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Thursday, June 29, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CANADA!!



To all of my Canadian friends I wish you a Happy Canada Day!! Saturday July 1st. is of course our holiday, and where I work we for some reason this year (never did it before) even have the Monday off. So this is a really long weekend, and nice for so many who like the hot sunny weather, because that's what we're going to have.

This great country of ours is so beautiful, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. No offense to anyone from another country at all, just that I love it here, the ever changing scenery, the people, and the many benefits we have that so many other countries don't have. I love this country!

Some facts about Canada:

Second-largest country in world (after Russia); strategic location between Russia and US via north polar route; approximately 90% of the population is concentrated within 160 km (100 miles )of the US border.

POPULATION: 33,098,932 (July 2006 est.)

ETHNIC GROUPS: British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26%

LANGUAGES: English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%

CLIMATE: varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north

INDEPENDANCE: Canada Day, 1 July (1867)



Now for a little coast-to-coast tour.


From the east coast:


Central Canada:


The Prairies:



Western Canada:


And where I live:


Rockies:


(hah, this is me in this one, several years ago)


All the way to the West Coast:




.....for me at least, and for a lot of Canadians....


So while this weekend I celebrate my nationality (in fact I am proud of it year-round) I will also be thinking of my friends to the south of us, whose country also has a birthday coming up on Tuesday July 4th!

Happy Fourth of July to the United States and my U.S. friends!

To those of us celebrating, and to everyone else, stay safe and have a great weekend, and take care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude
BLESSED RELIEF! WELL FOR A DAY OR SO ANYWAY...



This morning, a big difference:



See you here again tomorrow with another post, a special one!

Love Jude

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

HEAT WAVE

Have I said enough times how much I HATE SUMMER?? Bleh! Ptui!! It has been so overly hot here, and "most" of us here dislike it, although there are a few who love the stifling temperatures still... personally I think they are all really from Florida, or Africa and just pretend to be Edmontonians.

It's been hard for me to even sit at the computer, or to do anything. Just try to stay in front of a fan, and not move at all. Because the simple act of moving brings waves of sweat and dizziness.

Taken in one of the warmest rooms in the house, the hottub room which is off my den where I live (and am now), this was taken just now, and I'm pointing to about where the temperature sat last night..... bleh!




On a brighter note, I just got 6 days off in a row!! Kinda just happened that way; this Saturday July 1st. is Canada Day and of course is a National holiday..... so our office is closed and I would normally have worked the Saturday. The REALLY weird thing is they've decided to close Monday too!! They've never done this before! AND I normally work Mondays too, so I have that off as well. So last night when I left work, I knew I wouldn't be back until the next Tuesday. Nice!!!

The even better news is that I have worked my last Saturday! YEEHAW!! Last week marked my 8th. anniversary at this job, and out of those 8 years, I've worked all the Saturdays in almost 5 of those years. Yeesh. Enough for me already, someone else's turn!! My boss has scheduled me back on my old shift of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday..... thank you!!

And more good news, in 10 more weeks I'll be on 3 week's vacation at home. Yum..... catching up on rest, sleep and doing stuff around the house that I want to catch up on as well. Yes it's still 10 weeks away, but I'm looking forward to it. AND after 8 years with the company the vacation days increase. So starting next year I should be getting more time off. Can you hear me grinning at all this good news??

I am going to have a nap today. Couldn't sleep worth a hill of beans last night from a combination of the heat and hubbys snoring. So in about an hour, while it's still cooler in the house from the morning breezes and hubby is NOT here I'm going to take advantage of getting some much needed shut eye. Look out bed, here I come!!

Have a great Hump Day everyone, and take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Monday, June 26, 2006

WHAT COUNTRY ARE YOU?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!

Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa; half discovered, half wild, naturally beautiful with fertile soil.

Between 23 and 30, a woman is like America ; well developed and open to trade, especially for someone with cash.

Between 31 and 35, a woman is like India; very hot, relaxed and convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40, a woman is like France ; gently aging but still warm, and a desirable place to visit.

Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain ; with a glorious and all conquering past.

Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Yugoslavia; lost the war and haunted by past mistakes.

Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Russia ; very wide, and borders are now unpatrolled.

After 70, she becomes Tibet. Wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages....only those with an adventurous spirit and a thirst for spiritual knowledge visit there.

GEOGRAPHY OF A MAN

Between 1 and 70, a man is like Iraq - ruled by a dick



OMG I'm Yugoslavia!!!!

On the run and getting ready for work, so I'll simply wish you all a good Monday and see you soon. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Friday, June 23, 2006

MUCH BETTER!

Old and soooo dated:


Fresh and new:


Yeah? YEAH??? Nice huh?

Another one:

There is a leaf for the table and when it's extended it will seat 8 comfortably. The old glass one sat 4, and 6 squished in.


Nice, rich wood...... ahhhhh



Next, out goes that old hutch, and wait till you see the new pieces, it has the same "espresso" coloured wood as the table and chairs, and is so much nicer. Until that comes in (anywhere between a week and a few weeks) I will still have to look at the ugly beside the beautiful.

Hope you all have an excellent weekend, take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Thursday, June 22, 2006

A TEASE

Lookie what we picked up tonight:



Yes! This is just a teaser shot of the backs of the chairs, all lined up in the living room at the time. The new table is now in it's proper place, and chairs around it. Yes, that is shiny plastic you see covering the *white* chair seats. I want to recover them in a dark brownish leather/suede look material.

So! I still have to finish up in the dining room yet. We are NOT getting the 4-piece hutch and cupboard set for another couple weeks yet. Just WAIT until you see that! **grinning**

So for now, just a teaser.

Hee Hee:



I'll post pictures later, gang. Lots to do before I head back to work Saturday, so I'll wish you all a wonderful weekend in case I don't post here again until then.

Take care of each other... PEACE!

Love Jude

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!

Today I took some "before" pictures of my dining room, so that I can share them when we get our new furniture set up in there later. Friday is when we pick up the table and chairs, and hopefully the new 3 piece wall units that will go with it. We haven't purchased those yet, only the table and chairs. The unit is 2 end pieces, and one center piece that is huge. They are just waiting for the new shipment to come in that has that particular unit in 2 pieces (top and bottom) instead of one big ol' piece like it is now. I prefer to wait for the 2 piece as it will be MUCH MUCH easier to get into the house and up the stairs to the dining room. So fingers crossed that they are in, if not we will wait.

It doesn't take much to please me when it comes to little new purchases for the house either. I needed a new collander and lookie what I found. I love this, and I love the colour too.





See? It's a small item, but it's something I needed and I looked for something that was also extremely esthetically pleasing to me too. It makes me happy when I look at it! What can I say!

I also tried my hand at a few more macro shots.... still have to either get a steadier, younger hand or go buy myself a small tripod. But I'll still post them for the subject matter anyway.

My cookie press:


More new growth on my Lucky Bamboo plant:


Willow Tree collection ~~ "Happiness" (and the bluebirds thereof):


Self explanatory.....








Yup, I definitely need a tripod!

One of those Peace pics I think I'll crop a bit and it would make a great avatar.

Yeah, like this?





It's a beautiful day in my neighbourhood, sunny and breezy (love that!!) but not hot. That's the key, not HOT.



Have yourselves an excellent day, take care of each other and yourselves.....

PEACE!

Love Jude

Sunday, June 18, 2006

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN


Well there are, of course, the obvious differences between chicks and dudes, like "outsies" and "insies". But tastes can vary in simple things like.... oh say, home decorating!

Today, we DID go back to that furniture store (at my urging) and got our money back on the dining room set we originally paid for and haven't got yet. She was unwilling to do so when talking to hubby, but then I spoke up and stated my case. After that, she promptly refunded us. **grins** I was nice, just in case you're wondering.

Then, we went back to the store where we had found what we wanted, and paid for a new set. There were two separate tables we had it narrowed down to. Hubby didn't choose the one I liked best. They are both nice, and both will look excellent in our home. But our differences in taste showed, heh heh. Then..... we could choose between 4 different types of chairs! And you guessed it..... LOL! (he's paying for all this so he gets to choose, I was only there because he didn't want to get anything I hated.... and in all fairness the stuff he choose is fine, really I like them too. The only thing about the chairs he chose, is that the upholstered seats are white, yes you read that right... WHITE. So I will recover them in something else, no problem.

Anyway we are picking them up Friday, I'll post pics soon as everything is set up!

Some funnies regarding men and women:

Marriage - The Silent Treatment

A man and his wife were having some problems at home
and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife
to wake him at 5:00 am for an early morning business flight.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he
wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 am" He left it
where he knew she would find it.

The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM
and he had missed his flight.
Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him,
when he noticed a piece of paper
by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

(Women are more stubborn than men....)


ONE WISH:

A man walking along a California beach was deep in prayer.

Suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, "Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish."

The man said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over anytime I want.

"The Lord said, "Your request is very materialistic. Think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. Of course I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that would honor and glorify me."

The man thought about it for a long time.
Finally he said, "Lord, I wish that I could understand women.
I want to know how they feel inside, what they're thinking when they give men the silent treatment, why they cry, what they mean when they say "nothing's wrong," and how I can make a woman truly happy."

The Lord replied, "Do you want two or four lanes on that bridge?"


Well guys have yourselves a great Monday, and take good care of each other! VIVA LA DIFFERANCE!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Saturday, June 17, 2006

OOPS

The dining room table and chairs we paid for last week, and hubby went to pick up on Wednesday night are not here.... when he checked over the table at the warehouse, the legs were too wobbly and one leg remained that way even after the warehouse guy tightened it. OOPS. So... hubby said "nuh-uh", and they are getting another set for us to pick up next week.

In the meantime, we've decided to look around at other stores and see what they have. We've actually found something we really like, and it's less money to boot. So now we'll see.... hopefully we'll still find something wrong with this paid-for set when we go to pick it up, and we can say "OOPS. Give us our money back." Besides, the new set we found and really like also comes with a new dining room hutch that is nice.

I have SO enjoyed the rainy, cooler weather we've had. Today the sun came out, and we now have 84 bazillion mushrooms in our lawn. OOPS. Still, we needed that rain big time. I just hope it doesn't go getting so hot that we can't stand it now.

BIGGEST OOPS:

A guy goes to a supermarket and notices a beautiful blonde wave at him
saying hello. He's rather taken back, because he can't place where he
knows her from, so he says "Do you know me?" to which she replies, "I
think you're the father of one of my kids."
Now he thinks back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his
wife and says, "My God, are you the stripper from my bachelor party that
I
laid on the pool table with all my buddies watching, while your partner
whipped my ass with wet celery and then stuck a carrot up my butt?"
She said, "No, I'm your son's Math Teacher."


Thank you to my good friend Vicky (Vickytoria)for that little gem!

Coming soon to a theatre near you......
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN! Does eye candy get any better than Johnny Depp (or the Lepps, of course)?? I LOVED him in Black Pearl, and I've seen the trailer for the newbie and can't wait....
*sigh*

Kinda hard to follow the movie with that kind of "scenery" though, heh heh.....



Well chicks and dudes, I will wish you all a great weekend and call this post toast. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Thursday, June 15, 2006

MORE MACRO..... MORE TO LEARN!

I thought I'd go out and try my hand last evening with the macro setting on my camera again. This time, it was just as the sun was going down, albeit behind the clouds. Yes, we're still getting cloud and some rain, even some thunder today! **grins** Gotta love the cooler weather!

Okay this is my favourite tree, which I'm impatiently awaiting to become full grown! My Russian Olive. At this time of year, there are little teeny yellow "starburst" flowers on it, and I wanted to try getting them. Sister Pammie was out earlier getting pics of it, and I can ASSURE you hers will be much better!

However, here are the results. I have more learnin' to do! It was too dark perhaps, and I thought I'd use the flash. Big error!! As you can see....







So then I headed out back, to get a close up shot of my Bishop's Weed:

Not bad.


This is the whole of it:


Yes indeed I shall keep working away at it, but in the meantime hey I'm having fun anyway! And that's the main thing.

The End.


Have an excellent Thursday all, and remember to take good care of each other! I'm off to spend the morning and part of the afternoon with my best friend Michele today at her house! See you all back here later.

PEACE!
Love Jude

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

TRUTH

Some truths today to share. Just thought it was a good idea maybe, let's see how it goes!

The truth is, I'm getting REAL tired of working for a living. It's been 36 years of it and I'm just getting tired. I want to stay home, dammit. *who doesn't* LOL And I only work part-time now too.

The truth is, I'm getting lazier in my golden years. I used to have the cleanest, sparklingest house on the block. Now I only vacuum when I have to, because it's too hard on my back and it takes too much energy anyway. And don't say have hubby do it, he does the outside and I do the inside and I WANT it that way.... I hate outdoor work, and that's the "deal" we have made. And although my kitchen and bathroom are always clean, the rest of the house gets a tad overrun with my pet dustbunnies sometimes.

Well okay, a lot of times.

Truth is, I wish I had a lot of money so I could go out and do stuff like shopping for an afternoon "just cuz", or travel where and when I want to. Sure sounds better than cleaning my house or working for a living, no? LOL

And the REAL truth :



Why women are born with 2 hands....


Why men are born with 2 hands....


Now, does it get much truer than that????

Oh and how often do I talk about my sister Pammie and her two precious little doggies that are the lights of my life?? And you know I've been bombarding you with video posts of late. Well Pammie has tried out her digital camera's video capabilities, and although she doesn't have sound, she has DOGGY VIDS!! So far just one doggie to show, but the other coming soon I understand. Go see my oops, her babies here at Pammie's!

Have yourselves an awesome Hump Day, peeps!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Monday, June 12, 2006

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, WORLD

Went and got the groceries bought yesterday, and we had to make a stop at Canadian Tire as well. While there, lookie what I found! I've been wanting to get rid of that butt ugleeeee blue area rug in the living room forever.

Doesn't the new one look much better with my stuff?





Yeah I know, you have to ignore the blue love seats. But with the green walls in there this still looks good, in spite of the damn blue love seats. Those have to go, but they are the most expensive thing to replace so it could be awhile. *sigh*

Anyway this one is much bigger, which I needed. And more contemporary, which I like. And for it's size (5'2" X 7'5") it was a bargain at only $79.00 so I was thrilled to find it.

And later in the afternoon hubby wanted me to go see some new dining room tables/chairs. Well, we found exactly what I want, and he's picking it up on Wednesday night. Nice, dark brown wood. Padded seats. Only problem is now that we're home he's decided he's not sure he wants something that isn't SOLID wood. So we'll see if he keeps them or not..... Can't blame him, but still it's a gorgeous little set with the hidden extenders in both ends of the table.... nice smart looking contemporary pieces. We'll have to replace the old oak (bleh!!) coloured dining room hutch we have now, and I look forward to that too.

Anyway if we do keep this set, I'll post pics of it later. :-)

Have yourselves a good Monday, and I'll see you back here later. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Saturday, June 10, 2006

BABY, I GOT THE ANSWERS

....to the picture quiz thingy, anyway. Lord knows I wish I had all of life's answers! LOL

Okay some of you did very well.... and I admit the last two weren't all that easy but people came close. Bravo to you all!

1.

Spaghetti Server....

2.

Ball cap dryer thingy....

3.

Window latch.....

4.

Cheval mirror handle.....

So there ya go, and thanks for playing!

Okay so I guess I don't have ALL the answers as I actually have a question I need answered. Some of you have blog link lists that show when someone has made a new post. How can I get that?? I want that!! If anyone has the easy answer and I don't have to: A) be a rocket scientist, or B) pay money to do it; I'll be forever grateful. Thanks!

Poor hubby. He just spent hours outside today mowing and other good things for the lawn, and the last couple hours he spent spraying on a mixture of weed killer and lawn fertilizer. It was a rather hot and sunny day. As he was spreading on the last of the stuff this evening, big ol' dark clouds started moving in. And it is now POURING rain! Guess the weed killer part of it won't do anything now, but surely the fertilizer will??? LOL

Well I hope you are having a good weekend..... I worked today as usual. And I'll be grocery shopping tomorrow. But hey, I guess my "weekend" is in the middle of the damn week!

Take good care of each other! PEACE PEACE PEACE!

Love Jude