Adventures & Misadventures

Sign of the Times

2017-07-01T08:27:00.000-03:00

9On the Tuesday we went out for Karen's birthday sushi. We ate so much damn sushi it hurt. I don't want to look at sushi again for a long time.

On Wednesday it was Karen's actual birthday. I'm the last one to turn thirty. I met her over at Matt and Jakki's for cake. It was kind of a strange circumstance. My original plan was to drop off her present at her place and leave it on her dresser, that way when she got home at the end of the day it would make her smile. But she invited me over to Jakki's.

They live on the street I grew up on, a couple houses down from dad's. I don't go on the street anymore. It was surreal. I parked outside of Dylan's old house and sat for a minute taking it all in.

Dylan doesn't live there anymore. Jonathan doesn't live there anymore. Eddie and Carla's house has changed so much but I don't know if they live there anymore. Oatmeal house has new shutters and the porch is a different colour. Same with Brian and Jane's. Kayla's house has the same colours but they've been doing upkeep. I one lives there anymore. They were the ones that built the street.

Dad's old house has not been kept up. The shutters are the same shutters we had and they haven't been painted. They are so faded. The front door used to be dark green and now it's white. They painted the porch white as well. But it looks sad and tired. They moved the euonymus and made a cement garden bed. But the real kick in the stomach for how much time has passed is the pointy tree shrub. That thing was half my size when it was planted. And now it's grown up to my dad's window on the second floor.

I got myself together and walked down to their house and realized they lived in Chad's old house. Which was Laura's before that. Laura had these two siamese cats and they were assholes. Chad moved in a couple families after Laura's family moved out. I realize now that the house was probably a rental. When Chad lived there I watched my first movie on DVD. I remember how excited he was that he'd never have to rewind a movie again. That was also the era when the Dreamcast came out and we would hang out in his room and play Crazy Taxi.

The cake was good and it was nice spending time with Matt and Jakki. They are a big part of Karen's life. I'm glad she had a good birthday

This is Thirty pt 2

2017-06-26T08:27:00.001-03:00

Yesterday I decided to take time off from renovating and yard stuff and just have a fun day. So Jenn and I went to the mall for a minute and then had a spontaneous patio crawl.

We started at the Harbour front patio with a brew and some nachos, moved to Gahan and picked up TJ and Ashley. Saw an old colleague there. Turns out I don't know the difference between scallops and oysters.

After a stroll down the boardwalk we ended up on the rooftop patio at the Red Stag where John joined us. I don't know of they're just building the patio but the set up reminded me of college. Our server was from Perth. Actually she was from Midland which is even more uncanny.

Next ans final stop was Durty Nelly's. Patrick joined us there at our bizarre round table.

It was so nice to just get out and see friends that unfortunately I've been neglecting since renovations started. I think this is when the second great split starts. The first split from friends happens when you leave school and get jobs and you don't see each other everyday. Some friends keep in touch but others you lose along the way. The second split happens when everyone starts getting married, buying houses and/or having babies. Your time is divided even further and you really have to make a conscious effort to see people.

All in all fun day was a success. Can't wait for the next one.

This is 30

2017-06-25T08:15:00.001-03:00

A week from tomorrow is my 30th birthday. I know a lot of people dread birthdays and the thought of growing older. I think of it as an achievement. I've made it 30 years without maiming or killing myself/getting killed. What's the alternative to not turning 30? Death.

But enough of the dark talk. Karen and I are planning our 30th birthday party and it's going to be ridiculous. We are going to have cotton candy, popcorn, and snow cones (with liqueur flavoring too of course). There will be a BBQ. There will be washer toss and yardzee. There will be lights and paper lanterns and a fire in the evening. What's the point in getting older if you can't have fun with it?

Floors out, drywall up

Lately everything seems to be changing. My priorities are shifting. I'm looking to change careers and move into something more permanent. I'm renovating the house. I'm interested in learning and doing things for myself. I want to maintain the friends I have and I'm not overly interested in making more. We're trying to add to our family for a while now although we aren't having much luck.

We've been renovating the basement since about March. I'm getting antsy about having it done. Everything from the basement is upstairs and it's very congested. It's hard to clean because you can't really move anything around. I'm really looking forward to the day when we can move everything back and give the house a good scrubbing. This place will feel like a mansion.

Surprise! Previous owners covered up the leak in the foundation

The basement is straight out of 1974. It had wood paneling, carpet in the bathroom (yes, there is a shower in there) and yellow linoleum. We tore down the old drywall because it wasn't moisture resistant and they put glue all over the god damn thing so it was a mess. In doing this we found out the previous owners covered up a leak in the foundation. It was the only new piece of drywall and the beams were all new. We're hoping there are no more surprises making this house into our home.

Happy 54th

2016-04-01T19:32:00.002-03:00

Yesterday would have been my dad's 54th birthday. He passed away on July 13th, 2013.
For some reason his birthday has hit me harder than any other birthday or anniversary. It almost felt like I was reliving it all. Re-realizing that I will never see him again or hear his voice.

Yesterday I needed him more than ever and yet it was so difficult to remember that he's gone and that is permanent. All my family videos of him are no longer on my computer. I don't know what happened. That made things worse.

Knowing he never met John other than on Skype a few times while we lived in Australia. He never came to my wedding. He will never set foot in my first house. I'll never get to drive him anywhere. He won't be there when John and I have kids. He has missed and will miss so much.

There was so much wasted time. I wish I understood him better. I wish he had made different choices. I wish I had.

But its too late.

Kitchen Woes

2016-03-26T15:58:00.000-03:00

Another house project we have on the go is our kitchen. Eventually we are redoing the entire thing but since we are on a budget its going to be a piece at a time.

We started with the cupboards. They had the seventies look to them, much the same as the rest of the house. The old varnish and poor advice have been a huge hassle.

Before

Removing the doors

We started shortly after we got the keys. Mom and Patrick did most of the sanding of the cupboards and after I finished painting the bedroom I removed the wallpaper from the cupboards and helped finish the sanding. When the weather warmed up a bit John took the doors and drawers outside and sanded them down.

Before

Patrick does not like the wallpaper

I went to a hardware store and asked about paint and explained what I was painting over. The man I spoke with told me not to bother with the pricey cabinet paint because regular paint with primer in it would do the job just as well. After sanding down the cupboards and applying the first coat we realized this was not the case.

Eight coats later and the varnish finally stopped bleeding through. Now I needed to get a top coat to seal it in. Since I got bad advice from the first hardware store, I went to a different one. I explained the situation again and said that I needed a clear top coat with no varnish in it. The woman there took me through the aisle and pulled out a product and told me that was what I needed. I again asked if it was clear because I was putting it over white and she told me I would have no issues.

Bobby putting the doors back on

I sealed the cupboards on Wednesday so they would be ready for Bobby to hang the doors and I could have everything put away by Easter. But of course, the top coat dried yellow. Not only that, it was so sticky and hard to spread that some places are darker than others.

So now I have to go back to the store and buy the cabinet paint that I originally wanted to get. I also need to sand down the stuff that I put on there because of the tacky "clear top coat".

Good thing I got that regular paint and saved all of that money....

Back Again

2016-03-23T13:50:00.001-03:00

Lets see if third time is a charm.

I haven't posted since last summer. So here's a blurb to catch you up.
John and I got married in October.
John and I bought a house. Its from the 70's and you can tell by the inside. We are slowly chipping away at it and updating it. It's a process. I have a zillion hobbies now between the house, gardening, scrapbooking, cross stitching, and reading.

Here is the before and current pictures of our upstairs bathroom.

Upstairs bathroom upon purchase.

We did a little bit of painting on the walls, Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams. I painted the vanity with Aged Grey chalk paint. Uncle Bobby and Mom got us handles, hinges, and knobs for kitchen and bathroom. Kitchen is a whole other story.

In the process of chalk painting the vanity

Painted, sealed, and hinges and pulls and knobs on.

Now all thats left for the bathroom is to paint the trim (we're working backwards, I know), get a new light fixture since the old one smashed, and add our own touches.

I think eventually we'll get new doors as well since some of the current doors are in a bit rough shape.

Sick All Summer

2015-08-16T09:32:00.000-03:00

I have pneumonia and I have done nothing interesting except work on Patrick's cross stitch and restart Skyrim.

Be Nice

2015-08-07T15:29:00.002-03:00

I went out on Wednesday night with John to the Red Stag to meet up with TJ and Trevor. We had some nachos and beer and caught up and talked about living in Australia and cultural differences, how hard it is to make a living here. We talked about work and the wedding. I had too much beer. Which of course means I had three.

There are 57 days left before the wedding.

John and I sat down and worked out the ceremony details and sent them off to Roxanne. I decided to keep the flowers simple for the bridesmaids since they are wearing different colours. They will each get three sunflowers which will be tied with a ribbon that matches their dress. I will likely have a bouquet made up of colours of their dresses.

I still have to lose 14 pounds to fit in my dress comfortably. I've also broken out in hives again and I've caught some bug.

Tomorrow is the wedding shower and that's all I've got for today.

Weddings and Parks and Animals!

2015-08-03T09:36:00.000-03:00

Nick and Michael's wedding

On Day Two of my De-stress I attended the wedding of two of my friends. They had an early ceremony so my original plan was to go to the ceremony and then book it back to Halifax for work. Now that I am off, I was able to stay and enjoy the day which was great.

They got married on their friend's property about 45 minutes outside of the city. It was beautiful weather and they both looked great. Another one of their friends catered the wedding. She makes delicious curry, so good in fact that there was barely any left when we got to it!

It was a great afternoon spent sitting in the shade under a tree by the lake in this woman's backyard. We just sat and chatted and enjoyed the day.

We got home around 4 and thought about going to the lake by our house for a swim but we were both too drained from the sun so we read instead.

Yesterday we went to Victoria Park. John hasn't seen much of Nova Scotia so we decided to head out there and enjoy another sunny day. We climbed the narrow steps of Jacob's Ladder, headed down to the waterfall, failed at finding the Holy Well, and stumbled upon the Wishing Well. It was fun and we were glad we didn't bring my niece. We thought about bringing her but between the stairs and the long walks, and the lack of playgrounds she would have been bored.

John says look happy

John by the Wishing Well

After the park is was only noon (we are early risers) so we pulled off at Shubenacadie and headed to the Wildlife Park. We collected some pine cones for our wedding and lazily made our way around the park. We saw the moose (I never see the moose) and the otters were playing and singing. There were little babies with the swans.

Today will be another adventure. Must take advantage of the sun after the two weeks of rain.

Day 1 of De-stress

2015-08-01T09:51:00.003-03:00

I have been having issues with stress lately and saw my doctor after having a migraine for eight days straight. I'm on a stress leave until September 15th so I've decided to try and blog more regularly because I find having a bit of a routine helps me.

I need to learn how to relax. I'm not the kind of woman who can sit in a tub and read, or have a glass of wine. Ten minutes after sitting in the tub I get bored and fidgety and then I feel guilty for wasting all that water. Wine is ok but I don't love it as much as everyone else seems to. usually when John pours me a glass of wine I drink about half and he finishes the rest. Works out well for him because he loves wine.

So on Day 1 I realized I can't relax with a messy house so I spent a few hours cleaning. And I have to saw I find mopping very therapeutic. I don't know why but I really enjoy that. I find mopping more relaxing than soaking in a tub. I finished reading Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean. Its a good read and apparently a great movie although I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

I also did some scrapbooking. I started my wedding scrapbook with a photo of Alea trying on the bridesmaids dress. I used a stamp of a tree with my distress markers and it came out really nice. I also did another page of my niece in a life jacket by the water slides from when we went to Atlantic Playland.

I had trouble sleeping again last night because of the tension in my neck and shoulders, also stress induced. I probably kept John up with my tossing and turning. I suspect I was also talking in my sleep again. But I woke up in my bed in the same nightie I went to sleep in so I don't think I was sleep walking.

Cross Stitch, Painting, and Wedding

2015-07-23T21:51:00.003-03:00

Things are really coming along with the wedding. We've paid the DJ, found sashes for the chairs, decided on a cake, set the dinner menu. My dress is getting a bit tight so it's looking like no more treats for me for the next 71 days!

Wilson

I'm getting really excited for the wedding but I am more excited for our honeymoon in Asia!! We're going for a month. I can't wait to be in Korea again.

In other news we got a guinea pig. His name is Wilson. He's kind of skittish but he's coming around. We wanted a pet but we were very limited as to what we can get. We really want a dog but we can't have one in the apartment. John is allergic to cats and rabbits. Fish can't interact. So we got a guinea pig.

My niece was really excited to play with him but he was really shy at first. So I had an idea that putting him in her lap and letting her feed him carrots might be a way for them to bond. And it was, for about five minutes. Then he peed on her and she cried. She's four so I guess that's understandable. I tried to explain to her that she peed on us when she was little and we still play with her.

I finished my Zelda Light World Map cross stitch on March 1st. Exactly one year from when I started it. Its now framed and hanging in my living room.

Zelda cross stitch

I've since done some Christmas Pokemon for my cousins and now I am working on a Mario Bros cross stitch for Patrick's birthday. Its Yoshi's house. I will post pictures later.

We're almost done painting the apartment. Most of the apartment is grey like the photo above but I saw this indigo on Pinterest and thought these calendar photos would like nice framed against it.

Anyways that's enough for now.

Crafty Witch

2015-05-13T22:44:00.000-03:00

Our trip went well. We spent a day in Portland, Maine, a day in Boston, and a day in Salem. We drove down after I finished work. It was a long drive but we were armed with playlists, snacks, and each others company so we had lots of fun.

Our first stop was Maine. We decided to do some shopping on our trip because of all the outlet stores. We didn't end up in any of these stores because I spent most of my money on scrapbooking stuff and John lost interest.

Half my loot

I was in heaven. I spent nearly $200 on embellishments, inks, paper, etc between Jo-Anns, Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I think if I were to get the same stuff here it would be closer to $350. Maybe more.

John wanted to visit a Victorian Museum but unfortunately it didn't open for another two weeks so we missed out on that. We did stop in to a mall and found a Newbury Comics. This store was magical. We spent probably an hour wandering around looking at all of the pop culture merchandise. We figured had we brought more money we could have done all of our Christmas shopping in there. I of course bought this Zelda book. It has a bunch of the concept artwork throughout the game series. It gives a timeline and explains the different universes and how they all connect.

Fascinating book for Zelda fans

Next was Boston! Our hotel was under renovations. They were serving breakfast and dinner in the pool area so we ventured out for food. We actually realized the night before we left that we forgot to go to the Cheesecake Factory. John and I are both big cheesecake lovers so we piled into the car and got cheesecake at 1030 at night. Its great being an adult.

Wandering around Boston

We didn't plan it this way but it our weekend away was the weekend of the Boston Marathon. We walked around town with some gelatto and watched as the course was being set up for Monday. We made our way to China town and had some Korean for lunch and people watched.

We got my niece Candyland. It was on sale and we love board games so we figured it would be a good introduction for her. She loves it. She wants to play it all the time.

Lastly was Salem. This was our favourite stop. It was a nice quirky town. We went to the Salem Witch Museum where there was a presentation on the witch trials. We knew most of what happened before going in but we also learned new things! Apparently the hysteria got so bad that two dogs were hanged after being accused of being witches. Utter insanity!

They also talked about witch history. Witches were people who were connected with the earth and very harmonious. They used roots and herbs and other natural remedies for a variety of maladies. Then witches began being associated with the deaths from small pox and they earned their undeserved reputation for being evil. Our guide talked to us about witches throughout time, and compared olden day witches to pop culture witches like the Wicked Witch of the West and Sabrina, etc. She also taught us that Wiccan stereotypes are misconceptions and told us the basic tenets.

Last stop before home

Welcome Back?

2015-04-10T09:04:00.002-03:00

It's been almost a year since I've updated. I want to say I'm going to get back into doing this regularly but I don't think I should make any promises.

Here's your song, Jack Johnson's Better Together

I guess I should start by saying that John and I are getting married! He proposed last summer while his parents were here. We've been slowly planning things and it's all coming together. I've always heard about how stressful wedding planning is and so far it's been a breeze so I think I'm doing it wrong.

Colours of bridesmaid's dresses

We've got most of the big bases covered; venue, DJ, JP, hair, food, photographer, etc. I already have my dress. He has his dress. I mean kilt. That was a legit mistake but I'm not erasing it now. After an amusing mix up I now have 4 bridesmaids instead of 3. Basically, I thought one person I wanted to be a bridesmaid was moving out west, so I asked someone else. Then it turned out she wasn't moving so John and I agreed we'd make it 4 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids so I could have her in the party. And she is moving out west now.

I have two really great friends that I was worried about choosing who would be maid of honour. Luckily they both wanted to share the role so I didn't have to choose.

I let them choose their dress style and they all liked the same style, so I picked out four colours and they chose which colour they wanted. That all worked out too perfectly as well. I think Karen and Ashley should be getting their dresses soon.
We had our rings custom made because one of my uncles was in Bahrain. So he's pretty much the best thing ever. He just got home a few days ago after being gone for over 4 months.

Other than wedding stuff, I'll let you know I got Lasik. I LOVE it. It's been just over four weeks now, eyes have healed pretty well, still a bit of redness but my lids cover it. I'm 20/20. It was a great experience. They give you a bunch of eye drops before you go in. You have the option of taking Ativan. I highly recommend it even if you're not nervous. Once you go in the room they do more drops to freeze your eyes. They put some clamps so your lids don't move and they just instruct you to look at lights. You can smell it but you cant really tell whats going on with regard to the laser cutting the flap or fixing your eyes. Sometimes you see a light, then it goes dark. You don't feel a thing. The actual laser process takes 10 minutes. If you are considering but they only thing holding you back is the nervousness of the procedure, book your appointment and ask for the Ativan. I promise you won't regret it.

Ketchup

2014-06-21T14:14:00.001-03:00

Here's today's song

So we've got the car all settled, insured and registered. I failed my driver's test by ONE POINT! The instructor that was marking me was being audited by his boss who sat in the backseat. If you ever have this happen to you say no to having the second driving tester being there. New test is on the 30th. And I am going to pass and have a glorious summer.

Getting a head on my summer course; the Opium Wars

Still going strong with 100 days of Happiness, I'm on day 25 now so a quarter of the way there. It really makes me appreciate everything in my life and I get more excited.

John's parents are coming in less than week and I'm working almost everyday until then. He's in New York and he saw the Kaiser Chiefs last night. We won't even get into how jealous I am about that.

My birthday is coming up and I've paid off my small student loan. That's all the things.

It's June!

2014-06-03T09:08:00.002-03:00

Song for today
The time is absolutely flying by.

I've restarted the 100 Days of Happiness, a challenge brought to me by Auntie Janice. I'm on Day 7 today and I know there will be lots of things to choose from.

Planting veggies with Nana

So far my happy days have consisted of reaching one of the corners of my Legend of Zelda map cross stitch, planting my vegetable garden with Nana, finishing reading Little Princes by Connor Grennan (great book, you should check it out), going for my first drive in my new car, it being warm enough to eat dinner on the back deck, and yesterday going to the park with my boyfriend because we both had the same day off.

Today I am going for another drive with DeeDee to practice for my test in 9 days which I am kind of nervous for. Then I am meeting up with Melanie for a stroll along the boardwalk and some lunch. THEN I am going for my first ever community gathering at work. Then I have to work. It's going to be a great day. I'm really enjoying the sun and I am also in the process of registering for a summer course.

Hope your day is just as good.

Mothers Day's

2014-05-12T08:39:00.000-03:00

Today's song because my mom got it stuck in my head yesterday.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I had the day off and got to spend it with my mother and my grandmother.

Vegetarian West African Peanut Soup

We had lunch together. I made a recipe I found on Pinterest that I had made before and it turned out just as good this time, even though I am an idiot and got chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. It's called Vegetarian West African Peanut Soup and it's delicious. You can find the link under the picture to the website I got it from.

I've never actually made rice with it because it is incredibly filling on it's own but it would pair nicely with rice if you have a big appetite.

Mom and Dee Dee talked about people from back home for awhile while I worked on my cross stitch. I started a cross stitch of the Light World map from the Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. It's definitely a process.

Progress as of May 11th

You can see my progress so far and I started in February. I've been plowing hrough it because there have been a lot of col days and I'm out of school for the rest of the summer but it's slowly warming up so I will be spending more time outside.

John and I are going to do our driver's tests soon...FINALLY. His parents will be here in just over a month and we want to have a car when they get here sot hey aren't bored while we are at work. It's going to be my first time meeting them not as their waitress so I am both excited and nervous.

I don't have anything else to babble about today so you're free to go.

Texas

2014-05-02T18:17:00.003-03:00

Today's Song Death Cab for Cutie- Photobooth

I went to Texas to visit my Aunt. It was a much needed trip. I feel way less stressed, I feel happier overall and I have readjusted my focus.

Daisy, my favourite

My Aunt has four dogs. I've been wanting to get a dog for a while now and hopefully that will become a reality in the fall if John and I buy a house. Her dogs are all rescue dogs; Sonny, Daisy, Sparky and Little Bastard (his name is Baxter but someone thought his named was Bastard). It was great spending time with them. They all had such different personalities.

The 6th floor museum

My Aunt and I went downtown Dallas and did the Kennedy tourist stuff. Went tot he 6th floor museum, which was quite informative. I was really surprised to see that it was pretty open about the circumstances surrounding the assassination and gave information about a variety of theories from various groups.

We saw the grassy knoll as well. There was a group of tourists with a giant yellow banner that said grassy knoll that they decided to set up while they took selfies standing on the "X"s where Kennedy was fired upon. It seemed kind of strange to me, but who am I to judge.

The weather was kind to me, staying between 30-40 for the duration of my trip and sunny without a cloud in the sky. I still managed to not get a tan. I didn't burn either, which was nice. Now I'm back home in the balmy 6 degree weather and headed back to the gym today. After gaining 6 pounds in America in a week I needed to visit the gym desperately.

Auntie Janice and me, trying on cowboy hats

San Antonio Riverwalk

Janice took me to San Antonio and we had a blast. We stayed in a hotel that was once a jail. We walked around the San Antonio Riverwalk and snapped pictures and were serenaded while we ate enchiladas. I got my photo taken with a fireman and some cops who pretended to arrest me because one of my goals in going to Dallas was to get on an episode of Cops (long inside story). I got shat on by a pigeon on the Riverwalk while I ate my lunch.

San Jose Mission

We also went to the Missions with then intention of seeing them all in one day. We went to most of them but they closed before we were finished so in reality it became Mission Impossible.

They were pretty neat. They are little settlements where people lived back in the day. They each had churches, obviously.

Many of the churches are still in use today.

Lastly on our trip on the way home from San Antonio we stopped in the Cave With No Name outside of Boerne, Texas. The cave was super cool and at one point we were 100 feet below ground. The cave formations are absolutely amazing and are still forming. Our tour guide was incredible and interesting. We learned so much! I was super proud of my aunt for going because she is claustrophobic but she loved it! Our guide told us that they have meditations in there which would be pretty incredible. They were also having a conference in the caverns the next day.

In the cave with no name

Back to the daily grind now!

Twitter

2013-10-03T00:36:00.001-03:00

If you have a Twitter account please report @theredsandal_
It is a fake account.

Long Time Coming

2013-09-08T12:22:00.001-03:00

It's been a while since I've posted. 3 months actually.

Our spot, in the middle of our loop

It has been a very strange summer. Running an apartment building, looking for a job, finding a good job, getting John acquainted with Canada. Some pretty awful things have happened as well that have really changed my perspective on everything really; who and what is important, why I do what I do. My beliefs have been challenged. I feel like a new person but I also feel the same. It's hard to describe.

Karen's ready to camp

Karen and I went camping at Dollar Lake for the night. It was a tradition we started when we were 16 years old (so ten years ago) and it's kind of fallen to the wayside with people working full time jobs, me being in different countries, and Jon and Brad buying houses. So in short, growing up. But we decided to revive the tradition even if it was just for the night.

Dollar Lake, my favourite place on earth

I dropped all my s'mores in the dirt

We made a video compilation (that never got compiled) about our trip.

Mom's Birthday & John's Potluck

2013-06-04T08:56:00.001-03:00

I'm almost starting to get a tan. I've been spending some time outdoors in the sun (before it all turned to rain this week).
John and I wandered around Halifax. We walked up to Public Gardens, through Point Pleasant Park, and on to the boardwalk where we sat and listened to a bag pipe player. I introduced him to Iced Caps and raspberry filled Timbits; the finer things in life.

Enjoying the sun!

On Saturday Mom, TinTin, Bina, and Brandie came over for a pancake breakfast (any excuse to use my grill!) and they finished the prep of the sandwiches. We loaded the car and went on our way.

Almost as cute as her daughter handing out the flowers.

Mom's birthday wish was for us to go downtown and hand out sandwiches, juice, apples, and granola bars to the homeless people. It was a great day for it because it was nearly 30 degrees and they were appreciative of the cold beverages.

We were actually having trouble finding homeless people so after a while we began giving cold drinks to construction workers and feeding people busking.

Bina was giving flowers out to women. She was only giving them to women with small children and eventually she had enough. So TinTin and I ended up giving out the rest. It's much cuter when the toddler was doing it. Some women were acting all awkward like we were hitting on them or something. We were just trying to brighten their day.

On Sunday we had the Greene's over for a potluck, welcoming John to Canada and celebrating his recently acquired permanent residency. It was another hot day so everyone brought salads, fruits, veggies, and other non-cook items which was fantastic and very delicious.
We also surprised John with an ice cream cake. They told me I could get whatever I wanted on it. So I got Hello Kitty in a Maple Leafs Jersey, waving to John. Should've gotten a kilt, too. Hindsight.

They said I could get anything I wanted

I am an idiot and thought it would be good to put it in the fridge for a little bit so it could defrost slightly. A little bit turned into two hours. As soon as we cut into what looked like a structurally sound cake, as pictured above, it pretty much collapsed into a melty mess.

Dee Dee and Bina

John's First Day

2013-05-31T15:37:00.001-03:00

So for John's first day in Canada we just stayed around the house. He had a wonderfully healthy breakfast of IrnBru and Poptarts. He started re-watching Season 3 of the Walking Dead because he only saw up to the mid-season finale. We also played FIFA and some Kinect games.

Breakfast of Champions

He got in touch with someone about a potential job and went to their business to speak with them. The person hasn't officially quit yet but it's looking like they will in the near future so it's good that John has his foot in the door.

The next day we spent some time with the guys next door. We're all pretty much BFFs now.

We went to EBay games and got a second controller and a few games (Duke Nukem, Banjo Kazooie, and NHL 12). John also got his SIN and we'll be getting his health card today.

He had poutine for the first time, too!

That's pretty much up to where we are now. We're going to head out and have a picnic.

Party in the H.R.M.

2013-05-23T11:04:00.000-03:00

So Thursday- Tuesday mainly consisted of working, with a couple of doubles in there.

After work on Saturday I took my adorable niece to Mia's birthday party. It was Batman themed because Mia loves Batman. Blue and grey Batman, to be specific. Serena was a bit shy so we hung around the adults while the other kids ran wild. To be fair the other kids were 4-6 years old.

Getting my face painted

I let her paint my face so she would stop being so shy. She had a blast and then let the face painting lady do her arms and legs.

Hitting the piñata!

After cake and opening presents Matt brought out the piñata. They all took turns hitting the piñata with a broom stick until after three rounds it finally broke. The kids swarmed the candy and everyone laughed and had fun.

After we dropped Serena off with her mom, Mom was going to take me home so I could clean the building and get a change of clothes. We made a pit stop at the Brick. I still had my face painted. No sales people would speak to us, so needless to say we didn't buy anything.

The next day was my sister's birthday. After work I went back to Mom's and we had lasagna and some cake. It was pretty low key.

Today is going to be spent cleaning up the house for John's arrival. At some point I should probably buy groceries too. I can't believe he's going to be here in a few more days! I am so excited!

Mom's birthday is Saturday and she has something planned but won't tell us what it is.

It's a ....

2013-05-17T08:40:00.003-03:00

Girl. They're having another girl. There were no cupcakes involved.

Last night I went to Mary's graduation dinner. She looked so pretty!! We went to the Rock Bottom and I met her family. They're all so nice and cheery. I had a turkey and avocado burger which was delicious and very filling.

I'm getting ready to clean the building and then go out to Sackville for my hellish work week. 1-9 today, 8-4 tomorrow, 7-5 Sunday, 8-9 Victoria Day, 6-2 Tuesday.

I'm going to be exhausted come Wednesday.

Cloudy Womb, Fiery Ovaries

2013-05-14T20:15:00.002-03:00

So this morning I was sitting my couch looking for scholarships or bursaries that I might qualify for (none), when all of a sudden my phone rang. A frantic voice yells into the phone "If you can be out in your street in 45 seconds you can come to my ultrasound!!!". So off I went.

It was a really interesting experience. Normally when people show me their early ultrasound pictures I don't see what they are seeing. Today was different. They were pointing out forearms and femurs and organs and I knew what I was looking at. I even saw the placenta. It was really cool. It also looked very cloudy in there and when they were looking at her ovaries they were doing the coloured thing to show blood flow which just made her ovaries look like they were on fire.

So tomorrow she finds out if she is having a boy or a girl. She's doing a gender reveal photo where her daughter (who turned 4 today) holds up a cupcake in the first photo, bites into it in the second, and then shows off the middle which will either have pink or blue icing in the middle.

This experience was a first for me and at times it freaked me out. I find pregnancy very disturbing. I know it's a natural, beautiful thing it just really freaks me out. When my friend was pregnant with her daughter she showed me her daughter's heel rubbing against her belly and I was like "Put it away!!!!!"

Of course this led to the discussion of whether or not I should have kids. I've been flip flopping for awhile. It's something John and I have been discussing for awhile but I think we both feel we need to sit down and have a serious discussion about it in the not so distant future.

He arrives in eleven days and I am so excited to see him again!

Come Together

2013-05-04T10:45:00.002-03:00

I've been working the last couple of days. My new sofa has arrived and it looks great except two of the over-sized cushions do not match my things at all. So I'm going to turn to Ebay to solve all of my woes.....and try not to get addicted to online shopping again like I did in Korea when I maxed my credit card out on dresses. I don't even wear dresses.

The apartment is slowly coming together. I've started pretty much from scratch because I gave away a lot of my things while I was overseas. In two months I have managed to get a table and chairs (actually that was free because my mom helped someone out), a bed, a love seat, and a couch. I have more work to do but it's getting there.

My room on moving day

I'd like to do a post in the future where I show pictures from the day I moved in (not much unpacking required) and when I get it pretty much together.

Today's a beautiful day so Patrick is coming over and we are going to the Farmer's Market with Karen. Might venture to the park later and read a bit and enjoy the sun. I don't knwo how I managed to get a weekend off but I did it!

I've got my form to fill out to apply for my honours program. I'm going to get that filled out and bring it in on Monday and run some errands.

Three weeks from today and John will be here! I can't wait!