Roses and Thorns Feb 20 - March 5

I really shouldn't leave my roses n' thorns posts for two weeks, because then my mind suddenly draws a blank when the time comes to write.

Hmm.... let me see....

Rose
The last two days we made crazy good progress, and we got our script done a day ahead of schedule! Whoo-Hoo!

Actually, it's not done-done, we just have all the scenes written out. Now we'll spend the next four days (instead of our anticipated 3 days) polishing and finding a way to somehow hack out the extra 8 pages that spill over our 100 minute goal.

Best of all, our self-imposed deadline is to hand it in sometime on the 9th, while our producers are expecting us to hand it in on the 12th (even though they suggested the sooner the better.) Oh, won't they be surprised!

I'm really looking forward to a couple days off...

Thorn

I've had a couple thorny days over the last two weeks. Just getting irritable about the script, banging my head against the wall trying to figure out plot holes, and worrying about going over in our page count. But as the rose above suggests, it's all good now.

Rose
Last Friday, Ray and Jay invited us next door to Brandt's for a drink. Although we initially declined, because it was late and we were already in our pj's (but honestly, when are we not in our pj's?), we had a change of heart since we're always so cooped up. We decided it might be nice just to leave the friggin' house, especially if we weren't going to do any more work for the night.

So we did. But that's not my rose....

As we're sitting there chatting, my friend Rhonda, who I haven't seen since her birthday last April, came over with my salad tongs in her hand! What a funny surprise! I had forgotten the tongs at her place when I brought a salad to her BBQ last year.

The tongs were a wedding gift, and they're carved with Native American art. Rhonda said she could tell that they were not your average tongs and that I'd probably like them back. So I guess she had been carrying them around in her truck, knowing that we'd eventually run into each other somewhere at some point. Good thing we decided to go to Brandt's for a night cap after all!

But the funniest part of this story is how Jason interpreted what happened. He saw Rhonda come in with the tongs. (He didn't see her leave the table next to us to go out and grab them.) He then overheard her saying, "Yeah, I've just been carrying them around in case I run into you." (He missed the part about her keeping them in her truck.) And then Jim told Jay, "You remember Rhonda, you came to her Halloween party with us a couple years ago."

Sooo, in Jay's mind, Rhonda had been physically carrying around my tongs everywhere she went since that Halloween party two years ago. Walking around the mall, tongs in hand. Going to the movies, tongs in hand. Going out to the pub, tongs in hand. You get the picture. He was so confused and blown away by the preposterousness of it all until we clarified. Hilarious!

Thorn
My mousy roots. Thank goodness for hats! I'm sure everyone thinks that I've just been trying to be fashionable lately, when really it's because I'm trying to hide the unsightly scene at my crown. I know I've mentioned it before, but my hair seems to grow unnaturally fast, which is less of a blessing than pain in the ass for someone with such an undesirable natural hair colour. My natural colour falls somewhere between dirty blonde and ashy brown.  It cannot be described by CMYK. It belongs to its own colour chart, YUCK.

I bought some dye a week ago, and even though it's this new kind that only takes ten minutes to set, I still haven't found/made the time to do it yet. Actually, I should probably be doing it now instead of blogging, shouldn't I?

Rose
Since we've made such great headway with the script over the last two days, yesterday I finally went out for a walk. And it was a fabulous walk indeed. I spend some time sitting on the park bench by the pond, thinking and kind of meditating, even though that wasn't my original intent when I first sat down to watch the turtles, ducks n' geese.

It all started when I began focusing on the present moment and just being in the here and now. As I got up to walk, I began to imagine that everything around me was created with intent, as though the path were an elaborate exhibit in an art gallery.

For instance, the sun had been set to a specific degree of warmth. The creek had been adjusted to a particular speed, so it would babble with an intentional rhythm. The various birds had been programed to chirp at designated intervals. Each piece of gravel on the path had been placed by hand, and the occasional sections of mud or soft earth were there to create distinct sensations as you walked across them. I even imagined that the people who passed me on the path were all actors part of the exhibit.

I found that as I walked, my pace slowed dramatically, and that I even stopped once or twice to pay more attention to the little details surrounding me. The shapes of leaves. The colour of branches. The texture of the earth beneath my feet.

I know I probably sound crazy, but by looking at the world around me as some kind of elaborate art display, I couldn't help but notice the absolute perfection and I felt the most incredible uplifting calm in each moment of 'now'. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I think I might go out and do it again today if I get the chance.

Thorn
In the plaza across the street, the owners are not renewing the lease for the Movie Gallery or the Dollar Store. Instead they are going to knock out the wall between these two shops and lease the massive space out to the Great Canadian Dollar Store.

Fine. Fair enough. They're obviously well within their rights to do so, but what really sucks about this decision is...

1. Now we have to drive to Blockbuster to rent movies instead of just walking across the street. And after almost two years of listening to their confusing sales pitches (based on some sort of movie points system that none of their employees or even the management can explain very clearly), we finally gave in and purchased their special monthly movie package to save money and now they're suddenly closed.  Hopefully we can get a refund. (They said some info will be posted on their door....)

2. The German gentleman, Sig, who owns the Dollar Store will now be out of a job. This was a family business he started up when he moved to Kelowna about ten years ago.

Okay sure, I know one or two of you might argue that at least he's being replaced by the great "Canadian" dollar store, and therefore this is a good decision because it's at least a Canadian company. But really...  this is this man's livelihood. He might come from Germany, but he is a citizen now, and as Canadian as you or I.

Plus, he is just the sweetest, sweetest man! He often tucks a little something extra in my bag for free whenever I spend between $15 - $20.  He almost reminds me of my Grandpa Junop in that way. You couldn't leave the house without him running around trying to find something else to send home with you, be it a pad of paper or a can of Zoodles.  Like Grandpa, Sig will always say, "Just wait here a minute..." and then he'll rush off into the store for a moment or two, grab something but won't show it to me, and slide it into the bag. He'll always say "Just a little something else for Halloween/Christmas/your party/your niece's birthday/insert occasion here."

I just feel so bad for him. I hope he can find another location to open his shop.

Rose
This is stupid... but Jim's beard.  I've never been a fan of facial hair, but over the last couple weeks, he grew a beard and I love how he'll tackle me and rub it against my face. Ha ha. It's tickly and prickly and it really makes me laugh. It even makes me laugh just thinking about it. Of course, the thorny side of this rose is that his whisker rubs always leave a red rash on my cheek. That part is not so nice.

I seem to remember hating whisker rubs when my Grandpa Krieger or Dad would threaten me with them when I was a little kid.... or were those indian burns? Either way, they always left me running. Guess it's different when it's your husband.

Thorn

Last week, just before bed as I was putting the toothpaste away, my elbow accidentally knocked a candle off my counter. Fortunately it wasn't lit, but the glass sure did smashing job of shattering into tiny little bits all over the bathroom floor. Blegh. Nice. That's exactly what everyone feels like doing at quarter after twelve.... sweeping up tiny shards of glass. 

Anyhow, so far, so good... the soles of my feet haven't encountered any searing pain lately or suddenly started bleeding, so I think it's safe to assume I got 'em all.

Rose

My sister got a new job that pays well and is not at the mall! (Where she's been working since she was 14.) But that's only part of this rose. 


Since I don't think I'll be able to get back home this year (at least it's not looking like I will at this point.... time will tell), I suggested that she use this lull between jobs to take advantage of WestJet's seat sale. I know I would if I could! Of course, Jim n' I will still be working over the next few weeks, but it shouldn't be nearly as intense as it has been. Plus, we work from home, so it's not like she'll be left alone all day or anything on the days we do need to get some work done. 


So, by the sounds of it, she just might make the trip! *fingers crossed!*

I'd love for her to come out here. She needs to get the fluck out of Pembroke for a while. (Not that Pembroke is the worst place in the world - it's really not. It's quite a lovely place to visit. It just hasn't been very good to her.) Anyhow, if anyone deserves a vacation, it's Amy. And if she's going to vacation anywhere, it should be here. Plus, a visit with Amy is so much more enjoyable when she's not at home. The Pembroke Amy and the Visiting Amy are two totally different girls. She is far more pleasant and relaxed when she's out of town. (Then again, who isn't more relaxed when they're on vacation? ;)

Thorn

Watching others struggle. Jim n' I harbour some mild guilt over the fact that we're getting to live out our dreams, and that our relationship comes so effortlessly.  We just feel like shit sometimes when people we know are struggling in one area of their life or another and may never get cut the same break. We like to imagine that someday we'll be rich enough to help those we love and care about achieve their dreams as well. Pay it forward...


And I guess that's it for another week or two!