TV Show Frenzy

Good weather + good tv don't mix. This week is the start of sooooooo many season premieres.... and I am having a hard time getting into lazy winter tv mode, when its still 30 some degrees outside in the evenings.

Monday night was so hard to decide what to watch. Prison Break was on, Heroes, K-Ville, Journey Man, the Bachelor, CSI Miami, the Hills, Dancing with the Stars - it was pure torture. All I can say is thank GOD for the PVR. PC and I agreed to watch Prison Break, K-Ville, and then split up for the 10 spot... he watched CSI Miami and I went upstairs for the Hills.

It seemed like a full night of tv between phone calls... and yet on the PVR I still had 4 shows to watch to complete my Monday night tv date, not to mentioned my daily quick scan of General Hospital, Young and the Restless, and Oprah.

On Sunday night, we were at the in-laws for supper and didn't get home late, but when I scanned the PVR schedule for the week, I noticed that it also picked up the season premiere of Brother's and Sisters, another favourite of mine. So that makes 5 shows I need to watch before next Sunday.

I don't really like to watch too much tv.... in the winter I usually have one night a week I like to dedicate to the tube, but this year it seems I might have to adjust my rule given that their are 8 shows on Monday night alone.

Grey's Anatomy starts tomorrow tonight... followed by another intense episode of MTV's trashy Newport Harbor - and since I have dinner plans I will probably miss both shows, which means 7 shows on the PVR that will need to be reviewed in time for next week.

Looks like I am gearing up for an exciting weekend, one big date with my PVR... but if the weather is half as nice as it was this past weekend, I will want to be outside doing yard things before the weather turns crappy and I have been inside for the next 6 months.

Oh ... the life I lead is filled with so many difficult choices!

I am a bad person.

Yesterday driving home, I was thinking how content I am with my life - I am really in a good spot these days, a far cry from this time last year, when I was borderline suicidal over my french training. But that low period in my life seems to be behind me and I am truly feeling good about my life.... that was, up until I opened yesterday's mail last night, only to discover an envelope from the Office of the Attorney General. I wondered to myself:

Shit... what the hell is this?

The thoughts that immediately came to mind were:

Some dumb camera caught me running that red light at Riverside and Hunt Club last week... or maybe worse I'm being charge with possession of stolen property for some 'deal' PC got us - GOOD LORD.

As I ripped open the envelope, it reads:

As a Canadian citizen, it is your civic duty to respond to a jury summons and, if chosen, to serve as a juror. You are not "going to court", and you are not being punished. This summons is for the jury duty selection process only.

It would only be fitting that I actually thought to myself on the same day 'life is good', only to find out life might not be so good if I have to perform my 'civic duty', as the letter so gently puts it, and actually participate in our justice system.

Attached to the letter was the selection questionnaire. I was thinking to myself, perhaps there is something that will disqualify me from the ideal candidate pool, but no such luck: Canadian citizen: check, bilingual: check, employed: check, over 18: check. Every single question there is makes me look like a 'good candidate' - DAMN IT.

I think this is the only time in my life I wish I had been 'previously convicted of an indictable offence for which I have not been granted a pardon', but again, no such luck... its just little old me, the good law-abiding citizen that I am.

And of course, there is no comment section of the bottom of the form where I can discredit my own character by adding 'I drive like a maniac when I am late for work in the mornings. I repeatedly roll through stop signs on the back roads in Embrun. And... in the self-serve check-out line at Loblaws, I register the expensive red peppers as green peppers just save a dollar.'

Nope... they basically only take into account your yes and no answers, and for what I can tell, unless they want a foreign, unemployed, unilinigual, previous criminal on their jury, I am a shoe-in for the job.

This is the point in time where I decided to make a post on the blog, in hopes that someone at the Office of the Attorney General will Google my name, see my blog and this post, and immediately disqualify me from the process for publicly talking about jury selection.

So you if happen to be here on behalf of the Attorney General, let me take this opportunity to formally welcome you... please do, take a moment to browse around and check out previous posts, especially the ones with photos: like the fishing ones from the cottage this summer - I did not have a valid fishing license for that, OR, the photos from our trip to Boston, we didn't claim half the stuff we bought in U.S! I don't think it should take you long to see that I am not a good person - sometimes I don't know how I live with myself, I lack moral reasoning most of the of time... I am a bad person - really. really. bad.

The 730 mark!

Today marks the 730th day that PC and I have been married.... most people like to keep track in years, but when we are only at 2 years, it sounds much more milestone-ish when you convert it over to days, don't ya think?

I shouldn't be saying 'only' 2 years... 2 years is pretty exciting! We are clearly not newlyweds anymore... but yet were not that 'old married couple' either. I guess we're still in the 'young and in love' stage, and still pretty content with each other (most days)!

In 2 years we have a lot to be proud of... we're still sleeping the same bed, still talking daily, still annoying one other to no end, and still playing stupid jokes that only the other person would think is funny, or not soooo funny!

On this day, as corny as it may sound, I am thankful that at the end of day we have each other to come home... which is truly a great feeling!

PC... if by an chance you stumble on this, and happen to read this far...

HAPPY 730th/2nd ANNIVERSARY

Pressure is on....

I have been meaning to update more regularly on the status of the basement project... but the truth is, PC hasn't had much time to devote to it lately, and even I've been too busy to take the most recent pictures of it.

However... I've basically put PC on a 6 week deadline ... as I've ordered new furniture for the upstairs... which means the current furniture we have needs to a find a new home, which will be the finished basement!

Now... I know most of you men are thinking, what an evil bitch I am for doing something so devious to PC, but the truth is he okayed the purchase... given that it was a slicker of a DEAL! And... we've both agreed that the basement doesn't need to be finished right down to the trim on the baseboards - but we need to at least see wall paint and carpet before the couch upstairs can move downstairs.

I tried to make up a little schedule yesterday morning, but PC would have nothing to do with that, citing 'make a schedule all you want, but you are only going to make yourself upset because I won't be sticking to it' - so out the door went my clever plan to keep him on track with a giant checklist on the fridge. The project has even been set back a little further as PC came home from reffing late Friday night with a knee injury, which means he is to keep off of it, and off skates too.

So.... while I would normally be ecstatic that he isn't reffing, giving him more time to work on the basement, this basically means he can't do either: ref or hard labour; however, as we speak PC and his Dad are downstairs making a lot of noise, which means something is happening- this is a good start to the non-schedule he's following, even if he is laid up a bit!

All in all... I am super excited to have the furniture coming in 6 weeks, I thought that it wouldn't be until after Christmas before I got around to furniture shopping, but last week I decided to browse a few places, and when I only really saw one set I liked at over 7 stores, the sales lady informed me of an upcoming sale, and without further ado I jumped at the chance. The fact that the set I wanted had to be ordered and would take a while to arrive was right up my alley - and now it has me thinking of the gazillion other things I want to do to my house in the next little while!

The good news for all my family and friends is that this year I have an actual Christmas list a mile long of things I want need, so I shouldn't be that 'hard to buy for' person on your list this year!

All this to say... stay tuned, I will hopefully soon get around to getting some of the 'work in progress' pictures posted - and you will be able to share in the excitement as PC gets on the final road to completing the projo!

Mini-van birth control meets the vanilla latte

This past weekend, PC and I travelled North to attend a funeral for a close relative who passed away after his courageous battle with cancer. We got the news late Thursday night of his passing, and we made some quick travel plans to attend the services. My cousin, who also lives just outside of Ottawa, was also planning to make the trek for the service, so we decided to all travel together in her mini-van, as she was bringing her two young boys with her, while her husband was out of town for the weekend.

These boys are what I consider to be good kids. Yes, they are boys, and somewhat a little more rambunctious than girls may be - but overall they fall into the 'good kids' category.

So...why, has spending 16 hours in a mini-van with these little munchkins, have me feeling like I am on a new form of birth control?

Well... mainly because I am not sure how my cousin does it? Seriously.. her little guys are on the go from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night: playing toys, eating, drinking, crying, talking, eating, running, screaming, napping, eating, watching TV... did I mention eating?

In all seriousness, I am not sure how she functions every day of the week. I am exhausted today, just from the car ride home, and I did not participate in putting them to bed, bathing them, brushing their teeth, reading them stories, or getting up with them this AM, choosing their clothes, preparing and packing their snacks, dropping them off to daycare, etc. All I did this morning was get up, shower, grab a coffee, and drag myself through the entrance of my office. That in itself was exhausting enough for me, let alone even thinking about two other human beings that I would need to be responsible for... and at the end of the day still managing to be a fun-loving, good-hearted person - like she is.

Yet... having said all of this, I can see how rewarding parenting is for her - her kids are funny, outgoing, smart, not shy, polite, adventurous, hugable and lovable - which are all the reasons why parenting must be so much fun. I am sure when you are actually a parent, the rewards most definitely outweigh the drawbacks, but somehow at this stage, I am having trouble deciding if parenting is going to be my cup of tea?

I guess that's it... parenting is probably not a cup of tea, not even close - not simply, not easy, not cheap, but I am hoping, for me, it's more like a like a vanilla latte, complex, expensive, yet soooooo good once you actually indulge in it.

Yes... these are my hopes, mini-van birth control drowned out by the taste of a vanilla latte.
I guess this is a good excuse to get over to Starbucks, now isn't it!

Your All Time Favourite Song

The other morning as I was station surfing, they asked for people to call in with their all time favourite song. The phone lines lit up.... people were all over the map with their answers from Elton John's Crocodile Rock , to the Bee Gee's Stayin' Alive, to Justin Timberlake's Sexy Back, to Olivia Newton John's I honestly love you.

I thought to myself for a long time, and I really don't think I can narrow it down to my ONE all time favourite song... I have so many favourites for various reasons that signal various periods in my life.... for example, there's my wedding song - Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts - for obvious reasons I LOVE that song, as it has such meaning for PC and I.

In my public school/high school days I was a big time fan of To Be With You by Mr. Big, and Hold On by Wilson Phillips. I still belt out the words to those songs wherever I hear them.

I also had a thing for Madonna's Like a Prayer, Cherish, and Borderline - all good tunes to me. And The Tragically Hip's Wheat Kings and New Orleans is Sinking.

Dixie Chick's Wide Open Spaces has a special place in my heart as I played 6 times a day the entire summer before I left for University ...

"Who doesn't know what I am talking about, who's never left home, who's never struck out... but what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed - she needs wide open spaces, room to make her big mistakes... "

When I got to University... I can think of tons of songs I enjoy because I attribute them to my roomies at 130-O (Boyder: Lifehouse's Hanging By a Moment and Maxamillion's Sexual Healing; Bee: Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer & The Corr's Breathless; KL: Mr. Jones by the Counting Crows; Baby: What's Luv by Fat Joe & Ja Rule; Clapper: Mambo #5)!

I also have a deep appreciation for many country tunes... starting with Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton's version of Islands in the Stream - I LOVE that song. Lonestar's Amazed, another good one. Ketih Urban's Making Memories of Us, Rascal Flatt's My Wish, Brad Paisley's Mudd on the Tires, Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying, Phil Vassar's Six Pack Summer, Garth Brook's The Dance - there are soooo many more country ones I can list in this category.

Since knowing PC, I can't help but be attached to Spirit of the West's Home for a Rest - as I hold on for dear life while he tests my dance floor stamina every time its played! As well, since PC has been a part of my life, I have come to love a some of the Celtic influences... topping that list would be Great Big Sea's The Night that Patti Murphy Died.

There are so many oldies (oldies to me) that I am forgetting, Michael Jackson's Billy Jean, Billy Joel's She's Always a Woman to Me, Jefferson Starship's We Built This City, Byran Adams Straight from the Heart, REO Speedwagon's Time for me to Fly, Heart's Alone - ahhh, the list goes on and on, and ON for me.

What about you... can you narrow it down to your ONE all time favourite tune? Or do you have one large list like me? Leave a comment, I would love to hear what songs are on your list...!

Part-Time Marriage Now in Effect

September marks the beginning of yet another reffing/hockey/curling season... which also means PC and I are back to our part-time marriage for the next 8 months!

All usually goes splendidly during the first month, as we are both happy to be out of each other's hair and have our own time to ourselves; however, this year, from my own reasons, I have decided to scale back on the competitive curling just a tad - meaning more free time to myself to do whatever. i. want.

I have feeling this new found leisure time of mine could impact PC's enjoyment of the part-time arrangement as the more free time I have, the more work I usually dream up for him to do!

The decision for scaling back the curling mostly revolves around the working hours of my new job - I can't be a reliable team member when I have to work during the time I would need to be on the ice, and in all honestly, I want some of my winter weekends back. The last few years we have never been able to make plans with any of our friends in the winter because when PC was free, I was curling, or if I was free, he was reffing. It never seemed to work out which was disappointing to me. This winter I am looking forward to doing a few more things with my close friends, and dealing less with the politics of competitive women's curling.

The new schedule PC and I have going hasn't gotten off to a great start... for starters, I was sick this week... and PC didn't want to be in my vicinity for fear he would catch the same cold, so we basically avoided each other in the short times we did have together.

Being sick meant not eating for basically two days.. and since PC has been busy with reffing commitments every night this week, I haven't felt like cooking a half decent supper just for me, which has meant no time or energy to prepare lunches for the next day. It's become a vicious cycle.

Just when I was starting to pat myself on the back for sticking to the early morning lunch packing/coffee-making routine I have been on for a good two months, it seems this week I have no energy to do any of it. I am hoping to get back on track next week... but one never knows, its like having one smoke after you quit for 5 years... are you back being a smoker, or was it just one smoke that didn't mean anything to you?

Anywho... to sum up this post that is dragging on... the part-time marriage is now in effect, so prepare yourselves for some interesting marital posts in the months ahead - I have no doubt my extra free time will be devoted to the blog and may involve various detailed critics of PC's ways!

Stay tuned...!

Wedding Reception Done Right!

Okay... where did we leave off? Oh yes... the ceremony was complete, and guests were escorted via a lovely school bus to two Niagara wineries, for two hours worth of wine tasting and testing.

I have two words for you: GOOD TIMES!

The wedding party spent the time taking the necessary photos to complete the afternoon portion of the day, and then we all reunited at the Olympia Hall in Hamilton for a 6 course meal.

Can you say STUFFED? Because we were!

Dessert was the most entertaining course of the night as the staff of the Olympia Hall showcased their talents by making flambe in front of all the guests, lights off, music pumping, it was a theatrical display, as was the midnight buffet, which Krista and Kelly were incorporated into on their rolling chairs! It was definitely something see, a reception like no other.

After supper, and a few more drinks... everyone moved out to the dance floor to further the wedding memories for Krista and Kelly, with some good ol' get down and boogie dance moves.

Phase II can be summed up in two more words: OPEN BAR!

Below is a progressive display of the evening... PC showcased his stellar dance moves, and

everyone took turn doing the Kenora version of the Horns of Hell when their picture was snapped! This was a little tribute to Kelly's signature picture taking pose, discussed earlier in the evening thanks to Ms. Clapp who so perfectly summed up (with photos) how Kelly and Krista came to be via the Kenora Horns of Hell!!

You also will notice the final two photos really tell the tale of the night for PC and I... neither one of us letting any drinks go to waste, and finally PC holding my purse... clearly you know a man has had too much to drink when he publicly hold a woman's purse in front of a crowd and doesn't even wonder what others will think!

Thanks to Krista and Kelly Mr. & Mrs Burchall, (who are on their honeymoon in Jamaica) for a great time and great memories... as you can see we had a lot of fun!

Congrats to the newly married couple!

Beautiful Lakeshore Wedding

This past weekend, PC and I travelled to Grimsby, Ontario to attend the wedding of two good friends... Krista Smith -former 130-O girl, and Kelly Burchall -Kenora boy from highway 17!

It was an absolute gorgeous wedding, outside at a beautiful home on the shore of lake Ontario. The sun was shining, a warm breeze blowing - no humidity, just warm summer heat - and not a thing went wrong (or at least nothing that I could tell!).

The ceremony was short, yet very well spoken by the Minister with all the necessities of a ceremony, vows, rings and a kiss. I was asked to do a reading at the wedding, an did so with only a few minor hiccups... (my public speaking skills came in rather handy when I missed an entire phrase, but I like to think I recovered nicely, without anyone knowing what was suppose to be said!).

The bride was beautiful.... as was the entire wedding party. My words won't do this ceremony justice, you had to be there of course, but I hope some of the pictures below will give you an idea of what event was like. I thought I would post some of the formal ceremony pics today, and then get around the 'let loose' reception pics tomorrow - you know the sort of ... CEREMONY WITHOUT ALCOHOL vs. RECEPTION WITH ALCOHOL!

Enjoy, and stay tuned for some goodies tomorrow!

Overheard at Home Depot.

So... as you know we are in the midst of finishing our basement, and this seems to require various trips to Rona, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, etc. PC has been tasked with the majority of these trips because, to be honest, I don't know the difference between 2/16ths and 5/8ths... nor do I care. I also don't care if we use screws or nails, 2x4s or 2x6s... yida yida yada!

However, we are starting to get into the choices that matter to me... faucets, paint, carpet colour... and so I've started making lunch hour and evening trips to the stores listed above.

Last evening while roaming the aisles of Home Depot looking at faucets, paint samples, and vanities, I noticed various couples at odds over choices. I found it hilarious at points, mostly because I could see myself and PC (had he been with me) having the same sort of discussion. A woman always knows what she wants... we have a vision, a well-layed out idea that makes sense. On the other hand a man can only see the amount of work involved in every woman's idea, and can only tell you exactly want they don't want (which is usually the woman's original idea)!

Overhead in the ceramic tile section....

Perky wife saying:
"I envision a mosaic look with lots of slate."

While the husband, raising his eyebrows, replies:
"No you don't, not if I am doing the work."

As I ventured into the kitchen counter top section, I dropped in on this conversation...

Husband said:
"Honey, look at this one... it's nice"

His not so impressed bride glances at him, and replies:
"It's not Granite... keep looking."

H: "It looks like Granite."
W: "It's not."

And while making my way into the vanity section....

Husband starts:
"I said the only thing I wanted was a double sink, and I don't see double sink vanities here... we are waisting our time."

Wife:
"Well they have really nice single sink vanities here... look at that one, maybe they don't make double ones anymore?"

Husband:
"They make them."

Wife:
"Well... single sinks look better, a double sink is so the eighties."

Husband:
"I am getting a double sink."

Wife:
"ya you are, in the basement!"
___________________________________________________

You can't help but laugh, or at least I can't. PC and I would have had those exact conversations, in fact, I know the next trip we take to Home Depot will be much the same. PC is all about getting a deal (surprise surprise), and I am all about the final presentation to the public.

I can imagine our first showing of the basement, if I get my way...

Me: Here's the bathroom.
Guests: Oh WOW, I love your faucet and the tile.

Me: Thanks, it took a while to pick them out, but I am really happy with the choices.
Guests: Great job, good picks, lovely... looks fantastic!

Now... if PC gets his way and gets all of the deals, this is what I imagine our guests will think...

PC: And here's the bathroom.
Guests: Oh.

PC: See the faucets, ten bucks.
Guests: Really?

PC: This tile, we got at the scrap yard, for FREE!
Guests jumping back off the tile: Nice.

I know I know, I make a lot of jokes. PC is pretty good on getting deals on stuff that is actually nice, but every so often, I have to fight to get my point across that I don't necessarily want something because it's a good deal, or because it's free. I want what I want because it looks nice, and I think it will make the room look even better. I also like to think that I know the boundaries in what is a ridiculous price to pay for something that may be nice, but not practical or even remotely affordable.

I guess home renovations require an undisclosed amount of compromise... and slowly PC and I are learning that...

S L O W L Y....!