Clip of the Band Practice in Ottawa

Remember when Tricia, Nolan and Reilley and the four of us visited the National War Museum in Ottawa? Yeah, the bear hair museum. Well, Tricia posted a little clip of the young bear hats when they were practicing walking in.


The uniforms they are wearing are their everyday, casual type affair clothes. When they did their gig the next morning, they were decked out in red. I found the uniform they normally wear during military performances. Really cool, in a Canadian military way. Hey, I have always liked how Mounties looks-this is sort of Mountie meets Bear.

On Again, Off Again or AKA The Circuit Breaker Jig

Boys and Girls, gather around. Yes, that's it, make a circle. Today, I am going to teach you a new dance. Ohhh, yes, keep clapping, you will enjoy this. It's an old but fun little jig that has been around for decades, in one form or the other. What is it, you ask? The Circuit Breaker Jig.
As many of you know, circuit breakers are in a lot of homes. It's a little box that has switches. These switches flip to one side and the home resident pushes the switches back to the other side. This little box is almost always located in an inconvenient location of the house. Add to the location, a house that is 100 years old and you will have the start of an exciting dance.

Are you ready? Your dancing shoes all laced up tight? Good.

Welcome to my world. We moved into a cool, but old house located on a lake (or frozen lake, depending on the season). To start the dance, I will take you to the upstairs bathroom. It has an old, footed tub. Once your hair is washed, and you start to blow dry it-you will quickly learn by the total darkness that ensues, that drying said hair at the same time as the dehumidifier will pop the circuit. Always fun to do this at night to add to the dancing a little bit of jumping around once the toes are stubbed walking toward the stairs. The same result will happen if the free-standing A/C is running in the master bedroom.

After a few little upstairs jigs, let's move to the downstairs bathroom. It has a shower. The washer and dryer are also located there. Let's say, you stop the washer in mid cycle so you can take a quick shower and turn it back on as you get out of the shower. Sounds smart. And it is. Really. Dry off and grab the hair dryer again. Got your dancing shoes ready? If you dry your hair the same time the washer is running, you will be running to the breaker box. No running if the dryer is on. So remember, washer: No, Dryers: Yes.

Moving on to the kitchen. If you run the microwave at the same time as the free standing A/C in the living room, expect to feel that tingling of that happy little dance. And there isn't any free time: turn on microwave, wait 2 seconds and experience the gentle quietness of no electricity. Ahhhh, who could ask for more?

Well, I can. Finally, running the vacuum cleaner the living room the same time as the microwave is always a invitation to visit the breaker box.

Oh, have I told you where the circuit breaker box is located? Hummmmm? It is located in #2's bedroom. Ohhhh yeah. And on the far corner. This just adds to the enjoyment of the dance as it will almost always include the youngest son.

So, remember, boys and girls-to enjoy the dance, blow dry your hair with several different appliances running. Also, if want to forget about the dance and just relax while washing your hair-remember if you want to take a bath, you have to go upstairs, if you want to take a shower, you have to go downstairs and if you want to take a shower in a bathtub/shower combination, you have to go to a hotel.

True Love . . . Kitty Style (Warning-images may be upsetting to non cat owners)

We live beside a lake that tends to encourage local wildlife. It's always fun to see what is lurking outside. OUTSIDE is the key word.

The house two doors down sold recently. It was 100 years old and only used in the summer. The owners would visit maybe 2 times a year-the rest of the time it was empty. In other words, old, a bit run down and NO insulation. This neighborhood is an interesting mix of really cool, old houses and newer multimillion dollar houses. (Guess what type of house we are renting LOL) After a bit of a battle with the local govt., the new owners were allowed to tear it down. First they said, you have to leave most of the original house, then they said half, and finally they agreed to 100%. In the process, the new owners had ripped some of the house apart, then more and then lots of waiting. At the moment, the only thing on the lot is a big hole. Here's the thing-when the house came down, the tiniest residents were homeless. Yeah, mice. Not a lot, but enough to keep my kitties happy.
And then it rained. And rained. And then . . . we saw a MOUSE in the kitchen of OUR house! Hey, kitties, do you job. Well it took a couple days, but this was waiting for me this morning. A true gift in the kitty world. Right between my flip flops.

Good job KC.

Still summer but wonderful!

While the states bakes, it has been pleasant up here. Yeah, yeah, I know, I will pay for that in a week or two. We even had some traveling geese visit. We normally have geese in the spring and fall-so I am thinking these guys were confused. Or locals who decided to check out the neighborhoods. "hi there geeses". They didn't like me much. Good wild geese. The way it should be-visit and leave (none of this hanging around like in St. Louis)


Main Man had two weeks off. He is back at work this week. Last week it rained. And rained HARD. So needed for the grass. Watering is banned this summer (hmm, maybe they always ban it-and last year was unusual). The grass is green and the weeds are growing. Up here, if it's green and grassy looking-it's grass. Okies, works for me. But what a difference than the yard we had in California. Weeds are not encouraged in LA. But, a little tolerated in Missouri. Yeah, yeah, ok we had weeds in St. Louis but not that many.
School is almost here. How strange not to have to go school shopping. The boys don't need clothes. They buy their own supplies and really have what they need anyway. Mostly, it's just books. (and we all know how expensive that is). However, the college books are sold at cost up here. Ok, fine, "cost" in Canada is much more than "cost" in the states . . . but think how much it would be if they upped the price.

#1 gave his notice yesterday. His boss was NOT happy. He wanted #1 to stay. It didn't help that several others quit or didn't show up yesterday . . . and several trucks didn't pass inspection. Ah, the joys of having your own business.

#2 got his lower wisdom teeth out. All went very well. MUCH better than when #1 had his out. The difference being the size of the teeth and cutting. #1 had to be repacked several times. #2 breezed right through the week and had his checkup and all was healing great.

Quilt?

Our trip to Vermont was planned for shopping. The boys wanted certain foods that are not available here. I understand how they feel. I miss some yummies too.

However, it turned out to be more of a shopping trip for me. Yep, me! I hit the mall looking for clothes for #1 and ended up with clothes for me. There are certain brands that fit me well or I just plain like. Top of the list is Coldwater Creek. The jeans are long enough and not baggy in the leg. I am an apple and find most of my pants that fit the waist are baggy as heck in the hip/leg area. These jeans aren't tight in the leg area, just not so obvious that I have baggy butt syndrome. So, when I walked by Coldwater Creek, I suggested that the men sit down outside the store and be patient. I bought a pair of jeans . . . and they weren't on sale. Oooooohhh, you know I don't buy clothes for myself much unless they are on sale. The exceptions are jeans and Christmas Cat Sweaters (which I haven't bought in years). I also bought a perfectly white no iron short sleeve shirt. Crisp white shirt. It rocks. And it really is no iron.

I also hit a couple other stores and got some sweaters and shirts. :) Moving on, I HAD to go into Williams-Sonoma. I have been needing pot holders. They have the best . . . really. I found some pink ones on sale. I know that pink isn't the best color, but since they rest in a drawer when not in use, the price was right (3 for the price of one in a more kitchen friendly color).
Finally, I walked by a quilt. #1 and I fight over the quilt the Marilyn made for MainMan and me years ago (notice that the quilt was made for ME and my hubby . . . not ME and my son!). He will rush into the living room and grab up the quilt during the cold months. However, I want it when I sit down to watch tv too. Since it took Marilyn years and years to make this perfect quilt, I just couldn't bring myself to ask her to make another (lol-like she is going to jump on that-ggeessshhh, I mean it was only 5 years out of her life). I passed the quilt and thought, gee, I should get this. I didn't. The next day, I went back and got it. It's just sort of brown, but it will work for #1 when he wants a quilt in the winter to watch tv. I get to use MY quilt. LOL, yeah, sure.