I have been meaning to ... ooops! I had let the dogs outside and meant to go let them inside and forgot!  It happens. Anyhow, I have been meaning to blog but my computer is a little broken. I sit in front of a computer all day long at work I suppose I could blog from work. I don't like to blog from work because when I blog I become absorbed in what I am writing and lose track of time. I become distracted and unable to concentrate on my job so I would rather not do it. However, Mark has two computers. I could easily use his to blog. Truth of the matter is, after sitting in front of a computer for eight and a half ours a day, the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is sitting in front of a computer. Oddly enough, I never felt this way before. I feel poised on the edge, restless. Sitting still in front of a computer seems intolerably boring although I can't say I don't enjoy it when I do sit at the computer. I guess I wanted a little bit of a change and decided to take a little break from the computer world. I suppose you can say it worked because I felt this compelling need to blog today.

My cats Bosco and Jade are not living with their aunt Franca. Jade used to spend most of her life hiding in a corner. She absolutely hated the dogs and refused to interact with them on any level. She skittered and hid for the past five years. After the loss of Chester, (Franca's cat) Dexter (Chester's brother) was lonely. Franca agreed to take Bosco and Jade because they've been together since birth and she didn't not want them to be separated. So far, Bosco has adjusted quite well. Jade is still Jade but I am hoping that with time, she becomes less shy and comes out more. I don't believe she likes Dexter. I think she would make the ideal pet in a home with no animals, no kids, just a quiet, single cat home. Since the departure of these cats, Damien has become quite the cuddle-monster. He is around us no matter where we go. He comes when you call him. Whether Mark is sitting on his Lazy Boy, laying on the couch or tucked in under the blankets in bed, you can be sure that Damien will be there.  He absolutely adores Mark! All the pets do.

I had a New Year's Party at my house. A New Year's Air Hockey/Hot Tub Party at that! Complete with a disturbing 2 Girls/1 Cup tribute. If you don't know what that is, you're better off. If you do, it really was one of the most perverse things I have ever witnessed.... and not in a good way either. It was a dual themed night though because the cast of A Clockwork Orange also put in an appearance!  Most of my guests spent the night and were greeting with breakfast before they headed out. It was a good time and the first one I got to spend with Mark (I was in Florida with my sisters last year)

We're rearranged the spaces. I do have pictures but I haven't posted them yet. I really like the set up. I had my doubts at first. But it has really grown on me and I do quite enjoy it. Watching Enterprise is actually quite cozy. The only thing missing that would make it just right is a small area rug. I think a little area rug would just pull it all together.

And, I cut my hair! Well, I cut my hair in early December. I am almost due for another haircut. The trouble with short styles is that if you don't tend to them, they look all messy. I like my new short hair. It's very light but I have to blow dry it a little which sucks a lot because I hate blow drying my hair. I got a hair curler/brush blow dryer for Christmas which is perfect for me. It styles as it dries so I don't have to try to hold the blow dryer with one hand while maneuvering the brush with the other. It is a great invention and I am very glad for miracle inventions.

I had wanted to do some product reviews and post some recipes, but after all this, I have lost interest. It's terrible I know!  I promise that it won't take this long between posts. I should have some pictures and reviews of some of my interesting vegan finds!

Oh.... I just remembered something.... I hear lots of people saying the word vegan pronounced differently than the way I pronounce it. I know I have heard people say it the way I do, but I wanted to check if there was a correct way to pronounce it.  They are both correct.

The problem with going so long between blogs is that I forget about all the things that I wanted to write about. I am sure they will come to me.

Stay Safe & Have Fun!

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P.S. I am still just as terrible today as I was yesterday at proof-reading.

Christmas is really coming!  It’s hard to pretend it isn’t coming anymore.  We’ve had snow!  (Ok, a tiny scattering of snow but the forecast calls for much more in the next few days)  The pretty Christmas lights are out which I LOVE. Christmas lights really add a lovely sparkle to the dark night and once it snows and everything is white, the pretty colours liven up the night. Not everyone will agree with me but since this is MY blog, I can write whatever I want because it is MY opinion!  Oh Yeah!  Shazam! 

 

Last week I did my first Good Deed Winter Edition.  It had snowed (not really SNOWED snowed, but there was a light dusting on the road) and I was driving to work. I sometimes take side roads if the main roads are reported to have lots of traffic on them. This was such a day. I was drying behind this little station wagon for quite a ways until we got to a curve on the road. As I rounded the bend, the station wagon was gone. How could it be gone? There were no roads around… where did it go?  THERE it is – in the ditch! I immediately pulled over and went over to see if everything was OK! The passenger seemed a little shaken but was otherwise OK. He was so stressed out about having gone off the road he forgot to put his car in PARK. It was still rolling and was just a few inches from the gas lines. In the accident, the loose things in his car got tossed around which included his cell phone. I let him borrow mine to call for help and stuck around for a little while until he had calmed down. When it seemed that everything was OK, I drove away. I have never stopped at the scene of an accident before but then I have never been there right when the accident happened.

 

Work is going quite well. My job is changing everyday. I am doing some project management now, organizing internal communications and even started a company newsletter which turned out to be such a great hit!  No one asked me to put together a newsletter – I chose to do it because I wanted to do something fun for the staff. One of the guys suggested I start a JOKE OF THE DAY and the very next day I did just that. I copy a joke, go out to the shop and put the new joke in the JOTD binder. One morning one of the guys came upstairs giving me shit for not doing my job. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about until he mentioned that he looks forward to the JOTD during his first break and when it wasn’t there he was so disappointed. So now, I have several jokes prepared in advance so I can just go downstairs and put the new joke in the binder every morning. It’s a small thing but it makes people happy and I am all about cheering people up.

 

This weekend my sister Franca came up for one night. It was Dexter’s first time home alone since Chester passed away and Franca only came up for one night. We watched some TV, went grocery shopping and generally hung out. Mark actually picked her up on his way back up from the city so it saved me a trip! Sunday I drove Franca back to the city, stopped at my parents for lunch and then dropped her off. It was such a lovely time.

 

Three more weeks to Christmas.  I have already put up all my lovely Christmas lights. Put outdoor lights up for the first time but I still have no pictures to post.

 

I was doing a 365 project – 1 photo per day for an entire year – but I quit that. I used to take pictures for fun but the 365 project became a chore and it wasn’t fun anymore. When things stop being fun for me I lose interest. Quitting the 365 project should help me get back into the fun of picture taking.

 

Lunch is over and I have work to do.  Have a great day!

 

Stay Safe & Have Fun!

 

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R.I.P
Chester
Mar 2, 04 - Nov 18, 09

Yesterday, we brought my sister's cat Chester to the vet.  He was in acute renal failure and my sister made the difficult decision to end his suffering.  My sister Josie and I went with Franca to support her through this very difficult and sad decision.  Chester is survived by his brother Dexter who is the same age and looks almost the same as Chester.  Chester was Franca's Boy.  He will be missed.

My back is sore.  Perhaps it's from the dancing?  Could be from the workout?  All I know is that my right shoulder blade feels all pinched up.  We're going to watching Smallville shortly.  I really like it.  A lot.  I never watched it before.  My youngest sister LOVES it and Mark does too.  I decided I would watch some and I got hooked.  Hard to believe it's in Season Nine already.

Last week Mark and I joined the gym.  Snap Fitness which is right up the street from where we live.  It's open 24/7 which is great for Mark (he keeps odd sleeping habits) and it's never too busy.  Another perk of being in a relationship:  special discounted couple memberships. HAHAHAHA

My youngest sister Luisa came up for the weekend. We spent Friday night watching movies.  Saturday we went to the gym to work out (I got her a free guest pass) and Saturday evening we went out to Putting Edge which is a glow in the dark indoor golf place.  We were joined by my friend Julie and her friend Melanie. Luisa won of course. Julie, Melanie and I were all 1 point apart. Lu and I went home to "pre-drink" is what they call it these days.  I am such a cheap drunk that 2 drinks was all it took to get me into the partying mood. I had asked Mark if he would drive us there so I didn't have to worry about drinking and driving and he said yes!  He is way too awesome for words sometimes. He even came to pick us up at 2:45 am AND brought us to McDonalds!  I love him.  The bar was great.  We had such a great time.  Lu had won a prize at the min-golf, a sort of weird alien looking illuminated spinny wand.  She used it at the bar like a microphone and it was great to see the people getting right into it!  They would sing to the songs they knew and lip sync to the ones they didn't! Lu made some new friends.  I hadn't had so much fun being out in a long time.  It was great to have my sister around.

Sunday I drove her back home.  We stopped by to pick up my sister Franca so we could have lunch at my parents.  Franca is going through some sad times right now.  Her cat Chester has kidney problems and may be in his final days of life.  She is very upset which is understandable, but she is torn between what to do.  She doesn't want to end his life if he is not in any pain, but how does she really know when it's time?  I have never had to put a pet to sleep.  People often say that when it's time, you will know.  I hope that when that time comes for me, I will have the strength and courage to make the right decision. Sometimes I wonder if it's right to make that choice on behalf of another living being.  What gives us the right to choose when they must die?  Why are we not granted that same choice on our own lives?  So much controversy on the topic of Human Euthanasia, but we practice this same life altering procedure on other lifeforms so casually.  I didn't mean for my blog to take on such a negative tone.

We had lunch with my parents.  I drove Franca to Lianne's house, dropped her off at home, then headed over to watch my other sisters play soccer.  I won't talk too much about that experience save to say that it hurt me to watch. I could feel the stabbing pain, like a dull knife gouging at my forehead. Granted, most of these girls have never played soccer and the team they were playing against was a rec team, but some of the girls don't even know the basic rules of the game.  You can get better with practice, but you can't improve if you don't understand the rules and/or the general principals.  My sisters were both very frustrated as they have played before but it is apparently hard to get this group focused, for lack of a better group.  I want to play with them so badly now, but I can't afford the soccer shoes I would need to play even if I could borrow the equipment from someone. They play every Sunday but this coming Sunday my mother is coming to spend the day so I don't want to shortchange her with a short 1 hour visit before I have to head down to the game. I think I will definitely join their next team.  I told my sisters the other girls would hate me because I would be SO BITCHY! I would make sure they understood the rules of the game and their positions!  My sisters have quite the season cut out for them!  My poor sister Lu is forced to play goalie because they don't have a goalie.  My sister is not a fan of playing goalie, she is much better in the field. 

Smallville is loaded up so I bid you goodnight.

Stay Safe & Have Fun!

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I love Halloween.  I enjoy getting dressed up!

I will have to write more about my actual weekend later - but for now I wanted to post a picture of my costume.  I made it myself; sewed the weirdo outfit and applied my makeup.  Scared some people - and the little kiddies didn't like me too much either!



More later.

Stay Safe & Have Fun!
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I added a few new recipes to my cooking section.

You can find the recipes on the cooking tab on the RIGHT or you can click here for instant teleportation.







Bought a few things to decorate the house for Halloween.  Also found a special treasure!



I love Halloween.

Stay Safe & Have Fun!

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Today was a lovely day.  I got to have dinner with my friend Carol.   Carol is quite talented in so many ways.  I met Carol in 2004 when she started working with me at my last place of employment.  Carol was hired to help with sign design.  Shortly after she started, our sales person, and main designer, left.  Carol got thrust into a totally new position that I am sure she was not expecting.  In those years, we developed quite the unique working relationship.  Unique in that we worked so well together and understood exactly what was expected and provided whatever was needed to make their job simpler.  Well, we're both Tauruses.  We're both specific.  We're both about keeping it simple and clear.  And we both understand that it's better to take the time and do it right, once.  Oh, and of course, her husband's name is the same as my boyfriend.  It was destined in the stars that we be friends.  It was Carol's artwork I went to see at the gallery on Friday.

We met at The Angry Tomato for dinner.  We shared some sweet potato fries and had some pasta.  It was nice to catch up.  If you get a chance, you should look at her paintings.   

It was a good day but the day is over now. 

Oh... I forgot to mention that on Sunday when we were on our way to take our hike, a fox crossed the road in front of us.  What made is so odd was that the fox was crossing the street from a park into the city with factories and buildings.  He looked confused, tired and afraid.  Poor little fox.  I hope he found his way to where he was going.

Bedtime for Spyders.

Stay Safe & Have Fun!

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I should be sleeping.... but I wanted to let you know that I FINALLY updated my 365 project.  I have been sort of slacking.  I don't want to do that again because I tell you, it's hard work uploading all those pictures. Other than that... nothing much to report.



Stay Safe & Have Fun!

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I apologize for the delay but I have been trying to figure out how to make this WORK!
My "COOKING" webpage it not working properly for some strange reason. Every time I hit refresh I get a different version of my page but never the right page.  If you click to my COOKING page you will have to click BACK in your browser so you can check the other pages (at least until they fix it)

On my BLOG page there is a SUBSCRIBE section so you can be notified when I update my page.  I am hoping that this will be the last time you will have to do that!  Thank you for your patience of course.  The page may change as I get more familiar with the program and/or figure out how to do certain things.

My work week was mostly uneventful up until Friday.  After work on Friday I went to McMichael's Art Gallery to see my friend's (Carol Clapham)paintings on display.  It was the first time I had been to an art show.  It was full of wonderful colours and a great many things to see.  Carol looked lovely and promised to send me a picture for my website.  Carol, I am holding you to your word!  As I mentioned in a previous blog,Carol is a great artist.  See for yourself!  I went with my friend Joetta.  We got to the show about an hour early so we sat in her SUV chatting.  There is surely never any shortage of conversation when Joetta and I are around.  When we got into the show it was the same. We had a few glasses of wine, wandered exploring artworks and talked,talked, talked.  By the time we checked the time, two hours had passed!  Ooops!  Time to go.  We left Carol (who was there with her lovely assistant) when some other family members showed up.  I wish Carol all the best and greatest success with her pieces. 

We have company.  Mark's friend Mike came to town and spent the evening.  It's nice when Mark's friends visit.  Mark doesn't have any family or friends in Barrie as he just moved here a little while ago. Having is friends visit is nice for him.  I baked some yummy cookies and they are almost gone.  I believe Mike ate most of them (so Mark says) but they were warm and tasty, fresh out of the oven!  Oh they were so good.  Can you believe there are only four cookies left?  But they were yummy!

I am at work - I should be working - but I got involved in playing around with my new website - not sure how I feel about this yet... but I am working on it.  You will all have to subscribe to this again once I have it all figured out.  Be patient (I know you are)

Stay Safe & Have Fun!

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