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!)