Sunday, December 23, 2007

Oh Christmas Tree!



Last summer, my sister Amisha advised me that we needed to cut the spruce tree that was trying to grow its way through the front of our house. In a stroke of brilliance, I decided to wait until December to cut it own. That way, I could get my yard work done and not have to pay for a Christmas tree.

So a few weeks ago I decided it was time to get out and do a little Christmas yard work. I grabbed some mittens and a saw and got down to work. After I sawed/kicked the tree down, our roommate Alanna helped me drag it into the house while our neighbour laughed at us.

It even came pre-decorated with lots of dried leaves, a tin yogurt lid and some construction tape. Ours might not be the most shapely Christmas tree but I think it's gorgeous. Of all the unruly trees I've cut down in our yard, it's by far my favourite. I'll even miss it come January.

Monday, December 17, 2007

When Kyle puts away the groceries















I'm not sure what his logic was here. Maybe alphabetical order - panty liners, pasta...

Sunday, December 16, 2007

TV for blind people

Tonight Kyle's Christmas wish came true... our TV finally broke. A month ago the sound went really strange and he fixed it by rigging something up through the VCR. This evening, our TV has inexplicably started broadcasting voice-over services for the visually impaired. On every station, the same woman's voice describes the action on screen.

"Homer opens the door, crosses the room and looks in Maggie's crib. Homer runs across the hall to Lisa's room."

At first I thought this new "feature" might make TV watching even easier than it already is. You know, sometimes I just can't keep up with the fast-paced action on the screen or don't want to put in the effort of keeping my eyes focused. But instead of improving my television experience, the voice-over lady has ruined it. Having her describe everything happening on screen is incredibly irritating when you're not visually impaired. And because we did nothing to activate the voice over, we are absolutely baffled as to how to turn it off.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The power of the mind

This morning, just after I woke up, I was standing in the bathroom with the door open. All of the sudden I thought, "Hm...maybe I should make a cup of tea."

The thought was weird because I never drink tea in the morning and I was incredibly thirsty for a cold glass of water.

As I shuffled down the hallway, I heard an odd noise. A boiling noise. I walked into the kitchen to see that our insanely crappy electric kettle (which is supposed to shut off automatically) was going full boil. Its white plastic outside was quite hot and feeling a bit soft. Quickly, I came to realize that the kettle had been boiling for over an hour while I slept.

Thanks brain, for alerting me to the possibility of "tea", rather than "kitchen fire".

 
Background by Jennifer Furlotte / Pixels and IceCream