"Ordinary World" (Sept. 25 - Nov. 27)

"The blow was hard and the shock severe the morning I was told you were no longer here. It doesn't take much space to write how much I love you but it will take the rest of my life to forget the day I lost you."

Dearest Mom,

If there is one thing I have learned from your passing, life is too short to go without saying the things we long to say and do the things we long to do.

A daughter will always need her mom. Whether she is in need of a loving embrace, a gentle stroke on the back or that warm and supportive smile to let her know at the end of the day, everything will be alright. No words are ever needed, a mom just knows as you always did.

In two weeks 'A' and I will be attending the Duran Duran concert. I know you will be there along side us in spirit singing word for word while I blow air kisses to Simon Le Bon.

As much as I love and need you, heaven must love and need you more because I know if you were able to come back to me for even just a minute you would. So instead I have one small request, please keep sending me those signs to help me find my way.......

Te Amo. Le Falto.

Amor Por Siempre,

XOXO,
Princesa Colombiana
XOXO

Traffic Court : The Garlicky Belch

Cocaine Princess here.

I received and published 2 funny comments sent in by 2 different readers on the entry before this:

'You Know You're A Canadian If...'

I found it entertaining and comical especially this one:

"You talk about the weather with friends and strangers alike"

I laughed because I didn't realize how much I blog about the weather. I can't help it. And speaking of the weather last night we had our first mini winter storm. Mother Nature dumped 5cm of snow on us and it's not going away, the temperature is stubbornly sitting at -7C.

I turned on the weather channel last night and heard the following words, 'the worst is yet to come.' And that's all I heard before switching it off.

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF TRAFFIC COURT

'It's time,' said A. Because I was so engrossed in an article I responded by asking, 'time for what?' 'For you to meet your executioner. It's almost one,' she answered. 'Don't say that,' I said. A took my hand, 'I'm sorry I should be more sensitive,' she stated.

.2 SECONDS LATER

For some reason she continued teasing me. 'Will the defendant please rise and will she please help her sister from her chair? Does that sound more sensitive darling?' 'Your compassion and support for me during this strenuous time is above and beyond the call of duty. I shall forever keep it tucked away in my heart,' I replied while helping her. Helping her? I should have grabbed her cane and left her to fend for herself. I'm just kidding I could never do such a thing. 'In case you haven't noticed I'm teasing. I'm trying to get that sour puss look off your face and replace it with a smile,' she explained. 'In case you haven't noticed it's not working,' I said. 'Oh I've noticed,' she said back.

THE ROOM

3 names were called and all 3 were taken out of the room and taken into another one. The room I was waiting in had a musky odor and adding to the smelly problem was the individual sitting across from me. I had my sister along side me for moral support, this particular individual brought along 2 bags of chips (I guess we all have ways of dealing with things and maybe he was nervous and eating helped calm him) one which was open, Doritos- Cool Ranch. I never knew just how loud a Doritos chip sound makes inside of a person's mouth until that day. He'd shove one chip in and before finishing it he'd shove in another and then another and another. And he was using his jeans as a substitute for a napkin. It was an unholy sight.


THE CRUNCH

The crunching sound that came from his mouth was echoing in my ears and growing louder by the second.

Have you ever had a killer headache where every bit of noise, no matter how quiet it maybe, it could be the sound of your own breath, not only annoys you but it angers and aggravates you because you're already in so much pain? His crunching and munching was angering and aggravating my existing headache. The headache that was given to me during lunch.

I returned back to the idea of playing a song in my head. (I brought along my MP3 but forgot the headphones). This time I decided on Miles Away by Madonna (because I was wishing to be miles away) to drown out the crunch which at that moment turned to high definition- he was stuffing two, three chips at a time in his mouth. Hey it worked before and I thought it'll work again!

How devastatingly wrong I was. So very, very, very wrong. The song was constantly being interrupted by a crunch.

I just woke up CRUNCH a fuzzy CRUNCH

You never CRUNCH believe CRUNCH things CRUNCH

CRUNCH I have CRUNCH

I CRUNCH in the CRUNCH and CRUNCH saw CRUNCH face

CRUNCH looked CRUNCH through me, you were miles CRUNCH

I opened my magazine, the one I was reading in the cafeteria and picked up where I had left off.
Every word I read was CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH.

The sound a single Doritos chip can make is a mighty powerful sound.


THE SOUND

'Did you hear that?' I questioned A. 'Hear what?' My sister asked. She was busy doing one of her puzzles and her eyes did not leave the page while talking to me. 'That sound,' I answered. 'What sound are you taking about?' 'You didn't hear anything?' 'Aside from the light chatter in this room, no,' she replied.

30 SECONDS LATER
A POSSIBLE REASON

I kept on insisting to A there was a sound I kept on hearing. She kept on insisting she couldn't hear whatever it was I was hearing and asked that I describe the sound. So I did. 'A scream. I heard a scream. It sounded like someone was screaming.' 'You know as long as you're getting your eyes checked you may want to get your ears checked also,' she commented. 'If you weren't so wrapped up in your Suduko you too would have heard the screams,' I said back. 'The courthouse is filled with officers so don't you think if there was an actual scream they would be first on the scene to check it out?' 'Not if they're busy doing something else,' I replied. 'There was no scream. I don't know what it was you heard or if you heard anything at all but it certainly and most definitely wasn't a scream,' she said. 'I know what I heard. I bet it's those 3 people whose names were called and they're the ones who were screaming.' 'And why do you think they were screaming?' I thought about this for a minute or so and came up with a possible reason. 'Maybe the officials are beating people into handing over their drivers licenses. When my name is called may I take your cane in? I may just need it for protection.' 'How many beatings in a courthouse have you read about?' she asked. 'None,' I answered, 'but that doesn't mean it can't happen. It's possible they keep news like that out of the press. 'We live in a civilized society where law officials don't go around beating up people......at least not in a courthouse,' she replied.

Civilized Society? The Doritos eating traffic delinquent rubbed both of his hands together to remove the excess chip residue off his fingers, wiped his hands over his mouth and crumpled up the bag before cramming it into his back pocket and then let out a belch causing everyone to stop what they were doing and stare.

'Did you hear that?' I quietly asked A. 'Unfortunately yes,' she answered and went back to her puzzle.

It was bad enough the room had a musky and cool ranch odor to it, now a garlicky smell that came from his belch was added to the mix. He must have ate something loaded with garlic earlier in the day.

I'm sorry my dear and loyal readers but I have to stop here. I'm starting to see double. I opened up a bottle of red wine. Yes I know I said I don't drink, well I actually said, I only drink 'once in a blue moon.' I haven't had a good and proper nights sleep in God knows how long and the bottle was sitting in the cabinet calling out and tempting me, 'I can give you sweet dreams, all you have to do is drink me.' So I did!

Sometimes when temptation comes calling it's damn fun to give in.
Wish me sweet dreams, I'll be sleeping in today.....

And have a wonderful, happy weekend everyone.

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess

Traffic Court : God Bless The Criminal

Cocaine Princess here.

MY OTHER BIG ERROR

'Are you aware if a speeding ticket has a fatal error your lawyer may motion to quash the ticket and in order for that to happen it would have to be presented properly to the Justice of the Peace by way of application or motion to the court?'

I looked around to make sure I was still in the courthouse cafeteria and not in a strange unfamiliar land. He was speaking English but I didn't understand a word he was saying. The lawyer caught on and asked, 'you don't understand a word I'm saying do you?'

Of course I understand. I go around everyday using terms like quash the ticket and motion the court.

I told him no- my other big error because next came not a speech. Good grief the man decided to explain what the words meant.

Where's a Fairy Godmother when you need one because I wanted to vanish (him vanishing would have been a lot better). I couldn't see any fairies fluttering around so instead I clicked my heels and quietly in my mind said,

'there's no place like home.

there's no place like home.

there's no place like home.'

It didn't work. It probably would have worked if I had used the word mall,

'there's no place like the mall.

there's no place like the mall.

there's no place like the mall.'

After he defined both terms in nauseating detail he started in on speech number, well to be honest I lost count what number this speech was. I couldn't stand it. I was tempted to hold my breath and pray I would pass out but the lawyer appeared to be the type of individual who couldn't take a hint, and would probably continue yakking on and on as I lay on the floor while someone tried to resuscitate me. I came up with another idea, play a song in my head to drown out his voice. When my radio went off that morning I had awoken to Christina Aguilera's newest single and it had been faintly playing all morning in my head. I decided to turn the volume up to the max.

The sheet lyrics complete with a large dot bouncing on top of each word was crystal clear in my head.

Step back gonna come at you fast

Driving out of control, I'm gettin ready to crash
Won't stop shakin up what I can
I serve it up in a shot, so suck it down like a man
So baby, yes I know what I am
And no I don't give a damn
And you'll be lovin it

By the chorus the ball disappeared and in its' place, I don't know why, a bottle of José Cuervo. To make believe I was actually paying attention to him I nodded my head every couple of seconds.

Midway through the second song his phone rang so he excused himself from the cafeteria table. I took a deep sigh of relief. 'You didn't hear a word he was saying,' said A. 'I did so,' I said back. 'Then repeat something he said.' 'Quash. I heard the word quash,' I replied.

A REASON TO SMILE

I wasn't looking forward to him coming back but upon his return he gave me a reason to smile. He had to leave.

'God bless whomever was on the other end of that call,' I cheerfully said. 'Maybe it was a criminal making his one phone call from the poky,' thought A. 'Then God bless the criminal. Oh my God what was he going on about and why?' 'He was just being helpful.' 'Helpful?' I asked. I put my hands on my temples. 'He gave me a throbbing headache.'

I've had my fair share of lackluster conversations but his was utterly mind numbing. Come to think of it, it wasn't really a conversation, a conversation is a talk between two people.

PETIT FOURS AND TRUFFLES

After finishing lunch my sister was interested in dessert. Back up I went to see what epicurean delights were awaiting. Not that I was shocked but I failed to locate any petit fours or white or dark truffles. I couldn't find anything with raspberry reduction sauce and there was certainly nothing that even remotely came close to Mrs.Grimbletorte's chocolate ganache cheesecake.

What did they have instead? Let's just say the courthouse cafeteria's lunch selection was far better. Packages of Oreos and Rice Krispie Squares, one lonely blueberry muffin among a tray full of cranberry and bran muffins and a coffee crumble cake which appeared a few days old. I went over to the freezer and pulled out an ice cream bar.

As my sister was having her something cold and chocolaty I was reading a magazine.

5 Minutes Later

'It's time,' said A. Because I was so engrossed in an article I responded by asking, 'time for what?' 'For you to meet your executioner. It's almost one,' she answered.

To be Continued......

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess

Traffic Court : He's A Lawyer, Not A Fly

Cocaine Princess here.

Sorry for not posting sooner. I was locked out of my account. Someone flagged this blog because they believed it had objectionable content.

Google thankfully resolved the situation quickly. I'm not going to write too much about this however, if for whatever reason you don't like my blog, that's fine. We're all entitled to an opinion but please don't go flagging it. A better suggestion, just don't read it.

It's after 2am and it's snowing up here. It's coming down slowly and melting before it even touches the ground. I was going to post later in the day but since I'm up here's part 2. To review:

................Closing his briefcase he gave me a little advice, 'never, never admit to anything.' Upon leaving he placed his business card in front of my tray. I looked at A. 'What the hell kind of advice was that?' A picked up the card and after reading it said, 'figures he said what he did. His clients are all criminals.' 'Oh my God he thinks I'm a criminal. They are going to throw the book at me aren't they?' 'You're not a criminal and no one is going to be throwing anything at you. He was just making conversation.' 'That's not the kind of conversation I'm interested in having,' I said. 'He did have a point.' 'About my insurance going up? Believe me I'm well aware.' 'About the police. They do make mistakes. Your first ticket was on Labor Day, right?' 'Yeah, you were there with me,' I replied. 'I couldn't even tell you were speeding. I thought you were doing the limit. Maybe the officer did make a mistake.' 'What choice did I have? I wasn't about to say to him, officer let me drive back to see what the speed limit is posted because I don't believe you? That would have played out well.' 'Why didn't the Hurricane's dad advise you on what to do about all this?' she asked. 'Because he didn't find out until after,' I replied. 'After what?' 'After I paid the tickets.' 'You never told him you were fined?' 'No.' 'Why?' 'I don't know.' 'What did he say when he found out?' I took a deep sigh and clenching my teeth I answered her.

'Why...did...you...pay...the...tickets?'

'That's it, he didn't have anything else to say?' 'There was plenty more. I'd rather not get into it,' I said.

TIME: 5 Minutes Later
LOCATION: STILL IN THE CAFETERIA COURTHOUSE

I had a little tickle in my throat and coughed a couple of times. 'Is coughing a sign of shingles?' I asked. 'Oh God this is going to be a long day. You don't have shingles, you're not coming down with anything and you don't have a fever,' she replied. I tried thinking of a good come back but all I could think of to say, 'you said this would be all over by lunch. It's way past lunch, you lied.' Taking a bite out of her pizza she asked, 'do you think I'm the first person to have ever lied in a courthouse?'

2 Minutes Later

'Does that lawyer think my license is going to be suspended and I may need to hire him to get it back. Is that why he gave me his card?' 'No I don't think that was the reason,' A answered. 'What was he even doing here?' I asked. 'Good question. A courthouse is the last place you'd expect to find a lawyer.' 'That's not what I meant. What was he doing here, in the cafeteria?' 'He was having lunch darling like everyone else.' 'Doesn't he have an office, is there some reason he can't eat there?' I asked. 'This could be a long shot but he probably has a trial to attend.' 'Or maybe the nosy lawyer doesn't have an office. I bet he goes from courthouse to courthouse drumming up business by disturbing people in the cafeteria.' 'You're absolutely correct. The only reason he spoke to you and left his card is because you fit the profile of a criminal.........still no smile?' I nodded no. 'Okay you know what, let's pretend the conversation with him never existed. You never spoke to him. He was never here.' 'I can't,' I said back. 'The conversation is stuck on damn replay in my head. I made a mistake by paying both tickets, I get it.' 'Just do me a favor please and finish your lunch,' A pleaded. I picked up the slice. 'Great, my pizza's cold,' I stated. 'You said you wanted something cold,' A said back. 'And chocolaty. I added. I wanted something cold and chocolaty. Not something cold and cheesy,' I explained. 'Why don't you get another slice?' 'Nah, I actually don't mind it cold.'

30 Seconds Later

'Guess who's back and heading straight towards our table?' my sister asked smiling. 'Who?' I asked back while unscrewing the cap to my Diet Coke. I turned around and the lawyer had returned and in his hands was a yellow legal pad. I quickly turned back and said to my sister, 'oh snap! Please tell him we don't want to be bothered.' 'I can't say that.' 'Then tell him to shoo.' 'He's a lawyer, not a fly,' she replied.

THE SHRUGGED SHOULDER REPLY

The lawyer had a question he wanted to ask, how long did I wait to pay each ticket? 'I paid each one about 2-3 days after I received them.' He had a kind of shocked look on his face. 'Why were you in such a rush to pay them?' My reply was the shrugged shoulder reply. 'You never thought about seeking representation or even consulting with someone?' 'It's obvious she didn't,' my sister said. I looked at her and I meant to give her the kind of look that said whose side are you on? But instead I wound up saying it out loud. 'Don't worry,' assured the lawyer, 'she's on your side, as am I. I'm offering you my help.' 'It was two lousy traffic tickets. I never dreamed it would come down to this; me in a courthouse awaiting the fate of my license,' I stated.

AND SO THE LECTURE BEGINS...

'If you hadn't been so quick to pay, your driving offenses would have never been registered with the M.O.T. Insurance companies are not made aware of a driving offense until the conviction has been sent to the M.O.T,' he explained, and for some reason he still felt compelled to continue with the lecture. 'If you had someone fighting your tickets in court, just filing for a court date would have kept the conviction off your record and saved your insurance rate from going up. It must have gone up at least 200%.' Not the insurance speech, again. But I listened, again. 'The actual cost of a speeding ticket in this province is sometimes much more than the fine.'

He mentioned something about insurance companies being a profit based business but I admit I had a little trouble staying awake so I took a big gulp from my Coke hoping the caffeine would help. The lawyer kept talking and making notes on his pad while I kept on thinking how I was better off being on Jury Duty. He wasn't so much offering his help as he was lecturing me because next came the STOP SIGN SPEECH and why it was an even bigger error paying it. Forget the something cold and chocolaty what I needed was an Advil - extra strength!!

'People who have a STOP SIGN VIOLATION on their record are perceived as people who drive through intersections without stopping and are more likely to be involved in a traffic accident. They are always looking to assess what is the risk for any policy holder.' 'In other words the higher the risk, the higher the premium,' I said, 'You are spot on correct,' he replied.

When the lawyer wasn't lecturing me he was questioning me. Question after question after question. He was making me feel hot and not in a good way either. I was actually starting to feel like a criminal on the witness stand. Yes I realize I made a mistake, I never should have paid the tickets. Point made. I understand.

HE WAS SPEAKING ENGLISH BUT I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND A WORD HE WAS SAYING

'How fast were you speeding?' he asked. '20km over the limit. I was doing 80 in a 60 zone,' I replied. 'So you were speeding?' 'The officer didn't show me the radar gun,' I answered. 'There's no legal requirement for this and in most cases the officer will not, as allowing you to see the speed reading has virtually no bearing on your case.' 'He signaled me to pull over so I must have been speeding.' He paused for a brief moment and said, 'you forgot what I told you earlier.' And in a low whisper he reminded me, 'never, never admit to anything. Did the officer explain what was on the ticket?' I told the lawyer yes. The officer explained what had been written on the ticket, what the violation was and the cost of the fine. 'And the ticket was free of any fatal errors?' he then asked. I had no answer for that question. 'Are you aware if a speeding ticket has a fatal error your lawyer may motion to quash the ticket and in order for that to happen it would have to be presented properly to the Justice of the Peace by way of application or motion to the court?'

I looked around to make sure I was still in the courthouse cafeteria and not in a strange unfamiliar land. He was speaking English but I didn't understand a word he was saying. The lawyer caught on and asked, 'you don't understand a word I'm saying do you?'

Of course I understand. I go around everyday using terms like quash the ticket and motion the court.........


To Be Continued...

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess

Traffic Court : Darling I Don't Think Anybody In This Room Wants To Be Here.

Cocaine Princess here.

On Monday I had my oh so exciting day in court! The day didn't start off good at least in terms of the weather. We reached a high of only +2C.

I received an amusing comment from a fellow blogger describing how my day in court would be spent:

Michelle Hix said...

It can't be all that bad. I mean, let's think this through. You show up, they make you wait in a line probably so you do...then of course you will have to use the restroom...which will not be the most delightful of restrooms...then you'll get back in line, behind an 80 year old man with a smoker's cough...and you'll wait some more...you'll have to decide if you are going to have lunch out of the vending machine...hmmm donuts or chips for lunch?...but then they'll call your name, you'll walk in, they will spew out a bunch of mumbo jumbo legal talk and you will smile and they will decide to just give you a warning. ha ha

Of course that's not happened. Here's what did happen:

COURTHOUSE

With 'A' by my side I was taken to a waiting room and told my name would be called and then be escorted into the room next door. I'm happy to say I wasn't the only person whose license may have been up for suspension. There was a big group of us who had some sort of traffic violation and many like me had someone with them for moral support.

I brought along some magazines to pass the time. I wasn't really reading any of them. I just kept flipping through the pages very quickly and because I wasn't wearing a watch I kept grabbing A's wrist to see the time. 'Are you okay?' my sister asked. 'No,' I answered. 'I don't want to be here.' 'Darling I don't think anybody in this room wants to be here,' she replied back.

5 MINUTES LATER

'I feel sick. I think I have a fever,' I said. 'You're not coming down with anything,' said A. Then she touched my forehead. 'And there's no fever.' 'I think I maybe coming down with shingles. Remember the doctor said people who have the chicken pox develop shingles? I think I have it.' 'You're too young for shingles.' I let out a deep and depressing sigh and looked at her watch, again. A set aside the magazine she was reading and asked, 'what can I do to make you feel relaxed?' 'I want a Klondike Bar. Can you get me one please?' 'Where am I going to find you a Klondike Bar?' she questioned. 'I don't know. You're the one WHO asked what you could do to make me feel relaxed, right?' 'And a Klondike Bar is what came to mind? That's what is going to make you feel relaxed?' No, I'm just in the mood for something cold and chocolaty.' She opened up her purse and took out a Snickers. 'I only have something chocolaty.' 'You keep it,' I said. 'You don't want it?' 'No. What I want is to go home. Actually I would stop off at the mall first and then go home.' 'I'm sure it'll be all over by lunch.'

Fat chance of that happening. We arrived at 10:30am. I was scheduled to be called in at 11am. The individual sitting next to me, he was still waiting his turn which was suppose to have been at 9:45am.

TIME: 11:45am

We were told we could break for lunch and to promptly return back at 1pm. Like a herd of buffaloes everybody stampeded out of the room. Slowly walking out of the room with A and the cane in her hand I asked, 'I don't suppose lunch is going to be catered?' 'Well maybe. I heard Chef Ramsay opened up a new restaurant in this very courthouse.' She looked at my face. 'Not even a smile?' 'I'm not in a smiling mood today,' I replied.


TIME: LUNCH
LOCATION: COURTHOUSE CAFETERIA

It seemed like a 1000 people were crammed in the cafeteria. It was filled with lawyers, police officers and civilians. We managed to find a table and while helping A into the chair I told her I would get lunch.

'Bring me whatever you're having,' she said. 'On second thought forget what I said. I'm not eating a salad. I want food.' 'Salad is food,' I said back. 'I want real food.' 'Fine, I'll see what the great Chef Ramsay has prepared.' Grabbing two plastic orange trays I proceeded up to the food area.

To be honest the food didn't look entirely bad. They had fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, soup, pizza, lasagna, sandwiches, an assortment of pasta and these irregular shaped breaded objects which appeared to be chicken nuggets and even ribs. I decided on the pizza slices. I saw a freezer and on the front side panel a sign was plastered, FROZEN DESSERTS. Because of the fog-like frost on the glass sliding door it was hard to tell what frozen goodies were inside. When I slid the door open all this nasty cold air came out. Among the popsicles, frozen yogurt and ice cream bars there was not a Klondike Bar to be found.

'Does this qualify as food?' I questioned sitting down. 'Yes and thank you.' 'A' answered. 'I noticed a freezer up there.' 'I already checked.' 'No Klondike Bars?' 'No Klondike Bars,' I repeated back.

There I was sitting on a very uncomfortable plastic chair washing my Hawaiian pizza slice down with a Diet Coke in the last place I ever thought I would be having lunch, in a courthouse cafeteria when a lawyer at the next table asked, 'what brings you down here today, jury duty?' If only I thought to myself. I told him what brought me down here. 'They're going to throw the book at you,' he stated. I let out a little whimper and looked at my sister. She noticed the look of panic on my face. 'He's pulling your leg. She's not in a very humorous mood today,' explained A to the lawyer. 'You'll be in and out of there in no time. All they are going to do is ask you a couple of questions and you'll have a chance to tell your side. They'll be also checking your vision.' 'My vision?' 'To make sure your vision isn't the reason for your traffic violations,' he answered. 'Do you know what your big error was?' I nodded no even though I knew what was going to come out of his mouth next. Something I have been told 101 times over.
'Paying the ticket. You never should pay a traffic ticket. Once you pay you are pleading guilty to the offense and it will immediately show up on your driving record for your insurance company to see.' Not only wasn't I in a humorous mood, I wasn't in the mood to hear a speech. But being the polite person I am I listened. He continued..... 'And the Police are sometimes wrong. The HTA is only a small amount of knowledge they learn when they are in the academy. Not only is the HTA very detailed it is easily misinterpreted. The police have been known to make mistakes.' 'But it was my fault. I ran the stop sign. I know I did,' I stated. Closing his briefcase he gave me a little advice, 'never, never admit to anything.' Upon leaving he placed his business card in front of my tray. I looked at A. 'What the hell kind of advice was that?' A picked up the card and after reading it said, 'figures he said what he did. His clients are all criminals.' 'Oh my God he thinks I'm a criminal. They are going to throw the book at me aren't they?' 'You're not a criminal and no one is going to be throwing anything at you. He was just making conversation.' 'That's not the kind of conversation I'm interested in having,' I said. 'He did have a point.' 'About my insurance going up? Believe me I'm well aware.' 'About the police. They do make mistakes.....'

To Be Continued...

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess

The Answer To The Riddle Is.....

Cocaine Princess here.

Out of the 12 months I find November the most depressing. The days are shorter, the temperatures drop and the whole world outside turns to a strange shade of grey before being covered in the dreadful snow. November is a heavy eyed month nestled between the sugar-rush of Halloween and the high-energy-oomph and excitement of the December holiday season.

On Monday 'A' had yet another appointment with Doc Croc in the city. In case anyone is interested he wore purple socks with red colored crocs. He removed her air cast and asked if she could move her ankle around. It took some struggle but she managed to do it. Since her ankle is almost somewhat healed she doesn't need to wear her cast 24/7. She's allowed to walk without it for 30 minutes everyday and is now allowed to go up and down the stairs. And instead of crutches she now walks with a cane. Before we left Doc Croc gave a schedule of her physio-therapy dates which will occur here at the local hospital. I told my sister I really would have preferred the therapy be done in the city. 'Because it gives you an excuse to go shopping while I'm getting therapy,' she said. 'You know me so well,' I replied back. 'And I know you well enough to know you want to go to the mall now , right?' 'Well since we're already here................'

'A' was so use to walking the past several weeks on her crutches she found walking with a cane a tad difficult with the weight of the cast adding to the problem.

By the time we left the hospital it was close to lunch. Inside the mall my sister made a comment, 'this isn't the way to the food court.' 'I know,' I replied. 'Today I'm picking the place to eat.'

THE RIDDLE

Seems this riddle has gotten everyone's panties in a knot. I must say I was surprised. I was dead sure at least a couple of you would have gotten the answer. I suppose that's easy for me to say because I know what the answer is.

To review:

.......Another very familiar face stopped by; the playboy who went to Vegas. He was dressed up as a frog. I said to him, 'you're such a cute frog.' 'I'm not a cute frog. I'm an evil frog,' he said back. 'My apologies. I still think you're cute,' I added. 'You know what I told Robbie?' 'Who's Robbie?' I questioned. 'My friend. I told him that you're my girlfriend.' 'I am? So when are you going to take me out to dinner?' He thought about this for a minute and said, 'mommy can make us macaroni and cheese.' 'Perfect. That's my favorite,' I replied. Busy filling his mouth with chocolates he then said, 'I have a riddle. You wanna hear it?' 'Lay it on me froggie,' I said.

'What stays in for dinner but goes out at night?'

I thought about it and I admit I drew a complete blank. 'I don't know,' I said. 'You have to guess,' he insisted. So I thought about it some more. Two of my fellow bloggers said a vampire and the other a cat. Those were my guesses too but that wasn't the answer. 'I give up. Tell me.' 'Just a second,' he said. Froggie popped in a couple of more mini chocolate bars. He had a little trouble opening the Aero wrapper. 'Would you like me to open it?' I asked. 'No I got it,' he answered. After several failed attempts he then requested I open it. As I did he asked a question about the cook who was in the kitchen putting the dishes away. 'Is that your nanny?' 'No she's not my nanny. I'm a little old for one. She's the cook.' 'We have a cook too and a nanny. Does she live with you?' 'No she goes home at night.' 'Our cook lady and nanny live downstairs.' Handing him the chocolate I asked a very important question, 'do you know the proper way to eat an Aero? I can only give this to you if you know how.' 'I know how. Let me show you.' He took the little piece and placed it on his tongue and waited until it melted. 'See just like in the commercial.' 'That's right. Now please tell me what the answer is.' 'In a minute. I have something else to tell you. In four Saturdays I'm having breakfast with Santa Claus.' 'You are? Aren't you a lucky little frog,' I stated. 'Do you have your list ready to show him?' 'Yeah.' 'And how many pages is it?' 'Only one. And next Friday I'm going to see Madagascar 2.' 'The first one is funny isn't it?' ' Yeah. They get lost again,' he said. 'Now what's the answer?' 'Guess,' he said again. 'No more guesses,' I pleaded. 'Alright. Dentures.' 'Huh?' 'THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE IS DENTURES,' said froggie. Oh my God I started laughing. 'Do you get it?' 'Yes. Where did you hear that riddle?' 'From my Nonna,' he said back. 'And you know what dentures are?' 'My Nonna showed me once. She had them in a glass of water. You know my Nonna lost her dentures.' 'How did she lose them?' 'She forgot where she put them so mommy had to take her to the dentist and they gave her a new one,' he replied.

So bloggers that is the answer to the riddle.

It's finally Friday.

Everyone have a fantastic weekend!

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess

"I'm Not A Cute Frog. I'm An Evil Frog"

Cocaine Princess here.

HALLOWEEN MORNING

Friday morning I woke up early and decided to go for a run. The temperature was mild until 10 minutes later the weather took a turn for the worst. A sharp gust of wind came blowing out of nowhere and just like that it went from mild to bitterly cold. The type of cold where the minute you open your mouth the cold air fills your lungs making it painful to breathe. I didn't have my gloves or my hat. I thought if I just kept running I would warm myself up. So I continued running but not for long. I ran towards Tim Hortons and quickly ducked inside for some warmth and shelter.

Tim Hortons is very busy anytime you go but it is especially busy in the morning as people are off to work and in need of their caffeine fix. I counted 20 cars in the drive thru lane. The cars were spilling onto the road blocking and causing traffic problems as more cars were trying to maneuver their way into the lane. The parking lot was near empty. Inside including myself there were three customers and one was waiting for his order and when his order was ready he left leaving only myself and another. So wouldn't it be easier for a person to just park their car, go inside and place their order and then be on their merry way? Why waste all that time in the drive thru lane?

Surrounded by warmth I looked at the menu board. Each month Tim's has a special flavor theme. The flavor theme for the month of October was Pumpkin Spice with an assortment of pastries and drinks. I went for the cider and it was quite good. I sat at a table near an elderly gentleman and a worker on her break who herself was enjoying a hot beverage. The three of us began to engage in a conversation......Maybe conversation isn't the right word.

Elderly Man

Happy Halloween cutie.

Me

Happy Halloween to you too.

Employee

The man is 82 years old and hits on

anything that moves.

Elderly Man to Employee

I'm 82 years YOUNG.

Employee

He comes in twice everyday and

orders the same thing; a bran muffin

and a juice.

Elderly Man

How else am I going to stay regular?

Employee

And all he does is yap and yap. He

gives everyone a headache.

Elderly Man

(He looks at me while pointing to the employee)

She refuses to check my pulse

so as long as I'm yapping I know

I'm alive. How about you cutie? You wanna

check my pulse?

Me

Maybe some other time.

My conversation was interrupted with a phone call from Valentina. She first called my home line and wondered where I was when I didn't pick up. I told her I was at Tim Hortons. I swear there was a shocking gasp like sound that came from her end followed by a brief pause. And then she made me explain why I was there. But being the curious person she is Valentina still had questions. 'Why didn't you tell the cook to make you some hot chocolate?' 'For two reasons. One, I didn't expect it to get this cold. Two, it's hard to run while holding a thermos,' I replied. 'You have a treadmill.' 'I know.' 'Then why aren't you using it?' 'Because I wanted some fresh air,' I answered. 'If you were down here you could go running every morning in the fresh air on the beach instead of on the concrete in freezing temperatures, but you're not here because of her alleged broken ankle. I might as well ask, how is she doing?' 'I take it you're referring to A? She's doing a lot better.' 'Send her my love,' she said sarcastically. 'So is the place creeping with truckers in plaid shirts with bad B.O?' 'I haven't seen anybody matching that description yet.' 'And I'm sure someone matching that description is on his way,' she replied. I asked her what she doing up so early. 'One of the fire alarms in the house went off waking me up. It was a false alarm. And now I can't fall back to sleep.' 'I know the feeling,' I said. 'So are you going to tell me or do I need to ask?' 'Tell you what?' 'Your little run in with the law,' she answered back. 'Why were you even driving?' 'I already had this conversation with daddy last week.' 'And now you're going to have it with me.' I looked at my watch, 7:15am. It's too early for this I thought. I told her I would call her back. Her reply; 'No, I'll call you instead in the afternoon.'

I love my best friend to death and there isn't anything that we wouldn't do for the other but that morning all I wanted to do was just enjoy my Hot Pumpkin Spice cider drink in peace.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

Thankfully the weather made a significant improvement. It shot up from +2 to +15.
We had a fantastic turnout and it was a good thing I bought the extra box of chocolates. Batman was quite a popular character among the boys but I noticed there were a lot more hockey players and for the girls it was a tie between a Disney Princess and Hannah Montana.

I love watching the cute little faces of children glow brilliantly like the moon when they receive their goodies. And each and every child that came to the door was so adorable you just want to eat them up. One little boy came dressed as a doctor. He was in tiny green scrubs with a white lab coat on top and a plastic orange stethoscope around his neck. He couldn't have been more than 3 years old. 'Trick or Treat,' he said. 'Trick or treat,' I said back. 'You are the handsomest doctor I have ever laid my eyes on,' I said. He nodded his head in agreement. When I went to give him his chocolates I noticed he didn't have his bag. 'Where's your treat bag?' I asked. 'My daddy has it.' 'Where's daddy?' 'Over there,' he said pointing behind him. When I looked he was at the end of the walkway. He waved and I waved in return. Then I realized why the little boy was dressed as a doctor. His father is a doctor who lives a few houses down from me. The little doctor in training held out his left hand and I gave him a Hershey bar. He then held out his right hand. I gave him a Twix and he said thank you and left. A minute later he returned, this time with his treat bag.

Halloween 2008 brought out many children trick or treating for the very first time. They came dressed as bunnies and teddy bears and pumpkins. The ages ranged from 2 and under with the youngest being 7 months old. Most of them were asleep in their parents arms but even if they were awake it's not like they would have had any understanding of what was happening. I believe it was more of a thrill for the parents since I noticed it was their faces that shined so bright.

Several familiar faces dropped by. The two Hannah Montana fanatics who wanted to see their teacher, my sister. I let them in and they serenaded her with two songs.

Another very familiar face stopped by; the playboy who went to Vegas. He was dressed up as a frog. I said to him, 'you're such a cute frog.' 'I'm not a cute frog. I'm an evil frog,' he said back. 'My apologies. I still think you're cute,' I added. 'You know what I told Robbie?' 'Who's Robbie?' I questioned. 'My friend. I told him that you're my girlfriend.' 'I am? So when are you going to take me out to dinner?' He thought about this for a minute and said, 'mommy can make us macaroni and cheese.' 'Perfect. That's my favorite,' I replied. Busy filling his mouth with chocolates he then said, 'I have a riddle. You wanna hear it?' 'Lay it on me froggie,' I said.

'What stays in for dinner but goes out at night?'

Any guesses bloggers?

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess