A Stolen Stolen Meme...

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. I blame that on Facebook. But, on the off chance someone still reads this, I thought I'd try to keep it going :-)

So, here is a Stolen, Stolen Meme! :-)

What's a Meme? As far as I understand it... silly question things that people post on their blogs and get their friends to answer and stuff. Could be fun, so I thought I'd give it a try:

In one word answers... or sometimes two or three: (And I did this kinda stream-of-conciousness, so if the answers are strange that's why...)

1. Where is your mobile phone? Purse
2. Relationship? Richard
3. Your hair? In my eyes
4. Work? Busy
5. Your sister(s)? Ya-Yas!
6. Your favourite thing? Bubble baths
7. Your dream last night? Work (ugh!)
8. Your favourite drink? cold beer on a hot day
9. Your dream car? Free
10. The room you're in? Cubicle
11. Your shoes? Flip flops
12. Your fears? Spiders
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Mom
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Richad
15. What are you not good at? Being quiet
16. Muffin? Blueberry honey bran
17. Wish list item? Maid
18. Where you grew up? 'Burbs
19. The last thing you did? Bought a coffee
20. What are you wearing? T-shirt and capris
21. What are you not wearing? Socks
22. Your pet? Maliika
23. Your computer? Macbook
24. Your life? Happy
25. Your mood? Generally happy
26. Missing? Earring backing
27. What are you thinking about? Family and friends
28. Your car? Dirty
29. Your kitchen? Functional
30. Your summer? Busy
31. Your favourite colour? Blue
32. Last time you laughed? 30 minutes or so ago
33. Last time you cried? Last week
34. School? Done
35. Love? Love it

Gardening dilemma...

Okay, so my flowerbed out front of my house is, despite my efforts... ugly. I was colour and pretty and happy! It's... green and overgrown.

It gets total shade, and is a really big flat round shape with strangely placed established shrubs that make planning some plants virtually impossible. I tried to do a perennial garden there, but I'm really not happy with how it turned out. I'm thinking that I'm going to rip out a lot of stuff and start over this spring. It would be nice to have a happy garden to greet me when I come home. Hmmm... I guess it's off to the garden centre to see what I can find :-)

The cat is watching the sprinkler right now. I'm not sure if it's meditative or mysterious...

Garden follow up to come. Wish me luck!

The cake it all led up to...

Happy Mother's Day! Chocolate with chocolate icing for Mom, and I made sure there were some pansies for Grandma :-)

My second cake...

This one I baked and made the icing for and everything! It's not perfect, but I'm getting there...

(Yes, my coworkers are sugar-filled and happy!) :-)

A blogging moment...

So, not only do I attempt my own meager blog, but I enjoy reading a few select ones out there. Some are from "real life" friends, but there is one that was referred to me that I don't know the author at all, and I've always really enjoyed reading. Magazine Man's "Somewhere on the masthead" is a really excellent blog. He's a magazine editor, and (consequently?) an excellent writer. Who happens to have led an interesting life on which he gives a very funny perspective. (My favourite post is the Holiday Letter from the Dog, Blaze "In which he has a bone to pick").

Anyways, it has been about 6 months that I've been eavesdropping on this family's escapades. Her Lovely Self (Magazine Man's wife) was Her Lovely Enormously Pregnant Self because... they had a baby! (Who received the online name of "The Eclair; a delicate little pastry filled with goo".)

Now here is where it gets sad...

The next post after meet the Eclair is that Magazine Man's parents - both of them - were killed in a massive terrible traffic accident in the States - on their way to meet the Eclair. His words were so personal and raw and honest. And he's still writing! You can tell his blog for him is so special and personal - he's using it as a place to cope and share as well as to entertain. It's such a tragic story, and I'm really sad for them. My prayers are with Magazine Man, Her Lovely Self, Thomas, The Brownie, The Eclair, and Blaze.

On my end, I'm finding my reaction to this a bit... new. All this time, I've been reading about this family, and now I feel saddened by their loss - and they don't even know I exist. It's like being affected by a news story, but on some level I know some rather intimate details of their lives, and yet I really don't know them at all. I don't know what more to say, except I'm struck by the community that the Internet offers (shown by the outpouring of messages to Magazine Man by all his readers) and how cyberspace has shrunk the size of the world a bit and brought us all closer together.

Icing, icing and more icing!

So I learned a new skill last weekend... CAKE DECORATING!

Richard's sister and I decided that after years of attempting to decorate cakes with various levels of success, we'd take a course. So, last Saturday we went to Artistic Cake Design and took Cake Deco I.

It was great! Within 15 minutes of learning how to make icing, I felt I'd got my money's worth. No matter how much cookbook following or internet reading a person does, you never seem to get the whole story. For example, did you know that decorator buttercream icing doesn't actually have butter but butter flavour? That's why if you make it with butter it won't stand up into nifty shapes.

Anyways, we learned how to make character cakes (I'm available for any Dora, Disney Princess or Lightening McQueen cakes... or anything else Wilton sells pans for really...) and we learned standard borders, lettering, outlining and roses. The roses took the longest (no surprise there, really...) But, we ended up with a cake to take home, which my friends and coworkers demolished in no time!

And yes, you eat WAY too much icing... all those little finger licks add up. I think I'm cured from icing cravings for a long, long time!

Are you ready for it? Drum roll please......

What I did with my holiday Monday...

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone had a safe and happy long weekend, and that the Easter bunny was good to all! I spent a good deal of my weekend with family... eating. I'm not complaining - it was awesome. I think I just need to have a break from rich food for a while. But not from chocolate, that doesn't count. :-)

I spent my holiday Monday at an amusement park of sorts... Costco! Why was I there? Well, I'd always been a little resistant to the idea of buying more toilet paper than one person can reasonably use and becoming swamped in a small house with insufficient storage. Then my friend Elli told be about the incredible price they have for lactase enzyme pills. Probably the most annoying part of lactose intolerance, outside of the physical symptoms, is the price of the lactaid pills. I do try to avoid milk products, but I'm not prepared to give up cheese and ice cream entirely when there are pills that aid with the digestion. Okay... I'm rambling... Bottom line: $18.99 for 60 pills at the local drugstore, $18.99 for 120 of the exact same pills at Costco. So, even with the $55 membership, 3 bottles of pills, and it's paid for itself!

The place is just nutty. So much stuff! And it's so random: bathing suits next to chocolate bars with a short walk to desk chairs and if you hang a left before the chairs you've reached the organic salad. It's brilliant! I think my membership was worth it just for the amusing time I had poking around looking at everything!

So, now I'm home, with a $55 membership and 36 jumbo rolls of toilet paper, 180 laundry loads of detergent and fabric softener, 3 cucumbers, 6 sweet peppers, a whole big bunch of grape tomatoes and organic salad greens, 24 bags of SmartPop popcorn, 24 mini packs of Munch'em snacks, 2 bottles of Jergens Natural Glow moisturizer (I had to get something fun on my first visit!) and three 120-pill bottles of lactase enzyme. (They were on sale! $4.00 off!) :-D

Call me!

Oh wait... you can't... I DON'T HAVE A PHONE!

Now, you'd think that in the 21st century I'd be up with telecommunications... but nope. I don't have a phone.

Not because I don't WANT one mind you. I want one very much! I have picked out a shiny new model that has all kinds of neat stuff: a big phonebook, an alarm, cool ring tones, a camera, bluetooth... it is just in the mail. And has been in the mail for a week. And to keep my phone number in accordance with the new "number portability" rule, the phone company has processed that already. So... in short... they cancelled my account before I got the new phone for the new account.

Nice.

I've gone through the anger phase, and now I'm trying to adopt a zen-like acceptance of the situation. It's like having five days of extreme quiet and isolation. Like a retreat... (one I didn't knowingly sign up for, but a retreat all the same) :-)

(And, I do have my Dad's cell phone so I can call 911 if (heaven forbid) I need to. I'm sure in the Fatherhood job description ensuring the safety of the offspring is a mandatory task, but I'm sure glad my Dad meets or exceeds his duties! My Dad is the best :-D )

Pouncing on the bed

There's a fly in the bedroom and a cat who can't fly. She desperately needs it. She's walked over my shoulders and half fallen off the bed once already trying to get it.

Funny!

(Now tomorrow I may not think so if she doesn't give up and go to bed too...)

Goodnight all.

You never know who you'll see...

Last night I had a weird and wonderful experience. I was out for Friday-yay-the-work-week-is-done-beers-and-dinner with Richard when... a familiar face walked by. And of course, being me, I couldn't not say something! So, I got up, went over to his table and said Hi. I guess this is the cool part of living in the town where you grew up - you never know who you're going to bump into.

Okay... now all you old friends are saying "Who??! Who is it?!?!" Can you guess? Here are some hints:

1) Male
2) Met in at least Grade 1, if not kindergarten at
3) Was my locker neighbour every year at
where lots of the girls had crushes on him and he was always the athletic guy that had a full dance card (or as full as he wanted it) at the afternoon school dances.

4) He stuck a tent caterpillar in my shorts in Grade 6, from which Elli rescued me. (I still hate caterpillars... I think that moment caused some lasting damage. And thank you Elli, my hero.)

5) I was always at least a foot taller than him. Still am in fact!

6) I haven't seen him at ALL since grade 9. Yep - we're talking over 15 years here people.

Got it?! I'm sure some of you do... and if not... I'll tell you :-)

Alright- I'm not going to post his whole name because that would be bad blogging, right? But his first name starts with "J" and rhymes with "ay". Now, those of you who know him know who I'm talking about. And, if you don't... let's just say it was cool to see someone you haven't seen in over half your life.

Now, the remarkable part is that he really hasn't changed. At all. Okay - not in appearance anyways. He's got a good job in construction, and his biggest news of which he is very proud is that he and his partner (who seemed very nice although I didn't really talk to her) have a very cute little 8 month old boy. He recognized me too, which I guess is good, although he did say I've become more "womanly". I later expressed concern over this to Richard. He said it meant I was hot. (Smart man, that Richard!) Be that true or not, I'm going to go with that :-) And anyways, I guess the fact that I'm no longer the lanky awkward kid with bad hair and braces... that's gotta be a good thing, right?!

So, Jay says "Hi" to the old gang. :-) I'm going to do my hair before I go out now... you never know who I'm going to bump into today!

The landscape

So it's Thursday, which means it's watercolour night! It was week two of painting our first landscape. Ted (the instructor) provided us with a photograph of a winter scene. Which, we proceeded to enlarge and transfer to watercolour paper... and paint!

Now obviously we are all still learning how to handle the brushes etc. Some of the major challenges with this piece were keeping the whites white and getting the dark colours dark. (Sometimes less water is a good thing!)

What is really interesting to me is that everyone in the class has the same picture, and yet each painting was so different one from the other. You can really learn a lot just from checking out everyone's different styles and perspectives. There were different tones of trees, different textures, and all kinds of barns.

I'm declaring mine done because I kind of feel that if I keep touching it I'm just going to screw it up. I did try all kinds of different techniques though. That being said, I don't think I'm going to frame it!

Alright... they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Kids!

This weekend I got to have quality time with two little cuties:

My friend Lynn has a 1 month old baby boy who has totally got me wrapped around his little finger. Ben is soooo alert and soft and adorable! I got lots of snuggle time with him - it was great! And, I also got to spend time with little Leela - my friend Sherry's beautiful daughter. She turns 1 year old in a few weeks. It's remarkable to notice how much kids change in a short 11 months. From being a small little determined bundle to being an almost walking curious and outgoing personality.

Lessons that were reinforced for me during this experience:

1. I definitely want kids of my own. (No surprise to anyone who knows me.)
2. Babies are adorable.
3. Babies don't sleep as much as you'd like, but it's all worth it when they smile.
4. My friends are awesome parents. I'm very proud of them.
5. Toddlers and cats seem to be mutually fascinated with each other. I think it's a size thing.


6. The BOB stroller is awesome and can go off-roading on poorly plowed Crystal Beach roads.
7. My house, while baby proof, is not completely toddler proof :-)

The Crow

I do yoga classes Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch... and today I had a yoga breakthrough! After a year of trying... I finally did the crow pose!


Note - this is most definitely not me in the picture! :-)

The apple...

So I tried painting the apple. The assignment was to paint a fruit (I figured an apple would do), on a white cloth - I chose a tea towel. I think that's because whites are soooo hard to paint in watercolour - you don't add white to leave the paper showing.

Now, I only gave it about an hour, so it is a bit of a rush job. But, I think it's okay for a first attempt. What do you think?



Here's the model (of course the photo is much more lifelike!) :-)The shadows are still too light, especially on the apple. But, you have to let the paint dry before you layer it on to deepen the colour or else the colour lifts off. This is an exercise in patience for me. Which isn't a bad thing, but is a challenge :-)

Hockey night in Ottawa

Last night I went to my first ever NHL game! My friend Kim had some tickets, so we had a girl's night out of dinner and the game. It was fun! It was a full house, with 19,000 some people - so there was lots of energy and enthusiasm.

The Sens played the Habs... and those Montreal fans are loud and numerous! But, the Ottawa fans were louder and more numerous and we totally won (4-1 Ottawa) so it was all good. :-)



To sound like a geek for a minute: I'm always impressed by the skating skills. Watching the game it's easy to forget that the players are on blades. If I was out there I'd be wobbling all over the place and falling down a lot. Unassisted. You wouldn't have to check me; I'd do it to myself!

I get a kick out of the hard core fans. They're soooo involved. You'd think they were the ones skating and taking the hits! There's a sociology experiment there somewhere (and it's been done already I'm sure)... I enjoy the game and will cheer the players on, but I don't believe that my being there and yelling is making them win, you know?

Kim tells me that the new pink sweaters are to appeal to the female fans. Hmmmm... I like pink, but if a team's colours are red, white, gold and black, why would pink be better?! Besides, we both agreed that if you wanted to appeal more to the female fans, the uniforms should be modified in the way of the football players' pants... and the teeth should stop getting knocked out. :-)

Well, I'm going to go and finish my extra large coffee now - I am a bit sleepy after the night out!

Look out painting here I come!

So, I'm going to try my hand at watercolour painting... again.

It all started... 4 years ago when I went on a yoga retreat. There was an afternoon workshop on watercolour painting and I was hooked! Of course, I have little to no artistic talent, but watching all the colours swirl together was addictive.

I took a class offered through the city of Ottawa in 2003, but the instructor was a bit harsh - he expected us all to be the next professionals. Trying to teach a group of very beginners with condescending tones and group critiques of their first tries is not going to inspire anyone to continue. Anyways, what I took home from that class was that I should learn how to draw (because he insisted that you had to draw to paint). So, 2 drawing classes later, I'm back to learn watercolour.

(I have to give credit to my drawing instructor for that. If she hadn't been so patient and encouraging, it probably would've turned me off any kind of artistic venture.)

I don't know if watercolour is my favourite medium, I haven't really tried anything else. I think I'd like acrylics - they seem to be a bit more forgiving. But I have the paints and everything, so I figure I'll start with watercolour and if I do have some inner artist I can try other types of painting.

The instructor for this class is Ted Duncan. He's a bit hard to follow sometimes, but I think it is because he is very knowledgeable and all the information kind of comes tumbling out all at once. Our first class where we actually painted was fun - it's a good group of people. This week we're painting a simple still life of one fruit, which the focus being on composition. I'm not going to be at that class, so I'm going to have to paint it on my own. I'll let you know how it goes!

I'm thinking a pear... or an apple...

Working at home

So, yesterday was my first Telework day. Also known by the government acronym "WAH" (Work at Home). I'm going to be doing this on Wednesdays from now on. So far this is what I've discovered:

Advantages:

1. You save 2 hours of commuting, which makes for a shorter workday. (That's a biggie!)
2. You get to have a yummy homemade lunch (and watch Law & Order if it's 1 pm).
3. You get to snuggle with kitty cat when she's willing (or have her attack your toes while you're trying to work and she's trying to play).
4. You get to wear jeans and comfy clothes.
5. You get more work done because of the lack of interruptions.
6. It splits up the work week so things feel less monotonous.

Disadvantages:

1. You're alone in the house all day. (Probably the biggest one for me.)
2. Your workspace is not ergonomically correct which makes for stiffness by the end of the day. (I really wonder what all this computer work is doing to us...)
3. No matter how many programs you have on your computer, you'll still be missing the internal work database you need.
4. You have to be really disciplined to do the work and not nap or do other fun things.
5. You have to carry files back and forth.

So far I'm finding that the advantages are greater than the disadvantages. I do need to get my home office cleaned up though - I was working on the dining room table yesterday which is really non-ergonomic. My new laptop is the hero - it's great! I wish my work computer worked as well :-)

a curious incident

So I recently finished reading the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Hadden.

Now, don't let the subject matter of the murdered dog do you in - that's what kept the book sitting unread on my shelf for so long. It kind of turned me off the idea of reading it, but it doesn't overwhelm the book.

It is a story written from the perspective of a 15 year old autistic boy. Needless to say, it isn't like any other book I've read. It was a quick read, and yet thought provoking and touching. It provides a unique glimpse into the mind of someone who is cut off from the world by that same mind. I found it a bit stressful to read sometimes - the character is easily overwhelmed by the details of the world, and of course all this is translated into the novel. However, I find this is what makes the book so great: you realize that there is no "right" way of being, just many different ways of experiencing the world around us.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a great book. It really makes you realize that even though everyone is different, we all have much to contribute.

Note: This is the first "book report" of any kind I've written in over 12 years...

My First Post

Hello!

Well, I've decided that I'm going to try my hand at blogging. My mother was surprised to learn that I didn't have a blog, and after thinking about it for a bit, I figured why not give it a try?! Hopefully it'll be sometimes funny, often interesting and at least entertaining!

The name of my blog comes from my wonderful roomie, Maliika. She's a crazy little calico cat that amuses me with her endless antics. She loves to snuggle and to tag me when I come around the corner. But her favourite thing EVER is her window. She spends endless hours keeping track of the neighbourhood. And probably plotting world domination, but I like to think she's just enjoying the view. :-)

So, I'll do my best to keep things going. Famous last words, I know, but you never know if you don't try!