My Stuff & Our Stuff

Since I am a little busy with French today (that is busy procrastinating my learning), I thought I would post this little comic from Born Loser.

Substitute the name Gladys for Sara, pretend P is the bald guy with the big nose, and there you have it folks! I am positive that this was written about our household!








I hate to say it, but it's the truth!!!

Who can smoke in this heat?

Tomorrow marks the last day that citizens of Ontario and Quebec can smoke in public places. If that law doesn't kill the so-called smoke-a-holics, I believe the humidity will.

Today the humidex was 42 in Ottawa. F-O-R-T-Y T-W-O people.

We have our central air cranked, and P has ensured that not a spec of sunlight enters the second floor of our home because he wants it to be the coolest it can possible be for sleeping. That topic in itself is a whole other post, so.... back to my smoke free rant.

All I can say is: IT'S ABOUT TIME.

Kudos to those politicians and health agencies who have steped up to the plate and actually shown some concern about the health of Ontario & Quebec citizens.

When I was a child, I was appalled at the fact that my mother smoked. I became even more appalled when I learned that she had smoked during pregnancy WITH ME. I always said that I deserved a t-shirt that said: I survived a MOM who smoked during pregnancy!

HARSH? Perhaps... but after talking to my Mom, she stressed the fact that when she was pregnant with me they were just starting to educate women about the risks of smoking while carrying a baby. This I did accept, but it still gets under my skin (and the same goes for drinking alcohol during pregnancy) because I cannot fathom how mothers could not know that smoking or drinking would not have an affect on the baby they were carrying.

Don't mistake me, this is not a bitter attack on my mother (after all I was a healthy, happy, and a brillant child - toot toot, okay...so just healthy and happy), but I am more upset with our society. The fact that education on this topic was not promoted until the 80s is beyond me. We had people in our society who could invent the telephone, electricity, and the computer, but not figure out the connection between smoking/drinking and pregnancy? Where were the rocket scientists when we really needed them?

Recently in the news, we read about Heather Crowe, the restaurant waitress who never smoked a day in her life, but developed lung cancer from inhaling second hand smoke while on the job. She died last week at the of 61 (read story here). It is stories like these that are heart breaking, and are the reason this no-smoking law is long over due.

Ottawa has been smoke free for a few years now, and I often forget what it is like to come home from a smokey bar, and wake up feeling as if I drank a 2-4 of beer each time I set foot in a licensed establishment. The next morning, the smell of my clothes and hair was enough to make me sick all over again.

It's a personal choice whether one wants to engage in smoking or not, and I agree that is should remain a personal choice, but I do beleive this new by-law goes a long way in making our society a healthier place to live, and of course, a more educated environment in which we can raise the next generation.

Yes, I know... hard to believe a bitter French student could come up with such a meaningful post on an hot and sweaty Tuesday in the capital city.

I guess this post just goes to show that not all smoking during pregnancy was bad.... right MOM??!!!!

Mission accomplished, but West Nile looms

This weekend, I had one goal (actually, last weekend I had one goal, but it rained all weekend), so last weekend's goal turned into this weekend's goal, and I am happy to report this weekend's goal was accomplished.
I have been after myself & PC to get motivated to do our flower beds in the front of our house. After all, we practically live on Wysteria Lane, and the majority of our neighbours (the competive ones) have had their beds done for over 3 weeks.

Finally... we got a weekend of sunshine, but of course we were also busy doing other things throughout the entire weekend so it didn't leave a whole lot of time to devote to our (my) goal. However, I wasn't about to let the nice weekend go without some heavy duty digging and planting.

So... PC and I got down to business in the late late afternoon of a very busy day. Being the smart homeowners we are, we waited just until the sun was beaming on the front of the house, and then we began the intense labour session of expanding our flower beds. With the sun beaming right on us and PC sweating off a few pounds... it wasn't long until we both started getting tired and cranky (I don't know what it is about me, but I hate having dirty hands - it makes me irritable...very irritable, and might I add, a pleasure to work with). Once the sun went down, I expected the labour to go smoother but then out came the mosquitoes.

Yes...our flower beds look lovely, but we have probably been exposed to West Nile due to the fact the mosquitoes had a field day on my legs and arms during the last hour of our mission. PC claims he probably didn't get West Nile because he was too busy working ALL THE TIME (constantly moving), while I on the other hand probably do have the virus because my work ethic apparently isn't up to snuff with Mr. Coleman's standards! Geeeeeeeesh!

Whatever the case may be...West Nile or perfectly healthy, our flower beds (the perannials) are a done deal for this year. The only thing left to do is get our annual pots going, perhaps our my next mission for next weekend.

However, what I should be concentrating on now is tonight's mission, which is to continue scratching away at my bites and waiting for West Nile to take its full effect on me (perhaps it will be worth a few sicks off from FRENCH training- pray for me....please pray for me).

I`ll give you something to GAG about!

It's not often that I go off in a political rage, but I have been closely following the current situation between Mr. Harper & the National Press Gallery. It seems Stevie has a little problem with the way the media are covering his term in office. I am not exactly sure what his problem is, but today's article in the Globe & Mail says that Mr. Harper will press-on with his battle against the news media.

What has me so reved up is the latest GAG order from Harper, as reported in this article from the London Free Press. Stevie has banned his conservative MP's from commenting on the upcoming gay marriage of two RCMP officers. My question is WHY? Is he afraid that his MP's are so incompetent that they will say something offensive or off-key and the media will be right there to report it to the rest of Canadians?

What ever happened to freedom of speech? It seems that Stevie wants to carefully select a handful of reporters that can ask him questions - a type of prescreeening that will ensure only the timid reporters will be able to produce articles in the news. In my opinion, this is not right. We as Canadians are entitled to information about our government, and journalists provide to us that informative role.

We relie on journalists to ask the tough questions, to get the tough answers, and then report their findings to the public (with or without a grain of salt). It is wrong for our Prime Minister to try and control this right of Canadians.

I will give Harper credit for realizing that our old buddy Paul was far too loose at the lips when it came to the media, and often back peddled when something flew out his mouth that wasn't in the script, but Harper has taken his role with the media to the opposite extreme. Of course the media is never going to write how well the government is doing or how great the political system of our country is - because who would want to read that everyday? - but I do believe that if he would instill a notion of competence in the media, they would respect him, and the majority of articles would not be as harsh as Mr. Harper believes they will be.

On the other hand, piss of the media at the beginning of your term in office, and don't expect the next 4 years to be smooth a ride - if you so much as fart in public - the media will be there to cover it, frame it, and spin it so it sounds as if Harper is in favour of having the country produce toxic gases for export to third world countries.

That's right Stevie...I'll give you something to gag about! I hope you brought your ball glove.... because this game is just getting started!

PLAY BALL.

4 tickets and a new CD!

It's booked.

Tonight, after school I sat down at the computer and consulted with Ms. Erin Boyd over the phone about the seating chart for a concert that I am dying to see!

After a short dilberation on whether we should opt for seats in row Papa Papa in Grand Stand 1 or Beta Beta in Grand Stand 4...we decided to go with the BEST AVAILABLE seats offered by TicketMaster which happened to be the Papa Papas!

With a little click-it-tee-click of my ruby red shoes... we are off to the New York State Fair at the end of August to see Rascal Flatts perform their Me and My Gang tour LIVE in Syracuse.

I am pretty excited (jumping around like a crazy woman excited)!

Rascal Flatts sang P and I's wedding song.... everytime I hear it, it just brings me back to the moment... sing it with me now:

'And now I'm just rooooooooollin home... into my lover's arms
This much I know is true.... that god blessed the broken road that led me straight to yooooooooooou......

yooooooooooooooooooooooooou.... ooooooooo.... oooooooh.... yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuu .... led me straight tooooo yoooooooooooou'

If you know the song, you get the idea.

So, since I knew were booking the tickets this week, I bought their new CD last night when I was WalMart. Now my plan is to listen to and memorize all the words to their new songs so that I can belt out the lyrics at the top of my lungs when we see them LIVE.

Ya....Erin & Sparty are going to regret the day they asked P and I to join them on this trip!

So, if you will excuse me, I need to cut this post short to get back to my singing!

What hurts the most....... is being soooooooooo close, and having so much to saaaaaaaaaay -
Take it away Sara!

I've hit a wall

WARNING: the following is a bitch session, act like you care, but really pay no attention.

Today was a not so successful day of French training. I was basically on the verge of tears at the end of the day when I completed an oral exercise in front of the class. I thought I did OK (not standing ovation material, but as good as anyone else in the class), however, according to the teacher... I have beaucoup de travail de faire (A LOT OF FREAKIN WORK TO DO).

I was none too pleased with the assessment. I don't know what it is lately, but my so-called evaluators could use a lesson in constructive critism. Each time I see them, they brush over the constructive part and head straight for the critism. It was apparent today that I have a hit a wall - a large wall that I can't seem to climb over, and I am frustrated as hell.

I literally would take up waitressing if it would pay the bills the same as my current salary. I usually have the attitude 'I am privledged to have the opportunity to learn a second language at no cost...' blah blah blah - but today I am not feeling so privledged - if this is privledged... shoot me now!

For me, it all boils down to the teachers. While I have one pretty decent teacher every afternoon, I just don't feel like the program is not cut out for me. It never stimulates my interests for longer than 5 minutes at a time, and if I can think of an excuse not to do the damn writing exercises, I will milk it until the cows come home.

I long for the French teacher I had back when I was in the office. She was a great person who was easy to talk to about any subject, and the best part was she actually understood both French and English well enough to know what hang ups analogphones have about learning French as a second language. Every day I think of how much more fun class would be if she was still my teacher (Pauline I miss yooooooooooooooou). I think I learned more from her in a week of a part time classes, then I have learned in my whole 4 months with this crazy school (prison) that they have me locked up in now.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Okay...THERE ... it's out! I am miserable once again - I don't know how I will get through another 8 months of this B.S.

Everyone who has been through it before me tells me you eventually wake up one day and just get it. Everything will fall into place ... and you will forget about the days when you couldn't speak any French at all.

So...if that is true....I AM W..A..I..T..I..N..G - waiting for the moment to strike me.

Tick tock
Tick tock
Tick tock
Tick tock

Okay, I'm sick of waiting -- I am going to call it a night, and wish a deep sickness upon my teacher tomorrow so that we can leave early (just kidding - I am not that eviil, but if anyone knows of a mild substance that could induce .... ahhhh.... right, nevermind - GOOD NIGHT!)

A Tuesday Trip to Costco

While I spent the day at home today working on my French skills, P made the trip to Ottawa on his own (which I am sure he enjoyed the fact that he could drive whatever way he wanted without any commentary from his wife!). Yesterday I had made a huge grocery list and then a list for Costco. P made his own list for Home Depot, so I knew today we would we be doing some shopping after work.

However, after some wicked cramps this morning and the fact that I had a ton of French work to do on the computer, I decided to work from the comfort of my own home today. P took the liberty of taking the list for Costco and Home Depot and called at 4 pm today to announce that he would stop by and get the items I requested at Costco.

Now, I am sure you are thinking 'Wow - what a great husband' which is what I was thinking too, but 5 phone calls later... I had developed a different opinion of his actions.

I literally had the Costco experience today, without having to step foot in the Costco store. P called me to say he was on his way and did I need anything else other then on the list. I did run through the list with him and added a few things, but nothing that he couldn't handle. We agreed on the 10 items and lovingly said our goodbyes as we hung up the phone.

A half hour later, the second call comes in. He has been to Home Depot and has now arrived at Costco (I picture us entering the store together, getting the flyer of coupons, and stopping to look at the hot deals at the entrance way - but wait... I'M NOT THERE!) He has spotted Cascade dishwasher soap and we have the following conversation:

P: Do we need dishwasher soap?
Me: No....we have enough for now

P: It's on SALE though, a good deal for a HUGE box
Me: Okay, then get it

P: Do you want to get two?
Me: No... 1 is fine (because we don't need ANY!)

P: Okay...see you at home
Me: Okay....bye.

So... I have been sucked into the dishwasher soap... no big deal. I like a good deal too... and it doesn't go bad, so what is the harm?

FIVE minutes later the phone rings again... now he has spotted laundry detergent (which was on the list), but wants to know if he should get two, because they are great deal. I tell him it's fine, and we hang up again. I realize he has made it about 5 feet in five minutes, because the dishwasher soap and the laundry detergent are always close to one another. I suspect another phone call, but hope that he is able to work his away around the corner, to the cheese section, and then to the check out.

TEN minutes later he calls again. This time the conversation goes like this:

P: They don't have any ceaser salad in a bag, do you want just the lettuce?
Me: No, that is fine, I will think of something else for dinner.

P: Do you want me to get a bowl of ceasar salad from here, it's like 10 bucks though?
Me: No, that is fine, I will go to the grocery store here.

P: Okay... do we need Road House burgers, they are $3.00 off?
Me: No, I think we have enough

P: We only have one box left
Me: Yes, but we can get them anytime, we don't NEED them.

P: Yah, I know, I was just testing you.
Me: GOOD-BYE

I hang up the phone... with a smirk on my face. If I was in the store with him, my face would have said it all, but since I was at home by myself, I let out an evil laugh, the I could throttle you sometimes laugh!

Within 60 seconds, the phone rings again, and before answering, I say to myself: if this P I am going to kill him (if only I would follow through on my thoughts!!), and what do ya know, it was him. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

P: Did I see garlic powder on your grocery list?
Me: (laughing) Ya, why?

P: Cause there is a thing of garlic powder here, and it's a good price
Me: Ummm....fine get it.

P: Well there is garlic powder, granulated garlic, or garlic plus.
Me: Garlic powder.

P: Okay, but what is this Garlic Plus?
Me: (in an annoyed voice) PETER - we need Garlic Powder, so make an executive decision, and just pick one.

P: Okay, okay
Me: Now, are you (we) almost at the check out?

P: Yes, why?
Me: Because, I am going to leave the house for 5 minutes, so DON'T CALL AGAIN.

P: Yes, Mum, see you at home.
Me: B-Y-E.

45 minutes later, P arrived home, and did buy everything on the list and a few other DEALS (suprise suprise). Although I did not physically have the Costco experience (which can be time consuming and tiring), I was just as exhausted from the phone calls and decision making!

Next time I have a list for Costco I will physically be making the trip... I mean, I might as well get the free food samples if I am going to have spend three hours on the phone saying buy this, don't buy that....buy this!

Oh... the joys of marriage!
Until next time....folks!

Road Trip!

Yesterday after school I arrived home to a sea of messages all from one person who happens to be a member of the 130-O crew. The messages indicated that there was an urgent road trip that needed to be taken on the ASAP (as soon as possible).

I returned to call to Ms. Erin Boyd and the conversation went like this:

Me: What's up?
Boyder: What are you doing tonight?

Me: Not too much, why?
Boyder: Well...we need to go to Belleville TONIGHT.

Me: Tonight....why?
Boyder: Just because...

Me: Because why?
Boyder: Well I talked to Amber who is going to see Erica tonight and she said there is something happening tonight in Belleville that we aren't going to want to miss - Krista and Amber are on there way now.

Me: Really? Oh my god.....ahhh, okay, let's go...I'll drive...pick you up in an hour.
Boyder: Okay, bye!

And just like that, a road trip was born. I arrived home at 5:15, and was back in Ottawa at Erin's doorstep at 6:30. In that time, I managed to shower, grab some clothes and booze, and we were off!

We made some questionable driving moves on the 401, but arrived in Belle-Vegas at 9:00. We met Krista and Amber at the exit in Belleville and headed out to this Barn Party where the fesitivities were just under way.

Ben proposed to Erica before we got there (at his house, not at the BARN!). When we showed up in the driveway the look on Clapper's face was priceless. She was pretty much in shock from the events before our arrival, but she looked the happiest I have seen her in a long time. It was a pretty exciting night for all us - it was a great party, and we were up until the wee hours of the morning, but a good time was had by all.

Congratulations Clapper and Ben!

Scared in my house!

Its has been raining here all day, and of course since I am home alone tonight, it has to start thundering and lightning so much that it shakes the house and threatens the power lines. For the last hour I have sat on the couch, clutching a pillow in front of me, watching CSI and praying to god that the power doesn't actually go out.

I don't know what is about being home alone that freaks me out, but it does FREAK ME OUT. P is New Hampshire golfing for the next few days, and while I generally enjoy having the house (and bed) all to myself, I really am a bit nervous when I know that I will be in the house all night - ALONE. The thunder storm only adds to the creepy scary environment... and all I need now is to get a prank phone call or have the door bell ring (which would most definitely send me into cardiac arrest).

I like to pretend I am brave and independent when it comes to things like this, but the truth be told I am scared shitless. Since P has departed I have been scared to go into the basement by myself. I wanted to do some laundry tonight, but screw that, I am not going down there! Our basement is sound proof... everytime you are down there a herd of elephants could run through the house and you would not hear a thing. I don't want to be down there for half an hour by myself as god knows what could be going on upstairs when I am not there to supervise.

I know... I am paranoid, but seriously, when I shut the lights off downstairs to go upstairs, I practically take a face plant going up the stairs because I am trying to get to the top as fast as I can. When I was younger, it was the same way at my parent's house. My Dad use to work away a lot, so it was just my Mom at home with Erin and I. Since Mom went to be at 7:30 every night, Erin and I would fight over who had to turn the lights off last before coming upstairs. I hated having to do that job...I would turn them off and then do the same thing every time ... Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.

I think the whole paranoia thing stems from the times when I was about 12 and my parents would let me stay home alone on Saturday nights for a few hours while they attended a function or visited the neighbours. I would get on the couch, with the lights turned off, and watch Unsolved Mysteries...dun dun duhhhhhhhhh. The host of the show had a deep voice and I can still remember him standing at the scenes of the crimes and announcing 'this crime has never been sloved and remains an unsolved mystery today' - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Since the thunder is good and loud now, and the lightning is frequent enough, I think I will publish this post, get into bed, and analyse every sound I hear until I exhaust myself into a deep sleep. And just when I hit that exhaustion point, if I know my husband well enough he will probably call about midnight, just to say I love you and scare the shit out me even more!

Throw this guy a BONE

This morning while browsing through the pages of the Ottawa Sun, I came across this interesting story that gave me a bit of laugh.

The story (for those of you who are too lazy to visit the link) is about a 25 year-old guy who is a virgin and has made a deal with the opposite sex that goes like this: if he gets 5 million hits to the Web Site www.avirginsplea.com in 30 days (started May 1st) the girl (who we shall call Ho-Bag Jodie for the purpose of this post) has agreed to sleep with him. If not? He has agreed to become her personal slave for a week.

Are you laughing yet? Its not so much the details of the deal that kill me, its the fact that this guy claims to be a VIRGIN at 25 and Ho-Bag Jodie either believes it, or (as her name might suggest) is just looking to have sex with someone.

I mean hats off to the guy if the story is true (and perhaps that is why I am also laughing), but in all seriousness...who in their right mind would want to publicize this personal information?

The story, if you read the link in detail, states that this guy was waiting until marriage before he had sex (nothing wrong with that), he got engaged, and weeks before the wedding found out his financé (who had was also saving herself) was sleeping with another man. The boy was so crushed that he swore off dating for three years.

It appears that now....with this offer from Ho-Bag Jodie, he is ready to throw his beliefs and values out the window if he wins the deal. You have to ask yourself, was it really about swearing off sex until marriage, or was it more about the fact that this guy was scared of having sex in general. My bets or on the latter.

What ever the case is...throw this guy a bone, visit the link, and help the boy gets his sexual life started!

Season Finale Fever

As I sit down to type this post the clock reads 7:49 PM which means there is exactly 11 minutes until I have to be glued to the television for 4 straight hours. Tonight's must see line up goes like this:

8:00 to 9:00 PM - CSI Miami: the second part of two part nail biting episode that left me dying last week... will Horseradish and his wife get shot...what will happen?

9:00 to 11:00 PM - Grey's Anatomy Season Finale - Addison might leave McDreamy, but what about Meredith and McVet...not mention the whole heart patient Deni & Iza...and will Burke make it - god the suspense is killing me already.

11:00 PM to 12:00 AM - Prison Break Season Finale - I've waited a long time to see this escape plan unfold, so they better not leaving hanging again...each time I wonder how they can force the show to go another episode, but somehow they manage to.

I usually watch The Apprentice on Monday nights, which is also on tonight, but Grey's Anatomy takes the cake on this one. I will fore-go tonight's 'You're Fired' episode as I would not miss Grey's Anatomy if P's life was depending on it. The first part of the finale aired last night.... and it left you on the edge (very edge) of your seat... so tonight I am just dying to see what happens.

Here's what I want to know.... why the hell do these shows do these evil things to their viewers? I just know that tonight I am going to be left hanging again, for the whole summer, just wondering how the shows will continue next fall - it will eat away at me for the rest of the week, and then it will be forgotten, but seriously.... these shows should be books, so that if you wanted to read ahead then you could, and if you were too lazy to do that, then you could wait until next fall. I don't know why the writers haven't thought about this angle yet, as I know that it could be profitable for all involved.

I swear these season finale's are torture, self-inflicted torture.... why do I do this to myself?
The only answer I can come up with is that its an addiction (oh great ANOTHER addition, perhaps I should see a therapist over the summer) - I live vicarously through the characters of these shows.... I mean would it not be cool to be in love with a guy named McDreamy? Perhaps I feel that I am accomplishing this through watching the show.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but what I do know is that its 7:59 and I have to go fight P for the best spot on the couch.

10-4 people!

Happy Mom's Day MOM!

Today is the day that you are suppose to celebrate your Mom. Since I am about 800 kms away from my Mom today (and the fact that she isn't answering her phone - the nerve of the woman), I thought I would send my happy wishes her way through the blogosphere.

My Mom was born on October 19th, 19....nevermind. Okay...so I'll skip the details and get straight to the point - this Mom's Day, I want to tell her that she truly is a great Mom, because somehow between looking after my sister and my Dad, she managed to spare enough time to raise me to be pretty decent person (excuse me, while I toot my own horn here), and that was no small challenge.

It is only now, after being married and running my own household (sans kids), that I realize a lot of the sacrafices she made for me. I compare a lot of things these days and try to think back to when my parents were in this phase of their life and the things they would have went through.

My mom for instances, stayed home with both my sister and I while we in our early years. This meant only one income to the family, and that meant that while we had the privleadge of having a stay at home Mom, she probably had to go without a few things as I am guessing all income was utilized. However, this was never apparent to me that this was a strain on our family. Erin and I never did without, we never had anything less than other kids our age and I can't ever remember being denied anything major.

20 years later, I can now see how managing the household income would definitely be difficult on one income with 2 children - in fact I find it challenging these days on 2 incomes and 1 house without any children in the mix.

I guess this leads to my point...that my Mom (and let's not forget Timbo the breadwinner here) did a fanastic job in our household. I am sure there were those times that I said 'I hate you' or 'I wish you weren't my Mom' ...but looking back on this now, I NEVER EVER meant any of those things... in fact, I think I meant just the opposite.

Mom you have a been a fanatastic person throughout the years, its unfortunate that is has taken me this long to realize how lucky I am to have you to call Mom, but I just want to say THANK YOU - for always being there, for always caring, and for always supporting me (even during the times when we didn't share the same opinion). You are a great woman, a great mother, and a great friend:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

The finished product

After some hard labour yesterday, here is what P accomplished:

drum roll please....

We can practically have a dance party on it!

Husband Duties - Wife Duites - Rainy Day Duties

The weather has been crap since yesterday morning, but it appears that I did marry a hard working man. Today P woke up and decided to get right to work on building and installing us a new platform step from the house into the garage. We had a step that was barely stable, (P has almost lost his life 3 times on that damn thing), it frequently comes unattached from the garage wall and you can be standing on it while this happens, which creates a bit of problem when you have your hands full of groceries. Last week was the last incident that put P over the edge...so he decided to go buy the lumber and materials we needed to build a new step that would serve us a little better, including more space for our recycle bins and other necessary items that we need in the garage.

At any rate...its been 4 hours (including a pause for breakfast and a few phone calls) and he has made a lot of progress (however, if there was a fire in the house and I could only exit through the garage door, I am pretty sure I would break something if I had to jump.)

The other exciting factor to this step is that P is finally putting to use all of the tools he has been given as presents. I said to him this morning in my evil sarcastic wife voice: finally going to do something with those tools that you just HAD to have! To which he replied, looks disgusting in here, shouldn't you be cleaning (is it just me or did I marry my father!).

We parted ways so he could do his husband things in the garage, and I began doing (dare I say it) wife things - laundry, cleaning, cooking, and everything else that husband doesn't do. While I have been doing my so-called chores, I have been watching (over and over again) Walk the Line - the movie about Johnny Cash & June Carter - its a must see if you haven't already. I never thought I liked Johnny Cash's music, but after watching this movie last night for the first time I have already downloaded all the songs, and the next time I am anywhere near a music store I am buying the soundtrack. What a great great movie.

Tonight...we gear up for game 5 of the Sens vs. Sabres - its life or death for the Sens, so you can bet we will be on the edge of our seats. We are having some friends over for dinner (Clapper and Ben), and we will hopefully be celebrating a Sens win well into the night!

Well the crappy weather continues, I had a better get back to my duties!!

Barbie is a Brunette

Last night, Barbie (a.k.a. Kristy Shags Shaughnessy) arrived to the bright lights of Embrun. She just happened to in Ottawa for the next fews days on business, so she passed up her TD expensed room at the Chateau Laurier for a luxuary suite on Centenaire Street.

I was pretty happy to see her - but it turns out Barbie is no longer blonde - in fact she one damn hot brunette. We spent most of last night catching up on events that have occured in our lives during the 3 months we've been seperated (as we filed for divorce!). It was just like old times. This morning we enjoy a car ride into Ottawa in her sassy G6 rental car, and again on the way home tonight. Its hard to believe its been 3 months since she moved to Thunder Bay.



As you can see in the above picture, she brought all the facts on Thunder Bay (for a little presenation to her work colleagues), as well as some addicting pastery like donuts (but they are NOT donuts) that apparently are only found in Thunder Bay - they're called Perisians or something to that effect (don't quote me on the spelling). At any rate, they are the most addicting carbs you have ever encountered, especially when topped with the must-try strawberry icing. These Perisians are also for her little presentation, but if they mysteriously go missing through the night and don't make it to her office tomorrow - I had nothing to do with it.

Tonight we made tacos, and after that we did everything good friends do - NOTHING. We sat on the couch and chatted through a nailing biting Sens game, ate some junk, and talked about plans for the upcoming summer. Last night we spent the majority of the night bedazzling Barbie's cell phone so she could be just like me! I swear she is going to be the next release for Matel's Barbie collection:

That's Business Banker Barbie, bedazzled cell phone not included.

Move over Don Cherry

For years people have tuned into Hockey Night in Canada for one reason (and perhaps this is a stretch) to see Don Cherry. But here is a true confession from me, the one and only reason I enjoy Hockey Night in Canada is because of this man below....Kelly Hrudey.


When it comes to hockey, I will admit, I only really like to watch it when the playoffs start. Many times throughout the season I could care less about who wins what games. Generally the Sens are never in danager of not making the playoffs, so I know that when playoffs start I am going to have team to cheer for. Hockey Night in Canada is not usually my favourite show, but the more I watch it, the more I realize, I could spend hours on hours listening to (LOOKING AT) Kelly Hrudey.

For a while when I first encountered Mr. Hrudey's Behind the Mask series, I thought it was a spin off of the local CTV station's series 'Behind the Mask with Seamus Kotyk' (which aired a few years back when the 67s won the OHL Championship). Little did I know that Kelly Hrudey actually was quite successful during his NHL career as a goalie. Whatever his claim to fame was during his hockey career, all I could think when I first saw him was 'Heeeeeeeeelloooo Rudy'.

You have to admit he is far better looking than Don Cherry could ever be, and not the mention that fact (that unlike Don) his head actually fits in your television screen along with Ron McLean.

I don't care what Rhudey is saying, its music to my ears. If he wanted to banter on all night long with Ron, I would be glued to the television as if it was a Trading Spaces marathon.

PC is aware of my lust for Mr. Rhudey. I don't think he feels that my on screen relationship with Hrudey is about to threaten our marriage by any stretch of the imagination, but I am sure he wouldn't exactly like to see Rhudy taking up residence in the capital city.

Do you think the Roman Catholics consider it a sin to have an on-screen marriage with someone other then your husband? Perhaps I need to look into that, but the way I see it is that Hockey Night Canada can be aired in our household without any arguing - PC can enjoy as many hockey games as he wishes, and I can enjoy as much of Mr. Rhudey as I please. It's a win-win situation for all involved.

Tonight... marks game three of the Sens vs. Sabres series, and you can bet I will be keeping a close eye on the game intermissions - GO SENS GO!

Stretch it out...in 5...4...3...2...1

Tonight... I dust off the cob webs and break out the baseball gear. My good friend Sophie Savage 9 and I are playing in the Embrun women's league and tonight is our first game. Last night her and I discussed how brutal we would be tonight since it feels like we haven't played in so freakin long (which is true, but still not an excuse).

My muscles are already aching just thinking about how badly out of shape I am. Sophie thinks she is a little of shape too, but she has a good excuse, he's 18 months old and his name is Joshua.

I haven't swung a bat in well over 9 months so my flabby arm is already telling me not to expect a whole lot when its my turn at the plate.

Every time I play baseball, I have a tendancy to think I am super woman and on the first 3 or 4 throws from the outfield. After I scoop up the ball and toss it in (and by toss I mean....throw out my arm in the process), I stand there in amazement at how far I actually got the ball and how accurate I was with my throw. Then after about the 5 or 6 throws, I am in some seriously pain. After that, I don't try to aim the ball to anyone specific, rather, I just close my eyes and hope to hell that it lands anywhere in the infield.

Perhaps, my new team will take some mercy on me, and either put me in the infield, even though I am scared shitless of having the ball hit me in the chicklets....or else perhaps they will put me in a field where no one hits the ball.

I guess we will see....all I know is that I am going 30 minutes early just to stretch, because if this game ends up being anything like the first tennis match this season, I am probably going to be howling tomorrow morning when I take a pee!

Wish me luck...and I will keep you posted our win-loss record throughout the course of the summer.

On a side note, sorry for not posting anything in the last while. I was under the weather Sunday and Monday and so I was not up for even writing a complaint post. However, I am on the road to recovery (hopefully), so assuming there is no fatal injuries from tonights baseball game, I will back to my usual self tomorrow.

I should have been a dentist!

Today I had my bi-annual appointment with my dentist. Lately in my last few visits to the dentist, the check-up portion has always resulted in more work. So today when the dentist proclaimed 'everything looks great' I was pleasantly surprised.

Here's the part the gets me everytime I am at my dentist's office (or any dentist office for that matter), and bare with me while I get to the part that actually gets me!

The lovely hygentist (Josée was her name) calls you into the room, asks you to sit back in the chair while she tilts your feet to the ceiling and lowers your head to the floor (and then asks you politely - 'are you comfortable?'). Once all the blood has rushed to your head and your feeling a little woozy.... she then begins performing 30 to 40 minutes of hard dental labour.

The hygentist is the one who asks you if you've had any problems lately with your teeth, she takes a few x-rays, she even checks your chart to see if there are any sensitive spots to your teeth recorded in the past. Her attitude is pleasant, and always informative (giving you the same old song and dance about the benefits of flossing), she scraps your teeth gently, cleans them refreshingly, flosses them diligently, and sits you up nicely when she is done.

You would think that someone with that kind of responsibility and labour intensive role would make as much as the dentist, if not more - because if she wasn't there, it wouldn't be worth the trip.

But of course that would make far to much sense - and here is the part that gets me.

After waiting an extra 10 minutes in the chair...in flys Dr. Do Little (no pun intended) - He throws you back in the chair, flashes the light in your eyes, takes his rubber glove and feels around your mouth (leaving a disgusting latex taste on your tongue), he pokes, he taps, and without saying anything more than 'hmmm...umm hummmm....ummm..hmmmmmmmmmmmmm' he announces in a god like voice: 'everything looks great, you take care now' as he saunters out of the room.

HELLO? How in the hell does this guy make six figures for less than 2 minutes of work per hour, while the poor hygentist slaves away hour after hour, for less than a sixth of what Do Little is making.

I don't understand this world. If my dental insurance wasn't footing the bill, boy would I have a thing or two to say to Do Little. When you walk out of the office, you almost feel like slapping a twenty down on hygentist's chair, like a tip, as you know she isn't getting paid half of what she should be. Meanwhile, Do Little is in the back licking his chops, drinking Starbucks coffee, reading Forbes magazine, and waiting another 58 minutes for his next victim.

If only I was a little more goal-oriented when I was yonger....a few science courses, a couple extra years of university, a pair of latex gloves, and I could have been Embrun's newest and coolest dentist.

Oh what could of have been. On the bright side, my teeth are clean, and I don't have to go back to chez le dentiste for another 6 months, so on that note, I will call it a day!

The Budget

If you don't want to talk politics, then this post probably isn't for you - so I won't be offended if you quit reading right now.

But for those you who want to hear my two cents....here ya go!

I am not one to generally speak politically, and I don't claim to be to uppity-up on anything political, but its hard to ignore yesterday's budget delivered here in Ottawa.

In the beginning of this new government, I was definitely not a fan of Stevie Wonder Harper, nor the Conservative Party, but yesterday's budget was by far the most colourful budget I have seen from any government in my short career as a public servant (and trust me there have been at least 4 budgets or mini-budgets since I joined the Feds in 2001). I thought the budget did have treat for everyone, although many claim aboriginals and seniors were largely disregarded - perhaps, but that is not my place to say. Working for the tax-man, I can't imagine too many Revenue folks are thrilled about the new workload that Harper's budget is creating in the tax department, but that's beside the point for today.

While I generally liked the Conservatives approach to spending our tax dollars, I am largely uproared by the GST issue that seems to have been the headliner for the Conservatives during the election campaign.

Yes, Harper and his boys came up with the witty and clever idea to lower the GST, which meets a promise the Conservatives made to the public by reducing taxes for all Canadians, no matter what bracket you fall into - but here's what I want to know:

Who was begging the government to lower the GST in the first place?

I believe that the Conservatives and the media have used their magic on the minds of helpless Canadians. Last time I checked, Canadians were adjusted to the fact that they must pay tax on everything they buy (minus a few expections), however in the last 5 years I haven't heard anyone in my generation whining about the GST. I like to think that my friends and I, along with my parents generation have come to accept the fact that GST & PST are fact that must be considered every time you go shopping. In my opinion, paying 15% tax on any purchase only makes you think long and hard about whether or not you really need the item you are buying. I like to think that without the GST & PST I would be more of an impluse buyer than I already am.

I realize all Canadians will welcome the lowering of the GST, but Harper has made us believe that we asked for this, and now he is leading us to believe that he is delivering on a promise we wanted.

This distrubs me because of the sole fact that for the last decade we as Canadians have come to grips with the GST. Its like telling someone that they can't smoke in the work place because its harmful to everyone, but then 10 years later telling them its okay to smoke at your desk if you're on a lunch break - hello people - reducing the GST is reversing a lot of hard work done by previous governements to get this country out of debt, now that we are out of debt, we want to go back to our old ways. The bottom line is that if I wanted a tax break, I would rather see it on my bi-weekly paycheck, rather then in the check-out line.

Of course I am going to enjoy the fact the my bill will be cheaper every time that I am at a cash register, but the real question remains - if Harper can lower the GST, what will he have to up in order to make up for that 1% of savings?

A wise man once said, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.... and well things seems to be happily go lucky on the Hill these days, I have to wonder what this 1% savings will cost us when the cuts come out in September.

Stay tuned!

Condolences

Condolence - as defined by dictionary.com:

'sympathy with a person who has experienced pain, grief, or misfortune'

I thought this might be the appropriate word to offer to my father, a long time Montreal Canadiens fan who is no doubt suffering some pain, grief and misfortune this evening as the Habs prepare to start their golf season bright and early tomorrow morning.

As you may have watched this evening, the Habs suffered a fourth and final loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime tonight eliminating them for the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs.

I hope you aren't taking the loss too hard Dad, my thoughts are with you. For the record P wanted to call you to say something along the lines of 'Go Sens Go', but I wrestled the phone away from him so you could spend the dying moments of the Habs season in peace!

Damn Dwarfs

Today I feel like the seven dwarfs... mainly just four of the seven: Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey and Grumpy.

Sneezy has been present in my system since last week. For the past 5 days I have been sneezing at least 30 times a day (no word of a lie), followed by very itchy eyes. If my nose had its way, it would be happiest if it never had to see another kleenex ever again - not even the ones with aloe or lotion or extra softness (seriously the aloe, lotion, softness line is a bunch of b.s... when you have to use more than 2 per day - they all feel like sand paper).

Today, I could barely keep my eyes awake in the morning half of my French class, so I decided to call it a day and come home early. I headed straight home to the couch and had good intentions of doing my French work while taking in some soaps... but it was minutes before I passed out for a lengthly 3 hour nap - hellooooooooooo Sleepy!

When I awoke I think I felt 10 times worse then I did this morning. This where Dopey and Grumpy come into play. Dopey because I can't seem to focus on my French work, and Grumpy because Dopey, Sleepy, and Sneezy won't leave me alone. Seriously... you would think these Dwarfs were working some sort of a team system. If this is the case, where the hell is Happy, Bashful, and Doc?

I think I have some minor allergies (perhaps it could be from the truck load of dust bunnies that are having a field day on my hardward floors), and the allergies have now turned into the start of a cold (which may also be from the fact that I was curling in -10 conditions on Saturday night, followed by a sunburn on Sunday afternoon).

All this to say.... I have probably brought on the symptons myself, but I am still looking for a bit of sympathy. Thank god I have the actual symptons to play up for the teachers at school or else they may think I was just taking a few days off to enjoy the nice weather outside (noooooooooo... not me)!