When I left to go to University, our dog was nearing her end - she was in the teens, and sadly was put down in the fall during my final year. A few months later (although, with the amount I managed to get home - it seemed like only days), My parents brought home Kodee - a fluff ball mop of loving and cuddles; also know as a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. When my sister moved out to attend college in Peterborough, my parents decided to bring home ANOTHER Cavalier, and named this one Becky. Becky is the complete opposite of her sister - she’s more crazy than anything else. Don’t even ask me how many things in my room she’s chewed.

Before she got Becky, my mom always joked that since she had two kids who moved out, she needed two dogs to replace us. Turns out, it wasn’t actually a joke.

Don't let their cute looks and pink sweaters fool you - they may just be a students worst nightmare.

My sister and I are both living at home this summer, and things have changed quite a bit since adding two dogs to the family.

For instance, my mom made the pups’ a delicious breakfast with squash, kibble, and fresh fruit the other day. My sister  and I were left fend for ourselves, and ended up with burnt toast.

The dogs get fed promptly at the same time, every night - and they ALWAYS eat before us (”They’re hungry!” my mom says). They’re usually fed by 6:30, but my sister and I are lucky if dinner is on the table before 8:30!

Just yesterday, I had a shower then made my way to the kitchen to make a sandwich. My mom was washing the floor. “Don’t walk on my clean floor!” she said. “But Mom,” I protested, “I just got out of the shower and my feet are CLEAN”. She made me stand on a rug and hop across the kitchen to the living room (where there’s carpet) when leaving. This is the same woman who laughs and goes, “oh how cute!” when Kodee and Becky chase a squirrel through the garden and then run into - and through - the house with muddy feet.

And heaven forbid I leave something on the kitchen table when I leave the room (a glass, or a pad of paper); but it’s “adorable” how Becky yanks 15 different toys out of her bin and strews them around. In fact, her favourite spot to leave them is near my bathroom door, so I trip in the middle of the night.

When we run out of squash (which the pups get with every meal), it’s the end of the world and my mom or dad must RUN, not walk, to the nearest store to replenish the supply. I’ve been waiting two and a half weeks for my mom to remember we’re out of mayo.

When I was really little, I drew my mom an amazing picture, full of colours. The problem was, I coloured it in crayon… on the kitchen wall. Subsequently, I got my toys taken away and was sent to my room for the day. Becky (who is 15 months old I might add) still isn’t house trained. In fact, on one occasion we watched her play outside for a good 15 minutes, ask to come in, and promptly go on the rug in the den. When Becky has an ‘accident’ (and I use that term loosely, because I think it’s safe to say she just doesn’t like going outside!), she gets scolded and locked up for about 5-10 minutes before she whimpers and is let out again because, oh, she looks so sad.

And to make matters worse, she calls me “Kaitlyn” and Kaitlyn “Lauren” more times than I can count in a week when she gets flustered, but I’ve yet to see her confuse Kodee and Becky!

Last week when my mom yelled “Girls! Come here!” and my sister and I went to see what she wanted, her response was rather surprising: “Not YOU!” she laughed, “The dogs!”

Ouch.

So here’s my advice to all you college-bound students: be careful! Your parents might just replace you with a pet or two… and before long, they’re be shouting “girls!” and mean the dogs.

But, I do have to admit - it’s hard to stay irritated at Kodee when she puts her paws on your shoulders and gives you a puppy hug. And Becky is just so gosh darn cute when she lies outside my bedroom with her nose under the gate (see the beginning of the post on her chewing to understand why there’s a gate there!) begging to come in and lie on the bed (or see my boyfriend, who I think SHE thinks is a dog!)

So although I will admit to referring to my mother’s new ‘children’ as the spawn of satan on more than one occasion…

You win again, dogs!

…they’re just so hard not to love.

Run for the hill, folks. Newsweek.com is reporting that zombies have, indeed, ATTACKED!

AHHHHH!!

Yes, that IS a serious screenshot. “But Lauren,” you say, “I don’t see anything about Zombies on NewsWeek at ALL!”

Well, dear Watson, that would be because like any good government conspiracy, there’s a coverup.

One thing is for certain - the Konami Code is responsible for the outbreak.

In case you don’t know what that is, the Konami Code is an old “cheat” code from NES video games… so once you’re on News Week’s website, type as follows:

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, enter.

Marry me, News Week.

If you’re interested, you can find more sites that have konami code easter eggs here. Although I’m not sure how accurate the list is - they still have Facebook listed, and it doesn’t work for me anymore. Boo.

EEP!

Well, not quite today - but on Monday I sure did. I went to a press conference at the Lloyd Richards’ Hangar at the Timmins Victor M. Power Airport (quite the mouthful, eh?) for Young Eagles Day, which is coming up this weekend. I was expecting a quick shoot - bing, bang, boom, vis, interview, done. But, when I arrived, one of the local newspaper reporters had arranged to fly with one of the pilots - and asked if I wanted to go along. Um, YES PLEASE!

Now, I’ll be honest here - I just could not turn down an opportunity like that. But I’m a nervous flyer. I’ve flown a whole total of 6 times in my life - two when I was so young, I can barely remember (both times to Flordia). Another two times to NYC - and yes, I was nervous then. Especially on my most recent NYC trip with friends, when the airline decided to put me miles away from the boy AND my 2 buddies we travelled with (not so fun). Actually, make that 7 times - I just remembered I took a sightseeing helicopter ride over Niagara Falls once, and yes, if I recall correctly, it made me feel pretty sick too. Especially when the pilot turned the damn thing sideways to “give us a better look” at the Falls.

Yup, THIS was what I flew in.

And lastly… two times from Timmins to Toronto, on a little Air Canada Jazz plane - and I thought THAT small a plane was nerve wracking. Let me tell you, it was NOTHING compared to the little guy I was in a few days ago.

But the nerves, the shaky hands, the hours it took me to get my “ground legs” back, and the waves of nausea were so. totally. worth it.

Sitting in the front seat was actually really fun, and I felt fine. Sitting in the back however… lets just say I should have remembered how sick I’d feel as a kid in the back seat of my parent’s SUV before getting into the back of the plane. Let’s just say the plane was 300 times worse. I can liken it to the dizzy, sick feeling I get after spinning around in a desk chair for a good 3 minutes.

It actually was so bad towards the end I couldn’t look out the window for more than a few brief seconds - and let me tell you, there was NO way I could have held my camera steady to film a shot. Sadly, that meant missing out on some potentially amazing shots of the Xstrata Met Site (which is WAY bigger than I ever could have imagined), the open pit Dome Mine, and some other mines in the area. My dad (who used to fly with my grandfather when he was a kid) says it has something to do with not being able to see the horizon - I guess the horizon keeps you feeling more “grounded”, which would help explain why I felt fine when I was in the front of the plane (plus, I had controls and, you know, FLYING THE PLANE! to concentrate on). Good thing I’m not an astronaut  -there’s NO horizon out there to save me! (which possibly explains why 50% of astronauts in NASA’s space program get sick in space).

Now, onto the most important part of my flight - flying the plane! So, our amazing pilot Yvon asked me if I wanted to give it a whirl. And I mean, how could I say no? So, I grabbed the wheel… and he promptly let go. Gulp.

Allow me to show you, rather than tell you, what happens next.

Yup. I might have scared the beejebus out of the newspaper reporter who kindly offered to film my flying attempt (and I may or may not have squeaked “OH MY GOD I CAN’T DO THIS!” at the pilot… but he just said “Hey, I’ll level out the plane for you and then keep trying”. Yvon was really patient, helpful, and trusting  - which was awesome. When I finally got the hang of it, I was so excited - and it felt amazing to be FLYING 3,000 feet in the air, all by myself. Very cool moment. I did give the controls back to Yvon after only a few minutes though, since we were approaching a dark cloud and some rain.

I now totally want to get my pilot’s license one day (and then I’ll fly myself to Bermuda! Or somewhere balmy and warm ;)

I had a craving for a chocolate cake at 10:30. Like, at night. And not many places (if any!) are open this late on a Sunday that will sell me a slice. And living by myself, I am not about to bake (and therefore eat) 24 cupcackes or an entire cake (or buy one!). If I did this every time I wanted cake or something, I’d weigh like 300 pounds by now! ;)

So, these super cute ramekin dishes I bought at Michaels for 30 cents each (it was a post-Valentines day sale) came in QUITE handy.

The best part is it’s a small reciepe, AND doesn’t use anything I don’t keep in the house (ie, chocolate chips or baking chocolate - uh, if I kept it here I’d eat it all before baking with it!)

So, that being said, may I present you with…

Cake For The Chocolate Craving, Single Girl
**note: I forget where I found this recipe - I’ve had it for awhile, and it was from some website/blog, so if anyone knows where it’s from please let me know and I’ll give credit where credit is due!

Ingredients
- Flour: 1/4 a cup, then 2 more tbsp
- 3 tbsp buttermilk.

If you’re like me, and don’t have buttermilk just kicking around - put 1 tbsp lemon juice into a measuring cup, then fill with milk until the 1 cup line. Let curdle for 5-10 minutes… ta da! Buttermilk replacement.

- 1 egg
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter (melted) - I use margarine, though (mildly healthier!), and it works fine :)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda (1/8 = half of 1/4, if you don’t have a 1/8 measuring spoon)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sugar

Directions
- Grease (or Pam!) the cooking dishes.
- Mix buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
- Add butter tbsp by tbsp, mixing in between
- Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and sugar
- Pour wet over dry, and mix
- Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean)

Volia! Delicious cake, and in individual(-ish, I only ate half of one dish in one sitting) servings.

Whether you swear by it or scoff at it, love it or hate it – everyone has picked up a newspaper, and read their horoscope at some point in their lives

What the average horoscope reader often doesn’t stop to think about is how those tiny nuggets of wisdom got onto the page – there’s an entire process, history, and method behind a horoscope. It’s all part of a bigger practice – called astrology. It takes years of study, hard work, and practice to understand the art and learn how to read star patterns and natal charts.

History of Astrology

Astrology has been around for thousands of years, with its earliest roots found in the Babylonian era, in 1645 BC. Horoscopes have been around for quite some time too – the first record of a horoscope dates back 410BC.

Astrology is a science involving the sun, star signs, planets, and other astrological bodies and how they relate to certain meanings. According to astrologers, each planet in our solar system has a different energy that subconsciously affects us. In order to understand the deeper meaning of these feelings and energies, we turn to astrology.

Understanding Astrology - And how to use it

Roderick Benns, a journalist-turned-astrologer with 25 years of experience in the science, believes astrology can be a very enriching aspect of one’s life.

“The great gift of astrology is that it helps you understand the nature of [planetary] cycles,” he says, “and when you understand – and can read – cycles, you are empowered to seek the right change at the right time, or you’re able to deal with setbacks because you realize the cyclical nature of life”.

Read more »