If you can see out, I can see in!

Last night on my way home from work I was stopped at red lights for 5 blocks one after another.  Each time I looked in my rear-view mirror I saw the same man doing some serious mining for boogers.  He was really digging up in there – it actually looked a little painful. 

Now he was trying to turn himself a little to the left to block the view from the cars parked on his right but did he not realize that I could quite plainly see him each time I glanced up?  Did he care??  He was also doing a lot of wiping on his pants with that finger so I’m very sorry for the person who will be doing his laundry.

I find it hilarious the things that people do in their cars when they think they are alone.  They do realize that the car has windows right??  I guess I have to admit that I can often be seen signing up a storm as I drive about but that is probably just amusing to my fellow commuters.  But nose picking?  Come on people, I don’t need to be treated to visions of your finger shoved up your nose every time I check my mirrors.

If it looks like a duck…

They both come individually packaged.

They both contain flour, sugar, butter.

They both come in Carrot, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate and Banana varieties.

So I ask you – what the heck is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake??

Let’s be honest – if I am eating a Triple Chocolate Muffin – I am just eating a chocolate cupcake….without frosting.  Calling it a muffin doesn’t make it any better for me but I will admit that those “muffins” are pretty tasty.

Look at those ponies go!

Last night Jason and I took advantage of another one of the McMaster Alumni events and headed to Woodbine Racetrack for a little dinner, a little racing form education and a little horse betting.  Jason had been before but it was my first time.  I have always wanted to go but never really got around to it before so this was a great opportunity. 

After getting a little info on how the betting form worked from a Woodbine guy, I threw out what I had learned and picked my first horse based purely on its name and blanket colour.  I bet on the 3 horse wearing a blue blankie (Jason’s favourite colour is blue) whose name is Native Wisdom (Jason is half Ojibwa).  Now I have to mention that this horse was showing 19:1 odds when I went off to bet….Jason thought I was a little crazy but I didn’t care – it was the horse I wanted and so off to the betting window I went with my choice and my $2. 

The betting process felt a little like order soup from the Soup Nazi.  Step up to the window and give info in this order – Race, Amount, Horse, Kind of Bet. 

So I took my money and stepped up and said, “First race, $2, 3 horse to Show”, put my money on the counter, took my betting slip from the machine and stepped back.  Phew!  It was a little stressful but I was quite pleased with placing my first horse bet! 

We took our seats and the ponies got ready to go….”And they’re off!” was announced and the yelling started…..”Come on 3, come on 3…”.  So for those of you who aren’t familiar with the lingo at the track, placing a bet for a horse to “Show” means that the horse has to come 1st, 2nd or 3rd for you to get any money.  When the race began, my pick was showing 30:1 odds – so not a sure thing by a LONG shot!

As the horses got underway, Native Wisdom was hanging back as his odds would indicate he would but about half way through he got himself pumped up and he took off.  They were rounding the final corner and Native Wisdom was hauling ass!  He was over-taking horses and moving up and up and up.   I was yelling and hopping in my seat as my pony got closer and closer to the front.  At the line Native Wisdom was in 2nd!  Yes people that is correct – my 30:1 horse finished 2nd.  Now as I had only bet $2 and your payout is less if you take the “Show” bet as it is a safer bet I actually ended up winning only $12.70 but I don’t care.  It was my first time at the track, my first bet on the ponies and I won.  Wahoooooo!!!  I used my winnings to bet on the other races and even though I didn’t win I had a great time.  I ended up leaving with a profit of $4.70.   I realize that isn’t much but I am quite proud of it! 

Oh and just between us, Jason didn’t win anything…ssh…he doesn’t want to talk about it.

I feel like a failure but my house is much cleaner

So after months and months and months and months of talking about it, Jason and I finally found someone to clean our house.  Well actually we found two people.  Our new cleaners are a little Portuguese couple and they are coming every other Tuesday to clean for us.

There is a part of me that feels like a failure because I couldn’t figure out how to keep my own house clean but there is also a part of me that loved my house being cleaned while I was working.  We could have done better in the cleaning department but we opted to spend more quality time together and cleaning was just so far down on the list that it just didn’t get done as frequently as we would like.  So we caved and are paying someone else to do it.  The poor peeps had their work cut out for them yesterday as it was the first day and they didn’t get everything done but the house looks so much better.  They even cleaned the things I never do.  Things like the oven and the stove plates and the toaster oven and the toaster and a number of other things that just don’t make it on the list when I am making the house liveable. 

At this point we are thinking it was money extremely well spent!!

Moving right along…

This past week was quite eventful in terms of wedding planning.

We found a guy to marry us.

We learned that the restaurant we wanted to get cheesecake from will do it…and for a great price!

We got an amazing quote from the florist!!

We went to look at the venue again to finalize what we would need in decorations and we still love it as much as we did when we booked it – which is a relief!  The room was set up for a wedding so we were able to see what it will look like when we are there and it was awesome.  So exactly what we wanted.

We’ve (well more I’ve) decided on a number of things such as seating chart, favours and other little bits and bobs.  Now I just have to get cracking and get the stuff made.  Our invitations are still not really coming along but that is just because I keep procrastinating and avoiding them.  But this week I will try to get them going as well.

It was a very successful week and I am finally feeling like things are on track.  We still have a number of things to sort out but at least I am not feeling completely overwhelmed now.  Phew!

We have a guy!

We have someone to marry us!  Wheeeeeeeee!  Jason just sent off the deposit and we are confirmed with our officiant.  So exciting!!!  I also met with the florist a while ago and just got the quote yesterday and it is an amazing price so that is something else we can take off our list.

It has been a great week for wedding bits!!  Now only 1000 other things to do in the next 5.5 months!

The power of Christmas

Yes, I am aware that it is April and my title is about Christmas but there is a reason for that.  Last night I was struck by an urge to bake while watching a Christmas episode of Melrose Place.  (Um, yeah – Jason and I watch old episodes of Melrose Place on the DIVA channel weekdays at 7PM…such bad acting and the clothes are hilarious!)  It wasn’t all the TV’s fault as I was also feeling a craving for something sweet but the carols certainly pushed the idea along.  So I broke out the cookbook and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Yummy!!

Jason says he will be putting on Christmas carols at random throughout the year now just to see if he can get me to bake.  Nice!

Little black dress dilemma

I have decided that for our wedding the bridesmaids will be wearing black.  My original idea was blue with ivory flowers, then it was black with blue flowers and now it is black with orange flowers (not many options out there for blue flowers – especially in October). 

So black dresses eh?  You would think this would be easy.  But alas, it is not proving to be as simple as one would think.  Last night, Linda, Sarah and Eva and I spent 3 hours scouring the stores of Yorkdale and although we have some options we certainly didn’t find a winner.  The options are more “well I don’t hate it” and not really “I love it” and I am looking for an “I love it” option.  I realize I have 6 months left to find these dresses but I was hoping to knock this item off my very large list of things to do and when I headed home last night I was very discouraged by the whole thing.  Sigh.

The hunt continues…

Mmmmmm….cheese!

Jason and I went to a cheese tasting last night that was put on by the McMaster University Alumni group/association/whatever at the Faculty Club at U of T.  It was really good actually.  Jason went to Mac and gets invites all the time to these kinds of events but we have never attended any.  We are glad we decided to check this one out though as it was a fun time.  We had some appetizers and then the Dean of the Cheese Education Guild…yes, there is actually a Dean of the Cheese Education Guild…walked us through 5 different kinds of Quebec cheeses.  Mmmmmmmmm…..cheese!

It was pretty fun and we have been wanting to get out and do different things and so this was a perfect way to spend a couple of hours.  In May the Alumni is hosting an event at Woodbine Racetrack.  I can’t wait for that one.  I’ve always wanted to go see the ponies but I’ve never been. 

In other news, in exactly 6 months from today at about this exact time I will be preparing to walk down the aisle on my way to becoming a married woman.  It is very exciting but a little stressful as well as I know how many things I still have to do before that wee walk.

I need a watch with more hours.

It is only Thursday and already my weekend is completely packed.  I normally look forward to the weekends to get some rest and relaxation but for some reason lately they just seem to be so busy that the work week seems like free time. 

Just to give you an example of what I am talking about, here are the current plans for just Saturday.

Saturday

Wake up.

Take Regal for a walk.

Go to the gym.

Eat breakfast.

Go to Brampton to a sports store to look for new Rugby boots for Jason.

Go to the pet store to get dog treats for Regal.

Go to Home Depot to look at patio sets. (We have this old plastic one that the previous owners left behind when they stole the standard one that came with the units so we are looking for something that we may actually get some use of.  Sitting on those plastic chairs is like sitting on a hot stove when the sun has been shining on them.)

Go to Canadian Tire or Toys R Us or some such place to look for an outdoor game or activity for my niece and nephew for their birthday on Sunday.

Take Regal for another walk.

Eat lunch.

Clean the house.

Possibly fit in some time to play GHIII.

Pick up Linda at the airport.  Wahoooooooo!! She is coming for a visit!!

Drive her to Ajax. (Possibly have dinner with the family.)

Take Regal for her third walk.

Sleep.

And that is just Saturday.  On Sunday we have the gym again, dog walking, brunch in Ajax, making invitations, ironing, laundry and I’m sure there are other things to do that I am just not thinking about at the moment.

See why I look forward to 8 hours of sitting at my desk??  It’s not that I don’t enjoy these tasks (well some of them I don’t enjoy like the cleaning and ironing – but most I do) it just seems like there is always a long list of stuff that needs to be done – and there is never enough time.