My home reno DIY projects have been going swimmingly this week & I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I enlisted the help of Boys with Power Tools and got to quite literally see the light at the end of the crawlspace as I did the army elbow crawl through the cobwebs and insulation dust to run cable & internet wiring through my newly drilled floor holes. My house has only 1 cable jack installed & it happens to be in a spot where I can't put my TV or computer (I have cable internet too). So for the last year I've had a big long cable run along the outside of my living room which has to cut across the middle of the floor at one point & an even longer cable going all the way up the stairs from my cable modem to my computer on the 3rd floor. I hate cables.
It took three times longer than I planned, but I now have cables running behind the walls & lovely wall jacks & no more cables to trip over. I wish I had done this when I first moved in instead of right before I sell the place. But that's the way it goes!
Today I have to hit the paint store (again) because I ran out of paint last night when I was 95% finished. I'm on the second coat & have just one wall to go but I made the mistake of trying to push the paint as far as it would go & doing a "light" second coat. Of course, that translates to an uneven second coat that looks awful. It would've been better off with just one coat of paint & no uneven roller marks. I really hate to spend another $45 on a can of paint to just do one wall. Bah.
All I have left before I can put my house up for sale is:
A new delicious toe sucking movie has been added to Barefoot Kristy from my trip to Miami! Red toes & red lips...yummm! If you're not a member yet, sign up today. =)
Sometimes when I'm trying to make a decision I'll look to the universe for signs. My mom would call it turning the decision "over to God". When I open myself up & begin looking for some kind of sign, I always find one. I don't think of it as God telling me what I should do, rather I'm allowing my subconscious to see what it wants to see; a "sign" will always appear to confirm the choice I truly want.
Remember how I was complaining about getting scammed on eBay for a camcorder? Though I got most of my money back, I was still out the $25 processing fee. I guess the guy had more money in his p ay pal account because I got the $25 refunded over the weekend. Woohoo! This is my sign confirming that I should buy a new camcorder. =)
After some lengthy research, I decided on the brand spanking new Canon HDV camera, the HV10:
The only problem is trying to track one down. Since they're brand new, no Canadian retailers have them in stock yet. I can order one from the US, but with the lousy exchange rate my credit card gives me & the cost of shipping it'll be more expensive than waiting for it to arrive here. The Camera Store guy has my name on the wait list but can't give me any more info other than it will be here within the next 2 weeks. So...order today & pay for the premium of getting it faster? Or be patient & fiscally responsible? I need another sign.
I added a few new pictures to Barefoot Kristy today from my last trip. It's a really tiny gallery I snapped one morning while I was sitting on my hotel balcony enjoying my coffee. The trip was pretty hard on my feet (blisters! ouch!) & I knew my red nail polish wouldn't last long on my poor toes.
Come to think of it, my feet haven't fared much better since I've been home. I caught my big toe on the edge of my computer last week & chipped my toe nail. I had to trim my nails really really short to make sure the chip wouldn't snag on anything else & give me a further owie. They look so silly this short! And you can still see the piece missing from my big toe. =(
I'm going to shoot some new foot fetish pictures anyways. I would rather wait until my nail grows back properly, but I'd hate to disappoint my sole & arch fans with having to wait even longer for a big update. Maybe I should do a bandaid set. haha!
I'm sure the story has been all over the news today, but if you're enjoying your long weekend sans media, the Croc Hunter guy was killed by a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I dived the reef years ago & when I snorkelled in Florida last month, I swam alongside a huge stingray without a hint of trepidation. Coming from a girl who's afraid of birds (damn Hitchcock), this stingray thing may bear some investigation. I thought they were pretty tame creatures that would only lash out if they were stepped on or otherwise bothered. Even if you got stung, I thought it was more of an ouchie than anything life threatening, but apparently the barbs can actually puncture your heart (like the Croc guy) or stomach. Crazy! How did I not know this? My library hold list will need some updating after the long weekend.
Speaking of the long weekend, how's yours been? I was anticipating a rather dull weekend dusted with moments of hair-pulling frustration & lots of rum as I set up my new video editing computer system. My old computer kept crashing as I was trying to convert my videos from the camera to a format I can put on the net for download. I initially had planned to just buy some more RAM, but as I checked price lists I started thinking about buying a new motherboard & chip to go with the new supa fast RAM. After reading some video editing boards that basically told me "if you're not running dual core processors, you're an idiot", I bit the plastic & charged it all. Same case, hard drive, monitor etc. so it wasn't *that* much to upgrade. Until I realized (after the computer store was closed) that my power supply won't work with the system. Delay #1.
The next day I bought a new ultra cool power supply & fan. When did freakin' fans start costing more than 100 bucks? I was not impressed by the price tag for ultra cooling action. Whatever. It's working now & I just need to do the hardware configuration update for Windows XP. Did ya know that if that process crashes in the middle of updating your hardware config it will make XP very mad? I do now! Many curse words & a late night trip to Best Buy for a new hard drive later, the system is running. I just need to find a store that carries PCI Express firewire cards & I'll be all set to render some movies. I've called 4 different stores so far & no luck.
Next time I decide to do a "quick upgrade" on my system, please refer me back to this blog entry.
Remember my last post about how lovely my D1sney day was going? Woodland creatures coming out of the...ummm...well not woodwork, but actual woods to greet me as I was walking my dogs? Let's just forget I said anything. Clearly, the iron Eisner fist is still ruling & the message is clear:
if you take naked pictures of yourself & post them on the internet, DO NOT fuck with D1sney!
Lest you think I'm paranoid & am gazing out at my monitor from beneath a tinfoil hat, let me tell you what happened after posting that sunshine-y blog entry. Around midnight I got the dogs leashed up & headed outside for their bedtime walk. I do this every day, usually twice a day. There is a large courtyard behind my house which my neighbors' yards & fences back onto. No traffic, a little footpath & perfect for brief, down to business dog walking.
We head out as usual & after just stepping onto the path both of my pooches take interest in something a few feet off the path near my neighbor's fence. They're not barking, but they darted towards this area with an intensity unlike their usual wander around & sniff routine. I can't quite see what it is but assume it's my neighbor's cat (the friendliest sweetest cat I've met to date) & so I yell at them to "get outta there! C'mon!"
Then I see something much bigger than my neighbor's cat. Squinting in the dark, I notice strange white vertical stripes. Two seconds later I realize it's not big, it just has its tail up because it's a motherfucking skunk & it's spraying me!
I run down the path (cursing) & loop back to the house. The dogs don't seem bothered at all, but I touch Kiero's back & she's got a very light oily coating. fuck fuck fuck.
I don't usually mind that skunk smell when you drive past in your car & catch a whiff. I remember having a Scratch & Sniff sticker of a skunk when I was a kid & quite liked it. But up close? That smell is wayyyyy different. I couldn't smell it on my body or my clothes, but I could taste it. If it got in my mouth, the rest of me must've been reeking!
I ran us all back inside & hopped in the shower. After a thorough shampooing, I hopped out, dried off the dogs & started to get ready for bed. But I couldn't get that horrible taste out of my mouth. I threw all of my clothes plus the towels in the washing machine. I searched on the internet for ways to get rid of skunk smell. I could still catch whiffs of it everywhere & my bedroom was especially bad since that's where I went first & took off my clothes. We had stunk up the whole house! I found some helpful advice (put out a big bowl of vinegar to soak up the smell), but realized that me & the dogs still stunk. I had to resort to the old wives' tale - tomato juice bath.
The dogs were NOT impressed. Two baths in one day? Yuck! But between the tomato juice & the vinegar, the house was much improved the next day. Still no idea where a skunk came from, but I got the point - no more D1sney references from this girl.
It's official. I have finally succumbed to the painfully obvious reality that trying to deal with my life as it stands (aka Disaster Central) is not conducive to keeping a regular cam show schedule. My weekly shows are going on temporary hiatus.
I know, I know...the recent cancellations have made this as obvious as Paris Hilton's natural talents. I keep hitting "Skip Show" instead of removing myself from the schedule completely, holding onto the thread of hope that surely (surely!) by *next* week things will have calmed down & I'll have a home base where I can set up my cam computer. Instead, tonight I'm going to be packing & moving stuff out of the way so that the reno guys can replace a window tomorrow morning & hopefully finish my front steps sometime this week. Last week was the back deck & the concrete all around my house in the "common areas" of the complex. It was a toss up, but I decided to go with opening my windows & suffering the probably toxic stench of whatever industrial sealant they were coating the concrete with instead of keeping 'em closed & turning Disaster Central into a summer sauna. It didn't cool things down much, but I did get a strong craving for nachos.
What I'm really craving is getting settled. I still don't know where I'm moving to & I was supposed to have my house already sold by now. I'm still weeks away from having it in any condition to be listed. The Crazy Stressed Out Bitch Alert System is currently set at magenta. This equates to:
> not sleeping
> feeling sick to my stomach every single day
> exacerbating the whole intestinal affair with mocha lattes since
> I can't stay alert long enough to, oh I don't know...prevent myself from driving off the road while hauling boxes up to my storage unit?
I feel like this guy:
Technically I have been taking crazy pills in the form of generic OTC "sleep aid", but they don't help. It still takes me several hours to fall asleep (4 a.m. was the earliest this week) & then I'm groggy for half the morning. Last night I decided to try resetting my clock completely & instead of aiming for sleep, I just stayed up reading until it was daylight & then moved to the couch to finish my book. So far, so good!
I hit the farmers market early this morning, but my perogy guy was already sold out. Blast! Apparently a flock of earlier birds will be enjoying a supper of cottage cheese & dill perogies hand-lovingly formed by an authentic Ukranian baba who holds the exclusive domain of the city's perogy market, yet refuses to increase her supply to cater to the demand of the market-goers who dally & don't line up at first light. This isn't communist Russia, for Petr's sake! Selling out of your best wares in the first 45 minutes each Sunday & then trying to hock your last 2 containers of borscht for the remaining 5 hours of market time is hardly going to help you fit in with the rest of the Johnny CapitalistSeed vendors. Verrückt!
My day improved markedly, however, once I hit the dog park. I felt like all the animals were coming to greet me like something out of a Disney movie. As we trotted along the winding trails through the now lush & overgrown forest, I saw a bunch of critters (a Blue Jay, squirrels etc.) & they all seemed to stop what they were doing & look at me. So I stopped & looked at them. The forest was actively campaigning for me to stop & smell the flowers. It's possible I was hallucinating from lack of sleep, but it was the first moment that I've felt calm in weeks. Of course my peaceful Sunday was shattered by the irritating phone messages waiting when I got back to remind me of the meetings I need to attend this week & the paperwork I need to have ready.
One day my prince will come. And he will be driving a U-Haul.
I went to see the new Will Ferrell movie, Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby last night & laughed my ass off. I really don't get the appeal of Nascar, but the movie was funny & perfect for a summer night of popcorn munching in the dark. I took my nephews to see the Nascar movie at IMAX a few weeks ago. It was interesting, but still...I don't get it. They just drive around in circles, people! How can this sport captivate audiences larger than the population of Canada???
I guess it would be kind of fun to see first person how fast these cars actually go as they whizz past your seat in the stands, but surely that must lose its cache after a few laps. So what to do during the next 495 laps? Drink beer? Flash your boobs? Hope for a crash? I'll take hockey any day.
I should note (before I get a pile of "NASCAR RULZZZZZ!" emails) that I do have huge respect for the drivers. Regardless of the fact that you can't really tell on TV, they are going incredible speeds & also in very close proximity to each other. The pressure of knowing any little error will result in a major crash would be insane. Holding that focus for 500 laps is unfathomable to my ADD brain. Like in every sport, physical skill & natural talent only gets you so far - the mental determination is what's needed to reach the upper echelon of sport greatness. (See: Phil Mickelson)
Now the one question neither the IMAX documentary nor Ricky Bobby answered for me (and the first question I asked my 7 year old nephew upon leaving the theatre) is: how do they go to the bathroom?
I'm so glad to be back home & able to sit at my computer with some privacy. I'm used to spending so much time at my desk either working on my site or chatting on forums, reading blogs that I don't realize how much of that kind of "quiet time" I need. Constantly having other people around, even family members that I love, is exhausting! I'm so glad to be back & will be posting lots of new pictures for my members over at Barefoot Kristy.com.
But first, a little about my trip to Miami:
1) The Madonna concert rocked! It was so hot in the arena that I was pouring sweat, but I kept dancing anyway. You know how women get beads of perspiration in their cleavage (which I affectionately dub "boob sweat")? I could feel the drops of sweat rolling all the way down my stomach. I stepped outside after the concert euphoric from finally seeing one of my childhood idols live & the clouds burst dumping warm, wet rain on my sweaty body. It was perfect.
2) I love the ocean. Not such a fan of the sun though. It's been weeks now & my burned bum is still showing signs of trauma. WARNING: Don't forget to put sunscreen on your ass if you're going to snorkel! I did have a great time & got to see a sea turtle & a nurse shark, so a little bum burn was well worth it for the experience.
3) I caught my first fish! That may not be completely true as I do recall going on camping trips with my family when I was a kid, but the only fish I ever remember catching were the ones I scooped up in my net right off the dock. This was my first time catching a fish that was bigger than a minnow plus my first time fishing in the ocean plus my first time baiting my own hook. I was such a squealy girl at the start, but after an hour or so I had no problem grabbing a bloody fish head to bait my hook. I was the only girl on the boat & had lots of willing helpers including three very sweet (and cute!) guys who had come down from Orlando, but I was proud of being able to do everything on my own. The captain was laughing at me a few hours into the trip when he noticed a big smear of fish blood across my forehead, Lord of the Flies style. No girlie girl here! Though the captain did use me as an example when talking about hauling a shark into the boat - he said if anyone caught a shark to leave it dangling off the rod until he came over himself to handle cutting it loose. Just letting it flop around inside the boat was liable to get a girl's red painted toes chomped off! lol
I caught 5 or 6 fish and 3 of those were keepers - a grunt & mangrove snappers. After the captain cleaned my fish for me, I went home with some good sized fillets & got the restaurant in my hotel to cook 'em up for me. Blackened with a little mango chutney...yum!
The painters have been here all week & did what looks like it'll be a great job when I finish cleaning all the white dust off of every surface & everything I own. What's the point of draping my furniture to protect it from paint splatter when the messiest part of the job comes from sanding down the walls after a spackle attack?
I've been sneezing like crazy & after the condo board sent me a letter informing me that contractors would be arriving today to start work on replacing my windows, I need to escape. My computer desk is pushed away from the walls (along with everything else I own) in a giant pile which is making internet access slightly difficult. I can't wait until everything is finished (baseboard guy? where are you???) & I can get back to living like a normal person.
In the meantime, I'm going to go visit my grandma for a few days. She didn't come to the big family trip in Banff last month & I know she gets lonely. Some home cooking sounds perfect right about now. You know you've been eating fast food too much when the McDonald's deli sandwiches actually start tasting good! lol
My grandma doesn't have internet access (surprise!) but I'm going to bring my laptop anyways just in case I can find a wifi connection that isn't locked down. Next week I'll be back, the contractors should be gone & we can get back to our regularly raunchy schedule. =)
Just as I finish my laundry I'm hitting the road again! I ran out of time for my movie update (or rather, my computer kept crashing while trying to convert the movie), but I'm hoping to get lots of saucy stuff shot while I'm in Miami. It's 3:16 a.m. & I'm still packing despite my best laid plans. I ended up spending the day (packing day!) trying to track down a decent kennel or dog sitter for my pooches after my prior arrangements fell through at the last minute. Not surprisingly in the middle of summer, most kennels and dog sitters are booked up. And for $60/day I might look into becoming a dog sitter myself! The service consists of three 30-minute visits/walks per day which works out to $40/hour...for walking a freakin' dog.
Fortunately I found a doggy daycare place with a wonderful owner that put my worries to rest. I went down to check it out right before they closed tonight & it was leaps & bounds better than the last kennel I used (spoiled house dogs don't do very well laying on hard concrete in the same dog runs where they also do their business).
Printing out some last minute maps & confirmation info, finishing packing & then off to bed. I'm sooooo glad nobody dresses up to fly anymore. If I'm rolling into the airport with my hair brushed tomorrow morning I'll have surpassed my self-imposed expectations.
Now if I could only stop singing that Miami jingle from the Golden Girls...
Just added a new photo gallery for Barefoot Kristy members of my pink flip flops & dark purple nails outside in the grass. These are the clean bare feet pictures which came before the muddy river walk that I posted before. I like getting dirty, but I know not everybody is into that. Can't have your feet & eat 'em too! haha
I added some larger samples to my foot fetish Yahoo group too.
Hey guys! This month has been insanely busy for me, so please accept my apologies for being so quiet. Between a wedding & then visiting with family up in Banff, getting my house ready to sell & dealing with a bunch of work stuff with my lawyer, I'm sooooo ready to pay attention to some more important things - like getting a pedicure! I'm not usually one to neglect my feet, but with everything else going on right now I've barely had time to shower let alone do my nails. =(
Fortunately my next trip (I leave this weekend) will be far more foot & camera friendly than hiking in the mountains. I'm going to Miami! I've never been there & can't wait to go. There will be flip flops & bare feet a plenty! Better believe I'll be bringing my camera. hehe
I ducked into my favorite shoe store this week to try & find some sexy heels to wear if I get a chance to go out to one of the nightclubs Miami is famous for. I tried on 2 killer pairs of stillettos - the sexiest shoes I've ever seen & only $35 each! I was in love! At home, I don't go anywhere that would warrant such sexy stems, but in Miami? Yeah, baby! Unfortunately, I wasn't joking about the "killer" part of these heels. My feet were screaming after just standing in either pair for a couple of minutes. Walking? Fuggedaboutit. I could have cried when I returned them to their boxes & left the store empty handed. I almost DID cry later when I realized that just putting those shoes on for a minute had already formed little cuts on my feet! Both pairs had a thin strap across the toes that apparently was made out of barbed wire. lol
The search continues! Maybe I should sneak my camera in with me next time. *heehee*
For Members:
chat with me during my cam show this Tuesday 11:00 pm EST
Holy moley! I came home to over 400 emails & voicemail full to capacity. I knew things were piling up at home, but I didn't realize everything was being flipped upside down! When I left for Banff my ex-girlfriend & oldest friend in Edmonton was getting married at the end of August & we were planning her bachorlette party. I get home & not only is the wedding off, but she's moving out. A contractor came by today to give me an estimate on all the work I need done before I can put my house up for sale. I called so many different places before I finally found someone who could:
a) call me back
b) start the work before September
Now I'm back on the painting/cleaning/selling/storage-ing mission. I'm going to paint the stuff I can reach like doors & trim before the professionals come in. That way if I have any spills or drips, they'll be doing the final stuff. Now I just need a baseboard guy, new light fixtures, new door knobs, finish sewing the curtains, fix the bathroom floor tile...whew! I'm tired already. lol On to the Banff pictures:
My favorite day of the holiday was the afternoon I took off by myself with nothing but a cooler & the doggies. We explored a few different lakes in the Banff area, chatted up a cute kayaker & lounged around on a picnic blanket drinking cider & soaking up the scenery.
I know dogs are always supposed to be on leashes in national parks, especially in bear country, but the pug was having so much fun digging up rocks along the shore that I wanted to see if he would actually swim if I went in with him. We waited out most of the other tourists & then I brought the dogs into the freezing cold lake with me. Kiero was a pretty good swimmer (though she seemed totally unimpressed that I made her get even her feet wet), but the pug was a bit top heavy & too short of snout to be much of a swimmer. Back to the beach for him while mom floated for a bit, happy to escape the heat & mosquitos. Best Day Ever.
My holiday is coming to an end & I'm a little sad to report that I'll be home late tonight. Banff is absolutely beautiful. I would love to stay for another week & keep hiking, swimming in the (cold!) lakes & harvesting freckles. My shoulders are covered with freckles! Much more becoming than the red mosquito bites on my legs.
As far as family vacations go, this has been the best one yet. No fights at all even with all the stress of a big wedding, lots of very different people with very different agendas to accommodate & a screaming 2 year old (my nephew). I ended up staying a few days longer than I had planned & shared a condo with my sister's family. I don't get to see her very often & when I do, it's usually with the entire family around which makes any real conversations rather limited - just too much noise & general activity when everyone gets together.
My thought process went like this: I know I really can't afford to take a holiday right now & it's the worst possible time with the amount of things I should've gotten done weeks ago, BUT I'm already here & I have no idea when I'll be back to Banff or get to see my sister again. I'll still be broke & way behind 3 days from now, but at least I'll have had 3 days of really exploring the mountains & spending time with my family. It has been wonderful! We drove up to Lake Louise & did the glacier hike. I took Piggy & Kiero out to the Lake Minnewankwa area & actually swam in the glacier fed lake. We even did a geocache hike into Sundance Canyon. So much fun! The first few days of the vacation were all family stuff so we ended up doing things like hanging around the condo & visiting, shopping & eating at really boring places (like Boston Pizza, twice) because that was what was easiest when you're dealing with so many people plus little kids. But my idea of a holiday is not shopping at stores I have back home or eating at chain restaurants that I have back home. *yawn* Being in a place with such incredible natural beauty & having the only physical activity be shopping or sitting in a hot tub? Lame. My sister & her family have a 14 hour drive & then are back to work on Monday morning, but she felt the same way as I did & so we agreed to stay a couple of extra days. It was well worth it.
I didn't take too many pictures, but I did get some cute ones when I snuck off to the lake with the dogs while everybody else was golfing. I like to golf, but for $189, I'd rather do twilight & the driving range a bunch of times at some of the local courses back home versus a single round up here. I'll be back soon & will post photos!
I'm leaving for Calgary in a few minutes & will be gone for 5 or 6 days to attend a wedding & then meet up with my parents, sisters, nephews...the whole family! As much as I would love to see everyone, this is the absolute worst time for me to be leaving for holiday. I collapsed in a pile of tears late last night feeling totally overwhelmed with all of the things I need to do & WANT to be doing right now instead of getting my car fixed & packing & taking the dogs to the vet. I have so many updates for the site & just want to work on my site stuff - respond to my email, hang out in chat & just generally get caught up.
Thank you for being patient with me & please know there are a bunch of comments & emails I really want to reply to, but just haven't had the time yet. Once I get back, things will calm down & I get back to focusing on what *I* want to be doing. Anybody got a valium? I haven't even had time to stress about the family arguments that are sure to ensue! Though maybe that's a good thing...
I'll try to update from Calgary. I think my hotel has internet so I'm going to bring my laptop & webcam, just in case I can sneak away & chat while I'm gone. Wish me luck!
I went to see Superman at the midnight showing last night & it was awesome! Perfect in every way with a wonderful blend of homage to the original & lots of whiz bang fun stuff to appeal to the new fans.
Is it any wonder that fetishes for things like bare feet or latex develop? There was a delicious scene where Lois Lane slips off her high heels & steps gingerly on Superman's feet so that they can fly together. The close up shot of her yummy bare toes stepping softly on his big boots (the way little girls dance with their fathers) was so romantic & sexy & just the thing that fantasies are made of. I couldn't see clearly what shade Kate Bosworth's toes were painted, but it was a very dark color - purple or black or very deep red. When they're coming back down, Kate has her feet pointed & the arches are to die for. Gorgeous!
