so very cold.
been inside for 2 hours now, still not thawed out.
tip of my nose is going to fall off.
been inside for 2 hours now, still not thawed out.
tip of my nose is going to fall off.
posted by LJE at
11:03 a.m.
November 29, 2005
November 23, 2005
i saw dead people
Have you ever had a recurring dream?
I used to quite a bit when i was a kid, this one dream would happen over and over and over, and it was very scary to me, especially since i could anticipate what was going to happen. (it involved a crazy train conductor who was after me with a knife)
This week, i had another dream, which i've had once in the past. But this time there was new information added. The same story line was there, but there was another person with me this time. It's a pretty long and somewhat gory dream (involving dead people who are then preserved and mechanized so they look like they're alive but they're just moving with robotic parts), and once again, i knew what was going to happen before it happened. But then at the end, i knew this one little room should be just through the living room, and there was a bed in the room, and last time there was a dead guy lying on the bed, and this time he wasn't there!
by the way, Angie, thanks for unlocking the door in the creepy stairway when I got locked in there and couldn't get away from the dead people :)
I used to quite a bit when i was a kid, this one dream would happen over and over and over, and it was very scary to me, especially since i could anticipate what was going to happen. (it involved a crazy train conductor who was after me with a knife)
This week, i had another dream, which i've had once in the past. But this time there was new information added. The same story line was there, but there was another person with me this time. It's a pretty long and somewhat gory dream (involving dead people who are then preserved and mechanized so they look like they're alive but they're just moving with robotic parts), and once again, i knew what was going to happen before it happened. But then at the end, i knew this one little room should be just through the living room, and there was a bed in the room, and last time there was a dead guy lying on the bed, and this time he wasn't there!
by the way, Angie, thanks for unlocking the door in the creepy stairway when I got locked in there and couldn't get away from the dead people :)
posted by LJE at
1:20 p.m.
November 18, 2005
smells
Today has been an odd day for smells.
Not because I smell odd and funky smells, but because I have been getting whiffs of ... (i'm not sure what, exactly) that take me back and bring an onslaught of memories.
Walking to work this morning, I smelled something which instantly took me back to when I was a little girl attending summer camp at Torch Trail Bible Camp. The scene in my mind was the eating hall, and i vividly remembered the resin cups and plates in peach and green that we ate from.
Then a few minutes later, once I had reached work, something else hit my olfactory cells, and again I was transported back in time, this time to Kadesh when i was working there as a camp counselor for the summer. This memory was a bit more vague, but involved hanging out with a bunch of the staff.
It's amazing how smells can be such a powerful memory trigger. Whatever microscopic chemical it was that wafted my way this morning was likely present in the past scenarios that were brought to mind...but the smells weren't a salient thing to me at the time of the original experience. Obviously, though, somewhere deep in my mind, those smells are strongly associated with those memories, even though I would not have been able to consciously identify the smell, or even consciously bring up those past memories on their own.
So if i'm ever suffering from amnesia, please bring me smelly things.
Not because I smell odd and funky smells, but because I have been getting whiffs of ... (i'm not sure what, exactly) that take me back and bring an onslaught of memories.
Walking to work this morning, I smelled something which instantly took me back to when I was a little girl attending summer camp at Torch Trail Bible Camp. The scene in my mind was the eating hall, and i vividly remembered the resin cups and plates in peach and green that we ate from.
Then a few minutes later, once I had reached work, something else hit my olfactory cells, and again I was transported back in time, this time to Kadesh when i was working there as a camp counselor for the summer. This memory was a bit more vague, but involved hanging out with a bunch of the staff.
It's amazing how smells can be such a powerful memory trigger. Whatever microscopic chemical it was that wafted my way this morning was likely present in the past scenarios that were brought to mind...but the smells weren't a salient thing to me at the time of the original experience. Obviously, though, somewhere deep in my mind, those smells are strongly associated with those memories, even though I would not have been able to consciously identify the smell, or even consciously bring up those past memories on their own.
So if i'm ever suffering from amnesia, please bring me smelly things.
posted by LJE at
1:52 p.m.
November 16, 2005
to quote maxine (my coworker):
"this has to be the longest day in the entire universe."
(ok, with exception of that day in Biblical times when the sun stopped during the battle....does anyone know what story i'm talking about here? what's the reference?)
why do some days just drag on and on and on?
Why does the feeling of a day passing quickly or slowly seem contagious between people? My coworkers and I can pretty much agree on whether the day is going slowly or quickly, even though we're all working on independent tasks.
(ok, with exception of that day in Biblical times when the sun stopped during the battle....does anyone know what story i'm talking about here? what's the reference?)
why do some days just drag on and on and on?
Why does the feeling of a day passing quickly or slowly seem contagious between people? My coworkers and I can pretty much agree on whether the day is going slowly or quickly, even though we're all working on independent tasks.
posted by LJE at
4:25 p.m.
November 14, 2005
i'd appreciate your prayers...
...for my dad.
he's going into surgery tomorrow to have his cancerous prostate removed. It's a 5 hour ordeal.
Please pray for peace and calmness for him, and for the surgeons that they are able to get all of it out with minimal damage to surrounding organs, etc. so my dad has minimal permanent side effects.
thanks.
he's going into surgery tomorrow to have his cancerous prostate removed. It's a 5 hour ordeal.
Please pray for peace and calmness for him, and for the surgeons that they are able to get all of it out with minimal damage to surrounding organs, etc. so my dad has minimal permanent side effects.
thanks.
posted by LJE at
2:40 p.m.
November 09, 2005
A treatise on Why my jacket is like Flander's fields
...because the poppies blow. usually away. or fall off. or get lost in some other manner. (ok, so these last three points apply only to my jacket).
how on EARTH do they expect us to actually retain one of those little pieces of remembrance for the entire 11 days between halloween and rememberance day?
I purchased my poppy near the turn of the month, and as i had no small change on me, put a twonie in the bucket. I was fine for the first week or so, but then this past weekend, i noticed that it was gone. Sigh.
I thought through my options....it doesn't feel right to swipe a new one from the sales display, even though my average donation would work out to $1....i'd also feel ridiculous trying to explain to the nice person selling the poppies that i'd paid $2 for my lost one, so i should get the next one free....hmmm....grrr...oh, there's one sitting in the ladies' washroom at church, unattended! Oooh!....no, someone may come back for it.
I have a vague recollection of a box in my closet at home, with a poppy stuck into it, for safeguarding, for re-use the next year, and for a moment i have hope. But the hope fades quickly when i realize that i used (and lost) that spare one last year. Besides, it had a green centre, not a black one - it would have looked SO outdated...sigh. I give up.
Then, amazingly, i went to work on Monday morning, and there it was, sitting on the floor just below where i always hang my coat! Ah! That's better! I knew with 99% certainty that it indeed was my poppy, my precious $2 poppy, as none of the other 3 people who hang their jackets there regularly were missing a poppy. Yay!
I proudly wore that poppy home on Monday, and all the way to work again on Tuesday. My joy, however, was short lived. By Tuesday late morning, it was gone again. Perhaps it never made it back to work with me at all!
And today, while walking around, I could not help but notice that THEY were everywhere...those people who have NOT lost their poppies (yet...)....grrr! How can they be so lucky? On backpacks, on purse straps, on lapels, even on sweaters with such a loose knit that not even an industrial size safety pin could secure the little poppy to its threads! Taunting me....driving me to near desparation....I ask a poppy-endowed colleague, "How do you get it to stay?", he replies "I usually lose it, but i bent the end of the pin over...." Aha! The solution! (should I ever have one in my possession again).
Oh! What's that i see? Hiding among the dead leaves on the ground? A poppy!? Yes, indeed! As i near it, ready to casually swoop down and pick it up, i notice it is worse for wear, slightly muddy, and missing the important middle black thingy and pin. I reason that the black thingy and pin must be somewhere near, as they typically fall off relatively close to one another....but i have not yet been driven to enough desparation in my quest that i stop to search for the missing parts. I move on.
WAIT! There's one! On that student's shirt! Hanging by only half a pin, its little black centre (obviously not a reused one from a couple years ago) dangling and swaying away from its velvety red-lip-substitute - plastic backed surroundings. And he, unaware of this fact! Ooh! Maybe if I follow him, it will fall off, and i can stealthily "find" it upon the ground as he walks past in utter oblivion to his loss!
....no, i'd have to stop him and return it. I do not wish my fate upon anyone.
So i guess i will just have to keep waiting, hoping, looking. And maybe, just maybe, i will have to break down and buy another. If i can keep it for two more days (during which I will be home 99% of the time), perhaps then i can avoid losing it and keep it for a spare for next year.
Dear poppy, wherever you may be, i hope you rest in peace, just as I hope that for all the fallen comrades who your presence symbolizes.
how on EARTH do they expect us to actually retain one of those little pieces of remembrance for the entire 11 days between halloween and rememberance day?
I purchased my poppy near the turn of the month, and as i had no small change on me, put a twonie in the bucket. I was fine for the first week or so, but then this past weekend, i noticed that it was gone. Sigh.
I thought through my options....it doesn't feel right to swipe a new one from the sales display, even though my average donation would work out to $1....i'd also feel ridiculous trying to explain to the nice person selling the poppies that i'd paid $2 for my lost one, so i should get the next one free....hmmm....grrr...oh, there's one sitting in the ladies' washroom at church, unattended! Oooh!....no, someone may come back for it.
I have a vague recollection of a box in my closet at home, with a poppy stuck into it, for safeguarding, for re-use the next year, and for a moment i have hope. But the hope fades quickly when i realize that i used (and lost) that spare one last year. Besides, it had a green centre, not a black one - it would have looked SO outdated...sigh. I give up.
Then, amazingly, i went to work on Monday morning, and there it was, sitting on the floor just below where i always hang my coat! Ah! That's better! I knew with 99% certainty that it indeed was my poppy, my precious $2 poppy, as none of the other 3 people who hang their jackets there regularly were missing a poppy. Yay!
I proudly wore that poppy home on Monday, and all the way to work again on Tuesday. My joy, however, was short lived. By Tuesday late morning, it was gone again. Perhaps it never made it back to work with me at all!
And today, while walking around, I could not help but notice that THEY were everywhere...those people who have NOT lost their poppies (yet...)....grrr! How can they be so lucky? On backpacks, on purse straps, on lapels, even on sweaters with such a loose knit that not even an industrial size safety pin could secure the little poppy to its threads! Taunting me....driving me to near desparation....I ask a poppy-endowed colleague, "How do you get it to stay?", he replies "I usually lose it, but i bent the end of the pin over...." Aha! The solution! (should I ever have one in my possession again).
Oh! What's that i see? Hiding among the dead leaves on the ground? A poppy!? Yes, indeed! As i near it, ready to casually swoop down and pick it up, i notice it is worse for wear, slightly muddy, and missing the important middle black thingy and pin. I reason that the black thingy and pin must be somewhere near, as they typically fall off relatively close to one another....but i have not yet been driven to enough desparation in my quest that i stop to search for the missing parts. I move on.
WAIT! There's one! On that student's shirt! Hanging by only half a pin, its little black centre (obviously not a reused one from a couple years ago) dangling and swaying away from its velvety red-lip-substitute - plastic backed surroundings. And he, unaware of this fact! Ooh! Maybe if I follow him, it will fall off, and i can stealthily "find" it upon the ground as he walks past in utter oblivion to his loss!
....no, i'd have to stop him and return it. I do not wish my fate upon anyone.
So i guess i will just have to keep waiting, hoping, looking. And maybe, just maybe, i will have to break down and buy another. If i can keep it for two more days (during which I will be home 99% of the time), perhaps then i can avoid losing it and keep it for a spare for next year.
Dear poppy, wherever you may be, i hope you rest in peace, just as I hope that for all the fallen comrades who your presence symbolizes.
posted by LJE at
3:51 p.m.
November 08, 2005
The nose knows...
I have to confess, I had a little accident on Saturday. While i was cleaning the fridge, i stood up too fast and too close to it, and ended up having the bridge of my nose connect violently with the handle of the freezer door.
My body collapsed to the floor in agony, and I knew my fate without even having to look in a mirror...i had cracked my nose. Again.
Yes, i have done this a few times before - once courtesy of a windowsill, once was a knee in the midst of a mosh pit, and then once on Jason's longboard at college.
Fortunately, 3 out of 4 of these cracked noses have been straight on hits that did not produce any distortion in the shape of my nose, and only once did i get a new bump (it is only slightly noticeable above and beyond the Ukranian nose I inherited from my mom who got it from her mother - look at the family pics sometime!)
So now i just need to wait, to suffer through the painful sneezes until the swelling and tenderness subside, to suffer until the "it-feels-like-a-sinus headache without the stuffy nose" headaches are gone, and until i no longer have to cover up the marks with an extra layer or two of makeup.
And i can also be thankful that despite my nose-foibles, i have never once had a bleeding nose. Not one. Even despite the apparently hereditary bloody nose gushes that occur spontaneously for both my sisters and my father...
My body collapsed to the floor in agony, and I knew my fate without even having to look in a mirror...i had cracked my nose. Again.
Yes, i have done this a few times before - once courtesy of a windowsill, once was a knee in the midst of a mosh pit, and then once on Jason's longboard at college.
Fortunately, 3 out of 4 of these cracked noses have been straight on hits that did not produce any distortion in the shape of my nose, and only once did i get a new bump (it is only slightly noticeable above and beyond the Ukranian nose I inherited from my mom who got it from her mother - look at the family pics sometime!)
So now i just need to wait, to suffer through the painful sneezes until the swelling and tenderness subside, to suffer until the "it-feels-like-a-sinus headache without the stuffy nose" headaches are gone, and until i no longer have to cover up the marks with an extra layer or two of makeup.
And i can also be thankful that despite my nose-foibles, i have never once had a bleeding nose. Not one. Even despite the apparently hereditary bloody nose gushes that occur spontaneously for both my sisters and my father...
posted by LJE at
4:52 p.m.
November 07, 2005
Sing with me now...
"It's a small world after all....it's a small, small world!"
We are part of a small group of young couples that meet weekly to share about love, life, marriage, faith, etc., and to support and encourage each other in these areas. This year, we had a new couple join our pre-existing group from last year, and it's been fun to get to know them and have them as part of our group.
Well, last night we found out that these new 'strangers' are actually more connected than I first thought....turns out he is the nephew to my aunt and uncle - on the other side of the family! So we're actually related to them!
He had actually lived with my aunt and uncle prior to getting married, and i knew that they had a nephew living with them, but never met him or heard his name or anything. This weekend, he and his wife were visiting with my aunt and uncle, talking about their new church and small group, etc., and our names came up.... my aunt was like "Oh, I know them! Actually, you're related to them!" At first, the couple didn't believe them, but were soon convinced that it was true.
How funny, to have apparent 'strangers' turn out to be family.
sing with me once more....
We are part of a small group of young couples that meet weekly to share about love, life, marriage, faith, etc., and to support and encourage each other in these areas. This year, we had a new couple join our pre-existing group from last year, and it's been fun to get to know them and have them as part of our group.
Well, last night we found out that these new 'strangers' are actually more connected than I first thought....turns out he is the nephew to my aunt and uncle - on the other side of the family! So we're actually related to them!
He had actually lived with my aunt and uncle prior to getting married, and i knew that they had a nephew living with them, but never met him or heard his name or anything. This weekend, he and his wife were visiting with my aunt and uncle, talking about their new church and small group, etc., and our names came up.... my aunt was like "Oh, I know them! Actually, you're related to them!" At first, the couple didn't believe them, but were soon convinced that it was true.
How funny, to have apparent 'strangers' turn out to be family.
sing with me once more....
posted by LJE at
11:13 a.m.
November 04, 2005
Thanks a LOT, Mike!
I hold you personally responsible for THIS...
Mike, the youth pastor at our church, decided a few weeks ago that this would be a good weekend for the kids to do random acts of service around the neighbourhood. The original plan was to rake leaves, but after the wet, yucky weather we've had this week, that plan was put on hold. Soggy leaves don't rake well.
So then Mike decided that shovelling snow would be the next best thing, and so he started to pray. He prayed all week for a huge dump of snow on Friday, just so the kids would have some service project to do tonight.
Thank goodness he's also been praying that it will stop by 6:30 so that we can shovel all evening without more coming down on us.
(now you know who to ask if you have prayer requests!)
Mike, the youth pastor at our church, decided a few weeks ago that this would be a good weekend for the kids to do random acts of service around the neighbourhood. The original plan was to rake leaves, but after the wet, yucky weather we've had this week, that plan was put on hold. Soggy leaves don't rake well.
So then Mike decided that shovelling snow would be the next best thing, and so he started to pray. He prayed all week for a huge dump of snow on Friday, just so the kids would have some service project to do tonight.
Thank goodness he's also been praying that it will stop by 6:30 so that we can shovel all evening without more coming down on us.
(now you know who to ask if you have prayer requests!)
posted by LJE at
2:21 p.m.
