My Flog for November 30 + A New Story, For Those Of You Who Miss My Stories...

Oh joy, oh joy, what a wonderful day! I had a wonderful night's sleep - neither purry clawing cat nor snoring elbow-in-the-back husband woke me up between the hours of dusk and dawn, and I happily bounced out of bed smiling and humming The Dutchman, with visions of Keith Harkin singing, of course. My fluffy slippers and soft bathrobe, heated from the warm air whispering from the heating vent, wrapped me in a cozy cuddle.

The smell of coffee lured me upstairs, where bacon was sputtering and eggs were scrambling on the stove. Buttery toast was sprawled on my plate, and the coffee in my mug was just as I wished it.

The whole house was sparkling and tidy, in its pre-Christmas glory. The undecorated tree in the living room sparkled with its fairy lights, and the sun shining in the windows put a glow on everything. Even the little Christmas Cacti we had rescued last summer were pink with blossoms, and the whole day just lay in front of me like an unwrapped gift.

Because we both got paid today, I planned to spend the whole day shopping ...... okay, I know by now you're wondering what the hell is going on ... the above is indeed a work of fiction, but one can only dream, right?

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee (made by me for me)
• Lunch - Bean and Bacon Soup - I found it in the bottom of the freezer while searching for tonight's dinner, so I thought I'd put it to good use, 1 slice of bread and butter
• Dinner - Roast Beast (didn't really know what animal it came from, as it was a bit freezer burned, I believe, but I had faith in my cooking, onions, and Lipton's Onion Soup Mix.) It turned out to be roast beef, a wee bit tough but delish anyway, mashed potatoes, veggies and gravy.
• Snacks - Diet Pepsi, Grape Pop (Yes, I know you're wondering - it was in the fridge and I was thirsty...), 4 candies, and a cookie.

So - what did I really do? Dragged myself upstairs, put on coffee and made toast, got the kids cereal for breakfast, then did a major overhaul of the kitchen, two loads of laundry, and cooked dinner. Looking forward to tomorrow, when I have to bus to Steveston to pick up my check (NOT - what I am looking for is a reason not to have to do it at all. Nine hours of bus a week is plenty enough for me, thank ya.)

Plus tomorrow is a New Number Day and I'm not very optimistic about that.

My Flog for November 29 + Is It Free If It's Not Nailed Down?

I know now why Fast Food is getting so expensive. On the bus this morning, a gal sitting opposite me spilled her coffee, and right a way the gal sitting next to her pulled out a huge crumpled tissue - or more probably, a paper towel, and insisted the spiller take it to wipe her coffee off her coat. When the gal didn't want to take it - I mean, come on now, who would actually take it? Who's to know how many sneezy germs or how much ear wax or armpit sweat was in that piece of fibre? - anyway, when she didn't take it, her neighbour just tossed it in her lap.

Whereas the spiller put her hand in her pocket and took out a two-inch thick fistful of napkins, obviously from the same establishment as her coffee. I think she used one of them to remove the offending gift from her lap.

That reminds me of an older Chinese gentleman we used to to see when we went to McDonad's for morning coffee. He'd bring his tray with his senior's coffee to the table, along with a huge mound of napkins. Several times he'd go back to the counter for his 'free' refill, and pick up another huge mound of napkins each time. He must have been using them to insulate his apartment. 

So, next time you wonder about the price of coffee at your local pit-stop - remember, you are helping supply the needy population with their napkin fix for the day.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Veggie Sandwich, wafer bar, Cranberry Juice
• Dinner - Pasta
• Snacks - Nutrigrain bar, Cookie (the last one of the Famous Irresistible Ones), 3 Tootsie Roll Candies

My Flog for November 28 + I Love My Job, I Love My Job, I Love My Job,

Today I wore black boots, brown tights, khaki skirt and stripey burgundy, tan, white and brown top, and my blue tweedy sweater and/or blue Crafts'n'More vest, depending on how hot or cold I was running at that precise moment in time. The plan? To curtail everyone from asking my advice on colour matches for their afghans, sweaters, or skin-tone.

"Yes, I think that particular shade of puce goes lovely with the bright orange and pale pink yarn for your sweater...." etc etc etc.

It's not because I'm mean, really, it's just that we have these incredibly long lists of stuff to do, and if we don't get everything done, the manager isn't very pleased when she comes back on Tuesdays, and since I work on Tuesdays, I'm the one who gets the pleasure of her venting.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Chicken Soup, Ham and Cheese Croissant (thanks to Pauline), wafer bar (thanks to me and the British Home Shop)
• Dinner - The last of the Chicken Soup, Pudding Cup
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Banana, Nutrigrain Bar, and probably a few Hallowe'en candy, the night's not over yet.

My Flog for November 27 + I'm Not a Saint, so Why Should I Even Try?

I didn't realize how many inactive muscles I had until I crawled out of bed this morning and found them everywhere in my body, my arms, my legs, my everythings. Should have had better sense scrubbing the kitchen floor, should have just got a gallon of paint and painted it. I'll know better the next time.

Busy day at work, and even though I didn't really want to be there, the time went by quickly. Glad to be home, even if I have a non-talkative husband. At least non-talkative to me. Guess I'm in his 'black books' file for the time being. It's too much bother to trace back to what I may have said or done to cause this - unless it was something I said about 3:30 this morning when I considered myself to be fast asleep. Oh well.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Chicken Soup, Pudding
• Dinner - Chicken, Potato Salad, Dressing
• Snacks - Ginger Ale, Gingerbread Latte, Blueberry Scone, 1 (so far anyway) Hallowe'en candy (Tootsie Roll! Who can resist that?)

My Flog for November 26 + Another Unsuccessful Day Off

The most terrible thing I've done in ages is to try to get some skid marks of the kitchen floor, marks that the mop wouldn't erase. I bent over with a (an?) SOS pad, and magically, the off-white of the kitchen tile became a pure white - which means I found the true colour. Rats. Now we have two shiny kitchen tiles on a floor full of dingy tiles. Which means ... well, I don't have to spell it out for everyone, as I know you all know what I did this morning.

Most horrible 4-letter word that doesn't have 4 letters: WAX BUILDUP. 

Oh well, at least my hands are clean. I guess it would be a good time to make bread, if I had the energy.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Microwaved Scrambled Egg on a bun with a slice of Mozzarella Cheese (a sorta kinda Mozza Burger, I guess)
• Dinner - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Veggies 
• Snacks - An irresistible Cookie, Water, Pudding

To make this day complete, I moved every single one of the boxes off the floor, just in case the rain causes a flood in our basement, which it better not, although we are insured for that - I think - but anyway, along the way looking for stuff for my husband also - I found the Christmas movies and music, but unfortunately not his balls.....or lights.....enough said.

My Flog for November 25

I feel fatter than my jeans today, I hope that doesn't mean that I'm growing out once again, but that the jeans were in the washer. The last time I washed them, I didn't realize that the last person to use the washer had the dial set to hot/cold, so I'm pretty sure my jeans shrunk. I hope. At least I'm counting on it. 

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - A Grandma Burger, fries and pop from A&W. Nikkie tried to get me to eat a Mozza Burger but I resisted her evil persuasions, and went for the Sirloin - protein packed (we won't even think of the fat grams involved) - burger made especially for us old nannies (poppys don't seem very impressed with them, in my neck of the woods, anyway)
• Dinner - Pork Chop, Scalloped Potatoes, and Rice-A-Roni (yeah, that San Fransisco Treat - no wonder everyone was going to San Fransisco....)
• Snacks - An irresistible cookie, Diet Pop, an unlimited number of Hallowe'en candies

Now I'm taking my neck pain to bed, while my pain in the neck is still upstairs finishing his dinner. 

My Flog for November 24

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah .... etc.

That's how my day and I feel and I'm sure you don't really want to hear about it. 

• Breakfast - Apple Cinnamon Bread (carbs) and Coffee
• Lunch - Toast (carbs)
• Dinner - Left-over Pasta (carbs)
• Snacks - One Irresistible Cookie (carbs), Pudding, Diet Pop, Candy

Early morning - Crawling upstairs to the Coffee Pot, following my nose to the cinnamony scent of bread in the cupboard
Mid morning - Sweeping half the kitchen, eating half of Lizzie's pudding because her "I don't like it" words were coming out of her mouth and into my ears. Another of my famous headaches brewing in the back of my head. One load of laundry in the dryer, another in the washer. Listening to the rain and wind, therefore NOT walking to Walmart for a Spinach Salad for lunch. Just want to go back to bed, actually.

I wonder if the crappy feelings inside and out are caused by a carb overload. Hmmmm. Something to think about.


Early Afternoon - Went back to bed, actually, watched The King's Speech (excellent movie for a rainy, windy, headachy, tired day.)
Now it's dark, and dinner is late - I haven't actually eaten yet, but I know all I have to do is stick a plate of it in the microwave. Nikkie is cooking some kind of beast parts for Howard and Steve.
My head is now officially a mucous factory and I'm going to bed very early tonight. Maybe even before Dinner.

My Flog for November 23

My friend Marina kidnapped me from Neil and Shannon's this morning, and we went on another adventure. The first stop was a bakery with the most delicious looking goods on the face of this earth, then a yarn store in White Rock called Knitopia - a tiny little narrow store whose owner left us in charge while she went back to her van to get inventory. Marina told her we were on a yarn store crawl... and I said, Yeah, because the pubs aren't open yet - and for the first time in so many years, I almost made her spout her mouthful of coffee. Brought back many fine memories of carefully placed comments that caused  people to lose their beverages.

We hit Two Bakeries, Two Yarn Stores, Three Thrift Stores, and One Book Store, then headed to Marina's mom's house for a pee and coffee and biscuits, in that order. All together a lovely day out!

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - I really will try to write it here - let's see - cos I can't say it, and am really not sure how to spell it - Mullysomething or other soup - oh heck - hang on til I Google it... Mulligatawny Soup, which was actually very nice. I thought it was a British soup, but according to Google it's more of an Indian soup, not the bows and arrows and feathers in their hair Indians, but the curry type. Also a very delicious sandwich, turkey, bacon, cheese and lettuce, and of course bakery baked bread. Yum. And coffee
• Dinner - Goulash with lots of cheese, bakery fresh baked delicious bread, and also a slice of the best ever bread I've ever eaten, from a wonderful bakery in White Rock - Cinnamon Apple Bread, and if I wasn't keeping an honest track of my food in this stupid blog I would probable have eaten the whole loaf....
• Snacks - Coffee and Biscuits (only 2) at my friend's mom's house, two bites of a wonderfully tasty delicious coconut cake from above bakery, and that's it. I guess that's enough. The cookies I bought there are upstairs - I don't know how long they will be safe. Also a diet pop.                                                                    ...and I did forget, but I'm back now to own up to it - a pudding!

My Flog for November 22

The hardest thing to do on Wednesday Night is to remember what one ate on Tuesday, but I'm pretty sure I didn't leave anything out. I absolutely wolfed down my lovely Spinach Salad lunch, as I had to use some of my half hour lunch break to go to the pharmacy to pick up some Tylenol 1s. I've been having some horrible headaches, lower left side of my brain, just above my neck, sometimes radiating down my back. Stress I think, either that or hovering over a pricing gun at work for hours at end. If anyone out there had the same strange things happening to their head, and are still alive to tell about it, please let me know if it could be anything else. (I'm just hoping Gregory House reads my blog, that's all....)

After work Neil picked me up in his chariot (Flat Bed Tow Truck) and took me to his house in Ladner for the night. It was nice to see everyone again, I do miss those little rug rats. 

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Spinach Salad
• Dinner - Lasagna and Caesar Salad - thanks Shannon!
• Snacks - Pudding, Banana, Diet Pepsi

My Flog for November 21

I have a beef today. A pet peeve.

Imagine this: a line up at the bank. Someone is waiting rather impatiently for an ATM machine, as she only has a little break, but still needs to deposit her check, because if she doesn't the car loan people will be unhappy - and if they are unhappy they have the power to make her unhappy too. There are two people ahead of her, and a mommy, daddy and toddler using the ATM.

"Mommy mommy, can I press the button?"
"Of course, you can, honey, here...."
"No no not that one..."
So now they have to start all over again.

"Can I do the next one mommy?|
"Yes, sweetie, press this one....NO NO NO not that one....."
So of course they have to start again once more.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think a 3 year old should be doing banking for their parents? Shouldn't they be colouring on the walls of the bank, or turning around making faces at the person next in line, or something, instead? It's the same at the store where I work, the number of kidlets who get 'sat' on the counter in order to press the green okay button on the credit/debit terminal is amazing, and every time one of them yanks the credit or debit card out prematurely, I feel like slapping their parents' hands.

And of course this reminds me of the number of small cute doggies that also get 'sat' on the counter while their moms pay for purchases. Really. I love the doggies....but I know what part of their anatomy they sit on, and they don't usually wear panties or diapers to cover those regions.

I guess I have two pet peeves.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Brunch - Scrambled Eggs and Pancakes and Coffee  (McDonalds' Breakfast - I've got to stop doing this. I eat so early, then 4 hours after I get up,I am in Steveston, freezing cold with the need to eat comfort food.)
• Lunch - Soup and a Roll
• Dinner - Left over Pork and Left over Potato Salad, 1 slice of bread
• Snacks - Gingerbread Latte, Yogurt

My Flog for November 20 + Why Alcohol is Not My Friend

• Breakfast - 1 Bacon, 1 Egg, Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Rice and Pepper Steak, frozen leftovers from a meal a while ago. Frozen and microwaved = yucky. Butterscotch Pudding
• Dinner - Howard and Steve cooked Roast Pork and Veggies (I know Steve helped as he made the gravy.) So I had a 'cooked dinner,' which resulted in tons of pots and stuff to wash up. (Thank you, Steve, for helping out!) And for those of you who don't know what a 'cooked dinner' is - it's roast meat of some kind, with potatoes, carrots, turnip and cabbage, and of course, gravy - the veggies are usually cooked all together in a big pot with Salt Beef, but for some reason Howard didn't do that, even though he has a tub of Salt Beef in the cupboard. He probably forgot he had it, either that or he couldn't find it. Who knows. But now everyone knows what a cooked dinner is. Although at home one would usually have it for dinner as in lunch, while today we had it for supper, which we call dinner now we are living on the west coast. Hopefully this makes everything clear for everyone.

Excuse the cat for taking a shortcut from the bed to his food dish, by way off the printer and my laptop...

• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Yogurt, a few candy (of course, it's a long way from gone yet), and a Malibu and Orange Juice - or what was left of it. See below.

Anyway. Since the Tylenol pills didn't work to erase the weird headache I had today, I figured I'd have some alcohol to see if that would ease the pain. I dug out my Braun Hand Blender, added broken up ice cubes to the 'jar' thingie, and poured in some orange juice and Malibu. Turn on the blender, and immediately half the coconut rum/OJ mixture went fountaining all over the place - the counter, my feet, and everything in between. Nikkie to the rescue with paper towels and her Magic Bullet - I think I left out milk. One Christmas way way back when, I got a Braun Hand Blender for Christmas, and I whipped up Malibu drinks that kept my visitors and me buzzed all over the holidays, but it obviously wasn't what I made (or tried to make) tonight. I think there was milk in it too. If anyone knows - and I know some of you would definitely know, not that I would ever call you boozers -  please refresh my memory! 

My Flog for November 19 + A Fishy Story

Today has been a very strange Saturday, the last of my day offs. Still dealing with an upset tummy all day, although I did try to tempt it with things it usually doesn't get, little surprises of a Tootsie Roll here or a BBQ chip there, with a little bit of diet pop thrown in. I got some Ginger Gravol late afternoon and hopefully that will settle things down before tomorrow, when I have to hit the Sky Train once more. (I don't really mean HIT it, of course. You know that.)

Well, it's 6:03 and hubby's snoozing in the bed a few feet away. I refuse to go to bed before six, no matter how sick or/and tired I am. I think he's tired from a day of grumbling and complaining - I know that wears me out to no end (listening to it, I mean.) Hopefully tomorrow he'll have a better day - after all, I'll be gone for most of it!

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Brunch / Lunch / Snacks / etc - Junk Food
• Dinner - Fish and Chips and Coleslaw - I just had ONE piece of Fish. We are not saying just how big that ONE piece of fish was, though - it was still ONE piece. (Now I know, though, how 2 fishes could feed the multitude a couple of thousand years ago.) Yummy Omega 3 - I'm just assuming there is Omega 3 in codfish, and it doesn't evaporate when it hits the fat.....but what the heck. It's only ONE piece, after all.

My Flog for November 18 - Zoooooooooom

It's almost eight-thirty and I'm wondering if the Crab Cake was a bit off - I've been feeling terribly nauseous for the past hour or so and expect to be riding the Porcelain Bus before the night is over - oh oh....gotta go....

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - at Zellers - Crab Cake w/Salad, Coffee
• Dinner - Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots and Broccoli
• Snacks - here we go ... oops ... blame Nikkie for this one.... A Sour Cream Glazed Donut from Tim Horton's. There is a bit of justification - we walked half an hour there and half an hour back to get it... ,4 Hallowe'en candies (will they ever all be gone? Not at this rate, they won't), grapes and Diet Pepsi

My Flog for November 17 + A Little Pome by Tamar the ex-Teecher

I had a housework morning, a sleepy movie-watching afternoon, and a wet walk to the beer store with the old man before supper. Now it's snowing, and I'm glad I don't have to go out any more. I don't have many words so I'll put a little pome here:

no more cupcakes

no more scones

eat the chicken

leave the bones

no more muffins

no more toffee

give me whole grain

bread, and coffee

no more brownies

no more cake

no more chocolate .......????

wait a sec......

I wrote that back in July, and I guess if I followed the gist I would have lost more than 20 pounds since then. But at least I have lost 20 pounds since July - even with the very occasional "no more"!

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Spinach Salad
• Dinner- Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce and half a roll
• Snacks - Yogurt, Mini Tootsie Roll, Witch's Broom, Diet Grapefruit Pop

My Flog for November 16

• Breakfast - Honey Nut Cheerios, Coffee
• Lunch - Not Telling (but we did stop at A&W around noon)
• Dinner - Pepper Steak and Rice
• Snacks - Butterscotch Pudding, Diet Grapefruit Soda, 1 square of Dark Chocolate w/Lemon Ginger Centre.....new studies say that eating Dark Chocolate has the same effect on your body as physical exercise - so I will probably exercise a lot more from now on...., a mini Tootsie Roll. At this rate the 90% off Hallowe'en Candy I bought in November should be gone by early spring....

My Flog for November 15 + A Series of Unexpected Events...

Well, all my Facebook friends know how exciting my day started off - it all came about through a chain of events starting with our leaving a few minutes later than usual for the SkyTrain. It may be because it was Garbage Day and we took out the bin, who knows.

I was all set to get to work at quarter to eight, as usual, and hoped to get a whack of stuff done before I opened the store. Chris (our manager) was due back around noon, and I wanted to make sure the pricing/stocking was done and the shelves were tidy - all the usual stuff. I did have to wait a bit longer for the SkyTrain, though, and also had to wait longer for the bus that takes me to Steveston, so when 7:45 rolled around, we were still stopped at the Richmond Centre, about 20 minutes ride away from my destination.

Now, there are two different routes the buses take on the way to Chatham Street in Steveston. One is sort of direct, just roll right into the bus stop, and the other entails getting almost to that bus stop, then swinging up half a mile, across about half a mile, then swinging back down half a mile, and rolling into the bus stop on the other side of the street. So as we headed for Chatham, I decided if the bus went directly to the bus stop, I would go directly to work, but if it swung around and did the detour (that takes it past McDonald's) I would get off there and get an Egg McMuffin and a Coffee.

So, to make a long story even longer, the bus did the swing around, I got off at McDonald's, got an Egg McMuffin and a coffee, and was walking up Moncton Street to the store when......well, you know the rest.

Mr Gold (aka Rumpelstiltskin) from Once Upon a Time is really Robert Carlyle, who you may remember from The Full Monty. However this time he wasn't hiding behind a hat....

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Brunch - Egg McMuffin and Coffee
• Lunch - Bacon and Bean Soup - yes, my own, from several weeks ago, but don't worry, it wasn't moldy - I froze some of it for lunches!
• Dinner - The crust from half of Lizzie's Grilled Cheese Sandwich and a bowl of Cheerios
• Snacks - Pudding Cup, Iced Mocha, a few candy....that's all she ate, folks!

My Flog for November 14 + I Can't Please Some of the People Some of the Time

First customer this morning, wanting to know if she could come in five minutes before I opened- sure thing. Didn't want to buy anything though - I was surprised she didn't want to return something. I have grown used to people waiting for the store to open, and I take pity on them and let them in early, only for them to present a big bag of somethings they want to return. However, this particular lady (?) wanted someone to sew up a knitted sweater for her, and I told her everyone was too busy to do it until after Christmas, causing her to become a bit upset with me. Really.

 So then she wanted me to help her with a pattern, but she never had her knitting with her, so I did what I could and explained I couldn't go any farther unless I actually knitted the pattern myself to see if it did indeed work. Then she got quite miffed because I told her I didn't have time to do it right away, while she was there. I asked her if she could come back with her knitting, and she left, saying she wasn't going to come back here again. I called out to her, and said, "I'm sure you appreciate my letting you in before the store was open..." but she already had her car door shut and her hubby was pulling out of the parking space...so I just continued with ...."you old bat."

We pride ourselves on our customer service skills.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Ham and Cheese Croissant (thank you, Pauline, it was very yummy), Spinach Salad, Yogurt
• Dinner - Chicken Breast and Perogies - Delicious, Nikkie, thank you - it was nice to come home to another cooked meal. (Hopefully now you'll do the dishes...)
• Snacks - Orange Pop, Iced Mocha, Muffin and two chocolate treats - little ones...really little

6:15 am - SkyTrain
6:45 am - Bus
7:45 am - Start mucking around boxes of yarn, and pricing left over orders from yesterday
9:23 am - Let the old Mrs in the store
9:30 am - 12:30 pm - Work work work
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm - Lunch
1:00 pm to 5:33 pm - Work work work
5:46 pm - 6:45pm - Bus
6:50 pm - 7:15 pm - Sky Train
7: 30 pm - Home!

...and all set for a repeat performance tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, which will hopefully start in 18 minutes.

My Flog for November 13 + Patience is a Virtue

It was another amazingly busy day at work, kept running around in circles for the six long hours the store is open on Sunday. If I had a nickel for every time I had to demo a ruffle yarn, I would be bloody rich and less likely to scream at the next request. If I had a penny for every time a customer sees the French Knitting Bees (aka corking, spool knitting....) and says, "I used to do that when I was little, only we used a spool with nails in....." - I can't type it, if I even think it I am liable to jump off a bridge. If the customers who tell me how patient I am could see my shadow, they would hightail it out the door faster than a speeding SkyTrain.

(For those of you who aren't familiar with Mad Magazine, The Shadow Knows was (or is still? I don't know) a brilliant cartoon where you would see the person involved in an everyday activity, and show his shadow doing what he was really thinking. For example, he could be serving tea to his poor old domineering mother, but his shadow would be choking the life out of her.)

My shadow would probably be holding a machete.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Hearty Vegetable Soup - from Steveston Bakery - it was hearty, and a bit spicy, and it made my innards warm and my nose run, and a roll
• Dinner - Ribs, Boiled Potato, Macaroni Salad and Stuffing - sounds like a hearty meal, doesn't it? I only had 1 rib and half a potato and a small serving of salad and stuffing...
• Snacks - Vanilla Latte, SanPelligrino (orange sparkling water), Yogurt. and a Witch's Broom

I am posting this now, even though there is no guarantee I have stopped eating for the day.

My Flog for November 12 + A Good Way To Screw Up a Day Off

Today, this Saturday, was one of my 4 wonderful day offs, and I had to go to work. Not only work, but open and close, meaning I had to be at the store by 9:15 at the latest (that's when I start getting paid.) Since I was a bit late crawling out of bed, I only had time to shower, dress, and pour coffee into a travel mug to take with me. Steve drove me to the SkyTrain station, and when I walked up to the doors, I discovered, along with several other people, that the gates were locked. Oh oh. Turns out the SkyTrains were not running anywhere on the line between Surrey and Vancouver - probably due to wind damage the night before - at least that's what one commuter suggested.

Quick emergency phone call to Steve, and he comes to pick me up, and Howard gives me a ride to work. Nice start to the  day, even if I did get to work before 8 am. I usually do anyway, on weekday mornings when I transit my way to Steveston - gotta be early in case there's a hang-up or delay somewhere! By then, my tummy was starting to wonder where its morning toast was, so I gave it an extra special treat from McDonalds. My tummy was very happy.

After I opened the store, it was KaBoom! I don't think I've ever had a busier morning, and was thankful there was a second person coming in at 11. However, this second person didn't wander in until 12 - when I'd already brought in an average day's sales. Needless to say, it was a long and busy day, and I'm heading off to bed when I finish writing this.

• Breakfast - Coffee, and Sausage & Egg McMuffin
• Lunch - Spinach Salad (doesn't sound delicious, but it really really was), yogurt
• Dinner - 2 scrambled eggs and half a roll
• Snacks - Butterscotch Pudding, Granola Bar, Banana, and the usual little thingies I won't mention.

Just to dwell on the usual little thingies I didn't mention, I have actually lost 1 1/2 pounds in the past week and a half, so I am not too worried about a couple of little thingies any more. I am definitely walking more on my day offs, so I guess one thing is balancing the other.

My Flog for November 11

If I can't say anything nice, I won't say anything at all.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - canned Bean and Bacon soup - pretty tasteless, unless that's due to my stuffy head that's all blocked up, half a roll
• Dinner - Ribs (actually 1 Rib), 1 Onion Ring, Mashed Potatoes and Macaroni Salad. Quite the combination, eh? 
• Snacks - Butterscotch Pudding, some candy - I emptied my little wastebasket this afternoon, and the amount of candy wrappers in it was unbelievable....they were probably not all mine...maybe...

My Flog for November 10 + Just Because It's Cherry-Flavored Doesn't Mean It's Fit To Drink...

Still fighting this dratted cold, took it for a walk to Walmart this morning for some disgusting NeoCitron, should have known better than to buy a medicinal drink, for heaven's sake. Choked it down and although it was quite iffy for a while, kept it down. Then I gave in and slept for an hour or so, til Howard came home from work early and woke me up. I think he has a sensor somewhere that tells him when I am asleep. Spent a lot of my waking day trying not to eat all the candy in our room - going to bed soon so I won't be tempted any more.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Brunch - Breakfast Bowl and Coffee from Burger King
• Dinner - Chicken, Oven Fries, Tomato
• Snacks -Lemon Pudding Cup, Diet Pepsi,  and, if we don't count the Hallowe'en candies that are littering our room, that's all

By the way - 21 more clicks on my blog will bring my visitor count up to 2400! Thanks, y'all!

My Flog for November 9 + I Would Walk a Thousand Miles - Not Really

My tug-along grocery buggy and I walked to the bank this morning, and to the grocery store, and to Shopper's Drug Mart, and to the New Amsterdam Bakery. Unfortunately, they were not lined up together, which resulted in my walking a whack of a way in one direction, then up aways, then back in the other direction, then down and across and over to get back home. All uphill - I know that doesn't make much sense, but would I lie? I think not.

I was really pleased on the latter half of the walk to finally see a downhill - and if there hadn't been the concern I would break my dozen eggs I would have sat on my grocery buggy and let it carry me down that hill. I'm pretty sure my new improved butt would fit, and if I straddled the buggy with the handle between my knees, I could have held on to that handle to keep my balance. I would have just had to keep my feet away from the wheels, and I'm pretty sure I could have managed quite well. But I didn't want to chance breaking the eggs.

If I had known what was coming up, I wouldn't have been so joyful about the downhill part anyway - yes, there was another uphill, much more upper than the downhill part was downer.

I know, it doesn't look nearly as much uphill as it did in real life...

My knee (you haven't heard from my knee in a long time, have you, now? Because it's been pretty good...until now...) sent a "WTF" message up to my brain, and that's when I realized maybe I had planned a tad too long an outing. Anyhow, Howard finally starting walking to meet me, and he rescued my buggy, which he had to drag through thousands of beautiful fallen leaves a few metres away from our home - note: another uphill.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Egg w/Green Onion and Tomato in a Wrap, a Tapioca Pudding, and 2 Hallowe'en molasses candy
• Dinner - Chicken Leg, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing and Broccoli - it all tasted the same...just ate a bit of each, but felt stuffed to the gills regardless
• Snacks - PopChips (not fried or baked - 100 calories and 3 grams of fat per bag...and delish to boot!), a few more candy - after walking 100 miles uphill, I'm not counting.

I'm going to need some extra resolve - I'm trying not to feed this horrible head cold I woke up with - sneezy, runny nosed, sore throated, headachey monster (and I don't mean Howard either, so don't even think it...) but it means that I'm gonna want to eat everything in sight, and there's quite a lot of stuff in sight (and out of sight, but not out of mind), so the next few days could be TROUBLE.

My Flog for November 8 + Hurry Up and Wait...

6:15 - 6:20 Waiting for the SkyTrain

6: 45 - 7:00 Waiting for the bus

2:25 - 3:15 Waiting for a 2:30 doctor's appointment

3:45 - 4:40 Waiting '20 minutes' for a prescription to be filled

5:00 - 5:15 Waiting on a traffic-filled bridge to get home.

If I ask for something and someone tells me to "Wait a sec" I'll slap them into tomorrow. 

I worked for a few hours, and took off early, leaving the manager with a store-full of customers. Didn't feel bad at all - at least not much. Howard had to drive to work this morning as his truck-pool buddy didn't go in, so he came out to Richmond after work and I got a ride home in the Big Blue Truck.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - 1/2 of yesterday's Egg Sandwich - after 24 hours and spending an hour on a heater-heated bus, it was a bit (very) soggy, but since I'm still alive and kicking, obviously not gone putrid, and a Yogurt
• Dinner - Pea Soup. It's losing its appeal. (Should have had a banana instead - it's a good thing when a banana loses appeal...Get it? Huh?)
• Snacks - Butterscotch Pudding, small Vanilla Latte, 1 mini sized Caramel Bar (2 little squares) and a couple of tiny chewy Hallowe'en candy - possible 3 or 4 before I go to bed...

Wednesday off, Thursday off and babysitting Neil's kiddies in the evening, Friday off, then Saturday it's back to work again for 4 days. I'm tired just thinking about it!

My Flog for November 7 + Commuting Blues

Sky Train this morning: There was some kind of 'technical problem' with the track between Westminster and 22nd Street Station, so when I skipped up the stairs (yeah, right) there was a wall of people waiting for a ride. After twice as long a wait as usual (maybe 7 minutes) a train came and we all piled on. Stood maybe for half the way, then sat the rest. Bus ride went well.

Bus this evening: Half an hour in an inch-by-inch parking lot - it felt like the bus was being moved by a few ants. Trouble on the Queensborough Bridge, saw 2 tow trucks and a flatbed, plus flashing cop car lights, at the end of the bridge - it took about half an hour for what is usually a 7-8 minute ride. Unfortunately, my transfer had expired while sitting on the bus which was sitting on the bridge - but I got on the SkyTrain anyway. Fortunately, no SkyTrain security were there checking tickets. SkyTrain ride went well.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - 1/2 Egg Sandwich from the Cannery Cafe, Diet Coke, Butterscotch Pudding
• Dinner - Shepherd's Pie
• Snacks - Yogurt, 2 mini KitKats

My Flog for November 6

Well, here we are, finally, at Daylight Savings Time, when we taketh a daylight hour from the afternoon and giveth it to the morning. The extra hour in the morning is great, it's really not so hard to crawl out of bed at the new 7am, but at 11:45am, your tummy is asking where the heck is lunch, and at 4:05 your body is asking you why the hell aren't you on the way to the bus stop - and, well, that's not so great at all. And now, at the new 8:45pm, when it seems there's still a nice long night ahead - all your head wants to do is hit that pillow and disappear in a nice soft pile of blankies.

Work was crazy today, more aliens have definitely landed and most of them want to learn to knit the new ruffle-craze scarves. Way too busy day for two old 'ladies.' At the end of her shift, Pauline said, "Well, see you tomorrow, same time, same place," and I replied, "Yeah, same Bat Time....I mean, same Old Bat Time, same Old Bat Channel." I don't think she got it.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Pea Soup and Roll, Yogurt
• Dinner - Chicken 'n' Ribs, Mashed Potatoes, Boiled Carrot
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, One Hallowe'en Caramel Treat (two lousy little squares of chocolate), and a few grapes.

Even though I bought 9 of the most delicious muffins in the world, I ate none of them. What's left are either in the freezer or in Howard's lunch box for tomorrow. And today I bought 2 of the most delicious Carrot Cake Squares in the world, and they are in Steve's lunch for tomorrow. I was going to actually eat one of them, but after I ate my soup and roll and yogurt, I didn't have the want for them any more. Thank you, soup and roll.

My Flog for November 5 + No Flaming Bonfire Tonight, I Guess...

Guy Fawkes Day - doesn't mean much to people on the West Coast, but it brings back memories - sky high bonfires, burning everything that wasn't nailed down, venturing close to the flames to get warm, ending up with heat-flushed faces and freezing butts... tonight we were going to have a fire in the firepit out back, a feeble attempt to keep an old memory alive. (Oh my - the thought of 'Smores!) However, once again the best laid plans of mice and men etc etc...

Went grocery shopping, and I must say, we got some good stuff. Makings of pea soup and Jiggs Dinner, and Kitty Litter among the items in the cart.

• Breakfast - Toast and 2-hour-old nuked coffee, which didn't really cut it
• Lunch - Cheerios and Milk
• Dinner - A Potato and a Butterscotch Pudding. (Well, it's actually a long story. I planned on Pea Soup for supper, but having gone so many years not cooking with salt beef, I sorta kinda overdid that part, and the soup ended up truly salty. Too salty for me. So I took some stupid Internet advice and added a potato, as that was supposed to suck up the salt. Hah. So I ate the potato. Now there's more peas, onions, and home-grown turnip simmering in another pot, to be added to the original soup to hopefully fix it. Howard and Steve did eat some, but I imagine by now their lips are cracked and their bodies are craving water.)
• Snacks - 4 BBQ potato chips, a cookie, diet Pepsi - right now there are 9 huge and hugely delicious Walmart muffins on the table beside me - 3 Double Chocolate, 3 Buttertart, and 3 Cinnamon Coffee Cake. Not sure if they'll survive the night or not....we'll see.

My Flog for November 4

One day off, one more to go. I don't know why my day offs go by so quickly - but there doesn't seem to be any time left for me stuff, which would probably consist of lollygagging around doing very little. Oh well. 

There probably was frost on the pumpkin last night, as the grass was white when I got up, and I didn't get up til about 8 o'clock. The temp from the Weather Network on the little icon on the bottom of my laptop said a bit fat round 0. Fall colours are absolutely beautiful though, unlike past years where we could find hardly any. I think the streets here in Surrey are more tree-lined with huge old deciduous fellers, and I guess that could explain it - also I think the weather has turned colder sooner than usual, so I guess that could explain it too.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Cheerios w/Milk
• Dinner - Chicken and Tossed Salad (it was two days old in the fridge, but hadn't turned green...hey, wait a minute, how would I know? )
• Snacks - 1 Cookie from the New Amsterdam Bakery, half a teeny weeny lemon tart from the New Amsterdam Bakery - if the scales realize I'm eating baked goods, I will wish the New Amsterdam Bakery was in Amsterdam...and not half an hour's walk away.

My Flog for November 3 - Better Late Than Never.... I Guess...

No words got tapped last night, as I came home, ate supper, and went to bed. I thought I was going to watch The Big Bang Theory from my cozy comforter-laden spot, but sleep got the better of me. I guess Hubby turned off the telly sometime during the night.

Yesterday, even though it was my normal day off, I did go to work - and spent most of my 6 hours pricing Christmas Stuff. Yes, it's all here, Trees and Angels and even Moose and Bears, believe it or not. All that Traditional Seasonal Stuff. Since I got off two and a half hours early, I headed to my old stompin' grounds and got my hair cut, then to the Richmond Centre for my Knit Today magazine (more Christmas patterns - I gotta start knitting again...) then home on a crowded bus, and a crowded SkyTrain. I was lucky enough to sit almost all the way though. I felt sorry for all the people lined up for buses at 22nd Street Station in New Westminster - I've never seen such long bus line-ups. And it was so very very cold.

Now all I have to remember was what I ingested (and digested) yesterday - some things will be easy because I was a very naughty gal.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee (at 5:15am)
• Brunch - A huge platter-sized pancake and Coffee at Steveston Hotel (at 8:00am - I had just been 90 minutes on a SkyTrain and a bus, and neither of them had any heat, and I was bloody frozen - so I needed some Cafe style heat and some carbs to get my internal heater going before I went in a cold store - do I really need any more excuses? I think not.)
• Lunch - Yogurt and Grapes.
• Dinner - Pasta - Nikkie took leftover frozen Goulash from last week (Howard's creation), and leftover frozen Spaghetti Sauce from God Knows When (her creation) and mixed it all together in a pan and smothered it with Grated Cheese and heated it in the Oven - and it was soooo Yummy - tasted very much like Lasagna...
• Snacks - Hallowe'en sized candy bars - I conveniently forget how many, but I knew I shouldn't have bought a bag of them just because they were on sale....I'm going right now to drop the rest of them in the kids' Hallowe'en stash...maybe...in a few minutes, any way... 

My Flog for November 1

It's late, I've been up for almost 18 hours, and my eyes are droopy. I am sort of happy with my new number, as it totals up well - 18 pounds since June. I know it's slow and not really steady, but I think this way chances are I'll keep it off. We'll see.

• Breakfast - Toast with Marmalade, Coffee
• Lunch - Bean and Bacon Soup - I guess I'll have to freeze what's left, or it will be Has-Bean Soup
• Dinner - Ham and Cheese Sandwich, Diet Pepsi
• Snacks - Yogurt X 2, Cranberry/Orange Muffin, a tiny Aero bar (stolen from the goody bag - don't tell Chris or Lizzie) and a pack of red Nibs (you can tell anyone, I don't think anyone would care, really), and an Iced Mocha

That's all she's writing - now it's beddy time.

A New Number for November 1 ( and a bit of alliteration, too)

162 - which is actually the highest the number has been over the past 5 days - wouldn't you know it?