As you can see, our garden is growing up to be pretty big.  We pulled our first radish today and the rain we have been getting is treating the plants wonderfully!  Now, the real question is What on earth do I do with a Radish???  Radish recipes, anyone???

By the way, He FINALLY played an entire game of Chutes and Ladders with me tonight and we actually had fun!!  He played according to the rules and we practiced counting spaces!  Lot's of fun!!

Now that I look at them again they're kinda Dr. Suessish.  Hm.  We'll just keep that to ourselves m'kay?

Looking around on my palette I knew I couldn't go with any cool shades, so all the blues and greens were out.  Considering my sky anything in the yellow realm was right out too.  That left the browns, reds and maybe violets.  I started to play around with some more of my quinacridones on separate paper.  Q.Magenta and q.burnt sienna made a beautiful color that really stood distinct from the sky.  I practised some strokes, decided on a mixture and went for it.

Tonight a big group from Chute Gerdeman took Jen and I out to Plank's in German Village for going away drinks, and it was really a great night! We're both glad so many people could come out and celebrate the start of a new chapter in our lives.

There was plenty of shouting, laughing, and drinking...a perfect culmination of three years with such a great group. I want to thank everyone who came out to send us off. It means a great deal to feel so appreciated. We want to make a blanket invitation to everyone to come visit us in Montreal. We'll show you around the best we can!

I finally got a good picture of Ben and Marek together where you can really tell that they're brothers.   They totally have the same look, as if to say "huh?".  The other two pictures are just a couple of new ones that I really liked...

Knitting wise, Marcia received her package and I've completed two socks of different pairs...

please ignore my dirty patio - we haven't gotten around to fixing that up yet.

Had to restart the baby blanket for Laurie, but that is about 32x12" now. I may have to buy more yarn this weekend, but that is easy enough.

My friend Cait is coming to PA with us for Memorial day weekend!  I am thrilled about this because I haven't seen her since I went to NYC with JC for his interview at Marvel (almost a year!).

Wedding wise, the cake is picked out, flowers decided on, and invitations ordered!  Invites should be done by next week, I have to call the florist because I haven't gotten the estimate from our meeting.  *sigh*.

And tomorrow, I get to go home and see this fuzz ball:

And hopefully more blooms from this plant:

What they say:  the potential health benefits of chocolate as US researchers report that pregnant women who consume ample servings of this popular confectionery may reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia.  

Who knew our cravings were good!  Here here to chocolate!  YUMMMMMMM!

I went grocery shopping here. My diet has drastically changed since I left my fancy hometown. I've been eating green peas, mashed potatoes, stew and chili and too much fast food. It was so hard to find all the food I'm used to at the grocery store. I spent about an hour there trying to find every single thing from back home. I believe Saskatchewan should become the capital of Cheez-wiz in the world. I think fresh cheese simply is not imported in this province. I'm looking forward to my own cooking once the house is ready.

Moving has been harder than expected. There's a country song by Julie Roberts that says that leaving is easier than being gone. I'd have to agree.

Breakfast
Green Super food smoothie.
Sprouted Spirulina Buckwheat w/ raw almond milk

Snack
Elixer Tea

Lunch
Creamy Dill Jicama Salad

Lunch or Snack PM
Chlorophyl Elixer

Snack PM
Rawkstar Smoothie
7:00 pm

Dinner
Sprouted Rosemary Zucchini Tortilla w/ pesto sauce and veggies

Breakfast
Power Strip Green Smoothie™ – Raw
Sprouted Spirulina Buckwheat Cereal w/ cinnamon Almond milk – Raw Dish

Snack
Chlorophyl Sipper – Raw

Lunch
Spinach Dill Perogies – Raw Dish
Creamy Cucumber Soup – Raw Dish

Snack
Green Super Food Smoothie – Raw

Dinner
Zucchini Pesto Pasta – Raw Dish

Not a whole lot has happened, which may be the reason I haven't posted anything. I've been logging on, but nothing really seemed worthwhile to type. I was also out of internet at the house for a few days. I had to transform into a computer genius/phone technician/know-it-all. I hate that. Our DSL modem went bad on Wednesday night (10 days prior to warranty expiration) so I called and they mailed us a new one. That was Thursday. Friday the phone line at our house stopped working. No phone was off the hook, but when you picked up a receiver to dial a number there was no dial tone. When trying to call the house, you got a busy signal. And we have call waiting. I got a call when I was at a friend's house using her internet that I had to come back earlier than planned to fix the phones. Because I am a phone technician. I get back and my father had unplugged the computer and viola! The phone line worked just like new. (Which makes no sense to me at all. How can a bad DSL modem, which gets the internet from the phone line, cause the phone line to stop working? To top things off, the modem wasn't even plugged in!) I stopped arguing with my mother about it. She told me I was just like my father...I thought I knew it all. Because I am a know-it-all...obviously. So, I accept that I cannot do a darned thing till the new modem came. I figured I'd call AT&T then to fix the phone line if the internet wasn't working then as well. So, Tuesday rolls around. The new modem arrives. I tear open the box to find a different brand modem than the one before. I was a little cautious about using a new one, but I figured it had to work seeing as how it came from AT&T directly. So I plug it all in-including the wireless router. All four lights come on. Beauty. Except for one thing. The "activity" light wasn't blinking like normal. No internet page would load. I turn it all off. Unplug it all. Wait for a minute. Start all over. Same dang thing. By this time I was furious. There was no reason why it shouldn't work. I reset things, restarted, re-everything I could think of. I find an IP address on the bottom of the modem. I type it in. Instantly a page appeared on the screen asking for a username and password. I've never had one. Never heard of one. Nothing in the box about it. Nothing on the bills about it. Nothing. I find another page that asked for either a username and password OR the high speed internet phone line number. Beauty again. Until it tells me that it cannot find the account. I try time and time again. I even ask my mother to verify that I'm typing in the exact phone number. Still nothing is found. I give up and call AT&T again. I go through the automated crap again and it tells me that I will be put on hold till the "next available representative" can get my call. The line goes dead. I freak. I'm so pissed off that I can't see. I throw my phone down on the computer desk and walk away. I tell my mother that I've had it and I'm shipping it back to them and they can screw themselves after they refund my money and I'll go get internet service from someone else. I breath. I take a break. I walk back to the stupid computer because I'm addicted to the internet and I'm having serious withdraws. I call again. This time it worked. I get a representative who acts like I'm stupid. I tell them exactly what is going on. I just need the username and password. That's it. Instead he has me running all over the freakin' place to get back to the same page I was originally at. I told him that I wasn't stupid. I knew what was going on. I just needed the username and password. He gives me one and I type it in. It works. I thank him and hang up.

Other than that...not a lot has happened. Besides work. But there is always drama there. It's just like my family. Everyone is two-faced. I'd hate to hear what they say behind my back. I hear almost everything about everyone. Backstabbing, betrayal, lying, sneaking around, bribing...it's horrible. I'm thinking about just not returning after I get back into town. I don't need the job. I have money. I have more than enough. Why put myself through that? So...I'm debating it.

Only 48 days left!!

Most people choose to rent for one of a couple of reasons.  They either don't have enough money to buy a home or they aren't planning on being in an area long enough to make it make sense, or they just arrived to the island and don't know where they'd like to be long term.  In any case, money is often an issue.  So I think it's important for them to know that fees are paid by the tenant in this part of New York  Depending upon where you want to hang your hat, the fees can range from one month's rent (commission), one month's security, and one month's lease payment up front, to 15% of the annual rent, two month's security and one or two month's rent payment at the outset.  It's a costly proposition.

I recently went through this with a couple trying to decide whether they'd ultimately like to make Long Island their home.  Their choice was to rent for now and see if they liked it enough to stay.  Nothing wrong with the premise.  Where they went awry was deciding to go for a home in a high priced area, with fees to match.  We went over the numbers and from the start they weren't comfortable.  I suggested they might want to rethink it and choose another town with equally good schools and easy access into the city.  After seeing a number of possible options for them they returned to the house they really wanted.

After making an offer, and our getting it accepted on terms as close to what they wanted as we could, the fee stuck in their craw and they backed out.   I think they believed it would be "negotiable."  It wasn't and everyone was a little worse for wear.  The seller had an attorney draw up a lease, the listing agent spent time negotiating and arranging to pick up the lease, having effectively taken the house off the market and I . . . spent a lot of time and energy working with them to understand the process and get them a place they'd be happy living in.  In the end, nobody was happy, but I learned a good lesson.  Just because you deliver a message doesn't necessarily mean the recipient chooses to hear it. 

My suggestion always -- know the rules of the game before you play the first card.

PENGUIN MAIL:

"Club Penguin Mail" will be released soon. Hmmm...personalized postcards maybe? Actual written messages? Hmmmm...leave me your ideas as comments!

NEWSPAPER:

The judging for the new book is going on right now. Only three stories will be selected...I myself submitted one...I hope it gets picked!:

The medieval party is coming up tommorow, which is the 16th:

Rockhopper's Rare Plant continues to Grow:

If you didn't get Rockhopper's Key yet, it's still in the back of Rockhopper's Journal in the book room. (The second level of the coffee shop)

Remember to click "home" on the top of the page to see all of the recent posts.

Your Penguin,

MrsHollywood

]]>