sunny daze

sunny sammy
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I know that many folks around our little corner of the world complained about how cool and wet the July weather was. I wasn't one of them. I don't complain about cool weather because I cannot function when we get stuck in one of our humid heat waves.

Right now, we're in the middle of a doozy. It's been going on for several days now and the air quality is absolute crap at the moment. Last night, I was outside with the dogs before bed and I couldn't get over how hot it was, at 9:30 p.m. I dumped out their little doggie pool which Mark had filled up earlier in the day and this morning, there was still water on the deck where I'd emptied it. There is so much moisture in the air right now that the water was not evaporating. The outside of our house was dripping from condensation this morning, it's just nasty.

The weather is making Mark sick too. He had two migraines last week which, according to the doctor (and we really already knew this) were caused by the crazy weather. Today, he's sick with a horrible stomach bug. He was up all night last night and we're not entirely sure what caused it but I'm sure that the weather has at least something to do with it.

The only upside to this is that we caught up on some tv watching over the weekend (thank you A/C). We're completely up to date on our Coronation Street watching - although we found Steve and Becky's wedding a little hard to stomach and watched some movies we've been wanting to see.

Today, I'm back at work, slowly getting through 2 weeks worth of email. I may get through it all by the end of the day if I'm lucky. If I'm not, it may take me until sometime tomorrow. The break away was nice but honestly, if I'm hiding inside in the A/C, I might as well be at work, right?

/stupid rant about the weather

current weather

current weather
Originally uploaded by Julep67

The current weather here is gross.

Hot, sticky, smelly and gross. We've spent the biggest chunk of today, cowering in the air conditioning. The breeze outside died mid-morning. Not fun.

Both dogs celebrated birthdays this weekend, Gracie on Thursday, Sammy on Saturday. They are both now 2. For their birthdays they got extra trips to the dog park and lamp chops. Not bad huh?

I'm back to work tomorrow. The past two weeks have flown by but I had a blast. I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to going back but I can honestly say that it's not something I'm dreading. I'd just rather always be home with the doggies if I could be.

waiting for squirrels

waiting for squirrels
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Just got back from running an errand on campus and cannot get over how hot the midday sun is today. We're in the midst of a humid spell and I'd love nothing more than some lungs full of fresh cool air.

I think the weather is getting to the dogs too. They have access to the air conditioned house, lots of shade in the yard, water and ice cubes but they both seem a little off the past two days.

Sammy woke up in the middle of the night, whimpering to go outside. when I got up to let him out, he ran outside when I stepped onto the deck (to turn the motion sensor lights on). He was a little skittish though and every time the bug zapper zapped, he jumped. Eventually he was able to do his thing but it seemed, well let's just say different, like he was a little upset (his tummy). He then ran back into the house and normally, he likes to do a little "hey I just pooped" dance before doing that.

When we came back into the house, he ate a little of the kibble which was leftover in his bowl and then settled back to sleep. Shortly after we woke up, he barfed the kibble up (on Mark's side of the bed). On the weekend, he got a hold of one of Mark's work gloves and I think he ate part of the thumb so that could be what's got him out of sorts, could be the humidity too.

Gracie seems to be faring a bit better although since we had the carpet cleaned, she's full of piss and vinegar. I still haven't put the room back entirely so there is a little more room for her to play in and she's taking full advantage of it, chasing Sam, at top speed, wanting to wrestle with either Mark or I (and getting us to play along).

Btw, the carpets turned out well. I'm pretty impressed and wondering why I've not done it before!

friday fog

rewarding Mark
Originally uploaded by Julep67

the fog rolled down University Avenue in a crazy, almost movie like way this morning. then, as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

strange.

for the first time since the deck extension was added, we had a rain storm last night. our gazebo is now on the extension, which is just outside our bedroom window so the wind howling and the rain pounding was amplified by the canvas top. I think it disturbed the dogs a bit, I know it kept waking us up. It's such a more pleasant sound though, than freezing rain hitting the window. I'll not complain.

Gracie particularly, is digging the new deck. She's realized that she can be outside but not get wet during the rain and is one happy girl. I'm not sure when the railings are going up, we still need to buy them. It may not be until the long weekend but in the meantime, Mark and Andy put up a temporary barrier which will prevent wrestling dogs from rolling off the edge.

When it's done, it's going to be amazing. At the moment, it's merely awesome.

I can so drive the van

I can so drive the van
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Have I mentioned lately how much I love sleeping with the windows open? No!? Well.

I love sleeping with the windows open.

For some reason, over the weekend, when I saw the weather forecast was for sunny days, I wrongly thought sunshine = warm. I forgot how cold it can be in April. On Saturday, when we were doing errands, it was cold as, well, really cold weather. Well, not really cold, more like, it was sunny but the wind off of the lake was cold. When we got up on Saturday morning, convinced that it would warm up, I turned the furnace off. Saturday night, I decided that we should leave the windows open.

On Sunday morning, we awoke to a really cold house. I jumped out of bed, frozen almost solid (made jumping difficult) and closed the windows. While Mark hid under the covers, I went to the living room to turn the furnace back on. It was 14 degrees in the living room. That's cold! Eventually, the furnace kicked in and the house slowly warmed up. It took me almost all day Sunday to thaw out after that. I swear my nose was colder than Gracie's all day.

The last couple of days though, have been gorgeous. The breeze is still cool but the sun is lovely and we've been sleeping with the windows open again. Man but I sleep so much better with the windows open. Fresh air is really truly awesome after a long winter of being cooped up with too hot central heating.

Yesterday was Mark's birthday. We didn't do anything too fantastically special because we'd sort of spent the weekend celebrating his birthday. The Tuesday actual birthday day was a little bit anticlimactic but that happens when your birthday happens mid-week sometimes.

Tonight we're seeing my parents for a birthday dinner and that should be nice. We only saw them very briefly on Saturday so it'll be good to have a visit and get caught up with them. Other than that though, there's not much to report around here. Work's busy but it's a good kind of busy which I really like.

It's not often than I can say that I have no complaints (because I can whine for Canada if I have to) but today, I have to say that live is really good, deceivingly sunny days and all.

a blur in the snow

a blur in the snow
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Last fall, when I packed my spring/summer clothes away for the winter, I kept out some tshirts and a couple of pairs of capris. I did this because in the spring, it sometimes gets really warm and I'll have some clothes to wear before I have to haul everything out.

Tonight I was putting away some laundry and noticed two pairs of capris, on hangers in the closet. I thought about how nice it'll be when it's warm enough outside to wear sandals and capris again.

I left the bedroom and walked into the kitchen. Through the window in the door, I could see the dogs wrestling in the snow. That's right, snow. We had an honest to goodness, snow actually stuck to the ground, snowfall today.

This shouldn't surprise me. I live in Canada and it's only early April and this stuff happens but, all the same. On Sunday, I was on the deck in my bare feet and today, well... a picture is worth a million words.

chew it

chew it
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I'm getting a little tired of arriving at work in the dark each morning. The street lights were still on this morning when I got into work. I don't think it should be that dark at 7:30 a.m. but that's just me.

It's super insanely windy here today and I know it was weirding the dogs out this morning. Sammy was following me around like he was my shadow all morning and Gracie was really agitated about something. It wasn't until I went outside that I realized how blustery it was.

My week seems to be flying along at lightning speed. I sometimes stop and think about how quickly the time goes by and it frightens me a little. Not as much as ice does but all the same, it's a little weird to me.

And because everything always finds it's way back to talking about dogs, I wanted to bring your a very cool bunch of people to your attention. We've been watching a show on the National Geographic channel recently called "Dog Town" and it's a program about an animal sanctuary in Utah. The show focuses on dogs who are at the Best Friends Animal Society and the stories are amazing. I will admit though, that Mark and I rarely get through an episode without crying at some point. We cry because we are big sucky doggie-loving babies. I'm not ashamed to admit that either. So there!

paranoid much

midtown windows
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Late yesterday afternoon, I noticed that the screen on the weather channel was red. Apparently we were under a freezing rain warning. You all know that there are few things on this planet that I fear/hate more than freezing rain. Part of the fear/hate is of falling on the ice and part of it is (I think) fallout from the great ice storm of 1998.

The warning spoke of massive accumulations of ice. I could feel my stomach knot up and worried that we would be without heat or electricity if that actually happened. I started to go through a mental check list in my head.

"do we have lots of dog food - yes"

"can we still cook if the power goes out - yes, the barbecue will work unless the city shuts the gas off"

"is there peanut butter in the cupboard - of course there is, stop worrying you ninny"

Remembering how long it was that we all had to go without hot showers in the aftermath of the ice storm, I took a shower and washed my hair before I went to bed last night. At 1:46 a.m., I woke up because I could hear the ice hitting the bedroom window. It's a creepy sound I think. It almost sounds like someone is hurling shovel loads of sand at the window. After that, I was awake every 30 minutes or so, checking that we still had electricity.

Of course, we got some freezing rain but nothing close to what the weather dudes said we would. Also, it was mixed with snow getting around was actually not too bad this morning. I should be tougher than this, I know. I'm a Canadian, I can survive extreme heat and humidity in the summer. I have warm clothes and know how to shovel a driveway when you have snow up almost your waist. A little ice shouldn't freak me out so much, but it does everytime.

suck it

sam
Originally uploaded by Julep67

sick of seeing pictures of my dogs?

if you are, I'm sorry. actually, I'm not sorry. if you don't like it, you can suck it!

the blowing snow can suck it too. it's pretty windy right now and I can see folks walking up the street in front of my office and they are pretty bent over so it must be tough walking. did I mention it's snowing too? yeah, fun. tomorrow it's supposed to be snot-freezing-in-your-nose cold so that should be fun.

I don't totally hate winter. actually, I like a really cold, bright day. I like those really frigid days which sometimes come after a big snow fall. the days when the snow is cleaned up, the sidewalks and roads are clear and the sun is shining and it's really super cold are the ones I like best. the frosty air feels good in my lungs and the sun makes me smile.

because literally, all we've been doing recently is playing with the dogs, working, sleeping, doing errands or doing chores, I've not been really inspired to write here. today, partly I guess, out of a feeling of something close to obligation, I felt like I should at least share another cute photo of Sammy and say hey and ask if you have a favourite kind of winter day?

activity ball

activity ball
Originally uploaded by Julep67

We had barbecued ingredients in our dinner tonight. It was so awesome! For the first time in a while (probably since November some time), Mark grilled us a bunch of veggies for our pasta. The weather was really mild today and yesterday's ice was almost gone so it was a great opportunity to fire up the bbq.

The dogs were pretty impressed too. As I've mentioned before, they live in hope: hope of food being dropped on the floor. The odds of dropped food increase significantly when the food has to be transported from the deck to the kitchen. Add to that, an icy in spots deck and well, they were pretty excited. Of course, Mark didn't drop anything so they had to settle for kibble for dinner.

Tomorrow, Gracie goes back to the vet for the second half of her booster shot. She was really well behaved for the vet the first time we took her (in mid-December), I'm not too worried about tomorrow. The only thing that mildly concerns me right now is the weather. We're due to get another dump of snow over night and into tomorrow. Of course, it might never happen so I'm not getting too bent out of shape about it. I just don't like driving around in anymore than is absolutely necessary when the weather is bad.

Even though it's technically winter and this type of thing is to be expected at this time of year, I'm hoping that it stays mild. It would be really nice if we could keep barbecuing all winter!!

toasty

kitchen window
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Not that he needed much of it but I convinced Mark to stay home from work today. He was going to work a short shift but when we got up this morning the roads (well, our street) looked pretty bad. Given that we're due for another 15 to 20 cm of snow tomorrow, I would imagine that the city avoided some of the side streets because they'll just have to do them again on Sunday (you have to love city logic).

Because of the way the snow was drifting, when we were out in the back yard with the dogs ,it didn't seem like we got much but boy, the front porch was really filled in and so was the driveway. Lucky for us, our amazing neighbour Tommy cleaned it up for us. I have said it before but it bears repeating, we have the best neighbours in town. When we lived around the corner, our neighbours barely waved to each other. 'Round here (which is literally one stop sign away from our old house), folk actually help each other out. People also respect each other's privacy and maintain a certain distance but it's the type of place where you know if someone pulled a truck up into your driveway in the middle of the week and started unloading your house while you were at work, a neighbour would call the cops.

Today we were happy to stay home. Mark did some shoveling and I did laundry. Lots of laundry. I've been doing some housework and getting through my chore list so there were lots of things to wash that you don't have to do all of the time. It went really quickly for some odd reason (and I'm not complaining). We also snuck in a mini-marathon of Coronation Street episodes and a nap.

It's been a great day. Tomorrow I think I'll start my baking. I'd thought about doing it today but couldn't get into it. I'm trying a couple of new recipes this year and will definitely post photos of my attempts, if they turn out.

summertime

gracie and the pig
Originally uploaded by Julep67

The temperature rose above 20 degrees here today. Walking back to my office from a midday evening, I was hot. I had black pants and a black jacket on and was wishing I'd worn sandals this morning. It was really weird. I'm not complaining at all, just saying.

I had a wacky day at work. Was not at my desk until 1:45 because of meetings on the other side of campus. I normally don't like being away from my desk that much but I was up in the area where I used to work and I saw a lot of folks who I miss so that was nice.

We had a luncheon for a colleague who is leaving us. Her last day is tomorrow. She's moving a to a new position on campus so she's not going to be too far away but it's in a unit that isn't really connected to our group so I'll not see her at meetings and stuff like I normally would. It was the second time this week that I got together with this particular group of colleagues. We all work in positions which support folks who do similar kinds of jobs so we try to get together every couple of months as a way of checking in on what everyone's doing and to share tips and ideas.

There is a lot of change happening in our area at the moment and I think some folks are coping with it better than others. I tend not to get too worked up by change because it's been a constant for me over the past 16 years. Others I guess, either haven't been around as long and haven't learned to roll with the punches like I have or they are just more sensitive to change. We had a couple of great meetings this morning with our new ED and I think things are going to be good going forward. I just hope that my colleagues can feel as good about it and not worry too much. I know that with the economy in the tank (temporarily) it's easier to say not to worry than it may be not to worry but I do think it's the smartest thing to do right now. Worrying about stuff you can't control never did anyone any good!

water

water
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I fear that my garden may whither if we don't get some rain. Now, I have been watering it, when I need to (absolutely need to). Everyday, for at least the past week, we've been told by the lovely folks at Environment Canada that it's going to rain. When I hear that, I hold off on the watering because, yanno, free water from the rain. Then I get home, it's not rained and everything is wilty. Not fun.

What is fun, however, is walking with Sam. Tonight we took him for a little walk before dinner. We ran into a friend of ours, Gary. Gary was in his car and Sam went ballistic while we were talking to him. A few weeks ago, the weekend after Sam's surgery, Gary came over and the same thing happened. Maybe in a previous life, Gary was a dog hunter or something. Gary is the sweetest guy, a total animal lover and yet, something sparks Sam when he sees him.

Now, on the other hand, we also stopped at our neighbour's house, across the street. This is our awesome snow blowing, lawn mower fixing, generally amazing neighbour, Tommy's home. Sam literally rolled over and let Tommy rub his tummy as soon as he met him. It was bizarre because usually, Sam barks at men he doesn't know. Maybe Tommy was a dog in another life! Either way, it was fun to explore the neighbourhood a little bit with Sam. I have discovered that you learn quickly, which houses have dogs in them when you walk by with your dog. There are far more dogs in our neighbourhood than either of us realized.

Tomorrow is lesson one of obedience school. Should be fun too!

happy donut day

breakfast at krispy kreme
Originally uploaded by Julep67

did you know that the first friday of June is Donut Day?

I did not know this until I woke up this morning. A bagel for breakfast might be better for me than a donut and they are the same shape basically so hopefully that'll be okay!

We had a crazy storm here last night. The weather got super humid and we had the turn the air conditioning on in the house. I shouldn't complain because except for a couple of hours, a month or so ago, we've not had to run it. I don't know if the weather had anything to do with it but Mark had a mega migraine yesterday too. It was a really bad one and it hit him very quickly. The whole thing was kind of scary actually.

This morning, because of the rain I think, my allergies are really bananas. Fortunately, aside from one small work project I need to get done today, and a couple of errands which I'll get at later this morning, I don't need to do much today. I have today off as a lieu day for some overtime I worked a couple of weeks ago. I have also made Mark stay home today, after yesterday, I want him to rest up and not be out driving around with the crazy people if there is a chance he might have another headache like yesterday.

So yeah, long weekend and it's finally hot outside. Whoot!!

on the leash

on the leash
Originally uploaded by Julep67

and on the mend!

For a guy who never had a leash on before we picked him up at the end of March, he's been wonderfully patient and very obedient all weekend. From the time we picked him up on Friday morning until this morning, he was wearing his harness and leash (well we took the leash off when he was sleeping but all waking time was with leash).

He's been sleeping a lot since his surgery but his incision looks good. Nice and clean actually. So long as we can keep him from licking it too much it's pretty good.

While I've been playing doggie nurse-maid, Mark and Andy constructed our new gazebo-holding-platform in the back yard. It looks great. We were able to sit out in it this afternoon during the rain and we didn't get one drop on us.

It sort of feels, sounds and smells like being at the cottage so we're really enjoying it. Given how chilly and wet the weekend has been so far, we have been able to get a surprising amount of outside stuff done. Most importantly though, Sam's healing nicely and should be back to his old tricks (although hopefully with less chewing on furniture) later on next week!

wishful water

our new pool -filling up
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Our backyard is starting to fill up with water.

The bottom part of it is semi covered in water anyway. Mark's little veggie patch is submerged. Our directly-behind-us-over-the-fence neighbours seem to have a yard full of water. I noticed when I was out back with the dog this morning that about half of the snow in the yard disappeared overnight.

So far, our basement (touch wood veneer desk) remains bone dry.

I look forward to the day when the only water back there is in the pool. For the moment, I keep my fingers crossed that the winds keep blowing (it's crazy windy outside right now) and that things dry up. It's a mucky, watery mess out there.

Thanks a lot, winter.

top drawer

top drawer
Originally uploaded by Julep67

It's really stupid cold outside right now. We had to go and grab some groceries at costco after work and in the hour we were in the store, the whole inside of the van frosted up. Crazy.

In other news, well there really isn't any I guess. The week has been flying by rather quickly, despite me bitching and moaning about the weather all the live-long day. I'm not alone though, lest you think it's just me complaining. I think it's an epidemic, winter-fatique. It might be a real disease for all we know!!

And because she loves to look at ladies' drawers, here ya go Carrie!

Drawer #2:



Drawer #3:

really? Texas!?

digging out
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Disgust is a strong word I guess. Disappointment might be better. I just turned off the Weather Channel after hearing about another winter storm watch/warning/thingy.

This time, Texas is sending some nasty stuff our way. Apparently, we could see rain, freezing rain and snow overnight.

Don't get me wrong now, I love living where I do. I like the change in the seasons and I think that nothing is prettier than a fresh blanket of snow. Right now though, there are brown mounds of melting slushy mess everywhere. It's tough to walk around the huge puddles from the melting snow and it'll probably be worse tomorrow.

I kind of wish that winter would stay wintery. I wish that things would be pretty and crisp and clean. I wish that the canal would stay frozen in Ottawa so folks could skate safely. I guess I wish that we'd have a normal winter for once. that would be nice.

/bitchy moan

stormin'

Well, that snow has arrived, some of it anyway.

The visibility is so bad that you can barely see across the street. I'm not working today as it happens and I'm glad about that. I had booked today off as I had one carry-over day left from last year. I thought I would do some errands, maybe visit a couple of people but alas, I am home.

I am happy to be here too. I hate driving in this weather.

Mark is home too. He got home about an hour ago. Things were nuts in the cab so he packed it in. I'm glad that he's home if I'm honest. I always worry about him on days like this. I got really freaked earlier when I went out to retrieve our garbage can and recycle box from the end of the driveway and realized that it was a sheet of glass under the snow. I almost wiped out. The roads are just as bad he said so, yeah, we're home and safe and dry.

...in case you thought I was full of it

Just fyi, folks in the states often complain that we send crappy cold weather down there way. Apparently, all of this business with the snow is coming at us from a system over Arkansas of all places!!

Kingston - Odessa - Frontenac Islands
3:47 PM EST Thursday 31 January 2008
Winter storm warning for
Kingston - Odessa - Frontenac Islands upgraded from winter storm watch
Snow heavy at times is expected across all of southern and eastern Ontario with a possibility of freezing rain and ice pellets along lakes Erie and Ontario on Friday.

This is a warning that dangerous winter weather conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

A low pressure area over Arkansas is getting organized and setting its sights on southern Ontario. As the low moves east across the southern states then curves northeast towards the Ohio Valley tonight it is expected to tap into a lot of moisture and energy from the gulf of Mexico. As a result it is likely that this low will intensify into a significant winter storm as it moves into southern Ontario later tonight and Friday.

liberating exhaustion

There is something sort of liberating about being a calm center in the midst of a mob of folks who are freaking out.

Since 4:47 a.m. today, Environment Canada has been reporting winter storm watches. We are supposed to be getting a huge dump of snow tonight, or tomorrow at sometime. Unfortunately, before this warning was issued, Mark and I had already decided to do our errands tonight. We were out doing our errands with half of the city I think.

Last night, we stuck around the house waiting for Bella to arrive. We could have gone out after she arrived but 1 - I think that would have been shitty to leave her in an empty house on her first evening here and 2 - Mark was completely fried from driving a cab in white out conditions all day.

A couple of places we went to (the pet store for fish food and doggie treats and the dollar store for some work stuff) weren't overly busy. The grocery store though, and the bulk barn, nutso. Folks were freaking out. I saw a woman at the grocery store pile 4 huge packages of toilet paper in her cart. I'm not sure if she's thinking that she'll be snowed in until spring but she had this terrified look in her eyes that was a little disturbing.

Fortunately for us, we only needed a few things so we could roll around the store and take our time. Honestly, the panic in the faces of some of these people was unbelievable. The storm isn't even supposed to start until tomorrow. Honestly, if you get that freaked out over a snow storm, perhaps you are living in the wrong part of the world.

Lucky for us, we know how to take a bit of snow in stride and we're home now, toasty warm and ready for whatever the weather throws at us tomorrow. It'll be pretty funny if it's all much ado about nothing.

sunset

sunset
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Today was a blustery day.

This was my first "weird weather" day in the new building. There were times when it felt like the wind was going to pop the windows out and pick the building up and carry us off to Oz. That didn't happen but yanno, it could have!

This January haw and the weirdness that has followed it should not be a surprise. At this time last year, I took this photo during a thundershower:



Today was my first day in the office "on my own." The person who is training me was off today. It was sort of nice to be there alone. When she's there, I'm trying to get as much stuff out of her brain as I can so today, I could actually assess what I needed to do and actually got a few things done. It's a busy spot but I like it. Right now (and this works perfectly for me) they are in a lull period so I can take my time a little bit, figuring stuff out. Tomorrow, the training person will be back and I'm sure she will be able to answer some of the questions I've got. Lucky for me, everyone is being very patient and helpful. The best thing for me right now is that I'm not dreading going to work in the morning. That feels really good.

I need to scan stuff

For the past two days, our local tv news folks have been showing some archival footage from the '98 Ice Storm. The storm left us without power for several days and it was cold and creepy. I can remember almost every detail of the time we were without power. It was an experience that I would not want to do over but at the same time, it was absolutely unforgettable.

Watching the coverage on TV has got me thinking about digging out my photos from the storm and scanning them. I may try to find them this weekend. For years I've thought about doing that but just never did it, the time I now I think. 10 years is long enough to wait don't you think!?

Day two at my new job was awesome but it flew by again. I was feeling a little flustered and overwhelmed by the end of the day but I know that is partially because I am still trying to figure out what I need to be doing and when I need to be doing it. In a few weeks I know that I'll have found my groove but right now, I'm just trying to pick the brain of the lovely lady who is training me, as much as possible. She'll be in one more day this week with me and I'd like to make the most of this opportunity.

In other news, I'm absolutely in love with the Juno Soundtrack. We've not yet dragged our sorry asses out to see it but maybe Saturday that would be a fun thing to do.

watching the weather

I'm completely brain dead right now. Well, maybe partially brain dead. At the moment, I can still type so I can't be that bad, right?

Today was my last official day in the office at my current job. Technically, I'm still employed there until January 4 but I have a bunch of vacation days left over so I'm all done now. I start my new job on January 7. I think I still need to go back into the office over the weekend though. I got all of my "stuff" and schlepped it home with me but I want to double check the computer and make sure that I got all of my files off.

The stuff I needed to get done today took me much longer than I thought it would. I ended up working kind of late and feeling a bit rushed on the way out. If I could go back for like an hour over the weekend, I think I'd feel much better and I'll leave my keys there so I won't be tempted to go back in over the holidays!

After work, we had to do some errands. Holy crap but it took a long time. We didn't even go to places that were all that busy, we were just moving kind of slow I guess so it seemed to take forever. We didn't get home until after 8 p.m. After we arrived at home, we saw that there is a big ass storm warning on for tonight. I'm really glad that we just bit the bullet and stayed out and got it done. I don't want to have to out tomorrow if we end up with a bunch of snow.

I think it's going to take a couple of days for me to chill out and get into my vacation. I've been dreaming about work the past few nights and that's not good. I want not to think about the office right now. I'd rather concentrate on getting ready for christmas and just having fun. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?

meet cinnamon

meet cinnamon
Originally uploaded by Julep67

It is snowing right now.

They are calling for freezing rain though, or ice pellets. It's supposed to get nasty though. I really hate freezing rain. When it's icy and you can't tell, I'm always afraid that I will slip and fall on the ice. I also worry that Mark will have an accident because he's out working in it.

Don't get me wrong though, I don't worry about him and his driving ability, I worry about the idiots that he has to contend with as he tries to get his job done.

Not good.

On a more happy note, we had our last event of 2007 this morning. It feels good to have it behind us although at moments it was a little sad because it's the last event I'll work on as a member of our awesome little team.

Onwards and upwards though right? Don't look back and all of that!?

go leafs!

go leafs!
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago while in Toronto.

Avenue Road was covered in leaves. It was really lovely although it was a huge layer of leaves. Everyone had dozens of those big paper leaf bags on their curbs and the leaves kept falling. Given how windy it's been the past couple of days, I'm sure that they are long gone.

Perhaps the leaves blew into the lake. Maybe they blew all the way up to Wasaga Beach to fuel the fire.

Today was weird, between the crazy blizzarding icy rain sun showers we had here, the fire at the beach and Evel Knievel's death, it's hard to imagine what could be next.

baby it's cold outside

holy crap but it's cold here. old man winter has landed on our doorsteps, quite suddenly as it happens. the wind chill is -10 according to environment canada.

we woke up to the sound of ice pellets hitting the windows and it was a slippery mess outside on the roads. I was able to get to work at pretty much my usual time but poor Mark had a bit of a white knuckle day. I worry a lot about him when the weather is bad. It's not that he can't drive in this weather, it's more that the other drivers just lose their every-lovin' minds during the first storm of the year.

Normally, Mark picks me up after he has dropped the cab off. Tonight though, he was near my office and picked me up on his way to swap cars. It's a good thing he did too. The roads are horrible and it took both of us to scrape the van. It was a giant icy cube. yuck.

it sure is good to be home right now though. I am sure that most folks are like me and would rather watch a storm from the comfort of their very own chesterfield than be out in the mix, schlepping through crap.

no more mother hubbard

Our cupboards were practically empty. The fridge too. Working all of these weekends recently has not left us with much time for shopping. I mean, we've dashed in and out of the store grabbing just enough stuff to throw something together for dinner but we hadn't done a real shop in ages.

Tonight after work, we came home and fed the critters and then went back out in the dark to do some shopping. The traffic was pretty nuts. They are calling for some snow here tomorrow and I think it's thrown folks into a bit of a panic. If we'd had any choice at all about going out tonight, we probably would have stayed home (afterall, how much do you like shopping in the rain?).

It's done now though, we both got pretty much soaked and were frozen by the time we got everything inside. The temperature is really starting to drop. Right now though, we're home, it's toasty warm in our house. I have a dog sitting at my feet and I'm listening to yet another gorgeous version of The Zutons' "Valerie" being sung by Ms Winehouse.

Life is good and right now, it's very hard to care about cold and wet.

the big apple pie factory bakery

the big apple pie factory bakery
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Mark's knee is messed up tonight.

When we woke up this morning, he said it felt funny and for a moment, he couldn't put any weight on it. Eventually, whatever it was stopped, and he was "okay." Tonight when he picked me up from work though, he was in a tonne of pain.

He's sitting on the sofa right now, magic bag on knee, taking some ibuprofen and watching tv. I hope he's feeling better later, it would suck for him to be laid up with a bad knee all weekend.

Other than that, not much news here except for the fact that it's September and after dark and the humidex should not be in the 30's at this time of day, at this time of year.

pancake thursday

chocolate chip pancakes
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I'm not really having pancakes today but I thought I'd share this photo. It's a little too warm to be thinking about pancakes today.

All week, I've been pretty lucky. I haven't had to venture outside too far while I've been at work. Basically I've been able to hop from air conditioned office to air conditioned office. This morning I had to walk across campus, through the construction zone, to get to a meeting.

The walk over was no problem. Easy to get through the construction, not a lot of fumes, a little bit of a breeze. No problems. Coming back though, all of the machines were awake, there was dust everywhere. Cigarette smoke was all over the place too, the construction dudes must need to smoke while operating heavy machinery. They must go hand in hand. Between the diesel fumes, the smoke and the super thick hot steamy stuff that passes for air, my friend and I were almost gasping by the time we got back to the office.

No fun, not a bit.

On an up note, the city has started to rip up our street. This morning, we saw them cutting into the pavement on our way to work. Mark noticed it before me actually. My focus was on the boat by the side of the road. I should have realized that it was our neighbour, pulling his boat. He'd stopped to get the skinny from the road crew. Tonight, we saw that the new water main stuff (concrete tubes wrapped in bright blue plastic) were piled by the roadside.

Should be interesting. If nothing else, at least we'll (hopefully) get a freshly paved street out of the deal!

showering

It's a girl!
Originally uploaded by Julep67

we've been having us some pretty wonky weather just recently.

Last night, the weather kept us from going to the drive-in. After dinner, we noticed that the humidity was making the windows fog up on the outside. Given that it was still super hot and threatening to thunder shower, we figured that we'd give the drive-in a miss.

We're thinking about trying to go tonight but it's been raining off and on all day. More on than off though, the past hour or so. Mark turned the barbecue on to make some dinner and the skies opened up and absolutely poured. Hard. Like, so hard you couldn't see the neighbour's house across the yard.

Oh well, could be worse right, could be hail!

Mark's garden grows

Mark's garden grows
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I really really really really really thought that I'd be outside by now.

All day at work, and it was a longish day, I kept thinking to myself, I can stand the humidity because when I get home from work, I can get into the pool.

As we pulled onto our street though, it started to cloud over. As I type this, it's getting darker and darker and there is a storm watch in effect for the region.

fun huh?

Now, I'm not complaining about the rain, goodness knows that even though we've had a lot of it lately, we can use it. It's actually nice to now have to water the garden.

Having said that though, it would be nice to have one sunny evening.

Over the course of our entire week off, we did not get into the pool once.

Not once!

No fair!!

I'm really hoping for some sunshine this week.

Hopefully that's not asking too much.

hosed

hosed
Originally uploaded by Julep67

is it hot hot hot in your neck of the woods?

it's still hot hot hot here but not hot hot hot hot hot like it was yesterday. today we have a breeze and it is good. it's still humid and all but at least the air is moving.

we just got home from costco. I would like to move in to their walk-in produce cooler. it's nice and cold and you can see your breath in front of you as you select your mushrooms and what not.

I'm glad to be home, very very glad. it was very hot in our office today and I had a hard time concentrating by the mid-afternoon. Part of me would like to go get into our pool and the other part wants to hide in the house, in the air conditioning and eat chicken salad in front of the television.

If I wanted to, I suppose I could eat chicken salad in the pool but that doesn't sound quite so appealing.

seriously, the heat has fried my brain today but then, I'm sure you can tell that already without me pointing it out.

hot enough for you?

hot enough for you?
Originally uploaded by Julep67

36. The humidex is 36.

The humidex should not be 36 in June.

But again, climate change is a myth.

Science Schmience.

I'm getting in the pool. This is nonsense.

pressure cleaned

pressure cleaned
Originally uploaded by Julep67

my feet feel so good. just taking my shoes off tonight felt amazing. funny how you have to feel really totally shitty to appreciate feeling good sometimes.

I had a pretty long day today. I worked all day and then went to convocation to help out with the framing service. It went pretty well tonight, very smooth actually. It wasn't too hot where we were until about an hour into it and then, all of a sudden, the air was gone and it got very hot. It rained a little bit and that cooled things off a bit. It's muggy outside right now but I don't care because it's cool in our house!!

It'll be even cooler in our pool this weekend. Only one more sleep 'til the weekend, betcha can't wait!

deep discussion

deep discussion
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

It was so hard to concentrate on working today. Seriously difficult.

Because we still don't have a screen on our window at work, we had to break down and turn on the air conditioning today. It felt bad to turn it on, I know that if we could just open this one window, we'd have a cross breeze and it would be lovely.

As Ontario Hydro used to say, "wasting electricity turns people off." It turned me off to turn the AC on. Yuck.

At least there are only two more working days left this week. For a chunk of tomorrow and a chunk of Friday, I'm helping out at convocation so that's a nice break. It's so much fun, everyone smiles, the new grads, the proud parents, the little brothers and sisters who have tagged along. What's not to like about graduation? NOTHING, that's what!!

rain

it had to happen I suppose. it's dreary today. we had rain through the night and Mark's been suffering with a migraine since late yesterday afternoon. myself, I'm a little groggy. I think I'll be a 3 coffee morning.

little lunch buddy

little lunch buddy
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

I like this photo because I was able to catch the bird in mid-air.

As you can tell, I'm enjoying my new camera hugely. I took it to work today with great intentions of walking around campus at lunch, taking photos of the construction.

Instead, I sat on a bench with a friend, in the sunshine, and had a chat and ate my sammich and didn't feed the birds.

Mean, I know.

It was really difficult to come back to work today after a fabulous birthday weekend. Really difficult, like insanely hard.

I did survive though, somehow. Poor Mark is a little worse for wear right now, he's got a migraine. The weather must be planning something bad for his head to be pounding so much. Fingers crossed, a good night's sleep will make it right again. No one needs to feel this bad, ever.

air quality

mum's flowers
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

the air was like soup today, it still is actually.

how can this be? the second really nice day of the year and the air is crap.

to make matters worse, the storm windows are still on the windows in my office.

right now, we actually have the air conditioning on in our house because it's so humid it stinks.

I guess spring is over huh?? I hate to complain about the weather, especially because I've been waiting so long for it to warm up but crap on stick people, can't we just have a week of nice, sunny, breezy, warm, spring days?

smog!!?

phytotron - big lights
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

apparently, there was a smog advisory in effect here today. I was inside all day pretty much and didn't hear about this until we were in the dollarama store after work. driving home from the west end, you could see an icky grey in the sky as we approached the city. it doesn't feel particularly good to be under an advisory on the first really nice, warm day of the year.

the upside of this is that I actually wore sandals today.

I shouldn't have to live with smog in order to enjoy naked toes.

pressure

new barbecue
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

Poor Mark, this weird weather system is doing bad things to his head. He's been on the edge of a migraine all afternoon. I think he's taking some drugs and hopefully that will make the pain go away. It's surprising too, after the nice weather we've had the past few days, that it's suddenly cold again. I say cold, it's not freezing or anything, just a few degrees lower than yesterday. I'm a wimp, what can I say!?

We've really been enjoying our new barbecue. It works soooooo much better than the old one. Cooking with the natural gas outside makes a massive difference over cooking with propane. I knew that our old barbecue was in bad shape but you don't realize how crappy something is until you replace it.

Speaking of replacing, we have this shed out in the back which I was planning on painting this year (I said I'd do it all last summer too but never did!). It has some paint on it only because the folks who lived here before us let their kids shoot it with paint ball guns. Mark was talking to our neighbour today and he's going to side it for us. The shed itself is structurally in good shape, it just needs the outside "prettied up" because it's ugly. Once it's all sided too, we shouldn't have another squirrel infestation like we did last winter. They are cute and all but boy can they make a mess!!

new barbecue

new barbecue
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

we got one!

we ended up, as I predicted, getting the one we found in the flyer. It's a very nice barbecue and Mark and Tom put it together in the rain today.

because of the rain, we couldn't use it tonight but it is all together and hopefully tomorrow it'll be nice out and we'll get to use it.

it's head and shoulders above our old one and it hooks up to the gas line on our deck. oh, and it's shiny.

very shiny!

muggy april?

it was a dark and stormy night...
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

I am so glad to be home.

We are having the weirdest storm right now. I probably shouldn't be anywhere near the computer but I'm a rebel, yanno!?

After work tonight, Mark and I were able to get some errands done. These were things that we really should have done on the weekend but didn't. It was so hot and humid when we got to Costco that we almost didn't want to step out of the walk-in produce cooler. Of course, eventually we did but honestly, it shouldn't be muggy in April!!

We got home with about five minutes to spare before the sky just opened up. Thunder, lightning, everything. The sun's not set yet though so, if the storm pushes through quickly, we may just see a rainbow tonight.

happy friday!

buds of april
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

and what a friday it was!!

the weather was incredibly gorgeous here today. also, my allergies/cold/whatever it was seems to have gone away so I was feeling much better at work today.

Mark, unfortunately, what hit with a migraine earlier this afternoon. Something big must have changed with the air pressure. We came straight home from work so he could have a nap.

I'm sure that if he has an early night tonight, he'll be better tomorrow. I hope so anyway. It's supposed to hit 20 tomorrow and we'd like to get some spring cleaning / yard work started.

happy "first real" weekend of spring folks!

snow in april

snow in april
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

no joke.

this is what we woke up to this morning.

it's the middle of april!!

wtf!!??

luckily, it didn't last too long, it's almost gone now. it's raining quite heavily though. hopefully there won't be too much flooding here in town.

I honestly can't believe that some morons in the media still feel that the climate change crisis is all in our heads. We should not have this much snow in April.

almost there

I know that this has turned into a short week for me (well really short - being off Monday and then being sick on Tuesday) but it's feeling really long.

The problem with days off (the only problem really) is that the work on my desk waits for me. So this week, having 2 days out of the office, the 3 days that I am in are sort of nuts. Today particularly was hectic. I was only at my desk for 2 hours. I'm tired now. The meetings were quite good but tiring.

The rain is getting me down too. It's been raining here this week, a lot. It's cold too, colder than it should be.

On the upside, I feel like I'm over my bug and my back is almost better. I'm such a whiner, aren't I?

name that smell

view from the top
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

it's warming up kids. it rained today. as I went back and forth across campus today, I tried to avoid stepping in puddles. I was trying to avoid them because I had dressy shoes on and was going to an event and it wouldn't have been good to show up all damp from the puddles.

part of me really wanted to jump in with both feet and splash the water and not care a bit about it. alas, the other part of me was working at this event and couldn't give in.

I noticed too, on my trips back and forth, that it smells like spring. it's that smell that you tell yourself is the mud thawing out from under the snow but the logical part of your brains knows that it's actually dog shit thawing out. either way, mud or poop, it's what spring smells like!

oh, in other news, I was approached by a South American lady who is writing a book about people's relationships with New York City. She wants to use this photo in her book (as well as another one I took) and I told her yes! I think it'll be kind of neat to have some of my photos published in an actual book. She's agreed to send me a copy after it's published. neat huh? I particularly like that she chose this photo because it has our car in it. Mark was the one who saw our car and had me take the picture. It's not everyday that you can see your car from the top of the Empire State building!!

snow grains

fun world ferris wheel
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

the forecast currently calls for snow grains.

I don't even think I know what that means.

spring is supposed to officially begin this week but it feels like it's a long way off.

I know that baseball stuff is happening already.

I saw some green grass beside a snowbank yesterday.

those are good signs for sure but still, it's cold. snow grains.

I'm sick of winter.

truly sick.

I long for warmth, for sunshine, for naked toes in the grass and needing to wear sunscreen and wet towels on the deck rail.

soon, right?

no way!

saturday storm
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

According to the environment Canada website, there is a minus 21 wind chill outside. I just came out from spending almost an hour outside and there is no way that it is that cold. Maybe down by the lake (where the airport is - where they monitor the conditions) it's that cold.

The sun is shining and everything is sparkly and pretty and fresh and it's a lovely day. The sun is making the snow and ice on the van melt actually.

We got dumped on yesterday in a big way. It stopped for a little while last evening so we made a quick run to the drug store and on the way home the winds kicked up. The drug store is less than 5 minutes from our house and I'm glad we didn't have to be out very long. Coming home, we had to drive through this really large intersection and the traffic lights were all messed up. Because of the blowing snow, you couldn't see very well so it was difficult to do the "four way stop" rules thing.

Late yesterday afternoon, while it was still snowing, I went out to try to get a jump on the shovelling. A friend of Mark's had been over for coffee earlier in the afternoon and you could not see his footprints in the driveway anymore. I got the porch, steps and walkway done and had the driveway about 1/3 finished when our wonderful neighbour, Tommy, showed up with in mini-plow. He did the bottom of the driveway for me. I was so happy. I managed to clean the van off and back it up into the clean spot of the drive way so I could shovel the top part. He hollered at me to pull it out onto the street and he did the top part too. We have great neighbours!

This morning there was a little cleaning up to do, mostly from the blowing snow last night. I dug out the deck too this morning because there was almost 2 feet of snow on it and we would have a tough time getting out the back door if we needed to do so in a hurry.

Now that we're all dug out, I'm not sure if we're actually going anywhere today. I'd like to maybe go no further than for a walk in the snow and spend the rest of the day watching movies. I have a whole bunch of things sitting here on my computer just waiting to be watched so it would be fun to get through some of them.

The other day, we saw "Jesus Camp." It scared the crap out of me, seriously. It was tough to watch because, in my opinion, the kids at that camp were being abused. It felt like child abuse to me. They were quite literally brain washing those kids and didn't seem to me that this is what being a Christian is supposed to be about. If I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure that worshipping a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush on an altar is breaking a commandment. It's scary but worth seeing I think.