Sorry… that sucks. It sounds like you’ve been working long days for a while too. At least mousie’s and my long days are isolated incidents. Hope it gets better soon. It’s not a contest any of us want to be in, let alone win. Especially those of us who have no aspirations for upper management. Let them work their 60+ hour weeks and have their big paychecks. I’ll take my 40 hour week and the corresponding pay, thankyouverymuch.
Revamped Death Chicken in crockpot. Will report later. Cranky cranky baby. Tired me.
{{{Soapy}}} {{{LiLi}}} {{{Nava}}}
Mahna[sup]2[/sup], your house is cute–looks very Ikea-ey! I’d like to visit your town someday, looks like I’d feel right at home there. If McCain wins, I might emigrate!
3A&T, your town reminds me of St Helens and Scappoose here in Oregon, they both have the main drags running along the railroad tracks and a couple of your pics had me scratching my head they looked so familiar! I like the bigass skull too, I’d put that in my yard no problem!
I have a major baking project today and my daughter’s coming over to help, yay! Grandboy is having his Spirit Week, yesterday he dressed up as Speed Racer for Character Day, today he togged himself out as Ender for Futuristic Day and he’s put together a '30s style gangster outfit for Era Day on Friday. I keep trying to get pics but she keeps forgetting! I should have Jr take cameraphone pix to MMS to me, he’ll remember…
Oy, gotta go feed the McPuppersons, l8r!
This man is above kings. KEEP HIM!
Mahna– your house has grafitti on it? 
I’m off for a nap. I made cookies and cleaned the kitchen, ran my one errand (well, two), and now I can relax. Hair cut later, with #2 son. Oh, and the Pokemon hour commences at 3pm. Apparently it’s a weekly deal. I can hardly wait!
I wonder what this week’s topic will be… If I could link to its webstream, I would, just so you all could [del]be heartily bored by my proud mama stuff[/del] enjoy it along with me, but the weblink no workee. No idea why I posting like new immigrant. Bye now.
Thankfully, no… that’s actually a metal box that has controls the traffic lights on that corner. My house is across the street on the right - the one that’s slightly fuzzy with a white garage (said garage has been tagged on a couple of occasions, but that’s the price we pay for living in the Big Scary City instead of the burbs - nothing a little elbow grease and a scouring pad couldn’t fix).
SmartyPants, you’re welcome to drop by for a visit anytime. I’ll even play tour guide! 
Toronto hasn’t really qualified for the title of “town” in a long time, though… we’re actually the biggest city in Canada with over 2.5 million citizens to our name.
You’d probably love my neighbourhood, though. It’s THE bleeding heart hippy pinkoes enclave - we consistently vote left-wing (we’re the home riding for Jack Layton, the leader of the Federal NDP Party), have more yoga studios and organic food markets per capita than anywhere else in town, and get downright rabid at the thought of a big-brand store opening up in our 'hood. It’s our little slice of paradise, guaranteed McCain-free.
LiLi, hope things go better tonight. Sorry Nat is so cranky lately.
OK, I’ve finally got a few pictures. Nothing out-and-about though 'cause, well, I don’t really want all those internet stalkers coming after me. 
So here’s our breakfast bar where we eat most meal, not just breakfast. If it’s nice out, though, we eat dinner (and sometimes lunch!) on our patio. Note the nice, big Webber grill in the background there. That was one of our first purchases once we had a patio to put it on. It gets used a couple times a week usually, even in the chillier months. We’re serious about our grilling! The patio set is still new (bought during Labor Day sales… yay!) but it’s really nice to have a dining-height table out there instead of the little table we had before.
Also on the patio we’ve got some lilac bushes that are beautiful in the spring. The cat likes to hide out under there waiting for birds to come to the feeder. She has absolutely no ability to hunt, but she likes to hide and watch the birds.
I grew these snapdragonsfrom seeds from snapdragons that I had last year. I’m pleased how well they did.
Our grape tomato plant went a bit crazy. It is staked up, but we didn’t have a cage for it. Lesson learned for next year!
I think I mentioned this earlier in the week, but my rosemary plantis blooming for the first time in the ~5 years I’ve had it. I’m very happy about that. And glad I didn’t trim it a couple weeks ago when I was planning to!
Last but not least, when I’m feeling energetic or green or just like saving some gas money, I bike to work. It’s only 3/4 of a mile, but in the middle 1/3 of that there are 4 stop lights (yes, in 1/4 of a mile… it’s crazy) and no shoulder/bike lane. So it’s much more of a challenge than it should be. The other 1/2 a mile is just fine, but that middle part has a lot of traffic (It’s on a bridge crossing over a highway with 2 highway exits/entrances, which account for 2 of the 4 lights.), and it’s tough to get into the left lane to turn towards work. I’ll be glad when I have the excuse of “It’s too cold to bike!”
A little bit of excitement: I’m getting an iPhone! I’m really not all that into gadgets, but our group is being asked to do some on-call duty for work (one weekend a month for each of us), and to compensate (and make it easier to get in touch with us), they’re giving us phones and phone/data service. I think KT’s more excited than I am, but I still think it’ll be kinda cool. Even if I don’t know what 75% of the options are/buttons do.
I like your kitchen, taxi.
Pokemon Hour has commenced. I get a wee tired of the music they play (not related to Pokemon at all and bit too hard rock for me, and I like Led Zeppelin!)
Today they have a guest–it’s the panel of 3 experts (#1 son included) and yes, a guest artist who will draw Pokemons. Do they have to get clearance on any of this stuff? Drawing on the radio–there’s stupendous programming!
Not sure whether I should laugh or cry at this…
Haircut soon. And thank god.
All the pictures are beautiful. Is the park just near Castle Frank, Muppet? I recognise it. taxi. I want your breakfast bar. You can keep the laptop. 
Drat. Mr. Lissar just emailed to say he’s leaving work now (well, fifteen minutes ago) so he’ll be home about quarter to six. Oh, well. In time for dinner at least.
Must package and freeze chili for Other-Quasi-Daughter while Nat’s being cheerful and before he’s found something else to kill himself on.
And Dotty, I swear I didn’t send our Cranky Sleepless Baby vibes to you, because Nat’s still got all of his. 
Oy. What a day…
Night, everybody!
The trail starts down at the bottom of Pottery Road (right across from Fantasy Farms, the scene of our prom and subsequent food poisoning). From there, it runs along the riverside, smack dab in the middle of the DVP and the Bayview Extension, all the way down to the lake (from there you pick up the Martin Goodman lakefront trail). It apparently runs north as well, though I’ve yet to check how far it goes in that direction.
There is another trail running along Rosedale Valley Rd, which passes under/beside Castle Frank… the two connect kinda-sorta if you take a shortcut through Riverdale Farm.
(the above oughta confuse the crap out of any non-Torontonian )
Home. Waiting to find out if I will have company for dinner, or if The Boy is stuck with yet another late night at work.
Howdy Y’all! Been busy. Read the posts. Nice pics. Death Chicken for dindin. JoeDawg approves of the bacon.
I have some work to finish up, so hi ho, hi ho, back to work I go. Shouldn’t take more than half an hour, but still, gotta finish it.
Later Y’all!
ETA: First on Four!!! WOOHOO!!!
No, I never posted in the MMP before, but VunderBob’s OP and the photos people were posting of everyday life were intriguing. And Mahna Mahna’s picture of a grocery store kind of threw me. Hey, where’s the giant parking lot? I spent most of today working on my Panama Canal* project, and just had some home-made junk food (chicken burritos with WAY too much garlic, onions and hot sauce) for dinner. Oh, and a glass of merlot. Wheee.
*we’ve been calling it that since my brother-in-law saw it a couple weeks ago and referred to it that way.
I’m so sorry Ivory. How did everything go? 
I love your kitchen, Muppet. And your neighborhood in general. I really want to go to Toronto, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make it.
Loved your pictures too, taxi. I just took a little walk and snapped a few more pics. I’ll try to upload them in a bit.
Sorry for everyone’s long days. Mine have felt longer than they’ve actually been (I’ve been doing 9-10 hours/day this week - excluding lunch, which I didn’t actually take a break for today; can’t imagine doing much more on a regular basis.)
I wanna hear Pokemon hour!!!
Had 3 quesadillas and am considering what else to have. I might have Cheerios with blueberries for dessert again.
Off to forage further…
I see I’ve been cheated out of my rightful position on the page. 
-> swampy, in case that wasn’t clear.
GT
Actually, that store is somewhat unusual for central Toronto in that it does have a parking lot tucked off to the side (and a free one, to boot).
Downtown property is at a premium and most folks don’t drive within the city if they can help it (in fact, a lot of us don’t even OWN a car). No point wasting perfectly good square footage on a parking lot when you can just build more stuff on top instead.
The football-field supersized parking lots are much more common in the 'burbs where people refuse to walk any further than their driveway.
QUOTE=Mahna Mahna;10235834
Mmmmm… [breakfast"]
![QUOTE=Mahna Mahna;10235834 Mmmmm… [breakfast"]](http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp315/smellyhead/brekkie.jpg){kind=link}
[/QUOTE]
No. I’m sorry. I absolutely refuse to EVER believe that there is lettuce involved in breakfast.
(No, I cannot get that link to work properly and I’m too tired to spend anymore time trying to fix it.)
Well, TVMan and I just got back from our errands, I dropped off my computer :sniff: and he got a new cellphone which he is currently unhappy with and thinking about taking it back.
Also, a question for the iPhone users, yes, I’m too lazy to look this up. Are there any PDA functions in the iPhone? For instance, does it sync with Outlook?
Ok, gotta go. We may be heading back to the Sprint store very quickly.
Ugh, I’ve got friend drama. I’m too old for this shit.
Said friend and I have been friends for right around 16 years now. We’ve provided shoulders and just general help to each other for all this time. Need some food, we’re there; need some help with a heavy lifting project; we’re there, need help in general; we’re there.
Anyway, for about a year now, some little things have been irking me. Little things like promises to take us out for a drink or dinner for helping them (with numerous, numerous things) have never materialized. Hell, I understand not having money, but they don’t even have us over to eat at their house.
However, other friends and neighbors eat there regularly.
She complains we never do anything together anymore, yet whenever I ask, she’s broke or doing something with the kids. Or, what pissed me off this week: Said she couldn’t go somewhere with me because she’s broke, but I found out through facebook that she had made plans to meet up with some work friends for dinner and drinks. Hmmm, but she’s too broke to go out with me and hubby…hmmmm.
Look, if you’ve made plans with other friends, just freakin’ say so. God, I don’t care if you have other friends, just don’t lie. It’s stupid.
Today, though…today was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. She emailed me at work because she’s in a jam. Her rig is broken down. She asked if she could borrow my daughter’s car until hers is fixed.
I couldn’t respond to her right away, because 1)it’s my DAUGHTER’S car and in her name; and 2) due to number 1, not mine to let someone borrow.
I talked to my husband and he talked to my daughter who had no problems letting my friend use it for a couple of days. My husband called said friend and told her should could use it.
My friend e-mailed me and thanked me profusely for letting her use it. I e-mailed her right back and let her know it was my daughter’s decision and her car. The only thing I asked was that when my daughter needed it for practicing driving (this weekend), she be available to return the key.
I received an e-mail back from my friend saying “Thanks for the input. This is only one option for me. I have friends who will pick up and drive me home from work. So, don’t worry about it. Thanks anyway”.
I’m all WTF??? Arrrgh. Now because I asked her to be there to return the key when we need it, it’s a problem. Am I just overly sensitive today and letting the other annoyances I have with her color this situation?
I have many more examples, but this would turn into a long, boring novel. Hell it already is.
It’s time to go home and work out. Maybe I’ll cool down on the drive home.
Taters… time for a lil friend vaca there. 1. the nerve to ask for a car, period, just floors me. A ride? Sure–that’s what friends are for. A CAR? That’s like lending friends money…excuse me, I couldn’t stop laughing. 2. Then to dismiss it with her other option? Oh, no she din’t! :dubious: Some friend.
Ivory–I hope you ordered take away and treat yourself like an emergency room victim for today and at least tomorrow. Emotional exhaustion is no fun; coupled with deep grief, it’s hell. I hope the service did your friend justice and honored her life.
I did a quick scan but my brain is fried so I don’t recall much. Except {{{Soapy}}}
The smoke alarm in our bedroom started beeping periodically last night to tell us the battery is dying. Every beep woke me up. I’s tahred… But I will replace the battery before bedtime. Which will be soon, I hope.
**FCD **and daughter finished the shelf installation in the closet, and I installed 6 plugs. We need 6 more plugs and 4 switches. Maybe more - I’ll count tomorrow. Anyway, the closet is ready for clothing, so the kids will start moving their excess crap down there.
Is it Firday yet??
<sigh>
Cool pics, everyone! [del]The dogs ate[/del] I didn’t finish my homework, sorry. I have my house up for sale now, and I hope it sells soon, because I need to move closer to work*. My car gets decent mileage for it’s age, but it is still running me about $200 a month for my commute. I can get a nice apartment in Green Bay for much less than my mortgage payments, and that includes heat, so I should able to afford to feed the cat too.
Wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago I was happy to be ahead on my work? Bah, famous last words!:(:mad:
we are shorthanded and being given several weeks worth of work to do in less than one week. Needless to say we are now behind again.
{{{Soapy}}}
I’ve been skimming along and not retaining much. Yays, boos, etc. take what ya need.
*not my location, just a generic shot
If I were not such a nice bear I would point out the fact that 3acres posted after me, so your slackness in not being first is solely due to the fact that you decided to feed your face rather than post. SO THERE!
Ok, I mentioned JoeDawg’s approval of Death Chicken bacon earlier. I need to elaborate further. His real food diet consists of a pouch of Ol’ Roy (that’s Wally*World’s brand) food. Said pouch contains chunks of whatever food substance plus gravy. In addition, JoeDawg’s daddy adds two tablespoons of plain rice. Also, most of the “gravy” in said pouches must be poured off. Plus, one must heat up the food pouch and the rice. So, this entails nukin’ a coffee mug of water for a minute and immersing the pouch in said water. In the meantime, heat up two tablespoons of rice (takes about 10 seconds to nuke that). Give the pouch about five minutes to heat up in the hot water in the mug then mix food and rice together in JoeDawg’s bowl. Got that? Well, tonight things went differently.
I made Death Chicken. I used bone in chicken thighs since that’s what I had. I made a decision in regards to that. I browned the thighs in two tablespoons (two tablespoons seem to be playin’ a big role in this post, don’t they?) of olive oil, a couple of minutes on each side. I then drained the thighs to get all excess oil off and added 'em to the rest of the ingredients. I do believe the browning, especially since they were bone in thighs, added to the recipe. Now to get to the gist of JoeDawg’s dindin.
JoeDawg’s favorite treats are called Canine Carry Outs Bac’n Bits which are itty bitty imitation bacon thingys that I further break up into chee-hoo-ah-hoo-ah bite size pieces. Meaning… JoeDawg like bacon flavored stuff. With me? Since bacon is a part of Death Chicken, as is rice, I jazzed up his dindin tonight. I used two tablespoons (again two tablespoons playin’ an important role here!) of the rice and cut up one of the strips of bacon into JoeDawg sized bites. Interestingly enough his dindin pouch tonight was chicken in gravy (with most of the gravy poured off as required). Well, I fixed his dindin with the pouch, the bacon, and the rice from Death Chicken. As I mentioned in my last post, he highly approved. I mean, can you say…
SNARF!!!
He literally inhaled his dindin. Normally I feed him, leave him alone about half an hour and he eats. Tonight, I swear, he had it all eaten within five minutes.
Thus, for his dining pleasure tomorrow he shall have a pouch that describes itself as turkey in gravy (gravy mostly poured off, of course), two tablespoons (there it is again!) of leftover Death Chicken rice and the remaining piece of Death Chicken bacon.
I might be spoilin’ JoeDawg rotten but I really can’t tell.