Happy Halloween!

Meet Girlie

This is my mercy project. A friend of mine from work is in a not-so-great living situation and has been forced to get rid of her newly-adopted little baby...cat. Just a few weeks ago it was a bony little stray, until she took it in and started feeding and caring for it. Unfortunately, she has now had to give it up for at least a month, until she moves into a new house. Being the softie I am, I volunteered to look after it. Girlie is such a cutie too! And has a less-than-healthy appetite. I had to put her kibbles on the ground because she was eating so fast that she was gagging! Poor thing.
She looks so much like Beebs did when I first took Beebs home. Scrawny, half-grown...unfortunately, Beebs doesn't have any pity for kitties off the street, so she and Girlie are going to be kept strictly separated: Beebs warm and cozy in the house, and Girlie in the garage/outside. But I've fixed up a nice warm little abode for the waif, so the freezing November wind won't get to her. She's very affectionate, and already attached to my friend from work, so I hope we won't get a musical of woe tonight.

All Grown Up *sniff sniff*

Back in the day, when the boys spent their days trading hockey cards, shooting each other with squirt guns and "exploring" the sand pits, my mother had a fourth son named Sam Bastedo. A funny little kid with a squeaky voice and wild curly blonde hair who basically lived at our house, especially during the summer (bottom picture). One of this little guy's favorite activities was playing the drums- something we all knew he did, but didn't really think about. Until he grew up and moved away to Vancouver with his band, Whitfield! The last time I saw Sam was about 3/4 years ago during the filming of Mike's home-made war movie, "The Thousand Yard Stare". But guess who I saw at work today?! Sam and his brother Joel! It was such a weird experience. Joel said hi to me and I was staring at him going, "I think I know this guy" and then it clicked, and I was like, "Oh hi!" and I kind of looked at this leather-jacket-wearing black-haired rocker dude beside him and then dismissed him because I totally didn't recognize him! Joel laughs and says, "This is my brother Sam!" and it hit me and I totally freaked! It was the strangest feeling ever! (the top picture is what Sam looks like now. He seems just about as confused about the change as I was)
It's SO weird to see people grow up and change like that!!!

(Bottom Picture, Left-Right: Me, Mike, cousin Matt Peterson, cousin Laura Peterson, Tim, Sam)

The Joys And Woes of Timmy Ho's

Weekly Work Attitude

Monday: Perky, cheerful, patient
Tuesday: Content, friendly, industrious
Wednesday: Drooping, stressed, irritated
Thursday: Tired, mood-swings, mutinous

Friday's forecast: Out-of-my-mind madness, and a chance of thundershowers.

Is It Just Me...?

Or does anyone else find it strange that we pay a lot of money to buy an item with a brand name (I'm going to pick on Roxy today) printed on it? I mean...where else do you pay someone to advertise FOR them? Isn't it usually the other way around? This sounds like a sick and twisted joke. Someone's laughing, and it isn't everyone coughing up the moola.
I wonder if I came up with a cool logo and printed it on a shirt alonside my name, if I could become a billionaire? Hmmmm.....

Congratulations!!!

Well I suppose this is where I enter "that age" when there will be weddings every summer for the next ten years! Among the many exciting things that happened this weekend, Ange informed me that she is indeed getting married!
Next August she and her boyfriend Jay will be "gettin' hitched" and I'll of course be home from Ireland for the big day :P
Congratulations guys!

Confession Time

It seems like half the people I know already heard about this, so might as well fill everyone in all at once and be done with it.
Saturday night I drove my friend Ange out to the mall for some shopping and hanging out. At around 6 PM we decided to make a stop at a downtown coffee shop before heading home. The light turned green, and I accelerated and started to make my left turn and then- BANG!!! I slammed on the brakes and my jaw just dropped open when I saw a green car skid just past me (where did that come from?!?!) , the driver's door smashed in and the lady staring at me with wide eyes. Always being of the swifter set, I turned to Ange,
Me: "I just got hit."
Ange: "Yeah."
Then I noticed two things:
1) There was a big hunk of white metal peering at me from the other side of the windshield.
2) I was still in the middle of the intersection.
I finished my turn and pulled over, remembering to flick on my hazard lights. I was a little dazed. I mean this seems like one of those things that happens to everyone else. I made another brilliant comment.
Me: "I was just in an accident."
I figured I'd better look at the damage. The whole left front panel was torn open, the headlight smashed, and the bumper dragging.
Me: "Oh Shoot. I'm so dead. I just ruined my mom's car. She's going to kill me!"
Its safe to say that I am not one of those people who remains completely calm in an emergency. At that point I began to lose it.
Me: "Ange! I don't know what to do! I just destroyed the car! And the lady's gone and what do I do!"
Then it occured to me that Ange had a cell phone so I called the one person who I can count on to remain calm in an emergency: My Dad.
He answers.
Me: "Dad I'm so glad its you that answered and not Mom!" (I inherited my panicking abilities from the maternal line)
He knew from that point on it wouldn't be pretty. On his instructions I called the police and then we waited.
I couldn't remember how the whole thing happened- whether I had turned on a green arrow and it was her fault, or whether I had turned on a green light and it was my fault. I was a mess. Thank heavens for Ange and her calm reassurances that the lady was nuts-o and obviously since she drove off without exchanging names and such it was HER fault. Unfortunately we soon learnt that the lady had pulled into the Superstore gas bar and was wating for the police as well.
At that point something told me that my chances of getting out as the victim were slim.
Turned out that my instincts were correct. The policeman soon deduced that it had in fact been my fault . I had just not seen her coming and that was the cause of the collision. Fortunately no one was hurt.
I got my first ticket. Humiliating, but well-deserved.
And I just discovered that I totaled our van. Well Mom, now you can get a (...erm...I hesitate to say "new") car, just like you wanted to. Just a mixed blessing, right?...?
I learned many things from the experience.
1) that I will probably always be a little paranoid about left turns from now on
2) that even though my first thoughts were on the van, I should've been more worried about everyone's health, because as Ange so sagely put it, "You can't put a price tag on your life!" (thanks for keeping things in perspective Gella ;P)
3) My family really, really, really, loves me. Not that I didn't know that, but it they were so patient, kind, and forgiving about the whole thing.
I was especially touched when big brother Paul came home after taking a peek at the van, gave me a quick hug and said,
"I'm just glad you're safe Jill. Don't worry about the van, there's lots of vans. There's only one of you." (or something totally emotional and out of character , like that) and of course my Dad's comment on the other post.
I don't know what sort of reaction I was expecting (but I don't think it was positive) but my family just blew me away with how amazing they really are! Thanks guys!!!

Day 1- In Which I Report Happy Things

One of my favorite things is buying something I really want for really cheap. For instance, those of you who read my yahoo blog might remember that we finally got a 'Garage' store in our mall, and how pleased I was. However, being of potent Dutch ancestry I have a hard time spending $18-$25 on one shirt, which is the average price there.
Earlier this summer/fall there were at least two shirts at Garage that I liked but wouldn't buy. Yesterday I found both of them in my size for $5 each! It brought a smile to my cheeks.
That is my happy report for today.

Destined For Eternal Unrest???

I know what you're all thinking...
"She moved her blog AGAIN?!"
Yes. Its true.
This will be the last time. I...promise. Blogger has made some definite improvements to their site so I'm not so prejudiced against them anymore. Though Yahoo 360 DID have some nice templates....
I ended up leaving Yahoo 360 for the same reasons I left MSN Spaces: accessability. Those two sites are just too much of a hassle with signing in and all that stuff. It was getting to be a pain, so I thought I might as well just settle here like everyone else. Sigh.
Anyway, I'm here now. I hope you'll stop by often because I'll probably be posting often, and, of course, comments are always loved, appreciated, and sometimes worshipped.
Here I go building the altar...better give me some worshippin' material!