High School

Got together last night with a few of the girls I went to high school with. Had a few laughs, some good snacks, and an interesting drink that tasted like an orange creamsicle (?)...it was good, but didn't go so well with the asiago/artichoke dip.

She's So Cute!!

Had a little visit tonight from my very special friend, who is so cute and is very sweet! She wanted to come over to see Auntie's tree.

She seemed to love the skating Santa and Snowman.







Her mom came along for the visit, and was nice enough to bring my mom a birthday present--a beautiful little beaded bag which she made to match her rosary beads. It was very thoughtful, and my mom really loves it.

Holidays

Christmas Carols for the Disturbed

* 1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

* 2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

* 3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

* 4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

* 5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

* 6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

* 7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

* 8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

* 9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

* 10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells,....

And Now for Something Completely Different

So after my post, on the Nutters out there, my Blog surfing serendiptiously brought me to a blog that had a beautiful message in two posts, that made me pause and go hmmm, how true and lovely:

Post 1

An old Sufi tradition advises us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through four gates.
At the first gate, we ask ourselves, “Are these words true?” If so, we let them pass on; if not, back they go.
At the second gate we ask; “Are they necessary?”
At the third gate we ask; “Are they beneficial?”
And at the fourth gate, we ask, “Are they kind?”
If the answer to any of these is no, then what you are about to say should be left unsaid.

Post 2

Meet people in such a way that if you die, they should weep for you, and if you live, they should long for you.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

If you have knowledge and wisdom, let others light their candles with it.

What hurts the soul? To live without tasting the water of its own essence.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

Learn silence as you have learned speech. Speech will guide you and silence will protect you.

Expressing spiritual faith in physical practice is the key to life.

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.

Many things in life will catch your eye but few will catch your heart. Pursue those.

One day at a time - this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.

Carb-o-Whore

I am an admitted carboholic, loving my bread, pasta, potatoes, cookies, cakes, oh and fruits. Lately, as my stress level climbed, so has my need for carbs, particularly bread--foccacia, ciabatta, with Black Olive Tapinade, has become a staple for me. I had shared this with my friend, who called me what I thought was a "Carb-o-Whore". Of course, I had found this hysterically funny and ever so witty and apropos.

Today I made tortellini, and shared with said friend and family, who in turn shared some of their "to-die-for" biscotti and other goodies with me, and off we went on our separate ways with our parcels.

After lunch, I had some running around to do, and as I was awaiting my turn in the car wash line, the cell phone rang, and it was Jewels, of the said tortellini/biscotti exchange. We talked a bit about our lunch & dessert, at which point I asked her, if she of the NOT A CARB-O-WHORE mode, had actually eaten some of the tortellini.

She must have asked me about 3 or 4 times what I was saying, as she couldn't understand what I meant, as I'm thinking wtf? I finally said, well, that's what you've been calling me, a Carb-o-Whore, how come you don't understand it? She said, that's because I've been calling you a Carb-o-Voor, not a Carb-o-Whore.

We shared a good laugh about this, and somehow, I think it will not be forgotten soon, and will become part of the vocabulary. Doesn't it describe a carboholic perfectly?

By the way, the biscotti, and the capuccino brownies are fantastic. The biscotti with the black pepper, are a real surprise at first, but by the second bite, I realize how addictive they are. Yummy! Thanks to Jin for baking them, and Jewels & Chris for sharing them with me.

Nutter Buddies

Having had a home computer for a relatively short few months, I have been brought up to speed on the joys of blogging, various "networking" sites, youtube, games, tagging. Strange places like MySpace, Hi5, where one of the goals seems to be how many friends can you accumulate...doesn't matter who they are, so long as you can add to your list.

I have a new job at night, as a MySpace secretary to my 17 year old godchild, to whom I report any activity on her account. She's up to 170 friends, compared to my 4 friends, which strikes her as hilarious and sad all at the same time.

Then there's the thousands of self enlightenment tests. Who needs a shrink when the internet is full of "tests", that can tell you so much about yourself.

For example, I've learned that I act 29; that I am Green; that I am a hornbeam tree(?); that I am the Moon; etc, etc. After awhile, I realized that most of these tests tell you only one thing: QUIT WASTING TIME ON THESE STUPID TESTS. Go do something productive, say like clean the house.

But no matter how nuts you think you are, all you need to do is surf around some of these sites and you quickly realize in comparison, how many other nutters there are out there.

Tacky Rules

Definition of TACKY: not having or exhibiting good taste:

a) marked by lack of style

b) marked by cheap showiness

Lovely? Yes, but you gotta love tacky, and the decorations I love the best are the tackier the better. Each year I search for a new addition to the tacky collection. .



Here are two of my old favourites:




I haven't yet found my selection for this new year, but will post when I do.

If you have any tacky decorations, let's see them!

Shorts and Boots

After planning on having a relaxing evening of puttering around the house, maybe putting up the tree, or maybe getting ready for the big class trip tomorrow, I found myself instead in shorts and boots in the basement.

After hearing all day about the number of homes flooded thanks to the rain, I walked into mine, and immediately smelled something was amiss. Sure enough, the basement was flooded with about 1-2 inches of water all over about three quarters of it. Thankfully, it was just flooded with water and some dirt, indicating seepage, and not sewage.

Spent about 3 hours vacuuming it up, getting about 8 or 9 shop vacs full. Rugs are drenched, with one large area rug, rolled up and still sitting downstairs, as there no way to lift it sopping wet. Nothing damaged, but a LOT of wet boxes, that had to be unpacked and moved and brought outside, dumping more water as I moved them.

Finally finished and have the dehumidifier and fan and fireplace running to try to dry things off. The whole downstairs will need to be washed down and sanitized, but thought I'd wait a few days, since the ground is so saturated that there's a chance more water will seep in. Who needs to go to the gym to get a work out?

This all between running up & down the stairs, as the patient is having a bad few days, and is moaning and groaning in pain.

I am so looking forward to getting away on our class excursion to see the belly dancers in Toronto, tomorrow.

More Weird Things

Fair is fair, and after making a friend give up 6 more items of so called weirdness, here's a few more of mine:

1. As a child I had 3 cats as pets, one after the other, not all at the same time. I named them all Clementine.
2. I drank milk from my baby bottle until I was 5 years old, and haven't drank milk ever since the bottle was taken away from me, except in my coffee.
3. I am so ticklish that I had to stop in the middle of a reflexology appointment as I was laughing and moving too much.
4. I am slightly oc, and have to turn around every morning as I round the corner to make sure the garage door is closed.
5. I have a bad habit of talking when I shouldn't be, and not talking when I should.
6. Little things sometimes bug me more than they should, like people who are late; or people who have 9 items in the 8 item or less check out line.

Tagged

Got a message today that I had been tagged, and that I should check out the offender's blog to learn all about it. Quickly made my way over there, as I had no idea what "being tagged" meant.

The rules are:

I have to post 6 weird things about myself. People who get tagged have to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says “you are tagged” in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

I'll play by part of the rules, but regretfully must skip the last, as I don't know 6 people to tag. Maybe number 1 should be: I hate rules.

Here's my list:

1. I think it's OK to wear high-rise underwear with low-rise jeans.
2. I'd rather to go to the dentist and have my teeth cleaned, than go to the hairdresser's, as I can't stand having my head touched.
   
3. I'm fidgety.
4. I'm a picky eater.
5. I have a warped sense of humour
6. I hate talking about myself.

I could go on and on, but that would violate number 6.

LOL!

Silent Scream

A very old friend, who was hanging around. A vintage doll, which belonged to vintage me.

Today I took the afternoon off work, as there were more than a few demands and chores and "Can you pls help me?", piling up.

Started the afternoon off nicely with Belly Dance class. It's fun, even though my little friend here is probably more flexible than I am, which makes things a bit of a challenge when combined with a general lack of co ordination.

From there, ran around like mad, got everything done, and everyone settled.

Here I sit, ready to either run away and join the circus, or run outside screaming.

Weird Dreams

Had a particularly vivid and weird dream last night. Could have been the combo of pizza, chips, and ice cream, or maybe not.

There was one large white rat and a number of small white mice, running around and alive and well. As expected, this is not a very favourable dream to have.

One of the dream interpetor site states:

Mice

To see mice in your dream, symbolizes domestic problems, business loss, deceit, and insincere friends. It represents minor problems in which you are spending too much time dwelling on.

Hmmmm, I figure it's definately work related, and wonder who is the rat and which are the mice. Usual or new suspects?

Brother Chico

So after 2 days of flustration (lol) trying to get Myspace upload video to work unsuccessfully, it was suggested that I try photobucket instead as recommended by one who knows.

This is "my brother chico" singing pretty for his mommy. If you listen closely you can hear her talking to him.

Attention Christmas Shoppers

It's official, Christmas shopping season has begun.

I promised to take female godchild shopping today, alone just her and I, per her request-- not even her mother was allowed to walk around with us, for 3/4 of the mall visit. I think she needed one of those "it's all about me, attention days." So all cell phone calls had to be kept to a minimum...sorry.

The mall was insanely busy, and Sears even more so. I was looking at a brown suede jacket at Sears, and had my hand on it, when a lady comes up and grabs it off the rack. Since I really didn't want the jacket, and was merely looking at, I made no issue, except to loudly tell Steph what had happened, within earshot of said lady. Welcome to Christmas shopping.

Got another of my Christmas presents bought today, a "replacement" ring for the one my mom lost. It's a mini eternity ring....mini because the diamonds don't go all the way around. It's really lovely, I think, and I hope she likes it.

I had found one that looked something similar to the band that she lost, but thought that since the original is truly irreplaceable, I should get one that's different, as opposed to trying to replicate the lost one. I hope I made the right decision.

I remember I had once "lost" an emerald ring, and looked for ever trying to find it and buy another, until a lady at a jewellery store gave me some good advice...don't try to find one like the one you've lost, as it's almost impossible to find an exact match, and every time you look at it, you'll think of the one you lost, so you should get something different. It was great advice, especially since I found my emerald ring 5 years later. I hide things so well sometimes, that I forget myself where I've put them.

So hopefully she'll like her new ring, and maybe the old one will turn up at some point.

Yeah Right!

While blog surfing one day, came across this site that supposedly uses face recognition technology to see which celebrities you look like, I guess from a facial structure perspective.

So the first time I ran it, it determined that I look like Hugh Grant, Larry King, a bunch of other men, and some woman I didn't recognize. Well it took me a week to get over the horrible news that I look like Larry King, before I mustered up the nerve to try again.

I ran it again, using a different photo, and here's the results below. At least the second time, there were more women than men, which is comforting. Strange that the best match was a girl from the Asian part of Italy. Somehow I'm having a bit of difficulty accepting this facial recognition technology, as there were no duplicates from one to the other, and I don't see any resemblance. It's too bad the celebrity names don't come across, as I only can name one of them.

Trees in Fall

Red and yellow, green & brown, all the leaves are tumbling down, days are nippy, nights are clear, summer's over, autumn's here.

These leaves should be tumbling down pretty soon:

Isn't this the perfect tree to grace a cemetery?

More Barfday Pics

My gym buddies!














Frank the Pie Guy














Me & Mom

















Don't bug us when Deal or No Deal is on.











Nate & Fran

Barfday Pics

Today was my birthday, aka barf day. It started off with the breakfast of champions-- a piece of my birthday cake, which was a Zuppa Inglese--vermouth soaked lady fingers layers covered in an italian lemon custard cream.

Went to work, and got a few calls there, and more at home, of friends & family wishing me a hb. Got quite a few nice presents:

1. A gorgeous pearl and crystal silver necklace and earring set.
2. A camera
3. A beautiful amber pendant and chain.
4. A lovely gold & diamond circle pendant & chain.
5. A gorgeous purse named percy faith and a wallet named wally wallenza. Hadn't thought of these names since high school. This is not funny to anyone but me, like many of my stories --it's one of those you had to have been there!
6. A delicious liqueur: Godiva White Chocolate Cream, which we tasted and it's yummy.

You can never have enough jewellery, wallets or bags.

This evening had a few of my favourite visitors over to help celebrate, and we had a few laughs, and a few drinks and a few snacks. Turning 38 isn't so bad after all. lol! Seriously, I'd been feeling a bit down and wasn't really in a celebratory mood, but it was an unexpectedly nice bd.

Stupid blogger wouldn't line up the pictures and it stopped working after this....will load a few more pics tomorrow.

Deer in the Headlights

It appears that I have a phobia about having my pic taken, and this shows through loud & clear in pictures. This coming from my gorgeous friend, who is extremely photogenic.

Of course, she has decided that she WILL get a good shot of me! Somehow I am reminded of belly dance classes , where she decides that I am going to learn to do something, even if it kills me.

So the Deer in the Headlights picture of me has been replaced by a real deer in the headlights.

Nature shots are so much more stress free.

LOL

Today

So after a tough yesterday and night, my mom was determined to go to the cemetery for the annual all souls' day mass.

Here she is getting ready, putting her earrings on, as she can't/won't go anywhere without them.

She did pretty well, and made it through about 2 hours away from home, and then slept most of the afternoon.

Steph spent the day here, with my computer, except for a few brief pauses to do my hair, have lunch and dinner, and call me to come in to see this or that on myspace or limewire.

Finally got to go on the computer after 11:30, and am enjoying the peace and quiet and darkness.




I spent a few moments with my camera, as you can see. Lots more pics, but here's just a few. My stab at coming out of the anonymity shadows, for today anyways.

I'm slowing discovering some cool things that it can do, like give me a tan when I don't really have one. How cool is that??

Considering this is my first digital camera, I continue to be amazed at the possibilities, and the ease at which mistakes can be erased.

Age is All Relative

The internet does not lie! Here's the latest quiz results for my upcoming birthday. Notice it says what age do you ACT? Could be interpreted in a few ways, I think! LOL!

You Are 29 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Whatever

So I started to write a blog about the past year, since my birthday is looming ever closer. Found it was too introspective, and melancholy, and decided I wasn't in the mood for writing such a blog today. Focus will switch to general stuff:

1. Still loving my pearls.

2. Still loving my new camera. Likely will become a mild obsession for a bit, and must guard against looking like the perpetual tourist.

3. Must get used to this new photo technology, and get over the fact that cropping and photo fixing feels like cheating.

3. Finished off the round of doctor's appointments for the week. YAY!

4. Today's appointment went very well...double yay!!

5. Stubborn mom has decided to prove idiot neurologist wrong about the you will suffer for a year, and actually had a few slightly better than usual days...triple yay!!!

6. Had the afternoon off, as I didn't want to go to back. Got my licence plate renewed. Had to lie and tell them I never received the renewal form, but actually lost it. Oddly, the process was easier than usual, since I didn't have to fill out any forms. go figure.

Bubble Bursting

After waiting for a few weeks for some help from the neurologist, we finally got in today. The visit lasted about 5 minutes, as he pointed out the nerve that's affected from a book- Nerve T12, and then proceeded to tell us that he's seen this many times before, and we can expect it to last a year, and there's nothing he can do.

He was one of those matter of factly doctors, like sorry about your luck, but you're in for a year of pain and misery, nice to meet you and goodbye.

OMG! We both left the office in a state of shock, neither wanting to cry for the other's benefit. This can't go on for a year, as she can't take the constant pain. I'm not sure what to do, but there's got to be something or someone that can help--maybe a naturopath.

After that, I thought a luncheon outing to the Casino might cheer her up, so we went directly there, had a decent lunch and lost a bit of money. More importantly, she got out of the house for about 3 hours.

I came home, and decided it was a great day to get out and cut the grass. After which I brought out my new camera. I should have brought the manual out too, as I couldn't find the digital macro mode, nor how to adjust the aperature settings. Found the former after re-reading the manual, but I haven't figured out how to do the latter.





Veranda Beach in Fall

Early Birthday Gifts

Got my Sunday morning Are you coming to class today and did you want to go out for kwaffee later? phone call. Little did I know there was more to this call than usual.

Being that the time had changed, and I had an extra hour to spare, I got to the gym early and was able to manage 27 minutes on the elliptical, which I hadn't done in over 2 months. Additional motivation was brought on by a step on the scale this morning, which showed I gained about 3 pounds...guess the bread, cakes and sugar is finally catching up, so I better start Mooving My AAss.

Went in to class to get ready, and Jewels came over to show Barb and me her latest creations. Out comes this delightful little turquoise silk bag, from which emerged the most beautiful silver earrings with pearls, swarovski crystals and hearts. The gorgeous matching necklace, also made of crystals, pearls, has a silver heart clasp. It was so beautiful--simple and elegant. As we sat there oohing and ahhing, Jewels whispered to me that it was my birthday present--a week early since she thought I needed a little pick me up, and that she'd been sad that I've been so sad.

I was so touched and am so touched, as I know how much thought and love went into this beautiful set, and the timing of it. Little Ms. Hawkeye actually missed that I had a few tears in my eyes at the start of the class. (And yes I am a little more visibily emotional than usual.)

Later in the afternoon, we went to Fairview Mall to go to Future Shop and Chapters, with a few stops along the way....finally got my digital camera, which is now charging, and I can't wait to play with it.

Snacks for the mall trip included: french fries, lattes, and pumpkin muffin/cake. Since all carried the recommendation of my fitness instructor, I'm sure they were all low cal and healthy. It was fun to get out!

Thank you so much for the beautiful birthday gift==I just LOVE my pearls and crystals and silver hearts-- and it's even more special since it was designed just for me.

Julie you are a real jewel of a friend!

Love,
Me

Aspiration of Becoming a Bag Lady

In my humble opinion, one can never have enough purses, or shoes or coats or jewellery. In that vein, got an invite to a Purse & Jewellery party, and attended this afternoon. House parties can sometimes be a duty or payback attend, but this one was genuinely one that I looked forward to going to. Firstly, since you can never have enough purses, secondly, because it was break from my everyday of Nurse Betty duties, work, and my other two allowable excursions of late--the gym and grocery shopping.

I invited another friend who also needed to get out, and gave her the heads up on how to shop for a purse at these parties. If you see something you like, grab it off the table, as what you see is what you get, and you can't place orders. Well we did pretty good, as we were walking around with about 3 or 4 bags in hand each, to ensure someone else didn't get our bags until we had firmly decided we didn't want them. I came away with a lovely Gucci style large Brown bag, with silver details. Jewels came away with 2 bags that she really LOVES, one large and one small.

I was thinking afterwards, what a great idea...to buy these knock off bags wholesale, and sell at these home parties, perhaps combined with other products, such as jewellery, shoes, hats, etc.

A good time was had by all, I think anyways...good snacks, good coffee, which I had way too much of, and a few laughs. It was so good to get out!

Is it Friday Already?

Another Friday is upon us. Is it me, or are the weeks just flying by? I thought time only flew by when you were having fun. It feels like it flies by regardless of where on life's fun-o-meter I am.

And still, I relish the thought of staying home and doing nothing tonight. It seems like such a treat, to hopefully, be able to sit, watch mindless nonsense on TV, have tea and cookies or whatever I can find in the cupboards.

Speaking of which, I'll have to go out and buy Halloween candy soon. I always get a few boxes of things, twice as much as I need, so I have leftovers. Of course, the least favourites are given out first, with the favourites, usually mini-bags of Fuzzy Peaches; Swedish Berries; Cherry Blasters; Sour Keys, left for me, with chocolates given out first. The chocolates are pre-sorted, with all the mini Coffee Crisps and some Aero's set aside for me. How anal is this? At least the special kids get special treats--a large size of their favourite chocolate bar, which I don't eat.

Here's to a quiet weekend.

GRRRRRRRR

This stupid fucker at work, has the nerve to say to me today that I'm his age--56. Or if I'm not his age, I've done a pretty bad job at taking care of myself. You ugly, stupid idiot, did you get dropped on your head as a child, or have your good judgement filter surgically removed?

After that he comes in to my office, because someone told him that perhaps that wasn't an appropriate thing to say, and he tells me he's sorry, but that he meant it as a complement, because "I know so much" . You ugly, stupid, fucking idiot...how can that be a complement? and I may look old to you, but I'm definitely not stupid, and I'm not about to let you off the hook that easily!

Being upper management, I couldn't really tell him what I thought of him, so I gave him the speel about: You cross the line often, and you're going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and get yourself in some serious trouble, and you better start thinking about what spouts out of your mouth before you say it. Stupid fuck, just doesn't get and responds, maybe I just gotta stop talking to you women.

This is the same guy, with the don't touch my caulk story. I'd heard stories this week from the big boss, that other staff members had complained about him leering at one of the temps, but he said they'd set him up and encouraged him. Being that the other staff members would really do that, stupid fuck was believed, and big boss tells me the story and makes it like the stupid fuck is the poor innocent victim.

Another girl came up to me afterwards, and said he was bugging her with stories about his Viagra prescription, and way too much information about why he needs it.

Big boss got an earful from me, about this jerk, and that perhaps a policy on appropriate office behaviour is in order.

Ashley Sightings

Today is National Be Kind to Ashley Day, and we shall remember it as such, since today is also somebody's boyfriend's birthday.

Ashleys have been spotted a few times today. Not Ashley crossed over into the Ashley zone, and wore her gym pants inside out for about 45 minutes in the S Factor class, before someone noticed, and ceremoniously announced to the ENTIRE class what I had done...my poor fragile battered ego. How shall I ever recover from this embarassment...do I dare ever show my face in class again

Then went to Canadian Tire to pick up a few things, one of which Tide Cold Liquid, they were sold out of ($4.74 vs regular $6.99). I asked Ashley 1 at the check out, if I could have a rain check. Big problem became what was the code, with Ashley 1 asking Ashley 2 how to get the code. They went to three computers, to try to find it, called the manager on the pager, to see if he remembered it off by heart, and this went on for about 5 minutes. As poor Ashley 1 became flustered, and waited/hoped for me to give up, as she looked at Ashley 2, I said I'll just go get the sticker off the shelf... I got a Duh why didn't I think of that look! Because you are Ashley.

I am Not Ashley, having recovered from a momentary cross over about 20 minutes before. Am I becoming Ashley?????

WTF?

Life sucks. When it rains it pours, etc...

As if suffering through pain for six weeks isn't enough, life decides to add insult to injury, and have my mother lose her wedding ring yesterday, which she's worn every day of her life for 49 years.

WTF???????????????????????????

Football Pool

For the second time in five weeks, I've won the football pool at work:

$150.00 in Week 1,
$140.00 in Week 5 (today).

Not a bad return for an investment of $25.00.

Clueless about Football Not Ashley Score 2
Pissed off Know it All Male Football Fans Score 3

Tee Hee!

Break Time

All in all, it was a pretty bad Thanksgiving. Wasn't able to attend the usual family dinners with the usual suspects, had to stay home and continue nurse maid duties.

It was compounded by my brain being taken over by Ashley, whispering in my ear what a great idea it would be to cook the turkey breast roll in a slow cooker. BAD IDEA! Absolutely disgusting, if I do say so myself. Probably the worst thing I've ever cooked. The home made stuffing was fabulous, so ate a lot of that plus a lot of mashed potatoes with gravy...carb junkie's dream meal. Way to go Ashley. I've decided Take Two is in order, so will attempt to find and cook a bird next weekend.

Decided that a much needed break, away from work, and away from nursing duties was in order, to boost my coping skills. Oh, and by the way, I do have a tough time accepting help, but it doesn't mean the offers aren't acknowledged or appreciated.

Today, took the day of work, did much needed stuff in the morning, like laundry and vacuuming, banking, and getting some of my stress out smashing olives with a rock.

Afternoon was spent at Green Bean, having lattes and oxygen and creme brulee and some carrot ginger soup, that took a few spoonfuls to grow on you. Thanks for hanging out with me Jewels, I so needed the break and the company.

Thanksgiving

So I'll admit that I'm prone to negativity and cynicism. Even more of late, being surrounded by the on going effects of shingles, which we found out yesterday at the hospital, have affected her like the 1 in 10 people who develop on-going chronic pain, that even a shot of demerol didn't help for very long.

But in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thought I'd try to at least come up with a few things that I'm thankful for:

1. Family & Friends
2. Health
3. Food on Table; Roof over Head;
4. Clothes and Shoes in Closets.
5. Coffee
6. Candy and Dark Chocolates

In no particular order, as their ranking is subject to change at any time.

Waxing Nostalgic

Came across the words Fuzzy Wuzzy, and couldn't stop thinking about the Fuzzy Wuzzy bath soap I had as a kid.

Thinking back, it was the most disgusting thing as I remember. It was soap in the shape of circus animals, that would grow hair or fuzz or fur,or fungus or some kind, after it had been used once and left out to dry. It also had a surprise toy inside, which I don't really recall what it was, but by all accounts on the internet, was also quite weird. Mine was a pink bear. I only had one, as once it grew fur, I didn't want to use it anymore.

Current Price of Fuzzy Wuzzy: $85

Memories: Priceless

I Am Green

Took a Self Test on www.mysticgames.com and found out that I am Green, as follows:

Which Color Are You?...
You are GREEN, the color of vitality. Green is the most unpretentious of colors. You are generous and kind, and you know how to cultivate all that is good in people. Your friends value your friendship because they know you are dependable, trustworthy, and true. You measure success by accomplishments and growth rather than occupation and prestige. Greens are admirable and uncommon people.

So I am Green, and not with Envy, and not because I need to throw up, but then again that description is a little nauseating.

It's Better to Look Good Than Feel Good

Or so says the old saying, but it's so much easier to just be, methinks

Case in point: Not Ashley's goddaughter has recently decided that my hair could do with a good straightening, since it was looking like an "Afro". Guess what, she was right, and I have now been sporting a pretty smooth (for me) hair do.

It is quite a change, to the point that some people don't recognize me at first, and I must admit that I've grown to like it over the past few weeks. I've been receiving lots of positive comments, so the Afro must go, at least for a while, anyways.

But damn, the Afro is so must easier--wash and wear, air dry, finger combing. Now, I must practice, as I can only get it to about 60% straight, as opposed to hairstylist Steph's 100%. She does it to 100%, and it turns to 90% by morning (which I prefer).

Sounds like a lot of work to me, as I've never been one to fuss with hair. Too much work and all thumbs!

New Mantras: It's better to look good than feel good! or ( It Ain't Easy Looking This Good).

LOL!

Auto Pilot

So after almost five weeks and counting of Nurse Betty duties, I continue to get through the days and nights, by being on Auto Pilot, or so it seems. A few breaks in between have been: the gym a few times a week; TV season premiers; and the computer, when I can get on it.

Lately, the computer is being time shared by various people, with friend and mother interested in freeslots.com and friend's daughter interested in MSN Messenger. I'm on it when they are not around and/or are asleep. Like now for example, when I have the house in total darkness, mom in bed asleep, and me on the computer.

Also helping me get through the day is sugar. I am in such a sugar craving mode, and can't stop eating it. My two favs of the moment:

On top of this, cake, ice cream, cookies, and other assorted goodies.

This week, friend's daughter, Steph, who loves to use my straightening iron, but didn't want me to buy her one of her own, for her birthday, decided that my hair looked "like an afro", which I must admit, it did. She offerred to straighten it, and after fussing with it, for about a half hour, there was my hair in a poker straight never-before seen style. I really didn't like it that night.

Lo and behold the next morning, it had transformed ever so slightly, and was just perfect! Received many rave reviews this week about the hair, to the point that I now don't want to wash it, until my new stylist is over to re do it. Not Ashley is all thumbs when it comes to hair styling. Decision point for the evening: clean fresh afro or not so clean smooth & sleek. Smooth and sleek wins out because I'm too tired to wash hair this evening.

Over and out.

Couch Potato Commentary

In an effort to make the best of things, had an opportunity tonight, since I wasn't able to go out, to actually sit and watch TV, which I hadn't done in quite awhile. I am an unabashed TV addict, and while I take summer's off, the Couch Potato in me, comes back every September/October, as the new programs return.

Tonight was a good night for TV, as I hadn't realized that Grey's Anatomy was back on, and with the Season Opener no less, on a Thursday not on a Saturday. So after a whole summer of waiting to see if she-Meredith- finally ends up with Dr McDreamy, after pining after him the whole of last season: In typical piss-me-off TV fashion, the stage was set tonight, with Meredith uncertain whether she wants the now-returned to her McDreamy, or the vet, who's name I can't remember. The season will be spent with her "dating" them both to decide.

Last night, or was it the night before, I watched one of my other fav shows- Boston Legal--funny, in a dry sarcastic weird way.--did not disappoint, and highly recommend it.

Also, worth a mention is Desperate Housewives, which I suspect will be on soon.

Other fav show- Six Feet Under--ended last year, but can be seen sometimes on Bravo. Definitely, you will absolutely Love It or Hate It kinda of show - dark humour.

That's all for now.

End of the Weekend Thoughts

Further to last post, Friday has come and gone, and the work week looms. Sadly, work has become a bit of a refuge for me, and for once I actually don't mind going back.

Weekend was grueling, and I didn't even have to go to the gym to get my work out, as I had my fair share of work, ranging from the chore of cutting the grass, front and back, which had grown about 1 foot, to cleaning out my mom's garage of 10 years worth of clutter. I removed over 11 bags of garbage, and am still only about 70% done.

All this, plus my new computer activity, has brought on a reoccurrence of my carpal tunnel, in not one, but both of my wrists and hands. I'm hoping that I can get it back under control, with Vitamin B, pain killers, ice, and doing weights again, once it settles down a bit.

Emotionally, it's been rough too, as the shingles just go on and on, and she can't take it, and I can't take it either.

A friend of mine, let's call her Thelma or was it Louise? is also having a tough time, which she so doesn't deserve, because she is a wonderful, kind, strong person, who made it her priority to improve herself, (or maybe just to find herself again,) and her life and has succeeded. Stay strong and focused, and good things will continue to come your way.

I wish I knew the right thing to say, but I don't because I think that the right answers lie within, and are different for everyone. Plus, Dr Phil, I'm not.
That said, I am thinking about you. Know that I'm here to listen anytime.

So a Thelma & Louise runaway doesn't sound so farfetched, again except for the driving over the cliff part at the end, and except for the killing someone along the way. LOL

Almost Friday

At long last, it's almost Friday, and the weekend. It's been a long week, and it'll be great to have a few days off, to hopefully do whatever I like.

Got a lot accomplished at work this week, which surprised me, since I've got so much on my plate at home...I must work better in high stress mode--go figure. Had to cancel an upcoming conference for next week, that would have been at Deerhurst--disappointing but unavoidable.

Mouse Update: Caught 1 poor little thing, and have had cheese stolen and no critter for the past few days. Oh well, at least I've learned how to bait the trap, so I don't get my finger caught in it again.

Made it to two classes at the gym this week...feels good to be back exercising body (and mouth), even if my thighs are a bit wobbly right now.

After gym class tonight, had an eat & run visit at Jewel's, met her mom, ate homemade stew and got a care package of stew and sweets to take home with me. Did this in all of about 20 minutes, before I had to rush off.

Everything was delicious, especially the stew, which had the best spicing I've ever tasted in a stew. I had another bowl when I got home, with mom, who liked it equally as well.

The sweets were all undescribably delicious, from the petit four appetizer, the peanut butter cookie, to my fav--the biscotti.. All excellent, but my personal favourite was the ginger biscotti. Too bad the sweets aren't available on a regular basis for kwaffee tawk sessions.

Thanks for the stew, and for sharing the treats with me, Jewels. Whomever said only children never learned to share, is so wrong!

:)

Work Out

Summer's over, as evidenced by the return of fitness classes this week. Yay to the return of classes, boo to the end of summer and sun.

I found that I did so well for the first month, at keeping up my fitness regimen, but by the second month, my attendance really dropped off, to the point that I hadn't been at all for about 3 weeks.

It's amazing how my aches & pains go away when I'm working out, and how quickly they return when I don't. eg. my hands, especially my left one has been sort of numb and tingly all week.

Tonight, gym normality returned, and while my body protested, and will protest tomorrow, as my muscles become reacquainted, I'm sure, it felt good to move again, and get out of the house for a bit. As usual, the instructor did a fabulous job, even if she was a bit nervous, no one would ever have known it. Tee Hee!

I can't wait for the Belly Dance class on Thursday.

Mouse Tales

Mouse 1
Not Ashley 0












Critters creep me out.

The other night, I go into my mother's garage to take out the garbage. I pick this empty water bottle carton, with the plastic wrap still over it, and out jumps this mouse. Reaction was as you can imagine, quite vocal.

While one mouse, cute at that, is not the end of the world, they usually are not alone, or not alone for long. Action must be taken, even being a little squeamish and not really wanting to hurt the little thing.

I head over to local dollar store, and pick up a pack of 3 traps for $1.00--perhaps mistake number one. Proceed to fridge to get some parmesan cheese to bait the traps, yesterday around noon--perhaps mistake number two, as it's very crumbly.
Carefully set the traps up, and check about three times yesterday--no activity.

This morning, I head over there, and first thing I do is check the traps. Guess what, the cheese is gone and traps didn't activate.

Decide cheese was part of the problem and decide to try soft havarti instead.
First two traps set no problem, third trap snaps down on the index finger of my left hand. It is now a lovely shade of purple. Irony of this is not lost on me--mouse not only escapes unharmed, but also steals the cheese. I, on the other hand, or finger, get hurt by same trap.

After lunch, am cleaning up, and slice the index finger of my right hand on a very sharp knife--it is now sporting a band aid, and is a nice companion to the bruise on the left hand.


Mouse 1; Not Ashley 0

Cabin Fever Pity Party

My mom has been sick with shingles for two weeks now, and while the actual external shingles are getting better, the pain and itching seems to be getting worse. You name it we've tried it, from Calamine Lotion, Aveeno Ointment, Aveeno Oatmeal Bath(which we tried today, and it did provide a bit of very short lived relief), Benadryl pills, Benadryl Cream, Buro Sol Solution. Nothing seems to help for very long, and it seems like the magic pill here will be time. It's so difficult for her to endure, and for me to watch her suffer and not be able to really help.


To boot, at the risk of sounding totally selfish, I have Cabin Fever== I want to go out, I want to go the gym, go shopping, go anywhere, but be stuck at home or at work. I've gone into auto pilot mode just to keep going, and I'm afraid I am in desperate need of a break. I was thrilled just to go to Zehr's tonight.

This on top of the latest major crisis at work--the "ladies" are too cold and it's the end of the world and the sky is falling, and we're all going to get pneumonia & die because it's so cold, and I have to hear the story three times from three different people, just in case I didn't hear the first two times...give me a fucking break.

The building design genius put the thermostat in my office, which has a greenhouse bay window, so try to get that temp right so both my office and the rest of the department is comfortable.

Couple that with a bunch of women, who are difficult at the best times, and who are Olympic Champions at Complaining, and who are in various hormonal stages, from post pregnancy to menopause to everything in between.

Yes it's been a long few weeks, and yes I need a break.

Are you for real?

Came across this informative article, which believe it or not, was posted in all seriousness under the heading: Is Work Making You Fat?

After reading this, I've decided it should be filed under: Are you for real? Do I look like my name is really Ashley?

My personal favourite is the Photocopy Machine Workout. Think they missed the boat, and should have called it: How to Look Like a Total Idiot At Work .

Here's the article:

Avoid Office 'Spread'

Desk jobs are sedentary jobs, and sedentary jobs can result in weight gain and muscle atrophy. The answer: Strengthen your muscles while you work. Dr. Frederick Vagnini, director of heart health centres, recommends three on-the-job exercises to get moving without cutting in to work time:

The Desk Workout. To strengthen calf and ab muscles - and to help with your posture - sit up straight and squeeze in your stomach as you lift up on your toes to tighten your calves.
The Phone Workout. Whenever you pick up your phone, stand up at your desk to give your body a stretch and an energy boost. As you talk, one arm can do small circles, which help tone the upper biceps and triceps. Or, if you have a headset (and enough room for your wingspan), try circling both arms.
The Photocopy Machine Workout. When you're copying a big batch of documents, don't just stand there while the machine sorts your reports. Do a set of lunges or march in place to get your blood flowing.

Gifts

My friend J went on vacation for about three years, oops I mean weeks. She came home last Friday the 25th, at which point my mom got sick, and while we'd spoken regularly on the phone, we hadn't been able to go out for kwaffee tawk, and/or see each other live & in person. Finally today, we were able to get out for a bit and visit the local Starbuck's, for latte's and a delish pumpkin cream muffin, which we split--knowing that gym classes start next week.

From her travel's, J brought me back the following beautiful items, which the pictures do not do justice to, and which she really didn't have to do:

Oriental Tea Mug

Added secret bonus--it WAS filled with my favourite dark chocolate!

Silver "Unbreakable/Unbroken" Heart

This heart is lovely just to hold, and is especially so, since it makes a beautiful melodious sound when you move it, which I very quickly discovered, and couldn't stop doing, sometimes ignoring J, as I zoned out listening to it. It will come in handy to zone out the negativity at work.

What's truly priceless about it, is that it was given as one of just a few, to J's special friends.

Thank you for the gifts, the best of which is your friendship, and for thinking of me and considering me a special friend! I treasure your friendship as well, and wish you all the best in life.

From: An Unusally Open Not Ashley

Goofy Things We Do

Not Ashley is sometimes prone to do Goofy Things, particularly when it involves a "free" sample and/or promotional giveaway.

However, Not Ashley would never do something as goofy as this person below did, for a free tiny sample of lavendar body spray.

And what's wrong with her hair????

Picture replaced so Not Ashley can return to anonymity, but Not Ashley's hair has been looking a lot like this bird's lately.

My New Couch Set

After months of searching, I finally located a couch & loveseat that I liked on Thursday night, and with the service that comes from buying from an independant store, they were delivered this morning.

The micro-suede fabric is SO comfy. I like the new furniture, but as with getting anything new, it makes the rest of room look like it needs some renovating, ie. new paint; new lamps; new pictures; new drapes, etc. etc. Since it took a few months to find the couch, that should buy me at least a few months to fix the rest up.

Back to B.C.

So my friend Joanne came over tonight for a visit, as she leaves to go back home to B.C. tomorrow. We've been friends since high school, even though she moved away shortly after the end of school, we've kept in touch, on an infrequent basis, but are able to pick up as though no time has passed when we do see each other. It makes me sad to see her go, but it was great to be able to spend time with her, and the other high schoolers, thanks to her efforts.

On another note:

My site is boring, must add pictures. Oh, Not Ashley, what a green thumb you have! Not!

It's been a rough week at work, and it's only Wednesday. Now I discover that I need to work on Saturday, as we're doing phase 1 of the move...to be continued by working next Saturday, for phase 2 of the move.

I keep hoping that I'll win the lottery--me and most other working stiffs, I know. It wouldn't take much for me to leave- a few hundred thousand would be just fine, thank you very much...more would be better, but that would be enough to buy me a temporary retirement.

The "Long" Weekend

Well, it feels like it should have been a long weekend, since I crammed so much doings into it..Not Ashley is feeling a bit tired as it winds down this Sunday night.

Friday night I attended the impromptu high school reunion. About 9 girls showed up, and it was nice to see most of them. One I hadn't seen since leaving high school, let's say more than a few years ago, and it was especially nice to see her. Of the others, two I've kept in touch with on a regular basis over the years, and the rest I've seen around town on occasion. It was good to share some laughs over old memories, and as usual, I am reminded of something I supposedly did and/or master-minded, that I genuinely can't remember--must be selective memory and/or old age!

Per the norm for these things, there is always one in the crowd that feels she's better-- prettier, younger looking, more in shape, can ride 600 miles on her bike in one day, looks like her son's wife not mother, doesn't colour her hair because it's so dark, is faster than a speeding bullet, and can leap small buildings in a single bound, etc, etc,-- than the rest of us, and spends the whole evening telling us all about it. Yes this is the same one that asked if WE were bringing our hubbies to the party. I remember her being like this a bit in school, but no where near like this. One of my friends kept looking over at me, trying to catch my eye to make me laugh as she went on and on--I wouldn't look at her b'c I was having a tough time not laughing. We all politely listened, but then "perfect girl" made the mistake of leaving early. About 10 minutes after she goes, one of the others pipes up and says, was it just me or is she really "I I I me me me" now? Too funny.

Got home around 1:30, and woke up the next morning before 7:00 to catch the Go Train to the CNE. Spent about 10 hours there, walking, shopping, eating, more shopping and more eating. Besides the food and the shopping:

• they had a Levi's booth set up, where you'd go into this glass enclosures, and this machine -ultra sound, or xray, or digital imaging of some kind, would circle around you, and print out the style and size of Levi's jeans that best suit your body. Got a print out, so I'll have to actually try them on to see how well it worked.
• After watching the Guess Your Age or Weight guy, and Libbey going first, I finally mustered up my courage to go and see what he'd guess for my age. It was worth the $2.00 I spent, since he pegged me at 6 years younger than I am, and he was worried because he thought he'd guessed too high. Right before I revealed my age, he was showing the crowd his written guess and saying he should go lower. Made my day! I did cheat a bit, because I told him my name was Jennifer..was going to use Ashley, but Steph said that was pushing it just a bit too far. I'd noticed that they ask your name, which may provide a little bit of a clue, ie. not too many Jennifer's in my age bracket

After walking around there for 10 hours, on only 4 hours sleep the night before, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Today, I spent the day with mom, going to church at 9:00 a.m. with her--another early morning-- off to Casino for brunch--more food (A Chocolate fountain no less), and then home to wait for a few of my cousins, with new baby in tow, to attend the Feast. Too cold for baby to go in procession or hang around school yard, so after a quick walk up there, we all went home for pizza and home made capicolla with coffee and delicious but of so fattening mini cream puffs. (Even more food)

Noticing any common themes here?

Blame It On My Horoscope

My chuckle for the day came from reading today's Horoscope...

Scorpio
October 23 - November 21

Try to see the lighter side of things, dear Scorpio. This may be difficult, since your emotions may be taking on a war-like quality, and you will feel the urge to dominate in every situation. Try to focus your energy into positive channels, and work to make the best of every situation. Much of the drama you are enveloped in is created by your own imagination. You are probably making mountains out of molehills.

Serenity, Peace and Love

After two negative blogs, I have emerged from the fog, to write a positive one. Yes I had a couple of bad days, brought on by going back to work. Thanks for reading my rants and complaining. Fortunately, the weekend is now in sight, and I'll settle back into the work groove, or is it rut, by the end of the week ---just like the Borg-they assimilate you, and resistance is futile!

A few interesting things will occur this weekend, some even of an Ashley nature:

Friday night - High School Re-Union

• bring dessert, not sure what yet
• wear something that makes me look pretty good.
• Give thanks that I've gone to the gym, and my body's not half bad. (Thanks for your help, my personal trainer J)
• Think of all the stupid stuff we did in high school, so we can laugh about it.

Saturday - Let's go to the Ex.

• Wake up early to catch 9:00 Go Train
• Spend most of the day in the International Building, looking at things from around the world.
• Hope to find Belly Dance Scarves for me and my friends
• Hope they give volume discounts!

Sunday - Let's go to the Hop

• Wop Hop (aka Feast of the Assumption Italian festival)
• Annual tradition which just can't be missed, even Mangia Cakes check it out.

At some point, go with godson's girlfriend to check out Wedding Dresses, which she sweetly asked me to do.

Full report on all activities to be provided following end of said activities.

NOT Cranky Wanky!

P.S. Note to J-- I didn't mean my I noticed and didn't want to encourage you comment in a negative way--some things don't just translate well in print. Your long pause spoke volumes, and I hope you understand where I was coming from--A place of Friendship and Concern. I will try not to do that via e-mail again! Sorry

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Back to Work I Go

So after two weeks vacation, I returned to work, and found I was not 2 weeks behind but felt like about 20 weeks behind. Somehow the little worker elves that should do my work when I'm not there, have never showed up. Needless to say, it's not been fun, and has totally stressed me out, in a mere two days. But I must admit that I haven't really been myself for the past few months, and it doesn't take much to stress me out these days.

To top it all off, my friend from high school, Joanne, who lives in B.C. is in town for a visit, and has decided that she wants to have a get together for a bunch of us on Friday night at her mom's place. She had tried to pawn the arranging off on me, when she was still at home, but I wouldn't do it. I haven't really kept in touch with most of them, and I couldn't really be bothered nor have the time to take this cause up.

So today, Joanne shows up at my mom's place at lunch, saying she'd been "all over town" looking for me, and was annoyed that I wasn't at work, since she'd stopped by there to discuss the plans and start making phone calls (and had come over last night, when I was at Sahla Thai) .

Joanne tells me she's coming over tonight so we (I) can make the phone calls, and I should spend the afternoon trying to get phone numbers--for women whose married names I know not--yeah right!

She comes over at 7:00 with her daughter, and I've got the Cable Guy here trying to hook up the internet, and wanting to take the easy way out by suggesting he drill an outside wall, and wrap the cable around the entire side, back and other side of the house to hook it up. I said, why can't you got through the linen closet, cold air return, etc and hook it up through there. Well, he wasn't pleased as this took him over an hour to do, eventually through the cold air return. But as you can see, he managed to get it done, and I'm on the computer at 12:30 am doing this.

We found about 4 names, and got ahold of them, with my unlisted number being passed around a little too much for my liking. Joanne invites one of the women to come over, which she does after about an hour, and they hang around until after 11:00--but we did laugh stupidly during their visit.

My choice for the evening would have been to BE ALONE and BE A COUCH POTATO or if I wanted to be sociable, go to my mom's to visit with the neighbours relatives from France, who I haven't seen yet, and were there having pizza and wings.

While this sounds like I'd like to add to my list, I really don't, because I know it was my mood, and not her. But really, I can't be in all places at all times, and I can't be all things to all people!!!!!!

Enough said, and while it was good to vent, the next blog must be positive! Not sure when, but it will be positive LOLOL!

Cranky Wanky

Qualifications for the List

My godson Mark, who had the misfortune? of inheriting some of my personality traits, has this great t shirt that says, Everyday I'm forced to add another name to the List of People who've pissed me off.

Today was a good day, since nobody pissed me off.

However, since this is not, unfortunately, an everday occurrence, I decided I'd think about what people do that actually bugs me. Here's what came to mind to start. I will force myself to stop at a reasonable number, as I'm sure I could keep going and going. And yet, I have mellowed as I've grown up, aka gotten older, so the list is a lot shorter than it would've been years ago.

Things people do that will get them on my list of People Who Pissed Me off Today, in no particular order.

1. Liars
2. Kiss-Asses to get ahead
3. People who expect you to kiss their ass.
4. Two faced back stabbers
5. Unreliable
6. Bitchy
7. Chronically Late
8. Inconsiderate
9. Guilt Trippers
10. Park on my lawn ( see number 8)
11. Borrow stuff and never give it back, even when you ask.
12. After taking a year to give stuff back that they've borrowed, ask to borrow it again.
13. Unfair
14. Play dumb or stupid to get out of doing things
15. Steal parking spots that you're waiting for
16. Cheap
17. No Sense of Humour
18. Selfish
19. Unreasonable expectations
20. Try to rip you off or take advantage .
21. Inconsistent
22. Judgemental
23. Pompous
24. etc, TBA

I think I better stop now. LOL

Blogs?

So up until a few months ago, I had never heard of blogs--no I haven't been living in a cave, just used my computer for work-related stuff only. At first glance, it seemed so weird, like an invasion of someone's privacy, or reading someone's diary surreptitiously, especially when it's someone you know. But then I guess the people you know wouldn't tell you about their blogs unless they wanted you to read them.

My friend J, has highly recommended the cathartic benefits of blogging, so here I begin. Her blog is fabulous, just like her! I know you are reading this, and it was great to talk to you on the phone, while you are away.

This blogging should be fun (?) for someone who doesn't like to share thoughts and feelings, and lives a pretty mundane boring life. What to say, what to say? And how to keep it balanced and not have it turn into my litany of List of People Who Have Pissed Me Off Today.

Remains to be seen!

Answers

There must be a better way to set up a link than what I've done here. Can someone explain?

Here's the Answers:

1. Light Beer
2. Eye Pod
3. Pool Table
4. Gator Aid
5. Tap Dancers
6. Hole Milk
7. Knight Mare
8. Egg Plant
9. Dr. Pepper
10. Assaulted Peanut
11. Card Shark