Dang city workers!

As if my pulsatile tinnitus isn't enough to keep me awake... There are city workers not too far from my house, jack-hammering the road up, because there was water seeping out of the cracks in the road.

Silly stupid me called the city and reported this strange water leakage... the next day they came and spray-painted about 5 pink lines going one way, and some blue lines going the other way...

Now its past midnight, on a monday, and they're tearing the road up looking for the leak! I called them about it last WEDNESDAY! And by that time, I'd noticed it since the Sunday (at least) before that! It is now the following Monday oop, TUESDAY morning (super early, mind you...) surely it isn't THAT important that they need to do all this right now is it?

We haven't lost any water pressure over the last week... so what gives people? WHY do you have to steal my precious sleep? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!? :( I may cry... There's also two very large apartment buildings in the same viscinity (did I spell that right? where's the spell check button? ;) n/m I'm delirious)... and I'm sure they all have jobs or school to attend in the morning... There's going to be a LOT of mad people on my street. Let's just hope they don't find out it was ME who called all this in to the city in the first place.

Oh geez, now my entire house (it's a crappy house) is vibrating.

I suck. the end. *sigh*

Tell me I'm not a hypochondriac...

Ahh the joys of the internet. The internet allows me to self-diagnose myself, and find some relief. I've lately been getting this constant whooshing in my right ear. Its my heartbeat. Apparently I've got pulsatile tinnitus. I swear it is SO loud, people around me would be able to hear it. It's not normal... but thanks to the internet, I've found some company to my misery, and by reading her posts, and updates, I've gained some comfort in this.

It does, however, quite suck, that I may have to live with this. You really have no idea how annoying it all is, unless, of course, you've experienced it too. For now, I shall wallow in self-pity for a little while longer.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
In other news, I'm going with my sister-in-law to Oakville tomorrow to pick up her babys' bassinet, they're the only ones that have this one, and seeing as how her due date is tomorrow (the 24th) and there's no baby yet, she'll be needing this quite soon. :) I'm going to be an Auntie again!

That's the bassinet she's getting, It's apparently a 5 in 1 a portable sleeper, bassinet, bedside sleeper, play seat and changing table. It looks absolutly adorable, and we'll be purchasing it tomorrow. Also, she said she'd let me drive WOOHOO! It's been a while, as my car is stuck in Buffalo. *sigh*. Later :)

"There's a Mormon," by Jeff Foxworthy

I thought this was funny, and highly reminiscent of my mormon upbringing, so I'll post it here. :) enjoy (PS, most of these "jokes" won't make sense unless you're quite familiar with the LDS religion, and that's ok. :) )

---

"There's a Mormon," by Jeff Foxworthy:

If all your dishes have you name written on them with masking tape...
You might be a Mormon.

If you postdate your checks while shopping on Sunday...
You might be a Mormon.

If you believe Heck is the place for people who do not believe in gosh...
You might be a Mormon.

If your mom was pregnant at your sister's wedding reception...
You might be a Mormon.

If you pray that your food might "nourish and strengthen your body"
before eating doughnuts...
You might be a Mormon.

If you think Jell-O is one of the basic food groups.....
You might be a Mormon.

If at least one of your salad bowls is at a neighbor's house.....
You might be a Mormon.

If you've ever written a "Dear-John" to more than two missionaries on
the same day.....
You might be a Mormon.

If you were frustrated when your son "only" got accepted to Harvard...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have on e kid in diapers and one on a mission...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have never arrived at a meeting on time...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have more wheat stored in your basement than most third world
countries...
You might be a Mormon.

If you've already got your order in for volume 50 of "The Work and The
Glory"...
You might be a Mormon.

If you think it is all right to watch football on Sundays as long as a
direct descendant of Brigham Young is playing...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have to guess more than five times the name of the child you're
disciplining...
You might be a Mormon.

If you automatically assume that BYOB means, Bring Your Own Burgers...
You might be a Mormon.

If you go to a party and someone spikes the punch with Pepsi...
You might be a Mormon.

If you arrive to an activity an hour late and are the first person there...
You might be a Mormon.

It's been a slow week

Not much going on in this neck of the woods. I bought some New (smaller) Gap Jeans (because the jeans I've been wearing are so big on me, I'm now able to take them off without undoing the button and zipper on them...) on eBay last week for $13.27 + s/h ($8.49 to Canada), and I'm waiting to receive those. See, I told you it was a slow week.

I found a little Italian shop that sells every kind of pasta you could imagine, and their prices aren't too bad either. I've never seen what ziti looks like before. I didn't realize it was like a Penne but longer, very interesting. I just got some Penne Rigate x2, Fusili, and some Linguini, but I'm tempted to go back for more. ;) I still have some of my spaghetti sauce in the freezer from when I made that.

Question... very random, I know... but why can't they sell ground sausage like they sell ground beef? You know... Without that sausage casing? I hate that casing. It's such a humbug. I want a poud of Italian Sausage without the casing. Is that too much to ask? Or are they not allowed to call it "Sausage" without the casing? bah.

I should end my musings for the day... I'm not making much sense anyway. ;) I think I'm just hungry. :)

Speaking of... Special K and Corn Pops cereals are so different in Canada. I'll have to take pictures sometime... its freaky. The end.

Added @ 10:15am:
WooHoo! My sister in law, Brandi, just called me and wants me to come baby-stuff shopping with her. (I keep calling it Baby Shopping, and it confuses my husband, because no real babies are for sale anywhere...) Anyway, that'll happen probably around 11, and I need to dry my hair and finish some laundry before she gets here. :) She's about 8 months and 2.5 weeks pregnant... She doesn't know if she's having a boy or a girl, but my new neice or nephew is definitely healthy. She and her Husband George were married in Mexico last January (2006). :) yay!

It is Official.

The Canadian Visa office in Buffalo, NY has received my immigration application this morning. :)

Label/Receipt Number: 7005 3110 0002 2004 3222
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 9:50 AM on April 5, 2007 in BUFFALO, NY 14203.

YAY! The end.

STICK A FORK IN ME!

WOOHOO!

I just got back from the picture place AND the post office... Thanks to a lovely surprise in my bank account from Mom, I was able to get my pictures taken and get my Immigration packet finished and sent out! :-D

I sent it to Mom, and she'll send it to Buffalo for me, but the hard part is FINALLY OVER! Sing praises... or something.

You really have NO clue how happy I am to announce this. :-D

YAY!

The end. :-D

Immigration...

I'm about 99% finished with my Immigration. FINALLY. All I need is to take pictures, and get 4 passport type pics into my immigration packet, then I can send it in!

They say 30% of the applications are completed within 18 months... :( And the rest could take up to 36 months. So sucks... BUT I'm finally done with it.

I may have to re-do my police certificates, but who knows, hopefully not. With rent due soon, I hope I'll be able to submit my papers quickly, but I'm so excited to be FINALLY done with everything! YAY!

Maybe I'll be in the 30% who is able to get processed in a year and a half! That time should just fly by. Cross your fingers for me!

I made Spaghetti Sauce!

I'm becoming a good cook! (Well, good enough!) I haven't killed anyone or anything with my cooking yet either. I made a lovely spaghetti sauce from almost scratch last night, and I'm quite looking forward to leftovers tonight... even though its 9pm lol and I haven't started making them yet.

Anyway, I browned some ground beef, cooked it with onions, and put it in the crock pot. I then added 3 jars of spaghetti sauce, 2 green peppers, 1 red pepper (super cheap at the market!), mushrooms, Hubby added some spices... I added a few cloves of garlic, and some celery seed (Celery is unusually expensive right now, I suppose we can thank the California frosts from last fall for that). Then I added some special ingredients... some grated carrot, and brown sugar, totally amazing. I let it cook basically all day, on high for maybe 3 hours, and on low & the "keep warm" setting for about 3-4 hours. We then made some garlic bread, and had a lovely meal. We get to have it again tonight! Woohoo! We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch, and we ate kind of a lot of it, so I'm still full a little from that, so that's the excuse for tonight's late dinner... I dunno what the excuse is for all the other late night dinners we eat... It happens a lot in our house though.

Anyway, I'm just proud of myself.

The End.

The epitome of the Hawaiian Canadian

A while ago, my husband and I went to Pizza Hut for dinner. We wanted the pizza(s) to last until lunch for the next day, so we each got a Large of our own choosing.

Pizza Hut has specialty pizzas, and so we decided to try them. My husband got the Canadian, and I got the Hawaiian. It's the perfect order. :) The fellow behind the counter thought it was a riot when we told him I grew up in Hawaii, and the hubby was a Canadian. :)

Canadian comes with: Pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms and 100% mozzarella cheese.
Hawaiian comes with: Ham, pineapple and extra 100% mozzarella cheese.

Oddly enough, I liked the Hawaiian pizzas better in the US. The "Canadian bacon" I used to order was like thinly sliced round bits of hammy goodness... the ham I get here is little strips of ham! Like lunchmeat ham, but thicker... who would have thought that you couldn't even order "Canadian Bacon" in Canada! sheesh! Here's a pic for a better idea. I do miss the round canadian bacon from the states...

Man, now I want some pizza!

I don't like the word "Blog"

So, from now on, I'll call this my online journal... granted a journal should be more personal and private, but hopefully none of that stuff will find its way here.

As you may or may not know by now, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There's a program for the 12-18 year old young women, and I was recently asked to be the 2nd councelor of the Young Women's program. This is quite exciting for me. I never finished my laurel's project, so this will be the perfect opportunity for me to do so... after I've been in the program a year that is.

There are, however, a lot of activities at the Stake Center (Centre here in Canada lol), and I wish I had my Jeep so I could easier attend them... or give other people rides. We're also getting a new church building in maybe 2 weeks, and its further away than the temporary building we meet at now. There's got to be a way for me to get my Jeep back here legally. :( I miss it so much. Not to mention all the stuff that's stuck in Buffalo. :(

Maybe if I pray hard enough for it, an answer will come. I'd really love to have my Jeep back by the time Girl's Camp rolls around in July. :) So very exciting. I'm glad, happy, and eager to be of use to the young women in our Branch in this way. :)

T.V.

So very strange, how one little thing in your life changes, and it has the capacity to affect every aspect of your life.

Not necissarily by my choice, we've been without Cable since October 2006. Granted, my husband (being the loving man that he is... and also due to the fact that he's a big geek and I love him...), he gets the shows that I do love, and sends them to our game console, so we are able to watch them on our normal tv. I absolutely love this freedom. This must be what it feels like having TiVo.

I'm no longer tied to my tv on Thursday nights! I've been glued to the tv on Thursdays for my MUST SEE TV fix for like 13 years... and if not thursday nights, I always recorded it (Friends through ER... or whatever else was on NBC from 8-11pm on thursdays), and watched it the next day after school (back when I was in school).

Anyway, I absolutely adore my husband for making this so much easier for me. I do sometimes miss channel surfing, and running across the random TLC, HGTV, or A&E program that is just SOOooOoO interesting that I MUST stop surfing to watch it. But over all, I'm so glad that I still get to watch my favorite shows. (Desperate Housewives, Prison Break (for both of us), Men In Trees, Grey's Anatomy, My Name is Earl (we both like this show), and of course, 13 years and running strong, my hallowed ER.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to 100% ween myself from the relaxation, de-stressification (is that even a word?) and enjoyment of tv watching, but this process makes it easier, and for that I would like to tell my husband Thank You, and let him know how much I love and appreciate everything he does for me... Even if its "only" getting me my tv shows. It makes me happy, and I'm so thankful for him.

Business is BOOMING!

What a week! We've sure been busy with our little eBay venture this week, Monday I shipped out 10 packages, Tuesday was 4, and today is 3. One of today's items are five lipsticks that I had NO intention of selling. I listed them at $40.00 each, thinking "That'll be high enough, that no one will be crazy enough to purchase them at that price". I originally had 6, but one was purchased last week, and that blew me away. Today, I wake up to find someone purchased the remaining 5! Needless to say, business is going well! We may even be able to get all our bills paid! If only every week could be like this! hehe!

Please click our logo below to visit our store.

Happy Birthday to my Mother In Law

It's hubby's mom's birthday on Sunday (25th of Feb.) She'll be 49. I've been volunteering at her office lately, in hopes they can find a way to pay me, and maybe when I finally get immigrated, they'll be able to hire me on full time. I'd love that.

Today we went to Tailgate Charlie's for lunch, and it was pretty fun. Who would have thought that a bunch of Insurance Adjusters could be so hilarious? Was it the fact they all had alcohol with their lunch? Or are they always this funny? I guess I'll find out if I do continue to work/volunteer (or whatever you want to call it) there. I had the nacho platter and I added chicken for a balanced meal, it was quite tasty and I'm surprised I was able to finish it. We then went back to the office for a most delicious ice cream cake from Sweet Paradise (bakery & deli). It was amazing, and well worth the money the office paid.

They really really like me though, and they ALL keep saying "man we've gotta start paying you!" I just keep saying "okay! fine with me!" I'm even catching on to the insurance lingo. Very spiffy. =) If nothing else, it'll be some excellent Canadian experience for my resume!

Communion Sweet.

On February 17, 2007, we had the opportunity to attend the first holy communion of Alex Roque. He is Brandi's step son. (Brandi being my husband's sister). He's our step-nephew, if such a thing exists, but we had a lovely time at the reception. It was a very huge ordeal, with a big cake/bible, and mini cakes with sparkly crosses, and some of the most amazing food I've had in a long time. A fun time was had by all, and it was a nice chance to hang out with friends and family.

I made perogies!

I made home made perogies (pierogies) on Wednesday (yes, that was Valentine's day... I had nothing better going on. :) )  And I will just say, that I'm pretty darn impressed with myself.  I'm not even Ukrainian, and I did a good job!  My mother in law loved them.  I don't think the hubby did, but he says "I never said I didn't like them!" in a rather defiant manner... I still don't know how he feels about them.  Anyway, here's the recipe I used.

http://www.recipezaar.com/11550
Ukrainian Perogies, for Beginners
48 perogies - 32 min 30 min prep

Dough
2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk, warm
1/2 cup potatoes, well mashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Filling (I used this one... next time I'm leaving out the onions and adding more cheese ;) )
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup butter
2-3 cooked potatoes, mashed
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Alternate Filling
2-3 cups cottage cheese, drained (or use dry curd)
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
1 egg
salt and pepper (taste before adding egg!)


---------Dough--------------.
Mix dough ingredients together.
You may have to add more liquid or flour to make the dough soft and somewhat sticky.
Turn onto a floured surface and knead more flour into dough- just enough to make it easier to handle. The dough will be slightly sticky. Do not over-knead. Place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minuets.
--------------Filling-----------
Cook onion in butter. Mix with potatoes, and add cheese while the mixture is still hot. Let filling cool before using (place in fridge.) If you are using the alternate filling, simply mix those ingredients together.
-----------Manufacturing-------- (My method of manufacturing needs work)
Set a large pot of water to boil. Form walnut-sized balls of the filling. Roll out dough on floured surface fairly thinly (3 millimeters, or 0.125 inch). You will probably need to add flour as you roll. Cut out circles approxamitely 7 1/2 centimeters (3 inches) in diameter (a wider-mouthed glass should do fine.) Press scraps into a ball. Place filling ball in center of dough circle. If the dough has a less-floury side, keep that side up. Fold dough over ball, and pinch edges to form a half circle.
To prevent perogies with"horns", I pinch at the top ("90degree mark") of the perogy first, then pinch at the 180 and degree edges, working up to the 90 degree mark.
You can cheat pinching the perogies by smearing water on the filling side of the dough at the edges, and keep your fingers floured when you pinch (on the non-filling side.) In order to prevent perogies from drying out, keep finished perogies on a floured surface, and cover with a floured clean dishcloth.
Place several perogies in boiling water. Stir once, gently with a slotted spoon. Perogies are done when they float for a minute (this will take 2-3 minutes). Melt about 1/2 cup of butter or margarine in microwave. Rescue and drain the perogies with the slotted spoon. Place in a bowl, drizzle with some melted butter, and gently shake to distribute the butter. Cook, drain, and drizzle the other perogies in the same manner.

They were quite yummy. We usually eat them with sauteed onions and sour cream.  Some people like them with bacon. My MIL likes hers with ketchup.

The End.

Snow Day!

Tuesday February 13th, it snowed like there was no tomorrow! So that made Wednesday a Snow Day! It was my first actual snow day since I'd moved up to Canada, the library was closed and everything! No one went to work, or school, except for the people at Tim Horton's. They are some loyal employes.

I hadn't seen that much snow, probably since I was a wee lass, and my siblings tried to burry me in it because of its abundance. No hard feelings though, I honestly don't remember the alleged pain. I only remember it was a sunday, and everyone else got yelled at, I got rushed to the hospital, and then I got popsicles or ice cream or something like that.

Anyway... :) I almost made a snow angel, but I didn't have snow pants, and the snow was soaking through my two layers of pants as it was. Enjoy my galavanting! You'd think I'd never seen snow before. Bless Jon's heart, he must have shoveled about 8 times from Monday to Thursday. :)

Welcome to ME!

I've been inspired by Amy to create this space. I don't like the word "blog" it makes it sound like something I tried making for dinner, and it didn't turn out right. I'd rather call it an online journal. Hopefully it will be a place I can post pictures, and ramblings, whatever is on my mind really. If the Hubby has anything to say, I'll allow it, but mostly this will be from my point of view. The End. (Or perhaps, it is only the beginning.) Enjoy!

Kahuku High School Class of 1996!

Just in case you somehow missed it, head on over to: http://www.classreport.com/usa/hi/kahuku/khs/1996/

Create an account, log in, and say hi!
Alohas!
~Shelley

(This blog was copied from my myspace blog which I no longer use.)

Such a klutz!

Every week, I've got another cut or bruise. I swear, I'm the klutziest person around! I'm worse than Teri Hatcher's character on Desperate Housewives! Its awful!

Yesterday, while I was carrying laundry from the semi-upstairs (a whopping 6 stair-steps from the basement where we live), back down so I could fold it, I completely whacked my hand against the wall and now my pointer finger knuckle on my right hand has a cut on it. :( Sadness.

It stings like a paper cut. I put one of those dumb little square Band-Aids on it last night, and I wake up to find the Band-Aid has shifted, and my cut is totally exposed, stings like the devil, and its red all over. :-s

Not fun.

So, I re-cover it, like a good little girl scout should (although I never was a girl scout... *shrug*), and cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide (I'm afraid of putting rubbing alcohol on cuts... stings way too much), and put a new little square Band-Aid over it, and hopefully I'm on the way to recovery.

Last week, I was also a doofus. I was cutting a little piece of paper, with these super sharp titanium scissors, and I guess I slipped or something, and I ended up cutting my hand! I have a cute little "V" scar there now, Its about a fourth of an inch long, on the palm of my hand, but man that hurt too! I don't do it on purpose either... I'm just a klutz.

I'm always walking into doorways, or stubbing my toe on *something*. I'm such a dork, and I just thought I'd tell the world. :)

The end.
~shelley

(copied from my myspace blog... it still holds true btw... I'm still a klutz.)

Luke Perry

Current mood: calm

Why do I keep dreaming about Luke Perry? I don't even LIKE him!

My first bizarro Luke Perry dream was maybe 8-10 months ago, in this dream he had killed someone and wanted me to be the accomplice, so he had me help burry this body... but instead of using dirt, the dumbass makes me get my sister's hand-me-down clothes (there's LOTS of them too) to burry the body with... so we're piling clothes on, and we don't get caught... till the next day, they come looking for my sister, she has NO idea what's going on, and so then they question ME, and I tell them Luke Perry made me do it. :-|

http://www.5in9.com/graphics/luke_perry_s1.jpg

On April 8th, i woke up dreaming that Luke was trying to kill these huge spiders in the kitchen, but they were EVERYWHERE, and when you killed one, like 10 more would come out and be really mad at you! So he's getting attacked, bitten like crazy, then he falls out the kitchen window on to the roof covering the backyard patio, falls off, and dies.

Maybe I won't dream about him anymore... I doubt that though... he's supposed to still be in jail from my last dream ;) lol

Yes, i have issues, I know this.

Currently Listening : Nasty Little Thoughts By Stroke 9
Release date: By 07 September, 1999

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPIPHANY:
Dudes. I think I figured out why I think Luke Perry is evil. He was in that jail show on HBO called "OZ"! He was a criminal!!! :-o
Added June 9th 2005

Update:
6/8/2007 I no longer have these dreams, thank heaven!