Santa Baby

Santa baby, slip a Thurlow under the tree for me.
I've been an awful good girl, Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa baby, a Jalie jeans pattern sew new (dark blue),
I'll wait up for you dear, Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight.

Think of all the songs I'd sing
Think of all the fun I'd have amplifying
Next year I could be oh so good
If you'd check off my Christmas thing
Boo doo bee doo

Santa honey, I must confess that I would make
This Swing dress.
I've been an angel all year, Santa baby,
And hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie, there's something I really do need, indeed
Gift cards to build a fabric stash, Santa cutie,
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, I'd fill my brain up with some objects complex:
The Joy of 'X' by that guy
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas trees
With some dance lessons taught at The Bees' Knees
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, forgot to mention a Kobo Touch (too much?
I read e-books and such)
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight


(Aimed at my darling family, for whom I am currently busy creating lovely gifts and who often ask me what I want. But if anybody else wanted to gift me with one of these items, I'd give it a lovely home.)

Pancake of the month: Ricotta-Oat-Bran Pancakes with Maple-Raspberry Sauce

Cooler weather means heartier pancakes. And I'm a sucker for anything made with ricotta. And bran. And raspberries.

This recipe is from the January 2011 issue of, you guessed it, Chatelaine. I do have recipes from other magazines. I think.

Anyway, the verdict?

Poutine on the ritz*: Coffeeneuring #7

Marks are in, thank heavens, and I'd like to thank MG for giving us an extension on the submissions, because somebody foolishly went to two school-related functions Wednesday and Thursday nights, both of which went until late^** and so somebody may have been a bit pooped. But I finally have time to write up my final official Coffeenuering post.

The long-awaited Poutine Ride was back on this past Sunday, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Hyedie, the DC, and I worked in our final coffeeneuring run beforehand -- which was a good thing because if we'd waited until after all that poutine, I think I might have exploded.

A Common Errand Run: Coffeeneuring #6

This past weekend I had too much on to make a special trip to another neighbourhood for Coffeeneuring, but since I was biking around anyway buying wool and birthday presents, cat food and litter, I decided to take advantage of that to visit The Common afterwards; ordinarily, this cafe wouldn't count for this challenge since it's only a few blocks away. Yay for errands.


Before I get to the cafe, a rant: Dufferin street is due for a repaving. It's getting as bad as Ossington used to be. I have to take the lane right next to Dufferin Mall because the road is so cracked even a metre away from the curb I can barely control the bike. Naturally, the drivers (especially cranky cabbies with itchy horn fingers) don't like that too much. /endrant

After my wool/present/cat stuff run, I stopped by Hoopdriver to see if the cargo nets had come in yet. No luck, but hopefully in a week or so. The Common is conveniently next door. So next door I went.

Saturday evening is the time to go, I think; usually the tiny space is packed, with people spilling out onto the sidewalk. Saturday night, however, there was a whole free table! Which I sat at. And lesson-planned, because I'm a geek.

There is no menu, so you sort of have to know what you want before you get there. Which is not helpful for someone like me who is not a coffee drinker and has no idea what to order. I went for a mocha latte (although I later discovered they can make you a great London Fog) and a shortbread cookie.


The barrista was quite excited that Rosie O'Donnell was in the night before. She had to be asked to leave because there was a private party and her entourage was getting obstreperous. Rosie was very nice about it, though.

So that's my near-brush with celebrity.


So, only one Coffeeneuring trip to go to complete the challenge. Naturally, next weekend will be extremely busy because marks are due the following Wednesday. I'm sort of out of nearby biking options. I planned well. I shall overcome this problem.

Mileage: (I'll only count the cat food run part of the trip since I'm too lazy to map the whole thing out on Google Maps) 4.2 km/2.8 miles

Not-so-starry starry night

The first Thursday of each month, the U of T Astronomy department holds a free public lecture, followed by telescope viewings and shows in an inflatable planetarium.^* I, shockingly, have never been to one, so I signed the DC and myself up for a planetarium show and dragged him off to a fairly entertaining talk about type IA supernovae,^** which the non-scientist DC said he understood, so it really is geared for the general public.^***

Afterwards, we headed up to the 14th floor to see the telescopes. Sadly, it was too cloudy to see anything but the spectacular view of the city.


It was a bit chilly, but the grad students provided hot chocolate, with marshmallows. Our planetarium session was at 9:30, so we didn't get a chance to see the larger telescopes this time 'round.

The next talk is about why the world won't end on December 21st. Should be good!

As usual, you can see a few more photos by clicking on the name below the picture and scrolling way way down to this photo:

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*No, I am not making that up. Behold:

The air compressor makes for a bit of a noisy, but nifty, session.

^**"I'm German; we don't have a sense of humour."

^***I'm not sure how much the 9 year-olds in the Scout troupe got out of it, but they certainly enjoyed the volunteer-from-the-audience component.