Itchy Feet

Off to Canberra in a couple of hours. I'm meeting up with [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] for a weekend of frolicing and fun. Catch you all on the flip side. :)

Edit: and maybe I'll be able to get online with the laptop long enough to get [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]'s beta back to her, and fling a plot at folks for Yvette. ;)

A roomie who plans out a menu to make sure there's enough money to go 'round and cover various things. A lawyer who thanks you with a bouquet of spring flowers. A crisp, bright morning. The knowledge that my next cup of coffee will be free, thanks to my frequent flyers card. A drive-by online nuzzle from the pretty girl upstairs. Good news via an email from my Dad.

When things are piling up on a person and they feel alone and miserable, it's not the big dramatic gestures they need. It's the little things, the small, thoughtful reminders that they do indeed matter to someone, that their pain is acknowledged and felt. An email. Consideration for their state of mind and some leeway. A hug. A 'thank you' for what they've done. The little things that are easy to forget in the scale of things, but which are the glue which hold relationships of all kinds together.

Back to the gym tonight, back to the regular working week, back to trying to remember to take my B12 since I've been insanely tired the past few days. Ah routine, how you are like a snuggly beige-coloured blanket. Comforting in your boredom.

Still, it's been a great couple of weekends, full of visits from all sorts of folks. Love my peeps.

Christmas was fun, although on top of various gifts of largely the readable sort (I love my friends who understand the book thing!) Santa also brought me a dose of the flu. Meh. Throat's scratchy and irritated, nose is sniffly and body is achy. Meh again.

Today is for lying on the couch with a blanket, drinking tea and eating chili that the roomie made the other week, and waiting for my brain to engage.

Which is pretty much how the day after Christmas/Boxing Day should be spent. ;)

[Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] is Awesome. For many reasons, but especially for the fantastic group gift that arrived yesterday.

Also, I seriously walked to work in the snow today. We're currently be-blizzarded. Long live giant scarves knitted by mothers which you can wrap around your head to avoiding breathing in snow.

Party last night at the Dark Horse, a pub down the road a bit from here. Johnny had a gig (solo, with acoustic) and there was a costume party, so we all rocked up in full comic geekery. [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] was Tony Stark, complete with glowing chest piece created by the extremely clever [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], Aisy herself was Steampunk Batgirl, and I tuned into my inner Goth with Gaiman's Death. (and yes, there are photos). Everyone looked great - Johnny was Alex from A Clockwork Orange (and suitably creepy), Mindy was dressed as Alice in Wonderland with chains wrapped around her (no prize for the pun!), Hope and Bernard were hippies, Greg was a Dick Dastardly type with a twirly moustache and top hat (which I stole for a chunk of the night!) and Heather was a vampire/goth in a really nifty spiderweb cape and red dress.

Lots of fun had by all, until about one-ish when the partygoers left and the usual "dregs of Bloor West" inhabited the bar. Johnny wasn't done, but Dex, Aisy and I headed to the Griffin as we'd promised Melena we'd drop by and show her our costumes (and appreciate hers - Egyptian princess of the Elizabeth Taylor type, yum!) and have a quiet drink to round things off. Then pizza, showers to wash out the temporary black hair dye Dex and I both had on, and Iron Man, although none of us made it through the whole thing. Pepperoni is on the 'safe' list of meat, btw, I still have black nail polish on and it looks weird, and I got up at 2.

So yeah, a good night was had. Tonight's [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]'s birthday party, so yeah, big social weekend for us, but the days are nicely lazy.

Although I need to clean the kitty litter and take out the garbage. :P

Mindy's birthday party tonight, with a reunion of Johnny's band, "Urban Legend" as the gift. Amazing night, great music, fun atmosphere and the appearance of several old faces I haven't seen for a while. Voice is wrecked (stupid cold), ears are ringing slightly and I'm for bed very soon, but well worth it all.

Tomorrow we're having Thanksgiving dinner (it's actually on Monday, but we're doing the dinner while we still have people up) so I'll be offline again for another day and then I have Monday to sleep. Yay.

On Thursday, the roomie's grandmother died. She was in her nineties and has been ill for some time and it wasn't unexpected. She was ready to go and died peacefully. She was a sweet lady, who always made me feel welcome at the family events I met her at.

I won't be able to make the funeral because it's on Monday and I have the meeting to sign my contract that day and absolutely can't miss work, so I'm going to the viewing tomorrow to share my condolescences.

Yesterday I got a text message from Johnny, asking if I wanted to go out for sushi with him and Mindy. It's been about a month since I've really seen them since I've been hermitting a bit again, so it was great to get the invite. Especially 'cause it was specifically me, you know?

It's the little things. Like your roomie letting you have the last Drumstick 'cause you've got a wrenched neck and are feeling miserable. ;)

Last night I came home to dinner and a white cranberry Cosmopolitan. Dinner (for me) was a swordfish steak and twice-baked potato with Ceaser salad that had been made with the fake bacon bits. Bliss. Then we went for a walk and wound up at the Griffin, where we talked over many things and he didn't mind even when I got a little sniffly over something.

I truly have the best roomie ever. And I have twice-baked potatoes for lunch, since he even boxed up the leftovers for me. *hearts*