Thursday, November 30, 2006

I have been meaning to buy Sarah McLachlan's Christmas CD for some time now and just never got around to it. Then today I got a surprise in the mail from my friend Becca who had burned me a copy and sent it to me. I was so excited. THANK YOU Becca, your awesome!! I have been listening to it all day and I love it.

The season premiere of Scrubs is on tonight. Chris and I are both VERY excited, it's one of our fav shows.

I think we are going to go and get our Christmas tree this weekend, we were going to go last weekend with some friends to a tree farm in Vermont but we were so busy with all our Christmas shopping and wanting to get that done we didn't get to go. So hopefully this weekend.....

Monday, November 27, 2006

Someone needs to get some crazy pills......

As most of you know, I am a dog walker. Most of my clients are in the same area so when I go out walking with them it's always around the same place and to the same parks etc. I tend to see people on a regular basis that live in the neighborhood. Most of them I talk with or say hello to as I am passing by. Most of the time when there is other dogs at the park with their owners I will chat with the owners while the dogs play or whatever. There is one lady however I avoid EVERY time and even if I just got to the park I will turn around and walk the other way because I just cannot handle her craziness.

You see the first handful of times I saw her it was at a distance and I never spoke with her. She wears this oriental style hat, big black gloves and a bandana up over her face. She has 2 dogs who I actually feel sorry for. They seem decently taken care of, but who really wants to live with a crazy lady. At first I didn't know she was crazy, at first I just thought that maybe she had a skin condition and she couldn't be exposed to the sun. Turns out it's some gothic reasoning. I also for the longest time thought she was oriental. I totally do not mean that in a racist way but generally the only time I see people wearing those style of hats it is an oriental woman.

The first encounter I ever had with her was short. There is an aids hospice next to the park where I take my dogs. There is this one guy I see at least twice a day and he always makes a point of coming to say hi to the dogs. He was standing talking with me this day when she walked by and asked me what kind of dog I had. As I started to answer her her dog went up to the guy and she said "get away from the faggot!" My jaw about hit the ground I was so shocked. How do you just say something like that to someone!? I wanted to tell her off but I was too shocked to say anything. He just laughed and said "she is always like that, shes the crazy in this neighborhood."

My next encounter with her I was lucky enough to be engaged in some fascinating conversation with her that really let me know just how crazy she was. I was at the park sitting reading my book while the dog I was walking was doing dog stuff, you know......Sniffing, rolling around in dirt etc....I had no chance at escape as one of her dogs came running right over to us and she was not far behind him. Right away she started peppering me with questions.....What kind of dog? What's his name? Is he yours? Where did you get him? Does he sleep on a mattress?????? WHAT? I made the mistake of asking her what she meant.....She proceeded to tell me that if you get a mattress ( and she meant an actual mattress that we sleep on) for your dog that they will be happier and have a better quality of life and posture etc. Uh ok......I tried to say I had to go and started to walk away but she walked with me. She told me all about her bike and where I should go to buy one, she told me about bakeries that give her free bread. I thought yeah if you walk in there with that bandana on your face they prob give it you for free cause they think you are robbing them. Anyways......Eventually our conversation turned in a direction that really let me know she wasn't all there. She invited me to go to this protest type thing downtown Boston the following day protesting psychiatrists and psychologists and how their medication was killing the people of America. Hmmmm, now that I think of it maybe she is friends with Tom Cruise. I finally was able to get away from her that day and have pretty much avoided her ever since. Other people I know have not been so lucky. Once day she told my friend Chris (whose dog Maggie I used to walk) that it was wrong of the masonry people to be working on the bricks on the buildings because they were "de-nuding them."

She is all sorts of wacked. The other day Chris and I were driving home after he had picked me up for the day and we saw her out riding her bike, hat and all. She was riding on the road going the same direction as us. As we were approaching a fairly busy intersection she cut over to the left side of the traffic as if she was going to go left. We had a green light and as we were going through she popped out of nowhere from the left, jumped off her bike and walked right in front of us. Chris had to hit his breaks or he would have hit her. He also felt the need to honk at her to let her know we were there and she needed to move. As soon as he honked she lunged towards the vehicle, at first I thought she was going to punch the windshield but instead she just got real close and yelled you !#%@ing @*$^&sucker!!! Wow, the RAGE! A few mins later as we were sitting in traffic we saw her coming our way in the rearview mirror. We both starting laughing as Chris said she reminded him of the wicked witch of the west riding her bike saying "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!!"

So there is your story for the day, I hope you enjoyed and watch out for the crazies out there.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Oh my goodness, Chris and I hit the shops today and got almost ALL of our Christmas shopping done. I was so excited. We did really well and are even under budget. Now to get all the
wrapping paper etc and get it all boxed up and sent off to Edmonton and Seattle. Yippee!!

Chris and I had a very nice Thanksgiving. We spent the day with our friends, Becca and Travis. Amy and Troy, Troy's mom and our friend Dave. The food was yummy, the company even better. Chris and I are thankful we have friends here we can spend the holidays with when we are so far from home. We ate a lot of food, watched football and played games. Fun times!! And Becca you did an awesome job on the turkey and hosting. Thanks for having us, you guys are awesome:)

Troy, Amy and Nettie (how cute is she all posing)

Turkey for everyone
We played Balderdash which I normally do halfway decent at. Well if you notice the ORANGE game piece at the beginning and where the rest of the players are you will see how horrible I played. I think I ended up making it 4 spots or something like that. Brutal. Oh well, I guess it was better than the time we played Scrabble and I played so bad my best word of the night was FART only later to be topped when I added an S to it to make the word FARTS! lol

Thursday, November 23, 2006

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there and happy Thursday to everyone else:)

Chris and I are off to some friends for a yummy turkey dinner. But before I go I thought I would share the pictures of my turkey cupcakes that I was very excited to make and very proud of:)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

10 Years......

10 years is a long time. And yet 10 years can go by so fast that if you blink you miss half of it. I recently received an email survey asking about things I have done or accomplished in the past 10 years, or how I have changed in those the past 10 years. It really got me thinking about where I have been, the people I have met and the things I have done.

In the past 10 years I have been through times of joy and happiness and times of sorrow and sadness. When I think of the trials and hard times I have been through and the mistakes I have made I have never once wished I could change any of it. All of those things have helped me grow and learn. Perhaps the only regret I have is people who I have hurt or friendships that were lost during certain times. You take life for what it is, you learn, you grow and you move on and hopefully become a better person for it.

One of the great joys for me in the past 10 years was meeting and marrying my husband Chris who I met while I was living in Vancouver BC and he was living in Seattle, Washington. We have been together for almost 5 years and married for just over two. My whole life I have always wanted a dog and finally got one almost 3 years ago. She is a total brat but she is my baby and I love her to death. In the past 10 years my brother Dave and his wife Susan brought two little boys into this world. I love my nephews a lot and it makes me sad I can't be closer to them and see them more. In January 2004 my dad was remarried to a wonderful woman who I have yet to meet. But he is so happy that I don't need to meet her to know how wonderful she is.When I married Chris my family was greatly expanded as he comes from a pretty big family. I am grateful that all these people are a part of my life.

One thing that stands out to me when I think of all these things, good and bad, is that my mum was not here for any of them. 10 years ago today my mum, Margaret Floyd passed away at the far too young age of 49 years old after a short but hard fought battle against cancer. This was by far the hardest time in my life. People have asked me over the years if I think death is easier to accept and deal with when you know that it is coming. I am not sure I really know the answer to that but in some ways I think knowing makes it harder. I think people are more likely to be in denial and to always think it won't really happen, that they will be cured. I know for me there was a part of me that always thought she would get better and I think when she didn't it was that much more devastating for me. I remember the day I found out she had terminal cancer like it was yesterday. I was working at camp that summer. I remember sitting in a room with my brother and his wife and the pastors of our church at the time and my bosses from camp. They said she had a year at the most and 5 months later she was gone. Watching someone you love more than anything die from something so horrible is something I pray I will never have to go through again. It changes you. I am just so thankful that I have a faith in God that pulled me through that time in my life and made me better for it.

My mum was my best friend. She was the person I told everything too, she was the person who always made me feel better and always new the right things to say and do. She loved her family so much and I know the hardest thing for her was not leaving this world but leaving her family. She loved the Lord with all her heart and I know without a doubt in my mind she is in heaven with Him and I will one day see her again. The way she lived her life, loved her family and served God forever changed me. Knowing her made me a better person and for that I am forever grateful. I miss her and think about her often. You don't ever stop missing someone, it just gets easier over time and eventually when you think of them its with a smile and not tears. Most of the time when I think of her I smile because I have so many wonderful memories of her. But days like today I am sad because of what I lost and what she went through.

Go and tell your husbands/wives, your parents or whoever that you love them. Hug them and thank them for what they mean in your life. Don't take them for granted, not even for a second.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

YUMMY

Chris and I had subs for lunch from D'Angelos. We had their Thanksgiving toasted sub. Stuffing, turkey breast, cranberry sauce, gravy. It was so good. I wasn't sure it would be, but it was and I was happy.

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EQUALS YUMMY!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Chris and I are discussing what we will do for Christmas since we will most likely be staying here in Boston. We don't want to stay in the city and thought it would be nice to get away for somewhere for a day or two. We are currently looking at different Bed and Breakfasts in Vermont. I have never been to Vermont but hear it is beautiful, especially in the winter. I like the thought of packing up our presents, Christmas goodies, our dog Annabelle of course and escaping to some quaint little lodge to spend Christmas just the three of us. Here are some pics of a few of the places we are looking into......





















Tuesday, November 14, 2006

It hit me like a ton of bricks today how fast Christmas is approaching. Insane if you ask me, wasn't it just Christmas yesterday? The fact that Christmas is fast approaching means Chris and I need to get out butts in gear and finish all of our shopping since all of our gifts have to be shipped to Edmonton and Seattle. I love the holiday season. Last year we were in New York City in December and it was awesome. Such a great place to be that time of year. We are considering heading back this December for a few days.

Last night as I was watching a rerun of Dawsons Creek....Yes folks I said Dawsons Creek, it happens to be one of my favorite shows ever and I was devastated when it ended. Anyways back to my point, as I was watching I was suddenly hit with the fact that Katie (sorry Tom, I mean Kate) Holmes is really going to marry that wack job Tom Cruise. It made me sad. They are set to get married this Saturday. Am I the only one hoping that Katie falls and hits her head on the way down the aisle and when she comes to she realizes Tom for the wack job he is and takes off running as fast as she can. Should we all start taking bets on how long this blessed union will last?

On The View this morning Elisabeth Hasselbeck swore by this product......Sassynips

http://www.duematernity.com/sassynips.html

And no she not only used them when she was pregnant, she uses them often and swears by them. Boy these sure would have come in handy back in the day at camp in the freezing cold staff dining room, don't ya think Lori? What was it we called it? Oh yeah, the cold nipple room!!LOL

As I was doing my Tae-Bo this morning I started laughing and could not stop until there were tears rolling down my face and my tummy hurt. Why you ask? Well I would tell but you probably wouldn't it find near as funny as I did. Unless of course your names are Lori, Jenn or Ange. Do you girls remember that day at Lori's place when we tried to do that Tae Bo video? Funny, funny memory!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Happy Monday

Last week I read an article that stated the coffee chain Dunkin Donuts wanted to topple Starbucks. When I read this I laughed and laughed. For those of you who do not know of Dunkin Donuts you aren't missing out. For those of you in Canada Dunkin Donuts is like a poor mans Tim Hortons. It doesn't even come close to measuring up. Before I moved out east the only Dunkin Donuts I had ever been in was a crappy dingy run down one in Seattle. It was the kind of place that makes you want to shower after you leave. Then I moved here and they were on every corner, much like Timmy Ho's is in Canada or Starbucks anywhere. While the DD's out here are much nicer than the lone one in Seattle I still don't think they are any good. The have average coffee and average donuts. They aren't anything special. One thing that was stated in the article was the difference between the vision of each company. Dunkin Donuts promotes drinking coffee as fuel whereas Starbucks promotes it as a way of life. In that case, if DD's wants to topple Starbucks they had better start with a complete remodel of ALL of their stores to appeal to the crowd who goes to Starbucks for the atmosphere and don't care about the price. Anyways that is my rant for the day. Dunkin Donuts started out here in New England so they are everywhere and its annoying. So when I saw that article I couldn't help but laugh.

GOOD LUCK DUNKIN DONUTS....Your going to need it.

My cold seems to be lingering...I hate that.

Nothing exciting to report around here. We had a pretty uneventful weekend as always. Just did some shopping and watched some hockey and football.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

This and That

While I still feel like crap I could not go another day without blogging about my joy in hearing that Britney Spears has finally woke up and filed for divorce from that poor excuse for a man. I feel for her, I don't know what made her think marrying him or having not only one but two kids with him was such a great idea. I hope he gets nothing from her. I find it humorous he is going to challenge her custody fight by fighting for custody himself. Is there a judge or court in this world that would award him custody of those kids?! I really doubt it. While I don't support the idea of divorce, in this case how could you not bend your own beliefs just a little.

It is funny how just last week I was so sad to hear about Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe. I LOVE Reese Witherspoon and I really thought they were one couple that the rumors about splitting would not be true. When I read Britney had filed for divorce I was happy, does that make me a bad person? LOL.

Anywho....Enough about the celebrity world.

I cannot believe how fast December is approaching. Chris and I had originally planned to go to Edmonton for Christmas this year but since plane tickets are ridiculously expensive right now we have decided to wait till February and go then when it is cheaper. I am a little sad, but its only an extra month or so we have to wait to see everyone. We may still go to Seattle, but only if we find a super good deal on tickets, which right now is not looking so promising. Oh the joy of living so far from home.

I think this cold/flu may finally be starting to vacate my body. While I still feel like crap, I definitely feel much better than I did yesterday.

The Oilers started a 5 game road trip last night. They lost in a shootout to the Montreal Canadians. At least they got a point out of it unlike last Friday night when they were robbed of at least one point by a stupid referring "mistake." Tonight they take on the Detroit Red Wings and it might be a tough one. While I don't think the Red Wings are all that great anymore they do have some crazy talent (when they decide to show up) and the Oil will be tired from a game last night. Either way...GO OILERS!!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Out of commission

I have a nasty cold. My head feels like a soggy watermelon ready to explode. That is all.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Birthday Dinner

Last night we went to The Stockyard for supper with some friends to celebrate Chris's birthday. Our friends Troy and Amy, Travis and Becca and Tyrone were there. Our friend Georgette who belongs to Tyrone couldn't make is since she was out of town. So Ty got to fly solo for the evening. The food was very good and although the prices were a little higher, it was a fun place to go for a special occasion. We had our own little function room which was nice. Chris got the "Princess Cut" Prime Rib (fitting) and I had a Teriyaki Sirloin. Below are the boys (Chris, Troy, Travis, and Tyrone) and below that are the girls (Becca, Amy, Me). Below that is Troy gnawing on his full rack of ribs (of which he couldn't finish.) All in all it was a good dinner.

After dinner, Travis and Becca had to leave as Travis had a soccer game at 9. Amy and Troy had to be up early for a hike, so they went home as well. So it was us and Tyrone. He suggested that we go shoot some pool at a place over by Boston University called Big City Billiards. We decided that would be fun, so off we went. The place is pretty nice, and they had a ton of different beers on tap, which excited Chris. We ended up playing pool for about an hour and a half with Tyrone, which I haven't done in a while and I was rusty. But that's ok, fun was had nonetheless.

Friday, November 03, 2006

I thought I was going to get away with not posting the last few days, but Kirsten called me out on it;)

The toilet is still sitting on the street against the lightpole.

The garbage men didn't take our 6 bags of leaves, I am not impressed.

Yesterday was Chris's 29th birthday. I got him a CD (Best of Thin Lizzy), movie (Nacho Libre) and a brand new golf bag that I got for half off. Nice. 50 bucks instead of 100. I even made a cake....I know I know, I rock. We had supper at Applebees and tonight we are going to The Stockyard with some friends.

With that I must run, have a great day!