I hate gel nails and will NEVER get them again! NEVER!
And what else is new.... well tonight I've got a heap of work to complete - so I'm doing that while listening to Fantasia (yes, the Disney movie) because it isn't distracting and I love the music. I was going to watch Cast Away again this week but that is just for the music. Alright Fantasia is distracting - just watching one piece and it totally looks like penis castles... so then of course I have to check it out online and then.. see - distracted...
Alright - best be working... hugs and smooches to everyone!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
freakin' bob flay
A few nights ago I watched Bob Flay in a "throwdown" for sloppy joes. Since then I've been craving them - they made them look soo good. Now I've been off the red meat train for a long time now but tonight I threw all caution to the wind and had a big honkin' sloppy joe! Woohoo...
I don't think Kyle has ever had one, but he took to sloppy joe like a duck to water. He asked for it for tomorrow night too! Michael even ate it - and there are red vegetables in it - so that is amazing!
Now - we'll see how I feel in a few hours... but what the heck.. only living once :)
On the mad parent front: I got a "note" home today. It was an "informal" report. In the report Kyle is asked to judge himself and then the teacher judges him on a bunch of categories like: independently finds materials and begins work (initiative), works well with all students in the class, mathematics, socials/science.... you get the picture... the judging is based on the following: nearly always, sometimes and rarely.... nice scale (insert sarcastic face) Kyle further evaluates himself and sets goals for the next few weeks - ha - the write off weeks as far as I can tell - why even have school in June if it just going to be crap (Jen - I know not all teachers are like this - I pray for one that will actually use every day for learning and not take off half of September, all of December, the last week of May and all of June - ok - I exaggerate - alright everyone subtract a few days... that is, if you were taught how to do that... )
Anyway - he notes what he wants to work on and then I get a note from the teacher. I'm critical, I know that, but shouldn't teachers be spelling wizards! I want to have faith that my guys are going to learn to spell and not rely on spell check, I want them to use the brains they were given, I want them to think freely and make good choices - when I get a note home that has spelling mistakes from the teacher I want to put a red circle around the error and send it back to school. I know this is the a-hole side of me coming out in true form, but come on... please... please spell properly - the next Australia Zoo biologist needs to know how to spell - he needs that!
And while I'm in full vent mode... stop sending me notes home on freakin' bake sales - just ask me for an extra $100 a year and I'll give - that is a good cause - me buying crap that we don't eat, don't use, don't like - is a waste - you lose by making us buy crap. If I give you $100 you get $100, when I buy crap like chocolates I give $100 and you get $25 because the chocolate making people are screwing you and everyone else. Seriously a $3.00 box of chocolate almonds, seriously!
I don't think Kyle has ever had one, but he took to sloppy joe like a duck to water. He asked for it for tomorrow night too! Michael even ate it - and there are red vegetables in it - so that is amazing!
Now - we'll see how I feel in a few hours... but what the heck.. only living once :)
On the mad parent front: I got a "note" home today. It was an "informal" report. In the report Kyle is asked to judge himself and then the teacher judges him on a bunch of categories like: independently finds materials and begins work (initiative), works well with all students in the class, mathematics, socials/science.... you get the picture... the judging is based on the following: nearly always, sometimes and rarely.... nice scale (insert sarcastic face) Kyle further evaluates himself and sets goals for the next few weeks - ha - the write off weeks as far as I can tell - why even have school in June if it just going to be crap (Jen - I know not all teachers are like this - I pray for one that will actually use every day for learning and not take off half of September, all of December, the last week of May and all of June - ok - I exaggerate - alright everyone subtract a few days... that is, if you were taught how to do that... )
Anyway - he notes what he wants to work on and then I get a note from the teacher. I'm critical, I know that, but shouldn't teachers be spelling wizards! I want to have faith that my guys are going to learn to spell and not rely on spell check, I want them to use the brains they were given, I want them to think freely and make good choices - when I get a note home that has spelling mistakes from the teacher I want to put a red circle around the error and send it back to school. I know this is the a-hole side of me coming out in true form, but come on... please... please spell properly - the next Australia Zoo biologist needs to know how to spell - he needs that!
And while I'm in full vent mode... stop sending me notes home on freakin' bake sales - just ask me for an extra $100 a year and I'll give - that is a good cause - me buying crap that we don't eat, don't use, don't like - is a waste - you lose by making us buy crap. If I give you $100 you get $100, when I buy crap like chocolates I give $100 and you get $25 because the chocolate making people are screwing you and everyone else. Seriously a $3.00 box of chocolate almonds, seriously!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
good morning
Hello world - I'm in Second Cup in Edmonton (one of hundreds - seems like Second Cup is bigger than Starbucks here) enjoying a lovely soy carmel latte and a muffin (the muffin sucks) - they have free internet if you give up your facebook account... I have to catch the train soon and managed to weasel a free umbrella from the front desk staff since I wasn't smart enough to bring a jacket. I remember looking at my jacket and thinking - take it, don't take it... don't take it - you'll be fine.. and here I am in a great big rain storm jacketless... but the umbrella helps :)
I enjoy this part of the commute. Looking at people - seeing what they are like, what they are wearing - I'm people watching.
Anyway - just wanted to wish everyone a good morning and hope that your Friday is amazing and for those going away for the long weekend - enjoy and have a great one - and for those who will be home - I have no doubt that I will have some amazing photos from the drive back to Q-town tomorrow.
Hugs & smooches - love to you!
ps. insecurity #256 - I'm wearing yellow today - this is a phenomenon... I feel like I look like a chicken - I'm working to get over it :)
I enjoy this part of the commute. Looking at people - seeing what they are like, what they are wearing - I'm people watching.
Anyway - just wanted to wish everyone a good morning and hope that your Friday is amazing and for those going away for the long weekend - enjoy and have a great one - and for those who will be home - I have no doubt that I will have some amazing photos from the drive back to Q-town tomorrow.
Hugs & smooches - love to you!
ps. insecurity #256 - I'm wearing yellow today - this is a phenomenon... I feel like I look like a chicken - I'm working to get over it :)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
last night in edmonton
Well my lovelies I'm nearly headed home. It has been a long week of training - good training - but long. I'm not staying where most people are - but maybe that is for the best. It means that I'm not out too late and I've had time to work on my own little projects.
It poured here tonight - I mean it rained as hard as I've ever seen it rain. Guess what happens when it rains that hard - that's right - giant, honkin' puddles - I took a cab back from where I was tonight and he drove through those puddles like a pro. It was fantastic! FANTASTIC! We yakked the whole way back about where he was from and what brought him to Edmonton - it was nice - the best cab drive yet and a great ambassador for Edmonton.
So I'm packed and ready for the next leg - I'm headed to Calgary tomorrow and then me and Mel are driving home. I'm totally looking forward to that. Long drive - but we've never done anything like that before so I'm looking forward to it - plus I'm hoping to see Carmen tomorrow night :)
A beautiful bloom at the University of Alberat - great campus!
It poured here tonight - I mean it rained as hard as I've ever seen it rain. Guess what happens when it rains that hard - that's right - giant, honkin' puddles - I took a cab back from where I was tonight and he drove through those puddles like a pro. It was fantastic! FANTASTIC! We yakked the whole way back about where he was from and what brought him to Edmonton - it was nice - the best cab drive yet and a great ambassador for Edmonton.
So I'm packed and ready for the next leg - I'm headed to Calgary tomorrow and then me and Mel are driving home. I'm totally looking forward to that. Long drive - but we've never done anything like that before so I'm looking forward to it - plus I'm hoping to see Carmen tomorrow night :)
A beautiful bloom at the University of Alberat - great campus!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
today in photos...
I'm burnt... just so you know - I'm sure that was something you were wondering about... I totally burnt my chest today - like a fool - I've never burned my cleavage before but it is burnt... burnt and I'm stupid... I know - what was my cleavage doing out in the sun... well the sun was shining down and it got the girls... and the girls are crying like an old woman tonight.
A beautiful plant that I found on my walk today and the building in the background is also a tea house... lovely.
This is me being a big girl in a big city. My hotel gave me crappy directions and sent me through a dingy terrible part of Edmonton - I actually took a different way home tonight because I was worried about it. Dark hall ways, long hall ways, corners, hidden spots - not good... but I made it - and then took the train to the uni...
So this sign is for those people that might try to use another body part to make the walk signal go... I actually didn't touch the button after this because I started thinking - if they have to put signs up like this - odds are - someone is using something other than there finger to push the button...
A beautiful plant that I found on my walk today and the building in the background is also a tea house... lovely.
This is me being a big girl in a big city. My hotel gave me crappy directions and sent me through a dingy terrible part of Edmonton - I actually took a different way home tonight because I was worried about it. Dark hall ways, long hall ways, corners, hidden spots - not good... but I made it - and then took the train to the uni...
So this sign is for those people that might try to use another body part to make the walk signal go... I actually didn't touch the button after this because I started thinking - if they have to put signs up like this - odds are - someone is using something other than there finger to push the button...
Edmonton
I'm in the city that has a rash of crime issues right where my hotel is - awesome - probably should have looked into that before booking... the hotel I'm in is right were some people were stabbed for no reason...
And tonight - well I wanted sushi - so I walked through the downtown to 'i love sushi' about eight blocks from here... and I get there.. and of course, it is closed. I make my way back a different way hoping to find something else - I don't - I find Sobey's - and get some sushi (brown rice sushi - and it is terrible) and then walk back. I'm about to cross the street - got my little walking dude single to go when this girl rushes through the intersection - cell phone in hand - gabbing away... she makes it another block - and that is where she blew a red light and t-boned a car - her car went end over end and then rolled... I stood in shock - I couldn't believe what just happened.
So friends - family - stay off your cell phones - I'm sure she thought she had it all in hand - but she nearly ran me down and then destroyed lives and vehicles... it was complete madness. Lots of people went running - so I didn't feel like I needed to run over and see her hanging out of her car... but then upon calling home and telling the story I went back to see if they needed my story... I'm walking up to the car - it is a right off - done... and there she is - sitting on the ground - pissed - she is actually looking mad... she is lucky to be alive - very very lucky. They were writing up her tickets by the look of things - she had some obvious bruises and torn pants - but after seeing it roll over in such a violent manner I wouldn't have guessed she walked away.
Anyhow... so now I'm just going to stay in my room - I have to take a train from downtown to class and tonight I grabbed the wrong train (I had a 50% chance of getting it right) - I got on and kept thinking - I don't remember it being so much above ground and then we came to the end of the station - so then I think - I better get off and as I take two steps off I realize that this train is now going in the right direction - but it is too late and so I sit at a station in the middle of nowhere... I get on the next one and what should have taken me 20 minutes, tops, takes me 90 minutes... so I've had enough today. I'm in Edmonton until Friday.
And tonight - well I wanted sushi - so I walked through the downtown to 'i love sushi' about eight blocks from here... and I get there.. and of course, it is closed. I make my way back a different way hoping to find something else - I don't - I find Sobey's - and get some sushi (brown rice sushi - and it is terrible) and then walk back. I'm about to cross the street - got my little walking dude single to go when this girl rushes through the intersection - cell phone in hand - gabbing away... she makes it another block - and that is where she blew a red light and t-boned a car - her car went end over end and then rolled... I stood in shock - I couldn't believe what just happened.
So friends - family - stay off your cell phones - I'm sure she thought she had it all in hand - but she nearly ran me down and then destroyed lives and vehicles... it was complete madness. Lots of people went running - so I didn't feel like I needed to run over and see her hanging out of her car... but then upon calling home and telling the story I went back to see if they needed my story... I'm walking up to the car - it is a right off - done... and there she is - sitting on the ground - pissed - she is actually looking mad... she is lucky to be alive - very very lucky. They were writing up her tickets by the look of things - she had some obvious bruises and torn pants - but after seeing it roll over in such a violent manner I wouldn't have guessed she walked away.
Anyhow... so now I'm just going to stay in my room - I have to take a train from downtown to class and tonight I grabbed the wrong train (I had a 50% chance of getting it right) - I got on and kept thinking - I don't remember it being so much above ground and then we came to the end of the station - so then I think - I better get off and as I take two steps off I realize that this train is now going in the right direction - but it is too late and so I sit at a station in the middle of nowhere... I get on the next one and what should have taken me 20 minutes, tops, takes me 90 minutes... so I've had enough today. I'm in Edmonton until Friday.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
a few more pics...
Boredom + Nothing Fun to do = Rice Krispy Sushi - that's right - everything in this photo is edible and sweet. Wasabi chocolate (green food coloring plus chocolate), ginger (chopped dried apricot), then the rolls are combinations of rice krispy squares plus fillings - licorice, dried fruit, chocolate... it has been a hit and is definitely something fun to talk about :)
Yep - the apple tree is in bloom - hooray :) And I can't help myself and have to be goofy... and have some fun.
And now I'm going to turn off the stupid canucks game and do some work. Hugs and smooches to you :)
admission
Friends, family - I'm retarded. I know. To many of you this comes as no surprise... some may have always wondered.. well now it is official. So why come clean now? Well tonight I was practising clarinet (I know - now I'm not right in the head and a geek) and I kept thinking - man, this really really doesn't sound right. You see, I finally bought a practice book so I could really start practising. I'm playing the lone ranger song, and things just aren't adding up.
Now Carmen may or may not remember the day she explained to me why dyed hair wasn't as big a deal as I thought. You see we were going to dye my hair for the first time in university and I said I didn't really want to get it done because I didn't want the tips to be different colors. That's right... Carmen, then explained to me that - poor, sweet, April - hair actually grows from the root, just like plants grow from roots... and then there is me finding out in February that beer is carbonated... that's right - there are bubbles in beer... to a none beer drinker - it was pretty unbelievable... how didn't I know that... well I'd never had beer before and I thought it was bubbly on tv because it was... well, frankly, I have no idea.. I just thought it was going to be like brown wine.. I know - it is a bigger hole I'm digging, but it is true.
And then tonight I decide I better look up the fingering charts because I must be just a little off. Well it turns out that all the practicing and believing that I was getting better was completely wrong. You see I was playing my clarinet just like a flute (no - I wasn't holding it to the side of my head - I just mean with and my oboe (which I totally and completely miss) and it turns out that the clarinet is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY different! I mean, it isn't even kind of similar... and so now I have to learn a whole new fingering system... what it really makes me want to do is go buy an oboe.. but them's are EXPENSIVE... it is, however, my favorite instrument... maybe one day.
Alright - so there you go... how do I get out of bed every day and then do the job I do... not sure... but it all works...
Now Carmen may or may not remember the day she explained to me why dyed hair wasn't as big a deal as I thought. You see we were going to dye my hair for the first time in university and I said I didn't really want to get it done because I didn't want the tips to be different colors. That's right... Carmen, then explained to me that - poor, sweet, April - hair actually grows from the root, just like plants grow from roots... and then there is me finding out in February that beer is carbonated... that's right - there are bubbles in beer... to a none beer drinker - it was pretty unbelievable... how didn't I know that... well I'd never had beer before and I thought it was bubbly on tv because it was... well, frankly, I have no idea.. I just thought it was going to be like brown wine.. I know - it is a bigger hole I'm digging, but it is true.
And then tonight I decide I better look up the fingering charts because I must be just a little off. Well it turns out that all the practicing and believing that I was getting better was completely wrong. You see I was playing my clarinet just like a flute (no - I wasn't holding it to the side of my head - I just mean with and my oboe (which I totally and completely miss) and it turns out that the clarinet is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY different! I mean, it isn't even kind of similar... and so now I have to learn a whole new fingering system... what it really makes me want to do is go buy an oboe.. but them's are EXPENSIVE... it is, however, my favorite instrument... maybe one day.
Alright - so there you go... how do I get out of bed every day and then do the job I do... not sure... but it all works...
Sunday, May 09, 2010
ha
Well the legendary Ms Betty White was on SNL tonight - so I totally stayed up for it...
I loved the dusty muffins skit - awesome! They definitely pushed the envelope - it was great!
It is Mother's Day now - so Happy Mother's Day to all my fabulous mother readers and for my male friends reading - call your mom today and tell her you love her! Mom's like that.
I loved the dusty muffins skit - awesome! They definitely pushed the envelope - it was great!
It is Mother's Day now - so Happy Mother's Day to all my fabulous mother readers and for my male friends reading - call your mom today and tell her you love her! Mom's like that.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
another cup of above average joe
I know... my pants have been on fire since Sunday... sure I was going to load photos... I was.. really... but I'm back now - if you'll have me :)
I went to 100 Mile yesterday and had this...
This is a beautiful soy caramel latte. Now you need to think of So I Married An Axe Murderer and the giant cups they had - this was the same... it took a long long time to drink... now - it was not as good as the amazing Hawaii brew - that was fantastic and I don't know if I will ever top that cup of coffee... but this was good... best since then...
And another photo... what do you see here...?
Boys are good - enjoying spring - plants are growing, apple trees are starting to bloom - all good.
I went to 100 Mile yesterday and had this...
This is a beautiful soy caramel latte. Now you need to think of So I Married An Axe Murderer and the giant cups they had - this was the same... it took a long long time to drink... now - it was not as good as the amazing Hawaii brew - that was fantastic and I don't know if I will ever top that cup of coffee... but this was good... best since then...
And another photo... what do you see here...?
Boys are good - enjoying spring - plants are growing, apple trees are starting to bloom - all good.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
why no photos...
Sorry gang - I've been busy this week and unable to offer photos. My grandfather died on Wednesday and we are holding a "service" ish type thing today. My sister arrived yesterday and it sounds like there will be about 30 people at my grandparents house tonight.
I will have photos to post - blogging is a nice distraction - love to all of you.
I will have photos to post - blogging is a nice distraction - love to all of you.
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