A Day In The Life Of Daisy

2012-01-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

New Year, time for some changes in my life. This year we started our first one by staying home for New Years. We had takeout and watched the fireworks from our bedroom window. Not very exciting, I know, but it was nice to be home...stress free. No working out where we were going, what to wear, how do we get there (if I decided to drink), etc.

Today all the Christmas decorations come down. I have to admit, I was surprisingly in the Christmas spirit this year, even with the lack of the white stuff (at least until the very last minute). Paul surprised me with a Kurig when we had decided not to buy gifts for each other this year, which really was fun, I must say. Plus, I LOVE coffee, so double bonus! Besides that, it was really quiet. We only went to his sister's house on Christmas eve, and had Mom over on Christmas Day, like usual. And yes, I cooked two separate turkey dinners, also as usual. But we didn't go to any Christmas parties, we didn't go to Paul's family gathering on Boxing Day, we didn't go visiting to the usual suspects, etc. We just hibernated, I guess. And it was nice. We didn't have to get caught up in everyone else's drama.

Although, I must say that it seemed like this year, besides us, not many others were in the Christmas spirit. I only received 2 cards via mail, so next year I am not sending any. Maybe that is just a lost tradition, with email and texting taking over talking on the phone, etc. But I also noticed that our gift exchange at Paul's sister's house was not the usual as well. Gift cards and money were the name of the game, and here I arrived with old fashioned gifts. Next year, I will save on the time, effort and wrapping paper and just buy some gift cards. Won't be the same though. I really love picking out gifts for people and wrapping them up all nice, then watching them open them. Oh, I will still buy a small truckload for Mom, but that will be it. Maybe Paul and I will exchange gifts next year, like we used to. I don't know. Maybe I am just too old fashioned. When you don't have kids to buy for and to make Christmas special, it just seems like another day of the year.

2011-11-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

UGLY PLUS SIZE CLOTHES

OK, so I am venting here. I am cranky. If you don't want to hear it, don't read any further.

In my city, there are 2 plus size stores - Penningtons and Addition Elle. Then Zellers, Walmart, Reitmans, Sears, Winners all have small plus size sections, as well, Old Navy sells xxl in some items. OK - so should I not be able to buy SOMETHING that fits me and is actually NICE and under $100?? You would think. But nope - I went to every one and not one thing.

Why do plus size clothing designers think that just because I got wider, I also got taller? Doesn't work that way Numnuts. So you say, you need to buy petite sizes Jennifer. Nope, I am too tall. The pants are too low wasted, too short, and the tops barely meet my pants and the arms are too short.

Here I am in the "regular" plus size section, and of course I am now taller, so why do all these shirts go to my knees, my boobs are hanging out and I literally have to cut off a half a foot off the pant legs before I can even attempt to hem them? I know, I know - Clinton and Stacy at What Not to Wear would tell me to buy the clothes and have them altered. But I can't afford to pay $100 for a blouse then have to shorten the sleeves and length and then another $40 for something to wear under it so my girls aren't showing. Plus, I DON'T WANT TO. It is not fair. Is this my punishment for eating my emotions away and feeding my addiction with food?

And while I am on a roll here, let me ask, Why are plus size clothes SO UGLY?? I am fat, so now all of a sudden I want wooden beads, glitter, or silver loops sewn to my shirts? And, of course, all fat chicks just love animal prints - NOT!! Don't forget the 3/4 length sleeve, because we all know how flattering and high fashion that is.

I just want nice, pretty, fashionable clothes that fit. No, I don't want wood beads on my knee length pink leopard print shirt. No, I don't want cat whiskers on the front of my jeans with a bedazzled ass. No, I don't want a v-neck glitter "rocker girl" t-shirt that is open to my belly button. No, I don't want buy a blazer and have to basically remake it because I don't have monkey arms that go to my knees and shoulders that play professional football. No, I don't want turtlenecks that touch the tip of my nose. No, I don't want 100% polyester pants with elastic waste. And, no, I don't want button up collared dress shirts with 3/4 length sleeves that swish like I am wearing a rain jacket when I walk. It is a lie. They don't make you look slimmer, they only stop people from talking about how fat you look before you are within ear shot, because they can hear you coming.

People tell me to order online because you can buy fashionable plus size clothes on many websites. Yea, did you know that many of those "plus" size models are actually wearing the smallest size - sometimes even a size 12 prototype! And that they are typically 5'10" or taller? Those clothes that look great on them, will not necessarily look the same on me. If I can't find ONE blouse in the entire city, when I can actually try things on, do you really think I am going to find an entire new wardrobe all of a sudden from some website? Really??

So back to the local stores. Oh look, I found a fashionable skirt! In style and everything -- just like in the fashion mags. And it is $90 when the same thing in size 12 on the other size of the store is $30. OK, so say I am willing to pay that as penance for that extra Twinkie. Let's take a closer look. OF COURSE I can't buy that cool skirt because micro minis are in style and this is made just like the regular size ones, only bigger, and of course, every plus size woman wants to wear a skirt that barely covers the bottom of their drawers!! Seriously, get a clue. We want fashionable clothes, but made to fit plus sizes and that doesn't just mean big enough to fit around my waist. Then they are surprised when they are all on the clearance rack at the end of the season for $10. DUH!

I bet that WalMart or Reitmans could argue that their plus size clothing line must be wonderful, because their stuff (for the most part) sells. Well, guess what --- WRONG ANSWER!! They sell because desperate people like me don't want to go to work naked and have to actually buy clothing once in awhile. If all we have to pick from is shit, dung, and crap, someone is paying good money for the crap.

And I have worked in retail long enough to know how they are always one season ahead. But, seriously, I could not find ONE pair of black dress pants, even for $100, that were my size this summer. When I voiced my complaint to the sales lady at Reitmans, she actually had the nerve to tell me that all they sell in the summer are black capris because NO ONE wants black pants!! Well missy, you are standing there in YOUR black pants telling ME that no one wants to buy black pants --- after I have just spent the last two hours looking for all over Saint John for what? Oh, BLACK PANTS you say? Really?? Guess I don't count then...or do the people that actually work there.

I guess I really can't complain. This is my punishment for being fat. The designers of these plus size pieces of crap better hope that they never meet me in a dark alley somewhere, because trust me, I bet I would be the heavy weight in that fight LOL!!

And don't even get me started on finding plus size winter boots...

2011-05-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

For the Love of Kylee ~ Safe Drive Home ~

Please help us spread to the work to teens in Saint John! We want to ensure your safety so for a free, safe and

sober drive home during grading / grad weekends please call us and our volunteer's will pick you up. Kylee is never

coming home...please make sure you do. Call 506-214-3299, 10pm thru 4am, June 17th-18th and 24th-25th.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_223244641025299&ap=1

2011-02-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

For anyone considering buy an e-Reader, Kobo, Kindle, etc. I say go for it! I love mine and could not live without it. It is especially handy when travelling - no more lugging books across the world, bringing too many or running out of things to read.

I will admit, I was skeptical at first. I am "one of those people" who loves books. I love the smell of them, the feel of them, the excitement when I buy a new one. OK, I know you get it if you are also a book lover, and if not, you probably think I am weird. But that is OK - cause I actually am regardless.

Yes, I still get excited like a kid in a candy store at Indigo, but now I buy other books, like cookbooks, travel books, books on art, etc. But I use my eReader for all my daily fiction reading and LOVE it.

I have almost 400 books on it now and more in my library, and yet my hallway is clear of books. Go figure. That was the deal. Paul said he would buy me my reader as long as I got rid of all the piles of books stacked along the hallway floor. I am only "allowed" books now if they fit in my actual bookcase. (OK, don't tell him but there are a few stacked under my desk).

I would suggest not getting one that is backlit, typically the kind that have a touch screen, if you have vision problems and/or get migraines, as it can be hard to read and trigger headaches. I love my Sony eReader! And, yes, it is PINK like almost everything else I own.

2011-02-10T18:15:00.001-08:00

Anyone know why my blog does not show in a google search, when others do?

2011-02-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

Please follow this link and support my friend Raylene in her fight for justice.

Mothers Fight For Justice:

Amy Paradis
Please be patie...: " Amy Paradis Please be patient...this is a work in progress :) Where to start? Each of us have lost more than anyo..."

2011-02-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

Yes, more pics of Daisy ~sigh~ this is what happens when you don't have kids.

2011-02-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

For everyone wondering, Daisy's tail is doing great! It is almost healed and it only took about a year..LOL. Well, at least we didn't have to have it cut off.

2011-01-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

Day one and the "take less medicine" thing is not going so well. Paul got hammered for New Years while I didn't drink and I am the one that woke up with the migraine. How is that fair? Guess no one ever said life was fair. Well off to bed now. It is either that or take more meds.

2010-12-28T19:53:00.001-08:00

Well, it is that time of year again -- time for New Year's resolutions. So what will it be this year? I think it is time for a lifestyle change. Here are some of the things on my list for 2011.

* less Facebook, more Blogging (eventually no FB)
* exercise at least 3 times per week, even if that is only for 10 min at first
* * attempt to come out of my shell and be more social
* cut back on the sugar and meat - eat more vegetables, fruits and grains
* eat more real food and less processed/packaged food
* give up coffee for tea

Hopefully in the process of all this, I will lose some weight, but I am not going to put that pressure on myself right now. We will see.

2010-04-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

Daisy girl got herself into a hot mess again. She cracked her tail on something and bled everywhere. A month later and I am still finding red spots around the house that I missed/hadn't noticed yet. We took her to the vet because it wasn't healing and got tail splints. She kept pulling them off. I think there is one laying in my driveway as I type this. So back to the vet and now we have a really huge cone. This is our last attempt at saving the tail. If we can't heal it, they will have to cut the end off a few inches. Oh joy.

Besides that she has an ear infection and some sort of autoimmune disease, long story short, the tip of one ear turned black and is now crusting over and falling off. The good news is that it is pink skin underneath, so maybe there is hope yet. Maybe we will see some new hair growth if we are lucky.

We are a real healthy bunch this year. I put my back out (for the first time ever) and have been pretty much sitting around for two months now. I am almost back to normal but I am afraid to start gardening because I don't want to set it off again. Oh well. Guess I gotta start sometime.

Paul has been very happy to start golfing again. He's been taking the dog for long walks and I have been staying home nursing my back.

I bought my first electric blanket on sale. If you have sore legs/back there is nothing like an electric blanket all toasty and cozy. I think tonight we will open the bedroom window, just so we can use the blanket...haha. Someone else likes it as much as I do, and that is not Daisy. She gets way too hot and has to go to her bed before the lights are off.

I also got a new Sony e-Reader for v-day which I have been enjoying to the max. Thanks Paul! If you have to lay down for hours at a time, great to have tons to read.

Time to go pack...off to Houston again soon.

2010-02-04T16:40:00.001-08:00

OK so I know, I am way overdue. Facebook is starting to fade out and I think it is time to start Blogging again.

It was a quiet Christmas. We had a funeral on Christmas Eve day, as Paul's grandfather passed away. Today his wife passed. They were in the hospital together on the same floor for a period. Sad but comforting at the same time.

Mom is doing good. Nothing much new there. She had a tooth out last week and is now on antibiotics for the infection, but she is feeling much better now that it is out.

I am getting ready for some more traveling. I had a promotion last month, and since the new position is a global one, I think there will be some international travels in my future. I know I am going to Houston again soon, but that is the only for sure thing just yet. There is talk of Belgium, Germany and France. We will see.

I hear that there is going to be a Bath and Body works coming to Halifax, so no more lugging it back from Houston. Yea! Halifax here I come (as soon as the snow is gone).

I have been keeping tabs on everyone having so much fun. Travels to Africa, babies, wedding plans, husband co-worker troubles, kitchen renos, etc. What a busy family! I know I have been quiet and not commenting much on FB pics,posts and so on, but I still keep up for the most part. I always love to see new pics.

Daisy lost some fur on her ear. I took her to the vet and apparently she has some sort of autoimmune disease. Long story short, she's supposed to wear ear muffs/something over her ears if she is outside for more than 5 min. when it is 4 degrees or colder. Yea, right. We may have her trained by spring, when we won't need it anymore...lol. And I am SURE the neighbors must think I am crazy, look at the dog with the scarf wrapped around her head....oh joy.

2009-07-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

2009-07-04T16:33:00.001-07:00

My Daisy girl...

2009-06-08T18:25:00.001-07:00

Nope, no babies yet, but we are definatey working on it. I currently have 4 doctors on it,so somethings got to work.

The good news is the weather has been beautiful lately. We stained the deck - well Paul did and I watched. We have the big garden tilled and my peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes and a few flowers are planted. The rest will go in on the weekend.

The little tree we planted last year on our front lawn is looking pretty sad. One side of it died but the rest is great. We are going to move it out back this weekend and replace it with a red maple. Hopefully we will be able to dig deep enough for the root ball, with all the slate under here. My garden fence isn't actually a perfect square because we couldn't get one of the poles in the right spot due to the slate. Oh well. At least I have a fence.

2009-04-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Daisy is fine. Two trips to the vet in one week, antibiotics twice a day for two weeks, and some gross things I won't mention and now she is all fixed up. Poor little girl. Well, I guess I shouldn't say "little" girl, cause they weighed her and she was 74 or so pounds. Now I don't feel so bad that I can't lift her.

2009-04-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a crazy day for sure. Daisy has an ear infection so we went to the vet. Then we went to the park to play in the snow/mud. Came home and gave her a bath. Paul found a tick on her, which he promptly yanked off (all the internet sites say to do the opposite). Then at 9:45 pm I ran to WalMart to buy tick shampoo. He vaccuumed the floors with the nozzle (our belt is broke), I washed all her bedding, he gave her a second bath, and then I washed all the towels in hot water. Two baths later, and I am still freaking out. I've got the heebee-geebies.

The spot where we pulled the tick off has a big red sore, so I am freaking out wondering if the head is in there...how do I tell....will it get infected...what if she gets Lyme disease??????????? Good thing I am not getting knocked up, because how can I handle kids if I can barely handle a dog?

OK, so I am taking hormones to try to get pregnant, which I know isn't helping my emotional state right now, but still. I wonder if she got it from the park, or if it came from the vet. We were sitting next to a really sick kitty. It was crying and the owner said she didn't know what was wrong with it.

Could it have laid eggs under her skin? In the house? In the bed? Ewwwweeeeeee!!!!!! And, was it from today, or was it there for a few days already?

Like I already said, freaking out here!!!

2009-03-28T15:57:00.001-07:00

Nothing new going on here. Same old, same old. Although, we do have some grass peeking through the snow here and there, which is nice. I brought up a bunch of my seed trays and pots from the basement today and started to clear the sunroom out. Paul put the snowblower down in the basement for the season.

2008-08-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

OK, I know I have pretty much deserted Blogger for Facebook, but I am going to try to get back to posting again, because I know not everyone in the family is on Facebook.

For those scrapbookers / cardmakers (Les), I added a couple of new link you might find interesting.

Not much new going on in my life. Should be doing home renos, but seriously slacking. Instead, been doing some camping and enjoying the drive in while I still can. Got a small promo at work. Now I don't have to deal with customers or sign into the queue, which is nice.

Paul was in a golf tournament last weekend for his work and they won. My man..lol!

2008-04-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Gas lanterns everywhere

Alley

Front door to hotel

Shopping

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shopping

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The Battery

The Battery

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The City Market

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Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation---the rest below are all at Boone Hall

Not much new going on here. I have been home sick with the stomach flu for 2 days now. But I made it back from Charleston in one piece so I am pretty happy about that, only wish I could say the same for my luggage, which was lost and later arrived with one of the bags without a wheel.

I did, however, find lots of great deals when shopping down there at Burlington Coat Factory...my new favorite store! ~grin~

Charleston was amazingly beautiful and very clean. The gardens where out of this world...no kidding! Berta, you would have loved it. ;-)

One interesting thing happened on the way back to SJ. I was sitting next this woman on the plane and her youngest son, just a baby. Across the aisle from me was her husband and other son. I recognized him as one of my classmates from high school. He hadn't changed a bit. His wife was just adorable and we talked a lot on the flight back. She said they now lived out in Canmore AB and he was a climbing instructor. Now, I have friends that "climb" so this made me think of these little mountains we have out east here.

When I got back home I got to thinking I'd try to find him on Facebook and send him the link to some of the high school groups that have old pics, which we spoke about briefly on the flight. I couldn't find him on FB, so I googled him to see if I could find him on another similar site, like Blogger. Well, a ton of hits came up. Turns out he is not just a "climber", he is a sort of celebrity among rock & alpine climbers, as well as all types of mixed climbing. He has climbed such locations as Kyrghyzstan, Alaska, Northwest Territories, Peru, Pakistan and Patagonia and is the author of the mixed climbing guide book, Mixed Climbs in the Canadian Rockies and has been featured in too many magazines to mention.

I guess my point (besides being very impressed that the quiet guy with the long ponytail and guitar on his back from school turned out to follow his dreams and become so successfull in life) is that we can really do whatever we want to. We just have to have the guts to go for it and the strength to endure the hardships along the way. That is what seperates the losers in life, like me, from the winners, like Sean.

I mean, it is not like I am particularly unhappy or anything. But I live such a mundane, simple little life...go to work in my call center job...live in my dumpy little house...garden in my little yard. What have I really accomplished in life, besides my 18 year relationship with my husband? When I die, what will I be remembered for? Or, better question, will I be remembered? What have I done to leave my footprint on this world? Nada.

I know we can't all be sucessful in our careers, and I can live with that. Some people choose to be great parents, but I don't even have any children yet. Some people have noble careers, like Doctors,Child Care Workers, Teachers, etc. and some people excel at hobbies, like Paul does at golf. Some people have great life-long friendships, when I sometimes have a hard time creating new relationships, partly due to my upbringing and partly due to the fact that I have been burned by my so-called friends so many times in the past.

Long story long...lol...I guess what I am saying is that I've got to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and get my life in order. Now, I know I have been home sick for 2 days and my mind has been working overtime when not preoccupied with work stuff...that is just the way my mind works...but this has been in the back of my mind for awhile now. Maybe I am just having a mid life crisis...lol?

Anywhoo...here are some pics from my Charleston trip.

2008-01-30T18:43:00.000-08:00

DON'T BUY IAMS PET FOOD & HELP STOP CRUELTY TO ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!

I was watching a TV special on dog food the other day, while all of a sudden during the show they start showing undercover video clips of dead dogs and dogs being used in lab experiments. It will haunt me forever. There were little beagles, some looked like still puppies. I was so shaken, that I didn't catch what they were saying about what company was doing this. I just turned it off immediately. I couldn't understand why tests like this had anything to do with dog food. It looked like they were burning the fur and skin off the lower bodies of the poor things.

I have been thinking about it ever since, so I thought I would google it and see if I could find out what companies do this sort of thing so I will never, EVER, buy from them again.

The first link I found was the link that had the exact pics and video of the scene in the lab that I watched on TV. I could not believe it was IAMS!

Here is the link for the story:

http://www.iamscruelty.com/feat/worldweek/index.asp

Here is the link for the pics/videos: WARNING: THEY ARE VERY GRAPHIC!! The second link below actually has a dog that looks just like Daisy! PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!

http://www.iamscruelty.com/iams-video.asp
http://www.iamscruelty.com/iams-video3.asp

2008-01-06T12:20:00.000-08:00

I let Daisy have what was left in the bottom of a Sugar Free Jello Cup last night and she started acting funny. She started to drool excessively, dripping as she walked around the house. I called the vet after hours emergency service and they told me to give her hydrogen peroxide to make her vomit, which I did. Turns out, the sweetener they use in the Jello is toxic to dogs. Did you know this? Here is an article from USA Today.

A sugar substitute found in a variety of sugar-free and dietetic cookies, mints and chewing gum is proving highly toxic, even fatal, to snack-snatching dogs.
Xylitol, popular in Europe for decades but a relative newcomer to the U.S. alternative-sweeteners market, can be "very, very serious" to dogs when ingested, says Dana Farbman, spokeswoman for the Animal Poison Control Center of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"It doesn't take a whole lot (of xylitol), and the effects are so rapid that the window of opportunity to treat the dog is extremely small," Farbman says.

The ASPCA sent an advisory to veterinarians last August warning them about the potential for serious harm or death. Veterinarians have used a variety of means to get the word out, including posting signs in their offices and making copies of the bulletin for clients to augment the caution the ASPCA has posted on its website.

Concerned that millions of people are still unaware of the risk, veterinarians with forums for widespread public announcements are spreading the word that way as well. Among them: Miami veterinarian Patty Khuly wrote about the problem on her doolittler.com blog, and Colorado Springs veterinarian Anne Pierce devoted her entire weekly newspaper column a week ago to xylitol.

Within 30 minutes of consuming a small amount of a xylitol-sweetened product, the ASPCA says, dogs can experience a dramatic drop in blood sugar, and they usually begin vomiting, become lethargic and can have difficulty standing or walking. Some have seizures, develop internal hemorrhaging and lesions and suffer liver failure. As few as two or three sticks of xylitol gum could be toxic to a 20-pound dog, the ASPCA says.

Immediate and aggressive veterinary treatment, which includes glucose drips and IV fluids, has proved effective in many cases.

The ASPCA's poison control unit is aware of 10 dog deaths from xylitol since 2002, and it has received scores of reports of dogs becoming gravely ill. But only a fraction of veterinarians and consumers alert the ASPCA when a dog becomes ill or dies from toxins, and there is no national clearinghouse tracking xylitol-suspected toxic reactions.

Moreover, it's not always entirely clear what caused the problem when a dog arrives at a veterinarian's office with seizures or liver failure. "I suspect that there are more cases than we know about because they come in with liver failure, and the owner is not aware of what has been ingested," Pierce says.

She believes that xylitol ingestion is "an emerging problem" and that the number of cases probably will increase with time, "depending on how widespread xylitol as a sweetener becomes."

Xylitol is an all-natural sugar substitute derived from beets, birch tree bark, corncobs and other natural sources. It's as sweet as sugar but has 40% fewer calories. Unlike sugar, xylitol does not require insulin to be metabolized.

Right now, xylitol is used mostly in cookies, candies, cupcakes and other sweets developed for people who have diabetes. It's also sold in bags of crystals for baking. Because of its bacteria-killing properties, it is put into some oral care products, including Tom's All Natural and Biotene toothpastes.

It also is beginning to be used in a broad assortment of products intended for the general public. Among them: Jello sugar-free puddings and a wide variety of sugar-free gums, including Trident, Orbit, Stride, Icebreakers and Altoids.

Makers of products with xylitol say their products are designed for people, including diabetes patients, who are seeking an alternative to sugar; they were never recommended for dogs and were never intended to be ingested by dogs. Owners should be careful because some dogs, Khuly says, "get into just about everything and eat everything they find."There is no indication that any of the other sweeteners on the market adversely affect dogs. And there is no evidence so far that xylitol is toxic to pets other than dogs. But cats, for example, don't scavenge for sweets as dogs do, so it's possible there are risks that have not yet been discovered. For now, veterinarians advise pet owners to keep xylitol away from all animals.

2007-12-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the cards and pics everyone. I am superslack this year and haven't sent anything out yet to anyone, but hoping to resolve that this weekend.

Hi there Matt! When I think about people who read the blogs, I guess I always assume it is other people with blogs, but it never occured to me that anyone could read these things. (unless you have a blog,and I am just not aware of it)

I used to listen to you at work sometimes on a piece of Dad's old equiptment, but one day I hit a wrong button and now it doesn't pickup anything at all. Sucks! :-(
I can just hear Dad up there, calling me Stupid. Alas, I think I earned it this time around....lol.

I've got my CTS surgery for my right hand on Jan. 2nd so I don't know how much typing I will be doing for a while after that. We will see how that goes. Sadly, I can't drink for New Years because it thins the blood and I want to make sure I can clot when they slice me open, darn it.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

2007-12-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

More of my ranting in the local newspaper, the Telegraph Journal. They edited it down a bit, which was actually probably a good thing (for them anyways). I got a call after from a reporter from CBC Radio and she came to interview me today about wheelchair accessability in the city. She asked me to be a guest on a morning news/talk radio show soon, to discuss the issue. Maybe we can actually get some things fixed around this old city. It would be great to be able to take Mom out to different places, besides WalMart & Shoppers all the time.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/145716

Wheelchair access still unavailable

My mother, who is in a wheelchair, wanted to do some shopping and I thought it would be nice to take her uptown. We found neither set of interior doors at the City Market are automatic. We took the little elevator from the Market down to Brunswick Square but when we came back, there was a sign blocking the entrance, which I moved but when I called the elevator, the light never came on and the door was locked (it has a regular entrance door, not an elevator door) so we could not get back up even though the market was still open. Instead, we went back to exit outside.

Here we found an exterior entrance to the market with a push button door but there was a big lip in the cement and we couldn't get the wheelchair over it. We had to get her out of the chair to carry it inside.

The Harbour Building was the same way. She called ahead she was told it was wheelchair accessible only to discover after getting dropped off, a set of stairs. We had to wheel down the steep hill from Prince William Street to Water Street, go through a door in the basement and wheel through the dark parking garage to the elevator, which meant getting out of the chair numerous times.

Who regulates these things? Someone is not doing their job and it's sad because it is people who are already at a disadvantage that pay the consequences.

JENNIFER MELVIN

Saint John

2007-11-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

What can you get for 30 cents these days? Not much you say to yourself?

Yesterday I went to the Superstore for groceries just when they were marking down bins of odds and ends, all to 30 cents each. So, I did some digging and some more digging, and here is some of the stuff I ended up with. All at 30 cents each!

* Mead zipper binder
* Intuition eae de parfum spray by Estee Lauder
* Olay Total Effects
* Juice Organics Apple Exfoliating Peel (2)
* Juice Organics Revitalizing Eye Treatment
* Loreal Body Gel
* Jewel eau de parfum spray by Alfred Sung
* Bed Head Mega Vitamin Conditioner
* photo albums (2)
* Fantastik Flushable Fresh Brush Kits (2)
* boxes of pens & markers
* notebooks/page protectors/binder dividers
* bandaids
* tape
* Chloe perfume
* halloween decorations (like a rubber severed hand that crawls across the table)
* Rubbermaid food storage containers
* kitchen utencils
* flower vases
* books (novels and a book on how to find a good babysitter)

The list goes on. Plus, it was "no tax" night, so even better. Gotta love it.

2007-11-12T19:34:00.001-08:00

The glitter of Facebook is finally wearing off. Phew! Now back to the blogging. I see that I am not the only one who hasn't been keeping up (ahem...Henry), so I don't feel so bad since I am not the only sinner.

So what is new out there in blog land anyways? Not much new with me. Here are some recent pics from a night out. I don't think the birthday girl had much fun though, since she was turning 30 and all.

2007-08-08T17:15:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been swarmed by mosquitos? NOT fun!!

When I came home from work I noticed that some of my corn & sunflowers had fallen over from all the heavy winds and rain so I went out (in my work clothes...heels and all) to tie them back up. I figured I didn't have time to spare to go and change because it looked like it would start raining again any minute. Meanwhile I see the biggest slugs and the most slugs I have ever seen in one place in my life. Guess what I am buying tomorrow at the garden center...slug bait, for sure!! I picked what I could see and thew them in the distant bushes. Some of them hit some city pipes in the brush and actually made a "dong" sound...I swear ...ask Paul, he heard it from the deck...lol.

I felt kinda itchy but I was so focused on what I was doing and trying to do it so fast that I didn't notice until I started towards the gate, that I was in a big swarm of mosquitos. I shoulda taken a pic but now I am covered in pink lotion so you can't really see them, but lets just say they had a really good feed on me! They swell up when I get bit and they are everywhere, legs, chest, stomach, back, hips, legs, you name it, it's been bit. But not one on my face...lol. Weird, eh? Call it lucky or call it unlucky, depends on if you are a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kinda person.

Maybe tomorrow I will add a pic if they are still swolen. What a sight!

2007-08-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mom called me in tears cause she got was downstairs doing laundry one night when the power went off in her building. The elevator didn't work and it was late so there was no one around and there is no phone down there, so she got all worked up. She said she is going out to buy a cel phone. I told her that someone who finds microwaves and stove ovens too complicated to use at all (yes, she no longer uses her oven ...ever) may have a hard time with a cel phone. She insists she is going to buy one the next day. I explained how you have to usually pay $100 or more first and then sign up for a plan, which is usually at least a year. She was still going to get one anyways.

Instead, I gave her my old one to try out. So I get a call earlier today:

"Jenny, can I call you on the cel phone so I can get used to it?"
Sure Mom, no problem, but call my home number, not my cel.
"Which number is that?"
The number you just called me on three seconds ago Mom.
"OK, which number?"
633-5196 Mom.
"Wait a minute while I write that down"
Mom, you just called me on it. It is already written down by the phone. You call me every day, remember?
"Oh, this cel phone as me so confused" (she said, when we were both on land lines)
Ok I am going to hang up now. Call me back at home. Dial the number then hit the green send button, remember? (like we just went over last night and I wrote down on paper for her)

My cel phone starts ringing. Hello?
"What happened?"
You called me on my cel phone. That is fine but why didn't you call me on the home line?
"You told me to hit send then dial the number".
Mom, I told you to dial the number then hit send.
"Well it must be cause you have this thing programmed funny"
No Mom, if you hit send without dialing a number, then it redials the last number called. Why don't you hang up and try again? Call my home line.

My home phone starts ringing...Mom's home number comes up on the display.
Mom, how come you are not calling me on the cel phone (as I am laughing my face off)?
"Oh, I'm not?"
No, you are not.
"Oh this is way to complicated for me. It is got me all worked up. I better go lay down now".
OK (laughing my face off some more), you go lay down. You've had way to much excitement for one day.
"Love you (she's laughing to), kiss kiss, goodbye.....oh what do I press now?" (to herself on the LAND LINE) then beeeeepppp, beeeppp, beeeppp as she pushes buttons......."I'll never learn how to use this thing ....click" ....FROM THE LAND LINE................LAUGHING MY ASS OFF NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to my life....lol. Love ya Mom!!

Anyways, here are some new car pics, as requested by Berta. Cheers!

2007-08-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Some stuff from the garden:

2007-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

I see that some of the peeps who converted to facebook have since converted back. ??

We finally have a new (to us) car. We bought a Honda CRV so now we have a reliable vehicle for road trips. Now if only the weather would cooperate.

Work has been good. Well, you know, work is work. Nothing new there.

We took a break from the home renos partly due to the time it took looking for a car. Also, partly cause WE WERE SICK OF IT....lol. But tomorrow we are going to get back on top of things. After all, there are only so many months of the year to do stuff outside.

Garden is coming along nicely. Sunflowers are up to about my shoulders. Maybe we will take some pics tomorrow. Most of the spinach and lettuce has been harvested already. Beans are coming along nice. Watermelon are too small. Tomatoes are behind. Oh well. What can you do? I can't make the sun come out to play.

2007-06-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

4 YEAR MEME

This is my first tag on the meme from Leslie, so I hope I am doing this right.

Past 4 years I have learned:

1- some people never change no matter how much you want them to; others change, no matter how much you don't want them to
2- you never know how much you can accomplish until you try
3- I have more patience now than I have ever had
4- after 30, things start to break down fast

4 things I want to learn in the next 4 years:

1- how to write fiction
2- how to be a mother
3- how to relax more and take better care of myself
4- how to be happier with what I have, without wanting bigger/better/more

2007-05-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have been totally neglecting blogger for facebook. Sorry everyone. I have logged on now and then to read posts, but I have not been posting myself.

I guess my facebook photo was on the local news the other night, but I missed it. How come every time I make a fuss about something, I end up on the 5:00 news...lol? But that is an entire other story...

I planted my seeds tonight. I know I am way behind this year, but so is Spring, so I should be OK. If not, then I will just have to go buy some seedlings in a couple of weeks.

Anyone else watch Jerico? Maybe I was PMSing, but the season finale put me into tears! It was so good!

I've been catching up with old friends on FB and there are talks of a reunion for all the kids that went from grades 1 to 9 (and some on to 12) together. I am so excited.

Nothing else much new going on.

2007-04-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

Are you addicted yet???? To facebook I mean. I have been on there WAAAY to much...lol. I have hooked up with friends that I went to grades 1-9 with. It is so much fun catching up. Someone stop me please....

2007-04-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

Another week, another death of a friend. What is going on these days aunyways? It makes me feel like life is extremely fragile. You never know when you see someone or talk to them if it will be the last time forever. Very sad. I am going to go to bed, I am wiped out.

2007-03-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

2007-03-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

We doggie sat for awhile today. Lots of commotion.

2007-03-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Happy Birthday shout outs to all the b-days in the family!!

Nothing much new here. We watched the new Rocky movie tonight and I was surprised because I am not much of a boxing fan, but I really liked it. It had one of the guys from Heros in it, which was nice. You don't think of Rocky as a kleeex box kinda movie, but some of it had me tearing up....much to the amusement of Paul. It was the first fight scene I ever enjoyed watching. I was screaming at the TV and everything...lol.

The weather has been so bad we have been hibernating lately. We watched that movie about the dragon rider and it was really awesome. The movie The Holiday was good, but it started out kinda slow. It had a great message about life and a real feel good happy ending, so I give it a thumbs up.

We watched the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, and it was good. Paul loved it. It was your typical James Bond movie, but was shot in some wonderful locations. Pretty women, fast cars, things blowing up...you get the idea.

We took Daisy to the ball field to play yesterday and it was all mud. She was dripping mud in the car. I had to wash her, then the tub, then the floors, the walls, our coats, our shoes, it was just a complete mess all over. I just wish I would have taken a pic to post for a good laugh. I wasn't laughing at the time though.

2007-03-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the Bantam Bookstore in Second Life. Center stage with black hair & dressed in shades of purple, is DeanKoontz Lane, Dean Kootz' avitar. He was doing the first live pod cast of an author in Second Life (a virtual world). It was for an hour tonight. I sat for most of it until the end when everyone walked up to take a snapshot....hehe. That's the back of my head with the long black hair, dressed in black & green.

It was great. He read some of his new novel The Good Guy coming out May 29th. We could IM questions and he answered most of them live. He is quite a funny guy. I asked 8 or 9 questions and got them all answered except two, which was really cool.

Fun ways to waste time! I know I'm a geek.

2007-03-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

Nothing new and exciting in our neck of the woods. I have been working a lot since my counterpart at work was away on vacation in Mexico for over a week and then she came back for a day and was so sick she was off for another week. I just finally started to get my own work caught up today but I had a migrane and had to come home early sick and go to bed. But I am feeling a bit better now. I am forcing myself to stay up for at least a couple of hours so I will sleep some sleep tonight.

It is terribly cold out today and from what I hear it is going to be like this all week. I am so sorry to hear about Chow. It is so hard to lose a pet.

Lots of changes going on at work. Seats are getting moved, new work is coming and people are getting new positions. Who knows what the future holds, I guess I just have to wait to find out. Funny how change can be both exciting and scarey at the same time...lol.

I've been trying something new called FaceBook. It is kind of like a blogger/e-mail/photo album all in one. Most people I know use it to post pics.

We went to a friends big 30 birthday party on the weekend and had lots of fun. Here are some pics. Plus here are some pics from a friends house a couple of weeks ago.

2007-02-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

2007-02-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

What happened???? I watched American Idol tonight but I did not see Rachel Zevita at all, aka Opera Girl. Remember her? She had a sort of hippie look and sang three songs, including opera. She was incredible and if she had an album out right now in her "rocker voice", I would buy it on the spot. Who am I kidding? I love her voice no matter what she sings. She was so original and really could sing anything. I can't imagine she got voted off. Did I miss her when I took Daisy out for 2 minutes? I was so looking forward to hearing her again.

Hopefully she will be on the show tomorrow. She was so pretty and since she could sing anything, she really could have made herself into whatever she wanted to be. I hope she stays. It would be awsome to see her kick some butt when they do all those period/theme type songs, I am sure she would just get right into character. Did you see her entire persona changed when she switched to sing the three different types of music? A lot of good singers can only sing one type of music and if they try different things, they sound really bad.

What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llMFf5jp_Cs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Me-bi6wPGE

2007-02-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL & MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

I was just wondering if anyone happens to have Dad's ship (Schooner?) pin? Mom has been talking about it a lot lately. She remembers all the times she got Dad all dressed up for board meetings for work and for family gatherings over the years. He is wearing it in almost all the pictures of him when he was dressed up, pinned on his tie. She says she feels really bad that she gave all Dad's jewelery away after he passed, but she wasn't thinking clearly. She is not even sure of who she gave it to.

I just thought if someone had it and wasn't necessarily attached to it and wanted to send it to Mom, she would really love that. But if someone has it and really doesn't want to part with it for sentimental reasons, that is fine to.

I don't want to post her address here, but I think most of the family has it. If not, I can always e-mail it if someone wants me to.

I just thought, it never hurts to ask.

2007-02-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

We have been busy.

We have been doing renovations...
...which seems to wear Daisy out (napping under the curtain we just took off the door and threw there).
Bam! Out like a light!
It wasn't all hard work. We played some to.

And there was even time left over for some quiet reflection at the end of it all.

She's got the best seat in the house!

2007-02-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

Am I a junkie??

I also cleaned out & organized all my beauty products a couple of years ago but I ended up with a much different result than Lesley.This is what was left over once I threw out a bunch of stuff.
Now I am back to overflowing with products, especially since my last trip to Bath and Body Works in Texas, my favorite! Oh well.

2007-02-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

We finally have our car back!! I hate not having a car. It really sucks. Especially when it is cold out. But we've got it now, until next time, which I hope is not in the near future.

Anyone watch Jennifer Lopez's new show, Dance Life? I am watching it now. I hate Blake. Anyone remember Blake from So You Think You Can Dance? He was an ass on that show to.

I love the dance shows. Even though Blake is an ass, I gotta say he really can dance. Nolan is kinda cute though. Better go watch. I think he just got a gig with Mary J Blige.

2007-01-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Did you ever think, Why bother?

2007-01-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

I went to the doctor today about my finger (for those of you who don't already know, I cut my finger pretty bad on a Rachael Ray food processor). The cut healed nice however the bottom of the cut, near the middle of my finger, hurts really bad when I touch it to anything, such as when I open a door or especially my locker at work. The tip of my finger at the top of the cut is numb. Lovely. Good news is that it should correct itself ...eventually. Bad news is that I apparently severed a nerve and it could take from a month, a year, to numerous years before it is back to normal. She said if it really bothers me they could "excavate" with surgery but it would probably create more pain than necessary. Wonderful.

Have any of you seen that new commercial where this guy is interviewing this Paris-Hilton-type celebrity and he asks her about her new fragrance she is selling? She says something like "Oh no, I would NEVER wear that (with disgust), but I do fully endorse it (smile, giggle)". Rachael Ray sells this stuff but she doesn't use it herself or on her show. I am the only person who finds this odd? If you could see how hard it is to change the blade on the food processor, you would understand why she would never be able to use it on her show... 30 minute meals, but 27 of those minutes you are attempting to change the blade on your food processor, 1 minute to grab a towel to stop the bleeding, 1 minute to locate the phone & dial 911 and 1 minute to grab that chocolate bar at the bottom of your purse as you wait for the ambulance to arrive, just so your blood sugar won't get too low in all the commotion. Tadaa. A new recipe called Blood & Chocolate. Wait a minute, isn't that the name of a new movie?

2007-01-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

Anyone out there know anything about cars???

We've taken our 2000 Crapiac Shitfire...oops, I mean Pontiac Sunfire....to three garages now and almost $900 later (if you include all the cabs we have been taking) no one can seem to figure out what is wrong with it. It is a big mystery. We can put people on the moon, but three teams of trained mechanics and at least one diagnostic machine can't figure out what is wrong with one the world's most popular crappy cars.

First it started with the engine just quitting while driving. All the lights, blinkers, etc. stay on. When you try to start it again, it will eventually start, sometimes 2 tries later, sometimes 20 tries later. Then it progressed to just not starting up in the first place, till you keep trying over and over.

We had the battery boosted, battery & connections checked, engine electronics checked, oil/lube/filter done, topped up all the fuels/liquids, got a new air filter, new fuel pump (which was apparently a $600 shot in the dark), spark plugs checked, etc. And it worked great after we picked it up so we drove it everywhere. This was about a week ago. Until last night when we broke down on the coldest day of the year, in a black car at night out on the highway. It was fun, let me tell you.

We called the garage that put in the fuel pump and they really have no more ideas. When it quits the battery and engine lights comes on, but go away as soon as it starts again. When it quits and we try to start it, it kinda goes like duh duh duh duh duh. And if you are standing outside, you can kind of hear it wheeze a little after, before you give up and turn the key in the off position again. These sounds come from the passenger right side of the car in the front.

Anyone got any ideas at all??? Right now it is a two door lawn ornament and I am about ready to jump off a bridge. If only I could get to one...

2007-01-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

Happy 2007! Hopefully it will be better for me than 2006. Although, I am off to a bad start. I spent most of yesterday at the Emergency Room with the throat swelled up like never before. I am into the antibiotics now, so I am feeling a little better. At least I can swallow now....haha.

Anywhoo, I've added some stuff to the MacAulay site, if anyone wants to take a look. If anyone wants me to add anything just e-mail it to me or if you don't have a scanner, you could send me hard copies to scan and I will mail them back to you when I am done.

Anyone have an old laptop they are selling? I am looking for something cheap. It doesn't have to have a working battery cause I don't mind plugging it in. If it is really cheap, then I don't care if I can't get online. I just mostly want it to have Word so I can type and save documents.

Some New Years Pics:

2006-12-31T06:13:00.000-08:00

Poor Daisy. I guess she is as accident prone as her momma. We have matching bandages. We took her to the park for a doggie date yesterday and she cut the pad of her paw on something. She's such a good girl, she isn't even trying to pull off the bandage, which is what we thought she would do. It is such a sin to see her hobbling around on 3 paws, it makes me want to cry. Normally she is such a tough girl. I've seen her running to catch a ball and just smash her head on the side of the door frame. She just wobbles a bit, shakes her head and keeps going. I've seen her flip over in the air and land on the ground on her back while trying to catch a frizbee the wind has got ahold of, and still get it and bring it back to play some more. But this time she won't walk up or down stairs by herself. She just stood there yesterday staring at us from the top of the stairs for about 20 minutes until Paul figured out that she was afraid to walk down the stairs. She is too heavy for me to carry so Paul had to go get her. And carry her up to bed last night. What a sad sight!

I returned the RR no problem. They didn't have a manual one like the nice one out west everyone in the family seems to enjoy so much. So I bought a cheap $22 General Electric 135 watt mini-chopper. No blades to change, cause it only comes with one. It actually works great. I cut up onions last night for our hamburgers in 2 seconds...hehe. I love kitchen gadgets. And because it is small and white, I can leave it right out on the kitchen counter. Someday I will find a nice Cuisinart. Who knows, I may even come accross an old one at Value Villiage. A girl at work has a really old one and it still works like a charm. My little chopper only does one thing, chop. But hey, at least it doesn't turn everything to baby food and there is less chance of me earning a new nickname, something about only having 9 fingers...

2006-12-30T11:42:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a Cuisinart when I bought my food processor, but they are hard to find around here. I know RR's food processor is the ugliest thing I've ever seen but I bought it anyway because it had 700 watts, so I thought it would get the job done. Yea, it turned potatoes, carrots, onions to LIQUID, on just one pulse with a "big chopping" blade. It is going right back to the store today. I don't care how bad the lineup is.

And I am still not out of the woods with the cut finger yet. It keeps opening up & bleeding (I just had to wipe blood off my keyboard) right through the bandages. Plus, when I try to put my finger straight out it hurts like hell. Might have cut a tendon or something...never excelled at Biology so not really sure (wiping off more blood here).

Anyway better go and buy more bandages as it looks like I am going to need them. But, on a positive note, who knew I could type with only 9 fingers? Hey, I've learned a new skill! Thanks RR!

PS. She doesn't even use her own food processor on the show! This pic is from her website. Her's is blue, orange & silver (and the cup sits at an angle). The one below is white (and the cup sits up straight).

2006-12-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

Does anyone own a really good food processor they would like to recommend? I want something to dice & slice mostly.

I bought a Rachael Ray thinking it would be good, but no matter what blade you use, it turns everything to puree. And normally they come with big round blades you can just pick from which one you want to use. Not this one. It has one big round plastic piece which is the blade disc, and then there is this little "blade" (the sharp part) that you have to insert into the big plastic part every time you want to change the blade or take it out to clean it. And the thing does not go in or come out easily! Hence, the very large finger bandage I will be sporting with my New Years fashions this season. At first I thought I may need stitches, but it seems to have closed up pretty well.

2006-12-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

So I got to thinking about how some of the folks out west have a new interest in the MacAulay family tree so I decided to start a new blog. I will add to it what I have (first I have to find the hard copies...they are here somewhere) and anyone who wants to add pics or info can e-mail it to me at jenlmelvin@hotmail.com.

We will see how this goes.It is worth a try.The address is themacaulayfamilytree.blogspot.com.

2006-12-24T18:34:00.000-08:00

We went to the annual Christmas Eve gift exchange/turkey dinner at Paul's sisters house tonight.As always, I was in charge of the potatoes and made my special whipped sour cream & chives and cheddar & onion ones, plus some au natural ones for the traditionalists in the family.

Tomorrow is turkey day and I get to peel more potatoes (groan) but hey, I enjoy eating them to. It was a full house but we didn't take all that many photos. Shelley took a bunch with her camera and she said she would e-mail them to me once she finds the time. I am still waiting to get ones at work from the Exxon Christmas party. I will post a couple of those once I get them.

Here is Brandon (Santa) & Jarrod, Paul's newphews, holding a picture of their dog Taffy that has gone to doggie heaven.

Brandon with his Nanny, Paul's mom Gloria.

Daisy got a dog cookie for Christmas. Here she is hiding under the coffee table with it so Mommy won't eat it on her, cause you know dog bones are my favorite...
Daisy with Daddy eating her bone. Daisy helping Mommy wrap gifts in the spare bedroom (and yes, I know, I haven't finished the paiting in this room yet).

Daisy trying to see what Santa brought her.

Me with my early Christmas gifts, earrings! Taa daa. Daisy looking at my bear that came with my earrings. It plays music and Daisy just loves it.

Mom is coming over tomorrow for turkey dinner. I will take some more pics and post again soon.

Merry Christmas Everyone, and a Happy New Year!!!!

2006-12-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

My very first "Thursday Thirteen" post:

Thirteen Things I Will and Will Not Cheap Out On:
1. Toilet Paper - I agree with Lesley, single ply is down right nasty.
2. Books - If I really want it, I must have it no matter what the cost. Hey, I'm not rich here, but I'll admit I have spent a pretty penny on some books when they were new releases because I wanted to read them right away. I am getting too old and no longer have the patience to wait until a book gets in stock at the library, then there is the uptown parking to deal with, plus time limits, then you gotta give it back, even if you really liked it. Not for me.Plus, a lot of the stuff I read will never be at the library.
3. Clothes - What can I say? I am a cheapski. I buy stuff when it goes on sale. It is very, very rare that I pay full price for anything.
4. Jewelery - Why buy the real deal when you can have a knock off & no one can tell the difference? Plus, if you lose it, no harm done. My only exception to that is sentimentel things, like my engagement and wedding rings which I wear every day so it has got to be the real deal.
5. Perfume - If I like it, I don't care how much it costs, or doesn't cost. That said, I have never found a really expensive one that I like yet, so that still goes in the cheapie catagory for me.
6. Make-up - I buy what I like over and over again. I don't care about the price tag. I don't wear it enough to worry about that because it lasts forever. I am not looking to save money. I just want what I know and like.
7. Skin care - Same thing, but the stuff I buy isn't really all that expensive. Still, I get what I like and don't look at the tag.
8. Memories - Trips, events, concerts, family gatherings, pictures....all of that stuff goes in the "I don't care how much it costs as long as I have enough cash to pay for it, let's do it" catagory.Mind you, I do try to save money where I can. But if it comes down to going to a concert and there are two seats left, one too far away to see at all and one right up front, if I have enough cash to pay for the ones up front, I'm buying them. Hey, you only live once!
9.Soda - No Pepsi for me, thanks. I don't care if it is 10 cents a liter. Gross. I got to have what I like, not that I drink all that much pop.
10. Household Scented Products (ie. candels, room sprays, etc.) - If I like it I must have it.
11. White Paint - I don't even want to count how many gallons of white paint I have used in the last 3 years. Gotta love the Fixer Uppers! It is all the same, so I try to find the cheapest I can.
12. Spray Butter (like Pam) - It is all the same.
13. Dog Toys - She's only going to wreck them eventually, so might as well save a buck or two.

2006-12-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

2006-12-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yes Lesley, I did find a dress at Reitmans. It "will do". It is a black stretchy thing that has a criss cross front and a tie around the waist that I am not so crazy about. But, the thing I hate most is three quarter length sleeves. I just can't escape them! Oh well. I think I will buy some chunky braclets to cover the rest of my arms to kinda keep the lines long. Oh, and can't forget the stilettos. Although it has been awhile, I better dig them out and wear them around the house a bit to get used to them again.
I'll post a pic of us after my work christmas party, if any of them turn out decent.

So I see David and family are moving back east. That is wonderful! Any word yet on what province?

On another note (Mat probably heard all about this at work), the apartment building where Mom lives had a fire during the week. They had to carry Mom down 4 flights of stairs in her nightie. The Red Cross & the Salvation Army set up a shelter center at a local hotel and everyone spent the night. Mom was really upset. We were all waiting out in the lobby of the hotel for hours waiting to get rooms assigned and the landlady came over to a girl who lives on Mom's floor and told her that the firemen had to break down her door and the place was basically trashed. She said she just came home from christmas shopping and laid all her gifts out on the floor to wrap when the alarms started going off. She also said she didn't have fire insurance and we noticed she was all alone. It was really sad. We were terribly worried, but the RC & SA did such a fantastic job of feeding everyone and getting them rooms and stuff like toothbrushes, paste, etc. it was great to see. Everyone was very gratefull.

We were told the next day that some people could go back to stay and some could go back to retrieve stuff, but would not be allowed back to their apartments to stay. Mom was the first one back and the girl from the night before was right behind us. She went to her door, but it was just a sheet of plywood screwed on so they had to find some power tools before they could let her in. Mom's place was fine, just a bit smokey. Thank god!! She said Dad must have been watching out for her.

Apparently the newspaper said the fire started on one of the lower floors and went up the walls, basically causing damage to one apartment on each floor, one above another. When we were in the elevator going up to her floor with the firemen, it stopped on the second floor and when the doors opened, the smell on that floor was SO bad, it made me gag. It was a carpet cleaner guy who wanted on, but we were too full so he had to catch the next one. We didn't know what to expect when we got up to Mom's floor, but she was OK. Thank GOD! First thing she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep. She didn't care about anything else. She was so upset and tired from all the excitement, she just had to sleep. Can't say I blame her. I came home and took a nap myself after work.

Well all ended out OK for Mom. I feel bad about everyone else in the building though, that weren't as lucky. So sad.

Here are the firemen on one of the balconys at Mom's building, from the newspaper. I tried to paste the article from the newspaper, but it didn't work.

2006-12-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

OK peeps, I need mailing addresses. The ones I am missing in the MacAulay Clan are: Mat, Amy & Mitch, Monica & JJ, Heather & Jeff, Melanie & Jimmy, David & Paula, and if anyone has moved recently, please give me a new address, because I may have an old one in my address book.

Which brings me to my next question, am I to understand that David & Family are moving back east? I got that impression from some comments on one of the blogs, but maybe I just had too much rum in my eggnog, you never can tell with me.

Also, I saw on Mel's blog about Mike being in a commercial and on Trailer Park Boys.Was that Mike, our Mike, or just another friend of yours with the same name? Just curious. I think I've seen every Trailer Park Boys episode at least once, so now I want to know which ones so I can go back and look. Can't belive I didn't see him, if it is Mike Marsh (and not another friend of the same name), please tell me which episodes, cause I'd love to see! I know Mike is a popular name though, kinda like Jen and Paul, so could be someone else.

I haven't had much time lately to keep up on all the blogs like I would like, but I try to steal a few minutes here and there. It looks like everyone is doing well. Babies in bellies are growing, toddlers are becoming little girls, cookies are getting baked, walls painted (and those nasty baseboards to), presents are being bought, cards are getting sent and Santa's lap has been visited. We are all very busy this time of year, to say the least. Hopefully in the new year I will be able to update my blog more often. Who are we kidding here? I am just hoping I have something fun and exciting happen around here to blog about ...lol. Things have been so boring, I never have anything interesting to talk about. I need to get out more.

I guess I will get my wish with work Christmas parties, friend's parties, family gatherings and a great New Years Eve party to look forward to. By 2007 I will probably be wishing I had more time to be bored!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everyone! Don't forget to e-mail or post your address!

2006-11-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry girls, but I am on the rampage.

You know, there once was a day when I could go into a clothing store and spend my paycheck on clothes. I find as I get older I am becoming more conservative with my money. After all, I don't have a lot of it to waste.

I have been shopping now for a couple of weeks looking for the perfect party dress for our Christmas formal at work but I have been having the worst luck. I think I am exactly the size between plus sizes and regular sizes. Sometimes I can wear an XL, like in a sweater, but if it is anything fitted I have to go to the plus sizes. But the people who design the plus sizes think if you get fatter, of course you must get taller. Makes sense doesn't it? Well apparently I am just a freak of nature because I haven't gotten taller as I have gotten wider.

Plus size blouses are down to my knees and so low cut I am showing everyone my goods. I mean, sometimes I do want to let my assets show, but not every day. Plus, plus size clothing is so much more expensive then regular sizes, it drives me crazy. Same black pants, plus size $59, regular sizes $29. Come one, it is not all that much more fabric, really.

I know what I want but I just can't seem to find it in my size. I want a long sleeve black long dress, with a low neckline. You know, a winter version of the "little black dress". Is that really too much to ask for? Well apparently the answer to that is yes.It is times like these I think about maybe starting to dig out my sewing machine and start sewing again. But then it makes me angry that I have to make my clothes if I want to wear something nice. And another thing....why are most ladies plus size clothing so gross? I mean, some of this stuff is REALLY ugly! Why can't they just make them like regular people nice clothing, but just larger? Just because I am overweight doesn't mean I want to wear all my shirts as dresses, to my knees. And all the tops are 3/4 length sleeves. What is with that? Really? To someone who is overweight, the 3/4 length sleeve (just like the knee length blouses & tops) cuts you off just in the wrong spot & actually make a big person look bigger because it ruins the lines of the outfit. Who makes this stuff anyway?

And the "dressy" formal stuff looks like something you should see a grandmother wearing. To top it off, they put regular size models in the plus size clothing to make it look even worse. I went online to all the stores from my local area & this is the kind of stuff they have:

Oooh baby, sexy sexy. Just what I was looking for! NOT!

I want something like these, but in plus sizes. This one below would be perfect, except in black (this one is dark brown).

This is a little plain for what I need, but it would do:

This is also a little too casual, but with the boots it does look great. Plus, I could wear it again.

Also I little casual,but with nice jewellery & strappy black heels, it would also be better than anything I have seen yet.
Does anyone know where I can buy stuff like this for plus sizes? I've already searched online but the only nice stuff I could find was for $200-$500 dresses. I just can't spend that much on a dress for one night.

Anyone have any suggestions (besides me loosing weight, which I am doing anyway, but in the meantime I still need to be clothed)?

2006-11-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

Paul took Daisy to the vet today. Her ear was really infected, poor girl. They gave her an injection of antibiotics, plus we have to do the ear drops again & give her pills three times a day. Ooohh my poor baby. What a little trooper!

2006-11-13T22:54:00.000-08:00

Wow! I finally got my pics to post. It only took a hundred or so tries, easy as Dead Wedding cake....lol. I updated Blogger to the new version and it worked like a charm.

It is now almost 3am and I still can't sleep so I decided to first catch up on my e-mails. Then I went online and applied for Deal or No Deal, which by the way, has the longest application form ever. I've applied for jobs with less information. It will be worth it in the end when I win the million dollars...haha. Gotta win the million so I can build Mom a custom house. They were working on her elevator again last week and she was stuck in her apartment for two days this time. I guess I should count my blessings, it could have been worse. I had to take her out to Walmart after to let her go wild. Man, sometimes I think that woman has more energy then I do. I had to come home and take a nap! Oh, yea, I'd be doing some serious shopping & travelling to if I won. You know it! The very best thing about winning would be that we could finally have kids and I could be a stay at home mom. Oh, just dreaming here.

Anyway, back to tonight. After the application, I went on Henry's blog to discover he had applied to. Wouldn't it be wild if we both got picked? Yea, I know I am really dreaming now. Maybe I am just halloucinating from lack of sleep (yea, I know, I can't spell either...when will Blogger get spell check darn it??). Well, better go to bed before I start seeing Howie in my room....hhmmmm, if only I could channel that...think Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt....

Goodnight!

Oh, P.S.--I am soooo happy for you guys, Monica & JJ!! Congrats!! I think you guys are nuts, but hey, whatever makes you crazy...I mean...happy. Seriously, you guys are so blessed! Monica, I hope you keep us all updated with lots of big belly pics.

P.P.S.--Which reminds me, Heather, where are the pics woman??? Come on, throw us a bone, will ya?

2006-10-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have posted. Funny thing is that I have been crazy busy, but not much new has happened.

By the way, I must say that Halloween candy is the DEVIL to everyone!It is just WAY to tempting!Especially when somone sticks a huge bowl of all your favorite treats right next to your desk at work, just when you are so busy that you don't have time to get lunch or a break. How convenient.
So, long story short, I've gained some weight lately when I should be losing instead. Time to get back on track. Ok, now that I'm done ranting, on to more fun topics.

We had a Halloween contest at work today. Each "team" had to come up with a theme and decorate and wear costumes today to go along with their theme. Some themes were The Wizzard of Oz (you get the idea)and a hunter's lodge (complete with orange clad hunters, a crazy blood covered butcher and a moose with antlers that he kept getting caught in the fake spider webs in our area). Our group's theme was Dead Wedding. We had fencing around our "graveyard", bride and groom, a preist, wedding planner, waiters, etc.. With all the high winds we have been having lately, we lost 1/3 of the big maple tree from our back yard the other day so I brought a bunch of tree branches into work for our graveyard. It looked awesome. I even made a wedding cake, although it looked more like a big turd then a wedding cake. I really should have used the pillars for the different tiers but we were over budget as it was and I didn't want to spend my own money on it. Still, it tasted good.

I had my hair done earlier this month. Here is a shot. It is kinda short for my liking but I like the color. After the orange hair fiasco, it was nice to get back to a normal color. Plus, it looks way healthier than it was before.

And my blog wouldn't be called A Day In The Life Of Daisy if it weren't for a Daisy picture here and there.

The night our tree fell apart, it was so windy that bricks out of our chimney were coming out and rolling around on the roof. Our porch swing was going airborn and then thudding down back on the deck, over and over so I had to go out in the pouring rain & high winds to take the swing cover apart. Lovely. I was soaked to the bone. Paul was originally going to have the guys over to watch hockey but decided at the last minute to go to somone else's house instead. I was thrilled, that was...until all hell broke lose. Daisy was barking her head off. I was scared one the chimney bricks would come through the ceiling. We had a leak a week earlier and it was raining out of the light fixture so I was also wonding if our patch job was going to hold up. I wish the boys were watching hockey at our house because I would have felt much safer. I listened to Matt working. Man he is good at his job! It was crazy busy to. I don't know if it was because of the wind or what, but they kept getting calls when no one actually made the call, but they had to send out someone to check it out anyway. Oh Matt, if you are reading this, do you remember what happened to the dog that was left tied out in the yard all night that was barking with no shelter last Saturday night? I must have missed the follow up on that and I have been thinking about it ever since. I hope the doggie was OK. Poor thing.What a terrible night to be left outside. Some people can be so cruel.

2006-10-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I am starting to feel like my old self again! And I must say, it is wonderful. I actually have energy. Now I need to get caught up on all the stuff I've been putting off lately. I'm thinking I may get our spare bedroom painted and finished off by the end of next weekend.

Oh, and I actually went for walk/jog yesterday. It was rough, but I remembered how much I loved it and how much I really miss jogging. Mentally I want to go again today, but physically...well that's another story. Much to my amusement, I can barely walk down the stairs. It is more funny than it is painful. What a sight I am! So today I am going to take it kinda easy. We've got Paul's family gathering this afternoon to go to and I am going to Mom's after that. Sunday is always laundry day in our house. I wash all night and put stuff away while I watch Desperate Housewifes. It's a routine. I am also going to try to make a cake for the potluck at work tomorrow (which may turn into a trip to the grocery store....is it even open today??) and I should organize my closet. If it warms up outside, maybe I can get the sunroom windows caulked...nothing like waiting until the last minute. Well, I guess it may not be such a relaxing day after all. We'll see.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!

2006-09-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Crappy. That about sums up how I've been feeling lately. My sugars have been all over the charts and I've been having bad chest pains lately. I've been to the ER more times than I can count on one hand in the last two weeks. I just can't wait until I start feeling better and more like myself again.

I just got to get through this week. I am on after hours duty, on call 24 hours a day for the next week at work. Oh joy. I just pray that pager doesn't go off. And I've got to lug a laptop and cel phone with me everywhere I go all week. I don't know how Henry does it.

The corn boil was a blast!! I really enjoyed myself, even though I was really drained. I actually got some sleep to. Bonus! It was great to get together like that. That is the most I have ever heard Monica talk...haha! I know at the wedding, everyone was tired out and Monica lost her voice for a while there..or almost..so needless to say she was pretty quiet. But I always get the impression from the blog that she is a talker...hello...she's really MacAulay blood after all...... But every time I've seen her she was so quiet. Well, they haven't been the best of times to talk either. I think the last time I saw her before Henry's wedding was Dad's funeral and that wasn't the time to catch up. Well, long story short, I had fun...lol...and I discovered Monica is after all, a chatty cathy, just like the rest of us.

Daisy had fun to! She slept for days after. All the kids wore her right out. Thanks for letting us bring her. I hope you didn't find any "gifts" left behind after we left. I checked the parimiter before we left and didn't see anything.

I've got Casino night this weekend for work and our friend is having a house party, so I should be busy this weekend. The only question now is will I feel like doing anything at all? I hope so. We'll see.

2006-09-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

With today being the anniversary of 911, I have been thinking a lot about life and death lately.

We want to have kids and sometimes I feel like that is never going to happen. I haven't been feeling well lately and it seems to have become worse over the summer so I went to the doctor last week. She has sent me for 3 different sets of blood tests, among other tests, and says she thinks I have a milder version of type II diabetes. She will know more of course when the test results come back ,but she immediately started me on new medicine to help my body use the insulin it creates better.

Since I've started taking it I have actually felt worse. It makes me really thirsty and since I drink so much I am up all night. Plus, today my legs are cramping up on me. I signed up to walk the Terry Fox Run this weekend and now I can barely walk upstairs. I feel like I am 70 years old all of a sudden. I hate to say I can't go after signing up, but at this point there is no way I would be capable of doing it. Just a couple of weeks ago I wanted to get back into running again. Yea right.

I've been reading up on the side effects of the medicine and I think I am just going to stop taking it for a few days and see if I feel any better. Any worse at this point and I wouldn't be able to work. Today was the worse so far. I hate to sound melodramatic, but I am a little scared. I feel really crappy and when you get older it doesn't seem so unlikely that something bad could happen. I'm at the age now where people I know (who are my age) have died, like a girl I used to work with. One day she is fine and having a baby with no clue she is even ill, and a few months later she is gone, her husband left with a newborn to raise. Things can happen so fast.

Maybe it is just a "mid-life crisis". Oh, I don't know. Maybe I've just been thinking about things too much. Maybe I've just been watching too much news. But then again, I've always had really bad luck. If something bad is going to happen, it will happen to me.

Guess I better try to cheer up. On a more positive note, the CCMA's are tonight in Saint John. Maybe if I take a drive to clear my head I will see some stars.

2006-09-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great day yesterday. First we took Daisy to the park with our friends and had fun. Then we all went to the beach. We've only been to this beach once before, so it was a nice change. Daisy played her little heart out.

Then today, an ear infection. Poor girl. I've been online trying to see if there is anything I can do until I can get her to the vet on Tuesday. Most of the websites say I can at least clean it out with a vinegar & water mix. The dogs books I have are no help at all.

Anyone have any suggestions?

2006-08-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

2006-08-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, everything was wonderful. The wedding was beautiful and everyone had fun. Some tears, lots of laughter. Here are some pics for now. I'll post more another day. A lot of our wedding ones didn't turn out. They looked OK in the little screen display on my camera when I took them, but when I see them full size many of them turned out a little blurry. I wish I had brought my camera to the club. I always seem to do that...leave my camera home and then wish I had brought it with me. I've got to start just leaving it in my purse.

Glad to see that the visitors from out west returned home safe and sound.It was great meeting everyone. All the boys in the family have a little bit of Dad in them, one way or another. It freaks me right out...lol! I wish Dad had taken me with him all those times he went to family gatherings when I was little. Oh well, can't change the past, only the future. I'd love to get together more often. Maybe we can make it up to Halifax for Halloween, if that offer still stands. Paul is talking about costumes already.

Here are some from the night before the wedding. You know it's a picture of me if I've got something spilled down the front of my shirt, as usual.
Sorry Melanie, your eyes were closed, but still a nice pic. Hhhmmmmm, do we want to go out, or don't we?

The Beck family:

Big bro:

She is so cute, dancing up a storm in her little flower dress!

What a cute couple. (the ball cap goes especially nice with the tux, don't you think Mike?...lol). Paul took one before this one and Lisa was laughing, it was so funny, but I won't be that cruel and post it. We tried to get a pic with all three girls, but since I made Madison cry, here is me with Meaghan & Michaela. We've got a nice one with April holding her tearful baby, but blogger wouldn't let me post it, so I will try again another time when I have more patience.

2006-08-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

We have a dog sitter!!!Thanks Jen!!!!!!!

2006-08-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

It looks like we won't be able to get to Newcastle on Thursday. It just wasn't meant to be. So I guess we will leave early on Friday and arrive around noon and stay still Sunday morning. But we still haven't found a dog sitter. It just might not work out. We'll see.

2006-08-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

Poor Duncan, by big bear. He had to go to Heaven today. We will miss you. I went to post a photo of you with the other doggies but I can't believe I don't have one. I will have to get one from Jen & Sean.

On another note, I am dying to find out what is planned for the Stagette party. Can someone tell me what time it will start? I just don't know if we are going to be there in time.

Paul's past step mom just remarried and moved back to Beaverbrook in Newcastle. She says she thinks she knows our family. She is short, with black short curly hair. Her name is Claudine and she has a girl named Amanda and a boy named Jeremy who are "young adults". She said she knows Betty, Anne, Paul, and Henry from when they were little. I don't know her maiden name and I don't know her new married name, so that is no help. Anyway, she said she just moved back that way over the last year. I have to try to find her phone number and maybe stop and say hi while we are up there.

She made the best squash caserole.......

2006-07-31T04:47:00.001-07:00

I hope there is still room at the hotel for the wedding by the time we get there because we can't prebook without a credit card. Oh well. We should be alright. We will be there for sure on Sat and Sun but Paul is still working on getting the Friday off. That would be awsome because if that works out maybe we can get up there by late Thursday night after work.

We do have one issue though. Daisy. She loves the car but since we can't leave her in the hotel room while we are away, I just don't know what to do with her. Is anyone else bringing their dog, and if so, what will they be doing with them? We may be able to get a "sitter" to come in and take her for walks and stuff, but handing over our house keys to someome is a worry in itself. We've got lots of friends around, but they have families and I know the last thing they want to do on their weekends is come to our house to walk our dog. Plus, Daisy is very protective when people come to the door, or even just walk down the street past the house, when we are not here. She flips out at the mailman. She wouldn't do that with a female friend, rather than a male, but then finding someone to do it. Hmmmm. I know someone that would for sure if we could leave her our car. But we need to take our car with us.

Oh, we'll figure it out. I am getting excited now!!

2006-07-31T04:47:00.000-07:00

2006-07-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

We went to a beautiful wedding on the weekend.Congratulations Steve & Missy!! (that's their little son Bennett, aka Steve's Mini Me, in the middle). Steve looks like he is about to kill someone! Yea, being married can do that to a person..lol.

It was at a lodge on the lake. The sunset was perfect.
Here is Paul and one of the bridesmaides, Shelley, who is also Missy's sister.
My man:
Me.
It was the hottest day of the year (not including today) and everyone was sweating bullets, especially since the lodge was standing room only. It started to downpour just as they were about to go out to get their photos done. Oh well. They still got beautiful shots inside the lodge. Thank god it rained though, cause it cooled everything off and cleared up later for a beautiful night.

We haven't got Paul's 35mm film developed yet, but here is one of the digital pics from the bachelor party with his friend Fran and the guy who plays Julien on the Trailer Park Boys TV show. That is "Julien's" car, some sort of special Saleen. Must be a guy thing.

2006-07-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Just got back from camping and oh is my back sore! I am way to old to be sleeping in a tent. Or just too out of shape. Whatever.

I still haven't got Paul's bachelor party pics with Julian from Trailer Park Boys developed yet, so hope to have them soon.

We had a fun weekend. Here are some camping pics.

Daisy and I after setting up the tent:

What Paul did while I set up the tent:

Daisy playing frisbee with Daddy (OK, I know, I know, a lot of dog pictures, but we don't have kids yet!What else are we supposed to do in the meantime?):

Big bird in the tree...maybe a woodpecker?

Daisy, hoping birdie falls to his death. Is it lunch time yet?

Too tired to keep her eyes open on the long ride back home:
We liked the campfire so much that we came home and bought a fire bowl for the back yard:

Daisy still too tired to keep her eyes open. That girl needs to catch up on her sleep..............

...unless, of course, there is food. Mom, can I have a marshmellow?

2006-07-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

I know it is kinda an odd situation, with me being the "odd man out". I hope it is OK that I go to Henry's & April's wedding. I guess I just feel like I am related, but not really part of the family. Does that makes sense? I mean, I hope I don't show up and make anyone uncomfortable or anything, because of the weird situation with Dad remarrying and all. So, if anyone would rather not see my face in Newcastle, speak now or forever hold your peace! ;-)

I'd rather feel bad from home and not after driving to Newcastle and forking out hundreds of dollars for the hotel. So if anyone has any thoughts or feelings they want to share, now is the time.

I really want to see the wedding and meet everyone in the family, but I kinda feel like I am imposing myself into the situation sometimes. Maybe I am just PMSing and overthinking everything, but I can't help it. It really is a unique situation and I guess you could say, I am just testing out the waters.

If anyone feels like commenting, honesty would be appreciated. If someone would rather I not attend, that is cool. I mean, I will still keep blogging and stuff, I just need to know soon rather than later.

2006-07-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today has been a kinda weird day. It started out last night when I stayed up till sometime past 4am worring about Paul and wondering why he hadn't called yet. He went to Moncton for a 3 day bachelor party for his best friend. He said he would call me when he arrived because it was raining cats & dogs when he left and his best friend is one of those guys who likes to driver too fast, not use blinkers and tailgate. He's been in so many accindents, I can't even count. So needless to say I just wanted him to get there in one piece.

I tried to sleep in this morning but the guy next store was working out in his garage hammering, sawing & drilling. I NEVER get to sleep in around here!!!!!!! I have been yawning all day and it is really hitting me hard right now.

Paul finally called and left a message this afternoon while I was out with the dogs at the park. Daisy swam for the very first time out over her head! It was adorable. I have some pics I will add later.

Meanwhile, Paul told me they were up until 6am because the guy who plays Julian from the tv show Trailer Park Boys was staying at their hotel so they got to "hang" with him and his friends. He said that Julian had a limo and that he got lots of pics. Now, I don't know if that means they met and then all the boys went out drinking & clubbing, or if he means that they all went with this guy Julian's group out on the town. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to hear all the news. I will post some of his pics to (if they are decent enough...after all, it is a bachelor party we are talking about).

2006-06-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here is what I did this weekend.

Before.... messy dark brown...
After...messy orange!!!!!!!
Well, that is the last time I try to go blond. I just have to much red in my hair. So now, needless to say, it is back to brown for me.

I am done!!!!!

2006-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Nothing much new. I have been working a lot. Berta, to answer your question, no time for hobbies like cross-stitch either ;)I think all our weekends from now until fall are booked. We have two weddings, bridal showers, stags and stagettes, fittings, doggie dates, road trips, camping, family reunion, Mom's eye surgery twice...once on each eye on different days....birthday parties, girls night out, friends visiting from Ontario, and the list goes on and on. Somewhere in there we want to finish all the renovations. Also, we have been trying to get a walk in every night after work, which means every night except tonight, we went in the dark and one night in the rain. Fun. But seeing the photos from my trip to Houston was a real wake up call, I mean I knew I was fat, but how the fat really makes me look ugly is really sad and depressing. Anyway, enough of that downer stuff!! Now I am trying to get back into running, starting with walking and small portions of jogging as long as I can, then I go back to walking again. Daisy really seems to enjoy it to.

Here are some of my pics from Houston. I tried for an hour to add some more last night but then I finally had to give up and go to bed. Blogger is not always cooperative. It won't add any more today either, so here it is.

My hotel room:

The grounds at the office in Houston were beautiful and had walking trails, a lake, bridge, palm trees and some animals. Here is a peacock and some ducks we made friends with. The peacock didn't want to talk to us until we starting playing with the ducks and he got jealous, so he showed us his stuff.

Here is a bunch of us during a refinery tour. It was SOOO hot out that day and we had to wear these fire proof jackets in case of a flash fire (yea right, I was about to burst into flames I was so hot) and we had to wear these oh-so-beautiful hard hats and eye glasses which kept sliding off because I was so sweaty. We were all ready to pass out, meanwhile we were climbing up ladders and walking on mesh metal catwalks just for fun. Oh yea, but we had the hard hats to protect us if we passed out and fell to our death. It was very odd to see miles and miles of refinery. There are so many oil refineries there that they take up the land mass equal to about the size of Saint John. It is refinery as far as the eye can see. Even in the water, there are oil pumps everywhere working away.

Where is Waldo....I mean Jennifer..?? Can you guess which one is me?
Here is the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. It is an American war shrine where Davey Crockett lived and fought.

San Antonio is a beautiful historic city with old buildings and wonderful architecture. Everyone was super nice and the police had brown short sleeve uniforms with brown cowboy hats. We saw ones on the highways driving in pairs on motorcycles like in Chips, the old TV show with Eric Estrada (I know I can't spell....sorry).It is sort of the opposite of Houston, which is all big city with skyscrapers and highways, and everything is new and concrete.If it is old, it is torn down. And I didn't see one cowboy the entire time I was there!! Not even someone in a cowboy hat! Not a cowboy to be seen....actually us white folks (I think) were the minority. I don't know the stats, but I think there were more African Americans and Mexicans than any other group.Houston was not what I expected at all. Great shopping though,and tons of stores!! I mean, SO many!! It was really nuts!

I really loved San Antonio and would love to go back there. For you trivia buffs, that is where Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives is from. Everyone in all of Texas was very nice and friendly, which was really odd for such a big city. I must say, they even put us Canadians to shame. It must be that "southern charm" everyone talks about.

Here is Davey Crockett Hotel:

Here is a neat, skinny building in San Antonio and a street shot below. I think it is city hall, but don't quote me on that.There were stores in San Antonio, like one along this street below, that only sold stuff that looked like someone took a bedazzler to it. I mean, an entire store of stuff completely covered in fake jewels and studds. It was weird....and a little scary~!

Here are some shots of Shamu at Sea World. I wasn't all that interested in seeing the show, but once I was watching it I was in awe! It was amazing!! Totally unexpected!
Here are some shots from a 45 min boat tour we took of The River Walk in San Antonio. There are shops, restaurants, entertainment, and hotels all along the river, with a walking trail if you have the time. We opted for the boat tour instead and even that was long. They showed us the window of the hotel where Jennifer Lopez stayed when she was there filming the movie about the singer, Selina. They filmed part of the movie along the river and on one of the many little bridges that cross it. Can't remember which one and I have so many pics I can't show them all, so guess now you will have to just go rent the movie if you want to see.

We went to a baseball game in Houston at the Minute Maid Park. It was fun because of all the people and all the energy, but I got bored out of my tree about and hour into it. Plus, I still had the mumps at this point and think I was running a fever that night, so I was pumping the meds into me like candy. What really surprised me was that even near the end of the game the ladies bathrooms were pretty clean! I mean, way cleaner than our local big mall on a Saturday afternoon. There was still TP in the stalls and there was no garbage on the floor and there was still room to put paper towel in the trash bins. But a popcorn and pop cost me almost $20. The pop was something nuts like $7.50. It was really out of this world. Oh well, you only live once.Plus, I needed something to do to keep from going out of my mind with boredom (sorry all you baseball fans out there!) Too bad it wasn't basketball instead...or hockey, tennis, volleyball...well you get the idea...

Here is a pic of the dinosaurs at the museum in Houston:

The pink flamingos at Sea World are below. Hey, has anyone ever seen a 4D movie before? We did at Sea World and it was so neat!! You wear 3D glasses and there is water that shoots out at you in the face from the back of the chairs in front of you, so that (for example) when someone in the movie pukes, it sprays you in the face and eveyone in the theatre freaks out like it is real puke. What a blast! They vibrate the seats and shoot air at you as well. In one scene there were rats running around on the ground in the movie and they had something moving under our seats. I jumped so high that I hit my forehead on the back of the seat in front of me. It was really fun, but by the end of it I was cold and wet and tired of being sprayed at so I put my hands up in front of me over the nozzle so I wouldn't get so wet.

Here is the roller coaster we went on at Sea World. It was my very first roller coaster ride. It had 150 foot drop at 65 miles per hour with a g-force of 3.5. It was nuts and I lost my breath and thought I was going to pass out.I was riding this thing, wondering Will this bar on my lap hold me in if I pass out? That's me in the middle seat of the center car, on the right in a black t-shirt. Krista is the funny expression beside me, like she is dropping to her death. As soon as we got off, she was like, Can we go again? Uhhh...NO! Mandey (behind me) and I basically fell out of the cars and stumbled to the side by some flower pots to get out of the way of the next riders. Don't get me wrong, it was fun and I can't wait to do it again, but the losing my breath thing really scared me at the time. Mandy said it happened to her to and both of us were sick, so maybe it had something to do with that cause Jodie (next to Mandey) and Krista said they were fine. Or maybe there is a trick to it and we should have taken a deep breath before the drop or something. I don't know.

This photo of us makes me laugh every time I see it! Priceless!

All in all, it was a good trip with some great memories. Some were good, like Sea World. Some were really bad, like the visits to the doctors and the days I spent hugging the toilet. But you have got to take the good with the bad. My ruptured ear drum has healed, I can hear again, my infection is gone and the mumps are done.

Until next time....

2006-06-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

Nothing new around here. Mom and I went out today and she bought 5 pairs of pants & 2 tops. Boy, was I tired! ;)

We went to lunch at this place where the walls are mirrored so you get to watch yourself eat. If that won't cure a fat person of overeating, I don't know what will. Just the site of me sitting down & how wide my thighs were compared to the chair was so UNFUN, I just can't tell you how actually not fun it was! So, needless to say I am back on the diet.

Paul went out with the boys tonight, which is probably for the better because I think I am already going through sugar withdrawl. I am going to make some coffee (with Splenda) to try to trick my body into thinking I am not torturing it.

Poor Daisy hasn't been out on a run, to play frizbee or on a doggy date for so long, now that is a real sin. The weather has been so bad, wet and soggy so no one really wants to go out and play in the mud. Really.

I have been so busy with work, I have stayed late every day this week except for today, because I had today off. It just takes so long to get things done. I am supposed to be working on cleaning out the spare bedroom closet and digging out our summer jackets right now, instead of on the computer. So don't tell on me, OK? It will be our little secret.

Speaking of computers, something is wrong with ours. It takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to open a page or download anything. It is going to kill me eventually because my blood pressure gets so high from the frustration of waiting and waiting then it timing out. GGrrrrr!!!! I will try to see what I can do to get it working better this weekend. Even as I type this, I wonder if it will even upload or if I am just wasting my time.

I have been trying to play catch up on everyone's blogs to get up on all the news I missed while I was away. I've logged on here and there for a few minutes, but not really caught up on everything. I used to be able to log on at work at my old job, so I was great, but I am not allowed at this new job. Even if I was, I wouldn't have the time to play online. But I really like the job. It is very challenging. Being so busy really makes the time fly by though. That is a bonus.

Well better get back to the closet.Cross my fingers that this uploads to blogger.

2006-06-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

It seemed like it was a nice day out today. I wouldn't know since I missed it all while I was at work. I had to stay late again today. There is just so much to do and so much to know that they couldn't possibly cover all that in training. I work at such a fast pace all day that I am exhausted when I come home at night. Like now, I just want to got to bed and it is only 8pm.My housework is piling up and I don't feel like doing any of it.

Paul is MIA, I don't know where he ran off to...but hey, thanks for the message, NOT! Not that I have to keep strict tabs on him or anything, but it would be nice to know if he is alive or dead. Plus, I need the car to go to home depot and they close in an hour. I bought one of those kits to replace the caulking around your tub where the wall meets the edge of the tub and the corners were not in the package. What is it with caulking anyway? I buy the best stuff and it still falls off in pieces. I don't know what to do anymore. I thought this kit would be the solution, but it would help if all the parts were there.

Mom is doing good. I am still waiting to hear back at work if I am approved to take off the days I requested for her eye surgery. They better hurry it up cause I need some advance notice if we have to reschedule. I know she is lonely and I feel really bad about it but it is not my job to be her sole entertainment. I have my own job to do, plus overtime, housework, laundry, groceries, Daisy and then I still have to help take her to her appointments, bank, groceries etc. There are just not enough hours in a day that I can go to her place and sit with her every second day just to hang out. If she wanted that, then she should have stayed living with us. Mind you, I call her at least once a day to make sure she is OK and see if she needs anything, but I just don't have time to have a 'sit-down' type of visit more than once a week. I have my own life to consider to, even if I am being selfish. A bunch of my friends are going out on the weekend and I finally have a job with weekends off but I had to tell them I couln't go. I just have too much to get done. It really sucks. I know I am bitching here, but that is just the mood I am in today. Sorry folks.

OK, well I've tried 3 times now to upload my pics from Houston, but blogger will not let me, so oh well.

2006-05-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

Now that I am home and finally starting to feel better I have been trying to catch up on all I missed on the family blogs. So much has happened in so little time. I still have a lot of reading to do. At my last job I was on the computer all day and was allowed to log onto the blogs to keep in touch but at my new job that is not permitted, so I have to try to find the time after work.

One of my favorite shows starts tomorrow..So You Think You Can Dance. I am so excited!! Maybe this year I can finally convince Paul to take dance lessons with me. It would be so much fun. I'll keep trying.

Well better go watch the final show of American Idol or I will be out of the loop tomorrow at work. :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful mother's day!

2006-05-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Well, tomorrow is the big day. I get to fly back home. I am so excited, I don't think I will sleep at all. Besides, I have to be up by 3 am at the latest to catch the flight, so I may just pull an all nighter.

What a trip!! First off my ear drum ruptured on the plane coming into Houston. Then it got infected. Meanwhile, I already had the mumps but the symptoms just happened to start my first day in Houston. So, needless to say, it has been a memoriable experience. I missed the first few days of training, got to meet some nice doctors and nurses in Houston (man, I don't know how people afford to get sick in the USA!!) and got to spend lots of time in my hotel room in bed. Not to mention all the time I spent at work and in my room hugging the toilet bowl. I am on 4 kinds of medication, including some wonderful pain killers. But it still doesn't make up for the time I lost and the fact that I can't hear out of one ear. The plane tomorrow should be pretty painful, but I don't care as long as I get home. I am fortunate to get to go home earlier than most of the rest of my group. Oh well. That is the way it goes sometimes.

I have been OK the past couple of days so I have been trying to cram everything in. A group of us went to San Antonio on Sunday and got to see the Alamo, River Walk and Sea World. It was my first amusement/theme park and it was awesome. I just wish I had more time to do and see everything and that I felt better when I was there. I love San Antonio, it is like old Montreal but with a dash of Mexican & Cowboy and instead of French, many people speak Spanish. Houston is more like Toronto (so they tell me), it is very modern and they tear stuff down to make room to build new things, instead of preserving the past. The River Walk was georgous and I could have spent an entire day just enjoying that alone.

The odd thing is that for such a huge city, everyone in Houston is really nice!! (nicer than the people in Montreal). They have oil refineries that cover more land mass than the entire city of Saint John! It is quite a sight, let me tell you! The highways are nuts though, and I am glad I was too sick to have to drive anywhere by myself.

We went into Houston on Saturday and went to the museum and Imax theatre. The planetarium was part of that complex and that was really fun. Then we had a little pool party back at the hotel but I went to bed by 10:30 while everyone else stayed out till 4:30 am, which was just outside my bedroom window. Lets just say, I wasn't a happy camper.

Well that's all for now. Maybe I can get an hour sleep before the plane.

2006-05-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Heather & Jeff!! That is really great news guys!!

This trip sure is one I will not forget anytime soon. I ruptured my ear drum on the plane to Texas and got deadly sick. I had to pay $84 for a visit to the doctor, plus medicine. I am now on anti-inflamitories (I know I can't spell....sorry), antibiotics & pain killers. The pain killers the doctor perscribed for me made the room spin and I kept puking. I went to work and was laying on the bathroom floor hugging the toilet bowl all morning so they sent me home. Now I am just taking my migrane pain killers instead and they seem to do the trick without the side effects. But the doctor said if it doesn't heal by the time my flight leaves then I will have to stay longer. That would be really sad. Oh well. I can only heal as fast as I can heal.

We went to a baseball game in Minute Maid Park. I am not really into baseball, but I must say I did enjoy the atmosphere. There were so many people and the place was so clean! I was really surprised by that. It was my first full day out of my bed since I arrived (we went after work) and I was really wiped out by the end of it. Can you believe they actually charge $7 for a large pop there?? Crazy!

We are still deciding what to do this weekend. We may go to St. Antonio or Galviston. Or, maybe just shopping and sight seeing around town in Houston. I really want to go to the museum and go shopping and just see the city, but other people have other ideas, and I guess majority rules. I just don't want to have to drive hours on the highways in the pouring rain when we are not even sure where we are going or what we are doing. It rained for about 10 min when we were on our way to the ball park and it was like a flash flood. The streets were all flooded up to the car doors and there were accidents all along the highway. They are calling for rain all weekend and thunder storms, not to mention tornado watches west of Houston, so I really don't want to venture too far.

Well that is all my news for now. I am finally feeling a little better and sat by the pool for awhile with the rest of the group and enjoyed a cooler or two tonight. It is so hot here, but I think my body is finally getting a bit used to it.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

2006-04-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone, but I just haven't had the time to update with the new job and all. I try to check out everyone else's blogs every couple of days, and may even get to adding a comment or two here and there, but that is about it. I will be away for about 3 weeks coming up soon, so I may not blog all of May or I may blog all the time. I guess it just depends on how my days go and what type of computer facilities are at the hotel.

Glad to see everyone had a great easter! Happy your 80's party went well Les. Wish I could have been there.

Jennie (along with everyone else), I may not always get the time to respond to your e-mails, but I will get to read them all (eventually) so keep em coming.

2006-04-15T16:01:00.005-07:00

New job is going well, but I am tired out!! I am sooo not a morning person, it is really hard working 9-5 kinda job when you are used to working nights!

Les, glad to see you guys had fun at the 80's party. Rock on! I can't believe we used to go out of the house looking like that...Yikes!

Mom and I went shopping today for new curtains to use as a liner for her other curtains. WalMart was so busy, it was nuts. They had the PA system turned up really loud so we were screaming over it to talk, like you would at a club. My head has been hurting ever since. We actually wanted to buy more stuff but neither of us could stand the noise so we called it a day early. They pretty much drove their customers away. Now that is good business.

Everyone has been great at the new job, but there is a ton of very dry information to take in very quickly, so the days have been really long. I have been trying to get stuff done so when I am away Paul won't have to worry about certain errands that I usually take care of. We found out on our first day that now we are going away for almost 3 weeks, first going to Toronto and then on to Houston. I love travelling, but not without my husband. This is going to be SO hard!!Oh well. Guess I just got to suck it up! I am really a house body. I have never been away from home, even with Paul, for that long before, so it will be hard for sure.

I feel like my brain in broken. I used to be able to learn new things so quickly and now I feel like a retard. I can't remember stuff that I just went over. My short term memory is shot....kapew!!I guess it is like dusting off the cobwebs, and once I get back into the swing of things, I will start remembering more as I go.

Got to go and dig out my old suitcases.

2006-04-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

I start my new job tomorrow. I am very excited. I just hope I get some sleep tonight. I work till 9:30 and I still have to dye my hair, do my nails, do laundry, hem pants, etc. tonight before I can go to bed. I have been so busy with mom and work, there hasn't been much time to get things done lately. Plus, I am not a morning person, so if I lack sleep on top of that, I may not make such a great first impression.

Everyone got together and signed a card for me at work. That was really nice. Two of the gals came in today on their day off to say goodbye. I will miss everyone cause they are all a nice bunch of people. It will be nice though to get paid more money at the new job. I can't seem to make it fast enough and it is already spent. We just got an unexpected bill for $200. Geeeeze!
How depressing is that?

Good to see we have some new bloggers to add to our lists! The more the merrier. Henry & April, hope you guys are getting settled in your new place. Hope you guys & Monica had fun this weekend.

Thanks for the surprise in the mail Brenda!!! I really appreciate it! That was really nice. I meant to call you on Friday, but one thing led to another and by then it was too late to call. I will try to call you some night this week after work.

Les, you guys look like you are having fun, as usual. You've got to show me how to add video clips sometime. My computer is not cooperating lately, so I've got to take care of that issue first. I am going to see if I can get a used laptop cheap, then maybe I can just use that instead.

I guess I am not allowed to use the computer at the new job for personal use, which is understandable. So, if anyone has my current work e-mail address, you can just get rid of it now. My home one is jenlmelvin@hotmail.com in case anyone doesn't already have it.

I will try to post again after I start the new job and let everyone know how things are going.

2006-04-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

Mom is all settled back in her old apartment and as happy as ever.

Yesterday I had an offer for a new job and they want me to start next Monday (in 6 days!) so that should be interesting.I am so excited. In the meantime, I've really got to try to get my hours back on schedule. With this late shift I have been staying up late after work and sleeping until noon. I am still only getting 6 to 8 hours sleep, it is just that my entire schedule is wonky. As it stands now, I have to work Sunday night then start my new job early Monday morning and work all week for a 7 day stretch. I am trying to see if I can get this weekend off, but it doesn't look good. Oh well, good think I like coffee. My boss was good enough to let me get away with only 7 days notice, so I don't want to push my luck.

I am still working on my Mom's family tree. It is all so fun! Time consuming, but fun. I wanted to get a computer program this week and input all my info into it, so it would be easier to understand, but it looks like I will be way to busy for that. That will be a huge project once I get the program and since I have to shop for new dress clothes and get a bunch of errands done (now that I will be working days, instead of nights) before I start the new job, I just don't have that much spare time to devote to a hobby right now. It can wait though. It will be a good winter project this year, when the weather is bad outside. It is not like my ancestors are going anywhere. I've worked my way back as far as 1086 to our family name in the Domesday (aka Doomsday) Book. I still have some blanks to fill in, some connections to find and I would love to discover more old family photos. It is a great way to waste huge blocks of time. Sometimes I get on the computer and next thing I know hours have passed in a flash!

I am worried about Henry & April's wedding though. I don't know if I will be able to get any time off as my vacation days do not kick in until the following year, after they are earned. Worst come to worst, I will have the weekend off and I can drive up the night before and come back the day of or the day after. I will worry about that a little closer to the date.

I just received a beautiful card from Les with photos of the boys... Thanks Les!!!!! Your little guys are so adorable! And you really do make pretty cards. Now there is a woman of many talents....just like all the other women in the family! Am I right, or what ladies??

2006-03-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I moved Mom back into her old apartment. They finished the work finally. She was really happy to get back and I can't say I blame her. She's had a hard time at the new place. A pipe broke in her bathroom and flooded the apartment. They had to rip a hole in her wall to fix it and all the wood floor tiles in her hall buckled up so they had to repalce those to. She couldn't get her wheelchair out of ther apartment, over the buckled tiles, for 2 days until they fixed it. Her key never worked in the front door and she always had to get someone to let her in. She never got the hang of the intercom system. So it is true what they say about old dogs learning new tricks....or it is just 'mom'?? Maybe a bit of both.

The day before her last day there, the washing machine in the laundry room she was using overflowed and flooded the laundry area. They had to come and suck up all the water. Mom is terribly shy and having all these people buzzing around her sent her into one of her panic attacks.

So she is happy to be back in her old place, for sure. Meanwhile, I have been researching my Mom's side of the family history and having a blast figuring it all out. But it keeps me really busy.

So, Henry, I guess you guys are moved now. Hope to hear all about it on your blog! Dish, dish!

I have a physical coming up next week that I have been dreading for awhile now. I know I am out of shape, I don't need the doctor scolding me like I am a child to make me loose weight. I have a mirror. I can see the fat. I just hate going to see her and listening to her lecture me about my eating habits. Newsflash....I like to eat! I eat when I am happy, sad, or for fun, because I love to cook. Oh well.

I have been doing really good with my workouts though. Paul and I have been going to the nature parks for long walks (and a bit of jogging) almost every day for the last 2 weeks. Today was the first day we took off in awhile. I was beat after all that moving mom yesterday. Plus, I had to take her to the eye doctor today. What an ordeal that was! I don't know how she is going to get her eyes operated on. But, she is getting it done, either way. With or without her cooperation.

Have a great weekend everyone! Maybe I will post some pics of the doggy date this weekend. Maybe my friend with the greyhound will join us....

2006-03-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

So, I have heard people mentioning liver problems in the family. Does anyone want to share? I have a physical this week and am wondering if I should discuss it with my doctor. That is, if it is something genetic than runs in the family.

2006-03-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

Dogs, dogs, dogs...

So, things didn't work out with dog sitting the other dog. That is probably a good thing though. I am still considering getting another dog. I would love to get a greyhound but the only negative thing is that you can't let them off the leash. When a dog can get up to 45mph in less than 3 seconds, you know for sure you are not going to catch it if it gets away! Daisy is so trained that we leave her off the leash a lot of the time. The other negative right now is the cost. There is a $300 adoption fee, plus you have to buy a coat and a big crate. We just don't have the money right now.

Oh, but how cute are they??? I hope no one minds, but I republished these photos from the greyhound adoption site. My friend (Hi Jennie) thinks greyhounds are ugly, but just take a look. Can't get much cuter than this:

Here is the link if anyone wants to see more pics or find out how to adopt a greyhound. My co-worker is adopting one (Yvonne) and will be picking her up this week. Someone just adopted Chekard, the golden girl I wanted. Their pics are on the site under "our fosters". Oh, if only I could scrounge up the money......

http://www.greyhoundadoption.ca/

Maybe I will just get a little lap dog to keep Daisy company when we are out, but won't take up much room and will be fun to snuggle with. The only concern there is the fact that small dogs are often yappy and I can't stand yappy dogs!

2006-03-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a trip down memory lane, set in the 1990's. I was starting a post of bad hair pics over the years, but it just got too cruel, so this is what I did instead.
Paul and me (with wet hair).
Me.
Paul and I before high school prom.

I should make you guess......oh, OK, you got it.....Henry. :)

And another one of me, this one for yearbook.

2006-03-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you actually listen to the weather man (or in this case the weather channel). It wasn't calling for rain, so I caulked the windows on the sunroom. But then it started raining just as I was finishing up. Do you think The Weather Network will reimburse me for all my supplies...lol?

Anyone got any tips for easy removal?

Here is my little helper.

2006-03-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

Daisy & I went to the Nature Park today for a walk. It was very cold but kinda sunny so we went anyway. I asked her to sit so I could take her picture and she looked at me like I was nuts.Who goes to the park to sit anyway? The park is for running, finding sticks, chasing squirrels.......

2006-03-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Jen & Sean! Here are some more doggy date pics with your babies in some of them. I love the action shot below with Willow & Baley! I think Daisy was trying to show Ace how to play frisbee.

2006-03-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't updated in a bit. Things have been pretty boring. Same thing, different day.

I have been looking for a new job though. It is really scary because it is not that I hate my job or anything like that. I am frustrated with the company and I need something that pays more. Plus, it would be nice to not have to work shift work for a change. I really want something that has room for advancement, which, as it turns out, my current job probably will never have. Oh well. I'd hate to take something else and get into a situation that I regret though. Oh, it is these big decisions that keep me up at night. It is not like there is something else on the table right now, so I have time to think about things. I am just keeping my options open.

Here is some news. We may be dog sitting another dog for a year. Paul's friend's sister is teaching English in Korea for a year and needs a sitter for her collie/sheppard cross. We are going to have a play date soon to see what Daisy thinks of her and go from there. Daisy is alone usually 3-8 hours a day, except for our days off, so I wonder sometimes if she is lonely. We have been toying with the idea of getting another dog, so this would be a nice trial run. A year though, is a long time for a trial run. I don't know. I've got a lot of questions that would need to be answered first. We will see how it all pans out in the end. You never know.

The poor dog will probably miss her owner terribly and then to have to go to a new home....it would be hard on her. At least she would be well cared for if she was with us. God, sometimes I think we treat Daisy better than some people treat their children. I will try to remember to bring the camera for the first doggy date. I know no one really cares, but hey, it's my thing.

Paul and I have been discussing our laziness with finishing the renovations. Now that the weather is getting nicer, it is time to start planning the outside work. The inside is a whole other story. I am so sick of painting, it is not even funny. I think I will start on my days off this week. Some rooms are so close to being finished, it is a sin not to finish it off and get to enjoy it. Paul says he wants to wait until the fall to do all the work. I told him I want it done before summer comes so I won't spend my summer indoors painting. Plus, I may be pregnant by fall and won't be able to do anything then. The part I hate most in the prep and clean up afterwards. It seems to take more then the actual job itself.

I will post some pics as we finish things off. Too bad we didn't take before pics before we did any work. That would have been awsome to see the difference. It was a real dump when we bought it. It will never be a palace or anything, we are just striving for inhabital right now.

2006-03-07T15:17:00.000-08:00

OK Les, here is a pic of Paul (and me). Happy? It is a couple of years old, but he hates to get his picture taken. And yes, when he is really happy & smiles, his eyes get squinty. They are very light blue and really sensitive to light, that is why you always see him with sunglasses when we are outdoors. He pretty much looks the same except he has been working out a lot lately and has lost most of the extra weight and is getting buff again. Now, I just gotta start getting into the swing of things again.

2006-03-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from our doggy date yesterday. At one point we had nine dogs playing. It was fun. It was near impossible to get any good picutres because they couldn't stay still long enough! Paul is in the red jacket & ball cap, trying to get ahold of Daisy for a picture...with no luck.

2006-03-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, first I have to say thank you. Thanks to Jen for the magazine subscriptions!! I love to go to the mail box now, instead of just being sad about all the bills.

And, thanks to Les for mailing out the family pics. Was really happy to get those to. It is so weird that there are all these pics with Dad in them, telling the story of his life, just floating around out there, that I have never seen. He rarely talked about his life (or anything besides work for that matter), so seeing new pics really makes me happy.

Thanks to everyone who participated in my little quiz. If you haven't already responded, feel free to add to it. Some very interesting results...

Like, getting to know that Monica is another list girl. I have the same affliction. My daytimer always has at least 2 lists on the go at all times. One for things to do, the other for things to buy. Plus we have a grocery list on the fridge. I make extra lists for projects, like house renovations. And every day before my 2 days off each week, I sit down and do a list of stuff to get done within those 2 days. Like yesterday I had to go to Sobey's, get car registration renewed, go to BMO, go to Scotiabank, do a return at Winners, exchange my vaccuum at WalMart (which smelled like burning rubber every time I used it), go to Mom's old apartment to water her plants, do laundry, call the cable guy, go to the bookstore (ode to Allison & Jen), workout, make a cake, etc. etc. Well, it was a busy day, so the workout got dropped from the list. Oh well. But, hey the cake turned out really good. Too good. On second thought, maybe I should have worked out after all. It didn't look like much, but it is super moist. It was pumpkin raisin cake.

So, good to see I am not the only list girl. Good to know I am not on the brink of OCD (sorry Mom), or something like that. I just like to be organized and if I have a ton of stuff to do then it makes it that much easier. I mean, who wants to have to go back to the same store again for the second time in the same day just because you forgot something? Not me, thank you very much. I've got better things to do with my time...like blogging...lol.

Monica's comments also got me thinking a little more about this mid life crisis I've been having lately. I used to love accounting. I took it in high school and I took an extra course of it in college. I've worked at jobs,like when I worked in the finance dept. in city hall where I've had to do up checks, invoices, etc. and I've worked where I've been responsible for applying for government grants, budgeting, accounts payable/receivable, taxes, payroll etc. and really enjoyed it. I've been wondering what to do with the rest of my life. Maybe I should look into going back to school to take accounting. I mean, I actually considered it when I was in high school planning my career.Better later than never, right? Well, at least something to think about....thanks Monica!

Also, I really wanted to get into working on my writing this year and trying to read all I can to improve. I really appreciate the Writers Magazine subscription, Jen H. So, that has really cheered me up today to!

What a great day. I think I can now see a bit of the light at the end of the tunnel..lol.

I've got so much I want to say today, but don't want to bore everyone too much. Funny how some days I sit staring at the screen trying to figure out what to blog about and other days I've got tons to say, so I've got to cut it short.

I'll go shut up now. :)