Not even close

I finally made my Mom's shirts - using iron-on transfers. This is my first time using them & the first shirt worked but doesnt' look great. The instructions say to leave about a 1/2 of an inch around the edge of the picture but it is really noticeable on the shirt because I did it on a light blue shirt. Lame. The white shirt one turned out much butter because I also trimmed it much closer to the picture. Oh well. Hopefully Mom will love them anyways. My ultimate goal is to make her cry - you know it's a really good gift when she starts weeping like a baby. I also purchased country music on iTunes. I made my Mom & my Auntie Mary country/Christmas compilations. Yes, it's Dec. 29 but this is what happens when you don't celebrate Christmas on Christmas. Anyways, I have a crapload still to do before I leave because I have spent most of my free time this week napping or playing video games. I am in a pickle, once again. If only I could afford a Sven - and if you haven't seen the commercial please keep an eye out for it. It's pretty funny, and the Sven sweater looks real cozy.

For Tracey

This is the dog ramp. As you can see by the dirty prints Clyde has actually been using it, tentatively yes but still using it. I'm hoping that he'll get used to it soon.

At home

I finally decorated Jeff, my plant, today. I think it turned out awesome. I'm finally in the spirit & all that - a few twinkly lights seem to bring that out in me. As well as the Holly Jolly Christmas song. Merry Christmas!

At home

Once again I am stuck at home due to the frickin' snow. I thought I would TRY to go to the Zoo despite the overnight dump but since it's so mild the snow is very wet and therefore too icy for Little Car. I got out of my driveway successfully & I thought I was good to go but at the same spot on the road as all the other damn times I got stuck, the tires were spinning and Little Car was no longer moving forward. One of the best thing about Manitoba is that it's flat which makes winter driving way easier. This is total bullsh!t. I actually thought yesterday that I could try & get away without getting winter tires. Clearly that has caused this morning's kick in the pants. Never think positive! It's crap. Grrargh!
On a side note, I successfully tidied up for my petsitter's visit yesterday & no longer feel embarrassed & disgusted by my home. There are still areas that my eye slides by but since I can't get off my street I suppose I have plenty of frickin' time to clean up now. I guess I'm a little ticked off. It should fade in about 15 min. My temper does not last much longer than that. I could hold a grudge - but against what? myself for jinxing the road conditions? Little Car for coming with sh!tty tires? the mountain? the government? There's no point.

Christmas prep

It's been a little hectic! On top of my Bloons addiction, I have had to send out my Christmas cards, find gifts, bake cookies, clean, etc., etc. I went to our department's Christmas get-together on Friday, my friend's annual Chick Party on Saturday, today was the cookie exchange and tomorrow is our gift exchange. I still have to send out a few straggler cards, which will probably be late - sorry in advance to those affected! I haven't decorated my home yet, and it's a total mess as usual. My petsitters are coming over Friday to get a tour & the key so I have to make my place look decent by then for sure or they may change their minds. I also still have to get more gifts. I have direction but have yet to make the necessary purchases! The good thing is that tomorrow is my last work day & I can then get sh$% done. I am SO EXCITED! However, I am feeling a bit achy - my back, my throat - so if I am getting sick I am going to be pissed. Wish me luck.
ps: I think the Vancouver Olympics mascots are ADORABLE - pricey yes, but adorable - especially the Sasquatch. I've heard nothing but criticism but that's because people suck. A big cuddly Sasquatch - how could you NOT love it? Really!

SWEET VICTORY!!!!!!!!!

Joy! I have beaten Bloons Tower Defense completely! I just finished the Hardest level in Bloons Tower Defense 2 and FINALLY survived till the 50th level. Oh, my God! It's been a long tough struggle but I feel so accomplished now. Really.

Snowed in

Today it has snowed and snowed and snowed and I canceled my dinner and Settlers plans because I don't think I can even get out of my driveway. Clyde has been outside most of the day, though in & out since he's not as tough as he use to be. Hal has spent the day in bed, except for about an hour where he avidly watched all the birds feeding outside, ears back and tail swishing. Luckily I don't work tomorrow anyways so this is a relatively stress free storm for me. But, gaging the depth of the snowfall I am concerned for Tuesday morning. But, maybe it will get mild enough so that I won't slide to my horrible and painful death down the mountain on my way to work. One can hope. I have spent a good chunk of the day playing Bloons Tower Defense. I have been watching T.V. intermittently but I have to say Sunday T.V. really sucks in general. The best show was 'Snow' a modern Santa meets Mrs. Clause with a flying reindeer named Buddy. Cheesy but fun. I am very disappointed about postponing Settlers but maybe next weekend will work out & then hopefully I will finally win! If the T.V. options continue to suck I may be forced to clean. That's probably a good thing but I really don't want to.

Woe is me

My apologies for neglecting my readers! I have become seriously addicted to Bloons Tower Defense and have spent the last week or so playing, and playing, and playing, and playing, and playing... I beat Bloons Tower Defense #1 BUT cannot for the life of me beat Bloons Tower Defense 2. I get to level 50, the last level, and then I frickin' die, again, and again, and again, and again! GRRRARAAAAAHHHGGGG!!!! I've slept,though less than usual. I have done dishes, laundry, etc. but MUCH less than usual. I have worked on the Zoo newsletter, but not diligently. I play on my lunch break at work. I think about it during the day - strategizing on how I could possibly beat it. It's totally ruining my life. And, I just can't stop. I played it for the last 2 hours. This sucks. I also have to acknowledge the fact that I am still playing on Easy - easy my a$$! F&$#! I want to play it again now.
As an aside I found out that I must use up my banked time by January so I am taking a few days off over the next couple of weeks. Ideally, I can use this time to clean up my ramshackle of a place. Do some shopping for Christmas. That sort of thing. My fear is that I will play Bloons Defense until I fall asleep, but I will try very hard to use my time more wisely. This is a battle of will and I must persevere!

Gaseous

I am tired, incredibly sore, grumpy as hell and craving chocolate - yes, it's PMS time. What fun. On top of that I farted at the vegetable market today. Luckily no one was around. The upside to public farting is that it makes me think of my loved ones: Mikie's incredible Bonneville stink bomb that lasted 3 days; my Mom's extenda toot when she starts laughing; Janet B.'s classic; Tracey's reaction to Greek food. I think I may be the only one that gets nostalgic about gaseousness!

Birthday

Today was a fun day - as fun as work can be anyways - but for the first time in my life I am tired of cake! I got Bumble Snowman cake on Sunday - delicious & I still have half a head left. Then my co-worker made me 2 cakes yesterday - chocolate & lemon. Granted everyone at work had some but I still have a big piece of each in the fridge - and the lemon cake is AMAZING. Then today I got cookies & Timbits...I may as well eat a pound of lard & take a taxi to the hospital. Crazy! I am actually craving vegetables. But nobody gets a cucumber with candles on it to blow out. That would just be weird. I guess I'll just have to buck up & eat all the cake. Then no cake for a month...well, until the next birthday or celebration anyways. I can't be rude.

One more day...

I am starting my second round of Belly Dancing, en route to a new career perhaps...Anyways, I'm excited though still without a suitable Belly Dancing skirt. Hopefully, I will find one soon since it's only for 5 weeks. I do still have my fun wrap with all the sparkly bits which is helps get in the hip shaking mood. My only concern is my stupid knee but I'll just have to be careful & I need the exercise desperately. Wish me luck!
As an aside, I played this quiz on Facebook where you choose which band name you think matches the picture. Some are obvious but others are not but I thought I did ok. However, I got 84% - standard Jennifer grade - and my other friends got 89% - 100%. Who the f&$# knows by sight Journey or Foreigner, well apparently my friend Tim. I want to win damn it! Win! But, I just can't seem to beat these people... Argh!

Special Package

I got a package today, which was very exciting for me!
Please note the selection of environmental disaster packages, the cuban cigars, and ridiculous Oscar bags. Cousin Mikie always buys me something a little crazy, ie. the life size inflatable Hulk. I can't wait to hit the town with my Oscar clutch in tow. Frickin' brilliant!

12:03

I just ruined my vacuum. Wonderful!

Sunny day

I rented some movies yesterday on the drive home from the Zoo, planning for a lazy weekend. I got 300, 'cause it's brilliant, As You Like It, 'cause it's Shakespear, and Knocked Up, 'cause a friend recommended it. When I got home Clyde was in the kitchen trying to get up out of his diarrhea. Needless to say this put a damper on the day for me. I helped him up and then he went outside. I cleaned up and prepared to bathe him but he wouldn't come so he stayed outside for a couple of hours. I made lunch and watched some T.V. Eventually, Clyde let me bathe him and then came in for dinner. I watched the Shakespeare movie first. Not bad. It always takes me a while to understand the dialogue so I didn't really get into it until half way through. Luckily I had seen the play before so had some idea of the plot. Then I put on 300 and fell asleep as the Spartans left Sparta. Embarrassing, yes, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open. When the movie was over I woke up and went to bed. Another exciting Saturday night for me. Then I woke up early this morning and both Clyde & Hal wanted to get up and eat breakfast so I got up, watched 300 wide awake - brilliant f-ing movie. Then went on Facebook and realized, thanks to cousin Janet's status line, that it was an hour earlier so I didn't just get up at 6:50, I got up at 5:50. It is now 11:27 and I've watched 2 movies already. It's a beautiful sunny day so I really should go outside but instead, here I am typing away.
By the by, Clyde's fine. And he smells not poopy.

Ninja

Today was a really fun day! My Ninja hoodie worked out well. I got to throw my paper Chinese Throwing Stars around - narrowly missing my supervisor's eye! There was candy, a scary closet, and most people dressed up. There was an elfen warrior princess, a warrior Queen, a Sand Person, a witch, a Potato Head, a Flight Attendant, a Gypsy, an old man...Good times, good times!

Finished with Physio!

I am officially done physio - finally! I only went in once this week & my physio therapist thinks I'm doing well enough now so there is no need to visit, unless something goes awry. I just have to keep up a couple of strengthening exercises, and exercises more in general I think. This is a challenge, since I am a total lazy a$$, but if I don't I will injure myself again for sure. I still can't kneel & reach the dishes on the bottom shelf of my corner cabinet but I am sure I will be able to soon enough.
The damper of the day was a trail of diarrhea from Clyde through the house today. Looks like he was in the bedroom lying down when it happened and then he walked around the house spraying it around. I cried, then wiped it up with paper towel, then some more with some rags, then I poured a box of Baking Soda over all the splatters and when it dries tomorrow I will be able to vacuum it up then wash the carpets. The funny thing was that he wanted to eat right away and then went outside. I guess the antibiotics didn't do much for him. I'll have to go to the Vet again & see what we can do next. Maybe the arthritis medication will help...

Funny bits

I was reading a semi-recent Macleans over lunch today and saw 2 very funny stories:
1. A shirtless Mormon hunk calendar for 2008 called "Men on a Mission"
2. An ex-girlfriend of a famous ball player wants to write a self-help book and become a teacher, but in the mean time will be posing for Playboy & is dishing the dirt on her ex in order to promote herself.
Okay, maybe #2 is not funny so much as ridiculous...

untitled

My dishwasher is not working properly so I have done dishes 3 times this week! For the regular individual this may seem normal, maybe even less times than you would wash dishes per week. However, for me this is a zillion times more than usual. I would say over the last year I have washed the dishes once every 2 weeks, on average. And one time I had wine glasses left from a party for 2 months. The reason for this is that I am incredibly lazy and I also have a ridiculous amount of dishes. The dishwasher is also an enabler so I can fill it up, and unload it, whenever I have a chance without ever actually washing dishes. There are some dishes that do not fit or are too fragile for the dishwasher so those accumulate on my counter. Just for the record, this does not make me happy. It makes me feel stressed out, disappointed in myself, rebellious ('cause my Mom would disapprove), and ashamed to have people come over. So, because I haven't been able to depend on the dishwasher anymore I have been forced to do the dishes. I feel good about it, in a theoretical way, but I am honestly really tired of doing them. Since I cook often and have a dog that eats messy soft food I go through alot of dishes so it takes an hourish per session. Then my back and feet get sore. I am so old... Anyways, it's nice to feel normal, and have a cleaner kitchen, but I really would like the dishwasher back.

I'm BACK!

Oh, how I have missed being online! A few weeks back on a sunny Sunday afternoon my poor computer shut down and after repeated attempts to restart it the horror of the situation began to sink in. My computer was offically broken! Over a year of reliable service and it bit the biscuit. After some staring into space, I moved my lazy a$$ into my spare room and watched some movies for the rest of the day. Funny enough my old DVD player was completely dead as well when I went to turn it on, so thank goodness the VCR still worked. I had a work conference over the next couple of days so got to watch the news on Tuesday morning , but the rest of the week was spent watching my old video tapes: Breakfast Club - classic!, Mission Impossible, Braveheart, Star Wars trilogy - unspoiled version, Lion King, Robin Hood - Disney version & my favourite, etc. I felt so isolated and out of touch from the world. Granted, I could actually call people but that's completely out of my comfort zone. I did check my e-mail online when I could from work but it was hard to take enough time from my lunch hour to do it often. As it is the hour zooms by and suddenly I have to work again. I thought I would stay after hours to go online & get on Facebook but the company system blocks the site, to my complete dismay, so no Facebook for me. I think that was the hardest part of the whole ordeal. Recovering from a Facebook addiction is brutal. But, it's now been almost 3 weeks (this Sunday), and I am officially over it, though I admit to having thought about Facebook often - what song I should switch to, what mood I would be in, what stupid crap people were posting on my Fun Wall. After the first week of videos, and missing the first episode of Heroes which was just the icing on the cake, I moved my ridiculously heavy old T.V. into the living room, broke & bent up the electronic panel on the bottom because it was too heavy & I rested it on the sofa en route, and hooked it up to the cable. That was a happy moment for me, despite the fear that my T.V. may catch on fire or something because I broke it. I got to watch the morning news, the 2nd episode of Heroes, and just be somewhat normal again. As an extra kick when I'm down though, I had to re-adjust to the lack of a remote for the T.V. (I dropped the remote in a cup of coffee a few years back). I can hook up the T.V. with the VCR & use that remote but I can only change the channel linearly (is that spelled correctly?) so if I want to go from channel 2 to 32 I have to go all the way through the 30 channels in between. Sure some people still live without electricity but I'm use to my technology so it was frustrating.
Anyways, I am now officially back. My computer is okay - though I still have no idea why it did that. The guy that helped me when I went to pick it up wasn't a technician so all he knew was that they replaced the power supply 'cause that's all it said on the tag. The why/how is a mystery. I guess I was expecting a list of what they did & a thorough explanation, like Toyota does when I take my car in for maintenance: Rotated the tires & they are at 20% blah blah, replaced filter cost of $20, etc. Usually, my eyes blur and I zone out when they go over it because I just can't absorb car talk, it's sort of a thing. But, all I get with the computer is a sketchy 'replaced power supply'. The important thing is the computer is home & still looks beautiful.

Braceless

I have ventured without the knee brace for the last couple of days. It's going good. I still can't walk properly down the stairs or bend my knee BUT it's getting easier. I was pretty frustrated earlier this week because everything has become more of an issue to do. After running a few errands I am exhausted from hobbling or standing or my leg is stiff from sitting at work. It frickin' sucks! But, I found a physio place to call, I still have to call but at least I have the number and it's close by. Maybe tomorrow. As for the rest of my life, I'm basically biding my time until next week when all the regular shows start up. However, I will be heading down to the Semiahmoo Resort (I think I spelled that right...) for a work mini-conference the night that Heroes premiers - bloody crappy timing but I will record it so that will just have to do. I can't wait to see Hiro!

Lazy Sunday

I had a semi-hectic week, what with the hobbling & work, etc. The knee is much better but I still can't kneel or pivot & walking down the stairs is difficult (up is fine). I volunteered yesterday morning & ended up staying a few extra hours to facepaint. I bathed the tortoises in the morning & Boris wasn't happy when I turned him upside down to clean his under-shell so he was kicking out his legs & stuff and I had to keep shifting him. I got it done & he looked very clean but my shirt was covered in tortoise dirt - I looked as if I was rolling in mud. Of course, I just happened to be wearing my white zoo shirt that day. So, when I was facepainting I kept having to explain why I was so dirty. It was a little annoying. The hardest request was a fairy princess getting married, but I pulled it off.
I guess it was a little exhausting because I had a long nap in the afternoon, woke up, watched some T.V. and then fell asleep again. I fell asleep watching Sin City, just in time for the creepy yellow guy part - which is great because he is so disgusting I barely made it through the first time I saw the movie. I woke up just in time to see a yellow splatter from his demise. It's such a great movie, but the yellow guy - yuck! I got up after 11:00, which for me is like sleeping till 3 pm. It's awesome. I have to clean because, as usual, my place is a mess but I will get to it....eventually.
Oh, I rented Pan's Labyrinth & Blades of Glory. Not a normal combination, I'm sure, but two movies that people kept telling me I should see. Both great in their own unique ways and both with haunting imagery - the creepy eyeball guy from Pan's Labyrinth & the ridiculous figure skating outfits from Blades of Glory. I recommend both, but Pan's Labyrinth would be suitable for people who enjoy foreign films with creepy symbology and Blades of Glory for people who like Will Farrel &/or figureskating. Actually, if you like figureskating you may find it offensive, so don't watch it.

Knee Brace

Wednesday I had a game and was actually doing pretty good. I had one really good hit. And the team was kicking butt. But the next time I was up and running to third I stopped and my knee didn't. I happened to be looking down, and it looked as if my leg snapped. I crumpled to the ground and couldn't move for a bit. My teammates came rushing over and got me up. I hobbled to the dugout and then later hobbled to my car, no more playing for me. The drive home was brutal. I tried to use my left leg to break so I ended up driving like a 15 year old. I broke down completely thinking about how I was going to make it down the stairs to my place. However, I survived, managed to work somewhat efficiently - though I had to ask my co-workers for help, like getting chocolate from the kitchen upstairs.
I went to the Walk-In, or "Hobble-In" in my case, and it was kind of useless but at least I got pointed in the right direction. I bought a knee brace, because the doctor thinks that it was just my knee cap and it needs to be stabilized to heal. I may need physio, but I'll see how it goes over the next few days. I still can't completely bend or straighten my knee and any sort of pivoting or getting up & down is difficult & painful if I move the wrong way. The brace itself is also smelly - not from me, yet, but with that new material smell like a new car right out of the factory. The worst part is the frustration of not being able to move normally. I'm exhausted from hobbling!

My first Settlers experience

I LOVE long weekends. Three hole days of not working. It's wonderful. Anyways, yesterday I got together with my work buddies to play Carcassonne & then we played Settlers. Of course I have heard alot about Settlers since I worked at a game store, but I had never had a chance to play it. It's really fun, though a little complex. I didn't win - at all! But, I was willing to play a third round though I was ready to fall asleep. Luckily everyone else was ready to pack it in so I got home at a reasonable hour. If you haven't played it before either I think you should!
I also went on a shopping spree - nothing too crazy, just a curtain rod - finally, after almost 2 years of tacking up my curtain with push pins - a couple new shirts and these glasses. It's really too sunny to live without sun glasses. These last couple of weeks have really sucked.

Ode to Tracey

Tracey is on her way to Ontario today. She's moving to Oakville & being a westerner I didn't have a clue where it was until she showed me on a map. She's got an awesome job lined up there & is driving out with her Mom. We're all hoping they won't bicker too much... Hubby Andy is flying out there next week. It's going to be a tough time for me, adjusting to BC life without her, but I'm really glad she got such a great opportunity and I know it will be a great experience. At the very least they're only 4ish hours from New York & 6ish hours from Montreal so there will be some fun trips for them once they get settled. They also want to get a kitty - finally - so that will be a nice addition to my extended pet family.
Anyways, it was an emotional good-bye yesterday so I just wanted to give a more elaborate adieu - so adieu, adieu, to yeuh & yeuh & yeuh, la la la! All the best Trace, drive safe & don't yell at your Mom! Love you!

Horseracing game

I'm not sure if I've mentioned the horseracing game before but I have to say that it's even better than Carcassonne - and that's a high rating for me. It's a wooden board with wooden horse heads that move up the board in a groove. Cards & dice determine how much you win or loose. All the cards in the deck are dealt out (Kings & Aces are removed - there are only 11 horses, #2-#12) and the first four throws of the dice determine the first four horses price - the first horse costs $0.05, the 2nd $0.10, the third $0.15 and the fourth $0.20. Whoever is holding the corresponding cards has to put that amount in the pot - if you have multiples than it's the $ amount x the number of cards you have (max. 4). It really sucks if you have 2 or more of the $0.20 one - which happens to me alot. Anyways, the fifth dice roll gets the next horse off the starting line. If you happen to roll one of the 'scratched' horses you pay the corresponding cost into the pot. You keep rolling until one of the horses reaches the top of the board or finish line. Whoever has that corresponding card wins the pot so it's usually split between 2 to 3 people unless someone really gets lucky and has all 4 of the same in their hand.
The first time I played this I lost maybe $6 dollars but played until the wee hours of the morning. The next time I played I lost maybe $15 and borrowed more money to keep playing. However, yesterday I hovered around my $5 starting amount the whole night. It was the best result I could have hoped for,'cause I just ain't lucky. I stayed up till 3 which is about 5 hours longer than I normally stay up but it was a blast. However, I highly recommend playing this with people who can hold their liquor - it takes forever for a drunk person to deal & they can't keep track of who's turn it is or the rules of the game

Ack! My glasses!

My favourite sunglasses have now bit the biscuit. This is the second pair, the first ones also cracked on the highway from Whitehorse to Alaska. These ones cracked a bit first a couple of weeks ago and then cracked right through today on the way home from work. It's really quite devastating. They were the perfect colour, the perfect size, super comfortable & had some rhinestones. I can't possibly find a better pair! However, I don't think 3 is a charm since I'm pretty sure they'll break the same way as the other 2. It's going to be a rough week, and for the first time this summer I'm hoping for clouds...

What to do, what to do

I treated myself to a mini shopping spree after work today and bought a top for $24.99 at Winners. I did this in order to get the spending bug out of my system but I'm feeling a little listless and my neck is pretty tense so I think I may need to spend more. Perhaps a CD, or a pair of shoes. The trick is to spend just a bit, leave enough for groceries & bills, and have extra money so I'm not destitute till my next cheque. However, I have a math disability and even though I think I'm spending wisely I tend to miscalculate & end up in the 'red', or is it 'black' - I can never remember which is good & which is bad. Anyways, if I was rich I could have a personal assistant to figure all that out for me but I suppose it's good for me to be challenged.
Isn't it cute?

Back home

I got home yesterday at about noon after 3 days of camping along the Similkameen River. It was wonderful there! We stayed at the Gold Mountain Campground which is about a half an hour east of Princeton. After living in B.C. for several years I still had no idea where Princeton was so I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, but once I got there I realized I had driven through & even eaten there before. It was a learning experience. The campsite itself is right along the river and after saying hello to everyone & setting up my tent I headed down the trail to the river. I even saw a hawk dive bomb into the water & catch a fish! I didn't want to go home, luckily though after 3 nights and some rain I changed my mind... Anyways, Thursday was the vow renewal ceremony for my friends' anniversary. We had a potluck which included salmon, prawns, meatballs, several salads, corn on the cob and more. It was delicious. Then the vows were done after dark with candles lighting the area, very nice & very Finnigan. Friday was relaxing and we had a fire on the beach. Saturday was nice too, but it started raining in the afternoon. Myself & the other tenters put up our tarps & prepared for the rain but went back to hang out with the others. However, a downpour started so everyone fled to whatever shelter they could find. There was even hail. When it ended we all congregated again but it rained again later so I went into my tent and had a very long nap. Luckily the weather cleared up so we were able to have another fire & smores - yum! I packed up as soon as I could on Sunday morning & headed home. I had a great time but was eager to get back before all the Sunday highway traffic, and to check on Clyde & Hal.
When I got home I found a big pile of crap on the carpet by the door so I was a little upset. Apparently Clyde wouldn't go out for my landlord on Saturday night so of course had an accident later on. It just sucks total a$$ because I really can't go anywhere and I feel awful that Clyde has to go through that every time I'm away. And, now there's the faint odour of poo in my living room. I used my carpet cleaner but I think it will take a few different techniques to get the stain, and smell, out. Anyways, after a couple hours of cleaning up the house I started unpacking my car and then my energy petered out and I just watched movies. There's still crap in my car (the miscellaneous item kind - not the dog poo kind), so I should get that cleaned up soon.
I am VERY glad I took today off as well. I won't even mind going to work tomorrow, much.

Cheap Veggies

Today was the first day off for my mini-vac. I slept in till 8:00, had a lazy morning, and ate potato chips for lunch. Then Little Car got some love at the Toyota dealership, for $177, during which time I drank two Iced Cappuccinos - not the Tim's kind but the real coffee shop kind - and started reading my latest Isabella Allende novel. As usual, I'm already completely sucked in - she's amazing so if you've never read her stuff please get off your butt & head to the Library now! On the way home I stopped at Wong's - a local farmer's market extraordinaire - and bought the box of food . I'm so excited to have food in my house. It's been a very sparse few days with a few too many peanut butter & toast meals. I also need food for camping, my first & probably last camping trip of the summer. It's really amazing how much veggies you can get for a modest amount of money - the whole box cost $27.76. A trip to the grocery store for milk, cheese and a few other necessities can cost that much. Plus the cherries were only a $1.99 a pound, crazy! Don't tell my Mom though - she gets jealous of my closeness to affordable cherries, since they can cost ridiculous amounts at the grocery stores in Winnipeg.
Anyways, I've just worked up my appetite so I'm going to dig into the yummy food.

Back to normal

Things are finally dwindling down at work so I am feeling a bit more relaxed. I even cleaned yesterday, washing my walls, doors, etc. One of the great things about summer is the lack of interesting television shows, it really helps get me off me butt. I still watch plenty of T.V. when I am actually home but summer consists mainly of Shopping Bags, various decorating shows, the occasional movie or episode of Meerkat Manor & Pilot Guide, and investigative shows like Cold Case & Criminal Minds (as long as it's not an episode I have seen already). But, this doesn't last long so when I am actually home all evening I am bound to actually get productive. Don't get me wrong, I am as lazy as I ever was, but unless I have something to keep me occupied while I'm being lazy - like T.V. - I get bored. Today I may tackle the laundry...but we'll see how far I get.
As an aside, I watched Survivor Man yesterday and he went to the swamp! He's crazy but really impressive. He ate a turtle, which made me a little squeamish, and a rattle snake and then attempted to make a raft to float through the gator infested waters to get picked up. Wow!

Sore neck

After an exhilarating belly dancing class & a sleep on my squished pillows I couldn't move my neck to the left yesterday. This is the price I pay for wiggly my hips too much. I went to my Chiropractor but within a half hour it was sore again. However, after some stretching & pillow fluffing it's a bit better today but I will need to go to my massage therapist for sure this week.
Other tidbits: I went to see Ratatouille yesterday & it was quite entertaining. They're cute, fuzzy, & boy can they cook. Today I got to hold Squeezer the Colombian Boa Constrictor during Meet a Reptile at the Zoo. I have never held, or even touched, a bit snake like that before & she was surprisingly really smooth, and incredibly muscular. My Mom would freak if she saw it so don't mention anything to her...

Post Harry Potter

I finished the new book yesterday, at precisely 10 pm. After 3 and a bit days of heavy reading, some tears, and a sore back I finished it & now feel a little lost. Friday I did the whole Van Dusen Gardens H.P. Party geekfest, minus a costume (and by the by I seriously need to invest in a cape - there have been endless events where I need one & I don't have one...) which was great, got to walk through the magical Quidditch tent to get my book, spent all of Saturday exhausted from lack of sleep (had to volunteer Sat. am at 7:00 so I slept maybe 5ish hrs), and finally started ready Saturday night. After about 20 pages I fell asleep so my first hardcore day of reading was Sunday. Monday was difficult because I just wasn't in a work mind frame - I was obsessing over the story all day and couldn't wait to get home to read the next part. Tuesday - repeat of Monday, just farther along in the book. I didn't even answer the phone Tuesday evening because it was just too intense. Then it was over and life continues...I can't go into details, just in case you haven't read it yet - but, wow! and wow! I guess all I can do now is start reading the series over again.

Shimmy

This is me shimmying!

My favourites from the Folk Festival

Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion, she's frickin' awesome: http://www.bitchmusic.com/bhome.htm
Allison Russell of Po Girl & Salt (soon to change their name to Sophia) - she's also the Samuel L. of the Folk Festival, ie. makes an appearnce in almost every show: http://www.pogirl.net/
Geoff Berner, check out his song "The Rich Are Going To Move To The High Ground": http://www.geoffberner.com/mp3/index.htm
Ndidi Onukwulu, she's VERY entertaining & dancing so much there's holes in her socks: http://www.ndidi.ca/
The Fugitives, spoken word & accordian genius all roled up into one group: http://www.fugitives.ca/index.php
Rae Spoon, funny & sings about the Great Lakes: http://www.raespoon.com/
Hawksley Workman, very entertaining if a bit forgetful: http://www.hawksleyworkman.com/
The Wailin Jennys, originally from Manitoba & politically conscious: http://www.thewailinjennys.com/
The Sojourners gospel group are FANTASTIC, and if Church was all about the singing & dancing all the time I'd be going every day: http://www.myspace.com/thesojourners

Mosquitos!

I am currently covered in mosquito bites, I think it rivals even a good old fashioned Manitoba summer amount of bites. They just started itching last night and this morning I feel like I want to rip my skin off. On top of that I also have a sun burn - fooled by the overcast sky on Sunday, but never again! We had a ball game yesterday at 6:30 and lucky for me, and everyone really, the other team had to forfeit because not enough players showed up. Thank goodness! I would have died if I had to actually play, I'm sure. Today we have a game at 9:30 so I'm anticipating a slightly more tolerable amount of heat, but then the mosquitoes will be out in full force. I just can't win.
One funny thing, some hardcore B.C. friends of mine - meaning they have lived here all their lives - say "skitters" rather than "mosquitoes" or 'skeeters". It's crazy!

Snap

Today was my first Belly Dancing class. Yep, me, belly dancing. There are about 8 or so of us from work going, which makes it a little less uncomfortable, and a little more uncomfortable. We learned or at leasted attempted the hip lift, the shimmy, the snap, snakearms, the roll. I'm sore and I figured out that it's best to do belly dancing on an empty stomach. Then at the end we yelled in a circle. It was really fun, but I have to practice!

Kale balls

spent my Canada Day at the Zoo, and after a brutal week of work I really didn't want to go BUT I said I would so I went. I treated myself by going 'late', so lazing about till 9:00 & then doing some chores before I left. It was a beautiful sunny day so that helped with my lack of motivation. I spent the day face-painting & the most difficult request was a Marmoset face but I persevered & it looked ok, though not specifically Marmoset-like. At about 2:30 or so one of the Keepers came by & asked for help so I went because I was getting a little bored -short attention span. This is where the Kale balls come in. The Zoo has a project where they breed Oregon Spotted Frogs, which are endangered, so the Kale is used to feed the tadpoles. The crazy part is that they have to make these things every other day or so. The crazier part is that they boil the Kale, blend it to a smooth soupy texture, squeeze the water out via cheese cloth & make little melon balls out of the semi-dry Kale. The insane part is that the blender broke, well specifically someone dropped it - not me! So, we borrowed a tiny little food processor, the kind you used for just onions having maybe a 2 cup or less capacity. So, three pots of Kale took a long time. After an hour & a half of blending, squeezing & balling the Keeper came back & we did it assembly line style so it went a bit faster. I got Kale on my shirt, in my eye, all over my arms, my toe & the kitchen area. Luckily someone else cleaned up for me. So, now I have an open invitation to be the official Kale ball helper. I have mixed feelings about it but will probably do it again. I don't mind getting a little Kaley, and as long as they get a new blender I think it will go faster.
Now I'm off to work.

Hippos

Check this out:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1272876,00.html?f=rss

My dear friend Julie

Today my friend Julie has gotten married - and unfortunately I could not attend. Poor me! Anyways, to show my congrats I threw a sheep at her & sent her an e-card - not a Wedding e-card as I couldn't find a decent one, they're all about love & rings & crap! I wish I could go, but instead I worked. However, I propose a toast - To Julie & Eric, and many happy years! Ps: I owe you a gift...
Love Jen!

My poor finger!

I sprained my finger yesterday - caught the ball with the wrong hand at our game, twice. Today involved alot of 'ouch' this and 'ouch' that. It' s amazing how that finger gets in the way all the time. And it's difficult to type without it. I am hoping the swelling goes down soon, but it will likely be a few days at least. Ouch!

For Tracey

I am tired, but since Tracey asked me to write here I am, writing. The 'I Rock' feeling pretty much bit the biscuit yesterday. I played second base & the team we were playing hit off-field pretty much every other person so the whole game I was trying to catch, trying to throw, trying to hit & SUCKED! The other lame part was that it was the longest game in history finishing at 11:00 pm (started at 9:10). To top that off, when I got home Hal escaped twice - though, luckily he didn't go into the shrubbery. Clyde had diarrhea, & then pooped in the bedroom. And, I couldn't fall asleep! So, with thoughts of playing 2nd, work, and the exciting spa adventure scheduled for Tuesday - which means I have to clean up - I think I finally dozed off around 1:30/2:00 and spent a fitful few hours tossing & turning. I was actually thankful when I woke up & saw it was almost 6, so I would be out of my misery soon. This is going to be a very painful & long day. I also have to put in overtime, making it more painful & much longer.
The upside...can't think of anything right now.

I ROCK!!!

I won Carcassonne yesterday, 1 game at least, and we won our ball game tonight! I kick A$$!!! I feel good! I can win! I can catch! I can hit! Now I just need to win the lottery or something. Actually, I did win a spa night which is pretty cool, not the lottery but a bonus for sure. It's been a good week. The only real bad thing was that I stepped in poop last night retrieving Hal from his nightly foray into the neighbour's shrubbery, didn't notice, & then wore those shoes to work today. I noticed eventually so cleaned the shoe off but I smelled the poo smell for most of the morning.

Warning!

Do not cut carrots with a paring knife. It really doesn't work well & you may end up chopping your finger instead.
No, I didn't make myself bleed but it came close.

Facebook & Time Management

I've been meaning to write but between Facebook & Bloons (Julie's game of choice) I haven't. My apologies! What's new? Well, the spider left and I don't know where it went. I think it's for the best though since there wasn't much bug action above the tub. I finally washed my floors and have enjoyed walking barefoot on them, having previously avoided that due to yucky sticky things. I went into Vancouver & got to play Carcassonne with Tracey & Andy, and lost ): I got burnt in a sideburn formation from the drive into the city, but luckily it's fading already. Other than that I've started watching Buffy again and am almost half way through Season 2. Soon Willow & Oz will meet! Can't wait! I have to play ball tonight still so am trying to mentally prepare. I wasn't feeling so great earlier but after some soup, crackers & relaxation I think I'm up for playing. Sometimes I'm really gung ho and am disappointed if I don't play a full game but that's rare since I'm a lazy a$$. I'm also getting visitors this week so need to clean up a bit more. I tried washing my pillows but they're still not completely dry - after HOURS in the dryer. It sucks!
Mom update: She's o.k. but per her doctor she has 'holes in her brain'. Gail explaining medical conditions is a phenomena in & of itself. After much questioning the 'holes' became 'pinpricks' and are due to previous mini-strokes. The good thing is she's actually paying attention to her body & getting regular medical attention. But the stubborn woman insists on mowing her entire lawn in one shot. Trying to discipline my Mom is like fractions - I try and know the basic principals but can't quite get the result I want.

ECCW

I went to a live wrestling match yesterday. I've never seen so much spittle flying in my life. It was very entertaining, though there were hardcore stoners sitting next to me that kept yelling out anti-gay slurs (in denial?) and they smelled strongly of sweat among other things. Some of the wrestling was actually good but I did see quite a few misses & mistakes. I went with the Zookeeper I volunteer with & her friends. Azeem the Dream is dating her friend so we got free tickets & his partner used her chair to beat the crap out of another wrestler. One of the funniest shticks was this heavyweight guy - he came out to 'I wanna be your girlfriend' and was wearing a pink & flowery wrestling outfit. Hilarious! I hope I get to go again but maybe not sitting by the smelly guys.

Spider

I have a spider living in my bathroom. I first saw it while showering the other day and while I was freaked out at first I have kind of grown fond of it. It's one of those spindly leg kinds so it's not as scary to me as the heftier spiders living in & around my place. It's made it's web from one corner of bathroom over the shower to the other end of the bathroom next to the door. I have to give it credit for it's industriousness. I just don't know how much action it will get in there. I do have alot of bugs coming in and out but I don't know how many creatures it needs to eat to sustain itself. I've contemplated vacuuming it up but that seems kind of harsh since it's not directly threatening me in any way. Anyways, I just had a shower and it just stayed in the corner, though I kept eying it just to make sure it wasn't coming near me. I'll keep you all posted as my relationship with the spider grows!

Assistant Griller

During the summer season my office has BBQs every 2 weeks and each department or team hosts one of the BBQs. Today was our turn and we had a superhero theme so I finally had a chance to use the life size Hulk Cousin Mikie got for me a couple of Christmas' ago. Yippee! I spent approximately 2 hours as the grilling assistant. I was going to be the head griller but my assistant turned out to be an experienced fast food burger flipper so I let her take over since I'm terrified of fire. It was fun, though I smell like BBQ now. The Hulk is still at the office since the ladies have really taken to him. I also have left over cookies so my dinner appy consisted of 2 double chocolate cookies. I will eat - well if cheese balls count as eating. Anyways, dinner's ready so I'm off!

Keeper vs. chores

I am officially addicted to 'Zoo Keeper' on the Addicting Games website. It has the best old school video game sounds & I am a sucker for puzzle games. It's very much like Bejeweled but with cute animal faces. So, my home is in shambles and I only got up to Level 8 once! Ridiculous.

The Highway

I almost died, or at least crashed, on the highway on the way to work today. I was in the fast lane going a whopping 110+ and then suddenly the people in front of me came to a dead stop. Little Car squealed & it's tires slid to a stop 1/2 a foot from the truck in front of me. The almost death was behind me in the form of a big semi. Luckily it was able to swerve into the right lane so I wasn't crushed into Jennifer Jam. Needless to say I was a little shaky & then drove ultra cautious on the way home from work. At least Little Car is okay, if a bit skinnier on the tire. Funny enough, I got hit in the face at our ball game & now look like I just had dental surgery.

The Big Win

Yesterday my ball team won our first real game in 2 seasons. Last season we had 1 win which was a forfeit and our second game of this season we won by forfeit. But, yesterday we actually kicked complete a$$ and even "mercied" the other team, which means we were so far ahead that we didn't have to play all 7 innings. It was frickin' awesome. Now, we have a real win under our belts & can play the rest of the season knowing that we can win again.
The only drawback is that it was a 9:10 game which means I got home after 10:30 and got to bed at midnight and then had go be up by 6 am because I volunteered to be at the Zoo at 7 today. Needless to say I'm pooped! However, I did get to clean out the marmoset enclosure today and they were actually ok with me being in there. The two new little babies were afraid at first and went behind their parents but the Dad came up close an was quite curious about what I was doing. And then the Mom & the older sister too. That's what makes volunteering at 7 am worth it for me.

Portly

I had a bit of a lazy day today but had to go over to my Flight Attendant friend's for dinner. I always jump at the chance for free food so it was a nice end to my day,but on the way there I stopped at the Zoo to drop off some sign up sheets I made up and when I went to say hello to Jacko, the Spider Monkey, he actually put out his tail for me. His tail is prehensile, meaning it can grip as well as a hand - which they use to swing on branches, etc. - and I had seen him do that once before for a girl that works there. At that point I thought 'wow, how cool is that?' because he always comes to say hello (the monkey speak version) but I hadn't had the tail thing before. But today I got the tail too. I hesitated at first because I know the Keepers do not want anyone touching the animals since it's so easy to pass on germs, etc. to them, but he put it out again and again until I gave in and let him grab my arm because I had long sleeves on anyways. He sure has a strong little tail! It was truly a wonderful experience for me. To top the evening off it was a delicious meal and my friend cleaned out her freezer so I am set for a few weeks. As for the 'portly' it's what she called her horse & that I too am 'portly' not 'fat'. I have to agree 'portly' is a much more interesting word, and not as negative as the word 'fat'. But, fat or portly, I'm still fat and apparently stubborn as all get out.

Tid bit

When I got home today I went into the washroom & noticed a chunk of snot in my nose & a nice new zit on my face. The only thing that could put the icing on my proverbial ugly cake would be something stuck in my teeth - and I didn't even look. Sometimes it's better not to know. The worst part of it was that I stopped at the pet store on the way home to pick up Clyde treats...oh, well, my life is not a beauty pageant, unless I'm part of the crew on the sidelines. I finally saw Little Miss Sunshine so if you've seen it you may be able to better visualize my description.
I am now watching Strange Days on Planet Earth: One Degree Factor so I'm a little bummed. They were explaining the plight of the caribou up in Alaska and it was very depressing. I know I normally avoid anything of importance but I just had to mention it. The world is going to hell and the handbasket is in a landfill with a million plastic bags on top of it.

New grinder

So I got back on Sunday (sorry I didn't have any time Julie!) and have had a long week. After some yard work, window washing & tidying up at my Mom's we got back in late on Sunday (NICE plane by the by - it's some new really lightweight plane & you can choose between at least 16 movies, music, T.V., games, etc. on the screen in front of you - and I watched Driving Lessons which has Ron from Harry Potter in it & I highly recommend it!), went to work Monday, got home and went to Vancouver for Andy's convocation (Regent's choir was AMAZING!), worked Tuesday & then our game was cancelled again. Wednesday & Thursday evenings were pretty slack. I did wash the carpets because Clyde did poop, not exactly in the house but he had diarrhea & even though I wiped his bum it was still dirty. It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I am totally pooped - literally & figuratively. I think I'm going to treat myself to an Ikea visit later. I deserve it.
Oh, yeah, and the new grinder is courtesy of Cousin Mikie. Since my grinder has bit the biscuit & shoots coffee grinds all over the counter Mikie bought me a sweet new one. It's a beauty! The only drawback is that the coffee place was out of San Miguel so I had to try a new coffee - not bad but San Miguel is better.

No milk

I'm heading to the Peg today to visit my Mom and I'm out of milk. Well, technically, I have milk but it's about 12 days past it's best before date so I won't use that for my coffee. I suppose I should dump it but somehow that keeps not happening. I still haven't packed and need to clean up a few things but since I'm a true procrastinator I thought I would do a posting first. I'm a little too scatterbrained right now to tell any funny tales. Should I wrap my Mom's b-day gift (yep it's 2 months late now)? Will the tulips survive? What if the birds run out of seed? Is Clyde going to poop on the carpet? I need to sweep the kitchen floor. I have to pack, which means I still have to do laundry. It's also garbage day so I have to put all the garbage out. ACK! Gotta go.

First injury of the season

So, our first game was last Tuesday but it was cancelled due to rain. Our second game was yesterday which was cancelled because the other team couldn't get enough people together. So, we have officially won a game, by forfeit but a win nonetheless. Since we couldn't play yesterday we got together to practice & while playing 1st I got hit on the arm. My fault really since I clearly should have had my glove more to the left. It was quite the sound and it frickin' hurts. Luckily a few cocktails and an extra strength Advil did the trick. But, it still hurts today and I'm anticipating pain for a few days at the very least. We're having a practice on Sunday and then a game on Monday - hopefully! - so wish me well. I may have to get some sort of arm guard...

Cousin Mikie

As some of you may already know Cousin Mikie visited me this weekend. After shutting down the Eagles on Thursday & some Win Loose or Draw action we spent a very warm sunny Friday seeing local scenic spots such as Cascade Falls and Kilby. Mikie was a little pooped from the day before so headed to bed early but Saturday was another packed day of sight seeing in the City, which actually just involved a bit of a stroll down Granville, running into an old U of W friend at a comic shop, and a couple of beers at the Yale. Then later we had another Air Hockey battle and yep I frickin' lost! It's so frustrating & victory was so close... Anyways, Sunday was a new day & we spent it at the Zoo face painting. Bunnies were the hot item of the day so a few whiskers & some buck teeth and the day flew by. We had Sushi for Easter Dinner & then I kicked his a$$ at Carcassonne, granted he hadn't played much before but winning is winning right? Mikie also got addicted to Bejeweled. The biggest drawback is that after a fun & relaxing weekend I now have to actually work tomorrow & that's a little unfortunate but necessary. At least I have leftovers from the yummy fancy pants food Mikie made (stuffed Pork tenderloin) as well as 2 loaves of Easter Bread from Mom. Yum!

A typical Jennifer experience

Today we had training to go to in Bellingham. Alright, so I mentally prepare to be on-time today only to try on 2 shirts with mystery stains on the front. So third shirt later it is now 7:45 which means I will be late. No big deal but when I get to work my supervisor asks me if I brought my birth certificate to cross the border, and the answer is? You guessed it, a big fat "oh crap! no!" so I drove back home got the damn thing and headed for the border, hoping to catch the others or at the very least arrive shortly after. I got to the border at 8:35. 25 minutes late they finally opened up another lane & so I made it through just after 9:00. No chance of being on time or even respectably late. But, here's where the true Jennifer experience comes into play. I turn down the road that I always go down and then after about 5 or 6 minutes of driving come to a dead end. Luckily there was an American girl driving by so she told me I had to go back & around on the new road. Fine, another 10+ minutes delay. But, then I end up driving behind a gravel truck the WHOLE way to the office and was hit at least 7 or 8 times - luckily no noticeable damage. So at about 9:40 or so I get to the office, have to park on the street of course because there's no space left in the parking lot, and enter the conference room to a full house. Fine, there's one chair by the door so I sit down and ask if I can squish in but the girls sitting on either side said it was taken (by who? invisible boy?). Fine. So, someone else gets another chair for me and I go sit with my c0-workers on the other end of the room. Luckily the training was stuff I was already pretty familiar with so I didn't really miss anything vital. And, I did still get the free pizza lunch.

The evils of Bejeweled

So, I apologize for not writing for a while. On top of the cold - still coughing by the way - I indulged in purchasing Bejeweled 2 from the Real Arcade site. In my time of weakness, specifically while procrastinating & feel stressed about everything, I downloaded a free trial of Bejeweled 2 & just couldn't stop myself. It's just so easy to purchase crap online. Especially since I tend to look up stuff I want such as Bejeweled or the Kung Fu Hussle DVD (still having purchased that though). When I go to a store & hum & haw about things, pricing stuff out, checking out sales. Physical shopping takes time, but online shopping can only take a few minutes. So, anyways, $19.99 US & I've been playing every day since. In order to continue functioning I have limited myself to an hour at a time (which usually becomes an hour & a half) and make sure that I don't play right up until bedtime. If I don't get some down time I have Bejeweled dreams. This is unpleasant. I've already had difficulty sleeping & don't need to be thinking about solving puzzles 24/7. I am weak & undisciplined. On top of that ball season is officially starting & after 2 practices my body is seriously hurting. I don't think it's bad hurting, just the kind of hurting when you excercize an extremely out of shape body. The good thing about Ball is that we seem to have a real solid team this year - new people & people that seem like they'll stick around. We'll see if they do but I'm looking forward to playing. I am a little nervous but definitely not in a bad way. I just want to do well, hope I don't strike out - often- and make it to first base once & a while. That would be a good season. Also, I would like us to win a game, and not by default.

Cough

Yeah, coughing stage is NOT okay. Yesterday was horrible. I went home from work early & got some meds on the way home. I bought cough syrup, lozenges, Advil, & Neo Citran. Thank God I had extra gift cards for Zellers or I would have had to charge up a fortune on my Zellers card. Anyways, I highly recommend Contac Cough & Sore Throat syrup & Cepacol Sore Throat lozenges. They are amazing. The cough syrup doesn't quite last as long as it says but it starts working right away. The Cepacol lozenges make your tongue numb, but that's fine by me since it numbs my poor aching throat as well.
I'm also not Volunteering tomorrow, officially. I e-mailed the Keeper so even if I feel okay I'm not going. I'm going to stay home, sleep in hopefully, & laze about all day. Ideally, I'll be healthy by Monday, but I don't have a whole lotta hope since the last cold I had lasted for weeks.

Update

Mom seems to be doing okay. She's still a little tired but seems to be a bit more like her lively self. A friend of hers moved the cable into her bedroom so she can relax in the comfort of her room. I think she's a bit frustrated by not being able to do her usual level of activity but I guess she's tired enough to stay in & at take it easy.
As for me, I can't breathe through my nose or smell anything today but that's significantly better than having a wicked sore throat. I can't stand the sore throat phase. I'm hoping to be into the coughing phase within a day but we shall see how that goes. I couldn't sleep last night, or at least not from 2:30-5:30 a.m. so I need to try & get a good sleep tonight or I could prolong my suffering needlessly. I'm really late with Mom's birthday gift, since it was Feb. 28. With her not being home at the time, my procrastination tendencies came out full force. My idea is to paint her a T-shirt (one for her & one for her guest) for when she goes to see Il Divo in April. It will say "Hot Buns" because that's what she says when someone mentions them, and that was the first time I ever heard her say anything about a guy's bum so I would like to pay tribute to that. With the whole stroke thing I was a little concerned she may end up not going to the concert but I think she'll appreciate the T-shirt either way. The kicker is that I still haven't painted them yet...just call me Lazy Buns.

What a day

Friday I went to see 300 - AMAZING movie, by the by - with Tracey & then we went for a walk. Then, Saturday morning, I went to the Zoo for 8:30 because we were going to a 'trade show' at the Tradex Centre in Abbotsford for the day. The picture is of me & Hagrid, a Great Horned Owl. I also got to hold Archer, a Peregrine Falcon. My arm is still sore. It was a great, though exhausting, day. But, when I got home I checked my messages & had 5 messages, 2 from my Mom, 2 from my cousins and 1 other, and then as soon as I finished checking those I got a call from Carol P. that my Mom had a minor stroke. Wow, and wow! That was the last thing I expected to happen. I hadn't spoken to my Mom yet because she was supposed to get back Friday from her trip so I hadn't had a chance to call yet. When I got off the phone with Carol I tried calling & calling & calling my Mom. And after trying every 2-3 min. for an hour of the phone being busy I called her neighbour & asked her to go & make sure she was okay. Turns out the phone just wasn't hung up properly. Apparently, all things considered, she's okay. It wasn't severe, though she is feeling week & has the 'palsy' or 'slackness' on one side of her face so pronunciation of certain words is difficult. But, I admit that I completely freaked out. I already lost one parent & can't even bear the idea of loosing my Mom. Because of her smoking I always thought she would likely get cancer. And, of course, there's just random chance that anything could happen.But, I never anticipated this. Being the adored person she is, she is well taken care of surrounded by her friends & family who have all been incredibly helpful. And, I feel completely helpless. My first instinct was to fly home. But, on top of my lack of money to do so there's not much I could do if I were there. It's all very frustrating. I don't know too much about strokes but as long as she doesn't have another one she should recover but it's still frightening. The icing on the cake was that my landlords were having a surprise party for their son-in-law so interspersed with phone calls & my sobbing was the sounds of dancing, music, & 'happy birthday' songs. It made me feel even more horrible.
Today, however, is a bit better. My arms are only a little sore & I spoke to my Mom briefly & she's okay. So, I guess I should be hopeful.

Stomping

My landlord's grand-kids are over. How can I tell? Variances in stomping & the occasional squeal. Bruce's stomps are STOMP-STOMP-STOMP. Julie's stomps are TAP-TAP-TAP (wearing heels & on the way to work). The kid's stomps are pitter-patter-pitter-patter-BANG-run-run-run-BANG-STOMP-pitter-patter-SQUEAL-BANG-NO!-run-run-run...It's kind of funny except if I already have a headache. That just sucks. Anyways, that's all I got for today.
Except that we had another pot-luck at work today in honour of St. Patty's Day & it was fantastic. I love pot-lucks! But, I volunteered to bring a meat & cheese platter and damn is that an expensive option. It cost me $20. I think I'll stick with the cookies or veggie platter next time.

Ode to Turnovers

Today is my volunteering day and since I have been out of bread for a week & a half (which really sucks by the by) I didn't eat breakfast or lunch so on my way home stopped to do some errands & treated myelf to raspberry turnovers at a local bakery I go to once in a while. So, as soon as I got back in Little Car I dug in & damn are those good turnovers. I went into my next stop with turnover crumbs all over my boobs & was only a little embarassed.

Lazy...

I've been quite lazy lately. It seems even more lazy than before because I had a couple of weeks of energy so I was actually quite active. But the last 5 days I just haven't had the umph needed so I've napped a bit, watched T.V. a lot, and generally felt lazy. I went out Saturday night and just barely made it past 12 midnight. Round 2 of Carcassonne on Sunday had me yawning up a storm. Yesterday I laid on the couch for 2 hours until Heroes was on, then I almost got peppy. Exciting episode actually, but I'll spare you the details. It was enough though to keep up for the Black Donnelly's (two 'n's and two 'l's?). Today was Pub Night with the co-workers, so 1 & 1/2 pints & a platter of Fish 'n Chips later and I'm totally pooped. I've tried sugar & coffee in varying degrees over the last few days but it's not making an impact. I don't know what to do. I'll stay up for Lost, & maybe Medium if I can make it tonight but I have 2 more whole days of work left & I hope I find some energy soon or I won't survive. Okay, perhaps that's exaggerating but I will certainly be zombie-ish. Not all grrr arrghh zombie but you know what I mean!

Sweet Victory!

Yesterday, my co-workers came over to play Carcassonne. And, either 3 is the magic number to play with or I just got lucky BUT I won - TWICE!!! My loosing streak is over! The first round I just got lake after lake & this was the key to success because that river system alone gave me 27 points. The second time I was able to finish the mountain/forest pieces at least 5 times so that really added up and gave me the usually elusive nugget pieces - these are special pieces worth more points. Granted they were new to the game but so was the Hendricks clan & they kicked my a$$ the first time. I thought that since I won 1 game that I would for sure loose the second but I didn't. This gives me hope. I'm ready for winning &, hopefully, can beat the Hendricks' too. My worry is that I'll still loose to them but I now know that if I get the right tiles I'm as good as they are so it's a very liberating mentality.

Bathing a tortoise

Hopefully, I'm spelling that right - I'll have to double check. But, in the meantime I got to bathe the tortoises yesterday at the Zoo. They're small enough to fit in a grocery basket so the Keeper brought them over 1 at a time to the sink & they sat in a basin, just large enough to fit them with warm water.My job was to scrub their shell with a toothbrush to get all the dead skin off (which tends to build up, particularly around the edges). The first guy REALLY likes bath time and so he had his head out and was just relaxing as I scrubbed. The second guy is the shy one so kept his head & tail tucked in the whole time. It was really amazing! It pays to clean up poop, etc. on a regular basis!

Do you like vegetables?

If so, try this:

Zucchini Supreme

• 1 large zucchini (~ 4 cups) sliced
• 1 medium sized onion, sliced
• 2 or 3 medium sized tomatoes, you guessed it - sliced!
• 1/4 c. (or less) of melted butter or margarine
• 1 green pepper, chopped or sliced
• sliced cheddar, enough to cover the veggies
• 3 c. croutons

Alternate layers of zucchini, onion, tomatoes & green pepper in baking dish (13 x 9 size). Season with salt & pepper if you want, but it's not necessary. Cover top of veggies with cheddar, sprinkle croutons over the top & then drizzle butter over it all. Bake, covered, for 45 min. at 350-375 degrees, then uncover and bake 5-10 min. more - but watch that the croutons don't burn (that keeps happening to me).
This is delicious!

8:00 and still at home

Another dump of snow and I can't drive to work. I was semi-optimistic that it would be fine on the roads since it's still fairly mild BUT with the fear that I would crash half way down the mountain. Ever since that accident back when Little Car was still a baby I have intense fear of icy slopes, particularly the one I drive down every day. However, today was my 3rd Year Anniversary as a Premier employee, and therefore a non-retail worker - yay!, so the 4 of us that were hired at the same time were going to go out to a new restaurant in the area for pasta. So, I got bundled up and trudged through the snow and started the process of clearing it off my car. A couple of people drove by, tires spinning a bit, but they were driving so even though it looked terribly icy I thought Little Car can do it too. Be positive! So 10 minutes later I put Little Car in drive and spun it's tires, slowly inching forward. But, then I started swerving a bit and got stuck. So, I went backwards and then put it in drive again, only to get stuck again. I took my foot off the gas & noticed I was going backwards - and just in case it's not clear, this was NOT deliberate, nor was I in reverse yet. This frightened me the most because if I can't make it up this little hill I may actually crash on the way down if I hit this kind of ice. After a few more futile attempts to get onto the other car's tracks I just backed up, on purpose, and parked Little Car. I called work & intend to try again in an hour or so. In theory, as the temperature rises it might get more melty & slushy so I could still make the pasta lunch. However, my tires really suck a$$ and I just don't have any confidence in them anymore. Despite my debt, I think I'm going to use my tax return money towards new tires. And if I can save up over the next 4 or 5 months I will also make the big leap & get winter tires. I've missed so much bloody work this winter being stuck at home & therefore used up alot of vacation days for no good reason that it's just prudent to invest in something that will prevent that from happening in the future. If I do pay the big bucks for winter tires and next winter is the mildest & sunniest winter ever here I will frickin' flip out, though.

1/2 Hour Intervals

Not sure if I mentioned this already, but we're having a water drinking contest at work. Our department and Accounting are split into 2 teams. My team is called the "Waterfull Waterbuffalos" or WWBs. The other team is called "Awesomness P's". We're kicking their bladders, so to 'speak'. I personally am a lightweight on the team, averaging 1000 to 1500 ml per day. But some of the other ladies are between 2-3000 ml. I think 2000 a day would be my max, maybe 2500 if I'm exercising or it's hot outside. But, I drink coffee during the morning so don't usually start drinking water until maybe 11 ish, around lunch time. But, because I still want to contribute as much as I can that means I'm drinking all 1000 + ml in approximately 4 hours. So, on top of the 4 + cups of coffee a day which already makes me pee often the high consumption of water is causing myself, and all of the competitors, to pee every half hour or so. I would say, on average, I would normally pee maybe 4 times at work, usually when I get in, mid-morning (after cup #3 of coffee), lunch time, and late afternoon. Now, I pee when I get to work, at least 2-3 times during the morning, at lunch, and several times during the afternoon. Then, there's the last pee before the drive home. At 4:25, en masse, we all hit the washroom during the last 5 minutes. However, since the last 1/2 hour at work is often the crunch time for water consumption my bladder is still...filling...when I make the last pee. So, the last two days have been difficult because I needed to do errands on the way home. Yesterday, I had to clench my thighs together at the coffee shop while I was buying my coffee beans, San Miguel - Dark Roast, and my lips & hands got all tingly. Same thing today when I was getting my pork chops for dinner today. It's tricky. I think moderate water consumption is good but it certainly makes things challenging.

Pampered Chef & Blood Oranges

I did want to write an entry exclusively on Blood Oranges - the new black of fruit, if you get my meaning. However, I also went to a Pampered Chef shower so in order to save time & effort I thought I'd combo them.
Blood Oranges section: Wow, Blood Oranges are awesome! If you're not familiar, no! they're not really bloody at all they're just reddish & as my co-worker says, they look like "mouldy" oranges 'cause they're kind of all red & blotchy, a really dark red in parts. So, the first time I cracked one of these puppies open I was a little put off but I was determined so ate it & thoroughly enjoyed it. It's basically a really acidic orange so it kind of tastes a bit like grapefruit, but in a nice small orangey package. And, I guess they must be in season somewhere because they're only $1.29/lb right now which is less than most of the other orange types. So, the next time I went shopping I bought a couple of more,and the next time and the next so that it's become a bit of a habit. I eat one almost every day & now everyone at work is familiar with the Blood Orange. I highly recommend, particular if you like citrus things.
Pampered Chef section: After maybe a year or 2 of no Pampered Chef I went to a Pampered Chef shower today, for a co-worker. For those of you who weren't aware, I had a bit of a Pampered Chef addiction. Particularly during the time my friend Cindy was selling it because there was party after party & I just love kitchen gadgets. I spent a fortune & 90% of it was worth the expense. I particularly love my stoneware cookie sheet & microwave cooker. Wicked stuff! The funniest part of this was that almost every other page in the catalogue had something I owned. I had the mini cutting board on pg 13, the pizza cutter on pg 19, the small micro-cooker on pg 24, the bamboo spoons (regular & small) on pg 25, the small spreader & mini serving spatula on pg 29, the measure-all cup & adjustable measuring spoons on pg 31, the large batter bowl on pg 32, the stoneware rectangular stone on pg 36 & muffin pan on pg 37, and lastly the stackable cooling rack on pg 40. It seemed excessive, but I have to say I use it all regularly. Though I don't make muffins often, I just want to. Particularly banana muffins, which are my favourite. What did I buy, you ask? Well, another cookie rack because the 3 I have just wasn't enough for the larger batches of cookies. And then I got the new bamboo tongs & bamboo spatulas because they were really cheap, I really love the spoons & need something a little more teflon friendly. Good thing, though that I just had my shopping spree last weekend or I may have snapped & bought more stuff, that I really probably don't need. Except for a new set of knives (pg 12), the knife sharpener (pg 13) , a silicone whisk (pg 30), a meat thermometer(pg 33) and maybe the flour/sugar shaker (pg 40)...

Time for a holiday...

I think it's time for a few days off, or more. I've started noticing things at work that are irritating me and that means I'm there way too much. The only solution, short of quitting which I am unwilling to do, is to take some time off & recoup. For example, the co-worker that sits behind me talks with food in her mouth. Normally, I wouldn't notice this or at most think it's a little inappropriate. But, lately it has been making me angry & I've had to roll my eyes alot so it doesn't fester inside. I find eye-rolling helpful for releasing tension. She also occasionally smacks her mouth in frustration, which normally would make me feel some sympathy for her frustration but lately has been making me cringe. Also, when my other co-workers chat I can't concentrate & get really tense, roll my eyes, and occasionally plug my one free ear (I have to wear a headset). I can't handle hearing the word "like" anymore. Phrases that my co-workers use excessively have become like nails on a chalkboard for me. Never mind the excessive laughing! The crazy thing is that for the majority of the day I'm fine & I really adore my co-workers but there are these moments or periods of the day where I just have to put my earphones on & blast music so I can't hear any of them & their damn noises. It's just like when I was living with my Mom & I was in the same room when she ate nuts - OH MY GOD was that bloody irritating. I still cringe just thinking about it. Or when my Dad use to what I call 'hork' into the sink downstairs. I could hear it from across the house & it would make me gag. I do appreciate the open concept office space as far as accessibility goes but sometimes I'd love my own office. A quiet, peaceful space with nice muted lighting and perhaps CBC radio playing softly in the background. But, in lieu of the impossible, I'll just take a few days off & by the time I get back I should have a few months of tolerance left in me to get through the next season. Here's hoping!

Monday Extra

I tried a new recipe yesterday & it turned out pretty good so I thought I'd share it:

Sensational Single Skillet Chicken Dinner

1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 chicken pieces, skins removed
1 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped
1 - 28 oz. can tomatoes
1 - 7 1/2 oz. can tomato sauce
4 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 medium sized unpeeled potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tsp thyme leaves
3/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups frozen corn

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken & onion, drain fat. Stir in canned tomatoes, breaking them apart. Add tomato sauce, carrots, potatoes, thyme, poultry seasoning, garlic powder and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover & simmer over low heat for about 35 to 40 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn, cover and cook for 5 more minutes.
Jennifer twist: Well, I used crushed tomatoes which, not surprisingly, is pretty much like tomato sauce so this turned out a bit too saucy for me. BUT I'm sure it would be great with either diced or whole canned tomatoes. I also used peas, not corn, because I was out of corn and purple onion, since I needed to use it up. I didn't have poultry seasoning either so I tossed in some sage instead. I had an unmarked bag of bulk spice that was for sure NOT rosemary, so I thought chances are it's thyme - but I really wasn't sure. Despite all the oddities it was still yummy so I will make this again. I think next time though I'll try it with butter chicken sauce, instead of tomato sauce for a little flare and perhaps get actual thyme & poultry seasoning.

14+ Hours of Sleep

I went shopping yesterday because when I got to the Zoo the Keeper I usually help out wasn't there so I just cleaned out the Vulturines (really pretty Blue, Black & white feathers but they kind of look like a Turkey) space & was done in an hour. I walked around a bit, saw the lemurs, the hippo, the wolves, etc. and then went to the Co-op to get Clyde's glucosamine. I did a bit of shopping there, found the wool I ran out of so I can finish the damn scarf - finally!, got a pie crust for the Taco Pie I was going to make for dinner, that kind of thing. Then realized that I forgot my debit card at home at the check-out. The cashier agreed to put the things aside & I hustled out of there as quick as I could, red-faced and very embarrassed. Unfortunately, I live about 20-30 min. from there. If it wasn't for the glucosamine I would've just left it but I've been out for over a week already & can't find that stuff anywhere else. I think I made it back within about 50 min. and so I paid and left and then noticed that the pie crusts weren't in my bag (didn't pay for them either). At that point there was no way in hell I was going to go back in so I just left it & decided to go to Old Navy in Langley to make the drive worth my effort, or so I told myself. So, I went there, found some new shorts, a sweatshirt & a blouse that actually fit well - the trick for me is to try on a bunch of things and then if I'm lucky at least one or two things will work out. Then I went to Best Buy to pick up headphones for my work computer since I had to throw out my old ones - the left earpiece stopped working which just makes things very odd sounding. While I was there I got one of those flash memory things for my computer. So, yeah, I got the spending bug. Then I went back to Abby, and headed to Reitman's where I found some khaki pants & a couple shirts for the spring. On sale of course.Then I went to the bird store for some more seed. Then to the veggie market, then to Save-on for the stupid pie crust...you get the picture. I finally got home at around 4 and started dinner. I burnt the pie crust around the edges - and I even baked it at a lower temperature than the recipe said to. I ate, not bad either if a bit overdone. Read a bit, knitted a bit, started watching Queen of the Damned and fell asleep. I woke up at 9:30ish and then went to bed. If it wasn't for my alarm clock I would've slept longer. I don't know if it was all the shopping or if I was just in need of a bit more sleep but it was nice.

Valentine's Day

Being chronically single I do not get a whole lot of action on Valentine's Day but my Mom & my Auntie Mary usually send me a card and money or a treat (this year my Mom sent me heart shaped Post-its). I really appreciate that, but would like...more. And, lucky me, I get more because for the past 2 years we have passed out Valentine's Day treats to each other at Work. We have to wear red and bring something to hand out. Last year a few people passed out old school kiddie Valentines, the kind that you fold and have a cartoon character & sayings like "Bee Mine" on them, and I really thought that was the sh%$ because it made me reminisce about the good old days back in elementary school when we all passed out Valentines to each other. This year I decided to make my famous double chocolate cookies and individually wrapped them for each person. Other people brought candy necklaces, suckers, various chocolates, a mini box of chocolates and of course Valentines. I got Blues Clues, Spiderman, Superman w/tattoo, Dora, Sponge Bob, Winnie the Pooh and a few others. The highlights were the candy necklace & the Spiderman one. My Superman tattoo is already coming off. I also got an old school Xmen Valentine from the Hendricks' with Rogue & Gambit on it so I was quite excited to also get Spidey & Superman. I like superheroes. Overall, I'd say this was a wicked Valentine's Day. It's just really nice to get Valentines.

Starburst & Tuna Casserole

Today I ate an entire package of Starbust, California flavours with names such as "Aztec Fruit Punch" & "Limon". I'm...menstrating...and therefore NEED chocolate, meat, & sugar in higher quantities than usual. So, yesterday it was $0.50 worth of the Reece's Pieces in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters dispenser. Today was more of the same, but I only had 1 quarter left, and I needed something a little more so spent a $1.25 (two dimes & a nickle, or I would have gotten another $0.25 worth of Reece's Pieces) on Starbursts. First I had the red one, can't remember which flavour that was since they were suddenly all gone from the package before I even noticed the flavour names...Then I tried the other flavours. Then I put the rest in my drawer, and piled stuff on top of them to avoid eating more. Of course, this lasted about an hour & a half and then I had to have one more, which ended up being the rest of them. I just can't help myself. I haven't had much candy lately, except for the gummies my Supervisor brought a week or so ago, so it's not as if I have a serious problem or anything. Okay, and there were the 5 for a $1 candies from the vegetable market (which were delicious by the by). I think that's it, except for maybe a couple of mints here & there. So, I don't consider myself a candy junkie - I think I'm fine. It's just Starbursts - they're so jam-packed full of flavour my taste buds take over and I eat them before I can even think about it. My tongue has a residual tingle just thinking about them.
As for the Tuna Casserole, that's my dinner. I got this recipe from Canadian Living, as part of a Campbell's ad:

Tuna Penne Bake

2 1/2 cups penne pasta, uncooked ('cause you're gonna cook it shortly)
1 cup frozen peas
1 can Campbell's Condensed Cream of Celery Soup
2/3 cup 1% Milk
2 cans tuna, drained & flaked
3 tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard ( I'm not sure if 'whole grain' has any meaning so I just use the Dijon I have in my fridge)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup mixture of coarsely chopped onion & mushrooms
Cracked black pepper

Cook the pasta (see I told you), omitting salt. Add peas for last 5 min. of cooking. Drain & set aside. Combine in 2 L. baking dish: soup, milk, tuna, mustard, and half of the cheese. Gently stir in pasta, peas, and onion-mushroom mixture. Top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with the pepper. Bake at 400 degree F until bubbling & hot, about 30 min.
The Jennifer twist: add salt when cooking the pasta, whichever brand of soup is on sale, use only 1 can of Tuna but add more peas, use double the cheddar and of course Skim Milk. Either way it's yummy as all get out. Enjoy!

Project Ernesto & Sandwhiches

On Wednesday our Office Manager had each of us sign up for a 15 minute slot for "Project Ernesto"on Thursday. If it was any other group of people I would have thought something...dirty, but knew better. Last year we got scalp massages so I was hoping for something like that. Anyways, Thursday morning I see this strange man in the office, clearly Ernesto, and knew it was another massage treat - or latin dancing lessons. The massage part was correct - Shiatsu in fact - and HOLY CRAP is that awesome. First of all he had an accent, Cuban, which makes everything better in my opinion, and even though Shiatsu hurts like hell the result is amazing. I'm all over Shiatsu. No offence to my massage therapist Wilma but I think Shiatsu will at least be a great extra in my life. Then Friday was a "Pot Party" - terracotta ones - and sandwiches. I got an Italian sub, salami & pepperoni, with hot peppers & yummy Parmesan bread. Then we painted the pots in a Valentine theme, or at least some of them were Valentiney, and they were judged for prizes (you guessed it, cinnamon hearts). I didn't win, of course, because I am NOT a winner of any sort. But, my pot is cute, in my opinion, though I don't think it will make it on display all year round.
Today is volunteering & hopefully finishing the newsletter. Wish me luck!

The ride home

I decided to take the back roads home today to ensure I went to the chiropractor - because when I'm on the highway I am less likely to turn off and just postpone till the elusive 'tommorow' - and as I was driving I tried to get a piece of gum out of it's package and it SHOT out of the package, hit my side window and bounced under my seat. I laughed pretty hard almost driving into the ditch trying to reach for it. However, it was not accessible so no gum for me. I also will never try to get gum out of the package while driving again. Who knows where it will shoot up next, maybe in my eye or up my nose. That could be serious! As my laughter died down I turned the corner and think I saw a Pileated Woodpecker. It's hard to be sure since I mainly just saw it's silouette but it certainly was shaped like one & was the right size but I couldn't see the tell-tale red tuft at the top. Anyways, I think I breaked & yelled "Pileated Woodpecker" so the person behind me probably thought I was a nut ball - but a Pileated Woodpecker is like the Grand Canyon of bird-watching, if you get my meaning. I've only ever seen 1 before and that was at Camp Arnes in Gimli, Manitoba. I did the same - the yelling I mean since I was walking, not driving - and the worker that was there said 'oh, yeah, we see those all the time' like she was talking about making toast. I have rarely been more unimpressed with someone's apathy than at that moment. Rarely, I said, not never.
When I got to the Chiropractor's office I had an interesting conversation with my Chiropractor about taking your husband's name vs. not. He's very traditional and believes a woman should take her husband's name, luckily for him & his wife she believed the same. And his brother & sister-in-law took each other's name, in order to be equal, so each kept their last name but added the other's so they had 3 names. I think that I would likely keep my last name but it's not a make-or break kind of thing. I just think my first name is common enough so if my partner's last name was really interesting I might agree, but if it's a "Smith" (no offense to my Smith friends) or "Johnson" (I would want to avoid alliteration) I probably would not. But this is kind of like planning your retirement before you even have a job so not much point in thinking about it.