Beep beep!

I've booked our rental cars for Florida! Yay! We just need two days, one to get us down to Miami on Sunday and the other to take us back from Miami to Orlando. We're getting an 'economy' car...lol. The last time we did that they were all out and we got to rent a Mitsubishi Eclipse (nicknamed the 'night clanker' because we'd drive around and it would make these weird clunking noises every now and then). We're supposed to get a Hyundai Accent or similar...hmmm I wonder what would be similar to that? Metro? Firefly?

I'm starting to get excited about leaving finally. With finishing a few things at work and getting organized in the house it's not looking to be so daunting to leave for a few weeks. But I speak now...I may go into panic mode at any time.

The trade-off

Well, we had our new couch delivered yesterday. It's Trevor's 'man couch' -- the model that he selected so he could lounge and watch the tv in manly bliss. But it was not to be. The couch doesn't FIT. It fits in the room, but it's the getting to the room part that's not so good. The stairs to the basement make a 180-degree turn that's a furniture killer (or wall and ceiling killer). So we took the loveseat from the living room upstairs and brought it down to the man room, and shuffled some furniture around. It worked out well in a way, the living room is looking nice, and I now have some bookcases in my office that I really needed.

Things are still in disarray around here, and even more so now that we had to move things around like crazy. Fingers crossed that we'll be able to put the tree up on Saturday and have the mega Christmas explosion of interior decor. And then we just have to pack... (scary).

Ahhhh, my office

Well it's day one in the NEW OFFICE! Hurrah! Finally working downstairs instead of being crammed into a little kitchen table next to the cat food. It doesn't get more bleak than that. But now, those days are over and it's time for the real office! Things are still in disarray, but it beats the other situation. There's boxes that need to be unpacked, but I also need some bookcases, shelves and other storage pieces to take all of my stuff and hide it away. But, there are pictures on the wall (beautiful!!!), a little window for natural light and a whole lot of pretty 'limelight' paint on the walls. Very refreshing! Things are going to work out well here. I'll post pictures of it once it gets sorted out a little more (adds to the suspense, no?).

And it's now officially organize-mania week around here. Lots of things to do, with unpacking the office, getting the main floor sorted out (it's filled with TOOLS and more TOOLS...they hide away in the corners and reproduce), getting the Christmas decor going and of course packing. PACKING!!! Phew, I need to take a deep breath here. And maybe grab a paper bag or two to blow into. Wait, make that the shopping-size ones, lol.

Yes, it's going to be panic stations to the max around here this week.

Good news, Trevor's passport is here!

I was beginning to wonder if I was going to go on our trip by myself (oh I wouldn't leave you behind Trevor! Wait....maybe....LOL. Kidding! Kidding!). It's 11 days until we leave and we were waiting and waiting, because it was supposed to be mailed out last Thursday but we hadn't seen anything yet. I think they still might pull him aside at the border due to his psycho killer (insert theme song here!) photo. Me, well who would pull me aside? Innocent-looking, charming, intelligent, witty...LOL.

Actually, I was pulled aside in Las Vegas last year for not having my passport name match the name on my ticket. (In fact, the ticket checker at the desk was wondering if I'd be allowed on the plane at all!) The last name was my maiden name in my passport and my married one on the ticket, so of course that pulls out all the red flags because I must be wearing shoes that are bombs. Trevor got dragged into the 'extra special' screening line (he's an accomplice, you see), which is behind glass and segregated off from everyone else and you go through the metal detection machines, then one that hits you with a big poof of air all over, then has vacuums that suck any evidence of bomb materials off you. And then they give you a good, healthy frisking. No rubber gloves, though. Oh, and clothes stay on (they better, you're in front of all those people in line, and those dirty pervs pressed to the glass, LOL!). One bonus is that we got through the security line up faster than those other non-threatening suckers in the regular lines!

I'll also mention that this never happened in Vancouver, security was more than happy to let me through with mismatched last names. Although, the screener did manage to smack me on the back of the head with the black wand. That must mean I'm extra safe now!

Dana's Birthday

So much to do, no time to do it in

I feel like we're fighting an uphill battle with everything that we're trying to get done before we leave on vacation in...(insert crazed woman screaming here) 12 DAYS. Here's what we're attempting to do in those 12 days (keep in mind we both work full time!):

- Finish painting the moulding downstairs (this has been hampered by a, er, mis-measurement on the closet door openings...apparently they are not the same height as regular doors -- who knew? So the existing moulding has to be chopped, shortened, nailed in again, filled again, sanded again and then painted again. And paint touch ups need to happen around that. Plus some mdf has to be installed to adjust the height.

- Finish moulding in the laundry room. Fill, sand, paint. The cabinets in there need to be adjusted as well (it's a little tight!). The bottom cabinet needs to be assembled and installed.

- More paint touch ups.

- Paint doors and closet doors.

- Move and unpack my office downstairs.

- Move the moulding that's made it's home in the living room to another room.

- Unpack the Christmas extravaganza!

And so much more. Christmas cards, shopping, cleaning...and work all on top of that! Where is that cloning machine when you need it?

Fa la la la laaaaaaa...

Panic stations everyone!!! That was the feeling around here on the weekend. We have a list a mile long of things to do before we go on vacation, and one of those things was getting the Christmas lights put up outside. Seeing as it was a warm-ish and dry day on Sunday we figured it was time to get these suckers up.

We're not the 'oh-just-have-a-string-running-on-the-house' type. Oh no. It's the mega blast of external illumination around here. And this year we got a little smarter and bought a pole so we can avoid the suicidal ladder route and just be dangerous with 11 foot long poles instead. Well these pole were wicked bad I tell you -- we have lights in places that we could never do with a ladder. This year we dominated the maple tree out front and the big magnolia tree was a piece of cake. And...we even did the big evergreen with tons of red lights!

There was the unglamorous start though...someone (*ahem* not naming names...) didn't test the set of lights that HE (oh, clue there!) strung on the roof. These lights ended up looking so lame...they were really cool looking snowflakes, but so many of them had burned out. So we had a moment where someone (*ahem*) almost went mental when I hummed and haa-ed at them. And we went to the store and bought some *(&@#@*&!! LED lights (exact wording from the peeved person) so they will take about 650 Christmases to burn out instead.

The illumination will be on December 1st (not now like some crazy people). Can't wait to throw the switch and watch our power gauge on the side of the house start to spin out and smoke! Woo hoo!

What does one glass of water and a keyboard equal?

A fried keyboard, and a new one! Today was one BAD day. Lots of little (and big) crappy things going on with work. Let's revisit the moment I trashed my keyboard:

(Scene: Big project is due in 3 hours. Some procrastination has taken place. Fear and motivation are high.)

Worker bee: Why I'm feeling parched. I could partake in a nice refreshing glass of icy cool water.

Worker bee goes to the cupboard, takes out a glass and pours water in it from the jug in the fridge. Worker bee returns to desk, placing the glass to the left hand side of the table.

Worker bee: (Takes a sip.) Ahhhhh, that's good. Let's just check out where I'm at on this project now.

Worker bee continues to work, while previous events of the day involving a cheque, a bank and a renovation, simmer in the background.

The phone rings.

Worker bee: (Picking up phone.) Why hello worker bee husband! Have we found a solution to our simmering previous events?

Worker bee husband: (Low toned buzz on the phone can be heard. No words can be made out. Like in the cartoons.)

Worker bee: (Slightly frazzled tone.) Yes, this will get sorted out. We will smack some people around.

Worker bee is now gaining speed and frazzled-ness and puts the phone down. Worker bee moves her arm in such a way that her arm and glass connect, dumping the glass and contents all over the keyboard.

Worker bee: (Ultra frazzled and not making much sense at this point.) Augh! Aughhhh! Augh!!!!!

Worker bee takes the soaked keyboard and dumps it upside down, recalling that this is the procedure when a small lake dumps on a keyboard.

Worker bee: (Mega ultra frazzled state. Still not making much sense.) Aughhhhh! #$*(&#$&*(@#$&(*@&#(*@&!!!!!!!! *#&@)!(!$&%^*(*!!!!!! Stupid $#*(&$@*#$&** water!! Stupid @#*(&@**@*@**@ glass! $*(#&(@*#&@**!!! me!

Worker bee runs and gets loads of paper towels and a kitchen towel to soak up the water. Worker bee also notices that water is dripping out of the keyboard and decides that it's a good judgement to bang it on the table to get more out.

Worker bee: (Going hulk on it now.) Auuughhhhh! (Keyboard is being repeatedly banged on the table.)

Worker bee stops and notices how the banging on the table has caused about 80 small corner-shaped dents to form on the surface.

Worker bee: (May just need therapy at this point.) Auuuugh! Not the table!!!! $#(*&@*(&$*@(&@$#@(*&@(*&$)@(*#*(&(*!!!!!!

Worker bee notices the time and knows that the project must leave in a few hours. More panic sets in. Worker bee attempts to use the keyboard, but with little success. The keyboard manages to repeat the letter 'b' on it's own, with no control. The delete key doesn't work. The '2' button doesn't work. Things are looking bleak. Eventually, with more smacking, the keyboard ceases to work at all.

Worker bee: (Jumps up, grabs car keys and runs out the house to the local electronics shop.) Auuughhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Worker bee returns from the shop, surly and ticked off (And $80 lighter.) and realizes that there was a spare keyboard she could have used instead of running out of the house like a mad woman, er, bee.

The End

Wait! The lesson in this story: don't drink around your keyboard. But it can pay off, and you too can end up having an über chic little keyboard like this:

Notre soirée d'amusement français.

Last night was very funny. Trevor's work had a guy come from France to view some of the drills that their company manufactures at some job sites. That's not the funny part, but the fact that the man doesn't speak ENGLISH AT ALL is (wait, except for 'hello' and 'goodbye'). And the funnier part is that they sent him off for the day in a rental car and an ENGLISH MAP, in a place where signs are read in ENGLISH. Of course, he managed to get lost. I got to run around with Trevor in the evening picking up a prepaid phone for this poor guy so someone can at least call him and somehow find out where he is.
*Representation of French man may not be completely accurate.
But here is the funniest part of all...we used a translation program on my computer to write a note to him explaining that this is a phone for him to use and who Trevor was. Well...when we gave him the note we noticed that he started to laugh by the end of it, and when we got home we reverse-translated it, and our sentence reading 'We apologize for the letter, we used a translation program to translate it.' came out as:

"We make excuses for the translation which we used the software of translation."

LOL!!!!

No photos...yet!

We're well on our way to begin painting the moulding downstairs. All that caulking and filling and sanding and patching...well, it takes a while. I can definitely tell that we're on our last legs with this reno. We really want the bulk of it done so we can start enjoying it, and I want it done so I can get to the best part, decorating! We have some framed pictures all ready to go and I really, REALLY want to put them up.

The next few weeks before we leave are looking busy, so fingers (and toes) crossed that we'll be able to get this place sorted out. I am starting to get that Christmas itch to decorate...look out!!!

Photos are still coming, I'm looking for that 'tah-DAH!' moment to take them!

This weekend

It's the super ultra mega reno festival of moulding, filling and painting! Trevor's working on the cutting right now (I'm still slacking on the computer...let's call it 'digesting breakfast', lol). Oh wait, now I hear the air nailer! I think we're pretty motivated this weekend -- that's probably a good thing seeing as we want to get all the moulding filled and painted by the end of it. We're getting REALLY tired of all the junk around the house and bad storage.

We went and looked at shelving for the pantry downstairs last night too. Ah, Home Depot date on a Friday night...can't ask for better! There's some potential there with some of the wire racks, we just need to put it down on paper first. Maybe that might happen this weekend too? I'd love that!

Maybe, just maybe, there might be some photos coming of the basement next week. Progress!!!

New Guinness Ad - Guinness Tipping Point

This is such a cool ad!

If all the hip kids are doing it...

Jon made me do it (or made me think of it). These are funny!
For babies with awesome musical taste...eh oh, let's go!
For the groupie baby.
This just makes me laugh...

Hee hee...
For the Tony Soprano juniors...
Who wouldn't want their kid to be a bad-ass ninja???

Holding pattern

Well the cruise tickets never made it into our hots little hands (she forgot to stop by, whoops!), but they will be dropped off tonight. Yay! I'll have to remember what cabin we got...I know we wanted a balcony (for the first time EVER) and it was a good price but we hummed and haa-ed and missed out on the price. So back to the inside cabin, oh well...we still get a bed and a bathroom, what else do you need (a view??? hahaha!)

We've also been trying to get started on some Christmas shopping and managed to make our way to Costco last night, only to be told that Trevor had to go back out to Chilliwack to secure the building because there was something wrong with the alarm there. Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal, but since we had already been out there LAST NIGHT for the same thing I was big time ticked off. Kind of ruins an evening when you have to drop all your plans and drive out there (especially when there's people who live closer who haven't been called or who have been but won't go, but that's a whole other story) and once you get back home it's straight up to bed. Boo. So we are attempting AGAIN tonight to go out and shop a bit. And if that phone rings, I swear you might just see a little mushroom cloud form over Langley.

Okay, venting over.

Oh! And our new couch is arriving November 28th! At least there's some good news. Super-speed finishing reno's, coming up!

Time is flying!

I can't believe there's only four more weekends until we fly/sail away! We're leaving December 4th to stay overnight in Seattle so we can catch a flight out from Seatac the next morning. I tried to find flights that left from Vancouver, but flying out of Seattle is way cheaper (I saved $1200 doing a roundtrip from Seattle to Orlando!). We'll have three days in Disneyworld (not doing Universal again...crappy park) and then on the Sunday we'll be driving down to Miami (booooring drive!) to jump on the ship! I'm looking forward to the break, but I'm really excited about seeing Jamaica and Grand Cayman, I hear the snorkelling there is really good.

This will be our third cruise leaving out of Miami, and I get just as excited about it as the first time. There's nothing like arriving at the port and looking up at this HUGE ship that will be your home for the next 7 days. The fact that this is a really new ship (and one of the biggest in the fleet) that we haven't been on before is so much fun as well -- and they have such cool features on it: a Flowrider (surfing!), cantilevered whirlpools, ice skating rink (!), mini golf (! x 2!), boxing ring (hmmm, not sure what to do with that one...), and a Johnny Rockets!

We have our travel agent stopping by the house this evening to drop off the tickets for us, a sure sign that it's time to leave soon!

Reno Update

I figure it's about time that I do another update on the basement reno. We're slowly moving forward on things (we've burned out a bit since the summer), we had some doors delivered at the end of October and those are now in, so we have separate rooms!!! Closet doors still need to be installed, but Trevor is working hard on getting the floor and crown moulding nailed up. I'm starting on caulking and filling duty this week and managed to finish most of the trim painting on the walls that somehow got missed. I think I've got one area in the stairs that need one more coat.

The leaky toilet in the ensuite was also fixed this weekend, which is nice (and our family room ceiling got away with only a little bit of damage). The mantle...well that's another story. I don't think that's going to be fixed for a while now because we REALLY need to get this basement done so we can put up Christmas decorations and leave on our vacation (in a month!!!) and have a house. A real, put-together organized house that we don't have to walk through hallways of crap (we call them paths, and beware when you go off of one!). It's a lot of work, but I think we can do it.

Hungry Wake Up Kitty

It's like every morning at our house...

Hello my naughty penguins...*wuack!*

We're going out tonight and have tickets to the Craig Ferguson show at the River Rock Theatre. Should be a fun night out and a good way to forget about the fact that we still have toilet issues upstairs. Weekend projects include: toilet repair, molding installation, filling, caulking, final paint trimming and general clean up of this disaster of a house. Maybe we'll get ahead of things this weekend instead of more things being added to the list!

Japanese Human Tetris - So good I had to post another one

The tappy-tappy guys at the end had me laughing sooo hard!

Japanese Human Tetris

This is too funny!