A topical exploration of hibernation. With photos...

It's been a lovely snowy christmastime.
The lazy days I've daydreamed about for ages are here...and I love it. I am off work for a whole extra week...
Christmas was lovely - we had drinks and obscure nibbles at J's aunt's house and got to visit his cousins, one who is very round with what she assures me is not an alien baby.
The day of was a bit hectic, but it was nice to have kids around. They really do make christmas better...my little niece and I had a great time playing and all J's Mum's side of the family that could come did. A bit crowded, but all good people. Gifts were opened and enjoyed...My sister in laws both loved the things I sewed for them and their little ones and the bath salts were welcomed...There were fewer but more thoughtful gifts this year, it seemed. A few stick out - J's pop up book of Star Wars and Onion book...my microfleece super warm sheets and a real Japanese bento box...mostly I recall laughing and talking and (of course) eating.
The past few days have been relaxing at home...watching movies, reading multiple books in the sunbeams in bed, cooking elaborate delicious tasty things and generally doing nothing more than we like...and doing the things we do thoroughly. I've finally gotten around to both reading and watching A Scanner Darkly and Children of Men.
Current;y I'm making vanilla custard and fruit crepes...then I think I'll get the leapfrog room finished off...so we can fill it in with things...
For those of you too lazy to read...here's some pictures of things made with joy:





Happy holidays all...I'm off to nom some guacamole and fruit and cheese and wine.
Have a happy new year too :)

Whew!

Ah.
Another late night, but I'm done sewing all my gifts and making my cookie recipes in a jar. Just a few bath salts to shake up and a bit of gift wrapping to finish...but I managed to get all the big stuff done! I was starting to wonder :) I have to go get a snap installation kit for the bunting bag, as the one I bought doesn't actually have the thingy you need to put snaps in (??) but that's nbo big deal. And, yes, I have photos, but I'm not posting them until after the day of days in case inquiring minds stumble by and accidentally get spoilers. Can't have that...

It's a short day at work today...just a few experiments to finish up and then I'm shutting down the lab. It is off home to finish up the last of miscellaneous gifting and bake a few more cookies (Cuz...um...we ate the ones that were supposed to be gifted tonight. Had to test them for quality you know...)

Tonight is libations and snacking with some of the family and tomorrow is the day of wonder.
Should be nice...I'm looking forward to doing nothing in particular and relaxing. And sleeping in. DEFINITELY sleeping in :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mmm. Mmmm. Time for Pie.

Image: Bizarro

Pie anyone?
(got you thinking about it didn't I? :) )

Shake your moneymaker. Shake it baby.

Well...getting there on the gift department.
Last night I was up to the wee hours finishing my niece's present. It looks alright if I do say so myself...my buddy Magnus was flying home this morning at an absurd hour and he had insomnia, so I had someone to yak to as I sewed to the wee hours of the morning. We sent him home with some wine and cookies for the family...as luck has it my husband works at the wee hours of the morning too, so he could swing by the airport on his way and send Magnus off home to Vancouverland to be with the rest of his kin. Me? I don't move at that hour for nothing...

I hadn't meant to be up that late lst night, but I had to bake a bunch of cookies to send off to BC with Magnus AND had a final private bellydance lesson last night to "correct my technique flaws" and...well...there were a lot of them. It turns out that changing your stance and how you hold your arms pretty much affects every movement you do...so I had to go thru most of what I already know to correct it. My amazing teacher Johara went through two full routines with me movement by movement and spent over two hours helping me get movements down, so I can practice them properly over the holiday. I gratefully paid her in vanilla bath salts...everyone was happy...though my abs are aching this morning. It did push back the sewing to the silly hours of the morning , but luckily I have nothing extremely detailed at work today, so I can survive.

Other than being retardedly cold, it should be a good day...finish off the last of the gift assembly after work and run about with J picking up this and that, make a few more cookies and try not to freeze (it's only -45 °C with the wind-broke out the skipants this morning).

Have a great day all...I'm off :)
To amuse yourselves, check out these cool gingerbread creations...

No turning back now

My nephew is getting married this summer. I'm having trouble not feeling extremely old about this, but what can you do? I'm the youngest by far in my family, so he was born when I was 11...and now my little buddy is all grown up and going to marry a fantastic girl. I'm very happy for him. And her. All round it is a good thing.

My sister her family all live out in Ottawa now and I haven't seen them in a long time...so J and I had planned to fly out for the wedding and visit no matter what, but were cringing at the costs. Luck is on our side it turns out. I have enough air miles to fly me out, and there is a seat sale on until the end of today for Air Canada, so we've both booked ourselves out on a flight out and back. Mehee. As luck would have it, we can actually afford to go this way - the world seems determined that we go, and I'm delighted that we are all booked to go. As a bonus, we'll go out a few days early to visit some old friends of ours that moved to Toronto years ago...we miss them dearly and it will be great to spend a few days with them. Then it 's off to the wedding outside Toronto on the weekend. As a super extra bonus, I have a few more days holidays than J so after he flies back I can stay on for another 4 days and visit the family back in Ottawa, and do things with the family (like see the national art gallery) for a few days and relax...then get back before the weekend and have a few days home with J before going back to the real world.
I'm so excited I actually made a little squeaky noise when I confirmed the booking...I can't wait :)

Sometimes, life is good. This is the best Christmas present life could have given me at the moment. 3 cheers for good things :)

3rd floor- habidashery and laminate!

Neato.
We now have nifty laminate in the green room upstairs. Dad did it this afternoon.

My Dad is awesome- He's even going to put the baseboards on too...shmancy ones were on sale so they'll be spiffy...we had to drive home in -28 weather with the 10 foot lengths sticking out the car window wrapped in towels and held in place by the me squished in an odd angle in the back seat (yes my hands froze)...but we got them home. Once there's a light I can take a picture of the wondrousness. It's really a totally different room. I love it now. I actually want to be in there.
I'd like to say I helped, but I prepped it and got the stuff for him and watched and oohed and aahed at appropriate intervals. I took the afternoon off to hang out with Mum & Dad...it was a nice visit. Tomorrow is gingerbread houses with the niece Cutestuff and then crazy farewell dinner...33 people in a tiny house. I will test my social crowds personal space abilities...what started out as a small family dinner with ableskeevers and sausages had ballooned into a large potluck. I'm tired just thinking about it :)
Ah well...tommorrow will take care of itself. For now I am content to have worked hard, got in some bellydancing and baseboarding along with a nice visit with the parents.

And on that thought...to bed. I have to get up and paint the baseboards early...oh the thrilling life I lead :)

Snuck up on me...

My parent will be here in 24 hours.

Help.

An open letter to Butterick

Hi there,

Sappy seamstress here. I just wanted to ask you a question about your "easy to sew, quick and simple" line of sewing patterns. I think you may have the wrong ideas in mind. Do you have the same dictionary I do? Let me check it:

easy  [ee-zee] : not hard or difficult; requiring no great labor or effort.

simple [sim-puhl]: 1. easy to understand, deal with, use. 2. not elaborate or artificial; plain.

I don't think these words apply to all suchpatterns. Take, for example, the pattern that I am currently sewing: not only is all the info that you need to buy the fabric on the INSIDE of the pattern bag, but you blatantly misdirect people in the inner instructions. Once they decipher what they need to buy to sew the pattern and gleefully try to sew the damn things...they get annoyed...repeatedly.
My case in point: you state at the start of the pattern instructions that "seams are 5/8" unless otherwise stated" and then have ALL the pieces in the entire pattern state a different seam width on them? Why? My favourite so far is the 30" zipper you said I needed, with the pattern instructions saying it"may need to be shortened". Seeing as the entire bunting bag is only 26" long I'd agree! And the zipper was fun, as altho it said it is a 1/4" seam for installing the zipper, it REALLY is 5/8" to put the zipper in properly, which you can't really tell from anywhere except a badly drawn diagram, and a cryptic comment at the end of the pattern. For me, so far, this pattern has involved lots of squinting and huffing and muttering to get that right. Since all the pieces are really really small, there isn't much room for correction. This is a gift, not a macaroni picture. I want to make it look good!

Work with me here. I wish to make cute little things for cute little people. If it doesn't work out I'm making a hat out of it, and you will have to rest in the knowledge that some cute little baby will have no bunting bag...only coal. How could you do that to a poor little baby? If a novice tried this one it would already be a hat...a really ugly hat with a overly long long zipper hanging off of it for no damn good reason.

I am an experienced sewer and you've annoyed me. Rest assured I will think twice before I tread anywhere *near* your "difficult/advanced" patterns, let I combust in a ball of flame fuming over more completely random pattern instructions.

A little more care and attention please.

In stitches,

Geo

Sweet nogging cakes

So I made eggnog cookies.
They are exquisite.
If you want the recipe or a picture of said deliciousness, check the link to my food blog above...as for me, well I must go eat more cookies...

WANT!

Mmmm...pie

more animals

This weekend I did some sewing, ate pie (homemade pumpkin pie I might add) for breakfast and got through the first 2 films in the Lord of The Rings Extended trilogy. It was below -25...hibernation time. When you can sit on your couch with a glass of coffee and *watch* the river freeze, you don't need to go outside. I stayed in and baked pie and cookies and drank rum and eggnog and generally did nothing useful. I probably should have done more, but I haven't relaxed in a long time...so I did as little as possible. Even finished the Hobbit...yes, it was good.

Today? Back at life, enduring a mere -32 °C, with the severe wind making it feel like it is -44°.
Winter sure came with a pointed stick this year...

Apparently I'm skinny

Man...I have so much bellydancing practice to do. In saying this I imply I've been practicing a lot. Our practice last night showed me just how little Ive done and how I've got to step it up to get the routines down better...I know the moves, I just can't do them in proper order without someone leading me. This will not do. I mean, who's gonna be there for my solo?

But, turns out I've been standing and doing all the moves with my feet too far apart...so I have to practice it all "right"...and learn more moves. This is a good thing though, as it explains why my knees were bothered sometimes before...too much rotation on the knees when your legs are too far apart.
And they kept telling me to exaggerate some of the moves with my hips...because (get this) I'm just too skinny and I need to emphasis the moves more for people to see them. Made me grin a lot...apparently I'm doing something right healthwise...I still think of myself as the pudgy girl in the corner, so it's a pleasant thing to hear. :)

This weekend is stock up and don't go outside all weekend as it'll be stupid cold.
I plan on sewing, practicing my bellydancing and snuggling up to watch movies. We may marathon the Lord of the Rings. We shall see.

Before I go...here's my "what I'm up to right now" meme:

Current clothes: Yellow shirt, turquoise hooded cardigan, jeans, black specs.

Current mood: Tired, but happy. Busy day, but the weekend is here. I need some vegging.

Current music: A CD of Ambient and electronic remixes of Billy Holiday. Some are great, some tracks not so much...

Current annoyance: My lungs are slowly improving, but it's like I'm almost getting a cold, but I'm not. It seems the cold agrivates things for me, and I squeak like an old lady with emphysema at times...but I'm using my steroid inhaler and it's getting better. Still couching a bit, but breathing is good. I'm getting better I think.

Current thing: Reorganising and decluttering the house and generally doing too much. Seriously. I'm getting lots done, but man...crazy times. I did finish painting a bedroom tho, and that is one big part of it. When Dad comes he'll help put down the floor and then we're done. I must christmasize and organise before the parental units come on the weekend so they can actually have a bed to sleep on. Eep.

Current desktop picture: The Chinese symbol for Serenity. It literally translates to "To make your heart calm". I like.

Current book: The Hobbit. I realised I remember very little of it. So, I'm rereading it...loving it. Just finished the part where Bilbo escaped from Gollums cave. "What's it got in it's pocketses?"

Current song in head: "I hear Music" by Billy Holiday. The remix of it on this album is pretty catchy, but I like the original...that woman can sing like noone else.

Current DVD in player: I don't know. Haven't watched a DVD or the TV in ages...that would require sitting down...

Current refreshment: Tim Horton's coffee. An XL double double...my friday indulgence. Yum.

Current worry: Can I get everything done by Christmas. And do I care? :)

Current thought: Break's over. I have lots to do today...should get to it.

Have a great day everyone :)

She's crafty and she's just my type!

Here I got my sister in laws gift cards for a girly store, so they could indulge themselves...impractical wonderful girly stuff, just for them and noone else. Then I got ideas on the way home of something cool to make for them too...so I'm on it...the more the merrier. Mom & Daughter aprons with cookie cutters and cookie recipe for Sis in Law her daughter (monogrammed with"hot stuff" and "small stuff") and recipes in a jar for my other sis in law together with some of my famous bath salts. For years J's grandma has sent back her big decorative jar I first gave her looooooong ago the end of November and I refill it with bath salts for her for another year :). And I found wicked comfy soft slippers for my Mum...and I'll be sewing baby stuff for my new nieces...and and and...squeep....explodey happy head alert!
I love making stuff for people.
Stuff they can use. That will make them smile.
Makes me smile...
And I (whaddaya think?) got a great idea to make stuff for ME too...a A funky chefs apron, with fleece for the back of it, with "naked chef" embroidered printed on it...so comfy yet practical for thngs like cooking bacon in the nude. Ahem. I already have fabric to make myself one. Yes I'm a loser. And yes photos *will* follow. But just of the apron. Not me in it. Nuh uh. No way. Oh tell me you don't want one for lazy weekend breakfasts...you do. I *know* you do.
If I cut out sleep before the holidays I bet I can totally get everything done...:)
Heh...
Now that painting is done, I've had a breather and suddenly poof! It's holiday time.
Uh huh. Oh yeah.
I'm starting to feel it.
Duck and cover. Here I come...

The Leapfrog has landed

Ladies and germs and molecular vectors, the Leapfrog has officially landed.
I repeat, the Leapfrog has landed.

Green has come.
Rejoice and wibble the Happy Dance for the Rubber Duck and all his minions have been vanquished!

Yea, we give thanks to the Holy Horseshoe which has come again to the Bottom of Sweetness, for we have finished our quest with only 2 teaspoons of paint left...*just* enough, thanks to my Roller of Skimping +2.

Here's hoping that in the light of day it looks hunky dorey...Cuz I'll be damned if I paint that room again :)

Neato

I liked this photo on the lovely Bread and Honey food blog a while ago and thought of how nice it would look framed up in my kitchen. Punk meets baking. I like.
Turns out she has a print of it for sale now at her etsy shop.

Well hey now...time to save my sheckels...

Bwaha!

I just finished my first coat of green paint.
It looks so nice.

That's all folks.

Too much church and paint and soup

This weekend was two christenings and then a memorial service out at the funeral home chapel.
All very nice, but a bit much for one day. One niece grinned ear to ear despite dripping water every where. The other screamed bloody murder over the whole water business. Don't blame her...get the girl all prettied up and then hold her up in front of a bunch of people and dunk her head in some river water? I'd be pissed.

On the plus side, I have finished the white paint. It is now white and not a collection of day glow colours. It's a bit thick in places but it's white - only 2 primer coats and 6 paint coats. I'm so glad it's done...tonight and tomorrow is the "fun" stuff - the Leapfrog green walls and then the painting is over...finally. We even found super cheap laminate for the crappy old floor...it's slowly coming together. Hopefully Dad will come out a day early and help me put it in. I"m not sure how it'll look if I do it all myself...

I also found a recipe to use up the gargantuan 6 Lb Kabocha squash that's been staring at me for the past month or so. The thing was bigger than my head but it made some kickass soup. It's yummy. All 4 litres of it. I still have half the thing frozen for later. Mmmm...theatre soup....

This is all terribly dull I know, but it is what it is. My happy but busy life. Perhaps soon I'll have a poignant rant or some pretty pictures for you. Until then...suck it up my dear muffins. It's all I got for ya :)
It's odd...the snow is finally here and it really does seem more like Christmas. I still have no urge to put up lights yet. For me that is really odd...usually I'm twitching and peeking in boxes mid November. For now it's back to work and all that.
Have a good day :)

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

(image: I can't remember...it's been too long)

I'm so glad it's friday...I need a day off.
Work has been busy. Life has been busy.

Last night we got group choreography to remember along with the basic dance choreography for one of the bellydance routines...altho I hate the song it is to, the routine is a lot of fun. But the moves are tricky...and there is a lot of them. Eep. I'm trying to get the 3 song I am going to be in on my iPod so I can dance around on my breaks and such and try and get the routines down. I haven't had a lot of time at home (I'm not staying up past 12 to practice...) so I need to get to it so I don't make a fool of myself. I haven't even started to practice my solo yet. Doomed...

And the painting? Ha.
Ha hahahahaha haha ha
*wipes away tear*
Don't be silly darling...

And so it goes, this funny life business...

Blinky tour

I managed to get some christmas evil over with yesterday. A friend and I did a bit of christmas shopping and now my nieces and brother are looked after. It wasn't too painful yet as there were few people there and the christmas music wasn't cranked up to a teeth grating level yet...not too bad.
As a reward, we got to relax a bit and she and I hopped in her car with hot chocolate and drove all over the city looking at the lights in people's yards...some people go all out. One house near me has a full choir of stuffed bears on a riser in their front yard. Another one has 10 inflatable things in the front yard.
Me? I should get my 3 foot christmas penguins out in the front yard...I had grand light plans for the yard...but then it snowed and I got wimpy, so this year the blinky shiny thing levels may be lower than norm...I haven't had enough free time so far to get out the ornaments, let a lone put them up. With everything painted this summer I'm wierded out about putting things up and making nail holes...
Being active and productive sure gets things done I must say. We've done more in the past month than I can recall in ages - things are getting organised, I'm actually on top of house chores for once. By adding in 2 weekly bellydance practices, cleaning and defrosting the fridge/freezer this week (It had ice inside it and was leaking water so I had to do some emergency luvvin to try and fix it...seems OK now), painting (I have declared there are only 2 more coats of white left regardless of whether it's "good" or not...it must be done before my parent's get here in 2 weeks), and doing some sewing (OK, so far just looking at the sewing) and I'm feeling a bit squished for time... I like lazy more at times like this. Still keeping it together...but I have to be sure to have more relaxing, looking at lights things in the next while to unwind...relaxing is good. I'm sure I'll pencil that in again next week some time for 5 minutes so I remember how it feels...:)
I have to say - I'm really enjoying the bellydancing though. Not only does it make me feel pretty...turns out I'm not too shabby at it. It's somethign "just for me". Reminds me to look after myself and take time just for me...it adds to the busy, but I wouldn't give it up now for anything...

Gift ideas

Because it makes me giggle...

But mostly, it is these: motorolla cordless headphones...so I don't get tangled up in my cords...and pull them out of my iPod while working/running/painting/cleaning/living with my iPod strapped to my hip.

Or a lemon zester would be OK too.

Just saying...

I'm a git

I just gave myself a papercut on my nose.

On my NOSE people.

I know.

Don't ask me how...all I know is it hurts...and I'm being mocked by everyone.

ow...

Xnay on the Uffspay

This weekend I gave in to the nibbles and got some snackery. I'm always trying to find the ultimate cheese puff. I love cheesies and all things involving cheese, and I like spicy food, so these cheese nibbles looked like just the thing: all natural, real cheese, jalapeno...what could be bad about this?

Well...turns out - everything. They tasted like nothing. Honest. No flavour whatsoever. With all that promising description about 3 kinds of cheeses and jalapeno flavour...zilch. And the puffs themselves were mediocre - kinda crunchy, but mostly dry. I was very disappointed. I had to supplement with other less healthy tandoori ripple chips that were very delicious.

And so I warn you all - don't bother with these snacks unless you're into bland but crunchy empty calories.

Me?

I likes my empty calories to taste good...:)

Now, these? THESE are good...damn good. Go eat some. Avoid the cheesey poofs. You'll thank me...
The Bacon Queen has spoken: Empty calories for all!

Weekends make things better

To cheer myself up on the weekend I lowered my IQ considerably with some decent rum and eggnog and watched some giggly cartoons...an animated Hellboy movie, some South Park and the like. Uncomplicated, giggle like a teenager sort of stuff...Cheered me up immensely. J was full of hugs and reminders of how awesome I am and with some huggy consolation by the end of friday I was feeling less like a dolt and more like a tipsy giggly fool, which was enough.

We got to go spelunking in our attic on saturday - that was amusing. We bought our house from family, and they had a bunch of old stuff from when their kids were little stored up in the attic. We'd never looked (out of sight out of mind), and just waited for them to come and get it some day - saturday they finally did. I was surprised at how much space there is up there - they took 2 Honda CRV loads full out of there...and after peering and looking around like little kids who've suddenly been given keys to a new hidey fort we moved some of our storable junk up there. Neat.

I didn't get as much painting done as I'd hoped with all the spelunking, but I still managed to repair the flashing on the roof and get a coat of paint on the trim. We got the stupid idea to redo the floor in there since everything is out of there right now...it's old warped paint speckled yellow vinyl tiles at the moment...think we'll find some cheapo laminate and put it in. So I have to pull of the baseboards (which I just painted...heh) and I'm going to see if I can bribe my Dad to come up a few days earlier in December and help me do it...shouldn't take too long. Then that room is done forever and ever amen...and then on to more declutter organising and the like. This is getting fun...we can *see* the difference and it just makes you want to keep going.

As a bonus, we got to meet our new neighbors again on sunday. They're doing some renos and had an old closet door out in their back yard. Being the general creepy oddballs that we are, we went over to ask if we could have one of them to replace our broken one in our hall closet and got to visiting for a few hours. She's due to have a baby next weekend and it was kind of cool to see how the "other half" lives...as he co-owns a car dealership they have a rather posh house, but it was cool to talk with them and discover that despite all that they're pretty cool, interesting and regular people. I grew up in a town of 300, so I like knowing my who my neighbors are, and I'm glad that we're starting to get to know the new people on both sides of us a bit at a time. We had to take off as I had bellydance practice (got to learn the moves for my solo - hey hey!) but it was nice. And (bonus) they said we could have the closet door...hope it fits.

And today...back to work. Bleh.
Must run...life calls :)

I am trying to not be so dissapointed in myself right now

fucksticks

I just made a simple error at work and fucked up a whole bunch of stuff.
When I make mistakes it means I wasted my time, and usually (cus it's in a lab) $$ in fancy chemicals and reagents...and I hate it...I'm way too busy with too many things at once and I keep getting interrupted. Once in a blue moon, I get too overworked, and I make simple errors and when I make errors...it matters. Try being 100% diligent all the time. Try it. You can't be. Errors are what happens sometimes. I don't know how doctors and nurses handle this...at least I don't hurt anyone when I screw up...just make more work for myself and waste $$ and time. Noone is here to ask about details of course as they're gone for the weekend, so nothing for it but to try and use my brain to decide how to best salvage what I can (after I've had a good cry) and get back to the rest of it all....and hope people aren't too pissed off at me.
God I feel stupid at times like this.
Guess it is no lunch or coffee for me today while I try and fix this...

*sigh*I hate days like this. I'm glad it is friday.

PS-fucksticks

friday miscellaneous thoughts running about in my head

Blimey. Busy here.
All my own fault, as usual :)
I just got fabric and such so I can sew christmas stuff for my new little niece, and am now committed (after last night's rehearsal) to no less than 3 routines at the bellydance performance in february. One of them is a solo. I learn the basics for that on sunday night. I'm excited, but I really have to get in serious practicing...about half an hour a day (all 3 routines full thru twice every day) to get them down well, tweak them and actually be able to smile and enjoy myself when I perform them. It should be fun. For some reason performing this way doesn't weird me out at all...
And the painting is getting closer. The priming and ceiling is done, so I hope to finish it off this weekend. Then we can start moving stuff back and put in a few shelves on the wall...my parent's are coming to visit the weekend before Christmas insanity begins and all the stuff from the room I'm painting is piled in the spare room...I need to really plan out december to keep my sanity...this way, I have a deadline :).
It'll be good to move the computer up there and set it all up-finally! I was peering thru old blog posts a while back and realised this painting the room for the computer was an idea we started almost 2 years ago...started with making the craft room in the basement 2 Christmases ago...then the wireless, lots of reorganising...now *finally* this. Hopefully it does what it's meant to and makes a lot more useful space and allow us to organise our life more. We're annoyingly cluttered in life, but a lot of it is due to no organised functional spaces...just piles of stuff...that we randomly move around...over and over...this will (I hope) stop a lot of that. I want to sit in my home and not have a "just ignore the clutter" filter on...just live and know where things are :)
Ah to dream...

I haz a tag

Taking a stroll through the blogosphere after painting a ceiling and priming a bookshelf I discovered that I have been tagged by the one and only Pacian.

This particular strain comes with a little awardy badge, which is still on Pacian's blog, as I haven't snagged it yet...ooh...aah...it's perdy.

The Kreativ Blog award rules are: Link to the person who tagged you. (done)
Post the rules on your blog: Write 6 random things about yourself. Tag 6 people and let each of them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Go back to the awarder and let them know that your entry is up.
Allrighty then. Here goes...

1. I'm a procrastinating perfectionist. This is an awkward and silly combination resulting in an enhanced caffeine uptake and nervous twitches around deadlines and family holidays.

2. I love power tools. LOVE them. I catch myself often making whrrring sounds like a kid when I use them. Fun AND loud...

3. I hate pink. Hate hate hate blech yuck phooey. But I love red...

4. Whenever I have something complicated to learn I go to the candy store and buy one of those chocolate, foil covered red ladybug candies and study/work with the bug on my book. Right before I have a presentation/test I devour my little foily ladybug friend...and gain all his knowledge. My study bugs have brought me much smarty pantsness in life.

5. I always study to music - it helps me learn exponentially for some reason. It helps if it is very familiar music...my last year of university I studied all my analytical chem and genetics to the sweet, sweet melodies of Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1

6. I like to eat the heads off gummybears.

Tags? Well... Pete, Grapecat, Magnus, Missicat, Bag Lady and MacCanuck...have at it. I'll tag yer blogs soon. Now? OK now.
Me? I'm having another solid whiff of paint fumes before I drift off to sleep...next comes the whiteness...and on the weekend. Colour. :)

'night!

Up...Down...Up...Down...

Stupid email.

I was sad because my bellydance class was cancelled yesterday...boo.
So I did lots of painting and am done priming...yay!
Then I discovered on an email this morning that class WASN'T cancelled after all...boo.
But at least I still have rehearsal for my (eep) solo dance tomorrow...yay!
Oh, no I just checked and actually the rehearsal was after class...which I missed...boo.

(guess I'm gonna try and book an individual lesson on the weekend)

I gotta ask:
Whatever happened to *calling* people to let them know about things? There's only 6 of us performing in february...how hard is it to call us.
I'm not entirely a fan of this modern age when crap like this happens.

Where's my pills?
I want applesauce!
I'm cold and tired and there are wolves after me...

Quantum of Solace: akshun-UR doin it rong.

I was really excited about James Bond...I really enjoyed Casino Royale...it reminded me of the Bond of the novels, a "do over" of sorts where they could get away from excessive gadgets, bad fighting and lame villains and make James Bond a calloused agent with a double O licence to kill again. It was my favourite James Bond film so far...back to Bond doing his thing...all in a well tailored tuxedo. Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace, which starts up a few hours after Casino Royale ended, isn't as good as it's predecessor. It looked at the ideas of revenge...of dealing with loss and trust. It wasn't *bad*...it just left me in a state of non-grippedness. My main complaint wasn't so much the story, as it was OK, but the editing style. It was all jumpy shakey camera quick cut shakey shakey swing punch cut cut action boom action...with random artsy cutaways to nothing in particular. Parts of the movie were stunningly shot, but a lot of the action scenes (involving more explodey things than should really exist in a hotel) were extremely hard to follow. Extremely hard. I'm assuming it was cut like *you* were Bond...trying to focus and figure out what was next and struggle to fight back...which is fine if you're the double O. I wasn't-I was the person who'd come to watch the fine Mr. Daniel Craig be the callous secret agent I've grown to love over the years...I think they went for a style, but then kind of forgot what it was. If the editing style leaves the viewer thinking "enough dammit, hold the camera still so I can see what the hell is going on!" in *every* action scene...you're doing it wrong. Pity really. It just left me with the feeling that it could have been more. There was too much action, not enough substance. There was a good basis for a story there, and a great idea for the reason behind what happened with Vesper Lynde and the "bigger" picture...even a girl companion with revenge on her mind to give Bond someone to help, and look at the idea of the emptiness of revenge and the meaning of trust and duty, and well...it just sort of fell flat.
Daniel Craig and Judy Dench nailed their roles, and a lot of the supporting characters were very good...yet, the bond girl lacked in sexy and a lot of it just didn't work for me.
I'm just glad I used a gift card to pay for the admission, or I'd be a bit miffed...

It's been in my head since I woke up

I can't get this song out of my head: A&E by Goldfrapp off her new album.

Admittedly, I don't want to right now...:)

I'm rather upbeat-after a thick coat of primer the yellow is pretty much gone. Honest. The yellow bits will not need a second coat if you can believe it...odd. The room is already 243% more soothing than before. The trim will need another priming tonight and the ceiling took special smelly primer (blech)to cover up some waterstains, but it should be OK with one coat of ceiling paint now that it's been primed. It's already like a different room...unlike regular prep of rooms I've been able to *see* the difference as I prepped it. A nice change...
I didn't get more done because I took a break with my sickly husband to watch the Muppet Movie. I have never actually seen it before. I loved it. LOVED it...I mean Kermit on a bike and singing Rainbow Connection on a log in the swamp? How did I miss this when I was little?
Smile City...

Speaking of a monkey with a hangover...

Actually it's not *that* bad...I did have a great time last night after a long day of prep and such. Herbaliser was playing on campus which isn't the best bar for *seeing* a band, but their sound is good. We ended up being a bit early, so we went down into Place Riel and played some Twilight Zone pinball for a while..Man I'd forgotten how great of a pinball game that was. I spent many a time as a broke student playing that game, driving the replay cost up. It is the only game where I get all the missions, know where all the little spirals and loops go and can do all the missions...even battle "the power". A good way to start the evening...there's a lot more on-line game stations int he arcade than the last time I was there...cha-cha-changes...
The opening act for Herbaliser was half hip hop half funk, and were very dancable...and Herbalaiser? well they always put on a good show. I mean, with a DJ, trumpet, sax, flute, synth, bass and drums and a lead singer who can, indeed, wail, how can you go wrong?

There was much dancing, and we ran into people we hadn't seen in a while...and they kept buying pitchers...so I drank more than I would have. Not *too* much...but, enough to find myself incredibly classy and brilliant at conversation :)
Now I'm making breakfast, nursing my slightly queasy self, and preparing to attack the yellow monstrosity upstairs. It may take a bit before I'm ready...Today is 2 coats of primer on the Walls, and primer and paint on the ceiling.
The tricky thing is picking the green for the walls...I know *abstractly* what I want...in fact our bedroom is currently a happy bright green, which I'd like to match (we're painting it another colour soon but like it a lot) but all the green chips I brought home taped to the wall are all slightly off that colour...tricky paint. I'm leaning to a colour called leapfrog.

My eyes! They burn!

I'm pretty much prepped for priming and painting now...I'd do more, but I'm beginning to think "what's the point?"
Why am I so cynical?
Well, the painters of the room before me did a shit job of patching, filling holes or even trying to remove tape or other stuff from the walls...the perfectionist in me is cringing at it all. There's (mercifully) only 10 nail holes to fill, but I'm not trying very hard...there are a zillion *under* the paint glossed over and lumpy...and whoever put the window in was a twit. Honestly. A monkey with a hangover could have done smoother mudding and sanding. I take pride in my renos...having to settle is pissing me off. But it's just not worth the pain int he assness of it all to make it more perfect. I'm kiddingmyself if I don'tadmit that I will likely try and fix a few of the holes tomorrow when we pick up a bit of polyfilla with the paint, but it would take a bucket of filler and more time than I care to spend to fix it to my standards...

*sigh*

Oh well...The room is clean, and the holes *I* can fill are filled...I've tried to sand the worst of it, and tomorrow I'll begin the priming.
Oh the priming...have a gander at what I have to paint over.
Go on...feast your eyes.
See why I'm a bit cynical at the moment?

Eez bright...no?
Of course I'm going for bright lime green with white trim, so the wall should be OK...it's the trim that will be a bit of work.
I'm taking bets as to how many coats of primer...I say 2. Anyone else care to guess??

On the bright side (and on a totally other topic - since I have the camera out)...the cats seem to like their early christmas gift. A place for them to relax...and scratch instead of the furniture.


So far so good...

Not-so Mellow Yellow

Meh.

I'm emptying out the room which is soon to be painted and I'm losing the "fun", so I thought I'd take a break for a bit. I just want to get to the painting colour part...thankfully Cloe (she whose room it used to be) was not insane about coverng every inch of wall with some piece of antiquey crap like her Mom & Aunt were, so there's not a lot of holes to fill- just relocate the dozen or so plants in there (from the living room) to the spare room, empty out the bookshelf and wash the walls. She did pick rubber duck yellow walls and neon pink and orange and red trim tho - *sigh* - it hurts the eyes after a while...
Lots of priming to do...I have to paint the ceiling too, as she kept hitting it with the paint roller and didn't clean it off, so there are little yellow spots all over...Oh well. It's a tiny room, so it won't be too much extra work.
I admit I haven't decluttered the table or the kitchen counter which was my deal with myself originally to "get to" do this, but I don't much care at this point. It's big house and I'm done with that for a while - I need to do something other than sift through crap, sort stuff and vaccuum or I'll throw a wobbler. A big one...with party hats and fruit salad.

It's my friday off and J works most of the day so I'm trying to be useful and get all the boring stuff done so I can paint all weekend...there's a great band I want to see in town tomorrow night (Herbaliser) and J wants to go see the Sadies tonight...so it's not all work. I'm just not in much of a mood to do anything really other than stare at all the fluffy snow and drink coffee.

Suppose I'll get back to it then...

Tha Apolcalypse Doesn't Have To Be Lonely

This is amusing...

Tee hee

I can't deny I've thought of doing this with the Geek.
I just need my own little robot first...

What would Jeebus do?

"I know you're full up this week, have to stay late today and tomorrow to do the work you have and aren't here friday, but do you think you just run 30 samples in two experiements this week for me? You know, just fit it in somewhere? And I should clarify that it's 5 samples for each of those 30 samples, so actually it is 150 samples total...and they need to be done in duplicate. Is this possible? I mean, you don't have to do them *all* today or anything..."

Fuck no.

That's 8 solid days of work.

Jeebus people.

*I need a piece of pie*

You've got to give it away....

Things I have come across while carrying out operation clean sweep which are going to charity on wed:

-2 South Park ties...neither of which J remembers ever owning
-Mad Dawg suspenders in dayglo colours (may keep those for a laugh)
-An early 90s suit jacket with hammer time style arms and lapels
-Many pairs of shoes that I HATE but keep around so I have shoes of that particular colour...they are going away.
-A number of bridesmaid dresses from long ago (sorry Tabitha and Anna Lisa)
-A full set of ratty old luggage
-A solid brass vent cover
-My old favourite red winter jacket from many years ago
-No less than 3 old purses of varying colours and tackiness
-A sexy pair of boots I got on ebay for 2$ but I could never get zipped up all the way (damn)
-My old staff jacket from when I worked in the City of Regina water laboratory (nice jacket...way too big now)
-2 irons
-Old jackets and shirts from larger times

I did find some old stuff from our trip to London and our honeymoon...that was cool. I also found a paystub from university when I night managed a coffee shop for a whopping $6 an hour. Bizarre...

It's all getting put into one giant old suitcase and being given away. Lots more to go, but it's a start...

These are exciting times

This weekend was a busy one - started off quite crappy, but ended up just fine. I got lots done and managed to spend some time with J too...nice. J's Mom was in the hospital for a few days, but she is home now and is OK, so that is a relief. A sign that the weekend was to be a good one.
I had a tasty baked fish meal with Magnus on friday, and then visited with some family that were in town a tiny bit of time. That was nice. And on the weekend? Well, more tidying, and I volunteered at the CFCR art auction for most of Saturday...it was at a posh country club, but I was stuck at the money desk for the evening, so I didn't have as much fun pretending I was a wealthy heiress on holiday in Spain like I'd planned. We had a lot of nice pieces and most of them sold, and people were happy. Half the proceeds go to the local artists and the other half to CFCR, so that was good. There were some pieces there I would have loved to take home, but who am I kidding? They don't take bark and leaves as payment - I should know. I was the one taking the payments!
Sunday was attack the yard day. the snow we had briefly melted on saturday, so I took the chance to take out a borrowed rake and attack the yard and trim up the hedges. I love power tools. I didn't get to where the vines were, but after 3 solid hours in the yard, it's looking rather nice. The back and sides and around the steps and hedges are all done for winter. I'm glad, as I figured I wouldn't have been abler to get to it this year. I'm surprised I'm not stiff after all that, actually.
I've also gotten some primer and we've pretty much picked out the paint for the computer room...I have this week to patch holes and wash walls so I can start painting it this coming weekend - I'm very excited. Add to that that operation clean sweep is pretty much done except for the bookshelves near the computer (J's job) and the kitchen clutter (*sigh*) and it's pretty exciting. Instead of looking around and seeing lots of things to do, I'm seeing all the things I've gotten *done*.
THAT is a good feeling.
I also dusted some of the plants above the door and we put some plants back in the living room. We also picked up some frames for some stuff we've wanted to hang up for ages, so that is a step closer to being hung up too...
Exiting times at Casa Geo.
Moving on up we are. Yessirree.

Best of all?

I finally got to spend some of my birthday money and I picked up this:

Veganomicon. I've been eying it up for ages...it's set up like the Joy of Cooking (my cooking bible) with comments on how to cook and prepare all the grains and beans and other things mentioned in the book, and then 250 yummy looking vegan recipes. I'm not vegan, but I find a lot of vegan cooking is delicious, as they actually rely on the flavour of foods, and not just a slab of meat, for tastiness. So I have lots of things to try out and now I can learn how to cook all these things I've read about but have no idea what to do with...like quinoa.

I'm excited. Anything yummy will get posted on my foody blog.

Gotta go...busy day. Talk amongst yourselves :)

Happiness patrol

Another day, another cookie...

This morning I sincerely smiled at a stranger and he blinked, looked a bit taken back and then his eyes lit up and he smiled. His whole face lit up. I tried it again at the bus stop...and another smile.

Geo was curious.

I am going to do a smile survey today...anyone I do not know, I will look at them straight in the eye and smile sincerely and see how many people smile back VS look away or frown. Granted I don't work around a lot of people, so I don't know how many people I'll be able to inflict smiles upon, but I figure it can only be a good thing...the nerd in me may even make up graphs of results...I'll keep you posted.

Slowly but surely

The house is now 1/3 defurred, ubercleaned and dusted, and thanks to J, decluttered and reorganised as we go. Good god, you'd think the cats spent days at a time actively shedding their body weight in fluff...lucky they are so cute...
J and I have been going to town, and I'm trying to keep at it all ALL week, so that at the end of the week all will be organised and clean and we can start putting things on the walls, and arranging furniture in the living room. It's very invigorating...it's like we've been in limbo for months, and suddenly the house is being restored to an *actual* house...not just rooms full of stuff haphazardly placed in groups. You don't realise how mentally oppressive that is until it's fixed. It's time to get rid of lots of things we've found and went "WTF is this for?", and have giggled at finding things we thought were lost forever...
I feel like we should have people over at the end just to show it off somehow...Christmas party anyone? :)

Unfortunately, my allergies are going haywire...what with me being allergic to mold, dust and catfur, but if I can hold out a bit more, it'll all be over. It's the reason FOR all this...in the end I'll be much happier. And I'll have my house back.
Plus, at the end I get a reward of sorts. THEN I'm able to start to paint the old yellow craft room upstairs to turn it into a computer room, so J can finally set up his music gear downstairs...it's currently a tiny rubber duck yellow room with violent orange and pink trim (I'd like to state that I didn't do it, BTW, it came that way). I want to prime it and make it a nice lime green with white trim...THAT is my reward for cleaning the house. A redone computer room. I only planned it, oh, a year ago...he heh. By my standards that is a bit ahead of the game :)
And then... december and operation christmas...blinky light time.
Muaha!

Operation clean sweep

Whew...we're gearing up to clean the whole damn house top to bottom.
I am not looking forward to it, but being cooped up inside in the winter requires an anti-furring of the domicile to keep me well.
Plus, I'm feeling guilty about not having things all back together after the renos, so this will help get things back to a semblance of normal...and...um...find all the things I tucked away for "safe keeping" while we painted.
Wish me luck.

SNOW!

It's finally snowing...lots of big fluffy flakes.
It's not so bad actually...considering it's been this long before it came, I can't complain.
I'm more excited that J's shoot was cancelled tonight so he has the evening off!
Pizza and movies and me...oh my!
Oh, and yesterday I made the best pancakes ever.
Ever.
EVER.
Make some...you'll see...Check my food blog for the recipe.
I also made up a feta spinach stuffed chicken breast with oven roasted balsamic veggies for supper. It also was droolingly good...if I can remember how I made it I'll definitely do it again :) Yesterday was truly the day of deliciousness...

Gotta go...I'm off to the pet store to see what weird things I can find to get my cat to stop scratching the couch.
Bye...

Finally...

Thank god it's friday.
This has been what has seemed like the longest week ever. Lots do do...
FINALLY, J gets a day off tomorrow. Why is this significant? Well he hasn't had a day off since Oct 20...no kidding.
So it will be much napping and relaxing.
Tonight, the Fort Knox Five are in town along with Matt the Alien at the Odeon-this is a good thing. I do believe I will dance off some vibes by shaking my butt at the speed of sound to some great funk and breaks.
...and then veg out saturday...raking, trimming a hedge, making yummy food. Watching the new Futurama film. you know...live like normal people.

Because I'm too bleah and lame to do a full out friday favourites, let me just say that today, my brain has been stuck on the Cranberries ...an older album actually.
No Need to Argue is a great old album...and so, because the song has been in my head all morning...you can hear Zombie too. Go here. Universal is being a ponce and won't let me embed it...

Later tater..

The Gay Conspiracy

Just to poke a stick into things:

After discussions at work today, I am all fired up. The more I think about it the more I am angered: How can you annul someone's marraige with a vote?
It is bad enough that people feel that they can vote to disallow same sex unions. It's a whole giant leap backwards...
What supremely disturbs me about the whole thing is the fact that people who were already married, have had their marriages annulled. They, in essence, never existed. The vote cancels not only future marriages, but PAST ones. Vows at civil unions (not religious ones) that had already happened. I thought there was a separation of church and state? This is evidence to the contrary

This is so very wrong on so very many levels.

What if your community got together and told you they'd held a vote, and that you and your partner were deviants, not like them, and that your marriage was not real. That it had never happened. You're not allowed to be married to the person you love. And you should probably leave town too, as after all, you deviant, you don't live a socially acceptable relationship with the person you love...we won't allow you to, because it's easier to hate you when we can pretend you aren't like us.

Take any openly harsh statement against homosexuality and replace the sexual/gender references with racial ones. Go on...try it. If you said them at a pulpit or podium you would be strung out to dry and publicly condemned as a bigot and a racist. I'm not talking about agreeing to disagree, or your own private opinion...but public statements that inspire hatred and hate crimes on a regular daily basis. Grouping all homosexuals together as deviants or child molestors, out to corrupt your children and destroy your society. Do people honestly believe this stuff anymore?

Sadly, still, homosexual hatred and slander is still OK.
Why?
As for me, I just don't care, honestly, if you're gay or straight. It's a non-issue. Who you are, how you live your life and treat others is proof of your quality as an individual...that's it.

Well whaddaya know...

Hmmm...apparently optimism and hope do still exist on American soil.

I stayed up after class last night to watch the polls roll in and hear the speeches. McCain and Obama were both gracious and kind, but what really impressed me was seeing the lines of voters...the polar opposite of our Canadian election a few weeks ago. It really filled me with emotion to see so many different people from so many walks of life caring about their country...feeling like maybe there was a chance they could fix things... to see individuals feel like their voice counted and that they were a part of making their country better...it honestly brought tears to my eyes. It was inspiring to hear the end of Obama's speech and know he really realises what he's in for...that he is inspiring his whole country to change. Hearing him ask everyone to help...the very fact that his motto for the campaign was "yes we can" is a fundamental change in attitude for the American public.
My beef about modern man is his ability to isolate himself and put himself first. If we have any hope for our future and little ones like my new niece Zoe, there has to be a shift in attitude...a return to a sense of community and doing things for the greater good. We can't hole ourselves up and look after number one and hope it will get better...we did that. Look where it got us? Greed and selfishness built up faulty loans that fed our greed and resulted in the world economy falling to it's knees. We're all falling together...and I really believe that unless the whole world bands together to try and address our future we will fail. We have seen first hand what greed and selfish oppression gets us. We have to learn from our mistakes or we will burn like Rome, and those we have failed will delight in our fall...dooming themselves in the process.

In the past I heard songs like "the spark that bled" and would think "why don't we do things differently? When did apathy and the hunt fro an impossible selfish life become the accepted way to live? How did we become so resigned to things being a different way?"

I accidentally touched my head and noticed that I had been bleeding
For how long I didn't know
What was this, I thought, that struck me?
What kind of weapons have they got?
The softest bullet ever shot
I stood up and I said, yeah!
I stood up and I said, yeah!
I stood up and I said, hey! Yeah!
From this moment on blaring like a trumpet
Coming from above us and somewhere below
The confidence of knowing descending to relieve us of the struggle to believe it's so
I stood up and I said, yeah!
I spoke up and I said, hey!
I stood up and I said, hey! Yeah!
And it seemed to cause a chain reaction
It had momentum, it was gaining traction
It was all the rage, it was all the fashion
The outreached hands had resigned themselves to holding onto something that they never had...and that's too bad
'Cause in reality there was no reaction
(The spark that bled - Flaming Lips)

Like the 60s, there seems to be a resurgence in the need and desire for change - An unjust war on foreign soil...a younger generation questioning why thing are the way they are when they only benefit some. There is a whole generation coming up who've seen the bullshit of the baby boomer era and they want something different. My generation just sort of whined about how sucky it was and grunged our way into electronic distractions, expecting others to do the work for us.

This election gives me hope seeing the desire for change come up from a new generation and spreading out into the general population. What was a dream of the young and innocently optimistic has spread to the rest of us.

I feel we are all the better for it. I hope this will carry forward and everyone will feel the responsibility to work at change.

I sincerely believe this will not be a sound and fury signifying nothing. When people unite for a common cause and put each other before themselves, things will change. We may not *have* more, but we will be united. We will care for each other and the respect and dignity that will arise will make our lives and our communities better.

I have to believe this...it's how I live my life. I'm inspired to think that maybe, just maybe, other people think the same thing...and maybe it *will* get better...

Honey- Where is the rake...?

Would the person I leant my rake to please stand up?
I can't remember and I need to rake. I'm assuming I leant it out, as really...who steals a rake?
Seriously.
I know that as soon as I buy one it will be returned and then I'll have 2.
So...to save the hassle, could whomever I leant it to in a fit of generosity please bring it back?

Please?

Congratulations! It's a Zoe!

My little niece Zoe was born a few minutes ago. (8 Lb 12 oz for those of you who like to know that sort of thing...)
My sister in law Jen had a rough time of it - in labour since about 6 yesterday, and then after the baby being face up and not delivering they eventually gave her a c-section late this morning. Ouchy...but in the end, the safest thing for Zoe.
Zoe and Mom (and much relieved Dad) are doing much better now. I just popped up to say hello to them and say welcome to the little widget on my way to work...I'm so glad the maternity hospital is the one where I have my lab, so I can pop up and see them all while they are in the hospital recovery over the next few days...she has so much hair!!

Welcome little one! :)

New favourite

I had this.
Then a giraffe bought me a drink.
A good evening..

Let them eat cake...pumpkin cake

No this isn't my pumpkin...I wish.

I had a great birthday - cake at work, cake at my brother's place (popped over for a bit of my gluten free pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting...which was fantastic) and watched my brother carve up some pumpkins for a bit...I was going to bring one and make a pumpkin like the one above, but when I got home from work, I'd found that J had set up the living room as a giant birthday theatre...one night only viewing of The Nightmare Before Christmas on the entire wall - Complete with giant beanbag chair, Chinese takeaway and a few bottles of chilled Innis & Gunn. So yeah...visited my brother a bit, but returned home, full of cake, for the film. It's the film J and I saw together at the artsy theatre by the library years and years ago on my birthday, back before we were a we...and were at more of a great friends eyeing up each other's bottoms stage. Love the film, and it is very sentimental for me...so to watch it last night was great. The digitally remastered DVD is really clear...even on a huge wall. Gotta love it.

Plus, I've got a now got a Prisoner graphic novel to read. It takes off when the series ends. The Prisoner is an old favourite of mine...it looks very cool.

I was going to dress up for work today, but I slept in. I have a viking costume, but my flu shot that I got yesterday (happy birthday to me) has made me a bit tired, so I cheated and didn't. Plus wearing a brown corset and knee high boots with a viking helmet to work seemed a bit...well too much for the lab, y'know? And I can't see through the bear head well enough to do any work...so I wimped out on that too. And the mirror ball helmet was tucked away...I know pathetic excuses, but I was jsut too tired to dress up this morning. I may go across to the student commons at lunch tho to see just what costumes are out there. (altho Halloween seems to be the time for women to be allowed to dress skanky for no good reason...but that's n yearly rant for some other time).
My viking apparel is still ready for if we go out with friends tonight, but after yesterday I feel perfectly content to not do a thing tonight other than hand out some candy to the odd little person who comes to our door and relax.

Happy Halloween everyone.
I'm gonna try and get some work done and not eat any more cake today...

Getting old dammit

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday dear meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Happy Birthday to me!

I'm going to go enjoy some apple spice cake derbies with cream cheese filling I made for the crew here at work. It's my birthday, so I can eat whatever I want.

Yummers

Inquiring minds want to know

This question came up in conversation last night (don't ask)...and I thought I'd put it out to all of you:

If you had to relax in a hot tub full of the soup of your choice, what kind of soup would it be? And, would you actually do it?

To clarify, no you wouldn't have to eat it - Neither would anyone else...just curious what smells you'd not mind being surrounded by or find soothing and what you'd be OK soaking in, given the task. And no bubbles...cuz that would just be wierd :)
Image Source: Chronicle Books Blog

Me? Well, clam chowder and mushroom are definitely out - no way I'd get in that. Ever. I think chicken noodle or wonton would be my choice. Smell great, and wouldn't be too slimey or hard to clean later.

Do tell...

"Snow Day"

I had grand plans for the weekend.
I really did.

All this raking and trimming and hammering in the yard. The sun goes down so early now that it's hard to get anything done on a weekday. Soooo, I was going to prep the yard for winter this weekend...and then the wind came. Yes - Sakatoon is called the "windy city" for very good reason. All freaking weekend it was so windy you couldn't really go outside. We tried. We got a block out and were cold, grumbly and saw large objects flying by sideways. Not safe. Not fun. If it was winter, it'd be a roaring blizzard.

My solution?

Turn off the phones, stock up on snackables and snuggle up with each other to read, relax and spend a lovely weekend together. If anyone in the real world tried to reach us - I do apologise. It was the equivalent of a blizzardy day just a bit early. It's been ages since J has been off for a weekend with no work, so we just stayed inside, napping in the sun and just enjoying the time together. We baked tasty things and drank Hobgoblin ale. We read entire novels at one go. We put our Stikfas together (my Master Assassin kicks ass). We played with the cats. The house was a toasty warm bubble...and it was glorious.

The wind conveniently died sometime during the night last night, so it's back to the real world again. I'm hopeful it's *not* blowey next weekend as I really do actually have a lot of yardwork to do and it's going to snow soon...I was glad for the "snow day" though.

It was lovely.

I'm cold and tired and there are wolves after me

My friend Pete sent this site to me. It looks at bizarre things...like the post I linked to, with 10 truly bizarre old ads.

My favorite is the one above...altho, the one with the pig slicing itself up as lunch and the smoking Santa are, truly, whackjob.

Little bit of evil, tiny bit of evil...

Want to know how much evil you've got in you? Go here.

SCIENCE!!!

Today I got to use an HPLC to do lactic acid analysis of serum, analyze genetic sequences for mutations, and program and run a giant autoanalyser.

Some days I feel like quite the scientist.
These kind of days make me feel like Queen of the Labrats.
They make it all worthwhile.

I shall begin feeling smug starting...........now.

SCIENCE!!

WANT!!

R2D2 Pepper Mill.

NMEEP! I *need* this...like caffeine...like pie...

*ahem*

May I mention my birthday is coming soon?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Beuller?

Note to self...Geek likes curry

Lesson of yesterday: Do not leave the extra homemade curried lamb burger out to cool...the cat likes them.
J will not eat a burger that has already been nommed on by the Geek. I'm not too sure I could cut off the nibbled on bits and eat it either...would you?? (They're damn good, and I hate to waste them...but y'know, cat drool and all that)

In other news, yesterday I got to go up on the roof. Yup! I've always wanted to. Generally I've stayed off the roof given my ability to injure myself and lose my balance at the drop of a hat, but yesterday was get the roof ready for winter day. Dad wasn't able to do it all before they left, but he left me with simple instructions of what to do, so, after J got back from editing, he and I went up on the roof (!!!!!) . He cleared the gutters while I nailed down and put a sh*tload of cocking (tee hee) compound around the roof vents on the house...one of them has started to leak when it rains. Now (as long as I did it right) they should be hunky dory for a while. I used a whole freaking tube of Mono up there (I figured since I was up there I might as well go to town on anything that looked suspicious and some of the gaps were rather large - no wonder they leaked off and on). I hope there will be no more leaks, and Casa Geo is tucked in for the winter.

I have to say - the view from the roof is spectacular. And I found a set of christmas lights up there (??) along with a bit of the corner of the roof that I need to nail up so the soffat doesn't come off once I get the proper nails. I feel so handy...I think I need my own toolbelt or something...

Casa Geo - for all your vegging needs...

Here at Casa Geo, we strive to give that comfortable, relaxed feel of home. We strive to be the place to lounge about and drink champagne and nibble caviar, er, I mean sip beer and coffee and eat muffins, and feel as though it is our place to call home...

We've been up to a lot as of late...with a strange interlude, and I was going to wait for my reno update until all was back in place. I'm now coming to realize that knowing us and our insane lives it will probably be a while until it is all together...so I decided to give you a little pictoral report on the updating of Casa Geo.

First...the summer project of over a week of solid painting (and an unfortunate injury to a blind saleswoman) that turned this into this:
Spiffed up living room/front entrance
Again...ze living room...
And dining area...with a new light fixture. I'm almost more excited about it than anything else about that room reno :)
Here's a close up. Why? It rocks! Here at Casa Geo we will never speak of the old ugly brass glass thing that hung there ever again...

Not too bad eh? The painting turned out well, and the blinds are great...they match the beam perfectly. And then, thanks to my amazing Dad...there are some new friends in the house:
The Dishpig:

And The Twins:


Yes...Geo saw it, and it was good. So, to try and earn my above rewards, today I have done laundry, taken in the recycling, gotten a sexy new haircut, and am now waiting for J to be done work (boo saturday sports mobiles). I've made some experimental cookies (not bad actually), and tonight I am making some homemade pizza with some tasty sauce sent to be by none other than the lovely Baglady. Yes...I opened my front door the other day to find a parcel from Her Bagness (I do mean that in the kindest possible way :) ) In it were some tasty looking home canned goodies. A little gift box of goodies, all for guessing her photo quiz. Lucky me :)
Thanks a million! (Note to all - if you answer a trivia contest for the Baglady, she is DEFINITELY good for it !)

So there you have it.
What I've been up to when sanity allows.
I'm off for some pizza and coffee...bye! :)

Hokus Pokus Jiggety Jig

Well, there's a big gap in my counter where my old piece o' crap dishwasher used to be. My Dad had a go at replacing it last night with the new one, and like all things with our house, it got complicated. You see, the pipe to it had no shut off valve (??) so we had to shut off water to the whole house...and it would have to remain off until the new one was in...or a valve was installed. It didn't help that the breaker panel is still largely a mystery, so it took a bit to figure out which breaker to flip so as not to electrocute my dear old Dad. Luckily, Dad is a man of many talents, so we turned off the right breaker, the water and removed the old one to discover the wonders therein, and then went on a trek to the hardware store for some stuff needed to install the new one. Just to make it fun, it seems the floor drain on the old one is in the wrong spot and was totally a made up solution, and the water intake had to be redone, so Dad has to make the hole in the floor bigger and get creative about running the drain to the drain in the basement. I hope he's not too pissed off by the end of it all.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Please don't skimp on home renos people. I am amazed at the little cheap things left out by people just trying to save time or money...nickling and diming things to absurdity. Honestly, you save very little and the people after you who just want to make things right or install something new end up cursing you and spending hours in home reno stores trying to figure out just what sort of product will fix your ginormous renovation cockup to get to what you wanted in the first place.

To his credit, Dad put in a shut off valve last night (what a guy) so we had water this morning. Yay. And he said he can do the rest, and has all the bits and bobs to do it, so I'll leave him be.

I left him with a cup of coffee and the installation manual this morning and altho he was making a few odd faces reading through it I am very hopeful that when I get home today there will be a spanky new black dishwasher installed in the counter. If I'm lucky it will even work...oh to dream.

If it does, we're all going out for supper (well OK we are anyways), and Dad gets a dram or 2 of the finest scotch in the place on me.
We shall see...:)

I dare ya

OK...so tell me my neice isn't cute enough to make your head asplode...

Didn't we just *do* this a few months ago??

Well, today in Canada we go to the polls, to essentially vote in what we have right now. Another minority government. The thing is, noone is content with how things are right now. Me, I dislike the conservative party and their leader.
Problem is, we have no strong alternative...the Liberals have a great green platform, but aren't explaining themselves well. And their party leader, Dion, is waffley. He was given a chance to stand up for his statements and he waffled...leaving people question his ability to rule. The NDP? Well, they have a lot going for them, but not enough support to do a lot of good. The Green Party? Same.
So essentially, we've got most of Canada not really wanting a conservative government, but the vote is split against them just enough, that they'll likely get a minority government again...which is just what we don't need. A government supported by only ~30% of the country. A government with no effective governing power in what is starting to become a time of financial crisis for the world.
It feels very strange to vote knowing it is likely things will be as they were. Being in a very strong conservative riding, with our current MP being someone I vehemently oppose but know I will be unable to vote out due to his overwhelming rural support, it makes voting seem pointless.

Still, I will vote. Because I can.
It is my right to do so, and many do not have this right. I will act upon it and do my civic duty. Plus I figure if I don't vote I can't complain about who is in power, as I didn't vote...saying the electoral process is a sham or inaccurate is a cop out. It is what it is and we get to choose. If we don't, we only contribute to the decline of the whole process. This time, I will say, I do wish there was a "none of the above" option on the ballot. It would be interesting to see just how many people would choose that in this particular election. I want to know just how many people are disillusioned with the whole procedure this time around.
I do hope that whomever is elected to go to office will do their best for their constituents regardless of their party. A good friend of our family was a conservative MP and he isn't running this year...which is a bit of a shame. Altho I didn't agree with him in a lot of things, at least I know he was a good man who did his best to try to represent the needs of his riding in parliament. It's my fervent hope that we elect people who will do that and not just tow the party line when it comes to major decisions for our country.
Naive I know, but ya gotta start somewhere.

And remember...you can't eat your ballot. It's illegal. They'll know...:) Yeah. I checked...