Snickerdoodle is fun

My brother and I have an ongoing gag where we slam the other with the word "snickerdoodle" sneaking it where we can to catch the other off guard - like when I'm visiting he had covertly written the word in sidewalk chalk next to my rental car, etc.

During my visit two weeks ago, he left me alone in his kitchen while he made some phone calls. I ran around and hid little pieces of paper in various spots - between plates, in mugs, on top of the ice cube tray in the freezer, etc.

It's turned out to be more fun than I imagined. He's been sending me cute emails with photos showing the locations, and we've been learning how he moves about his house and when he opens cupboards, drawers, etc.
So far he's found about 10 -but I hid many more than that!

It's been a fun game and it's still ongoing!

Award Nomination

I was nominated by sweet Cynthia at Big Girl Feet, aww gee, thank you so much.

And here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog - done.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you - done
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs. - oh oh, I don't know who to name,
But I'll name Endako Jo, Cathy of California and Bittersweet Blog. Other people I think of, have already been named.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog - done
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog- done

My Weight Loss Coach

As you may have read, for my birthday my brother gave me the "My Weight Loss Coach" program and JP gave me a lovely red Nintendo DS Lite. I started the program on my birthday.

It's really a great tool. It comes with a pedometer that connects to the DS so it can keep a record of the steps walked and there are eating and exercise goals. It gives me challenges to complete - some 1 minute challenges like an quick exercise and others are 24 hour challenges like eating a piece of fruit, or washing the dishes (get up and move!). There are also games that teach you nutrition facts and what foods have fibre or fat or carbohydrates - the better you score the more challenges you earn.

On Friday I ate more than I exercised. The program was gentle about it. I was glad that it reminded me of my most common mistake - big portions! On Saturday I had a headache in the morning and when to a party in the afternoon - I didn't even log in at all. On Sunday I didn't receive any nasty messages so I thought I got away with it, but then a weekly chart showed me a big red dot on the zero indicating that it knew full well that I was AWOL that day.

I am more aware of what I consume, as everything get logged into the program. If I'm too lazy to log it in then I don't want to eat it. It's only been 5 days so I don't have a progress report for you yet, but I'll let you know as I progress.

I have been walking almost daily with Jazz(my dawg-another weight loss coach), at least 6 days a week and I feel great - very energetic - and even Jazz (who's 12 and I think has an arthritic 'ankle') seemed to be very energetic during this morning's walk. And when I turn on the game, a cute little girl is very happy to 'see' me and expresses "neat - you're here!". What a cute little coach I have.

Caught in the Rain

Yesterday, I woke up at 3am with a severe headache. A couple of Tylenol 3s later and I finally managed to sleep again, but didn't feel so great for the rest of the day. I did manage to feel better in time for Cynthia's Green Couch launch/housewarming/birthday party which was a good thing. I met lots of very nice people and imbibed in their famous punch.

Since I did nothing yesterday in the way of exercise, I knew I had to get moving today, so Jazz and I headed out for our morning walk. At the end of our walk, about 1 km from home it started to rain, and then it started to rain hard. Poor little doggie, her head was all wet and she no longer wanted to explore the scents (or pee-mail as I like to call it) but walked right beside me probably wanting to get home as much as I did. When I arrived home, there was a yummy cup o' tea waiting for me on the counter- aww, thanks babe, just what I wanted. Which brings me to this question: is that romantic? When I mentioned to friends and family that on my birthday JP brought me a cup of tea in bed and then brought me my presents to open, a couple people sighed and told me that was romantic. JP was surprised by this and said he didn't think anything of it. Even he wants to know, was that romantic? What do you think? (does it make it more romantic when he wasn't trying to be romantic? and have I used the word 'romantic' enough in one paragraph?)

And now one for the Finished Objects department, a completed set of socks:

(gee the feet look so short, but really these socks fit me fine). These are the ones I took with me on the trip that I had hoped to finish while I was away, but couldn't. They will also be the last pair of striped socks I do for a while. I have purchased a couple skeins of plain sock yarn and would now like to graduate to ones with a stitch pattern - and leave the k2p2 + stockinettes for a while. I will most likely start with the Monkey or the RPM patterns from Knitty unless you tell me your favourite non-stockinette stitch patterned socks. Any suggestions?

And now since it's a rainy Sunday, I am going to knit and read... and make some banana bread for the boys in the house.

As much as I loved having a week off away from home for my vacation, and as much as I loved coming back home, I am not loving all the catch-up I have to do. I'm not bragging but there are lots of emails to clean up, and lots of snail mail to look through as well. I also need to catch up on the gardening. And to top it off, my car won't start so I can't even run errands - which, is actually not as bad as it sounds...

But really all I want to do is sit outside and enjoy the sun and read, and knit, and then maybe read and then knit some more.

So do I do the adult thing and do my chores, or the not-so-adult thing and enjoy the sun and warm weather before it goes away when I'm not looking?

I'm really trying to do a little bit of both, especially when I'm trying to catch up on work things too. So before you help me make my decision, do know that I took an afternoon off to have lunch with friends and a day off for my birthday. You're not feeling so sorry for me now are you?

And since I brought it up - I must say that the lunch was a darn good time - yummy drinks, yummy food, great company with lots of laughing. One afternoon of that is priceless I tell you, priceless!

And here are some of the presents I received:

MagazinesA cookbook, a novel "The Friday Night Knitting Club",
a barbecue grill thermometer, a T-shirt...Denise Interchangeable needles, a needle case

and an assortment of knitting goodies including sock yarn

and, my birthday Nintendo DS Lite with
a cute little bowling bag case:

My (mis) adventures in Alberta

Yes I am back. The trip was... well...I've been thinking about this for 2 days and I'm still not sure of the word to best describe it. Interesting? Challenging? A learning experience? Maybe that'll give you an idea.

I went to Alberta to visit my mum and travelled with 2 of her sisters, both of whom I haven't really seen since the last funeral 10 years ago. I'm open to adventures and hoped it would be good experience , however I opened my mouth and one well meant comment of advice was not well received, things snowballed and the good times ended. I'm not going to dwell on negativity so I won't say much more, other than it was was definitely a learning experience and a reminder of different types of people and how to communicate with them.

I didn't even get all the knitting done that I wanted to. I had really wanted to finish one sock and even brought another project, but my knitting in public wasn't as welcome as I thought it would be. I just concentrated my attention on my mum's cute schnauzer, Finnegan.

So now I'm back to regularly scheduled activities - work, housework, garden work, bills, emails and finishing that darn sock! Sometimes returning to a normal, boring, routine life can be a really good thing. And having JP and my dog miss me is one of the best parts about coming home.

Hope you had a good week.

Red Rock Coulee

Hi and Bye

Hi. I'm leaving in 3 hours to visit my mum, so y'all have to wait until next Sunday when I'm back. First a 1 hour flight and then a 3 hour drive. I'm not alone though, I have 2 of my mum's sisters with me. (I haven't seen them for years so it'll be an reunion at the same time)

I'm taking my 2nd sock to finish while I'm away and I started on a shrug in baby alpaca this weekend which I hope to almost complete as well... I''ll need DPNs to finish the sleeves and I don't have time to go looking for them before I leave so that'll be all I'll have left to do (unless I buy some while I'm gone).

Hope you have a good week - wishing everyone much health and happiness.

Bye.

I don't know what happened. I really don't.

One day it's Monday and then it's Friday. How did that happen?

Well at least today is payday - that helps.

On Monday I'll be flying to Calgary and then a quick little road trip with 2 of my mum's sisters to visit my mum. I saw one aunt about 2 years ago and otherwise I've seen them twice in the past 10 years - at funerals. This will be an interesting trip, but I'm up for the experience. So I've been sort of busy preparing for the trip - getting a few new items of clothes, doing some gardening, etc. The worst task was finding a place to board Jazz while I was away. JP told me that he had lots of appointments next week and wouldn't be able to care for her properly. Jazz and I are a little clingy these days and so I was experiencing near anxiety attacks just thinking about sending her a kennel. Well, luckily my neighbour has agreed to take my dog for the whole 5 days in her house - so nice. I feel so much better as Jazz has been there before and she'll be in good hands - they have two dogs for her to hang with too.

Earlier this week JP started to get sick - first a sore throat and now the coughing and sneezing - a full blown (pun intended) cold. So I've been practicing positive thinking and telling myself that I will remain healthy for my trip. I do not want to be all draggy on a vacation.

And, I've been trying to figure out what project I'll bring for the trip, I think it may be socks just because they're compact and easy to do.

And that's all I've got to tell ya. So off I go to do some knitting. On Sunday I'll tear my closet apart picking out clothes and packing and then I'm off. Hope you have a good week - but don't think I won't be checking in on your blogs...... because I will!

Finished Embroideries

Here is a couple of completed embroideries (part of what I did on Sunday). I added extra leaves to the palm when I realized it should have been done in 2 colours....in case you have the same iron-on and yours looks different.

The cat is done with an orange/black thread combination. The dark spot next to it is where I had the iron too hot and melted the fabric (I guess it's not poly/cotton!) So I'll probably add some flowers or other embellishments there. She has a sparkly collar. She is a content cat.

~ One Year! ~

Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary and it was quite a leisurely day. We woke up, exchanged presents (he gave me a gorgeous watch) and then we went to Tiffany & Co. Here's the background: last year JP gave me a silver bracelet with a heart charm from Tiffany's and suggested that each year we would engrave a hatch mark. Now apparently Tiffany's sends their engraving jobs to be done off site, but JP managed to arrange for them to do this for us(no easy feat) yesterday. So here is the year one mark:

While waiting for the engraving, we had a drink and a sandwich in the lounge at the Fairmont Hotel then returned to Tiffany's to pick up the bracelet (another special meaning). Then on to Oscar's Art Books on Granville - because the first anniversary is about "Paper" and that means "books" to us. Then dinner at Cafe Crepe. Unconventional - yes, but that's how we roll.

Here are some of the books we picked up:

(Nudie is about a California Western wear and stage clothes designer - people such as Elvis, Johnny Cash, Cher, the cast of Dallas, etc all wore his amazing creations. Second Aid is about all those little items/inventions such as tea spout drip catchers and draft stoppers for doors, etc. Then I had to get the Summer issue of A Needle Pulling Thread as there are patterns by June aka Planet June and always Marie Claire Idees)

A quick trip to Meinhardt's for some yummy pop - Boylan's Lemon and Boylan's Tonic. mmmmm - that hit the spot!
And that's how we spent our first anniversary.

Today is NOT Garbage Day

Like many other communities, we have a rotating garbage day. That means that every time there is a holiday,garbage day moves. For example, we had Fridays until Canada Day and now it's on Mondays. We'll have Mondays until BC Day when it'll move to Tuesdays, etc. Very simple. I understand that perhaps it catches those people who came from condos/apartments where a garbage pickup day is inconsequential, and I know some areas the day stays the same. In fact, for years my father and I would play a game to see who could remind the other "Garbage Day Tuesday!" I would yell it through the mail slot if I was visiting on a Monday, or phone him to catch him off guard - and vice versa. But it's not just one person, it's many, many people who don't seem to know this.

JP just laughs at me, he doesn't get why I bring it up - at all. Frankly I'm not sure either, other than wondering if we have that many new people or if that many people are just clueless...

And now, just so I can post a photo today, here's the lastest embroidery I was working on - I just need to finish the "a" (I know, I know, but the pizza came and I never got back to it last night)

~~~~~

Tomorrow is our one year wedding anniversary and I'm not sure how we'll spend it so you'll have to wait until Sunday to find out. What do you do for your anniversaries?

I spoke too soon...

Remember how I was happy that we didn't have any Canada Day fireworks for Jazz to hear? Well last night we had a thunder shower from 3am + and I had one freaked out dog. It's always fun trying to sleep sitting up against the washing machine with a golden oldies radio station blaring and a dog panting and whining a couple hours before work, isn't it?

The only good news is I won't be gardening in the rain and so I'll have more crafting time today! Yay! That is if I don't fall asleep after work.....

Polo shirts.... formal but also casual

The warm weather is a bittersweet event for me. I enjoy sitting outside relaxing with a cold beverage and a book or craft. The problem is, my neighbours like being outside too. The only difference is that they like to play loud crappy music! I guess they have never heard of headphones.

One neighbour is building a large carport. This will be a good thing because the building will block my view of their house and I am hoping it will also cut down on noise from their house and their house parties. The bad news is they're using a pneumatic nailer - which scares my silly noise phobic dog from stepping outside for more than 10 seconds (or until the next nail strike, whichever occurs first). I guess we'll see just how good her bladder really is.

Today I worked on garden chores after my day job until I had enough swatting of the mosquitoes and I was too itchy - either from sweating (it's 31 degrees celsius) or from my plants. I still like being outside and I still like being warm - you'll never get me to admit to the opposite!

I'm taking a break from crocheted creepy cuteness and I am knitting some socks. I know, they are so plain. My next pair is definitely going to be Monkeys or RPMs. I swear! I've heard good things about them. Also, I think the next sock yarn I buy will be a plain/solid colour so I can have fun with the fancy lace patterns which can get lost in the self patterning yarn.

This yarn is actually more vibrant than this picture shows - the yellow is a banana yellow and the blue is more of a light turquoise. I'll take a better photo later. Really. I will. I will.

And I thought you'd get a kick out of this: yesterday we were dropping the kid off at his grandparents who were taking him to Corteo/Cirque de Soleil. When I got in the car, I complimented him on a light coloured polo shirt he was wearing (very different from his usual West 49 dark skater style clothing he wears). He said "I like it too. Formal... but also casual". I guess for a 9 year old that's pretty much as formal as he's going to get, don't cha think?