Delayed update on the Raptors game

It's like I almost forgot to write about the game... I think i will blame it on Facebook, I'm addicted... it's bad, but there are so many people on line... anyway
The game was really cool. We had a hard time finding our seats. We got to the ACC a little late so the game was pretty much started when we were looking for our seats and we couldn't hear the directions anyone was giving us.. but we made it eventually. They were box seats that Andrew won from work so we had a nice place to keep our bags and jackets and we hung out there a bit at half time but our server was kind of snotty. You could tell she wasn't impressed that we weren't going to spend a tonne of money but she'll get over it. It was a lot different then I expected. I assumed that all boxes were up higher but had a view right onto the court/field / ice, what ever you happened to be attending, but these ones were around the corner from the actual game but it was still very cool. The atmosphere was very, for lack of a better word, crazy. They really encourage ADD at these games, there's always something going on. Even when the game is on they are playing really loud music, not just when there is a stop in play like at hockey games, but during the game and there is dancers off in the corner, more people coaxing you to be jumping up and down in your seat, and of course the mascot running around encouraging you to Cheer. They game we went to see, Steven Cobegale was there to taunt raptor so it was fun to watch the two of them goof around. Raptor actually tacked Steven at one point and I thought it was hilarious!!!
So anyway the raptors won and it was a good game to watch, Chris Bosch is AMAZING!! I was smart and parked at Yorkdale and took the subway to and from the ACC, saved a lot of frustration in traffic, but it was still a sea of people walking to the subway station.
So that is my game update... just for all you facebook folks, I've put pictures from my England trip up on my page, it was way easier then flicker, so go take a look at em!

My how time flys

I realized the other day it's been quite a while since I last blog ed, but what exactly have I been doing that I haven't been able to take a half hour a week just to jot something down. I can't even say I've been working on my scrapbook of my trip, or organizing my pictures, because I haven't. I know it took me a good week to get back into the swing of things. I was pretty much useless at work for that whole first week I was back. That weekend I had some funny bug thing and wasn't feeling well and last week, well last week just flew by me apparently.
So what has happened in the last three weeks, well I did get my scrapbook started, got to see my parents and siblings, my mom also came down to KW to visit me and we did some shopping and I also got to visit some friends.
I have also had to deal with a lot of soccer crap, we thought we had the team settled then the "captain" changed everything that had been discussed so we've now decided to create our own team and that way we get to play with who we want to which will be good. It's really been more of a hassle for Andrew then for me but I have had to deal with a bit of it to so it has taken up my time also.
This past weekend I went out in London for the first time since I moved to KW a year and a half ago. I went to a pub to watch my friend play in his band and ran into some people I used to work with so that was fun. My friend Steph, her boyfriend Jer (the people who came with me to the bar) also went to check out Jer's old band in downtown London. Steph and I used to go to the same bar every Friday night to watch the guys play. It was fun to see them again! We didn't get back to Steph and Jer's house till about 3 which both Steph and I were amazed at since we are such old ladies and used to going to bed at about 10 at night. We had a really good time though!!
In work news I'm switching departments again, and going to the Housewares side of the world as of April 1st. I'm a little nervous because it's a much bigger department then my tiny bath one but also all the stock that comes in to the department is VERY heavy, but at least I'll be getting good work out.
Some more exciting news, Andrew won tickets from work to a Raptors game tomorrow night. We have to rush after he's done work (I'm off for the day) to get to the game on time but we get to sit in the Manulife VIP box seats which will be and interesting experience for sure, even thought neither of us are really in t Basketball. I'm sure we'll have a good time though!!
I'll update you all on the excitement of the game on the weekend!!

Coming back... to a big storm!

I'm back, I made it safe and sound!
It was a very good trip but it was nice to be home and sleep in my own bed, use my own shower and have clean clothes!!!!
It was very different atmosphere at the Gatwick Airport as compared to Pearson. It could have been the simple fact that we left Toronto at 11pm and I was tring to leave London at 10 in the morning, but there was a half hour line up to get thought the pre-boarding screening. The Duty Free Shop is pretty different too though. It was like a huge mall in London where as in Toronto it was a bunch of little stores and they were all seperated and you had a ways to walk between them. One constistant thing is how over priced everything is in the airport. I paid one pound 35 pence for a 750ml bottle of water that in the city cost me one pound and in some small towns I could pick it up for 75p!
I had a small scare just before I got on the plane, as I was walking, taking my time and enjoying the scenery, to board my plane, i looked up at one of the screens and somehow it had already got to last boarding call even thought it was 45 min away. Of course I don't know how it works and figured they could easily leave without me which would so not be cool. I tried to rush but of course at that time all the old people in the world decided they should be walking slowly in front of me. I made it on to the plane and didn't have to rush at all becase we even held up for 10 extra minutes, waiting for other passengers.
I ended up sharing a 3 seat section with just one other lady so we both had alot of space. It was a very comfortable flight and i got some sleep in between watching "Stranger then Fiction" the first inflight movie. I even ended up crying at it and felt like a big losser but anyway.
When we landed the weather looked like CRAP. There was snow all over the terminal, from what I could see anyway, I was hunching myself over and trying to plug my ears because i get really bad pain when landing because of the air pressure.
I was out of customs and everything by 2 and give my friend Caity a call cus she was picking me up at the air port. She had Andrew with her and they had left Kitchener at 1:15 and when I talked to them they were just in Guelph, it took them an hour and a half to get out of the city!!
I spent the next four hours just waiting at the airport. It was interesting for the first bit, but them people started geting on my nerves. I tried to move around a bit so I could get annoyed by different people every 5 min instead of listening to the same person over and over again.
They finally made it at 6 and we headed back on to the 401. We took a break at Dixie road and almost decied to stay over night because we didn't want another 5 hour drive but after our stop it was much better.
It was very weird to come back to all this snow... this is what my car looked like.
Not fun after not having to deal with snow for two weeks... aw well welcome to CANADA!

I've also uploaded some of my pictures on to Flickr but haven't really taken time to organize them or anything yet... but it's a preview for you.
I'm not sure how to have the link set up but here is the website if you want to take a peek
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7144587@N02/

My Trip Comes to an End

It's already my last day here in England, I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. With only 10 days to see a whole lot of stuff, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for blogging. Fortunately I’ve been able to check my e-mail every few days and keep up with stuff to a certain extent but I haven't really had time to sit down and write a post. Today however, it's bitterly cold in Liverpool and raining off and on. The wind is what is really the kicker thought so we've decided to come inside to warm up for an hour or so. And since the library offers free internet access, what the hell!
We've been really lucky with the weather. It's only really rained for 3 days of our trip. We had two maybe even three days of sun and the rest of the time it's been like spring back in Canada. We've stayed at some very interesting hostels, from a scummy only vet centre to a gorgeous Victorian house that was beautifully re-modelled, to a fairly new conference centre offering all sorts of amenities. I've taken pictures of them all and will post some when I get home.
We've also seem some really cool sites, from the big cities of London and Liverpool (which is quite a bit larger then you think, I could easily have filled 3 days here) To the great outdoors of Wales and their two biggest national parks, Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons and all kinds of little towns in between.
I'm pretty sure I’ve also heard every possible variation of the English accent during the last few days. The London accent, we had a Scottish tour guide on our 3 day tour of Wales where we obviously heard some welsh accents as well as the ancient Celtic language itself. Also on that tour were quite a few Australians and Americans which gives another wide spectrum of the language and now the Liverpoolan which ties with Welsh for the most difficult to understand!
I've also noticed some other differences between Canadian Culture and the British culture but I’ve made a whole list of them and plan to do a separate post all together.
Well till I get back home,
Cheers

Waiting it out

So it's 6:30 on Monday Feb 19th and I'm about to leave for the airport on my trip to England. It's been a really long day. I tend to be very impatient, especially when I have something really exciting to look forward to. I've kept myself busy for the day so I'm pretty impressed with my self and my house is clean for when I come back, what a treat.
I would like to say thanks to everyone for all your well wishes on my trip and I'll try to write a post while I'm gone but for sure when I come back with pictures and all!!
I would also just like to mention how AWESOME my brother Rob is. He committed to driving Dianne and I to the airport as of Saturday, such short notice and didn't even hesitate. He is an awesome brother for sure. I would also like to say that my friend Catiy is also awesome because she offered to come pick me up at the airport.
Alright well my brother and Dianne should be here any minute so I'm off...

My First Real Vacation is Almost Here!!

My first real vacation is just around the corner. I can't believe how fast it has come. My last post I wrote about finally finding a backpack I could use for my trip and I had to pay for it. Boo to that I say. The next day i was talking to a lady and work and she said her daughters both had a bigger backpack they had used when they went to England so I could borrow one if I wanted. Since that was a way cheaper option, I was all over it, just think of how many pints I can have with that saved 120 dollars!
My most recent challenge has involved finding a carry on bag that can double as a day pack but also be carried with the backpack. Who knew this would be so darn difficult, but I think i found one that will suffice. It's not the most comfortable when combined with the backpack but it will do. There is plenty of room for all my stuff that I would need for day trips which is very exciting!
I've also been exploring options on how to get to the airport. I was all set to drive myself when my friend Caity, offered to pick me up when I get back.... mmm again saving myself 80 bucks... more Pints!!! So now I'm calling in some favors to see if i can get a ride there. My bro has said he could probably do it and my parents are still a possibility but they are out of the country until the day before I leave so it's a little sketchy but we'll see.
I've now even have all my stuff packed and taken my bags for a trial run to see how heavy they are. Andrew has been pestering me to do this forever now it seems and I'm really glad I didn't listen to him before now because I feel like i should be going to get on the plane tomorrow!!! I'm afraid the next 3 days are going to go so slowly that it will be painfully. I feel the worst could be tomorrow as it is my last day of work before 2 whole weeks off!

And the countdown is on!

So here we are down to 12 days till i leave for England and i've finally gotten my act together. I know what shoes i'm bringing with me. We have hostels booked, our trip basically maped out, our bus tour booked, picked up my plane ticket today, get my passport on Friday and after 3 hours of driving all over Kitchener/ Waterloo and Cambridge, I finally found an affordable, travel backpack. Leave it to me to procrastinate for so long, but it's taken care of. I've been looking around for the last few months to see if i could find anything but decided yesterday, being my day off would be the day to take care of it. I spent some time surfing on the net trying to find some good luggage stores, to no avail, and hiking stores for the right kind of equipment. I went to about 4 stores yesterday with no luck and went to, I swear, every other possible place I could think of today until I made it to the Hiking store just down the road from me tonight at 7ish and found a decent pack for 120 bucks. After researching on the net last night I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find anything for less then 200 which I couldn't justify spending on something I would probably only use once. So luckily I found this pack and think it will work and I’ll be able to use it in the future also.
My parents gave me some extra money so I decided that I would splurge and buy a digital camera. After two weeks of looking around and researching on the internet to see what I actually wanted I found one tonight too. So needless to say my brand new credit card was very well used today. Next on the trip list is figuring out what all I need to bring and to make sure I can handle carrying it all on my back. That's Friday's project!

And the votes are finally in, the 6 weird things about me are...

I was tagged at the beginning of December to write 6 weird things about myself. I was very excited to post it because it seems very fun. I started writing my reply right away and now I've finally come up with the 6th and final (at least for this list) weird thing about me. Here it goes...

1) when I was younger, I assumed there were little people (kinda like the Fragels from that show in the 80's) that were living inside electronic devices like computers and TV's. They would make the decisions on what would go on inside these devices and when they got made at each other, there would be fuzz on your tv. Very elaborate I know, I was a creative kid.

2) When I'm doing something monotonous, like unpacking boxes at work, or cutting up food, I count the number of steps it takes me to complete the task. Like all four stokes of cutting a box open, how many steps it takes to get the merchandise out of the box or how many cuts I make in the food. I don't keep track of these numbers or use them to try to improve. It's just something for my brain to do.

3) I hate smoking, I think it's disgusting habit and was so happy when the cities in Ontario passed bylaws to omit smoking from public places. It meant I could go to the bar and come home and not have to have a shower before going to bed because I smelt like an ashtray. However, recently, I've noticed that when someone lights up a fresh cigarette, I really enjoy the smell. It brings back childhood memories or something and makes me think of my dad, who has smoked my whole life. Whenever I smell it, I think of him. Even though I believe he really should quit!!

4) I love to eat!! Food is sooo good to me. But I hate cooking, cleaning up after cooking and grocery shopping to get food. I also don't enjoy eating out all that much because the food is never just the way you want it. So I'm really not sure how IÂ’m supposed to get food into me to eat. I also like things neat and tidy but don't want to be the one to clean them up, even though I live alone and I'm the one who made the mess...Maybee it's really that I'm just lazy

5) This one was pointed out to me by Andrew recently. The more I do, the more energy I have, the less I do, the more lethargic I get. ItÂ’s typically bad when I have a day or even worse a weekend off and I end up hanging out with Andrew where we really donÂ’t do anything all weekend. I still feel incredibly tired and lethargic on Monday when I go back to work. ItÂ’s a really bad routine to get into. You would think a nice lazy day or two would give way to a refreshed person, but no, not I.

6)When I make hot chocolate, I boil water and pour my mug 3/4 of the way full with boiling water, then add the chocolate powder, then fill the mug the last 1/4 with cold milk. I do this for 2 reasons, one to cool the drink down because I'm a big wimp and don't like really hot drinks and two, because with just water it's really thin, and I like me hot chocolate to have more supstance, like when you buy it at Starbucks or Second Cup.

Since most of my friends have already been tagged, and the rest either don't read my blog, or blog themselves very often, I'm going to tag, Matt; www.vernhout.net, Tasha; huladreams.blogspot.com and Rachel; koetsier-gang.blogspot.com
and we'll see what happens

I hate it when...

I hate it when your driving by yourself and some lady walks by wearing a light Pink faux fur coat that looks like it belogs on a 4 year old. Stuff like that is just not as funny when there is no one else to laugh about it with you.
I also hate it when you realize you were wearing your warm up pants backwards when you walked into a sports store... Yeah me :)

Holidays part 3

I can't really remember what I was going to write about in my supposed 3rd holiday post. I did work on boxing day which was nutso. I forgot how much shoppers attitudes change in that day they can't be shopping. They go from being normal, all be it a bit demanding and sometimes up tight, but neat and tidy at least. To tearing everything apart, and throwing everything on the floor. Not to mention not willing to pay more then $5 for any one item. The actual week between Christmas and New Years was far more stressful and annoying then the 2 months leading up to Christmas. It's funny to because I really do forget that every year. Luckily that week is a short one, I only ended up working for 3 days, but I think that is part of the problem because you can't get anything accomplished. I should have actually worked 4 days also but was sick on New Years Eve day. I wasn't to worried about calling in sick because we all figured it would be dead at the stores be we were very wrong. Apparently there was something very crutial to the New Years Party at Linens n' Things.
So I spent my New Years Eve Day in bed hoping to allow my self to at least me social for some of the night. It worked to some extent. I had a good time and was able to participate in the Wii playing we did as a group as well as the drinking but I also slept most of New Years Day away and still really don't fell like I've totally kicked the illness... uggg... Very frustrating!

So now that I'm caught up I'll share with you my fun day today. Today was the day I finally got my Passport together. I had gone down to the office last week but meet up with a co-worker and was told that the line was 2 hours long. However if I filled out the form online, I could be rushed to the front of the line and avoid waiting that long. I came home and tried to fill out the form which I wrote about last week but really to no avail. Since the guarantor still has to sign that form and all the people I know who are eligible to do so live near my parents, I opted not to take the drive back and suck up the waiting. I prepared myself today, had my book with me and a bottle of water and got to the office around 11. A lot of people had told me that I should go as early as a good to avoid waiting as much but I really needed to sleep and didn't have much else I needed to do today so I figured I would stick it out. When I got through the pre check they said it would be about an hour to an hour and a half. I was 100 numbers down. I waited patiently, in the same seat, which is amazing for me, for over 2 hours, finally got to the front of the line, to find out that the pictures that I had were no good because you could see my teeth. No, not that I had smiled or even really opened my mouth, but the way my lips were, there was a tiny gap and you could see the tiniest bit of my teeth. So of course I'm a little frustrated with myself. I've been sitting with everything ready since September but just never bother to make it enough of a priority to set something else aside and make sure I had the money to cover it. Now I'm rushing at the last minute to get this taken care of. Another bad stroke for procrastination. So luckily I was given a special paper which allowed me to skip to the front of the line when I came back with new pictures. I went back to my car, where I found a parking ticket! Guess while I was waiting, I should have come down and added money to the meter considering I only had enough change for 20 min. I headed to the mall near by, grabbed some grub and got my second pictures taken. I got back to the passport office, payed an extra 10 bucks and am guaranteed to get my passport delivered there on the 9th of February, 10 days before my flight... thank god.
So the though part is over and now it's back to the fun part of planning. I have the weekend off so I should be able to finish reading my Britain book and decided where I really really want to go. Sunday I'm going to meet with my traveling partner Dianne and were are going to make some decisions and do some booking!!

Holidays... part 2

Working in retail at Christmas time tends to be stressful as you can imagine. It's not very often that you get your days off placed together but this year I got lucky. I ended up with the 23rd, 24th and 25th off, which is pretty darn cool. The only unfortunate part is that I have to work boxing day, which it turns out I would rather have the two days off and not work boxing day, but that just means I have to smarter next year and book it off ahead of time.
Most people in retail find that on the 24th your brain and body take an early leave of absence, because you've been working so fast and hard for so long, you can see then end and you start to give up before it's really here. Well since I didn't work the 24th, mine came a little earlier, around 5 on the 23rd, which isn't bad except that I had to work until 10... opps. I was expecting a really busy day so I was ferociously trying to get things done before the big rush. When it never came, and I realized it wasn't going to come, I pretty much gave up, even though I still had stuff to do. I paid for it on Boxing day but i'm still not convinced that anything I actually would have done would have helped me, but it's one of those live and learn things.
As for my days off they were quite nice, peaceful, laid back and full of good food, fun people and lots of drinks. On the 23rd I meet up with my old high school friends, had a fun 'tacky gift exchange" which kept us laughing for quite some time. Caught up with everyone and had a few to many drinks. Even pass out on the ride home... ahh back to the good old days.
The 24th was much the same, went to mass, hung out with my family at the neighbours place and again had to much to drink, but this time stumbled home instead of riding in a vehicle.

Christmas Day is a very exciting day for me, usually one of my favourites of the year. I love going to church and seeing all decorated for the holidays. Relaxing and hanging out with my family all day, and the present thing isn’t so bad either. This year I was very nervous for most of the day. It was the first time I was to meet Andrew’s parents after dating for almost 9 months. He had been feeding me horror stories for the last 3 or 4 months on how his parents would behave. Yelling while guests are present, not necessarily because of anger but this is how they discuss things they’ve even gone as far as throwing dishes at each other while other people were present and of course, my favourite, at some point his mother would take me in a room by ourselves and talk about sex… I still can’t wrap my head around it. I was comforted by the fact that his older brother and his brother’s girlfriend would be present to take some of the tension away from me

Needless to say for the entire drive I was very nervous, probably talking to my self for the whole trip! When I arrived I was visible nervous and even repeated my name twice but that was the worst scenario of the whole evening. Andrew took me on a quick tour of the house so I managed to get myself back together. We had some very interesting conversations, mostly his mother, father and brother all trying to talk to me at the same time. And yes they are really loud and opinionated, but I kind of expected that, because that is how Andrew is. I had to bite my tongue when his father was teasing his brother for being so opinionated, when I know for sure is father is the same way. But we got thought the conversation, Andrew and I even took a nice little walk before dinner to work up an appetite. Dinner was delicious and even managed to not spill on myself!!! We watched a bit of football after we eat, then the weather turned kind of sketchy so I ended up staying the night and leaving for work in the morning. I was very happy to have everything go over so well and I’ll think I’ll be able to handle any odd questions that come my way after getting the worst part over with. Plus I know they like me so life is good.

I will publish yet another Holiday edition with details of New Years later in the week.

As an update for the passport, it’s still not completed, turns out what I did on the internet was just filling out the form so I’ll still have to go to the office and wait in line….blahhh!! Thanks for the reminder Christielli, I’ll remember to bring something to do with me

Passport... what a pain

So as you may have previously read, I am going to England in Febuary. Well who know that my trip is already only 6 weeks away!! I had my passport all filled out and ready to go back in September, but some how I kept putting it off and now it has to be done pronto!!!
I went to the passport office on Wednessday, all ready to get everything set up and ran into a girl I work with who was on her way out and informed me that the line up was about 2 hours long! however, there was a woman who had done all her info on the internet before hand and got to skip over the line. I have tried the internet option before but for some reason, it wouldn't accept my browser or some other crazy thing so I figured I would just do it the old fashion way. I decided it would be worth my while to go back home and try the internet option again, as opposed to waiting in a two hour line up. I've been working on it for an hour now and it has been quite a pain in the a**, however, much less then waiting in line because I at least got caught up on my blog reading. I've now finished all my blog reading and am still running into a few little glitches so I thought I would set up a quick post while I was waiting.
Damn internet... I swear, for something so advanced it can be so retarded!!
Anyway I'm hoping to post tomorrow with another Holiday segment, this one will entail the actually days off for Christmas, including the meeting of the bf's parents... very riviting!!