Monday Musings

Weekends go by way too quickly. Somehow, I left my office on Friday and passed through a time warp because here I am again on Monday morning, feeling as though I didn't have a weekend even though I did and it was good.

Still, I shouldn't complain too much. This morning, on the way out of my neighbourhood, I saw a line of sleepy, grumpy looking kids waiting for the school bus. I might not be happy about coming to work after a nice weekend but at least I'm not coming back after three months away like those kids. I always hated the first weeks back. For some reason, I thought that because we were back in school, summer was over. However, the nasty, sticky, humidity of August/September betrayed my beliefs. School, to me, was supposed to be beginning of Autumn and I'd wait for the leaves to start changing, a crispness to slowly emerge in the night air. It never happened that way and at the end of the school day, we'd emerge from the chilly over-airconditioned building and be hit with that wall of stickiness that told me that it really was still summer.

I don't know how those kids that I saw this morning feeling but I can tell you that I didn't see any of them doing a dance of joy or for that matter, even looking slightly happy. They looked weary, tired, apprehensive and just plain annoyed.

Me, I was just sleepy this morning as I left for work. My weekend was great but it was tiring. I went to a Herb Festival in Wabash, Indiana this weekend. I love things like that. When I moved back to the Midwest, I promised myself that I'd try to do more things like that, local activities that salute the charm of the area.

The Herb Festival was a lot of fun. Having just planted my herb garden and being a big fan of herbs in general, it seemed like a perfect time to go. I went with my mother and we had a lovely time walking around, exploring all the booths, talking each other into making purchases and just enjoying the fact that it was a beautiful, not too hot day. I left with a new pot of sage, a little 'pesto garden' and some assorted spices for cooking.

After that, I got to do a more nervewracking thing...show my mother my house for the first time since I moved in. She came to stay with me on Saturday and I was a little nervous. I'm a firm believer that no matter how old we get, we're still going to feel like we need our parent's approval in everything we do, even subconsciously. So, I was a little nervous to show her my furnished and decorated abode.

Fortunately, she seemed to like it. I like it too. Those frustrating cranberry walls actually look pretty good with my furniture and the paintings I've hung. My grass was fairly recently mowed so the back yard looked pretty decent. Of course, my mother being an avid and talented gardener, zeroed in on my lovely weed collection but she did grant me forbearance because I have, after all, just moved in and do have other things to do.

My sister, niece and brother-in-law came down on Sunday to see my new house and visit Jungle Jim's. My niece is three. She is just the greatest little kid and I enjoy getting to spend time with her. She has a lot of energy though and by the time she left, I had to admire my sister and brother-in-law for being able to deal with her every day. She has a very good imagination and at the moment, she's carrying an imaginary...creature...in the palm of her hand called "Baby Wendy." Unfortunately, as she's the only one who can see Baby Wendy, it leads to all sorts of problems. Her mother apparently isn't very nice to Baby Wendy because she accidentally shut her in the pantry the other night. I believe she's also stepped on Baby Wendy a few times.

Baby Wendy aside, it's fun to spend time with my family like that. It was so nice to be able to show them my new house and go to Jungle Jim's with them. When they left, my house was quiet and slightly lonely.

Now the weekend is over, it's time to look ahead to the week. It's actually a short week for me; my plans to go to Las Vegas finally came together and I'll be flying out Thursday night. It should be a fun trip, if a little brief. Then again, while I enjoy the glitz and tackiness of Vegas, two days is probably enough. I haven't checked the weather yet but given that Vegas is in the middle of the desert, this time of year, it's pretty much an inferno of heat only differentiated by the reading on the thermometer. Once it gets that hot, the thermometer reading doesn't really matter- it's more a question of whether it's tolerable to be outside or if you should plan your down the strip by winding your way through the casinos, venturing outside only to cross to the next casino.

Thus, it's going to be a busy week. It seems to be that life is busier lately for me than it's been for a while. When I get back from this trip, I'm putting a moratorium on traveling for a while. I need to get more settled in my house, I need to take charge of being a homeowner instead of coasting off the novelty of being able to dabble around with a little of this and a little of that. I need to figure out what I want to do to the house, to the garden. I need to finish unpacking.

However, for now, the week lies ahead, the berth between now and the next weekend the widest it will be all week. On the plus side, at least I'm not going back to school like those kids I passed this morning. It might be a Monday but for us non-school goers, it's just another Monday. For those kids, it's as though the reins of freedom have been taken away and a clamp of obligation clamped on their leg instead. They're probably already counting down to Labour Day, their first long weekend.

Then again, I'm also counting down to Labour Day. So maybe there's not quite so much difference after all.

Happy Monday.

All Moved in...Finally!

It's Monday morning after an insanely busy weekend and all I have to say is...I'm tired. It's nice to have a break from work but I think, sadly, work tends to be more relaxing than this last weekend.

I can't complain, however. The move went smoothly which made life easier. As soon as the movers showed up, I felt a huge weight fly off my shoulders and I knew that from there, things would be fine. I watched them effortlessly carry my heavy furniture down the stairs, load it up and then unload it at the other end. As soon as the furniture was out of my apartment, I realized I had been stressing for no reason: There was hardly anything left to move. As soon as the furniture was placed in my new house, it felt like a home already.

Since then, I worked diligently; I unpacked the kitchen so that, at the very least, I could cook and make food. I set up the computer, I set up the TV. I unpacked the DVD's. I put up some paintings that have been waiting to be displayed since I moved from Los Angeles. Now, I don't have to worry about being 'fined' for nail holes in my walls the way I would in my apartment.

The house looks....good. Don't get me wrong: There's still a magnitude of boxes that I've been ignoring but the beautiful thing is that there is a place for everything already. I don't have to worry about where to put things because there's room for everything. It'll take some time to get fully unpacked but it's feeling pretty nice to have a house and to be able to call it home at last.

Of course, naturally, there are a few slight drawbacks. My neighbours have those yappy dogs I mentioned before. Well, I've been going to the house for other three weeks and yet still, every time I go outside, they go ballistic. Now, I've discovered they also go ballistic if I'm in my room which just happens to face onto the neighbours house. If they hear me move, they bark.

I'm used to yappy dogs. My parents have a few of them. I love dogs so I'm not visualizing tossing them off a balcony or anything because they're just doing their doggy thing. Yet it is a little bit frustating to go outside, hear the dogs and then watch the neighbours have to shepherd the dogs in because of the noise. It almost makes me feel guilty for going in my own backyard which seems a little...silly. I'm hoping they do, eventually, settle down. I don't want to not get along with my neighbours. I'm wondering if I ask if I can give them a treat, that'll help. I have a few left over from Sausage's visit.

Aside from that, the only downfall is the fact that I'm unfamiliar with the 'noises' of the house. During the day, they're no big deal. At night, lying in a rather unfamiliar room, those noises can be...a little creepy. The water heater especially is a little unnerving; it has this rather odd groan to it that sounds a little like the Titanic did in the film when it started sinking. The ceiling creaks a little too which at times sounds like someone's moving around in my attic. Naturally, I try to move past that thought quickly because otherwise my overactive imagination will start working twice as fast and I'll never be able to sleep.

Now it's Monday and I'm finally in the office. I had to commute this morning and I timed it pretty well. In future, I'll have to remember to make coffee and toast to eat on the drive but I didn't get time today, unfortunately. It just means my tummy will make some peculiar noises until it is fed. I'm going to drink some tea to appease it since there's absolutely no coffee in the office. This is not a good thing. It might be my turn to get coffee too. Oops.

However, even though today will be busy at work, compared to my weekend, I think I can handle it. The rest of the week is also going to be busy after tomorrow as the San Diego trip to Comic-Con looms. I'm looking forward to it; I only wished I'd planned better so I could find time to see some of my California friends but, alas, when you books something on the spur-of-the-moment, it's hard to think of these things.

I'm a tired Monkeypants today because of the weekend yet...I'm also a happy Monkeypants. Being a homeowner is exciting and, at long last, I'm starting to appreciate that fact. I still have a lot to do but now I'm there...it feels like home. And that feels pretty nice to me.

Happy Monday.