We saw a lamb in the park yesterday. Well actually it was a sheep. Meeka was very interested in the strange smelling creature until it bleated…then she was afraid. Honestly sometimes it amazes my how wimpy my dog is.

My bedroom lights have stopped working. Now it may be useful at this stage to let you in on the fact that our apartment is absolutely peppered with light switches. Seriously, whoever did the renovations obviously wanted absolute control over every pot light, ceiling light, and wall sconce in the entire place. Given that, I’m not convinced that the lights are actually broken. In fact I suspect that I may have inadvertently flipped another switch while I was trying to find someplace to put the hockey sticks. Half an hour of running back and forth flipping switches up and down the apartment didn’t yield any results though – at least not yet.

Ah yes, the hockey sticks. Bert and I finally received our shipment from Washington (yes it did take three months for those of you who are keeping track). Anyway Bert’s Dad did most of the packing which, I suppose, explains the seven hockey sticks he sent up. Yep, seven. Bert and I are only two people but we now have seven hockey sticks. What in the hell are we going to do with seven hockey sticks. Other interesting items which were, for some bizarre reason, packed include:

a can of peaches, a jar of pennies, a box of old receipts (not even ours), a torn mouse pad, a pan lid with no pan, a half-eaten tennis ball, old batteries, a bag of popcorn, and a dozen broken glasses (in all fairness, the glasses may have been whole when I took them out of the box, there was a definite shattering sound when I dropped the newspaper package on the floor).

The news these days seems even more depressing than usual, human nature certainly leaves much to be desired. Anyway, in other news:

Bert is in Toronto riding go-carts, shooting people with paint pellets and looking at naked women - yep it’s an extend bachelor party for one of his friends.

Something is nibbling away at the leaves of my cauliflower plants and I have no idea what cause I sure as hell can’t see any little bugsies - my cauliflowers are, by the way, showing absolutely no interest in producing anything edible

I had to leave work at lunch time yesterday with a migraine - I have infinitly more sympathy for migraine sufferers now, they are awful

The upstairs neighbours have finally fixed thier air conditioner so it no longer drips on our deck turning our hamburger buns soggy (long story with a rather sad ending)

I am going to a wedding (see note about Bert and paint pellets) on Sunday and have no idea what to wear - I have two options hanging in my closet but the shopper inside me really wants to splurge and buy something new, aren’t you supposed to show up for a wedding in something you’ve never worn before - or is that just for the bride?

Bert is always finding crap - oops I mean desperately interesting stuff - on the internet and cramming it down my throat - oops I mean generously sharing it with me.

Anyway the other day Bert found a selection of really bad simile’s which inspired me to create a few about work:

My boss spouts ideas as random as a fridge in the middle of a man-made pond

My colleague regularly gives me advice which is as useful as a duck-shaped helium balloon on the international space station

My intern is as capable as a three legged dog, who’s also blind

My passion for my job burns deep within me like a volcano that’s been dormant for a hundred years

Reading my latest paper is like watching a fly stuck in wet paint

You know how some places consider a week to be Sunday-Saturday instead of Monday-Sunday. Well this week I’m going with the Sunday-Saturday option. Why? Because I cannot wait for this week to be over.

Work is reving up to be absolutely hellish :

1. This meeting that someone was supposed to attend will no longer be attended - this makes it much harder for me to do my job

2. I still haven’t even started on the papers which need to be sent out in August - and every time I sit down to start them some ‘crisis’ emerges which drags me away
3. I sent a really retarted email to someone this morning - it makes me sound really stupid and I can’t take it back

My homelife is likewise setting challenges:

1. My Mom is having more ‘problems’ with my brother - nothing major but a long history of bad relations with my father is turning it into a really big deal
2. People have actually started asking me if I’m sick because I’m looking so pale and have giant bags under my eyes - between my husband and my dog I haven’t had eight hours of uninterrupted sleep in months (actually I think the most I’ve had is 2 uninterrupted hours)

3. It’s hot outside, the apartment is messy, my hand-wash clothes were not dry by this morning, my new hair cut is absolutely impossible to handle, tickets to Vancouver are more expensive than I’ve ever seen them…

But, on the bright side, by next week (ie next Sunday at 12:01 am) everything will be ok again…right?

So there I was yesterday, sitting in the little park across the street from my office eating my lunch. The park doubles as a metro station entrance, a flower shop and a gallery (for this really weird sculpture made from 7-up cans). The park is bordered on all four sides with busy streets. Every day the workers from the huge office buildings surrounding the park pour onto its benches to grab a moment or two of natural light.

Yesterday I joined them and was quite enjoying my quiet contemplation until I looked up and froze mid fork-full of left over pasta with fresh tomatos. There was a camel eating a tree.

Well more specifically, there was a baby camel (the one-hump variety) eating the leaves off a tree.

I did a double take because of course how often do you see a camel in the middle of the city. Well ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you that it was a real camel. The reason for the camel is rather unexciting and, for that reason, I will not reveal it. Rather I will let you all enjoy the bright eyed wonder that can still, on ocassion, penetrate our adult minds.

A camel eating leaves in the city…tee hee.