Down Home

Got some welcome relief tonight from all the pressure with some down home Cape Breton fiddle music. Nice to get a little touch of home down here in the US.

Tancookisms

If you recognize any of these phrases or use them in regular conversation you may just be from Tancook, or drunk. This is from my aunt.

This is your heritage. Teach it to your children. They won’t respect you anyway so you
have nothing to lose.
Barney’s horse gulp – eat too fast
Butz – to hit , bump
Doudle – to jiggle
Flutched – tired out , done in
Gramma Doots – unkempt , bedraggled
Gutzin – eat a lot
Herbie Herbie – You’ll be sorry
Klutzy – thick , heavy ( as in a cake )
Krutz – cut ( as with scissors )
Kooss - kiss
Loompygutz – feel sick ( as in ate too much )
Misgabor – misshapen , something that didn’t turn out right
Mollysogged – all messed up , bedraggled , ruined
Mootz – in a bad mood , moody , feelings hurt
Mowled – tangled
Mowlygooch – talkative
Rootch – wiggle or squirm
Row in your guts – looking for a fight or to pick a fight , upset
Sadie Arch – didn’t turn out they way you thought it would , “ now are you satisfied ? “
( as in : “ you’ve been up to Sadie Arch’s” )
Sallywynder – slap
Seen off – cheated
Shushally – silly, giddy
Sisagie – dilemma , a mess
Sivy looks good in anything – you always look good no matter what you wear
Souddle – rinse out , slosh , to lose something
Stood off - stale
Stoof around – stand around being useless , idle
Swift day for Eugene – had a really good time
Tearing a dirty gutter – going really fast (as in how Grampie does everything)
Yaymer – to whine , complain
With a roosh and a bang – to do something haphazardly , in a hurry

And people wander why I'm more than a little bit crazy!

Frigid

It should tell you something about the weather here today that everything I own either says "Figure Skating" or "Canada" on it. Today is not a day for mere mortals or fashionable attire.

Leaving my house this morning I was wearing an LL Bean turtleneck (from Maine where people know how to make clothes for the cold), a figure skating fleece vest, a Roots Canada fleece sweater and my winter jacket. That's layering people! The problem came when I got in the car and a) had a hard time getting behind the steering wheel, and then b) had a hard time driving due to my bulkiness. Shoulder checks had the interference of scarves, collars and hats. It generally is hard to maneuver when you're twice your normal width. Added to that, when I was zipping up my jacket I accidently caught my nose in the zipper. How do you do that?? Seriously? It takes an unprecidented level of clumsiness!

For those not here, the temperature when I left my house this morning was 2 (that's -17 for those playing along at home in Canada) with a windchill of -10 (-23 in Canada). Too cold! Of course, I should be thankful I was going to work as I really can't afford to heat my house on days like this!

Hope everyone's safely inside and warm!

Proof That Canadians Can Be Rednecks

After all the ribbing from my brother about rednecks down here I have to post this picture from a Nova Scotian truck stop. Proof Canadians can be rednecks too!

Apple Sucks!

Yes, it's true. My iPod #3 is now dead. Each one has lasted 6 months. There's something pretty fishy about this. Add to that my MacBook, which is a constant source of stress and still can't do everything it's supposed to, and I'm definitely not a Mac fan. In fact, I was walking around this afternoon speculating on when I should give up and buy a Zune. Seriously! Every 6 months I have to deal with the crap of getting a box from Apple, packaging the dead one up, sending it back and then waiting for a new one to arrive. This time I'm far away, so I won't even be able to start the replacement process until I'm back home to stay, which won't be for a while.

Exactly why are these things the best thing since sliced bread??

So, what should I call the next one?

In other news, I made it North safely. Had my first Tim's (but not coffee yet). Going to Cora's tomorrow, so that will check several things off my list.

Squish

Currently in my living room there is:

- a huge bag of Christmas presents to take with me home for Christmas
- a pile of various things I'm also supposed to bring
- a pile of books I want to finish while I'm there
- a pile of clothes
- a suitcase cowering in the corner in fear of what's going to happen to it tonight when I attempt to push everything in it

I'm actually packing two suitcases. One for the trip up North and one for the trip out West. In both cases I have no idea what kind of weather to expect, so I'll have to bring everything I own! This is going to be a fun night!

Random Mumblings

Today my brain's full of random thoughts and not necessarily one thought strong or cohesive enough for a whole post.

1. What's with Christmas coming? I'm seriously not ready for it. It's not so much the presents (pretty close to done) or the cards (got them started). Mostly I'm just not emotionally ready for Christmas. Who do I talk to about getting another week in November?

2. Three weeks until I jet off to Canada. Whoo hoo! Hoping this year it will be less frantic before I go. I know. I'm naive.

3. I started a new book this week called Let Prayer Change Your Life by Becky Tirabassi. So far it's really interesting and inspiring. I do somewhat suspect (given her reliance on her own experience as a stay at home mom) that you need to be a stay at home mom to let prayer change your life. Anyhow, it's been good to be challenged by her writing about answers to prayer and how often we ignore them. Last night my small group had what could have been a really conflict-ridden night. Instead it was a really good discussion. I came home and thought "Wow - I guess I didn't need to be concerned and pray so much about it." BZZZZ WRONG. Maybe it went well BECAUSE we all prayed so much about it. I can be pretty dense. Maybe this book will beat some of that out of me.

4. This morning one of my non-bosses sends me something for review and comment. I read it, hate it, shred it, send it back to her. Oops. Evidently by "review and comment" she meant "skim and tell me I'm brilliant". You'd think people that work with me would know me well enough to know that when you ask for honest feedback you're going to get it.

5. McDonalds has applied for a patent on the making of sandwiches. That's a little freaky to me. In other news, I'm told Google wants to run my life. They can duke it out with God.

6. Conflict. What's with all the conflict in my life? And what's with these things coming in clumps? Everything seems fine and then one day everyone seems to be at everyone else's throats. Is it something in the water? Was there a memo I didn't see?

In Flander's Fields

With all the stuff happening lately, I kind of blanked on Remembrance Day. I found one of my favorite poem's on a blog I read, so I thought I'd bring it over. Even though the US has Veteran's Day, there's something about Remembrance Day that makes me feel very Canadian. Maybe it's the Peace Tower in Ottawa. Maybe the book Vimy by Pierre Berton. Maybe it's Rilla of Ingleside.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

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 amid 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 from 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.