homesick

it's 9:10pm and it's snowing out. gentle flakes falling lazily. can't even see all the green lawns or blooming bushes. i miss actual winter. rain isn't winter. i can't wait to be back in Calgary in -20 weather. call me crazy.

wedding dress shopping: day one

So I went wedding dress shopping. I've been looking online at all sorts of dresses, but I finally made an appointment at one of the boutiques in downtown New West. (which by the way, is wedding central for the entire lower mainland). My mom was suppose to fly out for the weekend and we were going to go dress shopping together, but sadly, she came down with the flu. So off I went by myself. I was pretty sad about going alone at first because it's like this huge deal and traditionally brides-to-be take their bestfriends or mother along to share the whole experience. But I'm still hoping my mom can come out after Christmas to help me make my final decision on the dress.

Anyway, I did have a lot of fun, mainly because the dresses are just sooo absolutely gorgeous! I consider myself to be a fairly proficient sewer and that's why I enjoyed myself so much. I was in awe of the beauty and quality of these bridal dresses. The details! Amazing! The boutique I went to was very nice and I had a great sales assistant, Irina. I tried on several different dresses. Since it was my first day out, I told Irina I was up for trying anything on. I was mostly interested in figuring out what flattered and what didn't. I narrowed my choices for the day down to three favourites, which she registered under my file, so I can go back at anytime to re-try them. Wanna see my choices?

My absolute fav dress thus far is the Tabrett gown by Maggie Sottero in Vienna Cream. Second runner up is the Vincenza gown also by Maggie Sottero (keep in mind the color combo that I like is diamond white/oyster so the detail in the pleats and the embroidery is much more subtle than their example). Third runner up is the Brittanya Lynette, again, by Maggie Sottero in Diamond White (which is a bit creamy). Not bad for my first day out. There's still several boutiques in downtown New West to visit. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

increasing gladness

Chloe's test results for feline leukemia and AIDS came back negative!! This calls for a beer and tuna (the beer is for me, of course). Guess she has a kindey infection which her antibiotics should clear up in a week or so.

I made another batch of jam last night. This time Blackberry jam and it turned out wonderfully. So I guess things are improving. Still need to get a new coffee maker and sleep off this migraine. Then everything will be puppy dogs and rainbows.

My mom is flying out on Thrusday night to stay for a few days. Haven't seen her since July. We're going wedding dress shopping while she's in town. I can't wait. The stuff little girl's dreams are made of.

Unlucky couple of days

So Marcus is out of town and Chloe and I are here alone, so of course that's when things go sour.

First, I took Chloe to the vet for her annual vaccination and check-up. Turns out she has sore red gums (even though we responsibly feed her good quality crunchy food and tartar treats) and a fever. So they ask to do some blood work and screen for Feline Leukemia and AIDS. (it's either that or she has a dental disease). I agree, of course. So they take her in the back room and I can hear them struggling with her and know how squirmy and bitey she can be. Then I hear what sounds like an electric shaver. Eventually they bring her back to me. She looked absolutely terrified. The electric shaver sound was an actual shaver. She now has a furless chunk around her neck. They gave me some antibiotics to give her for the next ten days to help her ammune system. So now, twice a day, I have to attempt to hold her down, open her mouth, and squirt this liquid medication into her mouth and get her to swallow it (not spit it out). It's been fun so far.

Then last night I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to make some jam in preperation of Christmas. Things went fine, but the jam won't set up. So now I have eight jars of delicious strawberry-raspberry syrup.

And then I get up at 7:30 this morning to start work, give the cat her meds and all that fun. I put some coffee on right away so that it'll be done when by the time I force the meds down the cats throat. Coffee maker is dead. Yep. Dead. No coffee. I just about went back to bed, but I did the responsible thing and made some hot chocolate. I feel a little more soothed. Now it's time to get to work.

I miss Marcus.