In case you were wondering, we watched the rerun of Deal or No Deal because it was a Star Wars episode and all of the women holding cases (do they have a title? Case Models? Howie's Beauties?) were dressed like Princess Leia.
Ian was thrilled.
June 24, 2008
In case you were wondering, we watched the rerun of Deal or No Deal because it was a Star Wars episode and all of the women holding cases (do they have a title? Case Models? Howie's Beauties?) were dressed like Princess Leia.
June 23, 2008
"Hello and welcome to Body Break; with Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod!"This was a phrase I hadn't heard in a very long time until the other night when we were watching a rerun of Deal or No Deal. The first thing I noticed was that both Hal and Joanne, who are both familiar to me from birth thanks to growing up in a town with no cable, look exactly the same now as they did when I was a kid. And if you think it's because it was an old episode, think again! They spent most of the 90 second clip talking about the Wii!! If you look closely at the photo, you can see a very fuzzy Joanne standing in front of a very fuzzy Wii game screen.
The episode focused on using games to increase your physical activity. Maybe it's just me, but I was surprised to see them touting the Wii as a way of getting active. I have played Wii tennis and Wii boxing before and while both can definitely get the heart rate up, it is by no means a replacement for a good, old fashioned workout. (On a side note, divorce rates would be much lower if all married couples played Wii boxing. Seriously. Think about it - you are pissed with your partner for whatever reason... work out that frustration by kicking the crap out of him/her on screen instead of arguing. I should be a therapist! Anyway, I digress.)
So do I agree with Hal and Joanne about the use of the Wii to get active? Like I said, it's by no means a replacement for lifting weights, a bike ride, or playing soccer, but in a society where both childhood and adult obesity rates are skyrocketing I guess we have to take whatever improvement we can get.
Keep fit and have fun!
June 22, 2008
Dear Jackass who parked beside me yesterday
Just because you drive a big truck with an extended cab and a long box does not mean it is acceptable for you to park beside me at such an angle that I can't back out without ripping my drivers side mirror off on your bumper. My car was the only other vehicle in the parking lot - there was plenty of room for both of us. Next time, either park straighter or go park away from other vehicles if you feel you must park like a jerk. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
The Apathetic Bride
PS. It's summer now. You don't need to leave your big, manly truck running when no one is in it.
June 21, 2008
Speaking of drive in movies, this is the camera they use to project the movies on one of the screens. It is considerably taller than me and uses a 4000 watt bulb.
There's some useless but interesting trivia for you.
June 20, 2008
We went to the drive-in for a movie night tonight. The drive-in always two screens and plays two movies on each screen every night. It's a pretty good deal if you can stay up late enough to watch both movies. The only down side is that the people who own the drive-in have taken to storing a lot of old car wrecks and other miscellaneous junk on the property.
We saw The Love Guru and Indiana Jones 4. The Love Guru was pretty terrible, but it had a lot of cameos that kept me entertained (Stephen Colbert as the Hockey Night in Canada commentator was pretty funny). Indiana Jones 4 was good, but not great. Kind of like the all the other Indiana Jones movies. Well, the ones I've seen anyway.
June 18, 2008
One of the blogs I read occasionally is "Wedded Diss". One of the recent topics covered was paper invitations vs electronic invitations (e-vites). I have to admit, e-vites are something I've thought about. On the pro side, e-vites are cheaper, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly (although, computers do run on electricity so maybe Mother Earth is screwed either way). The biggest e-vite con I can come up with is that there is no way I can use e-vites exclusively since there are several people on the guest list (eg, my Grandma) who have never used a computer in their lives. It is this same group of people who would be very disappointed to not recieve a traditional paper invitation.
Ian and I went to a wedding a few years ago that used e-vites for all the guests. Well, sort of. The bride and groom emailed or IM'd all of their guests and invited them to the wedding. No invitation, e-vite or otherwise, was received but some of the essential info was posted on the brides sisters blog. The wedding was lovely, but the whole experience of not having an invitation/directions/accommodations list/everything else people include in their wedding invitation envelopes was horribly disorganized and confusing. So I guess my only experience with e-vites wasn't terribly positive.
Our wedding is out of town and there will be lots of directions and accommodation information to include so the verdict is paper invitations. I'll go add that to my to-do list.
June 13, 2008
One year from today is our wedding day.
What we have:
A bride
A groom
A partial wedding party
A ceremony/reception venue
A caterer
A wedding dress
Accommodations for our immediate families
What we don't have:
Accommodations for us
A guest list
Invitations
Center pieces
Clothing for everyone except the bride
Someone to marry us
A photographer
Hairstylist
Flowers
A colour scheme
Alcohol
Guest Favours
Shoes
A wedding website
Approximately one billion other things I have not even realized we will need
Oh dear.
June 10, 2008
Also for sale.
This is a Honda motorbike of a 1978ish model. It belongs to a friend of Ian's who recently moved to join the military. Ian is selling it on his behalf. The only things I can tell you about it are:
1. It apparently does run, but it hasn't been started in a very long time.
2. It doesn't have a seat.
3. It's really heavy.
4. It almost tipped over onto the hood of my car once.
Any takers?
June 9, 2008
For sale.
We won this bike in the 2007 hospital home lottery and it's been in our garage for about a year. It's a nice bike, it's just not suitable for us at this point in our lives.
The bike is a 2007 Norco Rio Vista Cruiser (mens model). It's in excellent condition (it's only been ridden for about a block). You can check out the specs for the very similar 2008 model here.
Any takers?
June 7, 2008
We picked up our season tickets for the Roughriders today. Ian is a huge football fan and a lifelong rider fan. The season tickets are my engagement gift to him.
The photo is of Wes Cates (Rider player) being mobbed by autograph seekers.
June 2, 2008
I took this picture standing on our back step. Our next-door neighbour is different sort of lady. She's in her early 50ies (I'd guess), but dresses like she's about 19. It's an unfortunetly frequent occurence to come home to see her in her yard dressed in shorts and a bikini top, hanging out her lingerie to dry. It disturbs me.
Another odd thing about her is she has, without fail, gotten a new boyfried every spring and fall. Seriously. Once the snow starts to melt in the spring, she gets a new man and makes him clean up the yard and get it all set up for summer. She keeps him around for a month or two, then dumps him and gets a new guy for fall to get her yard ready for winter. It sounds like a good system to me... maybe I'll give it a try.
June 1, 2008
I went to see the Sex and the City movie tonight (the picture is a very blurry representation of my ticket stub).I discovered Sex and the City sometime in my early twenties, when Bravo aired episodes really late on Friday and Saturday nights. Since that time I've managed to collect the entire series on DVD, so I guess I qualify as a fan of the series.
I've been thinking about why I enjoy the series so much. It's definitely not because I'm a fashion diva obsessed with Chanel and Manolo Blahniks - far from it. I have a hard time believing that a freelance sex columnist makes enough money to keep herself outfitted head-to-toe in designer labels. And I pretty sure that life in New York, while wonderful I'm sure, is very little like what is portrayed on the show.
Looking back, I realized that I started watching the show at a time in my life when I thoroughly believed all men were assholes (bad breakup). I had never seen a television series that depicted not only one but four strong, single, female characters. I won't go as far as to say that Sex and the City helped heal me or anything so dramatic, but the strong and funny portrayal of 4 intelligent single women did help empower me to a small degree. I have to admit that I can see aspects of myself in all of the four lead characters, however improbable the series may have been.
I once read a summary (that I'm pretty sure was written by a man) of the entire series of Sex and the City that read "This stupid, fluffy, and sometimes stale "comedy" with the shelf life of an open bag of chips on a rainy day made a heroine out of a neurotic, skinny shrieker-monkey who had bad affairs for reasons inexplicable to her three mismatched friends, Slutty, Prissy, and Bossy." Yes, both the series and the movie were stupid, fluffy, and stale at times but it contained a charm all its own and an ability to connect with millions of women that few Hollywood productions will be able to reproduce.
May 31, 2008
We helped my brother and sister-in-law move today. The house they moved into is probably the weirdest house I've ever been in. For starters, it's huge (particularly for a rental) with a full upstairs, main floor, and basement. Three bedrooms and 1 and 1/2 bathrooms upstairs, two enormous living rooms and a kitchen on the main floor, and laundry and a second full bath downstairs. Several additions had been built at different times, giving the house a strange sprawling feel and some very interesting angled walls. The picture above is of the "master" bedroom complete with "ensuite" bathroom. There is a full patio door and balcony on the wall directly opposite the toilet and sink, so you can sit on the can and watch all the action on the street if you like.
Unfortunately, the previous tenants left behind some substantial damage. The house reeked of pot and several holes had been punched in the walls (I'm guessing from the house-cooling party the previous tenants had). They also didn't clean anything. For months, it appeared. We also found a dead pigeon on the balcony.
The house has a lot of potential, but it will need a lot of repair to make it desirable for conscientious renters like my brother and sister-in-law. Unless they can reach an agreement with the landlord, I doubt they will stay here very long.
May 30, 2008
The elevator closest to my office has been broken since Monday. When I first started working here (more than a year ago now), I never used the elevator. I used to think to myself "This building is only three floors tall, the only reason a person should need the elevator is if they were carrying something too large to get up the stairs."
Apparently, I've changed my mind somewhat. While I don't think I use the elevator much, by Friday I caught my self thinking "Sigh, the elevator is still broken..."
May 28, 2008
I stumbled across a facebook group entitled "awkward wedding pictures rock my socks" the other day. It's a collection of awkward, badly edited, and overly dramatic pictures. It amused me greatly. It's also where I stole this picture from. I've seen many wedding pictures in my day, but never one quite as strange as this one. I just wanted to share. Enjoy!
May 26, 2008
Last night we went to Kinsmen Park with our friend Kevin and his 17 month old son, Damean. Kinsmen Park is a small park with a few rides intended for young(ish) children. One of the rides is the freakiest merry-go-round I have ever seen. Along with the normal horses, the animals available for riding included:
A pink elephant (above)
2 chickens (a hen and a rooster)
A giant dog
An antelope/reindeer (we couldn't decide what it was)
A terrifying giant rabbit with creepy eyes
I think that rabbit would have given me nightmares as a child.
May 22, 2008
I've been going to a chiropractor.
I've always been somewhat of a skeptic regarding chiropractic medicine - it's always seemed more like witchcraft than actual medicine to me. There was also a highly publicized case in my city where a young woman died from a ruptured artery caused by a chiropractic neck adjustment. But I've been having neck pain and headaches almost every day and some substantial foot pain brought on by soccer, so I decided to give it a try.
My first visit was only an assessment, no adjustments. I was poked and prodded and had to bend in funny ways so the Dr. could assess the range of motion in all of my joints.
My second visit was my first adjustment. The first adjustment was at the base of my neck. It was fairly painful but made my back feel much better. Then the Dr. started focusing on my feet. He grabbed both feet, told me "This will likely hurt" and proceeded to crack all 10 of my toes at the same time. I screamed. Loud. I'm sure people were fleeing from the waiting room if they heard me. After the adjustment was over, my feet felt better than they have in at least three years. I've been having fewer headaches too.
I had another adjustment today, this time focusing on my lower back. It was much less painful than my first adjustment and relieved nearly all of the pain in my lower back.
This may be witchcraft, but I'm beginning to believe.
May 19, 2008
I spent the long weekend painting our kitchen. Doing renovation work on our house has taught me some interesting things about some of the philosophies the previous owners had. For example:
1) Nails are definitely better than screws. Even if the maker of whatever product you're trying to hang supplied you with screws, use a nail if at all possible. Because really, what would the product manufacturer know?
2) The larger the nail, the better. Obviously.
3) If you have to use a screw, immediately discard those supplied with the product. Always use the largest possible screw you can find to accomplish the job (see picture above - those two enormous screws were holding up one of the jacket hooks by the back door).
4) It is also much better to use different types of screws to mount a single wall bracket. Phillips, Robertson, different sizes... mix them up! It's fun and you get to use multiple screwdrivers when you try and remove them. For additional entertainment, hang a wall bracket with a screw in one hole and a nail in the other.
Sigh.
May 12, 2008
That's actually the price of gas?!? You've got to be kidding me. This is not good news for someone planning a wedding that is to take place ~2 hours drive from where she lives.
I'm starting to worry that with gas prices on this steep upward trend with no relief in sight, that it will become a major hindrance that will prevent some guests from attending the wedding. And if they do come, will there be greater expectations since it cost them so much to travel all that way?
Someone needs to invent a teleporter for me as a wedding gift.
May 10, 2008
I bought THE dress today. Once again, it's not the dress in the photo. While I'd love to post a picture of it here, there is a small possibility that Ian may one day decide to read my blog and see it.
It's funny how I've discovered some wedding traditions that I feel are important to uphold, while many others I am perfectly willing to toss out the window. For example, it's incredibly important to me that Ian not see me or know anything about my dress/appearance until the ceremony but I really couldn't care less if I have a wedding cake, a traditional 'first dance' with Ian, a garter/bouquet toss etc, etc, etc. Oh well... it's my wedding and I can do what I like. At least, that's what people keep telling me.
If you really want to see the dress, leave a comment and I'll email you a picture. Don't show Ian.
May 9, 2008
This is the first year I've had to send money back to the government at tax time. I actually did receive a hefty refund thanks to my remaining tuition and books credits and the graduate tax exemption from the provincial government, but the federal government decided they wanted their money back for the last two GST rebates they sent me. So I received my refund, then had to write a cheque to the feds. I much prefer it when the government writes me cheques, not the other way around.
Enjoy the $234, Federal Government of Canada.
May 8, 2008
This is the ice cream cake I bought from Dairy Queen for Ian for his birthday. There, in the cooler beside all of the 'Happy Mothers Day!' cakes, was a cake decorated with a bikini-clad woman riding a football. Perfect for Ian. Somewhat bizarre for Mothers Day.
May 7, 2008
Ian: So, uh... this dress you like... how much does it cost?
Me: It retails for $730
Ian: I love it
Again, it's not the dress in the picture
May 6, 2008
I went shopping for my wedding dress for the first time yesterday. Both my mom and Ian's mom came with me. It was an interesting experience. It was much more fun than I had anticipated, but it was also exhausting. Who knew prancing around in fancy dresses all day could make a person so tired?
I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice I looked in all the dresses I tried on, even if they weren't exactly my style. I was also surprised to see how different a dress can look on a person, as opposed to on the hanger. Overall, it was a good day.
I did find a dress that I'm 99% sure is THE dress, but I'm going to think about it for a week or two before putting a deposit down. After all, I have 13 months to change my mind! And no, it's not the dress in the picture.
April 22, 2008
I got my inspiration for this photobloject from a blogger whose work I've been reading for the last 1.5 years or so. I stumbled across the blog "A year in pictures of working" while googling something one day (I can't remember what). I became intrigued with the idea of each post centering on a photo, with a short thought or anecdote along with it.The "A year of pictures..." blog series are all written by a guy named Arnie who lives in Chicago. The first installment was "A year in pictures following the breakup". The sequel was "A year in pictures of working". His current blog is "A year in pictures of comedy". Arnie is a really good writer, and I admire his ability to creatively document events that other people may consider mundane and therefore do not notice. I highly recommend all of his blogs if your interested.
So there you have it. That's my inspiration. The only problem is I keep forgetting my camera at home, which makes taking pictures difficult.
April 21, 2008
WTF Winter?!? This morning I couldn't get into my car because of all the freezing rain we had overnight, and now more snow. Piss off.April 20, 2008
This is what I made for supper tonight. It's called 'Corn Dog Casserole'. Ian is away on a business trip until Wednesday. I always miss him terribly when he's gone. Even though our house isn't very large, it always seems huge when it's just me and the cats. On the upside, there are a few things that are OK about having the house to myself:
1) I control the remote.
2) I can lay down on the couch and not worry that Ian doesn't have a place to sit.
3) I can hog the bed.
4) I can try new recipes (see above) and not worry if they don't turn out because I'm the only one around to care.
The casserole turned out OK, but not great.
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