Wonderings from the Wack

Busy, busy

2008-06-01T18:35:00.002-07:00

Sorry the blog posts have been sparse again after I did a whole bunch there a while back. I have been busy with various things at my children's school, mainly the Carnival, which was on Friday.
We are also dog-sitting until tomorrow for my friend Andie and her hubby G while they are in Disneyland.

Next Sat. is the big birthday bash for several members of my hubby's family. His Dad is 75 on Friday ( the 6th ), our neice will be 30 on the 21st and DH's BIL will be 50 on the 9th of July.

I guess I won't be around to blog much this week either.

My parents in Egypt!

2008-05-25T15:37:00.004-07:00

My parents and 3 other couples did a Mediterranean cruise for 12 days. They went to the pyramids on the 13th of May, while the Pacific Princess was in port in Alexandria. My mom is wearing a white shirt and grey pants and is sitting next to her friend Karen, who has the black pants on and is using the cane. She broke her foot 2 months ago. My dad is wearing a beige/grey shirt and standing behind Karen.

This photo is from one of the other guy's camera. He emailed it to my dad and he forwarded it to me.

More Blog Patrol results

2008-05-14T15:50:00.002-07:00

Every now and again I blog the list of hits I got for this blog ( not usually very many, but enough to be kind of interesting ). Here is what I just found on Blog Patrol for the last week's results.

wack your mom (Yahoo) Seriously, people actually type that in for a Yahoo search? And I am pretty sure I never typed those actual words on my blog, as I happen to love my mom.

wonderingsfromthewack (Google) Some one possibly looking for me. I have mentioned my blog on various cross stitch bulletin board but I don't always provide links.

aqp canada (Google) Since I run Canada Division of the Angel Quilt Project, I have blogged about it in the past. Maybe we are about to get a new member.

stone effects counter top coating/ (Yahoo) Hubby did this on our kitchen counter back in the fall. Others are inspired as well perhaps.

shandar hut chilliwack (Google) A local Indian restaurant we like. We were there for our 13th anniversary on the 15th of April. Some other local Chilliwack resident must have a craving for Indian food. They have really good garlic naan there.

"she is far sighted" (Google) That would be in referrence to my daughter's glasses. I get hits from far-sighted people I guess.

Finally!!!!!!!!

2008-05-13T22:06:00.002-07:00

Thank God Marissa is finally off Dancing with the Stars. She should have been gone about 3 weeks ago, but obviously the voting public are all idiots who would not know good dancing if it jumped up and bit them.

I did a post last month after the first couple weeks of the show about how I vote and why and why I do know a little bit of what to look for. Maybe everyone who voted for her for the past 3 weeks should have read it.

Spring Queen

2008-05-09T11:59:00.003-07:00

Ooops! I guess I forgot about uploading a new photo. Here is Her Majesty at 21 hours.

6 things

2008-05-05T21:36:00.003-07:00

I was tagged by Pam.

Link back to whoever tagged you. Post 6 unimportant things about yourself. Tag 6 more people.

1. I think about getting Lasik surgery someday.
2. I have wide feet.
3. I love spicy food.
4. I am addicted to Dancing With the Stars.
5. I have never had braces but probably should have.
6. I have 2 ganglion cysts in my right hand and wrist.

I will tag:

Evey
Jo
Christine
Sue
Taneya
Andrea

A few Sunday chores

2008-05-04T13:22:00.002-07:00

Since it was a nice day we got some stuff accomplished around the house. Hubby was tidying up the garage and doing some gardening out front. The kids started on the weeding of the veggie garden in the back yard. I was up on the step ladder sanding and painting the south-side facia boards. They get all the weather and fade and peel quicker, so repainting occurs occasionally.

I also did some laundry and hung it out on the line. Not only is it sunny and about 20 Celsius, there is a reasonably good breeze so it will dry fairly quickly. The kids also washed the dog and his currently laying outside in the sun drying.

The kitchen floor got a scrub too so that it could dry easily in the breeze coming through the sliding door. It will be dry soon and then I am going to sit at the table and put a few beads in Spring Queen. I don't think I have posted a "before" photo on my blog yet, so I will have to do that before I do the new photo. She looks quite diffferent now.

Summer Queen after!

2008-04-29T09:12:00.002-07:00

Here she is after 48 hours of work. I finally got started on the blue of her dress. I have now moved on to 10 hours on spring as part of my Royal Rotation.

A lovely view.

2008-04-28T12:09:00.003-07:00

This past weekend we went camping with our friends Andie and her hubby G. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time. Our kids all played well together, even though almost all of them were accidentally in Cultus Lake at some point. We were at the Delta Grove campground in site #15, which is right on the lake. I stood next to our fire pit and faced northeast to take this photo. Just behind those logs there is about an 8 foot drop to a thin strip of rocky "beach". There are loads of tree roots and rocks for climbing though so it's fairly easy to get up and down.

Summer Queen before....

2008-04-18T16:12:00.003-07:00

This is Summer Queen from a while ago at about 35 hours. I have had to pick out some of her beads since then ( a dye-lot issue ) and have continued to work on her bodice. I am currently doing a 10-hour stint that will see her at 48 hours as my goal. I may be inspired and go to 50 hours. Either way, there will be an updated photos within a week or 2.

The Princess and the Pea

2008-04-16T09:43:00.002-07:00

Check out out my high bed! I am 5 ft. 3 inches and there's about 18 inches between my feet and the floor in this photo. T's feet don't quite touch either though and he's 6 ft. 2. I almost need a stool. To get on the bed I actually have to swing my leg up a little bit.

Now we have to figure out paint colour, remove the nasty curtain and wall-paper border, buy a couple of lamps for each night stand, etc.

K and T, 15th of April, 1995.

2008-04-15T13:16:00.002-07:00

Yep, that's right. DH and I tied the knot 13 years ago. So what have I done so far?

-got our new king size mattress delivered.
-had my FIL, his sis and BIL over for coffee.
-cleaned up above my counter tops before we start putting the kitchen back together.
-stitched a bit on Summer Queen

Next I will get the kids from school. Later Weezie is on the ice tonight at 4:45 for skating. Opa is going to come and pick up the kids from the rink, and DH and I are going out for Indian. Yummy!

Painting the kitchen

2008-04-13T14:52:00.002-07:00

T showed Weezie how to use a roller and the edger today. Previously she has helped with a brush and done pretty well. She was getting into it and singing away with The Eagles.

The paint is a Dulux colour called Mocha Accent. It will warm up the room I think. Our kitchen is fairly large and has lots of windows. The cupboards are white and the floor is very light tile. I think this darker colour will be cozier as well.

The moulding at the bottom will remain white ( my job with the varathane ) and T will paint the chair rail black. The crown moulding at the tops of the cupboards and the kick-plates at the bottom will be black as well. He is also going to repaint the kitchen table. I will post another photo when more gets done.

My job this morning was getting coat number 3 of primer on the doors and moulding near the kids' rooms and the linen closet at the end of the hall.

A new Autumn Queen photo.

2008-04-12T15:04:00.002-07:00

This is 140 hours of work so far. You can scroll down to the previous photo at 120 hours to see what I have been working on lately. I don't take a picture every time I work on her, only when a reasonably significant change is visible.

Glasses, health, sports, house stuff.

2008-04-11T09:31:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we were at the eye doctor for my daughter. She has been complaining of headaches at school when they are doing work at their desks. Turns out she is far-sighted and will be getting glasses for close work, reading, etc. She picked out some rather funky frames and is quite excited about getting the glasses next week.

I have found out that I have pre-diabetes. My glucose tolerance isn't too great. I am waiting on a call from the hospital because I have to go see the dietician. In the meantime I am being careful about what I eat, laying off the booze ( darn! ) and trying to get my butt in gear a bit more. The poor dog has been walked half to death lately!

Other than those 2 realitively minor new occurances, we are all doing great. The kids are back into skating/pre-hockey for 2 months. Weezie used her own $$ to buy a used skating dress for $10. The club always recycles stuff, which is great.

Hubby bought some Rustoleum door paint or something. He needs to fix up a piece of weather-stripping around the front door. Then I need a reasonably warm day so that I can paint around the door and the new window he put in. He is all hot to get the kitchen painted soon and finish the grout. He also bought black enamel to repaint the base of the kitchen table. I feel reno/decor photo updates are coming soon!

Royal Rotation

2008-04-06T09:35:00.002-07:00

This is Autumn Queen at 120 hours back in the fall. Since then I have finished up the blank area of her cloak near her left elbow, and I did a bunch more of the gold/chocolate/olive overskirt near what is there already on the right side of the design.

My rotation this time will be AQ and her 3 sisters. I will do 10 hours of time on each of them. At the moment I am working on the large area of pink and mauve of her underskirt. There is also some white Wisper thread on the far left of the design near the yellow. There will be a whole bunch of it extending down the side of the design, so I am starting to work on it now. Wisper is poly/mohair and tricky to work with.

ROYAL ROTATION

AQ must be at 140 hours.
WQ must be at 63 hours.
Summer must be at 48 hours.
Spring must be at 21 hours.

Angel of the Sea is done!

2008-04-05T10:32:00.003-07:00

I started this design in early December 2002. I knew that I wanted to be a baby announcement for my sister and I thought I was being clever by starting it before she was even pregnant. However she found out in Jan. 03 that she was, and my nephew was born in Sept. 03. Then my neice was born in June 06 and I still wasn't done. Those of you who know me know that I never have just one project on the go at any one time, that would be boring! At least I can get it framed for her in Oct. when my local really good framing store has a 25% offf sale. That will be just after my nephew starts kindergarten. Oh well!

For those of you that like stats, she is stitched on 32 count Wedgewood lugana, which is very close to colour of DMC 3747, so I used that to bead with. I don't time my stitching really accurately with a stop-watch or anything, but my working time on her was approximately 247 hours. I could be off by as much as 5 hours either way.

Dancing with the Stars

2008-04-01T08:54:00.002-07:00

This is the only reality show I watch. Hubby and I got really into it last season when Helio Castroneves won, but we didn't start watching until halfway through. I am right into it now from the first show 2 weeks ago. Hubby is only casually interested this time, but he watches a little bit.

When we were first married ( almost 13 years ago ) the T and I took ballroom lessons. It was a hoot and we had a lot of fun, but we kind of sucked. He is 6ft. 2 and I am 5 ft. 3, so we looked like Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson, except I can't dance! I've always been interested in it though and I used to watch competitions on TV years ago when they were only on PBS. Now it seems there are competitions on all the time. My son and I watched a kids' competition from England on Showcase ( or maybe it was Bravo? ) a few weeks ago. He is 7 and the children looked around the age of Kaiser and his 9 year old sister. He thought it was cool!

So some thought and observations of the show:

-Len is usually the most accurate in his assessments, if not the nicest.
-Tonight either Adam or Marissa will go I think.
-Last night I voted for Shannon and Priscilla. Shannon's jive was well done and quick. She has to watch her arms and legs on fast dances though because sometimes she looks like a chicken.
Priscilla and Louis killed that tango. I never just vote for my favourite couple because I don't have one. You gotta earn my vote!

Outside wall, etc. almost done.

2008-02-15T11:04:00.003-08:00

Today T and my FIL are working on finishing the Tyvek house wrap on the east side of the sausage kitchen and finishing up the siding. The other side that faces the road has it's siding completed. The kids have no school today so Kaiser is helping out Daddy and Opa.

Sausage kitchen being framed.

2008-02-12T12:12:00.001-08:00

That is my father-in-law up on the ladder framing a window. The west wall and window are already done.

T is working on Tyvek house wrap on the completed west wall ( facing toward the road ).

Some renovations happening.

2008-02-11T11:10:00.001-08:00

My handy hubby installed our new front door last weekend while I was away scrapbooking. Yesterday he put in the matching side panel. The lovely orange price sticker will have to come off with acetone. Once the weather dries up a bit I have to wash the whole thing down and varithane around the panel to make it white as well. It probably used to be white but got discoloured with time.

At the moment my father-in-law is over helping T start building the sausage kitchen on the north side of our house. The truck from Canex building supply just left.

I will have more photos of that building project later on this week.

Snow day!

2008-01-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got about 15cm ( 6 inches ) of snow. I kept my kids home even though school was open. I don't have a problem with snow, just the -22C wind-chill. The kids did go out to play briefly but it was just too cold. Kaiser got wet sleeves somehow so it was fortunate that he could change shirts when he came in.

A somewhat recent stitching photo.

2008-01-24T09:38:00.001-08:00

This photo of "Above the Clouds" was taken on the 13th of January after I finished up my rotation slot. I have 75 hours of stitching done and my curious dragon is almost done. I have to finish up the remainder of his tail, and some more mountains. Then it's time to go nuts with the back stitch. That will take me a while.

I have not been posting too many stitching photos since I thought you all would have seen them before on either the 2 cross stitch bulletin boards that I frequent, or on Facebook. But not all my friends overlap on either of those places or on my blog. I only "meet" Christine and Glenda all 3 places. So from now on I am going just splash photos everywhere! Thanks to Christine and Melissa for the inspiration when I looked at your blogs yesterday.

New rotation version working out.

2008-01-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

In the past when I made a list for changing up my current cross stitch project every once in a while ( a rotation, for those not familiar with the concept ) I made myself do at least 5 hours per project before swapping.

Below is my current list. For each slot I am choosing instead to pick a certain area of the design that I would like to finish off, rather than randomly stitching 5 hours wherever I felt the urge. So far I think I like this way better. Concentrating on one area is making things look more done. Not that I jumped all over the place when I was timing myself, I have just tightened it up a bit. I am probably working for about 5 hours still each time. Each "goal" area on each project is fairly small, so that when I finish it I usually still work on nearby stitches for a while longer. But for projects like the Alaska sampler that is incredibly boring to work on, I did my little bit and moved right to Above the Clouds. The dates that follow each project slot are the date that I finished up that goal and whatever else I was stitching on the project.

GOAL-BASED ROTATION #1

Angel of the Sea (Dec.29/07)
Autumn Queen (Jan.1/08)
bookmark (Jan. 3/8)
Angel of the Sea (Jan. 7/08)
Alaska (Jan 9/08)
Above the Clouds (Jan. 13/08)
Angel of the Sea (Jan.15/08)
Babies are Heaven Sent (Jan. 17/08)
Stroke of Midnight (Jan 21/8)
Angel of the Sea

As you can see I am almost done this round. Round #2 coming up!

Ham and Corn Chowder

2008-01-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

Stuff you need:

a cup of chopped ham, or 4 slices of chopped bacon, or 1 can of Flakes of Ham
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-2 cups of water
4 cups of diced unpeeled potato ( or the same amount of frozen hash browns )
1 cup finely diced carrot
2 cups milk
1 can creamed corn
1 can corn ( drained )
garlic
marjoram
salt
pepper

What you do:

This makes 8 or 9 cups of soup so you'll need a decent sized pot. Put your ham or bacon in the pre-heated pot. The bacon should wind up brown and reasonably crispy. The ham you just have to get hot to get some of the fat out. Once you have a bit of fat coming out, toss in the onion and let it get soft. Drain off excess fat.
Add carrot and potatoes and enough water to not quite cover everything. Season this mixture with garlic, etc. however you like it. Let it simmer away until the potatoes and carrots are soft.
Take it off the heat and add in both corns and the milk. Simmer again until it's all heated through nicely and the canned corn is just slightly soft.

I made bread bowls for our soup since I had some frozen bread dough on hand. One loaf piece makes 2 bowls. Rub frozen loafs with a bit of oil or melted butter and put on a cookie sheet. Let thaw in the fridge over night. Once thawed, separate each loaf into 2 balls. Oil them up again and let sit in the oven with just the light on for 2 1/2 hours. They should be double their size. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Thump the bottom when done and it should sound hollow.

A new year.

2008-01-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

And I have nothing much to say. The Christmas holidays were busy, but much the same as usual, visiting both family and friends and having people over. My dad took this photo on Sunday, when we had his birthday dinner. Dad turned 64 on Sat. This is me, hubby, the kids and my father-in-law.

I have been cross stitching as much as possible, but on the same old projects to try to finish things off. So no photos to post. I am trying out a rotation based on goals ( ie. "I will finish blah-blah area before I move on to the next project" ) and so far it is working out well. I have already posted items regarding this on various cross stitch bulletin boards so I won't repeat that here.

Bon Jovi still rocks!

2007-12-16T13:18:00.000-08:00

T and I were at the Garage last night ( GM Place in Vancouver ) for their first concert here. There is another one tonight. Jon is pretty hot for 48ish. And he can actually still sing, unlike a lot of people. Jon had a little remininsce about the band's previous time in Vancouver. I did know that they recorded "Slippery When Wet" here at Little Mountain Studios, but he said they also did "New Jersey" and "Keep the Faith" here. We had a lot of fun singing away. There was a late-20something girl next to me and she was singing along for most songs, but not "Runaway". She likely wasn't even born in 1982, unlike me who was 13 and in Grade 8.

Next concert: Mellencamp and Tom Cochrane at the Coliseum in Feb.

School answering machine message.

2007-12-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

This is pretty funny. I got it as an email, so it could be totally bogus. However even if it's fake, some schools should do this!

SCHOOL ANSWERING MACHINE
(This is hilarious - no wonder some people were offended!)
This is the message that the Pacific Palisades High School (California) staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine. This is the actual answering machine message for the school. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children's absences and missing homework. Theschool and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children'sfailing grades changed to passing grades - even though those children wereabsent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough schoolwork to pass their classes. The outgoing message: ____________________________________________________________>>>>>> "Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school.

In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all the options before making a selection:

* To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1
* To make excuses for why your child did not do his work- Press 2
* To complain about what we do - Press 3
* To swear at staff members - Press 4
* To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5
* If you want us to raise your child - Press 6
* If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone -Press 7
* To request another teacher, for the third time this year -Press 8
* To complain about bus transportation - Press 9
* To complain about school lunches - Press 0

* If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!

*If you want this in Spanish, you must be in the wrong country.

My Epicure spices

2007-12-04T09:48:00.001-08:00

On Nov. 22 I had a tasting party for Victorian Epicure spices. I have been using them for several years and have had the odd party or two. I use regular spices too, but Epicure has nice mixes that make it easy to add flavour without using your imagination too much. Some days I prefer that! The spices also have no salt or MSG or preservatives or anything weird. Epicure also has very nice cooking tools, etc. I have had the stainless steel teapot for a year now and I love it!

KELLEY'S LIST OF OLD STANDBYS AND POTENTIALLY NEW FAVOURITES:

French Onion Dip - I am on my 3rd jar of this and I have never actually made dip with it. If a recipe calls for a package of that nasty onion soup mix, I use a heaping tablespoon of the dip mix instead. I also put it in soup, gravy, meatloaf, etc.

Herb and Garlic Dip - This is my first time using this but my sister has used it for years as a rub before roasting a chicken.

Curry Dip - This I think I will actually use as dip, for things like chicken strips ( homemade of course! )

Louisiana Hot and Spicy Dip - My kids are just getting into hot stuff, but this dip is pretty killer, so I don't think I should use it as rub or anything. The dip will be fine, or maybe a small bit in marinade for chicken.

Maple Spice Dip - This is quite nice on fruit, but I will be using as icing flavouring and for sprinkling on oatmeal.

Hot Buttered Rum Mix - This apparantly is really good mixed with the melted butter for popcorn, according to my neice.

Beef and Steak Spice - I've used this for years and put it in almost everything.

Souvlaki Seasoning - Another favourite. I mix it with olive oil and lemon juice and mix it with potatoes. Roast them in the oven and they are fabulous. Also excellent on chicken.

Pumpkin Pie Spice - I use this all the time when allspice and cloves are called for. I have neither, and the PPS is better anyway.

Taco Seasoning - I never buy taco kits anymore. We just buy tortillas and use a scoop of the seasoning, instead of that nasty packaged stuff.

Chinese Five Spice - We use this in stir-fry and asian soup a lot.

Summer Queen update.

2007-11-19T10:33:00.001-08:00

I have done a total of just over 35 hours of work on her now. I've had her on the Q-snaps for almost a week. I mostly worked on the pink and grey of her bodice, as well as filling in her right shoulder. All of the skin is stitched now until I get to her left hand ( kind of down in her lap ) and her right arm.

A few more beads went into her crown as well. I am not terribly fond of the Mill Hill beading needles. They do fit the beads perfectly, but I find them too long and awkward, as well as hard to thread. I bead with one strand of floss ( DMC 3033 in this case ) and I had to run some Thread Heaven over the end to get it through the tiny eye of the needle.

Baby and soup

2007-11-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I made a crock pot full of butternut squash soup. Normally I load it up with curry and roasted garlic and make it really spicy. However I was making for my friend L who just had a baby girl last Tuesday. Since baby is being breast fed, I made it a little bit milder. A smidge of garlic only, and some cumin. It was still yummy.

I don't really have recipe but I can explain how I did it. A cut a medium sized squash in half lengthwise and then scooped out the seedy bit. Brush it with olive oil, put both halves on a cookie sheet and stick it in the oven at 350F for about an hour until it's pretty soft.

While the squash is baking ( and the bulb of garlic is roasting if you are using it ) get the crock pot ready. I put in about 2 cups of water. I usually use chicken stock but L is vegetarian. Add whatever seasonings you are using to the pot as well. Crank it up to high and let it get hot.

When the squash is soft, take it out and let it cool enough that you can scoop it out of the peel. Plop it into the crock pot. I whizzed it up by sticking my Braun whizzing thingy into the pot. You could mash it too but it won't be as smooth. Adjust the seasoning as needed. I put about half a cup of skim milk in after I whizzed it. I like it reasonalbly thick, but not like sludge. That's it! Turn it back down to low and eat it whenever.

Counter is done!

2007-11-16T09:36:00.001-08:00

Ta da! T put the sink back in last night ( with much swearing and cursing ) but we need to wait a bit longer before the other things go back on the counter. Maybe this evening.

The flat surfaces have a nice glossy finish from the epoxy. Should be easy to keep clean. The rounded edged aren't as shiny, since the epoxy was really drippy and some came off. There are two coats of sealer under the epoxy, so the entire counter is water-proof, even some areas aren't as shiny as others.

T is planning to finish up the last few half tiles just under the cupboards this weekend, and do the grout. Most of the stuff to go back on the counter will have to wait until that is done anyway.

Counter-top: Part2

2007-11-13T10:16:00.001-08:00

This is 2 coats of Stone Effects, plus touch ups. The colour is called Espresso I think, and that's pretty much what it looks like. It's a warmer brown than the photo indicates. The area of counter in this photo is part between my stove and my fridge. You can see the stove area and little bit of the counter in one of the photos from the last post.

Counter-top: Part 1

2007-11-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

These 2 photos show the coat of primer on the counter and beginnings of the tile back-splash. This is what happened yesterday afternoon. T put on some of the Stone Effects stuff as well. It is easy to trowel onto the flat surface, but the counters curve down slightly at the edges and it was hard for it to stick. This afternoon he bought another bucket of stuff and tomorrow he will do coat number 2.
Today he spent finishing up the tile, except for the grout.

Counter-top transformation: Before.

2007-11-11T09:30:00.001-08:00

My handy hubby is changing our counter-tops using Rustoleum Stone Effects. It's kind of hard to tell with the glare from the window but the counters were a burgundy colour. When we moved in 3 years ago, the cupboard nobs were white. Last year T bought brushed nickel ones, and matching brushed nickel light fixtures. The tiles on the floor are like fake marble with varying swirls of colour. They are light, but consequently will match pretty much anything

Stay tuned for more photos that don't have my husband's loud Hawaiian shorts in them!

Recent photos

2007-11-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

We've been busy the last couple of weeks so I haven't blogged much. Halloween took up more time than one day, like usual. My hubby's SIL turned 50 on the 23rd of Oct. and her party was the 20th. Oktoberfest of course, which is why Lorraine had to wear the silly hat and the beer wench shirt. Yesterday my neice-in-law had her second daughter so I am a Great-Aunt again.

I made BBQ sauce!

2007-10-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

DH and I have been making jam together as long as we have been married. Last year my mom and I made chutney. But I've never done barbeque sauce. I have a recipe book that is very good for making Christmas gifts from. It has the sauce recipe I used, plus a sweet and sour sauce, dry mixes, etc. The recipe make enough to fill 3 small jam jars ( the 1 cup size ) plus some extra. I put the extra in the fridge for us to use. The other 3 jars I will likely give away.

For about an hour's worth of work it was pretty easy. The sauce itself was a no-brainer. Our long-time not-so-secret way of sterilizing jars has been the dishwasher. DH's sis told me her secret is to also put the red hot jars straight out of the dishwasher into pre-heated 200F oven. Make sure the screw on lids are clean. Put the seals into into a metal or glass bowl and pour boiling hot water over them. Set out a towel, fish the jars out of the oven with a mitt onto the towel, fill with hot sauce ( jam, whatever ), use tongs to take the sterilized seals out of the bowl and place on top of jar. Screw on lid just until it's tight. Leave the jars on the towel for a few hours to cool. As they do, the lids "pop" and make a lovely seal. Easier than processing in a water bath!

My works in progress

2007-10-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

The following list is all of my current WIPs. Several have recent photos here and in my Facebook cross stitch album. Just thought I would share. Right now I'm putting a few stitches in the angel.

TIME TOTALS

Angel of the Sea CCX 4hrs 10min
Autumn Queen CXX
Stroke of Midnight LXXXV 1hr 35min
Above the Clouds LXX
Alaska LX 1hr 50min
Winter Queen L
Summer Queen XXV 4hrs 5min
Spring Queen 3 hrs

Broccoli and cheese soup

2007-10-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

I have just put tonight's dinner in the crock pot. It's 2 pm Pacific Time. My daughter is in figure skating and she is on the ice every Tuesday from 5:15 to 6:15, so skating night dinner is often crock pot or casserole something. For anyone interested, here is the recipe.

-3 cans of Campbell's soup - 1 cheese, 1 broc and cheese, 1 cream of broc
-2 soup cans of milk
-1 cup grated cheddar
-2 heads of fresh broc that I popped in the microwave for 4 minutes first. You could use a package of the frozen stuff instead
-2 heaped tablespoons of Epicure Selections French Onion Dip Mix, because I am too lazy to chop and fry onion
-a sprinkle of marjoram
-a sprinkle of pepper
-a sprinkle of garlic powder

The whole works goes in the crock pot for 4 hours on low. I have actually started mine on high. At 3:00 I will stir it and turn it down. By the time we get home at 6:30 it will be perfect. I bought a calabrese loaf to go with it.

Stroke of Midnight

2007-10-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

After working for a while on the queen I felt the need for a little bit of Teresa time. So I dragged out "Stroke of Midnight" by Teresa Wenzlter. The woman is the blend queen for sure. Her designs can be tricky to stitch but they are a lot of fun. I always have to train my brain to pay extra attention when I work on this one.

The right side of the design is where I concentrated my efforts this time. The smaller arch windows are done and so is the top part of the cut-off window at extreme right. I also did a bit of the marble between the 2 smaller arches. 86 hours of work so far. About 1/5 done if I am lucky.

Autumn queen update.

2007-10-04T11:41:00.001-07:00

I already uploaded this to my Facebook cross stitch album, but I though I should do an update here too. This photo is with 120 hours finished. For this period of time that I worked on her I mostly did the lower right area of the brown brocade on the overskirt. I think in Elizabethan times it was called a kirtle. I also tackled some of the Wisper at the bottom swirly bit of her cloak, near her left elbow. Wisper is such a pain in the ass though that I didn't get much done.

20th reunion

2007-10-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

On Sat. night T and I were at our 20th high school reunion in the city where we grew up. Nana and Papa baby-sat and we stayed in the hotel where the party was. This photo is me ( in black dress ) and T and 2 of our old classmates who were also on the softball team with me that my Dad coached when we were all in Grade 3, 4 and 5.

It was kind of weird to see everyone. Some people we had seen 10 years ago at the previous reunion. That was before we moved away and before our kids were born though. For one night I felt a bit like I was in school and not someone's mother. But then we all got out photos of our kids! Thankfully I have been in touch with a few people recently via Facebook, so I could recognize people easier.

Busy September

2007-09-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Damn it! How did 3 weeks go by without me blogging. I get slack occasionally, but not usually 3 weeks. Anyhoo, here is how Sept. has shaped up so far and the few things left that we have to do before a hopefully quieter October arrives.

-The beginning of school is always a time when we are off and running right away. Our PAC has been busy getting organized for the school year as well. My little guy is in Grade 1 now so that means 2 lunches need to be made every night. It's nice to have a bit extra free time. I can get a couple of extra chores done.

-My nephew T turned 4 on the 12th. We went to my sister's for dinner on the 16th to celebrate. We also popped in on our friends I and L to check out their new place. They bought a house not too far from where my sister moved into her townhouse.

-My oldest child Weezie was 9 on Monday. Where the hell did all that time go! We went out for dinner with my folks and sister. Her birthday party with her friends was at the wave pool on the 14th. This past weekend we went camping in honour of her birthay as well. Last Friday was a bit damp but the rest of the time was nice. Thank God for a trailer with heat though.

-On Friday my father-in-law moves out of his house in Richmond after 51 years and moves about 2 km from us.

-On Sat. T and I are going to drop off the kids with my Mom and Dad in Ladner and then we are heading for Richmond for our 20th high school reunion. The party is at the Richmond Inn so we are staying over at the hotel. A bunch of us are going for brunch the next morning. Then we have to pick up the kids and head home.

All done!

2007-09-06T15:05:00.001-07:00

I have to paint white in the white flowers ( they are still primer, you can tell up close ) and touch up a few areas with Tickled Pink. My daughter has moved back in and got herself organized. The green now has a few posters on it!

Working on flower petals

2007-09-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

My sister and I worked on the flower petals this afternoon. I have to free-hand paint in the white petals with a small brush. I did 2 of them already, but it's rather slow going. The top photo is me. I took more photos of them done before Weezie's bed went back in, but I won't be posting those for a couple of days.

A bit more bookmark.

2007-08-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was hoping for a photo of some pink and purple flowers on Weezie's wall today. However, my sister got stuck on the highway between Langley and Chilliwack behind a huge accident involving an over-turned semi and something to do with chickens.

Since she had the other paint and stencils, no flowers today. So I stitched a bit and decided to update my photo of the Welsh dragon bookmark. "Cymru" is Wales in Welsh. You pronounce it somewhat like khum-ra, while having k sound gag in your throat a bit like "Ach" in German. My Welsh accent is pitiful, but I do remember how my grandma used to say it.

Tickled pink is finished.

2007-08-27T10:40:00.001-07:00

Two coats of pink have done the job. Hubby peeled off the stencils and the petals look good. There was slight bleeding under the contact paper. My sister and I will be using thicker craft paint for the petals so we can easily cover any messy areas with white. One coat of white verithane is on the door. It looks fine in the photo but close up you can see the blue faintly so I will be doing another coat today. The top photo has more of the correct colour of the pink. The bottom one is washed out a bit.

Petal stencils on.

2007-08-26T13:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my sister and I got all of the stencils on ( contact paper ) for the white flower petals and a few white centre circles. Then we got one coat of pink paint over the whole thing. Hubby is painting coat #2 right now. That should do it. Tonight when the paint is bone dry we have to carefully peel off the contact paper. I will be painting the doors with white verithane tomorrow ( moulding and chair rail already done ) and then I will take another photo. Sis is coming on Friday with the rest of the stencils to do the other flowers with hot pink and purple.

Same 3 guys, same 3 chords.

2007-08-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

That is what Billy Gibbons claimed last night that ZZ Top has been doing for 35 years. They still got it. It was a great show. We also got to see the Stray Cats and Pretenders first. Equally good, especially the Cats. T and I saw ZZ Top in '91 or '92, whenver the Recycler Tour was. We were all up dancing and singing away. The sound could have been a little better though. General Motors Place has excellent acoustics for what is basically a fancy hockey arena. T and I have been to many concerts there and usually the sound is totally clear. Bryan Adams springs to mind for one.

The entire show went from 7:30 to 11:30, with brief breaks between bands so the roadies could do their thing. We went with a bunch of people from the office, and a good time was had by all. Can't go wrong with that!

Stretch is finished!

2007-08-21T10:26:00.001-07:00

For the last few days I have been working on back stitch. The border was almost done, but I hadn't done much to the dragon itself. So I finished up the dragon back stitch first, then I worked on finishing up the knotwork back stitch. It took 53 hours to do from start to finish.

Beginning of pink

2007-08-20T15:55:00.001-07:00

T started doing the edging of the Tickled Pink the other day. Today I did a bit of taping off where I have to paint the chair-rail, door and moulding with white. Tomorrow my sister is coming over and we are cutting out flower petals with contact paper to make stencils. We have to mask out where the white petals will be, and just use a piece of paper to indicate where the dark pink centre will do later. It can easily cover the lighter pink, but white might not cover adequately. Some flowers may also have a white centre with dark petals. We'll figure out how much we have to cut first.

The 3rd coat of green is done.

2007-08-13T15:01:00.001-07:00

It took a while but I've finally got the green paint done. It is a CIL Dulux colour called Celery Stalk. When wet it looks slightly greener that Mountain Dew, but it dries to a nice, light lime colour.

On Thurs. my sister is coming over to help map out where the stencils have to go for the flowers. We are using contact paper to mask off areas that will be white flowers petals, before the top part of the wall gets painted 3 coats of Tickled Pink.

Yesterday Hubby painted her desk white so it is ready to go in her room when all is done.

Primer mostly done.

2007-08-05T14:07:00.001-07:00

The primer is pretty much finished now. Two coats were needed to cover the navy blue. ( For previous photo check my July 2007 archives. )

Weezie's room is now a sea of white. I may still have to put some primer over the top part of the wall in various places, but it is generally okay. Tomorrow I have to sand a few areas and then everything needs a good wipe-down before I start painting the Celery Stalk on the bottom.

Above the Clouds update

2007-07-30T12:54:00.001-07:00

I have got the curious dragon to 70 hours completed. As you can tell, I am fairly close to finishing. There is about in inch worth of work on the bottom, mostly rocks. The bottom-most stitches ( in yellow ) of the dragons tail are actually the bottom of the design. There will be a lot of back stitch once I am done with the cross stitching.

Putty

2007-07-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

This is how Weezers' bedroom looked this morning. I've put white primer over the puttied areas. Pardon me, it's actually called drywall compound, not putty. You can sort of see some little gold blobs on the white painted area to the left of the closest door. The gold is stenciled on suns, planets and moons It was rough paint, so we sanded it down first and now I have also primed over top of the gold. The closet door is mostly primed too since it needs to be painted white eventually. I have to do the back of the door tomorrow and some puttied areas that weren't quite dry yet. I'll post another photo after all the primer is on. Her bed is also completely taken apart now and there is more putty behind the bed.

Update of life.

2007-07-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

A few things are going on lately:
-my sister is moving to Langley next week. I will miss her. It's an hour drive away. Right now she lives across town.
-T's dad sold his house in Richmond ( suburb of Vancouver ) for $620,000 and bought a house here in Chilliwack fro $408,000. His Richmond house was a 1500 sq. ft. bungalow/rancher built in 1956. His house here is a 1600 sq. ft. rancher built in 2005. Not a bad deal!
-Weezie's room is taken apart and she is sleeping on her mattress in her brother's room. Puttying, priming, and painting is in progress. I hope to have photos posted here eventually.

Mom's friend.

2007-07-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

This bear mascot stands on the other side of the driveway of the Royal Scot from where the piper was standing in the previous photo.

A bit of piping.

2007-07-12T21:46:00.001-07:00

This gentlemen played outside the front of the Royal Scot Hotel every couple of hours or so. He'd do a couple of tunes and then go away. If you look past him to the white sign down the block you can see Menzies Street, which crosses Quebec where the hotel is. On the other side of Menzies is the western edge of the lawn of the Provincial Legislature. We first heard the piper as we were loading our stuff into our room. Knowing how pipe music carries I figured that someone was piping on the lawn of the Legislature. A bit of local flavour for the tourists. But we went for a walk a while later and then headed back to the Days Inn across the road from the Royal Scot. The Days Inn has a Cold Beer and Wine store in it. Upon crossing the street after purchasing wine I discovered the piper. He was originally facing Quebec Street, but obligingly turned toward me as I took the photo.

Titanic sign

2007-07-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

After we came out of the museum we decided to get a photo in front of this big sign. There was a hidden microphone making splashing wave noises and the clanging of a ships bell.

Titanic!

2007-07-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

We spent a hot couple of days in Victoria and got back last night to hide in the AC.

On Monday morning we picked up Mom and Dad and got the 11 am ferry from Tsawassen. By 1:30 we were in Victoria and checking in at the Royal Scot Hotel. It's very nice, not too fancy, and only one block south of the harbour. It's also one block west of the Legislature building.

Some family friends have recently moved there so we went to their place for dinner on Monday night. Angelo has just taken the job of VP of Royal Roads ( or is it Rhodes? ) University. We haven't seen them for about 8 years so it was great to visit again.

Yesterday morning we got the 10 am show of IMAX Titanica at the Royal BC Museum. I'd seen it before on TV, but IMAX is better. After that we went through the Titanic Exhibit. There were a ton of artifacts that were really neat to see. Unfortunately you can't take photos in the exhibit. Before you enter the exhibit itself, 2 people wearing 1912 cork life vests handing out "boarding cards" with a passengers name, class, age, party they were travelling with, etc. I was a young French girl who was the mistress of a Mr. Harbeck who had been hired by White Star line to film the maiden voyage. My son was Mr. Arthur Ryerson, whose name rang a bell with me as someone of importance on board. My daughter was the daughter of a jeweler from Rhode Island. Hubby was Major Archibald Butt. The idea is that at the end of the exhibit you check the passenger list again survivors to see if you made it out alive. I said right away as soon as Toni got the boarding card, "Sorry honey but you died. You played cards in the smoking room with Benjamin Guggenheim, waiting for the ship to sink."

It turned out that the daughter of jeweler survived. The French mistress did not. Mr. Ryerson didn't either. He could have been in the smoking room with Butt and Guggenheim. Ryerson's wife and 3 children survived.

I'll try to post some photos of Victoria later.

Back in action with the sewing machine.

2007-07-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Not quite yet, I can pick it up on Sat. Apparantly something called the hook was broken. That is now fixed and they did a general lube and tune up. Sounds like a car...

$69.95 plus tax and I am hopefully good to go.

I'm going to try to finish up the pillow and enter it in the Chilliwack Exhibition in August.

Stretch update

2007-07-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

I have all of the cross stitching finished now on my slender dragon friend. This is 47 hours worth of work. I just have to do the remainder of the back stitch and he is all done. Since I have done the back stitch on the knotwork border as I go, most of what is left is just the dragon.

Finally another cross stitch photo

2007-06-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

For what is supposed to be a blog about my hobbies as well as general life, I am kind of sucking at both topics right now.

I had planned to get a few things accomplished this month but then I got busier than I thought. This Alaska sampler is now at 62 hours completed. It's getting pretty close to being done.

My sewing machine began to make a scary clunking noise so it is now being fixed. So much for getting the pillow finished that I have been working on forever. My "to finish completely" list is almost as big as my "cross stitch in progress" list.

Camping was a blast!

2007-06-10T16:04:00.001-07:00

In spite of the rain yesterday we had a great time camping with the gang from T's office. His boss/partner R and his wife came along, but stayed at a B&B on the other side of the lake.

Far too much food was consumed of course. There are 3 Filipino coworkers who cooked up a bunch of fantastic stuff. Eva just came for the day yesterday and she made up 60 skewers of pork satay for us to have for lunch. There was a ton left over obviously so we had them for dinner too. We also had the usual chili dogs and smokies either on the fire or various bbqs.

The younger part of the group ( twenty-somethings ) made several "bucket" drinks. Literally a plastic pail like you would use for a sand castle, filled with a 26 oz. bottle of some hard liquor ( the first one was Malibu rum ), various juices and ginger-ale, Sprite, or similar. A couple of handfuls of ice, 6 or 8 straws and voila! They tried to use the plastic shovel that came with the bucket to scoop out the bottom. T went and got them a ladle instead which worked better.

The rain dried up by around dinner time yesterday so we could sit around the campfire comfortably at night. We did the usual amount of tarping to stay dry though the rest of the time. Tarp ability is a must if you camp in BC.

Happy Birthday Dad

2007-06-06T19:38:00.001-07:00

My father-in-law Helmut is 74 today. This photo was taken on our lanai in Hawaii. Opa and the kids are having a little bit of fruit for breakfast for one morning.

This little piggy...

2007-06-04T11:04:00.001-07:00

is going to be donated to Canada Division of the Angel Quilt Project. Sorry about the blurry photo. I just finished up putting the white petite seed beads in his bandana in lieu of French knots. I loathe French knots!

Wasn't that party!

2007-06-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

That was a fun time as usual. This year there were no crazy stories though, everyone was too well-behaved! Several of the group went off to party afterwards as well, which quieted things down a bit. One of the girls is turning 30 tomorrow so they wanted to go and party with her. I imagine they had a good time, knowing them! And I was totally not offended that they left. T and I run our summer BBQ sort of like an open house and people can come and go as they like.

Blog traffic

2007-06-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Since Blog Patrol seems to be functioning again I will shamelessly steal an idea from the Wonderful Whiz. I have been wondering who has been here lately but couldn't tell. I don't get a ton of people here but below it the Blog Patrol result of my "Last 10 keywords". Results were either from Google or Yahoo searches.

wonderingsfromthewack (2) I have mentioned my blog around various bulletin boards lately and it seems as if at least 2 people have tried a search to find it.

trevor linden ( 2) Obviously from my previous post.

8 wack wack condos ( 1 ) What the heck is that about?

kelley ( 1 ) People searching for kelleys of the world it would appear.

Trevor Linden photo

2007-05-28T19:28:00.001-07:00

This photo was taken in Honolulu by T's brother-in-law Tom ( in Hawaiian shirt ). A few family members stayed in Honolulu for a few days before flying to Kaua'i for the wedding. At some point they met Linden and Roberto Luongo. I think Tom said it was at Honolulu airport. It's hard to tell from the photo but it's either the airport or Ala Moana Centre mall!

Trevor Linden is a class guy all the way and he graciously allowed the photo. Perhaps because our nephew Ryan was wearing his Cancuks t-shirt? The little girl is Ryan's son Jayden ( great-neice of T and myself ).

Happy Birthday Lisa!

2007-05-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

My significantly-younger friend is 31 today! We have been friends for 9 years now, ever since we moved into adjacent townhouses 2 weeks apart. I was 3 months pregnant with Weezer when we moved in and our phone didn't get connected right away. I knocked on her door to borrow her phone to find a new doctor, and the rest is history.

Many best wishes Dahling!

Phew! Finished!

2007-05-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the carnival/fun night at my kids' school. Six months of work was over in 3 hours. We had a good turnout and I think the students had fun. The grilling of food ourselves went smoothly. There were many comments about how organized we were. The whole night went well. There were the usual exceptions of middle school kids not showing up for their volunteer shift, or being useless as tits on a bull when they did. Fortunately enough parents were willing to step in and help even though they didn't volunteer in the first place. Some Grade 6s were shits and tried to either steal prizes or try to get them for free. Others worked their butts off ( one boy in particular worked at the BBQs all night and another stayed until 9:30 cleaning up ).

The parents' room is a disaster though. Monday will be clean up and put stuff away day.

Cross stitch pic this time.

2007-05-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was working on Angel of the Sea for a while before we went away. Just after I got back I finished up a few more minutes of work to get her to the 200 hour mark.

200 hours is kind of a rough estimate though since I don't use a stopwatch to time myself. It works good enough for me though.

The design is almost to the bottom in the very centre. I was mainly working on that area of waves and the bottom of her dress. When I pick her up again I have to finish off some white on the bird ( left side of dress ) and the work on the surrounding waves. I figure I have another 50 hours or so of work. Then I have tuck in somewhere the names and birthdates of my neice and nephew.

An anniversary and a wedding

2007-05-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

The anniversary is today, my parent's 41st. They are down in Washington State at their trailer. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

The wedding is the reason we went to Hawaii in the first place.

- The top photo is our 2 kids and our great-neice Jayden ( in pink ), the neice of the bride.

-Jane and Tom walk Sonya down the aisle.

-The best man is Brad, Mark's buddy and the lady in the green muu muu is their marriage comissioner.

Beach shot

2007-05-18T11:55:00.001-07:00

Just in front of the Hanalei Colony Resort is this beach. Across the small bay you can see a point of land to the right. Past that point until the next point of land in the distance is Hanalei Bay. On the point of land in the distance are ( among other hotels/condos ) are the Princeville Resort and the Hanalei Bay Resort.

Another photo

2007-05-18T11:50:00.001-07:00

This photo sort of shows the living room of our condo unit. Not all of the units have the same furniture, but all are tropical in design. All are 2 bedroom unit and have virtually the same layout. The units are owned and the resort works sort of like a management company in that they rent out the units to guests. If you click on the resort link in my post of the 17th it explains about the accomodations.

My Weezie was happy with her blue floatie mattress for the pool.

Hanalei Colony Resort

2007-05-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

The resort is where we stayed on Kaua'i. It was nice and quiet, not fancy, just comfortable. There are 7 or 8 4-plex buildings ( 2 units on the bottom and 2 on the top ) at the resort. We were in Building D, which overlooked a large grassy area and then the ocean in the distance. D2 was the lower level unit in this photo. Hanalei is on the north shore of the island so the waves can be pretty rough. Several beaches nearby have calm enough areas for swimming. The beach just off of the resort wasn't too bad, but we just stuck to walking around in the surf and making sand castles. The kids didn't like getting all covered with sand, so they preferred the pool. I walked on the beach a bit, but it was quite windy most of the time. The one time I did go in the water was the morning of the wedding, last Thursday the 10th. I had to dump several pounds of sand out of my tankini bottom afterward.

Aloha!

2007-05-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

Kauai was fabulous! We got back Tuesday afternoon after a long trip home via LA. The wedding was beautiful and the weather cooperated. It was a little windy however, which made Sonya's veil a bit challenging for her. T has already uploaded photos so I will be posting some over the next little while.

Bare Toes party layout

2007-05-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Our nephew Brady graduated from Summerland Secondary School in 2005. T's sis had a big family bash to celebrate that and of course Canada Day. Sue called it "The Bare Toes Party" so naturally we all had to lay on the grass with our toes in the air for a photo op!

The oval photo in the middle unfortunately got a bit of camera flash on it when I took the picture of the layout. It is 4 chickens with cans of beer up inside them on Phil's BBQ.

I am the woman in the red top with a beer in her hand. Next to me is Phil, T's brother-in-law. The other 2 photos are of my son with his big cousins Joel, Lynsi ( brother and sister of Brady ) and Sonya ( daughter of T's other sister ).

Another layout photo

2007-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

I made this double-page spread of some painting, gardening and building projects that we did in the months after we bought our house. The gardening and tools stickers are Creative Memories. I bought the paint brush and can die-cuts ( left side ) from a scrapbook store in Abbotsford across from SevenOaks mall. I forget the name of the store. The bolt, screw, etc. letters are from Michael's but I can't remember the brand name of them.

A child-hood friend is gone.

2007-05-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

I got an email yesterday from Suzy Snapper who is on comittee for our 20th Grad Reunion. She has been trying to get hold of a bunch of people and she just found out that Brenda had died on April 9th. Suzy put the obit on the reunion message board and it just said that she died after a long illness.

While we were in elementary school, Brenda lived in the house behind ours. I used to climb the fence to go play at her house. We had many sleep-overs. Our dads would yack over the fence. Her older sister was my baby-sitter for a while. I have fond memories of endless board games at her kitchen table.

We were friends in Junior High too, but her family moved a few blocks away when we were in Grade 9. Brenda didn't actually graduate with our class in Grade 12. Her family moved to Nanaimo part-way through the year. Suzy wanted to get in touch with her to invite her to the reunion anyway.

My mom ran into her mom a few times several years ago. Mom and Dad lived in a townhouse complex in Richmond from 1998 to 2003. During that time Mr. and Mrs. B. lived in the same neighbourhood and would see each other from time to time. Mrs. B. told my mom that Brenda had moved to Alberta. That was the last I heard of her. She was living in Canmore at the time of her death.

There is a service this Sat. in Abbotsford. T and I would like to go, but this is the weekend we have to get organized to leave for Hawaii on Monday morning. The service is at 3pm, so if we get enough done earlier then we may be able to go. If not I will email our condolences to the address in the obit. I feel bad about that though. T only met Brenda in Junior High but I was friends with her for 10 years. We did see her shortly after we got married in 95. Brenda still lived in Nanaimo, but was in Richmond visiting her sister so she came over for drinks. We had a great laugh talking over old times.

Another album finished

2007-04-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

I finally got 2005 done in my scrapbook today. I worked hard on it at Andie's school fundraiser then I kept going and finished it off. For those of you that like particulars, the album is a Creative Memories chocolate cover-set with natural pages. I used 3 packs of pages plus 2 extra that Mrs. B. gave me from her stash. The picture included with this post is of a double-page spread that I did of Easter 2005 when my kids, me, my SIL and my nephew dyed eggs. The other photos are of the walk we took with the dogs following the egg-dying. We spent the holiday with T's sis in Summerland that year.

The maiden voyage

2007-04-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the first time we used our trailer. It performed with flying colours. Friday night it bucketed rain and we were warm and dry. T says that the Armada pulls it no problem. The trailer follows really well and most of the time he doesn't even feel it back there. Cultus Lake isn't exactly far away, but there are a few up and downs in the road to test out the towing power. We could load up the trailer with bikes and put a canoe on the roof and still be okay.

Well they did it!

2007-04-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Canucks 4 Dallas 1. Next up - Ananheim on Wed.

I am shocked that they actually won tonight. After the pitiful showing of the last couple games I thought they were done. If not for Luongo making that incredible save off of Barnes and Modano's cross bar, the game would have been different.

Sometimes the hockey gods smile on you, and sometimes they don't.

( and yes Andie, Roberto is yummy! )

A booze blog entry.

2007-04-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have touched on this topic yet. And no it's not any great social commentary, it's about stuff I like and don't like. ( Remember people, this blog is shallow...)

Stuff I like:

Beer - nice on a hot day. Hubby and I drink good stuff too, not Molson Canadian. I know that is very un-stereotypically Canadian of me, but it tastes like cat piss. Our breweries of choice are: Okanagan Springs, ( right here in BC baby! ), Alexander Keith's ( pride of Nova Scotia ) and sometimes Sleemans. We also like imports such as Warstiener, and Guiness ( nectar of the Gods ).

Wine - BC wine of course since it always kicks butt at all the wine competitions and it's damn good and it's not $40. Some wineries we like are: Hester Creek, Gehringer, Quail's Gate, Domaine de Chaberton, and Sumac Ridge. We also drink a lot of Australian wine. Mostly red, but I do like a nice oak-y Chardonnay.

Hard stuff - I like vodka martinis, with a big fat olive. None of those frou-frou ones. Margaritas, but just tossing back a shot of Cuervo with some salt and lime is good too. Rum with my egg nog at Christmas. Southern Comfort on the rocks. Some nice Brandy while in the hot tub. Irish whiskey ( it's in the blood ).

Stuff I don't like:

Scotch - Hubby and my dad like it. I think it tastes like old cigars.
Sweet wine - gag!
Not a big gin fan, but not too bad with plenty of tonic and lime.
Liquers that taste like fruit. Not bad but I would rather choose Bailey's or ouzo instead.

So now that you all think I am a complete lush, I will finish this off and await your comments.

Happy Anniversary Honey

2007-04-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today T and I have been married for 12 years. We didn't do much today, just hung around. He finished up the porch out front while Kaiser rode his bike. I loaded clean dishes into the trailer, did laundry and did some scrapbooking with Weezie. All in all, a fairly standard Sunday.

We did however have a nice grilled steak for dinner, with Caesar salad and garlic bread. Yum! And shrimp of course.

It's important to mark anniversaries we think, but day to day is more important.

2 Canuck birthdays, and some nostalgia

2007-04-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Today is the 37th birthday of Trevor Linden and the 26th birthday of Alexandre Burrows. I think Trevor Linden is probably one of my favourite players. I have fond memories of him in '94. Someday #16 will no doubt hang in the rafters at GM Place.

Today before Game 1 there will be a ceremony honouring the old guys from the Canucks Cup run in '82. Guys like Darcy Rota, Harold Snepsts, Tiger Williams, Stan Smyl, and Richard Brodeur will be there. Twenty-five years ago the team made it to Game 7 and lost to the Islanders. During the series against Chicago that year Towel Power was born. I was only 13 that year but I do sort of remember it. Now Towel Power is an institution for Canuck fans.

Bring on the Playoffs!

2007-04-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

Game #1 upcoming ( sorry for those that saw my pre-edit post, for some reason I thought today was Wednesday! ) with the Canucks and Dallas. Should be an interesting series. For obvious reasons I care what happens in the west. I don't give a rat's ass about the Eastern Conference, mainly because they suck. Seriously, of the 8 teams to make the playoffs in the east, only 4 had over 100 points - Buffalo, New Jersey, Ottawa and Pittsburgh. How badly do you have to play and still make the post-season? And eastern teams don't even have the crappy travel schedule!

The only Western Conference playoff team with less than a 100 points is Calgary ( big surprise ) with 96.

Since I am a Canucks fan I pretty much hate everyone else equally. It does however thrill my heart just a little bit to see the Leafs heading for the golf course. One does not grow up in the Vancouver area with an appreciation for anything beyond the Rockies, and certainly not in Ontario!

Happy Birthday #1

2007-04-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Canucks net-minder Roberto Luongo is 28 years old today! I assume they would have had practice today, but I hope he gets to do something fun as well, instead of just prep for the game against the Avs tomorrow.

2010 Olypics questions

2007-03-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

I got the following from a friend via email. I do not for a moment believe everything I get, but I have been asked enough idiotic questions about Canada that I am inclined to think that the web site is legit and so are the morons asking the questions. And I fervently hope that the answers given were actually used on the web site. If I was running I would have anwsered in a similar manner, just not as cleverly.

2010 OLYMPICS questions from all around the world about CANADA. This is a good read. I dare you not to smile ! Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, these are some questions people the world over are asking!!!! Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website. Obviously the answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked!!

Q:I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow?(England)
A.We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q:Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street?(USA)
A:Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q:I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto -can I follow the Railroad tracks?(Sweden)
A:Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q:Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada ?(Sweden)
A:So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q:It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to contact for a stuffed Beaver.(Italy)
A:Let's not touch this one.

Q:Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada ? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto , Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax ? (England)
A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada ? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q:Can I bring cutlery into Canada ? (England)
A:Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q:Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A:Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, ich is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary , straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q:Do you have perfume in Canada ? (Germany)
A:No, WE don't stink.

Q:I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you sell it in Canada ? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q:Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female
population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
A:Yes, gay nightclubs

Q:Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada ? (USA)
A:Only at Thanksgiving.

Q:Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year
round? (Germany)
A:No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Q:I have a question about a famous animal in Canada , but I forget its name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)
A:It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent. They roam the city streets eating the brains of anyone walking close to them.Spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking will scare them off.

Q:Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A:Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

A little bit of sun...

2007-03-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

...brings out the whole neighbourhood. All of last week was wet and yucky. Today is sunny and everyone was outside this afternoon. The kids and Daddy played street hockey. I decided to skip my pilates video and grabbed my bike instead. The park was packed with kids, dogs and skaters. People gardened, washed cars and cut grass. Even the JWs were out. I guess God only wants them to annoy you when it's nice out.

The Sedin twins

2007-03-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

The secret to telling them apart is their teeth, according to team-mate Willie Mitchell. Check out the Canucks Insider. This particular article is pretty funny.

Another year older.

2007-03-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Today is my 38th birthday. I'm not sure that I feel 38, at least not all time. Some days I feel 58! Most of the time I think I am not much different than 20 years ago when I was in Grade 12.
The passage of time and life experiences have matured me. Almost 12 years of marriage and 2 kids will take care of that too. I would like to think that I have not entirely grown-up though. Because that sounds like not much fun to me. I hope to be 80 and not quite grown up.
There are a large number of people who I have known and loved who have March birthdays, so here is my tribute to you all!

March 1 - G the goalie. Andie's hubby.
March 2- My cousin's daughter.
March 7- Andie
March 13 - My cousin L.
March 15 - my grandma would have been 92.
March 18 - Hubby's business partner's wife and our good friend for 18 years.
March 21 - My friend L.
March 22 - My baby sister.
March 25 - My uncle L. in Calgary.
March 28 - My friend L. who I have known since Guides.

And to anyone else that I know who has a birthday in March that I have forgotten about! Sorry but the memory isn't what it used to be...

Spank the Bolts

2007-03-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

Canucks -5
Tampa - 1

Just finished watching the game. Yahoo for the red-hot Jeff Cowan, 2 goals tonight, his 5th in 3 games. Tampa came in cocky and got too fancy. Too many passes, only 17 shots on goal. So much for Lacavalier and St. Louis.

The Canucks leave tomorrow for Phoenix on Thurs. and San Jose on Friday. Likely Vigneault will play Sabourin for the next game and Luongo will play Friday. Wouldn't be surprised.

So Evey...will the Canucks have softened up the Bolts for Edmonton tomorrow night, or just pissed them off?

Too many movies?

2007-03-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

I pinched this from Glenda the Weather Goddess. Try and see if you have a life or not.

It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 12 out of 22.

Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
(X Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch

Total so far: 19 out of 43.

(X) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
( ) Robots
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong

Total so far: 24 out of 66.

( )A Cinderella Story
(X)The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
( ) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 29 out of 90.

(X) The Day After Tomorrow
(X) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
(X) Ocean’s Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total so far: 40 out of 121.

(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(X) Christine
(X) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 54 out of 147.

(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
( ) X3
(X) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
(X) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday (the original, of course!)
(X) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2

Total so far: 64 out of 165.

( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street (original or remake, I've seen the both)
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 70 out of 181.

( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X ) Titanic - strictly for the CGI of the ship
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 73 out of 200.

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
( ) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld - can I please forget that I ever watched this drek?
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 1
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2
(X) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(X) Army of Darkness - I'll admit it, I'm a closet Bruce Campbell fan.

Total so far: 78 out of 220.

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope - 1st movie I ever saw in a theatre, I was 8.
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
( ) The Matrix - good movie
( ) The Matrix: Reloaded - not so good movie
( ) The Matrix: Revolutions - couln't be bothered
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(X) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal

Hmm, 86 out of 239. I can think of another 100 or so not on the list, possibly even 200 if I thought a bit harder!

Time flies

2007-03-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

Man how did 2 weeks go by? We got busy with skating carnival stuff after Kaiser's birthday and it just kind of went from there. So here are my last couple of weeks in a nutshell:

-Resident tech support ( otherwise known as Honey ) has been tranferring stuff over to our new computer that has been loaded with Vista. So far so good but only half the stuff has been moved. Stay tuned for photos of stitching once the transfer is complete.

-I am in the process of getting new glasses after about 10 years. My left eye has gotten a bit worse and my right eye is a bit better. Go figure.

-We got a new hot water tank on Wed. Tuesday night while doing dishing we discovered the lack of hot water. The new one is more energy efficient and should save us a few bucks on our gas bill

-Tonight we are getting a baby-sitter and going to the Bruins game against Vancouver. They are trying to squeek into the play-offs, but likely won't have much luck with the Giants, who are pretty good. Andie and her hubby got tickets for tonight too.

That's it! Hopefully it won't be another 2 weeks before I post again.

My baby is 6 today!

2007-02-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Sweetie! This photo was taken on Saturday at his birthday party. Behind Kaiser is one of this kindergarten buddies.

My little man isn't so little any more. I miss that a bit. He's a lot of fun now though. He's quite a character and is constantly saying something funny, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. He's always quick with a smile and hug. Pretty soon the hugs will disappear because he will be too cool for that.

For now though I will enjoy the big smiles, the hugs and the goofy laughing. I love you.

Our nephew

2007-01-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

My sis-in-law sent me this photo yesterday of her son Joel. Joel turned 23 in November and he is a Conservation Officer at Bowron Lake Provincial Park in northern BC. It looks pretty cold there!

My 2 kids just think all of their big cousins are the coolest people ever. Joel's mom is 10 years older than T and I. Joel has an older sister and a younger brother. Our oldest nephew will be 31 on Feb. 3rd. He is the son of T's other sister.

Angel Quilt Project photo

2007-01-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

My friend Kerry gave me this at school this morning. Isn't it cute? Kerry is sort of my neighbour and our kids go to the same school. You can kind of tell in the photo that the blue fabric is denim, it just isn't quite that dark.

The little bear pattern is freebie from DMC and it was stitched by Wilma in Prince George, BC.

I'm not sure where this will go, but most likely it will be to London, ON.

Movie day for the M family

2007-01-14T20:26:00.000-08:00

We did something this afternoon that we have never done as a family before; went to the movies! However the "as a family part" was somewhat conditional. Weezie and I saw "Night at the Museum". It was pretty good! Since she is 8 she can totally handle movies like that. I loved Owen Wilson as usual. The old guys ( Dick Van Dyke, etc. ) were good too. T and Kaiser saw that kids cartoon about the kid on the farm with the troll-people that live underground. It's called "Arthur and the Invisibles." It was his first movie experience and T said he loved it. Kaiser has kind of a dirty-sounding laugh when he thinks something is really funny. T said that a little girl in front of them kept turning around and looking at him.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2007-01-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken on Dec. 10th when we had T's birthday party. My dad ( on the left ) is eating Black Forest cake with my father-in-law.

Dad is 63 today. We'll be seeing him later. T has the office tickets for the Bruins game against Medicine Hat tonight so him and Dad are going.

Mom and Dad bought us paint and labour for Christmas. So tomorrow Dad is going to paint our downstairs bathroom Benjamin Moore's "Mellow Yellow".