December 30: Aujourd'hui

... more Tudors (Season One DVD).

1. More help hauling bags to Goodwill (thanks, Mama).
2. More uncovering long-missing items whilst cleaning.
3. More demolition opportunities for yours tired, truly.

December 30: Hier

An honourable mention from yesterday:

A. Isabelle helped me take several bags to Goodwill
B. after our delicious meal of Italian veal sandwiches
C. followed by fruit (raisins, that is, in a butter tart).

December 29: Demolition

1. 10am: My dad helped me demolish the kitchen.
2. 5pm: My neighbour helped me remove the rubbish.
3. 8pm: My missing burgundy Syrian scarf reappeared.

Then some Tudors...

December 28: Butterfly

The Best of Ordinary Days, Errands Edition.

1. Fixed soles on my Marc Jacobs shoes (for cheap).
2. Soon-to-be-fixed Argentine rabbit coat (for free).
3. No day of repairs, mending, etc. would be complete without an extraordinary film at an art house cinema to end the day.

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. After suffering a massive stroke that left him paralyzed from head to toe, his mind intact (‘locked-in syndrome’), blinking his left eyelid was his only means of communication. The film is based on his best-selling memoir, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, published just days before he died.

December 27: Joke

1. Winning another battle in the paper war at home!

2. ‘Stalin's ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for help running the country. Stalin says, ‘Round up and shoot all the democrats, and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue.’ ‘Why blue?’ Putin asks. ‘Ha!’ says Stalin. ‘I knew you wouldn't ask me about the first part.’’

3. A real estate professional took the time - over an hour - to patiently listen, and to answer my questions. [I'm so glad he's not a lawyer.]

December 24: Pancakes

1. No big rush hour: morning commute into downtown.
2. Bill the time anyway: work cancelled for the afternoon.
3. Kids' Christmas Eve: being served imaginary pancakes.

December 17: 3:00

1. Finished cleaning the house (3am).
2. Picked up my abandoned phone (3pm).
3. Continued cleaning the house (3am).

November 30: Hours

1. Nine hours of beauty sleep.
2. Two hours of office work.
3. Six hours of party time.

November 29: Yellow

1. Good: Got a lot of good work done.
2. Better: Then got even more work done.
3. Best: After the work was done, the pleasure of being sandwiched between four teenaged boys on the subway. Yes, I do mean that. It was remarkably entertaining. Every sentence started with ‘Yo’ - as in ‘Yo, check out the Yellow DJs!’

What is a Yellow DJ? Yo, that would be the construction workers in the subway tunnels.

November 23: Red

1. At Yoga, I had to be a Fish - and I was feeling it.
2. At work, I had to meet a deadline fast - and I did it.
3. At home, I had to unwind already - and I succeeded.

Thanks to:
1. relaxation,
2. motivation, and
3. half a bottle of red wine.

November 21: Tips

1. Perfect parallel parking, courtesy of yours truly.
2. Lots of Las Vegas tips, courtesy of the boss man.
3. Help brainstorming sexy Canadian personalities, males, 40-60 years old, courtesy of my colleagues. This was a real challenge. Not because we don't have sexy Canadians, but because our celebrity culture isn't that strong. We universally agreed that Pierre Trudeau was the perfect Canadian sex symbol, alas, he is no longer with us.

November 16: Senses

Coming to mine.

1. Inside the taxi, smell of salami (nose) followed by being truly heard (ears) over a delicious cup of tea (mouth). Followed by smiles (sight) and a hug goodbye (touch).

2. On a street corner, sipping my tea (taste) and taking phone calls (hearing), someone I know steps out of his office for a smoke (smell) whereupon we catch up on outstanding business. Followed by a handshake (touch) and direct eye contact (sight).

3. Lay eyes on a head-to-toe down coat (sight) and snuggle up in it (touch). In the presence of that brand-new smell (nose), get some great outdoor gear advice (ears) before unwrapping a fresh package of spearmint gum (mouth).

BONUS:

On discovering my two new coats are significantly cheaper in the States (anger), call an online retailer to ship to Canada (hope). Discover that many brands cannot be shipped outside the USA (outrage). An American friend agrees to accept the coats and forward them to me (delight). Savings: $450 (glee). Canadians, revolt!

Ačiū, Ingrida.

6 noviembre: Almuerzo

1. Hora del almuerzo con mis amigos latinos.
2. Paseo en la ciudad universitaria en la tarde.
3. Tiempo en la noche para acabar mi tarea.

October 27: Insiders

1. People in media: Sharing time with journalists.
2. People in media: Sharing time with publicists.
3. People in media: Sharing time with totally charming, intelligent and engaging adult film industry insiders!

October 22: Meeting

Yes, I've blogged backwards a couple of times. I go by email and my calendar. Today is November 27, but October 22 isn't lost. This particularly Monday, however, was a Totally Ordinary Monday.

But with Totally Special People:
1. Andy
2. Selena
3. Sandra

October 14: Lessons

A bathroom renovation is a good way to learn a few lessons.

1. Inspect contractor's other finished work in advance. Check.
2. Leave town for a weekend while work is completed. Check.
3. Do not - I repeat, do not - hire the contractor if he names his two trailers ‘Betsy’ and ‘Susan’. Oops, did not check.

October 5: Licked?

How will this adventure end? So far:

1. Strength: The contractor asks me if I'm going to ‘behave myself’ at Home Depot. God gives me strength to resist harsh retaliation (since I don't want any, either). I ask God to please send feminists into this man's life immediately.

2. Story: I buy the contractor and his son lunch. The contractor tells the tale of his brother, who would only visit when their mom baked her famous chocolate cake. He'd never call; he never knew. It just happened to be on those exact days that he'd pop in.

3. Plate: The contractor demonstrates what he used to do back in the day, way back when, who-knows-where: turn the plate over onto the placemat. Either he licked it clean or I will never have to do another dish so long as he eats at my table.

October 4: Zen

1. The building manager gets me a contractor, pronto.
2. My dad arrives to help negotiate the bathroom job.
3. After a near heart attack over the whole affair, Zen where I least expect it. I spend a couple of hours sending faxes. Paper sliding, fax humming, low frequencies buzzing... it is unbelievably soothing.

October 1: Six

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
loads of laundry.

September 28: Colleagues

There is something really special about colleagues you can turn to. There exists quite a bond, actually. Think of all the hours spent together.

My beautiful friends at work:
1. share their meals, drinks and time with me when I'm hungry for any of them,
2. share real estate, financial and career advice from a sweet pool of knowledge, and
3. share their feedback on my love life, love letters and anything else love-related.