I don't think were in Kansas anymore!

Last night PC went out to put out the garbage, and when he came back in, he said: it's like a warm summer night out there... weird.

This morning I left my driveway and I was mad that I forgot my sunglasses because it was so bright out. I wore my winter coat to school but was sweating by the time I finished walking to my building. At noon I had to pull out the umbrella because of some drizzling rain... and then encountered blowing wind and rain on my way back from lunch.

The weatherman this morning said it was +16 degrees... now, as I arrive home from curling, its +2 degrees raining and blowing cold wind, over night its suppose to drop below zero, turn to freezing rain, then ice pellets, and finally 2 to 4 cm of snow before tomorrow is over.

So... let's review the 36 hour cycle: heat, rain, wind, freezing rain, hail, and snow...

'Gee Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!'

Know when to fold 'em!

As Kenny once said:
You gotta know when to hold 'em
(when to hold 'em) ...
know when to fold 'em
(when to fold 'em) ...
know when to walk away...
know when to run.

Today was one of those days.... of knowin when to fold 'em.

My competitive curling team has endured some hardships recently... mainly due to the fact the not all 4 members can get on the same page, at the same time, stay on the same page for an extended period of time, and go home at the end of the day satisfied.

Lately, it has become such a charade, that I really don't enjoy curling... every time we would step on the ice, you almost had to hold your breath, in hopes that everyone would get through the game still speaking to one another... and often times that didn't even happen.

Its disappointing because we had sooooooo much potential.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons of my options, I realized that I was really the mediator on the team, the person who carried the bottle of glue in her pocket and after each team session I would use it whenever necessary to repair the damage... but this week, the bottle ran dry and today was the day I threw in the towel.

I told the team that I was not into curling in our zone playdowns under the circumstances. Its hard to find four women who get along on and off the ice, and although we thought we had found 'THE' combo... it seems to have fallen apart somewhere along the lines.

Its one of those things that doesn't feel good no matter what you do... if we stayed together as a team, it was bad, and if we dismantled the team, it was bad.

Its a hard thing for me to swallow, because its almost like giving up -- and I don't give up easily. But this team put up a fight (while providing some entertainment for the rest of the curling community), and at the end of day, it just wasn't worth it anymore, for me.

Although we will still have our league games, getting out of the competitive scene was for the best. There is no longer any pressure... and I can go back to curling for the enjoyment, instead of the stress!

Tomorrow is a new day.... and finally I'm looking forward to it!

When is the right time?

Here's a burning question for everyone: when is the right time to put up your Christmas tree?

Last night when I arrived home from school PC had brought up the Christmas tree box and set it in the living room. I came home, took one look at it, and thought to myself - its too early to put the tree up (actually my first thought was - what the hell is that box doing in the living room? - but I kept that part to myself).

I would ideally like to wait until after the 1st of December, but even at that I wonder if its too early. I think part of my problem is that when I was younger we always got a real tree, and my Mother never put it up until around the 20th ever year, in order preserve the needles long enough to get through Christmas day. Now that we have an artifical tree, it seems like it can go up at anytime and I just don't know when that anytime is...!

The other thing that has me debating the issue is the fact that in downtown Embrun, you would think Christmas was this weekend. Everyone has their outdoor Christmas lights up and turned on, and half the town even has their trees up - honestly, when the French see an opportunity to decorate... they don't hold back (I personally believe those inflatable lawn ornament snowmen and santa clauses were invented for the French, but that's a whole other rant)!

PC was the first on the street to put up the lights this year... (we were sick of being in last - last year we knew all the neighbours were thinking 'god damn englishmen')... we put them up but said we wouldn't turn them on until the 1st of December. But of course, the following weekend after PC had done his job, everyone had their lights up and turned on by the 17th of November, so we were forced to turn them this week in order to keep up with the Jones, or should I say the Benoîts!

At any rate... the outdoor lights are up and on (and they look great... I will take some pictures soon!), but I feel a bit different at the inside of the house. While the tree is lovely when its up, I have to rearrange the furniture a bit and things end of up out of place (and we all know how I feel when things are out of order). The entire Christmas decorating thing is fun, but its a bit of chore, you have to find places to store your everyday things for a month (and if your my mother, come January you have to remember where exactly you decided to store those things).

It boils down to a question of when do I have the time to do all of this? This past weekend would have been a prime opportunity, but since I took the time to do absolutely NOTHING, and I will be curling for the next two weekends, its looking like I will have to choose a week-night, which compromises my 'lay on the couch and watch tv' schedule.

Ahhh.... should I just do it tonight, and stop my bitching, or should I hold out until after the first of December? Decisions, decisions.... what time is the right time in your household?

The weekend of no house cleaning!

How is it possible to be off 3 days in a row, be at home 2 of those days and accomplish absolutely nothing?

I am not sure, but I did it this weekend.

I was off Friday due to my self-pity cough that I thought was worthy of a second day of rest. I also thought I might get caught up on a few things around the house but that didn't happen either. The entire day was wasted lazying around the house looking at the dirt and dust and vowing to clean it first thing Saturday morning.

Saturday morning rolled around, and with good intentions, I thought I would start some house cleaning after a trip to Tim Horton's.

Before I could finish checking my email... we had vistors, with Tim Horton's in tow! Mom C and her friends dropped in to bring us a very lovely Christmas decoration for our front step... they brought coffee and timbits -- we couldn't very well turn them away from our dirty house when they came bearing gifts!

The morning rolled into the afternoon, and we ended up having pizza with our company for lunch. We were off to a good start... it was 3 o`clock, and we already had breakfast and lunch, and I didn't have to lift a finger!

Our first load of vistors wasn't gone 20 minutes and our second arrival of troops dropped by. I had a quick shower as I was still in my pj's... we got out some wine and appeitizers for them and had a good catch up visit.

These vistors stayed well-into the evening, and when Sunday morning rolled around, the house was a disaster (more so then it was on Friday night) ... and we were on our way out the door for breakfast in Ottawa and a full day of shopping!

Lord help us... we didn't spend any time at home Sunday... we ended the day of shopping with a meal at the in-laws in Max-vegas, and took in their Santa Claus parade before heading home!

When we got home we set all the shopping bags on top of the dirt and dust and called it a weekend!

I am sure you can all guess what I will be doing this evening... that's right... CLEANING!

Quebec as a nation... give your head a shake Steve!

What do Quebeckers and women have in common?
No matter what you do you will never please them!

Good old Stevie came up with the brainwave that in order to muzzle Quebec we shall indentify Quebec as a nation, within a united nation and this shall silence the argument that Quebeckers aren't consider equals in this country.

Bravo Stevie, Bravo.

Its no secret that I do not have background in politics, but I guess this is why I find this so amusing... even the least in-tune political person in this country can figure out that identifying Quebec a nation, within a nation, accomplishes nothing for this country.

Quebeckers will never change. They will always pose the threat of seperation, they will always want to have their own revenue system, their own laws, their own culture, and we, as the rest of the Canada, won't be able to do anything about it but sit back and let it happen, nation or no nation.

Even if we go as far to debate this, decide to agree that it should be its own nation within a nation, draw up the papers to say its a nation, and spend millions of dollars coming up with a new nation logo, and a framework for the nation to exist within a nation - at the end of the day you must ask yourself, what have we accomplished?

RIEN. Nothing. Nada.

Don't get me wrong, there are Quebeckers out there that I love and adore dearly, but in all seriousness, when these Quebeckers unite together with their pro-french attitudes they are hard bunch to please.

If you ask me, the only thing this idea of Mr. Harper's has done is create more discussion on Quebeckers and the importance (or unimportance) of Quebec in this country, and if our members of parliament really waste their time debating this issue for more than a day... I hope they are willing to offer the sane citizens of this country a 'its a load of crap' or a 'I told you so' tax-credit when this is all said and done! I will be at the top of the list for either of those reimbursements!

Of course this just my opinion. Perhaps you have your own views on this issue.. feel free to share your thoughts on the subject!

The cough!

I have had this annoying little cough since Sunday, and it won't seem to go away. Over the last two days it has gotten worse.

Yesterday I went to school and I am pretty sure I annoyed my entire class with the cough, as I was interupting every conversation when I would gasp for air before coughing up a present for the entire class to see - yum yum!

The teacher and I had a one-on-one interview, which usually takes place in a closed room, but 2 minutes into the interview, she politely asked me if I minded if she opened door while we continued the interview. I had no objections, but I knew she was clearly thinking: I hope whatever this girl has, its not contagious.

I have spent the last two nights sleeping in the spare room and in an effort to prevent the king (PC) from contracting the cough. This morning I woke up in my own little world could barely breathe. I figured it was best to stay away from school and avoid transmitting my disease any further than the comfort of my own home (although now that I think about it, the cough could have spread to the entire school, become a full fledge epidemic, and school could be shut down for good... but at 6am I never let my thoughts get that far... !).

So... there I was choking on my own phlegm, and trying to decide the best course of action. I immediately reached for the Vicks rub, and that did the trick to get me breathing and back to sleep until noon. PC was working for home, so when I awoke I went down to his office to complain, to which he told me to take some medicine.

I decided to take 2 Tylenol cough tablets which I figured was a reasonable effort to remedy myself, but out of no where PC appeared with a tablespoon in one hand and some Beneloyn cough SYRUP in the other.

I hate cough syrup, even as a kid I was not a fan. I don't care what damn flavour they make it, it all tastes like C.R.A.P.

But PC forced me to take it, and I practically threw a tantrum on the couch, screaming:
I DON'T. WANT. IT.
Noooooooooooooo....
PLEASE don't make me take it.
I hate that stuff.

To which he replied:
Oh... close your eyes then.
As he jammed the spoon in my mouth.

I was horrified, my mother would have at least heard my argument, and put the spoon down for a bit, before trying three & four times later, but not PC, I think he knew he only had one chance!

To my dismay, the cough syrup worked (although I won't be offering PC any credit for my miraculous recovery), it got me through the day, and although it tasted like crap, it was effective.

It has started to wear off, and I am ready for bed now, so here comes the part I hate. I have to go down stairs, ask PC where he put the cough syrup, and then take another spoon full in front of him... to which he will say: See... I told you it would work.

Damn it!
Its one thing to be sick, but to sick and wrong... I don't know if I can handle it.

Curling Update

Well, it was one loooooooooooooong weekend of competitive curling ... thus the reason there was no post yesterday.

We managed to win some cash this time around, which was a long shot goal given our roller coaster team status this season, but many positives for the team were established, including a three game winning streak on Saturday, which allowed us to qualify for some cash!

Our next event takes place in Carp, December 1st-4th and then our zone playdowns are the following weekend back in Gananoque. So I will definitely keep you posted on the results of those events, and I know many of my faithful readers live and breath for the update on curling!!

This morning I was also greeted with an email (thanks K. Broom) containing a link to various curling pictures of my team from a recent spiel in Kemptville taken by Bill Hall.

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure:

The watch was sooooooo yesterday!

So its been two years since the battery in my watch stopped working, and today I decided it was time to get it replaced.

I use to consider myself a watch person, a person who would not leave the house unless I had my watch on, and if I did happen to forget my watch, I was upset when I realized it.

Why?

Well... I am never on time for anything, and so having a watch only reinforced that I was running late, and that I needed to hurry up if I even wanted to be considered 'fashionably late'.

However, its been two years since my battery died, and it was only the other day that I said to myself, I should start wearing my watch again.

Today, I think the need for my watch has more to do with fashion purposes then it does with actually needing the device to tell time.

The truth of the matter is that the cellphone has now replaced the watch. Over the last two years watches could have been pulled off the market and I would have been none the wiser. My cell phone has become my go-to accessory for checking time. The watch in my books is basically extinct (at least for my generation).

No longer do we need to the watch to help us with activities that involve time. The cell phone does it all... tells the date, the time, it has a stopwatch, an alarm clock, a calendar, its 10 times better than a watch ever thought of being, and after 2 years of having a cell phone, most cell phone providers offer you a $200 upgrade.

I don't think Timex ever called me up and said: your Indigo watch seems to be out of date... would you like a free $200 upgrade?

I know... I wasn't paying $20 a month either for the Timex... but the point is.... the cell phone has far advanced the standard watch. The function of the watch has change from a time-checking device to merely an accessory.

I predict that in 10 years, our kids will be reading about watches in history class and coming home to ask us: did you ever own a watch Mom? To which I will pull out my 1999 Roots Classic, complete with glow in the dark arms, and send it to school with him/her for the show-n-tell!

Oh... how the times are changing!!!

Out on a day pass!

Today, I had the pleasure of joining my colleagues at an all-day staff meeting. This meant a day pass out of solitary confinement (a.k.a French Language Training).

While I normally don't enjoy meetings, especially all-day meetings, this particular meeting had some positive factors for me.

For one thing... they fed us all. day. long.

But more importantly... I realized I have made progress in French, visible progress that wasn't apparent to me until I sat through a 55 minute presentation, mainly in French by the Assistant Commissioner of my Branch.

A year ago, I sat at the very same meeting and cursed every other word the man said in French, mainly because I didn't get the gist of his message. These all-staff meetings are feel good meetings for employees, to tell us how appreciated we are, and how valued our work is to the branch, the agency, and to all Canadian citizens (toot toot!). Last year, I thinkI missed my horn tooting opportunity because the man delievered his remarks to my division in French (and of course I was too stubborn to use a translating device), and when things wrapped up I was a litte more than bitter about the entire day.

But today ... I spent 6 hours going back and forth between French & English presentations and I GOT the message... ALL of the message, not just the english parts.

12 months ago... I was frustrated and upset that I was forced to listen to 6 horus of bilingual blabbering by high level management. Today, I felt like the meeting was productive, well-organized, and I actually learned a thing or two!

Amazing!

I don't often write posts about how well French is going, and this is definitely not a post that is admitting to that... but today was a small victory for me, perhaps a turning point in the training that I desperately need - a step in the right direction to say the least!

As ER is about to start, I will spend the rest of the night enjoying the fact that I actually might get through the rest of this language training nightmare!

For once Mrs. Claus is behind!

Tonight after getting home from school I jumped on the computer and MSN'd (if that's a word) my parents. They responsed to my request for a video conference via web cam and once connected we got chatting about Christmas.

Turns outs Mrs. Santa Claus (who is mainly responsible for the Christmas shopping in the Mr. & Mrs. Bellerose household) is a little behind on her christmas shopping.

Well... I know if she is reading this she is thinking (I am not), but during the video conversation Mrs. Claus informs me that after carefully investigating the items (the big items) for two of her main gift receivers (not me THANK GOD), she isn't able to purchase the item they had on their lists.

As I glance at the calendar, it reads November 15th, 2006.... yes that's right the 15th of November and Mrs. Claus is scrambling.

Now to many (like me) you are probably thinking, scrambling? what? there is lots of time, a month and 10 days before its absolutely necessary to have gifts under the tree. But for Mrs. Claus-Bellerose, we have just enter panic territory!

In my opinion my mother prides herself in having the majority of her shopping finished by the 1st of December, so seeing as its the 15th of November and her list for two people has practically evaporated, I expect it to be tough times ahead for Mr. Claus-Bellerose, unless he has a back-up plan.

Somebody better come up with some ideas, and fast, or Christmas at Bellerose household could be ruined forever.

Stay tuned... this would be a first if Christmas was ruined, but at the very least, I predict that although Mrs. Claus said and I quote: (Wayner & Deb: no laughing!) 'this year we are cutting back', she may purchase a few more panic gifts, in the event that she can't come up with THE GIFT for two members of the family (thank god Timbo and I are in the clear... I THINK!!).

Damn you, guilty conscience!

Today was a day I should have stayed in bed.

I got up at the sound of the alarm and then quietly went into the spare room to contemplate whether or not it was worth going to school today. It was one of those days were its pouring rain out, and you just don't feel like doing anything but staying in bed all day.

I sat on the spare bed for 10 minutes, analysing the pros and cons to going to school. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon, so I am already missing the afternoon, and I have a curling meeting at 5:30, so there is two reasons I need to be in Ottawa today, but other then those factors, it was hard to convince myself that I had a need to be in French today.

However, after 10 minutes of backing-n-forthing, my guilty conscience kicked in, and I decided going to school was the right thing to do.

HOWEVER, it would seem that 75 minutes later, the right decision was the WRONG decision.

As I am going out the door on time this morning (round of applause... thank you!), PC and I decide to switch vehicles so he can see about getting winter tires on the Escape today. No big deal... right? WRONG.

As I take the car, PC annouces that it might need gas... MIGHT... hmmm, as in the gas light comes on when I am 2 minutes down the street... perfect (so much for being on time). I will admit at this point I am a little disgruntle, but hey I can get over it, besides if I get gas, I can pick up a Krispy Kreme donut for breakfast (swweeeeeeeeeet!).

So as I roll into the gas station, I glance at the sun visor and realize I have forgotten the parking pass in the Escape.... to which I yell obscenities at myself. I call PC to ensure that he hasn't left with the Escape, as I need to rescue the pass to avoid paying $12. Being the good husband he is... he tells me he will wait for me to return (awwwwwwwww.....!).

So I fill up the car (forget the Krispy Kreme donut), drive 10 minutes back home, secure the pass, and I am off. Although I am annoyed I rationalize the situation, saying that I will probably only be 40 minutes late, which isn't the end of the world. I decide to get a coffee in Embrun to save time as I would normally stop at Tim's after I park the car in Ottawa.

I pick up a coffee (in a surprisingly minor amount of time), and when I finally reach the 417, life is good, as I am grooving to a newly burned CD. Just as I enter into Ottawa, some guy cuts me off and I react by dropping my coffee all over my pant leg - %$#?. Make that double %$#?!

Now I have this huge wet spot on my pants... no coffee, and I am still late.

When I finally arrive at school, I get a message on my cellphone from PC who tells me that I got the parking pass, but I forgot the Green permit that is required to be in your window at all times - so I will most likely have a ticket when I return to the garage anyways.

This day could not possibly get any worse (knock on wood) - or could it seeing as I am off to the dentist in a hour... grrrr!

I believe the moral of the story is: follow your first instinct. If I had just stayed in bed like I wanted to, all of this could have been avoided! Damn you, guilty conscience!

Remembrance...to each their own.

Every year around this time, there is a lot of discussion in the media about war veterans, their stories of survival and the sacrifices that they made for our country.

Having a communications background, I can't help but get upset with the media when I wake up this morning to hear the lead story on Ottawa radio was the fact that a recent study showed that Canadians can't recall accurately any war facts.

This angers me... my grandfather was a war veteran, he fought for his country, he fought for Canadian citizens, and although I can't recall who was in charge of the military during World War II, I do know that he paid a service to this country, and on remembrance day this is what I remember. This is the piece of information that I will pass on to my children, and this is what they will pass onto their children, and on remembrance day when I take a moment of silence, I won't be upset that I can't recall what year World War I took place, I will silently think of my grandfather, his life, and how special he was to me: that is what I classify as REMEMBRANCE.

I realize that the knowledge of war history by Canadians citizens decreases every year... and the fact is that if we want to remember an important part of history, we have to take the responsibility to do so... to read about the war, to educate ourselves; HOWEVER, as decades pass, I think it is unrealistic to think that all Canadians will recall vividley war events that took place 50 odd years ago.

We may not be able place war events in chronological order, but I am sure this year, we will recall the many soliders who recently lost their lives during the battle in Afghanistan, including female solider Nichola Goddard (hard to forget her story). These are the current events that Canadians recall... and this is what my generation remembers, the events of today.

To the agenda setters of today's media I would just like to say, lay-off. Canadians do remember the significance of November 11th. War-veterans in our country do not need to hear that they have been forgotten. Each veteran is remembered, and although he can't be individually identified by Canadian citizens, his contribution to our country is recognized, honoured, and remembered.

12 days a year... WASTED

Statistics Canada filed a report recently on commuting times for Canadians. Their study found that the average Canadian spends 12 full days a year getting to work and returning home.

12 DAYS.

That's a hefty chunk of time in my opinion. Just think what we communters could be doing with 12 whole extra days. I could finish a really nice scrapbook, do a major renovation on my home, take a hot vacation, redesign my blog, learn a second language.

Okay, so maybe not the last one, but seriously, perhaps I need to re-evaluate my life, my career, my place of work if it means adding 12 days more days of free time to my life! If I worked from home every day that means I would have 12 extra days a year to devote to ME, without feeling like I was behind the rest of the world!

As I read the Stats Can study I found their results to be pretty accurate, or at least truthful to my daily routine. It says that communters spend an average of 63 minutes a day making the round trip to and from work. 63 minutes is about what it takes me to commute to and from Ottawa... and I am not complaining as I like to think that those 32.5 minutes each way (especially in the morning) make me a better person. I have time to wake up, collect my thoughts, and therefore when I arrive at the office/school, I am generally a more pleasant person to be around (so to my co-workers, consider yourself lucky that I live 20 minutes outside the city!).

The other point that made me smile when I read the results of survery was that mode of transportation was a major factor to the study. Apararently commuters who use public transit to get to work (without also using their automobile) spend an average of 41 minutes longer on their commute than those using an automobile.

Whooooooooooo....hooo! I know many of you OC Transpo riders here in Ottawa are convinced that taking the bus is quicker, but if you factor in your walk to the bus stop, the stop'n'go time, the walk from the bus stop to the office, you are looking at 41 minutes longer than Moi!

Sometimes people ask me, how can I live in the boon-docks, but it all boils down to preference... and my perference is to be in a smaller community that is close to an urban centre. And according to the study you are losing 14 days a year commuting, as opposed to my 12, so I feel better already!

Does hearing that we waste 12 days a year on communting surprise you... ? Do you think this only an issue for major cities, or is this the case everywhere? Is the public transit vs. automobile argument accurate?

Faith Hill... where are your manners?

If you missed the 40th CMA Awards last night, you have to check out this video posted by ekuAnthony on You Tube (see below).

It appears that Faith Hill was either expecting to win the CMA for Female Vocalist of the Year, or at the very least she wasn't expecting Carrie Underwood to take home the award.

The camera catches a little freak out from Faith just after they annouce Carrie Underwood as the winner. Watch the left hand side of the screen, Faith is in the middle!

This clip should definitely be considered for a PRICELESS commercial... Faith clearly has some explaining to do!

She will probably has some lame excuse for how she acted, but in my opinion the camera doesn't lie! Maybe Faith is feeling a little insulted that Carrie Underwood won both the Horizon Award & the Female Vocalist of the Year - something Faith can't claim she's done!

I am no expert, but I would say Faith definitely has her panties in a knot over this one!

See for yourself.

Monday full of accomplishments!

This post is gonna be a short one because its Monday evening and I am exhausted, however, I feel I had three big accomplishments today:

1. I arrived at school before 8:30 am. Before... as in ahead of time, EARLY. I am never early!

2. Made a good meal. Chicken, potatoes, corn, garden salad. All the important food groups were included and its was on the table at a somewhat decent hour! Very RARE in our household.

3. Got up the courage to take a second stab at the Easy Banana Bread recipe. Took time to carefully read the recipe and added all ingredients in correct measurements. At 10 pm this evening PC and I were eating our dessert while taking in CSI and the CMA Awards.

So... not bad for a Monday, if I do say so myself.

In weekend wrap up news, curling was a so-so affair. We lost a good game to Team Hanna Saturday evening which eliminated us from the event. It was one of those games where you didn't feel too bad about losing because it was close and well played by our team!

My parents enjoyed spectating the curling, and Sunday we were able to relax, do some shopping and have a nice dinner out at Red Lobster! Good times with the family, but they left this morning to head back to Thessalon :-(

That about taps out my posting abilities this evening... super tired right now!!

A demain!

The weekend!

Well... you will be happy to know the bathrooms were successfully cleaned! Spic-n-span!

I finished up my chores last night and although the house is not glimmering, it presentable, and it will have to do! The 'rents are on the road as we speak and should be pulling into town shortly.

This afternoon my curling team (Team Cafferty) takes the ice in Kemptville. Should be a good all women's tournament. If you are interested in following our results, click here.

Between curling and parents weekend, you pretty much know what I will be doing. Hope everyone has an enjoyable Saturday & Sunday.

10-4!

Parents Arrive Tomorrow ... Ahhhhhhhh!

This weekend, my parents are coming to town - and I've been too busy to clean my house.

Can you say: FREAKING OUT.

This week has been hectic because last weekend was so busy that I didn't get around to my usual general maitenance. Monday was all about getting groceries and getting to bed at a decent time so the rest of this week would not be crappy. Tuesday was Halloween, no time to do anything, except talk to my parents and confirm their ETA (estimated arrival time). Last night, we went to Rideau Carelton to celebrate FIL's birthday, and tonight I have curling.

Tomorrow afternoon the 'rents arrive, and I've had no time to devote to cleaning the house! I tend to be a bit obsessive about having my house in proper order. Everything has a spot, and everything has to be in that spot or I feel as though someone will notice.

Usually women get up-tight about the state of their household with their Mother-In-Law comes to visit, but for me, it my own Mother. Why? I have no idea. She doesn't obsess over her own household when PC and I come to town (except for the fact that she has to have Chocolate Milk and all of PC's other favourites on hand for when he arrives - but me? her own flesh and blood.... who cares!)

My parents have been here many times before, and maybe that's the problem. They know my standards, so if they walk in the front door and see that its not up to snuff... they might think I'm slipping. Okay, so that's probably not the case for my Dad (or my Mom for that matter) ... but its the case for me! I obsess over these personal standards for no reason!

The part that bothers me the most is that I am not exactly sure why or how I became so obsessive about house cleanliness because as my Mother will recall, I was a complete slob when I lived in her house for 18 years.

Its something I must have picked up since I've moved to Ottawa. I am not exactly sure where I learned this from, perhaps it was the fact that I lived in a 2x2 box (a.k.a. Thompson Residence) during my first year of University and if I didn't keep things tidy, I would not have been able to get out the door. I don't know, but it makes for some interesting times at our house these days.

For instance, take the conversation PC and I had yesterday.

Me: Do you ref Thursday night?
PC: Maybe, why?

Me: Because I neeeeed the bathroom cleaned before Friday.
PC: I know you neeeeeeeeeeeeeed the bathroom cleaned Sara, it will get done.

Me: When?
PC: Tomorrow.

Me: At what time?
PC: To. mor. row.

Hmmm.... can you detect a bit of tension in the Coleman household? I think so!

The bathroom has always been a sore point for me. I don't clean bathrooms very well, so PC has taken over this task since we began living together 3 years ago. The bathroom has to be cleaned for my parent's arrival, because my Mother knows how awful I am at cleaning this room. She used to lecture me on how to clean it properly when I was younger. I just never got it, and my roommates from University will attest to the fact that I avoided cleaning that space for the entire 3 years we lived together.

I DON'T DO BATHROOMS, end of story.

So... here we are Thursday morning, the bathrooms will most likely get cleaned today (or divorce may be pending). I will have to skip out on after-curling drinks, rush home, whip a vacuum around the house, a dust rag, wash some towels and sheets and pray that my personal standard will be upheld upon my parent's arrival tomorrow!

Sheeeeeeesh! The personal agongy of trying to impress a few Northerners, why I continue to put myself through this stress is beyond me... but like any obsession... it will continue for many years to come!