Day 30!

I did it!!

I actually managed to complete the NaBloPoMo challenge, and post every single day in November!!

Just completing something ...seeing it through from beginning to end, is a major accomplishment and yes, I am proud - yay me!

Admittedly there were some days I stared at my blank screen, my mind equally as blank. There were days I was brimming with news, and days when I scraped the bottom of the barrel. (C'mon, you gotta admit not many people blog about what speed they drive at on the motorway). But we stuck it out, made it through my shifts, nights out and dancing, a new haircut, my first audio post, Remembrance day, Charity work, ....well you get the idea, and if you don't there are 30-plus posts below this one to give you the jist of the matter.

December may not see 30-plus posts - but then again it *is* my favourite time of year.

meme

Meme hijacked from Gemmak

TEN FIRSTS

First Best Pal: Hayley
First Hamster: The boy had a gerbil at age 4 if that counts. His name was Nightclimber.
First Piercing: Ears - at age 15
First Crush: First major crush was in the 3rd form, his name was Paul McParland and I loved him from afar until we left school in the 5th form. I used to do daft things like walk past his house and cover my school books with his name.
First CD: First album a K-Tel compliation record called "Don't Walk - Boogie!"
First Car: My dad's old Camero.
First Love: Andy Thompson - soldier who was serving in W. Germany. For over 3 years we learned the art of love letters and waiting for him to come home on leave.
First Stuffed Animal: I don't remember.
First Teacher: A rather jolly sized lady - Mrs. Smith
First Watch: Mickey Mouse watch from my dad for my 5th birthday.

NINE LASTS

Last Beverage: Tea
Last Vehicle Ride: Drive home from picking up chinese takeaway for dinner.
Last Movie Seen: Cars
Last Phone Call: To place the chinese food order.
Last CD Played: Michael Buble (swoon)
Last Bubble Bath: summer? - ish (I hasten to point out do I shower daily - no jokes about annual baths LOL)
Last Time You Cried: Watching some sentimental stuff on tv last night.
Last Person who gave you a hug: The boy.
Last Time you rang your mum/dad/guardian: They are all passed on.

EIGHT HAVE YOU EVERS

Have you ever dated one of your best friends: No - my best friends tend to be girls. I have enough trouble dating boys, don't need to start dating girls.
Have you ever been arrested: No
Have you ever skinny dipped: Hey! What happens in California, stays in California! (1983)
Have you ever been on TV: Yes - was on a news feature about 911.
Have you ever kissed someone and then regretted it: Never
Have you ever had a sex dream about someone you knew: My dreams tend to fall short of the actual sex part...just the "lead up to" part...then the alarm goes off, darnit! Total lunch box let down.
Have you ever been in love: Yes
Have you ever wanted to slap/punch a friend: No - they wouldn't be friends if I wanted to do that.

SEVEN THINGS YOU'RE WEARING

1 Cardigan (Val Doonican eat your heart out)
2 Blouse
3 dressy trousers
4 pop socks
5 Slippers (pink, fluffy and cosy)
6 kni...unmentionables
7 brassi...um....jewellry

SIX THINGS YOU'VE DONE TODAY (in no particular order)
1. Read a fortune cookie.
2. Vetched about the new trainees and their cockups @ work.
3. Fed the cats.
4. Dragged the recycling boxes back into the garage (it was garbage day).
5. Checked my home email...5 times...is that a tad excessive?
6. Checked my work email once - h'mmm obviously have my priorities straight!

FIVE FAVOURITE THINGS IN NO ORDER

1. The Boy
2. Cadbury's Dairy Milk
3. Sex
4. Summer thunder storms
5. Christmas

FOUR LEAST FAVOURITE THINGS

1. Brussel sprouts (childhood trauma - honest!)
2. People who are notoriously late / unreliable.
3. The smell of wet/dirty dog. (gag)
4. The sound of the alarm clock in the morning.

THREE CHOICES

1. Eat or drink: Eat
2. Blonde or brunette: Blonde - I have noticed there wasn't a redhead option, I protest!
3. Pink or black: Black


TWO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

1. Publish a successful novel
2. Own my own home (in progress!! Note to God, this is not an indication of a need speed up any dying stuff!)

ONE THING I REGRET

Being too proud to take my father's offer of a paid university education.

Passwords up the ying-yang

We have soooo many passwords, p.i.n. numbers, pass codes, security checks and secret handshakes these days - I am amazed that we can still function as a society.

Today I had to add yet another password to my memory banks. We were issued with Tokens (usb port plug in jump key doo-dads) in order to sign into the work stations at the office. My passwords had to be a minimum of 8 characters long, had to contain not only alpha and numeric characters, but also other special characters (#$%@ kinda thing). As if that wasn't hard enough, it couldn't be any of my last 6 passwords. (sigh)

I don't write down passwords, as it seems to me to defeat the purpose of having a password in the first place. It occurred to me however how many passwords I truly have just to get through a normal day.

I wish there was an easier way.

Home phone answering machine.
Cell phone voice mail.
Home computer.
Lap top.
Email accounts (yes, we all have more than one)
Numerous website memberships (including this one), usernames and passwords.
Banking info, debit, credit - banking online? Boy that's one humdinger of a password!
Talking on the phone to your creditor/service provider...in addition to your account number they want your "secret word" to proceed any further.
Heading into work - interac code to pay at the pump for the gas
Passcard to get into the bldg outer door.
Passcard to get through the glass mantrap in the lobby area.
Passcard inside the elevator to get it to stop at my floor.
Passcard to get through the door into my office.
Combination to my work locker.
Password to sign on to my work computer.
Passcode to sign into my phone (I wear a headset and calls come in "live").
Passcode and now a token to sign into my office email and access my company intranet.
...and at the end of the day I hope I can remember my locker combination at the gym .

I am sure I have missed a whole slew somewhere along the lines - but my poor middle aged brain cant remember anymore! LOL

Marvelous Monday

It's been a great day.

Work was fun for once and we all seemed to find the absurd and humour in most situations we came across. It was a good connection day with colleagues, we gelled, we bonded, we were family....tomorrow of course it will be back to normal and I wouldn't p*** on half of them if they were on fire.

Oops, sorry...out loud voice...I'm just kidding...honest!

There is a very good chance I will be able to get New Year's Day off - tentative at the moment - but it's excellent news. I am supposed to be working the day shift - which ostensibly put paid to any plans of celebrating New Year's Eve. Now suddenly all that is in the air and I am looking to make plans. The psychic in me forsees dancing, alcohol...and I have the perfect dress....except I need to hit the gym hard - are miracles possible in 30 days? Well it is the Christmas Season...anything can happen! LOL

They don't make 'em like this anymore.

I finally watched that old Gene Kelly classic "Singing In the Rain" over the weekend. I have long been a fan of the old Hollywood musicals, but had never seen this one from beginning to end. Made for a nice evening of nostalgia.

I wonder what Gene would have thought about this updated version of his famous song and dance routine.

"The song has ended, but the melody lingers on."

Commuter girl

I don't consider myself a "slow" driver...but apparently I am not a fast driver either...at least not in the eyes of my carpool members. We were a little late getting out of work this afternoon (I got tied up on a last call) and I was driving home, very much aware that my two passengers had evening plans with their significant others.

C. leant over, cell phone in hand, and snapped a picture of my speedometer. I gave him the quizzical look...a kinda "wtf?" He just smiled and said G. (missing member of our pool today) would never believe I was doing 130 kms if he didn't have proof. Brat! I indignantly pointed out that if he had checked a little earlier he would in fact have seen I got up to 140!

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it! Cheek!

For the record, the speed limit is 100...and I tend to sit at around 115-120kms.

Ironic really considering G. has just gotten his car back after his 2nd accident in less than a year.

Walk a mile in their shoes - big shoes to fill

Day 3 of the Season for Giving.

One of the girls at work is helping to run a charitable venture that is very close to my heart. She is organising a "Shoe boxes for Troops" campaign for our Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Instructions:
Take a shoebox.
Fill it with inexpensive trinkets, knick-knacks, toiletries, goodies, small toys etc.
Include a card or letter (optional)
...and presto!
A little something from "over home" for the boys (and girls) "over there".

In addition, for $20 we have Canada Tee's...and for every one purchased we are sending a police tee in it's place to the gang over there.

I am mid-fill on my shoebox and I am running out of ideas...trust me to use one of the boy's size 13 monster shoe boxes and not a small kiddie size!

So I dropped by the Legion this week to pay my annual membership dues and pick up a few more ideas as to what the old boy's would have liked to receive from home when they were fighting overseas all those years ago. The times have changed - but the needs and wants basically remain the same. They just wanted to hear a friendly word from home, to know that we were keeping the home fires burning.

I came across this poem...not the greatest poem to hit literature buffs this century...but the usual patriotic, flag waving and heart warming stuff. It feels appropriate to share it here and now. Maybe I'll print off a copy and include it in the shoebox. Or maybe they'd just find it all too hokey - I dunno.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So slumbered I, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Ranger, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts...
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died in Europe on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red and the white ... a Canadian flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother...
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

- Author unknown

Pass me the Kleenex.

Jamie Durie

I am in lust with this gorgeous hunk of Australian landscape gardening genius.

Sigh...

He could leave his muddy gardening wellies under my bed any night.


...bet he'd have an idea or two as to how to get rid of my pesky squirrels.

Holiday Across the Border...

Tomorrow is a regular work day for me, not so for our American cousins across the border, for them it's a national holiday - Thanksgiving - the unofficial start of the Christmas Season. Turkey, pumpkin pie and the further south you get more exotic the menu becomes (to my palate at any rate).

Here in Canada we celebrated our Thanksgiving last month. The benefit of which is we have recovered from our turkey dinner over-indulgences already. We are primed and ready to do it all again next month - bring on the Christmas dinner!!

So to everyone south of the border...Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd give you the shirt off my back...

Day 2 of my Season of Giving ...

So this morning I headed over to my local Penningtons. I had been browsing a few weeks ago and noticed they had a clothing drive going on - what better place for my stash of clothes from my closet clean out last week? The clothes are all going to be sorted and distributed to local shelters for women escaping abusive relationships.

Again...it's a small thing, but it gives my heart a warm glow.

Of course whilst I was at Penningtons I had to start replacing the clothes I have given away...a new pair of jeans, a pair of dressy trousers for work and two lovely soft cosy sweaters later.... :-)

Hey brother, can you spare a di...bear?

Well, there's no fighting it, Christmas is just around the corner. We can avoid the shopping malls, plug our ears to the syrupy advert jingles playing on the radio, but there is no escaping it. Santa is aboard his steamrollering juggernaut sleigh of commercialism and he's barrelling down the festive motorway - destination Christmas! Ho-ho-ho!

Every year at work we take up a charity and make this the Season of Giving. Emergency Services personnel - Police, Ambulance and Fire - are reknowned for their generosity and big hearts and this year for us in the Radio Room is no exception. We're a soft touch, especially where kids are concerned - and speaking of soft touches (and you think I just throw this stuff together?) we are once again collecting teddy bears for the Gate House.

We have a house in the city that we use specifically for interviewing child victims of crime, specifically child victims of abuse and sexual assault. The children feel safer and less intimidated in a house setting as opposed to a big (and oft times smelly) police station. When the children arrive at the house they will find bears and assorting cuddly pals in every room. Sitting all the way up the stairs, climbing up the bannisters, hanging out on the comfy sofas...(you get the idea). Each child is allowed to pick a special furry friend to hang on to during the interview, and when the ordeal is finally over they can take their new friend home with them.

So ...(finally getting to the reason behind this post)...I got off work this morning after working the night shift and decided I needed to go find a furry pal looking for a new home...

It's just a little thing...but it gives my heart a warm glow.

Turning Grinch?

I have decided not to put up exterior Christmas lights this year.

Oh no! Say it isn't so! JustSue, Tinsel Queen of the West, is foregoing Christmas this year?

Well no, not quite...but certainly this year will be a little more toned down.

Last year we had a few light strand casualties - personally I blame the *squirrels, although popular opinion is that it was the cold weather - the fact remains that in order to put on any kind of light display this year, I would need to purchase a whack of new.

I switched all my lights over to the new energy saving led lights about 3 years ago. I have to admit that I was very disappointed with them, found them dull, dingy looking - certainly not bright and sparkly like my Christmas displays of old, so I certainly wasn't heart broken at losing them to my local tree-rodents. Technology changes rapidly however and I have noticed that in the past few years, advances have been made and the newer led's are certainly an improvement.

Seeing as we are moving next year (woohoo!) I'd rather hold off on making any major new illumination purchases until I see what the new place is like and what my decorating style is going to be....and if I have room on the front lawn for a herd of illuminated deer, inflatable snow globe, Santa Sleigh...

Just kidding...

...or am I? Tee hee!

*Notice how I blame them for everything? lol

Filler and fluff

OK we are on ....what day is it?....right...the 18th day of NaBloPoMo, ummm I mean November. I am on day (night) number 6 of my night shift...and to be honest I have nothing to say. My world this week has been "work-home-sleep repeat" - so I have no news to share and no gossip. So what does a girl do when she has a NaBloPoMo obligation to fill? We do a meme!!

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
"Like so much of what you see on television or on the big screen, that show and others like it don't reflect any world I've ever heard of." (Dr. Phil talking about the tv show 'Sex and the City' in his book 'Love Smart'.)

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
H'mmm coffee cup, yes I could do with another one...brb.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Holmes on Homes...gawd I love this guy. Now watching Top Gear...which I haven't seen in years - I love this BBC Canada channel, it will be hard to give it up in January.

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
Ummm, about 7:10pm?

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
7:06 pm ...not bad!

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Revving car engines ...see answer # 3.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Walking from the car to the house this morning after work.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
E-mail.

9. What are you wearing?
Still in my sleep tee and robe...need to hit the shower in a few.

10. Did you dream last night?
I don't remember. I rarely remember my dreams.

11. When did you last laugh?
Last night at work probably.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A few framed black and white photographs and black and white art pieces.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Nothing springs to mind.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
It is filling a NaBloPoMo requirement. A post a day.

15. What is the last film you saw?
At the movies? Well I saw the World Trade Centre back in August...I can't believe that was the last time I was at the movies.

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
The house of my dreams.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
I go through spells of growing my nails to ridiculous lengths ...well ridiculous for speed typing purposes, getting weekly manicures etc. and then going back to my usual chewed stubs.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Oh this is a toughie. I can think of so many downsides to so many solutions. Obviously an end to all wars, poverty, disease and the environment repaired/replenished...but the actual solutions to these problems just create more problems. Sigh.

19. Do you like to dance?
I love to dance. Shake it!

20. George Bush
Can't stand him and I trust him about as far as I can chuck him.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
I had always thought Sarah, which means princess. That is never going to happen now.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
My first child is a boy...and for blogging purposes he is simply known as "The Boy". He has told me however that he wishes I had called him Sebastian (which I didn't). I must admit I do like the idea of being able to choose your own name once you are old enough to do so.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes, I love the idea of experiencing different countries and cultures. Maybe I could do that with all my multi-millions from question 16.

24.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Welcome home.

25. 4 people who must also do this meme in their journal.
Oh I hate this part. Do it if you want, specially on a day when your mind is blank, as mine was today. Just let me know so that I can drop by for a read!

What else have you got to do?

TEST YOUR EYE-HAND COORDINATION

Click here: http://flash.abunawaf.com/2005/12/game33.swf

I love games. I think if I had been born in the late 80's like my son, instead of the (cough) late 60's I would have been a total game playing geek. I would have been one of those crazy people lined up outside of Best Buy this morning for the new Sony Playstation 3. We actually got calls at work this morning about drunken louts pushing in line, insisting that they would be getting a PS3. Normally pacifists, let me tell you there is nothing like a pissed off geek who has been camping on the sidewalk for the past three days, being pushed around by a drunken neanderthal, to bring out the inner blood elf warrior. Aieeeeeeeee!

WoW

The boy has been "randomly selected" by Blizzard to test the new beta version of The Burning Crusade online. To say he is pumped, psyched and hyped to the gills is the understatement of the year.

My eardrums could quite possibly be bleeding.

Over the hill?

People celebrating birthdays today....Jazz singer Diana Krall (she married Elvis Costello)

The man they are calling the new Canadian K-Fed...Tori Spelling's new hubby Dean McDermott, who turned the big 4-0...

...as did my best friend through secondary school and my chief bridesmaid,

Happy birthday Marie

(snicker)...she turned the big 4-0 before moi! You're over the hill girlie!
A this point I am eternally grateful that I could always run faster scared than she could mad!

New Blogger Beta

Well Blogger, you have teased and tempted me with news of the New Blogger Beta...

The new Blogger promises new ways to customize my template, drag'n'drop, colours, fonts. Woot! More ways to totally balls it up!

Private blogs - now this one is REAL tempting. Anyone who was with me back in the days of "Life as we know it" and "Toasted Crumpet" will appreciate where I am coming from on that one.

Ability to label posts in order to sort, file, find etc. H'mmmm....this could just emphasize how much I tend to focus on the same one or two topics all the time.

so here goes nothing....[presses button].

Better late than never

Saturday night was a riot. Either I was more than overdue for a good night out...or the Gods were smiling, either way it was a night full of fun, dancing and good friends. Photo one - "the girls"...actually only one friend missing from the pic, and she was off dancing with some cute guy and we hardly saw her all night. Photo two is Jen, me...and some guy who wants to take me out sometime...how cute! He's actually a really nice guy, and I may be updating on that situation a little further at some point. Photo three a tad flushed from dancing, plus the hair isn't behaving...I am still learning the knack of doing the "do". However there is something about this woman, in this photo tonight that was a bloody man magnet. My god - talk about feast or famine! If I knew what it was I'd bottle it and make a bloody fortune - suffice to say I was on the verge of beating them off with a stick. (well....almost...OK I'm exaggerating just a titch.) I just don't get it....you wait hours for a "bus" and then several all come along at once!

If you really knew me....

OK....I'm still waiting for my friend to email me the photographs from Saturday night, so in the interim, I thought this fit in rather appropriately.

Oprah Winfrey (yes, I do seem to be quoting her a lot lately)...had a show last week that basically had me in tears from beginning to end. It was very touching, heartfelt - and had me wishing that this workshop was available in all schools as part of the curriculum.

Part of the workshop entailed teenagers in a group, finishing the following sentence..."If you really knew me, you'd know that I...." Initially it was all very polite and predictable and uninspiring. I am a member of the band, I am a cheer leader...etc. But then it moved on to more personal relevations that moved everyone. I am my invalid mother's caregiver. I am still grieveing for my father. I am frightened. I am lonely.

So I wondered briefly what some of my "If you only knew me" statements would be.

If you really knew me, you'd know that I....

...hate people who are unreliable and don't follow through.

...hate people who are tardy.

...have trouble trusting people.

...prefer my own company to that of many people I know.

Saturday daytime

My friends and I had plans last night, so naturally the first exclamation of the morning was, "I have nothing to wear!" I hit the mall and three major department stores and a handful of boutiques later, I am getting mightily dejected - there is nothing I love, can find to fit...or can afford. The one top I did love, was a heck of a lot more than I was willing to pay.

On the drive home I decided that I surely to goodness must have something hanging in my closet and what I in fact needed was a good sort out. So I spent the afternoon going through my closet, dressers etc. Time to rediscover forgotten treasures.

It was a wonderful afternoon, with mental strolls down memory lane, things I have hung onto for sentimental reasons...and things I should never have bought in the first place...lol. At the end of it all though, I had a full garbage bag of clothes to drop off at the Salvation Army store and a real satisfied feeling inside of having done something good - both for me and for someone less fortunate.

I still didn't have anything to wear however. (sigh)

I will save details about the dance for another post, I am waiting on someone emailing me a few photos of the night.

Lest We Forget...

Dedicated to those that serve.

Please take a moment to watch the video and listen to the lyrics in A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly.

I only came in for a loaf of bread...

You know that feeling? You drop by the grocery store for just a loaf of bread or maybe some milk...and $200 later you are pushing a fully laden trolley back out to the car, wondering what the hell just happened.??

That pretty much happened to me this morning, except at Canadian Tire. I'd nipped out for a new hairdryer - the old one had exposed electrical wires and my "back up" hairdryer overheated and burnt out on me two days ago. If you are wondering about the need for a "back up" hairdryer, then you have obviously never a) seen how thick my hair is (as one over heats switch to the other one)...and b) never grew up in the 80's (the bigger the hair the better, volume baby, volume!). Owning 2 hairdryers is a definite requirement in this household, and I was now down to zero.

It turns out I had stumbled in on a grand reopening at my local store, after a major refurbishment. There were people EVERYWHERE...my god, don't these people have jobs? It's mid-Friday-morning for crying out loud - not Saturday afternoon. They had a couple of grand reopening fun events too, including one of those cash kiosks where you stand inside and try to grab cash as they blow it around inside. I always wondered what one of those would be like, but after looking at the amount of cash one man managed to grab, I could see that it wasn't worth the time or effort. The actual amount you can grab is minimal. Instead I filled out a couple of ballots for a prize draw (one for me, one for the boy) to win a mountain bike.

I found a hairdryer - which was on sale 50% off ($9.99). Sweet! This should have been my cue to exit the store and head home...but this was a sale...resistance is futile.

I had originally promised myself that I wouldn't start buying stuff for the new house until we had actually moved. I don't see the point in storing it, to move it. But then every so often you get a bargain ...or two....that blink up at you whispering "Take me home"...and you just can't help it.

In this case it was a Lagostina cookware set, originally $400 - on sale for $199 with a further reopening special reduction to $149 with an additional instant rebate of $50 Canadian Tire Money cashback. Bottomline? I got a really super-nice quality saucepan set for $99. Cha-ching.

Y'know I actually debated on picking up another set for the boy - for when he finally moves out - but I realised a) he's a boy...they don't need "bottom drawer" or "hope chest" items b) he doesn't cook and c) he would have absolutely no appreciation for Lagostina...and can make do with cheap, nasty, Visionware that causes everything to stick and burn... the same as we all did when we first started out in life.

Add to my purchases a fry pan (75% 0ff) and a new welcome mat, and it was time to hit Walmart.

I needed Q-tips and catfood.

Apparently I also needed a few other items and the following hopped into my trolley...I haven't a clue how they ended up there. A new nightie for moi, Polly World Rockin' Theme Park for my niece for Christmas, and kitty litter.

At this point I was in a Christmas shopping mood and ended up at Best Buy where I picked up Need for Speed - Carbon - Own the City for my nephew who just bought himself a Nintendo DS with his birthday money.

For saying I went out for a hairdryer, Q-tips and a few cans of cat food...it took 4 trips from the car to the house to unload it all.

On the bright side however, I have put a dent in my Christmas shopping.

My first ever audio post...awwww...coochie-coo

Gabcast! Can you hear me now, Mother? #1

...and yes I say "er"...."ah" and "um" a lot.

Future Maury Povich Show guests??

Brit and K-Fed - can anyone honestly say they didn't see this one coming?

Sometimes I think maybe it's not such a bad thing being single.


ok ok ok it's a lame post I know, but it's day 8 at work, I am mentally and physically mush.

...if I come up with something more interesting in the next little while...

...in the meanwhile talk amongst yourselves and feel free to ask questions...

Fat guy walks into a bar...

A couple of people had the "Oprah Show" on the lunchroom TV yesterday, when I came in on a break. They were already mid-way through the show - I had missed the big Kirstie Alley bikini reveal, so I asked my co-workers how she had looked.

My co-workers were far from kind. Some suggested that Kirstie may have fibbed a little on her starting weight, that she had been far bigger than the 220lbs that she is claiming. Deciding that she must have initially mislead the public (and I am not aware if the 220lb claim is true) my co-workers immediately discounted the reported 75 lb weight loss as "nothing".

Regardless of her true starting weight, the woman deserves to be highly commended for not only losing 75lbs...but losing 75lbs in the public eye. Sure, she has been compensated for being a Jenny Craig spokesperson - as have many other celebs who have promoted one diet or another over the years - but that in itself doesn't make the actual feat of losing the weight any easier. At the end of the day, be you Duchess, actress or the average Jane Doe, when you close your front door at night it's just you, your demons and the fridge, home alone all night long.

Oprah's second guest was a young lady who had once been over 300lbs...and was now down over 170lbs. My co-workers consider her a "cheater" though as she'd had gastric by-pass surgery. They totally dismissed the struggle this poor woman had endured and assumed that the surgery was the "magic cure". Assuming that she would've had to have done no work at all to attain her results. I know there are people out there who would have been only too quick to disagree that losing weight via gastric by-pass is any walk in the park.

By now I had stomached all the fat comments from my co-workers that I could handle (pun intended) and I needed to find a more peaceful place to complete my break before waddling back into the frey of emergency calls.

That more peaceful place could have been this fat girl sitting on my co-workers windpipes until they turned blue...but I was taught to play nice, think before speaking and consider other people's feeling, when I was growing up.

Too bad.

I am taking my ball and I am going home!

I have to confess, I have bailed on my ballroom dancing classes. My fantasies of "Come Dancing" and wearing sequins in Blackpool have bitten the dust, albeit temporarily.

After the catastrophe of the initial class, things never did totally recover. I wasn't learning anything and simply wasn't having fun. 90% of the time, due to lack of male participants, I had to "lead" - the 5'8" husky frame may have had something to do with the typecasting on that I think. The classes became tortuous - I won't go into details.

Ironically if this had been the boy a few years ago, wanting to bail out of an extra curricular activity I had paid for, I would have forced him to attend regardless. Immune to tears, pleading and associated threats. I am such a hypocrite.

The beauty of being a grown-up is we can have our childish little trantrums, stamp our feet, change our minds a million times, never complete what we start - and no one is going to stop us or tell us any differently. I wonder how many wars and "international incidents" could have been prevented if only Mommies (and daddies) still ruled the world. "No Adolf, you can't have Poland...now go to your room."

I still plan one day to take classes in ballroom, but I think a smaller private class will be more to my tastes and comfort level.

900 channels, and bugger all on!

My local cable company is a multimillion dollar corporation covering not only cable tv, but high speed internet services and more recently venturing into the home phone market. As a result I will often get promotional materials in the mail advertising specials, incentives and "bundle prices" to switch from Bell Canada (my phone and internet provider) to Rogers. Thus far I have resisted.

A few days ago I got a visit from a door to door salesperson from the aforementioned cable company. They had a special offer...(no thank you)...Was I not interested in their internet services? (no thank you)..They also had their home phone services...(no thank you)....and they could bundle all three of them for me at a cheaper rate...(NO, thank you). Would I be interested in additional cable tv channels free for 3 months? (NO, thank....er free?)

I already subscribe and pay out the ying-yang for cable tv. We get all the local cable stations, and Buffalo NY...plus the feeds from the stateside mega stations....plus the Movie Network...plus plus plus. It's not cheap...and I still don't get "all" the channels, there are a few more "specialty" channels that I wouldn't mind getting, but the next package up would take my cable bill to well over $100 a month, and I am sorry I refuse point blank to pay that kind of money for TV channels. If anything, I was actually considering canceling a few of the extras to bring the bill DOWN from it's current level.

This doorstep temptress however had a cable package offer, all sports, all movies, all specialty channels. EVERYTHING up to channel 900...free for 3 months. Free History Channel...Free Biography Channel...Free MTV...the list goes on... Unbeknownst to her she dangled the proverbial carrot. The temptation I could not resist. My Achilles heel.

I signed on the spot.

I've sold my soul to the devil - and the next 3 months promise to be heaven. I will have to be strong enough at the end of January to call them to cancel the extras or they will start billing...and naturally they are gambling though on the hope that I wont be able to give up the extra programming. I am made of strong British stuff though - and we will sob, wring our hands and wail in grief when the time comes...but for now let's celebrate, for there is much to watch, catch up on...and the Christmas TV season is just around the corner...raise a glass and a cheer for I have BBC Canada for Christmas!!

Free gift with purchase

A few weeks back I blogged on the topic of perfume. Well I finally made a purchase yesterday - not due to lack of decision making power (as is ususally the norm...I am a slave to my indecisiveness). Heck no! In fact I already had my planned purchase "pre-ordered and pre-paid" at my local department store perfume counter. The reason in fact for my delay was waiting for the November sales promotion to start that included...."Gift With Purchase"! I am such a freebie whore at times, but nothing says Christmas to me like the perfume counter's Christmas "extras".

Here's what I would have gotten for my $65 Cdn plus taxes in October.

And here's what I got yesterday for the same price.

It's not rocket science.

Award Winning Hair

I think I have found a new hairdresser that...what for it... (drumroll please)....I actually like!

Yes, I am dumbfounded also. It's still early days, but for once I didn't leave the salon thinking "It will look better once I have done it myself."

Angie is the owner of the Ultimate Cut Salon in a neighbouring town west of here. I found her quite by accident. Having tried more traditional methods, referrals by friends (x2), prettiest ad in the yellow pages (x1), closest salon to home (x1), nicest looking salon from the outside (x1) and the infamous - I was passing and thoughts I'd pop in for a trim (x1) - I actually found this hairdresser in my local newspaper. Every year my local rag runs their "Readers Choice Awards" covering everything from favourite local restaurants to mechanics. This year Angie's Salon was nominated and won for best hair salon. I figured that was a good enough recommendation for me as any.

The irony is her salon is nestled in a tiny strip plaza that I have never been to before. Unassuming frontage that certainly doesn't grab the passerby off the street either. If it hadn't been for the Readers Choice Awards I certainly would never have found her.

Instead of sitting me in her chair, hair dripping down my back from the shampoo, cracking gum and asking me what I wanted, she actually made suggestions. Suggested styles to elongate and slim my face (yes, I love her already)...and declared that we needed to show off my eyes and my fabulous cheekbones. I stared in the mirror...I have cheekbones? You can see them? Where? Show me!

She showed me how to quick style my hair straight out the shower, towel dried with a blob of mousse and go...how to style it when I have time to blow dry for a more polished professional look...and finally how to dress it up for nights out on the town and give it that little sexy pizzaz.

I sat in awe as this little Italian dynamo fussed and primped my do. Her people skills matched her hair skills. She talks....more importantly she listens. All women need a good hairdresser to talk to. I told her about my son...she told me about her two kids. I told her I was dreading 40...she told me 40 was easy, she just turned 45. She thinks I need to plan a celebration. Something special - a weekend away with girlfriends or a special dinner/party affair. I told her about the new house...she's so excited for me, tells me what a great town I am moving to - she actually lives there too - and she can tell me all the neat places around town to find. My lord we covered everything in just over 30 minutes and I was back out on the sidewalk looking chic and feeling like I was fresh from a therapy session. And the best part? She only charged $35! I have paid twice as much for far less in the past. Yup, she's a keeper!

House news

I phoned my contact with the builder yesterday. Just to touch base, say hi...and enquire casually if my closing date is carved in stone despite signing everything on the sales offer a million and one times - in triplicate.

Yes, I am getting impatient.

And Mr Jones (yes, HIM) really seems to like to tell everyone when his closing date is ...and when mine is...and to then point out that my house will actually will be ready before his ...but he is taking possession first. Argh...he really is starting to bug me with his infantile one-up-manship.

The one bit of information I did learn however was that the builder wont be servicing the land this fall as previously hoped, but will now be waiting until after the ground thaws in the spring. So we are looking at April for the servicing of the land, and construction is scheduled to begin in June. No one has exactly explained it to me, but I assume "servicing" means stuff like leveling it, installing sewer pipes, gas lines, power lines, construction roads etc.

So no new house photos 'til April. (boo-hiss)

I am wondering however if that means I have longer to save for construction upgrades. Originally they had wanted the $$ for upgrades for items such as the Oasis of Luxury in November, prior to the start of construction. Well, seeing as that construction date is now April/June, my logic says...

Jones was at the design centre this past weekend with Mrs. Jones to look at tile, carpeting etc. He advised me going on the weekend was not the best idea - the words "sardines in a can" come to mind. He also told me that the builder hasn't selected their vendors yet for tile, carpeting, cabinetry etc. yet for our development. On the plus side however he was able to tell me that if I am looking to have the storage/cold cellar excavated in the basement as shown on the plans, it will cost me another $1500-plus.

Sigh - I may as well just move a cot into work and be done with it - redirect my mail there, it looks like I will be doing a lot more overtime, for a lot longer.

National Blog Posting Month

It's National Blog Posting Month!

NaBloPoMo is an alternative to November's NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, the program wherein you crank out a novel in thirty days. Unsucessfully attempted by yours truly 2 years ago...and successfully completed by the author of one of my favourite blogs Jennyta!

The Rules:

Post every day for the month of November.

No cheating and backdating posts, either.

You're on your honour.

That's it.

Pumpkin-time

The Boy's

Mine

He says my cat had "nards" ....I thought it looked like a big belly. (Yes, I am still looking up the meaning of "nards" but I think I know what he was trying to say).

Last year I ran out of candy...so this year I bought more. I sat and bagged 80 loot bags of goodies - plus extras in case even that wasn't enough.

I sat at the foot of the stairs, reading a book and sipping a glass of wine to save from keep getting up from the living room every time the door bell rang.

The turn out last night as abysmal. I have over 30 loot bags left and a ton of loose funsize candy bars. Think I will take the left overs into work. Ever seen an emergency dispatcher on a sugar rush? It ain't pretty.