She's HOME!!

                 And I'm glad! 

750!!!

Pardon me while I giggle........................................................................................ok, I think I've got a hold of myself now.....WELCOME TO POST #750!!!  I typed "750" into google images and this is one of many that popped up. So, imagine that's me about to roar off on my Ducati 750! And yes, that is how I would dress because there's no better feeling than peeling one's butt cheeks off of a leather seat! How do I know that you ask??  Never mind......now where was I?

Oh yes. This is a celebration of my 750th post on this particular blog. (This is my 3rd blog since 2007 the first being a joint effort with my brother and 2 friends called Four Mugs & a Crock!) I think I mentioned a few posts ago that I had reached post #750 but then I went to my post list and there were several drafts that I deleted and my post total went back to 744 or thereabouts. But now it's OFFICIAL!!

Oh how to mark this momentous occasion? Well so far I've marked it by drinking a kind of cold cup of coffee. Pardon me while I go nuke it.......there I'm back, not only with a hot cup of coffee but also with a bowl of pickled beets. Yes, I'm addicted to pickled beets. I admit it. You didn't know that about me? OK, well I could make a list of 750 things you don't know about me to celebrate 750 posts! Hmmmmmmmm where to start?

No, that's seems like too much work! How about 7.5 things you don't know about me, I think I can manage that!

1. This is hard!! Ok ok.....before I became a teacher I worked in various capacities for the Royal Bank of Canada which I detested so that motivated me to go back to school and earn a degree. Or two.
2. My daughter was conceived in Hawaii on New Year's Eve!
3. I am a Daughter of the United Empire Loyalists because an ancestor of mine was a "minute man" during the American Revolution!
4. My favorite genres of music are punk and country! Surprised?
5. I adore, love and revere single malt scotch :)
6. I am learning how to play the ukulele!
7. My aura is "green" - go check out sluggy's recent post about auras!
8. I know how it feels to peel my butt cheeks off a leather seat because.............

Sorry, I'm only sharing 7.5 things you don't know about me!!

Oh, and by the way I noticed that after Ontario Bloggers Day my followers list gained a few more readers!! Thank you one and all! 

Oh, and Kazi is now safely a million miles away in Australia!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaahh! The time difference is 15 hours ahead of my time. She's asleep right now as she was severely jet lagged. Her suitcase got ripped up so she needs to replace it but other than that she arrived safe and sound. I have to say that thinking of her being SO FREAKING FAR AWAY is freaking me out a LOT but I'll have to live with it. 

Eventful Journey So Far

Yesterday Kazi and I made the trip to Pearson Airport in Toronto to launch her trip to Australia. We had gone only about 50km when just past Woodstock traffic was diverted from Hwy. 401 to Hwy. 403.  We assumed we'd be able to get back on the 401 at the next overpass but instead we were faced with this:

And again at the next overpass and the next. At that point we had no idea what had happened and were a bit concerned about getting to the airport on time. (well, I was concerned, Kazi remained optimistically  upbeat during the whole ordeal; maybe I would have too if I'd been the one heading to Australia!)

Eventually, after a detour that covered over 30km and travelling at an average speed of about 30km per hour we made it back on the 401. Once my "map" skills were no longer needed on my iPhone I googled "accident on the 401" and discovered there had been 2 major accidents on that stretch of highway Friday morning.

First an eastbound tractor trailer slammed into the concrete median causing debris to fly over into the westbound lanes - as far as I know the driver was OK. Then a little while later there was a collision involving 3 tractor trailers killing one driver and injuring another-oh no!! I'm so thankful we weren't travelling in the morning! There had been snow over night though I don't know if that was a factor or if it was driver error - police aren't releasing much info yet. When we began our journey on the 401 approximately 3.5 hours later the roads were clear and dry.  Very sad. I have to admit (and my daughter did too) that I try to pass large trucks as quickly as I can when on the 401 - it's not a pleasant experience!  And there are so many of them!

A piece of positive news is that Kazi met up with someone she sort of  knew who was travelling to Australia too - same plane! (2 planes actually as they have a stopover in L.A.) She knew the young woman would be on the plane (this woman is also in the law program in Australia that Kazi's friend is in and lives in the same apartment! They even had seats next to each other on the plane!!) Kazi hadn't met her before but it was still a happy moment for her to meet up with her and have a travelling companion who was familiar with where they were going. I was relieved because TWO are safer than ONE!

Unfortunately there was some not so good news. Kazi texted me around 6:30am (my time) that there were some issues with the plane they were supposed to board in L.A. and their 3 hour stopover had turned into 5 hours at that point. She had grabbed only 1 hour of sleep at that point by laying on the floor in the airport. I replied that a long stopover was still better than boarding a plane that is having problems!! I haven't heard from her since then so I can only assume that she is now somewhere over the Pacific winging her way to Australia - a 14 hour od.

As for me I arrived home shortly before 7pm. As suggested by Jane (The Maple Syrup Mob blog) I put a tray of food together with a glass of wine and parked myself in front of the TV.  Within the hour I was having a lovely nap....woke up around 11pm and went to bed!! So much for my first exciting night on my own lol!

Of course that would explain why I was wide awake at 6:15am this morning! I was actually sitting in front of the variety store (in my car) that carries my favorite newspaper before the owner had arrived! Pairing my newspaper with not one but two coffees from Timmy's and I had the most lovely and relaxed morning (well, as relaxed as I could be with my daughter hurtling over the Pacific!!) And of course now I am writing this post whilst doing laundry and will be catching up on my blog reading momentarily. I'm also going to check out the Ontario bloggers page over at Cindy's blog "North of Wiarton and South of the Checkerboard!" Perhaps you should too!

Talk to you later (TTYL!))

Hump Day

Well it's Hump Day and we're coasting downhill to the weekend. Can't say anything bad about that! I gave myself the night off last night, didn't post, didn't read, didn't work and in bed shortly after 8pm! I have a magic cure for insomnia if anyone needs one. Not that I had insomnia last night but this strategy puts me to sleep in minutes, perhaps seconds. I had roughly 8.5 hours of sleep last night which for someone who gets up at 5am everyday is miraculous and very welcome.

My strategy you ask? First of all it's free. Once my Kindle bit the dust I started using a Kindle app on my iPad.  It has several advantages over the Kindle - I find the screen easy to read and who doesn't like turning pages with just a touch?  And, with my iPad I can download, for free, any ebook in the Ontario Library system and the PEI Library system. From the comfort of my recliner, couch or bed to boot!

When I was struck down for a month last January with a pinched nerve and all I could do was lay on the floor and listen to audio ebooks on my iPad I accidentally discovered that if I listened to a story being read to me by a man (doesn't work with a woman for some reason - I think a study should be done to determine why) with an English accent I quickly fall asleep. At first I was really annoyed because I'd be sleeping and the reader would still be reading away oblivious to the fact that his listener was sawing logs!! So the next time I wanted to listen to more of the audio ebook I'd have to backtrack through the chapters to find my place wasting precious reading time.

When it kept happening over and over again I finally had a brainwave (yes, I get one of those from time to time)! If I was having trouble sleeping I could put myself to sleep - NO PROBLEM! After awhile I didn't even care what the book was about! It's like a powerful sleeping pill that has NO side effects, costs me nothing, and works like a charm every time. Should I patent this idea do you think?

So now I have books I actually read and audio ebooks that knock me right out! It's so awesome!

Other newsy notes:

• Judy asked me how Kazi did at her interview - well she did really well and is going back tomorrow for a second interview. She's not sure about the job because it requires daily use of design software that she is only kind of familiar with and doesn't really enjoy using. I told her to go anyway just to see how difficult it would be. She could always take another course or perhaps her level of skill would be enough. So she's going.
• AND she had another interview today with a different company!! That also involved her waiting by her phone as she had to speak with a person from Quebec to prove how fluent she is in french. She did really well and is now waiting to see if she'll get called back for a 2nd interview. 
• If that wasn't enough she is leaving on Friday for 3 weeks in Australia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She let both companies know about this - she feels if she doesn't do it now she'll have to wait 35 years (like me) while she has her career (and hopefully a family :) before she'll have time to travel again.  
• If those interviews don't pan out she still has her 2 part-time jobs to come back to. She has it all planned out.
• So guess who's driving her to Toronto Pearson airport Friday afternoon?? YUP - you guessed it - I HATE with a passion driving around huge airports but I'll do it for my Kazi! 
• SO EXCITING!

How was YOUR humpday??

I already want to take a nap tomorrow....

 because I get tired just looking at these photos!  Above is Kazi's room, below is the cat's room, my former bedroom. (We have a 3rd bedroom in the basement which is where Michael and I sleep.) I wanted to show you a picture of the big desk in Kazi's room which Michael and his son Dane took apart on Friday...but it's kind of hard to see underneath the accumulation of stuff! If you look really hard in the upper right quadrant you can barely see it behind the mirror....well, anyways it's GONE!
It's hard to believe that in one more week her room will be empty. I just took a double dose of ibuprofin after yesterday's exertions left me with a sore shoulder - yes, the same one that was immobilized due to a pinched nerve in January, :( so I better get some help clearing out her room!

Our almost 20 year old cat Tisky did a great job of cleaning up her room...har har har! Just a few pieces of furniture to move out in preparation for new carpet laying taking place on Nov. 4th. Little does Tisky know however, that she will be moving to the laundry room - I'm not allowing one cat hair on the new carpet! Morbid as it sounds, I honestly, truly thought she would be in "kitty heaven" by now, buried out back with our 4 hamsters. I've had 3 other cats over my adult life with none of them living past the age of 11. Tisky will be 20 next June...who knew??

Ever wondered what was under your flooring?  Well, don't...it ain't pretty! I spent 2 hours yesterday vacuuming up the dust and dirt - YUCK!!

There isn't much living going on in the living room! It's been turned into a repository for the upstairs furniture while it gets newly carpeted.

Under the dining room table are the boxes of bamboo hardwood which we'll do after the carpet is installed - we'll move all the furniture upstairs and/or outside on the patio if the weather is ok.

The staircases look particularly ugly with the carpet ripped off of them. The one set below will be recarpeted as it flows from the bedrooms upstairs but the one to the basement...well, let's just say we haven't figured that one out yet.

So that's this week's update on the renos...hopefully the next update will show some completed work. I still have some wallpaper and border to remove but I'll either have to do it with my left hand/arm or wait til my right one feels better.

In other news...my daughter is planning a trip to Australia after Christmas! Yes, she wants to see a bit of the world and perhaps work there for awhile. Her best friend is there for the next two years in law school so Kazi is taking this opportunity to visit her and explore job prospects and a different part of the world. I'm excited for her - this is the time to do it and I hope her horizons will be broadened by seeing how other people live.