Vasso's Cat

My grandma's still in the hospital, but my mother and father went down to visit her yesterday, and they said her spirits are up. She's pretty weak, but feeling a little better now that she doesn't have to take care of herself. We're thinking of having her moved to the QEII if at all possible. That way she would be closer to specialists and us. And three of her sisters are coming from various parts of the country to visit her. That will make her really happy, I know she misses them a lot.

Today my mother and I went to pick up my prom dress from Vasso, the lady who's hemming it for us, only to find out that we're supposed to pick it up next week. Whoops. Imagine, we were a week early and she didn't have it finished... did get to meet her cat though. He's large and white with black patches. My brother says he's flabby, but I think he's cute. I forgot to ask Vasso what his name is, but he was sitting in her sewing chair and licking his paws and looking kingly. I love cats. Too bad they make me sneeze.

The picture is an original sketch of Vasso's cat sewing my prom dress while she sleeps. Like the Elves and the Shoemaker!

Just a Quick Note

In response to my post Project Lucidity: Geoffrey got an A-!!!!! He would have gotten an A, but he forgot to make a table of contents for his write-up. I'm so proud! I bought him an iced hotchocolate to celebrate.

The Enemy from Within

You remeber my post Family Visits? How I wrote that my grammy Marg was really weak and just generally unwell?

We just got a call from her doctor. She has acute leukemia. The doctor gives her about a month to live.

She's in the hospital now, although she hasn't been told the full extent of her illness. They're not going to even try chemo. The doctor said that in this case the cure would kill her faster and more cruelly than the disease.

I remember how I used to visit her when I was little. She was always up for play-pretend, hide-and-go-seek, and dress-up, always had some new toy for me and my cousins to share. She made me a doll house all by herself. It's really beautiful, the dolls are home-made and everything. She even introduced me to sour-cream-and-onion chips, and I'm the only other person in our family who likes them.

I just can't believe that a woman who was so much a part of my childhood, so much a part of who I am, won't be there anymore. She's always been really strong, even though she hasn't lived the healthiest life. The woman had a heart-attack and drove herself to the hospital.

And now we near the end. What is eating her up is from the inside, and can't be brushed off or pushed through. Her very cells are killing her slowly, like kryptonite to superman. I cry just thinking about it. How scared she must be, overwhelmed, confused. I'm glad we're going to visit her soon. I just want to hug her again, like when I was a little girl.

She used to sing me to sleep with 'My Darling Clementine'. I had forgotten that, until today. . .

My Solitary Earth Hour

The Rebellion

Just when you thought being home alone couldn't get creepier....dun dun duuunnn....
My parents and Geoff left me today. They're taking my dog down to stay with Grandma for the weekend.

Normally being home alone is fine. Except when i's dark. And all the household appliances are rebelling. First it was the dishwasher, although that could be because my father accidentially dumped a can of paint in it. Then today the thermostat, washing machine and vaccume cleaner all simultaneously bit the dust.
Not to mention the cable's out so all I get is that fuzzy snow when I turn on the tv.

So...if I go missing? You know what got me. I'm sure they're in the other room, planning their attack...

Wait, what was that? OH MY GOD HERE THEY COME! AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH....

That's right children. Household appliances: worse than zombies. Ever tried to cut the head off a rampaging washing machine? Not so easy.

Back at School. . . sigh

School and I have an uneasy relationship. I do my assignments on time, and I don't get burried under mountains of homework. School gives me several breakes throughout the year, and I refrain from whineing constantly. Hmmm. . . who's winning here?

Today was your usual day. Class after class filled with the sleep inducing drone of teachers trying their very hardest to make sure that certain points on the curriculum are seared forever in our memories. Or at least untill exams are over.

Your frees are the time when you are expected to prepare to put these little nuggets of information to good use in the form of essays, presentations, orals, tests, quizes and of course the dreaded IB exams.

I probably don't use the time as well as I should. My frees are usually spent reading, socializing, occasionally cramming and, more often than not, distracting M.C. from her German homework.

Today we discovered that we both feel that Natasha in War and Peace should have just married Andre. I mean, he was a very honourable, kind, (not to mention studly) Russian. It's not that hard to reach the conclusion that he is way better than Pierre or that other dude. I was ever so slightly consoled when I learned that Audrey Hepburn married the actor who played Andre in real life. But still.

I picked Geoffie up from school today. Our ride home included the decision that bullfrog should be used as a verb, and that professor Snape slaps people when he introduces himself. "Call me Snape. On the other hand...*slap*"

The best part of my day was when Geoff did this impression of Miley Sirus/Hannah Montanna as The Hulk.
Hannah Montanna: "I'm starting to feel musical. You won't like me when I'm musical!"
Rips her face off. Underneath is Miley, singing 'Party in the USA'.
This is probably only funny when done with the voice of a fifteen year old boy trying to mimic her and experiencing the phenominon known as 'the voice crack'.

On a completely different note, I was listening to CBC the other day (I know, I know. Not my first choice either.) and they were interviewing this mortician's assistant. He described the process of sorting through bones after cremation as soothing and meditative. He also said that trying to dress a corpse is like trying to put a sweater on a tree. Not the easiest thing in the owrld.

I thought this was funny. Everyone else in the car thought it was morbid. Clearly my sense of humour has a dark side...

Oh. My. Goodness.

http://www.giftsforageek.com/designs/chemistry_geek

I have no words to describe the joy this brought to my life. I want them all.

At Last

I've been working on this painting for two years now. It doesn't look all that complex, but a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it's completion.

I learned, for instance, that the only purple you can mix using red and blue is this dusty wilted mauve, and any other shade you have to buy (which, eventually, I did).
I learned that gold paint is rediculously expensive, and that it's cheaper to buy a gold paint pen used for decorating christmas ornaments(which, eventually, I did).

The painting is titled 'The Superstition Mountains' after a mountain range in Arizona. I haven't been many places, but I was surprised at how intune people there seem to be with the natural world.

Of note: If you rotate it 180 degrees (or pi radians, I think. A curse on standard level math!) the mountains become orange and the sky becomes red. I thought it was kind of cool. :)

University

I went on my first and last university tour yesterday afternoon at Dalhousie in Halifax. I'm sold.
The tour / presentation was over four hours long. I felt like I wanted to see more, and was never once bored. Which is increadible for someone with the attention span of a goldfish.
I am really comfortable there, not to mention I know the campus pretty well so I won't need to rely as much on a map the first week. And Dalplex has a climbing wall. And there's a sailing team. Enough said.

Crazy Things Happen When Generations Collide

My Grammy Ev called last night to cancel our early morning excursion to Truro. So naturally, I decided this would be the night I'd stay up super late and watch a movie on tv.
The movie was pretty good actually, called Plain Truth. It was about this Amish woman who is accused of murdering her baby. I won't give anything else away, but the ending surprised me.
Anyway, it ended around 1:00 am, and I rolled into bed somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00. I wake at 7:30 after a mere 5 1/2 hours of sleep( but who's counting?), to my mother yelling 'Time to get up, your grandmother gets here in an hour!"
Despite the questionable start to the day, it went pretty well overall.
We saw some police officers in Tims (of course) who just came from a crash scene. My grandmother, who is unbelievably irreverent at times, mutters under her breath "I don't know what I'd do after peeling a body off the pavement, but it sure wouldn't be stop at Tims for a jelly doughnut!" I wanted to die. And laugh. Mostly just die.
On the highway we were almost creamed by a CBC van. At least they would have been first on the scene of the crash...
Then there was the passive agressive woman who hates her husband and buys him ladies pants in order to get even. We met her in Margolians.
And my mother, who went to the men departement to see "what they have in for young men." This sentence look benign to you? Look again. She assured us she meant clothes, not men, much to the ammusement of the rather good looking boy behind the counter. Another die/laugh/die moment.
But Mom got a jacket, Grams got a wallet, and I got a pair of $15 shoes. Not to mention spending time with the golden girls which is, as they say, priceless.

The Chocolate Cake

If I ever had to challange Cake Boss to a bake-off, this would be my cake of choice. Buddy would have nothing on this one, especially if time was a factor in the contest. (My favourite part, it all just gets dumped in one mixing bowl. Not much easier than that.)

Whenever I've made this for bakesales, people have begged for the recepie. So here tis.

Chocolate Cake:

Measure into a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups of white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cups all purpose white flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
1 tsp. salt (I usually leave this out, with no harmfull side-effects)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk (I sometimes use Carnation instant: little more than 1/3 cup of the powder, fill the rest of the 1 1/2 cups with water and add 1-2 tbsp. white vinegar)
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend 'em all together. Beat at medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Pour into greased Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 30-35 minutes. Test with a tooth pick (it should come out clean when the cake is done). You can also make cupcakes, I know we've done it before, but I'm not sure how long you bake for.

Icing:
Not really much of a recepie. Just melt 3-4 tbsp. of margarine in the microwave, add a comparable amount of cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Add a cup to a cup and a half of icing sugar and just enough milk to make it easier to work with. Add 2 or 3 drops of peppermint extract(optional). Heat a little in the microwave until it's warm and runny, then pour it over the cooled cake like a glaze. If you add too much icing sugar, add more milk; if you add too much milk, add more icing sugar. Easy peasy.

I believe this recepie originally belonged to a friend of a friend of my mother's, Sheila Fournier. Credit where credit is due!
Enjoy!

A Long Time Coming

For those of you who didn't know, Little Mosque on the Prairie was on tonight. For those of you who didn't watch, Amaar and Rayaan confessed that they love each other. For those of you who don't know me, I jumped out of my chair so fast I knocked it over and ran screeching down the hallway. For those who haven't caught on, I'm a big fan and this has been a long time coming.

And for those who don't care let me just say this: everyone deserves to find love, even fictional charactors from a fictional town in a fictional province(...no, wait, that's Saskatchewan) in a semi-obscure T.V. show.

Okay, I'm done ranting now. Just thought I'd share the excitement! :) :) :)

Forest Politics

When I was a little girl at the time of year ideal for brush burning, my mother says I would practically chain myself to any dead or dying tree my father wanted to cut down. Nothing they said about the 'health of the forest' could persuade me that the tree wouldn't mind being killed. I told them that the same argument could be used to justify yearly murdering several hundred people. Yes, they die. But those who survive will be much happier with greater access to resources, so it was for the good of all. I remember crying a lot in the early spring and late fall of every year. Things such as tree funerals and slamming bedroom doors were common place.

I'm a little less dramatic now. I get the whole health of the forest thing, although it still bugs me when they want to cut down a hemlock because it's deformed and ugly. And it really bugs me when they build the brush fire on top of the root system of a nearby, perfectly healthy maple which subsequently dies. But they make consessions to soothe the angry mob. They promissed to plant some birch saplings to take the place of those they cut down. So I am pacified.

Family Visits

I never really stress about getting old. It doesn't strike me as the tragedy that many make it out to be. But when I visited Antigonish, I saw my grandmother for the first time since she left the hospital and I thought "I don't want to get old like that."
She's hardly mobile. I'm terrified one of these days she's going to kill herself trying to get up the two flights of stairs to apartement. She's never been particularly organized, but now she's so scatterbrained. She's forgetting to take her pills, and when her next doctor's appointment is. Last year she forgot my dad's birthday, and she's not eating. She refuses to call her doctor.
Her children treat her like she's a child. All through the visit I kept hearing the adults muttering things like 'second opinion' and 'in home care'.
I hate the thought that I might be like that by 75. When I go, I want to go kicking.

Prom Shoes?

So, these are possibles for prom shoes(yes, I was too lazy to rotate the picute...maybe tomorrow?): I have to practice walking in them to make sure I don't kill myself and take anyone around me out too. Today was really fun, although I was the only one to actually buy anything (I got a cute dress for Josh and Jill's wedding in July too!). I'm sitting here on my bedroom floor writing this. Normally I would use my desk, but it's burried under mountains of paperwork which I'm trying reaaaalllly hard to ignore. I'd probably have to send in search and rescue to locate it. I managed to clear off a space to take a pic of the shoes. The moved pile is now sitting under my laptop. On the floor. I tried the tea-beet thing again today, except with cold tea this time. Live and learn, my friends! I don't think it's really making any difference, so I'm quitting it. Blah Blah Blah MY BORING LIFE. :)

Going to visit my grandmother/aunt/uncle/cousins in Antigonish tomorrow, will let you know how that went whether you want to or not! Haha! You must read what I write, you have no choice WAHAHAHAHA!

Ahem. I think I should probably go to bed now, don't you? Yes, this is definately a solid plan of action. Or inaction. Whichever you prefer.

The Dishwasher Conspiracy

We finally got our new dishwasher installed after our old one bit the dust sometime in the last two weeks. Mother is quite attached already (she hates washing dishes). She named it Doris. Doris the Dishwasher. Not my idea, but at least there's alliteration. Also, while walking Winnie (hehe, more alliteration!), I saw at least three dishwashers (and one stove) being thrown away. Therefore there is a conspiracy. After consulting an expert in this field, young Geoffrey, I have come to the conclusion that all outstanding warranties expired last week, allowing every appliance whose coverage has terminated to self distruct.
I blame UFOs for this travesty of justice and buyer security. It's the only logical explanation you see.

Plus our new dishwasher makes frog-like noises instead of a comforting hum. If that's not proof of an alien invasion, I don't know what is.

Project Lucidity

Yes, I know it sounds like a project about drugs. But it's actually Geoff's science fair project, not on LSD, but on lucid dreaming. Normally, when you recognize that you are dreaming, you wake up immediately. However, you can train yourself to stay asleep and thus control your dreams. Geoffie got a bunch of his friends to keep dream journals and everything. I'm so proud!

Tonight was the last presentation. Each student gets judged by six adults, so keep your fingers crossed!

My Prom Dress

Here's ma prom dress! I'm really rather excited.

Beet Juice Tea

It turns out that for the first time in MONTHS we are out of cranberry juice. And I have no car today.
So I googled it, and found an excellent recepie for naturally enhancing red hair. You steep hibiscus tea in 1 cup of water for two minutes. We didn't have actual hibiscus tea, but I found some orange and licorice herbal tea waaaaay at the back of our cubboard that had hibiscus in it. Close enough! I'm not sure how long it's been there, but I figure tea doesn't really go bad.
Then you add a couple tbs of red beet juice, which we did have.
I had to pour out my brother's hair gel in order to find a squirt bottle. He doesn't really need it anyway.
Then you just squirt/pour it over your head and go sit in the sun til it dries. Then wash and presto!
Not sure if it worked, but it was pretty fun, and now my hair smells mmm like orange tea.
* a note if anyone decides to try this: wait for the tea to cool before pouring it over your head! I think I boiled the back of my brain....whoops....

Me Eggs

Yes folks, I actually did it. Forget for a moment that I don't particularly like eggs.

They weren't half bad either, although I think I added too much milk (considering my hand slipped and I poured around three tbs into the bowl instead of one)

And, you should all be very proud, because I actually looked up a recipe and followed it! (except for the milk part, but this was beyond my controll) For those who don't know, my usual cooking style is "I wonder what it would taste like if I added some of this?". The results vary from delicious (cheesecake brownies and kimchi stirfry) to disasterous (kimchi-cheddar risotto. with ham. only the dog would eat it, haha)

A First

So....yeah....
Not the most auspicious start, but we'll run with it. It's now after 11:30 pm on March Break. Everyone else is sleeping.
I feel like this is where the horror movie soundtrack should kick in. Unfortunately, I'm technologically handicapped, so I'm not even sure if that's possible...something to ask, I guess.
For tomorrow, plans are more firsts. Hey, gotta keep the brain from turning to mush somehow!
So, I'm going to try making scrambled eggs (Wild, right?), and washing my hair with cranberry juice (I'm a redhead. Don't ask. Or ask. Whichever you prefer.).
On second thought, maybe my brain is already mush. Not necesarily a bad thing. The dog will enjoy having someone at her level, and I won't have to write I.B. exams!
I am looking forward to Friday. Me and some girls are going shoe shopping for prom. Normally I don't mind shopping, but in a group? It's a blast. You should try it sometime. No seriously.