November Update

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?


Books: The Reformer (Palm)
Stalking the Unicorn (iPod)
1635: Canon Laws (started)
Black Ice (started)
Cleared out the periodicals pile to <10 from >30!



What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

Usual network TV, nothing new to report there.
Loads of election coverage.

New movies: Quantum of Solace (Meh at best, far from the best Bond film out there...)
Wall-E (Fun, but I don't think I'd watch it again)
88 Minutes (Fairly predictable thriller, but worth watching)




What special days did I celebrate and how?



Election Day! Sadly, as it turns out, I went to bed about 10 minutes before they officially projected B. Obama's win. In my defense, I'd been up half the night before. See the last question for what's been keeping me up at nights!

Thanksgiving we had Michelle over and did my version of a full Turkey Day Dinner: Ham, peas, carrots, corn, beans, scalloped cheesy potatos and jellied salad. Brian made apple pie for dessert and turned down my offer to get him a pumpkin pie.



What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Bought lots of Christmas gifts, but haven't given any.


What illnesses or health concerns did I have?


All dental, all month. Final update from the dentist now that I've had a full evaluation is that I need two more small fillings. I'm holding off on them until January when I can use the Flex Plan at work to cover my half of it... Both the dentist and I were pleased and surprised by how little else I need.




What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
For the fun stuff, read my other entries! :)




What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?


New italian place in NYC with Neal and Tina. Three thumbs up!
Brian made a new pan-less apple pie recipe for Thanksgiving that turned out fabulous!




What special or unusual purchases did I make?



A new Airport Extreme. Our old router was dying the death of 5x/day resets and it was time for a new one. With the Extreme, I can print wirelessly and connect an external hard drive to automate our backups so they actually get done more frequently!
As mentioned earler, lots of presents, but I'm not telling what I bought!
Also, I bought a funky audio cable and rewired our home entertainment system. That little $15 cable has given our TV a new lease on life! While we were at Disney we were (presumably) hit by lightning. The power bar did it's job, and the only ill effect was it blew the speaker in the TV. I'm not going to complain about that! By figuring out how to rewire the sound from the cable box through the DVD player, we now have clean sound again and didn't have to buy a new TV. Man they've gotten expensive! Besides, I'd already spent any possible TV money on the dentists!





What were this month's disappointments?


Dealing with a very reputable website who turned out to have horrific customer (dis)service when they shipped me the wrong item instead of the 4 gifts I've ordered for neices and nephews. The right things had BETTER get here in time for me to ship them home to Canada for Christmas!



What were my accomplishments this month?


I hope I've overcome the worst of my dentist phobia. This new one is great, takes his time, and makes sure I'm completely frozen. Between that, and the Xanax, it's so very much better than any of my past experiences!
Oh, and I got a pretty good job review.

Anything else to share?

We're going to be moving. We're having to deal with the delightful legal system here in trying to get the court's permission to break our lease without having to pay penalties. Given that the reason we want to break the lease is the new owner's complete refusal to do anything effective about the squirrels in the roof over us, we expect to win, it's just going to take a bit more time. They've definately broken the Warrant of Habitability, so we've a solid case, and we documented all our concerns in writing with signature required and they've had 10 weeks to deal with it. So we're covered at least! We're pretty sure we know where we want to move to. It'll be a much longer drive for both of us, but it's a huge place and we're both really excited about it. Full townhouse with garage, two bedrooms and front and back yards! Everyone keep your fingers crossed for us! Now we just need permission to give our 60 day notice and we'll be getting out of here!



Squeeeeeee!

It's snowing out!

Has it really been less than a week?

So, to recap the last week, it's been busier even than normal for us!

Sunday we headed into the city and went to the American Museum of Natural History to use our Space tickets we'd gotten when we signed up for our membership. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to use them, they expire Dec. 4th! Then we met up with our friends Tina and Neal for the real reason for the trip into the city: a talk and signing by Neil Gaiman! We went out to dinner first at a little italian place that turned out to be pretty good. My pasta was excellent, Tina and Neal's pizza was fantastic and we all wanted to steal some of Brian's lasagna... Then off to the talk! I've never been to something like this so I didn't really know what to expect. We had fabulous seats. Third row back and in the center, and although we bought them separately online using the "best available" option, we ended up right next to each other! The talk was awesome and very entertaining. The host (Chip Kidd) was fabulous at his job. He kept it moving and convinced Neil Gaiman to tell some absolutely fabulous stories. Then it was into the signing line. And the real flaw of the organization came through. The signing line started from the rear of the auditorium. Meaning those of us who were great fans and bought our tickets early were stuck at the end of the line. Grrr! We ended up sending Brian home early to catch an earlier train since he had to work early in the morning. But eventually we got to our turn to get things signed, and neither Tina nor I turned into babbling fangirl idiots. I consider that a success! The least said about my train ride home, the better... Overall it was a fabulous day and great experience. I'm very glad we went.

Wednesday was to be my second author talk/signing. Yes, two in one week! Jaime Oliver was going to be at our local Barnes and Noble! This one, sadly, wasn't nearly as good. The tickets were being handed out starting at 4pm. Brian was awesome and traded shifts to get there in time to get tickets for me and Michelle, who was going to come with me. And again, we had fabulous seats. Brian got us tickets number 4 and 5! Unfortunatley, Michelle got sick at work that afternoon and ended up going home and not coming to the signing. It sounds like it was a very nasty bug, so I'm happy she went and took care of herself. Now, where NG's signing was well organized and run, this was the opposite. Whoever does the scheduling for Jamie Oliver thought it would be no problem to get out here from Manhattan in 75 minutes during peak rush hour. Doh! He ended up arriving a little past 8, and because he was running so late, they cancelled the talk portion of the evening, and the autographs were restricted to just autographs. Not even personalized ones like we got from NG. I'm very glad we'd been to that one first so I saw how positive an experience it could be. This one would have sworn me off them otherwise.

Then last night (Friday), Brian got one of his Christmas presents early. I had to give it to him early, since it was tickets to a show, and they would have been useless if I'd waited! We went and saw the Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood show! We saw them a couple of years ago and had a fantastic time of it, so I was really pleased to see they were coming back this way and the tickets were more than affordable. Being Mr. Uncurious that he is, he's known there were tickets that were a gift for him on the bulletin board in an opened envelope for almost 2 months now and had no desire to peak at what they were! No way would I have managed that feat! The show was as phenomenal as we remembered and we both had a great time. We laughed until it hurt and then kept laughing some more! It's all improv comedy, mostly loosely based on games from shows like "Whose Line is it Anyways?". I can't recommend it highly enough!

Then this morning I went back to the dentist again. This time to get the permanent crown put in on the tooth I had the root canal done. It went really well, much better than I had any expectation of. It's never pleasant, but it didn't hurt, and now I should not have any further problems with that tooth. And the problem I'd developed with the other teeth being super sensitive to cold was caused by my "overbrushing". I've got a paste that should help, and am told to brush gentler and it will go much better. This afternoon, since I'm doing much better, we're going out to see Quantum of Solace. We both really want to go see Becky's Choir concert tonight in Mineola, but we're playing it by ear on how I'm feeling. Keep your fingers crossed!

And cue the nightmares

I've had problems with nightmares for years. Never know when a random one will hit, but I know not to do things that will encourage them. Like watch scary movies. I've been teased since I was a teenager that I was such a wuss. And I never cared because the teasing was faaaaaar better than the nightmare. Interestingly, I can read things as freaky as I like and be fine. Even Brian (who loves scary movies, the more intense the better) was pretty freaked out by Neil Gaiman's Sandman and had to stop reading it at bedtime. Me, I ran through the first volume in two nights of bedtime reading and was fine.

So take tonight. I know the root of this dream, at 8:30am, I'll be back at the dentist for the crown.* And tonight I get hit with a dozy of a nightmare. Involving a freaky nasty insane dental surgeon who, amongst other horrors, cuts the tongues from siamese twin girls (about 9 years old). Then, with a proper nice announcer voice saying "meanwhile, in the next operating room over" my dentist is just getting started on me. And has a heart attack. And other surgeon comes in to take over. Thankfully, I woke up at that point. But if you think I can get back to sleep tonight, you're as insane as the freaky guy!

So I'm just going to sit here and catch up on everyone's blogs. Distract myself. And love Percy to death, since it's what he wants me to do anyways!

*And is it just me, or is 8:30am on a Saturday not an inhumane time to have to be at the dentist?

I survived!

I had a root canal this morning and still made it to work by 9am. And best of all, absolutely no ouch. None. In fact, (granted probably due to the drugs) I fell asleep while they were still working on getting my jaw frozen. It's sore this evening, of course, but I'm amazed at how big an improvement this is over past experiences at the dentist. I'll be going back to him without qualm. I'm not looking forward to it at all, but I'm no longer terrified. Which is good because I go back for the crown on the 15th!

Now, if only I can get off the drugs long enough to get some stitching done! I did get Michelle's birthday card done in time for today, but still need to do several other family ones and get them in the mail.

No stitching photo updates, but lots going on

Current project is a gift, so I don't want to give it away. But it's
a HAED design, and it's more than 1/4 finished! I got a lot of work
done on it over the last week or so, and the last quarter should fly
(mostly one colour). In other news, lots of medical visits. They're
looking at a new diagnosis for Brian's sleep disorder, so keep your
fingers crossed for us. I'd *LOVE* to actually have both of us able
to sleep well!

And for me, emergency dental work. Ugh. I have a pretty severe
dental phobia. Make that very severe. To the point I ignore things I
shouldn't. And put them off. But I made a promise to myself that I
was going to deal with it, and put money into our flex plan for next
year towards it. I'm going to try sedation dentistry. Go in, get
knocked out, wake up with everything done. Works for me. It's just
expensive. So the plan was January. Except I've lost a filling. And
I knew this (it was what prompted the soul searching about getting the
dental work done in the first place). But it's become
infected/inflamed/I-don't-know-what-but-it-hurts-like-hell and I had
to break down and go last night. And tomorrow before work (at the
ungodly hour of 7:30am) I have to get that filling replaced. Wish me
luck. I like this new dentist. He specializes in patients who are
terrified like me. I have to take a Xanex tomorrow morning before I
go and hope that that will help with the panic. He's promised to go
very slow, and make sure I am actually frozen before starting. Keep
your fingers crossed for me! And if this works, I might be able to
avoid the whole general anesthesia bit. And that would be a good
thing. A very good thing.

Tagged by Kay

Kay tagged me a while ago, but I just haven't felt like blogging. And this one required some thought. I'm trying very hard to just survive this election. I'll be so very, very glad when it's over. And even happier in 8 years when I can finally have a say in the direction of the country I've lived in for 8 years already!

But, on to the tagging. I've done it before, but it's been a while!

Here are the rules of the game.
• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself.
• Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
• Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

1)I have 7 tattoos, and didn't know about any of them until 2 years later. And none of them are covered by clothes.*
2)I'm allergic to Portobello (and therefore Crimini) mushrooms.
3)I eat candies (like Smarties** or M&M's) in pairs of the same colour. Compulsively.
4)I get a nasty, nasty reaction to the flu immunization. But I get it every year anyways. Ouch. And can the fever please go away now?
5)I cannot simply sit and watch television or a movie. Lorna bet me once and I tried and tried, but I just couldn't do it. I *MUST* fidget. Cost me $20 because I couldn't make it through one movie. I think that's part of why I like to stitch so much. At least it's something productive!
6)I'm a giant Doctor Who fan. And Michelle's made me a scarf for my birthday. I can't wait to get it!

*Okay, I cheated and used that one again, but it's a good one!
**Smarties=chocolate candies, the Canadian/European ones, not the American ones. Although, now that I think about it, I try to eat them in pairs too.

I'm supposed to tag people, but I hate doing it. So if you'd like to, please consider yourself tagged, and leave me a comment so everyone can come read!

I'm really not one for those "you must do it" memes, but this one I support

Copy this sentence into your livejournal if you're in a heterosexual marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.

I think they know me too well...

So I was a bad girl today and decided to treat myself to FatKids for
lunch. Normally I go in to order, and I know they recognize me there.
But today I was in a hurry and just did drive through. I think they
know me too well when I didn't remember to ask for the sweet and sour
sauce (which I use instead of ketchup) and I got back to work and
there it was in the bag. {hangs head} I don't go there that often,
honest! M at work thinks it's because I'm "too polite" and that makes
me memorable. I can't help it. I was raised to say please and thank
you! And it does bother me the way people here treat those in
"service positions". They may be working to serve me, but they are
still people too and deserve politeness!
{/rant off}

Not that it's all that surprising...

But there is something seriously wrong in this country when it comes
to food. We had our first Weight Watchers @ Work meeting today at
lunch.* And there were actually people there who didn't know that
raisins are dried grapes...

*More on that later if I feel like ranting, and I won't be continuting
with it...

Why I wish he would run

Colin Powell is a Republican I would have no difficulty in supporting.

Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies

I finally jumped in on the "ask me 5 questions" thing doing the rounds. These are from Awesome Matt..

1) LOng Island vs. Canada: WHich do you like better and why?
Both for very different reasons. A bit of a cop out answer, but true none the less. I love Canada because it's where I was born, where I grew up, where I fell in love, and where all my family lives. I love LI because I have a great job here, a decent place, awesome friends, and access to anything I want at any time. I hate the medical system here with such a passion it's not funny. If I'd grown up here, I'd have had to have declared bankruptcy at 21 years old due to medical bills. As was, all I had to do was get myself to hospital and back. I am desperate to be able to take part in the political system here. But it'll be another 8 years before I can vote. And then only if USCIS finally gets it's head out of the sand and improves their record. And given the 8.5 years it took to get our Greencards in the first place, I'm not overly hopeful. But if I had to choose between them, I guess I already did. I didn't take the job I was offered in Canada two years ago.


2) Working in the pharma industry must be fun sometimes. What's the weirdest thing you've ever handled?
Sadly I don't get weird stuff to handle. Most fun was watching my colleague (of dubious character) as I had to destroy 300 grams of pure oxycodone. (That's enough to make about 300,000 tablets...)


3) Ears or neck...one must be sensitive. Which one!
Both! I am such a ticklish person it's not funny. Well, actually it is, but you get my drift! :P


4) In the immortal words of the Reverend Horton Heat, Liquor, Beer, or Wine?
Ummm, none? I can drink or take my arthritis meds. I like to walk...


5) Favorite RPG?
I'm sad, lame and boring. I haven't actually played many systems. Living Greyhawk because of all the friends I've made through it. I'm not touching 4th ed with a ten foot pole though...

If you want in, leave me a comment (on either blog) and I'll respond with questions for you!

To Switch or Not to Switch

So... Yahoo has changed the terms of my webhosting package. It's actually turned out to be a pretty good thing for me, and one of the nice changes is that I can now set up my own Wordpress blog really easily and get away from Blogger. I never go near my hosting/transfer limit (which just went up by orders of magnitude anyways) so I'm thinking of switching. So I wanted to ask those of you who use WordPress, do you love it? Hate it? Little things that bug you?
And most importantly, have any of you migrated your blog? How hard was it? I'd rather not lose the last several years worth of posts...

Thoughts folks?

Update!

I've seen this questionaire used before, and I'm finally giving in. It's better than not posting at all, right?
September 2008 Round Up



What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Books: Deed of Paksenarrion (re-read at work)
The Conquerer (on Palm)
Hellboy novel (for fun on vacation)
Started: Crocodiles on the Sandbank (iPod)
Polar Shift (brain fluff reading)
5 things from the pile of magazines (1 Pop. Sci. and the other 4 from the MNH which we are members of.)



What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

New shows: Fringe (Not for us, too science light and unbelievable)
Bones (LOVING it!)

Returning Favourites: NCIS, CSI, Biggest Loser, DWTS (so I know what they’re talking about at work) and Survivor

New movies: A bunch of silly things while I was at home sick. Nothing I would have normally wasted any time on and nothing I’d recommend anyone watch. But better than nothing while propped up on the couch fighting to breath without moving :P



What special days did I celebrate and how?

Ummm… 8 days at Disney! It was a combined annual vacation/wedding anniversary/got our Greencards/Brian has a job trip and WONDERFUL.
Brian went to Becky’s unbirthday party and had a great time.



What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Hallowe’en exchange with Rose in New Zealand, see photos in another post.
Lots of gifts for people from Disney.
Birthday card/Gift for Becky.



What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

MASSIVE ear and strep throat infection started our last night at Disney. 2 full courses of antibiotics, 1 ten day course of steroids and 1 ruptured ear drum later, I’m mostly better. I still have very little stamina, but it’s getting better every day. Brian picked up a little of my infections, but we got him to the Dr. ASAP and she didn’t mess around with him on antibiotics so it wasn’t nearly as bad for him.*

*Not that she messed around with me, but I’ve got drug allergies and can’t take two whole classes of antibiotics. We try not to use the extra-strong-kills-everything ones of the few I can take unless we have to so I don’t build up any resistant infections. I have enough health problems without going there! The first round killed the strep right away, apparently they just got bogged down there and didn’t go looking for any other fights :P



What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

Disney!!! (Do we see a theme here?) Normally there’d be more than just that, but getting sick right after knocked me right out.


What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

Lots of new foods at Disney. We had the dining plan and made the most of it we could. Confirmed that I can’t eat Crimini mushrooms either. :( We had a great chef at Le Cellier who was the one that told me Crimini are apparently baby Portobello mushrooms (which I know I have a problem with). I decided to risk it and try just a single mouthful of Brian’s mushroom risotto because it looked soooo good. It was! It was heavenly in fact. Paying for it for the rest of the day was not. I do, however, have the recipe now and will be attempting it at home with mushrooms I *can* eat!


What special or unusual purchases did I make?

We sprung for special photos at Disney. Not something I’d ever have really decided to spend the $$ on myself, but Brian actually spoke up about REALLY wanting them. It’s so very rare that he actually wants something I was happy to indulge him.


What were this month's disappointments?

Not much really. Brian got a promotion that came without a raise, which was disappointing, but his annual review is coming in October. He’d better get a good one then!
Ruining the end of our vacation wasn't exactly on my list of high points, but overall it could have been a lot worse. What if I'd gotten sick the first night instead of the last? And given how susceptible I tend to be to things when in crowds, I'll take it. Stupid lazy immune system!


What were my accomplishments this month?

I finally finished the birth sampler I’d been working on for ages! And started the next of my obligation stitching pieces.
I got started into my unread magazine pile, which I have been meaning to for a while. It's over a foot tall...



And I leave you with something that makes me smile very, very much!




I think I might have to give in to Valerie and Michelle at work and start knitting...





Anything else noteworthy to record?

Wohooooooo!!!

Photos to come after I give it to the mom tomorrow:

The baby sampler is done!

I had the day off today (one last vacation day to use or lose by Oct.) and I just finished it. The last section went astoundingly quickly. I wish I'd gotten it done in time for his first birthday, but it's done now!

I know I loved life up north in Sudbury but...

I don't know about this. Not from what I've seen lately!

You Should Live in Alaska

If you don't want to live in Alaska, you might also consider: Massachusetts Vermont Connecticut Illinois Michigan

What State Should You Live In?

Political Meme doing the rounds

I think it's a pretty fair representation of my beliefs, but agree with IanArgent that there needed to be a neutral choice on some of the questions. Brian and I agree that we've found ourselves becoming more and more politically aware and active since we moved to the US eight years ago. And it'll be 8 more years before we can cast a vote to have any effect. But we can live in hope!

You are a Social Liberal (66% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (35% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Yahooooo!

Remember the never ending border on the baby piece I've been working on on and off for about 8 months? No? That's okay, I've been deliberately trying not to bitch about it online... But... It's d-o-n-e DONE! I got in the last of the back stitch sometime late this afternoon and even continued on to the grass-from-hell backstitching. Which turned out to not be too bad after all. I think I might even manage to finish the grass given a long afternoon to work on it. So it may not look like a lot of progress, but to me it's two huge obstacles done! Wohoo!

Other than that, not much news. Still sick (and I strongly advise against flying with strep throat *and* and ear infection) and I have no stamina. We went to IKEA yesterday because they've got a whole line of their organizational stuff on sale 50% off this weekend and I felt like getting my papercraft stuff more sorted out. Sadly, I was fully out of steam just from walking through the lower level, taking shortcuts and having no wait at checkout. By the time we came home, I needed a nap, and you can guess how the organizing went. But today I got a start made on it, and can now easily find/pull/use/return specific types of card making/scrapbooking stuff when I need it. Each technique etc. got it's own little organized box. (IE Ribbons, embossing, inks, punches)

Help me name my new car, please!

I'm trying to come up with something fun for the license plate of the new car. Brian has decided he'd rather keep the older black elantra, and wants to keep the XVART plate on it. So now I need to come up with something for this one...

The DMV's site where you can check if the plate is available is here.

I'm leaning towards something TARDIS related because the car really does seem bigger on the inside than the outside! But the MY BMBLB plates just don't work. I'm turning them into the DMV for a refund this afternoon.

We're home safe and sound

But I'm sick as a dog. Had a fabulous time at Disney and will update when I can string coherent thoughts together. In the meantime, here's the quiz doing the rounds :)

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Prioress

You scored 5% Cardinal, 72% Monk, 56% Lady, and 38% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy