Oscar is back to his old, well, young self – he’s meowing in the mornings, batting little rabbit fur mice into the air and running laps around the house for no apparent reason. He seems more friendly than before his operation, which is a bit strange, but I’m glad for that.
All his patches of shaved areas are not exactly filled in yet. His poodle leg is still pretty poodle-y and his pain patch area is still round and bald, but slowly filling in. And his belly…whoa…his belly…still needs some hair. But he’s not ashamed. He’s still rolling around and showing it off. He usually does this before he gets his dinner. Oh right. His appetite is also good to go as well.
Not only is Oscar well at the Browne’s, but Mike started his new job at doxa today and my job title at work has increased. I’m not longer JUST a Job Placement Consultant, but I’m also the Chief Blogger and Staff Photographer. I think we’ve just turned a corner.
December 1st is right around the corner, and you know what that means…The 3rd Annual Playmobil Advent Calendar. I’m so excited about this one. My buddy, Marnie in Calgary, sent me the link to this Advent Calendar back in February, and I ordered it directly from Playmobil back in September. And then I found out today they sell them about 6 blocks from where I work. But I won’t say where they sell them, or else it will blow the whole surprise component of this exciting activity.
This year, rather than putting together the little boxes full of toy pieces, I asked Mike to do it for me so I have no idea what to expect from day to day. I like this extra challenge. So this is how it will work this year:
- I get up with the birds starting December 1st (during the week, but I’ll sleep in on the weekends).
- Crack open the corresponding box for the day – for example, on December 1st, I open up box with the #1 on it.
- Put the toy on the set shown above.
- Take a picture and post it on my blog each and every morning until the last box is opened.
- Make sure it’s Christmasy.
Phew! It’s a tall order. And I’d better get to bed earlier these days so I have no problems getting up so. Early. Like 5:45 am early. Ew.
But in the name of Christmas? It’s totally worth it.
This afternoon I went up to Mount Seymour to meet my Australian pals to do some Christmas card photos for them. It was so misty up there that it made it impossible for any action shots. Ah boo! I must remember to leave an umbrella in the car for situations like this. It was scotch misting out, not good for the camera, so I had to be quick and kept my camera in a plastic bag.
Luckily for us, someone had made a dirty old snowman in the parking lot and we used him as a prop for the photoshoot. This is Charmy (her new nickname, which I absolutely love) moments before accidentally pushing the head off the snowman. That’s okay, though. His head was rebuilt along with another appendage, which I can’t show you because this is a family show.
I’m going to see THOSE photos to Charmy and Bec’s and Will’s moms. I can tell you that much.
But back to Mt. Seymour – it’s located on the North Shore and I had always considered it the “basic” ski hill. The last time I was up there (a very long time ago) there was only 1 or 2 buildings – not very built up at all. Now there’s a couple of restaurants, lots of buildings to warm up in and a special snowshoe area. Next time my mom and sister come up for a wintery visit, we’ll head up to the lovely Mount Seymour and get our snowshoeing on. It’s beautiful up there.
Mike informed me last night that Saudi Arabia is definitely a culture that celebrates the mustache. He certainly is right about that. So he decided to wear this to the mustache party last night. It was a big hit and the party was fun. We went to a club in Chinatown and even thought we were going to a private party, we had to endure:
- A line up. What? I can’t even remember the last time I stood in line to go to a bar. Yup. I guess that makes me officially old.
- A full-on frisk – no pocket, bump or lump was left untouched. When I asked what they were looking for, I was told, “Drugs, weapons, or alcohol”.
- my backpack being searched. Very thorough – they even pointed a flashlight at my keys and key chain. It was like going through customs.
The heck? People do this every weekend? Who knew?
As you can imagine, the party was well attended and totally fun. My first highlight of the evening was seeing two drag queens getting drinks at the bar. Real drag queens! How exciting! I’ve never seen “professional” drag queens up close before. I tried to get their photos, but no luck. I just couldn’t get close enough to them – stupid dark bars. Really, they need to get better light in those places.
On a side note – no smoking in bars is really weird. I noticed it right away. Where is that smoky bar smell in all your clothes and hair after a fun night? I’ll have to invent a smoky bar perfume for nights like that.
I turned out the big drag queens were the MCs for the evening. They were fun! And raunchy! And said swear words and wore rhinestones!
I handed Mike my camera so I could use the facilities. And guess who came out of a stall the same time I did? One of the drag queens. GASP! I was immediately bummed out that I didn’t take my camera into the bathroom with me. But I never do. It may make some people uncomfortable. I was so impressed with all the women in the bathroom – everyone was so cool -he was one of the girls. It was as though he wasn’t a man wearing a dress at all. But he sure was. I confirmed it. The bathroom stall door was open and I could see he left the seat up.
True story.