Happy Boxing Day!

No shopping yet though. Santa found me and my family, and we gorged ourselves on turkey et al last night. Good times. We're hosting what has become an annual boxing day event here at our house this year, where we get together with my dad's sister and her family for dinner and general merriment, usually involving drinking and board games. We have a couple of new games this year, Battle of the Sexes and Scene It, which I got for Christmas. I also got a sweet pair of pink gloves to go with my sweet pink hat that I got last year. Very hard to find, apparently. Anyway, here in Halifax we're supposed to get like 50cm of snow. That's a lot. Moncton is supposed to get 30cm, which is also a lot, but it's no 50! Since we had only planned on leaving Tuesday, we're not too worried. It's supposed to stop tomorrow, just snow a crapload this afternoon and tonight. I'll keep you posted though.

I got loads of stuff, I must say. Some things for the baby, which is great, a jolly jumper thing and a snuggly carrier thing, and my parents got us a stroller / infant car seat that took us a good hour to put together and figure out how to use. The stroller was just a baby present though, not for Christmas.

Anyway, off to get clean and spend some more time with the fam. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

the countdown is on

and the holiday visiting is officially beginning. The kitties are going this aft to their holiday hotel, I'm heading up to see my sweetie, and then on Friday we're heading down to see my parents. Wooh! I'll probably be online a bit, because everywhere I'm going for the next few days has internet, but just in case, I wanted to send out my happy holiday wishes to you all now.

Eat lots, drink lots (not necessarily alcoholic, mind you), and be merry. Enjoy your time with your loved ones, and I hope Santa finds you all!

via Mitch

hmmm, good points.

wooh!

it's vacation, and am I EVER having fun so far!

just kidding.

So far, I've gotten up about half an hour later than I usually do on a Monday morning, to go to a dentist appointment I had completely forgotten about. Then, I went to the clinic to have some blood work done, which involved me waiting in line, then drinking something really sweet and gross, and then waiting for another hour, and then having my blood taken. Good times. I stopped in at Superstore to get some kitty litter and enough food to get me through the next 3 days. The boys will be spending their holiday with the almost-in-laws, as they have the past few years. They could, technically, spend it at my parents' place this year, since they're so much closer than previous years, but we'll only actually be there for a few days, and the a-i-ls' place is much close, and we'll be heading there after my parents' place anyway. They're heading there on Wednesday afternoon, after which I'll be heading up to Fredericton to see my sister and my sweetie, and hopefully Tirexl, whom I haven't seen for a while. I'm hoping to see Jenn soon-ish too, now that she's back in town.

I have to get the boys' stuff all ready to go, which shouldn't be too hard, since they have a litter pan and stuff where they're headed. I need to clean the fishtank and figure out exactly when we're coming back, and if I'll need someone to stop in and feed them before we do get back. Quite likely. They can go a couple of days, and have gone longer when the fiancé was left in charge, but I don't know that it's really good for them to do so. Must get this place cleaned up a bit, because coming home to a messy house is never fun when you've been away. I think that's it though. Shopping is done, wrapping is done except for my Grannie's present, which is large and can wait for now to be wrapped.

What last-minute things do you have to take care of in the next...4 days? I say 4, not 5, becuase in 5 it's actually Christmas, and there's not much you can do then, except open presents and eat lots.

so close

almost break time. I'm very excited. Actually, I'm very tired. I'm done my shopping, my gifts are wrapped, I even have a tree up, with lights but no ornaments. Why? Because I don't have any ornaments. I didn't mean to get a tree, I meant to get a wreath. They didn't have any wreaths, so I got sold into buying a tree. It's nice, smells good and whatnot, and the cats haven't peed on it or climbed it or anything, and it looks pretty with the lights on, so I guess it's good overall.

I have a test tomorrow for one of my classes, and I have some none-too-challenging work for my 9s, novel questions and some holiday related stuff. Friday I'm anticipating to be a total write-off. The Christmas semi-formal is tomorrow night, I'm chaperoning the 1st half. It goes until 11, and apparently basically everyone goes out to eat and / or drink afterward. Now, I would have had to go to school the next day, but kids seem to get to do basically whatever they want, for the most part. That, combined with the fact that all Friday afternoon is an assembly, leads me to believe that there will not be much accomplished that day. It's too bad really. We could end school whenever, but as soon as you get down to the last few days before break, the kids just go into holiday mode. They're like, why don't we just cancel school on Friday? Nobody's coming anyway! Well, for one, people are coming, some students have responsible parents, believe it or not. And for two, if we cancelled Friday, then Thursday would be the last day before vacation, and it would be just like Friday. They don't really get it, but whatever. So, tomorrow is Friday, in some ways. But, not in the way that you get to sleep in the next day because it's the weekend. Because it's not really Friday.

I made cookies tonight. It took me a while, because I kept getting distracted. I put lights on the tree, talked to my parents, sent a birthday card to the fiancés brother. Did eventually make cookies, and they're tasty. Now, cookies made, I think I have to go to bed. I even made my lunch for tomorrow. Go me!

holiday greetings, from my cats

Darwin Awards

It's one of those things that isn't really funny, but really is...


Hard to believe, but another year has passed. Once again, it is time for the Darwin Award Nominees. The Darwins are awarded every year to the persons who died in the most stupid manner, thereby removing themselves from the gene pool. This year's nine nominees are:




Nominee No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]:

An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.




Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]:

James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck." Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a noise. Burns' clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft."




Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]:

Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear. (For whatever reason, residents of Southern states always seem to figure prominently among the Darwin nominees.)




Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto]:

Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the building's windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association.




Nominee No. 5: [Bloomberg News Service]:

A terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man who was killed by his own gas emissions. There was no mark on his body, and an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas in his system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods. It appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or had his windows been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was shut up in his nearly airtight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big man with a huge capacity for creating "this deadly gas" Three of the rescuers got sick, and one was hospitalized.




Nominee No. 6: [The News of the Weird]:

Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.




Nominee No. 7: [The Indianapolis Star]:

A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzleloader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.




Nominee No. 8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]:

A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when the accident occurred, said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony," Honer said.




Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]:

Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog gigging trip on an overcast Sunday night when Poole's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned.


The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge.


After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles.


The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident, but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck???


(Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole DID, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool). "People are not stupid... They just have a different knowledge base"

survey time

due to recent events, I'm forced to consider my opinion on the death penalty. I'm just really not sure. There are a lot of faults with the system, for sure. In the article linked above there, you'll see what I mean.

"California's death row has grown to house about 650 condemned men and women since the state brought back capital punishment in 1978. Since then, only 10 executions have been carried out — the last one in 2002. It can take years for even the first phase of the appeals process to begin."

It seems kind of stupid to maintain a system which is intended to kill people but that doesn't, really. I think that life (literally meaning life, not 25 years) without the possibility of parole is a pretty decent punishment. Killing someone as punishment seems a bit eye-for-an-eye, old fashioned, perhaps barbaric. I know this is simplifying to the extreme, but is it not a bit strange to say to a child, 'do not hit your sister, no hitting!' as you smack said child? Sends a bit of a mixed message, no? Back to the killing people though, I think maybe they should just be locked up somewhere with only their basic human survival needs being met, and they should live that way for the rest of their lives. No free education, no weight training, no tv. If you're committed of a crime for which there is no seeming rehabilitation available, then you just get locked up, and the key is destroyed, and that's the end. I briefly thought that perhaps you should die in the way that you killed people, but that would never get past congress. As you can see, my opinion changes, but I think I feel now, and of course my opinion would quite possibly change if I were to ever find myself in a situation like Laci's family, that I might quite possibly want the satisfaction of knowing my daughter's murderer was no longer a breathing member of society...but I think as it stands now, I vote for life in a non-luxury jail cell.

Also, how would you ever know the person was guilty, for sure. You can go with the evidence, and especially now with all the high-tech DNA stuff and whatnot, it's pretty accurate. There have been quite a few convicted murderers on death row released due to new techniques and re-examining the evidence. Who's to say that in 15 years we won't have something else that totally outdates the stuff we have now, that may even prove what we're doing isn't all that accurate? How do you know? Should we just trust the evidence and the juries and judges and fry the bastards / inject them with deadly things? I just don't know. I think maybe that's one of my main issues with the death penalty. Surely the gross majority of convicted death-rowers are guilty, for real and for sure. But what about that one person who isn't? For whom there was enough evidence and just not enough of an alibi?

What do you think?

snow day, snow day, la la la

I didn't blog about it yesterday for fear of being lynched by all you non-snowday blessed readers. Today, I gloat. It was fantastic. I have to say, Wednesday is the best possible day to have a snow day, because it's a little mini-weekend right in the middle of your week. I worked one day, and it's Friday tomorrow! Sweet. I went out with 2 friends, got a couple of tops at Thyme and some conditioner. Not a horribly productive trip, but enjoyable nonetheless. I'm really really almost done my shopping, I need one more thing for my dad, and then I think I'll call it a day. I have this problem where when I go shopping, I buy too much. And usually a little something for myself. It's problematic lately, because I can actually justify buying clothes, since my current wardrobe is limited. I got myself a blouse, a shirt, and 2 ponchos. I have to say, I am *loving* the ponchos. I wore one today, and it kept me surprisingly warm, and I felt totally rockin in it. I received several compliments from students and co-workers. Also, I matched really well today, which probably helped. I never pictured myself as a poncho person, and I don't know that non-preggo me will be, but preggo me is diggin it.

I gave my 113s back their photo essay projects today. I've had them for a month, so it was time. I just marked them though, haha. Anyway, one guy lost 30% (3 days late, 10% a day) so only got a 66% when he really earned 96%. I had another guy who got a 60% because he really didn't follow the project guidelines at all. They both told me they were never doing another project, since it's just not worth it. I told them that quite the opposite, if you do things on time, and follow directions, you'll generally do quite well. They disagreed, so I said, yes, you're right, I should just let you hand things in whenever you want to and give you 100% regardless of effort or quality of product. That would be better. I'm just a big meanie. That at least got a smile out of one guy. The other guy (kind of an odd duck, really) said he wasn't doing any more work, and when I told him he'd have to leave the class if he refused to do work, he said "it would be a blessing to get out of this dump". That went over well. He had a chat with me and then with the vp. Good times.

Now, I must get myself some supper, quickly, before I succumb to the beckoning call of the golden arches...

holiday tips

via Trinity.


1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labour Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread all tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

time flies, even if you're not really having fun

weird eh? I have 8.5 days of class left, since tomorrow I have the morning off for an appointment. My 11 class was like, you miss more time than we do! (which is funny, because they miss a lot of time, because they hate school, and also completely inaccurate; I only miss .5 days per month, plus one morning when we did the school matinee of our play). Anyway, I don't really give a shit. I'm getting much better at leaving lesson plans, which is good, because it really shouldn't be more work to take a day off than to go in and work yourself. Tomorrow, and for the next week, my 11s are working on a project for the novel Hunter in the Dark. I must say, I was pretty impressed with myself, because I could not find a blessed thing to help me teach that book. I had chapter questions, that's it. I made up a project with 5 choices, and I think there's something that appeals, as much as possible, to everyone. My 9s and I are working our way through The Outsiders, which is taking a pretty long time. I'm going to pick up the pace a bit and see if we can't get mostly done before the break. There are 5 chapters left, we should be able to do 2-3, I just have to speed them up and stop doing the stupid activities along the way. I have some good projects for them to do too, but we have to get through the friggin book first. As for the last day, we have an assembly all afternoon, but 3/4 of my classes are in the morning, so I'm just sort of hoping nobody shows up. We'll do something marginally relevant but holiday themed. It's a problem, because kids don't come because we don't do anything because kids don't come. See how it works?

I've got a good start on my shopping, I'm mostly done I think. I have to get some things for my dad, he's hard to shop for because he gives no hints other than socks, which really, he can only use so many of. I have a couple of ideas though, so I should be alright. Other than that, I'm pretty much done family. Friends are going to get warm wishes and hugs and cards I think, because I have about 40 cents in my bank account. This mastercard statement should be interesting.

On that note, we're not buying a house. It's just too much, and we have enough stress going on in every other area in our lives. Now, however, we have to find a nice, 2+ bedroom apartment that takes cats, and babies, and has laundry. Good luck to us! Oh, and that doesn't cost $1000 a month. If anyone knows of any, please pass that info along. Any time between now and March is good. I emailed our old landlord in Fredericton, but he has nothing for us. He was good enough to forward my letter on to a real estate rental guy, who is clearly an idiot, and sent me a link to a 2 bedroom that does not take pets and has no laundry. Useful. So we won't be getting in touch with him. Most of his other stuff is giant apartment buildings anyway, which suck.

ok, I'm done.

who needs power?

me. I do. You know what's annoying? Waking up to no power. Thus your alarm has not gone off, thus you find yourself with approximately 30 minutes in which to get clean, fed, and to work on time. Good luck. I was mostly clean, and semi-fed, and only a few minutes late, so I figure I did well. Turns out the school lost power early this morning too, and we almost had a holiday. That would have been a fantastic way to start the week! As it was, I had super rush this morning, and then, for the first time *ever*, forgot to put the emergency brake on in my car, and it started to roll away when I got out (and had of course locked the door). Luckily, the slope was not steep, so I was able to stop it with my enormous bulk, and get in to put the brake on. And yeah, p.s., the giant alien baby is adding significantly to my enormous bulk. I'm curious to see what my dr. is going to say the next time I go in. Although, my other preggo friend says she gained like 7 lbs in the last week, so I feel pretty good about myself, because I don't feel like I'm gaining weight, and have no scale to make me feel otherwise. I'm definitely gaining girth though. Good times.

In other news, the play is done. It was great, we had fun for the most part, it went well, but I'm awfully glad it's over. I have marking from like a month ago that I haven't gotten to yet, so I don't quite get my life back, but I can at least put off marking. Rehearsals pretty much have to be when they're scheduled for.

Has anyone seen the new cheese commercials? They're like perfume ads, and they're a little creepy. "Gouda, for her". People have too much time on their hands.

funny, and totally not work safe

click me. As I said to Mitch, who was kind enough to show me this site...it may be because I'm so very, very tired...but I laughed my butt off. I've only made it to the vegetable chat, but holy crap.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

seriously though. We had our first big snow this weekend, and it was great here, because I didn't have to go anywhere. Elsewhere, not so pretty. My parents lost power and had about 2 feet of snow in their driveway and a plow that wouldn't work. Snow though, I love it. It makes me think of cuddling up and being with family and all that other Christmassy stuff. And missing school. Mmmm..snow days. No 'teachers have such an easy job' comments please, I've about had it with those. You all are annoying, and until you have been / lived with a teacher, you just don't understand. Anyway, I got enough marking done to put together term 1 marks, and got all those badboys bubbled in last night, to hand in this morning. I got to come home today at like 4:15, which is early compared to when I have been / will be coming home recently / for the next while. Rehearsals are going like mad, we start our show next Wednesday with a matinee, and we have a lot to do before then. Come on down / up and see it! Or not, totally your call. I've updated the gift blog a bit, and will continue to do so, if you're so inclined to visit it. It's over on yonder sidebar.

some musical entertainment for you. Oh, yeah, obviously, the site has music playing, consider yourself warned. I have the other 2 cds, they're pretty good, so will probably end up getting this one too.

That's all my news. I want to go to a movie or something tonight, because I can. Shall We Dance is still playing, and I'm pretty sure the fiancé won't mind if I see that one without him.

too cute, and helpful too!

click

every time somebody 'pulls on the rope', Avon donates 10 cents to breast cancer research. Go, click, ya lazy bum! And tell your friends to do the same!

*sigh*

so much to do. I have this really strange habit where, when I get really overwhelmed with stuff that needs to be done, I just freeze up and do nothing. I think that maybe if I ignore it, it will all go away? It won't, that's just stupid. But, so what am I doing? Marking? No. Organising shit for the play? No. I'm blogging. I'm looking at houses online. I'm looking at pictures from my uncle's wedding this weekend, which was fantastic, and trying to figure out if maybe I'll do up a website for them instead of emailing the pictures all over the place. This is a short week, and even we teachers get Remembrance Day off, but we have a PD thing on Friday, the big provincial dealie. Might go up to Freddy to look at houses Saturday, and then have rehearsal on Sunday. Also, all of our term marks are due in by Wednesday, which would just be hilarious if it didn't make me want to cry. Then again, most things make me want to cry lately, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I should really go mark.

detes

frig, when you guys want something, you really want eh?


the detes, for those of you into this sort of thing: white gold, 0.41ct Canadian Diamond. mmm, sparkly!


I had gone out to supper with some teacher friends Friday after our PD session, to recover from the marathon of PD and Parent Teacher interviews. We had fun, I had a virgin daquiri, which wasn't very good because at Don Cherry's they use mixes for nearly all their drinks. FYI, Mexi's and Boomerang's make superb non-alcoholic drinks. Anyway, so one of my teacher friends was not drinking the non-alcoholic drinks, so needed to walk around a bit before heading home. Fair enough, I want to go to WalMart, and she suggests we also go ring shopping. She's already engaged, and I don't really think I need to ring shop, but what the hell better do I have to do? So fine, we go to Charm, and they actually have a few nice rings. This is unusual, because ususally jewellery stores only have one or two nice rings and then a bunch of big gaudy ones. So fine, I buy nothing anywhere and come home, the boy gets home about 10 minutes later. We chat for a bit, then he's in the bedroom getting his stuff unpacked and such for the weekend. I mention, in telling about my day, that I went ring shopping, and that Charm had a few really nice rings. He's like, oh, really? Yes, weird eh? He's in the room for another couple of seconds, then comes out and is standing behind me, I'm sitting on the couch, and he says, but were they as nice as this? and is holding a box with The Ring in it. I have to say, my immediate reaction was like, 'what are you doing??' because I just wasn't expecting that. I laughed, we kissed, I put on the ring, blah blah blah. Then later the boy, henceforth to be referred to as the fiancé, says 'did I actually ask you?' I say no, I don't think you did. So he says 'ok then, do you want to get married?' I say hmmm, yeah ok. haha.

So, there's your story, it very much fits us, I think.

And now, today I go for my ultrasound to see if I'm having 4 babies. Wish me luck!

boo!

Happy Halloween!

That's basically all I have to say. Nothing new going on, still busy as heck. Oh, yeah, and I got engaged. wooh!

seriously though, that's it.

things I hate

waking up 5 minutes before the alarm.
parent teacher interviews when I'm not teaching art, and people are actually going to want to talk to me.
that my fish tank gets dirty so quickly. it's a trade-off, the algae eater keeps the sides clean, but produces an inordinate amount of poo.
realising only after I am all cosied up in my pjs that it is garbage night, and having to get all that shit together and take it outside before I can go to bed.

edit: also, when I put a banana in my lunch, and it makes everything not in good tupperware containers smell and taste like bananas. Why is that? What makes the banana so powerful?

phewf

so busy!

I have just been running around like the proverbial headless chicken, getting things going for the play, trying to get done the roughly 1 358 239 things I have to get done by Wednesday for parent teacher interviews. So much to mark, so little time! It's true, it's mainly my own fault. I hate marking, and thus tend to put it off as long as possible. It's now been as long as possible, so, here we go. The only good news in all this is that it's a short class week, only 3 days, with Thursday going half to P-T interviews and half to PD, and Friday entirely for 'curriculum support' PD. Works for me.

I've been up to not much otherwise, trying to find some new and not too expensive clothes to fit into and wondering why none of my students has said anything about my completely popped out belly. It's intriguing. I'm not sure that I would have said anything to a teacher either, but I thought that maybe one of my somewhat, shall we say 'lacking in social graces' 11s might comment, or one of my theatre / musical kids might notice. I think it's more fun for me just not to say anything. Most of them probably won't even notice for a while, even though it's really quite noticeable.

Went up to Freddy for the weekend to see the boy and my sister, had a lovely dinner with the boy on Friday night at Luna, consisting of enough food and garlic to feed and ward off an entire family of vampires, and then a homemade supper of some kind of tasty but unknown meat at my sister's place on Saturday night. It's fun to live dangerously. We also went to see 2, count 'em, 2 movies. We're wild, it's true. We saw Friday Night Lights on Friday, suitably enough, and it was pretty good. Better than say, Varsity Blues, but with no whipped cream bikini, so I guess 'better' depends on what you look for in a football movie. Billy Bob did a great job of playing a normal guy, which I have a feeling is a stretch for him. We also saw Team America: World Police . Really funny, yes. Horribly offensive, yes. Offensive to Canadians, no! Sweet. I'm wondering how the Americans are feeling about it though, and the actors portrayed as puppets non-too-favourably. Drop me a line if you fall in to either of those categories.

That's basically been all the excitement in my life since I last posted. More detail about the preggo stuff on the preggo blog, again, leave me a note if you want to read it, I'm not going to post the link for all on the main page here. I've also had a cold for about a month and a half. It keeps going away, sort of, and then coming back with a vengeance as something new and less fun. It's right now camped out in my throat / chest / nose. I can only take stuff for the coughing, so it's getting mighty old mighty fast to have symptoms that I would normally just blitz with some Advil Cold and Sinus or an extra strength NeoCitrin. mmm...lemony.

I'm off to make supper and mark. wooh!

gobble gobble gobble

happy return-from-gorging-yourself-with-turkey day! I know I ate my share, and also had good-sized helpings of side dishes (my dad's stuffing and my uncle's cream cheese mashed potatoes mostly, mmm) and of course, dessert. Desserts, who am I kidding. Blueberry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream, apple pie..drooly drooly. My whole (immediate) family was there - aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, grannie, except for one uncle who lives in the states. My whole family is composed almost entirely of people on my dad's side, since my mom has just my grannie and aforementioned US uncle, and there are only like, 18 of us, but it's always a nice time when we get together. We had some death-match ping pong and a pretty fierce game of Taboo. Much wine and beer was consumed, and I had my own creation of blueberry punch with Sprite deal going on, so I didn't feel too left out.

I had an extra half day off for an appointment this morning, so only had to teach 1 class today, which was fantastic. Also, apparently my morning classes went well, with the exception of a couple of kids, surprisingly from one of my 9 classes, not the 11s who I was a bit worried about. Those 2 9s will of course be spending their break with me, one practising silent reading, one practising sitting quietly and doing work, since those are the 'responsible skills' (as the admin puts it here) that they seem to have forgotten in my absence.

All in all, a great few days, and it's not so bad being back to the routine. How was your weekend?

news

well, most of you know, but for those of you who aren't close, personal, in-the-flesh friends, I figured I should keep you up to date...turns out I'm 15 weeks pregnant. Surprise! That was my reaction too. haha. It's all good though, after the initial, wait a minute...2 lines? what the... Everyone's being really supportive and the parents are pretty stoked to be grandparents, so there you go. I go for my first dr. appt on Tuesday, and then an ultrasound on the 4th, so it's becoming pretty real now. I've also heard the heartbeat, which was incredible, and really made things hit home. There's a tiny person in there. I find the whole process pretty amazing, really. I know how it works, obviously, but really, how the hell? 1 cell, 2 cells, 4 cells...heart, brain, person! Crazy. I've been keeping a preggo-journal too, but I don't really want to post the link on here, since it's a little more personal and has names and such, but if you'd like to read, let me know and I'll send you the link. Some fun stuff though...the heartbeat, wow, and the bump (that's not from too many french fries, folks). Some of my pants don't fit! I'm hoping nobody at work notices if I just don't do them up all the way for a while, until I'm big enough to justify actual maternity clothes.

a little quiz (I'm 2%)

I've spaced it out a lot, because you're supposed to answer each question before reading the next, so try not to cheat.


This test determines human thought patterns. Humans fall into 1 of 2 percentiles: 98% or 2%. 98% think alike, and the remaining 2% stray from the norm.


Here's the test:

Just follow the instructions as quickly as possible. Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one. You do not need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind. You'll be surprised by the results...

Ready, Go....


How much is:

15+6
















3+56













89+2















12+53
















75+26















25+52


















63+32






Come on, one more...























123+5
















QUICK! THINK ABOUT A TOOL AND A COLOR!











Scroll further to the bottom...

















A bit more...
















(highlight the next line to see the "normal" answer, hidden for you friggin cheaters!)

You have just thought about a red hammer, haven't you????

If this is not the case, you a re among 2% of people who have
a"different" if not "abnormal" mind. 98% of those tested would answer a "red
hammer" while doing this exercise. If you do not believe this, pass it
around and you'll see. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among
the 98% or the 2% and send it to everyone, including the person that sent
it to you.

so long, birthday counter

the 361 days makes it seem a long way away, so I'll take it down for now. I had a great time at my partay though! We pot-lucked, and I've been suppering mainly on left overs from that all week. Mini pizzas and perogies are a perfectly acceptable dinner. Tonight I had mini pizzas and homemade salsa. I thought about the guacamole too, but it looked decidedly sketchy, so I decided against it. I have nearly made my way through all of my birthday cake, and just remembered that I also have frozen mini cheesecakes to deal with. mmmmm. I also got presents, which I honestly wasn't expecting, I think I'm past the point where I expect anyone other than family to do things like that. I'm a big fan of gifts though, so it was great. The Fantasia part of the evening was also pretty good, although I didn't get the feeling that this lady knew her stuff as well as say, Jenn, or previous presenters I've had. Also, she called me Dawn at the end of the night, and let my cat out, but really, it was fun.

Tomorrow I've arranged my classes so they're all writing a quiz, except the theatre kids, but I can always think of things to do with them, they're a great bunch, and I could, any day, say...ok kids, you're running the show, and they would, eagerly, and it would be good. I don't know that we'd learn a lot, but whatever. Today the girl who did the warmup (named Hyde, pronounced Heidi, why would her mother do that?) had us play a concentration game where we all sat around in a circle with our eyes closed, and we had to count to 20. Tricky! No, but the trick was, we had to take turns, in no particular order, and if anyone repeated a number or went at the same time as another person, we had to start over. We never did make it, but I'll try it again once we've done some more concentration excercises and see if it gets any better. Anyway, yeah, quizzes for everyone, whee! Also, I've gone from having my class of 24 students in 113 English (remedial, for those of you on different systems), 3 of whom are modified to the point of not being able to even remotely follow curriculum in *any* subjects, 1 of whom we don't really know what's going on, but he's really weak, and hasn't been in school for like 10 years, and all but 3 of whom are just the weakest readers / writers / students I have ever met, with no TA support, to having 2 TAs! I'm so excited. I went and talked to the resource teacher, just to see about possibly getting some support in that class, got someone the next day, then today I had 2! I'm not sure if they're both here to stay, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Anyway, I have to now go make up the quizzes that are going to keep my students busy for tomorrow. Luckily, there's nothing good on tv tonight, because of the GD presidential debate. Hey, I'll save you the trouble of watching: don't vote for Bush! Sure, Kerry's no gem, but, and this is the only time I've felt safe saying this, but it really can't get worse. The country is in an absolute mess, it can only get better, or it will just collapse on itself and get sucked into the centre of the earth, leaving the rest of us to say, hmm, that was weird, and carry on. Of course, all the cool people would get out of there before that happened. Not GeeDub though. He'd be the first to get sucked in.

blah

so, still not much to report, I'm afraid. Tomorrow is meet the teacher night, where we all get introduced on stage and then go to our classrooms, then parents come through their kids' class schedules for like 6-7 minutes per class, and we run through the outlines etc for them. Good times. I'm mostly annoyed because ER premieres tomorrow night, and this means I'll have to stay up until midnight to watch it. Boo-urns. I stayed up late last night watching Amazing Race, and I'm just so glad for who won. It wasn't who I was really rooting for, but it wasn't who I was really rooting against either. I'll not say who, because I know some people watch it Saturdays in the afternoon when it's rerun.

I'm still struggling a bit with my 113 class, just because even though they're mostly good kids, which is fantastic, they just don't really care about anything. All the stories in the anthologies I have for them are just lame, about broken homes and that kind of bullshit that we assume, or somebody assumes, that lower level kids must be able to relate to and want to read about. Maybe for a story, but not for the year, thanks. We read a pretty good one today that I found in another text, and thus had to photocopy for everyone, called "Of Missing Persons". Anyway, I think we'll do a bit of resume / cover letter building for a couple of days, some more short stories, once I find some good ones, and then the novel. We're going to do "Hunter in the Dark", which seems decent, but I don't have any kind of activities for it, other than chapter questions and tests, and there is a surprising lack of resources for the book online. I have found a pretty good site for short stories though, here, if you just like reading them, or can use them for something.

Things overall are going well though, so I'm pretty pleased. My big plan for tonight is go buy bagels and cream cheese, and watch CSI: NY. I don't normally watch Miami, but I caught the premiere the other night, and they killed off my favourite guy, Speed. I am superpissed. Now I will make a point to not watch it. He was on Dazed and Confused, how could he *not* be the best character? I also have to clean this damn apartment sometime before the weekend, and at least partly before Friday evening when my mom and sister arrive, so they won't know I live in a sty when I'm here by myself. shhh! The party is still on, of course, and you're still invited, if you're in the neighbourhood! and have boobs!

in honour of the impending b-day...

I'm having a party! I figured this is the best way to get the word out, although expect real-ish invitations shortly. Saturday night, and you're all invited. Well, those of you who know where I live, anyway. It's a birthday / potluck / Fantasia party, so there's something for everyone! Anyway, if you're interested, which you should be, then come on down.

I(heart) parties!

whee! presents!

so, unless you're, say...blind, you've probably noticed the giant birthday counter up yonder. If you're the kind of person who might buy me something for my birthday, I have continued the tradition of the gift blog from Christmas time. enjoy, kids! I also have a bit of an announcement that a lot of you have heard, but the rest of you will get around my birtday. Whee!

wow

longest delay between posts ever.

I survived week 1 of my new teaching job, which is quite something, I think. I'm pretty freaking tired, and have been all week, but it's Friday, so I have 2 days to sleep. And to figure out what the hell I'm going to do for the rest of the year. Wooh! Feel free to provide ideas. English 9, 113, and Theatre Arts. I have basic ideas, but new ideas are always fun.

This weekend, as most weekends, holds no really exciting plans. Last night I went out to supper with some teacher friends and had fajitas, they're damn tasty. We had planned to see a movie but we took too long eating and chatting, and missed all the starts, so we went to Chapters and Starbucks instead. Probably a better, although not a cheaper option. It's not possible to go to Chapters and not buy anything. I think we'll go see Garden State this weekend. It's written, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, the funny guy from Scrubs. I love him, and this looks like a great movie, I'm really surprised that Fox made it.

I'm afraid the posts are going to dwindle now that I'm not sitting home on my ass 24/7, teaching hasn't yet provided much interesting blogger fodder. One of my students did, yesterday, point to another student in the hall and ask me, quite seriously, if she was my daughter. I told him I'm 24, so...no. Thanks though, buddy. He's like, but she looks *exactly* like you! That may be, but no. Unless I had her when I was 7, which is unlikely at best. I think I had a better concept of people's ages when I was in high school.

I'm going to nap and think about supper.

I'm alive

but only barely! I'll post more soon. I'm super busy being back to work, the admin are very tricky and schedule meetings all day so you actually have no time during this prep week to prepare for your classes. Sneaky! I'm very tired, and my computer is pissing me off, so I'm going to bed. Grant took his computer to Freddy, so I'm using my older crappy one, which is infected with some sort of spyware thing which sets my browser to about:blank and gives me all kinds of nice popups. I've run adaware, I'm running browser hijack blaster (which helpfully lets me know every 30 seconds that my homepage has been changed, and would I like to change it back?), and I've run hijack this! several times, but the damn thing just won't go away. I'm not using IE anyway, I'm using Firefox, but I'm still pissed off and getting annoying popups, even when IE isn't running. I want to uninstall IE, but can't seem to figure that out either, and I do like to use Outlook, which apparently needs IE to work properly. Can I disable IE or something? I have Firefox as my default, but when I click links from my outlook mail or click '1 new message' in Messenger to get to my inbox, it opens IE automatically. If you have any ideas, please help. I've searched for help, but everything seems hopelessly complicated, and what I can do, I've done, with no good results. I'm willing to play with regedit even, but the files I'm supposed to delete aren't where the help pages say they will be. Dammit! I may end up formatting, I don't really care, but I can't find my windows cd, so that's not so much an option. My computer, for some reason, will not install winXP, so I'm stuck with 98, which is fine, but again, I can't find my cd.

somebody wasn't thinking here..

ok. Now, I'm a big fan and supporter of the Breast Cancer Site, go, click, every day. Also click on all the other sites, Child Health, Hunger, Animal Rescue, and Rainforest. Go. Now. Do notice, and see if you agree with me though, that it may be in poor taste to have an ad for WeightWatchers placed directly beside an ad to help a starving child. Really. Yikes. I'm sure it's all random, but those ads should be separate entities, not near eachother. One in the 'sponsors' section, one in the 'awareness raising' section.

that is all.

16 Things That Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn:

by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

via D

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.


2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will chieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."


3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."


4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.


5. You should not confuse your career with your life.


6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.


7. Never lick a steak knife.


8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.


9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.


10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.


11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.


12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.


13. A person who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)


14. Your friends love you anyway.


15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.


16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Oh, Canada...

Medals! We're ranked 15th out of...a lot of countries. 200 or something? Sure, some of them only had 4 athletes, but still. Not too shabby. I'm pretty pissed off that the US is leading. No offence, my American faithfuls, but it's just nice to see the unexpected happen.

fun with cruise control

I got to drive Grant's new car back to Moncton from Fredericton for reasons I don't feel like going into. It works now, so everyone's happy. Especially me, who got the nice car with the full tank of gas, vs. Grant who has my newer but not really as cool car with no gas for the week. Haha. Anyway, his car has cruise control, which I didn't know existed for standards, but it does. And it works. For a while I had it set at about 130, driving behind this truck who was clearly in a hurry, but when he turned off I didn't want to be going that fast all by myself, so I slowed down to about 122, still on cruise. I'm still passing people, but not going so fast that I'm worried about getting pulled over. So, while passing this one truck, a woman in a Ford Focus comes up super fast behind me, rides my ass until I am able to pass the truck and move back over. Fine, you go. She boots off away. So about 3 minutes later, I see that I am catching up to a car...lo and behold, the same Focus. I pull out to pass her, because otherwise I will run into her, she has slowed significantly, and she sees me, and speeds up. Fine. I pull back in behind her, she starts to move away from me again. I lose her again for about 2 minutes, then catch up again. Please bear in mind that my speed is remaining perfectly constant during this little adventure. I pass her this time, stay ahead for a couple of minutes, then she passes me. Fine. Again, a few minutes later, she passes me, again, soon, I pass her. I am laughing my ass of at this point, but she fails to see the humour. She soon passes me one last time, never to be seen again.

I have some advice. Take a gander at the speedometer every now and then, it's quite handy. It's very conveniently located mid-dash for your viewing ease. Try to keep that needle in approximately the same spot while driving. This saves gas, and aggrivation toward and from other drivers. Use cruise control if you have it, it's fantastic! I think it's the one luxury I would spring for in my next car. CD players are standard issue now, so I don't have to spring for that.

That about sums it up. Last night we had a fantastic chicken dinner at my sister's place, and then we spent the night at Grant's aunt's place, on the squeakiest bed (seriously, just from sleeping, the noise!) and thinnest pillows in the world. I'm thinking weekends here rather than in Fredericton.

randomosity

2 fun sites. Site 1: Bacon and Eh's. A good read, with lots of good links. This is where I found Site 2: Disclosure.ca. I'm always up for a project; the goal of this site is to get pictures from all over Canada, eventually every town and city, that show something that represents Canada or being Canadian to the picture taker. Sounds pretty neat to me, get clicking!

Also, I've become somewhat obsessed with 2 songs. Avril's Happy Ending, and Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved. Here are the lyrics to the latter for your viewing pleasure.

She Will Be Loved

Beauty queen of only eighteen
She had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else

I drove for miles and miles
And wound up at your door
I've had you so many times but somehow
I want more

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get so insecure
It doesn't matter anymore

It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

I know where you hide
Alone in your car
Know all of the things that make you who you are
I know that goodbye means nothing at all
Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved

[in the background]
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye

Yeah
[softly]
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain

Try so hard to say goodbye

technical difficulties

I'm supposed to get in touch with the vp at my new school, but I can't log in to my school email to find his email address or phone number. Not helpful.

I spent a nice weekend at the cottage with my parents, it was actually sunny for a good part of the time, which was a pleasant surprise. My dad and I also painted the bedroom in the little cottage, which was pretty funny. It had been wallpapered, so they took off most (but not all) of that. Dad had filled in most of the holes, but not the seams of the drywall and stuff, and we then bought paint at Loonieland and painted the room. Interesting. It's going to take about 4 coats, I think, and you can still see the wallpaper chunks through the paint at this point. Pretty nice. I love dollar stores though, they have the most interesting assortment of stuff.

Grant and I are going back-to-school shopping today, he starts work on Monday and needs some new stuff, and I might pick up a couple of things myself. My actual plan for teaching is still pretty rough. I don't know my schedule, but I do know that I'll have the English classes all year, so that's easy to figure out. I'm going to try to do a rough outline, but what I'd really like to do is to talk to the other grade 9 teacher and see what her plan is. I find it's helpful to be doing the same things at the same times, in case kids have to switch out or anything, and that way you know the kids are going to get the same things covered in the run of the year, so they're all equally prepared (or not, haha) for the next year. The 113 class, I don't know. I don't even know what books I have to work with, so that's interesting. They also re-arranged and cancelled some of the provincial testing, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm responsible for. I guess I'll find out! I keep looking for work in Freddy, but there just isn't any, and Grant keeps looking for work here, same deal, so it's looking like we'll be spending a few months apart. *sigh*. We did one semester last year, so this will just be...double that. Good times. He'll have a car too though, so can come visit me. He joked that I could come see him on snow days, but that's probably not the best plan at all.

T-13 days until back to school, yipes. I know those of you who aren't teachers have no sympathy for me whatsoever, but those of you who are or who know teachers understand. There's a reason we get summers off, and it's not just for the kids. There's a school district in the states where the kids go for 9 weeks, then get 4 weeks off, all year. That sounds pretty sweet to me, I'd definitely sign on. I'm off to get some breakfast and forget about the sadness that is returning to work. Thanksgiving is really early this year, wooh!

vacation is ending, and I'm so not ready

I was so traumatised by the Lenny post that I had to take a break. Also I've been feeling like ass lately.

I'm trying to get my head wrapped around my teaching assignment for the fall, because that's coming up pretty quickly and I don't have a concrete plan of action. I've thought of some fun projects, but not for right away. I've also had dreams of the sort that I show up on the first day of school, but unaware that it's the first day, and all my students are there like, what the hell? and my classroom is not set up, and then, generally, I'm naked. No good. I don't think I'm that nervous, but maybe I am subconsciously.

We finally got around to seeing the Village and Bourne Supremacy. I enjoyed both, although they're pretty different. For all who are debating the Village based on scariness / nightmare factor, go see it. I scare easily, and though there are some jumpy parts for sure, but overall it's a really good story, and the acting is fantastic. Also, and I may be completely retarded for not realising this, but Joaquin Phoenix is a Phoenix a la River. I did of course, know his last name, but I just never made the connection. Interesting. Anyway, he's a fine actor, as is pretty much everyone else in the movie. Adrian Brody did a great job too. Bourne was good, a bit fragmented, but that was on purpose, and I do agree with Tirex that they made the bad guy pretty obvious. I (heart) Matt Damon though, so whatever.

And I'm still looking forward to Harold and Kumar, so shut it.

Still on the topic of movies, both of our theatres here are now Empire, where one used to be Famous Players. This means nothing good, as far as I can tell. While both theatres now get the good movies, where Famous used to just basically have the Disney blockbusters, they now get the SAME good movies. There are currently 5 movies playing at both theatres. Which would be good, if we were in like, Toronto. But we're not. The theatres are about 6 minutes apart. Redundant, I think.

I might go to the beach this afternoon, but the possibilities are really endless here. This weekend is either for the cottage or to Halifax to see the Buskers. I could do either, really.

I signed up for gmail, but it wasn't working because IE sucks and messes with cookies. Anyway, it's working now, and apparently I can invite somebody (because you can't just sign up yet) so if anyone is interested, let me know. It kicks hotmail's ass, with like, 1G of server space and no annoying ads. If you're just looking for info, go check it out. I invited my sister, so I only have one invite, and I think everyone who uses Blogger got one, so only you non-bloggers need apply.

also, what the hell happened to Lenny Kravitz?

he used to be *super* hot. click and click.

now he looks like Prince / a dirty pimp. click and click.

Not happy.

short and sweet

Real hackers must have laughed their asses off when they saw the movie Hackers. Good cast though.

via Natters

Survey with a twist

YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to me. Or leave answers to random ones in the comment box. Whichever. But first, send a blank one to all your friends including me (or post it on your website..), so they can return the favor to you.

1. My name:

2. Where did we meet?

3. Take a stab at my middle name:

4. How long have you known me?

5. When is the last time we saw each other?

6. Do I believe in God?

7. Month of my birthday: (Bonus points if you can give a date.)

8. Hair color:

9. Eye color:

10. Do I have any siblings?

11. What's one of my favorite things to do outdoors?

12. What's one of my favorite things to do indoors?

13. Do you remember one of the first things I said to you?

14. What's my favorite type of music?

15. What is my best feature?

16. Am I shy or outgoing?

17. Would you say I am funny ha-ha or funny sarcastic?

18. Am I a rebel or do I follow all the rules?

19. Would you consider me a friend, an acquaintance, or a good friend?

20. Would you call me hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else?

21. Have you ever seen me cry?

22. If there were one good nickname for me what would it be?

23. If I had broccoli stuck in my teeth would you tell me?

24. Is there anything you need to tell me?

they were indeed tall ships

We got to Halifax early enough so that there weren't a billion people and it wasn't too hot, which was nice. We had to park a bit of a walk away from the waterfront, but that was expected. The ships were pretty cool, very big. I like the older looking ones better than the new fancy ones. The new ones are more like, 'hey! look at me, I'm rich!' There were lots of vendors selling crap, nautical knot bracelets and the like, but the tourists just eat that stuff up. I'll post some pictures in a bit.

We went to play some blacklight mini golf, which was pretty fun. I think there should be a place like that here, because there is just so very little to do here that it has to do well. Supper was at a place called Jack Astor's, and it was pretty good too. They should also make one of those here, it would make a nice extra choice with ESM and Swiss Chalet. Moncton is lame.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely going to see Napoleon Dynamite. Naturally, it was playing in Halifax, but is not yet here. If it comes to your city, it's your duty to go see it. And to keep watching after the credits, there's more movie. The guy is just so hilarious. The movie is completely random, and you mostly don't know whether to laugh at the guy or feel really bad for him. I went with both. Go see it.

Yesterday, because it was absolutely gorgeous, Tirex and I went to Magic Mountain water park. The time we spent actually on the rides was pretty cool, but that only accounted for about 10 minutes of the 3 hours we were there. We decided the people who run the place need to learn to play Rollercoaster Tycoon, and then they would figure out that the park is in desperate need of expansion. The lines are just ridiculous, and I think they've built one new slide in the past 15 years. No good. But, again, there is nothing else like that around here, so it's an incredibly popular place for tourists. So, along with there not being enough slides and new / exciting things, there are just a foolish number of people there. We did get to go on *the* new slide, the Tornado, and it was fun. It's a tube slide, and it's all enclosed and dark with just pinholes of light coming in. Try not to scream or laugh, I dare you. Regardless of lines and the horrifying discovery that Beavertails are BAKED now, instead of deep fried (no good!), we had a pretty good time. It's all about the company, I suppose!

I'm feeling pretty boring, so I'm going to stop now!

holy boringness, Batman

You know what? I cannot think of anything *less* entertaining than watching Poker on tv. Really and truly. That's what my boyfriend and "roommate" are watching right now. We have literally...250 channels. We're getting them all as a preview, because I called to switch a couple of the 10 specialties we usually get, and they put me on hold twice, and both times I ended up back in the system, and had to re-explain myself again. The 3rd person was a very nice lady, who offered to give us all the specialties for a week since we haven't had them all for a long time, and the one we wanted to get only comes as part of a package. Very nice of her, and I hung up feeling happy rather than enraged, which is often the case when dealing with Rogers. So yeah, we have all kinds of channels, Outdoor Life, National Geographic, Biography, Discovery, SexTV, you name it. And we're watching Poker. Earlier this afternoon we watched boxing from the late 70s. Barf. This is one thing, and probably one of about 3 things, that I will enjoy about living alone come fall. No old boxing or card game-watching on my tv.

Because we put off seeing Bourne for so long, now there are 3 movies out that we both want to see, and the decision is proving tricky. If that's the hardest decision of my day though, I'd say I'm doing pretty well. I think maybe we'll actually end up seeing Bourne though, since it's been such a saga, and since it's been out the longest. I'm also excited for The Village and Harold and Kumar. I guess for that last one, they had the script and brought it to McD's, Wendy's, and a bunch of other, probably more well known places, but they all said they didn't want to be in the movie. Well whatever, folks, I think White Castle makes a funny title anyway. They have tiny burgers that look pretty tasty, but I don't think there are any restaurants here. In visiting the website, I see you can buy yourself a White Castle t-shirt. Nice.

Tomorrow we're heading to Halifax to see the Tall Ships. There are fireworks tomorrow night, whee! I've never been, so I'm not sure what to expect other than a bunch of, you guessed it, tall ships. Apparently it's pretty exciting though. I'll let you know, and of course, take lots of pictures.

some advice for phone-a-friends...

If ever I was playing Millionaire, I would have some words of wisdom for those chosen to be my phone-a-friends. You be ready, you be sitting at your computer, and you have Google loaded up. Most of the stuff they ask, you can easily and quickly find. People are stupid though, and they don't do this, for the most part anyway, and they sit there and humm, and haw...and give wrong answers. One guy just lost $15,000 because his friend is an idiot. They are both frat boys though, so hey.

mmm, summery

finally! It's warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and it's supposed to get up to 32 degrees today. Nice. That's Celcius, obviously. I had planned to go to Magic Mountain yesterday with Tirex, but it rained. Of course. Now it is going to be nice for a whole week. It's good though, I'm a fan of summer. I think what might happen though is that we'll have a ridiculously warm fall now, since summer seems delayed. That's fantastic for teaching, let me tell you. Especially where my classroom is on the top floor, and has no windows. Sweet. Speaking of, I suppose I should really start to prepare in some way, especially for the history class, since I really don't know anything about what I'm supposed to teach. Ah well.

We still never made it to see my good friend Matt, but I have faith that we will. We're also very much looking forward to seeing Joaquin (I just had to look up how to spell that), which is how the whole, going to see Matt thing got started anyway. Also, I was watching a review of The Village, and the guy had the...ignorance, I suppose, to say that the cast had no big names headlining it, but looked very promising regardless. Pardonnez-moi? Joaquin Phoenix, Adrian Brody, Sigorney Weaver, William Hurt, Brendan Gleeson? Maybe they're only famous in Canada. Weird.

I've taken some really pretty pictures of lillies, which I present to you now.

Pink Lilly
Fuschia Lilly
Pink Lilly w/ purple

They're all from my garden, and they don't last long, so I've been taking pictures of all of them. My mom pointed out to me, very helpfully, that this is indeed why they are called "day lillies". See, that's why it's good to have moms that garden. Hehe. Anyway, enjoy. I sure am. I have one plant that hasn't bloomed yet, and I thought they were going to be all dark purple, so the suspense is quite intense. Or not. I'm hoping the middle one does bloom though, and that it's a different colour. I'm just happy they're growing. My vegetables are not. They're still green, and healthy looking, but there is no sign of growth and / or flowers and food sprouting off them. Ah well.

edit: the pictures are fairly big, so if you're on a slow connection I apologize, and also if you have your browser set to fit images to the window size, they'll be smaller for you than they really are.

movie thief!

lots of movie posting lately, no?

short and painful: I loaned 2 movies, Shrek and Homegrown (the latter, granted, I got in the WalMart bargain bin, but still), to a friend of my boyfriend. His good friend's brother, actually. Anyway, now said brother is denying ever having borrowed movies from me. I'm a seething ball of rage. What the fuck? I'm going to go to the friend's house and have a look myself, I think, because there's a very legitimate possibility that the brother was high either when borrowing, watching, or claiming to not have done either. Or all 3 times. Who knows. Anyway, I'm super pissed. I loaned Shrek out one time before, you think I would have learned, and the girl kept it for a year. a YEAR. Now, I've been known to be a little lax in my returning of borrowed goods, but I've never kept something that long, except maybe from Erin, but rules about sweaters are different...and I've never denied borrowing something.

fucker.

or not

so, turns out we still haven't gotten around to seeing the Bourne Supremacy, but we might go tonight. We ended up waiting for a couple of friends of the boy's, and then just didn't go. We did, however, go see The Notebook last night, and it was really good. A bit weepy, as is expected, (the guy who wrote the novel, Nicholas Sparks, is the one and the same guy who wrote Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember, whaddya expect?), but not overwhelmingly so, and I should know, I'm one to get overwhelmed by weepiness at movies.

Plans for today...going to Superstore to deposit a cheque and buy some healthy food. Eating healthy is hard, especially in the summer. I'm trying it though, because, among other reasons, it's just generally a good idea. I tend to get in this phase in summer time, when I'm not working, where I don't really eat meals, I just sort of eat whatever, whenever. Not the best plan. So I'm going to buy some fruit and stuff, so that at least if I do eat whatever, whenever, it'll be good eats. I think I'll go for a walk too, there's a really nice walking path by our place, far enough away from the road that you don't die of exhaust fumes most of the time. It does take me right past DQ, which is slightly problematic, but yesterday I brought a popsicle with me, and avoided temptation nicely. Even though the Moolatté had a lasting and unpleasant effect on my digestive tract, it was so tasty...maybe another one wouldn't be so bad? Or, it might kill me. Hmm. Worth considering.

whee! movies

or not.

We went to see the Bourne Supremacy last night, only after being disappointed to realize that The Village hasn't started yet. We got to the theatre, about 15 minutes before the show was supposed to start, and apparently everybody else in town waited until Sunday night to go see the movie too, because the place was packed. We hung out for a minute, waiting in line, but after being bumped and bashed around a few times by ignorant jackasses, we decided to try again tonight and rented The Butterfly Effect instead. It was really good! Definitely a bit disturbing, definitely some jumpy parts, but overall interesting. Who hasn't thought about what it would be like to go back and change that one thing? Well, apparently it can be like CRAP where your friends don't know you and / or are crackwhores. Careful, time travellers! Also, it's hard on your head to re-write your lifetime's memories in the span of like, 3 minutes. All good to know.

The weekend at the cottage was good, it was warm but not sunny all the time on Saturday, so we went swimming, which was nice, and I didn't get a sunburn, which was also nice. We watched the incredibly bad movie Heartbreakers on Friday night, and really, it was awful. The only good thing about it was Jason Lee, and I'm surprised he was in it. I made my mom a cheesecake for her birthday, with a topping made out of mixed berries that was quite tasty. We had lunch at the Chowder House on the way home, and all in all had a nice time. We also got to sleep on the AeroBed, which is pretty fun.

Big plans for today include sitting outside for a while to read, because it's sunny out. It's supposed to be nice all week, which is great news, but I'm going to wait until it happens before I get too excited. We're still planning on seeing the movie tonight, so I'll let you know how it is.

Canadians against the re-election of George W Bush

Nice. I'm very excited that someone has taken the initiative to do this. It might not do any good, but you just never know. Go, sign the petition, and tell your friends to as well.

also, apparently Jenn isn't the only interesting news in Macleans lately...more Canadians against W.. Can you blame them?

There will never be another tonight

or, I'm a way better singer than that girl.

The Bryan Adams concert was fantastic, as expected. Colin James was also great, but I just don't know as many of his songs, so it wasn't as good in the 'singing along' department. Bryan opened with the aforementioned 'There Will Never be Another Tonight', which was a good choice, although we all sort of thought it would be Summer of '69. Too predictable I guess. Anyway, he's just a great singer and performer, and as mom pointed out, one of the great things is that he actually sings the songs basically the way he does on the albums. Tiresa came down, and between the 2 of us, we got approximately 5 good photos, but it was fun trying. Bryan got a girl up on stage to sing 'When You're Gone' with him, and I was *super* bitter, because I know all the words and harmonies to that song, and it's really fun to sing, and he didn't pick me, even though I was waving my arms fanatically like everyone else. Ah well. The girl he picked was pretty funny, she couldn't sing at all, but she did remember most of the words, and she had a really good time on stage.

I'm heading to the cottage for the weekend, finally. It's my mom's birthday on Tuesday, so we'll have to have some cake. It's been super hot the past few days, but I'm not complaining too loud, because it was super crappy before that. My only complaint is that I was pefectly happy sitting around in my skirt and bra last night (too hot for even a tanktop, sadly), when my...summer roommate... came home with a friend to watch a movie. *sigh* I'm pretty laid back, but not quite that far.

I have been still having fun on the naughty blog, we have it set up so that the post-er is left anonymous, except to the fellow post-ers, who can see the author when they compose something themselves. I may just stick a link up here soon, but I want to wait until it gets going. So far, there are only...3 story posts. Come on folks, let's get on with it! I'm still waiting for people to get in touch with me, I've invited everyone who immediately came to mind as having an imagination and a sense of adventure, but please feel free to step up and join the fun!

know what I love?

When a new band comes out, and I like all of their songs. Maroon 5 is one of these bands. It's true, they get overplayed on the radio, but we can't really fault the band for that, can we? Anyway, they have a new song out called "She Will be Loved", that's really good. My other favourite band du moment, Train, has a new song out too, but there is no word of a new album on their website, so I'm a bit confused. What else is new, eh?

I'm off to see Bryan Adams tonight, and I'm still excited. The boy is not so much anymore, my dad can't come so Tiresa is coming down, so it's going to be him and a bunch of girls. Ah well! If any of you would like to come and relieve him of his boyfriendly duties, you're officially invited. You all work and/or don't live here though, so it could be tricky.

The 'erotic blog' is coming along nicely. Pun intended. Ha! It's surprisingly fun writing this kind of stuff. I think I should really look at a career change, it would be super sweet to just sit and think up steamy situations all day. I'm going to do some research and find out how one goes about becoming a bonafide writer. Again, leave a comment or fire off an email if you'd like to play along.

know what I hate?

when I answer the phone and it's a telemarketer, but even more than that, when they say, "hello, Mrs. Roach?". My response is either, no, she doesn't live here, or no, there's no such person. I could be his cousin, roommate, whatever. But no. Annoying.

new searching-love

I've found this new search engine, called IceRocket.com. It seems pretty good, you should all go check it out.

summer project

if photography isn't your thing, how about a bit of literature to spice up your summer?   Thanks to Jenn's brilliant idea, we're going to embark on a writing project.   It's going to be a collaborative online erotic novel, or at least novella.   All are welcome; if you're interested, leave a comment or drop me a line and I'll invite you to the new site.   If you're not interested, or you're a prude, keep your comments to yourself.   hehe.

as if you'll notice

but just in case you do, I've fixed up the archives so that each post gets its own page, making linking to old posts *much* easier. The pre-titled ones have completely random names though, which is pretty funny, but that's ok. I'm going to bed now.

I am all about the linky links...

ICONPLAZA.com. They have even more emoticons than I do!

as per Meesh's request

The link which allows you to make your own fantastic drawings, and send them to your friends. My original one was from January 2003, so it apparently saves them for a while.

I love my own archives

You can see why I got that job teaching art last year...

what do you call a fish with no eye?

fsh.

ha!

so, when it gets that hot in my apartment that my poor fishes are swimming around in 86 / 30 degree water and it should be 79 / 26 degree water, what's a girl to do? I put some ice-cold Brita water in there last night, I don't know if it really helped, since I didn't want to put a lot in, rapid temperature changes aren't good for the little guys. Who knew something so small could be so nerve-racking? If the power goes out when it's cold, they're screwed. If it gets too warm, they're screwed. If the apartment caught on fire...you get the idea.

My algae eater has been slacking off lately, he used to keep the tank so clean I had to feed him algae wafers. Now, there's not a ton of algae, but it's definitely noticeable on the tank walls. I think I'll cut back on the wafers and see if things clear up. He's really quite gi-normous, he should be able to get it clean in like a day. All my other fish are just tiny, then we have Cleatus, who's roughly a foot long nose to tail. The other fish don't seem to mind, except when he takes a psychotic episode and thrashes around the tank. He jumped out one time, and he was so vile to touch. I hope that never happens again, for both of our sakes. When I get a house, I will buy him a super-gi-normous tank, but not before then, because giant tanks are very hard to move.

edit: the link works now.

Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Lists

Go ahead. You might as well get comfortable, you could be here for a while.

sh1ft.org presents 26 Things : July 2004

go nuts! I did this last summer too, and I'm running a bit late this summer, but many people submitted their entries late last time, and since it's not an actual contest, it's all good. Have fun, go take pictures! You don't need a digital camera, I think all remotely decent photo developpers will put your film on a cd for you, (make sure you do this at the same time you get your photos developed!), but you do need some space. I could host some of you on here, I'm sure, if anyone is in need.

In case you're that lazy that you can't click a link, here is what you need pictures of. Use your imagination, take things as literally or as not as you want:

lines
mechanical
stretch
through
bottom
organised
different
far away
green
mug
dummy
at night
liquid
artificial
out of reach
switch
relief
blades
missing
underground
historic
button
popular
grand
exotic
delicious

guess who has 20/20!

It is me!  I got lasik surgery on my left eye, which pre-surgery was worse than 20/400, and now it's 20/20.  Pretty cool, no?  The procedure took about 10 minutes all together, but the consultation (which was free, so go for it) took about an hour and a half a couple of days previous, and I was at the clinic for about 2 hours the day of the surgery, just waiting around and filling out paperwork.  Anyway, it was a bit pricey, but most definitely worth it.  Plus, they give you a sweet ass pair of safety glasses-inspired sunglasses that you're forced to wear at all times when awake for 4 days.  I've opted for my own glasses since day 2, because the ones they gave me are, frankly, ridiculous looking, and not actually all that dark, but more designed to prevent me from sticking my fingers and whatnot in my eye accidentally.  I also have to wear an eye shield for 4 nights so I don't accidentally poke my cornea while sleeping.  Probably a good precaution.  Corneas are important.  Anyway,  I just got it done Thursday, and I went in for my next-day checkup to find I had 20/20 vision, and that my corneal flap was healing perfectly, so I'm pretty stoked.  I'll keep you posted on any new developments.  
 
We've seen a couple of movies lately, most notably Spiderman and Anchorman.  Spiderman 2 was better than 1, of course, and I did enjoy it.  I had hyped it up quite a bit for myself, because everyone I knew who saw it said it was absolutely fantastic, and I don't know if I'd go that far in describing it, but it was good, the characters were better developed, the bad guy was cool, and there will definitely be another movie.  I saw Anchorman last night, and I laughed my ass off the whole time.  I ran into a friend of my sister's, who also saw the movie, and she said she could hear me laughing above pretty much everyone else.  Sweet.  There were some completely random moments in the movie, like Pleasure Land, which made really no sense, but as a whole, freaking funny.  I think I'll see it again, because there were so many great lines that I've forgotten. 
 
In other news, I have no other news, so I'm going to do nothing again, maybe sit in the sun for a bit.  Going to see Bryan Adams on Wednesday, looking forward to that.  Colin James is opening, so it should be a great show.  
 
 "I ate a lot of fiberglass insulation.  It wasn't cotton candy like that guy said it was.  My stomach is itchy."

Catenema.com: Do NOT Try This at Home!

Hil-freaking-arious. via Jenn, via lyd. Enjoy.

Good to know, all of it

drink your face off! but not whiskey...

Buy me this

Please? It's so cute. It comes in loads of fun colours, but I think blue is the way to go.

helpme.moderatelyspicy.com

it's just that you are all so...useful. haha. Ok. You know when you're on MSN Messenger, and you have a minimized window and that person starts talking to you, and it flashes orange? Can you change that colour to something less gross / more fun? I can't find it in any options anywhere, I'm fairly sure it's not just a MSN thing, but it's not in the windows appearance options either. Any ideas? I'm thinking like green, or pink, or something would be nice.

vacation

what can I say, summer doesn't make for interesting posting material. The most exciting thing I have to pass along is that the new DQ Moolattés are really, really good. The bad news is, they're really, really bad for you. Here's the breakdown:
Tim's Ice Cappuccino (made with cream) - 230 calories, 11 grams of fat
Tim's Ice Capp (made with 2% milk (you have to ask for that) - 150 calories, 1.5 g fat
DQ Moolatté (made with ice cream, what do you expect) - 490 calories, 18 g fat. Ouch.

So, the moral of the story is, stay away from the DQ Moolatté diet, it's a bad idea. But once in a blue moon, can't be a bad thing.

once again, I call on you, loyal readers...

haha. No, seriously. Our friend Jenn is in need of a recipe. Who remembers those chocolate, peanut butter marshmallow squares? They didn't have rice crispies in them, they weren't baked...you might have cooked the chocolate part before throwing in the marshmallows, but then they're just cooled to set. I think there's not a lot to them, chocolate chips, peanut butter, margarine, mini marshmallows. My mom never made these, I'm pretty sure they're atrociously unhealthy, but soooo good. Does anyone have that recipe?

just don't call the FBI, and they come to my apartment while I'm taking a nap

That was definitely the funniest part of Farenheit 9/11. You all have to go see it, and tell all your friends to go see it. There are some very funny parts, but mostly you'll likely spend the 2+ hours with your mouth agape and a 'what. the. fuck.' look on your face. I was pretty upset at the end, but mostly because the whole thing is so utterly ridiculous and, well, upsetting. Grant made fun of me a little bit, but whatever. Anyway, go see it.

Now, on a lighter note:


Letterman's Top Ten List: Top Ten George W. Bush Complaints About "Fahrenheit 9/11":

10. That actor who played the President was totally unconvincing

9. It oversimplified the way I stole the election

8. Too many of them fancy college-boy words

7. If Michael Moore had waited a few months, he could have included the part where I get him deported

6. Didn't have one of them hilarious monkeys who smoke cigarettes and gives people the finger

5. Of all Michael Moore's accusations, only 97% are true

4. Not sure - - I passed out after a piece of popcorn lodged in my windpipe

3. Where the hell was Spider-man?

2. Couldn't hear most of the movie over Cheney's foul mouth

1. I thought this was supposed to be about dodgeball

isn't she lovely...

he's not so bad either. This is my dear friend Calleen and her husband(!) Travis; they got married on Saturday. I thought this picture was fantastic, so I thought I'd share it with you all. Congratulations, lovebirds! The wedding was great, the reception was super fun...I had planned on coming home that same night but Calleen's parents, being the wonderful people they are, invited me to stay with them, so I got to stay for the whole reception and the breakfast (mmm, blueberry pancakes!) and gift opening the next day. I cried about 13 times all told, but that's generally what happens at weddings. This was only my second wedding ever, so it's still pretty new to me.

please help!

ok. About a month ago, possibly longer, we saw a preview for a movie. What was it? ha. No, seriously. The movie is a comedy, that as far as I know hasn't been out in theatres yet. All I can really remember is that there is a super geeky guy in the hallway at school, and he sort of freaks out, but not directly at somebody. It looked really funny, and I'm driving myself crazy trying to think of what it's called. I've checked all the 'coming soon' listings and nothing there looks familiar, so I'm at a loss. I am, however, looking forward to seeing a couple of movies that I do know the names of: Saved! and Without a Paddle. Hopefully they'll come out soon, and maybe they'll have a preview for this other mystery movie. There are lots of movies out right now I want to see...Farenheit 9/11, The Notebook (even though I'm pretty sure it's not a happy movie), Spiderman 2 (I've heard it's really good, much better than the first), and The Terminal. On my 'would like to see, but the rental will probably suffice' list are The Day After Tomorrow, The Chronicles of Riddick (I know, but I (heart) Vin..), and Stepford Wives.

Now you know. Anybody want to go to any of those with me? I'm free...now.

long time no see

yeah, well, turns out I did have some plans for this summer. They're just about done though. I went to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, to visit my uncle and eat at his restaurant, and it was good, as always. I went down with my mom and my grannie, and we had a pretty good time. Went to Freeport, didn't buy much though. For outlet stores, they're still really expensive. Went out on the boat with my uncle and got thrown around a bit, but that's a good time too.

Tomorrow my good friend is getting married, so I'm pretty excited for that. The only wedding I've ever been to is Tiresa's, and it was a lovely, outdoors in the park, justice of the peace wedding. This is going to be equally lovely I'm sure, but inside in a church instead. It's not a Catholic church though, which is a good thing I think, I've heard Catholic weddings are quite long.

after my island adventure tomorrow though, things get significantly quieter. We might be going to a wedding on the 16th, and I'm going to see Bryan Adams on the 21st, and then my vacation will be half over. That's pretty sketchy. Although, I suppose vacation is designed for not really doing anything. Good thing.