MERRY MERRY

CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS!

MAKING MY LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE

In the spirit of the season, I have made my list and checked it twice, so I thought I would send it to you dear Internet:

• Christmas gifts purchased - done
• abovementioned gifts wrapped - done
• tree purchased - done
• abovementioned tree decorated - done
• begin making menus for inlaw visits - done
• purchasing of crap white wine for family - done (Seriously, Wilson's mother and grandmother drink Black Tower - my teeth hurt just writing this sentence) - done
• house decorated - done
• Arthur's Christmas collar and leash dug out - done
• annual argument with Wilson about how much Christmas costs and that you can't abdicate all shopping responsibilities and then bitch about how much money is spent (when in reality it was not a lot, but we have done a couple of big projects on the house and have line of credit debt right now that freaks him out - but then all debt freaks him out!) especially when the presents are for his family as we draw names in my family and the limit is really low - done
• take back abovementioned Christmas gifts because of aforementioned argument in which my husband was an idiot - done Yup, I took most of the presents back! 
• make up from said argument - done
• laugh about argument - done

How goes your Christmas prep? 

 

THREE YEARS AGO TODAY...

On a beach in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Wilson and said I do.  While we may make each other crazy sometimes, there is no other person on this earth that I can imagine spending the rest of my life with.  As I said to him this morning - 3 years down, 47 to go!  And I can't wait!  Happy Anniversary Baby!

 

PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME INTERNET!

I am back - have been sick and now work is INSANE!   I have 3 posts that I have started and want to finish and most of all I miss you all! 

Wilson is out with the boys drinking to excess on Saturday night - my plan is to settle down with a bottle of wine and update!  Won't that be fun - reading the ramblings of a drunken 40 something.  I know that you are all waiting with bated breath!

Chat soon!

PS - You all have really nice shoes today and your hair looks great!  Have you lost weight because that outfit makes you look extra thin today!   I heard that flattery gets you everywhere so I thought I would try it.  Let me know if it works!!

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS...

If loving Donny Osmond is wrong, I don't won't to be right! 

I know, I know, I have been absent but I have lots of excuses:
- travel, travel and more travel.  Seriously, I was in China
- sick, sick and more sick.  Not kidding, heinous cold
- Jet lag - spend 20 hours on a flight and then try to be funny or creative
- work.  A significant lottery win is required to relieve me from this daily 9-5 affliction. 

Anyway, just watching Dancing with the Stars and my love of Donny Osmond is still alive!  If that makes me uncool, so be it! 

I have many posts started and saved.  Stay tuned, many posts are a-coming!  Missed you all!!!

BITCH! WHINE! MOAN!

The title says what I am about to do!  Things I hate about business travel - in no particular order are:

• jet lag
• hotel rooms that are too dark - they think it is modern and nice, I think it is stupid
• shitty room service menus with no variety
• small planes with people who like to talk to their seatmate - even when she has her headphones on
• people who don't get the whole metal scanner thing and leave everything in their damn pockets and have to be searched- which holds up the line
• people who just stand where their stuff comes out of the xray machine and block it so that those of us who also have stuff coming out can't get it until they put back on all of their layers, pick up their minutia and otherwise annoy the CRAP out of me
• missing a good Sunday afternoon of football and relaxing on the couch because I had to get on a plane
• when your electric toothbrush somehow gets turned on in your suitcasea and then you have to use it like a manual toothbrush for the rest of your trip
• crappy hotels with plastic wrapped water glasses and shitty wine that tastes like kerosene
• those who do not shower before getting on a plane.  Seriously - do us all a favour - wet your body once a day, cover with soap, rinse and repeat.  Your pores will thank you as will your friends, family, colleagues, random strangers on the street, fellow subway goers, plane seatmates...you get my drift!

 Yeah, yeah - I know, I earn air miles with which Wilson and I can use to take a vacation except that when I get some 'not on a plane' time, I don't want to get on a damn plane! 

But there is a good side to business travel - nothing beats that joy you feel when your meetings end early and you get to go home 24 hours sooner than you ever thought you would!  And nothing feels better than landing at your home airport and knowing that soon, very soon you will get welcome home kisses and sleep in your own bed. 

AND AWAY WE GO!

Where did I leave off???  Oh yeah - a great first date.  Seriously - in the world of first dates - this one was world class in my books.  So I am thinking to myself - a 2nd date should be in the bag.  Right?   Wrong!  Now, you all know the ending to our story so just play along here. 

We have the great, first date - he meets my gorgeous dog, we eat ice cream - it is all pointing to date #2.  I emailed the next morning to say thanks, I had a great time and it would be great to do it again.  The response - lukewarm at best.  As I read it my brain started gearing up for an implosion.  The hell?  Did I imagine the great date?  This email, is of course forwarded, discussed A LOT and analyzed by many a great girlfriend. 

Week 1 - much discussion amongst DiDi and girlfriends that he must be busy. 

Week 2 - much discussion amongst DiDi and girlfriends that he is an ass*

Week 3-5 - DiDi has officially given up

* - this is before "He's just not that into you!"

Now, somewhere around Week 4 of no call, no follow, NOTHING - I had to go to a tradeshow and I knew that he would be there.  Y'all can imagine the painstaking detail I went through to look amazing at this show.  This was my attempt at "I will show you what you are giving up Wilson!" or another loose translation of this is "Eff you!"

So I got back to my life - working, walking the dog, hanging out with friends - all in all, lots of fun.  One Monday morning, I come into work and there is a voicemail waiting for me.  I don't know about you but I hate voicemail that is waiting for me in Monday morning - it usually means that someone has been into work on the weekend and they want to see me to dump copious amounts of work on me.  However, this time it is not - it was Wilson!  I am listening to the voice mail on my speaker phone and I hear his voice and I cannot pick up the phone fast enough.  He is calling to ask me to a Lobster Party this weekend.  FINALLY!  After 5 weeks of waiting, I finally get a 2nd date.  I am to call him back if I am interested.  ReRe, of course, from the minute she heard Wilson's voice on the speakerphone, ran her ass over to my desk.  We discussed waiting to call back to appear 'cool' but let's be clear about this - I have never been a 'Rules" girl and I never will.  I wanted to go so I called him back within 10 minutes of getting that call.  Date 2 booked!  Let the stressing about the wardrobe begin immediatly! 

Finally, after many consultations, it is determined to appear casually sexy.  Don't want to look like I am trying to hard, etc.  FYI - again, not sure I am a casually sexy kind of girl but I gave it my best shot.  Black, sleeveless V-neck top, with casual drawstring pants and pretty shoes.  Hair was flipped and makeup was light.  The twice-a-day workouts also helped because I managed to lose 3 pounds before the date.  So wish I could do that these days!

He picks me up - actually parks the car and comes up because he wants to see the dog!  This gains him HUGE points with me because Maggie was a huge part of my life and if she liked you, it went a long way!  We leave, go to the party and are the 2nd people there.  I am handed a drink right away and realize very quickly that this is going to be a long drunken night and I better pace myself.  More people start to arrive and at one point, Wilson is off helping our host get the lobster pots ready and I find myself surrounded by a gaggle of women who all know each other and are fairly new, first-time moms.  I now know that Wilson needs jobs to do,  and likes to help out at functions.  In other words, he needs to feel useful.  But at this point, on date #2, I did not know this - all I know is my date is no where to be found.  Once the conversation in my group leaned toward potty training, breast feeding and mommy & me play groups - I excused myself and went and hid in the bathroom.  Apparenly I was gone a long time because Wilson came looking for me and knocked on the bathroom door.  After I explained about being Mommed to death, he kept me near him and made sure to introduce me to nice people. 

Something to keep in mind here - our host Terry is known for throwing great parties.  Lots of booze, etc.  For some reason his wife (now ex-wife) never did any appetizers.  So everyone just feasted on cocktails.  Also, for some unknown reason, we never ate dinner at this lobster party until between 9 or 10 pm.  I think you all get where I am going with this because when all you eat are olives and vodka for hours, a party can really get going in a BIG way.  This was my 2nd date with Wilson!

Finally, at around 9:30 pm, we sit down to dinner - and yup, you guessed I am DRUNK!  However, I am also in great company as my date is drunk and so is the rest of the party!  We eat, flirt, laugh, flirt, pretty much everything and flirt - all fueled by my dear friend alcohol.  We help with clean up and dishes and by this time, I have lost the ability to enunciate and walk in a straight line.  I think it is 2:00 am, but apparenly it is only 11:00 pm.   The rest of the evening's details, while a bit fuzzy, will be left to your imaginations, but suffice it to say, after that we were officially "together"! 

Any hoo, we begin dating and I knew this one was different.  There was no game playing - he called when he said he was going to call, wanted to see me, introduced me to his friends, met mine, walked my dog with me and became someone that I knew I wanted to spend more and more time with.  I kept waiting for the shoe to fall from the sky and bonk me on the head - in other words, kept waiting for him to turn into an asshole but it never seemed to happen.  Finally I realized he wasn't going to be an asshole to me because he wasn't an asshole.  I had finally met a grown-up and he wanted to be with me and was very clear about this.  I was falling in love and it felt good and right and true.  Finally after much waiting and dating of assholes, I realized that they were just practice for the real thing.

Next installment - how do we keep the music playing?

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

So he called!  Well, really he emailed but who cares!  Is there a better feeling in the world than the boy who gave you the butterflies; the za za zsu; that crazy feeling in the pit of your stomach; the heart palpitations...OK, you know what I mean - contacts you.  Nope - not even a really good pedicure and y'all know how much I love a good pedi!!

We email and flirt, we call and flirt some more and then being the good sales guy that he is, he closes the deal and makes a date with me.  It was a Thursday evening at a local Thai restaurant just up the street from my house.   There are no embarrassing lulls in conversation, lots of laughter initated by both of us and otherwise a great evening.  We decided to walk and get ice cream for dessert - both of us love it and there was a great ice cream store around the corner from the restaurant.  We walk, get our cones and then were going to walk around the neighbourhood before heading for home.  However, Mother Nature had other plans - she is a crafty one she is.  It starts to rain and we head for his car for cover.  My apartment was around the corner and I suggested that we go back there (totally innocent suggestion - I SWEAR!).  We go back to my place and Wilson gets to meet the real love in my life at that time - Maggie.  For some reason, this dog who never and I do mean NEVER liked anyone when she first met them, decided  on the spot that Wilson was all hers.  Seriously, she sniffed him, let him pet her A LOT and then laid her head on his knee - all of this before we had even kissed properly!  Wilson, to his credit became a large pile of man goo because of her attention and I have always felt that I owe our relationship to her in some way.  Our joke is always that Wilson met me, liked me, thought I was cute but then he met Maggie, fell in love with her and had to take me because I came with the dog.  Seriously, is it bad that your dog gets ALL of the heavy petting on your first offical date? 

Here is how bad my dating life was before the self-imposed man hiatus - we had a great evening of good food, laughs, easy conversation  - and I was completely caught off guard by that.  It had not happened to me in a long time and I was totally gobsmacked by it.   So after the date, the next day, I emailed to say what a great time I had and wouldn't it be great to do it again.  The email I got back was, to say the least, not encouraging...lots of work, blah, blah, blah, get together again, not sure when, will call you!  In other words, a brush off, a nice one but still, a brush off.   I could not believe that I was the only one who had a great date but the evidence was telling me that "he was just not that into me". 

So I thought, maybe I had this great date to remind me not to give up on dating and men, just maybe going forward make better choices.  In the back of my mind, I just knew that somehow we weren't finished yet.  Little did I know how long I would have to wait before Wilson would make his next move.

Stay tuned!

ALONG CAME WILSON

So after lots of time, I reached the age of 36 and convinced that I was never going to meet someone that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with - let along bring home to meet my large, crazy family.  I decided that I was going to focus on my career, have fun with friends, enjoy my time with the dog and just have fun.  To this end, there was an opportunity for a some professional development that work was willing to pay for - it was a lot of money - so I took it and had a great time.  It was 4 days of networking and education and by the end of it, I was exhausted!   There was a swishy gala dinner at the end of it and while I wanted to go - there was some great entertainment - the tired half of me just wanted to go to bed.  But I dragged my ass there, got my table assignment and went in to eat and be entertained.  HA!  At a dinner of 3,000 people, I get stuck with a table of world champs at boring.   At this moment, I wish more than anything, that I had stayed home.

As I got to my table, I realized that I was at a table full of suppliers who were going to talk business with me all night.  No laughs, no fun - just more work.  A girlfriend walked by my table and stopped to say hello - and not being shy, I begged her to save me from my boring table.  Ten minutes later, she came back, told me there was a vacant seat at her table and to get my ass over there asap.  Which I did in world record time.  

I sat down beside my friend, said hello to everyone and then turned to my right, stuck out my hand and said "Hi, I'm DiDi".  The response was "Hi, I'm Wilson."  Did I know at that moment that I was sitting  beside my future husband?  Answer - NO!  However, I was wearing a great dress that showed off my cleavage, I was VERY funny that evening and if the truth be told, I thought he was gay so I felt no pressure.  That's right, I thought my future husband was gay!  In my defense, I am an event planner and 98% of the men in my industry are gay.  I just thought he was in the majority.  We are laughing, having a great time and I thought - nice guy, of course he is gay!  My friend who brought me to the table leaned over to me and whispered "I think that Wilson likes you!"  My response - "Of course he does, he's gay!".  To which she responded "Honey, my husband is a waiter, I know gay and that man is so NOT gay".  At that point, I reapplied my lipstick, turned back to Wilson and did not talk to my girlfriend for rest of the evening.  Funny enough - he went to university an hour from my home town and knew people I went to high school with.  As well, 2 of his closest friends are from my home town.  How is that for 6 degrees of separation!

We danced at the after party and had a great time and for the first time in a very long time, I felt actual butterflies about a boy.  All I knew was that I really wanted to see him again and did not have a single clue how to make that happen.   And then he called! 

Stay tuned - first date coming up!

IN THE BEGINNING...

In looking back at my many entries, I realized that I never shared the story of how Wilson and I became a couple.  As I think back on it, there was no meeting of eyes across a crowded room or declarations of instant love but it is still a good story.  But before I tell that story, let me share with you a bit my backstory.

My twenties were pretty typical - lots of fun, trips, guys and nights out with the girls at local bars.  I had lots of fun and made every bad decision about guys that you can make.  I went to see "He's just not that into you" with some work girlfriends and cringed in way too many places as I made most of the typical guy mistakes that were highlighted in that movie. 

Finally, after a couple of job changes I knew that I had to make some radical changes to my life.  I decided (1) to find a job where I did not travel like an idiot - my previous jobs had me travelling up to 60% of my time, which led to exhaustion, no life and a near breakdown - (2) go on a man hiatus and (3) get a dog. 

The right job came about after a while - I took some short term contracts to pay the bills, made some cuts in my spending and eventually I found a job with a great company. 

The man hiatus was to make me realize that I was OK on my own and to stop waiting for a guy to 'rescue' me.  I wanted to get my head and heart aligned so that the next time I met someone who gave me butterflies I would be able to determine if he was Mr. Right or Mr. Right Now. 

The dog - Maggie.  Adopting my sweet girl from the Humane Society on that rainy October day in 1999 was one of the best choices I have ever made.  Because of her, I got into better shape from walking 90 minutes a day, 7 days a week, made great friends at the dog park and had to care for something other than myself.  Most of all, unconditional love met me at the door everyday with a wagging tail and that is the best thing of being a dog owner. 

By the time I met Wilson, I had changed my life quite drastically from what it was and I was in a good place.  I knew what was important to me and I was happy with me, my life and where I was.  I had stopped looking for a boy to save me and decided to save myself.  

And then came Wilson.  More on that later!

STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR!

Last week, Wilson and I went to see U2 and it was AWESOME! From the stage, to being surrounded by 62,000 people all singing along to some of our favourite songs, to having a great date with my favourite boy!

Those 4 Irish boys put on a helluva show and they were the one band that I have always wanted to see. So glad that I finally did!

 

While I really wanted Bono or The Edge to see me int the audience and invite me to come on tour with them (and perhaps be their tambourine player) but alas, I must wait another year for that to happen. 

 

However I have decided that I am One with the fact that I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For in the place Where the Streets Have No Name.  

 

 

I'M BACK!

Wow – have I ever been gone a long time or what! I have no real excuse other than feeling devoid of all creativity and anything funny to say. My job has reached a new level of insanity regarding workload/travel and general all-round craziness that it sapped all amusing anecdotes from me. Damn that ambition that made me leave my lovely old job where I had time to blog, read blogs I love, keep up on Flickr and in general do anything else but work.



Anyhoo, here I am - with my new ‘back to school’ mentality or as I like to think of it as 'back to blog'.  Here are my observations du jour! 

 Jon Gosselin – ENOUGH! Please shut up, go away and get off the cover of US magazine if you ‘hate’ the media attention. Go be a father for the love of God!


Kate Gosselin’s hair – better but still – it amazes me that her haircut made the CNN crawl!


Mad Men – I LOVE JON HAMM! This should come as no surprise to anyone who has read this blog of mine. Also adore Joan Holloway! This show is the total best!!


Business Travel – doing a lot of it and it sucks! That is all I have to say about that!


Shoes – had to go to Atlanta for business. See above for how I feel about business travel. BUT – while I was there, I bought 2 divine pairs of shoes. There is an upside to business travel after all – shopping in different cities!


Grey hair – 2 questions – why does it have to show up at all? Why does it have to show up so damn fast after a cut and colour? Stupid grey hair!!


Traffic – It is such a part of my daily life for the last year. But what really annoys me is how the slightest bit of precipitation causes traffic to slow down to the point where I think I can carry my car faster to work. Is this just a Toronto thing or does it happen in your city?


Summer – where did it go?

Here is hoping the 'amusing anecdote' part of my brain makes a comeback soon!

BECAUSE I SUCK AGAIN...

I give you this picture of Arthur at 9 weeks to view until my life becomes less crazy and I can write again!  I have no idea when that is but until then, I give you the flying ear.

UPDATED

At long last I have updated my blogroll - but have noticed that it has significantly shrank in the last while (since I got a real job and started working instead of blogging - damn that ambition and need for money to pay for my pretty shoe habit!).

Who are you reading internet?  Who should I check out these days?

TRAVEL

I love to travel and that is a good thing as I do it a lot for my job. I love the excitement that getting on a plane brings me – even if I have been to that city or place many times before. It is the act of going away and of coming back that never ceases to put me in awe of how far one person can go in an airplane.



However, because I fly a lot, every time I take off or land I think about crashing. Not sure why I do – I am not afraid of flying at all, in fact I rather like it. However, it never fails, every time I am in a plane I think about crashing. With the news lately of the Air France flight that went down in the Atlantic, I have been thinking a lot about those passengers and what they went through. I can picture these passengers on their flight doing all that you do when you get on a plane – getting on, settling in, trying to make sure that you get good arm rest room, getting snacks, beverages, pillows, blankets, choosing what movies to watch, talking with their kids, thinking about their loved ones on the other end when they land or all that they want to do on their latest travel adventure.


When I think about crashing, all I think about is that if we do crash, I want it to be fast so that no one, especially me, suffers. I also think “Did I tell Wilson and Arthur that I love them? Did I leave the iron on? Did I pack my own pants or Wilson’s this time?” I think about these passengers and send a fervent wish to the universe that these passengers did not know what was happening and that their last moments were not filled with panic, confusion, fear and suffering. I hope that they could only enjoy their flight until it was too late and then it was over before they knew what was happening.


But really, the worst is for those loved ones coming to the airport to meet them, holding signs, flowers, gifts and waiting with open hearts and arms only to be told that they were never going to see these friends, family, lovers, loved ones ever again. There is no balm for that kind of pain and suffering as it is a wound that never really heals. So today, I think about all of them and am feeling sad. I will think about them the next time I am sitting on a plane with thoughts of crashing going through my head and know that because of them, I left for my journey making sure Wilson and Arthur know that they are loved and that they love me back.

HONESTLY...

edder, you rock for sharing this award with me.   I am sorry for taking so long to post - that damn job of mine gets in the way of my blogging.  So, in order to accept this award, I have to share 10 honest things about me with the Internet.   Ummm...I think that the Internet is going to scream 'nuff said' with the minutae but here goes:

1. I hate it when 'educated' people say irregardless.  Seriously - it is not a word stop using it.  Also, please learn the difference between your and you're. 
2. Rude people really annoy me.  It takes a moment to be polite and no one will spit in your food that way. 
3. I asked my husband to marry me. 
4. I can't believe that I am going to be 43 this year.  Sweet mother of God - when did I get old???
5. I am an aunt to 8 nieces and nephews and a great aunt to 12 grand nieces and nephews.  Can you tell I am from a big family???
6. I have a freakish love of good luggage.  I travel a lot for work and am always looking at other people's luggage in the airport.
7. Pedicures are my favourite spa thing to do - nothing makes me feel better than pretty toes!
8. I have a HUGE fear of snakes.  I can't even look at them on TV. 
9. I have zero athletic ability - and I really do mean zero. Walking and chewing gum showcases all of my coordination abilities - and even then, I fail.  Nothing makes my husband laugh harder than when I get invited to participate in some sporting activity.
10. I often have the sense of humour of a 12 year old boy.  Toilet humour makes me laugh my ass off.  Superbad is one of my all time favourite movies. 

There you go!  You now know more about me than my mom. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Two years ago, our big boy Arthur was born.  Little did we know that he was going to join our family but 7 weeks later he did and our life would never be the same.  Somehow, we went from this

Arthur @ 5 weeks

Arthur @ 7 weeks

Arthur @ 1 year

Arthur @ 2 years

What an amazing 2 years it has been!  He has given us more laughs, frustrated us more than we ever knew we could be and loves us like there is no tomorrow.  I can only hope that he knows that we love him back so, so much! 

Happy birthday big boy!  While it is your birthday, you are the best gift we ever got!  Here is too many, many more birthdays with you!

MEMEMEMEME

edder wanted me to share more minutae of my life with you dear internet so here it goes.

1. What is your current obsession?

As always in the summer – So You Think You Can Dance! I love it – not sure why as I am not the demographic but I never miss a show!


2. What are you wearing today?
Brown pants, pink and white tank and a light pink short sleeved blouse. Trying to be spring like on a chilly day.

3. What's for dinner?
Roasted chicken from Sunday and salad. Am down 10 pounds and want to keep the scale moving lower.


4. What would you eat for your last meal?
Macaroni & cheese, turkey with stuffing, scalloped potatoes – basically carbohydrates and cheese with a bottle of fantastic red wine.


5. What's the last thing you bought?
Pretty flowers for our garden. However, as we are just about to start construction on our new deck in the backyard – it could be a contractors’ services for the next 3 weeks.


6. What are you listening to right now?
The typing fingers of my colleagues.


7. What do you think of the person who tagged you?
edder is a fantastic person – funny, smart, loyal, gorgeous and very tall.

8. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
The French Rivieria – gorgeous, good food, fantastic shopping and easy access to the rest of Europe.


9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Denver – to visit my beloved Kacy


10. Which language do you want to learn?
I have always regretted that I never learned how to speak French.


11. What's your favourite quote (for now)?
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” – Eleanor Roosevelt


12.What's your favourite colour?
Blue – not just any blue but that perfect, pretty blue (a combination of sky blue and Forget-me-not blue) that goes with just about everything. It is so hard to find and when I do I buy multiple pieces of it in that colour.


13. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
A dress I bought a million years ago and can no longer fit into. However, when Wilson and I had split for a while (this was of course before we got married), I wore it to an event that I knew he was going to be at but he did not know that I was going to be at. I had lost a ton of weight and looked like a million bucks in it. When he saw me, he looked stunned and we got back together the next weekend. I keep to remind me of the power of cleavage and a good fitting dress. Also, my wedding dress.


14. What is your dream job?
A wealthy retired woman who volunteers and gets to travel a lot.


15. What's your favourite magazine?
Vanity Fair, Vogue (LOVE Anna Wintour) and Toronto Life


16. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Summer clothes


17. What are you going to do after this?
Drive home, smooch a dog and make dinner


18. What are your favourite films?
The American President, The Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, A Few Good Men, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman


19. What's your favourite fruit?
Apples – crunchy and good with cheese and mangos


20. What inspires you?
A good book, a great blog, a person with ideals who isn’t afraid to stand up for them, the ocean, smart people


21. Your favourite books?
So many – A Separate Peace, Anne of Green Gables, The Inn at Lake Devine, A Thousand Splendid Suns and the list could go on and on


22. Do you collect anything?
I love purses, shoes, sunglasses and luggage. However as we are now paying for the services of a contractor, all of those loves are on hold.


23. What are you currently reading?
Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman


24. What's your earliest memory?
Being in the car with my brother when we picked him up from the adoption agency (I was about 2 ½ and thinking – WHO IS THAT AND WHAT IS HE DOING WITH MY MOM????


25. By what criteria do you judge a person?
By what have they done for me lately! HA – actually I try not to be to judgey but often fail miserably. I do try to judge people by how they treat others, small children, old people and pets. Also, because I have a developmentally challenged brother, how people treat those that are different from them. I have seen some of the most “Christian” people be unspeakably rude to my brother and then they are dead to me.

edder wanted me to share this others so I tag KK to share her details with everyone. 

DON'T JUDGE ME

I did it!  I watched the Season 5 premiere of Jon & Kate plus 8.   All I felt was sadness for all of them.  I watched Kate trying to be 'on' for the camera and Jon so wanting to be elsewhere.  He looked so stoned to me.  The sad part for me was that they didn't call each other by their names once or show any kindness to each other.  Can you imagine the tension at that party?  I felt so sad for one of their daughters when she hugged Jon and asked him to not go away again.  Good lord - that got me a smidge choked up. 

I am not a mom and will NEVER have 8 kids but I am one of 7 kids so I do know that a house with a lot of kids is a dictatorship not a democracy - but holy crap!  My parents raised 7 kids and somehow did it without hating each other or making each other feel like a piece of crap

Kate - get help for your control issues and Jon - stop blaming Kate for the fact that you have no job.  You have a job - you are the dad to 8 kids and you chose to put your life on TV and make money from the show.  If you want a 'real' job so bad - go and get one for the love of God.   Both of you need to stop hiding behind what is good for the kids because being on reality tv is never good for kids.  I have never seen 2 people who like each other less in a marriage. 

I won't watch another episode because this one made me too sad.  I only hope that they find a way to resolve in a way that works for them all. 

MEET MY NEW PET - PEEVE!

edder had this list of her 15 Pet Peeves and since I was feeling a lack of imagination and in need of a blog post, here is my list.  Share yours - you know that you want to and its fun!

1. People who use the word "irregardless".  IT IS NOT A REAL WORD!
2. Body odour.  Seriously, in this country where water is cheap and available, there is no excuse.  Do you hear me Toronto taxi drivers!
3. Empty milk containers in the fridge.  Wilson - this has never been funny - NEVER!
4. Empty toilet paper rolls (however I do this to Wilson all the time)
5. Dirty dishes on the counter for more than 1 day - just put the damn things in the dishwasher already!
6. Kitchen cupboard doors left open
7. Bugs
8. Crying children on airplanes.  I fly A LOT and you would think that I wouldn't hear it any more but I DO!
9.  People who wear their blackberries on their hip at a social event - like their children's birthday party.  We get it, you love your 'Berry - but seriously, the whole world has one, no one cares!
10. Tattoos - think about when you get old how that will look!
11.  Facial piercings - most specifically - tongue and lip.  OW and EEWW!
12. People who drive stupidly slow because they are talking on their cell phones.  Learn to mulit-task would you!
13. Jessica Simpson - in fact the whole Simpson family - SO DO NOT CARE!
14. People who tell me that Diet Coke in the morning is gross.  You drink your dark caffeinated beverage your way and I will drink it mine.  I don't judge you - don't judge me!
15. Bad breath - seriously, have you never heard of breath mints?

That was fun and I so could have gone on and on and on!  Come on internet, I showed you mine, show everyone yours!

HAPPY!

Much to celebrate here in DiDi land.

1) LONG WEEKEND!  The weather is supposed to SUCK IT this weekend but still - I do not care!  I have 3 consecutive days off and that in itself is fab!

2) I am not getting on a plane for work for a month.  See here why this makes me so damn happy!

3) Boating season has begun.  The boat is in the water and while not ready to go it will be soon!

4) edder of I Don't Care for Your Tone has given me an award.  Thanks edder - will post about it over the weekend.  You rock!

All in all, I am going to have a large slice of happiness pie this weekend! 

I HATE BUSINESS TRAVEL

For so many damn reasons but over the last 2 weeks, I have been in many places and taken many flights all for work.  My list of reasons why I hate business travel has grown so hang on because here comes another rant:

• people who sit beside me who think that I want to talk to them for the entire flight
• people who sit beside me who have REALLY bad breath
• late flights
• early morning flights
• crappy airplane food
• really bad wine that you have to pay for
• stupid airplane rules - seriously, the plane costs $500 million dollars and my cheap, shitty cell phone will disrupt what exactly.  And if it does, don't you think that you should spend, oh I don't know, spend another $20 bucks and make it so that cell phones won't make the plane crash
• that I have to put all of my toiletries into a baggie
• that I have to take my shoes off to go through the scanner
• people who do not properly strip (shoes, belt, empty pockets, etc) before going through the scanner and making those of us standing in our sock feet wait while he/she gets the cavity search
• people who pull on the back of my chair to get up
• people who fart on the plane - you know who you are
• the fact that I have to buy the worst headphones in the world to watch the movies
• people who feel that showering is beneath them.  These people usually end up sitting beside me and I want to die from the stench. 

Whew, I feel better!  Most times, I get on and off planes like I get in and out of my car but this past week of flights has been brutal.  I need that lottery win to kick in so that I only have to travel when I want to, to places that I want to go. 

 

Excuse me, they are calling my flight.  Wish me luck!

MOTHER'S DAY

I recently looked back through my posts to see what I had written about my mom - and to my shock and horror I had done nothing. I felt, with Mother's Day around the corner that I commemorate her here - even though she does not know how to turn on a computer, find a file or even know what a blog is. So here are just some of the many reasons why I love my mom:

• She had me at 39 (can you say SURPRISE!), when she had already had 5 babies (the oldest was 16 and the youngest at that time was 8) and then adopted my brother so that I would have a sibling close to me to play with
• She is the proudest grandma (and great-grandma) you ever did meet
• She bakes REALLY well - as a kid, I would trade my homemade goodies for Hostess cupcakes, Twinkies, etc because I could get tarts and cookies any time I wanted. I know understand how rare really good baked good were in your lunch every day!
• She went to work, outside the home, when I was 8 - her first job outside the home in 25 years - so that she wouldn't be bored and could contribute to the household.
• She showed me what grace under pressure and compassion truly looks like
• She shows me what true love looks like and made sure that I knew that I should never take it for granted
• She (and my dad) show me what a happy marriage looks like - 60 years together this year and I have never heard them argue or say a mean thing to or about each other (missed this gene as Wilson and I have had a couple of good fights that would make her blush at what we said to each other)
• She always told me that I could be anything or do anything if I only put my mind to it
• She passed onto me the love of animals – you should see how she loves Arthur (even when he tries to lay in her lap - have I mentioned that he is over 70lbs - she just laughs at him!)
• She is the least judgemental person I have ever met (again, clearly you all know that I did not get this gene!)
• She never gets mad at me when I ask her iron something for me 'because she does it better' but really it is because I will burn myself and I hate it more than anything in the world
• Her strength of character and spirit still shine through her every day and way - even now at 82

For these reasons and so many more that there is not enough blog space in the world to write them all, I love my mom. I hope I have many more Mother's Days with er to tell her over and over how much I love and appreciate her.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

BECAUSE I STILL SUCK...

A little Hugh goes a long way! 

BECAUSE I SUCK AS A BLOGGER...

Because work is so crazy right now and I am on the road for the next 3 weeks with nary a moment to breathe, my ability to update you dear Internet on my comings and goings and general life stuff is right up there with my ability to walk and chew gum.  In other words - non existent. 

So instead, I give you some pretty things to look at until I can once again sit down and bore you with the trivialities of my existance. 

Enjoy!

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT

Internet, I am sure that you have seen this because it seems that everyone has!  But holy hannah it sure surprised me!

All I want to do is make over this woman - fix the eyebrows and hair, take her shopping, better make up, tell her to never, ever wear dark hose with a light dress and shoes and lastly, tell her about Spanx when you go on national TV.   I know, I know - I am shallow but then you already know this about me.

You gotta love a good Cinderella story and here is hoping that she can win it all.  But before she does, I do hope that she gets her eyebrows fixed. 

GOOD DAY!

Today is a good day internet and do you know why???  The sun is shining, it is Friday AND I am wearing open-toe shoes for the first time in months!!!

I am one happy girl!  Now if only that damn lottery win would come through tonite - my happiness would be complete!  Fingers crossed!!

GOTTA LOVE A LONG WEEKEND!

Glory be Internet - today is the last day of my work week all thanks to Good Friday!  Oh how I wish that 4 day weeks were what I had everyday (with no cut in pay of course!) - but alas, that is not meant to be. 

Have a great, long weekend everyone and may the Easter Bunny find you wherever you may be!

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

Good Yontif  Internet (and if you are not Jewish - Happy Passover)!.  It is well documented on this site of my love of all things Passover.  Seriously - what is not to love about this holiday - you eat until you can't move, dinner is comprised mainly of carbs, most of the food is beige and there is lots of laughter!  For me, being a non Jew, it is like a non Christmas, Christmas dinner except there is a lot of reading in Hebrew and other tradtions - none of which involve the Son of God.  Serioulsy - what is not to love about a big meal comprised of mainly carbs!

So Internet I will think of you tonight as I dine on kugel, carrot tsimis, matzoh and blintzes. 

PS - don't worry if you hear an explosion tomorrow morning.  That would be my pants as i try to do them up after eating more than a person really should at one meal!

COMING HOME FROM OVER THERE!

Good news! Our friend Rob is coming home in 10 days from Afghanistan! Can I get an Amen to that one Internet! He has some stuff to do in a couple of different places and then he is home with his wife Marcie and 2 kids for a month before he has to report back for duty. The sense of relief and happiness that overwhelmed those of us who know him when we found out he was coming home was indescribable.



I admire Marcie so much and also wonder how the eff does she do it? She married him knowing that the Armed Forces were his career choice, knowing that he trained to put himself into harm’s way. How do you watch your partner leave you for a year not knowing if he will ever come home and put his arms around you ever again? How do you function as a married couple some of the time but a single mom the rest of the time?  How do you love the spit out of him all the time but want to kick him in the shin (really hard!)some of the time?


Obviously I am not made of the stuff required to be a military spouse – you have to be a lot nicer person than me and have the ability to put up with way more crap than I ever could. Also, being adjacent to Army green is not good for my complexion – it tends to wash me out.


So thank you for sending the good thoughts way back when - I know that it helped! 

Have a good hump day Internet!

NO WHERE TO GO BUT UP!

I come out of our house this morning to to go to work only to find that I had left the moon roof open on the car.  Normally, leaving the roof open is this is not a problem as I park it in our garage.  But yesterday - did I do that?  Noperoo I did not.  Guess what else it did last night and this morning?  If you just thought "I bet it rained" you would be right.  Guess how I found out that I left the moon roof open in the car?  If you guessed that my ass told me as I sat in seat covered in rainy wetness - you would be right again! 

So once I moved the damn car, wiped the seats, armrest and dash  - I then went back into the house to change my jeans so that people didn't think I peed my pants while driving to work. 

I have checked around and it is now confirmed - I really am an idiot!

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE

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WHO IS MICH?

Who is the gorgeous girl?  Go and find out for yourself - you won't be sorry you did!!

Congratulations Mich on your 100th post!

PET PEEVE

I have many, trust me on that one!  But today, on a day when everything is rubbing my last nerve so effing raw my pet peeve du jour is that someone, who shall remain nameless, in my department (WHO HAS AN EFFIN MBA) uses the word 'irregardless' - ALL.THE.TIME! 

Seriously - just that today just might be enough to tip the scales in favour of me going postal. 

Will keep you all posted!

NOT A GOOD DAY!

Today sucks! 
Recessions really suck!
It rained today and I left my umbrella at home!
Tomorrow had better be much better than today or I am going to take my toys and go home!
I am too old for this shiz!!

EVERYBODY TAKE ONE STEP TO THE RIGHT, THERE IS NEW BLOGGER IN TOWN

Internet, my dear friend edder has joined us in blogging and I wanted give her a shout out.  This is one funny chica whose writing has always amused the beejeesus out of me.   

Welcome to the Internet edder!  You totally rock!!

PS - if you read her latest post, the boobs mentioned - they be mine!

TGIF?

I am off to visit the inlaws for a weekend visit and to get our taxes done - OK, mostly to get our taxes done as Wilson's dad is an accountant and gets us money back from the government EVERY.DAMN.YEAR! 

However, the last time we were there was Christmas and we chatted about this so I am a little scared of what is going to be discussed this time once my MIL gets a couple of cocktails in her. 

Internet - if you see a a chubby girl with auburn hair running down the side of a major highway screaming - say hi - it's me!

CUTS LIKE A KNIFE

OK, so in my last post, I tried to be all suspenseful and leave you wanting more with my tale of rings and Bryan Adams…did it work? Have you been sitting there wanting more about those details? Have you??? (insert sound of crickets here…) Sorry – forgot that you all have way more interesting lives but I am going to tell you anyway.



I come home from my trip, where I discovered that I was old and seriously lacking in any kind of ability to stay up late and drink anymore, and remembered that Wilson and I had been invited to some swishy dinner by our friend David. By 4:30 pm that afternoon, all I wanted to do was eat dinner and go to bed but I remembered that would make me really old so I pulled on my panty hose and off we went.


This is a great fundraising dinner with a silent auction and Bryan Adams was the after dinner entertainment. (Sidebar - I grew up watching Bryan Adams – I had, have such a crush and he was my 2nd largest concert that I ever went to as a kid. He opened for Journey and I totally lied to my mom about where I was going. I told her that I was staying at my friend Karen’s house and we were going to a movie. I snuck my birth certificate out of her drawer and off we went. Since she doesn’t read this blog anymore, I think my secret is still safe. ) Anyhoo, we go, I am in the mood to shop and I love silent auctions like nobody’s business. I see some small stuff and start writing my name down with my bids. At this point, Wilson started to sweat as he saw how many things I was bidding on. I told him to shush as it was still early and none of my bids would make it to the end of the night.


We went into dinner and are discussing the framed photos that I like but he doesn’t and there is lots of wine drinking (don’t judge it was free and the waiters were very generous with their pouring) and then in-between courses I go back to the auction, made more bids, came back and tell Wilson about stuff I had bid on. He decides that I can‘t have all of the fun and goes and perused the auction and came back and told me that he placed a bid and would I like to see what he bid on? Now I am VERY curious as he never bids on stuff really and we go and Internet you will not believe this one. HE BID ON A RING FOR ME! My lovely but very frugal husband bid on a piece of jewellery for me! Shocked does not even tell you how I felt at that moment! I was shaking at this point because it is very pretty and I wanted it more than anything and was ready to drop the gloves if some beeyotch tried to take my ring. It got down to the last minute and I was so nervous I thought I was going to pee my pants and then POOF the auction is over and the ring is mine! And here I thought that Bryan Adams was going to be the highlight of my evening.


We get back to our seats and Bryan Adams takes the stage and everyone started rocking out to the classics and some of his new stuff. IT.WAS.AWESOME! I would like to remind you all that a lot of wine drinking has happened up until this point. He says that he wants someone to come and sing “Baby, When You’re Gone” with him and of course I am determined that this should be me. I am leaping over people to get closer to the stage (while in 4 inch heels, banging on the stage and pretty much ready to jump on stage) but alas he does not pick me for the song. With nothing left to do, I went and consoled myself with more wine.


Then, he comes out for an encore and encourages us to come up on the stage and dance with him. That was all I needed – kissed Wilson good bye and said that it was nice being married to him, thanks for the ring and all but am going to be with Bryan now. Jumped on the stage (again in aforementioned 4” heels) and sashayed up to the point where Bryan was singing – and we made significant eye contact. I could tell what he was thinking – “who is that HOT woman! I must make her my woman NOW!" (or it could have been a look of fear - the looks are kind of similar). Then his guitarist motioned that I should come closer (he did too!) and that was all it took for me! I leaped, yes leaped over the security guard arm who thought he could stop me and found myself on stage with Bryan and his band. Managed to get a hug in with the man himself and then found myself on stage, in front of a mic and started singing along! For a brief and shining moment – I WAS A ROCK STAR!


Then the song was over and I returned to my table and husband – Bryan Adams may be the boy of my teens but the man at my table bought me jewellery. He got to take me home that night!


So there it is – my fleeting moment of glory! The best part was when I came into work on Monday and told my story, our PR manager Jen said that her sister-in-law and brother were there and and said of the women who got on stage with Bryan were and I quote – “CRAZY!” Yes I was and am – just ask anyone who knows me.

HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY TO ME!

Two years ago today was my first blog post!  Thank you Internet for the laughs, support and friendships.  You totally rock!

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO...

Whew! What a crazy couple of weeks it has been Internet! First, we went on an awesome vacation – Egypt and it was effing AMAZING! To be standing next to a pyramid that is over 5,000 years old and still in amazing condition is utterly mind blowing. We saw so much and did so much that I still can’t believe that I went on such a great vacation. I am working on the pictures and will have all of them posted to Flickr soon (maybe a little long than soon but I swear I am working on it!)


We got back and hoo-boy jet lag is a bitch! I was home for 5 days and then off on a weeklong business trip to Mont Tremblant in Quebec - where it was effing 50 degrees below zero (or so it felt)!! There were times I felt that my girl parts were going to leave my body for a warmer climate it was so damn cold. I would not have blamed them if they did! The cold does not make me a happy girl at all!


However, I did learn a valuable life lesson on this business trip – and yes I will share my life lesson with all of you. GETTING OLD SUCKS! How did I come to this realization – because I cannot drink or stay up AT ALL like I used to be able to. It never used to be a problem to have a several adult beverages, dance until the wee hours, sleep for a few and then get up and go to work like it was nothing. Slam back a couple of Advil, a Diet Coke or 2 (or as I used to call it – Breakfast of Champions) and I would be good to go! The group I was with would go out every night and drink and party like I used to before my age got the better of me. What did I do – I went to bed! Because I was TIRED! Only old people do that kind of shiz!!! I like to think that I can still party like it was 1999 but compared to my colleagues and customers, I am a church lady! I did go out a couple of times just to prove that I am not a complete stick in the mud but WOW did I ever pay for it the next day. Internet, it is official – I AM OLD AND IT SUCKS! How did this happen??? Next stop for DiDi – rest home and a cane! I had better be careful walking to the car because I don’t want to slip, fall and break a hip!


Now I am home, back to work and really wish that a lottery win had come through so that I could stay on vacation for ever but alas – that still has not happened! I must get my old ass back to work so that we can dream of our next trip – where ever that maybe! However, there will be another post very soon to tell you about my adventures dancing on stage with Bryan Adams and how Wilson bought me a very pretty ring at a silent auction (this is my way of leaving you wanting more Internet ).


I missed you Internet and I promise not to leave it so long between visits next time!