Today was, all in all, a pretty good day, with the exception of a minor hiccup, which actually turned into an opportunity to get my paperwork sorted and delivered to Joyce’s office after all.  I went to bed last night without having gotten the sorting done and was annoyed at myself as a result.  But, got up, went for a walk, got a shower, Tracey left (aforementioned hiccup…and, yes, I do know that’s not how you actually spell hiccough) and I proceeded to sort through the past three months of receipts, bank statements and Visa statements and paperclipping everything together. Each pile was topped by the requisite sticky note to say what month and account it’s for and sometimes I put funny stuff on them for the folks that will be working on my books to laugh at . One note adhered to a pile of paperwork from CRA said, “Love letters from the one I love…(to hate)”. lol  At least *I* think I’m funny! haha

So, I headed over to Joyce’s and took them several slices of the strawberry bundt cake with white frosting that Tracey made last night after I made dinner which consisted of shake ‘n’ bake pork chops with apple sauce, brussels sprouts and saffron rice and it was GOOD!  The folks at NALH are always happy to receive the treats I bring…I figure it sucks working in an office and unexpected treats are always a nice thing to have arrive at random!  Plus, I don’t want to throw out half a cake or eat a whole cake myself – OINK OINK!  I dropped off the paperwork and talked to Joyce for a couple of minutes and headed over to Tracey’s.

Tracey, Laina and I went to the Art Gallery so they could see the O’Keeffe exhibit before it ends on Sunday.  We didn’t get there until a little after 4:00pm and the gallery closes at 5:30pm on Fridays, but we ended up having plenty of time to walk through a couple of times and even watch the 15-minute documentary.  I bought several things from the gallery store this time since everything was drastically reduced in price to clear it out before the show ends on Sunday.  I bought the print “From the Lake” that I saw online a while back and just LOVE it.  The colors are so amazing. I don’t know where the hell I’m going to find wall space for all the stuff I am framing these days.  I will make it work! haha  I also picked up a bunch of postcards and cards that have a bunch of O’Keeffe’s different paintings on them, including a couple of her cityscapes which I think are super cool.  I got Tracey a little journal with a painting of an autumn tree she liked and said looks pretty creepy in a way.

After the gallery, we walked down Robson and had dinner at Tsunami Sushi.  I totally wasn’t into the sushi idea at first, but looked at the menu and saw they had chicken teriyaki and some other items I could live with in my famished state, so we sat at the sushi bar and the boats of little plates of sushi floated past us the whole time we were there.  Dinner AND entertainment!  I had a beer and selected chicken teriyaki, rice and yam tempura for my dinner.  The tempura was somewhat undercooked so it was still a little crunchy, which really didn’t add to its appeal in my opinion.  They actually had probably the best California Roll I’ve ever had.  It wasn’t the minced k-rab but the chunkier style which turned me off until I actually ate one.  It was so fresh it practically melted in your mouth and I quickly scarfed down four pieces while waiting for my chicken, etc. to arrive.  

We walked back to Laina’s car and stopped by the gelato place on Venables which, I have now confirmed for sure, is not even in the universe with Mario’s for flavour and quality.  I got butter pecan on a waffle cone, but the gelato was more icy than Mario’s which is super creamy and yummy.  It did the job and eliminated my sugar craving, so I guess it was good enough.  

We all three went back to Tracey’s and watched a couple of episodes of Dexter.  It’s really starting to get good.  He’s starting to allow himself more feelings and I think he’s consciously struggling against it because it scares him.  Tracey went to bed after two episodes and Laina and I watched the next one which Tracey will totally freak when she sees!  The actual ice truck killer is revealed, though we sorta were suspecting who it was before they showed us.  This could get interesting!

I left and went over to Laina’s and we hit the BK drive-thru and had a wonderfully satisfying meal of Whopper and fries.  I rarely ever eat BK and it was a nice change of flavour from McD’s.  If you could have BK burgers and McD’s fries, it would be a match made in heaven!  I hung out at Laina’s for a while and we picked out CD covers to go in the little slots on the front of her IKEA CD shelves.  They’re quite cool because they look like lockers a la high school.

Drove back home and am enjoying lying back in my most comfy bed which I have all to myself, at least until the cats claim the bottom part of the bed and I find myself trying to squeeze a foot in here and there between the two of them.

All in all, a pretty decent week as far as productivity goes.  I have been talking to a guy at SCORE who I contacted by email and he seems really knowledgeable and likely young enough to be relevant to what I need.  I chose to contact him because he was an Executive VP with a large regional ad agency and he has had some really good advice to offer so far.  I’m pretty excited about it and am also proud of myself for taking the initiative to make contact.  I have written to two other people as well, but of the three he seems, by far, to be the best fit for what I need. 

CRA has resumed their calls recently and I need to get a plan in place to get them off my back once and for all.  I was talking to Laina last night and figured that my best bet is probably to try to sell my car and get something cheaper that I can pay off in 3 years or something.  I need to not be spending $520 a month on a car payment plus $150 a month or so for car insurance. That’s not including gas or maintenance, though, to be fair, I don’t fill up that often because I don’t drive that much around town.  I am thinking of trying to get a PT Cruiser – probably an 06 model – though I don’t know if I’ll be able to trade my car in for a decent amount or sell it privately.  I still owe about $23,800 on it, so it’ll be hard to sell it for that and a trade-in would leave me well short of that, I’m sure.  And, I don’t want to still owe thousands of dollars on a car I no longer own, so that’s probably not my best bet.  I’m sorta sad about it because I really do love my car, but I like the PT Cruiser and it will be an acceptable compromise if it helps me get out of shit with CRA sooner.  Then, when that is taken care of, I can buy a demo Escape Hybrid!  🙂  It sorta feels good to have a plan of action at least in my head.  Going to go on Sunday to look at cars and talk to a couple of dealers and see what they’re willing to offer.  No way am I buying a brand-new car again – the depreciation on them sucks ass!

Laina and I are probably going to go back to the Art Gallery tomorrow so we can watch the 45-minute film they have there – neither time I was there did I have time to watch that one and I’d really like to see it.  Also, I’ve not visited any of the other exhibits in the gallery, so it’d be nice to see some of the other work there, too.  I have Linda’s membership card, so I get in for free, but I told Laina I’d pay for half her admission if she wants to go since she had to pay full price today.

I have a headache which I suspect is from the weight of my Jones New York wool coat weighing down on my shoulders the entire time we were at the gallery.  Ready for sleep.  I’m so tired, I’m going to skip brushing my teeth and taking out my contacts and just crash.