I know how this deer feels...I have fallen in a similar fashion myself... 

this pretty much sums up how I feel about winter...despite having thoroughly enjoyed myself in the snow yesterday... 

My Sister's Uncanny Ability

Yup, my sister. She knows just when I have gone to bed early, so she phones me. She lives in northern British Columbia and calls maybe once a week, unless she needs a question answered, then she may call more. But for as long as I have been living in Nova Scotia and actually working full time - she knows when I have chosen to go to bed early. I rarely do this, and it is usually because I'm quite tired and last night was one of those times.

I was exhausted because of the late night on Saturday, but more so from the physical escapade on snowshoes so went to bed at 9pm, watched a bit of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on television before drifting off at about 9:45pm or so. At 11:00pm the shrillness of the phone jolted me from a dead sleep....the lamp wouldn't work and I could find the phone...finally after much fumbling, I answered a groggy "hello" and on the other end was my sister.

Then she wanted to hang up and let me get back to sleep...I told her it was too late, I was awake so she better start talking! heh heh...the call lasted about 10 minutes or less and then she had to go because the boys (my darling nephews) needed her. Ok, bye...

I didn't finally get back to sleep until after 1:00am. Thanks, sis. I will get you back, oh yes, I will get you back.

So now I am tired this morning and just when my sleeping was getting somewhat back on track (except for the past two nights - one of my own doing).

I shall try an early night again tonight - can't imagine she would call two nights in a row so I should be safe...

Love you sis!

I Must Be Dead

I wrote yesterday about my poor back while trying to get chores done. Well if yesterday wasn't enough punishment, today I have joined the dead. Let me back up...

Company arrived late afternoon and we began the night of drinking, eating, smoking, etc. We watched the movie Anchorman it was just hilarious! There are some parts in there however that are just wrong...where have society's morals gone??? heh heh...

So we were up until quite late (for me) and I think I finally packed it in for the night around 2am or later. I was up again at 8:30am, washing dishes and getting a breakfast spread ready for company. That was quite normal for me, as I generally don't sleep in. It was a lovely breakfast with homemade waffles smothered in butter and maple syrup (ok, Aunt Jemima), and salty CANADIAN bacon, and fluffy scrambled eggs...add tea in my grandmother's teapot and juice spilled on my grandmother's lunchcloth, and we were well away.

Then came the infliction of pain. What sounded like a good idea yesterday was turning out to be something altogether different today. We went snowshoeing. This for a gal who nearly blacks out on the way to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. And it was about 2 miles (or more) in total that we snowshoed...down to a river. I am in a little pain. Actually, I am in a lot of pain. My poor back, and ALL OF MY LEG MUSCLES are angry with me. Maybe I am not dead then if I can feel this pain.

Mind numbing pain aside, it was a wonderful walk to the river. We saw many critter tracks such as squirrel, rabbit and coyote. There was even a carcass. So that's where the dead part comes in. It appears that some coyotes nicked themselves a red deer and left something behind for the crows to have a nibble at. We saw the crows ahead of us, circling like vultures so one of my friends, D. went to investigate and made the discovery. At the riverbank (where I had never gone before) there was a simple shack that was ironically named "Riverside Palace". Despite its rudimentary style, it was great to be able to sit comfortably for a rest before the return journey. We watched some eagles soaring from this location. Awesome. At one point during the hike, D. thought he would show off for the camera (not digital sorry...posted in a few days (or months) and ended up flat on his back in his snowshoes....HA HA. which of course, I snapped a picture of.

So now, as my muscles protest, and my asthma makes my lungs scream for more air, I have returned home and am now fighting off the chill of sweating in the cold, wrapped in a quilt I sewed last fall...

One step forward and two back

Arrrrrrggghhhhh! I am having company later today so I am trying to get into my most productive mode - you know the one...someone is coming so you finally get all those last minute chores done, some tidying away, dirty spots off the trash bin area, that kind of thing.

What is getting in my way is my back! I have some disc troubles that I have had physio for off and on for years and today it is pissing me off. I do one or two tasks and then I have to sit down. Little tasks too, like cleaning the fish tank (just the weekly maintenance, not the killer fish frenzy of last week) and throwing in a load of laundry has my back in PAIN mode. For someone who is just 38 years old, I am feeling about 90 today.

It will all get done, eventually...so on my little breaks, here I am!

The vacuuming has yet to be done and the food prep for tonight...sigh...whine...

Shack Whacky

Ok, its time to go back to work. I could never make a good hermit. I tire easily of my own company. I had Friday off, and today was a snow day. With the exception of Friday night video with K. and an hour for supper with the neighbors, I have pretty much been left to my own devices and now I need a change of venue!

I am sick of scanning the television and of hearing the music channels, so I turned the idiot box off hours ago and immersed myself in my current reading - "To Kill a Mockingbird". I had heard so much about this book, but had never been asked to read it, so when I discovered it at a yard sale last summer, I bought it for a dime and it rested on my bookshelf until recently. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I'm sure most all have. Now I need to start something new. I have a new book by Ann Marie MacDonald on the shelf...perhaps that.

I have made a few phone calls and caught up with friends, but the real thing is I need a change of scenery! I go from sitting here in front of the computer, to sitting in either "my" chair or sprawled on the couch. The cat follows me wherever I go, and I am even getting sick of her. She knows now, by the tone in my voice that I need her to go somewhere else than on my chest.

Its still snowing, BTW. Is it spring yet?

This is the snow at my brother's house - I don't have a digital camera so this will have to suffice! They have very similar drifts to what is in my driveway. 

Is it Spring Yet?

I am so tired of hearing about the snow, talking about the snow, shovelling the snow, even looking at the snow. Enough already!

My shovelling hasn't been as treacherous as it has been in past years, thanks to people with plows, tractors and my next door neighbors. However, what has become even more irritating is the snow talk - I think it is the only thing people on the east coast can find to talk about is the weather. Good, bad, or ugly. So its snowing. Ok. Its winter, people. What else did you expect? Daffodil blooms?

Our employer went against the grain today and decided not to close the office, however all provincial offices in the provinces were deemed closed...hmmm...how does that work. I don't actually work for the provincial goverment, I work for Children's Aid, but my boss works for both. And he decided to keep us (CAS) open. Yet most of my co-workers decided they did work for provincial government and stayed home. It has been a confusing mess. Last year we were told we do not close just because provincial offices close. So he waited until many of us got to work before sending us back home again because he was closing the office. Same thing again today. I went to work because I know that I do not work for the provincial government. My road was clear, the weather was manageable, so off I went. We had gotten a call last week when there was a storm day, albeit far to late - 8:15am by which time I normally would have been just about AT work. and today I didn't get any calls. So I assumed I had to go to work.

I got to work, there was NO ONE THERE. So I called my supervisor, who also believed our agency was open, but she was not able to get in because her road had not yet been plowed. She suggested I call our HR manager, so I did, and her child told me she was at work. HUH? So I went downstairs only to discover that we were indeed open and more of the front office staff had showed up after I did, and eventually, another social worker. Were we open or closed? Open was the word, because there was nothing on the website about us being closed. What do you mean, nothing. All provincial offices are closed. Exec sec to the ED says she didn't see it. So now that she has seen it, they put in a call to the ED - where are you and what's up? Discussion about closing and finally a decision to close since all provincial government offices are closed. Fine. I'm going home, but you are paying me for my time already put in this morning.

Confused yet? I am just irritated. So then I say to the other social worker - why don't you come over and watch movies for the morning. No, I'm going to bed was the reply. Ok, fine, see you later. I get home, get on the net, am right in the middle of doing something and the Internet call manager shows me that she is calling. Funny, I thought she was in bed! She called to tell me that she had a message from the worker above her on the list that we were closed until noon. It was left at 9:25am - like that was going to help anyone. She was already at work by then.

The list - I almost forgot - we have what they are calling a Fan-Out List - it begins with the ED, to the two supervisors and on down - if you call two people and they call two people...you get the drift. No one used it today until after 9am. Why bother having it if you're not going to use it? When I asked that question, I was told it wasn't used when all provincial offices are closed. Oh for F---'s sake. Are we or are we not taking our cues from the provincial government?

So I have a few choice questions for the ED tomorrow. Even if they open again at noon, frig that, I am not going. I already made my effort today and I am staying home. See ya later, folks.

I'm home, and the phone has not stopped ringing with people who want to talk about the snow and about the confusion at work. Enough already. Stop calling me, please. I hate talking about snow. (you would never know it by this post, heh heh)

Tractor

Yup, you read it correctly...tractor...my neighbors have a boarder/my landlord, who left his tractor here for when he comes. He had planned on using it to clear the snow from the driveways in the winter. Otherwise, he plays in the woods with it. The thing is, he has been laid off for the rest of the winter and has returned to his home in PEI, leaving the tractor in the neighbor's field.

so my neighbor (the missus) was determined to get out and play with it and figure it out on her own. I mean, how hard can it be? She can drive a standard transmission in a truck, so why not a tractor? I think they had to jumpstart it as I noticed the truck was pulled up beside it with the hood up. Now she is out driving it, and I see the bucket going up and down. I think there is some snowclearing getting done too.

interesting to watch is the coordination necessary to snow clear with a tractor you have just learned to use. backwards and forwards are easily mastered, but that whole bucket variable is something else. I can see when she backs up, she then has to change her hands onto something that controls the bucket, so each action is independent of each other....slow motion almost.

but she is getting the job DONE! Good for you Max, you go girl!

and it's a good thing too...nasty blizzard on the way again early tomorrow morning. Sure would be nice to have a tractor going to clear it up again!

Its all about ME!

Many thanks to the Hairy Hoser and Madley for providing this little break from snow talk...

3 names you go by:

a) Jude

b) Judith

c) Agent 99 (I'm an agent at work - 99 is part of my login)

3 screen names you have:

a) dreama

b) dakota_sky

c) island_girl

3 things you like about yourself:

a) my sense of humour

b) my purple hair

c) my determination (aka stubbornness)

3 things you dislike about yourself:

a) my weight (like most all women)

b) my bluntness (at times)

c) my health issues

3 parts of your heritage:

a) I am CANADIAN

b) if I go back far enough (200 years or more) - Irish

c) same ting - French

Your everyday essentials:

a) chocolate

b) water

c) a photo of my daughter

3 things that scare you:

a) getting a call in the night that something has happened to my daughter

- that's about all that really scares me

3 things you're wearing right now:

a) a sweatshirt

b) pyjama pants

c) slippers

3 of your favorite bands/artists:

a) The Beatles

b) Rush

c) Elton John

3 new things you want to try in the next 12 months:

a) dating (new for this year!)

b) The Amazing Race

c) cycling again

3 things you want in a relationship (love is a given) :

a) trust

b) respect

c) humour

2 truths and a lie (in no particular order):

a) I once worked at a meat-packing plant

b) I have been married twice

c) I hate fish (yes, I am from Newfoundland - partly) actually, I hate all seafood.

3 physical things about a love interest that appeal:

a) being taller than me (which isn't hard, but I didn't have it in my first marriage)

b) longish hair

c) a bare chest

3 things you just can't do:

a) play a musical instrument

b) make a decision about my life

c) cut the apron strings to my daughter!

3 of your favorite hobbies:

a) knitting

b) reading

c) watching movies

oddly enough, sometimes all three at the same time...and more

3 things you want to do really badly right now:

a) hug my daughter

b) lose a significant amount of weight

c) wiggle my nose to make all the snow disappear

3 careers you're considering:

a) my current one - social worker

b) writer (I have a lot to say)

c) teacher (community college level social work)

3 places you want to go on vacation:

a) Africa - Kenya

b) Thailand (pre-Tsunami)

c) Australia

3 kids names:

a) Emma

b) Autumn

c) Ocean

3 things you want to do before you die:

a) visit the pyramids

b) hold a grandchild (mine)

c) be out of debt

3 people who now have to take this quiz:

a) I don't really care

b) still not caring

c) do it if you want, I don't care

What Kind of Hippie Are You?

Since part of my head always seems to be stuck in the 60's and 70's ( I did actually live through them) I was intrigued by this whimsical quiz...


You are a Hippie. Wow.

What kind of Sixties Person are you?
brought to you by Try it...see what you come up with...

What a Friggin Day

Ever have one of those days where everything you touch turns to shit? That was my day today. It began when I attempted to get out the door early today to go to Wal-mart (I know, I am an addict) to get a few things for my niece. It was her birthday yesterday and I promised to her her parcel in the mail today at the latest...I should have known. Just as I am pulling out of the driveway, my pager goes off. I've been on call since last Thursday at 4:30pm, so when I am not at work, I'm on call. But I RARELY get an early morning call. And what they're asking for isn't completely simple. It should be, but I am in my car, not in my office. Someone wanted to cancel their drug testing for today and I didn't have the phone number of the lab to call them, and 411 didn't have it either. They THOUGHT they did, but it turned out to be some medical clinic in Halifax. Great. So luckily for me (so it wasn't all shit today) my roomie had gone to work early and I actually knew about it, so I called her at work to get the number off my desk (we work at the same agency). So phew, took care of that problem...except now I was late to get to work...I figured, to hell with it and went to Wal-Mart anyhow.

Well, when I got to work, the front entrance of our building has two doors...one has been broken for about a month or so, with no apparent attempts to fix it...just some tape and caution tape telling us not to use it. The problem is the other one had not been used as much and is very stiff, and slams on me all the time, squishing me in the door, sometimes bashing me in the shoulder...which already hurts enough thank-you very much from the injury I received a few years ago when I thought I could do Jujitsu...

So my shoulder is hurting and I am in a pissy mood...I get upstairs where my office is and our security door won't close. Great...another f-ing door problem. I've got my hands full of my lunch, Wal-Mart bags and my little zip case for work stuff...half falls on the floor and I am really in a pissy mood by then. Our door upstairs hasn't been working for a week or so either...making us not so secure after all. Great. So I fire off an e-mail to management telling them the door situation is unacceptable. got that off my chest. In the meantime, my rant about the doors scares the hell out of my co-worker in the adjoining office, so she shuts her door in fear.

Then I went downstairs to look for something in the file room. It is archaic. I can't believe the mess in there. Its no wonder stuff goes missing. And if it was simple paperwork for a business of some sort, whatever, lose it, find it...who really cares...but I work for a child welfare agency and if we lose paper, the judge is not happy and someone's head may roll...so I get panicky when I can't find something. Turns out it was in front of my nose the whole time, with the exception of one particular correspondence. Fine. I head back upstairs.

Since I had ranted and raved part of the morning, I was thirsty and headed down to the kitchen to get a drink at the water cooler...no water. empty AND the jug has been taken off and set on the floor. Ok, why didn't someone put a new one up? Because they were TOO LAZY to get another one from downstairs...GREAT. So I took my rage downstairs and dragged and rolled another jug upstairs and got myself a drink of WARM water.

It took me a bit to get over the pissy mood but I was finally able to shake it off. It wasn't even the worst day I've had, as things were relatively minor, but I was ready to hide in my office, especially after my boss asked me if I needed to go for a walk...

I braved it!

Well, I decided to go out and see what the snow was like...it was wet. But I wasn't alone...my gracious neighbors came out and helped me out immensely. That is one long sumbitch of a driveway, let me tell you. It took the three of us about an hour with scoops and shovels. But we got it done, and they continued on throughout the afternoon and shovelled the rest, gotta love em. There will have to be treats shared at some point. The missus doesn't bake so I bring them sweets whenever I make some...perhaps I'll rustle something up tonight!

So once we finished enough of the driveway to get my car out, I headed for town, panting to beat all and my heart racing like a triphammer (whatever in the hell that is). I had a few puffs on the inhaler to get the old lungs moving again and away I went. Town was pretty much cleaned up, although many parking lots to be plowed but those businesses were closed anyhow. When I got to our parking lot, however, it was a different story. While the inside of the lot was plowed, I picked three of the four ways to get into it and they were all unplowed...I finally picked my way through the maze and got in, and parked. One step out of the car and I am nearly flat on my ass again. The snow had not stuck very well to the GLAZE of SHEER ICE under it. It was just like walking on glass it was so smooth. Another few steps and whoopsie again...but I managed to catch myself.

Seems the caretaker/superintendent/janitor (whoever he is or what he calls himself) wasn't in so nothing was shovelled. Not the steps, the walk, NOTHING. And this is a government building and all. So I plowed through the snow once again, thankfully I had not taken off the windpants yet. Once inside, my co-workers commented on my figure skating in the parking lot...I got the feeling they were rather disappointed that I didn't fall down. Its like a shot on goal that missed...OHHHHHH, darn.

Turns out only five of us from the floor even bothered to come in - out of 17 that work on that floor. Granted one is away on vacation, another on sick leave, and yet one more on a day off, but that still leaves 9 that didn't come in. So it made for a quiet afternoon. I got all my work done and had time to kill....and not too many to pester. darn.

Freezing rain on the car to clean off for the drive home and thank-you all, I am home once again, sipping on a nice cold beer. I think I deserve it.

Snow Day!

Hooray, its a snow day! Or at least I thought it was. My employer chose to wait until long after I should have left for work to send the message down the line that we were closed until 1pm. I had been voraciously checking the cancellations page of our local radio station, and only saw the neighboring agency closed, but not ours. Then when I got the call, I checked the page and it simply read closed. Now I got a call just a few minutes ago that we are opening at 1pm. RATS! Way to ruin a good snow day, mister. So the question is then, do I just take some overtime and don't bother to go in today? I do have it to spare...hmmm....there is a great deal of snow in my driveway, or at least it looks like there is.

We did get a fair amount of snow last night, and it was still drifting heavily when I woke up this morning...I was rather hoping that it would just blow off my driveway entirely, heh heh. You see, I have a raised driveway (read raised hump of dirt) and so it might just do that. But then it began to rain not long ago, kind of a freezing rain. So any thought of snow drifting OFF my driveway diminishes with the rain. Its like adding concrete to it. DAMMIT!

Eventually I do have to leave the cozy house and check out the snow. Whether I go in to work today or tomorrow is besides the point. I still have to get out of the driveway. And then there is the knowledge that I am actually working right now as I am the on-call duty worker for when the office is closed...hmmm...guilt...guilt...guilt...if I get an emergency I shall have to go in a hurry...should I go out and brave the weather to get the driveway clear? decisions, decisions...

I'll think about that tomorrow...(oh Scarlett!)

Grand Bruit, NL - one of the prettiest places in Newfoundland!

For more information - please feel free to visit my msn community describing the place and with tons more pictures - Grand Bruit

AHA!

I have finally figured out how to use the Hello program to post pics. Whoo hoo! I don't know what the problem was before, but it was likely my computer because it was before the great cleanup of 2004 when I re-formatted the hard drive. Now it all works fine and dandy! So expect to see occasional pics added to my blogs. I don't own a digital camera, but I know enough people who do, and I can scan any of my own "old fashioned" pictures.

Stay tuned for some more pics...

my pride and joy - the non-resident teenager 

resident feline relaxing 

Lets get back to Blogging!

Well, I did it, I signed up for Blog Explosion. And then I "surfed" and it amazes me how many people are talking about ways to get traffic to your blog, but not really "blogging". So I may not stay with Blog Explosion and might just continue as I always have...a few faithful readers and writing for myself. Some of the blogs I surfed to were so full of other "crap" that there was little room left on their page for BLOGGING! There are buttons for just about anything and I was beginning to feel a little like being hurled into the cyber classifieds. Lets get back to telling our stories, people! in the words of a fellow blogger and cynic... "I blog, therefore I am".

Poor Fishes

well, I finally had to break down and clean the fish tank. The algae was getting its own glow on the front and I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't able to find the correct charcoal and sponge filter, so just rinsed them out, but replaced 1/3 of the water and used my brand new gravel cleaner to suck up some crap. The fish are surely traumatized, especially the two that didn't make it. OOOOPS!

It began with me taking out 1/3 of the water so I could put my arms in to do stuff and not slosh too much. The fish were getting in the way of the gravel cleaner and I couldn't see what the hell I was doing. So I took out the plants and ceramic decor...little did I know that with one of the plants came a fish. Poor guy spent the afternoon in a Wal-Mart bag - and when I replaced the plants out of it again, I didn't see him in there, threw the bag back on the floor and proceeded to step on it a bunch of times while running to the tap to refill the tank. OOOPS. So he was rather squished. I had also attempted to capture the fish to get them out of the way but was only able to get 5 of them...one got stuck in the net and I didn't see him until I was putting the fish back. OOOPS. He died too.

So after considerable MESS, two deaths, much panic and anxiety, and complete trauma to my remaining fish...the tank is now clean..er. So I called up to the pet store in Halifax, and coordinated with a friend who is in the city this weekend to pick me up some filters and a few new fish. They like to school with their own kind in groups of at least 3 so I need to replace them.

What a friggin ordeal!