Crazy, but fun

The weekend was nuts, but in a good way. I'll do a recap, starting with Friday.

Friday

The night before, Katie called to tell us she and Dan was coming up for the weekend because their plans to go to a friend's cottage fell through. She was coming up on Saturday, which meant that Friday would be a cleaning day.

And then, while my parents were out getting groceries, Justin (my cousin) called to ask if he could crash here for the night because he had errands to run in Toronto the next day. Mom and Dad weren't home at the time, so he said he'd call back. After he called back twice, I said, "Why don't I get them to call you back?" and he agreed. So when they got home, Mom called him and said he could come over.

So I vacuumed the stairs, then went to the library with Dad to pick up my stuff, then me and Dad went to Shoppers Drug Mart to get pop because it was on sale. Justin came over, we had dinner, we watched TV (Bollywood Hero on Super Channel, and then we watched the movie right after it called The Night of the White Pants, which was a weird but funny movie. Not reccomended for under-sixteens unless you have permission, 'cause of the drug use in it.), and we went to bed.

Saturday

I set my alarm for 7 AM, because I wanted to be up early for when Michaels opened, because they had a coupon for 25% off your purchase between 9 AM and 11 AM, or something like that. Mom got beads and stuff to make stitch markers, and I got a skein of Red Heart Soft Yarn to make a wrap.

After we got home, Justin got his stuff together and Dad drove him to the bus station. Katie and Dan came sometime after noon. Dan gave me and Mom each a sandalwood bookmark, which was nice of him. I don't know if Dad got one. Mine had a Chinese proverb on it, and I think Mom's did, too.

We had burgers and grilled veggies for dinner, and then we played UpWords while Dad was playing poker with the neighbors. We weren't used to the rules of UpWords, so we kept putting in words that worked one way but didn't work the other way. For instance, Katie put down one word, but the word crossing it became 'fancs', so she had to take it down. It was pretty funny. Dan won the game.

Sunday

Katie and Dan went down to the beach at around lunchtime. I think I was reading Fruits Basket to pass the time until they came back. After they came back, me, Mom and Katie went down to the hospital to see Grandma. We went in Katie's rental car - a Nissan Versa, which was a very nice car. It's very roomy in the back. I sat behind Mom, and her seat was moved almost all the way back from when Dan was sitting in it, and I still had loads of room for my knees. I think even Dad would have enough room to sit in the back, and he's pretty tall.

Grandma was asleep when we got to her room - she had been to an anniversary party the day before, so she was pretty tired. Katie woke her up, and she was quite happy to see Katie. She was able to move her right leg a little, which is great.

We had pasta with meatballs for dinner (Mom and I got in an argument over what pasta to use) and watched America's Funniest Home Videos. Katie and Dan left at around 9:00.

I should probably go eat soon...

Easter Weekend, Part One

Yes, I'm going to post about the weekend in chunks, a concept stolen from AJ. Hope you don't mind, AJ :) lol

I'll start with today, Good Friday.

(I didn't bold that to put emphasis on religion, by the way.)

Today started with me drinking my leftover ginger ale from last night for 'breakfast' while checking the library site to see if they'd be open tomorrow. Turns out they are. And when I told Mom, she said, "Yes, they are! Saturday isn't a holiday!" Jeez, Mom, I'm only trying to help. Way to encourage a girl...

Then it was cleaning. For me, that meant tossing the dogs' blankets in the washing machine with a good scoop of Borax to make them smell nice and pretty, taking any dirty towels, clothing and facecloths down to the laundry room, etc. Then it was sweeping time, which resulted in me having to take a break due to thirst (which was due to a crappy breakfast) and a sore back. My back is still a little sore, but not as bad as before.

I can't remember when Katie and Dan arrived - I think it was around noon. After some chit-chat, Katie and Dan left to go somewhere. I don't know where. There was crap on TV, so Mom and I watched The Incredibles on DVD - well, I watched it, since Mom kinda abandoned the movie. Dad watched the rest of it with me, though. Katie and Dan came back near the end. After pausing the credits to find out who did the voice for Syndrome, I took the DVD out and switched it back to TV, and we watched on BBC Canada until Top Gear came on. It was around that time that Katie and Mom left to visit Grandma in the hospital, so me, Dad and Dan watched Top Gear, which was pretty cool. I read a bit of Blood and Chocolate during Top Gear as well.

Mom freaked out at me near dinnertime because I had walked behind her while she was handling a pot of potatoes. And the she told me to get out of her way whilst I was making sure the bottle of cleaner was okay (it had fallen in the sink). Grr. I ate dinner - beef shank stew stuff (which had these friggin' rings of fat, so I had to get a Dr Pepper after dinner) and mashed potatoes. I watched Coronation Street and Jeopardy!. Dad badgered me to wash dishes, and I didn't. Hell yeah.

And then I had to fish a dog toy out from under the couch. Which was a pain. In my back. And then my mom told me that I was the source of a bad smell, so I came up here, in the Spare Oom. And then she called me down to apologise, because it was actually the dog bed that smelled. And I came back up here.

And Spectacle is coming on in roughly 14 minutes, so I'd better finish this post quickly. Sounds like we'll have to eat in our laps Easter Sunday, and Grandpa hinted about shunting us kids in the friggin' sun room to make room for their friends from friggin' ARIZONA!!!!!

....phew.

13 minutes to spare.

I guess I should post this post now. I'll report back soon, maybe tomorrow. And most likely Sunday evening, to dish out the dirt on the dinner.

12 minutes. Gotta go.

...wait, now it's 11 minutes! Bye-bye :)

Boo!

It snowed.

At least it's partially melted now, but I didn't get to walk to the library. Oh well. I renewed my DVDs, so I only have one item that's due back soon - the David Bowie CD I'm borrowing. I have two CDs to pick up (Pink Floyd's The Final Cut and David Gilmour's Live in Gdansk album), and a book on Pete Townshend. And I have a CD in transit - Coldplay's Prospekt's March EP, which should be pretty neat.

Hmm, what else is going on? I'm probably going to youth group tomorrow - wait, maybe not. My dad's working different shifts this week, so he might be working tomorrow night. I'll have to ask him. Katie and Dan are coming up this weekend (Easter weekend!!!!!), so that should be cool. I don't know if I'll see Nathan over Easter, and I don't care much anyway. I'll probably see Breanne, and maybe Justin, because we're supposed to be having Easter Sunday dinner in this room at the hospital that Grandpa rented or something so that we could have dinner with Grandma. Should be interesting...

Oh, and I have to post this...





But it's even funnier in Spanish:

More loot!!!

Yup. I got more stuff for Christmas. It came from Katie and Dan. I recieved...

It Girl Knits by Phoenix Bess (!!!)
Stitch N' Bitch Nation (!!!)
It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas (now I don't have to watch them on CBC!)
A pretty journal

Katie and Dan came over on the 27th, and then they picked up Justin and Breanne the same day. Justin liked his scarf (yay!), and because I hadn't bought anything for Breanne, I gave her some nice soap that Mom bought at Winners, and because we had these pen-and-pencil sets in the house, I gave her one one of them - they're rather nice, too. She liked the soap, and I think she liked the pen-and-pencil set, too.

Nathan came by today to get his pressies. He seemed to like the lamp I gave him.

Unfortunately, though, my keyboard is acting up again. Actually, it's the USB port, so my dad may have to take my CPU to Summit to have the USBs replaced. Whee.

IT'S DONE!!!!! IT'S DONE!!!!!

That's right, Justin's scarf is done! I decided not to seam the ends, though. Instead, I wove the tails in and left the curled edges alone. It looks nice that way. I should have pictures soon.

In other news, Mom's been baking, we still have to put up those garlands from Michaels, and I have to wrap three more presents - Katie's, Mom's, and Justin's. I found out the other day that Dan got me something for Christmas, so Mom decided that I would give him a shirt. Dan really didn't have to get me anything. Isn't it funny how my brother can't be bothered to get anything for his family, his FIRST family, and yet someone who isn't related to me decided to get something for me for Christmas? Words can't begin to describe how thankful I am.

Just the seaming to do now...

That's right. I'm DONE sewing the yellow triangles on Justin's scarf. It was actually not that difficult - pinning the triangles down and fixing the bind-off holes on some of the triangles, that was the hardest. Well, that and aligning the triangles. But the sewing part was not that hard. So now I just have to seam the ends, wrap 'er up in a gift box, and I'm all set. I think I might also include a little notecard with washing instructions written on it. Might be helpful.

And holy crap, it's already the 20th of December! EEP! I have to wrap pressies! Well, I've got Dad's done already. I'm giving him a shirt and The Essentials: The Blues Brothers CD, which we got at Indigo during the bitter-and-sorta-pointless shopping trip.

...And now my left speaker has kicked out. Dammit.

Anyways. Uncle Brent is probably dropping in on Christmas Eve, which is cool. Christmas Day is just us three - me, Mom and Dad. Katie, Dan, Nathan and Steph are coming up on the 27th.

I only have Nathan's lamp, Katie's pressie and Mom's pressie (can't say what they are, because they both know about my blog!) to wrap. Oh, and Justin's scarf, of course. I was going to make Breanne something, but I decided not to. I feel a little guilty, but she's been giving Uncle Brent a hard time, so maybe I'll knit her a scarf for her birthday instead.

Lunch at Grandma's

Well, let's just say that lunch at my grandparents' went eerily well. Still, it didn't stop Grandma from mentioning Aunt Patti, and Becca. Oh well, I guess some of her habits will never fade. Patti, Jesse and Becca will always be the favourites.

The lunch itself tasted good. Grandma made a casserole with chicken and Ritz crackers, and it actually tasted good. The macaroni salad was alright - Mom liked it, but as I'm not keen on raw red peppers, I thought it was just okay. There were also sweet potatoes, which were good, and bread to go with lunch. The only thing that seemed to spoil the meal was that, before I even sat down, Grandpa was asking me if I wanted wine. I told him I was underage, and he said something about it being up to my parents. So, when I was finished in the bathroom and returned to the table, I was offered non-alcoholic drinks. I had Pepsi. For dessert there was ice cream, which Mom didn't have, but I had some, and there were cookies too. I actually don't mind Grandma's cookies, because she makes these yummy ones with marshmallows and peanut butter (I think???), and another kind with chocolate and chow mein noodles. Mom said we can make the chocolate ones this year, because we have chow mein noodles. Sweet :)

Katie and Dan got their Christmas presents from my grandparents, too, because they won't see each other again until after Christmas because Grandma and Grandpa are going away on the.... 27th? I think? Anyways, the 27th is when Katie and Dan are coming up again. Nathan and Steph are supposed to come up on the 27th, too, and Justin might be able to come up that day, too.

Which reminds me, I still have to finish Justin's scarf. No pressure :p

I can't eat anything after 10:00, because I have to go to the doctor's to get my flu shot and to have my yearly physical, and because our family doctor has us go to have blood and urine tests done, I'll have to get stuck in both the arm and the veins. Whee. So that means I have to fast for twelve hours. I still have just under 20 minutes to eat, though. I did have a good supper though. My supper was:

The last of the leftover beef chow mein
A Nutella sandwich
A fortune cookie
The last of the awesome Newman's Own grape juice that we got at Costco
One of the chocolates from my swap package

Now I have 15 minutes left to eat, but I'm not that hungry. Toodles :)

The Holiday Weekend in a Nutshell

I'm typing this using Dad's computer, because I can't get to mine. We put up an air mattress for Katie and Dan to sleep in, so Mom's elyptical workout machine thingy had to be moved to make room for the mattress. Said elyptical is behind my chair. A Rubbermaid tub is in my chair. I don't mind, I just find it funny that I'm not used to this monitor.

And now, the Holiday Weekend Thus Far. This section will probably be edited later to include dessert at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Saturday

As I mentioned before, Dad didn't bring up the table, so Mom and I had to haul it upstairs either during or after Letterman. Fun times. Mom also did some quick dusting. Dad did help clean before he went to work, but the floor still needed a sweep later that day.

Katie and Dan arrived first, because they had to pick up Nathan and Steph. When everyone except Dad was there (he was working that day, and came home around 6:00-ish), I put in disc 3 of SNL, season one. Nathan kept talking over it. He also asked me if I wanted their DS if he replaces it. I said that I was thinking there's more to it. He got all pissed off and changed his mind. When they went out later (to get bread so Steph could have a sandwich), I got upset. But I'm not upset anymore. Why should I be? I have a PSone. A piece of history.

We ate when Dad got home. I had to sit next to Steph, which I wasn't thrilled about. I told Katie that in private, and she told me to just sit through dinner. So I did. It wasn't so bad, until dessert. I was being goofy, smearing whipped cream on Mom's nose, and I accidentally got some on her glasses. She wasn't too mad about it, but that didn't stop Nathan calling me a jerk. So I went upstairs and ate my pie.

I'll add more later, I have to face the Grandparents. Yay us. Woo-hoo. I hope I get outta this alive.

edited for spelling

Oh, and before I forget...

I put this photo of Katie and Dan's cat, Jeffrey, on my Flickr. I thought I'd also share it with my readers :)

School-ish

So I started 'school' today. Homeschooling, to be exact. I took some books with me for the car ride to my sister's place - Clapton: The Autobiography, Anne of Avonlea, The Pocket Gallileo and a pocket guide to science. I only read Clapton and Anne, though. I took my camera with me, too, so that I could take photos of Jeffrey, but I only got one decent shot. I'll put it up on my Flickr soon, and eventually up on this very blog.

Jeffrey is such a sweetheart. Very talkative. Mom thinks he's definitely half Siamese because of his colouring and face structure. He's so big compared to Mouse, though! And Katie (my sister) said that he wouldn't eat the treats she bought, and yet when my mom gave him treats he ate them!

We went out to a place called Wonder Sushi for lunch, which was great. I'm not keen on sushi, but I love udon noodles and tempura. We got these dumplings that were pretty tasty, too, and chicken teriyaki, which was awesome. For dessert, we had ice cream - I had mango, Katie and Mom had green tea and Dan (Katie's boyfriend) had vanilla. I tried a bit of Mom's green tea ice cream, and it was pretty good. I'll have to get the green tea ice cream next time.

So, for an early birthday gift, Katie gave me soap and a bath ball. The bath ball is from Lush, and I think the soap is too. They smell lovely.

We couldn't get Q107 in London Ontario, so we listened to their local rock station, FM 96, which isn't too bad. I actually like it better than our local rock station, Y108. When we tuned into FM 96, the first song we heard was Lust For Life by Iggy Pop, which Y108 NEVER plays. Q107 sometimes plays Iggy Pop, but not a lot. And then we heard an interview with Liam Gallagher from Oasis, and then a new track from Oasis. I can't remember what it was called or how it goes, but I remember liking it. Oasis are cool :) Although one of their songs has a raunchy title. I also got to hear the title track from Coldplay's new album, Viva la Vida. As I mentioned in an older post, I first heard it on Galaxie Rock, which is one of Bell's satellite music stations... actually, I think it's owned by CBC.