Ouch

Big day planned for Kitty tomorrow. She gets to go to the vet to get spayed and declawed - what fun! She doesn't seem too concerned at the moment, as she is more interested in jumping around on the furniture and preventing me from seeing the computer screen. I have a feeling she won't be quite so enthusiastic when she gets home again on Friday.

Who Likes Mini Wheats Anyways?

Does anyone else love this commercial? Every time it comes on I want to sing along, and it gets stuck in my head. I don't even like Mini Wheats.

My little story takes place at a tropical villa

I fell in love with a flavour, Yes it was vanilla!

Miiiinniiiiii wheats wheats wheats

I wanted vanilla for so long

Mini wheats wheats wheats

It's high in fibre you can't go wrong

Vanilla flavour mixed with wheat

Put it together it can't be beat

Vanilla flavour mixed with wheat

Tastes so good, what a treat!

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHWpGb3zYnM

Good-bye Swimmy

'Tis a sad day in the Vander Deen household, as death has left its cold touch on our doorstep. I am sad to announce that my beloved Swimmy has passed away and is now swimming with his friends in the sewer pipes. Swimmy will be missed by, well, me, anyways, and maybe by Kitty. Swimmy led a long and unproductive life, moving from place to place with an uneasy stomach and a finicky temperament. He knew very few tricks, and liked to hide under his rock. He always enjoyed reminiscing about his mud-puddle days, and would quickly transfom his newly cleaned bowl into a bubbly bubble-nest mess. He ate more than he should have, except in his last days when he ate less than required to survive. Swimmy leaves an empty spot on our bookshelf, but his memory will live on in his very own book: Swimmy, by Leo Lionni.

Swimmy's first day: September 21, 2002. Swimmy arrived with

balloons, fancy-dancy birthday cake, and a big surprise with many

people. Actually, pictured here is Swimmy I, who suffered

much stress and only lasted one day. Swimmy II arrived a few days later,

and soon assumed the general name of Swimmy

Swimmy doing some reading in our new home. He was never one for

much discussion, but he did enjoy his place on the bookshelf.

The Hole Swimmy leaves behind

Swimmy's favourite book of all timeHe taught them to swim close together, each in his own place, and when they had learned to swim like one giant fish, he said, "I'll be the eye." And so they swam in the cool morning water and in the midday sun and chased the big fish away

Busy day

Productive days are great. There seemed to be some extra hours added into today somehow, for which I am happily surpised! We got an early start this morning, getting some grocery shopping in at a store we haven't tried yet. I think I may have found my grocery store - not quite as ritzy as the Real Canadian SS, yet providing choice and good prices. And who can't like a grocery store with fancy ice-cream on sale?
Mike and I then toured across the city aiming for the Dutch import store we had discovered on Ontario street a few weeks back. It was a pretty good store - most of the traditional Dutch things were there, except for a supply of our favorite mugs. I was a little disappointed to see that their food isn't imported from Custan foods, as I always thought that was kind of special, knowing the secret to that name . . .
When we got home, we were quite amused to find that the cat had trapped herself in the little nook behind the fridge she likes so much. We released her, then left to walk downtown for a Remembrance day ceremony in the half-rain just across the Burgoyne bridge. When it was done, we headed further downtown for the library, and when we were about halfway there, the skies decided that half-rain wasn't good enough, and soon we were quite soaked. Taking refuge for a few minutes in the Farmer's Market, we bought some bread and summer sausage. When we finally made it to the library, a note was posted on the door saying it was closed for Remembrance Day. Looking like drowned rats, and slightly disappointed drowned rats at that, we made our drippy way home, where we found that the cat had, once again, trapped herself behind the fridge. Dumb cat. The afternoon was spent, for me, cleaning the house, and for Mike, soldering and plumbing. So, the house is clean and I now have some beauty taps downstairs for the laundry tubs (thanks Mike and Dad!)
And, lest you think our day was nearing completion, we gave the cat a bath and then took off for the school, where lots of marking and planning were completed. Now the famous Vander Deen pizza dough is rising in the kitchen, and it's only 6:30. Amazing!
There is only one problem. I am almost done writing this post, but it is so boring that I might just fall asleep before I manage to publish it.

Remembrance

In Flanders Fields

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1882-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the dead, short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe.

To you, with failing hands we throw

The torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.