Friday the 13th.

Everyone always jokes that Friday the 13th is destined to be a weird day and before I wasn't really believer, but after today, I totally am.

This Friday was to be a fairly typical, routine day in our household, and it started out just that way... the kids were up as per their regular waking hour and PC and I got them shuttled out the door as per usual. Normally I would drop the kiddies off on my to the office, but today PC took them as we both had dentist appointments in Ottawa and his was first.  I stayed behind, logged into work briefly and then cleaned up the house a bit with the extra 45 mins I had before I had to leave.  I left in decent time and was putting on a car concert to some Maroon 5 when I saw the dashboard light up with the  'low tire pressure' message. I really didn't read to much into it because that light has come on in the past in extremely cold temperatures and I wondered if it was just another false alarm with the extreme heat we've been experiencing this week.

I cleared the dashboard warning light, and continue my concert, but as I am literally one exit away from the dentist, I hear a loud 'wop wop wop wop wop', and another exclamation light appears on the dash. Immediately, I knew it was trouble and pulled over the shoulder of the road to find out that my back rear tire was completely flat.

Just as I get back in the car to make my emergency call to roadside assistance, the guy on the radio says 'anybody having bad karma today? Remember, its Friday the 13th, so be careful out there'!

THANKS TIPS!

It was not a good morning... needless to say I missed my dentist appointment and a good portion of the day. Since PC was at the dentist and just leaving when he got my call, he was able to come to the scene and assess the situation.  I was pretty lucky that A. traffic was light on the 417 this AM, and B. that PC was close by to rescue me (and C. that the kids were not with me). Roadside assistance took for.ever. but PC, my hero, managed to get my spare on so I could atleast get myself back home (doing 80km on the 417 with my four ways on all the way home).

I actually spent a good chunk of the day shopping ... FOR A TIRE! My flat tire was no where near patchable... so I had to shop around for a replacement tire. Not my idea of a great time... and trust me I would have rather spent the $250 on something like a new purse and coordinating shoes, but Friday the 13th would not allow it.

The next Friday the 13th that roles around, I think I'll stay in bed.
It will definitely be cheaper!

 

Bragging gets you nowhere!

Earlier in the week PC and I were in the car together, and there was a piece on the radio about the number of colds reported by Canadians. Apparently... the number is fairly high, compared to recent years. At any rate... I couldn't really relate to this report as I haven't caught a cold in FOREVER.

After that radio report, I even remarked to PC that in the last 18 months, I have only taken 2 Tylenol... for one bad headache, not even for a cold. I went on to say how fortunate I was to not get a cold or the flu while I was pregnant, and that since E's birth, I haven't been sick at all.

I spent a good 10 minutes on the subject of just how healthy I am, even went as far to say that I have been around people who have been really sick (namely PC) and have yet to come down with even the slightest of bugs.

PC attributed it to my daily dose of vitamins over the last 18 months, as since 3 months before I got pregnant I started taking a prenatal/postnatal multi-vitamin. Personally, I just like to think that I have an immune system made of steel and that nothing can break it (ain't nothin gonna break my stride, ain't nothin going hold me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving!)

But of course... you can only brag for so long until somebody gets pissed off, and wants to take you down! And in my case, I have yet to pin point the culprit, but about 4 days after that 'look at me' conversation, I have now come down with a bugger of a head cold.

The worst part is ... since I am still breast-feeding, I can't take anything for it, so I have to really rely on the cool mist humidifier, the Benylin wall plug-ins, and good ol' Vicks vapour rub. What I wouldn't give to take an Advil cold & sinus pill ... or a Claritin.

As you can see... bragging gets you nowhere! Thanks to my big mouth, my 18 month healthy-as-a-horse non-cold & flu streak is over! Now I am back to being just like everybody else, with nothing to brag about!

Have you been sick a lot over the past year, or are you one of the lucky ones like me (not bragging I swear) who hasn't had a bad cold or the flu in recent months?

Household Appliance Meltdown

Isn't life lovely?

I mean when things are going well... they are really going well, and then there is just the opposite - one unfortunate thing can lead to another and the next thing you know you are 2K in the hole.

The weeks leading up to E's birth, I noticed our washing machine was acting up.  It would wash things fine, but would not spin them.  Heavy items were always soaking wet and had to be spun three or four times, and lighter items would spin but not to the previous performance ability of the machine.

Our washing machine came with the house, and since our house was only a year old when we bought it (in '05) and the appliances were bought brand new by original owners, you would think this machine should have had another 15 or so good years left in it... but OF COURSE, the week E was born, the damn thing was really on the fritz, so we had an appliance guy come and assess the situation for $50. His recommendation was that we needed a $300 part + labour, so our best bet was probably to replace the machine, since there was no guarantees this repair would last for 5 years or even 5 weeks.

So.. week 2 with E in the house, we trucked all over the city shopping for a DEAL on a washing machine, and dropped $1200 on a good one! $1200 I could handle... I mean we have an emergency fund for exactly this, unexpected events that require money. I actually really like the new washer and chalked it up to: 'these things happen, could have been worse'.

Apparently, it really can get worse... as now the damn dryer is acting up, as our low heat setting (which I basically dry all of our clothes on) is on the fritz. On of the selling features of the super duper washer we got is that its suppose to super spin the clothes now at x more amount of RPMs, making the clothes virtually dry when you take them out of the washer... requiring less drying time in the dryer, but now my stupid dryer can't even keep up with reduced need for drying. It's upsetting because when we bought the washer there were so many washer/dryer combo deals, but at the time we didn't need a dryer so paying an extra $500 for something we didn't need seemed stupid.  Now... I am not definite that the dryer has to be replaced, but I am confident that something is wrong with it - and if we have to go out and buy a new dryer 2 months after the washer - heads will roll (somewhere!).

In addition to the washer/dryer issue... our hot water tank busted last night.  I had been home with E all day yesterday and finally when PC got home, we ate, and I escaped the house for 30 minutes to go to Shopper's Drugmart. I am not there 15 minutes when PC calls my cell and leaves an emergency message 'the hot water tank busted, and I need help at home with E'.  

HONESTLY!

The hot water tank... WHAT? I get home to PC mopping up water from all over our laundry room. We call our water tank rental supplier and they can't come to look at it until today at 2pm.  After the inspection today, the tank needs to be replaced which is free of charge, but since the tank was installed the piping needs to be redone as the building code has changed, which comes with a small fee of ONLY $300, and the earliest they can get here to do all this is Saturday between 12 and 4pm.

A month ago I had a hard time wondering what I wanted for Christmas, but with the appliance meltdown we've been having, my Christmas list is all taken care of! 

AND to boot our stupid Christmas lights that PC put up a month ago... well we turned them on this week and there are shorts in every strand, so PC had to rush out to Cdn Tire to buy new lights (or risk being the eye sore of the neighbourhood ... but that's a whole other blog). Apparently they don't make the same colour of lights we had bought 4 years ago... so we had to get all new lights - OF COURSE!

What a week its been... I think I need to get out of the house, but since I haven't showered today and won't get to until Saturday night, I don't think I am going anywhere soon!  

Oh the joys owning a house! Has anyone else experienced the 'when it rains it pours' with unexpected household expenses? What do you do to keep yourself sane in these situations?

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.

Taking vacation

Why is taking vacation so hectic all the time?

I mean really, a vacation, is suppose to be relaxin', worry-free, and easy; however, in my life, going on vacation means nothing but pure stress until the moment you get to your destination.

Going to the family cottage is always a good time... once you get there, but getting ready to get there creates nothing but pure chaos in our household.

There is a million and one things to do before leaving for the cottage including: laundry, yard-work, paying the bills, packing, etc.

It all has to be done before I can feel confident that I will actually relax on my vacation, and it stresses me out beyond belief.

This Thursday evening we are heading to the cottage, but my schedule is jammed up with engagements right up until Thursday at 5, which leaves, literally, no time for any of the above mentioned activities. Of course, I don't do the yard work, that's PC's department, and much to our delight, we have a neighbour who kindly looks after our place while we are away, so if PC doesn't get around to cutting the grass, it will probably get done anyways, while we are away.

However, I don't seem to have a person who does my jobs while I am away, such as pay the bills, balance the cheque book, do the laundry, and dust the place, etc. - THIS IS A PROBLEM!

All of this discontent leads me to believe I should have some staff of my own - perhaps just one Executive Assistant who will look after all the details in life for me. Perhaps she could even prepare meals, a small entertainment agenda for us, and if she's feeling good.... come up with some suggestions for decorating our home, organizing my closet, and what not. Of course, I don't exactly have the funds to pay this person, but I am putting an official call out to anyone who has a good heart, who likes to be taken advantage of, and who thoroughly enjoys working for free with little to no rewards. Yes.... if this is you, please make yourself known in the comment section, and I will gladly get in touch with you (even while I'm on vacation!).

Any takers?

Summer Shoe Season

The summer shoe season has arrived and is reeking havic on my poor, innocent, little feet.

I have worn a series of summer shoes over the last two weeks, and every. single. pair has caused some form of blistering.

I love summer. I love shoes. But I hate the aftermath of breaking in summer shoes.

I am not sure what to do. I have purchased a few pairs of dressy summer shoes, but when they gave me blisters, I went back to the ones that I've worn in previous years because I could depend on them for comfort. HOWEVER, it seems that they have taken it personally, the fact that last summer I didn't give them a second glance in the closet because I was thrilled to be wearing my flip flops to French training every day of the heat season. My older pairs of dressy sandals didn't get any face time, and for that, they hate me. These pairs of sandals have jumped on the blister bandwagon... and are driving it full speed ahead.

I can't win here.

Have my feet suddenly grown, or reshaped themselves? Is this why I have become a blister magnet?

I am not sure, but there is not enough bandaids in the house to accomodate all the pain and discomfort I am going through.

I also think the recent heat wave has also played a role in the creation of blisters. You know... feet sweating, slipping all over the place in a shoe... rubbing on the leather, it doesn't take long until you have a little water bubble on your baby toe, your big toe, the side of your foot, the back of your foot... then the next thing you know, your whole foot feels like its on fire!

Why does shoe fashion have to be soooooooooo painful. Does anyone have any tricks out there for foot comfort, or tips for the rapid healing of blisters? If so... please share, my feet will love you forever!

Blaming it all on the pinched nerve.

Yesterday I had a free consultation with a chiropractor. I have never had any type of chiro treatment in the past so it was a whole new experience to me, and one that turned out to be quite educational and reputation saving.

Dr. Keith Ellard, from Glebe Chiropractic held a Discover Day in which he offered new patients a consultation, complete with a thorough exam and x-rays, free of charge. Obviously the FREE part was an effort to drum up business, but I also found what he had to say quite beneficial to my stiff neck and lower back problems.

The consultation was yesterday, and today, I returned to his office for a follow-up appointment to discuss the x-rays and treatment options, if necessary.

It turns out I have some work to be done on my neck - specifically I have a pinched nerve, which is not allowing my brain to receive proper signals from the nervous system (or something to that effect). I was not really into any of the chiro jargon that he was using, until he told me that the effects of the pinched nerve could result in random loss of balance, clumsiness, dizziness, etc., as the nerve endings on my spine are being pinched causing the brain to malfunction, resulting in the random loss of common functions.

DING DING DING!

Hold up Doc... let's define common functions for the general public. Do common functions include walking, talking, and say... backing up your car into the garage?

Yes... that's what I thought Dr. Ellard... backing into the garage door was merely a symptom of the pinched nerve, resulting in the loss of a common function, driving. I took it from here to draw my own conclusions, but basically if this problem had been corrected prior to yesterday's incident, I could have avoided the damage to the Escape altogether, and the fact that I am now the laughing stock of the neighbourhood!

The good news is that Dr. Ellard is the same chiropractor that PC has been going to for a few years. PC happens to have an appointment on Friday, and Dr. Ellard is committed to telling him that the damage to the Escape and garage door are a result of me not seeking treatment sooner, and NOT my own stupidity.

Dr. Ellard is my new favourite medical professional. I have a new found respect for chiropractic treatment and the work that chiropractors do. I believe they should start advertising, not only that they can correct errors to spinal problems, but also that they specialize in repairing marital issues, which result from lack of treatment.

I feel much better today about yesterday's situation, as I now have an excuse! I also believe I can milk this pinched nerve for all that it's worth. I will be telling my clients tomorrow: I wanted to review your communication products, but with my 'condition', I forgot - loss of a common function you see.... its highly common in patients with spinal cord conditions!

I love it!

BANG... oops!

Tonight after a long day of work, I raced home as I was hungry, tired, and just wanted to be in my comfy clothes, lounging around, enjoying the evening.

The drive was surprisingly not too bad, no crazy drivers on the road (expect me), and no need to lay on the horn, or flip anyone the bird - that translates into a pretty good drive to me.

As I arrived home, I backed into my driveway, like it was any other day, but to my misfortune, my everyday action would become quite unpleasant, and quickly!

As I was backing in, I was thinking mostly about what I would need to do first thing in the morning at work, when out of the blue my thoughts are halted with an immediate 'BANG'.

The following thoughts ran through my mind:
Was that a BANG?
It sounded like a bang.
That was bang!
Ooooooooooooops.

So I pull forward, and think that that the racks on the Escape have hit a chain or something in the garage. But then I smarten up and realize it must have been more then that... as I have backed in this garage easily over 200 times in the last 2 years and I have never heard a sound.

Like a good woman, I back in fully, immediately shut the car off, and push the button to close the door, but the BANG has not went undetected. PC is at the door within seconds, to which he asks:

Did I hear a BANG?
I heard a big BANG?

Panicking in his Tony Soprano type voice, he questions:
Did you hit the car?

Me... dumbfounded, I respond:
Ahhh, yeah I heard something but I think it was just the roof racks.

Although I was really thinking:
Easy Tony, I did not hit your Mafia car!

With his inspection already underway PC is up on the bumper checking the roof, while I am still trying to figure out what has happened. I look directly at the garage door as it is down and I see a slight peep of daylight shining through at the bottom. I point this out, to which PC inspects further, pushing the automatic door opener to get a better look. Sure enough there is complete separation between the middle of the door and the metal bar at the bottom.

I think to myself:
Ooooooooooooooooooooooops, major ooops.

But I am relieved that there is nothing more. PC gets out the hammer and realigns the bottom of the door, only to discover a further dent on the front of the door. Its not horrible, but its still bad enough... although the good news (at this point) is that there is no damage to the Escape.
I leave PC to further repair the door as I go inside to make dinner.

While inside, our neighbour from across the street makes his way over as apparently he and his young children have witnessed everything (PERFECT). He and PC discuss the incident only to further discover another, much larger, dent on the door, and one on the back door of the Escape.

Apparently, from what they can reconstruct the garage door was about half way up when I backed into it. It continued moving upwards while denting and scratching the top left corner of the back of the Escape. It appears that if I had been going any faster I would have shattered the entire window on the back door.

Perfect. Just. F#%$ing. Perfect.

So apparently my nomination for driver of the year might be in jeopardy after this one small incident - but seriously, it could happen to anyone... RIGHT?

I am super ticked at myself, I have never been so stupid in my whole life. To boot I have no idea what the damage for this major brain fart will be, but I can imagine its going to cut into my spring clothes budget.

Its been a bad day... so I am calling it a NIGHT.

Prayers are now being accepted for a better day tomorrow!
THANKS!

Workin at the car wash!

Today... I spent 15 minutes in line waiting for a car wash.... while there I was talking out loud to myself in French.... trying to invision my interview on Friday while at the same time speaking loudly and enunciating every word (this is something my teacher has recommended doing in order to improve my confidence).

I thought I was being cool, and I thought that the other 10 cars in line were doing their own thing, but after about 10 minutes of being 'in the zone'.... I realized that both the driver in front of me and behind me were completely focused on me with that 'what the hell is she doing?' look on their faces.

It was at this point, that I closed my mouth immediately and gave each of them my smile of embarrassment without making a second glance in the mirror. HOWEVER... what I really wanted to do what get out of the car, march over to their windows and yell:

'Look it here people, I am WORKING, I know it may not look like it to you but this is what my jobs requires these days. I have a test to pass on Friday, so I would appreciate it if you could MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS so I can continue enunciating every word in Canada's second official language'

Hopefully they couldn't read my mind.... or else they would have really thought I was a crazy woman.

Two days to go.... and then its back to the real world!

You can probably sense that I am a weeeeeeee bit stressed out about the whole thing (thus the reason for bad grammar & spelling errors!) but in a weird way I am feeling good about my second language speaking abilities (whether I can sing to the tune of an evaluation interview or not). I am mostly looking forward to getting my life back and regaining my competency as a communications advisor.... its been quite some time since I actually did the job they are paying me for.

However.... I digress!
I must go and close my blinds so I can lock myself in a room and begin my enunciation exercises again!!!

As you can tell, its going to be fun times dans la petite ville d'Embrun ce soir!

The post with no name!

No sure what is going on with blogger these days, it doesn't want to cooperate for posting, so you will have to bear with me.

I am gearing up for the big French oral interview this Friday, so I don't have time to fight with it.

I will once again have to ask for your patience as I prepare to nail this French interview to the wall.

The bad news is a cold is brewing... PC is pretty much down and out with it, and I have the dry, sore, throat right now. While we will attempt to sleep in seperate beds to avoid harming one another, the damage may already have been done.

While the lack of posting may annoy you, I invite you to visit some links on the right hand side, under the heading BLOGS I READ. You will find some really amusing blogger friends of mine that may fill the void while I am off stressing out over this interview... but don't forget about me!!!

Hopefully I will get a short update in later in the week!
Until then, pray for me!

Round 2

We interupt regular programming to bring you this short piece of health advice:

NEXT YEAR... GET THE FLU SHOT!

I am pretty sure earlier in the year, I was a little mouth piece about how I never get the flu shot, because I don't get sick.

I would officially like to retract that statement to let you know that next year, I will be the first one in line for the shot.

The awful stomach virus attacked me last night for round 2 of the bathroom adventures. This little bug has reeked havic on my immune system all day... I am not sure what caused it, but according to health officals in the area, its the same bug from 3 weeks ago, making its SECOND ROUND.

Great.... the only question is now, how many days will it keep me between my bathroom and my bed, whinning like a two year old?

I will keep you posted.

Reason to swear like a trucker

Today... marks 365 days since I began my French training nightmare.

DAMN, SHIT, F%$&.

That would be:

One whole year of my life that I will never get back.

One year that I will never be able to account for.

One year that I could have spent contributing to the improvement and well-being of your government.

One year that I spent mostly in tears over my inability to grasp the second official language of this country.

If that doesn't make you swear at yourself, I don't know what does.

These last 365 days have been pretty damn depressing.... I have felt sorry for myself more times in this year then I have in my entire 26.96 years of existence. The crying that ensued over trying to learn this damn language these past 52 weeks was ridiculous... even I can admit that, but you just don't know it feels until you've been there.

Speaking of tears.... excuse me while I shed a few more:

...

.....

.......

.........

I promise to be back tomorrow in better spirits, but for today I will bathe in my own self-pity... and swear like a trucker to cope with the significance of this sad day!