Crazy Weekend

With the warm weather comes even more plans for the ever busy me. This past weekend was no exception. On Friday night after a crazy day of writing test cases at work, I had to stop by Purolator and pick up the latest Creative Memories order for my customers. (I can not believe the guy who came in after me left his car idling outside the entire time he was in there.) Home to grab something quick to eat, pack up the orders and then head over to my friend Sue's for a Creative Memories Get Together. The night was a lot of fun and I ended up getting home at 11:30pm. So much for getting to the grocery store on my way home.

Friday morning I had to be up early to get to the grocery store so I could make up a batch of soup for the scrapbooking workshop Dorie and I were hosting (well, Dorie was hosting and I was helping out since none of my customers could attend). I had the soup all made and my car all packed by 9am (about 40 mins later than I had hoped, but Dorie didn't need as much setup help as we thought). As I was driving from my place to the 401 I had to stop at a stop light. It wasn't a quick stop or anything, but the crock pot of soup overturned on the floor of the passenger seat and it all spilled out. The car smelled great but it looked like someone had thrown up all over the floor (thai coconut and sweet potato soup - very orange). I gave Dorie a call and let her know the soup was not happening. I just had to laugh or I would cry.

I got to Dorie's and the place looked great (as always). Everyone was late getting there (so I didn't feel so bad about my 40 mins of lateness). As people started to arrive I took on the duty of helping out two of Dorie's friends with the digital scrapbooking. We were able to upload some options, and I was able to get them started on the basics. They are both pretty excited about getting their trip books completed. I was working on my Vegas book from when Jason and I went to Vegas. But, I wasn't really in the mood. I did not get a lot accomplished. Around 3pm I talked to Christi and she was having issues with her digital book so I needed to get back to Mississauga to help her out. Back into my soup car!

Who knows what is happening with Christi's internet, but we could not get the digital book uploaed to CM so I took it home with me and was able to upload it from there. Can't wait to see the printed version!

By this point it was 7pm and I was supposed to be over at my friend Karen's to watch the hockey game. I finally made it over there for 7:30 and really just wanted to crawl into my bed and sleep. The game did not end as we hoped (Montreal had so many chances and just couldn't deliver). It was great to hang out with Karen and Kevin and visit with their boys, but I was falling asleep so home I went.

Up early again on Sunday morning for a day with Christi and Alex (her 2 year old) at Wonderland. We spent most of the day in the kids park. We had a lot of fun and Alex went on his first roller coaster (he did not enjoy it). It was a gorgeous day. Around 2:30 I left Christi and Alex to check out the new coaster 'Behemoth'. The line was not at all long and I was on the ride in under 20 mins. Let's just say this ride is crazy and a tad scary. I love rides. For my 18th birthday my family took me to Cedar Point to try out the tallest, fastest, steepest coaster in the world (at the time).

After the craziness of wonderland I headed into Toronto to play some tennis with Julia. It was our first day out this season so we just hit the ball around for an hour. It did not start out promising. I was all over the place, I'm hoping I will improve over the summer (I only started playing last year). By the time I got home last night I was so tired. Work was tough today!

Saving Water

Last weekend was not so good. I was supposed to have plans on Friday night, but ended up having an update every two hours on how I did not have plans. There was a breakdown of a car involved. During this time I was not a happy camper. I get very excited about plans (regardless of what they are) and get rather upset when they are cancelled (I blame the depression). While talking to my friends Dorie, Sharon and Julia, I decided I should go out on the motorcycle for a ride to calm down. It was a beautiful night and I should embrace it instead of waiting around. Okay, I had a new plan, great!

For the past few months I've been having problems with my toilet. It keeps running. Normally I can get it to stop. But not Friday night. I was half in my motorcycle chaps when I realized that it was still running. I could not get it to stop. Now, I suspect that my unhappy mood did not help matters. I got rather frustrated with the whole thing. So, there I was sitting on my couch with my chaps half on and me on the phone with my friend Dorie, again. I could not get a hold of my dad or my brother to figure out what was going on with the toilet (as now, not only was it continually running, it also wouldn't flush). Dorie convinced me to put the chaps on and get out on the bike. Which I did. It was quite nice (chilly, but nice).


The next morning I did get a hold of my dad and he gave me some ideas of what was wrong, but reiterated that I needed a new toilet. I was able to get the toilet flushing again, but had to keep the water turned off because it would not stop running.


Last night my dad was able to come into town and replace the toilet. I have a swanky new dual flush toilet that saves on water. Very cool and environmental. I even get a $100 rebate from the city for installing the swanky new toilet. It's so small!

Don't Get Mathy On Me

I was feeling a little down and Julia picked me up with this strip from Dilbert. Hee Hee!

Well, I was going to post the strip here, but my PC is not cooperating.

Here's the gist:
The manager says at a staff meeting "don't feel bad if you only got a 3% raise. I only got 2% myself."
Angry girl replies "can we feel bad that 2% of YOUR pay is bigger than 3% of OUR pay?"
The manager replies "Don't get all mathy on me."

Go to Dilbert.com and search on published date 4/21/05 to check it out. Okay, Julia just sent me the link: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2005-04-21/

Empire

"The Greatest Five Seconds in Movie History"
http://www.matchflick.com/column/1640

I thought this was an excellent article. I remember being extremely surprised by this moment on film.

5 + 7 Revisited

It showed up again today on my brain teaser. The dreaded 5+7 and this time it was 5+7, not 5x7. But, I got it right. I answered 12 on the first try. Maybe I have overcome this crazy mental block... maybe. We shall see. Of course, though, the system had a glitch and I couldn't answer the rest of the questions for a good 20 seconds so my score was 54 seconds this morning. I swear 5+7 are out to get me :)

The Martini

As posted about a week ago, my friend Dorie and I went out dancing in Mississauga. It was so much fun we made plans to do it again - this Saturday night. This time the plan was to go to my favourite bar, The Devil's Martini. Back in the late 90s Lisa and I first happened upon the Martini. I believe (and I hope she will correct me if I'm wrong) she heard about it through this guy she was dating at the time (Kevin, but not the Kevin she's dating now). We checked it out and fell in love with the place. It was this tiny, dark, little bar just down from the Osgoode subway. It had a couple of pool tables in the back and the best dance floor / bar at the front. Now, I loved the dance floor for many reasons. First, there was a stage. As many of you know, I'm a bit of an exhibitionist and I love to dance on a stage. But, even better: I was allowed to dance on the bar!!!! There were these two small sections of the bar that met up with the stage so you could just step up and be on the bar. Since people weren't normally getting drinks from those sections a couple of us were allowed to dance there. The one side, though, had duct work that came down over the bar. This made it impossible for most people to stand on the bar in that space. But, not me. I'm under 5 feet tall so I could stand under the duct work. I could actually dance under the duct work (I had to watch out when 'Home for a Rest' was played, though, as I got a little jumpy and hit my head on more than one occassion). Lisa and I would always start out the night playing some pool. There were many a night when we had the run of the pool table for hours. But, no matter how well we were playing, once the dance floor got going I was up on the stage for the rest of the night. We had some really great times there, including the night I sat on Mike Myers jacket and the night we took a guy to a strip club for his stag.

Unfortunately, the Martini had to move on. They tore it down and put up condos (I think). It was a very sad day for me. Then they reopened on Adelaide (at least I think it's on Adelaide, I really can not remember where the new location is; I know it's in an alley and I always think it's a miracle that I find it). It's a much bigger place with white decor instead of black. But, they still have the same type of music and a couple of pool tables. Whenever I get a chance this is the place I like to go dancing. I certainly don't go as often as I used to go to the old place (what with being older and living in the burbs).

So, this weekend Dorie and I decided that that's where we should go. I sent out an invite to a couple of people to see if they wanted to join us. I included two of my sisters, unfortunately, they were not available. But, Linds emailed me back to warn me that my third sister had sent her an email saying she was planning on going out for her birthday this Saturday at the Martini. This did not sit well. I found this out on Wednesday and I was having a really crappy day on Wednesday (my depression was in full swing). Why would she choose to go there? She's never been there before (that I know of), it's not her type of music or crowd at all. Were the fates toying with me? I haven't spoken to this sister since July and I certainly didn't want to have a run in at my favourite bar! So, I called up Linds to find out the deal and to determine if I needed to pick a new bar. A little voice in the back of my head reminded me that Dorie had heard of a new bar opening in Mississauga with martini in the name. Could that be where Rach was planning on going? Linds checked her email and yes, there is a place called the Dirty Martini in Mississauga and that's where they were planning on going. Sigh. All is right with the world again. Now, I don't hate my sister, but we don't always get along. I didn't want our first encounter after 9 months to be at a club in Toronto. It could go well, or it could go bad. Let's not find out.

So, I'm off to the Martini (Devil's, that is) on Saturday night. I'm hoping for a great night of dancing, drinks and friends (and maybe a pool game). Hope you all have an excellent weekend and I hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane of one of Toronto's coolest bars.

Stupid 5 + 7

So, I have a Math degree. From the University of Waterloo no less. But, try as I might I can not remember what 5+7 is. Yes, right now I am aware that it is 12 (yet, I keep looking at that answer and am second guessing myself and will need to finish this post soon so that my brain doesn't explode). In an hour I will have forgotten, again. I love math, I like to do math for fun. On my google home page I have a math brain test every morning. A couple of quick multiplication, addition and subtraction questions (I don't understand why there aren't any division). Normally I finish the questions in around 20 seconds with 0 wrong. This morning because of 5 and 7 my time was 37 seconds with two wrong answers. Why 2? Because apparently as soon as I saw 5 and 7, I assumed it was 5+7 and my brain froze. I answered 13 (which is what I always think the answer is - even though I know I'm always wrong). Then I saw the red x and changed it to 12, still wrong! What? Oh, 5x7. Well, that's a whole different story, that one I know. But, because of my aversion to 5+7 my brain went right to 13 and a wrong answer.

A couple of weeks ago at trivia this got me in to some problems with scoring a round. I can remember the digits of my credit card, my debit card and my library card and yet I can not remember that 5+7 is 12. What traumatic event happened to me as a child that involved these numbers?

Trivia Finals - Way To Go Mods

Last night were the finals for my trivia league. First off - so happy this season is done. I've been sub-ing for Rod's team this season. They needed an extra body to QM (ask the questions). So, Julia was nice enough to take my spot on the Mods so I could help out the Naughts.

Anyway, this was the first time I had gone to the finals. In the finals there are three teams competing. The Mods just squeaked in after an upset in their final regular season game. Throughout the evening the Mods were in the lead, but they almost lost it in the challenge round. They won by only 1 point and the trophy is now theirs. Yes, there is a trophy. Julia has the honour of having it at her home as the rest of the guys have already had the privilege. They promise me we'll be back to the finals when I'm back on the team so that I get to take it home.

Congrats as well to Mel for winning the individual trophy!


Picture of the Mods: Tim, Mel, Julia, Bob and Ralph

Riding Giants

I just finished watching 'Riding Giants', a documentary by Stacey Peralta (the same guy that did 'Dogtown and Z-boys). This one is about the history of big wave surfing. Jeremy recommended this one to me. Very cool movie. The waves are crazy and it was really well done. I can't wait for my dad to check this out. There is a small bit of windsurfing in the movie, which really made me want to get back out in the water. These guys are crazy. Some of it reminded me of the day we were out at the beach after the last remnants of a hurricane had made its way up to Goderich. I wasn't allowed out (not that I would have gone). The waves were huge and I'm pretty sure Ian did a full flip (the 13 ft mast cleared). I was freaked out once the lightning started. It was a crazy, crazy day.

One Month In

I can't believe it, but I've been at the new job for a month now. It seems like it just flew by. So different than the time at AIM. It is so nice to have actual work to do. Things seem to be going well. They have me working on a number of different things and are really happy with what I've done so far. The contract is for 4 months, but I suspect there is a good chance it will be extended.

I believe I've figured out the commute. If I leave around 7am, the drive takes between 30 and 40 mins. This allows me to leave work around 4:30 and it takes about the same amount of time to get home. Unless of course, we're talking about a Friday afternoon. Then it takes about an hour to get home. I am not complaining. It's still better than the hour and fifteen minutes it used to take to get to the casino and it took about that long to get to AIM on the bus. I need to find some more books on CD, though. I forgot to pick some up this week so I've been stuck with the radio and my ipod (don't get me wrong, I love my ipod - but I listen to it all day at work).

It's Friday and that's exciting! This weekend I'm off to the stamp show with Julia (both of our father's used to collect stamps so we thought we'd check it out). Then I'm heading to Oshawa to see Heidi and Jen (and Heidi gets to play around with the Mini again). I'm hoping to get out and play cards with Rod and Darlene tonight and dinner with Lisa (and maybe Kevin) on Sunday. Another packed weekend.

Last night I headed to Burlington to meet up for dinner with my sisters and a couple of their friends. It was an awesome time. My sisters are so beautiful! After dinner I followed Linds over to her new apt. It's gorgeous. The colours they chose are amazing. I'm really happy for her. I was worried when she moved in with Mike so soon after meeting him, but she seems really happy. As if my evening wasn't jam packed enough, I then drove over to Karen and Kevin's for a quick visit. Karen chopped off all her hair. It looks really good, but it's so different! We watched part of the hockey game (Karen is a Habs fan and was very happy with the 4-1 win). We also watched part of The Office. I had only ever watched one episode and it annoyed me, but I found myself chuckling quite a bit. I may have to give it another try.

It's About Time

Just read that they are thinking of phasing out plastic bags at the liquor store. All I can say is 'it's about time'. We need to stop getting plastic bags when we shop. Get yourself a handy little bag that pops in your purse, or in the car and when you are out shopping, grab it. Reuse the cloth bags for the grocery store. Make sure you put them back in the car after you unload your groceries. Every little bit will help!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080409/national/liquor_store_bags_ban

Beautiful Weekend

What an amazing weekend. It was so beautiful outside. On Friday night I met up with the girls (Tara, Sue and Christi) for pedicures and dinner. It was really nice to hang out and chat. Dorie then came to Mississauga and we went out dancing at Crocodile Rock. We had such a good time. I haven't been dancing in forever and I forgot how much I love it. My feet were so sore afterwards (stilleto heels seemed like a good idea at the time).

Saturday, my cousin Amy (well, for all intensive purposes - she's actually my cousin Michelle's cousin) came over for an afternoon of scrapbooking. My Austria album is almost done. A couple more pages and it will be done. I'm so procrastinating. But, I want to show it off tomorrow night so I need to finish. Before she came over I took the motorcycle out for the first time of this season. I had the bike detailed last weekend and it looks amazing! It was great to be out.

Last night I watched 'No Country for Old Men'. It was really good, not the ending I expected, which is good. I find that I think about movies more often when the ending isn't what I expected. Today I hung out on the couch all day instead of actually getting anything accomplished.

Mel's Going to be an Aunt

That's right, Jason and Megan are expecting. I'm so excited! The baby is due in October and I can't wait. I'm heading out to visit them in May and of course will go back in October. I actually found out back when Jason and I were in Vegas, but couldn't say anything until they had heard the heartbeat.

Top 50 Television Shows of All Time

Empire just posted their top 50 tv shows of all time. I think #2 should be #1, but the list was pretty interesting. I think Monty Python's Flying Circus should be higher though.

http://www.empireonline.com/50greatesttv/default.asp?tv=50

For each of the shows you get a synopsis (I love Firefly's, probably because I agree with the Nathan Fillion comment), the best episode and a fact you might not have know (I did not know the Buffy fact - not sure I would have loved it as much if Angel had of died in Season 2).

Dancing With the Stars

I just finished watching last night's dancing with the stars. Am I the only one, other than the judges, that actually pays attention to the dancing? Mario's dancing was horrible! As was Karina's and she's the professional. They were not in step and the steps they did have were not good. Yet the audience boo'd when Len gave them a bad review. Please start paying attention to the dancing people!

Julianne is still my fav by far. It's too bad that's she's partnered with Adam as they won't be around for very long. I'm liking Adam, he's pretty funny, but a dancer he is not. Kristi and Mark should win. She's amazing.

Being Single Sucks

Normally I don't mind being single. I've been single pretty much my entire life (there was that year or so with Dennis, but for the most part single). I've come to accept this and don't mind going on vacations by myself (New Zealand was great - if you don't count the problem at the Sydney airport); I go to dinner and movies by myself. This is all fine. But, today I went for a rock climbing lesson. I did not realize that this is not a sport you can do by yourself. In hindsight, I should have realized, but I just decided to try it out. They didn't say anything to me when I signed up by myself (which I really think they should have). The first part was fine, I figured out all the knots, figured out how to hook everything up. But, then everyone else in the group got to climb. I didn't get to climb because I didn't have anyone to belay. I did get to belay, though. The instructor had me practice while he climbed. So, I have no idea if I actually like this sport that my brother speaks so highly of.

My Sister's Keeper

Last night I finished reading a book that Christi lent me. I hadn't read anything by this author before and I couldn't put the book down. I highly recommend reading 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult. I really liked the style of the book and the premise was really interesting. I finished it last night and cried for about an hour. My eyes were so puffy this morning. I don't want to say what it was about or details about the writing style because I think everyone should come to this book as fresh as possible.

Before that I read 'a long way gone'. This book was written by a boy soldier from Sierra Leone. It was definitely interesting, but I'm not sure that I liked the writing and I didn't feel for the writer.

I'm back to listening to books on CD for my long drive to work. The first one was 'The Pleasure of my Company' by Steve Martin. I loved his book 'Shop Girl' and I really liked this book on CD. It was actually read by Steve Martin and the story was really interesting. The main character is somewhat autistic. The second book was 'Therapy' by Jonathan Kellerman. Always a good option for a quick / trash read.

I can't decide what to read next. I need something up beat, but I don't really have that on my bookshelf right now. I have a ton of options, but nothing is jumping out at me.

Ballet and The Rolling Stones

I just got home from the ballet. Lisa and I once again purchased subscription seats (seasons tickets). We only went for three ballets this year. The first was back in November and it was a mixed program with a West Side Story performance (I think I already wrote about that). Tonight was also a mixed program (which I realized I am not a big fan of).

The first piece was set to Chopin and I did like it. It was a little too modern for my tastes (I am definitely a fan of classical). It was amazing what they can do with their bodies. I think I am just really tired of ballets where the dancers just run around the stage.

The second piece was called Soldiers' Mass. There were just 12 guys on stage and I found it really moving. Lisa found this one boring. There was a male choir throughout and that was pretty impressive (much better than when the dancers were signing during west side story).

But, the reason I wanted to go tonight was for the third piece. 'Rooster' was set to music by The Rolling Stones. WOW! I loved this. It is up there with Swan Lake in my list of favs. Now, I am a huge fan of the Stones, so that could be part of it. But, I am also a fan of the type of dancing they were doing. It was just a lot of fun. I may just go back before the last performance on the 16th. It's been a long time since I was blown away by a performance by the National Ballet (normally I just complain about them not being in step - really, they are professionals, they should be able to stay together). If you get the chance go see this!

First Day

Well, the first day was good. I had a ton of work to do and it looks like they have lots for me to do for quite a few days :) The drive wasn't horrible, but that could be due to the fact that it is March break. I did not have fun trying to get to trivia after work, though. Apparently there isn't a DVP south exit off of Wynford Drive. I got a little turned around, but finally found my way and that wasn't a bad drive.

I did get a call after work that I was hoping for and I am hoping that it means I have plans this weekend.

I had a really bad Thai meal tonight. Julia and I met up before trivia at the Green Mango. It was like they didn't want to serve us, first off. Then the spring rolls were reheated, my entree smelled like cat litter (and Julia's smelled like urine). Mine was supposed to be spicy, but it hardly had any flavour. It was not a good meal at all. So, we went back to the Duke and had a deep-fried Mars bar to make up for it :)

CSI

I'm watching the 'Mickey Dunn' episode of CSI right now. It's the one with Roger Daltry playing multiple characters. The young Mickey Dunn is played by Rik Young. He is pretty damn hot. I think I need to get out. I was supposed to go dancing last night, but mother nature did not cooperate. Dorie and I talked about how sucky it was that we didn't get to go dancing last night, we were both definitely in the mood. She has two weeks off for March break so our dancing night will have to wait a couple of weeks.

I also just caught up on two months of go fug yourself. I think there was only one or two posts that had me laughing out loud. I really should have spent my time on my Austria scrapbook instead.

Vegas, Baby

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I met up in Vegas. It was really nice to get to hang out with my brother for a weekend away. Megan didn't feel like hanging out in the casinos all weekend so she stayed in BC. Originally I was supposed to get into Vegas half an hour before Jason. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. I was flying on points so I had to fly from Toronto to Ottawa and then on to Vegas. The flight to Ottawa was fine and on time, but the plane we were taking to Vegas ended up stuck in Toronto due to the weather. Once on the plane, we had to wait for the wings to be de-iced. I ended up getting to Vegas an hour after Jason. He had flown in to the main terminal and hopped on the shuttle over to the little terminal where I was. Unfortunately, the one I flew in to didn't have any stores open so he couldn't even get a drink. I was so excited to see him!

We then had to deal with the car rental place. We were planning to rent a car for the whole weekend because it wasn't too expensive, but once we got there they hit us with a $20 / day insurance fee. We decided we would just keep the car for one day (we were planning to go to the Hoover Dam and do some driving in the desert). By the time we got to the hotel I think it was 2am. I was so tired!

We woke up to a screamer in the next room. Every morning at 7:30 am she was letting the world know what a great time she was having in Vegas.

Off we went into the desert. It takes forever to get anywhere in Nevada! Our first stop was the Hoover Dam. Dad has always said it was one of his favourite places in the world. He was just amazed by the structure and I can see why. It wasn't so much how high the dam is, but the story of its construction. During the depression they completed the dam in just three years, two years ahead of schedule. The innovations made during the construction were amazing. It was definitely impressive and I'm really glad we did the tour.

What is not impressive is that they are building a new bridge over the river at the bottom of the dam and it is at least 5 years behind schedule. It's amazing how times change and how work ethics, etc change over time.

We then headed into the desert to drive up to the Valley of Fire. Since it takes forever to get anywhere, we didn't have time to go to Death Valley or the Grand Canyon. But, I think it was okay because the drive was absolutely stunning. We stopped a number of times to get out of the car and take pictures.

By the time we got to the Valley of Fire, we were so tired. It was pretty cool, but not that much better than anything we had seen on the drive. The petroglyphs were cool, though.
We hit rush hour traffic on the way back in to town. We drove down the strip and found a thai restaurant for dinner. I do not remember it taking so long to get down the strip! The hotel that I stayed in on my first trip is gone, The Frontier (except for the sign). Jason and I were staying at the other end of the strip at the Tropicana (which worked out really well for getting to the airport, not so good for getting to the Mirage).

After taking the car back we decided it was time to get into a casino! I'd already checked out the hotels / casinos on my last trip so we were checking out the ones Jason wanted to see. We headed over to the Luxor and played some slots. I was not a fan of the slots before. It turnes out I had not been playing the fun video ones. Jason introduced me to the video slots that have bonus games. I was having a great time. We ended up at three or four different casinos playing slots until around 2am (I think). I really wanted to play poker, but the only hotel on the strip that has a 7-card stud game is the Mirage. We were too far from the Mirage to go that night.

I had forgotten how much people smoke in the casinos. When I went the last time I spent most of my time in the Mirage poker room which is non-smoking. Playing slots I was near smokers all the time. What I don't understand is how anyone can bring their kids into a casino or be there when they are pregnant. There were so many kids and so many pregnant women in there, it boggles my mind. I was sick for a week after I got back with this horrible cough that I completely blame on the smoke.

On Saturday morning we decided to take a Craps lesson. Jason and I watched a bit of a craps game on Friday night, but it was so confusing. We ended up at New York, New York at 11am (after touring down the strip and trying to find out if we could get cheap seats for another Cirque show) for the craps lesson. There is so much going on in this game! It sounded really cool and we decided we would play at some point, but, I really wanted to play some poker. Instead of walking down the strip to the other end we bought ourselves some day passes on the bus. The bus was great! Hop on, hop off, but boy does it take a long time to get to the different casinos. Plus, you can bring your drinks on the bus.

We got to the Mirage and the first thing we did was go to pick up our tickets for the Cirque de Soleil show 'Love'. This is The Beatles show, and the main reason I wanted to go to Vegas. I'm emotionally at the best of times. I was so excited to see the sign! It looked awesome and the Mirage was playing Beatles music most of the time. It was great. The poker room is right next to the theatre. Jason is more a texas hold'em player but he wasn't sure he wanted to play at the Mirage because the cheapest table was a little steep for his first time at the casino. Lucky for me he was willing to play 7 card stud. We put our names on the list and waited. They only had one stud table and it took about an hour before I got to sit down. I won my first two hands and thought I was going to have a great day. Then Jason sat down and all my luck went over to him. He was having a great afternoon. He was up quite a bit and decided to try his hand at one of the texas hold'em tournaments they were having, $70 buy in. He ended up being the fourth last person at the table and his queen was beat by a king, not too bad. While he was having good luck with his cards I was having really bad luck. The players at the table and the dealers were feeling really sorry for me. I was dealt the low card every other hand so I always had to bring in the pot. Unfortunately, I never had anything to go with that low card. It sucked!

Jay and I had to go back to the hotel to get ready for the cirque show, so back on the bus and back down the strip. I was starting to freak out that we wouldn't get back in time for the show. We did make it with about 15 mins to spare. The theater was awesome (as is always the case with Cirque). The ushers were wearing cool 60s outfits and I so want one of their hats. The show was spectacular. So much going on that I'm sure I missed half of it. I loved what they did with the music. They mixed a number of songs together and it was fun to pick out the different Beatles' songs that were being used.

After the show we couldn't decide if we wanted to play poker or try our hand at craps. Poker won out. Neither one of us had good luck, but we still played until around 3am (and I think I only lost $40). I thought for sure I had it on one hand. I had the flush on the first five cards and I was able to get most people out of the hand, but one guy would not leave. He ended up catching a full house on the last card. I was so bummed!

Sunday morning meant that I had to say good bye to Jay. I so didn't want to say good bye. I miss him so much! We did head over to the MGM to try our hand at Craps before he had to leave. There were a couple of girls at the table that had never played before either. We all had a lot of fun. There was a very cute guy at our table and he bet on me rolling a hard eight when I had the dice. I didn't roll the hard eight, but did roll an eight and won us all some money. We could only play for about an hour before Jason had to leave to catch a bus to the airport. We were each up over $100 so craps was definitely a lot of fun. I did not want Jay to leave. I had an extra 12 hours in Vegas after he left and I knew I would just be unhappy. My cousin Amy (well, actually my cousin Michelle's cousin Amy) was actually in Vegas as well so Jason told me to call her and spend part of my day with her.

After Jay left and I stopped crying, I headed back to the craps table. The cute guy was gone and unfortunately, the dice had gone cold. I lost all the money I had one in a very short period of time. I headed back to the Mirage to play some poker. I hung out there for about four hours and once again had crap cards. But, I had fun hanging out with the guys at the table. I only lost $20, but was getting bored. I decided to try my hand at craps again. I learned that I should not touch the dice! I actually ended up throwing them off the table at one point and hit a guy in the back at another table (oops). Dice cold again: I lost $60 in ten minutes. I decided I should call Amy and get away from the tables.

I met up with Amy and her friends and we went shopping at Caesar's Palace. Oh my God! This is not my type of shopping. It was so expensive. There was a Kate Spade shop and the purse I liked cost $400. It was fun to hang out with people who do shop like this (at least for one afternoon). I didn't buy anything (obviously). I decided to head back up to the strip so that I would be closer to my luggage for when I had to hop in a cab to the airport.

Back at New York, New York, I had some dinner and then hit the crap tables again. I decided to watch for a bit to see how the dice were doing. They seemed to be good so I put down some money. At one point the dice bounced into my chip tray and I backed quickly away from them. I did not want my bad luck going anywhere near those dice! No one on my end of the table wanted to touch the dice, which was fine because the guys at the other end were doing a great job. In about an hour I had won $230. I was so unhappy that I had to leave to catch my plane (even more unhappy later when I ended up waiting at the airport for over an hour).

Overall a great trip to Vegas! It was awesome to hang out with Jay for the weekend, the Beatles' Cirque show was amazing and I had fun gambling (only lost $150 over the three days).

Loving the Snow

I love the snow! It is so beautiful outside today. I was upset with Mother Nature yesterday since she made it impossible for me to go out last night (dancing or dinner). Today, I am back in love with her. I went out this morning for a two hour walk and it was amazing. Nice, fluffy, white snow!

The sidewalks were plowed for the most part and I was able to walk and read my book. As I said, for the most part. At the end of one sidewalk the plow had just stopped, or, more likely, the road plow had come by after and closed off the access to the road. I decided to go for it and walk over the snowbank. I sank up to my butt, but it was so much fun. I wish the snow tube park was working at Glen Eden because I really feel like going out tubing today. I am thinking about going out skating later. I have a hockey game at 10:15 tonight, but I don't think I'm going to go. I start my new job tomorrow morning and I would be wide awake until at least 1am after the game. It's our last game and I really want to go, but I don't think it would be a good idea. I haven't been to work in over a month and I would like to give a good impression.

I may just go out for another walk. I'm almost finished my book and I know I would finish it during my walk. I want to go over to the library and get some books on CD. I have a long drive to work starting up and books on CD are a great way to make the time go by quicker.

This reminds me. My trivia round went over really well last week. My round was on Stephen King. There were a couple of comments on it 'not being literature', but I don't care. I love King. Well, not so much his new stuff. It was really fun to write the round. I have another round to write, but I've been putting it off. I've been asked to change the round so that it fits another category. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to write it to fit.

Bangs!

I braved the snow today to get to my stylist. New job almost always means new hair for me. This time, I decided to get bangs. My stylist (who has been styling my hair for ten years) has been wanting to give me bangs for a couple of years now. I was really leery. My mom wouldn't let me have bangs for years and when I was in Grade 6 she finally relented. I love my Grade 6 school photo! I haven't had bangs since (well, I had super short hair for years so I sort of had bangs).

It's weird, it doesn't look like me at all! But, I think I really like it.

So, new hair should be taken out on the town. Unfortunately, Mother Nature is not cooperating. We are having a horrible storm here and there is a good chance that I won't get out. I was supposed to have a date tonight, but it was dependent on the weather. So, no date. There is a chance that Dorie and I will try to get out dancing here in Mississauga, but I don't want her to get in an accident. I could always hop in a cab and go by myself but I'm not really keen on that (especially since I'd prefer to be out on my date).

Last night I went over to Christi's and had a really good time playing hockey with her little guy, Alex. I was a little concerned about the high sticking, he's a little crazy with the stick, but it was a lot of fun. He let me read him a couple of good night stories (including the one I bought him). He may just let me babysit one of these days so that Christi and Mike can go out. After he went to bed, Christi and I spent a couple of hours scrapbooking. I'm working on my Austria trip from 2005. It's almost done! Christi only has one page left of her wedding album. I think we may both work on Disney albums when we are done with these ones. Or, we may work on digital books. So many choices, so many pictures!

Word of the Day

My 'Word of the Day' calendar has 'dewy' as the word. Meaning 1. moist with, affected by, or suggestive of dew *2. innocent, unsophisticated.

And the following sentence to demonstrate the second meaning:

* Although she'll be graduating from college this year, Melanie still has the delicate face and dewy eyes of a young teenager.

It just gave me a giggle since it uses my name.

Possible Job

I had a great interview yesterday and it sounds like the contracts should get signed today and I could start Monday morning! I'm excited and scared (which always bodes well). The only problem: it's the DVP and Wynford. Not looking forward to that drive.

I woke up feeling really horrible this morning. The cat started whining at 5:30am and then I was wide awake. I stayed up for about two hours and then went back to bed. I had the most horrible dream. I was trying to read a trivia question, but the words kept going out of focus and then I kind of passed out and fell on the floor. This happened twice. I couldn't speak or move any limbs. It was horrible. Now I'm up and have no energy. I'm wondering if it was from all the adrenaline I used up yesterday :). I was in a really good mood yesterday.

No New Job

Still no job. I go back and forth on freaking out about this. It's been a month and I know I'm okay for a couple more, but it is nerve racking. I keep thinking back to the time after Nortel when I was off work for 8 months. The two recruiters I have interviewed with seem optimistic. Fingers-crossed.

This past weekend I had absolutely no sleep! On Friday I headed over to Tim and Jen's to scrapbook (since Jen and I are both off work right now we can get together and work on our projects). I'm currently working on my Austria trip and she is working on the last BVI trip (oh how those pics make me want to go again).

When I got home I was going to continue to work on my book, but instead I felt the desire to pull out this Disney puzzle I had bought a couple of months ago. It says 'world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle'. The picture is the same on both sides (with a 90 degree turn). I became obsessed and stayed up until 7:30am completing the puzzle (I was also watching season 3 of Felicity). I woke up at 10am and could not get back to sleep.

Saturday night I hung out with Rod and a couple of his friends. Had an awesome time. We played cards (for the first time in years I actually reneged in euchre - no more red wine for me) and hung out in the hot tub (Christi, you have to get your hot tub up and running!).

Lovin' Ben Covington

While sitting at home looking for a new job I've been watching Felicity on DVD. I swear Ben Covington (aka Scott Speedman) gets sexier with every viewing. When I was over at my friend Dorie's tonight, the group of us (4 women) had a discussion on just how damn fine he is. It's funny to me that all I had to say was 'Felicity' and everyone in the room immediately went to Ben.

Julia was asking if I had watched anymore X-Files. I just can't seem to get into season 7. But, I can't wait to get Battlestar Gallactica season 2.5. I love that they brought in Michael Trucco. They need to go back to Caprica so that there is more of him.

I wrote my first round of trivia this week. I'm a little nervous for Monday to find out how it goes over. It will be weird to QM that round and ask people questions that I wrote. I can't say what the theme of the round is until after trivia on Monday, though. Julia reads this blog and that would just give her too much of an advantage :)

Oscar Winners

IMDB.com had a poll today about how many best picture Oscar films you've seen. There have been 81 so far and I have seen 53 of them. I didn't realize I was so close to seeing them all, so I guess that will be one of the next lists I try to finish off. I haven't seen this year's winner 'No Country for Old Men', but I do want to see it. I have to go back to 1990 for the last one I haven't seen, 'Driving Miss Daisy'.

Sunday was Oscar night and there had been some worry that the Oscars would not go on this year. The writer's strike had taken its toll on the Golden Globes and I would have been rather upset if the Oscars had also been affected. Luckily the strike ended.

Julia invited a group of us over for a housewarming / Oscar party. She just moved into a new apartment near high park. I headed over early afternoon to start watching the Oscar coverage (it started on some stations at noon). I hung out for a bit with the gang and then had to head out for my hockey game. The Oscar show started at 8:30 and my game ended at 8:15. I only missed the first award and the mologue. I also missed the red carpet, which is my favourite part of the show :(. Unfortunately, my two boys were not looking at their best (Mr. Viggo Mortensen and Mr. James McAvoy). But, Jana's definitely looked good (Mr. Jason Bateman). And everyone's fav (Mr. George Clooney) looked great as always.

I haven't had a chance to look through all the outfits, but I thought Laura Linney and Miley Cyrus looked really good. I loved all the red!

I didn't do very well on my Oscar poll. There were a lot of upsets and my favs didn't win very much. I was really happy that Juno won for best original screenplay!

Goderich Native

I just had to post this because it gave me quite the chuckle this morning (thanks Dorie):

You know you are a true Goderich native when:

1. A ringer on The Square was common practice, and included a beach tour. (Mel's Note: and it always reminds me of coming home from Waterloo with Tree, she could not drop me off without doing a ringer)
2. You actually know what is referred to as 'The Square.'
3. You refer to Goderich as Gdot or Godrock and expect people to know what you're talking about. (Mel's Note: I do not do this, it is Goderich)
4. You looked forward to stag and doe 'season,' and couldn't wait till Wednesday to check 'the paper.'
5. The beer tent was the biggest event to anticipate all year long.
6. The only expansion in town you really care about is Tim Horton's. (Mel's Note: this happened after I left, and I really didn't care because I don't drink coffee)
7. You survived/experienced many a gravel run (just try to find someone from the city who knows what the hell you're talking about).
8. You waited in a beer store line up all the way to the road.
9. You don't have to show your I.D. to buy booze because you know every single person in Goderich.
10. You make a joke about the third floor and people know exactly what you mean.
11. You went to parties with ages ranging 14-25 and everyone's goal is to get the drunkest and 'more drunk than you've been ever before.'
12. You know what being 'storm-stayed' is.
13. You have experienced more than 10 'snow days' during one high school year.
14. You laughed at tourists driving the wrong way on The Square, and know where the lanes are. (Mel's Note: I once saw a transport truck do this)
15. You know what the Five Points are, and what to do.
16. Growing a mullet in high school was cool. (Mel's Note: I can't believe we thought this was cool, but I do have the pictures to prove that I thought so)
17. You know what 'combat juice' is. (Mel's Note: was I so drunk that I do not know what this is?)
18. You refer to our mall as 'the mall.'
19. You went to the the drive-in only on long weekends, but never watched one movie there.
AND LASTLY...
20. You hear the name 'Culberts' and you still instantly drool.

Habs Win

Editor's Note: I wrote this back on December 16, 2007, but it didn't get published until today.

Yesterday was my friend Julia's birthday. She's a huge fan of the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs play against the Habs every 7 years on her birthday and this year the game was in Montreal. So, four of us hopped on a train and headed to Montreal for the night. Jana, Christine, Julia and I met up at Union station (I met Julia at her place and parked my car near High Park). After a very long wait in line (the train was 30 mins late), we finally boarded the train and actually scored a set of the group seats.

We arrived in Montreal around 5:30pm and headed to our hotel. Julia found us a great deal at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. The great thing about the hotel... it is directly above the train station. Very handy, especially for the morning after a night out in Montreal.

We didn't have much time at the hotel as we needed to head over to the Bell Centre. We didn't have tickets for the game so we needed to head over to the arena as soon as possible to try and buy some tickets. Not a problem (as we expected, but not what everyone else thought - a lot of people didn't think we would be able to get tickets). Our tickets were in the top section, which didn't matter because every seat is great there.

We had a great time at the game, except for the fight that broke out in the stands near us. There were some pretty drunk, obnoxious Montreal fans in front of us that were yelling at a group of Leaf fans. Around the second period (I can't remember for sure) one of the Leafs fans came back with a beer and tripped. One of the Habs fans took a swing, the Leafs fan threw his beer and then security had to be called. Security got it under control really quickly, but the Leaf fan's friends decided to get in on the action by jumping over the four of us. Christine was yelling at the guy, Julia and Jana were holding the guy back and I had a hold of the waist of his jeans trying to pull him off of us. The Habs won 4-1 and we had a great time.

After the game we headed over to the Winston Churchill pub for a drink and met a bunch of guys (it was quite nice that they all kept coming over to us).

The next morning we headed down from the hotel and got in line for the train. Now, this was the day back in December of the huge snow storm that hit Ontario and Quebec. We weren't sure the train was going to leave, but it did. Unfortunately, just outside of Toronto there was a problem with ice on the tracks and we were stuck for around 45 mins. I was a little worried about my car when we finally got back to Toronto. I had left it on the street near Julia's place and there was snow everywhere. I actually couldn't find my car at first it was completely covered (the plows had been past it at least twice and it's just a mini). Luckily Julia brought a shovel down and helped me uncover the car. It took us about 45 mins. All in all a great weekend in Montreal.

Tomorrow's The Last Day

Tomorrow's my last day at the job. I'm a little nervous about not having a job, but I know it's for the best. I'm just not right for the position. I need a job where I have more than 15 mins of work to do a day.

Trivia has started up again for the season. I'm QMing (asking the questions). I am enjoying it.

I haven't been having a good week. I didn't go to skating class or hockey this week, no squash and no aquafit. I'm not sure what I need to break out of this funk.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to meet up with my brother in Vegas. I'm really excited. We are going to Death Valley, the Hoover Dam and the Cirque de Soleil show 'Love' (it's the one inspired by The Beatles, of course). We are also hoping to play some poker. Hopefully that goes well :)

Job, etc

So, I gave my notice at work last week. I couldn't stand not having anything to do all day. I'm back to looking for a job. Woo hoo, always so much fun.

This weekend I went to the motorcycle show and can't wait to get new stuff for the bike. The main things are to get risers for the handlebars and foot boards. Both of these should make riding much more comfortable (damn this being short!).

On the movie front, I watched Half Nelson and Dreamgirls. They were okay. Maybe I've movied myself out.

This week I go for my first adoption meeting. I'm still pretty scared about the whole thing, but we shall see what they have to say.

Atonement

Saw Atonement last night. I went in not knowing anything about the movie (other than it being up for Golden Globe awards and that Keira Knightley was in it).

Well, I'm so glad I went into the movie that way. I was mesmerized. The cinematography is amazing. It is so beautiful to watch.

Then there is James McAvoy. Damn he's fine! He totally made the movie for me. It was a heartbreaking performance. I was also quite impressed with Keira Knightley. Normally, she kind of annoys me, but I thought she was very good in this movie. It makes me want to see Pride & Prejudice now.

Go see this film, just for the beauty of the film if nothing else.

Even More Movies - Ah Leo!

In my movie mania and hungover stupor I watched even more movies over the last couple of days. Yesterday I attempted to watch Dreamgirls, but fell asleep and kept dreaming about the song that plays during the menu screen (in a car yelling for someone to change the damn station).

But, I did manage to watch Knocked Up and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I think I watched Knocked Up too soon after Superbad. It was okay. Had some pretty funny parts, but not one of my favs. Harry was okay, but I kept mixing up the books in my mind and so kept thinking other things were going to happen.

Today, though, made up for both of those. I finally watched Blood Diamond with Leo Dicaprio. Damn but he is HOT!! I will have to watch this again. He was just awesome in this. Plus, it was a damn good movie. Rent this if you haven't already.

Still on the shelf: Dreamgirls and Half Nelson (oh Ryan Gosling, maybe a little too much eye candy after Leo - who am I kidding, can never have enough eye candy - and damn fine actors to boot).

Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a great new years. My friend Sharon and I met up with Julia and friends at a pub in Toronto. We played 80s Trivial Pursuit with a twist. There were drinking rules for each of the question types and if you got the question wrong. Well, I was pretty darn drunk by midnight and did not feel well at all today!

Movie Lists

These lists had me laughing my ass off and definitely wanting to go watch some movies.

http://www.empireonline.com/features/topfives_2007/default.asp

I am McLovin! - does not get old (at least yet)

More Movies!

That's right, I'm on a movie watching kick this weekend.

When I dropped off the first three movies of the weekend, I picked up three more. 'The Devil Wears Prada', 'Alpha Dog' and 'Elephant'. I was surprisingly happy with prada. I didn't have any expectations going in and was just hoping for something fun, which it was. The clothing was great and really made me wish I was a size 4 (and not 4'11" :). Elephant was not my cup of tea. Not sure if I was just not in the mood or what, but it just didn't hold my attention (which I know it should have). Lisa loved it and it won at Cannes. It's got a Columbine thing going on. Just not sure why I didn't like it.

Now, Alpha Dog. Maybe this was what I was in the mood for, but it really held my attention. Justin Timberlake was excellent as was Emile Hirsch (who I've liked since Dogtown and can't wait to see in 'Into the Wild'). It reminded me of some of the books I read in high school when I was in my heavy metal phase. There was this book called 'Say You Love Satan'. It had that same kind of feel of how things just get way out of control.

Tara and I attempted to go see 'Atonement' tonight, but it was sold out. Instead we went to see 'Juno'. Unfortunately, we could only get seats in the front row. That sucked. But, the movie was awesome. I love Ellen Page (you must see Hard Candy) and Michael Cera (as mentioned earlier this weekend). It was so cute and hilarious! Go see this movie.

Bird Watching

Earlier today a bird landed on my balcony railing. Holy crap! Some kind of falcon or something. It was there for about ten minutes. Absolutely gorgeous. Not sure what it was and really bummed that I missed the shot when it spread its wings. A search of the web makes me think it might have been a red-shouldered hawk. Dad is doing some checking.

Movies

I actually watched a bunch of movies this weekend. In gearing up for the awards season, Julia and I rented 'Eastern Promises'. This is the new Cronenberg / Viggo film. It was not good, unfortunately. While at the store I also rented 'Superbad' and 'Stardust'. I never go rent movies (I normally borrow from the library), but I was all excited to rent movies I hadn't seen.

Stardust was awesome. I read the book last year and loved it. I absolutely loved the movie and highly recommend it. It's a fun, magical movie. I think I liked the movie because it had been awhile since I read the book, so I didn't have huge expectations. I'm pretty sure it will be a movie I add to my collection.

Superbad was pretty good. Not all fart jokes like I expected. Plus, I do like Michael Cera.

I'm attempting to finish reading the His Dark Materials trilogy (Golden Compass, etc). I'm on the last book and I'm just not into it. I know my brother loved the series, but I'm not a huge fan. Lisa and Christi bought me books for Christmas and I can't wait to start those. I somedays wish I was like Lisa and could read multiple books at the same time. Alas, I must finish off The Amber Spyglass first.

I've been sleeping most of the weekend (took Friday off as well and slept most of the day). I'm thinking I may have caught a touch of the flu my Grandma had over the holidays.

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season.

I know I haven't been on in forever, I don't know why. It doesn't feel like I've been busier than before (maybe I just have being in front of my computer). I have many things going on, but way too tired to write. I have definitely worn myself down (as always) this Christmas. Many things on the go and not sleeping at normal times.

My sisters were at my place for dinner tonight. Had a great visit (we cried, we laughed). I am so lucky to have them in my life. It just makes me miss my mom and my stepfather more. I wish they could both be here to see all we have done with our lives. But, I know they are watching us and are very proud and very happy that we are so close.

Craziness

So, I started my new job. Still not sure how it's going to go. Not much to do yet. But, I am enjoying taking the Go Bus. Plus, I play squash with Dorie once a week. Up until this week I was playing trivia on Monday nights. Unfortunately, we didn't make it into the finals. My friend Julia was subbing in for a couple of weeks and she kicked ass.

I've become a Creative Memories consultant. I'm excited. I'm working on a wedding book right now. I'm putting together all of the invitations, etc from all of my friends' weddings that I've been to in the last eleven (wow) years. I also just finished a digital scrapbook of my brother's wedding. I can't wait for it to be delivered so I can see how it looks.

Last night Dorie and I headed over to Lisa's place. Lisa had a group of friends over to celebrate her birthday. Had an awesome time. Finally got to me a number of her friends that I had heard so much about. We talked Buffy, motorcycles and the ballet. We got to meet the guy Lisa is now dating (Kevin - very nice). Can't wait to see pictures of their trip through California.

Well, it's time to go to bed. I have been so busy, no time to get my blog updated.

Reading Finally

I started this earlier in the week and never got back to it. I am so not paying attention to my blogging. I totally forgot what I was going to write about.

I read 'Blaze' last week. This is a book written by Stephen King (as Richard Backman). Apparently this was written back in 1973 and he didn't think it was good enough. Well, it was definitely good enough. I couldn't put it down. It definitely made me remember why I loved reading King for so many years. The last couple of books have left something to be desired, but other than me wanting the book to never end I was quite happy (well, I did cry while reading, but that's besides the point).

I just finished watching the Dixie Chicks' documentary 'Shut Up & Sing'. I highly recommend it. Of course, it really reminded my of watching the footage when John Lennon made the comment that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. People need to calm down and let people speak. I completely agree with Natalie's right to say what she said (and I agree with the sentiment as I definitely am not a fan of Bush). It's sort of funny (in a not really sort of way) that the southern states are always the ones boycotting the bands and throwing out their music. Ah stupidity. What I don't get is that Green Day wrote an entire album about what an ass the president is and spoke about it at each of their concerts. Yet nothing was ever said about that. The Dixie Chicks certainly weren't the only band / artist to say something publicly against the president. I am glad that they found a different fan base (and happy to hear in the movie that Toronto kicked ass at buying concert tickets). I know I love the album that came out of the whole thing.

New Job Tomorrow

My first day at Aim Trimark is tomorrow. I had the week off and it did not go as well as I had hoped. My car did get fixed up (new tires, windshield repairs) and I did talk to Dell about the problems with the DVD burner (it isn't fixed, but found out that I have to reinstall the operating system as the next check). The taxes are pretty much done. I have to mail them out, but they are in the envelopes. So, I did get most of what I wanted done this week. The 2007 taxes still need to be completed but I am taxed out.

So, I'm taking the Go Bus to work first thing in the morning. Wish me luck on my first day. I'll be doing some IT process control work (making sure everyone follows process - yes, the process nazi is back :)

Last night I went over to Karen and Kevin's with Julia to watch the Montreal / Toronto hockey game. The majority of us wanted Montreal to win, unfortunately, that didn't happen. Julia and I booked our train tickets (along with Jana's) for our trip to Montreal. At least three of us are heading to see Toronto play in Montreal on Julia's bday in December. We have our fingers crossed that we will be able to get tickets to the game when we get there.

I took my car to Pickering this week so that Heidi could put some new tires on the mini. I got to see their new place. They have so much room. Can't wait for the housewarming and the Goderich Xmas get together.

So You Think You Can Dance

Last night my cousin Nicole and I went to the ACC for the 'So You Think You Can Dance' tour. It was awesome. I had such a good time. Neil is still my favourite, he can definitely play the crowd. They performed a number of my favourites (including Neil and Sara's disco routine and Neil and Sasha's 'Sweet Dreams' routine). Neil even channeled Dimitri and showed off his bare chest.

In other news, I finished up at the casino last Friday. Apparently there was confusion on what the last day of the month was :) So, I've been at home trying to get my taxes complete as well as some fixes to my car. Unfortunately, my computer has also decided that this would be a good week to stop working. I finally called Dell about my DVD burner that hasn't been working for months. My warranty expired a couple of weeks ago. So, I had to buy a new burner. Then customer service emailed me back and told me there was a grace period so they will send me a new burner. Yeah. But, yesterday my laptop decided to start losing the connection to the internet. My wireless isn't working at all, but it will just drop the connection constantly to the internet when connected directly to my modem (the wireless router doesn't work at all). I don't have the energy to fight with Dell, Rogers or D-Link today. But, I need to since I go back to work on Monday at my new job.

Lisey's Story

So, I finally finished reading Stephen King's newest (I believe - it took me a long time to read this). It was so bad. It had an interesting idea behind it but it went on for way too long. Probably would have made a good short story.

After that I read Bruce Campbell's second book "How to Make Love, the Bruce Campbell Way". It wasn't near as good as his autobiography but there were laugh out loud moments.

I'm currently reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns". It is so good. The author's first book, "The Kite Runner", was amazing. So far his second is shaping up to be just as good. The writing is amazing, I can't put it down (and not because there is action every second, just because the writing sucks you in).

Hockey Weekend

This past weekend I was supposed to go to Wonderland with my friend Sharon and her daughter. Unfortunately, I did something to my back last week (I think it was during Aquafit, but who knows). It hurt to breathe so I figured roller coasters weren't the best idea. I'm glad that I decided against it because the weather was crazy on Saturday - water everywhere.

My cousin Andrew ended up having an extra ticket to a Marlie's hockey game and I figured my back could handle sitting watching a game and drinking some beer. The game was quite good and it was really nice to be sitting watching a live hockey game again. After the game a group of us went for dinner and then I hung out at Michelle and Andrew's chatting for most of the night.

Last night was our second hockey game of the season, but our first with a goalie. I think we played really well, but we lost 2-0. I think we have a good team, but we need to get used to each other's playing styles. I miss having a coach on the bench.

Microsoft Sucks

So, I have a document. A couple of weeks ago my appendices were appearing in the cross-reference list and the table of contents. This week they have disappeared from the cross-reference list. I have tried everything. I've applied different styles (as per Microsoft's instructions), but then they either appear in the cross-reference list or the TOC, but not both. It is a mess. Even if I set the TOC to pick up the style it doesn't. How can they allow such crappy software on the market? And why do I keep using it?

It is making me mental.

Too Much TV

Last night at trivia I learned that I watched too much television in the 80s (I'm not sure that has changed).

I actually did really well in last night's game. I was able to get my current events question correct (I was worried for awhile): 'What American university hosted the Iranian president for a Q&A' (well, the question was way wordier than that) and I actually had Columbia somewhere in my brain (I had read an article on the visit, but I didn't think Columbia was actually correct).

There were two rounds that I absolutely loved: Entertainment and Audio. The audio round this week was on Canadian artists. My team had a perfect round (everyone answered their question without the team's help). My song was by Feist (so thank you Jason for downloading a ton of Feist onto my MP3 player). The Entertainment round was on 80s sitcoms. I knew all of them except the Bosom Buddies question (I had a different show in my mind, but it wasn't our question). Somedays it does help to be the youngest person at the table. I was also really happy with my question in the challenge round. I don't think I have ever gotten a challenge question correct, but this week there were two questions on Yellow songs. I was hoping for Yellow Submarine, but that really is way too obvious. My question was about Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. I would have also gotten the steal correct (if it had come back to me) as that was about Coldplay's Yellow (I'm not a fan of Coldplay at all, but I did know that they sang Yellow).

So, a good night for our team. We did win at our table. Rod's team, though, kicked butt at their table. Rod and I went out to Green Mango for dinner before the game. It was soooo good! We then stopped in to a great furniture place on Yonge. If I had any room in my house I definitely would have found many things to buy. Rod has a new house so he will definitely be going back for some pieces.

I'm a Goalie

Well, I was a goalie for part of our game last night. Our hockey season finally started up again and unfortunately our normal goalie (Theresa) didn't join the Mississauga league this year. The league is supposed to be responsible for finding us a goalie (they should considering we each paid $450 to play). But, they haven't found us one yet. Last night we had to play without a goalie. Which means we can have 6 skaters on the ice for the game. We only had 8 in total so who ever was in the net was kind of taking a break. I actually liked being in net. I made quite a few saves and Kim was an excellent addition to the defense. As much fun as I had, I really hope we have a goalie for next week's game.

I went to Wonderland with Julia and Jana on Saturday. Jana was hungover and I was suffering from flu-like symptoms myself (not self-induced). While there the Minebuster had some kind of problem. We were waiting in line for the Italian Job and noticed that the Minebuster was stopped on the way up. It was there for quite a while and we really don't know what was going on. The people were still in the cars, but at one point four people got out. Jana did not feel comfortable going on the ride :( I was still willing to chance it, but I deferred to the group. It was a beautiful day at the park and we got on a lot of rides. I'm heading back next with Sharon and her daughter Livia.

Missing Book

Last weekend I lost the book I was reading while in Goderich. I checked out a copy from the library and finished it last night. So, I have read 'The Princess and the Goblin'. Apparently, one of Tolkien's favourites. It was okay, but I really thought it was going in a different direction. There is a suspicious grandmother in the story and the character didn't go where I thought it would (maybe I have read to many horror stories in my time).

It was okay, a cute kid's book.

I'm back to reading 'Lisey's Story' by Stephen King. I've actually taken to skimming the book. I used to love reading King, but lately not so much. I know I've said this before, but his short stories are still excellent, but it appears that he needs more editing for his novels (or, I have just grown out of reading his style - but I'm pretty sure his style has changed since his earlier works).

I'm hoping to be done shortly as I have checked 'Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way' from the library. I loved his first book and I'm hoping this one is just as funny.

Feeling Like Crap

So, I had one good day after my depression clinic and now I feel like crap. I had a horrible day at work yesterday and I did not want to come in to work today. (But, I have a major problem with my project and I need to get it fixed, so I did come in.) I just want to go home and curl up in bed. I am supposed to go out dancing with the girls tonight and I hope that is still on.

Dealing with Depression

Last night I went to my first clinic session for mood disorders: Dealing with Depression. I almost didn't go because I was having a crappy day. Luckily Lisa pointed out that this is exactly why I should go.

I think that it will be really good. I learned how depression feeds on itself and makes itself worse. Yeah! We learned about the vicious cycles of depression and how small changes can make big differences. Going away from the first session we are all to practice one thing to help break some of those cycles. Mine is to get off the couch. For over a year now I have been finding it quite difficult to get off of my couch (as many of you have noticed). Last night I did find myself on the couch a couple of times, but everytime I did I made myself get up and do something around the house. I was still able to watch the show I had on the tv, but I was also getting stuff accomplished.

Some of the other things I need to work on: stopping the negative thoughts and getting out and doing the things I used to love (i.e. hockey). So, even if I don't feel like going to hockey one day I still need to make myself go. I will be looking to all my friends to help me with this. I don't think I can do it all on my own (and they definitely pointed that out last night).

The clinic is ten sessions long and there are about 15 people in the session. Apparently they have a hard time getting people to come to this clinic since almost all of us have problems with getting out or helping ourselves. So, you may get emails on Tuesdays saying I don't feel like going. I may need you to push me :)

I felt really bad for one woman because her family believes that this is all in her head and not a real disorder. I am very lucky to have family and friends who do understand that I can't just make it go away (THANKS).

First Air Sucks

I know I haven't posted my blog about my trip to Nunavut (I'm trying, really), but I will have intermediate postings. So, we flew with First Air and it was really expensive ($2000 each). I also had a flight to Ottawa from Toronto and Liz and Michelle were going to drive. But, Liz found a seat sale and booked us all on flights from Toronto to Ottawa (and return). This would have been great except that our plane broke down in Pangirtung on our return date. Little did we know that because we hadn't booked the Toronto / Ottawa portion with First Air they would not cover the change costs when we missed this flight. So, it ended up costing each of us $240 more for our flight to Toronto.

I just received the response from First Air and they are giving us $160 vouchers for flight with them over the next year. Did you see my note above where our flight cost $2000? You can go one way from Iqaluit to Pang for $135. Where (and why) would I go anywhere they fly again? I've been up north I don't plan to go again.

They suck. I do not recommend every flying with them because if their planes break down (which didn't seem to surprise anyone up there) they don't cover shit. They gave us each $25 for dinner for a restaurant where the cheapest meal was $45. Nice.

Must Study

I did not do as well at trivia last night as I did the week before. I missed the current events question on the Giller Prize. For the history round I was able to come up with the correct answer (Jesse James) for the epitaph given (I also guessed correctly for Winston Churchill's epitaph, but it wasn't our team's question). Other than that I did not do very well. The audio round this week was classical music and unless I danced ballet to it (which, really, was only Tchaikovsky - and that wasn't my question) I'm not that good at the classical (which means I need to get downloading!).

I've decided I need to find more time to check out websites, books and the news!

New TV Season

I watched my first new shows of the Fall 2007 season last night. I was able to watch Gossip Girl, Survivor: China and Beauty and the Geek.


Gossip Girl is a new show from the CW (which used to be The WB, which brought us Buffy, Angel and Veronica Mars). Kristen Bell is very welcome as the 'gossip girl' voice (I miss Veronica Mars). I think this will definitely be one of my guilty pleasures for the upcoming tv season.

On the weekend (I didn't actually publish this post when I started writing it) I watched the first episode of Prison Break season 3. Over the weekend I had read that the actress playing Sarah will not be back this season (as she had a baby). That sucks, I want her and Michael to get together!

Survivor: China made me really want to go back to China. No big surprises, there is a team that can't get their shit together and a team that seems to work well together.

Beauty and the Geek is another guilty pleasure (I do like those geeky guys). I was happy to see Nate back from last season with Jenny-Lee (sp?). There are definitely some very geeky guys on the season, but what I really like is that there is a geeky girl on the show this season!

This week more of the season premiers will be on: CSI and Grey's Anatomy.

Trivia Stats

I just received the stats from last week's trivia night. My team came out on top with the highest score. This is causing me some nervousness that it was all a fluke and I will fail miserably tonight. Hopefully the fates are on my side again tonight and we get some categories that I actually know something about. I will be really happy if there is no poetry this week (in last week's literature round they gave part of the poem and you had to name the poet). Last week no one did well at the poetry round. Unless it is Shakespeare I have no idea (even then I probably can't get the sonnets).

Lost Book

While in Goderich this weekend I lost the book I was reading. This is rather annoying. I only had about ten - twenty pages left. But, what I am most upset about is losing the bookmark. It was a bookmark that Christi gave to me for my birthday a couple of years ago and it is quite pretty (and talks about friendship).

I hunted all over my grandmother's house and my car, but no luck. I lose things all the time, but they normally show up in a place I have already looked. No such luck this time. I was reading it while walking back to my Grandma's on Saturday but that was the last time I saw it.

I've requested the book from the library and they have one on hand so I will hopefully get to pick it up tonight and finish. In the meantime I've gone back to reading 'Lisey's Story' by Stephen King. It is really uninteresting. I've taken to skipping whole passages of the story. This is not normal for me. I wonder what I'll read when I'm done 'reading' this book?

Motorcycles Not Environmentally Friendly?

I was just checking out a link that David Suzuki put on his facebook page about greener living.

While I was there I read an article on motorcycles. Apparently, they are less environmentally friendly than passenger cars (due to the less stringent rules for motorcycles, currently).

http://www.ec.gc.ca/envirozine/english/issues/32/any_questions_e.cfm

This just seems counter-intuitive. Must do more investigation on my bike.

Trivia - Awesome Music Round

Last night was my first night on my new trivia team: The Misplaced Modifiers. When I got there it was looking a little dicey. Only 3 guys from the other team showed up and then only two guys from my team showed up (normally you have 5 team members), plus no QM (quiz master). I gave my cousin Michelle a call, but her and Andrew weren't feeling well so they weren't up for it. After I got off the phone the rest of my team showed up and the QM. So, it was 5 against 3 (this means that the other team can't get the full two points on two questions every round).

Out of my first 5 questions I answered 4 of them correctly without help from my team. I couldn't believe it, I've never done that well. The last half of the night I did not do as well, only one question did I answer correctly.

But, my favourite part was the audio round. The round was 'non-hits' off of albums that had a number of hits. So, they played the 'non-hit' song and you had to name the artist. Well, I had some issues with what they took as 'non-hit' songs. 'Pictures of Lily' was a hit for The Who. Any song that makes it on to a greatest hits package is a hit by definition. Also, 'Nautical Disaster' by The Tragically Hip is a song they play almost every concert so really I wouldn't think of that as a 'non-hit'. I knew every band except my question and the guy across from me. I had a song by the Indigo Girls (and I should have known it after all the songs I heard in the car on the trip to Newfoundland with Liz and Michelle) and the guy across from me had Sam Roberts. I was really excited about the song by The Stones. It was a song I had never heard but I knew who it was as soon as the guitar started. It was classic Keith. Still not sure if it was Mick on vocals, but the guitar was unmistakable.

Looking for a New Job

I had a meeting with my boss last week and we made a decision on when my contract will end. We are targeting the end of October. So, I'm starting to look for a business analyst job in Toronto.

I spent all day in Toronto yesterday and I can not wait to be back downtown.

I Hate Rogers

So, Rogers has been bothering me to upgrade my modem for months. Of course, they did not make it easy for me to do this. The Rogers store near me is never open when I am home (except for movie rentals) so I could never pick up the new modem. Then when I got them to courier it, they used UPS that is also only open until 6pm (once again, does not help someone that works in the falls). And since they don't have hi-speed internet in the falls, I can't get the modem in one of the stores in Niagara.

Today, I was actually home on a Saturday so I went in and exchanged the modem. But, of course, it doesn't work with my wireless router. How surprising is that? So, now my wireless doesn't work. Way to go Rogers!

I hate them.

Go Green

My brother just sent me this link: http://www.bullfrogpower.com/home/ontario.cfm. I am really excited about this! I will be switching as soon as I can find my electricity bill (my house is a disaster). Please take a look and make a step to a greener environment.

Tennis Update

I had my second tennis match last night. I lost 6-3, 6-1. I am okay with losing because the week before I lost 6-0, 6-1. So I am definitely improving and I'm having a great time.

I have my first night of trivia on Monday. I used to be a sub on a team, but I am a full-fledged member of a team this season. I'm hoping that I don't bring them down too much. This league is crazy. It's hard to explain what the rounds are like. Go check out the website and click on the link for some of the previous questions. One season there was a history round on the royal houses. They gave you the years and you had to state the name of the house / family. Really, that's what it's like. This isn't bar trivia. http://torquiz.freeshell.org/ I'm still bitter that I missed the night when they had a round of entertainment trivia on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would have kicked ass on that one (yes, I am on the team for my pop trivia knowledge).

Wish me luck.

This weekend is the annual Terry Fox run. My friend Julia and I will be heading to High Park in Toronto to do our part. I missed last year and am happy to get back into it this year. Remember all he wanted was a dollar for every Canadian. I think we can all get behind that for what he did.

Adoption

As many of you know I have been talking about adopting for many years now. Well, I just took the first step. I emailed the children's aid society to find out what my first step will be. I am very nervous and very excited!

For years I had hoped to adopt from China. Unfortunately, they changed their policy back in May and singles can no longer adopt :( I began looking at other countries, but none of them had the same emotional hold on me. It is extremely expensive to adopt internationally (upwards of $20K) and to not have the country I hoped for open to me, seemed like a lot of money when there are children at home to be adopted. I know I was very adamant on the international adoption, but I have to face reality and know that I can't afford that.

I believe a home study will be one of the first things I need to do. Which is pretty intimidating, I think. What if I'm not what they are looking for? What if I'm really not ready for this? I shall keep you posted.

Knitting

Last year I decided to take up knitting. I bought a 'learn to' book and taught myself from the book. The problem - I get bored with just about everything. I have a super short attention span. So, the knitting has been an on again / off again thing. Last night I decided to take it out again. I learned the perl stitch last night, which was pretty exciting. So, then I did some knitting where I was switching between the knit stitch and the perl stitch. At some point I must not have been paying attention because the piece I was knitting started to look pretty funny. I think I did an extra row of perl stitches and that messed it up. But, I'm excited to be doing something different with each row. Now that I actually have to pay attention to what I'm doing I may not get bored :)

My friend Julia knits quite a bit (not as much as she would like if you read her blog) so I will probably be picking her brain for easy patterns and ideas once I feel comfortable with what I'm doing.

Little Criminals

I finished reading 'Lullabies for Little Criminals' last night. Lisa bought it for my for my birthday. I highly recommend this book. It's set in Montreal and pulled from the author's experiences.

I am giving up (for now) on finishing Lisey's Story. I've decided to give 'The Princess and the Goblin' a try. I read somewhere that this was one of J.R.R. Tolkien's favourite stories.

I'm trying to get back into reading, but I miss the walk to work when I could read on my way. Pretty difficult to do that while driving :) I should really spend more time here in the falls and walk to work from Gord's. I think I will have one morning like that.

Tennis Anyone?

Last night I played my first game of tennis, ever. That's right: ever. I've been out on a tennis court before, but never played an actual game. There are a group of us at work (yes, there is something about my job that I like) that are playing tennis. Last night was my first match (I'm in the bottom tier, obviously). I learned quite quickly that I need to practice my serve (double faults all over the place). But, I had a great time. I lost 6-0, 6-1. But, I did get that one. We played for about an hour and I can't wait to get out again next week.

Ride to Work

I decided to ride the motorcycle to work today. It's a beautiful day out and I plan to take the bike up to Goderich for the weekend, so it seemed like a good idea.

About 20 mins from work there was a sign on the QEW that the QEW was closed. Not 'closed at night' or 'one laned closed', but 'the QEW is closed'. So, all of the traffic on the QEW to Niagara at 9am this morning was routed through Hwy 406 which is a one lane turnoff where they were still doing construction work. It turns out there was a fatal accident on the QEW in St. Catharines. Okay, close the QEW, but stop doing construction on the turnoff that we all have to use. Does that not make sense?

It took me another hour to get to work from that point. I hate working in Niagara.

Photos, At Least

I haven't had a chance to write up the blog portion, but pictures are at least uploaded.

Check them out at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12289259@N06/sets/72157601707174828/

Back

Okay, I'm back. No pictues (yet) due to plane malfunctions and getting home much later than expected.

I'm having a very crappy day and do not want to discuss the trip.

Wedding

Just a very quick blog. I'm leaving in a couple of minutes for Nunavut.

I have a number of blogs in draft mode (Jerry's stag and doe, etc). I will write more with pics of my brother's wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Potter, again

My friend Rod is back from vacation and we finally had a chance to discuss the final Harry Potter (he loved it by the way). We discussed the stupid storyline flaw. It turns out it wasn't a flaw just an expectation that I remembered something that happened back in book 2 (this is book 7). Considering she spent 400 pages talking about crap, she couldn't have made a quick reminder of this plot point? Really?

Which reminds me, Jason has recommended that I read 'The Golden Compass'. I have wanted to read the series for a while now. I am going to attempt (if I can ever find time) to pick up a copy at Chapters before my trip to Nunavut. Which means I need to go shopping tomorrow. Luckily, I pass a chapters on my way home from the falls.

There really are not enough hours in the day.

SNL Fav List

TV Stevie (from Rogers) just posted an article on his favourite cast members of SNL. Just remembering some of these skits has me in hysterics. How I remember hanging out at Leasa Collinson's watching Eddie Murphy the night that Buckwheat was shot. Still one of my all-time favourite SNL episodes.

http://yahoo.rogers.com/yahoo/spotlight/tv_stevie.jsp?id=20070808

Note: I am attempting to add my blog about my crazy evening in Goderich, but it requires pictures that are home in Mississauga and I'm stuck here in Niagara Falls working crazy hours until I go on vacation. I have 3 more training sessions to give this evening (which means I'm missing So You Think You Can Dance :(