Chemistry

In honor of Heck, Negishi, and Suzuki winning this years Nobel Prize in Chemistry I bought this:

Mac Eyeshadow in Folie.  

(It's the matte purple one on the right, in case you really care)

It will remind me of all the fun times at university where I used C-C coupling reactions to make fancy dancy palladacycles.  And where saying: What the Heck??!! Where the Suzuki is my Schlenk flask??  Was pretty funny.

~b~

Movember

I'm lovin all the attempts at recreating the Tom Selleck and Ron Burgundy looks this month.  

It's taken me a while, but I've finally grown a stache:

To support all my Mo Bros in raising funds and awareness for prostate cancer I've joined the Mo Munro team as a Mo Sista.

While all the attempts at growing a mustache this month may be pretty funny, a diagnosis of prostate cancer definitely isn't.

Please consisder supporting men's health and those affected by prostate cancer by donating to me or my team HERE.

 ~b~

Photo Request

Some friends of mine asked me to use my super amazing photography powers and take some food pictures that they could use in their green kitchen.

I think they said something like:  Becky: you are such an amazing photographer and wonderful talented person, could you please take some pictures of food that we can use in our green kitchen.

Then they said something about RAW.  Then they said something like forget the RAW.

And then I got confused and thought that they wanted me to take pictures of raw food in a green kitchen, or that they are "those" kind of people that only eat raw food.

But then I thought: sounds like I am getting free reign to create a photograph(s) that would look great in a green kitchen.

I frequently enlist the use of parentheses in my thoughts.

Or not.

Of course, I said yes and immediately starting thinking about what I could photograph.  I thought a variety of peppers (habanero, cayenne, chili . .)  would look fantastic on a green wall.  Or an ode to coffee snobbery with a shot of espresso or beans with all the browns would also look great.  I began to think of plating and backgrounds and textures and started to get excited.

Then again, my laziness could over take me, and I could just end up giving them this photo I took at their place a while ago:

I call the photograph: Poached Egg in Black and White.

~b~

Townhouses and Daydreams

One of the things I love is houses.  There is so many things I love about houses, I love looking at floor plans and furniture layouts.  I love perusing decorating magazines and looking at decor, art and of course organizational tools.  I love all the little details it takes to complete a space: from the type of carpet, to the layout of the kitchen (definitely an important one for me), to the door knobs and the windows.  What I love about houses is looking at a space and imagining all the possibilities.

A very good friend of mine has been managing a housing project in Saskatoon.  The whole time she has been working on this project I have been adamant that I was NOT interested in buying a townhouse, merely because I was not a gated community-cookie cutter-suburbanite kind of person.  I love my Broadway, with the trees and the shops and the crazy ladies who take their cats our for walks on leashes and I want to live as close as I possibly can.

This weekend my friend took me over to show me how things were coming along on her project.

I got the see the sports court that can be used as a tennis court and basketball court in the summer and can be flooded with water in the winter for skating.  I got to see the amazing Clubhouse with the clay tiled roof.  The Clubhouse has a fitness studio on one side and a place for entertaining on the other side.  It has a wine bar, a stage to play Wii or karaoke, a poker table and seating all around.  In the center is a double-sided fireplace.  In my mind, I embellished the room by adding a Christmas party complete with a roaring fire, Christmas music and decorations, and friends drinking wine.  Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

We stopped by the townhouses and I checked out the show home.  It had an open floor plan with the kitchen at the back.  I started imagining cooking for a houseful of guests, eating appetizers at the island, playing games at the dining room table and finishing the night with some coffee and good conversations in the living room.  I could see the long kitchen island filled chocolate chip cookies that were cooling on racks with the smell of freshly baked cookies filling the room.

I went upstairs to look at the bedrooms and found a little nook at the top of the stairs that held a desk.  I saw my laptop and books filling that nook.  It was the perfect little spot to start writing my hilarious McCall Smith type novel that would most definitely be published.

One townhouse had a basement that is currently being developed.  It had a laundry room, full bath, a bedroom, and an entertainment room, it would be the perfect space for my son to live.  I imagined a big screen TV where my husband and friends could watch the game.  (In my daydreams, I like to insert handsome husbands in).  I neglected to dream up some couches and chairs, so the guys were just kinda milling around, drinking beer and watching the game, all the while standing in a room with unfinished concrete floors and bare drywall.

Here is a picture of the townhouse that I took with my iPhone:

Little Tuscany

I love the curvy swervy rails and the super cute window boxes.  I love the stonework and the cute little shutters, I love the fine details of the cedar on the gables and best of all, I love that my friend has managed this huge project.

I was immensely surprised that I loved so many different aspects of these townhouses:  from the layout inside, the amazing Clubhouse, and all the little details in the finishings.  I forgot how much I hate the cookie cutter suburbanite lifestyle and I just wanted to go to the bank and talk about financing.

Even if I don't, Little Tuscany is one beautiful community.  I'm definitely proud of my friend for managing such a huge housing project and I love seeing her project coming to fruition.

~b~

Change

I haven't blogged for a while and to be honest I haven't really even wanted to write anything lately to avoid processing everything that has being going on.    

I took some extended time off work at the end of September and was hoping to return with some grand vision of my life, complete with goals and amazing achievements.  That didn't happen, but I did get more focused on what is important in my life and I gained some clarity in what should be my priorities.  I realized that I should be making decisions that aren't based on my emotions, or even what I thought I wanted in life, but that I should be making intellectually wise decisions.  

After months of feeling crappy and getting sick as well as vacillating between being paralyzed to make any kind of decision, or not having the energy to carry out any plans that I had, I knew that something had to change.  One of the decisions that I kept putting off was about my dog, Max.  Max had a partially torn ligament and a fully torn ligament and surgery was quoted at $1200-$3500 and 3 months of recovery, per leg.  After avoiding even making a decision, I knew I needed to quit putting this one off.  I felt that spending money on the surgeries and spending the extra time that would be required to help him heal properly would really be taking away from what I should be giving my son.  I knew deep down in my heart that I would never be able to take him out to the dog park and see him trotting around happily sniffing a trail along the ground or chasing off after other dogs, without me becoming stressed out about his legs.  With no reason to live in a house with a fenced yard, and with no desire to come home to an empty house full of memories, I gave notice and began looking for a place to live in the same area.  

At noon on Friday October 29th, we took Max to the vet and put him down.  Later that afternoon, I picked up the keys to our new place and began moving.  I've spent the last week moving, and moving, and cleaning, and unpacking and my new place is starting to look like a home.  I've been purposely keeping myself busy because I haven't wanted to deal with all these changes, but I think its time now that I try and find a rhythm to my day.  

I didn't realize until Sunday morning how upset I have been about these changes.  Emotionally, I am not okay with putting my dog down.  I can't even look at a dog right now, and I really haven't allowed myself to think about Max.  I realized Sunday morning that I'm angry.  After struggling for too long on trying to find some kind of grand vision of what is going to happen next, I feel like this is definitely not what I wanted.  I feel like everything I've wanted, everything I've hoped for, and everything I've dreamed of will never happen.  Instead, I feel like I've been given a whole lot of crap that I have to deal with.  I feel like I've taken a huge step back and it's hard to not dwell on what everybody else seems to have that I don't.   I'm tired.  I'm emotionally and physically tired and while I'm sure these changes have opened up new opportunities and possibilities I'm not sure if I really care to put in any effort.  Most days, I just don't have it in me to try new things, meet new people, or even create deeper relationships with those people that are in my life right now.

The question that popped into my mind Sunday morning was: What are you willing to do to make the most of this season in your life.  

I guess I have something to think about this week, and I will try to publish blog posts more frequently and more upbeat.

~b~