Tiny blessings

We always have to count our tiny blessings.  Here are mine for today:

• chocolate and cream cheese are a perfect combination
• there's nothing like a hair cut and colour to boost one's self-esteem
• an evening out with a girlfriend can vastly reduce one's weekly stress level
• a pending weekend with friends and wine helps to even further reduce one's weekly stress level
• Prison Break is an awesome, awesome show...awesome enough to enduce a mild addiction similar to a crack-addict (wow, wonder what sorta traffic the 'ol blog'll pick up after that term is used)

What are 5 random things you find yourself grateful for today?

Wednesday update

We're short-handed at work on account of a vacation week and a baby being born (CONGRATS to Dave and Lynne!  I've been singing "Layla" from Clapton in my head for the past 2 days!), so we're down to a team of 3 trying to do the job of well, about 6 (yeah, the math is right; somedays it feels like we need another person).  Never a dull moment!  So, yeah. BUSY.  The busy-ness means extra strain on the wrist(s) (the good one's even bugging me this week), so I'm trying to avoid extra typing, and unfortunately, that means the blog gets ignored.  Sorry m'lovelies.

A quick little recap....

Friday night we went over to the W-homestead for a delicious lasagna supper and choc cake with boiled icing to celebrate the day of Charlie's birth (Happy B'Day, pappy!). 

Saturday, it was lovely and sunny, so we were out of the house early, having a to-DIE-for breakfast at Leonhard's Bakery (OMG if you're in the C-town area and have not yet been, you must. You must. You MUST (a future post about the awesomeness that is Leonhard's to come at a later date, because it's THAT awesome)). After our breakfast, we then drove around, scoping out various communities where we might someday wanna hang our hats.  Saturday night, we had take-out Chinese, enjoying it over candlelight, dining during Earth Hour, and then I finished up my book I was reading for bookclub courtesy of my booklight with rechargeable batteries (you're welcome, Earth).  Once the lights came back on, I finished up the laundry and fell asleep as we tried to watch a movie. 

Sunday, we brunched at home while watching a movie, then headed out to several open houses...hanging our heads as we came, once again, to the realization that what we want, and what we can afford, are two vastly, vastly different things (*sad face*).  After the last hideous open house we then booked it home so I could then book it on over to Sherri's to join the bookclub girlies, where we enjoyed a variety of DELICIOUS treats and watched our book club movie, "The Secret Life of Bees".  When I got home, Chris then suggested we start watching Prison Break.  It was recently added to Netflix, and someone had recommended it.  Let's just say that our sleep has now been sorely affected because of our new ADDICTION.  Wow, what a BRILLIANT show! (I literally think my blood pressure rises when I watch that show it's that exciting).

Ok yeah, now we're at Wednesday.  Break's over...time to get back to work.  Happy Hump!  Look at the pretty kittehs!

Don't forget...

point form

I owe you all an update as to what the heck's been going on and keeping from my happy place.  I've opted for point form so the post doesn't go on for days:

-In my last post, I was bemoaning the whole grey haired and wrinkled thing, but Tuesday night, I was time warped back to circa 1990-1991 after meeting up with Lori and Jodi for supper.  Their 20 year high school reunion is coming up, which had them already reminiscing, and it led to a planned supper out amongst us (something we've been saying we'll have to do for YEARS).  Unfortunately Rizpah couldn't make it, but we hope to get her out for the next one!  We laughed til our bellies and cheeks hurt; we reminisced; we shook our head at our young silliness; and, we marvelled at how we look exactly.the.same even after 2 decades have passed (heh); and, we laughed some more.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, lovely ladies, for a fabulous walk down memory lane.
-So for some reason, the network switched Survivor to Wednesdays instead of Thursdays. As that takes priority over American Idol, the blog may very well (well it has) lack any significant commentary on the singing competition until they at least get the Wednesday show down to an hour.  I tried to watch this week, but gave up before it ended due to the calling of my bed, and the fact that I was bored out of my trees.  Perhaps by the time that it's back to an hour the participants will have been weeded out enough that the suckage is lowered?  BTW I do enjoy Steve Tyler on AI very much.
-Bachelor Brad did pop the question and it wasn't Chantal, as I'd predicted.  The finale was all a little 'meh' to me.  I never felt confident that it would work out in the long run, and from what I've heard, they're still not fully committed.  I don't buy their 'love'.  I never watched "After the Rose".  I might at some point if I have a free minute on the weekend.  Or I might not. (*shrug*)
-My heart goes out to everyone who has loved ones near, from, or involved in the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that took place a few short weeks ago in Japan.  I pray they get the radiation leaks under control and hope they will be able to rebuild and move past this. Somehow. It's just heart-breaking. Chris' mom has had several exchange students stay with them over the years from different parts of the world.  Shota is now back in Japan.  Thankfully, he and his family was spared any destruction...
-The wrist is bad.  Bad. I'm numb and tingly up to my elbow and sometimes my shoulder most days.  I've taken to wearing the wrist brace a lot.  It doesn't really help.  It sucks.  A lot.  I'm signed up for an upcoming scrapbooking retreat for May...I'm hoping I'll still be able to make it...
-So far I'm going on day 3 of a ginormous headache that won't take a hike, despite my regular Advil intake. Last night I was completely useless.  After about 3 hrs of sleeping on the couch as I 'watched tv', I finally gave up and went to bed.  I'm super bummed that I missed supper out with my girlies.  I really wanted to go, but felt that if I'm coming down with something, the last thing I wanted to do was pass it around to them -especially the mommies and the mommy-to-BE!  My plan is to lay low this weekend and hopefully I'll be back up to snuff next week.  We're going to be down manpower next week at work.  I just can't be sick. I can't.
-2 weekends ago we had our first barbeque of the season courtesy of Matt & Nicole (thanks guys!), and I had to brush my car off again this morning.  Mother Nature isn't done with us yet, methinks.
-Smurf & G are moving back to Halifax.  They leave tomorrow.  It sucks. We'll miss you guys!  I predict a few roadtrips to the big H in the upcoming future!  Travel safely back home...xo.

So yeah... that's about it.  Hope you all are feeling fine!  The weekend is so close I can smell it now.  Happy Day to you all!

Alphabet soup

Seeing as I've been a big, bad slacker, here's some more random facts that you can suffer through.  The idea was stolen from the lovely, witty, cornocopia of awesomeness that is Toughie:

A. Age:  The age at which bi-monthly colour 'touch ups' are required to disguise the grey.  And those lines?  The ones around my eyes?  I've given up on saying they're just laugh lines.  I know the difference.  They're damn wrinkles.

B. Bed size:  It's a queen.  I like the idea of a king though...more liking the idea of the house that has the bedroom that is big enough to comfortably fit a king-sized bed. 

C. Chore you dislike: Scrubbing the bathtub.  I loathe doing it.  It makes my back and wrist hurt, and I feel such a low sense of self-satisfaction after it's done because I can't, for the life of me, rid the tub of that G.D. ring!

D. Dogs:  Are slowly, slowly growing on me.  There was a time where I would never, ever, think of even the remote possibility that I'd one day be the owner of a dog, but, one day, with a bigger yard (read: a bigger house), we'll most likely be bringing one home.  I hope Zoe and Bosco can adjust. They were here first, so, if they don't....well?  And, the dog must join our family as a pup.  And, I will not be scooping the poop.  Nor getting up through the night when it whines.  Yeah.  All those things.

E. Essential start to your day:  At least one hit of the snooze button and a big, piping hot cup of coffee.  In that order.

F. Favorite colour:  I'm a big fan of chocolate brown.

G. Gold or silver:  Silver, but I'd never, ever refuse something sparkly, wrapped in white gold.

H. Height:  Um, 5'6" maybe?  Unless the weight of my gut has weighed me down.

I. Instruments you play(ed):  While I love music, there is not one thing about me that is musical. 

J. Job title: Call centre schlep.  Still. I KNOW.

K. Kids:  If it happened, I wouldn't give it up, but, I'm certainly not actively promoting, nor aiming for conception.  Put it that way.

L. Live:  In a teeny, tiny mini home, in a small mini-home park.  It's past our "5 year plan" mark, and I'm desperately coveting a larger space.  Like seriously - perusing real estate sites in between posts. 

M. Mom’s name:  Joan, or Mummy.

N. Nicknames:  Ambifer, Sunshine, 'Ber (rare), Burger (only by Alan), BUD (only by Jason).

O. Overnight hospital stay:  None yet, and I'm not looking at changing this answer any time soon, thanks.

P. Pet peeves:  Ooooh sooo many....people talking over me; whiners; when Chris puts the empty water bottle back into the fridge instead of filling it back up; scraping ice off my windows; nose whistles; people snapping their gum, or audibly chewing it like a cow on cud; people who pop and crunch a SUCK candy (people, they're meant to be SUCKED); liars; snoring; "me" people; people being over-fake...(I could go on, and on, and on...).

Q. Quotes from a movie:  "You had me at hello"; "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."; "You can't handle the truth!"; "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary."; "Nobody puts 'Baby' in a corner."

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings:  Cathy, Frederick, and Todd

T. Time you wake up:  Seeing as I'm still doing shift work, the wake up time is completely determined by the shift start time.

U. Underwear: Um, yes?  Though, I know a girl who doesn't wear any.  I can't imagine.  I mean, really - there's supposed to be a barrier...there.  Besides, I do enough laundry as it is... She must do a load every single DAY, no?

V. Vegetables you don’t like:  beets, arugala

W. What makes you run late: I tend to doddle.  It's really bad when I wake up a little earlier than I normally would. Suddenly that extra 10 minutes becomes a half hour in my brain and I end up late when I should have been early.  I also have a huge knack for getting behind school buses, Sunday drivers and red lights.

X-rays you’ve had: ankle - twice; the same ankle, and each time it was just a sprain; mouth - the orthodontist wanted to break my jaw and re-set it and put me into braces to fix my crooked jaw.  My jaw's still crooked and my ankle's weak.

Y. Yummy food you make:  I make a damn fine spaghetti sauce, the best French toast, and apparently, my KD tastes better than Chris' (per Chris).

Z. Zoo animal favourites:  I don't agree with animals being caged up.  However, I have to admit to feeling a little selfish glee when I got to see the big, glorious, majestic kitties when I did go to the zoo.

open house?

So our overabundance of snow is finally melting.  Actually, we're very lucky to have had a fairly mild spell and rain which really helped the level to lower rather quickly.  The warmer weather has brought a resurgence of thoughts involving an upgrade of our humble abode.  It happens every year.  Chris and I get the spring fever, and start taking in open houses and checking a variety of realtors' websites looking to find that perfect house that we can share.  We're now well past our '5 year plan' with the mini-home, and while the place suits me fine for space, it really isn't suiting Chris' or his budding business needs.

Sunday we waltzed into an open house in a new subdivision in Cornwall that blew the socks off of both of us.  It was gorgeous.  The layout was perfect.  It suited us to a complete T (you should have seen the freaking walk-in closet for me - which, by the way, was the 2nd of the 2 closets in the Master.  That's right - his and her closets, his is 'regular' sized, and hers is gloriously oversized).  Even the colour of the house was awesome.  The basement was a blank canvas for a future 'man cave', and the double garage would suit Chris' needs for a studio just fine. The only hitch? Oooh, something about a mortgage that would be at least triple what we pay now.

Yeah.  So, there'll be no need to save packing boxes for us just yet.

When you find the perfect house do you then stay in the less than perfect home you have to try to pinch and save enough to one day get you into the house you really want?  Do you still look at an in-between thing to tide you over and possibly turn over a better resale to get you into your perfect place in another  5 years?   Do you find a contractor and a piece of land and try to build it on your own, hoping for a smaller price tag in the end?  So many decisions.  So much we don't know.  It's kind of exciting, though.

At least we have an idea of what we want.  And we'll wish and dream and hope, and we'll likely end up in the mini-home for yet another couple of years.  At least we have aspirations.  We'll get there some day.  Being a grown-up is tough sometimes.  Man I want that closet.  Yeah, so millionaires, if you're still reading - feel free to send me that million.  Even a couple hundred thousand would be perfect.  I'll even write a post in honour of you and your generosity.  And I'll take pictures of my closet.

Euugh...Monday

While the rest of the Island is on March break, I'm toddling to the car wiping the sleep out of my eyes.  Monday morning, I am soooo not ready to greet you yet.

And it's a Monday straight after a full moon.  The 'super moon', in fact.

S'gonna be a long day.

Friday Funny

Yeah, yeah, I'm super slacking in the blogging. I am sorry.  I really am. I will aim to do better next week.  I swear.  Been busy - super busy at work, and that's led to a SUPER sore wrist, necessitating even wearing a wrist brace again.  Sooo...less time on the interwebs in my "free" time.  I've been thinking about ya'll, and wanted to say hey, Happy Friday... Here's a funny:

 

The look on that dog's face is freaking PRICELESS!

A real post coming soon...

So it's been a week since my last post.  I'm not proud.  There's been so much sadness lately with sickness, people passing away...the horrific tragedy in Japan...I haven't felt very inspired to write anything witty.  It just didn't feel 'right', ya know?  So a little hiatus, I did take, and soon I'll be back to report the mundane that is my life.  I actually had a fairly busy weekend we can chat about.  For now, look at the pretty kitty.  And think about bacon.  Bacon makes everything better.

for Jenn

So I had a crappy day.  System issues playing havoc on the daily routine...being down in manpower on account of a scheduled vacation for a co-worker taxing an already huge backlog of backlog...lack of sleep...aching joints and damp weather.  Added together, I thought I had the perfect fixings to a day worth a litany of 'poor me' thoughts, and I validated those thoughts from sun up til sun down.  There may have been tears (ok, so maybe we can even throw hormonal in the mix??).  It's at times like these when life will then kick you in your proverbial sunken ass, and give you a dose of perspective, and realism.  I'm lucky.  I'm damn lucky.  How dare I sit and wallow in my own self-pity and feelings of self-loathing?  How dare I?

As I wallowed and did my routine check on FB status updates, I noticed several friends with memorial status updates for a "Jenn".  I noticed several had profile picture updates with the same, simple, "Love for Jenn", badge.  It would appear that a friend of a friend(s) lost her battle with cancer yesterday.  Curious, I did a search on FB and found a page dedicated to the strength and courage of this young lady. It also linked to her personal blog, where she wrote about her first diagnosis, her triumph of having 'beat' it...and, the unfortunate return. She had battled the disease for two years with vigor, passion, an unwavering will, and the utmost of positivity.  She leaves behind a loving husband, a 3 year old son, and a legacy of love and hope that will live on in her honour.

I sat here and read every single word that she wrote.  In awe.  In tears.  In complete and utter sadness for a true spirit taken from this world, and a renewed sense of gratitude and overwhelming guilt for feeling so sorry for myself all day long, I once again am aware of the fragility of life. Of the need to live each day with its fullest and highest potential.  Of never, ever leaving any word unspoken.  Of having no regrets.  Of living life with passion.  Of loving to its most unconditional potential.  I encourage you all to click on Jenn's blog, and read her story, and share her pain and her passion.

To Jenn:   I didn't know you, but your story has touched my very core.  You were truly a blessed soul, and you blessed everyone you touched.  Your words will continue to touch, and I wish your family peace, as they keep you close in their hearts and memories, forever.

Go tell someone you love them.  Go live....

BAH!

I've used this picture before to explain a previous Monday.  It's so fitting, it deserves to be brought back out again.  Man I wish I was piled up under the covers today.

Le sigh.

Saturday funny

Happy Birthday Julie!

She's miles away, but so close in my heart.  She's the brightest smile in any room, and has the biggest laugh that is so contagious.  She's fun; she's caring; she's gorgeous; she's one of my very bestest friends.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Julie!  The pic above is Julie with her two beautiful daughters, Alexa & Sarah.  She's all the way over in the Yukon, and with the time zone, may still be sleeping as I type this.  Julie & I met while working at Southport Pharmacy.  We became fast friends, and were inseparable until she took the plunge with her hubby in hand and set out for the Great White North.  A short hiatus landed them back to the Island, but the pull of the North ached at them soon after, and they've been back there ever since.  It breaks my heart that she's so far away, but we're very fortunate in the fact that she's been able to come 'home' fairly regularly (some day I WILL get to the Yukon to see her -the interwebs as my witness!).

There's a viral friendship quote that has made it's way through FB two or three times over that reads:  "It's been said that everlasting friends can go long periods of time without speaking and never question the friendship. These types of friends pick up like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live and they don't hold grudges. They understand that life is busy...but you will ALWAYS love them."  This definition truly defines the friendship I have with Julie.  She's so very special to  me.

Julie, raising a glass to toast your greatness, your smile, and our everlasting friendship!  Wishing you an overabundance of love, gladness, and all things happy today, and throughout the whole year ahead of you.  I can't wait to see you this summer!!  Love you bunches, girlfriend! xoxoxo

Lucky 13?

I haven't been able to tune into much of this season's preliminary American Idol episodes.  I think the beginning stages can be comedic, but I don't clear my calendar to watch it. I try to concentrate more once they get the gang down to the Top 10, and at that point I may even blog about it.  I have no idea which contestant made Jennifer Lopez and the rest of North America cry to see let go, and the only contestant that I remember from the initial shows is the big tall guy with Tourettes that can wail like nobody's business. 

Tuesday night, there wasn't anything else on, so I tuned in to the Top 12 guys.  And after seeing Jovany, I almost opted to turn the TV off and go get a book to read.  However, I did keep on watching (because I was snuggly under my cozy throw and can blame sheer laziness over being actually entertained).  However, truth be told, I was actually entertained within the last 1/2 hr or so.  My socks were blown off by the following contestants:  Paul McDonald & Casey Abrams.  An honorable mention goes to Brett Loewenstern because he's unique, and can sing, and to Scotty McCreery because even though I abhor country music, he hits the nail on the head of it.  James Durban can wail, yes, but I am not sure if he'll be able to mould himself into the other genres that he'll be asked to cover to allow him to last past the first few weeks after the Top 10 have been decided upon (he, and the others I've mentioned are destined to be within the Top 10, though imo).

I missed the girls' singing on Wednesday night too, on account of Survivor - but I did catch the final half hour.  After seeing the recap of the entire show, I really don't think I missed much, and of what I did see, I can say that Lauren, Haley, Pia and Thia should go far.  And, since I didn't see the results show last night either, I caught a tiny recap on the AI website to see that the majority of my picks made it through (too bad about Brett, though). High stakes, maybe? Having it ended with 3 wildcards for a Top 13, instead of 10?  Should be a good singing competition. 

What about you?  Are you watching?  Who are your favourites?

It's March 2nd...

...and today we shall eat cake, for it is my Bon Bon's Birthday.  Happy Birthday, to a dear, sweet, awesome, hunky piece of male flesh!

Happy Birthday, Jon!!!!! xoxoxoxo