Sleep???? Who needs it....

Ok so if you notice the time I am writing this it is LATE or early I suppose, whichever way you want to look at it. My clock currently says 3:04 AM, and WHY am I awake at 3 AM you ask??? Well I really don't know. I cannot sleep..Why? I am not totally sure. It could be the fact that my allergies are doing a number on me lately and I am miserable, or it could be the fact that we went out for dinner tonight for some friends Bdays. What I thought was going to be a fun time turned out being rather crappy. It's a long story, one I don't feel like going into. Plus I don't want to sound stupid considering tonight probably wasn't really as bad as I thought it was...but that big bad word INSECURITY tells me otherwise. Anyways....

I thought I should update on the Belle/Camping chairs situation...lol. So last night Chris and I again are in bed ASLEEP when Belle got all bent out of shape again over the stupid chairs, and started barking and freaking out. She did not calm down till she knew the chairs were put away and far from where they could apparently harm her. ALSO she seems to have regular showdowns with the heater in our kitchen....if her ball gets to close to it she will not get it, she will bark until one of us come and get it for her. And most of the time when she walks by it she stops to look at it as if its going to jump out at her. Gotta love dogs!!

Alright, that is all I need to try and get some sleep if I am going to get anything useful accomplished tomorrow! Happy weekending to everyone, hopefully mine will end better than it started.

Hockey, Football and Chick Flicks

I am not sure if I have mentioned this yet but Chris is going to Seattle for a week this month for some training on some new machines. I have NO IDEA what the heck I am going to do for a whole week by myself. For starters we don't have a car. We decided not to get one when we moved out here cause Chris has his own work vehicle. Most times I am thankful we don't have a car because of the outrageous gas prices this last year, but times like this is when I really really wish we had one. Don't get me totally wrong, I look forward to time to do whatever I want, watch all the chick flicks I want etc... But lets face it I'm gonna miss him. And nevermind the BORED factor.

On to more important things...

Hockey is starting very very soon and I could not be more excited. I mean aside from the fact we had to go a whole year without it, this will be the first time in a couple of years I have lived in a hockey city of a team I actually like. Don't get me wrong I am a die hard Oilers fan and always will be. When I moved to Vancouver BC it sucked cause I HATE THE CANUCKS so very much and I never wanted to spend money to go to any of their games. The only games I went to there were when the Oilers were in town and then when I started dating Chris when the Avalanche were in town. Of course there is no pro hockey team in Seattle so that really sucked. But now here we are in Boston, a hockey city...A team I like and am happy to pay to go see play. However I am very UNHAPPY with the hockey schedule and the fact that not once do the Oilers come here this year. However we will be going to some games in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia etc... to go to both Oil and Avalanche games. October 5th will start as a very happy day at our house being that that's NHL opening night, but one of us will end up going to bed unhappy as Edmonton and Colorado play each other that night:) It is my hope that I will be the one going to bed happy that night, but we shall see.

For my two lovely blogging friends from Vancouver I hope with all my heart that the Oilers will kick some serious butt against your Canuckleheads. And if we don't I still love you just the same. LOL.

We are also pretty happy that the NFL season kicks off tonight, with the Mariners SUCKING with the worst of the baseball world we are looking forward to football and the Seahawks as well as hockey. And yes in case you haven't guessed Chris and I are both sports nuts.

My Dog...Sometimes I Just Shake My Head

My dog really is "special" sometimes. So last night at 3 AM Chris and I are awakened by Belle half standing, half crouching in the middle of the floor barking at something in the corner. We turn the light on thinking that maybe we had another mouse, except she was acting all scared and cowering away. She would creep over here towards the computer and the jump back and bark. We were baffled as to what her problem was. Finally Chris went over and moved our 2 camping chairs that were standing in the corner folded up in their bags. As soon as Chris picked them up Belle scurried away. Chris put them in the closet and she climbed into bed and laid down and was fine. So tell me this....Why have they been in the same place for TWO WEEKS and just now she decided they were bothering her or scaring her. She has a few screws loose if you ask me...But I love her anyways, she's my baby no matter how retarded she may seem at times! LOL

On another note Chris and I watched Sahara on Sunday night. I wasn't totally sure that I would really like it, turns out I did. We both really enjoyed it. I like movies that have adventure and action and comedy all together. Steve Zahn always cracks me up. So yeah, I would recommend it. But if you go out and rent it and don't like it don't come yelling at me. To each their own;)

Please Just Revoke All Their Drivers Licenses!!!

Driving in Massachusetts and especially Boston is always somewhat of a challenge. People just plain can't drive here, it's a proven fact. Not only can they not drive but they are rude as all get out. Boston is a beautiful city, but if I have learned anything it's that people here just aren't very friendly. Add that to bad driving and it just isn't a good combination. Ok so on every highway and freeway etc.. There is the shoulder/breakdown lane...Whatever you want to call it. Now it has always seemed to me that the whole point of it in the first place is a safe place to stop out of the way of traffic in case of a BREAKDOWN and or other emergency where you need to pull off the road and out of the way of traffic. WELL....The geniuses who make the road rules out here decided that it would be ok for people to DRIVE in the shoulder during certain times of the day. Now this confuses me to no end, WHERE DO YOU GO IF YOU BREAKDOWN???? Well you certainly cannot pull over to the right like you normally would cause you would get railed by some dumbass driving in that lane cause he thinks it gets him somewhere faster. Not only is there that aspect of it, it is just scary in general. I mean trying to exit off the freeway when you have to worry about some retard barreling into you from something that isn't even a lane in the first place is a challenge in itself. And really, can you please tell me what RETARD thought this would be a good idea?! Too the point where it is actually allowed and there are signs stating so!! It baffles me, I mean doesn't it defeat the whole purpose of the "breakdown" lane?!

Here is a little something I found poking fun at the driving here in Boston. Sadly, it's all true!!

DRIVING IN BOSTON

Basic Rules for Driving in Boston:

-- Never take a green light at face value. Always look right and left before proceeding.
-- When on a one way street, stay to the right to allow traffic to pass coming the other direction.
-- Taxicabs should always be given the right of way, unless you are bent on suicide.
-- Never, ever, stop for a pedestrian unless he flings himself under the wheels of your car. Most multicar pileups are caused this way.
-- Double-park in the North End of Boston, unless triple-parking is available.
-- Always look both ways when running a red light.
-- It is traditional in Boston to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes. Color doesn't matter.
-- Never put your faith in signs that purport to provide directions. They are put there to confuse people who don't know their way around the city. And to confuse those who do but are detoured by the Big Dig.
-- Use extreme caution when pulling into breakdown lanes. Breakdown lanes are not for breaking down, but for speeding, especially during rush hour. Breakdown lanes may also end without warning causing traffic jams as people merge back in.
-- The yellow light is not, as commonly supposed outside the Boston area, a signal to slow down. It is a warning to speed up and get through the intersection before the light turns red. As a result, yellow lights only light for a quarter of a second.
-- In making a left turn from the right lane, employ the element of surprise. That is, do it as suddenly as possible, so as to stun other drivers. Crossing entire 4 lane roads in one block always gains the respect and salutes.
-- Speed limits are arbitrary figures posted only to make you feel guilty.
-- Whenever possible, stop in the middle of a crosswalk to ensure inconveniencing as many pedestrians as possibble.
-- Remember that the goal of every Boston driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

Just for Mike:)

Lets Go OILERS!!

Gee guys I didn't know you were Oilers fans. NICE Jerseys girls;)

I have been asked by some what my and the hubby are up to this weekend so I thought that I would share the exciting plans we have with you all. NOTHING!! LOL. We are doing nothing. Chris is in need of some serious couch time so as not to aggravate his knee. That and he is a little loopy from the percocet so its probably best we stay home! haha!

I Think My Dog is "Special"

So my dog spent the better part of an hour this evening pushing her bed all over the living room. At each stop she made along the way she clawed at it as if she were fluffing a pillow. Then she would lay down for about 30 seconds before she was back up and pushing her bed to its next destination. I don't know why, and I don't think she knows why. It was definitely entertaining.

Let the Cutting Begin...and end...QUICKLY!!

I know you all want stories of blood and horror and havoc from Chris's knee surgery today. But I am sorry to say I do not have that....

We arrived at the surgery center shortly after 11:45am, after Chris filled out some paper work it was another 30 minutes or more before they took him in. They came for him around 12:30. I had brought my book and a magazine so the wait wasn't so bad, plus there was a TV as well. It was about 2 hours before the nurse came to get me to go sit with Chris until they decided he could go. All went well, we are home now after a stop at the pharmacy to get his painkillers. The local anesthetic on his knee has yet to wear off, the doctor told him there will be a good half hour of throbbing once it does. So anyways lots of icing it and painkillers, he will start physical therapy next week and back to work on Wednesday. Our only hope is that he doesn't get an infection, when he broke his left elbow he ended up with an infection that resulted in a week in the hospital. Anyways as for now all is well and he is glad its done and over with. And I am off to make dinner!!

Chris was on call this past weekend so as usual that meant sticking close to home. I really can't even remember what we did on Friday, if anything. Saturday was spent working around here, we were supposed to go to a friends house warming party but Chris ended up getting a call and most of our evening was spent doing that. Normally on the weekends when Chris is on call I will go with him. I don't mind cause I get free drinks at Starbucks and it gives me time to catch up on any reading I might be in the middle of. Sunday we were getting ready for church when Chris got another call that he couldn't put off as both of their machines were down. So I crawled back into bed and he was gone at that store for around 3 hours. Later in the evening we went to a BBQ at Jeff and Carolynne's. It was our "post season bbq" for all the softball folk. Good times, almost all the guys showed up that were on the team except one who moved and another who just couldn't make it. Chris was pleasantly surprised to find out that Jeff had blown up a team picture and had all the guys sign it and also gave him a softball signed by all the guys in one of those little cases. A thank you for getting the team together and dealing with it all. Fun times. That was our weekend, nothing too exciting.

Chris has his knee surgery tomorrow afternoon and he just found out this morning he is going to Seattle Sept 19-23 for training on some new machines. Fun for him cause he gets to spend some time with his fam and with Shawn and Celeste. I wish I could go but it's a little too short notice for us to fork up the money for a plane ticket for me. That and we aren't prepared to pay for boarding for the dog for a week.

I know I have been saying this a lot lately but the weeks are flying by right now. I cannot believe that tomorrow is September 1st. INSANE! And never mind the weeks flying by, this last year has gone by so fast. Our one year anniversary is coming up on September 12 and we have lived in Boston now for almost a year. I sit here trying to figure out where this last year has gone. For the most part it has been a great year for both Chris and myself. But how it has gone by this stinking fast is beyond me.

Just for fun

I was bored, so I made this little quiz about me on Bebo.com. So if you want click here and check it out and see how you do :)

Boy Was I MAD!!!

Last night Chris and I went grocery shopping. We got their around 7 and they don't close till 11. Now, All of their specials and sales go from Friday to Thursday every week. Chris and I made our way around the grocery store filling up our cart and being sure to take advantage of a lot of the deals. I love when there are good deals cause we end up getting much more than usual and for a much better price. Anyways we finally finish and get to the checkout only to find out that ALL the so called sale prices that we THOUGHT we were getting were in fact not in effect until today. WHAT!?!?!?!?? See, somehow they figured it would be ok to change ALL their tags at 7pm when they were open for FOUR more hours and somehow all of us shoppers were supposed to just know. Boy was I seeing red. When I worked at a grocery store they had 3 or 4 people work overnight once a week for the purpose of changing all the price tags. It really makes NO logical sense whatsoever to do that when they are still open and there are unsuspecting shoppers.

I cannot believe that it is Friday again already, I don't know where the time is going lately. Chris is on call this weekend so we won't be straying to far from home. Although we do have a housewarming party to go to tomorrow night and on Sunday evening we have a BBQ to go to.

That is all.....Have a great weekend!

We have a room that is quite small so we use it more as a closet. Anyways we started putting Belle in there with the light off when she was bad. At first she would bark and scratch at the door, but the more we put her in there the less we heard her. One day as Chris and I were doing things around the house we couldn't find her , we looked everywhere not thinking of the room where she goes when she is bad. Finally we looked there, and wouldn't you know it there she was all curled up sound asleep in the laundry basket. Little bugger, she freaking likes it in there! Ha! Needless to say she now goes in the bathroom with the light off when she is bad, and believe me she HATES it.

Friday Already????

Can someone tell me where this week went? Cause before I blinked last it was Monday and now it's Friday. Crazy!

I made the YUMMIEST asparagus beef stirfry last night, it was grub! Just thought you should all know that.

So Chris tore his Medial meniscus and is having arhtroscopic knee surgery on Sept 1st. I am not really sure it qualifies as "surgery" considering it takes all of 10 minutes and he gets to watch the whole thing.

Have I mentioned lately I am going to the Caribbean in only 9 1/2 months??? YAAAAAAAY!

One other thing, I REALLY want to see this March of the Penguins movie. Although I am sure Chris already knew due to the fact I get excited everytime I see the previews for it he laughed at me. He claimed he only laughed cause he thinks its "cute" that I get like that when I see it. Anyways he says there are a ton of other movies he would rather see. Well then POOP on him, I will go by myself. LOL. Cause I love animals and I love Penguins and I am going to go see it darnit.

So there ya have it, random rambling for a Friday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Oh and I had to post this pic cause it totally made me laugh, Andrea sent it to me after she saw it on ebay...What will people think of next. Its a freaking water bowl in the shape of a toilet. LOL

Farewell to Lester....

BEFORE

After months and months of evading we THINK we got him. You see we strategically placed traps down here in our place and upstairs in our landlords kitchen. Somehow this mouse or mice were not getting caught in the traps but eating the food. Anyways Monday morning Alex calls downstairs to us saying she got one in one of the traps upstairs. It turned out NOT to be Lester as Lester was fat and this one was not. Hmmmmm. so we had more than one...Lovely. They tried to convince me to come see it but really a dead mouse is not the first thing I want to see in the morning. But don't worry both Alex and Chris were sure to tell me how the trap got the little guy right across the face and one of his eyes were bulging out. LOL. YUM!! We left all the other traps out and sure enough a few hours later Alex came home from the store and again yelled down to me that she got another and she was sure it was Lester. Again I did not go see it. But apparently the fat bugger got himself caught but somehow managed to get out of the trap and crawl a little away. Tough guy, but not tough enough as he was found dead with blood coming out of his head!

See you all missed me SO much, I bet you are wishing I hadn't shown up this morning to tell you this story in such great detail:) I figure if I had to hear about it then so did you. Alright so it's been two days and we have not seen or heard a thing. So my guess is it was only the two. Maybe they were boyfriend and girlfriend and they were shacking up. HA! Well whatever they were, they are no longer.

I should make a point of saying these pictures aren't actually Lester...just a representation of that fateful morning:)

AFTER

I Think We Will Name Him Lester....

So we checked all 3 mouse traps last night and all three had the peanut butter gone but NO mouse. That's right, he ate it and went on his merry little way. I really think we have the smartest mouse on the planet living here.

Chris and Evey's Caribbean Getaway

What are these pictures below you ask? They are pictures of the beautiful island of St Lucia.

Chris and I are taking a wonderful vacation next June to the Caribbean. The honeymoon we never had if you will. We fly out of Boston at 7:30 AM on June 24th and return on July 1st. We will be staying at one of the Sandals all-inclusive resorts. Most likely Halcyon Beach. The cool thing is that there are three Sandals resorts on St Lucia within close distance of each other. If you stay at one you get to "play at three." So we will have the choice of 14 or so restaurants as opposed to only the three at our resort. Also the use of all the other facilities at the other resorts. I am very excited about the all-inclusive thing and the idea of not having to worry about how much money we have left etc. Some of the things included in the all inclusive package are....

All meals, anytime snacks, fine dining
Unlimited premium drinks
Scuba diving
Golf
Sailing, water skiing, snorkeling & more
Land sports
Tips & gratuities

I could not be more excited about this trip. I have never really been anywhere outside of Canada or the United States. Well except of course the fact that I spent the first three years of my life in Scotland. I just have never really travelled anywhere. A lot of that might be due to the fact I am terrified of flying. But the thought of white sand, blue ocean and being able to sit on a stool in a pool drinking margaritas just may get me over my fear very quickly.

We really had NO plans to take a vacation like this until last Saturday. Last year Chris's sister Alicia and her husband Paul got some free vouchers through US Airways because the airline had screwed up their flights. The vouchers were good for roundtrip flights anywhere in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean. Alicia and Paul were heading to LAX on Saturday to cash in 2 of the vouchers for their vacation next summer. They offered the other 2 to us since they had to be used by Tuesday or they would become void. So we thought about it, talked about it and decided we would use the tickets. We quickly looked at places in the Caribbean and decided on St Lucia. Chris called Alicia and when they were at the airport booking their flights they also booked ours. So thank you to A and P for such a wonderful opportunity.


The first pic below is a map of the Island, if you click on it and enlarge it look to the top left of the map. Just north of the capital city of Castries is Choc Bay. Choc Bay is where Halcyon Beach is located.

IT LIVES!!!!

What does it take to kill a mouse?? I mean really...we have done EVERYTHING!! It evades traps, it apparently is immune to mouse and rat poison. After months of thinking we were rid of this creature we couldn't be more wrong. It is 3:30 AM and we have been kept up all night by this STUPID mouse squeaking and running around in our ceiling for ours. If I get my hands on this little bugger he will be begging for just a mouse trap.

The McClees Family

From left to right is Chris, Me, Grandpa McClees and his wife Char, John and Linda (Chris's parents), Trevor is standing in front of Linda, Alicia, Paul, Grandma and Grandpa Williams, Andrea, Bryan (Chris's bro) and Gavin in the front.


So this is a pic from Alicia's (Chris's sister) wedding June 27/04. She sent me this pic the other day and I think its awesome. It's rare you get a pic of this many people that actually looks good.