So Sleepy...

I have this strange insomnia coming over me lately. I cannot seem to fall asleep. This week, It's either been the heat or last night, it was the storm. I dunno what to do.

This is going to be a long weekend. I have worked every day since Sunday, and will continue to do so until the Sunday after next :-) That's my problem now, I have no time to get into trouble anymore! What was I thinking!!! Two jobs! CRAZY!?!?!

I think that Travis and I are going to the ex tomorrow night. He has passes for the ex and the chuckwagon races. I'm kinda excited, because I've never been to a chuckwagon race. I'm really not sure what a chuckwagon even is! (That's not very country of me, I realize.) I'm sure that I'll have a funny story to tell tomorrow.

See Y'all then!

Received in an email this afternoon

I received this in one of those "please forward this to everyone in your email list" kinds of emails. I Had to wonder if A) it's true, and B) where these #'s came from.

If anyone knows if this is true, can you let me know?

Only in Canada. Do not apply for your old age pension. Apply to be a refugee. It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 and each can get an additional $580.00 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.00. This compares very well to a single pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Canada for 40 or 50 years, can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement. Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees! Let's send this thought to as many Canadians as we can and maybe we can get the refugees cut
back to $1,012.00 and the pensioners up to $2,470.00 , so they can enjoy the
money they were forced to submit to the Canadian government for those 40 to
50 years.

Here's my two cents: EVEN if this is true, why make a villian of a refugee who has come to Canada? They are here for a reason. Their country was in some turmoil of some sort, and they were either forced out, or they fled towards safety.

Instead of "getting the refuges cut back", why not provide more for Canadian Seniors, or better yet, COMPROMISE!!! Give a little to the seniors, and take a little from the refugees. Was that so hard? Why would someone start this chain letter? Their only focus was, As far as I can tell, to point a finger and blame foreign refugees for another one of the Canadian government's shortcomings. I'm sure that during the creation of the last budget, some random refugee had his or her hand in the mix, and was doling out the cash. :-)

Free to Be...You and ME!!!

Today, I found out that a friend's brother came out as a gay man a few weeks ago. He had a girlfriend in high school, but was never really happy. He met a man a couple of months ago, and they became close. He realized that he was attracted to his friend, and had been suppressing his homosexual feelings for a very long time.

He came out and was TERRIFIED of the response that would come from his family and friends. I'm glad to say that everyone who matters, has been happy for him, and had guessed a while ago :-)

I jump from this story of self-awareness, discovery and acceptance, to the cd in the picture.

If you were a child in the 70's and early 80's you have probably heard this album. It was dreamed up by Marlo Thomas and had a great number of big celebs (for it's time). Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Channing and Dick Cavett to name a few.

I am surprised that so few people remember this record. It has had it's place in American culture, I mean it was mentioned by Carrie and Stannie in an episode of Sex and the City ("Stanford: I also got them a CD of Free To Be... You And Me. Carrie: I loved Marlo Thomas! I played that album all through the fifth grade. I wanted to run as fast as the wind. Stanford: I played "William Wants A Doll" so many times I almost turned my little sister into a gay man!")

Free to be you and me had one main message to share with kids and grown-ups alike: No matter who you are, or what you want to be, That's OK!

There was a lot of concern because the content was radically feminist at the time. It's ok for girls to be masculine and boys to be feminine. A football star told us that it's ok to cry. A mommy and a daddy told us that they are just regular people. And, in one of the albums most famous songs (and controversial) It's alright for a boy to want to play with dolls.

I played this record over and over as a child. I have truly fond memories of my Mom singing along with me to "Parents are people". It made me laugh to think of my Mommy as a kid like me at one time.

I found this on cd just a couple of months ago and I snatched it up again. I have been reliving some happy times as a child with these songs and skits. I recommend finding a copy and sharing it with a child in your life, or even sharing it with your inner child. It will make them really happy. Trust me on this one. :-)

In that same episode of SATC, in a voice-over, Carrie wonders "When we were younger, Marlo Thomas sang to us about accepting each other and our differences, but then we got older and started singing a different tune. We stop celebrating each other's life choices and started qualifying them. Is acceptance really such a childish concept, or did we have it right all along? When did we stop being free to be you and me?"

That's a good question that we should all ask ourselves!!! Comment on this post, Please! I really want to know what you all think about this idea of Celebrating ourselves and everyone else for being the real you. Why do we find ourselves afraid to admit our true feelings sometimes?

Best Week Ever!

Old Navy doesn't have the best week ever. My Mother-in-Law is having the best week ever.

Two Months before Travis and I started dating, she had a couple major surgeries beacuse she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer and a Brain Tumour. She was in really rough shape for a long time. This week, her doctor old her that most of her cancer is in remission, and that she is going to be fine. That was amazing news! Then, tonight, she went to bingo, and came home with $5000!!! She had $2000 in twenties! That was amazing!

Travis and his Dad are fishing this weekend. I hope that they have a good time.

Yay! Thunderstorm!

They (The Weather Network) are threatening / promising a thunderstorm!

I PROMISE to post tomorrow or even later tonight / this AM...

What a lot / whole bunch of slashes in this quickie :-)

Ignorance IS Bliss!!!

Today, I had a little cry.

While at lunch, I was informed that Ceasar Dressing has....

Wait for it...


ANCHOVIES!!!

EEEWWWW!!! What is a girl to do? I guess I like anchovy paste now :-)

Thanks for a fantastic lunch girl!

Bill Murray's genius shines on

I bought Broken Flowers probably six months ago, and have failed to watch it, until tonight.

What a neat movie. It follows an aging "Don Juan" as he goes on an exploration of his past. He receives a letter in the mail that tells him that 20 years ago he fathered a child, a son. He wanders back into the lives of four ex-flames, each one superbly acted by Sharon Stone, Tilda Swinton, Jessica Lange and Francis Conroy.

The movie is slower paced, but I definitely loved it. It was a good choice on a night when My Hubby was out :-)

I had Iced tea come out of my nose!

Ok, that sounds gross, but it didn't happen to you!

I'm reading Heather's newest post over on Dooce, and I hit this line:

“If you don’t brush your teeth right now they will all fall out, and when you wake up Elmo will be dead.”

I laughed so hard, I had iced tea hit the monitor, and I choked just a little. Thanks again Heather, for another quality post :-)

30 Days

I bought the first season (6 episodes) of 30 Days. It's a neat idea from the guy who made Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock.

He takes the idea that if you walk in someone else's shoes and experience their life, you might learn something about yourself. The six themes are: Making ends meet on Miminum wage, Going on an anti-aging regimen, A devout Christian and a Muslim trade places, A straight man in a gay world, Consumerism vs. the "eco-village", and finally, a mom who trades places with her college bound daughter.

A really neat series to watch if you like reality tv, and even if you really aren't that fond of the genre.

EDIT: Great minds think alike I guess... Becky has a post about season two starting this week on FX. I'm going to try to catch them as they come out this season, so I don't have to wait! :-)

DOUBLE EDIT: It looks like Friday's Oprah is about Americans living on Minimum Wage, and Morgan and his Fiancee Alex (Who are the ones who lived that way for 30 days) are featured on the show. Check it out!

Goodnight, If you can get cool enough!

I'm Hot. I don't mind the heat so much, but the humidity is what kills me. I was at Kim and Curtis' tonight. Tara is in Saskatoon with her two kidlets - Antoni and Lexie - and we had a fire and made some s'mores. And of course, I played with my baby, Kaylee. What a good time.

I think that the plan is to do it all again tomorrow night, but Travis is going to join us too. Curtis was a little "over-estrogened" I think.

Off topic, does anyone know when it's "safe" to give an expectant mother a gift? What I mean is, I heard once, that if you give a baby gift too soon, then it's bad luck for the remainder of the pregnancy... It's probably just an old wives tale or something, but superstition is superstition after all. I have a small, but cute gift to give a friend, and I want it to be a good thing :-)

I'm yawning up a storm, so I think it's time to bid you all a farewell. Goodnight!

Just - Radiohead

can't get the stink off,
he's been hanging
around for days.
comes like a comet,
suckered you but not your friends.
one day he'll get to you,
teach you how to be a holy cow.

don't get my sympathy
hanging out the 15th floor.
you've changed the locks 3 times,
he still comes reeling through the door.
and soon he'll get to you,
teach you how to get to purest hell.

you do it to yourself you do
and that's what really hurts
is you do it to yourself just you,
you and no-one else
you do it to yourself.

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Happy 300th post!

I was goint to post the lyrics to my newest song obsession - Unfaithful by Rihanna - But I thought I would do something "classier" for my 300th blathering on this, my little piece of the interweb ;-)

I was loaned a stack of reading materials earlier this month from the Bennetch/Peters library, and I've been immersed in books in my little spare time from work lately. I just read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. What an amazing book. I had heard NOTHING about this book before. WHY??? This should be required reading, like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

It's about a fourteen year old who is living in South Carolina in 1964. She is surrounded by the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement. She has been cared for by an African American woman since her mother's suspicious death. It is because of this woman, that she sets out on her own to "find" her Mother's spirit. She heads out to a small town where she thinks her Mom may have been to in her youth.

This is a story of girl power. A story of love and acceptance. I was moved. I went out yesterday and bought a copy each for myself, my Mom, and my sisters Jen and Christine. I think all women should read this story. If you've ever lost anyone, loved anyone, or felt alone read The Secret Life of Bees and you won't feel so alone anymore.

Trying to get back in the groove

What a F-ed up week... I'm sorry that I haven't updated. Here's what's brewing in my world.

I have not one, but TWO jobs now. I'm working part-time at both, but right now, it's pushing full-time hours during my training. Place one is a telecommunications company and I get a freaking cool cell phone! It has streaming tv and XM radio, plus I can download and play mp3's. Of course, this is all free to me!!! Yay! Job two is with a music retailer (and anyone who knows me, knows that I spent most of my money there anyway... )

I've been working 'training' shifts at both, and I am really excited about them.

Then, on Wednesday, My main squeeze had his wisdom tooth pulled. I thought I had it bad... He swelled up way worse than I did. So I've made him some 'world famous' mashed potatos :-) (Thanks Becky!) and made him loads of pudding and soup. He's getting really tired of soft foods, and therefore getting really cranky.

And finally, the best news... My friends Kim and Curtis are in Calgary right now, and Curtis said that he would bring me back some Krispie Kreme Donughts!!! That's a perfect gift! :-)

I dreamt that I was Mrs. Stephen Colbert...

...Not just the guy, but the character. He told me that I was almost Republican enough to get married, so we did. (And I don't really like his show that much at all!!!!) (AND I'M NOT A REPUBLICAN!!!!)

It was a VERY strange dream. He was very robotic in his daily tasks and chores. Brushing his teeth, getting a glass of milk, eating cheerios. It was all weird. On the flip side though, there were perks to being Mrs. Colbert. I got to attend the Daily Show Christmas Party, and that Jon Stewart is a hottie! If I dream that I'm married to Stephen again, I think that I'll dream an affair with Jon too ;-)

No more garlic sausage in the evening! :-)

Greasy Jungle - The Tragically Hip

Greasy jungle metropolis noir

Easy tangles the easiest so far

Ah

I drove down your road

to Hazeldean where I tasted

your funeral home's sandwiches and coffee

I saw your hands melt into one another

I saw you grieve and grow

care alot about one another

I stood at your sink

and I felt your warm water

I washed your dishes

and I looked out your kitchen window where I

saw a soulful gymnast

melt in the air and shudder

just above the snow

making moves that just weren't there

Ah

Velvet callow with wet hands

I turned out the lights and

breathing shallow hesitated

then went upstairs where

I picked up your housecoat

dried my hands and

touched your hair

and just then you awoke

you could never really barely care

Ah

Greasy jungle metropolis noir

I heard this song tonight, and I had to pause. I just stood there with a stupid grin on my face. You know how a song can make you go back in time? This one took me back to Assiniboia circa 1994 - Grade nine. I was siting on Empire Road across from the Kin Park with Lisa singing this damn song at the top of our lungs. Well, we were more like laying down on the road, screaming at the top of our lungs....

Anybody Out There?

Have you read the book, Anybody Out There By Marian Keyes, yet? I have mentioned this book a few times here already, but I have to tell you, I finally finished it, and It is a great summer read!

It starts out in Ireland. Our heroine Anna Walsh is in her parent's house and is being nursed back to health. She has had the beating of a lifetime, but we don't know how or why she is so badly injured. Her parents and her younger sister (who is a Private Detective who's always hanging out in someone's bushes) are taking care of Anna, but all she wants to do is to get back to New York City. She wants to get back to 'Him', a mysterious man whom she is desperate to see again and back to her fabulous career as a big time fashion/cosmetics executive for a posh PR firm.

As the story progresses, we find out her injuries are because of a horrible accident. And that's about all I can tell you.

This story is so tightly wound, that If I tell you much more it might affect your enjoyment of the book. I actually was forced by my Mother to leave it behind on Sunday when we left, because she had started it during the week.

If you have a week off, and you are going to lounge in the sun or shade, grab a copy of this book by Marian Keyes and enjoy! It is one of the best summer reads you will find.

Plus, Marian has one of the coolest websites that I've ever seen... :-)

Three things Meme via Terri

I was tagged by Terri to fill this in...

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME:
1: Scary Movies.
2: Big Dogs
3: Getting Old.

THREE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME LAUGH:
1: Tara
2: Amanda Dalton's Husband Dave.
3: My Auntie Lynn

THREE THINGS I LOVE:
1: My Husband :-)
2: Big Brother Every Summer
3: Starbucks Coffee

THREE THINGS I HATE:
1: Slow internet connections.
2: People who are Fake-Nice!
3: Show offs.

THREE THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND:
1: Hate. How can you hate someone that You don't know?
2: How a restaurant can use the same ingredients that I do, yet their food tastes ten times better than mine does!
3: Why there are so many ads on television for drugs. I've never thought to walk into my dr's office and say, "I saw this ad for a drug that will give me loose stools, bleeding ulcers, reduced vision and painful joints, but it makes my asthma better!"

THREE THINGS ON MY DESK:
1: Telephone.
2: Radio (from the storm the other night when we lost power)
3: Candles.

THREE THINGS I'M DOING RIGHT NOW:
1: Watching the View... The Shame!
2: Laundry.
3: Wishing I had central Air.

THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
1: See New York City.
2: Be friends with my Sister. (We love each other but don't necessarily like each other)
3: Swim in the Mediterranean.

THREE THINGS I CAN DO:
1: Crochet.
2: Drive a standard.
3: Avoid Housework :-)

THREE WAYS TO DESCRIBE MY PERSONALITY:
1: Loud.
2: Energetic.
3: Diverse.

THREE THINGS I CAN'T DO:
1: Sing.
2: Resist Chocolate.
3: Spell. Sorry, I really can't, and I hate spell check, because most of the time I have mangled the word so badly that it has no suggestions.

THREE THINGS I THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO:
1: The Wolf 104.9 FM Regina. WAY BETTER than rock 102 in Saskatoon.
2: Your Mother. She has your best interests in mind.
3: Other people's opinions. Don't be narrow-minded.

THREE THINGS I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO EVER:
1: Disco Music
2: Celebrity Endorsements
3: The Negative voice in your head.

THREE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOODS:
1: Chicken Wings
2: Cheesecake!!!!
3: Caesar Salad.

THREE THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN:
1: How to cook.
2: Craft skills. My Poor Sparks have little-to-no craft time.
3: patience

THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK REGULARLY:
1: Venti Caramel Macciatto's
2: Chocolate Milk
3: Mike's Hard Lemonade

THREE SHOWS I WATCHED WHEN I WAS A KID:
1: Rainbow Brite
2: Care Bears
3: The Facts of Life

THREE PEOPLE WHO YOU TAGGED TO DO THIS:
1: Jackie at Adventures of a Prairie Girl
2: Dixie at Vandermeander
3: Breanne at Daring to be Remarkable

I'm really back, For real!

When I called a girlfriend today, the only thing that she had to say about me not talking to her for two weeks was, "Are you really back, For Real?"

Yes, I'm back really for real! :-)

What a fantastic trip! It was hectic and emotional and full of rage at times, but I only had to call Travis once, In tears. That is a good thing. With my sisters, though we do love each other, we fight, and by fight, I mean that if we could harness the power and energy expended in these battles, we could power the earth many times over.

Here are a few pictures of the wedding. I haven't uploaded any of the Reunion pictures yet.

Here's My sister and Amanda (Matron of Honor) Just before they went into the Church.

Christine and David Saying their Vows.

David Searching for the Garter... I think :-)

And a fine example of WHY red wine is served by the glass, and not by the bottle...

What a Hot couple! - No Really, It was almost 31 degrees out there!

Good Times, Bad Times and Good Times Yet to Come

It has been an exciting week since I last blogged. I have felt strange not checking emails or going to work or blogging. I almost can't remember what it was like before we had the internet!!! :-)

I have been busy and will continue to be for the next couple of days.

We went to Round Lake for a Family Reunion last Friday, and I left on Monday with my folks to come to Assiniboia for the week. I left The Husband to his own devices in Saskatoon for a few days... I guess I should have warned a few of you about that... Sorry :-)

We thought that it would be a busy week of cooking and preparing for my sister's wedding (which happens on SATURDAY!!!), but I had no Idea how busy we would be. Her fiancee's Grandfather passed away on Thursday, so we had to go to the wake on Mondayand the funeral on Tuesday. The family is native, and their burial rites are a little different than the ones I'm used to. Plus, Grandpa was buried at the family cemetary in Wood Mountain so there was more travel time involved.

I've been to Regina twice in the last three days to go shopping for wedding food and supplies. If I see another Costco Card, I'm going to scream!! I HATE Costco, and I had to go in there twice!!! Arrgh!

Also, My one sister and I are ready to rumble, but we are keeping it under wraps for now. There is a slight difference of opinion on a few things this week, but I am learning how to rage silently and with great stealth. It is neither my wedding, nor is it hers, so I refuse to ruin anything for the sister who is preparing for her nuptuals...

I had to wear my navy dotted dress to the funeral, b/c it was the one that I had here, so now I have to wear the black dress to the wedding. This is the official week of compromise and togetherness.

I am totally going to need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

I will put up pictures of the reunion and the wedding next week when I get back. I miss everyone, and I hope that you are all surviving this heat and humidity. We aren't handling this heat very well here. There has been something in the oven steady since Monday. Either a ham or a turkey or buns... Today, the indoor thermometer said our house was 41 degrees!!! My parents don't have air conditioning. Plus, there are 11 people here sharing two bathrooms, four bedrooms, and one shower. That's SIX GIRLS and 5 boys... Anyone wanna Trade? :-)