Good times...

...so you all know I hate shopping. I hate shopping for lots of reasons: A) you need to spend money and I'm cheap B) I get annoyed trying stuff on C) heavier people clothes have pleats and elastic waistbands and D) it's just not that fun.

Here's what I don't like today about shopping. No offence to the thin people of the world, but I get real annoyed when they say "I couldn't find anything that fit me!" I understand that you couldn't find something to fit as you're too small...BUT AT LEAST YOU HAD OPTIONS! Geesh, I have 2 pair of pants to try so if they don't fit it means no pants....you have the whole store and if they don't fit it means someone needs to take them in! Hum...Let's go to the mall and buy a shirt for tonight...ok...I like this one...oh wait, none in my size....what about this one?...oh wait, too tight...let's try another store with all the sales...oh wait, that's right, size 2 is on sale for $2-$5....size 16 plus is twice the price...let's go somewhere else...I'll try this on...then here comes the sale-lady "can I get you another size?"...well you could if there was such a thing as another size!....do you see how fun this is?! Now that's what I call a good time right there...fun fun fun...oh joy, oh bliss.

I bought "Wii Fit" the other day thinking this could help me lose weight. I was super pumped the day I got it...proud...best shopping day yet...so I get home all excited to start losing weight by playing video games. I have to create my person so that it can track my success, which is rather cool. It asks for my height and age then you stand on this board and it takes your weight to then figure out your Body Mass Index (BMI)....this was OK with me UNTIL the machine makes the same noise the lotto thing does when you lose and shows me that I'm obese. Well that's real motivating. I could get over that as really, it's personal and no one needs to see it...then it happens....the icing on the cake...my person goes from thin to plump right there on the screen! Can you believe it? Now I have to stare at a FAT video game character every time I play...fricken lovely. I get the point, but seriously...let me have a skinny character...that's all I ask...no need to have large hips and gut on TV...I have them in real life so really, I don't need to see it on a cartoon character of me.

Anyways, despite my fat...oh sorry...obese "Mii", I'm enjoying the game. I'm sure I look like a crazy person in the living room window doing the imaginary hoola-hoop....or ski jumping...or air boxing...the neighbors must think I'm losing it :)

"You look so dumb right now...standing outside my house..." - Rihanna

Thursday's Thoughts...

...so today I was working away and talking about kids and stuff to some colleagues and started getting annoyed. See, I'm considered to be self-employed so I am not entitled to any Maternity Benefits. I would like to have more kids...not right now...but in the next couple years and started thinking about the hard time I went through after having my son. I went back to work after 6 weeks as we receive absolutely no income from the government for taking the time off. It really irks me that the government preaches that they want women in business, but yet throw us out on the street when it comes to having a family. It really stinks and it makes me so mad that I finally got my thoughts together today on paper and sent it to our MLA. I know him personally so I expect a response...I realize things can't change overnight, but I want to at least have my voice heard as I know many other women feel the same way I do. I was very blunt in my letter..."Do you know how hard it is to take care of a baby, pump breast milk and run a business...?" It even gets more graphic, but I'll spare you the details. If you want to read my letter, please feel free to email me and I'll send it to you.

Ok...enough of that...let's talk about today's weight loss walk discovery...Chocolate cupcake with Chocolate ganache and caramel with a whipped cream topping! Holy Hannah...is there a need for something so delicious to be so close to my office? I couldn't help but get one...after all, the bakery guy did say he baked it with me in mind...yes he knows me well! Oh my dear...it was yummy...equally as yummy as the cookies last week...unbelievable.

One thing I'm real happy about is that I don't fear contamination with this bakery....Geesh, I'm super glad I don't eat too many processed meats cause this Maple Leaf Crisis is a little scary. It's scary for all the Seniors homes, schools, day cares, etc...that serve food to hundreds...that could mean hundreds of infected people...it's just crazy. I can hardly believe that in this day and age such a large outbreak could even happen....killing 6 confirmed from this Listeriosis and even more still waiting for the results. It's real sad. I don't' want to blame anyone in particular for this outbreak as I don't feel I know enough information to pass judgement...what I do know is that the company is really going to suffer over this one and from that could come much job loss. It's sad all around.

I was a little depressed when I read about the Maple Leaf Crisis today in the paper, but was soon revived after hearing "I've got electric boots, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magaziiiiine...oh...B B B Benny and the Jets"...on the radio! I'm going to the Elton John Concert in Hdot in like a month...how exciting is that? I can't wait...and actually I found out today that on the same day as the concert, there's a an outdoor concert nearby that afternoon featuring Hedley and a friend of mine, Dwight d'Eon and the Nation! YAY! I love concerts and totally plan on attending this afternoon one too...I'm even more excited now!

Well...that's it for me for now...sorry this post is a little scattered...I have scattered thoughts today...need more caffeine.

"When all I want is the feeling...of having someone to steer me..." - Dwight d'Eon and The Nation

Birds...

...so I'm not sure what's going on but we have a bird poop problem. Every morning when I go down the stairs of the deck there's a spot full of bird doo-doo. Why on earth are they all pooping at the same spot? It's always at the platform 3/4 of the way down the steps, right on the rail where you'd put your hand. How inconvenient is that? I could handle a tiny bit of poop...but nooooooo...there's a mound of it! There's no power line or anything above and there's none anywhere else...so what's the deal? Is it that they all fly by and see the deck and think..."hum...I wonder where the most obvious place to shat is on these people's deck?.....oh look....right there so let's all take our turns and drop some dung all in the same spot." No need....we have a whole lawn...do your number 2 there....we have a lovely driveway, so help yourself....we even have a large shed so let 'er rip....but not on the rail where Blake or I put our hands!

"Come fly with me, let's fly let's fly away..." - Frank Sinatra

Name...

...so today on my weight loss walk to the bakery I discovered their version of the triple chocolate cookie...very exciting! This cookie was everything I hoped it would be and more....moist, chocolaty, big and just plain yummy! Anyways, I love the bakery near my office...and the bakery guy is quite funny...makes me laugh every time I go in the store....plus he has excellent treats.

So Canada is shaping up a little in the Olympic medal race. Apparently we have one more medal than when we were in Athens so I guess that's a plus. After watching the replay on the trampoline I'm really thinking the Canadian got cheated out of a gold medal. The Chinese guy did good, but he travelled a lot on the trampoline and that's a no-no (apparently) and the Canadian only did a little bit. Even the announcers thought the gold was going to the Canadian. After our discussion on the Chinese Government the other day it kinda makes me wonder if they'd try to sway the judges on stuff...think so? I don't know...I'm not making accusations or anything, but I guess anything is possible. In many Olympics there have been issues with judging and even to the point of having some criminally charged so it wouldn't be a stretch. The Chinese Government did lock up all the smelly, bald cabbies, after all...so... makes you think, eh?

Let's talk about people's names now...there was this guy who's name was Dong Dong. Ok...I guess first of all, I'm super glad they named him Dong and not Ding....but really, if you already have Dong as your last name then why torture your child with naming him that for his first name too? I know sometimes it's hard to think of children's names but I think they could have strayed a little from his last name. Not very original....in my opinion.

Here's some I found online that were rather interesting:

Constance Noring
Harry Pitts
Dick Trickle (apparently a real NASCAR driver)
Dr. & Dr. Doctor (married doctors from Norwalk, CT)
Tad Pohl
Shanda Lear (daughter of Bill Lear, inventor of the Lear jet)
Polly Ester
Peter Peed
Nancy Ann Cianci
Iona Frisbee
Hugh Jass
Harry Legg
Gene Poole
Barb B. Cue
Barry Schmelly

Interesting...these parents must have been in a daze when they picked those names.

"Say my name, Say my name..." - Destiny's Child

The antenna...

Camping at it's best...

...so we spent the weekend at my Aunt and Uncle's camp in Qdot. We settled in on Friday night just on time for the little one to go to bed. Once he was asleep we wanted to watch a few minutes of the Olympics...one problem...no rabbit ears. We turned on the TV and it was set on the channels needed for the dish, which wasn't there, so we couldn't get it off channel 3. If we went up one it went to 30...if we went down we got channel 101. When we tried getting the menu up but it was so fuzzy that we couldn't even see to switch it to cable mode. After 30 minutes of messing around with it we gave up and released our frustrations on some old golf balls. My Farty Cousin and Mr. Sociable came over and we all took turns trying to hit the golf balls across the lake. My Farty Cousin might as well give up golfing cause we could find each and every ball she hit right there on the shore...poor girl...we tried not to laugh too much.

We slept well...well I did after all the crying I did from saying bye to my Mom and Dad...anyways...not talking about that. The little one got up around 6:30am so we played with him for a little while and then I had a brain wave..."let's hook up the VCR to the TV to get the channels changed to then make an antenna to get the Olympics!!???!!" I was excited...I finally thought of something that was actually a great idea. Hubby jumped up and started hooking it up...we finally got the channel changed to 10 (the Olympics Channel) and now on to the task of making rabbit ears! With the use of my smart brain, the fireplace mantel, the old cable cord, speaker wire, black tape and a protractor...VOILA OLYMPICS! It was so exciting...it worked like a charm and now we were all very happy. Now...what better way to celebrate happiness than with a nice cup of coffee? Yup, I thought that was a wonderful addition to the morning so I make my way to coffee maker to find that there's no filters and no instant coffee. Now what do I do? Well, seeing that I'm a great antenna engineer, I thought, I must be able to make a filter! I ripped off a good ol' sheet of paper towel, poured the coffee inside and started brewing a 10 cup pot of coffee...hard to believe, but it worked!

We enjoyed the day outside, despite the overcast weather, and waited patiently for the little ones bedtime so we could enjoy a nice brewski and some smores. Once the little one was all tucked away and in dreamland we got ready to go outside and here came a complete rain storm! Most would be disappointed at this point...not me...I just put my brain into action again and made oven-broiled smores! After all...the saying goes..."when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!"

Just to end this post...please take note that this is my type of "camping" : fix the TV to watch the Olympics, make a filter for the coffee machine with paper towel and use the oven to make smores...we were really "roughing it"...my old Brownies Leader would be proud :)

"I am so smart...S M R T!" - Homer Simpson

Rowing...

...so I'm a little sad today. My parents are leaving on a sailing adventure for the next 9 months. I really want them to go cause I think it'll be real cool, but in the same breathe I don't want them to leave for so long. I talk to my mother at least twice a day and I know the little one is going to miss them so much. They're leaving on the weekend and we're going away so I'll say my good-bye's tonight. Anyways, enough of that...I'm getting emotional.

Here's an excerpt from the front page of the Chronicle Herald - "The Canadian women's double sculls team and the men's coxless four crew each advanced out of Friday's semifinals and will get a chance to row for an Olympic medal this weekend."

I'm glad they're moving on, but after reading that I'm starting to wonder if I'd even want to be on a rowing team... Sounds kinda harsh...hehehe!

"Row, Row, Row your boat..." - Kid's song