Moving Time

Sometimes work can be frustrating. In the almost four years I've been with my current employer, I've had three different desks. And I'm about to have a fourth. Yes, I'm moving locations yet again. The most recent move, two months ago, just isn't working given my current duties. Since I liaise (my word of the day) with a number of other areas, I'm often found wandering the halls of our building throughout the day. Combined with covering for people on vacation, sick days (too many sick people in our office these days), and family emergencies, I'm never at my "new desk". So, I approached one of my three supervisors (don't ask, it's complicated) with the possibility of moving back to the desk I had previously. She completely agreed (yay!) and we approached my boss with the idea. Thankfully, I work for some pretty understanding people and they gave me the go-ahead to start shuffling my things back to our area's main location.

The other admin girls in the group are very excited about me returning and I have to say that I'm secretly stoked! While I enjoyed the quiet and lack of interruption on the floor above, it was lonely and my three and 1/2 walled cubicle felt claustrophobic. Sure I won't have "down time" to check my email or read the news online like I've enjoyed occasionally over the past few weeks but it'll be nice to back amongst the other sheep.

Finished!

Yippee! The Admiral's mittens are finished! I made her mittens for Christmas last year as well. Hmmm, perhaps an annual tradition. A lot of people get new pyjamas on Christmas/Christmas eve. I'm thinking in our family it'll be Christmas mittens. I can't wait for the Niece and Nephew's hands to get bigger so I can make them each a pair too. Next year, it'll be mittens for Big Brother and Wife, and the Admiral of course. Perhaps, if I start early enough, I can make some for Dad and his missus.

I'm Confused

Has American Thanksgiving ALWAYS been on a Thursday? From what I can tell, it appears so. That just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I can't explain why, it just does. I suppose it ties in well with the shopping insanity that is Black Friday. It just makes more sense for me to have holidays on Mondays or Fridays. Like Labour Day, Canadian Thanksgiving, Easter....

Speaking of shopping, just over a month until the fat guy tries to shimmy down your chimney (if you have one). Its hard to believe how fast the end of the year is approaching. Can 2009 be almost over already? Where did the year go? It seems like just last month I was jetting off to England. Or planting seeds on our balcony. Or complaining about the weater (ok, to be fair, I do that all the time). This means that I'm going to have to start thinking about the year ahead and what I want to accomplish.

3 Minutes left in the 3rd Quarter...

...and the score is 45-18 in favour of Montreal.

And you've got to love the announcers on TSN.

"This is officially...ugly".

Who knew an owl could take out a lion?

Eastern conference CFL final today (Western conference to come later). Only a few minutes into the second quarter and Montreal is walking all over BC: 24 - 3. Ouch for Lions' fans. Yippee for those of us cheering on the Als.

Vanilla Ice Ice ... Ice Cream

I'm often told I'm very "vanilla". No, not in the sense that I can bust a move better than Vanilla Ice (seriously, who can't?). I'm talking about my taste buds. This was more common when I was still friends with T, who had been a student at a local culinary school. She was fond of overloading her food with herbs and spices so that was all you tasted while I tend to prefer to taste the flavours of my food with a hint of the added dill, lemon, garlic, ginger, etc. Now that we no longer talk to one another, I don't hear it quite as often but occasionally it still comes up. I'm not embarassed or ashamed to admit I prefer good old comfort food. I don't need fancy schmancy dishes to tickle my taste buds (although I am slowing expanding my horizons....still no chicken thighs though. Sorry AsteReds). It should come as no surprise to anyone then that my absolute favourite flavour of ice cream is...vanilla. Specifically french vanilla - you know, the kind with yellowy tinge to it and the miniscule black flecks from the vanilla beans. You'd be surprised at how difficult it can be to find a really good vanilla. Most of the stuff out there is crap - no flavour, not creamy at all. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect vanilla.

Occasionally I get a craving for something a bit wild. Something unusual. Somthing crazy! That's right. I'm talking about strawberry. I'll give you a moment to get over the shock..... Strawberry is definately my number two choice when it comes to ice cream. Surprisingly, not chocolate. Sure, I like chocolate but for some reason, I'm just not that keen on it when it comes to an ice cream flavour. Not sure why. Anyways, back to the strawberry. Like vanilla, I find it difficult to discover a great strawberry ice cream. Wait...before I continue, I want to make it clear that I don't spend my evenings gorging myself on various brands of ice cream in a never ending quest for that perfect dessert. I rarely have it in the house because if I did, I'd eat it. Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's head back to my story. Where was I? Oh yes, the search for strawberry. It's easier to find a passable strawberry ice cream than it is for the vanilla but most manufacturers figure they can use a bit of fake strawberry flavour, some pink food colouring, and throw in a couple of things that may, at one time, have been a berry and they can call it strawberry ice cream. Not so. Yuck.

I am happy to report that I have discovered the closest thing to perfection when it comes to strawberry ice cream (in my opinion). Save-On-Foods had a sale on their Haagen Dasz ice creams (not a great sale but better than paying full price!) this weekend and since the Admiral and I have been eating a bit healthier these days, and we hadn't spent as much as we had budgeted for on groceries, I decided to grab one of these small tubs. Both the Admiral and I were prepared to be very disappointed in the HD Strawberry - the two of us have similar ice cream tastes. I knew after one bite that I had found the answer to my strawberry dream. The Admiral tried a spoonful and continued to cook her dinner as she tasted it. I had turned my back to put the tub back in the freezer when I heard "MMmmmmmm Oh god....". If I hadn't known she was eating ice cream, I probably would have been a little bit creeped out. Both of us agree that this was THE best strawberry ice cream we had ever tasted. I'm sure homemade ice cream is probably even better but I've never had homemade before. It's a very good thing we don't buy ice cream very often - at $5-7 a container (depending on sale vs. full price), it would become a very expensive, very fattening indulgence. For something though that we might but once every few months, I can definately justify splurging. Next time though, I think we might have to try the Vanilla Bean. If the strawberry is anything to go by, we might just discover the perfect vanilla.

Steven Seagal is...The Lawman

We're all aware of Captain Karen's serious addiction to reality programming. I fear it's about to sink to an all new level of low. You see, A&E has been taunting and teasing me for the past few weeks with commercials of a new show starting next month during the breaks in The Last 48, Cold Case Files, American Justice and Dog the Bounty Hunter. What could possibly have me so excited? Yes, it's naturally another true crime program and it stars an action-adventure Hollywood icon. The show is Steven Seagal Lawman. According to the show's website, in addition to making movies which have grossed more than $2 billion (um....hmmmm....), he's been an deputy in Louisiana for twenty years.

Why are you laughing? Come on. Stop it. I'm serious. It's not that funny! Hey! There's no reason to say those kind of things!!! Mr. Seagal is "considered to be in the same class of action hero as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger." Okay, now I'm the one who's laughing. You're right, it is pretty freaking funny, isn't it? Granted, Seagal has been making movies for years; however he is, at best, a b-list actor. And, if we're going to be truly honest, I think that might even be a bit generous. I don't know what it is: the ponytail, the squinty eyes, the whisper-like voice. It all smacks of someone who's trying to hard. Maybe that's natural and the way he is in real life but it always seemed force whenever I had to sit through one of his films (and yes, I've seen more than one). That's the difference between Seagal and someone like Stallone or Schwarzenegger (is it a requirement for action stars to have their last names start with S?): you can believe them in the rolls they chose to play (ok, maybe not ALL their films but definately their best known and most successful). I hope you don't think I'm a super big fan of either of them though...I'm not...honest....no, really...

Despite all this, or perhaps because of it, I'm intrigued to see what Steven Seagal Lawman is going to be like. Just picture it. You're whipping down the highway, a little bit over the speed limit, when suddenly you get pulled over. The police officer walks up to the door and asks for your licence and registration. You pass it out the window and notice the officer is actually the star of that cheesy straight-to-video movie your boyfriend made you sit through last weekend. WTF? What's next? Britney Spears, family court judge? Hold on. I believe it's scheduled for Bravo Television's spring lineup.

This is going to be hilarious. Steven Seagal Lawman begins Wednesday December 2, 2009. Make sure to check your local listings.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

How do you solve a problem like the Captain?

You restore your computer to its original factory settings and start from scratch.

No singing nuns or dancing through the Swiss Alps though, sorry. I know you're all very disappointed. Trust me though, while I might be able to shake my money maker, you don't want me to attempt to carry a tune.

Remember ALL the computer problems I was having? The blue screen of death, freezing up, shutting down for no reason? Problem after problem after problem? Well, as I mentioned, I ended up becoming so frustrated that I reset my computer to it's factory settings losing EVERYTHING. I then had to spend a week downloading all the updates which had come out since my computer was born, all my extra programs, finding my favourites and saving them once again. Sure it was a lot of hassel and I'm sure I'm still missing something important but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. However, it seems that all of my problems have been solved! Ok, not all my problems but the computer-related ones at least. My computer hasn't "crashed" since the reboot and my canary yellow Dell laptop has been functioning at relatively peak performance! Sigh. Why didn't someone suggest this sooner so I could have avoided all the stress?

NOTE: Picture from Madddy's flickr photostream

Christmas is taking shape

Nothing special - I don't have a Christmas tree up yet, a wreath on the door or even the lights up. Ok, that last one is a lie. The lights have been up (although not plugged in) for a couple of weeks. No, I'm taking presents. The Admiral will be getting a gift card for our local cinema for her birthday, the week before the holiday. Then for Christmas, I've got her a Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt (she's going to love it), I'm 2/3 of the way through her homemade mittens, a copy of Ken Burns' documentary on baseball, some fabulous dark chocolate (purchased closer to Christmas), a candle and holder, and a couple of crossword puzzle books (she loves them). I think that's it. Oh and I made her a "gift certificate" for a walking partner on the weekends and I'm going to take a nice pic of myself in front of the tree once it's up and frame it for her. She's always complaining how she doesn't have pictures of me (I hate getting my picture taken!!!). Hopefully it'll turn out and I can give a framed copy to my dad as well.

Big Brother's offspring are going to get the DVD of UP or Ice Age, or possibly both and a couple of bath bombs from Lush. I finally figured out what to get the Sister in law...she loves Lush so I'm going to either give her a gift card or buy her something small. Considering the cost of items there, she'll likely get the gift card. Big Brother is going to get a copy of Alien Apocalypse. Whew. And that's the end of it.

Except for the cats. Shhhh...don't tell them but they're going to get tuna and catnip. Really the only two things they care about anyways.

Dear god, no wonder the holidays are stressful. Are you prepared yet? Just over a month away...

Oh those vegetarians...

...they're a brilliant group. Must come from eating all those veggies.

Photo courtesy of j.woof's flickr photostream

Mother Nature, You Confuse Me

Today is one of those days where I just don't understand. Today is one of those days where I'm about to say something I never thought I would. Today is one of those days where I sympathize with the weather man/woman. Yes, that's right, you heard me. Enjoy it while it lasts because chances are, tomorrow I'll be complaining about the weather forecasters once again.

When I returned to my desk after lunch today, I glanced down at the Weather Network icon on my computer screen and almost had a heart attack when I saw it reading a whopping +17C. No, that is not a typo. Edmonton nearly reached 20 degrees. On November 17. Not Edmonton, Kentucky; Edmonton, Alberta. The Great White North. WTF? Wait, it gets more interesting. Jasper National Park, a mere 3.5-4 hours to the west of us got whalloped over the past few days with a tonne of snow. Granted, the park is in the Rockies so the elevation adds to the amount of snow and lower temperatures but holy smokes. It's practically summer here in the capital and a few hundred kilometres away its practically white-out conditions.

Someday, I'm sure it'll get cold here and we'll get snow too. Sigh. In the meantime, I just have to dream.

NOTE: Picture from macleong's flickr stream.

Alas, Poor Eskimos...

Sigh.

The Edmonton Eskimos' 2009 season is over. It was a good game, 24-21, better than I expected to be honest. Not as exciting as the final minutes of regulation in the Hamilton-BC game but it was a good way to end the season. Time to start looking forward now to next season. However, I now have a dilemma. The eastern conference choice for me in the next round is easy: Montreal. I cannot cheer for BC (sorry Lions fans) but what do I do with my own western conference? Calgary and Saskatchewan? That's like asking which is better: cake or pie. I just don't know who to cheer for. Whichever team wins, I'll be rooting for them to beat Montreal who will, I don't doubt (famous last words), make it to the Grey Cup. In the meantime, I have to spend next weekend stressing over each play. Arrrggggh.