Atropa Belladonna

~ Raven (a.k.a. Nightshade)'s Weblog ~


These are the ARCHIVES of OCTOBER 2006. For more archives, visit the Archives page. For the current Weblog entries, check the Main page.


Tues, Oct 31, 2006 (10:55am)

Today is the last day of October, and thus the last day on Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Tomorrow, I'm goin back to my regular color scheme, because I'm starting to avoid reading my own weblog due to its sheer pink-ness.

If you haven't had the chance yet, please learn a bit more about Breast Cancer. Early detection is the best way to battle breast cancer, and it's really easy. Read about it today, and (if you don't already) practice regular Breast Self Examination. If you're a guy and reading this, don't feel left out. Ask you girlfriend if there's any way you can help!

Mon, Oct 30, 2006 (9:55am) with edits on Oct 31 8:15am

Well, it's been a busy few days.

On Friday, Starlin', Bunny, and I proved it was possible to take 6 kids to West Edmonton Mall to eat Crepes for breakfast, and come out alive.

Friday evening, we had Gamers over, and we watched Snatch. We also got to listen to Fox and Maskwa buying a house, over the course of several phone calls. I hope everything went through with that, because I'm looking forward to seeing their place!

Saturday morning, I was up early to go to a CPR course. I proved that I still have the skills and knowledge to deal with people who decide to drop uncosncious in front of me (if not the inclination, at that hour of the morning).

Saturday afternoon, Shades helped me load Kalen into the van, and I headed off to Saskatchewan to investigate rumors that my new nephew Logan was the cutest baby on the planet.

Saturday evening the rumors were found to be completely true. What's more, Jodi and Damon are fabulous parents.

Saturday night, we spent in a hotel in Humboldt. It was nice. The room was dark. The bed was flat. The bird was very, very tired.

Sunday morning was Brunch with Damon, Jodi, Logan, and Kalen. Kalen demonstrated the Reevan Coffee Consumption Method. The early afternoon was spent dealing with a sugar-high 6 yr old.

We hung out at Jodi's place for the afternoon, playing games (Sims 2, Pirate Math), adoring the cute baby, and painting stencil decorations on the walls of the baby's room.

After saying goodbyes to Jodi & crew, Kalen and I drove into Saskatoon for supper with Bregon, at Povorinos. Good food! Good price! Goodness gracious, Kalen is still sugar-high! And over-tired now, too!

Left Saskatoon around 6pm and started driving back home. The roads were good up until Vegreville, although that last hour of driving might have caused a few new knuckle-indentations on my steering wheel. Crawled in the front door around 11pm (12am gut-time) and let Shades put both me & Kalen to bed.

This morning, I'm still a little tired, but shaking less. I think next time I make a weekend out to Saskatchewan, I will start on Friday evening, and I will monitor Kalen's sugar intake more carefully.

Sat, Oct 28, 2006 (1:15am)

Kalen was amusing herself while I worked on some landscaping, last Thursday afternoon...

Kalen: Mommy, can I use this bucket? I'm gonna make a potion, okay?

Raven: Okay. I'm done with the bucket for now. What kind of potion are you making?

Kalen: Witch's Brew! It's a tasty potion for the Witches and Ghosts and Goblins who'll come for Hallowe'en. It uses one scoop of sand, two scoops of road crush, two scoops of gravel, and a handful of dirt. I need to stir it now. Can I use the broom?

Raven: As soon as I'm done sweeping these Allen Blocks off. Kay. Here ya go. Just use it upside down, alright? Stir with the stick end so you don't get mud on the bristles.

Kalen: (stir, stir, stir) All done! Mmmm, such a delicious potion. They'll love it! Now I need to make a second batch.

Raven: Oh, are we expecting a lot of Witches and Goblins on Hallowe'en?

Kalen: No, I just need to make a batch without any gravel in it, for the Goblins who have a gravel intolerance.

Thurs, Oct 26, 2006 (8:20am)

Spaced Out

My-kids-completely-disassembled-my-keyboard,and-now-my-space-bar-is-broken.

This-is-why-I-haven't-been-replying-to-much-email,or-updating-weblogs.
I-tried,for-a-while,using-cut-and-paste-to-insert-spaces-between-all-the-words,but-it-gets-really-bloody-annoying.

I-tried-writing-giant-run-on-words,but-then-they-don't-break-well-at-the-end-of-a-line,and-cause-broswers-to-resize-their-windows-just-so-people-can-read-my-giant-words.That-sucks-too.

But-hyphens-allow-a-word-to-break,so-hopefully-this-will-work.At-least-til-I-get-my-keyboard-fixed/replaced.

Tues, Oct 24, 2006 (8:23am)

On Friday, I got a haircut. It's a bit different. I like it. Maybe I'll post pics when I'm not counting the minutes 'til I have to get kids out the door to school.

On Saturday, I got to find out what a Stink Bomb smells like, 'cuz some NorthEast Edmonton hooligan decided to set one off in the lobby of the clinic where I work. I also got to call the Police (our manager wasn't sure if we should, despite the fact that it was the third time this had happened) and confirmed that we have some very nice officers working in our area. They assured us they'd patrol around the clinic more often. Very convenient for them, I thought, since we are located right next door to a Tim Hortons.

On Sunday, I had a wicked migraine. Luckily, I also had a fine specimen of the Northern Arboreal Walrus taking shelter in my basement, and got a very very nice neck & back massage before going to bed. Danke, Wally.

On Monday, I smiled to know that I am not the only person who will pour hot water into the coffee filter without remembering to first place the filter over the coffee pot. These sorts of things just serve to remind me that Mondays should really be spent in bed.

Today, I have a date with a very cute boy, and we will be making salsa, and watching BattleStar Galactica together. I am looking forward to it.

Fri, Oct 20, 2006 (11:45pm)

The thing with the car doors...

Since several people have inquired (via comments or elsehow) I will explain the saga of the Neighbourhood Idiot.

Early this month, I discovered a note on my van's windshield, carefully tucked under the wiper. It looked like the sort of note which people leave when they ding your vehicle in a parkinglot, or want to tell you your headlight is broken. It said, in relatively friendly script "Your doors are unlocked."

I didn't need to check my van to confirm that they were unlocked, since I knew I hadn't locked them, but I peeked into the van anyways, to see if I'd left any groceries or packages which some passer-by might want to steal. Nope - nothing. I rarely leave any valuables in my van (not even CDs or sunglasses) because I lived in North East Edmonton long enough to know that People Steal Stuff. The only stuff in my van which wasn't nailed down or otherwise secured to the vehicle's body was just not worth taking - kleenex box, floss, some junk mail, a couple dollar-store toys, and (if you wanted to open the tailgate to disconnect the security bolt) maybe a booster seat.

I folded up the note and tossed it into paper recycle.

Later that week, another note, similarly worded, appeared on my van. The writing was less friendly, and it was punctuated with an exclamaition point rather than a period. It followed the previous note into the recycle bin.

Early last week, another note appeared. This time, it said "Lock your doors!!!" in bold angry writing, which had torn through the paper and left faint pen marks on my windshield. Nothing in the vehicle worth stealing, and nothing had been tampered with as far as I could tell.

I wondered, as I tossed the paper onto the growing pile, whether this had anything to do with the vehicle break-ins a few months ago. Several vehicles on our street had been broken into and looted. CD's stolen, glove-boxes rummaged, etc. Shades and I had been among the victims but there'd been nothing of value in our cars. An overnight guest of ours was less lucky, and lost some electronics, I believe. About a month later, there was another string of break-ins, and our neighbours vehicle was actually stolen, but recovered from a street further down the block later that day. It had its window smashed, the ignition jimmied, and a big mess made in it. But vehicle theft (particularly when the thieves smash the window) will not be deterred by locked doors, will it? Or did the concerned citizen believe I was bringing neighbourhood property values down by leaving an unlocked vehicle on the street to deliberately attract thieves?

I mentioned this to Connor's therapy worker, and she said that she'd found a similar note on her windshield, the previous week. I guess our neighbourhood door-locking-patrol has been spreading the love around.

Despite the fact that it offends some neighbour's delicate sensibilities, I have continued to leave my van doors unlocked. It is not, to the best of my knowledge, illegal to leave an unlocked vehicle on the street. I just make sure to keep valuables out of sight (preferably by taking them into the house). All that locking my doors has got me in the past was a broken window, anyways.

Plus, when I'm loading the kids into the van, I don't want to deal with the hassle of locking or unlocking the door. I've had too many times where Connor or Jasen bolted onto the street - they just don't comprehend the dangers of traffic, or what it means when I shout "STOP!" To me, the risk of theft just doesn't compare to the risk to my children's life & limbs. Someday, this may change, and I can trust them to wait patiently when I'm digging in my pocket for keys, but even then I'll probably leave the doors open just for convenience sake. I like leaving my doors unlocked.

Mr./Ms Neighbourhood Do-gooder does not like me leaving my doors unlocked.

Shades came home last week to discover that s/he had upped the ante by actually opening my car door, and leaving it open, in plain view of the house. Which, by the way, also means it was sticking out into sidewalk traffic... and there's a lot of sidewalk traffic at that time of the day (between 3 and 5pm, when kids get out of school and go riding bikes/skateboards up and down the block, visiting eachother, or just heading home). I can imagine it inconvenienced a lot of people. And while failure to lock a door isn't illegal, the last time I checked, being a Public Nuisance was on the Not-Do list.

We ignored this malicious behaviour, figuring that they had made their point, and we would make ours by continuing to leave them unlocked.

On Wednesday, the malicious busy-body opened my door again. This time, the door facing away from the house. Obviously, they had to go out of their way to do this (unless they regularly walk o nthe street opening car doors and annoying traffic) and didn't want it seen from the house. So, they've gone from wanting to point out to us that our door is unlocked, to causing a deliberate nuisance which wouldn't be noticed (by us at least) until someone went out to the vehicle and discovered the battery was dead.

Luckily, not everyone on the block is so unneighbourly. The guy who lives across the road sent his kid over to let us know that we'd "forgotten" to close our vehicle's door, and it was sticking out into traffic. So I explained the situation to the kid, and his Dad (who, by the by, assured us that he wasn't the person pulling these pranks, but he would keep an eye out for any suspicious activity).

Later that night, when I had to take Connor to the doctor, I realized that turing on the radio caused the interior lights to dim. The battery had apparently drained a good bit due to this idiot's pranks. Who knows - perhaps they'd left my door open several times during the preceeding week, but people walking down the sidewalk helpfully closed it before we noticed. At any rate, it would have been a royal pain to discover that my van - the one which I use to drive sick kids to ER in the wee hours - had been deliberately sabotaged by some self-centered prick. I wonder if this was something they'd even thought of, when they decided to "teach us a little lesson."

Probably not. I'm sure the idea that their actions might be endangering a child's life never occurred to them. I'm sure it never crossed their minds that loading handicapped kids into a van might be a pain when fumbling for keys, and that somebody might deliberately choose to leave their doors unlocked for the safety of their kids. Did they even realize that by being so thoughtless as to open doors and impede traffic - potentially even causing accidents - was, perhaps, more of a criminal act than some kids stealing a CD from an open car?

Almost certainly not. People can be such self-righteous idiots when they're trying to prove a point.

I can also be a self-righteous prick when trying to prove a point. So I have created a sign, which is currently hung in the front passenger window of my van, for all passers-by to see:
To Whom it May Concern:

Leaving a vehicle's doors unlocked is not illegal.
We have handicapped kids in our house, and its just easier not to fumble with keys while loading them into the van.
But opening a person's car doors so they stick out into sidewalk or vehicle traffic? That is a Public Nuisance.
And letting a person's battery drain so they will discover it's dead when they need to bring a sick child to the Doctor, that borders on Criminal.
Please, I'm sure you have the best intentions, but if you want to communicate them, you can come ring our doorbell.
Otherwise, MIND YOUR OWN BLOODY BUSINESS.

I doubt they'll ring our doorbell to discuss the matter, or to apologize, or anything so civil. But if they do ring the doorbell, I really hope I'm home when they do so. Because if not, who knows, they might try their hand on the doorknob. And if they do, they'll discover that our house is not locked either.

Really.

Thurs, Oct 19, 2006 (1:15pm)

BLOGFODDER!

Doesn't that have such a nice angry sound to it? Like a swear word, or an insult? "Bloody Frakkin' Blogfodder!"

It's my new curse. I hope you like it, because I've been using it a lot lately. It's the perfect word to use when things just make you clench your teeth and say "I am so blogging this" 'cuz you just can't think of anything else positive to pull out of the situation. For example:

  • When you go to the store to pick up your pre-ordered copy of Sims 2 Pets, only to discover that "Our shipment hasn't arrived yet." - Oh, Blogfodder!

  • When you get the call to say your game is in, and you rush eagerly to pick it up, only to discover the cashier who took the pre-order mistakenly put you down for a copy of Sims 2 Pets for PS2 instead of for PC. You can grumble a mantra of "blogfodder-blogfodder-blogfodder" under your breath while they go check the back room to see if they have any copies of the PC version still left. It helps. It really does.

  • When you discover that your clever son has just climbed on the counter and POURED his brother's bottle of Pediapred out onto the floor - the $40 bottle which took 2 hours in ER to get the prescription for - that's worth punctuating with a loud BLOGFODDER! right there.

  • If, less than 48 hours after you took the baby to ER, you realize that your second child is headed into respiratory problems too, it might be time to roll your eyes and mumble "Oh, blogfodder. Not this again.'

  • When you get ready to load the sick kid into the van for a trip to the doctor, and discover that some neighbourhood idiot has chosen to open your car doors in an attempt to drain your batteries, then, yeah, that's a good time to call down some blogfodderin' curses on their heads.

  • And, of course, if you're so preoccupied with the battery issues, and lack of functional signal lights that you don't notice your vehicle is desperately low on gas, until it starts making sluggish gurglings going up the off-ramp at Victoria Trail, then you could gasp, "Not now - oh, please, not right now. I don't need this blogfodder."

  • But when you pull up at the (Full Serve!) gas station to deal with the problem and your poor sick son starts coughing so hard that he pukes, you don't say anything. You just clench your fists, calmly exit the vehicle, walk around to the sliding door, open it, and start cleaning up the pukey mess with your bare hands, and a wad of paper towel grabbed in passing from the windshield-wiper stand.

  • When the gas station attendent, who took his bloody time coming out to the pumps, sees you've already exited the van and assumes you must be pumping your own gas, you can shout at him "Get back here! I did NOT come to a Full Serve station to pump my own gas. I have VOMIT all over my hands! So unless you want to clean this up while I pump, can you just do your job already?!?! Or, so help me, I will make Blogfodder out of you!"

Really, though, I can't complain too much. I have 2 sick boys, but I'm not running to the hospital with either of them. I have a nice shiny copy of Sims 2 Pets which I eagerly anticipate playing with when I'm not cleaning body fluids or dispensing medicine. And medicine! I have medicine! Since I had to bring kid # 2 to the doctor anyways, he gave me a new Rx for Pediapred to replace the spilled one. I have gas, I have a functional battery in my van, and I have signal lights which work (for the moment). I also have a nicely worded notice posted for our neighbourhood idiot.

Ooooh! Ooooh! And I got to play Gauntlet last night, for the first time in nearly 2 decades! Oh, that was sweet. (I bought Sims 2 Pets. Shades bought an Xbox 360 console and downloaded Arcade games from XboxLive!)

So, that's what's been happening in my life lately. Stay tuned for more updates as events warrant, for there is no shortage of BlogFodder in this universe.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006 (2:55pm)

The Sims 2 PETS! Expansion comes out tomorrow. I have booked the day off from most things (except one meeting with Connor's school which can't be rescheduled without inconveniencing 6 people) and intend to spend most of my time in front of the computer. The reveiws all sound pretty good - like the folks at EA learned a lot from the original Sims 'Unleashed' expansion - and pets can interact with the family and furniture in ways they couldn't before. Plus, these pets are customizable in Create-A-Pet just like the Sims themselves are in Create-A-Sim. You can give them genetic characteristics, and watch as their traits are passed on to future generations.

I'm looking forward to creating a nice Saavik look-a-like, and seeing her puppies running around Veronaville!

Sun, Oct 15, 2006 (11:20pm)

So, we ended up bringing Jase to ER tonight. This comes as little surprise, I'm sure, to the people who were over tonight and saw him wheezing. The ventolin helped for a while, but once he ran out of energy, he crashed into a pretty rough state again. Rather than waiting for it to go from bad to worse, I took him in. And, as expected, the doctor gave him Prednisone, and a prescription of the same for us to use in the upcoming week. Plus orders for Pulmicort & Ventolin by nebulizer, until he stabilizes, or until we need to bring him to ER again.

The doctor also seconded my guess that he'll grow up to be an Asthmatic like his sister. This does not come as any surprise, nor does it cause me any great distress. Asthma I can handle with my eyes closed.

Fri, Oct 13, 2006 (1:00pm)

Friday the 13th. Yay! All Octobers should have Friday the 13ths! Although, I guess that would really screw with the Gregorian calendar thing, wouldn't it? Oh, well... it's the though that counts.

Today I culled & editted a bunch of my links: Shades has a new domain host for BlankShield Press, so that's working again. Last week I discovered that both Anna & Don keep LiveJournals, so I posted links for those. Plus dstirling's blog (Thoughts from the Dark) has been replaced by his Xanga blog (Roses & Tigers). A couple other defunct blogs have been removed, and replaced with stuff which currently amuses me, but may be removed on some future whim.

Wed, Oct 11, 2006 (1:10pm) with Comments added Thurs 8:00am

I am the proud owner of a SharpVet 12 inch prolapse needle! Do you know what that means? If you have a cow with a prolapsed uterus, then I'm the one to call! Well, aside from the lack of veterinary degree and stuff, of course. But that's okay, because most of my friends also lack cows, so it evens out, right?

Except for Anna. If Cow the cow ever becomes a reality, then you are obligated to invite me to Scotland, so I can wave my wicked looking prolapse needle in the cow's face, and explain to her that she'd better never get into that whole uterine prolapse thing which is so popular with the calves these days, 'cuz if she does, then I'm coming for her!

That'll teach her, right? (Bovine psychology will be my specialty when I get my Veterinary degree.)
Wed, Oct 11, 2006 (3:35pm)

Jodi had this Comment:
Comments : You scare me. Stay away from my uterus. It's already been seen to. ;)

Mon, Oct 9, 2006 (12:10pm)

Twenty Samosas, STAT!

We perform a lot of procedures at the clinic where I work, from simple things like suture removal and bandage changes to more complex pilonidal cyst excision and suturing some pretty impressive lacerations. Last night, however, I encountered a procedure I hadn't come across in my 5 years with the clinic: the samosa run.

It was Thanksgiving Sunday and the clinic was pretty quiet last night - everyone must have been at home, watching sports and/or sleeping off their turkey dinners. Our doc was muttering something about missing his own Thanksgiving dinner, when he turned to me and said "I want samosas. You want samosas? Let's get samosas."

So he called up the East Indian Restaurant nearby, and ordered 20 samosas, to go. Then he sent me on my first physician-ordered Samosa run. I drove, picked them up, and returned in a little over 10 minutes.

And we feasted on Thanksgiving Samosas.

Thurs, Oct 5, 2006 (2:40pm)

I have a new nephew!

Logan James Christopher Steadman was born in Saskatoon today, around 1:15pm, weighing 8 pounds 7.5 ounces. Mom and baby are doing well. Apparently the little guy has his Daddy's mouth. I am sure it will get good use being applied to Mommy's breasts.

Thanks for finally joining us, little fellow!

Sun, Oct 1, 2006 (10:40pm)

I am married to a fabulous guy. Do ya wanna know what kind of fabulous he is? He's the kind of fabulous which would come home from work early on Friday to spin candy floss for a dozen sugar-high kids at his daughter's birthday party.

I totally married the right guy.
Sun, Oct 1, 2006 (10:30pm)

Go PINK for October!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Think about the breasts in your life - your own, the ones you oggle on TV, or that special pair your girlfriend lets you fondle. Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to them? Isn't it awesome that you get to run your hands over them on a monthly basis, with the excuse that you're looking for lumps? Get to know your breasts... or your lovers' breasts. Fondle often. Be healthy.

Last updated goodness-only-knows-when. These are archives, after all.