Domestic Goddess in Residence

Whelp, I guess I missed posting yesterday, which means that the whole post-a-day-in-May thing took a hit, but c'est la vie! I was busy, what can I say? Mr.Q decided he needed to mop the floors, which meant he needed me out of his way. Since the weather was far too gross for me to leave the house (or even my pajamas), I got "sent to my room" for the afternoon. This was no hardship: I had the laptop, to catch up on some Dr.Who and CSI. I had coffee (with a liberal splash of Baileys). I had lots of knitting (surprise surprise). I was almost sad when the floors were done and I was "allowed" to re-emerge! 

This evening, I'm still in my PJs, and haven't left the house all weekend. Perfectly delightful! (In the interest of full disclosure, I did showered this afternoon, and put on clean pajamas after the fact. And regular tooth-brushing has occurred on schedule.) PJs aside, today I have more than made up for yesterday's indolence. I have:

• baked 2 loaves of bread (half of one has already been devoured, and not by me. I'm looking at you, Q!)
• made a wicked batch of melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon buns...with caramel gooeyness on the bottom. And I glazed them!
• sewn 6 headbands, to keep my unruly locks off my face (not sure they all go with the blue hair, though. Hmm. Didn't quite think that through!)
• made minor alterations to the previously-gappy button bands on 2 blouses, thus shifting them from "winter" wardrobe (as a camisole was needed) to "summer" - just in time for the insanity that is our lack of air conditioning at work.
• done a load of my laundry, and folded a load of towels
• done 2 loads of dishes
• knit 2 inches on a rather complicated sock pattern
• prepped tomorrow's breakfast and lunch
• made sure my Canucks tee is on the top of the pile, to wear to work tomorrow.
• tried out tomorrow's grammar lesson on Mr.Q, and determined that my students could kick his butt. They will be tickled when I tell them so!

Whew! Going to work tomorrow will almost seem like a holiday!

Almost. I'm not totally nuts!

A Beautiful Mind

I was sitting on the bus heading home, and so glad it's the weekend...not that my week sucked; quite the opposite, but the first week of the month with loads of new students always takes a lot of energy. (Plus, there was epic cat puking last night. And as I was cleaning it up, an epically stinky litter-box poo. I changed the litter as soon as I finished with the floor...and while I was washing my hands, the cat puked again. While I was cleaning that up, he peed in the fresh litter. Not the most fun evening ever!) So there I was on the bus, tired and ready to be in my pajamas for as much as the weekend as might be humanly possible. My phone rang: Mr.Q getting off work.

Me: "Hey you! How was your day?"

Him: "Butter chicken."

Me: "Whaaaa?"

Him: "Butter. Chicken. I want some."

I knew I married me a smart man. And we make a great team: I called in the order, he picked it up on his way home. 

Now: drinking an Apricot Wheat Ale, with a happy belly and leftover shahi paneer for breakfast tomorrow. I do love the way he thinks!

Approaching the Summit

So...Registration for Sock Summit 2011 has come & done...with far fewer hiccups than last time, thank Bob! I am among the lucky ones who got their wish-list of classes. Though, to be honest, I had such a flexible wish-list that just about any combination would have been successful! Last time, I over-booked myself, and I didn't have a lot of time to see Portland, or energy to hang out with as many people as I would have liked. Mind you, it was still an amazing experience! But I wanted to give myself a bit more breathing room, schedule-wise. 

As it is, I'm still doing something every day. Oddly, only one class (knitting toe-up socks) is actually about knitting. I've got a photography class, an ergonomics class...and, of all things, a math class! So. Busy busy. But it should still leave me lots of time for shopping, visiting, and exploring Portland's many wonders. 

Including, serendipitously, the Oregon Brewfest. Located a mere 10-minute walk from our hotel, and en route from the Convention Center...sweet!

Nom Nom Nom Nom, Babies!

Finally - some weather mild enough to sit outside the coffee shop! Met a friend for coffee after work - I haven't seen her since she had her wee lad, 7-weeks-less-a-day ago.  He is, of course, just precious. He was sleeping the whole time, and I have a cold sore, so there were no snorgles.  But he looks like he smells like a Werther's!  We discussed why the urge to eat him was so strong. No answers, but interesting to note that it's a common phenomenon.


(Oh! Also! Sock Summit registration! So. Excited! Will post more tomorrow.)


In the meantime, to prove the ubiquitousness of the nomming-babies urge, here's a song about it:

Oh, Canada.

I am disappoint.

61% voter turnout? Puh. Leeze.

We need some major electoral change in this country. Starting with proportional representation. I really can't understand a) how 39% of votes = a majority government; and b) how people are OKAY with this?! I've heard a few "voice of the people" comments, and I have to say: bullshit. If we were looking at a minority government, with seats apportioned according to actual voter support, I'd totally be OK with that. Not happy, but I could accept it. The situation as it stands blows goats.

Also, last night I dreamed I went all Buffy the Vampire Slayer on some Tory ass.  Only I was too short to really be effective. And their heads were too thick to bash. Depressing. (Though I did land a few good drop kicks!)

In real life, I'll be mailing my MP (who rocks my finest hand-knit socks off) and asking how she intends to approach accountability for Harper...and where she stands on the notion of electoral reform.

I'm gonna need a sturdier (and taller!) soap box...

I've got my Sprite....will I get my Orange Crush?

Election Day. Mr.Q & I have a tradition of meeting up after work & going to the polls together. Felt a little stronger than usual about the whole thing this time around...Of course, there's all the shit going down in Syria & Libya, etc, where people are dying for the right that so many Canadians take for granted. But on a more personal note, I have a lot of Saudi women in my classes at the moment: intelligent, articulate, educated women...who aren't allowed to vote. 

This one's for them.

May day! May day!

I went home for Easter weekend, and was scolded by more than one person for being so lax about posting. When I said "But I have nothing to post about! I haven't really been knitting much, there's nothing exciting going on..." my father very wisely (and stubbornly) pointed out that "nothing exciting" could mean an opportunity to appreciate the every-day that much more. 

(Also, I should note that after a weekend, when I ask my students what they did with their days off, they are not allowed to use the phrases "nothing much" or "nothing special"...I guess "nothing exciting" is rather along the same lines! So I'm not allowed to say it here. I've just banned that vocabulary from my blogging lexicon.)

And, it's not exactly entirely true! There have been many moments worth noting...just a problem getting myself to sit down & actually note them, especially having been out of the habit for so long. So. In order to get back into the habit, I'm calling May a blog-a-day month. I'll have to think of a decadent treat for myself if I succeed. Any suggestions would be welcome! (Other than yarn - been on a yarn diet for just over 4 months now, and don't want to break the momentum!)

Anyhoo. So. April. Not that exciting, but it had its moments! There were a few hours of sunshine in there somewhere, and the daffodils and magnolias and tulips all came out to play. The oregon grape shrub in our neighbour's back driveway bloomed, and the scent is delightful.

Also, we went to a really awesome concert: Robert Plant and his Band of Joy....AWESOME. SAUCE!

Very bad pic, but the mop of hair centre stage is Mr.Plant himself. I make no apologies for my state of mind (and...well...the state of my panties!) watching him perform.

He strode (but didn't strut) onto stage, looked around at his band, kicked the mike stand up & grabbed it mid-air, like he was still in his 20s on a stadium stage.  (Except that we were in a smallish theatre, and he just about took out the players on either side of him!)  The whole evening was fantastic. The band, of course, were all phenomenal players - and aptly named. Plant was coiled up like a little kid on Christmas morning, and he was clearly delighted to be doing this new rootsy-bluegrassy-alt-country thing.  They did do a few Zeppelin tunes, too, with their own flavour, which was cool, and well-done.

But my favourite part was when he would let the other musicians on stage take a song, to showcase their own music. Plant stepped back to a microphone by the drum kit and sang background vocals for them...He was obviously not used to being in that position, and if you knew what to look for, you could see that he was working hard to pay attention and sing his parts well (and probably having a hard time toning down his front-man energy!).  You could also see that he was having a total blast, and that he has a lot of joy in music left in him. He wasn't there as a Legend of Rock, but as someone who loves music, and thinks it's pretty frackin' cool that he gets to do it as a day job. 


And it was pretty frackin' cool that we got to be there to see it!  


So there you have it - an exciting moment in April. Must caffeinate now, and see about getting out to play in the sun!  Happy May Day!