Yes, yes, I'm finally posting.

at 07/17/08 9:18PM
  • jhagan
    AHHHH! Thank you so much! I love Beaker!!!!
    by jhagan at 08/07/08 12:07AM
  • mereme
    Hey, Jen - what's the name of that knitting club that you belong to on the internet that shows pictures and patterns? Or maybe you know of a pattern for a knitted snood?
    by mereme at 08/09/08 9:08AM
  • jhagan
    So, how close were you to that explosion?
    by jhagan at 08/11/08 9:13AM
  • huntme
    You know Heet was Beaker for Halloween a few years back!! :) That was awesome! Miss you!
    by huntme at 08/14/08 7:59PM
  • bruke
    Happy belated birthday!
    by bruke at 09/29/08 8:05AM
  • bruke
    I stumbled upon this blog and thought of you. NOT the first entry, scroll down to the muppet cake!
    by bruke at 10/10/08 2:36PM
  • mereme
    happy new year!
    by mereme at 01/01/09 8:08AM
  • mereme
    by mereme at 01/28/09 1:00PM
  • mereme
    Had to send that to ya - oh, I cried out loud.
    by mereme at 01/28/09 1:03PM

New music Tuesday

at 05/20/08 9:12PM
So I just found out that my friend (& college roommate), Emily Truncellito, is featured on several tracks of a new album by Rick Harrington, a member of the church in Asheville, NC - You Can't Just Sit There.

You can listen to the tracks online, but it's also available through iTunes. Proceeds from one of the songs, The Love of Many, are going to benefit Sacred Selections which is a website helping Christian families with adoption costs. I don't have any personal experience with the group, but speaking as someone who was adopted into a Christian family, I think it's a fabulous idea!


Anyway, go forth & listen! (And if you like it, buy a copy...)
  • mereme
    That's really neat!
    by mereme at 05/20/08 9:20PM
  • mereme
    Woo-hoo! I just a message back from Rick Harrington - it is the man I went to FC with! :) SO very cool.
    by mereme at 05/23/08 3:50PM
  • bruke
    That's right, I think.
    by bruke at 06/20/08 9:55PM
  • bruke
    Cool.
    by bruke at 06/20/08 9:55PM
  • whipsmile
    I've seen that bookcase down there before. I would LOVE to have one too!
    by whipsmile at 06/27/08 12:32PM

I totally love...

at 03/27/08 8:49PM
this bookcase/staircase. I could make very good use of one. From the sounds of things, she could probably use several for all of her books too.

I'm getting ready to move my whole department to a new building next week, so life is *very* busy right now. I will be glad once it's all done, even if it does mean going back to 2.5-3 hours a day in transit. Still, it'll give me lots more reading time...

  • mereme
    woo hoo! I can see little crocuses popping up at our neighbour's across the street! No flowers yet, but, WOOHOO! for spring :)
    by mereme at 03/29/08 11:07AM
  • sarahphim
    Do you have a phone number for Olivia? I really want her to come, so I'm thinking about calling her and bugging her.
    by sarahphim at 04/03/08 8:55PM
  • sarahphim
    Oh, well as long as she's up on the discussions. I was just afraid she wasn't checking the site.
    by sarahphim at 04/05/08 2:00PM
  • mereme
    Home again! Hope you had a good weekend - see you tonight? :)
    by mereme at 04/29/08 11:27AM

Too much of a good thing?

at 02/17/08 8:57PM
When I moved to Canada, I knew I was in for a drastic climate change from Florida. I did fine last year, but this winter is really getting the best of me.

We've had over 128 centimeters of snow since November. That's more than 13 centimeters above the average snowfall for one season. Today we had to cancel the worship service because of freezing rain that caused over 200 accidents this morning in the Greater Toronto area.

toronto2008 003The snow's almost higher than the cars!

toronto2008 002I'm at eye-level with the snow in this photo - the car is parked slightly uphill - so almost 5 1/2 feet of snow there...

toronto2008 001I live in a basement apartment, which you can kinda sorta see in the photo. All I see when I look out that window is snow. I can't even see the street anymore.

Bring on Spring! How's the weather in your part of the world?
  • riptide
    78 degrees great for the golf range here in San antonio TX
    by riptide at 02/17/08 9:40PM
  • jhagan
    This is one of the joys of Colorado. We do get snow storms, but the snow is usually melted in a day or two. I like fresh snow. Icky, dirty, old snow isn't that great.
    by jhagan at 02/18/08 1:23AM
  • mereme
    I know what you mean! ;) We must go out for Mexican soon - what are you up to?
    by mereme at 02/18/08 10:14AM
  • mereme
    We had windows open today! Lovely weather. :) I think we're maybe going to get another storm from Texas, should be icy by the time it gets here. Oh, well. Spring is approaching! :)
    by mereme at 03/03/08 8:25PM
  • mereme
    it's still snowing here. John was out on the roads a little this morning - said it was really really bad. Too bad about last night - here we go with winter wonderland again!
    by mereme at 03/08/08 12:24PM
  • mcbecci
    Hey Jen! Becci here, BJ's wife. I'm sure that is a shock from FL. Here in Tampa it's about 70 degrees. Beautiful weather. So what did you move up to Canada for?
    by mcbecci at 03/10/08 1:29PM
  • irishsurprise
    Hee. You're so bad.
    by irishsurprise at 03/10/08 8:43PM
  • huntme
    Have to say your missing out on crazy weather in Texas!! We've had snow twice, fog that lasted till after noon, sunami of sorts and perfect 70ish weather all within oh lets say 3 weeks!!
    by huntme at 03/25/08 6:16PM
  • mereme
    welcome back to more of the same weather... at least it's more melty this time. Maybe it will be gone before we know it, right? I've seen some buds on some of the trees... :)
    by mereme at 03/25/08 9:21PM

Skiing or snowboarding?

at 02/07/08 6:29AM
They're planning a "team-building" event at work - we're having a day out at a ski resort near Collingwood. We're going to have a choice between skiing & snowboarding. And for the newbies like me, they're going to offer beginner lessons.

So which do you prefer? Which is easier to pick up (especially if you're not so good at staying upright)?

In other news, I came across this blog last night - Homesick Texan. I'm on a bit of a food-blog-kick at the moment, and this one I can relate to, as we seem to have every cuisine in the world available in Toronto, except Mexican. And Southern. Although I did find a decent barbecue place a while back. Canadian Taco Bell joints (not that it's the height of Mexican cuisine anywhere) serve fries with their combos. Fries! I've known this for over 2 years now and the wrongness of that is still jarring to me. Anyway, all that to say that I plan to enjoy a little bit of homesickness while reading through her archives this weekend.
  • pdawg
    I haven't done either but Kevin has snowboarded. He says that you need really strong ankles to be able to keep yourself up. I think skiing might be easier, although, neither look easy! Sad that Taco Bell serves fries! How wrong is that?!
    by pdawg at 02/07/08 8:02AM
  • jhagan
    Jen, I have done both. I got hurt skiing because of an equipment malfunction and overextending myself (going off jumps on the first day is apparently not a good idea). I have gone snowboarding and my personal preference is snowboarding because it is much more liberating to me. But, with no question in my mind, you should go skiing. Snowboarding is much harder to pick up. For many people, it takes several trips learning to snowboard before it is even fun. Oh, and I get hurt snowboarding too... only its just concussions so nothing to worry about :-)

    Take her advice and go skiing and dress warmly. I recommend dressing in layers, so that as the day goes on you can shed a layer or two if it really gets too hot. Don't let me scare you off with my injuries either. I got injured skiing because of stupidity and poor ski equipment (which have improved A LOT since then). I have gone skiing many times since that time and never got hurt again but had great times. In fact, if you take a liking to this, you ought to come out here and we can go up to some of the Colorado slopes. That would be fun.
    by jhagan at 02/07/08 1:54PM
  • riptide
    well about taco nasty when i was younger i wouldnt eat mx food so when we ate at mx restraunts i would eat burgers and fries and sometimes chicken noodle soup
    by riptide at 02/07/08 6:47PM
  • sarahphim
    Oooh, snowboarding sounds a little scary to me. I've only been skiing once, but it was really fun! You'll have to be sure to tell us all about your trip.
    by sarahphim at 02/08/08 5:14PM
  • mereme
    I saw some people skiing and boarding at Chinguacousy Park yesterday - it does look more "controllable" than the snowboarding did. I'd like to do it there, just because I've learned how to pronounce Chinguacousy in the "local dialect". :) Actually, I'm taking the kids sledding/tobogganing today over there, which would be way more controllable. ;)
    by mereme at 02/09/08 6:52AM
  • mereme
    well, we didn't make it all the way to ^that park, but had a great time - AND hot chocolate. :) Gracias - and see you soon!
    by mereme at 02/09/08 4:31PM
  • huntme
    You need to visit us soon Jen!! Get some real Mexican food!! I don't know about snowboarding, I heard it was hard. Skiing is fun though!!
    by huntme at 02/11/08 10:48PM