Union Jack Pillow

(Union Jack Pillow from Cox&Cox)

Italian crime novels

I've been a huge fan of author Donna Leon for awhile.  My mom discovered her several years ago, and when she discovered she wrote mysteries based in Venice, she just had to get me Death at La Fenice one Christmas.  Since reading the first one, I've read every single one I could get my hands on.   All 15 I've run across.  Half.com is one of my best friends when it comes to books, so that is how I got a lot of them.  Today I decided to check up on some of my favorite authors... since Leon released a book last year I figured she was due for a new one soon, and I knew another one my favorite authors, Andrea Camilleri, who's Inspector Montalbano series is based on an Italian policeman (in Sicily) has a recently translated book being released in Feb.  He writes in Italian.

I checked Amazon, saw the new Leon novel will be released in April, but I also ran across a list of Leon's novels in chronological order.  Even though I knew I'd read them all, I checked anyway.  I knew wrong.  The list had 2 books on it I'd heard of, but assumed they were the British titling of a book I'd read.  Wrong again.  Here is the list per Wikipedia:

1. Death at La Fenice (1992)
2. Death in a Strange Country (1993)
3. The Anonymous Venetian (1994) aka Dressed for Death
4. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) aka Death and Judgment
5. Acqua Alta (1996) aka Death in High Water
6. The Death of Faith (1997) aka Quietly in Their Sleep
7. A Noble Radiance (1997)
8. Fatal Remedies (1999)
9. Friends in High Places (2000)
10. A Sea of Troubles (2001)
11. Wilful Behaviour (2002)
12. Uniform Justice (2003)
13. Doctored Evidence (2004)
14. Blood from a Stone (2005)
15. Through a Glass Darkly (2006)
16. Suffer the Little Children (2007)
17. The Girl of His Dreams (2008)
18. About Face (2009)

Books nos. 10 and 11 I haven't read and I can't find on any of my usual sites in the States/Canada (except for over $100 USD... no way).   So I decided to check Amazon UK and lo and behold, was able to find them both, in paperback, for only $30 USD including shipping to Canada!  I absolutely love finding books I haven't yet read by my favorite authors.

So, I decided to check on Andrea Camilleri.  Again, this is Wikipedia's list:

1. The Shape of Water - 2002 (La forma dell’acqua - 1994)
2. The Terracotta Dog - 2002 (Il cane di terracotta - 1996)
3. The Snack Thief - 2003 (Il ladro di merendine - 1996)
4. The Voice of the Violin - 2003 (La voce del violino - 1997)
5. Excursion to Tindari - 2005 (La gita a Tindari - 2000)
6. The Scent of the Night - 2005 (L’odore della notte - 2001)
7. Rounding the Mark - 2006 (Il giro di boa - 2003)
8. The Patience of the Spider - 2007 (La pazienza del ragno - 2004)
9. The Paper Moon - 2008 (La Luna di Carta - 2005)
10. August Heat - 2006 (La Vampa d'Agosto - 2006)
11. The Sphinx's Wings - 2006 (Le Ali della Sfinge - 2006)
12. The Sand Path - 2007 (La pista di Sabbia - 2007)
13. The Potter's Field - 2008 (Il campo del vasaio - 2008)
14. The Age of Doubt - 2008 (L'età del dubbio) - 2008

August Heat is the novel that is being released in English in February... I'm so excited I can't wait!  I have contemplated trying to read his novels in Italian, but would have to get a hold of one first (hello Amazon UK!).  Maybe a future project...  As it is, I am anxiously awaiting his next release in English and the Donna Leon books in the mail!

Title? No thanks.

I got my hair cut today... VERY exciting.  I think the last time I had it cut was March or something!  Haley, my stylist, was fantastic.  I didn't really know what I wanted done with hair, I just knew I didn't want it chopped off.  Luckily, Haley didn't want to chop my hair off either... she didn't even want to cut off up to my shoulders!  So she layered, gave it more life, gave me a little blurb of bangs and it was finished.  I love it and am so excited to finally have my hair feeling healthy and light again!

The weather has been extremely pleasant here for the past several months, sitting around 10 degrees celsius.  However, yesterday is started getting colder, today was pretty close to zero and tomorrow it is supposed to snow... OH NO!  The mountains on the North Shore (I have got to learn the name of the range) have snow all over their tips... very pretty.  Here's a shot from one of my apartment's patios facing northwest.

We have a tree!

Things I love (Part I): Personal finance edition

• I love the PearBudget online spreadsheet because, through it, I have discovered that I actually live within my means and often have extra money at the end of the month to put other places.  I am able to see where my money goes (okay, I really like to buy clothes) and where I *think* my money goes but it actually doesn't (eating out).
  
  
• I love the Yodlee Moneycenter, because: a) I can track all of money between all my accounts (and when it leaves my accounts), b) I can track my Canadian accounts, and c) I can see my net worth and where my assets/liabilities are and what percentage of my total those are (for instance, my retirement account is currently 75% of my assets).  Well, I love it for more than reasons a, b and c but those are just the ones I want to mention.
  
  
• I love the Get Rich Slowly blog, because not only does blogger JR have great posts and insights about things related to personal finance, he has a great following of thoughtful and learned readers who are able to provide additional insight and information.  The forums are fantastic and people are so willing to help others out.  I love.

"CASH ONLY"

After spending a wonderful 5 days with my mom when she came to visit (maybe I will do a post on that someday?), I have been back to the real world of work.  I baked Sunday and then took Mom to the airport.  I baked Monday, helped a co-worker shop for shoes/accessories, crashed from pure exhaustion and did nothing yesterday.  Then today, all hell broke loose.

I should have known when I woke up this morning that it was going to be a rough day.  Although really, things were going pretty smoothly then.  I made it to work on time.  But when I walked up to the door at 5:15 am there was a big sign that said "CASH ONLY."  Oh dear, the tills are broken again.  But hey!  We can just call Halo and they will fix it.  Au contraire.

The 6:30 supervisor was late, which was bad for me since I was feeling slightly frazzled already.  Everything progressed fairly smoothly (no temper tantrums yet) and before I knew it it was break time.  On my break I bought an aranciata in a bottle and discovered it wasn't a twist top.  I should have known then that it was going to be a really rough day.

When I came back after my break, not only were the cash registers still not accepting debit, credit or gift cards, but now they didn't accept cash either.  They were BRO-KEN.  So, instead, the two people on till had broken out the good ole' pen, paper and a calculator.  So from 9:45 to 1:15 we did everything.  By hand. It was a great excerise of the memory (to remember product prices) and the mind (to calculate change).  We also had to code the drinks by hand and run them over to the bar for the baristas.  Luckily, everything was running pretty smoothly once we developed a system.  One person wrote down the order, added it up and took care of the money; one person wrote the drinks down and ran to the bar; and the last took care of things like food, drip coffees and whole beans.  

It was a very taxing, hilarious and all-around sort-of fun day.  That is, if I don't have to repeat it again tomorrow.

Fa la la la la

While the Christmas season officially started on Friday in the States post-Thanksgiving... by that standard the holiday season should been in full swing here in the Great White North since Canadian Thanksgiving on Oct 13.  Yes, that's OCTOBER.

Fortunately, those living north of the 49th parallel tend to wait awhile and "Christmas" officially started yesterday.  I am not excited.

What I am excited about, however, is the new Christmas blend we got in at the coffee shop yesterday.  It is definitely my new favorite coffee and I can't wait to take home my first lb. next week!  Since I forsee a lot of alone time the last two weeks of December, a nice cup of Christmas blend should keep my company.  Maybe a good book or two as well?

I wish I had some photos to share of the holiday season gearing up here in the Lower Mainland, but alas, I do not.  However, since Mom will be arriving in about 23 hrs (!) I will be breakng out the camera and shooting some photos.  My dad gave me a tutorial via Skype tonight on camera settings, so hopefully that will help me take some nicer photos than I have been taking in the past!  If I can take nice photos with the point and shoot, I will definitely feel more vindicated in wanting (and eventually obtaining) that digital SLR I've been coveting.

On another note, the work Christmas party is in two weeks on Granville Island!  Went dress shopping Saturday post-poutine (best in Vancouver!) and got great deals at Barefoot Contessa  on Commercial.  I bought a cute, lace on black strapless cocktail dress after trying on at least a dozen!  I had a difficult time picking between it (called the "Natalie Portman" dress) and another, slightly sexier satin sheath dress which had gorgeous details!  I absoultely adored the shop and plan to return again soon next time I need some clothing!