I must admit this is cool...

Well, Brad has entered the 21st century.

I'm posting this from his new Android phone which sounds pretty cool but it's ridiculous because I'm sitting on the couch with the laptop right in front of me.

At least Halloween candy is still old fashioned.

Vic High

Remember this post?

That project that I was working on is finally finished. Victoria High School - it's a super old building where we did some interior renovations. We also tacked on a new extension. I was lucky enough to work on both buildings.

So remember - this project was done in Revit - not AutoCAD. This means instead of lame 2D Etch-A-Sketch lines that represent walls - the entire thing is in 3D. Here is a snap shot from the Revit 3D model.


See those ramps and stairs? I shuddered the first time I saw the floor plan. I think that shudder was my intuition letting me know that eventually that crap was coming my way.

Yup - I ended up doing all the ramps and stairs in the building. There is another nightmare ramp on the outside that you can't see here.

It was the first time I drew ramps or stairs in Revit.....and this is what I get to start with!? And because I'm working with an architect: he would tell me how he wanted it designed, I drew it up and he would change his mind.

Seriously - this was such a great experience. It's definitely my favourite project I've ever worked on, and I'm so proud to have been a part of it.

Here is another shot from the model.


And...this is super cool...check out the photograph from the building.


The "pencil columns" on the left were the best part of the project - what a mind that comes up with that design for a high school!

And how cool is this? Walking up the ramp I spent hours and hours drawing...

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Today I achieved greatness.

My new favourite blog: Joy the Baker. Here is the recipe.

If you have been reading my little blog for a while, you know that I'm not the greatest baker. Remember the cookies that looked like bums? Or the other cookies that ended up with me digging through the garbage? This is not one of those memories.

So, cookies are obviously my arch nemesis but one thing I can do is make a mean loaf of bread. This recipe - so right up my alley.

The stickiness of the dough scared me at first, but after kneading in the little bit of extra flour it was a perfect consistency. It looked like a brain at one point but I was brave and went on with the recipe.

You use one cup of sugar and it totally seems like overkill but it really isn't. And the bread isn't sickly sweet either. I'm not sure where all the sugar ends up....other than on my hips...

The crust is crusty and golden - seriously. I can't take it.

I thought for sure we would polish the whole thing off but we didn't.

There are still a few hours until bed time.

What's on my iPod VI

Do you guys go through phases with music? Man, I do. Lately I've been listening to more rustic stuff and I'm digging it unlike ever before. I grew up listening to Bowie, Zepplin and the Stones so these artists are more in line with what I love the best.

I've found an interesting source for good music too. You'll never believe it - the show House.....ahem. I know.

I have this afternoon off work. It's amazing how much giddiness 4 hours of freedom brings. I'm spending the day hanging out with Ziggy, listening to music and just relaxing - what bliss.

Eric Bibb
Man, this guy is so smooth, so raw and bluesy in a soft way. I love the lyrics (ie: 'I'm gonna make you some money you can fold') and get a such a warm fuzzy feeling listening to him. I'm surprised my Mom doesn't know about him cause he is right up her alley. My favourite - Shine On. Check him out.

Keb Mo'
I love classy men, don't you? He is very similar to Eric Bibb, between the two of them I'm in heaven. I'll take all I can from these guys. He is a little more on the blues side. I love his song 'Shave Yo Legs'. I can only hope Brad feels this way about me. Ahem....

Amos Lee
This is a guy I first heard on House. Seriously? How come I've never heard him before?! He is like a more classy version of John Mayer. Colours is the best song. I'm definitely loading up on his stuff.

Adele
Definitely a much more classy and tolerable version of Amy Winehouse. Her voice is awesome and I love the song Chasing Pavements - it reminds me of Vancouver. I think she has a new album out.....I should do my research before I do these posts.

Feist
How long did we all count down until this album came out? Yeah....I've listened twice and I'm not ready to make any solid judgements quite yet. I will say that I'm not a huge fan of songs without structure....that's the only way I can put it. I'll leaving this alone for now.

I hope everyone has had a great short week. I have three more hours of freedom until the regular weekend starts. I see IT Crowd, cofee and possibly some knitting coming my way.

Ripping Out

It was going well, it really was. Although I had to ask Brad not to talk to me when I started a row. I told myself...."it's my first sweater - it's supposed to be this hard."

I didn't really think about what the stitches were and why.....I trusted the pattern. Until I got this far.

(That's the collar at the top....)

I suddenly thought - why am I increasing and decreasing stitches like mad near the edges where the button holes are? It's actually making holes in my knitting....where there shouldn't be holes.


It was then that I re-read the pattern.

I was making the WRONG sweater.

Seriously...

Well, at least when I re-do it, it will be an easier sweater to make...

(Don't you think it's cool that I'm writing this post on the ferry?)

Kurt Cobain Sweater

Remember the Jellyfish quilt I made for my nephew?

I'm starting another big project for him today - he's so cute I can't resist making him stuff. Plus it's football season again so Brad is glued to our new tv these days.

He is already laughing about how I'll be up late the night before I want to give it to him panicking and scrambling to get it done. I don't even bother to deny it anymore.

This time I'm attempting my first sweater and it's going to be off the hook cute: a little Kurt Cobain sweater!

Here's the picture from the pattern.

I went to my favourite yarn shop yesterday and had one of the ladies help me out. I couldn't even figure out which needle size to use. Turns out it's super small. I had to buy new needles - I usually knit on 4.5mm needles. These are 3.25mm. It will take forever.

I'm stoked.

Random

Wow, I've got nothin' lately.

This tells me it's time for a random post!

I have a cell phone. It's the first one I ever owned. Yes, the same one.


Brad is on his second cell phone.....yeah - it's older than mine.

We have a corporate plan at work. I can get an iPhone for free!

**If I sign up for three years. **

I'm not sure what to do. It would be nice to have an iPhone - all those times I've been lost and needed a map. Those times I need a phone number....want to check the ferry schedules. You get it.

If the plan was with Telus, it would be a no-brainer - I'd do it. But it's Rogers.

Financially? It's $50/month more than we pay now for cell phones/land lines if we both get one. I'm leaning towards it.

What do you think?


When we were in Italy I saw a bunch of girls wearing black dresses with brown belts. So cute. I bought a brown belt (and a green one) when we were there and bought this dress a few weeks ago. I wish I had bought five more belts!


I've discovered a new favourite blog. Joy the Baker.

So I find myself in a baking mood. I made this last weekend - Blackberry Peach Shortbread Bars.

We went blackerry picking with a friend last weekend. I have lots of frozen blackberries now. Don't you love how they look then they are frozen?

I'm planning to tackle something from the Joy the Baker blog this weekend. Something bread-y. Don't worry, if I screw up it'll be on here right away.

Italy Part 10 - Florence

I should get this post out of the way. This will be my last post about Italy - with a twist.

We had planned a trip into Tuscany three days before we flew home. The night before our trip, Brad picked up the camera and - I'll never forget it - fumbled with it and it ended up smashing on the tile floor.

Man, that camera was busted. Busted. When we turned it on, it made a horrible noise, flashed a weird blue screen-of-death and turned itself off with the shutter halfway open.

So we don't really have many photos of our trip into Tuscany, San Gimignano and Sienna.

The worst (best?) part of this story:

When we got home, I plugged the camera in just to get the photos off the card and...it worked like nothing had ever happened.

Seriously?

Book Review #9

It's been a nightmare week. I'm not going to get into it on this blog....so I was happy to see it's time for another book review!


Oh. My. God. This. Book.....

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It's such a horrific topic, but the way she approaches it is beyond words. There is a part in the middle of the book that kept me up and reading for hours. The best book I've read all year for sure.

After 'Room' I was lucky enough to stumble on this fantastic read. I reserved it at the library months ago and it was finally my turn. It's worth reading this book just for the character Minny, but there are so many more reasons to pick this one up. It had me laughing out loud then really angry in the next paragraph.

Kate Jacobs wrote another book called Friday Night Knitting Club - it was a nice beach read. This one seemed to start out on the same path but fizzled out halfway through. The storyline wasn't believable enough for me, and it was too predictable. Meh.

I've been reading Agony and Ecstasy forever. This is one long haul. Really interesting and engaging at first, but it loses it's momentum about halfway through. Unfortunately you will still have 400 pages to go. I dragged myself through it....and was relieved when it was over.

Another dud - which I didn't bother to finish. I was put on to this book by a blog I like to read, but I just didn't get it. And I'm no slouch when it comes to classic novels either. After I found myself thinking about all the other books I want to read while I was dragging my butt through this one....I put it down. It was free on my Kobo so at least putting it down was a no-brainer.

This is my third David Hewson book. This one was neat because it's based in a snowy Rome! The book was okay....not nearly as good as A Season for the Dead. Still, I would strongly recommend David Hewson to anyone who is looking for a 'Da Vinci Code' type read.

I was tempted to buy this on Kobo when they emailed me about a $1 promotion. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I only ended up paying $8.99 for this and it's on best seller lists.

Anyway a really good beach read, but almost too easy a read. The characters weren't very interesting or deep, but sometimes you want a break from the 'Room' and 'Agony and Ecstasy' type books right?

This has been on my shelf since a stranger at the book sale thrust it in my hands and said I MUST read it. It was actually really good - it dragged a little bit in places and has a slightly anti-climactic ending but overall I would recommend it.

I haven't been reading much in the last week so I'm starting to get jittery. Here's to a better week ahead!

Channel Surfing Online

About three weeks ago alarms went off, we got up in the morning, as usual. Started our morning routines, Brad went to turn on the tv - it's busted.

(woo! hoo!)

I came out of the bathroom wondering why it was so quiet, Brad was standing in the kitchen eating a banana. Uh...huh.

So the first thing that happens:

The next few days were interesting: coming home from work to a quiet house, no tv blaring to greet me when I open the door....just the quiet sounds of the six o'clock news from the laptop. Or better yet - Brad reading a book on the couch.

Over the next few days I worked tons of overtime and wasn't on the computer at all. On Saturday morning I picked up the laptop and was checking email when Brad walked into the living room. Cereal in hand, big goofy grin on his face....

"Oh."

He wanted to "watch something" while he ate breakfast. I reluctantly agreed. "What would you like to watch?" He thought he would check out discovery channel online. So we did, and ended up watching some crappy show about a big construction project.

The entire time he was complaining about how the show wasn't very good because they didn't give enough information. It was then that I realized that we were channel surfing on the internet.

Not good.

Sigh.....so last weekend we went shopping for a new tv.

This is what I've lived with for as long as I've ever known tv - the classic 19". Oooohhh yeah.

While I'm anxious to see the flatscreen, I'm totally reluctant about this new monster we bought. A 42" flatscreen tv?

Really?

To give you an idea of the insanity - it's 1/2" wider than this bookcase and way higher than all the stuff there now.

People are telling me not to worry - that it's not as big as I'm thinking. Uh huh....