You know what?
There’s nothing like hearing your wife’s sweet voice to chase all your blues away and make you feel better 🙂
I’ve been feeling very out of sorts the last 90minutes or so, a little stir crazy, too. I just saw the voicemail light blinking on my phone. It was from Chantale who was calling to tell me how her morning had been. That’s it. Just a regular ‘hello’ type message and suddenly I wasn’t so cranky any more… 🙂
I’m shaking as though I’ve been left naked in the arctic. Jittery. Shaking. Trembling. 3 Hours of Interrupted sleep do not do a body good. Even with 2 cups of coffee in it. Worst of all is that I can’t even say that I’m tired. I’m too wired to be tired.
My mind is still sharp, though. Perhaps operating at 92%, but sharp.
Just wish I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up…
From
You’re I, Robot!
by Isaac Asimov
While you have established a code of conduct for many generations to
follow, your demeanor is rather cold and calculating. Brought up to serve humans, you
have promised never to harm them, to follow orders, and to protect yourself. Living up
to this code has proved challenging and sometimes even drives you mad. If you were a
type of paper, you would be pulp.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
Hard to believe, but my first three weeks of Paternity Leave are over already! Monday I’m back at work for two weeks and then I take my last two weeks of Paternity.
Lots of photos from Kyle’s 2nd Birthday are now online. Click the image to go there!
it all comes down to this:
What do you want to leave behind?
So.
I got my Notice of Paternity Leave yesterday. I was approved. Yay. However… when I saw the amount I will be “getting” I was somewhat perplexed. I know what 70% of my salary was supposed to give me (we calculated it months before the application). I was expecting to get about $200 less per pay. Definitely not the case.
No problem, something must have gone wrong. So, I called them this morning. Yup, something is wrong all right. The same way things are wrong every year when I fill out my taxes, or when I meet my lawyers to discuss my child support payments. I make too much money. I don’t take it HOME, though, because 65% of it goes to the Government for taxes and around 25% of the rest goes to Child Support. But, still, none of that ever counts. According to what my salary is, I make too much money. So, they used the maximum for my calculation of benefits.
Wonderful.
Thus, instead of getting about $200 less per pay, I’ll be getting… $700 less per pay.
The only saving grace I have this month is that my C.S. account actually has too much buffer (they only need an extra month’s buffer) and they’ll be refunding me some money.
So, in the end, everything balances it out somewhat. Except I was really looking forward to putting some money towards the credit card before it explodes…
I just wish they would let people know of these “fine print” notices that don’t appear anywhere… bah. Regardless, it’s still SO worth it being home with my family for three whole weeks. It’s an experience I feel extremely lucky to be able to take advantage of. 🙂
(which, by the way, pretty much explains why I haven’t been around here much 😉 )
You know how sometimes you read a piece from a book and it immediately hits home either because of the truth behind it, or simply because it just says something in a way you’d been trying to express with such clarity?
Here are two examples:
1- From “Amelia Rules! Vol. 1” – there’s a scene where Amelia’s aunt is telling her: “Just because you come from a broken family doesn’t mean you have to be broken”.
Clear, concise, simple, don’t you think? A great series!
2- Scott McCloud in Making Comics (pg. 65, regarding designing characters): “These life histories – or ‘Backstories’ – don’t have to be too elaborate, especially for minor characters. In fact, obsessing TOO much over such details is a classic beginner’s mistake!”
In other words, when you’re spending time “creating” the universe that envelopes your stories or characters, don’t waste time on things you’re not going to use. Stick to what you NEED in order to tell your STORY. The rest of the ‘fluff’ is just that – fluff. Not important. Doing all that really doesn’t make you look clever.
Something to think about.
Here’s a small gift Kyle and I got for Chantale and Charlize this weekend 🙂 Kyle just loved it and would point to the baby saying “Mama! Harleese!” 🙂
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| Angel of Mine by Willow Tree |
We really love this collection. It doesn’t only make a statement, it makes an emotion…
I just watched Duran Duran’s performance in London for Live Earth. I couldn’t stop giggling. The first time I saw them live was back in 1983/4. They were one of those “New Wave” bands I liked but I only went to the concert because of a girl… 🙂 Ain’t it always the case? 🙂 Livia Tortella was her name and she was basically my best friend in Secondary 4/5. She was even more into music than I was! After college, she started working for Polygram, eventually moving to Toronto when they changed their HQ from Montreal to T.O., and got to work with quite a number of bands and singers we used to listen to back in High School. Last I heard from her she moved to New York and I haven’t heard from her since.
I remember telling her -years after the fact- that the main reason I had gone to DD was to make her happy, and getting smacked for that 🙂 LOL. It was fun living vicariously through her work (especially when she told me of the time she got to work with Henry Rollins!). Sometimes, she’d also send me some gift items that I would really appreciate (like limited edition prints, etc, of the bands she worked with) and that I still have.
So, today, on Live Earth day, I raise a hand and wave hello to a dear friend of mine from oh so long ago. Take care, UK Liv! The Savage One still thinks fondly of the only High School friend he ever hoped to keep in touch with over the years! 🙂
I’ve been on hold with the Gov for half an hour already… Trying to file my Paternity Leave papers so I can get paid for the next three weeks and this muzak is slowly melting my brains…
if they would at least have SOME notice of what the wait time is supposed to be…
By the way, THANK YOU to everyone who’s contacted or replied to me and/ or Chantale over the last couple of days. A lot really helped.
I think right now we could use a lot more sleep to keep us a little less edgy. Last night was quite good in that we literally hit the sack somewhere around 9pm. The first time Charlize woke up to feed went very well with her falling right back to sleep after 45 minutes. The second time (at 4am) took a little longer. But, I managed to get her back to sleep at 5am. Overall, Chantale and I slept more last night than the previous two nights combined.
She’s dozing on the couch right now, taking advantage of Charlize’s morning nap as well. I gave Kyle a nice long bath and we’re now sitting in the bedroom with CBC on the tv and ding-dong-ding muzak on the speakerphone… 34 minutes and counting…
Update: Took 55 minutes. Why? Not many English reps on the weekend. Duh. Next time, I’ll just select the French option. Sigh. And guess what? I can’t file today. I have to file tomorrow. ha haha. ha.
