So This Is Married Life?

Much Ado about 2012

2012-01-07T15:36:00.001-05:00

So I felt that the new list deserved its own post. I've decided to not cut and paste last year's list in to "help" me along...it's a fresh start. Despite the fact that I just read last year's list and made my comments. Without further ado, here's 2012's To Do:

Do the upgrades that I have purchased for the house. I have the paint for the side door and front shutters, the paint for the trim on the living room window and spindles, and the paint for the front door. I need to use it. As well, I have a new light for the patio. I need to get it up in the spring.
Move. I spent part of the summer lap swimming, and loved it. I want to start swimming at the municipal pool again. I've bought a new, smaller pair of jeans. I would love to shrink out of them. I've stopped drinking pop, but it will take more than that and I know it.
Cook at home more - like, 5 nights per week consistently. I started taking pictures and posting them to Facebook last year. My new project is a blog of what I make. I'm hoping I update there more than I update here. Sigh.
Repaint the upstairs bathroom. I haven't told J this yet, but I want to repaint the bathroom. We currently have a double towel bar that is pulling out of the wall. He wants it replaced, and I agree. I need to decide what I want to put up instead, and then do it. I am much enamoured of stripes right now. In greens, blues, and chocolate browns. Then all the towels I have will still work. If we don't go away for March Break, perhaps then.
Complete the 1000 Gifts in 2012. Have you ever read Ann Voskamp? I can never decide how I feel about her...hers is a style of writing that I do not enjoy. But I've taken up the challenge of 1000 gifts to bring joy this year. My calendar is printed, and I've started.
Use the library. J is in the market for an ereader. I can't decide if that's something I really want. But I do have a library card that I don't use enough. I think about purchasing cookbooks, and then I think, "Why don't I get this from the library?" I think of a movie that I want to see that's been out for a while, and I realize that I could borrow it from the library. I want my card to smoke in 2012. Or, at least obey the laws of thermodynamics and warm a cup of tea.
Organize. Erg. I'm moving into larger categories and away from specifics. Organize means deal with the boxes on the floor of the living room. Deal with the black hole that is my office. Keep working on picking up what needs to be picked up. But the boxes are the priority. It's slowly getting there.
Entertain more. This may be the only thing on the list that involves J directly. J and I both want to see our friends more, and to spend time with them. We'd like them at our house. We've talked about having people in once a month. That helps with my organization thing too.
Get a handle on our finances, and our legal stuff. J and I have been making some strides towards this recently, some of which I'll share later. The big thing is we have no will. If I die, J loses the house seeing as the title is in my name and the estate would sell it. This is something that just makes sense.
Apply for a new position at work. The hiring pool will be opening soon. I would like to move up, even though it scares me to death. If not, I think I need to spend some time with a career counsellor talking about what I want to be when I grow up.

So there it is. Only 10 this year, but I feel they're ambitious. Doable, but ambitious. Here's to the year ahead!!

Recapping the Past Year

2012-01-07T14:46:00.001-05:00

Wow. The year is gone. I'd like to say that I've done lots, but I haven't. I am nothing, if not the immoveable mass. Let's review the 15 for 2011 and how we did, shall we?

Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May. Ha!! Shout out to my friend Scott, who made this happen with J one day. The long metal things that were to go into the wall were the wrong size when you did what the directions said mean that it's allllllll good that Scott and J did this. I would have drilled the holes and cried. A lot.
Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people. I may never do this. You know how people talk about never seeing Star Wars, or reading Anna Karenina? Perhaps this is how I should view my wedding - the epic I never finished.
~~Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy)~~. Hooray! There are shut off valves and new taps, thanks to a faulty trap. The plumber came, and an hour later we had a working laundry sink! I get to replace this one!!!
Repaint the side door off the garage, as well as ~~the front door shutters~~, and the trim around the new window as well as the wood trim and spindles at the front door and the top of the stairs. The paints are all on the living room floor, at the moment. I painted the shutters this summer. They look fabulous. I'm hoping we don't go away for Victoria Day, and that the weather is nice.
Replace the light fixture on the patio. We bought a light this week. That's part of the Victoria Day list. Must convince J to stay home.
Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house. Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door. The front window has been replaced. And the storm door. I've decided to repaint the shutters. I'm hoping to go nowhere for Victoria Day, and paint then. The shutters and the garage door. And the front door. I've decided that it needs another coat of paint. Notice how I wanted to stay home last year, and we didn't?? Yeah...In January, I have high hopes.
Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it. I've researched buying the manual online. Has anyone ever done this? The machine is about 55 years old, but it's a Kenmore - and was top of the line in its day. I want it for curtains and cushions and so on.
Deal with the boxes on the living room floor. I'm getting there. I read about an article about throwing out 50 things at a time. That sounds doable. There are more than 50 things on my living room floor.
Buy a great carpet for the living room. And great curtains. Must. Deal. With. Boxes.
Practice the guitar. Ongoing. Still love guitar, playing Radiohead right now.
Freecycle more. Candles, gift bags, etc, etc. I also have an Ikea floating shelf to dispose of on Kijiji. I still have these. Go figure.
Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com. More on my new project. They dovetail nicely.
Research and plan for getting a dog. This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months. We're thinking summer. This is currently on hold.
Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much. Work started, and I quit moving. It's very sad.
Read. I went back to work, and quit reading. My mother gave me a 2 book series for Christmas, and my father gave me The Wealthy Barber Revisited. I'm hoping to read them before June.

Scenes from a Football Game

2011-09-05T21:43:00.001-04:00

(In the car, tons of lightning and wind outside. My mother has managed to get the Sweet Marie bars out of the cooler by dragging the lawn chairs into the back seat and leaning into the cooler)

Mom: We need to get these out. I think I have an emery board. It's cardboard though. I'm not sure I'll be able to get more than one or two before it will be ruined.

I am so glad I remembered that there were some settings of plastic silverware in the bag of football paraphernalia.

Let's Go Blue

2011-09-04T20:44:00.001-04:00

Direct quote from me to my mom yesterday at the game:

"Well, when the tornado comes, we should be safe in this concrete vault."

Yep. Welcome to the Big House, mom.

Fancy! (aka I Clean Up Good)

2011-08-09T10:45:00.000-04:00

I say often that Cat Deeley's hairstylist (or stylist in general) should live in my closet. I warn any hairstylist that I go to that my hair will never look as nice as it did when I leave their chair because I don't style it. Heck, I don't even blow dry it in the middle of winter. Most of them laugh me off. The few who take me seriously and give me a great cut that looks awesome after I do nothing are worth every cent I pay them. Seriously. I blame my mother for this.
As a child, my mother had my hair cut short. Really short. I was mistaken for a boy short. It wasn't ego boosting, and I'm not posting pictures. And while that haircut made the most sense for a mother with short hair who had no idea what to do with her daughter's hair, it meant that I never learned what to do with hair other than wash it and comb it.
In high school, I won a perm in a draw, and I started to grow my hair, much to my mother's chagrin. I believe that my hair may have been the biggest rebellion of my high school career. Like every other girl in my high school, I had a spiral perm for years until I looked at my yearbook and discovered I had the same haircut as 90% of the female population. At which point I went back to straight hair, had it bobbed, and never looked back. While it has been all lengths from my ears to my shoulders, I have had the same hairstyle for the past 20 years. It works with my hair, it's easy to maintain, and it's wash and go.
Which when you come right down to it, isn't a bad thing. I buy shampoo and conditioner and steal J's hairspray on the off chance I need it. I've experimented wildly with colour, which really is a hobby in and of itself, but so long as I can pull my hair into a ponytail with a black covered elastic, we're good to go.
But I admire people with fancy hair. People who can braid it, and put it up and make themselves look good. The height of my skill is really twisting it and holding it in place with a big clip. If I'm looking for fancy, I'd rather buy a great hat.
Hat wearing is a lost art. Not basball caps, but proper high tea or Sunday service hats. I was born in the wrong time. I have many. Both winter and summer. With feathers, and ribbons and even earflaps. I have never been so happy to have a good, solemn hat as I was at my great aunt's funeral on the 22nd of December when I whipped out the earflaps under the brim of my hat. This summer I decided that I wasn't buying a new dress for wedding (How thrifty!), but I would buy a new hat (How extravagant!). I spent as much as I would have on a new dress.
I started searching for a facinator, which led to Etsy, which led to a local girl who specializes in wedding accoutrements. She donates part of the proceeds to a project in Ghana, and she does fantastic work. I custom ordered a facinator from here. If you're looking, I highly recommend Corrinne! Check out her stuff at Buds and Blooms. I'm now in love with her headbands. Sigh.
The thing with a great facinator is you need equally great hair, which we've already determined that I can't do myself. So, I found someone I think I'm happy with, and I'm now ready to unveil Sarah's fabtastic wedding hair, also known as I wish I had talent to do this:

This is me, after the ceremony. Unfortunately, Mr. Blue shirt behind me means you can't really see the teal feathers. Please excuse the sexy tan line. I got rid of it the Monday after, after looking at this picture. Sigh.

These slightly fuzzy ones were taken by my slightly tipsy, visually impaired husband after the party. They're not the best. He's learning to use my camera. However, the facinator and my hair colour from January (I KNOW) are both looking good here. One More. I'm posting for posterity, or for when I think I've never had good hair.

Yep. We should all have hairdressers in our closets, and dress up more often.

One Month Down...

2011-07-23T21:13:00.000-04:00

So summer has been happening. You'd think from the lack of time that I spend here I would be out in the real world, but sadly that is not the case. Summer has been lovely, though.

We spent a few days at the beginning of July visiting J's dad, and going to Cleveland for a couple of ballgames. We also visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I highly recommend. We weren't sure what to expect, especially with taking my parents, but the 4 of us had a good time. J's equally a iffy in museums: he can't read the captions on things and get bored quick. He found lots to do too. A great afternoon for the lot of us.

I didn't put together a Summer 15. I'm soldiering on with the 15 for 2011. There may be a little editing as we go. Let's see, shall we?

Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May. I'm not sure this one will ever happen. The box moved to my family room floor when I hosted a wedding shower in the living room in June. I have a friend who's promised to help, but our schedules haven't meshed. Le sigh.
Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people. I've picked up a new project, and this has fallen off the radar. More on the project when I'm ready. It's not going as fast as I'd like.
~~Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy)~~. Hooray! There are shut off valves and new taps, thanks to a faulty trap. The plumber came, and an hour later we had a working laundry sink! I get to replace this one!!!
Repaint the side door off the garage, as well as the front door shutters, and the trim around the new window as well as the wood trim and spindles at the front door and the top of the stairs. I have the paint! We bought it yesterday! I'm not going to get it done before the small group BBQ, but it will happen!!!
Replace the light fixture on the patio.
Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house. Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door. The front window has been replaced. And the storm door. I've decided to repaint the shutters. I'm hoping to go nowhere for Victoria Day, and paint then. The shutters and the garage door. And the front door. I've decided that it needs another coat of paint.
Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it. I've researched buying the manual online. Has anyone ever done this? The machine is about 55 years old, but it's a Kenmore - and was top of the line in its day. I want it for curtains and cushions and so on.
Deal with the boxes on the living room floor. For the wedding shower, I compacted everything yet again and we're down to a neat little line along the wall. I would really like this done before I go back to work.
Buy a great carpet for the living room. And great curtains. Must. Deal. With. Boxes.
Practice the guitar. Ongoing. We've been on a U2 kick recently, with One and Sunday Bloody Sunday. I heart guitar.
Freecycle more. Candles, gift bags, etc, etc. I also have an Ikea floating shelf to dispose of on Kijiji.
Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com. The crazy pictures on Facebook continue. I sat down at the dining room table at the beginning of the summer, and made a big list of things to make. I'm getting through the list. We're having fun with our BBQ, have started having people in more regularly, and are eating at home most of the time. Going out is so easy...and so expensive!
Research and plan for getting a dog. This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months. We're thinking summer. This is currently on hold.
Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much. I've started lap swimming at the municipal pools in town! I love the outdoor one!! I'd like to start some sort of accountability around this too. Yoga is on hold until the fall...everything is in summer mode. But both the Doctor and the Osteo are happy about the swimming.
Read. I've been reading more. We did a series at church about our relationship with technology, and I've been working my way through the reading list. It's be fascinating to read about the online personality, and what is happening to our brains. Right now, I'm in the middle of The Help. It's so good!

It's coming, isn't it? I need to post more regularly, and clean my house, but I look at the list and the number of ongoing projects, and I think that things are doable. They have to be. Or the list will never roll over, and that would be so wrong.

On Cooking, Accountability, and Being Forgotten

2011-05-11T20:47:00.000-04:00

You know what magazine I love? Despite the fact that it is a 40 page advertisement that shows up quarterly? The Kraft Canada What's Cooking magazine. I positively salivate when I know that it will soon be arriving, and I will have another 40 pages of not-so-good-for-you-but-oh-so-delicious-and-freaking-simple recipes will soon be showing up in my mailbox. Besides, when I'm trying to cook at home more, Kraft makes this waaaaay easier.
To go with this, I have been spending the last few months uploading pictures of my dinner to Facebook. When I make something new, and to prove that I'm eating at home, I take a picture or 2 of dinner and upload it so that my friend Scott knows that I have cooked again that day. After giving me a hard time for going to the grocery store and then eating dinner out, I started posting pictures to make a point that we do eat at home. Now, it's as much for me as for anyone else. Accountability that makes me giggle is always effective. So, if you're my friend on Facebook, you often know when I've made something new...but I've been a little lax recently. I don't think I got the burritos last week...or the asparagus and snap pea stir fry earlier this week.
I subscribed to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food for 5 years, and I make a ton of stuff out of those too, but when I want something quick, tasty, and disgustingly simple, Kraft wins, hands down. Case in point: tonight's dinner. I made a crockpot lasagne that took me maybe 20 minutes to throw together, the longest part of it being the browning of the ground beef. Likewise, when I don't know what to make, the Kraft Mexican Bake Thing is an easy go to recipe. "Bake Thing" not being the actual name, but the name by which it is known here on the mountain. It's the only reason I keep a case of Kraft Dinner in the house.
So as I have been getting ready for hosting a wedding shower in June, I started looking for fun, easy desserts in my back issues of What's Cooking. It was then that I realized that I hadn't received an issue since the Holiday '10 issue with the Toblerone Cheesecake on the cover.
I started searching the Kraft Canada website - had the decided to get rid of my favourite advertisement? Apparently not, seeing as I could see the cover of the Spring '11 issue, and flip through the digital issue. In poking around, I discovered that Kraft is "not taking new subscriptions at this time." But where was my issue???
I was home today, with a Dr.'s appointment smack dab in the middle of the day (I'm fine - just in case you wanted to know, and no, I'm not pregnant) so I decided to phone Kraft and ask politely where my magazine is.
Ready for this? I was removed from the mailing list for a reason no one can explain. Um, what? But it's one of the few things I enjoy receiving in the mail! So the girl went to see what she could do. Happily, she readded me to the list. But I might miss 2 issues...which she's going to make sure get sent to me.
I'm so happy! Having stopped my subscription to Everyday Food, this is really my only new source of recipes. As I cross things off my list (the goal is always to make at least 3 new recipes out of each magazine. I make a list that is constantly updated so that I know what I want to make.), it's nice to know that there will be magazines and recipes to crowd out the other favourites in my repertoire.
It's the little things, really.

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

2011-05-05T21:08:00.000-04:00

Osteopathy had made me realize something. I didn't think particularly hard when I decided to become a teacher. I mean, a music degree in education really qualifies you for little to nothing else, but I'm not sure I truly thought this through.
There are a lot of cool jobs out there. Perhaps it's the time of year, or that I'm just *really* tired, but I'm wondering why I didn't consider "gold digger" or "slot jockey" as a viable career option. Perhaps it's the fact that my husband is unemployed and unable to collect benefits because he's an immigrant that makes me think that he's considering new options and so should I.
It's been a hard couple of weeks at school. It's that time of year when kids brains turn to thoughts of summer and they become stupid. Suspensions rise, productivity decreases, and my office becomes a hopping place. I feel like I've been going non-stop for the past little bit, and we still have 2 months left. Don't get me wrong. I do love my job. It's challenging and always changing, and I get to work with some great kids. I just sometimes think that there should be more than what I'm doing.
Recently, I've been wondering what I could do from home. I would love to do something creative. I would like to do something that allows me to direct my time a little more. I would like to do something that doesn't make me think, "REALLY? I went to university and beyond so that I could reason with a defiant and mentally ill child/ explain to a parent why they should call the police over what happened last evening after school and off school property/ convince a staff member why they can't say that over the PA in front of their class."
I actually said to a staff member when she asked me what I wanted to do today "get in my car and go home." And I meant it. It's not a good scene.
J and I are working on what he's going to do next, and how I fit into it. For now, I'll be staying where I am. But I may be dreaming of becoming the next Etsy mogul.

While it Smacks of Sham...

2011-05-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

So I've been going to an osteopath. It makes me question why I chose my current career path. Let me explain.
Back in the winter, around the same time that my blood pressure went all wonky, I realized that I was walking around the school with no neck. Literally, my shoulders were up around my ears and I was walking like Lurch. It was so wrong. I spent time visualizing length in my spine and consciously lowering my shoulders; and complaining to the kindergarten teacher about how I felt. She suggested that I make an appointment with her osteopath, who is part way between work and my house.
"Just go with it," she said. "There's something about it that just makes you wonder."
So at the beginning of February I made an appointment. Essentially, I went, laid on a table fully clothed, and closed my eyes as the osteo took the temperature of my feet before working her way up and down me with a pressure that wasn't as deep as a massage. When she was done, she said in a calm, soothing voice, "I'll leave you for a few minutes to let the patterns settle." Um...okay...this is when I began to wonder about what I'd really gotten myself into.

I went back to work and talked to the kindergarten teacher again about how I wasn't really sure about what had happened, and how I felt better (maybe), but wasn't really sure.
"Just go with it," she said. "It makes no sense, but keep trying."

So I went back in March. And wondered why I was there.
In April, I went to my next appointment. I'd been suffering with congestion and mysterious bug bites on my legs (which have since been diagnosed as a minor case of shingles). I told her about the bites, but didn't mention my nightly congestion. It didn't occur to me that it was at all important.
I laid down on the table, closed my eyes, and let her go to work. She spent a lot of time working my outer thighs. At the end of the session, after the patterns had settled, the osteo said to me, "You're really congested! I could feel it in your system." I explained that yes, I was, and that I usually stuffed up in the evening and then didn't sleep well because of the snoring. She said, "I spent a lot of time releasing your sinuses. See how you do this evening."
Releasing my sinuses? Riiight. Yet, that was the first night that I didn't stuff up and sleep poorly in weeks.
I'm going back in May.

Welcome to Spring

2011-04-30T20:43:00.000-04:00

Sigh. Perhaps I need to make the commitment to write quarterly. This seems to be all I am good for. A quick update on life:
      J has lost his job, and hasn't worked since January. While this doesn't affect our lifestyle (beyond my loss of a cleaning lady), it does affect his mental well-being. And mine. He needs gainful employment. Anyone have a job he can do from our house?
   I have once again been unsuccessful in my campaign to become an elementary school principal. There's something about my interview style that turns the committee off. I, apparently, have "a quality". This has made me sink back into daydreams of chucking it all and running off to make homemade preserves and sell them in a handmade stall on the side of the road...or to hie myself off to academia and get another degree...or win powerball and megamillions and spend the rest of my life travelling the world.
     Actually, I do have a small side project that I'm exploring at the moment. If it comes to fruition, I'll share.
     Invariably what I return to when faced with disaster and a lack of control is making lists so that there's an illusion of control. I turn to the 15 for an update as I begin to think about summer projects and what I want to do with those 10 blessed weeks that can't come soon or fast enough.

Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May. I'm not sure this one will ever happen, despite the fact that I want the square of living room floor back. It is now Spring. I need to impose.
Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people. You don't honestly think I've done a thing about this, do you?
~~Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy)~~. Hooray! There are shut off valves and new taps, thanks to a faulty trap. The plumber came, and an hour later we had a working laundry sink! I get to replace this one!!!
Repaint the side door off the garage.
Replace the light fixture on the patio.
Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house. Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door. The front window has been replaced. And the storm door. I've decided to repaint the shutters. I'm hoping to go nowhere for Victoria Day, and paint then. The shutters and the garage door. And the front door. I've decided that it needs another coat of paint.
Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it.
Deal with the boxes on the living room floor. I have offered to host a wedding shower for a friend in June. I have to clean out the living room. I have a month. Good Lord, what have I agreed to?
Buy a great carpet for the living room. And great curtains. This is to come. The curtains are hideous, but we're still going around about colour for the walls and if the living room curtains should match the dining room (note: they should. Don't listen to my husband.) Then we'll talk area rug.
Practice the guitar. Ongoing. I'm working on After the Gold Rush by Neil Young with arpeggiation at the moment.
Freecycle more.
Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com. Ongoing. Some weeks are better than others. But with less income means a need to not go out so much. I try lots of new recipes, and a friend gave me a hard time about eating out, so I've taken to taking pictures and posting my dinner on Facebook. Accountability helps!
Research and plan for getting a dog. This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months. We're thinking summer. This is currently on hold.
Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much. I haven't been. My osteopath (looong story...I should really blog about the experience and the revelation that it has been) suggests I try some yoga. I've been looking, but haven't done anything.
Read. Currently, I am rereading one of my favourite trashy romance novels. It's all I'm good for. I'm hoping this summer to try something a little newer, but not a lot deeper.

New Years and All that Planning

2011-01-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

Okay. It's been a while. 5 months a while. Like many things in my life, I look with longing at people who blog regularly and realize that it's just not me. I am a busy girl who spends her spare time on Facebook, churning my numbers for the rather addictive game Mousehunt. It's a small life that I live.

Let's recap what's happened in the past 5 months, shall we?
I started at a new school. I have 450 new names to learn. There are moments when this is going well, and then there's most of the time. I like the school, but I miss where I was. It was comfortable. I keep realizing how little of a people person that I am.
To go with the new school was a new role and another course. I never want to take another AQ. Especially with people who just graduated. They anger me. Greatly. My greatest joy in the course was baiting other students. 'Nuff said.
U of M football season happened. The defense sucked. The kicking game sucked. The offensive line was explosive and exciting. The triple OT win was awesome. Man, the Big 10 was bad yesterday.
I went to the doctor, and my blood pressure is out of control. My best guess is stress from work. I'm pretty sure things are pretty good right now, but I've been off 2 weeks. I'm going back in February for more blood work and to see what's next. Thankfully, they've decided I'm "borderline", so no meds yet. But we'll see.
I got a Blackberry Torch. I can barely make it run. But it's fun to try.

I've been thinking about the Summer 15 and how far I got. I realize some of this is ongoing, but I'm thinking I'm going to turn it into the 2011 15. There is some overlap, and some changes. Here we go:

Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May. Grrr....this one stays. The bos ix still in my living room, but the tools are put away. I'm going to have to impose on a friend in the Spring.
Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people. Now that I'm done my course, I may actually have time for this. I am no further than I was in August, except I have printed pictures.
Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy).
Repaint the side door off the garage.
Replace the light fixture on the patio.
Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house. Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door.
Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it.
Deal with the boxes on the living room floor. There are 5 boxes left, and they're filled with total crap. I am very much enamoured with Freecycle at the moment.
Buy a great carpet for the living room. And great curtains. After I have the picture window replaced.
Practice the guitar. Ongoing. I'm working on Moonlight Mile by the Rolling Stones right now.
Freecycle more. We have so much stuff that needs to go. J got a Magic Bullet for Christmas...we should get rid of our blender. I have so many gift bags from my wedding showers still. They need to go to a home where they will be used. I think I have our old Christmas tree storage box to get rid of too.
Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com. Ongoing. I've been horrible this fall. Between learning a new school, my course, laziness and lack of ambition, we've been going out more than staying in. I'm hoping to change this in the new year. We went to the grocery store today to encourage eating at home.
Research and plan for getting a dog. This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months. We're thinking summer.
Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much. Sigh. I haven't been. And I need to go. I'm not sure if it would be a stress release, but I need to do something.
Read. I would love to actually try the Twilight series and know what my intermediates might be reading. I also have a large quantity of professional reading that I need to complete for my job. I read the last book of the 39 Clues. It was great, and I'm waiting for the next series. I'm hoping to try the Hunger Games books this month. I read nothing but Spec Ed publications for my course this fall. It was boring.

So there's the new/old list. Hopefully, I'll be back sooner rather than later with more of these done or at least in the works.

Let's See How We're Getting On...

2010-08-10T12:23:00.001-04:00

So, it's August. Let's see where we are with the Summer 15. I'm not thinking it's all that great.

Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May. This has not been going so well. We were hoping for Saturday after discovering my drill isn't powerful enough to support the size drill bit I need. It's 18V and everything. Very Sad.
Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people. I am now officially done the showers. I'm up to the rehearsal. I ran out of pictures when I went to scrapbook last Friday. While I haven't been to print more yet, I'm getting there. Now I'm afraid I'm going to run out of my gold speckle pages that I don't think you can still get. Argh. But I still have another pack, so we'll see.
~~Purchase and install a new low-flow toilet in the powder room on the main floor. It's all about government rebates!~~ All that's left is mailing my application! This was an adventure, and I'm thrilled that Dale came to help with the craziness, because I'd still be curled up in a ball crying if I'd had to do this myself. It was a 6 hour project. I KNOW!
Repaint the side door off the garage.
Replace the light fixture on the patio.
~~Repaint the front door some spectacular shade that J will question the wisdom of, and then learn to grudgingly agree with~~. It's YELLOW!!! I LOVE it!!! I'm now looking for a U of M wreath, seeing as I wouldn't paint the blue block M J wanted on the front door.
Call the siding guy and see how much 2 more pairs of shutters would cost, including installation. I don't want to paint them, and I would like them all to match. I'm now wondering how much work it would be to rip them off, and how it would look. I'm afraid that J is going to come home some non-humid afternoon, and they'll just be 90% gone because I don't have a ladder to deal with the top part around the living room window.
Deal with the boxes on the living room floor. There are 5 boxes left, and they're filled with total crap. I am very much enamoured with Freecycle at the moment.
Buy a great carpet for the living room. Does finding great curtains in the Sears catalogue count?
Practice the guitar. Ongoing. I'm working on Lola by the Kinks right now.
~~Investigate the cost of a new air conditioner for the house, and see if we should really do the furnace simultaneously. I'm hoping not. The A/C won't get done if we need both.~~ Not happening. The finances won't allow it, and the current A/C is still hanging in.
Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com. Coming along. We're probably averaging 4 nights a week, and I cook a lot. Not always what we need, but it's fun. We've been going to the market and I buy too much on an ongoing basis, which means we have people in more which I really like. And I'm here, so I make desserts. I'm making peanut butter chocolate krispie treats this afternoon. You know you want to visit me.
Deal with the probably very nasty upstairs bathroom drain. The previous owners were apparantly very hairy, as evidenced by our shower drain when I cleaned it out. I'm not sure J and I have helped the situation. But the sink is running slow again and I've been avoiding. We should go into the fall with things under control. I can't half cross this out. I'm not done, but water drains. My mom and I plunged some of the snot out of it last week.
Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much. Sigh. I haven't been.
Read. I would love to actually try the Twilight series and know what my intermediates might be reading. I also have a large quantity of professional reading that I need to complete for my job. I do not believe that I will complete any fiction book this summer. I got my name on the list at the library for Book 10 of the 39 Clues series. I've finished Promoting Positive Behaviours: An Elementary Principal's Guide to Structuring the Learning Environment, and am working on Instructional Rounds for Improving School and Student Performance. It's as boring as it sounds. Next up, Leading with Teacher Emotions in Mind and the new Ontario Ministry Growing Success document. For Fun, I look at books of soft furnishings for the house.

4 of these are ongoing projects. 1 hasn't been thought of, except with longing, 3 are partially done, 3 are done 4 haven't been touched, and 1 has been considered but not acted upon. Time is getting short. I'm not sure I'm going to finish. Sigh.

Get Your Geek On

2010-07-24T12:52:00.000-04:00

I realize that it isn't often I write on a Saturday. With the Cutest Blog on the Block changing hosts, I decided it was time to update my background. I'm not totally sold on this one. We'll see.
I am excited, though. We're off to Hamilton tonight to go to Star Wars in Concert, something we've been looking forward to for a while now. I love the Star Wars movies, and I love a live symphony. We're putting 2 of my favourite things together in one! And we're going for Chinese!

Life keeps getting better and better.

Readers Anonymous

2010-07-20T21:14:00.004-04:00

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'm a magazine addict.

So in cleaning out the living room today (I KNOW, I've actually been working on it!), I discovered that there were even more magazines hiding than what I knew about.

When we packed up the old house to move, my mother realized that I wouldn't finish on time. She knows me much too well. My mom came and packed the main floor of our old house. There was no sorting, no purging, just into boxes. If we didn't know where something should go, we put it in the living room; and there it has sat for the past year. So now goes the difficult work of actually doing the purging that should have happened before things went into boxes.

I have found old phone books, stamps that will need extra postage to be useful, calendars from 3 or more years ago and the like. I have also found out how many magazines I actually have.

I've always enjoyed magazines. I started with a subscription to Sesame Street Magazine every year from my aunt, graduating to the Electric Company, and National Geographic's World. My parents gave me a subscription to Seventeen, and I bought other magazines for years from Vogue to Elle to Style at Home. Early on, I think I just liked getting mail. Now, I appreciate that I might be able to finish an article in one sitting, seeing as I have so little time to read.

I have just decided once again to let my subscriptions to the 3 magazines I'm currently getting lapse. I'm just not getting through everything and can't understand why I'm putting out good money that is being wasted in things I don't read and merely pass on to my friend's husband's physio clinic. I have more than enough Everyday Food issues to keep me entertained, and Real Simple always makes me feel inferior. The only one I may miss is the Educational Leadership magazine I'm getting from ASCD.

I did discover, however, a boon while I was cleaning today: 5 years worth of Cooking Light issues in a box, along with a list of everything I've made from the issues, and a bag containing 2 years worth of Canadian Living, obviously from my mother.

What's astonishing is that we moved a box of 55-60 magazines. That's not a little bit sad too. What else is sad is my excitement over all of these magazines. I suddenly have more reading material! More recipes! More of everything I really don't have time for!

In good news, I have found approximately half of the living room floor, and I was having way too much fun going through my CDs today, deciding what to keep. My iPod has really made a good portion of my CD collection obsolete.

First Week In, No Progress

2010-07-13T12:15:00.002-04:00

I spent the weekend baking and cooking. It was fantastic.

J and I went to the market Saturday morning, and we bought yummy things that he thought were more expensive than things at the grocery store (um, no...) and then I started baking. I made jam filled vanilla cupcakes from Everyday Food and raspberry struesel muffins from All Recipes.com. Yum.

I have not made anything since. Sigh.

This afternoon, I am headed back to the grocery store and have grand plans for this week, so we'll see.

I have been busy choosing a front door colour, though. I'm hoping to have a couple of swatches up soon for judging which colour it should be, if it ever dries out a bit. As happy as I am about the cooler temps, it's just too humid to be thinking about painting anything of consequence at the moment.

Much like my cooking. Anything of consequence is falling by the wayside. I have muffins to eat.

The Summer 15

2010-07-09T15:19:00.003-04:00

As I lay on the couch this afternoon, willing myself to have the energy to make brownies before going for a pedicure, I made the mistake of phoning my ever loving, working husband. (Note to self: at least sit up before you call him, making it appear like you might be productive. Or don't call on a Friday. It's his eeeevil day.) I informed him that I was working up the ambition to make brownies, and he wanted to know why I didn't have the ambition to empty the living room of the boxes that are still piled there more than a year after we moved. Sadly, I know that we still use a good portion of what's in those boxes because we root through them, find what we want, and get on with our days. I am guilty of even returning some of these items to the living room boxes so as not to have to figure out where said items should go. Ahem.

In the spirit of that conversation and the subsequent one I had with my over achiever of a mother that I'm not even going to dignify with a synopsis, I give you the "Sarah has GOALS for this Summer, and is Ambitious Enough to Achieve Them", or the list.

Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May.
Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people.
Purchase and install a new low-flow toilet in the powder room on the main floor. It's all about government rebates!
Repaint the side door off the garage.
Replace the light fixture on the patio.
Repaint the front door some spectacular shade that J will question the wisdom of, and then learn to grudgingly agree with.
Call the siding guy and see how much 2 more pairs of shutters would cost, including installation. I don't want to paint them, and I would like them all to match.
Deal with the boxes on the living room floor.
Buy a great carpet for the living room.
Practice the guitar.
Investigate the cost of a new air conditioner for the house, and see if we should really do the furnace simultaneously. I'm hoping not. The A/C won't get done if we need both.
Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com.
Deal with the probably very nasty upstairs bathroom drain. The previous owners were apparantly very hairy, as evidenced by our shower drain when I cleaned it out. I'm not sure J and I have helped the situation. But the sink is running slow again and I've been avoiding. We should go into the fall with things under control.
Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much.
Read. I would love to actually try the Twilight series and know what my intermediates might be reading. I also have a large quantity of professional reading that I need to complete for my job.

So there's 15 things that I'd like to/need to do this summer. How successful will I be? That's anyone's guess.

So Many Recipes, So Little Time

2010-07-08T15:47:00.003-04:00

I am once again in the throes of caffeine withdrawal. I say "once again" because I do this at least once a year when I stop work and therefore stop driving past 20 Timmy's on my way to work. To go with that, I had a principal this year who bought me a coffee every day. Yeah, once again I've gone cold turkey due to the fact that: a) I don't like instant coffee, which is cheap; and b) I like the concept of actually consuming less caffeine, even though during the working days I feel a whole lot more with it when drinking my coffee.

I have suffered with the low-level headaches (usually they're pounding monsters but this time it's been the headache that wouldn't leave) and the inevitable sleepiness that comes from lack of stimulant. This combined with the fact that I'm so tired when school ends that I can hardly move means that I have been lying around this week being pathetic. Which, as we all know, is Sanskrit for "really cool way to live". Added to this is lower back spasms. Seeeing as there's been nothing in the past few days that should have made these happen (despite my husband's assertions that I "slept wrong"), I'm thinking that they're making up for the lack of headache.

One thing that lying on the couch with the TV on and Facebook running has afforded me is a chance to leaf through my scary number of food magazines and make a list of all the things I'd like to try cooking this summer. It's a formidable list. I also seem to like an inordinate number of heavy things that are more suited to Wintertime, when I have no time. But sloppy joes are good year-round, and I like soup.

One of my goals this summer is to spend more time in the kitchen. I'd like to say that I will make dinner 5 nights per week. Honestly, I'd like to say 7 nights, but I'm being realistic. J and I eat out a lot when I'm working and in a bad week, we'll eat out 6 nights. I'm not thinking that we'll want to give it up completely, nor will I want to.

J's mom had a rule when she was alive that she cooked Monday to Friday and took weekends off. I kinda like that philosophy. Except I'm happy to cook weekends most of the time.

So I'm starting to draw up plans of what I'd like to make, and I've been rooting through the freezer for what needs to be used up. It's kind of fun to be making these kinds of plans. As soon as I manage to find a cake for the BBQ we're going to this weekend, it will be even better. Sigh...

To this end, I've been thinking of what I'd like to accomplish this summer. A week of lollygagging is probably enough. I mean, it's never enough, but it should be. I'm thinking the next post is what I'd like to accomplish this summer as an accountability measure. One part will be the cooking but there's some other things I need to get done too. So, tomorrow?

Welcome, summer

2010-07-07T10:33:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I'm back. It's been a rather busy year in which I managed to survive students, commuting, and everything else that goes with being at work and not nearly enough down time.

But now that summer vacation is here, I'm hoping to show up around here a little more. While I do read a good number of blogs every day, I am in awe of how people actually manage to write regularly and have something to say.

Perhaps one day I will understand and be able to do this too.

2009-10-03T14:46:00.002-04:00

So, school has started...and I'm sick. I know it comes as a shock that once again I'm stuffed up and feeling awful seeing as I work in a building that hosts about 450 small germ factories per day. Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better.

It is giving me lots of time to surf and master the art of time suckage between honks of my nose.

Tell me what you think: should I update the blog for something that's more seasonal, or should I just wait for spring again? I mean, I haven't been here since July and all...

A Hazy Shade of Summer

2009-07-29T12:46:00.003-04:00

I know that this is a good vacation. How am I so sure? I am relaxed enough to contemplate more decorating.

My mom and I painted the master bedroom here last week, and it looks, in a word, awesome. For those wondering about pics, I keep meaning to take them and post...honest. But I would need to make my bed and that doesn't happen much.

I love dreaming about decorating in a way that I have never explained to J with good reason. He would probably be scared. But seeing as I'm planning to drag him to the fabric store this evening and explain to him why we're getting specific fabrics so that I can make curtains this weekend for a bathroom that we've vaguely talked about painting I'm thinking that that's about to change.

So I went to the library this morning to get more books about San Diego and work on planning the trip when I ended up with 5 books of curtains and valences. I'd say we're close to a metamorphosis of the bath...All I need to do is pick a colour. And that could be pink. Or green. See how close I am?

In Other News: I was watching The Price is Right yesterday while contemplating lunch (don't mock me, I'm on vacation) and I don't get what's happened to Drew Carey's hair. He rocks the brush cut in ways few over 10 can. What's up with length???

Marketing and Shopping

2009-07-27T12:15:00.004-04:00

You know who I think has brilliant marketing strategists? The people over at Pizza Pizza. J and I took my parents to the Blue Jays ball game last Sunday. They were having a Pizza Pizza strikeout game. Essentially, every time the Jays pitchers get a strikeout they cover up another number in the Pizza Pizza number on the ribbon boards in the stadium. When you get 7 strikeouts, everyone who has a ticket can go to Pizza Pizza on Monday for a free slice. As soon as there are 6 strikeouts the entire crowd starts chanting, "Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza..." on every batter who gets an anything and 2 count.

I totally enjoyed my slice last Monday. Thanks Doc.

Today I'm shopping. I have made a huge list and hope I can get it all accomplished. I'd rather not end up at the store again this week.

Summertime, and the Living is Easy

2009-07-26T17:04:00.003-04:00

Or at least, it is for me.

I've been loving my time off of school and have been sleeping a lot. It's all good. At some point I had to catch up from the school year when I don't sleep quite enough. J's also working a lot which means I can spend time alone in the silence. I love this too, simply because I spend too much time with people.

In currently exciting news, I bought a new Seagull guitar. If you would like to know more about this wonderful company, and their lovely instruments you can look here. I would highly recommend them. I'm loving that I have time to practice and I feel like I might actually be getting somewhere. Now that I've purchased a more expensive instrument, it appears that I will be taking lessons for a few more years. This is not a bad thing. Guitar is one of the things that I'm totally enjoying because it's not work, and it's just for me.

Totally Unrelated Aside (a la Kapgar): So apparantly the web is "all a-Twitter" about Katie Holmes "performance" on So You Think You Can Dance. I've got to head for the It Sucked camp, but not because Katie's dancing was suspect on a show that is all about great dancing. It's that I think that the way they promo'ed the show was cheap - if she couldn't be there, they should have found someone else; and if you're going to bring back the talent from previous seasons, why don't you use them? I still love SYTYCD, but they need to think.

I'm All for Being Polite

2009-07-10T10:31:00.006-04:00

Ack! We moved, and I didn't blog. School came to an end, and I didn't blog. Summer has started, and I am back!

Let me just start by saying that the move went well, we are free of the other house (although getting out was a chore, and I left a vacuum behind). The living room is full of boxes, but seeing as my mother is showing up next week, I think that will change. Now that I have time, some things are getting done. I still have a screen door in need of repair and towel bars to hang, and my mother is coming to help me paint; but I can see the floor of my office again and things are slowly finding homes.

In exciting news, I've continued with my guitar lessons. Last summer, when I realized that I would be teaching guitar (an instrument I hadn't picked up since university and then only because I needed to for a semester), I started into lessons with Pete, the guy 2 doors down from us who runs a full time studio out of his house. When the year was over and I knew that I wouldn't be teaching guitar again next year, I decided to continue with lessons. Guitar is one of the few "me" things I do, and despite the fact that I don't practice enough it's been a lot of fun.

So for the year, I was using one of the guitars from school. We rented 30 guitars so that I could teach the grade 6, 7, and 8s music this year. I was responsible for 30 classical Yamaha guitars that I was renting out to students for $20 per term. I was never so glad of anything coming to an end as I was of those guitars returning to the store. No more making sure where they all were, no more restringing (a job I sucked at), no more hounding 12 year olds for money. It was all good.

Except at the end of the year, my guitar went back too and I was back to using the guitar that was originally my father's. The first year my parents were married (so probably 1971 or the spring of 72), they decided to take general interest classes through the Peterborough Board of Education. My mother took furniture refinishing, and my father took guitar. My mom bought him a guitar and case for Christmas.

Guitar did not work out well for my father. Perhaps it was that he was 40 and trying his hand at playing an instrument for the first time. Perhaps it was the group setting. He says that his hands were too small to make it work. But after the course, the guitar was relegated to the top of a closet in my parents house until I announced that I would be taking lessons with Pete to be ready for the fall. Then that guitar that had been in a closet for all that time make the migration to my house so that I could use it for lessons.

Pete restrung and cleaned the guitar up for me last summer. He also commented that the strings were pretty high (another probable reason that my father had trouble), and recommended that I take it in to see what could be done about the bridge. I, of course, didn't do this because I suddenly had an instrument with strings a comfortable distance from the neck. So once again, my father's guitar sat in a corner unused in the case.

Flash forward to the return of the guitars. Suddenly, now that I have the time to practice, I'm back to the original guitar and it's awful. I now feel a need to take it in. In fact, Pete's comment to me yesterday at my lesson was, "This week, you can blame the instrument. Next week, we'll be back to blaming you."

So I went from Pete's to the repair shop and had the instrument looked over. The guitar currently has more questions than answers that go with it. I had to leave so that Len could see if he could figure out what could be done, and what exactly he's dealing with. We're not sure whether the instrument should actually be strung with nylon strings because it looks like a classical, but has a steel string neck. It appears that someone has tried to brace the bridge before, but my mother swears she bought it new and no one has done any work on it. But Len has promised to do what he can because he knew I'd like to keep the guitar for "Sentimental reasons". It's the polite way of saying, buy a new guitar. Which I'm starting to think I may do.

Help!

2009-05-30T09:35:00.001-04:00

My original blog is going away. I've got the download of the archive, and I'd like to add it here. Does anyone know how?

You Read Me, Your Really Read Me!

2009-04-19T17:26:00.005-04:00

So it took me a forever to open this week's mail. In the flurry that has been purchasing a house,celebrating Easter with my parents, fighting with a fax machine, and driving to see J, I kept tossing the mail on the dining room table figuring I'd get to it at some point.

This morning, in a desperate bid to clean up slightly before the house buyers came over for an inspection, I decided to deal with the pile of bills and junk mail that was littering the table. Imagine my surprise at what I found.

When I was ~~whining~~ commenting during March Break about everything I missed, I mentioned missing getting letters. While this is extremely true, I didn't expect anything to come of my late night ramblings. I found a letter in the stack of mail today that was addressed to me, and sent simply because "It's always nice to get a letter."

Apparently a good friend of mine from elementary school found my blog while poking around on my Facebook page. She read that entry and sent me a card. It totally made my morning.

I love getting mail.

To Pack, Perchance to Dream

2009-03-31T21:03:00.003-04:00

So things are coming along with the house. We're now signing papers on both sides to get things sold and on their way. We have had a bit of a snag with the closing dates, but it appears that everything will be moved up accordingly. I'm now terrified about having to actually pack up the house. J is sorry that he won't be able to help, but I'm thinking that's just as well. If I'm motivated, it will happen.

That motivator is called fear.

Domestic Dreams

2009-03-28T15:39:00.004-04:00

In exciting news, it appears that the house may sell...and as usual, it will all happen super fast and chaotically. Apparantly our conditional buyers had multiple offers on their house yesterday. They accepted one of them, and if they'll sign off on conditions around here, we'll be on our way northward. Very exciting, that. Despite our attempt at decluttering, I'm still scared of trying to pack and move. I'm not very good at packing. I get so easily distracted.

We're also not going to have the month I was hoping for to make this happen. It looks like we may have about 10 days overlap. That's not time to do the painting and carpet cleaning that we want, so we'll have to prioritize and live with things that aren't worth living with. It's either that or I quit my full time job. I'm pretty sure that isn't in the cards.

But it's good news. And we all need good news. Not bad for a sunny Saturday.

Of All the Things I've Lost...

2009-03-20T22:45:00.005-04:00

I'm not in a great place tonight. I don't know if it's because the vacation is almost over, or if it's deeper than that. I went to bed with J, but I'm up again. He gets up at 4:45 or 5:00 AM on Saturdays so that he can be gone to work by 6. I, on the other hand, can sleep until I wake up. Tomorrow I plan to do just that.

I was reading one of the many magazines that I brought with me when I realized that the computer I've been using all week is a laptop. That means portability. So I'm sitting in the dim living room of the hotel suite wearing my pajamas and J's slippers with the laptop on my lap. It's all good

While it's not the happiest of subjects, one thought has been running around in my head all day. I was reading a friend's meme on Facebook. It was all sentence starters. The one that caught me was "I miss..." There are so many things I miss. I've been thinking about them a lot today. With that, I present the 10 things I miss.

1. I miss sleeping in my own bed. You would think that the hotel is comfortable and that I would get used to the bed. Sadly, this is not the case. The bed is hard and the pillows unsupportive. Ii miss my pillows too.

2. I miss cooking. As I stared at yet another menu tonight, willing myself to like something...ANYTHING...that they were offering, it occurred to me how little I'm cooking right now. I don't see the point for myself, and we've really run out of food that would make things at our house. I have come to dread facing another restaurant menu. At the moment, even Fricker's medium chicken chunks and wedge fries dipped in blue cheese dip have little to no appeal. These are desperate times indeed. On a side note, I signed up today for an Easter cookie decorating class. We'll make a bouquet of Easter cookies in the course of an evening. I'm really looking forward to that.

3. I miss having my husband in my house. Despite the fact that he makes me crazy, I miss having J around. He was a good reason to cook. He was a good reason for a lot of things. Having him in the hotel isn't the same. It's not my space.

4. I miss good TV. You know, the stuff that you actually looked forward to. Something with an interesting plot line that wasn't over the top gory. I've watched a lot of CSI:NY this week in the hotel, and while I enjoy the stories, I'm not fond of the bodies. I yearn for something that would hold my attention. I watch way too many sport events over the edge of reading material.

5. I miss a job where I knew the answers some of the time. While I love my current role, and it's challenging and new and exciting, I long for a little more mundane. My principal thrives on crisis. I, on the other hand, do not. I don't want the ambulance to have to show up. I'm not interested in having blood come out of a student for any reason. I don't really want to deal with the angry parent. But it's what I signed up for. And when I think about what I'd be going back to, I prefer the road I've taken.

6. I miss getting letters in the mail. When I was 18, I was an exchange student in France for a year. I wrote and sent my parents a letter every week. I got tons of mail from my friends. I wonder about what happens for students who go now. Do they do most of their correspondence by email? How immersed can you be when the world is on your doorstep? I love getting postcards, letters, and things in general that aren't bills. Perhaps that's why I love getting magazines so much. But there's something about a letter that's wonderful. I should really send more.

7. I miss dating J. Which is weird, seeing as it's not like he's gone somewhere, but in that marriage is different. Maybe it's more that I miss that shiny love, where you know there's work, but you can gloss over it. I'm not saying that there's a problem, but the day to day work is real and glossing would be a mistake.

8. I miss France. It's one of my favourite places ever. I would live in Paris in a heartbeat. There's something very special about the place where I learned a lot about cooking, and even more about being my own person. I miss the cheese, the pace of life, and Brut de Pomme. Perhaps the latter just because I'm thirsty at the moment.

9. I miss discovering new music. Sadly, I've fallen into enough of a rut recently that it's a long time since I've picked up something new. J and I listen to an awful lot of the 70s channel on our satellite radio. I've always enjoyed the opening acts at the concerts I've attended - they're new, and different, and often very talented. I don't remember the last show I went to where I was impressed with the opening act (I think it might be Matt Nathanson in the summer of 2004 or 2005). There's something wrong with that.

10. I miss connecting regularly with a couple of my good friends. I need to make more of an effort to do this. While it's really no one's fault with work, kids, spouses, etc, there are some people in my life who I count as good friends that I miss. I should do something about that.

On a completely unrelated note, the pictures my friend Kathryn took last weekend are great. If you want to see some, they are here. if you click on "Couples", pictures of J and myself will pop up. We need to look through them and see what we like so that we can ask Kat to send them to us. Yay! I love them!

Sitting at the Feet of Consumerism

2009-03-18T14:54:00.003-04:00

So the problem with being on vacation and not in my own house while my husband works is that I have time on my hands. Tons of time. And frankly, when I have time and nothing to do but surf the web and practice the guitar and read, I spend a lot of time online. So I think it's best that I get out of the hotel room. That means I shop.

I went to Costco this morning to ascertain whether or not we need a membership. I had never really been in a Costco before, seeing as I've never really lived where there is one. And while there are ever so many things that are shrink-wrapped that I don't need, I decided that the membership would be worthwhile for us.

I wander through stores a lot wondering who buys everything that's on the shelves. I mean, I look at a good portion of food in the grocery store and think, "Who eats this? I have never bought this in all the years that I have been grocery shopping! Why would anyone eat that?" I think that a lot in clothing stores too, but it's mostly because I can't fit into the clothes that I don't like.

Then again, I am on the prowl for a new purse. The one I've been carrying for the last 2 years is breaking at the handle. I'm pretty sure it's worth repairing (and redying...I'd like to try for cherry red), but I need a new bag in the meantime. Where should I shop for a purse? Something large, sensible, and unique. Not that that's hard or anything.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

2009-03-17T14:04:00.003-04:00

I've always had a fascination with public transportation. I blame my grandmother.

When I was little, I would go my my grandmother's for a week in the summer. My mother would always take me by train and then by bus to Hamilton and leave me with my grandmother for a week. That was always cool. We would go to my great aunts' apartments and I would play with their purses and hats and eat store bought cookies and drink gingerale. It was a great way to spend a week. My grandmother didn't set a spoon at each place: you could choose one out of a purple sugar bowl in the middle of the table. My favourites were the grapefruit spoons with the stars on the handle. But the coolest thing at Grandma's? We got to take the bus.

We were a one car family when I was growing up. My mom would go out in the morning when my dad was working at home, and we stayed pretty close to home in the afternoon. But my grandmother didn't own a car. That meant to shop or go to market on Saturday, we had to take the bus - something I never did at home. I loved asking for a transfer, and was interested in how to read them. I liked to be the one to pull the wire and ring the bell for the stop. Riding the bus was an adventure!

Fast forward to university. I wasn't as enamored with buses anymore. But they were the way to get around, and I accessed the whole city of Toronto with a bus pass in one hand and a map of the city in the other. I think if I'd stayed in Toronto, I wouldn't have been in any rush to buy a car, but would have stayed closer to the core of the city and kept my bus pass. When I think of the things that I carried home from IKEA on the TTC, it amazes me that they let me on.

But moving to small town Ontario, a car was a necessity. Despite the fact that currently we live close enough to a grocery store to walk, I can't get to my bank or work without a car. It just doesn't make sense.

J, on the other hand, needs public transportation. Like I told my insurance company, if he takes off in my car, I'm calling the police. As a result, we need to live close to public transportation. Our new house is on the bus line. But how would we know how long it takes to get to J's work? How would he know the land marks along the way?

Enter me and March Break. I spent a couple of hours this morning riding the bus to see how long things would take, and to see how hard it would be. And frankly, it's not hard. But it gave me the chance to do something I hadn't done in a while, ride the bus. It was a fun way to spend a morning and think about my grandma, and bus rides of a long time ago.

You Otta Be In Pictures...

2009-03-14T08:55:00.003-04:00

So it's officially March Break. I'm so excited. I plan to spend a good portion of it sleeping. The kids never look excited when I tell them that that's my plan, but I'm thrilled. Yesterday morning, I got up, and went back to bed for a couple of hours an hour later. Pure decadence.

Today, J and I are helping a friend out with a project for her 30th year, and I'm so excited. My friend Kathryn was looking for models to practice her photography, and I volunteered us. She's coming this afternoon to take photos. Her blog is in the feed, if you want to see some of her other work.

Hopefully, I'll have some pictures to share. We're going to the place where we were supposed to have our wedding pictures done before the rain started. It's a bright and sunny day. I'm thinking good things.

Yep, almost 2 years late and a dollar short...that would be us.

2009-02-28T12:02:00.003-05:00

So currently I'm sitting in J's hotel room, waiting for him to finish work before we go to visit my parents for a night. Welcome to my Saturday: I've been watching Property Ladder and Sell This House after going for breakfast with Hallie at 8 this morning. Now it's How It's Made. They're going to show bagels and vinyl records, which should be pretty cool.

I spent this week at work in the office full time. Not totally by choice, seeing as our LRT was sick, and so her supply was covering my classes. I am very sure that I'm not ready to deal with crazy parents and students on a full time basis right yet. One mother came in to yell at me about what she perceived to be a breach of privacy (it wasn't, not really...yeah I probably shouldn't get into it) and then pulled her kids from the school to send elsewhere. I had another mother phone me about how her son was being bullied...and upon investigation I discovered the reason he was punched in the stomach because he was pulling on the other kid's coat hood, choking him.

While I really enjoy my new role, there are moments what I've really gotten myself into voluntarily. I also have 200 report cards to write, and all I've put in are the grades. Guess what I'm avoiding as fast as possible?

My life, and welcome to it

2009-02-22T13:46:00.004-05:00

There are so many thoughts running round in my head.

J and I dropped the price on the house on Monday. While I know that this needed to be done, and we're up against a deadline where we will be having to find him somewhere to live and pay for it, I'm finding it hard to swallow. There is no explaining how draining the whole "We need to sell our house and move" has been. I think it might be different if J was still here more than 2 nights a week, but I'm not sure. The keeping things clean and tidy is wearing, and the needing to leave at a moment's notice is too. We've mentally detached ourselves from this place, J more than me, and I want to fill it with boxes that I'm packing to move on and be a couple again. With J away, I eat poorly and go to bed late. I don't sleep as well but I'm not willing to make the drive from the north more than I have to if I don't have to. Besides, it's started snowing/melting/icing again here, and someone needs to keep on top of things.

The bright side in all of this is that the conditional offer we have has been extended once (although we're up against a deadline again) and the current owners still haven't put the place back on the market. I'm pretty sure this is because their real estate agent has told them that they won't get as much out of another offer as they're getting out of ours. I got on Realtor.ca today to poke around, and both of the other houses that we made offers on have come down. One has painted through for the most part as well. There are no longer the scary green walls and red beadboard that graced the place when we put in the offer. J commented that maybe we should walk away from our current offer, but I don't think so. The new house feels right. We just need a sale here.

In immigration news, we go for hopefully our last set of interviews tomorrow morning. Theoretically, they're a rubber stamp to the whole proceeding and J will be receiving his landed immigrant card. This is wildly exciting seeing as we started into the procedure almost 2 years ago. My mother asked what we thought it had cost us so far, and my guess is somewhere between $2500 and $3000. We have 3 years before he makes a decision about citizenship. I'm not thinking about what that would cost us. The other thing that makes this exciting is we'll no longer need to worry about work permits, expiry dates, and so on. We're not sure what they'll ask tomorrow but we're sure we will be able to answer it.

In work news, I'm holding on for March Break. While I'm hoping to be painting rooms in a new house, I'm not sure that will be happening. As of Friday everything will be extended. But if all I end up doing is living in J's hotel room and sleeping, so be it. It will be a nice change of pace.

Finally, I think I'm playing too much Mousehunt on Facebook. While it is not popping up in general conversation with the public yet, my husband keeps getting an earful about where I think I should go next and why, the pros and cons of new traps, and my frustration at trying to find the Lycan mouse...or the radioactive blue cheese potions.

I think I need to get out more.

Okay, so I'm Early...

2009-02-16T16:51:00.005-05:00

But I lurrrved this layout. And at the rate I post, It will be good for a while.

While cruising through some of my regular blog reading, I noticed this in a corner...and I started to look...and I really liked the daisies, which is odd for me. I'm more of a tulip gal (and I have the best story...I really need time).

But be that as it may, I am happy to say that I managed to jazz things up a little. And I like it. Which is good.

I so wish my house would sell. It is the all consuming right now.

A Stiff Upper Lip

2009-01-31T13:26:00.004-05:00

I am slowly going mad.

While I realize that the house has only been on the market for a month, I desperately wish it would sell. I am sick of living in a pristine environment with a husband who is living in a hotel 45 minutes away. I'm sick with a sore throat I can't seem to get rid of, and a bad attitude. Perhaps the end of winter might help.

I went to the Toyota dealership today that will be near our new house. It was an enlightening and uplifting experience. Seriously. It showed me what Toyota service can be like! I am a complete Toyota devotee, from my 5-speed Corolla that I traded in for my 5-speed Matrix. And while I loved my car with a bit of a creepy devotion, I am not nearly as enamored with the service center in my local dealership. To make up for the fact that they're not open on Saturdays, they're open late on Thursdays. Which is as completely inconvenient as not being open Saturdays.

I phoned the dealership here (I have some free oil changes from buying a new car last year), and was told that I didn't need a Saturday appointment, and they were open until 4:30 on Saturdays. I arrived, and my car went right into the bay. They gave me a coupon for a free coffee and cookie at the cafe located in the dealership to enjoy while I waited. They even washed my car before bringing it back. I have found a dealership worthy of creepy Toyota devotion.

This week at school was career day, which was a rousing success. I also was the administrator on site when one of our students broke not one, but both wrists at the end of basketball practice along with her right arm further up. I have learned to navigate the world of Ontario Labour Law and School Policy. While I know that this is all stuff I need to learn, it's not really lessons that I want to learn.

I keep thinking that I want to learn more about jazzing up my blog. If I was around, it would make even more sense. To this end, I'm looking for a new background. Any suggestions on where I should look?

Always Look On the Bright Side of Life

2009-01-18T17:27:00.006-05:00

I'm finding it hard to commit to the blog right now. There is a lot going on, and I'm trying to process. I just don't know if public processing is best with all of this.

J leaves tomorrow to start his new job. While I'm thrilled that he has work after 11 months of my being the breadwinner, I'm not thrilled with the fact that he won't be here. We went up and looked at the one bedroom efficiency suite that his work has reserved for him until March 25. It's a little larger than what I'd been thinking, and has a separate bedroom and living/eating room with a tiny kitchen in the middle. The kitchen is big enough to make breakfast, and that's about all. He'll only be a couple of blocks from work, which is fatastic. We need time to learn to navigate the bus system. We found his bank, and the drug store, and a few eateries, and navigated around the hotel so he'll know how to find his way.

I have been yearning for J to not be here so much for the last little bit. In fact, one of the reasons that I was happy to go back to work was that he wasn't there. I don't change my views on that. We had 2 weeks where we were together. All. The. Time. It was too much for me. But now as I pack a laundry basket of toiletries and snacks, and look through closets to find the things that he can't seem to locate, I have become very aware of how much I'm going to miss him.

The good thing, we realized as we were sitting in a coffee shop during our open house this afternoon, is that he's about an hour from here: close enough that I can go up whenever I want. My work is partway between the two. J was also good about getting 2 keys. Even if he's working, I'll still be able to come and go from the room as I wish. I like that.

In other news, we had an open house today. Now that J's job is officially starting, and we have a conditional offer on a new house, we want to be done here. Despite the crappy weather, our agent was thrilled with the number of people who came through (almost 20), and thinks that we may get an offer out of all of this. That would be fantastic too.

I can't wait for what's next.

La Vie En Rose

2009-01-11T14:38:00.004-05:00

I seem to be losing my perspective at the moment. It's an elusive thing, this being happy and on an even keel. I no longer know what that is. There's a lot going on here on the mountain, and I'm sooooo close to being able to spill about a lot of it. With J's profession, he wants all the ducks in a row before giving me the ok to say anything. Despite the fact that I want to. Despite the fact that it's making me crazy. I'm good with secrets, but this is exciting, and it affects me...AND I WANT TO SHARE!!!

Part of the secret is out. We're moving. There's a big Century 21 sign in the middle of our front lawn at the moment, and there have been a couple of viewings, and I hate keeping my house clean. But without the point-blank question, we're just moving. People aren't being told where, or when, or why.

The other exciting that I can share at the moment is that the work permit showed up on Friday. Hallelujah! We mailed the paperwork for that in October, and it just came. That just goes along to prove once again why you should marry domestic. Not that I regret J's moving here...but it's a huge hassle that I could do without. BUT - he could now go to Tim Horton's and get a job if he wanted one...not merely at the place he left last March.

I've been thinking a lot about the year I lived in France recently. It's come up in conversation, and as I've been decluttering for listing the house, I've been finding bits and pieces from my time there. I don't know if it's the time of year, or my own lack of control over anything, or what but I miss Paris. It's been a long time. But for now, I'll stick with Edith Piaf and search for the balance that seems to elude me at every turn.

Colour me in love...

2009-01-04T09:35:00.002-05:00

Okay, so while I don't want this colour, J and I found the perfect sofa for us yesterday.

Just a little eye candy while I organize my thoughts.

Dear Santa...

2008-12-20T17:13:00.004-05:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Despite my beliefs, it is always important to take some time this time or year and ask for my wish list. It isn't long. I promise. 1. Please send my husband his work permit. Then we can actually tell people he's looking, as opposed to he's waiting. We realize that you'll need to lean on the government. But you're Santa. If they'll do it for anyone, it's you. 2. Please let me sleep for a long, long time. During the fall, I have been busy with school. Now I have a husband who demands my attention. I want to stay well. I want to be relaxed. Make everyone go away. 3. Please send a personal assistant. My house needs cleaning. I need to buy groceries when we're running low on food. Not when we're out. And have been for a couple of days. I would also like someone who makes sure the bills are paid on time every month and cooks dinner. So is well aware when the above problems exist. As well, there is a husband who demands attention. See #2. 4. If you happen to see the shreds of my sanity, please return them. And a set of knitting needles. I'll need to repair it somehow. 5. If none of the above is possible, in the words of Sally Brown, "Please send money. Preferably in tens and twenties." Thanks Santa, any and all of those would be swell. Big Smoochies. Me

It's a Marshmallow World

2008-12-19T10:06:00.002-05:00

I have now been teaching for 10.5 years. Working for a residential facility, the kids live at school. There are no snow days. They're there, so you should be there. The first and only quasi snow day I know of was last year, when there was a Professional Activity day, and so there were no students. It wasn't that the school was closed; we just didn't have to be there.

Today is my first official snow day ever as an educator, and not just a consumer of the system. It's blowing pretty good right now, and I'm glad to still be in my pajamas at 10:20 on a Friday. I'm not looking forward to the shoveling later, but J will help. I think he's as excited as I am that we've found this day. There isn't a whole lot that we have to do other than be here.

In preparation, we went to the grocery store on Wednesday, and don't need to leave the house at all today. Apparently, our car is on vacation too.

I'm hoping to get a good portion of our baking/sweets done today for the holiday. We're going to J's family's on Christmas day, and I need to take a dessert. I don't mind helping, but we're leaving here on the 23rd for our present to each other and staying in a hotel. It doesn't make the whole dessert thing as simple as it could be. So I'm making cookies and truffles, and that will be good enough.

If I don't make it back here, a wonderful holiday to you all. J and I have enough to do that we're going to come back on the 29th. It's going to be a funny New Year's. The first I've ever spent at the house here. I've always been away. But there's too much to be done to go for 2 solid weeks. And 1 will be a nice change.

Look at that. The vacation starts, and I'm already more positive. Go figure.

The Variables Rear Their Ugly Heads

2008-12-14T17:23:00.003-05:00

There is only 1 week until Christmas. This thrills me to no end, seeing as I'm exhausted, tired, and completely out of inspiration with my classes. I see a whole lot of rocking out to Christmas carols happening this week.

J and I have finished our shopping, and now I am left with the wrapping...and figuring out what exactly to buy the man I live with. Everything he could use right now is just too expensive. We'd both like an external hard drive that we could hook up to the router and network for us both. He'd like a lap top. I'd love to get him one or both, but they're just not in the cards right now. We'll see what happens.

We are, however, going to see Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Fox Theatre in Detroit as a gift to both of us. That will be fun. He's all for making plans on the 24th as we'll be spending the day in Detroit before going to see his family for Christmas. I'm pretty sure it would be fun to sleep, watch TV and order room service in the hotel. We'll see what happens.

As for the rest of my life, a lot is happening. I'm just not allowed to talk about it. We work on the house in the hopes of selling, but where we're going to end up is a bit of a mystery. So far, we've bid on 2 houses, and neither has worked out. Ours is still off the market, a concession to my having a desire for a Christmas tree. And the problem is, only a small group knows what's going on. We'll see what happens.

In terms of work, I'm busy, I like it, I plan to resign from the job I'm on leave from, but I'm in this ambiguous state where I have no real control. The target keeps moving on me, and I'm shooting as fast as my water pistol will allow. I'm not soaked yet.

I've been thinking a lot in terms of New Year's resolutions recently, and I don't know what I want to work on. I would like to resolve to sleep 12 - 15 hours daily, frankly. And then cook at home and see no one. I'm not thinking that's the best of resolutions. We'll see what happens.

In exciting news, I have a friend who is a photographer. That's not the exciting part. What is is that she's building her portfolio of live subjects at the moment, and J and I will be posing for her in the new year. More when it comes about...if I'm happy with the pictures. I can't believe I won't be. I sent her an idea for a shoot, and she loved it! Then I approached J, and when I told him that he would be clothed, he went for it too. It's something to look forward to. And that's good in my current wait and see mode.

Please excuse the bile. Anyone still wondering why I don't post much?

2008-11-08T14:19:00.004-05:00

I am supposed to be doing many things right now. None of them are actually getting done. 1. I am supposed to be writing report cards. Who ever thought that the VP should teach half time was a drunk and should be beaten with a stick. Seriously. I don't have time for this. There is more than enough work in my job without including 160 report cards to write, and half the school's to read in a week. Bloody hell. 2. Every time I figure out the rules at work they change. While sometimes this is hilarious, most of the time it is not. I battle the ghost of my predecessor (who was/is/will be a total ass, from all accounts) on a daily basis with parents, staff and my principal. One day she's telling me that he was weak by ordering a supply teacher for himself when she was away, and the next day she's telling me it was good thinking on my part of get a supply teacher when I was in crisis #4 by 10:30 on a day she was gone. She tells me to give my extra supply time equally across divisions, and then tells me I'm giving it out wrong. This has now happened 3 times. 3. Because I see my kids so rarely (I'm gone a lot, and apparantly it's a good idea to get a supply when I'm the only administrator), I'm thinking the marks may be a bit invented this term. Then I get to read my drivel when I read half the schools cards before they go home. 4. Immigration is annoying. We got a letter in October from them saying that J has been approved in principal, but his physical has expired. Go get a new one. Now I'm not saying anything, but when it takes 6 bleeding months to open an application, how big a money grab is this when the physical costs about $250? Not that I'm bitter. Immigration discovered that we overpayed, and sent us a cheque for $50. Despite the fact that it was on my credit card, they sent the cheque to J, who endorsed it back to me. So really the physical only cost $200. 5. I am once again having pregnancy dreams. While I can guarantee that I'm not pregnant at the moment, apparantly my subconscious has decided that I should be (as opposed to my pregnancy dreams in the spring where I was). Cause that would be a great decision right now. What with the out of work, no work permit non landed immigrant husband. And a lack of space. And probably a few other things I'm not thinking of at the moment. While it may not sound like it, I'm happy right now. I just wish I had more to give J. He's once again been told that he's been second in the running for a job (and a good one) and he's unhappy. I love my own job, despite the long hours. You couldn't do it if you didn't love it. I'm not here because I value my free time that I do have with J. And once I get rolling, apparantly I'm angry. Who knew?

Quotes from My Guitar Teacher

2008-09-07T20:18:00.002-04:00

These were too classic not to share:

"You are now a guitar player. That makes you officially braindead."

"Bach is great. I mean, he was a genius. That makes him a freak."

I love guitar lessons. I played my G chord tonight, all the strings rang, and he started jumping up and down. I need more of that in my life. Frankly, we all do.

I Just Don't Know...

2008-08-24T19:35:00.002-04:00

So I got home with new dark hair on Friday for my Autumn look. My father wanted to know if I know what my real colour is anymore.

Sadly, I do not.

Where I Die of Shock

2008-08-20T16:39:00.003-04:00

My mother is a clean freak. I am not. This is not shocking.

My parents are coming tomorrow and the house is not clean. I phoned my mother today and asked her to help me Friday give the house a good cleaning.

She agreed, and then told me that really, I should get another cleaning lady.

It's a good thing there were no feathers around to knock me over.

That's Swedish...for Particle Board

2008-08-13T19:08:00.005-04:00

Ah, the life of a domestic diva...sleep late, watch TV, cook occasionally, generally not do much of anything. Frankly, my life is starting to fall into this pattern, and while I lurrrve it, it is also an indicator of the fact that I sorely need to go back to work.

Structure! Normal bedtimes! Regular meals! That's what I need.

To this end, I have started to plan for going back. With only 3 classes a day, you'd think that it wouldn't be that bad. And in one way, it really isn't. But it's been a looong time (try Teacher's College other than a 3 week stint 6 years ago) since I've taught classroom music, and I have a real need this year not to screw up. The rest of my job will be learning curve enough. I don't need what I'm supposed to be trained in to be crazed and time sucking as well.

I am officially starting to drive J nuts with all of my songs and finger plays and line up chants and body percussion doohickeys and so on. I was showing him glove puppets today that I made in music school and have never used, and he wanted to know if I was going to have fun, or if the kids would. My answer was both. And I stuck my tongue out at him. I'm so mature.

But while I listened to CDs of tacky accompaniment music that came with my new books, J moved his wardrobe into a new armoire. A couple of weeks ago, the bar in his old armoire fell when someone (*cough* me) shifted a shirt and the hook into the wall broke off and fell. Suddenly, I needed to clean my office stuff out of the guest room so that J could fill the room with his clothes. It's a good thing that we don't have many guests...the room is constantly the emergency staging area for the latest upstairs disaster in the house.

The armoire we had didn't owe us much, and as a piece of IKEA furniture was pretty cheap to begin with. So we went shopping for the new, stronger, bigger, huger armoire. It is all those adjectives, and black. It also matches nothing in our bedroom. It's the latest in eclectic chic. But it also holds more of his clothes, and I'm going to put in the basement the shelves that I have hated since they entered my house a year and a half ago. I am slowly reclaiming the guest room, one drawer at a time, and it thrills me to no end. Sooner or later, I will also find space for J's suitcases, blankets and bits and pieces that cover the blanket box, and generally fill every nook and cranny of the room. I think it's called moving into a new house where he'll have an office and I'll never go in there.

Letting Go...

2008-08-06T10:12:00.005-04:00

I have a hard time letting go.

I'm slowly moving back into my office after painting in June. The room was so nice and neat and clean, and I didn't want my truck to ruin it all. There are boxes of stuff; that while I'm not ready to get rid of them, I don't want them invading my fresh office and sitting here until we move and I load them on the truck to go to the next house because I don't know what to do with souvenirs of my year in France (including some texts...anyone need Plato in French from my philosophy class??)

When it came time to empty the office, I was brutal - I got rid of all my notes from university that I knew I would never look at again, I threw out the old calendars with the pictures I probably would never use for bulletin boards, and I tried to save only what was necessary and useful.

Monday, we went to Ikea to buy me a new bookshelf (a Flarke, for those who follow my Facebook updates) for the binders that I didn't empty. I now have all of my teaching stuff organized and in my office. But there are still 2 boxes that I don't know what to do with in the guest room, and they certainly aren't moving back in here. We'll see. There's an extra Rubbermaid container that we bought for J and have never used that has become furniture in our upstairs hall. Perhaps I'll sift through the contents, keep some, and store it in plastic in the basement. We'll see.

Likewise, I'm off today to London to a wedding gown consignment shop. After a year of tripping over, moving, and otherwise unsure what to do with the white behemouth I wore for 6 hours last July, I've decided to see what I can get for it. This fills me with dread, excitement, a little avarice (I could totally use the cash), and sadness. It's a great dress.

Why didn't I try vacuuming in it atleast once?

A Meme While I Process...

2008-08-01T19:59:00.008-04:00

I have thinks to say...armoires that broke...18 days of vacation. The short version: We're well, we're happy, and J has a nice ex-gf. Oh! And I *heart* my GPS. Here's the rules. I'm trying to organize my office, so I have time for this...and it's the beginning of a long weekend.

Put your mp3 player or music player on your computer on random.
Post the first four lines from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song (skip repeat artists). Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Don’t cheat, you Google whores! (I cleaned it up a little from Kapgar for the young and impressionable among us.)

Let's begin!

1. I got no money in my pockets

I got a hole in my jeans

I had a job and I lost it

But it won't get to me

2. I've called you so many times today

And I guess it's true what your girlfriends say

That you don't ever want to see me again

And your brother's gonna kill me and he's six feet ten

3. I drank sixteen doubles for the price of one

Trying to find the courage to talk to one

I asked her for a dance

Not a second glance

4. Been waiting up

For you to rescue me

To come around

And cover everything

5. If I had $1000000

I would buy you a house

If I had $1000000

I'd buy you furniture for your house

(If I Had $1 000 000 - Barenaked Ladies, guessed by Lindsay)

6. I was a sailor, I was lost at sea

I was under the waves

Before love rescued me

I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread

7. You say that you're leaving

Well that comes as no surprise

Still I kinda like this feeling

Of being left behind

8. If you start me up

If you start me up I'll never stop

If you start me up

If you start me up I'll never stop

9. Life's like a road that you travel on

It's one day here and the next day gone

Sometimes you bend sometimes you stand

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

10. Give me time to reason

Give me time to think it through

Passing through the season

Where I cheated you

11. He's a movie star

Only drives rented cars

Met him in a bar

Said, "I know who you are"

12. *Sigh* - I knew something like this would come up

I've known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart

But you've got being right down to an art

You think you're a genius. You drive me up the wall

You're a regular original know it all

13. I knew you wanted to tell me

In your voice there was something wrong

But if you would turn your face away from me

You cannot tell me you're so strong

14. She left with all of her clothes and all

She left with all my CDs

She was too small to take the big screen

So she took all my DVDs

15. First we'd climb a tree

And maybe then we'd talk

Or sit silently

And listen to our thoughts

(Ahead By A Century - The Tragically Hip, guessed by Lindsay)

16. My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why

I got out of bed at all

The morning rain clouds up my window

And I can't see at all

17. The grey ceiling on the earth, well it's lasted for a while

Take my thoughts for what they're worth, I've been acting like a child

In your opinion, and what is that?

It's just a different point of view

18. The dawn is breaking

A light shining through

You're barely waking

And I'm tangled up in you

19. People all over the world

Join hands

Start a love train, love train

People all over the world

20. My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender

Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way

The history book on the shelf

Is always repeating itself

Exchanges in the Night

2008-07-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

J has just switched to Irish Spring body wash. It just smells good. On him, I mean. I'm not quite so convinced that I should be using it. As a result, I bought a bottle of milk protein and honey body wash for myself. Curse big box stores that put the Ivory bodywash on sale. Apparantly, everyone else likes the only scent we can agree on to both use enough to clean the store out before we get there. J and I have taken to showering before going to bed to combat the heat in the house. I crawled into bed the other night after showering, and spooned up against J. He grabbed my arm and started sniffing. "I can't decide what I smell like. Just that it smells familiar" "Mmmhmmm....(big sniff)...I know!" J starts laughing, "You smell like Golden Grahams!" Just what I always wanted to be: a part of this complete breakfast.

All Together Now..."Awwww"

2008-07-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

A year ago today I married my sweetie. The roller coaster hasn't slowed since. I love you babe. Happy anniversary. Keep enjoying the ride.

Where I Realize That I Am Turning Into My Mother...

2008-07-11T12:00:00.001-04:00

By the time this posts, J and I should be gone on the 3 week odyssey of our road trip to Washington and Charleston, SC. Hopefully, good times will be had by all. J has never done anything like this, and I haven't since I moved out of my parents' house. It's one thing to go to Europe for a month with my parents. It's another thing to spend all this time in the car with them. When I was younger, my father got 5 weeks of vacation in a block. One year, it would be the month of July, the next year, it would be the month of August. Because of the type of work, if we stayed home, our phone would have continued to ring to ask him some type of question, or to do something other than relax. I was sure that it was normal for people to pull up stakes the morning that vacation started and come back to town the night before you returned to work. This meant that my family had wonderful long adventures together: Europe, South America and Africa for 35 days; long camping trips to both coasts. We went away. I'm still somewhat like that, despite a husband who if working could only get a week or perhaps 2. I have time, and we should make the most of it by travelling. Something planned out, but leaving lots of time for experiencing the journey. I travelled in a car that stopped for historic road markers, picnics on the side of the road, and sometimes an ice cream. J remembers only 1 vacation with his family. They went to Yellowstone for 10 days. They got up, and his father started driving from Ohio. They stopped when they got to Yellowstone. Same thing coming home. I asked him if he felt ripped off missing all the interesting things between home and the park. He didn't know what I meant. What I hated most about summer vacations with my parents was the food for the first part of the trip: not what it was as much as what it wasn't. I swore my mother made the biggest batch of cookies she could think of for us to take. She would sped time thinking of snacks and meals that included things brought from home. We would have to finish it all before I was allowed to start choosing store bought cookies for lunch, or get a package of the little boxes of cereal, the one time a year I was allowed to eat presweetened varieties. I thought about this the other day as I made Chex Mix and a big batch of cookies for us to take with us. Not because I was thinking about the kinds we could buy when we run out of home made snacks, but about how much we'll save on the road. I've already heard my mother come out of my face...but this is the first time I've experienced some kind of mind-meld, which I'm sure has probably happened in the past, and I've ignored it. It's starting to happen more frequently, and frankly it scares me a bit. There are worse people I could be melding with: Paris Hilton or Martha Stewart to name a couple.

The End of the Story (Or so we hope...)

2008-07-10T15:43:00.005-04:00

So where did I leave off? I meant to come back to this rather quickly, and failed miserably. Sigh. Look what vacation does to me. Sloth. So the painter came, and cut holes in the ceiling and wall, looking for mold. Remember how I said that the attic was well ventilated? Apparantly, it is. The ceiling and wall were both dry by the time he got in there, and the insulation was fine. We're pretty sure the leak is fixed. At least, we went with it is. Here is the new room in Benjamin Moore's colour Baby Fern:

Look! No gaping wallpaper! Smooth ceiling! Nicely painted woodwork! What more could a girl ask for, except some money out of the roofers to pay for it all.

Here's the hall that was also painted at the same time in Benjamin Moore's Yellow Raincoat:

I'm so happy that this is all over with (as far as I'm aware). I told a friend on the phone on the weekend that if I come back from vacation to anthing the slightest bit disturbed in the office (unless someone wants to come over and load everything in the guest room back into the office), I'm going to take a sleeping bag and camp out in the roofer's office until they can say with certainty that the roof is fixed. J has promised to come with me. I'm sure our making out when we realize there's not much else to do during our impromptu sit in will get the wheels moving.

In a crazy aside, J called this week to lodge our complaint about the lack of metal going up over the caulking. Apparantly, the guy who has been put in charge of our problem fell over the long weekend and broke his ribs. He's not working, and they don't want to send someone else. I have a feeling that I'm going to be sleeping on an office floor before the summer is over.

The Sad Cautionary Tale of Sarah and J's Roof

2008-07-07T11:26:00.007-04:00

So, I've been promising this story for a while...I've just been trying to get to a point where I'm no longer angry. I think I've succeeded. This is going to be long, and hopefully cathartic. I should really be putting together lists of stuff for work in the fall, but I don't want to. I made another abortive trip out to the school today. Once again, no cars. I've come to the conclusion that I am not to go in before the middle of August, like a normal administrator. It will just be a couple of late nights then. The waiting is turning me into a horrible person. But, my story. It's a good one. I'll get to the lessons learned later. When I went house shopping 5 years ago (gah!), I wanted interesting wall space, good light, and something close to my work. I also have a love for old houses, I discovered, and found myself one that I love that was built in 1913. It's narrow, has wide wood moldings, hardwood floors, and character. When I moved in, I knew that I would need a new roof. The inspector had made it clear that the roof was fine, but it needed to be redone. So the first fall I was here, I spent a miserable couple of months arranging my schedule so that I could get roofers to come and do quotes for the following Spring. You would think that guaranteed work for the following year would make them come, but it didn't. I finally managed to convince a couple to show, and hired the more professional of the 2 who showed up. I really don't regret my decision, desipte the heartache of this year. They came when they said they would, and came in on budget. I was happy and wrote a check. They were happy and told me all about my 10 year warranty. In February, I came up the stairs on a Saturday morning after a sleet storm, looked in my office door and saw something much like this:

The staining in this picture is from June. I wasn't taking pictures in anger at that point. At some point in the house's 94 years, there was another leak, and the homeowners of the time put up stylish wallpaper over the stains and texturized it. Classy.

We called a friend of ours who went into the attic (J and I don't own a ladder, and I don't think would fit through our attic hatch...thank goodness for friends who are willing to do so!) He told us that he could see daylight through a space near the chimney, and we should call the roofers. Thankfully, he also told us that the attic was well ventilated, and it probably wouldn't be a big deal to get it fixed.

I called the roofers. J was still working, but around in the mornings; and Monday a guy came to take a look. He couldn't go up to poke around because it was icy, and he didn't have a ladder tall enough. Our house needs the big 28 ft ladder, completely open. But you know, they're roofers. You would think that they'd bring the big ladder. This is a common theme in this story: they don't have a big enough ladder to take a look. He told us to call in March/April, when the weather was better, he'd bring back the big ladder, and they'd go up and take a look at the chimney.

In late April, we still hadn't heard from the roofers...but the paint was starting to peel in the office - starting along the cracks in our plaster from where the water would run down:

Note where the water would run, dragging the dust with it. I think the camera caught this well, don't you?

Now that J was home full time, he decided to call the roofers again. Turns out the guy who'd come to see us had been fired, and they had no record that he'd been to see us. They said they'd come out when they could. Of course, the first time they showed up on our doorstep, they didn't have the big ladder again.

So went the month of April: J calling every few days, and their promising that they'd do something soon. Meanwhile, we were looking for someone to repair the damage in the office. We still think that we may move, and well, we can't sell a house with a leak. Or, we can...but not for as much as a house with no leak.

Around the end of the month, when we had a hot spell, J called one day and was told that the roofers had come the previous night. Around 7:30. We'd gone for ice cream and had no idea if they'd really been here or not. But here was the clincher: we wanted an invoice verifying that the work had been done.

Weeeell....did we really need that? They didn't normally issue a piece of paper for caulking a chimney.

Meanwhile, the rest of the work on the house was continuing apace. The topsoil and seed went down in the backyard, the aluminum around a window was replaced, and we had brick repointed. Frankly, we got real lucky with the repointing. They needed a small Friday job, and we fit the bill. We agreed to the work Wednesday, and they set up Thursday afternoon.

Luckily, J called the roofers again looking for the elusive invoice from the roofers. The girl on the phone started into the same song and dance we'd been getting for a couple of weeks, and J's response was that we didn't feel like valued customers, seeing as he could call other contractors and have them working within 48 hours. Almost made her cry. This makes me a little proud, simply because I'm the heavy for customer service. I wouldn't have had the time or the patience to deal with the roofers as long as he did. It was the right tactic. We had roofers on our doorstep that evening, telling us that they were the ones who had done the work, and if there was another problem, they'd issue us an invoice. We insisted, and got a letter out of the roofers stating that they'd done the work the day they came to talk to us. Our names were spelled wrong, the street name was spelled wrong, but we had something. We went with the work was done, and hired a painter and plasterer to repair the inside of the house. The weekend before the painter was supposed to start, it was beastly here. Well over 30, vilely humid, and we had storm after storm. My friend had come for dinner with her pictures of Africa on a memory key, and we had to keep shutting off the computer. It poured rain horizontally. We should have known what was coming.

I got up the following morning and took a shower. As I was walking past the office after my shower, I heard dripping in the office on the hardwood floor and the desk...right in front of my monitor. The roof wasn't fixed.

Isn't this attractive? The paper started to rip because it was so waterlogged. The stains travelled the full length of the room along the seam in the wallpaper. This is after I started to clear the room, and the paper has dried.

This is the "do you think there's mould up there?" shot. Notice how much bigger the gap is, and the new cracks. These pictures are a sample of the many I took. Suddenly, we had to stop the painter, reschedule the carpet that we'd picked for the hall, and all that. We also called in the insurance company with our tale of woe. Frankly, I was at the point where I didn't care if the rates went up, so long as I didn't have to think about all this anymore. (as a side note, because this wasn't an act of God, they weren't willing to do anything. They told us to go after the roofers. But after the roofers last trip up to look, the insurace guy were up there. They also didn't bring a big enough ladder the first time. They say things look sound)

I was also the lucky person who got to call the roofers and politely tell them what I thought of their caulking job. I ended with an, "I expect to hear from you tomorrow with how you plan to fix this problem." At 8:45, we had a roofer on our doorstep: pair of tennis shoes and a pair of shorts on, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He was "just driving by" and wanted to know how our roof was. He seemed shocked when we explained that it was still leaking. He promised to come back the next day and take a look.

They called at 5:20. They were just packing up. They'd be there soon to take a look around. At 8, a crew came out and up they went. Our guess was that this was the first time, based on what they found: a 1/2" gap that needed caulking. When asked if it was faulty product or ineptitude during installation, I was told that this "happened sometimes". Right. Apparantly, what we need is a piece of metal to block the gap. The caulking is a temporary fix. Not surprisingly, we're still after them for the metal.

What I have learned is this:

Contractors are a pain in the ass. And a necessary part of life. They know it.
J's being home this Spring has been great. We are squeaky wheels with the roofers, and we have had some results.
There is a reason people sue for mental damages. I'm not a big drinker, but I've had more than a few in the last month as this has dragged on. We quit eating at home because I lost all ambition. I also spent a lot of time standing in the door of my office, staring at the ceiling, hating the Whos.
Everyone should own a 28 foot ladder.

So. Much.

2008-07-05T10:40:00.002-04:00

Things have been happening here on the Mountain, and I've been remiss. Mostly, I just haven't been able to process lately. With school ending, trying to say goodbye to students who are wishing me a horrible year next year so that I come back to them, packing, preparing for a trip, dealing with contractors, and being so very tired, I haven't been here. With 6 days until we leave on vacation, I'm not sure how much I'll be here for the next little bit. Here are the things that currently consume my time, in no particular order: 1. The leak is *fingers crossed* fixed. We've had the room drywalled and plastered and painted. The hall has been painted too. Pictures forthcoming. Apparantly, I felt strongly about the leak. I have 15 pictures of the wall, the falling wallpaper, the stains on the ceiling that we looked at, trying to decide if it was mould. Carpet arrives this week. Frankly, the saga is a good one, and now that I'm not in it, I can probably be coherent enough to blog about it. 2. I got a new to me computer monitor. A 19" flatscreen. I luuurve it. Going from the beast that threatened to crack the glass shelf it sat upon to this little number is amazing. Silly things like technology shouldn't make me this happy. We also took our CPUs in to get them blown out after the drywall dust, and I got some more RAM and a better virus program so that I no longer have 2 conflicting program running simultaneously on my computer. It's still not as fast as J's, but I can do things on my computer! Like open Itunes in less than 5 minutes. 3. We booked a cruise for March Break this week. We cruised for our honeymoon, and frankly, developed a taste for it. J and I have been toying with it for a while now, and have decided that it's not going to get any cheaper with current energy prices. This also gives us an excuse to go and see his aunt in California before we go. I don't think it will be quite as plush as the cruise we took for our honeymoon (older, smaller ship and so on), but it will be nice. And a vacation is what you make it to be. 4. We leave in less than a week for our summer adventure - a 2.5 week road trip. J has never done anything like what we have planned, and it's been a long time since I have. We've got the GPS, the satellite radio, the reservations and itinerary. Now all we need to do is pack. Bleh. 5. I'm pretty sure that my new principal lives, eats, and breathes school. We're going to have to find a happy medium for the 2 of us. I need more balance than that. While there are things that I need to do before the first day of school, I can't spend time in the building right now. And I feel guilty about that. Argh. 6. I'm back to sleeping 10 or 11 hours at night. I'm hoping this soon will pass. I found at March Break this year I finally gave myself permission to be tired, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I'm back in that position again. I fall into bed at night and sleep like the dead. But I'm starting to feel rested during the day, so things are coming along. I think that's all...and it's quite a bit. I need to deal with so much in the office still, but I like how open and clean it looks. Everything is still stacked in the guest room, all over everything . I guess I can't have it both ways.

The Death of Domesticity

2008-06-21T10:54:00.004-04:00

I'm in a pissy mood today, and I really don't know why. Frankly, I have been for days. There are many causes from not having started packing at work, to students doing poorly on exams that I swaer aren't too hard to the ongoing issues with the house. I'm back from a pedicure, which usually cheers me up, but it hasn't. We'll see what the rest of the day brings. I have pictures to post, and a long rant about the ineptitude of roofers; as well as a great wailing and gnashing of teeth about why carpenter ants would choose a tree at my house. But that's for another day. I have a few friends getting married this summer. Thankfully, for the most part, I'm not invited to any of these. The only thing worse that I could be invited to right now would be a baby shower. I. Just. Can't. Do. It. The fawning, the oohing and ahhing, it gets to me. A lot. Moving on. Or back. I was talking about weddings. Now that my dining room table is (mostly) clear, I have come up with the items that must be regifted because I will never use them, nor do I wish to give them storage space. One such item was a stainless steel spice rack that held, like, 6 small bottles. Not bottles as big as the glass Penzey's bottles, but the little plastic ones, maybe. There are 2 problems with the spice rack: One, I'm not a stainless girl. My kitchen is more French country cluttered. And Two, I have a spice shelf in a cupboard, and a spice drawer that are both bulging with things I use regularly. Mostly with bags of things from Penzey's because I know I'll use it up before it's been in there all that long. So regifting...It's a nice rack, just not me. (TUA: the sexual overtones of this just hit me, and will make me giggle for a good long time...I'm so 10 years old.) I put it in one of the many wedding bags I have, got a nice card, and shipped it off to one of the girls getting married. I got her thank you card yesterday (yay!), and at the end of it I was struck with irritation over the whole thing. She raved about it ("It will be perfect in our kitchen! It will match our appliances! How did you know we didn't have one?"), but then ended with the comment, "John will get so much use out of it, because I don't cook." Maybe it's just the ongoing pissiness on my part, but I could hear the giggle at the end of the sentence. And it ticked me off. It got me thinking about the number of my female friends who almost take pride in the fact that they really don't cook, and either their husband/partner/SO does, or they pick up stuff from the prepared aisle of the grocery store most of the time. I'm not saying that cooking is solely the domain of any woman, I'm just ticked that there seems to be some badge of honour that has developed for women who can't do more than boil water. I just don't get it. I like to cook. J sucks at it, and is willing to try anything, which is great, as far as I'm concerned. But I just wonder what the allure of being a bimbo in the kitchen is. Anyone know?

For Those Confused...

2008-06-04T22:05:00.003-04:00

...my husband is "optically challenged". Don't tell him he's blind until you meet for the second time. Don't tell my students that they are either. Paralympics Booklet

Cramming the Cat Back in the Bag

2008-05-14T20:53:00.003-04:00

So, I got a Vice Principal gig. I will officially be starting my career in middle management in September. I now huddle in a ball on the floor, hyperventilating about how I will deal with the 10 years worth of crap and teaching supplies that I have in my classroom. I'm telling staff at the moment that I will be leaving, but not students. Frankly, I need to sit on this news until the second last week of June so that I don't listen to students who can talk about nothing else from now until then. I actually have a couple for whom this would be the major topic of conversation. And none of us need that. Especially not me. I almost cracked this morning. I was talking with one of my classes, mentioning that I would need to box up my stuff in June. They wanted to know why. Oops. Tap dancing around the truth, I went with "I want to be better organized in the fall than I was this year." An incredibly true statement, seeing as I spend lots of time now wondering what I did with things. My room is a black hole into which many things fall. It's the Bermuda Triangle of classrooms. They came back with the obvious question, "Is something changing in the fall?" Uh oh. I told them that yes, things would be changing, but I wasn't ready to talk about them yet. Which of course prompted the question, "Are you leaving us?" Eeeee. Before I could answer that, one of the other students asked, "Does this have anything to do with Mr. S?" They know he's home right now, not working. Thankfully, the answer to that was no. Before they all start thinking that J has a new job that will take us to a far-flung reach of the province from which I cannot commute. So I finally told my students that other than J will have to live with me and my news (and my new exhaustion and stress), it had nothing to do with him. And it doesn't. That did it for one girl in the class. "Well," she announced, "we know Mrs. S isn't pregnant!" Thank heavens for small mercies.

"That's a little high" OR Why I Shouldn't Start DIY Projects at 10:15 at Night

2008-05-11T14:59:00.003-04:00

So J went to see Speed Racer on Friday night. It was awesome. He left at 7 and got home around midnight. While most would not normally say that it is awesome to see their spouse leave the house without them, it's totally wonderful where I live. J's not working means he's here. All. The. Time. With me. Wanting to be social with the one live person he's guaranteed to see in a day. I keep looking for ways for him to get out. I can't be the only source of entertainment to him. It will make me stir crazy too. So, J left here at 7 for dinner and a movie. I was going to work on assignments for my course. As time passes, I realize how much I hate homework. Not like my students hate homework. I see the point. I just don't want to do it. I have a husband who hangs on my every word and expects dinner at a normal hour. So he left, and I started surfing on the computer. It was around 9:45 that I realized that I hadn't eaten, and had yet to start an assignment. I ate a toasted bagel, thought about how it was like I was living alone again and eating weird things at weird times again, and decided that I should really have something productive to show J when he got home. Seeing as my mother cleared off my dining room table, I thought I'd hang our wedding picture and the needlepoint that my aunt did for us (one of those, "J and Sarah have been joined in holy matrimony needlepoints. It's nice.) that is in a matching frame. Last August, when I had the enlargement done, I was thinking. I was even thinking about where they'd hang, side by side. So when the picture came home, I took it and the needlepoint up to our bedroom and set them on the floor behind the rocker. I'm not good about actually hanging pictures. The first year in the house, I hung pictures on preexisting hangers, and to cover the odd, white rectangle on the living room wall. The previous owners probably had a cabinet that they'd painted around there. While I will look at a room and know what colour to paint it, and what the window dressings should look like, I never want to hang pictures. I am starting to think it's because I know where to put the pictures, I just suck at getting them on the wall. Case in point: The zebras in the bathroom. After I repainted the bathroom, I went to IKEA for artwork. I found exactly what I wanted: 3 large, matching zebra prints for equally huge shadowbox type frames. They're heavy and massive. Seeing as I knew where I wanted them, they went up fairly quickly: only 2 or 3 months after I bought them. The zebra print hanging was the last expletive laced afternoon I spent hanging pictures independently. 2 of them are side by side, and while they don't exactly line up, they're darn close. I tilt the inner corners in slightly so that they do look the same. Undaunted by this and the Alhambra picture fiasco when I hung frames side by side in the hall, I got my toolbox and a pencil. The needlepoint was first, and it went up well. The first picture is always the easy one. The nail went into the wall with some, but not a lot of resistance, and it was up in about 10 minutes. My mother and I had already decided exactly where we were going to hang them, yet we didn't follow through. She was involved in the Alhambra fiasco, so I think she was cutting losses. I measured and started to attach the second hanger to the wall. I think I found a stud without trying the second time. There was a lot of resistance, and I had to hammer quite forcefully to get the nail all the way in. This was my first mistake. When I hung the picture of J and myself next to the needlepoint, they were way off. Like I hadn't even measured. But I decided that the hole would be covered by the picture, so I should just move to the right a bit, and try again a bit lower. This was really my second mistake. Remember how I said that I had hammered the nail into the stud? Yeah...it wasn't coming out. I spent the next 35 minutes using the hammer and a pair of pliers to cajole the nail out of the wall. That could also be read "wiggle wildly, curse and generally bemoan the fact that I ever started this project in the first place". We did end Sarah: 1, Nail: 0. Crater in the wall: big. Not as big as when I ripped a molly bolt through the plaster trying to remove it from the wall. That required screen to fix. This is just going to be many thin layers of polyfila. So I went to the right, a little lower, and realized that I still hadn't cleared the stud. The nail is still not all the way in this time. I was thinking for the next owners of the house who may not want a picture there, seeing as they're high on the wall as well. But it's in, and the pictures are hung, and J's only comment was, "They look good, but was that all you did while I was out?" Apparantly, he takes lessons from my mother.

Things that go Bump in the Night

2008-05-09T13:35:00.003-04:00

Some bullets about where me and my head are right now:

I have been offered a spot in the VP pool for the local public school board. Yay me. They told me 18 months until assignment in the interview. They told me 3 weeks on the phone. I will most likely have a new job in September. I am now scared out of my mind. Real school will chew me up and spit me out.
J is going stir crazy. I come home at night to a man who desperately wants to go out and talk. All I want to do is curl into a ball and hope I survive another day at work as I contemplate the fact that I need to clean out the classroom that I have inhabited for the past 10 years. It makes me want to cry.
My mother cleaned off my dining room table and moved everything to the shelves that she set up in the basement. It is very clean, and I didn't have to lift a finger. It's all good.
J and I are planning a road trip for our summer vacation. It should be fun. I come home every day and look for the mail, hoping for tourist packages from far off states like Pennsylvania. I don't get out much.
I keep having dreams that I'm pregnant. That can't be a good sign. Pregnant women who can talk about nothing else piss me off. Those 2 facts must be related.
J sat straight up in bed the other night because he lost an earplug (apparantly I snore. How sexy is that??). He thought he'd pushed it too far into his ear - apparantly there's a big black abyss into which it fell...inside his head. At 3:12 AM, I really didn't care. For him, this was a traumatic event that we needed to discuss.
I am running short on sleep at the moment. Contemplating how far into my husband's head an earplug can go didn't help matters.
I am 3 assignments, a weekend of classes and a seminar away from being a qualified principal. How surreal is that?
J and I are incapable of making grass grow in our backyard. So is our lawn guy. We're on seeding #3.
I love that I no longer do laundry and dishes. These are J's domain now. I did dishes with him last night for the first time in 3 weeks.
There are only 7 Fridays of school left, and so much to cover. My grade 9s have no idea what's coming at them next week.
I don't have any plans for this weekend, other than sleep late, buy hanging baskets for the deck, spend time cooking, and writing some of the above assignments. How great is that. The sun is shining, it's 1:43 in the afternoon, and there's not one thing I absolutely have to do except take J for a haircut. It's all good.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

2008-04-22T19:38:00.003-04:00

Let's count up the stressors in mine and J's collective lives, shall we? 1. He has no job, and is starting to go stir crazy. I come home everyday to a man who wants to see me, but is utterly guilty that he isn't pulling his fair share of the weight around here. It's heartbreaking, and I want to talk about me...not how miserable he now is. Funny, it's becoming like the radio station. 2. I won't hear for another week about the interview, and we're convinced that I didn't get an interview with the board up north. My guess is it's because I didn't mention the possibility of relocation. I've been blah and meh for the last couple of days. It's very disappointing. The supply pool is now open for the board, and I need to put in my cover letter that I'm willing to relocate. But it's supply work, and we need full time for one of us; with real money. 3. I have a migraine. But happily, J has gone to Bible Study with the pan of brownies that I made for him this afternoon. I can sit in front of the TV and not move. That's a good plan.

Boys and Their Hoses

2008-04-20T20:51:00.002-04:00

No, it's not *that* kind of a post...but I thought it made for a great title. Things here on the mountain continue at breakneck speed. I'm half finished my principal's certification course, and it is a master at the art of time suckage. Or I haven't learned how to effectively manage my time. I'm going with option A. Option B makes me sound deficient. J and I are both looking for work. Well, more me than J. He's waiting on the job that was unofficially offered in March. That would move us 3 hours north of where we are now. Not that that's a bad thing...it's snowier, but it's on the water. So, I've applied for the principal's pool up there, and we wait. I had another interview with the local board here this past Monday for the vice principal pool, and I'm feeling pretty positive. I found out Friday from my principal in my performance review that they called for a reference, so I'm pumped about that. We won't know the outcome until the 28th of April. Bleh. I hate waiting. And we're waiting for a potential interview with the northern board. I know they're the 28th (how ironic), so I should hear in the next couple of days if I got one or not. Here's hoping. I succumbed to the call of the Matrix, and it's so much fun. We put the back seats down this weekend for more hauling space. I'm learning to embrace second gear. It's the one thing I'm not enjoying: I miss my old car's standard because I was so used to it. Second is a bitch in the new car. But it will come. The car is dark blue. J's looking for big magnetic maize block Ms for Saturdays in the fall. But, because J is home during the day, and there's the possibility that we'll be moving, there are many capital improvement projects underway on the mountain. 1. J and I went to Home Despot and bought the world's most amazing broom. We live with many, many pine trees, and they all shed. All freaking year. And I have never done a lot about them. But, we think that potential buyers might be interested in what the driveway looks like. So we bought an "Industrial Street Sweeping" broom. It rocks my sock drawer. We got all the needles, top soil, and pine cones up. We should have taken before and after pictures. It was amazing. 2. My friend Steve came and helped us change out both the faucets in the house (kitchen and bath), seeing as they were both leaking. Now, my bathroom faucet is brushed nickel like the towel bars and toilet paper holder. I keep going in and making sure they're clean, just because. I'm such a loser. 3. The pipes have been changed out for pex from coroding galvanized. It's amazing. We have hot water and water pressure. Not surprisingly, the leaking in #2 became much worse after the change. Changing the faucets took on a new priority. We also got a new showerhead. There is now an actual shower as opposed to the spray that went in all directions like before. We have such hard water here. 4. With all my pretty brushed nickel in the bathroom, I felt a need for new cabinet pulls. The old ones were gold...and the rest of the metal was so not. They are now brushed nickel too. 5. With the decision to buy new pulls, we decided to get new pulls for the kitchen that didn't have paint on them and that matched. J put the new ones on yesterday morning while I was at my pedicure. It was amazing. 6. This all started with my decision to put in the under cabinet lighting that I had lusted after for the past 5 years. Those lights should have been at the top of my priority list on capital improvements. I use them all the time. 7. Remember my backyard glamour project of last summer? Where we had the patio ripped out? Yeah, the topsoil and grass seed finally showed up this week. J and I went to Canadian Tire and bought a hose. I have never felt a need to own one. Any flowers I've had in the front I water with a watering can, and I've always let the grass die in the summer. J has taken on the grass as a personal project. Which is fine. I don't want to get up and water. But he does. He's looking up tips on getting it to sprout, and when the best time to water is, and how long it should take, etc. We've had to buy hose accessories already. The hose is, in no uncertain terms, his new favourite toy. We were out sweeping this afternoon, and he kept suggesting that we spray down the driveway, or the car "because it's getting dusty from the sweeping". At this rate, we may even build the shelves and put away the wedding gifts that cover the dining room table. It's not because my mother is coming on Friday for the weekend. I swear it isn't.

Tying Up Some Loose Ends

2008-03-27T14:00:00.002-04:00

So I never posted the correct answers to the still unguessed movies in my last post. Let me just start by saying (on a movie theme) that J and I watched Slapshot last night, and I just didn't find it funny. I know I made him sit through the Princess Bride with me a couple of Saturdays ago, but still. I think it's a guy movie. Here are the answers to those missed: "You've got a mighty strong grip for a girl" is Meet Me in St. Louis, a movie I adore despite the incredible cheese that it is. I have a soft spot for Judy Garland movies anyway, and this is a fantastic one. Especially the red dress at the end. "May I admire you again today?" is Pretty in Pink, which I have to admit I'm shocked no one guessed. I wanted to be Molly Ringwald for a time. I still watch this whenever it's on. "Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat - a Studebaker" is The Muppet Movie. I still love puppets. Hallie and I went to IKEA on March Break, and they had finger puppets. I wanted to get them, just so I could whip them out when J's least expecting it (like, say, at church!) and annoy him. Sadly, the octopus finger puppet that I so admired stayed at the store. I also think that there are times that I ascribe to the Miss Piggy philosophy, "Never eat more than you can lift." I want to post about our Easter in Toledo, and then you will all understand how true this is. "So was my husband. I'm still glad they came up with vibrators" is kinda obscure, I have to admit. It's Men With Brooms, a fun little Canadian number. If you get curling as a sport, I highly reccommend this one. "Shakalaka baby!" Yeah, this one's Canadian too. It's Bollywood/Hollywood, another little Canadian film that makes me very happy. Total chick flick. I'm not planning to make J watch it any time soon. He's not big on foreign films to begin with, and this has all the Bollywood elements right down to the transvestite. The grandmother alone makes this movie worth it. "How did I raise such a snob? It's a mystery, mother...let's ask the servants." There's no reason any sane person should watch this movie other than me...it's really not that good. The movie is Mrs. Winterbourne starring the one and only Ricki Lake. The movie is loosely based on a much better French novel and movie called, J'ai Marriee un Ombre, or "I married a shadow". Much, much better. It's as crazily meldoramatic in French as it is slapstick with Brendan Fraser in English. Yeah. But it makes me want to tango.

You've Got a Mighty Strong Grip for a Girl

2008-03-15T16:27:00.008-04:00

I've loved looking at others playing this meme, so it's my turn! In looking for quotes, I've discovered that I like some pretty obscure movies. They're all relatively recent (despite my love of the 1940s musical) Except the title. It's and oldie but a goodie. Here's the rules, compliments of Ms. Sizzle: * Pick 15 of your favorite movies * Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie (or quote them from memory because you are that bad ass) * Post them on your blog for everyone to guess * Fill in the film title once it’s been guessed These are your rules: * No Googling or using IMDB search functions (Don’t cheat!) * Leave your answer(s) in the comments And away we go!! 1. B: Hey, is Danny about? R: Yeah, he's waiting around the corner. B: Oh, that's terrific! It will be nice working with proper villains again. (Ocean's Eleven - guessed by kapgar ) 2. Everybody's born knowing all the Beatles lyrics instinctively. They're passed into the fetus subconsciously along with all the amniotic stuff. Fact, they should be called "The Fetals". (Sliding Doors - guessed by Suze ) 3. Hold it, hold it. What is this? Are you trying to trick me? Where's the sports? [suspiciously] Is this a kissing book? (The Princess Bride - guessed by Suze ) 4. You look like a doily. (Reality Bites - guessed by Suze ) 5. It's better to help people than garden gnomes. (Amelie - guessed by Shaye) 6. Nazis. I hate these guys. (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - guessed by Shaye) 7. You're born into a family. You do not join them like you do the Marines. (While You Were Sleeping - guessed by Shaye) 8. May I admire you again today? 9. Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat - a Studebaker. 10. I have to help Wayne with his bogo pogo. (Strictly Ballroom - guessed by Suze ) 11. C: That hardware store was unique. A: So was my husband. I'm still glad they came up with vibrators. 12. Shakalaka Baby! 13. It's amazing the clarity that comes with psychotic jealousy. (My Best Friend's Wedding - guessed by Suze ) 14. G: How did I ever raise such a snob? B: It's a mystery Mother... let's ask the servants. 15. Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe? (The Breakfast Club - guessed by kapgar)

Shiny Happy People

2008-03-12T12:08:00.002-04:00

J and I are trying desperately to get organized this week. I was ruthless with my magazines last night and recycled a good number. The piles on the hearth now number 2 instead of 6. It's kind of exciting. When I get in the mood, it's easy to toss and marvel at all the space I'm creating. That's what I'm actually supposed to be doing in the office right now: organizing and tossing. So far, I've filed my taxes and started the registration procedure for J to be on Direct Deposit and file his taxes. I realize that CCRA makes it complicated for a reason, but it's a pain in my backside. I wish I'd known all the hoops earlier so I could have started earlier. Happily, we're both getting money back. Even more happliy, it will be a nice payment towards a new car. I love my car. The world needs more Corolla drivers, as far as I'm concerned. In 10 years, I've put a new set of front brakes on it, and a set of tires. Other than regular oil changes and fluid replacements, the car hasn't given me a lick of trouble. But it's 10 years old. I spent a year driving from here to Toledo to visit J 2 weekends a month. It's getting up there. Less than 200 000 kms, but still. I want something new. So does J. The air conditioning's shot; and despite the fact that we survived last summer's highway driving with the back windows down, we didn't develop a taste for it. Enter my going to the dealership in August for an oil change and overall check up. They had pretty shiny cars in the air conditioned showroom (have I ever mentioned that our house isn't air conditioned either?), so I struck up a conversation with the salesguy about my next car, whenever that would be. By the time I left with my freshly oiled machine, I wanted a Matrix. For the space, and for the fact that it was pretty and shiny and new. J and I have now been back twice to look at my pretty shiny car in the showroom. In fact, Timmy's is giving them away on Roll Up the Rim this year, and I have declared that I will win one despite my down in coffee consumption from them or anyone else. Today, I'm going for a test drive of the 2009 5-speed. I'm so excited about getting my tax refund. I'm getting something pretty and shiny and new.

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

2008-03-09T16:19:00.003-04:00

Argh. I wanted to do this Saturday, but Blogger wouldn't let me upload pics. Then Sunday, I tried again. Still no pics. Today is no different. Screw the pics. They're just of tropical Southern Ontario. So my weekly hellish drives to Toronto are done. Apparantly, the snow isn't done with me though. Saturday, for J's last day of work, the weather was frightful. And me in my 10 year old Corolla took it all on. I did win. Yay me. Yes, that's right...J's last day of work. I am officially the breadwinner, and he is officially the "Domestic Engineer", a title that he has given himself. He's spending my March Break learning to run all of our appliances and generally running amok with me. Today was fun. Tomorrow, I'm off to the dermatologist. So, we won't totally be underfoot of one another. I think that's what worries me most about J's being home full time: that I'm going to be bitter that I have to go to work and he doesn't. I'm still hoping to win the lottery so that neither of us really has to work, and I can go back to school for the masters that I'll never use. Sigh. The biggest hurdle in all of this is that J can't just go out and get another job. He needs that all important work permit still because he isn't anywhere near landed immigrant status. Did I mention that that's one of the things we're meaning to file this week? Yep, it just hasn't been a priority. But as always, good things will and have come of this. The most important: my husband is sleeping better at night. He's been miserable for so long (almost as long as he's been here) that horrible sleep habits had just kind of become a norm for him. I think the CPAP is a little to blame for that, seeing as he's never slept well. But he's waking up rested. Happier. Perhaps quitting is the best for both of us. Have I mentioned that I'm looking for a new job too?

Wow (or as they say backwards, WOW)

2008-03-07T15:17:00.002-05:00

It's been busy here on Walton Mountain. One course ended, one course started, no more evil drives to Toronto on Tuesdays. Disturbingly, this did not mean an end to winter (which I was convinced would be the case). We are under yet another snow warning. I shouldn't be shocked. It's been such a long winter already, why would I think that it would be over? Just because I'm on March Break? Surely I jest. Frankly, there have been a lot of things that I just haven't been ready to blog about for one reason or another. One will be very public knowledge tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll be sharing that soon. It seriously affects my little world. I'm starting to job hunt as well - not that I don't like where I am, I just want a little more. My principal's course moves me in that direction: I'm filling out applications and writing leadership responses to things right now. They always say to look for a job when you don't need one. That's what I'm doing. But I totally freaked out my principal when I told him that I needed a Performance Appraisal done. Okay, that was fun too. Somehow, for the second year in a row, I'm not going away for March Break. Last year, I was planning a wedding. Seeing as that sucked up any and all extra cash, I went to Niagara for 2 nights. This year, we're just not going anywhere. I have a list as long as my arm for things that I want to accomplish, and most of those things involved decrapifying the house. I may clean off the dining room table once and for all!!! Then I'll need to invite people in for dinner to celebrate. Anyone interested in a possible dinner?

Oh Yeah, Baby!

2008-02-15T21:07:00.000-05:00

Watch the Trailer on Yahoo! Movies

Requiem for a Friend

2008-02-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

My last 2 years in TO, I lived in a house in East York. I don't really believe that there's life east of the Don Valley (I'm half kidding Suze!), but that was where there was an affordable room in the upstairs of a house. My landlady lived on the main floor, and rented out her 2 upstairs bedrooms. The 3 of us shared the kitchen and living room. I enjoyed the time I spent there. It was quiet, close to my first 2 practicums in Teacher's College, and not far from the church where I was organist. Miki and I moved in about the same time. Miki was the girl with whom I shared the upstairs for the first year and a half. She was Japanese, and doing a business administration/HR course. When she finished the course, she decided to stay and get a job. Unfortunately, she applied too late after she finished her courses to get a quick nod with her visa. The Canadian government seized her passport and she hired a lawyer. I took Miki home with me for Christmas that year. I couldn't imagine anyone sitting in a room by themselves for the holiday, and her friends were all going to Florida. When there are already 20 coming for dinner, what's 1 more plate? It also meant that she got to experience a North American holiday and all that good stuff. In January 1998, I came home one afternoon to find boxes of Miki's things in the front hall, waiting to be shipped by boat back to Japan. She'd given up fighting with the Canadian government and was leaving in 3 days (how's that for you? I want more time than that to pack for vacation) She asked me if I wanted to buy her stereo for $100. It was a little shelf model, single CD, double cassette, AM/FM with separate speakers. I jumped, seeing as the tape deck in my clock radio was broken (and had been for a couple of years), and it sounded way better than what I currently had. I don't know what happened to Miki - she went back to Japan, and I'm assuming stayed there. But one never knows. I do know what happened to the stereo. Last week, I went to put in a CD as I worked on the computer. The drawer wouldn't open. I tried again because it's become tempermental; and it opened. A little black plastic thing fell out. The CD player is toasted. While the radio still works, and the cassette players are operational, I think the stereo I bought 10 years ago is on its way to the electronics recycling day here in May. We don't use it a whole lot, and we've been looking for somewhere to put the satellite radio. But it's sad, in a way. I realize that the unit was second hand to me, and cheap, but it was the first large electronic purchase I made. Even if it was from a desperate Japanese girl who was scraping up money to send her clothing home to Japan. Thanks, Miki.

A Revelation, and All That

2008-02-08T15:37:00.001-05:00

So, I was photocopying like a mad woman this afternoon for my project. I need 48 articles for this thing that I'm doing, so that teachers can talk around common themes in mathematics and learn something. We'll see what happens. I'm learning that I may have bitten off more than I can chew, based on a lackadasical approach to the project up until the absolute instant where it needs to happen. But while standing at the photocopier at 3:15 this afternoon after teaching a workshop and classes all morning I realized how excited I am at the moment. I don't know if it's the prospect of the upcoming course, or the math course that I'm almost finished, or the fact that I'm just getting a charge out of my students currently; but I'm excited to teach new things. Now, that doesn't mean that I am in the hunt currently for the next new thing to do, but it means that next year on my ALP I'm planning to learn how to use the school's Smart Board if I'm still here (yes, a Smart Board for visually impaired people...I found it while looking for a screen this afternoon. Go figure) I haven't been around much recently because I've been on a bit of an angry jag. Maybe hormones, maybe stress, probably both. But I really haven't had much to say that is really all that positive. It's a good reason not to be here: no one needs that much acid in their life. And knock on wood, things will go well this weekend. I've got a lot to do with the whole write a research paper and a book study and fudge some reflections; but I know where I'm headed. Despite the fact that the research that I've been reading in the past couple of days says that book studies are really counterproductive in the approach I'm taking. Hmm...

Celebration of a Sort

2008-02-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

I had such grand plans...

I finished the inquiry on Thursday, and I set everything up around my computer in my classroom so that Friday afternoon I could set straight to work and finish my summative assignment. It was all coming together brilliantly.

Unfortunately, I am unable to control the weather, and Friday's snowstorm meant that all my work was at school - without me. Sigh.

But...

I've done all the work I can on the summative based on what I remember the instructor going over in class. That's worth at least a glass of champagne.

Celebration 1

2008-01-31T16:51:00.000-05:00

I would like to announce that the Inquiry project I had to complete is finished.

The band will be playing for the next half hour. Everybody dance.

(thanks to Gwen-Gwen on flickr for the image)

Where I Slowly Turn Into a Lunatic

2008-01-30T17:54:00.000-05:00

You'd think I'd learn. You'd wonder how J managed to ever find to actually meet me and date me and propose and all that good stuff. Why is it that I seem to be happier when my life is careening out of control and I've over committed and taken on too many projects? So Friday I did a training session with JR. It went well. At the end, we were talking about the upcoming week, and the following Friday's training session (for which I went to facilitator training on Monday), and she asked me if I was going to the webcast Thursday morning. The numeracy webcast email had crossed my desk a couple of weeks ago with the note, "Please attend if you can." Well, it was during a teaching day, I was already going to be out once that week, so I decided I couldn't attend. Apparantly, that was the wrong answer. So Friday afternoon at 3:30, I started making phone calls to see if I could still register for a webconference that was happening in less than a week, I hadn't done the tech training for, and that registration had closed on 10 days previously. I managed to get in. Looking at the slides and handouts I printed today, it should even be really good. But it was one more thing. After getting that straightened away, I moved on to my project for the course I want in March. I can apply for the course, but I'm not eligible until someone signs off on my project. The project that is an elephant in the corner of my life because it's huge and needs to happen and I don't want to think about it. Yeah...I was told (to the best of my recollection) that I could start the course without being 100% totally finished. I was apparantly misinformed. I now need to churn out an article study that is to last 8 weeks with handouts, guiding questions and whatnot between now and February 14. Not to mention the research component. Or the reflective journals. I have titles and jotted notes, but no real reflections that show I'm learning and growing. Stupid educational system. My new goal is to have the thing well in hand (read: ready to be shown to JR, needing only edits) by Family Day weekend. I have a fortnight. My math course, thank goodness is winding down. I went last night. It was a great class: half the people were at a technology session. We could have real discussion. The instructor was handing back the papers we wrote before Christmas. Well, except for mine. She can't get it to print. All I really want is the mark. But she won't mark it until I give her a hard copy in 2 weeks time. They're both total snores. I'm much happier with the projects for this side of the holiday: a short inquiry study (which I rocked, if I do say so myself) and a summative 3 part lesson. They're due next Tuesday. I have no idea what to do for my summative. I would love to write a reflection on what I've learned. That would be way more valuable. Or to continue with what I'm doing right now with algebra tiles (you know you want to look them up. Try here: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_189_g_4_t_2.html?open=activities&from=category_g_4_t_2.html ) My kids love them. They're doing such great stuff right now. But back to the point, I need to be done by Tuesday. Guess what I'm going to try and do tomorrow afternoon? Crank both out so I can go back to this evil project. Now, thankfully, J doesn't seem neglected. We're happy, but he's in crisis mode himself, and sometimes I question whether or not I get to be the one who whines. Perhaps that's what the blog is for.

A Quick Announcement

2008-01-26T14:21:00.000-05:00

For some of you, this will be TMI. But I need to tell someone. In the short time that I have been married, Aunt Flo has joined us for the wedding, J's birthday, my birthday (yay for being born approximately 4 weeks apart) and New Year's. If she shows up just as we're leaving for the romantic weekend we just booked over the Family day weekend at Niagara Falls; there will be a great wailing, crying, and gnashing of teeth. I'm sure J will be sorry as well. That is all. Return to your weekend.

Hmmmm....

2008-01-24T16:46:00.000-05:00

I really don't know what to post about. There are so many possibilities.

We got J mended just in time for the house to start falling apart. We have a leak, a spreading stain in the back bedroom, peeling wallpaper, and a crack in the wall. We are also expecting the plumber around 8 Monday to change out a length of galvanized pipe in the basement. J is also supposed to be getting the name of a painter who will be coming to fix the back room and paint the hall/stairs. I'm gonna be poor soon.
I'm still shopping for car insurance, although I have chosen the winner. I am not fond of the hard sell, and I got one yesterday. Insurance people need to be agressive. I do understand that. I just don't make snap decisions, especially when other people start telling me how to spend my money.
I had the drive from hell Tuesday night coming home from my class. It took me almost 3 hours. I have never been as scared behind the wheel as I was then. Black ice is evil, closed roads are annoying, and freezing windshield washer fluid when you really need it is curse inducing. There are only 6 classes left. I can hardly wait to be done.
My slippers are dying. I was trying to figure out the other night how J was managing to leave a wake of little white plastic things on the carpet in the living room. Then I kicked my slippers off and realized it was me: the soles are disintegrating. I can't find anything as fun as my white beaded butterfly slippers. Especially not when I bought them at a Beall's outlet in Florida on March Break for $4. It's making me very sad.
In a true sad way, I seem to have a lot of friends at the moment that are going through rocky things: job loss, illness, marriage breakup and the like. I'm starting to wonder how you stay strong through it all. Currently, I'm not sure I'd notice if anything like that happened to me: all I do is work.
Speaking of work, I love winter when the blind kids go out to swing on a bitingly cold day with their hat pulled down to their collar. They just look like they're off to look for a horse so they can go scare Ichabod Crane. Always makes me laugh.
Finally, I'm not looking for a job, but I'm looking around. That kind of brings me down too. I love what I do, but I'm tired. The kids are great, I enjoy my classes with the exception of Advanced Study Hall, but I keep thinking that there has to be more out there. The problem is, if someone offered me carte blanche the chance to do anything in education next year, I'm not sure what I'd do. So we wait.

In the Heart of the City

2008-01-19T09:52:00.000-05:00

Based on J's eyesight, we will always live in town. Not that I have ever had any grandiose dreams to live in the country with a whole lot of property to look after and neighbours a long ways away, but it isn't going to happen. We need to be within decent distance of public transportation so that he can get around when I'm working and so on. In one way, being the only possible liscenced driver in the house for a good long time has financial benefits as well as drawbacks. I can't send J to the store when I need something. He can't pick up the dry cleaning on his way home. I can't sleep if I'm tired and we're on our way back from seeing family. But we don't need a 2 car garage, to fuel 2 engines, or pay for insurance for the 2 of us. I'm currently working on finding cheaper car insurance. I had quite the arguement with the girl on the phone the other night about how I could be married and not need to put my husband on the policy. Apparantly, my saying, "He's legally blind. He's not allowed to drive a car," didn't convince her. Whatever. Back to my main point. We need to live in town. The problem with living in town? Neighbours. We have really great people across the street. And the 86 year old on one side of us? A lovely woman we don't see much of from November to April. 2 doors down? Another lovely couple. He teaches guitar and she works at my bank. We wave to each other when we're leaving for work about the same time. But the other side of us? That's another story. When I moved in 4 years ago, I was told that my neighbour really keeps to herself, and that she probably wouldn't talk to me. I'd tried smiling and saying hello once or twice, but was met with a stony stare and a turned back. Yep, living next to the neighbourhood recluse. She keeps her house in good repair, mows her lawn, is fanatical about snow removal (I yearn to be able to clean a driveway with her precision, but don't have the patience) albeit her need to remove snow at 5:45 AM on a workday is a bit extreme. She scrapes the concrete clean of any bit of snow that was ever there. When I broke my wrist the first year I lived here, people dropped me off in her driveway, seeing as mine was full of snow. They did until she started parking her van so that you couldn't pull in to let me out. When I painted the back porch 3 years ago, I had a bit of a run in with her. Stray paint chips fell on her driveway as I scraped. She didn't like the colour I chose, despite the fact that it was a slightly lighter colour of what had previously been there. My trees were killing her lawn. I didn't do anything about the weeds in the patio (I'll give her this one. I hadn't yet that season. It was May) When I phoned my folks after she actually talked to me, my father stopped encouraging any interaction with her "just in case I needed something", and encouraged me to get to know my other neighbours. And so it has been ever since. In other news, we decided to fire the cleaning lady. It's been an ongoing problem thing, with her moving things, wanting to "take care" of us, and J's conviction that she's a little obsessed with me. Plus, we figure that there are lots of other good uses for that money right now. So I was the lucky person that got to phone and tell the cleaning lady that her services were no longer required. When I did, she wanted me to know that I lived next door to a very nasty woman. Apparantly, the cleaning lady was out on the porch beating the kitchen rugs when my neighbour found it necessary to come out and tell the cleaning lady exactly what she thought of me. We're not sure if this woman is even aware that J lives here too. He was never mentioned. According to my neighbour, I'm lazy and rich. She does her own yard work and house work, and I should too. That and I'm made of money, and my cleaning lady should charge me more and "rob me blind" because that's what I deserve. J says she's jealous. I say I can spend money any way I darn well want, and it's easier to spend the money and get the lawn cut and the housework done than it is to feel guilty about not doing those things. I guess I just don't understand how anyone can be so spiteful when I've done nothing to incur that wrath. I think I'd like to be a Pythonesque recluse: close enough to say hello, but be by myself most of the time.

Where I Learn that what My Course Teaches is Worthwhile

2008-01-17T17:16:00.000-05:00

So I've been taking this math course for ages. It seems like years, desipte the fact that I know it's not. 7 more weeks is the longest amount of time ever. But yeah, back to the point. So I'm taking this course, and we talk a lot about discovery and constructing learning; as in, "students should construct their own learning through the discovery process". What this really means is that textbooks are evil, and I should spend even more time thinking of engaging lessons for my kids so that they can learn. Which makes sense. This is how you learn as an adult. You need/want to learn something, you look at the pictures and give it a shot. This is how I installed my first light fixture. But it's darn simple to flip the page and discover where exactly we're going next the day before the students do. (I'm not saying this is what I do for my classes. I only teach 1 course that even has a textbook. I'm just saying there are teachers out there who ascribe to this philosophy...and I used it myself the year I taught Science.) So I have 2 assignments left for this course, and the current addition to my workload is an inquiry project into something in Grade 9 Applied Math. My question is, "Does instruction using algebra tiles improve the strategic competence of students for factoring variable equations?" (The answer is yes, for those of you who are reeeeally wondering) I pulled out the tiles today with my 9s, and we sat down and went to work. After reviewing which were negatives and which were positives, and representing different equations, we had 5 minutes left. This in and of itself was a miracle, since I'm usually scrambling at the end of the class to make sure everyone knows what exactly is going on. I really didn't want to get into something that was going to take more time so I gave my class a treat: they all made me pictures using their algebra tiles: houses with swimming pools, flowers, ladybugs. It was fun to watch them so intent on their building. But the best part? At the end of the class, they all wanted to know if we could use the tiles again tomorrow. That made my day. Even though I know they're only in it for the pictures.

Things I Have Learned in the Last 2 Months Since Posting

2008-01-14T15:13:00.000-05:00

1. I am too busy for words. 2. You can live with 2.5 feet less of your colon. J is proof of this. Yes, the surgery was successful. 3. I like it when my husband is working and not home all the time. Yay tomorrow when he goes back to work. 4. Wii is freaking fun. We played over Christmas at my sister in law's. My mother in law kept bowling strikes. Go figure. 5. AQ courses are meant for people fresh out of teacher's college. I can hardly wait until it's finished - despite the fact that I'm actually starting another course hot on the heels of the first one. 6. While I like my job, I want to do something different. If only I were qualified. 7. While I love having a cleaning lady, firing ours was one of the best decisions we made over the holidays. 8. I am less squeamish than I thought I was - I was the dressing changer for J's incision when he came home from the hospital with 32 staples still in him. They'd removed half before he left. 9. I am not interested in the drinking habits of others, especially if I am taking a $1000 course (see #5) 10. I've missed posting. I'm just hoping that I can come up with the time to do more of this.

Ack!

2007-11-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's been a loooong time, and a whole lot has happened. Suze over at Still Baking signed up for NaBloPoMo, and I thought about it, but I'm glad I didn't. I really couldn't keep up. Life is busy enough. I do, however, feel a need to get things out. So here we go: 1. I finally caved on the whole furnace thing on Monday the 29th. I walked into the house and thought, "You know, I'd be comfortable in here if I left my coat on." That sealed it, and we now have heat. But I still have cold toes to share with J when we get into bed at night. I may have turned the heat on, but I am cheap. 2. Work is crazy, and that's one of the main reasons I've not been around other than to lurk. I'm the main trainer on a geometry roll out that's happening in my board right now, so I'm on the road for that based on the latest training model. I'm also still teaching full time, planning a family math day for our elementary school and putting together book studies which I facilitate for our teachers. J wonders why I don't get home earlier at night. My students wonder why I don't get their tests marked. 3. I've jumped back into school with both feet. I'm taking the high school math qualifications, which is enough in and of itself. It's 4 hours on Tuesday nights, 1.5 hours away from here. You'd think I'd learn. On days like this coming Tuesday, I'll leave the house at 7 to go and spend the day facilitating training, then get back in my car to go to my course, and then drive home. Assuming good weather and little construction, I'll get home around 11 PM. Everyone loves 16 hour days! I know my Wednesday students live for them. 4. I still need to finish my principal's qualifications. I've never completed the project that would let me do the last module of courses. JR came up with a great project that I'm now trying to get approved - cause we all know that I need more things to do in my spare time. I talked to the program coordinator Friday about what I needed to do for approval, and he wanted to know if I was interested in the last module in February because it will be offered here. When I took the first part, I slept on my friend's couch Saturday nights in Toronto because we went 8 - 5 on Saturdays and 8-2 on Sundays. Taking it in town is tempting. I could sleep in my own bed, for one thing. The problem is, I'll have to finish the project. And while JR and I came up with an awesome idea which she is willing to supervise, I'm not sure I can bang it out in 2 months. 5. Surprisingly, things with J are good. He doesn't seem too neglected. His colonoscopy on Friday showed no polyps, just the divirticuli which are the problem. He's having colon reduction surgery in December; probably the 6th. I will even be in town that day. I'm 5 hours away doing training the day before - after going to my class the Tuesday night before that. 6. This weekend, I've been channelling my inner Bob Vila...or maybe Mag Ruffman. J and I finally got around to picking up all of the pinecones that have been littering our front lawn. We also cut back the vines on the house, put up the new porch light I got for my birthday, and the matching new mailbox, and the tile numbers that I bought in Spain that have been waiting to be put up since 2005. J isn't mechanically inclined, so he is the amazing holder of things and repairer of my sanity as I wish the project to be done and wield the tools and look oh so sexy in my safety goggles as I drill holes in the brick. I'm just glad that he laughed with me (not at me) when I realized that I was trying to drill with the drill in reverse, and couldn't understand what I wasn't getting anywhere. Not surprisingly, I was sick last weekend and most of last week with strep throat. I think my body's trying to tell me something. I wonder what it could be.

Me, the Ice Queen

2007-10-14T13:50:00.000-04:00

So, J asked me Thursday night if we were going to turn on the furnace. "No!" I responded, "Why would we want to do that??" Yep, it's October, and I'm being cheap...or out to win my yearly bet with the gas company. It is well ingrained into me by a couple of wicked cheap parents that you don't turn the heat on in the fall until there is an icicle hanging from the end of your nose, or it's November 1. I told J it was a ploy on my part to snuggle closer to him at night. Suddenly, turning on the furnace didn't seem as important to him. I do have the gas fire on in the living room right now, along with the fan. It makes the room most comfy, and a totally fun place to hang out. I'm a little concerned about going upstairs though. The upstairs does not benefit from the heat of the fireplace. I love my house, but it's not well insulated. Slippers and sweaters and a blanket over your knees for evening TV watching is the order of the day in this house. What a difference a week makes! Last week, I sat in Michigan Stadium hoping my honey wouldn't touch me or ask for a swig out of one of the 3 water bottles I finished before the end of the game. This week, I forgot my wool socks and wished that I had a pair of gloves. Yesterday was perfect football weather: kinda sunny, a little breezy, and on the cool side. Thinking of last year and the Ball State game (November 4...after which J asked me to marry him), I realize that the colder weather is coming, and I may need a pair of battery operated hunting socks. J and I have tickets for one more game with Michigan this year: Ohio State. Now, I realize that there will be 110,000 plus in the stadium with me, and so I will be shoehorned into my seat cushion and sharing a blanket with J, but I am still very afraid that I will freeze. I have been planning my attire for months, but I am still not sure that I will be warm enough. Any suggestions?

I Had Such Good Intentions

2007-10-08T15:59:00.000-04:00

Intentions are funny, aren't they? I don't know many who go about talking about their bad intentions, either. I went to bed last night with good ones. I was going to be productive today. Unfortunately, the best laid plans and all that. Good intentions didn't get me very far when I had no interest in completing the work. I've been finding that often this fall I'll stand in the middle of a room, think of the 10 things that need to be done, and be paralysed to complete any of them. I stand there, just looking, going, "I should really do something" and yet nothing seems to happen. It's a scary feeling. I feel really out of control. I'm not sure when or if it's going to go away. So, Happy Thanksgiving to those north of the 49. It's a day to eat turkey and lie about in a coma. Unless you live here. J doesn't like turkey. So we're having a roast. Yum. I've actually started cooking again - which is highly exciting news because we were back in the unenviable cycle of going out to eat. The last straw was about a week ago when I picked J up from work and his first question to me was, "Where are we going for dinner?" and I'd actually prepared dinner at home. So, I'm cooking again. Yay. And it's a nice meal too - I just took a cake out of the oven, and the roast is ready to go in. I'll do asparagus and the salad in a bit. The biscuits are ready to bake when the roast comes out, and the wine is chilling. It will be a nice meal. And what goes with a nice meal (if you live in the 1950s or are my mother)? You eat in the dining room. See, here's where the intentions come in. I intended to clean off the dining room table of all the remaining wedding gifts and get them put away so that we could eat on the good dishes in the dining room. Here is a picture of the dining room before the wedding, with just the shower gifts: That's *before* the wedding. Things actually got worse. But we can walk around the table now, and we do. I can, however, see a lot of things in this picture that are still on top of the table. And now I'm blogging. I'd say we're eating in the kitchen because I've been procrastinating again. Ah well. It will still be nice. I think I'll fold laundry and find that text book I was looking for. That's productive. And I'm going to do the dishes soon. There's no way I want to do them after dinner.

More Cowbell

2007-10-07T13:14:00.000-04:00

From where we were yesterday in Michigan Stadium, Bruce Dickinson was sitting somewhere behind me, asking for this: I didn't need more cowbell.

Pillow, Meet My Face; Face, Meet My Pillow

2007-10-03T18:36:00.000-04:00

I am so tired. How did I get so busy? So I was at training last week. A whole lot of geometrical fun, if you ask me. Good times they were. Beyond just the hotel room, and the expense account, and the fact that I didn't have any responsibility after the workshop ended each night. But that really seems to be the beginning of the demise of sleep in my life. I was away Monday to Wednesday, back at school Thursday and Friday, and then as soon as things were done on Friday, J and I left for the 6 hour drive to Cleveland. There are times that I wish my husband could also drive a car. This was one of those times. It's just a long way. Cleveland was great. We went to see Genesis Saturday night at the Q. J really enjoyed it. I knew a few songs. Yep, my husband's old. But I love him. And he'd so wanted to go, and the rest of the trip was fun. So Sunday, we got up and I drove the 6 hours back home. Monday, a regular workday. I ended up driving myself to meetings about an hour away because my counterpart couldn't get a supply teacher and hence couldn't go. The meeting went long, and I ended up getting back into town just in time for my weekly practice supervision before picking up J when he finished. Tuesday, my class started. I leave work early to drive the hour and a half into Toronto for a four hour class on math pedagogy. It goes until March. I got home at 11. So tonight I'm here, and tomorrow I need to bake; because Friday we leave for a weekend in Detroit and Ann Arbor with a football game on Saturday and the closest thing we're having to a Thanksgiving Dinner with my BFF and her husband Saturday night. Then Monday's the holiday, Tuesday's my class, Wednesday I'm planning for the Workshops from the training I was at, and Friday we leave for Detroit for another fotball game. I know you all want my life. It's very glamorous.

What I Learned While Away on Training

2007-09-26T17:51:00.001-04:00

1. Hotel valets are short. All of them on the morning shift, anyways. 2. Scary Spice has disturbingly large boobs, and disconcertingly, they don't really move. 3. I want to look as good as Jane Seymour when I'm 56. 4. Sleep masks are your friend. 5. Being able to sign things to your room and realize that someone else is paying is relaxing. 6. There is something to be said for not living in the GTA: less construction, less people, less traffic...but no good Greek food! 7. Having the whole bed to yourself is sometimes nice. 8. Not having to share a bathroom counter is awesome. 9. When you're running late, the breakfast buffet will run out of yogourt and those hot cinamon buns you've become addicted to. 10 I missed my husband more than I thought I would. There was some fantabulous geometry too, but that's for work.

Sarah Has Swapped Spit with Her Husband

2007-09-22T16:59:00.000-04:00

I'm hoping I wasn't like this when I was single. So this morning, J went to Horton's to pick up breakfast for himself. With his current meds, he needs to eat regularly to take the pills. Seeing as we ran out of milk yesterday and totally forgot about it until last night when neither of us were dressed to leave the house, he walked over to the hospital to pick something up. I was up when he got back, and he realized that he hadn't asked me what I wanted - so he took my order and walked back to Horoton's to get me a decaf double double and a muffin (All together now: "Awwwww...") That's my boy: he's sweet. So I changed my Facebook status to "Sarah is thinking she has a great husband." Cause he is. And I got Horton's without having to leave the house. So one of my single friends from university sent me a message this afternoon on Facebook asking me if I could stop bragging about my husband and rubbing it in the face of my still unmarried friends. Um...I'm sorry? Seeing as the last few status statements have been things like "Sarah is exhausted", or "Sarah is looking for someone to buy her Brooks & Dunn tickets", I don't think I've been bragging. Meh - I don't think I want to change what I think, or how I say it. I'm not even sure I'm looking for validation. I just hope she was kidding without emoticons.

Argh...

2007-09-22T08:19:00.000-04:00

I've started posts a bunch of times, and nothing has seemed right. I'm going free flow this morning, and we'll see what happens. Work is annoying. Apparantly, I'm back on the road trip trail, but I once again have a full teaching load. And they're only getting me a supply teacher for the mornings I'm gone. So, my piano guys and a grade 12 learning skills class aren't getting classes when I'm gone. Talk about credit intergrity. But you know what, I don't have to sign off on the credits, so what do I care? It's just the idea. I want to be one or the other, which isn't going to happen either. I'm pretty sure that's a conspiracy to make me nuts. But in exciting news, I'm off for training this week from Sunday night to Wednesday night (probably - the agenda keeps changing). That's 3 nights at the Crown Plaza in a king bed by myself. It's been hot here recently. I'm looking forward to the space, and the lack of space heater in my bed with me. Speaking of J, he's feeling much better. He's not done the antibiotics yet, but he's up and moving. He's also back at work, which thrills me to no end. He was home convalescing after the hospital, and it took me a while to figure out why I was so pissed at him when I came home from work every night. I mean, it wasn't a case that he felt like doing anything. It was just that I realized that in the summer when i was home and he was at work, the laundry got done, the bills got paid, the house got maintained, and the meals got made. With his being home and my working, I was still doing everything from the summer PLUS teaching. I was not in a good space for a bit. But he's back at work, and he's started making the bed every morning. It's not much, but it's a start. The dining room table is still covered with stuff. I've given up. It is a project that may never be done, despite the despairing of J and the cleaning lady. I could pack everything up now and ship it to Goodwill and we wouldn't miss any of it. As generous as our friends and family were, I can't do that; but it's tempting.

On Being Off Work and Healthy on a Tuesday

2007-09-11T16:56:00.000-04:00

The exciting news is, J was released from hospital today. He's now home, and is currently cursing the things that he's dropping in the shower. It's nice to have him back, even though I now need to pick up after myself and go to bed on time. It's all worth it to have my sweetie back. My parents stopped by and had lunch with us today. They're off to England and France for 5 weeks with my uncle and his wife. The joys of being retired. But it was nice to actually be able to see them and talk to them before they go. The original plan was that we'd see them after the U of M game Saturday night, so this wasn't bad. My mother even managed to look past the large basket of unfolded underwear that is currently gracing our living room floor. I hope they have a good trip - and that they send me lots of postcards. I went to the grocery store this afternoon. J was going to take a nap, and we were running out of staples, so I went and spent a pile of money on everything that we'd run out of. I have come to the conclusion that I need to grocery shop on a weekday more often. Especially if I can shop while I'm at work. There was no one in front of me at the butcher counter. And I didn't have to take a number at the deli counter. There was one woman in front of me paying at the cash register. This work thing - it keeps getting in the way of the rest of my life. But the best part of today was coming home from shopping, going upstairs, and crawling up on the bed with J. He held me tight and told me he'd missed me. I tell J all the time that I belong in his bed; but he belongs in mine too.

A Meme for All Seasons

2007-09-08T10:03:00.000-04:00

I stole this from kapgar. Anything else I post would be more hospital tedium, and one of us going through that is enough. I didn't leave the hospital last night in a rage or a flurry of tears, so we're getting somewhere. Let's get on with the questions, shall we? 1. While driving down the street, looking for an address, do you turn the radio down? I've never noticed, so I would say no. I do have the same habit as my father of reading random signs out loud while walking or driving, so I'll say house numbers out loud while I'm looking. 2. If you could hug one person right now, who would it be? J. I believe we'll later get to why that ain't gonna happen anytime soon, and why there was a flurry of tears mentioned above. 3. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? At one point, a ballerina. Oddly enough, my parents talked me out of dance classes. Then I wanted to be a secretary. Now, I want to be WonderWoman. 4. What is your favorite kind of weather? Winter. Pretty snow on the outside, a fire and hot chocolate with Bailey's on the inside. 5. If a turtle doesn't have a shell is he homeless or naked? He's no longer a turtle, so neither. 6. If you could travel anywhere in the world without cost being a deciding factor where would it be? I would love to see more of the Middle East and northern Africa. It's not really cost as much as safety. I found the Moorish history part of Spain facinating. 7. Are you a homebody or a social butterfly? Homebody. I like going out, but I pine for solitude when I do. 8. Beer, wine or liquor? Liquor and a little wine. To quote Garrison Keillor, "Beer tastes like something died in it." 9. If your partner was unable to have sex due to illness or injury, would you stay with them? Yes. However, when I mentioned to J the other night that I was sorry his bed wasn't bigger because I could use some time close to him, his response was, "I really don't want anyone touching me right now. Especially you because I wouldn't enjoy it." In one light, I understand. But I was crushed and weepy for the rest of the night. 10. Do you drink milk? No. Tetra packs of whole milk in France cured me from drinking the stuff if it hasn't been heated with chocolate added to it. 11. Do you prefer apple or orange juice? Orange. I always think apple looks like a urine sample in a glass, and then I can't drink it. 12. What's the most you've ever won on a scratchie? $10. Lucky, I am not. 13. Do you own any fish? No. 14. Who is jealous of you? My guess is no one, but then it's always the one you least expect. I'm going to say Paris Hilton, because I don't get quoted in Hallmark cards and have to spend my time suing. 15 . How many messages are in your inbox/outbox on your cell phone? None. My Canadian cell is 10 years old and doesn't have text capabilities. 16. When's the last time you sent a text? I do not text. I phone, I email, or I send up smoke signals. 17. Do you believe there is only one "right" religion? Eeeeee. I believe there's only one God, and that there's only one way to get to Him. However, religion is human and dogmatic. Do I go to church? Yes. I'm just not sure any one Christian church has it right. 18. What's your favorite planet, besides this one? Mars. I love Marvin. 19. Do you vote for city-related issues? We don't get to do that here. 20. Have you ever been to the Vatican? Yes. I was 6. I'm not sure I appreciated it. 21. Do you do anything for a bad sunburn? Cold compresses and shea butter lotion. 22. Has anyone ever asked you to marry them? J. Once was enough. 23. Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? Yes, when I was in Las Vegas. I went on a tour that took us to the bottom of the Grand Canyon by 4x4. We had lunch beside the Colorado River, then drove back up and went hiking at the rim. We came back through the Joshua Tree forest. I would highly recommend it, but it isn't offered anymore. 24. Have you ever had to run for your life? Thankfully no. I don't really run. 25. Ever been to a family reunion? No. Neither side of the family is big on that sort of thing. 26. Can you play golf? I have never tried. 27. Do you prepare soup in the microwave or on the stove? I make a pot of soup every Sunday. That's always stovetop, seeing as it's homemade. Reheating the soup at work is in the microwave. 28. If your lover cheated on you and profusely apologized, would you accept them back into your life? I'm not planning to test this out, but probably. 29. Do you eat crabs? I don't eat shellfish. The vomiting afterwards, while festive, is just something I'm not into. 30. Are you the kind of person who will search the entire room for the remote? Silly question. I can't change TV channels without it, seeing as we have satellite. 31. Is it all about YOU? It should be. 32. Pretend you are a really good cook: what meal would you make? I am a really good cook. With time, I'd like to perfect French pastries, but I don't have the time. 33. Are you in debt? Of course. Mortgage and a bit of credit card. 34. If you could have a one way plane ticket to anywhere right now, where would you go? France. 35. How often do you do laundry?? Every Sunday. Currently, that schedule is in a total schmozzle, but I'm working at getting back on track. Stupid summer vacation coming to an end.

Update

2007-09-06T20:18:00.000-04:00

First of all, thanks to everyone I've heard from! We're both getting there. The good news is, J is feeling better because he's getting whiny. I was ready to leave before I made it out the door tonight. He was in the midst of a list of all the things I should do for him before I get back no later than 12:30 tomorrow. Yep, he's on the mend. So, the short version of the past few days is this: he was admitted on Monday, and got a hospital bed (as opposed to an ER holding room space) Tuesday morning. He's on the paediatric floor, which just makes me giggle. J, not so much. Tuesday, his stomach was horribly distended - nothing was coming up or going down, gas wise. It was sitting and bloating. I walked in Wednesday to J in bed with a tube in his nose, and this dark, dark brown stuff collecting in a basin from the tube. He'd been throwing up, and now was being pumped out, nonstop. But less distended. We heard from the surgeon Wednesday night. They think that the antibiotic cocktail of before wasn't quite right, and so the bacteria continued on. His small intestine had also shut down, and the doctor figured he was there for another week. Today, he's much better: sitting up more, talking (or whining) more, and dreaming about cold drinks. It's been funny to watch him suck on ice chips, swallow, and then watch the tube bubble the water back out his nose. So the latest is that he should be out Tuesday or Wednesday, probably, barring no further complications. I'm looking forward to getting a little of my life back, and having a husband to keep me warm in bed again; once the heat wave passes.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep...

2007-09-03T04:02:00.000-04:00

It is 4 AM and I haven't been to sleep since Saturday night yet. I'm still a little keyed up, and so think that perhaps writing will help me sleep and not think about everything that's happened. Hopefully. We'll see. J is back in hospital, once again experiencing the Ontario health system. He called me from work this afternoon to tell me that he was in a "little pain", but to bring him some Maalox at 6 when work ended and he'd be fine. He limped out to the car at 6 and kind of groaned his way in. Not wanting to go to the ER on a Sunday night during a long weekend, I brought him home. He watched Michigan Replay and decided to go upstairs to lie on the bed. He finally asked me to call 911 at 7:30 when he was shaking from pain and was pretty sure that he had to see a doctor and knew that he couldn't walk to the hospital or fold himself up to get in the car. So the paramedics came and he left on a stretcher. I ate dinner, packed up a few things based on what I learned the last time I stayed up all night in the ER and went over to the hospital about 8:15. He was on a stretcher in the hall of the ER near the doors where the ambulances pull in. They drew blood at 8:30. At 11:00, they took vitals and told us that there were 8 patients still ahead of us, and at midnight there would only be 1 doctor working instead of 3. J saw the doctor at 1:10. He was promised pain medication. At 2:30 they took him for X-rays. He came back, and was actually upgraded to a partition of a room with curtains. I set him up for the night and promised to stay until the doctor came back. At 3:30, he asked the nurse if he would ever get the promised pain meds. I wanted to know when the doctor was coming back. J got his Demerol. I was given a blank stare and a shrug. J was pretty out of it. I'd taken his CPAP machine and ear plugs, and between those and the Demerol he'll sleep. I just feel guilty for leaving before the doctor came back. But I'm so tired. And the chair was freakishly uncomfortable - even with my feet propped up on J's bed. It's a funny thing walking on the streets at 4 AM by yourself. I didn't see one single person after I left the hospital (we live 2 blocks away. I refuse to pay for parking or a cab). No car, nothing. I crossed against the light and came into the house to discover that I hadn't turned off the computer in my haste to leave. So now that I've written, I'm hoping that my mind will be eased somewhat before I sleep the sleep of the dead. I'd better hurry. J wanted me to leave his cell phone and I complied. The last time we did this 3 weeks ago, he was up and phoning by 8:30. I really don't want to hear from him in 4ish hours.

Ouch

2007-09-02T12:17:00.000-04:00

So, college football started this past weekend. While I realize this isn't of great interest to many of my readers, it's the main subject of conversation around here from now until the end of November...or really the beginning of January when the bowl games are over. J's family are all University of Michigan fans. Huge ones. They have season's tickets huge. They all go all season huge. J and I have taken over the majority of his parents tickets. They just aren't up to going anymore. The season started this weekend. It was a gorgeous day. I bought a new Michigan hat. The tailgating was such fun. I got my wedding rings back, soldered together. All good. We'll just skip the game. Someday my husband will stop crying and screaming for Lloyd Carr's blood.

RIP: Double Chocolate Peanut Butter

2007-08-21T17:27:00.000-04:00

So we went to visit J's parents this past weekend. It was a fun trip, and seeing as we hardly see his parents at all, not stressful.

One of the big things that happens when we go to visit J's home is that we eat our way through the weekend: Mexican at Mi Hacienda, wings at Fricker's, and frosty chocolate milkshakes at Steak and Shake. Only I don't get chocolate. I like the double chocolate peanut butter shake. It's called a "Sippable Sundae", and it totally is.

So we went Saturday night to pick up shakes to take home with us to drink while sitting on the couch making out (the first place J kissed me? the couch in his parents' family room...I have me some good memories involving that couch) and I ordered my usual. When it came, the girl told me that they'd had to scrape the peanut butter syrup container to make it for me. Apparantly, Steak and Shake is discontinuing their peanut butter shakes. Sigh. I mean, double chocolate is good, but I like that peanut butter edge to it. J says I need to be content with the occasional peanut butter cup flurrie from Dairee Delight, but it won't be the same. Bleh.

In other news, we went shopping while in the States. The reason this is newsworthy is that we never shop when we go to Ohio - there are too many people to see and too much to do, but this time we spent Saturday afternoon shopping for back to school. It's good we don't go much; my pocketbook couldn't handle it. I bought 2 new pairs of shoes, a top, and a pair of jeans, as well as assorted underwear.

Let me tell you how much I love my new jeans. Lane Bryant Perfect Fit is all that it's advertised to be. I'm not sure the last time I put on jeans that didn't gape in the back and fit properly in the hips. I now sing their praises. It didn't hurt that I needed them on Sunday, seeing as I didn't expect the suddenly cooler temperatures and rain that rolled in Saturday night.

Yeah, it's all good. And the summer's almost over. That may actually be good too. I don't want frosty chocolate milkshakes as much in the winter. Dairee Delight isn't open anyways.

Thoughts for a Tuesday Afternoon

2007-08-14T17:40:00.001-04:00

It's 5:40 PM and I just got out of the shower. It has been one of those days. I've also decided that blasting Keith Urban through the good speakers attached to J's computer is in order. My ancient stereo from university freaks out every time I put the disc in. So here I sit with still drippy hair, trying to make sense of what's going on. I'm hoping writing will be the answer. I kinda miss all that hair I had for the wedding because it was easy to hide when I really didn't feel like washing it...just pull the ponytail tighter and wait for tomorrow. I obviously spent waaaay too many years at camp when I can say things like that. But it's nice to feel clean; even though I have floury fingers already from putting together pizza dough in the bread machine already. We still need to eat dinner, and I need to be somewhat ambitious during the time that J is at work. I really have only about 2 weeks of vacation left. 2 and a half, technically, but I need to go in and look at the disaster that was my schedule when I left in June and get some prep work done. I know that I have 2 full sections of Grade 10 life skills math, and that neither class will be as math savvy as my wretched Grade 10s of last year. I need to get ready for first week baseline assessments. Not that I really want to think about them. It's more fun to still be on vacation. I've also told J that really, I'm not ever going back to work - but I'll still be collecting my paycheque. I'm not sure how that works, but I'm willing to give it the old college try. I like being home in the day, with few plans and lots of time. Although that would probably get old. Eventually. Things are fine on my end right now. I can't find the dining room table still, but it's coming. J has, unfortunately, started using the same tactics that my mother uses to get me to do things; he'll ask as he leaves for work, "So, you're going to put things away this afternoon, Right?" So I nod and promptly ignore his pointed suggestion. I will say that I paid our bills this afternoon, did 2 loads of laundry, put away the cookbooks (all 2 of them), went through his immigration paperwork, and read a magazine this afternoon. And made pizza dough. And I'm going to do the dishes when I'm done this before I go pick him up. I'm hoping he'll realize without my saying so that suggesting what he wants me to do shuts me down. Maybe I should just tell him. What I started thinking about this afternoon was the fact that when I go back to work, it's going to get a lot harder around here. I mean, the laundry will get done, and meals will arrive on the table, and I'll still pick J up every night, but I worry about how tired I'm going to be. How much work I'm going to have. How I'll have my own political intrigues to navigate. It's going to be interesting. For as I stay home and pay bills, J's mired in a job he doesn't like. It's exhausting for both of us on some level. He's stuck in the fact that this is the one and only place his work visa allows him to be gainfully employed - but he's still looking for a new gig, and with it a new work permit. I haven't told him this yet, but I think he needs that new position before we submit his papers to the Canadian government or they may shut down his plans. We're still trying to figure out if he's going to be able to get the time off to go to Genesis in Cleveland in September, and whether or not he'll actually get to meet my extended family at Christmas. Last year I went alone as he worked. Neither of us want to do that again. While he has time off, he's not allowed to take it, except at the convenience of his employer, which is never because they don't have a backup plan. It's insanity and I'm scared to death he's going to walk away from it and be my financial responsibility. Not that I really blame him with what's been going on recently. No answers, only questions. I just want the outlet. Perhaps tomorrow will make more sense. Then I'll put stuff away.

Hmmmm....

2007-08-10T15:32:00.000-04:00

My last post isn't coming up. Perhaps this will jump start it.

If I Were Dead, it Would Hurt Less

2007-08-10T15:14:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I'm difficult. I may actually thrive on being so. Or perhaps ornery is a better way to descibe it. That's how J describes me, from time to time, when I'm being passive agressive. But today I was labelled as most difficult. I just wish it hadn't been at my first ever pap test. So, seeing as I got married, am over 30, and have never had one done, I figured it was high time to make an appointment. I went to the Women's Health Clinic, and was expecting some discomfort. They're shoving metal things into you so they can collect samples with popsicle sticks and mascara brushes. How comfortable can that be? Yeah. So, J and I had a nice morning, got his hair cut, went grocery shopping, and I took him home before walking over to the hospital. The nurse was very nice - showed me everything, explained it all to me, and left me to disrobe from the waist down. Not a problem. She came back in, warmed the device of evil, and started. The first time she removed it (seeing as I was too stiff to let her put it in anymore), she decided to go with the really narrow one. The second time she removed it, she decided I needed more lube. The third time she removed it, it was at my insistence; seeing as I was about to claw my way backwards over the top of the chair I was reclining in head first. The fourth time it went in, she remarked, "Well, we'll take what we can get. I hope it's enough." Yeah, I hope so too. Then she went to check my ovaries and I just about jumped through my skin. I hadn't thought about the fact that I'm totally ticklish. Go figure. I decided a few things as I walked home after the whole uncomfortable experience: 1. I care enough about my health to go back next year, but I'll take Advil first. 2. I never want a man doing anything like that to me. Ever. I'm sure his attitude would have been, "suck it up." 3. I do not believe I could possibly stretch enough to bear children. 4. The whole thing would be much easier with a couple of muscle relaxants and a bottle of tequila. Queen of Difficult, that's me.

Letters...Oh We've Got Letters...

2007-08-07T10:44:00.000-04:00

J and I went to see a touring company of Second City Saturday night. Very funny. One sketch was a guy writing emails to everyone who has pissed him off. Mainly, utility companies. I liked his style. Hence: To: J Subject: I love you, but.... As I sat this morning in the bathroom, enjoying the pleasant breeze coming in through the window, it struck me how hairy you are. For, in that same breeze, a tumbleweed rolled past me made entirely of hair. While I realize that I lose some everyday too, these were a little too grey and a little to short to be my own. Honey, you're shedding, and you're not going bald. I have not decided on the best course of action here, but there will be one. Good thing the cleaning lady comes tomorrow. Your Wife To: My Lawn Guy Subject: You Rock! Thank you so much for getting Glamour Project 2007 off to such an amazing start. I will appreciate the day that I can once again use my own driveway once you have finished removing everything from our backyard. I can see the long-term goal, and assuming that you aren't going to overcharge me for labour and we get close to the agreed upon price, I will recommend you to those near and dear. As for the jackhammering to remove the concrete retaining wall, one wishes you would have warned one first so one could have closed the windows. Dustily yours, Me To: The Guy I Knew in Elementary and High School Who Found Me on Facebook Subject: The Reason I Chose to Ignore you Thank you for feeling it necessary to add me as a friend on Facebook. It's very flattering to have a person that I haven't seen in 15 years, nor thought about, look for me. Not that I've made it difficult, but still! I do find it necessary, however, to explain to you why I don't feel a need to find out what you've been up to for the last decade and a half. 1. I always found you somewhat creepy. Despite the children that you have had with your wife that were in your picture, you're still a little creepy looking. That doesn't sit well with me. 2. Your favourite "books" are listed as Penthouse, Playboy and Swank. The only thing that makes these titles resemble books (other than the facts that they have titles) is that they have pages. And perhaps a contrived storyline, as evidenced by Friends. While I didn't hate high school, there were many things that I abhorred. Your profile is evidence of most of the things that I hated. There are no "Glory Days" to relive with me. I just don't care. Sincerely, The priss from high school who's now a bitch To: The Visa Company Subject: My Ongoing Suffering Thank you for your support of my shopping. Without you, I would not have been able to put on a lovely wedding and go on a fabulous honeymoon with J. Despite the fact that I will pay off the ludicrous amount that I have spent in the last few months over another few months, I get the distinct impression that you enjoy my hemhorraging of money into your coffers. Please stop raising my limit, and extending my grace period. I would prefer all of this solicitousness being channeled into a lowering of my interest rate. No? Well, one must try. Sincerely, The girl with no money to speak of that isn't spoken for To: J Subject: Why I Love You As I lay in bed last night, you rolled over, pulled me close, and held me until I fell asleep. Thank you for not being from my high school Big Smoochies, The girl you married

Of Garage Sales, Cupboards and the Boob Tube

2007-08-01T14:21:00.000-04:00

Friends, there is a great deal happening here. I wish it were cooler, or that I didn't sweat. Despite the fact that I am a girl, I do not glisten, I do not glow, I sweat. My glasses slipping down my nose, red face and all that fun stuff. I hate humidity and summer weather. My fingers have also swollen, so I'm not even wearing my rings at the moment. It's very sad. I've been up on a step stool cleaning out the tops of my cupboards looking for things for my friend Andrea's garage sale. With all of the new gifts coming in, I'm making space. As well, with J's (limited) amount of stuff, I apparantly need to make room for it too. Currently, there are 3 boxes in my trunk; and I'm not done. the new kitchen dishes are still in boxes on the dining room floor, and I'm sure there's more lurking in a dark corner of the house that I just haven't uncovered yet. I was in the linen closet this morning looking for a new box of kleenex and was amazed by the fact that despite giving my mother all of the twin sized sheets and blankets that I had for a charity project in my hometown, there is really no space for the new sheets and towels J and I have received. Anyone want some (slightly) used pink towels? My mom got them as wedding gifts. They're only 36 years old next week. She gave them to me when I left for university 15 years ago so that she could go out and purchase new towels. Despite the fact that my bathroom is brown and green, and that J wanted blue towels, I have decided that the pink towels that have nothing wrong with them are leaving my house. Takers? Anyone? Bueller? Andrea is holding the sale and donating the money to a friend of hers who is going on a mission trip. I consider this a great cause that gets the excess out of my house and used again. What's even better: I don't need to hold the garage sale. The problem is, it's Andrea's sale. So far it has changed date twice. I was watching mindless TV last night as J worked on his resume and other necessities for him for job hunting when Andrea called again. A short transcript of the call: Me: Hello? Andrea: Sarah? I'm just calling about the garage sale. It's moving dates again. Is that a problem? M: Nope. When do you want my stuff? A: Well, the new date is Saturday. But I'm busy most of Friday. Could you get things to me by Thursday? M (sounding normal, despite my mental hyperventilation) : Sure. That shouldn't be a problem. A: Great. How about Thursday morning? Just call me when you're ready. Yeah. I had barely started the first box. Suddenly, it must be all out of my house by Thursday. I have a lot to do. Television has become very interesting. Speaking of television, while I love my American husband, I fail to see the allure of college football. He had me call the satellite company yesterday to see if we could get ESPN college ticket so that he can spend all day Saturday this fall watching Big 10 games. Well, the weeks that we aren't at the Big House ourselves. Yeah, it's not going to happen. Apparantly, the Canadian satellite company doesn't think there's enough people here interested to offer the service. We did upgrade our package, tho. J gets the sports channels (which I never saw a point to), and I have discovered the joys of GSN, the Game Show Network. I love Match Game. and Lingo. And Card Sharks. And Press Your Luck. It's a good thing school starts in a month. Otherwise, I should start looking for bonbons and maribou slippers.

Do You Feel Married Yet?

2007-07-31T17:18:00.000-04:00

This is the question my friend littlguy asks me everytime we chat on line, and my answer is always, "Sure, why not?" because the truth is that I'm not sure. How does being married feel? J and I have now known each other for 27 months: the first 8 by computer and phone only. We've been together IRL for 19. He's been in Canada for 9 months; just a slightly shorter amount of time than we've been engaged. He's been moved in here for 3 full months now, and now that the dresser is here and the armoire is built, his things no longer litter any free surface (that's saved for wedding gifts at the moment). Not that any of these things would make me feel married...they're just measures of how long we've known each other. I think the problem is, I can't decide what has really changed since the wedding. He's working, I'm home; and it's my house, so nothing has changed there. We keep separate bank accounts, and he gives me money to help with the bills because they're all linked to my accounts. I still pay the mortgage, and the house is in my name. Seeing as I'm not changing my name legally, it's one more thing that we really don't share. I keep introducing myself as Sarah S on the phone and making reservations for things. It's funny to me, and something to sigh over for him. J is once again looking around for work (he does this a lot...I think it's to rattle me), and this may be the deciding factor: we lay in bed last night talking about the possibilities, and what it would mean for us. He talked about how he needed to do what was best for him, as well as for his family. I suddenly realized that he was talking about me as his family - and it gave me warm fuzzies; partially because he really wanted my opinion, but also because he was willing to think about my needs and putting them first. Apparantly, my husband has a lot to teach me. TUA (Totally Unrelated Aside with deferance to kapgar): Glamour project 2007 started today. I went into the bathroom to take a shower this morning and realized that there were 2 men in my backyard ripping out the patio stones and railways ties that made up the totally useless lower patio that came between my deck and the grass. Woohoo!! Soon it will be all grass. I must buy a hose. We don't own one of those, and the seeds will need watering.

HA HA!!

2007-07-29T14:03:00.000-04:00

The pictures came! And my parents were here for supper last night, so I now have a disc of my BFF's pics too. It's been very exciting, posting albums to Facebook, adding one here and so on. We went to see The Simpsons Movie Friday night. Lots of fun. Someday, I may even stop singing the Spider Pig song. But I'm not sure it will be anytime soon. Right. Must do dishes. We'll see what else transpires.

Random Thoughts

2007-07-27T11:01:00.000-04:00

My intent, at least for the summer, is to write everyday. I am already remiss in doing this. It's not even really a case that I'm all that busy. I just don't sit down and think about blogging. Meh. Here's the current observations and craziness: Weddings are expensive, even when over. I phoned the dry cleaners on Monday to ask how much it would cost to have my dress cleaned. It's not even all that dirty. With no dance, I wore the thing for about 9 hours. Probably the most likely times for it to get dirty were my getting in and out of my BFF's van and during dinner. I managed to stay clean during dinner. The dry cleaner told me at least $300. I didn't tell them about the coat that goes with it. Argh. So the dress is still lying across our guestroom bed until I can figure out what to do with it. I'm not sentimental enough to keep it forever, but there's a part of me anti-selling the silly thing. I want to be able to gift it to some plus sized girl who desperately needs a dress. We'll see. I may sell it just to get the dry cleaning fees out of it. I still have no pictures of the day. My mother has been passing an album around, but I still have 4 digital images that I haven't printed for the simple reason that our photographer took the exact sames shots. Apparantly the CD is in the mail. I so hope it comes soon. People are starting to look at me funny when I say I have nothing to show for the day yet. I mean, it's been almost 2 weeks!! How could I not? J's new dresser comes today, so I actually managed to clean out the blanket box so I could move it yesterday. I'm getting rid of all the twin bed sized linens in the house. We replaced that bed, so why not? I don't have space to store all those sheets and blankets too. Despite what you might think that that would mean towards moving things out of the dining room, it hasn't happened. Absolutely nothing moved yesterday. i would like to say that I am extremely proud of that, but my parents are now coming for dinner Saturday night, and we need the dining room table so we all have somewhere to sit and eat. Guess what my project is for today and tomorrow? Hopefully J will find something to do. I'm not sure I want his help. It might make me crazy. Speaking of making me crazy, J's mom phoned yesterday and asked for a list of everything we received as a wedding and shower gift. Um, why? There is no such list. I (or another of my choosing) dutifully wrote on the back of the card or a discarded envelope who gave me what. I am also a little confused as to why J's mom seems to feel that she needs said list. J's coment? "Oh, there's probably someone who wants to give us something, and she wants to make sure it's not a duplicate." I don't know. I find it more nefarious than that, but what's she going to do with a list of gifts? Perhaps my distrust comes from her follow up question, "Did you get much money?" Or maybe it's my own cynical nature. Bleh. Other than that, the weekend is upon us. J's schedule of Friday and Saturday off will work well for the summer. With me off all the time, it really doesn't matter. We're going to see the Simpsons movie this weekend (more things to quote!), and clean out the dining room. That may be enough.

The Detritus of Celebration

2007-07-24T12:55:00.000-04:00

Well, the wedding has come and gone. A beautiful day, and now all I need are the pictures to remember it by. People kept warning me that it would all pass in a blur, and it kinda did. It was a lovely day - as I've been told. Hallie has announced that it was her favourite wedding ever, so yay! J and I had a great honeymoon, cruising in the western Caribbean. But I have a confession to make: I am sitting in the midst of piles of gifts, and I am paralysed. It would be great if I weren't such a procrastinator. I may never see my dining room table again. I need to go through the closets and get rid of the things that we don't need anymore (like the twin bed sheets and blankets), or don't want (like the pink towels that my mom gave me when I moved out so she could buy new ones); yet the new towels sit in the dining room waiting for me to unpack them. J's comment upon returning and surveying the state of most of the main floor of the house? "I was kind of sorry that I was going back to work, but now I'm not." I know there's a hardwood floor in here somewhere. But at least I have a project - and a bit of a goal: a friend of mine is having a garage sale in August/September, and she's taking all of my cast offs (especially those from the kitchen - who needs 6 9x13" pans??), so I need to get this done before then. We'll see how that goes.