Definitely a Monday.

My Monday morning started before my alarm rang; I was dreaming about being late for work. Not wanting to actually be late, I got up instead of hitting snooze. I did my morning thing, getting the coffee going, feeding the cats, throwing on something suitable to wear to work, turning on the morning news and getting breakfast started.

I found the frying pan, slapped in some butter, put in the bread (hole cut, ready for the egg), reached for the egg aaaaand...

SPLAT!

I cursed. Cracked another egg into the frying pan, then grabbed my camera -- because how often do you get to take a photo of egg spatter?

After breakfast was cooked, I threw some veggies into the frying pan with a little sesame oil to accompany the leftovers I was taking for lunch. Packed that up, poured my coffee and finished getting everything together to head out. Glancing at the clock, I knew I was cutting it close but should have had about 3 minutes to walk up the block to the bus instead of the usual 5.

It was pouring rain but I figured the bus would be there almost right away. Not so much. 15 minutes later, I decided it must have been early and that I had missed it. I pondered going back home and waiting for the next bus and being late (about half an hour) but instead sucked it up and hiked up through the park over the hill. It's usually a 15 minute walk but I made it in 12 because I didn't want to stand in the rain any longer than I needed to. 10 steps from the crosswalk to the next bus stop and WHOOOOOSH! there goes the 7:38. Sigh.

I stood in the rain another 12 minutes for the next bus and arrived at work 10 minutes late and soaked through to the point that my toes were wrinkled. So I guess, in some twisted way, my dream came true.

Yeah, definitely a Monday.

-=|=-

On the plus side, Kiddo was eager to get out of her bath quickly tonight so that she could work on the story she is writing. She fell asleep writing it then woke up when I tried to move it so she didn't choke on her pencil. I read what she'd written and I have to tell you, I am excited.

It's sci-fi.

Awesome Alphabets

I love ABC books and at one time wanted to build a collection. I stopped because I realized I would need a very big library in which to hold them. However, I still love finding interesting alphabets. Feast your eyes on these:

• Badass Alphabet -- inspired by comic books, it features gems like "H is for Hagar the Horrible Hacking Hello Kitty in Half"
• Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks -- not only do these rock (F is for Freeze Ray and P is for Peasants with Pitchforks!!) but the blocks themselves are little laser-cut works of art.
• Palaeobet by Bird and Moon (Rosemary Mosco) wants you to "know your prehistory" (X is for xenacanthus) -- I really want the poster.
• Digital Alphabet -- no big surprises here but at only two years old, it may already need updates. (Oh, wait, here's a 2009 version.)
• Star Wars Alphabet -- crisp graphic illustrations by tweedlebop (aka Michael Fleming) covering the whole Star Wars universe are fantastic and plenty of people have requested that they be made available for sale... so far I haven't found them.
• the Rock Alphabet by Rose Stallard is an inspired collection of musicians (Z is, of course, for Zappa) available as a limited edition silk-screened print.
• Of course my favourite alphabet of all time is Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies (N is for Neville who died of ennui...) -- if you don't own it you really should buy the book!
• Follow the link from Craft to the tutorial for an alphabet art project that you can do with your kids -- it involves a digital photography outing and transferring a photo print on to canvas. Very cool.
• Prefer to hear the alphabet? Mental Floss rounds up celebrities reciting and singing the alphabet on Sesame Street. That Cosby one? I totally remember it.

I also have very fond memories of the alphabet song because in my 4 a.m. feeding / postpartum addled brain, it was often the only song I could think of to sing Kiddo back to sleep (it was that or my variation of the Mockingbird Song -- I would inevitably get to verse three and forget the rest so I started making things up.) At one point, I remember staring down at the unsleeping one in her crib, and as I got to "L-M-N-O..." she said "OH!" I sang that again, "L-M-N-O.." "OH!" and I was no longer concerned that she wasn't sleeping. I consider "OH" to be one of her first words, even if she was just mimicking Mommy.

Kiddo is Nine Today

I can hardly believe how fast she is growing up. She had a great time at Great Wolf Lodge and even managed to feign interest when we detoured to the geek-tacular Science Fiction Museum in Seattle; she preferred the Experience Music Project upstairs in the same building.

We went out for dim sum for her birthday treat (and later we will be making nachos for dinner) and she was showered with gifts -- LEGO, a Build-a-Bear, an iPod Nano and Skullcandy headphones plus a half dozen volumes of Yotsuba and a giant bubble wand. She'll get more on Sunday from other relatives and friends at her birthday party.

Falling back and such

Since we still haven't solved that whole Daylight Savings nonsense, tonight we'll be changing a bunch of clocks (and the rest tomorrow). Right now, I am making the most of what is left of Halloween by watching Practical Magic. I stayed home to hand out candy while Hubby took Kiddo around the neighbourhood and then off to Oak Bay to see the bonfire.

She loved her costume this year -- Ahsoka, from Star Wars: the Clone Wars -- but was frustrated by how often she had to explain it. She had more fun earlier when she tried on Hubby's V for Vendetta mask:

(BTW, I saw several people wearing that mask yesterday among the many protesters in Centennial Square (some of whom later caused enough of a ruckus that the route for the Olympic Torch Relay had to be adjusted to avoid them).)

***

Bonus: linkdump!

• Supernatural Collective Nouns by Wondermark -- I immediately bookmarked this for future reference and amusement.
• Star Wars zombie art -- yeah, I think I am over zombies now... but this is still an amusing set.
• Cell size and scale -- if you haven't already seen this, go look, play with the slider, and break your brain a little. Then show your kids. It's edutastic!
  

Oh, and if any of you are on Google Wave, let me know. I can't invite others (yet?) and I'd like to see if more people would make it suck less. (Right now, it seems kinda sucky and pointless.)

Starting tomorrow, it's PeGeStuDoMo!

Vacation's End

All told, this was one of the best fall vacations we've had.

This time last year we had just moved in. It seems hard to believe it's been a year, so hard that until I looked it up on the blog I wasn't completely sure what day we had moved in (it was October 9th).

With the getaway at the start of the week off, we got back relaxed for the rest of our week off. We balanced some hang time with getting-stuff-done and some time with friends and family (though Thanksgiving was extra tense this year -- not sure what really was going on there...). Kiddo and I did some crafting together including a "rag doll with Coraline eyes" that she designed and we collaborated to finish:

Hubby made lots of headway on getting the new deck stairs underway (the "deathtrap stairs of doom" have to go -- the new stairs will go down the back of the deck, toward the apple trees and easier access to the bbq. It's the first step toward prepping for the addition.

Today, Hubby pulled down most of the weird carport skeleton over the driveway to reclaim the wood for the project, too. And you know what? I really wish we had pulled that sucker down earlier. After it was down, I moved and re-stacked the wood we had hastily thrown there, and our driveway looked pretty good.

We had an unseasonably warm and dry week, too; tomorrow we are expecting rain with frost forecast for this evening. We turned the gas fireplace on today for the first time in months and I decided I had best get in the last of the cucumbers (the vines were dried up anyhow) and pull out the tomato plants. There were 6 cucumbers left and I don't know how many pounds of mostly green tomatoes... I think I may try pickling them...

Back to work tomorrow. Sigh. At least it's a short (if busy) week.

Mother-daughter day

Last night, we tried to highlight Kiddo's hair with Kool-Aid™ homebrew dye; unfortunately, her hair is a bit too dark so there was very little effect. You can see some red highlights in the sunshine but only if you are looking for them. Oh well. Next time: henna rinse.

This morning, we finished the zine! Bümfmag, issue 1 is now available -- I will be shipping out the giveaway issues Monday. There's still a couple more spaces if you want to get a freebie, otherwise the zine is for sale on Etsy:

Best thing? Kiddo is already planning what goes in issue #2.

Around noon, we went to the museum, in part to see the visiting exhibit from the British Museum. Unlike other visiting exhibits, this one does not seem to be drawing the crowds. The tickets were supposed to be timed but there was no lineup and no crowd. In fact, only the IMAX seemed slightly busy today. The exhibit itself was interesting -- a few key pieces especially so -- but I think it lacked the focus that others have brought (e.g. Titanic, Da Vinci).

After the museum, we met my Mom and my Mother in Law at the Gatsby Mansion for Afternoon Tea. Not bad, but not fantastic either -- great location, nice to not be rushed, but the food was just acceptable. The search continues for the best tea in Victoria; apparently, I am picky about afternoon tea.

Stress relief.

It's been that kind of week, even though it is truncated.

On Tuesday, I made the last-minute decision to apply for another job in the library -- not because I don't like the job I have, but the other position (at much higher payband) has a variety of duties and responsibilities that are a good fit with my skill-set. It was the first time I had to use the new online resume-builder that is built in to uHire (the University's job posting interface) and that proved to be a little bit of a challenge. Now I keep wondering if I proofread everything enough times. No word yet on when interviews will be scheduled.

Tuesday evening, I tried to take my mind off the resume by sorting more stuff for the yard sale this weekend. (If you are in Victoria, drop by! Head for Finlayson and Quadra and follow the signs.) We have a small mountain of boxes but I still feel like it isn't everything that should be going...

Yesterday work was a constant stream of interruptions -- largely Union-related issues -- so I left feeling like I hadn't accomplished much. Still, last night was a treat for us: one of our favourite restaurants, Eugene's recently relocated from downtown to Gordon Head and they quietly opened for business yesterday in the new location.

Then last night I crossed one BIG item off my to-do list. It's been on my list for well over a year and I started working on it earnestly last fall but the Drupal-ized version of my Unofficial Guide to Victoria is now live. It's far from ready for the big leagues; there's lots and lots of work left to do but the basic frame is there and I can stop being embarassed by how out-of-date the old site was. So go ahead, check it out, and let me know what you think. I can tell you that I plan to add more photos, longer reviews, and possibly a blog or similar section where I can add opinion pieces and local history articles but I also want to be more responsive to readers and those who use the site!

Today started out OK but quickly went to hell -- around noon, Kiddo's school phoned; she'd been sent to the office with an "angry looking eye infection" eww. A trip to the clinic and pharmacy preceded an hour long ordeal between the two of us trying to get eyedrops into our child's right eye. Not fun.

This evening we all needed to get out of the house so we checked out the new Lee Valley Tools in Colwood. Just the recipe; I feel much better now.

Happy Birthday, Kiddo.

Yes, today my little Kiddo turns 8 -- halfway to her learner's license (not that she wants to drive) and heading into "tween" territory (she already watches Hannah Montanah and similar shows).

This morning, she opened her gifts, had breakfast, then had a meltdown that quickly ramped up the terror level in the house to ochre. And what caused the meltdown? Her discomfort with the telephone. Her cousin phoned to wish her a happy birthday and she accidentally replied, "Happy Birthday to you too!" which made her angry with herself and angry enough to put down the phone and run off. Sigh.

Among her gifts was a much-wanted hand-held game system. She loves my iPod Touch as much as I do but we wanted to get her something more durable. Initially we were looking at the PSP but after standing in the aisle at an electronics store, we realized that the number of titles and more importantly the number of age-appropriate titles were far greater for the NintendoDS -- so that's what we got for her. We also got her a few games (it came in a bundle with two; we bought one more) and she will be getting other titles soon (her uncle works for a major game developer). As if that weren't enough, we also got her two GBA Video cartoon cartridges an item created for GameBoy Advance that play on the NintendoDS (thank you, Wikipedia for the info and Amazon.ca for the seller!)

-----

In other Kiddo-related news, yesterday evening we had "student-led conferences" at the school -- somewhere between parent-teacher meetings and show and tell. The highlight of the evening was her artwork: one piece was in the form of a Lite-Brite classic display with rainbow stripes on each corner and "[her name]'s work of art" in the middle; the other was a 3D giraffe (all the kids did a version) but, she explained, hers had "mad cow disease" which manifested as a tongue hanging out and limbs stuck out in all directions. Hee Hee :)

Mission accomplished....

... Kiddo has glasses. We purchased two identical pairs in case of loss or irreparable damage.

Adventures in Optometry

first_eye_test
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

On and off Kiddo has been complaining of headaches and sore eyes and more recently these complaints have increased. This coupled with the news that she needs to work on her hand-eye coordination really hit the point home that we were long overdue in taking her for an eye exam.

I arranged to take her in at the same time I got mine done so she could see how some of the tests worked. Unfortunately, I didn't warn her about just how uncomfortable the glaucoma test (that nasty little puff of air to test the pressure in your eyeball) so that wasn't pleasant for anyone in the office. After that she calmed down and the rest of the exam was relatively uncontested. As soon as she started trying to read the letters on the chart I knew she needed glasses. My heart sank -- why had we waited so long? Eventually I stopped kicking myself and just decided it was better late than never.

Me? Well, aside from getting nauseous from the eye dilating drops, I discovered that my eyesight has improved again. Weird. I have roughly 20/25 vision plus a mild astigmatism in one eye and "virtually 20/20" in the other. Of course the change means new glasses again. Sigh.

So, tomorrow, we'll go find some glasses.

A brief bright moment.

action_shot
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

Poor Kiddo. She had a day of disappointment.

Most of the day was about waiting; her friend was supposed to come over for a play-date but never showed and never called. Unfortunately, we didn't have his phone number so we couldn't check about it either.

Once it seemed clear to me that he wasn't coming, I suggested putting together the soccer goal she got for Christmas. I realized we should have checked a little closer when she pulled the ball out of the box -- it was about the size of the cat's head. She was not impressed. I told her she could still use her full size ball. The goal is tiny -- meant for little kids -- but it is still a goal and she can still aim at it.

She played outside for about 15 minutes then declared it was too cold, came in, and moped until she also realized he just wasn't going to show. Hubby tried to tell her that it likely wouldn't be the last time she was stood up ("Because guys do that sort of thing; ask your Mother.") but that didn't really help her mood.

E is for Exhausted.

After being sick most of last week, we still took Kiddo out trick-or-treating. It was actually really nice to do a fairly quick route around the neighbourhood, meet some of our neighbours, and then sit around while Kiddo answered the door for the dozen or so trick-or-treaters who showed up here. Oh, and she looked great in her costume... as Sarah Palin.

(Yes, she chose that costume and I think she will actually be sad if the McCain-Palin ticket fails to get to the Whitehouse. Sigh.)

I also think her trick-or-treating years may be numbered; it already seemed like she wasn't interested and yet she had heaps of fun working the door and handing out candy to other kids.

Saturday we popped up to Nanaimo and got a wardrobe for the bedroom plus a nice electric lawnmower that was being cleared out at the end of the season. I still have to put together the lawnmower, but there's no rush until the rain lets up enough to dry out the lawn a little.

Today we finished putting together the wardrobe (we started last night... it's a bit of a beast even as flat-pack furniture goes, but it looks good in place) and did some shuffling downstairs. Hubby took a load of construction debris out of the basement to the dump then we cleaned and moved boxes while he framed in a closet.

Anyway, I am still tired but determined to go back to work this week, even if my mind keeps drifting to thoughts of preparation for the craft fair at Kiddo's school at the end of the month -- I've committed to a table and the organizer from the PAC was very excited to hear that I would be bringing plush toys and finger puppets.

Happy Halloweeeeeeeen!

First, a fantastic snapshot from UCLA's Digital Collections:



Ahh, the 1940's... when it was still OK to send a little girl out trick-or-treating in blackface. Also, all the whining about how provocative Halloween costumes are this year? It's nothing new; check out these women posing in costume back in1947.

I'm still at home (sick) today, though really I am feeling much better. My problem is that I didn't sleep much last night so I need to take a nap or three today. Tonight, Kiddo will be trick or treating in the new neighbourhood -- seems like many of the neighbours are quite excited; lots of yard decorations among the piles of fallen leaves. My mother-in-law will be handing out candy while we shadow the kid. I will, of course, post photos later.

Funny kid...

Hubby was making breakfast this morning -- eggy grilled cheese sandwiches -- and was showing off flipping the sandwiches without the spatula (i.e. a flip of the frying pan). Unfortunately, one flip didn't quite work and Kiddo announced "Ha! You made a spilled cheese sandwich!"

:D

A girl on a swing

new_swing
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

This makes me smile for many reasons, not the least of which is the joy Kiddo finds in just swinging. When I was her age, I did the same thing on the swing my Dad attached to our apple tree (this one is on a hazelnut tree in my sister-in-law's yard).

Just watching her for a few minutes last night brought back a flood of memories, including one fairly traumatic one (which in hindsight probably looked pretty funny and might have won some bucks on AFV) -- when I was about her age, I lost my grip on the up-swing and fell backwards. However, my knees still had a good grip on the seat as I leaned back and the height of the swing was such that I dragged my head back and forth a few times before coming to a stop. Ouch.

I think I escaped with a scrape on my forehead and bruised pride, but there was no lasting damage. I was back on the swing after a few days... I just held on a little tighter.

"No, Mister Bond, I expect you to die."

 

"No, Mister Bond, I expect you to die."
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

Of the many scenarios Kiddo creates daily, one caught my eye. She said it was a tanning bed with an artificial light. I said, "Oh, I thought it was some sort of James Bond laser thingy."

As soon as I put the idea in her head, Kiddo scuttered off and immediately rearranged the scene, finding a Bond-like minifig and pointing the laser at his chest.

(I would say it was racial memory, but I didn't seeGoldfinger until she was 6 years old.)

As you can imagine, I thought this was several layers of wonderful.

Kiddo's Chichian Empire...

chichians
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

A few weeks ago, Kiddo used some scrap fabric left over from a Huggitz crafting session to make her own little critter. She called it a Chichian and she took it to school for show-and-tell. Soon afterward, other kids started asking her for them -- she has made two others for friends -- and she is off to a birthday party today where the birthday girl asked for one as a gift! I suggested making a pair (regular size and BIG), so that's what we did this morning.

Right now, Kiddo picks the fabric and the buttons for the eyes, and does all the hand-sewing; I prepare the fabric and do the machine sewing. She also helps to stuff the critters.

I think it's very cool that she is making these little things but even cooler that her friends and other kids actually want them; they even play with their Chichians at recess!

And, yes, I have suggested that she sell them on Etsy... but so far, she hasn't gone for that yet!

the ups and downs of buying and selling online

It's a quiet day around here, aside from kiddo's constant interruptions to show off her LEGO creations, and my thoughts are focused on e-commerce.

In 5 hours, I will know whether I have won an eBay auction for a box of attachments that go with my vintage Singer sewing machine. It's the first time I've bid on anything on eBay for years -- the last thing we bought was in 2005; prior to that, the last time we were actively selling was 2002. We got really burned back then by two bad transactions in a row -- one sale and one purchase -- and I have been carrying a chip on my shoulder ever since. So, we'll see how this transaction goes and try to re-build the trust.

I also have to take some time this weekend and re-design some websites; part of this means redesigning e-commerce on my CuppaJoe Cozy site. Actually, I need to redesign the whole thing. Anyway, I have decided to keep the Paypal option for custom work only; stock will be sold in the "coffee and tea" section of my Etsy store.

Meanwhile, I need to find new ways to promote things. I was reminded, by a new comment on an old post, this week of some ideas for promoting my CuppaJoe Cozies and Wradical Wraps that I may just follow through on. I was also approached by someone in Connecticut about wholesale pricing on some of my products, but since my Etsy pricing wasn't well thought out, when I went to do wholesale calculations, it didn't look great. Of course what really blew it all out of the water was the cost to ship things across the border. Sigh. So, I will be re-examining all of my Etsy and online sales, with thoughts toward both wholesale and retail pricing.

***

And now, it seems Kiddo is done playing with LEGO and wants to sew. I have told her I will teach her to use the sewing machine... carefully... so that's my next task for the day!

Is that even possible?

In Kiddo's world it is.

I should back up; this is all about teeth. Kiddo has lost a total of three teeth now and a fourth is wiggly. When she didn't put her last tooth under the pillow, I asked why -- she said she wanted to keep it because it was hers, after all.

This week she has gone one better. She wants to write a letter to the tooth fairy requesting her other two teeth back. When she was reminded that the tooth fairy paid her for the teeth in question, she said, "That's OK, she can just send me a bill."

What to do with that gingerbread house....

If you're anything like us, you'll give it a feature role in a youtube video...