Samosa Lovin'

Last night, we had my parents over for butter chicken and rice(homemade), naan, samosas and pakoras(Pakora Palace made). The best parts of a good dinner are the delicious leftovers the next day. I love how my new camera can make even a greasy, potato filled Indian pastry look like a piece of art! I could eat these things every day of my life. (it would be a short life, I'm sure, all that potato, grease, and other 'good' stuff!)

Kerry's putting up the molding in the living room and I'm laying low for a few minutes. I'm very excited about this, we have not had fully painted walls and moldings since we moved in almost 10 years ago.
About 2 months ago, a certain boy dog pushed a large chair into an end table and broke the table and knocked a lamp over, breaking the shade. It was salvageable, until today, when Kerry knocked it over putting in the molding. A little bit ago, I asked "What kind of shades are in right now?" to which Kerry replied "I don't know but I bet you can use the Sport Chek GC to get some!" "Lamp shades, Kerry, not sunglasses!"

And last night while having our yummy meal, my parents and Emily were discussing prenuptial agreements. The best way for my dad to explain it to Emily was to use Kevin F. and Brittany S. To which Emily replied "Oh, that's the real meaning of prenuptial? I thought it was the term used to describe your belly button when it turns from an inny to an outy. That's what I heard on TV."

Kerry's mom brought over some Purdy's chocolates for Easter. I love the ribbon, the dots are velvety! The chocolates were delicious, they didn't make it to Easter.

Good Friday

Yay! A long weekend!
It's not even 11 am and Kerry's gone and come back from his bike ride, I've done dishes, pulled shoes and mittens out of a dog's mouth, not once but 4 times, and I've finished 2 lessons of an on-line photography class. I've taken the pictures, labeled them and printed them already. I've got a binder full of lessons and am taking pictures at the end of each lesson and putting them in the binder with the ISO, shutter speed and f-stop printed right on the picture. I figured if I'm not using PS7 to alter my pictures, I can at least use it to label them( an expensive label maker).
We will be starting the molding and trim painting any minute now. We are just waiting for it to warm up a few degrees. So I might get lesson 3 done before the yard foreman finds me.
Emily and I used our almost non-existant sewing skills to make a stuffed blob. She printed a tutorial off the internet and I'm using the excuse that it was not written in English first, but translated from some language that can't be translated to English without losing all meaning. We made a square, not a ball. She needed fibre fill for the inside and called Grandma at work to see if she could bring some home, Grandma said "go to my house and get some from Grandpa". So Emily decided to ride her scooter by herself there. I asked if she knew how to get there, she said "hmmm...I think you go that way, then that way...ya, I think I can get there". And as any responsible parent would do when faced with a vague answer like that, I grabbed the dog, and my camera and off we went. She had her backpack and when we got to Grandpa's she pulls out a thank you letter and some money and puts it in the mail box before ringing the door bell. On the way home she said it wasn't to pay for the fluff, it was a thank you offering, an even amount ($1.50) so that they can split it and buy candy. I said she was very thoughtful and tried not to laugh out loud. Dad says he'll put his half towards his Timmy's coffee. He probably didn't give mom her half.

thursday

I started to clean up my scrap space and got sidetracked fast. I might make it back in there soon.
I've done 1 billion loads of laundry in the last two days. Where does it come from?
I'm begining to think Spring will keep teasing us right up until next Winter.
Everyone has the day off tomorrow, at least everyone in our house. I'm not ready for Easter.
I want to scrapbook but have to get my scrap space cleaned up.

Not quite the best day ever...

but still pretty good.
We had gorgeous weather, good traffic, decent lunch, scrapbooking goodies, but does that make everyone happy, no, we didn't get any Marble Slab Creamery ice cream and that is what I had to listen to for a few miles on the way home. It's pretty sad when the 11 yr. old has to tell the 30-something year old that we can always get the ice cream in town. But I guess if you just got the news that you are being published, then you can complain about something, but only for a short while.

We took our cameras and stopped at Polson Park and got some great pictures. Poor Emily had to be the subject in most of them. The people at the park probably thought she was either very famous or we were crazy child stalkers.

Hump Day!

I had never heard Wednesday being called Hump Day until I met Kerry. The conversation went something like this...
Kerry: Ah, Hump Day, the weeks half over.
Me: What? That's a stupid name. Everyone knows this? And they announce the fact that they have sex on Wednesday?
Kerry: No, it's hump as in it's the middle of the week, it's all down hill to the weekend.
Me: Oh, so I guess I'm not getting any.


After rudely being awakened this morning by a still very excited Tara, we decided to make it another 'Best Day Ever'. You can't have too many. And so we are making a day trip to Vernon, after I get my hair cut and coloured. Taking our cameras, having lunch, doing some shopping and all in the name of celebration!
Yay Tara for getting published! She'll be in the Aug. Cards magazine!

Things we long for...

Peace - a beautiful, clear sky, in the evening, still bright enough for a photo.

Simplicity as in easy to maintain flooring.

New Growth, I'm anxious to get rid of the grey and bring in the green of Spring.

Happiness - this dog is just so happy to get her picture taken.

Praise - this dog did a great job at puppy school today. All we are aiming for is to not be the worst pair there.

Cooperation - oh, that's funny. No one in my family wants to get their pictures taken any more.

Sew Crafty!

Yup, that's me! I must tell you, I don't sew. I never had to, my mom is a wonderful seamstress and has done all our mending and sewing since before time began. She did give me her old sewing machine, a Janome something or other, it can stich the alphabet, airplanes and aligators if I wanted it to, but it doesn't do a very good straight line. Maybe it's me.
Any who, I decided I needed to make myself a bag for my long lens and today, that's exactly what I did. It took me less than 3 hours from start to finish. I think I did pretty well, considering I made it from scratch, no pattern or picture. All of it, including the little owl is my work. Even the nasty-a-dog-could-do-better stitching!
Did I mention it's lined too? Felt on the outside, cotton on the inside. Is this good for my lens? I don't know, it's too cute for me to care right now.

It's a Theme!

It might be a themed blog if this keeps up. People suck! Not you people but people in general.
While my dad was here on the weekend someone broke into my parent's house, mid-morning, while it was daytime! Again. They took some pretty specific stuff...one of his bikes, the others were chained together, his helmet, mom's jewellery box, wicker basket, leather hat box, leather jacket, beer, and a few other things...but they left the things like cameras, tv, computer, money, etc. It's quite possible they pulled right in to the carport and maybe had a lookout because dad wasn't gone that long and it wasn't like he was at work or out of town, he was just running errands and visiting.
It brings it home, when people say it doesn't matter if you have dead bolts and many locks on your doors, if they want in, they will get in.
So if you see this very unique, made just for him necklace, please contact me.

Tagged again...

1. If your doctor told you today that you were pregnant, what would you say? SHUT UP! and then punch her.

2. When was the last time you flew in a plane? Oct. 10 2008 on my way home from my most fav. place.

3. What did the last text message you sent say? Never sent one.

4. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? Short hair, clean, smells good, funny.

5. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? Eat better.

6. Shoe size? 6-7

7. Been to Mexico? No

8. When is the last time you had a massage? Years ago.

9. What was the last TV show you watched? What Not To Wear.

10. What are your plans for the weekend? Well, since it's almost over, I plan on resting the rest of it, but we did accomplish what we planned and finished laying the hardwood.

11. If your significant other asked you to marry them today what would you say? Yes

12. What is in the back seat of your car right now? Dog blanket, chewed up pinecones.

13. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Watching the original Mr. Deed's Goes to Town.

14. If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be? Well, I really like Ellen Degeneres, but I wouldn't marry her. Maybe Luke Wilson, or Steve Martin, or Denny from Grey's Anatomy.

15. Have you ever been to a strip club? No.

16. What is the best ice cream flavor? Green Tea.

17. What is the last sporting event you watched? Sports car racing.

18. Ever go camping? Yep.

19. Last phone call? Tara B.!

20. Are you allergic to anything? Pollen, work, eggs, alcohol, work, ...

21. What is one thing you have learned about life recently? People can be rude.

22. What do you do at work? Order things.

23. What is your mom's name? Elaine

24. Ever cried for no reason? Yes

25. Can you do the Crank Dat dance? If that's the one with the Superman move, I've seen it, can't say I can do it.

26. What is your favorite color to wear? Don't have one.

27. What is the longest plane ride you have ever been on? Seattle to my most fav. place, Disneyland, okay, technically it was to Orange County

28. What is the longest road trip you have ever taken? Kelowna to the Grand Coulee Dam

29. What are your turn-offs? bad breath, BO, bad manners, scraggly hair.

30. What was your last alcoholic beverage? Creamsicle

31. What are you craving right now? Attention!


It's a long one. I'm tagging Rae, Kimberly, Yolanda, Jenn Y. and anyone else that is lurking around.



I can hardly walk, that's the price I pay for being a squatter and not a kneeler. I can squat for hours, but I can't kneel to save my life. Anyway, the hardwood, not laminate, is fully installed. (I'm clarifying because we have had numerous people say "oh, you mean laminate" when we say we are installing hardwood) It's wood, real honest to goodness, scratches easily, is hard to cut, harder to install WOOD.
I can not say it's my favourite flooring. I know dogs scratch it, dirt scratches it, people scratch it but I didn't know breathing on it would scratch it. Seriously, if you have the money to get good hardwood, you probably have the money to get really, really good laminate or tile, and that's what I would do.
I know it's better than the carpet and that it's continuous throught the house, and that's what makes me happy it. It only helps a little to forget the 40 hours it took to install it. We had a formula, for every 2 boards we put in, 1 would have to come out. Yesterday, it took us 1 hour to get 2 rows finished, that's about 8 inches of about 14 feet of flooring. It was so depressing. Today, we were faster, slow, but faster than yesterday.

If you're still reading this...
Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

EXCUSE ME!!!

Today, Emily, Tara and I went to Costco. Sure it was payday for just about every single person in town and sure it was the last day of school before Spring Break but we were feeling good about going. That is until every one of those persons walked infront of us, budded in line, cut us off and were just generally rude to us. The last straw was when we were in line at the 'hot dog place' getting our iced mochas and a couple walk right past us to the front of the line and try to order. At least the cashier was on the ball and told them that we were in line ahead of them. But then the people are grumbling something about how unorganized the line is, it's just me and Tara in line at this point, waiting for the guy to take our order. And so when the woman says something about not knowing we were in line I said in my not so quite voice something to the effect of "Yes, we just like to stand here". She grumbled more and I could actually feel my hackles raising! And I think she was just one of THOSE people because she and her husband stomped off. The cashier even commented on the rudeness and how they just didn't get the whole idea of lining up.

So I'm off to scrub the word PUSH OVER off my forehead before Kerry gets home!

3 year old energy

I had forgotten how much energy 3 year olds have. I met Terrell and Zoe for our first day together since they moved here and that girl never walks anywhere and talks up a storm. She was looking pretty tired by the end of our day, I know I need a nap.
She also takes better pictures than most grown ups. I let her take a few with my new camera and they were pretty good. All 3 are hers.

Dance Dance Revolution

Emily's school has a good music program, mainly because they have a very dedicated music teacher. She managed to teach every class a different ethnic dance. And for the most part, she found them costumes too. Emily's class did the Bhangra. We found an outfit at Value Village, as did most of the kids in her class.
Mom went with me and was my camera caddy. So not only do I have still shots, but live action Bhangra for Kerry to watch later. Not that I bought my camera so that I would be the envy of all the parents, but the guy next to me kept saying to his wife "I know, it's really big", I'm only hoping he meant my lens. And not that I'm a photo guru but I heard 2 moms behind me deciding to use their digital zoom and I wanted to shout "Don't do it".
Even though we thought we were 'early-birds', so were 1/2 the parents. So we ended up smack dab in the middle aisle, left side which as the Williams' Law dictates means that Emily will be on the right side! And she was. I'm glad I decided on the big lens in the end. I'm still trying to figure out the settings and speeds, so the photos are grainy, which I knew they would be. And they are yellow, which is due to the crappy gymnasium lighting. If I could get all the other parents to coordinate their picture taking, I could have used their flashes! I'm satisfied with my shots, they are better than I would have gotten with my old camera, not the best, but at least I got them.
Here's a video. Of course, my kids are never in the front row, they just aren't short enough.
The instructions in case you want to follow along.

Awwww....

It's long but it's worth it.

Right as Rain

I woke up this morning! And decided to walk, yes, walk to the chiropractor before 9 am. This was made less a chore because of my ipod.
He straightened me out so well that I came home, grabbed both dogs and took them for a walk. I know! You are thinking "CRAZY". Good thing I had my ipod in, Emily's Hairspray soundtrack blocked out the sound of the neighbours and other early morning walkers telling me how insane I am to walk two dogs at one time. And it blocked out the sound of the dogs crying because one had the halti on and the other was tied to my waist.
We survived, it wasn't any worse than Kerry and I taking them out together. I won't be heading for coffee or to the dog park with both of them, but at least I didn't get dragged around the block and thank goodness we didn't see a C-A-T!

So this makes up for yesterday's floor grumpiness. Although during my class last night I could hear someone 'scratching' my new flooring and it took all my self control to not run up the stairs to see what was going on. It was Linus...with his bone and he didn't scratch anything.
We held both dogs down and trimmed their nails, what an ordeal. Linus does the bucking bronco until he realizes that Kerry is not going to give up and then he plays dead. When he's done, he lays on the floor and only moves his eyes. It's quite sad. Sally yelps, which makes me cry. Equally sad. And then she runs away in a weird you've-cut-all-my-toes-off run.

Kerry said we aren't getting any more dogs when these two are done. I agreed but then I won't have any thing exciting to ramble on about. I'm getting shafted...no more babies to take pictures of, no more dogs to scrapbook, next he'll tell me no more toys until I master the ones I have.
Got this at DL and love it. I wear it a lot. It's showing slight wear on the sleeve. I told Kerry this was a good reason to go back, that and the fact I want another Wetzel's Pretzel, Dole Pineapple Whip and ride on Indiana Jone's Temple of Doom. Emily said if we went back she would ride all the scary rides that she wouldn't go on before.

Change of plans( updated with photos)

To all who said that laying hardwood was easy, you are a bunch of liars. It's harder than laminate, it's harder than tile. Maybe we are being too nit-picky, maybe we are hardwood challenged, what-ever the reason, it has taken 2 days of work to do just the living room. It's crazy! It looks wonderful, but the fact that we didn't get the whole upstairs finished has put a huge damper on our moods.
We have decided we hate doing it so much that we won't be doing the kitchen, we will tile it and the laundry room, possibly the stairs too.

We know that Linus is a laid back dog, but this weekend reminded us of how laid back he is. When the compressor is running, he doesn't bat an eye, whereas Sally isn't even on the same floor. Linus is right in the middle of the floor laying, checking everything out. He needs a little hard hat and badge that says "Supervisor". I'm sure he will get stepped on quite a bit with the new flooring, he blends in quite well.
I'm pretty sure if he could talk, he'd be saying what a bunch of killjoys we are. No box chewing, no eating scraps of flooring, no laying in the saw dust, no biting Grandpa's ears while he nails flooring, and no digging on the new flooring.


Linus went to the dog park with MR's dog, Eli and they wrestle like a couple of maniacs, but only after Linus takes a dip in the 'swamp'. He has to clear it of birds and ducks. He actually 'hopped' across to the other side to grap the fluffy cat tails and he tried to bring it back but about 1/2 way back he realized he had a mouth full of cotten and spit it out. He gets absolutely filthy when he's with Eli because he spends most of his time rolling on the ground under Eli.

This is him runny/jumping across the pond-like body of water. (I didn't take my big lens, my arms are too weak from flooring installation(

I'd post pics but again, blogger is angry with me.

I can't handle the stress of the flooring. Seriously, E. has dumped about 1/2 a liter of water on it already, and Sally has scratched it a couple times 'secretly' jumping on and off the couch. I know it will get scratched but, come on, we aren't even finished installing it!!!

today

I made plans to see Yolanda and the girls today and of course, the mailperson brings my Silhouette this morning. I'm happy it's here, but now I can't play with it until later.



It's now later.
I got to hold a baby and help move stuff around Scarlett's room. Duncan did an amazing job on the house, it's beautiful.

It took me maybe 20 minutes to get the Silhouette out of the box and installed and operating! Impressed!!!

I have already cut something most beautiful. And can't wait to cut more stuff.

Good bye sore fingers and xacto knife!!! I hardly knew ya!

Emily's new do, still wet after being washed. It has auto-flip.

Glutton for Punishment

I could be scrapbooking, taking pictures, or anything I wanted to do. But instead I decided to organize my receipts for tax purposes. Yes, we leave it to the very last minute. And because our FA is coming tomorrow night, I am panicking...I can't remember if she's coming for RRSP reasons, Tax reasons, or Bonus reasons. I try to be a people pleaser, it's hard, so with that in mind, I have a few things that need to be done before she gets here, 1 being get my receipts out of the drawer (not shoebox) where I have been stuffing them for a year.
This is always a sad chore. Sad because I realize that I have spent enough money on printer ink and photo paper to buy a small country. Sad because I look at the detailed receipts and see supplies I forgot I had bought, not many, but there are a few. Sad because I have bought so many things that I have yet to use because I am a hoarder.
It was also a little happy time too, I got to take a picture of my piles of receipts and they really aren't that large this year.

I'm a bit excited about later today, Emily is getting her hair cut and has decided to go shorter. She has such a pretty face but it's hiding under her hair. I hope she doesn't change her mind at the last minute.
This is what she said she wanted as she left this morning...a haircut like Caitlyn's...<
This might be a challenge as E has real hair and it's brown, and C has cartoon animated hair that is blond.

I'm going to try not to take pictures of dog noses today. Kerry said I could make a coffee table book of dog noses, so I think that maybe I might have a problem.


Updated:
I went outside! It's absolutely beautiful out today. And of course, I took my camera and let the dogs out. I'm playing with my aperture and the lighting, as much as I can without an additional flash. (don't tell Kerry, but even though I said there wasn't a single thing I would ever need again after getting the camera, I found out I will NEED a flash)

I learned a few new things...I'm falling behind on that...
1. Spring really is coming or else my tulips are in trouble.
2. I can do "left camera, right camera" from Wayne's world using the dogs as subjects.


3. Sally missed her calling as a pin-up girl. She is the biggest camera ham I have seen.


And incase I haven't mentioned it today, I love my Canon Rebel!!! LOVE IT!

I printed some pictures that I had taken with the above mentioned camera and my i9900 and holy mackeral, they are by far the best pictures ever! Or at least the best pictures today!

Insert Title Here.

I took a million and one pictures over the last couple of days. And if I could remember how I made the slide show the last time, I would do it again. But I've got sometimers, which happens just before Alzheimer's.
This is one of 3 of Kelly-Next-Door's Shelty puppies.
Linus's grass nose.
Sally's "You did what?" eyes.
These are the cards I've made recently. The camera is set on User Def. 1, which Bruce from PW set up as Vibriant. I have more but they don't seem to want to be added.



I took this one because I wanted to take a picture of a bunch of things all lined up, with the first one in focus and the last one out of focus. Makes me wish I had more than 2 kids to take pictures of. Wonder if I can get the kids and dogs to line up?


I'm grumbly. Work was...well, it was work.

I think the only bright spot in my work day was when Chericce asked if I liked my camera and I yelled out YES! And Elizabeth said I sound just like my mom when I laugh.

Linus was extra good for most of puppy school. The little turd made me look stupid, he was the best heeling dog in the world when the instructor was looking. Very frustrating. Again, she said he was The Most Stubborn Golden she's ever seen. At least he's really good at something!

6 degrees of something or It's a small world.

Went to a funeral today. Of the maybe 20 people there, 10 were from my mom's side of the family. And out of the other 10 people, I was related by marriage to 2 of them, and 1 other I had met years ago through other people. It was a very small, very simple funeral.

I found my silly Maya Road scrolls, in the bottom of my AMM tote. A strange place for them but oddly enough I remember putting them there, at least 3 weeks ago. So I was able to get my layout almost done, just needs some final embellishing.

I'm waiting so very patiently for my Silhouette to come. I sure wish I had it for tonight's class. And I finally ordered the Copics my dad has been harassing me to order, I got a few extra things for Emily.

I've got a jam-packed day tomorrow and then I will be able to play some more with my camera. The picture above is from our deck looking about Toovey Road, I used my big lens. I think I will try to remember the technical terms, but for now it's big and little lenses.

I'm supposed to be making my layouts for my class tomorrow but I am dwelling on the fact that I can't find my brand new Maya Road chipboard scrolls. I bought them, I fondled them and then I put them in a secret place, obviously, because if I put them with my other tins of embellishments I would be happily scrapping along. But now I'm focused on finding these things and not focused on the fact I have less than 20 hours to come up with a 2 page layout for my class.
I have decided they are not here, on the computer, nor are they on Facebook, in my sticker box, or in any of my paper holders. They aren't in the bathroom, at the dog park or in Kerry's truck.
Arg.

Saturday.

Kerry and I took his mom for lunch yesterday. I took my camera because afterwards Doreen has bowling and we were going to watch for a bit. I pulled it out during lunch and got this great shot of her. I am seriously going to put a different lens on my camera today, but I so love the 50mm. Tara says I can't always have 'blurry background' pictures. I beg to differ.

Kerry's mom bowls in the same league as my grandpa. He's 91 and still bowls a better game than I can, twice a week. When you turn 90 and can still bowl, you get to for free. When his team members collect the fees every week, grandpa is so funny, he doesn't tell them that he doesn't pay...in his words "There's no need to broadcast it". If I live to be 90, I'm getting a t-shirt made. And grandpa's so 'on the ball', he took one look at my camera "it's a Canon", "how much? $_____?" Darn it, he knew exactly what that baby cost us. He wanted to know what kind of film, he's got a decent camera and some interest. So I explained the whole digital thing and his main concern was that I would have to buy more cards, he thought once they were full, that was it, so then I explained the whole uploading to the computer thing and I think he's got it. I wanted to get some shots of him doing what he loves, he's 91, making changes to his will, all his friends are moving on, and I don't want to ever say "I wish I had some pictures of grandpa". He's my only living grandparent now. He's grumpy, he's practical, he plants a mean garden, and he's mine. I want to get some shots of his garden this spring. Puts my weed patch to shame.
Kerry and grandpa can always carry on a good conversation, this is how I have found out many a thing about him. He really opens up to Kerry. Too bad Kerry's thinking about his truck and licking his lips.
For all Kerry's fine arts/graphic design knowledge, he can't take a picture to save his life. This one took about 10 tries. It was the only one worth keeping. Silly Kerry. He even made sure his elbows were braced on his chest.

Today, I am going to put a different lens on my camera, not because I want to but I will probably be forced to. Tara B.(I don't actually know any other Taras and it bugs her) anyway, Tara B. and I are taking a photography class! Very exciting.

On the homefront, all walls are painted, some carpet has been taken out. Much to our dismay, it is glued to the original lino. Sally leaned against the living room wall and now has blue hair on one side. She was so freaked out about it that she almost leaned against another wall as Kerry was trying to get her out of the living room. Poor thing.

And as you can see, I haven't been making a single thing, with classes most of next week, I better put the camera down and get a move on.

Still smitten

We met Tara and Harley at the dog park. Of course, Sally and Linus hit the mud bog first and then both of them went in the lake without any prompting. I think Sally spent the most time in the freezing cold water. She was the first to run a greet some of the dogs, she's come a long way. Linus take off to greet people, but always came back when we called him. I think he only jumped on Tara 423 times. And Harley and Sally didn't fight.
I wanted to take my camera but then was worried, I could trip, I could fall in the lake, a dog could jump on me, but Kerry said I'll never learn to use if I don't take it out. He's so wise.
This is a dead tree, we were convinced something was in the hole. I think we decided it was a lemur.

Emily looking pretty bright, she was home again sick, but we thought after 4 days of sitting on the couch, she should go for a walk.
Tara took this one, too bad the dogs didn't cooperate.
This one is my favourite.

Of course, none of the pictures have Shaun in them. We do have one that has the 3 of us and Harley, so Shaun said we could Photoshop his head on to Harley's body. I might just do that.
We have a first coat on the living room, and most of the dining room. Kerry is stippling the ceiling in there so I can't finish the painting. We are hoping to pull up carpet today. Did I mention we have 2 layers of carpet, a layer of underlay and lino in some rooms? Really looking forward to that.

Still loving my camera, today I might actually put the other lens on.

Happy Leap Day!!! I can't ever remember 'celebrating' Leap Day. But I see lots of businesses are with sales and such, weird. If you don't get a Leap Day card from me, don't feel slighted.