Eye Sore of Our Home: Edition Two: The Weed Garden

For those of you who have been to our house, you may have seen Eye Sore #2 - what I like to call the Weed Garden. Originally a sand pit for kids to play in, Rob and I just didnt know what to do with it. Although the dog sure liked laying in it.
After living here for three years, it finally came to me - fill it with bark chips and some decorate plants and....done! After some convincing, Rob came around to the brilliance of my idea as well ;)

Step One: Convince dog to take a picture with the weeds:


Step Two: Put tarp on weeds:


Step Three: Put bark on tarp. Or rather get husband to put bark on tarp as you weed the front gardens.


Step Four: Have said husband pose with his work...


Step Five: Stick some decorative potted plants in the bark...and...DONE!!!

Eye Sore of Our Home: Edition One: The Desk

Im taking ... uh.....a page? .....from Karen's blog and will be showing Rob and my attempts at home improvement. Its called - selling the house.

Eye Sore #1 of our home - the desk. Rob and I decided to buy a new desk when I quit the PC (YAHOOO BITE ME BITE ME BITE ME) and went to working from home on a contract basis. With two computers and oodles of files - we just needed more space.

Not being overwhelmed with cash - we toodled off to the AECL annual garage sale and bought a hideous but big desk for $20 and set it up in my new home office. As you can see below...it was rather hideous...

This past Saturday, while searching for organisational items at our local Ikea, we saw...THE DESK. A tempered glass top with the word 'love' written on it in different languages, with a base of your choice. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/20120799

We just had to have it! (Although I did warn Rob it would be the height of femininity.) Sunday - after an hour of dismantling the old desk and bringing it to the garage - and another hour of assembling the Ikea items - THE DESK was up and operational and I am now sitting at it to write this blog. Its BEAUTIFUL and makes the room seem much bigger. Bring on the open houses!

Grandmothers, Wonderland and Puppies!

Rob and I took a road trip this weekend to Toronto to visit with my 18 year old cousin Naomi. Naomi just graduated from high school and had come to Ontariofrom northern British Columbia for her graduation gift. Having not seen her since she was fifteen, I thought it would be a good chance to catch up and perhaps go to Wonderland as well. I was psyched: But the cats sure looked worried, but more on this later:


First things first - the drive. It was non-eventful. Except for when I asked Rob to talk to me and he whined "I dont want tooooooooo". Ah love. So, to entertain myself - I took a pic of the 401 as we entered the T dot.

I also asked Rob if he had remembered to feed the cats and leave them some extra food for the weekend as I surely hadnt. #(*$&*#^ he said. Damn. Two hungry cats to look forward to when we get home.

Now, for the visit with my grandmother. Gotta love Nana C. 87 years old and she acts as though she is only 67. Its fabulous! Nana kindly agreed to take us in for the weekend and provide some sleeping space. What this translates into is Hubby and I sleeping in seperate bedrooms. Not because we arent allowed to sleep in the same bedroom - we are married so its okay in her eyes. Nope, its due to tiny, itty bitty, ancient beds.

Bedroom #1 is the blue bedroom.
Bed size: Double. (Two people, near or over 6 feet tall + double bed = arguement)
Interesting Feature: Pictures of my grandfather, father and uncle stairing down at you.
Creepy Feature: Bedroom my grandfather used while dying of cancer.

Bedroom #2: Sewing Room.
Bed size: Single, foam mattress, lowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww to the floor.
Interesting Feature: Wall made out of cork board with pictures of the grandchildren when they were much younger and much uglier.
Creepy Feature: Pictures of the grandchildren when they were much younger and much uglier!!!
We arrived Friday night and promptly went to bed. Saturday morning - enjoying the video feature on the camera - I decided to film Nana C in her house coat. As you will see...she was impressed...





Enter the cousin. Naomi is a pretty pretty little little thing. As little as Karen you ask? mmmm. Just about. And she is training to be a big machine mechanic. Mining equipment and the like! She was likewise psyched to go to Wonderland with her 'cool' cousin (her words...not mine....damnit I AM COOL!) We picked her up in Bramalea and headed out. All was well until....Rob saw the walk from the parking spot:



He was NOT happy (though the short asian woman behind him didnt seem to mind). But more on this later...
Naomi was not bothered by the distance though....



Nor was I until I realized the length of the line to get in and just how stinkin' hot it was!





Luckily we found the water rides where I discoverd just how much taller I was than Naomi (and seemingly wider, hmmmmmm)....




...and some more roller coasters....




We then decided to head to Splashworks (http://www.canadaswonderland.com/attractions/category.cfm?ac_id=25) to cool off. Thus we had to head to the car and get our swim suits. Ummm. But we couldnt remember where said car was. Insert Rob being cranky here. Insert Rob feeling sick here. Insert Rob throwing up here. He he he. Okay the last part didnt happen but it almost did!!


After a long sunburnt day in Wonderland we headed to my Aunt's house for dinner and chit chat...until 2 in the morning. Boy was spritely 87 year old Nana C p*ssed off when we got home!




Flash forward....next day.


Out of the kindness of our hearts - we offered to pick up a three month old beagle puppy for a friend's Aunt. His name is Ziggy and he was a squishy, gooshy, loving cuddle bear of a puppy. And Rob said I couldnt keep him. For the sheer joy of it....here is Ziggy.

Oh, and the cats still arent speaking to me...

Ottawa Running Weekend

It is that time of year again - the annual Ottawa Running Weekend http://www.ncm.ca/index.php/en/home. In an effort to continue my goal of becoming a running god - or at least be able to run without wishing for death - I ran the 10 km race with my dear long legged friend Rhonda. In order to get a glimpse into this great atheletes mind (AHAHAHAHAHA) I have decided to summarize the experience.

Pre Race Line Up: It wouldnt be right if we were on time. So we werent. With much panic, we tried to get through the thousands upon thousands of runners to get to the 1hr plus section.

The Race Begins!: Um. Sort of. The gun is shot and all the elite runners start. Due to us being far back in the "fat and decrepit" group it took us a good ten minutes to actually cross the start line.

Km 1: The first kilometre went well. Lots of cheering folks including my hubby, my sister and two nieces.

KM 2: Running pace was good. We were averaging 5-7 minutes per kilometre which, for me, is pretty darn EXCELLENT!

Km 3: Saw our first victim of the "if I run really really fast it wont hurt as much" mentality. Poor girl was on the side of the road being attended to by EMTs. Also saw the first victim of the "if I wear a cute outfit I will run better" mentality. She wore running skorts. Chafed legs ensued. Wasnt pretty.

Km 4: Feeling good, feeling strong.

Km 5: Water station! Excellent! And oh look, there are some folks handing out energy jell on a stick. Got some of that...but oh my it didnt taste very good. Compensated by drinking two cups of water. At which point I faced my enemy....the hill. Pant pant pant curse curse curse curse and TA DA! Finished the hill and the 5 km section at about 40 minutes. A new record for me!

Km 6: Well that was good. Can I go home now? FIVEMOREKILOMETRESWHATWASIHINKINGWASIONDRUGS?!?!?!?!



Km 7: Rhonda sprinted off to find a port-o-johnny. At which point I realized two important things. One, if there is sun in my eyes I run slower. Two, if Rhonda isnt around, I walk.

Km 7.5: Saw another 'energy jell' stop. Damnit, I ate vaseline. Explains the questionable taste.

Km 8: I cant dooooooooooooo thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. No yes I can, just think of the dessert I can have afterwards. Think of Jann Arden, she was chunky and ran. Right, left, right, left, right left....

Km 9: Seriously...did they move the finish line 'cause I dont think this is 10 km. No I think this is more like 15 and this is a big joke on all us keeners.

750 metres to go: Walking is good. Im okay with walking.

500 metres to go: Maybe I should run. Charlotte will be watching my big finish and I dont want her to see me giving up;.

1 metre to go: Screw it ... I am going to show Rhonda. Im gonna sprint past her at the end...

Finish Line: Na na na boo boo I won!

Now for the big question - my time. I have no idea. Will keep you posted though!

Oh, and remind me next year not to engage in such stupid activities.

Trying to Walk the Dog

Rob is having problems with walking the dog lately...



Me? Not so much....

How to deal with long flights and jet lag....words of wisdom from moi!!

As some of you may know, I just returned from a trip to Bali, Indonesia. Total flying time = 21 hours. Time difference = 12 hours. Although I didnt make it AROUND the world, we did fly over the world as routing was over the North Pole and down to South East Asia. Party on. So here is some wisdom I have gained over this, and many other, long flights as well as combatting the evil jet lag....

1. Get an aisle seat. I dont care if you are short or tall, fat or thin. Get an aisle seat! You can stretch out your legs more, you wont feel claustrophobic and most importantly, you can ask the attendent for water and bevies every time she walks by.

2. Get the pressure socks: I have heard they work. And I really should invest as my ankles ended up looking like this by the time I arrived in Hong Kong. Thats right folks, complete lack of ankle bone.

3. Pee early and often: After about five hours the bathroom will be disgusting and, Im sure, disease ridden. Plus, you can guarantee that there will be some man who wont put the toilet seat down and wont flush the damn toilet either!!

4. Get up and stretch: I recommend the bulk head area unless there is a screaming child, in which case, back near the kitchenette. You can talk up the attendents and get more bevies.

5. Get a nice soft travel pillow: This is the only way to sleep semi-comfortably I have learned. First, take a sleeping pill. Second, place the travel pillow on the back of the seat in front of you. Then lean forward. If you have an a**hole whom insists on putting his or her seat all the way back so that their head is in your lap, this technique just wont work. As for airline attendent intervention.

6. Master the heavy sigh: It will let people know of your irritation without leading to violence.

Toe Update

Its been a week. The toe is coming along nicely - I can walk without a limp! But dancing on pointe is just out.

Below, toe after six days...Nilla was very sympathetic...either that or she was contemplating eating my feet.