Happy Monday! It has been a wild 10 days - I managed to survive the Wiggles concert and the arena has free wifi so while the Little Prince danced and sang, I replied to hundreds of emails and kept in touch with the real world.
While we were there I got a message from the Cheeky Reaper that he had a huge visitation that night and was on his own at the funeral home so when I got home I did a quick change and went to help him out. I'm realizing if you want to see who's who...go to the big funerals!
On Saturday I called a police committee meeting and I really thought it would just be an hour - I got home 5 hours later! The official meeting lasted 90 minutes but then my Spiritual Advisor came to the bar and we got to talking then I had to drop by the Lincoln Lawyer's (new character in this movie I call my life, he looks like Abe Lincoln, and is the lawyer for the police committee) house with a document. His wife makes the best coffee and she knows I will never turn one down....aaaand after coffee we got into the raspberry beer and before I knew it I was strolling in the front door after 7pm.
I went to have a chocolate from the little box I left on the coffee table. Seems a certain Little Prince found them and decided to do a taste test!
On Sunday I went skeet shooting in a farmer's field. I came home achy and the next day had a nice bruise - the big shotgun just about knocked me over! And yes...I can hit a moving target.
On Monday I went to my Rotary meeting and then I think I stopped at the bar to chat with some committee members - tho I can't remember...it's all becoming a blur!
Every morning at 8:30 this farmer takes his horse out for a jog - I used to wonder how anyone could live in the country...I'm turning into one of them. I'm way more Hunter wellies and riding jackets than I ever thought I could be. I used to read Marie Claire...now it's Garden & Gun.
On Tuesday morning I had a meeting (at the bar, surprise surprise) with a member of the board that represents the police to council, then Hermes Scarf Friend came up and we had lunch in the cozy corner (a little semi private room with one table right at the front window of the bar) and chatted for a couple of hours. We made plans for the exchange student, gossiped and decided we need to do a drinking tour of town again soon. At this point I realized I needed to have a nap or I wouldn't make it through the rest of the day so I went home and rested for a while.
On Tuesday evening I went to the council meeting to make sure nothing shady was going on then stopped by the...wait for it...bar (I'm sure you think I'm some sort of lush by now but I assure you, as soon as I walk in the wait staff will come over with a club soda and lots of lime for me). There were all sorts of interesting people there so it was a fun hour of chatting and deciding we all hate the same person.
I spotted this little beauty in town a few weeks ago - my dream car! It was a gorgeous day and it took everything I have to resist asking the owner if I could take it for a spin.
On Wednesday I spent the whole day dealing with media - from 5am I was emailing reporters and making arrangements for interviews - then I had to do a photo op, then go to the radio station to record the new ad for the police committee. I stopped by the...you guessed it...bar to chat with my Spiritual Advisor (with just a few days left before the vote everyone is spending a lot of time thinking and talking about it). Everyone knows my car so anytime I am in the bar there will be a stream of people coming in to talk, pass on information, say hello...so an hour later I got home and needed to lie down. 5am is very early when I have evening plans the same day!
That night we went to a soup dinner party - just my luck tho, I was allergic to three of the 4 soups and don't like the 4th one. I filled up on cheese and crackers and didn't make a fuss. The people sitting next to me were the strangest couple. She is about 6'4" and he is just slightly taller than my 5'2". I also suspect she was once a man. Anyhoo...when another one of the wives started talking about her cat I knew it was time for me to go home.
Our Rotary exchange student is the loveliest girl and I'm not kidding when I say I am going to have a hard time giving her back to her parents. I tend to invite her out with me more than I am expected to (I'm her guardian and counselor but she doesn't live with me) but she is just so nice to have around. I took her to the mall with me and stumbled upon these - you know you are getting old when this prompts the sudden donning of sunglasses. And these weren't the brightest ones they had! As the exchange student was trying things on it made me smile, then cringe to think when I was her age I would've been going gaga for all the neon in the shops. Preppy or not, no one got through the 80s without something neon.
My parents went to Florida for a few weeks and I didn't ask them to bring anything back...to be honest I just didn't get organized enough to do the research and make my list. They will do the leg work as long as I provide item names and numbers, store addresses and phone numbers etc. Anyhoo...I did have a few things shipped to them - a box of ribbon so I could avoid the customs bill and a couple of Android tablets (half the price they are in Canada) - but this is what they bought for me! Wahoo! I'm known for my club soda (or soda water as it is called in some places) and everyone knows to follow the trail of empty blue cans if they want to find me - well, my mom asked the Lilly staff person what the little thing is, which surprised me as it's not like we don't have koozies here, anyway...she was told it's "for your can of club soda". My mom knew at that moment she had to get it for me to go with the monthly planner.
On Thursday I did my usual running around, customer calls, seamstress meeting (I get all of my clothes tailored) and then had a civic awards meeting. It was decided the Little Prince and I will be placing the committee's wreath on the cenotaph on Remembrance Day. He has watched me fight for democracy all this time with the policing issue and it is the perfect opportunity for him to come and see why I have put myself and my family through this. We will have some talks about the people who have given their lives in the name of democracy so I hope he takes something from it. It's a bit of a big deal and a privilege to be able to represent the committee and take part in the ceremony.
After the meeting I went to...the bar...and everyone was shocked to hear I was meeting the Suburban Prince for dinner as we never seem to be in the same place at the same time! I had to wait for a while so I chatted with the regulars before I sat at my table and one of them was nice enough to think I needed some vodka in my club soda so he sent one over. How nice is that!
This week there is a 'town hall' meeting for the public on Monday and I will need to be there as police committee chair ready to ask questions of our elected representatives. On Tuesday there is a special council meeting and the supposed final vote is to be that night. We are supposed to find out once and for all if we will be keeping our police force. We have spent 3 months trying to get just one councillor to change their vote, I am cautiously optimistic as these people have to know there will be either a riot, or a parade. If we get what we want I will be the first one to jump up and lead the standing ovation. I've also made it clear that if the vote goes wrong, I am no longer responsible for holding people back. I have prevented riots, talked people out of burning down the mayor's house, kept people from picketing and storming town hall...if it goes wrong, I am stepping aside and letting the chips fall where they may.
It's Downton Day! Episode 7 is tonight and I wont give any spoilers but I will be here at 4pm watching the live stream, armed with a handkerchief. I will post this link to the new ep once I have it.
And that's my life in a nutshell - I have spent the weekend at home, alone, not going anywhere, recharging and getting organized again. It has been nice to stay in my jammies and not have to be 18 people all at once!
If you can, please leave your comment here instead of on Twitter. Thanks!
Have a fabulous day!
