ipod quiz

Simple really, put your ipod in shuffle mode and use the songs as they play to answer the questions... in order, no skipping, no cheating!!! it's fuuuuuun! :P

What is the story of your life? it's no good (Depeche Mode)
ho, yay... great...
What is your life's purpose? Black Celebration (Depeche Mode)
hehe I'm a voodoo queen! watch out people!
How can you get ahead in life? bizarre love triangle (new order)
what?! by sleeping with my married boss? I don't think so! :S

What is good advice for you? dead enough for life (icon of coil)
I should kill myself? thanx...
What do you want to be when you grow up? Shining kingdom (samael)
see?! I TOLD you I'd be master of the universe at some point...
What is the best thing about you? cmyk (ladytron)
I'm in color? that's it?! pff...
What would best describe your personality? born under saturn (samael)
yeah yeah I'm a weirdo.. moving on...
What does your love life look like? figure 09 (linkin park)
nothing ever stops all these thoughts / and the pain attached to them / sometimes I wonder why this is happening
[...] hearing your name / the memories come back again / I remember when it started happenin'
... ho great.. just great...

what do you say when life gets complicated? let it bleed (the used)
damn right!
if someone say "is this ok?" you say? touch the sky (kanye west)
What is your motto? cherish (madonna)
ho no!! my darkest secret is revealed!!! now you know I actually like people!!! aaaarg!!
What do you think about very often? strange days (the doors)
ha those happy inebriated college days :P
will you get far in life? like it or not (madonna)
this is who I am / you can like it or not / you can love me or leave me / cause I'm never gonna stop, no no
... I think that means yes :)

What's in store for next year? Military fashion show (and one)
change of career again??? I'm gonna join the navy or something?! and look very hot in the uniform?
How will you die? light with a sharpen edge (the used)
electrocuted?! ha shit! that might just happen too :S damn rovs!
how do your friends see you? the kids aren't allright (offspring)
I look that bad?
What do your friends think of you? blown away (akon)
I'm far out! woohoo!
What do you think of your friends? umbrella (rihanna)
when the sun shines we'll shine together / told you I'll be here forever / said I'll always be your friend / took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end / now it's raining more than ever / but we'll still have each other / you can stand under my umbrella..... damn right!
what do you do with your friends? she's a rebel (green day)
hehehe

What do you like in a guy/girl? moon cradle (Lorena McKennitt)
told you I want superman!
what do you think when you see the person you like? redemption song (bob marley)
:( don't see him no more... but it does fit..
how does your boyfriend make you feel? love of my life (santana)
you bet... the next one will have to be to get the BF title! (otherwise they're called toys)
how does your ex make you feel? stone cold crazy (queen)
not an ex per se, but feeling like stone and cold and crazy applies well to him
Do people secretly lust after me? pushing me away (linkin park)
I guess not :(

what does everyone think my current theme song is? give me novocaine (green day)
ok, seriously, do I look THAT bad?!
What will you dance to at your wedding? Vulamasango the african dream
I'll get married in Africa?!
What will they play at your funeral? extraordinary girl (green day)
YAY!

le massacre des saints innocents...

Today is a “crappyversary” to bury...

A year ago today I received an email, with picture attached to back the claim, that revealed the guy I thought would be the love of my life for the sack of lies, false promises and bullshit he is...
My last illusions and my faith in love went through a shredder and out the window, closely followed by my trust in people and the belief that one day I'd have a happily ever after...
A hurricane would have left less devastation...

and the real kicker is that to this day he still thinks that the cheap skank who sent the email is a nice girl... quite a good judge of character that one was!

I really hope there is such a thing as Karmic Retribution...

Merry Christmas y'all!!!

This is what xmas looks like at the Ranger's home :P

Our xmas tree... we used to have 15' high ones.. but the couple who sold them to us retired 2-3 years ago and we couldn't find any over 10-12' that wasn't 200$ which is a bit excessive even for my crazy family... BUT we found a place (right after we already had bought a "small" one though) so next year we'll have our beautiful giant back!!!

German decoration, souvenirs from my trip to Rothenburg... and mail ordered Nurnberg lebkuchen schmidt, the best gingerbread cookies in the world!!!

Schmidt Advent calendar... a cookie every day, and the boxes form a puzzle too :)

Details of my Christmas Pyramid.. a traditional German decoration... more infos here
(warning: very dangerous website for xmas maniacs :P)

Nikko guarding the presents :)

Leftover from the ice storm... ♪ mon pays ce n'est pas un pays c'est l'hi-veeeeerrrs! ♪

missing word

Hey, how come there's no english word for poudrerie?! blowing snow, how boring is that??? powder blow? powdering? intense sideway dusting? find something you literate english weather geeks!!! you live here too!
The Inuits have 50 words for snow, the french side of this country has at least 10 (20 if you count things like white crap and &%%$%@!!!)

Here's the definition.. devise a new word please...
"Poudrerie" is a Québécois neologism which indicates the snow raised by the wind like a fine powder. "Poudrerie" can occur with or without fall of snow and depends on the force of the wind. One in general needs a wind of more than 40 km/h and snow on the ground made of enough fine flakes to be able to be raised.

frosty the snowfingers

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
frostbite on my fingertips!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGG!!!!!!!!!! Ho the agony!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGG!!!!!!!!
it hurts!!!!!!!!!!! it itches!!!!!!!!!!!! my fingertips are all swollen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That'll teach me to shovel the backyard when mom nature is howling wind and blowing snow :S


and no, despite what you might think, I'm not insane, I shovel the backyard, not out of sheer entertainment, but to open a path between the basement and kitchen doors so my dogs can go out...

paaaaaaaarty!

hoooo that was a good one!!!

The party last night rocked the place!!!! pictures in the new album as proof... and reminder... since our brains are not what they used to... after 15 shots of Mui... the special shot in honor of the birthday girl!!! having barmaids as friends has some fringe benefits, including having a drink named after you :P

yeah, the pics speak for themselves.. no need to say more :P

Today was good too, watching girly movies with girly friends (and yes, Sam, that includes you :P) Mama Mia, here I go again my my how can I resist you... hiiiiiiiiii! eating chocolate and satsumas while piles and piles of snow were burying the city under a blanket of silence.

It's winter... no doubt left...

holiday baking

I'm making a chocolate/peppermint cake...

I think my new job may have a down side... this much free time during the holidays = mucho time to try out recipes = I love to bake sweets = everybody I know will become very fat! lol!!!

woohoo!

No email today! I'm gonna be here Saturday!!! *happy dance* XD

life on hold... forever?

If I don't get the dreaded email today, I'll be in town for the party Saturday...

I know Carpe Diem is supposed to be the way to go... but living with 48h notice sucks...
I kinda hope I'll be on a regular shift in a near future... so I'll know which show I'll see or miss, when I can buy tickets to fly to Riviera Maya and book hair appointments I don't have to change 3 times!!!

At least I get to see my dad for sure, he's coming back from Tunisia tonight, and I'll enjoy the xmas tree and decorations for more than 2 days :P

I made the jambalaya recipe from the cookbook I bought in Nawlins and the pecan pie... W-O-W!!!
I can't wait for crawfish to be in season (next summer!!! :( damn!) so I can make the etouffee *drool*

If you like Cajun food, look it up, might be able to order it on Amazon or something : "Gumbo Shop" cookbook, from the restaurant by the same name, on St.Peter st, New Orleans... yummies guaranteed :P

Therese

My sister is renting a house in the Laurentians... about 1:30h from Montreal. The region has been under snow since Halloween and she is surrounded by a forest... aka middle of nowhere.

A couple of weeks ago she realized she wasn't alone in her house. There was a (lot of?) little critters munching holes in her cereal boxes and leaving many tiny footprints in the flour. After eliminating the possibilities of fairies and The Little family, she concluded they were mice and set up some home-made non-injuring traps. She eventually caught one, it was a teeny wood mouse (un mulot vraiment trop mimi!!!). She set it free in the woods. 24 hours later she caught another one, set it free, and so on for a couple of days. But as it went, the critter(s?) learned how to steal the cheese while escaping the traps so she had to devise more clever ones...

The last time she got one, the temperature was -28c (-18F) and she didn't want the mouse to freeze to death outside... so she kept it in a small cage... the weather never really improved and she brought it with her when visiting here...
We are now looking for a bigger cage to keep her until Spring :D I guess that's what happens when you grow up in a zoo :P

Please meet the new Ranger pet:

Therese Casgrain, the woodmouse!

Since then, there was no raid in her pantry.. so lil miss mouse really was the only occupant of the basement...

I'M NOT GOING!!!

... just yet...

They can't send me on the vessel because there's been a change in regulations for the OPITO offshore safety & HUET and I now need a complementary BSTR but it's lucky cause it only takes 2 days as the BST would take five... :P
I sound like a super spy but all that is a bunch of acronyms for Water Survival Certifications... they love their acronyms those offshore guys...

So the cool part is, I now have a chance to be here Saturday for Mui's birthday... a chance only because they are now trying to find me a spot to do the course, but since it's the Holidays it's hard to find flights and the offices will be closing... so it might go after Christmas but maybe not... once again, I could leave anytime with a 48 hours warning.

Let's take it a day atta time and hope I'll be around for the party of the century :D
and for today... *happy dance*!!!!

jingle bells

Setting the Christmas tree
with the family
this year it's so tiny
but very smelly :P

I'll get to enjoy it
for 2 days only
maybe I'll be lucky
and stay for one more week! ho!

Jingle bells! jingle bells!
jingle all the way!
to the Atlantic ocean
where I'll be astray! yay!

Jingle bells! jingle bells!
jingle all the way!
ho what fun it'll be to ride
on a ship like Titanic!
(by that I mean in freezin cold water and surrounded by icebergs godamnit!! cooooold!!!)

dog week II... this one's a bitch!

I wrote to my dispatcher this week to know when I'll be leaving for my turn offshore... mentioning, "my best friend's 30th birthday party is on the 20th, could I please leave after the 21st if possible" (cause anyway, I should have full 2 weeks at home, considering I just spent 7 in Louisiana.. that's their policy I was told, and that brings me to the 21st... but there was rumor I could leave earlier than that)

got a reply today... "I am waiting for our client's approval on the switch, but if it comes on time be prepared to leave the 17th. If it doesn't arrive soon enough we'll place you somewhere else later. I will let you know on Monday."

They will let me know on Monday if I leave on Wednesday...
and not only that, I'm going on a vessel (which one doesn't seem relevant information to pass on to me) halfway through a shift. So for 2 weeks I'll be with a crew that has already been there for 2 weeks and then, on Dec 31st (Happy New Year tabarnak!), that crew is going home, replaced by another one... but maybe not me. I might stay for another half shift and then leave.

Merry Christmas to me!!!
I am not happy... some people might like money that much... I don't...

dog week...

Apparently this week's theme is dogs...
but this one is a sad news... Fred, my friend ML's dog, died today. He was 12 years old and had a real good life, but it's still the end of an era.

She bought him right after high school, when she got her first apartment, who was 10 minutes away from my place. So Fred was kinda my first dog too. He was so tiny when she got him that when he first learn to sit you could barely tell the difference from standing his legs were so short! :)

And ML got so excited when, for the first time, he walked on the right side of the posts, trash cans, fire hydrants, etc, on their daily stroll, not entangling his leash around everything.

He'd been living with her dad for a while now, so the last time I saw him was 2 years ago, when Baloo was a puppy. We went to visit, and Baloo jumped on Fred the minute he got out of the car... and Fred bit his nose! hehehe "Relax you over excited furball!" was the message.. B got it on the first warning.

So bye bye Fred, I'm sure you're in doggy heaven now...

Fred Chicoine
1995-2008

I'm dreaming of a white xmas

and it looks like I'll have it!!!

Why can't snow be warm?! It'd be nice to have all green lawns when it's cold and shovel when it's warm... would even things out a little...

but, apparently, my dogs appreciate things the way they are... (click on pics for better view)

I'm king of the backyard!



I can go play? really?!



Where d'ya think you're going?



Ok, can I come in now and melt all over the living room? :)

zzzzz

I just slept 13 hours straight! :S

I think I was exhausted! 7 weeks in Morgan City took a toll on me and I didn't even know it! (ok, I had some doubts....)

Tonight is HOCKEY NIGHT!!!! WOOHOO!!!! Friends, Beers, Hotdogs and the HABS!!!!!!

Last pics are up

I'm home.. it's FREEZING!!!! and snowing... and my last Louisiana pics are now posted...

As nothing can ever go smoothly, my last hours in Morgan City were a big ol mess. Since the guys had to work on Saturday I was out of a ride to the airport, so I asked miss Elaine to arrange transport for me in the morning. The only options were 3am or 7:30am... my flight being at 11:20am I picked the latest.

At 3:10am, my phone rings. I thought it was my alarm, so I grabbed and closed it... realized it was 3am and wondered what the hell was going on. 5 min later, phone rings again, "Hey Stef, what are you doing? the shuttle is waiting for you".. err I'm leaving at 7:30 man.... "no, we have your name for 3am, there is no shuttle at 7"... followed an arguing match, a couple more phone calls, a wait of 30 minutes to be told "we'll call you back in the morning and figure something out".... didn't sleep much after that.. since no call came, I called again at 7am.... a shuttle was managed and I finally left at 8am!

The flight landed in Memphis, I got out, only to realize I was re-boarding the same plane an hour later... and the same in Detroit!

Anyway, I'm here, I'm cold and I'm leaving again soon for an even colder place! :(
Still no idea where I'll end up... hopefully I'll have two full weeks of break, I need it!

there is no escaping it...

every time I go somewhere I have to buy another suitcase when I come back :S

This time it's really unfair though! I could fit everything in the one I have, but I have 35 pounds of school books!!! so I'm waaaaaaaaay over the 50lbs limits the stupid airline companies have fixed.

Anyway, I got a small one, hot pink with bubbles on it! :D, to put all the books in. On sale too, yay Black Friday!!!

I'm all packed, and ready to roll.. well.. fly... but first, one last drinks with the Southern buddies!

See ya soon y'all!! XD

24 hours countdown :P

The sun'll come out

Tomorrow

Bet your bottom dollar

That tomorrow

There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about

Tomorrow

Clears away the cobwebs,

And the sorrow

'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day

That's gray,

And lonely,

I just stick out my chin

And Grin,

And Say,

Oh!

The sun'll come out

Tomorrow

So ya gotta hang on

'Til tomorrow

Come what may

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

I love ya

Tomorrow!

You're always

A day

A way!

3-2-1...

I'LL BE HOME SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!!!

It's been a mess since Monday, but I finally got my ticket today, I'm landing at 7:07pm in Montreal Saturday... after a detour by Memphis and Detroit :S

I almost ended up in St.John's for the weekend, to do the H2S course, then I would have gone on the Grand Banks rig on Dec 26th... turned out the plane ticket could not be managed so now I'm going home directly, but since I wont have the H2S certs, I might end up on a vessel December 18th or 19th or 20th until Dec 31st or longer, and then come home or go directly to another vessel or rig for two weeks or more... No doubt.. these guys are well organized! lol! (and that's the condense version.. the real one would take way too long to write)

Anyway, nothing is set and all will change 5 more times in the next 2 weeks, so I wont get all excited over it just yet.

Now I'll focus on what matters and I'll.... START PACKING!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!
*happy happy happy dance*

sweeeeet hooome AAAlabama!

A morning of shopping was enough. I renewed my supply of VS and found the last things on my xmas list for the buddies back home. Victoria doesn't do discount, even on Black Friday, but they were giving out a really cool black tote bag and samples of their beauty line. Yay :P

I met up with Ben (who was coming back from Florida) just out of New Orleans, parked my car at a post office and rode with him to Gary's place in Eastaboga, Alabama. We made good time even with the pouring rain that kept falling the whole way there. We saw at least 25 cars in the ditch, a bunch of multi-crash... and a cop stuck in the mud in the median... that last one made Ben's day :P

Saturday we went to Jeff's house (Gary's bro) to watch the Alabama vs Auburn football game and drink "a little" (Gary has a fondness for Jagermeister so we experimented with mixed drinks... Red headed slut and tweaked Sex on the Beach :P). We met his mom, who is a GREAT cook!!! Turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with ham stuffed with sausage, jello-cookies,chocolate chips cookies, fudge, coffee cake, the best cheese dip in da world, broccoli salad and baklavas.. all home made all CRAZY good!!!

Gary's whole family is just awesome! Friendly, nice people, who were happy to have us there, and that I'll be glad to see again next time I'm around here. We played with the pooch and kitten, watched the game, then I fought dragons on the computer and made paper planes for Blake, Jeff's 9yo son, and Ben got his ass kicked by him at Connect Four ;)

I wish I had pictures of Jeff's beautiful house, Gary and Twila's baby boy and all the family, but I forgot my camera :S.. All I have is a couple of shots taken with my cellphone :(

When we left, Blake asked me for a strand of my hair... Either he's seen Lord of the Rings one too many times and thinks I'm Galadriel, or he has a voodoo doll and weird things are gonna start happening to me soon :P

On the way back to Morgan City, I stopped by New Orleans for dinner at the Gumbo Shop. Their crawfish etouffée is just mental! so is the pecan pie! I walked Bourbon street a last time, until next time... then it was back to reality and the wonderful Days Inn...

In a nutshell, this weekend was all about food and fun... which is what life is all about no? ;)

turkey weekend

The weekend was excellent!
Thursday I went to Derek's house and we watched movies. I prepared spaghetti sauce with turkey.. so I guess it counts as Thanksgiving dinner :P

Friday morning I experienced Black Friday... I was expecting violence, curses, people beating each other up over a parking space or a Tickle Me Elmo... I went to Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie. The parking was full and people were driving around at a crawl... but no gunshots were fired.

On the other side of the Mall's street was a bunch of non-mall stores and their parking lots were empty... guess where I parked :) Good thing Americans are allergic to walking...

I got in the mall, bracing myself.. what did I see? bunches of shiny happy people holding hands, skipping merrily under white clouds of warm snow, singing carols in harmony and smiling as Santa's little helpers handed out candy and hot chocolate. ok... maybe some of that might be a just a tad embellished... but for real, people were all happy and non-fighting :S what the hell?

So apparently it's only at Walmart that people kill each other over a 5$ discount... since I'll never set foot in a Walmart, I'll assume it's true, will call it natural selection and leave it at that :P

Next post, coming soon: Sweeeeet hooome Aaalabama!

JINGLE BELL JINGLE BELL!!!

It's December! I can start singing Christmas Carols!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! weeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be home in one week!!!!!!!!!!!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

I'm piloting (on the simulator, meaning I can crash the damn thing all I want :P) this week!!!! weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

I'm on a major coffee/sugar rush! weeeeeeeeee!!! (can you tell? :P)