Finster Finds

'Tis Halloween and Mark has taken our two boys, the pirate and the fireman, out for treats. I am always amazed at the haul they come home with. I am manning the door. So far we have had about 10 kids... it is almost 8:00 p.m. We have a big bowl of candy at the door. I am trying to be generous so as to deplete it, but even the big handfuls don't add up when you have so few kids. Earlier in the evening, Oliver drew a face on our pumpkin and I carved it out. It is quite nice... huge eyes, small nose and medium sized mouth. Looks very Tim Burtonish... I like it! I couldn't find the carver I bought last year, so I used a jack knife. I tried a steak knife, but it was too long. The jack knife was perfect. Next year, I am determined to get their costumes settled earlier. A last minute discovery that the ninja suit's zipper was toast meant a rush purchase of pirate accessories at Shoppers. Oliver is, thankfully, happy with his last minute costume, but I was not hap

Last night Walterdale hosted a little masquerade party. We (the organizing committee) wanted it to be casual, but fun. It was a nice little evening. It started slow because we had these old black and white horror movies (a la Vincent Price) and we had brought those for background imagery, but during the set-up one of the volunteers/attendees really started watching the movie. We were hesitant to turn the sound off on him, but we did and put the music on and things picked up. It was also challenging because the bar is in the lobby and the party was to be int he theatre so we had a split focus with two changing groups of people. It all worked out and I think we had about 40-45 people in total in attendance and I think everyone had fun. It also 'broke even' so we provided a social event without spending gobs of cash. We want to make the social component a bigger and more ongoing part of Walterdale. Too many people come, do one show, and never come back. We want to give t

On paper, this October was and continues to be one of the busiest months I have had in a long time. Keep in mind I am a naturally busy person, so imagine what a really, really busy month is for me. I will be glad when this month is over. I am going to endeavour to minimize adding things to November outside Black Hearts and the commitments I have for the boys and the one or two social events I have to go to. AM and I scaled back on meeting for our writing until the middle of the month so that helps and there are no 50th Anniversary Galas, nor shows to work Box Office coming up. I hope to keep Mondays and Wednesday nights free to decompress. I hope to write on Tuesday afternoons. I hope that our P/T Pharmacist is sufficiently recovered from his surgery to return to work so that I don't feel like the managing of the house and children is on my shoulders 80% of the time. I hope to get my hair cut and coloured sometime in November and I hope to feel well enough to at least get bac

We worked on our midterm projects today and boy was I tired at the end of class. We are a very high energy group and the scene has a bit of a roller-coaster to it, so it take a bit out of me. We also had a very energetic warm-up that I loved, but that really tired me out. Maybe if I was 18-20 like everyone else I wouldn't be so tired?

That's really all I wanted to say. If you track back you will find that I have been sick for quite a while. I think I am going on 3 weeks. I have little peaks and deep valleys in the illness journey. I should probably go see someone, but the time investment is precious and I do not know when I would be able to go... Wednesday? maybe... I wish those little white blood cells would get their act together!

...for the moment, as the boys eat Eggo Waffles. A half an hour ago it was not so quiet. Last week I took the boys to Crankpots on Whyte Avenue and they each painted a ceramic doo-dad. Oliver painted an ant and Gibson painted a car. I picked them up today and put them up high for safety. Despite my warnings, however, the boys got them done and were playing with them. In the course of this Gibson's hand was bumped by Oliver's and the car crashed and shattered. Both boys were in tears for well over 15 minutes. Gibson over the lost treasure and Oliver because he felt so bad about it. I am exhausted and tomorrow Gibson and I are going to Crankpots to paint a new treasure. Yay?

With a bit of reluctance I went to Children of a Lesser God at Walterdale Theatre tonight. I have been sick for the last 2 weeks and I am still not better so I was worried about staying awake. I had also heard mixed reviews from people who saw the show the first week. But I had friends in the cast and I loved the script when I had read it and I am on the Board so I dragged my butt there. So glad I did. It was lovely. I cried. I highly recommend it.

So far, so good! I have been enjoying birthday wishes via Facebook all morning. I have such wonderful friends! Ah... This morning I slept in a little bit, opened my presents (books and Heroes Season 1 - yay!), dropped Oliver at school, dropped Gibson at Pre-school, came home and made myself a real breakfast, and then read all my birthday wishes. Who could ask for anything more?!

Thus ends a week of illness. I am still not at 100% but I am getting there. Tuesday was the worst day. I actually 'called in sick' for class and after dropping Oliver at the bus stop I went home and slept 5 hours. I still felt tired when I woke up. That evening I had orientation for Artstart and a rehearsal for Black Hearts so it was good I got the rest. I figure if I didn't have so many things on the go it would be a lot more easy to get well again. Or maybe, if I wasn't so busy, being sick wouldn't be so hard to cope with. Each night I go to sleep with the hope that I will feel 100% upon waking. I haven't gotten there yet and I grab little naps when I can and I am married to a Pharmacist so I medicate a bit to ease my way through... Maybe by my birthday... Gibson turned 4 yesterday. A nice little birthday morning and hot dogs for supper (a supper I knew he would like... he's a little young to pick dinner so I picked for him). I am avoiding the