Fellow Follower

I've started using the "Follow" feature on Blogger again but only for my food blog at this point. I realize this makes me seem quite 'behind the times' when it comes to various add ons and blog gadgets but I've had issues in the past. It seems that Blogger has worked out the problems it had previously where it made my Google Reader go completely beserk (or perhaps that was my fault and I did something weird). However, a number of folks I follow on a regular basis have made the switch to WordPress so the Follow feature makes no difference. A couple of times, I've considered making the switch myself but there are a number of features on WP that I'm just not happy with. First and foremost, you can't edit the html of any of their templates unless you pay a fee. I love that their templates look so much nicer and more professional than most of the Blogger templates but without the ability to personalize them and stretch the margins...I just can't do it.

Blame the Lady

I didn't win the $50 Million Lotto Max draw last night. I didn't win one of the 10 $1 million prizes either. Heck, I didn't even win a free ticket. I blame it on the lady bug. I was sitting here this morning checking my email, watching the news, and trying to wake up when I felt something under my mouse. I figured it was a piece of dirt, a crumb of food or, at the worst, something that had fallen off of one of the cats' paws. I lifted up the mouse to discover ... a lady bug. In November. Crawling across the arm of my chair. Without thinking, and going on sheer fright at the sight of a bug, I wacked it with my mouse until it was pulverized red and black dust. I stopped a few moments later when the thought suddenly hit me that having a lady bug in your house was, if I remembered correctly, good luck. Needless to say my hopes for winning the lottery flew out the window at that moment. Why oh why did it have to crawl so close to me? If I hadn't seen it...I'd be rich.

Not My Ultrasound Results

But if they are, I have some serious explaining to do, and an apology to make to some carpenter from Nazareth.

So...the ultrasound. Yeah. I'm in a bit of discomfort at the moment. Let's just say the technician who conducted the ultrasound did not have a light touch. It was like a deep tissue massage gone wild. And it wasn't just in the area housing my lovely gallbladder; it encompassed my entire torso from my hoo-hoo to my boob-boobs and around both sides, leaving only a small strip about 3 inches wide down the centre of my back which was NOT covered in goop. After pummelling my mid-section, she left to show the radiologist. Returning a few minutes later, she said the radiologist wanted "a few more" pictures so back on my side again so she could try and count each of my ribs through the layers of fat. Oooooow.

Since I hadn't eaten for 14 hours at this point and no water for just over three, I was feeling a bit queasy. The constant one-two punches to my abdomen and sides did not help. Thankfully she finished and offered me two, yes two, whole pieces of paper towel to wipe off my newly acquired gel coating. Let me just say, in case no one remembers, I'm a big girl. I have curves and boobs and deposits masquerading as hips (I do not, in fact, own a pair - my lower half is built more like a boy but with girlie parts). Two paper towels are sometimes not enough to wipe my mouth after a meal. Her solution? If I still had gel on me when I went to get dressed, "just use the gown". Nice.

No clue as to the results but my doctor will get a report. I have to call on Monday and change my phone number/address. No clue why but they had my old address and a phone number I've never had despite having changed it last year. Go figure. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

Fridays are for Doctors

This morning I'm off bright and early for my ultrasound. Going to check for gall stones. Now that's what you call sexy. Covered in gooey gel while getting zapped with an x-ray machine. Oh yeah baby, you know you want to try it. What this also means is that I haven't eaten since 6 o'clock last night and won't be able to ingest anything until 10ish this morning. Oh god, I'm hungry already. I can't even have water anymore - nothing, not even gum, for the three hours before my test. Quite different than the last ultrasound I had for my ovaries where I had to drink a litre of water an hour before the test and was forbidden to pee until it was all over with.

Results later today. I'm not expecting them to find anything - my guess is that the prognosis will be "stay away from the wine and you will be fine". Anyone want to place a bet that it's acid reflux?

Not Quite Official

I'm in training mode.

Remember the half marathon I attempted two years ago (god, has it been two years already)? Well, it looks like the Admiral, her sister and I might try again in August 2010. I'm not getting my hopes too high at this point - there are a lot of "ifs" along the way. The major obstacle? My knees. I'd be fine if the course was flat or only had mild inclines/declines. However, the race we're thinking of doing, the INTACT Edmonton Marathon (we'd actually do the Energy Capital Alberta Open 1/2 marathon), goes through the river valley which, while gorgeous in the full bloom of summer, is quite hilly and was the cause of my mid race meltdown in '07.

My plan is this: follow Hal Higdon's training program for the 5K, 10K and then the 1/2 marathon walks (8, 8 and 12 weeks) and incorporating hill training, my physio stretches, and some core exercises. By the end of the 10K trainig, I'd like to do a 10K race/walk with hills. If my knees are fine, I'll continue. If they act up, back to the physiotherapist I go to get the word from him as to whether or not I continue with the marathon plans.

I've only told the Admiral and her sister (obviously) and a co-worker who runs marathons and is in great shape (and extremely supportive). I spent too much energy last time around on the planning and getting hyped about the whole thing; it was no wonder I was far more disappointed in myself than I anticipated. Going into it this time, knowing my knees might keep me from actually even registering, I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself. Taking it one day, one small walk at a time. There's plenty of time to play with at this point so no pressure.

If it turns out that long distance walking's not in my future....who knows? Maybe I'll join a gym with a pool and start swimming instead. The YMCA downtown looks mighty nice.

Top Notch Television

Is there anything funnier out there than The Big Bang Theory? If there is, I haven't found it. Possibly because I go to bed so early you'd think I was in preschool but I'm going to go with No, there isn't anything funnier. Who knew I would find physics amusing? Certainly not when I was taking classes in high school and came close to failing all three years. I didn't find it very amusing then but now? OH my goodness. I'm practically wetting my pants each and every week. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you give it a try.

While I personally have a huge crush on Sheldon, this is one of those shows where each and every character is fantastic. Even Leonard, the main character, played by former Roseanne cast member, Johnny Galecki. I hated him on Roseanne but not so on The Big Bang Theory. Hilarious. My only complaint about the show, if I had to list one, is that it sometimes feels like a Roseanne reunion show...both Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert have recurring roles in the sitcom. While Metcalf's turn as Sheldon's creationist mother is absolutely hilarious, Gilbert is annoying.

Anyways, if you want to know where to find me Monday nights at 9PM...I'll be watching CBS.

Day 3 - NaBloPoMo

Well, I made it to day 3. My question at this point is...if I stop now, does that count? Seriously, could I just post a picture every day and I've met the requirements? What about a single letter? Hmmmm. Perhaps there should be a minimum word requirement.

Now that Halloween has come and gone, all I can think about is Christmas. Sad, isn't it? I'm about halfway through my Christmas shopping - thankfully I don't really have much to get as I really only exchange gifts with the Admiral. I'm completely lost for ideas right now though - what do you get a 5yr old boy and a 7yr old girl with a whole lotta attitude? And I need something small for my sister in law. I picked up a movie for Big Brother starring his man-crush, Bruce Campbell. Other than those elusive gifts, I have to pick up some small things for the Admiral's stocking (and finish her mittens) and some chocolate to share.

My big thoughts on Christmas at the moment though are about baking. Last year I made the art deco blue man and the CSI victim along with trees and stars...all sugar cookies. This year though, I'm going to make my banana bread, and I'm going to try a few other ideas which are outside of my baking comfort zone including melt-in-your-mouth shortbread. This is, hopefully, going to include a pumpkin cheesecake for Christmas dessert. Yep, I'm going big this year. On top of that, I've already started planning the Christmas Eve dinner the Admiral and I host, and the Christmas morning breakfast I cook for the two of us. Last year's was delicious - scrambled eggs with peppers and onions, toast, coffee, bacon, sliced tomatoes and oranges. This year, I'm looking at something a bit different. Sausages and french toast maybe? Waffles with fresh fruit? I'm still thinking about it...

Are you thinking about Christmas yet and planning ahead?

Ack! Why did I hit SUBMIT?

I should have a timer lock on my computer that prevents me from using it before 9 a.m. One of the first things I do in the morning is to check my Google Reader, see who’s posted something new and if it sounds interesting, I click on over to their blog. Barbara the Bad Tempered Zombie (no I did not see her in either of the movies we watched on Saturday night) was one of the folks who had a new post up this morning. She’s always got something interesting to say so…off to visit her I went.

Her post this morning was about how she signed up for NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month. Essentially you agree to write a blog post every day for a month and if you do, you’re eligible for prizes! Now, there’s something I could do, I thought, wiping the crusted bits of sleep from the corners of my eyes. Plus I like free stuff. Using the link she provided, off I went and signed up. It took almost no effort to sign up – name, email, blog link, etc. Like a slow-motion action scene from some Will Smith starring movie, it suddenly dawned on me what I was getting into just as my index finger clicked down on my mouse button, the cursor placed over the direct centre of the “submit” button. I swear I turned my head to stare at my mouse and silently screamed “Nooooooooooooooooo!” but it was too late. Perhaps it wasn’t so silent after all; the cats did pop their heads up off the bed to give me one of those WTF looks as I roused them from a very sound sleep.

So, I’m committed. Or perhaps I should be.Prepare yourself blog-world. The rest of your month will be filled with … ME. My thoughts, inane ramblings and overall nonsensical mental meanderings about life, love and a bunch of other crap.

Sunday Dinner

Not much to report. Halloween has come and gone. Zombie movies were watched, the Yankees won game 3 of the World series (dang), the Eskimos beat Toronto (playoff hopes still alive), and there's still no snow (the stuff that fell in early October has long since melted). Sigh. Sundays are a bit of a downer, aren't they? For me, they mean, cleaning and chores, getting back into "work" mode, and a sad realization that the weekend is over. Since I lost all my recipe links, I resorted to leftovers for dinner. Damn, I'm a genius even with the bits and bobs left in the fridge from the previous week's meals. Baked rotini with asiago cheese and a salad with spring mix, carrots, cucumbers and radishes topped with a tomato vinagrette (bottled, not homemade). There's a giant full moon outside my window - that means we're going to get some interesting phone calls this week. Oh yay.

Computers Suck

I had to reset my computer to it's factory settings. Again. This is at least the second time since I've purchased the damn thing a year and 1/2 ago. Granted some of the problems it's been having are a result of me downloading the occaisional item that I probably shouldn't have or loading too much onto the hard drive. But really???? This is ridiculous. I've lost the majority of my favourite links (other than the ones I was able to save) along with movies and music, my resume (Oh how I hope I have an electronic copy at work), knitting patterns and ... gasp! Recipes.

Machines are supposed to be as smart as their users. Well, I'm a university graduate with a plethora of useless knowledge stored in my giant sized grey matter. So why is my machine so stupid???

Happy Halloween Everyone!

The Admiral and I are spending the evening with the lights turned off, the Jack-o-lantern lit, and a couple of zombie movies (Dawn of the Dead (the remake) and Land of the Dead).

What are you doing tonight?

What's Been Going On...

Well, the Admiral is finally back from her vacation in LA/Vegas. She arrived home late last night after her plane was diverted to San Francisco - apparently Denver had a ton of snow and closed. That meant she had to spend almost the entire day in the San Fran airport. Ugh. Haven't had a chance to talk to her about the trip yet - she's still sleeping and I'll be letting her sleep in this morning. Stay tuned for pics (she borrowed my digital camera).

Two more Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this week. The first, a local Edmonton soldier, was only 10 days into his second tour and leaves behind a young child and wife. The second soldier killed, also from Edmonton, had been in Afghanistan less than a week. Sad doesn't begin to cover it. Perhaps the loss wouldn't feel so great if (a) we were accomplishing something over there, or (b) there was a solid reason for us to actually be there in the first place.

British Columbia have had a number of locations run out of the H1N1 vaccine. Ontario is scheduled to run out next week and Alberta is also on track to run out if the present demand continues. Considering that the government wants everyone to get vaccinated and there are only 5 locations in the city (which has a population close to 1 million people), yep...I'm going to say we'll run out soon.

Hey, did you know the Captain Cooks?

Happy Birthday to my Boys

It's a bit late but today I'm celebrating a birthday. Two in fact. Nope, not mine nor the Admiral's. It's for my cats. I'm sure some of you non-pet owners out there are rolling your eyes thinking the Captain has finally lost it; she's sniffed too much catnip and she's walked right off the plank. Don't worry, I don't go crazy and dress up my kittehs in party hats and invite their "friends" over for tuna-flavoured cake and ice cream. All I do is show them some extra love, let them get away with a few things they wouldn't normally get away with and for a treat, they share a can of tuna.

Here are my boys. Don't they look adorable? And that's pretty much how they always look when they're sleeping. Anubis ('Nubi') curls up while crazy Nero stretches out on his back, legs akimbo.

Nubi was the first cat I ever welcomed into my home once I was out on my own. This year he turns 11 which, according to this website, means he's 60 (or is he 12?). Holy bejeebus. He's still got a lot of energy for someone so old. And to be fair, I didn't chose him, he chose me. Here's the story of how we came to be family: back in '99 I was living with a friend, her husband, and their three cats after graduating from university. One night, my friend was kept up by the sound of a cat meowing outside our townhouse all night long. By morning it had stopped and she figured whoever owned it had let the cat back inside. We got up, ate breakfast and decided to head out to the gym. We made our way to her minivan and she opened the driver's door. From under the car beside her came a supersonic grey flash that shot into the warmth of the van. When we got over the shock we looked down and curled up on the passenger side (right in front of me) was the cutest little kitten you had ever seen. And the loudest. I couldn't get over how powerful his purr was for something so tiny. We ended up forgetting about the gym and bringing the little fellow inside where it didn't take much convincing for my friend's husband to agree to let me keep him. I quickly named him Anubis - I was going though an Egyptology phase at the time and his face (as a kitten) looked oddly similar to that of the jackyl headed god Anubis. Ever since that day, he's slept in, on or under my bed pretty much every night and loves to snuggle under the covers. Definately not a lap cat (unlike his bigger, younger brother), he loves people food especially porkchops and chedder cheese.

Nero's story is quite a bit different. In 2001, I moved out of my friend's place and into an apartment on my own once again. A lot less space for little Nubs to run around in but perfect for just the two of us. After a couple of months on our own, I came home to a very sick looking Nubi. His eyes were all black and watery, his meow was tortured and horrific. We instantly went to see the kitteh doctor who had no clue what was going on other than he had lost 1/4 of his body weight. Fortunately, they kept him overnight and the vet on call had seen a similar case in a dog a few weeks earlier. It turns out my baby boy had laryngitis. Whew. That we could deal with. When I explained the recent changes to our living arrangements, the vet smiled. He's lonely, she said. Chances are he was wandering around the apartment meowing, thinking he had been abandoned once again and was bored with no one to interact with (cat or human). Solution? Get him a playmate. Enter Nero.


The daughter of a coworker owned a farm where her cat had had a litter of kittens a while ago and wanted to give them away rather than put them down (hello! get your pets spayed and neutered!). Perfect timing once again. She showed up at my apartment with the tiniest little ball of long orange fur sitting in her palm. I was stunned by how tiny he was. And his hair was soooo long. The poor little fellow was scared of his wits thanks to the drive into the city without a cat carrier, a personality trait that he has maintained to this day. Nero and Nubi got on famously from the moment I set the newest addition to our family on the floor. He took a little longer to name as I really wanted something to capture his personality. It soon became obvious that he was just a wee bit on the crazy side. Combined with his fire-coloured fur, Nero seemed like an appropriate choice. He quickly outsized his older adopted brother both in length, height, and definately in weight (massive is the word I use to describe him). A true farm cat, Nero has massive paws that seem to contain every single pound of his bulk in their little toes. Especially when he stands on your boobs in the middle of the night waiting for some attention. Even with me, he's skittish when you put your hands towards his head (makes me wonder what happened before he got to my place) but once he realizes you're not going to beat him senseless, he's a definate lap cat who loves to have his belly rubbed and likes to be held like a baby (yes, he's bizarre). This year Nero turned 8 (or is it 9?) which means he's 50-ish.

Nero arrived around the beginning of July, Nubi was October 12. Generally, they get a communal can of tuna in October around Thanksgiving for both their birthdays. I don't know how I missed it this year but there you go. My little furry family. Happy birthday boys.