Making Friends

 
Well for at least one evening Zoe and Timmy got up close and personal - and nobody was injured! The truce didn't last long though.

Looks like we'll have Zoe here till Sunday when I will drop her off at the kennel where she'll be for a week while her mom is away on vacation. If I weren't going away as well we could probably keep her longer. It's funny 'cause we're finding her to be really quite a good dog (although she doesn't really like Greg) and she walks well on the leash etc. which stuns her mom because, as is the case with some children, the dog behaves better with other people than she does at home!

So incredibly busy at work this week - I'm just exhausted and looking forward to the weekend where I have nothing to do except laundry, pack, pedicure & lunch with the MIL and family. Hopefully I will get some quality sleeping done too.

blog tag...thanks to Tara!

5 things in my refrigerator:

1. milk

2. Tazo Chai concentrate

3. eggs

4. something green that needs to be thrown out (there's a few of those actually)

5. apples

5 things in my car:

1. Donna Leon book on CD

2. water bottle

3. clothes to go to dry cleaners

4. dog leash

5. gum

5 things in my purse or backpack:

1. wallet

2. cell phone

3. pen

4. flight itinerary

5. passport

5 things in my closet:

1. purses

2. old toys

3. scarves

4. slippers

5. clothes

5 things in the world I want to see before I die:

1. Antarctica

2. New Zealand

3. Cook Islands

4. Queen Charlottes

5. Stonehenge

Thanks Tara - that was a challenge (especially when realizing we really need to go grocery shopping!!! However not my problem, Greg can do that when I'm gone!)

Zoe

 

No she's not my new dog. I'm just dog-sitting while Zoe's mom is in hospital. You can see that Zoe has some border collie in her and I do often call her Ruby by mistake. She's a pretty sweet dog, and is just beside herself that the cats won't play with her. We finally got them to come in the house and it's just hilarious to see Zoe in front of one of them, down in the 'let's play' position and whining because the cat is spitting at her. Apparently her own cat does the same thing sometimes.

So only one more week of work and it's going to be a busy one (see above hospitalization). Which is a good thing as otherwise time would be going by very slowly as it does when you're anxiously awaiting something. I need to get my act in gear, get some laundry & packing organized. Not leave it till the last minute, which is looking like a possibility right now.

People I'm Looking Forward to Seeing part III

Fern & Heidi
Originally uploaded by fteleglow

This is my friend Heidi, whom I met online at the Norwegian Digital Archive website (http://www.digitalarkivet.no if you're interested in Norwegian genealogy at all). She had posted a question about some relatives who came to BC, I did some searching for her, and the rest - as they say - is history!

People I'm Looking Forward to Seeing Part II

Holly with Berit in Lillehammer
Originally uploaded by fteleglow

This is my cousin Berit with Holly when we were there two years ago. She is my "big sister" and a zanier person you could never hope to meet.

People I'm looking forward to seeing Part I

This is my cousin Harald Kristian "Haka" famous in my family for having shown up at my parents' doorstep before I was born and my mother exclaiming to my dad "oh he's not bad is he!" in English whereupon Haka said politely "thank you!". My mom was soooo embarrassed.

The most surprising part of this story is that my mom shared her opinions on good-looking men with my father!!

Countdown begins

Well with less than a month to go I guess I should start doing some thinking & planning for my trip. I'm taking a milk run to Oslo for my cousins' reunion (søskenbarn-treffet in Norwegian) on September 1st. Since I was planning to go to New York this spring, and had already booked my Aeroplan flight before hearing about the Norway thing, I'm combining both holidays. But it means I'm spending the day of Aug 28th flying from Kelowna-Toronto-New York (arriving around 10 pm) and then turning around and flying out to Oslo at 8:15 the next night. I arrive in Oslo nearly 48 hours after leaving home!!

But then I have a week in Norway, flying back to New York on the 6th (the day after my birthday) until the 12th...no way was I flying on September 11th! I'm sure I will have a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing all my cousins again. But maybe once I turn the calendar to August it will all seem a bit more 'real'!

Canine-less in Kelowna

I did go to the SPCA at lunch on Friday, visited the dogs. Buddy is cute but he's definitely a border collie through and through and he's also pretty young, and very focused. Obviously too much work for this family! Many other cute dogs, including Humie (pronounced 'who me') who is lovely but can climb 6 foot high chain link fences. Furry (formerly advertised as 'Fury') is a shepherd/lab cross who I've been kind of interested in for awhile and Friday I actually got to meet her briefly while she was on her way back to her kennel. Mike, the kennel guy, thought she might be a good match for us - she's a pretty low maintenance dog. So today I got Greg to go the SPCA with me and had another look at her. But you know, it was the same impression that I got the very first time I saw her: she just seems to be in her own little world. You call her name - she ignores you, she doesn't come over to the door when you approach (virtually all the other dogs do) and just seemed kind of zoned out. So I declined the invitation to visit in the quiet room with her. Maybe I'm foolish but I think there has to be a spark there right off the bat. So I'm okay with that. I will continue to look.

Stayed up till 1:00 last night reading Harry Potter! Very tired today but it was a great read. I can't say anything else obviously but I liked it a lot and didn't cry too too much. So then it was Holly's turn and I'm shocked that she's not that interested in reading it asap. We left her home today so she could read (she starts a 2-week day camp tomorrow) but she only made it through about 70 pages before moving on to something else. However I read a couple of chapters aloud to her just now and she enjoyed it so we may have to do it that way. That's all right, I kind of wanted to re-read it immediately anyway!

Doggie Anxiety

OK I was just cruising through the SPCA website as I do every couple of days and - gasp - today the last dog on the list is a young male border collie named Buddy. No photo at the moment but the description sounds very nice. I practically have heart palpitations! I know Greg really doesn't want another dog; too much work is his opinion which is very valid. Holly couldn't care less, she's a cat person. And the idea of having to walk a dog twice a day in 35+ temperatures doesn't appeal to me either. But still... I get an hour & a half for lunch tomorrow so I may take a drive to the SPCA. See if they know if Buddy likes cats...

Modern Times

 

Greg brought home a new laptop a few days ago for me to try out but after 24 hours I've decided to stick with old faithful here (a Toshiba). The new one was very shiny, had a 17" monitor but I like this one better.

Then I thought I would like to be able to get pictures off my cell phone & onto my laptop. The guy in the Rogers store said emailing them was the best way. I just found some bare bones instructions and it seems you can only send them right after you take them. I couldn't find any way to get pictures currently stored on the phone to email...too bad, there were a few Artistry pictures on there I would have like to see in bigger than 1x1 format! Anyway I took this one of Greg and thought it came out not too bad for so few pixels.

And today (thinking I would actually scrapbook something) I printed some pictures directly off my memory card in the printer. That was impressively easy! But have I done anything with them? Nooooooo!

My Precious

A while back I had my status on Facebook as "relieved". This is the story behind it.

A few weeks ago I was home sick and thought since I was home feeling crappy I would fill in an extended health care claim form. I was searching for a particular receipt and couldn't find it. Looked all over the house with no success. But I did find an old Costco receipt in the bedroom (specifically from December 23, 2000). The last thing on the receipt was 'diamond earrings $200'. WTF?! I never got no diamond earrings... so I'm laying (or is that lying, I always get those mixed up) on the couch feeling like crap and fretting. Greg bought diamond earrings and they weren't for me?! oh dear. This goes on for awhile. Then I have this sudden flash of memory, opening a pair of heart-shaped earrings with a little diamond chip on them and him saying 'they're real diamonds'. oh right, I remember now... go look in the jewelry drawer. No such earrings to be found. Oh shit. Because...

A few weeks prior to that I'd received an email from a librarian who was organizing a fundraiser for the SLAIS Alumni (UBC's library school) - donate your old unwanted jewelry to be sold to raise funds for the school. Boy I got really into that and went through all my jewelry and packed up a huge bag of stuff that I hadn't worn in years. Including apparently one pair of what turned out to be very expensive diamond earrings. Now you have to understand that my husband does not buy expensive gifts...ever. Except for this one Christmas 7 years ago.

So (did I tell you this was going to be long?) I had taken this bag of jewelry to BCLA with me in April to donate. But by this time I can't remember exactly what it was in aid of or who had organized it. I made a couple of phone calls, nobody seems to know much about it. I go through my old inbox and find the original email, write back to her. No response. Turns out she's on vacation. So I write to another librarian I know at VPL to see if she happens to know anything. Yes the jewelry was actually sold at BCLA, Corinne's away but she'll check with her when she gets back.

Meanwhile I've ransacked the house several times over, looking everywhere I can think of, old purses, makeup bags, etc etc. Weeks go by, Corinne is back from vacation so I write again. She doesn't remember any such earrings but will check at home. Another couple of days go by and I write again, thinking I will put out an appeal to the listserv & find whoever bought them. But then the next day she emails me, she found them!! In the bottom of a box at work. They meet the description, hallelujah! (This is when I became relieved...) I'm going to Vancouver in a few days so will meet her to pick them up.

Thursday Holly and I trundle down to VPL, meet Corinne & she pulls out this little bubble-wrapped package and gives it to me. I open it, look at at them and go...

I don't think that's them.

Seriously - how many pairs of earrings like that would you expect to find at this thing? But these just don't seem to be quite the way I remember them. However, we decide what the heck, I'm taking them. I will take them to my jeweler friend & inquire as to their value and then just put the whole episode out of my mind. Greg would never know anyway (and he doesn't read my blog!) and it makes a good story. But it just goes to show that expensive gifts are wasted on me after all and I should quit my whining when birthdays come along...

I'm baaack

Well that may be the longest I've been away from a computer in quite some time! 250 junk mails in 6 days - wow!

Holly and left for Vancouver last Wednesday night. We stayed four nights in Steveston at our favourite B&B, which won't be in business for much longer so I'm glad we went. Thursday we headed downtown and went to VPL, where I had a couple of people to see. Then we took the Skytrain out to Burnaby for Holly to shop at the Crystal Mall under the Hilton Hotel in Metrotown, home of all things Asian & anime. She picked herself up some Naruto stuff and then we went back downtown for awhile before heading back to Richmond. That bus ride was the only time it rained while we were there which was amazing.

Friday was R&R - we did next to nothing, wandered around Steveston & generally were lazy. Got to watch all the TV shows we don't get to watch at home (heavy on CSI & What Not to Wear).

Saturday morning my friend Marjory came out and we went out for breakfast to the Steveston Hotel. She then drove us into Vancouver to A-M's place. We went down to Granville Island for the afternoon, spent too much money at I'm Impressed, and watched some very funny (but very long) street theatre.

Canada Day we left Steveston (and did not go to the parade, shame shame) for A-M's place. Wandered South Granville a bit and went to see Pirates of the Caribbean which was better than I expected.



Monday we went down to A-M's pool and the sun actually came out! Later in the afternoon James & Richard picked us up and we went out for dinner and to the Casa di Gelato for dessert. Fantastic ice cream!

Afterwards we went back to their place and watched an Eddie Izzard DVD called "Dress to Kill". OMG we laughed & laughed...in fact I did actually laugh so hard I spit red wine on myself (and am hoping it'll come out of my shorts!)

Then this morning we flew back to Kelowna. So there you have it - it was fairly low-key but we had fun.

A-M and I had fun while she was here - got her onto Facebook although she hasn't actually done anything with it yet (have you???). Tons of shopping, a little bit of scrapping, and only a couple of glasses of wine. Where did the time go? (By the way there was no wine involved in this photo!)

I've been trying lately to get in shape & lose some weight - going for walks in the morning (with my new MP3 player!) and watching what I eat (lots & lots of salads) and I am feeling better. My goal is to lose 10 pounds before I go on my trip at the end of August. It's a pretty meager goal & should be entirely do-able don't you think? And if I could lose 20 that would be even better.

Unfortunately I guess it's the cotton or whatever in the air, but now I've started to get headaches again - this seems to happen a couple of times a year but lasts for ages. Sinusy kinds of headaches. I've tried Reactine & Claritin but they just make me dopey. Sudafed doesn't make me dopey but doesn't work that well either. Bought some cool allergy mist at Saje the other day which is lovely though. So anyway I had a headache all day yesterday and it came back in the night so I'm still sitting here in bed, finished my chai & should really get up & moving. No walk today...

Book club tonight - I kind of feel like I'm going to be apologizing for this book tonight. I have a feeling a lot of people aren't going to be too impressed. But hey that's what book club's for right? Force you to read what you wouldn't normally look at. (No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. It's being made into a movie by the Coen brothers and McCarthy just won the Pulitzer for The Road. And was just on Oprah for only the 3rd interview of his very long career!)

Holly and I are off to Vancouver in 2 weeks, taking a long Canada Day weekend. Also going over to Victoria for the day at least and see the Titanic exhibit at the Museum. I'm not sure what else we'll be doing, I'm sure I'll have to suffer through Science World yet again.

where have all the bloggers gone

Well it seems everyone's deserting their blogs and spending all their time on Facebook instead. I blame my addiction on Vivian - when she invited me on there a couple of months ago I said, no no I'm not interested, let's just stick to email. But of course at the time I had to register to see what she had written to me. So then one of Greg's nephews found me, we chatted, and the next thing I know I'm addicted. (so addicted I didn't realize I'd already posted about this!)

In other digital news, Askaway wasn't half bad today. Still busy busy but not so bad that I had to send out calls for help. The kids were all polite and there were even a few interesting questions. One really funny one, there was a class I guess who were doing an air band, and this group was being Diana Ross & the Supremes. This one kids wanted info on them which I sent, then s/he suddenly said 'oh I remember they turned into the Temptations and 2 of them were shot'. Riiiiiggghhtt. Sorry kid I think you've gotten confused there.

Speaking of music, Holly has an English assignment where she has to find a song, bring a recording of it and the lyrics to class & discuss the poetic devices in it. She's doing Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire".

No picture-taking, no scrapping, but I did go for a walk this morning. Going to try to get back into that routine. Otherwise things are pretty boring. Think I'll go to bed early...

This 'n That

Found this odd article, must remember for my NY trip which is definitely going to include shoe-shopping.

So this Facebook business is just too weird, I notice most of us in a certain circle are spending all our time on Facebook and none at all on a certain message board. I REALLY didn't want to get into the whole Facebook thing but that's not exactly working out and I've been impressed to find all manner of people - relatives, co-workers etc. I'm not sure how long I'll stick with it but it is fun.

Holly and I collided with each other last night and I think I broke my toe, or close to it anyway. Good thing it's sandal season! We were walking her friend Sam home at the time and we ended up staying at their house for a couple of hours and it was quite a bizarre evening. First time I've met Sam's mom...

A-M's coming up in a couple of weeks so I'm looking forward to that, she hasn't been here for quite awhile. We'll try to cram in as much stuff as we can while she's here and hope that the weather is good.

Well time to try to wake up Holly again. Greg I'll leave alone, he didn't come to bed till nearly 5 a.m.

One word answers

One Word.

Thanks Heather for the tag.

One word answers only... no explanations.

Yourself: discombobulated
Your Partner: different
Your Hair: uncombed
Your Mother: dead
Your Father: dead
Your Favorite Item: laptop
Your Dream Last Night: Facebook (yes really - oops I cheated)
Your Favorite Drink: cosmo
Your Dream Car: hybrid
Dream Home: nice
The Room You Are In: scrap
Your Fear: sickness
Where You Want to be in Ten Years: happy
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Monique
You're Not: thin
One of Your Wish List Items: flooring
The Last Thing You Did: peed
You Are Wearing: pjs
Your Favorite Weather: Fall
Your Favorite Book: interesting
Last Thing You Ate: banana
Your Life: ok
Your Mood: ennui
Your Best Friend: A-M
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: toe
Your Car: Accord
What Are You Doing At The Moment: computer
Relationship Status: married
What Is On Your TV: nothing
What Is The Weather Like: cloudy
When Is The Last Time You Laughed: yesterday
This is a new game of tag. Let me know your one word answers.

Scattergories

I saw this on somebody else's blog and thought it looked like fun:

SCATTEGORIES:
The rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up!

Your Name: Fern

Famous Singer: Frank Sinatra
4-letter word: gee hard one... f^&*
Street: French St (where my grandparents used to live in Vancouver)
Color: fuchsia
Gifts/Presents: flowers
Vehicle: Fiat
Things In Souvenir Shop: flags
Boy Name: Fred
Girl Name: Fiona
Movie Title: Free Willy
Drink: Frappucino
Occupation: Flamenco dancer
Flower: forget-me-not
Celebrity: Fergie
Magazine: Flair
US City: Ft Lauderdale
Pro Sports Team: Flames
Fruit: fig
Reason For Being Late For Work: feeling forgetful
Something You Throw Away: flattened flies
Things You Shout: See #2
Cartoon Character: Fred Flintstone

Holy cow that was hard!

when the going gets tough...

Thanks everybody for the kind words about Ruby. She has woken me up 2 nights barking since she's been gone but I'm starting to feel better. Not better enough to stop at the SPCA to donate our leftover dog food though. My poor MIL was very sad when I had to tell her about Ruby; the two of us were standing in the back garden crying away. As she said, sometimes they adopt you before you've decided to adopt them.

Anyway as the saying goes...

the tough go shopping. This week I bought myself the All My Memories cropping tote in green & black and then today I was thrilled to find new crocs!



Mine are black although I was thrilled to find that Sport Check actually had them in my size in pale pink & off-white as well. hmmm decisions decisions! Practicality won out.

Saying Goodbye to Ruby

Ruby took a turn for the worse over the weekend (well partly because she got into the garbage) so I ended up taking her to the hospital yesterday. That did her no good whatsoever, she was in so much pain after that she could hardly walk at all and just lay right inside the front door the rest of the day till Greg carried her upstairs. Today she went back for x-rays and it turns out she's got massive deterioration of her right hip. Looking at the x-ray it seemed to me that her leg wasn't even connected to the rest of her body. Not fixable, amputation at her age not recommended, and the pain medication just doesn't do the trick. So she'll be having steak and whatever else she wants for supper tonight and then Diane is coming over to do the deed. Oddly though she is much better today and made her way up the back steps by herself.

Diane came over after 8:00 (our vet). I think she felt just as bad as we did, if not worse. She said it was bone cancer; the other vet hadn't actually given a reason for it but Diane knew it had spread like crazy in a very short time.

She's been a great dog. We would have had her 3 months on Thursday.

spring has sprung

Well, warm and sunny skies - it's about time! I hope it isn't just a temporary thing. I'm off work next week, not being in New York, but instead just staying home and thanking God on Tuesday that I'm not on Askaway!! It's really starting to look like it's not just our imagination and self-pity that makes us think our Tuesday morning shift is busier than anyone else's. This past week there were 3 of us on and we had about 12 people waiting and each had at least 2 questions. Same time next day I spy in and find only 2 people on duty and only 1 question, nobody waiting! What's with that??

I went to the NSD retreat last Saturday and ended up having a good time although I wasn't sure I was up to it. And I even got 4 pages done! I'm hoping that while I'm off I'll do some more as well as clean up the house somewhat. There's always that elusive garage sale on the horizon.

Greg wiped his computer clean and started fresh, however he didn't reinstall the drivers for either the printer or the scanner so I'm powerless till I find the discs (so far no luck with that). You can tell who's the one who actually uses them - it ain't him, or they'd be installed!

Well guess it's time to get ready for work. Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother's Day!

Aha - we did 6 weird things in February. I knew it all seemed familiar.

So, a few things going on with me lately. I've been grumpy as hell for one, no scrapping or wanting to think about it or talk to anybody or anything. Hormones...sigh the joys of perimenopause. Don't worry kids you'll be there soon enough. I was happy to be able to read 2 books last weekend though, haven't done that in ages.

I just changed my travel plans for the summer. After having booked a trip to New York for next week (months ago) I learned more recently that my cousins are planning a family reunion in Norway on September 1st. The last one was in '98 so of course I do want to go. But I was overwhelmed with all the decision making... that's a long way to go for a one-day party! And I just wasn't in the mood to spend any time in Scandinavia - been there done that. So yesterday I got the bright idea to postpone NYC till August, fly through there on my way to Oslo and spend a few days on my way back. So that's my new plan. I feel immensely relieved plus it's going to be so much less expensive. Although Aeroplan does charge $55 a pop for each change I make :(

We have security cameras up in the library now, it's great fun to pose in front of them while everyone else is gathered around the monitor - we figure we might put on some skits during closed hours. But things have been much calmer there lately which is a great relief. Askaway is as insane as ever, but it's some consolation to know that every participating librarian in the province has to deal with those damn Surrey kids, no matter when their shift is.

So now that I'm not {as} grumpy anymore, I signed up at the last minute for the retreat this Saturday. I hope to have a good - and possibly productive - time!

tagged

Well thanks Kelli for the tag. I'm supposed to post 7 random things about myself...

1. I woke up one morning in my teens and had a sudden (& permanent) aversion to the smell of bacon - I'm only now getting so I can stand the smell of it again.

2. I have an awesomely tidy & organized scraproom!

3. When I was about 39 I learned I had a half-brother in Norway...so much for being an only child!

4. My great-grandmother was really choked when she couldn't get on the same ship to Canada as her friend did: Titanic.

5. I went to elementary school with another girl named Fern. We were in the same grade, looked similar (fat, short blonde hair, glasses) and the little kids thought we were twins.

6. I am, like many others, an avid reader, excellent speller and love to add up numbers.

7. I do not know 7 people to challenge with this! All my blogging buddies are taken and nobody else reads my blog! or if they do, they don't leave any comments...

And haven't we done this before?? I have a real deja vu feeling about this whole thing.

Well it's been awhile hasn't it? Many things to talk about.

1. I have been Life Simplified! It's amazing what a difference Cheryl & Dawn made to my scraproom. We got rid of a lot of junk and then it was just rearranging what I had. No 'before' pictures here but a few 'after' ones that I just took now.










I have such organized closets & cupboards now! Isn't it lovely?

2. BCLA. I was away the end of last week at the annual BC Library Association Conference in Burnaby, got to stay 2 nights at the Hilton Metrotown. The conference was quite good, especially the Askaway session (picture dozens & dozens of librarians sitting around complaining about schoolkids in Surrey!). I met up with my old friend Marjory and talked with a couple of other old friends from library school. Then I spent Friday & Saturday nights with A-M in Vancouver. On Saturday we had a great day - wandered up Main Street, went to Ruby Dog's Art House and bought some stuff from Lazarworks which has opened up some space at the front of Ruby Dog's. Then we had a fabulous dinner at Vij's. What a fantastic place, incredible food & ambience. I'll definitely go again. Crazy - A-M lives just a couple of blocks away and she'd never been either.

3. Speak of Ruby Dog - my Ruby dog is not really any better although she's been on anti-inflammatories for a couple of weeks. She hobbles up & down the stairs, no walks, and now she's started pooping etc in the house. I just feel terrible about it! Guess I'm glad we never did replace the carpet after Layla died. I guess I'll need to call the vet again, maybe we should get a second opinion.

That's it for now folks!

What does Your Name Mean? (thanks to Tara)

What Fern Means

F is for Fancy E is for Extreme R is for Rich N is for Natural

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyournamemeanquiz/">What Does Your Name Mean?

OK I'm waiting for the rich thing to kick in. And would that be Extremely Rich? I am waiting...

How do you spell relief?

I've been fretting all week about Ruby. A week ago Saturday I took her over to Westbank with me and she met Cheryl, who noticed that when Ruby got out of the car she was holding her back leg up. Well it's gotten progressively worse in the 10 days or so since and so today the vet came and took Ruby in for x-rays.

The good news is - no signs of anything broken, torn ligaments, cancer, etc. And although Ruby was whining & yelping considerably when Diane was here and examining her, she was much better at the hospital. So - pulled muscle perhaps? She'll be coming home later this afternoon with some doggie pain-killers and we'll see what happens. I guess a party at the dog park is not happening in her near future after all.

Other than that we had a good and busy Easter weekend. On Thursday night I got home to find Greg, Holly & Ruby in the backyard at our little homemade fire pit. They were roasting corn dogs and generally having a bacchanalian good time.

On Friday my cousin Nita came over - she lives in Robson - and we had a great visit and lunch out at Manteo. Saturday we had our annual Easter Egg hunt, which was low-key and impromptu this year. Very little in the way of eggs - it was so warm out that the chocolate was melting right away and we hadn't coloured any real eggs. (Read it and weep you Haligonians!) The neighbours were over for awhile in the afternoon and then we went to their place for dinner. Sunday was at Greg's mom's and we still have leftovers! Holly and I went out and did a bit of shopping on Monday and that's the end of the weekend.

Holly was asking me the wedding questions in this month's Simple Scrapbooks. After nearly 14 years I had a hard time remembering the answers, that's for sure. But since I haven't finished the album yet, they'll still come in handy. Seeing how these pictures turned out, it does remind me that some people used to think that Greg and I were brother and sister...

That's what I call customer service

When we were in Bellingham last week we went to a most wonderful scrapbook store - Treasury of Memories. We spent a fortune. One of the things I was going to buy was some of the cute little journaling cards put out by Fontwerks. But somehow (perhaps in the excitement of seeing all the transparencies at the checkout) I didn't get them. When I was going through my stash I couldn't find them and thought maybe I'd lost them, or left them behind or something. And then I couldn't find my bill. So I emailed them and asked if they could check if I had purchased them. They said they'd look into it. In the meantime I found my bill, and lo & behold, no FW cards. boo hoo. I let them know they weren't on the bill.

Anyway today in the mail I got a card from Treasury of Memories with 4 FW journaling cards and a little note saying they were sorry I hadn't gotten them and they hoped this would tide me over till the next time I could get to the store.

Am I ever impressed!!!

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...