Spring has sprung!

And this picture is just to show that we did have one beautiful spring day at the coast too. If you squint you will also make out my new brown Mary Jane Crocs. Oh and my new purse too!

So it has been a lovely day today, was gorgeous yesterday too but I was at work so it doesn't count! Our power was out this morning - somebody hit a power pole on Lakeshore apparently - so they took the power down for 90 minutes to fix it.

One day last week at work we had no telecommunications at all, well the phone came back up but no computer access. That was a VERY quiet morning! You don't realize how much you rely on all that till it's gone.

I've been lurking on Ali and Donna's blog for months and have actually posted comments now (on Cathy Z's too) which feels weird but what the heck. It would be so cool if they would come up here to teach some classes. Holly was just asking me what I meant by them being 'famous' - i.e. in the scrapbooking world but outside of BC. I assured her that scrappers worldwide would know them so she was then suitably impressed.

I still haven't unpacked from the trip - not even my clothes! So instead of doing anything productive, I'm just sitting here wasting time on the computer and thinking about a nap. This is the story of my life...

Home again

Well what a whirlwind of a weekend! So glad I'm not working today. We had a hectic and fun time shopping till we dropped and scrapping with the celebs. I did my fair share of shopping but nothing compared to those 2 pro's Audrey & Tara. We shopped on our way into Vancouver on Thursday, shopped our way across the border to Bellingham on Friday, and then scrapped like crazy on the weekend. Add in a few meals out, a frantic dash to the airport Saturday night to pick up Justin, (Tara's husband, on leave from Iraq), an alarm clock that persisted in going off at 3:00 a.m. every night and it's no wonder I'm tired.

This is Donna and I doing the 'skinny pose' (one I'll definitely have to remember - my God it works like a charm)

And Ali hung around at our table a fair bit, but then she was doing a wonderful job at stopping at each table and visiting with everybody.

They are both super-nice women. It would be incredible if they could come to Kelowna to do classes some day (and we did invite them!)

Sad News before the Weekend...

I can't find my Van Dyke Brown!!!!

I must have left it at a crop or class in the last couple of months. So, all you VDB lovers, check your stash. Gen kindly checked the store for me already.

oh well maybe I can pick up a new one this weekend (gee do you think?)

Still not finished packing my scrap stuff and haven't even thought about laundry or clothes. But hey, I've got my Cold F/X and an 'interesting' assortment of CDs so I guess I'm good to go.

Until next week...

ok why is everyone so surprised

that I watch The Simpsons? I also watch Futurama, Family Guy & Robot Chicken. Which reminds me if you go to http://quicksilverscreen.com you can see episodes of a whole bunch of TV shows. I think some of them are dubbed or subtitled in Japanese, but whatever...

So all this puppy talk - our neighbours are puppy-sitting right now and they brought the puppy over the other day to visit. Nobody knows its name, so they call him 'Pipsqueak'. He is adorable!

In other news, I have a sore throat so chugged back a whole whack of vitamins this evening. I guess I'll be buying Cold F/X tomorrow! Nothing can get in the way of our road trip on Thursday. I'm looking forward to driving down in Audrey's new Highlander. Oh that's what we need to arrange - music!! If my throat hurts I won't be able to sing.

Hopefully we won't be permanently saturated with all the rain that'll fall in Vancouver this weekend. I'm wishing I still had rubber boots!

So I'm taking tomorrow afternoon off as I am not ready yet and I'm supposed to be going out tomorrow night. And on that note, I'd better get to bed.

OK I only posted those pictures so I could copy them to another site. I'm sure there's an easier way but I don't know what it is.

Ruby and I went on a long walk this afternoon; I don't know about her but I was exhausted. But what a beautiful day! And for the 2nd day in a row Holly and her friends played outside all day long which beats sitting on the computer all day.

I stayed up till 1:00 last night reading a really good book (which I spent the first half of today finishing): The Terror by Dan Simmons, about the Franklin Expedition - with a twist. I haven't been so engrossed in a book for quite awhile, and it was nearly 700 pages too. Would be a good book club choice I think.

Well I hear the TV (specifically Homer Simpson) calling my name, better go!

Timmy & Vespers

The perfect dog

On the road again

I have to work tomorrow - my first Saturday in quite awhile (we love this new schedule of working 2 then having 4 off). This week I've actually felt better than I have for quite awhile. I think maybe it's the time change (and all the walks) so I feel pretty energetic - it's all relative of course! I still hate getting up in the mornings.

I'm off to Vancouver on Thursday with Tara and Audrey for Artistry next weekend. We're actually skipping the first day to go across the line for a frantic day of shopping in Bellingham and points south. Then the workshops run all day Saturday & Sunday with a crop on Saturday night. I expect to be bagged by the time we get home again. There's homework to be done for Ali Edwards' class and photos to decide on for both hers and Donna Downey's so I should really try to get that together in the next few days!

I got email from a cousin in Norway a couple of weeks ago, which landed in my bulk mail folder somehow. They're planning another cousins reunion for this summer. Plus she told me about another cousin who had died last month. I can't believe that if I hadn't started actually looking at my 'spam', I wouldn't have known about either event. So anyway, Holly and I were thinking of going to Scotland this summer but now I guess I'll have to come up with Plan B. Maybe we can do a week in Scotland and a week in Norway. Unfortunately they start school in mid-August over there so if the reunion's after that Holly won't be able to see any of her favourite 'cousins'.

It would be rather nice (and less expensive) to just go alone but I don't anticipate that happening. We actually travel really well together. Here we are 2 years ago in Oslo. We have to keep going places together before she gets too cool to go on trips with her mother!

OK everybody else is doing it, so will I. The things I've done are highlighted. It's an interesting selection of experiences!

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candle lit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg... does a glacier count???
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne... well, cheap wine...
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends STILL DO!
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day... umm... and this is unusual, how???
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently - well nearly fluently!
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children (raising still)
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication(do letters to the editor count?)
106. Lost over 100 pounds (45.5 kilograms)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days... does whitewater rafting count???
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para sailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating... do fish count???
137. Skipped all your school reunions... so far!
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

First Signs of Spring

Another challenge completed! Not very well photographed though. The challenge was to scrap animal, vegetable or mineral, person, place or thing - BUT no one in your family and not your pets.

So this is animal, vegetable and mineral (if plastic is a mineral). I always smile to see these little guys from the kitchen window - they look like flowers from a distance, but obviously they're not!

The journaling says: These old bath toys live outside all year. But they stay hidden until the snow has melted. March 2007

Just our way of recycling I guess ...

small world

So Heather dragged me to the crop last night and there were a couple of women there who looked really familiar. Finally I got up the nerve to go talk to them and they were indeed who I thought they were: Astrid who worked for the library when I started in 1988 and Imelda who works at another branch and I've only met once or twice. So we had a little mini-library gossip session. Then the woman beside Astrid announces that she's a teacher-librarian! How weird... And on Wednesday night at the very cool card class there was a woman from my neighbourhood, a longtime scrapper who I hadn't seen for years.

A very small world - or at least a small town...

Fell in love with the Mary Jane Crocs today but couldn't find any in my size, sigh. Maybe I'll find some in Bellingham, what do you think?

Nose to Nose

Ruby and Timmy get along pretty well already, except for when Timmy dozes off and forgets we have a dog. Then he wakes up, sees the dog, and it's a mad scramble as he crashes into the furniture in his attempt to run away & hide. A few minutes later he's "hey it's cool, I just forgot about her for a minute". Until the next nap.

So Ruby got spayed today. Pretty rough for an 11-year old so she's not feeling very happy this evening. And how did she make it to this age without ever getting pregnant? Mind-boggling really.

I'm looking forward to a card-making class at the store on Wednesday even though it interferes with my Lost watching. At least the class won't be interrupted every 7 minutes by commercials!

Today

Well after Dawn posted a challenge to do a layout on the subject of 'today', and I totally misunderstood and only answered the questions (duh) I actually got inspired to take a picture, print it & scrap it!! Nearly unheard of these days... and I'm posting it here in case I can't get it onto the store's site. The journaling says:

Currently in my CD player: Itzhak Perlman
Reading: Terry Brooks' Armageddon's Children
Last movie seen was Dreamgirls
Favourite TV show: LOST
Last meal out: Souvlaki & prawns at Yama's on Monday
and
Latest Thing That Makes Me Happy: Doggie Kisses

She's a border collie all right

Well what a gorgeous day it was today! I had a terrific 'mental health' day with Ruby. We went to the Greenway and walked a bit along there and then discovered the dog park a little further along. Since neither of us had ever been before, I was a little nervous, but we had a great time. I ran into Val, an old neighbour of ours, with her 2 dogs so chatted with her while Ruby went crazy herding all the other dogs in the park.

What a riot! I was getting dizzy just watching her circle around all these other dogs trying to keep them where she wanted them (the fact that they were obliviously playing with each other didn't matter to her) and then tearing after any who ran off. Man, for an old dog she sure can run! I was afraid she'd have a heart attack.

But the poor girl was exhausted after the hour we were there; I wasn't sure she'd make it back to the car which was at the CNC. We did a couple of errands including stopping at the SPCA to pick up her spay certificate - yes the old girl is going to get spayed on Monday - and they made a fuss over her & were glad to see her. Then we went over to Westbank. She enjoyed looking in the window of Memories & More after I'd gone in to pick up a couple of things. So now we're home and resting up after a very busy day (although I suspect I'm more tired than she is!)

Well I'm feeling a little virtuous. Have been taking Ruby for a walk every morning. We go for about 45 minutes and some evenings I take her again but I try to get Greg & Holly to help out too. And this weekend I made 2 cards: a birthday card for my brother-in-law whose party was last night and I altered a pop-up card for Lois at work whose retirement dinner is tomorrow night.

And on Friday night I finally finished reading the book that's been taking me a very long time. It was a great book but not a pleasant read: The Great Stink by Clare Clark, set in London in the mid-1850s when the sewage situation was so bad that people were dropping like flies from cholera, diphtheria etc. and they started to build a sewer system. So that was the background to this tale of "murder and corruption".

So now I have to start reading the book for the next book club, which is Margaret Laurence's Stone Angel. I've read it before, years ago, so I'm hoping I don't find it too tough-going. I don't know what's with me. I used to be able to read a book every day or two but lately that's impossible (although I did read Janet Evanovich's Plum Lovin' in one evening, but it was a novella so doesn't really count). My powers of concentration are kind of lacking. Blame it on hormones!

Had a really fun dinner with my scrapping buddies last week, then dinner out last night and again tomorrow night. Oink! Good thing about those daily walks!!

oops

This smiley picture was taken earlier this evening, before we went for a walk and before she peed on the living room carpet. OK dog owners, what's with that? She didn't go while we were out, but comes home and then goes. We've already had one incontinent doggie and didn't want another one this early on! Any advice would be most welcome...

Day 3

This was the picture the SPCA had on their website and in the paper. Pretty perky looking puppy eh? The vet was just here and she agreed with the 'kennel boy' at the SPCA that Ruby looks more like 7 than 11. Good teeth, good shape overall, never been spayed and never had puppies - like how did that happen??

Sunday morning she let me sleep till 9:00 which was awesome; I wasn't sure how much of an early riser she'd be. Last night though she had an 'accident' in the hallway (at least I'm assuming it wasn't one of the cats). I did not sleep well (that makes 3 nights in a row) and dragged myself out at 7:00 this morning to take her for a walk. Greg says she started crying as soon as I let for work this morning - not realizing that he was still here. I hope she doesn't have any serious separation anxiety.

Welcome Ruby!

Last weekend Greg and I had stopped at the SPCA to say hi to Smokey (the returned foster cat) but he'd already been adopted. So we wandered around a bit and when we went to see the dogs we (well I) were quite taken with an 11-year old border collie cross. Since Layla died in 2002 we've talked about getting another dog, but weren't 100% sure. Then at one point we thought we'd take in a senior dog. We didn't want a puppy (no time or patience for training) but preferred a mature dog. So when we saw Ruby I was tempted. But it was close to closing time so we just left. Talked about it a fair bit this week and today Holly and I went in to meet her and take her home. She's such a good-tempered dog, haven't heard her bark yet, she likes cats (mind you they're not impressed with her!), other dogs, all people, car rides. That's what I know so far!

We first went for a little walk, then to Petcetera for supplies and then down to Greg's shop and to the library. She was a hit everywhere she went.

So when we got home I had to call AM and tell her. And here I am on the phone. Ruby already knows who her mom is!

Happy Valentines Day

Well I've always thought it was kind of an over-rated holiday. My friend AM asked what we were going to do to celebrate... go to parents' night at the high school. Nothing to be envious of that's for sure. But Greg did make a lovely dinner for the 3 of us and we had candles and nice napkins and dishes instead of paper towels & paper plates (don't ask).

And now - it's time for Lost!!!

This week at the library

Well Thursday we had a rousing discussion of Jane Austen's Emma (who would have thought?) at Book Club, where we squeezed into the storytime room since the meeting room was double-booked. I was the only one who hadn't read the whole book, shame on me.

Friday morning the HR manager came down to listen to our complaints about having to deal with the criminal element in the library. In the last month we've had blow jobs in the women's room, a guy masturbating in a teen magazine in the men's room (don't worry the magazine was promptly thrown out), drug deals, incontinence etc. Previous management team member who came down pretty much told us that it wasn't that bad and just to deal with it.

Saturday someone left their drug paraphernalia in the public washroom after cooking up some crack (burnt twigs on top of the toilet paper dispenser, left behind their bag containing spoon, metal plate etc.). Downtown Patrol comes and are just furious that this is going on in the library (as if we aren't).

Sunday - haven't heard anything about it.

Monday - one of our long term regular homeless alcoholics, who has been on the wagon for quite awhile fell off with a vengeance and also fell off his chair in the library. Downtown Patrol arrived too late to escort him out. Immediately after his departure the library director comes in and states that things don't look too bad.

Today we had the Downtown Patrol and the RCMP for a death threat that was uttered to a young man by an older one. But apparently the officer didn't think there was anything to it, and no one was arrested.

This is my new workworld. If I were close to retirement, I'd be outta there, but I'm not. Don't get me wrong, we have hours at a stretch when it's nice and library-like in there. One day the place was packed; all seats taken by people who were awake and alert and most even - gasp - reading!

On a happier note, I spent yesterday afternoon at the dentist getting a crown. The only reason this is happy is that afterwards I went to the mall and bought myself a new leather jacket! And a guidebook for NYC...

The high price of health

Whew, went to the naturopath today. Initial visit, just talking and filling in a huge long medical history form, was $95.00! Next on the list: 3 tests which will cost nearly $300 in total. Follow-up appointments are apparently $45 a pop. Yikes! Our extended health plan only covers up to $200 maximum for the year. What to do, what to do... Makes you appreciate the good old Canadian health care system that's for sure. But sometimes the pill-pushing GP just isn't the place to go, so then it's time to go alternative.

Went to see Dreamgirls last night. It was good but I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize it was a musical. Like I knew there would be a lot of 'numbers' but not that people would be bursting into song at the drop of a hat. That one song that Jennifer Hudson sings that is really powerful and emotional but goes on and on forever... One of my friends had to go to the w.c. and make a phone call and couldn't believe the song was still being sung when she got back! We had a great dinner at Earl's first - I had the bento box which was delicious - and a margarita. Everyone in town seemed to be there before going to the Barenaked Ladies (would have loved to see them again too...)

Anyway then came home and Greg and I ended up watching a very quirky movie on TV till midnight so today I was wiped and am presently in bed (8:15 pm). I SHOULD be feverishly trying to get Emma read by Thursday but let's face it, it's not happening. I think this will only be the 2nd time in my book club history that I don't get the book read, kind of bad for the leader but there you go. It's a glorified Harlequin romance anyway... Who picks these books? oh yeah that would be me!

Friday night some of us are going for drinks after work but there's also a crop at the store so I'm trying to decide what to do. As my co-worker said oh yeah have a couple of drinks and then drive to Westbank, sounds sensible. Geez it doesn't have to be alcohol!

Enough blathering for tonight. A la prochaine!

tagged

Oh dear thanks a lot Kelli! 6 weird things about me eh? Well let me think...

1. I have some psychic ability. Yes I sometimes know things before they happen. Seriously.
2. When driving I often try to memorize details about the drivers & cars around me and plan escape routes in case there's an accident.
3. I remember phone numbers. From a long time ago. In fact I remember the numbers but don't necessarily remember who they belong to...
4. Nowadays, to remember numbers I use the Dewey Decimal System as a memory aid.
5. I used to choose birthday cards for my Mom by reading the ones in the store till I found one that made me cry. That was always the right card!
6. What's really weird? I just asked Holly and Greg for some weird things about me and they couldn't think of anything...

And darn there's nobody left for me to tag...

But another thing on my mind: A co-worker of mine has a sister who is a scrapper & blogger. He has now found her blog and as a result, can get to mine. So I'd better watch what I say!! Oh don't worry Mark, I only have NICE things to say about YOU...

NYC Here I Come...

Well I just booked my flight to New York for May 11th. Going for a week this time (more duty-free to bring back!). I had such a fantastic time last year that I'm a little apprehensive - how can it be that much fun again? But I have a feeling it will be great. I'll be staying with my friend Mark again and will try to get in touch with a cousin I have who lives in New York - somewhere! And do more wining and dining, a show or two... oh yeah and maybe some shoe shopping!

The cat came back

Well actually he never left. We've been trying to get rid of Smokey for about 3 weeks now but he's just not leaving. First the SPCA called asking if we were ready to give him back but I wasn't sure. Waited a couple more weeks then called to say I was bringing him in. Is he still sneezing? Well (I cannot tell a lie) yes maybe once or twice. No good, he has to go for five whole days without a sneeze. So this week goes by and I never hear him sneeze so I call again yesterday and we have all his stuff packed up. Sorry we don't have any room, can you call back on Monday? No - it'll have to wait till next weekend then. sigh. I mean he's a really lovely cat but requires a LOT of maintenance which we're just not into. So perhaps next weekend he will be a goner...

gimp

So it wasn't middle age (well sort of), flu or whatever else I said. Bursitis! aka 'frozen shoulder'. Suddenly on Tuesday I found myself unable to move my left arm above my waist. Wednesday it wasn't toooo bad and I went to the doctor & got a referral to physio. The doctor also gave me some Celebrex, take one a day she said. Well it's one of those drugs (anti-inflammatory) that takes about 2 weeks to kick in and does absolutely NOTHING for acute pain relief. Wednesday night I'm in absolute agony and can't take anything else for it. So I stopped that and Thursday went back to good old ibuprofen (and the occasional muscle relaxant just for fun). So now it hurts and I don't care.

But after 3 days of non-stop Space Channel (it actually hurt to hold a book) I was bored out of my mind and so today went back to work. As one of my co-workers said "dearie you look like shit, why aren't you at home?". Well I can be in pain here as well as at home (plus it was only one day!) And I have to confess I deliberately didn't wear any makeup just to play up the sympathy angle. I was totally unable to blowdry my hair, had to wash it one-handed (interesting experiment) and going to the bathroom is no longer something to be taken for granted.

But - off to physiotherapy tomorrow and I'm hoping for some quick relief (I know, totally unrealistic). In the meantime, as Tara exclaimed in horror at lunch today: "I can't scrap!!!!"

too much fun

at the crop Friday night! I was amazed at how much I got done - several pages in my New York album. Not that they're anything fancy, not using any patterned paper, and it is only 8.5 x 11 so not many pictures either! But still I would like to get it done before I go again. Which I still can't decide about, but looks like May some time.

Felt pretty much like crap the last couple of days - migraine, middle age, flu - who knows? So today I stayed home. And I watched TV. To be precise I stayed in bed till nearly noon when Greg came home & scared me half to death (didn't hear him come in). He left shortly thereafter and then I got dressed and moved to the couch where I stayed for the rest of the day. I watched The Moonstone (DVD from the library), Andromeda, Stargate, and some British forensic pathologist/cop show. It was actually very pleasant. And now it's just about time to go to bed again once I nag Holly to finish her homework.

Oh I also nearly finished eating the leftover asiago & artichoke dip from Friday...

one good read

This is the book we did for book club last night. I LOVE this book. That was my 2nd time reading it and of course as I'm the one who picks the books I do have a certain advantage. Which I try not to abuse ;)

Most of us at the club loved the book, but there were a few who just didn't 'get it'. The discussion helped some, but not all. I just think it's so clever, the language, storytelling (story within story within story) and it all fits together. Plus it's hilariously funny. At least I thought so!

However I've been fighting a cold all week and last night just burned me out so today I'm at home. Although apparently it may snow tomorrow so I might have to bundle up and head over the bridge to my favourite scrapbook store for a little shopping therapy this afternoon.

How can you not love this face?

Smokey really enjoyed hanging out under the Christmas tree, chewing on the branches (artificial - go figure) and then sneezing his head off. Well we've taken the tree down now and Smokey will be returning to the SPCA (or the bad cat house as Greg calls it) one of these days. I'm quite enjoying him but Vespers just hates him. Holly says she doesn't like him either. Guess it's just Timmy and I who are on his side.

He's just so damn cute!

Old Friends

This is me and Ruth, my oldest friend in the world. (It's a standing joke between us) We've known each other since Grade 7, when I was the 'new girl' at Dixon Elementary. She now lives in Australia, where she's been since I don't remember when, Expo '86 some time I think. Luckily for me, when her parents retired they moved to the Okanagan so when Ruth and her family come to visit, it's not hard for us to see each other. This only happens every couple of years or so. But this year - bloody winter! They're only in Summerland but you'd think it was still Australia with all the difficulty we've had getting together...so near and yet so far.

My phobia about winter driving, and lack of snow tires. Their lack of snow tires and, indeed, much in the way of winter driving experience at all. And all this snow and cold weather!! Ruth and I did have a nice lunch last week when she drove up but then it wasn't until today when I took the bus to Summerland (wussy I know) that we saw each other again and now it's back to work for me and back to Vancouver for them before flying home. sigh.

But it was great to see her, her parents, her husband and 2 lovely daughters. Their kids are incredible - both beautiful and clever. And if Holly had come with me I'm sure Kay and Stan would have felt like they were looking at Ruth and me 35 years ago.

It was only after I got on the bus home that I got a bit weepy. There was still so much catching up to do, we never even drank a bottle of wine! Next time guys - come in the summer!

And this was Boxing Day with Greg's mom, his nephew, wife & 2 kids. Fortunately the nephew knew how to set the self-timer on my camera so we were able to get this group shot (after a few tries). 

Fern's got a brand-new 'do!

I got my hair cut on Friday, kept the length but have layers now instead. I think I must have lost a pound or 2 as a result!

And I have to have a mini-rant about Yahoo Photos which I've been using for a long time but since I upgraded to IE 7, it no longer works. I can't upload photos into it at all. So, I went to Picasa instead and I have to say I'm impressed. Especially with the 'Blog This' feature. I could crop, fix my red eye and post it all in one easy step (well just about). 

Happy New Year!

Well last night has to have been the quietest New Year's Eve on record for us. Greg and I had a couple of glasses of champagne, but other than that we watched TV (Little Nicky), listened to Dick Clark painfully doing the countdown and then went to bed at 12:30! Whoopie...

But that was fine, I didn't really feel like doing anything. I've had an extraordinarily quiet & lazy Christmas holiday this year and although I'm starting to get a little stir crazy, it's not unmanageable.

Still and all, a little more motivation in 2007 would be a good thing...

Snow day

Well it certainly came down in the night didn't it? Greg is even staying home today. I don't think it's snowing right now but it's hard to tell. Maybe Holly will even wear her new cool hat outside; she certainly wore it all day on Christmas but seems a little reluctant to be seen in public.

Merry Christmas one and all!

We're having a great day...I know it's only 2:30 but Greg's into the wine & I'm into the Baileys. Claire is over and she and Holly are on the computer - doing what I'm not sure. Quake 4?? Lots of presents all round, and a big feed of french toast for breakfast (plus a little of the chocolate from the stockings).

So the SPCA called me on the 23rd wondering if we could foster a sick kitty over Christmas. Well of course and uh-oh for me, it was love at first sight. I don't think this kitty is going back...

I've never had a long-haired cat before, he's actually quite a tiny guy under there. His name is Smokey and he's the most affectionate bundle of love I've ever met. Vespers & Timmy know he's downstairs but they won't meet till he's not contagious anymore (5 days without sneezing).

Holly had her birthday party on Saturday, a very slow lunch at Red Robin and then to see Eragon. She had a good time. I had a good time sitting in the coffee place drinking my chai and reading People while they went to the movie. The restaurant staff had her stand on her chair, introduced her to all the diners and sang the birthday song. She tried to hide under her hoodie as you can see!

We're having the neighbours over tonight (Claire's family) for wine & snacks. They had their dinner yesterday; we have ours tomorrow so it works out well.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas!

Holiday time

Today was my last day of work till January 8, 2007! Not that I'm gloating or anything...

For those who missed it

You can read the article in the Capital News about the letters found in the old house here and here's the rather odd photo which accompanied it. One of our staff members did tell me the other day that it was nice to see an article in the paper about the library that was something other than normal publicity. Yes folks, this is the kind of stuff that we actually do here.


By odd coincidence, this photo of my friend James was in a paper from the coast awhile ago. He is a house genealogist in Vancouver. Separated at birth? At any rate I feel a scrapbook page coming on...

Only 1 week to go...

and today I finally got Greg to call his mom so we know what we're doing for Christmas - having dinner on Boxing Day with her and Greg's nephew & family. Whew... I love having nothing to do on Christmas Day; it's so liberating!

Holly and I made our first gingerbread house yesterday. Fortunately it was from a kit 'cause that was as much as we could handle for our first time out. It's killing her that we're not letting her eat it all right now.

But I know it won't make it till Christmas!

So, here at last is the photo from our dinner at Chutney's on Wednesday...I was going to try to crop most of myself out of it but gave up. What the heck, there's only a few people going to see it! That was a fun evening, great food - maybe except for Heather who turned out to regret being so adventurous, right? And wonderful Christmas presents too. And we topped it all off with an action-packed trip to Wal-Mart where we saw somebody make off with a big screen TV. Who knew that WM employed tiny little old ladies as security guards? She must have been 80 if she was a day and she nearly caught the guy too.

And of course we can't forget the meeting of the boots! I even got to wear mine out again today, as Holly didn't leave the house. They really are wonderful...

In other news, we had our library Christmas lunch on Friday, tons & tons of food. I'm sure enough left over to feed both the Saturday & Sunday staff. My Secret Santa gift obviously came from someone who doesn't know me very well - it was kitchen stuff! Silicone mitts, trivet & mini-muffin pan. Very cool and I have used the mitts already. Thursday night's book club Christmas party was a fairly small group but we had fun anyway talking about the book (Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None) and a variety of other things. And last night was the Sons of Norway Christmas party which was a surprisingly good time, and there were more than 80 people there which was a shock. It was for adults & kids and the young kids were so funny, they just had a blast. We sang & danced around the tree (Norwegian tradition) and the Julenisse came with gifts for all of them. The Julenisse definitely needs a new beard, he was looking pretty ratty.

So, Holly's 13th birthday coming up on Saturday. A few kids are going to Red Robin for lunch and then to the matinee of Eragon. It sounds like fun and I guess I'll just try to stay unobtrusively in the background, coming out in time to pay the bill. Unfortunately they're too old for the children's menu now...

These boots were made for walking

Holly has had a bit of a growth spurt recently - in her feet! Poor dear now wears size 10.5 - and she's been hobbling to school this week in my late mother's size 9.5 boots. So a few days ago I let her wear my boots and she absolutely loved them - I wear size 11. Then the fight was on - who got to wear MY boots? So today we went boot shopping. We agreed that if I found boots that I liked, I'd get them and she could keep mine. Well we found these. Romika. They're like slippers! Incredibly comfortable. So much for the deal. She tried them on and decided she would have those, I could have my old black ones back. Hmmph. So I had to get a pair of dress boots for myself as well.

snowman

Holly made this cute little snowman out of plasticine. He's only an inch tall! And it has nothing to do with having small hands; hers are nearly as big as mine.

I'm going to drive to work today (which I haven't done since Monday - instead Greg & I have been going in together in his truck). But there's no way I want to be taking the bus home at 9:00 tonight!

false alarm

I found out today that not everything from the troops' box had been stolen. It had been put in another librarian's office for safekeeping when people were SPOTTED helping themselves. So yes people are jerks but we were prepared!

Hey somebody's coming from the Capital News tomorrow to take a photo and do a story that follows up on the one in the paper a couple of weeks ago - a fellow doing reno's on a house found some old (1897) letters & other stuff in this old house. Well a regular patron came in and had found the marriage registration for these people. Then between the two of us we found out who their children were, who they married, and from there she tracked down the descendents. So I guess there might be something in the paper in the next week or so. It was pretty cool...

it was red

Well I made it out to the retirement place this morning for my little talk. I'd been fretting all weekend about the driving but it was fine. And the meeting was fine too, very informal and quite fun. And yes the lunch was quite good too, including the jello...

I spent part of this afternoon counting up the statistics for the 'typical week survey'. The provincial government wants a public library survey done once a year and last week was the week. Good thing it wasn't this week or the numbers would have been even lower than they normally are. We don't understand how they pick the dates they pick - they couldn't pick a deader time if they tried.

However if I hadn't had stats to count this afternoon I don't know what I would have done; there wasn't exactly a huge crowd in the library today!

Oh I forgot - we've been collecting things for the troops for the last month or more, toiletries, food, books etc etc. Well on Sunday somebody helped themselves to all the food & toiletries and left only the books & frisbees in the box. And the food bank is only 2 blocks away - why they needed to steal this stuff is beyond me. Grrrr

Safe driving in the snow everybody...

the day wasn't a total loss

I did manage to use up the rest of my gold cardstock on some Christmas cards. The picture didn't come out that well, but you get the idea. SU cardstock, embossed with snowflake embossing powder, and I was very surprised to find some 'cardstock glitz' in my stash and some appropriate fibre too! See all that shopping comes in handy sometimes...

a little bit grumpy, this feeling inside

OK this is a really weird story. Very similar to the fellow here in Kelowna who was found in his apartment after being missing for such a long time.

It's snowing. Looks nice but I hate it. Specifically I hate driving in it but it's not usually as bad as I think it's going to be. And I have a headache (which has been with me for a few days now). Guess it's the change in weather. I wonder how many people will turn out for my talk tomorrow. I know I wouldn't go!!

And it's nearly noon, Holly & Greg aren't up yet. Maybe I should have stayed in bed too...

what is it about blogging

if you don't have anything to complain about, you don't say anything?! All quiet on the library front (well ok the police were called today but it didn't have anything to do with me!!). I'm preparing to give a talk on Monday to the local Seniors Outreach group about starting a book club (since I run the one at the library). And then I get to stay for lunch afterwards! Mmm Mmm haven't had good retirement residence food for a few years now.

Had a fun time at Kelli's last night making little CD calendars, going to another SU class tomorrow night. Then Gen's class at the library on Saturday afternoon where we're making a very cute little 6x6 album - why aren't all you guys (you know who you are) signed up? I know it's billed as a beginner's class, so what...it'll be fun!

joys of librarianship

I just have to talk about my crappy day at work...as you may or may not know (if you ever go to a library), there's a lot of 'odd' people who hang out, especially as the cold weather comes on. Among our newest crop is a boy of about 13 or 14. Last week I think it was, he and his friends built a 'fort' out of all the chairs that were not occupied. Yesterday he was driving/riding on one of the wheeled chairs (belonging at the computer stations) whizzing up and down the aisles, and generally having his own little racetrack on the 2nd floor. So yesterday I managed to corner him on the bridge upstairs (by standing right in front of him so he was FORCED to stop) and told him to cease & desist. Today he was back at it again. So once again I cornered him and lectured him (along the lines of 'how old are you - old enough to know better etc etc') and then woke up one of his buddies. Shortly afterwards Jean, the lab assistant, kicked him & his sleeping buddies out.

So, a little while later, he and a friend are back again. I go over...you're not allowed back in here today. Eventually he leaves - for about 2 minutes - and he's back again, in his original spot and eating a cookie. I go over - do you think you're invisible or something??? (my voice is getting progressively louder as the day goes on). You have to leave. No food allowed, etc etc. He tries to make himself more comfortable and I say, if you don't want to leave alone, I can call somebody. No he'll go... gets to the elevator and whines 'why are you kicking me out'. BECAUSE YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF AND BREAKING ALL THE RULES!! Yes I did say this out loud. So then he called me a c---t and the doors closed. Off he goes again. For at least an hour and he's back in the building. I call over - just turn around and leave! I'm looking for somebody he says and I thought oh screw it I'm going home in 15 minutes. Let the evening shift deal with him.

So then, because I'm in a crappy mood, I take it out on a hapless mother & daughter. They come up to the desk looking for info on a couple of native bands. Mom's doing all the talking but teenage daughter is hissing "i didn't have socials today". I ask which one of them is doing the project. "She is" says Mom. I try to ask daughter questions, mom answers them all. I try again, mom is still doing all the talking. So then I say to Mom "what school does she go to" (thinking surely to God the daughter can answer for herself) but Mom tells me. so I mutter to the daughter ' just seeing if you could speak'. oh shit I can't believe I said that!! But neither one of them seemed to get it. And the daughter never spoke.

I was really happy when 5:30 came along.

Career change anyone??

RIP raccoons

Greg just told me that shortly after the raccoons were dining chez nous, he and Holly found them on Gordon Drive, both hit by a car. God that is sad isn't it. I hope they enjoyed the cat food...

Since I never ever post pictures of anything I have scrapped, I thought I'd better give it a try. This is me as a baby. Daisy D's paper & rub ons, MM flowers & foam stamp.

I still have that dress (not that it fits LOL)

Laughter is the best medicine

Well I've been feeling a little under the weather the last few days, just tired & listless I guess you'd say. Today I feel some better, which is miraculous between getting stressed out during Askaway again this morning (damn those grade 9's in Surrey) and then being subjected to paint fumes mysteriously permeating the Reference area this afternoon. But now I've just been laughing uncontrollably while reading Rick Mercer's blog. If you're a fan of his, you have to check it out!

post-sugar fatigue

Well Hallowe'en has come & gone and I never even took a picture of Holly in her costume (blood spattered apron, chef's hat & butcher knife). In fact I didn't even see her that night. She was gone before I got home from work and then I had to go out to pick up my friend AM at the airport so I really missed the whole thing. Never mind, trust me the blood spatters turned out really well. I found a recipe for chocolate blood online and it lived up to the hype.

AM was in town for a conference at Manteo which went really well and the facilities were awesome. Good ole Kelowna, nice to hear everything went well. They also had a wine-tasting at the Wine Museum which was a success.

We were out shopping all day yesterday which was tiring and I'm still tired today! But back to the grind tomorrow. I had taken last Wednesday off work which was great, I think I might do that again a time or two before Christmas. Have been eating like a pig for the past week or 2, not going to Curves. So time to get my act together again.

BTW the picture is in our back yard a couple of weeks ago before the weather turned cloudy. (Since I have nothing more relevant to post!)