Off the Clock

I love movies on tv. I hate movies that you have to take out a second mortgage to go see; especially when they're crap! I was just reading Laurie's post about the movie "Holiday". I have to say that I'm really glad she wrote this because she's just saved me $9.95. 'Cause if you're anything like me and all (that would be "cheap bastard") you can't stand spending good money (or valuable time) going to see crap. And why does this happen? It seems like there's way more movies being put out today than when I was growing up, but it's just more crap. I think we need someone to start a women's site - like a female Siskel and Ebert (or whoever it is these days) to give us the heads up. I really don't mind coughing up the cash if I enjoy the movie, but that seems to happen less and less these days. I can remember about ten years ago when the "Pokemon" movie first came out. DS, being 6 years old at the time, was dyi...

Woohoo! I got the "congratulations" letter over the weekend - couriered by Expresspost no less - from the University. I'm a little excited but also a lot nervous! I'm not as worried about the course content as I am about the proceedures. You know, how things are supposed to be written out, in what format, blah blah blah. I can have all the right information but it doesn't matter if it's not done in the right way. So I've been getting advice from a few people and apparently there's books written on this and even courses out there. You see why I'm intimidated? If they actually have to write a book about it or hold a course... sheesh! The school has a 4 hour orientation coming up and I think I'd better be there. Otherwise I'm almost ready for the holidays. Just a few last minute gifts to buy. DD helped out a lot this year by doing the house decorating. It looks better than it ever did with me doing it. This is the tree she and her...

I was complaining whining speculating about the changes in my life in a recent post , and I've decided to take some action on it. I might be right out of my mind but I have an appt Monday with a dept head at our local university. Now you have to realize that I graduated from high school in (gulp) 1979. In my early 20's I did a 4 year apprenticeship as a Tool & Die Maker and haven't been to school since other than the occasional night school class. But the kids are pretty much grown, DD is 18 and just bought her first car and is working part time while going to school full time and really doesn't need me much anymore. (I guess I'd better learn not to make run-on sentences if I want to go to uni!) DS is living with Dad at the moment. So there's really no reason for me not to. I work full time so I'm going to apply as a part time undergrad, and I'm thinking of just taking one course per semester to begin until I see how it goes. I want it to enhance ...

But first a pic of pure contentment; knitting with my back to the fireplace with my feet up and a kitty lapwarmer. You'll notice I picked the shot that blurred out the feet that are in desparate need of a pedicure. I booked the day off work today to start on the Christmas shopping, and can you believe it I'm almost done! Here we are not even December yet and I've got just a few small gifts left to buy. This has never before happened in my unorganized life, and I venture to say it will never happen again, but I'm just going to gloat in the glory of shopping-done. Of course I'll still be in a panic on Christmas Eve as I remember someone that I totally forgot to buy for, but then it wouldn't be Christmas otherwise, would it? Here I've finished the Vogue Knitting Lacy Shawl and it's on the blocking board. I don't usually bother to block but the lace just wasn't showing otherwise. I also wasn't sure of what would be the best way to block si...

You are The High Priestess Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education. The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out.

Dark Purple To others, you seem a bit dark, mysterious, and moody. In truth, you are just a very unique person who doesn't care what others think. And you really enjoy your offbeat interests and friends. You've decided that life is about living for yourself - simple as that. What Color Purple Are You? I don't know where it came from but I've had a surge of ambition and I've been wrapping up old WIP's. First up is the fleece blanket. I had the scathingly brilliant idea of sewing the two layers together and then doing a blanket stitch around the edges. This turned out to be much harder than I thought because you're sewing yarn through 4 layers of fleece (two sides plus the seam allowances inside). I had to use plyers to pull the needle through for each and every stitch. I had three sides done and then it's sat languishing for the last three years. I then did three others for gifts with just a sewing machine topstitch edge, but the original blanket st...

DD bought her very first car last weekend. Doesn't she look proud? As well she should. When she was working at that apprenticeship job in grades 11/12 she saved almost every dollar she made. So she's now the proud owner of this '97 Pontiac Sunfire. And with this comes freedom for both of us; she gets to do her own running around, I get to NOT have to drive her everywhere and as a bonus I can send her to the store or for takeout until the novelty wears off! ;) She also landed an after-school job this week so she'll be able to pay for her gas and insurance. I tell you, this girl rocks! And this interesting little character watching her Mom get her pics taken is my new granddaughter. Ok, I know it's a doll, but still. DD had this computerized doll for the weekend as part of her parenting course at school. The doll cries and you have a minute to respond by putting a key in it's back and holding it for 20 seconds or so. If you don't respond in time you ...

It's my birthday this week and I've got some really cool gifts! DD got me this jalapeno pepper spoon rest; does it get any cooler than that?! It looks so good in my kitchen you'd almost think I picked it out myself! Well, ok, I did drop a hint or two. Ok, I told her that I saw it and I loved it and it's at Home Outfitters so please buy it for me. Then DH got me the breadmaker I've been wanting. That's because I swear I'm not like everybody else with a breadmaker who never uses it anymore. I'll be different; I know I will! Just like the sandwich maker. And the waffle maker. Oh wait, I haven't used them in a very long time, have I? But I did test drive the bread machine already. First I made a recipe from the book that came with it. It's a garlic and herb loaf with sunflower seeds. So there I was counting out the cups of flour; one cup, two cups, what's that Honey? Really? Two cups, three cups, ... Next thing you know the dough ...

I've been just a little distracted with the kitchen job and all to take care of the outside stuff. Yes, that's snow falling into my still-open pool. While most people have their pools closed by Labour Day or shortly after in my neck of the woods mine got closed the day after this pic. Mind you we don't usually see snow in the middle of October. DH is all excited though, he was at the snowmobile show yesterday and spent a whack of money; he's a happy camper today! Never mind that there won't likely be "rideable" amounts of snow until after New Year's... And speaking of the new kitchen I came home the other day to wonderful smells, DD had a banana bread baking in the oven! Do you think the fact that I had bought all the ingredients and left the cookbook open on the counter to the right page had anything to do with it? lol

And now, folks, the moment I know you've all been waiting for; the new kitchen! It's not 100% done yet but I just have to get some pics up. If you click on the pics you'll get a size you can actually see. ;) They were taken over a week ago but it's taken me this long to clear a path to the computer as I slowly try to get the house back in order. Did I mention I'm remodeling my bathroom at the same time? My sanity has already been brought into question, you're not the first! Just ignore that big hole in the base; the new dishwasher is being installed this morning. That's not "new dishwasher" as in I wanted to buy new appliances, that's "new dishwasher" as in the 2 year old portable one I have is 1/2" too tall to convert to a built-in and we didn't find that out until zero hour. All I can say is it's a good thing my bank gives me more credit than I can afford! I've got lights under the cabinets and inside the...

I was reading a post from Sauntering Soul about some life changes she's been going through and it's inspired me to post about some things in my own life I've been wrestling with. Our lives are not static; they change and evolve as some things become less of a priority and other things become more important. This is always a hard concept for me to grasp, as I HATE change. Even if I'm not in a good situation I find it hard to make a break. Better "the Devil you know" so to speak. Probably one of the reasons I found it so hard to leave my troubled marriage so many years ago until it was made indisputably clear to me that my and my children's lives were at risk if I stayed. And yet being the diplomat that I am I have a perfectly good relationship with my ex-husband as we try to co-parent our teens today. I've lived the last 18 years of my life with my children as my main priority. It hasn't been easy, especially since so many of the choices I...

I finally took my Boston kitty in to be euthanized on Friday. It was a tough day knowing what i had to do later but he has been suffering for quite some time now. Now Boston HATES going to the vets. He freaks out, and as soon as we're in the examination room he jumps down and hides under the bench until the vet comes in; then he cowers on the table until the visit is over. Well on Friday he was completely calm and purring up a storm. He gave both me and my partner a cuddle (he's not usually a cuddler) and he lay contentedly on the table purring like crazy while we petted him waiting for the vet to come in. He calmly let her shave a patch off his front paw and didn't even flinch when she put the needle in. He didn't stop purring until she started the injection. I was holding his head while scratching behind his ears as he slipped away. Do you think he knew? I know he made the whole aweful experience a lot easier for me. Farewell sweet kitty.

Well it's been a whole month since I've posted. I'm not very good about posting bad stuff and frankly that's about all I've been dealing with around here. Boston is still with us though. After I took him off his meds he cheered right up. He's still wheezing like a chain smoker, his fur is coming out in clumps and he's leaving presents out of both ends for me to find in my socks but he's happy, dammit! This is his favourite time of year, when the evenings are cool and he can hang out in the backyard. He doesn't want to come in when I go to get him, he's too busy doing the rolling on his back thing on the concrete. Or sitting on the cushions on the wicker loveseat out there surveying his domain. So I'm taking it day by day. When I don't see him getting enjoyment out of life anymore I'm going to have to call it a day. And no, my kitchen isn't coming along thank you very much. The contractors were supposed to come two weeks ...

I just got home from the vet's with my two kitties. Tabitha got her annual shots and checkup, but Boston is quite ill and the vet and I discussed his future; she said I seriously need to think about putting him down. He's on thyroid meds and heart meds. He is not responding well to the thyroid meds (he gets vomiting and diarhea) and he has a heart murmer and an enlarged heart. His breathing is terrible; he's literally gasping for air all the time, wheezing and his insides are all gurgling from his heart to his lungs to his digestive tract. His body is not oxiginated enough, and he keeps loosing weight. I knew this was coming, I just wasn't sure how far to let it go. I give my vet credit; she discussed with me how his quality of life is not very good right now and it's not getting any better. So she gave him an injection of the meds to get him through the weekend and I'll probably take him in one day next week. As I told DS who was with me it's not like we d...

I'm a little embarassed to be posting this but I consider it a public service announcement; keep a fire extinguisher near your bbq. I was bbqing ribs on the weekend following a recipe from a bbq book. It had you put a pan under the grill to keep liquid in and for the drippings to go into. The liquid ended up running dry so I refilled it, but I didn't notice when it ran dry the second time. The drippings that were in the pan then caught fire and the whole Binford 9000 was up in flames! I pulled the pieces of ribs off with Mom trying to blow out the flames as I went (yeah, we're a real Laurel and Hardy team here) , then I slowly poured water into the edge of the pan which put out the pan fire (please don't spray water on a grease fire!) . So then I had a huge mess to clean up out there. I'm just so greatful I didn't burn down my house! :o The Binford survived it's ordeal (would that be "trial by fire"?). So off I went to Canadian Tire the next morn...

Still no knitting news; sorry! The rheumatoid arthritis is kicking in as bad as when I was first diagnosed 17 years ago. Which means very little mobility in my hands and what movement I can make is painful. Not a good recipe for recreational knitting. I did get myself on the waiting list for a rheumatologist in London; hopefully I'll have an appointment within the next couple of months. The one (and only one) in Windsor is booking for next year so I'm hoping to get in sooner by driving to London for treatment. I usually try not to be a whiner and accept that there are waiting lists and stuff, but the problem is that once the damage is done it's irreversable; the key is to get good meds and fast. Unfortunately the family doctor I have now is reluctant to prescribe anything strong. I can't bend my wrists because of the damage done before I got on "good" meds the first time round. Now it's going after my... (what do you call those things?) where my fingers...

Well it's not my knitting. Although I'd like to thank Amanda j for her suggestion about purling the dropped stitches in clapotis; that's speeded things up immensely. Not to say I've got much more done on it, but I'm on the right track anyway. In other knitty news there's suddenly lots of hits on my Diced Tomatoes page; I usually get 5 or 10, this week there's been over 300. What the heck happened there?! Well with a little detective work it turns out the page has been linked from a free pattern site . How cool is that?! Anyway the reason there's been such little knitting is because a) I've been busy trying to "deal" with my 15yo DS who has a birthday in a few days but might not live to see 16 if he keeps it up; b) my ferns are suffering from sunburn and my Peeping Tom neighbours over the back have a clear shot of my pool from their kitchen window, so I spent the weekend building a triangular arbour to give shade/privacy; and c) may ...

After three terms as chairperson of our local union's women's committee I decided to step down and let someone else run the show for awhile. You can't find a better group of women anywhere, and the sisters bought me a bouquet of flowers as a "thanks" and gave me a gift certificate for my favourite store in the whole wide world, Canadian Tire. Well I wasn't sure what to do with this certificate. I didn't want to just get regular old household stuff, I wanted it to be something more meaningful since it's a gift and all. I didn't have any must-have tools on my list not already in my garage at the moment so I just sat on it waiting for the right thing to show up. Then the weather warmed up. I had the scathingly brilliant idea to buy flowers with the certificate and fill my yard with them. Now as I enjoy my backyard all season long I'll think of my sister's and how beautiful they are. I have great knitting news; I found two more balls of ...

DD had her prom Friday night. How things have changed! I don't even have any pics from my prom, Mom had made my dress and I did my own hair and makeup, as most of my friends did back then. Now it's like getting ready for a wedding! Oh well, it's only once, and I have to think it was worth it, don't you? They did have a really good time, and memories for a lifetime. In knitting news (yes! finally something knitting!) I think I'm giving up on the Vogue shawl. The yarn I'm using isn't what was called for and I think it's too heavy. Not only is it more like a blanket but after an interim weighing it's only going to be about 42" long when it's done; that's about two feet short. {sigh} I've been working on this off and on for about a year, and I've currently only got about 32" done. Time to start frogging. On the other hand I can start on Clapotis with the laceweight handpainted yarn in my stash. ;)

You just can't beat the feeling of work being done in the house; especially when you're not the one doing it. Ok, so I had to hire these guys but just leave me in my dreamworld for awhile, won't you? The upstairs bathroom is next in line for a "makeover". The old robin's egg blue tile from the '60's that I can't get clean and the icky bathtub that's lost it's finish need to go, but I can't put in one of those nice all-in-one units because you can't cut out for the window. That means I have to deal with tile again. OR; just call Bath Fitter! This is the company that makes a cover and surround to go over your existing bathtub and tile and they can cut out for a window. Not to mention they're the ones doing all the labour, not me. Beautiful! Now I'd normally be worried that it's a gimmick, that it won't stand up, that I'll regret taking the "easy road". But a very good friend of mine had this don...

I think we've completely missed May and gone straight from April showers to July heatwave. It's been in the 90's all weekend (yes, I know I'm Canadian but I live on the U.S. border and still think in Fahrenheit; it's probably been just over 30 Celcius). I had scheduled the pool company to open the pool on Monday since I was tired of doing most of it myself every year (darn kids make sure they are never around on pool opening day) but it was so hot on Saturday that DS offered to open it himself. Knowing how much work was involved I was loathe to cancel the pool company, but figuring that some good hard labour would do him some good I told him to have at it. Never underestimate the ingenuity of an almost 16yo on a mission. First him and his buddy (whom I call second son; SS) called up a bunch of friends and invited them over for "a swim". Yes, cruel, I know. We threw the pump in the cover to start pumping out the water, usually a 36 or so hour process (...

To all the Mom's out there. Mine's at the symphony this afternoon and will then be coming over for dinner. DH is making dinner to celebrate for both of us. I'm very lucky to have an awesome Mom, but unfortunately she's going through a difficult time right now. Her dog has just been diagnosed with untreatable bladder cancer and we'll be dealing with that next Friday. This is the loving creature who was comfort and company for Mom as she dealt with my Dad's battle with cancer that he ultimately lost. It's going to be a tough day and then some, but I'll be there with her through it. My own offspring have been wonderful. DS has been most agreeable today (that's a gift in itself!) and will be taking me to the movies later. DD jumped major hurdles to get the pictured mug made for me. Does that girl rock or what?! A chip off the old block, I'm thinking. ;) And to top it off she wrote me a poem that made me sound like some kind of hero and mad...

Well not really but everyone will think so when they see us out! DH did a fundraiser last night to fight cancer. In memory of his brother John who lost his battle with cancer last summer, he decided to "take it all off" to raise funds for the Kelly Shire Project. This is a charity that assists women fighting breast cancer with financial aid to help cover some of the expenses that come up when undergoing treatment. So far he's raised almost $4,000 from very generous friends and co-workers with more still coming in. You rock Jeff! To see all that hair come off in all it's glory check out the photos and click on "view slideshow".

Or become one. I can't seem to put this camera down. Not even to pick up my knitting! Ok, that might have a little to do with the fact my rheumatoid arthritis is acting up BIG time, but still... I'm in London this week, but due to two "tenatious teens" and a kitty that needs meds twice a day I'm commuting, which means 4 hours on the road each day. So between car-ass, my rheumatoid arthritis kicking in and the fact that I think I'm starting menopause I'm not the best company this week. And no knitting to top it off. But here's some recent "stuff". First is some cute ducks just to show off how well this camera picks up details. (click on each pic for a better size) Then some other birds; a common grackel, a redwinged blackbird and a barn swallow. This zoom lens is too much fun! I'm even taking pictures of food for Pete's sake! Poor DH wants to die of embarassment when we go out to eat because I keep pulling out the camera. I ...