points

* i'm starting to enjoy working from home, and am starting to prefer it to being in the office. for a number of reasons. and i don't know that i'd want to go back full-time at this point. i think my brain and body are finally readjusting to freelance life.

* hopefully, my laundry room will be done – with a washer and dryer installed – before december 1st. what i need to do is figure out what to do about the horrible floor. paint it, lay a sheet of linoleum or apply peel-and-stick tiles? the amount of viewable floor space (once the machines are in place) will be about 4", so i'm looking for the fastest, cheapest option.

* every time i look at the shoddy work that was previously done in the condo, i get tired. today's revelation: the entire backsplash is crooked – or slanted. whichever the correct term for tiles that have been laid higher at one end of the wall than the other.

* the handyman has to re-open the wall in my master bathroom to repair a mistake he made. he's not charging me for it, and apologized profusely, but man. it means the toilet has to be taken off and moved back out, the wall has to be cut open and then re-patched and re-plastered and repainted.

* my neighbourhood is as beautiful in the autumn as i thought it would be all those years when i'd drive through it to get to my previous apartment. i can still get to mount pleasant cemetery, which is stunning right now.

* i attended my first AGM at the condo last week, and haven't stopped thinking about the delicious mini sprinkle donuts they served. i have no idea where they got them, but i want more.

* last week, i also started a potentially lucrative new gig copy editing medical-grant proposals. i'd never done it before, but the doctors really liked my work and will have more for me in november. it's meant working both of the past two weekends, but it's been surprisingly challenging and fun. new parts of my brain were engaged.

* i have a craving for cookies right now.

new month, new updates, new directions

* this past week, my handyman went to work on the hot mess that was the master bathroom. he removed the ancient toilet, removed the rotted piece of drywall and removed the broken faucet. in the process, he opened what i affectionately dubbed "the hellmouth" -- a gaping hole in the bathroom's wall, that revealed the innards of the plumbing system for both bathrooms (which are back to back). thankfully, we did not find epic amounts of mould (which i'd feared). we did find that the spout on the guest-bath side had apparently been leaking (just a few drops per shower) for years, and the result was a badly decayed section of wall. BUT... no mould. so, the hellmouth stayed open for four days to dry out completely – during which time only one scutigera and one alien spider (with red legs!) emerged from its depths, and during which time i discovered (by accident) that the bathtub drain was leaking. the wall has been drywalled and plastered shut, a new kohler toilet was installed, the leaky drain was removed and repaired, and the shower now works just fine. oh, and did i mention that whomever the previous owner hired to "fix" things actually used roofing tar to "repair" the leaky bathtub drain? getting it off was like picking 20-year-old chewing gum out of braces.

* the situation at work has become such that i'd rather not go in to the office unless my physical presence is needed there. the woman who'd been on mat leave continues to half-ass her job, and i've grown tired of pointing it out over and over again.

* to that end, this past friday, after a couple of weeks of waking up sad every morning, i also realized that i feel sad because i've been trying to hang on to something that doesn't exist anymore: my experience over the past year. as stressful and exhausting as it was, it was also fun (at times) and a terrific learning opportunity. but it's now over, and it's not my job anymore, and the situation has changed... and i suddenly realized the futility of trying to prolong/preserve/perpetuate what is no longer there. it was like i woke up friday morning with a "you know what? f**k it!" attitude and, from then on, i've felt a lot better. i continue to hope for new business to come into the department, and will be delighted when it does. then, i can work on that. in the meantime, i'll keep writing and proofing and letting the slackers drop the ball.

* this weekend, YB and i are going on a day trip! we're not entirely sure where yet, but the fall colours are exploding right now and we both want to drive north to savour them. so, i'll stay over at her place on friday night and we'll head out first thing on saturday morning. we'll drive and shop and eat and hike, and my fingers are crossed that the weather holds up (right now, the forecast is for showers). i've also been bitten by the thrifting bug that long ago bit trix, so our journey will involve visiting rural thrift stores in the hopes of stumbling upon some awesome treasures. rest assured, there will be many photos of our adventure.

* tomorrow, i have a phone interview for a freelance-writing gig that sounds like it could be super-fun and super-cool. and it would be ongoing, at least through january 2015. it's the first job interview i've had in years, so i'm hoping it goes well, and that i'm given the chance to prove that i can do what's needed.

* this past week was the first time i looked around my place and truly thought, "i love where i live."