I'm Running Low on Creative Titles...Maybe I Should Brainstorm.

Took today off school to study. I got lots done actually. I know, I'm surprised too!

The bunny was back today. I was worried maybe we had fed him too much, that he was too fat to flee the neighbourhood cat. But I guess he's just been avoiding Winnie.

I made a curried tuna and greenpepper melt for lunch. It would be better if we had a sandwhich press. Of course, a lot of things would be better, if only we had a sandwhich press. No one can be sad while grillin' paninnis. Even if it burns little Hello Kittys into your perfectly nice bread...

I picked Geoff up from school, and we invented a drinking game to play in the car. Everytime you see a bald person, a hitch-hiker, or a licence plate that spells a word, you have to drink. Not to worry, we were only drinking apple juice. I know it is illegal to drink and then drive, and I'm pretty sure that covers drinking while driving. Not to mention we're both underage. Hence the apple juice. As Geoffrey says "Just because we can't drink, doesn't mean we can't play drinking games!" On another note, there were a surprising number of bald men out driving at 3:40 this afternoon...

Whew!

Okay, hold on children and get ready for some sporadic posting. I'm settling in for IB exams and probably won't be writing too much.

Sue's out of the hospital, she should be back to normal in about three weeks! Woohoo!

My parents, Geoff and I went to see an amature production of The Importance of Being Ernest put on by the Dartmouth Players last Saturday. It was overall not bad. Lady Bracknell and Algernon were fantastic, the two girls were pretty good, the minor characters passable and Jack sucked. Well, his physical comedy and acting was okay. It's just he had a bit of a lisp and since he was trying to speak in a British accent no one could understand what he was saying, so some of the best lines were lost. We all felt sort of bad for him actually.

Birthday

Today was M.C's birthday, legally an adult! Oh our little Yobaby, you're all grown up now, what ever shall we do?
I was forced by M.C. to sit in the front row during Chem class today. Originally I had promised that I would, thinking that we would't have Chem that day.
Turns out I was mistaken. In the end, I was so close to Mr.Beazely I was practically looking up his nose the entire class. Ah well. What goes around comes around! Hehehe...
I only have around seven days of highschool left! Then exams, and then done forever! I'll be free, free as a bird!
At least until September. But I'm looking forward to university, so it's all good on that front.

Flying Pigs

It would appear that the degree of my distraction in regards to studying increases proportionally as the start of exams approaches. The following is a record of my thought process while M.C. was studying math and I was supposed to be studying chem.

When pigs figure out the whole flying thing, I imagine a lot of crazy things will start to happen, and there will be certain folks who will lose rather large sums of money.
I don't see why people feel so secure betting against it. As far as I'm concerned, it's only a matter of time before they're airborne.
For instance: experts maintain that your average pot bellied pig is smarter than your average canine, and yet dogs have been to space.
So why have our porcine friends yet to make he leap? The way I see it, they've heard that the only thing on the moon is a bunch of rocks and a nice view. Not to mention you have to survive on astronaut food. *shudder*
As for aeroplanes, I submit to you that the day domesticated animals (apart from two-year-olds; they seem to have had a good lawyer and got ahead of the others) are permitted to buy first class tickets like the rest of us will be they day pigs start to fly.

Dashboard Confessional

Just recently discovered this band. I really like them so far. We'll see what I think after a month of their music, that's the true test of a band in my books.

I particularly like "Stolen". And Chris Carrabba is pretty good looking too (As those of you with eyes can see. Everyone else will just have to take my word for it.).

I spent today studying Bio. There's so much, I'm going to need bifocals before exams start next month! Hehe...picturing myself with glasses like Prof. Trelawney...I'm not really sure where this whole H.P. theme seems to be coming from. I haven't even read the last book...

Magical Bike Lanes

Okay, explanation: the bike lanes in Halifax have only been painted on in the last couple of years, and only in certain places. They also end randomly. One minute there's a bike lane, the next minute there isn't. So my family jokes that they were designed with Harry Potter in mind. And this is my mental picture whenever it comes up. I love how they're on a double bike, haha. Just thought I'd share!
Sue's opperation went well, it's going to be six weeks before we actually know what was making her sick, but she should be out of the hospital in two weeks or so(right now she's pretty dopey on painkillers). She claims it will only be a week and a half, but we'll see.
And her boyfriend passes inspection. Although the nice, civilized conversation we had wasn't nearly as much fun as my imagined interview would have been. (see previous post)
School was blah today for the most part. We finished syllabus for Bio. Also, C.C. and A.M. and I went on an adventure to Sobeys, the Gingerbread House and Schooner Books. A.M. had to drop off some food bank donations, and when we walked into Sobeys with a bulging black bag, people looked at us like we'd stuffed a dead contortionist in there and were looking for a place to stash the body.



This was my favourite movie when I was little. I knew all the songs, and I must have rented it a million times. Today we found a copy of the book in Schooner's for only $3!!! I was so excited!

Interviews and Interrogations

Sue is being brought up to the QE II tomorrow. I think they plan to opperate on Friday. Her parents are going to stay with us for a couple of days, and I think her boyfriend Ian is as well. We haven't met him before, so this is my chance to make sure he's okay...
Livi to Ian: What's your family history? Do you drink? Do you smoke? Where do you work? How long have you been working there? What are your prospects for advancement?
Ian: Uh...
Livi: Are you right or left handed? Do you have any allergies? Any pets? Any weaknesses? What's your credit score?
Ian: Uh...
Livi: Are you wearing matching socks? What's your credit card number and it's expiry date? What was the middle name of your paternal great grandmother? Do you drive? Do you have any outstanding fines or tickets? Have you ever been to jail?
Ian: I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE! *runs screaming from the house* SUSANNE! SAVE ME FROM YOUR CRAZY COUSIN THE INTERROGATOR!
Livi: Heh heh heh...he lasted longer than most. I give him an A+!

At least, this is how things would happen if my life was a comic strip. Sometimes I can't tell the difference. To Sue: I'm sure he's lovely, just looking out for ya!

Hey Children, I'm Back.

And it's been rather longer than I intended. My appologies.
I do have a pretty good excuse. My grandma died on Monday. Hence that being the last time I posted anything. Funeral planning and family things take up rather a lot of time.

While cleaning out her apartement, I found a diary of hers. The entries read as follows: "Washed curtains today. Baby is feeling better. Went to bingo. Didn't win."
The last two lines were repeated almost every day. It made me smile though, because in the curtness of her writing I could hear her voice and mannerisms. Then it made me cry.

I learned more about my grandparents and their families in that one week than I had in my entire lifetime. We found old photos and letters. Everything made me wish they were still here so I could ask them questions.

It's kind of ironic looking back. Remember how I said that when I visited her it was like she was saying goodbye? She was, and none of us knew it. The last thing she said to me was "Did you get your graduation gown yet? You'll look very nice."

She left me her sewing machine. It's a Bernina 530-2. It was the best sewing machine of it's time...which just happened to be the 1960s. But it reminds me of her, and I would love it for that reason alone. It's also got a great story.



When my dad was only little, Grandma was offered the chance to be a contestant on a television gameshow in Toronto. Her whole family watched her win the little green sewing machine on t.v. In the case there's still a copy of the letter which says
that she had been accepted to participate. I thought that was pretty cool.

And my Winnie is home. In case you were wondering. (I know you were!)

Last Day of the Long Weekend

No Binu today. I put out carrots but he never came, which is odd. Not only is he a little chubby, he's also a little piggy. He likes broccoli in particular. Maybe he has a tummy ache from all that rich food.
Other than that, my day was slow. My parents went back down to Antigonish for the day. My dog is still in Mahone Bay. They said what with all this turmoil we should be able to pack up and leave any day, so it's better for Winnie to stay down there for the time being. I miss her though.
Wow, this blog is depressing... I did try a new recepie today:
Curried Shrimp with Rice


It was okay, but I found it was a lot of prep for what resulted. Here's the link though, if you're interested: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/curried-rice-shrimp-00000000006830/index.html

Easter in the South Shore

Reunion

We saw Binu again this morning. He took one look at me and came running...or hopping. Whichever is preferable. I went to get him a carrot and he followed me right to the door. Very cute, he's like our own little Easter Bunny!

Today was the day we went down to see Grammy Marg. She had a blood transfusion because the cancer is progressing faster than they originally thought, but it made her feel better. Her breathing's not so good but she was lively enough. We also saw my cousin Sue, who's in the same hospital. She's 18 like me, and has something on her pancreas that's making her sick. It could be anything from pancreatic cancer to a pancreatic pimple. Either way, they're bringing her up to Halifax on Wednesday to give her the test results and have 'it' surgically removed.

Three of Grandma's sisters, Pat, Teecee and Betty were down to visit. It was nice to see them again, I don't think I've seen all three of them since Grandpa's funeral.

Also my aunt Elaine and uncle Dan drove down from Kitchener. They brought my cousin Matt as a surprise too.

Even my cousin Erica and her husband Rob came down from Cape Bretton for the day. Erica's pregnant, due in only seven weeks! This will be the first baby in the family since Geoffrey was born.

Anyway, Grandma's pretty sick, but she was really happy to see all of us. Here's the first conversation between her and her sisters:
Marg: What are you all doing here, you think I'm dying?
Pat: No, of course not!
Marg: Well, I am you know!
Pat: Uh...Aren't we all?
To you, this might sound like a crotchety old lady. To us, it means Grandma's having a good day. It's when she gets all complacent and quiet that's when we really start to worry.

The worst part was when we all said goodbye. She was really tired at this point, so she made it sound like we weren't going to see her again. It was horrible.

The best way I can describe this feeling, for those who haven't lost a family member before is this: imagine you are a satalite in the middle of dark space, just floating. All around you are other satalites. Some are close, so you can see their lights really brightly. Others are far away, only the faintest twinkle. But it's through these little bleeps and blinkings of those surrounding you that you know where you are in the universe. Like echo location. Each little signal you send out is returned. But then one of the satalites blinks out, and your signals aren't bouncing back, and suddonly you aren't sure where the hell you are or which way is up. It's pretty scarey.

I'm glad I'm going to get my dog back tomorrow. She's always happy, and we need that around our house, with all this talk of death and funerals.

Binu

This is the bunny who lives under our back deck. We think he's someone's escaped pet. He certainly seemed to be no stranger to carrots, the way he came a running. We named him Binu, which means happy in Sanskrit. It's also the name of this cute little stuffed animal in a childrens cartoon. Geoffrey wanted to name him Minou, but I said that would be kind of like naming your child Axe Murderer. Minou is French for kitty.

Hello Fools. Happy April.

Ahem. Next to Halloween, April Fool's Day has got to be one of my favourite holidays. And it's not just pranking others. I enjoy having a good joke played at my expense too.
Today I rigged the faucet on the kitchen sink to squirt people when they turned on the water. I got each member of my family at least once (And myself twice. I don't want to talk about it.) None of them would fix it because they wanted to get everyone else, so it stayed set up all day.
I also covered the signalling device on the remotes with a bit of sticky tack. My father threw out two sets of batteries before finally figuring it out, haha.
I covered the lid of the shampoo bottles with seran-wrap, moved the shower head so it squirted people when they turned on the water, and died the hand soap a lovely green using food colouring.
But my masterpiece, born from my diabolical mind was the purelle I took to school. It had copious amounts of green food colouring in it. I kept telling people it was extra strength. With the help of J.Y and A.L, we got M.C, several other students, our math teacher, our french teacher, our english teacher, and more! Each of them spent the day with slightly greenish hands. Genious, right?
And the only prank played on me was when my father honeyed my doorknob. Sigh.
All in all though, a great success. Thanks to all for being such great sports!