Dilemma, dilemma

I have total template envy for DD's blog. I am seriously considering moving to Vox.

I'm not too sure how it works, you may have to create an account, sign in, or get my permission to view my blog... if I do decide to move I'll let y'all know and make it as easy and painless as possible....

Check me out!

Should mention

I should mention that today my mom retired from her business. It is no more, done and done! Except the cakes she does on the side....

I made a sign for her on Power Point (better backgrounds than Publisher) that she put on her business door. It looks like a wood sign, (as much as it can on computer paper), and says, 'Gone Wishin'' Cute eh? It was her idea... I thought it was perfect!

I hope that she enjoys her retirement, she deserves it. She's worked hard her whole life.

It's a good time for me, as I have more time to spend with her, hm, I hope I don't bug her...

I know that she is having mixed emotions, and I hope that she doesn't regret it, because she should have done this years ago.

She's starting off retirement with a church related dinner, (whoopee!) and then she is visiting her brother in the States for a couple of nights. Good for her!

Nothin much

Not much is new or exciting around here. Billy is on call and is working late, and today I cleaned the house, (big surprise).

While I was busy today, my thoughts kept returning to a recent post I read on a site where I lurk.

She mentioned that her X had recently broke up with his girlfriend but are now back together trying a 'trial engagement'. This has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of. I should mention that there is a child involved so my lurkee has a definite interest in any relationships her X may have...

If anything, engagement period of a couple is a wonderful time when a person thinks that they could possibly burst with love. A time when the couple is very secure in their relationship and moving forward together and planning their lives. A 'trial engagement' to me means:
a) neither should be secure, or beaming with happiness, as any real commitment is negated by the word 'trial'.
b) one person is perhaps trying to appease another with a false sense of moving forward.
c) if they can't fully commit to a real engagement resulting in a successful marriage, why do they bother with the 'trial'? it's not like trying on wedding dresses to see which one fits best...

I could go on, however, because one thing leads to another, here are some more thoughts along the same line...

In my life I have seen many relationships come and go, (not all just mine...). It's funny what an outsider might see as a red flag, or deal breaker, while the people in the relationship try, (or don't) and fail...

I knew a woman who was miserable in her marriage, (4 kids), her husband asked why, and she said that she couldn't be happy unless they had a bigger house. Their little home was too crowded and stressful for her to live in. He had a huge addition put on, and she was gone with the kids within a year.

I know a guy who was kind of a flirty playboy before he got married, and his wife left him because she couldn't take his playboy ways. Hmm....

I know of a couple who split up for a short time, now they are back together and selling their home to buy another. I'm sure that will solve their problems, especially if it's more expensive, because financial strain is helpful in rocky relationships... (sarcasm) We'll see how that one ends.

People often create excuses for their unhappiness that have nothing to do with the problems they actually have. Happiness, (the Doctor is 'In') comes from yourself. Being happy with another person is about compromise, commitment, understanding, communication, and acceptance.

"And that," said Liz, "is that."

Zen and the art of plant maintenance

I've been cleaning, (although not Friday) for the past two days, as if expecting, (although I'm not thank God) a visit from Queen Clean herself.

I can only rationalize this binge by knowing that I love our house, and I like to live in a peaceful place, free from the black crap that appears mysteriously on the bottom of windowpanes, without crusty unidentifiable food chunks stuck on the inside wall of our fridge, and sans cobwebs connecting the lights hanging above our kitchen island, (quite a feat I must say, we have industrious-college-graduate-with-advanced-engineering-degrees-arachnids).

Really I guess my recent rampage is because things can only annoy me for a limited time before I have to do something about it, including climbing to the top of an 8 foot ladder, armed with only Windex and a squeegee and without a safety net.

Do I have any real concerns about the self-appointed-Queen-of-clean-but-don't-look-in-any-draw, closet-or-cabinet, who has recently rediscovered the lure of partying and is possibly not so concerned with cleanliness coming over? Nope, but I do inadvertently think of her when using a toothbrush to clean our kitchen cabinets.

Someone once told me that they don't have any plants in their house because plants are dirty. Well, of course this is a direct slap in the face, (intended, trust me...) as we have at least 30 indoor plants. I agree, plants can be dirty. They attract dust like nothing else in the house. They constantly need, trimming, watering, dusting, rearranging, fertilizing, etc. (at least when you have 30+ it feels that way...) So when cleaning (usually limited to Fridays...) I always find myself poking at the plants, pulling away dead leaves, cutting off long tendrils and dusting them. Absolutely worth it, if you ask me. They add something to the house, but I can't describe what... or maybe it's how they make me feel... alive, connected to nature, a caregiver.

Some people claim that they can't keep any plants alive, and I've been there too. There was this cornstalk plant that I couldn't get to stay alive for anything. I had to let it go. It was suicidal I guess.

Well, I'm glad we have plants. I love them, some I've had for almost 10 years. I can tell you where every plant came from. I also love when our house is clean. I'm so grateful and very lucky to have the time to care for our house with all the plants. Life is good, very good.

Dis-encourage

I purposely, every day, place all four of the pillows on the love seat to discourage the Pooch from laying on the couch.

I think that she must find the prospect of cosying up in all the fluff quite tempting, because today I discovered this:

Could she be any cuter? I think not! She could, however, be skinnier... so could I....

Done!

I just finished the blog for Tennessee. It's nothing fancy, but it will save me the hassle of driving across the county to give someone the famous, 'book'.

Here's the link.

Better

I'm in a better mood.

Here's yesterday in point form:
- Cleveland won, it was a great game.
- We had spaghetti and meatballs with homemade bread. It takes Billy several hours spread over 2 days to make the dinner, and it is eaten within 15 minutes. Good job.
- MomG came over for dinner, my mom was babysitting a few houses down, so she missed out.
- I went to bed before the Eagles game ended, Billy gave me the highlights at 4am.
- The Eagles almost beat the Patriots. That would have made my day.
- There is no longer a junk drawer in our house.
- Hot tub is 102* and feels oh so good, wish we were in it while it was snowing...

Here's today in point form:
- Go to Staples, Home Depot and Old Navy, (ink, gutter extension, shirt). Luckily I have a gift card still from the summer for Old Navy.
- Leftovers for dinner.
- Watch Heroes.
- Finish Tennessee blog damn it.
- Hoping for hot tub.
- Make appointment for oil change.
- Make doctors' appointment.
- It still smells like meatballs in the house despite what Billy says.

Tough life, eh?

Cranky

Yep, I'm cranky.



Great coffee, quiet house, beautiful morning, but here I am, focusing on one little, iddy, bitty thing.



Why do people try to be what they are not? You know what? I know where you were raised, where you live now, what you do for a living, and about 243 of your insecurities. Why do you act holier than thou, better than the rest, the self appointed person of knowing it all?



Until you examine every facet of your life, you have no right to insult any person, place or thing.



It's maddening to see such snobbery, when there is so much room for self-improvement. I think that if you are going to live above people you should do something to have the little ones in your life look up to respect you.



Still cranky.

Extreme Hangover - Thanksgiving Edition

It was a great night. The dinner turned out perfectly, with the exception of the turkey being done 3 hours after we expected. But it was good! Veggies good, stuffing excellent, (rave reviews) gravy from a can with fresh mushrooms good, and Boston Creme cupcakes good. I am a genius in the kitchen! (not really...)

I suffered the next day! Too many Long Island Iced Teas, ugh, never again.

Can't wait for next year and upcoming holiday funs!

Hiya

Happy American Thanksgiving!

We're at home with Luke, JohnnyB, DaveM, Davey, Billy and I.

I hope that we're starting a tradition.

Best to you all,

Liz

Disturbia

I was just rooting through some stuff and came across some crayons and slightly used colouring books that I received a long time ago from someone with kids.

Many, several, *most* of the pictures of people (including but not limited to the Three Wise Men) that were coloured, the eyes were scribbled in black.

Weird.

I wonder what kind of issues these kids have... does it mean something? Any kid psychologists out there? Anyone care to guess... I found the images very disturbing...

I did not know that

Good God, I'm naive.

While walked the pooches around the barn today, my brother, (we'll call him John), was at the back of the barns screwing around with his large collection of crap, mostly metal, shiny things. As I haven't ever really had a conversation with him, (aside from 2 months ago when he talked at me for 25 minutes regarding his ideas for selling reverse osmosis water systems, of which I couldn't care less about), I simply said, 'anything new?' He asks me if I have seen his new card. Seeing as he recently opened up a business, I incorrectly assumed he meant his business card.

He handed me a hard plastic card that looks like it's well worn, and I notice 'Health Canada' on it, I flip it over and there is a picture of him and the title 'Medical Marihuana' official something or other.

What do you know, I didn't even know these things existed. Apparently, according to the card, he can even grow up to 15 plants. Hmm, so nothing has really changed, just now it's legal.

Hm, I didn't even know that he had any 'real' heath problems, he says that his central nervous system got messed up during a kidney stone episode. I immediately wondered, but didn't ask, if possibly a central nervous system could get screwed up from smoking pot daily for 25 odd years... I imagine it could...

Anyway, whatever. At least he works and is productive, not to mention that he has contributed his brilliance to the genetic pool with his 4 offspring, (great kids, really, surprisingly, so far, cross your fingers...)

He told me now that when the 'cops' see him, they are totally just like, 'have a nice day, man.' I'm so proud of him!

Very exciting

Normally, as a tradition, Billy would skip out of work on US Thanksgiving Day to go to the Lion's Head and watch football. I bet he's been doing it for at least 15 years.

This year he has decided not to, because, as he said, last year, 'it sucked'. Well, I was there and it was certainly nothing to get excited about. Half the people you want to see don't show up, and I guess, all good things come to an end.

So, as opposed to driving 1/2 an hour to get home from the bar after drinking for several hours, Billy and I are going to stay at home and watch the games. The exciting part is that I am (with Billy's help) going to make a turkey dinner. Very cool.

I have never by myself made a turkey, and Billy and I only have attempted it once, (quite successfully I may add) and that was in about 2001 when we lived in the cottage. In the summer.

So, I'm going to pre-make the veggies and stuffing on Wednesday, so all will be left is the potatoes, gravy and obviously the turkey.

I really wouldn't be making this if it wasn't for the fact that we've had a smallish turkey in the freezer for year, which Billy won, oddly enough, at the opening of a pizza place in Essex, (Chochi's).

We'll see how it goes! I guess I be celebrating my American Heritage twofold!

Football Sunday

Yesterday's plan was to relax and watch football. Luckily, we live in an area that our TV antennae can receive not only Detroit channels, but also Toledo and occasionally Cleveland. (Crazy, I know...)

Billy flipped the TV off the satellite so we could watch the Browns play in Baltimore on a Toledo station. It was a pretty important game as they have the same record as the Ravens, and also because Cleveland doesn't seem to get much respect...

It was a great game, Cleveland was totally dominate into the 3rd quarter, very much like last week when they played Pittsburgh, but then blew it, as they did last week in the 4th. Against Pittsburgh, the kicker failed to make a 53 yard field goal, (it was against the wind) which would have tied it, which would have resulted in over time, and the possibility for Cleveland to beat the arch rivals and evil bastards otherwise known as the Steelers. Well that sucked.

So yesterday, while pretty much giving the game away in the 4th quarter, (they were leading by 14 believe), they were down by 3 points, with a few seconds left and Cleveland had possession of the ball. The kicker, Phil Dawson had a chance for redemption. As he kicked, Billy and I held our breath, then the ball veered to the left, hit the upright, fell down hit the crossbar and bounced back towards the playing field... The Ravens fans went nuts, game over, that's not good! But wait! Did the football cross the bottom bar before hitting the support and bouncing back? As the coaches shook hands and the players rushed the field the kick was being reviewed. Unheard of, really.

It was good! They go into overtime!

Then Phil Dawson came through again, with a great kick for a 3 point win.

That is why I love football, and the Cleveland Browns... With the Steelers losing yesterday, Tennessee has to lose tonight to Denver, and the playoffs are a becoming a reality for the Browns! (Says Billy) Can't wait until next Sunday!

Saturday, part 2

Saturday morning I cleaned out parts of the office closet as well as the filing cabinet. Billy slept in, and when he got up around 10, he was on the computer searching for a new guild on WOW. He was kinda crusty saying that it was our last chance to go golfing as the course was closing for the season on Sunday.


I mentioned to him, that although I would love to golf, it was lightly raining and a balmy 39*F. Not exactly preferred golfing weather.


I continued on my organizational mission while he continued to talk about golfing, and he finally made the executive decision at about 1pm to go golfing. So we did.


We were, without exaggeration, honestly, truly, without doubt, the Only Ones On The Golf Course.

There have been times when it has felt like we (either Billy and I or Kiki and I) were the only ones on the course, but rest assured, when it is 39*F and raining, we were the only ones out there.

Good God, what a great time. We brought some Belvedere (you must say it like 'Belle Va Deer') and OJ and an unnecessarily large bag of ice.

When Billy sliced his drive on #4 and ended up almost on the fairway of #6, I yelled 'FORE' and we laughed pretty hard. We also made several comments like, 'should we let these guys play through?' or 'this group in front of us is really slow!'

Oh yeah, we're comedians... we also said things like, 'my drink is warmer then the air', 'I wish someone would invent chin mittens', 'Good thing we brought all this ice', 'we should have brought brandy'. Okay, okay, you had to be there...

We finished the night with Chinese take out, but when we got home, the Chinese was left untouched in the bag as we thawed out in the hot tub.

It was a great night, and a fantastic way to end the golf season. Did I mention it was the first time I beat Billy this year? and obviously the last. Oh well, he had a happy ending anyway...

Yesterday, part 1

Yesterday morning, I totally got into cleaning out the file cabinet. I emailed KT asking about tax information, what to keep, what to toss, and apparently it is okay to throw out tax information from 1991. That's right! My dad kept detailed records of me, including photo copies of driver's license, any credit cards, car ownership, you name it! If it was flat, he photocopied it. The apple doesn't fall...

So that was fun. I found report cards from grade one, a Kindergarten diploma, high school graduation pictures, plus an entire file with drawings, hand made cards and other stuff created by little kids. My dad made those files too, and that's that, because I've bawled about it in the past and don't want to sap out now. I kept them.

I discovered old essays from University, exciting topics such as "Gobineau and the Rise of the Theory of Race", or "The Oppression of Puritans in England: The Reasons Behind Migration" or what about "Stressemann's Performance as Foreign Minister". I'm able to lend these out if anyone is looking for compelling reads, because, yep, I kept 'em.

All in all, there is about 15 inches of stuff to be shredded, (private real estate stuff, anything with a signature or phone numbers, etc.) approximately 300-450 cards, yes cards. Cards from our wedding, our first house, our second house, birthdays, Christmases, V-day, sweetest day, S&BJ day, condolences from when Billy's dad died and when our first pooch died.... also not going to get into.... I kept some of the cards, don't ask me why... There was about 15 inches of recyclable paper from my real estate files, some french appliance manuals, (I don't know how they snuck in) 25 inches of continuing education material, 5 inches of Billy's old investments.

There's more, oh so much more. I'm glad to be done that little project. I think the reason it was so bad was because I had a filing cabinet when I was about 14, (of course I wanted it for better organization....) and when we received as a gift, a large 4 drawer cabinet, I just transferred everything without really looking, so there were some real gems in there!

Aren't you excited about part 2?

The big O

No, not that one, I'm talking about Oprah. I just finished watching part 2 of the show about compulsive hoarding. The whole episode made me feel downright ippy. I have to go clean a closet or a junk drawer, or... okay, there really is nothing else to clean... what can I say. Compulsive hoarding will never happen here...

I do however need to:

- Purge my filing cabinet of all real estate paperwork, (some goes back to 1996, but I had to keep it) time to go. That's a lot of shredding.

- Toss, okay recycle the mountain of continuing education paperwork pertaining to real estate. There has to be 15 inches of paperwork, and I Don't Need It! Woo hoo.

- Organize our memento folder, (y'know, movie stubs, ticket stubs, the odd stolen menus, etc...)

- Give all gardening magazines to SuprT and BW, (they have new houses and are probably itching to get started on landscaping, T is not quite in hers yet...)

- Get rid of all the gaming magazines. Seriously they are Billy's and there is a ton of them.

- Toss out old filed bills from 2006. I'm pretty sure I totalled them all up in the first week of January, time to shred

- Clean out the closet in the office entirely, oh oh, I'll take a before picture...

Yikes! Now that I've really looked at it, it's pretty nasty! This is the worst drawer in the cabinet

Why do we have stuffed animals in the office closet? Apparently it's a good place to store mirrors and some framed pictures. There's a shelf from Ikea from like last year that I haven't put up yet... Hahaha, I like the rubber band workout thing hanging with the bows, of course those 2 things go together! Duh!

There is way too many magazines, but I have to say that my photo albums are nicely stacked and labelled, (so is every picture, by the way)except the new pink one on top. I also like my paper tray, and portable file carrier with different paper types and computer ink. What is with the creepy mini chair? That's got to go!

I have some work to do... I can't wait!

Oh, that's funny...

So because one thing leads to another, and sometimes I get lost in cyberspace... I read the lyrics for our national anthem. No surprises, it turned out I did know the English version.

I then read the French version, and was stumped (embarrassingly) on several words. I then copied it and pasted it into 'Google translate'.

Here is the English version:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Here is the French version:
O Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Here is the "Official" translated version of the above lyrics:
O Canada!
Land of our forefathers
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights.

Here is the "Google translate" version:
O Canada!
Land of our forefathers,
Your forehead is surrounded by glorious jewels.
Because your arm knows bear the sword
He knows how to carry the cross.
Your story is an epic, the most brilliant feats.
And your values, faith soaked,
Protégera our homes and our rights.
Protégera our homes and our rights.

I like the the forehead surrounded by glorious jewels... faith soaked... that's funny!

Oh, Canada

Our home and native land.

Did you know that I don't know all the words to our national anthem in English? About half-way through I switch to French, and because I don't really understand or speak much French it ends up like a gobbly-gook mess of made up words.

I do know the Star Spangled Banner, thank you sports programming...

Do 'they' play the anthem before golfing events? I've never been to one, I can't imagine that 'they' do, but 'they' should... anyway...

Yesterday Billy (not his real name, didja know that?"... we named the dog Indiana..." anyway...) called to inform me that he got his flu shot. The doctor, who is otherwise known as the greatest doctor in the world, is a friend of Billy's boss and popped into the shop yesterday morning and handed out flu shots like left over Hallowe-en candy. Hm, how nice.

I'm not going to get into why I have never gotten a flu shot, that's not what this is about...

Basically flu shots are really easy to get here; walk-in clinics, municipal events, grocery stores, anywhere really... oh, and they are free, always free. When there was a huge shortage of shots a couple of years ago, and the American media was creating a panic, (they would break into programming to tell viewers that 46 shots were available at the Downtown Seniors Center...) we Canadians were being poked regularly and had a nice little surplus to send stateside.

I'm getting to my point, but there is a twist at the end...

So, not to get into an and US vs. THEM rant, I just want to note that that is pretty cool. No, not everyday a doctor walks into a grimy mechanic shop with a happy box of needles, (he also is a regular at Kurley's and has been known to pop in there injecting burger lovers and beer drinkers as well...) but here's the thought...

As You May Well Know, our health care is free, so our system happily makes flu shots readily available. Yay! Immunizing citizens keeps them from getting sick. It keeps employees from becoming ill, so they can be productive members of society. In turn, it keeps these people out of hospital emergency rooms and clinics, which saves the government huge money. That's right, spend a little, save a lot! Smart! The same interest that wants us to be healthy, also has a direct financial benefit.

So, our crazy overtaxed socialistic system right? Please hold.... I just dug up Billy's 2005 Notice of Assessment, (of course I knew it's exact location...) and he was taxes 27% of his income. That's not bad for all we get.

I golfed with a 25 year old cop from Nashville and his father-in-law in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. This young guy has a son with serious medical problems and actually had a partial heart transplant, (part PIG heart... crazy!) and spent a ton of time in the hospital. The total medical costs? Seven! Million! Dollars! Could you imagine not having coverage? He did, thank God...

Okay, so now the twist. Growing up we didn't have prescription, dental, or eye coverage as my parents were self employed. It wasn't until I married Billy (not his real name... haha) that I have coverage, (except the crap coverage while I was in University...but anyway...) that I had coverage, and it makes me think...

Until then, I'd been paying for birth control for, well, let's just say... years... and while in high school I knew a girl, (there was more than one, but this is the best example) who became pregnant. The government paid, obviously for her pre-natal care, and hospital care. She then moved out into her own apartment, which the government paid for. She paid rent, fed and clothed her and her kid and went to high school, sponsored by Canada taxpayers. Once done highschool, she went to college off and on, (long enough to re qualify for mother's allowance) worked under the table, was able to buy a car, great clothes and wonderful, expensive Christmas presents for her kid and her boyfriend. This went on for 12! 12! 12! years.

And I had to pay for my own birth control pill.

Hmmm, I don't think the government *quite* has it right yet. A few hundred dollars worth of free medication VS. 12 years of good living...

Still, God Bless Canada, oh, and you too, US, I still love y'all.

From nowhere

You might know that I consider myself to be a little OCD, in a good way of course, the way that keeps me doing the things that I don't necessarily want to do, but if I don't it makes me anxious and for lack of any word, my word is 'ippy'.

So yesterday's plan, because I need a plan... was to:
(yes, lists in point form relax and medicate me...)
- clean out the garage
- move the outdoor furniture into the garage
- throw out some junk
- vacuum, clean the leather, windex, etc the car (it is part of the garage in my brain)
- wash the car (at the auto place, can't stand doing it by hand...)
- drop off photos at Costco
- Grocery shop at The SuperCentre (this was a little hard for me to think about, because it is not my usual food store... and normally I shop on Thursdays... take a breath...)
- Buy Brie cheese, chicken and ground beef at Costco and pick up the developed pictures

These things didn't happen.

Instead, at 11am while I was knee deep in dust Billy called to tell me that it was a beautiful day, and to see if perhaps I was interested in going golfing, as he was interested in playing hooky and hitting the links.

So, suffice to say, we teed off at about noon. The garage got cleaned, but the car did not, so obviously things are not right in my world right now. I better go before I get more ippy.

By the way, I would like to mention that my husband is only 400 gold from buying his Epic Mount, (that's World of WarCraft for those who are not familiar with the terminology...) I'm so proud of him! Wank wank.

Feels like Tuesday

I don't know why, but it really feels like Tuesday...

Anyway, Kiks and I golfed 18 holes today, and despite it being nearly mid-November, it was 60*. Unbelievable. I golfed pretty much my handicap, taking at 94, I'll take it, not bad, could be better, great to be out. What a life I have...

There are many great events popping up in the next couple of months that I'm really looking forward to... fun on the horizon. So let's talk about the ugly.

Did anyone happen to watch football yesterday? Good God, what happened? Out of the 14 games played, only like 4 of the favored teams won. It was bad. Poor Cleveland had a tremendous lead going into the 2nd half then they totally blew it. With this in mind, here is a list of things that I 'don't like' and 'make me mad' - hate is a strong, bad word...
- Ben Roethlisberger
- Heinz Ward
- The new Detroit Institute of Arts commercials, so annoying
- The fact that 97.1 is now a sports talk station, only D&D in the morning is non-sports related
- That evil dark haired psycho bitch on Prison Break
- The guy that hosts 'The Soup' on E channel, it would be a better show without him
- If you know me, you know who this line is dedicated to... 'nuff said, hahaha
- When people rant about how great someone looks, but it's because they've had plastic surgery
- The freakin' bears on Charmin bathroom tissue commercials. It drives me crazy to imagine a fat bear sitting down, leaning up against a tree taking a crap. It would be all up their back and down their legs, kinda like that chick at the wine fest this year... hahaha
- Hearing about Britney Spears every day, especially on 'news' shows
- Nicole Kidman is looking really unnatural and distinctly not good...

That's enough for now, feels good to be bad!

Fall

It certainly feels Fall like today. Gloomy, windy, and very few leaves left on the trees. It's a perfect day to stay in, watch football, then venture to MomG's for a prime rib dinner. Good day.

Yesterday was good as well. Billy and I went golfing at Sutton Creek, for perhaps the last time this year. Davey joined us and we had some drinks and laughs, (I golfed terribly, my back swing was wayyyy too fast, no control...) and came home to a nice steak dinner.

I have so many things to be grateful for. Life's good...

House in TN

Okay, here's the disclaimer: I'm so glad people rent our house in Tennessee. We have to rent it out to make it financially viable to own. The US bills would cripple us if good, nice people we know didn't rent it. If it is rented about 7 weeks a year, the US bills (except taxes and property owner's fees) are all paid for. We love renters.

But, jeez people!

Whenever I get there, I always look around to see what is different since the last time I was there. Since I was there in June, there was about 4 different groups of people, here are some obvious things I noticed:
- The wine opener, the only wine opener in the house is gone. It is simply not anywhere, because I spent a lot of time looking for it, and guess what? I didn't buy a new one.
- The indestructible plastic blue mug has walked off. Did I mention that it was my favorite mug? Also 2 of the blue mugs are gone, but I'm sure there were broken, as I noticed that one had a cracked handle.
- Someone bought a pair of Bass shoes. They left the shoe box. Thanks.

No big deal really, but here are some more things that make me shake my head....
- 2 huge empty water jugs. I guess that someone thought that these may be useful. They weren't.
- A huge empty jug of vinegar without a lid. Perhaps it could be useful if it had a lid, but it didn't and it's not.
- 2 empty cans of bug spray. Did someone think that another person may have magical powers to restore the contents of the can? I know I don't.
- In the closet where an enormous plastic bag houses hundreds of empty plastic bags, (which I recycle at the WalMart, it's a tradition for me...) I found jammed in there several broken plastic hangers, and multiple tags for g-string underwear and some bras. Thanks. I like sorting through that kind of thing.
- Batteries that don't work. If they don't work for you, they probably don't work for me. There is a battery tester in the same drawer, feel free to dispose of them yourself.

I could go on, but let's discuss the fridge for a moment... Please house guests, (yes this is in the 'book') please, please look in the fridge before you go grocery shopping. We have ketchup, we have mustard. If you look in the fridge and are unsure if the mayonnaise is still good, then pitch it and buy another, don't leave the questionable mayonnaise and buy another. As long as there is some edible mayonnaise in the fridge I won't be upset with you for throwing out the bad stuff. This also applies to: Barbecue sauce (5 containers), mustard, (2 regular, 2 Dijon), ketchup (2, both Heinz), salad dressing (2 Italian, and multiple other kinds), 3 containers of margarine, 2 strawberry jams, 3 mayonnaise, 4 soya sauce bottles, I could go on... Needless to say, I throw a lot of things out when I'm there...

Howabout the spice cupboard? I think that if a spice is so crusty is doesn't move in the bottle, that it is probably pass due. So if you deduce as such and purchase another jar of garlic salt, feel free to throw out the other one. You can do it. I give you that power. The same applies for any and all other spices.

If a tube of toothpaste (which we typically don't brag about supplying, but if one is left there and you have forgotten yours, then feel free to use it) is empty for you, it will probably be empty for someone else. If there are 2, (yes 2!) empty tubes of toothpaste, an empty box of bandaids, empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, you can throw those away too. Also, although I can appreciate the need for feminine hygiene products, I want everyone to know that you shouldn't feel the need to leave boxes and boxes and bags and bags of the products under the bathroom counter. A few should do. There are enough pads and tampons for year. Seriously... it's getting offensive and odd.

Basically, in one week I threw out 6 garbage bags of junk. There is no recycling at all in this area, so I feel tremendous guilt about it, but then again, it's their town and their county that are the irresponsible morons that don't implement the system... I did find and was able to recycle a huge box of cardboard.

Still, through all my frustration and amusement, it is totally worth it, and feel free to book it for a week anytime...

Two funny pics

I have learned to keep my camera handy while traveling. Here is a picture I took in Kentucky on 1-75 coming into Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the fastest part of the morning rush hour I was stuck in.

This is a picture of 'Butter Jesus' (aka 'Touch Down Jesus') it is a HUGE statue-type structure emerging from a small lake in front a HUGE church in Ohio, near Dayton. It looks like this Jesus was carved from butter, (not my original thought, there is actually a song about this thing) Very strange. Next to Trader's World, a huge flea market, in case you're interested... Only in America...

That's all for now.

So much, so little

I have so much to say, I think I will try to post whenever I have a couple of minutes... no, I'm not that busy, but I do have things to do, and as I'm not the world's fastest typer, a short post can take a long time...


So, first of all, about Tennessee. I want to talk about people/eating habits/fast food/shopping, of which I have discussed before, but I'm always taken aback when in Crossville.


One morning, in a shopping adventure, I decided to check out this one store that is going out of business, I think it's like a Kohl's department store, (it was closed anyway...) and that route takes me past Hardee's. I don't think that we even have Hardee's here, we have Harvey's which is pretty damned good fast food, and a staple of mine in University due to $1.19 bacon cheeseburgers, and good soup... but anyway... It was about 8:30 local time, and the Hardee's parking lot was absolutely full. The drive thru had at least 35 cars it in. Unbelievable. I know that they have a breakfast burrito, as I heard a commercial for it every 30 minutes, so I guess that's the draw... crazy.


On the way to the Super WalMart, I had to pass Rally's (which we don't have) McDonald's and BK. Guess what? They were all packed!


This is an area that is not rich, let's see according to City-Data.com, the average household income in 2005 was $25,100. Yikes! But it seems that everyone can afford to eat out for breakfast! I know that some may say that it is easier and more cost effective to eat out than make breakfast at home. Let's say the average fastfood breakfast is $5, (X 5 is $25, duh), well I'm pretty sure a box of cereal is $3, and milk is $2.50, and five bananas is $2, and a carton of orange juice is $2.50 and if only consumed at breakfast the cereal and OJ will last more than a week... total: $10, not to mention incredibly more healthy! You can buy a box of instant oatmeal with 8 servings for $2!


So what is the deal? Laziness I think... Also maybe a feeling that a person 'deserves' to treat themselves. I can imagine excuses like, 'I'm too busy to make breakfast'... but you have the time to sit in your car for 20 minutes in the drive-thru, wasting gas, not to mention if you had to drive out of your way to get that particular fast food outlet.


Around here, A LOT of people go to Tim Horton's. It's addictive, but not as expensive as American Starbucks'... only $1.37 for a large coffee... I can sort of understand that, as it mostly is just coffee, (ask SuprT) and it is also an important Canadian social custom (someone brings the coffee in, people meet at Tim's, or even the fact that the drive thru employee is the wife of a childhood friend... etc, etc..) still, Timmy's is not something I indulge in anymore than once a month... of course more when I was working... see, there's the excuse... It can cost a lot of money when you add it up... not to mention your time, the gas, etc. (Often I write etc. when I can't think of anything else to add... you got me!)

Back

I'm home, it was a most unpleasant drive home. It wasn't the weather, it was stupid drivers, traffic jams, and not having the heat quite right in the car. I really shouldn't complain.

I'm glad to be home! Can't wait to see Billy, and poochy, chat, hot tub, eat, watch some shows and hang out.

More tomorrow!

Miss me?

Well I'm not home yet. I'm at Mega Bites cafe just outside Crossville Tennessee, on a sticky keyboard, slowly connected computer in a restaurant that smells so strongly of greasy food, that I fear this stank may stay on me to the mall I'm planning on visiting. I had to do my football picks... although I can't watch any of the games... unless I head to a bar by myself.... in Crossville... me thinks not.

I would have a fairly lengthy entry, but I really fear my lung health.

I hope you all are well, and I shall be returning home tomorrow, when I shall share lots of observations of TN people, and random thoughts that occur when one spends a week in the woods by oneself.

Billy's back

Billy arrived home on Friday afternoon, and that was enough confusion and happiness to distract me from calling BW on her birthday. Great.

Happy Belated Birthday BW!

Tonight? Prime Rib with Davey, rooting through some stinky books from TN, and maybe a little visit from B&BW.

Tomorrow? Ugh, packing. I think I'm going to TN on Monday. Books to sort and golf to play. Life's good.

Some pics

Today MomG, the Pooch and I ventured to Point Pelee. It was really windy (from the East), about 55* with some sun. It was a great day.

It's about a 2.5km walk from the car, down a deserted road, to the beach path, to the point. We came back through the nature boardwalk due to the Fun Police patroling the road.

Here are some pics.

Part 2

It was about a week later, that in one of my late night 'lurks', I discovered MySpace, and I came across a profile of your boyfriend. He was actually online. Too funny, I thought. I checked out his page, and was a little surprised to see that his 'hero' was Ron Jeremy. I realized that he was truly a mystery man, as your 1 of your other close friends has never met him, so I emailed friend "Y" the link. What a hoot! Here he is! W's mystery boyfriend! Y thought it was pretty cool to finally see the 'man', friend "Z" was too busy to check, and although I emailed the link to X, God knows she didn't want to further get into a bad situation, so she avoided the site altogether.

Days later in other late night surfing, I checked his profile again, (now being slightly more MySpace savvy) Hm, I thought, he has a couple of hundred friends, and all but 3 are women. Most women are fairly scantily clad. Many of the women were local. He states in his bio that he's 'here to meet the ladies', and 'single and looking'. He was also logged on again.

That bothered me a bit because you have always professed that you wouldn't date a guy unless you were interested in marrying them (except for the guys you sleep with - oh, don't show your parent's that part of this letter! You'll have to copy and paste it into Word, then print it out). So I was a little disturbed that this guy, who on first and second impression I thought was great, was a little slimy.

So, curious and concerned as I am, I checked his pictures. A little egotistical; many of the shots showed him taking the picture himself in a 'come hither' pose, tugging at his towel, pushing down the waist of jeans, and never a shirt on. There were some interesting little comments with the photos. Lots of girls telling him how sexy he is, how hot he looks...

Are we in our 30's or late teens? I thought to myself.

Then the kicker, oh not quite, there is more, you may need to edit this for the family recital at the dining room table...A picture of him (let's assume it's him) holding his hard choked chicken. Obviously not the clean cut all Canadian boy that I thought you'd fallen for. Who does that?

I smell onions

Crip TOL came over last night for dinner. I was grateful to have someone else's digestive system to experiment on besides my own. Last night was 'grilled gaucho steak pitas'.

I will say that the dinner was excellent, I'm not bragging, I just followed the recipe. The problem is, I have a very hard time following recipes exactly. Sometimes it's because I don't have the necessary ingredients and I have to improvise, or I simply think that I could do better.

Last night's recipe called for a skirt steak, I don't think so, there's nothing worse than gnawing away tough piece of meat, so I used 2 really good New York strips. I was also supposed to marinate briefly in chili oil, which I skipped because I thought it would be too much with the chimichurri sauce. I added spinach to pita, and did not combine the thinly sliced beef in the chimichurri sauce, because I thought it might be overpowering. Well it turned out great.

Here is my revised recipe:

1 large red onion, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
2 good sized New York Strip Steaks
4 fresh pita breads
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 pound blue cheese, thinly sliced, or crumbled
Fresh ground black pepper
Montreal steak seasoning
Large handful of fresh baby spinach

Chimichurri Sauce:
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Place the parsley, bay leaves, garlic, paprika, oregano, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until combined. Put the sauce in a glass or plastic container, using as needed. Chimichurri will last for up to 1 month, refrigerated. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Barbecue should be at about 400*.

Lightly brush the onion slices with olive oil and add some fresh ground black pepper.
Place on the grill and cook with the steak for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Lightly sprinkle the steak with the Montreal steak seasoning, be sure that the steaks are at room temperature before barbecuing. Cook the steak for 1 1/2 minutes, turning 4 times, a total of 6-7 minutes. Transfer to a platter and wait 4 minutes before slicing.
Keep the pitas warm in a 150* oven.
Slice the meat into 1/2-inch slices
Serve the sliced meat and grilled onions on one platter, and the tomatoes, thinly sliced blue cheese, and the baby spinach on another.
Serve chimichurri sauce on the side with a spoon, to spoon a little into the pita as desired.

Yummy!

It's late

It really is, it is 3:04, and I'm a slow typer, and a little buzzed, so we'll see where this goes.

First of all, what a great night. Yes Billy is away, yes I already miss him, and I hope that he is having fun.

Secondly, I did tonight what I've wanted to do for years. I had 2 friends over, two people that have all known since grade one. That's 28 years. That's a long time.

There was a lot of, 'what is A up to?' 'Did you hear about B?' Have you seen C?' Did you know that D had a baby?' etc. etc. It was great fun. We went to all three of our houses, toured, chatted, ate and drank - how nice! Way over do. Too much fun, and incidentally, I think that CC may have the kindest husband ever for picking her and BW up and driving them home at 3am. Pretty damned good of him...

So, the one question tonight that stumped me tonight, the one question that made me think beyond gossip and stories was, 'What would you do if E showed up at your door?' (posed it to our mutual friend...) Why is this a question that would stop me in my tracks you may ask? It is because E was my 'best friend' until about 12 years ago.

12 years is a long time when you're 34. A lot of things happen in 12 years. What would I do if this person showed up at my door? I don't know... laugh? Ask WTF are you doing here?

I thought I knew the answer, I have to think about that one... later, what a great night!

Pics

This is the covered bridge on #14.

Kik's swingin' on 16.

16th green frpm the women's tee box... 137 yards... that's a 6-7 iron for me...

Yep, it's windy!

Kiks and I golfed this morning, and we kept remarking how gorgeous of a day it was. 68*F, sunny, oh, and windy...

First of all, what is the deal with 68*F? This is Canada in mid-October. We should be wearing sweaters and jeans, today I had on shorts (white ones -cringe-) and a sleeveless golf shirt. It was warm, oh, yeah, back to the wind.

As I hear on the news there were some tornadoes in Michigan, yikes! Today the winds were a steady 20 miles an hour with recorded gusts up to 60 mph. I think that gust occurred while I was teeing off on #13 at Sutton Creek, (156 yard par 3) I used a 3 wood, (normally a 5 iron shot), gave it all I could and ended up 10 yards short, (I pared it, very lucky). That's some serious wind.

I was taking a break this afternoon from cleaning the house and lurking around, (I think I was checking Bw's -you have to post more! I know you have more to say!) when BAM! BOOM! KA-BLOOY! WTF? I thought... A decoration blew over on the back deck, but that couldn't have the noise, so as I head upstairs I see the cause of my disturbance... the screen blew off the window. That's some big wind.

So anyway.... Billy is heading down tonight, late, (actually tomorrow if you want to get technical...) to Tennessee that lucky boy. He and Kiks husband are going to spend nearly a week golfing, eating and drinking like men should a couple of times a year. I hope that they have a great time!

I might go down once they get back. I've recently come to the conclusion that a major part for the stank in the house is the books. There are hundreds of old books all jammed together on several shelves. Combine that with a house that is closed up most of the year, it adds up to stinky, musty, mouldy house...

The thing is, all those books, (except for the recently purchased travel guides and The Book of Lists from like 1975), these books were all my Grandmothers. I can't very well, and do not want to simply give them away. She spent her life collecting many of these books, some were gifts to her, some were gifts to her husband. How reckless for a grand-daughter to come in and give these mementos away. In addition, so many of these books (mostly English, Scottish, and German history) have little notes tucked in them, post cards, or are signed.

Basically I feel that I would like to spend some time going through these books. I will give some away, take some home, and air out the others (and use other methods to de-mould old books). I think I owe it to my Grandmother, and I also think how disappointed I'd be if someone chucked all the things I cherished.

We are such a disposable society aren't we? Ah... too deep for my last night with Billy...

Here's a picture of what I think is a Crane, looking for fish in the Hershey pond.

This is the view down the 12th Fairway. It's a par 5, you can't see the tee box, and I'm nowhere near the green...

This is looking back at the men's tee box on the 4th hole. The sky was black and blue with bright sunshine and ominous clouds. The soybean field in the background was glowing. Just gorgeous!

More later, Blogger is being stubborn...

Welcome to Thursday

Good to be here.

If you don't really know me, (or even if you do...) you may think that my life is all sunshine and roses, well maybe that's not completely true.

I've dealt with some pretty crappy things in my life, (as we all have, I know) it's just that in blog form, being my written word, of which I hope to have record of for ever, I choose to focus on the better things in life. -Except of course when I rant, nothing makes a person feel better than a good ranting!

So, should I discuss how I spent a good portion of yesterday in the Cancer Clinic with my mom, or perhaps you'd like to hear the highlights of my sister-in-law's Graves disease? No, I don't want to write about those things, but I would like people (not necessarily you all) to not always judge a book by its cover, maybe look beyond someone's smile. General assumptions are okay I guess, but it's often life's little events that make people who they are, and I think that many people cannot be judged simply by the overall picture that they portray.

Get it? Good, thanks.

Interesting and perhaps useful

This was emailed to me by a friend a while ago, I finally had time to check it out (yeah, my busy schedule...). I was really surprised it worked!
(Cork in a bottle... in case you've already seen it)

Cleveland pics

Here are some pics!
See, traffic jams are good for something... you get to read good bumper stickers...

This was taken about 30 minutes before kick-off... what more can you want? 65*F, blue sky and Lake Erie as a backdrop... a better seat? No!

Can you find Billy in this picture? He's wearing a blue hat...

See I did go to Cleveland, here's photographic evidence... I'm so glad I wore my glasses, it was like watching the game in HD.

I *think* that this guy is a fan.... I don't *think* he has a girlfriend...

That's it, oh I took more, but I don't want to lose lurkers by boring them with my vacation photos...

More fun in the mix

Ahhh, Cleveland, we had a great time! Getting there was a little f'noying, as a three hour trip took 6 hours due to a ridiculous backup on I-75 South in Michigan. We were in that peachy jam for 1 3/4 hours. Even me in my uber positive 'traffic jams are a good thing, they make you slow down and look around, and appreciate good flowing traffic' attitude was a little deflated...

So anyway, we had some drinks at the hotel, then walked a few blocks to The Cleveland Chop House. It was great, really nice atmosphere, good service, a huge wine list, and *way* too much food... Just awesome.

Downtown Cleveland is beautiful. It's really clean and aside from a few beggars, I felt very safe with Billy walking around.

The weather was perfect, we were incredibly over-prepared with parkas and the like, and we actually had to go back to the hotel to take off a few layers. Even on Lake Erie, it was in the 60's. Awesome!

The football game was amazing. The city really gets behind their team, and I was totally caught up in the excitement, so between that, and the Browns being pretty good, I think I found my team to get behind. Finally! I've been a floating football fan for years now, and I'm glad to find a team! Go Browns! I loved everything about the stadium and the people, and so glad they won. Billy was wearing his Dolphin hat and had a great time tormenting the kid in front of us with pro-Miami, anti-Cleveland banter... too funny!

Sunday night we ordered in Chinese, (I was officially *bombed*) relaxed and feel asleep early.

I can't wait to do it next year, (although they won't be playing Miami)!

Photo highlights to come, there is a problem with Blogger...

Hair

Yesterday I finally got my hair cut... just a trim, and she threw in some bangs. I figure that golf season is pretty much over, and we're not playing volleyball this year, so I can tolerate some hair in my eyes. I may go back just to get *more* bangs on the sides. I really need to retrain my hair.

Also last night Billy dyed my hair, so it's not *yellow* anymore. Whew!

I seriously have to stop playing with Publisher.... usually it's Corel...

Road trip

This week-end, (Sat-Mon) Billy and I are taking a little road trip to Cleveland. Woo hoo!

Billy was there 2 years ago for a football game, and I was there a couple of times in my mid-20's to visit a friend that lived nearby and to party etc. It's a great place, even for couples that aren't into the club scene.

So basically, we're staying downtown and have Browns vs. Miami tickets for Sunday, (battle for the basement?) and reservations at an awesome steakhouse tonight. Billy has eaten there before, and because the menu is online, I already know what I'm getting!

It has been a year since Billy and I went somewhere just the two of us, so that will be nice. It's about a 3 hour drive, and I'm even looking forward to that.

Life is good!

Funny

My sister emailed me this link today, and I thought it was pretty funny. If you already received it from me, it's the car accident on voice mail. Good stuff.

Year

Since I've been posting for well over a year now, I thought I would reflect a bit...

I'm much happier and am enjoying a considerably reduced stress level from this time last year. I never imagined that I wouldn't be working.

Some of my *friends* have surprised me in the last year. Relationships come and go apparently. Kids grow up and go to school. Houses get built and vacations taken. Life goes by quick.

When I started posting a year ago, I think it was mostly to vent (yell at the wind) some things that pissed me off, and just record my day. For the record, the same things still piss me off...

I like to every once in a while to look back and see what I was doing a year ago. It often surprises me that it was a year ago that I did, said, thought this or that.

This day last year I wrote about a song in my head. This strikes me as funny, as today I couldn't stop singing "Ride captain ride on your mystery ship". I don't even know if those are the right words, but I know that it was a one hit wonder from sometime in the late 70's.

So I shall quote the fictional character Ferris Bueller (great movie by the way...) "Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Okey Dokey.

Quickie

This is just a quick update, in case you care....

I haven't been feeling 100% lately, perhaps a result of multiple hang-overs camping, eating way too much bacon, or being generally sloth like... I don't know.... pick one.... I also haven't been sleeping very well in the last couple of weeks, that really messes me up.

I am ready, and in dire need, to return to the gym. It just makes me feel better, and God knows that my schedule isn't exactly full or demanding, so I have the time.

I also really want to go to Tennessee, but I'm not sure if that is the financially responsible thing to do right now, it's just so tempting because I've never known the Canadian dollar to be at par. Imagine golfing 18 holes at Lake Tansi with a cart for $20 CAN, that's pretty sweet. There are a ton of deals down there, (not really electronics, CD's, DVD's etc.) but shampoo, razors, hair- hemhem-dye, lotion, and body products of all types. There are great deals on packaged food, clothes, toys, etc. I would love to zip down there, give the house a good clean, golf a little, and bargain shop for Christmas.

Also, soon, I hope to get a job for Christmas time.

That's it, now you know!

I'm back baby!

What a great week-end, seriously! It was warmer camping this week-end than it was camping in June or August! Even on the shore of Lake Huron it was in the high 80*'s. Awesome! I, however, did not pack appropriately, never imagining that it would be not only warm enough to swim, but so hot that I was really needing a swim!

All in all it was a great time, if I could do it all over, I would definitely Drink Less Alcohol. Damned hangovers! Ugh!

I took a billion pictures, so I will share some of my favorites. (Forgot to bring the camera to the drive in...)

I'll post more later, promise...

Looking back

I was reading my blog from a year ago, (I was a much more thoughtful writer...) and I found this pornographic picture of Halia. Seriously, if there are dog molesters out there, this would be a very prized picture. It's so wrong, it's funny... oh yeah, she's lost weight since this picture...

Change

I was simply going to write how golf was great today, I'm getting ready to go camping, and how good life is, but I was lurking around on my favorite blogs, and something kind of fired me up.

I think it is so ignorant that some people believe that I'm not a 'whole' person because I don't have any kids.
I've heard in my life things like, 'Without children, you'll never understand true love'.
How about, 'I wouldn't be anything if it wasn't for my kids.'

Hm, I know many people that have had kids outside of marriage, (or any stability), without the financial capability to care for kids, who are too young and ignorant to prevent pregnancy, etc., etc., etc., but still, in 2007, some people think that I'm not a complete person, hm, interesting...

I think kids are great. I would never begrudge anybody who wants them, but for the people who plan to have kids, or planned and have kids, I would like to know 3 reasons why they wanted them. I can give you 46 reasons why I don't want to have kids...

(Okay, not 46, but I have many valid reasons.)

Why I am glad to be done real estate

It has been 3 months now that I've been done with real estate, and, well, not employed in general. Yes I'm getting a little antsy, and yes I feel that I'm not contributing to the financial health of our relationship, so one of these days...

Anyway, I'm so glad to be be done real estate for so many reasons here are a few:
- No More Group Pages. They were the bain of my existence
- Not being attached to a cell phone of pager
- Not having to deal with useless inquiries from dreamers that don't speak English
- Working my ass for for a client, then they decide not to buy/sell
- All the crap I put up with from other agents
- Not feeling guilty for not selling more houses

The housing market here is pretty sad. Here are some easy stats:
August 2004 - 486 homes sold, average price: $170925
August 2005 - 563 homes sold, average price: $161,000
August 2006 - 479 homes sold, average price: $167,275
August 2007 - 478 homes sold, average price: $166,839

The numbers are kind of all over, but I really think that things here are going to get slightly worse before they recover at all. Because...
- Our economy now is pretty strong, and our interest rates have gone up significantly since 2004, so less people can afford the higher rates, and more people are closer to losing their homes
- Our area is really dependent on the automotive industry, and it has been a rocky road lately
- Our dollar is very strong, and is worth the same as the US dollar, which means in a border city like Windsor/Essex County that tourism and cross border shopping (especially at Christmas) will have a noticeable decline, (plus us deal seekers that venture stateside....). That results in support industries such as hotels, restaurants, shops, the Casino Windsor, (especially now with the upcoming opening of Detroit's MGM...) having to lay off employees or cut hours.... which means that second family income may be gone, which means even fewer people will be able to move up in housing, or even afford to pay their bills... (wait until the new City of Windsor water charges start...)

So that, my friends, is why I am damned happy to be out of real estate.

Thank you and goodnight.

This and that

Monday, Monday....

It was a very lazy week-end. Incredibly unproductive, and I hope to make up some today for my slack-ness.

I did visit TOL last night which was fun, considering she's pretty much an invalid. SuperT, KT, and TOL's friend Stacey were there. Good stories, and some laughs. Stacey is always good for a story.

Fall is definitely closing in on us. Although this week is supposed to be in the 70's, there is just that *feeling* in the air. The pool is being closed today. The garden is pretty much done. The corn stalks are yellowing... time marches on.

Weird week-end

First I will start by saying that I have not watched A) Survivor this week B) the season premiere of CSI Vegas C) Heroes -it's killing me! We haven't watched TV at all this week really, but because I have lurking issues I know what happens in CSI, and I guess I'm okay with it...

Sooooo, Thursday felt like a Saturday because we had an awesome tournament at SC. I was the only female in a 4 person scramble and it was great. I really like being the only female, as I have a driving advantage over the men on almost every hole. That being said, I have recently lost about 40, yes 40! yards off my drive. I don't know where those yards went, but I hope to figure it out by the end of the golfing year... So anyway, the tournament was fun, fun, fun.

Friday I was *slightly* hungover, but I still managed to clean the house and entertain the pooch. Billy was having guys over for poker, and Davey brought huge steaks of which I declined and had soup. I went grocery shopping at about 7, (got some really good deals) so by the time I arrived home some of the guys were over.

Oddly, there were all sitting quietly in the basement, watching the end of The Departed. I packed a bag and went to my mom's. See because I'm smart. See because I know that poker playing men are loud (they should be) and I can't sleep. Perfect solution. Plus it makes me feel like A Good Wife to let the men be men.

So that is is why today (Saturday) feels like a Sunday. It's like having a long week-end (which is next week-end, Thanksgiving...).

Today's to do: um, clean up the house (just glasses, plates, and empties really....) veg, watch hours of DVR'd television, and maybe get some take-out. Tomorrow Billy has a tournament, and I'll have a nice Sunday to myself! Very nice indeed!

TOL is still in the hospital with a lot of pain from her surgery. It was supposed to be outpatient, that was Thursday... I may run up for a visit....

Fiction

I just finished watching the movie, 'Stranger Than Fiction'. I liked it. A lot.

It reminds me that there has been times in my life when I've felt like I was following a script, and not a particularly good one.

Tomorrow's chapter is 'Another fun day of golf', Friday is, 'Clean the house and make myself scarce'. Life's good.

Good use of my time

I'm a lurker. I read people's blogs whom I have never met, and I like it. I'm sure I have some lurkers too. I wish my blog was more exciting, sorry.

First I'd like to say poor TOL, of all the fit, busy, people with demanding jobs and a very active lifestyle, her achilles tendon decided to detach apparently while rounding 3rd base. Surgery Thursday. Good luck TOL. It makes my toes feel funny thinking about it....



Now, on to today's mission. Gus Greeper's blog, a favorite lurk of mine, she talks about the upcoming season of CSI Vegas and 24. I was pretty surprised to read that 'Tony' will be returning at least for the season premiere. I was pretty sure he died a while back, and I hate when shows assume the audience is retarded and they bring back characters from the dead, etc. Remember when Kathy Bates from Misery goes off on James Cann about seeing a movie 'serial' when she was a kid, and the hero was about to go over a cliff, then the next week the hero is seen miraculously escaping? Yeah, like that...



I looked it up on IMDB, then I found the 'truth' on Wikipedia (love Wikipedia), here's the copy-paste:



On September 19, 2007 it was confirmed in a FOX press release that Tony Almeida will return in the premiere of Season 7. Show-runner Howard Gordon explained that Tony's "uncertain fate" left the door open for his return[2] and cited the lack of a silent clock as a deliberate move to keep his death ambiguous.[3] "We didn't give him the silent clock because we always wanted to keep alive the possibility for some kind of (admittedly) miraculous resurrection ... which we will explain," and followed up with "He's definitely NOT the Almeida we once knew."



Uncertain fate and ambiguous death. Leave it to me to assume someone is dead... anyway, I'm okay with that. Oh yeah, Janeane Garofalo on 24? I can't see it, but whatever... oh, and another female president? I swear more shows have chicks for presidents than guys these days, vogue.



Now onto Sara Sidle from CSI Vegas...



I can't seem to find any definitive answer whether she lives or dies. You don't want to know what I'm hoping for... (I sometimes regress to when I was 6 watching 'Superfriends' and always hoping that once, just once the bad guys would win...)



I do like CSI Vegas, but it is not one of my favorites anymore. It is quite annoying when members of the forensic team is interviewing suspects, like c'mon! As if! Reminds me of 'Baywatch' when the FBI allowed David Hasselhoff's character to negotiate with kidnappers. Sure, that could happen... a lifeguard has those skills, I'm sure of it!



By far, way far, the absolutely most annoying and bothersome aspect of CSI (the entire franchise really... but we'll focus on Vegas....) is that the offices and laboratories are dark. You can hardly see anything. Always a blue-ish colour. The hallways are brighter than the labs. When they enter a crime scene, they never flick on lights, or use anything more than a flashlight to look around. Ugh! It's so annoying that I've never made it through a whole episode without yelling, "Hey Gil, turn on the freakin' lights!"



Now that I've ranted about something as silly as a TV show, I'm going to comment on Horatio Cane from CSI Miami. Here it is, are you ready? The guy is the least cool person ever in the history of mankind. Billy likes him and I think that he is such a loser. (Horatio, not Billy...) I have a hard time watching the show. I sometimes hope that someone will come from nowhere and kick his ass. That would be a good episode.



No more IMDB today, or playing around with photo editing... I'll be productive and use my time wisely.

Forward in reverse

Another beautiful day! Yesterday was gorgeous. Kiks and a couple of other women golfed at Sutton Creek, and although I golfed really bad, my score was okay at 100. Not great, but considering I probably had 30 putts, I'll take it. I have to do something about my putting!

So there are a ton of good things coming up, and a few things that I'm happy to be done with. Let's review:

Happy to be done with:
- Yahoo Fantasy Golf. It's a damned long season. Once your golfers are chosen on a Wednesday, you feel compelled to check on them to perhaps switch them out. Then you feel it necessary to watch it on Sunday to see if you did well. Enough watching golf on TV! I think the 'real' season restarts in January.
- Volleyball. I'm glad that Billy made the executive decision to not play this year. I have played at least one night at week in the winter (and some summers) for 15 years. Yep, pretty happy to not be playing.
- Hot nights. Although it's still in the 70-80's during the day, the nights are cool again. How nice.

Good things coming up:
- Golfing at Pointe West tomorrow. I hope I do well. I hope I don't embarrass myself. I hope I don't break the patio chair and fall on my ass in front of Billy's co-workers and boss. I hope he doesn't comment about my weight. I still have nightmares about that.
- Mexican Village with some friends on Monday. Always fun and good food. Plus you can't beat the people watching. Can you say transvestite waitress?
- Golfing next week. I hope the weather is good.
- Camping in Grand Bend. Although I'm not a huge fan of The Pinery, it's always fun. There are some good shows at the Drive In as well. Yeah!
- Cleveland! We have Cleveland Brown vs. Miami Dolphin tickets. We're going to stay two nights and Billy knows of a kick ass steak house. Yeah! Can't wait! Cleveland does rock.
- Football on Sundays. Especially with no open house. Quitting real estate was the best thing I've ever done! I can't believe my stress level. It's nil.
- Billy going to Tennessee. No, not because I want him to be 'gone', just because the man needs a vacation. Plus I'll feel better about having the girls over and trying new recipes.
- Getting a job. It will be nice to have some bigger purpose to my day other than making my tee time and making the bed.
-Christmas. Oh yes, I love Christmas! It'll be here sooner than we think! Buying and decorating the tree, the awesome parties, the shopping, wrapping, eating, drinking and merriment making in general, can't (but will) wait!

Life is good, what else can I say?

He's allowed on the couch

He looked cute too, but will probably want to beat me with one of those soft pillows he's spooning once he sees this picture on my blog. Haha!

See, his work pants are dirty so he took them off before having a little nap. Very cute indeed! He is seriously going to kill me! Hahahaha!

She's not supposed to be on the couch

But she looked so cute I had to take her picture before I kicked her off...

Very random thoughts

You know how you have fairly obscure thoughts during the day? I've tried to remember some today, and I will attempt to write them as I had them.

Does Billy think I'm a lazy ass if I don't get the mail? I better get the mail.

Not too happy about picking up someone else's garbage in our front yard. It's pretty bold of someone to toss something of this size out their car window. Where is that take-out container from? Not the Dairy Freez, they use cardboard and this is styrofoam, bad for the environment. I wonder what they ate? (I did not look into the container, but I thought about it)

Enough with the Friday flyers already. I wish I could pick and choose. Foodland, Zehrs, Home Hardware, The Bargain Shop, and Canadian Tire. I never buy anything from the Bargain Shop. Sears must destroys a small continent's worth of trees every week. They should look into e-flyers.

Hmm, I wore my spikes to the grocery store again! In England they call them 'foodstores'.

Does Hickory Sticks come in any other flavour than original? or are they just trying to let the buyer know that they are the ones that orginally came up with the idea of hickory flavoured sticks? I don't think I've ever had anything else that is hickory flavoured, oh, maybe barbecue sauce in Tennessee, I don't think I liked it. Bullseye.

Is that the dishwasher making that noise or is a truck repeatedly smashing into our garage? I hope it's the dishwasher. I should check that out.

I think I can still smell the pig farm from near the golf course. I think the smell is stuck inside my nose.

I'm glad I didn't get sick from those shrimp last night. I really thought I would, and I ate way too many.

I've owned this bra since about 1996. That has to be the oldest piece of clothing I own, except my awesome Star Trek t-shirt, which I think was my brothers' but he says it was my dads. That shirt was probably made in the early 80's. When I bought the bra I also bought a one-piece sleeper thing, but I haven't worn that in 6 years, and I probably only wore it 20 times. I still have it.

I think my feet smell, or is that the pig farm smell in my nose still?

We don't have to go to Mexican Village on Mondays anymore, or at least for now. Canadian money is pretty much at par. Sweet Jesus! I wonder if the bridge/border fee is the same in American as it is in Canadian? Billy said that once the American economy recovers we'll have a ton of shares in this one mutual fund which right now is biting the biscuit, but it's a long term thing. I can't wait to go to the Walmart in Tennessee with money being even par! Big Lots! Oh yeah! I wonder if I switched in a Canadian quarter they would make a comment about it being worthless (that's happened before)... I'll have to carry written proof to show that redneck cashier that our dollar is strong.

I'm so effing glad that DD is back.

What am I going to eat today? I wish the clubhouse had something between a chocolate bar and a sandwich. It's hard to pull a cart and eat a sandwich.

Was I ever able to putt? Is my putting that bad, or am I just chipping like shit? Arg! Jesus H effing Christo on a stick! Jack ass! What is my left problem?.... oh sweet putt Liz, see you can putt you freaking idioso!

Sweet! Dog food is $0.50 off. I'll buy 10.

Sour creme and perogies are both on sale. A thing of sour creme costs the same as a small bag of perogies? Is that right? I would bomb out on the Price is Right. I hate the Price is Right. Not Bob Barker though, he always tells people to fix their pets. Do I need onions?

I love rock hard white flesh nectarines. Like apples without the texture that makes my toes curl. Those grapes better be good, I've never bought giant seedless blue/black grapes before. I should have looked where they came from. I like those 'product of' signs.

I love my new pink Sutton Creek shirt. It'll match my nose ring nice. That's important for golf.

My left hand looks pale and withered compared to my right. Billy takes his glove off more, maybe I should.

This concludes the look into my obscure random thoughts. Believe me I had a few more, although not many really...

Uninspired

I really have nothing to say. Golf last night was fun, the weather was great. Today is a beautiful day, and Billy has golf tonight, lucky boy.

Life is good.

If there is a topic that you would like me to discuss or comment on, please let me know. I think my brain is getting mushy and I need some inspiration.

Thanks.

By the way, I totally miss DD. She stopped writing over a week ago and I'm going through blog withdrawals. Not fun.

September morn...

It is absolutely gorgeous outside. Very green, gold and glistening. The kind of morning that nature is telling you that fall is inevitable.

What a fantastic week-end! We played glow ball on Friday night and I can say it was one of the best times I've ever had golfing! The couple that runs the couple's league really goes all out. Played in a scramble format, our foursome was given about 6 glow balls, a bunch of glow sticks(bracelets, earrings, hoops, etc.) to decorate ourselves and our cart, and a little flashlight. The nine holes that we played were totally decked out in glow sticks. The bridges, some trees, pathways, the flag stick, the inside rim of the cup, the tee boxes, the yardage markers... everything! It was so cool looking.

Although the balls don't go as far as regular balls, we still shot an even round. Amazing, really. It was really challenging playing in the total darkness. Awesome. I can't wait for next year, and I'm totally going to deck myself out properly.

Yesterday was my nine-hole league field day and it was great. For 6 holes it was a scramble format, 6 holes a step aside format, and the last 6 holes was alternate shot, which pretty much killed us. Too much fun! Everyone seemed to have a great time.

When I got home, we went to a wedding reception of a friend of mine. Although the day was cool and windy, it was gorgeous out there. We didn't stay long because we didn't really know anyone, and there wasn't enough room to sit inside the dining tent. Either it was too small, or they invited some last minute people. So that kinda sucked, but it was a nice night, the bride looked amazing.

Today will be another great day. The kind of day I love. Billy is cleaning the hot tub, and will be filling it today! Oh yeah, the hot tub is back in action. I'm going to go to the grocery store and Billy is going to make homemade bread and lasagna. Billy is going to cut grass and I'm going to do little things around the house and maybe weed-whack. We're going to watch football, and have MomG and Billy's sister over for dinner and play a little Guitar Hero. So much fun. Perfect day.

Life's Good!

A letter to Sutton Creek

Dear Bernie and Debbie Aliberti,

It saddened me so much today to read the front page of the Windsor Star for many reasons.

After the Amateur event was held at Sutton Creek, I had one non-golfing friend express to me her positive impression of Sutton Creek. Today alone, I’ve heard several people comment negatively on the preference to kill geese on your course rather than utilize a more humane option.

To some, the most offensive aspect would be that this occurred during a women’s league. I personally don’t care when the hunting occurred, I feel that is shouldn’t have happened at all. If I witnessed the hunt, it would have disturbed me beyond imagine.

My opinion is that a very enjoyable facet of the game is to simply be outdoors, surrounded by nature and beauty. This is one of the many reasons that inspired us to join Sutton Creek. So many members love, and go out of their way to see the owls, geese, cranes, deer, turtles, etc.

If nature and beauty doesn’t enhance the experience of golf, I would expect courses to not plant flowers, grow trees, or water grass. We could all play at ‘On The Green’ and enjoy the sterile surroundings and manufactured air.

Although I have golfed on your course almost exclusively with women, who tend to be slightly more compassionate towards animals, I have never heard anyone complain about the geese or their excrement. Of course golfers are wary of approaching their ball when in the vicinity of geese, but they always move. It was great seeing the little goslings swimming, staggering about and growing up.

I’m not so naive to believe that feces are the only problem with the geese population on your course, but there are other proven ways to deal with the geese.

I wholeheartedly volunteer to bring my hound and my mom’s Labs to the course once a week in the early morning, or late evening to help with the geese predicament. I am a huge animal and nature lover and this would provide me with as much joy as it would the dogs, and hopefully aid in your current quandary.

Ultimately, I believe it is your educated assessment that decides if there are too many geese on your course, but I don’t believe that it is you who should determine whether geese should live or die. That ought to be concluded by appropriate wildlife authorities and taken care of at a more suitable venue.

Thank you for your time,

Liz Grady
CC: Dan McCaffrey, Dave Deluzio