Doodlexperiments

I love to doodle (actually I need to doodle — it's a bit of a compulsion), but I usually doodle at work while I'm in meetings. I can't really show you those doodles because I might have actually written some business thing (it could happen) on a page alongside a doodle and I probably shouldn't share my business things with the rest of the world (you'd be so bored you'd never come back!).

Lately, though, I've been doing a bit of doodling at home in my moleskine and I've been experimenting with adding some hand stitching over top of the doodles. I'm still getting the hang of sewing on paper (it's tough!), so the results are a bit crude, but they're also kind of cool.

It's getting difficult to close my moleskine with all the stitched pages in it!

It's not easy being mean

The Sesame Street personality quiz

I'm just not happy unless I'm complaining! And I LOVE to find fault with things — with everything.

Child actually had a teacher once who was too sweet. I mean, really, how can a person possibly be too sweet? Well, she was. She gave me cavities.

Oh, and the slob thing? I used to think if I didn't dust it might discourage my sister (who is allergic to dust) from coming to my house. It didn't work.

Thought for the day

It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens, but it is never gone. ~ Rose Kennedy

Flashback Friday: Tracy

I'm participating in Flashback Friday!

Flashback to high school (1983-1987)...

Tracy sat in the desk next to mine the first day of Grade 10 Typing class. She had a quiet confidence that I wasn't used to seeing in girls my age and I was drawn to her. We became fast friends.

She was the warmest, kindest, most genuine person I had ever met. She possessed wisdom and compassion far beyond her years. I think that's why she understood me even when I didn't understand myself. We had the kind of friendship that makes you forget there was ever a time before you were friends.

Like most teenage girls, we spent a lot of our time just hanging out and talking. When we couldn't talk, we passed notes to each other — and to other friends — during and between classes (this was way back in the stone age before we had email or text messaging!). We shared our hopes, our feelings, our fears, our wishes, our dreams.

I kept most of the notes I received from Tracy in high school, as well as the letters and postcards she sent me when she travelled and, eventually, when she went off to college.

----------------------------

Unfortunately, this note doesn't have a date on it, so I can only guess Tracy wrote it in Grade 10 (circa 1983). To read a plain text version of it, click here.



I'm not sure when this next one was written either. Maybe in Grade 11 or 12. Click here for a text version.



After I finished high school in 1986 my parents moved to another city and I stayed behind in my home town to work for a year before going to college.

Tracy started college right after high school with plans to become a veterinarian. Since her school was located in the city my parents moved to, she lived with them while she attended school. I saw Tracy when she went home on weekends.

I received this letter from Tracy in November, 1986.
Text version part one and part two.





Less than two months later Tracy was killed in a car accident on her way back to school after spending the Christmas break with her family.



I still miss her.

Thou dost flatter me

What's your medieval profession?

It should probably say I can turn a riveting tale into a mediocre anecdote!

Digging through my hard drive: part deux

Good news! I found more "treausure" on my old computer — enough to do a continuation of my previous post, Digging through my hard drive.

This is so geeky and cool. It's the cover of Action Comics #1 made out of Lego!



Read at Work makes it look like you're viewing a PowerPoint presentation on your computer screen — but you're actually reading a book! (click on the image to see it larger)



This Breakfast Cereal Club poster is from Ironic Sans, a very cool blog.

“You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a leprechaun, a monster, a cap’n, a tiger, and a rabbit. Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Cereal Club.”



Check out this gallery of Totally Amazing Posters.



Husband would have LOVED a Millennium Falcon groom's cake when we got married! But we eloped, so we had no need for cakes anyway.



Strictly No Photography is jam-packed full of pictures taken by naughty people in places where people are not allowed to take pictures.



This post reminded me of when Husband worked at McDonald's many years ago. After hours they would make banana splits and other yummy concoctions, using the basic McD's ingredients.


I want the kind of job where I could have a cool business card like this!



Hee-hee! Husband happens to be all three of these:



The difference between Hitler and Chaplin...


(via: Incredimazing)

I'm pretty sure this is what happened to Michael Jackson.



Be sure to check out part one of Digging through my hard drive!

Paparazzi favorite Andi to star in the biggest movie event of the year!

The word is out, rumors are flying, and entertainment news program Red Carpet has put together a special report about little old ME!

You can star in a special report too!

Yummy!

Husband, Child and I have been trying lots of new recipes lately as part of our commitment to healthy eating.

Here's one we recently discovered that we liked a lot. It says it makes 4 servings, but we got 6 servings from it. It also heats up really nicely in the microwave the next day for lunch. Enjoy!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake



Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 43 min
Makes: 4

What You Need
1-1/2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (283 g) fresh baby spinach leaves
1 lb. (450 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1-1/2 cups (1/2 of 700-mL jar) pasta sauce
1-2/3 cups (1/2 of 796-mL can) diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese Spread
1 cup KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. KRAFT 100% Light Parmesan Grated Cheese

Make It
HEAT oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water for the last 1 min.

MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken and basil; cook 3 min. or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Add pasta sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 3 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in cream cheese spread until melted.

DRAIN pasta and spinach; return to same saucepan. Add chicken mixture; mix lightly. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Spoon into 2-L or 8-inch square baking dish.

BAKE 20 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Bake 3 min. or until cheese is melted.

Nutritional Information
Calories 480
Total fat 14 g
Saturated fat 6 g
Cholesterol 90 mg
Sodium 1090 mg
Carbohydrate 42 g
Dietary fibre 6 g
Sugars 13 g
Protein 45 g
Vitamin A 80 %DV
Vitamin C 35 %DV
Calcium 35 %DV
Iron 45 %DV

(via: Kraft Canada)

Digging through my hard drive

I've been moving stuff from my old computer to my new one and as I go along I'm sifting and sorting and deleting stuff I don't need anymore.

Half the stuff I don't even remember saving. With some things, I'm wondering why I even saved them in the first place!

Some of the treasures I've found so far:

This appears to be Homer Simpson and Spider-Pig made out of desktop folder icons (click on the image to biggify it).



I have no idea why, but apparently I took a quiz some time last year called How Sexually Experienced Are You?. Just how slutty is the average 40 year-old woman?



This cool Full Moon Table glows in the dark thanks to a special paint finish.


(via: the Perfect Heat)

Husband, who is unhappy with his job, wants this mug to use at the office:



Regarding this video: Ha! She'll be lucky if anyone can remember her name by 2010!


Entertainment Scientists Warn Miley Cyrus Will Be Depleted by 2013

A model wears a creation made of plastic bags by French fashion designer Frank Sorbeir.



How CUTE are these Converse sneakers for babies? I wish they had these when Child was little!!



Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. There are 82 active machines in various locations in the United States (and even one in Canada!).



If you're not lucky enough to visit a location with an Art-o-mat machine, never fear! There's Art-o-carton.



I like this Do Something About It print at OrangeBeautiful on Etsy.



I also found a small collection of cartoons!









I'm still LOLing over this sign!



Can you believe it? This cool bag is made out of bicycle tire inner tubes.



All I can say about this link is: WTF? — Students' Christmas letters to Christopher Walken.



Anyway, I'll stop with the treasures for now and get back to cleaning up my old computer. Maybe I'll find enough stuff to do a "Digging through my hard drive: part deux".

To a T

What role do you play?

Flashback Friday: this makes me giggle

Flashback to August 1997...



You're probably wondering to yourself right now, "Is that what I think it is?"

Yep! That, friends, is a scan I just made of the pee stick from 1997 that told me I was pregnant with Child. I can't believe the positive result is still visible on it! (You can't believe I kept it for over 11 years.)

Let's back up to a few days before I took the test. I was feeling out of sorts and I picked a fight with Husband (over what, I can't remember). We ended up yelling and screaming at each other (which was unusual for us) and I stormed out of the house. I was bewildered and couldn't figure out why I felt so out of control.

I called up my sister and we met at a local drive-in restaurant where we sat in the parking lot for hours drinking chocolate milkshakes, smoking cigarettes, and just talking. I felt a lot better afterwards and went home to my husband.

The next morning I felt really queasy and, blaming it on the cigarettes, I decided to quit smoking. It was actually easy. Just the thought of lighting up made me want to throw up.

Two days later I was still feeling out of sorts. I felt weird — physically and emotionally. Eventually I decided that I should probably take a pregnancy test. If I wasn't pregnant, then something was very, very wrong with me.

Husband and I had been trying to get pregnant, so he wasn't exactly surprised when I asked him to run to the drugstore to get me a pregnancy test. He was skeptical, though, since I had already optimistically tested myself a few times in previous months, always with negative results.

With box in hand, I locked myself in the bathroom. The butterflies in my stomach threatened to fly up my throat and choke me. Husband, comfortable in his doubt, went to watch Family Guy.

When the positive result appeared on the stick I burst into tears. I was pregnant! I was going to be a mother! ME!

I stumbled out of the bathroom and called to Husband in a quavering voice. He tore himself away from the TV and slowly trudged up the stairs, already offering comforting words to soothe my disappointment.

"You don't understand," I bawled, tears and snot mingling. "I'm pregnant! We're pregnant!"

I think Husband cried then too.

------------------------------------------

Admit it. You still can't believe I kept a pee stick for 11 years for sentimental reasons, can you? Just be glad that this morning I couldn't find the little purple stump from Child's umbilical cord. Yes, I kept that too.

(I'm participating in Flashback Friday!)

Mine's cute & pink and my husband's is HUGE!

Merry Christmas to me!!

My Christmas present arrived at long last! It's a brand new pink Dell laptop. I complained for so long about my old laptop that Husband finally broke down and insisted that I get a new one.

Here's what it looks like:



Why pink? ...Why not? You only live once.

I also got a matching pink mouse. :o)



In order to convince Husband to let me get a new laptop, I had to agree to let him purchase this 47" high definition monstrosity:



It's gigantic! At first Husband put his new TV up on the mantel above the fireplace. After two days, Husband and Child and I all agreed that watching it felt like sitting in the front row of a movie theater. We were getting stiff necks!

So we picked out a really nice piece of furniture (from IKEA, of course) to put it on instead. The TV's at a more reasonable level now and it's much more comfortable to watch.



Even though I didn't actually believe we needed a new TV (we're a family of 3 and we now own FOUR television sets), I have to admit that it is really cool. Movies and TV shows look absolutely spectacular on it. Heck, even the crappy stuff looks good on it.

Don't tell Husband that I maybe kinda sorta like his new TV. He already thinks he got the better present.

I know I did. Did I mention it's PINK?

I think I can, I think I can

Sorry I've been so ... absent(ish) lately. I just haven't been feeling the gravitational pull of this little blog as strongly as I usually do.

My real life certainly hasn't suddenly become more exciting or more time-consuming or anything like that. I really can't explain the light blogging, other than to say that I guess maybe I just need a little break sometimes.

Speaking of real life, I was able to almost convince myself that I didn't make a New Year's resolution this year. I hate making resolutions because I don't actually believe they work. Making a resolution seems like an exercise in futility, like I'm deliberately setting myself up for failure.

But this year I decided I wanted to make an actual life change. It wasn't meant to be a New Year's resolution, but I did make the decision in January. And I suppose it was probably influenced by some end-of-year/beginning-of-year taking-stock-of-my-life kind of thinking.

Wow, after that buildup you're probably thinking this life change is something really huge, like I want a sex change or something. But no, it's actually a relatively small life change. I think, though, that it will provide some positive benefits for me ... and my family.

So what is it, you're asking (if you're even still reading). *drumroll* ... All I want to do is eat better. I want to live a healthier life. Plain and simple.

I know, I know. Husband, Child and I have tried this before, with less-than-stellar results. But I've decided that I'm not going to let one little failure prevent me from trying again. After all, Winston Churchill said: "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

I'm committed to making this work this time because I haven't been doing so well health-wise. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Before things get any worse I need to at least try to improve the situation.

Plus, I need to set a better example for my daughter. There was a time when I could say with pride that we had never taken Child to McDonald's — ever! But we got lazy over the years and, by the end of 2008, I'm ashamed to admit that we ate McDonald's food (or food from some other fast food place) for at least 3 meals out of the week. Three meals!! And to be honest, sometimes it was more often than that. That's absolutely criminal. Not only have I been killing myself, I've been wrecking my kid too.

Who knows, I may not succeed. But I'm sure as hell going to try.

"…on the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet as I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been had I not attempted it." ~ Benjamin Franklin

Thought for the day

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. ~ Fred Allen

It's too early in the week to be so:
irritated
annoyed
bothered
agitated
bugged
harried
vexed
irked
PAll of the above.

My card

I couldn't think of anything very clever to do with The___Cards. Maybe you can.

Still, this card is a good reminder to me (sometimes I do everything but think).

(via: The Presurfer)

The logical part of me would like to know my score!

How logical are you?

Is pretty more or less than kinda? And are either of those better or worse than sorta? I think "pretty logical" would be more meaningful if there was some sort of number or percent attached to it!

Flashback Friday - feeling red, white & blue

I've decided to take up the Flashback Friday gauntlet!

The theme this week (being the very first week) is "feeling red, white & blue." I struggled with this a little, because the obvious thoughts that came to me were American-themed things. The problem is, I'm not American (I'm Canadian, eh?), so I don't exactly have a treasure trove of memories of long ago Fourth of July picnics.

After doing some digging around in my hard drive (does that sound raunchy to anyone besides me?), I found some snapshots from last May when Husband, Child and I drove down to Idaho for the Victoria Day long weekend. I meant to share them with you then, but I guess I forgot, so I'm going to share now.

Here we go. Flashback to May 2008...


This is the picture that got me thinking red, white & blue. I saw this giant flag waving in the breeze just as we started driving down this big hill near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The flag was so HUGE and so majestic, presiding over the lush, green valley, I just had to take a picture. I quickly dug out my camera, but I was too late and the shot was all blurry. :o(

So, when we got to the bottom of the hill I did what any logical wife would do. I made Husband turn the car around (even though there was no convenient place to do so) and drive back to the top of the hill. Then I made him turn around once more (no convenient place again) and drive back down the hill more slowly so I could take a decent picture of the flag. :o)

I know it's still not a great shot and you really can't tell from the picture just how BIG the flag really was, but it's still a nice reminder of a wonderful trip.

Here are a few other pics I took that weekend:


This was actually on our way to Idaho. It's the world's biggest truck in Sparwood, BC. And that's Child standing in one of the wheels!


I couldn't resist taking some pictures of these trees. At the time (late May) I was desperate to see greenery because at home we didn't have any yet! Winter in Calgary had been long and dismal and Spring was very late in coming. Seeing Idaho's trees with their gorgeous blossoms felt very rejuvenating.


I giggled every time I saw one of these signs in the mountains. Beware of Sharks!!


How disappointing is this? I kinda expected that the freakin' International Boundary between the U.S. and Canada would be a little more glamorous.


Bye-bye, Idaho! We'll miss you!

Thanks to Anne Glamore of My Tiny Kingdom for starting this excellent Flashback Friday challenge! I've been feeling a little blocked lately, blogwise, so this idea is most welcome.