Low Profile

I know I haven't been posting much lately.  It's a combination of many factors I think.

First, it's been a long, LONG, LOOOOOONG winter.  Everyone in my vicinity seems to be dragging, doing the bare minimum to get through the day, just longing for sunlight and warmer temperatures and please, dear god, something green.

Then there's the fact that work has been providing enough challenge that it's hard to want to take up more in my personal life. Moving a huge suite of existing documentation into a completely new organizational structure, using a language unfamiliar to me through tools that I'm just learning is... frustrating and exhausting.  And there's this constant little voice saying, "If only you were smarter, you'd be able to do this better."  I keep telling it that intelligence and experience are not the same thing, but it's more persistent than I am.  Especially after a day spent figuring out that my latest bright idea won't work after all.

After Christmas I felt pretty good monetarily.  I wasn't rolling in cash, but somehow it seemed like I could make all my "payments", buy my groceries and still have a bit left over.  But the last month and a half or so, it's like the money is just disappearing.  *poof* I pay my bills and sit looking at my balance wondering if I'll have enough for two weeks groceries.  The bills and income haven't changed, so I don't know what the difference is - besides annoying, that is.

Stuart and I just put in a bunch of work and hope we have Ursa's coat back in shape.  This mostly involved cutting off a lot of the winter growth, which got rid of the hair that had been dried out by the nasty shampoo we tried.  Then a bath and a lot of combing and spray.  It's shorter, but mostly new growth which is the lustrous stuff, not the dull, tangly, matting mess that was making us crazy.  We have a plan now that we understand the problem areas, so hopefully we can stay on top of it and we'll all be happier.

We have had some fun.  We went out to Bragg Creek to see Suzie Vinnick and Rick Fines play.  I met Suzie years ago at the Folk on the Rocks.  We aren't super close friends, but we've spent some time together and she always remembers me when she rolls through town.  And I'd go to her shows even if she didn't, 'cause she's just an awesome bass and guitar player!  And Rick ain't no slouch either.  I recommended Christine Bougie's latest album to him, since he said he'd heard OF her, but hadn't heard her.  If any projects come out of that, I want a mention in the liner notes!  How can I know so many musicians and not have ANY liner note mentions?!?!?

As the weather starts to tease us with memories of this thing they call "spring", Stuart and I are starting to talk about house projects again.  I want to paint the spare bedroom and get in more bookshelves; Stuart plans to build a gate across the one unfenced part of our yard; some pot gardening; baseboards and laminate on the stairs, etc.  We'll see how many actually get done in between the busy summer that's shaping up: Calgary Folk Fest, organizing a BRT picnic, the biennial Elle Family reunion and, just maybe, some camping!