May 31 2009

Ian had his stag party yesterday. They went paintballing. Here he is showing off some of his war wounds.

April 8, 2009

A while back Facebook had a popular note that many of my facebook friends wrote that was basically 25 random things about yourself. I have to admit that I read a lot of them, but I never wrote one.... until now!


1. I'm getting married in just over 2 months, which is still somewhat strange for me because for a long time I thought I would never get married.

2. I don't think I'm a very picky eater. There are definitely some things I would prefer to eat over other things, but, generally speaking, I will eat pretty much any food. Except raisins. I despise raisins. They are vile and they are pretty much the only thing I absolutely refuse to consume.

3. I'm a terrible speller, although I am now much better than I was when I was younger. I use spell check at least one a day.

4. I love animals. When I was little I thought I would be a veterinarian when I grew up. I can deal with illness/death in people if I have to, but even the thought of the death of one of my pets is enough to reduce me to tears in about 10 seconds. Stories of animal cruelty on TV make me want to cry or vomit.

5. If I could attempt any other profession, I think I would try being a writer. I'm a good writer and the art of the written word comes easily to me. It always has. I have been toying with the idea of trying to write a novel, but I am starting to fear that years of scientific writing is slowly killing my creative writing ability.

6. I have run a 1/2 marathon. It took me 2 hours and 25 minutes. I still run a little, but I no longer have the time to commit to long distance training.

7. I love to play soccer. I didn't start playing until I was in my early 20s though, so I'm not very good. I am terribly envious of people who started playing soccer as children - I envy their skills.

8. If I could go back and start my post-secondary education over again, I think I would go into pharmacy. However, after 9 years of post-secondary education I think I'm done for a while.

9. I'm not very sentimental about stuff. I'm not a person who would keep something I would never use just because someone gave it to me, or because it used to belong to my grandmother, etc.. That being said, I do have a few prized possessions that I wouldn't give up for the world.

10. I'm a terrible housekeeper. I'm trying to improve in this area.

11. I don't watch a lot of TV. I can't commit to following certain shows because I'm not home many evenings. I do, however, own the entire series of Sex and the City, Corner Gas, and The Sopranos on DVD. I was also very addicted to Battlestar Galactica when it was on the air.

12. I grew up in a small town in rural Saskatchewan. By small, I mean 600 people small. While I'm 99% converted to a city girl, there are things about living in a small town that I miss immensely.

13. I love popcorn.

14. I play the piano. I have my grade 8 from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

15. I need to be nicer to people some times.

16. I worry about everything. All. The. Time. I'm a very anxious person.

17. I've been to Australia, England, Scotland, France, and most of the US. I have learned that while not everyone in this world speaks English, they all pretty much speak Visa or Mastercard.

18. In Canada, I have been to every province except Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and PEI. I have never been to any of the territories, although I would love to go.

19. I am a very light sleeper. Because of this, I'm a very vivid dreamer. It is not unusual for me wake up furious or sad, and to have hints of those emotions stay with me all day. This makes for some awesome wedding anxiety dreams. So far, my favorite is when I dreamed that the Queen was boycotting my wedding although the rest of the royal family was coming. My mom was really pissed with the Queen.

20. I've curled since I was a kid. I still curl, although not competitively. I could watch curling on TV for days at a time.

21. I believe in ghosts, but I would be terrified if I ever saw one. I'm afraid of things I can't explain. This is probably why I do science for a living, because in science you explain everything.

22. I also believe in aliens, but I would be terrified if I ever saw one. We can thank years of TV and movies that portray aliens as beings whose only goal is to blow up earth for this unfounded fear of mine.

23. I suck at taking care of plants. I generally can only be enticed to responsibly care for a plant if it's going to produce something that I will eat.

24. I don't really care for heights, especially when there is no rail to keep me from falling over the edge.

25. I have a very good relationship with my family.

March 17, 2009

Yes, I'm aware that I haven't blogged for a long time. Chalk it up to a lack of time/modivation on my part. My apologies, I'll try to be more on the ball in the future.

For your viewing pleasure, I now present a list of 25 things you may or may not know about our wedding:

1. There will be a bride (me) and a groom (Ian). Filling out the legal forms is a little strange for us since Ian goes by one of his middle names (ie, "Ian" is not his legal first name, but it is what everyone calls him) and I go by an abbreviated form of my legal first name. Sometimes when we're filling out forms, I look at the names and feel like we're filling out forms for strangers instead of us.

2. There will be three female attendants and three male attendants.

3. It will be a civil ceremony. It will also be very short.

4. If the weather is nice, we hope to have the ceremony outside near the reception venue. If the weather is not nice, we'll be married inside the reception venue. I haven't figured out all of the logistics yet.

5. Invitations have been mailed and RSVPs have been trickling in. We pre-stamped all of the RSVP envelopes before putting them in the invitation envelope in order to make it as easy as possible for our guests to return them (unless you live in the US, in which case the US postal service does not accept Canadian stamps so you're on your own. Sorry!).

6. Dinner will be served at the reception and it will be a buffet. The menu is still TBD.

7. I did not care if we had a wedding cake, but Ian insisted on one. He picked it out and ordered it. The flavours are vanilla-grand marnier and chocolate-rum.

8. We will be having centerpieces but no other decorations in the hall.

9. I havn't done anything about flowers yet and this is causing me to panic slightly. I do have an appointment with a florist this week.

10. There will be alcohol served and it will most likely be a twoonie bar.

11. No, we are not registered anywhere. Please stop asking.

12. The bridesmaids are having their dresses made. The color is greyish-blue.

13. I have no idea how much alcohol to buy.

14. We do not yet have a marriage liscense. Getting one is on the to-do list.

15. When people ask me how wedding planning is going, I never know what to say.

16. I'm taking 2 weeks off of work. One week before the wedding and one after.

17. Kids are more than welcome at the wedding. The more, the merrier!

18. There will be several pregnant ladies at the wedding. At least 3 and maybe more. When Ian realized this he said "Great, now there's going to be crying for sure!". I said that there probably would have been crying anyway.

19. People seem genuinly excited to be attending the wedding. This surprises me for some reason. I guess I would be excited if I had been invited as a guest to this wedding, but because I'm the bride I'm mostly stressed and very tired.

20. If you are planning on attending, I suggest you book accommodations ASAP. If you are planning on camping, then don't worry about booking. They don't reserve camp sites.

21. Bring bug spray. Lots of it.

22. We're getting married in a national park. Because no hunting is allowed in national parks, the wildlife is very comfortable around people. It isn't unusual to see a bunch of elk wandering through the townsite even during the day. Since there's always wildlife running around, there's lots of poop on the ground. Watch where you step.

23. There are bears in the park. Watch out for the bears.

24. I'm currently worried that I will spent so much time worrying about our guests, that I will forget to have fun and enjoy the day. Any advice on how to prevent that would be appreciated.

25. I'm very excited for the wedding, but at the same time I can't wait for it to be over.

February 15, 2009

There was also dirt bike racing at the Monster Truck show. I don't really have anything to say about it, other than I think this picture is neat.

February 14, 2009

For Valentines Day this year, we went to see Monster Trucks. It was loud. Very loud. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that giant trucks with giant engines inside a concrete building would be loud, so I didn't bring earplugs. It was also very smelly. We both reaked of exhuast when we got home.

It definetly wasn't my first choice for Valentines Day, but it was fun, fairly inexpensive, and Ian enjoyed it (the most important thing, of course). I had a good time too, although a beer greatly enhanced my viewing experience.

January 22, 2009

I am VERY ANGRY with the Government of Saskatchewan. It's kind of a long story, so get comfy.


It all started back in 2007. The NDP was in power here in SK and they implemented a new program called the Graduate Tax Exemption (GTE). Basically this meant that anyone in SK who was awarded a degree, diploma, or certificate received an additional $10 000 tax-free income every year for 5 years after graduation as long as they stayed in SK. I finished my Masters of Science in 2007 and thus qualified for the GTE for the tax year 2007. Sweet! I have substantial student debt from my many years in school and any tax break I get helps me pay that debt off.


In October of 2007 a provincial election was held and the Saskatchewan Party was elected as the new governing party. They honored the GTE program promised by the NDP for 2007, but as of January 1, 2008 they changed the GTE to the Graduate Retention Program (GRP). Basically the GRP allows people who have recently been awarded a diploma, certificate, or undergraduate degree since 2006 a tax break for up to 7 years based on the amount of tuition they paid when they were in school. Sounds like a decent deal, right? Did you catch the magic word that's making me so angry right now? That's right... undergraduate degrees only. Advanced degrees (ie, Masters degree and PhD) don't qualify.

So basically the current Government of Saskatchewan is working to retain graduates of certificate, diploma, and undergrad programs but telling everyone who earns a graduate degree that they're not required. Feel free to find employment in another province!


I'm truly baffled by the Governments logic on this one. Do they think that people with graduate degrees don't deserve tax breaks because employers start throwing huge salaries at them the instant they leave school? Hmm, that didn't really happen to me and by the way, I know several people with undergraduate degrees who make substantially more money than I do. Maybe the Government feels that people with graduate degrees just aren't worth retaining. Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, Government of Saskatchewan. I'm sorry you feel that people who have the determination and ambition to earn an advanced degree are not worth retaining.


I realize that some people who read this may think "Hey Apathetic Bride, I didn't qualify for any type of tax break when I was done school because I graduated before 2006. I don't see what you're complaining about, at least you got a tax break for one year." You're right. I did get a tax break for one year. I will sorely miss that same tax break this year as it really helps pay down my student debt, but that's not really what angers me about this situation. It angers me that the Government of Saskatchewan feels it necessary to cater to graduates of other worthwhile programs, but completely ignores graduates of advanced programs.


Screw you, Saskatchewan Party!

January 20, 2009

So as I was leaving Walmart yesterday, I noticed that while I had been in the store the parking spot ahead of my car had a new occupant. The giant white car that was now occupying the space seemed awfully close to my car, so I went to invesigate. Turns out it was awfully close to my car. So close, in fact, that I couldn't even get my finger between the two cars. I did check when I got home and there was no evidence that the driver of the white car had hit my car, but it was a little close for comfort.

My car is the blue one, by the way.

January 19, 2009

I had to go to Walmart this week. I generally despise Walmart and I avoid it when I can, but since I work very close to one I occasionally run out there to buy household essentials (TP, cat litter, shampoo, you get the idea). Today I was headed to the pet area and I noticed a little sparrow jumping around on some of the high shelves. He must have gotten into the store through one of the loading dock doors and now can't figure out how to get out. The staff had opened up a bag of birdseed for him (her?) to snack on, so I guess the little thing could be much worse off.

Still, I'd go nuts if I was stuck inside Walmart and couldn't figure out how to get myself out of there.

January 18, 2009

We've been in the deep freeze weather-wise for the last 3-4 weeks or so. I'm talking daytime highs of around -30oC with windchills down into the -45 degree range. This week, it went from -30 on Monday to +4 on Sunday. To celebrate, Ian built a snowman in our backyard. The snowman felt the need to celebrate also, so Ian gave him a bottle of beer. The picture doesn't really do it (him?) justice, since Ian actually manufactured very detailed hair and facial features.

Hey Winter, we're all quite ready for Spring to show up!

January 5, 2009

Yummiest supper ever.

The original recipe can be found here, but I added portabello mushrooms and I cut down on the onion. I also added a couple of tablespoons of salsa onto the tortilla before I added the veggies and cheese.