Finally, a talking toy that I could bond with.......

"There's no booze like free booze"...it's almost poetical isn't it?

My Sister Came

And now she is gone. WAAAAAH.
We had most of yesterday, last evening, and until 9ish this morning to catch up, hug, chat, and for her to check our our place. She is the first member of my family to visit us here in Quebec. I'm glad it was her. Oh, and her husband. Sorry Harv.
I love my Jessie because:
She's older and thus been a major part of my life since I came into this world.
She's smart.
She is generous.
She is funny.
She can be sassy.
She can be silly.
She does unto others etc.
She gives me stuff . :oD
She loves my kids like crazy.
I trust her more than I trust myself.
She has been my shoulder and kept my head above water.
She's a great hugger.
She shows her love rather than hides it.
She tells it like it is .
She's never mean. Except in a funny way.
She's MY SISTER and I am so lucky. I miss her already.

Tonight is my French Conversation class. I was supposed to study my verbs for tonight but was somewhat occupied with Jessie's visit. For this evenings class I am fucked. Conjugate that.

My Brain Hurts!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh. My first French Conversation (level 2) class was tonight. By the end of class I had such a headache. I need to buy books etc at the Concordia bookstore before Thursday but of course it closes at supper time and I don't live IN the city. My sister and her husband are arriving tomorrow from Nova Scotia so I can't just fuck off to the city on them.
Speaking of their visit: I thought they were arriving today and we were planning to take them out for supper. Tomorrow night Richard has a thing so he won't be home to take them out with me and the kids. Grrrrrrrr. Also: I cleaned like a whirlwind this morning to freshen up the place so they aren't totally grossed out, dang it. I'm a total "why do today what you can put off til tomorrow?" kinda chick. On the upside, I got to take a much needed nap after lunch hour. :oD
My brain is sore and I am feeling a bit out of my depth when the teacher is blathering away en Francais. I only understand a word here and there. The folk in the class are really nice though.
Ugh...my braaaaaain. And my left hand is bugging me like crazy lately. Too much knitting? Arthritis setting in? Or carpal tunnel rearing its bitchly head? I already had my Right wrist done in 2005 and really do not want to have this done again. Supreme pain in the ass but it was nice to get full use of my hand back. This time it feels different...no numbness but an achy feeling with occassional shooting pain through the hand and some arm discomfort. Sort of like my restless legs at night, but its my arm and all the time.
Must hit the hay and rest my aching frontal lobe etc. Damn the French and their tricksy verbs!!!

Good Old Fashioned Can-Do Attitude

Thats what I have. It comes from my homesteading time. If you can't buy what you need then find another way and remember, it just has to work, not look good. Well, I put this attitude to work for me yesterday.
The only size 13us or 9mm circular needles in a 16 inch length I could find were over 26 dollars. Yeah, thats right. For fucking pointy sticks with a cord betwixt them. Not gold plated or anything. Apparently the "best"brand too. Phht..yeah whatever. No frigging way!
So I toddle over to Zellers again (ick) and stare at the needles, willing them to turn into 9mm, 16 inch circulars rather than the 32 inchers that were there. Much sighing and pulling of hair. Then, inspiration struck and I bought those 6 dollar needles, came home, cut the cord to size, duct taped them back together so that the length was 16 inches. It ain't pretty but it works. And the hat is already 3/4s finished. Take that world of wrong sized needles! I scoff at your attempts to stop my knitting.

Knitting bug has bit again....

Once in awhile the knitting bug bites and I must knit and buy yarn that I may never use. I google patterns that I can do (retard proof). Through this sporadic knittiness I have actually expanded my skills so that I can now cast on, cast off, make stitches (type of increase), and knit two together (decrease). I suck at anything that makes me switch stitches from knit to purl. I just cannot do this for any extended time. I've never finished a sock or a mitten but not for want of trying, but learned to knit with 4 and 5 needles and circulars. I have knit scarves, a big shawl in fancy yarn, 2 pair of slippers. I am known for NOT completing projects. So why does the bug KEEP ON BITING ME?????
My mom was a knitter par excellence. Now she likes to knit little things like bulky socks because her arms hurt and she gets tired and finds it harder to concentrate on patterns at her age. She has the most HUGE stash of crappy polyester and acrylic yarns in the 'verse. I prefer natural fibers as much as possible but yesterday I did buy some acrylic for hats etc. I have always been surrounded by yarn and needles. Its a compulsion born from environment I think.
I love the colors and softnesses. I love love love alpaca yarns but can't afford them usually. I love the textures of fancy yarns like the boucle style wool/silk/mohair blend I made my shawl from. Living in Terrebonne, I have no good yarn shop nearby. Zellers and Walmart have their sections but the yarns are mostly ho hum. Laval has a yarn shop in the Carrefour but I went and was seriously underwhelmed. I must get to the Wool Shop in Point Claire. i cannot believe that its the only specialy knitting shop in Montreal. Jeez! Back home I had several throughout the province and some were in very small towns like Mahone Bay.
I miss yarn shops. Sources of temptation and comfort. It is the time of year now that thoughts turn to being cozy while winter winds blast. Time for preserving, cleaning, and making warmies. I have a pattern for a super easy hat, VERY warm, BUT I cannot find 16 inch circular needles in the size I need. grrrrrr.
I need a stitch and bitch group. Folk with my kind of "problem".sigh

Tuesday

Yesterday was my first day house cleaning for Scarlet. I need to get faster but it was my first time cleaning in the new place so I had to find outlets for the vac, get oriented etc. Many knick knacks and stuffs to maneuver around and make me nervous. I missed a couple of things for which I feel bad because I don't want to disappoint. I want her to feel she's getting value for her money. Next time should be better. That Tsuki was so cute and curious while I was cleaning, sniffing everything I washed and stalking the broom.
I just made it in time to get the kids at 6. The traffic was insane. They were supposed to be signed up to do homework at service de garde but wires got crossed and they didn't. Grrrrrr. So, rush home for homework while I cooked supper, helping them as I went, and then bedtime. I was achey and tired so I got a nice bubble bath but Ben couldn't sleep so he crawled into my bed to settle down and sleep. No reading to slow myself down to sleep so I tossed turned and felt "twitchy". I tried grounding and getting up for stretches etc but I ended up two hours later going downstairs to the sofa. Out like a light! grrr.
Its photo day today at school so the boys suffered face washings and hair combings. They looked so handsome when they left...Gods only know how the photos will be.
Now its laundry etc etc since nothings been done since Thursday or Friday beyond kitchen and bathrooms as necessary. It never ends eh?
A Meme from Hobbes blog, Rattling The Tiger Cage. Fill it out in the Comments.

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:

HERE COMES THE FUN ... ... ...
1. Do we know each other outside of blogs?
2. Whats your philosophy on life?
3. Would you have my back in a fight?
4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
5. What is your favorite memory of us?
6. Would you give me a kidney?
7. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
9. Can we get together and make a cake?
10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?
11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?
12. Do you think I'm a good person?
13. Would you drive across country with me?
14. Do you think I'm attractive?
15. If you could change anything about me, would you?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
18. Would you go on a date with me if i asked you?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you?

What a fabulous day.........

We started off slow and easy and then eventually hit the road looking for an apple Upick. Whee! Out in the St Eustache area there was a lot of farm visit action happening. We got 3 bags of apples for $27 and one bag is all Royal Galas..yum. I will be drying apples in the dehydrator and making sauce and maybe freezing some. We ahd a great time. Then it was farther down the road to a honey farm. Oh man it was cool. We got hunnies, wine, beeswax, and honeycomb. Petted animals and played on the playground. What a nice place! Intermiel I think was the name. In St Benoit.
Then it was home to shower the boys and out for chinese buffet at Chateau De La Lune . YUM. I was so full!!!! Thought I'd explode but it was soooooo good. Creme caramel and chocolate pudding for dessert for me. I ate a lot of veggies and it was my main meal of the day (apples and yogurt the rest of the day) so i feel less guilty than I should/would.
This week I discovered that almost none of my pants/jeans fit. This so sucks and I will NOT buy new pants. So either I am gonna get mighty cold or I will lose some weight. In semi desperation I hit the diet aids section at Jean Coutu. One of my problems is that I am always hungry. I have heard befor ethat hoodia helps with that so I was looking for that. It is expensive but if it saves me from myself I'll try it (within reason). I got something with Hoodia in it and it seems to be helping. I just cannot force myself to follow some diet "plan" or what have you. I just want the hunger to stop so I can decrease the calorie intake. So I can have ONE of something not a dozen. So far so good. Now we have heaps of apples for snacking and making healthy muffins etc. We'll see how this goes again and I am keeping it to myself so that I feel less shame if I flop yet again. Also, Wednesday is the day I want to start at Curves again. I must. I'm just so tired all the time. Vicious cycle. Here's hoping. Eat less..sleep at NIGHT...be normal. It could happen!

Sunday

Watched Friends With Money and An American Haunting this weekend. Haunting was good and spooky but Someone who didn't want to watch it with me but was drawn in despite playing his computer game, found it very disturbing but refused to discuss it. Hmmm. I found the so called "true events story" spooky but repetitive and the modern spin of sexual child abuse predictable. Was still enjoyable as a spooky tale though. Much like The Village was a good spook until the modern world came in.
Going through Oka today looking for an apple u pick. Thanks to the wonderful Nathalie for the inspiration. Fun and outdoorsyness will undoubtedly ensue!

Can you say Yummy?

I created this soup Thursday in my slow cooker. Don't ya just love throwing things in and walking away. No fuss, minimal muss. It was a hit both with my taste buds and my husband's and there is NONE LEFT as of lunch time yesterday (we had seconds and thirds). I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we did. This took stuff I had in the fridge and freezer since it was near grocery day and fresh stuff was non existant in the fridge, except the celery.

Beef Vegetable Soup recipe

lean Hamburger
1 liter vegetable cocktail
1 liter water
2 packets beef Oxo
minced garlic or galic powder
chopped celery
frozen stew vegetables (one package..I think they are by Arctic Gardens)
handful or so each of: pot barley
split yellow peas
lentils (the big kind not tiny orange ones)
Thyme
Pepper
Parsley

Throw it all in the slow cooker, breaking up the hamburger. Stir well to combine ingredients.
Cook on low for the day, or on high for 4-5 hours, making sure all is cooked well.
Can you say YUM? You may want a bit of salt or pepper with this at serving time. Also, add any seasonings you feel appropriate to customise. I made up the recipe as I went so I don't have any measurements for most stuff. This filled my slow cooker and its a pretty good size. If yours is smaller then adjust amounts appropriately.

1 pair done!

I made a pair of slippers!! WooHoo me! I actually finished a project.
Even though the instructions are simple enough for a mentally handicapped individual to accomplish, I managed a couple of screw ups. So, we now know that Knitting For Retards is even beyond me! But that said, the slippers are still finished and are very wooly and cozy and very LARGE. Doh. I shrunk 'em and they fit Richard with room to spare. :oD Y'know he won't wear them so they are a wasted pair.
So now I am trying to make Cameron's. These will knit up Real Fast since they will be almost half the size of these monsters. hehe heh..Live and learn.

Thursday Morning......

So...it is now Thursday. Yesterday was a bit of a shock. Where I come from, folk don't usually get shot in large numbers. I am glad that our Sarah isn't at Dawson yet. It is her CEGEP of choice for next year although i don't know how that will go after this bit of business. Thanks to all deities that she was born a year too late for this.
I started thinking wintery thoughts yesterday. The air is cooler and the days are shorter. i have been gathering seeds from my flowers and vegetables (well...the peas so far) for next years plantings and for sharing. Mega thanks to Scarlet for the Four O'clocks seeds from the "volunteers" in the gardens at her place. Today I managed to find three "ripe' seed pods from my morning glories (but one got dropped) and each contains up to 4 seeds. Many more to come for sharing. They were amazing..I wish i could post a pic because they took over our lamp post and its surrounding garden with only 3 plants.
Oh, back to wintery thoughts..so when I was talking to my mom on the phone the talk turned to knitting and her making slippers for my big bro Kenny. I started wishing I could make some for my boyses then it struck me : INTERNET SEARCH!! I came up with a winner too! WooHoo. Its a felted slipper thats mega easy to construct. Of course I have already screwed it up because I measured incorrectly BUT it may still work. It was the beginnings of a pair for Cameron but they may be too big if they don't shrink as much as I hope. I'm still excited though and need to buy a new sewing tape measure since mine has gone AWOL and feet don't measure good with a ruler. Whoda thunk it?
http://www.geocities.com/carylldesigns/freebees.html Check it out and make yourself some foot cozies!

Holy Crap....

Major Shoot Out At Dawson College In Montreal!!!
Gunmen entered Dawson College today and shot at least 4 people. 2 gunmen are dead. Its all on the news right this second.
Holy shit.

Impending Birth ......

My nephew and his wife announced today that they are officially expectant parents of their first child, due May 13th, 2007. This will be my 4th grand niece or nephew. Yay them. Way to go. I am very happy for them.

Monday

Started up again at the MPRC today. First thing I did was dust the shelves and wash the floor. It was GRrrrOoooooSSSSSSSS. Very very grubby with spill and drip marks here and there and general grubbiness. Much better when I was done.
New cat there: Little Kitty. He doesn't like me yet.
B U T !!
I met Scarlet's amazing cat Tsuki. Oh-My-Gods...gorgeous. And funny as hell. He is a biggish litten and very very very busy. Busy busy busy. If cats could be hyper he's it. Its partly kittenishness and part his breeed (Savannah cat). Absolutely an amazing wee mansy and I am smitten. Had major cuddles with Bagheera and that was awesome. Very hairy but awesome. He is a major snugglepuss.
Discussed housecleaning job with Scarlet and I think it'll work out well. The trip home today was shorter than anticipated but i don't think I'd cut it any finer than I did incase of problems in traffic. What a slow drive in places. The 15 north and 25 north in the evenings practically come to a stand still. Short cut is necessary. Scarlet's new apartment is awesome. Very bright and friendly with a yard. The feeling was so...I dunno. The other apartment was lovely but darker and laid out differently. this has more flow. THATS IT. Maybe the energy is flowing better there and making it more comfy? Could be.

Boys had a great time at Service de Garde. Happy as clams to be back.
Ok..I am pooped since I didn't sleep well last night and was up early today. Can I stay concious through CSI Miami so that I can tape Rockstar at 10?? i dunno. Might need to rig it up now.

Funniest Strip Evaah!!

Saturday night

So today was the Melange Magique's 15th anniversary celebration and I was actually IN my car to go( I even had on make up!!!), but I stopped at the bank machine to get money for parking etc and the bank account's level sent me back home. Gotta pay for the firewood on Wednesday and I never know when a payment on something is gonna be deducted so gotta be careful. I will be in the city Monday to start up at the MPRC again and need the money for Monday's parking.
Tonight on CTV was the Saturday night comedy show..I think its called Comedy NOw...and the comedian's name was James Cunningham. I laughed hysterically. Really. I think I pee'd a little. He was so very funny.
Good news is that Bare Naked Ladies have a new album being released on Tuesday. This pleases me although I didn't buy the last album. My last album was Maroon. Or Stunt. Whichever was the latest of the two. They will be on tour (B.L.A.M tour)and hit Montreal in February and tickets go on sale this Tuesday. I will get Richard to taked out the credit card for tickets and I'd love it if we could take the kids. He says Cameron is too young and he does have a point. Ben will absolutely love it though. 9 yrs old and his first rock concert (hopefully). Sweet! I haven't been to very many actually. I never had a lot of money for over priced tickets and Halifax isn't always on a tour . I love BNLs though since 1992 and wanna go. This would be 3rd time. Fingers crossed. Gots to see the Lazadies..
Hope tomorrow is more interesting. i was super bored today. So bored I read last years Witches Calendar articles since I didn't read them while they were up on the wall. I didn't read ALL of them. Just a couple. Made me clean up my alter, put a cloth on it and burn candles and incense. Also I harvested some tomatoes again. Slugs made a mess of all my big tomatoes which has ticked me off. Much bored into fruit and split ones too. With my Principe Borghese tomatoes I have the dehydrator running again making dried tomatoes. The ones I did last week are in my fridge waiting for this batch so that I can pack them in a jar with an oil based "brine" I found in my Company's Coming preserves book.
I'm hoping I shake off this lethargy. I had to force myself to get out and pick those tomatoes. Need a kick in the ass I guess.
The comics in todays Gazette were very good. Laughed out loud twice..once to Get fuzzy..actually 3 times. Twice to Get Fuzzy and then this other strip that I've never seen before with a zebra and some sort of stupid reptiles with a wood shredder. Oh sweet Goddess I laughed. More of snickers through the nose and inhale chuckles. You know what I mean. It was morning...it was the funny papers.. kind of a 'nyuk nyuk" or "huh huh huh" laugh.
Ok...I am boring even myself so off to bed.

Thursdayness

I forgot to write about a funny moment. My youngest offspring has a quirky sense of humor like his mother (thats me). On the weekend, my husband made himself an elaborate sandwich. As he left the kitchen without it he said "Don't touch my sandwich!!" which is pretty much SCREAMING at me to touch the sandwich. I turned to Cameron and said "Heh heh heh. We should hide his sandwich and say I ate it. He'll flip out.hehhehhehhehhehhehhehheh" It began with a mild chuckle but The more I laughed the more Cameron laughed and so it continued until we were shrieking with uncontrollable giggles and then my husband hollered from upstairs "What did you DO!?" which made us say "Nothing!" quickly and laugh as hard as ever. Since he knew we were up to something it made no sense to pilfer the 'wich so we left it where it was.
Its kinda nice to have spawned a partner in crime. Mwahahahahahahahaha

Emotional girl...

I am rather emotional this week. There was the worry of the "announcement" the last week. Having been through the downsizing thing twice already it was a whole "oh shit here we go again" feeling. A whole 'oh crap we have no savings again and what will we do if there is no severance package" feeling. Luckily for us, this didn't happen to our household this time but it is happening to others and thats never a good thing. One ponders the wisdom of head offices in some of their moves. How do sales teams function without leaders? I guess we will find out.
Then I watched the news. Not a good idea. Dead soldiers coming home to bereaved families and someones children were weeping at the loss of their daddy. Two boys. I have two boys. They were distraught and the way they wiped at their little eyes was exactly how mine do it and my heart just broke for these poor fatherless boys. Had to go to bed in tears.
Sometimes this fucking world is just too much for me.

Announcements suck

Whenever an announcement is said to be on the way from head office, its never good news. We were warned and announcement would be forth coming and today it did and the good news is that our family isn't effected by the cuts but still they hit the team and that sucks big time.
What will the future bring for us after january? i have no idea.

I always said:

that I would never marry. And I did.
That I would never have children (yuck). And I did.
That I would never give my children a soother. i did.
That I would never spank or strike my children. And I did.
That I would not give them sugar before they were one. And I did.
That when my kids went to school my house would gleam. yeah right.
That I would read to my children every single night no matter what. yeah right.
That I would lose this weight. Ummmm
That I would be a better mother than my mother... Apples and trees.
What I have learned in this life is that one should NEVER say never because then you look like an ass when you go and do what you swore vehemently you would never ever do. That and I can't trust a word I say.
How sad is that? As in pathetic.