Books I'm reading/will be reading soon

I've been meaning to get back on the reading wagon. I've been finding fiction to be less and less fulfilling, so I've been keeping fiction to book club reads only, while my choice books are those of the self-help, health & well-being, family & relationships, food & drink, home & garden and religion & spirituality genre.

Here's what's on my night stand hoping to be read in the next few weeks/months:

This is our choice book club read. I bought it with my Yankee swapped Indigo gift card (more on that hilarious experience later) and my iRewards card (gotta love discounts!). I'm looking forward to it, not only because it's not fat and it's got a good sized font, but because I get to read it with intention and discuss it later with a bunch of moms whose memories are shot by the time we discuss it (haha, I'm just kidding!).

I must admit that reading fiction post-Love In the Time of Cholera is more refreshing because well, it's not Love in the Time of Cholera. Yes, I hated the book, the story, and the male main character, so when people tell me it's one of their favourite books, I question their morals. Just kidding again. But seriously, I gave that book two thumbs down.

I've really been looking forward to reading this book. My sister's been talking about it for a while now, and I know that when we bounce good books off each other that we like, they're good ones.

I didn't read Power of Now, and so it's also on my To Read List, but I figure any of these books will be good. I look forward to reading them.

I'm actually not quite sure what to expect, but I'm pretty confident it'll be a good read in my book (haha, I'm so clever).


I haven't purchased this one yet, but I'm looking forward to.

I saw an episode of Oprah last week about the work of the O Ambassadors and was re-inspired to make a trip to Africa to volunteer. Knowing how my life is currently laid out, it may take a while for me to get there, but I know one day I will, and maybe when I get the chance, I'll have inspired at least one of my kids to come along with me. Hopefully there won't be a need for help there by that time, but if there is, my desire to assist stands.

New Year's Resolutions

In addition to making new year's resolutions, I also make a to-do list of BIG things I wanna do for the year. I've been successful every year for the past 5 or so years, so I think this works out well for me. The thing with resolutions is I usually end up making more than I should and forget what they are and then by this time of the year, I have no idea if I was successful. So, here are some of my resolutions, and hopefully, if you catch me veering away from them, you can gently remind me, and maybe I'll post them on the side so I can see them every time I see my blog.

2009 Resolutions

1. Eat breakfast at home, before leaving for work
2. Get ready to go out on time and completely (I'm often an apply-make-up-in-the-car person)
   
3. Keep things neat and organized (yes, I have become accustomed to the look of mess, and so I need to remind myself what it's like to think it disgusting...my sister says having people over often helps keep your house clean, so come on over!)
4. Exercise patience (can also mean swear less!)
   
5. Shop and spend less and save even more
   
6. Cook more times a week
   
7. Watch more informative TV (since I know I'll be watching TV anyway!)
   
8. Laugh more quietly (yeah, sometimes I'm deafening)
   
9. Surround myself with people and things that move me forward
   
10. Pray more and practise more positive and possibility thinking

And now for my Big Things I'd like to do List for 2009 (which I might regret posting, but we'll see)

1. Buy a home
2. Create life (yes, that means we'd like to be pregnant/have a baby this coming year, and maybe it'll end the questions/assumptions/rumours)
   
3. Run one full marathon
4. Run at least two (did one!) half-marathons
5. Go on a gooooood vacation
6. Gain 3-5lbs of muscle
7. Go on more road trips
8. Face my fear of driving in the winter (I'll save this for next winter...heehee)

Let's hope I can do this!

Just remember...

...what's important.

I was very kindly reminded by my husband last night that at times when I'm feeling vulnerable, unaccepted, paralyzed, out of place, uncomfortable and/or not myself, to remember what's important...to keep what I value most in my life most valued, to remember what matters most and to always keep in mind that whenever I feel this way, that I have him and those who love me, always. He also reminded me that I know I'm the best me, and that I don't have to try so hard all the time to be better.

You should try this next time you feel they way I did/do sometimes. You're loved and really, that's something that really matters.

A Quickie (because I should keep doing what I'm doing and I can't contain myself!)

I'm so excited!

We've never actually spent Christmas Eve together because it's always been his day with his household when we weren't married yet, so the mass, quiet time, baking/cooking components were always boyfriend/fiance-free. Much of our Christmas Eves were spent on the phone and if I was lucky, a quick visit.

This year, not only is he mine (and work's until his shift is over...hopefully soon!) today, but we get to start our own Christmas traditions. Christmas Eve into the first hours of Christmas day belong to just us. The rest of Christmas day is with our families, for lunch and for dinner.

I'm in the kitchen preparing at least 8 dishes, two of which are his favourites, and several of which I'm saving to finish preparing so he can cook with me, as was his request. I can't wait for him to come home from work!

Tis the season!

Merry Christmas from the Santiagos!

The story that accompanies our Christmas card

Since Jaye and I started going out, we've had this ongoing joke about going to see Santa. He's been teasing me for years about going to his castle, sitting on his lap, and telling him all the things I want for Christmas. I'm not sure if it's because I'm small and could probably pull off looking like a kid or if it's just something he's joked about for so long because he thought I'd never do it.

Well lookie here. Not only did I do it, I took him along!

We thought it'd be a fun Christmas card, and after so long, we wanted our first Christmas card to be something fun and funny, because our Thank You cards (which will be on the way in the new year, I promise) won't be (I had thoughts of sending Thank You cards with pictures of us making funny faces...because we like making funny faces...but we never got around to making any on our wedding day [we just had an excess of kissy face ones. Yikes!]).

So, we had tried to figure out what we'd wear and which Santa we'd visit. It had to be a good outfit and it had to be a good Santa. It turned out we didn't have time to check out the different malls to see which one had a good Santa (a "good Santa" equals a man who's pretty old, pretty round, and has a pretty white beard). It also turned out that we couldn't coordinate pretty outfits and so we did the next best thing.

We went to see a mid-thirties, brunette Santa with a fake white beard in our pajamas.

We went out and aimed to be the first in line to avoid the embarrassment of walking around in public not only in our pajamas, but matching shoes as well (you can't see husband's because he's too tall and got cut off). We walked briskly to Santa's castle and found a long line of children with their parents. We shyly walked to the back of the line and faced whatever direction it was where people weren't looking at us.

After it was finally our turn and I had explained to the photographer that this was for our Christmas card and we intended for it to be funny, we proceeded to walk up to Santa. As we took off our coats, Santa very cheerily (almost too cheerily) yelled, "IT'S MY LUCKY DAY!!"

And then I sat on his lap while husband squirmed to avoid Santa's leg and squished his bum into the little space between Santa's leg and the armrest.

A few days later, we were shopping at the same mall and found that there was a good Santa working! If only we had him. I'm sure he wasn't creepy like his job-sharing colleague.

Scrooge for one post

If there’s one thing I despise this time of year, it’s bad customer service. It’s Christmas and a very busy time and despite how tired you may be as a person providing customer service, you should always treat this extra load of customers with respect and courtesy. Chances are many of them are new customers and if they have a good experience the first time, they’re probably more likely to come back.

Here’s the story of my bad customer service experience today.

I’m a sucker for TNA jackets. I know, boo, hiss, but when you’re my size, you’re willing to spend the money for the XXS that fits better than any kid-sized jacket or any small petite women’s jacket, yet is warm and isn’t just an expensive brand. Granted, it’s expensive and not really anything high-end, but since when have I ever been into high-end anything?

Anyway, I have this jacket. I’ve wanted a long one for our cold winters for a while now, and I committed myself this year to getting one. I had initially intended on buying the 2009 navy blue one (it’s not as common a colour – you likely won’t see 5 of these in this colour in one day), but when they decided not to have that colour this year, I looked for something else. I found the “platinum edition” jacket, which made me happy because it was different from the usual one and it was grey, which would have been my next choice. When I bought it, it was the last XXS in the store, and so I felt it was meant just for me.

Last night, after work, I was walking and heard something fall on the ground and slide. I looked around and noticed something was missing from my cuff. It was the little TNA circle logo from the cuff of my jacket on the other side of the magnet. I picked it up and walked into the new TNA store at Eaton Centre to find out what I could do about this.

I spoke to the manager on duty who told me just what I thought she would – This has never happened before (it’s a new line of jackets, of course it hasn’t), I can bring it back with my original receipt and they can take it to a tailor to get it fixed and if that’s not possible, I can exchange it for a new one. I asked if they could keep an XXS on hold in case it can’t be fixed but she said they can only hold for 24 hours.

That was the plan. I dug up my receipt (which I’m happy I have because these days I’m teaching myself to throw out receipts, instead of keeping every single one to track my spending at the end of the month) and put it in the pocket with the broken piece and placed the jacket in a bag ready for inspection.

During my break at work, I called the location closest to me in case I could just do it there. It turned out that they don’t currently have a hired tailor at the store, but they suggested I bring it to any other location and they could take care of it for me. So I brought it to the TNA store since I spoke to someone there already. Maybe they were familiar with my case.

I got to the store, was greeted, and I asked for the manager. I was pointed to her (“the one playing with the dog over there…” – clearly not attending to the million other customers in the store…this was not looking good). I walked around the store waiting for her to remember that she was the store manager and approached her. I told her the whole story and this is how it went after.

Me (K): I looked at the piece and I don’t think it’s something that can be sewn. I think it might have to be welded or something.
Manager (M): This hasn’t happened before, were you picking at it or something?
K: No, it just flew off when I was walking yesterday.
M to Other Employee (OE): You’re into sewing, does this look like something that can be fixed by a tailor?
(Excuse you, I’m also “into sewing” and I just told you it’s not. But I’ll forgive you, you didn’t know I sew)
OE: No, it’d probably have to be fixed at a shoe repair shop or something. Or maybe we’d have to order the part and get it repaired, but that might take a long time.
OE to K: We could order the part but it might take a few weeks, but in the mean time, you can hold on to the jacket and we can call you when we get it in.
M to K: Or you can exchange it, but the new one would be final sale, so if this happens again, you can’t return it.
K: Okay, if you have an XXS, I’ll exchange it.
M goes to check the rack, nothing, goes to the computer…click click click.
M: It doesn’t look like we have it here and they don’t have it upstairs [at Aritzia…which I won’t step in because they fudged up my girlfriend’s damaged coat last year. What are the chances? Ugh].
K: Are there any other locations that have it?
M: They might at Vaughan Mills, but we’re in a no-transfer period so you’d have to go there to pick it up.
K: Oh okay, that might work, I can probably go there this weekend.
M: They can only hold it for tonight and I’d have to check if they even have it.
(Why did you say anything about the other location if you don’t even know if they have it?! And this is a special circumstance where your product failed me, so why can’t you explain the situation and ask that they hold on to it for longer, even 24 hours like your employee told me yesterday?!)
K: Okay, then what if we go with what she [OE] said and I can hold onto my jacket if you can order the part?
M: I don’t even know if we do that.
K: But she suggested it.
M: We could try, but you’d have to come back in January because they won’t ship the part to us until then.
(If you don’t know if you do this sort of thing, how would you know if I’d have to wait until January?!)
K: Oh right, because you guys are so busy
M: Well, no, more because I can’t do this for you until then.
K: Fine I’ll take my jacket and maybe come back in January.
M: Okay, here’s your receipt *hands K her receipt which she’s crumpled up, rubs the inside of her nose and hands K her jacket*

SCENE.

And now I’m boycotting the TNA Store, writing a letter, and looking for a long XXS grey platinum edition jacket so I can buy it and use that receipt to return the broken one...or I'll find a way to fix mine because I'm just that handy. Grrrr...

Our first Christmas...so far

The Story of Candy Fat Ass
We decided that with this being our first Christmas together (actually, it's our 11th, but we're starting all over [or "starting Back at One" as he SANG]) we'd do something fun and get a REAL tree. The whole tree farm thing would have been nice but it also would have taken an entire day, probably would have seriously tired us out and we would have needed a whole bunch of contingency plans if the weather wasn't in our favour for example, so we decided to stay local.

We found ourselves at Home Depot since it's so close by, and spotted us a nice full tree. It was already tied up, so we didn't quite know what the shape of it was, but it looked like it'd be a good one. So, after getting it bundled up and hauling it to the cash, we found ourselves wheeling the tree to the car...where it was too big to neatly fit in the trunk and inside the car without totally demolishing it. So we brought it over to the lumber area and used their string to tie the sucka to the roof. Yes, by this time, the tree was a sucka.

Having no roof rack nor experience tying anything to the roof of the car, you can imagine the looks on the two employees standing nearby clearly showing no interest in assisting us. We did the best we could (okay, not really the best) and after much exasperation (and not completely securing the tree to the roof), we drove off. I held on tightly to the strings from inside the car so that outside the car, the strings would stay taut and hopefully keep the tree in place. We made very slow turns and finally made it home.

It got inside the house okay and it was placed in the stand until we could figure out how the stand worked. Husband had never had a real tree, and for me, my Dad was always the one to get it set up and I was never interested enough to check out how he did it. Turns out that the stand we got had some sort of siphoning mechanism so that watering the tree would be easier than just pouring water directly into the stand. We tried so hard to figure the sucka out, we ended up resorting to doing it the old-fashioned way--watering directly into the stand.

So, now that the tree was in and we screwed the four screws into place, it was time to cut off the ties from the tree and see what a beauty it was.......

The thing was FRIGGIN' HUMONGOUS. No exaggeration here. It was a nice height but the thing was FAT. Not PHAT. FAAAAAAAAAAT. It was so fat, there was no safe passage around it without getting needles on you...or worse, in you. Don't get me wrong though, it was pretty. It was pretty, full and FAT. (I can't type it in anything but CAPS because it doesn't say exactly how FAT it was/is.)

After all this, we thought it'd be a good time to have dinner and then we'd decorate it. As we were eating dinner, we could hear a rustling sound. I panicked because I thought either:

1. A frickin' raccoon is gonna scurry out of the thing and we wouldn't have had any idea it was hangin' out in there because the tree was so full, or
   
2. The tree was slowly keeling over.

It was the latter (thank[s] God [that was for you, Lei]). By the end of dinner, the tree was leaning on the bookshelf beside it and suddenly having the tree against a wall and not a corner didn't seem like such a good idea after all.

So what did we do? We moved furniture around and pushed and pulled the tree into the corner. This wasn't enough though. It was still so big it was sticking out and blocking any path to get into the greatroom. So, we shoved it into the corner. By this time, I was so frustrated, I left it.

Two days later...after a very successful overnight shopping trip out of town, I came home, took my shears and trimmed the sucka until it wasn't a sucka anymore. It was still leaning but not as much, and I only cut enough so that it didn't look like it was shoved against the walls but was still full. Just like that, we turned it all around.

Right after, we put on the lights. I had bought a bunch of LED lights a few years back when warm white LEDs were still new and I bought another bunch this year. The ones this year were more yellow for some reason, so I devised a plan to still use them because I couldn't fill the tree with just the original ones. I think it turned out better than I had thought! Then we decorated the tree and had ornaments left, which was nice because I worried we might not have enough.

This year, we decided to go colourful rather than go with a colour scheme. It just seemed more fun...and in the end the tree reminded me of candy...hence the name, Candy. She's Fat. And Ass because initially, she was a pain in ours. I love her...especially now that she's hooked up to a timer, so I don't have to slide under the tree to plug her in.

Wreaths
I paid a long-awaited visit to marthastewart.com one day and found myself very inspired to make some wreaths. I'm forcing myself to stop at these because I don't have hooks for them all.

Pre-Christmas Gifts
Husband has this thing where he gives me a pre-Christmas gift...and I never manage to remember that he does this so I never have anything for him :S

This year, he said I could open something in my stocking, you know, since it's the third week of Advent and all (riiiiiight...because that's the day to open pre-Christmas gifts).

Yay for Brian McKnight's new Christmas album and Brushfire Fairytales' Christmas album!

Celebrating with Santa
We did the Santa Shuffle this year, a 5K run (or 1K Elf walk), the proceeds of which go to the Salvation Army. I did it with my husband and it was his first race ever. It was really fun, despite the cold and I enjoyed having someone to run with. It's been a while. I'm really proud of how well he did and I look forward to doing more runs together.

Keeping warm in the car

Post-run

40 years

One day, 40 years ago, my parents got married.

40 years ago, maybe they had some idea that there was a girl in their future.
And maybe another girl.
And another girl?
And a boy, nope another girl?
And a boy, nope yet another girl?
And a maybe boy? YES! A boy!

Maybe in the back of their minds, they were thinking that moving to the other side of the world might reap benefits greater than those they grew up with, especially for their kids.

Maybe they knew bringing some family along was a great idea.

Maybe she thought he was crazy for choosing her instead deciding to be a priest after all.

Maybe he knew she was worth it.

Maybe they knew getting together, getting married and being strong for each other was the best thing they ever did.
I know it was.

With yet another girl

Life should taste as good as (my take)

One of my girlfriends (er, actually, more than one ) and I share an unspoken love, only understood by Canadians who house themselves in a version of something Swiss.

Yes, Swiss Chalet is a must. Especially with the Festive Special. I didn’t even plan to have it tonight, except when she asked me for some suggestions for restaurants that her and her beau could go to for dinner, the OBVIOUS answer was Swiss Chalet (although it wasn’t my first response because I was thinking maybe they wanted something more chic or upscale or something, not that Swiss Chalet is anything less than that! Haha!). I planned to cook, actually, so my “Chicken-a-la-King with a twist version 1.0” waits until tomorrow night.

So my husband, my brother and I met up and went to the nearest Swiss Chalet from the station, starving…we left satisfied (of course). It was funny because just when I was thinking of texting my gf, she texted me…and then I texted her back a message that indicated that I did NOT cook and was also looking forward to a mouth-watering, rotisserie, festive, Swiss experience.

Yum.

Bubble Tea?

Don't go here for yours!

Maybe we should be more subtle with the kids today...

(Warning, may be offensive...)

Fwd: WARNING!

Got this from my aunt and uncle...

Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!!

Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public parking area. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home, it was a receipt for gas. Luckily my friend told me not to stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the car. Then we received this email yesterday:

WARNING FROM POLICE. THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE-- NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating...

You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into Reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window.

So, you shift intoPark,unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car. So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!

BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.

Please keep this going and tell all your friends.

I love you...

...whoever you are who thought of creating frozen seasoned chicken breasts. You are a saviour on lazy days like today when I'm still full from lunch and I have two hungry tired men coming home in an hour.

10 years later

Husband and I celebrated our tenth dating anniversary on the 25th. Being that we’re now married, we decided that we’d celebrate this as our last one, since it’s the tenth (and therefore, a big deal, haha) and then we’d move on to our wedding anniversaries. Truth is, we didn’t celebrate the typical way we have every year for the past ten years. Instead we decided to go low-budget and sentimental – we relived our first date.

Keep in mind that at the time, we were only sixteen.

After work, we met up and took public transit to where else but THE MALL. Yes, we had our first date at the mall (took public transit then too!) and watched a movie. Hey, when you’re sixteen, that’s a quality date! So, we went to the theatres, where ten years ago (minus two days – we started going out on a Wednesday and went on our first date on the Friday), it had just opened.

We checked out what movie was playing in theatre #5, the exact theatre where we watched our first movie together – Enemy of the State (there were no “romantic” movies playing at the time). So as we walked into the theatre, we checked out what was playing and saw that among the movies were one Tamil movie, a WWE feature, Twilight (in a gazillion theatres), a horror flick, the new Bond movie, the latest kids movie, the most recent funny-yet-stupid movie and Clint Eastwood’s latest film. Not much to choose from and not very likely that we'd get something decent. As we got closer and searched for theatre #5, we saw that in #4 was the Tamil movie and in #6 was the horror flick. Luckily, we got Changeling which was one of the movies we hoped to get (the other was Quantum of Solace). We bought our tickets for the next showing which was THREE hours later. Just like on our first date, we had several hours to kill before our showing…so we went to the food court.

We didn’t do Taco Bell (oh Heavens, no!) but went to what I guess could be considered the more healthy of the options there and ate…now what? We walked around for a bit and then decided, “Why don’t we just go home and come back?” The mall would have been closed for a while by showtime so we left.

A few hours later, we were back at the theatre, sitting in what were probably the same seats as ten years ago, watching…a very depressing yet very intense movie. I recommend it, just not for a date. (Funny enough we saw lots of guys coming to see it together.)

It was a very low-key night, just like it was 10 years ago.

(STARBUCKS) RED

From November 27 to December 1, if you purchase a Peppermint Mocha Twist, Gingersnap Latte and Espresso Truffle, Starbucks will give a portion of the proceeds to the Global Fun to help save lives in Africa. Get yours!

We Elfed Ourselves...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

He's here!!!

Guilty Pleasures

Since this post, something's changed...the more you hear something, the more accustomed you get to it I think...

So now, Husband and I are finding that T-Pain is one of our guilty pleasures. We don't own his album but we do enjoy singing with his tracks when we hear them on the radio. Actually, some people might say it's more like we're mocking them...Husband's really good at imitating weird voices and strange sounds, like those uttered by Lil Wayne.

Speaking of Lil Wayne, since last week when our brother-in-law and my sister were talking about this song, we've had it in our head ever since and it's almost like we're itching to hear it...


Something tells me he doesn't pay attention when he gets arrested because I'm pretty sure female cops don't do this stuff.

Labelmaker

That's what I am right now -- a labelmaker.

I decided to add labels to my posts. At first I thought I shouldn't just because knowing me, the list of labels could end up so long that there could be a different one for each post and quite a number or redundancies, but I think I've got a good list here...

...now if only Blogger would display them in my post...

Sicko

Here I am -- day 3 of being sick. My cold has taken on a strange transformation -- my nose is no longer running, however, the skin surrounding it is still dry (I'm not very gentle with tissue when I blow my nose), and my head has taken on the brunt of the pain that was once residing in my muscles. Thank goodness it isn't the flu. It's my "migraine season" -- between seasons, I get really bad migraines due to changes in barometric pressure. I'm so happy it's snowing outside right now.

So, now that I've been home for 3 days, I've learned how it feels to be utterly useless and I've forgotten what it's like to be sick. I'm not good at doing nothing. It was so difficult not to pull out the Christmas decorations, to not wash everything in the house, to not do work-related things that need to be done and definitely not to go out for a run...and now that's it's snowing, I'm wondering when I can go for a run again because I don't know how long the snow will be on the ground.

Ugh, get me OUTTA HERE!!!

Two firsts today

The first first:
I went to my first ever Santa Claus parade (I know, I was born here and in all this time, I've never been to the parade? What's wrong with me?). We stood in the cold and the snow slapped our faces so much so that our skin hurt. I had to pee a storm and wished that I bought real gloves and winter boots before today. All in all though, it was fun!! I wouldn't say I'd do it again next year, but maybe sometime close to 10 years would do.

The second first:
I had my first (and hopefully only) cold of the year. Yes, it's the middle of November, and I lasted this long. GO ME!! I got pretty close to it and had some nights where I swore that the sunrise would bring a stuffy nose and sore throat, but somehow my body always fought it. Today though, I guess after being outside for hours waiting for Santa, my body didn't have any time to fight and it all attacked me at once. My face now bears a close resemblance to Rudolph's except the redness spreads to my upper lip and it hurts. Too bad I didn't have my Puffs tissue when my nose was running like a faucet. Boo to crappy cheap tissue.

Time to sleep off this fever...

Spread love...

Because I believe sharing is caring...enjoy! (Thanks Meech!)

Where I'm coming from

Watch this clip...it begins at 5:00 in and ends at 5:44.

If You're Out There

This is one of John Legend's new songs on his new album, Evolver. It's definitely one of my favourites (I liked it even before I knew it was inspired by change that was promised by Barack Obama) and it seems to be my anthem these days...



If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late

We've been looking for a song to sing
Searched for a melody
Searched for someone to lead
We've been looking for the world to change
If you feel the same
Then go on and say

If you're out there
Sing along with me
If you're out there
I'm dying to believe that you're out there
Stand up and say it loud
If you're out there
Tomorrow's starting now
Now, now

No more broken promises
No more call to war
Unless it's love and peace that we're really fighting for
We can destroy hunger
We can conquer hate
Put down the arms and raise your voice
We're joining hands today

Oh I was looking for a song to sing
I searched for a leader
But the leader was me
We were looking for the world to change
We can be heroes
Just go on and say

If you're out there
Sing along with me
If you're out there
I'm dying to believe that you're out there
Stand up and say it loud
If you're out there
Tomorrow's starting now
Now, now

Oh now, now

If you're ready we can shake the world
Believe again
It starts within
We don't have to wait for destiny
We should be the change that we want to see

If you're out there
Ooooh
If you're out there
And you're ready now
Say it loud
Scream it out

If you're out there
Sing along with me
If you're out there
I'm dying to believe that you're out there
Stand up and say it loud
If you're out there
Tomorrow's starting now

If you're out there
If you're out there
If you're out there

If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late

A Christmas run

I’m running a 5K with my husband in the beginning of December. I’m excited for several reasons:

• We’re running in something as close as possible to Santa suits
• It’s another race – I’m planning to do more timed races from now on
• It’s our first race together
• It’s his first race
• It’s in one of my favourite parks
  

The run, “The Santa Shuffle”, is held in support of Salvation Army. Click here to sponsor me and send a little Christmas cheer!

Obamarama

I’m not much of a follower of anything political anywhere unless I have to be. I will admit though, that I did at first join the bandwagon of Canadians following the American election closer than the Canadian one, and even way before one was announced in our country. For the past year or so, I enjoyed watching the race between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton, and then even more so when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his VP. I think we all enjoyed that…or moreso, enjoyed watching Tina Fey as Sarah Palin.

With all the excitement going on especially in the months and weeks that just passed, I found myself watching the results yesterday, more intently than if Fringe was actually on. As more and more results were announced, I sat on my couch in tears. I was full of hope. So hopeful for the US and for the changes that’ll take place there, that no doubt, will affect the whole world. Positive change is coming and it’s something we’ve needed for a long time.

John McCain and Barack Obama’s speeches were both amazing. Obama’s gave me goosebumps though. It was such a positive speech.

Cheers to change!

The First Screening

I hadn’t seen any footage of our wedding other than photos until a few days ago. We watched my aunt/uncle/cousin’s-in-law video of pre-ceremony happenings as well as bits during the ceremony, including the walk down the aisle. Thankfully, the ugly cry I thought I was fighting wasn't as ugly as I had imagined...the walk itself, however, did show that my legs were like jelly. Everything was beautiful.

As embarrassed as I am seeing myself on video, this was a whole other experience. I wanted so badly to watch it and cry but at the same time, I sat there with my family-in-law, sweating profusely and wishing someone would turn it off because the close-ups of my face were making me blush. Then we watched it all over again. Ha!

Between my episodes of cringing, I found that even watching it was surreal. It was like seeing someone else get married, but they looked exactly like us. I tried to steal a look from Husband since we weren’t sitting together and he looked as though he had equally mixed emotions watching it. We were both trying not to look but trying to look at the same time.

I think it’d probably be different if it was just us watching.

Journaling

I got an email encouraging me to keep a journal and I think I’ve decided to begin – or re-begin (what’s the actual word I’m looking for here?). I’m not talking about blog posting. I’m talking about writing with a pen in an actual journal.

When I was in elementary school, I used to write in a journal nearly every day. I don't mean the "Today is Monday, November 3, 2008. The weather is mild and cloudy..." journal from school. I mean my own. I don’t know where some of them are, but I know the last time I looked back at them, I just laughed at myself. All I wrote about were boys!

And then, in high school, I had a few…this time about A boy…and then he became a man…and then he became my husband. I used to write about him almost every day, at first before we were going out and then after we were going out, and then the writing turned into less of a journal and become a book of letters to him. My writing was less frequent because I was spending more of that time on the phone with him, and then I’d only write about the new things that happened, anything fun and exciting and out of the ordinary. Then we started spending more and more time together and then I only wrote in there when I was mad at him. Hahaha!! Then I gave them to him when we got married and I’m sure one day he’s gonna read them and as he gets to the end, he’s gonna throw something at me. Haha!

I wasn’t all about boys though. Honestly. I had another journal where I wrote down all the dreams I had. I did it for a few years. I didn’t write down every dream, but I wrote down ones that were crazy or confusing. I figured that somewhere down the line, they’d make sense. Some of them did, some of them didn’t.

I had a Mom-journal which also had entries on lined paper that are in a bag. This journal is full of letters I’ve written to my mother, beginning when I was probably around 9 up to now. The first letter I ever wrote was one I used to keep in a cup on the window sill of my bedroom hoping by some miracle, she’d take and read. Maybe she did. It’s kinda funny though because in it, I think I was begging her to come back, kinda like she was on a trip or something.

I had another journal where I wrote strictly when I was angry or frustrated. I didn’t have many entries there (thank goodness), but when I did write, it was very different. If anyone else read it, they’d wonder if it was actually me who wrote it because I keep much of my frustrations close to me.

I also had a travel journal. I wrote in it whenever I went on a trip, but the last time I wrote in it was when I went to Seattle to visit my sister and family. Those were some of the best journal entries ever because it was my first trip without my parents. It was also a very much needed trip seeing as how I’m always missing my sister.

Another journal I had was shared. I have no idea where it is now because the person I share it with hasn’t taken his turn to write in it yet. AHEM!

The last journal I wrote was my T-100 days journal. I wrote in it almost every day from 100 days before I got married. Things got so busy, I missed the last 7 or so days. I have yet to read it all over, but it now belongs to my husband. (I just realized I never did post that post about our wedding day!)

So now, I think I’m gonna buy a nice notebook and write in it. Things about me, about my day, about the good and bad things I did and felt and I’ll make note of my growth over the years. I hope I can keep up with it.

Jason

I thought I’d refrain from using names on my blog, but I’ll make this post an exception.

Husband = Jason

So I’ve discovered that now that we’re married, I like to what we call, “Full-first-name” him when he’s “in trouble”. We never say each other’s full first names (or in my case, middle name), so when he hears “JASON!!” he knows I mean business. Before, it was just “JAYE!!!” I’m not sure when or why the change took place.

Anyway, for the past year or so, I’ve actually been calling him Jason – but the way Spanish people would pronounce it – “YAY-SIN”. Below is what inspired me.

Heaven v. 3.1

I finally found myself in Crate & Barrel today. I've been dying to go since I heard it was opening at Yorkdale last year and hadn't had time to go until this weekend. I don't remember the last time I was at this store in the US, but I know it was at a time when I didn't have my own place yet.

I wasn't really a kid who liked toys and so didn't really enjoy myself in Toys R Us like most kids, but I imagine that today, I had what would be an equivalent experience. Oh boy. After surfing the website at least once every two weeks for the past year or so, being in the store was wonderful.

I was good though and walked around without a shopping basket, so as not to fill it up with souvenirs from my first Canadian visit to what might have been one of God's first versions of Heaven for me. We walked out with only two items, both of which were sensible, reasonably priced and things we have been looking for.

I'm a Halloweenie

EDIT: We ran out of candy twice last night. The kids made their rounds and came BACK to our house. We must've seen Robin (as in Batman and Robin) with the tin pail at least twice. I'm going to have to rescind the offer to give you some candy. Sorry.

I love Halloween. I'm especially excited this year because it's the first time we get to give out candy from a house that doesn't belong to our parents. I'm so excited! (I know, I said that already.)

We have three pumpkins on our porch, one carved by my brother, one carved by some of our friends to "model" one of our other friends/cousin, and another carved by my husband. I'll make sure to post a pic after tonight in all their glory (i.e. when they're lit).

Yesterday, just as I got home and was putting away my coat, I heard some kids outside the house. There are always kids playing outside when I get home, but these voices were much louder...closer.

I sneakily looked out the window of our front door to see the kids gathered around our porch ooohing and aaahing at our Halloween decorations. Yes, we did the whole caution-tape-spiderweb-lights-and-more thing. I was so excited, I wanted to open the door and give them some candy one day early.

Speaking of candy, we have a LOT. Don't bother raiding the stores for the post-Halloween sales...just come over. Seriously.

Anyway, hope you have a happy halloween! Be safe!

It's a long one!

How old are you?
26

Are you happy ?
Yes

Do you honestly care about what people think about you?
Yes, and probably too much

Who is the last person of the opposite sex that you talked to?
My coworker

When was the last time you made someone laugh ?
A few minutes ago. I'm pretty funny.

Who was the last person to make you laugh ?
My coworker. He's pretty funny.

Are you excited for Winter?
Yes...my board awaits.

Are you listening to music right now?
Yes

Who was the last person you talked on the phone to for over 2 hours?
Wow, I haven't done that in a long time...probably my sister.

Do you curse in front of your parents?
Yes, but not the really bad words...unless I'm joking around with my Dad.

What is your current annoyance?
Stupid or ignorant people -- there are too many talking to me right now.

What would you do if your best friend told you they were moving?
I'd pack up my stuff and go with him

Do you have a better sense of style or better creativity ?
I'd like to say both, but I'm not much of a style guru.

Would you rather watch football or baseball?
Football

Looking back, did you ever waste too much time on someone that treated you bad?
I guess, but as long as you learn something or grow in that time, it's never a waste.

Do you know anyone who is pregnant?
Yes...and it seems the whole world is...or is that just me?

Do you believe every one deserves a second chance?
Depends on what happened to the first chance

if you had to have someone's name tattooed on your body, whose would it be?
My own...CHECK!

Have you ever vandalized someone else's property?
Uh, yes.

Who did you last share a taxi ride with?
My sister

Is there anybody you're really disappointed in right now?
No

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Yo mama...okay, not yours.

Do you have anything to complain about?
I really shouldn't but if I must, what's with this week-long migraine and three-day back spasm?!

Do you talk about your feelings or hide them?
Both

Do you want to go to a university ?
Again? Not bloody likely.

What's your favorite season?
Summer into fall.

Are you stubborn?
Yes

Who was the last person you took a picture with?
I think it was one of my girlfriends.

What were you doing at midnight last night ?
Sleeping, thank goodness.

Have you told anybody you loved them today ?
Yes...it's a good way to bookend your day

What do you look forward to in the next 5 months?
Halloween, Christmas, birthdays, snow, perhaps a little vacation or two?

Have you ever been nice to someone who treated you like nothing?
Yes...it's a habit because...see the third question

Would you rather get up early or sleep in?
Most days, sleep in, but there's so much more you can do if you get up early!

What are you excited about?
Halloween!!!

Would you rather smile over a lie or cry over the truth ?
Smile over a lie I think

Do you make a wish at 11:11?
I used to

Are you in a good mood?
I guess so

Be honest, do you like people in general?
Yes

Are you named after a family member?
Nope, but my sisters gave me a nice name :)

Does it annoy you when someone says they’ll call, but never do?
No, most times, I know they probably won't, unless it's work related

Can you make people laugh ?
I think so

Who were you with on July 5, 2008?
Wow! This is a good question! I was with a huge number of family and friends and my new husband, on our wedding day :)

Do you believe exes can be friends?
To an extent

what is in the back seat of your car right now?
Baby wipes...and not because we have babies.

Name 3 people who you talked to today :
My husband, my coworker, my brother

What were you doing at 10 am this morning?
Working

What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Working

What is your favorite board game?
Cranium!!!

What is the last thing you yelled aloud?
I'm not sure, actually.

What are you wearing right now?
A black tee and jeans

What was the last thing you ate?
Oatmeal

Bought any new clothes this week?
No...not yet :) (I haven't gone shopping in months)

What's the last sporting event you watched
Baseball

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Somewhere warm and sunny

Have you ever lost anything down a toilet?
Nope

Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
Yes, and probably too much.

Are you someone's best friend?
Yes

What are you doing tomorrow?
Sleeping and shopping

Where is your mom right now?
Probably somewhere wondering why I'm doing this

Look to your left, what do you see?
Files

What color is your watch ?
Silver and blue

What do you think of when you think of Australia?
Kangaroos...and a vacation

Do you have a dog?
No, but maybe one day.

Last person you talked to on the phone ?
Husband

Have you met anyone famous?
Yes, and I stood there like this :|

Any plans today ?
Go home early :)
Hand out candy
Partay!

Are you happy?
Yes (didn't we cover this earlier?)

Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
My running shoes...that I have to replace soon and they're almost at their max mileage.

Are you jealous of anyone?
Sadly and honestly, sometimes.

Is anyone jealous of you?
Probably. Haha!

Do any of your friends have children?
Yes

What do you usually do during the day?
Work

Do you hate anyone right now?
No

Would you rather die in a fire or be shot?
Oh geez, I think be shot

How many kids do you want to have?
3-5

How did you get one of your scars?
I was running in the winter, slid on ice, and slid beyond the ice onto pavement...it wasn't a pretty knee.

Have you been under the influence today ?
No, not yet.

Pick a word that begins with the first letter of your first name?
Sexay!

Have you ever caught anything on fire?
Yes, a marshmallow

Is there anyone that you care more about than yourself?
Yes

Are you bipolar?
Sometimes I think I can be. Haha!

How long is your hair when it's wet?
A bit passed my shoulders

What was the last thing you bit?
An apple

What are on your feet?
Socks and shoes

How many times do you talk on the phone a day on average?
5 maybe?

Do you usually have weird dreams?
Yes

Do you like your bed?
Yes, but we need a new mattress

Is your profile private? Why/ why not?
Yes because I'm a fairly private person

Do you drink soda?
Rarely

What are you listening to?
Old school R&B

What color is your keyboard?
Black

Marriage in your future?
Another one? No

Do you like your life?
Yes

Are you ticklish?
Yes and don't touch me

Do you believe in love at first sight ?
Sort of

A New Beginning :)

FINALLY.

This picture was actually of him tying his shoelaces last year....then they tricked us with this picture!

Congratulations to one of my best friends, whom I've known for 16 years now, and her new Fiance, now her former boyfriend, and my former co-worker...

I wish you all the best and I hope with all my heart that you enjoy this wonderful time, your engagement. It only gets better from here. I love you guys!

Et voilà!

This weekend's to do list

I've got my work cut out for me this weekend. Husband and I are holding a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. It's an opportunity to bump me up to my goal for the marathon, to thank everyone for supporting me and my family and for some good old Halloween fun!

It's a lot of work, and I'll admit I'm quite tired, but I'm enjoying it all. I'm thinking this might be the last big fundraiser for me for a while, so I want to make it goooood. Here are some things I'll be doing this weekend.

• Bake Halloween cheese cupcakes (as in cheesecake cupcakes, not cupcakes made of cheese, like cheddar *GAG*)
  
• Ice Halloween cheese cupcakes
• Bake chocolate chocolate cupcakes
• Ice chocolate chocolate cupcakes
• Bake chocolate chip - m&m cookies
• Bake Reese's pieces peanut butter cookies
• Make red candy apples
• Finish putting together my costume
• Decorate the house with Halloween decorations
• Clean up the mess that is my house
  
• Pack Halloween decorations for the hall
• Decorate and prepare the hall
• Give away prizes and prizes and prizes!!! (We have a lot of good ones...and I'm not just saying that!)
  
• Celebrate a successful kick-ass fundraiser
• SLEEP

I'm anticipating quite a fulfilling weekend.

If you're free, please come by:

Clean Charlene

Husband and I washed the car this weekend. It was a wonderful experience given I’ve wanted to clean that car inside-out for years.

We started out at Home Depot and Rona to buy a hose and car cleaning stuff, cleaned the garage a bit (i.e. we cleaned what we could clean!) and then began our adventure…of course, this was more of an adventure for me than for him!

I enjoy washing cars. I like washing them more in the summer than now, in the fall, because it’s much warmer outside and getting accidentally wet isn’t so painful. Washing Charlene (yes, that’s the name of our car) was especially fun because I’ve been dying to wash a car (I haven’t since I lived with my parents), I’ve been dying to clean this car (he’s not that big on keeping the car clean and now that it’s half mine [heehee] it’s okay for me to clean it whenever I want!), it’s more efficient than driving through a car wash at the gas station, and I got to wash it with him who’s tall enough to wash the top of the car without a stool! YAY!

Cleaning the inside of the car was just as fun. I used our trusty Dyson and vacuum-cleaned the seats, the floor and the mats, so there aren’t anymore remnants of dead leaves or pebbles hiding in the corners and crevices. He dusted and Armour-Alled everything else so now everything’s clean and shiny, with the exception of the rubber mats because they’re old. My nose is quite thankful (the bits of dust weren’t helping my allergies).

So now the car is squeaky clean. Guess what? Husband’s shift at work has changed for two weeks and so I won’t be riding in it with him as often. Booooo…

Husband material

I had lunch with my husband and one of our best friends today. After my husband went his way back to work, our friend goes to me, "He's such a good husband"...and you know, he really is.

One of the ways I know he is is because when I was trying to nap tonight, I asked him to sing me a song...my request was Miss Independent by Ne-yo (I had it in my head!) -- and he did. And when he didn't know the words, he made them up.

Philosophies

I like to say I lead a pretty good life...so far, at least. I didn't get to be where I am and who I am without some adversity, some loss, some not-so-favourable experiences. I think I could have gone down ugly paths, which probably in many cases could have been the easier paths, but because I've always liked a good challenge and also because I'm incapable of being at peace with war, I enjoy the high road. It may sound like I'm bragging, and I swear I don't mean to, but I encourage everyone to consider your own philosophies about life --those that need some work and those that are well established--and consider adding some new ones or tweaking some old ones...then share them. We can all benefit from a little learning about life.

Here are some of the philosophies I hold close -- some are my own, some are learned:

• A very good way to honour someone you weren't able to honour while they were alive may very well be to do things that would have made them proud while they were still here, and heck, it probably still does anyway.
• Life is too short to hold grudges, have arguments, give silent treatment, or anything along those lines -- communicate and give love, even if it may be difficult.
• Apologize only if you mean it and only if you know what for, not because it seems like the right thing to do or because you want to get it over with.
• Love unconditionally, because that's what real love is -- unconditional.
• Always remember yourself and you'll never get lost.
• Inspire people -- they'll pass it on.
  
• Stay positive and believe in possibilities.
  
• Be a good example -- someone is ALWAYS watching.
• Embrace every new day, even if it's your 47th birthday and you really don't want to keep lying about your age, or even if you have to go to work and you really don't want to -- it's another day of life and another chance to show the world what you've got.
• Take care of yourself -- spend your days being healthy and taking care of the only body you've got.
  
• Set goals for yourself and believe that you will meet them. Work on it and keeping this belief makes meeting your goals that much easier and that much sweeter.
• Make a list of things you'd like to do before you die and consult it often -- it helps you remember what you think is important...and it feels awesome when you get to cross things out.
• Put yourself in other people's shoes.
• Look at the big picture.
• Listen to your body. It's trying to tell you things all the time, and if you ignore it, you'll pay for it later.
• Be grateful, be appreciative -- thank, thank, thank.
• Everyone's level -- everyone's better at something than someone and everyone also needs some work.
• Say what you mean and mean what you say.
  
• When things look down, pause and check out what's up.
• Try your best.
  
• Things work out, no need to worry.
• Work towards being fearless -- take chances, do things.
  

I think that's enough for now. I could go on and on. I'm human, so I don't remember all of these things all the time and I make mistakes, but I try. Now you go try!

Because I don't have the capacity to think right now...

Hi, my name is - Katrina.

When I'm nervous - I feel like I have to pee
By this time next year – I'll have grown even more :)
Last night – I soaked…it was nice.

PART 1: YOU

Were you a planned baby? I’m not sure, but all I know is that everyone thought I’d be a boy
Were you the first? Nope


PART 2: YOUR PERSONALITY

Do you have low self esteem? Nope
Are you happy right now? I am, but I’m also verrrrry sleepy!


PART 3: APPEARANCE

Are you comfortable with the way you look? Usually, but right now I look how I feel!
Describe your hair – Black, short, and dry. Haha!


PART 4: RANDOM

Ever been kicked out of a bar? Nope
Ever been punched? Yes


PART 5: THE OUTDOORS

Do you prefer indoors or outdoors? It depends on the time of year
Do you like walking in the rain? Yes, provided I have my galoshes 
Do you like thunderstorms? Yes


PART 6: FOOD

Are you a vegetarian? Nope
Anything you absolutely could eat forever? Asparagus (sorry, it makes my pee smell)
Can you cook? Yes


PART 7: RELATIONSHIPS AND LOVE

Do you want to get married? No…because I am!
Are you in a relationship? Yes
When did you last hold hands? Earlier today


PART 8: RANDOM QUESTIONS

Where is your cell phone? In my bag
Cheesecake? In my fridge
Your dream last night? I had a LOT of them last night…which means I didn’t sleep very well. :(
Car you want? The kind that seats 5 kids. Haha!
Your fears? Garden gnomes. Stupid things.
Where did you grow up? Toronto
What are you wearing? Purple sweater, jeans
Tattoos? Two
Ketchup? Rarely
Your computer? Has too much stuff on it
Your friends? Are all grown up!
What are you thinking about right now? My warm bed
Last time you cried? A few days ago…it’s that time of the month I guess
Last text? From my cousin
Last received call? My husband


Part 9: LIFE

Who do you blame for your mood today? Myself…it’s not bad so I don’t feel the need to blame anyone!
Have you ever seen a dead body? Yes
What should we do with stupid people? Feed them to pigeons
What is making you sad right now? I’m not sad
What was the first thing you did this morning? Went back to sleep
Last person you went out to dinner with? My husband
Do you drink lots of water? I try
What toothpaste do you use? Crest…and only Crest
The last compliment you received? Something about my jacket I think

*Thanks to my niece*

Thankful II

This is what happens when I have nothing to do on Thanksgiving...

We ran out of eggs--we only had 4 :( so the dessert portion of this was limited to cheesecake. I would have liked to cook more, but there's only so much time to cook, clean, wash and run ;)

Hope yours was a good one!

Thankful

This weekend is Thanksgiving weekend, so what am I doing? Giving thanks! I'm on the last few hours of day 2 of the long weekend and so far, it has been amazing. Other than being thankful for all the things you should be thankful for -- family, friends, health, faith, shelter, food, etc. -- here are some things I'm especially thankful for this weekend:

• Long lunches with my sister
  
• Loafing, lounging, lazing
• Fast food for days when I really don't feel like doing anything, including cooking and washing the dishes
• My husband's thick thighs -- they're good a good pillow for when I fall asleep on the couch at 9PM (and that my husband just points at this line and laughs quietly instead of going, "HEEEEEY!!!")
  
• Sleeping in
  
• Playgrounds close to home that are good for when babysitting and for remembering that we're all still kids
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium -- I didn't get to watch all of it, but from what I did see of it, it's one of those movies that'll make me wish I was magical (it's films like this or like Harry Potter that make me wish I had an actual magic owl for the birdcage I bought after I watched the first film -- I'm kidding.)
• The smell of newborn babies and the little weight they are that make it easy for me to carry them for hours
• Chocolate chip cookies (since the marathon, I can't get enough of these)
• Celebrating the birth of my sisters even if we're not spending the day together
• Nailclippers
  
• Good sermons at Sunday mass
• Seeing people who are happy to see you
• Take-out...from the parents
• Sunday afternoon dates with the hubby
• Window shopping...like, window shopping-window shopping, like, not being tempted to buy anything
• Popcorn shakers
• Enjoyable Guy Ritchie films
• Good grocery shopping trips
• Extend-a-dates, meaning the date is so good, let's go out even longer!
• Sharpened crayons
• When my brother agrees to help me without complaining (Thanks brother! ;)
• Being awake at 9:51PM and in my pajamas! (i.e. not passing out in my jeans and feeling the discomfort of underwires)
• A full fridge
• Blog readers :)

Tomorrow, I plan to go for my first run since the big one, clean, and cook and bake alllllll day long. Husband has work tomorrow, but we're hoping he'll be able to get off early for our first Thanksgiving together.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Someone's really talking about me

You know that superstition that if you bite your tongue or your lip or your cheek or heck, your eye, someone is talking about you?

Well, just as I was starting to eat dinner yesterday (Yay for Jaye's curry chicken!), I bit my cheek. HARD. I'm not sure why I did it, but I put my napkin in my mouth against my cheek thinking it'd help (I've never done this before, so I don't know what possessed me to do it) and when I took it out, it was bloody. :(

It was bleeding for a bit, and now, I have this nasty what-looks-like a hole in the inside of my cheek...and it swelled a bit, so now, I have to work extra hard not to bite it again because it's in my teeth's way.

If you Google "bit cheek", this is one of the first images you'll see...it's for horses though...so you can harness them. There's today's bit of useless information for you.

Sisters

This weekend begins what I think of as “Sister Birthday Blitz”. My four sisters were all born in the fall – 3 in October, 1 in November. This is the time of year I go buy greeting cards for their birthdays and spend hours in Hallmark trying to find the best ones. It’s quite a challenge to pick out just one, so as luck would have it, I have four sisters and get four good ones, which is easier. When I go to pay, usually, if the staff are girls, they get excited that this customer is buying all the good sister cards and then I tell them I have four sisters, and the conversation goes on and on about how they love those cards and how they consider me lucky that I have 4 reasons to buy them. (AND, usually, I get so many stamps on my Hallmark stamp card, I get lucky enough to qualify for a free card on my next visit!)

I’ve got four sisters. I’m blessed. I’m the baby sister. That’s what I call myself, not necessarily what they call me, because well, they all have at least one little sister and if they say youngest sister, I’m not sure if they mean me or are making fun of our brother (haha!). Being the baby sister doesn’t mean that I get away with anything or that I’m spoiled or that I have no new clothes because hand-me-downs are endless.

One, I don’t get away with anything because well, I’m not trying to. I don’t need to tiptoe around my sisters because of things I’m secretly doing or anything. I learned early on that we’re close enough that I can come to them for anything.

Two, I’m not spoiled by them. Well, maybe I was a little when I was younger, I don’t know. As good sisters, they liked to take my brother and me out every so often and I really valued that. I realize now that maybe there were times they and their boyfriends didn’t feel like spending time with their younger siblings, but they did it anyway, and to me, it was always a treat…and it was always an adventure. Even now, we get together and hang out and it’s nice to know that I’ll always have 4 other homes, and not just my own.

Three, I dodged hand-me-downs for the most part. When I stopped growing at 13, hand-me-downs tapered off but I started getting them from my brother too. I was off to high school soon after, and well, I got many pieces of my uniform from my sisters. I probably had the oldest kilt in the school and people used to ask me why my kilt looked so different. I wish I had a cooler response than “it’s my sister’s…from the 80’s.” If I had known vintage would be in, I would have bragged about having a vintage kilt and worn it 150% more of the time (which would have added up to what, 16 days in the 5 years I was in high school?). By the time I finished high school, my sisters were all married and moved out, and so when I moved on from uniforms, I invested in a wardrobe of my own, seeing as how I was too small for their hand-me-downs anyway.

BUT, I’m not clear of hand-me-downs yet. There exists a box of maternity clothes that span from the 90s onward. I imagine this box contains tons of clothes of various styles, some horrendous and some trendy. My sisters laugh at me when they think of my time for this box. I’ve developed a fear of it and have made a mental note to save all loose-fitting clothes I currently own (hooray for the baby-doll comeback!) for when my time comes.

Anyway,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTERS!!!

For the love of dishwashing

I have learned to love my dishwasher.

GASP!

I don’t use it often. I use it to drain my clean dishes after they’ve been hand-washed, but once in a while, I use it as a dishwasher so that we can make sure it’s working fine and so that the dishwasher stays clean.

I like opening the dishwasher after it’s been used as a dishwasher and seeing all those clean dishes, spotless, and ready to be put away, all because I pressed some buttons. It’s so easy.

I haven’t washed many dishes for a while. The way it’s been working is I prepare dinner and someone else washes the dishes, just to distribute the workload. And, by the time I finish dinner, I’m so tired and sleepy that I don’t wanna get up and wash dishes.

It’s a shame, I know. Oh boy, does this mean I'm getting lazy?

It's simple

I was talking to my sister a few weeks ago and something she said still lingers in my mind every so often.

"Isn't it nice to wake up beside your best friend?"

It really is. I remember back in high school and university when I was all "Jaye-crazy" and we would talk about how we're so excited to get to wake up beside each other every morning and how fun it's gonna be; so fun, morning breath won't even matter! We talked about it last night and we ended up laughing because well, it's happening!

Aaaaaaaaaaand here we are. It's so nice. He may be a blanket hog and I may like my pillows, but otherwise we sleep harmoniously. I enjoy that every morning, I open my eyes and begin my day looking at my best friend either sleeping soundly or looking at me waking up...or making funny faces at me.

My new FLAVOURITE commercial

New, new, new

I've been to two weddings since our own in July (I'm writing this on post-wedding-#2-plus-2-days bliss). I will admit, my wedding fever did not die on our wedding night, nor did it die a week after in Hawai'i, nor did it die when our plane touched down back in Toronto, nor did it die one month or two months later. It still festers inside me and I don't think it'll ever die.

I love weddings. I'm not talking about open bar business either. I hardly drink at weddings because the natural high is enough to keep me giddy all night. I love seeing glowing brides whose facial muscles don't look tired at all after an entire day of smiling. I love seeing grooms who appear relieved that they no longer have to pretend they never want to settle down and just let loose. I love seeing the bride and groom together, so full of dreams and wishes, and eager to sleep off a very busy day but so unable to rest because of the excitement of the life together to come.

Weddings are a celebration of love and new life. I love celebrating love and new life. (I sound like a total dork.) I guess after having a wedding of our own, I've come to appreciate weddings even more than I used to because I know now of all the hard work that goes into planning one. It's not all about the invitations or the food choices or the seating arrangements but more about the patience, the planning both for the day and for life, the communication, and the sharing. It's about the marriage as opposed to the wedding. The wedding's just the beginning.

Hooray for new life and new beginnings!

And speaking of new life, my sister and brother-in-law had their baby! Welcome, Baby Michael!