The sun is shining bright today and these sunbeams got the kitties out of the bedroom (their usual daytime hangout) into the kitchen to absorb every ray. I guess they must get really warm, they are black after all. They must absorb every bit of heat there is.

The guys hung out on the dishwasher for some time this morning. Donner did that chattering thing at the mean old crows that sometimes fly by, and sometimes just sit on the balcony railing when they notice the cats by the windows.

Oscar disapproves. Of everything.

But I do like his bokeh toes.

Speaking of Oscar, when I got up this morning to make some porridge for breakfast, I found Oscar staring intently at the washing machine. Cool, right? We have our washing machine in our kitchen, just like they do it in England! Anyway, something was up because he kept walking over to it, then looking beside it, then stepping back, sitting down and never moving his eyes away from the floor right beside the washing machine. Then I heard what sounded like scratching in the wall.

Oh no. Not again. One time we found a bird, dead, on the kitchen floor. He had somehow gotten in through the dryer vent because all the windows were closed. This was before we got Oscar or Donner. Mike helped me move the washing machine and the scratching stopped. I hope it was because the bird found his way out and didn’t get squished somewhere in the tubing that’s attached to the dryer. We’ll know for sure if there’s a strange smell in a couple of days.

Oscar didn’t break his gaze on the spot on the floor the whole time we moved the big machine. I can only imagine the chaos that would break out if a bird DID find it’s way into our place. YIKES. If Oscar didn’t get the bird, Donner surely would. Bird feathers everywhere. Let’s not think about it.

Donner gave me the look he gives me when he’s sick of me taking his photo. This was just before he turned his face away from me. Photo taking time is finished.

Last night I took my boiled oranges cake to my buddy, Wheezy’s, place in Yaletown and enjoyed a good old-fashioned potluck. Not one of us brought salad or veggies, so my cake served as a serving of fruit for the meal.

We enjoyed delicious scalloped potatoes – Wheezy does them up right, some Chinese food, pot stickers and ham.

Cake review: Very marmalade-y, very rich & dense, very moist (ew. That’s an awful word). However, I did spread a thick coating of Nutella on the top and that cut that bitter, orange peel taste down to a manageable level. Also, a little goes a long way – you only need a little piece and it’s very filling.

We talked about serious things, like politics and the education system.

And taxes and a social security.

Not really! We mostly laughed and ate cake. I took photos with my new flash. Instead of using my rechargeable batteries, I used some regular batteries. Unfortunately the rechargeable kind don’t last long enough at all. I could take 2 or 3 photos and then it was over. I had no idea how much juice a flash can use up. Pretty incredible, actually. The only downside to using a flash like this is that candid photos just aren’t possible. So, I guess these photos show how my pals just ignored me and big flash all night.

Thanks a lot guys! JEEZ.

Thankfully the flash worked with the timer and everything, so I was able to get a group photo with me in it –

I love how Sandi and I have our eyes WIDE open for this photo. It must have been all the chocolate.

I took photos of all the kitty loaves around the house today starting with the always intense-looking, Oscar. He’s a nice guy – sometimes a bit aloof, but he’s not as grumpy as he looks.

Donner, kitty loafed it up tonight, too.

Donner hates the flash, so no matter how I tried to trick him into keeping his eyes open, he just closed his eyes tight.

This kitty loaf was in his favourite spot in the house.

World of Warcraft is his favourite game these days.

I’m sure you’re all wondering…was it cold today in Vancouver? YES! Another day of below freezing weather! I’m sure we’re all going to barely survive! And woohoo! Winter Storm Warning for Greater Vancouver tonight! Will we all be snowed in up to the roof? Find out tomorrow! If I’m blogging at say, 10 am, then you know I’m snowed in. Come on SNOW DAY!

Here’s one more thing safe and sound in the house – and in no way related to weather or kitty loaves. There is only one reason why I bought this brand of brown rice this week.

Heh.

Oh man. I had another evening of pacing around the house last night waiting for my blog to stop forbidding me to enter. That was a weird error screen. VERBOTEN! But, it’s much better now. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Yesterday was a big day. We celebrated my co-worker, Ada’s, last office birthday ever. Once our office closes at the end of April, she’s officially retired.

Those are sparklers on the cake. She was unable to blow them out, but she did try. I brought my mini-polaroid maker in for this most auspicious occasion. Here’s the perfect polaroid photo for Ada to keep forever.

It’s the classic eyes closed Polaroid photo – and that happened naturally. This camera was a big hit at the office, my work pals loved it. They couldn’t get a enough of the tiny birthday photo.

Birthday festivities was not the only big event of the day – Quilting Bee was last night. The meeting was exceptional! We had a lot of show-and-tell pieces, we learned how to sew on the curve (and, I think I may be able to do it.), and Cynthia showed us how she makes her beautiful quaintings. AND, my buddy, Lysa, gave me a set of custom made potholders. They’re called “Banana Juice”. She even quilted the words, “banana” and, “juice” into the backs of each one.

Lysa enjoyed my banana-in-the-juicer story (I learned that a banana in the juicer makes no juice at all.) and this inspired these amazing potholders! I love them. They won’t touch a pot in their lives, but will live as lovely decorations and a reminder never to put bananas in the juicer.

Guess who’s birthday it is today? My sister, C@thy’s! Now is the time I blow the dust off some old photos in the archives and have a good time at my sister’s expense!

I am so glad we have lots of photos of us when we were little. It was like my mom knew facebook would be invented for us to share these photos.

I had a difficult time selecting which one to use this year, so I decided to share 3. First up, snorkle photo!

This was our first vacation we went on after we moved to Saudi Arabia. We were on “repat” – short for repatriation. Although repatriation means going back to your country of origin, we called any vacation out of Saudi Arabia, repat, whether it involved going back to Canada or not.

Our first repat was to Greece, specifically a little island called Corfu. We went to the beach every day. I vaguely remember hearing someone talking about topless sunbathing – kind of a shock after living in a country where all the local woman are covered from head to toe. I don’t remember seeing any boobies, but someone, who shall remain nameless, said, “She looked like she was laying on a couple of water balloons!”. Heh.

C@thy’s been a jock her whole life and a good swimmer. I found a few swimming photos of her in the archives.

This next photo was a close second to celebrate C@thy’s birthday today.

That is some couch we’re sitting on.

C@thy has this same expression on many of her baby photos – surprised? Concerned? In any event, she must have been boiling in that snowsuit. Being from Calgary, we had to wear snowsuits a lot. I never see kids in Vancouver wearing them. Those Vancouver kids are really missing out.

And here’s one more photo of us back in the day.

I don’t think the point of this photo was us, but the p0lice on the horses – we’re just an aside. But what I do love is a) our matching haircuts and b) our matching jackets. I’m pretty sure this was when we toured Jolly Old England in 1982 or 83. Check out those cars! It looks like something out of an old James Bond movie.

So there you have it! A snorkle, a snowsuit and matching haircuts and jackets. It’s a birthday photo trifecta.

Happy Birthday, C@thy! I hope you have a fun day all day long. Next year, we’ll get matching jackets and haircuts, okay? Actually, I think I’ll get you a snowsuit.

I went on a road trip today to Seattle and met up with Stacey and Baby Leyton for the first time ever! Stacey and I have been online pals for a few years and, finally, we met in the flesh today! Huzzah! Please note: I could not stop touching Leyton’s hair. He’s got the softest, curly hair I’ve ever touched. Also, he’s completely adorable and full of beans. A winning combination.

We had a delicious lunch and then headed over to the Seattle Aquarium to see the fish and the otters. The good thing about the aquarium? It’s huge. It spans over two buildings – including a small aviary for some little water birds. It was also pretty busy, but there’s a lot of room, so it didn’t feel too crowded.

The indoor tidal pools were a big hit. You could actually reach in and touch the starfish and anemones. The pools had piles of starfish in them.

And we saw the otters.

They were eating their lunch off their chests. So cute. However, once I learned they are part of the weasel family, I must admit, they lost some of their appeal. BUT, the honeybadger is also part of the weasel family, and they’re pretty cool, so I can give the sea otter a break. Besides, they can’t help that’s their species. Jeez. I can be so judge-y.

And just an FYI – if you tell the customs guys at the border crossing you went to Seattle to meet your internet friend, they ask A LOT of questions. I got peppered with questions from the Canadian Border Guard like this:

- Did you meet her before today?
- Did she give you a package to bring home with you?
- Did she give you a gift you haven’t opened yet?

*at this point, I started looking around to see if the car was surrounded by drug dogs*

- Did she give you money to buy something for her in Canada?

*WHAT? That’s a weird question. Hi! I just met you, here’s some money. Can you buy me something from your country? Thanks.*

- How did you connect with her online?
- What is your blog about?
- Why is your camera bag so big? How big is your camera?

Phew. I was exhausted after all those questions. Not to worry, Stacey! I assured him you were VERY nice.

8:45 am – *doorbell* DING! DONG!

Me: Hey Mike, you should probably get that. I’m sure it’s that package you’re waiting for. (Yep. I was in bed still. It’s my vacation and Mike is currently working evenings. That’s my story, I’m sticking to it.)

Mike: Oh yah!

Me: Heh…(I HATE answering the door when I don’t know how it is. I ALWAYS get the Jo-ho’s or The WatchTower Magazine guys. EEK. Or the door-to-door Telus salesman…who leaves as soon as I tell him I’m married to the Shaw Tech Support guy. *PHEW!*)

A few seconds later…

Mike: It’s not even for me. Here you go.

Me: Woohoo! It’s from the Ookies! LOLLERSKATES!!

If you’re not familiar with the movie* this quote is from, consider yourself lucky and just enjoy the lovely, lovely, lovely quilt Shnookie and Pookie created. I’m pretty sure this is a custom creation, so this is a one of a kind piece of art! Also, I love this font, the awesome Christmas fabric and the perfect binding around the edges.

This quilted piece now lives on the dining room table as a table runner.

It will never see a speck of food on it, ever, and I just may find a way to hang it up all year round. Heh.

For those of you familiar with this movie: 1) Poor us and 2) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! and 3) SNORT!

Thanks Pookie and Shnookie! And Boomer? HA! I love your quilting style! This is AWESOME! I’m pretty sure my cousin, Andrea, is GREEN with envy right now.

*I don’t want to surprise any unsuspecting people (like my mom or Mike’s mom and dad) into what this horror movie is, so I won’t even mention the title. I’m pretty sure my sister is still traumatized by the movie. My cousin, Mike and I made her watch it with us last year. Poor C@thy.

This is a REAL polaroid photo – I didn’t create this in photoshop or anything. It’s from my fabulous Christmas present from Mike – a FujiFilm Instax Mini 7S. It creates little Polaroids – the photos are about 4 inches by 3 inches. So. Cute. I’ll be able to make some fun little crafty things with these images…things like ornaments, magnets and gift tags. So. Cute.

I can also make a photo collage, like these.

I have been enjoying my lazy days off. Today I used my gift cards and picked up a blender and a great fabric cutter from Michael’s on sale for $39.99. The original price was $199. I can’t wait to get that going. I think it’s time to get off the couch and start making stuff. Time’s a wasting.

I would write more, but I’m so tired from all the festivities and all the drinking of hot beverages from our fancy kitty cat mugs. Today we drank coffee AND tea from these glorious mugs we got for Christmas from Mike’s mom and dad in Nova Scotia. We’ve been switching the mugs back and forth – trade-sy so we each get fair time with each cup.

Christmas was lovely…I got a polaroid that makes tiny photos and all sorts of other treasures, including gift cards and a wooden skull sculpture and many, many chocolates.

I made a full-on turkey dinner with all the trimmings and now we’re watching movies.

It’s been an excellent day. I hope yours has been good, too!

Mike: Carol, are you feeling better now?

Carol: *gulp* Yup. Just embarrassed. I missed them. I missed Will & Kate. I saw Will’s shiny, white teeth…and then I fainted.

Dave: Nah, Mike took photos! You can review them fondly.

Carol: Thanks. *frowny* I just don’t have what it takes to be a paparazzi. I would just drop any time I saw someone famous. I’m sure I’d go through cameras like crazy. Oops! Dropped another one.

Dave: So…we’ve got someone waiting for us so we’d better head out…huh?

A person in a Canucks shirt yells, “CAROL! WAIT! CAROL!”

Carol: What? Wait! Is that Canucks Superfan, Art Journal Creator and England resident, Sarah?

Sarah: Yes it is! You came to England and didn’t call? How could you?

Carol: You’re right! I’m a bad Canadian friend! I’m so glad you found me! How about those Canucks? Isn’t David Booth the best? Too bad he got hurt a little bit tonight.

Sarah: I was up at 6:00 am watching. I love those Canucks. Hat trick for Daniel Sedin tonight! WEWT! Hey, do you have time for some tea?

Carol: YES! And I have the perfect tea cup for tea, too. Let’s have some lovely tea, shall we?

Dave: This is great! Let me make a call and let the person at our next stop know we’ll be a bit late.

Mike: Tea’s ready! We always have time for tea with a Canucks fan. From England!

Sarah: What a lovely tea cup! But wait…oh no. You kept the teabag in the cup? Oh dear. We don’t do that in England.

Carol: You should see the size of the teapot! We kinda had to leave that at home. Sorry, we made the tea American style. But I did want to show you the lovely tea tag on the bag. Maybe you can use that nice piece of paper in one of your art journals? I thought you just might like that. I read that art journal people LOVE tiny pieces of paper and other assorted ephemera.

Sarah: Simply Delightful! Thank you so much! Now. Do you have some time to do a quick little art project with me? It’s for my art journal.

Mike, Dave, Carol: YES!

Sarah: Brilliant! I brought a case with some supplies in it.

Dave: I love gluing paper and painting. It’s very relaxing.

Mike: Oops. The kitties made a mess.

Sarah: No trouble! I can use those footprints in my art.

Dave: Well, this was lots of fun. I’m glad you found us before we left.

Sarah: Just before you leave, I want to give you something.

Sarah fishes something out of her pocket and hands it to us.

Sarah: Here you go – an official Olympic 50 pence coin for the 2012 Summer games.

Carol: Awesome! I’ll keep it with my collection of Olympic pins. Thank you so much, Sarah! Next time you’re in Vancouver, we’ll sit down for some proper tea out of a proper teapot. I promise! We could go to Murchies, or, The Urban Merchant. That place is DREAMY. We can have tiny sandwiches and macaroons from France!

Sarah (waving): Bye! Have a great trip! I think you’re finding your Christmas spirit again!

Carol: Me, too! Thanks! See you on the internets!

Sarah: Go Canucks!

Editors note: Sarah is the person that sent me the Will & Kate bag and the newspaper from the big day! We’ve never met in person, but who needs to meet in person these days? We’re internet friends! And Canucks fans!