Met Bruce Campbell, bought his new book, got it autographed, didn't stay for the movie or talk. Mr. Campbell wasn't even starting the talk (which was happening before the movie screening) until 10:00 pm. BUT the coolest part of the evening was accosting Ted Raimi in the street. He seemed genuinely happy to have his plans interrupted by several people, including me, who all wanted to shake his hand and talk with him. He seemed like an actual person. It was really a treat to meet him. While we cleverly didn't bring our camera (that's what I get for not organising the night before) a really nice fellow took my picture with Mr. Raimi and said he'd email it to me. I'm not counting on seeing it but it would be *very* cool if he did follow through. :o)
How cool is that. I may actually get to meet Bruce Campbell. A TV show called "Jack of All Trades" is one of my favourite things he's done, maybe I'll get to ask him about it.
Other than that - my side is still sore but I'm taking Citricidal in hopes it'll help take down the inflammation. If it doesn't do that, maybe my side will get better anyway - that stuff tastes so awful it just may teach it a lesson.
Still sewing and stuff... I'm hoping to go to Coronation though gas prices are a BIG obstacle. So I'm making a new outfit 'just in case'. If I don't wear it for this, I can use it for something else. Twelfth Night or something.
Off to bed... 'night!
Years ago, Jeff and I sponsored a child through Foster Parents Plan of Canada. He was Senegalese and his name was Moudu Pouye. We wrote a few letters back and forth, but shortly after we sponsored him, he died. Of diarrhea. He likely got whatever specific bug it was that killed him from the dirty drinking water that the well being installed (with our sponsorship money) was replacing. We continued to sponsor his sister, Sally… and I assume Jeff continued to sponsor her after we went our separate ways.
It’s been in my mind since then to sponsor another child, and so yesterday, we did (via the US arm of Foster Parents Plan). He is a seven year-old Chinese boy named Yuanyuan Zhang. We have very little info so far, but we will be receiving our “package” within a few weeks, and we’ll have a picture and info about his family life and town, where he lives and what language he speaks… a couple people in Paul’s office speak three Chinese languages (or dialects, I’m really not sure) so there is a chance we could write to him in his own language, which would be very cool, and save time. FPP will do all the translation necessary if not. Once I have more info, I’ll share. Hopefully I’ll be able to track down a photo scanner, so I can post his picture for you all. Hopefully we can make a difference in this kid’s life.
In the US, it costs $24 a month through Plan. In Canada, I think they ask for $31. I highly recommend it, if not through this group, then do your own research and choose whatever group you like best.
I wonder if there is any other type of Monday?
Paul came home feeling really done in by the heat yesterday, but says he’s feeling mostly better today. We were going to head over to Carlos and Mysie’s tonight for games, but he is expecting to want to take it easy and crash early. Since he was really restless all night, I slept poorly, too, so I can go with an at-home evening.
He's having a really good time. They're camping tonight and hanging out at the beach tomorrow in the Patapsco Valley.
Yesterday they visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, where they saw a lot of old airplanes that did lots of famous things, and some things that had been in space. :o)
Thursday they went white water rafting on the Ohiopyle River, and Ben thought that was a huge amount of fun; even the bits where he wasn't *in* the raft.
Earlier today they took in a baseball game at RFK Stadium. It was the Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) vs the Houston Astros. The Astros won in 14 innings, 4-1.
They expect to arrive in Halifax late in the day on the 1st of August.
Haven't heard from Ben yet, but I don't expect to till they arrive in Halifax.
Right now it's 34 degrees C out, and feels like 44 degrees C with the heat index... that's 111 degrees F! Poor Paul is working the Fair today. :o(
Work at the Fair is going pretty well. I'd never working in retail before, but these dresses and tights pretty much sell themselves. Either people want one or they don't. If they come in to look, and money is an issue, they usually ask, "How much?" and if the answer is out of their budget, they leave. Tights cost from $29 to um... $72 I think - Paul usually does more with tights than I do. Dress prices range from $80 to $185, usually, though there have been a couple dresses that were $225 because the they were made out of more expensive fabric. Pretty much every weekend at least once, a soon-to-be bride (sometimes the whole wedding party) buys one of the white velvet dresses to get married in.
Work at MGIC is going ok, too. I'm still working on getting fluid with the data entry stuff, which takes up a fair bit of time and isn't really exciting. But really I don't expect everything I do at work to be exciting, so I can deal with it. I'm trying to figure out a way to add more fraud detection work to my plate, but I'm in no hurry.
We've done very little socially lately, and I think that's something we need to keep an eye on. It's easy to not want to put out the effort to be social when you're working this much, and it's *really* easy for that to become a habit... Sewing night as Matt and Kymm's (two Tuesdays a month) is a great chance to visit with them and whoever else shows up, and the sewing that gets done is a bonus. We try to get over to Carlos and Mysie's place once a month or so (sadly we've been putting it off a lot) for dinner and games. I'm terrible at remembering my Monday evening online 'dates' with Kristine (sorry, Bou!) but talking with friends and family is a Good Thing.
Hugs, all!
Ben is off, as of about 8:30 this morning, for his 31 day adventure with Jeff, his bio-dad. Paul is in L.A. for business; was the City of Angels ever really for angels and not businessmen? And I am here, wishing I didn't miss them both so.
Short entry, just to let you all know I'm still out here. :o)
Work is going well. It's interesting and enjoyable.
Ben is very excited about his upcoming trip. I'll be seeing my ex-husband (Ginger uses the term "wasband") for the first time in ... ages, and I admit I'm apprehensive. He arrives Monday and will be staying Monday and Tuesday nights here. Tuesday he's taking Ben to Great America, an amusement park near here.
My side hurts again... still... it has for a while now, a few weeks, really, and I can't find a way to get it to stop. It's not as bad as when it was acute the first time but it never really goes away, and I feel sore and kinda bloated on that side all the time. I don't know what to do about it, and I don't know if there's anything the doctor can do - when it's acute then he puts me on antibiotics and prescribes painkillers till the inflammation/infection subsides. It's frustrating and limits my activity (fighting!), my energy, and my joy-of-life. Anyone have any ideas?
Too much TV to watch: Battlestar Galactica, Monk, Kojak, House... potentially Firefly, too.
Paul will be away all next week in California on business. Owroo! I hate it when we have to be apart. His schedule looks pretty boring, too, so this trip isn't all glitter and fun for either of us. I'm sure you'll be able to read about it on his blog.
Laundry. Bed. Humph.
Work was busy and different this past week. I will be doing data entry audits, don't ask, I'm not sure... so I had to learn how to do data entry into MGIC's proprietary data system. It's not difficult, but it is *very* nit-picky, so that took up a fair bit of brain space.
This weekend was the first weekend for this season's Bristol Ren Faire. Paul is working for Ginger in her shop, "Faire Pair" both Saturday and Sunday each weekend, and I'm only working Saturdays there. Yesterday was hot but not horribly so; we were very grateful for the breeze. I think I did ok... there's a lot to learn and I *hate* making mistakes.
Ben did a really good job as 'cabana boy' for several shops - what that means is he ran around doing errands all day. We can't leave the shop, so if we want something to eat or drink, or to get a message to someone, we use a runner. Ben did that and did very well, too. :o) He said to us on the way home that it was a first for him - it was his very first day in his whole life working for pay.
So, all that takes up brain space, too.
Fight practices have been sporadic for the past couple weeks, and I couldn't get into the gym last week since I was on the processing department's schedule, not my own. No exercise means nothing to blow the dust out of my skull, so that clogs up the brain space as well.
Humph.
Paying bills, doing laundry, cooking supper, waiting for my men to get home.
*hugs*
Canada Day is the holiday we have to celebrate our country's birthday. I was going to decorate my cube at work, but I couldn't find anything here to do it with. :o( So next time I'm back, I need to go shopping! I miss Canada...
Mom and Dad are getting settled into their new home in Pinawa. Ben's eye is fine, perfectly healed. Paul is working huge amounts of overtime on a couple projects that are behind, to try to catch them up.
Tomorrow we're spending the day with friends from Minneapolis - Julie and Bill and their two kids, Julian and Sophia. We know them through the SCA and haven't seen them in ages. They are a very musical family and are out our way for a drumming conference so we get to reap the benefit. :o) We're not sure what we're going to do yet. Julie is very allergic to cats so our place is out, but it's Julian's 12th birthday so we're trying to think of fun things to do.
Sunday is a party at Leif and Astrid's for July 4th. They're going to barbeque (here they call it "grilling") and see if they get enough people to go to the local park and play baseball.
Next weekend is the first weekend of the Bristol Ren Faire, which means this is the last weekend we have off till after Labour Day. I'm working every Saturday, Paul is working Saturdays and Sundays, and Ben is working both days all the weekends he's here (he's saving up for a new GameBoy, the "DS" model).
Just a quick update. :o) Consider yourself hugged!