A Different kind of Journey

A couple weeks ago, I loaned out my hiking backpack to a co-worker who will be hiking part of the Grand Canyon this winter.

I am insanely jealous.

A couple years ago, I was supposed to go on an epic girls adventure to Las Vegas, which would have included a close up and personal view of the Grand Canyon.  For reasons beyond my control, my plane never left Buffalo.  Rainy, boring Buffalo.

When I found out that this co-worker, and her husband, and a few other people were going to be actually hiking IN the Grand Canyon, well, it was all I could do to contain myself.  What an excellent adventure!  I sure did get right on the internet, look up the Grand Canyon National Park website, find all the maps, do all the price calculations, and plan myself an epic two week Grand Canyon road trip - complete with a five day hike through the canyon!

Trouble is, I'm pregnant.  This trip just isn't in the cards for me anytime soon.

So... I loaned out my hiking backpack.  At least IT will get to go to the Grand Canyon!

----

Since all six of you who read this blog are related to me, it shouldn't come as a surprise to know that I'm pregnant.  So here's some answers to all the questions I've been getting lately:

Really?? You're pregnant??
Yes.  Yes, most definitely.  Would you like to know which body part the nurse practitioner looked at just to be sure?

When are you due?
Well, by my calculations, July 4th, 2012.  However, I haven't heard the results from the dating ultrasound yet, so I might be off by a couple days.  Also, as we all know, baby comes when baby is damn well ready to come and not a moment before.  It would be perfectly normal for that date to be off by up to two weeks in either direction.  Feel free to start a baby pool (baby could use the extra money!).

Do you know what you're having?
The first, and only, ultra sound that we've currently had was at about 9 1/2 weeks.  It looked an awful lot like a gerbil.

Are you going to find out the sex?
Finding out the sex of your baby before the baby is born is akin to opening up a Christmas present before Christmas Day.  It sounds like a good time, but you end up with nothing to look forward to.  I have no intention of finding out early.  I do have my inklings... but I wouldn't want to bias the baby pool!

How do you feel?
Like a bloated hormonal oven that suddenly has the attention of literally everyone.  Seriously though, compared to some, my first three months were like a walk in the park.  When I felt crappy, it sucked, but it was also very rare, and it seems to be over now.  No talking to Ralph on the big porcelain phone for me (thank you God!).


How long had you been trying?
About.... five minutes.  Dave will try to tell you that he didn't even know we were trying (don't believe him).  Really though, we're both 31 years old; time is not something we have to waste.

Can I touch your belly?
Do you want your fingers broken?  Currently, the little gerbil is less than 2 inches long and tucked neatly behind a pelvic bone.  What you're perceiving as a 'baby bump' is nothing more than Chinese food and horrible bloaty gas.  I suggest you don't touch.


Do you have names picked?
We still have 6 months for that.  I'm really not looking forward to other people's unsolicited opinions for names.  (I'm already getting unsolicited opinions for everything from sleeping arrangements to clothing to strollers - and the news has only been out for a week!)  So, lets just keep name choices a surprise for now.

I check puppy ads on Kijiji a lot.
Puppies are cute and I like them.
Nothing can brighten a day more than being buried under a pile of happy puppies.

It seems, though, that a lot of people are trying to sell made up puppy breeds:


Porkie (Yorkie x pug)
Puggle (Pug x beagle)
Labernese (Lab x Bernese mountain dog)
Jack-Shihtz (Jack Russel Terrier x Shih Tzu)

Terapoo  (Terrier x poodle)
Pompoo (pomeranian x poodle)
Shihpoo (Shih Tzu x poodle)
Morkie (Yorkie x Maltese)

Schnoodle (Schnauzer x poodle)
Pekipug (pug x pekingese)



These are not breeds.
These are what happens when two dogs have unsupervised playtime together.

Giving your accidental batch of puppies cutesy made up names to make them sound like a legitimate breed does not make them any less of a mutt.  And you really shouldn't be charging the $600 you're asking for them.

Top 1%

So, no more GST credit gravy train for me and hubby!  We've been 're-assessed'; one of us can't collect it because we're married now, and the other one can't collect it because we earn too much money between the two of us.

I'll assume that puts us in the top 1% of income earners in the country.  ...right?   Hubby even woke me up EARLY on a SATURDAY to tell me this delightful news!  We're just so excited!

It was a solid 12 year stretch of getting free money four times a year, so, can't really complain I guess.  I just wish the government was a little faster at doing paperwork.  While they were processing, or re-assessing, or sticking pencils up their butts, or something, they gave us each two extra GST cheques that we now have to pay back - a good $300 or so.

But that's alright!  I'm just happy knowing that I'm in the top 1% and don't actually need that money!  I'm glad to live in a country where the government has the foresight to know that.

Speaking of the top 1%;  I don't pretend to know much about what's going on with all this 'Occupy' stuff.  Something about all the poor people thinking it's unfair that all the rich people have all the money - I haven't even tried to follow it, and to be honest, I don't particularly care (I realize that makes me a terrible person, but hey!  I'm in the top 1% now).

But did you see this story in the paper?  Occupy Wall Street Kitchen Staff Protesting Fixing Food for Freeloaders.  I guess the Wall Street movement is so large, they actually have an organized kitchen staff to make meals for everyone (presumably so that the protestors have more time to stand around yelling?), but the kitchen staff is getting dog-gone tired of feeding the homeless people and the vagrants and the ex-cons and, well, you know, the yucky people.  So they've quit cooking until the yucky people go away.

Now, assuming I wasn't in the top 1% of income earners, and I thought that standing on the street yelling at a bank would make them share their money with me more equally, the only way, THE ONLY WAY, I could have time in my life to do that, (protesting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for no specific time period), is if I didn't have a job.  And if I didn't have a job, I would soon become homeless.  And then, I wouldn't get fed?  I'm just saying, they're pushing away the very part of society that needs the most help!  Maybe it's really not about the bottom 99% of people, but more accurately, the middle 75-80% of people....

I donno, recently I've considered cracking open the book 'The Irresistible Revolution' by Shane Claiborne again.   It's been awhile since I've read it; the gist of it is about social justice.  And Jesus.  And doing things radically.  Being creative with your responses to social injustice so that you actually make people think and respond.

You know, like that 'turn the other cheek' story.  When Jesus taught about getting slapped on the cheek, turn your head so that they can slap you on the other cheek - he wasn't teaching us to be submissive little nerds who are easy to beat up.  The way a person slaps was culturally significant at the time.  To be hit with the back of the hand was to be hit like a slave, but to be hit with an open palm was to be hit as an equal.  To turn the other cheek is to invite the opposing person to treat you as an equal, rather than the low life scum they assume you are.  THAT's the kind of revolution Jesus led.  It was creative, and it made people think.

Ooh, wouldn't Jesus have a hay day in one of those Occupy camps!  At first, all the Occupy people would be all like 'Sweet, Jesus! We've got the LORD on our side!  He's all about social justice and he's going to clean up Wall Street for us!'

But then Jesus would come into the camp and be all like, 'Holy Lord God Almighty', (he can say that - it's not blasphemous when Jesus says it), 'What are you people doing?!'  And then he'd start with something like, 'you really need to take the logs out of your own eyes before you can work on getting the slivers out of those Wall Street bankers' eyes.  How can you blame them for doing wrong when you're doing so much wrong yourselves?  Honestly people!  You're living here like dirty rats and look like idiots, you think anyone is really going to take you seriously? You've got enough resources, food and shelter but you won't share it with the real poor and homeless who actually need the help? What is wrong with your heads?  Oy Vey!' (Jesus was Jewish, remember?) 'You're letting theft and crime and rape, RAPE, happen right here in your camp while blocking the police from coming in to keep you safe.  Clean up your act, and I'll show you how a real revolution is done!  Oh, and while you're at it, if you'd pay your damn taxes, and invest the rest of your money, instead of spending it on new iPhones every six months, you wouldn't even be in this mess!'

And then he'd feel sorry for them, and heal the sick, and wash their feet, and help them organize a really creative and dignified game plan - one that would probably teach them all to be a little more compassionate towards each other.

One of the reviews of Shane Claiborne's book says this, 'besides illuminating his own faith journey, Claiborne is insightful on the huge U.S. cultural and economic divide: the problem isn't that wealthy Christians [or otherwise] don't care about the poor, he says, it's that they simply don't know the poor.'

In my opinion, the Occupy protest isn't a very positive way for the wealthy to learn about the poor.

Occupy could use some radical Jesus.

IQA

Ooooohmygoodness!

I wish I hadda known about this back when I had a full youth group of kids at my disposal to play games with.

Quidditch.  Muggle Quidditch.

It. Is. REAL!

There is standardized equipment, there are rules, there are handbooks, there are college teams, there is the Internation Quidditch Association (logo above), there is even an annual World Cup!




Who wants to play??!!

G!

Ok, so I must admit, sometimes I watch tv shows that no one should ever admit they watch.  *Gasp*! I know, right!  Scandal.

No, I don't watch Maury, or, ew, Jersey Shore (I'm not really even sure what that one is about). And I've never watched The Bachelor.  I don't even watch Coronation Street (anymore...).  No, I'm talking more along the lines of, well, *sigh* - Survivor.  There!  I said it - I watch Survivor.  (I'm so ashamed...).

Heartland...
Desparate Housewives...
Grey's Anatomy...

These are my vices.

Also, I've been known to watch more than one episode of Glee.  That's right, Glee.
It was hard for me to admit that.

But! But... If you don't watch the show, then you don't appreciate a good parody when one comes along.  And Sesame Street makes some really awesome parodies!

"Honeymoon"?

We're closing in on 3 months of married life now, and finally received our marriage certificate in the mail!  Woo!  Its official, we're married!  (Took it long enough... Now I can start the long and painful process of changing my name on all my ID etc.)

What's probably more monumental is that we just passed the two year anniversary of the most horrible date on the face of the planet.  That would be the one where I told Dave that there would never, ever, ever be a second date.  Gee, I sure showed him!

We're also coming up to the one year anniversary of us moving to the Pie Company and living in sin together.  Where has that year gone?!  And no, now that we're married (and no longer living in sin), we're not planning to run out and buy a house just yet.  No one looks at the MLS listings more than me, but man oh man!  We've accumulated too much stuff just to pack up and move out for no better reason than being married now.  We're committed to living here for at least another year, maybe five, perhaps ten.  Its a gorgeous spot - I'm in no hurry to give it up.  (Plus, I can't imagine how we're ever going to get that treadmill down the stairs!)

So... this 'Honeymoon Stage' people are always talking about: I've been asked a number of times over the past month or so if we're still in the honeymoon stage.  That's the part of a relationship where you get on each others' nerves and push buttons just to test each others' limits and to see what you can get away with before the other person yells at you, right?  If so, yes, we're still in the honeymoon stage, and loving it!  :P

Hit with 'old'

I'm a reasonably healthy person.  Ok... not to brag or anything, but I'm a ridiculously healthy person.  I think Dave has seen me sick for about 1/2 a day in the almost two years that we've been together.

So today, while I was at work, simply minding my own business, quietly typing on my computer, I was not expecting a muscle spasm to go ripping through the middle of my back like a giant angry bull mauling a matador!  The pain was so sudden and intense that it literally made me involuntarily jump, (which, I'm sure, just caused more damage to already tense and strained muscles...).  I immediately shifted position to relieve the spasm, but that didn't stop the tunnel vision, shortness of breath, cold clammy sweat... Yes, I think I almost passed out.  While sitting quietly at my desk.  Doing next to nothing.  Wow, am I glad that no one came into my office at that exact moment!  I suddenly have a lot of empathy for people who throw out their back.

I've managed to remain upright and mobile, having been warned once to never, ever lay down when you throw out your back, (for fear that you probably won't be able to get up yourself! - a certain brother-in-law of mine landed on the floor and it took the local fire department to get him on his feet again.)  Currently, standing is slightly more comfortable than sitting, but only slightly.  Every little movement brings with it the risk of making the muscles spasm again.  Sitting, standing, walking, reaching for the phone, picking up a glass of water, moving the mouse... *sigh*  I was going to go to the bank this afternoon, now I'm not sure I could walk down the sidewalk right at the moment without having to stop every two or three feet.  Maybe we'll wait to see if the 6 fistfuls of Advil I took take the edge off.

As for, 'ooh, Amy you should go see a Dr', I've already done the next best thing - I Googled what a Dr would tell me, thus, saving both him and me some time (duh).  Mid-back muscle spasms are usually caused by muscle fatigue (like by sitting still at a computer for endless hours - which I'm guilty of) or muscle strain (like by yanking a giantly heavy tree branch across the lawn - which I'm also guilty of).  Treatment involves stopping what you were doing when the spasm started, cutting way back on exercise, keeping small children from using you as their personal jungle gym, applying cold liberally, and ibuprofen to relieve the pain and inflammation.  If it's not significantly better in a few days, then go see a doctor.  Until then, leave him alone, he's already overworked.  Being that it's already much more bearable than it was an hour ago, I think I'll survive.

But, wow!  Did that hurt!
If you're having trouble fathoming the amount of pain we're talking about here, as a child, I was in the stands at a local fastball game, standing with my back to the game.  A wild throw came across the top of the safety fence and hit me square in the middle of the back.  I'd rather that happen to me 16 times than have another muscle spasm!
"Old", I could do without you.

Rodents with wings

This morning sounded just a little too much like Fall for my liking. 

There had to have been a thousand Canadian geese on the pond outside my bedroom window at 6am!  (at least... that's what it sounded like)

As long as the stupid things stay off my lawn....

One month

..plus or minus a day.

So, I've been somebody's wife for a month now.  How does it feel?  Well, way more relaxing than being someone's fiancee, that's for sure!  Marriage is great, but who made it so ridiculously stressful?  That was dumb.

Life is good (of course, I actually like summer, so that helps tremendously!).

We had already been playing house for a number of months before we were married, so there were no huge adjustments that way (other than finding room for gifts, gifts, and even more gifts!).

Speaking of gifts.  I'll get thank you cards out eventually.  Some day.  Probably.  Maybe....  :P

I do not yet have my hands on pics from the photographer.  Although, I have seen them.  They're A-OK! in my books, and I will be glad to have them.  In the meantime, if you were at the wedding with a camera, you should probably email me your pics.  Especially ones of people together having fun, dance pictures, cake cutting pictures, family pictures, little kid pictures, you get the idea.  I want your pictures.  :)

You may have noticed that I quit blogging halfway through my honeymoon.  I was... ahem.... busy.  I just had better things going on than sitting around writing a blog, k?  But really, you didn't miss much.  We saw vikings, more whales, did some stuff, and drove home.  I'm sure you'll hear more about it, eventually.

:)

A balmy Canada Day weekend

....everywhere but where we are!

It was 27 degrees today in Rocky Harbour Nfld - one of those rare hot days they get here on the island.  Unfortunately, we left Rocky Harbour yesterday.  We're in St Anthony Nfld today, where we purchased toques to brave the 7 degree weather.  That's right: SEVEN degrees!  Dave always says that he prefers the cooler weather to the hot weather, but this is a little extreme.  Thank goodness we had the good sense to book hotel rooms for our three days in this town of 2,500 rather than continue camping in a tent!

We're staying at the Grenfell Heritage Hotel & Suits.  'Grenfell' is a famous name in this town.  Something about a Doctor who lived here and started a hospital etc, etc...  We haven't been to the museum yet to see what it's all about.  The hotel is gorgeous!  Small, only 18 rooms, but well worth it!  We had the 'honeymoon suit' for our first night here.  King sized bed, 2 person jacuzzi, bath robes, flat screen tv, hardwood floors...  Way nice. 

Except for the water.  The water here is the colour of pee.  Like, after you flush the toilet, you turn back and wonder if you've forgotten to flush the toilet!  Yellow.  Imagine a jacuzzi tub filled with beer-coloured liquid...  It was somewhat off-putting. (It didn't stop us from using it, mind you!  But we sure didn't drink it.)  It was almost enough for us to consider switching hotels for the rest of our stay in St Anthony.  I'm glad we didn't though.  When we asked, we were told that the water is naturally yellow in this area; it's safe to drink, and in fact some of the best water in the area - it's just yellow.   ...still very weird to have a bath in. 

We've had to give up the honeymoon suite for the rest of our stay though (it was previously booked by someone else); so our new room doesn't have the jacuzzi, but it does have a full kitchen!  Which, in the long run, is probably better for us anyway.  If you ever find yourself in St Anthony Nfld, stay at the Grenfell!  You won't be disappointed.

We spent the morning exploring Fishing Point, which is just where the road ends at the lighthouse.  There's the lighthouse, a gift shop (where we did indeed purchase a toque, as well as a few souvenirs) and a seafood restaurant where we had some lunch (I ordered the most nonsensical thing on the menu: Thai moose spring rolls and rice.  That's right, spring rolls made with moose meat!).  Fishing Point is also home to "Leifsburdir"; the Great Viking Feast, (think Medieval Times, viking style).  The feast takes place in a real sod home out behind the restaurant.  It's something I would have liked to do, but unfortunately, the next show isn't until Tuesday evening and we'll be back in Rocky Harbour by then.

The adventure of the day was the iceberg and whale watching boat tour.  And man!  Was it cold!  The ocean is a chilly four degrees right now, and with a northeast wind, and the threat of rain, it was frigid!  But so totally worth it!!

The largest iceberg seen in this area well over 15 years, beached itself off the coast of St Anthony just the other day.  It was a kilometre long when the tour boat first discovered it.  Since then, it has broken in half and part of it drifted away.  But the section we saw, at 700ft long, is still way bigger than normal.  It was approximately 90ft high, and snagged on the bottom of the ocean in 300ft of water.  That is one big cube of ice!  There's currently a big crack in one part of it - I was hoping we'd get lucky and be there when it came apart, but no such luck.  Lots of little chunks of ice (bergy bits) floating around too.

We did see a puffin, but it was simply flying by and didn't look like much more than a black dot.

The highlight of the tour was the humpback whales for sure.  We spent quite awhile chasing around a 40ft cow and her calf.  At one point the calf came right up alongside the boat just to check us out (of course, that's the moment I fumbled my camera and missed the picture!).  In all, we saw 4 or 5 different whales - all humpbacks.

All in all, a pretty fun day.  Dave even admitted that boat tours aren't all that bad after all!

Tomorrow, vikings!

Western Brook Pond

Today was shaping up to be a lazy day of sitting around a campground playing computer games.  So, I dragged Dave to the nearest town: Rocky Harbour.  It was dull and dreary and threatening to rain all afternoon, and I was hoping to find some souvenir clothing.

"Town" is a word to be used very loosely in these parts.  Rocky Harbour seems to be a larger town; it at least has a few stop signs!  Actually, it's not a bad place.  A few restaurants, a hotel or two, liquor store, post office, about 4 churches, and maybe a couple hundred houses.  But we just weren't feeling the vibe early in the afternoon, so I changed up our plans and dragged Dave out to Western Brook Pond.

To another boat.  First, you park your car in a parking lot on the highway.  And then you walk a 3km trail through bog and bush to a ferry dock.  Then, you pay $56 a person to get a 2hour ferry tour of Western Brook Pond.  It was way cool!  I may not ever get to actually sit on the top of a fjord, but I have now had a tour of the bottom of a fjord.  (we'll also used the term 'fjord' loosely, once upon a time it was a real ocean fjord, but it no longer connects with the ocean and is essentially a lake full of fresh water.  But it is a valley carved by a glacier, and it's pretty impressive!)

This lake is 500ft deep in places!  Deeper than the water offshore in the ocean.  It's cliffs are 2000ft high.  Jagged and spectacular; pictures will never do it justice.

The tour guides were great, and the boat captain even turned the boat around twice (once for a black bear, and a second time for a moose) so that we could have a closer look.  Unfortunately, I had used up all the juice in my camera by that time so I didn't get any pics of the wildlife.  Not to worry though, apparently there are over 5000 moose in Nfld; 4 for every square kilometre of habitable space - we're bound to see one again!

One thing we haven't done while we're in the area is to check out a Gros Morne National Park pass.  You know, the fee you're supposed to pay to be in a National Park.  We haven't worried too much about it because even though we're near the park, we're really not in it.  And then we went to Western Brook Pond.  Which is in the park.  What a happy circumstance that it's Canada Day today!  Being in the park is free on National Holidays.  No park pass required.  :)

Anyway, it was a good tour of the fjord.  Dave even enjoyed it and he hates boats.  (shhh... don't tell him that I plan on taking him on even more boats!)

Coming back towards our campground, we again stopped in at Rocky Harbour.  Found a place to buy some neat t-shirts, and went to a restaurant for supper.  I had fish cakes - a typical Newfoundland thing (basically pan fried patties made of fish and potatoes).  Dave, in typical fashion, had pizza.

The campground has been a little crazy today.  This morning, the kids had a bicycle decorating contest and parade around the campground.  And tonight they had some fireworks.  It's a busy place, but it's a really nice campground.  Plus, the little rain that we have had, hasn't put a damper on anything.

Tomorrow, we head for St Anthony!

The Epic Adventure Continues

We queued up for the ferry to Newfoundland around 10:30pm Wednesday evening.  You have to check in 2-3 hours early (which would have been about 2am in our case, for our 5am ferry).  We were exhausted from driving all day though, and frankly, there’s not much to do in North Sydney after 9pm anyway!  So we took the opportunity to catch some shut eye while parked waiting for the boat.

We were in this lineup, crammed tractor trailers and other vehicles – everyone trying to get some sleep; surprisingly, there are a lot of jovial and happy people at a ferry terminal at 2am!  Excitement , I suppose.  I mean, I was kind of excited too (while Dave happily snored beside me).

They started loading the ferry around 3am.  And guess where we got to park?!  Deck one.  The lower deck.  The lowest deck.  The hole.  Drive into the boat, and then down a ramp, and then turn around and back into your spot.  And THEN, climb 4 flights of stairs to get to the main deck!

Pretty cool boat though.  Biggest I’ve ever been on anyway.  1200 passengers, 300 cars.  It wasn’t full, which was nice, so it didn’t feel crowded at all.  They’ve got a restaurant and bar, a lounge area, places to be outside on the deck, a ‘teen room’ full of ancient arcade games, computers and internet access, gift shop, and the recliners.  Oh, the recliners!  A room full of recliners and big screen tvs.  This is where we spent most of our boat ride, trying to get some sleep.  The snoring coming from that room was horrendous!  But we managed.

Finally, land!  Just around lunchtime; our first glimpses of The Rock.  Just the ferry backing to the terminal was pretty cool!  And then unloading.  Being the first ones on the boat, we were of course the last ones off.  Which was fine with me, because it meant that we were at the end of the line of ferry traffic.  Tim Hortons was still packed with traffic right out onto the road when we drove by it though!  

And then!  We drove for another 5 hours.  That’s right.  10 hours of driving, followed by a 7 hour ferry ride, followed by another 5 hours of driving!  Dave was about ready to fly home!  I let him sleep though while I drove.  The first hour of driving in Newfoundland was a taste of what the weather could do.  Wind and rain.  The highway isn’t in great shape, water pools on it everywhere, and hydroplaning is easy!  The gusty wind certainly doesn’t help the situation.  Needless to say, we didn’t make very good time in that first hour and I was starting to think that this is what our entire week was going to be like! 

By the time we made it to Corner Brook though, the wind had died down and the sun was shining.   Good thing too, because the further north we drove, the bigger the hills got, and the windier the roads.  We’re talking similar to the foothills of Alberta.  I had no idea that Newfoundland had mountains like this.   Mountains and ocean!  Finally, I’ve seen them together.

We pulled into the Gros Morne KOA campground around 7pm.  Nice little place.  Dave, the guy who only pretends to like the outdoors, and doesn’t actually care much for camping, even mentioned just how nice a place it is.  I call that progress.  One of these days he’ll be asking me to go camping.

Rained part of the night, but we were tucked cozily inside our tent.  And things were dry and sunny in the morning.

Today, Friday, Canada Day, is a do nothing day.  No plans, no driving, just hanging out.  Something we do quite well with a little highspeed internet and all of our gadgets!

Stop! It's ferry time

It is currently about 10pm (Atlantic Time) on Wednesday evening.  Dave & I are sitting in the car, in a lineup of traffic, between rows of transport trucks, waiting.  We're in North Sydney Nova Scotia, and have a 5am ferry to catch to Port aux Basques Newfoundland.  So we're waiting.  In the car.  Until 5am.

Thank the good Lord there is internet here!

We did indeed make good time to Atlantic Canada.  We took a friend home to Peterborough Monday evening, which began our trip East.  We've spent the past two days driving.  And driving, and driving, and driving.  Roughly 25 hours of rocks and trees and farmland and swamp and rocks and trees.  I do love Atlantic Canada for its wide open roads and sparse populations though.  Makes for a fast paced and relatively easy drive.

Newfoundland is a place I've wanted to travel to for a very, very long time.  The rugged scenery draws me there; the trees and rocks and ocean and icebergs and whales and fjords.  I'm excited.  I'm excited to get on the ferry.  I'm excited to be out on the ocean with the wind blowing and the waves splashing and the chance to see some whales and other marine life.  I could care less about visiting St Johns; cities are more stressful than fun to me, so we'll be traveling to Gros Morne National Park, and then up the west coast to St Anthony. 

Hopefully we get a little bit of sleep crammed in the car tonight because that 5am ferry ride is about 6hrs long, and then we have a 4 or 5 hour drive after that to get to Gros Morne.  Then we can finally relax for a few days!

I'm married??

So, at the dance the other night, I was chatting with a very good friend of mine who was telling me just how happy she was for me and it was all so fun and exciting.

I looked at her and said, "yeah but... isn't it weird?  I mean, I'm MARRIED!  Isn't that just a little bit weird?"

Well!  She jumped on that bandwagon!  "Heck yes its weird!  Good golly gee wiz it's weird!  SO weird!"  (sentence edited to remain PG of course).

And it is weird!  So weird.  Dave agrees. 
We spent months planning for it.  We spent thousands of dollars paying for it.  We've received a bajillion gifts and congratulations.  We stood in the church and said our lines; we ate the food at the dinner; we danced the dances; we threw the bouquet and cut the cake and all of that stuff.  But it's all still very surreal.  Other than seeing that ring on Dave's finger, life in general hasn't changed much, and it's just plain weird to call each other husband and wife.

From what I hear though, this is a pretty typical experience for most newly weds.


I'm in Edmundston NB right now.  Hanging out in a pretty decent Comfort Inn.  Yes, a hotel.  Tomorrow is ferry crossing day, and we decided a good night's sleep was not going to happen in a tent.

Travelling On

Well, after 5 months of stressing, and planning, and spreadsheets, and phone calls, and emails, and shopping, and etc, etc, etc...  Dave & I are finally married. 

Here's proof:

And now we're off on a 6000km roundtrip adventure to St Anthony Newfoundland - home of vikings, icebergs and whales!  I'll finally be able to check 'sitting on top of a fjord and watching an iceberg float by' off my bucket list.  Pretty excited  :)

This is Dave's very first epic road trip vacation adventure, and being the wired geek that he is, we're going in semi-comfort - camping when we feel like it, hotelling it the rest of the way, and bringing the trusty laptop along for the ride.  So I may be away, but I won't be out of the loop! 

I'm hoping blogging will happen, no promises though.

One Week

So... I haven't exactly been blogging lately.  Oh, I've thought about it about a bajillion times, but really... I've been pretty absorbed with this one particular subject and it just doesn't make for good blogging material.

So let's just say: I'm not dead.

And maybe, just maybe, when these shenanigans are over, and I can get my life back, maybe I'll pay attention to my blog again.

One month

This is the typical conversation I have about 16 times a day now:

Them: "So, your wedding is getting close now!  Excited?"

Me: "Excited isn't really the word I'd use...."

Them: "Just want to get it over with, eh?"

Me: "Pretty much"

Them: "Are you nervous?"

Me: "Only when I think about it"

Them: "Everything ready to go?"

Me: "Yep, mostly.  Just the little things now like flowers and a liquor license"

Them: "Good.  You have a dress?"

Me: "..... yes"


Really?  Really, really??  Do I have a dress?  I'm getting married in a month and you're asking me if I have a dress yet?  And I'm not just picking on one or two people here - EVERY SINGLE PERSON who asks me about the wedding asks me this question.  Apparently, it's the go-to question of marriages; they can't even help themselves.  Just like you'd ask a 5 year old what he did at school today, or a farmer what he thinks about all this rain, so too you ask a bride if she has her dress yet. 

Ridiculous.  Of course I have a dress.

A more appropriate question would be, "do you have a marriage license yet?"  To which the response would be, "Nope, that's Dave's job."

Not even blog worthy

What if the rapture really did happen yesterday, but none of us were taken?? 

Eh?  Something to consider.... 

:P

Ending

So....  The search for the missing person is over.  It ended yesterday afternoon.  Not the happy ending we were all hoping for, but the ending we were quietly starting to expect.

I have no ties to this woman, never met her, no emotional connection what-so-ever.  But it's still no fun to go home and watch the people I care about, the people who actually knew her, suffering.

But at least it's over, right?  Knowing the outcome, having an ending, is so much better than not knowing.

Strange Days

When your fiance's uncle's common-law spouse (someone you haven't actually met) disappears, what do you do?

Grey County OPP asked for help Friday locating a woman who went missing from the Chatsworth area on Thursday.

Leanne Vaughan, 39, was last seen between noon and 12:30 p.m. on May 12 by a neighbour in the Loucks Lane area of Chatsworth accompanied by a dog, according to an OPP news release.
Her dog was found at the residence and Vaughan was reported missing by family members about 6:30 p.m. thursday.
A search of areas frequented by Vaughan was failed to find her.
Although foul play is not suspected at this time, police are asking anyone with information about Vaughn to call them immediately at 1-888-310-1122 or 519-794-7827, the news release said.
Vaughn is described as white, 5'2" tall and weighing 100 pounds. She has green/blue eyes and shoulder-length dark brown hair with a pony tail. She was last seen wearing a brown hoodie, blue jeans and brown running shoes, the release said.

 It's an incredibly odd feeling.  I'm concerned about the well being of this person, someone I haven't met, someone I wouldn't even recognize if I did happen to run into on the street...  And yet, we're connected.  She has an invitation to my wedding for pete's sake.  Her disappearance is turning the world of my future in-laws upside down.  It's been well over 24 hours now; she could literally be anywhere.  Here's hoping for a happy ending.

The fructose killer

If you follow my blog, you probably know that I tend to watch a lot of food shows.  Food Inc was a great documentary; Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Village on a Diet...  They all carry the same message:  People today eat too much processed food.  And it's killing us.

That's what happens when you mix economics with food.  The producers are forced to make it cheaper by adding crap to it.  It's just not cool.

I was with a certain someone at a Doctor appointment the other day.  We were discussing fatty livers and the Dr said that there seems to be a real epidemic of fatty livers recently.  Fatty liver, although it can be kept in check with diet and exercise, can lead to nasty things like cirrhosis of the liver if left untreated.  It is typically associated with obese people or people who drink far too much alcohol.  But the Dr said that she has seen an increased number of cases in relatively healthy people, and no one seems to know why.  This, of course, put us into conspiracy mode: maybe it's pollutants?  Maybe it's radiation in the food supply?....


Maybe, it's fructose.  That's right, that ingredient that you see on 90% of the packaged food you put in your grocery cart.

I was searching the great google gods for articles linking certain medical conditions (specifically high uric acid and fatty liver) - I was in search of a possible link between the two and found this article published by 'the Heathly Eating Club (whoever they are):


http://www.healthyeatingclub.org/info/articles/body-shape/fructose.htm

They're very convinced that the amount of fructose we eat is severely affecting our health - including increased uric acid, high blood pressure, gout, diabetes, fatty liver.....  When you take fructose out of fruit, (where it naturally occurs), and put it into a chocolate bar, or pop, or any number of packaged foods, your body has trouble dealing with it and ends up storing it as fat in your liver (among other things).

Bingo.

Not only that, but their view is that it would be easy for a seemingly healthy person on a 'low fat' diet to suffer these diseases if they are still consuming processed/refined foods because:

 A low fat diet containing processed sugar-dense foods is really a high fat diet because fructose (in sugar) behaves like a fat. We were not designed to eat a lot of refined sugars, we're supposed to be eating our carbohydrate, particularly our fructose, with high fibre in unprocessed foods like fruit and vegetables.

Not that I think that "too much fructose" is the one and only magical answer.  I'm not even sure of the authenticity of the Healthy Eating Club website; after all, I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said, "the problem with quotes on the internet is that it is very hard to verify their authenticity."  But it's a good place to start.  And it makes sense.  Fat, sugar and salt are as addictive to the human body as crack - and just like a drug addict, too much of the thing you love will eventually kill you.

There's really no excuse these days for the way we treat our bodies.  We are the most unhealthy society in the history of the world!  Our life expectancy is shorter, SHORTER, than that of our parents.  We are inundated on a daily basis with tips for healthy living, with ways to eat better, with reasons to exercise, and yet we continue to sit around filling our faces with fat and sugar and salt because it tastes good and there's very little effort required.

Personally, I'd like to live for another solid 50 years or so, and it'd be nice to be healthy while I'm doing that.  If cutting out (or at least cutting back on) fructose will help to accomplish that goal, then I'm all in.  You?

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy." 

~ Martin Luther King Jr

You may now puke on the bride

So, do you realize that Wills & Kate's engagement was 5 months long?  Guess who else's engagement is 5 months long?  Mine.

And... that's where the similarities end.

Did I get up at 3am to watch the marriage?  No.
In fact, we loaned our satellite receiver to the coffee shop downstairs so that they could watch it.  So I woke up to the delighted squeals of coffee shop girls gushing over fashion and dresses and kisses.... blaugh!

I did watch a few clips of the wedding at a more reasonable time of day.  And I noticed one thing:

During the vows, Will & Kate both looked like they could puke.    
Which is how I'm starting to feel every time someone brings up weddings, or what they think I should be doing to prepare for my wedding, or I see references to weddings on tv, or etc, etc...
Anxiety and I are not friends, and I completely understand the feeling of wanting to puke!

Way to be human Will & Kate!

Holy Week

Where has the time gone?  Easter is just around the corner, and Lent is pretty much done and over with for another year.

And not a moment too soon...

Let's just say that 'Robert' and I had a falling out.  Well, ok, here's the thing:  Running with Robert is a great idea!  And I wholeheartedly endorse it, and congratulate those who have seen it through to the end.  Me, however, I am a bandwagon hopper.  And Robert requires too much effort on my part, so I've pretty much hopped off that wagon.  Perhaps it was too structured for my liking, or maybe I'm just not committed enough.  And I really don't like his music.  So what's the point of running to something I'm not enjoying?  It makes it a chore and that's just not cool.

Come on!  We all knew how this would end, right?

Anyway... I definitely haven't given up the treadmill (heck!  I paid money for that!  I'm not giving that up!), and can manage to run/walk/gasp/hobble a respectable 15 (make that 13) minute mile - a number I would like to, and plan to, improve (without Robert's help).

In the meantime, I'm very impatiently waiting for spring to return so I can get back outside and finish cleaning up my yard and flowerbeds and barn, and get everything organized for all the partying that is associated with getting married.

Hydro is literally worthless

If you weren't angry about hydro prices before, this article should do it:

Ontario power prices go below zero

 At this time of year, they pay upwards of 12.8 cents a kilowatt hour to get rid of excess hydro!  Oh, but don't you worry, hydro prices are only supposed to rise by 46% over the next 5 years.  It's a good thing the government has noticed that we're struggling with these ridiculous costs and has offered a 'generous' 10% discount!

Bridesmaid dresses?

Manditory Wedding update

Dave and I are bottling wine tomorrow.  Fun Times!  I'm looking forward to the new experience (I'm sure that by about bottle 20 of 90, I'll have had enough experience and just want it to be over!).   We went with fruity wines instead of the plain ol' red and white - I'm looking forward to that too!  Now, if I can manage to stay out of it for the next 3 months...

It's not actually 3 months away anymore.  We are now under 3 months away.  T minus 78 days.  Ack.

Our 'pre-marital counseling' is over now.  I'll keep my opinions to myself about that one.   My boss seems to think we should attend his marriage prep weekend (tonight and tomorrow) at the Catholic church.  I declined, but he still insisted that I take a copy of all the booklets.  At least two of the booklets are about Natural Family Planning....  Thank you, Fr.

I think we might actually meet with the caterer this weekend.  Its not something I'm terribly concerned about, but we do need to know how she runs things so that we know what sort of dishes we'll have to rent.  I'm not too very keen on having to do any elaborate hall decorating, so I've been avoiding the task of going to a rental place.  But sooner or later, it will have to be done.  Good thing I've got a couple future sisters-in-law willing to take on the decorating!

The girls are going shopping next weekend.  Hopefully that will take care of dresses and shoes.  I really am leaning towards three different coloured dresses for the girls, but we'll see what we can find and who knows what'll happen.  The guys, well, if they show up to the wedding wearing pants, it'll be a bonus!  :P

I have 2 little kids who keep hounding me to be the flower girl and ring bearer.  Tough luck kiddos!  Ain't gonna happen.  I'm pretty sure that Zachary thought it was completely against every rule in the book to not have a ring bearer.  "Amy, you can't even get married without a ring bearer!  Who's going to carry the rings??"  Not to sound mean but I don't need a little ham at the front of the church fidgeting around begging for attention - there's already going to be four grown men standing at the front doing just that! 

Speaking of wedding bands, they're looked after too. Davey's should be done soon; nice and plain - exactly what he wanted.  Mine needs to be custom made to fit beside my engagement ring properly (it's got a flared band on it that makes fitting a generic ring beside it a little troublesome), but!  It's going to be really plain too, and won't cost more than one of those generic bands anyway.  Bonus!

Invites are just a postage stamp away from going into the mail.  So if you're expecting one and haven't got it yet, don't worry, aside from the few that have been hand delivered, no one has one yet!  Please note: I think we invited 214 people, and the church seats about 180.  So.... *sigh* I would love to have all of my 420 facebook friends in attendance, but it's just not practical.  No hard feelings, k?

I've got a good pal who's willing to sing a song or two during the wedding, plus a co-worker who's more than delighted to take on the organist job (assuming our regular church organist doesn't want the job).  Now we just have to pick out some songs and bible readings - something that I feel like I have had very little direction or guidance with.  Davey, with very little church experience under his belt, has zero opinion about it, so I'm sort of on my own on this one.  Suggestions are appreciated, but be warned, if your suggestion consists solely of 1 Corinthians 13, I might be less than impressed.

Other than the little details like flowers, this thing is planned!  (Maybe we can just pick a bunch of dandelions off the side of the road?)  It's really not all that hard to plan a wedding.  Stressful, well, as stressful as you make it, but not hard.

Oh yeah, honeymoon?  That's planned too.  Just need to book our ferry tickets to Newfoundland!

Spring? Is that you?

Ah, finally!  For the first time in what feels like about a bagjllion light years, I actually spent time outside tonight.  Yay! 

Me and the BF went for a nice long walk in the sunshine, and then I played outside in the mud and sticks and leaves and stuff on the lawn.  That's right, on the lawn.  I have a LAWN!  How exciting is that??!   

Funny how when I lived at home I did everything possible to avoid lawn & garden work, and now that I have my own, I can't wait to clean it all up and make it all look nice!

Let it be

So I was perusing the pet ads on Kijiji in my spare time this morning, again.  (It's become a bad habit - and no, I'm not going to get a dog right now.)  I came across this ad:

FOUND: Black & Tan hound dog.
Under it is a picture of a poor dog, tied up with a rope, and looking scared out of his mind.  The ad says that he's 'sad' and wants to get home.

AUGH!!!  That makes me so ANGRY! 

Imagine for a second the life of the dog:  Dog has a great home, lots of big open space, and a great family that feeds him and pets him and lets him sleep in the house once in awhile.  Dog loves life.  The best part of Dog's life is that he's trusted with freedom; he's frequently goes for little runs through the woods doing what he loves best - chasing bunnies.  He's not a particularly smart dog (no hound is) but he's streetwise; doesn't growl at people, doesn't chase cars, and always goes home after a long day running in the woods.  Dog's owners enjoy having him around are happy that he's faithful and trustworthy.

And then one day, Dog's life goes to crap.  Dog gets kidnapped!  Right off the side of the road!  After a particularly long run through the woods (it's spring, the snow is almost gone, and the bunny chasing is awesome), Dog tiredly limps out to the side of the road for a bit of a rest before he heads home. His feet are sore from all that running; he's thirsty and tired, but in a good way.  That's when a vehicle pulls up beside him, and before he realizes what's happening, a couple strangers hop out, grab his collar and drag him away!  Now he's headed to God-knows-where with strange people and he's scared out of his mind!  (I personally hope that he peed on their car seat.) Over time, he slowly adjusts to these new people who feed him table scraps and let him sleep on the couch, but he also gets fat because they don't walk him and they don't let him chase bunnies.

Dog's owners currently aren't worried about him because they know that he'll be back before long.  After all, it's not unusual for him to go off on his own for hours at a time.  Later tonight, or maybe tomorrow, when his owners do start to worry, the first place they'll call is the local animal shelter to see if someone turned him in - but Dog isn't there.  They'll check the lost ads in the paper, but don't own a computer, and have never heard of 'Kijiji'.  Then they'll really start to worry.  They'll go searching the roads for him, hoping that he hasn't been hit by a car.  Three or four days from now, when they still haven't found him, they'll assume that Dog was on the losing side in a fight with a bigger animal - probably a wolf.  They'll give up hope, mourn for his loss, and continue on with life.  They expect that they'll never see Dog again.

The kidnappers on the other hand, think they are doing a great service by picking up this poor, tired, hungry, lost dog, taking him home, feeding him, and then advertising that they've found him.  They're city people who have moved to the country to 'get away from it all' and don't quite have a firm grasp on country living.  They tend to humanize animals and view Dog more as a lost child rather than a competent adult dog who can find his own way home.  Three weeks from now, when no one has answered their Kijiji ad, they'll assume they've saved the life of a neglected stray and have done the right thing by taking Dog into their home and giving him a better life.  Six months from now, they'll be cursing Dog for chewing up yet another boot because they don't allow Dog to chase bunnies anymore and he's bored.  Dog will end up at the pound where he'll be sent to a foster family before he is finally adopted out to his 'forever' home - where, one day, he'll be tied up in the back yard, slip his collar, and head for the nearest forest to chase bunnies.  And the kidnapping cycle will start all over again.

I've been the country kid who's dog has gone missing.  We've had to call the pound to bail out a hunting dog after someone picked him up and turned him in.  I've had to stop someone from picking up my dog after he simply followed me to the mailbox to get the mail. I know how frustrating it is to have a stranger meddle with your dog.

The moral of the story is: It's normal for country dogs to be running loose; leave them alone!  If you feel you must interact with the stray dog, (for the betterment of society, or maybe just for your own personal gratification), using your angriest meanest voice, yell at the dog and tell it to go home.  But for the love of all things good and holy, do not pick up a stray dog!

Buying? Renting? You decide

So now that this marriage thing is happening, everyone's next big question is:  Are you going to buy a house?

The easy answer is: the money that we could use as a down payment is currently being funneled into paying for a gigantic party! So no, no we are not going to be running out to buy a house the day after we get married.  Someday maybe, but not right now.

Truthfully, I'm not convinced that home ownership is all that it's cracked up to be.  It seems that home ownership is one of those 'rites of passage' into adulthood - it's the thing to do because everyone else does it.  You're supposed to get married, buy a house, settle down and raise a family.  It's what good people do.  And renting, ugh!  Only POOR people rent.  Right?  There is a bit of a stigma attached to renting, isn't there.

I've been told since I was little kid that renting is 'throwing money away', and buying a home is 'investing in equity.'  Maybe so.... but at what cost?

In a world where it takes two incomes to make ends meet, is living in debt for the next 20-30 years really worth it?  Maybe I just fell into a puddle of luck when I stumbled upon the current rental situation I'm in, but I just can't see the advantage of home ownership at the moment.  Let's take a moment to remember our grade 4  french here: mort = dead, gage = pledge or guarantee.  'Cause you tend to end up paying your mortgage until you're dead!

Here's what I know:

For starters, homes in my appropriate price range are far smaller (sq footage) than what I'm currently renting.  How is that appealing to anyone?

And then, there's this thing called 'utilities'.  Apparently, when you own a home, you are responsible for paying ALL the utilities!  You do know that the price of hydro is supposed to increase by a mere 46% over the next 5 years, right?  46%!!  That fact alone makes me want to throw up a little.

Home owners also pay property tax.  And higher insurance rates.  And.... maintenance.  Yes, maintenance.  Roofs don't last forever!  Either do windows, paint, septic tanks, furnaces, eaves troughs, floor joists, siding.... The list is pretty much endless.  Houses breakdown, degrade, fall apart. So while you're calling 15 repair guys for quotes, I'm making a quick call to my landlord, the job gets done, and I never see a bill.

Don't even get me started on interest!  Nobody actually has $200,000 to buy a $200,000 home.  We take out a mortgage and over 25 years we end up paying $330,000 in mortgage payments. So, you've gotta ask yourself, is that $200k house going to be worth $330k in 25 years?  (We'll ignore inflation and all the costs of renos/repairs & new bathrooms & kitchen fixtures you've put into it to 'increase its value'.)  It's true, the consensus seems to be that over time the value of your home will indeed increase.  But will it really?  Tell that to all the people in the United States who got burned when the housing bubble popped.  Or to a greater extreme, all those people in Japan who just watched their housed wash away in the tide.  Home ownership seems like a bit of a gamble to me.

Oh, you also realize that in order to get the equity back out of the house, you're going to have to sell it.  IF you can find a buyer who is willing to pay you what you want.  It's not exactly a liquid asset.   Sure, banks will let you borrow all the money you want if you're willing to put your house on the line; but that's actually just more debt that you eventually have to pay back.

Now, I know that I'm coming off as being very anti-home-ownership.  Everyone's situation is indeed different, and home ownership definitely comes with a certain freedom (for example, you can take a sledgehammer to your ceiling anytime you want, whereas, I have to ask permission first).  But currently for me, those freedoms do not outweigh the more fiscally responsible path of renting.  Don't get me wrong, I still feel the pull of home ownership - no one checks www.mls.ca more often that I do!  But its just not in the cards right now; it doesn't make sense (or cents).

I've done the math, and I'm pretty certain that I would be financially further ahead to save my money for the next 25 years rather than purchase a house.  And, I have finally found a really great interactive calculator that supports my conclusions.  The New York Times published this calculator back in April of last year.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html
It seems to be very thought out, takes a great deal of information into consideration, and has told me in no uncertain terms that I would be an idiot to give up my current rental accommodations!  (There is one caveat to this whole 'renting being the better choice' thing.  You need, NEED, to actively save your money, which might be difficult for some but, currently, pretty easy for me.)

So there's your answer.  My husband-to-be and I are not currently in the market for a house of our own.  And if you're in the market for new living accommodations, please do some math, check out the calculator, crunch some numbers, and make an informed decision.

I apologize to all those people I know in the real estate business, or who have just purchased a home - I mean no disrespect, I'm really quite happy for you.  This is my situation and, as I said, everyone's situation is different.  Besides, someone has to own the houses, otherwise there wouldn't be anything for me to rent!

Supermoon

I'm sure you've all heard about (and if you step outside right now, you could see for yourself) tonight's 'supermoon'.  A phenomenon that happens but once every couple of decades or something like that... The moon's orbit brings it the closest to earth as possible (hasn't been this close since 1992), and just happens to also be a beautifully full moon (these two things haven't lined up since 1983, and won't happen again until 2029 - or so my google research tells me).

I missed the actual moon rise - it's a well known fact that the moon looks way bigger when it's on the horizon (it's an illlluuuuusionnnn); I was actually sitting in a movie theatre at the time watching 'Paul'.  Surprisingly, it was way better than I thought it would be.  Completely full of cursing and fart jokes, but funny and action packed too - just don't take kids with you (I would feel bad about that). 

ANYWAY...  I did manage to catch the moon later in the evening with a nice view from my deck over the water.  My camera is a little old and gimpy these days, but it did an alright job capturing the moment:

  

And, here's a closeup (12x optical zoom, with 40x digital zoom), it needed some minor photoshopping to bring out the detail:

The moon is neat! 
But I don't think I'd ever want to live there  :P

Don't kiss me, I'm Irish

Unsolicited kisses will probably earn you a punch in the nose!

So I just realized that today is my very last St Patrick's Day with my Irish surname.  I'll have a boring ol' Scottish surname by this time next year! 

ROBERT!!#&$*$(@*#!!

So I just finished week one of Running with Robert.  It was...  sweaty.  :)

For those of you keeping track (I know I am),

Week one was a 5 minute warm up walk, followed by 8 sets of running for a minute, then walking for 90 seconds, and ending with a 5 minute cool down walk for a full half hour of fun.  Do this three times throughout the week, and you're done!  Easy enough, right?  yeah... mostly it was.  The idea of running with Robert is that he provides audio cues for when you're supposed to change speeds.  Plus, he plays funky music and says encouraging things like 'this one's probably gonna hurt, but you can do it!'.

Day one I went 1.7 miles (2.7km)
Day two I went 1.74 miles (2.8km)
Day three I went 1.84 miles (2.96km)

So there ya go.  It did definitely get easier as the week went along.  Moving on to week two still sounds a little intimidating, buuuut, we'll see.

Now.  If I could only stop equating a treadmill run with a rewarding bowl of ice cream...

So it's Lent again

I know this because everyone at the office had ash on their faces yesterday. 
(I also know how to read a calendar.)

I may have made a somewhat regrettable comment on Facebook on Shrove Tuesday that pancakes are not supper food.  It was a 'devil's advocate' move on my part - I thought it would stir up a heated debate between the lovers and the haters, but really, I just got an earful from the lovers!  I could care less about pancakes.  To me, I'll eat them, but they're not a satisfying food.  And I don't find the ensuing sugar crash from the syrup all that pleasant.  But it did keep my facebook wall busy for a few hours!

It seems to me that Shrove Tuesday has become an excuse to eat an unhealthy dinner.  I really doubt that anyone actually follows through with the whole fasting and the not using lard/fat/butter/etc for the next 40 days, so there's really no other reason to indulge in a dinner full of empty calories.  Personally, if I had a choice about which unhealthy food to eat as my 'last' meal before lent, it would probably be chocolate bars on ice cream with a good dose of chocolate syrup and maraschino cherries.  The calories and sugar content would be about equal to a cup of maple syrup, and it'd be way tastier!  But for some reason, pancakes seem to be socially acceptable for dinner, while ice cream and chocolate bars are not.  Go figure.  It doesn't really matter anyway because just the thought of eating that much simple sugar/carbs as an entire meal pretty much makes me want to vomit.

End of 'pancakes are bad supper food' rant.


So, you might be wondering what I'm going to attempt (and ultimately fail at) for Lent this year.  Well, I've been inspired by a number of friends who used to be couch potatoes, who can now run 5km+.  I've also been watching that CBC show 'Village on a Diet', which mostly makes me feel incredibly lazy (in a warm fuzzy feel good way).  Plus, I've got a $700 coat rack in my front room that I should be making use of!  Guess where this is heading...

Last night, I went for a run with 'Robert'.  And I plan to continue running with Robert until I, too, can run that 5km.  It might take a little longer than the 40 days of lent, but if if the 'guilt' of lent keeps me motivated, then so be it!

Day one of running with Robert took about half an hour, and my treadmill told me I went 1.7miles (2.7km). 

Diary of a Bridezilla - Part 1

I am really against putting too much personal information on a public forum, like a blog.  I also don't want my blog to become a dumping ground for all things 'wedding'.  It's just not cool to become so self absorbed, and honestly, who really wants to read about every little detail of my wedding planning?  (I sure don't)  So I have been actively avoiding writing about anything wedding-related.

However, when all of one's 'down-time' is filled with booking halls, finding caterers, and DJs, and photographers, filling gift registries, designing invitations, digging up addresses of long lost relatives, and avoiding questions about dresses and colours and bridesmaids....  There really isn't a whole lot of time left in the day to come up with anything else to blog about.

So I'll just apologize now.  If it's any consolation, it'll be all over in four short months.

Personally, I'm very excited for the wedding to be over!  I do look forward to marriage.  I am quite delighted to spend the rest of my days with a man whom I love and enjoy being with.  But if you know me at all, you'll also know that I hate being the centre of attention and, as of yet, do not see the joy in standing in front of 200 people while blubbering 'I do'.

'Happiest Day of my Life' my a$$!  More like 'most anxiety-filled and stressful day of my life'!

I do however believe that wedding vows are important and should be carried out in a public forum.  It's really a task that must be followed through to the end, a charge, a rite of passage.  As a priestly aquaintence of mine wrote just recently:

Marriage is a public ceremony.   The commitment spouses make is not just to one another – but to the Church and to the state.    Marriage is called a “sacrament of service,” since it benefits not only the couples themselves, but the Church and society.   Married couples bring children into the world – future members of the community and the Church.   They raise them to be good citizens and good Christians.  ...The celebration of marriage should never be a private celebration, but “open to the public,” since the commitment made is to serve the public.   For this reason, marriage is celebrated in a public place: the church.

 A little heavy on the Catholisim maybe, but, marriage is an institution and to enter the institution you must go through all the steps (whether you like them or not!).  And as my husband-to-be so gently puts it: 'Suck it up buttercup, it's only for one day.'

I do feel much better about the whole thing now that
-the date is set
-the location is secure
-the officient is available
-the reception hall is booked
-the DJ is booked
-the photographer is booked
-the caterer is booked
-the bar & alcohol are looked after
-invitations are almost ready to be printed
-the guest list is ready for final edits
-a gift registry has been started
-etc, etc, etc

It's been a busy 3 weeks.
 

uh...

I'm at a loss for blog material.

I mean, how can I possibly top that last post?!
I don't think it's possible.

Foiled

Chocolate bars are one of my most favourite things in life.  And puppies.  Don't forget the puppies.  Oh, if the world were full of chocolate bars and puppies, it would be a soft and delicious place!

Anyway...

You know how a Caramilk bar has that very fine layer of gold coloured foil with a thin paper backing?  A patient person can easily peel the two layers apart.  I am one of those patient people and often find myself doing fidgety things like this.

If you know me well, you'll also know that I get a kick out of teasing people, which is what I was doing the day that I was practising my foil peeling.  I carefully peeled back the foil from the paper - ever so gently so that it wouldn't rip.  I then cut my foil prize into three pieces and skillfully rolled each piece into a fine wire.  The wires, I intricately braided together to form a delicate band, which I then shaped into a ring.  I was well aware of the teasing my BF was getting from his family about getting married, and thought that it was high time to do some well placed teasing of my own.  Crafting my little ring in plain view of my BF, I made sure to have an audience so that my skills wouldn't go to waste.  Did I mention that we were sitting at his parents' kitchen table?  I was well pleased with the outcome of the ring, and the effects it had on my BF.  I really am a jerk, aren't I?!  Hahaha

This was months and months and months ago now, and it has become just another one of those things that we do.  I have amassed quite an assortment of rings made of chocolate bar and candy wrapper foil, (sadly, more than a few of them have met their demise in the big round filing bin), so it came as no surprise to see Dave forming a new ring with the blue foil of a Mentos wrapper the other night.



He quickly twirled the foil together.  Showing me a sorry looking blob of blue and silver that you couldn't pass off as a ring to a blind man, he said to me, 'you like?'  Giving him a disproving look as I glanced over from the tv, I replied 'Davey....  It's not even round.  I love you, but if you're going to give me a ring, you've gotta do better than that.'  Dave grumbled something about not having a long enough piece of foil, and went back to work; I continued watching tv.

 A few minutes later he showed me the much improved ring.  'How about now?', he asked.
'Much better.'
'Well, hold out your hand then.' And I did; humouring him, because I really just wanted to keep watching the show that was on.
'What finger does it go on again?'
'Davey', I said, 'if you don't know the answer to that by now-'
'I know, I know!  Just joking with ya, geez... don't think I know what finger it goes on....'

I can't say that the show I was watching was even any good, but, once again, I wasn't really paying attention to Dave when he put the ring on my finger and asked, 'Amy, will you marry me?'

Quickly glancing at him to give him 'the look', (we've been over this quite a few times - obviously I'd say yes when he finally asked me for real), I saw there on my finger, not the blue ring made of foil as I expected, but the metallic glint of gold and a shimmer of diamonds.

The real thing.

THE REAL THING!

I had no idea where it came from, but there it was.  And there he was, smiling at me, waiting for a response.  My heart leapt out of my chest, and I believe my reply was something like, 'I'm so confused.  What just happened?!',  as I sat there with my jaw on the ground.  It was something that I knew I should be expecting to happen, but obviously I wasn't very prepared!

I won't keep you in suspense any longer, I did say yes to him.  'Yes' and 'I love you' were about the only words I could think of at the time.  And then we sat there on the couch grinning like fools for the rest of the night.

Unbelievable.

So there you go.  I no longer have a BF, but a fiance.

AHH!!

ps.  Dave says that his part is done now; the rest is up to me.  We'll see about that.  :P