*nervous*
21km is a long bloody way...
A busy three-day weekend!
Beef, Mama LL, and I celebrated Victoria Day weekend across the border in our fine neighbor to the south. And with the $$$ almost at par, the deals could not be beat. Beef drop her load at the galleria, I started a relationship with Target and DSW (a store, I'm convinced, was sent by the Baby Jesus himself to put a smile on my face), and Mama LL kept a couple of small Ellicottville businesses afloat for the summer. Bravo, ladies. Bravo. Between the relaxed, yummy meals; three glorious guilt-free hours of doing nothing; Celebrity Apprentice commentaries; and sausage snuggles, I couldn't have asked for a better long weekend. Thank you.
The perfect end? I added impatients and a couple of flowering annuals to the pile of perennials I bought at our staff Green Team fundraiser, and spent a glorious afternoon in Orange's garden honing my green thumb. There was a time I watched with admiration as friends planted the sh*t out of their awe-inspiring yard, but I never saw myself as a gardener, per se. I kill most of the plants I bring into the house (or attract Spider Mites...) But their dedication to dead-heading was overwhelming, to say the least. Orange himself is very dedicated to his indoor growing ventures (a couple of Norfolk Pines and a planter from dad's day that is still thriving due to his care and patience.)
But I'll admit: the immediate satisfaction of a few hours hard work in some glorious weather has me hooked. It's like art. But art that grows and blooms and spreads and blossoms. The rich dark browns of the top soil and the bright greens of the foliage. From almost every room of Orange's house there's now a view of a fine piece of garden--Lilly of the Valley, Woodruff, Ostrich Ferns, Chinese Lanterns, Hostas, Black Eyed Susan, etc. etc. etc
While I aspire to MMM's yard, for now I'm proud of what a little elbow grease created in a couple of newly edged beds, and happy to watch the bumble bees bzzz bzzz bzzz from one bloom to another.
F*ck, mom!
Now that you're reading this sh*t, am I gonna start getting notes like this, too? You should know as a librarian I am morally opposed to censorship.
p.s. I heart kix cereal...
Click HERE.
"Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were looking for a place to live. But everytime Mr. Mallard found what looked like a nice place, Mrs. Mallard said it was no good."
I'm (still) in training for my half at the end of May = lots of running = sore muscles. To combat the overall "no feeling" screaming from every inch of my body (which inconveniently settles in my bones as soon as I spot the couch), I try and choose pretty places to run. As of late, that's been the waterfront.
Now, there are those who would argue my city is a hole. But I disagree. There are definitely hole-type parts to the place. But then, there are holes in every city. It's really a matter of enjoying what's in front of you and making the most of the green spaces you have.
It's not Stanley Park, but Orange lives conveniently down the road from the foot path that wraps our waterfront. Yes, the tang of Asian Carp can and will hit you with the breeze is blowing just so. And yes, someone did try and set aflame one of the path's portable washrooms the other night. But there are certain other attributes that make this footpath my current running circuit of choice.
Like Mr. and Mrs. Mallared, for example! Make Way for Ducklings? Anyone?
The Canadian geese have laid their eggs and the baby's have just been borned (yea, I said borned.) And between 6:00-7:00 pm when I'm huffing and puffing my giggle down the trail, dozens of geese families are making their way across the path from their nests to the waterfront for a late night snack. Yellow puffs of downy feathers waddling their waddle and smacking their gums together in a chorus of the most pitiful tiny quacks. Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack--I've met them. And they are every bit as cool as you think they would be.
Still, I'd rather be on my couch with a hot fudge sundae...
My first decision will be to change my name. You can call me "Sir Roderigo".
So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to win the Lotto Max. Yup. It's sitting at $30,000,000 b*tches. So take a good look around because this might be the last free post I write. I figure when I'm a millionaire I'll be a pretty big deal, see, with lots of exciting things going on, so you can pay to read my gibberish. Your pennies will help fund my new lavish lifestyle.
Yup. That show on TLC pretty much explained it all. I'm not sure where I'm going to find the time to shop for bronze statues, build my infinity pool, collect weird things like antique guns, park lots of expensive cars in my driveway and stare at them but never drive them, make my way through $1000 worth of scratchy tickets a day (on the off chance lightning might strike twice), put lots of elastics in my hair like this guy, and still find time for my other obsessive compulsive behaviors. It's going to be tough.
But don't feel sorry for me. I'll definitely be looking down on you from my pedestal. And hey! Maybe I'll have a pizza party or something, and y'all can come to one of my houses for free food? One of the small ones. That way I won't worry about the furniture or scold you for touching the statues.
And free humpback whales for everyone.
So get out there and by your tickets so you can pad my winnings.
p.s. THIS picture makes my life. I want to be friends with these dudes.
It's Friday, and I'm feeling silly...
... And I appreciate the creativity that can (sometimes) go into television commercials.
Three packages in the mail in three days!
1. The glorious people over at SL decided to reimburse me for the redonkulously expensive dental procedures incurred last Wednesday. And they were so kind as to send the announcement in a big manila envelope! Money I was only quasi-expecting to receive? Check! Getting a package in the mail? Double check!
2. A dress I ordered on Victoria Secret arrived in a big, white, plastic envelope. This one came to mom's house, so I also got the exciting "your package arrived!" phone call to go with. Unfortunately, the dress did not live up to expectations and was promptly repackaged and returned. I wonder if Victoria Secret gets excited by mail?
3. And perhaps best of all, dearest Valerah sent me a book! And not just any book... my kind of book. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (who also, coincidentally, wrote Shug... a favorite of mine from back in my EPL days.) And with the best presentation, too! Brown paper and black Sharpie marker. Bert loved the wrapping as much as I loved the thought. Thanks for thinking of me, Valerah... *scuffs toe*
Three cheers for mail!
Some people...
Some people get more than their share. You know?
Like leaking furnaces, and bats in the spare bedroom, and tax man drama, and car recalls, and ants, and beloved office partners who up and decide they'll take another job elsewhere (really, Jim...? *tsk tsk*), and a knee the size of a cantelope, and answering machines that keep resetting themselves, and computers that won't cooperate, and periodontal surgery, and the dreaded threat of knob and tube wiring, and meat loaf for mother's day...
Like I said, some people get more than their share.
Some people remind me daily of how easy it is to love them, and how easy it is to be proud of their strength and faith. Some people don't even know how impressive they are. And some people probably don't hear that enough...
I still love you, Georgia Carmen!
Last night was the Fingers and BSB third annual Cinco de Mayo party (ole!)
Being that I live a five-minute walk from dearest Fingers' house, I find it hard to justify driving and searching out parking on her notoriously overstuffed street. I make the trek en pied even when it's pouring litters, and such was the case last night. Being efficient, I cut through the local park (this is where Beef yells at me for walking alone through a park at night, and this is where I say "but it was light out and the street lamps were on and there were other people in the park besides the pervs who lurk behind the trees!" [although really, there weren't other people in the park, what with all the rain, and it was actually kind of dark, what with all the rain clouds... but we don't need to tell Beef that... damn... she's reading this...])
Anywho. On my way, I came across the saddest sight. A little stuffed bunny face down in the gravel under the swings. It was like something out of the Velveteen Rabbit, only this rabbit was made of pink fun fur. He was wearing a hand made yellow felt jacket with pink ribbons tied to it, and he was so loved one side of his face was less fun fur and more silk baldness (the other side was stained green with what looked like Crayola ink, but whatever... perhaps he's an artiste?)
I was at a cross roads! Devastated for both the little dude and the child who was no doubt at home wracked with guilt over leaving his/her beloved smooshums AWOL in the rain, I was torn between:
A) Picking bunny up and sitting him under the shelter of a tree to avoid complete water sogWhat to do?
B) Leaving bunny right where he was, thinking owner-person would find him if they retraced their steps
I opted to stand him upright on the side of the walkway, close to the swings. As a child who once lost her beloved "piece" in a garbage pile at Camp KIDACA, the idea of leaving bunny face down in a gravel pile was beyond reproach. I'm tempted to go back tonight to see if he's still there...
Honestly, this scene from Toy Story still kills me:
I couldn't even finish watching it today... Makes me want to go home and dig out Georgia Carmen and Heart to Heart Bear, safely packed away in (the one box) I've got stored in the basement...
So much for being two hours early!
Today was the Forest City Road Race!
It started out, as dad would have said, as a "terribly nasty day," looking gray and chill with a 95% chance of rain. Orange, his orangey siblings and I were all up at dawn's crack to make the 90 minute drive to the start line. Our plan was to get an early start because none of us really had any idea where we were headed, what the parking situation was, etc. Being Sunday, it was hard to clear the cobwebs and get going in time to complete my usual pre-race check list (shower, coffee in a housecoat, dress, water, oatmeal, water, max and relax, banana, etc.) so after a lightning round in the tub and some terrible 2-minute oatmeal I made the responsible decision to buy Timbits for breakfast.
One cup of terrible coffee, two sour cream glaze, and a raging tummy ache later we arrived at the registration desk to pick up our bibs, timing chips, and free duffel bag swag. Being 2-hours early, Race Lady had very little information for us beyond "exit through the left side of the tent" so we dropped our goodies back at the car, strapped on our chips and waited patiently at the presumed starting gate for our race time. While cheering on the 1/2 marathoners and giggling at the sweet fun-runners we heard the commentator on the load speaker finally announce "five minutes to the 10km gun-time." So we readied our ear buds and double checked our laces...
...
...
But where were the other runners? Race Lady hadn't said there was another starting gate, and we were standing in front of the big blow-up arch with the words "start/finish" painted on it... For Pete's sake, even the 1km fun runners had started/finished here! Where were the other 500 some odd runners?
It was the mass-exodus of spectators congregating at the far end of the park that tipped us off. We hauled cheek but the gun blasted well before we could eek our way into the crowd so it was an awkward kick-ball-chain into the dashing pack. So much for being 2 hours early!
And for the record, Race Lady's toolkit of "important" tidbits should include not only the location of the elusive start-gate but the topography of the course--the entire thing was uphill! And not just slight lumps and bumps, we're talking entire mountainous kilometers. A little forewarning, please!
p.s. PB, folks, PB--56:04 (gun time)! And our wee Orange, new to the running world, was a super kid at 1:04!
Thanks, Fingers!
While I loves me some Passive Aggressive Notes, Awful Library Books, and Garfield Minus Garfield, I like to vary my procrastination and feeding my online addictions is the perfect way to achieve this balance. Variety, after all, is the spice of life. So a great big "thanks" goes out to Fingers for bringing me this new dollop of goodness:
I'm assuming it was unearthed via CBC radio (not so awesome) but I'm choosing to ignore this malignancy and celebrate what Neil Pasricha calls "a time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things." It kind of reminds me of Happiness is a Warm Puppy, the Charlie Brown classic that in itself nursed me through many a black raincloud, including some classic pearls of wisdom as "Happiness is a folded over bread and butter sandwich." Genius.
I am totally and completely guilty of focusing far too much on the negative in life. So it's about time I stopped to celebrate the good things, like opening and sniffing a pack of tennis balls, high tens, and using Q-Tips the way you’re not supposed to use them.
Just do eet, okay?
You know you're old when...
The litter's been cleaned and the house has been prettied and you declare it's time to put on your party shoes and show the senior citizen across the hall what a real card party is like!
I played hostess to the girls this evening. We made lasagna, salad, buttered fresh rolls, and polished off Poo's homemade cupcakes. And of course Fingers brought her lady cards... Overall, 'twas a good night (it helped we kicked euchre butters, but I always knew Free Samples was a cheater...)
At one point we made our way to Baskin and Robbins for $0.31 scoops but the line up was out the door and around the building and we quickly declared "b@lls" on the wait. So we trooped into Westdale for TCBY. On our way back to the car with our soft serve parfaits we tsk-tsked the keg party raging at a nearby student house. It was 8:00 pm and they were funneling on the front lawn, for heaven's sake! And there was rap music playing! At one point I might even have commented on the explicitness of the lyrics...
*shakes head*
You'd think I was 31...
When I start complaining about property tax, discussing breast feeding in public, or join Orange's war against the raccoon's I've officially crossed the line and might as well start taking the early bird special and cashing in my CPP.
Hey, MMM...
Can I stop pretending I don't read your blog and add you to the Peeps list, for heaven's sake?
Sheesh.
FYI: If it's any consolation, I had to Google "sheesh" so I could spell it properly... I'm sure I know your 13-month old is smarter than I am, too...
Next time I'll drive to Japan.
It was a long overdue dinner date with Susie tonight, not only because... Well... It was long overdue, but because her fur baby, Gus-six-fingers, was on the lamb.
So we agreed to go for sushi, an easy decision being that a) Susie is a vegetarian and b) I heart sushi. I'm partial to Kampai (or "Toms'" as we call it in the Library Lady household), where dad was referred to as "no salmon" because he was allergic and they always remembered. But Susie is more worldly in her sushi tastes, and directed me to a relatively new all-you-can eat place called Sushi To Go. I was game. More sushi = yum in my tum.
Side note: For those of you a few hand rolls short of a sashimi platter, sushi is a relatively easy meal to prepare once ordered, as most of the prep-work is done long before hand, i.e. slicing of the fish, cooking of the rice, etc. Once ordered it's just a matter of putting a square piece of one thing on top of a flat piece of another thing and voila! Library Lady is one step closer to a full tummy.
At an all-you-can-eat place you basically order what you like up front and/or throughout the meal, and generally they deliver bits and pieces as it's readied, making the already quick process even quicker. Pieces are somewhat smaller, so if you're ballsy and order off the bat like Susie (seaweed salad, two avocado and cucumber rolls, a veggie dragon roll, a yam tempura roll, salmon sashimi, two bean curd rolls, two tamago, etc.) you don't have to worry you're getting an obscene amount of food. Japanese is not Chinese.
Sushi To Go? Um, not so much. More like 'Sushi To Stay And Grow Old With'. Someone seriously mistranslated the English meaning for "to go". While the food was tasty, it took 30 minutes for us to get our first items, all of which were delivered to me. They had no interest in putting food in front of Susie, to the point that when they did manage to find us in the 15 square foot restaurant, they kept moving my edamame and chicken skewers to make room for her mango tempura (FYI, I don't eat fried mango nor any type of sushi that includes mayo in the list of ingredients...)
While some of the delay could be chalked up to the two other tables of eaters, both of whom appeared to have ordered one of everything on the menu, there was no clear reason why they had so much difficulty with our food. At one point they delivered udon... No one wanted udon. Susie just wanted her tempura fried banana and mint chocolate ice cream. And I don't blame her. At this point I'd given up and was resigned to milk and cookies with Bert.
The weirdest part? We got up to pay our bills and in walked Jerry Jacks from General Hospital--or that is, in walked the actor who played him. While I wouldn't have blinked twice, Susie knew him from hello because her mom is an addict. My fingers did the talking when I got home, and yup... Wikipedia confirmed it. What he was doing at Sushi For People Who Have Four Hours to Waste in downtown Hammer, I'm not sure.
Susie--thank you for the yummy, blogworthy experience! Keep me posted on Gus... I'm sure he's on a kibbutz somewhere rethinking his life decisions. And should anyone out there find a six toed cat missing a pair of furry pants (half his @ss was shaved after a recent surgery...), send him our way. He's dearly missed.
[[[hugs]]]
How much do I want one of THESE?!
For reference, I'm not talking about the thing to put my quad in, because I don't own one quad let alone many quads that would require a whatzit to pull them in, but the groovy sleep container thingy-ma-who.
*scuffs toe*
Just in case you're interested...
But be prepared because after this summer's golf lesson's I'll be kicking butters with every intention of taking home the trophy.
Yeah, that's right... There's a trophy.
For details, click HERE.
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