September 21, 2010

Yeah, okay. I know. I haven't been posting.

Sorry.
But I've been busy with school full time, and work nearly (if not) full time, and I'm a Maid of Honour so I'm out doing that, and now I don't have a car so transportation takes remarkably longer, and also I suddenly made a few friends, so my time at home/on the computer is very limited. I also have a few papers due tomorrow (yes, a week after school started), so this will be short, sweet, and easy.

Also, I've got a sweet few costume projects that I may or may not be noting as time moves towards halloween, Peach being the favourite costume of mine this halloween, but there will be more. And also, I'm still working towards xmas gifts.

I bought a used bag of stuffing to finish one of them, though, and I ended up finding Larder beetles in the stuffing. Needless to say, I didn't use the stuffing.

Also, did you know that not all of the big ol' flies you see in your house are houseflies? Some of them are cluster flies, and the differences that you can tell them by are that the wings are an overlapping instead of triangular shape. So, if the wings overlap, they're a cluster fly. If they don't, they are likely a housefly.

I went to Clair's today and bought these nailpolishes because they were mood nailpolishes, which is hilarious.

And they're pretty neat!

With flash(above), Without flash(below)

And:

On my fingers(above).

That's right. On my fingers is the purple, which goes pink because I'm "wild". haha. It's a heat thing, and I'm warm. If I play in cold water they go purple.

Cute, though!

07/09/10

That's right. September. 7th. 2010.

So, my school timetable is out. I bought a seven dollar sociology text today, because I honestly thought I had signed up for one. Psyche! It wasn't sociology. It was socio-anthropology.

Also, literally, psyche. First year psyche. I'm also taking a few anthropology classes and putting off the crappy ones that no one likes to take, so I can have one whole crappy year in the long run.

You know what though? I'm kind of excited. Everyone says "oh, it sucks, summer's over;" but I don't know. Summer is really boring. People go home, I work constantly, OSAP isn't paying for school so I'm just reading crappy fantasy books (although, if you ever get a chance to, read a book called "Mistress of the Art of Death" by Ariana Franklin.

Very, very, very good book. After the first few chapters, it gets to the point of "I can't put this down".

The bf wasn't a happy panda when I ignored him for an entire evening.

Then I had to read the second one in the series, too. Also good, very different. Still awesome writing.

While searching for these piccies, I learned that there are two more. I haven't read them. I'll have to put that on a to do list for this semester.

Anyway, aside, I have a sweet semester lined up, and two open days to work, but enough time around my classes to still have awesome free time. (ahem, study time).

I like school. And for the first time in a while, I think I might go. I'll probably laugh at people in the classes I have, because I mean, it's a bunch of psyche and philosophy classes and socio classes... (which I seem to remember hating in my first year anthropology class, but somehow found it extremely interesting. Read: the Wari tribe: Cannibals).

So, that's awesome. I'm not sad or disappointed. I'm excited. I might even go to a rugby game, and I might even not cheer for the visiting team.

I should probably finish my book from last year. I have it, I just don't have it all typed up. And then I should re-write it, because it SO doesn't follow a real sensicality. It jumps as I felt different emotions for different things as I went along and wrote it. That's okay. Still a good story. If you all only knew the ending.

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2521223/1/Dragonsbreath

Do It.

*ETA: "gh" to bought.

September the Oneth, 2010

School starts soon ish, on the thirteenth. I'm happy to go back.

I'm working my butt off and therefore have no really awesome stories, since my work just fired someone and someone else walked out. A.K.A. sweet shifts for me!!

And also, I have nothing to talk about, but there is rice awaiting me so I will make this short: This is what my front room looks like now:

This is the coffee table. Note the numerous ex-gameboys and games, as well as current games and controllers and remotes. See how many you can spot!

We have one and a half game shelves. Yes, only the bottom chunk on the right are DVDs, VHSs in the very right hand corner. That orange bin? Controllers. Nintendo has it's own drawer and a half. The little bins off to the side of the orange bin? It holds controllers that are overflow (gamecube) and that are too big to fit into the orange bin (wiimote extras and the shooter gun for the NES.

Just two of the eight or so remotes that we have for items in the living room. IN THE LIVING ROOM. There's one in my bedroom too.

The TV setup. Behind the overloaded table, we have numerous game platforms.

I hope no one was planning on robbing my house after this, by the by.

A few of the other controllers, and games, and stuff... I can count 12 game-related things on or around that table, currently.

Do you think we have too many electronics, maybe? Sometimes I do, too.

But then I just play the xbox for a few hours and I forget.

August 29, 2010

We're going to try something here today: Instead of me complaining about how stupid consumers are (which I planned yesterday; eventually I'll get bored and write out detailed instructions on "How To Make Your Cheerful Cashier Your Worst Enemy"), I am going to detail a dinner that I made. Out of my head.

Be forewarned, I have an odd sense of taste and liking.

I originally planned to use a Sloppy Joe Mix, until such time that the recipe that I was going to use had mustard in it. (Mustard??? Weird). Then I was all like, yeah, I think I remember the taste of a sloppy joe from when I lived in dorm, I think I'll base it on my memory of my taste.

Then I added stuff that I thought would steer the simple ground beef towards being seasoned to taste in that particularly odd flavour of Sloppy Joes that we all love and savour. This one's kind of a sweet/spicy combination. That's what I remember them being. Sweet, so much so that you wonder what the heck that sweet flavour came out of in your pasta sauce and beef mixture, and spicy because my family (and the boyfriend) like's Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

In everything.

Always. Yuck. (On a meat pizza? On a steak sub? On meatloaf? In pasta sauce? Really? Is it necessary? They seem to think so.)

So here goes, and I do not take any kind of blame if your stomach explodes when you eat it. I'm sorry that your system isn't quite as used to this kind of abuse as mine is; I blame the boyfriend's bacon habit on my intestines of steel.

Also, feel free to use buns, but after I started cooking the mix, I couldn't find the ones that I swore were in the freezer when I started. So I used a tasty and cheap, cut-it-yourself-to-your-own-specifications-loaf-of-bread. And I broiler-toasted it, to avoid getting it stuck in the toaster.

And then also: the measurements are really very guessed. If you think it smells wrong, chances are it won't taste good.

(After it was consumed and sat through dinner)

Awesome Sloppy Joe Stuff that I Made

Served 2 plus some leftover but we eat huge servings; took about 30 minutes to make, not including the defrosting of the meat.

Toasted thick-cut bread

1/2 cup ketchup (or more, but I only had this much)

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (change depending on how sweet you want it to be, also if it's missing something at the end and you aren't sure what it is, add some more Worcestershire, it's usually the missing ingredient)

1 tbsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce (again, if you like spicy, +1/2, if not, -1/2, but SOME should be there)

1 can blandest tomato pasta sauce that you never used and shoved to the back of the pantry because of how bland it was the first time you tried it on pasta

3, slices of a large cooking onion, chopped... like, 1/3-1/2 cup??

1/2 tsp brown sugar (more if it's not sweet enough or doesn't smell right yet, less if you spilled the Worcestershire in the mix)

1/4 tsp cinnamon (unless your Grama gave you a container like she did me that I had sitting around, including a mix of the two that I think was originally for a sweet marie-type baking project a bit less than a year ago, in which case, substitute that instead of the br. sugar and cinnamon)

Sprinkle over of powdered garlic

Ground pepper to taste (Feel free to use fresh, I am just really cheap and the dollar store grinder I have is too much of a pain to use)(also, a tablespoon was pretty hot for me. That's about how much I ended up with, accidentally. I guess I didn't think about it.)

Few pinches of Sage (optional, I found it kind of threw off the taste but I think it's because it started to remind me of Italian and pasta sauce, which I didn't want)

**Also, next time, I will think about adding some honey in place of the brown sugar, until it smelled right. I didn't do it this time though. If you did, let me know how it turned out so I can (or know not to) try making it.

1. Brown the beef in a medium sized saucepan over semi-high heat. Once browned or nearly so, add onions and continue to sizzle together until it smells good.

2. Add all liquid sauces and mix into beef. Turn down the heat to about medium and stir quite often, but not constantly. Smack back of glass ketchup bottle until you are satisfied that the ketchup is all out that is coming out today. Repeat this step until the whole 1/2 cup is in the sauce, and you are frustrated.

3. Add br. sugar and cinnamon and mix in. Add all other dry ingredients including sage if desired. Also add anything else that you have on hand that I didn't that you think would make it taste better.

4. Stir occasionally until sauce thickens, doesn't take too long so don't go read a book or anything. Scoop over toasted bread (don't be skimpy with the scoops unless you made this recipe exactly for a big family) or bun or english muffin... maybe put into a bowl and dip those awesome thick pocketbreads that you've heated up in the oven into it. Or cornbread. Mmmm... that would be nice, too.

If you tried it, let me know what you think, and thanks for trusting in my questionable cuisine skills. Again, I have a weird sense of flavourizing things. I don't think I'm all that normal.

Because who puts mustard, plain old yellow mustard, in their sloppy joes?

August 25th, 2010

Treat your mother right, kids:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3007417704059163679#

I pity the fool.

He must have been promised a tonne of money.

August 24, 2010

School time is coming soon.

So much to think about, so much to get ready for.

In university, I am swamped with confusion. For my whole life, I wanted to be a doctor of medicine, somewhere between a general practitioner and a surgeon. Then I turned eighteen and reality hit me like some big, heavy, red bricks.

I suck, to put it bluntly, at chemistry. I suck twice as much at math.

So then I went to university for Ancient History and Classics, emphasis on the Latin.

And I suck at Greek. So then it was anthropology with a joint major of business, so at least some of the anth classes I took would be useful, and I enjoyed accounting.

But not Economics or most of the silly little "management" classes (where if you've taken one, you've taken them all).

Now, I really don't know where to go or what to do. I'm not really good at any one thing, I'm good at most subjects. I don't really like just one thing or have a passion for anything in particular. (Doesn't my blog attest to that? It's all over the place--like me).

So I'm taking psychology courses and continuing with my anthropology major, which gets me...

No where, really.

Has anyone out there done Anthropology and psych and have a job that doesn't pay less than oh, say, 60,000 a year? I saw a speech therapist as a possibility, but that's about it. And to be honest, while it would be awesome to re-learn sign language that I at least sort of knew in elementary school, I also think that I'm going to be at a loss for a real, keen interest in that area. Audiology just doesn't interest me.

And to be a teacher, which is the only other way I can think of doing this, would be ridiculous since they're SHUTTING schools DOWN left right and center, although there does seem to be some sort of obsession with pregnancy right now... maybe in 5 years there will be jobs for me...

Hmmm...

August 12, 2010

Well, what a bright new month this is turning out to be.

I have decided (as a very very last resort) that I will be giving up my insurance, and thereby my car's usefulness, as of August 29. This is because I can't seem to afford to go to school and rent an apartment and pay all my bills and do all these other things, especially since OSAP takes all my money away because my parents are my parents, and can't afford to put me through school but are still expected to, and also because I'm working like a good little rabbit all year through. You see, I'd get quite a lot more if I went on Welfare, but then I'd be on welfare.

It saddens me to lose the use of my car, and will likely re-inter me in several modes of depression because honestly, I'll be trapped in Peterborough, and that's just not worth it.

So, then, the other day an olive jar fell off my fridge and broke. The bf said "I'll clean that later", to which I said "forget it, I'll do it now".

So as I'm crawling around the floor of the kitchen, I put my knee down on a paper thin shard of glass that was nigh on impossible to see, even while it was sticking in my knee. I'm pretty sure there's some still in my knee.

Then, I went to work the next day, and when we get donations, we put them on big carts that are seven feet tall, nine feet wide, and 235lbs on average. We have to pull those into the back when they are full. So my boss smashed his hand between one of the store's support posts and the full 40-cart (which weighs usually between 900 and 1300 lbs if it is stacked correctly and is full, this one in particular was about 1100+235lbs), and I took over while he wrote up the accident reports and tried to decide if his hand was broken. Whilst driving the empty cart back to the donation room, it hit the swinging door edge and stopped abruptly.

I did not.

So I bruised a knee and my forehead and had a nice red line on my face for the remainder of that night.

Then, yesterday I was baking in the oven, and while avoiding burning my knees on the stove door and pulling my "casserole" out, I burned, rather nicely, my forearm. It even went gray to prove it was burned pretty well.

And today, I picked up a rotary cutter at the dollar store. When I touched it with my thumb it seemed really dull right out of the package. I even pushed on it. Then, in my infinite wisdom ( I actually do not know what possessed me to do this) I tried it on my thigh.

ON MY THIGH!

Why did I do it? I don't know, it didn't seem sharp.

Well it was.

*sigh*. I need a bubble, and to not be given sharp objects. I swear.

Least. Intelligent. Person. Ever.

On the other side, I've started some crafts and come up with some other crafts for Xmas presents. Also decided to clean today and have only scalded my hands once. I'm doing well.

Also, I seem to be addicted to those little marshmallow bananas.

They're awesome.

And I saw some recipes in a friend's cookbook that I liked, and he let me borrow it. I'll be trying them soon, I think. I might just do that while my leg stops bleeding because it's a remarkably deep cut. It already bled through one bandaid.

Jeeze whiz. I think I might just go make my bed or something with only soft items. Even doing laundry seems like a bad idea. I might get my head stuck in the dryer or something. Really.

It seems like the next best stupid idea.

Can you tell I feel really stupid for cutting my own leg? Or equally as stupid for walking into the stopped 40-cart at work? Really?

July 22, 2010

So a quick blog before I head out to work (this week I'm working reduced hours since someone else did the scheduling and cut back the people at the front of the store because we really don't need all of the cashiers. Yeah, right. Make my life a living heck and then tell me I'm working too hard. Gee I wonder if it has to do with the thirty people at three cash registers. Because that's all we have.

Also, I've noted that I don't have too many different fabrics that I don't have specific, unfinished plans for. So, a slight fissure has been created in my plans for xmas gifties, as a result of this.

(Sorry about the -ies, I've been playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates lately, and one of the characters drives me nuts by repeatedly ending every other noun in -ies.)

But I did come up with my own idea to make flowers for bags for my sisters which will be (eventually) made and freezer paper-printed with names and then have buttons, since I lost all my sweet, sweet blog bookmarks that I wasn't following but was throwing up at the top of my firefox till my computer crashed with a minor virus and I *sob* lost them.

So, now, in lieu of my need to recoup lost awesome blogs (And I, by the way, learned my lesson about following on blogger instead of just bookmarking, which actually I like better than blogger's version but whatever) I invented my own way to do flowers and it makes sense to me 'cause that's how I draw them when I'm just doodling.

They start with what the bf calls "peanuts".

Then I layer them.

Then I sew them together with a star stitching shape on the back, that you can't see, and then I sew a button on the front:

And ta-da!

Now I need some girlier prints, some less decorated printed fabric, and some solid pink or purple or... solid. Just solid :P Then it's not as busy as this one is. But it's still cute.

July 17 2010

Well, so much for trying to blog more, hahaha.
I've been working, today was the sixth day in a row, and tomorrow will be the seventh. It's awesome. Well, my paycheque will be, eventually. Plus I get a bonus coming up since it's retail and we did the awesome 100% goal that was set. wooh.
That's at least something we get for working our butts off all the time.

Anyway, I have a plan, a new journal plan, (because I accidentally went to Michaels which I always vow not to go to, but did anyway looking for 1/4" grommets in a larger numeration that 12 sets-- didn't happen. I don't know where else to go!)
And so I accidentally walked by the clearance, and there was an A for my name and that was that- a journal that I really didn't need.
So now it's a crafting journal. And I've decided that I'm going to work on making as many of my own xmas presents as I can, because I'm cool like that. Also because I can't seem to find stuff ever for people, or when I do it costs me a billion dollars. So I'm going to do a bunch of stuff that I created specifically for them. As a result of that, I've started some things already, some of which I can't post since I know some people read my blog sometimes, but it'll be awesome.
I have this frog thing for my brother, and the little guys are made up just for him. I know it's just paper mache, but I mean, they're so cute. Originally it started out with a little pencil holder, and then last xmas it was a bedside table with a couple of frogs on it, and I'm thinking a lamp to put ON the table with a frog under it, fishing, this year.
Yeah, I'm a kid at heart, so kids are honestly the easiest.
You know who's hard though? My dad and grampa. Honestly.
My grampa just doesn't want anything and gets mad at you when you get him something (which feels bad when you've gone and even made sure it was cheap but made sense to some sentimental memories of your childhood and then he just yells at you-yeah, I'm harbouring some sad xmas memories.)
And my dad? Honestly? He likes motorcycles, tools and math.
...
I'm in University, dude! Motorcycles (and parts and accessories) are so out of my price range. So I don't know. Maybe I'll find something good or think something up in the six months I have. *cough, cough*
Ps: they both hate ties.

July 5, 2010

So, I actually ended up going to Ottawa for July 1st.
I missed my brother's parade for the queen because it takes as long to get to Hamilton as it does (If not longer) to Ottawa from where I am.
Then, I get there and have to fight for a parking space although some nice lady gave me a parking pass once I finally did park in a lot close to downtown.
After which I learned that my family was outside of Ottawa, in a place called "South Gloucester".
I would imagine it's an amalgamated part of Ottawa.
So, then I drove away anyhow.

It was dirty, it was smelly, there were one heck of a lot of drunk people, and hundreds of people just... standing in my way regardless of which direction I was supposed to be going. I'm also surprised that I didn't get pulled over for having a contact high while driving, there were so many people abusing illegal substances there.


There was only one area in all the madness that had bathrooms that weren't "out of order".

It was awful with three kids six and under who had drank enough water to form their own camel humps.
Let alone myself, with my coffee and my iced coffee and my iced cap from Timmie's on the way out there. It was like, if I only had some manparts, I'd be one happy camper, peeing on the parliament buildings. That would show them, to plan to spend five million on a G20 security scene and not even a hundred renting damn port-o-potties.
You can kind of see the port-o-potties here, sort of, past only about an EIGHTH of the line that was standing there, waiting.
Then, whilst looking for my army brother in the melee and drunken orgy, I also missed the fireworks.
But I did hear a good twenty seconds of the Barenaked Ladies over the brawling and whining of the vapid eighteen year old girls complaining about their cheating boyfriends.
It was like going to a bar beside a college on St.Patrick's day, only the colours were white and red instead of green.
It also fairly saddened me that after the fireworks, there were a large number of fallen Canadian flags being trampled as people made their way back to the downtown bars. I missed the worst on my camera which was an actual canadian flag, dirty and ripped on the pavement.

Isn't that what people going up against Canada do in other countries? Stomp on the trodden and ripped Canadian flag, then follow up with a good ol' burning?
Being Canadian must be some sort of passing fancy to these people. I like being Canadian sometimes, but man, even I get those days when I wish my family had been illegal immigrants to (Insert random country here).
But stepping on a flag? It's just too superstitious. Like passing a cemetery and breathing, or walking under a ladder.
Disrespectful drunken teenagers and young adults. Back in my day, you respected the country who supported your OSAP and therefore your drinking habit.

On a lighter note, I've been finding it nice to paint 1/10 nails with a summery design to remind me not to chew again; I've done a bumble bee, a ladybug, and just recently a watermelon slice that was originally differently planned but ended up looking slightly more like a strawberry. Either way, it's summery. On a not so light note, I ruined a pair of awesome pink capris the G-ma handed down with black nailpolish. (as noted below, in fact.)

jeeze I'm a clutz.


I used the Sally Hansen "Hot Pink" nail art pen first, but didn't like how pink it was (but should have stuck to it), then went over it with Avon's Speed Dry in "Mambo Melon" to make the eaten part, and then Sally Hansen "Black Out" for the seeds. The rind (crust, peel, handle, depending on who you talk to) was made with Wet 'n' Wild "416A" and Sally Hanson "Green With Envy".
I think it's cute either way. Maybe less seeds and less red fruity part would be better. Over it all and as a basecoat as well, I also used Sally Hansen "Miracle Cure", because it makes then really, really strong. And so I can go buy another bottle of different hardener next time, since this one strips paint, I swear. And because it works only marginally and chips although it does chip slower than JUST nailpolish does.
Also, for those of you wondering about the Sally Hansen nail art pen, I'm quite amused by it. It's not very opaque, though, so sometimes I have to go about and cover the same thing three or four times. Also it takes some time to dry. But it is neat that it's a marker-like tip. I think I might see if I can't pick them up cheaply sometime in a few colours that I would use often: black and white, maybe a silver or something.

I'm also going to start a new few bonnets, one for me and one for the bf's mum, but after I do hammocks for the little ratties who destroyed their older one.

June 30, 2010

So, apparently the Queen is coming to Ottawa tomorrow. I hope she's good. My brother gets to go with his reserves and march around in a pretty red outfit. It makes him look Canadian.

Also, just so you all know, I did NOT take this piccy. I stole it from his facebook. That is correct.
Anyway, so my mum's going to see him. It's like an eight hour drive from her house, and three and a half to four from mine. Maybe a bit less than that, but probably not on a day where the Queen shows.
And then my grama and grampa said they might come up to my house.
So now I'm not going to Ottawa. Not that I really mind, the Queen is the Queen and it's not like I get to meet her or anything. I'd just be standing outside with the rest of the world, watching her from miles away as she walks into parliament.
Yes, I would so not like to be there. But I'd have gotten to see my sisters and brothers and mum and dad if I had gone. But now I won't, unless grama and grampa choose a different day to come up.
Unfortunately, I worked Monday-today, then tomorrow's a holiday, and then I work Fri-Sat.
That's correct. I am working five out of seven days. A full. work. week.
It's not the only one this summer, but it makes up for last week, when I only got 28 hours.
And in case anyone is wondering, I ONLY WORK PART TIME.
As a result of working my butt off,

this is the only cleaning I've done all week (Plus the rattie's cage, but they need to have a few hammocks made for they chewed through the other one, in less than a month, and it collapsed while I was at work. The BF said no one was hurt, though.), and since the BF's brother is up, he's not exactly in the cleaning mood

but he has promised to clean the living room and take the garbage out.
(which is also good, because before I left for work on Monday, the living room was clean and then I got back to find three friends of his + a brother playing videaa gamez and eating. And leaving garbage and dirty plates and stuff ALL OVER THE PLACE.
So that's what I'll be doing on my day off tomorrow, on my holiday. I might also get out to take some pictures this week before and/or after I work, I'm not sure.
However, I need to go shower before work.
Yay.

June 21, 2010

I finally made that second bonnet, in three hours, the night before I went to my grama's house for my grampa's bday, so that I could give it to my cousin. ( I have this thing with bringing gifts; it never seems to get to the one whose bday it is... but grampa never wants anything anyway. Well, I'm sure he wants stuff, but he would never tell us what he wanted.)
Anyway, it worked beautifully. I had no idea what gathering stitches were, but my grama showed me later, when I got there. Now I know for next time.
Still, I learned that it's all about sizing. Alllllll about sizzzziiiiinnnnngggg....
Gotcha. If the sizes are uber wrong to start, they'll be uber wrong at the end. So my mum and I had a good laugh about that while the family was sitting down for dinner.
And one day I'll get the cousin to send me a piccy of her wearing it. I also said I'm gonna make a million more so that I become perfect at it. Then I told my grama I'd send them to her house because I wouldn't need them. She didn't know what she could do with hundreds of little bonnets. Hahaha.
So, anyway, my Friday was awesome, and then I worked full shifts all weekend. Which will look okay on a paycheque, but I mean, it sucks while you're doing it.
Today I have off, and I might be having a friend over. I haven't done that in ages.

June 15, 2010

I finally finished my bedroom curtains. And I had SOOOO much trouble with them. I'm never sewing with sheer fabric again.
Although my grama said to do it with tissue paper behind, after I finished (because eventually I just folded the fabric up like five times and then the thread stopped doing this repeatedly:

That's right. There are FOUR threads there, three of which erupted mysteriously from the bobbin thread spot on the plate and jam the machine. They have to be cut, pulled out and broken , and when that happens there end up being three threads: one attached to the needle, one from the bobbin case, and one extra that's just randomly there.
Turns out it's a tension error when the tension on the upper thread is too loose. Just in case no one knew.

So now, I have curtains finished in my room and I can move on to my second bonnet tonight (and maybe start a third if I can get the second to work quickly and some nicer fabric before I work tonight. I bought LOTS of fusible interfacing just for this little bonnet thing.

My newly finished curtains (finished being hemmed at the bottom. That's it. That's all that I had to do. Sad, eh?):

June 11, 2010

.


So, I got right down for it and made a post-it board for notes and pictures, with fabric and elastic and everything... I'm quite interested in seeing how the intended recipient takes it. Her birthday was a few months ago (like, March), and I've been meaning to get around to finishing my little gift, but I finally sucked it up and did it. Surprisingly, the bf was very helpful in this endeavor, finding the awesome-est fabric ever.
It wasn't as cheap as I'd have liked it to be as I'm... cheap. And broke. And a student.
But it was cute, so I did it anyway.

Then I realized just how much "two metres" actually is.
For someone who lived in Canada their entire life, you'd think I'd have a better estimation of a metre. NOOOOOOooooooo, I think in different terms when it comes to measurements. I know a centimetre. I know an inch. One inch is more or less 2.5 cm. But two metres... is a lot of fabric.


I also have to admit that yes, I cheated. I cheated big time. I think. Or maybe I just endeavored to make it a little easier than it would have been with staples. And after my stint as a framer of artwork, I just don't fancy desk staples an impressive finishing substance any longer.
But I could get away with a hot glue gun.

It made a few things look messy, so much so that I would advise doing the elastics at the same time as the ribbon on the outside so as not to get the little bumps at the midpoints of the ribbon, or I don't know, come up with something else.


So, I started by making lines of hot glue inward toward the board's frame. Then I stuck the fabric down. I started at the bottom and worked my way up evenly on both sides of the frame, in sections.

It was quite easy, just make sure that the fabric is flat or you'll have to pull it up.


Then I folded the corners at the back first with a fabric corner pulled in to the board,


then the two flappies on either side of it being pulled in towards and gluing each down in order.

Then came the elastic. I glued the elastic down first, then added the ribbon to hide the bumpy globules of hot glue. Again, you might want to have pinned down the elastic in advance to this, leaving the edges of the elastic slack so that when you glue the ribbon down around the edges, because as I said, it does look sort of messy around the edges where there are TWO globs of glue-one for the elastic and one for the ribbon.

Then I pinned clear pins over the criscrosses because the elastic sort of pops up and pictures don't fit as well under when they aren't pinned at the cross points.
And then voila!


So, hopefully she'll like it, and then I photoshopped some interesting "vacations" that we took "together". :P

Oh, also, did I mention that I foolishly made a bonnet? Hahahaha, baaaaaad mistake. I thought it might turn out. I must have misread or mis interpreted a few things wrong (and I substituted a piece of cotton fabric folded double and cut because I didn't have interfacing as a noob and it was very, very late and I'd wasted so much time that I was going to finish...), and so now I have massive ties and it kind of looks wrong at the top. Also my sizing was probably three inches off, but I was guessing big time because the recipe from the buns and baskets blog was assuming adult sizes and I picked the absolute biggest ( I have a big head I guess?) (and I'm not blaming the recipe, by the way, so try it for yourself. I just can't sew)!
Maybe I'll try it again, now that it's been updated to a real picture and not just hand drawings, so I can be led by hand slowly and gently and easily like a picture book to a new reader. And if it turns out, this bonnet's going to my cousin. If not I'll start doing something else that I haven't figured yet. But I do work at a donation-taking thrift store...

June 03, 2010

You know, sometimes I just feel like regardless how many days I have off, I just will never finish all that I have to do.
I think that in part is a reason that I've grown fond of being pessimistic (probably since most decisions I make lately are all the wrong one), and a procrastinator (no doubt encouraged by elementary and secondary school homework being so easy that even an ape could do it. That's right. Pre-caveman.)
Furthermore, I feel like I'm extremely stressed regardless of what I do, which is why I've taken to doing what I like more.

I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it probably has something to do with a lack of goal for the future. Here's my only need: Money in order to raise a family. I don't really care how I get it, but to be honest, it has to leave me with time to have kids because if I don't at least teach someone to sit the hell down in a dangerous, unstable buggy while I'm shopping, then our children have little to no chance of survival. Last time I looked, the human race was all about continuity.
Unfortunately, not caring has led me to...well... not knowing which path to take next.
The answer: Whichever is easiest and least likely to require effort, since expending unnecessary effort seems like a HUGE waste of time.

Just my thoughts on that.

May 21, 2010

Today was long but good. Yesterday was the Jonathan Coulton concert. ( Look him up, his music`s really good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxNmeMklFk8 which is a video game song, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdUUywIsIGI&feature=related is a memory song for the American presidents. Not that I`m American. But it helps when people start talking about things I never had a head for.) Paul and Storm also played, they`re great on stage but they disappointed me by not playing Me Make Fire which happens to be one of my faves of theirs. http://www.paulandstorm.com/lyrics/me-make-fire/

However, I understand that they had a severely limited time span and that, yes, I did pay to see them open for JoCo.
Anyway, today I did a whole lot of shopping and laundry, I wanted fresh fruit, and so I bought it. The end.
Also, I made these pretty tasty wraps:
Chicken, frying-panned
Garlic cooked in as well
Some small amount of taco additive flavoured stuff
Pepper to taste as per the boyfriend`s happiness
Cucumber cut into lengthy triangles
Tomatoes cut into triangles
Cottage Cheese OR
Caesar Salad (we used Renee`s)
Cheddar shredded cheese
Wraps

So basically, the chicken was cooked and then we put the stuff on. It was simple, cool enough that it didn`t suck to cook it, and was tasty. I used the cottage cheese, the BF did not. (He also didn`t eat the veggies, but I did. Go figure.)
Anyway, you should try them. They took no time to make, and they were actually pretty good. Lettuce may have been good on them if you didn`t want the cheese, or anything else. it would have helped make the crunch that the cukes give, too.

May 24, 2010

Today was the holiday Monday, Victoria Day. There was no celebration for me today; I celebrated on Saturday with my family who came up for dinner in my apartment and we went to fireworks then.
I decided to sit down with the awesome sewing machine my grama sent up to me from her house because the old singer

I bought ages ago from VV never worked :

And I struggled for four hours with the top thread breaking pretty consistently. Finally, I finished the four lines it took to sew to make this hammock with such a cute fleece pattern, for my ratties.

Then I called my grama and asked for her knowledge in the subject. She responded with some advice, and I went away from the machine, frustrated, as the thread continued to break.
After struggling* with my borrowed barbecue which had housed mice in my dad's shed for at least two years:

I blew it up a little, singeing my arm hairs off in patches.
It was not a pretty smell, and now I have uneven arm hairs. How nice.
Then my boyfriend helped me to light it, decided it wasn't safe to light what with the pink panther insulation all over the innards, and then put it back out. Now I am tasked with removing the rust and cleaning it out before I can barbecue... but I will be able to barbecue eventually, and that makes me (almost) forget my singed arm hair.

Then I decided to go back to the sewing machine, which though continually breaking a thread, never blew up.
After stitching an easier trial fabric that wasn't fleece, I realized it had little to no problems, except it would occasionally catch a whole whack of thread in the bobbin area and I'd have to stop the machine, unlatch the bobbin casing and pull all the thread bits out.
Then I dangled the bobbin like my grama suggested in order to test the tension of the bobbin case, and I realized that the actual bobbin was moving in the wrong direction when the thread was pulled.
I had, in my hurry to begin sewing, put the bobbin in backwards.

How intelligent.

But now I have half-finished curtains. The bright pink ones that go underneath the white ones haven't been hemmed yet because I am lacking a bright pink thread, and it is a major holiday. Convenience stores also do not sell thread often. Just a note-to-self. Went to:


And so I shall finish them, and start a bonnet for either me or my cousin, depending on how the first one turns out :D


*In my defense, I have never, ever lit a barbecue. Still haven't. It went out as soon as it was on. I think it was because the lid was on. Come to think of it, my brother's eyebrows were removed once due to this same issue...

May 09, 2010

Today is Mom's Day.
I called my mommy and said "HI!"
Then I got in a stupid fight over something that I didn't even really care to fight about with my boyfriend but kept going anyway because I'm tired because last night I had a really bad leg cramp that kept me up and bruised my left leg so that this morning I ended up going to work and overcompensating with my right leg (and knee and foot) which incidentally is my weaker side under the hip due to it being my favoured side for dancing and stuff, which led to me being: a) awake for much too long last night----->cranky and b) in pain------>cranky as well as c)really, really frustrated at work---->cranky.
And then I got a slurpee. It was awesome. I also moved a chair to a co-worker's/friend's house. It was awesome, too. I helped.
Oh, and I put whiskey in my slurpee. Which was the coolest thing of all. Whiskey+Slurpee=win!

12th April 2010

Dearest Governments with Recall procedures,
I was hoping that by the time I have children, no more small choking hazards are present in any area that my children should play. Also, any and all dangers should be removed as they are with play toys nowadays so that I may peacefully sip my whiskey without hearing my child choking on or being strangled or pierced by any object.
Therefore, I wish to acknowledge several parts that only you can recall and clear up before I have these aforementioned children:
1. Rocks. If two inch long screws can be choked on, then rocks and small pebbles can be as well. I request that you do a nationwide recall on these objects and notify everyone of their demise. perhaps grind them up and sprinkle them somewhere.
2. Vehicles. Includes non-motor vehicles such as bikes, scooters, rollerblades, etc., these objects could detach from their driving route and injure or cause death to my child(ren). I request that these be removed from natural society in order for protection.
3. Animals commonly known as "household pets". These could become loose and wild which could result in bites, licks, or transference of common bodily pests, requiring stitches, many dollars in medicine, and death. They should all be removed from these countries and sent to countries where these great recalls are not posted for all to see, since they don't care enough to protect their children.
4. Pencils. It has come to this person's attention that pencils and pens are still being used as writing utensils in schools across the country. The erasers, if occurring, pose a choking risk to any who ingest them. The wood easily snaps and turns to wood chips, and can be lodged in the throat. The sharp tips can be used as weapons and have been known to break off in the skin, perhaps even staying there forever. Also, eye injuries, ear injuries, punctures and lacerations are common with this object. If choking, it could cause death.
5. Rapists/Pedophiles. These persons are potentially dangerous and should be shipped, along with the animals, to that selfsame country with no laws against dangerous artifacts. They can cause severe trauma, both physical and mental, to a child, even causing as much damage as death.
6. Any high ledge. These could present a fall zone for children, resulting in broken bones, chipped or lost teeth, bruises, contusions, stitches, casts, and other medical costs that my daycare is ill equipped to deal with.
7. Sidewalks. There have been numerous occasions upon which a child has fallen and bruised, scratched, or needed stitches from the use of sidewalks and they should be removed immediately. Also, any related substance of asphalt or sand or grass or roadway or wood or metal should be removed.
8. Trees. These also present a fall zone. See number 6) above.


I thank you for your time in reading this, and hope that these demands are responded to in a timely manner. More objects are to be coming to you from my own and other opinions of which dangerous things causing death or possible harm to a child should be removed from our countries in order to fully embrace stupidity in our culture.
That and I don't feel quite like watching my children all the time, and don't deal with blood well. Or medical bills. Or many of the other costs of raising a child, including that of time.
At very least you should put out warnings on these objects to demonstrate correct use.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html

April 11, 2004

Nearly the 12th.
That's okay, fast blog, not making too much sense and appealing to my fangirly-romanceness:
I'd be a werewolf. I can't hide emotions well, much as I choose, and I too often change moods faster than a snap with the sources being things beyond my control.

I'd be a were.
Great.
At least I'd not be friggen freezing year round like I do now. I need some fur.

April 8, 2010

Your body uses the calories in alcohol as a source of energy in the same way it uses the calories in other kinds of food.

Alcohol is metabolized by the liver into an acetate that can be used as a source of energy. However, alcohol holds very little nutritional value and the acetate from alcohol is used immediately and cannot be stored for future energy use. Because your body uses the fuel from alcohol before it uses fats and carbohydrates, you may not metabolize (burn) the fats and carbohydrates you would normally. This may increase the amount of fat in your body. (source: https://interwork.sdsu.edu/echug2/can/results.php) So, in essence, as long as you don't consume food and only alcohol, you'll still have energy to do stuff, and you WON'T GAIN WEIGHT! (unless you mix it with pop or something sugary. You must drink your whiskey straight!) I don't know about you guys, but I'm thinking that the government has been hiding things from us...

March 26, 2010

You know, I never did figure out why I've always daydreamed about returning to the past to live. Or wished that times could be simpler.
Then, I downloaded all ten seasons of Little House on the Prairie. Sorry, producers and others making money off the boxed DVD sets, but I just can't afford the seventy dollars you're asking per season when I can watch a season in a week.
If it's any consolation, I did buy the VHS of the pilot episode...
Anyway, back to my sudden understanding of my own brain and important thoughts.
So, while I was watching it and reminiscing of days gone by, I first noticed how much religion is in the show.
Then I realized I was getting sucked in the God stuff, wondering if church was really as great as it looked in Little House.
Then I realized that why I am agnostic, and not an atheist.
I do believe in God. I was raised to believe in God, but not a religion so far.
I suppose, though, that while I have to believe in a god, but not necessarily God as is known from the bible, I just can't bring myself to believe in the bible itself.
The odd thing about that is, I believe in a lot of what the bible teaches. Or, just about any other religion style I can think of.
It teaches family, love, and respect for others as well as oneself.
And forgiveness.
And understanding. And empathy. And community. And hard work. And so much more.

And then, I thought, with the advent of television and ease of travel, life has become so complicated that these morals are left behind to wither in the heat of work and die beyond our sights because we're too busy to see what's right there.
I made an awful decision to leave my family four hours away so that I could get out and go to school. It wasn't that I hated them or anything, I just needed freedom. I wanted a smaller city, slower than the one I grew up in, but still with a sense of community.
I got out here. It's not much slower. But while I spent my childhood dreaming of living on a farm, where I was homeschooled, and could spend my evenings helping out with chores, kids out here grew up thinking that partying was 'cool' and they spend much more time in clubs and living a 'high' life than I do.
But my family is so far away. I met a guy out here. I'm going to be living with him in May. Not that it really changes, as we've lived together pretty much since we met. So now, I've developed a relationship out here that means I'm stuck here. And my family is so far away. I think that's part of the reason I'm so upset here. I can't think properly when I'm so far out of what's important.
It's sad when Little House makes you remember why you are who you are.

So, why did I always want to live in the past? Because the longer I'm alive in a time where business students are lying to each others' faces about how they're getting in to what company to be a peon anyway, and the longer I have to listen to people talk about how they 'have to' spend time with their families when they'd rather be drinking, the more I wish I could move to a place where I only sometimes had to go outside of my family to do something.
Family, there, meant people I loved, respected, admired, cared for, was cared for by, or enjoyed being with.

So far, everything I've done is to get myself ingrained with more families; I looked for school with a rugby team (but still swear fealty to the only team who ever returned respect: the SCC), wanted to go to dorm to make friends and create a family (but refused to become the busybody type who spread germish gossip about the others on the floor and so failed the dorm experience), I wanted to move into a house to become a group of close friends (but failed because of my need for cleanliness in the kitchen...where did it come from? I haven't the foggiest).
I'm stuck out here where I once had brilliant memories of a cottage that no longer exists and now realize that these people are worse than the ones in the city I came from, because they're all trying to be the opposite of what I want to be, even though all they really are is all I ever ask for.

And regardless where I go in life, people have stopped loving, respecting, admiring, and caring for others. The first look anyone has for anyone else is a nasty frown and a sour mood with a minor tongue lashing.
I know. I work in retail.

We need to slow down, people, and enjoy life. Not rush.
A millionaire does not a happy man make.

02/03/10

It's really odd that the Haiti earthquake which only registered a 7.0 was deemed terribly important, life shattering, all-encompassing enough to span to North America and create groups who donated money, time, effort, and all that jazz. It was all you heard about on the radio for days after, and you got live coverage of secretaries who didn't know what they would do now that the building that they had worked in was destroyed.
It's funny that the Feb. 27 quake in Chile which registered an 8.8 did not get that coverage. In fact, the rat forum I'm on is the first place I've heard about it, because it "may have shortened Earth's day by a few milliseconds".
Hm. Interesting that we have such high double standards. Was the reason that there were a hundred thousand people in Haiti who were injured? Maybe.
But, should Chile not get the same help? Unless, of course, Chile understands that they live on a fault line and will get earthquakes as the have for the last hundred thousand years and make plans for such an occurrence. Perhaps.
Anyway, my point is that I'm not living anywhere warm ever, for fear of these earthquakes and hurricanes and such. I'll stick to Canada, where I only have to worry about stampeding Polar Bears and freezing temperatures.

February 9, 2010

Wow. A new year. How delightful.
I've been lost lately. Unsure as to how to proceed. I feel like I'm not sure where exactly I'm going in school. I mean, I started with an ancient History major, switched to business on the basis that I can score abnormally well with next to no class time under my belt ( I went to one class last semester twice, maybe three times--and pulled out with an 81. That was with no working, no studying and no effort. It happens quite often.) However, I'm finding that with that information in mind, I also feel like I'm bored there, because it's so much common sense that I don't think I can bother going to class anymore. If not solely for the fact that I'm bored. Senseless.
It's become more fun to go to work.

Actually. I'd rather be working because these classes are sooooo boring, that I don't understand how people don't just know this stuff.

Anyway, I've adopted a few rats. And, they also hate each other. I mean, like, hate. Sqwomm and a new girl, Calla, just don't get along. At all. Both are the alphas. Both Really don't like each other. Capital there. In fact, I am pretty sure that Calla removed one of Sqwomm's toes in a scuffle. And that is okay, but worrisome. Today I tried a short intro and they were okay. I cleaned their cages and switched them around, too. Hopefully it's okay.

The Housemate Issue

So we have a housemate who's a real ass. I mean, prime donkey cuts here. So, today I decided that I'd respond by embarrassing him. I shan't leave his name, since that might be construed as illegal, but shall hereby call him the code name Strebor Werdna. (Anyone have a mirror nearby?)
So, this morning he was talking about a breakfast of champions, and when I finally woke up enough my boyfriend texted me back saying that chances were his champion breakfast was probably either pot or beer. Go figure.
So he got ready to go:


Yes. That is shaved hair.
And With the amount of it on the tub, sink, floor and tub mat, I'd assume he shaves. Everywhere. Euw.
Then he leaves it all over because he's a dirty little... (insert name here).
And, he walked into the house early this morning and left these:

That's his door there. And those are muddy shoe prints.
Now, this is nothing, really. I should have been keeping a video diary of his assholishness. I just never thought about it now. Oh well. Attachment of camera to hip.

Time to get around to placing water on the floor by his door so that he gets the picture. Maybe he'll learn that he's a pig.

A Note for the movie theatre company in Canada:

Dearest owner of the movie theatre:
I am writing to complain about the lack of intelligence in your placement and pricing of theatres around Ontario. You see, while I am from Peterborough and the one theatre there is a Galaxy (admission being 9.99 for an adult and 7.99 for a child under thirteen), once I return to where my family is, they only have Famous Players. I do not like Famous Players theatres. They are always dirty, my feet stick to the floor when I go in, and my head has to rest on the lice-infested chair back.
If you could just cut the damn chair tops off and stop spending money on retarded teenagers who can't wash a floor, maybe you could lower the price of your admission the dollar difference between the good, Galaxy ticket and the crappy Famous Players tickets.
Besides that, your pricing difference is ridiculous, considering that we did have a Ciniplex Odeon, but you decided to remove it in favour of the extra money that you received for the admission to the "fancy" "grade A" theatre.
I thank you for deciding quantity over quality, and have therefore decided to buy an old movie theatre and blanket price all admissions at 7.99, and forever download movies in order to screw you out of stealing any of my money ever, ever again: Sincerely,
Nifzeta.

November 1, 2009

Today is the first day of NANOWRIMO but I worked all day, and then I figured out my Avon stuff, and now I'm sitting here. I should also be doing my lab stuff for school, but you know, I won't do it until tomorrow since it's due Tuesday.
Anwyay. Update on the depression: I think it is caused by the pills I was taking (TriCyclen lo) so I've switched them around. I went to see my doctor about it and he said it may even be genetic, so now at least he's aware that I was brutally depressed.

And now, as I sit and watch Meat Loaf: 3 Bats Live (which is concert footage from London, ON, like two shows before I saw it in concert (I was at the Hamilton concert)), I wonder if anyone has ever noticed him pounding on the guitarist's arm in the Out of the Frying Pan song.
It's during the solo by the guitarist, and I understand that you know, the guitarist is soloing and real crazy solos can go on forever, but I mean... he was really wailing and looked right pissed off about something.
I was just like.... Wow. Meat Loaf looks like a dick right there. I really hope there's some sort of inside joke or something between the two of them, because I mean, yeah... Meat's playing a concert of his own, but man... what happens when you take away the actual music? They are playing the stuff that he's singing along to.
I hope he's not pounding on the guy's arm because he's like, pissed that the guy has a solo. I'd be kind of saddened by that if it were true. I mean, how many times does Meat get to wander around the stage talking and being the centre of the whole show? And then this guy gets his two minutes and Meat pounds on his arm?
Please, somebody tell me otherwise. I mean, I'm not gonna stop listening to the awesomeness that is Meat Loaf+Jim Steinman combined, nor will I sell back my other Meat Loaf CDs, like Bad Attitude or Welcome to the Neighbourhood (yeah, that's right. I have them too. He's got some other music that's actually pretty good, that I'm pretty sure Steinman had no hand in. It doesn't sound like his Bat albums though, not really, but they mostly stay with the young teenager kind of angsty topics.)
I would advise you listen to them before you say you're a fan of Meat Loaf, because there's a difference between liking his BOOH I, II and III albums and Meat Loaf as a singer.
Seriously.