Bi0nic gets ripped!

As Angie pointed out, February 29th only comes along once every four years, and since today is the day it should be marked or celebrated in some fashion. Soooooo.....I took this as a sign that I should get off my arse and do something I've been putting off.

I joined a gym!!!

This is HUGE for me. I haven't belonged to a gym in a few years, and even when I did it was just the Y and I didn't really know what I was doing. I like to work out with buddies, and I was using that as an excuse to not join since we moved here...because I don't know very many people, I don't have a buddy. It's silly really, because even when I had a buddy for working out we didn't do the same routine so basically we just arrived and left the gym together. But it was good moral support.

I miss my kickboxing class because it was fun, I had close friends to partner with (which also served as motivation because you never want to disappoint your partner), we always had an instructor to make sure we knew what we were doing, and it was intense enough that even if I didn't do anything but go to those two weekly classes I was burning a good amount of calories and building up my cardio.

So now I need to be my own buddy...my own butt-kicker...my own motivator!

After looking online and asking around a bit, I settled on Nubody's Fitness. It's a local chain with a good reputation, and as luck would have it the closest one to us is fairly new and ladies only. Not that I care if there are guys there, but it'll help until I'm comfortable with what I'm doing.

It's money well spent I think. They had a good deal of $99 for the first 3 months, plus a deal on signing up for 5 personal training sessions (saved about $50 on those). I signed up for a year to get the better monthly rate of about $50 (after the first three months, obviously) and they include 4-5 hours worth of introductory classes to learn how to use the equipment, etc. The woman that was signing me up chose a trainer for my first session, but I am welcome to change to someone else if it isn't a good fit. From what I've seen on the website though, and by the recommendation the manager gave her I think she will be just what I need for a good kick in the pants.

I'm nervous, but sooo excited! My first intro classes are tomorrow for cardio and the circuit equipment. Tuesday night I learn about weights. Then next Saturday I'll do the stretching/ab intro, followed by my first personal training session. OMG, what have I done?!!

:)

Bi0nic got bored...

...so she went to check out some books...

(Apparently today's posts are brought to you by the letter "B"!)

I thought it might give me something to do, so I headed over to the local library and signed up. I haven't been a member of a library since I was a kid...and even then I don't think I checked out all that much. Not to say I don't read because I do...but usually I just borrow stacks of novels from my Mom or buy them cheap at Costco (or expensive at the airport).

Normally I read more fluffy stuff...the Shopaholic series, or Janet Obradovich stuff, things like that. I can burn through a book a week if I read every night....sometimes more in the Summer because I like to sit outside and read.

Anyway, I feel that I've spent too much time staring at the TV since we moved to Halifax, so I thought I'd try to find some more reading to do. Right now I'm working on The Kite Runner that DBF got me for Valentine's Day (kudos to him for remembering I had a post-it note floating around with this title on it for ages) and I'm really enjoying it. Good story and well written. Easy to read and enjoyable enough to keep me coming back for at least an hour each night. I'd like to find more like that.

However, the library was overwhelming and I had no idea where to start. I haven't a clue of any other books I might like to read. So that's where you all come in.... please leave suggestions of books I should check out. Now that they are free, even if I don't like them there is no harm done. So let's see what you have to recommend.....

Big Brother Update

***SPOILER ALERT***

If you haven't watched this week's episodes yet, stop reading here!

I let the DVR tape Tuesday night's episode, so I ended up watching it right before last night's show. Geeze, talk about a turn around since my last post on this. So much for Amanda and Alex being the coolest couple in the house. She turned out to be a yappy bubblehead and he turned out to be a bit of a stuck up arse. Too bad...I thought they were cute.

I still think that they shouldn't have been voted out just yet, but I'm glad it was them before Matt & Nat. (I would gladly see Sheila and Adam go...both SOOOOOOOOOOO annoying. Or if Allison could get voted out without Ryan, I'd go for that too. She's a nutter, but he's OK so I don't know what to think.) So far, Matt seems to be the only one playing the game properly and Nat is just too damn cute for her own good. They are strong and fun to watch in the challenges. But because they are strong, I'm sure they won't be off the block for long. All of the weaker teams will know they can't win against them and keep working to get them out the door.

Although James seems to be a good guy (the way he dealt with Amanda's fainting and the way he lives outside of the house), I don't like how he's playing the game. It's one thing to have a strategy, but bold face lying about not putting Matt up on the block was just lame as far as I am concerned. Why say anything to the guy at all? What was the point of that? And Chelsia just seems to be going along with whatever James says. Get some opinions of your own, would ya!

Not sure how I feel about Joshua and Sharon. His total meltdown attack of Amanda was ridiculous and over the top, so I lost any interest I had in him at that point. We'll see how they play this week as HOH and I'll decide from there. Hopefully they stick with their friendship with Matt & Nat because I'd like to see them stay.

One more thing to read

As a gal that has just moved all the way across country, I find this new blog by Chatelaine's former food editor a fun read. She has just moved across country in the opposite direction to live in Victoria, so it's cool to see her point-of-view on my old stomping grounds.

Fresh Living - Give it a look!

and in this month's Chatelaine we have...

1 - Coupons aplenty! Grains First crackers, Crispy Baguettes (yum yum!), Wagon Wheels (to feel like a kid again!), Real Fruit Gummies, Laughing Cow Cheese, Dairyland yogurt, and Fruit Solutions juice. Yeehaw!

2 - Wines to warm us! Since the Halifax selection of wines is piss-poor compared to what we are used to, it's time to take some suggestions and try some new stuff.

3 - Quick and Easy Baked Tomato Risotto! I've been dreaming of a simple risotto, and magically here it is. Can we say weekend dinner plan?

4 - Potato Ricer - This is something I've been wanting forever, but whenever I'm making a shopping list/wishlist/Christmas list I forget. And now here it is in black & white!

5 - Wooden block magnets - not that I have kids, but one day I will so I'm sticking this little gem in my back pocket until then. Instead of those neon plastic numbers and letters for the fridge, hot-glue magnets to the backs of classy wooden alphabet blocks. So cool!

6 - L'Oreal Glam Shine Crystals Gloss in Opal Strass, $11 (it's nice to finally see a gloss I like that isn't like $75!)

7 - Gap trouser-cut jeans - I wonder if they come in "tall"?

8 - Body Shop "Blushing Daisies" palette - can you say cute!!?

9 - Pamphlet: 12 Simple Ways to Attain and Maintain a Healthy Weight - most of it is common sense, but a handy little thing to keep as an occasional reminder.

10 - Article: "A Woman's Work" - six women tackling some of the most challenging jobs in the world. Puts life and work into perspective....

Valerie Bertinelli

I finished work right on time yesterday, so decided to watch a little boob-tube before I went about making dinner. Because of our time zone I find that often there isn't much to watch later in the day/early in the evening because we are an hour off the stupid schedule. So I ended up landing on Oprah.

I don't regularly watch her show, unless I happen upon an episode with a good celebrity interview or Nate Berkus is on.

Yesterday was Valerie Bertinelli. Normally I wouldn't consider her an interesting celebrity, but I'm glad I stopped long enough to check it out. She's quite funny and very real (or at least seems that way). She was discussing her new book and it sounded interesting. Oprah was giving her a hard time and kind of annoying me with the way she kept putting her on the spot....but Oprah can't help but be annoying.

Her book is called "Losing It". Apropos since her recent affiliation with Jenny Craig and her very public weight loss (maybe this is why I found it interesting, because anything diet related seems to catch my interest these days). She describes everything from her struggle with weight, her way too early marriage to Eddie Van Halen, her recently admitted use of drugs, etc.

I'm sure it is probably one of those media-hyped silly celebrity autobiographies, but it struck me as something I might like to read. I guess this is my reason to go join the fancy library up the road.

Let's Talk Oscars

For lack of anything better on TV last night (the DVR recorded BB for me), I decided to watch the Oscars. I think DBF and I watched them last year, but it's not something I usually go out of my way for.

I managed to watch all the way through, but I'm not sure why. I guess that since I'd already invested a couple of hours in it, I wanted to see who got the big awards at the end. And I was hoping for a few more beautiful dresses, but honestly the two I liked the most were right at the beginning.... Jennifer Garner and Katherine Heigl.

As far as the fashion goes, there's usually too many people trying too hard. What was up with Tilda Swinton? Her hair was hideous...she's not the world's most beautiful woman, but good God woman, do something a little more feminine...and her dress was a tent. And did you see Daniel Day Lewis's wife? Not good. Jennifer Hudson's dress did something weird to her boobs. Renee Zelwegger's dress was gorgeous, but the way she swaggered onto stage was just plain bizarre. She's so different when she being herself instead of one of her characters. Very odd.

Now, for the awards...

I haven't seen most of the big Oscar movies this year so I didn't have any favorites going in. I was cheering for Ellen Page just because I've recently moved to Halifax and she is from here and it would have been fun to see a Canadian grab the award. Awesome that Juno's writer, Diablo Cody won for her original screenplay though. I didn't know the girl that took home the Best Actress award, Marion Cottilard, but after her gushing acceptance speech I was very happy for her.

I'm not a fan of the Coen brothers in general and DBF saw Old Country for Old Men and didn't like it, so I'm not sure what all the fanfare there was about. Obviously the academy sees it differently since they took home the three big awards...adapted screenplay, director and Best Movie....plus Javier Bardem took home Supporting Actor.

Daniel Day Lewis was a great choice for Best Actor as he truly seems honored and dedicated to his craft. I'd definitely like to see There Will Be Blood now.

I couldn't believe though that three of the five songs nominated were from Enchanted. Seems a bit of overkill...the movie was cute and quirky and although the songs were all enjoyable I was surprised they all made the cut. Must have been slim pickings in the song department this year. Thankfully, the original song from the independant film Once won the award. The two most humble Irish musicians you've ever seen deserved the win for sure! I've seen that movie on the shelf at the video store and I'm so going to rent it the next time I'm there.

John Stewart was mildly funny this year. A little too scripted for my liking. But it is the Oscars and not the Daily Show afterall, so good enough I guess. I think he was upstaged by the 80 years worth of montages....

Do dogs know what irony is?

Blue Rodeo Concert

"and if we're lost....we are lost together!"

Nikki decided that was our theme song as we walked out of the arena. Six girls giddy with after-concert excitement...she was probably right! :)

After meeting up for dinner and a couple of drinks, we walked over the Metro Centre for the big event. We had heard that the opening band (Cuff the Duke) was stuck in Newfoundland for some reason, and that a female musician had be asked to fill in. We didn't know who it was or what she would be like, so we sorta took our time and stopped to have a beer on our way to our seats. :) It was funny though, because we decided to go sit down to see what she was like...just as she finished her set. We heard about 23 seconds of her. Ooops. Too bad, because she came out and sang with the band a few times and she was excellent. Turns out Melissa McClelland has been touring along with them as well, just not as so much of a headliner. I'll be looking for some of her tunes for my iPod for sure.

So, after the long intermission (while we wished we had just stayed up at the bar!), the band came out to a ROAR from the audience. Haligonians sure love their Blue Rodeo. We had fantastic seats....on the floor, in about the 3rd section back, 5th row.

The show began with an almost acoustic set. Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor both with acoustic guitars, the drummer with only his snare drum. It was a mellow way to begin, but the crowd ate it up...especially when for their third song they broke into "Try" and the audience went nuts. I thought at the time that it seemed so early for them to break out a tune so popular, but as the show went on I realized why. It was the biggest hit for the acoustic part of the show.

After a couple more songs, including a few acoustic guitar solos by both of the guys and a tune that the rest of the band left the stage for while they brought Melissa back out to join in, the guys were sort of chatting with each other looking like they were discussing what to do next...and that's when the curtain came down and the real show began!

We immediately grabbed our cameras and jumped up and ran to the front. Right in front of the stage we stayed for a few songs. Oh, how dreamy Jim is! (haha, can you tell I haven't been to a real concert since I was 20?) I sang along, realizing how many Blue Rodeo songs I actually know and remembering that so many of them I probably learned while working at Filthy McNasty's Cafe during my late teens. Ah, the memories!

After a couple of songs, the security guards started sending everyone back to their seats. Cosette and I reluctantly agreed, but somehow our friends Dena and Nikki never got reprimanded. I'm blaming it on our height...grrrrr. Nikki had my camera so at least there were a few more good stage shots taken without the crowd in the way.

The band played a few songs from their new album, but not too many. We were appreciative of that. Nothing worse than going to a concert where they play all their new stuff that no one knows. Instead, it was this great walk down memory lane with most of the favorites from the last 20 years..."What am I doing here?", "This Town", and "Trust Yourself". Sadly for me, they never did play "Bulletproof" (or anything else from that album apparently) or "Diamond Mine" which Cosette waited all night for.

They of course went off the stage leaving the crowd wanting more, and returned just minutes later for their fantastic encore. For "Hasn't Hit Me Yet", during which snow fell from the stage ceiling, Greg stepped around his microphone and encouraged the audience to sing and it was truly amazing to hear the arena full of song. They followed this with "After the Rain" where Jim sat in on piano instead of guitar and proved that even after 20 years and throat surgery he can still hit the high notes. For "Lost Together" Melissa and her husband joined the band on stage and each band member took time for a seemingly improvised solo...and with the array of instruments on stage it was a fun way to end.

We walked out of the arena wishing it wasn't over yet, and giggling while we warbled our own version of "if we are lost....then we are lost together..."

Saturday

So after almost a whole week of grass and sunshine, it snowed last night. And not just a bit, but like 6 inches. So much for heading out to explore dog parks today. Booooooo!

At least I had already planned on cabbing it into town tonight, so I don't feel the need to go out and shovel my driveway yet AGAIN. I will go out and clean off the porch and steps so I don't fall on my face, but that's it!

Tonight I'm off to see Blue Rodeo at the Metro Centre with our friend Cosette and a few of her girlfriends. Yaaiieeee for girls night out!!! Finally something to save me from going stir crazy here at the house. We are meeting up for an early dinner and pre-drinks, then heading to the show. Blue Rodeo probably wouldn't be my usual choice for a concert, but it makes for a good night out and I am sooooo looking forward to it. As long as I hear Try and Bulletproof I'll be happy. Afterwards we have plans for more drinkies and maybe some dancing.

A few of the girls got a hotel in town, but I decided just to cab it home so that I don't have to worry about the dog. Our friend Mark (Cosette's hubby) would take him overnight, but poor Mojo is still a bit sketchy when we leave him too long so I think it's too soon for an overnighter. Maybe next time.

Now, off to decide what to wear tonight. Has to be something nice, but warm....don't wanna freeze at the concert, but don't wanna be bundled to the ears for drinks and dancing afterwards either.

Happy Saturday!

All Cut Up

Man, I love a fresh haircut. My head feels lighter, my eyes look brighter, my highlights look fresher, and the flat-ironing looks soooo good.

I don't even care that I can't tell if it was a good haircut or not, it just feels soooo good. I'll know better in a day or two when I have to wash and style it myself, but it looks like a good cut and the girl looked like she knew what she was doing.

Problem with moving to a new city is not knowing where to go. So I ended up just chosing HS Studio because I drove by it a few times and it looked new and hip. I went in yesterday and asked if they could set me up with someone for a cut and so they did.

The place is HUGE and has tons of staff. Looks somewhat swanky, but I think that was just the flat screen TVs and all the Redken products scattered around. :)

Niki seemed really nice and like she had some skills, so I'm sure I'll be heading back to see her again.

Yaaaiiee!

Survey Says!

I stole this survey from Eurydice, who stole it from Lex-D, who stole it from someone else.... :)

Next birthday age:

Place I'd like to travel:

My favorite place:

Favorite object:

Favorite food:

Favorite animal:

Last movie I saw:

Favorite movie:

Favorite color:
City I was born:

City I live in:

Pet's name:

First job:

What a difference a day makes...

Yes, day two of sunshine!

(Funny because it was actually dusting some snow around when I went to bed last night...)

I had an appointment this morning and was able to wear my Spring jacket! I went out to warm up the car, and it didn't need it. No foggy or frosty windows. No need for the seat warmers. Didn't need my puffy coat or mittens.

It's amazing how my motivation and overall feeling is tied to the weather sometimes. I was happy to be out driving and running errands. I was happy to have taken the time to do my hair and makeup and wear my good clothes. Just two days ago I was hunkered down with my yoga pants and hoodie with a ponytail and box of chocolates. LOL.

Today I accomplished so much....before my West Coast co-workers were even out of bed! I met with my financial planner, did some browsing at the mall, registered my car and got my plates, got the dog's license, found a nice hair salon and made an appointment. If I didn't have to work I'd still be out there driving around looking for things and running more errands.

What a difference a day of sunshine can make!

What's that yellow thing?

Why, it's the sun!!!

After just about floating or blowing away for the last two days, I woke up this morning to find that almost every last bit of snow had washed away and the sun was out. Almost looks like Spring out there.

But I don't believe it for a second! Those crazy weather Gods are up there snickering at all of us getting comfortable with today's nice weather. I'm sure they have something sneaky in store for us, and I'm betting it doesn't include more than a day or two of sun.

Sadly, I didn't even actually get to enjoy it today as I was working my little buns off. Murphy's Law strikes again that the day I want to get outside is the day that I can't. I suppose if I hadn't left stuff to do from yesterday I wouldn't be in this predicament, but let's not talk about that. :)

TV Review - Big Brother 9

I don't know why I continue to watch every cycle of Big Brother. It's the typical car-wreck style reality TV show. In fact, it should probably get the award for Most Ridiculous Concept. But it's one of the originals and I find myself tuning in every time.

I'll blame DBF's bad timing, for leaving town just when Big Brother 9 is set to premiere. If he was home, I wouldn't be watching it. Ya, it's all his fault!!

So what do we think of this season's premise? "Til Death Do Us Part"

I'm not in love with the couples thing. Mostly because I don't think it was fair to ambush the contestants and stick them with "soul mates" they may or may not play well with. I realize that BB has become all about the twists, but this one seems over the top to me. Not fair and it has already led to some of the most overly dramatic moments in BB history (and that's saying a lot).

I will admit that usually the women drive me nuts, but I'm sorta liking a few of them this time. We'll see how it plays out. If anything, I want the energy of Angela...she's a rockstar so far...I hope she stays that way. And have you seen her booty? I don't generally look at girl's bums, but hers is stellar. And she seems to have been paired up with about the most perfect partner in the house, Adam.

Happily, the two teams that are up for eviction right now are the ones that NEED to go. The additional twist of the dating couple that immediately exposed themselves and caused much unneeded chaos makes me want to poke my eyes out. Thankfully I've been watching the shows on PVR and just fast forward right through the ridiculous arguements and self riteous bitch-fests the girls have been having.

I can't believe I'm actually taking the time to post about this. I have no good excuse, except I'm a sucker for bad TV apparently. So sue me.

I'll get you my pretty... and your little dog too!

Again with the wind!

Good thing my dog is big enough to hold on to!

DBF keeps asking me what I might like as a gift from the NEX at the Jacksonville Navy base. I think I'm going to ask for Ruby Slippers....because one of these days the wind is going to be strong enough to pick the house up and land me in Oz. My Girl Guide instincts are telling me to have the shoes at the ready and to be prepared. :)

Stop with the pop!

The radio stations here are NOT GOOD. Meh, top 40 pop-crap or old school boring-ass rock n roll or a mish mosh of crappy middle of the road rock. Nothing in my beloved modern rock genre I tell ya. I've already had my fill of Idol winners and Avril soundalikes and I've barely been here a month. I have even taken to the CBC, and that's soooooo not my thing while driving.

So....it's time to finally unwrap the iPod adaptor my lovely Mom got me for Christmas. Ya Ya, I know....why has it taken so long? Who knows. I'm going to blame it on the lack of new tunes on my iPod.

Sunday's goal: download new tunes and update iPod with a driving playlist, a dogwalking playlist, and a workout playlist. I'm taking suggestions.....please.

(mhmmmm....yup, you read that right. I wrote "workout playlist". Because I keep meaning to join the gym. maybe this will help point me in the right direction.....)

Just when I thought I'd found it...

Poor Mr. Mojo has been pretty bored lately. No big open field at the end of our street anymore, so the daily exercise routine has been shot all to heck. Not to mention that it hasn't exactly been warm enough to last more than about 10 minutes outside before my nose starts to feel like it might fall off. Needless to say, Mojo and I were in desperate need of some quality outdoor time.

This morning I saw a note in the paper stating that HRM has recently made a bunch of sports fields available as off-leash areas for dogs to run. It listed a website, so I thought this was great...since so far I've only figured out where one trail-system with off-leash rules is. Since the sun is shining today, I found the website, figured out which field was closest to us, and set out with Mojo in the car to find the place.

It's a sad, sad, sad patch of field at the end of a sad, bumpy road. Not exactly what I was hoping for. But Mojo was pretty stoked, so I let him run around for about 10 minutes....but he was getting too curious about what lay on the far side of the field and since it looked like a dangerous ravine and a road that led who-knows-where, I decided it was time to load him back into the car.

Too bad. We'll have to keep looking.

But at least the sun was shining and it gave me the fresh air I so desperately needed...and the motivation to come home and get all of my weekly chores done. :)

TV Review - Lipstick Jungle

DBF left town just in time for the new mid-season TV shows premieres. I hadn't even heard about Lipstick Jungle until about two days before it aired. I guess I hadn't been watching enough regular television or was going to bed before the commercials were airing. Either way, I was obviously in the dark because this thing was getting a media frenzy apparently.

Once I finally did see the ads, I was pretty excited to check it out. Although, since it's on regular mainstream NBC (instead of somewhere a little more fun like HBO or Showtime) I wasn't totally sure if it was going to live up to expectation. I mean, they spend a lot of time reminding us that this show is from the same creator as Sex and the City...so they are setting the bar mighty high.

I am excited to see Brooke Shields back in a main role...she's gotten pretty cool as she's gotten older. And she seems like a real woman. She is still gorgeous, but in a more natural, she's-getting-up-there-in-age-and-you-can-see-her-wrinkles sort of way. And what about Kim Raver? Do you remember how plain-jane and dowdy her look was on Third Watch? Wow, who knew she was actually that glamorous? And well, Lindsay Price has always been cute, so I'm not surprised that she fits her role so well. But is it just me or do her lips look a little extra plump these days? Maybe it's all that lip gloss.

Anyway, I've watched the first two episodes now and I think I'll try to keep up. So far I'm interested to follow the characters and I find the plots just right for that late night, candy-coated, completely mindless TV that I so love. The beautiful, beautiful men don't hurt either.

I think this one is definitely DVR worthy.

Darling Boyfriend!

This is a shout out for DBF...who doesn't seem to be getting my emails on his ship. Booooo to the bad military satellites and stuff.

Hi honey!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hopefully you start getting my emails soon cuz I've sent you all kinds of fabulous notes and stuff. haha. OK, fine I whined about my car and mentioned something about insurance costing more here than at home...but I said it with a loving "I miss you" tone to it. ;)

Have fun with yer helicopters and aircrafts and things!!

Love you!

Crazy Nova Scotia Weather

I thought I should probably clarify as to how the roads were magically clear today when yesterday I was worried about there being too much snow to bring my car home.

Crazy Nova Scotia weather. That's how.

It did snow about 4+ inches yesterday between 10am and about 4pm. Light snow though, so I went out right at 5:00 and shovelled it all out of the driveway... especially since my car was gone all day....I was worried it might freeze and then I wouldn't be able to get my car back into it's spot today.

The forecast had called for ice pellets and rain for the evening. Well, I never saw any ice pellets, but good Christ! Once it started to rain it never stopped. And then it got heavier and heavier. And then the wind started. Amazing, crazy, blustery, hard, fast wind. House rattling style!

I went to bed at midnight and was awake for probably 2 hours because the weather was sooooo loud. That huge window in our bedroom was vibrating and rattling the blinds. It sounded like the roof was going to pull right off. I kept having visions of laying there in bed and just having the whole roof tear right off, leaving me and the cat there in bed getting rained on. This tall house of ours really sways in the wind and last night was the worst yet. I finally fell asleep, but it took a long time.

The benefit to the whole thing was that it washed away more than a weeks worth of snow. The five foot pile of snow in my front yard has been reduced to two feet. The back deck is cleared completely. DBF's car is no longer buried under 8 inches of snow, and actually looks clean from nature's power wash. Even our driveway was pretty much washed clean.

Now, as long as it doesn't freeze, this should be good for at least a few days!

It's only money, right?

So I got my car back. I think I'm basically over being pissed off now. Shit happens and if I wanna drive my car I just have to deal with it. At least I had money put aside and I'm not going to go into debt over it....even though I had much better plans for the money. *sigh*

But wow, what a difference! The clutch obviously felt a lot different, but boy was it sure nice to feel all the power back in my baby. I really do enjoy driving my car! Zip, zip, zooooom! And the roads were so nice and so clear for the first time since I got here....I actually enjoyed the drive home and felt like a real member of Halifax society. :) I even learned a new route that shaved a good 5 minutes off the drive.

If only I hadn't had to come home and get back to work. Boooo. I could be out there zipping around and enjoying the $2000 I just spent!!

Oh well, I have to go back out later to pick up my insurance and hopefully head over to get my new plates and registration too. (FYI: the insurance itself worked out to be about the same cost as it was in BC....except that I still have about another $150 to cough up for registration so it's actually more expensive...lame.)

Happy Heart Day!

F@*K!!!

So, that thing that I originally thought was the clutch, but then decided was the turbo....turned out to be the freaking clutch.

Fine.

Except that car is barely six years old and has no business with a worn out clutch.

But whatever...sometimes these things wear out.

Except that how in the freaking world is a clutch assembly on a freaking Volkswagen Jetta possibly $1300?!

Yup, you read that right. $1300 for parts, plus like $550 for labor. Plus freaking tax. Goodbye $2000.

Next time I buy a car I think I'll have to spend some time researching the cost of common, wear-and-tear parts. This is freaking outrageous.

It would likely have been cheaper if it had been the stupid turbo.

Not impressed.

(and before you ask, yes I called my old VW dealer and asked them the price to make sure I wasn't getting burned and sure enough that's what it is....at least labour is $20/hour cheaper here.)

(oh and did I mention that my battery is apparently dying and my starter is making some quirky noises so that could be another $415 sometime in the coming months. oh, how I think it's time to start really looking at the SUV I was thinking about getting...)

Wacky Weather

Ha, so I finally got my car down to VW for the turbo work it needs. (oh my God, it will be soooo nice to have my power back!) But of course now the weather has gone for shit again. When will this end?

They had someone drive me home from the dealership, which was a total score...and he said that he'll probably be able to pick me up this afternoon because one of their other shuttle vehicles is all setup for Winter driving. Well that's just super, except that I probably won't be able to drive MY car back! They might have to keep my girl overnight...booooo!

Glad I did a seriously full-on shovel and salt of the driveway and front stairs yesterday because apparently after the snow stops today (at least 2-3 inches again) we are going to get ice pellets and then maybe about 20cm of freezing rain later tonight. Nice eh?

Insurance Drama

Oy, what a rigamarole to get the car insured and registered! You know, everyone always complains about ICBC and how they have the corner on the market and no one has any choice in the matter for car insurance in BC, but man it's a lot easier to know that you just go to one place and pay the price they give you and be done with it.

I checked around a few places that came recommended but ended up deciding that it was too big a pain in the ass and just chose to use the same place we got our house insurance. It will be a better deal for us since they give a discount if you've got other insurance with them. Plus, we have two cars so when DBF gets back he'll get a discount on his too.

But geeze....I had to get my driver's abstract sent over from ICBC, then had about 3 phone calls back and forth with the insurance guy and I still won't get the final quote until today. Then once I've finished with him I have to head over to the Access center to get registered and get plates. (plus, while I'm there I guess I might as well change my driver's license over too). And somewhere along the way I found out that I have to get my vehicle inspected too....good lord. (My car finally went into VW today for that turbo problem so they are going to do the inspection for me anyway.)

God, you would think I'd moved to a foreign country or something for all the differences in just being able to drive my own damn car.

(On a more interesting/pleasant note....I had three different people tell me today that the snow should soon be coming to and end....after February things start looking up. Let's hope that's true!)

Celebrate Good Times!

Well, would you look at that!! We broke the 10,000 visitor mark this week!!! How cool is that??

Not to sound cliche, but I just want to take a moment to thank all of you for coming here and supporting my little blog. Who knew that my trials and tribulations would interest anyone enough to generate 10,000 visits in only 10 short months?

I started this blog as a way to inspire myself, to keep myself busy and motivated while DBF was away for training. It has grown into a daily diary for me and I hope to always have something to say to keep you all coming back. Even after he returned from training I couldn't bring myself to part with my day-to-day writing, so I took a new direction with our move across country. Now that we are here, hopefully I can keep coming up with new and fabulous themes for the blog.

Again, thank you all for your support!! Tell a friend! :)

23 days and counting...

Booooo..... DBF left again today. For 23 days. Did I mention boooooooo? At least he gets to go to Florida and gets a few days of leave. Something new and hopefully fun for him.

While I stay here in the cold and snow....grrrr....booooooo some more.

Of course, yesterday it snowed...and snowed some more... so we had to dig ourselves out of the driveway this morning. Good way to get the heart pumping at 7am!

Our road had been plowed a few times overnight so we figured that it would be smooth driving down to the dockyard. My car does handle just fine in the packed snow and slush...it's front wheel drive with good tires, but I'm still pretty uncomfortable out there. The main roads weren't near as clear as we had expected and although everyone was going at a reasonable pace and mostly keeping their distance I still felt like I shouldn't be out there.

I was fine until we got to the big hill that leads down to the dockyard. It was super slushy and gross and I ended up making DBF drive those last few blocks. It was fine and I will get used to this eventually but that was too much for me to deal with that early in the morning.

Because of the stupid-doody weather we were running behind so our farewell was just a quick hug and kiss on the side of the road. Booooooo. How romantic!

My biggest worry was getting out of the dockyard. All roads leading out go uphill. All with stoplights at the top. I had visions of getting part way up and having to stop for the light....then sitting there spinning my wheels and not moving when it was time to go. Luckily the light stayed in my favor and I just drove right on through. The roads were still pretty shitty most of the way, but thankfully it wasn't busy and I just drove at my own pace (which was still basically the speed limit anyway) and didn't have any trouble.

I'm actually better at it than I give myself credit for. I just need to learn to relax and trust the car.

Have a good trip honey!! Hurry home!

Date Night Wrap-up

So with DBF only home for this weekend, we decided to make sure we got in a date-night in lieu of Valentine's Day. After much surfing the net and fussing about, we settled on Bish for our night out. We had been there in the Summer when I came to visit, and I wanted to see what it was like with the Winter menu and the darker, cozier atmosphere.

I gave myself this as an excuse to finally go shopping for a new outfit. I spent a few hours at Halifax Shopping Center and found a great sales girl at RW & Co. that spent a bunch of time helping me put an outfit together. Problem was that the outfit was going to require black heels and mine need repair in a big, bad way...so I quickly scanned through the few shoes stores but couldn't find what I was looking for. Figuring that I would just have to wear my black boots instead, I was heading out of the mall when I decided to check out Sears just in case.

Well, am I glad I did!!

Sears was having a HUGE shoe sale. Not only did I get a great pair of black heels, but also a very cool pair of red round-toed pumps....each for only $23!!

Anyway...back to the date.... :)

We decided to cab it downtown, which made me happy because that way neither of us had to forfeit drinks with dinner in order to drive home. It also meant that we wouldn't have to walk from the car anywhere so I could wear whatever footwear I wanted. Or so I thought. haha. I forgot that I would have to get from the house, through the somewhat snowy driveway to the cab. I made it, but if someone had filmed the escapade it would have made for a good YouTube video.

Dinner was yummy and our table was really great. We got one of the comfy banquet tables at the back of the room....where we could both sit on one side. So comfortable with little throw pillows and everything. I had crabcakes, and the chicken stuffed with brie & proscuitto. Yum!! Only thing that would have made it better was if I wasn't still sick and getting extra congested from the red wine. Boooo.

After dinner, we headed to the Shoe Shop (of course) for a few after dinner drinks. We were supposed to meet up with some friends, but apparently they had shown up a bit early and decided it was too busy and left. We didn't find it all that busy, but I guess that's the difference a half hour can make. We enjoyed our drinks and people watching, and with a happy buzz on left for home by midnight.

Sickypants

I guess my immune system finally felt my body slow down and decided now was a good time to attack. Fine with me this week, since my goal was just to lay around and do nothing while DBF was away, but now he's coming home today and I'm at the height of my congestion and overall snottyness. Joy!

Our double-date movie night got cancelled for tonight because our friend has to work and they don't have a sitter for the night anyway, but it would have been nice to get out of the house. Probably for the best because no one wants to listen to me sniffle and snort in a theatre for two hours. I'll keep sucking back the Dayquil and Dimetap and maybe we can still go on our own.

Tomorrow night is supposed to be our big date night though. DBF is leaving again on Monday for three weeks, and will miss Valentine's Day so we wanted to go out for a nice dinner and drinks. Hopefully I can suck it up and feel good enough for that. I would be sad to miss date night!!

Of course, if they don't come plow our road soon it is going to be a tad difficult for me to pick him up from work today anyway....

Something a little different...

Normally I try to stear clear of all of the hype surrounding celebrities and their untimely deaths, etc. (...not to say that I don't occassionally get sucked into celeb drama... Britney is a car wreck that I can't look away from sometimes...), but I just read an article about how Heath Ledger's death has been deemed an accidental overdose of prescription pills.

Read it here.

It caught my attention because on the list of drugs was OxyContin.

This is one of those situations that is brought to light by my job. I work for a legal website that provides daily legal news about everything under the sun. One of the main topics that comes up every day is prescription drugs....whether it be about unknown side-effects, off-label use, or addictive qualities. I read multiple complaints from the general public each and every day about how addictive OxyContin is.

These complaints come from normal, everyday people like you and me that have been given this prescription by their doctors as a painkiller. They've been told that it's not addictive. Yet, here they are months later feeling like meth-heads that just need one more fix. They've tried and tried to get themselves off the painkiller, but to no avail. They find themselves financially strapped and overusing each and every day. It might as well be heroine.

So here we find yet another stressed out person that has been living each day pumped full of prescription drugs for anxiety or sleeplessness or whatever the ailment of the day may be. Can't doctors come up with a better way to help these folks deal with stress? There has got to be a better way.

Read here to see what draws people to our site to seek help. Or here is an interview we did.

Winter Exercise

OK, so I suck at driveway shoveling. I need to work on my technique. It looks like a small child did it. LOL. I'm looking at all the neighbors driveways all clear and slush-free....and mine is this haphazard mish-mosh of shovel scrapes and missed patches.

However, I'm sick and I went out and did it. So I'm still proud of myself!

Of course, wouldn't you know it that it started to snow again just as I was putting the shovel away. What's with that?!! haha. And I think I just heard the mini-sidewalk-snowplow go by. Nice timing jerk!

;)

Honey's gone for the week

haha, my turn to spend the day with no pants! OK, well honestly, because I work at home there are many a day that I spend in either PJ bottoms or yoga pants and a hoodie. And for me, that's even better than having no pants!

I suppose I have to wear pants anyway, because someone has to take the dog outside. :)

Last night I decided to be a lazy bum and left all of the chores for today. I had a glorious long, hot shower, curled up in my fuzzy robe and watched Disc One of Gilmore Girls Season Six. (I got it for Xmas and this was my first chance to get into it.)

I plan to do something similar tonight, but not until my chores are done....

- laundry
- polishing living room tables
- polishing dining table
- dishes
- sweeping
- vacuuming area rug
- find restaurant for Saturday date night
- call gym and set up appointment
- walk the dog & drop off/pick up mail

I think that's enough for one day. :)

Happy Housewarming!

Sorry for the delay in this post, folks! Yesterday was dedicated to nothing more than eating leftover snacks and watching touching football related movies on TV. Oh, and DBF spent the day trying not to wear pants. (He succeeded until later in the evening when he needed to get something from his car.)

The party actually turned out quite fun! We were starting to worry a little that no one was coming because all but a couple of people were like 2 HOURS late!! We said anytime after 7:00....expecting that people would roll in between 7:30 - 8:00. A few people came by about 8:30, but the remainder of the group strolled in at like 9:30!! Turns out a bunch of them decided to come together....so when the one group was late, they brought the other group down with them.

Oh well, such is life...and in the end it was all a blast anyway!

We had too much food. I made my fabulous guacamole, a lobster/cream cheese dip (with real lobster!), and this chocolate/Skor/cream cheese ball thingy with chocolate cookies. Plus 4 kinds of meats, 5 kinds of cheese, crackers, pickles, olives.... I never even got to making the egg rolls, spanakopita, or mozza sticks we had in the freezer. Ha, and never opened the chips or pretzels. The girls brought more food too.....

We got a few fabulous gifties too! Another beautiful plant (yaaaieee), a tall hurricane-style candle holder (perfect for our dining table I think!), a Home Depot GC, and at least 3 bottles of wine. Score! hehehehehe :)

With all the guitar playing and singing going on (turns out our neighbor is a guitar/bass player so DBF was pretty stoked to find that out), the evening lasted until almost 4am! I guess that's what happens when the party doesn't start until 10pm. After the last few people left, DBF and Marky decided that they needed to hear the opening scene from Empire Strikes Back blasted on our new TV & sound system. Thankfully only 5 minutes of that!!

All in all it was a great evening. I got to meet some of DBF's co-workers, plus a couple of buddies I've heard about but never met. DBF had a great time playing guitar and working on his new songs with our friend Colleen. We need to recruit more girls for next time though....it wasn't quite the sausage party we had predicted, but it was close!!