Tile's here

Our 6 skids of tile and cement arrived on a huge truck, very efficient delivery guy, he works independently with the tile company. He manoeuvred the BIG truck past the large garbage bin like nothing. Luckily the rain held up after it poured this morning. He levered everything into the garage. The contractor arrived immediately after with 5 or 6 guys to start lifting the tiles a (50 pound)box at a time to the basement. Maybe I won't have to park outside for 2 weeks.

K's cross country was cancelled today.

More egg cookies

I did my morning shopping in the pouring rain, it's that kind of day today. I went back to the T&T Chinese supermarket to get L some more egg cookies. I also got some baked chinese buns, they were still warm and great for quick lunches. K requested chicken winglets for supper. I also stopped by Costco and ended up buying a new Nigella Express cookbook. I ran into a friend there.

We're waiting for our tiles to be delivered today and trying to figure out where they will end up getting stored. The electricians are here installing the actual pot lights, and electrical outlets.

K said he would text message me if his cross country practice got rained out after school and I have to arrange for L's in-car driving lessons soon. Wonder what's a good time for them to pick her up? She told me there are 2 more elaborate sweet 16 parties coming up.



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University Fair

Another busy day. Took my mom to a liver specialist for a checkup (they're all busy) then we did a quick follow-up ultrasound and blood test, but there went most of the day. She has a fatty liver, as does one of my sisters, maybe we all do. The cream in my coffee won't help!

I'm making some quick breaded pork chops and baking some potato wedges for today's meal.

They vacuumed and cleaned the basement floor today. The painter started and we're all primed. The closets will be spray painted calming cream (hope they don't have problems finding my colour). The main ceilings will be spray painted white to match the potlights, then the walls will be hand-painted calming cream.

The university fair yesterday was worthwhile and very crowded, so there will be lots of competition for university entrance. If you have an over 90 average you're automatically entered for scholarships at some of the top universities, over 95 is even better. It was a good opportunity for L to inquire about class sizes and the different programs offered. I'm glad she still has next year to fine tune this process, it can be overwhelming. You have to make special visits to out-of-province universities, yesterday was just Ontario universities. I think even K got something out of this experience. We were talking about which cousin or which friend goes to what university.


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Busy Day

We're trying to rush out of the house this morning to go downtown to a University Fair. Then we're off to M's sister's place in the afternoon as she's hosting a function in honour of a visiting relative. I'm trying to get someone to tape 'The Amazing Race' season premiere for me tonight in case we miss it!

Of course, the big news is Paul Newman's passing away recently. He's an icon.

Drywall phase completed

We went to the hardware store this morning to buy some faucets and take advantage of a scratch and save discount this weekend. Then we went to buy a new stove and refrigerator for the basement. There are a myriad of choices and features so you kind of try to stay within budget and pick the features most important to you (energy star rating, size, etc.) The drywall taping and sanding was completed this afternoon so I should go take some pictures.

The kids are doing homework and I'm joining a friend for a walk although it's a bit rainy today. Later on this evening, we're going to a friend's daughter's Sweet 16 dinner/dance. It says casual dress, but I still have to decide on something to wear. I usually do that just before I leave, no fuss. We got her an itunes gift card as L had asked her what she wants.

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Retouched

I'm taking my mom to a doctor's appointment this glorious morning. It's nice to see the trees as they start to turn colour. I wish I could identify one of my favourite coloured shrubs as I drive along. I have this tree that took root at the side of my house and it's grown really fast. It looks great outside my kitchen window but the worry is how big it will become. I tried to identify it in my book of trees and shrubs, but the best I could guess was 'cork tree'. It has a soft bark. I don't see anything with similar leaves on my walk.

L's school photos came out beautifully this year, the threaded eyebrows gave her a look of sophistication. The funny part is, she says we should have paid $6 extra to have them re-touched, she could've looked totally blemish free like her friend that subscribed to this extra feature. Then K sends me a text message yesterday 'mom, could you drop off my Ipod shuffle by 4pm so that I can use it for cross country after school'. I told him he has to remember to pack stuff like that, as that's not exactly considered an emergency. Apparently his friend's mom did that so he figured it was a reasonable request!

It seems the young guy that worked on our basement for the first 3 weeks has been fired from his job. He screwed up one time too many, just our luck to have been saddled with him, very sloppy handiwork. They had to re-do our shower work yesterday including breaking the cement as it was done incorrectly.

Our street is so busy today, the neighbours seem to be doing some kind of interlocking/paving, so there's a big truck outside our house, just what we need in addition to all the people coming here.

News

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Small Indulgences continued

Here are the little chocolate treats I was talking about, the kit kats are all gone!



Here is one of those steamed BBQ pork buns I had for lunch

Here are the fresh dates I bought. They're sweet and crunchy and taste just like a date!

Simple Chinese egg (soft) cookies

Small Indulgences

I went down to the T&T Chinese supermarket early this morning and managed to avoid the traffic and store crowds. I got some fresh dates and assorted yummy fruit and vegetables. I was tired of my regular supermarket and thought I'd find something different. I found these soft chinese egg cookies that are quite good. M has a sweet tooth and is always looking for some little bit of pastry. (Unfortunately, I don't enjoy baking). We get these treat-sized halloween chocolates from Nestle such as coffee crisp, kitkat, reese peanut butter cups, oh Henrys at this time of year and they're perfect for small indulgences. Personally, the Mars bars are my favourite.

I'm going to have a steamed BBQ pork bun for lunch. There was a lot of interesting news today, have a read.

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ADHD drugs should be last resort: new guidelines

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More first-time over-35 moms in Canada: StatsCan

Woman Held Captive In Her Home By 'Shetland Pony-Sized' Pig

Man claims wife stole winning lottery before divorce

Cause for celebration

Another gorgeous day, shorts weather in fact. I decided not to cook anything today as we have lots of leftovers. I hear that the dusty drywall sanding is being done in the basement tomorrow and Friday, with painting to start on Monday. It's looking good in spite of everything. M asked the owner of the renovation company to drop by tonight to answer a few questions. Knowing M, they'll be quite detailed. I suppose I should sit in on this one (sigh).

I just had a call from an old girlfriend. We decided we should meet for dinner and as M and I will be having our 20th wedding anniversary on Oct 8th, we thought that would be reason enough for a celebration. As it happens, this friend's mother is dying of cancer. It's a tough time for the family to see her slowly deteriorate at 76. My friend's daughter started university this fall and surprisingly my friend was not one of those moms that get depressed about the whole thing. It's gone smoothly. I'm already mentally preparing for L's departure in just a few years.

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Stuck in traffic

Started the morning off getting stuck in traffic due to construction. K was 5 minutes late for school. Then I got stuck in the same traffic on the way to my haircut appointment (not bright of me). The hairdresser was also quite busy this morning so I had to wait for him to be ready as well. I was able to run a few errands aferward as M was working at home.

The afternoon seemed to get busier as I caught up on chores. I had a phone call from a friend from out of town. I think I'm going to dash out for a walk this evening just the same. M offered to pick the kids up. L has driver's ed this evening and K has cross country.

It's another glorious day, wow.

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A Restful Weekend

We went down to the tile store yesterday but it was closed on Sundays (I got my dates mixed up), so I went down quickly this morning and put the final order in. We decided to put mosaic tile on the shower step-in wall as well as on the shower floor. Then I went for my walk and left the men working in the basement for about an hour. The tapers and sanders had arrived upon my return.

The tile salesgirl had mentioned to me the other day that her 28 year old boyfriend had been in the hospital for intestinal surgery due to crohn's disease or colitis or something similar. He's recovering at home, but it struck me that these young people today are coming down with all sorts of unexpected illnesses. I know of another young adult with a similar auto-immune illness and yet another with a heart condition that required surgery.

Looking back at the weekend, it was actually quite restful for a change. L caught up on her sleep most of the day yesterday but seemed to stay up all night doing homework. K has school photo day today and he's staying late with his friends for a tech tutorial. He said the floaters in the left eye have subsided but the right eye is the same at the moment. He's been overdosing on Pillsbury ready to bake Halloween cookies.

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Border concerns

L made it home safely from her Washington DC trip. It seems that one of the 3 buses had a tire blown out just as they were heading home. They were able to fit the kids from that bus onto the other 2 buses, but before they got to the US/Canada border someone realized that the luggage which had been left on the injured bus wouldn't be able to enter Canada unaccompanied. So the kids with luggage on that bus had to wait at a mall near the border until that bus could get to them. L was home by 9pm and the last she heard, the delayed bus was scheduled to arrive at the border mall by 9.30pm to get the kids. Hope they made it home by midnight, as they must've all been tired and exhausted as L was.

I heard a bit about the museums, there was a Korean war memorial that L appreciated. She said the artist subtly depicted the facial features of the statues in different ethnicities to represent America. But for most of the girls the highlight of the trip was 6 hours at an upscale shopping mall while the boys decided to see a movie. Some of her friends had gone to the trouble of mapping out the mall prior to the trip and knew exactly where they wanted to shop.
L said she and a friend chose to eat at an authentic sounding Spanish restaurant one day, where they served the most delicious Tapas appetizers.

This afternoon we plan to visit the tile store to finalize our order for delivery. That would be after laundry and cooking. At least K managed to finish all his homework yesterday (LCM and Exponents).


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A Different Side

We ate well, if richly last night with our friends. K ate exactly what I said he would. These friends have gone through the horrors of renovation and it seems we're a normal case if you can believe that. They think that in the end, it will be worth it. Quite often, the renovation companies send in these young, inexperienced guys who don't care about your house and it's your job to keep a close eye on things and in many cases, do your own cleanup. They think nothing of covering up garbage in between the frame and the drywall, less work for them to do. I still believe some people can luck out and find the contractor in a million who cares about doing a good job. They're usually very busy and you would have to wait a long time for them to be free. Our friends went so far as to say marriages can break up due to the stress of renovation! You do see a different side of your partner.

I'm going to make some salmon cakes today with leftover baked salmon. L sounds like she did some good shopping south of the border and is coming home with new boots and Victoria Secret stuff. She's growing up so fast.


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Last weekend of summer

I found this new blog called 'Lilly's life' via Barbara Blundell's blog, she has this funny post about the Mona Lisa. She also has a deep and insightful post about aging. I'm going to add her to my list of blogs that I follow.

Well, it's the last weekend of summer and it's supposed to be lovely and warm, as we welcome the fall. L just gave us a surprise call from Washington DC, the tour company gave them all a free 10 minute long distance card. She's having fun but it's tiring. She's more of a 'lay on the beach and relax' kind of girl.

This evening M, K and I are meeting a some friends at a nice Indian restaurant in the area. It will be good to catch up with them. This friend is still tentative about Indian food, hope she'll like it, we do. K likes dunking the naan flatbread in sauce. He also eats the crust off the samosa appetizers.

One of the contractors says his 17 year old son just failed his driving test for about the 6th time, poor kid. He'll just have to keep trying. They're finishing up the drywalling today and next week will be dusty as they apply compound and sand. We turned the furnace off so it doesn't suck up too much dust but hopefully it won't get too cold at night.


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Got an Appointment

We have electricians here today and 2 contractors, busy, busy. The contractor boss stopped by as well as the young guy, to gather up some of his things as he's not returning. We've been sorting out tile delivery cost and dates, bathroom delivery dates, kitchen delivery dates. I hate to think about when all that stuff gets here. I'm also making sure I know what their lead times are for date changes from all these different places. M figures a lot of stuff can go in the garage and in the poor piano room. Hope the great weather can continue for another month. It's lovely today again.

We got a date with the retinal specialist for K's appointment in 5 weeks! They've told us it's a 2-3 hour wait time once you get there, so he gets the day off school. I'd better get all my questions ready. One of them is whether I could give him lutein tablets as I hear they are good for eye health.

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A Better Day

M signed an amended contract with the renovator yesterday, removing the work on the upstairs master bath and the young guy won't be coming back anymore, just the two subtrade contractors that M likes and trusts. Today's a better day. We now think this renovator took a lot of shortcuts as it's all about making money. It's naive to take people at face value.

I'm waiting to hear back from the optometrist about an appointment with the retinal specialist for K. Apparently we can't use my opthalmologist as he's not a retinal specialist..who knew? I found a good website that describes lattice degeneration which sounds like what the doctor was talking about. Because retinal detachment can be a serious complication of this condition, it has to be closely monitored and we have to be vigilant of the symptoms.

On the lighter side, I enjoyed my step class today. I felt younger hopping around to the music. There were a few new people in the class and because I was in the back today, I felt like a pro. Did I mention there are a lot of middle-aged ladies in the morning class, and they are all in great shape, working out pays off.

L is on her bus tour, I've had a few text messages from her and things seem to be going fine. She had been looking for a large slouch-style bag just before she left as all her friends were using those on the trip, but we couldn't find one in time as she's so last minute. I found a nice one today, so we'll see if she likes it when she gets back. I also found her some stylish new boots, hope they fit.

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Lattice

So the regular optometrist was off today, so we saw his co-worker. She says K has retinal lattice. I have to go do more research. She says it means the retina is very thin in some place in his left eye. We have to see an opthalmologist. It could even mean laser surgery it he decides...the risk is that if it's too thin it could cause a hole. We may have to wait 2 to 5 weeks for an appointment.

It wasn't really grey patches he was seeing, it's just another kind of floater and only in bright light. We just have to be vigilant of changes for now.

Trouble in Paradise

Taking K back to eye doc this afternoon. Now he's seeing grey patches in both eyes and they're not floating, although he can see through them.

Also the subtrade contractors told M the young guy's not doing such a great job in the basement. We had signed up to do a re-tiling and re-faucet job in our master bath afterward, but the owner's letting us out of that. The subtrades fixed all the load bearing walls for us while they were drywalling so we should be ok, but they say the insulation hasn't been done properly and the owner says it's ok so he's not fixing it. Fortunately they think all the plumbing is ok. Just like a Mike Holmes show (he helps people that have been victims of renovation), we thought if we didn't cheap out we'd get the best job.

So I'm just going about my daily routine today and trying to deal with things as they happen.


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Casino Rama

It feels like the end of the world is coming these days with large investment banks going bankrupt, steep stock market declines, devastating hurricanes, etc.

Casino Rama was a nice outing yesterday. It's a lovely facility about an hour and a half drive from where we are and the Chinese acrobatic show was entertaining. K would've loved to see the juggling and the strength of the gymnastics (under 19's aren't allowed there). My sister and her husband shopped while my mom and I did a half hour of gambling before we had to leave. I lost $10 in the 5 cent slot machines, don't know what my mom did, addict that she is.

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Some Tile Pictures

The first photo is the ivory ceramic tile we plan to use for our new shower walls and ceiling. The second photo is the porcelain tile (in an 18 X 18 inch size) that we'll use to cover the entire basement including the bathroom floor. The mosaic pattern beside it will be the shower floor. The salesgirl at the tile store has a design flair and was very helpful, especially when it came to choosing the right light colour for the shower walls. I knew I wanted a bit of contrast for the shower floor and also to tie in the actual bathroom floor, so I'm happy with the outcome.

We're having muggy weather with a lot of rain and more to come, remnants of hurricane Ike.

I'm going to see the Imperial Circus of China show today at Casino Rama with my mom, sister and brother-in-law.

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Dim Sum

A friend is coming over this morning to go for a walk and then we'll all go to a Chinese restaurant to have dim sum to celebrate her birthday. It's supposed to rain for the next 3 days, but it's just muggy and warm at the moment.

K has Science and Math homework, joy. L has a tennis lesson if it doesn't rain.

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Little, but good, economic news expected in coming week

Back from camp

K made it back safely from the Algonquin Park camp. He said it was fun, 'kinda'. It turns out it was a 2 minute walk from the bus to the base camp, so he was fine pulling his load on wheels. They slept the first night at the base camp and had chicken fingers and rice for dinner. The next day they did some canoeing and rafting in their swimsuits. In the evening their leader gave them all hiking bags and told them to put what they needed in it for the mile and a half hike to their camp. K used the old shoes we had packed to walk across a rocky stream to the campsite. He even used his raincoat as it was raining. He said the night in the tent was very cold. He used 4 layers of clothes including a down vest I had sent and his 3 season sleeping bag and his blanket. The leader heated spaghetti from cans over a kettle on the campfire for dinner. They also had salad. They toasted marshmallows and smores. K was able to brush his teeth that night in the bushes using water from his water bottle. The kids that don't wear braces didn't bother brushing. They relieved themselves in the bushes as they didn't want to walk to the 'weird' outhouse a bit farther in the dark. There were regular toilets back at the base camp which sounds like it was heated. Sorry about the toilet details, but I seem to find that stuff important.

It seems a distracted mom crashed her car into a cement post at L's school this morning. An ambulance and firetruck were called to the scene and no one could get into the school after that. Luckily M dropped her off a bit earlier this morning. Hope the mom is ok.

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Accomplishing

I'm accomplishing a lot today, did my 'limited' weekly housecleaning, laundry is underway. K is due home later this afternoon and likely will have a few more loads to do. L can't find her cell phone at the moment, hopefully she'll be able to locate it. I think she has too much going on. M has misplaced our box of lightbulbs during the move up from the basement, I can't think where he could have put them.

At one point today, there were 5 men working in the basement. I've spoken to at least 3 of them and they all seem quite nice and easy to get along with. When it's all done, we'll have a washroom with a shower down there, a fireplace, a kitchenette complete with an over the range microwave, refrigerator and oven. We'll have a bunch of new storage closets counting the one under the stairs. And yes, our bank balance is receding dramatically these days.

I decided to microwave fish fillets in (what else) arrabbiata tomato sauce and it came out great, not to mention healthy tasting.

2 fish fillets (I thawed out a 1.7 pound package for frozen fillets)
2 or 3 cups of arrabbiata sauce
a pat of butter
salt, pepper to taste

add the butter, salt and pepper to the fish fillets. Pour the tomato sauce on top and microwave for 17 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

Try it with my 'Yellow Rice' recipe (adapted Indian rice recipe)

2 cups rice (white or basmati)
1 tsp turmeric
5 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
2 pats of butter
1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock or bouillon powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder

If you have a rice cooker you can mix everything together and cover with an inch of water or else you can bring it to a boil and cover and simmer for 20 minutes after most of the water has been absorbed.

I think it's the pats of butter that help things in the taste department. We had a whole bunch of little butter packs leftover from a recent Swiss Chalet (rotisserie chicken) takeout dinner.

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Honey Roasted Peanuts

I enjoyed my step class today, can't afford to stop. I saw that Rachel Ray was celebrating her 40th birthday on her morning show, thought she was younger. Valerie Bertinelli was a guest and she looks fantastic at 48, she's lost 20 or 40 pounds on that Jenny Craig program that she advertises.

I bought some honey roasted peanuts for us to snack on, they're delicious. Maybe it's because we usually just go for plain, unsalted roasted nuts.

L got the info for her Washington DC school trip next week, they're going by bus. I have to peruse the 5-page itinerary. Haven't heard from K. I'm making that arrabbiata tomato sauce I spoke about a few days ago, it smells good, all 12 cups of it. L wants to eat out tonight as K, the picky eater isn't home.


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We messed up

Here's the new fireplace so far.

So K went off to camp, the only kid with a large duffle bag. All the others had small duffle bags along with their knapsacks as apparently they have to walk one and a half miles to their campsite. For some reason my son didn't clue into this and I missed the briefing last week. Well, hopefully he survived this obstacle. Not being a camper, I didn't know better. L has been to camp, but usually in some kind of lodge!

M is stressing as his friend told him to make sure we have enough heating ducts in the basement. Well, we asked for an extra one just in case. Having a tile floor is going to be cold as it is, although we'll put rugs down.

Took my mom to the dentist today. L is playing tennis after school. She received her new G1 Driver's licence in the mail, it basically looks just like mine. It's good that she now has a piece of ID besides her passport.


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Lots of action

So the drywall arrived. I had to sign that it was ok for Home Depot to deposit stuff on my property. The 2 contractors say they've never lifted so much drywall before, considering it's just 2 of them. Hopefully they can get it all inside today as it's supposed to rain tomorrow (hopefully not this afternoon). They say each piece is about 50 pounds.

The electrical inspector arrived and just found a few little things. There are about 3 light fixture receptacles that have to be mounted a bit lower, likely because they put it in before the framing was complete. He noticed a wire a bit too close to the furnace pipe, said that there should be some insulation between it and the pipe. The plumber is here and has shut the water off for about 15 minutes.

You know, it's good that I'm home with all these goings on, if only just to answer the doorbell.

Arrabbiata Tomato Sauce

It's sunny today, we're waiting for a drywall delivery I think. They decided to lift it downstairs as opposed to keeping it outside which sounds like a good plan.

I'm going to make spaghetti and meat sauce today. I found a nice recipe in Chatelaine magazine for an arrabbiata tomato sauce that I'd like to try one of these days.

K is pretty much packed for his camping trip and he made sure to the read the bear safety email I sent him. I guess he has a sense of self-preservation.

L is starting her driving course later this week after school. They start with in-class sessions.



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Bear Safety

It's looking rainy outside. We have 145 sheets of drywall coming either today or tomorrow. The big Home Depot truck with it's crane-like facility will likely do the delivery. It has to go outside somewhere. I got my paint swatches and am leaning toward a 'calming cream' shade.

K's floater seems to have broken up yesterday. It turned into 3 little dots and went away. Because he's going camping up north on a field trip next week, I found him some bear safety tips just in case. They've asked them not to bring any snacks to attract animals. I've never really been camping myself.

L exchanged a work shift so she could watch the U.S. Open Tennis semi-finals today. Nadal's match was suspended yesterday due to rain.

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Growing Up

L went to a sleepover last night at a friend's. She plans to be back at noon and maybe have an afternoon group tennis lesson. I hardly see my 16 year old anymore, good thing K's still around. She has yet to show me her award from yesterday's presentations. It was a plaque for achieving an over 90 average. Her friend had an 89.3 average and just missed it. Her other friend picked up most of the subject awards, she'll definitely get her first choice of university.

L really likes her new Sociology class. They had some interesting reading material yesterday that showed how people build misconceptions about others of different cultures.

I met a friend for breakfast at McD's this rainy morning, she's a coupon fanatic, so we split the $5.99 coupon special. I overdid it on the cream in my coffee. We also picked up some 49c bread on special at Shopper's Drug Mart. She says it's hard to find bread under $2.29 these days. Interestingly, she was on a recent trip to Chicago and noticed that a McD's yogurt parfait is $1 US, and here it's $1.99. They must have a foreign pricing structure, nothing to do with the exchange rate.

M and I should go over to the hardware store and get some Benjamin Moore paint swatches as that's the paint the contractors will use. It's not too bad looking at these swatches, as it's all laid out for you by colour group. I think I'll be able to choose the right soft beige from about 10 choices! Last night I dreamt that the contractor was knocking on the door and that I was the only one able to hear him.

K has to read a couple of pages of History and I'm going to try to get him to do some advance reading on cell structures for Science class, easier said than done!


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Floater continued

So M ended up at the optometrist this morning and K's eye is normal apparently. It seems even kids can get these floaters that are clumped up eye gel. So he only missed half a day of school. Emergency was slow and a waste of time, there is no opthalmologist on call so he would've just seen the emergency doctor. You really only want to go to emergency if you have no other choice, I think.

I was just reading this post in 'The Clutter Diet Blog' about the author's philanthropy group 'Impact Austin' It's a group of about 500 women who have pooled their money for philanthropical purposes. I think it's a wonderful idea.

Floater

L is receiving an academic award at school today for last year's work.

M is taking K to the hospital emergency this morning to check this floater thing that's developed on and off in his eye the past few days. It started in the doctor's office during his annual checkup. The doc couldn't see anything but told us we could take him to emergency to see an opthalmologist if it persisted. Last night I drew a picture of an eye and asked him to draw the floater beside it and it was almost the size of the pupil.

Oh, yesterday I mentioned that the contractor had asked us not to use the tap or toilet for a couple of hours. Well, it seems the electrician forgot and took a dump and flushed. It went right into the contractor's face and all over his shirt. He rushed home and showered about 3 times, poor guy.


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Online Password Security

My sister called last night to say her breast test was negative, whew! She had developed a lesion and had to have it tested.

I was at the dentist this morning for a regular checkup and found this website in this month's Chatelaine women's magazine - http://www.keepass.info It's a free website that helps you securely manage all your passwords. It sounds like something worth checking into.

So the contractor just opened our sewage tank, we're not allowed to use the taps or toilets for 2 hours. Hope I can remember that.

I seem to have all sorts of little things to get done since school started and am feeling really behind. L is planning to take a driving course being offered out of her high school, so we have to register for that. I took the kids to their annual checkups yesterday after school. K is off next week on a camping type field trip up north for a few days, so we have to get ready for that this weekend. The piano teacher called inquiring about K's future plans. I told her he's likely quitting.

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A moral dilemma

Note that as of Mar 17, 2009 I discovered the 'fake $5' is actually just an older note.

There were 2 trucks delivering supplies when I got back from the gym and 2 fireplace guys just arrived. It's busy around here. There are also 2 other guys completing the framing.

So the instructor at the gym was saying that there was a lady on Oprah recently that won 340 million in the lottery. The irony of it is that her husband passed away one year later. The instructor said she'd rather have her husband. Then, she joked 'maybe not'. That's something to think about, perhaps, a moral dilemma. I suppose even if you hated your spouse, his life would be more important than money, wouldn't it?

I received another fake $5 at McDonald's at the mall today, and returned it.

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First Day of School

Well, the kids are off. It's a gorgeous day. I picked up a few last minute school supplies at Costco this morning and decided to splurge on some beef tenderloin steaks. I normally use strip loin but everyone's saying the beef tenderloin there is amazing (amazingly expensive I'd say). There was a Home Depot nearby, so I stopped in and picked up some paint pamphlets to browse. I tell you, there is a vast array of paint selections, but they have it all categorized for you based on colour group and personal style. I figure it can't hurt to educate myself although I'm quite happy with builder's beige.

The basement electrical is all planned out now, the trick is to make sure there are no 'dead' (unlit) spots at the end of the day. M produced a colour-coded electrical diagram with a legend for the guys to follow. The contractors usually do this, but he's helping out. I'd say he's enjoying this.

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So Picky

I'm tired today after spending 8 hours at Canada's Wonderland yesterday. My 70 year old mom didn't seem as tired as me. All the kids decided to brave the new Behemoth roller coaster, including K. L said it's a smooth ride, not as bumpy as the older roller coasters. We saw a very professional ice skating show at an indoor theatre.

The electricians and the framing guy are here today, working on a holiday. M was down there asking for extra little things. I told him they all add up, but he's so picky.

Well, today we should focus on 'back to school' in the morning. At least we should have gorgeous weather this week.




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