Mar 12, 2007

Tonights sunset was a beauty!!!!!





There was a stunning sunset tonight...kind of made up for the grey and miserable day!

Just Like Snowflakes kit...



The mini album kit I ordered a week or two ago arrived today :) Woohoo...I drove down to the mailbox (its down by the highway) with Laurie tonight and was so excited when I saw him reach in and get out a package...I KNEW it was for me :)

Above you can see the kit....its an accordian album in a tin....and comes with all the cardstock (pre cut) and the embellishments needed to decorate it.....apart from that though you are free to be as creative as you like...and of course you don't HAVE to use that cardstock and colour theme......

You then stick one end of the album to the inside of the tin and the other end to the inside of the lid, so when you open the tin the album unfolds..... neat huh?

incest case.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6424337.stm

A follow up article about the brother and sister in Germany fighting for their right to be a couple.......my thoughts on the situation have not changed.

Separate bedrooms?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6441131.stm

An article about the rise in couples who have separate rooms despite being married.....

Would this work for you?

I know a few couples who have separate bedrooms...I know quite a few couples who sleep apart anyway.....whether on sofas or with their children etc.....

Two of those marriages split last year despite the couples saying they were 'happy'.

It wouldn't work for me.....and Lloyd would hate it....he can't sleep unless I'm beside him even though I snore (or so he says but I'm not sure I believe him lol)...neither of us can even go up to bed without the other.....

I guess it works for some couples though......but sharing a bedroom and bed wth Lloyd is an important part of my relationship......if your partner snores wear ear plugs....if they fidget, get a bigger bed......one of those with that weird mattress top so you don't feel the bed move.....

I don't know, to me sleeping apart as a couple is odd and can't do an ything to bring you closer as a couple surely....

Mmmmmmmmm


Guess whats for dinner tonight.........one of my favourite vegetables....

Lloyd walks in and says 'I guess we're having funky pee tonight then huh?' lol!

Some oldie pics to make Louise smile....






Some pictures from school :)

Nathalie.....


Reminiscing today.....thinking of Kirsty made me go and check out the rest of the people I was at school with.......here is a pic of my bestest buddy Natty from school.....Nathalie...she is in the middle in this picture......

She is planning to come and live here in Canada.....maybe Calgary...maybe Kelowna.....her guy has family here :)

Isn't she gorgeous? Nathalie has been living a very glam life in London working in tv for the last few years.....

Louise!


I was looking through the Preston pages at friends reunited today and especially at the pictures that have been uploaded from our year......did you see the one of Nicky Foster? Last I heard from her was about 5 or 6 years ago....she was so overweight her doctors had warned her she wouldn't see 40.......now she is slim and has straight blonde long hair????Like waist length straight blonde hair???????

How does that happen? I get the weightloss thing but how do you go from tight curly orange hair (not red but ORANGE) to THAT???????

Is it a wig? Or has she had surgery and had extensions or something???? I was shocked.....

Jayne and Melanie Goddard haven't changed have they? They look exactly like they did when they left school!!! Don't they ever age??????? I always think its funny that the guys who were 'cool' at school are NOT the ones who I would find attractive now......

I'd like to hear from Nigel Castle......it would be so great to hear what he's up to these days.....I used to Email Justin Manley but not for a long while now.....I thought it was funny when I watched The Davinci Code and the main character is called Robert Langdon!!!

For Cori!!!



A few weeks ago Cori was raving about the Sahale Snacks Valdosta Blend with pecan, cranberry, black pepper and orange zest......well today I added them to brownies and OMG they are to die for..the slightly spicy mix just goes incredibly well with the rich chocolate brownie....Cori - TRY THEM mmmmmmm



Valdosta Brownies

Makes about 36 brownies

Ingredients 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1 cup chopped Valdosta Blend (from Costco)
350mg Semi Sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

In large bowl, stir together butter, sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, eggs, milk and 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla; beat well. Stir in nuts. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake 40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.

Just before brownies are done, in heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk and remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla.

Immediately spread over hot brownies. Cool in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate. Cut into bars.

Oooooops!



It was warm out this morning so I had my bedroom window open WIDE.....and forgot.....with all the blowing snow it's a bit of a mess up there.......it's all been coming in the window and the carpet is soaked....the dvd player, cable box and tv is also soaking wet.....and there is a 'drift' of snow INSIDE by the window!!!

Oh and yes, as you can see out of the window.....it's dark and gloomy with the wet snow coming down and almost looks like night time.....sucha LOVELY day :(

Kirsty Louise Hine


Tomorrow will be 20 years to the date since my friend Kirsty died. Friday 13th March 1987. She wasn't even 15 years old.

On the Monday at school I remember she was ina silly mood......she was walking around the school with her best friend Tracey and each time she walked past me she would grin and say 'hello Jane' in singsong voice......the more she did it the funnier it was :)

That night she ran herself a bath......she called down to her Dad that she was having difficulty breathing...she had severe asthma and was having an attack.....her meds didn't work and she was getting worse. Her Dad panicked and decided it would be quicker to drive Kirsty to the hospital than wait on an ambulance. As he drove by the big roundabout (traffic circle) by the hospital he noticed that Kirsty's head fell forward onto her chest....she had stopped breathing.

Kirsty was kept on life support until the Friday when she was pronounced brain dead and they switched off the machines.

I remember after school on the Friday we went to wiat for the bus...I was with my friend Sam...and a few other friends. Mrs Birks (who should have known better) our Biology teacher was by the buses...we went and asked if she had heard anything about Kirsty and she told us quite bluntly that 'they switched off the machines at lunchtime'......I walked away towards the buses and just collapsed to the floor....it was like I just couldn't believe it. I don't remember much about getting home......I remember being on the bus with Sam hugging me and I remember people asking what was wrong.....I remember us all going to Burger King and sitting there for a while before going home.....

I remember what I wore to the funeral. My school uniform but with a black tie instead.....I remember I didn't cry at all through the ceremony and then they started playing the instrumental version of Careless Whisper at the end I just couldn't stop crying.....one of the lunchtime supervisors who was at the service kept saying 'she was too calm...I knew she was just too calm' and she hugged me until we were outside.....I remember looking up and seeing Kirstys little sister in the limousine looking at me through the window........

I don't know how I got back to school...walked maybe. I remmeber being in the nurses office upstairs by the language lab and Mr STone came in and saw me and told me that he believes that if just ONE person cries when someone dies, then that is a life worth living.......and he reminded me just how many people had cried over Kirsty.

Then the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the school (false alarm grrrr)

My class raised money for the Diabetes Association in the UK....Kirsty's sister had Diabetes. We also planted a tree in memory of Kirsty and her parents came to the planting........I remember standing there and afterwards going inside and leaning against the wall crying......I remember the boys in my class hugging me and Rob (my boyfriend kind of at the time) just standing watching and not knowing what to do. I think it was Nigel that was hugging me.....

I think what made it harder was that I was only just getting to know Kirsty well that year......we sat together in art and we went to town together shopping and I remember meeting her in the borough one afternoon near Christmas and catching the bus home togetheer - her Mom was with her that day and she came to school on the Monday telling me that her Mom had told her how nice she thought I was :) How polite lol! I remember Kirsty was holding a roll of gift wrap on the bus...isn't it funny what you remember?

I remember the sound of her breathing next to me in art class.....her asthma made her breathing wheezy all the time.

A friend and I had not spoken to each other for a couple of years.....and after Kirsty died, we became friends again........on Kirsty's birthday we walked up to the crematorium to leave flowers by her gravestone......we were sat there ona cloudy June afternoon and we talked to Kirsty and told her that Ingrid and I were friends again...and that SECOND the sun came out!

When we got to the crematorium we saw her Dad there....he had cycled up to leave flowers too....we stayed over by the gate until he left.......

Kirsty's Grandparents lived close to the school and invited Ingrid and I over after school one day...it became a regualr thing..we'd drop by and spend time with them...they loved to show us their photograph albums of Kirsty and tell us stories about her - like about the mussels she loved to eat...we'd sit and have tea with them and watch Countdown.......

Its so hard to believe that Kirsty died 20 years ago........20 YEARS! I senta card to her parents 10 years ago to just say that Kirsty wasn't forgotten....I will do the same this year but not now - I think I'd rather wait and send to them in June when her birthday was.

I think if a child of mine had died, I would be happy to know they had not been forgotten.

I am still so sad that we didn't get to know each other better Kirsty. And I am so so sad that Natalie didn't get to grow up with you and share motherhood with you and all that kind of thing.....I hope she is doing well. I think she wanted to be a theatre nurse (OR nurse)......

The day after Kirsty died, Louise had her 15th birthday party.......I got VERY drunk on cheap cider and ended up throwing up in Louises bathroom and my Dad had to come and get me.

Louise...I know we all remember things differently...what do you remember about that month? Can you believe it was 20 years ago?

Kirsty is on the right in the picture above...

don't cry over un-spilled juice.....

Floors are washed...sparkling...and then Abby walks in pushing Sam on his Lightning Mcqueen and tells me he wanted juice...I look and he has a FULL cup of juice on his lap......

I grab it quick and thankfully my floors are STILL clean.....

OMG I have SUCH an exciting life lol! Aren't you just thrilled to be reading about my clean floors???????

Isn't that just the highlight of your day???????

Its snowing!




#$%^%$#

I had green grass showing through in places and the driveway was melting and we have been soutside so much...so I am HATING this new snow...

The weatherman forcast +5 this morning cooling off to -1 and the POSSIBILITY of flurries tonight... so WTF is this?????

And it is NOT flurries...it is very windy out now and the snow is coming down heavy........

The Girls...

At 11:52pm last night I finally finished Lori Lansens novel 'The Girls'.

I cried. Not because the ending is sad at all but because of how well it was written...in the last page Lansen talks to 'the reader' about finishing a book.....as a writer finishing a book and also how it feels to be a reader finishing a book...and she 'gets it'....

"You hold this book, our story, in your hands now with considerably more pages on the left side than on the right. Like you, I've been there a thousand times.....we both know, writer and reader, like the proverbial sand in the hourglass, the seconds on the shot clock, the story is over".


This book is amazing. It is written like an autobiography and it is so hard to remember that it is fiction..it just seems real. As much as I loved Walls 'The Glass Castle'.....that was real and the auhor was writing from what she knew..her memories and her experiences......well written but real.

The Girls is total fiction yet is written so well that the reader believes it to be real....I'm not sure if I am expressing this in the way I want to but I feel Lansen has this incredible talent as a writer....to write fiction in quite such a believable way.....to be so real that the reader falls for it again and again....

I can't tell you how many times I had to tell Lloyd about things 'The Girls' had done or said in the book...things that happened to them (like at immigration)....and I am telling Lloyd this as if it is real....I am disgusted by things that happened to them and feel so bad for them and yet it isn't even real!

This is an amazing book. This author has REAL TALENT.

Read it!

PS I have to thank my Mom for telling me about this book because despite it being a Canadian novel, I had never heard about it before she mentioned it being discussed in Richard and Judys books club....

Thanks Mom!

Monday..........

A new week again....isn't the year going fast?

I am sat here munching a banana for breakfast......I'm not very hungry but I should eat...otherwise Lloyd will tell me off :)

Susannah is home from school today...she feels dizzy and achey and has had a bad sore throat and stuffy nose since yesterday and is generally feeling horrid.....she is flaked on the sofa......

Lloyd went into work late today.....he stayed and had coffee with me and saw the others off to school......he has his big interview today for his new contract.....basically the government have to re-interview for contract positions at the end of each contract......they can't just renew the contract no matter who it is or how good they are......so they interview several individuals again and then offer the contract to someone....

In my opinion its a total waste of time and money but its policy.....so yes they could decide to offer the contract to someone else but why would they? Lloyd has been doing the job well for 2 or 3 years now and is well respected.....he knows the job......is well known in his field.....and has several resources from his company working for the same project....

Good luck baby!

Lloyds company (Testing Automation Inc) provides resources to companies looking for QA Management and Test Solutions....right now they are testing various Provincial health systems likes the EHR and PIN and various continuing care projects......and they are also just starting to work for another company who provides software for continuing care centres in Canada......

The thing with contract work is that you never know how long it will last........Lloyds contracts vary between 6 months and a year.....and we have been very lucky that they have all been in Edmonton in recent years...but of course in the future he could end up working anywhere - he was in Holland for a while and one company headhunting him wants him to work from home but then travel for work one week a month......neither of us want him to have to work away......but you go where the contracts are.....

So yes, I am hoping that we are right and he will be renewed for another year where he is...he loves his job atm which is always a good thing....

I have an optometry appointment tonight......I'm having issues with my peripheral vision....and my migraines are so out of control right now that everything is being checked......maybe glasses are needed and that will solve things...I stopped my meds last week as they were not helping at all....so we have to find some others to try....when Lloyd had his appointment last year I went with him and had so much fun trying on all the glasses...I found a pair I LOVED so I know which ones I want if I need glasses :)

Abby wants to do a craft.....I think I'll have a look on Enchanted Learning for an idea for St Patricks Day crafts......maybe something she can take to her Paddy's Day party on Thursday......I bought a big tub of gold chocolate coins for her to take to the party....they are making 'pots' for the pot of gold and are going on a treasure hunt to find the rainbows where the treasure is hidden......they are all having green food too....I am hoping to stay and help as it sounds like fun!

I have signed up to take part in Scrappershaven's Iron Chef II contest......it starts today I think......we find out the ingredient and have to come up with a menu which includes 3 things.....I don't stand a chance of winning because OMG there is so much talent there.....when I signed up there were about 10 people entering but since then so many others have joined and they are all so good! But I am excited about having a go and seeing how creative I can be!

Everything I look at at the moment makes me think of altering it in some way....last night while Sam was in the bath I was looking at the tub of bath salts Christie gave me and I was thinking that the jar is PERFECT for altering.....its such a great shape!

Well the girls are watching a movie.....Sam is fetching diaper and wipes as he needs changing but for some reason he is bringing me one wipe at a time!!!!

I have done two loads of laundry, vacuumed the main floor, cleaned up the kitchen and washed the breakfast things (yes we have a dishwasher but I like washing dishes too) tidied my bedroom and sorted some clean laundry.....I want to wash the floors in a minute and also want to clean the bathrooms at some point today.......I don't really do chores at the weekend so Monday is catchup day!

Oh I also cleaned the mudroom this morning and vacuumed it out.....and the dog crates...I think they are starting to blow coat now the weather is warming up......

Have a great day everyone!
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