It's cold!

Thus it's cold sore season! Well, for me that seems to be year-round and sadly this one is not hidden discreetly up my nose. I'm not messing around with home remedies though. I phoned my doctor's office and asked them to fax a prescription for acyclovir to the pharmacy. Tomorrow I should have real relief.

I have the cold sore just in time for a team photo too - somehow I agreed to climb the stairs of the CN Tower. That's 1700 steps. hahahahahaha - I must have been in one of those team spirit work moments when I agreed to this. I'll be lucky if I don't pass out half way up. My out-of-shape ass is going to be protesting after one flight of stairs let alone the ridiculously insane number of flights I'll be climbing.

I'm buying an SUV and eating steak...

The menstrual cup has killed my environmental consciousness.

On my old blog, I once wrote that I was not going to put my tampons in Toronto's green bin recycling program. I felt bad, but I thought that the city composting my tampons was the most disgusting. Hence, they were flushed out to sea or put in the regular trash. In my comments, Mainja mentioned a particular brand of menstrual cup and that friends of hers had tried it and liked it. That always stayed in my mind.

Unfortunately it was in my mind about a few months ago when I was buying eco-friendly cleaning products. The store had a big display of menstrual cups. The above graphic gives an idea of what this type of product looks like [there are several brands on the eco-market]. I liked the idea of having a reusable form of 'feminine protection' that didn't involve bringing blood-soaked cloth pads to the laundromat. I bought one.

So you basically shove this cup up vag, and then empty it every few hours. Sound easy? It is and it isn't. It takes time to figure out how to comfortably place the damn thing.

After getting used to placing it correctly, I must admit that I do like the cup. And I do love the fact that it's eco-friendly. However, I never should have gone on their website. The testimonials are so over the top that I am either:
a/ a complete and utter freak of nature, or,
b/ really lucky that I have never been that traumatized by my period

[or c/ both a and b, but we won't go there...]

For your benefit, I have tried to summarize the recurring subjects of both the FAQ and of the comments.

Issue #1: Many of the commenters are so relieved to no longer have to deal with tampons or pads.

My experience: How traumatic are tampons? I've worn them for years. It's really not that big a deal. Some women talked about the mess and the grossness. Seriously? You tug on the string and that baby is flushed out of your life forever. On the other hand, when you remove the cup you are basically holding a rubbery shot glass of blood in your hand. It's not like I need to sit there and bond endlessly with my menstrual blood, and it's pretty easy to dump the cup, but still, the first time I extracted the warm cup of blood, my thoughts were not ' oh how clean and natural'.


Issue #2: People rave about how there's no mess and the cup is so convenient.

My experience: Okay, yes, it's extremely comfortable and I can see how if you are travelling in a remote area you don't need to worry about tampon/pad disposal, but again, I return to the fact that you are dealing with a cup of blood. True, once the blood is dumped you aren't left with a pad or tampon to dispose of, but then what? The site recommends washing the thing after each use. Are you really going to rinse it out in your host's sink? [Not at my house! Please.] The site says that in emergencies you can use tissue to wipe it out. Okay, but then if it isn't a great flushing place, you are still left with bloodied tissue.


Issue #3: Apparently people are running triathlons with this thing.

My experience: The general consensus seems to be that although every woman seems to have had embarrassing accidents/leaks with tampons, the miracle cup never leaks! It lasts forever! Like you can go to work in the morning, and then when you get home after work you might have to empty it. Really. Even if you had to change your super-duper plus tampon every half hour you will be saved by the cup. Again, not if you're me. Holy crap. True again, the cup works well and adds to the time between changes, but [at least for me] this does not extend to the entire work day. And unlike tampons which I can really feel when they have reached max absorbency, the cup truly is so comfortable that I have no idea when it's full. And about to overflow.

My first hint with this joy was going home from work one day and chatting with a colleague as we went to go down the escalator to change subway lines. Not only did the cup overflow, it did so with such ferocity that my first hint that all was not good was when a big glob of blood splashed onto my ankle. Followed by another. And another. Forcing me to hastily say to my colleague "gotta go" and sprint [as much as was possible while trying to keep my thighs glued together] to the subway washroom. At least I was wearing a skirt so I didn't have stains to deal with.


Over-all I do like my cup. But I think I'll stick to disposables for moments like plane travel and dates.

Once in a while I get a good idea

My mother is not the type to sit around and do nothing. Telling her to relax while watching others work is hell for her. So for yesterday when I was having the whole family over for 4:30pm, I told Mum that she could come over at 3pm if she was only going to worry about me not being prepared. I knew that Mum would be great for setting the table and helping me with any last minute prep. However, I also knew that she would be coming with my dad.

My kitchen is to small for three of us to be doing things, and my dad gets bored easily. Then I remembered the garden. Dad grows herbs and tomatoes in large container pots at their house. He is immensely proud of his basil and parsley and loves to garden. The last time he was over he disappeared and it turned out that he had gone into the garden and tied up all my tomatoes so that they weren't weighed down in the dirt. In a flash of inspiration I told Dad that his job would be to finish harvesting my tomatoes and peppers, and to dig up the old plants in preparation for winter.

It worked.

Mum and I prepped all the veggies and Dad went to work on my small garden. At one point he entered the kitchen to announce that my kitchen shears had snapped in half. I told him not to worry and to leave the rest, but undaunted, he set out with one of my knives. The next time I looked out the window my garden was cleared and there were two big bags of garden trimmings ready to put out on the curb. Agent Orange had done his magic.

The dinner itself was great. Everyone ate well and my two nieces amused themselves by jumping on my bean bag chair all night. And today I have almost nothing to clean up, and a day intended for cleaning up the garden can now be focussed on other tasks. Yay!

Thanksgiving

I can't wait for the upcoming long week-end. I'm hosting the family this year. As with the last time I hosted, I decided not to serve turkey. Once again it will be pepper steak, and this time I'll have gnocchi for the vegetarians. Everyone's coming over on Sunday, so that gives me one day to cook and clean the apartment. Gah! I must learn to be tidier in general so that when people come over it isn't a panic.

Make me dance. Make me smile.

I have been back and forth with Rob since our break-up. Me misunderstanding everything and blithely going on thinking we were friends; him avoiding me and trying to distance himself. Finally after a horrid PMS moment where I called him he sent me a 'fuck you Sue' email [it wasn't nasty, but it was painfully clear about where he stands with respect to knowing me].

I never thought we wouldn't be friends as we hadn't had a particularly bad break-up [at least cops weren't involved as with my last major break-up so perhaps my perspective is off], but as with most couples, I made mistakes, he made mistakes. There's no one-sided in this: and so it goes. I miss him though. I don't see why we couldn't have remained friends or lovers - especially since he's friends with ALL his exes and made it a point of being so. I guess I'm special.*

Of course I miss his personality. That's what made me love him. However, in a more immediate way, the annual Northbound fetish fair is coming up soon [largest event in the world]. I have a really fun outfit.

I so wanted to go.

I had no one to go with.

The first year I went with D. and with a coworker/friend. I loved it, but I found it overwhelming as I had no idea what to expect and had never been to anything even remotely fetish-y before. I also managed to lose part of our tickets and D. and I almost didn't get in which prompted [big surprise] a hysterical crying fit from me. Luckily D. and my friend were very supportive.

Rob and I went last year with a group of friends and it was so much fun. This time I was more prepared and I had the security of being with someone I was going out with. It gave me a bit of confidence rather than feeling like I'm always the odd one out. Instead I had a boyfriend who was as kinky as hell, and who appreciated that I was too. Believe me, it's hard to find. It's not that difficult to find guys who would go, but not to find ones who want to date as well, and I've had guys who have loved me but ended up calling me a whore/slut/weird if I mentioned events like these.

As such, this year I became so unbelievably down about the event. It's worse than trying to get a date for a wedding. It's not the sort of thing I want to go to with someone I don't know and trust well. It's not the type of thing that I can bring just any of my friends to. It's not the sort of thing I want to go on a blind date to.

Luckily my 'fetish friend' came through for me. He and I often go to these sorts of events together. I am also friends with his hubby so it's a wonderful no pressure time. We're going to go. It's not going to be the same as last year, but that's for the best. Instead I will get to wear my leather corset and we'll discuss how we have both lost weight and gossip about who we think looks hot and who is not.

I can't wait.

However, I still need a boost.

I once asked for workout songs and all of you came through. Hotdudi won with Saturday Night by UD Project [I'd NEVER heard of them. Great workout tune].

Give me happy jumpy dancy type songs.

* The last time I got a 'fuck you Sue' letter I was working on a ship. Our emails were all printed out and distributed to us, and one of the passengers came up to me and said, "I think this is for you. It was in my mail slot by mistake..." Nothing quite like having a stranger read your getting dumped note.

Snack time on Sunday

Pumpkin muffins for me...

[Don't scroll down if you don't like the fact that cats are predators]
















Fresh kill for the Fur Snake. Although I ate the muffins. Fur just licked the dead mouse like a popsicle and left it on the doorstep for me. Tonight I buried the mouse in the garden.