I was working in the lab late one night...

I've been tooling around on other places (I BLAME YOU FACEBOOK) so I have little time for blogger. But I've also been working on other projects too. Like prepping for a Halloween party I'm helping with/attending at the end of the month.

Last night in the lab we put together spider egg balls and ghostly beings....woooo hoooo haaaa haaa haaaa.

Life is a highway

Or at least that's what it felt like this weekend!

I tried to surprise the kids at school on Friday when I picked them up (they normally take the school bus) but that surprise quickly faded when the Principal demanded I have a note to take them with me. We sorted it all out. And it kind of made me mad but I realized they needed to have that measure in place. However, my surprise slowly faded when most of the kids who know who I am ended up walking by me in the hall to the washroom and telling my oldest niece that I was there. So she wasn't so much surprised as she was frustrated that she couldn't leave the classroom to come and get me.

I was here on a stopover to Toronto because I was teaching an Arty Party for Luxe Designs at Bizzy B's in High Park. I love to find new neighbourhoods in Toronto. Part of me secretly wishes I lived in Toronto and I think I would if it wasn't for the high rent and the fact that my heart is in Southwestern Ontario. It was fun to go up to teach though. And the store was just awesome. So much to look at it was like sensory overload. I ended up picking up a couple of new stamps for my Christmas cards. And I also learned some new tricks. I'll be watching for these neat Luminescence paint things in the future now that I know how to use them. I probably could have done some serious damage in the store if I didn't already plop my paycheque down on my student loan.

Then it was dinner with my friend Anu. Anu and I used to work together so we talk daily but it's still fun to hang out with your friend in person. Almost every single one of my friends lives in Toronto so it's hard to pick who I can see and who I can't. I feel kind of bad. I wanted to see all my friends but my trip home had to be right from the store and Anu is on the way. So we met in Mississauga for dinner which turned out to be hilarious.

I did not know that the QEW and the 403 separate. I always thought the 403 turned into the QEW and that was that. Nope. (Somewhere Annette is shaking her head muttering "Cape Cod June 2004" to herself). So here I am in South Mississauga trying to find the restaurant thinking that I just came off the 403. Anu called me and realized what I had done wrong so I had to make the long trek north to the 403 and the restaurant. And to make matters worse, I ended up behind someone who was learning to drive a stick shift. On a major street. In rush hour. Sigh...

Dinner was awesome and we had a few laughs about her old job and my current one. I miss having her on our team because she did such a great job for us and now we're stuck with...well someone not as good. It took forever for the waitress to get back to our table with our cheque and I ended up not getting on the road until an hour later than I had hoped. I hate driving at night and I equally hate driving through construction at night and the trip up the mountain in Hamilton always terrifies me in the dark. I was exhausted when I got home. But still, it was a fun day.

So now I'm just helping my sister can some green tomato relish (she says "mmmm", Elizabeth says "what smells so bad?") and then we're going to hang curtains and then it's back home for me. I hate these weekends where I feel like I've spent the entire weekend in my car but it was worth it. And hey, I should get used to it. Creative Festival is in four weeks!

Idle Hands

I've been a bit busy the last couple of weeks. Coming back from vacation was good to get back into a normal schedule, but that has also meant getting back into a swing of things. And of course with the new season there is a bit of organizing to do. I had to pull out my winter clothes and decide what was ready for retirement and what needed to be hung up. I was also up in London for a few days extra to take the girls to see Hilary Duff (great show, and we met la Duff afterwards outside) and various other tasks that needed to be completed. Including going to the fair (deep fried mars bars are evil but taste oh so good).

The other news I alluded to recently was a former coworker who left a few weeks ago. It has been REALLY nice not having that around the office. So we've been busy cleaning out, organizing and getting ready for the next round of stuff going on. I can safely say that the work environment has vastly improved in the last two weeks.

I'm off to Scraptivity this weekend in the Bloor West area of Toronto. Looking forward to that. I'm doing a make 'n' take for the ladies there with all the fabulous Luxe stuff. I'm pretty excited to do that. And I'm sure some neat things will make it into my shopping bag...I'm also off to celebrate the girlies birthdays with them. Have fun stuff for them for their birthday.

Then we'll be into October. Which means Thanksgiving...frost...apple picking...and all the good things I love about fall.

A New Era

I'm sure I've been a little vague lately and that's a given. I'm going to be still more vague, but that's for protection. Let's just say this: there is a new era dawning in my life and it's really nice.

One element of my life that has been causing me great stress has been removed. Someone in my life who has caused me this stress is now gone and I am very happy. To the point where I was actually able to sleep this week without worrying about conversations that may or may not happen, comments that may or may not be made, and responses that I may or may not have needed to have handy. Two of us cleaned out and cleaned up and it's the start of a fresh new time which is really nice. I'm very happy this week and it's a really good thing.

Yes, happiness abounds around here lately and it's really really nice.