive and the sunshine to warm my face. Lean back and enjoy....Sunday and all was clear on the road. It was a nice end to the weekend. Now if we could just get Monday- Thursday out of the way, we will be flying off into the heavens with new adventures awaiting us every step of the way.Friday can't come soon enough.