October 2008

a heads up

I was about to go to bed, but I got worried about my readers and I just wanted to warn you guys that although the price of fuel has dropped enormously, our bills for heating our houses this winter won’t reflect the drop.  This is because the providers had to put their orders in and make their purchases this summer when the prices were soaring. 

Depending on what type of heating you have to warm your house, you can expect your heating bill to be between 10-34% higher.

I know this isn’t good news, but it is better to know, and budget accordingly.

Love, Meg

Posted by Meg Tilly on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

Wednesday morning

I woke up at 4:20 am and couldn’t go back to sleep.  I lay there in the dark bedroom, listening to Don sleep.  Then finally, when it became clear that sleep was not going to revisit me, I got up and did some ironing.  When I ran out of hangers I came down stairs and whipped up a batch of blueberry muffins that are in the oven now baking. 

And now, I am blogging to you.

I’m really enjoying this quiet time, before the family awakes.  Even the dogs are nestled down and asleep. 

It’s 6:38 am now and in seven minutes the alarm clock will start singing it’s electronic song. 

Maybe I’ll run back upstairs and slip into bed, so Don won’t wake up discombobulated, wondering where I am.

Yes, I think I will.  Bye!

Posted by Meg Tilly on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

Hello, Don is back

My husband was off on an “epic adventure” with two of his buddies.  They did all the things that men do, bonding in that man-way.  Traveling to ridiculous locations to play golf and eat pub food and drink Guinness from the tap and watch their favorite hockey players bash the c__p out of each other.  Playing sophomoric jokes on each other that my husband would regal me with, on the phone at night, and I would pretend that I understood how hilariously funny these incidents were, but really, if he had played those tricks on me, it might have hurt my feelings.

Ah… the male code.  Totally foreign to me.  Even after raising two boys.

Oh, and here’s another weird thing though.  I’ve had two dreams in the last few days, where I was a man.  I kid you not.  This is the first time, ever, (that I know of anyway) that I’ve had these kinds of dreams.  And they are very detailed and real.  And one of them was really weird, because my mind to body impulses were WAY different than anything I’ve ever experienced.  I won’t go into detail, because, well, it’s private.  But I have to say, they were both very, very interesting and have stayed with me.

So, anyway, that’s why I didn’t blog.  I used the Thanksgiving weekend excuse, but really, it was hard to blog about what was going on, and not mention that Don was gone and he doesn’t like me to let people know when he’s out of town, because he worries that it isn’t safe for people to know that. 

But honestly… I am way better in emergencies and at personal safety than Don.  I may look all fragile and motherly, but PULEASE… I didn’t live through my childhood for nothing. 

And when I realized that the predators could sniff me out, could on some cellular level recognize me as someone who was familiar with abuse and that trapped in the headlights feeling, I did something about it. 

It took me a while, a few unfortunate incidents as an actress and a grown woman, but once I figured it out, I changed my physicality.  I took martial arts, I took Impact Personal Safety, a multitude of times.  And the weird thing is, now that I would have no hesitation to defend my body, it is no longer necessary.  They don’t target me anymore.  And I can’t tell you how good it feels. 

Now, maybe it’s because I hold myself different?  Or maybe it’s because I’ve (thankfully) arrived at that comfortable age where a woman is invisible to the male population?  But whatever it is, it feels so much better to be living in my skin.

Speaking of comfortable, I just got back from nice walk in the woods with K.C Dyer and my face can still feel the tang of the air outside, my fingers haven’t quite defrosted yet and are slow on the keyboard.  It was a beautiful crisp Autumn day and the dogs romped and rolled in the mud and we talked and walked and breathed in deep and the woods smelt of Christmas because of the damp on the ground and all the evergreen needles underfoot.

Posted by Meg Tilly on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

I’ll be back on Tuesday

Wow!  Was it a wild week in the markets or what? 

Anyway, Autumn is in full throttle, with the air turning crisper, the leaves changing color, and last but not least, it’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend.  What better time than to take a break, go for long walks and stomp around in the crunchy fallen leaves. 

I’ve decided to put my adult manuscript on the shelf until I get back in the end of November from TD Book Week and the readings that the wonderful and amazing Authors Booking service have set up for me.  I feel very lucky that KC Dyer told me about them.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Posted by Meg Tilly on Friday, October 10, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

For my Canadian readers… and who ever else is interested

I wanted to let you know that Canada has just been rated to have the soundest banking system in the world!  The Canadian banking system received a 6.8 rating out of a possible 7.  Sweden Luxembourg, Denmark and Australia all were tied for second place with a rating of 6.7.

Phew. 

That doesn’t mean that bad stuff can’t happen here as well, but I have to say, reading that article made me feel a little bit of relief.

That’s all for now.  Time to go do the breakfast cleanup.  I made pancakes, waffles, sausages, bacon and fresh lemonade so there is a bit of washing up to do.  Today was the billets last morning here, and I have to say, it was a nice feeling dropping everybody off at the school, unloading their suitcases and bags, giving them a hug good-bye, because even though I got very lucky and they were good boys, it a different kind of comfort in the house when it is just family and close friends. 

I’m off to the dishes.  Bye.

Posted by Meg Tilly on Thursday, October 09, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

The tiara

Well, another editor rejected my manuscript today, but never mind… THIS email made up for it!

“I received Meg Tilly’s tiara and it is absolutely beautiful!!  She really transformed it into a work of art.“  (Big goofy smile)  And I was also told that she said it was…“ STUNNING!!“

Now, who wouldn’t be happy after hearing something like that?

Posted by Meg Tilly on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

Well, it’s certainly not boring

So, the 850 billion dollar bailout was passed after 150 billion was added to satiate the Houses need for earmarking.  The fed has started buying commercial paper, they are hinting at a rate cut, and still the Dow fell over 500 points today! 

It’s like no matter what the fed throws at this mess, it’s not stemming the bleeding. 

What next Bernake baby?  Is it time to start warming up the helicopters?

Posted by Meg Tilly on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

A tiny smidgen of good news

For all the bad news that is pummelling us, I figured my loyal readers could do with hearing about a little happy triumph. 

You know how I spent $150.30 at Michaels on supplies to decorate that tiara? 

Well… I found out that I had gone a little overboard.  I had purchased enough fancy frippery to decorate an entire muumuu if I so desired. 

Anyway, after much gluing and gilding, on my own person (accidentally) as well as said tiara (purposefully), I had managed to do quite a respectable job.  I pranced around the house for a few minutes, wafting my fingers in a fancy lady way, nose in the air, my son following me cackling, and then I popped it into the shipping box and sealed it up.

To my astonishment and joy, found that I had put only a moderately sized dent into the goodies I had purchased (sans the candy, I made a major dent in that.)  So, this afternoon, when Don informed me that he was going to the mall, I flung all my leftover, untouched decorations in an all-purpose bag along with the receipt and my credit card and had him swing by Michaels on his way to whatever else he was going to do.

He just called me on the phone and guess how much I got back?

SEVENTY-ONE DOLLARS!  Yes! So, that means that whoever bids on my tiara, they will only have to bid $79 (not counting time spent, three and a half hours, crazy huh?) for the tiara to break even. 

Actually, probably $69 would be a closer estimate, because of the candy that I purchased to give me courage.

So, that’s a little bit of good news on this gloomy, markets plummeting day.  Hey, did you know that the Toronto Stock Exchange was actually down 1,200 points before it rebounded a bit?

Posted by Meg Tilly on Monday, October 06, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

morning rising

I wake up this morning, do the whole breakfast thing, get the billets and my boy off to school.  We have to leave early because they need to be at the school by 7:15 am.  I’m proud of Will because he doesn’t complain, even though we are arriving a good 55 minutes before his school day starts. 

One of the boys asks if I can do a load of laundry for him.  I agree, the headlights of the car illuminating the dimming twilight, the first hints of morning sun, streaking the sky orange in the gap before the horizon meets the dark cloud cover.

I get home and Don tells me that the stock market is down 300.  I knew it was going to be a rocky morning because the Israeli market and the Chinese one was way down before I went to bed.  I amble over to my laptop, boot it up, check out BigCharts.com.  GADZOOKS!  The markets have only been open 45 minutes and already it is down 581 points.

I feel like we are at one of those epic points in history, where, if we are lucky enough to survive the turmoil, we will look back and say, remember when. 

Posted by Meg Tilly on Monday, October 06, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

A sunday afternoon

I just got back from helping my fellow CWILL members decorate for Fall Harvest at the Vancouver Public Library.  After I finished attaching colorful cut out leaves to orange ribbon and hanging the streamers over the walkway to flutter in the breeze, I browsed the various tables that were all decked out in Fallish finery.  I was especially taken with Kathryn Shoemaker’s illustrations in the graphic novel she did with Irene Watts, Good-bye Marianne.  Such heart and feeling in the drawings.

Then on the way home, I swung by Michaels and picked up some things for this tiara I said I would decorate.  And honestly, at this point, I am questioning my sanity in agreeing to do this.  See the thing is, these tiaras are going to be auctioned off and the proceeds are going to go towards the teen programs at the New York Public Library.  So of course, I got caught up in enthusiasm and said, “Yes, I’d love to.“

But the thing I forgot, was the fact that I seriously don’t have a crafty bone in my body.  Ask me to bake you a slew of cookies?  No problem.  Cake?  Doughnuts?  Pie?  Simple.

Decorate a tiara, and I am a fit of nerves.

My husband said I should decorate it with candy.  But I was worried that maybe the sugar would attract rodents or cockroaches into the library and then when the time came to auction the tiaras off, there my sad-sack tiara would be sitting, tired and exhausted on the shelf, all gross and half-eaten and crawling with bugs.

No, I want to make a beautiful tiara, that someone would actually want to wear.  But I seriously don’t know if this is an achievable goal.

And then, here’s the kicker.  So, I wandered around Michaels trying to pretend that I fit in and did this kind of thing all the time, and I plopped this and that into my grey plastic basket that I had slung over my forearm and ambled up and down the aisles.  Finally, when I thought I had enough to decorate one small mesh tiara I went to the front and unloaded it on the counter for the check-out girl to ring up…

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS AND THIRTY CENTS!  Gasp.  I had no idea that it was going to be even close to that.  I must have gone into a zone where I didn’t notice the prices of things. 

Honestly, I doubt even the greatest good Samaritan is going to shell out $150.30 to buy my tiara.  And I still haven’t spent the afternoon sweating over the thing!

What a fool am I. 

Anyway, the good news is, when I was wandering down the wedding aslie, I snagged a bag of Jordon Almonds and some of those wedding pastel colored pillow mints, so at least I’ll have something nutritious to help get the creative juices flowing.  And believe me, I’m gonna need all the help I can get!!!

(And yes, for those of you who are curious… the first thing I did when the tiara came in the mail was run to the mirror and try it on.)

Posted by Meg Tilly on Sunday, October 05, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

Just wanted to let you know

The two boys from Australia are very sweet.  Phew!  I’m off to bed. xo

Posted by Meg Tilly on Friday, October 03, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

revolving door

James and Ken left yesterday afternoon, and in half an hour I have to go to my son’s school and pick up two teenage boy billets from Australia who will be staying with us for a whole week.  Yikes!  Keep your fingers crossed for me, that I don’t get the party animals of the group. 

We spent the day doing the laundry, putting new sheets on the beds, laying out fresh towels, doing a quick clean of the bathroom.  Although, Ken and James left barely a trace of evidence that they had been here.  All we had were the memories. 

James came up with the great idea of next year, maybe the four of us pitching in to rent a small house somewhere in Italy.  That would be fun.  Obviously, one does not need to be in Italy to write.  One probably wouldn’t get much writing done.  At least this “one” wouldn’t!  I’d be too excited, want to explore whatever little village we ended up in.  And I’d want to go to the market and shop and buy food and cook it.  I’d want to wander the fields and find a creek and lie in it and let a lizard climb over my forehead and pretend that I was that beautiful Madonna-like woman in the movie Enchanted April.

But when the idea came up, I didn’t tell James and Ken any of that.  I just said, “What a great idea.  I’d be up for that.“ 

They think I’ll be writing, but I’m not so sure about that.  I can write perfectly well at home.  Why would I waste good Italian time, hunched in the dark, peering at my computer, trying to peck out a feasible paragraph or two when I could be gallivanting?

Posted by Meg Tilly on Friday, October 03, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

No answers, just questions

The Dow is down 348.44 to 10,482.85 and gold is down $43. per ounce today.  The Canadian economists are calling for the Bank Of Canada to cut the overnight rate by a whopping 1.0 and to do it soon, before their scheduled meeting.  The interest I can earn on a bond does not even cover the supposed rise in inflation and the Inflation Index doesn’t take into account food or energy.  The U.S. government has just opened the lending window to money market funds that were tetering on the edge of insolvency.  Real estate investments, as everyone knows, are sliding into the c___per.  They are expecting a whopping leap in the unemployment figures that come out on Friday.

So, my question is, what are we supposed to do now, since money markets, bonds, stocks, gold and real estate are all dive bombing. 

And how are our retired people, who rely on their savings supposed to pay their bills and feed themselves?  Where are we suppose to put our savings so that they are safe and will be there tomorrow?

As my long time readers know, I have been warning to be prepared for awhile time now.  But even with all my reading and research I am unsure as to what I should do next.

Posted by Meg Tilly on Thursday, October 02, 2008 in Chewing the Fat

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