a bidding war ensued

2003-11-09 - 12:22 p.m.

happy Sunday everyone! Now that our "girl" is teaching full time during the week, hubby and I have taken over shop keeping duties on Sundays again.... it feels weird to only have Mondays' off (along with Saturday, but that's Shabbat, so we don't get much done)

Lucy is at work with me. It's crazy how unfased she is by the door opening and closing. People can be shopping around for 2-3 minutes before she feels the need to let her presence be known, but wandering over, sniffing a little and going back to her bed. Contrast this to Mortimer, who hears people on the sidewalk and starts barking when their foot rests on the first of 8 steps outside..... Yeah for Lucy the shopkeeper!

We saw a very good movie yesterday at the French Cinemania movie festival, called "C'est pas grave", "Nothing Serious". You have to like subtitiles if you don't speak French, but if it comes to your city, check it out, I highly recommend it. I also recommend a film with Audrey Tautou (of Emily fame) called "A la folie, pas du tout" (He loves me, he loves me not). I actually saw this movie on DVD a few months back, but this film festival is premiering it on screen. I can't tell you anything about the movie without giving anythign away, but I'll just say if you liked Momento, you'll love this one!

Other than that, weekend involved the final meeting with our lovely contractor, to pay him all the extras that he did for us. Quite a bit actually, but it was all worth it. Also watched way too many home imporvement shows (love House Rules, hated the curtain in Doug's room on TS, like Hildi's kitchen, minus the hanging table....)

The most frustrating part of the weekend involved my obsession with said home imporvement shows, especially Debbie Travis' Facelift. I've always like Debbie Travis. She happens to do her shows from Montreal, so she's often on the radio. When she came out with her new show Facelift, last year, I signed up to be on it. We made it through part of the selection, so they came to my house, interviewed me, measured the room (the dreaded basement). But there was a supporting wall, so they couldn't do it in their timeframe. That is, however, how we met our contractor, who is also the contractor for the show. Anyway, long story show, the Missing Children's Network was having a radiothon this weekend and one of the auction packages was to have a room painted by the Facelift Team, lead by Debbie to help you deocrate. I wanted it, bad! When we called in the morning, it was only at 600$, so we uped the ante with a bid of 1K. We called a few times during the day to check on our bid and had to rais to 2100, then 3000. Finally, just as we were about to go to our movie, I called one last time. Apparently, I was in a bidding war with a guy, who was at the time willing to go to 3100, did I want to go to 3200. I wasn't going to be able to call again to check the last 15 mintues of bidding, so hubby agreed to pull out all the stomps and bid 3500$. To have a room painted. That's a lot, but it was for charity, and I wanted it very badly. We went to the movie, and while I really enjoyed it, I kept wondering if I would turn my phone on and check my messages without being noticed... I had to wait til the end of the movie. I didn't win. I haven't been able to find out yet how much it utlimately went for. If he outbid me by 50$, I will be very mad. But hey, what can you do. I'll have to paint the nursery myself when the time comes.....

Anything to add? 0

14 cubic feet of frozen storage

2003-11-07 - 12:49 p.m.

It's already Friday afternoon, where has this week gone? I'll tell you: I merchandised the holiday cards (pack up Halloween, take out x-mas and Hanukah), held a cookbook comittee meeting at my house (32 women in my dining room.... my husband was hiding in the basement!), started using the new computerized cash register system and colored my hair. Nothing drastic. Just a bit of shine and grey coverage.

Grey hair.... I used to have quite a few, but when I was sick after my surgery 2 years ago (it'll be 2 years in december), I lost a lot of hair. At first, it freaked me out, 'cause I've always had very nice, thick hair. But the first to fall were the greys, and when it started thickening back up, it was all auburn and shiny. But that was a while ago already, and last week, I spotted a few grey hairs again. They didn't bother me too much, I wouldn't die my hair just to cover them, but with winter approaching, my auburn hair was looking dull and dark, so I decided to jazz it up a little this morning.

When I see the grey hairs, it makes me think that I'm an adult. A grown up. Most days, I still pass for a college student. I dress hip and I look much younger than I am, I don't have kids yet, so most of the time, I feel like I'm still coasting through life. But this morning, a big reminder that I'm a real grown up was delivered to my house, in the form of a 14 cubic feet vertical chest freezer. That right, 14 cubic feet of frozen storage, for 2 people! And we already had a second fridge in the basement!

I grew up with one of those gigantoid chest freezers in teh laundry room. No matter what you were in the mood for, you could find a tupperware full of it in that white beast. Meat balls, ice cream, pea soup (yuck!), every type of meat you can imagine (there was a whole rabbit in there once), my mom was ready for every eventuality.

I enjoy cooking, but cooking for 2 sucks. Either you eat left overs 3 nights in a row, or they take up all the space in the small freezer of my funky-Euro LG fridge. The freezer of the 2nd fridge is strictly for our meat order.

So I made my husband buy a chest freezer. He thinks I'm nuts. He wanted to wait til we had kids. But I want to get him used to it. I will start cooking in batches. Spagetti sauce, Stew, Soups (he loves soup, that's what convinced him), that way, when he eats dinner alone 'cause I'm at work, he can just got to the freezer and pick out whatever he likes. In all likelyhood, he will still eat a cheese sandwich and a bowl of cereal, but the point is, he could if he wanted to!

I'm not mentally ready to prepare a baby room until we get our papers from China, but baby, I'm ready for you with lots of frozen peas!!!!

Anything to add? 1

big calves and blossom

2003-11-06 - 10:13 a.m.

I've been running a banner, so I just checked my stats this morning. The interesting thing was not in the number of banner referrals, but in the two most popular searches that bring people here: 1)Boots For Larges Calves and 2)Carter Oosterhouse!!!!!

You have big calves, you want nice boots? J Crew! That's the only way to go. Prices are very reasonable, especially if you wait for the end of season sale (but they might not have your size anymore). I don't need large calves boot anymore, but I highly recommend them. As for Carter, well, he's still a good looking carpenter, but really, I don't have much to say about him. You can check the archives, I wrote about him when he first joined the show.

All right, now that I've gotten wayard searchers taken care of, let's get to the really important topic you all come here to read about: Me! No, seriously. TV.

Or actually, how much tv I watch....

L&O had so many twists and turns last night, I actually sort of lost interest. And did anyone notice the blatantly stereotypical portayal of religious jews, Shlomo and Zev, the diamond dealers??? Please! Why can't people just be jewish. Not neurotic New Yorkers, not religious diamond dealers, just plain old jews.....

West Wing was also a bit off last night. Too much about Leo and Josh. I guess that was the point CJ was making, be in charge, Mr. President. What can I say, since the new writers took over, I just don't enjoy it the way I used to.

Finally, my girl, Karen Sisco. Baby, you have a hot boyfriend! The best part about that show is the caliber of the actors who come in every week to play the fugitives. I love that actress from last night. don't know who she is, but I always enjoy when she pops up on a show! And the best friend, that was the oldest brother on Blossom!!!! (where is blossom nowadays... there's a google search....)

Anything to add? 0

it's time to take out the holiday cards

2003-11-05 - 3:14 p.m.

Yesterday it snowed, today, it's raining. The pink winter coat only had one day to shine.... until winter really starts.

We had an intersting meeting last night with 2 documentary film makers who are putting something together on genetics, and are interested in following out attempts to conceive, with the whole faulty gene, infertility thing.... They were very nice, and if we do have another round of in-vitro at the end of the month, they'll film it, then come back when it's time to find out if it worked. Should be quite an experience: nutty on hormones, trying to look presentable on camera!

Last week, I was complaining about how tired I was and how I needed to lighten my load. Without really trying, I've given up two big time consumers, hebrew Class and the merchant's association. I missed hebrew class last week, and this week I ws so tired I slept on the couch and woke up 15 minutes before the end. Now it would be too hard to catch up, so Monday nights are free again. The merchant's association isn't so much a time problem right now, it's winter, there isn't much to do. But it's a lot of work in the summer, and frankly, the politics are too dificult to deal with. So at the meeting next Monday, I will be resigning as president. I'll still participate, but they can find someone else to do the grunt work.

I have a few boxes of stock to unpack, and then, I gotta take out the x-mas stuff, like cards and wrapping paper. No customers have asked for them yet, but they will, soon! Since I don't get to make a tree at home and won't do anything remotely holiday related to my house, the store is where I take out my holiday-related creativity. Last year, I made a tree shape in the window with shiny cocktail shakers. I might actually try that again, if I don't come up with something else soon...

Anything to add? 0

snow flakes and pink coat

2003-11-04 - 11:31 a.m.

I tried to do a link and accidently lost my entire entry.... I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

Of cousre, I will not be able to recreate what I wrote. It's never as good the second time around (unlike the maple-syrup roasted butternut squash soup I made Sunday, which just keeps getting better ever time we warm up a bowl).

It's snowing today for the first time this year. It won't be on the ground by 3 pm, but still, it's the first flurries. In my deluded little world, that means *take out your new pink coat*! I got this coat on special from Victoria's Secret a few weeks back, it only arrived last week but a freak warming of the weather made the coat whisper my name from the front hall closet.... Out it came this mornign, ready to great the flurries, although few and far between! When my Superhero Scarf arrives later this week, it will be the prettiest outfit this winter!

*(If you think I wear nothing but pink, ou would beonly partly right. Today's killer outfit is a combination of chocolate brown (sweater, boots and tights) and a light grey skirt with baby blue plaid (Banana Republic sales rack while in Toronto last week). So there, I do not wear pink all the time!)

I really do not need to be adding anything to my tv lineup, but I did. I discovered House Rules this weekend, the ultimate in home-renovating show. This concept is actually a concept that was done here in Montreal on french tv last year. Now Lowes is sponsering a US version. It's really great! The "older" couple gets on my nerves a bit, but the other two are quite good. Can't imagine taking on that much work for 13 weeks!

We've swiched cash registers! That's right! After two months of fiddling around, data entry and inventory transfers, our tiny little store no longer has a cash register! Everything is on the computer, with a lovely UPC scanner, tiny little receipt printer... I'd better not get a virus, or else we're screwed!
THE PINK SCARF IS HERE that's right bloggers! I blogged it and willed it to happen! The mailman just dropped off my superhero pink scarf, with yummy black fur lining (artificial bunny of course!). So I sit here in my heated store, wearing a scarf, just 'cause it's so yummy!

Anything to add? 1


Last Entry ~ Next Entry

bullet - green��bullet - green

Copyright Mortimer�s Mom 2004. But just ask, I give my permission easily!