My Flog for January 31 - Blah Day (Triple Blah Blah Blah)

Not a great day. I got up about 7:30, but not because I wanted to. I was just awake and not feeling too well, so the first thing I did after I came downstairs was take a couple of Tylenol. And the day just went downhill after that.

Next thing on the list was dealing with computer problems, until I wised up in the late afternoon and rebooted the modem. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier. Downloading video clips and pics is really tough when you got no internet connection, baby.

Since I had decided that I was going to do some housework today, and was silly enough to mention that plan, I was sort of stuck with it. After I switched the chair and love seat around in the living room, I de-lumped the litter box, swept all the floors that could be swept, made a Fruit Cake, washed a slew of dishes, did a load of laundry, and cooked dinner. I don't know where all the dirty dishes come from - I think a next-door neighbour must throw in some of theirs every now and then. There is actually a sink-full of dishes soaking in the kitchen sink right now.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - A wee bit of Fried Rice from a few days ago, I guess it was still okay, as I'm still here. A Mixed Berry Muffin.
• Dinner - 2 Chicken Thighs cooked with Teriyaki Sauce, plus onions, celery, and peppers, and a not so small slice of  Peach Fruit Cake, which I made today, figuring it would be a change from muffins.
• Snacks - Yogurt, Ginger Ale, couple of Ritz Crackers (probably 5)

Guess what? I'm not going to make muffins tonight. 

Part 2 - Shivering at Storybrooke, Maine

So we start off with the cars of Storybrooke, Maine. As you can see, these beauties are oldies - one licence plate had the year 1974. Once again, time doesn't seem to move on.  The cars that were parked on the side roads had BC licence plates - the ones on the main road, Maine ones.

Most of the cars were just parked, so they would add realism to the scenes. My all-time favourite is this one, Cherry Red and all set for adventure. Nice, eh?

We are used to seeing the tow truck and Emma's yellow bug, but they weren't part of the action yesterday.

Then there was the rusty grey Pacer - not sure how old that one was, but it sure showed its age. Not that I can speak.

The woody station wagon was part of the action - it would drive up the road, 

be in the way of the speeding cop car, causing the cop car to swerve off the road in a screech of brakes and continue its journey on the sidewalk for a little while, before careening around the corner and fishtailing.

After the speeding car scenes were over, the started filming scenes on Moncton Street. and we had a pretty good view from the warmth of the coffee shop across the street. You can see the Sheriff's car parked sort of behind Dave's Fish & Chips - this car sure got a lot of action. I bet there'll be lots of new rubber tire marks on the pavement.

Here there were 2 vehicles there that proved to be more interesting - one was Regina's car. What made it even more interesting was the fact that Regina was sitting in it and driving up the street, down the street, and up the street again - Iguess until she got it right.

When she got out of the car, her bodyguard was right there - and once we found out he was her bodyguard, it was, of course, very obvious. Big hairy guy. Then another guy (he comes in our store lots to look at and buy yarn) brought her coat and helped her slip into it. Must be nice to be a beautiful star.

From the left of the picture - Regina's bodyguard (red shirt, vest and blue jeans), Henry's real life dad, and Henry's real life twin sister. She was originally the one with the agent - when her mom took her to an audition, the agent saw Henry (really Jared) and snapped him up. 

The second car was a snazzy bit of Mercedes Benz, which had a camera boom on top, called a Russian Arm. It would back up towards Regina's car, boom starting high and lowering slowly, until the camera on the end was in front of her open window. Very cool. Poor thing, she must have been freezing, because she did have her window open, and as you know, she wasn't wearing her coat. (At this time, we were inside the coffee shop, looking out the window, cozy and warm for the first time all day.)

Someone told us there are only 3-4 of these vehicles around, and of course they are very expensive.

Anyway, I'll finish up with some more shots of Storybrooke.

Steveston Crafts is in the building just below Gottling Park

The orange Bronco is actually the camera car - it was either chasing, being chased or riding alongside the sheriff's car

The Gulf of Georgia Cannery even got a name change - and this is federal Historic Site. Wow.

Full front/side view of Nikka Marine - aka Storybrooke Public Library. What a good match!

And if you need one (I may be tempted) here's Archie's place!

My Flog for January 30 - What The Heck Was I Doing In Steveston On My Day Off????

Yes, it was my first day off. I got up just after 5 AM, I poked about a bit in the house, then Nikkie and I headed to King George Sky Train Station for a trip. A trip I make (under duress) three times a week - and here I was doing it again. On a Day Off.

And Why? you may wonder. Well, they were going to be filming Once Upon a Time in Steveston, and they bought out all the shops on our section of the street, because they were going to be doing a car chase scene most of the day. And no matter how cold it was, or how damp, we were going to be there, as up close and personal as we could get.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get that close. No matter what alley we snuck down, there was a yellow-vested person there with a walkie talkie on her/his hip, shooing us back. Rats. However, we did our best.

The real actors were replaced by stunt people while the cars were zipping and squealing their way up the street, but we knew if we hung around long enough there was a chance we would see a Star. (And we did - check back tomorrow for Part 2)

Great sound effects on this one:

And this one? Well, you can tell how much of a potty mouth I really have. Shame on me.

So we froze, we shivered, and one of us got her feet wet standing in the grass to get a better shot. We had just got in the perfect place to shoot the last take, but the director changed the direction of the car, so we had to move back. However, this is when we figured out how to use the video zoom on the camera, so that was okay.

Until another walkie talkie guy came over and asked us not to take pictures while the action was being ... actioned? Whatever.

So we put the two cameras and the two cell phones away.

We have tons of pictures, and probably more video, but this is all you're getting tonight, as I'm super-pooped and it took about 4 hours to load the few seconds of clips above. I'll post the  rest tomorrow morning, so now you've got a reason to get out of bed.

• Breakfast -  Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - McDonalds's Chicken Nuggets, Fries and the top two inches of Sprite in my cup (and no, these nuggets are fine, and please be kind and don't mention anything I don't want to hear, as subconsciously I know it all anyway.)
• Dinner - Ribs, Fries, Dressing and Marconi Salad. Not only did Howard and Steve babysit, they also made dinner. So after dinner, I did dishes and made muffins. Cranberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, Coconut Muffins. Or I could call them Mixed Berry Muffins
• Snacks - 2 chocolate chip cookies, ginger ale, a few toffee candies, hot chocolate, a slice of banana bread - oh my goodness. The latter was a snack from the next-door-to-the-store coffee shop, and we had to go in because we were freezing, and we couldn't go in without buying something. 

My Flog for January 29 - When Bad Words Are Good, and a Touch of Storybrooke

It's been a crazy day at work, still pricing and stocking shelves. We have moved so much new 'stuff' over the past week, and I think it's time I had a rest. Thank heavens this was the last of my 3 days of hard labour, and tomorrow I can start doing fun stuff - which I am going to do. You can read all about it tomorrow night.

The Once Upon a Time crew were filming in Steveston again today, so on my way back from the bank, I took some shots of the store window displays. Even though the characters are modern and hip, the shop windows are sort of archaic. I guess there's a reason for it, just like the fact that no matter what or when they film, they always scatter dead fall leaves all over the street. That's not so lovely when the leaves get dragged in the store on the bottom of someone's shoes. However, it's a small price to pay for fame. I've posted the pictures at the end of the blog so people who don't care about the show don't have to look at them.

I still can't believe I ate a chicken burger last night. I believe they are made like hotdogs, from lips and assholes. I also can't believe that I lived for almost 60 years before I realized birds have lips - I didn't know until Neil brought home a fledgling crow and nursed it from a little baby who had to be fed every two hours -

to a big black flying machine who loved flying around our house in Richmond. Howard wasn't impressed, but we thought Draco was pretty cool. Anyway, I did notice that he had lips - and that amazed me.

Pretty pathetic, eh?

Regardless of that, I know I also said assholes, and in this context, I don't believe that's a naughty word. Ass is just another word for  buttocks, nates, arse, butt, backside, bum, buns, can, fundament, hindquarters, hind end, keister, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump - and we must admit, each one does have a hole. It's only when it's used in a sentence like That asshole of a bus driver moved the bus ahead a few inches just as I was stepping from the bus to the sidewalk, therefore causing me to lose my balance and almost fall down. So you see, there is a difference. And since I imagine chicken burgers are made from both of these ingredients, plus other odds and ends swept from the floor, I hope to never be hungry enough to eat another.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Subway Roasted Potato Soup - sounds delicious, doesn't it? But it wasn't. It was very tasteless. And a Spiteful Pineapple Muffin. At least that was yummy.
• Dinner - I don't know - it's after 9 o'clock and all I've had is one little slice of fried baby bologna. For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it's about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and no, it is NOT made from disgusting ingredients, I don't care what you say. Maybe I'll get some toast. 
• Snacks - Yogurt/Fruit Parfait, small Lays chips, Cream Soda

And now, for those of you who are interested in the Once Upon a Time set

My favourite item is the candy striped panty hose on the left side of the display below.

The Storybrooke Pet Shelter has become Worthington's Haberdashery for this shot.

And here is Emma's cop car and the tow truck. They were firing up the truck - talk about a racket and a whack of exhaust!

More coming in the future - so stay tuned!

My Flog for January 28 - Storybrooke Grows Again

There was lots of activity in Steveston this morning, as crews from Once Upon A Time were getting the street ready for filming this week. Seems that on Wednesday there is going to be a drive-by shooting. Which would be cool if I were working that day, but I'm not.

Budget Appliances has become Bravura Appliances.

 The Royal Bank has become Storybrooke Savings and Loan. I had to go to the bank for change this afternoon, and I asked if Prince Charming was there. I was informed that he doesn't do his banking with Storybrooke Savings and Loan. Another disappointment.

 Now this one took a whole lot of imagination - Pacific Net & Twine becomes Atlantic Twine & Net.

 This is a block that is done up for every shoot, so if you watch this series, you may have noticed these buildings on screen. Starting from the right, the real stores are Pieces (gift shop), Splash (toy store), Nikaido Serenity ( kitchen-y gift shop), and last but not least, a bread bakery that just sells loaves of artisan bread. The owner has a brick fireplace growing out of his floor, and does big loaves of some kind of European rustic bread. One kind. Ten bucks a loaf. I can't believe how easy his inventory count must be.

 And finally, Nikka is a huge fishing supply store - this becomes boarded up and turns into the Library. I bet this building is part of the reason Storybrooke grew on this street. It's a perfect fit.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - an A&W breakfast, complete with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast w/marmalade and coffee. Because I had a doctor's appointment in Richmond early this morning, I had a very early breakfast. When 10 o'clock rolled around, after my dr visit, my tummy was rumbling, so I popped into the Richmond Centre and went up the new escalator to the 'Dining Terrace' which is the fancy name for the food court. Since I had this big treat, I wasn't hungry at all when my real lunchtime rolled around, so I just quenched my thirst with a Ginger Ale. However, I was starving before I ate again - at 8 pm tonight
• Dinner - Chicken Burger, Fried Rice. Howard cooked the Chicken Burger. I don't even know what they are made of. The rice was left over from last night's dinner, and it was still good. Now I'm wondering what was in the Chicken Burger. Rats. I may have to raid my Ginger Gravol supply before I go to bed.
• Snacks - Can of Pop, and probably a muffin. I have to go make some Pineapple Coconut Muffins - yes, they are back by popular demand, aka the Spiteful Coconut Muffins. However, Bones is on and I really want to find out who killed the dead Death Doula.

And by the way, I'm fine. Guess I'm still having growing pains. Who knows? Certainly neither me nor my doctor.

My Flog for January 27 - Being Spontaneous + Muffins and Rice Re-visited

Back to work today, again was glad when I got back home. I suggested to Pauline that we do something fun and cool and spontaneous next Friday, so we are tentatively planning a walk around Stanley Park, rain or shine, and some kind of Food Truck vittles if we can find any. 

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Spring Rolls, Carrot Cake. I had Spring Rolls because the ones we get at the little sushi place on Moncton are so good, and I had Carrot Cake because I haven't been eating enough vegetables.
• Dinner - Beef Fried Rice w/Pork (doesn't make sense, does it? But it was really really good.)
• Snacks - Hot chocolate, Muffin

The muffin of the evening is an Apple/Raisin Cinnamon Muffin - just the usual fantastic basic recipe, however, I added a grated apple, a big tsp of cinnamon, and a big cup of raisins - also used brown sugar instead of white. Just trying to prevent the common raisin muffin from being a bit 'hard' in the morning. Hopefully these changes will keep them moister. We'll see.

And the rice? Well, I sauteed some of Howard's green peppers, which he grew in his flower garden this past summer, onions and celery in veggie oil, then added 3 eggs and sort of scrambled them up in the pan. Then I remembered to reconstitute the tinned rice from our favourite 'everything old is new again' box of Dainty Beef Rice (available at a local dollar store here in Surrey, imagine our surprise when we saw that?), and when that was done, added the flavor package, soya sauce and rice to the veggies, along with cubed pork that we froze after last Sundays Roast Pork Dinner. Yummy. Not as good as our Top King's takeout, but still yummy.

My Flog for January 26 -Nothing Much, Just My Bullets

Yup, still here. I managed to drag myself from the couch to eat a Howard-prepared dinner, and clean up the dishes thereof, but other than that all I basically did was watch TV all day.

Tomorrow is back to work day - enough said about that.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - nothing
• Dinner - Pan Fried Potatoes and Baloney - I was so happy to see Maple Leaf Baby Chubbs at Pricesmart. It was better than steak after all the crappy bologna they sell over here. Howard didn't want to spend $10 on it - but I insisted. I still won't go $30 for a little tiny pail of salt beef though.
• Snacks - Diet Pepsi, Raspberry/Coconut Muffin

My Flog for January 25 - (Hopefully Not) Famous Last Words

Another sick day. On one hand, it sucks having sick days on my Day Offs, but on the other hand, at least I'm not missing a day's pay. I have a doctor's appointment for Monday morning - so I'll probably be all better before then.

Only thing is, when I checked off my symptoms on an online symptom checker, a GO TO EMERGENCY RIGHT NOW started flicking on and off the screen. I'm sure if I was THAT sick I wouldn't be sitting here tapping and eating ice cream.

But just in case - nice knowing y'all .....

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Raspberry/Coconut Muffin
• Dinner - a few French Fries
• Snacks - another Muffin, a Diet Pepsi, and some Ice Cream, purely for medicinal purposes

My Flog for January 24 - Falling Apart (No, Not Me ....At Least, Not Yet, Anyway)

I'm only doing this tonight because I promised myself I wouldn't miss a day/night, whatever. However, if I wasn't so good at keeping promises, I wouldn't.

I did try to mop the floor this morning, but my mop fell apart.

Since I couldn't leave one corner clean, I had to get down on my poor old knees and finish with a big wet rag. And that was the highlight of my day.

I'm hoping whatever bug has invaded my system disappears overnight, so tomorrow can be more productive.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - half an Egg Sandwich - this was the sandwich that Steve was supposed to have for lunch two days, but he was sick and stayed home - then Howard said he would take it for this lunch today, but guess he thought the .leftover chicken, potato salad and mac'n'cheese from the night before was sufficient. However, I only had half of it, as the other half fell on the rug in the living room, and I'm pretty damn sure that particular rug isn't germ free, and a Muffin
• Dinner - Meat Loaf. I make very good meat loaf, and this was had bacon on top, Mashed Potatoes and Carrots
• Snacks - a few chips, another Muffin, diet Pepsi

My Flog for January 23 - My Lost Day and The Quandary I've Written Myself Into

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee - I got up at 5:10 this morning so I wouldn't have to brew a second pot of coffee, plus wave bye bye to Howard and then stay home all by my fun self and see what kind of a productive day I would have.

20 minutes after breakfast, Howard's cell phone rang. His driving-to-work buddy wasn't going in, so neither was Howard. He finished his coffee, and decided he was still tired, so went back to bed. As I had just swallowed 2 cups of coffee, I wasn't tired at all - but I also wasn't very motivated to do much with him up in bed. After all, why should I ...

• Lunch - Egg Salad Sandwich, Bounty Bar (in lieu of a Muffin)
• Dinner - Chicken Leg, Potato Salad and Kraft Dinner. Howard did the chicken, I made the salad, and Howard made the Kraft Dinner, figuring the kids and Nikkie would eat it. Maybe they would have if he didn't melt cheese slices on top - he just got too adventurous watching the Food Network all afternoon.
• Snacks - Muffin, Diet Pepsi, a few (a lot) Chocolate Covered Blueberries. Antioxidants galore - dark chocolate, no less. 

I did do a bit of tapping on my story, leaving my heroine a bit more flush, so she'd be able to pay for her renos.

The past 10 years or so, it seemed the husband and I were just playing a waiting game, to see who would pop off first and leave peace and life insurance for the other. Seems like I won that particular race - a freak encounter between a construction crane and a helicopter took care of that - although if he hadn't been walking towards the neighbourhood bar, he would be probably be there right now, instead of hanging out on the kitchen table.  The insurance was ample to pay off his bar tab.  Lovely.

However - now that she's well off, why would she want to open her lovely home to strangers for a few dollars? She could take that insurance money and do the world travel/cruise thingies. 

I have written myself into a quandary, and need some time to work this out. Any suggestions are appreciated. I still have farther on scenes and dialogue and settings worked out ..... so I know it's just a matter of time before I figure this out!

Bear with me!

My Flog for January 22 - Murk(y), Work(y) and Jerk(y) + No 1 Time Management!

I had a fog-free walk to the bus this morning, but there was plenty in Richmond to make up for that. However, the sun did pop out for a few seconds early afternoon - it was a nice surprise. Glad I wasn't blinking at the time, or I would have missed it.

Just as I was expecting to start unpacking/pricing/stocking 8 big boxes of stock at work today, 23 more big boxes of yarn came rolling in, so all afternoon it was yarn stuffing. I was so glad it was Tuesday - I told my boss to make sure everything was done before Sunday. Ha ha. Bet it won't be, but we'll see.

I had the idiot jerk of a bus driver this evening, the one who alternates five seconds of foot on the pedal with two seconds of foot on the brake. A couple of weeks ago, while he was idling by Brighouse Canada Line station, someone came to the door and asked him when he was leaving. He just shut the door and took off, laughing. He is so rude, never replies to a greeting. However, today he did talk to me. He said, 'If you want to talk on your cell phone, go to the back of the bus.' If I hadn't wanted to get home ASAP I would have told him what to do with the back of his bloody bus, and I think it would have been quite painful. 

Anyway - home to Coronation Street, then while I had eggs cooking on the stove, I mixed up some blueberry muffins and stuck them in the oven. While they were baking, I had dinner -Howard had already eaten. By then the eggs were hard-boiled, so I put them in icy water and did the dishes. By then the muffins were done, so I took them out of the oven. By then the eggs were cold, so I made egg salad for lunch sandwiches for tomorrow. Then I made sandwiches. And now I have the chance to sit and veg for a few minutes before I go to bed. 

Thank goodness tomorrow is a Day Off! Who knows, maybe I'll get some more story done!

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Spinach Salad, Yogurt w/ Fruit and Granola
• Dinner - Beans, Toast 
• Snacks - Muffin - well, to be honest, 2 muffins, Diet Lime Pepsi, Iced Mocha

My Flog for January 21 - Bed'sCalling + A Blast From The Past - ORANGES ,,, or beer?

t's been another long day - up at 5, left home at 6:30, and a foggy walk to the bus stop. I didn't realize the sidewalks were icy until one of my feet started to slip-slide away. Walking on the grass where possible and carefully plodding my way over driveways got me safely to the bus stop, though. I don't know if there were any eagles around this morning - it was so foggy, plus the bus window was really dirty, plus late morning light from a hidden sun. I should have just slept all the way to Steveston.

 I was certainly tired enough - when I went to bed last night, I was so exhausted my body felt it was floating away, but unfortunately, I found it really hard to get to sleep. After two hours of tossing and turning and checking the clock, I started my little mind trick - this time it was thinking of 2 countries that begin with each letter of the alphabet. I'm not sure how far I got, but it did the job.

Meanwhile, I'm going to cheat with a 2-year old post from my Tamar's Day Off blog. I really don't have the energy or the awakeness to tackle the rewrite of my chapter 1, even though there are some really cool ideas going through my head as to where this story is going.

So - for those of you who haven't read this entry, hope you enjoy it. For those of you who have read - my apologies.

ORANGES....or beer? I don't think so

We've been married for 36 1/2 years, which is actually a number that seems way out of whack. I don't even feel old enough for that, and probably wouldn't feel as old as I do, if we weren't married that long. However, tonight made me realize just how well we know each other, a result of these long long years dragging behind our heels.

Due to a work injury, DH has been waiting almost three weeks for a Worker's Compensation claim to be approved (hopefully), so money is a wee bit tight right now, but we do have enough to buy the occasional potato and loaf of bread. At the produce market, where fruit and veggies are way cheaper than the supermarkets (I don't think they even call them supermarkets here in BC), I picked up two plump and juicy oranges and laid them gently in the basket he was carrying. Obviously not gently enough.

"Don't you realize these are going to cost a dollar each?'

So I picked them up and tossed them back in the orange bin, and we picked out our carrots and potatoes - russets for the guys' french fries, and reds for the gals' garlic mashed - yum.

On the way back home, he mentioned our Monster needed gas, so he thought he would go to the Petro and get some - and maybe pick up a half-dozen beer.

Even the air in the truck stopped breathing. I was dying to say it, but he didn't give me the chance, he just pulled into the driveway and parked.

So I'm blogging, he's upstairs with a glass of fruit punch, and I guess he'll do without beer - either until he gets a cheque or until beer costs less than oranges.

37 years in August.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Spinach Salad, Yogurt, Muffin
• Dinner - Leftovers from last night - Hash - and it was some good, b'y!
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Banana, Three Musketeers Bar, and another Muffin

The Joy of Writing - Thoughts and Fixes for the Story

Okay. I have to do a bit of a rewrite on Chapter One. How could I possibly think my heroine could do that much of a reno on her house with just an itty bitty of savings? And who, in their right mind, would leave the bill paying, especially the insurance premiums, to a husband who drank like a fish? After all, Carl worked, and his job offered him a nice policy - doubled if he died in an accident. So I think maybe Carl might have been operating a crane that toppled over - or got swooshed by a helicopter - or maybe he fell into a vat of soap - or the propane tank on his fork lift exploded - or maybe he just slipped and fell of a scaffold - the only thing I know for sure right now is it happened early in the morning, before he had his lunchtime beer.

So - she does get a nice big chunk of change. That should buy .... or at least rent .... a nice handy man. One would think.

My Flog for January 20 - Yawn and Burp + Sorry, No Bedtime Story Tonight

Another foggy day - this morning it seemed the high rises in New Westminster were floating on the clouds - this was taken from the Sky Train as it jerked and wobbled over the Sky Bridge, but you can get the drift.

The fog finally did lift during the day, but it turned really cold, a shivery wait for the bus. Anyway, 11 hours after I left this morning, I finally got home, to find dinner all waiting for me to microwave, and a kitchen full of dirty dishes to do. And because I know Howard will want them, muffins to finish making before bedtime - tonight's will be Raspberry Coconut, and I will probably have one before I go to bed -the dry ingredients are mixed in one bowl, wet in another, waiting for me to mix 'em together and stick 'em in the oven - but I have to sit for a little while or I'll collapse. Yawn.

So, there is no chapter 4 tonight, although there are lots of exciting ideas brewing in the muddled head of mine.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Spinach Salad, Banana
• Dinner - Roast Pork, Potatoes (not mashed, as Howard made dinner), Carrots, Gravy and Dressing
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Lemon Loaf, Yogurt, San Pellegrino (flavoured sparkling water)

My Flog for January 19 + A Grey Foggy Day, A Pink Foggy Evening and Chapter 3

So it's Saturday, and I have to do everything I didn't do during my 4 Day Offs, because tomorrow it's back to work for another three. So, a load of laundry washed and dried, which included my purse because I managed to spill half a bottle of Cranberry Juice in it last week (thank Goodness it's made of denimy style cloth), and nice fresh bread, and rolls to have with dinner. Grocery shopping in the morning - when I got home I remembered some things I forgot to put on the grocery list. I obviously need a list to make a list. Flour was one of the forgotten things - so muffins may a bit scarce this week.

However - the weather today provided a few cool pics - I think - it was so foggy, a lot of Surrey disappeared the closer we got. The sky scrapers faded into cloud - but the very tops of them caught the sun that was shining high above. Think Howard would stop so I could take a picture? Not on your life.

Looking down 92 Avenue, across King George Boulevard

And because the fog stayed all day long, it spread a glorious sunset across the sky, giving us yet again something to be thankful for.

My sky.

• Breakfast - Toast with Jam, Coffee. Wonderful gorgeous brilliant Coffee. Yes, with a capital C.
• Lunch - Salad - Baby Spinach, Tomato, Grated Cheddar, Boiled Egg, Green Onion, with Renee's Sweet Onion Vinaigrette - finally found it at Pricesmart after months of searching. So glad Mr. Pricesmart decided to carry it - I could only find it before in small one-serving packs sold with pre-made salads at the Great Canadian Super Store, and I rarely go there.
• Dinner - Chicken and Fries
• Snacks - Banana, Diet Pepsi

Regarding my story - I changed Brian's name to Carl, because I have known nice Brians. I know there are nice Carls, too, especially ones whose names begin with K, but I chose this Carl because of a real loser son-of-a-bitch on Coronation Street. After a marriage to him, his wife would deserve to have a terrifically fun and exciting life as soon as he had the grace to cross over  - and all my Number One fans wouldn't think I'm a terrible person to have her let loose with her husband's ashes barely cold .....

CHAPTER 3

MY PLAN: 

UPSTAIRS: 3 bedrooms almost ready to go, furnished, two en suites with shower stalls, one with tub/shower - the bed we slept in all these years has a relatively new mattress (I'll get me a new bedroom set! Yes!)

The 2 smaller rooms upstairs: knock out wall to make one larger - maybe bedsit, shower stall bathroom, small kitchenette - microwave and bar fridge? These two rooms take the width of the house, so depending on cost of reno - we'll see. Maybe a future plan.

DOWNSTAIRS: My part will be at the rear of the house, and take up almost the whole length except for the mud/laundry room and pantry which are behind the kitchen. So remove present bathroom door, and replace it for access from living space. That sounds easy. And I get new furniture! From Ikea! Plus I get that big get-away window. I love my house.

LIVING ROOM: The living room is separated from the back rooms (My Space) by a hall, which makes a letter T leading from the front door. At one end of the top of the T is the pantry wall, and at the other the stairs. So extend living room to include hall, knock down wall in front of stairs, install balustrade, and maybe shelf up the space under stairs. There is a gorgeous rough stone fireplace on the far wall - my pride and joy. Living Room will become 'Common Area.' It's pretty large and can accommodate another sofa and a couple more easy chairs easily.

KITCHEN: I love my kitchen - it's a big and bright eat-in, with the wonderfully asymmetric wooden table my dad made back in the 70's, my stainless steel appliances are relatively new, lots of cupboards and counter space, and a pantry and laundry room to the rear. The laundry room also gives access to the backyard. Did I mention I love my house?

Now all I have to do is find a man with a tool box. 

My Flog for January 18 + Chapter 2 of the Untitled Story

Today was awful. I had no coffee. And any thoughts I may have had during the night of going to Tim Horton's or A&W for breakfast and coffee were dashed by the cold temperature outside. I didn't even want to get out of bed, let alone travel a mile for a brew.

So, as days that start out in the mode of suck usually stay that way, this one did indeed. I did almost nothing - a few dishes, a half-hearted sweep of the kitchen floor, and of course the litter box. One must never neglect that cat accessory, no matter how lazy one feels. I watched the Food Network until I couldn't bear to watch any more, knowing there was no way to reproduce these wonderful dishes with little energy and fewer ingredients.

However, the morning wasn't a complete loss, because even before I got out of bed, I knew where my poor little excuse for a story was going - but that's about the only thing about it so far that echoes my life.

• Breakfast - Toast with Jam and (oh dear) Hot Chocolate, which did absolutely no good for me at all
• Lunch - Bread and Baked Beans (someone's got to eat them, as Howard said he didn't want any more, and I should be glad he didn't, as he planned to share their effects with me during the night)
• Dinner - Fried Eggs and a slice of bread. So how many slices of bread today? Only 5. I have to get to the store tomorrow and buy veggies and fruit. 
• Snacks - a few chips. If there was anything else in the cupboard to snack on, I would have snacked on it. But my cupboards are bare. My problem is, when I go to the store, I feel so proud of myself when I bypass the cookie and snack aisles - but when I get home I could kick myself. Oh yes - I also ate the last muffin. That's Howard's fault - he was supposed to take the 4 that were left to work, but he only took 3.

CHAPTER 2

So - last night, after finishing that bottle of wine (which was quite an accomplishment for someone who doesn't like wine) and stowing Brian's Urn in his liquor 'cabinet' - how apt was that? - I went to bed and slept the sleep of the righteous. The first few months since widowhood, I found it difficult to get to sleep. It was just as hard to fall asleep in the silence as it was to fall asleep with a room full of snores, but now I'm getting used to four silent walls.

And as I opened my eyes, I realized sleep had brought me a solution to the problem that was weighing heavy in my mind - how I was going to stretch my small income so I could remain in my house. Home for me was truly Home, as I was born to this house many years ago. The thought of selling and moving to an apartment or a townhouse where I'd be squashed into tiny rooms wasn't pleasant. Even though this house was built over 60 years ago, the rooms were spacious and we had kept it very well. When the girls were teenagers, they argued so much over bathroom time we had en suites installed in their rooms, and also in ours. The boys were left with the main bathroom downstairs, which still contained a beautiful claw foot tub, and a big window, perfect for sneaking in and out after bedtime. Adjacent to the bathroom was  the 'parlour', which boasted a fireplace, and had French windows opening onto a balcony which overlooked the back garden. Perfect bedsit for a modern woman.

So - if I used the bit of savings, I could transform this 5 bedroom into a Bed and Breakfast, or a Boarding House, or even a home for wayward women.. It felt good to have a purpose though. First thing was to Make A Plan, find a Handy Man (bonus) and buy some new linens.

My Flog for January 17 + Chapter 1 of a New Blog Story, so far Untitled

Today was a real lazy day, TV and Solitaire and a touch of Word Diarrhea.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee - the coffee was the last in the tub, and since I didn't go to the store, I'm not sure how I'm going to manage tomorrow morning when I slither downstairs and reach for my mug.
• Lunch - Left over noodles and rice - Chinese Food, the meal that keeps on going. Tuesday's $20 covered dinner for 3 (plus 2 kids who don't eat anything) and 4 lunches. Lots of value in that.
• Dinner - Slow Cooker Baked Beans - sooooo good. Anything with molasses and brown sugar has to be good. Entree and dessert all rolled up into one! Plus a couple of slices of nice soft just defrosted home made bread. 
• Snacks - Muffin, Yogurt

The rest of this entry is the beginning of what may be another mini-chapter story in the manner of The Clothesline Wars. I'm not sure where this is going, maybe nowhere, but every now and then I'll tap a next line and see what happens. My heroine hasn't a name yet, but I imagine she'll let me know the perfect one as I continue. Poor thing, she doesn't even have a plot either. 

CHAPTER ONE

64 years old today. Over half a century. If, as planned, I live to be 120 years old, over half my life is behind me. Well. I guess I should figure out soon what I'm going to do when I grow up.

Oh, I've already done all the normal things a gal born in the last century was supposed to do, which included maintaining my virginity until I married Brian, the first fellow to offer me an engagement ring (which I never got, by the way). I gave up my promising career (keeping house for two senile brothers) and settled into some kind of domestic bliss, which was fine most of the time, as long as I kept my mouth shut. Two boys, who grew up and moved away, and two girls, one who loves men too much, and one who doesn't care for men at all. If nothing else, the past has been .... interesting.

The past 10 years or so, it seemed the husband and I were just playing a waiting game, to see who would pop off first and leave peace and life insurance for the other. Seems like my liver won that particular race - although it came as a complete surprise to me that he had neglected to pay the insurance policy, and I was left only with the house (actually the one I was born in, so I can't even thank him for that) and a bar tab. Lovely.

The only liquor in the house now is a half-filled bottle of wine, which sits between the plate with the leftover pieces of birthday cake my oldest daughter, Julie, brought, and the urn with the leftover pieces of Brian. Since he had no wishes to discuss his send-off before he succumbed to cirrhosis, it's up to me to decide what to do with his ashes. I know where I want mine to go - a few scattered over the Atlantic, a few tossed in the Rockies, and a few in other places here and there - but the first place I think of for his would be River Livet. He'd never been to Scotland, but he would probably feel right at home where his beloved Glenlivet whiskey is distilled . I think he'd be happy there.

My Flog for January 16 + Chopped!, Shot and Cops

After sleeping in until 8 o'clock, then watching a movie about a crazy wife (imagine that, a crazy wife....) getting rid of her husband in a terribly bloody way, and an episode of Chopped! where they had to use canned cocktail sausages in a dessert - I realized if I was going to do anything note-worthy I had better get going. I did have a plan today - not a hugely exciting one, though.

Breehy and I actually took my left arm to Pricesmart because I needed to get a flu shot and thought that may be the easiest way to get one. It was chilly riding - and it was chilly walking also. I sure wish it would warm up soon so I can get my poor leg muscles used to pedalling again - I can't believe our long journeys of past summer, where I could go for miles and miles and miles. Oh well.

The pharmacist who toddled out with the needle paraphernalia looked like he may have gotten his medical training at a nursery school, a bit of a concern.

'You have done this before?' I asked him.

'Oh yes,' he replied, 'I've done at least 4 of these .......'

I was getting ready to bolt, and he continued

 '.....this morning.'

Okay. I could either trust him, or spend 3 hours on bus to my trusty, needle-practiced doctor in Richmond. Trust won. It was a bit jabby, but not too bad, and even though my arm is hurting like a bugger now, that is to be expected. I'd rather have a sore arm for a couple of days than the nasty flu that's starting its rounds.

But don't think that's the most exciting thing that happened today. After Howard came home, he heard a helicopter circling above - sure enough, a look through the window saw the police helicopter making small circles over the school on the other side of the road, and our house. The circles got smaller and smaller, and ended with one guy, who turned out to be an undercover cop, running after another guy, who turned out be a criminal of some sorts,  and 6 undercover cop cars. All of a sudden the criminal guy falls goes flat on the ground in a 'let's make a snow angel position' (although he was on his face side) and a slew of cops surrounded him. The chopper kept circling and some of the cops started searching around the school - not sure how long they were there. We figure the bad boy got rid of something as he ran, so they were looking for whatever it was. No idea what he did, but after about half an hour they bundled his sorry handcuffed ass into the back of a car and took off. With all the school-involved stuff going on lately, it was a bit more scary, but this all happened after a couple of hours after the kids had gone home.

• Breakfast - Toast with Jam, Coffee
• Lunch - Leftover Chinese food - rice and noodles. So good.
• Dinner - Just Fries. And Catsup. or Ketchup. Whatever.
• Snacks - a Cranberry/Apricot/Coconut Muffin - oh so also good

My Flog for January 15 -Eagles, Rubber Duckies, and Chicken Chow Mein - Life Is Good!

Yeah! I've got my big old week's work over, now I just have 4 glorious days to fill with me-stuff. Today wasn't bad actually, for a work day - and it was a work day, one that didn't finish until 9:00pm. Yawn.

I got up at 5 this morning, coffee and toasted and showered myself, got dressed, all that crap, and had an early morning walk to the bus stop, with my sneakers scrunching snow underfoot. Another dressed-for-outdoors-and-not-bus mornings, which isn't so great - but I saw 2 eagles in the Eagle Tree, which was very great. I'm just hoping my last-year's eagle has found a woman, and will raise a little family in that tree. 

I spent the last 2 days at work stuffing yarn and pricing/shelving stock, so the days went fast. These are about the cutest things we got today - I want one of each. 

After work, a feast of Chinese food from Top King's, who make the best Chinese food in the world. I'm sure it's even better than the Chinese food you get in China. We got a Meal for Two for $20, and we always have lots of leftovers. If I'm tempting you, and you live sorta kinda nearby, check out their menu.

Then it was - dishes, garbage to the sidewalk for early pickup tomorrow morning, feed the cats, unfeed the cats' litter box, and make muffins for His Majesty's lunch. Tonight's special is Cranberry/Apricot/Coconut - when you don't have enough of one thing, you throw in more than one thing, right? They smell very good - I haven't had one. Yet.

• Breakfast - Toast with jam, Coffee
• Lunch - Turkey Veggie Soup - now that's all gone. I think I'll make some kind of soup this week, I'm so used to taking some to work for lunch, Yogurt/Fruit Parfait
• Dinner - Pork Fried Rice, and Chicken Chow Mein
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Spiteful Pineapple Muffin, and 3 Chocolate Chip cookies

My Flog for January 14 + Not Much Else

Imagine this: a dark frosty morning, snow-covered sidewalks, frozen drizzle settling on my face as I walk to the bus stop. I'm not sure if 6:30 in the morning is a good time for a winter walk, but I really have no choice as I have to get to work. However -

I'm not cold, as I'm dressed like an extra for a Charlie Brown's winter special - yes, even my long johns are making the trip. Long johns, jeans, socks and sneakers, sweater, cardigan, jacket, woolly hat, woolly scarf, woolly mittens all work to keep Jack Frost from nipping at my toes, ears and everything inbetween. However -

I know I'm in trouble when the bus door opens and I notice the bus driver is wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Yes, he must be the only one comfortable in his warm cosy bus.

So my morning commute is shiver, sweat, shiver, sweat, ending with shiver and slippin' and slidin' over an icy sidewalk to the shop. However, I got through yet another winter day, and came that much closer to spring.

• Breakfast - Toast with Jam, Coffee
• Lunch - Pea Soup (that's all gone now - rest in peace, soup, you were very very good) and a Spiteful Pineapple Muffin
• Dinner - Left overs from last night. French Fries aren't very good when they are warmed up in the microwave, but the Macaroni Salad was decent. Rice Pudding (that's the last of that too - good job we get paid tomorrow as my fridge and freezer are getting quite empty)
• Snacks - small bag of Lays potato chips, Hot Chocolate, and a BAR. Yes, a BAR. I've been craving chocolate for ages so decided it was time to get one. Sort of a reward for braving this wild Lower Mainland winter weather.

January 13 + Sunrise, Sunrise, Morning Visitors, and Spiteful Pinapple Muffins

I know I don't get the beautiful sunrises that brighten up my far-away friends' mornings, but I will take what I can get, which included this pretty-in-pink sky early today. I had to take this picture from my bedroom window, and use my camera's little zoomy button - I know it would be 'that' much more if it were spread out over the water, but one takes what one can get.

And when I went downstairs to get breakfast - I got another little surprise - or should I say two medium sized ones. No wonder Blackie (my shy neurotic cat) was very interested in the doors, but refused to go out when I slid one open. He knew what was lurking in the shadows.

However, what was lurking in the shadows soon materialized, and when I first saw them I was glad Blackie hadn't gone out. The first thing I did was rush to the front door, where Teaser had just gone out to survey the surroundings - Teaser likes to do that first thing every morning, and last thing every night. I was glad to see he was still sitting on the outdoor mat, safe and sound. So back to the kitchen, with the camera. Howard had now made an appearance.

Aha. So now I understand why they were there. Howard went to the counter where there was some older bread than the bread I had baked yesterday, and after tearing it into pieces, threw it out to them. Yes, he was feeding raccoons, even though I told him it was illegal (I think) and how he shouldn't draw raccoons to our back door when we have two cats. Deaf ears. And this was obviously not the first time.

They were so incredibly cute though.

Not long after breakfast (both raccoons and mine, although I had to get mine myself,) I walked in the cold frosty air to the bus stop - a different one from the one a few weeks ago where I believed there had been some target shooting. This new stop also had some holes in the post - however, these holes didn't go all the way through. I now have decided that these were not bullet holes at all. It feels a lot safer that way.

Seems I had just missed the bus, though, as I had to wait over ten minutes for another one, caught a sky train right away - and had another 15 minutes wait at 22nd Street Station. The morning sky was quite impressive here too, I thought. The rest of my day was spent at work, so enough said about that.

• Breakfast - Coffee and Toast with APRICOT JAM! Same thing tomorrow, I won't mind getting up at all, even if that has to happen at 5 o'clock
• Lunch - Pea Soup, Blueberry Muffin
• Dinner - Ribs, Dressing, Macaroni Salad, a few Fries
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, and a Spiteful Pineapple Muffin

Now you're probably wondering what a Spiteful Pineapple Muffin is. After eating dinner, which Howard made, and had ready when I got home (which I did appreciate, even though I knew I'd be washing dishes and pots and pans for an hour), I admitted I didn't have any treat for his lunch. He suggested there would be muffins. I just looked at him, and said I don't have anything to put in muffins. He said to Steve, 'Well, there's tinned fruit in the cupboard, but if I say use tins, she'll probably be spiteful and use tinned beans.' 

Well, some of you know me, some of you don't. Take it from me - I may complain at times, but I never was, and never am, spiteful. Never. So that almost made me use the Libby's beans just for spite. But I didn't. 

They are actually Pineapple Coconut Muffins, made by a kinda hurt muffin maker. I really hope he doesn't choke on them.

My Flog for January 12 - Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee. I am so excited, as tomorrow morning I get to have something new for breakfast - I think I'll go to bed as soon as I finish this, just so tomorrow morning will seem to come quicker.
• Lunch - 3 Spring Rolls, from the big box in the freezer, heated in the oven. They weren't so great, but they were better than the Smokies Howard fried up for Steve and himself. 
• Dinner - Bread and Jam. Home-made bread almost straight out of the oven, and Apricot Jam, so yummy. Now I think I'm going to hit a carb wall with a huge thud. 
• Snack - Rice Pudding

It was a beautiful, sunny, blue-skied day, but the temps didn't rise above zero, so needless to say i didn't venture far. We did go out this morning to get some groceries, but that was all. I spent the afternoon in a daze, accomplished nothing at all, and certainly didn't have any adventures. 

That's enough winter, now. Come on, spring.

My Flog for January 11 + I Really Shouldn't Complain About The Weather

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Pancakes (only 2 - however, I could have made them smaller and had 4, or just made a big one and had only 1, as there would have been fewer calories in 1 - but I decided to splurge and have 2)
• Dinner - Turkey Veggie Soup that I was supposed to have for lunch, and a slice of bread and margarine - plus some A&W fries and a Chicken Strip - Steve brought a few bags of takeout and his family for dinner at our house. His reasoning? So he wouldn't have a mess of take-out garbage in his kitchen. Smrt boy.
• Snacks - Rice Pudding. This has been a gimme comfort food day for some reason. Maybe it's the thought of the wicked snowstorm they are having 'back home', or the fact that the temps are hovering below 0 here, but the thought of my dad standing by the stove stirring his yummy rice pudding was so strong I decided to try it myself, so I went trolling Yahoo! Search for a recipe. Found one. Not as good as dad's, but I'll still eat all of it. Just not at once. Square of Chocolate. The rest of Lizzie's Cream Soda. I wouldn't drink nearly as much pop if Poppy stopped giving cans of it to the kids.

I had to go searching for pictures of the winter storm - lots of people talking about it, but no one seemed all that eager to go out in it and take pictures for me to steal. These are probably from, or near, St John's, but I guess snow looks like snow no matter where you are.

I guess maybe I shouldn't complain when we get snow here in the Lower Mainland of BC. But of course I will. This was our snow storm in mid-December - as you can see, I was out in it waiting for a bus to take me to work, which didn't happen first nor last. But I did brave the weather, and yes, I even got some pictures.

However, if it was like this, I wouldn't have been nearly so brave, especially since I don't have a winter parka or snowshoes.

I remember snow storms back home - one in particular - when we opened the kitchen door to put the dog out to pee, and the snow was piled almost to the top of the door frame. Howard picked the dog up, hoisted him high in the air, and placed him on top of the snow. Needless to say, the dog wasn't long doing his business, and Howard reached up and brought him back to floor level.

I'll leave you all to share a little something  for my Newfoundland friends. 

My Flog for January 10 + Going Nowhere Fast, and a Blast from the Past (or should I say, a Whimper?)

Just another day in Paradise - temps wavering aorund 3 degrees, now down to 0, this house is definitely not warm and cosy. Electric heaters just don't do the job. Brrr. Plus I'm coming down with something - hope it's not the flu that just made the news headlines, as I still haven't got my flu shot.

So - I didn't go out today, and I didn't do much that didn't involve a couch or a computer.

• Breakfast - Fried Egg, Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Pea Soup, Yogurt and a square of milk chocolate
• Dinner - Grilled Cheese Sandwich
• Snacks - Muffin, a few Smokey Bacon Chips, actually just the crumbs in the bottom of the bag, and part of a can of pop

Just because I have nothing to write about, I went digging in the past, just to see if this day last year was more productive. As you can see below, it wasn't. Maybe this particular day every year is one  where I should just stay in bed, due to the position of the stars, or the moon, or something.

2011 - My Flog for January 10 + I've Been Doing This All Wrong

I read somewhere this morning, probably on Yahoo news, that people who write about good things that matter to them lose more weight than people who write about just any old stuff (for example - the stuff I write.) So I guess the reason I'm not losing much weight lately is because instead of writing about all the good stuff in my life, I'm concentrating more on the 'demo ruffle yarn' and 'snoring husband pokes his elbow in my back' kind of stuff. So tonight I'll try to concentrate on the happy happy happy joy stuff, and see if makes a difference on the scale tomorrow morning.

Happy stuff. Hmmm. Oh well, maybe tomorrow night.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Sausage and Egg McMuffin, Coffee
• Dinner - 2 sausages, cheese and crackers
• Snacks - Muffin, Hot Chocolate, Grapes