Travels

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Char and I went to Port Perry for a little trip. What a cute little town! It's totally girly though, so all of you of the male persuasion, I suggest letting your womenfolk go with their friends, sisters, second cousins, you get the idea.

This place abounds in cute little shops mixed with really expensive art galleries. We had lunch at a tea-room sort of place. It was small, quaint. I had pierogi. The waitress came back to make sure I liked them after I had expressed scepticism at how good they could possibly be. "I am Polish, you know," I said. She swore people came from far and wide to have these pierogi, maybe not from Poland itself, but that could be attributed to the fact that Port Perry is not as widely known in Poland as it should be. Anyway, the pierogi were OK. The raspberry chocolate tart we had for dessert was divine.

We went down to the water and there was a plane that had just landed. It was idyllic.

On the way back we stopped at the Ocala winery. Bought some nice wine. These people won the silver medal for fruit wines in all of Canada. Rightly so, the ice apple wine was yummy, albeit a little too sweet for me.

Last week on Friday we had our summer outing from work. My manager likes to do one in the winter and one in the summer. We went to Unionville. We had a looooong lunch. As a matter of fact, the restaurant closed while we were there, this is how long this lunch was. Then walked around the little shops a bit, but not too long because I did not want to get stuck in traffic. This is another cute little town (on the way to Port Perry, btw) and has an abundance of crafty/artsy stuff. I realize that I need to go back to both these places.

Ahhh, love day trips!

Issues, people, issues!

It hasn't actually been said right out that we are not to blog at work, but I think it is generally accepted that we probably should not. I am blatantly breaking the unspoken rule. Why, you ask? My nose is out of joint yet again. This time it's a work trip where I was hoping to bring mister. It's New Orlean's for Pete's sake (sorry, Pete, don't know why people keep calling on you)! I mean, if it was Dead Man's Ass, Arizona, I would not want to take him and would have been happy to share a room with Vanessa. Not that I have any problems sharing with V., I just think her and Gus, her other half, and mister and myself all in one room is getting a little too chummy. And he so wants to go too. It's not that it's forbidden, it's that I will now have to pay for half a room, which works out to 100 bucks a night, that is on top of his airfare (700 bucks) and food for us both.

How perfectly typical and a replay of the picnic. So am a little miffed. For 1000 bucks we can go for a week to Mexico! All inclusive! Sigh and sigh again.

Mind, this may not even be an issue as who knows if I end up going in the first place. That would be ironic.

On the plus side, I saw a bunny outside of work this morning, so the world can't be all bad. And am heading to Port Perry with Charlotte tomorrow. Yes!

Ghastly BBQ

We had our annual work barbecue. Now, pretty much everything was done wrong for this. There was a flurry of miscommunication at first - spouses or no, sports or relay games or team building activities. What will the kids do? It was decided that there would be no spouses invited, just kids. Hm. That precluded Alex from coming.

On the day in question it rained. Kids of various ages milled around the office crying, calling to each other, running, trying to fall into the fountain and being, well, kids. My brain stopped working after about an hour of this.

We were supposed to play soccer. It was mandatory. Or was it? Half the office stayed at the office. The other half ran around a soccer field, having a pretty good time, I think. I sat on the sidelines freezing. Had to pull poor Vanessa off the field after 45 minutes because I was her ride and I just had to get in to a dry place. There was water and cold pop for the players. Hot chocolate would have been good.

At least it's over for one more year and that's a good thing.

Bad, bad blogger!

Yes, I know. When I was a teenager, I wrote a diary which mainly consisted of my sighs toward a guy I thought I loved. Once I got over the guy, my diary entries were usually "Have not written in a while. Not much has happened."

Not quite true now. A little has happened. I drove into a fence at the Tim Horton's parking lot. I hit the gas instead of the brake. Luckily the car is OK, a little scratch on the bumper and my license plate has waves in it now. The air bag did not deploy, which my husband says, means that I was going less than 15 mph. "You walked into the fence," he says, "you did not DRIVE into the fence." OK, whatever, the main thing is the car is functioning.

Then Alex's stroller fell apart. The wheel broke off and there was no putting it on again. Great. We have another stroller, but it's a three wheeler that likes to tip over. Arthur put his talents to it and added two more little wheels in front and now it doesn't. Thank God he knows what to do.

And now I have the plague. I don't know what the heck has got me, but my sinuses, ears and now lungs seem infected and full of crap.

On the plus side, my lovely husband gave me a troll bracelet for our anniversary- I love! I gave him an mp3 player, which he loves. No celebratory sex ensued as I am sick. Grrrr!

On the road again...

Yes, possums, we have a car! Happy dance, happy dance. OK, it was easier than I thought. Mind you, we're now 10K in debt, but oh, it's so good to just get in and drive! I get to drive to work and it only takes me 45 minutes as opposed to an hour and a half on public transit. Yes, I know all about saving energy and being green and all, but I get to spend an extra hour with my baby every day! If Al Gore has a problem with that, he can come talk to me.

In other news... Alex had another ear infection. We had to take him to emerg last weekend (in the car). Picture this - the weather was perfect, 25 degrees, sunny. Everyone was out by the lake. We were sitting in emergency. We got banana flavoured Amoxi and off we went. He's feeling better now, but I worry that he'll be more prone to these now. Of course, everyone is offering me sure ways of beating ear infections with no drugs. That would actually work if we knew he had an ear infection in the first place. He was just very feverish and dopey and I worried it was his lungs.

Birthday is coming up. Won't tell you what number, but I will tell you it's not 25. However, feeling pretty good about myself as cute neighbour chatted me up on the stairs. Alex and I were doing his 'rounds' (this is where he has to go up and down the stairs and visit every floor) and we were going up the stairs very slowly. Neighbour was going up too. I made room for him, but he chose to stay behind and said flirty things as we went up. Ha. Still got it.

I've become my mother


So, it's official. How do I know, you ask. Because today I went to the hairdresser and found getting my hair washed totally annoying. This used to be such a treat for me! I loved the head and neck massage and getting my hair fussed over. Now, it's all about time. Sitting, having my hair washed for ten minutes made me want to throw things. Come ON, I thought, why is this taking so long? A sad state of affairs. I shudder to think what would happen if I went for a massage.


In other news, I went to see Charlotte in Newmarket and we went to the barn to see her horses. Let me preface this section by mentioning that I'm a total city girl. It was stinky to say the least. The horses were lovely, but they were big. Oh, boy were they big! And I'm not a small woman, mind. I was made to... I mean, I got to touch a couple of them. There were also very cute donkeys, which I petted with pleasure. One looked kind of like a walking chair. Overall had a great time though and it was nice to see Charlotte happy and in her element. Here's a pic of one of the horses.

Down memory lane

Done been tagged by glacia.

10 years ago: I was still finishing my masters degree in Hispanic Languages. That's a glorified way of saying Linguistics in Spanish. I must have been running around like mad, trying to get all my final papers in (they were due in May) and teaching my classes (TA's for 1st year Spanish) and still attending as many parties as possible.

5 years ago: Working at a software company. It was my first gig as a tech writer. I loved it. Unfortunately, the place went belly up and I ended up losing 4K in wages they never paid me. But, this was also around the time Arthur and I got engaged!!! I actually got my ring in May, but we had started to talk about getting married earlier. So, I would have been quite on a high from that.

1 year ago: About the same as now. Working on editing a huge book with a rather annoying author. Alex was very close to walking on his own. He actually started on Easter weekend last year.

Yesterday: went to a seminar about InDesign, a software we use at work. Got bored stiff after about four hours. Went shopping for a new book (The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier) and some cider for the baked salmon I was preparing for today's St. Paddy's pot luck lunch.

Today: Brekkie at work (a usual Friday occurance) and St. Paddy's pot luck lunch at noonish!!!

Tomorrow: Sleep in in the morning. Yessss! Might take Alex somewhere in the afternoon if it's not too cold.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Luck of the Irish to you all!

Freezing!

C'est un froid syberique! Or something like that. It's bloody cold out there again, pilgrims. Thank God for working at home.

The little munchkin has new rain boots (two pairs of them) and forces us to walk around the halls and up and down the stairs with him in our building. He exhausts himself. He exhausts us. He won't stop. OK, I know it's good exercise and all to go up four flights of stairs a few times in a row, but it's bloody boring.

Been watching the BBC version DVD of Pride and Prejudice. Love it! My friend Charlotte lent it to me and I'm watching it for the second time already. When I first saw it on TV, I liked it a lot less than the 1980 version with Daniel Rintoul and Elizabeth McGarvie, but now I think I like Colin Firth best. Ah, those were the days when one could run around the countryside in a bonnet and empire waist dress. There are just not enough balls to attend these days. As lady Catherine de Burgh said, it is all very vexing. I am quite put out.

Kiddie Land

So, the little one is a fiend when it comes to throwing stuff. He's very accurate with the ball and unfortunately carries that over to throwing other things. He hit another kid with a book at the drop-in center today. Hello time-outs. I was hoping to not have to introduce him to those until later.

In other news, my friend Charlotte is already feeling the effects of her chemo. She's starting to lose her hair and feels weak and nauseated. She has sores in her mouth. Boy, this chemo is nasty stuff. I hope it really helps her to fight her cancer. She also says that she's gaining weight, which makes her feel depressed as well. What a stupid disease cancer is and boy I wish we had better treatments, ones that would actually make the patient feel better, not horrible.

It all makes me kinda blue.

You Are: 60% Dog, 40% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

This that and the other



Most of all, it's cold! Real January weather is upon us. This morning, with the windchill it was -21 C. Brrr! Time to take out winter boots and such. I know, I know the weather has been extremely warm up to now and it has lulled me into a false sense of security.


Must say that I am totally addicted to CSI Miami. Now, I know that Horatio Caine has the most cliche lines, but it's just the way David Caruso says them. He is so full of gravitas. I see he does not speak like that in real life. The blue eyes and red hair don't hurt either.

















Also, there is something about all the gorgeous people on beaches and whatnot and Emily Procter, whipping her hair around all over every crime scene. And the cleavage and heels that must be oh, so practical in every murder investigation. Me likey.

Ghetto Princess

I am sooo enjoying getting songs onto my mp3 player. I love it. Also it turns out I really like Fergie, Missy Elliott and Mary J. Blige. I've been dubbed a ghetto princess at work. They just make me wanna dance honey, honey, dance, dance!

My new LL Bean jacket came today. Love it. It's light blue and has a shawl collar.
I also got a new jacket for Mr. He really wanted a jean jacket with lamb fleece lining. Well, I got him one, with sherpa fleece (not the real animal kind) and he was over the moon. He immediately put it on and vowed not to take it off for the rest of the day, but was luckily persuaded to take it off long enough to eat our tuna and sundried tomato sandwiches for lunch. The jacket is a light beige colour and red stains would show.

Happy 2007!

We did not stay up until midnight. I was fine with it, unlike other years. We are all tired enough as it is.

New year's resolution? To eat healthier snacks. I am not attempting to diet because that is doomed from the start. Really, I could maybe keep that up for a week. I will try to exercise more, but that is not a resolution, that is what I want to do all the time. Mind you, I bought new pants on Saturday and they are a size smaller (and are loose in the waist). Ha!

It was quite an ending to 2006 - James Brown passed away and Saddam Hussein was executed. There are some figures that you just do not imagine ever leaving this world. I suppose it will be Castro and Bin Laden next. Pretty soon the US will run out of despots to overthrow or terrorists to hunt. The sad thing is that new ones will emerge. I wish all this could be making the world safer. I expect some day Alex will study all this in history class and will ask me what it was like when... When telephones were rotary and people used typewriters and lp records or even CDs for that matter. I bet when he's a teen everything will be digital. When I was a kid we had a black and white TV set. And two channels. We did not have a telephone at home. Now I have a phone in my purse. And an mp3 player! Aha, aha!

Merry Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas to all you Christians out there. For you non Christians, happy Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and any and all other things you wish to celebrate.

And get your pencils ready to write down your wishlists for next year and your new year's resolutions. Mine is to snack healthily. That said, I better finish all the chocolate before the 31st.

May you live in interesting times!

The times certainly do seem to be interesting, that is around me. Friends seem to be getting sick, collapsing unexpectedly. Others seem to have dropped off the planet. Others still are pregnant. I am grateful that so far, there seems to be no big changes in our lives, apart from Alex learning new stuff.

Charlotte is scheduled for surgery tomorrow. I am nervous. I know there are thousands of mastectomies done all the time, but still, I'm nervous.

Christmas is fast approaching, in fact, it's less than a week away. The weather is truly balmy, sunny and plus temperatures. I have all my shopping done, but as usual, keep thinking I missed someone. Did lots of laundry today, but still need to do more before the New Year. Now just the cleaning, the cooking, the wrapping, the decorating and I'll be done. Wondering how to keep little hands off Christmas ornaments. It will be interesting to say the least.

Leon, Leon

Yes, yule time is coming up soon. Am half done with the shopping. Must wait for pay day though. Really, all this hoopla for a few minutes of tearing paper. Santa did promise an mp3 player though.

As usual am going overboard with stuff at work - decorations, stockings, Advent calendars, cards. But it's just once a year... or in my case at every holiday, even some invented ones.

The little one is sick yet again. I think this will be the winter of snot. This time his nose was so runny that he had to wipe it literally every minute. He coughed so much he couldn't lie down and sleep. Poor little baby! I wished it was me and not him and of course, got my wish, am now getting sick too. Bleah!

First snowfall

Yes, pilgrims, it snowed last night and some of it is still left on the ground. There was lovely sunshine in the morning too, to complement the lovely scenery, but now it's gone. Boo.

Very excited because my mom gave me some neat yarn. It's olive green and has a sparkly thread in it. She gave me three balls. Now, I wanted to make a shrug, but now am contemplating going the usual scarf route. I could make a matching hat. Of course, this needs to wait until I finish my poor husband's sweater. Mr. has been waiting for two years now while his wife went slumming with scarves for herself, auctions and people in general, baby hats and the like. Enough, I say, get your needles back home, woman!

It's been a while

I've been here, just not in a writing mood. My good friend Charlotte has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is such a great lady and so does not deserve this! Anyway, there is no fairness with this disease so I won't even attempt to ask why her because it could just as easily be any one of us.

Not much else new has been happening. I have clearly not learned my lesson about getting involved in charitable activities because I am organizing Christmas bingo at work to benefit Toy Mountain. Well, it's Christmas and it's for kids... Now people seem to be turning to me for advice in organizing activities. How has this happened?! I am the worst organizer in the world.

In other news, my little munchking is now a full blown two-year-old. Oh, the whining when he doesn't get his way! Oh, the testing of boundaries! I only hope that it will only last one year and not too much longer. My poor husband bears the brunt of it all, being the stay at home dad. Yep, would switch with him in a minute. Maybe that will be my Christmas wish.

Sunshine

Ahh, what a balmy sunny day. I love these golden days of fall, before the frosts of November.

Took the munchkin to the doctor today to check on his little ears and all is well. The infection is gone. He did not take kindly to being listened to with the stethoscope.

Things have been insane at work with the United Way campaign and work itself. We had a pot luck last Friday. I was organizing it because "you like pot lucks." I don't. I was not about to force people to bring stuff either, so we had food, but not insane amounts like last year. There was grumbling on the UW committee that there was not enough, and I should have told them so they could call for pizza. Interestingly, other people complimented me on the lunch, the selection and were generally stuffed with food. I really think I will not participate in the United Way committee next year.

I love fall

Now that said, it's been bloody cold in this city. This is not a usual October. They are even talking snow today.

The United Way campaign is on at work. This is usually a lot of fun because we play games and have activities. This year, the first prize for email bingo is an iPod! Yesss, come to mama! Unfortunately, it's almost been a week and I only have five numbers so far. I'm not losing hope.

Here's a view from my balcony, for your viewing pleasure.