Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Goooooooood morning!

Here is one of my favourite old songs for a beautiful morning.

And, yes, I'm done my report.

Let the squee begin :)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A to Z of awesomeness



Yes. This is just the thing for my tired brain...you had me at this...Optimus prime Obliterating Oompaloompas tipped it over into full fledged squee and proved to me just how awesome the world can be...

Monday, March 29, 2010

What do we really know about chickens?

nataliedee.com
nataliedee.com

I can tell I'm stressed out with my project and all the things I'm juggling as I'm having bizarre dreams. They usually come when my brain is trying to wimble out and make sense of things while I sleep. When I'm exhausted but my brain is still whirling away.
Last night was no exception.

I dreamt that J and I were in a pub with a big roaring fireplace and cheap plastic tables with about 6 tables of people. It was open mic talent night and each table was doing a song/skit or something for the prize of a round of beer. J and I were at a table with someone we know as well as a short woman with dark hair and a huge red guitar and a man with a chicken and a top hat. We had made plans to sing a song about chickens and then the hat man would make it disappear - we were sure we'd win. But then I went to get a beer (liquid courage) and returned to find only J and I were left as the others had stepped out for a bit. And it was our turn, and so he and I strolled up, squawking chicken in hand and decided to make up a song about chickens as we went along. I picked up the mic and said "ladies and gentlemen....what do we really know about chickens?"

And then, thankfully, I woke up.

I can't wait to get my first progress meeting over with so I can get some proper sleep :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Transmuting into fondness

Wednesday I was walking downtown to catch the bus and went by a boutique with clothing aimed at older women. Something in the window would've been exactly my Mum's style and I momentarily stopped and took a closer look, to see more detail and consider if I would perhaps come back and get it for her...just for a moment.

And then I remembered I didn't have to.

And then I kept walking and caught the bus to visit my brother, fondly thinking about Mum the whole way...

Anyone know a cute 5 foot tall lady with dark hair who is looking for a swanky deep green sweater with nice square buttons?
I know just the one...

Don't panic...just use big words...

Oh crap, I don't know any!
Hmmm...well, what about...antidisestablishmentarianism?
Oh. Not sciency enough?
Damn...

How about polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis coupled with dual immunofluorescence immunodetection?
Ah! There we go...I'm even doing that.
Aren't I a smartypants...


I have been putting together my progress report for my MSc meeting next week. Besides the data and information summary, I've made up a flowchart of duties, both done and not yet done.
It is *almost* as good as this one:

image

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Well *I* think so...

Although I have discovered that I like pitted dates and that one or two dates is indeed the perfect hunger quenching healthy snack I still think they would be even tastier if handed to me by a monkey wearing a little hat.

Monday, March 22, 2010

We have normality. I repeat...we have normality.

It's officially spring.

Yessiree...we took off the snow tires. And by we I mean J did and I did something else.

I am so utterly contented. I had 2 whole days off this weekend. I *know*. Like normal people. A real weekend. It's been months.

I spent saturday with friends and by myself recharging my batteries and giving myself a little TLC. I got a few new clothes...and I pimped out my exercise gear. I've got a new pair of running shoes (no they are *not* pink. Ahem. They only came in one colour. And that colour is Purple. Yes. It is. Shhh).
I have a heart rate monitor watch

I have workout gear-foam roller and exercise bands on order, soon to arrive for my Core Performance fitness program...soon to begin. My knee is stiff, but unpained. We shall make it better...oh yes...

George and I made croissants (frozen and proof/bake your own kind - mmmm....seriously. With eggs and bakey? Best. Breakfast. Ever). I made irish stew and lime pudding (better late than never for St. Paddy's day).

I even sanded and primed my cupboard doors-outside. It was nice. I used a borrowed Black & Decker "mouse" sander, which, I gotta say, is lame, underpowered and silly with special velcro sandpaper (yup. No regular sandpaper...just "special" pricier stuff that doesn't come in high grit...) I wouldn't recommend it-it barely dulled the finish for me, but did enough to barely prep the varnished doors for priming...so in the end I made do. I'm a bit behind in regular chores as that's all I did chore wise, but really. Who cares? I feel utterly normal and sane for the first time in ages. I had a freak random break in MSc duties and I took it to relax. Can I get a woohooo?

Yup. As of today, I'm recommitting myself to looking after myself. I have the tools. I have the strength. I will do all I can and keep at it, adjusting the program as need be until I find something that works.

Booya.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I speeek gud enrish. Ilerrrnd it frum a buuuk

Tee hee...I keep changing the image...then I add one...then change...OK...I have to stop at these...

engrish funny mind dog
see more Engrish
engrish funny soft cheese
see more Engrishengrish funny potato party
see more Engrish
engrish funny much happy
see more Engrish

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

mmmmm

To console myself I have made muffins.


And played some of this.
Pomplamoose make me smile...




Yum...

WTFGBBQ

Regardless of how easy I take my workouts to try and get back into shape, my left knee is starting to be painful again...the telltale stiffness and clicking have started...which may or may not lead to me doing f*ck all until it heals...again...for the 5th time....

And I ask this, Oh Great Pulsating Brain at the Centre of the Universe: WTFF?

All I want to do is work out a little. I don't need to be as hard core as I was. I used to run 10K 4 times a week fro f*cks sake. Now I can't even do 30 minutes on low setting on the elliptical or go for a walk? I won't be able to ride my bike to work?

Dude...they can't be wearing out yet. I'm not that old.

I'm getting some new shoes this weekend to correct my pronating ankles and I'm hoping that will fix it...my current shoes are old, and it may be why I'm having troubles. I'm going to do leg strengthening exercises to help my legs be stronger so my knee rotates normally and get strong...you know, like it used to be?

If I can't exercise vigorously soon the stress of work and school and life will inevitably get to me and I'll fall off the wagon and run straight in to the arms of my secret lover Old Dutch down in Caketown.

Is that what you want Brain? Is it?

I didn't think so.

Sincerely,
Geo.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Thank you Tim Burton

Alice in Wonderland is a *big* deal for me.
More than most I think.
It was the first book I ever read...over and over again. My fondest memories of Mum and I are when I was so very small and 3 or 4 - she read it to me every night. Then I read some...eventually reading it all. It's what I learned to read with...shen we got to the end we'd start over. It shaped the strange wierdness that is me...

So the fact that Mr. Burton (whose work I love) took it and made a nice 3D film based on it that made me grin from ear to ear? Seeing a bandersnatch, Cheshire Cat and March Hare?

Yes...lovely...

Monday, March 15, 2010

We have a man down!

Heh...I finally got some time to work on my cupboard doors this weekend. I washed them down, degreased them and stripped off the old hardware and filled holes for sanding...and that was as far as I got.
I pulled out my trusty old hand sander that I'd used on the kitchen and when I fired it up it made some horrible grindy sounds and then started to make low vibratey slow movements...nothing more.
It has shuffled off this mortal coil I think.
No more work on the doors until I can borrow or get another one to remove the old varnish. It was a good excuse to stop. Hopefully I can get a hold of another soon so I can sand the doors for priming and painting...slow and steady wins the race, and all that...

We went to see Billy Bishop Goes to War on Saturday. I would highly recommend it. It's a Canadian "musical" - a one man play of a man's experience of going to war in WW1 and becoming a decorated war pilot. One man plays 18 different characters, but mostly Billy Bishop, a 19 year old troublemaker drafted into the cavalry, but who soon wants to be a pilot to get out of the trenches. Both serious and funny, it had a lot of interesting looks at Canada back in that time, as well as just how the "average" person took to going off to war and just how you had to change to get through it. Not too maudlin, and it was a "good" kind of musical...where the few songs suited and blended into the play seamlessly and didn't seem campy or contrived. My husband, hater of all musicals, liked it if that's any indication. I've heard of it many times from my Dad and was glad to get to see it. I give it 2 thumbs up.

I'm so glad to say that it's warming up. Despite being inside working on my MSc for 2 days, I am glad to see spring on it's way. It's so nice to go for a walk in the late afternoon and be warmed by the sun. So much of the snow is melting as it's getting up to +7 during the day - soon it will be dry on the hiking paths! The sun peeked up over the horizon as I ate my breakfast today. Soon I can ride my bike to work and go for walks to exercise instead of sweating away in the basement. No more darkness and gloom on my trek to work.

As my dad would say: "Spring ere sprung, the grass is riz!"

:)

Thursday, March 11, 2010

You can drink tea, but no dancing with the devil...

Tonight I learned much. Polynesian dance. Trio rehearsal. I held a tiny red corn snake named Ruby. Gwazi shimmies.
And lots and lots of zill practice.

In learning zills, one must be careful to not strain your muscles.
Puppydog hands are OK.
You are also allowed to drink tea (stick out your pinkie)...but not dance with the devil (make the horns).

Jazz hands are right out... >:)

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

mmm...chili

Tonight when I get home there is a big slowcooker full of chili waiting for me.

Mmmmmm....

Monday, March 08, 2010

Ah. Yes.

Hmmm.
Yes.
Well...

After being an MSc slave all day saturday, I had a lovely walk at sunset on saturday, munching on sugar snap peas and sipping beer from a coffee mug while sitting on a big old rock in the middle of wandering along the river. Odd? Yes, but it was the perfect reward for a long hard workday on a saturday...I'm so glad it's warming up and we can go for walks again. It is super squishy out, but that's OK. It's welly time!

Lovely days off...sundays are sacred to me now that I've ramped up into insanity of work+MSc+pretending to keep it together. I make a point of working full saturdays on my MSc, so it's the day a week I get to spend with with J. Not that we do lots or anything spectacular as a rule-it's just the one day for him & me. No stress...just us. It was part of my deal with myself...that and eating well and working out at least 3 times a week. I snack my stress away, so I've gotta at least try and fight back. So far so good. My knee has not given me any problems since I started up workouts again last week. We shall see. I'm very hopeful I can get up to speed soon...

On sunday we went out to see "Walking With Dinosaurs" which was really spectacular. The dinosaur automatons and puppets were incredibly real. I loved it...made me feel like a kid again. Then we fired up the BBQ...cuz it was only -5C. Warm enough to melt snow in the sunshine. Lovely...burgers and tin foil potatoes ...mmm...I heart my BBQ.

I'm hoping it's warm enough on the weekend coming up that I can actually sand my cupboard doors outside and not fill the basement up with sawdust. I've moved my workstation downstairs now and the living room seems *huge* now that there isn't a giant table in the middle of it. It's lovely. I finally got my kitchen put back together on the weekend as well...I've purged about 3 boxes of "junk" and know where everything is now...so the doors should really go back on. Slowly the house is returning to normal. So very soothing to not see boxes of junk and random tools and tables of things in your house...

Aaaahhhh.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Friday, March 05, 2010

FIfty Years is Really Not Enough

I am full of bittersweet memories this morning - Today would have been my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.
Strange.

My Dad is buying flowers and placing out their wedding picture on the table today to remember. Sweet man. He's doing better...so much better. He smiles when he talks of Mum now. The memories are growing sweeter.

He is down in Arizona with a bunch of friends, spending time together and golfing and they are making sure he is alright. Mum and Dad used to go down every March together. It must be strange to be down there alone this year, but I am glad he is there with people who care for him, and who knew and loved Mum and will take the time with Dad to honour Mum's memory today.

50 years is a long long time to love someone.

I hope I am as lucky.

Fifty Years Is Really Not Enough

Fifty years is really not enough
In which to plumb the depths of someone's soul.
Fifty more years, then, should be the goal:
To know the beauty of another's love,
Yearnings shape, and life-long shadows buff.
Yet life was never easy in those years.
Everest is sometimes hard to climb.
A will to love has brought you to this time,
Rich in joys that time cannot remove.
So may this day be filled with happy tears!

Nicholas Gordon

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Shaken, not stirred


Since seeing this the other day, I am now convinced I need it.
I've been meaning to get a martini shaker for a while now and this one is well nigh perfect for me for making proper cosmopolitans and chocolate martinis.

Yes.
Then I can be all James Bond (or at least Bond Girl) with my martinis instead of my current 2 plastic IKEA childrens glasses held together for shaking or quick stir over ice, usually ending up with me spilling half of it on myself.
Definitely more classy :)

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Too busy



Too busy for a real post. Have a lolcat. And this toon

What? Lolcats are high in fibre and a good source of riboflavins...or something...

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The coolness!

I stumbled upon this post about scientific themed cookies.
Then this one...

Consider me totally blown away and utterly inspired.
MAN I want to make me some lab cookies right now!!

mee hee...

We come from the future

I finally made a dent in my kitchen last night. Seeing as today was grocery day and I didn't want to get home with a kitchen full of groceries and have nowhere to put them, I did some kitchen stocking yesterday. I'm organising things by *function* as I put it all back after the renos. There's an actual logic to it now, not just where I happened to shove things when we moved in. I'm also purging stuff I don't use, or storing it downstairs. It's really starting to come together...

The best part?
Shelf paper.

Makes me feel damn old, but I finally get what grandma meant when she said shelf paper made her happy because it made her kitchen feel fresh and clean.
Cause...it *does* :)
I hadn't bothered to paint the inside of the cupboards but they feel all clean and bright and new.
Because I can, I've used metallic shelf paper...so it looks like I have cupboards from the future, lined with aluminum.

So now all my dishes are in clean crisp spaceship cupboards...

*sweet*

Monday, March 01, 2010

I want to be a clone

Hmmm...I really have to get at finishing up the cupboards. My goal of being done the kitchen by March has not come to pass. In my quest to remain sane I have let it slip in favour of necessary for life chores and my MSc project. I'm not going to beat myself up about it...it's just the fact that it is really really inconvenient to have my kitchen in boxes in the living room... it is driving me crazy.

This weekend I slogged away at my MSc project, as it needed my attention. I got a lot done. It felt good. And as a result...my kitchen is still mostly in the living room.
*sigh*

So, tonight I need to get started on putting shelf paper (it's metallic. Oooh...) down and begin putting things back in the kitchen...and working on finishing up the door and trim painting. I think I'm going to work at it 1 hour a night whenever I can. Once the doors are prepped, that will be enough to do a coat of paint/primer etc every night. And it's enough to start actually putting my kitchen back together. This weekend when I couldn't make icing for a friend's birthday cake it really irked me that I still had stuff in the living room and not in the kitchen where it should be.
Yes. I admit to *buying* icing. Oh the shame.

If only I could clone myself I could get so much more done...

I still don't like hockey. Sorry.

Blah blah blah gold medal
blah blah hockey

Yes it's exciting we won gold. I agree.
Women's and men's teams both have Olympic victory.
Can we all please talk about something else now?
I've had my maximum 24 hour quota of hockey small talk.

We won medals in other things you know. Yes it's true.
We have the most medals this Olympics - more than any other Olympics. I'm very proud to be a Canadian right now.
Want to talk about the other medals?
No? Just the hockey game?
OK then.
*sigh*

Cunning Plans

 Life is wierd ya know. It seems a lot of things have been hitting me hard lately. Been distant from people, including my partner who is dea...