I'm it

I've been tagged. This is my first time! Without further ado, here are 7 random things about me:

1. I read cookbooks for pleasure. It's fun. I collect them, and very occasionally use them when I'm actually cooking, but I am much more likely to get one and read it cover to cover over a period of days (yes, there are cookbooks on my bedside table) all-the-while scheming about how I would adjust each recipe to suit the kind of ingredients I actually have on hand. It fills my brain with all kinds of ideas and helps me be creative with leftovers and boring everyday ingredients.
2. I'm a whiz at puzzles. I like to work on the sky peices and boring colors, never the actual central part of the picture. And I don't like to look at the picture on the box while puzzling either - it feels like cheating.
3. Corn on the cob is one of my least favorite seasonal produce specials. It is messy and involves so much work for so little gastric pleasure.
4. I've never broken a bone.
5. My dream vehicle is a jeep wagoneer with fake wood paneling. I think it would make me feel carefree and jolly.
6. I still mix fountain sodas to make "swamp water" like I did when I was a kid, but only if it's at least 50% diet coke, because then it feels guilt free. I feel a little silly doing so in public...especially in front of other adults, but I do it anyways.
7. I don't make my bed. Well, sometimes I do at night right before I get in it, but that doesn't really count. I suspect that starting my day out with a freshly made bed would completely change my life, but I'm not ready for that kind of adult responsibility yet. Plus, it's hard to do on the mornings when my husband is still in it!

And now for the "four things" part...:

Four jobs I've had:

• Farmhand
• Personal banker
• Public Affairs Director for a non-profit
• Apiarist - well, kind of - I worked for a bee-keeper guy

Four places I've lived:

• Vermilion, Alberta
• Middleton, Idaho
• Caronport, Saskatchewan
• Hardisty, Alberta

Four places I've been on vacation:

• Tofino, BC
• Stanley, Idaho
• Rhododendron, Oregon
• Banff, Alberta

Four of my favorite foods:

• Bacon
• Home-made soup
• Bean burritos
• Potato pancakes

Four places I would rather be right now:

• Living in our new house!!
• In a yurt in the mountains, accessible only by snowshoe or skis
• Alaska
• Visiting with friends over a cozy cuppa something or a silly game of cards

Four favorite things to do:

• Hike
• Snowshoe
• Spoon on the couch with my husband and fall asleep watching football
• Cook dinner for people who love to eat

Done! Now I tag: anyone who needs something to blog about, but specifically the Julia, the zoo keeper.

Then & now

Here is a picture of the house as it looked mid-October:



And here is the same shot in mid November with a few less leaves on the trees:

I think I prefer the green season! There's still a lot to finish up inside before move-in (scheduled for mid December), but it's getting close. Next step - working on some landscaping!

They're out there.

Sometimes I say stupid things. The other day I stumbled upon this site. It was wildly entertaining and was comforting because it prooved that I'm definitely not leading the pack of people who don't think before speaking...or don't think at all.

Za is a word?

As if facebook wasn't a vile enough addiction, the time wasting has been compounded by a new discovery: scrabulous. It is a lovely little facebook application (in addition to being it's very own entity outside of facebook) that allows you to play a rousing (read, drawn out over a period of five days) game of scrabble with friends near and far. What fun! What next?

I would like to point out that I'm currently in the lead, madame!

Try it...you'll like it. That, or you will forever curse me for adding one more distraction to your day.

Oh, the little things!

Sometimes a girl feels a little melancholy. Sometimes it is a trip down the household cleaners aisle at the grocery store that makes a girl feel better. Sometimes all it takes is a little time-saving gadget and the feeling of a good buy to make a girl feel like she is on top of the world. Can something this endearing not have a name?