Da Bears

This is a great time of year for us. The weather is warmer (or trying to be that way), and we prepare to launch our boat. To get to the marina, we travel through some nice countryside. It is very quaint and very special.

What is also very special about the trip is something I refer to as Da Bears. We refer to it as Da Bears, even though there are a number of other little animals involved. Da Bears has been going on for many years. Da Bears is a tradition which was started many years ago. I don't know how it started or why, but the tradition continues today, but here's what happens. Throughout the year, for special occasions (Easter, Canada Day), there is a display of bears that appears on a piece of property along our travel route. It is past the small town, and past the elk farm. Once we get past these two landmarks, we start to watch for Da Bears (are there bears?). The people who own the property set up a display of bears. For Easter, they had bears with bonnets, and the bushes had little Easter eggs hanging from the branches. For Labour Day, the bears were sitting at desks getting ready to return to school. For Canada Day, what else, Canada flags everywhere AND the bears were in a parade and had flags in their paws.

This past weekend was no exception. Da Bears were preparing for the upcoming long weekend, also known as Victoria Day. Now, this time I was able to take a few pictures. We actually stopped!

So here is what Da Bears were doing..............

I Forgot What Day It Was

...or rather how much time has lagged between posts (thanks SIL for the little nudge). My mind is in a bit of a cloud these days. Work is busy, which is a good thing because it sort of takes my mind away from last week's Black Thursday. I say sort of, because it still sits heavy with me. I am sure there are colleagues that are gone, and I don't know it yet. Word will trickle down eventually, but right now it's unknown. There's a term that flows around these days. I don't like it very much, as it's kind of rude....they say 'suck it up'.....I prefer 'stiff upper lip' myself.

TV has also been keeping me pretty tuned in....tuned into the reality (or non-reality) shows. ANTM got rid of Dionnne tonight. Good riddance. Sourly faces are not very endearing, dear. She was even sourly when she was being booted off. Too bad. So sad. (I hope Natasha wins). No nay-nay!

What else...AI....LaKisha gone home tonight. Too bad...she was one of my favourites. I was surprised that the bee-bb-bb-bbeee-bop guy Bbbbbbblake made it through to the final three, but I am still rooting for Melinda D. I hope that AI and ANTM don't get their final 3's mixed up, otherwise the AI threesome will be posing on the catwalk and the ANTM threesome will be trying to remember words to songs.

Tomorrow is Survivor night. More continued back-stabbing I imagine. More continued begging to be kept for 3 more days. This season, though, has had many turns and has kept the show alive (it's kept me alive, that's for sure). I am rooting for YauMan.

Anyway, just wanted to post something so that you know that I am still 'here'. I'll be posting something interesting in a few days. You'll just have to be patient I guess for my surprise!

Ciao for now my little chickadees.

Ack! I need to update! I forgot about The Bachelor! Thanks Skittles! How could I forget about The Bachelor! Let's see. Amber went sobbing her way home. Not surprised. Her nasal, whiny speak was getting to me. And the hair flicking! So now we have Bevin, Stefanie, and Tessa. I think my cards are on Tessa....but who knows?

Friday's Feast - One Hundred and Forty-Two

Welcome to Feast One Hundred & Forty Two
for
Friday, May 4th, 2007

Pull up a chair and dig in!
Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions
cooked up by the chef each and every week.
Enjoy!

Appetizer
Name something you would not want to own.

There are many things I would not want to own.....a snake, an SUV, a gun.

Soup
Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).

Texture=thick. Color=varies, but mostly brownish with highlights. Length=also varies (currently trying to grow it somewhat)

Salad
Finish this sentence: I’ll never forget ___________.

Anything (I have the memory of an elephant).

Main Course
Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?

I'd love to be Ellen DeGeneres for just one day. She is such a hoot, and so comfortable with her audience. She makes her audience feel comfortable with her too.

Dessert
Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.

I plan on getting my motorcycle licence and riding my Harley Davidson to Florida.

Black Thursday

For many years I have lived with and experienced the grey suit world at its worst. Prior to this, it was much better. And so, not to let me down, today was Black Thursday. One of our players became one of the non-grey suit world. There are no details to impart, and thus this will be a very short post. Now, one player may not sound like much, and most assuredly it is not, but the deal was that each little group was to relieve one or two souls of their duties. So the souls added up to be a fairly substantial number, you see. A rather stunning number. This is similar to losing someone very close to you. They leave you, sometimes suddenly, sometimes not, and then you grieve for however long that period is. Losing a grey suit player is similar to that process, but not quite. There is usually no communication about any of the proceedings. Not much discussion, but stiff upper lip, and carry on your duties. Pick up the load that they left behind and get on with it. That's what we do.

My ESP alerted me that something was UP for some time now, and something was, but I am safe.

This time.

The 10 Things Meme

Skittles tagged me with this meme. So, here goes, and I may even surprise myself!

Ten Things About Me You Don't Know:

1. When I eat potato chips (only the lo fat kind) I enjoy dunking them in Coca Cola.


2. When I watch stunts on TV that involve tall places, I freak. My palms get real sweaty---hang on, I have to wipe my hands.


3. I can bend my thumb backwards to 90 degrees.


4. I wanted to be a teacher and also an aerobics instructor. Instead I am a computer nerd.


5. My food has to not touch other food on my plate. It's like the food has invisible walls between each one.


6. My shoe size is 7.


7. I'm a Collector - you name it, I collect it.


8. I color my hair.


9. I am the Web guru for my volunteer group.


10. I am secretly in love with American Idol Taylor Hicks (wheeee).

I Tag:
Jeni,
Terry,
Silver,
My SIL,
La Tomate

What to do with a Meme: Copy the questions into a new post and answer them. Tag some different bloggers. Go back and let the person who tagged you know that you did it.

Have fun!.....

Wordless Wednesday #7

Regardez Mes Souliers

Look at my new shoes! They're nothing sexy or special, but they are new and, of course, there is a teeny story to go along with each one. Now, I am a stickler for quality shoes....and of course quality handbags. All of the following shoes are quality, by my standards.

And now...the shoes.


This little pair (above) are made by Columbia. Now there, in my mind, is quality. My old day-to-day runners, which I always wear to the gym, had seen better days. They were lacking support, and, of course, style. The Columbias are beige with a teeny purple accoutrement (I think that's how you spell it. If not pfeh.). Very comfortable.


Above is your typical black lace-up Oxford. They are made by Thom McAn. I liked them because they remind of a slimmed down version of a Doc Martin. They replace my old (and dearly loved) Rockports. The Rockports had both developed split soles, and were tired looking.


The purple number above is very special. They're made by RBK. Very light, with a non-slip sole, but not a lot of support. Good for dancing, and this is exactly what I was looking for. I take a BodyJam class on Monday night at the gym. It's and hour of exercising by dancing to hip-hop, swing, charleston, salsa. Regular gym shoes are way too protective for these types of moves, and the RBK seems to do the trick (they got their initiation last night, and were marvy).

So there you have them. My new shoes. Welcome them into your lives as I have welcomed them into mine.

There's nothing like a new shoe. Wait a minute! Yes, there is...a new handbag.

Feast One Hundred & Forty One

Welcome to Feast One Hundred & Forty One
for
Friday, April 27th, 2007

Pull up a chair and dig in!
Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions
cooked up by the chef each and every week.
Enjoy!

Appetizer
How fast can you type?

With how many fingers?

Soup
What is your favorite online game?

I don't play online games, but if I do then I guess it is Solitaire.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?

About a 7...okay maybe an 8...do I hear 9?

Main Course
Name three of your best teachers from your school years.

Mrs.McElligott, Sister Simpson, Sister O'Neill

Dessert
What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?

Shopping, scrapbooking (yes, I am finally going to do the 'first' stick-to for the album)

The State of our Planet

After my post about how beautiful a weekend that was, we once again have cooler temperatures, but at least these are the normal temperatures for this time of year. With Global Warming taking over as the new catch phrase, we can assuredly see more diverse weather pattern changes, with almost constant fluctuations.

Now, I recall a time, not too long ago, when the temperatures were downright chilly. We had purchased our new sailing vessel in the fall, and had committed to a date in the spring (we had no clue as to what type of weather we would see, but securing this date was a must). In preparing to launch in the spring of the following year, we needed a guarantee that there would be enough moving water in which to place the boat, which there was, but the rest of the marina still had solid ice.

The following pictures are a Then and Now view of roughly the same time of year.

THEN April 2003 (Notice the tiny icicles hanging from the lifelines)



NOW April 2007 (It was 25 degrees Celsius on Sunday. The only reason that we are not in the water, is because the bottom needs some work, otherwise we'd be floatin')


See how our seasons have changed?

We can all do our part. Don't assume that our Governments will do everything.

1. When shopping, refuse bags. Bring your own bag(s), cloth preferably, and reuse. Many places still do not recycle soft plastic. This goes straight to landfill and does not decompose.


2. Recycle, recycle, recycle!


3. Choose environmentally safe products, especially if you are a boater or a cottager. These particles end up in the water system.


4. Drive environmentally friendly vehicles. Maybe you don't really need that honkin' SUV?


5. Lightbulbs - get rid of the old incandescent bulbs and start using the funny looking eco friendly ones....and yes, you CAN fit your old lamp shades on them!


6. Leaf blowers and gas lawn mowers (and gas anything) all release toxins...think first before buying AND using!


7. Many restaurants do not recycle hard plastic. Take it home and recycle it there. We do. And then comment to those establishments that they should beef up their recycling program.


8. Boating - power versus sail.....guess which one is better for the environment?

Good Day, Sunshine

Warning...earworm ...Good Day Sunshine......dum da dum da dum.....Good Day Sunshine....

There that should set our minds in motion. An earworm, to mark the most beautifully warm and sunny day that we've seen in quite some time. People are in a good mood. Motorcycles are buzzing. The birds are singing in splendour. The tree frogs are back too (we could hear them on our drive home)...and that means that they will soon be singing in the ravine across from our house.

Today, We did what any smart person would do in our particular position....we, along with others, went to spend some quality time at the boat. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

Of course we shmoozed with friends who also went to caress and dote on their babies, but we also managed to remove the boat cover and the frame, and get it stowed at the locker. We are also installing deck wash, so that is underway. Got the dodger and enclosure up. Once we get the new floor, we'll be able to install that.

We'll probably head back up tomorrow to finish the already started jobs and maybe tackle a few others.

Cheers everybody...now get out and boogie in that sunshine....

11 Years Ago

They say that we get over the loss of our loved ones.
They say that in time, we'll return to a normal life.
They say that it will get easier.

What do they know anyway? Not everyone really knows me, I mean really really knows me. It's all a very personal thing, when you lose someone that you love.

Yes, we get over it, but we never forget.
Yes, we return to a normal life, but we always harbour a special place in our hearts.
Yes, it gets easier, but there is always an emptiness.

On this day, eleven years ago, my Dad passed away. Every year, I place a memory for him, because I still remember him, I still love him, and I still miss him.

So here's to you, Daddy. Because I still.

SLENO, Stewart Allen, In memory of my dear Dad who passed away eleven years ago today. There is an ache in my heart that will never go away. What I wouldn't give for one more hug from you. Sadly missed, Maureen and Brian.
Published in the Montreal Gazette on 4/19/2007.

It's About Time

I always wanted to write a post that contained the title of my blog, and tonight, my friends, I finally have the opportunity to do just that. Why? Well, because of AI of course, and the ejection of the kid freak himself, S-a-n-j-a-y-a.

No more eerie grin.
No more weak singing.
No more crazy hair.
No more strange stares.
No more fuzzy bushy eyebrows.
No more sloppy appearance on stage.
No more of anything!

YAY!!!

It would seem, then, that finally someone was actually listening to the performers last night, because the votes said it all.

My worst nightmare is now over.....the nightmare of seeing him stand there in the final 2, and winning the AI crown.

I will sleep well tonight!

Go Melinda! Go Kiki! Go Jordan! Because the ladies truly rule this year!

Fast Food Day

Here we go again...another day to celebrate something. So today is Fast Food Day. I promise not to write something as strange as I posted last time. Well, maybe I don't quite promise just yet, because I never really know how my posts are going to develop and flow. I guess we'll just have to wing it (pardon the pun re chicken wings).

Now how do we celebrate Fast Food Day? Well, we can go out and gorge ourselves silly on french fries, onion rings and triple sized hamburgers. Chicken wings, ribs, and fries. Triple cheese pizza and ooey gooey Caesar salad.

No? I didn't think so. Me neither. Can't do that.

How about King sized milkshakes made with premium ice cream? No? Me neither.

I guess you can look at it another way as well. You could celebrate the 'Food' part of the day or the 'Fast' part of the day. If you celebrate the 'Food' part then you will certainly go out and gorge. Decision made. Let the puking begin.

If you decide to celebrate the 'Fast' aspect, well you can either hip-hip-hooray at the speed with which your food is flung at you from the order window, a speed so fast that condiments and napkins are not included (takes extra time to do this!). On the other hand, you can avoid the whole scene and 'Fast'....refrain from gorging in any of the fast food (I can hear the mass rumbling of tummies right now). Maybe you want to have a yummy salad (I know, I know....there are no yummy salads....yes there are!). Maybe you just refrain from the fries and have noodles instead. Pass the burger to the next slob and opt for cluck-cluck. Bottled water instead of the milky way shake.

So, what am I doing for Fast Food Day? I am going out for Asian food....probably beef stir fry with Japanese salad and Miso soup.

So, Happy Fast Food Day, and remember.....

'Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.'

I'm loving it............NOT!

It's Friday the 13th and also........

Blame Someone Else Day (aka Not Me or Dunno!).

Yes, it's Friday the 13th. Time to pull out the scary movies and stomp all over them to let the demons of this day know that we are not afraid. Trash those old VCR copies. Bay at the moon.

Now, would I go so far as to suggest that you step on all those sidewalk cracks or walk under ladders? Probably not. That would be unfair and surely tempting the demons of today. But go ahead....dance the spooky dance....shiver your timbers....but please, no 6-foot crucifixes indicating that others are in the presence of martyrs.

While we are swirling to the beat of the demon dance, we must also pay homage to the fact that it is Blame Someone Else Day. This is a truly momentous occasion. And don't tell me that you have no one else to blame something on. Everybody does. We all have that special someone, just waiting to be blamed.

Who left the toilet seat up ---- Dunno!
Who left the margarine out all night? ---- Not Me!
Who peed in the bathtub? ---- meow (not me!)
Who left their smelly gym gear in the closed bag? ---- dunno!
Who put the empty milk carton back in the fridge? ---- Not Me!
Who's pukey is this at the bottom of the stairs? ---- meow (not me!)

Not Me and Dunno are popular people. They have their own distinct personalities, but their job in life is to be blamed. The objects of our affections.

I could go on and on with possibilities....my mind swirls.

In any case, Happy Friday the 13th AND have a Happy BIOSE Day.....

Today is Look Up At The Sky Day

Bet you never heard of that eh? Neither did I. But, I learned of this momentous event, and thought that it was a worthy topic for a blog.

So exactly what do you do for Look Up At The Sky Day? Well, perhaps you could start by looking up at the sky. What do you see? What did I see? I saw nothing but clouds...many many clouds, a pure white sky containing clouds that all suspiciously look as though they might contain more snow (seeing as we had quite a blizzard here last night....the snow had hit the high road by the time we got up).

What else do you see when you look up at the sky? Do you see shapes in the clouds? Maybe where you live, you are seeing stars right now. Maybe you are watching lightning striking across the sky.

So, as the Friendly Giant used to say 'Look up....look waaaay up'. You never know what you're going to see.

Happy LUATSD!

Frozen Croppings

You thought I made a typo didn't you...croppings instead of droppings? Heh. Well, I didn't. But I am frozen. And so are my croppings. Scarp croppings that is. I am unable to move forward. It's not a serious thing either, so no need to get excited.

A little background.

I mentioned that I started scrapbooking cards. This is something that I really enjoy doing. It may not always be appreciated, but it is a form of therapy for me. Creative expression. I also mentioned how I wanted to put my Dad's WW2 photos into a scrapbook. That is still my intention.

I have the photos all sorted.
I have a format.
I have text.
I have the album (a nice textured one).
I have the nice patterned paper.
I have the plastic pages.
I have the little sticky photo corners.
I have ideas.
I got it all, baby.

But I am stuck. I am afraid to make the first of anything on the nice paper. The first glue, the first cut....anything! I am afraid that the end product will look shoddy.....and I haven't even started yet. I am afraid that when it is complete, people will look at it and not really give a hoot.

Now, this is all probably stemming from the fact that I have only been using Scrapbooking for Dummies, so I have no confidence whatsoever. I haven't really had any instructional sessions. This would certainly ease me out of my fear of starting. My friend told me today to just start. I thought 'okay...I'll just start'.

I ended up making a card instead.

It's almost like the card has such a small canvas to work within, and it's so much easier and quicker to create something. I don't know.

Maybe this weekend I'll be able to make the first dent in the scrapbook, but for now I have to figure out exactly how I am going to get to that point.

(if only the world problems could be like this, eh?)

My Guest Blogger Makes an Easter Appearance

Last month, I had featured something called Guest Post Saturday.

Seeing as it is Saturday once again, my Guest Blogger is being featured for a special post. We hope you enjoy it.

*SHIVER*

It is dark...

The sky is partly cloudy....the odd star peeks through the clouds...

It is cold...the temperature is well below freezing...

Light snow is falling...in spite of the broken cloud cover it never stops...

An uncertain wind shifts around from all directions...blowing the snow into little April drifts on the ground...

My hair is stiff with snow, frozen into odd spiky tufts that crunch when I run my hand through it...

We've been out here for hours, hardly moving...it's about one o'clock in the morning...

The forest around us is quiet, no other sound except what the four of us are making ourselves...

My exposed skin feels cold as death...how much longer can we take this?...

I reach for the container and take a short drink from it...it's a wonder it hasn't frozen already as there's a crust of ice around the top...

We wait....

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Finally, as two of us are falling asleep, one of us can't take it anymore....

"I don't think I can stay out here any longer", says Norm, to my left.

"I don't think I can either", I reply.

"Can you bring in some of the beer bottles?, he asks.

"Sure, no problem" I say.

I climb out of the 104degF hot tub and scramble into my sandals and a towel and make for the house as the snow overflows onto my feet. "Dammit, it's cold", I say to myself, "but I wouldn't have missed this for the world!". Too bad you can only stay in a hot tub for just so long...indoors or out.

Life is good.

Happy Easter everyone!

Yes, I Scream At My TV

I did just that last night. I screamed and screamed at my TV, but I won't divulge which TV program I was screaming at. I'll let you guess. Oh, and another thing....I will NOT be blogging about a 'certain' TV program until the right decision is made. Again, I'll let you guess which particular TV program, although you probably know.

ANTM saw another lady go home. This one I think was justified. And, at least my favourites are still in....for now....thank goodness it's Tyra and company who make the decision and not the public.

On a hoppier note, and seeing as Easter is approaching, Skittles posted about a blog that is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt Easter Egg Hunt. It's a really neat idea, and fun, so you might want to try it.

The weather here is quite blowy and snowy, certainly not what I had in mind for an Easter weekend. However, we are visiting with friends on the weekend, and they have a hot tub! I think it's going to be really cool to sit in the tub with the snow falling all around us. Can't wait.

Also, the organization freak has a Daytimer devotes to scrapbooking projects. I am using it to keep track of ideas etc.

WooHoo! Today I hit 4500 on my ticker. That's a pretty okay thing I think.

Have fun with the Egg Hunt....

Wordless Wednesday #6

Truly Scrapbooking

Over the Christmas holidays, I fell in love - with scrapbooking. My SIL, whose link I have posted on my sidebar, introduced me to making scrapbooked cards, and helped me to get set up with enough materials to get me started. Until now, I have been making my own cards for various events. Depending on the type of card, I can spend anywhere from a half hour to a couple of hours making these.

I have progressed.

I am now attempting my very first real scrapbook. You see, I inherited all of the photos that once belonged to my parents. Photos of them before they were married. Photos of me when I was born (what a cutey!). I also have a collection of photos from World War II. My Dad is pictured in many of the pics, as are some of my uncles, and my maternal Granmpa. So, I purchased the Scrapbooking for Dummies book, and this has become my new bedtime friend. It has an enormous amount of useful information, enough to get me started with an album, sheet protectors, and some lovely back paper. I also started to sort through all of the pictures, trying to get them into some theme to carry throughout the book. So, now I have a plan worked out, as well as some journalling to go along with the pics. I have also been transcribing the scripts that are on the backs of the photos. These will be incorporated with the pics, using a nice font and cool cardstock. I also need to mount the photos on some backing with corner mounts.

Obsessed? Yes!!!! and hooked.

Next year there's a scrapbooking cruise....gosh what I wouldn't give to go on that!

A Cute and Easy Tag

My SIL has tagged me with a cute little meme, whereby I have been asked to list 5 things that I can call an obsession. I am to tag five people to do the same.

Five things I can admit to being obsessed with:

1. Handbags (and I just got a new one yesterday!)


2. Our kitties (mwah!)


3. Scrapbooking (into cards, and have just started to tackle an actual scrapbook)


4. Exercise (Les Mils Body classes rule!)


5. Organizing (anything and everything)

I now tag the following people to follow suit:
Jeni,
Terry,
The Post College Years,
Skittles' Place,
La Tomate

What to do with a Meme: Copy the questions into a new post and answer them. Tag some different bloggers. Go back and let the person who tagged you know that you did it.

always....have fun!.....

America Voted....

Bye bye Mr. Chris Sligh. Neat personality, but things just didn't click I guess.

Here is my revised list from Favourite to Least Favourite:

Melinda Doolittle


LaKisha Jones


Blake Lewis


Gina Glocksen


Jordan Sparks



Chris Richardson


Phil Stacey


Haley Scarnato


Sanjaya Malakar


Notice that I have not said a word. I am being tolerant, while biting my lower lip.

Coming to a TV Station Near You

Today is elimination day on American Idol. We all know what will happen. A certain somebody will remain on the show, to irritate us for yet another week. This is not my hope, but merely a prediction. The HWH (Humans With Hearing) group will lose out yet again, and the Fanjayas will rule. pfffft.

So, while on this thread, my fellow blooger and I were discussing the Sanjaya guy, and what will happen, and about the YouTubes that are floating about. We also discussed how some of the past contestants from AI seasons have gone on to appear on various TV shows. I came up with some possibilities for the pony-hawk guy.

I think there would be openings on Deedlebops (he certainly has the hair and the dance steps down), the Red Green show (okay, this one is a stretch, but still a possibility), and possibly even the Teletubbies (oh yeah).

Now, I have to confess something. The kid can sing. He has ability, but his sister was better than he was. AI is just not where he should be. And when he grows up, maybe some nice cruise ship will hire him to entertain at the piano bar.

I Laughed So Hard I ....

I turned on my computer tonight, and began reading through a melange of comments.....and I am laughing.

Now, I managed to get over the laughter that resulted from having viewed Sanjaya Malakar's hairstyle...the seven ponytails, thus defining a pony-hawk....*groan*. He must really be desperate to have to garner attention via the old hairdo trap. Anyway, enough of that. Maybe he'll finally go home tomorrow.

But back to the reason for my laughter. Your comments! About our wee possible mousy friend, who may be a Momma, who may be using our attic as the local rodent drop-in-center, so that she can drop out her litters. My Sweetie heard the tcht-tcht-tcht-tcht noise again last night (I always do that special sound effect for the benefit of Skittles, who seems to really really like it.. I've been spared. But the Pest Guy (actually the Pest Lady) will be coming on Friday to inspect the attic, and find out what kinds of parties have been going on up there. Now, this also gives me the creeps. I am not a big fan of creepy basements (you know the kind...the dark and scary kinds of basements, where no one would ever dare tread OR set up a Sensurround entertainment center...or a couch) and I have to confess that I have never been up into any our our attics, so the thought of this chick coming here on Friday, and braving our attic has me a little freaked. I mean, can you say eee yew! p.s. - I will not be viewing this current attic either. It will just have to remain one of those little unsolved mysteries.

Now, when I was little, I saw a bat. It took shelter in one of our Christmas decoration boxes that we used to store in the shed (not the kind of shed that people use today). When we brought the box inside, we heard scratching noises. My Dad peeked in side the box, quickly closed it up, and took it to the back of the house. He turned the box upside down, and we saw huge wings open up to allow the body to fly away. Creepy. ..bats are pretty freaky.

I also hope it's not a rat. I've handled lab rats in university as part of an Experimental Psychology course, but the kind that live in attic are nowhere near as cute, or trained. Thanks Silver.

Your comments about the Label re-rant also have me tittering. Labels on thongs? Gosh, there's not a lot of places to actually PUT a label, so if there were any they'd kinda be right there, well you know where there is. Itchy or what? Can you say diaper rash!

Anyway, I think I am done here tonight. I am also done with Dancing with the Stars. I watched it last week, and wasn't THAT enthralled with it. But I PVRd it for this week, to see if it would grab me, but it still didn't grab my attention, save for waiting for Heather Mills prosthetic leg to go flying off during the Fox Trot, which it didn't.

I think I'm done here.

Nite.
tcht-tcht-tcht-tcht

All Over My Head: Revisited

The tcht-tcht-tcht noise is back again. See All Over My Head. This time, I am not the one who heard it. The tcht-tcht-tcht animal made its presence known to My Sweetie. In fact, the noise woke him up last night (not I...I who sleeps through earthquakes and thunderstorms). In fact, as I write this, he is on the phone with the pest people to try to determine what type of vicious animal is making the noise.

Personally, I don't want to know, or see, the evil being. I can hear parts of the conversation, to the tune of 'have you gone up in the attic?'....are they stupid or something? I wouldn't go up there if there was a million dollar reward waiting for me....wait...on second thought, I might. But, seriously, does either of us really want to go up there and view dead bodies strewn around the attic floor? i think not!

I'd much prefer flinging holy water or something up there, or performing a demon eviction.....exorcising ....of said animal.

hmmmm...a horrible thought just crossed my mind. What if the tcht-tcht-tcht is the same tcht-tcht-tcht that I heard back in November, except now the beast has had babies???


eeeeeeek!

Label Rant: The Sequel

Many months ago, I posted pseudo-rant about Those Little Labels. Well, I am here to revisit that rant once again.

The other night, we were frequenting one of our favourite local places. I had worn one of my favourite turtlenecks, which I had thought were itch-free. I was wrong. It was not. Part way through the evening, I started to feel this little picky itch at the back of my neck. Picky itches are not my favourite. They seem to flare up and then disappear, but they don't totally disappear. They recur and recur, like an annoying fly that wants to have a chunk of your dinner. So, the picky itch starts, and you scratch it. Then the picky itch starts again, and you again scratch it.

So, for the most part. I tolerated as much as I could of this picky itch thing. I even had My Sweetie perform emergency surgery on my sweater to eradicate the nervy little bugger.

When I arrived home that evening, I got out my stitch riper, and tried to remove the remaining edges of the offending label. Do you know that I had a dickens of a time trying to grab a piece of the stitching which would then allow the remainder of the label to separate from the sweater? It was a task and a half I tell you.

Now, I can understand that companies have to get their brand on articles. That's okay. But there are some pretty nifty companies out there who have mastered the art of the picky itchless label. It's like a label that is ironed into the fabric, but there is no stitching or actual label that you can feel. It's like an invisible label, sort of. Very cool, and itch-free....invisible to the touch.

Anyway, I think I need to go and spend more time with my stitch-ripper, and continue eliminating my clothing of those irritating labels, because as sure as God made little green apples, one day I'll be out somewhere, and the old picky itch will return.



p.s. - I have never had this problem with underwear labels.....now why is that I wonder?

Friday's Feast - One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Friday, March 23, 2007
Feast One Hundred & Thirty-Six

Appetizer
Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why?

Peter Mansbridge, because he's always cool, calm, and collected. Here's a linky (because I liked La Tomate's linky.....Peter Mansbridge

Soup
Name 3 foods that are currently in your freezer.

Weight Watchers meals, frozen fruit, frozen bread.

Salad
If you were to have the opportunity to name a new town or city, what would you call it?

Tinsletown

Main Course
What will most likely be the next book you read?

Odd Thomas by Stephen King Dean Koontz (DOH...and mercis to Selena and Joseph)

Dessert
What's the first thing you notice about the opposite gender?

Now, we'll be 25 years married, and I always notice My Sweetie and his associated parts. But, if by chance there is something interesting to look at in the way of the opposite gender, and sometimes that happens (ie the gym), I notice the butt and legs...then I look at the whole package to see if the definition is spread accordingly.

Seriously!

ABOUT THE FEAST
While our questions may sometimes be related to food, the main idea here is to feed your mind by asking thought-provoking, mind-stimulating questions. Each Friday when you visit this meme, you will find 5 enticing courses for your mind to gobble up:
Appetizer
- a quick, tasty morsel to get you started
Soup
- smooth and warm to soothe your mind
Salad
- a nutritious blend of "veggies"
Main Course
- a hearty portion that is sure to satisfy
Dessert
- light concoction for your sweet tooth

Oooo That Tongue!

Tonight will host another American Idol boot-off. Who will it be? Let's all scratch out heads in unison, shall we, or at least pull our collective thoughts together in an attempt to think the lucky person 'off'.

Now, granted, they all stepped up, and as you will see at the end of my post, I have my ultra-faves, and they haven't let me down yet. But come on...that tongue on Sanjaya! And the low slung halter top on Haley? My my!

We are constantly reminded that this is a singing competition, and by all rights it is, but I don't think that anyone doesn't watch the show. What I mean by this is that no one listens to the show without the visual. Let's face it....we need that visual. I tried to actually listen to some of the competitors while not looking at them, and it's pretty darn hard to do. In fact, it's somewhat painful, and I kept peeking!

Try it...you won't like it!

So, with that, I leave you my Faves and Fave-Nots (in no particular order):

FAVES
Blake Lewis

Chris Richardson
Author's Post Show Comment => Chris should NOT have been in this week's bottom 2!

Gina Glocksen

Jordan Sparks

LaKisha Jones

Melinda Doolittle

Stephanie Edwards
Author's Post Show Comment => Stephanie should NOT Have GONE HOME tonight! She shouldn't have been in this week's bottom 2 either! What were those 30 million voters watching last night?!?


FAVE-NOTS
Chris Sligh

Haley Scarnato

Phil Stacey

Sanjaya Malakar
Author's Post Show Comment => What is this guy still doing here?!?


p.s. - that sobbing little girl in the audience is lucky that someone doesn't vote her off.

Your Cell, My Cell, Which Cell??

A real conversation which took place the other day. I was trying to place a call on my cell phone.

ME: 'Hello?'
THEM: 'Where are you?'
*notice there was no 'hello'*

ME: 'Pardon me?'
THEM: 'Where are you?'
*again note the lack of hello or any other excused niceties*

ME: 'What do you mean where are you? Who are you?'
THEM: 'What?'

ME: 'Who are you?'
THEM: 'Why?'

ME: 'Because I think you have the wrong number AND I think our cells got crossed as you and I were both dialing out at the same time.'
THEM: *click*

Ain't the world such a polite place these days?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Chilly Willy wishes everyone a fantastic Top O' the Morning to all! Wee hee it's here! One of my favourite days of the year!

I love this time of year. Always have. I get to celebrate the Irish side of my ancestry, and that is always special for me. Ever since I was a little girl, my Mom would send me to school with green ribbons and bows. Each year, I get to reflect on St. Paddy's Day of years gone by. Like the following little story.

Way back in the dinosaur years, I was a studying engineering in Montreal, thus hanging with the engineering crowd (a totally crazy bunch). It was getting close to St. Patrick's Day, and I mentioned how cool it would be to enter the engineering mascot car as a float in the parade. It was a flip comment, but someone picked up on it and actually entered the car as a float.

A little background.

The mascot car was a 1957 Studebaker chassis....no body, no doors, no windows...stripped to the inner workings. Sometimes the thing ran and sometimes it didn't, but it was always used at hockey games etc. Oh....there was one other thing. On the back of the things was an outhouse.

So parade day arrived, and so did we....dressed in hard hats and lab coats. We had green streamers, green toilet paper, green everything....and the outhouse was completely filled with beer.

The parade got started. Now, before the floars actually entered the main street, they all had to pass by the Parade Marshall who would review each float and sing high praise.

We arrived at the Parade Marshall.

We didn't hear high praise.

Instead we heard that we were being thrown out of the parade. To quote 'An outhouse has no place in the Saint Patrick's Day parade....you're out!'.

We were stunned. We had more green on us than anyone else. We had high spirits (pardon pun) and were having a blast (pardon pun).

But now we were out.

And the car wouldn't start.

So, we had to have the chassis chained to the truck that transported all of us, and the beer, to the parade, and get towed off the street.

With a little tinkering, someone was able to get the car started again. We dodged the marshall, and got onto another street, and told someone that we were lost. We bypassed the Parade Marshall and got back in the parade....for a bit.

We were thrown out again by a policeman who noticed that the car wasn't licenced (did I forget that little detail?).....'OUT!' he said.

So, we were out again....but not down. We went around another street, and managed to get back into the parade again. This time we stayed until the end. People knew of the university and the outhouse on wheels, and were cheering and happy to see it in the parade. We were thrilled to be back.

All was good.

Then , at the end of the parade, the Canadian reserves were regrouping, and the Head fellow, maybe Sargent or whatever, looked at us and said...quote 'a fine lot of dirty looking buggers you are. Couldn't even get dressed up for the Saint Patrick's Day parade!'

But he was wrong. We were dressed up. This was our regular garb....lab coats and hard hats. Tools of the trade.

I guess none of them 'got it'.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day.....erin go bragh.....

I Missed Potato Chip Day....and Pi Day

Like the pic? If you click on it, it will take you to where I found it. A gorgeous little site really.

So, what the heck am I talking about again? Well, remember the other day, when I wrote about these daily ideas that I get in an email, and I wrote about Alfred Hitchcock Day, because someone decided that the day was deemed as such? Well, yesterday was Potato Chip Day / Pi Day.

I have no idea how that day came to be PP Day, but I'm a sport and will go along. Perhaps you'll play along with me.

Potato Chip Day is not something that I would celebrate anyway. Normally, these little greasy, fatty, artery encrusting morsels don't enter my shopping cart or my home. But, every once in awhile, a little bag of Miss Vickie's might whisper my name. Never one to ignore a whisper, I respond....but only for that moment. Then I am back on plan. I would have gotten that out of my system. Now, it could be Crispy Minis Day, then I would celebrate....especially if it were the popcorn flavoured Crispy Minis. I adore those. My ultimate favourite.

The best time to eat these tasty little low fat snack is during the time that I travel home from the gym. This is the time just before dinner, so I have worked out and am always famished.....in fact shoe leather sometimes looks interesting to eat (and that is what My Sweetie refers to Crispy Minis as....shoe leather, cardboard). Nonetheless, that little container filled with 28 grams of minis is enough to keep me sane until I can get home to eat.

Pi Day. Hmmm. My best recollection of Pi is from my old Advanced Engineering math days, and earlier Calculus days. Remember Pi times R squared, where Pi had a value equal to 3.14 or, to be more exact, 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679. There is also a neat little link that I found which has 70 interesting facts about Pi Fun and Interesting Facts About Pi

Oh, and for anyone who watched Beauty and the Geek last season, one of the geeks could actually rattle off all of the Pi digits. More information that you really needed to know, right?

Zowie Batman!

I am over the 4000 mark on my side ticker. Yay! You sure wouldn't know it from the number of comments that I receive. Must be a large number of blurkers I assume.

That's ok too.

Not much to blog today. Had to work on some HTML for my volunteer stuff, and it was a number crunching day at work.

However, I certainly didn't miss American Idol tonight, nor did I miss ANTM (glad Diana is still in though).

But, I have only these words to say regarding the American Idol vote:

I don't believe it.

Alfred Hitchcock Day!

What's that you say? You didn't know it was Alfred Hitchcock Day today? What's the matter with you? Everybody knows it's Alfred Hitchcock Day today! Right?

Wrong!

Somebody made that up, and I received this in an email, so, because I am utterly idealess today, and suffering DST adjustment, and because my Guest Blogger is fretting about posting, I am going to go with the Alfred Hitchcock Day idea.

Now, I don't have a fancy icon or logo for this extra special day. All I have is a neato cool picture of Alfred Hitchcock, and a list of his movies. Actually, this link is probably the most comprehensive collection of information available Alfred Hitchcock on IMDB

Now, I remember watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and being scared out of my pyjamas. He also produced some memorable movies, and for me some of those were The Birds, Psycho, Marnie (and he always appeared in each of his movies). Now, I believe, Alfred Hitchcock Presents still runs on some select TV stations.

And, all of this can be yours on DVD!

Happy AH Day!

Customer Service is On Lunch Break

Warning to readers! This is a mini rant. Read at your own peril.

Customer Service does not exist in my world. There are no Customer Service reps in my world. They don't exist anymore. They have gone the way of the dinosaur. Customer Service hasn't existed for quite some time. At least such was my experience the other day which left me scratching my head in wonderment.

A little background.

I needed information regarding the type of information that a certain field required. The form had contact information, who I assumed would be able to assist with my question. So, the first conversation went something like this:

"The First Call"
Customer Service #1 (CS1): "Hello can I help you?"
Me (ME): "Yes, I need assistance with something on the xxx form."
CS1: "What kind of help do you need?"
ME: "Well, I am trying to find out what type of information should be entered into one of the fields."
CS1: "I'm sorry but I cannot tell you that information."
ME: *stunned by this answer*
ME: "You can't tell me what kind of information is supposed to be entered in the form?"
CS1: "No, we are not allowed to disclose that information."
ME: "But how am I supposed to find out? I am not expecting you to tell me what dollar figures to enter, but I'm looking for clarification."
CS1: "I'm sorry but I cannot help with this. You need to call this other company."
ME: "So you don't know what the field requirements are? Or you can't tell me."
CS1: "You need to call this other company."
ME: "Okay, fine...give me the number."
CS1: "Here's the number x-xxx-xxx-xxxx."
ME: "Thx" *sighing, fuming, and still stunned*

The subsequent conversation went something like this:

"The Second Call"
Customer Service #2 (CS2): "Yes, can I help you."
ME: *here we go again*
ME (ME): *for sake of brevity, I proceed to recount my previous conversation to THIS rep. I hear a lot of dead air, and wonder if I have been speaking martian language. So I wait.
CS2: "You need to speak with a financial advisor for that information. We need to open a file for you."
ME: *still bewildered, but I agree*. "Okay."

Now, here is where it gets bizarre. She starts asking for my vital information, and account password information. My antenna went up (as did my blood pressure).
ME: "Excuse me, but why are you asking for all of this information?"
CS2: "This is to better serve you. A financial advisor will contact you."
ME: "But I am not asking for financial help. I need someone to explain the requirements of a field on a form. That's all. The field has no guidance or explanation. No user help."
CS2: *air*
CS2: "Oh"
CS2: "I am sorry. I did not understand you. You need to call this other company."
ME: "I just did and they sent me to you."
CS2: "Then I am sorry. No one can help you."

So, to sum it up, no one could help me. They were forbidden to disclose information. They plainly didn't know. So I left both of these calls, having wasted about an hour of MY time, AND not having received any sort of assistance.

However, before I was able to hang up, I was asked to complete a customer sat survey.

*stunned* - why would someone ask for a customer sat on something where the customer wasn't satisfied?????

So I replied in the affirmative, and completed the survey.

Judging from the above conversations, how do you think they ranked??? hmmm????

ARGGHHHHHH!

American Idyll Voters Do It Again

Well, I think it's going to be a trying season on American Idyll if the voters continue to vote the way they did tonight. Sending Antonnella and Jared home was expected. Antonnella probably should have gone home last week, but what's a week more or less.

But, sending Sabrina and Sundance home, and keeping Sanjaya and Haley to make it to the Top 12?? What was with that? (I think I said that in another Idyll post). What program were they watching the past two nights (the past two weeks for that matter)?

As Simon said, the volume wasn't turned up......

.....and the elevators don't reach the top floor.

Today is International Women's Day

Happy IWD to all of my lady bloggers!

This is our day to shine. Our day to stand up and be counted. Our day for us tigresses to scream the Helen Reddy song 'I Am Woman Hear Me Roar!'.
*BEWARE EAR WORM*

So, what does this mean to you?

Too Many Things

Too many things going on....things that are distracting me from blogging. Didn't want you to think that I have run away to Italy or England or Cuba or something. No, no. Still here. Now, there's a few things going on here.

First, I woke up yesterday with a stiff neck. Grrr. I hate that. Throughout the day yesterday, I was trying to loosen it up, but nothing worked. I managed to go to my BodyPump class, which I love, but the class was totally harder than normal, especially the squats, lunges, and clean-and-press...because I was having difficulty getting the loaded bar up and off my shoulders. So, when class was over, and I arrived home, I remembered that I had this neck soother (no, not My Sweetie, although he did try the old Vulcan death grip to try and release the knot of pain)......a little cushion, filled with scented herbs, and shaped to fit around the neck. You pop this sucker in the micro for 2 minutes, place it around your neck, and it works wonders. I did that throughout today, and the neck is much better...even had a good BodyAttack class.

........and CoCo kitty now thinks the neck soother is a great thing, because she is resting on it....*sigh*.

Secondly, TV has a grip on me. Let's go through the list with a star rating, shall we:
American Idol (* * * * *)
=====> This season is totally 5 star...especially the ladies....and, as Randy would say, the ladies blow it out the box....and they did tonight, again.

America's Next Top Model (so far * * * *)
=====> I don't know about this season yet. The marine boot camp thing was kind of strange, and Tyra doing the boot camp thing was kind of strange. I hope things get better though, because I really like this show. Oh, and that Natasha chick is driving me a little crazy. And Renee.....complain, complain, complain. But, I'd like to have all of those hair products...and that pool.

Survivor: Fiji (* * * * *)
=====> Always Excellent.....I am a die hard Survivor fan...no matter what.

Amazing Race: All Stars (* * * * *)
=====> So, Rob and Amber are trying for another million, or rather, Amber is trying for another million, and Rob will at least have earned his share this time, rather than marrying the million. Oh, Charla and Mirna....aieeee!

So that's the way it is....catch you tomorrow night for AI elimination round....and Survivor.....ciao.

Manic Monday - My 2nd one - Blow

Manic Monday Word for Monday March 5th, 2007:

Blow!

Winter in Ontario. Enjoy!




MANIC MONDAY INFORMATION

What is Manic Monday?
A multi-blogger meme, in the spirit of Wordless Wednesday, Thursday 13, Friday Feast, and Photo Hunters Saturday.

How to participate?
Visit It's A Blog Eat Blog World any time between 5pm Friday Evening and Sunday night to discover Monday's theme word. This will be a word with multiple definitions.

Use one of the definitions to inspire your Manic Monday Post (perhaps a photograph, a story, a joke, or a stream of consciousness paragraph inspired by the word).

Be creative, and have fun with it.

Linking back to It's A Blog Eat Blog World and using Mr.Linky boxes are encouraged!

Remembering

In memory of my loving Mother and best friend,
who was united with my Father two years ago today.
Always in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.
Lovingly missed and remembered.
3/4/2007.

No More Tales from the Trenches

There was a little book that I read many years ago called Who Moved My Cheese . It was written in the days when big companies were just starting to become more involved in reorganization and outsourcing (and we all know how that turned out). So, after I read that book, I knew that the moving cheese could be applied at any time.

You can get reorged out of a position.

Your favourite aerobics instructor leaves, and you are not very happy with the replacement.

Your hair dresser packs it in, and leaves you high and dry without a hair dryer.

You get the picture.

Well, the cheese has moved once again. Mairin, who has (had?) a blog called Tales from the Trenches and Other Musings, has decided to take a wee break, and put her blogging activities on hold for awhile, and I am sad. We had developed a rapport, and I will miss reading her stories.

Now, I can't even leave her a message, because her blog is closed, so I have to leave her intended messages at my own blog....*sniff*. Almost like writing to myself. But that's okay, because that is what I used to do in my paper journal....write to myself. Who else was going to read it?

answer = NOBODY

The good side to this is that she said that she would still visit from time to time, and I hope that she does.

We share the same first name.

We share a love of fitness.

We share a home town.

So, Mairin, please take all the time that you need, and I hope that you return to the blogging world.....soon.


Á bientôt....I'm keeping you on my sidebar...just in case....k?

American Yodel

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge American Idol fan (and yes, Canadian Idol). I never miss a night (thanks to my Beloved PVR). But I'll tell ya, tonight I am a person left stunned by one of the results. If I recall, this happened last year too, when some of my favourites unbelievably got voted off, and I was left in dismay.....didn't matter in the end because TAYLOR won it, and so I was immensely thrilled.

But tonight? AJ?

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? WHAT WERE THESE VOTERS LISTENING TO? They couldn't have been watching American Idol! No way!

yodel

Maybe I was tuned into the wrong show or something.

Sanjaya stays and AJ goes......hrumph. Not happy.

The show had been going a little strange all evening, so I should have known that things were going to go down a strange path. The Alaina sniffle fest was the beginning of the end. Then Kelly Pickler (who I also used to adore) came out looking like Dolly Parton! Holey moley.

I don't know how the rest of the show is going to end up, but I guess that's one of the risks when the public gets to have their say.

Bye AJ....you were one of my top picks.
*sniffle fest*