icecoldcranberry

Harry Potter

2007-07-16T12:44:00.000-06:00

Sorry - the thing that has been keeping me busy these past few days is the fact that the new Harry Potter books comes out on the 21st.

I am trying to re-read the first 6 books before reading the 7th - I found that I had forgotten a lot when I read the 6th significantly later than the 5th.

I am enjoying the books immensely - they never get old!

And, for those of you who think watching the movies is as good as reading the books, be warned that you miss out of the delightful words themselves - Rowling is an amazing writer!

quick hellp

2007-07-16T12:41:00.000-06:00

Not much to report.

I thought, however, that I'd recommend the anonymous lawyer blog as good summer reading...

http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com/

It is quite funny - and only somewhat more outrageous than the reality of working in a large firm...

Enjoy!

another Toronto anecdote...

2007-07-06T10:52:00.000-06:00

2) I had been seeing someone for a couple of weeks prior to Valentine’s Day. On the 14th, I actually got out of work early. I called the guy up – excited to spend my first Valentine’s Day with a ‘boyfriend’. BUT, he was sick and didn’t want to do anything and didn’t even want me to bring him soup or anything to his place (suffice it to say we broke up a few days later…)

Anyway, that isn’t the story.

I took the subway to my stop – Yonge and Eglinton. BUT when I got above ground I found my street and a few other streets cordoned off with police tape and police cars. Apparently someone had left a suitcase outside the Hooters right across from my condo building (yes I lived across the street from a Hooters). Anyway, the bomb squad was there to check things out. I wasn’t allowed near my building and the cops couldn’t tell me when they’d be gone…

So, I went to the movie theatre down the street. It was me and a bunch of pre-teenage girls watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 days…we were the only ones in the theatre. They were laughing at me (for being so pathetic as to be watching a romance on Valentine’s Day alone). Meanwhile I was pissing myself laughing at the movie – between me, and two of my close friends, we had committed every one of the ‘bad’ things in the previous few weeks…I couldn’t also help but smirk at the girls, who just didn’t get the movie AT ALL, that they’d understand in a few years why I was laughing…

It was actually the best Valentine’s Day ever for me!

Mish mash...

2007-07-06T10:51:00.001-06:00

Hey there all.

Sorry for not being more attentive to my blogging duties – I have been enjoying the summer like we all should – outside and in the pool.

I don’t really feel inspired to write about anything in particular today, but thought that at the very least I should post something to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about you…

Someone asked me about my time in Toronto, so here’re a few anecdotes:

1) The hours at my firm were intense – but the firm was very supportive and attentive to our needs (we got free lunches and dinners every day, free cab rides home if we were there late, they paid for our gym memberships and we could use those even during the day during the week if we found a couple of hours of downtime…).

I do remember one weekend though that sticks in my mind. I was supposed to join a friend of mine at some formal dinner or other on a Friday night (it was a big deal that she chose me to join her). Just as I was about to shut down my computer for the weekend – it was going to be a rare weekend that I could take off completely – I got a phone call. I should have known better than to have made plans.

One of the main lawyers for whom I worked had an emergency assignment for me that needed to be done by Monday at 8:30 a.m. It would require me to work literally 24-7 for at least two days to complete. I had to call my friend and cancel on her, again (which actually cost me my friendship with her, literally).

Anyway, at 6:45 p.m., I got another phone call from the same lawyer. She had an ever more time sensitive emergency. I had to do the research and get her the answer for Sunday morning. AND then at that point start work on the first emergency. I also couldn’t pass off either file to someone else because I was the junior on both and was so familiar with the matters that it would take more time to bring someone else up to snuff than to just do the work myself (besides no one else would have had time anyways…) BUT both files were really interesting and the issues were really THAT important (which was cool that I was the one doing the research…)

Suffice it to say, I didn’t get much, if any sleep, that weekend…There were many calls home at like 2 or 3 a.m. to my mom for encouragement and SEVERAL cans of coca cola consumed…

Anyway, back to the present. My current job does not require me to put in very much ‘overtime’ at all – and that is one of the main reasons why I love it!

This weekend I get to see a friend and her two young children – they are visiting from Toronto. I am also going to look at a few more houses…we are still looking. It is crazy – one of the houses that is now on the market has been on the market three other times in the past two years – I have never gone inside so now I am curious to know what the issue is that causes people to flip it so soon after taking possession…

What are you guys up to for the weekend???

Believe it or not, I like my job…

2007-06-04T17:39:00.001-06:00

This is the first time that I can ever say, after so many months of working at the same place, that I like my job.

I loved aspects of my job in Toronto. The excitement of working on files that eventually appeared in newspapers, the dollar amounts of the transactions, the immediacy and importance of the work, and the people – all were great (as was the money!) What wasn’t so great were the hours – pretty much 24/7. When I wasn’t at the office, I had to check my messages and e-mail frequently (these were the days pre-blackberry, believe it or not…)

I could never make definite plans with anyone. I actually lost a few close friendships over the year because my friends just didn’t understand, or respect, that I had to cancel at the last minute – ALL the time!

My stomach used to turn in knots every Friday afternoon – because I knew that at 6 p.m., right when I was leaving – the phone would ring and I would be stuck at work all weekend. And, even if I got to go home, I would stress every Sunday night about what the upcoming work week would hold for me.

Going back to my current job, the hours are fantastic…usually 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The nights that I do have to work late (few and far between), I can predict well in advance and plan my social life accordingly. I also don’t usually ever have to work weekends.

And, lately, my work is very enjoyable. While I do have a boss, the stuff I do is usually my own (i.e. I get to decide how to do things / plan things…). I am kept quite busy during the day, which makes time fly – and nothing is so pressing that I need to stay later than 5 p.m. (unless, of course, it is one of those predicted late nights…) And, also lately, I am getting more and more work from higher ups – which is also quite fun and flattering.

Furthermore, a new co-worker started a few months ago and she is fantastic. We get along really well – and we both help each other out when we are super busy. Plus, most importantly, she likes the same music as I do. You see, due to space constraints we share an office. And, unlike my old co-worker who used to tell me to turn my music off because she didn’t like it, if anything my new co-worker asks me to turn the volume up.

Anyway, I never thought that I would see the day where I actually liked going to work. That day has finally arrived – and I am truly grateful!

The blogger beast hates me!

2007-05-11T08:11:00.000-06:00

I freaking HATE the new google blogger version!!!!

Part of the reason why I haven’t posted more often of late is that I actually do write postings, but when I go to copy them into Word to double check my spelling etc. the post is deleted – seriously – I highlight all of the post and for some reason out of nowhere the words disappear. And, of course, there is no undo function.

Usually, I write the post in Word (which is what I am doing now) and then copy and paste the posting into blogger – having learned from experience about the blogger beast and its love for eating my words…but sometimes (and yes I never learn) I think that I am only going to write a quick blurb and so I just try to type it directly into blogger.

The blogger must have been really hungry this morning because it just freaking did it again – I am so frustrated!!!!!!!

This time though I think that it must have sensed that I was ranting about how much I hate the new blogger version (for a different reason to be described below) and didn’t want my rants to be posted…it probably hoped that I would just give up like I have done in the past and not bother to re-type things. Well, this time I am not giving in! (Though clearly, I am going crazy if I am personifying a crappy program.)

Anyway, my original rant was about how difficult it has become to even log in to blogger – the difficulty arising ever since the new blogger version became mandatory.

I try to log in but it usually doesn’t work. And, no, I am not an idiot who just can’t type my login or password accurately – I type the same freaking thing like a million times before I am finally granted access to my own account. ARGH!!!!!

Things became all the more frustrating, though, two days ago.

You see, I am a regular reader of Rebecca Eckler’s blog: ninepounddictator.blogspot.com. For the first time, the other day, I decided to post a comment about one of her postings. I wrote it out directly into the comment window (yes – I really will never learn!) and then tried to log in so that the comment would come from me, icecoldcranberry, rather than merely as an anonymous poster. AND, as usual, the system just wouldn’t let me in.

Because I had been so ‘excited’ to finally post a comment to her blog, I tried several times in a row to log in – to no success. At some point, the system told me to try logging into google a different way – and when I clicked the link to do so, instead of opening in a new window, the page opened in the current one (the one with my posting). So, of course, I lost my posting in the process. At that point, I gave up for the night.

But, then yesterday, I decided that I wasn’t going to let the blogger beast get the best of me. SO, I retyped the posting (changed slightly, of course, because I couldn’t remember my exact original wording…) and tried, yet again, to post my comment. This time it only took four tries until I was logged in as icecoldcranberry.

Last night before falling asleep, I had a horrible thought…what if, every time I tried to post my comment, it actually was in fact e-mailed to Rebecca Eckler even though the system didn’t actually tell me that the comment was being sent???? Ms Eckler would think I was the biggest psycho freak ever for sending my comment like a million times to her!

As of this morning, she had yet to accept my comment for posting…so I guess I will just wait and see.

In the meantime, I will just have to laugh!

p.s. Do any of you have problems posting a comment / logging into your own blogger accounts???

Memory lane...

2007-05-10T09:30:00.001-06:00

Now that my younger niece is almost a year old I was reminiscing about just after she was born.

My sister-in-law had a scheduled c-section (her first birth ended up being an emergency c-section, and her insurance company insisted that for her second child she had to have another section). The baby developed respiratory problems almost immediately after she was born (recognised complication of a c-section delivery). Anyways, both my sister-in-law and my baby niece ended up having to stay in the hospital an extra few days.

My older niece who was 3 years old at the time began to really miss my sister-in-law. So, my brother, in his infinite wisdom, thought that it would be a great soother to show my older niece the video of her parents’ wedding (i.e, my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding 8 years earlier) so that she could ‘see’ her mommy.

After watching the video for a few minutes, my older niece began to cry hysterically!!!! It took my brother forever to calm her down to the point where she could even speak. At that point, when my brother asked her what was wrong – she whimpered “How come I wasn’t at your wedding? How come you didn’t let me go? What did I do wrong Daddy? Everyone else was there! Gramma, Papa, Grampa, Baba, my aunties, my uncle….where was I? And if everyone was there, who was looking after me???!!!!! Did you leave me alone?!!!! Didn’t you love me? Didn’t you want me there??!!!!” (almost verbatim - my family are talkers!) And then she started crying again! She was devastated!

If I didn’t feel my heart break on my niece’s behalf, I would have laughed hysterically…

Out of the mouths of babes!

question...

2007-05-09T15:15:00.000-06:00

And let me start by stating "NO I AM NOT PREGNANT"...

But, I was thinking about this issue anyway so I thought I would throw it out there to see what you guys think.

Assuming a young couple did just have a child. Along comes Mother's Day.

Does the young mother get to spend the day sans her mother-in-law / mother or is she obligated to share the day with them as well?

Afterall, there is a Grandparents' Day at some other point in the year...

But, is it just rude to want to spend, at least, her first Mother's Day with her immediate 'new' family only - i.e. her husband and child?

Realtors...

2007-05-09T11:25:00.000-06:00

What's with my agent???!!!!

So - I have been e-mailing him for weeks to find out the prices of properties sold on a particular street in the past year. He (and his sister - the other agent) have both promised on numerous occasions to forward the info to me but they never do.

Then - I e-mailed him three days ago asking 4 questions: 1) How much a specific property sold for; 2) The above-noted question; 3) Whether a particular listing is having an open house; and 4) If not, whether they can set up a showing for us.

I had to resend the message before hearing from him. AND then the agent only responded to 1) and reiterated for the umpteenth time that a different property (that we are not interested in) is still for sale...

Can he not read????!!!!!

ARGH!!!!!!!!!

(oh - and according to spellchecker in Word - umpteenth is a real word!)

couple of things...

2007-05-08T21:31:00.000-06:00

1) Is Yahoo down or did they change the formatting (or is my computer messed up) - the page is all screwed up!

2) I love that the weather has finally become nice enough that I can go for long walks outside - there's nothing more relaxing!

3) Sorry that I haven't written that often - I just don't have much to say, believe it or not...

4) I know that the fire in LA is huge and all but this is the last episode of Gilmore Girls EVER - Put it back on!!!! (preempting it is bad enough, but it's made much worse since the commentators suck!)

Bad Influence...

2007-04-25T15:12:00.000-06:00

So – wanna hear something funny (or at least it is to me…):

I have volunteered to be part of this online mentor program with kids in high school. (My student wants to be a lawyer…)

Anyway, I thought that I had responded to my mentee last week, but apparently the posting didn’t go through because the student just wrote to me asking for another posting. Being the conscientious mentor that I am, I wrote a replacement posting right away, with the title “Ooopps…” to symbolise that I thought that I had already responded.

Anyway, the problem was that I was IMMEDIATELY told that my message was red flagged and had to be reviewed for ‘inappropriate content’! And note, there was an actual red flag to bring home the seriousness of the situation.

Also being the worrywart that I am, I freaked for a minute wondering what I may have accidentally written…but then I realised that it must have been because I used the phrase/words drug possession, burglary and murder – in the course of my explaining what a crown prosecutor does, of course…

Anyway – at that point I had good laugh about the situation thinking, “Wow – am I ever a bad influence!!!” I figured that the moderator of the message board would log in pretty quickly, remove the flag and all would be well…

Being me, I obsessively checked back every few hours to see if the flag was gone…it sure wasn’t…but what was there was a new message from my mentee. The student wrote back and asked what “oops” is wondering what I had said that was inappropriate! Apparently, it turns out, that the student could also see the title of my posting AND the red flag, as well as the comment “This posting has been removed because of inappropriate language and will be reviewed by the moderator…”

My reputation is totally wrecked! Ha ha! Either that, or clearly I am the coolest mentor – given that I have to be censored and all!!!

deep thoughts...

2007-04-16T11:53:00.001-06:00

Seeing as how it’s exam time for university students, I started reminiscing down memory lane. Way back when I was a university student, I believed that anything less than an A was a failure and that even an A was just mediocre. I studied intently – pulling all-nighters, living on nothing but oxygen and Pepsi for days on end. I practically killed myself each and every semester to ensure that I kept up my G.P.A.

Now, several years later, I look back and wonder – was it all for naught?

It’s not like I remember how to find a limit using calculus, or what the chemical pathway is for photosynthesis…

Yes, my grades did earn me some scholarships and a job in Toronto – but the scholarship money wasn’t that significant and I left that job to move back to my home City. And now it’s not like a potential employer is going to ask me for my transcript…

So really – was all the stress and effort worth it?

I had a friend who went through school who believed that as long as he passed, what did it matter if he got a D or an A. He spent his undergraduate days focusing on other activities and just crammed for exams the night before. Granted, it took him an extra year or two to get into law school, and he didn’t get an articling job immediately after graduation – but now, he is a practicing lawyer who has had numerous other life experiences to a degree that I never got.
Who should be laughing?

All about me...

2007-04-10T13:34:00.000-06:00

1. What color are your socks right now? Beige Sockets – which is so boring considering the multi-coloured knee-high socks that I own…

2. What are you listening to right now? My internet radio station – NSYNC - Gone

3. What was the last thing that you ate? Gefilte fish and whole wheat matzah – only 6.5 hours to go…

4. Can you drive a stick shift? Barely!

5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Cranberry – of course!

6. Favorite drink? Cranberry juice – of course! (and water)

7. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football!

8. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yep – once actually dyed, and several times just highlights…

9. Have you got any pets? Not right now but I really want a couple of puppies! (Once we buy the house!)

10. Favorite food? Chocolate, fruit, my mom’s soups

11. What was the last movie you watched? From start to finish – Enemy of the State – finally saw the whole movie – usually only catch a few minutes here or there on tv.

12. Favorite day of the year? Halloween!

13. What do you do to vent anger? Cry, go for a run, yell at my poor husband

14. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Smurfs – I will never forgive my aunt for selling them!

15. What is your favourite: fall or spring? Both – Fall for the changing leaves; Spring for the promise of summer

16. Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries (though Cherries are a close second)

17. Living arrangements? Apartment with my husband

18. When was the last time you cried? Last week – I am a crier!

19. What is on the floor in your closet? Piles of pantyhose

20. What did you do last night? Went to my in-laws to say goodbye to my sister-in-law who is going home today

21. Favorite smells? My mom’s chicken soup, right before it rains, my husband’s neck

22. Who inspires you? My mom

23. What do you regret most in life? Not doing a pharmacy degree in undergrad instead of a useless science degree.

24. What are you afraid of? Tornados, fire, earthquakes, failure

25. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Plain

26. Number of keys on your key ring? Too many to bother counting

27. How many years at your current job? A little over a year and a half

28. Favorite day of the week? Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings when my husband doesn’t have to go to work.

I'm back....

2007-03-29T09:20:00.001-06:00

Ok, ok, I know I have been really bad, once again not posting anything for a while.

But, yet again, I blame a family emergency.

Two weeks ago, Wednesday, I had to rush my grandfather to the hospital (I was the only one in my family healthy enough having recovered from my cold while everyone else had just begun showing symptoms – though note that they didn’t catch it from me, I stayed away from them the whole time!).

Anyway, back to my grandfather, he was suffering from complications from his chemotherapy. NOTHING stayed in him – coming up and down all at once, projectile-like – to the point that he was super dehydrated, and very weak. He was so sick that the hospital staff actually asked that at least one of us stay with him at all times, so as to give him constant care (things like getting him new blankets, helping him drink his water, etc. that the nurses / orderlies were too busy to do on a constant basis).

He was in hospital until last Monday which for him is a record – even after the surgeries when he had a chunk of his colon cut out, lobes of his liver cut / burned off, and a chunk of his right lung removed, he was home within like 4 days – he is a super fast healer. Since coming home, he has still been extremely weak, staying in bed all the time. My family and I have been taking turns going to see him / looking after him.

So, trust me, I have a good excuse for not writing sooner.

I blame those people who send me the chain e-mail letters, that I delete, that warn me that tons of bad stuff is going to happen because I delete them. So – people – PLEASE stop sending me those e-mails!!!! I don’t think my family, or my husband’s family can take yet another major illness / death / family crisis!!!!!!!

I did manage to get out to a concert during all of this – I got to go because my little sister (15 years old) and her friend were going and both sets of parents didn’t like the idea of letting them go alone. The concert: The Pussy Cat Dolls and Christina Aguilera. The concert was fantastic!!!! Unlike the reviewer, I actually liked The Pussy Cat Dolls. I thought their dancing was pretty awesome. AND the main (ok, only, singer) was incredible! (She does need to learn to project her voice better though – her vocal projection strength was not strong enough for the venue, even with microphones.) As for Christina – all I can say is that she was INCREDIBLE! Her show was the best concert I have ever been to!!!!!

I am, however, getting too old for concerts. I would just as happily listen to CDs / watch DVDs of shows than deal with the crowds / noise of an actual concert. Thus, unless Justin Timberlake or U2 come to my area, I am done with paying mega money for a live show!

Customer Service...

2007-03-12T13:19:00.000-06:00

Last week, I finally decided to switch banks to go to Presidents’ Choice. They pay more in interest and don’t charge nearly as many service fees (though the bank I am at now doesn't really charge fees either).

Checking out their website online, it made the most sense to me to actually go to a store location rather than apply online (the account would be open the same day rather than a few weeks if done online).

The website said that one requires two forms of ID – one of which had to have a photo.

I called a location in my city and asked if I could book an appointment. I was told that they don’t book appointments but that they’d be there during the listed business hours and that I should just stop by.

So, this past Friday, during my lunch hour, I drove over to the nearest location to my office. When I got there, I was told by the ‘teller’ that it would be only a 15 minute wait (there were two other people ahead of me). Stupidly, I believed her! I sat, and I sat and I sat. FINALLY, almost an hour later it was my turn.

But then…

It turns out, that despite the website’s claim, one of my form’s of ID was not acceptable (in case you are curious, a provincial health card is not a valid form of ID).

Thus, I had gone to the store/bank for NOTHING (despite, I might add, having checked with the person over the phone the day before about whether I needed to bring my marriage certificate, passport etc. and being told no!)

To make matters worse, while I was walking back to my office from my parking spot, some idiot driving a hummer decided to soak me! You see, in my parking lot, there had been giant piles of snow piled at the corners during the winter. Because it was nice outside, this snow had melted into a very deep puddle. The driver, seeing this puddle, sped up – yes on purpose – and drove full on into the puddle – soaking me and everyone around me from head to foot. My suit, dress coat, hair, everything was covered in dirty disgusting water.

Anyway, suffice it to say, I was not a happy camper Friday afternoon.

But then…

On Saturday, not having learned my lesson, I decided to go to a different Presidents’ Choice branch location (the one that I had actually called on Thursday) – a location 20 minutes away by car from my apartment.

Upon arrival, however, I learned that despite the ‘teller’s’ claim, the branch was not in fact open during the cited hours. I arrived at 3 p.m. There was a sign posted indicating that the teller would not return until 4:15 p.m.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, suffice it to say, that despite the .5% higher interest rate, I have decided to stay with my current bank. At least it believes in customer service!

I hab a cold…

2007-03-05T12:38:00.001-06:00

I was positive that it was just ‘asthma’ or allergies – caused by the snow molds melting – and maybe that was how it started (making me more susceptible to a rhinovirus) but now I can no longer ignore the facts – I definitely, undeniably have a cold!

The weird thing is that even as recently as a few years ago, I was ALWAYS sick – never going longer than 4 weeks without some sort of cold, flu, or sinus infection. Lately however I have been really lucky (ptt ptt ptt). In the past year, I think I have only had one other cold. Thus, I guess I can’t complain too much that I am now sick. It’s just fair, after all that I share in the misery of the common cold.

Anway, because my husband was out of town for my other cold, this will be the first time since we have moved in together (10 months ago now) that he will experience living with me while I am sick with a cold.

I think he expects me to be all babyish about it – making him wait on me hand and foot while I sit and whine non-stop.

You see, my husband likes to think that he is a tough guy when it comes to being sick. In truth, though, he spends his entire time at home in bed, leaving me to look after him while at the same time do all of the household chores. Thus, he thinks that I will be even worse since, of course, I won't be as stoic as he.

That’s just not me though. I am very tough when it comes to colds – as I said, I have had tons of experience with them and only the worst of the worst sinus infections can frazil me. (As opposed to kidney stones etc. where I am in such agony that I do become a complete baby because, seriously, the pain is insane!)

Despite my toughness, though, since he is a prince, my husband has really stepped up to try and pay me back for all of my 'Florence Nightingale' activities. Over the weekend, when I was only starting to feel yucky, he did the laundry and vacuumed. Today, he has been really good to me, e-mailing me / calling to check up on me, and making sure that I am drinking enough fluids etc. He is even going to go buy some groceries and make supper tonight. 8)

Thus, although I am sick, I don't have too much to whine about!

Oh - speaking of supper - I am happy to report that I made a really yummy brisket last night (made while I was still in denial land of believing that my allergies had simply flared up). Thanks to everyone who sent me recipes!

p.s. Sorry if this posting is incoherent - I didn't get much sleep last night what with my cold and all...

Desperately seeking recipes...

2007-02-27T15:14:00.000-06:00

A while ago I did a posting about my roast that would not cook (a posting that I have since removed, but nonetheless)…I am now desperately trying to find a good replacement recipe. Does anyone out there have a good roast recipe? (Standing rib; brisket etc.) If you do, and don’t mind sharing, please post it!

I love to cook. I am still trying to improve my skills though. AND I really need to enhance my repertoire of delicious dishes. SO, if you have any other recipe that you don’t mind sharing, that is really yummy, please post it.

On Sunday I roasted tons of chicken – standard garlic, onion, paprika type recipe. I don’t think that I put the oven at a high enough temperature in hindsight (my current oven is really cold compared with previous ones that I have used) but the chicken still turned out decently.

Anyway, it was really nice to come home yesterday from work and have a meal already made (other than popping it into the microwave to re-warm). I am really going to try to cook on Sundays from now on, in sufficient quantities to have leftovers ready to eat over the next day or two.

I really would like to cook homemade meals more often. I do NOT know how my mom did it all those years when she was a single mom and worked 24/7…we always had home cooked meals!

mmmm….food….

What should I have for dinner tonight????

More on Friday Night Lights…sort of

2007-02-23T15:41:00.000-06:00

So this week’s episode of Friday Night Light’s was really well done – well acted, well written, well received (at least by my husband and I).

One of the main storylines centred on the high school football coach’s fifteen year-old daughter (Julie) and the quarterback of the football team (Matt). The two teenagers, who are dating on the show, were considering losing their virginities.

During the episode, Julie’s mom – aka the coach’s wife – caught sight of Matt buying condoms from the store. She confronted her daughter and tried to explain to her the reasons why not to lose her virginity at such a young age.

In the end, the kids chose ‘the right thing’ – not to do ‘it’ – at least for now.

As an aside, the episode brought back memories of when I was 15 and dating my first boyfriend. Unlike Matt, my guy was not as considerate and was much hornier. My saying no ended our relationship. Looking back, it was crazy to think that had I not been as well grounded as I was, I may have given in to his pressuring and who knows what would have happened!

But I digress…

Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly based on the show's history, the episode did not come across as a cheap after school special but rather a really great show!

Nonetheless, I think the writers missed the opportunity to take things a timely step further.

The episode should have seen the mother march her daughter down to the doctor’s office, yes in part to get put on the pill, but more topically, to receive the HPV vaccine.

The recently approved vaccine works wonders in preventing HPV infections and thus many types of cervical cancers – but only if it is given before a girl is exposed to the virus.

However, there is a taboo associated with it because it relates to sex. Responsible parents need to vaccinate their daughters. They need to understand that just because their daughters get the vaccine does not mean that their daughters are going to become promiscuous. On the other hand, not getting the vaccine COULD mean their daughters will die at a young age from cervical cancer - what could have been a preventable death.

The writers of this show are talented enough to have tackled this topic and I am saddened that they didn’t.

Proof positive…

2007-02-23T10:49:00.000-06:00

So almost a year ago I hurt my bum – literally. My doctor is positive that I actually fractured my tail bone, though the XRAY at the time didn’t show anything (apparently I should have been sent for a bone scan, but I digress).

Anyway, for whatever reason, the injury has recently ‘flared up’ so to speak and so now, once again, I have a pain in my ass.

The funny thing is that for several years now, I have claimed to be an ice-cold bitch. Now I FINALLY have proof.

You see, when my tail bone healed itself last summer, it ‘grew back’ in a weird fashion.

If you actually touch it now, it feels like I have a bit of an actual tail – honestly. Thus, proof positive that I am a bitch – in the literal female dog with a tail sense of the word!

HA!

Anyway, the thing is that despite the satisfaction in having such evidence, I am still irritated.

My bum really does hurt!

This means that despite the fact that my neck and upper back are finally at a point in the rehabilitation path to withstand exercise, my bum and lower back aren’t.

So yet again, no running allowed.

The bigger issue is that I am really REALLY REALLY stressed out lately (for several reasons…some of which you can probably garner from my previous posts and others I cannot write about for fear of various forms of retribution).

I need the endorphin-induced relaxation buzz!

What is even more pathetic is that I can barely even walk at a decent pace right now. While my husband was running on the treadmill next to me, I was forced to reduce my walking pace speed to 2 miles an hour because anything greater hurt too much. (and for those of you who know me in real life, know that I normally walk VERY fast!!!!)

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

memories...

2007-02-22T14:58:00.000-06:00

One more post for today (it appears as though the flood gates have finally opened...)

Have any of you found that listening to certain songs bring back memories?

For me, there are several songs that when I hear them, I am transported instantly back in time to particular moments.

As examples:

1) Glory of Love - watching Karate Kid Part II at the preview screening with my mom at a downtown movie theatre that is no longer (this was such a treat for me since my mom worked 24-7 at several jobs)

2) Walking on Broken Glass - Old Quebec City when I was there for Canada's 125th birthday on an exchange. I remember being in car with that song on the radio driving past a McDonald's located in a several century old building in Vieux Quebec and the first snow flakes of the season started falling...

3) Lightning Crashes - driving in my uncle's volvo station wagon asking his advice about whether I should go to law school.

4) That Boy is Mine - sitting outside my apartment in Cape Cod looking for 4 leaf clovers the summer that I worked at an Oceanographic Institution.

5) Come What May - my wedding reception, dancing my first dance with my new husband

6) Tom Sawyer - sitting in a car with my husband and our tour guide blasting this song from her tape deck in her car while driving through the jungle from our resort towards Tulum in the Mayan Riviera (the song was just on the radio now, which is what prompted this posting)

and there are many more...

Let me know which songs mean something to you!

oh...one more - One Hand In My Pocket (or any song from Jagged Little Pill for that matter) - sitting on the floor in my bedroom in my parents' house realising I had just eaten an entire box of Wheat Thins in the span of an hour while studying for my introductory chemistry exam.

tv shows - bad for your health - but still really addictive!

2007-02-22T10:06:00.001-06:00

One more thing…

I was very disturbed to hear that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip might be cancelled (though the latest rumour is that it will be back in April or May). I know that there were a few episodes early on when the show struggled to find itself, but honestly, the past few episodes have really been quite enjoyable. In fact, the most recent episode – with the real baby story line – was hilarious. Keep your fingers crossed that the network does in fact bring the show back in April!

On the same topic, does anyone know what happened to Six Degrees? I really loved the show – it was one of the few that was able to grab me from the very first episode. Unfortunately I have been waiting for a new one since before Christmas...BRING IT BACK!

And last but not least, I was disturbed to hear that Friday Night Lights has also been struggling in the ratings. It is a fantastic show! People – get onto your butts and start watching!!! Even if you don’t like football (which is actually a travesty!), the shows would still be quite entertaining for you to watch!

It, Studio 60 and Greys are the three shows each week that both my husband and I watch together religiously!!!

Another round of to rent or to own...

2007-02-22T09:37:00.000-06:00

Ok so people keep wondering when I will post again…I admit, I have been really bad of late. The problem is that with my recent (well, I guess not so recent anymore) decision to refrain as much as possible from writing about others; it is surprisingly quite difficult to come up with topics to post about. And, honestly, save for a few people, I didn’t really think anyone was really reading my blog anyway.

So…what can I write about…

My husband and I are back to the rent versus own debate. We just found out that our rent will be going up $50 a month. We are already paying quite a lot of money and so we started questioning whether it really was time to take the plunge and buy a house.

We spoke with a real estate agent and I went to see a few houses with that agent. The problems: 1) the houses we want are really expensive – and we see no reason yet to move from the apartment that we love into a house we hate! 2) our agent knows that we aren’t under the gun and will only move if our ‘dream’ home comes on the market – so now he isn’t really doing anything for us. For example, I have tried 3 weeks in a row to set up times to go look at houses and he has never gotten back to us (he commits to looking into appointments but then never calls me back with times). I have also requested information from him about recent sales - and except for the first time, a couple months back now, he has never forwarded to me that information.

I am now really annoyed! I mean, I know we aren’t in a rush to move or anything, but we are serious about being ready to buy if the right house is for sale. And when we do buy, our agent will make a VERY nice profit from the commission. So shouldn't he be giving us more attention?

Why not just get a new agent, you might ask?

For starters, unfortunatley, I am a very non-confrontational person, believe it or not, when it comes to ME (on the other hand, I LOVE defending other people!) So I would find it very difficult to call our agent up and 'fire' him. AND, we can't just go get a new one. We are still getting automatic e-mail listings from this agent. Thus, if we go look at one of the houses about which we get an e-mail, and we decide to buy said house, we owe this agent a commission even if we had gone to see it with another agent.

So why not just talk to your original agent and tell him how you feel, you say?

I am too shy to tell him off / confront him about his lack of attention. Afterall, we aren't in too much of a rush for a house, maybe he should be focusing his attention elsewhere.

What do I do???

Like I said, though, we aren’t in a huge rush to move. Thus, I am thinking, in a way, that it might be a good thing if we don’t stumble across our dream house. If we are planning on having children in the next few years, we only have so many vacation days left as a free-spirited couple. If we own property, we would have to cut back on the extravagance of our vacations.

You see, as a teenager and in my early twenties, unlike many of my friends, I never did the backpacking through Europe/Asia/Australia trips. I couldn’t afford the hostels, let alone the flights, and didn’t want to go into debt to travel. However, instead of jealousy, I just told myself that one day I would be travelling and they’d still be paying off their student loans.

That day has arrived. I am making a salary (albeit not a fantastic one), and I want to be able to travel.

However, being the nervous nilly I am, I would once again be too prudent to spend the money if I owned a house for fear that I might need the money later to fix something in the house (in addition to the fact that I wouldn’t have any free change to spend to begin with)…

Right now, I don’t mind as much to drop some serious coin to go away. I have some savings and I have the vacation time. For example, my husband and I just booked a trip to Toronto, New York and Boston for May. We have a wedding in Niagara-on-the-Lake and decided to tack on NY and Boston for fun. We are very excited!

On the flip side, though, I am DYING to get a puppy or two. This has been the longest stretch that I have lived without a dog (going on three years now). Ever since I was born, my family had at least one dog. My parents refuse to buy another one, so it is up to me. And, while almost everyone living in my building has a dog, I just find it too cruel to keep a dog in such a small space, especially when there is no yard for him/her to play in. So, the sooner we buy a house, the sooner we get a puppy.

Anyway, I will end my rambling here.

(p.s. I apologise if the posting doesn't make sense - I don't have time to 'proof it' today!)

(p.p.s. I promise to write more frequently!)

Just can't catch a break...

2007-02-09T16:33:00.000-06:00

Hey there everyone. Once again, I apologise for the delay in posting another message.

Things with me have stayed as crazy as ever. On top of my illness (I am 95% recovered), my husband and I have had a relative suffer a heart attack, a close family friend die, another relative (my grandfather) begin another batch of chemo rounds, and another family member placed in a personal care home against the person’s will. I have also had a fight with one of my in-laws to the point where I am no longer speaking with that person (and quite frankly do not care if I ever do again!)

Anyway, suffice to say that I haven’t been in the best of moods and I didn’t think that you guys would want to hear me whine yet again.

So…what can I write about?

One of my absolute best friends is having her engagement party tomorrow night. I am very excited about going! I am so happy for her. I really believe that she has found her soul mate. PLUS her mom throws the best parties with the yummiest food (in large quantities) so I really cannot wait!

The only thing is that my husband is driving me crazy about the party – he believes that we are supposed to arrive fashionably late. I know that with this particular friend in general, and this type of occasion in particular, we are supposed to arrive on time.

I think that my husband is just using the fashionably late concept as an excuse because he doesn’t want to go earlier. It isn’t that he doesn’t like my friends. It is just that he has to give this HUGE presentation this coming Wednesday and he still has tons of work to do on it. For the most part, he is so far behind because of the MANY family obligations that his family has imposed on him (without caring at all about his presentation). However, he has also procrastinated a bit on his very own accord.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mind his taking time to relax. What I do mind is his trying to disguise the real reason for wanting, or more accurately needing, to go to the party late.

PLUS, I mind that some of the other activities that he chose to participate in with his family could have been skipped so as to allow him to arrive on time for my friend’s engagement party – a party that means A LOT to me that he attend – on time!!!!

I'm back...

2007-01-26T14:26:00.000-06:00

So, due to yet another illness, I took some time away from the blog.

Gotta love a cocktail of morphine, toradol, tylenol 3 and celebrex!

Anyway, because of my 'illness' I wasn't able to go to work these past few days.

I am not sure what was worse - the pain from being ill or the pain experienced while watching daytime t.v.!

There is NOTHING on during the day that is worth watching! NOTHING!

I ended up suffering through talk shows and repeats of Beverly Hills 90210. For an hour each day, I also watched Bringing Baby Home on TLC.

Let me just say, that although I still really want children, I now know for a fact that I no longer want twins. The idea always seemed like fun while I was growing up. TLC educated me on the reality! Holy crap are they a lot of work!!!!!!!

Anyway, I will sign off for now - still not fully coherent (though, really, was I ever?)

- i

Speaking of books...

2007-01-17T12:05:00.000-06:00

I haven't read it myself yet (because it isn't available until February) but I wanted to let everyone know about my friend's first published novel.

Holding My Breath
by Sidura Ludwig

Check out her website:

http://www.sidura.com

New diet....

2007-01-17T11:56:00.000-06:00

I am on day 2 of my new diet – eating better, exercising and taking life with two grains of salt.

Yesterday I actually got onto the treadmill and ran 5 km, which I am quite pleased with, considering that it was the first time I had stepped onto the treadmill in about a month. I am hoping to go again today too. (After all, I don’t have much of an excuse not to go, considering that the treadmill is in my building!)

Before you become too impressed, though, I have to admit that the only reason why I began exercising again was because of my husband. You see, I dropped something in the apartment early yesterday evening. When I bent over to pick said thing up, my husband started laughing…it seems that my bottom has become noticeably larger since we have moved in together. So large, in fact, that it apparently induces uncontrollable laughter from my husband.

Suffice to say, I was not impressed by his reaction, but on the other hand, I was motivated into action.

To my defence, I also blame my husband for my increase in size. He comes from a family that loves to eat out almost every night (and every day for that matter). With him always suggesting that we order in / get takeout / go to a restaurant, I haven’t prepared as many home cooked meals of late as I used to when I lived with my parents.

When this is combined with the additional issue that my husband is not the type of person who likes going for long walks (or even short walks for that matter, other than at a very leisurely pace), the problem starts to become obvious.

I have a very large appetite – almost insatiable actually. I used to be able to indulge myself, though, because I ate mainly healthy foods and I went for regular, fast-paced, long walks with my mother! Now that I live with my husband instead, I have been eating almost nothing but fatty, unhealthy foods and have barely been getting any exercise at all.

Things changed yesterday.

Wish me luck!

As for the grains of salt – I need to start letting things slide off my back instead of irritating me so much (and no, I am not talking about the laughter but rather other more inane things). My fuse has become much shorter lately and I have ‘snapped’ more than once on issues that really do not warrant such strong reaction. This is not the real me! Perhaps the exercise will help in making me a more pleasant person but I will also make a conscious effort to ‘turn the other cheek’ more often. Life is far too short to be such a cranky bitch all the time!

p.s. One thing that always makes me happy is reading a good book…I am still waiting for people to recommend some to me!

Mishmash...

2007-01-15T09:40:00.000-06:00

I am tired. I really have no reason to be, I just am. So I blame the weather. I think the new ice age is upon us!

Ordinarily, when the weather gets to be this cold, I like to hibernate inside. This past Saturday night, however, I went with my husband to his work holiday party (they do it in January every year). I had a great time – dinner and tons of dancing – my kind of evening. They even had the NFL games showing on a large screen T.V. in the lounge area, so all my bases were covered.

The only thing was that this woman, who to her credit works really hard all year, decided to consume massive amounts of free alcohol that night to unwind. Who cares, you might ask yourself (or me). Well, she drank so much that her sense of balance was extremely altered! In the process of stumbling backwards on the dance floor, in high and pointy shoes I might add, she stepped rather heavily on my ankle (narrowly missing my Achilles!) Luckily my husband was there for me to grab because I would have fallen as well. She was so drunk that she didn’t even realise that she had stepped on me, let alone caused me severe pain, so she didn’t apologise. I only mention this whole thing because it really hurts to walk in shoes or boots now. Seriously people – if you are going to drink, drink responsively – not only should you not drink and drive, you should not drink and dance if you cannot handle your booze!

Oh well – at least the injury has given me yet another excuse to get out of exercising for a few days. Speaking of exercising, it is amazing how many excuses one can derive, when that one is me, to get out of stepping onto the treadmill. It is too bad that I don’t burn substantive calories in the process of thinking up the excuses! Despite the fact that once I am on the treadmill I actually do not mind that much to continue running, it is like pulling teeth for me to get to the machine! The only upside to this horrendous weather that we have been suffering through is that I won’t be wearing a bathing suit any time soon so I guess I am ok for now.

One more thing about the weather – my ‘routine maintenance’ break warning light keeps coming on…but only when the car is really cold (it doesn’t come on after I pull out from my heated underground garage). I tried getting a hold of my mechanic on Friday but he didn’t call me back. I know I should go somewhere else but I actually ‘trust’ my guy to not rip me off…anybody have any ideas???

p.s. I have decided to keep writing about me, but I will try really hard to not write about my friends anymore.

Explanation

2007-01-12T09:37:00.000-06:00

Hi there all.

For those of you who have visited my blog site previously, you will notice that I have taken down all of my previous postings.

A very close friend of mine in the 'real' world became upset after reading my blog because she was disappointed that I was writing about things that I wasn't sharing with her privately in person. (Note this is someone about whom I have never written as our friendship is great and thus no ranting required...)

However, her reaction made me realise that the people about whom I was writing (who do not know about my blog but who might discover it) might read the blog and be hurt...something that was NEVER my intention. (While I stand by what I wrote, I do feel somewhat guilty about airing our issues in public...)

Thus I have deleted all of my previous postings.

I will be maintaining my blog but will no longer be writing so much about my personal life...which will be tough! I am in the process of figuring out exactly what I am going to write about instead...AND I will miss the exhibitionistic/voyeuristic pleasure of maintaining a diary that I know is 'peeked at' by others.

Please bare with me during this transition.

Oh - and before I sign off for today - I do need to rant about something:

I chose the WRONG friggin week to go south for holidays!

While I was gone, the weather 'back home' was a balmy minus 4 degrees Celcius.

Now that I have returned, the weather is much less pleasant. This morning on my way to work the radio announced that, when taking into account the windchill, the temperature had plummeted to minus 48 degrees Celsius. AND, unfortunately, NO I AM NOT EXAGERATING!