Bullet Sunday

I grew up in a fairly religious home. There wasn't a lot of "superstition" or any kind of belief in astrology, numerology or other things like that.

I have become a little interested in these things, more curious I suppose, and tonight I was looking at some information on the internet about parents and children with different astrological signs.

My spouse and I are both Scorpio's. I have one Virgo son and one Cancer son.
I found the following very interesting.

• Virgo male child: The Ruling Planet of Mercury, associated with intelligence, reason and meticulous attention to detail, makes the Virgo child gentle but also a rather fussy little individual. This is a child who is always thinking and observing with the ability to quickly perceive and learn. As this Planet also rules the hands, children of Virgo tend to be very skilled with all types of tools and instrument.
• In my humble parenting opinion this is VERY descriptive of my Maxie Man, and not at all descriptive of c-note. If he were any more skilled with his hands I think we might go insane.

• Scorpio Parent/Virgo Child: The Scorpio parent is a very devoted individual and the little Virgo will truly appreciate this. Practical and earthy, this child enjoys in aiding others and will always be a valuable helper around the home. Obsessive as the Scorpio adult can be regarding how things around the house are done, this parent will know that the little Virgo can be relied upon to do things in accordance with the Scorpio standard...but the parent here needs to be wary of making the Virgo child something of a slave. Because of this little one's willingness to work, he or she can be taken advantage of. Blessed with a no-nonsense approach to life which appeals to the Scorpio nature, both individuals in this relationship usually possess a shared view of perfectionism. It is not unusual for the bond between a Scorpio parent and Virgo child to be an intense one indeed.

• GET CLEANING BOY-O!

• Cancer child: The Cancer child is a loving little individual...some might even say a typical "mama's baby. The Cancer child possesses a tender soul and is usually quite easy to manage and discipline. Virtually all that will be needed is lots of attention, an over-abundance of love, and many hugs and cuddles. The formative years and early home environment of this little one will influence the rest of his or her life.
• I had to laugh at this description because I think people who have heard me talking about c-note would say he was a little momma's boy.

Here is a photo of my Cancerian "momma's boy":

Three Beautiful Things.

This weekend we have had a respite. I think this is the first time in 8 months that we have had a "break". We intended to clear our plates of everything and rest for as long as we felt we needed it before diving into any projects.
So far we have slept, read, slept, watched some t.v., checked out the Internet, and slept some more. So far I am not feeling any more inclined to dive into projects. I have more sleeping to do.

My three beautiful things for this weekend are:

1. Sleeping until I woke "naturally" - which unfortunately was when the dog stuck her nose in my face, but at least it wasn't a crying baby!

2. READING a book from beginning to end in one sitting. WOW. I feel human again.

3. Strawberries and whipped cream.

Music Memoirs: Top 5 artists who should never have tried acting

The topic today coming from music memoirs is "The top 5 artists who should never have become actors."

The fist person that comes to mind is Ricky Schroeder, but he was never a music artist (or an actor for that matter).

Oh... So

1. Ozzy Osborne. Could Ozzy really be considered an actor just because there were cameras in his house and he was a "reality star?". I don't think he was actually "acting" in the show "The Osbornes", but he was/is a bit of a train wreck. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that all of a sudden you can understand the lyrics to his recent songs?

2. Whitney Houston. Whitney is an artist, in a movie as an actor, acting as an artist, so really was she just being herself? I remain confused however it was still not the most impressive acting I have ever seen in my life. She has pipes though, thats for damn sure.

3. OK OK OK. FOR REAL. THE WORST ONE. J-LO.
Sorry Jenny from the Block. There are some things money can't buy.

4. David Bowie, I just read that davif has quite the extensive actin career. I only know him from Labyrinth and he freaked me out to be honest. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but he doesn't go down in my mind as stellar actor.


5. Jessica Simpson. ouch.

thursday thirteen: thesis

This week I am a little preoccupied with my thesis.

I have been having some difficulty getting started but I feel as though I may have taken some steps in that direction in the past few days and I am feeling a little relieved and a LOT overwhelmed.

Here are 13 things I feel like I need to do in order to really get moving in a productive way. I know this is completely boring to anyone other than me, but hopefully writing this stuff down will give me some momentum to move forward.

1. Get a notebook.

2. Catch up on my textbook reading.

3. Finish reading and commenting on my Internet class folders.

4. Read the articles I printed off this week.

5. Formally write out a timeline.

6. Start on my proposal for class.

7. E-mail the potential committee member suggested to me by my supervisor.

8. Organize my class binder.

9. Copy all the info from the class folders into my notebook that I might need (web addresses).

10. Send a copy of my proposal to Willow.

11. Find another committee member (or 2).

12. Start a binder for lit review articles.

13. Order some materials through inter library loan.

12 of 12

12 of twelve is hosted by Chad Darnell who is NOT dead, no matter what you hear. Check out his website at http://chaddarnell.typepad.com/ to see more participants of 12 of 12.

1. This is my reading for class tonight printed off so I can read it more easily than reading online. So much for saving trees by taking an online course!

2. My inbox at the beginning of work. I was planning on taking before and after shots, but perhaps I was too ambitious.

3. My desk at the beginning of work. Also planning to take before and after shots. Also too ambitious!

4. At about 3pm it started to snow. I was trying to get a picture of the snow from the office window but it didn't turn out as I expected. This is a photo from the office window - not my window, I don't have one.

5. So I did clean off my desk, but I won't take a photo of the drawer. Next project: Clean out drawer.

6. This is a picture of the clock in my office. It is actually after 11 but I haven't reached up and moved this clock forward after the time change this last weekend. I also can't crop these pictures nicely because I'm doing this whole entry from work, so you get to see the lovely brown door to the hallway.

7. Here is the inbox "after". All I did was make a neater pile, but it sure looks as though I was productive doesn't it?
8. Tonight at work I supervise a pub night for the students. This is a little bit of what they consumed in about 3 hours.

9. My student employees made a snowman in the icebox which we fill with snow to keep the fountain pop cool. The snowman is cute but this is also what they consider to be "cleaned up" for the night. ARG!

10. Tim Horton's is a famous (to Canadians) coffee chain. These are 2 of my student staff waiting for the drinking to be finished so they can go home. This is a REAL coffee mug which costs 3 Canadian dollars to fill at Tim Horton's. Robbie says he drinks water from it, not coffee.

11. This is a photo I have on my desktop. Although it was not taken this week it was taken recently when my son visited my office after daycare. Technically it shouldnt be a part of 12 of 12 but since it is on my desktop and I was looking at it today I am counting it to round out my 12 of 12. (I am away from home and my camera so i am having to improvise a little tonight)

12. Max has decided tracing around his hand is one of his favorite things. He is tracing on a piece of paper hanging on the wall in my office, so even though he is no longer here, his hand is!

My own interpretation of Iditarod stats.

So I am by NO means an expert on the Iditarod. I think I am learning teeny tiny bits at a time, but I am obsessively watching the internet for updates.
It looks like most people stopped in Takotna for a rest because everyone is arriving and so far no-one is posted as leaving. All of a sudden from WAY in the back Martin Buser flies in and out of Takotna and is already into Ophir.

Ophir is checkpoint number 12 out of 26 and is a ghost town, (I got this info about Ophir from www.iditarod.com). Ophir took its name in 1908 from a nearby placer creek, one of a dozen streams in Alaska to be named by Bible-reading prospectors, for the lost country of Ophir, the source of King Solomon’s gold. Many items and artifacts still remain untouched. The checkpoint is at Dick and Audra Forsgren’s cabin.

The two other mushers that I "know" Lance Mackey (winner from the past two years) and Jeff King are in 5th and 6th place respectively, being bumped from 4th and 5th when Martin Buser flew through.

This is the part of the race I REALLY love because this is when the strategies start to come in. These mushers are tired. They have been hard at it now for almost 5 days and nights. They have mandatory rest periods they HAVE to take (two eight hour and one 24 hour) but some of them wont make it to the end with just those mandatory rests. So they start to think about how far they will go, when they will stop, how long they will stop for etc.

Last year (in my opinion) the race win was sealed by Lance Mackey during one of these rest periods when he "snuck" out past fellow resting musher Jeff King who was hot on his trail the whole way.

Certainly statistics don't tell the whole story, but I am checking the iditarod website as often as I think of it (that's pretty often) and i am getting excited about the story the stats are telling.

three beautiful things

Three Beautiful Things:

1. This morning as I left for work (early because I have to drop the boy at daycare on the way) there was a full moon sinking low onto the horizon. The sky was beautiful and clear, the van was warm (because today I remembered to turn on the heater when I started it early), and the moon was beautiful. I stopped for a minute at the end of the driveway and showed it to Max. It is fun to show him things now because he actually LOOKS where I am pointing.

2. Picking up Max from daycare today he was around the corner and didn't see me come in. The lady said "Max, look whose here for you!" and he came around the corner. His face just broke into a HUGE grin and he RAN to me. It made me so happy because although he is usually excited to see me he wants to show me things and doesn't ever really run to me.

3. Driving to work when it is light out and driving home when it is light out is beautiful to me. It means there is an end to the darkness and the cold. I feel as though I may slowly come out of hibernation myself.

ten on tuesday; ten things I won't miss about winter

This weeks topics: Ten things I won't miss about winter. ONLY ten?

1. -40. -35. -25. -20. -15. -7. (When it gets to about -5 I can tolerate the cold).

2. Plugging vehicles in - and unplugging them when I remember to.

3. Forgetting to unplug the vehicle and driving away while plugged in.

4. The claustrophobic feeling I get when wearing my winter coat.

5. Taking off my boots to walk into a place like the doctors office and promptly stepping in the water left by someone who didn't take off their boots.

6. Trying to dress my son in all his winter attire as he screams and twists and turns.

7. Finding my sons mittens outside where he has taken them off and thrown them, then trying to put them back on him.

8. Driving to work in tinkey winkey with a heater strong enough to melt my eyeballs in their sockets but not hot enough to melt the ice from the inside of the windows. Having to scrape the inside of the window while squinching my melting eyeballs.

9. Driving to work in the dark, then driving home in the dark.

10. Being cold.

Too late to be Monday meme

I took this from Sunday Stealing. Link to it here.



1. How old do you look? Older than I feel

2. Where do you live? In a house

3. Are you waiting for something? Waiting for the world to change

4. What’s one pet peeve of yours that is not common? Chocolate milk left in cups

5. Do you want/have kids? I have

6. Have you ever thought about converting your religion? I am converting to buddhism one day.

7. Last shocking news you heard? I thought a blogger whose blog I read had died. It totally freaked me out, but really he was TOLD he was dead over the phone.

8. What was the last thing you drank? water from the fountain

9. Who do you most look like in your family? depends. I have been told I look like my mom and my dad, but not at all like my siblings.

10. If you could have something right now, anything, what would it be? A vacation someplace sunny with books, and sleep and Mexican food.

11. Where does most of your family live? Every single one of them live in a house.

12. Where did you grow up? In Africa and partially in Canada.

13. Where do you want to go on vacation? see number 10

14. Have you ever had a panic attack? yes

15. What can’t you wait for? see number 10

16. When’s the last time you told someone you loved him or her and meant it? last night

17. Have your parents ever smoked pot? my mother has never smoked anything

18. Want someone back in your life? maybe

19. What do you order at the bar? nothing. I don't go to the bar.

20. When was the last time you cried really, really hard? When Muki died

21. Ever licked someone’s cheek? absolutely

22. What is your favorite thing to eat with peanut butter? I'm not the hugest fan of PB, but when I crave it I crave pb and Jelly sandwiches made by my spouse.

23. Where were you on July 4th, 2008? I have abolsutely no idea. Work is probably a safe guess.

24. What are your nicknames? Ju, Jules.

25. If you could go back in time, how far back would you go? Back to when my nan and my Gran Ennis were alive.

The Cost of Laziness

We are out of toilet paper which is virtually inconceivable to me because I am a compulsive toilet paper purchaser. Whenever we go to costco I buy toilet paper. Sometimes we have been known to have multiple multi packs of t.p. in the house. When I opened the cupboard and saw one roll left I was certain I had another 48 stashed somewhere. My spouse informed me otherwise.

I knew I needed to buy some "holdover" t.p. until I get a chance to get to costco. I LOATHE buying it in the store because of how expensive it is. I even considered "borrowing" some from work, but we buy cheap enough t.p. at work that I would never seriously consider walking out with a roll and subjecting myself to the chafing at home.

I had to stop to get gas on the way to get the boy from daycare. After picking him up, getting him dressed and out to the van, I am reluctant to unpack him again at the grocery store just to pick up one thing so I decided to get a small pack of toilet paper at the gas station to save me from loading and unloading a 2.5 year old.

My laziness cost me $4.25. FOUR DOLLARS AND TWENTY FIVE CENTS. That's more than 1.07 PER roll. Though I choked as I paid for it I didn't think of putting it back and sucking it up by going into the grocery store, I just paid for it and when I got home I told my spouse she better appreciate every wipe with those four anorexic rolls of toilet paper cause she might as well be wiping her bum with pure gold.

My Iditarod Obsession

I have known about the Iditarod for many years. This spring I watched a documentary on the 2008 Iditarod and completely fell in love with the whole thing. The 2009 Iditarod started last Saturday and I have been checking the internet for musher updates every since. I almost check on an hourly basis which is a little ridiculous but I still do it.

I mentioned in a previous post that Dee Dee Jonrowe was my favorite musher. As I was checking out the website yesterday I saw that this year there are 18 women competing. I think it is amazing that ANYONE competes at all, but that women compete I think is awesome.

Here are the names of some of the women competing in the race this year, and if they have websites I could find I have included them also for you to check out.

• Nancy Yoshida. www.reachfortheskykennel.com
• Jessie Royer. www.huskypower.com/jessie
• Judy Currier
• Ally Zirkle. www.SPKDogLog.com
• Karin Hendrickson. www.blueonblackdogs.com
• Melissa Owens.
• Kim Darst. www.huskyhavenraceteam.com
• Cindy Gallea. www.ultimateiditarod.com/snowcrest
• Laura Daugereau. www.nightrunnerkennel.com
• Dee Dee Jonrowe. www.deedeejonrowe.com
• Jen Seavey
• Rachael Scdoris. www.rachaelscodoris.com
• Heather Siirtola www.hardcorehuskies.com

not dissin' my other readers

Today someone from Brunei visited my blog. How totally cool is that?
I'm not dissin the other people who drop in - I hope I write enough of interest to keep you all coming back.

Here is some info on Brunei!

The Sultanate of Brunei's influence peaked between the 15th and 17th centuries when its control extended over coastal areas of northwest Borneo and the southern Philippines. Brunei subsequently entered a period of decline brought on by internal strife over royal succession, colonial expansion of European powers, and piracy. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate; independence was achieved in 1984. The same family has ruled Brunei for over six centuries. Brunei benefits from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields, the source of one of the highest per capita GDPs in Asia.

Three Beautiful Things

1. My boys approach life completely differently from one another. Max wants to have breathing treatments not because he likes them, but because C-note still gets them. This is the only time of day he will sit still and though he is still far from "melting" into me, the fact he will put his head back onto my shoulder is beautiful to me.
2. C-note takes everything in stride. Sit here? Ok. Wear this on my face? Ok.
Look at the camera? Ok. He is so laid back and so happy. I can even get him to smile with this mask on. This photo breaks my heart, my beautiful boy.

3. My boys getting better is beautiful.

FAIL

One of my favorite websites to check out is failblog.org
In the spirit of Failblog I have something to post from my very own community.

Hope you enjoy!

Three Beautiful Things

1. My boy with a haircut. He is beautiful without a haircut also and I have to admit I was a little sad to get his beautiful long hair cut off, but he is incredibly handsome with a "big boy" hair do.

2. My boy teasing me. He has an insane sense of humor and I love to watch him learn more and more about what it is to "be funny". Last night I took him up to bed as is our ritual and he was complaining about having to go to bed. He was trying to use stalling techniques and told me he needed a diaper change. I reminded him I had only just changed his diaper before we came upstairs and when he realized he was "busted" he burst into peals of laughter.

3. The boys in new pajamas.

Music Memoirs: top 5 songs about pets

In our house we have as pets dogs and cats. At one time (recently) we had a frog.
Here are five songs about the pets in our home.

1. How much is that doggie in the window?
2. Who Let the Dogs Out?
3. It's not Easy Being Green.
4. Siamese Cat Song.
5. The Cat Came Back.

You can click on any of the titles to go to a link which will play the music for you.

Friday Fill In

It looks like this week 107 people completed this fill in before me. If you are interested in what any of them have to say, click on the logo!

And...here we go!

1. Paying rent for someone was my last random act of kindness.

2. Another place is where I go in my mind when I am reading a great book.

3. Put aside all reason in matters of the heart.

4. Coffee, tea or water?

5. Sometimes it's lonely to walk separate paths.

6. Our 7 month old reminds me that there is a reason to smile everyday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting out of my work clothing, tomorrow my plans include taking my boy for a haircut and Sunday, I want to sit in the hot tub!

Things people say

I am always amazed at the things people say. My spouse and I have had many conversations about homosexuality (being that we are lesbian - lol).

She thinks my extended family makes a significant case for homosexuality being genetic and I have to agree with her. If you look at my extended family going back three generations, we homos are fairly well represented - and in my own opinion there are "more" of us than what is commonly known to others.

I am out to my staff. I don't broadcast it or hang a rainbow flag or anything but I am by no means closeted and my spouse thinks you can tell I am gay from a mile away - that's only because you can see me from a mile away. I don't think I looked so dykey when I was thinner!

ANYWAY. Tonight the topic went to kids that were gay in residence and we have someone living here now who has not come out to anyone but is quite flamboyant in his actions and sends a strong gay "vibe". One of the kids I work with said, "I wonder what his mom did that made him gay?"

She probably watched Barbara Streisand movies and sang Cher songs her whole pregnancy.

Are these questions for real?

Thursday Thirteen: Iditarod

For some reason I have been having a difficult time choosing topics for Thursday Thirteen. My spouse has been doing very well on her topic choices, but I want to at least TRY to be original so I try not to copy her. (You can check hers out here).

I finally thought of something! Here are 13 facts about the Iditarod.

1. This route is a grueling one. While always longer than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), the trail is actually composed of a northern route, which is run on even-numbered years, and a southern route, which is run on odd-numbered years. Both follow the same trail for 444 miles (715 km), from Anchorage to Ophir, where they diverge and then rejoin at
Kaltag, 441 miles (710 km) from Nome.

2. The exact measured distance of the race varies, but according to the official website the northern route is 1,112 miles (1,790 km) long, and the southern route is 1,131 miles (1,820 km) long (ITC, Southern & Northern). The length of the race is also frequently rounded to either 1,050, 1,100, or 1,150 miles (1690, 1770 or 1850 km), but is officially set at 1,049 miles (1688 km), which honors Alaska's status as the 49th state.

3. The race used the northern route until 1977, when the southern route was added to distribute the impact of the event on the small villages in the area, none of which have more than a few hundred inhabitants. Passing through the historic town of Iditarod was a secondary benefit.

4. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams, evolving into the highly competitive race it is today.

5. The current fastest winning time record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser with a time of 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds.

6. Each team is composed of twelve to sixteen dogs, and no more may be added during the race. At least six dogs must be in harness when crossing the finish line in Nome. Mushers keep a veterinary diary on the trail, but are not required to have it signed by a veterinarian at each checkpoint. Dogs that become exhausted or injured may be carried in the sled's "basket" to the next "dog-drop" site, where they are transported by the volunteer Iditarod Air Force to the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center at Eagle River where they are taken care of by prison inmates until picked up by handlers or family members, or they are flown to Nome for transport home.

7. Since the first Iditarod in 1973, there have been only two women to mush their sled dogs to a first place win in Nome. They are Libby Riddles and Susan Butcher.

8. The Iditarod Trail, now a National Historic Trail, had its beginnings as a mail and supply route.

9. Iditarod Trail Committee announced on December 5, 2008 that 73 mushers have signed up to run the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. As of December 5, 17 rookies are entered in IDITAROD XXXVII.

10. My personal favorite musher is Dee Dee Jonrowe. I would suggest checking out her website. I love her profiles of her dogs and her questions and answers section.

11. DeeDee has won numerous awards for the care of her dogs through her career, including the best-cared for team, the best dog care award (given by staff veterinarians), and the dog's best friend award. As her dogs are her top priority, she became a founding member of Mush with PRIDE, which provides responsible information of a dog's environment, exhibiting her commitment to set the standards for all aspects of sled dog care.

12. The official blog of the Iditarod is www.iditarod.com

13. The 2009 Iditarod begins on Saturday March 7th.

Math Lover

I don't think if I were given the opportunity to list characteristics of myself that "math lover" would be something I would think of, until this past Tuesday.


For those of you who don't know, Tuesday was 03/03/09 (and it didn't matter if you put the day first or the month first which means both American AND Canadians could celebrate!)


I was going about my merry day at work and filling out forms and noticed that the date was a square root day. I pointed it out to my colleagues. They think I am silly. THEN I was online and noticed that this day actually MEANS something to math lovers. I don't WANT to be a geek, I really don't, but I am so happy there are other people out there who were thrilled by the whole square root day I think I will call myself a "math sympathizer".



Here is some more info on the day from Scientific American:


Math lovers and numerologists take note: Today, March 3, 2009, is square root day.The unofficial holidayunofficial holiday comes around but nine times a century, when the numbers of the calendar align so that the month and day are each equal to the square root of the year as expressed in two-digit form. (In today's case, 3/3/09, 3 is the square root of 9—in other words, 32 = 3 x 3 = 9.) Square root days arise in every year whose last two digits are a perfect square, or a number whose square root is a whole number: The last square root day was on February 2, 2004 (2/2/04), and the next occurrence will be on April 4, 2016 (4/4/16).

Lent

I am not catholic. I do find the concept of Lent interesting.

There was a time in my life when I was very religious. All through high school I attended a scripture study every single morning before school. I graduated from this program (called seminary) with 100 percent attendance. I absolutely loved studying scripture and it has come in handy when I am watching jeopardy and the category happens to be old or new testament.

Some concepts in my religious experience held significant interest for me, one of them was the concept of sacrifice. This is one reason why I find Lent interesting. For a few years now I have been giving something up for Lent every year. This year is no exception.

Lent this year began on February 25th. The day before Lent begins is my favorite day of the year with few exceptions. FAT TUESDAY.

Unfortunately this year our boys were both admitted to the hospital on Fat Tuesday and so I was not able to celebrate it in true form. I don't even think I had a Cadbury Easter Cream Egg on Fat Tuesday this year which is a travesty. Missing out on the fat Tuesday celebrations did not hamper my desire to give something up for Lent and I followed through.

I have given up "hope". It has been 7 days since giving up hope and I have 33 days remaining. I am going to hang in there and make it. People may think it is easy for me to give up hope, but it is a bit of a struggle. (I haven't struggled yet but when I do I will let you know.)

Stupid questions

I am pretty regularly (always) on facebook.
There are these little ad things that always come up and which I usually ignore. One just caught my eye and didn't make any sense at all.
There is a photo and then a question - "How many eyes do you see" followed by a statement.."98 percent of Canadians get this wrong".
This is very annoying to me. How can you ask someone what they see and them tell them they are wrong? How do they know what someone else sees? Obviously they want to know how many eyes are in the picture, so they should ask that.
It's almost as bad as security in the airport asking "Has anyone put anything in your bag without you knowing?"

Ten on Tuesday: ten ways I can make my life better

Click on the logo to visit other participants:

The topic this week for ten on Tuesday is "ten ways I can make my life better"

Here are my ten.

1. Hang my bedroom door.

2. Finish projects I start.

3. Write my thesis. (picking my thesis topic would make my life better this week)

4. Organize our filing system.

5. Take a vacation with my spouse.

6. Take a breath.

7. Get taxes done.

8. Stick to a budget.

9. Get the bathroom renovated.

10. Complete the adoptions of our boys. (only really this one is beyond my control)

music memoirs

Music memoirs this week asks for 10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back.

Here are my songs that sum up the weekend:

All Night Long. Lionel Richie
It was my night with the baby Saturday and he was up all night long. Partially this was my fault for giving him a breathing treatment at midnight cause he was wired until 3 am. I didn't have fun.

Shut Up. Black Eyed Peas
This song didn't relate specifically to anyone or anything this weekend, just a good overall song.
(and it would have been nice if the kids had stopped crying in the night, but terrible to tell a child to "shut up". If my mom is reading this - I didn't say "shut up" mom. You taught me better!)



She Works Hard For The Money. Donna Summer
This weekend at work was what we call a "back to back" where we have students check out of residence on Friday and a new group check in on Sunday. It is a LONG weekend of work.

Stairway to Heaven. Led Zeppelin
As a part of this back to back to back check in, I have to assess every room that students vacate. Under normal circumstances i have lots of time to wait until all keys are returned before going to an area, but not on a back to back. That means I climb a LOT of stairs. I wish my destination were heaven, unfortunately at the end of all those stairs some rooms are HELL.

Breathe. Anna Nalick
Winter does not seem to be my season, and I was awake at 2 am both nights this weekend.
Both boys struggled with breathing this last week.



Teddy Bear's Picnic.
I sing this song to my boys as I am giving them breathing treatments. They seem to like it. C-note prefers this song to "The Bear Necessities".




99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall
My spouse and I sang this song one night in the hospital to try and sing the boys to sleep. I thought it would be easier to sing one song then try to come up with a dozen songs when my mind is sleep deprived. C-note was asleep before we finished 5 beers, but Max hung in there and we eventually gave up at 54 beers. Apparently beer won't put him to sleep.

Walking on Broken Glass. Annie Lennox
Actually it feels like the inside of my eyelids are broken glass. I could barely walk on Saturday morning after all the stairs I did while assessing rooms on Friday.

I Hate Everything About You. Ugly Kid Joe.
My mom always said that "hate" was a terrible word and that we shouldn't "hate". For many years I followed her guidance, and even in my place of employment where there are many people who are not nice to me I have refrained from saying that I "hate" them. I will sing it instead.

stolen meme monday

I stole this from Sunday Stealing which you can link to here. I thought it was appropriate for me because I am a television addict.


Here you go.


1. Name a TV show series in which you have seen every episode at least twice: Iron Chef (the original).

2. Name a show you can't miss: Grey's Anatomy.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show: Tyne Daly.

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show: Charlie Sheen.

5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from: Friends.

6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys: Spelling Bees?

7. Name a TV show which you've been known to sing the theme song: Golden Girls - and I never even watched the show.

8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch: Big Love, but I think Mormons or people who know a lot about Mormons would actually "get it" more than others.

9. Name a TV series you own: The only one we own is 24, and we never watch it when it is on tv.

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting chops in television: Marky Mark

11. What is your favorite episode of your favorite series? I don't know what my favorite series is and I don't think I have a favorite episode.

12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven't gotten around to yet: New Adventures of Old Christine.


13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad? The Apprentice.

14. Name a show that's made you cry multiple times: I don't think I cry at television, but the show that has made a significant emotional impact on me multiple times has been E.R.

15. What do you eat when you watch TV? Chips and Dip or Veges and Dip.

16. How often do you watch TV? Multiple hours Daily.

17. What's the last TV show you watched? Brothers and Sisters.


18. What's your favorite/preferred genre of TV? Probably drama or reality.


19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with? Good Times.


20. What TV show do you wish you never watched? The Apprentice.


21. What's the weirdest show you enjoyed? MXC on Spike TV.


22. What TV show scared you the most? Ghost Whisperer. I don't watch it because even the trailers scare me.


23. What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched? America's Funniest Videos or Friends.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

I am so very very happy because I just won something and usually I never win anything.

Actually that's not completely true. I won something at my high school graduation (20 years ago).

When I graduated from high school we had a "dry" grad. This won't make a lot of sense to my American readers who don't legally drink till they are 21, so I will explain.

Many provinces in Canada have a legal drinking age of 18 and kids are already 18 when they graduate from high school. It is typical for students to plan a graduation after party where they can drink. Parents assume that the kids are going to drink whether they are legal drinking age or not since many friends are legal drinking age and so they want the drinking to be somewhat supervised and safe. When I was in high school the kids would arrange with a farmer from out of town to use his barn to have a party and then get bussed to the farm after graduation ceremonies and drink and party all night and get picked up or bussed back to town in the morning. It has become quite controversial for many reasons, the least of which is the licensing of the events because police know that many attendees with be underage and drinking it is a liability for farmers who rent out the barns.
The year I graduated there was a big push to have "dry" grads. I don't know how it all came together for my school and I have no idea who planned it and ran it, but we all went to a local bar after hours and there was dancing, games and prizes all night for the people who stayed. There was no alcohol at this function so getting kids to stay was not an easy task.
Many local businesses donated prizes as an incentive for students to stay at the party all night.
It was at this event that I won something.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.................................

I won a twenty dollar gift certificate for a fabric store. WHOOT WHOOT!

Last week on Poppingbubbles blog there was a competition with a book as a prize.
I am a regular follower of Poppingbubbles and as I started to read the hints I was SHOCKED and AMAZED that I knew the answer :)
I submitted my guess, and the winner was announced today.
IT WAS ME!

I won a book which for me is infinitely better than a gift certificate for fabric.

Bullet Sunday

For the topic of today's bullet blog I am going to write a little about adoption. My spouse and I are in the process of adopting one foster son and hope to adopt our second foster son. We have been foster parents to both children since birth (one son was in the hospital for a month following his birth but we picked him up from the hospital).

Adoption and foster care are hot topics for my spouse and I. I found some interesting information on people who were adopted on the blog of Buck and Mike.

Many successful people in our history were adopted. Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs.

• U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, Herbert Hoover, and Andrew Jackson;
• poets and writers Maya Angelou, Rudyard Kipling, Patricia Cornwell, Truman Capote, Herman Melville, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Conrad, John Keats, Rita Mae Brown, Ruth Westheimer, Edward Albee, W. Somerset Maugham, J.R.R. Tolkien, Leo Tolstoy, Arisotle, Dante Alighieri, Edgar Allen Poe, William Wordsworth, Jean Genet, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau;
• composer Johann Sebastian Bach and singers John Lennon, Seal, Charlotte Church, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sarah McLachlan, Ella Fitzgerald, Willie Nelson, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Deborah Harry, Little Richard, Nat King Cole, and Louis Armstrong;
• actors Jack Nickolson, Anthony Hopkins, Ice-T, Ted Danson, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Ray Liotta, Dean Cain, Eartha Kitt, Ingrid Bergman, Melissa Gilbert, James Dean, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott, and Steve McQueen;
• world and national leaders Nelson Mandela, Simón Bolívar, Moses, Muhammad, Alexander the Great, William the Conqueror, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Reagan, Sacagawea, , Joseph Fielding Smith, Orson Hyde, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Newt Gingrich, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Jesse Jackson and Sam Houston;
• athletes Babe Ruth, Greg Louganis and Mike Tyson;
• naturalists John James Audubon and John Bartram; movie directors François Truffaut and Miloš Forman and producer Samuel Goldwyn.

thursday thirteen: thirteen things happening in my world today

Today I am blogging about thirteen things happening in my world today. It has been a week from where Satan dwells and I cannnot wait for it to end. The only problem with it ending is another one just like it starts Monday.

1. My boys are beginning the third night of their stay in the hospital. Max is getting better but CJ is getting worse. I say Max is getting better - he slept most of the day, so really he is far from being himself, but he is out of the woods I think.

2. Every Thursday I am responsible for hosting a student social in residence. Every Thursday for the past two years my process for preparing for this night has been altered because of what i believe to be a power play by a staff member in another department. I have dealt with it, even though it is a huge pain in my behind. I don't start work until 4pm on Thursdays and I have to meet this staff member to collect things I need for my evening. I went today, as I have for 2 years, and this person was gone. Left. Gone home. I now have to deal with having NOTHING for my function. I took care of it, of course, but the whole situation has me intensely frustrated.
Apparently this person told others that I was "unreachable" all day. Funny thing was - I got no calls on my cell phone, no messages on my office phone, no emails, and no calls to the other two people in my office who WERE here. Just to add fuel to the whole situation, I WAS in the office today before 4pm - putting together something this person had called for at 9am this morning because it was SOOOO important to them that I turn it in.

3. Hosting my student social and planning March activities.

4. Attending class online for my masters class that I am currently enrolled in -from a computer that doesn't give me the full access I need. I can't move to a computer that DOES give me access because of #5 and #6.

5. My assistant is on vacation this week. I was on crack when I said it was an o.k. week to go. I am short staffed in the rec center. I have close to 100 people checking out tomorrow and have to do assessments with no help. 9 I asy "no help" with tongue in cheek. Someone has volunteered to help but this person has done so once before and it was more pain that help). I have a check in on Sunday which will be the 4th weekend I have worked out of the past 5. My sons are in the hospital (which has absolutely nothing to do with my assistant but has made my life this week increasingly complex).

6. I have been on the phone twice today with angry parents who should not be talking to me at all. I would say more on this topic, but I DO like my job. I have not been able to accomplish things I NEED to do because I am putting putting out fires I neither started, nor should I be responsible for putting out. OH WELL! I can't leave my phone when I am talking on it to take care of #4.

7. I am trying to put together an exit survey which will take care of two things...
a) information from other departments regarding how this department is run. Do these people not have enough time in the day to worry about their own garbage that they have to worry about mine? I certainly don't have the time to worry about theirs.
b)Some stuff in my department DOES need to change and this will be a great catalyst to get er done. .

8. Sleep deprivation. An example of my sleep deprivation would be that i walked out of the hospital into a running van and began to drive it away. My spouse told me she left the van running for me outside. When I noticed a cell phone I thought wubby had left hers behind and thought I would take it in for her. When I picked the phone up I realized it was not her phone, and looked around. Not her phone, not our van! I drove the van back to where I got into it and found my van in the parking lot a little way away. Once in my van driving away I realized that the van was neither the same make, nor the same colour as ours. How could I have explained THAT one to the police do you think?

9. Covering for shifts where I have no staff.

10. Completing month end tasks before month end... because they are "DESPERATELY" needed by other departments. I will never understand this. I still have to do the same thing for them next week because month end happens on Saturday, they will need all the info again on Monday. Nothing like doing the work twice.

11. Freezing my @#^%*&()!@!( **& % off because the temperature is - 3000000000000. Usually I go outside a handful of times a day and I park very close to my destination. This is not possible in the parking lot of the hospital and I can't find my coat. I thought I moved to Canada, but I really moved to Uranus. There is no groundhog in Uranus to predict an early spring. (maybe there is a groundhog in UR Anus, but please keep that info to yourself and your groundhog).

12. Giving breathing treatments to two very unhappy boys. Max wanted me to put the mask on so I thought if I put it on for a second it would show him there was nothing wrong with it and then he would put it back on. No way Hose. I put it on and that was good enough for him. He covered his head with his blanket.

13. Getting ignorant emails. People, please read what you write before you send it and GET OVER YOURSELVES.

letter to Max, 29 months

Dear Maxie Man,

I am writing you this letter while you are laying in a hospital bed. At least, when I left you were laying in a hospital bed and I hope you still are (for your moms sake). We had a very scary night with you last night. You were breathing over a hundred breaths in one minute and your heart rate was over 160 beats in a minute. You were in rough shape.
It turns out you have viral pneumonia. You had us worried there for a moment - and the doctors and nurses also.
You were SO good getting your IV put in. As soon as you started to feel a bit better you were very curious about how you were attatched to a pole and beeping monitor.
Of course last night when you happened to be smiling and giggling for the first time in many days, the doctor came in and suggested that you were too sick to be laughing. He was right, but it made me sad not to be able to make you smile.
I just got off the phone with your mom and you are having a tough time. I have to make some arrangements at work to escape from here for the rest of the night and go back up to the hospital. You are being grumpy. Imagine that! Sick and grumpy.
I love you buddy. I hate that you are so sick.
I'm on my way to hang with you.

Mom

p.s
I just got back from seeing you. Unfortunately I have to be at work tonight. You are not very good at being sick - though I don't know who ever IS good at being sick. You are grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. you want to be picked up, then put down. You want to walk, then be carried, then not by me, then not by your mom.
We are being incredibly indulgent of you - which I do not regret, but I am not looking forward to the days next week when life is "back to normal" and you want life to be as accomodating as it is now.

ten on tuesday: ten favorite ethnic foods

You can click on the logo above to see what others posted.

This weeks topic is my favorite ten ethnic foods.
Here goes.

1. anything Mexican
2. anything Mexican
3. anything Mexican
4. anything Mexican
5. anything Mexican
6. anything Mexican
7. anything Mexican
8. anything Mexican
9. anything Mexican
10. anything Mexican


Needless to say I have a hankering for Mexican food. There is no good Mexican way up where we live and the last time we were in California we ate Mexican food every single day we were there. I can't wait to go back.

Stolen Meme

This week the meme at my two cents is all about sex. And though I am tempted to copy it and answer the questions, it may scare away the two people who acknowledge that they follow this blog. So instead I stole a meme from Stealing Sunday.
Here you go.

1. Is there someone you'd like to be kissing right now?
Yes. My sons.
2. When you're being extremely quiet, what does it mean?
I am either sleeping, reading, or mad.
3. What are you listening to right now?
Indigo girls, Leaving.
4. Are you a big fan of thunderstorms?
HUGE fan.
5. Do you believe in perfect?
Yes. My sons are.
6. Are you a jealous person?
I think so. i was extremely jealous of my spouses friendship with a dude named Jon. But when I met her I thought he was her boyfriend and I don't think I ever got over it.
7. What was the first thing you thought this morning?
This morning started for me at 12.01 am and I knew it was the beginning of a LONG day without sleep.
8. What do you think about when you are falling asleep?
What I am reading
9. Are you satisfied with what you have in life?
Yes.
10. Do people ever think that you're either older or younger than you actually are?
I think people think I am older than I am.
11. Do you think men truly understand women?
No.
12. How about women understanding men?
No.
13. Did anybody ever call you handsome or beautiful?
yes.
14. What is one fact about the last person that called you?
um.. she speaks extremely loudly into the phone. Yells in fact, and she never leaves messages which is VERY annoying.
15. Other than your current one, what’s the longest relationship you have had?
I have had a relationship with my parents for 37 years. Is that my current one?

Bullet Sunday

• Patience: I have heard all my life from my mother that patience is a virtue. I have been thinking about it this weekend because my sons are sick - both of them are quite sick now but it all started with Max. I had to take him to the emergency room on Wednesday night because of an allergy attack he was having. I think that allergy attack completely drained the poor kid of every hope he had of fighting off any bugs and he got the flu. I would not describe myself as a patient person usually, but then I started to give it some thought.
  

• Today I investigated virtues and found there is a lot more to virtues than I ever knew. There are LOTs of virtues. Patience originates as one from the Psychomachia ("Contest of the Soul"), a poem written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. AD 410) entailing the battle of virtues and vices. The intense popularity of this work helped to spread the concept of holy virtue throughout Europe. Practicing virtues is considered to protect one against temptation from the seven deadly sins, with each one having its counterpart. Each of the seven heavenly virtues matches a corresponding deadly sin.

• Seven deadly sins: Can you name them all? Let's see if I can without looking.
  pride. envy. lust. gluttony. I missed greed, sloth and wrath.
  

• Seven contrary virtues... humility, kindness, chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience.
  

• Of the virtues I always thought I was most lacking in patience, but I think I am actually better at patience than some of the others. I handled going to the emergency room with a two year old and waiting around. I handled sitting with him in a chair giving him a breathing treatment. I handle issues at work with unhappy people. I am giving myself some extra credit on patience. Let's see how I do on the others. I would say I am pretty diligent and do o.k. on humility - is it possible to think that and be humble at the same time? maybe not! My chastity is great, my charity fair but I have a lot to work on as far as temperance and kindness. It's just nice to know that if my mom ever says "Patience is a virtue" again, I can assure her it's one I have a handle on.
  

satire?

The New York Post contains a cartoon which they call "satirical".

You say satirical, I say racist.
Yeah. yeah, I know all about free speech. I think there's a place for satire.
I believe in free speech.
Do I agree with the publishing of this cartoon?

Not a chance.

Looks like the USA just jumped back in time a number of decades... oh wait, the USA doesn't treat all citizens as equal in THIS decade.
Am I surprised the cartoon was published? I wish I could say yes, but I am not, only saddened.

Julie needs.....

I haven't seen this before and then today I saw it twice, once on my friend RANAVAN's blog and then once on a blog of someone who is participating in Thursday thirteen so I thought I would try it out.

What you do is go to google and then put your name down followed by the word "needs".
I literally laughed out loud. Here is what my search turned up...

... a new pair of shoes.

... coffee.

...sleep.

... to get out in the fresh Eire

... a new house.

... a patient family.

... to go to bed.

and

.... to bath.

Then for EXTRA fun I tried it out with my spouses name to see what she needs. This is what turned up.

...a new crib

...help

... to see Star Wars

... a vacation to.

She will agree with every one of those!

reading

I would just like to say THANK YOU to MC Beaton who writes books I can still read in one sitting.
I was so discouraged in my poor reading performance earlier this week when I finished only the fourth book I have read since January 1st that i picked up a fairly new MC Beaton book in despair. MC brought a glimmer of hope back into my life. I finished the book in a night and a half - which is still painfully slow for me, but a tad better than I have been doing otherwise.
It's getting pretty close to Lent, which is when I traditionally give up hope, but I was almost having to start early except for the writing of MC. Blessings on your head MC Beaton. Blessings on your head.

Waiting for my spouse to blog

My spousal Unit blogs. I enjoy reading her blog. We do some things the same - like ten on Tuesday - but we have a "thing" where we don't read what the other has written until we have posted our own. That's because we want to try and be "original" which is difficult after being together a lot of years. If I read her list before I posted mine I would be influenced by what she chose. It's a fun thing for us - - except for me right now because I am ready for her to read and comment on mine and she hasn't finished hers which means she WON'T be reading or commenting on mine tonight. ARG! She is in bed right now, reading a book and falling to sleep because it is her night to sleep and my night with the baby. I am sitting here trying to think of things to do to distract me from the fact that She won't be blogging or reading tonight.
What I need to do is go and read some homework and forget this silliness.

Ten on Tuesday: Ten songs that describe me or my life

You can check out others links if you click on the little logo above.
Here are ten songs that describe me or my life, in no particular order...

1. Lion Sleeps Tonight.
My family always sang no matter where we were going. We would sing if we were in the car 5 minutes or 5 days. Lion Sleeps Tonight is a song we loved to sing and everyone had a part. If only Justin had the same falsetto now that he did then.....

2. Suddenly. Soraya



3. Ghost. Indigo Girls

I was introduced to the Indigo Girls by the first woman who ever kissed me. This song was the one I listened to over and over as I was struggling with my identity. I don't think there is any one song that I feel better describes my "coming to terms with my gay" life. It took a lot of years for that to happen. It's still a work in progress.

Here are the lyrics:
There's a letter on the desktop
that i dug out of a drawer
the last truce we ever came to
in our adolescent war
and i start to feel the fever
from the warm air through the screen
you come regular like seasons
shadowing my dreams
and the mississippi's mighty
but it starts in minnesota
at a place that you could walk across
with five steps down
and I guess that's how you started
like a pinprick to my heart
but at this point you
rush right through me
and i start to drown
and there's not enough room
in this world for my pain
signals cross and love gets lost
and time passed makes it plain
of all my demon spirits
i need you the most
i'm in love with your ghost
i'm in love with your ghost
dark and dangerous like a secret
that gets whispered in a hush
(don't tell a soul)
when i wake the things i
dreamt about you
last night make me blush
and you kiss me like a lover
then you sting me like a viper
i go follow to the river
play your memory like a piper
and i feel it like a sickness
how this love is killing me
i'd walk into the fingers
of your fire willingly
and dance the edge of sanity
i've never been this close
i'm in love with your ghost
unknowing captor
you never know how much you
pierce my spirit
but i can't touch you
can you hear it
a cry to be free
oh i'm forever under lock and key
as you pass through me
now i see your face before me
i would launch a thousand ships
to bring your heart back to my island
as the sand beneath me slips
as i burn up in your presence
and i know now how it feels
to be weakened like achilles
with you always at my heels
this bitter pill i swallow
is the silence that i keep
it poisons me i can't swim free
the river is too deep
though i'm baptized by your touch
i am no worse than most
in love with your ghost
you are shadowing my dreams



4. Baby Mine. Dumbo Movie.
This is the lullaby I sing to my boys.



5. My Immortal. Evanescence
This song can make me cry for the ones I have lost.



6. Everything. Alanis Morissette



7. You'll never walk alone - Liverpool FC Anthem
Liverpool FC is my team. The team I have grown up with and the anthem which is the anthem of my life also.



8. Do you hear the people sing? Les Mis
There is such a huge part of my soul which shouts out for the oppressed. Though the oppressed I am thinking of are my country men and women of Africa, this song resonates with me.



9. Say You'll be Mine. Amy Grant
I am not a huge Amy Grant song but I sing this to my spouse until she says 'I'll be your baby". It's fun. (for me anyway!)




10. Every Breath You Take. Police
I have a great friendship with my cousin/sister Tracy. I pretty much spent my entire infancy with her and her brother and when I was a teenager I spent summers with her and had immense amounts of fun. When she went on a mission I used to sing "Since you're gone I've been lost without a "Trace".


And I am sorry but it is completely impossible for me to give just ten, so I will give some honorable mentions also...

Pachelbel Canon in D
Billy Gilman. One Voice
Alabama. Angels Among us.
I believe that the people here on earth ARE the angels. You can make a choice every day to bless the lives of people around you. Sometimes you don't even know if the kindness you perform will bless another or not. But it's people - here - that are the angels. I've met one or two and I hope at some point in my life I have been one, if only to a foster kid.


Paul McCartney. This One
P!nk. Leave Me Alone.
Pass the Dutchie. Musical Youth
This is the first RADIO song that I remember. Prior to this moment in my life the only songs I knew were the songs my parents listened to or the songs from church. While I love these, Pass the Dutchie marked my own transition to musical knowledge.




I'm out of time, but I will be adding to this list for sure...

Stolen Meme

I took this from PoppingBubbles. You can check out the original here.

1. My uncle once used me to get into the squash court and open the door for him and his friends. They took me to the viewing area above the court and dropped me down inside. I think they used me for lots of things like this.

2. Never in my life have I experienced childbirth, though I have experienced the pain of child rearing!

3. When I was five my family traveled across the ocean on a ship called the Pendennis Castle. I remember the parties when we crossed the equator. My dad popped my beachball to use as part of his costume for the costume party.

4. High school was pretty good for me. I like school, so being in class was always an escape from the painful realities of adolescence.

5. I will never forget to unplug my car before I drive away - done it once, won't do it again.

6. Once I met this girl I fell in love with. Everyone knew it, including the professors who taught her classes because I would wait outside her classroom door and the professors would tell me what she was doing as they walked out. She would come out of class and be shocked that I was "passing by". It was a bit shocking I suppose since I had no classes on that floor.

7. There’s this boy I know whom I love with all my heart. I don't think he knows how much I love him.

8. Once, at a bar, I had my friends collect coins for me in a cup labeled "Julie's tooth fund".

9. By noon, I’m almost ready to get out of bed.

10. Last night I took my turn with the baby. We need to come up with a better system cause right now NO-ONE is getting any sleep.

11. If only I had a winning lottery ticket in my pocket.

12. Next time I go to church may be in a casket.

13. What worries me most is that I might let someone down.

14. When I turn my head left I see my spouse.

15. When I turn my head right I see a pile of books I haven't read yet.

16. You know I’m lying when I - tell you I'm straight.

17. What I miss most about the Eighties is the music.

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be one of MacBeth's Witches.

19. By this time next year I will one month away from finishing my masters degree.

20. A better name for me would be ... Sorry I can't think of anything that would be appropriate to put on this blog for my "g" rated audience.

21. I have a hard time understanding why some of the people who work where I do can be so completely ignorant.

22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll - be working on my doctorate and hopefully in the USA

23. You know I like you if I can be serious with you.

24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be Micheal Jackson and the children.

25. Take my advice, never jump on the ice in your water tank in the middle of winter.

Bullet Sunday

• I finally have a weekend off from work and the temperatures have not risen above -26 Celsius.

• We are in a recession. (The spiralling effect of lower income and low spending dampens confidence in the economy, contributing to a recession.) Only it doesn't make sense to me because my family has spent more money since January 1st of this year than we have in the first 6 weeks of any other year I can recall.

• According to the Montreal Gazette, the recession is keeping tourists away from Antarctica. Believe me, there are other reasons keeping me from visiting Antarctica. You can link to the story in the gazette here .

• When the temperatures where I LIVE do not rise above -26 during the second week of February, there is no way you are convincing me to spend money to visit a place where temperatures on the Polar Plateau range from -115 to +6 F. The average temperature is -56. That has NOTHING to do with the recession!
  
  

Pyromaniac

I have to admit I am a bit of a pyromaniac. I love fire. I love lighting fire, I love playing with fire.
As a result of this I have been very careful in my life not to light fireworks. One reason is because I KNOW I will fall in love with them and spend LOTS of money on them.

The other is because I tend to be as much of a klutz as I am a pyro. I know my luck and I know that I am likely to set a field on fire or something with my fire making tendencies, so I try to "reign them in" as much as possible.

Last night I had some fireworks. I have been ITCHING to set them off for ages and finally I thought I would do it.

The instructions on the first said to light it and then start 15 meters away. I lit it, but I don't know how far 15 meters was so I was running away (trying to be very diligent about following the instructions) but and unfortunately my back was turned when it went off and I completely missed it.

The second set of instructions said to stand 30 meters away and to bury the firework half way up in sand or dirt. Because it is the middle of the winter I don't have any sand or dirt readily available I thought if I buried it in a snow bank that would work just as well.

The first one went off without a hitch and it was great. The snowbank didn't hold it upright though and the thing fell over and started shooting fireworks at the house. I thought it was quite funny - I was just a "little" nervous that one would explode in the back of the van where my souse was unloading groceries. Somehow she didn't think it was funny to be unloading groceries with fireworks going off all around her. The snow made them look cool though.

When we came inside I explained that the snow hadn't held up the canister. My spouse pointed out that the heat from the fireworks probably melted the snow all around the canister.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Of course! I didn't even think of it!

I will admit it was fun though. I might have to look into getting some more.

reading

Today is February 15th 2009. I have just completed reading my fourth book of the year. FOURTH book. I am stunned, appalled, saddened, and if I could think of any other adjectives right now I would add them here.
I know it has been a busy year and I KNOW I have loads to do as far as writing my thesis, so I expected that my reading for pleasure would be slow this year. I just cannot believe I have only read four books. I only wish they had been riveting books. I doubt I will even remember what they were about in another 6 weeks.

Friday Fill In

Friday Fill In. Link to it here.

1. It seems like I am never going to be done.
2. Turn off the lights when you're done, please?
3. If I thought you liked me just a little bit I'd feel much better!
4.Opportunity is what I think of most when I think of you.
5. To me, Valentine's Day means my niece's birthday.
6. Being loved gives me strength.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to picking up my boy from daycare, tomorrow my plans include doing something for my spouse and Sunday, I want to laugh at Funniest Home videos!

music memoirs: top five songs that horrify you

I found this meme courtesy of the Bumbles blog which you can link to here.
I LOVE music, and this seemed like a perfect way to incorporate music into my blog each week. Thanks Bumbles!
You can link to music memoirs here.

This week the topic was to list the top five songs that horrify you and explain why.

Here are my top five horrific songs. (usually I would leave a link so you could check out the songs on youtube or some other site, but in this case, because they are horrifying, I will not subject you to the pain)

1. John Mayer "Say what you need to say"
Do I really need to explain why this song is horrifying? I believe the song was written for the movie "The Bucket List" and it appears as though John was asked to write a song, given a title, and couldn't come up with any lyrics so he repeats himself a thousand times. Pain. Pure pain.

2. Leona Lewis. "Keep Bleeding"
I think Leona is talking about her bleeding ears after listening to John Mayer Say what he needs to say. Only Leona suffers from the same lyrical constipation and can only repeat the same words over and over.

3. Jordin Sparks. "Tattoo"
"You're on my heart just like a tattoo". Now I am not usually so critical of song lyrics that don't make sense. I am a fan of Corey Hart for crying out loud, so I have tolerance for bad lyrics. The idiot wears his sunglasses at night, but somehow this line by Jordin Sparks -"You're on my heart just like a tattoo" ANNOYS the ink right out of my own tattoos.

4. Anything by Billy Ray Cyrus. The man completely horrifies me.

5. La Bamba. I have nothing else to say about that one.