blue Maple's Musings

Teehee

cecileww@rogers.com — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:57:44 GMT

You scored as Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry).

Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry)

73%

Peregrin Took (Pippin)

67%

Frodo Baggins

63%

Legolas

60%

Arwen of Rivendell

60%

Gandalf the Grey

57%

Samwise Gamgee

53%

Boromir

50%

Galadriel

43%

Gollum

40%

Gimli

37%

Saruman the White

33%

Eowyn of Rohan

30%

Aragorn

27%

Which Lord of the Rings character are you most like?
created with QuizFarm.com

Happy New Years!

cecileww@rogers.com — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:24:00 GMT

Had a really nice start to the New Year at Sagesse's watching the first ever episode of Sesame Street from 1968. That is definitely not before my time but we didn't get PBS in Windsor when I was growing up so I didn't see Sesame Street until much later than that...anyways, I would have been 9 by then and a little too old for the show. It was cool to see the differences in the characters. We changed back to City TV just before midnight to catch the count down and there was champagne all around. I called Alicia who was at her 3rd party by this time!!! Then we all sang Happy Birthday to Frank...I know it sucks to have a birthday on a major holiday but it would suck more if it wasn't acknowledged. We hung around for a bit talking and got home around 2 am. Alicia was sleeping at a friend's house.
At 11:30 New Year's morning, the phone rings...not waking us up but I have to admit that we hadn't convinced ourselves to be upright yet!! It's Frank's parents calling to wish him happy 50th birthday. He had a nice chat with them. His mother says she remembers that she was in alot of pain 50 years ago and that his dad was drunk!! Great memory, mom...I'm sure dad wishes you'd forget that part! We got up and had a nice breakfast and then Frank got to do whatever he wanted...so he went downstairs and played on the computer. He really loves this Age of Empires Warlords expansion pack! I talked to Cam & Norm to tell them that we were going out to Wong's Chinese Buffet for dinner at 6 pm and they both agree to meet us there. Isaac got up around 4 which was just before Alicia came home so the bathroom was full of showering teenagers for the next hour or so.
On the way to Wong's, Alicia got a text message from Cam telling her that he'd gotten there first and where he was sitting...with his girlfriend, Krista!! He has been seeing Krista now for about 1 1/2 years but was reluctant to introduce her to the family for some reason...maybe because he's 30 and she's 22! But she's really nice and she seemed comfortable with us. She's from Nfld but doesn't like seafood! I guess she was force fed the stuff when she was young and now can't stand it. A little bit of a bone of contention because Cam LOVES seafood. After gorging ourselves on wonderful Chinese food, we all went back to the house for birthday cake. No, I didn't put 50 candles on Frank's cake...that would just be cruel. He'd already had to endure the taunts from all of his younger brothers on the phone!! So cake and Kahluas around and then a nice coffee before saying good night. His brother, Mike from Edmonton called while we visiting so Frank talked to him for a little bit. But then, try to go to bed with a full stomach after not getting up until 11:30 am and after having 2 coffees...I think I saw 2 am again! But I got up at 6:30 this morning like I was suppose to!
We got into bed last night and Frank said thank you to me for a wonderful day!! If he thinks this was a wonderful day, wait until the 13th!!! WE ARE GOING TO KNOCK HIS SOX OFF!!! So now that everything else is out of the way, we can put the finishing touches on the party. I'm taking the kids out for lunch tomorrow so that we can make some decisions on stuff like the cake, etc.
So here I am at work, answering the phone "Happy New Year" and looking forward to Yoga tonight. So far, 2007 hasn't been too bad.

Happy Holidays!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:11:55 GMT

So here it is Dec 26th and Alicia has gone to work and I have to go back tomorrow. It's been a wonderful holiday...I couldn't have asked for better! The shame of it is that it was wonderful because we were all on our own, not having to visit or be visited by family...and that very rarely happens!!
I took Friday off for the Solstice. In the morning, I got up before sunrise (not hard to do for the Winter Solstice since I normally do that anyways!!) and lit my element candles and grounded. When the sunrise time came, I opened the blinds and did a sun salutation before grounding again to welcome the sun after the longest night. It was lovely! After a shower and breakfast, I threw Alicia out of bed so we could do our running around and threw Isaac out of bed so he could help with the house clean up. Alicia & I stopped at my work first because a couple of people had not known that I was off and Friday and asked if I would pop in to pick up gifts...who can resist gifts!!! From there off the Future Shop to see about exchanging Alicia's ipod on which the screen had been broken. No luck as it is a manufacturer's warranty at this point and they didn't have the Trans Siberian Orchestra CD that we were looking for so on to Magnotta Wineries for some lovely wine! I tasted one that I really liked but it was $18 a bottle. Alicia said that it's Solstice and I deserve it so I bought that one along with 3 other bottles! From there to Costco to see if they still had the deluxe Scrabble game on a turntable with pockets for the letters. No luck but we picked up a gingerbread house for the kids to put together on Christmas day. From there, down to Sherway Gardens to the Apple store to see what they could do about Alicia's ipod. As it was "accidental damage" the warranty didn't cover it but they would replace it if we bought a $70 extended warranty. So now Alicia has a new ipod and an extra year's warranty that still won't cover us if this happens again!! Oh, well...since one of her Yule gifts was an ipod clock radio which would be useless without and ipod, I really didn't have a choice!!! On the home stretch, now, but I realize that there are couple of things that I have to stop at the grocery store for so Longo's is my last stop and then home to start cooking! Isaac cuts up the veggies for our veggie tray and I get going on the beef and noodles. I don't have to worry about desserts because I still have a bunch of goodies from our cookie exchange and my coworker also gave me a sampling of her baking! Frank gets home and announces that he just realized today that he didn't have anything for me! No problem...it's happened before...I'll just go and buy myself what I want after the holidays. Norm and Cam show up and we munch on veggies and drink wine until dinner is ready and then we eat...very good!! All through dinner, Isaac is saying "presents???" So finally, we forgo dessert in favour of opening gifts. Alicia is thrilled with her new digital camera from Cam and Norm as Isaac is thrilled with his ipod! But Isaac is even more thrilled about the PS2 that we got him!!! We've never had a gaming system in the house before so this is a big deal to him...I don't think he's been off it since he opened it! Frank got a remastered version of Yes' "Fragile" album and Age of Empires-The Warlords expansion pack and some gloves. I got a couple of romance DVD's from Alicia and Isaac...the second Bridget Jones and Love, Actually. We got Norm a new pair of slippers. We don't normally buy between brothers & sisters in my family but we always get Norm something from the kids and his slippers are falling apart!!! We got Cam Talledega nights (sp?) and we're going in on his new snow tires with him and he is paying for our trip to Stratford in Jan to see Blue Rodeo! Then I brought down Isaac's birthday present...a new ride cymbal...kinda hard to disguise a 20" cymbal as anything else so I had left it upstairs. So he opened it and then looked at us sheepishly, saying..." I need a stand for this, too, eh?" After about 5 minutes of giving him a hard time because he only asked for the cymbal, not a cymbal and stand, I told him to go look in our room behind the rocking chair. Big smile...worth the practical joke.
Saturday was spent cleaning and running stuff over the Value Village and making ready for Isaac's Birthday party. Between his going to school out of town for the last 3 years and his birthday falling on Christmas Eve, birthday parties have been non existent the last few years. He had 7 people and they just hung around downstairs playing on the computer and the PS2. We ordered pizza and I swear that it was all gone before I hit the top of the stairs!!! The cake was no different...I thought I might have some left for Cam the next day but no such luck. I'm glad I took my piece before they went for seconds!!! And 4 bags of chips also disappeared into the basement...one didn't get opened so they must have been full by then!! But everyone seemed to have fun and Isaac got a new fedora out of it...that's his signature look these days!!
Christmas Eve, we had planned to go out to a movie with Isaac and see where we could go for dinner but there were no movies that he really wanted to see and, by the time he got out of bed at 3, most restaurants were just about closed...so I made one of his favourite meals and we vegged at home. On Christmas day, we did absolutely nothing!! Alicia & I watched my 2 movies, Frank played his game and Isaac was on his PS2. I think Frank got off the computer for a little while and Alicia got on to play The Sims 2 which she got from a friend for Christmas. And today wasn't much different...except Alicia had to go to work and Frank & I did yoga because we're missing our class with Cindy this week (see, Cindy, we did our yoga!!!) Now we're going to go and eat leftovers from the last couple of days and spend another night vegging!!! Oh, on Christmas night, we also watched Space's "Trek-mas day movie marathon"...all the Star Trek movies except for Insurrection...all day trek...but we only watched a couple of them.
It was a wonderful weekend but I'm glad it's over now I can get on with planning Frank's 50th!!!
Hope you all had wonderful holidays as well!!!

Stuff

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:38:42 GMT

Not much going on. Had Frank's work Holiday party on Saturday at the Mandarin and then we went to Norm's. Norm has finally lost his battle with his tooth which really started when he had a run in with a parked car on his bike when he was 13!! The broken tooth was filled and held on for years but the last couple of years, it's started to give him trouble...so he decided to get a proper crown done once and for all and be done with it. This started in the spring with constant pain and infections. He spent the whole summer just barely functioning (which is truly a shame since he has the whole summer off work but couldn't do anything!!) So the specialist finally said that the root is probably cracked and that all of this work was doomed to fail from the beginning...apparently (and I guess this makes sense) dental x-rays can only be taken from the front...if there is a root on the sides or the back, an x-ray may not pick it up!! So he's lost the tooth and has had a bone graft to accomodate an implant. In the meantime, he's going to have a denture until the spring when they'll start working on the implant. I don't even want to mention the price...and none of it is covered by his dental plan...either for the failed surgery or the implant. But at least he'll have the tooth. I don't think it would be as big a deal if was any other tooth but one of his upper front teeth...very visible!! So he was just getting over the bone grafting surgery when we got together on Saturday...but wine seemed to cheer him up!!!
Saturday, Isaac and I helped out at the kids holiday party at my work...it was lots of fun!! The guy playing Santa is the grumpiest guy in the plant...but he has a heart of gold and was great with the kids. Isaac had a ball doing the crafts with the kids and then got to get his picture with Santa too...I'll try to post that tomorrow. While we were there, Frank decided to get uncharacteristically drunk on rye and ginger! He started in the afternoon, which he never does and just kept right on drinking!!! I should have stopped him...I should have made him eat something...I should have sent him to bed...but I didn't and he had a really rough day yesterday!!
Now I am working on the calendar for my in laws, the newsletter at work and still trying to get an article to Sagesse for Friday for the Spiralbound. Still have Isaac to buy for for both Yule and his birthday as well as Cam. But I am looking forward to Yoga tonight and ritual on Saturday...a little bit of calm in the middle of chaos.

All I want for Yule...

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:27:29 GMT

Xmas Stocking

leave a gift for bluemaple

get your stocking

Moment of Truth - Part 2

cecileww@rogers.com — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:31:36 GMT

I got home last night to find Alicia gone to her concert, Frank sitting in the living room and Isaac barricaded in his room with his bookshelf and dresser, I think, pushed up against the door. When supper was ready, I went upstairs and knocked on Isaac's door (Alicia had warned us about the furniture shifting, so I didn't try to open the door) and told him that there was supper on the table for him if he was hungry. He shouted and spouted and told me to go away and that he'd come out when he felt like it. I told him to please remember who he was talking to in my stern, mom voice and went downstairs to eat. He didn't join us. Frank & I talked about this and we both thought that he'd be successful in getting something to show us so that he could go...but his Math teacher said that if she gave him his mark she'd have to give it to everyone and his history teacher hadn't marked his paper as yet and wouldn't give a cursory mark. There was nothing outstanding in either English or Music that he could ask for. We had really hoped that he would go to the concert so that we could go out to dinner...maybe even try the Indian food with Rhia and the gang last night...but we didn't back down and we had soup by candle light. My plans last night were to go to guitar lessons and then to meet with Rhia & Oona at the Indian restaurant and back to Oona's for wine. So I went up and knocked on Isaac's door again and asked if he still wanted to come with me to the m00t...he usually has a really good time at the m00ts. There was silence for a moment and then he asked if I was leaving right away. So I gave him 10 minutes to eat...and while he was eating he was chatting to us like nothing had happened. In the car, he apologized for yelling at me and said that he figured there was no point in being mad all night about it!! I said to him..."You know that we didn't have a choice in this right?" And he agreed but said that he did try to get marks today but couldn't...which was why he was so mad to start with...all that work for nothing. So he sat and read a book while I did guitar lessons and then he played with Maya at the Indian restaurant while Oona and J ate and I got him a large Tim Horton's Cap with whipped cream before we went to Oona's and he played with Maya some more there and seemed to have a nice time!! Alicia called to let me know she was home and that I didn't have to pick her up and told me that the concert was crap. The band they wanted to see was the warm up band and only play 7 songs and none of the ones they went to see and the headliner that they don't particularly like didn't play their hit song until the encore by which time they had given up and left and had to listen to it from outside. Now I don't know if she was just saying that to save his feelings or if the concert was truly crap...I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet about that.
So, Isaac is still working for marks...hopefully he'll get his math test back by the weekend so that he can have some computer privileges then. Alicia went to a crappy concert without her brother and ended up left with 2 tickets that she hadn't been able to sell...we told her if she didn't manage to sell them at the concert, we'd pay for Isaac's ticket and she wouldn't be out of pocket because of this. And a good time was had by all with a very sleepy baby and very good wine!!! On Sunday, Isaac is going to come and help with the craft table at my company's kids Christmas party and he's really looking forward to that. He just surprises me so much sometimes!!!

Moment of Truth

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:53:22 GMT

It looks like the moment of truth has arrived for Isaac. He has had almost 2 weeks since our teacher interviews to bring home some marks for us and he hasn't. He has brought home check marks on his Math homework but no marks. And we said that that was the stipulation for him getting to go to the Brand New concert tonight. So we told him last night that he could go to his teachers and get something...ask his Math teacher to write down the mark he got on the first half of their math test which she gave them verbally, ask his history teacher if he's had a chance to take a look at the paper he handed in and if he could give him a ball park grade based on what he's seen so far...but I don't know if he did any of that.
He really argued with us last night telling us that it wasn't his fault that his teachers hadn't handed him anything back marked in the last couple of weeks but we had to retaliate that if he had been doing what he was suppose to be doing in the first term, this wouldn't be an issue now...it's not about the last couple of weeks, it's about his whole attitude towards school. We got the stomping up to the room at that point. But when we got home from yoga, he was downstairs working on another paper for history. Alicia told him that he'd better have some marks to show us tonight because she didn't want to have to get rid of another ticket as she still has one left as it is!!! We told her that if she couldn't sell Isaac's ticket at the concert that we would pay for it. She shouldn't be out because of his poor attitude. Neither should we come to think of it but the cost of the tickets is a month's allowance for him so I'll take pity on him...this time!!
I get to go home in about 10 minutes and walk into the hornets nest...or go home to my lonely husband and maybe we can go out for dinner. I should see if he wants to go for Indian!!!

Season's Greetings- bah humbug!!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:52:40 GMT

On Monday, we started answering the phones with Season's Greetings. At lunchtime my relief, Jenn, got a call that went something like this...
Jenn-"Season's Greetings, SGS"
Caller-"Season's Greetings...(pause)and Happy Holidays"
Jenn-"Happy Holidays to you as well"
Caller-"Is it okay if I wish you Merry Christmas...(pause)...because I don't have a towel wrapped around my head."
Jenn's mouth just dropped open and she didn't know what to say...she just gave a nervous laugh and asked how she could help him.
I guess there are alot of Christians out there who still get offended that others may be celebrating something different at their holiday time.
GET A LIFE, PEOPLE!!!
I know that the correct response usually comes to you later but if I get a call like that I can honestly say that I don't celebrate Christmas and I don't have a towel wrapped around my head...except when I'm coming out of the shower!
It blows my mind the unmitigated ignorance of some people!
And the season is young, yet! I guess we'll see how this goes as we get closer to the ~hallowed~ day.

Funeral in Edmonton

cecileww@rogers.com — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:15:38 GMT

So I spoke to my mom last night and my Aunt Lucy did die. Apparently, she had had several strokes and was in a nursing home. She said she didn't think I was that close to her so she didn't call. She didn't call to tell me that Aunt Grace had died either. What's up with that? I guess I don't rate. Anyways, I invited her for Christmas since we won't be able to go down because of Alicia's work schedule and I also told her that we'd be having our celebration on Dec 22nd if her and Matt wanted to join us. Matt is suppose to be working on the 22nd but he could take it off since he never takes any vacation. She asked what we'd be doing on Christmas and I said probably nothing...which is true. Don't know why that would bother her since she's long since said that she doesn't buy gifts for us at Christmas...only her 2 single boys because they're so good to her!
*RANT TO FOLLOW*
I guess getting married and having a family and a home and the life that most young women dream of is not what I should have done. I should have stayed single so I could be at her beck and call at all times like my 2 brothers. And my family and my job and my life should not get in the way of being there whenever she has need of me...like when her favourite brother died (I didn't know it was her favourite brother since she bitched about him as much as the others!) and the funeral was on a Monday out of town shortly after I started a new job and I said I couldn't go...apparently that was a bad thing to do because she got upset at me about that over a year later (she couldn't have said anything at the time...right?) And it's been really difficult to explain over the years why there is always a gift under the tree at Christmas from Frank's parents and not from mine. And why does she expect a gift from us every year but doesn't think she even has to give us a card in return or some small trinket? Oh, she can't be bothered with Christmas or we don't even believe in Christmas anymore or she's too broke...there's always an excuse and I guess they all sound logical in her mind but I'm starting to believe that logic has absolutely no place in our relationship!! So I have made the offer to have her and Matt come up for Christmas and if she wants a turkey on Christmas day, I'm sure that Norm and I can do a turkey. Or if she choses to stay in Windsor, Norm can still enjoy Yule with us before heading home. I know she's my mother and I have to love her but I don't always like her very much. Poor Frank...he usually gets to hear the bitching!! Oh, well...for better or for worse, right? Live with it...I put up with crap from you, too!
*RANT NOW FINISHED* Thank you for tuning in!
Okay, this didn't start out to be a rant...where did that come from? I guess I finally got to reading between the lines of my conversation last night and didn't like what was there. Anyways, the funeral is probably today and my uncle is going from Windsor and there may be a memorial service in Windsor with her ashes at some point in the future. And I'll probably end up on the phone with my weeping cousin at some point this week. I was explaining to Alicia that because we were so close as kids that, even though it may be years between visits or chats, there's something there that just falls right back into place when we do get together. Really looking forward to catching up.

Picture Wall finally up...

cecileww@rogers.com — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 23:26:55 GMT

So after chosing all of the photos that I wanted for my wall and buying matching frames from IKEA and staining them and then sorting through the pictures once again and Frank deciding that he wanted a different picture of us for the center and laying them all out on the floor at least 3 times, I finally got them up on the wall! For years, we had 3-8x10 profressional photos of the kids up in the livingroom...usually their school picture but lately, they've been Sears or Walmart...but I know what they look like now!! So I sorted through and picked out some of my favourite photos from years gone by...Cam standing on top of the climbing bars, Alicia with her first guitar at 2, Isaac feeding a goat, all of us at Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump...and had a few of them cropped and reprinted at Costco and put them up on the wall. Now we have a nice family history on our wall instead of stuffy pictures of what we look like now. Right now, they're all just up on straight pins while we make changes and get them in the right spots but after that, I'll put in small nails and make it permanent. AND, as we get new pictures that we like, I can just change them. Or sort through old pictures every couple of years and put up different pictures.
I'd say that this is pathetic that I'm so excited about this but it looks really cool...once I've got it set, I'll have to take a picture and let you all see it.

Message from Cousin, Denise

cecileww@rogers.com — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 20:34:31 GMT

I went drumming last night with a couple of the ladies from the drum circle and it turned into a little drumming and alot of chatting, which I was really hoping for because we really don't have a lot of time to chat at drum circles...so it feels like we know each other but we don't! Very nice.
But I got home after picking Alicia up at work and Frank told me that there was a rather odd message on the phone from my cousin, Denise.

Let me put Denise in a little bit of context. Denise, her sister, Mo, other cousin, Barb and I were inseparable as kids. We were always bugging our parents to get together so that we could have a massive Barbie play-a-thon!!! Denise is 2 years older than me and Barb is 2 years younger with Mo between me and Barb. We would sleep over whenever we were allowed and bus it to each others houses when we were a bit older and allowed to do that. There were many problems in Dee and Mo's house...a physically and sexually abusive father who drank and often took off out of town with his paycheque for the weekend leaving his 10 kids and wife to live on bread and honey and whatever charity came their way...we didn't know any of this as kids. Whenever we went, we were fed like kings...because my uncle didn't want anyone outside the family to think he wasn't supporting his family...and the family would live for a week off of the leftovers.
Anyways, Denise has been struggling to try to come to terms with this disfunctional childhood and her inability at that time to do anything to fix it...watching her brothers be beaten and her 2 older sisters be sexually abused...and she has been very close to a breakdown on many occassions. She lives in Quebec and makes a meager living as a storyteller and for a few years, she would come to Toronto for the storyteller's festival and stay with us and we'd have wonderful sing a longs with her and my brother Norm playing guitar...good memories...then she stopped coming to the festival and moved and we lost touch...that was about 3 or 4 years ago.
The message last night was rather cyptic...hinting that there was an important reason for her call but that she didn't feel that she could leave the information on an answering maching. She talked a little bit about her life with her man...now together for 1 1/2 years...and said she was leaving for Edmonton first thing in the morning so if I got a chance to call her back last night, we could talk but that they were just brushing teeth and hitting the road in the morning and she would be back on Tuesday so she would try to call me again then. Now her mother, my dad's older sister, lives in Edmonton. With her minimal income, I can't think of any reason why she would be going to Edmonton other than to attend her mother's funeral. I tried to call her last night but got the answering machine...I didn't get home until almost 11:30 pm.
So I tried my mom today and she's already headed out for the day, so I'll call her tonight to see if she's heard anything. Maybe she can give my Uncle Johnny a call to see if he's heard. Or call Edmonton to see what's going on.
If it is what I suspect, I think that it will be devastating for Denise...even with her mother so far away, she still totally depended on her. My aunt has been struggling with Alzheimers for a number of years but when you caught her on a good day, her mind was still as sharp as anything! But she is in her 80's and not in the best of health so her death wouldn't come as a great surprise...but still a sad one because that leaves only my uncle...the baby of the family...left living from my dad's family.
Many of them died young, including my dad at 64.

Party News!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:39:35 GMT

Trying to plan a surprise 50th birthday party for one's spouse isn't all that easy!! Luckily, his best friend is helping me out with it. He owns a restaurant/hotel near Kitchener/Waterloo with a banquet room upstairs so we're using that. Bob called Frank last night to arrange for us to come to his place for a "Moose Milk" party (think eggnog with rum)...that's how we're going to get him there because we missed our annual get together in the summer at his place this year. It's 3 or 4 old high school friends who still try to get together every year with spouses and kids and such just to party.
Today I got the invitations finished...I worked on them at work but I ran home at lunch and printed them up there. I used a baby picture, a teenage picture and a current picture for the front...it turned out awesome!
I'm finding it really hard to not talk about this to him, though!!! I know that he's going to think there's a problem by the time this comes around because there's a lot more quiet right now because I can't talk about the one thing that is upper most in my mind!!!
We also have to deal with his actual birthday, which is January 1st, before the party on January 13th...probably with a family dinner at the house.
So tonight I pick up envelopes for the invitations and get those in the mail. I'm going to put together something for email so that I can send it that way as well for those who are on email and can respond earlier. We're all going to just order off the restaurant menu for dinner and Bob is providing a bartender. He's also going to look into getting us a cake from his contacts in K/W. I don't know what to get Frank for a gift...what he really wants we can't afford and that's a plasma TV...don't know where we'd put it anyways. Maybe Cam & I will go out shopping at Best Buy and see what we see.
AND I still have Yule shopping to do!!
Deep breath!

Green Party comes in second in London North Centre!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:58:56 GMT

So the Green Party didn't get the London North Centre seat in Parliament...but they gave everyone a run for their money!! At the beginning of the election, the NDP discounted the Green party as not being a factor but by the end they were putting out their own attack flyers against the Green party!
The Green Party took votes from all the of the major parties and, considering that with the municipal elections just over, this election campaign only had about 2 weeks to gain momentum, this is a wonderful result. Many in the Green Party are saying that with another couple of weeks to campaign, they could have taken the seat...but that's just electioneering. But I think we are definitely seeing a shift in Canadian politics...so many people are concerned about the environment and the lack of action from the other parties that it looks like Green is not being considered a left wing fringe party anymore. Did you guys read that Canada is ranked among the worst environmental records in the world? That is truly sad!

Preliminary Results

London North Centre

Last updated: 23:29 ET

Party	Candidate	Votes	% Votes

Canadian Action	Will Arlow	53	0.1
Independent	Robert Ede	77	0.2
Conservative	Dianne Haskett	9,309	24.4
PC Party	Steve Hunter	145	0.4
Green Party	Elizabeth May	9,864	25.9
Liberal	Glen Pearson	13,287	34.9
N.D.P.	Megan Walker	5,388	14.1

Total number of valid votes:

38,123


Polls reporting: 253/253	Voter turnout: 38,123 of 89,139 registered electors (42.8%)
The number of registered electors shown in this table does not include electors who registered on election day.

***from Elections Canada***

Yes, I am all woman!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:40:56 GMT

You scored as Female. Being mostly female by thought, is even though (still) considered inferior to masculinity in Western culture, a good thing in many ways:By definition it means that you are more creative, and sensitive towards your environment, enabling you to express yourself freely.

Female

71%

Either

61%

Male

46%

Neither

32%

Should you be MALE or FEMALE?*
created with QuizFarm.com

Fun With Teenagers

cecileww@rogers.com — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 00:31:12 GMT

Conversation with Alicia, who I have seen a total of 20 minutes of in the last couple of days...
"Mom, Anu asked me to come and hang out with her tonight but I told her I had to work until 11 pm so she said that her dad can pick me up after work and I can sleep over there tonight. Is that okay? I haven't seen her in, like, a hundred billion years!!!"
For those of you not familiar with teenage-ese...sleeping will not happen but fighting probably will resulting in them not seeing each other for another hundred billion years...which is about 3 weeks in real time! She will come home tomorrow with just enough time to shower but not to make her contribution for ritual tomorrow night before needing a ride back to work...unless she's too tired and blows it off, as she has in the past...in which case she will go to bed and probably still not make her contribution for ritual tomorrow night. And she wondered why I was relunctant to say yes!
Other teenager is current banned from the computer because of 4 failing marks on his report card...this is the gifted one!! Because of that, we've told him that 75% is a pass for him...not 50%...and all marks were below this although only one was below 50% so he's feeling cocky! Just wait until he has to take grade 9 English for a 4th time! (last year, summer school, this year...)
I think I need some alcohol...which I can have because I don't have to pick up teenager #1 at work at 11 pm. I knew there was a reason that I said yes!

Condo Stuff

cecileww@rogers.com — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:09:41 GMT

We went to our Condo Corp's Annual General Meeting last night (not so annual since this is the first one in a couple of years!) and was disappointed, once again, when we didn't have a quorum and couldn't have a meeting. But as we sat and talked, I heard some disturbing stuff. Just a little bit of background...in the 18 years that we've lived here, I've been involved on the board of directors or as management for probably 10 of them. I was replaced as management at the end of the last millennium and decided to distance myself a little bit so I've not been involved since then. There seems to be a total complacency on the part of the 2 remaining board members. They dropped the number of board members from 5 to 3 a few years ago because they weren't able to fill the 5 positions (NB. It was always difficult but I never remember having fewer than 4 board members at any time when I was involved). After the new management company took over, they didn't raise the condo fees for 5 years until this year. As a result, the condo's reserve fund hasn't grown at all in that time and we are, once again, at a time when there will have to be major repairs undertaken, like roof replacement, and there is no money for that. They have had a reserve study done and we need to bump up our reserve now in order to meet needs over the next few years so now we'll probably be faced with a big increase to cover this.
Now, I don't want to say that the condo corp has been mismanaged since I left but I certainly don't think that they've followed the vision that was set in place a long time ago. There is one fellow on the board who is all about cutting costs and always has been. He and I never saw eye to eye and that's one of the reasons that I was removed as manager but I don't think that he's done us any favours.
So I told them to let me know when the next board meeting was planned because I'd like to get involved again. There was other other person there who also wants to be on the board so I guess we'll see if one of the existing board members wants out...which is what it sounded like last night. None of this can be officially voted on because we can't seem to get people out to an AGM but we can do some work and, hopefully get another AGM going in January by generating some interest in this reserve study and its ramifications. It just doesn't make sense, when you see things going this badly wrong and you know you can help to sit back and not help.
So the AGM finished up early and I scooted home to get the kids to try to catch the end of the coffee m00t but we were too late...everyone had left. We did find Dan wandering out to his car, however, and went back in for a coffee and a chat with him. I guess with the babies, everyone else called it an early night. Oh, well!

cecileww@rogers.com — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:52:50 GMT

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Nothing much going on...

cecileww@rogers.com — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:46:55 GMT

The kids are both involved in the Remembrance Day ceremonies at their school today. From what Alicia was telling me, they've made it pretty emotional and there were tears at the dress rehearsal last night. Isaac is working the house for stage crew, which seems to mean that he's the goffer who runs between the lighting booth, sound board and stage with messages and instructions...but he's excited to be part of it. I'm glad that they both have alot of respect for what our soldiers have done in the past and currently. Maybe that comes from growing up in a military family but I think that it's important that they realize the sacrifice that is made everyday by those who chose to go into the military.

On another, related topic, I got an email yesterday from Frank's cousin who was our flowergirl (scary that she's all grown up and married with 2 kids!) saying that her husband has joined the military and starts basic training in January. He was talking to us about it when we were in Windsor in October and Frank tried to talk him into going into a trade instead of Infantry Officer, which is what he had in his mind. But he's going in as Infantry and will come out of basic training as a lieutenant. Brandie is scared so I gave her my brother in law's email because if anyone can advise them, it's him. He's been in the military now for almost 20 years. And his wife can give her an idea of what being a soldier's wife is like.

I'm still working on that Dar Williams song on the guitar. It's called "You're aging well" and there's lots of wonderful finger picking and such to learn. When I told my brother the name of the song he thought it was about an aging well...as in "how's the water from your aging well" hehehehehehehe!!! I have the song on my computer but I haven't listened to it yet because my guitar teacher says that Dar William's version isn't very good so he's teaching me the arrangement that his friend did for the song. I've told him about the croning ceremony that I'm (suppose) to be working on and that this song seems to fit right in and he said that if we need someone to come and sing it, it's his favourite song and he'd be more than willing! But I'm not ready to be croned yet.

Thoughts on that...I feel like my life is just beginning. I've been back to work for only about 2 years and it feels like newness to me. I got the same from my friend, Marlene. She's 67 and, although her hubby is retired, she's not ready to because she just went back to work maybe 15 years ago having stayed home with the kids like me. I am experiencing a new sense of freedom now that the kids are a little bit older and I'm not as tied down to home. I'm also experiencing a new sense of financial freedom. Although our finances are still linked, I don't feel guilty anymore if I go out and buy a new pair of shoes or some new clothes because I'm bringing in a fair bit of money now, too. I think that this feeling is not as pronounced for women who work throughout their lives. It's getting really old by the time they're my age. There may be fewer concerns at home as the kids grow up but the work part is the same...maybe even more stressful as they take on more at work because they are less tied up at home. Funny that this definitely feels like a new stage in my life but not yet the crone. Maybe in our society, we need to have another level...or maybe it's just a transition period...like that time for women in their 20 & 30s who haven't had children yet but don't feel that they are maidens anymore either. Perhaps this is the time of gaining wisdom that is between active mothering and cronehood which gives us a number of years to expand our minds and grow into our roll as wise women. From that perspective, it does look like another stage of life. Hmmmm.

Thought I would break it all up because this post is pretty random and this way you can read only what you're interested in!! Have a great day!

Excellent...my favourite superhero!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 14:21:07 GMT

You Are Spider-Man

Quick and agile, you have killer instincts (literally).
And that kind of makes up for the whole creepy spider thing.

What Superhero Are You?

Happy Friday!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:55:02 GMT

It's 4:45 pm on Friday...both my bosses have left for the day...I can't go but that's okay. No plans for tonight...just sitting around and probably playing taxi to Alicia later on. Tomorrow, Samhain ritual and Oona's house blessing. Sunday...glorious nothing!!! Maybe some shopping....nice breakfast with my hubby and just vegging!!
Hope you all have as relaxing a weekend!

Fines for good times!!!

cecileww@rogers.com — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 13:46:03 GMT

Wow...mine's $290!
ADD UP YOUR FINE

Smoked pot -- $10
Did acid -- $5
Ever had sex at church -- $25
Woke up in the morning and did not know the person who was next to you -- $40
Had sex with someone on MySpace -- $25
Had sex for money -- $100
Vandalized something -- $20
Had sex on your parents' bed -- $10
Beat up someone -- $20
Been jumped -- $10
Crossed dressed -- $10
Given money to stripper -- $25
Been in love with a stripper -- $20
Kissed some one who's name you didn't know -- $10
Hit on some one of the same sex while at work -- $15
Ever drive drunk -- $20
Ever got drunk at work, or went to work while still drunk -- $50
Used toys while having sex -- $30
Got drunk, passed and don't remember the night before -- $20
Went skinny dipping -- $5
Had sex in a pool -- $20
Kissed someone of the same sex -- $10
Had sex with someone of the same sex -- $20
Cheated on your significant other -- $10
Masturbated -- $10
Cheated on your significant other with their relative or close friend -- $20
Done oral -- $5
Got oral -- $5
Done / got oral in a car while it was moving -- $25
Stole something -- $10
Had sex with someone in jail -- $25
Made a nasty home video -- $15
Had a threesome -- $50
Had sex in the wild -- $20
Been in the same room while someone was having sex -- $25
Stole something worth over more than a hundred dollars -- $20
Had sex with someone 10 years older -- $20
Had sex with someone under 21 and you are over 27 -- $25
Been in love with two people or more at the same time -- $50
Said you love someone but didn't mean it -- $25
Went streaking -- $5
Went streaking in broad daylight -- $15
Been arrested -- $5
Spent time in jail -- $15
Peed in the pool -- $5
Played spin the bottle -- $5
Done something you regret -- $20
Had sex with your best friend -- $20
Had sex with someone you work with at work -- $25
Had anal sex -- $80
Lied to your mate -- $5
Lied to your mate about the sex being good -- $25

DONT FORGET TO REPOST WITH YOUR DOLLAR AMOUNT

Hallowe'en

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:32:43 GMT

Hallowe'en is almost as much fun with teenagers as it was when they were little! Alicia decided to go trick or treating after all...even though she is 18. She wore her comely pirate costume and went around with her group of friends. Isaac's costume was Insurance Salesman and he dressed in his grade 8 graduation suit, tie and the whole bit...and he printed up business cards to give out and stole my briefcase to collect candy in! So off they went at about 6 pm and we got to stay home and see all the little ones coming to the door. Lots of really cute costumes but also alot of costumes covered with winter coats. We always got the costumes big enough to fit over winter coats but I guess not all parents think of that. We got alot of compliments on our decor and our neighbour was dressed as the grim reaper to give out candy...which went well with our CD of Hallowe'en screams and creeking doors. Alicia got home around 9 and Isaac didn't roll in until 11 because the group had to walk everyone home and him and Domi were the last on the route.
This morning, my Avon lady calls and she says there was the coolest costume come to her door last night. This kid was dressed in a suit and said he was an insurance salesman and gave her a business card and everything!! She couldn't stop laughing about this costume...Isaac's costume! She's seen pictures of Isaac but I guess it's been awhile since she's seen how tall he's grown so she didn't recognize him and his business cards identified him as Joe Mama from 75 Imaginary Lane, so no help there. What a hoot!! But she did say that his group was all very polite and well behaved, which was nice to hear.
I guess the cold kept some kids inside because we had alot fewer kids than we expected so we have tons of candy left over. I don't want to say how much candy I ate last night while giving out. But I don't feel bad because Frank ate as much as I did...I know because he had to take a Tums before going to bed!
So the dead have been honoured and the costumes stowed for another year...all that's left is to get rid of the candy...hopefully not all on my hips!
Hope everyone else had as good a night!

...really?!

cecileww@rogers.com — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:50:51 GMT

Neopagan
You are 45% experimental, 54% feral, 54% spiritual, and 20% square!

Congratulations! You're a Neopagan. Well, maybe you're not precisely a pagan, but you have a deep love for primitive nature, and a strong sense of the spiritual. You feel the beauty of the wild around you and feel choked in the city.

The hippie world needs you, because you bring together the beauty of the wild and the magic of the heart.

If you believe that opposites attract, you probably find yourself around Ravers. If you are more inclined to enjoy the company of those with similar attitudes, then other Neopagans, as well as the Faerie-child, Treehugger, and Full-blown Hippie are for you.

The other categories are Alternate/a>, Mystic, Feral and of course, the Non-hippie

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on experimental

You scored higher than 99% on feral

You scored higher than 99% on spiritual

You scored higher than 99% on non-hippie

Link: The what kind of hippie are you Test written by pragmaticdreams on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Bump on my car

cecileww@rogers.com — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:55:43 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, one of my co-workers came in and told me that she had accidently bumped someone's car in the parking lot and it turned out to be my little Cavalier. So we went out and took a look at the damage and, although it was a nice scrape, it was on the plastic bumper so there was no concern over rust and I told her not to worry about it. Now the bumper matches the rest of the car with it's various bumps and bruises...it is 7 years old! I told her to buy me a coffee the next morning and we'd call it even...and she did and I forgot about it.
Today, she presented me with a card and a $100 gift certificate for Chapters/Indigo saying that she waited a little while to make sure I wouldn't change my mind about getting the car repaired before giving me this. What a nice gesture! I almost refused it but I know where it's coming from...even though I could let it go, she couldn't, so I decided to take it with a thank you and good graces. Now all that remains is to buy something nice...maybe about repairing scrapes on bumpers...that will remind me of her!
I love where I work...and now you can see why!

Music for the Urban Pagan

cecileww@rogers.com — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:21:29 GMT

Finally...someone who feels the spirit in the city the way I do!!

City Magick

Music and Lyrics by Chalice and Blade

City wakens, dawn falls across the land
Standing at the bus stop, cup of coffee in my hand
City noise surrounds me, I find I'm swept along
Caught up by the pulse of the city's magick song
And I know He's all around me in the glass and the towers
And I know She's all around me in the early morning hours
I can feel Their power

Morning ends, take a break, walk these city streets
Footsteps on pavement pounding like my heartbeat
Sitting by a fountain, pause to take a breath
Breathe in the magick of a city that never rests
And I know He's all around me in the glass and the towers
And I know She's all around me in the bright midday hour
I can feel Their power

City pace changes, daylight fades away
Sunset in city parks where dogs and children play
Restaurants begin to fill, family and friends
Connect to the magick in a web that never ends
And I know He's all around me in the glass and the towers
And I know She's all around me in the quiet evening hours
I can feel Their power

Oh, there's magick in the streets / I can feel Their power
Oh, pulsing like my heartbeat / I can feel Their power
Oh, and it's flowing through my vein / I can feel Their power
Oh, like the pounding of the rain / I can feel Their power

Night in the city, alive and full of lights
Clubs and cafes open late the laughter of delight
Lullaby of traffic, the edges of my dreams
Magick of the city's heart and pulse in my bloodstream
And I know He's all around me in the glass and the towers
And I know She's all around me in the dark night time hours
I can feel Their power