"I have no expenses. I own 40 pairs of underwear, a car and a suitcase."

I've always wanted to visit NYC ... the lights...the action...the potential to see 'famous people'...Central Park...possibly a broadway show...Letterman...Ground Zero...oh, and the Naked Cowboy, of course. Well, I've never yet been, and the jury's out on whether I ever will. I suppose if it ever does come to fruition I may have to scratch one of the "must-sees" off my list:

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Naked Cowboy might be considered a quirky asset to New York City's tourism industry. Now the Times Square traffic-stopper says he'd make a mighty fine mayor.

Robert Burck made his candidacy official Wednesday. He aims to give the buttoned-up, third-term hopeful, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a run for his money.

Burck says: "Being naked is a whole lot more than having no clothes on: It's about transparency in politics, it's about telling the naked truth."

When not going political, Burck does a brisk business posing for pictures with tourists. His standard fashion statement is a cowboy hat, boots and white briefs. Oh, and a guitar strapped to his bare chest.

As for campaign funds, he says: "I have no expenses. I own 40 pairs of underwear, a car and a suitcase."

Source: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/underwear-1264954-cowboy-mayor.html

Last Man Standing

Well the volcano erupted...and despite a momentary pause with Reid declaring his delayed undying love for her, Jillian ultimately picked Ed to walk through life's path (however long that path may be in reality show-life). I have to admit to having no sense of surprise - mistakenly landing upon a spoiler that declared Kip as the next Bachelor (who knows how much fact it had...however, wouldn't that just be wonderful? A whole new season of his ripply handsome goodness??!). Had the finale been done differently - had Reid actually landed upon Jill's hotel room prior to her standing at the Bacherlorette-altar he may have had a chance to make her reconsider, maybe?? Perhaps not; perhaps she had her mind set on Ed all along. But you coulda fooled Kip; and you coulda fooled Reid; and, you coulda fooled me. Case in point of just how horrific a show it really is...but I love it just the same :)

Julie J, Julie R, Tanya, myself, Susan & Rosanne met at Erin's for our Bachelorette finale show, amongst to-die-for treats (including chocolate covered strawberries!!...and a terrific dip I need the recipe for, and some more Lonestar salsa!). Sure the show's premise is terrible, and unrealistic, possibly scripted, and wrong...but the time spent with good friends and escaping into a whole new 'reality' is so worth it. I had a fab time girlies :) Let's reconvene next season when Kip (?) finds his 'true love'?

Girls, they wanna have fun

Shout out to Rosanne for hosting an awesome girls night last night! Me, Julie J, Erin, Tanya, Julie R, Rosanne, Sue Ellen, & Susan were in attendance, and a fab time was had by all. We snacked on Rosanne's apple dip (which, to my surprise, tasted like bacon dipped in maple syrup when I tried a pretzel dipped instead of the traditional apple! If you think I'm off my rocker, ask Susan - she agreed!), and Erin's Lonestar salsa! Oh, and a few bevvies, of course :). We chatted about everything and anything, and laughed til our tummies were sore. Thank you, thank you girlies....love ya'll :) xoxo.

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera out last night, but I stole a few of Julie R's Facebook photos. We never even got a group pic, either...cause for doing this again - and soon, before the girls 'from away' have to go back home!

This is me 'n Sue Ellen. I look very happy and Sue Ellen very amused. Perhaps she's giggling at the idea of dressing up Craig's "head" in holiday attire?

A great shot of Erin and her sister in law, Sue Ellen :)

Likewise, a gorgeous one of Julie J and Tanya -two of my favourite besties :)


Tonight I'm heading out to April's cottage with a few of my work girlies. There will be snacking; there will be laughing; there will be more cold bevvies; there will be unwinding; there will be de-stressing; there will be FUN! Happy Saturday!!

Totally random

Last night at about 10:30pm I could've sworn there was a big thunder storm coming toward us. I was mistaken. In reality, it was a motorcade rumbling through, stopping at the neighbors across the road. I have a lot of friends that drive bikes, and if I'm being honest, I enjoy the rumble and someday hope to hop on one myself. However, driving through a neighborhood at 10:30 (10 to 11 when they rumbled by to leave the 'hood)...? Not my idea of respect for your fellow man...(then again, we are talking about the 'hood though, aren't we?).

Anyway. Chris finally gets home tonight - and I think that's it for the travelling (for this gig anyway). While I have thoroughly enjoyed living in a peaceful, clean house all this time, I do admit to catching a bit of the lonelies and will be glad to see him home. I'm working on my inner embracement for the upcoming sock & drawer trail, too.

I've kept myself busy, truth be told...

Monday night the house was like an oven. Lana called to see if I wanted to go for an ice cream to cool off. At first I was hesitant...as I was waiting for a supper date. My friend Alan, visiting the Island had stopped into my work to see me. I couldn't get away to see him, so he advised the girl who greeted him to tell me that he'd be back at 4:30 and was taking me to supper. I waited at work for him until 5 before leaving, figuring he must be on Ontario time, and going home would allow me the option of changing and freshening up, so I wasn't overly annoyed. Lana called at 6:30...and there was still no sign of him, so I grabbed a snack at home, and then joined her at a local dairy bar for a delicious peanut butter cup flurry. Nobody stands me up! He called as I was about half through the ice cream treat. He ended up coming to the dairy bar himself and we had a little visit there. He always was a bit of a flake! :P

Tuesday night myself, Erin and Julie J took a walk on the boardwalk and then we came back to my place to catch up on each others' lives and share any known gossip. It was so much fun. How much I've missed time spent with my besties :). I hope to take advantage of as much time as possible to spend with Julie. While the girls were over, they opened my eyes to the reality that is my hairy eyebrows. Never before have I given them so much scrutiny ... I mean I haven't neglected them completely. I've taken the tweezers to them and taken care of my unibrow and a few stray hairs here and there, and never thought much more of it. Upon closer examination, however - by Jebus, I do have monster brows.... and an appointment today with an esthetician to get them cleaned up, pronto! Why didn't anyone say anything before now??!

Wednesday night I joined Lana, Lori & Tracy for supper at the Pilot House. A long-overdue gathering, for sure. They are some of my oldest, dearest friends - and we must make an effort to do things together more often. I do request perhaps a locale without the need of in-town-on-street-parking however...and that will ensure a much happier, less cranky Amber to dine with.

Friday night, Rosanne is hosting a girls night at her place, and then Saturday me and the work girlies are getting together for a night of eats and drinks at the cottage. It's gonna be a busy weekend!

In other news.......the car still stinks. I've added one of those little puck deodorizer things that are supposed to suck up all the stinks. It now smells like a public bathroom. *sigh* Anyone wanna do a lease take-over on a slightly driven 07 VW Golf? Preference given to those individuals not having an overly sensitive sense of smell.

Bookworm

When I was young, I was an avid reader. Some weekends I'd hole up in my bedroom and get through an entire book between Friday night thru Sunday. When we moved here from Ontario, books were my solace during a lonely summer not knowing any of the neighborhood kids. Over the past few years, I let my reading habit slide...replacing my free time with too much reality tv, and *gasp* Facebook. Just recently, I've really tried to get back into reading. The warm sunny days have aided in it, mind you, as it's nothing for me to sit out on the deck for a few hours and pore through a book. In the past week I've finished up two really good reads - "For One More Day", by Mitch Albom, and "A Lion Called Christian", by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall.

"For One More Day" is an amazing story...it's heart-wrenching & thought-provoking, and I guarantee you will cry. Imagine the ability to have a do-over...to have just one more day with a loved one whom you've lost untimely... What would you say to him or her? This book examines that, and the end ties the story up in a neat little bow. I don't purposely read books/watch movies that will evoke that emotion in me, because let's face it - I'm a wuss, and cry way too easily on my own. That aside, the story just for the telling is so worth the read, despite a moment of emotional weakness.

"A Lion Called Christian" explains the YouTube phenomenom that is "Christian the Lion". I can't watch that video clip and not shed a tear and want to go hug my kitties. A baby lion was purchased by two young gentlemen in England at Harrod's Department Store. Back then, apparently it wasn't uncommon for the purchase of such an unusual and extravagant gift. Obviously a lion can't be a pet, and when he got to the point that his size warranted it, he was given a chance to live the life he was intended for - in the wild in Africa. It speaks of the importance of conservation of life's precious creatures, of course, but most importantly it is a love story between an animal and its "master"....and the special, unending, bond between them...a very sweet story.

Aside from these most recent reads, I've also devoured a few chick lit books by Sophie Kinsella - "Confessions of a Shopaholic", and "Can you Keep a Secret?" Both quick, mindless fun...great company as you soak up the rays of a warm, sunny, summer day. I do plan on getting my hands on the rest of her Shopaholic series. In addition, Jodi Piccoult has also become a favorite author of mine...so far love all the books that I've read that she's penned (aside from "Second Glance" that is).

Go on and get your own read on. And feel free to comment with any title suggestions you may have :).

Oh I wish I were an......

MOUNT PLEASANT, Wisconsin

An iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashed into a southern Wisconsin home as the driver tried to turn around the giant hot dog on wheels.

The hot dog company's promotional Wienermobile crashed Friday into the deck and garage of a home in Mount Pleasant, about 35 miles (56 kilometres) south of Milwaukee.

The 22-year-old driver was trying to turn the Wienermobile around in the driveway and thought she was moving in reverse, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki said. But she instead went forward and hit the home. It sat in the driveway as if it were stuck in the garage...

She obviously didn't have much experience with maneuvering a wiener :)

Full story: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/07/18/10181041-ap.html

Truths and roses have thorns about them...

Sorry I'm a little late with my routine post-Bacherlorette post. Without further ado...

The 'men tell all' event lacked a bit of the luster I was so hoping for....namely, witnessing the entire audience and stage of men berate the scumbag that is Wes. He, conveniently couldn't be in attendance. Perhaps he was busy doing a concert in Chiwahwah, Mexico?? The next best thing to seeing him on the hotseat, I suppose, was the compilation of Wes' scuminess with clips of his time on the show. I loved how Chris didn't try to hold back his own feelings toward him. If anyone was giving him the benefit of the doubt previously, seeing the compiliation would secure that he deserves no benefit. Damn it all to heck and back...revisiting the show to write up this post, I now have that g.d., "Thaaay say...they saaay that love....it don't come eeeeeaasssaaaay", in my head. There, now don't you, too? ;)

I totally miss Tanner P.

Mathue was fricken HOT, wasn't he??

I'm still totally convinced that David is unstable.

Something awfullllly suspicious was Reid's MIA status on the show, as well...due to a prior commitment? And the teaser showing him at the finale show in the preview...with a ring? He's totally coming back and confessing his undying love for Jillian...cue the draaama...and, I think she's going to pick him. We're planning a girl night next Monday night to celebrate the finale and the "final" rose. Can't wait :)

P.S. Shout out to Rhonda M - and thank you for reading ;)

R&R

It was a pretty relaxing weekend. Chris came home Friday, and Friday night, he treated me to supper at Mosaic. We both had the seafood bubbly bake. It was pretty good. Thereafter, we went to Everything Cool for ice cream (the bubbly was actually pretty small!), and then back home to head to bed early. We were both pretty wiped. I worked all day, and worked again Saturday morning. He'd been up since his 3am wake up call to head to the airport. We played a few games of Super Mario before bed. Oh yes, by the way, I'm now addicted (again) to this game. It'd been 25 years since I'd played it, and it was just like riding a bike :). And, I'm still as intense when I play. And, I may curse a little bit.

Saturday we grabbed a few groceries, made a late supper (bbq'd salmon...yum!), watched Cops (Chris is obsessed), and played more Mario....and that brings us to today. We started our day with a sleep in, and a delicious brunch of pancakes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream...even a side of bacon. I kinda wish we'd gotten up earlier though, because it wasn't long after eating that Chris had to pack again. He left at about 3:00 to head onward to Truro. He's spending a few days at his grandparents and he's back to Halifax to continue his photo gig with the Graphic Communications group. For another week, I'll be living in the splendor that is a clean house. Truth be told, though, I had to go into the house as he was driving off instead of waving him away from the deck because I was crying that he was leaving me again.

A few loads of laundry, a pedi, and Big Brother later, I sit in my clean house with the fan blowing in on me on a warm, summer night. Hoping you all had a great weekend, folks.

The distance between two points...

I've lived in a clean house all week. I get up in the morning, the house is just as I've left it. There's order, there's organization, there's neatness ... and nary a dirty sock to be found. Chris has been on a location shoot in Newfoundland for the Graphic Communication group. He flies back tomorrow morning, and I suspect to walk into his "trail" upon returning home from work tomorrow. Despite the heavenly cleanliness that surrounds me, I have to admit that I do miss him.

He is pretty far:
So we've been using Skype to talk each night before bed. It's a free communication tool, allowing you to 'call' someone virtually anywhere. There can be feedback and choppiness, especially if the network being used by one or the other is really busy. Both parties using headphones helps to cut down on the distortion, however, and when the connection is good, it's possible to even video conference with the caller:

Of course that's one-sided with Chris and I since I don't have a webcam. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all. See you tomorrow hunny :)

A stranger in this town

So Tuesday I had the entire day off work on account of working this coming Saturday. It turns out that Lana, too, had the day off. It was a beeeauuutiful day, so we took advantage of our good fortune to play "tourist". We started out with a lovely lunch at Mavors. I had the chicken & brie sammich on a wrap with roasted potatoes. Delish! On our way to the powder room to freshen up after lunch (read: wash the stickiness that was our fingers after our "juicy" chicken & brie sammichs exploded all over them), we were absolutely delighted to happen upon the Disco Cirque displays inside the Confed Centre, and stopped for an impromptu photo shoot (and I've been singing Abba in my head ever since).

From there, with full bellies and cameras in hand, we embarked upon the streets of Charlottetown. We looked like tourists...even asked, "Where are you visiting from?", by the tour guide situated by Victoria Row. We spotted a few of the mice, met a few Fathers of Confederation, sampled local chocolate treats and soaked in the wonderful sunshine, all the while documenting moment by moment digitally for future scrapbook pages and embarrassing Facebook photos. From there, we then took a quick stop into the Humane Society, both almost coming home with multiple cats, and then met Lana's "summer daughter", Gabreyelle, at the Adventure Group, and the three of us headed to Jewell's for an ice cream. The intent was then to bbq some burgers for supper but our ice cream had filled us to the point that we really only needed popcorn for "supper" when we got to the movies.

Loaded up with a plethora of tissues, we headed to see My Sister's Keeper. Having both read the book, we knew we'd need the tissues. I joked that Lana would be the one to sniffle through all of them, but as it turns out the stakes were fairly even between the two of us! Despite the heart-wrenching storyline, it really was a good movie (if'n every now and then you crave a good cry, you'll like it all the better). For those who have read the book, the ending is completely different -- both are equally good in story, however.

After our good cry we raced back to my place to catch Big Brother. A full day off, indeed. Thank you my lovely. You're a fine date.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Move over hot tub scene...Madame Canada sure takes the show to a whole new level of sexy, now doesn't she? That is, until *snap* on goes the light. Oh Ed, oh Ed, oh Ed...perhaps those short shorts affected your special place? I have to admit that he wasn't at all who I envisioned having the issue with getting it up. At least she gave him the benefit of the doubt and sent Reid home. He was always too awkward, uncomfortable, and forced.

This show really is all kinds of pathetic. I'm not as enthused with this season as I've been with others, but it is a highlight of my Monday night, nevertheless :). Oh, and I loved her dress at rose time. I look forward to next week's "men tell all" to see how much flack and confrontation scumbag gets!

P.S. A huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jodi -- not sure if she still reads this or not, but if'n she does, I want her to know that I was thinking about her today! xo

Summer weekends rock

A full weekend, to say the least! Friday night after work, Melissa and I headed straight to the Gahan to enjoy a few bevvies prior to meeting up with the rest of the dinner group for Kaye's retirement supper. From there, we headed to Kaye's son's house for the surprise retirement party. Kaye was surprised, and everyone had a blast. I'll miss you dearly, Kaye, but know you're going to be so happy embarking on this new journey of yours :). Congratulations!!

Saturday morning I awoke a little fuzzy and slightly dehydrated. Chris & I got up and got ready to leave the house anyway, on account of it being a beeeauuuutiful day! We had a greasy bacon 'n eggs brunch at Linda's - just what hungover me needed. From there, we had a walk about Charlottetown, complete with a chocolate milkshake from Cows, and a stop into Happy Glass, where Chris treated me to a pretty glass necklace.

From there, we headed back toward home - I picked up my car from work and Chris (GOD BLESS him) shampooed the carpet from my stinky trunk to try to get the stench out. After that, since it was too hot to sit in the house we went to the beach to get our feet wet and play in the sand. We drove around til it was dark, and then picked up a few items to have a late bbq'd supper and chilled at home in front of the tv. A relaxing, fun, day!!

Sunday was a bit of the same - with our usual blueberry pancake breakfast start, followed by a trip to Walmart, quick clean of the house and Big Brother. Now that it's all over it just seemed to pass me by so quickly. How I wish I was embarking on another weekend tomorrow instead of a work week... I hope you all had an enjoyable, relaxing weekend too!

Here are a few pics:

To start, here are some from our walk around Charlottetown. On Sydney St. there's a bench underneath a graffiti'd heart, so we stopped for a photo op. Chris didn't even make a funny face, which was really surprising :)

To our left was Off Broadway...
And across the street, The Gahan House, home of the best nachos in PEI:
There's a bronze statue/bench of Sir John A MacDonald. This is the scene of many a derogatory photograph, (I've seen a few on Facebook). Chris 'played around' for the camera - and this was the one that was post-worthy - the one after he planted a big wet one on him. What a boy.
On Victoria Row, we saw a sign for "Happy Glass"; it looked so colorful and fun, we thought we should go check it out. It was so colorful and fun! BJ, the owner, herself, shone as happy as the interior of the store. Go check it out!

The water spout down Victoria Row. It was a hot day - and I said outloud to Chris, "I could just run through that right about now..."
Not sure if he thought it was a dare, or if he just thought it was a good idea - but he did. And too fast for me to even grab a photo of it. Here's an after shot of him....he's SOAKED...and to see him from behind -- you'd swear that he peed his pants. Again...what a boy...
The monument at Province House...
Some purty blooms...
July 10, in history - outside the Green Man:
And onward to the beach ...
Chris stops to say hello to a hermit crab...
...and I indulge a self-portrait-on-the-beach photo op:
...footprints in the sand...
We're a bit squinty, but another self-pic, posed for my peeps who read the blog:
And the start of a beautiful sunset:
Just a few of the reasons why I love PEI :)

What IS that...smell...????????????

I have a rather disturbing story.

To give you a bit of background, keep in mind that I have a very sensitive sense of smell. I'm like a hound dog. It's really not that much of an issue except those times when Chris is overly flatulent. Anyway, on with my story.

I parked my car in the driveway for the remainder of the weekend after the little mishap Saturday night. Monday afternoon I entered it for the first time to drive to work. I smelled something...out of the ordinary...it wasn't overly powerful, so I excused it away as being something in the air outside.

Tuesday, the scent was a little stronger - nothing exceptional - but it led me to think perhaps there was something under one of the seats. I thought back to the weekend after the Bon Jovi concert. Chris & I had bought a few groceries. I had consumed a banana prior to the drive home and asked Chris to hold onto the peeling until we got home to dispose of it (I was driving). He didn't wish to do that, so he opened up the passenger window and laid it on top of the roof. The first thing I thought of was perhaps the banana peel had actually fallen into the car and was stuck somewhere under the seat.

I made a mental note to ensure I did a full sweep of the car/under the seats on the weekend to search for that missing banana peel.

Wednesday the funk was still there - perhaps a shade worse. I reminded myself of said plan to do a full sweep of the car. Joanne joined me for lunch so we took my car. I warned her of the 'funk'...she didn't smell anything unusual. I then thought perhaps I was overreacting with my over-sensitive sniffer.

Thursday, the funk was still there - I then started to think that I should perhaps look for that banana peel earlier than the weekend, but I was running late, and alas, didn't have time. On my way home from work Thursday night I needed to stop by a grocery store to pick up a few items, and was in a bit of a rush to get home prior to the start of Big Brother. When I unload the groceries I go back and forth between putting them in the back seat and putting them in the trunk. It just so happens that I decided to put them in the trunk.

*cue climactic horror movie music *

I found the source of the aforementioned funk.

Backtrack to that same day of the banana peel. The last day that we'd gotten groceries. The Sunday after the Bon Jovi concert. The date was June 28th, 2009.

It wasn't a banana peel.

Included in our purchases that day, on June 28th, was a 2 litre jug of chocolate milk. Apparently the chocolate milk played possum...hiding itself from our eyes as we emptied out the trunk. It stayed in the trunk, sealed up, ..........until last night, July 9th, 2009. 11 days had passed. Have you ever smelled soured chocolate milk? Soured, molded, CHUNKY, petrified, mummified chocolate milk?

My worst nightmare was coming true. Opening the trunk was the equivalent of opening up the firey gates of Hell. I retched as I quickly transported the bag of funk to a nearby garbage receptacle (the poor sonofab!tch who has to empty that garbage can later....). I drove with every window down and my neck hanging out like a dog. I vomited in my mouth, multiple times. I'm unsure how long it will take to air out the car. Since opening the trunk the stench inside the car has more than evolved... I can only pray that the tips I've received from my co-workers/friends to rid the stink will work. Pray for me.

I don't think I can ever drink chocolate milk again.

A new season begins...

Oooh I think it's going to be a fun season of BB! I was totally bummed that it wasn't Evil Dick who was reprising his role in the house as the 13th guest...but have to admit I kinda knew he wouldn't be in the running after seeing Lydia there. They wouldn't have 2 bad a$$es in there after all. Jessica looked amazing didn't she? I was rooting for her, once it came down to who the choice was between, with Jessie being my least favorite to pick from. He's bigger this year, isn't he? That just means he'll be twice as cocky and twice as annoying...ah the drama! Bring 'er on!

Some early insights from watching the first show:

-my favorites: Lydia, Casey, Kevin and Jeff. I find Casey terribly amusing; Lydia is all-out cool (perhaps in an Evil Dick kinda way, so perhaps I am showing a bias); I freaking LOVE Kevin; and Jeff, let's just face it, he's pretty to look at.

-my UNfavorites: Chima, Laura, Natalie and Jessie. Chima's attitude, laugh and 'sense of humor' already tick me off. I already don't like her. I already have deep-seated resentment toward Jessie and the drama that follows him, so that goes without saying. Laura is a female Jessie, if you ask me. And she's 'blown up' as big as Jessie, in places, isn't she? Perhaps Laura and Jessie can go make babies together and raise a family of cockies? Natalie's M.O. in the game by playing an 18-year-old-who-is-OBVIOUSLY-not-18-years-old is stupid. She's a tit.

-as the first HoH competition got underway I realized just how asinine the show really is - super wedgies?? Hilarious though - and I love it. Casey's 'maneuvers' with his wedgie clinched his spot on my favorite list, in fact.

Can't wait til Sunday night.

What did ya'll think?

Blogging about the blog

So there was a message out to my workplace entitled, "Are you a wannabe Blogger?". A c0-worker thought this might be up my alley, and approached me with a challenge to perhaps start up a blog with her. Two heads are better than one, after all. Plus, she's absolutely fabulous, witty and smart, so I would be most willing to join her in such an endeavor...provided it does not interfere with my normal blog (can't let my peeps down!). We want it to be fantastic... So far, we've considered the option of blogging about (and challenging each other to do) random acts of kindness, as well as focusing on one thing, daily, to be thankful for - regardless of how insignificant it may seem.

It may go nowhere, or, it may be a complete flop - but whooo-boy - it sounds like a switch from my day to day drivel, huh?! I'm sure the posts that I come up with for that blog will undoubtably affect posts for this one, too. Perhaps I'll even just repost them here, for ya'll to read. It's becoming a really busy time at work, so it could even be put on a back burner for a long time away anyway. Regardless, I'll keep you posted.

One more work day til the weekend! I'm so excited for Friday! Tomorrow night I'm going out for dinner and drinks with some work peeps to help celebrate a co-worker's retirement. It should be a good time. Unsure what the weekend holds in store for me thereafter, but I do hope there's a visit with Julie, and much deck, sun, and beer time in there as well :).

Happy Thursday! Be sure to watch Big Brother so we can chat about it!

Almost over the hump...

Again this morning I woke in a fuzzy state of unconsciousness...questioning, once more, "what day is it?"...my subconscious sure that it was Thursday. Not the case. *sigh*. On a more positive note, the sun finally returned yesterday (I believe the last full day of sun we had was Jun 17?). We had our weekly work meeting outside, to enjoy it's return. Yay! Thereafter, I left for my lunchbreak - grabbed a smoothie and a wrap and ventured to a nearby park to enjoy it, all the while continuing to soak up some much craved vitamin D. Now, if it would only stay with us for the weekend...*fingers crossed*.

Julie and fam arrive at some point today for their summer vacation from Whitehorse - and that makes me very excited!! I can't wait to see them. I'm sure the girls grew a couple of feet and look like little ladies. It's always tough for her to find the time to see everyone - but I do hope to see as much of her as I can. In the works we have a Bon Jovi party and a salsa making party. Julie was pretty bummed to learn of the Lonestar closure, as well as missing the Bon Bon concert. I'm all for anything Bon Bon related...and, Erin has landed her hands on the recipe for the famous Lonestar salsa, so we plan on making a few lots of that at some point in the coming weeks. Perhaps we'll be cutting up tomatoes whilst Bon Bon blares from the stereo?

Chris is getting ready for a roadtrip of sorts - he's embarking on a photo shoot for a graphic design company, taking him all across Atlantic Canada - including Newfoundland. He's super stoked about it - and I'm super jealous. I'm very proud of him for landing this little venture - may it be the first of many to come. To prep, he made a visit to his favorite camera store last weekend, and bought some supplies. He's now testing them out and his eyes are lit up like Christmas trees :).

In other news....BB starts tomorrow night!!!

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/

For Farrah

Every media avenue possible is talking about the death of Michael Jackson. There was a contest out there to his fan base to win tickets to his memorial. Does anyone else see an issue with that sentence or is it just me? I know he was popular in some circles, and I know those circles will miss him...but where does society draw the line? A 'contest' to celebrate someone's death. Hmmm. The city of Los Angeles set up a Web site to allow fans to contribute money to help the city pay for the memorial, which was estimated to cost $1.5 million to $4 million.

Another popular star also lost her life on June 25th. Where's the attention by the media for her? Who is sending her flowers? Who wants to go to her memorial? Unfortunately, her death was overshadowed by Michael's.

Farrah Fawcett was an icon in her own right. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and faced a strenuous, painful battle that resulted in her untimely death. Her zest for life and unending spirit kept her going far longer than most would have. The link below takes you to a blog showcasing the documentary that Farrah and her friend help put together to show others her story. I encourage you all to watch - the documentary is available in its entirety, via 11 different parts. It's a love story. It's an example of bravery, unending faith, and a true perserverence to live.

http://starcasm.net/archives/5216

Today, on this "MJ Memorial day", I celebrate Farrah.