dispatches

(to borrow a term)

I'm nearing the end of my end-of-summer stay here in the near north of Ontario. Lots of things percolating, but my current ad-hoc basement space is not really conducive to anything thought through in any depth. Thinking in blips and starts, mostly - something that I hope clears by the time I find myself seated back in front of my workspace in Montreal.

1. Satisfaction...for a job [reasonably] well done.

DOING is a really rewarding thing. Yeah, I know how self-explanatory that sounds, but a week and a half of actually doing - having a task, figuring it out, and completing it - has been really cathartic. First, it was the move. Moving, lifting, hauling, stacking almost 20 years of accumulated stuff was heavy work that exhausted and exhilarated (and hurt); I'd just about forgotten how much I love to do the grunt work. Then it was the cleaning - cupboards, floors, the works - the people who owned this house before, although very big on physical appearances (they were bodybuilders with mirrors covering a good chunk of the basement walls with motivational lists printed and stuck in odd places around the main room), were not too hot on the ol' duster or vacuum. Then the stripping of wallpaper borders (a kiddie clown motif in one room and wild running horses in another - no, I'm so not kidding), and the painting - green over the multicoloured kids room and yellow over the very dark blue in the horse room. And more painting - white over the melamine in the kitchen with a goopy concoction that made your head spin if you inhaled it for too long (my aunt actually began to see coloured circles at one point). Once the move itself had happened and my mum and I were left to our own devices, it was all about shifting, fixing, tweaking, opening, gasping, shrugging. A box here, a box there... My Rocky themesong day witnessed me replacing the taps in the bathroom sink, replacing the pull-chain to the light in the kitchen, moving around the furniture (including an old desk that weighs so much I had to shove it with my legs) in the spare room so I could type AND sleep in there, doing laundry and testing out the dishwasher. Oh, and screaming "Adrienne!!!" at the top of my lungs. Slowly but surely the house is coming together; and while my mum will still have tons more remaining, we got an amazing amount of the little things done.

2. Preparation...for another adventure...

Leaving Saturday morning for St. Kitts, where one of my cousins is getting married at a vineyard somewhere in the Niagara region. Despite my troubled relationship with the social rite, weddings are usuallys pretty fun, and it's always good to see the very large extended family. Mum and I went all girlie this afternoon and purchased the fixins for giving her a fabulous pre-soiree manicure - so fun. But there are some 'dress' issues that have arisen this week...you see, the beer consumption that coincides so very nicely with the DOING has contributed greatly to a very round little pot belly that may very well inhibit my choice of clothing for the big event. Fortunately, I brought a back up: a looser little black number that may just save the day. But then shoes may be an issue...

[swig!]

3. (anxious) Anticipation...of what's to come.

Avenger's already in the classroom, and my first day with a new course is Wednesday. Book is due into the publisher mid-month. Emails are already piling up. October conferencing scheduling is already rearing it's logistics. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! How did September arrive so suddenly???