My Pumpkin Manicure

Tonight was an early jack’o'lantern night as you can see from the photo above. Earlier in the day, Paige asked me to pick up some pumpkins so I obliged (I nearly forgot because they had them outside of the store!!).  I wasn’t planning on carving them tonight but my daughter is a lot like her father, once they get an idea in their sweet little heads, they will follow it through to completion in the shortest amount of time possible, by whatever means necessary.

So Yes, she nagged the pants off me until I gave in and got out the pumpkin carving kit.

This year I got off so lucky.  Not only did our pumpkins have very little pulp in them but they were loaded with fat juicy seeds!  Last year the mess was substantial but this year it took me about 2 minutes to clean it all up.  I liked that part the best.  I also was able to roast the seeds using a bit of Pam on a non-stick pan with a generous sprinkling of sea salt- they are delicious! 

Paige drew out a sketch of her pumpkin face first (so did I) and then she transferred it to the pumpkin.  We were using a sharpie marker to draw on the pumpkins and she was terribly upset that she was unable to erase her artwork off the pumpkin to start over.  I ended up getting out the ‘Magic Eraser’ and it worked like a charm.  Marker free pumpkins at my place.  Paige was also able to scrape out most of the insides and cut the entire face out on her own.  I’m very proud of that girl!!  Can you guess which one is hers??

Every year I draw mine out in a ’stream of conciousness’ style (without thinking it out or planning it before hand).  After I had cut the face out and we put candles in the pumpkins I looked at mine and realized that it looked like a baby Gorrilla!!  Paige actually noticed first… funny.

Hugs and punkin guts,

~jen

The results are in… or no, wait… maybe they’re not.

  She POSED for this!! 
  Originally uploaded by island artist.

Well folks I went to my appointment for the ultrasound update yesterday.  Low and behold my doctor informs me that the scans came out CLEAR- no stones!!  Now, I’m confused, I was so sure the pain I was feeling was absolutely and positively gall stones, I’m afraid to think of it being anything else.  My doc told me that her next suspicion is that I am suffering from an infection of my stomache lining and/or a malfunctioning gall bladder.  Lovely.  So now I am back to the lab for more tests. 
While I’ve been living off of oatmeal and canned fruit salad- which has been good for the weight loss (lost 2.2 lbs this week!!) but not so great for anything else.  I would really like some popcorn and some meat.  There was hope  that the diagnosis of gall stones would give me a light at the end of the tunnel and I could eat oatmeal until I reached the light… but now I’m mad.    Today I got a little cocky and tried eating some low fat chicken caccitore for breakfast… no pain.  Then I had some turkey leftovers for lunch (NO gravy!!) again, no pain.  I had a souvlaki pita for dinner and had a slight twinge of discomfort.  It was all going great until I had a drink of Orange juice at Mama Lee’s house… now I’m in PAIN.  I’ve taken a HANDFUL of antacids and drank at least two litres of water and two advil… I still hurt.  It’s so frustrating to be taken down by a small glass of OJ.  I was so looking forward to pushing the envelope tonight with a bag of popcorn… Dang it!  Maybe tomorrow night.

Silly putty-3, Me- 0.

Please see Exhibit A:

Paige’s favorite velvet track pants heavily embossed with silly putty.

And now, Exhibit B:

a NEW shirt of Paige’s, with a sleave ‘impact spattered’ with silly putty.

and lastly, Exhibit C:

Paige’s favorite Yoga pants from her aunty Jessie, also deeply embossed on the butt with silly putty.

I think it’s safe to say, after seeing the evidence, Silly putty- 3, Jen- ZERO.  This is of course not including the spattering of silly putty all over the carpet in Paige’s bedroom.  I would have included a photo of that as well but I cut all the chunks out with scissors earlier today, and her carpet is so disgusting I was not about to post it on the internet for the world to see.
Also I think it would be okay to say that I think (as does my neighbor Laurie) that Silly putty was invented by a man.  Withtout children.

It’s a Girl!!

Just a note for those who are wondering…
My neighbour, that we all know and love, Suz, her husband Kevin and their daughter Elizabeth welcomed a new Baby girl to the family this morning!!  She arrived at 5:57 and was 8lbs 9oz!!  We don’t have a name so far, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated.  I was supposed to post something on her blog but I have no idea how to do that yet!

Congratulations Guys!!  Can’t wait to meet her!

~jen

New do!

Hello again folks, it’s been a wild rollercoaster of a week in the island household.  I had my in laws out for a quick visit, I had several severe gall bladder attacks and a bought of hurling, it was fun times, fun times.
    Today I thought I’d try to start the next week a little ‘fresher’ with a new haircut.  I marched in there this morning to the smiling face of my new favorite hair stylist- Tracy.  She is bloody brilliant.  I showed her a blurry photo of what I wanted and she produced magic.  She double and triple checked with me, to make sure I, in fact, wanted all my hair chopped off- I was sooooo ready, it was all I could do to keep myself from cutting it of.
What do you think?  I’ve got a sour pucker in the photo but We were in the van (such good lighting in the van LOL!) so there you have it.  It’s long in the front and short in the back.  I’m really jazzed to try styling it myself tomorrow! 

Anyway, Today we told Paige we were going to see the salmon ‘run’.  We asked her "Have you ever seen a salmon run??", poor kid didn’t know what she was actually in for.

Not much blog in me lately

Many apologies for not blogging much lately, I’ve just been feeling a little out of blog.  I suppose everyone goes through swings so it’s acceptable.  I’m going to be busy for the next couple of days since my in-laws are out for a short visit.  We are going to be celebrating a late Thanksgiving while they are here, I needed an excuse (and more people) to cook and eat an entire turkey! It will be fun.
There has been so much I’ve wanted to do, a few more scrapbooking pages, some painting, sew a quilt for Nolan, embroider a patch for this patch swap, and get to the gym.  To be completely honest, I’ve just been so exhausted lately to do more than think about these things.  Even when i have a few spare hours I can’t seem to get myself ‘into it’.  I’m hoping it’s just a little mood swing that’s due to the shorter amount of daylight hours we’ve been experiencing lately. Maybe I need to jack up the meds… who knows.
But enough of my bellyaching,

Lazy day and a Meme

  Piper Regal Portrait 
  Originally uploaded by island artist.

Paige is at Daycare now so Nolan and I are just hanging out.  Let me rephrase that, I’m hanging out and Nolan is pulling out all my tupperware, the dog bowls, the shoes, the toys, kleenex and his diapers all over the house.  What a busy body!!
I’m not going to concentrate too heavily on being creative today, if it happens it happens.  If I can get some laundry done and a bathroom cleaned, I will feel accomplished.  I put the kids to bed early last night in hopes of having a few free hours to myself, but instead I fell asleep with Paige after reading her a few books.  I needed the sleep though, so that’s alright.

Here is an ABC meme that I took from Suz’s blog,

A is for age: 31 but I still feel ike I’m 18 sometimes
B is for Beer: MGD please.
C is for Career: In my past life I was a Graphic Sign artist- Loved the line of work, just hated the deadlines and The whole ‘having a boss’ part.
D is for Your Dog’s Name: Piper the wonder mutt.  Loves humans hates dogs.
E is for Essential Item You Use Everyday: Finger nail clippers & a file.
F is for Favorite T.V. Show: The Office (it’s on tonight!)
G is for Favorite Game: When I have time I like to play word games online.
H is for Hometown: I feel like it’s Edmonton, Alberta.
I is for Instruments You Play: the Clarinet
J is for Favorite Juice: Red Grapefruit
K is for Whose Butt You’d Like To Kick: I like to kick anyones butt at anything I can.
L is for the Last Place You Ate: In front of the computer.
M is for Marriage: happily so!
N is for Your Name: jennifer Mary Jean
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: 5
P is for People You Were With Today: Paige and Nolan
Q is for Quote: Life is like a Mirror, if you smile at it- it smiles back.
R is for Biggest Regret: Not attending Alberta College of Art and Design… but my life’s not over yet!!
S is for Sport: to watch, Hockey, to do… weight lifting??
T is for Time You Woke Up Today: 7:15 (highly unusual)
U is for Current Underwear: Hanes boxer breifs for women (LOVE THEM!!)
V is for Vegetable You Love: Brocolli
W is for Worst Habit: Procrastination is huge with me BUT my absolute worst habit is OVER eating.
X is for X-rays You Have Had: There is not a part of my body that hasn’t been X-rayed.
Y is for Yummy Food You Ate Today: Toast with nutella :0) breakfast of champions.
Z is for Zodiac: Saggitarius- to a T.

Take it easy folks,
~jen

Bits ‘n’ pieces.

Nothing much new going on around here.  Ken left for a course in Vancouver so the kids and I are on our own for the week.  Paige already spent 30 minutes crying because she misses her dad.  I don’t know how she got so attached to her dad all of the sudden but it’s cute and heartbreaking (at the moment) at the same time.  I got ZERO done on the creative front today… I’m going to blame it on the 4 hours of sleep I was able to obtian the night before.  Hopefully I can sit down tonight for an hour and sketch out a little something to make up for lost time…

Last  night we got the kids to bed early-ish and sat down and watched a couple movies.  First we watched a documentary called ‘Black Gold’ about the coffee trade in Ethiopia.  Quite an eye opener for me, the coffee lover.  I’ve always read about ‘Fair trade coffee’ but didn’t really know what the heck that meant.  Now I do, and I’m going to strive to spend the extra few dollars for actual Fair trade coffee that I brew at home.  If you drink coffee, especially the Starbuck and/or Tim Hortons variety… you really should watch this.  Fair trade, not aid. Please click on the link in my sidebar for more information and clips from the movie.

The other movie Ken brought home caught me off guard, "Hustle and FLow????", I said.  He immediately told me it was an acclaimed piece and won some academy awards, so I calmed down. 
What a great movie!  I don’t know if I was just in a nice relaxed, ready-for-anything kinda mood but I thouroughly enjoyed this show.  Keep in mind, it’s about a pimp.  A pimp having a mid life crisis and shooting for his dreams of becoming a rapper.  So it’s not a family piece… Dad, don’t bother with this one… but anyone under 50 that can stand listening to southern eubonics for an hour will probably love it.  I did.

Well there it is… I’ll be posting some words of wisdom sometime later on Wednesday, barring any kind of catastrophe…

Take it easy folks,
~jen

Happy anniversary…

This is nearly too funny to handle.  I’m sitting here at the computer with my morning coffee, reading blogs, when I hear a strange tune.  The sound is a strange little song coming from my husband’s cell phone sitting on the kitchen window sill.  I pick it up to look at it, because it’s not making the usual ring tone, on the little screen it says it’s a scheduled alarm.  I flip the phone open to read "Happy Anniversary".

I think Ken scheduled the alarm for his own use but it was a nice reminder for me.  I actually went to check the calendar because I thought it couldn’t possibly be our anniversary already!  Where does the time go?

6 Years and we’re still going strong, 2 kids and a dog, lots of great friends, a beautiful home and each other.  Life is good.

I feel like the luckiest woman on the planet to have such a wonderful husband.  He always seems to know what I’m thinking before I can even form the words to explain myself.  Everyone knows that I’m an emotional gal, and there is no earthly value that can be placed on knowing your husband will be there for you through your tough times.  His hugs and support have helped me through so many days and I thank him for that.  I only hope that I am able to return the favour. 
When it comes to writing thoughts from the heart- my words seem to fall short. 

I love you Ken,
Thanks for being such a wonderful husband,
Love,
me

If I were any better, I’d need a straight jacket

Thursday was a fruitful day.  It was daycare day, which as most of you know has become my days to get creative.  I spent the morning at Michaels with my neighbour Laurie, where I picked up scrap booking paper, gel medium, a pen and several other crafty bits that I probably could have lived without. 

After returning home, Ken, Noly and I scooted out to the local farmer’s market.  It was less ‘farmer’ than market.  Some of the people there were selling the most horridly ugly/useless things and other people really had something good on their hands. 
One older lady was selling home made bags and totes.  They were all very nice and neatly made but her choice of fabric patterns left a little to be desired.  There was a particular over the shoulder bag that I really liked, she only wanted 20$ for it but it was made with fabric featuring a ‘marching band’ motif.  I don’t think so.  I asked her if I supplied her with some fabric, would she make me a bag and she said ’sure!’, so I got a card and I’m going to hunt down some trendy looking fabric.  I could really turn that ladies business around with some up to date fabric choices, seriously.

Then there was the woman in the peasant cap selling jams and jellies.  She had all kinds of specialty flavours, some made with wine, some made with rare berries and the one that blew my mind… wildrose jelly.  She gave me a taste on a small tester spoon and told me to breath in my nose- The scent and the taste mixed together were unreal.  I had to buy a jar.  I want to call her back and order everyone I know a jar- but I don’t know if anyone would appreciate the flavour.  In order to make the jelly, they use real rose petals and render them
down to nearly nothing, she also told me that rose petals are naturally
sweet which is why this is a little on the sweeter side. Even if it’s only a conversation piece when guests are over… well worth the 5$ I say. 
After we returned home from the ‘farmer’s market’ (again, using the term ‘farmer’s’ loosely) we put Nolan down for a nap and I started to work on my latest painting (See the close up photo of the bird, top left hand corner).  I’m not sure of a title for him yet but my working title is ‘The bird is the word’…
I will take better photos of the entire painting in the morning when the lighting is better.  I’m in love with him, he’s so cute.

Also on a proud note, I fixed my camera!  It had some lint inside the lens and by sending it away, it was looking like there would be nothing but a bill of expense and they would end up holding my camera for ransom in the end.  After much thought I decided to see if I could take it apart.  I managed to get the lens apart without a problem and remove said lint, in the process, voiding my warranty.  Not like the warranty was any bloody good anyway- who wants to send their camera away, to Winnipeg of all places, and find out that the repair may cost as much as a new camera?  Not I.  I tested it out tonight (see all the photos in this blog post) and it works perfectly!  This is me, patting myself on the back :::pat, pat, pat::: Yahoo!

Well I should get going,
Take it easy folks…
~jen

**Photo update**
Here is the entire painting- a few strokes from completion.
I’ve tried to capture the colour as best as my camera and computer would allow,
But it never compares to the real thing… Click on it for larger version!