Silver Bullet

When I was going to school in Saskatchewan I stayed late every night and walked home after dark. And every single night I got the heebies.

There was a park that I could walk through to take a short cut to my backyard:

I would usually take this shortcut, especially when it was -40. But sometimes by the time I reached the park I was so frantic with the heebies that I would go the long way. Having to walk through the dark park, then through the even darker backyard full of trees....nope.

Most people would be afraid of psychos or murderers or something lurking in the bushes. Not me. You know what gave me the heebies?

Werewolves.

I was reminded of this the other day when I caught part of a movie on tv: Silver Bullet.

It's the typical cheesy 80's movie, but imagine 10 year old Jabbaccino watching it and cowering in fear.

This is where my fear began. Watching An American Werewolf in London shortly afterwards certainly didn't help.

Vacation is Booked

We just booked our vacation this year.

We are taking the train across Canada!

First class! The sleeper car is booked for the trek from Vancouver to Toronto - it takes three days so it will be totally worth it. Also sleeper car from Montreal to Halifax, which goes over night.

We're spending three nights in Toronto, two nights in Ottawa, three nights in Montreal and one night in Halifax. Then we will fly home.

Other that just going, there are only two things I really want to do:
1. Blue Jays game! We completely planned our trip around their home game schedule. We're going to see them play the Phillies.
2. Meet Christielli!

So the countdown is ON. 11 weeks......

Investing in Myself

Today was my first day at work in 4 weeks. I took a leave of absence to deal with some health issues. I was at the point that if I continued on at the rate I was going I would have been no use to anyone. I had to do it.

Let me tell you it was one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

I'm looking at it as an investment, because it was time off without pay. Things will be tight for a while, but we will be fine.

On my time off I did nothing but read books, watch movies and relax. Some people might find this difficult but not me. I went to the library and looked through the stacks - something I haven't done for a long time.

I read three of these books (one of them in 24 hours), started two and put them down right away and didn't bother with the sixth. Look for them in future book reviews. I'm open to reading hardcovers if I don't have to cart them around with me, this was the perfect opportunity.

It's tough going back, but I feel like it's a new beginning.

Kurt Cobain Sweater III

Behold.

I seriously can't handle this little Kurt Cobain sweater. And I can't WAIT to see it on my little blonde nephew.

The pattern was actually really great. Yes, I had to rip out once but only because of my own stupidity. This is my first sweater and I appreciated knitting it all on the needles rather than having separate pieces and having to stitch them together at the end.

Genius.

I have a few future knitting interesting projects in mind, I'll keep you posted. This is by far my proudest knitting moment so far.

Book Review #11

It's 4:00am and super windy outside, it's absolutely bashing against the windows. I couldn't sleep so decided to get up and do a book review. Ziggy decided to get up with me, it's nice to have the company. He's staring out the window confused and a little alarmed but it's not stopping him from falling asleep sitting up.

The Fates Will Find Their Way - Hannah Pittard

I have to keep looking this one up to remember what it was even about. To sum up my opinion quickly: It was fine when I was reading it but obviously didn't stick with me.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie

I turn to Agatha Christie when I'm "in between books" (a.k.a. waiting for a hold at the library). This one was fine too, but I just had to look it up to to remind myself what it was about again. Not one of her best, but a free read on Kobo so worth the download.

Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery


Can you believe I have never read this?? And yes, I did grow up in Canada. Since it's free on Kobo I figured it was finally time. This is a great read for young adults and should be part of every Canadian's library. Plus, it's a great lesson in how to be yourself and live positively. I'm not sure why I passed by it when I was younger.

A Bend in the Road - Nicholas Sparks

This is my first encounter with Nicholas Sparks other than the movie The Notebook. It wasn't bad, a good alternative to Harlequin if you're in the mood for a more believable, non-cheesy romance. It had me interested and was a good, light read. I would give him another shot if I was in the right mood.

Alone in the Classroom - Elizabeth Hay

I bought this a while ago and finally took the plunge. I love books about multiple family generations and this one was told in an interesting manner. The writing was lovely and I really appreciated the Thomas Hardy and Canadian prairies references. A bit slow in parts, but overall I liked it.

I am Half Sick of Shadows - Alan Bradley

My boss turned me on this series of mysteries. Again, Flavia is at work solving a mystery while simultaneously trying to prove the existence of Santa Claus. Cute, a good light mystery.

Skylight Confessions - Alice Hoffman


Hoffman is one of my favourite authors and this book delivered, I was happy to see a multigenerational story from her. The characters were awesome, and I love how she made the 'Glass Slipper' feel so cold and uninviting.

I've been reading a LOT lately. In fact, today I just finished a book that I had started 24 hours earlier. We went to the library on the weekend so I'm back on to old school real books for now, which is kind of a drag. The only thing I miss about real books is visibly seeing my progress rather than a percentage. First world problem, I know.

Nightmare UTI

I need to get real for a moment on this blog.

Let's talk bladder infections or UTIs - whatever you want to call them. As a woman I get them on and off. Man do they knock me out - they are absolutely miserable. For all my fellow lady readers, I'm sure you get them too. If not, just wait. One day you will. (said in a scratchy Yoda voice)

Apparently yesterday I was due for one. But here is where it gets interesting:

Brad is in Vancouver until Wednesday night with the car. So I have to get my butt to a clinic and a pharmacy sans car. And I'm really sick.

A good friend happened to offer me a ride to the clinic. I took him up on it - reluctantly - I'm not one for charity. It's hard for me.

I chose a clinic that boasted "quiet hours" in the evenings plus it had a pharmacy attached, sounds good right? Two stops in one since I was cabbing it. It was only after I walked inside the building that I realized the pharmacy had closed early that night - yeah, no reason why.

I sent Brad a text message with my cell phone letting him know what was going on - he was super worried about me at this point.

Prescription in hand, I called a cab and figured I would ask him to wait outside the pharmacy for me to run in and fill the prescription before taking me home. I still think this was the best way, even though it was a pretty pricey cab ride.

What a relief to finally get home after all that! I popped the antibiotics, drank some tea and cranberry juice and crawled into bed - so tired. Slept on and off until 3:00am when.....the phone rang.

Seriously?

When the phone rings in the middle of the night it's worrisome - is everyone all right? I couldn't get to it in time, but after I checked who it was (private caller) my cell beeped. That was when I realized who it was. It was ME!!

Remember the text message I had sent Brad earlier? Instead of going to his cell, it went to our land line. It just took 8 hours to deliver for whatever reason.

I think it's all over now. I'm curled up with Ziggy, some cranberry juice, a couple movies, antibiotics and tea. What else could happen?

Earring Weirdness

Something really weird/cool happened over Christmas, but first some history:

In 2010 my Mom gave me a pair of earrings for my birthday from one of my favourite Etsy shops. You can see them in this photo I took of all my birthday gifts together. I have three pair of earrings from this shop, and I bought my Mom a necklace last year. We love it.

About a week before Christmas, I lost one of the earrings. I only noticed it was gone just before I went to bed. That day I had been all over the place - at work, on site, out for lunch. It could have been anywhere, there was no point even looking for it.

Sigh.

Over a week later my mom was out here for Christmas. One day her and I went out for breakfast. We drove back to my place and parked underground. She opened her car door and I saw her lean over to pick something up -

I totally knew what it was and it FREAKED me out.

She found my earring!

Isn't that crazy? To think that my mom of all people would find it! It blew my mind.

Tattoo You

A couple weeks ago I was watching some movie and recognized a song - I hadn't heard it for a long time, it was totally obscure but it completely transported me back in time: dancing around the living room with my Mom was a regularly scheduled event in my childhood.

The song I heard is called Heaven by The Stones.

I tracked down the album and wasn't surprised to recognize it right away. Tattoo You.

When this album came out I was already into music - I was 6. The first song I ever picked out as a favourite for myself - Another One Bites the Dust by Queen. I had the 45. On the flip side - Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant. Oh. Yeah.

Man, does Tattoo You DELIVER! Even now - I think the music is amazing, so catchy, such great songs. It's the Stones - what are you gonna do?!* Of course it's good.

For a week after listening to the album I would wake up in the middle of the night - toes tapping to the songs! I couldn't get any sleep! Now if this isn't a sign of good music, I don't know what is.

I just had a relatively crappy day, I'm blasting the album in my living room and dancing around. It's even helping with that.

* Woah. I better lay off the Bitchin' Kitchen.

Hell has Frozen Over

Something very strange has happened to me. I can't explain it. And I'm embarrassed to admit it, but here goes:

I like Bitchin' Kitchen. There. I said it. (Citric, I can hear you gasping from here!)

When I first saw it, I was horrified. Who was this crazy woman? Her show is a complete train wreck. I have watched it a couple times (because there is never anything else on cable.....don't get me started) and until now I have been genuinely horrified.

Today I saw her show and it had me laughing. It started with a quiet chuckle and a head shake. Before I knew it, that had morphed into huge belly laughs complete with laughing so hard I almost cried.

What?

I don't know what's happened! It's like the Body Snatchers have taken me.

It's really not like me to enjoy a show like this - again - you don't want to hear me rant at the quality of television these days.

The definite turning point was when she sucker-punched her rising dough in the spleen.

Canada Reads is NOT a reality show!

Unbelievable what happened tonight on Canada Reads.

This is not a reality show, far from it - this is a quality forum for good books. Someone needs to fill Stacey in on this fact, as she so obviously made the wrong decision to vote off the strongest book to "save her own".