Jennifer Y.

I remember admiring your thick, waist-length hair and wishing my hair was nice and straight like yours. You were always a sweet and friendly girl and you laughed at my jokes. In grade 7, you liked this boy and I told you to go for it ... but I neglected to tell you that I liked him too. At some ridiculous elementary school dance, I danced with him even though I knew you wouldn't be happy. Wow, I was a jerk.

Mrs. Challoner

You were my grade 2 teacher in a 2/3 split class. When we all wrote books for a class project, mine was based on The Ugly Duckling and was about a girl who felt ugly, but was actually beautiful. You asked me to read it to the class and I did. Maybe you thought the book was about me. Maybe it was. In any event, I was the only one who got to read my book out loud.

New feature on my blog!

Hello everyone!

In an effort to blog more, I'm going to attempt to participate in something that I think is called x365 or Blog 365 or something like that. The idea is to write one short post a day about one specific person in your life, past or present, and... really that's it. Just a few thoughts about that person, and then move on. I haven't signed up for anything official since the chances of me blogging every day are slim, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Hope you'll find it entertaining and maybe you'll even find yourself named at some point!

It's the little things in life

I wish I could blog about something intelligent, like the election situation in Canada or the US, or perhaps a book I've read lately, or maybe some environmental issue. Sadly, I have been completely unaware lately so I have no idea what is happening in the world. So instead, I will tell you about stress relief. I need a lot of stress relief these days. Here are the things that make me happy... or less unhappy at least.

- Coffee Crisp. Yum.
- chocolate - yum.
- dark chocolate mocha at Blenz in the morning. Yum. Expensive habit.
- playing with my dog
- shopping... for my dog :) (yes - she is spoiled. no - she doesn't wear clothing.)
- Pho subs. - yum.
- watching Heroes, The Office (we just got into this! hilarious!), HGTV shows, anything in HD...
- getting to and from work in under 45 minutes (rare)
- visiting the mall on lunch break
- not wearing heels all day long

Well, I could go on, but there's something good on TV right now....

Back to the grind, part the end

So, since my last post I have been living a stressful life with restless sleep and general unwellness. I do not know what is wrong with me but I am very, very tired. It is probably something to do with having to think all day long. My mind is just not made for that sort of work.

Okay, last time I told you some of the things I liked about university, so of course for completeness, I must now tell you what I did NOT like about university. I'll try to keep this brief and intelligible rather than just a rant blowing things way out of proportion.

1. Always feeling behind. Even my most studious friends would agree that it's extremely difficult to feel ahead or even on course with university classes. From day 1, I felt as though there was way more to do than there was time to do it all... and for me, that was just a totally unmotivating way to learn.

2. The campus from October to March. Mostly these months stick out in my mind as representing a soggy mess, irritating bus rides filled with soggy people and their dripping umbrellas, and the inability to get through a day without the bottoms of my jeans being completely drenched. Pleasant!

3. Labs. Oh my goodness, did I ever hate labs. First, often a lab meant working with a partner and not always one of your choice. Second, the total randomness of achieving an acceptable lab result. Third, the HOURS this sucked out of my day. Blah blah lac operon E. coli blah blah bacteria blah blah no thank you!

4. My PoliSci class. I took this in an effort to boost my marks, but ended up with a 60. Yes, that is right, a 60. This is an impressive mark, although it is still less impressive than my Immunology mark. I have managed to forget almost everything about this class except for the terrible haircut my prof had.

5. Keeners. You know the type, the ones who always have a question, or who always have an answer, or who always raise their hand even if they have no clue. A friend once suggested playing Keener Bingo and I believe this meant that if you observed someone raise their hand three times in one class, you were to stand up and shout "BINGO!" I never did this.... too bad.

6. People with weird habits that disturbed me. Once, I sat next to a guy who sniffed for the entire hour of class. Not runny nose sniffling... just a continual sniff. I decided he was probably having a reaction to some sort of illicit, snorted drug. Another time, I had to ask the guy behind me to quit writing so hard on his desk. (This makes me sound crazy, but bear with me.) It was during an exam and he was writing on one thin sheet of paper with a mechanical pencil and nothing underneath the paper. And, it appeared that he was extremely passionate about whatever he was writing. The scratching and tapping was really grating inside my head. At the break, I asked him to please slip a few sheets under his paper. He complied, but I'm sure he thought I was insane. Perhaps this item is really just a reflection of my own intolerances, but hey, this is my blog, not yours.

7. Telereg. This probably doesn't exist any more, but anyway. We had to register for classes using a telephone. (If any of you oldies are out there, yes I agree that this was one step up from having to physically run to each building to register, but still.) I remember having to employ two phone lines and a cellphone starting two minutes before registration time. Oh, the agony of punching in the code for the class you wanted, only to have the system stall for five silent minutes before telling you that you were unsuccessful, and then freaking out because you didn't have a backup plan.

Boy, it's a good thing I haven't decided to pursue another degree, I don't think I could handle more university. Jo, you have my infinite respect. And you too, godbrother. And the rest of y'all who are more studious than me. Which would be - everyone.

Back to the grind

It's been a rough week back at work... I'm so tired. But as tired as I am, I'm grateful that at least I am not back at university. Sometimes people assume that I loved school, probably because I was there for so long. Those people even assume that I worked hard at school. I think I can hear my family laughing right now. Shush, family! Haha.

In an effort to be a little more cheery, I'm going to tell you some of the things I enjoyed about university:

1. The buildup to first year. At the time, lots of church folk were attending university and I was excited to eat lunch with them, to experience "free stuff week", to be one of the cool older folk, to study in the bowels of Koerner... um yeah. None of that really happened for me. Free stuff week? Not all it was chalked up to be. Lunch plans were sparse, and I was never cool. Oh and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I studied downstairs at Koerner. In short, blown expectations - but at least I enjoyed the anticipation.

2. Learning that science was not for me. Of course, I had to complete an entire degree to find this out, but hey, what's four or five years out of my life!

3. Figuring out how to bus everywhere, including at least four routes that would take me home. If only there had been a u-pass from the very beginning.

4. Having some classes with friends, including Anatomy and Molecular Biology with a couple of good friends (Drosophila!) and Immunology with my godbrother (what were we thinking!) and, um, maybe that's it. I had a lot of fun in those classes, possibly because I wasn't paying a lot of attention. (See? Science just isn't my cup of tea.)

5. Planning my wedding during my last year of school while also working 16-24 hours per week, yes, at school. I'm good at the multi-tasking.

6. Working at a campus job - seriously, if students out there need money, find a campus job. You're there anyway, you might as well work and earn far more than minimum wage. I paid my way through school by working on campus every summer and, of course, living at home. Thanks Mom :)

7. The campus in September. So lovely. Green grass, sunny days, not having to wear a jacket... too bad it all becomes crummy and wet come October.

8. Graduating - twice - and getting the heck out of there!

Conflict amplification

What do you do when you don't like someone's personality?

There is someone I'm thinking of who I can't stand right now. I will call this person X. I can't stand X. X talks too much. X thinks certain jokes are funny when they should barely be called jokes in the first place. X interferes with normal goings on and doesn't understand that change for the sake of change is unnecessary and time-consuming.

There is another person I can't stand. I will call this person Z. Z is annoying. Z thinks Z knows more than anyone else in the world, but in truth, Z knows very little. Z is just difficult to get along with.

Z and X get along okay, but each thinks the other isn't as clever as they make themselves out to be.

As for me - I wish I could resolve things, but I feel like I'm stuck in the middle between Z, X, and the other more reasonable people in my life. The conflicts are getting worse, not better. The problem is, you can't change a person's personality. They are stuck with whatever personality they have chosen to adopt and you either have to like it or lump it. Very depressing.

I'll try to post something more exciting next time I post... :)

Environmental living

I wish I could say that we've got the green living thing down pat. I wish our house was powered by wind or the sun, or that I walk or bike everywhere. No, although we have taken some steps to lessen our lives' impact on the earth, we are far from fully there. We drive hybrids, but that is as much about saving money as it is about lowering emissions. One of the challenges of living a greener lifestyle is cost. It's often much cheaper to buy non-organic food or even non-local food. A hybrid vehicle is a huge initial investment, and some have speculated that they won't necessarily save money in the long run because of their initial price. Want to buy something that is non-toxic or chemical-free? Often, it's more expensive. It's a bit like the debate surrounding eating healthier... fresh fruit and veggies are so pricey compared to the inside of the store. (Someone once told me that the healthiest t way to shop a grocery store is to go on the outside only, to get to the produce, dairy, bakery, etc. and avoid the inside, filled with delicious processed products.)

Anyway. One thing we are doing this coming fall is buying half a cow from a local farm that has grass-fed, Angus (mixed with something else) cows. (Yes, the family from "Jon & Kate Plus 8" also bought half a cow - that isn't what made us do it!) The grass isn't sprayed, so the beef is organic. The cows don't eat grain, so their meat is supposed to be leaner and healthier for you. More Omega 3's or something. Frankly I was just enamored by the idea of buying half a cow. Call me crazy. (and call me if you want the name of the farm!)

I'm also on the lookout for organic/local chicken.... but while the beef is quite reasonably priced, it seems that locally produced chicken is not quite as cheap. Local produce is somewhat more accessible in the summer due to the farm markets and such. I've been thinking about going to the Avalon Dairy store that Chris mentioned, but the hubby thinks Avalon milk is overpriced. I'm sure it's a lot more than buying Lucerne or Dairyland, but maybe the hormone-freeness of it is worthwhile.

On the home front, we changed almost all our lightbulbs to CFLs. Saving money, but again with a larger initial investment. We also signed up for a water meter and we are always looking for ways to save water. Apparently in our city, you are not actually supposed to have low-flow toilets - this is just anecdotal information though. So, we'll have to settle for shorter showers and such. I've stopped using my dishwasher because it sucks. SUCKS. I should have gotten a new one, but I was too cheap. Half the time, this one doesn't seem to open the detergent holder's lid early enough so the detergent just clumps up instead of being used. I do try to save water while washing dishes. I sometimes will fill up a sink with hot soapy water and then use the other sink for rinsing. Other times I pile up the dishes, give a few seconds of rinse, then wash them without much water, just a wet soapy sponge. I think it's a miracle that I do any dishes, though :)

We also have a front load washer, which saves a lot of water and detergent. The matching dryer, however, seems to take longer than the old one ... I'm considering whether to hang my clothes outside, but that seems too public, you know? Anyway.

Anyone have a great environmentally friendly tip?

Etiquette

Let's say you are invited to a party at someone's house. Let's say it's not a house you've ever been to before, you know the sort of party I mean, where you are either good friends but not close friends, or relatives but not close relatives. In fact, imagine that it's the first time many of the guests have been there. Sort of an unofficial housewarming, officially just a summer BBQ. Let's say that the hosts specifically say "No gifts" in the invitation. What do you do? Bring something or not? Buy a gift? Give a gift card? Nothing at all?

I think it's just the way I've been raised, but my instinct is always to bring SOMETHING to someone's house unless it's just a whole bunch of close friends (sorry, close friends! you know I love ya!) Before we were married, we used to just tag along on gifts with the in-laws... but I would never do that now. These days, if I received that sort of invite from a good friend, I would either buy something small, or give a gift card... from a friend I didn't know as well, I would bring a nice box of chocolates or some fruit. If it was from a relative, I would probably give a red pocket of money or a gift card. (I can just hear my brother saying "But they said no gifts!! That means no gifts!!") I know! But you see, I would feel totally awkward showing up empty handed.

So, of course, the reason I'm asking is because this happened to us. Obviously I won't give a ton of details, but essentially someone came to our house without a gift. Now, I must say at the outset that this in itself doesn't offend me in the least.. We specified no gifts, but some people just chose to ignore that and brought a little something anyway. I have no problem with someone not bringing a gift, especially since we said no gifts. If you know us, you know we are brimming over with stuff anyway! But what happened to tip me over the edge is that this person came in, and the first thing they said wasn't "Nice place!" or "How's it going!" or even "Weird colour choices!". The first thing they said was, "Oh, sorrrrrry, I didn't bring a gift!" I can't make the tone of the voice show up, but it was quite flippant.

I know I shouldn't be offended. And yet somehow I still am. Maybe it's just that the relationship between this person and the two of us is already a little tense. Or maybe I am just a total jerk. I can't figure it out.

Once in a while when I'm bored

Maybe I'm the only one who does this, but once in a while I randomly Google people from my past. I'm not that old, so "past" often refers to elementary school friends, since I didn't go to the same high school as any of them. (And yes, I have Googled myself with both last names... with nothing shocking as a result. Phew!) On other occasions I've Googled people I vaguely knew in high school.

It's a bit voyeuristic to do this, I know... but I've often wondered what happened to so-and-so and what they are up to these days. Here's what I've discovered:

I looked up a girl who was a really good friend of mine all through elementary school. As it turns out, she owns her own talent agency now and she manages some famous folk. At least, I think they are famous, I only known a few of them. I always thought she would be a model, actually... she's beautiful. As it turns out, her sister is a model (and a PhD candidate!)

Another girl is actually famous - she's a comedian. Websites describe her as a 28-year-old Jewish lesbian living in the US.. and she was featured in TIME (magazine or .com, I'm not sure.) At the end of one of her shows, she strips naked. This sounds really odd, I'm sure, since I am only pulling out bits and pieces of information from the great internets... but anyway. I'm not surprised that she is a comedian since I always thought she was hilarious. Oh, and she won a comedy festival award - how awesome. Unfortunately my only other memory of her is going to her Bat Mitzvah. There was a lot of Hebrew. I understood nothing.

One guy from elementary school is now the executive chef of a local Asian fusion restaurant. At least I think it's him, it's been a long time since I was in grade 7. I have to say, that's a pretty cool job to have. I've never been to this restaurant, so I could be wrong that it's Asian fusion. It's definitely some sort of Asian food. I don't remember much about this guy at all, except that he had fairly dark skin for a Chinese guy. What a weird feature to remember.

On high school folk... I always remembered this one guy's name since it was unique. (As an aside, it is almost impossible to accurately Google Chinese people as our names are so darn common.) He was in grade 11 or 12 when I was in grade 8. Probably grade 12. Anyway as it turns out he works for the Canucks now in some sort of security or administrative role. Very cool. I wonder if he'll get me free tickets if I mention that I went to the same high school as him.

So... now I feel like a total stalker...

HGTV isn't always good

So, I'm watching Flipping Out right now, which is a show about a guy named Jeff Lewis who is some sort of realtor/house flipper. He's extremely wealthy, as evidenced by the fact that he has four staff who cater to his needs. They cook and clean, manage his life, do his banking, act as personal secretaries, clean his pool, wash the driveway, so on and so on.... oh, and they take care of his pets. In this episode, he is flipping out (ha!) at every opportunity because he feels that his staff are not doing what they are supposed to do. In particular, one of his dogs was injured and he's mad that someone let it happen.... so he's out buying a nanny cam to spy on his employees. (Instead of working on his houses, he's working on this... and calling it a sting operation.)

This guy has three very energetic dogs and he purports to love them tremendously. In fact, he says he is so committed to them, he makes sure they are taken care of by his employees. So far, I have seen one employee take the dogs outside to go potty... when the dogs start to growl and gang up on each other, he claims they are just playing. I can't help but be a little judgey. What point is there in having dogs if a) you don't have the time to walk them or play with them or take care of them yourself and b) if the people who are taking care of them can't even tell when the dogs are fighting? Now that the dog has been injured, someone needs to take the dog to the vet. He asked the housekeeper to delay her eye doctor appointment so she could go, and when she couldn't, he told another employee that he needed to stop everything to prioritize the dog. HELLO! It's YOUR dog! My oh my.

Oh! House Hunters is on. Honestly, HGTV is one of my favourite channels. It should be everyone's. Hmm... this episode of House Hunters is about a 25 year old who lives at home... or in the words of the host... "You might wonder why this 25 year old with a career STILL lives at home." If she were Chinese, this wouldn't be odd in the least. But that's another post for another time.

A little weird

The hubby's away this weekend celebrating T's last single outing ever.... or something like that. Anyway, today I decided to do some shopping. We recently bought a dining room set, my first real foray into the world of grownup furniture. It's so nice that I almost don't want people to eat on it... and I certainly wouldn't want them to spill something. I was about to go to Ikea, only my second favourite store ever, but then I remembered that it's Saturday, and hello, only crazy people, or people who love crowds and long lineups go to Ikea on Saturdays. (Did you know that Ikea reserves two spots for hybrid vehicles? They are even closer than the "family" parking spots. Take that, parents with three small children! Too bad there are no hybrid minivans! Bahaha!) So instead, I went to Jysk.

I first heard of Jysk when I was in the Hat, but I never actually went inside. It's somewhat Ikea-like in that they sell furniture and household items for good prices. I wandered around aimlessly for several minutes and finally chose a tablecloth and placemats. I made my way over to the checkout line and was privy to the following conversation:

Cashier (to family in front of me): Oh, just to let you know, you can't return this duvet once it's opened so if you need to return it, don't open it. And this pillow - if you need to return it, um, it's best to return it within 2-3 days.

Wife: What do you mean you can't open the duvet?

Cashier: Well, we can't accept a return if the duvet is opened.

Wife: But the package just has a zipper, how can you tell if it's been opened by someone else?

Cashier: Oh, well, we just look at the packaging and how it's folded... umm... yes.

Wife (after paying): So should we just check it right now by opening it?

Cashier: Um, well, we can't accept a return if it's been opened... I mean if it has a tear then maybe a return will be okay, maybe, after you open it, maybe...

Wife: But you can't tell if it's been opened... maybe someone else, not me, opened it first, then I can't return it.

Cashier: Well, okay, if you have to return it, make sure you fold it back neatly.

Kid: OHHHH... NEATLY... THEN WE CAN RETURN IT....

Cashier: But return it as soon as possible...

Wife: Can I exchange it right now for one from the inside?

Cashier: .....

Wife: I'll just exchange it, thanks.

I think their return policy needs a little work - maybe their customer service needs some work too.

On a customer service note, I feel like our move has been one giant complaint. Here are the things that weren't quite right:

• seller failed to disclose/inspector failed to find out that the master ensuite shower leaked... all the way into the drywall below
• seller put a "quick fix" on several things, including hooking up the toilet flusher in the tank to a yogurt container filled with rocks
• Telus overcharged us on two consecutive bills; the customer service rep forced me to say I would cancel before he could help me
• Terasen charged us a random fee because we moved, despite the account number not changing and Terasen having to do no work other than to change our billing address
• Alarm company overcharging us and alarm being overly sensitive to the panic button being pressed
• Appliance company overcharging us
• Bank not taking out the right amount on our mortgage
• Roofing company being slack on everything except demanding payment
• Furniture place saying they would deliver between 1 and 5pm, arriving at 5:45pm instead

Sigh. Although you might not believe it, I really dislike having to get on the phone to complain about some billing or other issue. It's just so exhausting... why can't things just be right the first time? Anyway. None of these things are serious, and we are still thrilled with the move - and believe me, I know these complaints are trivial. I just like to remember them.

Rich Bride, Poor Bride

Who's seen this show? More importantly - who's been disgusted by this show?

I'm currently watching a delightful episode of Rich Bride, Poor Bride. They are investigating centerpiece prices and the one they really like is $125.00 per centerpiece. The one they might go with is $79.00 per centerpiece. This isn't a small wedding either, they have about 25 tables. My word! That is ridiculous.

The groom wants to wear a white tux. Ummmmm.... hideous. Perhaps he could throw on a big hat and carry a cane, and wear a knuckle ring set that says "Groom".

The bride picked the wedding cake without talking to her fiance and essentially told him that all he could do was help pick the flavours. Nice. Also, the cake was hideous. Oh, and she wants fireworks for their entrance. FIREWORKS.

Uh oh. He just said it was his money paying for the wedding when she said it was their money. He said, "it isn't our money until we're married." Ouch.

I think I've got train wreck syndrome, I can't turn away.

Their limobus costs $1199! Ours was half that! What a ripoff.

We spent about $5 on each centerpiece at our wedding. This consisted of vases from Michaels (a store I have barely set foot in since the wedding, but dragged the hubby to at least 20 times when we were engaged) and roses. The centerpieces would have looked a lot nicer if I had remembered to put water in the vases on the Friday we brought them to the hall. Oops.

We picked the wedding cake together, but that is mostly because I did the research and hubby went along with the ideas. I recall that it was tasty, but that is all I remember about the food, since I didn't eat anything else that night except a bite of wedding cake.

Oh my. The arguing on this show continues. And the women are squealing. And cackling. Oh my.

What show are you all watching these days?

Not good

• Nine city workers "working" on one small stretch of road. Three are holding signs or directing traffic to follow the traffic lights. One is smoking on the side of the road. Two are drinking coffee. Two are standing around pretending to be busy. Only one is doing any actual work. Creating jobs for Canadians!
• Guy who almost hits me with his pickup truck because he runs a stop sign - then gives ME the finger. I love this city.
• Pedestrians who think that because power is out and traffic signals are down, they can cross without even looking.
• People I used to respect and admire acting way younger than they should, and acting icky to boot. Yuck.
• Bubble tea that costs more than $2.99.
• Our home alarm company.
  
• Having to tell Telus that I'd cancel if they didn't waive a charge that was ridiculous to begin with... and having that threat of cancellation be the only way the charge could be waived. What a waste of time.
• My mood. Stressful times make for stressful... times. I can't even think of the words I need.

Unsolicited advice

The other day, hubs took the dog out for a walk and was gone much longer than I had anticipated. As it turns out, he was in the little park near our house when one of the neighbours came out to talk to him about our dog. Background: we have a small park near our house with no school or playground attached, just a green space with a little path around it, and houses that back onto the park. Most evenings, we take the dog for a walk and when there are no dogs in the park and no people in the park, we will take her off leash and throw the ball around for about 5-10 minutes (she tires fast!) On one occasion, we met a nice fellow with his golden retriever and he asked if our dog might like to play. Which, if you've met our dog, is a silly question, of course she wants to play. So the dogs ran around off leash together for about 15-20 minutes and they had a great time. When a little dog came into the park with her owners, we put the dogs back on leash but those owners said it wasn't necessary. And true to retriever form, the two big dogs ignored the little one.

Anyway, said neighbour came out of her yard specifically to talk to the hubby. She told hubs that the dog shouldn't ever be off leash and that she had 35 years of experience training dogs, and that even her own dog (a Rottweiler) wasn't good enough to be off leash. She said a bunch of stuff and he relayed it to me. First of all, let me just say that yes, our 8 month old dog is not perfect off-leash. She is good almost all of the time, but there are times when she won't respond to "come!".... and there are also times when she is super friendly with people who give her attention. However, I took this lady's advice to be bordering on offensive. She talked about how we would have a lawsuit on our hands if our dog charged at a kid on a bike, and how she had years and years of experience, and she could tell that our dog wasn't ready to be off leash, after all, even her Rottie can't be off leash. (Her Rottie often barks at our dog from his backyard; our dog just ignores him. He instigates!)

I think I've talked about unsolicited advice before, so this is probably old. But what am I supposed to do with this advice from a person who supposedly has experience training dogs, but cannot train her own dog to be off leash? I'm sure I'm overreacting, but it would be like me stopping a mother at the grocery store and telling her how her kids should behave, and that she shouldn't let her kids run up and down the aisles. Even if I had children, and well-behaved children to boot, I don't think it would be my place to say anything to another mom. So why does this neighbour feel the need to step in and talk to us about our dog? I just don't know.

If I'm doling out unsolicited advice, just let me know and I'll stop... cuz wow.... how irritating!

What's in a name?

I happened to be reading a blog today where the discussion was on baby names. I always find these discussions entertaining. You wouldn't believe some of the names people think are neat. I get that parents want unique names for their children, but sometimes, maybe it just doesn't pay to be too unique. There's always someone who has to suggest a weird spelling, like "Allysyn" or "Johnothin". And then there are the names that would inspire a world of upsetting comments for the child.

Behold! A list of names I will never name my child, but which were suggested by many on the site/forum I was reading. Note - some of these are actual names of actual children!

Tuesday - would you not be tempted to shout, "IT'S TUESDAY" every time it was actually Tuesday? Wouldn't you be tired of questions like, "Why not Wednesday?" And must the child have to answer multiple times, "Were you born on a Tuesday?"

Puck - yes, Midsummer Night's Dream was a lovely play, but I can't see the wisdom in naming your child something so similar to a swear word.

Bastian - yet another similarity to an unfortunate word.

Fountain - um, no. What if the child happened to spit while talking? S/he would never live it down!

Pepper - first, everyone would snicker if the kid was asked if she wanted pepper on her food. Second, no. Just no.

Jem, as a middle name for a boy - are the Holograms coming???

Lulu - while the child is small and cute, this is a nice name. But imagine introducing yourself as an adult: "Hello, my name is Lulu" - it's just so hard to be taken seriously when you have a babyish name.

Casper - the Friendly Ghost? No, no, and no.

Oval - well, I suppose it's one step above Triangle or Circle...

Prosper and Zebben, or Abram and Skandar for twin boys - again, perfectly nice to have unique names, but Zebben?? Skandar? I just don't know.

Emberly - is it Emily or Kimberly? Why, it's both! Maybe Kimily would be next?

Babylon - I'm not a fan of place names as people names, but if you're going to use a geographical location, surely you could find a nation that opposed God a little less.

Faxon - sounds a little like an invisible gas that could kill you. Also, too close to a swear word.

Kason, Kedric, or Ethaniel - ah, the twisted spelling names! Not quite Jason, not quite Cedric, not quite Ethan or Nathaniel. Kason and Kedric are just bad names. Ethaniel is... weird.

Lzay, because it's similar to Lazy and Lizzie - why would you want your name to be similar to Lazy?

Modest or Patience - I suppose it's better than Lazy, but it would be rough to have to live up to your name all the time.

Granite, Onyx, or Lava for a "dark" name - all of those are horrible names. How sad. I would consider Lava for a dog, but not a human.

Sullen - might as well go with Bitter, Unhappy, or Miserable.

Karma Amelia - just try and stop yourself from singing the song.

Durian - boy oh boy. Not just a fruit, but a disgusting, smelly fruit. (Sorry, Em.)

I love my name - don't you love yours now too?

1096 days

It seems to be taking us quite a while to get fully settled into our new place. I chalk this up to two factors: a) lack of motivation and b) other, more fun things to do. It's pretty difficult to come home after a long work day and pick up a paint roller, even though I'm the one who suggested painting over the very 1990's peachy-pink walls. Not to mention that I'm not really feeling that great lately... although you won't catch me blogging about that kind of thing...

Of course, the painting prevents us from doing other stuff, like unloading all of the boxes or setting up furniture or even buying the appropriate furniture. The domino effect of household chores. We're trying to give ourselves a deadline, but wow, painting an entire house takes a long, long time. Should have just hired someone.

Anyway. 1096 days - that is how long we have been married. Yes, it's true, we've made it three entire years. Actually, it's 1097 days since I'm not writing this on our anniversary. I was just thinking how it's nice that we bring such different qualities to the table. The hubs is relatively easygoing, plus he cooks so I don't have to. I am not that easygoing, but I do clean up after dinner so he doesn't have to. The dynamic works well. Through these few years, I think (or hope) I've learned to be more patient and compromising. I haven't learned to cook, but I've learned not to interfere with a good thing. I've learned that being part of another person's big crazy family is pretty darn fun. I've also realized that having a dog trumps having a kid. Haha! What has hubs learned? I suppose you'll have to ask him, but what I hope he's learned? NOT TO DO MY LAUNDRY. Yes, I am a little bit of a laundry stickler.

Here are some great things I've discovered about the hubby:

- he isn't a trained handyman, but he can fix almost anything that goes wrong in the house, and if he can't fix it, chances are he has a friend who can!
- he's much better at painting than I am
- he's pretty good at training the dog to do tricks
- he likes chocolate cake
- he still likes to bring me flowers

Happy 3 years! May love fill all of your lives.

Wii Fat

Recently, I noticed that in some of the blogs I read, bloggers were raving about Wii Fit. I couldn't really figure out why all these bloggers who previously never talked about video games were suddenly so into Wii Fit - but then someone fessed up - Nintendo had provided Wii Fits for free to various "mommy-blogger"-types in order to, I don't know, drum up more interest I suppose. Interesting marketing technique, but will the reviews really be unbiased? I think not.

So therefore I will post my own review of the Wii Fit game!

First of all, I can't imagine that Wii Fit is a replacement for real aerobic exercise. There is an aerobics category, but uh, no. However I do think the yoga and strength exercises are awesome. Not because I can do them, mind you, but because they are actually realistic and challenging.

But there are many little annoying features of Wii Fit. For example, the fact that it constantly reminds you of the same things - to clear the space around you, to put the strap on your wrist, not to jump on the balance board, to keep still - argh! So many reminders! And another odd feature is how, after your friends have registered on your Wii Fit, it will tell you that so-and-so registered, or that so-and-so hasn't been seen in a while. Creepy and a little Facebook-ish! And finally, the way it cheerfully tells you if you are obese or overweight... I mean, I can see it on the TV, you don't have to announce it!

What I think is useful and fun about Wii Fit is that it encourages you to get up off your seat and get moving. We could all use that sort of encouragement. I apparently have terrible balance, so the yoga poses are pretty helpful. The balance games are neat as well. I wish I was more coordinated. I still remember reading in my first grade report cards that my teachers thought my gross motor skills could use some work. That could still be said about me.

I'm going to commit to doing some Wii Fit every day for two weeks. I'll report back when I'm done, so you can all see whether it's useful or not.

Seven little thoughts

Recently, I took the dog for a walk. She loves to stick her head in shrubs and grass and since it was raining, the shrubs were all wet. I watched as several beads of water rolled off her head and I thought to myself, wow, her head is like Gore-tex.

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On our walk we met a girl with Downs Syndrome. She told me that my dog was so cute and of course the dog went right up to her and licked her. She then said, "I like dogs!" Me too.

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We've decided to paint the interior of our house. I can't seem to choose colours and last night I sat in our family room with about 50 different colour swatches. Wish I had more artistic talent. Alas, my ability to be sarcastic and droll just isn't enough in this situation.

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There are stores you should never go into unless you have at least $100. These stores include Ikea and Costco. My word, I love Ikea and Costco. If only they were smushed together into one store. One day, I'll get a POANG. But a fancy one, not regular boring white POANG.

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I heard on the radio that Clay Aiken and his "good friend", 50-year-old Jaymes Foster are having a baby through artificial insemination. There are so, so many things wrong with this. Not the least of which is the thought of Clay Aiken being a father. Ick.

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I also heard that Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee are officially back together after 10 years of separation. I feel a little old knowing that they've been separated for 10 years and I remember when that happened. Stupid celebrities and their dramatic lives.

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The other day I had a Caramel Light frappuccino from Starbucks. Apparently you save 1/3 of the fat or calories or something. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS, GET THE FULL FAT. When my frapp melted as it inevitably does, it looked like just muddy water with a bit of creamy foam on top. Embrace the fat, people!

Pomp and circumstance

Last night I went to a high school graduation ceremony for some of our teens. It's a small school with not that many grads, so it was a very personal ceremony. One of their teachers spoke, and it was clear from his words and emotions that he cared deeply for his kids and their future. He is also leaving the school, so I suppose that made him even more emotional. As I looked down at the grads, I thought about hope, and how in a way, their lives are just beginning. Each graduate walked across the stage while someone read a blurb about him/her .. what s/he'd be remembered for, what his/her future plans were ... and it was neat to hear about the big plans they all had. I was trying to think of how I felt at my high school graduation... I don't think I felt full of anticipation for my future, but then again I knew there'd be at least four more years of school. I don't even recall feeling grown up. I think I just felt a general sense of dread. Graduation from high school wasn't that big a deal for me. I had to be home by midnight on my prom night and so when people talk about the fun things they did for prom or convocation, my eyes just glaze right over.

At my first university graduation, I still didn't feel any real anticipation for the future - again because there was even more schooling ahead.

At my second university graduation, I felt slightly more hope... mostly in the knowledge that I would never have to set foot in another building on campus ever again. EVER. (It didn't help that I did both degrees at the same school AND I worked on campus for at least 3 years plus summers.) I had a lot of exciting things going on after graduation, like our wedding, moving out, getting a job ... so the future was rosy. But, I don't know why, things still felt unsettled.

Last night as I listened to the speakers, I realized that I actually feel all of that hope and anticipation right now. We just moved into our new place, and although I loved our old house, I really love this house. It isn't some sort of magic house with magic qualities. In fact we have found several quirks and issues already. But it's home. It's my home. It's the first time my name has appeared on title (so we were too lazy to change things for three years, oops), it's the first time I've felt like a real live adult. People - the bank lent ME money. How crazy is that!?

I'm really looking forward to our lives in this place. Maybe one day we'll have kids, who knows. Maybe even a second dog one day! I am trying not to plan my entire life... but to rely on God more fully. Last night's grads chose Proverbs 16:9 as their grad verse:

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

I think that's quite fitting for a new beginning, don't you?