Helpful Abbreviations

At work, my boss is a very funny guy and tends to abbreviate all sorts of things so soon my coworkers and I are talking in shorthand in a way that would junior highers to shame. I was looking for a list of text message abbreviations and found these ones helpful. There are some that I laughed out loud but couldn't use in my work and then there were others that were a serious case of Potty Mouth.... my eyes bugged out of my head for a few minutes!

• TBE-thick between the ears. I think that this is something that I'll have to refer to myself as soon!
• TNA-temporarily not available. This would be something that would flow out of the TBE.
• UPOD-under promise over deliver. I like to do this!
• BCOZ-because.
• IAM-I am tired. Story of my life.
• P2C2E-process too complicated to explain. Most of life!
• PB-potty break not peanut butter.
• SBTA-sorry being thick again. Story of my life.

So... here's a recap of my day. SBTA, I M TBE & TNA BCOZ IAM. SBTA IAM on P2C2E. PB time. Basically, I'm happy it's Friday, I'm tired and a bit blond right now! Bring on hometime:-)

Make your opinion heard!

I was sitting in a training session today for working at the polls on Monday and learned many valuable lessons. Hold onto your seats:

1. If you come into the polls eat beforehand. Ballots don't make good munching snacks.
2. Use the ballots provided and don't try to substitute your own version into them. There are many ways that they insure accuracy and it won't do you any good.
3. If you are a senior living in a retirement community, check before you brave the cold and ice. There is probably a voting centre in your building. Handy dandy!
4. Don't wear your political t-shirt, bring in a newspaper with a candidate's picture on it or try to sing a political party's theme song (do Canadian politics employ something like this?... I'm sure that the Americans do!). You'll have to turn your tee inside out, recycle your newspaper and have Simon Cowell give you a phone call to boo your singing!
5. You can enjoy a cell phone free environment when you go to vote... maybe you'll want to show up at the polls just for an environment free of annoying cell phone jangles.

All of my wisdom aside, I had a moment during the training when I was reminiscing of my trip to Africa this past summer. I was thinking about how people were so grateful that there were UN peacekeepers that oversaw their first democratic election in 15 years. (In the capital, we saw the UN presence everywhere to insure that the election's results were lived out.) Aside from all the corrupt practices, people were hopeful that their voices were heard for the first time in a decade and a half. I kept on thinking that we take it for granted and that 70% of our population can't be bothered to go vote.

Go vote! Make your opinion heard. Most of the time, no one is asking or if they politely ask, they are not listening anyways. So many people are dying for their voice to be heard... take the few minutes to do so. That way when the government does not do exactly what you want, you'll know that you took the time to be involved!

Lucky in coffee?

I am happily a Starbucks fan except for during Roll up the Rim. I get this image of myself having a lucky cloud instead of a dark one over my head and I'm able to roll up the rim for something amazing. Here's what you really need to know:

1. Scrolling through the list and imagine yourself behind the wheel of a swanky boat (personally I dream of a not-so-economy car)! Yes, I need a new boat let's not think about the fact that I have to drive two hours to get to a lake and I don't have a truck to pull it with.
2. Figuring out a way to outsmart having to even purchase a cup of coffee. However, I think that after you pay for postage for a free cup, you might as well get the coffee along with it.
3. Wikipedia friends are spreading the news of Roll up the Rim to our neighbors. A little knowledge is a good thing!
4. You can check out your odds and where the big winnings are at the lucky (slightly crazed) blogger.

So... I promise that I'll take you for a ride in my new vehicle when I win it. Until then, keep your eyes out for a ramped up Knittinchick who needs to be cut off the coffee!

Monday Musings

Before you all get jealous of me having Mondays off when you are trudging off to work or facing another long winter day with your preschoolers as Daddy goes off to work, I thought that I'd let you into all the wisdom (wink, wink) about life that I've learned with my wierd hours:

1. Having Mondays off rocks except for when you're going to work on Saturday afternoons and Sunday morning.
2. If you want to call a customer service agent before work, this works except for Sunday mornings. They are in bed... like everyone else.
3. There are perks to wierd hours: the SB drive through is not very busy before 8:oo on Sunday mornings, the bank drive through is abandoned and you don't fight rush hour traffic.
4. You realize who has wierd hours like you. This is sometimes not the greatest realization, like when your neighbors who are paying down copious amounts of consumer debt fast (good for you!) by tending bar on the weekends come home @ 4:00am and their three small dogs start greeting them by several yapping episodes.
5. Monday mornings are a good time to run errands. Most people are at work and the lineups are significantly smaller. However, if you're so bagged from your weekend responsibilities and cannot get out of bed until later in the morning, this is kind of lost on you.
6. Social events happen on Saturday nights way more than Friday nights. Trust me on this... I've become the "Why don't I make a fabulous entrance or exit?" person at several close friends and family events. You learn to make it look fun but really the extrovert in you is dying to know what you're missing out on when you leave.
7. The most important part: the grass is only greener where there is more water and care for it. I'm going to enjoy my Monday with some knitting time, a walk and dinner that's already in the crock pot.

Have a great Monday. This Monday is brought to you by Knittinchick's ADD moments of knitting this past weekend. (Note to you: they might become birthday gifts so act surprised if you're the lucky recipient!)

It's Saturday!

Yeah for sleeping in! Yeah for wearing jammies until late in the morning. Yeah for keeping it simple. This weekend is brought to you by:

• Oriental chicken-pull out your beloved slow cooker, put 6 boneless chicken breasts in there. Combine 1/2 cup of soy and 1/2 of honey with 2 tbsps of sesame seeds (if you have them) and spoon over each chicken breast or just dump it if you're in a rush! Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with rice. (If you're feeling gourmet, add a small spoonful of crushed garlic and ginger from the fridge!)
• Wax paper-If you are out of Swiffer replacements for your dry sweep, just put wax paper there. Cheaper, efficient and innovative are you!
• Cupcakes-I love them. They are so cheerful and you can look so creative without too much effort. You can rip off all these ideas and look like you're the best mom or auntie.

Have a great weekend. If you want to be jealous, you can think of me today at 11:00 when I'm at dim sum with good friends.

A little planning goes a long way!

Have you ever thought that you are more organized than you truly are? Case in point: if you haven't been running or walking as much as usual due to sheer exhaustion at the end of the workday, you may be more curvy than usual.

This means that when you are knitting a beautiful tank with zero or negative ease (non-knitter translation: body hugging) and you are more curvaceous, it will be too negative in its ease. Boo hoo!

But then... maybe it's more serendipitous than I thought... Bargainista walks way more than I do and isn't quite so lumpy-bumpy curvy. Mother's Day and Birthday season is coming up! Yeah for being 'organized.'

Have you ever noticed?

Yesterday I was thinking about the things that I notice (maybe others don't but I do... who knows, maybe I'm gifted?)

• When you wear a warm sweater with a tank top underneath it that is just for personal eyes only, the room gets extremely warm in a meeting full of men.
• When you wear a cooler outfit based on the previous day's experience, all you think about is knitting a pair of the ever popular Fetching-must be for cold offices.
• It's good not to send out a staff wide email to everyone about a very important deadline this week and then post the deadline as April 22!!!
• Before starting the work toaster oven with your favorite Baked Mushroom Soup for 55 minutes and getting pulled into a conversation with a 'dynamic' individual on the phone... it's always good to remove the tupperware lid that was sitting on top of the toaster oven before having someone discover it 20 minutes later.
• Before seeing one of your friends that you were teasing about wierd socks the other day, you probably shouldn't be wearing your running socks with a nice outfit.

I'm sure that you've noticed this happening to other people as well... thank you for not pointing and staring when you saw me processing these thoughts!

It's happening!

Please insert ominous background music as you read this! I've decided that the truth about how you turn into your mother has decided to come nest and inhabit my body. For all the extended family who show that they truly love me by reading this, do not get too excited yet. Bargainista's sweet spirit, generous gift giver, remember-er of important details and supportive nature have not nested here... rather some of Bargainista's not-so-famous qualities. This has been driven home in the past few days. Illustrated by the following:

• I noticed a sale the other day and it was only knocked down by $10... I thought in my inside voice, "Why don't you mark it down 75% and then call it a real sale!"
• These words floated out of my mouth, "I just have to warn you, my brain does this wierd thing. When children whine, it turns off. When they ask nicely, it works." How many times did I hate that as a kid?
• I was talking to a friend the other day and when I told her my supplements she warned me that I'd want to up my fiber. I thanked (eek!) her for the advice and read my cereal box labels for fiber content. That's basically potty talk!
• I rolled up my plastic bags like my mother does. This was something that one auntie taught the others at their annual Get Together. When my sister or cousins and I get together, we like to go to new markets, explore, sight see and more active things. My aunties share about rolling plastic bags! (and I did it!!!!)
• I called a friend today outside a natural health store to see if she wanted me to pick her up some multi-vitamins. This says something about my life that I was not asking her about something cool like purses on sale. No, Vitamins!
• I was broke up a cookie into bite sized "I'll just have a smidge of this" pieces and proceeded to eat the whole thing, convincing myself the whole time that I'd stop after this smidge.

Hopefully this means that all the good, wholesome, endearing and sweet qualities will follow. Don't hold your breath... I think my sister got all of those ones.

Spring is in the air?

I don't know about you but when it gets warmer outside (even for a mid-winter break), I get all excited. Here's what I'm thinking about these days:

• Knitting a sweater for my mom for her birthday and mother's day. But the magazine and the yarn I ordered aren't here yet. I guess I'll just have to dream about it.
• Knitting a sweater for myself. The pattern and yarn are here so alas, I must be selfish and knit for myself.
• Knitting for the three babies that are coming soon. Must get done before the baby shower so I can deliver them ahead of time and be busy 'organizing my sock drawer' the day of the shower... women swapping death grip delivery stories... now that's a fun way to spend an evening.
• Pulling my bike out of the basement (inspired by someone else who was smiling and biking). I didn't think about the fact that he was covered in slush and I don't like biking when I'm cold.
• Spring cleaning-bwaah, hah, hah. And you thought that I actually was smoking dope there, didn't you?
• Vacation plans let's be honest, I think about those all year long.

However, it looks like it will get colder at the end of the week. I'm going to pull out my slow cooker again, try a new recipe to dazzle you with at the weekend, enjoy my Family Day today (since Monday is my regular day off) and knit on my sweater for myself. I guess some things are never different-cold weather or warmer weather!

A letter to my nieces and nephews

To the greatest nieces and nephews in the world (aka my good friends' and cousins' offspring); I just wanted to take this time to tell you that you are the greatest kids in the world. I love you with big hugs, high fives and lots of laughter. You are so much fun and you let me be silly in a world where there is way too much seriousness. You can always count on me to laugh at your jokes, play yet another game of dominos, get my butt kicked by you in Wii, brag about you, post your pictures and drawings on my fridge and generally be the greatest fan (that doesn't have to be) of you that you will encounter in this life. As many of you are growing up and starting to attend school or get into higher elementary grades, you can also count on me to celebrate your reading, attend and even smile through long school programs and cheer you on at any sporting event that you (not your mom... but you) invite me to. However, I want to let you know that there is something that you cannot count on me for. I have been hit up for all sorts of fundraisers and I want to let you know why I won't buy certain things. Please don't try to sell me:

1. Wrapping paper-I don't need this much wrapping paper. I buy my annual three rolls at IKEA post-holidays and probably will give you a present in a gift bag that your mother gave me at long past holiday or celebration anyways!
2. Frozen cookie dough-There is only one of me at my house and I don't need a big ol' tub of cookie dough. Do not try to make me more 'squishy' than I already am. As much as I love being an auntie, I would also like to meet Prince Charming someday and this will not help me towards this goal.
3. Chocolate bars, chocolate covered almonds or chocolate/yogurt covered something-See number two for squishy reasons. But this chocolate is really yucky anyways. It makes an Aero bar look like Bernard Callebaut.
4. Coffee beans/speciality tea-Although the local coffee shop looks like a great community partner and probably gets a tax write off for their donation of coffee to you, I have news for you. They gave you old, bitter and yucky coffee that they couldn't sell to un-suckered customers.
5. Coupon books-This includes the Entertainment book and the cheaper $15 one. These books are chock full of 2-4-1 deals. This is no good for your single auntie. No, they don't substitute them for 50% off for one person. I've asked. Although I am not opposed to leftovers (this is the only way that I get proper nutrition), I don't want a teen burger that has been sitting in my fridge for hours.
6. Family event coupons-As much this is something that would be useful for a family and might be a good deal, I'm not going to spend my Friday night with a bunch of families at laser tag, a swimming pool or mini-golf.

Just so you know that I still love you and believe in helping support schools and sports, I have two things that you can ask me to buy. Frozen pizzas (that are good) and magazine subscriptions. I'll probably purchase a knitting magazine subscription which will be a good thing for you as I might just make you a cool new sweater that is better than the Gap, Children's Place or Gymboree would provide anyways.

Love your proud and faithful auntie,

Knittinchick:-)

Simple Saturday

Unlike my other weeks where I had great simplifying ideas, I'm just simple minded today. But here's a couple of things for you that are pretty cool... helping you save money easy!

1. Free Kashi Granola Bars-totally free. They send you a coupon for the full cost of the granola bars. And they're good for your kids... and you. I'm all excited about the Peanut peanut bars. My house is not nut-free-and that refers to peanuts as well!
2. Customized coupons-Unlike my cousin, Happy Geek, I'm not a good coupon clipper. But at this website, you can pick the coupons that work for your province and they mail them out the next day. I'm good to go with no effort!
3. Knit Picks Clearance-They clear out fabulous yarns and fibers at great prices. And because they love Canadian customers, they take care of things getting stuck at the border!

I'm more passionate about these things as it is towards the end of the month (anything after the 15th qualifies!) and I decided to redecorate my master bedroom and invest in RSPs this month. Bring on March! Have a simple and economical weekend!

Klutzy moments

You might have hand-eye coordination issues if:

• You are at a knitting class and are learning a complicated technique (the teacher told me it was hard!) and you are trucking along only to find out that you've done it wrong. Five tries later, you realize that you just can't get the only important stitch. You might need to go back in for remedial help!
• You are always a bit cautious around tight parking spaces. After all you do drive a small economy car but it is only two doors and those doors are significantly bigger and tend to bang other vehicles... Or you just park farther away.
• You are wearing your cute boots that extend a bit farther than your feet so you can have comfortable fashion. You can't get the washroom door open because you keep on pushing the door against your shoes.
• Or... you're playing Wii for the first time and get smashed in boxing, baseball and bowling. Finally one of the players starts showing you how to do it... a kind hearted four year old.

I'm sure that you've all had these issues at one time or another, right? Oh, did I mention that I was playing against a four year old and a seven year old at my Wii escapade?

Inspirational? Gifts

So... the holidays always bring out the holiday entrepeneurs who are happy to peddle their ideas that keep them up at night. Today's V-day is brought to you by:

1. Yes Dear Mug. This mug might be for the significant other that says this but you doubt the authenticity of their claims.
2. The fart machine. Obviously invented by a man!
3. Desktop Dodgeball. So you can insure that your sweetie wastes lots of time at work.
4. Knock 'em dead documents. So your sweetie can look important in meetings (I got a laugh from these).
5. Heartbreaker. For the low price of $2600, you can have a titanium hammer and heart to wear around your neck.

Hmm... I think that I could become an entrepeneur. I have lots of stupid ideas... now I just need to sell them to others.

Snow days

You know that it's been snowing lots when:

1. It takes you 45 minutes to drive your morning commute of 7 minutes (light traffic) or 12 minutes (heavy traffic).
2. You don't have power at work for two hours due to heavy snow burning out transformers.
3. You actually feeling your arm muscles after shovelling your walk and two of your neighbor's walks (why did I choose today to be neighborly?)
4. You're relieved that you don't have to wash your dirty car b/c well, the snow took care of it.
5. You have a newly installed security system-you can see exactly who came up to your house and how far the flyer boy walked up your sidewalk.
6. You find it hard to be happy for your two coworkers who are in Vegas and Hawaii and accidentally forget to include them in your all staff email!
7. The most important thing: you're excited about baking some banana bread to make your home all warm and cozy!

24 Lessons for Life!

I decided that I'm going to wish a bad case of hangnails or something of equal suffering to all of you who have ranted and raved about 24 over the past few years. I have chosen to not get involved in the weekly water cooler, online and f2f conversations about this show... Until this past Friday night when I was exhausted (thank you long recovery of burnout) and it was blizzarding outside. I stopped by the local VHQ (similar to Blockbuster but better deals!) and rented Season 1 of 24. It's addictive! I have to find out what happens next between 7:00 and 8:oo. But I have learned some stuff that I thought might be helpful for you today!

1. You can have a cell phone conversation that is deep and full of words of love and commitment while lying underneath a car.
2. Never trust someone with a gun... even if they seem nice.
3. Crisis brings out the best and worst in people.
4. People will do crazy things for $300,000 as the computer programmer did in season one.
5. Make sure that you always say, "I love you" as you don't know what will happen.
6. When you are lost in the wilderness, do not try to outsmart the GPS... or stop following the creekbed.
7. Don't try to cover up a conspiracy, it always comes back to bite you on the bottom!
8. Develop good friendships and keep those people close to you.
9. Sometimes people who seem a bit rough around the edges (like Keifer) are better than those that are slick and seem to have it together (like the Serbian meany-pants killers!)
10. And the most important, if you are knitting while watching a nail biter show like 24, make sure that you pause the show when you need to focus. Otherwise, you'll make a major mistake and have to rip out the last hour of knitting!

I leave you with a Flower Power Washcloth that was from the 24 watching marathon! Wouldn't that bring a smile to your face as you washed your face with it in the morning?

Knittinchick's Believe it or Not!

Sometimes truth is really stranger than fiction. Case in point: This past weekend, I heard a true story of a guy who built a casket for his grandmother's funeral and was driving to pick up the body with this casket strapped to the top of the van. He came across an accident and is an EMT so he pulled over to help. Can you imagine what was in those people's minds when someone pulls up with a casket? After arriving to where the grandmother's body was, another uncle took over and had the casket in the back of his suburban. He got caught behind an avalanche and was delayed by several hours. They almost didn't make it in time for the service. Just goes to show that you can be late for your own funeral!

S4

Simple, Stressless Saturdays and Sundays is brought to you by:

1. Southwest Soup. Into your beloved crock pot put: 7 cups of chicken stock, one chopped onion, a bag of frozen corn, a tbsp of crushed garlic, a package of you chop it up more sliced turkey breast (that you bought at Costco and threw in the freezer), a tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp of oregano, two cans of green chilis and a can of rinsed chick peas or kidney beans. Cook on low for 4 hours and serve with grated cheese and crushed up tortilla chips.
2. Calling ahead. Now you don't want to be a pesky and rude customer but a polite call ahead to a store to see if they have your requested item could save you an hour of driving around the city.
3. One stop shopping. Start shopping at Superstore. You can get all your fresh produce, groceries, clothes, bedding and if you're really organized, you can have your photos done by the time you leave!

Have a great weekend. Stay warm and enjoy the fact that it's cold outside so that means you have to stay home!

Height restrictions

You know you might be vertically challenged when:

1. You are making a staff presentation to everyone and go up to the moving podium immediately after your boss and have to move it down by at least a foot.
2. In a staff competition during the same meeting, you have to jump up when you find the answer. I got the answer but didn't jump up and yelled it out (forgive me for getting excited about a free fruit rollup!). People started heckling me and saying "She didn't stand up. She didn't stand up." Then you hear the ripple of laughter. Later on you find out that someone muttered not so silently under their breath that "She was standing. No one could see her."
3. You wear high heeled boots for big occasions so you can get respect and look all the guys in the eye. This tends to backfire with incredibly sore feet at the end of the three or four hours on your feet.
4. You are so disappointed when stores don't carry petite lengths... and you think about how much it would cost to get it hemmed or if your auntie or mom will be in town soon and whether they'd bring their sewing machine and hem them for you. How many times have I asked lately?
5. In order to reach the floor when you crank your office chair up, you have to have an incredibly thick reference book on the floor so your feet don't dangle above the floor.
6. Ten year olds start looking down on you.
7. You have to state that you are 5'2 and a half. It helps if you emphasize the half part. It usually gets you lots of respect....
8. Your house is well dusted... to the 5' level.
9. One of your nicknames is Short One.
10. Or... you come into your office and notice that the white board that you have right by your desk for brainstorming, reminders and phone messages has this line half way up with the words You must be shorter than this line to use this board. After having a good laugh, you realize that everything is in a perfect arch up to that line and that the board hasn't seen ink above the line. Brand spanking new above the line. You should see people kill themselves laughing when they come into the office.

V-day loves

Ok... I have a chance to win a blog redesign... by a professional. I know that Blogger offers lovely options but I thought that I might be inspired to be cooler with a fun redesign. Thanks Laugh-a-daisy for the chance. She wants to know what my favorite V-day loves are: definitely not babysitting but rather Bernard Callebaut chocolate (trust me, it's the best chocolate ever!), new flannel jammies, bath bubbles (lots not little) and a yummy dinner that you can enjoy. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?

Why you should be a knitter!

I'm sure that you all want to be more like me but here are a few reasons that you should be a knitter.

1. I went to a continental knitting class last night and met some new people and the girl who sat beside me was uber cool. We hit it off and she's going to drop by my knitting group on Tuesday on the way to her knitting group... two doors down.
2. I have cool things to do while you are watching tv, cleaning your house, talking on the phone or being productive.
3. There are pretty yarns and fibers that you can touch. If you are tactile, this is a nice feeling to have.
4. You make new friends and you can talk about all sorts of things together before you even realize whether you have anything in common.
5. You can take your knitting to work on the weekends when you have to be available for those that might be in crisis. Since I am unable to do computer, phone or networking work during the quieter times, I pull out my traveling sock. People feel free to come and talk to you and will pour out their hearts because you are so non-threatening. Those that know you better tend to harass you but it's always worth a laugh or two!
6. If you are a reader and knitter, you can listen to an audiobook while knitting. If you are just a reader, all you get done is reading.
7. TV will be transformed for you. You can justify it as productive time as you'll be knitting on next year's Christmas list anyways.
8. The world always looks better after you've knit a few rows. You can realize that sometimes the best things in life require you to slow down.
9. You can wear fashions that are totally unique and no one else in your office can figure out where you purchased it.
10. The most important reason: you can be more like me! Crazed about something totally harmless and you'll give some of the best baby gifts.

Off I go to the non-knitting world with my message of knitting goodwill!

SO organized!

Guess what? I won another li'l contest from Declutter It! Thanks Julie! I'm excited about having a Busy Body Book that will keep me organized. Yesterday she shared about Time Waster Tuesdays and one of them was mind clutter. I thought that I'd share some of my most recent random mind clutter-ers!

1. What street was the adult education class off of? Was it 24th or 36th Ave? Is the troubling part that I'm going to resemble someone who needs the special extra-wide parking space right by the door due to my mind not working?
2. Great! I made it in time for the adult ed class but forgot a bottle of water. When is break time? Will I have enough change in my purse for some water? Would it be rude to pull it out right now and start counting it?
3. What day is my doctor's appointment? Did I miss it? Is it the naturopath this week or the doctor?
4. What shall I share as the inspirational moment at staff meeting this morning? I am sure that my boss won't think that inspiration will be that I now have a Busy Body Book or that I'm glad that my clothes match today.
5. Do my clothes actually match today? Oh no... better do a bathroom walk-by before staff meeting.
6. I wonder if anyone will notice that I'm wearing my hand knit socks today. I love those socks and I wore my sweet Baby Mary Janes to show them off. Maybe everyone will look at my feet during staff meeting this morning and it will detract from the fact that I'm rather 'foggy brained' today.
7. Should I talk about how Jen's giveaway where I won an autographed Jeffrey Overstreet novel? No... the staff might be jealous of my blog-0-sphere self.
8. I wonder what I should have for lunch. I do have leftovers in the fridge but maybe there is a younger staff who needs encouragement today in the form of Quiznos.
9. But maybe they won't want to be encouraged by me after they hear my 'inspiration' for the day.
10. I wonder if I should talk to my doctor about my mind not seeming to work properly.

Anyways, I think that I'll follow Julie's fabulous advice to have a running list on her desk to put down ideas as they hit her so they don't contribute to mental clutter. Definitely something that I don't need any more of.

For your inspiration today, I thought I'd include a picture of some of the cutest hand knit Baby Uggs!

How to navigate V-Day week

So... for my married friends, you might be wondering what you should and shouldn't say to your friends the week around Valentine's Day, especially the day of. I have a few ideas of things you might want to avoid saying in the spirit of saving you from a potentially embarrassing moment:

1. Tilt your head to the side and speak quietly when you say the words Valentine's Day. Your heart is to be sensitive and we may not have caught a man yet but we can catch that you feel sorry for us.
2. Drop hints several times about how expensive babysitters are these days (and how V-day books up quickly) and how it would be great if you had a friend who would just come over and spend the evening so it wouldn't cost you for babysitting.
3. Ask your friend to go lingerie shopping with you for your own little Valentine's Day entertainment and talk about your plans endlessly.
4. Attempt to set up a friend with your newly divorced friend who is suicidal the weekend before V-day or after.
5. Blather on and on about how expensive the flowers are that your husband or boyfriend or fiancee sent you and you don't know how you'll pay the groceries bill this month. I guess you'll just have to live on love fumes?
6. Send your friend links to eHarmony, LavaLife or talk about how you know one person who found someone who is really nice online. Your friend probably has way more stories of single friends who have flown to a city to visit a potential suitor that was met online only to realize that this guy has significant scary issues.
7. Have a friend's mother write you a letter about her newly divorced, big son who has five children between 2-10 and who loves Jesus, and his mother and would be ok with "popping by your workplace for a cup of coffee." After all, your singleton friend is good with children and these children need a mother, right? Then have this mother or her friend call your friend's coworkers to see why she hasn't called her son yet!

I am sure that you are an awesome friend and realize that your singleton friend is actually a super-duper catch and she's pretty ok with it. She's not opposed to being set up with a friend of yours that is healthy and normal but she's not desperate.

disclaimer: despite Knittinchick's vivid and sometimes disturbing imagination, none of these stories were invented for today's blogging experience:-)

A little field trip

Sorry that my text is all squished together... I need to figure it out but seriously, I seem to have problems... I'm working on it! Did you get scared by an out-of-province car with stuff sticking out of it and people wedged in with IKEA bags cushioning them this past weekend? That might have been me.... but don't worry, it wasn't supposed to be that dramatic! In usual Knittinchick fashion, I decided that I'd try to do a little project that would be easy schmeezy. My master bedroom has never been the most gorgeous place to be in... I tend to make my Superstore decorating budget go to places like the living room where others will notice (I know it sounds shallow... but whatever!) But 2008 is the Taking My Life Back year. I am now going to have a cool master bedroom and do things that are taking my life back! So... I go to IKEA to get the Expedit bookshelf so my room. BUT they wanted to charge $80 for delivery. No worries, my dad is coming into town on the weekend. He can figure it out for me. So... Bargainista and Building Guy (the parents) come into town, we troll through IKEA for 90 minutes, I purchase the bookshelves twenty minutes before closing and we roll out the boxes to their car. We seem to be having some challenges getting both the boxes into the car. So... Dad feels sorry for me (did I mention that it was -25C outside?) and tells me to sit in the backseat. I'm sitting in the backseat with all sorts of bags, blankets and a bulletin board that Bargainista purchased for one of the people at work. Kind of like I've been packed in the back seat. So we cannot get the trunk shut now. Building Guy (after stopping to help the person who needs help but doesn't speak English.... did I mention that it was uber cold out?) goes back into IKEA to purchase $1.50 rope at the front cash register, we get it tied shut and figure that now... we had better hit the freeway and speed home. Building Guy can't fit in the driver's seat because we've pulled it so far to the front that I have to drive. After almost sticking to the street because it was so cold, we finally got the bookshelf into the house... and my dad woke up early on Saturday to build my bookshelf, put up some organizers. Oh yeah, he also put up the only carbon monoxide detector that needed to be wired in the basement instead of just plugging it in. My dad seemed eager to leave yesterday morning, I wonder why?

A little bragging!

Ok... I won again!!! Seriously, you don't have a clue how exciting this is when you think that it is warm outside when it gets to -15C outside. I actually thought about not wearing mittens yesterday. Thank you to at Scattered Mom at Notes from the Cookie Jar for her generous Starbucks card that she's mailing off to me. She has very yummy looking cookie recipes on her blog-especially the picture that is up right now. I think that I'll have to try those so I can be the coolest co-worker, auntie and friend who brings yummy cookies instead of a boring broccoli/rice casserole to her friends that have had a baby. How can you not love someone who puts the word scattered to describe themselves too? I have to go to work now (try to hold your jealousy inside of you) but I think that there might be a couple of downtime minutes this morning. Must remember to pack my traveling knitting-Socks!

S4 weekend

Simple, Stressless, Saturdays and Sundays: Before I astound you all with my incredible wisdom to make your lives easier, I want to say how much fun I had on the Bloggy Giveaways. I also won something. Thank you Sheila. She makes beautiful items that can be seen at her etsy shop. I am so excited about a beautiful necklace. My mother probably thanks you as well so I will stop talking to her on her long distance bill about how much I want to win and now I'll have a necklace that goes with everything. If you didn't participate this time around, you'll have to do it when it comes again:-) Also, I want to say the Pisceco won the Baby Uggs and a girl from a few blocks away from me won the Slow Cooker and Crazy Aunt Purl books. I even get to save on postage... she's going to get front door delivery... talk about Express Post! You guys all made my week so much fun through the great comments that you made:-) So here's the part that you've been waiting for. My ideas on making your weekend S4:

1. Quick fix chicken. Combine 1/2 cup french dressing, 1/2 cup apricot jam, 1 envelope dry onion soup mix in a bowl. Brush 3 lbs of skinless chicken with sauce. Put in slow cooker. Pour remaining sauce over. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Serves 6. My mom, Bargainista, made it at her work at a special needs group home and the clients went on and on and on about how fabulous it was. This is not the Gourmet Test Kitchen but rather the Real Life Kitchen.
2. Don't return your books late to the library. You'll end up $5 lighter in your purse (it was a lot of books for only one day) and you'll feel ripped off in a way that hits you at the core of who you are.
3. Turn your lights on low and pull out the candles when you're entertaining. This way no one notices the dust... not that I would ever know.
4. Take a basket when you go to your local grocery store. That way you won't be balancing a 2L of milk, an 8 x 10 picure frame (that was on a fabulous sale), a 5 lb bag of apples, a bag of salad, a big container of cookies, plastic box of strawberries and two packages of crescent rolls in your hands. Although if you're not so concerned about simplicity and more about social research, you'll learn lots about what people think of losers who have stuff hanging off them and are using their chin to balance everything!

Probably the most important part of an S4 weekend is to relax knowing that you won at the Bloggy Giveaways and that you don't have to spend an hour or two a day entering contests anymore!

My cross border ambassadorial role!

Ok, ok I can hear my family shouting at their screens right now that the only thing that I would be a good ambassador for would be Starbucks. However, please hold onto your seats. My little contest that I'm running as a result of Bloggy Giveaways has reminded me of many of the things that I love about Canada (good to remember in the dead of winter!) Here are some of them in random order:

1. The Canadian Rockies. These are gorgeous, big, majestic and breath taking. I lived in Lake Louise for two summers and fell in love with them and they haven't grown old at all!
2. Victoria, BC. Buschart Gardens, all the flowers in residential neighborhoods, the architecture, the slower pace, the personal friends that I have there are fabulous.
3. Toronto. This is a big city but the world's most multi-cultural city. Within a three block radius from one of my best friend's house there is really great Lebanese, Carribean, Portugese, Indian and Italian food... and about five fabulous LYS (local yarn stores) within a 20-30 minute walk. Seriously! It's always an adventure.
4. Healthcare. This is not perfect but after a trip to the emergency room in the States this past summer (thank you health care benefits), I still received a remaining bill for $84. We get this taken care of here and up to a year for maternity leave.
5. Our fun little accents. I can hear it after being away for a while but it's just normal, right? We say please, thank you and sorry in conversation to people that we know and don't know yet. We don't necessarily mean it but whatever, it sounds nice.

Anyways, keep your eyes peeled for some of my favorite American things next week!