Heard on the street

Recently I helped out with a United Way Pancake breakfast at work. These are held once a week for 4 weeks in November. The company that runs our cafeteria provides the sausage, bacon, and eggs. They make up the pancake batter and we make the pancakes. Everyone makes a donation to pay for their pancakes. The day I worked we were really short staffed. I was working with the finance department who had a forecast due so we started off with 3 and the last hour there was just the two of us. We were doing fine but the cafeteria staff couldn't keep up. We ran out of everything at least once which is slightly embarassing. The worst was when we ran out of pancake batter. Some people don't want the pancakes, just the eggs and bacon so I asked the increasing crowd if there was anyone who didn't want pancakes and got this reply from Andrew one of the technicians. "Nance, it's a pancake breakfast!" That was the best comment of the day!

This weekend I took the train to Toronto to go dress shopping with Hayley. As we walked down busy Queen West we heard a young woman talking on her cell phone loudly. She said, "I don't know what to do! He's even too big for the extra large condoms." In this day and age of cell phones do you find yourself hearing things you never thought you would hear?

Thematic Photographic 77 Buildings

I haven't blogged in quite a while and the only excuse I have is that I've been equal parts busy and uninspired. But Carmi's photochallenge http://writteninc.blogspot.com/2009/11/thematic-photographic-77-buildings.html and Hayley's posting of her Los Angeles photos gave me the desire to share these photos. Sorry Hayley but I'm sure you won't mind your mom sharing your photo. I thought that this building looks like something spies hide out in. I can picture Maxwell Smart or James Bond lurking about. Truthfully though this is Oakley (think sunglasses) headquarters in Los Angeles. It's pretty cool and they even have a tank!

PSA

This is a public service announcement for the blog Fisherlady http://ashleymrae.blogspot.com/2009/10/tobago-day-five.html

Ashley is one of my daughter's dearest friends and she recently won a dream fishing trip to Tobago. She has captured some excellent video of fishing and nature reserves. She would love to somehow make a career out of her hobby and is working hard to do so. Enjoy!

Let's all say Thanks

First and foremost I am most thankful that when Hayley called last night at 2 a.m our time 11 p.m California time that it wasn't because she had been raped or robbed but that she had run into Rod Stewart on the street and she HAD HAD to tell someone!!!!! Sure she could of waited but by then the excitement would have dwindled. She's not a fan of Rod although I am and I think it's really reassurance that she's currently where the celebrated congregrate.

But what I'm really really thankful for is that I have for the most part a happy healthy family. That this recession we heard about constantly really hasn't affected my immediate family much. I'm thankful that I have a roof over our heads, 2 beautiful children, and good jobs. I'm also so thankful that I get to live in Canada. I love this country. I'm thankful that I have a good head on my shoulders. I try to tell my children to appreciate their lives as much as possible and when things seem bad realize they could always be much worse and the bad is usually short term. And I'm always thankful for the wild turkeys that feel free to travel through my yard.

LA or Bust

My baby is off on her first business trip ever on Sunday! She'll be heading to Los Angeles 4000 kms away for some training. The picture above is the only other trip she took without her family. It was when she was 19 and had just finished her first year of college. Her friend Rachel asked her to go on an adventure to BC via Greyhound 4300 kms away. H ence the "hat" which she borrowed from her dad. 4 days straight on a bus you need to have a hat! They visited Whistler where Rachel had friends and then spent a few days in Vancouver where they found cheap accomodations at the UBC residence. They actually spent more time on the bus than they did in Vancouver and Whistler. She survived that trip and she will survive this one too.

Thursday was extremely stressful for her. It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong did. Someone managed to abscond with $300 out of her bank account which thankfully the bank realized was fraudulent and closed down her account before they could get anymore. But suddenly she found herself with no bank account and no money. After several trips to the bank she got it all straightened out. We also called Visa and asked if she could borrow our visa card for the trip. The young man I spoke to was very nice and assured me this was not a very good idea. He said your daughter could be detained but he assured us that if my husband the Primary cardholder called by 6 p.m. that day they could overnight her a card. Really? I couldn't believe this. Well she had the card by 10 a.m this morning which is pretty awesome. Now I won't have to worry that she has money problems this week. And I'll sleep better. I told her to look on the bright side. Thankfully this happened on Thursday when we could get it all straightened out before she left.

Have a great trip baby girl and we'll see you when you get back!!!! Please dress nicer for this trip! :)

Corn Roast

Last night, we attended a co-worker's annual corn roast held on their farm. Their was of course all the corn one could eat but their was also camping, bonfires and a live band. Their barn was a beautiful old structure that they've done a lot of work to. As another friend said, It's just a great atmosphere. Colleen told me that many of the kids have been coming since they were young and now they are teenagers. On the dance floor you could see those with white hair as well as the teenagers. The band "On Tap" was excellent. They played many old favourites like Stuck in the Middle with You, They Call it a Trap and Sundown. Even though it was quite chilly I felt quite warm and I think the sense of family and community had something to do with that. I'll leave you with a couple of shots from the night.

Hayley's Uhura

This was originally supposed to be my knitting blog which morphed into somewhat of a hodgepodge of things. Now I feel rather odd when I put something knitting related in it but I was so excited with how the Uhura tank from the Twist Collective http://twistcollective.com/2009/summer/magazinepage_031.php that I just finished for Hayley turned out. I've only done one lace scarf before so I learned a lot. The pattern is quite easy. I made the xs and was worried that it might be too small but it fits perfectly. I also didn't make the hole in the front because Hayley said she would prefer it without. The yarn is Be Sweet Bamboo which I understands stretches so I didn't want it to be too loose from the start. The yarn has such a nice deep shiny colour and is supersoft. Hayley said that it felt good. Bamboo also has an antibacterial component to it. After we left her apartment she said some friends dropped over and and asked where she bought her top and she was proud to say my mom made it for me. Then her roommate returned and he liked it too. She gave me an A+ on this one.

On a side note, we had a lovely visit with her. We had a late breakfast (afternoon) at French Toast just around the corner from her apartment. It was lovely and sunny out and we walked. She got a call from her work asking if she would be available Sunday night to work the door at one of the Tiff parties. For those who don't know TIFF is the Toronto International Film Festival. So then we had to rush back to her place to find something suitable. Since Hayley works in a warehouse environment her closet is not brimming with fancy dresses. We decided upon a plain black dress she has and headed out to find some dressy shoes to wear with it. We found these fun little flats appropriately named Pizzaz to wear with it. It will be interesting to hear if she meets anyone famous. Right now she knows very little details but she promises me a full report on Monday night.