Trust me, you'll love it.....
(for more check out www.filmcow.com)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Playground Perils
Friday, April 13, 2007
MMM MMM Good....
I stumbled upon this on a site somewhere and just couldn't resist posting it. Apparently it won some sort of State Fair award.The best part is that even with all the cutting and chopping required, it actually insists that it requires 0:00 minutes to prepare.
SPAM VEGGIE PITA POCKETS
Serving Size : 8
Preparation Time 0:00
Categories : Sandwiches
Amount Measure Ingredient
1 cn SPAM Luncheon Meat, cubed -(7 oz)
1 c Chopped broccoli
1 c Chopped cauliflower
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Carrot, peeled and chopped
1/3 c Chopped cucumber
1/3 c Finely chopped onion
1/2 c Italian salad dressing
4 Pita pocket breads, halved
Preparation Method
In bowl, combine SPAM, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, carrot, cucumber, and onion. Toss with dressing. Cover and chill several hours. Spoon salad mixture into pocket bread.
STATE FAIR RECIPE Carol Green, Austin, MN.
MMMM.....enjoy.....
SPAM VEGGIE PITA POCKETS
Serving Size : 8
Preparation Time 0:00
Categories : Sandwiches
Amount Measure Ingredient
1 cn SPAM Luncheon Meat, cubed -(7 oz)
1 c Chopped broccoli
1 c Chopped cauliflower
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Carrot, peeled and chopped
1/3 c Chopped cucumber
1/3 c Finely chopped onion
1/2 c Italian salad dressing
4 Pita pocket breads, halved
Preparation Method
In bowl, combine SPAM, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, carrot, cucumber, and onion. Toss with dressing. Cover and chill several hours. Spoon salad mixture into pocket bread.
STATE FAIR RECIPE Carol Green, Austin, MN.
MMMM.....enjoy.....
I bloody made it!
Whew - for all those who survived my April 3rd post, things have finally turned around. I worked day and night finishing my floor and it now looks uber-spiffy - I was able to enjoy it for approximately 12.3 nanoseconds before I was out the door and on the highway south.
I packed my car with essentials for the 3 and 1/2 day drive, as well as all the gear I would need for 5 months 'Outside'. Food: sandwich essentials, licorice, olympic trail mix (which was my sustenance for 90% of the trip) and oodles of Dite Coke (with an IV attached); Clothing: swimsuit, fleece, workout gear, various standard shirts and pants, and twenty million pairs of shoes (no I don't know why - it appears my shoe obsession has resurfaced); Other personality-defining must-haves: books I want to finish, knitting projects I want to finish, bike, computer, dog....and of course, my PS2 and Guitar Hero (yes I really did this).
The drive itself was beautiful - though mind-numbingly long. My mom and I viewed wildlife (elk, moose, buffalo, and - on the prairies- an unfortunate number of roadkilled deer), and narrowly missed a real rockslide (okay not narrowly, but we were there watching guys try to roll the giant boulders off the highway by hand until actual machinery arrived). We also passed an inordinate number of RCMP trolling the highway for speeders. We were finger-waggled at once by one such patrolman.
We had no trouble at all finding places to stay that would allow the dog, though the last place - a motel in Lloydminster - was a bit sketchy and I half expected to wake up to giant cockroaches trying to wiggle their way into my mouth. To make matters better at this place, the last thing I literally saw before switching off the lights for the night was an appropriately creepy trailer for some new slasher movie called, yep, 'Motel'....
I am now safe and sound in Saskatoon, hiding out at my parents' place and pondering what I will learn about myself over the next few months. For all 1 and a half of you that may be reading this, stay tuned - I am sure some incredible insights are in store....
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
#@$#&&^#*!
Is it wise to be posting a blog entry when my stress level is so high that I want to run screaming down the Alaska Highway, sans vehicle, just me, running, clothed if I'm lucky.....sure to be picked up by nearby patrol cars if I'm not....?
My departure date was, well, today; and I'm still in #&^%(# Whitehorse....nothing I planned to have finished is finished - which is a deep and probably not well-learned lesson in project planning - and everything that could go wrong is definitely going wrong!
If you can believe this - I've been working on my floor - oh yes, I thought, my super housesitters deserve a home that is not covered in carpet that in turn is covered in dog hair and the remnants of various 'pet fluid emergencies' throughout the last five years. Yes, I am a truly thoughtful and compassionate human being, you say....
I've been working on my floor for weeks now and was supposed to be done before my mom arrived to help me clean and pack so we could drive into the sunset in a relaxed and semi-controlled manner. Well, she's been here for four days and we are still working on the freakin' floor...
Mainly because on Saturday every job we attempted took four hours longer than anticipated as we tried to figure out things like jig saws, skill saws, hidden hook shelving, and whatever the hell else we were trying to do.
Then we both got sick on Sunday morning at exactly the same time with the same weird flu virus. It took us both to our knees and actually to the hospital...my mom was so weak she needed an IV, I was so weak I needed a friend to help get us there. We thought we were dying - we stumbled into the foyer crying ' we don't know what we have, it might be Norwalk', causing the concierge to jump to his feet and backwards all in the same motion. 'Masks are there' he pointed from 2 km away....we could still see the whites of his 'oh my god I'm going to die'-panicked eyes.
We put on the masks and stumbled to admissions - the clerk warned everyone to stay back as we fumbled for ID....we got her in to emergency and they shut and locked the doors behind us. We sat in a glass admitting area where everyone outside could stare and whisper as they wondered what sort of plague we had brought to their safe little worlds.
When they finally wheeled my mother into room number three, I proceeded to lie on the hallway floor and moan while I waited. Dr. McDreamynorth shooed me out (with a great bedside manner mind you) and my kind friend took me home to wait as my mom rehydrated...she was also kind enough to pick her up, as I was 'otherwise engaged' when the call came in....
Monday went over a little better - more work done, a little bit of relief, that sense that my chest would explode subsiding....then....I lost my wallet....ah yes, the piece de resistance....I lost it but didn't realize I lost it until today...
Today was spent trying to reclaim all the pieces of my identity - first by retracing my steps - vet clinic, gym, Home Hardware, Super A.....nothing....second by calling CKRW and subjugating myself to the local DJ for the opportunity to get on the air with my sad story. Immediately after it aired I got a call that someone had found it. 'It's at Better Bodies' they said. Whew! Peace and harmony restored, I drove down to pick it up. 'We don't know what you're talking about' they said. We don't have it. What the *&$(*$^%&@%^???
The original caller called me back - apparently it was the wrong pink wallet with flowers on it...my identity....lost forever....I then spent the rest of my day re-ordering credit cards and driver's license, and trying to trick the Equifax automated system into letting me talk to a real person.
Sigh....new departure date - Thursday April 5th...barring oh I don't know, fire or flood or &*($^^$ locusts....
Well, now I feel slightly better - at least I am still clothed and not in a patrol car with mud in my hair....but.....now..... how do you feel?
My departure date was, well, today; and I'm still in #&^%(# Whitehorse....nothing I planned to have finished is finished - which is a deep and probably not well-learned lesson in project planning - and everything that could go wrong is definitely going wrong!
If you can believe this - I've been working on my floor - oh yes, I thought, my super housesitters deserve a home that is not covered in carpet that in turn is covered in dog hair and the remnants of various 'pet fluid emergencies' throughout the last five years. Yes, I am a truly thoughtful and compassionate human being, you say....
I've been working on my floor for weeks now and was supposed to be done before my mom arrived to help me clean and pack so we could drive into the sunset in a relaxed and semi-controlled manner. Well, she's been here for four days and we are still working on the freakin' floor...
Mainly because on Saturday every job we attempted took four hours longer than anticipated as we tried to figure out things like jig saws, skill saws, hidden hook shelving, and whatever the hell else we were trying to do.
Then we both got sick on Sunday morning at exactly the same time with the same weird flu virus. It took us both to our knees and actually to the hospital...my mom was so weak she needed an IV, I was so weak I needed a friend to help get us there. We thought we were dying - we stumbled into the foyer crying ' we don't know what we have, it might be Norwalk', causing the concierge to jump to his feet and backwards all in the same motion. 'Masks are there' he pointed from 2 km away....we could still see the whites of his 'oh my god I'm going to die'-panicked eyes.
We put on the masks and stumbled to admissions - the clerk warned everyone to stay back as we fumbled for ID....we got her in to emergency and they shut and locked the doors behind us. We sat in a glass admitting area where everyone outside could stare and whisper as they wondered what sort of plague we had brought to their safe little worlds.
When they finally wheeled my mother into room number three, I proceeded to lie on the hallway floor and moan while I waited. Dr. McDreamynorth shooed me out (with a great bedside manner mind you) and my kind friend took me home to wait as my mom rehydrated...she was also kind enough to pick her up, as I was 'otherwise engaged' when the call came in....
Monday went over a little better - more work done, a little bit of relief, that sense that my chest would explode subsiding....then....I lost my wallet....ah yes, the piece de resistance....I lost it but didn't realize I lost it until today...
Today was spent trying to reclaim all the pieces of my identity - first by retracing my steps - vet clinic, gym, Home Hardware, Super A.....nothing....second by calling CKRW and subjugating myself to the local DJ for the opportunity to get on the air with my sad story. Immediately after it aired I got a call that someone had found it. 'It's at Better Bodies' they said. Whew! Peace and harmony restored, I drove down to pick it up. 'We don't know what you're talking about' they said. We don't have it. What the *&$(*$^%&@%^???
The original caller called me back - apparently it was the wrong pink wallet with flowers on it...my identity....lost forever....I then spent the rest of my day re-ordering credit cards and driver's license, and trying to trick the Equifax automated system into letting me talk to a real person.
Sigh....new departure date - Thursday April 5th...barring oh I don't know, fire or flood or &*($^^$ locusts....
Well, now I feel slightly better - at least I am still clothed and not in a patrol car with mud in my hair....but.....now..... how do you feel?
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Mike's Top 20
Things to see and do in Saskatchewan....
According to Lonely Planet, Fyodor's, and Go; about all you can do in Saskatchewan is drive a dusty road to take a picture of some aging Ukrainian church or another. Somewhere around 10 pages of 'Lonely Planet: Canada' are devoted to Saskatchewan (read Saskatoon and Regina) - listing helpful things like 'go to a movie, go to the science centre' - yay! After perusing a few of these books, I was beginning to become slightly disheartened about my choice of destinations for the summer. Christ, we can't even claim the 'Vegreville Egg' as our own! (http://www.albertabigtour.ca/vegreville's_egg!.htm )
Damn those Albertans!
Sigh, will anyone ever look beyond the surface to see who we really are?
OOOOOOOOhhhhh Nooooooo ( read with a sarcastic whine)...... instead they're sitting in their posh [insert posh city here] doggie cafes telling jokes like this one:
1) How do you know when you're staying in a Moose Jaw hotel?
When you call the front desk and say, "I gotta leak in my sink," and the clerk replies, "Go ahead."
Well, yes, I'll admit I tittered a bit upon reading that one.....being from the 'big city' and all. I will also admit that outside of the 'strip' - the 278 km section of highway 11 south that connects Regina and Saskatoon - I am guilty of not having a single clue about the beauty, majesty, and excitement contained beneath the flat, monotone exterior of my dear home province's wheatfields (and canola, rye, mustard, and flax).
Well, I need raise my fist in the air no more at this dilemma! DYNO-MIKE has come to my rescue! 'Faster than the line-up at Canadian Tire'! Stronger than the average groudn squirrel! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! (caveat: in the Yukon only).....sigh....you're my hero DYNO-MIKE.
For the next five months I now officially have a great list of things to see and do!
Just look at everything that coy little school marm of a province actually has to offer!
And let's make it 21 Mike - I do need to check out that hotel in Moose Jaw.....
According to Lonely Planet, Fyodor's, and Go; about all you can do in Saskatchewan is drive a dusty road to take a picture of some aging Ukrainian church or another. Somewhere around 10 pages of 'Lonely Planet: Canada' are devoted to Saskatchewan (read Saskatoon and Regina) - listing helpful things like 'go to a movie, go to the science centre' - yay! After perusing a few of these books, I was beginning to become slightly disheartened about my choice of destinations for the summer. Christ, we can't even claim the 'Vegreville Egg' as our own! (http://www.albertabigtour.ca/vegreville's_egg!.htm )
Damn those Albertans!
Sigh, will anyone ever look beyond the surface to see who we really are?
OOOOOOOOhhhhh Nooooooo ( read with a sarcastic whine)...... instead they're sitting in their posh [insert posh city here] doggie cafes telling jokes like this one:
1) How do you know when you're staying in a Moose Jaw hotel?
When you call the front desk and say, "I gotta leak in my sink," and the clerk replies, "Go ahead."
Well, yes, I'll admit I tittered a bit upon reading that one.....being from the 'big city' and all. I will also admit that outside of the 'strip' - the 278 km section of highway 11 south that connects Regina and Saskatoon - I am guilty of not having a single clue about the beauty, majesty, and excitement contained beneath the flat, monotone exterior of my dear home province's wheatfields (and canola, rye, mustard, and flax).
Well, I need raise my fist in the air no more at this dilemma! DYNO-MIKE has come to my rescue! 'Faster than the line-up at Canadian Tire'! Stronger than the average groudn squirrel! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! (caveat: in the Yukon only).....sigh....you're my hero DYNO-MIKE.
For the next five months I now officially have a great list of things to see and do!
Just look at everything that coy little school marm of a province actually has to offer!
Mike's top 10 Saskatchewan
10. Feeling a sense of the past at Motherwell Homestead
9. Buying ice cream in Waskesiu
8. Watching a thunderstorm from your garage
7. Cycling the Meewasin Trail
6. Barking with the prairie dogs at Grasslands National Park
5. Having breakfast at Taunte Maria's
4. Driving the Qu'Appelle valley at sunset
3. Eating mushroom cheddar chowder at the Berry Barn
1. Screaming along to 'Green is the Colour' at Taylor Field on Labour Day
Top 10 Saskatchewan Mike hasn't yet visited but wants to
10. Touring the small town of Rouleau (aka Dog River on Corner Gas)
9. Visiting the new RCMP Training Centre in Regina ($40 million to build; opens end of May)
8. Exploring the Tunnels of Moose Jaw
7. Kayaking the Clearwater River
7. Kayaking the Clearwater River
6. Watersliding at Kenosee (www.kenoseesuperslides.com/)
5. Camping in Meadow Lakes Provincial Park
4. Seeing Hunt Falls
3. Playing in the World Championship Bunnock Tournament(www.macklin.ca/bunnock.htm)
2. Afternoon tea and an evening play at a converted train station (www.stationarts.com/)
1. Finally seeing Stanley Mission
And let's make it 21 Mike - I do need to check out that hotel in Moose Jaw.....
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
One Week Out....
I've been training for a year! All of my hard work - my blood, sweat, and tears, will culminate in a beautiful moment in just 7 days time. Yes, the rest of our normally jubilant little town may be suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome brought on by the onslaught of the 2007 Canada Winter Games; but me, I'm still a week out from the event that will mark a monumental no-turning back kind of shift in my life.
Whereas all those wonderful orange-coated volunteers are now lying in veteran hospitals taking lithium due to the aftershocks of an event so large, so monumental, yet so.....uneventful.....I am happily wiping the droppings of the bluebird of happiness off my shoulder. (give her some slack - she's still a beast of the wilderness you know).
Ah yes, my epic journey, finally looming large at the doorway of my future.
In one week's time I will hit the open road; just me, my dog, and um, my mom, in my Honda Civic. Pointed south for open skies and warmer climes. I have quit my job, rented my place, explained thoroughly (and several times) to my cats the reason I am abandoning them for five months; I've paid off all my debts, ripped out all my carpets, painted, and almost finished putting in lovely new floors upstairs in preparation for the big event.
Why am I doing this you ask? Or maybe you don't, but you ARE reading this so suck it up baby..........um, anyway, again, what is this all about? Well, I have decided to test the waters of pure joyful unemployed existence. For five months I will be roaming Saskatchewan, couch surfing where possible, selling Jone's body for food and shelter where not....
It has been ten years since I traveled anywhere of note, and 11 years since moving to this lovely territory. It's time to shake things up. To be at a dinner party and experiment with how I will answer when people ask 'So what do you do?' I remember this fellow telling me once that it would be so much more meaningful if people would ask 'So who ARE you?' That never happens at dinner parties, and possibly not a lot in most people's day-to-day lives anymore. So I'm takin' it to the street to see what happens. Who AM I, really? What is it that brings me joy, that makes me feel confident and proud to walk in the world? What allows me to just BE?
So you may wonder why Saskatchewan....well, it is like my life is coming full circle. I ran from the flatlands 11 years ago, thinking that I could never get as far away from them as I wanted to. Now, after many years of reflecting, I realize it is time to go home - just for a little while - to reconnect with the roots of my 'self', to know part of who I am by discovering and loving where I came from.
So - take that CWG! I'll continue to wear my orange proudly, I'm even taking it with me; and I'll be thinking of you when the ads come out - 1800 athletes, 2000 coaches, 4000 volunteers, and 18,000 IV bags required to rehydrate them all on March 11th....but I'll tell ya, my countdown trumps yours any day of the week!
Whereas all those wonderful orange-coated volunteers are now lying in veteran hospitals taking lithium due to the aftershocks of an event so large, so monumental, yet so.....uneventful.....I am happily wiping the droppings of the bluebird of happiness off my shoulder. (give her some slack - she's still a beast of the wilderness you know).
Ah yes, my epic journey, finally looming large at the doorway of my future.
In one week's time I will hit the open road; just me, my dog, and um, my mom, in my Honda Civic. Pointed south for open skies and warmer climes. I have quit my job, rented my place, explained thoroughly (and several times) to my cats the reason I am abandoning them for five months; I've paid off all my debts, ripped out all my carpets, painted, and almost finished putting in lovely new floors upstairs in preparation for the big event.
Why am I doing this you ask? Or maybe you don't, but you ARE reading this so suck it up baby..........um, anyway, again, what is this all about? Well, I have decided to test the waters of pure joyful unemployed existence. For five months I will be roaming Saskatchewan, couch surfing where possible, selling Jone's body for food and shelter where not....
It has been ten years since I traveled anywhere of note, and 11 years since moving to this lovely territory. It's time to shake things up. To be at a dinner party and experiment with how I will answer when people ask 'So what do you do?' I remember this fellow telling me once that it would be so much more meaningful if people would ask 'So who ARE you?' That never happens at dinner parties, and possibly not a lot in most people's day-to-day lives anymore. So I'm takin' it to the street to see what happens. Who AM I, really? What is it that brings me joy, that makes me feel confident and proud to walk in the world? What allows me to just BE?
So you may wonder why Saskatchewan....well, it is like my life is coming full circle. I ran from the flatlands 11 years ago, thinking that I could never get as far away from them as I wanted to. Now, after many years of reflecting, I realize it is time to go home - just for a little while - to reconnect with the roots of my 'self', to know part of who I am by discovering and loving where I came from.
So - take that CWG! I'll continue to wear my orange proudly, I'm even taking it with me; and I'll be thinking of you when the ads come out - 1800 athletes, 2000 coaches, 4000 volunteers, and 18,000 IV bags required to rehydrate them all on March 11th....but I'll tell ya, my countdown trumps yours any day of the week!
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