Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret

Last month my mom sent out a huge box of watercolors, paper, brushes, books & dvd's. I finally pulled them out tonight and am trying my first watercolor painting while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I need something to do while I wait for colors to dry.
So far, I've put on 2 color washes and I may have permanently glued the bristles of one brush with frisket. I'll post a picture of the finished result - unless it sucks, in which case, I never posted this. You heard nothing.

I found out today that Ikea sells Christmas trees for $20, AND they give you a coupon for $20 off a purchase of $75. I checked and our neighborhood has a tree recycling program, so we just have to leave the tree by the curb on the pick up days. If I can talk or trick Gord into braving Ikea, that's what we'll do. And we'll just chain the cats up in the closet or something til new years. Mwahaha.

All I want for Christmas is... a new government

There were tantalizing news stories about a no-confidence vote that would take Steve out of office and put in a coalition government. I thought we'd already had our vote of no confidence. What the hell else do you call it when only half the population bothers to vote? It ain't the ringing endorsement Steve seems to think he got.

They should just challenge the Conservatives to a hockey game, winner take office. Canadian politics are usually so boring, this could really liven things up. Guaranteed to get a bigger audience than the debates did. Add a rockin soundtrack, and it's just like that Canadian classic, Raccoons on Ice.

I've had a couple more sales and added more photos to the shop. It seems black and white prints are the most popular, and this one of the tree will probably be my best seller.



And the weather channel keeps promising snow, but it hasn't hit yet. In preparation for real winter, we've been experimenting and have discovered that stovetop cocoa recipes are a thousand times better than the powdered tea kettle stuff, so now we're cocoa snobs.

Puppy Cam!

Have you seen this yet? The most adorable thing ever. Cause what's better than a puppy?
6 Puppies! Right now they're all sleeping in a big pile, and the one with the yellow collar is kicking one of them in the head. So cute!

I made a sale!

Actually, I had 3 sales today, which is so much better than I'd hoped. Granted, friends and family have placed orders and it's possible they like me more than they like the pictures and are being wonderfully supportive - not that I'm complaining! Any sale is a good sale, and I'm not too proud to take your money. But there's one from a complete stranger which makes me happy. And, she's from Texas, so I get to learn all about customs forms, and get that hurdle out of the way early. I have the orders all packaged and ready to go - I just need to trek to the post office and ship them out.

We also got our first Christmas card in the mail, Gord has gone through 2 cartons of egg nog, I crocheted myself a toque - if only it would SNOW, it would be nice and Christmasy.

Finally!

My Etsy shop is open for business! I've only got a few photos up at the moment, but I'll have more in the next few days. And everything is on 1/2 price until December 15th - not a bad time for a grand opening sale, I hope ;)

Here's a preview of some of the photo's I've uploaded:



Not a very coherent theme, yet, but it won't be so jumbled when I get more photos up and can sort them into sections.

We've been busy little beavers here - besides the Etsy shop, we're working on Christmas presents that I can't say anything about in case our families put 2 and 2 together and figure out what they're getting this year. But I will assure you that we won't be trying to ship a box of poutine, or smoked meat sandwiches or BBQ chicken. We thought about it, and decided we'd rather eat all that food ourselves.

And all our snow is gone. Now we have muck, and it got on my cute new boots. I hate that moment when your new shoes get dirty for the first time, but after that I forget all about it and go trucking through the mud without thinking.

Don't worry

We're not dead, just boring.

I'm having a hell of a time getting the cello envelopes I ordered for shipping photos, they keep getting stuck at customs and sent back. So I ordered some from a different company, and hopefully they will be here next week. I don't want to cancel the original order, because the guy has been really good about resending the package but COME ON. It shouldn't take over a month to get here.

Bet you didn't miss the whining while I was away.

We're heading up to the Dollar Cinema today to finally see Dark Knight. With $2 admission and $1 snacks, we can get in and get popcorn for the price of renting, and there are some movies that have to have a big screen. Anything where a semi flips over is in that category. I wasn't a huge fan of the Batman Begins movie, but that's probably because Miss Katie Holmes distracted me every time she was on screen. I can't wait for her memoirs to come out. Will she explain what happened those days she went missing?
Granted, that link is for Fox News, but still. Can you recover from a lobotomy in 16 days?

Great

The Conservative government is trying to protect free speech, especially hate messages. Cause god forbid we not be allowed to spread hate messages in this country, it would violate our right to be asshats. But never fear, we've got the King of Asshats in charge, and he won't let us down.

Oh, and they also want to criminalize abortion which is totally awesome. Who needs a licensed doctor, we all know you can perform a DIY abortion if you just drink a 26 of Jack Daniels (this tip from some idiot girls in Red Deer). Fucking awesome, Steve.

Anyone placing bets on how long before they want to revisit the legal definition of marriage?

It wouldn't be quite so bad if we could have a count down, like the US. But who knows when King Asshat is going to call another election?

Goop

Nablopomo is kicking my ass.

We have a car again, just in time to avoid the gentle freezing rain and flaying wind outside. We did a massive grocery trip so no one needs to worry about us starving over the winter. We cleaned the kitchen and ate donuts. The stuff of legend right here.

I don't want to overload you with excitement so I'm off.

Yep

Got the car back yesterday, mostly fixed. Window goes up, window goes down. Have to go back on Friday to get the windshield replaced. And then we can register the damn thing in Quebec and finally drive around again. Which is good, because the cheaper laundromat is too far away to walk to.

I read all of Breaking Dawn today, and I think I'll start the Poisonwood Bible next. Used books are the way to go. I got 6 books for $37, which is about what I would have spent on Breaking Dawn new.

And if you've got that song from the Sears commercial stuck in your head and can't identify it, it's
Donna and Blitzen by Badly Drawn Boy. Hooray for Yahoo answers.

just like dating.

In preparation for the bookstore, I've been reading book reviews. What I tend to do is start with books I haven't read and then try to read a review by the same person of a book I have read, just to see if our taste is the same. This in itself is bad policy. I've stumbled onto Harry Potter forums and found myself wondering if some of those bloody morons had even read the book. How dare they be so stupid and like what I like? It taints the whole process and I need a brain shower after reading some of the comments. And at that point, I remember that I hate reviews.

One, because I am a creature of absolutes, I either love something and refuse to listen to any criticism, or despise it and want nothing to do with it. I have owned books that weren't good enough to sit on the shelf with the other books. They sat on a table, or the floor until I got rid of them. And I've yet to read a review that doesn't come off as a cold dissection of what used to be a living, breathing story, even if it was favorable.

Two, because reviewing books or movies is (to me at least) the equivalent of going home after a night out with your friends and ripping them to pieces. You don't treat your friends like that, and I don't treat my books like that. Would I google someone before deciding to be friends with them? It has never occurred to me. So I'm going to stop doing it to books.

So where does this leave me? The tried and true method of going to a bookstore, waiting for something to catch my eye, maybe it's the title, maybe (god forbid) it's the cover, we make a little small talk, I read the first page - is it worth taking home? Is this book sponge worthy?
And sometimes I'm wrong and I picked a loser, so I trade it in for a better book. Just like dating.

whoops

Ok, so I was down and out with a cold the last few days and haven't blogged at all. Sorry! There wasn't much happening, unless you count unplanned pregnancies, anorexia, cutting, school shootings, break ups, make ups & hook ups....yes, I watched all 7 seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation in 4 days. This is what happens when I don't have any new books to read.

I was feeling better today, so we went out to the used book store down the street but they don't open til 11. So we went back at 11 and there was a sign up saying they weren't opening until 1:30 today. So we stopped at Chalet BBQ and came home. I'll try the bookstore again tomorrow.

And, the car should finally be fixed on Wednesday, drivers side window and all. Drive thru, here I come.

Spider!

We have a giant spider outside our living room window.

For the first time ever, I envy Americans. Their president is a great man, while we have...smarm in a sweater. Although, to be nitpicky, I wish Obama were a stronger supporter of same sex marriage. I know, you can't have your cake and eat it too....stupidest saying ever. When was the last time you had cake you didn't eat? As bad as 'you made your bed, now you have to lie in it'. Of course you made your bed before lying in it. Weren't our mothers always going on about cleaning our rooms and making our beds?

I think the weather must be changing, because I've had a headache the last 2 days. If I ever write my memoirs, I'll have to put in a special thanks to Advil Liquigels for getting me through the tough times. But if we get snow that stays it's all worth it. I can't wait for a real winter for a change, instead of the scuzzy brown and grey Calgary winters. The weather last year was so erratic we couldn't even go skating, it was either 40 below or thawing. Remind me of that if I start whining about the cold.

One Month

Last night Gord and I were discussing how long we could be dead in our apartment before someone noticed. The landlady already has the check for Decembers rent, so she wouldn't notice anything for a while. We say hi to our neighbors when we see them, but we don't really know them. We certainly aren't having bridge nights with anyone. My parents usually call every 2 weeks or so, same with Gord's mom. But if we didn't answer, they would probably give us a couple days to call back...so our best guess is 3 - 4 weeks.

Good thing we both want to be cremated, because the cats would have eaten our faces.

In other, less morbid news...

I registered for 2 classes today and I'm waiting to see if I can get into a French class.

The US election has given me an ulcer. Thank god it's all over tomorrow.

I'm in the process of rescanning every single negative. Again. Because I'm an idiot.

If Gord and I have kids, we may move to France just so they can get an education without declaring bankruptcy.

Sunday, lazy Sunday

The package at the post office was Fable 2, which I picked up on Friday. Gord and I had planned to watch all 3 Ginger Snaps movies on Halloween, but....I played Fable, played Fable online with Kel, played Fable some more, until I was too tired to watch movies and went to bed.

We only had 2 trick or treaters, which is good because our doorbell sounds like a fire alarm, and it gives me a heart attack every time. Imagine having that go off in the middle of a scary movie. Although none of the Ginger Snaps movies are that scary, and I have a pretty low threshold for scary. We watched the movies yesterday and ate leftover candy, popcorn and gingerbread (very good recipe, but I doubled the spices, and added 2 tsp of cloves.)

Tomorrow, I have my advising appointment with Concordia, so I can register for classes, have to call about my student loan and I will probably get a call from the car repair place and find out what it's going to cost to fix all the little things I need to get fixed so I can register the Honda here. Damn out of province inspections. Thank God it's Sunday, I can't do anything about any of that, so I'm going to play Fable and forget about such stupid mundane things as money.