furryforestcritter

Aaaaand we're done

2012-01-05T20:05:00.003-07:00

Well, so far. We finished the renos, the house sold, and the move has happened. We're now rockin' the Bakken in Williston. We're living in company-provided housing, and our stuff is living in a sea can.

The sea can is pretty packed. It's rather inconvenient, especially when I want to cook things or bake things, but have no access to the pots and pans that are taunting me. It's amazing how many things I get the urge to do when I can't. Stupid contrariness.

The company provided housing is a trailer - a living/kitchen/dining area, a bedroom, and two bathrooms. There's a second bedroom, but it's mostly holding the double beds that we don't want the cats to destroy. The kitties are much more constricted here but are quite happy. I think they have more fresh air now, since the satellite cables are running through the slightly-open windows. It's all good.

My lab at work is also in a trailer. I win! I'm now double trailer trash. I'm having a good, yet frustrating, time setting everything up at work. Good because I can organize things how I want them (yay OCD!), and frustrating because I'm waiting on tools and equipment that may or may not have been ordered yet. That's the anti-bonus of having to rely on someone else to remember all the things that need to be done. I was hoping someone had previously documented setting up a lab from scratch, since it seems like that happens a lot with this company. But no, that would be convenient.

I'm not bitter.

Oh well, maybe I can set a precedent. Pat myself on the back and feel superior. Some good might as well come from this. :)

In other news, we had a fairly decent time during the holidays, at the farm and in Minot afterwards. Lots of stuff on sale, so my honey got some sweaters and I got in my yearly allotment of clothes shopping and got some new shirts. Plus we each got a bathing suit, since ours are hibernating somewhere in the sea can. Jay's trunks: $1.04, my suit: $80. Both were on sale. Boo to societal pressure on women, and also to me for caving to it. Le sigh.

I really needed to supplement my wardrobe of mostly painty/stained t-shirts, though. I somehow neglected to keep any dressy (read: not t-shirts/jeans) clothes out when packing the sea can, so all I had were grubby work clothes. Jay's shopping trip was good for me - whenever he updates his t-shirts, I get all the ones that don't fit or don't get worn much. It's like shopping, but without the annoyance of actually shopping! Everyone wins! Mostly my laziness.

Oh, the little things I forget to mention

2011-09-11T11:50:00.003-06:00

By the way, we're moving out of country. Jay leaves next weekend, starts his new job (transfer with the same company) in Williston, ND, USA. I transfer too, possibly starting after New Years. In the meantime, I'll be finishing up detail work in the house while waiting for countertops to arrive. We've been busy little beavers finishing up stuff like the kitchen, and tiling and hardwood, and Jay put in railings. Here, see (Please excuse the mess):

Transcription

2011-09-11T11:32:00.002-06:00

For posterity, here's my notes/diary on our trip to Cuba:

Jan 17 (day 1)
Rode plane to Varadero (despise flying - neck is sore). Went through customs, only needed passport and entrance card, not the millions of other paperwork we were supposed to have with us. Changed money - mental note: next time, remember how much I want to change so I can tell the money changeer. Bus ride (bumpy, felt ill after flying) for 2 hours to hotel in Old Havana. Marble floors, open central courtyard, chirping birds that look like some type of parakeet, and tropical plants. Meal in the hotel restaurant was good. Sleep...

Jan 18 (day 2)
Slept well, ate buffet at hotel - good guava juice. Thought we were going on bus tour, but did quite a bit of walking in Old Havana. Saw lots of old buildings, a couple of squares. Then went on bus tour of important buildings and places near downtown. Missed most of it because I slept. Changed into runners at the hotel - Crocs are too slippery due to storm last night. Went to restaurant in one of the squares. Food so far is simple and quite bland. Soup at both meals was very good. Lunch - only choice of chicken or fish. Sadly, there was a band and dancers at lunch, very loud, wanting money. Not my taste in music at all. Then went to the tourist market down along the harbour, lots of artwork and jewellry and clothes besides the tourist crap. Some funky wood carvings, but too bulky and possibility of breaking on way home. Bought a painting for $90 CUC, oil on canvas, bright colours, of a "scene" in Havana. 5 minutes later the vendor had the exact same painting back up. Rested in the hotel (tired, hot, sore feet). After a rushed supper, went to the cannon shoot across the harbour. Since some people were slow, it was rather a waste of time, couldn't seen anything for the crowd. I hope the rest of this trip isn't going to be like this... Note: maids like pens (so do people on the street) and don't seem to care for brushes/socks. Most people we see are well dressed, very new clean clothes.

Jan 19 (day 3)
Breakfast at the hotel. Bus ride to Vinales. Lunch at a restaurant near there, El Palenque. Food was okay, only chicken for meat. Paella was extremely tasty, smelled like all dressed chips. Then stopped at hotel (La Ermita) in Vinales. Maid was sleeping in one of the beds in our room. "No problema," says another maid - maybe not for you, I think. But amusing. Rain kept us from visiting the Santo Tomas cave, so that was sad. And the only reason for being in Vinales. But I'm okay with not breaking an ankle, really. Turns out that the guide, Juan Carlos, is a spelunker. Oh well, there'll be another at Guajimico. Supper at the hotel was fine, buffet. Rice pudding, woot. Note: remember to bring alarm clock next time we travel - hotels here don't have them.

Jan 20 (day 4)
Buffet breakfast at the

To be continued at a later date - right now am packing up computer room...

Just things

2011-04-13T19:58:00.003-06:00

I forgot to blog about the other day, when we almost lost the cat. I blame it all on the Girl Guides and their good cause cookies. When they came to the door I went back in to get money, and in the ensuing cookie-money trade Gizmo went out the door. And I shut the door, not realizing what had happened. This is one of the times when I wished we had put a collar and tags on the cats.

She was outside for about 4-5 minutes. For a cat that hasn't been outside in almost a year, that's a long time. I freaked out, went out the back door, called, looked out the front door and didn't see her, went out to the garage and freaked to Jay, then started looking in all the closed rooms and closets inside again. Jay calmly looked out the front door again and found her, she must have been cowering in the flower bed or something. Sigh of relief. The cats are both microchipped, but that won't stop them from getting run over by the major traffic on our street.

In other news, here are some more pictures from Cuba:

Roasting pig - now with more snout nail!

One of the guys on the boat tour swam down to pick up a live shell. Pretty, but not too good for the critter in it.

I think what we've picked up from this is that I get bored easily. All the people on the trip were bird fanatics, so I got annoyed and started taking pictures of flowers.

My goal for the next tropical/watersports vacation is to get a much better underwater camera. I hate coming home, developing them, and finding that they're blurry/dark/terrible.

And for your splashing pleasure...

Some kitty pics

2011-03-19T16:38:00.003-06:00

We take quite a few pictures of our furry kids. Here, have some.

Here's Gizmo. She had a drooly love fest on my belly this afternoon, so she was happy to pose.

This is Roly, rolling around and half asleep on our bed. He frequently sleeps in positions like this - it always looks painful, but he seems happy.

Many kisser

2011-03-19T16:11:00.005-06:00

This is a note from the first hotel we stayed in on my relatively recent trip to Cuba:

Here's a transcript of it, as the picture (and writing) are hard to read:
Dear Guest:
We hope you have felt wel with our service. For us was a pleasure have you a our Guest. Comeback again always welcome we love you. Have a good trop and the love and good luck come with you always. Many kisser for you from. [Pepsi and Manic]

I'm not sure about the names, but on the 2 notes we got, that's what it looked like. Best note ever.

This is one of the towel elephants we got for leaving gifts for the maids at one of the resorts:

Lions and tigers and plague goo, oh my

2011-03-07T21:01:00.002-07:00

It's karma, coming back to bite me. I didn't get the plague in Cuba (good thing too, since Megan needed all my plague meds), so I'm getting it double time now. I shouldn't have been all up on my high horse about not getting sick. I've missed two days of work (although really, no complaints on that count) and tomorrow's not looking good either. Boo, sinuses. Boo.

There was no photo editing

2011-02-06T21:15:00.003-07:00

There's nothing like a Saskatchewan sunrise.

One! One slightly more frequent update.

2011-02-03T22:10:00.002-07:00

I'm back from Cuba. And as I said yesterday to my honey, first full day back and already I need another vacation. Work will do that to a person. I had many pictures to go through. I burned my face slightly on the bus ride to the airport but otherwise my sunscreening regimen worked well. My rum arrived unscathed in the center of my suitcase, and I didn't forget my painting anywhere (though through no lack of trying). My skin is regretting the dry air here. And I'm still on Cuba time, I keep waking up at 5am. Stupid brain.

In Roly updates, he gets his cone removed tomorrow. Jay took good care of him while I was gone. He's somehow much less traumatic about putting eye drops in than I am. Evidently Roly knows me too well, I can't hide the stress from him. He was ecstatic about the 10 minute cone reprieve that Jay gave him last night though, there were many o' purrs - he got to clean his chest, shoulders, and both front legs. He'll be even more so tomorrow.

In other news, the plan is that this weekend I start sanding and staining the kitchen cabinets. We have the two pantry sections, but I have no idea how the rest of them are coming. Keeping my fingers crossed, as a kitchen would be nice...

I do need a vacation, in fact

2011-01-15T16:38:00.003-07:00

My poor kitty cut his eye when he slipped and smashed a glass plate. The vet sewed up his cornea (major dollars for that), he has to wear a cone for 3 weeks, and he hates the 4 kinds of eye drops that he has to take 4 times a day. I hate it too, it stresses me to watch my poor kitty, who has always put up with a lot (even the vet said so), in pain and stressed. It's a good thing I'm going to Cuba for 2 weeks, I don't think I can handle this.

No, that cat isn't dead

2010-11-25T21:13:00.002-07:00

And neither am I, although it's probably difficult to believe. 'Tis the season for Christmas miracles though.

So I unofficially un-resigned from my job today. Again. Today I told my supervisor and a couple other concerned coworkers. Tomorrow I'll have to tell the assistant manager, who will then relay it to the manager, who is out on vacation. I feel like an idiot, but I was really stressed. Evidently I need to take lessons on how to explain that I don't even know where to start asking questions. Sigh.

In other news, I've been madly working on making Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews. I'm going for the useful/put-in-personal-effort angle. And it's official, the in-laws have finally decided what they want to do for gifts this year. A month before. And I'm not even sure who I have to buy for. Or what the price limit is. At least I have Jay's gifts done.

In yet other news, seems I whine a lot. Oh, and also I'm taking an introductory stained glass class. I really like it, it's right up my alley. It's tedious, rather exacting, and takes a fair amount of precision and dexterity. And I get to solder, which I'm good at and enjoy. Plus I get to make pretty shiny things!

Missing it

2010-07-31T20:14:00.002-06:00

The only thing I will miss about being in Texas: the humidity - it keeps my lips and skin really moist, and I have the best hair I've ever had in my life. However, I'll not miss the humidity for the simple reason that it makes the nasty heat even worse.

The things I'll be extremely glad to get back to:
- my honey and my kitties
- milk. Dear god I miss the milk. If I lived here I would quickly have osteoporosis.
- our reverse osmosis system
- food that isn't deep-fried/greasy
- having stuff to do at work. I don't sit around well.
- stuff to do outside of work
- more than one room in which to exist outside of work hours

Okay, now I remember

2010-07-16T20:41:00.003-06:00

I miss my Roly. He's soft. I also miss Gizmo, but I only knew her for a week, so less so.

I had a reason for being here

2010-07-16T20:37:00.002-06:00

I hate the speed my brain goes at. I had some idea for something to write about here, but that was 30 seconds before I got here, and now it's gone. Happens with groceries that I need, and things I want to talk to people about over the phone, too. I can't wait till people have built-in voice recorders.

I don't get it

2010-07-15T19:17:00.003-06:00

I was reading this article today. I had to laugh. The ad idea blows my mind on so many levels.

How are the oil sands and tourism related? The last time I checked, the oil sands are nowhere near Banff, which is where a goodly portion of the tourists go, or near the major cities. And even if they were, Canada has rather strict regulations on environmental standards and cleanup, much higher than the US. Although I agree that it's not an environmentally sound plan to depend on a non-renewable resource, I don't see why the oil sands are being remotely coupled to the disaster that is the Gulf spill.

Besides which, the US is a much larger producer of oil than Canada. Canada/Alberta certainly isn't the reason that the States has an addiction to non-renewable energy. Even beyond that, the States went through a major kerfuffle several years ago with the WMD distraction in order to get more oil. They have a history of using misdirection and blaming Canada for their failings.

I don't know who came up with this plan, but next time guys, think a bit more first.

Updated: And also, just to get to Banff, one would need to drive/fly, therefore using OIL.

This followup says that the oil sands destruction covers an area the size of England. I've seen an oil sand well produced using steam, along with the resulting "mess" it creates. It was a pile of sand. Not a very big pile of sand. I'm inclined to believe the Albertan who said it's more like 550 km square. Environmental groups like to fly kicking and screaming off the deep end about situations they haven't fully researched. It's fun playing the Let's Get Sued For False Advertising game!

Brain... exploding... now.

Texasperated

2010-07-12T20:19:00.002-06:00

I'm getting less tolerant of idiots the older I get. My uncle was right when he said that people don't change as they get older, they just become more concentrated. People think I'm joking when I say I'm a bitter old man, but I'm actually serious. If you say things in a laid-back manner, people don't believe you. I capitalize on that frequently as I have an aversion to lying. Therapy doesn't always have to sound like therapy, I just like to get things off my chest.

I'm in training right now and it's making me twitchy. At first I thought it was the after-effects of missing my honey, but then I described my trainer to Jay. He agreed with my assessment, so now I don't feel nearly as bad about my constant high level of annoyance. At least now Jay should be able to come visit me as planned. He's been in the hospital for the past week with an infection that was masquerading as kidney stones. Turns out he just has weirdly-placed organs which screwed up the doctor's diagnosis. I'm already making plans to go places while he's here, we're renting a car so NO WALKING! Although it is good exercise. Sweaty sticky exercise.

Or not so hot

2010-07-04T21:39:00.002-06:00

This week it was cooler here, but even more humid. So still hot. I was in the pool yesterday and got a bit of a sunburn, even though it was cloudy almost the entire time. So today I slathered up good before going out.

Staying in a hotel is rather monotonous. I brought some things to do, but I don't have a huge attention span for any of them. Lately I've been trying to go out more and do more walking when the other guys want to go somewhere. At least it's something to do.

Today is the 4th of July, I can't figure out what people do on this holiday. We went down to Walmart this evening, there was very little traffic, almost nobody at any restaurants along the way or in the store itself. It was busier earlier today, so I'm not sure where they went. Someone told us that things stay open and have big sales on, so maybe they'll be closed tomorrow.

Hi! It's hot here.

2010-06-27T15:02:00.002-06:00

Really hot, pretty much constantly. And humid. I'm in Texas right now, sent down here to broil. And possibly for training.

I was all excited to do things before I got here, but the nasty heat (it hasn't been less than 25 plus humidity yet, and that was in the dead of night) has killed any ambition I had. It doesn't help that the city's bus system is awful, either. It would take 3 buses to get to the zoo, which is only a quarter of the city away from my hotel. Which would probably amount to at least 1.5 hours, one way. And the city is huge (3+ million) and spread out, so cabbing isn't very viable. So sad. And hot.

It makes me feel less lazy when I detail my reasons. Thanks for listening.

My other option is walking. I did a lot of that earlier this week, culminating in the 3 hour jaunt we took one day in lieu of supper. That helped kill my ambition too, the painfully sore feet plus the heat plus the lack of food that day. The whole city seems to be a big shopping district, from what I've seen so far. Lots of big box stores. And everyone owns a car. The police circle anyone walking, I guess lack of car means criminal around here. Or weird Canadian. Guilty! Happily, the hotel backs onto a Target, so I can buy pretty much anything I need. It's rather convenient, and hasn't helped my laziness tendency.

Also putting a damper on the idea of walks - rattle snakes! And scorpions! One of the other guys from Canada here has a propensity for walks through the bush along the river. Although it's lovely there, I don't really want to die.

The power of oops

2010-05-02T10:16:00.003-06:00

I accidentally made crackers yesterday. I meant to make bread, but when I took the dough out of the machine to pan it, I realized I forgot to add the yeast. So I rolled it out thin and baked it. They taste a lot like Wheat Thins, except better. Turns out really good bread recipes also make really good cracker recipes.

Sayings

2010-04-16T21:16:00.001-06:00

I knew if I stayed around long enough, something like this would happen.

- George Bernard Shaw, on his tombstone

Um, hi.

2010-04-05T20:24:00.005-06:00

I have an urge to write something. Since this doesn't happen often of late, I'm going to indulge myself.

We have stairs! No railing yet, but if you stairs it, rails will come. Or something. At least that's the hope. We bought pre-made unfinished oak treads, Jay cut them to size, and I finished them. I'm rather proud of myself. They're buttery smooth in a lovely glowing reddish with gorgeous grain. I love them, I think is what I'm trying to say. We plan to do the kitchen cupboard doors in the same colour whenever that happens. Stairs look like this:

In Roly news, he's growing, and he's still amusing and very sweet. I need to come up with an under-couch blocking device to keep him from losing all of his toys. He likes to pick up his toys and carry them to where ever we are, so they all eventually migrate under the downstairs couch. Except for the ones we can't find, like the laser pointer which has completely disappeared. Magic!

On the day job front, I'd probably better not speak of it. Short story: I'm frustrated by minor things. I also have another job, tutoring math and science to high school kids. I'm really glad I've decided to keep it to 2 nights a week, more would play havoc with my sanity. Especially since I quit the last job so that I wouldn't have to work in the evenings. Yes, I'm an idiot. But it pays decently well.

And no, there will not be a picture of my haircut

2010-02-27T13:59:00.002-07:00

The reason being that I have the worst hairdressing skills in the world and can mush up even the best cut. Just take my word for it.

So I've been at my new job for a week now. It's all training so far, which is great because I get certifications for all the training. The oil patch definitely has some good points. My resume has been extremely lacking in that area. Unfortunately, that means I have to update it. Ah, the sacrifices I make in order to pay bills and eat food. The sad part of the job is that they're paying quite a bit less than they promised me, HR didn't care about my qualifications. But hey, they're paying me! This is the first job since I moved that's had the possibility of advancement, so that in itself is a plus. And also, company-paid work boots! Which reminds me, I have to go shopping today.

Thereabouts

2010-02-10T09:34:00.004-07:00

A week ago, I returned from a jaunt back home. Jay and I went to a wedding (a friend of his from high school), then while he came back to work I went visiting friends in Regina and stopped in at the farm. I was originally planning to stay longer but I got a call for an interview so came back a bit early. I'm really glad I got to see as many people as I did, usually I'm too busy avoiding calling people to actually see many of them. Hooray for forcing myself to do things!

And on the way back, my sister-in-law gave me the best haircut EVER. It's the right length, and exactly what I asked for. I don't think, other than simple trims of the mullety part in the back, that I have ever gotten exactly what I asked for in a haircut. Plus I seriously love not having to deal with random hair people.

For the past week, even though I swore I was going to Get Things Done, I have been doing a lot of couch napping and TV watching. It's quite lovely, except that I've been sick with the plague again. Even allergy pills cannot keep away the plague when I'm in contact with other people's animals.

Speaking of which (however, NOT the cause of the plague, Mom), we got a kitty.

He's very sweet. His name is Roly. He is even more friendly than Fishy. We got him on my assumption that we will have removed the carpet from the kitchen, living room and upstairs hallway before he starts shedding in earnest. I hope you are all crossing your fingers that I get a job so we can afford to replace the flooring. Thanks.

Resolving to, and also several many quotation marks

2010-01-02T10:38:00.003-07:00

We got back a couple days ago from various holiday travels. Actually, I just got back - Jay came back a few days earlier to work, and then picked me up at the airport in Edmonton. It was more expensive but less convenient than taking a second vehicle, but with the recent unhappiness of my car, it worked out okay. Christmas was nice, got to see family and a friend, missed others, it was all good though. Then celebrated New Year's at Jay's sister's (quote from her: "LAME." - not many people showed up as there were other parties going on, but I thought it was fine).

Now I have a whack of work I want to get done before it starts up again, plus my procrastination gene is kicking in so I have a bunch of cleaning/organizing that "urgently" needs doing. And only 1 month left of my job. Hurray! I mean, um, I'll be very sorry to leave, etc., etc.. Whenever people at work ask me why I'm leaving, I generally say something along the lines of, "Not because of you, plus all those things I don't have time to get done," when what I really mean is, "Because of some things you did, as well as all those things I don't have time to get done." I'm an ass sometimes, but usually I manage to keep it in my head. What's the quote, "Thank you God for making it so nobody hears my thoughts"? Or something like.

Anywho, I have some vague New Year's resolutions, thought I'd jot them here:
1 - Eat more healthily. Jay and I (okay, mostly me, but I need his cooperation since I have no will power) want to snack on less junk food. We eat fairly well for meals, but the snacking gets me every time. So far it's going well.
2 - Exercise more. We're going to get a treadmill (crossing fingers that the one we want is in stock). Plus I asked for and got some wrist/ankle weights and bigger dumbbells for Christmas.
3 - Work on being more organized. This is just for me, I've been feeling particularly cluttered lately.
4 - Make time for my hobbies. I haven't been doing this lately and the Making Stuff Urge frequently wants to take over. Build things... BUILD THINGS...

That's probably enough for now, along with all the usual ones. Wish me luck.

Jobby stuff

2009-12-04T21:47:00.006-07:00

Huzzahs are in order for Jay, he just accepted the position of assistant manager at his branch of the company he works for. He's excited, more regular hours and no more field work. So we're planning to book a seasonal camping spot out at Turtle Lake with some friends next summer, since he'll actually have some weekends off. And also, I gave my notice at my job for the end of the semester. I have no plans yet, so we'll have to see how it goes. But already my stress level has dropped dramatically, so I'm of the opinion that whatever happens will be better.

Sayings

2009-11-16T19:27:00.001-07:00

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened. - Winston Churchill

Turns out I actually do know how to write

2009-11-14T07:08:00.005-07:00

Hi, I'm Amy, you might remember me from how I used to write here once in a while. But perhaps not. When I get busy at work, I stop wanting to talk to people, including the internet. Sorry internet.

So here's what's up:

This is my friend, Fishy. He's subtly pretty, and constantly hopeful that I will feed him. I'm not allergic to him - best pet ever. The one on the right is what he actually looks like when the camera flash isn't bringing out his shiny goodness.

Jay and I have done more renovations. Our basement looked like this when we moved in:

Our basement now looks like this:

I miss the shag carpet on the ceiling a bit, but not any of the 11 kinds of wood paneling. The only thing left is to stain and install the stair steps and railing.

My parents were down for a bit this week, they awesomely helped take down almost all of the wallpaper upstairs. The only reason we stopped is that I couldn't handle the thought of any more wallpaper removal on Friday.

The walls under the paper are mental-institution-green and pee-yellow. In ultra-high-gloss, which is rather frightening. We're going to work on that. Oddly, the yellow is growing on me (not that shade, but yellow in general). I may use it as an accent wall colour, and then could match cushions and curtains to it. Not sure yet, still in the throwing-around-ideas phase.

And things may be brewing on the job front for Jay and/or me - more on that if it actually happens.

Eye doctorific

2009-08-12T14:52:00.002-06:00

I had the bestest eye doctor appointment ever today. I called around and found that everyone is booking into September already, but the lady at this place in the mall asked if I was available in 40 minutes. I was there for a total of 15 minutes, including filling out the new patient form. The optometrist was quick, competent, and since the office wasn't an eyewear seller there was no pressure to buy. Seriously awesome. If only all places were like that.

Summer summary

2009-08-12T14:41:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, we got back from a week of camping that ended with a wedding. We went to Waskesiu, as it was on the way to La Ronge, where the wedding took place. Waskesiu was nice but very touristy. I like my camping a bit more rugged (well, as rugged as a camper with microwave, TV, and air conditioning can get). And with fewer people. But oh well, you live and learn.

Last month, I was only home for about a week. We went camping near both our parents, out at Echo. That was nice too, and we even got some fishing in. It wasn't nearly long enough either, what with relatives visiting (Jay's nephew and my niece and nephews) and some not very nice weather. But fun.

Best quote goes to Tristan, after a day filled with swimming, boating, BBQing, hanging out in the campsite, and smushing a Reese cup smore all over his face and hands: "I like camping!" I'm assuming he just like smores.

We went to the farm, where I stayed and hung out with the family, including Megan, out from Victoria, and looked up a couple friends. I don't do enough of either one, unfortunately. I need to miraculously win the lottery or something. The miraculous part being that I don't buy tickets. Maybe some day.

The recurring plague

2009-07-07T22:54:00.003-06:00

I have the plague again, too many pets on the weekend. I keep hoping I'll get over it. So much to do, so tired.

100th anniversary

2009-07-05T12:52:00.002-06:00

Jay and I are out at his hometown's 100th anniversary celebration. There are a whole bunch of relatives staying in his parents' yard. Half a dozen dogs, a few horses, some kids, a whole lot of drinking and relaxing, and some rodeo watching and other things in between. It's a nice change from earlier this week.

Not so festive

2009-07-03T10:16:00.000-06:00

Canada Day wasn't much of a celebration for our family. My uncle, Paul Beingessner, was killed the week before and the prayers were on the 1st, funeral on the 2nd. I kept thinking I saw him out of the corner of my eye, I could almost hear him commenting on his life and the funeral, comforting others. He was a terrific person, everyone who knew him will miss him.

New niece and some trauma

2009-06-17T21:23:00.003-06:00

I have a new niece, almost a week old now, Elise. It's a bit of incentive to finish the baby quilt I'm making, plus the burp cloths for Ali. I'm glad they got a girl, evens things out.

In some totally unrelated bloody trauma, I managed self-surgery. My bone spur was rubbing on my tongue again tonight, I was picking around and managed to knock it off. Turns out I don't need my dentist after all. But AAAAHHHH bone spur chips! Hopefully it's not trying to grow back.

Work is slowing down. I actually have the urge to chat with people, which only happens when I don't have the pressing need to get things done. It's weird.

How things go

2009-06-06T22:26:00.002-06:00

I went back in for a second round of bone spur grinding, and it's finally bearable. Now I just have to hope that my monstrous food-catching hole closes in. I have a feeling my wishing isn't going to work, it's a rather large hole and it's been a week already. Oh well, can't win them all, especially in battles with my dentist (or so it would seem).

Work is starting to wrap up, thank heavens. I've been ready for summer vacation for a couple weeks now. End of June, baby. I've been officially offered the job again for next year, and have also officially finished the 1st year monitoring process. The guy who watched me gave me rave reviews. This shocks me, because there's so much I need to work on and fix, on multiple levels. But he seemed to think that I did fine, and he's the expert, so who am I to nay-say?

I was all excited to start taking my B.Ed. next fall here in town, but since have found out that it is only geared to people who aren't me - they're only offering classes during the day, and they won't offer the first year classes again after next year as they want to see how the program goes. Thanks for coming out. And after all the reassurances I got that they would definitely work with me, they were going to try their best to wrap their schedule around my work hours. I know they meant well, but I'd rather have realistic expectations than a yes-man response. It would have saved me the $115 application fee plus a lot of time, effort, and getting my hopes up. Not impressed. I have a line on another possibility, I'll hopefully see this week if it'll pan out. Fingers are crossed, but this time I'm a lot more skeptical.

Ow

2009-05-31T12:16:00.003-06:00

I got a couple wisdom teeth out on Thursday. I got lucky, there was no swelling or bruising, and it hasn't been very painful for the most part.

However, I'd noticed a nagging minor pain and a slight gouging of the tongue ever since the freezing disappeared. I assumed it was a stitch, so I cut short the one that looked to be the culprit. But it was still bugging me, so I poked a finger in there to feel what was going on. Lo and behold, there's a pointy chunk of bone sticking out of my gum. And every time I move or flex my tongue, it aggravates it. Do you have any idea how often you move your tongue? ALL THE TIME.

I left a mildly grumpy message on my dentist's answering machine. If they try to charge me for fixing it, I'm going to be angry and vocal.

I like the pretty flowers

2009-05-09T14:27:00.003-06:00

I just got this today:

I've never seen Lady Slippers in stores before, I was really excited. I hope I don't kill it.

2009-05-09T08:52:00.001-06:00

In a strange an unexpected turn of events, Jay and I won a 40" flat screen TV. Evidently we got put into a draw when we bought the camper.

It's shiny. And now we have far too many TVs.

Summer plans

2009-04-28T20:25:00.003-06:00

I think we've finalized our summer plans. We're going to the Kelliher 100th anniversary at the beginning of July. Then I'm going to my cousin's wedding up north of Edmonton with Mom and Dad. After that, we'll be camping at Echo Lake for a few days before my parents' garden party while Megan's home. Then I'm going to stay at the farm for a few extra days while Jay comes back to work. August is pretty open so far, but I'm sure it'll fill up quickly with summer-licious things. I'm hoping to do some pottery stuff and some quilting, in between re-organizing my classroom and lab and courses. Having a relaxing vacation is over-rated.

New camper

2009-04-22T19:23:00.004-06:00

Jay picked up our new camper today. It looks like this:

A couple weeks ago, we went to a trade show at the Stockade (like the Exhibition grounds in Regina) to look for a replacement vacuum head. We didn't find the head, but we decided to buy a 19' camper. It's cute and just the right size, and will hopefully be less hassle than the past couple years. I'm all excited to use it, we're going out May long with some friends to a lake nearby. We'll be busy rounding things up until then.

Easter weekend

2009-04-14T21:03:00.003-06:00

For Easter weekend, I went out to the farm. It was good, all my nieces and nephews were bigger and we had some fun. I helped Courtney and Jaden make (demented) pom pom bunnies:

We dyed eggs, I played with kitties (Hey, guess what, I have the plague now! Are we surprised? No.) and kids. Lots of chocolate was eaten, and there was cake! I also helped Jaden and Courtney make things out of clay. Hopefully some day I'll fire them. Jaden made a vase, and I helped Courtney make a few small things. Lisette also made a funky vase-type thingy (I apologize if it wasn't a vase). I was going to make a vase that morphed into a bowl, but it was getting dry so I morphed it into a mushy mess. It's all fun and good.

Oh, I forgot, before Easter I got this pretty hydrangea. Good thing Mom and Dad came out to our place, or it would have dried up to nothing. I didn't realize they use so much water while flowering.

sayings

2009-03-28T08:52:00.001-06:00

My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.

40% of Americans say the theory of evolution is "probably not true."

It is folly to assume that my awesome lies dormant.

Guess I could update

2009-03-28T08:45:00.002-06:00

I've been on a not-writing kick again. Whoops.

Work was super busy for a few weeks, now it's calmed down again. Thank goodness. Earlier this week I had to go back in for a couple hours after a long day, and I was grouchy and snapping (for me, anyways). But that shouldn't happen again any time soon.

I'm looking into doing an after-degree Bachelor of Education degree. I was somewhat interested before, and then found out that they'll be offering the program here in town starting in the fall. The tuition will be about twice what it normally would, they state it's for the "convenience" of offering it here. Wow, thanks for that.

My administration was hoping I could count my teaching as the practicum, but the university vetoed that. Oh well. Now the problem is going to be that I'm working during the day, when they were planning on offering classes. The kicker is, at least some of the instructors aren't available during the day. Works out well for me. The other bonus will be that one of my co-workers is going to be an instructor, and she's awesome. So hopefully it will work out. I'll find out in May what the class schedule will be.

Sewing

2009-01-24T11:41:00.005-07:00

This morning I got the urge to make something. So I made this:

It's the smallest bib ever. The website I got the pattern from said something about infant bib, evidently I didn't read that part very carefully. Oh well, it's still cute.

Updated: It looks a lot better in real life, the image editors I use don't de-biggen pictures very well. Smallen. De-size. You know what I mean.

potteroops

2009-01-13T19:37:00.003-07:00

I finally got to Saskatoon to the pottery place there. Unfortunately, they didn't have low fire clay, so I bought some mid-fire. I had been looking at it tentatively anyways, although I wasn't planning on buying some for a while. Some of the clay I got is pale cream with a slight speckle, so I'm excited to try that.

On the oops side, I finished trimming a rather lumpy-rimmed bowl and then put my finger through the bottom. It was a little delicate. I'm just glad I got to practice trimming before that happened. While doing that, I discovered that I love the large loop tool for trimming, the one that looks like this:

Bad things come in threes

2009-01-02T10:57:00.003-07:00

We've had a minor run of bad luck. Yesterday our fridge quit running (then we better go catch it!) and the bread maker won't heat any more. Good thing we have a backup fridge in the basement. And the bread did rise with some help from a warm oven.

But the biggest tragedy: I just discovered that I do not own a single song by Faure. I must remedy this immediately.

Pottery news

2009-01-02T09:24:00.006-07:00

My parents gave me a most exciting gift for Christmas. I have a lovely "new" kiln and a new wheel. (THANKS MOM AND DAD!) I've only used the wheel twice since I got it, partly due to the busy time we've had, partly to the weather, and partly to my excessive laziness when confronted with a bunch of free time. It's also a pain using as little water as possible and having to worry about things freezing. Plus we don't have plumbing out in the garage, which would speed up the process. Oh well, some day.

I don't think I ever posted pictures of what I made in my pottery class. They've been stained but not glazed, as the community centre was firing at a much higher cone than my low-fire clay could go to. Here:

Tis the season

2009-01-02T08:07:00.004-07:00

Eesh, holiday stuff was busy and confusing around here.

We went to the farm first. On the way I visited Heather, which is always good times. Then I was supposed to pick up Megan, but her plane kept getting delayed. She ended up being over 12 hours late. Mmm, airport sleep on hard uncomfortable chairs while keeping a death grip on one's bags. At the farm, shenanigans ensued with all of the nieces and nephews. My newest niece has discovered happy shrieking. Many gifts were opened. Much festive food was eaten.

Then we came home, Jay's parents and siblings were out here for the holidays. The plans kept changing last minute due to the weather and some domestic disturbance. There was a lot of renovation done on Christmas day/Boxing day at Jay's sister's place. I was not amused. And then Jay was borrowed a couple other days to do more. When we have more than enough of our own to do. Ahem. However, we did have a decent time (well, I did). Jay's nephews are sweet little munchkins. Many more gifts and holiday food ensued.

For New Years, we went for supper with some friends. It was a good time, if really long. The restaurant was catering a function that night, so the food took 2 hours and was rather cold by the time it got to us. The steaks were fabulous, everything else was negligible. Oh well. Then we went to Jay's sister's place. Quite a few of their relatives were over plus a bunch of friends, it was alright. Jay and I left after the ringing in of the new year.

Happy New Year, people.

Orchids

2008-12-14T11:58:00.004-07:00

Here's my orchid that's blooming now.

It suddenly started blooming again, after sending out a bunch of shoots that died off. It's not as browny as it looks, that's the weird lighting from the flash. It's more of a pale tan with maroon spots. It's not normally a colour I would buy, but it was on sale and in good shape. And so far I haven't had any real problems with it.

Not like the little one I bought a month ago. It was blooming when I bought it, then I watered it too much and it rotted away. I also have two others that aren't blooming right now. The one only cost me $1 and I have no idea what colour it is, but it's alive, and right now that's what counts.

Some quotes

2008-12-14T10:27:00.001-07:00

Quotes by Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction writer (1917-2008):

- The intelligence of the planet is constant, and the population is growing.

- I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here.

- If there are any gods whose chief concern is man, they can't be very important gods.

Christmas crap part 2

2008-11-17T21:27:00.003-07:00

Here's a picture of the deer antler basket:

Isn't it frightening? I bought a couple small things, nothing big though. I'm still far too cheap to buy things, especially when I feel like I can make things that are just as good or better. For example, there were ladies selling small quilts that they'd made from purchased panels, for $30 apiece. So if a panel is $6 and the backing material is about the same price, it's mostly profit. Sign me up.

The christmas crap show

2008-11-15T20:39:00.003-07:00

The Lloyd christmas craft show is on this weekend. Hundreds of vendors are set up in the Stockade buildings. There are a lot of handmade things plus various pyramid scheme products. Jay and I wandered around pointing and snickering at the weird things people make and hope that other people will buy. Such as the deer antler morphed into wicker basketry, or the shiny flashing Jesus pictures. And I don't mean that in a christmassy sort of way. Think of a cheap neon bar sign, but with religion oozing out. It was fairly busy, I hate weaving around tons of people. I had a less-than-ideal day at work yesterday, so I was glad we didn't go for very long. However, I've promised to go again tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be ready for it.

pottery galore

2008-11-15T20:26:00.002-07:00

I had a pottery glazing class today. I learned a lot, just not really about glazing. The class itself was basically a rehash of my previous glazing knowledge, however a refresher isn't a bad thing right now. The instructor had a lot of information about throwing and hand-building techniques, making glazes and firing, etc., so it was all good. Plus she confirmed a few things I'd been reading about lately.

Oh, I also made a batch of skor chip cookies for my kids at school. I hope Jay doesn't eat them all before Monday.

True this

2008-11-12T21:24:00.002-07:00

"In good bat-climbing, as in good driving, one must never sacrifice safety for speed."
- Batman

Potting

2008-11-10T09:03:00.003-07:00

For the past couple days I've been obsessed with pottery. I just finished an open studio pottery "class" and had signed up for the subsequent glazing class. Unfortunately, the lady who is firing the pieces told me that my low fire clay won't stand up to the temperatures that they glaze their medium fire clay at. So now I've been reading up on techniques, tools, kilns, and glazing in an effort to not feel so uninformed. I also have another reason, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to share that just yet.

Most of the other people using the open studio time had recently taken a class, and were focussed on trying specific techniques or projects. I felt inept, having forgotten a goodly portion of what I learned in Regina. I've gotten into a bad habit of feeling my way through and faking it. My pieces don't look too terrible, but on closer inspection I see all the flaws. However, I did manage to come up with quite a few pieces, and the other people there complimented me on them. I'm never sure if that's politeness or if people really mean it. I do feel like it was worth the money and time though.

At any rate, I want to look into the proper way to do things. Might as well fix it before it gets worse. Forth I go to the library, to see what they have for pottery books.

Let's talk about the weather

2008-11-07T18:52:00.002-07:00

It snowed here today. Now the streets are all slippery and full of (more) scary drivers. I wish it didn't work that way.

I have my last pottery class tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting some pieces fired. Plus I signed up for the glazing class next weekend.

I don't have to be at work until Wednesday, they gave us an extra-long weekend. Hooray!

Procrastinator me

2008-10-29T21:01:00.000-06:00

I really didn't mean to not post this. I'm a terrible person. (updated: Mom reminded me that I didn't write it a month ago. Excessively terrible)

So, my little brother and his lovely wife had a child. In August. She looks like this:

Since then, I went to 3 weddings (two of Jay's friends from high school and my cousin). I'm now back at work, and rather busy as usual.

I'm also taking a pottery class. I've managed to ruin 2 pieces already - I over-trimmed a bowl and left water in the bottom of a vase so that it cracked. However, it seems to be going better than the last time I took a class. I still don't really follow good pottery practices though. I never was very good at centering pieces on the wheel, or using the techniques that good potters do. Instead, I fake it. Unfortunately, it shows in my not-so-uniform pieces. But I do have 2 mugs, 2-3 bowls, and a few other pieces made so far. So I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it.

A side effect of pottery is that I want to get a wheel and kiln now. I realize that I don't know anything about firing though. The gap between my knowledge and my desires makes me sad. I also discovered something called glass fusing that is done using a kiln - basically using the kiln to melt pieces of glass together. I can think of so many things I could make. Oh well. Maybe some day.

A new level

2008-08-04T09:17:00.002-06:00

Jay and I are watching Cholesterol Lady (aka Paula's Home Cooking) on the Food Network. Her main course today? Buttered steak. As in she made a lemon spice butter, then plopped a small ice cream scoop full onto the fried steaks. Then she made deep fried potato chips and creamed spinach to go with, and cheesecake for dessert.

I swear she should be dead by now.

Well then

2008-07-24T18:25:00.004-06:00

Whoops, forgot about this. It all happened last week:

It's been quite the last couple days.

Yesterday Jay and I went to Edmonton to do some shopping. We puttered around the South Common area. I found stained glass paint to go with the kit I found on clearance ($3 for the kit! $17 for the paint, but hopefully it will do more than one kit). I also got a set of rims for my winter tires at a wreckers. I fell in a puddle at the wreckers. Good thing it was the end of the day and I didn't get hurt. And also that I have no dignity.

We both bought some clothes - why are women's clothes so expensive and so stupidly shaped? Styles go in and out so quickly, and I don't like most of them anyways because they're impractical or ugly. Admittedly, I'm rather fussy, but in a functional sort of way.

We also bought a gorgeous table and chair set. I love them. We went into a tent sale where they were selling off battered goods. The set is made in Canada, you order the colour, style of chair, and seat covering. The salesperson said it probably came in the wrong colour. The table has a whole bunch of dents and a few scrapes, so we got it for $200. The chairs were a bit steeper, as they were in pretty decent shape, but still a steal (original price $630 per chair, we got them for $150 each). It looks like this:

Then Jay got a call from a financial planner at one of his banks. They're offering a very low interest rate on consolidating his mortgage and loans, so we could have everything paid off in less than 10 years. Very exciting. It's kind of like winning the lottery, except better.

Today we got the tires put onto the rims, then Jay and I got our bicycles ready to go. We biked to the house of a friend and back, and it felt good. I'm excited to have used my bike again, and I want to go biking every day if I can.

I've also been slowly stripping the wallpaper in the hallway for the last couple days. There's sickly hospital green underneath. We're replacing it with a medium-ish chocolate brown.

Tomorrow we're going camping for the weekend with some friends. They have a boat, so we got some cheap fishing rods, tackle, and licenses today. I'm excited, I haven't been fishing in a few years, and I love it. Jay even found my favorite 2-tailed yellow jellies, so I'm all set.

Ahh

2008-06-29T10:26:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was my first day of vacation. The best part of this job is definitely the 2 months of summer vacation. During which I will be working whenever I'm in Lloyd, but as I'm taking over 2 weeks of not-here time off, that's acceptable. And I won't be working 10-12 hours per day, so that's also acceptable. The plan is to work for a couple hours each day I'm around here, and hopefully get a decent amount finished before this fall.

Our summer plans are mostly finalized now. Next week we're going back home to do some camping with my family and then hang out at Jay's hometown rodeo. I'm taking a couple extra days at the farm to go through all of my crap, then it's back here. I have a month or so of work and sewing and stuff around town. In the middle of that, Jay and I are planning a bike trip out to the Rockies in a big loop. It should be interesting, because although Jay has been on a long bike trip before, I haven't. Sitting still for extended periods, for days at a time, without falling asleep, should be interesting. My fear of falling off and being crushed under a semi had better keep me going. At the end of August we're back in Regina for a couple weddings, and possibly some more camping.

Sigh

2008-06-22T15:53:00.003-06:00

I went to Tim Hortons today. I usually don't, but I was going over to help a friend and thought that coffee might be nice. As usual, it was an experience that made me annoyed and uncomfortable. Lloydminster seems to revolve around Tim Hortons. I find it a very bizarre fascination. I don't mind coffee/donuts/sandwiches once in a while, but a lot of people here are regulars who swear by the stuff. Dude, it's really not that great.

Anyways, I went at 7:45 on a Sunday morning so it wasn't very busy. There were only two cashiers, and the two orders in front of me were fairly large, therefore taking a long time. Although both cashiers were still busy, the guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me I could move up to the counter. As there was only one line and I had no idea which cashier would be ready first, I politely thanked him and moved up 6". There wasn't a big lineup, unlike usual when it goes out the door, so I don't know what benefit those 6" were giving him. I got the impression he just wanted to be next in line and hoped that getting me to pick a cashier would improve his chances. Buddy, wait your turn.

Awkward moments

2008-06-11T21:20:00.002-06:00

Today I took an unexpected and unfamiliar break and talked to people at work. Usually I'm a hermit working constantly in my office-cave. However, there was an intern leaving, and free cake. While chatting, 2 or 3 of the women kept glancing down at my (shirt? chest? jeans?). I hate that. I checked and there was nothing on my shirt or pants that I could see. My fly wasn't down. I hadn't grown a third boob. What? WHAT?!! Either say what's distracting you or stop looking.

Makes me regret talking to people.

Just a little bald, it's still good

2008-06-06T20:48:00.005-06:00

On Tuesday I shaved my head, to do with the raising money for cancer thing. This is me and my new airy do:

With the time I save not doing my hair, I can now stare off into space for an extra 5 minutes a day. With the amount of sleep I've been getting and the amount of work I have to do before the end of the school year, it's necessary staring time.

Yipping

2008-05-31T12:08:00.002-06:00

I got to talk to Jaden and Courtney yesterday. They're very opposite children. In the entire conversation I had with Jaden, he told me one spontaneous story. The rest was made up of me asking questions.

The story:
When Grandpa and I went to Weyburn, and then came back from Weyburn, when we went around right curves, I said, "Curves you right."

While talking to Courtney, I hardly got a question in. She babbled happily on about numerous subjects. Some of my favorites:

Me: Does Tristan have pointy fingers?
Courtney: Yes, he has very pointy fingers. He points at everything.
---
Courtney: Tristan eats everything. He's a food monster.
---
Jen was gone to a graduation. And someone had obviously been complaining:
Courtney: Two grads is too many. One grad a day is enough! What if mom had to go to 22 grads in one day?
Me: She'd be a very busy lady.
Courtney: Busy busy busy busy busybusybusy (etc.)

Robin finally called across the room that whenever I got tired of talking to her I could say goodbye. I had to take him up on it, she could have gone on forever, as amusing as that would be.

Couple things

2008-04-22T19:52:00.003-06:00

We got dumped with about 8" of snow over the last few days. This is not something I was hoping for. I want spring. I thought we had it too, for a while there, when we got +20 degree weather, and the snow banks were almost completely gone. The biggest down side to this is the number of idiot drivers that have surfaced. There are a lot of people in this town who own trucks and don't know how to drive them. I've witnessed a dozen or so very close calls in the 3 trips around town that I've made since it snowed again. Definitely makes me want to stay home.

On a somewhat related note, I started typing about how we got dumped with snot. Mmmm...

Maybe it's working

2008-04-21T22:00:00.003-06:00

I think I'm getting the hang of this teaching thing. I'm getting better at taking home only as much work as I'll get done. I'm learning how to organize and parcel out my work for the week - also known as only doing what I have to. I have lots of ideas for what I want to do with the courses, lessons, and labs. I've even started on redoing some of them. And I've figured out how to do quite a few things better for next time. And if I remember, I might even put in some of the by-the-book things I'm supposed to be doing. In theory.

A co-worker asked me today if I feel in charge now. My reply - maybe in a few years.

In other news

2008-03-19T07:38:00.002-06:00

You know what the world needs? In-the-shower soap juggling competitions. Who can juggle the most soap, in the most fantastical dancing-juggling moves, for the longest. I'm sure it would make an awesome olympic sport. Just try to imagine it, you'll really laugh.

To say or not to say

2008-03-12T17:47:00.002-06:00

Earlier this week, I told my classes that if they're missing assignments or labs, it would be in their best interests to come in to work on whatever it is. I let them know that I'm around to supervise at lunch and after school till 5:00pm every day. They all gave me a look, and one kid asked, "Why are you here till 5 every day?"

I stood for half a minute or so trying to decide whether to actually tell them. After that period, the kid asked, "Is that a bad question?"

Yes. Yes it is.

On a completely unrelated note (or not, as it were), I've cried 3 times today. So far.

quote

2008-02-23T08:34:00.002-07:00

Age doesn't make you forgetful. Having too many stupid things to remember makes you forgetful. - Maxine

Pantsless

2008-02-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

I lost my pants this morning, but only temporarily. That is the most exciting thing that happened to me today. I live life on the edge. Tomorrow I'm planning to make banana bread and possibly meatloaf. Even my culinary life is non-partying.

Took me long enough

2008-01-27T16:07:00.001-07:00

So, today, several many years after finishing them, I finally framed and hung my wildflower cross stitch pictures. Victory! I have overcome some of my putting off.

Quotes

2008-01-25T18:13:00.001-07:00

I love weird quotes:

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. (Lord Chesterfield)

Facts are stupid things. (Ronald Reagan)

It is a mistake to think that you can solve any major problems just with potatoes. (Douglas Adams)

Prediction (and/or just a well-written little piece)

2008-01-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

I like the first horoscope, it's awesome.

This one's especially for Megan

2008-01-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

Creeps me.

(via Dooce)

Speaking of ideas

2008-01-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

Jay is the sweetest guy ever. I was at the fabric store, and he bought me a bunch of lovely discount fabric. Including shiny silver and red and green to make a real tree skirt out of. With pop-up stuffed holly and berries! I'm excited. And fabric to make us a quilt for the new bed, in matching room colours. Well, some day, once I finish all the mending I've been putting off. And other projects I have in mind or in the works.

New Year's resolution: finish old projects first.

Happy Festivus! Merry New Year!

2008-01-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

So, this is 2008. Where are the flying cars, or the flying pigs, or something? Oh well.

Jay and I did the home excursion, first to the big family do at my Grandma's, then my parents, then his parents, then my parents again for an anniversary do. Then we did some visiting on the way home. It was all good. We also bought a new bed (my neck isn't sore any more!) and brought my big dining room table here. It's my new sewing table. It's quite an improvement over the little round table I had been using. So I got all my sewing stuff set up today, then made a cover for my new sewing machine:

The lines aren't consistent. I'm not very impressed with the trial digitizing software I was using. But the picture is awesome, thanks to Megan. I have the bestest little sister ever. I'm debating embroidering "Have you hugged your sewing machine today?" on it, but I wan't to work out the craptacularness out of it.

In other news, did you know that beeves used to be a plural form of beef? As in the cowboys rounded up the herd of beeves. I think we should bring it back into general use. Just think of all the rhyming possibilities. You could have a pet beeve as well as a pet peeve.

It should be required

2007-12-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is scary. I think they should show this in schools and workplaces. It's scary because it's true.

Ho ho ho

2007-12-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

I finally made the skirt for my little munchkin Christmas tree. It's only 3 feet tall, so the skirt isn't all that big. It's red gauze with shiny gold stars over white. I forgot to take a picture, and now it's covered with presents. It took me 3 trips to get them all out there. After I had put them all around the tree, Jay said, "Presents don't go out till Christmas Eve." So he can put them back.

My sewing machine takes more getting used to than I'd anticipated. I used the embroidery attachment yesterday to put the Riders logo on a t-shirt for Jay. Unfortunately, I turned the machine off after doing the first colour, so had to take the hoop off in order to turn the machine back on. Stupid way to design software. So I had to re-tighten the fabric on the hoop, which moved the relative position of the fabric, which in turn skewed the overall design. Added to that, I had re-sized the design initially, and the software didn't like that. Evidently it doesn't like changes. But Jay says the shirt is wearable, and learning from my mistakes and such. I want to make a shirt for me next. I'll post pictures once I do.

Just full of ideas or something

2007-12-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

I just had an idea for making a tree skirt: fold a white piece of fabric like you would a piece of paper for making a snowflake, then cut chunks out. Unfold and applique onto a coloured piece of fabric. If I wasn't doing something else for ours, I'd totally do that.

Hoo-ray

2007-12-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

You may all now rejoice, for I have finally finished the wedding quilt for Kerry and Lisette. It looks somewhat less than fabulous, if I do say so myself, but it's quiltly and soft and I like to hug it. I feel much better now.

Moneywise

2007-11-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking about trying to make and sell crafty things. This idea was spawned by the new sewing machine, which hasn't gotten here yet and for which I'm waiting impatiently. In fact, my great ideas have been keeping me up at nights. I tried to compensate by not having naps, which seems to be backfiring on me, as I sleep just as badly. Oh, right, there was a point to this, which was not to talk about my un-sleep habits.

The problem is, making things costs money, which I don't have a lot of. Well, I do, but it's mostly invested or in car format, and I like to have that to fall back on. So my newer plan is to get a job for now to fund my making stuff habit, and get my making stuff habit support me on the side. This gives me an outlet for my creative side, plus an excuse to buy awesome fabric. Like yesterday, when I went to Fabricland and bought the black fabric I needed to finish a christmas gift, and then bought 4 more kinds because they were purty. You'll be happy to know that I left about 300 other purty fabrics in the store. That's a pretty good ratio, isn't it?

AIEEEEE! (flaps hands frantically)

2007-11-16T11:40:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited. Jay got me a sewing machine for my birthday! It does sewing and embroidery, and hooks up to the puter for embroidering designs, and it's all fancy. It was on Ebay for $550, but I'm pretty sure it's worth about $3000 or so. A Singer, and brand spanking new, baby. I'm all excited to get it now, I hope it comes soon. Then I won't have to fight as much with the quilt for Kerry and Lisette. And I have ideas and stuff! It's awesome (shrill Jaden squeak)!

Updated: Oh. I guess it wasn't a deal, we paid what it's worth. But it's still cool, and I'm still excited. I'll probably be somewhat less excited when it gets here and I have to pay tax and shipping and stuff. Oh well.

When you wish someone with a camera had been there

2007-11-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

Dustin is coming up here this weekend to visit. He was supposed to get here last night, but he called and said on the way out of the city his muffler got a big hole and the noise was too much for him. On the way back to Saskatoon he had to make a set of earmuffs out of his toque with his mittens stuffed over the ears. Priceless.

Here ya go

2007-10-29T21:07:00.000-06:00

This is the new wall that I just finished painting:

And this is Jay's hair after I buzzed it, because it kept getting in the way of his surgery stitches:

I should probably explain that one. Jay had ear surgery to remove a skin cyst over his eardrum. Since it's a delicate operation, the surgeon had to go in from behind Jay's ear. Now Jay has stitches down the back of his ear, and it's swollen and sticks out. I call him FrankenEar.

Posterity is another word for future blackmail

2007-10-28T23:45:00.001-06:00

I talked to my older brother the other day, he had an amusing story to tell. I guess when Jaden was a baby, he ate a maple bug, and didn't like it at all. I guess they're bitter, or maybe just bug-flavoured. So Robin decided to let Tristan try the same thing, as he really wanted to eat one. He put it in his mouth and started munching away with a big smile. After a bit, Robin and Jen wondered if he swallowed it, so Jen dug around in Tristan's mouth and pulled the mushed bug out. Tristan was pretty upset, he wanted it back.

Kids are weird.

Oh right, that thing

2007-10-28T21:27:00.001-06:00

The reason we went to Ikea is that we went to Edmonton for a Roughriders game. I guess they won or something. I wasn't too excited about the game, but it meant a couple days off work with Jay.

Plus we got some Christmas shopping done. Since our family (I just about typed hamily, which might be fitting) hasn't made any decisions about what we're doing for Christmas (ahem), I'm just buying for the niece and nephews and parents. Costco had a bunch of cool stuff for rather cheap. I'm all about the cheap. I bought myself flowers and a pack of old Sherlock Holmes DVDs. Jay even went through the pain of watching one with me. He's a brave man.

I arted on the wall

2007-10-28T21:16:00.000-06:00

Jay and I got this snazzy new light fixture from Ikea, and put it up in the front hall. Then I convinced him we should paint the mirror wall, get rid of the horrible 70's plaid mirror and the inset duck hunter mirror. The mirror wall was truly awful. Weekend project!

I figured it'd be easiest to use the grey and red leftovers from our bedroom renovations, and at first we thought about stripes or a checkerboard. And then Jay was sweet enough to let me abstract art it. I'm in the middle of doing something along these lines, but not quite as cool looking. I'll put pictures up when I'm done.

I laughed so hard

2007-10-21T22:03:00.000-06:00

Jay and I just watched the movie Hot Fuzz, and it may now be my favorite movie ever. Simon Pegg is hilarious, and now I want to see anything he's ever made.

My excessively vague fortune cookie

2007-09-30T15:45:00.000-06:00

Happy events will take place shortly in your home.

But will they take place to me? Or my pants? That is the question.

Wrapping up

2007-09-30T11:27:00.001-06:00

Today is my last day at the landscaping shop. The rest of this month I'll be working on planting trees at the new Home Depot going up, or working on any other landscaping jobs that come up, plus finishing up closing down the shop. At the end of the month I'll have to start looking for another job. I'm not excited about that. I find job hunting depressing. At least this time I think I'll have a better chance of finding something, as I've heard of a couple good websites to go to. Plus I have a bit of experience. And as you can see, I'm bolstering up my fading will to work.

I love this on so many levels

2007-09-24T19:43:00.000-06:00

Best headline ever, and the article is funny too. Should I call and claim the hamster? I can imagine the kid who got rid of it - "I set you free!"

(via mimi smartypants)

And in other news

2007-08-30T08:11:00.000-06:00

I'm back from the wedding/camping/wedding tour. My little brother got married a couple weekends ago:
It was a fun time. During the dance, Jaden ate a dozen or so plums from the centerpieces. I got free grapes to pin on my shirt. Courtney got krills in her hair (not the aquatic kind, like Megan and I hoped for). The several slices of cake I ate were quite tasty. Unfortunately, I didn't get the wedding quilt finished, but it's getting there.

Then Jay and I went camping at Greenwater for a week. It was lazy, and somewhat overcast and rainy for most of the week, and a squirrel ate our table cloth:
Seriously, this squirrel had issues. Twice we woke up to "scritch scritch scritch", and he was scrabbling at the tablecloth. It was lined, so maybe he wanted it for his nest or something. At any rate, it was weird, and amusing. Free squirrel! We also had a free pair of chickadees a couple times. And a large annoying horde of wasps and hornets. Both Jay and I got stung, both of us in the hand, and Jay in the lip.

And then I fell in the lake. We went paddleboating, and it's a good thing they don't let you go out of the marina there. Imagine me attempting to get out of the paddleboat, stretched out between the boat, which was slowly floating away, and the dock. Then the realization that I'm not going to make it, hanging onto the dock for dear life, and falling in anyways. Everything from my underarms down got soaked. Good thing I didn't have my wallet on me, that would have been sad. It was pretty funny though.

After camping, we went to Jay's cousin's wedding in Kelvington. We picked Greenwater because it was close by. The wedding was fun, and the supper was really good. Nothing beats a small town wedding for food. Homemade cabbages and perogies.

After the wedding, we went to Jay's parents' place to return their camper. Then we went to the auction in Fort Qu'Appelle and bought a couple dining room chairs and a love seat. I love that auction. Two chairs for $5 each, dark mahogany wood with metal slats and leather seats. We could have had a full size black leather couch for $150, but I didn't want to buy leather without sitting on it first (it was leaning against the wall). Heather's sister was there and got a really nice plum leather love seat for that price. I wanted it, but Jay would never go for that colour. Oh well. We got a tan microfibre love seat, which goes pretty well with the couch we got from a previous auction.

Such a great quote

2007-08-30T08:10:00.000-06:00

"..not that getting outwitted by Bush is any less embarrassing than getting outwitted by flour."

From Defective Yeti

Rock on

2007-08-16T11:57:00.000-06:00

Youtube is amazing. I finally found the music video for the Raccoons theme song, that I've been looking for forever. For future reference: Run With Us - Lisa Lougheed.

Leaping through hoops. Next I'll try for over buildings

2007-08-11T08:01:00.000-06:00

My new site is hosted through Dotster, and although their site builder thingamajig is somewhat helpful, I have several beefs with it. It's amazingly slow, unwieldy, and you have to jump through a large number of hoops to edit the site. Which is ridiculous when you want to post to the blog section. I'm not sure why they're making things so difficult, but I guess I shouldn't complain too much since they only recently put this interface in. Their previous method sucked far more.

New site

2007-08-11T07:58:00.000-06:00

I finally (after 3 years or so of owning the domain name) have thrown up a site/blog at furryforestcritter.ca. If y'all can take a look and let me know what you think, it would be appreciated.

Finito

2007-08-05T17:09:00.001-06:00

Hurray! Our room is done. And looks ridiculously good:

I didn't even have to help much in the end with the flooring, as Jay's buddy came over to give him a hand, leaving me to paint trim and doors instead. Whoops, which reminds me, I need to go paint the other side of the door.

Done painting!

2007-08-04T17:50:00.000-06:00

At last! After too much taping and too many coats. Never again will we do multiple colours in a room. But it's going to look pretty good. Pictures will be coming tomorrow. We also get to put in the flooring tomorrow, which I'm not exactly looking forward to. But at least it will be done, and we can have our room back. Without carpet! We need to celebrate. Well, I need to celebrate. I hope this cuts down on my allergies a lot. That and the new furnace filter (as soon as it goes in) should help.

We're redoing our bedroom

2007-08-02T14:04:00.001-06:00

Jay said he didn't care what colour the bedroom was. So, to teach him a lesson, I got pink. Purty, isn't it?

Just kidding. We're painting it red and grey, so we got tinted primer. The primer isn't red so much as it is girly pink. I think we should keep it, just for spite.

And that other thing

2007-07-28T07:54:00.001-06:00

And there was this one time, like yesterday, when I was laid off. Well, actually, I found out a week ago, but I was done work yesterday. They sold the hotel, and although they wanted to rehire most people, lots didn't go back, and since I was planning on quitting anyways I jumped on the bandwagon. So now I have a single job that will turn into full time for September and half of October, at which point I will need a new job. Hooray! We all know how much I like looking for jobs. At least now I have some experience here, maybe it will help.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

2007-07-28T07:38:00.000-06:00

WHY? Why does Blogger insist on pushing whatever new crap they've made? Just let people know the option is there, don't force it on them. This time it was the new template picker that would lose any changes you've made. Oh, and my old template was on the new template list, SO WHAT'S THE POINT?! Bah. Good thing they let me revert, or I would have templated their faces.