I ordered some components from Fire Mountain Gems and it arrived on Monday but the delivery person just left a notice on our door even though Ken and I were both home and Ken was awake playing MGS2. The pick-up place was closed on Tuesday for Canada Day and we didn’t get a chance to go yesterday. I finally got my bead stuffs today so I wanted to finish off the 2 herringbone bracelets I made awhile ago and was waiting for clasps.

It seems most of the bead stores I go to here don’t want to carry the longer width clasps. While I was picking which one to start with I realized that I needed to make one of them a bit longer but I’d already finished off the pattern. So I decided to cut it apart and remake it.. About halfway through destroying it I realized that I didn’t need to take the whole thing apart, just a few rows of the end.. It was 5 inches long, I needed it to be 6 inches, I destroyed it to about 2 3/4’s inches and now have remade it back to 3 1/2 inches. /le sigh

p.s. I updated my thoughts on the stories in Everything’s Eventual. Check the books section or Bridge of Birds post.

So finally I’m going to write about my trips to San Francisco (April 25-30), Vancouver (May 2-7), Georgia (May 8-16) and Virginia (May 17-20). We took over 2,000 pictures, I’ll try to keep it all straight.

Friday 25th - Waiting to Breakfast
After a long flight I arrived at the airport and checked my cell phone for a message from Ken who was flying from Chicago. His flight was delayed and I had several messages from him and our friend in SF, Thori about his status. I was starving so I went to the only open restaurant in the airport, Subway. Ken arrived a few hours later and we went to go pick up our rental car.

I don’t know what the deal is with rental companies. We reserved a car with Hertz, but it turned out that they didn’t have any of the cars we were looking for. Same thing that happened when I rented a car last August in Georgia and ended up driving a 2-seat Crossfire. We finally, grudgingly, settled on a Grand Prix. This being my first time in San Francisco, hell on the West Coast at all, I didn’t know how well I’d do with a big boat of a car. Ken would never have been able to drive it, the drivers seat was weird and even I was touching the roof.. I’m 5′3″.

We finally arrived at our hotel, The Argonaut, somewhere around 4am. Ken was starving so we asked the desk clerk if there was a 24-hour place anywhere nearby. He said there was a Denny’s just 3 blocks down the street. After walking around for quite awhile and asking 3 separate people for directions, we finally googled it on Ken’s blackberry and found it. We were exhausted so we stumbled back to our room and passed out.

Saturday 26th - Cheesy Crafts!
We woke up around noon and took a trolley down to the Ferry Building and walked around looking at all the awesome stores and then had lunch at the Hog Island Oyster Bar. Ken had crab and I had a gourmet grilled cheese! So awesome! Afterwards we walked around a craft market across the street where I found a really nice lady, Leah Mazor, who makes fused glass pendants. I made a “thank-you” necklace for Thori (Niobe’s Tears) with the pendant we purchased from her.

While we were waiting on a trolley back to the hotel we suddenly became surrounded by a bunch of 20-somethings in prom outfits. We kept trying to figure out where they were coming from or where they were possibly going. My guess was a college prom type thing or some kind of weird publicity stunt. Ken kept insisting that he’d run into the same thing the last time he was there and that he thought it was their natural state.

Sunday 27th - Sunburned Garlic
We got up later than we wanted to, and hopped on the big bus tour. We had a great tour guide, lots of personality and stories. Ken managed to get a nasty sunburn though. It was gorgeous out. Highlights were: A ship mast inside a building : Yerba Buena Gardens : Civic Center Plaza

After the bus tour we met up with our friend, Thori and her husband at the Kintetsu Mall (Inside photo) (outside photo) in Japantown. The Bookstore & The Candy Store

Next we went to the Metreon, sadly the Playstation store was closed for training or something but we browsed the Sony store. Seriously? a Vending Machine?

For dinner we went to the Stinking Rose restaurant (front sign) (plaque photo), where we had Bagna Calda (garlic cloves, oven-roasted in extra virgin olive oil and butter with a hint of anchovy), Garlic Hummus Cocktail (with toy box tomatoes and garlic crostini), and the best thing of the whole trip GARLIC ICE CREAM!

Monday 28th - Beaded Unicorns
Monday morning, Thori met us at the hotel and we dropped Ken off in Sausalito for work while she and I went to take a bead class at Baubles & Beads. It was a good basic class and I learned a few things about my supplies. We made these matching Twinsies bracelets

I took some pictures in Sausalito while we were waiting to pick up Ken, here’s the Peach Compound, my future home, and the view of San Francisco. Then we drove around Golden Gate park. We saw an artist drawing this magnificent Maple Tree from his van and saw this waterfall. Then we parked at the (not a bridge) Golden Gate Bridge. Check out this piece!

From there we drove to the Cliff House (AKA King Haggard’s Castle). Welcome to the Pacific Ocean, it was so cold and windy but I think I’m in <3!

We ended by having dinner at Sushi Ran where the waiter mocked Thori all night for not wanting the chocolate bomb they're famous for. He brought her a plain banana on a plate, kept saying things like "so you want a chocolate bomb, got it." and "I don't think the chefs know how to make anything else, sorry". It was funny

Tuesday 29th - Unicorn Waves
Thori showed up bright and early and we took Ken to work again. She and I then dropped the Grand Prix off at the hotel and walked around Ghirardelli Square then took a bus to the Asian Art Museum. Highlights were: SF made out of Pots & Pans : Table Screen with Immortals in a Landscape : White-Robed Water Moon Avalokiteshvara : The Buddhist Diety Guhyasamaja embracing the goddess Sparshavajra : Palanquin Fittings : Portrait of Maharani Jind Kaur. To end the perfect day at the museum with these back at Ghirardelli Square.

We picked Ken up from work and took him back to the Metreon where the Playstation Store was open and he was in heaven. Then had dinner at the Cliff House restaurant. A little too fancy for me but the view was fantastic. I watched for Unicorns all night!

Wednesday 30th - Going Home
At the airport going home, I had Ken snap some pictures of the Thori thumb-shaped bruise left on my forearm when she was trying to fix my finger spasms. Good times!!

I’ll write about Vancouver next time! Stay tuned!

March 15 (Saturday)
Ken took me to the airport at 7am for my 9am flight to my parents place. All I’ll say it that it was a really long day, followed by some drama and errands. Ended up ok though with some nice real info for once.

March 16 (Sunday) to March 21 (Friday)
We took Mom and Gary to the airport pretty early for their trip to Reno and spent the rest of the week running errands and letting Dad rest from his eye surgery. He really played out the eye-patch pirate thing though :p I had to play him some Pirate themed Metal that my friend, Nick, sent me. He loved it.

I love my puppies but being woken up at 8am every morning after only going to sleep around 2 or 3am is really tiring. Dad and I worked out a schedule for his eye-drops, 2am, 8am, 2pm, 8pm. The puppies get fed at 8am as well and Vashti got her morning medicines, then we tried to get Vashti to finish her food at 8pm and gave her the night medicines. She seems to be doing ok with her cancer. She got really loopy some nights though, I think it was her medicine. We also tried several things to get her to eat her pills easier. She’s very picky. She used to gobble them down with just bread, but the first night I tried it with bread and she didn’t want it. So I put some butter on it, it took forever to get her to eat it. Then we tried mixing alpo canned dog food into her food to get her to eat that, so I dipped the bread in the gravy and she loved it. But it was messy and the bread fell apart sometimes. Then we tried some beef ravioli thinking that at least the pills would stay tucked in. But she really didn’t want it. She chewed it and spit it out when I dipped it in the alpo gravy, and broke open one of the pills which spilled all over the floor. Mookie and Wolfie are vultures and tried to eat whatever she dropped so I had to kick them away and yell for my dad to let them out while I cleaned it up. I did not need those two getting loopy, they’re a handful enough! Finally we got Vashti to reliably eat her pills by stuffing them into bits of hot dogs.

March 22 (Saturday)
Dad spent all day trying to rearrange flights for Mom and Gary because she’d gotten food poisoning and Gary had to take her to the hospital. I just played with the puppies and cleaned the kitchen, wiping down the cabinets, walls and appliances. They get really muddy at doggie height.

March 23 (Sunday)
Happy Easter! Mom and Gary were supposed to be home just after midnight that morning but Mom got food poisoning and was throwing up too much to travel. Dad had rebooked their flight for midnight that night but she still wasn’t feeling well enough so they had to change it again. Dad and I however went to King Street Blues restaurant and both had their new brisket sandwich. I don’t usually go for that kind of thing but it was pretty good, but I had to pick through the brisket pieces and take out the fatty sections. I hate that.

March 24 (Monday)
Mom and Gary finally made it back to D.C. Their flight came in just after midnight but it took FOREVER for them to get to the baggage area and another FOREVER for their bags to come through.

March 25 (Tuesday)
I had to be at the airport by 11:30am.. had no trouble through security. Grabbed a BLT bagel because my tummy was growling and read my book. The silly flight attendant made me put my purse up in the bin, which I’ve never ever had to do before and really pissed me off. It was an hour flight and I didn’t want to bother the woman sitting in the aisle seat to get up and get my book and headphones for the 30 minutes that the seat-belt sign is turned off. So I just slept. Had a long walk through the terminal to customs and baggage but no problems there either. Got a cart for my bags, **note** I really hate this brown suitcase I always end up using because it’s got a hard shell and is wide enough for all my jewelry making tools that I like to bring on longer trips to my parents place. It has no wheels and it cumbersome to carry through customs. I don’t have to carry it on the way home though, as the baggage drop off at Dulles is right next to the ticketing counter, but I do have to shuffle it through the sometimes long line in Toronto when I’m leaving. I really need a new hard shell suitcase.

I called Ken once I got outside and told him which pillar I was standing by. It was snowing pretty hard and I had only brought my light windbreaker. I was freezing cold and Ken accidentally missed me and had to drive all the way around again. We stopped at Lonestar on Dixon to warm up and have lunch but the snow didn’t stop. Ken told me that it had pretty much started as my plane left D.C. and it hadn’t snowed at all while I’d been gone. Lovely! It was kinda pretty though, the gigantic snowflakes looked like the cheap soapy bubbles they sometimes use in stage plays.

March 26 (Wednesday) to March 27 (Thursday)
Spent these two days catching up on my shows on the pvr.. it was at 88% and afterwards was at like 25% :p

March 28 (Friday) to March 30 (Sunday)
Mailed off Melar’s daughter, Alana’s birthday bracelets. I made her 2 so she could share one with her best friend if she wanted, as girls often do. Then I went to pick up Ken’s cousin, Michelle, from Kitchener which is about an hours drive away with no traffic. We hit a little traffic on the way home and arrived around 5pm. Ken was still working so she and I took a walk down Yonge Street to the Sassy Bead store I go to sometimes. I’ve mentioned before but it bears repeating, I hate shelves and shelves of beads in tiny tiny jars.. We spent a good long while there and we both picked up a few things. I got some curved silver tubes, a silver leaf pendant and a circle pendant. She got some matte grey beads. I also picked up a neat little tool that’s supposed to help you put on bracelets by yourself. It has a clip one one end that holds the clasp open and a ring at the top to grip with your fingers, then you use your other hand to hook the other side of the clasp on. I think it would be great for Ken’s grandma.

When Ken finally finished his work we went down to Papa’s Grill and both Michelle and I had to bring home doggie bags. I had a village salad and humous .. My favorite. She had a beef souvlaki dinner and Ken had lamb souvlaki dinner.

Saturday Ken took Michelle to the Farmer’s Market at St. Lawrence Market. They were there till around 2:30, and Karen stopped by at 7pm to chat. I hadn’t seen her since Ken was away in Sausalito. At 8pm Ken flipped off our breakers to turn off everything for Earth Hour. We lit a few beeswax and non-toxic candles. Michelle knitted while I read them questions from Trivial Pursuit: Canada Edition. It was 9:30pm by the time we realized Earth Hour was over. No harm in that, we had fun, but we use Bullfrog Power anyway.

We decided to stay in for dinner so we ordered Chinese from C’est Bon. They have a really good barbeque pork and crispy sesame beef dishes. While we ate we watched the Stargate movie The Ark of Truth (second time for Ken and I). Then played some Rock Band till sleep-time.

Sunday we all got up kinda late. Played some more Rock Band and I was pretty hungry by 4 and wanted Hero’s hot dogs. They don’t deliver till 6 and Michelle needed to get home to pick up Daisy so we ended up driving to Hero’s on the way to bring her home. I had hoped to stay home and get some chores done because I’ve decided it’s time to Spring Clean. Still, I don’t have a time limit or anything so it’s ok I guess. I just need to get motivated again. Ken and I hit the grocery store on the way home for fresh stuff for salads and bread, got home around 10pm.

Spent the rest of the night playing Guild Wars with Melar, cheering up Reina on the phone and Ken finished Assassin’s Creed.

March 31 (Monday)
Having stayed up playing Guild Wars with Melar till 2am and then continuing on by myself till around 4:30am, I’m surprised I woke up at 11′ish. Chris was over working with Ken and I did some straightening up. The boys went out to lunch at 2 and Andrea arrived at 2:30pm. I hadn’t seen her in 3 weeks, once because I was passed out sleeping, and the other 2 from my trip to Virginia. So she was very happy to update me on everything she’s been up to and I showed her all the bracelets I made for birthday presents. I waited until Ken got home and let him present hers. Hopefully, we want to treat her and her husband (whom we still haven’t met yet!) to dinner this weekend or next at Pier 4.

Chris stayed pretty late working with Ken. I was dying to play some more Guild Wars because I hadn’t been able to play while I was away. Stupid laptop wouldn’t partition for Boot Camp. So after he left, I jumped on with Melar and we blew through the Gates of Kryta mission and attempted the D’Alessio Seaboard mission but failed twice. Sadly our henchmen available there are only level 10 so we’ll either have to wait until my friend, Luvene, can join us, or we’ll have to grab some random players /shudder

Melar went off to watch a tv show at 10pm and I kicked around some more, picking up quests and exploring the North Kryta Province and Nebo Terrace. Then I got through episodes 7-10 of Law & Order: SVU season 1. I’d seen some of them but I like rewatching Law & Orders.

April 01 (Tuesday)
April Fools! I got a cute little card from my friend, Miuu. He knows my fear of spiders is immense but I have lots of <3 for Hoops and Yoyo the Hallmark card characters. The card started with Hoops telling me that I had to save Yoyo from the spiders that they were going to release from a big glass jar. My cursor controlled a big mallet with which to whack them. So I click the button to release the spiders and they start chasing Yoyo.. I dutifully try to whack them but the mallet is frozen in place. At first I thought I had a plug-in error or something... Hoops was chastising me and calling me heartless and such.. They they laughed and said they were just kidding and it was an April Fool's joke then they displayed the message from my friend. It was a good card!

I spent most of the day spa'ing myself. Well as much as I can in our tiny bathroom.. Bubble bath while reading a magazine, deep conditioning my hair... etc.. I really need a pedicure though. I've been trying to wait till I'm ready for a manicure at the same time though. My nails all broke off in the last few weeks and are just starting to come back. Didn't know I was so girly sometimes did you? :p

Ken's cousin, Joel, came over for a dinner date around 8:15pm. We haven't seen him in quite awhile. Ken and I debated all day on where to suggest for dinner. Duffs would have been a great choice but Tuesdays are 1/2 price wings night so the line-up is insane. We also thought Mongolian Grill, Hernando’s Hideaway or La Mexicana would be good choices and Joel chose Mongolian. The first bowl I made contained, beef, bean sprouts, scallop onions, white onions, pineapple, red pepper and their Korean sauce with extra garlic, sesame seeds and a dash of liquid sugar. Sooo good. I really liked how it turned out.

The second bowl contained, beef, bean sprouts, scallop onions, white onions, pineapple, and their mongolian sauce with extra garlic, sesame seeds and a dash of liquid sugar. The beef wasn’t as good, it was the last call so they hadn’t replaced it with fresh stuff. I’m not sure if that’s why the second bowl didn’t turn out as well or if my mixture was off, I’ve done that combination before, but it really was no where near as good as bowl 1.

After dinner Joel played a bit of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. He’s quite good at the shooting parts and I teased him about always trying to solve the games puzzles with his gun first. He left around 11pm to go get ready for work.

I jumped online to play some Guild Wars with Melar before she went to sleep around 12:30am. We did some quests in Nebo Terrace and explored the Cursed Lands. A little ways into The Black Curtain we came upon a rather nasty boss mob who was level 28 and had friends. We’re only both level 17 and our poor henchmen are level 12 if we get them from the Bergen Hot Springs and run from there. I managed to survive and get away but only barely. That’s when she decided to call it a night.

April 02 (Wednesday)
I can’t sleep, so I’m up at 3:30am writing this and playing Guild Wars. I have a bit of a sinus headache, my neck is sore and my ear is bleeding. I have a dentist appointment at 12:45 so I’ll probably just stay up.

We’ve received a lot of snow this month, and I really don’t mind it. I actually love the way snow looks on trees and such. Luckily we are able to choose not to go out in it most of the time. Even on the worst snow day (Saturday the 8th) there were still so many cars on the road. I don’t envy them.

March 2 (Sunday)
I met up with Sosena and we went to Kelsey’s and chatted over some Nachos. She gave me 3 bracelets she’d purchased that she didn’t really like as bracelets and asked if I would make them into something else. I’m pretty happy with what I came up with! Later we went to see The Eye. I’ve been a huge fan of Jessica Alba since the Dark Angel series. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars. This is what I said on my facebook movies app:

This was pretty good. It had some very spooky moments but nothing too scary.

Afterwards, we hung out at Starbucks and devised a movie plot that will make us millionaires! Email me if you’re interested in funding us :p Sorry the video game adaptation rights were already sold to Nick. LOL Note to other people who hang out at Starbucks: You know when they close, especially when the staff have gone around giving 15 & 10 minute warnings, don’t bitch when they finally start moving people to the door.

March 3 (Monday)
Our car spent the day in the shop getting it’s check-up and getting detailed, the latter I only let Ken get done twice a year. I didn’t feel like going out to lunch so Ken and Chris went to the Indian buffet again. I don’t dislike Indian food, but I don’t really crave it either. They were supposed to pick me up something on the way back but they ran late and had to rush back for a work call. Ken later went out to get me some tacos from Moe’s. Andrea was over and poor girl had slipped on some ice that morning outside of her building. She was obviously a little sore :/

March 5 (Wednesday)
A very very Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Missy! I got to talk to her, but she was trying to plan Daemon’s birthday party so we didn’t get to talk very long. I hope she got to relax some. It’s pretty stressful just trying to talk to anyone in that mad house sometimes

March 6 (Thursday)
I’d been missing Peter so I arranged a “Girl’s day” over at Chris & Lesley’s house in Milton. Unfortunately Sosena had to work, and Michelle had something come up at the last minute so it was just Erika and I. Still had a great time! We played more Rock Band, Erika brought her drum kit & guitar, I brought my new guitar and mic. Lesley made an awesome chickpea stew that I absolutely must get the recipe for! Peter was adorable as always, he kept running around singing songs from Mary Poppins. LOL We also teased Chris to no end when he wasn’t working, which is always fun. I wish they lived closer, I would definitely babysit Peter every day! I’m going to steal him. I’ll just have to settle being the crazy lady who teaches him strange words and what mazda’s say :p

March 7 (Friday)
We knew there was going to be a lot of snow, but I was supposed to puppy-sit Logan while Ken’s sister and her husband were in Buffalo. I left at 6 and it took me an hour to get there. The roads were very slippery. We’re on the lower level of the underground parking so we have a pretty steep driveway to get out. They had the “out” door open and the “in” door blocked off. I had to gun it up the ramp but ended up sliding into the massive snow drift lining the road to the front door. I didn’t hit it very hard, just tapped into it. It popped the corner of the bumper in slightly but Ken was able to pop it back out later. I stayed with Logan till around 9:30 when there was a break in the snow. The roads were much much better so I picked up Ken and we went to the grocery store.

March 8 (Saturday)
Just insane amounts of snow fell. Every time I looked out of the window I couldn’t help but say “good lord”. We just stayed home, played games and watched tv.

March 9 (Sunday)
I met Sosena at Yuk Yuk’s after her work get-gether, Nick also met up with us. First we went to Boston Pizza, chatted had some nachos. From there we spent the next few hours at the Tim Horton’s. Lots of fun!

March 10 (Monday)
I didn’t get home till around 5am. I don’t usually have much sugar but I had 2 medium hot chocolates so I was unable to go to sleep till around noon. Ken and Chris were too busy to go to lunch but Chris went down to Licks and got some food for them both. Sadly I slept through Andrea being over.

March 11 (Tuesday)
Clint, Erika & Brea came over to watch Ark of Truth the new Stargate movie. It was pretty good, it wrapped up a lot of the storylines.

March 12 (Wednesday)
Nick came over for lunch, we took him to Moe’s then Ken showed him Assassin’s Creed which he’s been playing a lot for the last few days. Very Happy Birthday wishes for my favorite nephew who turned 9! We got him the Danger Mouse Season 1-6 DVD (which my brothers and I used to love) and Princess Bride DVD (second best movie ever made).

March 13 (Thursday)
Melar and I got to finish the Borlis Pass mission in Guild Wars, only one more to go till we’re out of the Northern Shiverpeak Mountains and hopefully not long till we can make some prettier armor! I got my giant book on web design today. I’ve read the first 3 chapters but it’s pretty boring. I just want to learn how to make my own site and friends sites better. I’ve got a lot of ideas for my site, I’ve been sketching them out along with the site I made for the Malamute Rescue group and the one I worked on for Ken’s sister. Perhaps I will look for a course or something. Though last time I took a course I got stuck sitting next to a girl who didn’t know how to use a computer, in a graphic design course. I spent more time answering her questions about where to click than hearing the teacher. :/ Sucked big time.

March 14 (Friday)
Today I’ll be packing for my week in Virginia. I leave tomorrow morning at 9am which means I’ll be at the airport at 6am. It’s also Brea’s birthday today, so Happy Sweet 16! Happy Birthday to Ken’s cousin Greg! I’m debating on bringing some of my jewelry tools. I’ve got 10 bracelets to make for upcoming birthdays and I ordered the parts and had them sent to my mom’s. The stuff takes up a lot of room and we only have 1 good big suitcase left but I will probably have a lot of quiet time to work on it while I’m there.

Most of the time I scramble to find ways to amuse myself while Ken is working. Sometimes I make dates with friends. This week however was *packed* !! So awesome.

Monday was Chris & Andrea over as usual. Tuesday I hung out with Sos all day and then we met up with Nick for dinner at Mexicali Rosa’s, then on to Starbucks and then his place for some Family Guy episodes. Wednesday, was pretty relaxing during the day, then Ken’s cousin, Michelle, came over and we played Rock Band and she gave me some jewelry to fix/change for her. I already finished a bracelet she wanted shortened (before / after), and made a new chain piece for the headband I made her awhile ago. Still have another bracelet to make longer though (close up left / close up right). Thursday, I spent the day with Erika at her place, she finished a very pretty sweater she’s been working on for my birthday present. Then when Clint came home from work we went to dinner at Apple Jacks and then played Rock Band for awhile. Tonight we went to Iron Chef at Eglinton & Tomken Rd for Chris’ birthday dinner. Best part was when Chris was opening the Christmas present from Ken and I, Peter insisted on helping. Then said loudly “Oh My Goodness!” when he saw what it was. Other people in the restaurant thought it was just as cute The food wasn’t as good as usual but we had a good time! Tomorrow, we’re finally going to see a movie, though it’s one I don’t really know much aboutFanboys?? with Clint, Erika and Brea. Then they’re coming over to our place to watch Family Guy: Blue Harvest and play Assassin’s Creed (I think). Chris will also be over late tomorrow night because he and Ken have a 3am upgrade to do.

So lots of friend dates, lots of jokes, lots of laughing, and good food! So far I have nothing on my calendar for next week but I’m trying to set up a girls sleep-over for the week after, when Ken and Chris are away in California.

How’s that for a post title huh? /proud This will likely be a long post, so if you’re bored already, skip ahead to the next site in your rss feed :p I haven’t written anything in over a month! *reviews calendar* OH! Let’s begin with Thanksgiving.. the real one :p

~Thanksgiving~
The day of my last post, I was traveling to Virginia to spend 2 weeks with my mom and brother, G. I brought along all of my jewelry stuff to work on Christmas earrings while I was there. My suitcases were stuffed! I never realized how much “stuff” I actually have now. I’ve only been making jewelry for just over a year now. The weather was so fantastic in Virginia, end of fall-ish, not beginning of winter. G and I ran a bunch of errands, I got a new driving report for my citizenship paperwork (they’re only good for 6 months). Hopefully I won’t need to go get another one! I tried to go get a new FBI record report, but the Quantico MP station wouldn’t do it on my downloaded form, and they don’t have the stock cards. So I called the Stafford Sheriff’s office but they couldn’t do it before I left and don’t give out or sell their stock cards. You’d think they were on ration!

Bonus: I got to spend a lot of time with my adorable puppies, Mookie, Vashti and Wolfie. I missed them so much! My Mookie has become so brave, he’s the big brother now. He used to be terrified of the living room because of the ceiling fan and adjustable coffee table. Now he lives on the couch. Poor Vashti was just diagnosed with cancer and had just had surgery to remove a tumor before I arrived. She was really tired most of the time and had a really hard time walking. Once her stitches were removed she quickly returned to her normal bouncy princessy self. The best we can hope for though is that she won’t be in much pain before we realize it. :/ Wolfie on the other hand is such a giant now! I was there when my parents adopted him, and for a long time we were really worried, he had really bad diarrhea for over a month. He was sooo thin too, now he’s grown out and UP! Sitting on the couch with me, he’s actually taller. He’s probably the tallest puppy we’ve ever had. He and Mookie were quite a pair, getting jealous whenever the other was being petted. Wolfie would actually rumble though. I’m not quite sure it was growling, he didn’t seem angry, just vocal. It was close though and I found myself pulling my hand back once or twice. I <3 my puppies.

Thanksgiving dinner was smaller than usual. Even though we were only missing 1 person, that person was my dad, who can polish off most of a 10 pound turkey by himself. We were also leaving right after Thanksgiving so we wouldn't be keeping many leftovers. Mom cooked a turkey breast instead, I can't say it was even close to as good, but everything else made up for it. I of course made my world famous potatoes, we also had stuffing (ick), brussel sprouts with bacon, creamy spinach, REAL biscuits (c'mon canada!) and other stuff I can't remember at the moment. I think we were all finished and full within 10 minutes!

~Kiev, Ukraine~
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Mom, G and I left for a short trip to Kiev. G had a meet & greet planned at the language school that wants to hire him. I admit, the Ukraine wasn’t even on my radar for places to visit. Making the plans for the trip was quite a chore. G did most of the research but the amount of emails, websites and issues was astounding. We ended up renting a 2-bedroom apartment for our stay. I really liked the furniture and bedding in what ended up being my room. Dark wood and orange sheets. My overall impression was that Kiev is a dark and gloomy place. I’m gonna ask G for pictures in the summertime but I bet it will look almost the same. Still the people were super nice, G even commented that he’d never had such a nice experience with people in his many trips to Russia. I think the trip would have been very different if G didn’t speak Russian for us though. The driver we hired, Igor, was supposed to speak English but he really didn’t. Still he was awesome, we all felt bad leaving him outside in his car while we went sightseeing or to eat. We asked him to join us, but he always refused. I have a full picture set up on my Flickr account, you need to be on my friends list to view it though. None of us could believe all of the Mexican food that were on the menus though, really? Ukrainian Mexican? We didn’t try any though. Back in Toronto at the St. Lawrence Market, our favorite Ukrainian store was pushing their Salsa.. Coincidence?

You can find more information about the specific places we visited in my brother’s blog posts.
#1 My Trip
#2 Kiev (Day 1)
#3 Kiev (Day 2)
#4 Kiev (Day 3)
#5 Kiev (Part 2)

I flew home on Dec. 1st. Ken and I had 4 days to catch up on some of the 3 weeks of TV shows that had piled up between his L.I.S.A. Conference week and my 2 week trip before Reina would arrive.

~Reina in Toronto~
My best-friend Reina came to visit for a week. I honestly wasn’t as happy about her coming as I should have been, Ken and I hadn’t even started our Christmas shopping yet and we’d be yet another week behind. Once she arrived though all of that didn’t matter. We had a great time! Everywhere we went, Reina was super excited, she’d get pictures with everyone we came in contact with. Even when she forgot her camera one day, the next day we went back to every place we’d gone to and snapped a picture. She’s just a tiny ball of optimism, cheer, energy, enthusiasm and super charming. Everything I’m not! I doubt I’d get away with half the stuff she did. Though we did NOT get away with trying to get a picture of 151 Front St. The security guard made us go away, but we did get a parking ticket that said 151 on it so Reina took that home as a souvenir. She helped us decorate our Christmas tree, and we had a great time out with some of our friends too! Some memorable pics we took: ~THE MOOF!!~ & ~Rest Assured!~ Reinforced my belief that I need a “day-friend” to do stuff with while all my friends are busy being productive members of society. We wished Melar would have come too, but I doubt that will ever happen.

~2 Weeks of Christmas!~
So here’s where Christmas Cheer Collides.. the 2 weeks of Christmas is a blur of get-togethers, present buying, SNOW!, and 4 foot penguins?! The Sunday after Reina left, we had our Christmas Dinner with Ken’s Mom & Jeff, Ken’s sister Karen & Kevin. Always fun to do a full course dinner in our tiny galley kitchen. By fun I mean, exhausting and messy.. *grin* Still it’s amazing every time we succeed. This year, I put to use my experience from our many Thanksgiving dinners and cleared out all non-essential items from the counters and tables. We even got to use one of our end tables as a secondary “serving” counter. I’m also getting closer and closer to the perfect ratio of potato <> people. My goal will be to have no less, no more than we need. I also prepared a fantastically received salad of baby spinach leaves, dried cranberries, died red onions, shredded carrots, and sliced apple with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It was pretty awesome, and made me <3 cranberries for once. My mom usually makes cranberry bread every year, and I've never liked it much, now I understand why my older brother, DJ, insists upon it every year.

Speaking of which, I learned that my dad had arranged for a helicopter to pick my brother up from his outpost and fly him into the base so they could spend Christmas together. I it's awesome, I can only imagine how lonely it is for everyone out there. I got to talk to them both off an on all Christmas Eve / Day in IM. We joked that they'd be forced into doing a "troops in Iraq reunion" special.

The next Saturday after our Christmas dinner, our friend Nick finally came over for a visit. A long visit it turned out! He and Ken did lots of geeking out, we went to dinner at Seoul House for Bolgogi. Then we watched some Ergo Proxy. It’s been many months since we saw the first episodes with Sosena and I’d forgotten how awesome the theme song was, and PINO! It made a lot more sense the second time around. I must have been in Sosena’s “gourmet” Grilled Cheese stupor the first time. The only bad part of the visit was trying a piece of Nick’s caffeine gum.. UGH.. it took me a few minutes to figure out what the taste reminded me of.. Flintstone Vitamins mixed with Robitussin. I think the world needs me to stay away from caffeine, I already have the oddest sleeping habits of anyone I know. :p Nick however has caffeine sludge for blood, so he <3'd it.

The next day, Sosena came over and we watched a few more episodes of Ergo Proxy. Explained a bit more of the story. We ordered dinner from C'est Bon.. A Chinese place of all things. Their spicy crispy beef was fantastic, took care of my Hakka craving NP. Too bad Sos had to work that night, or we'd have watched much more Ergo Proxy. After picking Sosena up from her house in Brampton, I had to park on the other side of this giant Lake that had formed from the doorway to our car. She thought it was hilarious that I had to cross the river for her But really, driving over 5km was enough to make waves reach the windows!

~Christmas Eve~
On Christmas Eve morning, I went out and mailed off some late packages, stopped at the grocery store to pick up pepperoni bread fixings and surprised the Canadian Cancer Society with a $1k donation on behalf of the Snider Family. Ken’s step-mother has had some tumors removed this year and all looks good, so we’re very thankful for all the research and work they’ve done. The poor lady was all alone in the office, though she said it was ok since they were only open 9-noon. As I was leaving I suggested she should take off a few minutes early and promised not to tattle. Then after a well deserved nap, Ken and I watched some TV, played some games and I made traditional pepperoni bread. The frozen dough I got from the grocery store didn’t have any special spices listed in the ingredients but you could clearly see and taste them. Still it was awful good. Mmmmm

~Christmas Day~
We were supposed to drive up to Brantford and have dinner with Ken’s maternal Grandfather and family. But a few days prior, Ken’s mom told us that there would be too many people there and that she was sorry. So we made reservations at the Town & Country buffet. We go there maybe once every other month and it’s always “ok” but not fantastic. It was downright packed on Christmas Day though. Afterwards, we drove up to Brantford and stayed at the Best Western Brant Park hotel. In the new Gretzky wing.. The room was bigger than our whole apartment, had a fake fire place, and the MOST AWESOME whirlpool tub I’ve ever ever ever seen… I MUST own it if we ever get our own place. Ken says we could probably find better, but I <3'd this one soooooo. Though maybe there’s something to his theory..

~Boxing Day~
We spent the day with Ken’s paternal family as we do every year. They’re such a fun bunch, lots of sarcasm and irreverence. Us “grandkids” have taken over the main course responsibility (we were expected to bring an appetizer before) for the last year so Ken and I brought some Broccoli with cheese sauce. The food was fantastic, the presents took forever to open, always fun! Everyone seemed to <3 the earrings I made for them. Sadly Ken & his cousin, Michelle, did not win the Euchre tournament this year so we had to relinquish the trophy to his Uncle Lynn & cousin, Teresa. There was much taunting Every year Ken says he should teach me to play, but then he forgets until a few days before Christmas. So I don't play in the tournament, I won't make someone lose because I don't really know how to play. They take this tournament seriously! The trophy is engraved with winners names from like 10 years ago or something. After the tournament we packed up some left-overs and drove home.

~The Gifts~
Some memorable gifts this year: Ken got 3 certificates to attend cooking classes at Cephalon center (2 from Mom & Dad, 1 from Me), He drooled over the blu ray discs “Planet Earth” & “Roving Mars”. Books: The Tipping Point, GreenTopia & 2 of the Stargate SG-1: Fandom books. He also got a decorative plate set, a spread knife, gravy bowl, some sauces and spices, colored cable ties, a mini flash drive, .hack and other stuff I got Season 1 & 2 of Dark Angel. I <3'd that show. I also got Season 5 of the Gilmore Girls! A jewelry making book, Disgaea 2!! (I think that's a hint I should hurry up and finish 1 already *hee hee) Chocolates, 2 packs of card stationary, a pretty tiny tiny hummingbird necklace, this years Swarovski Ornament, this and last year’s White House Ornament, a beautiful handmade fairy on sparkly stone.. and lots more! I think we can walk in and buy our local Future Shop with all the gift certificates we got this year!!

~What it all Means~
Even though I didn’t spend Christmas with my family this year, they are off on a grand adventure to England & Scotland or stuck in Iraq, we were still as close as IM and picture uploads could keep us. The collision of love, good wishes, hopes and dreams from all facets of my family and friends and that which I feel for them reminds me what it all means. I’m not a good enough of a writer to explain it, but I’m sure everyone knows what I mean. It’s the one time of year where everyone can feel like the star atop the tree, and at the same time be the light on everyone elses star. Merry Christmas Everyone, I hope you figured out what it all means too.

I made 9 pieces last night, 3 necklaces, 2 bracelets and 4 earrings. 1 necklace is a birthday gift, but the rest are up for sale. You can find my gallery here on Flickr.com

I’ve known about this store for awhile but didn’t order because I think the website is a mess. We went to the actual store (near Warden & Eglinton) today and I am sooooooo sooooooo happy. The store was fantastic! Everything I hate about other bead stores, such as:
1. the shelves and shelves of little jars that you can’t see into unless you pick up each one
2. Lack of labeling for size, and type
3. Never finding all the pieces for one complete project in one store

None of that was true of BeadFX. The store was spacious, bright, well organized, well labeled, with a huge variety. I’m in love with that store! I still don’t think I’d use their website though.

Anita let me make her a necklace for prom, which was yesterday. She loves Audrey Hepburn so I did some research on her style of necklace and once Anita showed me her dress I knew I would want to make her a necklace like the one Audrey wears in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s“. So I took a picture of the necklace and Anita’s dress to the bead store and asked for help on how to make the center brooch. The lady gave me a flat brass filligree ornament and suggested that I weave the pearls onto it. It worked wonderfully except I didn’t use the 28 gauge wire like she suggested but white floss. The wire was a bit too stiff and kept breaking. The lady also suggested that I use wire guardians to attach the beading wire to the brooch, which worked perfectly and gives it a symmetrical look. I used 27 pearls on each side of the bottom row, 26 on the middle, and 25 on the top row to force the right shape when it hangs.

When Anita tried it on with her dress she was very happy. The only change she made was to wear it closer to her neck so the clasp hung loosely at the back. Seemed like a very Audrey look. I would have made a longer dangle in the back to counter the weight of the brooch if I had the time. Still, Anita liked it. I can’t wait to see pictures!

I’ve made a boat-load of new jewelry lately. If I’ve sent you an invitation, you can see the pictures on my flickr account. There’s 2 more sets that I haven’t yet taken pictures of, but they’re probably my favorite from the last set. I still need to remake Grandma Snider’s bracelet, the clasp was too hard for her, and I need to make 2 headband/belt/bracelet/necklace things for Ken’s sister and cousin. I should come up with a name for those things.. that’s a really long description to keep writing. I’ll think of something once I take pictures. Too bad I didn’t get pictures of the one I made for Ken’s other cousin and the matching necklace.

If you see some jewelry that you like, you can always describe it to me, or send me a picture and I may be able to make it for you! I won’t make rings though, but I’m always looking at stuff in stores, or on tv or websites to get ideas. Email me