New house! New friends! New sister-in-law! Oh my!

Unforgivable! How do you all go so long without your Small Fry fix?!

Bottom line. This entry is long overdue. And I have lots to talk about.

Let's start with the fact that I'm still not pregnant and I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I won't be (unless I stop trying, adopt a little one and get lucky because my hormones are all of a sudden happy and productive).

Currently in the middle of our last fertility drug cycle (no IUI this time---3 was not a charm) and already have our first homestudy meeting with the adoption practitioner on September 26th. Gearing up for the probing grill of questions but really, I'm not that nervous. I know we'll do just fine.

Moved into the new house roughly 3 weeks ago and I'm loving it. I really feel at home and could see us here for a good long while. In the next couple of weeks, we're having a custom built-in wardrobe installed and most of the house will be painted. We ordered a nice new bed ( a low-profile, robin's egg blue birch sleigh bed---ultra cottage-y--just the way I like it).

Sarah and Tony (AKA McCally and T-Bonze) arrived a couple of weeks ago and we've been showing them their new hometown. Such fun! Methinks they like it here.

On August 19th, my brother and his new wife Kristin had a celebratory post-wedding Ottawa BBQ with family and friends and I got a little wasted. FUN! We also managed to fit in a visit with Owen and Sandra, who had their first baby, Alison, in July. Obviously we saw this a great photo opp for our adoptive parents online gallery, as you can see above.

Toronto population grows by 2

In less than a week, our dear pals Sarah and Tony make the move from Edmonton to the T-dot and we couldn't be happier.

Sarah will be here to expand her cerebral capacity by doing her Masters in Classics at UofT and Tony Baloney will no doubt explore his artistic talents at every turn.

They will be fine additions to the "centre of the universe."

Come Sarah and Tony! We're waiting for you!

*The above pic was taken at mine and Don's farewell last August just before we moved to the T-dot. Who knew that these two cuties would join us a year later...

The world needs more cottage life

I just lost a long post and I simply don't have it in me to re-write tonight. In a nutshell---here's what I had to say:

• This past weekend was spent at Uncle Jim's cottage in the 1000 Islands. Weather was perfect and we had a great time
• In a paradoxically modest yet bold move, my Mom exited the cottage sans wig and looked great. Free from synthetic hell, she let her Judi Dench do catch a breath of fresh air and I told she should go wig-free from that day onward
• Don was unusually wussy when it came to fully submerging his body in the waters of the St. Lawrence. "It's too cold! It feels like knives!" (I say he was wussy, but really it was kinda of cute in a pathetic way ;)
• Great food, lots of laughs and the ever-present reminder that the simple life is the best way to live...

What a taxing day

As I type this entry, I'm sitting in the offices of H&R Block at King and University. Making use of free Internet while I wait for my taxman, Lawrence Lazarus to show up. (Crazy name, eh?)

Yes, for the first time in my life, I was late filing. Reason? Freelancing doesn't produce T4s. It produces mounds of receipts that (as I'm quickly discovering) don't amount to much in the end.

*Skip ahead 1.5 hours: I've just arrived home from TaxmanLand. Shocking to admit but I made a paltry $15K last year and I still manage to owe the government $1500. That's with roughly $3000 in business expenses. To quote Dennis Miller: "I'm SICK of bein' hassled by the Man."

*The lovely picture you see here was taken back circa '92 at Carleton University when the only thing that was taxing me were exams. I'm not sure how this prom dress made the grade, but here it is, in all its whore-y glory.