* I couldn't get a connection Sunday night so I am squeezing my weekend posts in here...

Sunday

Today was Aaron's birthday. I took him out for a birthday brunch at the Bagel Bin (bagels were ok, the atmosphere was great, but the only people working were surly 16 year old boys) and then we walked along the canal and harassed the ducks. We ate dinner at Aja Noodle (pictured on the right) that I had spied while we were at the Bagel Bin. It is very cool inside. Joel's neighbors (not Joel! how about that!?) s**tcanned it at some point, but I am not sure why. We enjoyed it.

The big event was a good ole fashioned birthday bowling party in the evening. Boy did I stink and I got the ugliest bowling shoes. Everyone had a good time though.

Saturday

Tina's sister Sherri had her wedding shower today. Any thoughts I have ever had about eloping when I decided to get married have flown out the window. I realized that the pile of giftys that you receive when you get married is not something to be missed. The clever gal had registered at Target. Pure genius! You get to walk about the store with a scanner and scan in all the stuff you need...or just want.

I wonder if anyone would get me Legos if I registered for them.

Friday

Munchy

Do know what is a beautiful thing? A doughnut hole. Not the empty space existing in the center of a doughnut, but the wonderful fried goodness that used to occupy that empty space. More specifically the Dunkin Donuts Munchkin. How is it that they come out so round, so lovely? Why don't they fry up in a shape of a disc? That's the magic.

I mean... I like a good doughnut, but take all that beauty of a doughnut and compact it into a spherical bite size portion, and well you have something special. I wonder if it's because you get more surface area per unit mass of doughnut? Krispy Kreme really needs to think about utilizing all those doughnut holes they are punching out of their regular doughnuts.

Pass it on

I would like to get my paws on one of these 1000 Journals. This is what they are about...."One thousand blank journals are traveling from hand to hand throughout the world. Those who find them will add stories and drawings. And then pass them along. This is an experiment and you are part of it."

I find myself constructing in my head what I would add to a journal if it came my way. If you ever see one, let me know.

This is somewhat similiar to the Photo Trust Project. For this...the originator sent out a one time use camera each month to an aquantance and they passed it on and so on. Eventually it will make it's way back to the owner for developing and photo postings.

There must be a name for this sort of project. Chain Art?

What not to wear when pouring tomato soup

Today we (the E.A.T. team ) served up grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for our coworkers at lunchtime. We went through 12 loaves of bread, two blocks of cheese slices, three tubs of butter and 10 large jars of tomato soup. Sarah estimated we were seving a grilled cheese every 25 seconds.

Of course clever me wore a crisp white shirt today. It was in danger of tomato soup stainage the entire time.

Guilty

Guilty thing #1: Was at Target Sunday... ran into Matt. Was at Target Monday... ran into Joel, Lara and Hannah. I don't live at Target... I swear.

Guilty thing #2: I watched "Who Wants to Marry a Prince?" Monday night. Oh... the shame!

Pears and more

When we were at the apple orchard, I also bought a little basket of pears. They are so good! I ate two today already. Pear is one of my favorite smells. I open their bag occasionally and smell them. I made Joel smell one and he said it smelled like soap. Then again his head is stuffed up.

Of course I have lots of soap that smells like pear. Pear body wash, pearberry body lotion. What is it with my toiletries that smell like food? I have nail polish that smells like melon, shampoo that smells like orange sherbet... and a personal favorite...lip gloss that smells like cake batter (Hard Candy lip gloss).

It's a wonder I don't gnaw off my own face.

Still no sign of Petunia. I have so many plates of seeds out, I may aquire several other small furry animals though. Aaron thinks she ran off with a rat and got a tattoo and mulitple piercings.

Boo Cute

I absolutely love the promotional graphics Target is using for Halloween. The illustration style of the characters looks so familiar.. from a childrens book perhaps... anyone know?

I got a t-shirt with the little bat illustration on it for the week of Halloween. Aaron even made an inquiry at the front desk of Target as to what they do with the store promo signs and hangings. They took his name and address and will call after Halloween so we can come and get something. Very exciting.

Today: Showers

A rainy chilly day such as today should be spent on one's couch.

Rolled up in a quilt with a book and hot chocolate.

Certainly not in meetings all day.

Sunday

Despite feeling cruddy yesterday, Aaron and I went to the Sarah Harmer concert with Abby last night. Even though it started an hour and a half late and my feet/legs/back were killing me from standing... it was pretty good. I thought her opener, Sarah Slean was especially entertaining. If only it weren't for the crowd invading my 18 inches of personal space.

Apples

I am chock full of apples now. Aaron and I went apple picking with Joel, Lara and Hannah. When I came to the realization that you didn't have to pay for any you ate in the orchard after the wagon dropped you off, I was determined to sample each variety of apple. I had a harrowing experience of balancing atop Aaron's shoulders to reach the top branches of untouched apples. As a result we had a bucketful of Cortlands, Galas and McIntosh. I ate several of each kind. Thank goodness they didn't weigh me before and after.

Saturday

I spent all last night and all today pulling everything from my closets. I started at one end of my apartment and went over it inch by inch searching for places where a hamster might be. I strategically placed plates of favorite seeds on the floor. No sign of P.

The only possibility is that she slipped in through a small space on the side of the front panel of my dishwasher (that I had never noticed before) and from there gained access to the floor boards. In which case she made a run for it and is now footloose and fancy free. *sniff*

On the Loose

At some point in the night Petunia managed to twist the top off one of her little lookouts and jump ship.

I didn't have time this morning to conduct a full search. She has escaped twice before but I was awake at the time and more importantly she was too. During the previous escapes I could hear her scrabbling about and could track her down. The problem here is that I was asleep when she made a run for it, and by the time I discovered it (this morning) she, being nocturnal... was asleep in her hiding place.

She is snoozing away in some hidden corner of my apartment. She doesn't snore, so rooting her out would be like trying to find a rolled up sock that hid itself.

I suspect she is in the closet. After work I will drag everything out to find her, or wait 'til she wakes up and starts making noise. *sigh*

Good Luck and God Speed

How unsettling to see news reports of the USS Theodore Roosevelt heading out of Norfolk for the Mediterranean. You see, less than a year ago that was the carrier Aaron was stationed on. He has been over there on Med cruises twice. I have toured that carrier and stood on it's deck.

*brrrrrrr*

Around the World

Apparently we are not alone. I was amazed at these images from other countries.

Home Again, Home Again

Clickity-clack. (ever hear that song when you were a kid? nevermind) Did I forget to mention that Piglet is home? He arrived by Priority mail before our first trip up to the TIFF. Just in time to galavant about Toronto. He is a bit grungy, but happy to be home.

More thoughts

When I started Bellydance Class a year ago, I never thought it would be viewed as controversial. But after recent events, the fact that it is a Middle Eastern dance did not escape our attention. Last night was our first class of the fall. We wondered if anyone would drop the class or if the troupe would not be asked to perform for a very long time.

There was a lot to think about. We all knew that just because the terrorists were Middle Eastern does not make bellydancing bad... but one does have to be sensitive to the emotions that exist as a result of the attack. We talked about what we can do to educate ourselves and others. We specifically talked about the plight of the women that are oppressed in that part of the world. Things we didn't think about a week ago.

At any rate the troupe (Sahara Shimmer) website is up now. Don't bother scanning the gallery looking for me... the site design was the extent of my involvement.

Arggghhh

For the last time... I am not saying Greg is Judd's long lost twin... I am just saying that if Greg had a beard and glasses (as in the example pics), in a dark room (dance club), twenty feet away (across a dance floor) he could possibly look similiar to Judd!!! *twitch twitch*

Clogged

Joel said that he agreed with me that in a smokey dark room you could definately mistake Judd Nelson for Gred Kinnear. He then asked me why I didn't blog that he agreed with me. I told him that wouldn't work. He has to write about it in his own blog to give me any credibility.

But Joel says he hasn't felt like bloggingh lately. He has a blog clog.

squo

Joel just asked what a "squo" is. I informed him it is slang for "squirrel".

He said he thinks I got some bad gouge there.

Judd Kinnear

I detected a hint of disdain in Tina's post regarding my mistaking Judd Nelson for Greg Kinnear. I didn't think it was that far a stretch. Take a look at the pictures of Greg I have found to compare to Judd. The first two of Greg with the goatee are from his movie "What Planet Are You From?". The third picture in which he has on glasses is from "You've Got Mail". Now if you imagine him with both the goatee and the glasses... well I think it's obvious. He indeed could be mistaken for Judd Nelson. Ehhhh?! Right?

McBionicle

On Miss Pixie's blog (acquaintance of Joel) I learned that she had acquired the blue Bionicle at McDonalds.

We spotted the Happy Meal Bionicles first in Canada, and I was plotting how I was going to catch the week of the blue one. My other two are blue. Must keep with the theme you know.

So I drug Aaron to MickyDee's for dinner last night to aquire the little Bionicle called Maku.When I got to the table with my Big Mac, I ripped open the toy package... only to discover... he was GREEN!

Achh. The search is on. McDonalds for dinner the rest of the week.

So today we are being urged to return to our normal routines. Resume normalcy.

But everytime I see a car or a store front flying the American flag I get a lump in my thoat.

I think my sister is having a hard time with all this. She asked me to post this....{To honor those who died and those who felt like they have because of September 11, 2001, there is Psalm 55 Please read this and inform 3 other people to pass it on to 3 others. This is not mandatory, it's for your own interests. The best thing to do is pray.} My mom said she has been begging to go donate blood and has been searching for a flag to hang. I haven't seen her this dedicated since she went through her Spice Girls phase. It makes me wonder what it will be like for the kids growing up with this as part of their childhood.

****Sunday***

We had no trouble getting back home last night. Nonetheless, I was glad for a day's rest before heading back to work tomorrow. Aaron and I went for a bike ride in the afternoon.

Inspired by Danica's first nut of fall, I searched for acorns to put in a dish on my counter. I am sad to say that as of yet, the acorns are very small.

I hope they are planning to grow a little meatier or the poor squirrels are going to be rather hungry this winter.

 

****Saturday***

We caught up with Matt, Patrik and Aaron last night. They are definately here to see different films than us. Last night while we were lounging at Remy's watching Judd Nelson chat up two women, they were seeing "Itchi the Killer".

Her Squibness- One of the main events planned for this weekend was the meeting of Squibnocket. This was the first time I would be meeting a "cyber friend". I was worried that perhaps the real me would not match the web me portrayed through my postings. My emotions ranged from nervousness to excitment.

I fear that by the time we were to meet Squib one of our prominent emotions was tiredness. The events of the week coupled with darting about the city had left us a bit glazed. Boosted by bubble tea we followed Squib though some of the best parts of the city we had seen yet. If she learned anything about us, it's that we love to shop. At least she got to observe us in our natural occupation. Squib was charming and sweet and I hope she found the same of us... if not highly amusing.

Hello Ki....THUD- That is the sound of me hitting the floor. Squib took us to a store that was wall to wall Hello Kitty, Tare Panda, Miffy Bunny and more. I was so happy. I have no idea how long I was in there. It was a break in the space time continueum. Wonderful. *sigh*

****Friday***

After much thought and a call to AAA we decided, despite the events earlier in the week, to continue with our plans to go to Toronto for the weekend for the remainder of the TIFF. So last night Aaron, Chuck, Tina and I packed up the car, grabbed our passports and headed north. It had been such an unsettling week, we thought a visit with our sympathetic neighbors could do us no harm. A quick phone call to Joel to check the traffic report along the way and we crossed the bridge with the shortest line into Canada.

"Serendipity"- I have been looking forward to this movie with John Cusak and Kate Beckinsale for ages. I think I saw the preview for it last winter. The script is chock full of fate, luck and destiny. John Cusak is again playing the role of the hapless, unlucky in love frumpled fellow. Just how we like him.

"American Astronaut"- This movie takes the prize for the strangest. Even stranger than the worm and golf movie. The main character has to trade a "real live girl" for a young man on a mining planet and then trade him for an old mans remains on an all woman planet and then take the remains to earth to collect a fee. It's a sci-fi western. It's in black and white. It's weird. It's strangely good.

"Birthday Girl"- Ben Chaplin is a lonely Englishman that sends away for a Russian mail order bride. He gets Nicole Kidman. (Matt asked "Is it really Nicole Kidman? I mean Nicole Kidman playing Nicole Kidman? You order a mail order bride and get NIcole Kidman? Cause that would be awesome!") No... Nicole Kidman plays Nadia, a Russian girl. The movie wasn't at all what we expected... it was a little darker than your usual romantic comedy. But it was enjoyable.

First Nut

Today when I got to work there was a strange round thing sitting on my desk. After some thought I realized it was my friend Danica who left it there. She had left me a "first nut of the season". A buckeye chestnut still in its outer shell. (what do you call that part? Joel says " protective nut casing)

She first did this a couple of years ago... I can't remember if we were still in grad school or if it was after we were working here. She left us all cool smooth chestnuts sitting on our mousepads. They are such a simple thing. But we all admired our little treasures for the rest of the day, watching as the reddish woodgrained surface changed to a dark brown. They were the topic of conversation that day.

So now my "first nut of the season" for this year is sitting in front of me. When I look over at Joel I can see his sitting to the left of his keyboard. There is something strangely familiar and comforting about it.

The Day After

They sent us home from work yesterday afternoon. When I got to work this morning there were mounted police roaming the parking lot and around the building. Sitting in the hallways were televisions tuned into news updates.

I am trying to process this, like everyone else. One of the biggest things weighing on my mind is, who did this? Where are they? How come no one has claimed responsibility for their handiwork? They worked very hard for these results, don't they want credit?

I feel as though someone has left a flaming bag of dog poo on our front porch and ran away.

The only thing that brings me out of this funk is when I see how wonderful people have been in their efforts to help the victims....

Upstate New York Blood Donations American Red Cross: please call (800) 448-3543 or (800) 272-4543

American Red Cross Cash donations: (800) HELP-NOW Red Cross donations through Amazon or Red Cross Donations through PayPal

Tragedy

I have a heavy sick feeling in my stomach. It was just another day when I walked into the office. But something was wrong. Everyone was crammed into the lunchroom watching the televsion. A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. As I watched another plane crashed into the second tower. Later a plane crashed into the Pentagon. When I looked around the room everyone had a look of shock and sadness on their face. Soon one of the towers collapsed under it's own damaged weight. We had been attacked.

We thought we were safe here. I secretly wanted it to just be an accident. The fact that it was on purpose makes it all the more unsettling.

I have so many questions. How many people are gone? When will things be normal again?

Here is a quick rundown of our weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival. Check Tina's blog later on for a review of all the celebrity spottings of the weekend.

**Sunday**

"Novocaine" I think this was my favorite movie of the weekend. Just looking at Steve Martin makes me laugh. He plays such a good dentist (remember Little Shop of Horrors?) There is a scene that was the most gruesome, squeemish scene ever. I won't give it away but just think....DENTIST.

Banana Rebublic Bag I was plotting and planning to make my own Gromit Hand Bag like NotMartha, but when I was in the same room with an original Banana Republic specimen I found myself carrying an orange one to the checkout line. The girl in front of me had a green one. I asked her where she found a green one and she said "They are over there, and they are on sale! Go grab one!" I put back the orange one and I did.

Canadians are so nice! I tell myself I can use it as a pattern to make others for all my friends

At Last I finally got to fulfil my lifelong dream (ok yearlong dream) of having a Bubble Tea. I thought it was very tasty and the bubbles amusing. They seemed to annoy everyone else, but I like chewy squishy things.

**Saturday**

Film Shorts:
"Jean Laliberte"- I have no idea what this movie was about. It used the shaky camera technique and it made me too sick to read the subtitles. It was Blair Witch Project and Dancer in the Dark all over again.
"Strange Invaders" -a very cool animation about a couple that become overwhelmed by an alien baby that falls from the sky. Classic line... the baby calls his new father "peanut".
"The Green"- something about women who picked earth worms and golfers. I didn't get it. "Sooitch"- a freaky movie about a morning after.
"I Shout Love" - this movie records a day and night that a newly separated couple spend together. The guy agrees to spend one more day with his ex, so she can video record them doing the things she liked best.

M.A.C. Between Lush where I stocked up on bath bombs and M.A.C. cosmetics favored by the stars I was in shopping heaven. I actually felt woozy in Ice, the cool little shop frequented by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Aaron and Tina talked me into getting a peacock blue eyeshadow at M.A.C. It's not something I would ever buy on my own.

"Prozac Nation" Movie synopsis... Girl's parents divorce. Girl's parents fight. Girl's parents fight over girl. Girl smokes five packs a day. Girl gets drunk. Girl does drugs. Girl sleeps around. Girl goes into therapy. Girl writes best selling novel. We are pleased to report that the real life Jason Biggs looks just as he does in movies. We also noticed that as long as you stand next to Christina Ricci, you will look tall.

Good/Bad Diner Late this evening after hanging out at Mad, we were a bit nibblish. At that hour, a tiny little diner was our only option. This diner will forever be known as the Good/Bad Diner. Chucks fish and chips and my General Tso's chicken was delish while Aaron and Tina's hamburgers tasted strangly like Swedish Meatballs (they should know...they could still taste it the next day) Maybe we shouldn't have tried a place that served both Chinese AND Canadian cuisine.

**Friday Night**

We got to Toronto just in time. We rushed to the box office where we were escorted to separate area as "out of towners", we got every movie we signed up for and then sprinted to the theatre. *huff puff*

"Sidewalks of New York" This was a good movie. I think. You see... Ed Burns intended this to be a "mockumentary" and therefore filmed it with the shaky camera technique. After half an hour I was nauseous and could no longer look at the screen. Thanks Ed.

"Thirteen Conversations About One Thing" Aaron felt this could have been Five Conversations About One Thing. I have to agree it did seem a bit long. The highlight of the film was when someone stood up and yelled "We need a doctor!". It was actually quite disturbing to me at the time, but later on we discovered on the front page of the Toronto Sun that is was actually Matthew McConaughy that rushed down to assist the woman that passed out. Tina and I secretly think it was pretty tricky that she managed to get the leading man to resustiate her.

During the movie we sat across the aisle from Alan Arkin and observed that he is a crotchety fellow, as he would not sign an autograph for a girl that approached him after the movie. We also learned that a woman throwing her purse down a whole row of seats into the seat you are standing in front of and about to sit in is apparently an acceptable way of claiming a seat in a theatre. *grrrrrrr*

Balancing Act

A coworker sent me a link to a most excellent webpage. It is chock full of pictures of a bunny with various objects balanced on his head. The page is in Japanese, but click on any link for a view of this talented rabbit. I have a few examples here. Sunglasses, leaf, pancakes, pepper, cherry tomato, and one yen.

What skill! What superb sense of balance!

Happy Anniversary!!!

One year ago today I posted my first blog! I can't believe it has been a year.

I have "met" a lot of people through my blog. From Panties in a Bunch in California to Andrea in Singapore. And also Squibnocket who I will get to meet face to face rather soon.

I was looking over my posts from my first month of blogging and it is interesting to see how many of those topics have come back again. Tbey are World Burps, just as I posted about on September 22nd.

I not only see myself going back and commenting on subjects from the past but I see them popping up on others sites. Megan of "Not Martha" that I blogged about yesterday has chronicles of Bubble Tea and Mirror Pictures.

I feel as though it has all come full circle. Here is to another year of blogs.

Check out my top ten blog posts of the past year list.....

Junk Mail

Someone posted an email in the lunchroom that encourages everyone who gets junk mail to rebel. The plan is to take the flyers that are sent to us and send them back to the mailer via the enclosed "no postage necessary if mailed in the United States" self addressed envelope. Not only will all the junk mailers get their mail back but they will pay for it too.

So last night I put a Visa flyer in a Citibank envelope, put the Citibank flyer in a Warner Cable envelope and then placed the Warner Cable flyer in the Visa envelope. Take that! I also plan to mail back every single subscription postcard that comes in my magazines! (Joel said I should tape those to a brick) Hah hah! I feel like such the little anarchist!

Clone

Joel pointed me to a wonderful site today... Not Martha. Her name might not be Martha, but I think she comes pretty darn close.

*achoo*

The air is thick with pollen. It seems as though everyone, including myself is suffering from allergy symptoms. Between my sore throat and Tina's itchy face I think we are all ready to move to the desert.

Slang

Aaron insists that there is a slang word "gouge". Not as in "to gouge out someones eye", but "I got bad gouge." Supposedly this means "to get bad information".

I have asked many worldly people and no one else has ever heard of this phrase.

I think he "got some bad gouge" on this phrase.

Toe-mah-toe

Martha sent me an email today with helpful hints and recipes for making use of summer tomatoes. Just in time as I have a harvest of cherry tomatoes ready to pick on my plants.

This all reminds me of a funny story. Two years ago, I planted cherry tomatoes on my balcony for the first time. I was so excited. When the little green tomatoes started to grow I took pictures of their progress.

Just as they started to turn reddish it was time for me to make my annual trek to the seashore with my family. Kristen and Patrik kindly volunteered to water my plants and pick any tomatoes that were ready. They seemed amused by my enuthusiasm for my tomatoes.

A week later when I returned from vacation the first thing I did was run out and check my plants. There were cherry tomatoes everywhere! They were scattered in the pots, on the floor and one was even laying in a neighboring mums pot. Giddy with joy I gathered them up, gingerly placed them in a bowl and took a picture of my bounty.

The next day during a fire drill I recounted the vast quantities of tomatoes to Kristen and Patrik. They kept giggling. Did they find the pride I took in my farming skills that amusing? Oh no. Turns out they went to Wegmans and bought a container of cherry tomatoes to add to the existing meager amount of tomatoes. What they found especially hilarious was that they had left the tomato container on my counter as a clue. Did I catch on to that clue? No. I thought they had brought the container from home as a sign of "Look, you have so many tomatoes you could put them in this container and sell them at market".

I was crushed. I can laugh now, but at the time I was crushed I had not produced a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes.

Monday
Now that it is actually Labor Day I am exhausted by the weekend's events. Nappy time.

Sunday
This evening I went to my first soccer game. I don't play soccer. I don't follow soccer. But I screamed for each goal the Raging Rhinos scored. It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement. We won 5 to 2.

I even got two of the players to sign the team folder they gave us when we came into the stadium. I have no idea what to do with it but it seemed the thing to do at the time.

Saturday
Everyonnnnnnnne lovessssss..... Marineland! If you live anywhere near here and you watch any amount of television, you have seen the commercial with the catchy (grating) jingle for Friendship Cove Marineland.

I took the fam there today. Aaron and I sang all day..."There's a friend I knooooooow.... in Ontarioooooo.... la la laaaaah" Joel calls it "Latrineland". He actually isn't being a s**tcan. He has never been there. He has just seen the commercial too many times.

You have to keep in mind that it's not supposed to be Disneyworld. The park is huge. And the animal laws in Canada are somewhat sketchy. You can feed just about any furry animal there (deer, bear, buffalo) My goal was to pet a Beluga, Killer Whale or Dolphin. I did finally get my little mitts on a Beluga. He felt like a wet inner tube.