Gus Gus

Well it's true. Little GusGus is a blanket sucker! But just this blanket. He's such a funny little fellow!

Do I hear Bells?

Let me start at the beginning. In September I told my boyfriend that I was going to propose to him this year. We both had a chuckle about it at work over a bin of parts. I know when I left that he thought I was kidding. I walked away and approached one of his good friends (Kenny) to say 'hi' and proceeded to tell him. My plan was to do it on Halloween at Kenny's house. Kenny is doing a haunted house this year and we are going there to spook it up with them. I thought it would be really funny to propose when we were all gored up.

So, on Thursday my sweetie informs me that he has booked Friday off, (which is awesome as I was done Friday at 7am) and then says he wants to go to the ROM. (For those of you that don't know the ROM is the Royal Ontario Museum). Now, this put me in a bit of a quandary. The ROM was one of our first dates. What's a girl who's about to propose do?

I caved into the completely cheesy romantic side of me...that's what I did! With ring in my purse we were off to the museum. Traffic was horrible. We were stuck on the highway for a little more then an hour. Then we got lost. Then we got stuck in more traffic while trying to find parking. Then we had to figure out how to get to the museum from where we parked! ANARCHY!!! Finally, we got there...slightly soggy but we got there. The first exhibit we hit was the China exhibit. They had all sorts of beautiful statues from the Ming Dynasty, just incredible...my favorite was the very angry camel. Well the two of us are tucked into two cushy chairs in a corner so Aaron can fiddle with his camera lenses. (I had purchased his ring that day just before we had left...had to speed things up a bit.) So I asked him if he wanted to see what I had bought today. I hand him the box and he's like "What is it?" I mean really, I asked if he wanted to see it and how is going to see it without opening the thing I hand him?!?! Boys are silly. Anyway he opens the box and there is this little metal box...he thought it was earings that I bought, and then he opened it. "Oh! you bought me a ring!" So I look up and I said "Will you marry me?" and what does my honey reply with? "What? Sure" Now I am laughing "Can you not answer with a sure and give me a yes or a no please?" Turns out, my honey thought I was kidding! So folks, it has finally happened...I am getting married!

We spent this weekend telling our families. We only have two more family members to tell and that happens tomorrow. So far everyone has gotten a kick out of our proposal and Aaron is enjoying telling it! I hope you enjoyed the wedding proposal of two very unconventional people!

Haven't been blogging much lately so here is a quick update. Been busy with work, they are going full board which I think is silly but that is what they are doing. We are currently building like 30 boxes for Sadie's mom. She is planning on giving them to her staff for Christmas. We are filling them with some chunk soaps, a popsicle soap, a spa cloth which we make by hand and some bath salts. My time is also filled with looking after our new kitty. He is about 6 weeks old and super duper cute. He is part Maine Coon and part domestic tabby. We have named him Sir Livingston Angus Edward III or Gus Gus for short. Gus Gus is the cutest little fuzz ball ever! His sister Zoe was a bit jealous at first, actually pissed is more like it but she is coming around. Just the other day they had a lovely moment which involved Zoe giving him a wee bit of a bath. So our new addition to the family is fitting in well.

In Memory

Zeus "Phatty" Yeoman
March 1995-September 14th, 2009
May he rest comfortably on the eternal couch.

On Monday I had to put down my baby Phatty. I am devastated. He was 14 years old and my big suck. His sister is lost without him and our condo seems very empty. Phatty had a good life and was loved so much. My friends and family came out to support Aaron and myself and we ended up with an impromptue wake for him. He was loved by all for his gentleness and his super size as well as for his totally laid back attitude. We all loved to rub is big belly and listen to him purr from across the room. My fat cat will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Rest in Peace Phatty, Mama loves you.

Tornado hits my home town!

Your Weather: Milton Tornado - The Weather Network

Shared via AddThis

This sucker hit my home town when I was at work! Lived in Milton for more then 26 years and never seen anything like it! Usually a twister that heads our way glides off of the escarpment and misses us completely, but not this time! It was a total site to see! Here is how I saw it.

Outside in the smoke shack at work on my lunch break. It's me and several other people. Minh starts to point "Look look rain!" (he's from Vietnam and speaks Viet-English) so we look over. It was a black wall of rain and we were all completely mesmerized by it! It moved in fast and for a bit we all huddled in the smoke shack laughing at how hard it was raining. Then the shack started to shake somthing fierce so being the brave souls we are we all ran for it laughin our butts off. We stood in the die storage area and watched the storm through the bay door. The sky was black, then it was green. We knew something really bad was going down close by when we noticed the rain was literally sideways and the puddles were all showing rotation. Craziest thing I have ever seen.

Toto there really is no place like home!

Just a note here, no one was hurt in this twister, it was mainly tree and roof damage as well as a couple of cars getting flattened in their driveways.

check out the link above to see a picture of the twister!

Just popping in to say that afternoon shifts give me no time to play! Hope to be back soon!

Hey it's a Miracle!

So I can't grow anything. I generally kill every plant I have ever owned. Aaron went to his church reunion and brought home a potted chrysanthemum. It was very cute, and I killed it. So now I have found myself two cute little plants. One is a lavender and the other is peppermint! I have them out on my little back porch and I check them every day like a complete nerd! To my surprise, last night when I was out for a smoke I had a little look at my herbs and voila! My peppermint plant is starting to bloom! I am so proud of this small and feeble achievement that I had to post it! Now if I could only figure out how to get the lavender to bloom that would be fantastic!

MySpace.com Blogs - nicole MySpace Blog

MySpace.com Blogs - nicole MySpace Blog

Shared via AddThis

I'm going back to work! I'm going back to work! I'm going back to work! I'm going back to work!!!!!

okay so i am a little excited! I am going back for what looks like 3 weeks, followed by a layoff of maybe 3 weeks and then hopefully I will be back for a while after that! All I want to do is put hardwood floors in the condo, sell the condo, buy a house and move....wow now that I have written that out it seems like a pretty tall order! Anyone got a ladder?

Been busy this week! Am preparing the gifts for Rachel's wedding (my honey's little sister). She has 5 attendants, a junior attendant and a flower girl. So we are making 5 boxes for adults and two for the girls...plus one for Rachel that she doesn't know about...because it is for her!

I have knocked off the following today. Finished the last two spa cloths. Mixed 12 bags of Lavender/Mint bath salts. Made a batch and a half of Lavender/Mint salt scrubs. Tomorrow will be all of the chunk soaps, plus the rest of the kids soaps! Oh and also maybe some votives as well! The wedding is on the 31st of July but now that I am heading to work on Monday (for afternoons no less) I feel the need to get it all done NOW!!! July is shaping up like December! Four birthdays, two weddings, and the finale of Canada's Top Model!

Speaking of December I am already starting on Christmas gifts. Am doing a bunch of my bags up for the crocheters in my life. Gonna have gnarly old hands by the time I am old!

Oh and tomorrow I go and buy new work shoes...learned my lesson last time!

And the winner is.....

Kim and Victoria! Guys, please send my your mailing information so I can send you your prize!
Also, I would like to thank everyone who played! Have a great weekend!

What's on my Hook?!?

Last week I had a lovely day with my friend Marti. We spent the afternoon chatting and having some cold beers in the sun. Afterwards, we went inside to find her mom's yarn collection! Her mom knits, but hasn't picked up the needles since Marti was little and she said that I could have free run! I was so excited! And some of the yarns I grabbed were pretty old and in some great 70-80's colours! So, from this collection I told Marti that I would make her a scarf! This took me like 3 days. It's double crochet for the whole piece. I made it narrow and long so that she could double it up and wrap it around. (Marti works on a farm with horses so she is outside all year round!) I think it'll keep her warm!




Below is what I worked on while at the cottage! I spent many of my afternoon's on the deck crocheting myself a crochet bag! A special nod here to Cher for introducing me to Tunsanian Crochet! This is a pattern that I altered for a beach bag with matt attached to it. It used one 12 oz ball of Bernat Handcrafter Cotton Naturals...and some white I had kicking around to sew it all together and make the handles!

When I first finished it I was worried about the roll-down factor. Last night I took my new bag over to our friend Jamie's house for a test drive. Turns out the roll-down isn't such a bad thing! It can hold a lot and the roll-down keeps all the yarn in while opening up the bag so you can fish for the stuff you need! I think it's big enough to fit all the yarns for a afghan! Will have to check that one out soon!



Wonder what everyone else has on their hooks?

An Update on my Little Drama Queen!

Which really is an inaccurate title for my little kitty. She is actually not that dramatic about it at all! (the drama stems from her owners being high strung and bored!)

Took Zoe to the vet the other day. Poor dear was so pissed! She had been hanging out in her carrier all day, so I just figured she'd be fine with going. I closed the door and locked her in. We walked outside and she was fine. I put her down beside the car while I got the door open and she started howling! Damn cat hates the car! She cried the whole two minutes to the vet, and for 15 minutes at the vets while we waited! Kitty was unimpressed! We got into the exam room and let her out of her carrier and I thought it was going to be non-dramatic. She sniffed around and rubbed up against things, you know the usual cat stuff. Well we got her on the exam table and that was that! She tried her damnedest to escape anyway she could. And I don't blame her! Kittie was poked and prodded and had her temperature taken. Dr gave her a two week shot of antibiotic and some prescription food with the advice for lots of water.

We get her back into her case, into the car, and finally home. We are met by a freaked out Phatty who we could hear crying all the way down the hall! (He doesn't like to be separated from his sister). We let our little princess out of her case and the first thing she does is...pee on the carpet.Knew I had that coming! I fed her some food and she scarfed it down which was awesome because she hadn't eaten or drank anything at all. After trying to get her to take some water (with a straw no less...no eyedropper!) I got smart. I was on to her shenanigans! I put a 1/4 cup of water in with her wet vet food...she ate it all up! I will have to keep this up until I actually see her go for the water dish. She keeps looking at it like she wants some but can't bring herself to drink. Thank the Gods I am smarter than my cat! Mostly!

Drama, brought to you by the cat!

This is my kitty Zoe. She has many monikers like Zoesaphine the Drama Queen, Zoester, Princess and Maou. Well my little kitty got sick yesterday. Aaron called me all worried and I wasn't really concerned. Cats have a tendency to yak a lot. But when I got home I noticed that she was frequently in the litter box with no results. So today it is off to the vets. My kitties are indoor cats, so they don't get their shots every year, which I am sure the vet will frown upon. So I am pretty sure that my vet bill is going to be astronomical, which is going to suck because I and Aaron are still laid off from work. Both of my cats are really healthy and at 13 to get sick for the first time is pretty good. They lead a pretty non-exciting life usually. Well except for Zoe today who is going to go for a car ride and get sick to her stomach. Think a cat will drink cranberry juice? Wish us luck and keep my pretty kitty in your thoughts!

Aaron's 5 Star Getaway!

This Sunday I will be heading to the cottage. It's Aaron's cottage and we only get there once a year. We will be gone for a week, and needless to say I know I will have lots of reading to catch up on when I get back!

We are leaving at 3am Sunday morning. It's a 6 hour drive so we figure if we leave that early we will be in North Bay by 6ish, grab some gas and grub and then push on for the final 3 1/2 hours! It really is a beautiful drive. Once we pass North Bay the highway has all of these little lakes just off the side. We always pass them and are like "Oh, got fish there sometime..."although we just keep driving. This year however we plan on stopping at a couple. Even if we catch nothing that is okay. I am really looking forward to trying out Aaron's new wide angle lens!

So the cottage we like to call Aaron's 5 star Retreat. It is located on Lake Sesekinika, just outside of Timmins Ontario. The cottage is in the shape of an octagon, and complete with two round beds! Nana told us that she saw a Bobcat out in the backyard (the grandparents live in the house next to the cottage), so maybe I can get some really neat pic's...from a safe distance of course!

I look forward to this trip every year. I love the drive up even though it takes us forever! I usually read to Aaron and we do crosswords or just jab about what we are going to do. It almost always involves sleeping in and relaxing!

In preparation for our trip we have spent the last day or so doing the following: cleaning up the condo (because it is way more fun to come home to a clean home) and I have been up to my armpits in laundry. We have also been foraging for food as I am not grocery shopping this close to our trip. We stop in Kirkland Lake to get food so that we aren't over packing the car with stuff. There is after all three of us heading up this year in one car so it'll be tight already!

Well my dears, I am off! I hope you all have a fantastic week! If I can ghost a signal at the cottage I will come on and check out what's been happening with all of you! As my boss used to tell us before we left the breakout room..."Play safe, and have fun."

Contest post is one post down!!!

The Contest!

Put Up Your Happy Place!


Get out your camera's kids! This contest is about your happy places!

How to Enter: Take a picture of a place that makes you happy, be it your cottage, your backyard, a local park or hey even your room! Post your picture and tell us why this place makes you happy! (to make it easy for me to find, post it under My Happy Place!) Send your friends over to enter for an extra ballot! (make sure they mention you sent them!) Follow my blog for yet another chance at winning!

The Prize:
A lovely assortment of my handmade bath stuffs! I don't have a photo yet as I am still making the prize!

Contest ends on July 12 th, 2009.

Good luck and have fun!

Milton Street Festival and Contest Teaser!

Been busy lately!

On the weekend Sadie (seen in photo looking rather pleased with our efforts!) Lauren and I had our first booth! We were at the Milton Street Festival selling our bath products! Here is what we had for sale! From the left: Lavender Mint, Vanilla Mint, Cinnamon, Patchouli, and Orange Vanilla soaps. Behind those are all of our bath salts (in the blue puffy stuff). Next is a couple of boxes of our candles in various smells. We had some spa cloths (thanks Cher!) and then all of our kids soaps, from Popsicles and lollipops to peppermint swirls and chunk soaps! Made about $200 on Saturday which is awesome! We didn't sell everything but are pretty sure we can work the kinks out in our plans! We did however sell out of our soaps for kids...which is always fun! The festival committee put us right beside a kids painting booth as we had a hand washing station. Lots of entertainment there!

Also, I will be holding a contest for some of our fabulous bath products! It will start on Friday June 12th and will run for a month. More details on Friday but I will tease you all with this...get your camera's ready!

Today, and a movie review with no spoiler!

Oh my today is a beautiful day! Think I might enjoy some if not most of it outside! Maybe I will head over to my local Home Depot and pick up two lawn chairs! We have only two and one is broken, both were uncomfortable, and it is time for new ones. The boyfriend has a hard time letting things go and I am anticipating a bit of a struggle. He will be fine with the concept of two new chairs I am sure but he will want to keep the one that isn't broken. It's worn, it's not comfy, and even though it isn't broken 'yet' it is well on it's way. Every time you sit in it it creaks louder and louder! Maybe I'll just toss it when he isn't looking...or maybe I will get lucky and it will 'mysteriously' break. I know it sounds horrible but really, this chair is well past it's prime.

Went and saw the new Star Trek movie last night. We met up with Aaron's friend Fraser (check out my blog on fishing on the weekend!) and although I like Fraser, I had wanted this to be like a date night. It's NOT a date with three people. Aaron spent like a half an hour trying to convince me to go. He even went so far as to say he'd cancel with Fraser but I was like 'No, you made plans I'm fine, you go' (cause I am stubborn like that) Finally I relented after he bribed me with a promise of 'date night' involving Angels and Demons! Needless to say I am glad that I went. Without giving anything away...the movie was awesome! Visually stunning, just the most spectacular eye candy in a very long time! The special effects were just incredible! The plot was also very good, leaving a healthy twist at the end. What was show stopping? The performances by Karl Urban (Bones McCoy) and Simon Pegg (Scotty) stole the show! This movie made me laugh, made me cry and made me want more. Go see this flick it's a fun romp and a great installment for the Star Trek series! 5 Stars!

The Escapades of Fritz the Gnome

When I lived in Acton I had a great neighbor named Stella. Stella had a wide collection of garden gnomes that lived in her garden. I had been planning a trip to Minneapolis with a friend and at the last minute decided to play a little prank on my neighbor. I kidnapped one of her gnomes! My girlfriend and I have this thing we used to do whenever we went over the border. We would strap our teddy bears into the backseat, belted in for safety obviously! It always gets a laugh from the boarder guards to see two grown women doing this, and we always got a kick out of giving someone a laugh at our expense! Now, let me paint this picture for you.

All summer we watched Stella pitch a heated battle with grubs in her lawn. She tried everything on the market to get rid of them and nothing worked so she set too with a plastic container and a small gardening shovel and picked them out by hand. For a while she thought she was loosing the battle as the grubs kept disappearing from her container whenever she went inside...it was blue jays up on the wire.

So it is the night before my trip. I had just gotten home from work at the gas station and was hanging out with my friend Amy when this plan just hit me! I was very incognito about this heist! I belly crawled in front of their hedge, slipped my arm through and grabbed the first gnome I hit, and brought it back to Amy. Much to my dismay, Amy declared I had not grabbed a gnome as this guy had no beard! Back on my belly to put him back and grab another, and Fritz was the winner.

Now not wanting to upset my neighbor with the prospect of one of her gnomes being stolen I wrote her a note and stuck it to a stick in the spot where Fritz had formally been. It went as follows

My Dearest Stella
After a long and arduous battle against the army of grubs, and our subsequent victory I have decided to take a much needed vacation. I will return in two weeks.
Love Fritz, the Garden Gnome.

Picture this. The next day I am spending all of my time looking out the bedroom window watching Stella garden and waiting for her to notice her note where Fritz had been. Her friend popped by and noticed the note in the garden. Stella read it, passed it to her friend and then they both laughed.

So off to the boarder with my friend, Fritz the Gnome safely wrapped in a towel and belted into the back seat while sitting on a pillow. Here are a few of the pictures we took of Fritz the Gnome on vacation!

This is Fritz driving through some construction in Wisconsin!

Fritz is riding shot gun giving us directions so we don't get lost! Our route is on the map!

Fritz having a look at the scenic lookout in Michigan!

Fritz at the beach! Is it a vacation without a beach?


The payoff from this gag was huge! My sister bought Fritz a friend named Franz! We returned Fritz to his spot in the garden with his new found friend and a lovely little picture book documenting his journey! We leaned the two gnomes up against each other and surrounded them with Red Cap 'stubby' beer bottles and the album. Large laughs ensued!

We watched carefully the next day, waiting to see Stella be reunited with Fritz. When I fessed up to my 'crime' I was thrilled to hear the results! Her friend called her everyday to see if Fritz was back from his vacation! She was delighted with the photo album and the new addition to her garden! She did however lament that after his vacation Fritz had done nothing and had become lazy! The album comes out whenever she has new company come over. Stella you are awesome!

I was inspired to share this story when I read some of the adventures of Bilbo the garden Gnome! Thanks Victoria and Kim!

Fishing weekend at Fraser's cottage

Well here are some pictures from our successful fishing trip on the weekend! We caught 8 fish in total, 2 lake trout and 6 small mouth bass! All fishies were returned to water as we don't keep what we catch unless they are not going to survive...thankfully we are pro's at getting lours out of fish mouths!

This is Fraser! He is our fishing guru! His cottage is on Lake Joseph. It's a beautiful large fresh water lake with lots of things to catch including trout, pike, large and small mouth bass and apparently walleyes...who knew! What a fantastic little smally Fraser caught on Friday!

This is my honey Aaron posing with with his lake trout! It was funny because we thought he was maybe hitting the bottom of the lake bed and then he reeled in this monster! Silly fish didn't put up a fight until he saw the boat! He was very gracious when we got him in and happily posed for this picture! We caught this guy in Fraser's bay which we kind of expected! Lots of down trees in the bay near the shore and we know how much fishes like to hid in shadows!
Last but not least is ME!!! Gave the boys the gears about how I was going to catch the Loc Ness Monster with my little pink $30 fishing rod! Instead I pulled up this bad boy! He gave me a really good fight which was awesome as he is only the second fish I have ever caught! I think that is obvious by my insane smile! I named him Fred Fish, thanked him for hopping on my line and then let him go! I even got to give him a belly rub before I did! I think he liked it! Just sort of swam away like nothing major happened!
We had a really funny discussion on the boat that Friday. We were talking about fishing 'out of season' as small mouths are not in season yet. We have come to the conclusion that we can't get in trouble for catching them out of season as we threw them all back and really, we have no control over what jumps onto the hook! Fishes just see the lours and chomp...they don't know the difference and really I don't think they care....they're just thinking about dinner!

So what did we have on our rods? I was using a white jerk bait. Which turned out to be an awesome pick as one that I almost caught, jumped off my line and spit out a little bait fish it had been eating! It just so happened to be white! The second fish I caught I was using a black Chug Bug surface lour, and I caught him off the dock at around sunset. Our pictures of this guy aren't so hot as the greedy little bugger swallowed the whole lour! Took some pliers and some finagling to get that one out but we did and sent him on his way. No time for a pose with that one!

Aaron's trout he caught using a white chatter bait which I had suggested all weekend. With the weather being all wonky and fish being persnickety (oh yeah that's right persnickety...I said it!) about weather I figured something shiny and noisy would get their attention...turns out the novice was right! (patting my own back here!)

Saturday was crappy! It rained all day! And while the boys braved the weather I stayed at the cottage and kept the fire burning...literally! They had no success during the rain but afterwards we caught one while trolling with a dipsy diver. Not bad considering that this is the first fish we have caught after a big rain.

Other things we saw at the cottage? Well, Friday we went to get some groceries and on our way down the cottage road we saw a big black bear! We stopped the car and marvelled at this animal on the side of the road and then watched it head into the bush. The surprise? When she came out of the ditch and headed into the forest following her were two little cubs! The were so fluffy and cute! It was amazing to see! Have seen only one other bear at the cottage and he was just a little guy (maybe a year or two) going for a swim.

Here is the little bear we saw last year going for a swim. You can just see his head poking out of the water. I was surprised actually how fast they can swim! We moved the boat just a bit closer for a picture and as you can see we weren't that close at all, and he just like put on the turbo!

Here is the same bear getting out of the water on the island. There are cottages on this island and when he got out of the water he just ran! We saw a cottager walking out onto his dock and warned him of the bear. He ran safely back to his cottage for his bear horn and managed to give us the courtesy wave too!

Occasionally bears will break into cottages on Fraser's lake. It's kind of scary but they seem to only do it when no one is around...which is good! You can always tell when there is a bear around as the cottagers that are up get those bear horns blasting! No hiking for us for while! At least not with Momma and her Babies out there!

All together it was a fantastic weekend! The count for the summer is as follows

Fraser 1 lake trout, 3 small mouth bass
Aaron 1 lake trout, 2 small mouth bass
Nikky (me!) 2 small mouth bass.

Oh yeah boys it's on! Me and my little pink fishing rod are going to out catch you both!

Today I recieved this award from Cher over at Bad Kitty Blog! ~You spread joy and love like an acorn; small packages becoming tall and sturdy oaks that keep on giving~ "This is one of the most meaningful awards in the blog world because it honors women who are incredible inspirational in their intelligent and witty writing, and by doing so, this award Celebrates the strong, smart, and inspirational spirit of women!"

Thanks Cher you are awesome!

Here are the ladies that I am giving this award to!

Cher at Bad Kitty Blog- even though she already has one! ;)

Kim and Victoria- over at Living and Gardening inIdaho

Aelwyn at Hedgewitch Hollow

Rosemary at Rosemary's Blog Spot

Kandyblossom at Gnome Sweet Gnome

Nothing terribly exciting going on today. Later I am going to my friend Lauren's house were we along with Alex, Ann, and Sadie are all going to watch Top Model and Lost. We are such girls!

Yesterday was nutty. That's the only way I can explain it. Nothing seemed to go our way yesterday. First Aaron tries to do his EI report over the phone. The knob on the other end told him that he had to file on line. So he explains to said knob about having to declare other monies, and buddy still wouldn't do it. It's crazy because he filed over the phone last time. Anyway, after being on hold for 15 minutes and being told all of this Aaron gets off the phone and files online. Only to have to call them back and be put on hold for another 15 minutes. INSANE! But it doesn't stop there.

Then we were on our way to the EI office, just to drop something off. An ROE for his short-term disability. What was supposed to be a pop in and pop out type of scenario, ended up taking like more than an hour! The lady at the counter made us sit and wait to talk to someone, who, as it turns out, we didn't have to speak to in the first place. GRRRR

After seeing our tax dollars at work we hit Staples for an erasable calendar, and then off to Home Depot. All I wanted was some light bulbs for our lamp. I swear! After looking ourselves and then finally asking a couple of people it turns out that this time, Home Depot couldn't help! So needless to say i am currently sitting in a very dark living room writing this blog by the glow of the television and bathroom light. ANARCHY!!!

Well here's hoping that today I can find my light bulbs!

Little Baby Sweaters

This is the pattern for the little baby sweaters that are in my last post. The sizes are for 3 months and 6 months in brackets.

Ch 43 (47) loosely

1. Dc in 4th chain from hook and in next 6 chs, (2dc,ch2,2dc) in next ch. Dc in next 2 (4) chs, (2dc, ch2,2dc) in next ch. Dc in next 17 ch, (2dc, ch2, 2dc) in next ch. Dc in next 2 (4) chs, (2dc, ch2, 2dc) in next ch, dc in last 8 chs.
2. Ch 3 turn, (counts as first dc now and throughout) *dc in next st and in each st across to next ch 2 space, (2dc, ch2, 2dc) in ch2 space; Repeat from * 3 times more, 69 (73)dc in row
3. Repeat row 2, 4 (5) times. 133 (153) dc in row

Next row Ch 3 turn *dc in next dc and in each dc across to next ch2 space. (dc, ch2, dc) in ch2 space; Repeat from * 3 more times.


Repeat last row 3 times, do not finish off. 165 (185) dc in row


Body

1. Ch 3 turn, *dc in each st across to ch2 space {YO, insert into hole, pull up a loop, YO, and draw through 2 loops on hook, skip next 34 (40) dc (your making the arm hole here) to next ch 2 sp. YO, insert into hole, pull up a loop, YO, and draw through 2 loops on hook, YO, and draw through all 3 loops on hook.} Dc across to next ch2 sp and repeat instructions from {.
2. Ch3 turn, 1 dc in each, across to end.
3. repeat row 2 twelve times.
4. finish off

Sleeve


Size 3 months only
With wrong side facing and holding ch 2 sps at armhole together, join yarn with slip st in BOTH sps. Ch3, dc in nest 5 dc, decrease, (YO, insert, pull up loop, YO pull through 2 loops, repeat in next st, YO pull through all 3 loops on hook), dc in next 9dc, twice; dc in last 5 dc jon with slip stitch. (32 dc)

Size 6 months only
With wrong side facing and holding ch 2 sps at armhole together, join yarn with slip st in BOTH sps; ch 3 turn, dc in next 19 dc, decrease dc in each dc around to end, join with slip st. (40 dc)

rounds 2-11, dc in each st around.

Rnd12) Ch3 turn, 1 dc in next st, decrease,dc in next 3 sts, decrease, dc in next 4 sts, decrease, *dc in next 3 sts, decrease;repeat to end. join with sl st.

Rnd13) ch 1 turn, 1 sc in each st around, join with sl st
Rnd14)sc in first 4 (5) st * pullup a loop innext two sts, YO and draw through all 3 loops on hook. sc in next 3 sts * repeat from * to end.

Rnd15) ch 1 do not turn, 1 sc in each st to end. finish off.

repeat for other arm.

For neck trim I just winged it. Joined yarn on wrong side and worked in between stitches, using dc and ch1 spaces, topping it off with a row of sc. weave in ribbon.

First I would like to start this blog by saying hello to everyone who reads it. "hello!"! I have been gone for a while and I am sorry! I have been busy which is unusual as I am still not working but hey, at least I am not bored!

Today was a beautiful day in Southern Ontario or as I like to call it the old S.O. It was warm and sunny, almost 30 degrees Celsius! So today i ventured out to visit some friends. I wore my Capri pants and a white t-shirt and the cutest shoes ever! they are little and plaid in orange, brown and blue...sounds horrible but they are super cute. Anyway, I love these shoes but I have a dilemma. How do I put this....swamp foot? trench foot? factory foot? Man they are so cute but do they ever make my feet stink! Anybody got any good ideas to get the swamp out of your favorite shoes? I febreezed the snot out of them today but to no avail! I wonder if i could get away with putting them in the washer? Hmmm.

Well, let's move on to things that smell and look a lot better than my feet shall we?

My friend over at Bad Kitty Blog is having a contest! She is quite the crafty person you see and she is doing a yarn junkies dream give-away! Check out her awesome blog to enter! You will find her in my list of blogs that I am addicted to. There is all kinds of crocheting bling in her prize and it's going to be fabulous! I envy the lucky duck that wins this prize! I will also be hosting a give-away coming soon...stay tuned for the exciting details!

Now on to what has kept me so busy...
This is what has kept me so busy! This fantastic baby blanket pattern can be found at http://thekidneybean.wordpress.com , the little jackets are a pattern of my own. If you would like the pattern let me know and I will post it in a blog! This pattern was so much fun to do and so fast...just double crochets with the odd special stitch thrown in! It is listed as intermediate but I think it should be easy...just one big round!

Been busy lately. Managed to make it through one week of work. Hoping the two running the crew learn to relax a bit or I am going to loose my mind. People that uptight cause a lot of stress and I don't really feel like being stressed out 40 hours a week. If they would just leave us all alone to get our jobs done I think we'd be a much happier crew.

Aaron and I went to our friend Jamie's house last night to watch some wrestlemania. Now don't go judging me! We like to bet on who is going to win...and yes we all know it's fake! Still it's a good laugh. Saturday was all about playing cards. We play this game called whist and also eucker.

Today, am going down to Sadie's house to do I don't know what. Will probably do some crocheting while I am there. Right now I am making a baby afghan that is in the shape of a star! I stumbled across the pattern while i was searching for baby outfits. I got it from a blog and will leave the link to it. http://thekidneybean.wordpress.com Then look for the post A Whole Load of Craft~Chromium Star Blanket. This pattern is super easy to do and I thank that woman for posting it as squares were starting to get boring!

I got Sadie, Lauren and I a pay gig for our candles! Aaron's sister is getting married and she wants candles as well as flowers at her table and asked us to make them. She only has four months until the big day, so I hope that she makes up her mind soon! Don't want to be making candles the night before her wedding!

Hoping that the weather starts to get nicer up here soon. Today is rainy and cold and all I want to do is go for a walk...but not in the rainy and cold.

Am watching CNN and they are talking about the receptionist in Binghamton NY who was shot. She faked her death and then called 911. Way to go for being brave! This is why you should always be nice to your receptionist...she really is the front line! Ms. DeLucia, hope you feel better soon...you really are a hero.

Hope this all finds you having a fantastic day...hoping the sun is shining where you live!

ARGH!

Well I am back at work! Even though I think it's only for one week, it's still better than nothing. Although, (because you can't start a sentence with but) I am going insane. I like my job don't get me wrong. Over the moon at being back actually. The problem? The two slave drivers I work for.

One is just so full of himself that if I could punt his smarmy ass across the room! He is so full of himself and he treats everyone like shit. The other one is just the same only he is so anal I actually had to explain to him why I had one minute of no production on my press on a job that I was running by myself and packing by myself. I mean really? One minute? You were ten freakin' feet from me and watched me do both jobs! There was no one else to do it...everyone was busy! You had to take one person off of a sort and put them on a press to take someone else off that press to help you change a job because you can't drive a fork lift and can't figure out lefty loosy righty tighty! I almost flipped on him. I told him in my most sarcastic voice that I was either packing parts or pulling out more parts or maybe I was doing both. The next time he asks me a fucking stupid question like that my ass is not even going to answer him. I am going to walk right into the general managers office close the door and have a nice long talk with him about the crap that these two idiots are putting the floor staff through.

Breakout should be fun tomorrow. If the fur starts to fly, when the shit truly hit the fan, my ass is heading for the door. They don't like it? So what. If I had to explain one minute of down time I don't want to get in anymore shit, thank you very much, so if you will excuse me some of us have a job to do.

~just realizing that this blog is like half what I want to say to them and half of what is actually happening! If this isn't a rant I don't know what is!~

I have been on the same press for the last three days doing pretty much the same job. Everyone gets rotated around me but I get to stay right there. They made a girl that works with us lean at a 45degree angle for the better part of the day just so that she could get the parts out of the press. She tells me that she does this job every week. Sometimes twice. She's asked to not be put there because of that exact reason and they still put her there. I think these two asses want an all boys club...so not going to happen.

I was so irate today that I blew off my friends and came straight home. Hardly ate my dinner and feel like I could go to bed right now and sleep until tomorrow.

Oh well, here's to going back to work...and having to embrace my inner bitch just to get through it.

The Fruits of my many Labors!

Tada! The baby blanket is finished! Now I have to make one more. Also, my girlfriend Marti has asked me to make her a blanket! She has a baby shower to go to and, my friend is having a baby as well...looks like I'll be busy for the next little bit!!!




Sadie and Lauren came over the other day and we got into making a mess in my Tiny Kitchen! The above candle is Berry Bunt Cake and check out all of our mottling! We are totally not even trying now and are just getting it! Even on our votives! This candle has both a great hot and cold throw! Ah smelly stuff!




These little flower soaps are peppermint (blue) and spearmint (green). We thought they looked so much like jujubes that we want to make a bunch in different colours and sell them in a jar! We had tonnes of fun making these as well as the starfish shapes in the jar below. I like how nice they all look inside glass! I want to put them in my bathroom!



Well yesterday was a busy day. Went and saw Sadie, went and got my taxes done; went and saw Marti; came home and then left to pick up Aaron. Had fun though, so not complaining about it! Marti and I poked around in her mom's garden. Crocus' and some little white bell flower are up. A sure sign spring is here! Today's plan's include heading back to Marti's as I left my crochet bag there~crap! Also wanting to head to the book store today, looking for a new crochet pattern book and maybe even my local Zellers for some yarn!

Building Stuff la la lala....

So during my extensive "Laycation" I have been keeping myself busy by crafting. I have been building many many things. My hobbies include crochet, candle making, hemp jewelry, soap making, bath salts and scrubs and the list goes on and on! Here are some of the things that have been going on in my Tiny Kitchen!
This is a candle made with Mottled wax. All of those little spots are what we wanted for the outcome. It took us about six tries to get the desired effect! It turns out that all we had to do was give up on trying to get it and we got it! This candle is a lovely Lavender scent. We also have votives that match...without the spots as the smaller the mold the harder it is to get them!
This is a sample of the chunk candles that I have been making. The chunks are Lilac hearts, with just a plain white wax poured over it. I really like the effect this candle has as not all of the hearts are visible like these two are. Some are close to the surface so you end up with a white heart shape showing through the white wax. They look pretty neat.

Finally, for those who love to crochet...this is one of two baby blankets that I am working on. Just a Granny square pattern in multiple colours. A total of 80 squares for one blanket of 8x10. I am using Bernat Softee Baby 50z balls with a 4mm/G hook. I am getting 17 squares a ball. When these are finished I will be selling them for about $55.

Well, that's what has been keeping me busy these past months. I am also working on some shawls for my sisters wedding. I will post those soon!

Bummer

Well I guess I jinxed myself! Work called this morning and they don't need me next week. Stupid cancellations.

Beautiful Thursday

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and if I keep the door closed it at least has the appearance of being warm!

Woke up today to a phone call from work. It was for Aaron. So I got up and started my day. Had some multi-grain cheerios and a chai tea. Surfed the net for a while checking all my stuff. Talked to my girlfriend Kerry on the phone (we love to yakyakyak) and then it happened. It struck when Kerry was mid-sentence. I heard the 'beep'. So I look at the phone and...it's work. Obviously I put Kerry on hold and click over. They were calling to tell me that I am back to work next week! HURRAY! I have been so bored! This comes at a great time obviously! Well except for the fact that I signed up to take a cold pressed soap course and now that comes into question! Work will obviously win, but if I can squeeze in both then I will!

Can't wait to start getting a paycheck again. Am so looking forward to that. Getting back to work means getting my life back on track! Everything I have been planning for has been put on hold for months now! Wanting to buy a house, a new car, all of it. Going back puts those plans right back onto the front burner! Now is a great time to buy big ticket stuff, even with the nose dive in the economy! Housing prices are falling, it's totally a buyers market! Sweet! Can't find a better deal anywhere on a new car these days! Looking at one of those soon too! We are getting along fine with one car but now that I am back to work the likely hood that we will need two is very probable, as we will be on different shifts in two different parts of the plant.

Here's hoping that I get more than just one week in!

Well it's been an interesting couple of days!

On Thursday, I went with Aaron and his two friends Jamie and Alex to check out this new gaming store in Burlington. Jamie and Alex have come up with this great idea about a gamer store that is nothing like what is out there now. I don't want to go into it too much as this idea is still in it's infancy but the four of us are very excited and very busy planning things and getting ideas about costs and start up. I think this business will just be ridiculously successful and for me it is worth the investment of my time and probably eventually my money. They seem to think that it will do well, and I think that it will do so well that they will be able to franchise their store. We will see, but maybe coming to a town or city near you soon will be the most awesome kick ass gamer store ever! WoooHooo!

Friday we spent at Jamie's house. I made us a salsa dip for snacking on while we watched BSG. Then it was on to some Resident Evil 5 and some cards. I mostly crocheted during video game playing but that's cool. I am the only girl that is ever there, so I am fine with that. They get to play their video games and I always get a lot of crocheting done...and I like the company...those boys are too freakin' funny!

Saturday was spent doing a lot of research. Mostly just Internet junk, but that's okay, as I don't really have anything else to do with my time! I have offered to look up business plans and costs of furniture and the like. (What else could I do? Well lots, but really I was just looking for an excuse to go to IKEA and have a look around! Nobody had to twist my arm for that!) Then later in the evening after our business meeting, I crocheted while Jamie and Aaron played Resident Evil 5. Boys, how they love their video games! We like to play eucker when we get the chance and we always play this game called whist. Also we like to play dice. So it was an evening of fun and games

Sunday was such a boring day that I don't even remember what I did. I think though that there was a crochet hook and some yarn involved! :)

On Monday I had plans that got rescheduled. That's okay though as I did some stuff around the condo and yes, yes I crocheted! (I think I may have a problem!)

Yesterday, I went to my friend Sadie's house with our friend Kerry. I met both of these two fine women at work and now of the three of us I am the only one with a job there. It was nice to see Kerry as we don't get to see her often. We had some beers, Sadie made a fantastic chicken casserole for dinner, I painted their nails and we played cards and laughed out asses off. I think that we are going to get together every other week the three of us. With all of this time off we seemed to have forgotten how much fun us three musketeers have!

Today I am off to Lauren's house to watch some Top Model and then Lost. I am not so into Lost as everyone else but I do enjoy it. Also, I have learned to save my questions for commercial break because so much crap goes on that talking makes you miss it! And yes, I will be bringing my crochet!

Today

Today has been a great day! I won a contest today and I never win anything so maybe I should buy that lotto ticket! Also today I finally got around to backing up all of my pictures on my laptop and in turn was then able to erase my memory card for my camera! This is very exciting stuff I know. ;)

I have been busy busy busy crocheting stuff. Am currently working on a couple of granny square baby blankets, a poncho and some shawls for my sisters wedding in 2010. Good times. Will post some pictures as soon as I can. Have also been making candles and will also post some of the chunk candles I have done! Hurray for building things!

Tonight I have "big plans" to go to my BF's friend's house. We will be having salsa dip and watching Battlestar Galactica. That's right folks...it's up here for the whole world to see...my name is Nikky and I am a big nerd! Oh well at least I have fun being one!

So, now that I have won this contest I have to Pay it Forward. Hmmm what kind of contest to run? This could be very interesting!!!

Oh washing machine how do i hate thee?

I got the washer fixed today. (grumble) Feel like a complete ass. Turns out our hoses weren't on tight enough! So I paid some repair guy like $60 to tighten the hoses. What a rip. Oh well, next time I know...when the hoses start to leak change the washers and tighten the hoses! At least I can successfully change a faulty flapper in the crapper!

I did it and HomeDepot helped!

Well I know it's not like I built a kitchen or re-did the bathroom but I am damn proud. Today, today I fixed our leaking toilet! The damn thing ran constantly! It was really like having a water feature that I didn't want. I finally got tired of having to close the bathroom door to hear the TV (the kitties hate closed doors). So I finally got up the courage to do it. Now the home depot book tells me that as a novice it should take me 15 minutes to replace my flapper. It took me 15 minutes to get to home depot and get the flapper! I am really quite embarrassed about how long it took to actually get this done. The toilet has been running for months and months! I love home repair that is snap off and snap on! Now all I have to do is get the washer fixed and my life will be perfect. Perfect you ask? Yes perfect! My wonderful boyfriend bought me a pink fishing rod today...completely by surprise! So yes, it takes little to make my life perfect but that's okay with me!

Erin Spring Home Show

Well our little business is starting! The girls came over last night and we made a bunch of candles. Today I spoke to Sadie who told me about the Erin Spring Home Show. It's May 2nd at the Erin community center. We will be selling our soaps, bath salts, scrubs, and candles there! Hurray! Now is crunch time! We will be crafting like fiends!

Home Sweet Home

Well I made it. I didn't have to raise my voice once...unless I was calling them for dinner! We had a fun and productive week. They're good kids and pretty funny. A lot of work. Kids are a lot of work!

Today was my first day home...all day home at least. Cats were a bit pissed at us. The fat one tried to make a get away today while I was having a smoke at the back door. Sly little (so not little) critter snuck right passed me! Thank goodness he's a big scaredy cat and didn't get farther than the edge of the patio. Helps that I can keep up to him also!

Did a bunch of spring cleaning today, as the weather was beautiful. Cleaned the windows outside and in, wiped down the appliances and discovered that the washing machine is leaking from the hose hookups. Well there goes most of my babysitting money! Oh well, clean clothes are way more important!

Sadie and Lauren came over today and we did some crafting. We cranked out like 28 votives and a big square pillar candle in lavender. The look really nice. We managed to find a box in the condo that fits the trays for our votives perfectly. It just happened to be the same kind of box that we did our Christmas gift boxes! Some time this week I will head to the dollar store to pick some up. Then we are going to cover them in some fancy paper and make them all pretty! Nothing says fun and cut and paste!

Internet

Well, I am still babysitting. Looks like I won't be home until the wee hours of Friday morning. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. It's driving me insane. Anyway I just thought I'd drop a little note for anyone reading this blog (hey Cher!) that my laptop is no longer ghosting a signal where I am staying so I will not be on for a while. See ya next week!

A Very Productive Sunday!

Today was a very productive day. Today I did the dishes from yesterday's baking. Rachel made cup cakes and cookies with the kids. Not a big deal as the payoff was a fresh cupcake! Then I unloaded the dishwasher and started the kids on homework and tiding their rooms. Nick's wasn't bad, he just had to make his bed but Kierstie's was...well let's just say that it was the room of a 14 year old girl! We spent the afternoon, cleaning and organizing things. We even moved her bedroom furniture around. Looks really good. Tomorrow we are going to the local dollar store to get her some small boxes to organize her drawers. She wasn't using her dresser for clothes so we made it into extra storage for her. She was very pleased. Also Nick scored himself a goal at his hockey game but he scored his sisters old radio. Now he can play CD's in his room. He was very pleased.

Tomorrow after homework is done we will craft. Tomorrow while the kids are at school Aaron and I will be heading over to BestBuy to figure out what the hell is going on with the $90 they stole from his checking account. We also phone the bank. Damn BestBuy...so very evil.

Yesterday

Yesterday I had the day off from babysitting. The relief poured in from Whitby in the form of Aaron's sister Rachel and her fiance Steve. Not that these kids are hard to babysit or anything but it was nice to escape from children's shows. We went to our friends place and plowed through 7 episodes of Battlestar Galactica...season 4. Now before you start thinking that we are total nerds let me explain. We watched this two hour made for tv movie for a lark. We laughed and laughed and joked about everyone being a Cylon. Now we can't stop. There are twelve models and only one left to find out! We are compelled to watch this show...so much so that we are almost caught up to what is playing on tv. Starting to think that maybe we are Cylons!

Big 3 Bailout

Please note that I feel very passionately about this topic. Also note that there is some "strong language" in this blog. If you find this language offensive please do not read this. I am pretty sure that the language in question is used less than 5 times but I am just covering my bases! Thanks!

Well after a few hours of searching and reading I am finally fed up enough to write this blog. I have read several articles and the comments that are left by readers. It's ridiculous. Everyone is going on about the Big3 auto bailout and how it shouldn't happen. Everyone is up in arms about having their tax dollars spent helping these three companies out of a tough time. 'Oh let them come back down to earth' was one comment I read. There were countless comments about autoworkers living lavish lifestyles. Enough.

Let's look at the job an auto worker does shall we. Let's look at the job that I do for a living. I work in a non-unionized plant, for a parts supplier for the Big3. Okay so here is how it works.

I work a line that is called Mechanical. We take these blanks from the Blanking Line and form them into parts. One of our most hated jobs has a blank with a very awkward shape that weighs about 18lbs. Now we take this 18lb blank and put it in one press to form a draw panel, which is then taken out and put on a conveyer belt and travels to the next station and so on and so forth until it is the completed part. We used to take this blank and cut it down to like 7lbs, but because of cost cutting (before the economy tanked even) we got rid of that job and just use the whole blank. For this job it takes two people on each press for a total of three presses and one packer at the end. That is 7 people to run just one job. It's now 14 people because the company took the other side of that job and we run them both at the same time, also a cost saving meassure. Now let's do the math. We have an 18lb blank, with production of about 1800 parts per shift. Just putting that blank into the press 1800 times in a shift is HAND LOADING 32,400lbs! Multiply that by 2 because what you put in you have to take out and we are now sitting at 64,800lbs. You can add another 32,400lbs to that last number, as somebody has to pull that blank out of a bin! Finally we multiply the entire number for one side times 2 as we run both sides at the same time, for a grand total of 194,400. Four people with lift that amount in one 8 hour shift. We move mountians on that job. There is nothing to help you lift that part other than the power of your own arms.

Let's also keep in mind here folks that while you sit in the comfort of your airconditioned offices behind your desks in your cushy chairs that we parts manufacturers are going to work in the heat of summer just like you do! We get to stand in a factory that slaps you in the face with a wall of hot air for eight hours in our uniforms in work boots with arm guards (long sleeves much like a leg warmer) and gloves (kevlar to protect ourselves from cuts). It gets so hot that you can see the humidity in the air...inside the building! It hangs like a fog at the ceiling. Now we are also working around heavy machinery which produces heat, as well as forklifts that spew hot air all over the place. Let's not forget to mention the fact that you could loose a body part at my work. How many body parts do you loose making photocopies or answering the phone?

Everything at my job is about effiency. Down time makes nobody any money. So, to all of those people who think that an autoworker doesn't work as hard as they do you can bite me. At work I do more in an 8 hour shift than you do in a freakin' week. Keep your office job, keep whining about how much you don't get paid. You will not find sympathy here. I work damn hard for my $24.51 an hour! I work hard for my benefits. What do you do? How many of you are reading this blog right now, completely outraged at my lack of sympathy or my seemingly greedy attitude....while you are at work...not working for your paycheck? I am pretty sure that your boss doesn't pay you to sit on your fat ass and be on blogger or facebook or myspace or twitter. If your idea of hard work is sitting in that chair come and spend a day at my work...it'll kick your pansy ass!

Let's talk about my lavish lifestyle shall we? I made about $50,000 last year. Yep. There it is. My "lavish" lifestyle. I live with my boyfriend in a one plus den condo. I own a 5 year old car. Yes, it's a GM. It's a base model sunfire with only am/fm radio and standard. I take about $100 every pay and put it into my retirement fund. I take about $200 a pay to save up for a down payment on a house. (well i used to....have been laid off since December so all of those plans are on hold). My car has less than 100,000km on it. I do little but drive to work and back, and between the two of us we have only one car. The last movie I saw in a theatre...I couldn't tell you. Working three shifts doesn't really give you much time to do fun things like that. Most of my time off is spent catching up with family and friends. Tell me, how is that a lavish life style? Tell me why most of my co-workers drive cars that are older than 5 years? Is it a lavish lifestyle because I have benifits that cover about 80%? With the amount of wear and tear that I put my body through daily at work I think that I deserve no less! Is it lavish because I can take about $300 a month and put it away for things that I want? I did the same when I only got paid $8/hr at my old minimum wage job. I call it prudent finacial planning. We aren't behind on any of our monthly bills. Why? Because we don't live beyond our means, that's why. I try not to use my credit card, I pay cash. I pay bills when they come in and don't wait until the due date. I always pay more than the minimum payment. Why? Because I don't want to pay the interst. That's just throwing my $$$ away. Now tell me how this is a lavish lifestyle? Tell me that I don't deserve the pay I get for the job I do...come on I dare you.

Does anyone reading this understand why it is so expensive to buy a car? Let me tell you why. It's all the bells and whistles. It's all the crap that consumers want in their cars that forces the prices up. Yeah you can scoff all you want but do you think you are getting your MP3 hookup, side-impact air bags, airconditioning, 6cd changer, Onstar compatabiltiy, GPS, security alarm, tv's, coolers, heated seats, satellite radio, ABS brakes, and leather seats for free? Are you fucking stupid?

Let's talk Bailout now shall we? After all that is what started this crazy rant. Everyone is against the Bailout for the Big3. "Don't waste my tax dollars on them!" That's common public opinion. You hear it and read it everywhere. People don't want to back companies that make North American products. How very unpatriotic of you all! Would you rather pay to have people on social assitance because they lost their jobs? Oh wait you are already doing that! Governments have extended assistance to laid off workers! Would you rather pay more for your health insurance so that the government can extend benifits to laid off workers? Oh wait no, I forgot, you'd rather pay for greedy bankers fat golden parachutes and golf games, retreats and limos! Silly me.

Okay. Let's see what happens if there is no bail out for these 3 companies. Plants will close. Yep. People will loose their jobs. Yep. The auto industry will be decimated in North America and we will be forced to purchase our cars from countries overseas. -You know the one's I am talking about. The ones that just settled out of a class action for odometers that weren't tracking mileage correctly.(HONDA) That's a pretty big screw up really considering that the resale value of your spiffy Japcrap car is based heavily on the mileage! Wonder how many folks got ripped of in that one(models 2000 and up).- So now that we are buying cars who's companies are based overseas, we don't have the benifit of all of those $$ in our economy. Now that the auto industry is decimated, we won't need as much steel from North America. We also won't need all of those truck drivers that used to haul North American auto parts from plant to plant. So now there are thousand more out of jobs. That's okay though because the taxpayers of North America would rather pay for all of those people to be on social assistance/e.i.; they'd rather pay extra for their health insurance so the government can extend those benifits to unemployed workers. Let's not forget about the folks that own car dealerships. Family run businesses that will close because the tax payer isn't seeing the big picture here. More houses will forclose. More people will owe more for their house now than what it's worth, because with every forclosure housing prices dip lower and lower. That's okay though...you are all okay with that.???? You are okay with commodity prices falling, the stock market taking another dive, you are all okay with that? Really?

So yeah, let's not bail out these guys. I don't mind buying my next car from China. I'm sure that they will eventually work out all of the issues they have with their quality in pet foods, baby food, and childrens toys. I'm sure their cars will be just fine. Yep. Just fine. Let's not worry about our fellow citizens. Let's NOT invest in our own work force. Let's not invest in our own inovations, after all China can make it for cheaper, right? Let's not invest in ourselves. Our children won't care. Most of them don't know the value of a dollar anyway. Let's not invest in our work force when we can outsource everything to China and India and any other country that pays their workers next to nothing.

This recession has hit North America hard in the balls. There is no denying that. Can we blame any one factor for this crisis? Not really. It's a multitude of different factors that have contributed to this mess. It's the bankers, and their greed, it's the government for allowing it to happen by not paying attention and it's the consumer for overspending and not saving for that rainy day. We are all to blame and not doing anything will not solve the problem. Allowing good jobs to just disappear is not an option. It should never be an option! Just think, first the auto jobs are gone...the next job could be yours!

Baby sitting and my cats!

Well it's Friday. I am sitting on a couch watching some show called I Carly. Childrens television just might make me scratch my eyes out!

Yesterday went well. Got here at about 3pm and hung out reading. Went out at 6 to pick up Nick. He was skiing all day with school. Then at 8pm we headed out with Kiersti to Nick's hockey practice. I got to play hockey mom! Today we all went out for lunch and then dropped Kiersti off at school for the school play. Tomorrow is my day off. Think we are heading out to our friend Jamie's house to watch some BSG, cause we are nerds!

I miss my kitties. Aaron popped by the condo today to check on their water and food. He says they are fine but I bet he got 'told' by both the minute he walked in the door!

Lunch out with the Inlaws

Well today I went with Kathy to her boyfriends house so that I could see where it was. Nice little town...very cute. Aaron's mom came by to pick me up and I knew that her mom (Nana) was going to be coming but to my great surprise Papa was there too! So off I go, with the in laws...me in tow!

We go to Ed's home...then for a drive to see where the kids schools are...then to lunch (had a yummy chicken wrap!)...then off to the local M&M meats shop for some food for the week...then to two different drug stores looking for hair dye for Nana. Discovered also that I am looking after Mocha...a very needy very old miniature poodle. Poor little guy can't do stairs anymore! So no it's more like looking after a teen, a ten, and a toddler...i have a teetentod! Holy instant family! Kathy gave me the gears about that! Aaron's sister is apparently coming down to sit them on the weekend so I won't have to worry about taking Nick to hockey but that would have been fun anyway. Kierstie is helping with the school play this weekend. The are putting on Les Miserable at her high school. She isn't in it but she did help with the set design so she is very excited.

I am cooking a lot of instant food this week. Cook from frozen stuff. I think maybe if they are bored of that I will head to the store for some unbreaded chicken, and some Alfredo sauce. I just may whip them up some of my famous pepper chicken Alfredo! I have served it to several of my friends and Aaron of course and I haven't killed any of them yet! Also they tell me it tastes just like something you'd get at a restaurant. Which is freakin' awesome for me as I don't normally cook.

Will admit that today I am feeling better about this upcoming adventure. Aaron is still taking a couple of days off but I think that's because he just doesn't want to be at work! (I think he is a little jealous that I am off-which is insane because I would so rather be working!)

My girlfriend called me the other day, asking about work. She tells me that I have someone very high up looking out for me right now. I am very greatful for this! I love my job and don't want to loose it. I feel bad at the same time though as some of my friends and co-workers have lost their jobs. I am very torn between the two. Obviously I am not going to complain if I don't loose my job but I can't tell my friends about this. That is what I feel the worst about.

severance pay gripe

Right. Was woken up today by my friend Sadie. Due to this recession Sadie has lost her good paying job at an auto parts plant. Sadie worked this job for three years and got three years of severance pay, plus her vacation pay. Her check came in one lump sum. Here is the kicker. She has lost more than $2000 in taxes. In what land is that right?

I don't get it. She's been on EI since December, just getting enough from the government to pay her bills. Then she gets her severance and she looses more than half to taxes! There should be a law that states that the government will not tax severance pay. It seems cruel to do it. This was money she was counting on to get her through the next little bit until she found another job! This money would have paid for a lot and they took half of it.

Sometimes I really hate the government