striving for happiness...

...it is scrapbooking...i should seriously be banned from that store! i spend way to much money there! :) and i went in this time around with a list, i told myself-stick to the list...i didn't stick to the list...there are soo many cool little ideas and things to put in books!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhh!!!

i am pumped today because my first ever library book is in at the u of a...(well my first ever personal read at the u of a...i have read books there!!) it is the second book of the stroud series!! i am pumped!! :) and jeaninne i think i would beable to get the third one for you faster if you want me to try???

nothing much else new, i have a meeting tomorrow with a lady that runs the elves special needs socitey. i want to try to get involved with some volunteer work with them....sooooo...wish me luck!

and on other news...did you guys catch grey's? the most awkward sex scene on television, where i was too panicky to watch that i literally could not sit still!! i would like poor christine's thoughts on her beloved george???

talk to you later!

ooo and p.s. my ipod has been diagnosed, and they are shipping a replacement in the next 2 days!! yeah!

hey guys...take a look at this...pretty freaking hilarious!

the Lost rhapsody!

hey everyone...I know its been a while but I've been really busy at work. It gets pretty crazy around here once the fiscal year ends! Tracey, I've been trying to keep up with the olympics, but CBC has been really staticy lately, and only seems to come in black and white, so it's hard to watch it. But it's been really exciting the last few days with all of the medals. Now everyone's going to have their eyes on the men's hockey team playing Russia today. I tell you, I'm going to be happy when they finally decide to have amateur players again and not NHL players. Too much scandal and hype surrounds those guys and takes away from everyone else. And did you hear that the Swedish hockey team might lose on purpose so they don't have to face the Canadians again so soon? Talk about crappy sportsmanship! They should be kicked out for that!

I can't wait to have another vegging out day. There's so many movies that have just come out on dvd that I can't wait to see. I'm thinking this weekend is going to be perfect, especially if it were to snow like it is right now! I'm really loving the weather right now, minus the slippery roads. Sal's going to be outside all night learning how to use a GPS system...I think he's going to need snowpants for the first time this year!

I think that's about it for me today...dad's coming home monday night and I think he's going to be pretty happy about it. His days have been really long with up to three games in one shift! Poor guy...anyway, have a nice snowy day.
~casey

p.s. tracey, I'm reading 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' by Haruki Murakami.

hey guys,

how was everyone's family day? mine was actually quite fun as i spent time with my family! i went skiing at sunshine, and this time i kicked the mountain's a**, unlike last time i went. frankly i cannot get enough of skiing...so much fun! it was a little chilly but the snow was good and made the skiing really fast. i must admit this is when i love winter, when i can do stuff like this! :)

and of course i have been obsessed with the olympics as per usual...i don't know if you guys saw this but has anyone followed the u.s. speedskaters, shani davis and chad hedrick...i was trying to understand both sides, but now i am just fed up with both of them and want them to just grow up! lol, i watched as our two canadian women, cindy klassen and kristina groves just won a gold and a silver and how they behaved like champions and teammates, which i think is what the olympics are about....anyways... :)

i have been obsessed with a book jeaninne lent me, its a three parter called the bartimaeus trilogy by jonathan stroud. ahhh, i am back in the groove of reading again...it was a little touch and go for awhile as reading, life as pi, took me forever to finish!

this brings me to today's question...what book are you reading rite now?

have a great day guys!! :)

okay i defintely think it is izzie as this was corrected:

GREY'S ANATOMY: CORRECTIONBURBANK, Calif. (AP) - Turns out a character is not leaving"Grey's Anatomy" as reported. Instead a spokeswoman forTouchstone Television says an unnamed character is leaving theshow's medical intern program, not the show itself. A missing wordin a TV Guide news release led to the problem.

we are now in 4th place in the medal standings with the u.s.a. behind us! yeah!! we won a gold and silver in men's skeleton....and it got me thinking...i don't think it is too late for my olympic dream. i am going to start training for the luge...i mean really how hard is it? lol...kidding!! :)

oooo and the us women's hockey team is out of the gold...lost!!!! I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!

on a side note...i really think my ipod is done...i am sooo sad!! i don't know what i am going to do without it....although i am looking at repair companies rite now....sigh! :)

have a good weekend!

hey guys,

for all of you who do watch lost...that was kate in the picture because that was her step-dad (or who she thinks is her real dad) because remember he was an army recruiting officer when she went to see him last!!!
ahhh...doo doo doo doo (twilight zone music)

and on other worse news for me only...do ipods seriously have a self-destruct button b/c i plugged mine in today...and now, seriously i did nothing, all my files on my ipod are gone, and they will no longer upload! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! so of course i go to the support site, and i am trying to reformat it once again....and it is erroring out on me! i am going ipod crazy!

you used to play with paperdolls. well here is a site just like that, only better because you don't have to cut the peices out! :) thanks nikki.

okay not really but for those obsessed by grey's anatomy...ellen pompeo and katherine heigel (both actors on the show) confirmed that one of the intern actors will be leaving!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

so who do you think it will be?

1. george
2. alex
3. meredith
4. christina
5. isabelle

some fun facts about the day of looove...

-There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

-The early Christian church had at least two saints named Valentine. According to one story, the Roman Emperor Claudius II in the A.D. 200's forbade young men to marry. The emperor thought single men made better soldiers. A priest named Valentine disobeyed the emperor's order and secretly married young couples.

-In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

-In Britain and Italy, some unmarried women get up before sunrise on Valentine's Day. They stand by the window watching for a man to pass. They believe that the first man they see, or someone who looks like him, will marry them within a year. William Shakespeare, the English playwright, mentions this belief in Hamlet (1603). Ophelia, a woman in the play, sings:

I don't know if there's just too much pressure or hype that is surrounding our Canadian athletes, and I know I'm certainly not one to sit and judge them (regardless of my obvious natural athletic abilities), but in the past few years it seems like it's expected that "they are going to do really well this time" but then always fall short. Maybe in some stories it's a case of the athlete being a 'medal hopeful' and not a 'medal contender'. Take, for example, Jeremy Wotherspoon. Expected to do really well, but totally fell short! I mean, 9th place! I feel sorry for these guys, especially since it's a known fact that funding for sports isn't even close to being comparable to countries like the USA or China, where training for the Olympics is their full time occupation.

But once again, I am obviously not an Olympian and am not pretending to be. Just a thought...poor little skater...

yes Tracey, you are right - I will talk about Grey's Anatomy and how I haven't been this crazy about a show in a very long time. I'm not kidding - I cried twice last night in the show, and I'm not embarassed to admit it. First when George crawled in behind Dr. Bailey (but I blame my mom for that because she started crying there first!) and then again at the end when McDreamy was telling Meredith about their last kiss. Oh my god, I sound like one of those crazy fans that talks about the characters like they know each other! You know what? I DON'T CARE...I LOVE MEREDITH AND WANT HER TO BE MY FRIEND!!
...ok I'd better stop now or I'll really be caught by the crazy police!
If you're interested in finding out what songs were played in the episode, go to abc.com, click on 'Grey's Anatomy' on the tv listing and then go to music guide and it will list the songs in the order that they were played in the show. I must say that I have mixed feelings about the show. I really wanted McDreamy to at least show some sort of affection towards Grey, but at the same time that would have been waaayyy too predictable...sigh...

So after working two solid days at Save-on in preparation for Valentine's Day, I have come to the following conclusions:
1. it is advisable to always wear gloves when involved in the process of de-thorning roses no matter how inconvenient it may be - it will save the majority of your skin
2. V-Day really has become all about expectations and money, and I feel sorry for the poor saps that feel obligated to buy their sweethearts something nice (and expensive!)
3. Save-on foods does not have enough room for 300 buckets of flowers.
4. Fruit baskets are and will always be the bane of my existence
...and for those of you that may have considered trying to steal an entire shopping cart full of groceries, watch out for florists like me that will see you and catch you in the act (and get a nice little reward for my efforts!)

So that's all for now...I'll have to show off the earrings that I made on saturday night...me, the little crafty girl...ciao...
~casey

click on this link it hints at some cool things...it is in regards of the last episode of sawyer's past! :)

ooo and i am sure casey will talk more about grey's anatomy...but what the!!!! AHHH!! i have never been so tense watching a show before...and i was a little disappointed b/c i thought the bombsquad guy was hot and i had him and meredith paired up together for future eps then...BANG...pink mist!! geez!

have a good day guys!

wow...so much goes on when you don't have time to write, hey? It's funny here because I'll go a week or so without getting orders, and then all of a sudden somebody comes in and orders 50 photos about strikes! funny...so despite the fact that I haven't written on here in days, nothing is really new with me! I must say, I'm REALLY not looking forward to Valentine's day. I'm at Save-on this weekend, and we're getting 160 dozen roses, plus another 150 bouquets of other stuff. crazy...and all of these poor saps are going to be so ridiculous rushing out on tuesday to buy flowers for their significant others because they're told to. I hate Valentines's day. I'm going to see if sal wants to boycott it with me...I don't think he will...

So dad is doing good over in Italy so far. He's working really long days - gets picked up at 7am from the hotel and then gets taken back around 9pm. I hope for his sake it's not going to be like that once the games start...his first one is the Canadian women's first game. I'm starting to get a bit excited, especially since the talk is that Canada is expected to do really well, but I hate when that gets mentioned because there's soooo much pressure now. Didn't that happen at the last winter games? Tracey?? But girls, I don't think we missed much by not going to Turin back in grade 12 - dad says it's quite the little industrial town and it's hard to find locals that speak english.

OK Jeaninne...books...I don't read a lot of girlie books (although I did just read that book about the Hunt sisters of Nikkis).
-There's this author named Haruki Murakami (he's Japanese) and one of my favourite books he's written is called 'Norwegian Wood' - it made me cry.
-if you want good mystery fiction, try reading 'Mystic River' or 'Shutter Island' by Dennis LeHane. I've got Mystic River if you want to borrow it...it was very good, especially if you haven't seen the movie. I saw the movie but still REALLY liked the book.
-I really really loved 'A Complicated Kindness' by Miriam Towes (she's a canadian)
-try and get a copy of 'the DaVinci Code' - it was good, as was 'Angels and Demons' which is also by Dan Brown.
-'Blood Memory' by Greg Iles is one that I could not put down as I was reading - it's another mystery that takes place in the southern USA. Apparently there are a bunch of books he's written before Blood Memory that are way better, but I haven't gotten to them yet!
-'the Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver (I think) - I've got that one too.
-Oprah's latest book is called 'Night' by Elie Wiesel. I've got that one too which is really good - had to read it for a history class back in university.

let me know if you'd like to borrow anything...and if you want to check out more books, check out the Edmonton public library here.

have a great weekend, everyone....I'm babysitting tonight so think of me - without laughing, please!
~casey

okay i really have nothing to say, but because of the harassing on this site, i figured i would post something. i made cookies last nite. a complete and utter disaster. apparently they taste good but they look discusting!!

actually i have a question for you. so i was buying ingredients at safeway, and was at the register to pay. am i the only person that cannot figure out what change to give a person to decrease in the amount of change given. like the total was 7.54 and i gave 10.50, becasue for some wierd reason i thought it would decrease in the amount of quarters given back....it didn't!! obviously!! why do i even try? lol

well that is it!! hope that is okay for now!

okay, so there was nothing on television after grey's, sunday nite so i felt compelled to surf the channels. i came upon wild on with tara reid. has anyone ever seen this? i must say, i really have no clue what the show is suppose to be about, but i think she is an interviewer, and possibly the worst interviewer i have ever seen. why would a network give her a microphone. or was that the purpose of the show, to have the worst interviewer on television. the lowest point for me was that i felt compelled to watch the whole thing to see if it got any better....it didn't!!!

that is my blog comment for tuesday...but seriously check it out...maybe i need to get perspective and it really is better than what i saw!!

you don't think i could pull this off??? lol...now i will officially drop the subject...until i am wearing them!

Hope everyone had a good weekend - mine? Fantastic!!!!
On saturday night I shot a gun! Yes, a real gun with real bullets. Now you might think it's a bit strange that I sound so excited about it, but it was really really cool. Not that I'm ever going to do that again, mind you. Tiffany wanted to do it for her birthday so we all had to oblige - it definitely gave you a rush of adrenaline, and at first I thought the kickback would make me smoke myself in the face but it didn't! If you want you can call me Officer Casey from now on - I won't mind.

Then last night my favourite tv show was on with another new episode, 'Grey's Anatomy'. I'm pretty sure Patrick Dempsey is the most handsome and sexy actor on tv right now. Mom and me turn into zombies with a one-track mind when that show is on. She doesn't answer the phone and I don't talk to Sal - it's actually pretty sad.

So my dad is off to Italy this afternoon - don't look for him in the studio this year - he's covering mens hockey. Now I thought this was going to be a cushy job until I realized that he's not filming just canadian hockey, he's shooting ALL of the hockey games, so that could mean up to three a day. But I think he's going to be excited about it once he gets past the long flight. I'll keep you posted.

until tomorrow...
~casey

I don't know who comes up with these descriptions, but how do they take themselves seriously? They are honestly called Pirate Leg Warmers:





"These are our best sellers! The Photos tell you why! An Ivory-warmer topped with a stripe of Pirate-goodness! Sure to be an attention getter!"

I swear this is the description I found on leggings. I love the first sentence. Trace, please don't do it...:
"Spandex Leggings are also called "Pants" by some people. Ours run from your waistline to ankle and have no zippers. A few certain low-stretch fabrics will require a small zipper at the back waist. Our leggings have elastic at the ankle hems and at the waistline. 2 popular options are are DrawString Waist, added Feet, and Stirrup Feet. Normally, our leggings are cut skin tight."

need some more samples?? I love the 80's!

okay ladies, i have tried my best to adapt and i think i am doing quite well. i have taken on the dangling earrings, the occasional blazers, and the semi-off the shoulder shirts. frankly i never thought it would go as far as that but it has.

i recently subscribed to the urban outfitters newsletter (because that like jack johnson is listed as a favourite-but under the store category). two days later what do i get, an advertisement on leggings......LEGGINGS!!!!!! the nylon stretch material that i wore when i was in can-figure skate!!! well this is just a travesty, i thought. i know some 80"s fashions have come back but not the full on 80's!!!...but then i was walking in hub mall...

i saw a girl wearing knee length SHEAR leggings with a cute skrit and ballet slippers (i don't know why she didn't just add leg warmers)....but i thought, i could pull that off!!!! i am going to need help guys!!! i am starting to like these soon-to-be-out-of-fashion trends. but i cannot help myself, they are soo darn cute! soon i will be wearing shoulder pads and neon! sigh, just like the newsboy hats, 80's fashion have taken hold of me! :)

...that play exactly what I want to hear! Found this website that kind of lets you customize what you listen to. You just type in a song or a band that you like and they'll play music by that band, as well as similar artists and music. It's really cool and lets you discover new stuff (Christine, it's places like this where I find all of my music!)

Check out the site at pandora.com

oh, too cute...

sorry Trace...I can't see the video of the gymnastics movie, but I swear I will be rushing to see it when it's released. I mean, how else can I relive my own gymnastics glory days? The pink leotard, not being able to do a somersault on the high bars - life didn't get much better than those days!

but onto other things: Megan emailed this little story to me and I swear I was laughing out loud here in the computer room. I can absolutely see Sal and Dan trying this!

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Toni. What I came across was a 100,000 volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were suppose to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety.... WAY TOO COOL!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two triple A batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arch of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. Awesome!!!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Toni what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.
Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-a batteries,. right?!!!

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-a batteries, thinking to myself, "no possible way!"

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.....
I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, "don't do it master," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and HOLY MOTHER, WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION@!@$@$%!@ *!!!

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs. The cat was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "do it again, do it again!"

Note: If you ever feel compelled to "mug" yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself. You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three second burst would be considered conservative.

SON-OF-A-.. that hurt like he**!!! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they up get there???

My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I'm still looking for my testicles? I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return.

Still in shock,
Tommy

will want to see this movie with me rite???? its called stick it

It's the middle of the week already if you can believe it! The days are just flying by lately!
So Tracey, I publicly apologize for saying you didn't like the movie - and after talking to you last night I'm sure you have changed your mind as to the extent of likeness you do have for it now! I didn't do anything last night except watch tv and make chili...did you know that kidney beans actually split in half when they've been heated up? Spent the night sewing and cursing at myself for actually watching American Idol by my own choosing. And they're still on the auditions! I've gotta say, I'm really sick of Ryan Seacrest and it's time for a new host. I'm thinking somebody like Jon Stewart would be so hilariously perfect for it, but I'm pretty sure that won't be happening anytime soon.
Nothing is really new with me as of late - just scanning and scanning and scanning. It's amazing to me how much the colour will shift over the years in photographs - mainly turning them a funny red colour. But that's just me...got my big prosperity into the bank yesterday...maybe I'll just buy tons and tons of board games and surpass Christine. I wonder if they still make the Sweet Valley High boardgame...

ciao...casey...