TGIF

I had an odd day at work today.

The morning was done in a blink & the afternoon

crawled at a snail's pace.

I was having one of those days where I had alot to do

but couldn't decide where to start.

This is my 3 page To Do List:

I also felt like documenting my commute-home sky.

When I leave the office it is light.

When I get home it is dark.

It is right now only 7:08pm but it feels later.

I love it!  I'll be in bed by 9:30pm!

4:11pm - Waiting for the Bus by my office.




5:14pm. Just off the Bus at Yonge & Finch, onto the Subway.

 



5:32pm. Just off the Subway at Yonge & Lawrence

 


5:50pm. Home Sweet Home





To My Adam

Lest We Forget

IN FLANDERS FIELDS POEM

The World’s Most Famous WAR MEMORIAL POEM

By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place: and in the sky

The larks still bravely singing fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved: and now we lie

In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe

To you, from failing hands, we throw

The torch: be yours to hold it high

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915

during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium



Moment of Irresponsibility

This evening, we have succumbed to our craving and have

thrown responsibility out the window!

We are going nuts and throwing $40 of our weekly grocery

budget to get Chinese Take Out.

Growing up we'd order take out from Chow's on Dorval Avenue.

Dinner for One #4 with 3 extra Egg Rolls.

It was $17 and it fed our family of 4 perfectly.

I haven't found a decent Egg Roll since moving to Ontario,

but also had never had a Spring Roll while I lived in Quebec.

$40 probably doesn't sound like much.

Alot of folks drop that kind of money on dinner

more than 3 times a week without thinking about it.

We used to be that way. A long time ago. Not anymore.

Now that we are a one income family, we have a budget.
I work really hard and if once in a blue moon I  need
a treat, then so be it, I deserve it!

Sometimes those Mandarin Spring Rolls just call my name

and there is nothing else I can eat that satisfies.

I have tried some of the frozen Asian dishes from the Supermarket.

They're ok but just not the same and they sometimes are too salty.

Plus, it is cheaper to have it delivered than it is is to go to the restaurant.

Now the fun part is trying to decide what to have with my Spring Roll!!

Hopefully we get good fortunes in our cookies tonight!

Fortune Cookies -  photo from The Mandarin Take Out Menu.



It's Beginning To Look Alot Like.....

Yes.....Christmas.

In my neighbourhood anyway.

Some folks have put their lights up.

As previously stated, I am really in the pre-Christmas spirit.

I've started to listen to Christmas music 

and had my nails done in a lovely Christmas Red.

  

Hopefully this nice weather will hold so that everyone else can get

their lights up this weekend.

We are lucky, our apartment building is on Yonge St in a really nice area.

The side streets have really nice houses, big houses.

The kind of houses that we currently cannot afford.

I imagine the property taxes alone are at least half what our rent is per month!

So, I really enjoy this time of year when it gets dark early and folks

 put up their lights & leave their drapes open to display their living room

decorations and Christmas trees.

It makes for really enjoyable evening walks with Crockett.

I know it is still early November, but blink a few times & it'll be Christmas Eve!

The Deathly Hallows

Frequently, to block out the street noise, I'll put on a DVD when I go to bed.

More often than not, it is any one of the 3 Lord of the Rings films.

I cannot count how many times I've seen each film and all the extras.

As of late, it's been Harry Potter.

I've rewatched over the last month, in 30 minute increments, the first 5 films.

I don't own #6 - The Half Blood Prince.

It was my least favorite of the films, but still, I should have it in my collection.

I'll wait until all 7 are available in a super box set at the Silver Snail.

Maybe with a mini replica of Hogwarts or something cool and geeky like that.

I'm going to start re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

tomorrow and have it done by Nov 19th.

We won't go opening night. I don't think I can handle that many

people at our regular cinema. It'd be too crowded.
The line for the washroom alone after the film will be horrendous.

This may be a time where we'll have to fork out the big bucks

and go to the VIP Theater at Yonge & Bloor.

Whatever we decide, it is something I am looking forward to.

I hope it lives up to my expectations.
I'm sure it will.

Click here to watch the Trailer.

Headache

I woke this morning with a headache.

One that after 2 doses of pain medication hasn't subsided.

I suffer with Bruxism.

I clench my jaw unconsciously during the day

and grind my teeth at night.

I wear a dead sexy mouth guard when I sleep but it doesn't make it not grind,

it just protects my teeth from further damage.

My future holds some pretty extensive dental work no doubt.

Sometimes the guard makes the pain worse as it places my jaw

 in an unnatural position so when it grinds....just.....owwww.

My fear, along with grinding my teeth so that they fit together like

pieces of a puzzle, is that I will ultimately get Arthritis in my jaw.

The headaches I suffer with are similar to tension and sinus headaches

but the pain feels like it's deep in my skeleton, in my bones and

my face and head just ache.
Sometimes it makes me nauseous, dizzy and sensitive to light.
Today, it's just throbbing ache.

Here's a visual aid:

I am going to go sit on the couch & bury my head in a pillow with the
occasional hot face cloth application and
wait this thing out.

Winter Wonderland

I am really looking forward to Christmas this year.

I don't know why this year I feel different, I just do.

Actually, I think I am also looking forward to snow.

I say that now, but when I have to walk home from the subway

on snow covered sidewalks I'll grumble a bit to myself I'm sure.

But then I love the feeling when you get indoors out of the cold and your

cheeks start to warm up.

I love it when it is crisp cold and the sky is so clear you can see

loads of stars, even here in the city.

I know everything seems bigger when you're a kid, but we DID

have more snowfall & accumulation when I was a kid.

We never had a snowblower.

The 2 shovels and the broom had a home on the front steps

so you could grab them as you opened the door.

Remember the time you could do that and they wouldn't get stolen?

These photos of me and my brother are from 1976.

I was 8 years old.

My snowsuit was AWESOME.
Red with a Canadian Flag badge and the zipper from neck to ankle.

I still have and still wear that white hat!

Our mittens were no doubt made by my Mom.

The snow would ball up on them and be honest, you ate it too, with bits of yarn in it.

The best was when I'd kick off my boots and my socks would be

holding on by a big toe where they'd worked their way down while outside playing.

Snow Angels

In our backyard

In the front yard

Another in the backyard

Snow makes me think of Christmas, Christmas makes me think of music.

I love Christmas Carols.

I sing them all year round when I'm waiting for the bus and am sure that

no one can hear me. Winter Wonderland is a staple.

I am going to spend some time making a Christmas Carol Playlist so that

my blog will be accompanied by Christmas Carols for the entire

month of December.

Can't wait!

Just Because He's Adorable

These are 2 of my favorite photos of our Crockett.

If I was ever to have an artist paint a picture of him from a photo,

 it'd be this first perfect profile shot.

Pugs, like our Crockett, are awesome.

He is right now laying on a pillow behind me and I'm going to go

give him a belly rub. He loves that.

Thank Dog!

Gratitude and Post Update Nov 5'10

Life can be difficult at times. 

Stress, fear, anxiousness, vulnerability and uncertainty on occasion
creep into my quiet mind.

 I have consciously made an effort to replace these negative thoughts with thoughts of

GRATITUDE.

If I made a list of negative vs. positive things in my life, positive wins by a land slide.

The tough part for me has been to focus on and recognize the positive.

I am a worrier, always have been, always will be, but I am getting better.

I'm not one who could keep a daily list of things I'm grateful for. 

It would make me think about it too much.

I need to learn to recognize these things organically as they happen.

There are the basics, Adam, love, health, family, dog, laughter, gainful employment...

Today, I am grateful for the roof over my head, the food in my pantry, the warm blanket,

perfect pillow, cozy jammies and bed I get to sleep in next to my husband.

I leave the house for work between 6:15-6:30am.

Twice last week and again this morning I came upon a lady

who has been sleeping in the bus shelter at my bus stop.

The City of Toronto over the last year has, with the beautification

of Yonge Street, replaced all the bus shelters.

It is almost as though they were designed specifically so that homeless people

would not choose them as a place of shelter.

The walls are 6 inches shy of the ground.

The wind hits your ankles and goes up your pant leg.

If you have to wait for more than 15 minutes in the cold, your toes freeze.

The seats are divided into 3 sections with a cold raised piece of steel.

You have to be a size 6 for it not to dig into your thigh.

Again, anything longer than a 15 minute wait and your leg would fall asleep.

The lady is about 5'4".

She wears a red winter jacket at a length just above her knees.

The fake fur trimmed hood is up, covering her face.

She wears a long jean skirt to her ankles and flat ballerina type slippers.

By the time I get to the bus stop, she seems to have been up for awhile.

As I walk by, she is putting belongings into a bag.

The seat is covered with boxes.

She's put them under and over the seat dividers to fashion a home made mattress.

She's placed other boxes up the side of the glass so she has a

barrier against the cold glass.



Red Coat Lady's boxes tucked behind the shelter.

 I walk past, she doesn't look up. By the way she moves and holds herself, I'd say she's in her 50's.

I sit on the other bench a few feet away waiting for my bus. We can't see each other because of the ad wall of the shelter. I'm happy for this as I feel I'm invading her

space and privacy in a way.

She takes about 4 trips from the bench to the garbage can, folds up her boxes and places them behind the bus shelter so that they will be there for her to reuse tonight.

I wonder what her story is. Are there people who worry about her? Wonder where she is? Wonder if she is alive? I fear for her saftey.

My bench at the corner by the bus stop.



Seeing homeless men is always sad, but seeing a homeless women hits me in a different way.

She seems so much more vulnerable, exposed.

I wonder why sleeping on the street is better than going to a shelter. I wonder if anyone has tried to help. I wonder what I can do. I am going to hurry up and finish knitting my red scarf so that I can offer it to her.

It seems so little, but if I put myself in her place, I

would hope that someone would do the same for me.

POST UPDATE Nov 5'10
I haven't seen the Red Coat Lady since Monday.
It has this last week cooled down fast, so I hope she's found
warmer and safer shelter.