The Heat, Photos, Friends and Babies

It's been a busy month since I last logged an entry. Wow. I've been trying to go out and enjoy the warm weather, but I was suffering allergies here and there, so that was a bit annoying at times. I was noticing that the apartment was getting warmer and warmer as the temperatures rose in the spring, and Violet was having trouble letting me pet her, and I was wondering why. When I got chances to pet her, I would feel all those hairball mats in her. I realized that she was practically covered in them, and knew I had to cut them out. However, whenever Violet has mats, and I try to cut them out, I often times need another person to help hold Violet still and soothe her while I cut her mats out. My mom used to do that, and now that I'm in Brockville I couldn't get the chance to, so I was wondering how to do that. Since Violet is pretty resistant of Steve generally, Steve really didn't want to help me with Violet. He really didn't want to be swiped or clawed by her so he was leery about doing it.

I had to make him do it, and so we brought Violet in the bathroom with us and shut the door and worked through some mats until Violet really had enough. We got a bit out of her the first chance, and the second chance Violet was less willing, and because of that, we were talking about using one of Steve's shaving kits to shave the mats out to make the mat removal go faster...I wasn't sure if Violet would be okay with the feeling of the vibrations from the machine shaver. She wasn't a big fan of it, but let us shave a lot off, and now she actually looks funny. Most of her butt and lower back was shaved down to nothing and the rest of her is long haired. *laughs* It looked funny for a while, but I got to get a lot of her mats out. She still has more, but she usually lets us know when she's had enough...I hate that. I usually want to get it all out at once, but ugh... lately I have been thinking about the heat, and how hot it was, and started to realize that that's why Violet was matting so much - because of the heat...she tends to sweat more, then matting a lot in the summer. So, ugh. Oh well, soon I'll get it all out.


You can see how she looks here, all shaved off, half-long haired, half-bald. A little sad, I think. But at least I'm sure she feels a bit more cool now, not so hot! Heh...

I was also getting restless during the week that I kept wanting to go places all the time, with it getting warmer and warmer by the day. So Steve and I took some walks out in Brockville so I could check out the area and see more of the town. We went out to the waterfront by the model plane and walked around there, I think it was the Brockville municipal marina...it was interesting. The temperatures were really nice that day so we both just decided to go for a walk and check things out. We have also gone back to Raxx's for another of their meals, and just to hang out.

In the beginning of May, Steve wanted to go back to this one industrial boneyard that he had found a couple of months back, and take me to go take pictures there. He wanted to do a whole thing where he films me taking pictures and checking out the area. He mentioned to me later that I would find things that he had missed the first time out there, so it was like a whole different trip for him. There were also some things I was checking out that Steve had checked out before for his first film, Industrial, on Vimeo. There's this one scene where he props up a pail so that he sits on it, and when we went looking at the machines and stuff, I noticed some mangled metal on the ground and was talking about it, and he told me it was the pail he had set up to sit on for his earlier video, that was all destroyed. I thought it was a little funny...got to check out a lot, and there was a lot to look at, so it was cool. It was funny because I was shooting and I turned around and saw a little bird who was eyeing me on the ground in a distance, and I was all, oh, got to take a picture and the bird just began barreling towards me with it's wings wide open, like he was going to attack me and I had to jump back in surprise, never saw a little bird get so angry before! It sure surprised me. *laughs* Steve said that I actually screamed, but I think he may be exaggerating...I know I was surprised, yeah, but I don't think I screamed, maybe I yelped but screaming seems a bit extreme...the bird did get right against my leg before turning and running away from me...It was really strange. It's a little bird, why would he be doing that? *laughs* Steve thinks it was a female and was protecting her nest, as we had seen a nest in one of the machines earlier. It was really funny though. Was a bit unexpected, that's for sure. I have pictures of that little bird in my photos here. We were out there for maybe a hour, just shooting and checking out different parts of the machine. It was different.

You can see Steve's video here:

You may remember I changed my name back to my maiden name over a month ago? I finally got all my cards in, and then proceeded to change more in the rest of my other items and memberships. It really hasn't been much fun, but hopefully it's almost all over. *smile* There has been some places that like fighting me on changing my last name, which has been insane...but they are being changed slowly though.

Anyway, my friend Kat had her baby a few months ago and I hadn't actually met the baby yet, so I thought I should drop in on Kat while Steve came to Ottawa to pick up something he ordered for himself, a new Glidecam. He's been dreaming about having one for a really long time, and a new affordable Glidecam came out and he wanted to grab up the chance to get it, and in the meantime I thought I should visit Kat and meet her new baby. So we headed out to Ottawa one Tuesday in mid-March, and went to pick up Steve's new Glidecam, and he was all excited, but couldn't use it yet until he came home. It was a little funny, and then we headed over to Kat's place. We went to her backyard and then mellowed outside on her patio with her, her baby Arianna and her mom, Linda. It was good, just talking about everything and just catching up with everybody. I also had to introduce Steve to both of them as they hadn't met him yet, so it was not too bad. Kat was just too busy telling me about the birth, Arianna, and being a mother, to actually officially meet Steve in actuality, but he was kept busy talking to Linda anyway so that was okay. *smile* Nothing new with that. Arianna was pretty cute, and a very happy baby, so that was a little funny. I'll just have to see as she grows up and all that, and see how she'll be as she gets older. That'll be interesting...like all the other babies I have known and gotten to know in the past couple of years - there's just been a big boom on babies lately for me, for my friends and family, so it's a little crazy. Heh.

The holiday weekend, the Victoria Day weekend was interesting. It was a really, really hot weekend, unfortunately! Wow... :/ And Steve had been telling me that Brockville actually did have a beach of a sort around the waterfront, and I was a bit surprised about that. It's such a small town, and it has a beach? It was over at the St. Lawrence Park by the waterfront, so it was cool. Just going there and checking it out. I even brought my camera with me for that so it was interesting that's for sure, and Steve had fun filming. Though, when we went to the water shore, to check out the temperature of the water, there was a lot of little kids running around in the water, not quite swimming as the water was still pretty cool, and one little boy came up to us to talk about Steve's videocamera. He seemed to be very fascinated by it. *laughs* It was a little funny actually. After we went up and talked to the boy's mom, and there was something about Steve where everyone just knew him and the people that worked at his work. So it was crazy. It was cool checking out the beach, and I know it's there, but it was certainly very small so it may be a little cramped. Yikes, just have to see what it's like through the summer at least. We then finished up at the beach and started shooting around the park and different locales, and in the large gazebo, I started shooting pictures. It was interesting, that's for sure. I'm still getting used to Brockville, that's for sure. *smile*

My mom finally came by over the holiday weekend to bring over my fans that I could use in my apartment as it was getting to be unbearably hot with the humidity being so high - if I wanted to use A/C's, I would have to let my landlord know and pay extra to have my A/C's installed. So I wasn't too sure about that at all, so I opted out on that part for now, and just going to stick with my two fans. I may pick up another one for the third room in the apartment, but otherwise, it's beginning to feel better here now. My mom just came by to drop off the fans and to talk to me about all the stuff going on, she was only over for a few minutes. But the place finally feels a lot better, and Violet seems to be feeling a lot better, and hopefully she'll let me cut more mats out of her, and brush her more. Heh...all wait and see. But I'm hoping she will sweat less, and get less mats soon.

One day Steve decided to take me to join him with his co-worker, Matt and Leigh, for drinks. I have met Matt here and there, as he lives in the apartment below us, and Leigh, I hadn't met before, but had seen him on his TV show that Steve produces and works on, Critical Thinking. They all tend to go out for drinks after they finish the show, and he actually asked me to join them one night, so I was willing to, because I had been cooped up in the apartment and wanted to get out. So we went to Boston Pizza to join Matt and Leigh, so it was interesting. They both were pretty nice. Matt and Steve were tired, and Leigh was late, and when he finally got to the restaurant, he was in a goofy mood. It was good, they all were nice, so it was fun. *smile*

When I was over at Kat's place, she was talking about going camping and stuff like that, and also about Mayfest, and how I should come by, but because Mayfest was the next weekend, and I wasn't sure if I could come back to Ottawa again the next weekend, I told her I had to think about it, and Steve couldn't make it because of work anyway, so we started talking about camping, as Kat was going to go camping in Charleston Lake the coming summer, in June, and I was willing to...talked to Steve about it, and then we decided to book times at two parks for the summer. One at Charleston Lake in the end of June, from the 21st to 24th, so to hang out with Kat and her family and just enjoy the place. Neither one of us, Steve and I have ever camped at Charleston Lake before, so we're hoping it's nice there. Steve has always liked Sharbot Lake Park, so we're also going there in August, to the same campsite we went to last year, so that'll be good. *smile* Two camping trips over the summer, which is going to be crazy - and busy!! Wow... Oh well, I'll get used to it eventually, and I hope my allergies won't be too bad for those times. My allergies were bad for a while, but they seem to have gotten better lately, so I'm glad about that. *smile* I want to start enjoying the warmth! Heh...It's just going to be crazy. Sheesh.

The Senators Playoff Game, and the Jones Creek Trails

Hmm, let's see...I've gone to the Senators playoff game in April, and that was a lot of fun actually. Steve wanted to get tickets for Game 6 as it was in Ottawa, and of course it was going to be right smack on the day of my mom's birthday, so that was going to be interesting. He ordered the tickets and was all raring to go. It was funny to see him talk and all that about the game, and if they won, they would move on to the next stage of the playoffs and so on, so he was really wanting to go and see them, as he loves the Sens. *smile*

Anyway, so the day of the Sens game, Steve was working, and then took off from work early so that we could go driving to the Scotiabank Place where they were playing, and we did. I have personally not gone to a NHL game live before, so it was something I was looking forward to. I have gone to the Blue Jays game at the Skydome, but never to a NHL game, so it was something new for me. *smile* We ended up with tickets that landed us in the very back of the stadium, and it was crazily full. I wasn't expecting that. *laughs* But it was cool, and being there for the first time for the playoffs was pretty cool too. We got there, got our seats and then ordered something fast for our dinner there, as we didn't eat before we left. We left around 4 something so we hadn't eaten supper yet. So we just ordered some pizza and munched on it before the game started; and the stadium was crazily full. I was not used to being so cramped up with other people, but after a little bit I got used to it. Steve was yelling the entire game and I wasn't used to seeing him like that, as he's not exactly the most out there type of guy, but when it came to the game, and his team, the Sens, he really was out there, so it was interesting for me to watch him be like that in public. I knew he was like that normally, as he's always like that at home when he watches the game, all gung-ho about the Sens and them winning, and so on. It was just funny to see him like that at the game, yelling along with other really loud fans, so it was crazy. I really am glad I cannot hear. *laughs*

After a little while I had to join in with everybody yelling for the Sens...(I mostly just waved my towel, not yelled) but of course they lost the game, and much to Steve's sadness, they also lost the last game, so they aren't in the playoffs anymore. So it's all okay. It was still fun to go and watch the game, and see how full the stadium was, full of people waving the towels that were provided in each seat and just seeing everyone go wild. Steve even made up signs that he picked up at the dollar store, and just was being silly. One sign was a For Sale sign, and below it, said: "One NYR Team"...figures, and the other sign said "Hey, New York...Got Your Golf Clubs Ready?" Sheesh. It was nothing new, and he made me hold one of them up, so it was just silly. He even had me wear one of his Sens shirts, which was signed by Chris Phillips before, and one of his Sens caps, and he wore the same, just not a signed jersey. He even bought some stickers from the dollar store and made me wear them on my face. That wasn't much fun, as it was very itchy, but it was just silly and what he wanted to do... Normal!

Leaving the parking lot from the game was crazy, I think it took us 45 minutes to finally get out of the parking lot. Then we finally headed back home and just crashed. It was an interesting night that's for sure. *smile*

The next little bit was a little bit busy, with me visiting my mom here and there for dinner and just saying hi, and the such like, so it was not too bad. I was also always so tired and was a little frustrated with being so tired and sore all the time, and I had noticed that I was gaining weight again, and my mom was asking if it was the same medication that I had taken before that didn't work, (which I do believe it was) as it wasn't the same brand that I used before for my thyroid, which was Eltroxin, it was a different one but they said was similiar and should work the same...I had it for the past three months, and I was slowly going downhill and when I told my mom how much I weighed now, she said that I had gained weight, but I couldn't remember, as I was so tired and so disoriented all the time, and it was hard to keep track of anything. When it was time to refill my medication, my mom called my doctor to get it refilled, and she was telling them about how I felt on the other medication and if I should go back on Eltroxin. I wasn't sure if the pharmacy I went to had them currently, so when they refilled it with the brand they had and I went in to pick it up, and they told me that my drug card didn't cover it, and I was like, what? They don't cover the ones that don't work for me, so nah, I'm not taking it! *laughs* Why pay for something that was not exactly making me feel good? They did say that the brand that works for me, is free under my drug card, so it's something to consider, so I told them to start ordering that brand, because I wasn't up to paying for the other brand, especially since it didn't work that great for me. I wasn't sure if they would switch as they didn't really specify, and when I called the Walmart pharmacy to see if they provided it, and they did, so I checked with my doctor to switch pharmacies, and when they called the Shoppers to transfer my prescription to Walmart, they found out that Shoppers did order my medicine for me, and that it was ready. Um...no one told me they were going to? *laughs* So I was okay with it and picked it up there. I started it the past week and after the first day, wow, I could really feel the difference. *laughs* I kind of perked up, woke up more, so it's quite a difference. *laughs* Oh well...so it's better, and they have to keep getting that medicine as it works for me, not the other one. So I feel a lot better now. I have actually begun to wake up and wanting to work out, usually I wake up feeling tired, but not these days. I'm waking up and wanting to work out so it's good, I'm going back to my old routine. I hate the times when I'm so sleepy and lazy and exhausted, it really sucks. I've actually found more of Zuzana's workouts so I downloaded a lot of them and been working out with them so I'm starting to feel better. And now, this time, when I work out, I don't hurt as much as I used to. I used to hurt all over for like a few days after doing one workout and when I did the workouts, it would kill me and I'd be gasping in the end of it and be in a lot of heavy sort of pains and aches. I thought it was weird that I was so out of shape so suddenly. I figured it may have been because I haven't worked out often enough lately, so it was harder on me. But it wasn't the case, it was the case of being on the wrong medications. :/ So weird. Working out now is a lot easier again, so it's a little crazy.

One Saturday Steve wanted to go filming again, and wanted me to go with him, as I had sort of stopped going with him when he went out to film, and wanted me to go with him for this one place and since I was feeling a bit better, not so tired being back on the Eltroxin pills, I went with him. It was down at the Jones Creek Trails, a hiking trail. I wasn't sure how I would be able to go through the trails, as I have been so tired lately and so on, so I tried with Steve, and it was pretty fun. The trails are huge, and there were a lot of people, and it was a nice day even, a bit brisk, but still a nice day. I started taking pictures and going along the trails with Steve just exploring and checking out different parts of the trails. At one point I actually lost Steve as he kept going out and around off the trails and I lost him, so I tried to go and look for him along the trail, and he started freaking out and started looking for me. I had walked by a bunch of people that I had walked by earlier with Steve and he asked two ladies that I had just previously walked by, if they had seen me, and they told him where I had gone, and Steve was surprised I had gone so far, and he was afraid that he would lose me being apart like this so he went running after me. *laughs* It was a little funny though. I had no idea where he was so when I got to one point, a fork in the trail, where signs pointed to the parking lot or continue on the trails, I wasn't sure if Steve would have gone to the parking lot or continued on, and I figured that since he tends to get lost in his filming he would probably go ahead so I tried to go ahead, and soon after Steve caught up with me with the help of the two women that I had passed by at the turn. *smile* On Steve's blog he said that he had his eye caught by something off the trails and was busy filming it and he said that I "used" that opportunty to go ahead without him on the trails. I didn't use the opportunity, I was looking for him then. *laughs* I thought he was up ahead of me, I didn't know he went off the trails. :/ Typical man. It was a little funny actually. He mentioned this: "I could see her ending up sleeping a night in the woods, having to cuddle up to a black bear for body heat. ;)" I really don't think I would have gone that far! *laughs* Oh well. But it was a fun outing though, it was quite the place to explore. *smile* Steve wants to go back when it's warmer to explore it even more. It's a huge trail system, that's for sure. Here is the link to his video of the Jones Creek Trails:



I had an appointment for the Pacemaker Clinic and realized that I made the appointment where my mom couldn't make it, as she was working the entire time then, so I had asked Steve about it, if he could go to the appointment with me, and help tell me what was going on. It was pretty much the same sort of appointment as it is every time, but, there was this one weird occurence that went on in the testing room. An unfamiliar doctor came in and looked over my file, and said that it would be better for me if they lowered my heart rate range on my pacemaker, and I was like, huh? What? They just raised it just under a year or so ago, saying that it would be better for my heart if it was to a more normal range, and I actually do feel a lot better now, I have more energy and it's a lot better, I have not had any problems in all this time since then. So that's why I was surprised that this doctor said that, but it was also a doctor I had never seen before, he wasn't my regular doctor so I was like, oh jeez... So for a bit the doctor and the nurse who was working on me, was talking about it and I didn't know what was going on, all I knew was that the doctor wanted to lower my range which I really didn't want. I think the doctor and the nurse were arguing about it, and all that, Steve was having a hard time understanding the whole conversation so he couldn't really pass on the conversation to me. *smile* So I was like, freaking out at one point, and when the doctor left looking a little grumpy, the nurse then turned to me and told me what was going on. She said that he was just a resident, so he's still learning so it's okay, they weren't changing anything on me, since I was doing well right now, and was having no problems. I was like, jeez...good thing. It scared me for a minute there. *laughs* I hated the range it was on before, as I was always so tired...heh. Funny. It was a good appointment, pretty quick and then I headed to my mom's place, as she asked me if I wanted to go out shopping with her in the afternoon after the appointment, and I agreed, and she'd drive me back home when we were done.

So I went out and went shopping with my mom, looking around for some summer clothes and I ended up getting a lot. *laughs* Oops, but it'll come in useful when the weather warms up. *smile* I also got some groceries from my mom, as I normally get food for both Steve and me as he covers the bill for the TV, phone and internet, but it was getting a bit expensive, as you know, with how expensive food can be. :/ So my mom offered to buy me one batch of groceries to help tide me over for the next few weeks of May. It was a good afternoon, we even went out for an early supper, late lunch at Denny's. It was a good afternoon just catching up with her and seeing what was up. When it was over, when we both were all shopped out, John then drove me home with my mom, and Josh. It was a good day, though I was really tired by the time I got home. *laughs* Oh well.

The start of May has been generally pretty quiet with me just going back to my normal activity schedule I used to have before I moved to Brockville, with me working out here and there, and just cleaning up, and doing odd stuff around the place. *smile* With some odd outings here and there. It's been good.