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Blurty for Prairie Girl.
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| Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 |
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So yesterday I was convinced I had strep throat. I looked up pictures of strep throats on the internet, checked symptoms and remedies, took out my headlamp and looked at the back of my throat several times to compare with the pictures, and finally made T look at it, too. He didn't see anything. I concluded this morning that I don't have strep throat, though not before I bought a package of Ricola throat drops at the pharmacy after work yesterday. I've thought for quite some time that I may have a touch of hypochondria. T is going out of town for a night for work. I bought myself a special "bachelorette" meal last night - pasta and sauce from the deli. It's quick, easy, and doesn't require meat (unlike T). I also bought some fresh french green beans I'm going to steam. I hate it when T goes away, but I try to make the best of it by doing some of the things I miss doing from my single life like having a cold room at night, eating certain vegetables, or keeping the coffee table cleared off. |
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| Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 |
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We got back from the Easter-long-weekend vacation last night. It was a long day - we had parked the car in New Haven, Connecticut and taken the train to New York City, so the two-hour train ride to the car was a bit of a back-track to home, but in the end, worth it. We saved money not parking in New York, and also sanity not driving there. So we made it to Vermont on Thursday, first of all. I drove part of the way and the weather wouldn't decide whether it wanted to snow or rain, so it bounced between the two and sometimes combined them. The freeways stayed wet, but not icy, so it wasn't too bad. We pulled into Warren just before supper, and ended up just sitting around for the evening. I started Divisadero by Ondaatje. Oh Ondaatje... I've been waiting for this next book for years. Then it finally came out, and I tried to wait for the paperback but I could not, and now I am reading it. It's wonderful. He's one of my top five faves. Speaking of top five faves, I think I'll share that right now, as a brief aside: In no specific order: 1) Margaret Atwood 2) Ernest Hemingway 3) Michael Ondaatje 4) Leo Tolstoy 5) Thomas Hardy There are too many others, as well, but these always stick out in my mind. Anyway, Friday we meant to ski, but I had forgotten my skipants (in SK, I believe), and from there all thoughts of skiing fell apart. It was also ungodly windy, so we spent the day reading at the B&B, and then on an "eating tour" of central Vermont after coaxing T out of the room. We went to the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory, where I had pumpkin cheesecake ice cream. It was divine. We also had cheese, chocolate, and apple cider donuts. Delicious. Saturday we made our way to New York. Upon recommendation from others at the B&B, we parked the car at the train station in New Haven and rode into NYC. It was a good decision; we stand by it. That evening, we ate supper near Times Square and then wandered around. Sunday we went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle for Easter Sunday church. It was absolutely amazing. We sat on the balconey, and it shook while we sang because everyone was clapping and (I think) people were dancing. The choir was unbelievable. Church was two hours long but it was over so quickly. We loved it there, and we decided every time we're in New York on a Sunday, we're going there for church. In the afternoon, we shopped. I found things at Banana Republic and Anthropologie. Then we rushed to make our 3:00pm show - Curtains. It was excellent. The star was David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane of Frasier). He was fantastic, as were the rest of the cast. I still have a few of the songs rolling through my head this morning. That night, we had supper near the hotel and then walked through Battery Park. We meant to go to the Bluenote jazz club, but we ran late from supper and didn't make it before our reservations were lost. Next time. Now I am at work, where it is very very boring, and I've only received two calls all day. One was a wrong number, and the other one was the wrong office. So yah. Currently, I'm fighting this lingering sore throat which seems to be leftover from a cold three weeks ago. I'm scared I have strep throat; I will investigate further this evening, I think. |
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| Friday, March 14th, 2008 |
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Sometimes, when I eat Indian food now, it makes me feel like I'm in E. M. Forester's A Passage to India, having a picnic by those caves or visiting the doctor's place for dinner. I made an Indian curry dish for supper tonight - chicken with tomatoes and fenugreek or something like that. I also made these chick pea flour pancakes, which I've been eating with butter and mango chutney while I wait for Todd to get home from work. Work today was boring and slow. I put together a database for the "farm", and the guy who fixes the blinds came in and looked at my naked window. A couple weeks ago, I was adjusting the blinds, and they just fell right off. It's taken two weeks to assess the situation twice. The first time they said they'd be replacing the blinds in the entire office as a result. We thought that was stupid, but such is the public service. Now they've come in again and are much more reasonable - they'll only be replacing the ones in my office. Now if it's taken them two weeks to determine all this, I imagine I won't have new blinds until mid-September. |
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| Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 |
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It's snowing here again. We've had almost 100cm of snow (that's 3 ½ feet for all you yankees out there) since March 1st. One more foot to reach the snowfall record - I say let's go for it. Last night I made corn chowder and talked to Kyla on the phone, which was very nice. Then I went grocery shopping, did the dishes and went to bed. What an exciting life I live... Work has been slow lately but thankfully not a complete waste of time. T had his review yesterday and got a raise. That reminds me - I need my T4 for my old job... it ticks me off that I gave them my new address and they still seem to have gotten it wrong. Easter weekend we are going to NYC and Vermont for a few days. We'll leave for NYC, driving, on the 22nd, probably arrive shortly after lunch. We're staying at a beautiful place on Manhattan, on the Southern shore. It looks like it might be a timeshare. We're there for two nights (T mentioned going to a Broadway - eee!) and then we'll head to a B&B in Vermont. We stayed there last May - it's just a wonderful little place. I love Vermont. It's beautiful. Anyway, this place is really close to Sugarbush so we'll probably do some skiing. Vermont for another two nights and then home! It'll be a great trip. Anyway. I should get back to work now. |
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| Monday, March 10th, 2008 |
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1) How old were you? 23 2) Where did you go to school? I may have been taking courses at U of S. 3) Where did you live? Clarence St, Saskatoon 4) Where did you hang out? probably mostly coffee shops, Isabella St house 5) Did you wear glasses? sometimes 6) How many tattoos did you have? none 7) How many piercings did you have? 2 8) What car did you drive? Silver '98 Honda Civic 9) Had you been to a real party? Yes 10) Had You had your heart broken? Yes 11) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Single -------------3 years ago---------- 1) How old were you?: 26 2) Where did you go to school? I didn't 3) Where did you work?: DSI 4) Where did you live?: 232 Pinehouse, Saskatoon (3rd floor) 5) Where did you hang out?: same dealio - coffee shops, Isabella St house 6) Did you wear glasses?: sometimes, but mostly contacts 7) Who were your best friend(s)?: Erica, Jana, Kyla, Kristin, Kendra 8) How many tattoos did you have.?: none 9) How many piercings did you have?: possibly 3 at this point 10) What car did you drive?: same '98 Silver Honda Civic 11) Had your heart broken?: not recently, but in my lifetime yes. 12) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: seeing someone --------------------Today-------------------- 1) How old are you? 29 2) Where do you work? House of Commons 3) Where do you live? Ottawa 4) Where do you hang out? pubs, receptions, home 5) How many tattoos do you have? none 6)How many piercings do you have? 2 7)What car do you drive? still the Silver Civic 8)Had your heart broken?: not recently 9)Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: Married WHAT WERE YOU DOING... 1 MINUTE AGO: working 1 HOUR AGO: working 1 DAY AGO: at home, snowed in and listening to a CD 1 YEAR AGO: wedding preparations I HATE: it when people are fake I FEAR: change - both too much & not enough I FEEL: fine... kind of tired... a bit bored I HIDE: the kind of stuff I don't want to share on a survey I MISS: family & friends I NEED: grace & forgiveness I KNOW: it's only Monday I THINK: daylight savings is stupid. First piercing: ears Last big car ride: to Toronto to catch a flight Last movie seen in theaters: Vantage Point Last food consumed: cornflakes Last person you texted/called: Todd Last CD played: Frou Frou Last drink drank: coffee SHORT ANSWER. I AM: getting over a cold I HAVE: a cool job I LIKE: my life I WISH: I was a bit more focused I DANCE: to make Todd laugh I CRY: often enough FAVORITES.. NUMBER: 13 COLOR: blue DAY(S): Thursday MONTH(S): October SEASON: Autumn DRINK: milk IN THE LAST 2 DAYS, HAVE YOU... CRIED? yes HELPED SOMEONE? I try to help Todd GOTTEN SICK? felt sick but nothing happened GONE TO THE MOVIES? yes SAID 'I love you'? yes TALKED TO AN EX? no WRITTEN IN A DIARY? no HAD A SERIOUS TALK? yes _______ Best ________ 1. Male Friend: Todd 2. Female Friend: Erica or Chris 3. Best Age: 25 was good 4. Best Memory: our wedding day _______ Worst ________ 1. Time Of Day: 3pm 2. Day Of The Week: Tuesday 3. Food: smoked salmon 4. Memory: too many _______ Last ________ 1. Person you saw: Eileen 2. Talk on the phone: Todd 3: Instant Msg: Natasha _______ Today ________ 1. What are you doing now: typing in this survey... stupid question 2. Tonight: making dinner, hanging out with Todd 3. Wearing: my Banana Rep royal blue turtleneck sweater and gray suit from Jacob 4. What did you eat for lunch: I will be going to the cafeteria for soup _______ Tomorrow ________ 1. Is: Tuesday 2. Got any plans: nope - just the usual Tuesday stuff 3. Goal: maybe paint a picture 4. Dislikes about tomorrow: don't know yet 5. Likes about tomorrow: don't know yet |
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| Friday, November 16th, 2007 |
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Well, Todd leaves for Rome tomorrow. He's in Toronto now, so I've been batching it since last night and will continue on in this manner until next Saturday. I pretty much hate it. But, I am trying to look on the bright side. I do, every so often, look back longingly on my single days... when the house was clean after I cleaned it... when I didn't have a man planted on the couch watching sports ad nauseum... when my schedule was my own... when there weren't always socks all over the living room floor... Yes, those things were nice. I still wouldn't trade in Todd to have it all back, though. So I've rented a couple of movies I know he wouldn't want to see - The Queen and The Holiday. I've wanted to see The Queen for quite a while, and he's had no interest, and the other one just looks like a good chick flick I missed way back. Also, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few items to tide me over for the next several days. As a treat, I got some English muffins and cottage cheese. This is one of my favourite snacks: toasted English muffin with butter and cottage cheese. Yum. Today I booked a holiday for us in Cuba in January. It took longer than I thought, which was a tad annoying. In the end, we have to overnight in Toronto, but whatever. Also, we had to get the expensive trip cancellation insurance because of Todd's ridiculous work hours. It's not at all far-fetched that despite giving him the time off, he'll suddenly just have to work. Bah. The whole thing was more than I originally planned on spending, but I wanted a nicer hotel so whatever. There's rumours of Christmas bonuses. Today it snowed in Ottawa. I don't know what happened to the snow - it didn't drift in the cracks in the sidewalk nor did it melt. It just swirled around in the air and then blew off. Perhaps it went to Hull. Well I'm going to go eat something and then watch my movie. |
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| Monday, November 12th, 2007 |
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Just sitting at home, waiting for the ribs to be cooked. I accidently turned the slow cooker to low when I meant to switch it to high; now it's taking a bit longer. Todd keeps asking when they're going to be done. I put the rice on, and soon I'll make a salad. We had a nice looooong weekend. Friday night, Todd surprised me with dinner at Hy's and a night at the Lord Elgin. I bought a new dress for the occasion. (He surprised me with the news at lunch so I had time to walk to Rideau and buy a new dress.) It was a lovely evening. The steak at Hy's is absolutely scrumptious. Saturday we lingered in the hotel room; watched the movie Waitress, which was excellent. I am still enchanted with all of her pie creations. In the afternoon, Todd was restless so we went to MEC, Futureshop & Walmart. I bought a parka at MEC; Todd bought a puffy vest. I got a new keyboard at Futureshop. My previous keyboard was shot and it was not only preventing me from typing, but also from using my mouse for longer than two minutes. Annoying. So glad that's fixed. Upon the return home, I not only got my new keyboard hooked up but set about cleaning up my computer. I had some annoying stuff coming up at start-up, and I actually had to change a registry key to fix it. But it's gone, and I was so happy I rebooted my computer and made Todd watch it not come up with annoying error messages, etc. Beautiful. Yesterday we went to church, and then in the afternoon, I went to Silvercity in Gloucester to see a movie with Natasha. We saw Dan In Real Life. It was OK; I was annoyed about the 15-year-old daughter, though, and her ridiculous drama about being in love. The icing on the cake was the implication, at the end of the movie, that she was, in fact, in love. At fifteen? Gimme a break. Yah, I think I thought that, too, but once you grow up you realize how stupid you were. Honestly, I think that kind of ruined the rest of the movie for me. (How did you tell?) Afterwards, Natasha and I walked to Starbucks and had coffee. Then, I drove home, picked up Todd, and we drove straight back to the same theatre to meet Kate & Andrew to watch The Bee Movie. Baha! - what a great show! So funny. I really liked it a lot. Plus we found out Kate & Andrew like games, which I'm very excited about, and they even asked if we'd heard of Ticket to Ride. Oh goodness yes! So I'm looking forward to forging a friendship centered on games with them. Yes. That's all I feel like writing for now. |
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| Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 |
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Todd didn't get home until 9pm last night. So, I made supper and then subsequently talked on the phone most of the night. First I talked to Jana, which was fantastic. We both lamented about how much we miss our friends in Saskatoon. (Do you hear that, friends in Saskatoon? We miss you a lot!) How wonderful it is to have a group of friends you can call up any time you like, and hang out in any state - be it happy, or grumpy, or unshowered in sweat pants and a ponytail. Good times. Then Todd's sister called, so I talked to her for a while. We may meet them in Atlanta at the beginning of December. It would be really fun if this worked out, but the way our travel plans have been going lately I really can't cross my fingers. I'll believe it when I see it. Then Todd's mom called (and dad), so I talked to her for a while. She mentioned to me that with Todd's office move, he no longer walks to work and isn't getting exercise anymore. Good point! I totally missed that. Now, Todd has been really wanting a "beer fridge" for his new office, and so last night while I was getting ready for work, I had a great idea. I thought - "I'll make an exercise chart! And for every week we make our exercise goals, we each get $10 in "household" money (non-allowance money), and after 10 weeks Todd can buy his beer fridge and I can get... whatever... new pants or shoes or something! Haha! Brilliant!" I shared my idea with Todd immediately, who warmed to it slightly, but expressed that it needed some tweaking. Right. Tweaked as in, more-money-faster-less-exercise... I almost poured orange juice on my cornflakes this morning again. I think I've been a bit distracted lately. Yesterday I even messed up the 1 out of 6 Sudoku in The Hill Times. Sheesh. Anyway. Best get back to work. I have a pile of messages to organize and distribute. |
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| Monday, August 20th, 2007 |
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Well, we never got to go to Algonquin this weekend. Friday, Todd was going to hopefully get away early, but with his new position he is so busy and didn't get home until about 7:30pm, which delayed our trip until this morning. Now, Saturday mornings are usually pretty slow for us. We get out of bed, get some breakfast, and pretty much sit around watching TV or playing computer games until noon. It's nice. So this Saturday morning, we naturally wanted to do the same and weren't too excited to do all kinds of packing and whatnot. We decided to have our usual relaxing morning, and then pack up after lunch and be at Algonquin just before supper. (I also mentally noted at this point it was one less meal to worry about, and therefore especially enticing.) However, at around noon Todd started in with work stuff. The boss called, keeping him on the phone for a while, and then he had to call the chief, and after that was over, we started packing but not before our boss' boss' office called with some stupid media problem that Todd had to address immediately. Ugh. It turned out we had to go to Todd's office, so we quickly packed the car for camping, intending to leave as soon as the issue was resolved, and headed over there. Three hours later, I was still sitting at Todd's conference table doing Sudoku and Todd was still calling around to various people to tie up the final loose ends. And that's when the boss' boss' office called again, and informed us that because of some sort of thing with baby carrots, we would no longer have to respond to the media issue. And that's how we spent our Saturday afternoon: Todd working and working at something, only to have it flushed down the toilet seconds before it was finished. By then, it was 6pm, which would have put us into camp at 10pm, and our camping trip was also flushed down the toilet. So we went home, unpacked, joked about how our camping trip was the lamest ever, and I made lemon rice soup with biscuits. Later, we walked to the theatre and saw The Bourne Ultimatum, which was pretty good. Yesterday, we went to church at Carleton, and it was great because Pastor Reed is back and preached. Also, Pastor Ron came and did music (I think he looks like Phil Hartman). After, we went to South Keys and saw The Simpsons Movie, which was pretty funny. I think my favourite line was - "There's something really strange about this sop sign." The rest of the day we just relaxed: it was very nice. Now I am back at work. I'm not sure who to expect today; apparently my one co-worker who went over to work at the new office is coming back, and the other one who is on vacation I think is still on vacation. I guess she would be here if she wasn't. Am I going it alone again? I hope not. I get so depressed by the end of the day when I work alone. One day here or there is great, but much more and I get so bored. |
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| Monday, August 13th, 2007 |
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Every so often I get that stupid Mini Wheats commercial song stuck in my head. Erg. I think that Todd and I have gotten our contacts mixed up. Well, Todd has gotten our contacts mixed up. I woke up on Saturday morning and he announced to me that he had put his contacts in my contact case the night before, but that morning he had worked it out. I asked him how he knew that, to which he replied - "I can see." Well. Yesterday I took out what I thought were my contacts, only they did not feel like mine because they were thicker. Like I hadn't wet them recently. But I wore them anyway and just said to Todd at one point - "are you sure those are your contacts?" "Well I've been wearing them for two days and they still feel great." Hmmm. OK.... This morning, I knew that I did not, in fact, have my own contacts. My contacts do not have writing on them, and clearly these are thicker than my own. I announced this to him at a staff meeting this morning, and it was a bit louder than I realized and everyone was a bit surprised I think. Some people even found this gross? Is that gross? Accidently wearing your spouses' contacts? You know, I think I'm getting a headache. Anyway, another mishap this weekend also occurred Saturday morning. I was up at 8:30am, much earlier than I would like to be up, and I went to pour the milk on my cereal, when I realized it was orange juice. Ew! Well, I drank it all out of the cereal and ate it anyway. It was just fine. Anyone who is scared of doing that - not NEAR as bad as you think it would be. I've been afraid I would do this for quite some time. Sure enough - as soon as I let my guard down... Yesterday, Todd was gone most of the day so I diddled around on the computer and then read a Neil Gaiman book - Coraline. Very good. Creepy, but quite good. I keep thinking about that papery white hand with long red fingernails... chills... Another Neil Gaiman moment this weekend - Stardust. Yes! We saw that movie and it was so good. I loved it. I'm buying it. I'm so excited to own it. Even Todd liked it! But it is quite good. Afterwards, we watched the finale to the International Fireworks Competition from the Ottawa side of the river. Of course, from a few miles away it is not so spectacular, but still a good show. They set them off from Lac Leamy casino in Gatineau. I heard a better vantage point is from the park by Rideau Falls, but we didn't have time to walk that far. Tonight my friend Terra from Toronto is visiting for a few days! How nice it'll be to have a friend around. It gets quite lonely - this space between having lots of friends and hopefully once again having lots of friends. Time. It takes time... We went to The Met at Carleton on Sunday morning. It was very good. I think we'll go there from now on since it's more our age group. Hopefully we just hit it off with some other couples... Anyway. Time to open the mail probably. |
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| Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 |
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I thought I would come to work today and find at least enough paperwork to kind of accompany me through the day. Being away for three work days, this should be a distinct possibility in most jobs. Most jobs. For this job, particularly in the summer, that is not the case. So I find myself sifting through news stories and reading obvious junk mail. I also did the puzzles in the newspaper. I answered the phone a few times, though it was always someone looking for somebody else. Oh for the love of everything that is not stark raving silence, I can hardly wait until the fall. I forgot my water bottle, too, so I'm drinking very cold water out of my coffee travel mug, which makes the water taste metallicy and has the faint aroma of French roast. The weekend was good, and now it is hot and I can't shake it. Last night it was sweltering in our room, though I managed to sleep through the night and I woke up pretty much the same temperature as the one I went to bed in. I know I'm hot when my hands and feet are not cold. They're always cold, even if I'm just the right temperature otherwise, they remain cold. My sisters visited this weekend. They left yesterday afternoon. I went home and it was so quiet (and hot). It was really just a short breath of time they were here. I can't believe it's over already - did it even start? Maybe that's something special about family: even when you're thousands of miles away, when they visit it's never a beginning - just another span of being in the same space. Anyway. While we're all dying of boredom, I think I'll go check the mail. |
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| Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 |
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Just tried to change that ticker on my info page from "get married" to "got married". I guess I can't change the code they give, and I don't feel like getting a new one. I may just delete it. Maybe I'll start putting spaces between my paragraphs. I'm quite fussy about keeping all things uniform, but perhaps it's time for a little change. Last night I started reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I'd only read about five pages before I knew I loved it. Today I'm going to finish reading Fight of Our Lives: Elections, Leadership and the Making of Canada and then I can fully dive into Morrison. I have learned so much about our country since I started reading this elections book. For instance, I can list off all the Prime Ministers of Canada and I have a fairly good idea of when they led. I also have a basic understanding of how most of them won, led and eventually were defeated/retired, among many other things. It's been a terribly interesting read. I only have one chapter left which I intend to finish this morning. I find it incredulous that our school system has not bothered to fit into the curriculum the Prime Ministers of Canada. Never did I learn this; it seemed basic understanding that Sir John A. MacDonald was the first Prime Minister, but honestly I don't even think I learned that in school. Terrible. A couple weekends ago, Todd and I went down to Montreal and took in some of the jazz festival. We saw Ravi Coltrane in concert at this venue which was infused with incredibly artsy personality. Just looking around the place, I felt I knew exactly what the owners were like. I loved it. Ravi Coltrane and his band were amazing. (Ravi Coltrane is the son of the late John C, famous jazz saxophonist. Ravi also plays sax.) We stayed in a place downtown which didn't look like much on the outside, but was very nice inside. The following day we wondered around the city and I bought some things at Jacob and spoke French. It's terribly rusty but the basics are still there, somewhere. This last weekend we went to the Civilizations Museum in Gatineau for the Treasures of China exhibit. It was amazing. They had a lot of pottery which was just breath-taking. I think that was my favourite part, though all of it was so interesting. The laquerwork was also beautiful. Some of the jade carvings were exquisite. There were a lot of people there, though, and always in a crowd that large there have to some making stupid comments. "Hey, isn't that guy holding a remote control?" Guffaws. My eyes rolled - oh brother. I guess it's good they're having a good time, but honestly some people just cannot be cultured. My sisters come this weekend! I've made all sorts of plans. This Saturday we're taking the train to Montreal, and Sunday I'm taking them to the King estate in Gatineau to the tea house. They've never been here, so we'll also take a day to do all the Parliament Hill stuff, too. I'm pretty sure they don't understand how much there is to do here... Todd may go to Boston on Saturday for a Red Sox game, and then he and his buddies want to go to Springfield, Vermont for the Simpsons Movie premiere. I imagine this is one of those things where they roll out the red carpet and you see Hank Azaria and Matt Groening et al walk by you while you take snapshots behind a velvet rope. I don't think they'll actually see the movie out there. Todd is skeptical whether they'll even make the trip at all, Boston or Springfield. We'll see. Well that's enough update for now. Back to the elections book. |
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The elevators in my building here at work are crazy; they all seem to have minds of their own. There are six of them in total, and all of them old and some a bit rickety. The farthest one from my office is the craziest. It shoots up with eye-popping enthusiasm, noticably more than the others, always overshoots its target and then plummets to its stop. It always makes my stomach jump a bit. It is also the most rickety: because of its delight in speed, it shakes and rattles more than the others. All of them, from time to time, will mysteriously stop at floors no one has requested. You'll step into the elevator, and random buttons have been pushed and then you're forced to stop on several floors. Also, sometimes, I'll arrive in the morning and there's an elevator open and seemingly ready to take me to the sixth. Sometimes it is ready, but sometimes it's not. You can get in, push the button for your floor, and sometimes it'll just sit there. You never know when this might happen, and then you have to step out and press the up button, but quickly rush back into the elevator because the doors close quickly. Well, sometimes they close quickly. So you always have to rush in because you never know if it'll be one of those times when the doors decide to close quickly or not, and sometimes they don't close at all. Most of the time they do act normal, but every so often they do something weird - just often enough to keep you on your toes and guessing. |
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| Thursday, June 28th, 2007 |
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I am bubbly today about the weather - it's cooled down and I'm loving it! I swear it was over 30ºC (86ºF) in our apartment last night. It probably didn't help that I baked chicken in the oven for an hour, made corn on the cob on the stove and then forgot to turn the stove off. Gees - what's my problem with that? I'm horrible at forgetting to turn off the oven/stove. We did not do much last night. The heat turned our brains and our limbs to mush, so after supper we sat on the couch and watched TV. We watched Last Comic Standing, which was pretty funny, and in-between we flipped to this show on TLC about a British woman whose house was INSANELY messy. And dirty. They had to use a shovel in the kitchen on the floor - it was all dirt and muck and goo and garbage. She couldn't even walk in her house, and the bathroom was under so much trash and junk that I don't know if she ever even used it. The thing I loved though was the woman herself. She was just this adorable older British woman, and she said the cutest things... "oh my! Well that's just lovely." and the like. I found it quite amusing. |
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| Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 |
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Yay! Thunderstorm warning! I can already hear the thunder, and see the clouds rolling in from across the river. Hopefully it'll break up this insane heat! So Todd and I went for lunch together, which was really nice. It sounds like he'll get off work early, and then we may go to the mall quick. |
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Thank goodness for air conditioning at the office! I had only a mediocre sleep last night because of the heat. Todd has a thermostat in the bedroom - it's part of his alarm clock - and it registered +27ºC (80ºF) in our room last night. YUCK. So I tossed and turned a lot, and this morning I'm just wiped out. Even after a cold shower and a cup of coffee, I still have the old "hit-by-a-bus" feeling. Well, Todd is home! What a relief. I kind of feel like I need to re-adjust again, but I'm so happy he's back. I made that big supper for him last night, and served it on the new china. It was great. Then we cleaned up together, putzed around a bit, and watched a couple episodes of West Wing before we went to bed. Anyway. I think as soon as Mark gets in I'll go get some coffee. I should try to read some of the Quickscan in the meantime. |
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| Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 |
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Just heard from the other office... the guys called in yesterday morning before their flight to Iqaluit. They also confirmed that the flight to Iqaluit arrived just fine... One of my colleagues pointed out this morning that sometimes technology can give us more concerns than reassurances. |
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Yesterday, after my most productive day, I sat down to watch West Wing at around 9:30. Todd had not called yet, but I guessed he would soon, so I watched the episode and was surprised after it was over that he still had not called. So I tried his cell. No answer. Weird. A few minutes later, I tried it again. Still no answer. I started getting ready for bed, and as I did, my mind started thinking fantastical things. What if he had an accident when they were fishing? What if he went over the side? What if his plane went down? He always answers his cell, and if not, calls me right back. I started getting really upset, crying and everything. I decided I'll just check on the internet the status of his flight, and then hopefully get some sleep. I went over to my computer, turned it on, and started looking for his flight. It was hard to find any information on it, but I finally went to a flight tracker site and punched in the code. I was rather frantic already, so when the screen popped up and said UNKNOWN for the flight segment from Rankin Inlet to Iqaluit, I lost it. I was shaking uncontrollably, hyperventilating, and of course, crying. I tried calling the airline - they were closed. I tried called Iqaluit airport - also closed. I didn't know what to do, so I called my mom. It took me a while to even gather enough composure to get the story out, but I finally told her and she calmed me down enough so I could lie in bed for the next two hours without whimpering too much. This morning, I checked again once I got to work and it said cancelled. I called the airline and they told me it had landed, and Eileen found some stuff on another site where it said it had landed, but also that it was cancelled due to technical problems, and in there some were a few gate changes. We're not totally sure what's going on with this flight, but I feel better now. I'm just waiting still for Todd to call... right now they're supposed to be in a meeting so I'm thinking he'll call sometime after that. Anyway. It is really really really hot out today. There are humidex warnings for today and tomorrow. The high is +34º (+93º) or something and with the humidex it'll hit the 40's (107ºF). This morning, I got to work, got on the elevator and - this is gross - there were actually sweat spots beneath my boobs. Ew! So that's just great. So they are setting up the HUGE stage on Parliament Hill for Canada Day. They've been working on it for a week already. It's supposed to be cool this weekend (thank goodness!), so hopefully it'll be a really great Canada Day! I'm excited. Tonight, I'm making a big meal to celebrate Todd's homecoming (with the very optimistic assumption he'll make it home tonight). I've got a beef roast in the slow cooker with potatoes, carrots and onions. I also made a spaghetti squash casserole, with yams, onions, mushrooms, sour cream and then you cover it with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs, which I'll heat up for just a bit before. I'm also making yorkshire puddings, and of course, a nice salad. Anyway. I should get through the rest of my emails. |
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| Monday, June 25th, 2007 |
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I've been listening to internet radio all day. First, I was listening to Air 1, and now I'm listening to Soma, the Secret Agent station. I haven't done this internet radio thing in a long time. That actually doesn't make much sense, considering the places I've lived the last twenty years and the deserts they've been for radio. Black holes - sucking all the good music into a vacuum of non-existance. Anyway. I've been really busy again today. This morning, after breakfast, I drank a cup of coffee and wrote more thank-you cards from the wedding. I'm about half-way done, I think. I haven't sent any yet. I was thinking of doing it all at work, but you have to pay cash so maybe I'll just go to the corner store down the road, pick up stamps and do it all myself. After that, I called the walk-in clinic on Rideau, which is about two blocks from here. The doctor was in, and it wasn't busy so I got ready really quickly and hit the street. (Hehe, that sounds bad.) I had to pay with cash, since I don't have an ON health card yet, so I went to the bank first and picked up some money. I got there, and when she wanted me to pay it was $35 and they didn't have change. So, I went next door to the pharmacy but they said they didn't have any. I had to go across the street to the laundromat and she reluctantly gave me a ten, a five and some change. Whatever. I didn't wait long for the doctor. I was in and out of there within 45 minutes, walk to the laundromat included. After that, I felt very accomplished, having finished the one major thing I wanted to get done already that day, by 10:30am. I went home and had devotions. Next, I painted a picture of a peach in a black & blue bowl. It's OK. It was fun to do, though. I have to do that more - just up and paint something on the fly, and not worry about layering etc. After that, I felt ready to tackle the new dishes. I made room in my old trunk, and packed up the old dishes and put them in there. Then I washed all the dishes that were dirty from making wareneki yesterday, as well as from the weekend, which was a huge pile. Hmmm... what else did I do? Oh right - I reorganized my tupperware area. It was driving me bonkers. I also finished my Margaret Atwood book - Oryx and Crake. Very good. I love Margaret Atwood. Next, I'm going to read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Anyway. I'm making a dish with spaghetti squash and yams right now, so I better go finish that up and get the roast ready for tomorrow. Yes - I'm making a pot roast for Todd's homecoming. |
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| Sunday, June 24th, 2007 |
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I am in the throes of making a quadruple batch of wareneki (pr. va-ran-ekya; roll the 'r'). They are cottage cheese perogies, Mennonite-style. Sooo good. I'm making a whole bunch and freezing them so we have something fast to eat in the next couple weeks. I'm also hoping to have enough left over so when Caryn & Whitney come, we can have that for dinner one night. This afternoon, after church, I went to Pier 1 and bought a new set of dishes. We got a $200 gift certificate from the people from our work here in Ottawa, so we went a couple weeks ago and we both loved these dishes. I was able to get a 3-piece place setting (lunch plate, dinner plate, bowl) for eight. They are light biege colour, with a starburst of lines from the centre in a coppery brown. They are super nice; I really like them. Also this weekend, I picked up my china! I have three place settings right now, and I've ordered a fourth to kind of even things out. Unfortunately, one of the place settings was missing a teacup, so I called The Bay and they are rushing one out. There was also a promotion at The Bay this summer for my pattern, where you get a free soup bowl with a place setting, so they've ordered four bowls for me. This is a really great deal since one of my bowls is $55! Anyway, I'm hoping to get this wareneki finished before it's too late tonight so I can sit with a cup of tea with one of my new teacups! Tomorrow I have a day off. St. Jean-Baptiste day is a holiday for HOC staff. I think I'll try to get those new dishes washed and put away, and then later in the day I need to get into the walk-in clinic to get a few prescriptions refilled. I've gotten so much done this weekend. It feels so good. I miss Todd like crazy, though. I've had just about enough of this. Actually, I've had WAY more than enough. Thankfully, only two more nights but that just seems like forever. I've missed him up until now, but I'm beginning to really wish he was back...... Anyway. I better get back to making the wareneki. |
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Blurty for Prairie Girl.
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