Canadianisms Part 4: The Drinking Game

Two-four: A case (24 bottles) of beer. "Do you guys need us to bring anything to the party tonight?" "Nope - we picked up a few two-fours this afternoon, so I think we're set!"

Rye: Rye whiskey. Bourbon is a good substitute in the U.S. I found this one out in a bar in San Jose, when I ordered a "rye and Coke" and received a blank stare.

Mickey: A 13-oz. bottle of alcohol (in the U.S., known as a fifth). In researching this particular Canadianism I found An American's Guide to Canada which basically renders the Canadianisms series on UFF obsolete, but, whatever. I know you'll be back, even if I am just rewriting content that exists elsewhere on the interwebs.

Pissed: Drunk. "They showed up with a two-four, but I was already pissed after drinking that mickey of rye." (Thanks to MFD for telling me about this one - it's a recent discovery.)

Give 'er: I would have defined this as "Step on it!" but a Google of the phrase gives me this rather crude definition:

To party as hard as possible and let nothing get in your way. Comes straight from Canada and indirectly Fubar [the movie, which is also Canadian, and about which I also learned tonight!].

Canadian #1: "Theres a party at Johnny's tonite..."
Canadian #2: Well, we best fuckin' give'er, eh"
Canadian #1: "Fo' shizzle, lets get some beer"

(Please note that thanks to K-Dog I LOVE the expression "fo' shizzle," even though it totally isn't Canadian.)

Happy Birthday Bro!

It's Garth's birthday today! That means I've known the kid for 31 years (which, doesn't make him much of a kid anymore, I guess). Funny how a 2 year age difference is so much more significant when you're 6 and 4.

Now head on over to Facebook and write a birthday message on his wall -- if you can figure out how to do that.

Goals: Week 1

Marathon training starts next weekend (hooray!) and I thought that Sunday evening might be a good time to update UFF with my progress. I also thought I'd share my weekly non-training goals as well! As DC Dave would say, I'm a giver.

Inspired by Billiam, here, then, are this week's to-dos:

DONE 1. Put up new shelf. I consider affixing things securely to walls to be one of my superpowers, and this wall is my kryptonite. I've tried using regular plastic anchors (denied) and then with a toggle bolt. I believe the screw was too short (that's what she said) because on the first try, the entire mechanism fell into the wall, and on the second try, I had to hold the head of the screw with pliers and even then couldn't get it in far enough to get the toggle to grip. (That all sounds incredibly dirty.) I just found this handy site in case you're interested in more information about wall anchors.

NOT DONE 2. Bring my lunch to work (at least 4 times). I went to the greenmarket on Saturday and have a FreshDirect order arriving tomorrow morning, so I have the raw materials. In fact, I'd like to up this to not buying any food during the day for at least 3 days. After all, I just spent $60 on spoons.

DONE 3. Wash the floor of the Bachelorette Pad.

NOT DONE 4. Brush Memphis.

DONE 5. Repot the herbs (and tomato plant) I bought at the greenmarket.

NOT DONE 6. Update Quicken. (I will procrastinate the hell out of this one.)

NOT DONE 7. Write a real, honest-to-god letter (lucky recipient TBD).

DONE 8. Figure out Mother's Day gifts and such.

NOT DONE 9. Run the Prospect Park loop at least 3 times.

NOT DONE 10. Finish the mix CD for Ali & Bri.

Happy Birthday Little Lisa!

Today is Lisa's birthday! You still have an hour and 17 minutes to head over to her blog and wish her happy happy. Go! Now!

My Baby

Catnap
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Retail Therapy

Earlier this week I saw these Bird Measuring Spoons on Delight.com. I looked at them longingly for a few minutes then surfed away, reasoning that it would be entirely unreasonable to spend $60 (with discounts and such) on a set of measuring spoons.

Later that day, I clicked back over and bought the spoons. They arrived today, and I honestly wish I'd bought 3 more sets because they are SO BEAUTIFUL, and I know that Sirrah! (among others) would also adore them.

Late-Night Blogging Gets Serious

I recently read that my generation's feminist mothers told us that we could have anything, and that we interpreted it as, we have to have everything.

Now, 10 years into both my career and my child-bearing years, that sentiment resonates strongly with me. I've been in my current job for just over four years and my current relationship for almost six, and I often feel as though I don't have any more clarity on What I Want To Be When I Grow Up than I did in 1997 when I graduated from university. I've been convinced that my life could (and would) take almost every turn imaginable. In high school I was sure that I'd get married but not breed. Then, for many years, I vowed not to take vows (but thought that kids might be OK, or at least that I might have a baby as a surrogate mother).

Since an enlightening conversation with Sunny on our trip to P.E.I. in 2003, I've been more sure that I wanted to have children - at least 2, maybe 3. Last year DLang and I took what could reasonably have been viewed as the next step toward such an endeavour: the nuptials. Our one-year anniversary is only three weeks away, and let's just say we've had a rather rough go of it. So rough, in fact, that I recently moved into my own apartment to give our relationship a bit of space. [File this entry under "humility."] I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but we're talking and seeing each other regularly and are probably closer than we've ever been, which, if nothing else, bodes well for our growth as individuals.

What, then, of my biological clock?

Last week's foray into motherhood, as peripheral as it was, led me to a number of "conclusions." Charlie was born on Saturday and came home on Sunday, and by Tuesday I'd decided, "Wow, I am so not ready for this. At all." It was kind of a relief (the clock had been ticking loudly). However, by the time I returned to NY, I felt panicky all over again at my own uncertainty and lack of a plan (many of the same feelings that led me into therapy two years ago).

In the past year, some of my closest friends with kids have told me that having children was the best thing they've ever done. (In fact, that's what Sunny said in P.E.I.) One said that it was the *most* important. At times I've thought about those superlatives and equated the possibility of not having children as meaning that there won't be a "best" or "most important" thing I'll ever do. Thinking like that, sucks. It fuels the fire of anxiety, and only serves to minimize the contributions I make with my life now. For example, would I have time to bring you the plethora of good times that is UFF if I had to look after an infant? Count your blessings, dear reader(s).

I suppose this entry is partly a confessional (since I've been skirting the whole moving-out thing for two months, and it's getting tiresome - plus I really want to post pictures of my cute new apartment) and partly a reminder to myself to honour and respect my life as it is, today.

Cuts Both Ways

DLang and Little Lisa went for a run tonight. Later, we discussed.

"Do you realize that you are exactly twice Little Lisa's age?"

"Well, not exactly, I mean, she's about to turn twen--"

"I know but right now she's 19! And you're 38!"

"Huh." [Translation: I don't like to know that it is possible for a fully-formed adult human being to be half my age.]

"Isn't that crazy?"

"Yeah, it is kind of crazy. If I were really irresponsible, I could actually be her father."

"Or her boyfriend!"

[Long pause.] "Yeah, that would be pretty irresponsible."

Home Again Home Again

When I walked in the door last night, Memphis was lounging on the couch. She immediately got up, mewed, and ran over onto a chair near where I was standing. When I picked her up, she sniffed my face all over and rubbed her head up against me. It was awesome.

I have to say, though, I miss the night shift and holding the lovely-smelling baby Charlie. And my family in Waterloo. I can't yet articulate what a profound effect the past week had on me. I'll give it a try someday soon. For now, look at this picture and try to get your hands (or at least your nose) on some baby lotion.

Notes On The Bean

- Some people make good coffee. Some people (like me) don't. Because of my fear of making coffee that is too weak, I usually make coffee that is too strong. DLang makes good coffee. Sara says her dad makes good coffee. The good vs. bad coffee-making is mysterious to me, because it's just a proportion of water to coffee, kind of like baking, which I'm good at!

- In Canada, ordering your coffee "regular" means with cream and sugar. "Double-double" means double-cream and double-sugar.

- Some Starbucks call skim milk "skim," others call it "non-fat." I think it's regional, and I was surprised to hear it called "non-fat" here in Waterloo (because I've always referred to it as "skim").

- Yesterday morning I made coffee and didn't close the lid on the coffee pot properly before I started the machine. When I got out of the shower the entire counter was covered in coffee. Oops.

You Know You're Old When...

Last night I talked to my almost-76-year-old godmother, Sunny.

"You sound tired, Sunny."

"Oh, I'm always tired in the evening. I doze off now and then, just like an old person."

"That's OK. You are an old person!"

"I know I am. And do you know how I know?"

"How?"

"I have a rubber band around my address book."

So Happy

This afternoon I took Bartleby for a walk and to return a movie. There had been a thunderstorm earlier in the day and the air smelled fresh and rainy. At one point while I was walking I heard a pretty loud rustle across the street. I looked, and saw a cardinal with a piece of plastic in her beak, hopping into a bush.

At that moment, I thought my heart would burst with happiness.

Overheard

"Nope, bud, you can't just be on the boob if you're not working."

"Ah, Charlie, how many times have I heard that before."

Charles Franklyn Cummer

Charlie
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

The family's home now. Order has been restored: Sara, Charlie & Bartleby are napping and Greg & I are drinking.

More photos will be added frequently in Charlie's Photo Set.

Charlie!

Charlie was born yesterday at 6:38 p.m., weighing in at a rather hefty 8lbs 7oz (I only say hefty because Sirrah! barely looked 8 months pregnant at the very end). The Amazing Race was a huge success - I arrived at the hospital just as Sirrah! was fully dilated and a few minutes before she started to push. She was a total rockstar, managing to not only stay pleasant, but look absolutely beautiful through the whole 16 hrs of labour. Charlie is incredibly sweet, with a mop of dark brown hair not unlike his papa's bedhead. Everyone is super healthy, and the whole family will be home later today.

I paparazzied it up with Greg's camera - pictures later. Right now I need a shower and a nap.

The Amazing Race Is On!

First, apologies to any of you with whom I have commitments (that includes you, work!) over the next 7 days. I'm going to be out of town, because SIRRAH! IS HAVING A BABY!

OK, to recap. I am currently at LaGuardia. DLang insisted on checking flight availabilities before I left for the airport, and advised that I'd have better luck with American than Air Canada. Good call. My all-time favourite car service, Arecibo, didn't answer their phone, so I had to unpack my computer to find other car services. On the way to the airport I phoned everyone I know and Sunny was the only person who answered. Where are you fuckers? My best friend is having a baby! I'll deal with you later. Anyway. I ran up to the AA counter and bought a one-way ticket on the next flight to Toronto, which leaves at 1:40 p.m. and which BETTER BE ON TIME because did I mention that Sirrah! is having a baby?

Sweet Sirrah - her voicemails this morning were so calm and nice and all, "I think I'm having contractions, but don't do anything yet, I'll call you in a bit." Damn! I can't believe I missed those calls. I did speak with Greg's dad, who confirmed that the doctor thinks Charlie's coming this afternoon. He could already be here! I've tried both sets of Charlie's grandparents since I arrived at the airport and there was no answer, so I assume they've all gone to the hospital.

Now I'm sitting at LGA Gate C1 IMPATIENTLY, but still happily noting that the weather's good, the flight's on time, I still have all my luggage with me, and the drive to Waterloo will probably be very pleasant, especially if I can avoid getting a $250 speeding ticket.

I forgot my camera so hopefully my detailed descriptions will suffice.

Car service to LGA: $37
One-way ticket to Toronto: $536
Airport food [Luna Bar, cheese, apple, large coffee]: $6.50
Intarweb access for blogging: $7.95
MY BEST FRIEND IS HAVING A BABY: Priceless, people.

I'm getting all choked up over here.

Charlie is ON THE WAY!

Sirrah! called at 5:24 this morning and I MISSED THE EFFING CALL AND DIDN'T LISTEN TO MESSAGES UNTIL NOW! I'm on my way to LaGuardia. Updates later.

Yin Yang

Close
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Percy went home before we could get a family portrait. Maybe next time.

Later That Day...

Garth: and my keyboard seems to have reverted to french. ééééé argh
Garth: rebooting
Garth: effing vista
Gillian: hee hee
*** "Garth" signed off
*** "Garth" signed on
Garth: seems my french keyboard mapping was limited to msn
Garth: and closing/opening it fixed it
Garth: i hate computers
Gillian: Aw, no you don't!
Garth: if you blog that i will kill you

More on Facebook

Garth: What's up?
Gillian: I wanted to tell you about someone else on Facebook.
Gillian: :-)
Garth: oh goody (read your facebook blog post btw)
Gillian: :-)
Gillian: Guy From Elementary School!
Garth: ya, D told me. 2 kids. teacher. yada yada
Gillian: :-|
Gillian: I hate you.
Garth: :) i know
Gillian: I'm going to blog this chat.
Garth: i'm gonna have to find new IM software for talking to you on that encrypts the channel and disallows logging/copying. and expires my words moments after i say them so that they vanish from the screen.
Gillian: That'll be too late for this one!

Facebook

I'm kind of enamoured with Facebook right now. I've had an account on there for a while, but for the first several months my only friends were co-op students working at my company (and my mom, but let's not talk about that), which I'm sure made my profile look like I was some kind of internet predator. However, in the past month or two I've discovered that many of the people with whom I went to high school are on Facebook. Some of them have even joined the prestigious ranks of people who read UFF! Congratulations. You know who you are.

Anyway. Since reconnecting with several St. David Catholic Secondary School alum, conversations with Dos have gone like this:

Gillian: Hey! Do you remember Guy From High School?
Dos: Yes.
Gillian: Was he in your grade?
Dos: Yes.
Gillian: He's on Facebook!
Dos: I know. We're not friends.
Gillian: But you know him, right?
Dos: Yes.

The next day:
Gillian: Do you remember GFHS?
Dos: Yes! You asked me this yesterday.
Gillian: Oh. Well, I just can't believe all these people are on here! This is crazy!
Dos: I don't even know those people. I haven't talked to them in over 10 years.
Gillian: OK. Just because I added them as "friends" on Facebook does not mean that they're all coming over for dinner or something. Geez.

As for Facebook itself, I'm not sure what's up with the whole Groups thing - it seems marginally useful for finding people from a particular area, but there are approx. 63,000 groups, so I don't know how you even find the one you want. I think the concept of "poking" someone is weird, but that's probably because I'm over 30 and I only sent my first text message last year. And I can't figure out how to write on someone's wall if he or she hasn't already written on mine. Finally, and somewhat hilariously, tonight when I tried a search I received the following error:

Note to friends from high school: You're invited over for dinner next time you're in NYC. Just don't tell Garth.

It's That Time Again...

I kind of feel like it's pledge week on NPR (and let me tell you, I HATE pledge week on NPR).

I'm about to start training for the NYC Marathon in November, and before that, the half-marathon at the Nike Women's Marathon in SF. And I'm not doing all this running for the good of my health... Actually, I *am* running for the good of my health. More importantly though, I'm running for the health of people affected by blood (and other) cancers, and their families and friends who benefit from the services provided by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My fundraising site is all set up, ready for your generous dontaion. And I do mean generous.

This year, I'm fundraising for a half-marathon AND a full marathon. That's 39.3 miles, or 63.2 km! That is a lot of running, my friends. All you have to do to help the cause is click here and make a donation.

In the meantime, I'll try to keep the incessant nagging about donating to a minimum. Until we start those long runs in September, of course. Then you're going to hear about it.

Updates

1. The cats have been playing together! The last two evenings have seen a lot of running back and forth across the apartment. However, they are still far from being best buds. Memphis now tolerates Percy sleeping on the bed, but if he gets anywhere near her food bowl, God help him.

2. Due to the success of my email-a-photo post yesterday, my brother has joined the 21st century and started his very own blog, on which you can read about his life. What are Guinness and things that use Bluetooth, Alex?

3. Charlie is still in utero. Since I don't have to be reasonable, I decided to make the trip Amazing Race-style and head straight for the airport when Sirrah! calls me. Updates will be posted on UFF. For best results, check back early and often.

Jasper

Jasper
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.
After work this afternoon I took Jasper for a walk. Jasper's mom sent me email earlier today with very specific instructions about our outing.

"In the light blue Adidas bag hanging on the front closet door, you will find plastic bags and a round, red squeaky ball with feet. Jasper is obsessed with the squeaky ball and if he sees you put it in your pocket, he will stay by your side until you get to the dog park. Generally I only get one chance to throw it because he will not bring it back. But it keeps him from stealing other dogs' balls. You can wrestle it from him to throw it again if you want. The only downside of the squeaky toy (other than it is annoying) is that he is less likely to come back when called when he has it because he thinks you want to steal it."

Later in the email:

"This shouldn't be a problem today because the weather isn't nice, but if there are people at the Nethermead with strollers that are not moving, or anything on the ground (jacket or backpack are favorites), Jasper will pee on them."

Jasper does indeed LOVE the red ball (I tried to get some video of him shaking the bejeesus out of it, I'll link to it if it turned out). There were no strollers, jackets, or backpacks, but I'm pretty sure Jasper peed around 40 times in the 45 minutes we were out there.

[This post is also to prove to my brother that email blogging works, so if you're reading this, yay me!]

Within Reason

I'm very excited about impending birth of Sirrah!'s son, Charlie, who is due TODAY. She's going to call me as soon as she has her first contraction, and my plan is to be on the first available flight to Toronto. In fact, if I get there in time, Sirrah! says I can be in the delivery room! (When I told that to her husband Greg, he replied, "Good, you can have my spot." Heh.)

On Saturday we had a conversation about my visit.

"Gillian, I want you to be reasonable about getting here when I go into labour." Read: Don't spend $1,000 on a plane ticket.

"Sare, since when have you known me to be reasonable?"

"I know, but you're working on being reasonable, right?" I hear Greg snicker in the background.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I'll try to be reasonable."

I later relayed the conversation to the very reasonable DLang.

"I promised Sara that I'd try to be reasonable about going to Waterloo when she goes into labour."

"What? G, now is not the time to be reasonable."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Your best friend is going to have her first baby and you can be in the delivery room with her? You should not be reasonable."

"Really? What if it costs $1,000?"

"So what? You can't buy an experience like this."

Really? Did I mention that DLang is generally very reasonable? I'm very excited. This is like my mom saying I could skip school for a day! My new hobby is checking the intarweb to see just how soon I could get to Toronto if Sirrah! called right now. (As of this writing, I could probably be in Waterloo by 1:30 p.m.) And if Charlie can wait just one more day, I might be able to catch a Websaver.

That would be very reasonable.

Gale Force Winds

All day yesterday DLang was talking about the "big Nor'easter" rolling in that was forecast to bring us "rain, sleet, snow, and gale force winds." He said "gale force winds" about 4 times before I finally called him on it.

"You really like saying 'gale force,' don't you?"

"I do!" He switched to his Fox News annoucer voice: "There will be gale force winds!" For the rest of the day, everything was subject to being blown over by "gale force winds":

"Those are nice daffodils."

"Too bad they won't be here tomorrow, because they can't stand up to GALE FORCE WINDS!"

"That's a big pylon."

"Not big enough to withstand GALE FORCE WINDS!"

DLang also mentioned that one of his reasons for liking the phrase is that it involves a hyphens, and he likes hyphens. (It's amazing the little things you can learn about someone years into your relationship.) I have bad news on that front: There's no hyphen. It's just "gale force."

While I'm kind of annoyed that Spring is taking so long to get here, I was secretly excited about such a storm because I love extreme weather. However, it looks like we might be out of luck for the big Nor'easter - it's raining, but (thankfully!) not close to freezing. That's kind of a bummer for you, UFF reader, as I had all sorts of clever posts (well, titles at least) ready to accompany photos of Brooklyn blanketed in snow today. Like, "April Showers?" and "Sometimes It Snows in April."

Oh well, maybe next year.

Percy

Percy
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

While my friend Vicki is away for the week, we're hosting her cat, Percy. Since Percy arrived last night, he has meowed incessantly and Memphis has sustained a low-level gutteral growl ALL THE TIME, even while she's eating.

My dreams of them curled up and grooming each other by Tuesday are withering.

On Target

I've recently made a few purchases at Target that are simply too excellent NOT to blog about.

1. The Bunny Dish

Behold the bunny dish, in all her splendor. I purchased this dish at a Target store in Long Island. It cost all of $3.99. It used to be full of delicious Cadbury Mini-Eggs (the superior Canadian variety, of course), but those don't last very long when there's a Langenberg around. [Aside: In an effort to spend my π Day winnings, I was recently perusing a Williams-Sonoma catalogue and found a similar one for over $20! Go Target!]

2. A Sewing Machine

My mom is hardcore with the sewing. A few years ago Dos and I bought her a sewing machine with so many bells and whistles that I think it walks the dogs and does the dishes. (At least it should, for how much it cost.) Me, not so much. I'm an amateur crocheter and knitter, but the last time I touched a sewing machine was to make an elephant pillow in Grade 8 Home Ec. A few weeks ago I was at the (admittedly sub-standard) Target in Brooklyn, looking for a sewing kit. Instead, I ended up buying a very cute Shark Mini Sewing Machine for the low low price of $19.99. Yes, really! A whole sewing machine for $19.99! That's crazy. I came home and whipped up curtains from table runners I'd bought on sale for $9.99 each at West Elm. (The café rod on which they're hanging is also from Target, and cost around $4.99.)

3. Delicious Orange Rainboots!

Target.com, $19.99.

I'm praying for April showers.

Time Waster

Brianna sent me a link to XKCD, a "webcomic of romance,
sarcasm, math, and language" and I have been sitting at my desk giggling ever since. Totally SFW. And hilare.

Canadianisms Part 3

Icing vs. Frosting: As Little Lisa pointed out in her comment on yesterday's entry, in Canada it's called "icing." In the US of A, it's more commonly referred to as "frosting." These are pretty interchangeable and nothing really gets lost in translation - until, of course, you're trying to *make* frosting/icing, in which case you need something called "powdered sugar" aka "confectioner's sugar" aka, in Canada (and apparently the rest of the Commonwealth) "icing sugar." It's our turn to be literal on this one.

Also, while looking for a colouring implement to make my bunny cake's sweet pink ears, I found a pack of Laurentien pencil crayons (from Canada), and was surprised to see the package labeled "colored pencils." Interestingly, they refer to "pencil crayons" on the main page of the site, and have a whole explanation of "The Making of a Pencil Crayon". Why the discrepancy? Also of interest, according to the history on the company's Web site, Laurentien spelled "colored" on the package without a "u" until the latest redesign in 2003.

Bunny Cake!

Every year I make at least one bunny cake. And every year I'm totally convinced that it's the cutest bunny cake I've ever made.

To wit:



This year I even took the time to write up the instructions for you, my loyal UFF readers, so that you too can create a bunny cake of your very own.

You need:

• A yummy cake recipe (or a cake mix, no judgments!) - I've made many a successful bunny cake with Epicurious' White Chocolate Layer Cake (omitting the apricot filling) but pick something that's easy for you. Carrot cake makes a sweet brown bunny.
• A round cake pan. You only need one round layer to make the cake, so you can either make two bunnies, or use the rest for cupcakes.
• Frosting (I'm going to recommend homemade for this, but only because I don't know of a store-bought one that isn't sickly sweet - funny that I used to be able to eat that stuff right from the cannister!).
• Coconut (fresh coconut is delish but sweetened shredded coconut in a bag works just as well).
• Green food colouring.
• White paper (regular copier paper is fine) and the pink colouring implement of your choice (a crayon, pencil crayon, highlighter, whatever).
• Jelly beans (for your bunny's eyes and nose, as well as to make a flowery meadow for your bunny).

After you've baked your cake, follow these simple instructions to assemble the bunny.

Assembly:


You should have something that looks like this:



Decoration:

• Frost your bunny completely. The tail can get tricky; my best advice is to be generous with your frosting, and don't be afraid to sculpt the tail a little.

• Dye the coconut to make grass: Put some coconut and a few drops of green food colouring in a ziploc bag and squish it all around. If you love coconut, keep some white to sprinkle on the bunny. Spread the green coconut around the bunny so that he's resting in a lovely meadow.

• As you may already have deduced, the bunny's ears will be made of paper. I like to make them after I see my bunny so that they're proportional to his stature - chubbier bunny, chubbier ears. (Hehe, I said "chubby.") Cut your bunny's ears out of the white paper, and add a pretty pink hue to the insides. Tuck the ears behind the bunny's head (where you made the notch out of the cake back in Assembly Step 4).

• Give your bunny jelly bean eyes and a nose.

Voilà! Your bunny is ready to be the centrepiece at your Easter table. Not to mention dessert.

Happy Easter!

Spring

Pussy*
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

It's still cold in Brooklyn, but the pussy willows at the green market this morning are a sure sign of Spring.

Stuffed Bunnies

Easter was a big deal in my house. The Easter Bunny was always very generous, to the point where I'm kind of surprised that I didn't have any cavities until I was in my 20s (at which point the decay hit with a vengeance, but the 11-fillings-in-one-day story is another entry).

When Dos and I ran downstairs on Easter morning, in addition to an abundance of chocolate bunnies and jelly beans, we found a big stuffed bunny in the middle of the table, lording over the sugary treats. He was brown, and had kind of coarse fur, and soft white inside ears. We loved that bunny. We dragged him around and fought over him and took turns sleeping with him. A few days -- maybe a week -- after Easter, whoever had taken him to bed the night before would wake up to find that he'd disappeared. He always returned the following year.

I don't think he ever really had a name other than "The Easter Bunny," and I'm pretty sure my mom still has him around. I don't know where or how that tradition originated, but it's one I plan to carry on to my own family.

Also on the topic of stuffed bunnies, when I was 7 or 8 I wandered downstairs on Easter Eve around midnight, to find our kitchen in a complete state of assembly as my parents put the finishing touches on the most amazing sewn stuffed bunnies EVER. There was one for each of us, and they had baby bunnies too. Quite remarkable.

This year, I'm crocheting my first amigurumi, a very sweet bunny.

Easter weekend continues tomorrow on UFF with instructions to make your very own easter bunny cake!

Easter Week

Here's something to get you in the spirit: Daily Bunny.

The Guinea Pig at the bottom of that page reminds me... For a week a couple of summers ago, our downstairs neighbours were looking after a classroom Guinea Pig named Crystal. We wondered, could there be a more perfect name for a Guinea Pig? Recently I noticed a sign in my neighbourhood advertising a couple of Guinea Pigs up for adoption. Their names? "Peanut," and, the unprecedentedly sweet, "Dimmy."

Dimmy the Guinea Pig. That's some cute shit, yo.

And Found Again

I just found my wallet on the floor of my apartment, behind a chair.

The same floor that I mopped yesterday. I guess I missed a spot.

Take that, Universe.

Lost and Found

In the past two weeks, I have lost:

• My rental car


• My suitcase


• My wallet


• My cellphone

After all the losing, I decided that this week would be the week of finding! This morning when I arrived at work, I found a cookie on my desk! Thanks Doug! Later, when I came back to my desk from getting coffee, I found a gift-wrapped DVD of the first season of Three's Company. Yay! Thanks Bob! My attempt to implement the Law of Attraction might actually be working.

Now, about that cellphone and wallet.

Last Friday morning I noticed my wallet was missing from my backpack on my way to work. I looked around my apartment before I left, and when I didn't find it, I figured I must have left it at work. Apparently, not so much. I am still holding onto a thread of hope that it's in my possession somewhere and I will find it. Ideally tonight, before I actually have to buy anything with real money (like food).

Friday night I went out after work with some generous co-workers who agreed to purchase alcoholic beverages for me (see: no wallet). A couple of glasses (s/glasses/bottles/) of wine later, we took a car service back to my 'hood. Hours later I realized that I was phone-less. I borrowed various phones to call my phone and the car service many, many times, to no avail. DLang astutely pointed out that at some point the phone's battery would die. Good times. (I also probably wouldn't be as fortunate as Candace was in this regard.)

This morning I arrived at work to two email messages from friends who'd called me over the weekend and had spoken with a very nice car service driver who said he'd like to get the phone back to me. Hooray! I resumed my calling-my-phone regime and finally around 4:30 this afternoon the driver answered. He dropped the phone off at my office just now, and I am eternally grateful to him and Arecibo (please call them if you need a car in the BK - they rock). Sure enough, within minutes of having the phone in my pocket, it started singing the Low Battery Blues. Whew.

As an aside, it kind of sucked answering Monday morning how-was-your-weekend watercooler banter with, "I lost my wallet and my cellphone, and I set my cat on fire. You?"

There isn't really a moral to this story, or much of a point, except that my mom was totally right when she used to say that the thing that you lost was right where you left it. Now, if I could only remember where I left my wallet...

Advice for Cat Owners

On your cat's birthday, when you think it would be cool to give her a can of tuna with a candle stuck in it, don't put the dish with the tuna and the lit candle on the floor and try to take a picture of the cat looking at her "birthday cake" for your blog. In your cat's tuna-induced excitement she will have complete disregard for the open flame, and will burn off the lovely long whiskers above her eyes.

She will soon forget about this little mishap, but you'll be reminded every time you see the singed hairs, and you'll feel very, very guilty.

Lounging

Lounging
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Caturday morning. Tomorrow is Memphis' 10th birthday! She will enjoy a celebratory can of tuna.

Book Networks

As you can probably imagine, social networking is more fun with friends!

I'm trying to figure out which booklist site to use. The contenders so far:

Goodreads
Shelfari
LibraryThing

So far from my limited usage, I'm kind of a fan of Shelfari (Goodreads keeps giving me errors when I try to view friends' profiles; LibraryThing wants me to pay to use it, and I'm cheap).

Anyone use any of these? Post a comment if you have any suggestions.

Amazon.com has so far overlooked a real opportunity here, to provide Web 2.0 networking à la Netflix.

Wits About Me

Lest any UFF readers think that given my recent travel mishaps I am entirely incompetent, I would like to also share my excellent handling of another minor life setback: The towing of my rental car (mini-van, actually) last weekend.

To transport a gaggle of co-workers to Jersey for the Sweet 16 party, and to make a subsequent trip to Ikea, I rented a mini-van. When I first moved to NYC, not having a car really stressed me out. When I complained about not having a car, experienced New Yorkers assured me that if I wanted to get away for a weekend, I could rent one. (Any car-owner knows that a rental is NOT the same as one's own car, however, I could get past that.)

I soon learned the flaws in the "Just rent one!" plan. For one, car rental places in NYC are almost universally, and inexplicably, closed on Sundays. And none of them have drop-boxes for the key, which means that you have to rent the car for at least 2 days (assuming you pick it up Saturday morning), and it also means that you have to drop it off before work on Monday. Also, car rental places need parking for all those vehicles, and NY real estate ain't cheap, so they're usually located on the outskirts of civilization, and usually there's a bit of a trek to the nearest subway station. The worst thing, however, about renting a car in NYC, is finding parking. I'm fine pulling out of the rental lot and driving around Jersey or Long Island or wherever, but as soon as I get close to my neighbourhood I can feel my breathing get shallower and my heart beat faster and I know my anxiety levels are way up because I'm going to have to find parking, ideally within a 20 block radius of my apartment.

I'm not exaggerating.

In Park Slope, there's usually ample parking on Saturday afternoon/evening, but if you're trying to find something Sunday night, forget it. Accept that you're going to shell out $30 for a garage ($40 if you are trying to park anything bigger than a sedan).

Unless, of course, you're me and DLang last Sunday night.

We drove around a bit, knowing from experience that our odds of finding something were slim to none. We finally drove up Union St. to a garage we've used before, resigned to paying to park the van for a mere 10 hours. Literally a few metres from the garage entrance, however, we spotted a spot! Hallelujah! I pulled in, and DLang got out to read the restricted parking sign: No Parking from 7am-10am.

Hm. We figured we could either spend the $40 for the garage, or risk getting what we estimated would be an $80 ticket.

Obviously we opted for the latter, or this wouldn't make it to the ol' blog (which I should probably just start referring to as The Confessional.)

Monday morning at 8, we schlepped through the residual snow and slush to Union St. to find not a single vehicle parked on the block.

Urf.

We walked to the subway and devised a plan: I would email DLang the license plate number, and he'd call the fabulous 311 to find out where we could pick up the car. For you non-New Yorkers, 311 is the number you call in NY to answer any question about the city. I'm not kidding. I've called to report a car alarm outside my bedroom window, to find out when to dispose of a box spring (Saturday), and to find out what movie was being filmed in the park across the street. (If you have any ideas for questions to which 311 might not have answers, please leave them in the comments, as I might just propose "Stump 311" as a party game.)

Anyway, I got to work and Googled "car towed NYC" which got me straight to the NYPD's listing of tow pounds. Conveniently, the Brooklyn pound is 1/2 mile from my office. By the time DLang got to work, I'd already pretty much solved the case, and by 12:30pm I'd returned the car (without having to pay an extra day, even) and was back at work after only a 90 minute absence.

The Brooklyn Tow Pound



This little adventure came with a hefty price tag: I paid $185 to get the car out of the pound, and also have a $115 parking ticket with which to contend. In the future, I will try to earn my cred by less costly means.

What a week.

Run Like A Girl

I'm back with Team in Training - this year as a mentor for the Nike Women's Marathon (yes, the very one that was my first marathon last year) and the NYC Marathon. Since they're only 3 weeks apart, I'll only be running the half in SF.

I can't wait.

Home Is Where The Cat Is

The travel saga continued yesterday afternoon when I learned that I'd saved myself $6 when I bought my ticket by checking a box that prohibited me from making any changes or cancellations to the reservations. How frugal. Since buying a one-way ticket back to NY for Tuesday was going to run me around $500, I decided to chance getting my visa renewed with faxed documents. To improve my odds, I swung by the university this morning to get an official copy of my transcript. The woman at the registrar's office hooked me up in about 10 minutes, bless her. DLang faxed my diploma and employment letter to Sirrah!'s office, and I swung by and picked them up on my way out of town.

Two hours and $50 later, I was through both customs and immigration. And tonight in Park Slope, DLang has received his token of gratitude (a snack pack of chocolate TimBits) and Memphis is curled up in my lap.

I'm glad to be back.

Happens All The Time

I'm just a little sleep-deprived this week, and my 6:45 a.m. flight to Toronto this morning didn't help matters at all. I packed last night, woke up at 4:30 (thanks Memphis, I really didn't need that extra half-hour of sleep AT ALL), and checked in at the LaGuardia at 6. There was a bit of a line at security but no big deal. I got to the gate as my flight was boarding, found my seat, and promptly fell asleep.

After we landed, and as walked off the plane towards Canadian immigration, I had the following thoughts:

"I need to brush my teeth. Where's my toothbrush, again? Oh yeah, in my blue suitcase. Hm, where is that suitcase, again? I don't remember putting it in the overhead bin. Did I check it? No, I definitely didn't check it. Hm. What did I do with it?"

Then it hit me: I left my suitcase AT SECURITY AT LAGUARDIA.

Oh. My. God. It was quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever done. I am usually pretty good at handling mild-crisis situations (I have yet to blog about last weekend's rental-car-towing experience, but I totally rocked that ordeal). This morning I managed to calmly get myself to the Air Canada bagage inquiry counter and relay my story to the kind (and rather good-looking) gentleman working there. He directed me to the GTAA lost and found. I kept it together as I left the bagage claim area, then I called DLang to report the news. As soon as he answered, I lost my composure and had a minor breakdown at Pearson International Airport.

Eventually I pulled myself together enough to go to lost and found, where a very sweet GTAA employee did everything she could to help me track down the bag. She was unsuccessful, but she gave me a bunch of numbers and I called them back to DLang.

Agent DLang accepted his mission with great gumption, and trekked to LaGuardia this afternoon, where, to my great relief, he successfully recovered my bag (which fortunately had his name and address on the luggage tag). Apparently this happens all the time, and airports have a whole system to handle this situation. (DLang did get the impression that it was good that the bag hadn't yet been moved to the "Operations Room," which I imagine is fully of drug-dogs and detonation devices and burly security agents rifling through peoples' unmentionables.)

I can only hope that my breakfast date will forgive me for standing her up this morning, and that DLang's patience stretches far enough to FedEx me the paperwork (that was in the suitcase - why couldn't it just have been underwear and a toothbrush?) that I'll need to get home next week.

USPS Jedi Master?

I'm intrigued.

Pinkberry

Last night Brianna and I hopped the PATH train to Jersey City's Loew's Theatre to see The Decemberists in concert. [Note: I think that is the most linkalicious sentence EVER on UFF!] Anyway, before we did that, we stopped at the newly-opened Pinkberry, a heathy frozen-yogurt restaurant chain based in L.A. (Bri had the inside scoop - pun intended - on this treat. She LOVES ice cream, possibly more than I do.) Anyway, I diligently Googled the brand before hitting the store, and found lots of good press. And I love the name: "Pinkberry" is really fun to say. (The Nefarious Dr. Funstuff speculates that all words with a "k" are particularly fun to say, and he's a nefarious doctor, so who am I to argue?)

The store itself is sparse, and has a wall of bright and bubbly Japanese kitchen stuff reminiscent of my favourite desk accessory, the Sunshine Buddy. Pinkberry offers two flavours of yogurt: Original and Green Tea. They also have myriad toppings, including Fruity AND Cocoa Pebbles (in addition to the usual fruits and chocolate chips). They also offer carob chips which seems a bit odd to me, probably because my mom used to try to pawn off carob chips on us as being the same as chocolate chips, and, not so much.

Bri ordered Original yogurt with Fruity Pebbles and strawberries. I had Green Tea with raspberries and yogurt chips. The servings are generous, and 5 oz will cost you a mere 125 calories. The yogurt is *delicious* - it's slightly tart, and the green tea flavour was subtle and authentic. I'd probably go for a crunchier topping next time -- after all, it's kind of hard NOT to order Fruity Pebbles when that's an option.

A small cup with 2 toppings costs around $6, so Pinkberry certainly isn't cheap. It was worth the splurge, as I've never tasted anything like it. In fact, I'm inspired to try sour cream in my ice cream machine this summer to see if I can replicate Pinkberry's perfectly non-sweet taste.

Other notes from the evening:

• A Pinkberry employee chastised me for snapping this picture in the store:
  
  
  
  (Interestingly, I was once chastised for taking a picture at Starbucks, because clearly the inside of Starbucks is top-secret and God only knows what classified information might get into the wrong hands.)
  
  
• The Decemberists' concert was excellent! Lovely music, and a very high-energy performance.
  
  
• Going to Jersey City really wasn't so bad.

Sixteen Candles

Last Saturday afternoon, a group of my co-workers and I piled into a rented mini-van and drove to Plainsboro, New Jersey, for another co-worker's daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party.

I hope you followed all that.

I've heard stories about the extravagance of Sweet 16 parties, and while I've never watched the MTV series "My Super Sweet 16", I get the idea - these things are over the top! I'm pretty sure many of them cost more than DLang and my nups. My 16th birthday party (back in 1990) was basically the same as all of my other birthday parties in high school - a half-dozen girlfriends slept over, we made ice cream sundaes and watched cheesy horror movies ("Sleepaway Camp," anyone?). It probably cost my mom $100 and a decent night's sleep.

We were pretty excited about Aditi's party, because we work with her mom Nitika (and know that she's incredibly down-to-earth and wouldn't be buying her daughter a BMW or a diamond bracelet!), and also because we were going to get to chow on delish Indian food.

We arrived at the party before any of the other guests, and watched Aditi's family and friends trickle in. The Birthday Girl arrived fashionably late, looking stunning (and age-appropriate, I might add) in a sparkling turquoise lehenga and matching choli. Her family showed a video they'd made for her, and her friends danced for her. She lit sixteen candles in a Sweet 16 Candle Ceremony (who knew such a thing existed?). Not only did we have an amazing evening of dancing to Bhangra (screw in the lightbulb, pet the dog!), we experienced the Sweet 16 party at its finest. Sixteen is kind of a remarkable age of being on the verge, and the perfect time to receive public affirmation from the people who love you. Aditi was surrounded by her family and closest friends, and it was a good reminder to me that no matter what transition you might be undergoing in your life, (physically or virtually) being around people who love you is oh-so-important.

We got to eat some awesome Indian food, too.

Photos on Flickr

Review

I was reviewed by Sexy Simone over at So Many Blogs, So Little Time and the review isn't - how shall I put this - good. Apparently my blog is too white and fluffy. Perhaps I should rename it Snowball! Or just call it Marshmallow Fluff. I love that stuff. It was also apparently a strike against me that I have so few comments - so, Dear Reader, comment now and often! In return, I will try to redesign the layout at some point. But you're stuck with the fluff.

Transition

Awesomely, when I put Jillian's song in iTunes and sorted by Artist to play it back, it was immediately followed by Joan Jett's rendition of the "Mary Tyler Moore Theme Song" (aka "Love is All Around") - in other words, my theme song! (I have this idea that, like sports figures, we should have theme songs that play when we come to work in the morning. Perhaps an mp3 player activated by picking up a Bluetooth signal from one's cell phone as she enters the building? A girl can dream.)

Also in the playlist right now: "We Used To Be Friends" by the Dandy Warhols (and the Veronica Mars theme song). *Love* that tune (especially when I get to listen to it for longer than 30 seconds)!

Infatuated Girl

Jillian-with-a-J just posted her latest song, "Infatuated Girl" (the one I mentioned the other day). I'm listening to it now and, well, wow. She's amazing.

And I totally have a lump in my throat.

A Day Late

Grr
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Yes, yesterday was Caturday and when Memphis was doing cute things in the morning I couldn't find my camera. Come on, it was worth the wait. Look at that giant paw, and that snarl as she destroys the camera strap.

And you thought she was sweet and innocent.

More DNA

Read my VisualDNA™     Get your own VisualDNA™

It's actually kind of interesting. Last week, a friend told me she'd written a song based on something I said to her last summer, which is that I fall in love 100 times a day. The song is called "Infatuated Girl." VisualDNA classifes me as a Love Bug:







Link via Little Lisa

Not Just π Day

Apparently it's also National Potato Chip Day, and to celebrate I present yet another Canadianism: Ketchup Chips! We also have Dill Pickle Chips and Sour Cream and Bacon Chips (but saying "Crème sure et bacon croustilles" makes them sound a lot fancier).

Apparently it's also Steak and BJ Day. Who knew?

Happy π Day!

To celebrate Pi(e) Day, I baked a couple of pies.

The first was Pecan Pie with Kahlua and Chocolate Chips:



It won the coveted "Pie that Most Embodies the Spirit of Pi(e) Day" award, for its clever rendition of π in pie dough.

The second was Banana Cream Pie:



Making Banana Cream Pie is inherently funny, because you get to say things like, "I'm spreading the custard on my pie" and "Now I'm putting the banana in the custard on my pie." And those phrases make me laugh.

Another thing that made me laugh was email I received that read, "Luckily no one brought 'e' to the office on 2/7 at 18:28... Phew." Hee.

Magic!

About a month ago, I became the proud owner of a snazzy orange iPod Shuffle. It just looks tasty, doesn't it? At first it showed up in iTunes as its silver cousin, but last week a software upgrade magically changed its icon to orange:

I love me some good design. Thanks, Apple.

Ten Book Questions

1. One book that changed your life?

"Still Life With Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins. Candace gave me this book around the time we became friends. It isn't my favourite Tom Robbins book, but until I read it, I didn't even know that writing could be this delicious. (For the record, my fave TR book is definitely Jitterbug Perfume.)

2. One book you have read more than once?

"The Shining," because it reliably scares the bejeezus out of me, and it's a perfect, not-put-downable summer read. I reread "Pet Sematary" last year, and it also continues to freak me out.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

MacBook? Heh, I guess that isn't really a valid response. Rats.

This is a tough one. On one hand, I'd have so much time, so I'd like to tackle some great work that I'd never otherwise have time for, like a volume containing Shakespeare's complete works. On the other hand, I'd have so much time, so I'd like some kind of pulp that I could read repeatedly and not get bored by.

I guess I'll go with the Shakespeare (or some other infinitely long classic work, like "War and Peace"), for now.

4. One book that made you laugh?

"I Want To Go Home" by Gordon Korman. I think it might be because I first read it when I was extra-young and impressionable - anyway, I thought it was completely hilarious, and every time I've read it since, it has cracked me up. It's about this kid, Rudy Miller, who's a superstar at everything (sports, academics, even crafts) but he's kind of anti-social, so his parents send him to camp, and he spends the entire summer trying to escape. Hijinks, of course, ensue. I read it again 2 years ago and subsequently forced it on DLang, who read it because we're married now and "humour each other's literary preferences" was part of our vows. When I (frequently, and possibly annoyingly) looked over his shoulder and exclaimed, "Oh! You're at that part! Isn't it hilare?" he smiled politely and said, "Yeah, it's cute." Anyway, I don't know if it was lost on him because he didn't read it when he was 10, or because he isn't Canadian, or because he has a crappy sense of humour (just kidding!). Anyway, it still cracks me up.

Props to DLang: His work with Scholastic has garnered us copies of Korman's newer works, which I liked but didn't love.

5. One book that made you cry?

"The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I finished this on President's Day morning and had to go get a box of Kleenex from the bathroom because I was crying so hard. It's a love story, and it's kind of science-fictiony, and the characters are very real and lovely.

6. One book you wish you had written?

"The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen I like the structure of this book (sections of the story are told from different characters' points of view), the layers and depths of the relationships (especially within family), the humour, and the honesty. I can very vividly remember scenes from this book, which also says a lot for the writing.

Oh, and I ate dinner (vegetarian Chinese takeout) at Jonathan Franzen's apartment last summer. He wasn't there - a friend was subletting it. Nice place.

7. One book you wish had never been written?

Huh, really? I don't know that I can wish this on a book. Oh, I think a lot of people liked it, but one book I really wish I hadn't read (and I stupidly kept reading because I thought it might have some redeeming quality at some point, and it DID NOT, not even a little bit) was "Jemima J," a book about which Wendy at Pound spewed enough vitriol back in 2003 that I don't have to repeat it here. Just, ugh.

8. One book you are currently reading?

"The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler. I happened across this book quite accidentally (my yoga instructor was giving away some of her collection, and I picked this up) and it's been so timely in my life that I feel like it was a gift. I'm particularly struck by making the distinction between pleasure and happiness. I recommend it.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

"Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl. This book was lauded when it came out last year, and I picked it up immediately, and have been slowly reading it for about 6 months. It's not a hard read, and I enjoy it when I get into it, I just... take a long time in between readings, I guess. I'm not sure why.

10. Tag 5 people:

Candace, Chad, Rebecca, The Other Gillian, Bob

Sleeping In

Sleeping In
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

A lazy Caturday morning

Linky-Loo

In my brain this week:

Mark Morford thinks innocence is overrated (and I have to agree):

Drama is what we are designed for. Emotional (and physical, and spiritual) scarring and discoloration is, in a way, what we do. Our spirits are, after all, here to experience and taste and immerse in it all.

Mark Morford (yes, again) on change:

Here's the trick: Those things that you feel most terrified about releasing, that seem to contain your entire identity and without which you wouldn't fully recognize yourself, well, maybe they should be the first things to feel the razor: jobs, cars, hair, photographs, bedsheets, houses, ideologies, religions. To what do you cling? What holds all your fear of change?

Also from the Left Coast, San Francisco considers banning plastic grocery bags, giving us all another reason to be hopeful in this crazy world. (link via Slashfood)

I love New York.

And finally, in less than 30 seconds this video will make you laugh:

The Brianna Interview

Brianna blogged her answers to a set of interview questions written by a friend, and offered to write more questions for anyone who asks. I asked, she did, and here are my answers. And in the interest of passing it along, post a comment if you'd like a set of Gillian interview questions!

What’s your favorite quick and easy dinner recipe?

It's gotta be the Weight Watchers Balsamic-Mushroom Chicken recipe. I don't use WW anymore, so I don't have the exact recipe, but it just involves sautéing chicken breasts with mushrooms and balsamic vinegar, then reducing the vinegar to make a sauce. It's yummy.
(Please note that if the word "recipe" wasn't in that question, I'd probably have said Kraft Dinner.)

What pop culture guilty pleasure will replace "The O.C."?

Candace just gave me the first season of Veronica Mars on DVD, so I'm going to give that a shot. I can't even say that I'll miss "The O.C." much. You know how when a football team is out of the playoffs but still has a few games left in the season, and they let all the second- and third-string players get some time on the field because the stakes are so low? I'm guessing a few young Hollywood writers got to play at the end of that series, and it wasn't pretty.

What’s the best picture you’ve taken since getting your new camera? Is there a story behind it?

I take a lot of self-portraits (alone and with other people), and they frequently turn out well because I have long arms. A few weeks ago, I was at Fairway in Red Hook and I stepped outside the café to take a picture of the Statue of Liberty. While I was there, I also took a self-portrait, but forgot that I was zoomed in. Subject matter notwithstanding, I really like this picture:



Also in self-portraits, this one turned out well, too, but largely due to the excellent lighting that afternoon:



Then of course, there are the bazillion Memphis pictures, which, aw.

Who inspired you as a child? Do they still inspire you today?

My parents, a lot. They're both incredibly strong women. They do still inspire me. In fact, just thinking about all the ways in which they influence and support me inspires me to be a kinder and more compassionate to the people in my life.

You’re always trying new things – what’s on the horizon for Gillian’s next adventure?

Another summer of marathon training! I'm going to be a mentor for Team in Training's summer season, culminating in running the NYC Marathon on November 4!

Not Really About My Lunch

Bringing lunch to work update: I'm 2 for 2. Today I had help from Bob, who in addition to being an excellent musician (I saw his band P.G. Six play Tonic on Sunday night and they were great!) can also cook, and brought extras of his delicious Shepherd's Pie to work today. As an added bonus, that means I can have my PB&J (on delicious no-knead bread, of course) for lunch tomorrow!

New Canadianism: Keener. Using intarweb 2.0, and specifically LinkedIn, I recently got in touch with my first-ever QA boss. (LinkedIn has a professional focus, but I've only really used it socially, kind of like my day job. Just kidding! Hi co-workers!) Anyway. We emailed back and forth a bit, and she said she thought I'd always been a keener. I said the word out loud a few times at work this afternoon, and garnered the same response as when I use the term "point form": blank stares. Again using the power of the internet, I learned that it is indeed a phrase of British origin:

• A competitive personality, especially with regards to academics and athletics.
• A first-year undergraduate who takes meticulous notes, often at the expense of understanding course material as it is presented
• A Bristolian saying for someone who works hard.

I also learned that Catherine Keener is 47 - man, she looks great!

Mmm... Carbohydrates

No-Knead Bread
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Candace visited this weekend, and in addition to traipsing around Park Slope, we (well, she) made the NYTimes no-knead bread (free registration required). It is unbelievably easy and delicious - I highly recommend it!

Patch of Sunshine

Patch of Sunshine
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Happy Caturday!

Shots on Goal

On the weekend, I had an interesting convo with my mom about goals. She said she hates goals. I was surprised, since I think setting goals is really effective. I mentioned Robyn's comment that "Planning is priceless. Plans are useless" and that I thought plans were different from goals - but I couldn't really articulate why.

Dictionary.com provides us the following definitions:

goal: the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

plan: a specific project or definite purpose: plans for the future.

It would seem, then, that a plan could conceivably be a way of achieving a goal.

Anyway. I've been intermittently updating my page on 43 Things and I'm trying to choose goals that I can actually achieve. As I write this, one of my goals is "Live with integrity" - which is incredibly important, but kind of hard to check off the list. It's still a good reminder for me to see it listed as something I want to do in my life.

Last month I flossed every day!

This month, in an effort to be healthier and also to save my hard-earned dollahs, I'm going to bring my lunch to work 3 times per week (M, T, Th). Updates to follow.

28/28

I flossed every day in February – 4 whole weeks! No exceptions, no matter how exhausted I felt. I consider my bedtime dental hygiene routine officially changed. W00t!

See more progress on: Floss Every Day

Fynn

Fynn
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

This is my nephew, Fynn. I got to hold him yesterday while he was sleeping. Holding a sleeping baby? Rocks.

Fantasy Fulfillment

I'm in Waterloo, and over the weekend while Gregoire was in Toronto, I spent some quality time with Sweet Sirrah, Charlie-in-Utero, and Bartleby the Labradoodle.

On Saturday night as I was heading off to the basement guest room, Sirrah offered, "You know, if it gets too cold down there, you can always come sleep with us." She paused. "That is, if you want to sleep with a pregnant lady and a big brown dog."

Dear Penthouse Letters,
I never thought it would happen to me.

Another Birth Day!

The population explosion continues with the birth of the lovely Miss Cara, who entered this crazy world on Saturday morning in California. Many congratulations to her mom & dad, and big brother Ewan, all of whom are happy and healthy!

(This bodes well for UFF readership, which will practically double by the time these kids can read. You know, in 2011 or so.)

Rock

When I was visiting my parents in January, Sunny asked me to go through her storage space to clear out my stuff, which I thought might amount to a few boxes. It did, if by "a few" you mean "1,200 sq. ft. worth of". Anyhoo. Much of it was throw-awayable, but there were a few keepers, like a box of pictures that contained such gems as this:
Apparently I thought that XL was an appropriate t-shirt size. So hot.

Please note my resemblance to Canadian icon Kim Mitchell:I am a wild party.

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

Today is Shrove, or Pancake Tuesday - aka Mardi Gras (which literally translates as Fat Tuesday). To celebrate, we held Waffle Wednesday this morning, and tonight DLang & I will be dining on deliciousOrange and Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes.

During many conversations today about the origin of Shrove Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras, I heard an (unconfirmed) rumour that Brits generally only eat pancakes on this day, and eating pancakes on other days would be weird there (like if we were to eat a Büche de Noël on some random non-Christmas Thursday). Discussing the religious origins of days like today (Shrove Tuesday is the precursor to Lent, which begins tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday) generated questions about the calendar, and it's interesting to note that the Christian Easter is based on the lunar calendar - that is, it falls on a different day each year, depending on the cycle of the moon.

It's almost like it's Pagan.

Shh.

Expats

"Hey G, thanks for the Smarties. Did you get them in Canada?"

"Yeah. You know they have Smarties here, but they're really--"

"Rockets! I know! So weird."

"Hey, you know they don't have point form."

"What? What do they call it?"

"Bulleted points? Or bulleted list, I think. And also... What do you call the thing you colour with when you're too old for crayons?"

"Pencil crayons?"

"Right, but here they're coloured pencils."

"Huh, and a toque is a knitted cap. It's all very literal."

As Seen On "Survivor"

"So now what do you think I should do with this coconut?"

"I dunno... Shred it or something?"

"No, the shell."

"Oh. Maybe you could make one of those coconut bra things."

"Oooh! A coconut bra! Good idea!"

Pause. "Or you could make the sound of horses' hooves."

Coconut Miracle

Coconut
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

I followed the instructions for cracking coconut on Epicurious to get into the coconut I bought this afternoon. I've cracked a few coconuts in my day, but I've never had one open so cleanly - the shell split in two, and the meat didn't break at all! (DLang suggested that I'm ready for "Survivor" now. Hee.)

P.S. General Tso's Chicken didn't photograph well, but it tasted awesome.

Oink

Today is the first day of the Year of the Pig. Last night, to celebrate the Chinese New Year's Eve, DLang & I met a couple of friends we hadn't seen in a while and went to the Notorious MSG show. If you have the chance, go see one of their shows. Or head on over to their Web site and watch some of their videos. They are completely hilarious and awesome, muthabitches.

For dinner tonight, because I like food celebrations, I'm going to try my hand at some Chinese cooking, and make General Tso's Chicken. I haven't cooked much Asian food (besides stir-fry), so this will be fun! My trip to Fairway this morning inspired me to cook more. I ran into a couple of friends there and we all agreed that shopping at Fairway makes us feel calm and happy about food.

Will post pics of dinner later. I also bought a fresh coconut which seemed appropos for dessert; I'll try to document the ceremonial cracking open.

Orange

Whiskers
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Happy Caturday!

In Which Gillian's Social Life Gasps Its Final Breaths

Dos: you said you're coming here next weekend?
me: yeah
Dos: you wanna buy a wii? I have an extra
me: No way! And, YES!
Dos: ya, fred found a bunch, no per-customer limit, so i told him to grab me one
me: Sweet! How much?
Dos: ok, i'll hold it for you. $330 cdn after taxes
me: that's awesome! Thanks!
Dos: standard sports pak bundle, same as i got
me: W00t! I'm very excited.
Dos: cool :)