This kind of winter

I love this kind of winter.

A massive winter storm rolled in over night and hasn't let up all day.  I don't have to worry about driving to work, so I enjoyed the snowy-but-warm walk to the station and hopped on the train and made it to work early.  Then I watched the river valley turn completely white from my office window until 2:57, when they sent out an email telling us all to go home.

The train was totally running smoothly, and the driver even made announcements about the treacherous conditions on the platforms telling us to watch our step and have a great evening.  I love it when LRT drivers talk like they are flight pilots.  Makes my day every time.  The platforms have piles of snow that were almost as big as the ones I remember from my childhood.

After trudging (literally) through the deep snow, I arrived home and decided to shovel my car out, the driveway, the sidewalks, etc.  The entire time, my iPod chose songs on shuffle that were totally rocking my face off.  M. Ward, Wilco, Stars, Sufjan Stevens.  It took about an hour and when I got into the house the bottoms of my pants WEREN'T EVEN WET.  That is how fluffy this snow is, my friends.

Let's do a quick recap: snow day, fluffy snow, lrt, awesome!

Enjoy it.

My brother sewed a stuffed penguin on his own initiative.

Last weekend, my sis came to town for a crafting weekend with me, my mom, and my sister in law. it ended up with the kidlets as well as scott and my dad, and it was such a great weekend.

We busted out Amy Grant's "A Christmas Album", and ate dessert for breakfast while we worked on various projects and hung out. Kaeli sewed stuffed birds out of fabric from Italy. I worked on flags for the Royal Bison. Francis made some a gingerbread house and train set with Heidi. Geneva was adorable. Mom knit. Dad teased us and read the paper. And our brother, Scott, sewed a stuffed penguin, with a little help from us.

Ingenuity

Although I sometimes get teased for my 'methods', sometimes I just have to risk the teasing and share the genius.

My most recent stroke of brilliance came when - after weeks of hunting for wool tights so that I could extend the dress wearing season late into the fall (thus putting off the inevitable evil of winter that is wearing DRESS PANTS to work) - I wore my new tights once and busted a hole through the toes. Darn toenails.

Soooo, I pulled out my tiniest pair of ankle socks and slid them on first next time I wore my tights. Not only are my feet totally warmer when I walk to work in the morning, but you would NEVER KNOW that I have socks on under my tights. Seriously people.

And, in summary, that is how much I hate dress pants.

Chatting with Tash, 101

Joel and I were watching "The Office" on my computer and I accidentally left my facebook page open, so Tash naturally thought I was online and tried to start a chat. This is the result. I think my personal high point is when I typed: "anywhy were you going to invite me to hav brewakfast?"

The shame of that poorly typed sentence just might follow me for years to come.

CHATTING WITH TASH 101

Natasha: Do you have AM plans?

Yo!

Beth

Answer

Too Good for me?

Bethany:hi
sorry
Natasha:Penis
Ha
Bethany:i am watching the office with oel
joel
Natasha:ole?
Bethany:he is laughing at your obsessive chatting
Natasha: Wha?
Natasha: Tell him I uploaded all the new things to my site!
Bethany: he's reading, so you just told him
Natasha: Hollah!
Yessss.
So remember what you told me about Jole...
Bethany:joel and i are having breakfast
Natasha: Joel
FINE
Beth: anywhy were you going to invite me to hav brewakfast?
Natasha: yes, 'sob'
Bethany: want to all have breakfast together?
Natasha: Time?
Bethany: i'ts been too long since we did that
Natasha: Hollah! Since your b-day...?
Bethany: yeah probably...
Natasha: That long?
Where?
SB?
Denny's?
Ricki's?
Bethany: ew
Natasha: What?
Wut?
Bethany: denys
Natasha: EW
dennies?
ha
lol
rotflol
Bethany: dennnneeees
Natasha: kill me
Bethany: OMG
Natasha: We need to stop
Bethany: yeah, probably
okay ,um how about....sugarbowl 9:30?
Natasha: YES
Bethany: DONE
Natasha:SEE YOU THERE, bi

Rolodex Love

Growing up I often asked for very...utilitarian...Christmas and birthday gifts.  Dustbusters, rolodexes.  So, I've had (and loved) this rolodex for many years, but because I just can't leave stuff alone once I get in in my head that it might be spray-paintable I did a little rolodex makeover this weekend.  All it involved was spraying the dividers with my favourite blue paint and affixing cork letters.  Easy and so much cuter now.

Little things that make my day better

I love customizing the spaces that I occupy; however, I once read an article that said people will view you as unprofessional if you have too many personal artifacts in your work space.  These two things are butting heads.  So, I have to be sneaky in my customization.  And it is the little things that bring me tiny bits of joy throughout the day.  Some of them are obvious and some of them more clandestine.  So today I stealthily snapped some photos of them and here they are, starting from the left upperhand corner:

• A plant from my dear friend Karen (plants are innocuous enough, right?), with a card from my dear co-worker Amy stuck on a card pick.  
• Next, a totally vintage tape dispenser that I found (to my extreme joy) in the reject cupboard at work.  I quickly grabbed it and switched it with my black plastic one.  It rocks.  
• Natasha's show postcard from last year, and a red polka dot nail file that I keep on hand to prevent those pesky rough edges that send me into nail biting fits.  
• My desk phone, which I frequently use to call Amy (who, coincidentally is leaving me for another job at the end of next week.  Sadness.  Amy if you are reading this: I WILL MISS YOU and our daily chats).
  
• My many pairs of shoes.  Usually hidden in a filling cabinet, but some of them end up on the floor under my desk.
• A felt bird I made last year before Christmas and put up as a decoration.  I could never bear to take it down.  Plus it looked so cute with the typewriter key thumbtacks.
• Framed Emily Carr postcard from Lisa.  I love it.  Had it at my last job too, but I recently painted the frame.

So, there you have it.  A little tour of the things that make me smile throughout the workday.  

The mounting obsession with coconut

I decided last minute that Joel must have coconut cupcakes for his birthday, so I headed to the grocery store over my lunch break in search of some vanilla cupcake ingredients.  I planned to just buy some coconut and sprinkle it on top of them as a finishing touch, since the two of us have been egging each other on in our coconut obsessions.  In the cake section, I found a boxed 'Barefoot Contessa' coconut cupcake mix, so I took it as a sign and bought it.  It was amazing.  And the cupcakes were beautiful.  

 

And the birthday boy was happy.