A Day of Nothing; Full of Everything

Today is one of those days that make you stop and 'smell the roses'. What a cliche. I know. But it's true. Though I had nothing planned for the day - it was a day full of everything. And it makes me smile inside. Here's how it started:

I woke up from a wicked dream where I met a guy on an airplane named "Cale Calnot". We fell head over heels for eachother and it was totally awesome. I'm pretty sure I made this guy up - but if somehow he's real, I wanted it noted in this blog that I knew this.

THEN:

My mom called and asked me to go shopping with her and her friend Annie. It was a nice afternoon. My mom made me laugh because when I mocked her for her addiction to Craisins, she responded with "Well Sar - at least you have a mother who's not on drugs" To which I replied "What?" and she said "you should be glad it's only Craisins I'm addicted too". How true.

THEN:

I was in my car driving when a crossing guard walked into the street to stop traffic to allow children to cross the road. After about the 25th kid ran across I started to get impatient. Then this little girl with blond curly hair came barreling across the street and ran up to the crossing guard and gave her the most intense hug I've ever seen. It was the sweetest thing and I was thankful to have witnessed it. Then I told myself what a huge asshole I am for getting impatient waiting for kids to cross the road. What was I in a rush for? Nothing. Geez. (here is where I had to stop and smell the roses a bit). It's the little moments, right?

THEN:

I went to the rink to coach our last game of the season. The girls tried so hard and played really well. Though we didn't have a winning team this year it was such a great group of girls. They never stopped trying and they never gave up. They are so cute.

THEN:

I watched two of my nieces play ringette. They skated their little hearts out. Darienne was the goalie and Avery was playing defense. Avery skated over to Darienne to re-adjust her jersey that was tucked in to her pants. Just taking care of her sister - so cute! Darienne made the save of her life, clinching a win in the last 30 seconds of the game. It was awesome.

THEN:

I went to visit Damian. My poor little buddy had a fever of 103. But he was still as sweet as pie. I love when he calls me "Hara" with that adorable little voice.

THEN:

I came home and checked my mail. I was delighted to find a package from my friend Heidi who writes this blog. Heidi is a talented journalist who writes with the grace of a ballerina. When you close your eyes you can perfectly envision everything she has described. That is a gift, people. Anyway, I had previously mentioned to her that I'm musically challenged and she made me a bunch of mixed CD's. How great is that? I have only listened to one so far, but I LOVE it!! It was the best treat to come home too. Might I also mention this is the 2nd time in four months I've had mixed CDs mailed to me?? I love new music and I love the thoughtfulness of friends. Thank you so much Heidi.

....and last but not least, when I climbed into bed tonight I read my friend Natasha's blog. (Natasha, by the way, is the other person who sent me a mixed CD) Anyway - on this same day I received a package from a fellow blogger friend - SHE DID TOO. How ironic is that? After the chats I've had with Natasha lately, this was exactly what she needed. It made me smile.

And now it's time for bed. Goodnight and sweet dreams! (here's to hoping my buddy Cale visits me again)

Favourite of the Day: Um, Pretty much everything. See above.

It's his hands...

Really, this isn't technically funny. But each time I watch it, it gets funnier and funnier. There is something about this frog's hands that make me laugh. And not just regular laugh - BELLY laugh.



Ya, I know. I'm kind of an idiot.

The Super Fan

Last night I went to the Greyhound game with Jane. We sat in section 107 and immediately noticed a guy sitting near us wearing a Greyhound jersey, goalie helmet and he was carrying a homemade sign attached to two hockey sticks. My first thought? How awesome is this guy? Because someone who does that is a pretty passionate fan.

Seeing as the Greyhounds lost to Plymouth the previous night 8-1, I’d say the team needs all the support they can get. People are losing faith in this team fast and it’s nice to see some enthusiasm.

Apparently the employees of the Essar Centre don’t feel the same way.

When the Greyhounds scored, this guy would stand up and wave his sign. Never during the play - only when the whistle was blown and the play was stopped. He stood up for maybe 3 or 4 seconds each time. An older man and woman sitting about 5 rows back were angry about this. He apparently was blocking their view. Of what? - I haven’t figured that part out yet. Their first course of action? To throw their garbage at him. Can you believe that? I was appalled. But that didn’t slow the guy down and he ignored them. Good for him. So then this couple complained to staff at the arena. The woman who was working in our section come down to tell him to stop.....cheering for the team....?

In between periods I noticed the lovely, mature couple go and complain further. I’m sure they failed to mention that they threw garbage. Another staff came to reprimand this super fan. This time it was the Marketing and Events Assistant of the Essar Centre. Really?? Let’s reiterate that he never blocked anyone’s view during the actual game. We should only wish we had more people as enthusiastic and supportive as this guy. I’d love to see an arena full of signs, costumes and screaming fans. But no - we have a quiet arena full of old people complaining and throwing garbage at each other. Hasn’t anyone seen European soccer? Have you been to an NHL game? People full of enthusiasm with signs and body paint all over the place. It’s awesome.

But our fans can’t handle a sign and the staff are called in. Even worse, the staff scold the fan.

Disgusting? Wrong? Not sure what word I'm looking for here...How about embarrassing?

The Curse of David's Bridal

I am not a superstitious person. For the most part. But I *may* have cursed myself. Only time will tell.

A few years back I took a little trip to Orlando with Leslie. We had no plans for this trip. We just flew there, rented a car and figured we would just wing it. Florida is full of things to do, right? Disney, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, Sea World....the options were endless. We spent the first night at Universal Studios. It was fun - as expected. What we did the second night, we vowed we would take to our graves. But I'm about to share it because I'm older and wiser(debatable) and I don't care what people think.

The evening started with an early dinner at the Olive Garden. (Where, no doubt, I ordered the Veal Parmesan because I'm a sad creature of habit). After dinner we sat at the table and discussed our itinerary for the evening. Disney? Nah. Sea World? Nah. We peered out the window and saw David's Bridal. Our minds began to spin. Hhhmmmm. We don't know anyone here. We can be ANYONE we want to be. And so our adventure began.

Suddenly, we were both newly engaged girls, excited about our upcoming "weddings". We entered the store with our new identities and spent HOURS playing. We tried on dress after dress after dress. Though Les had a boyfriend in real life, they were not engaged at the time. I invented a fake fiance who was adamant we have a winter wedding. We were both destined to be each other's maid of honour which led us to trying on bridesmaid dresses too, of course.

You know the girl from every sitcom who has been planning her wedding from childhood? That's not me. I'm not the frilly / dress type. I usually don't care about that stuff. But here is what I do like - lying. Maybe not so much the lying - but the making stuff up part. Maybe it's the same thing, I don't know. All I know is that I was enjoying inventing my fake life, fake fiance, fake wedding. We were both cracking up. But as we ran in and out of the change rooms in all sorts of gowns, there was a bride there for her final fitting. I can only assume she was an actual bride with a real wedding in her future. As she stood on that round pedestal while a woman pinned every nook and cranny of her body - she vested great interest in our dress parade. Each time we stepped out of the change room she offered her opinion and shared in our enthusiasm. She told us details of her wedding and asked questions about ours. We rocked it like real brides. Or real jerks. One or the other.

Later, when we were all were back in our 'street clothes' I started to feel bad. I actually felt like we were friends with this girl and her enthusiasm for her wedding was genuine. As she left the store she hugged us both and wished us well for our weddings. We hugged her back and wished her the same. Though I may have winced inside, I truly was happy for her.

Then we walked back to our car and laughed and laughed and laughed. And vowed never to speak of the incident again. It was a fun Floridian adventure.

I have since stood up in Leslie's real wedding. It was an awesome day and she married the best guy ever. I love my Les and I love her Jimmy too. (Check out how cute they are)

But I just have to say - if I never wear a wedding dress again, it may be because I cursed myself on this sunny day in Orlando. There could be a million reasons why, but I'll chalk it up to me being a whack job in David's Bridal. Sorry Mom.

Favourite of the Day: I got a new flat iron. It's one of the good ones. You know that's exciting.

It's the simple things...

It's the simple things in life that make me smile. Like cleaning out the cupboard under my television and finding piles of CD's and DVD's....in chinese.  Who doesn't need a little Sinead O'Connor in chinese in their life? Bridget Jones' Diary? Avril Lavigne? American Pie? Bon Jovi? The list goes on. 

Oh, Roy - Anything to do with you brings a smile to my face. 

Natural Beauty of the Great Lakes

Winter greets Spring

Lake Huron

March 2010

Photos by Amy, my favourite sister

My Fake Crushes II

It's been a little over a year now since I last posted my fake crushes. Time has moved on and so has my taste in fictional men. I feel it's time for a new installment. Might I just add that I'm completely embarrassed that I included a certain vampire in last year's list. Augh. Barf. I'm so completely revolted by 'that movie' phenomenon now (I don't want to even write the name down). Okay, moving on. Here we go:

(1) Hank Moody (Californication). Last year I was embarrassed to say I liked him. Now? I'll shout it out loud. Perhaps he *may* be somewhat of a addict. Perhaps he does some drugs here or there. But there is something about that guy. I think some of my male friends even have a crush on him. (I won't mention any names...S.R) He is charming, funny, sarcastic and boy does he have moves. Above all, I adore his love for Karen. I am aware that makes no sense. Who said I have to make sense?

(2) Billy Abbott (The Young and The Restless). How cute is he? And that smile? Man - gets me every time. I like how he's kind of an idiot, but usually has the greater good at heart. I like it that he makes some bonehead moves once in awhile, because lets be honest - so do I. I think he's gotten his days of being a player out of his system and is on the brinks of settling down. Maybe. Not that I care if he hasn't....in fact I'm pretty confident he's soon to give Victoria the triple X throw down. She's a Newman - who wouldn't?

(3) Max Gregson (United States of Tara). If you were to infer my previous feelings for Aiden influenced this crush - I wouldn't argue with you. It's true. But I also love him as this character. When Tara alters into her other personalities he just goes with it. He doesn't try to change her, he doesn't flip out. He has accepted that this is life and he will deal with it. I love that. He's so patient and understanding. He is a good father and has a great relationship with his kids.

(4) Andy Botwin (Weeds). Andy makes me laugh - hard. Which I think is one of the most important quality in a partner - for me anyway. He's just awesome. A lot of funny + a little crazy + a family man = my kind of guy. He's the fly by the seat of your pants type. He's a cool uncle. And not a hugely important quality - but he doesn't get embarrassed easily. Nothing really seems to shame him. Not sure if that's ideal - but I love this character.

(5) Boston Rob (Survivor). Can it be considered a fake crush if the person is real? Sure, I guess. The first season he was on Survivor I did not like him. The second time I was warming up to him. This season? I love him. He is a man's man. I like that. He calls a spade a spade and he has confidence. I do not like the little mustache thing he has going on, but I'm chalking that up to the fact that he is stranded without a razor. He doesn't put up with crap. He doesn't say what people want to hear - even though that's how most people play the game of Survivor. I loved the other night when he was talking to Coach and said "That's all I'm going to say about this. Now shut the F up and be a man". HA.
Oh, And let's not forget about that cute Boston accent.

Okay. That's it. I'm done now. I just want to add I have a bit of an odd crush on Jay Manuel from America's (and Canada's) Next Top Model. I know he's gay but every girl has a gay crush right?

Favourite of the Day: SUNSHINE. The snow is 95% gone and it's beautiful outside!! Thanks to last night's time change the bright days will last longer. I love it that the cute little boys who live down the road were playing road hockey too. A sure sign that spring has arrived!

My Buried Life

There is a show on MTV right now called "The Buried Life".  It may be a new show or I may be late in discovering it.  Either way - I love it. The premise of the show is that these four guys (Ben, Duncan, Dave and Jonnie) made a list of '100 Things To Do Before You Die". They have this purple bus and they travel around trying to cross things off the list.  In the midst of trying to complete a task, they also find a stranger on the street and help them accomplish one of their own.  It's a good show. 

It makes me think about what is on my own list.  Sadly, my mind comes up blank.  I know there are ideas floating around the back of my brain of things I want to do or accomplish. But actually listing them is difficult. I am challenging myself to figure this out. I think goals are important and stating them is the first step in giving yourself something to work towards. I hope to have a list completed in the future.  

In the meantime - I would LOVE to hear what other people have on their 'lists'.  Anyone want to share?

Mornings

My fantasy: 

1) Wake up before my alarm, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated after a full nights sleep

2) Promptly have a hot shower, where I shave my legs and loofah my feet

3) Get out of the shower and moisturize with cream

4) Take my daily vitamins and have a nourishing breakfast

5) Pack up a nice lunch to take to work

6) Put on the clothes that I neatly laid out the night before

7) Blow-dry and style my hair, like normal grownups do

8) Arrive at work calmly, with plenty of time to spare

My reality: 

1) Wake up to my alarm and press snooze, after staying up way too late

2) Press snooze at least 4 more times

3) Realize how late I've made myself and frantically run to the shower

4) Run around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to figure out what to wear

5) Quickly get dressed / ready

6) Don't eat any breakfast

7) Put wet hair in a ponytail, that freezes in the car on the way to work

8) Remember something that I forgot on the way.  That it was garbage day, for example. 

9) Run into work either late, or the exact time I'm supposed to

When the first occurs, get your skates.  Were going skating with Lucifer on home ice.