Twilight Fun

Okay, I keep meaning to blog about my obsession with Twilight, but that will have to wait.

This blog I found is awesome! Check it out: I may need to get the Buffy action figure and the Edward Cullen doll to go with my Angel puppet.

http://jezebel.com/5298281/whatever-edward-cull+ken--youre-not-the-sparkliest-doll-on-the-block

(I love the quip from Buffy in the comments: "Oh, yay. It's a disco-vamp.")

But, the best part? The clip on this page. It's phenomenal. I miss Buffy!

http://jezebel.com/5298683/buffy-shuts-down-edward-cullen-in-the-best-clip-ever (I may need to check out other Rebellious Pixels work).

Awesome Birthday

This past weekend was my birthday and I had the most amazing time! On Friday four of my friends took me out for dinner. The food was great and the company was excellent (Sue refused to be in the picture).
On Saturday a group of us travelled to Niagara Falls to really celebrate my birthday. I always like to do something crazy and fun for my birthday. This year it was a trip to the casino for some gambling. I used to work there, but wasn't able to check out the casino so I was excited to check it out.

Originally we were going to check out the Maid of the Mist as a touristy thing to do before the casino (since I've never really done anything touristy at the falls - on my grade 8 trip to the falls we went shopping). But, Sharon's friend Nick recommended that we head over to the American side and check out Goat Island and go to the Cave of Winds (http://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com/Activities_CaveOfTheWinds.aspx). It was the best suggestion. Cave of the Winds takes you into the Bridal Veil Falls (in between the Horseshoe and American falls). We were able to stand pretty much directly under the falls. It was wicked! I loved it. I highly recommend checking out if you are ever in the area. It was only $11 and worth every penny. We were soaking wet by the end. I could have stayed for hours (above: the group before and below, the group during).
After getting soaked, we walked around the falls area and it was pretty cool. It was an overcast, rainy day. It would be nice to go and check it out again when it's nice.

We then headed back to Canada and got cleaned up at the hotel. Off to find a place to eat. We ended up eating at the Shoeless Joe's at Fallsview. The food was quite good (surprisingly so) and the beer was nice and cold! Tim had worn jeans to the falls and they had to be dried out at the hotel, then at the end of dinner he spilled an entire glass of water on his jeans. Poor Tim.

The plan was to play craps at Fallsview, but the tables were a little out of our price range. So, we decided to head over to Casino Niagara. I had such a good time. Julia kicked some butt at throwing the nice; I once again learned that I should not touch the dice at a craps table. After a few hours of me losing money we decided to head out for some dancing (to me it's an awesome birthday if I get to dance).

After the bar we went back to the casino and ended up playing craps until they closed the table. Then I decided it would be a good idea to try some poker (at 4am). Not a good idea. But, I had an awesome time regardless of how much I lost at the casino (but, I only lost what I could afford to).

It was a phenomenal birthday and I am so thankful for all my awesome friends that made it so memorable!

Horrible Female Character

So, I'm once again listening to a book on CD in my car. The problem with this one: the main character. She's SOOO annoying. I'm listening to a book called Ladykiller. The main character is a female lawyer but she has no backbone whatsoever. Now, I don't know a lot of lawyers, but I've always been under the impression that they kind of know what the hell they are doing. This character lets everyone walk all over her and doesn't stand up for herself at all. Now, I suppose there could be lawyers like that, but I find it very unbelievable. I find myself yelling at her constantly. Come on people if you are going to write a female character could you not make her more strong-willed? I think the book would have been more interesting (as it would not have affected the story) if she had have shown some bit of a backbone.

Finished Knitting Project

A friend asked me to knit something for her baby and so I decided to try a pattern from my new book. This pattern had a number of different things going on. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It isn't perfect, but I learned a number of new techniques. I hope Aiden likes it!

Olympic Uniforms

I can't believe our government voted to include seal products in the Canadian Olympic uniforms. They don't have better things to do? If they want to do something about seals then maybe they should vote to end the seal hunt. That seems like a much better use of voting time. Normally I love Canada - right now I'm not happy with it at all.

I hope the Olympic committee decides that this is a bad idea and I hope that our government finally ends the seal hunt.

Books on CD

I almost always have a book on CD playing in my car. Back when I was driving to Niagara Falls everyday I found that this really helped with the long drive. I still find it helpful for the short drives to work - there are even times when I don't want to get out of the car because I want to know what happens next.

The book I'm listening to right now is really throwing me. I think the voice actor read another book I've listened to - where she was reading as a sixteen year old. In the current book she's supposed to be a thirty year old woman, but she sounds exactly the same. So, when she's talking about having sex with the hot neighbour it really throws me. Maybe she just sounds really young.

Last week I finished listening to the latest Janet Evanovich book and I already miss Stephanie Plum. Lorelai King (sp?) is such a great voice actor. I can't wait for the next installment.

Dollhouse

This last episode of Whedon's Dollhouse was sooo good. Even though the spoiler was out on the net months ago it still threw me.

There are still parts of the show I'm not too keen on, but for the most part I am really enjoying this show. I really hope it gets picked up for another season.

-spoilers-
So, the rumour on the net way back at the beginning of the season was that Wash from Firefly was Alpha (the rogue doll). I forgot all about the rumour because there hadn't been much talk of Alpha since then. Part way through Friday's episode there was Wash, not acting at all like what I expected Alpha to be like so I actually thought the rumours were wrong and that Alan Tudyk was just in the show. The scenes with him and Helo (he'll always be Helo from BSG to me - Tahmoh Penikett) were awesome. I was laughing my ass off. And then.... he totally turns into Alpha. Awesome!
- end spoilers-

The episode before that was great as well. Topher being all nerdy and having fun was really good.

Eve of Destruction

Last week I downloaded a song from itunes that I hadn't heard in ages. I don't know when / why it disappeared from my ipod, but I realized that 'Eve of Destruction' by Barry McGuire was missing and went ahead and purchased it.

I love this song. It's definitely one of my all-time favourites and that goes back to probably when I was five years old. Now, when I was 5 I had no idea what the song was about, but I'm sure it was one of the ones I played over and over again - and that continues to be the case. There is just something about this song.

I loved my father's record collection. Well, I also loved my mother's but they were very different. My dad's collection consisted of all these cool albums with crazy artwork that just mesmerized me (the album for The Who's Tommy had me enthralled). I wanted to understand the stories behind the covers and would make up my own stories about what they meant. My mom's collection was mostly 45's. No artwork there - just fun songs for me to dance around the living to.

I think I may go and check out the albums tonight and take myself back to all those days I spent on the floor of the dining room (that's where the stereo was) sifting through the covers and replaying songs over and over again.

Driving Range

Last night I hit the driving range for the first time this season. I'm playing tomorrow morning with some of the guys from work and figured I better get some practice in first so I don't make a complete fool of myself.

I'm definitely getting better. I didn't curse near as much as normal :)

I tried out most of my clubs and found that one of the clubs I don't normally use was my favourite last night. So, we'll see if that transfers to the golf course.

If I play more than normal this season I may consider upgrading more of my clubs. Over the past couple of years my dad has been giving me money for my birthday to buy a new club. I have my step-mother's old set and they have served me very well.

The County

This weekend I headed to Goderich (Huron County) for the weekend. I was talking to a friend on my way up to Goderich and mentioned that it's my happy place. Which is funny considering how hard I fought to get out of there, but I always feel so at peace there.

I had a great day hanging out with my friend Sharon and we had a good bitch session :)

Saturday morning was amazingly hot and then in the afternoon it just poured rain. After the rain the trees looked amazing on my ride home today. I already miss it and can't wait to head home again.

Lars and the Real Girl

This week I've actually been watching the movies that I picked up from the library. Last night it was 'Lars and the Real Girl'.

This was a movie that I really wanted to see last year. I love Ryan Gosling and am always impressed with his choices. This movie was no exception. I cried and laughed a lot during this movie. I read some comments on IMDB.com afterwards (which I normally do after I watch a movie). One of the threads started out very negative. They seemed to feel that a community would never rally around someone like this. The more I think about it, the more I appreciate growing up in Goderich. I have many issues with growing up in such a small town (and in no way will I say that Goderich is tolerant), but I do believe that small towns can be very accepting and loving. I know that sounds like I've contradicted myself. Without getting into specifics Goderich has shown me its intolerance and its acceptance.

But, back to the movie. Check this out, let me know what you think. I thought it was great and once again it is a movie that makes me think. It wasn't just Ryan that was so great in this film, it was everyone.

Daffodils

Have you bought your daffodils from the Cancer society this spring? I bought mine today. They always make me think of my mom. From what I can remember, when I was young our house was always full of daffodils at this time of year. I don't think she bought all of those daffodils, I think she actually was a volunteer for the Cancer society (hopefully my aunt will be reading this and let me know if I'm right on this one).

Either way the spring daffodils make me very happy and I love seeing them on my counter.

Boy A

I just finished watching 'Boy A'. My trainer recommended this movie and I am definitely going to recommend it as well. It is definitely a movie that makes you think, and I believe I'll be thinking about this one for awhile.

I think it's a better movie if you don't have any knowledge or expectations going into it. Go check it out.

Amazing Race

Today on the Amazing Race the teams are in Thailand. Unfortunately, they had a road block (or whichever type it was) that was really upsetting. They had to pose with a tiger that was being poked to snarl for the camera. That was horrible to watch. But, not near as bad as watching the elephants. The poor elephants have been trained to squat over people. Those poor animals. I'm very disappointed in the amazing race for choosing a challenge like this.

Wii Fit - Finally

Last year I purchased a Wii. The reason - Wii Fit. I had read a great blog about how good this game was and I was intrigued. I asked a few people and heard that this would probably be a great gaming system for me. I've never been a big fan of video games but I was really intrigued. So, I bought the system and then tried to find Wii Fit. Well, it took a year and I finally found one. In the last year of having my Wii I've had fun with the games I do have. Star Wars Lego has been pretty frustrating - my dad laughed at me a lot when he watched me trying to figure it out. But, I now have it figured out and love it!

The Wii Fit kind of started out the same way. My friend Julia had warned me that it would probably frustrate me (as those of you who know me realize - I do not have that thing called patience). I hooked it up Friday night and listened to the game tell me how overweight I was (like I really needed a game to tell me that). But, it also told me how balanced I am. I actually keep 50.2% of my weight on my left and 49.8% on my right (pretty darn balanced considering I have a bum right knee). I decided to start with the hula hoop game and I LOVE it. Now, I love the hula hoop part, but starting out I could not figure out how to catch the hula hoops being thrown at me.

I moved on to some other games and realized that I really didn't like the soccer ball game. I kept getting hit in the head with flying shoes. Then I tried one of the strength exercises and it kept telling me to raise my left leg, which I was doing. Finally I tried my right and it worked. I got really frustrated and thought Julia was right! This game is annoying.

I voiced my frustrations to some friends and they suggested that I turn the board around as it may be backwards. I had assumed that since it was working it was pointing the right way (not realizing it would work both ways). But, that was the issue. Boy did I feel stupid.

Today was my second day on the Wii Fit and I really love the hula hoop games. I am doing great at those and now that the board is facing the right way I'm doing even better. I tried more of the yoga games today. My brother has always told me that I should try yoga, but I have always felt that I don't have the patience for it. Apparently my brother knows me very well. I am kicking butt on the yoga poses so far. I have almost perfect balance on poses I've never done before.

I'm liking my Wii Fit and hoping that I stick with it. It also tells me when I've missed a day (it asks where I was), so I hope that guilts me into doing a workout every day.

BSG - The Finale

Spoilers Ahead!

Last night was the finale of Battlestar Gallactica. I headed over to Julia's for the pre-game show and the 2 hour finale. This last season has left me a little cold. I didn't watch every week when the episode was on because it just didn't hold my interest like other seasons had.

The first hour / hour and a half was really good, but the last half hour sucked (well, other than Helo being alive). It was just a really big let down. They should have ended when they jumped to Earth. That would have been an excellent ending, the ships with Earth in the background? Way better than the ending they did do. Now, I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm not an Odama / Laura fan. I just don't see the chemistry there so I didn't believe their relationship at all, and if I don't see the chemistry it just annoys me. I also really hate Lee's hair at the end and found it really distracting. I SO like the military look and hated his puffy hair.

But, overall the series was excellent and I can't wait to watch it again from start to finish on DVD.

The Heat Saga - Part 3 - Bob The Plumber to the Rescue

My dad is awesome! After all the crap of the week (and let's just say depression reared its ugly head and last night was not so good) I was starting to worry that it would never get resolved.

Last night Direct Energy were supposed to come by and take another look, of course, they didn't show up. My dad had stopped in on Friday and he thought there really wasn't a major issue, but they didn't show up. My dad did show up and probably within an hour of him being here I got a call to let me know I had hot water.... here's the kicker, they had left the PART! My dad didn't even have to go to the store, they never even attempted to install / fix the part that turned out to be the problem.

I can't believe how crazy this week was.

The Heat Saga - Part 2

Tonight there is some good news: my insurance company is awesome. They aren't paying for a new heating unit, but they are putting me up in a hotel. My friends have been awesome (thanks C&M) but I feel bad for just showing up at someone's house and sleeping there. The hotel will be close to home so that I can make sure the kitties are okay.

My dad is hopeful that he will be able to put in a unit that I own and I won't have to pay anymore money to DE. They have not been calling me back at all and I'm so sick of them.

I was also able to get my charges with DE separated off of my gas bill.

The house is warm today - the space heaters actually work (but not looking forward to my energy bill this coming month). The lowest it got to was 47 degrees.

The Heat Saga

This past weekend I went away on a work retreat. The company I now work for goes on two retreats a year. The owner has a piece of property up near my dad's place and invites the company up for a weekend of poker, food and snowmobiling or snowboarding.

After a fun weekend up north (where I was the chip leader for most of the night - but more on that in another blog), I came home to rest.

It was kind of chilly in my condo, but I was so tired I really didn't think about it too much and had a nap. When I woke up it was even colder. So, I called my dear old dad to find out what I should be looking for. Well, there was no heat or hot water and we could not get it to turn on.

Since I rent the hot water tank (which to make a long explanation short also handles the furnace / heat - it's a dual unit), I called Direct Energy. I stayed up until after midnight waiting for them to come and check it out or to call me back. Of course, neither happened. Enbridge who supplies the gas - hey, they showed! But, it wasn't a gas problem. I ended up having to take the day off on Monday to wait for the direct energy guy to show up. He did, he misdiagnosed the problem and I had to wait for a part that I actually didn't need (great). So, the next guy did some further checking. The unit is done and has to be replaced. Okay, let's get that done because now it is 51 degrees in my house. Well, they need to schedule and get a variance, blah, blah, blah. This is at 3pm. But, of course nothing happens for the rest of the day. So, today they sent out another guy who checked to see if I had attic access. Of course, none of the three guys that have been here before checked for that. NO, of course not. Because now I'm on day 3 of no heat (when it's -20 out there) we wouldn't want to speed things along. So, it turns out I don't have attic access so now we are waiting for the condo complex to get them into the neighbour's condo. After that maybe they will schedule the replacement that is going to cost me over $1000 (yet, it's a RENTAL). Plus, my rental costs will double.

Thanks to a friend's suggestion I have now called my insurance company and they are sending out a contractor to look to see if I'm covered under my house policy.

My dad is also looking into some other options and maybe he will be able to do the work and then I will own the unit and won't have to pay direct energy another penny.

I highly recommend that if you pay them any of your money now that you get out from under them. They are horrible and their customer service is non-existent.

Now I'm on the phone with them again and of course they haven't kept track of my previous calls so I am now on my 6th case number (in 3 DAYS)!

Horrible Book - Sorry Michelle

I just finished reading Inkheart. It took forever and I couldn't wait for it to end. My cousin recommended and lent the book to me, so I expected something that I would really enjoy. Unfortunately, I thought it was extremely badly written. Excellent premise, but not well executed (pretty much how I felt back in the day when I attempted to read Anne Rice). There were a number of times when I did not believe the choices the characters made; it took over half the book to get to the premise. I recommend staying far, far away from this book and series.