November 26, 2009

It is the 26

It is the 26 of November
4 days left of NanoWrimo
and I am about to plan an all nighter.

I have gone to the store and bought tons of candy
chocolate bars
chips
Jerky
Slurpee

I am awesomely excited.
All nighter for NanoWrimo, going to hit atleast 40,000 words
Atleast, by this time tomorrow, and then I am going to sleep!

This is my night of literary abandon!
Im stoked.

I started off the night by donating to the NanoWrimo fund
and I now have a Halo above my username.
Stoked.
Anyways, I am off to finish installing windows seven
and then on to writing!

September 21, 2009

Etsy Reviews Update!

Hello all,
I know that I am running a bit behind on my reviews and I apologize for that inconveince.
I was in a car accident last week on Wednesday and have been a bit out of it since then. I am in some pain and have muscles soreness and tension as well as some hefty bruising.
So All of the shops below are considered our final roster for the etsy reviews and they have all arrived:
I am sorry that things on etsy have not been updated but I am going to do that now, and I look forward to all comments about the reviews when they are posted.
Thanks
-Mrs.A

August 29, 2009

Etsy Review - #5) OhFudgeStore

Fifth review is for OhFudgeStore

OhFudgeStore has been opened, or the user name was created, since April 2008.
The store has had 338 sales/buys and has a rating of 100% positive.
And the location is in the Pacific Northwest!


¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Shipping and Packaging~¤

The Fudge was in a padded envelope and was safe and secured in one piece. The container is resealable which is handy, especially since I can't eat that much sugar in one sitting. Aha! there wasn't any special wrapping or additions but it wasn't necessary as the fudge spoke for itself.

All in All the shipping/packaging receives a 5/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Edibility/Taste~¤

The Fudge I ordered was a Buttercreme fudge and was absolutely to die for. Now I dont buy fudge often because of how sweet it was but this was definitely worth the wait time for shipping. Although it did have its fair share of sugar, it was still not too sweet which was extremely important because if the flavor is too much ro the sugar is too much then it just doesn't not taste good. This was damn good fudge, I highly recommend it!!

Taste scores a whopping 5/5.. if it could be more, realistically, then it would be.

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Contact/Shop~¤

I actually didn't have a long conversation with the contact from the shop but they were up front and honest and took the time with the fudge. Although they made it right away, the contact didn't want to ship it out right after in case it would have been sitting in the post office all weekend. So I was sent a message saying they were going to wait till Monday and I really respect the thought in that. If it had sat in the post office all weekend long, especially in this heat we are having, it would have done something wrong to the Fudge. I can only imagine how separated and gross the Fudge could have been and I am thankful it made it to me in one yummy piece.

To Check Out The Video - Go to http://www.youtube.com/ScrtSolstice

Or Check it out Here:

August 27, 2009

Etsy Review - #4) layla

Fourth review is for layla

layla has been opened since August 30 2005
The store has had 1691 buys/sales
And the rating is 100% positive!
From Washington (Not Hawaii...like I said in my video.. oh dear..)

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Shipping and Packaging~¤

Whether or not the big box was necessary I do not know but I do appreciate it because it allowed room for cushion. And we all know that banana fragments are not the same as banana chips! So hurray!

All in All the shipping/packaging receives a 5/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Edibility/Taste~¤

The chips were not too hard but also not soft which is perfect.
The banana flavor wasn't too strong or too light and so they were awesome! A lot better than the bulk ones you can get at your local Extra Foods so they rocked!
A definite 5/5~!

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Contact/Shop~¤

The shop contacted me almost immediately and said that they appreciated what I was doing in the month of august! Which is almost. And when the shop contact realized how much it would cost to ship they contacted me first to double check that this was still ok! And that rocks! Thanks for being so considerate. I appreciate it. And I love the chips.

To Check Out The Video - Go to http://www.youtube.com/ScrtSolstice

Or Check it out Here:

Etsy Review - #3) miaMallows

Third review is for miaMallows

miaMallows has been opened since June 2009 and has had 57 sales/buys with 100% positive feedback. From San Antonio

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Shipping and Packaging~¤

The box was the standard shipping box that we have been seeing a lot of in my house for the last few days and it was stuffed to the brim with marshmallows, no space wasted which I am really happy with. That box was definitely used well for once aha! There was a nice little wrapping and a thank-you card so....

All in All the shipping/packaging receives a 5/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Edibility/Taste~¤

These are possibly the best marshmallows I have ever had. That being said I am not a fan of some of the flavors on their own. Although I do not like the coffee or cotton candy/bubble gum or caramel flavors they mimicked their concepts almost identically. The coffee smelt and tasted like a cup of Tims, and the Caramel looked great and tasted like caramel. The Cotton Candy kind of tasted like bubblegum but that is alright. Didnt taste bad.
The Pina Colada was the best BEST BEST! I also loved the Lime and Raspberry.
But omg... go get some.. Pina Colada!
And they were individually wrapped, labeled and and and they were extremely soft and yummy!
A definite 5/5~~!!!

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Contact/Shop~¤

The contact was extremely friendly and got back to me in an extremely timely manner. I really appreciate the friendly and outgoing manner I was contacted in. Every one of the marshmallows were individually wrapped and labeled which made my life easier! And And And!! I got a thank-you note.

And I conned Alex into trying them all! His fave was also the pina colada but he also liked the Coffee.. it freaked him out how well the flavors mimicked the actual identity. Well done indeed!! If you made something so good that Alex tried it, then it can only be awesome!

To Check Out The Video - Go to http://www.youtube.com/ScrtSolstice

Or Check it out Here:

August 19, 2009

Etsy Review #2 - inspiredcakesicles

Second review is here and it is inspiredcakesicles

inspiredcakesicles has been opened since January 2009, and has 2 sales and a rating of no feedback. Which may or may not be a good thing.

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Shipping and Packaging~¤

Im not sure exactly how long the shipping took as the contact never got a hold of me. Although I did buy the item on July 30th and it arrive on August 10 so I would like to think that the shipping came fairly fast. The packaging was in a standard small flat rate shipping box and there was no waste space which I really like.

All in All the shipping/packaging receives a 5/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Edibility/Taste~¤

The taste of the candy clay was a little interesting. It was not bad by any means but it wasn't amazing either if you know what I mean. It was sweet and had a familiar taste to it but I cant quite place it for some strange reason.

All-in-All rating for the Edibility is another 4/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Contact/Shop~¤

No one from the shop actually contacted me.
They already had the Canadian shipping set up so I just went through the transaction and never heard anything. That being said though a note was included that warned of "sweat" which was great. Also there was instruction to explain how to use or for ease of use. Which I thought was great. All and all an interesting experience.

Interesting that is for sure!

To Check Out The Video - Go to http://www.youtube.com/ScrtSolstice

Or Check it out Here:

August 14, 2009

Etsy Review - #1) MermaidCaramels

MermaidCaramels
Our review is finally here and it is for the package which arrived first: MermaidCaramels

MermaidCaramels has been opened since June 2009, and already has 7 sales and a rating of 100% positive. Which is more than me so you can already tell they are doing something right.

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Shipping and Packaging~¤

Shipping only took about a week, which is fairly speedy considering the other items I have purchased from the US before and their time lines. The main one I am referring to is one that took 3 weeks. The package was shipped on July.31 and arrive either on August 10, or the 11th, the people who were here at the time cannot remember. But never the less great shipping time.
Packaging is probably my favorite so far for the appearance of the outside of the box. I love how the logo is on the front, almost like a little advertisement in a way but it also makes the box more colourful which I like. Inside there was a plastic air bubble thing and I am not sure whether or not that was entirely necessary but I do not know US Post and how they work so maybe it was and on the plus side I can reuse it when I finally get a sale so it is all good.
The caramels themselves came in a little brown bag with a ribbon and label - I love love love the colour scheme of brown and turquoise. The caramels were individually wrapped, another thing I really liked, in a wax/parchment paper and they did not stick to the wrapping which is something I appreciate.

All in All the shipping/packaging receives a 5/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Edibility/Taste~¤

The overall taste of the caramels was good. I was expecting a slightly more salty caramel and was blown away by the sweet taste. Although it was a sweet buttery caramel flavor, there was also a hint of salt which I really enjoyed. If you are someone like me who loves salt it can be a bad thing to have a lot but I think these are probably the perfect way around that dilemma. You can taste the hint of salt but there isn't a lot to it so it works!
Another important tidbit is that the caramels were soft and not hard. I have had a few different caramels before and they tend to have a thicker consistency but these were nice and soft. Almost like the honey sticks you can buy where there is honey in the little wax tubes that you can bite and eat. They softness just makes them better and allows the flavor to just run down your throat and warm you up with that homemade feeling. Not like those caramels you get from trick or treating that are insanely hard and are almost always just used to make caramel apples later on.
& Another useful thing to know about these is that they didn't stick to my teeth! Which is an A+ in my books. Maybe it is just my teeth but I didn't have a hard time trying to swallow or get it out of my teeth. The caramel was soft enough that it was perfect. I always hate trying to unstuck caramel out of my teeth.

All-in-All rating for the Edibility is another 5/5

¤´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·`¤~Contact/Shop~¤

Something I didn't make a point of mentioning in the video too too much was the friendliness or ease of contact the store had. I did mention that the contact got a hold of me right away which was extremely important in online sales because in the end the buyer gets to rate their seller, and if it is a bad rating the seller's overall rating goes down.
She got a hold of me and we immediately started planning our shipping and how to go through the till and everything like that. Although there was no thank-you note inside (like I have received in the past) the contact was very polite and friendly online and offered that I would only pay the US shipping this time around so that it would be cheaper. Keep in mind the shop may not do this every time but her point was that $12 dollar shipping for 6 pieces of caramels was a tad ridiculous and she understood that. If I had ordered a higher quantity then the shipping would have made since.
This is something I admire in a shop because they go that extra distance to ensure that they please the seller. The contact had a thought to help me out in a way that I had not thought of and took the chance of offering and sending it that way. As a buyer you always hope that the seller is an honest individual who wont steal your money and laugh at you and in this case the hopes were un-necessary because the shop was down-to-earth from the start.


Great Taste, Great Product - I only wish that someone in Canada made them so that I could get cheaper shipping aha!

To Check Out The Video - Go to http://www.youtube.com/ScrtSolstice

Or Check it out Here:

August 03, 2009

Funny Find...

All the taste testing aside for a day, I am sitting in my room.
Minding my own business,
listening to all the enya on my computer in repeat mode,
and what pops up on the main page of etsy,
(I know this isnt a proper sentence because its too long but BAH)
nothing of mine no,
but something way funnier than mine,
and I have to apologize in advance because Im not trying to insult the work or the artist,
it is a nice little small needlepoint.

Cute little thing isn't it? I actually love the rain drops but I have an issue with the wording and I will tell you why... but first here is the description:

Ahhh, the exquisite pain of this world. Hand embroidered 6" black embroidery loop, black thread stitched onto recycled white cotton fabric with black felt tear drop appliques. Added on May 20, 2009

Now, judging from the rain drops.. which I am assuming are tear drops from the description.. and including the description this little needle point which isn't exactly a needle point because I just read that the tear drops are appliques.. has the words "le pain" written on it.

Now clearly this piece is pulling towards being emo but we are not here to talk about peoples lifestyle choices no. We are talking about this because it says "le pain"

Now I can tell you from my 12 years of french that as soon as you take an English word and place it with a french preposition it changes the words meaning. A fair few words in English and words in french are the same but a fair few words in french mean something completely different in English. And let me tell you that "pain" in french is not heart wrenching pain no.
In fact by adding that preposition "le" it has gone from being heartbroken to being "le pain" meaning bread.... Which made me kind of laugh because not everyone speaks french and that's fine but I don't think that this person is aware of the error... or maybe it wasn't an error.
I just thought that a little needle point trying to express pain with tear/rain drops was slightly more funnier when it says "bread"

-Miss.A

August 01, 2009

Orders have been made & paid! (Update Aug2!)

Here is the new list of all the shops involved!
I think I have more on the list than I previously had aha!

Ordered:
Working out Shipping:


Haven't Heard From:
Arrived:



Some of the people I havent heard from are on vacation and won't be round till after the 10 or so, so we may not seeing anything till the end of August.
& heres to everyone with 2 asterisks as they are new to the list!
&& three cheers to WelshGardenTearoom who is new to the list and is also from Europe, and is taking a chance on shipping to Canada!! I was her first sale too, so check out that shop!!

_____________________________________________________________
&&& Update from today August Second!!
Any of the listings above that have three stars on them were updated today, or added to the list! I have a fair few now and this is the official cap! No more searching for shops! These are the shops for this months adventure! Lets hope I dont get food poisoning!
____________________________________________________________
Setpember 21!
All things ordered have arrived and shall be posted soon
-Mrs.A

July 30, 2009

Edible Month of Mayhem?

So I was thinking about what the heck I am going to do in my last month of summer before the wonderful college kicks back into session.
HURRA FOR 8 ENGLISH COURSES! no seriously... Im excited.

Anyway....

And I thought I could do a bunch of edible reviews from Etsy. I can't afford to take the days off and travel, other than going to moms for 3 days, so I figured Id let the fun come to me.
So I am slowly compiling a list of edible delectables to try out from Etsy - from all over the place!
Im going to try and find some stuff from Europe and USA and where-ever I can.
I am up for trying it.

I've seen in the forums that a fair bit of Etsy shoppers have a bit of mistrust when it comes to shopping for snackerals online and I want to give people a heads up and let them know that there is good stuff out there!

Of course I will be getting some more caramels from my fave LeBellaCaramella! How can I resist! But if you are reading this and you have an Etsy Shop that sells treats and wanna get a review out there then hey! Let me know - I will happily try it out for yums.

In the mean time - Im not going to say what I am trying but here are a few of the places I have my eye on for snacks :
(These are shop titles so if you want to check them out either search the name under sellers on etsy or go to etsy and type the name at the end, or click my link here)

  • RedBarnWalnuts -> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6153311
  • layla --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=3293
  • Lebellacaramella --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6269589
  • BrokenRoadFarm --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5780693
  • ahimsarescue --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7184004
  • celebritybakesale --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7490894
  • BlissCandies --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7244021
  • mermaidcaramels --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7549571
  • contacthope --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7370722
  • miaMallows --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7518547
  • hillsidebakery --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5823318&section_id=5422962
  • OhFudgeStore --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5755041
  • VeesWear --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5027417
  • InspiredCakeSickles --> http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6799481

Please note that I have only ordered two items at the moment as I am eagerly awaiting shipping responses from each of the other stores. That being said - not all stores may want to participate so if a shop that you liked is removed, please still keep them in mind for purchases as it is just a shipping to my location that may be the issue.
Also note that these shops are in no particular order, so if you are looking for when it will be feature in the blog/vlog - you will just have to keep checking back!!

I think that is all for me tonight!
Adieu! & look for the video version of this tomorrow at www.youtube.com/ScrtSolstice !

-Mrs.A

July 25, 2009

An Okanagan Etsy Team

So There are these things on Etsy called Etsy Street Teams and they are basically just teams or groups of people who live in similar places or have things in common. Kind of cool - well int he location front I didnt see one for the Okanagan and decided to make one. I applied to be in three teams and hadn't heard back from anyone yet so I thought heck I will make my own.

Wow - tough is all I have to say. I sent out about fifty messages and finally got one back saying that there is a local Kelowna Etsy team that is becoming official this week which is cool. Im trying to get some more info about it so that maybe I could join and go to the meetings on occasion or something you know. I dont know if I would really fit in not that it matters but you know, there is that feeling in the back of my head.

In anycase you can join more than one team so I was looking at joining the Vancouver and area team because Im from the Lower Mainland, and then there is one called 'Amys in the Arts' and I contacted them but their main contact doesn't exist anymore and the next person on the list hasn't got back to me, and Im going to try and join this Kelowna one like I said. Most of the groups seem to be beaders or jewellery makers or something along those lines. There are only two people on etsy who do what I do as far as I could find and I dont think the two of us count as a team aha.
That being said there is another team I could join - the Trans Canada team but you have to pay $10 for a year and although it seems cheap it just isnt in my budget. I just shelled out money for advertisement spots on etsy and did I get a single sale? nope. I only got one heart. Then I went into the forums and started chatting around and I got 5 more hearts so atleast I am finding ways to get my work out there. Which is why I thought hey lets meet everyone in the Okanagan.
Its been a long day though - and I have a long one ahead of me tomorrow.

Im going to a Wedding and I am looking after the Bride and Groom's littel girl during the reception so they wont have to worry about her. Im excited to go - but I have nothing nice to wear. =(

See you all soon!

If you want to check out Etsy I highly suggest it. My links are on the side - and the Okangan Etsy Street Team is located and an awesome place called the ning, the link is http://okanaganest.ning.com ! Check them out!

- Mrs.A

July 22, 2009

Etsy Purchase #2!

So for our second etsy purchase, Alex insisted on getting these things called Monster Sharks... now at first I said no but he said he would pay me back for them he just needed to use my paypal account so I said fine whatever.

They are the cutest little things ever! They are crocheted Cold holders basically. One is a sleeve, and the other is a water bottle cover for when he goes to the gym. I was extremely pleased with them. And they were purchased from Handamade on Etsy. The link is: http://handamade.etsy.com & Here are some awsesome pictures.

Photobucket
Here they are just arrived.

Photobucket
Here is Alex with his Water Bottle Holder.

Photobucket
Here he is with his Re-usable Sleeve.

Photobucket
& Here they are a bit closer up.

All in all, he absolutely loved them and still does... He just can't get enough of them.
they are made by Handamade on etsy.
They come in other colours and other animals as well so I recommend them.
They are highly durable!
-A

My Etsy Purchases!

I had more come today and I wanted to make sure I was on top of all of them in the blog, which I am not!
But never the less I will start now!

My first purchase was a 1/2 pound box of these delicious caramels made by LaBellaCaramella on etsy. Her link is : http://labellacaramella.etsy.com

I purchased the Double Bergamot Earl Grey Caramels and they did not disappoint.
If you are like me and you happen to drink a cup of Earl Grey tea almost every day, then you know the flavor off the top of your head. Now if you also add a wee bit of milk and sugar then you have a distinct taste yes? These tasted exactly like the tea I make myself every morning. Fantastic! Here are some pictures!! Definitely check the shop out, the caramels are to die for!

Photobucket
Heres the little box they came in.

Photobucket
And all the nummy caramels.

Photobucket
And here is my funny looking customer appreciation photo.

And if being tasty wasn't good enough, that little note card you can see in picture two is a little note that says that all the caramels are made with colorado honey. So they support the local market, and(!) a portion of the proceeds go towards research to find out why oour Honey Bees are rapidly disappearing. Which I think is awesome, the fact that by purchasing yummies, you can help the honey bees.

All in all it was a fabulous buy and I am actually considering these as my wedding favour for in the future. Although Im thinking I may get the Lavender ones next. Thats how fabulous they are, DEFINITELY check them out.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6269589

-A

Finally some pictures from Edmonton!

So finally i have some pictures from Edmonton!!

Photobucket
This is JoJo the Cat, who was apparently getting put down the week after we left.... poor thing.

Photobucket
Part of the Sea Lion Show from above.

Photobucket
Some Koi fish in the pond in the China Town Section of the mall.

Photobucket
The Ice Rink in West Edmonton Mall

I may add more later, or link my album,
but for now it is just taking to long resizing all these photos.

Firish update again!

So today they let around half the Glenrosa families go home.
And the fire as of 3pm was about 60% contained which is pretty awesome.
Supposedly there is a 70% chance of rain for friday which will only help the matter!
Im glad that this will all be over soon. Although it smells pretty good it is still a tid scary.

July 19, 2009

Fire Updates...

There are now three fires being followed at this time.
One is a bit farther North and out of my area near Fintry.
The other two are across the lake.

One that was heavily discussed yesterday has grown to 300 hectares and,
the other which is believe to be cause from a spark which jumped the highway has grown to 75 hectares as of this morning.

Continuing on with the fire.

Almost half of that comunity across the lake has now been evacuated.
And as of 11:00pm here, about 2 hours ago, the fire was reported as being 300 Hectares.
Scary thought it is that it may actually consume that place and make its way over here!
I just hope everyone is alright!
But according to castanet not injuries or deaths have been reported.
-A

New Post on WeBook!

I just added another page to my 'Abandoned Light' Project on Webook.
I have the story written out, it is just a matter of typing it up and at the moment it is taking me a fair bit but page three shall be up tonight or tomorrow! Huzzah!

Heres the link:
http://www.webook.com/project/Abandonned-Light

check it out!

Oh No! Im Writing Again!

Well to be honest with you I havent really ever stopped writing but the point is that I am getting back into the swing of things.

I am as we speak about to start a new fan fiction aha!
I was actually just getting back into reading Harry Potter fan fiction the other day and looking up stories with my favorite ship, Ginny and Draco, when I stumbled across something interesting.
(A ship is a pairing of two characters basically)
What I found was a piece of fan fiction within my ship called Thirteen Little Green Envelopes by Annonymous Hexxe. Now if you proceed to the profile it states the name of the writer as Elizabeth Hexxe, which as it so happens was my name for Harry Potter role playing on the warner bros. community for Harry Potter.
Well it turns out that a long time ago I started writing a fan fiction that was loosely based off of Maureen Johnson's Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes and I had forgotten all about it until now.
I'll have you know though that the first piece that for some reason is entitled chapter one is actually the prologue and it was the only part I had posted before my computer was wiped by the idiot who tried to fix it. So needless to say I thought HMM!!!

If I am suffering from writers block writing my own pieces then why dont I switch over to fan fiction for a wee bit!! Aha! Exciting I know.... ok perhaps not but I have a feeling that something is going to come from this and hopefully it is a good something.
-A

July 18, 2009

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on - no its Westbank....

So there is a small community... cough...
across the Lake from me that for some reason or another people like to call it West Kelowna.. which its NOT because it is NOT connected but whatever Alex you are wrong.

Anyways crews were alerted to a fire across the lake in West, Westbank earlier around 3 ish and now there is a fire just over 50 hectares burning through. That area, called Glenrosa, has been evacuated and the surrounding area near Glenrosa is on high alert. I dont think that we will be put on alert because the idea of it crossing the lake seems a bit absurd but you never know.
Anyways - for those who know we are near the fire just wanted to letcha know that we are ok and the fire is being fought as we speak.

If you need some more information on the subject I recommend www.castanet.net it is our local website for news... but it is being rather slow at the moment. CBC also has a brief story on it/// brief, very brief.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/07/18/bc-west-kelowna-wildfire.html

And here is another BC Story on it.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Forest+fire+threatens+homes+near+Kelowna/1805203/story.html

July 14, 2009

Back from Edmonton Trip!

So Alex and I went to Edmonton for a few days, July 9 to 14, and ended up back yesterday rather than the day that we were suppose to but that is alright.

It was a long drive from where we live; 12 hours to be exact.
Especially long when you are in a van with your fighting in laws in the front and a farting dog in the back, no word of a lie. It was interesting them talking about directions and who should drive and whether or not they were right. Interesting is the only real word to describe it.
And then the one's driving was terrible and jerky and swerving and ugg... I felt terribly sick.
And then I slept most of the way which is always nice.

Anyways we got there and pretty much slept but the next day everything really began.
Alex, his dad, his mom's dad, and I all went out to staples where you have to go through a ticket booth in order to park which was nuts. And then we went out for some of the best fish and chips I have ever had at this place called Back Home Fish And Chips

Photobucket

And then Alex and I went to West Edmonton Mall which was intense!
Id never been there before but man is it ever worth seeing!! They have this lake in the middle of the mall where you can scuba dive and they have this giant pirate ship in it!

Photobucket

Intense,
then farther down they have a sea lion show and a penguin show and an ice rink and a giant water park with a huge pool. Its like holy crap is this seriously a mall? And then after you've walked around what seems like the whole mall there is an amusement park which is the size of half the mall and then another half of the mall! It was intense.
Ill have to add pictures later because Photobucket is being a menace. Talk soon!

July 08, 2009

My delusional Grandmother

If you know me, or have seen any of my videos on youtube than you may know about my dwindling relationship with my Grandmother. If not then here is some background info before I get into the real event.\

****BACKGROUND****

According to my mother, when I was little I was a very interesting child. I was not greedy persay, but the fact that my fathers mother bought me everything I asked for, and did everything I asked, helped me lean into that matter. My Mom apparently told her that I would not respond well to this treatment, especially if she stopped. Well eventually of course she stopped or slowed down and from what I have heard I started to rebel. Now I do not remember being bratty to her because of my greed but I was a great deal younger than I am now.

That being said, ever since I can remember her and the way she has treated me she has been nothing but maniuplative and greedy to herself. The first memories I have of her, are of her being rude to my cousin and blaming her for something and me standing up for my cousin. I cannot remember exactly what happened but I remember that B wasn't the one who did it because she hadn't been feeling well and so I had been taking care of her in our tent.

Looking back I believe that N (my grandmother) was the actual culprit, and in fact she often is but finds herself forgetting, whether on purpose or not, a lot.

That being said I have always lived with my Mom and been a bit distant from N. Of course the fact that my father also finds her to be manipulative and unfriendly only added to that. He hasn't talked to her because he wanted to in quite some time. Although he does humour her and go over once a week for dinner. When we (Mom, my dad (step dad), siblings, and I) moved closer to where she lived after living in a completely different province, she did everything to try and see me. Which could be seen as a compliment or love except that she went way outside the boundries.

Now my father is sick, he has openly admitted it (From what I know they can not decipher what he has exactly but everything seems to make him sick) and feels that he would be happy with what he has accomploshed if he were to die tomorrow. When we first moved back to BC, N would call me and tell me that my father had cancer and was going to die in three months and I had to come stay with her and she would take care of me. Of course at this time I was in contact with my father and all three of my parents were outraged with her breach.

A few years back, when I graduated, she told me that she had set aside 20,000 for me to get my teeth done - braces and all - and I told her that I didnt want to get braces and that I didnt feel the need to. She was get mad at the fact that I had turned it away and I said that maybe I could get them bleached and use the rest of the money for school and she said that if I wasnt going to come down and get my teeth done then she would give the money to my cousin. Neither one of us has seen it at this point.

Then during my year off from school she said that she would pay for my first year of college if I came down and lived in their house. I could come down in January and house sit for them until mid February and then I would live with them from then on and house sit whn they went away. So I left my Mom's and quit my job and moved down here to where I currently am. During the next year, including when I started school, I continuously brought up the money situation and recevied different answers. When I asked her husband about it he said he had no idea that she had said anything of the sort. So I was left to confront her. So we went from paying my first year, to her claiming she had said she would just help out, then she said that helping me out was letting me stay there, then she said I should start paying rent to teach me responsibility, then she said she would pay for my books, then when she saw my books were $800 she said she would help with my books and gave me a cheque for $300 but then they went away for three months and she told me to use that money to fill the fridge instead, and I haven't heard or seen of anything since. Just recently she told me that she was broke but would pay for my Wisdom Teeth, which I figured she wouldnt so I paid by splitting it on my two credit cards and then she got mad that I had paid and came down while I was in surgery and had them refund my money so she could pay and has been harassing me about paying her back ever since. I told her that my health didnt cover it, which it sadly didnt and she has been trying to get the money from my mother's health insurance but then N said that I could have the money for my schooling but Id have to give it to her first and then she'd give it back to me. We haven't heard anything back yet from my Mom's Health but we have a feeling that it will be an empty cheque.
Finally when I went up there for dinner one day she brought up that my fifth cousin, her second cousin, that is two years younger than me happened to graduate this year. And She told her second cousin that she would pay for her first year. Needless to say I was extremely upset.

I go to my dads almost every week and play cards and he told me that I needed to stick it out in that house as long as I could because I didnt have to pay for rent ( just gas to get from there to school which is about a 20 min. drive anyway!) but that if he was healthier he would have me stay with him because he knows that N and mine's personalities clash.
& now we are up to date!

***END BACKGROUD***

So I had finally had enough. Because Alex is now officially done school I am allowed to move into the basement suite with him and continue our new life. Slowly I have been moving everything down here and I have been telling N on more than one occasion that I would be moving out to Alex's as per the plan. Well we are heading to a family get together on Alex's side of the family on thursday so last week I went up to N's house and grabbed the remainder of my clothes so that I could sort and wash and pick out everything. Well on Friday night... July 3... Alex and I went up to their house around 11pm and started packing the remainder of my stuff. I had had enough of her and we had just gotten off and I said okay lets go do this. Her husband, my grandfather was awake and I told him we were just coming to get more stuff and he nodded his head and we had a little convoish thing and then started upstairs to my semi room.

See earlier on Thursday N had asked if someone could come stay in my room and I said sure since I wouldnt be there any way. Well that had me thinking that my walls are covered in pictures of me and my friends from over the years and I felt a little eerie about someone I didnt know sleeping in my room with all my stuff which is another reason why we went up there.
So Alex and I packed everything up and now 95% of my stuff is here in our little basement. I left a few suitcases (2-4) in the window seat but they are packed and besides that nothing else is there. I had to leave a few because it didnt feel right taking everything without a conversation and there wasnt enough room in my car.

Saturday comes along and I havent had a chance to talk to anyone yet about me officially moving out and N calls my in-laws, who bring a phone down to me. She is in a ruckus and asks me if I have been there and I said no and she goes off about how someone broke into their house while they were gone and everything has been thrown everywhere and her clothes are all over her bed and she keeps saying: Did you go in my room? Did you go in my closet?
And I just kept saying we havent been there today but are you ok? Is Grandfather ok? Is anything broken or missing? Have you called the cops yet? You know, standard questions.
Believe it or not I was concerned that the guy may still be in the house.

She said she hadnt called the police because she wanted to see if it was me, and I kept telling to hang up and call the police so they can get prints and what not and she keeps cutting me off and saying that she is hurt. And I am thinking that she was shot or something and so I ask her whats wrong and she proceeds to go off about how she feels like dirt because all of my stuff is gone and she knows that I was there at 1 in the morning emptying my room. And I said "I have been telling you for quite some time that I was leaving, and I have been slowly taking my stuff" and she gets all mad at me and says that I told her six months ago.
WELL NO - She invited me out for lunch a few weeks ago, claimed to have forgotten her wallet, then when I said I was broke and couldnt afford the expensive restraunt she picked, she magically found some cash under her car seat. I told her then and numerous times prior, that I was moving into Alex's basement.
Well I pointed that out and again she cuts me off and says well how do his parents feel about this and I told her that we are adults and that we are renting the basement suite. Well she didnt like that. She went off on me. And I told her that I would be up there to get the rest of my stuff soon, and that I packed it all up now because I did not feel comfortable with someone riffling through my stuff (Like I caught her doing, and reading my private journal not an internet blog but of course I didnt say this to her) And she said but you said ok! and I said I know I said ok, because its your house and I knew that I was going to start packing this week, I just didnt know when until now.
I kept trying to change the subject about her break in and she kept trying to guilt trip me so I eventually aid goodbye and hung up.

I called my mother. And told her the situation and asked if I should go up there or not. Part of me wanted to go up there and make sure that my family and the house was safe but the other part had a gut instinct that if I went up there then that was exactly what she wanted and she would corner me. So I told Mom, and she said that my instinct was right and that if I went up there then I should take Alex. Well I didnt want to take Alex because then he would get sucked into the argument too so we decided I wouldnt go up to the house. Well because I wasn't on the phone with my Mom for that I long I asked Alex if he would drive me up to their house just to see if their was a cop car there. I had him drive incase N was looking for my car. So we drove up to their lovely suburban neighborhood, drove around their big house, and was their a cop car? Nope. Any sort of security people or emergency crews or anything like that? Nope. Infact it had just gotten dark and they did not even have their lights on. Their outside lights, or their motion lights. Now if you just got broken into, would you have all your lights off?
Needless to say it was a great ordeal.

I emailed her later that night and said that I was under the impression that she was aware that I was leaving and that I did not intentionally go home and remove my stuff to get back at her or make her feel small. I also said that we could go for lunch if she wanted to call me and set a time before my work hours (which I included) and she never returned my call/email. In fact she phoned today right before I was leaving for work and said "Well I guess we arent going for coffee to discuss this." ARG I told her we could go for coffee when I get back and that at that time I would come retrieve the rest of my stuff. She said that I could leave stuff there, however, because she has decided to not have anyone stay in my room. Ya, right.

Im so fed up with her that if she evensets one foot over my personal boundary when we are out for coffee I will snap. I cant deal with this any more.

Anyways - thanks for letting me get this all off my chest!

Best Wishes!!
Mrs. A. Squared

July 01, 2009

Ever heard of a Melbourne Shuffle?

So Alex showed me this and I have to admit that I've been watching this for about 2 hours just completely baffled at how they just float about.

Now this one:


Isn't the best but the Strawberry person at the beginning totally wigs me out.

How do people in Hammer Wannabe pants manage to float about? Is it all the air they get?
Im so lost!!
Jusst take a gander at some of the vids, not just this one.
-A

STOP - Flash Mob Time!

Alex just showed me this and I could not resist sending it on here!!
What a cool little find.

Shocked the socks off all of the skinny jeaned people.
Its hammer time baby!


June 28, 2009

I had an interesting convo today....

So I have a few funny stories from work this week.
  1. I had a lady comein requesting me to enlarge some Michael Jackson pictures - sure fine whatever- she told me she was having a Michael Jackson Wake at her house.... eerie... but hey whatever swings your boat I guess eh? MJ dies so you party - but what do you think they are partying for? Are they celebrating his life or his death? Personally I would celebrate his life because he has accomplished a lot - Alex thinks otherwise.
  2. I was helping a person out on our ekiosk (where you can upload files to our web site for printing) and this elderly gentleman walks up and taps me on the shoulder. So I turned around and he said 'how long are you going to be' and I said 'a few minutes Im just going to finish with this gentleman' and he said 'thats too long - I need to pick up an order' and I said 'ok I will be over once I've finished with this gentleman.' Anywho I finished up and walked over and helped the grouch and once his transaction had been completed he said 'now you can go talk to your friends and mess around' and I said 'sir that was another customer I was helping with the web submission site' and he said 'whatever, you should screw around on your own time' JERK I think so. Anyways he left and the next guy in the line and the guy i had helped on the kiosk just kind stared blankly and I said to the kiosk guy -' I think he thought we were friends and screwin around' to which he said 'I dont eve know you!' and I said 'I know!.' so we all laughed and later on when the ekiosk guy returned for his order he said 'Hey FRIEND, is it done yet?' ahahahaha Some peoples kids!
  3. I've dealt with a particular gentleman twice now and he always seems to want this certain shade of paper but calls it somehting obnoxious rather than its actual name. Like calling water - CLEAR water for no real reason.... ok bad example. In any case we didnt have any last time and he made me write off a ream of similar coloured paper because he opened it and then decided he didnt want it after printing on it! In any case this time I told him I couldnt remember him. It was 10 minutes to close and I only had one b/w self serve machine on - well first off his machine that he normally uses was off. I ensured him that all the ss copiers against the window were the same and would run the same quality. Well of course the only one I have on had to screw up ever so slightly near the top... well guess who noticed it. Our main obnoxious man of course. So he wants his machine turned on and I said fine but it will take a few minutes to heat up and he went off about how he had been coming here for 8 years and always used the same machine. blahdiblah. So I turned it on and after it finally loaded up and everything he walked over to me and asked me to set it up..... I THOUGHT YOU'D BEEN COMING HERE FOR 8 YEARS! Using the same machine for 8 years and you dont know how to use it? Ya right.
I would keep complaining but what is the point! Id dwell on the bad but then there would be no good!! Gotta get rid of the bad thoughts yup yup - only good ones allowed to dwell in this mind!

Talk soon!
-A

June 27, 2009

Pixie Wiggles!

This up coming week, pixie wiggles the new shop will be opening!
This is going to be my little shop for everything I do that is not etching related.
My main thing, I am hoping, is what I call mopflops but you will have to wait and see for those.
Keep an eye out on http://pixiewiggles.etsy.com for the new shop Grand opening This week!

June 24, 2009

First Etsy Purchase Arrived!!

My first etsy purchase arrive today and I am extremely excited!!!

I bought some Double Bergamont Earl Grey Caramels from La Bella Caramela last Monday and have been waiting for them ever since and finally they arrived on my little doorstep and I was so please with the quality and precision of the packing and just everything.
Everything was exactly as I thought.

It tasted exquisite
The packaging was cute
Everything was thought out

It was awesome.

It turns out that who ever delivered it actually sent it to the wrong house. It wasn't the shipper or the shippee, just the bum who was driving the post truck and decided to give it to a house ten houses down for whatever reason. Im 1342 and it was delivered to 1442.. who knows why. Sodded delivery man thats for sure.

Anyways he kindly walked down and deposited them to my in-laws who then sent them down to me and everything worked out quite well. I am so pleased that I think I may just eat them all tonight and have to re order tomorrow!!

I also made a few more purchases from etsy last night and they should be here soon.
Ill talk about htem when they get here though. Until then =)

Todays... ummm Tuesday/Wednesday

So nothing really exciting happened this past week except for a few more etchings really.

Got a few more in the mini series completed and now I'm moving onto a new project for my Grandmother. One of the dogs she dogs sits on a ongoing occasion had to get put down last week and so she has asked me to do a memorial etching. The dog is a Russian Police Dog that was first created or I suppose bred just after world war two I believe. Here's a tid bit from Wikipedia:

The Black Russian Terrier was developed in the former USSR by the state for use as a military/working dogs. The breeding stock was largely imported from the occupied countries, especially East Germany. Breeds used in the development include the Airedale Terrier, Caucasian Ovcharka, Newfoundland, Giant and Standard Schnauzers and the now extinct Moscow Water Dog. It was bred for working ability, rather than appearance, and early examples only resembled today's Black Russian Terrier in their build and coat type. It was bred solely by the state owned Red Star Kennel until 1957, when some puppies were sold to civilian breeders. These breeders began to breed for looks (as the original was rather plain) while retaining working ability.

In time, the breed spread to the Balkans, Ukraine, and Siberia, and later to Finland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the United States.

The breed was recognized by the FCI in 1984. On July 1, 2004, it was recognized by the American Kennel Club in the working group.

So never the less I have this project on my hands. I have picked out a nice tile that I feel will be able to handle the etching nicely and have begun sifting through my pictures of the dog to see which one would look best as a stencil. I have already converted most of them to stencil images and right now have widdled the selection down to just a fair few. I can only hope that this turns out the right way because if it doesnt then that isnt too too good is it.

In the end - if it isnt good enough for me - that I wont give it to them.

June 12, 2009

Today, Early in the morning

Still early, still awake... I dont know why but lately I just havent been able to go to bed.
By that I mean no sleeping till 4 in the morning... lame I know

I havent really been doing anything in the day either.

Just sit around, sleep most of the day - I feel lazy but I feel like I deserve it.
First year of college done - wow.. I didnt do too great but I didnt do bad either.

Opened up my etsy shop! Woot Woot. No sale.s. yet.
http://scrtsolstice.etsy.com

Will you be the first?
I dont know what else to say.
Havent uploaded to ScrtSolstice in awhile.
But I did film a new video for it.

Uploaded to vlogcountries a day late.

Havent uploaded to either 50bookchallenge or VlogofZOdd in awhile either...
Im slacking these days.... I got premier though so maybe we will see a change in that.
Myabe.

oooh and the deviant arts are doing swell.

http://theprincesspretz.deviantart.com
http://AnAmazingFeet.deviantart.com

And I have a facebook fan page now.. woot.... Im on my way. not really.
-A