A day at the Park

The Next Routine

Like most things taken out of context, this is subject to differing interpretations, not all favourable. It comes from the movie Little Miss Sunshine, and is quite fitting as the ending of the movie. The dance routine was choreographed by the little girl's grandfather, who dies enroute to the competition.

It also features one of Not Ashley's favourite songs....not the remake version..the original, dontcha know. I'm hoping it shows up as a routine in S Factor,LOL

Find more videos at Heavy.com

Barista

Not your average Starbucks Barista, and for what they charge, maybe they should practice foam art:

Vacation

Hello, and thank you for stopping by.

I am presently taking a vacation from blogging due to:

• a. life is getting in the way and/or
• b. it's number 457 on my list of things to do and/or
• c. nothing really is blog worthy.

I'm OK and hope you are OK as well.

Weird Photo of the Week

Here's the latest weird photo of the week, and this one is for real....We went to New York City for the weekend and found this dear old guy, dressed in a Spider Man costume, in Times Square....check out his sign. For the modest price of 50 cents, you could get your photo taken with him, which we did:

We did a bit of shopping in ChinaTown...great experience to be taken in basements, and alleyways, and up stairs that would never pass building and safety codes, and wondering, will we get out alive? What we won't do for a fake designer hand bag!!! We even had the pleasure of being thrown out of a few places, with doors slammed behind us, as we tried to negotiate a better deal. Here's our haul after day 1, and yes we did go back on day 2 for more:

Here we are back home... a great time was had by all:

Week Update

Here it is the end of my week's vacation. Wow, is it ever nice to not have to go in to work, and endure the endless crisis, fires of the day, etc that goes along with it. Well, I'm back to work for three weeks, and then off for the last week in August. Yippee, something to look forward to!!!

Had a great week off, and enjoyed some of the following:

Started with the belly dance wrap up, and class outing to a local Vietnamese restaurant, where I had sea bass in a light ginger sauce. J & I ordered an appetizer plate, as did two of the other ladies in the group. Each appetizer plate had one deep fried shrimp. The other two stole the deep fried shrimp from our appetizer plate. What's up with that? LOL!

Hung out by the pool at J's and worked on our tans. This year, I purchased some pool toys, so each had their own, and I did not get accused of being the "pool toy hog" this year.

Went to a posh jewellery party, and bought a white pearl blossom; a gorgeous white anklet, and a great pair of hoop earrings. Check them out at www.lebeadoir.com

Saturday was beach day,. We have a great local beach in Port Dalhousie,(see previous post), that has limited parking, and tends to get very very busy on hot summer weekends. I decided to beat the frustration of driving around for a half an hour or more waiting for a parking spot, so I drove three quarters of the way there, parked the car at a friends, and bused the rest of the way. I know, I know, this violates The Secret, which says I should just go there, and know that the parking spot will be there for me. But this worked so well, I'd do it again, next time.

Sunday was RibFest--an event held by the local Rotary Club, where a number of vendors come in and cook ribs. They had about 7 rib vendors, from as far away as Kentucky and New Mexico, some from down the road in Fort Erie. Fortunately, for me, since I don't eat ribs, there were vendors with other food selections. I had my usual "Blooming Onion" after waiting in line for one for about 35 minutes -- a deep fried battered concoction:

Dessert was also deep fried battered --a funnel cake with ice cream and strawberries. Do you see a pattern developing here? Yes, I eat my way through rib fest, avoiding the $20.00 for a full rack of ribs, in favour of $7.00 onions and $7.00 funnel cakes, all gloriously deep fried.

Today, was Civic Holiday, and another day off work. A few of us went to the Fort Erie Race Track, to enjoy the sun, the $1.00 hot dogs, our $2.00 bets, and watch the ponies run. A good time was had by all, even though we did not win enough to retire.

Back to work now...boo hoo!

To the Beach

Back to work now, but was able to spend a lovely day at the beach last Friday. Got some sun, rode the carousel, and dined at Spice of Life...as Mimi put it...we were "Ladies Who Lunched". It was much fun!!!! Here's a few shots of the day. Sorry, but I didn't get any of the food shots, as I was so hungry. LOL!

Cleavage Related Item

Here's an article I found.
It reminded me of the Boobsie Twins who like to show off their cleavage.

WIFE BITES HUSBAND AT MUSIC FESTIVAL OVER CLEAVAGE CLICKING
Fri Jul 13, 2:00 AM

MERRITT, B.C. (CP) - Police bracing for trouble at the Merritt Mountain Music Festival got it even before the musicians took the stage.
RCMP say they responded to a reported domestic assault early Thursday morning. What they found was a man who said his wife had bitten him after becoming upset that he was taking pictures of women's cleavage at the festival. Both were unco-operative with police and both had been drinking. Police confiscated the camera, and found the following two photos, corroborating the wife's claim:

The women in the photos have not yet been identified, however, the RCMP indicate that they are wanted for questioning with respect to their role in contributing to the domestic assault.
RCMP issued a warning reminding people that video cameras, audio recorders and camera-equipped cell phones can be used to capture unauthorized images of anyone.

Police and highways officials have been gearing up for the annual music event, which draws thousands of country music fans to the small community in B.C.'s southern Interior.
In addition to the music, the heat-drenched festival often features a lot of partying and drinking and the RCMP are warning people about their zero-tolerance policy toward liquor violations.
Const. Annie Linteau says the police want people to have a good time, but they won't allow impaired driving, public drunkenness or open liquor, or excessive cleavage.

Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Creedence Clearwater Revisited and Tanya Tucker are among this year's performers at the festival.

You Know You're Italian If...

You have many relatives named either Joe or Mary, and you have at least one brother named Joe

You grew up in a small house, but you still had two kitchens. (One was in the basement)

When you were growing up, you had five cousins all living on the same street

When you were growing up, you thought that all wine was red and that it only came in gallon jugs

If someone in your family grows beyond 6’ 2”, it’s presumed that the mother had an affair

There were more than 28 people in your wedding party

Your grandfather had a fig tree

You've always wanted a red Ferrari

When you were growing up, you ate Sunday dinner at 2:00 p.m., and on Thanksgiving, your family’s first course was Ravioli

Your big family gatherings were held in your garage

Your favorite movie is the “Godfather”, your favorite television show is “The Sopranos”, and your favorite singers are (in order) Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Vale, and Louis Prima

Connie Francis songs makes you cry

At least five of your cousins are named after your grandfather

A high school diploma and one year of community college has earned you the title of "professor" among your aunts

At least one person in your family does a great impression of Don Corleone

You have at least one sister or sister-in-law who went to Beauty School

You’ve been hit with a spoon and/or you’ve been hit by a nun

You feel strangely comfortable when you sit on plastic-covered furniture

You know all the words to “That’s Amore”

When you were growing up your father had a plastic statue of Jesus (the one with him pointing to his heart) on the dashboard of his car

Your wife or husband wears a tee shirt that says “Pray for me, I married an Italian.”

You’ve been to the Vatican at least once

For a short time while you were growing up, you wanted to be a priest or a nun

When you were growing up, you thought Jesus was an Italian who lived in Israel

Your mom's meatballs are the best!

If at least five of the above apply to you, congratulations!!! You’re Italian!

Guess What? I took the quiz, and lo and behold, I AM ITALIAN.

Along with the above, part of being Italian means attending celebrations. In the past two weeks, I have attended one bridal shower, two high school graduations, a high school reunion, a going away party for a foreign exchange student, two birthday parties. In the next few months, there's a stag & doe, another birthday party or two, and two weddings. This really is not all that bad, as one year, there were 12 weddings to attend.

So I've not been able to be too attentive to maintaining posts on blogger. :(

Crazy Pictures of the Week

Grandma in Denial perhaps?

Grandma & Thong Boy's Dad

Wonder what a tattoo would have looked like now?

Do you think they're real?


DISCLAIMER: THIS POST AND THE PREVIOUS THONG BOY POST WERE CO-ERCED, AS I WOULD NEVER POST SUCH THINGS ON MY OWN. JEWELS MADE ME DO IT

Gaining Some Balance

After ignoring the ever worsening shifting of my driveway, it finally came time to bite the bullet, and get it fixed before someone hurt themselves. It also was very bad feng shui, as all the chi was sliding away from the house.

Went with a newer process called concrete levelling, where they drill quarter-sized holes in the existing slabs, and pump a concrete mixture into the holes, lifting the slabs. Much, much cheaper than having the old driveway removed and a new one poured, but still very expensive.

Here's what it looked like before :

Notice the ramps I had to use to get into the garage

Here's how much the slabs had shifted in the center.

The step from the driveway to the front porch.


After a few days of work, here's a few after shots:

Where the driveway & garage meet....no more ramps!

The driveway looking out towards the street...you can see the holes they drilled and then filled back in.

The front step now, raised about 4 to 5 inches, and levelled out.

Feng-shui-ifed!

Emergency Room

I spent the night, well not all of it, just from 1:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m at the local hospital emergency room. My mom was running a fever of 103.5, and after much cajolling, I was able to convince her that she needed to go to the hospital. At 12:30, I was able to convince her, at 5:00 in the afternoon, she didn't want to go. LOL!

They undertook a number of tests and found that she has a very bad bladder and kidney infection. She was put on I.V antibiotics about 2:00 in the morning, and we had to wait until the medication entered her body.

While we waited, I realized that the acoustics in the emergency room are excellent. Actually a little too excellent, as you can hear the conversations from behind their respective curtains, of the other patients and family/friends, even when they whisper. At 2:00 in the morning, waiting around the emergency room, it was something to do...I know I shouldn't have been eaves dropping, but like I said the acoustics were a little too good, and there was nothing else to do, except watch, count and time the I.V drips --which I also did. Lol!

The girl across from us had had difficulties with her parents, and was debating whether or not to call them and let them know she was having minor health issues. Her friend, (and I, since I could hear everything) were kept entertained by the stories of her assorted family members. She was sent home around the same time we were, with a bladder infection diagnosis.

Another one, right next to us, was named Diane, and was brought in by the paramedics, because she had had too much to drink, and her vital signs weren't too good. She was placed on oxygen, with much prompting from the nurses to get her to move in the proper position. When she finally woke up, she didn't know where she was, and tried to get out of bed, and fell. The nurses ran to pick her up, and admonish her that no she couldn't get out of bed to go outside and smoke. She was still there when we left.

Two beds over, was Jane and her husband/boyfriend John. Jane came in as she was having difficulty urinating. After the initial visit and blook work, the doctor came in to tell Jane that he wanted to talk to her in private. She insisted no, that anything he had to say, could be said in fromt of John. The doctor persisted, that he wanted to do a pelvic exam in private, but no Jane needed John there to hold her hand. John stayed, and the doc performed a very painful examination, after which he said, he couldn't be sure until the cultures came back in a few days, but that he was fairly certain it was a sexually transmitted disease. This caused both Jane and John much upset, with both of them professing to themselves and to the doctor, that his diagnosis would surely be proven wrong.
They were still there when we left.

It's now Day 2 of the meds, and things seem to be progressing slowly better from an infection standpoint. The pain however, continues to be a major issue, and has taken on a life of its own, and fills her every waking thought...and by default mine. Of course, the more she thinks about it, the worse it gets.

Internet Psychology 101

You Are a Jam Cookie

On the outside, you project a straight-laced, innocent vibe. But on the inside, you're complex, exotic, and full of flavor.

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

You Are a Carnation

You are down to earth and grounded. You tend to be more traditional than trendy. Your confidence gets you through anything. People trust you and are very loyal to you.

What Flower Are You?

My Friend

As you may or may not be aware, Jewels aka Julie aka Julietta (yes it is confusing and I sometimes don't know what to call her) is my friend. Jin asked if I would write about how we met & became friends, recognizing my inability/reluctance to reveal TMI or Too Much Information.

So here, in brief:

My friend Mary, aka Nutmeg, harassed me to join a gym that was supposed to opening soon. One year and half later, it finally did open. Along the way, Mary & I thought about getting our money ($400) back and cancelling our contract since we were so frustrated that it took so long, and were afraid we'd lose our money. Yet we hung in, and the gym finally opens.

We, or should I say, I start to go, doing machines & weights and not really seeing much in the way of results. I had gained about 20 pounds from where I wanted to be, from a combination of medication side effects, plus just a slow down in metabolism (or the tons of candy I love.)

One day, my cousin tells me that Barb, a girl we used to both work with, goes to the gym and is going to strip classes, and had I gone to these classes. I see Barb in the next few weeks, and she confirms that she has been going to the classes, and loves them. Not wanting to go by myself, I make plans with Barb, to make sure I have a partner in crime in the class. This continues to this day, with Barb & I getting in trouble constantly for talking during class.


I start to go to the classes, and find that I really enjoy them. The instructor Jewels, puts on a great class, explaining things in detail; I get a good workout and start to see results. (BTW she helped me lose my weight.) As an added bonus, she makes the class fun-- while some of her stories are a little outside my realm (ok a lot outside), she is very funny and quick witted and I keep going back.

As she has a tendency to "pick on" the students, I hide out in the back corner, to stay under the radar, so I thought. Our area of the room has been named Speakers' Corner. Speakers' Corner started during the times in class, when Jewels is doing movements, that we can never, no way no how, not even if we practice for the rest of our lives, ever do. So instead of doing the exercise, we talk, and she yells at us.

That plus the fact, that we didn't want to stay beside her and see ourselves & her in the mirror. She's downright intimidating the way she can move--it would've been like the S-Factor Do's& Don'ts--so we sat at the back in the corner. After a few classes, she starts to "pick on us." She gives me the stage name Kashmir. (not the toilet paper spelling fyi!)

One day, she asks if I would give her a ride home. I must admit that I was little scared or cautious of her. On the way home, she tells me a TMI story, and I'm thinking OMG, and I get very quiet. Thankfully, she lived not far from the gym. Lol!

One day in class, she's telling us about various names, stage and otherwise, that she used, and I asked her, Well what's your real name? She actually blushed and shyly said Julie. So I thought to myself, she's not so tough after all, and I saw her, not her personas.

Lo and behold, I did give her another ride home, and it became a bit of a routine. After a few months, we stopped at the local Tim Horton's for coffee on the way home. It was so uncomfortable--I said nothing, and she was a TMI Chatty Cathy. She actually asked me personal questions about myself...gasp--the nerve of this girl. I get quiet when uncomfortable, she said she gets chatty. Thank God, or we would have just sat there. She filled in most of the silences, and boy did she fill them in. My sheltered, Catholic Italian, anal-accountant ears, burned a few times.

Over the next year Tim Horton's evolved to Starbucks Kwaffee Talk, evolved to Mai Vi evolved to shopping, and visits, and daily phone calls, and a true friendship. Over Kwaffee Talk, I learned more about her, and she slowly learned a little about me.

Along the way, I saw her talent in creating the most beautiful beaded jewellery, and thankfully, I have qualified for the family & friends discount, or maybe the volume discount since I'm the proud owner of many of her gorgeous creations.

I've also seen her boundless capacity for caring, kindness, and empathy and admire her for it, especially in light of some of the things that life has thrown her way. She has offerred her help always, whether it's setting up an awning or swing in the backyard, making stew or spring rolls for us, coming over to visit, or escaping to Starbuck's when I'm down; or offerring her help in a way that 99.9% of the population would never do for someone. (not going there, as that's TMI)

So we're Thelma & Louise, Felix & Oscar, a bit of an odd couple on the surface, but she's my BFF, I'm so glad to have met her.

Extreme Make Over

Wednesday night, I attended the Extreme Make Over night with Jewels & Jaimee. We received instruction on the appropriate methods to utilize if one wishes to perform Belly Dancing on stage. The make up was over the the top, suitable for the Belly Dance stage, and maybe for drag queens and hookers. LOL! It was much, much fun.

Here's a few pics, which I didn't get around to fix the red eyes. Oops.

The Weekend Part 2

It was a great weekend!

Saturday, was spent shopping for a prom dress for Steph. We went to the Boulevard Mall "over the river", ie. the U.S., and were able to find a beautiful black dress with fuschia floral accents and black & pink beads. The shop was unbelievable, jam packed with these dresses, floor to ceiling. We quickly realized that once we got in there, they had no intention of letting us out without a dress. Two hours and 5 or 6 or 7 dresses later, the final selection was made.

There was a very entertaining and flamboyant designer named Jimmy, who would recommend various dresses, and honestly tell the girls what looked good and what didn't. When the right dress was found, his compliments made them all feel like a million bucks, (and ensured that mom would have to buy the dress. LOL!)

Since we were in there for so long, I was even able to get him to recommend a style for me. Straight, no frills, avoid yellows; greens; purples; go for chocolate brown; or black; or certain blues and certain reds. Complimented me on my lean body with curves, and gave me a $25 gift certificate for my return visit. LOL!

On our way home, as per usual, we stopped off at La Hacienda for dinner--pizza, salad & life saver sucker. It was so good, and so worth the calories, as I've mentioned before.

Sunday, Mother's Day, invited a few friends over, and we had a wonderful day. Menu consisted of roast beef, lobster, salad, mashed potatoes & gravy, and purple sweet potatoes, that are not purple inside, (false advertising lol! )and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It appeared that much fun was had by all.

Here's some pics.

The weekend

Fav Food Spots

Was tagged by Jin today, re: listing my favourite 5 restaurants. This is going to be tough, as I easily rhymed off about 10, and could probably come up with many more if I think about it, so it'll be tough to limit to 5, but here goes:

1. Sahla Thai, St Catharines

If you love Thai food, this is one of a few great ones in the City. Dishes are served in spiciness ratings from 1 - 5 (recommended for Thai Nationals )...I usually get a 2, and it's spicy enough to tingle the lips and taste buds, but not so spicy that you can't taste the actual food. Great spring rolls, pad thai, curries, and rice served in beautiful hammered silver soup tureens.

2. Echoes of Asia, St. Catharines

Another Thai/Vietanamese place. Done up really nicely, considering it used to be a Harvey's restaurant. My hands down favourite here are the fresh rolls - shrimp, fresh peppers, carrots, vermicilli noodles, wrapped up and served on crunchy noodles with a delicious peanut sauce. Ms. J's are just as good, BTW) . Red curry chicken & rice is also a fav.

3. La Hacienda of New York, Niagara Falls, NY

Contrary to the name, it's an Italian restaurant, with Mexican decorations. LOL! Wonderful salads, with fantastic WHOLE milk mozarella cheese, on top of the lettuce, chick peas, cukes, and tomatoes--equal parts cheese & salad. They make a delicious thin crust pizza--pepperoni & double black olives on mine please. Life saver suckers given out at the cash register. Definitely not low cal. Located in not the best part of town, but well worth the risk.

4. Como's Restaurant, Niagara Falls, NY

Located just down the road from La Hacienda, is Como's. Been there forever, and so have some of the waitresses. Another Italian restaurant, but I order only the appetizers, as I won't order Italian food that we make at home, as ours is usually better. My Como's orders consist of herbed foccacia bread starter, clams casino, battered broccoli, and eggplant & prosciutto parmiggiano.

5. The Epicurean, Niagara on the Lake http://www.epicurean.ca/

Located in beautiful downtown Niagara on the Lake, aka the prettiest town in Canada. Cafeteria style, with wonderful soups, salads, entrees, sandwiches. Once you're done your lunch, you can stroll through the other shops, and stop at another little cafe that serves gelato, and Espresso/Latte's, (can't remember the name of this one.)


Now I'm hungry!