As life continues to nip at my ears and smack my nose with a newspaper, looks like I'll be gone longer than I had hoped for. Could be after Christmas now. Seems to be one thing after another, but I figure I'm still a lucky puppy overall :D

As life continues to nip at my ears and smack my nose with a newspaper, looks like I'll be gone longer than I had hoped for. Could be after Christmas now. Seems to be one thing after another, but I figure I'm still a lucky puppy overall :D

A truck carrying copies of Roget's Thesaurus overturned on the highway yesterday. Today, the local newspaper reported that the onlookers were stunned, overwhelmed, astonished, bewildered, and dumbfounded.

A truck carrying copies of Roget's Thesaurus overturned on the highway yesterday. Today, the local newspaper reported that the onlookers were stunned, overwhelmed, astonished, bewildered, and dumbfounded.

Desiderata - Les Crane, 1971

(Intro)
You are a child of the universe
No less than the trees and the stars
You have a right

Desiderata, Desiderata, Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant,
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

(chorus)
You are a child of the universe
No less than the trees and the stars
You have a right to be here
And whether or not it is clear to you
No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble,
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere, life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

(chorus)
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Be careful.
Strive to be happy.

(chorus .. repeated)
You are a child of the universe
No less than the trees and the stars
You have a right to be here

Max Ehrmann @ 1927,
adaptation to music by Les Crane.

Anybody see Multiply's new sign in page ? And they're not going to become the next online selling website ? Maybe not be a department store or Ebay but ........... *growwwwwwwwwwwls* http://muds.multiply.com/journal/item/1382/I_want_to_be_on_a_social_media_sharingblogging_site .... air your concerns about this.

Rambling on Canada's Day

We turn 143 years young today. The name Canada comes from the Iroquoian word, Kanata, meaning village or settlement. Just think, if that guy truly understood the language, and that the Iroquoia elder was saying his village was called Kanata, (not the country) we might be called something else today.

; Do I like living here ? Sure. I was born here and I've lived here for 50 years. Opportunity or lack of something didn't see the chance to live anywhere else. Although, twice in my lifetime so far, there had been talk about moving to Alberta (at least it would have been a change of province). Once when I was a teenager, the company dad was working for was opening up a warehouse in Alberta and my parents were considering the pro's and con's of uprooting us from Ontario to go. They decided to stay where we were in the end. Even though I tried talking them into it haha The second time this discussion came about was when I was married to Fang. It was a few years ago and there was a big job boon happening in Alberta and scuttlebutt said there wasn't enough workers in certain job sectors so the pay would be a lot better than it is in Ontario. So we discussed it. I tried to talk him into uprooting us and moving. In the end, he decided to stay here. His friends were here and he had already gotten involved with the local Special Olympic organization.

I haven't had a chance to travel Canada. Oh sure, been to Quebec (next province to the east of Ontario). Dad was a truck driver and had enough seniority to have two dedicated runs a week into Quebec and I would go with him during the summer break a few times. When Fang came along, the three of us would go into Quebec to visit his relatives. I just haven't been anywhere else. Can't even say I've been into Northern Ontario either. I've been to Manitoulin Island. North Bay. Sudbury, Niagara Falls, Windsor, and it takes me four hours to go visit my friend Jean in Sturgeon Falls. Toronto of course. And other than what's along the highway heading to Quebec, I haven't really been east. Kind of sad when Canada is a big country. And never mind I had wanted to hop in a plane and go somewhere too. The U.S. and Australia to name the first two outside of Canada. Just didn't happen, but always hope for the future. If I survive it hahaha.

My sister is ten years, two weeks, two hours, and thirty one minutes younger than me. (yes, I wanted a sister so bad when I was a kid .. my two brothers were fun only some of the time haha) that when she was finally born, I had the age difference figured out the same day. If my birthday is a Monday, hers is exactly two weeks later on a Monday. My brothers? Even while both younger than me, I never really figured out the difference like that. One brother is two years and eight days younger while the other one is three and a half years younger, approximately. I remember, as kids before my sister was born, having nobody else to play outside with, my brothers and I would make a deal. I would play cars with them if they would play 'house' with me. It took me a few times to realize they were sneaky. We always had to do the car thing first. Never 'house'. Guess what happens when you make a deal with two devils like that? Yep. They were too tired or didn't feel like playing 'house' after spending a couple hours playing cars. So I did yearn for a sister to play with. Just that by the time she came along, I was growing out of wanting to play 'house' or with dolls and such. But I did anyways, for her, when she wanted to play.

My sister and her newborn daughter moved out to the west coast of Canada, into British Columbia, back in 1994 and stayed there. Other than a couple visits here. Her daughter is now 16. Troubles at home. I know my sister. It's pretty much her way or the highway type of attitude and if she finds a friend, therapist, boyfriend, whatever that isn't on her side ALL the time, she ditches them. And as I told mom when all this nonsense started happening in that house, between my sister and her daughter, is that my sister doesn't like competition with another woman, and she is seeing her daughter as competition. Her daughter ends up feeling like mom doesn't love her, doesn't want her, etc. Guess they were constantly arguing and cursing each other. My niece went out one night and my sister changed the locks on the apartment so she couldn't get back in !! My niece says she lived on the streets for a few days. My parents stepped in and managed to get their granddaughter here to Ontario. My niece was going to get a job etc etc, but after a few screaming matches with her mother on the phone and a few emails, she had decided to go back and try to work things out. But if worse comes to worse, there is a family she can stay with while she finishes up her high school.

While she was here, she mentioned she had never been to Niagara Falls. So on our May long weekend, the five of us headed down for the day. Beautiful day it was too. She had heard about the Butterfly Conservatory and would like to see it as well.These are the pictures Billy took. His cousin had her camera and he didn't want to be left out, pretty much taking a picture whenever and whatever she was taking a picture of haha. Thought he did a pretty good job. A couple trials before had his finger in the shot but we got that sorted out. Now we have to work on the zoom part of the thing. Maybe once my second job really gets up and running (another story lol), I can finally get money saved to get the camera I've always wanted and he can have the one he used for these pictures.

One I know is the Maid of the Mist (on the left). I wasn't sure if they both were or one was from the U.S. side.

Plates of oranges and soft, brown bananas were all over the conservatory with these signs. Pretty cool.

And plates of what looked like sugar.

I know, he doesn't look like a butterfly, but he was a resident there too haha

No clue what this is called, but it was neat. Apparently Billy and his cousin liked the plant too.

Anyways. Enough rambling for the moment. Goodness knows it's a lot in one shot after you not hearing from me for a few months huh? hahaha Oh, and just so you know, that whole 'eh' thing that is supposed to be our quirk as Canadians? Some might say it. I never did. Which reminds me of a video on Youtube. Was a beer commercial a few years ago, poking fun sort of thing at us, while poking fun at our American neighbours. Shall I post it? Happy Birthday Canada. Still looking good for your age.

Are You True to Your Zodiac Sign, Scorpio?

You are a true Scorpio!

You are secretive, observant and quite intense - a true Scorpio! You have many Scorpio characteristics, including the tendency to control others. You are determined and thrive on competition. You tend to be extremely intuitive and emotional. You can be possessive, however, and demand complete loyalty from others.

Quiz Answers:

1. TRUE. Scorpio is suspicious of other people's intentions and motives. You rarely open up to someone until you are certain you can trust him or her.
2. TRUE. Scorpio is attracted to power and can be quite opportunistic. You believe that everyone in your life has a specific purpose to helping you achieve your objectives.
3. FALSE. Scorpio is the most jealous sign of the zodiac. You demand complete loyalty from a partner and will not tolerate a partner who is flirtatious.
4. FALSE. Although Scorpios tend to pry into other people's lives, they dislike anyone intruding into their personal business. You are extremely secretive and find it difficult to open up to anyone.
5. TRUE. The Scorpio person is determined and also quite competitive. You enjoy a challenge and always finish what you start.
6. FALSE. Scorpios can be loners. You don't like to seek out other people and have a hard time relating to others because of your inability to open up.
7. FALSE. The Scorpio person is ambitious and determined. Once you have decided on a goal, you rarely give up until you have achieved what you set out to do.
8. TRUE. Scorpios are intuitive to the point of being psychic. You usually read situations and people correctly and rely on this ability to help you make decisions.
9. FALSE. Scorpios have a deep-seated need to be in control. When you are not in control of a situation, you become stubborn and uncooperative.
10. TRUE. Like the other two water signs, Cancer and Pisces, Scorpios tend to be emotional. However, unlike Cancer and Pisces, you hide this trait extremely well. You are sometimes perceived as cold and insensitive due to your apparent lack of emotion.

Your Results: You are a true Scorpio!

Here's how everyone else scored:

62%	You are a true Scorpio!	VIEW DEFINITION
34%	You have some Scorpio characteristics.	VIEW DEFINITION
3%	Are you sure you're a Scorpio?	VIEW DEFINITION

I should live in ...

You Should Live in a Rustic House

You are a traditional person with old fashioned values. And you're only looking to impress yourself. You think it's important to have as comfortable a home as possible. You want to feel cozy. You are in touch with nature, and you appreciate a beautiful view. You appreciate the simple, basic things in life. You can be happy just from seeing it snow.

What Kind of Home Should You Live In?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

       

Where have I been ?

Where have I been ? Here. There. Everywhere. Nowhere.

A few months ago, I decided that my son's room needed to be changed around. The thought was there that maybe I will get his tv hooked up to the satellite dish so he doesn't have to suffer through my shows, and I don't have to suffer through his. But in order to do that, chaos had to reign here. Starting March Break, everything in his room, other than furniture, had to be
taken out and being in the apartment we are in, the stuff had to go somewhere and it landed in my room. I didn't sleep in my bed for a week. Good thing I had a couch. And while I was at it, I might as well paint his room too, while the stuff was out. We have been living here for 11 years. It was time.

Made the mistake of telling my parents my plans. Well, maybe not a mistake exactly as they both have been a very big help in my undertaking. Mom came down three days in a row to help me paint. But where I was thinking to have everything said and done by the end of summer, it's going a tad quicker than I thought it would.

I didn't get his room set back to rights when the living room started to get spring cleaned and painted. My biggest fear was when my youngest brother showed up with my parents one Sunday to help dad take out my couch. It was one of those L-shaped things, in only two pieces, with a lazy-boy type thing at each end. Saying that thing was heavy and awkward is an understatement. I was so afraid that one or the both of them would pop a hernia or pull a muscle moving it out of here. If either suffered from it, they didn't say. My brother is 47 and dad is 70.

I make the comment at Easter about waiting until the May long weekend to start the kitchen. Well? Other than the small chest freezer not being cleaned out and defrosted, the kitchen is done. No easy task as the wallpaper being removed revealed the aftereffects of an upstairs leak in the wall. Took the landlord (85) and his wife (80) a week and a half to replace that section of drywall (would have been a lot quicker if he hired someone or let me do it lol) and get me to the point of painting the wall before the cupboard went back up. But what got the kitchen started was mom finding a teak, two piece buffet/hutch thing at a Habitat for Humanity store near them that would be 'perfect' for me and she couldn't help herself and bought it.

So there I was. I still had some things in my bedroom that belonged in my sons room or in the donation box when a pile of kitchen stuff landed in my room as well. Even odds and bobs of my living room was in there.

And no, the bathroom hasn't had it's second coat of paint on the walls yet or the small cupboards to hang on the wall getting their first coat of paint. So guess where some of the bathroom stuff landed ? Yep. My room too. Is a wonder I even had a pathway around the bed to get to it, let alone actually get in it.

And even though there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the spring cleaning and painting and the chaos I create, I got very stressed out over it (the last thing I needed too)

Yes, I tend to be a bit of a pack rat and had a lot of stuff to go through (but I was an organized pack rat lol) it is creating the chaos to unpack rat myself that had me in jitters. There was one Saturday night where my bedroom was in shambles, my bed covered in stuff with nowhere to put it out of the way, the living room was in a mess and the kitchen was utter chaos. Dad had a church meeting that particular Saturday, so mom came down by herself to help paint and I tell you, after she left I sat on the bottom step of the stairs leading in from my door to the livingroom and had no clue whatsoever of where I was going to sleep that night !! I couldn't put anything away. I couldn't move anything anywhere out of the way as the walls we were working on needed a second coat. My son found me there a bit later. Much as I try to hide it, he does get very very concerned finding mom with tears running down her face. Debating whether to go sleep in the car that night, I ended up grabbing a comforter out of the kid's room, throwing it on a big enough spot on the living room rug that would not have me curled up into a big ball and slept there. Not well, mind you. Dang floor is hard !! At least I wouldn't have had far to fall if I fell out of bed huh? hahaha I didn't tell my parents about having to do that for a couple weeks. Mom hadn't realized the mess I had going and the extra chaos we created that day when she left.

While I tend to be a pack rat, it's always been organized confusion. This bit about having all this stuff out of place and all over has been a bit much and I've had some real rough days, thinking it'll never end. So far, it's been almost two months going, what with having to stop to do the school bus thing, and attempts at doing the usual household chore stuff. Plus the kid insists on eating so I have to stop and make dinner/do dishes. Spend some time with the kid. And in there somewhere, I try to sleep. Not doing that very good either.

I haven't got a replacement couch yet. Good things come to those that wait I guess. There is a ReUse store down the road here that benefits the life skills program my son goes to and I've been keeping my eye out there for a loveseat or a small couch. Saw one I liked for a very affordable price, but by the time I got in position enough to get it, it was gone. So now I continue to make do with my grandmothers old wooden rocking chair and an office chair. I have a couple of those folding chairs in a bag things if someone shows up unannounced. My table and chairs went out the door a couple weeks ago (not a great loss). With the buffet/hutch thing, my table was just too big. I don't have a dining room and the end of the kitchen where a table could go isn't that big.

The stuff I've decided isn't worth hanging onto anymore and still in decent/good shape is going to a charity fund raiser being held later in May to benefit the local abused women's shelter where my parents live. My parents are amazed at the stuff I've gotten rid of so far (and I have another pile for them sitting here). I was asked why I don't have a yard sale and make a few bucks but where would I put all this stuff until that day arrives ? So at least it's going to a good cause and I'm okay with that. Better than at a landfill and it's out of here.

Before Fang moved out last summer, I had actually stopped caring enough of the home environment to keep up with the dusting and vacuuming, the washing of floors etc. Sounds awful, I know, but I was tired of all the prep work I had to do to accomplish those chores because he didn't care enough ... or figured that was part of my job as a wife ... to put his stuff away or put things back where he got them from etc etc. There was just too many times that I went through this place like a whirlwind and had it looking spotless, only to run to the grocery store and come back a couple hours later and wonder what bomb went off in my absence. Never mind the embarrassment of having someone popping in and seeing the mess, I just stopped caring. Once he moved out, then I slowly realized that if something was out of place, it was my doing. Or the kids but he learned quickly enough lol. I was finally starting to get back to enjoying doing those mundane household chores again and reveling in the cleanliness and neatness of the place that lasted days and not just mere seconds or minutes. So that's why the big spring cleaning/painting undertaking and the chaos that ensued stressed me out so bad. It was like I had taken a giant leap backwards and half expected Fang to walk in and just plop his butt down in the office chair and not move a muscle like he used to. He wouldn't dare either. I now have a sign on my door warning him that if he walks in here and lights a cigarette, he's going to get his butt kicked. That should be enough of a deterrent lol. But seriously, after all the painting and whatnot ? If he wants to see 56 (he's 55), he better not light up in here.

But really, all that isn't the only reason why I've been away from Multiply. But maybe that's part two lol

NO NO NO !!!

Did anybody watch the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics ?

And yes, I watched it and I'm posting this after watching the lighting of the cauldron.


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrowls