Tag!

It has been a long time since I have dine this. Fellow bloggers, I have been tagged by Sue's Blog

You are all familiar with the drill. Answer the following 10 questions and then tag 6 other bloggers.

1. Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds. Pure and simple.


2. What was the last movie you saw?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off


3. What do you eat for breakfast?

OJ, and tea are the mainstays. It then varies from oatmeal to cereal mix to English muffin and peanut butter.


4. What is the second first name on your birth certificate?

Ann


5. What are the foods you would never eat?

Oysters...olives


6. Coffee or tea?

Tea


7. If you were a colour, which one would it be?

Yellow


8. Who was the last person you spoke on the phone to?

A friend.


9. What is your favorite day of the week?

Wednesday...I always like to have something to look forward to...the end of the week.


10. If you could take off on a plane today, where would you go?

Hawaii

I now tag the following blogger folks:
My Spirit's Journey
Skittles' Place
Dork-O-Rama: The Random Thoughts of a Total Goofball
Down River Drivel
The Quarter Life Chronicles
Calabar Gal

I Am A Home Owner!!!

I just bought my first house...on my own. ...just me and the Agent.

...and I am ecstatic!!!!

......over the moon ecstatic!!!

This is the first time that I will be living alone and on my own. This is a new experience for me, but I feel as though I am being guided throughout this process....perhaps through past experience, or maybe just through faith, but wherever that assistance is coming from, it is making me a stronger person.

There had been much hunting prior to this little gem, and I viewed some pretty bad properties, but yesterday I found my space...my deal. I knew from the moment that I stepped on the outside steps that this felt right...and I was not disappointed when I went inside. It felt warm and inviting, cozy and comfortable. I felt connected.

It is a small detached bungalow, also referred to as a Vet's house...homes which were built during the War time for the Veteran's who came back from the war. My parents had an opportunity to buy one of these homes when my Dad returned from WWII, but they never followed through. I guess that I am fulfilling that.

The house has a front porch, which is also a entry mud room.


The living room has a gas fireplace, 2 windows and another teeny window.


The living room leads to the kitchen, a sweet little kitchen with 2 windows, 3 appliances, and a side door to the private driveway and detached garage.

(Note that I can see the entire house from the kitchen!!).


The kitchen, of course, leads to the cozy dining room.


There is one bathroom, a bedroom which will be my office.

The highlight, for me, is the Master which has an entire wall of patio doors which open out to the HUGE backyard, complete with beautiful big trees.



The basement is a full basement that is partially finished, but which has loads of storage space (but I really wish they would leave the punching equipment :)))


When I said that this was THE deal for me, I wasn't kidding. Everything has been done....new CAC, new roof, new windows and doors, new floors, new furnace, nicely painted.

The place is only waiting for me to 'bring it'....and I plan to.

Wish me luck!

Lent 2009

Lent is upon us. It happens every year, right after Shrove Tuesday, starting on Ash Wednesday, as a pre-cursor to Easter.

Quote "a period of 40 days that Christians observe before Easter. During Lent, Christians imitate Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for 40 days before his trial and crucifixion. It is a time of soul-searching, fasting and repentance. It is a time when Christians pause and refresh their souls."

As a youngster in a Catholic school, this meant that we observed Lent, and went to church for Ash Wednesday (and were so proud of the Ash imprint on our foreheads)a regular part of going to a Catholic school. We had been blessed.

As an adult, these teachings harbored a place in my being, and Observing Lent has always been something that I did....that is to say that I gave up some vice.

But, since I do not have a lot of vices, it becomes more difficult each year to find something to give up. One year it was chocolate (THAT nearly drove me crazy!). One year it was peanut butter (also nearly drove me insane). This year it is coffee and french fries. Not too bad, right?

I need to clarify. I am not a big coffee drinker, in fact I have one tea in the morning, and I used to have an instant cappuccino coffee in the afternoon (you know the one...the little packets to which you add boiling water). Not a biggy, but by 3PM, I usually look forward to that hot capp.

The french fries are maybe a weekly treat that I enjoy with my Happy Meal....*sniff*...now those I will miss, for the time being anyway.

Now, in retrospect, giving up these little things is really just that....little. Some people have nothing, and can hardly afford any luxuries or extra amenities.

My sacrifice is small in comparison.

Tini's

There's a practice happening around town which seems to be pretty popular nowadays. Special and personal 'tini' drinks. I don't recall this being a happening thing until recently. A couple of friends have celebrated milestone birthdays, and these 'special' drinks were served at the party....I guess the idea is to make some concoction of various alcohols, when blended together yield a martini of some sort....hence a Lynn-tini, a Carol-tini, a Barbara-tini.

I am not sure how popular my Mau-tini would be. It wouldn't have any alcohol in it.

Grammy-Phone me would ya?

Every year I tune in to The Grammy's. Been watching them for as long as I can remember getting into music. I remember as a child, before the days of PVRs and VCRs, I would sit as close to the TV as I possibly could, just so that I wouldn't miss anything. Nowadays, Ilook for my faves to make an appearance, that is unless they have gone to the big Grammy-Phone in the sky. Paul McCartney is still rocking as is Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson. Of course, there are many new performers on the scene.....rappers, hip hop, blues, rock. Some of the rapper and hip hop types I even recognize, and like, from my BodyJam classes. Way cool.

Last night, there were 2 highlights for me. One was Sugarland, starring Jennifer Nettles. She has a magnificent set of pipes. Sad song, but what a voice. Now, I am not a country fan, but I do like this....


The other was Robert Plant and Alison Krauss who walked away with a boat load of Grammy awards. Now, while they did not perform the following, it has to be my favourite at the moment.....Please Read the Letter


Happy listening....cheers.

The Whole Tone Has Changed

When I wrote my last post, A New Year, A New Direction, I wrote that regarding my personal life. That new direction also seems to apply with the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It is not my place as a Canadian to yay or nay American politics (though I must say that I absolutely adore President Obama), but I did want to comment on the change of tone that is detected in the air. With the previous government out, and the new government in, there is a whole new feeling in the air. Definitely a feeling of hope. A feeling of change. A feeling of inclusion. But mostly a fresh feeling....fresh new faces who are willing to get started to make changes.

With this fresh feeling, I was also struck with a reminiscent feeling...reminiscent of the Kennedy years.

Here's to you Mr.President. Your people are there to support you, and may you have a successful reign.

A New Year, A New Direction

It's probably too late for Happy New Year wishes, and if I wait long enough, I could probably sum up all of the year's wishes into one blog post. But, as with every other year, the same holiday celebrations happen every year, so what does it really matter anyway.

I haven't been here lately, because I have quite a few things on my plate right now. I also felt the need to re-establish the purpose for me keeping this blog. Re-focus. The title always summed it up for me...It's About Time. It was not intended to be a regular installment of what was happening in my life on a day-to-day basis. Gosh, if it was, you'd all be tremendously bored to tears.

So, this year promises to be a year full of change for me. You guys don't need all of the details, and because of the very personal nature of this, suffice it to say that they will not be published here, but, at the end of it all, I will either go insane or not. Hopefully not though.

So, if you wish to stick with me through this unknown journey, you are welcome to be my guest. It ought to be quite a story.

4th Time Lucky?

Well, mattress number four arrived yesterday. It's a Tempurpedic, meaning that it is a foam mattress that molds to your body impression. I think that it was the first style that I admired, but because of the price, we didn't opt for it. But, when we visited the store for what we hoped was the last time, we decided to go for it...seeing as there were so many problems with every other mattress so far.

Anyway, yesterday was the big arrival day. The truck pulled up, and two burly men carried the new monster into the house. They tried to get it up the stairs, but there was one problem. The mattress was frozen (apparently foam has a tendency of doing that), and that made it impossible to bend it in order to get it upstairs. So the newest baby had to be left on the main floor, in order to thaw, and the delivery people would return today (which they did), after the thaw, in order to get the beast upstairs.

Now, the mattress actually started thawing pretty much immediately, so we decided to get out the sleeping bags and sleep on it anyway. I must admit, it was a pretty comfortable night. Yes, the mattress has a 'smell' (it's a foam smell not a mold smell), but we were aware of this, and we also knew that the smell would dissipate with time.

Happy 2009 everybody! Here's hoping this mattress is 4th time lucky.

Strike Three!!!

This post was certainly not in the cards. I had thought that when we received Mattress #3, that all of the problems would be finished.

Not so!

Mattress #3 smelled as well. I dare not venture into the world of mold, but it would not surprise me at all if this mattress was moldy as well.

What this means is that we are getting yet another new mattress....soon-to-be Mattress #4! Yes, you read it here, Mattress #4. To make things interesting, we have decided to throw all caution to the wind and not exchange the present mattress for a traditional mattress. No. This time we are going out on a limb and try a Tempurpedic mattress. If you want to learn more about this type of mattress, you can find it on the Web, but mostly it is a foam based mattress, also known as memory foam.

We are keeping our fingers crossed on this one, and hope for no more stinky mattresses.

Happy Holidays everybody!

I Am, But I'm Not and I Do, But I Don't

....a whole lot of nothing...........

I love bluegrass, but am not a Country music fan.

I like purple, but not mauve.

I am smell sensitive to women's perfumes, but not to men's colognes.

I collect keychains from every place I've ever visited, but I never use the keychains for keys.

I adore the music of Jakob Dylan, but was never a huge fan of Bob Dylan.

I am a huge Survivor fan, but I could never be on the show because I wouldn't eat bugs!

I am excited to try snorkeling, but I am afraid of fish!

Nighttime sailing is fine, but I am afraid of the dark.

My Mother's Trunk

My Mother had a storage trunk. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a navy blue trunk in which she would store her keepsakes and build her wedding trousseau. Once she was married, her trunk became a repository for important papers, family pictures, and treasures.

Through my childhood, I would get the odd opportunity to peek into the trunk. It always sat in a very inconspicuous spot in the house. Because Mom loved to sew, she had made a special cover for that trunk, and stored extra blankets underneath.

When my Mom passed away, I inherited her trunk. It was carefully moved from her apartment into my house and then to my current house. Because it was, and still is in my mind 'her trunk', and housed her personal possessions, I never felt comfortable going into it. In the past 3 and a half years, I have only gone into it twice....once to locate important papers that were required when she passed away....and a second time, to satisfy my curiosity, and look.

During that second visit, I spent quite a few hours living in her world. I was very careful to put things back where I had found them, almost as if I was afraid that Mom would notice of things were out of place. She had treasures from all of her past....my Grade School report cards, assorted cards for various occasions, old family pictures, clothing from my Christening and babyhood. Aside from the 'things' that she kept, I was keenly aware that she had spent her life storing away the odd memento. Whether she meant it for herself, or for me to find later, these things were collected and stored with love and thought.

I also became aware of where my packrat nature stems from.....and this is a good thing.

Iggy Does It

Right now in Canada, we have a prorogued government, which means they are not sitting in Parliament, acting on behalf of the people (which would be us). The Liberal party has been in a bit of a mess. The other parties are not much better off.

Until today.

Today was the day that Michael Ignatieff made his official debut as the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. I, for one, am thrilled that he has been chosen to lead. He commands a certain presence in person. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him a couple of years ago. He has the charisma, the intelligence, and the backbone that is needed to stand up against this mean-spirited and full-on-attack government.

Go Iggy! We've got your back, as they say.

The Mattress - The Final Chapter

In the mattress complaint department, I feel as though I have written about this before, except that this time we seem to have a happy ending.

For those who are not in-the-know, or who are totally lost, here is a synopsis. We purchased a mattress less than 2 years ago which began to develop a big time sag (hence, mattress #1). I first wrote this initial post about how it's not in my head

That mattress was replaced with a mattress which had a smell (hence, mattress #2). Then, there was a follow-up post it's not in my head-the sequel

Then I wrote about how the saga continues.

This is the final chapter (at least I certainly hope it is) in the saga of the mattresses. We were scheduled to receive mattress #3, and it arrived safe and sound. It is working out fine (so far). There are no sags. There is a smell, but a different smell from the previous mattress. It is comfortable.

I have to add, though, that when mattress #2 was being removed from the house, the movers should have had air masks on. I was not at home to see this, but I was told that the underside of the mattress had black streaks along the bottom (strongly resembling mold, which we all know is not good for us). Gross me out.

So, wish us luck with the new one. So far so good. Maybe it's third time lucky this time.

Looks Like Winter, Feels Like Winter, Must be Winter

That title should say it all, but it does not. It's not winter...not yet anyway. We are still, technically, in Fall (or Autumn). Outside, however, it certainly looks and feels like winter.

On Saturday, we got dumped with a foot of snow (and it continues to snow as I write this post). Remember how I was whining about how the Christmas spirit has eluded me so far? Well, with all of this beautiful snow, I am starting to feel somewhat Christmas....and I did say somewhat.

What I do mostly feel is very lucky that I am in shape, because for anyone who attempted to shovel out their driveway yesterday, I suspect there were a few calls to the hospital for heart assistance. That snow was extremely heavy. The snowblower did most of the work, but what I did manage to do was to shovel part of the driveway and all of the front porch. That was sufficient for me thank you.

The snow that is currently falling is supposed to dump even more snow overnight.

I did manage to snap a few pictures of the white stuff before the snow plows came by. Enjoy!

The Mattress Saga Continues

Not kidding! I have written a number of posts about our mattress, and the problems we've been experiencing.

The saga continues.

At the end of my last mattress post It's Not In My Head, I mentioned a smell that was emanating from the new mattress. This smell has not really disappeared, even though we tried airing it for the past few weeks.

It's a rather disgusting smell, and between My Sweetie and I we describe it quite differently. He describes it straight out as mold (mildew). I describe it as fried food.

In any case, the mattress smells. It does not smell new (as the Customer Service person was trying to drill into us). It does not smell pleasant at all.

To add to all of this, since we don't know what the smell is exactly, we worry about toxins. Thanks to our wonderful global market, where everything that we buy is produced elsewhere in the world, it is quite possible that the materials used in this particular mattress may not have been top quality. And we get to breathe that crap.

Anyway, not to belabour the point, we are getting yet another new mattress in two weeks.

Here we go again.............

btw....when I said that we were going to get a new mattress, this translates into a replacement mattress. The company will be coming to take away the existing mattress and replace it with the same model. In other words, we had an original mattress which got replaced, and now we are having that replacement mattress replaced.

Not Really Feeling It

The season has suddenly switched. We just finished Halloween, not even 2 weeks ago, and already, some of the homes in our area have sprouted Christmas lights....and red ribboned bells. The gym has some Christmas decorations at the entrance.

I have to say, I am not feeling it. Not yet anyway. Maybe it's because Remembrance day was just yesterday, but to be fair, US Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet, and neither has December.

Very soon, we will have snow, and that usually spawns more of a Christmasy feeling. But right now all I can say is 'bah humbug.'

Geekdom Rules on Sunday

As if we didn't have enough computers in the house, it became apparent that another addition was on the horizon. We've been thinking about this off and on for awhile now, and I had considered asking for one for my birthday, but then thought that the money could be better spent elsewhere. As with all things, whim turned to reality, and yesterday, we brought home Silver (my nickname for the new HP Notepad....complete with Windows Vista).

Let me recount exactly how many active computers are in our home. For starters, we both have work Notepads (neither of which belongs to us. If we lose our jobs (God forbid), then we lose those machines). We each have a personal Desktop (purely for the space capacity). Actually, one of us (not me) has a separate Desktop machine (totally built from scratch) for gaming.

Okay, so we are up to 5 machines I think.

We have a very old Thinkpad that we've been using for the boat. That machine is now quite old, very slow, and, at this point, may not serve much more use than being a boat anchor.

Enter Silver. She is a simple yet pretty machine, with a 15.6" screen. The main purpose for this baby is to keep it mobile. We don't want it attached to printers and docking stations. It is meant to be our free-to-move, on-the-spot search machine, instead of having to run upstairs whenever the Web is needed.

Now, as with every new piece of technology, nothing is ever really plug-and-go. There were a few screams last night, all circling around the router's evasive username. Steam began to form upstairs. The air turned a vivid blue color. We needed to engage the wonderful world of global tech support, which accidentally disconnected us, not only once but twice. Hours later, and hopefully a few lessons learned, Silver was connecting to the Internet.

Right now, I am making this blog update from my comfy couch. The sun is trying to stream through the window, and the satellite radio is tuned to an accoustic guitar channel.

Life is good.

One thing. These types of purchases are never conducted while we sit in comfy leather chairs with lattes being served. No way. Instead, we struggle with numbers and decisions while standing in an aisle beside some cash register/computer terminal, under the harsh glare of flourescent lighting. Maybe in the future. Way!

The Day After Halloween

Halloween is over, and it was a bit disappointing. Everything was ready. I had made 100 goodie bags to hand out. The front porch was decorated. We had dressed up as hippies. The weather was perfect.

Well, almost perfect. The kids didn't come. Sorry, a lot of kids didn't come. Last year, and in years prior, we had anywhere from 75 to 100 little creatures visit. Not this year. For some reason the numbers were down. It was closing in on eight o'clock, and we started handing out 2 and 3 bags just to get rid of it.

When we decided to pull the pin on everything, we stayed dressed as hippies and went to a favourite local restaurant for dinner. That was good.

.......and I love Halloween....even more than Christmas.

It's Not In My Head - the Sequel

It might not be in my head, but now it's in our nose. The wonderful replacement mattress, which has been providing me with restful snoozes, has an odour, an odour which vaguely resembles mildew. And we are not amused.

This started probably minutes after we received the new mattress. The protective plastic wrap was removed, and the mattress was set in place, and all of those lovely toxins started to be released into the atmosphere. My Sweetie noticed it first, seeing as he has a most excellent sense of smell. For me, I have noticed that I am sneezing more than usual, and am feeling somewhat congested (and it isn't a cold).

So, now we have a call into you-know-who....the mattress Inspector ...Mr. MI. He is due to come back and examine the situation.

Oh, and there's something else! The pillow top has already shifted!

What happened to quality assurance I ask you?

Further to all of this is the fact that we have had the bed turned down all week. All of the covers have been pulled back, right to the mattress cover. The ceiling fan runs on high to try and get rid of the smell....and still it lingers.

This grates highly on my nerves, since I detest not having the bed made. I am obsessive about having the bed made everyday. The room looks as though it is in turmoil, with the duvet and assorted pillows strewn everywhere.

I hope this ends soon.

And don't forget to check out my sidebar, which now has Google displaying Ads about Mattresses!

It's Not In My Head

About 2 years ago, we purchased a new mattress set. This was an expensive purchase consisting of a king sized mattress and box spring, frame, headboard, 2 sheet sets, duvet with cover and box spring cover. It was a nice set...on the surface.

Over time, I began to notice that the comfort level for me was declining. I would get into bed, and just when I was getting comfortable, I would need to roll over. That's when the evening event would take place. I would roll and roll, back and forth, evidently trying to find comfort. When I glanced at my body impression under the blankets, I found that I was SINKING! There was a deep crevice into which I sank! At times I felt as though I were sleeping in a ditch.

Finally, I had enough. Hubby had no problems on his side of the bed. He was comfy. I thought that this was all in my head.

Until I called the company who sold us the mattress. They booked us an appointment with the MI...the Mattress Inspector. I didn't even realize that there was a job role of this nature. When Mr. MI arrived, he basically looked at the mattress from 10 feet away and said "your mattress is defective. You're getting a new mattress.". That was music to my ears. I was doing a major Happy Dance.

After some measurements were taken, and forms were completed, we were given the go ahead to pick out another, more suitable, mattress.

The waiting was the hardest part (thanks Tom Petty), but it finally arrived, after much banging and crashing to get it up the stairs...leaving the hanging light fixture dangling by two arms.

It's been about a week now. Things are better. The mattress is firmer and my evenings spent rocking and rolling are over.

Now there only remains one little issue.....a smell.....more to follow on this one.

Cheers.

I forgot to mention that we could have simply done a switch for the same type of mattress of equal dollar value, but we were so unhappy, that, for a nominal dollar upgrade, we got a better mattress. It has a thicker pillow top and is a taller mattress in general (interpreted this as 'the sheets now have a snugger fit'). I guess you could say that buying a mattress is like a bunch of chocolates...younever know what your gonna get!