A Couple Of Tarts

It's my sister Dawn's birthday today so I'm posting this pic of the two of us made up like a pair of tarts. She's on the right. I'm on the left.

Happy birthday sis!

RIP Auntie Sheila

You may not hear from me much over the next week or so. I'm getting ready to head off to Montreal to say goodbye to my dear Aunt Sheila who passed away early this morning. I will be remaining there for a bit to clear out her apartment and do all the paperwork necessary to settle the estate.
She was generous and funny and my strongest advocate when I was growing up. I'm going to miss her.

Goodbye Firefox

I finally switched to Safari because Firefox had slowed down to a snail's pace and none of the fixes worked. Unfortunately I can't import my gazillion Google bookmarks in a format that is easy to use but that seems to be the only problem so far. I'll miss that little jumping fox.

Peso Table

Mr. Nag decoupaged a table with some old Argentinian pesos he had kicking around.

The Nag is getting around

I was blown away when Alex from Neatorama asked me to be an author on his blog. I've got a few things to learn but I have a great teacher so hopefully I'll be up to speed soon. My first five blog posts went up today!

Looks like a scene from The Dukes of Hazzard

My sister recently gave me a stack of old family photos I'd never seen before. We laughed ourselves silly looking at them. Here's one of me and my other sister about to throw something off the Tallahatchie Bridge. (I'm the dark haired one.)

Thanking my lucky stars for public health care

I consider myself to be healthy - some minor wear and tear but still pretty spry if I do say so myself. However I do have cataracts. (Judging from my fellow patients at the eye surgeon's office I may be the youngest person ever to have developed this condition.) The road from diagnosis to surgery has involved a great deal of time, both mine and that of health care professionals. I went to the optometrist who referred me to the surgeon who referred me to my GP to assess whether I'm fit for surgery, then a presurgical assessment. Next week I have the surgery and the day after that a post-op assessment. That amounts to a grand total of six visits to physicians - for the first eye alone! If I had to pay the full cost I would think twice about having the surgery done despite my night vision problems. As it is my biggest worry is the time off work to get to all these appointments.

As a public sector worker I would likely have health care benefits even if Canada did not have universal medicare but this experience has made me realize how lucky we are in this country to have equal access to health care for everyone. And that's more than enough preachiness for now!

Some of my books

My books - a set on Flickr

Here is a small sample of my library. My life consists of trying to abide by the 'one book in, one book out rule'. So far I'm not succeeding.
I have more books than I'll ever read in this lifetime so why do I keep buying more? And when I want a particular one I can never find it. I keep telling myself that this addiction is more benign than most but if I ever have to move I'll be kicking my own ass.

Patrick and Lizzy need your support

My Facebook friends already know that my son, Patrick, will be walking with his little dog Lizzy, rescued from a Louisiana kill shelter, to support the Hamilton SPCA. Dogs like Lizzy came to Hamilton via Boudreaux's Animal Rescue Krewe, a charitable organization that aids in rescuing dogs that have been abused, neglected, and/or abandoned. B.A.R.K. was named and dedicated after the late Mr. Boudreaux who was an abused boxer rescued by BARK's founders, Eva and Julian Long.
Of course Patrick would appreciate donations but he would also like you to join his Facebook group to show support for this worthwhile cause:

Patrick and Lizzy need sponsors for the Hamilton SPCA walkathon:
As some of you may know I have a small dog named Lizzy who was rescued from New Orleans after the hurricane and made available to me by the Hamilton SPCA. I feel that this is a valuable service and we will be walking to raise money for the SPCA on Sept 13. If you would like to make a pledge to help animals like Lizzy please contact me via email: pbellamy84@hotmail.com
Thank you for your kindness

Is this romantic or what?

Mr. Nag and I, like many other people, were talking about Michael Jackson. I think he was a major talent and remember being positively impressed when I first heard Billie Jean. Mr. Nag said he thought Michael Jackson took Motown in a negative direction. I asked (tongue in cheek), "Does this mean this is the end for us?" to which he replied, " I don't think there could be an end to us."

Pat and Lizzie

Rumour has it, backed up by this Facebook photo, that my son Patrick and his squeeze, Amanda, have adopted a Louisiana rescue dog named Lizzie. I get to meet her tomorrow.

As a dog returns to its vomit...

I just hoovered up another piece of the chocolate pecan pie a friend gave us yesterday. It was sweet and decadent as only Willow can make it. Ordinarily I'd suck it up without guilt but yesterday I attended a work related 5 course Italian lunch followed by a substantial barbecued chicken dinner made by a well intentioned Mr. Nag (who had not had a gut stretching lunch) followed by the aforementioned pie. Today I had a banana for lunch in an attempt to ameliorate yesterday's pig out but once I got home I heard the siren song of the pie and that was that. I'm thinking screw the diet and buy Spanx. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Nothing says spring like forsythia

and Mr. Nag has placed bunches of them all over the house. I guess spring has officially sprung chez Nag.

Did y'all miss me?

I've been in Ottawa all week learning how to do my job better and meeting people who do the same work across the country. Not a lot of time to blog but will try to make up for lost time now that I'm back.

Here we are now, entertain us

Mr. Nag was cleaning out a filing cabinet and found a school project my younger son did in elementary school. It was a biography and was cute as can be. In it we found this picture of him and his older brother taken during the height of grunge. They are wearing the de rigueur flannel shirts and expressions of apathy.

Has spring sprung?

No it hasn't. Despite this weekend's high temperatures and the sun shining through the window on the forced daffodils I know we have lots of nasty weather yet to come. I spoke to my son in Rio today. He was moaning about having to move furniture into his third floor apartment in mid-30s temperatures. Somewhere on this earth the temperature must be moderate but not for any of the Bellamys it seems.

Vintage New Year's Eve

Mr. Nag and I, New Year's Eve 1979. We've both changed quite a bit since then. If anything I'm even more gorgeous.

My Own Superhero

It snowed like a sonofabitch yesterday. I anticipated an impossible commute so I brought work home with me the night before and toiled over correspondence and a press release all day. Mr. Nag drove home from working all night in Toronto and immediately segued into tasks usually performed by guys in leotards and capes. He shoveled out driveways for the infirm, delivered chicken soup he'd made himself (with ginger and coriander) to a friend who was housebound with a bad knee and for a grand finale drove an ambulance for paramedics who couldn't get their vehicle out of a snowdrift.

A Break For the Nag

I work 10 hour days 7 days a week during a campaign. My son knows the drill and brought all the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner and cooked them up. I left work early and had a great holiday meal with my family. Mr. Nag did most of the cleanup. How lucky am I?

I'm outta here

Flying to Paris later today. Will miss my dog. Will return to the campaign either refreshed or exhausted but will return.