Christmas Week

One of my gifts this year included a ticket to go and see The Toronto Maple Leafs play. I'm not a huge fan, in fact, prior to meeting Greg, I don't think I'd even ever watched 5 minutes of the game. After 4 years of watching on TV, I still don't know the rules, but I know Greg loves the sport and I enjoy watching him get really mad or really happy depending on how the game is being played. It's a lot more fun going in person to see the game as the crowd is absolutely crazy. The only problem I had was that I didn't really know what was going on because there was no commentator, and even Greg wasn't saying as much as he does when he's talking to the TV. I managed to follow the puck around the ice for the most part, but as there was no instant replay, or PVR, I had no idea why the crowd was booing or clapping until WAY after the fact.

Christmas Eve was quietly spent at home with our brothers. No one got drunk, everyone behaved. And, I had a special gift to open in extra special wrapping paper. See the paper? Greg managed to save a piece of the living room wall paper that we tore down. It seems that there was a half a role that he found in the garage. I had to laugh, I thought I'd seen that last of that hideous pattern! Inside the package was a new digital camera, and I am so pleased with it. I can't wait to start taking more pics!

On Boxing Day (Dec 26) Greg and I hosted a Housewarming Party. The first guest came at 2pm, and the last guest left at 12:20 am. It was a very long day and I think about 40 people showed up including some of the new neighbours. It was a lot of work, but very fun, and all in all, I think it was a success. I got to play barkeeper, but I'm not sure how good of an idea that was. Seems I've got a rather heavy hand mixing drinks. I had a rather heavy head the next day.

I think my favourite part of the holidays, was when they were over and we could finally veg in front of the couch. Pez sent me this movie, and I think it is my new favourite Chick Flick. I LOVED it! Even Greg thought it was good.

Hope your holidays were as enjoyable as mine.

WCB #81

Mr. Mao and the Dutchess would like to wish all of our BlogFriends a very Merry Christmas! We hope that the Holidays bring you warmth and joy.

We'll put on our happy faces again once we're out of this crazy gear!

Head on over to Tiggy the Tiny Tiger's place for more WCB, and also to welcome Tiggy and Sarah J to Toronto.

The Week in Review

Sometimes, I just have to wonder where the time goes. It's been a week since I last posted but for some reason, the days just kind of blended in to one another and I lost track. I have kept busy, and am very happy that this year I am organized, and completely ready for Christmas. The tree has been decorated for a while.

In fact, I am holding my breath because the tree is quite dry and I'm hoping that a) the needles will stick to the tree for another week, and b) the tree doesn't become kindling. I'd hate to have a forest fire in my living room. But I am happy with the tree, and have acquired a few new ornaments this year, namely red birds, and glass pine cones.

Shopping this year was not at all stressful, well, not until last Saturday anyway. We celebrated Christmas on Sunday with my mom and brother as my mom is going on a cruise over the holidays. At first I was a little miffed that she will be away, but in truth, it will make for much less running around to please everyone. And, Sunday was a complete success. In the past, for some reason, family dinners have turned sour as family dinners sometimes do. This year, there was not a single glitch, even though Greg's brother was an unexpected dinner guest. My mom seemed genuinely glad for him to be there. And, as an added surprise, Salena showed up with little Liam, who is growing like a weed. He is only 6 weeks old, but has nearly doubled his weight already! He is so adorable with his chubby cheeks!

So, Saturday was a bit of a nightmare battling the mall but in the long run, I'm happy that I ventured out and got the last of my shopping done. I woke up early that morning, threw on my track pants and a long-sleeved T, my boots, my winter parka, and headed to the mall. Now, first of all, let me tell you that we have been having unseasonally warm temperatures up here in Canada. Let me also tell you that I did not check the forecast. So there I am at the mall, dressed for a blizzard and ready for subzero temperatures, pushing my way through throngs of slow-moving people (wearing belly-tops and flip-flops.) I was sweating, my feet were boiling, I was thirsty, and I was miserable. I also definitely was not looking like super-model material, so I did hesitate before venturing into Sephora. And, I really didn't know what I was doing in there because I truly was not about to spend $40 on a lipstick for Two-Four. But, when the salesgirl gave me one of those looks, you know the one (or maybe you don't) where she v-e-r-y slowly and purposefully looks me up and down and can't hide her horror at my appearance, and I'm mortified that she noticed, but then she very sweetly(sarcastically) offered to give me a FREE makeover (like I couldn't refuse) I nearly ripped her frickin' head off! And marched right out of the store...and ran into someone I knew from work. Shit! I should have gone for the makeover. It was FREE. So, I made my way home and then yelled at Greg because I was feeling bad about myself. For the billionth time I complained to him about my weight, how nothing fit, how I looked awful. He then very tactfully reminded me how no woman really looks great in those free T-shirts that come with a case of beer and maybe I should stop wearing them. Which, of course, didn't make me feel any better. So, I got offended. But then he tried to cover his tracks by telling me he didn't mind me wearing his "skinny T's" and that clothing size was really just a matter of perspective. Uh-huh, I feel better.

So where was I? Oh ya. I'm all ready for Christmas. I have even been quite crafty, and made my very first wreath for the front door.

And, Martha gave me an idea too. This year I threaded tiny glass beads onto wire ornament hooks to snazz them up a bit. I really liked the result, the only downside was that it took a lot longer than I had anticipated. The Santa ornament is hanging from one of my little creations.

For dinner on Sunday, I also made the third cake I've ever baked in my life. Kristi, from Interrupted Wanderlust sent me a Pumpkin Pound Cake with Cinnamon Glaze last month and so I thought I would replicate it. It turned out very nice, and everyone seemed to like it. I know it wasn't very Christmassy, but I really wanted to try the recipe. Thanks Kristi!

And, lastly, while I've been busy decorating, wreath-making, ornament-hanger-making, baking, and shopping while looking like a sweat-hog, Pez was dealing with the Storm of the New Millenium in Seattle. Her power was out for 55 hours! Thankfully, she and her family survived the experience, and The Grinch turned the Christmas Lights back on.

If, for any reason, you are looking for some really, excruciatingly awful Christmas music to play over the holidays, you must Check This Out.

C'est tout.

Old Habits Die Hard

There is something to be said about having a good eye for other people's garbage, and being able to turn that garbage into a brand new treasure. This past weekend, we got up early and headed to Home Depot to pick up some stuff for the DIY projects we had planned. On our way home, neighbours down the street had some furniture placed on their boulevard, presummably for the garbage. Greg stopped and said that he thought some of the tables looked like teak. (We happen to have a lot of teak furniture that we are very fond of.) I jumped out of the car, took one look, and piled them on the hood of the car without another word. I did kind of hope that nobody would see me as it was broad daylight! Although very scuffed up, stained and plastered with a few stickers, I thought I could fix them up with steel wool and teak oil.

So far, I've managed to refurbish one very nicely, and it only took two hours worth of a little elbow grease. Here is the result: looks like new, doesn't it?

When I get the other one done, we will finally have matching nightstands. I'm quite proud of myself!

Inside Out/Outside In

I took a picture last night of the outside looking in through the Bay window because I thought our Christmas lights looked so pretty, and I like how you can see the Christmas tree all lit up from the outside.

Seconds later, nature upstaged the Christmas bulbs and put on an even more spectacular Light Show. This was the view from inside, looking out through the window.

Weekend Cat Blogging #79

Mr. Mao is back for more Weekend Cat Blogging!
I'm working on figuring out how to download pcitures, and I think it might be easier than I think. I'm so smart (never mind that it's only taken me two weeks!)
Here is a pic of Mr. Mao's first snow experience. I snapped the picture really fast as he was goose-stepping his way across the deck and shaking each paw with every step. It was quite funny, but I'm not sure how much he liked it as he came running inside pretty fast.

For more Weekend Kitty pics head on over to Belly-Timber's

It's beginning to FEEL...

...a lot like Christmas!
GEEZUS it's Cold! Last week it was Indian Summer and this week it's subzero and with the wind chill, even colder. Ugh. I am not a winter person.
Something else: a house feels a lot colder than a condo! In the four years that I lived in the condo, I never turned on the heat. Not even on the coldest day of the year. We had a little space heater that we'd flip on for a half hour, and that would be it. I guess because the other condo-dwellers cranked their heat, we didn't have to.
But a house! Holy! I'd forgotten how cold it is to get out of bed in the morning! Even the cats don't want to get out from under the covers. Yes, they sleep under the covers with us since we've moved here. They do that at the trailer too when the weather gets chilly.
It makes for one cozy family. Thank god for furry space heaters!

It's beginning to look like a lot like Christmas...

...around here!
Last weekend we put up our outside lights in the cedars, and also decorated our Christmas tree. The Christmas Tree is in front of the bay window and looks SO pretty! I can't recall that I've ever set up the tree this early, but then again, Christmas is only three weeks away. It creeps up so quickly, doesn't it? This year I've been quite crafty and have made some wreaths that turned out very nice, if I do say so myself. I'd love to post a picture, but unfortunately my digital camera is not working well and we haven't downloaded the programme onto the new computer. (I'm hoping that Santa will bring me a new camera!) Once I get all that sorted out, I promise I will post some pictures.
The house is smelling a lot better, no more ashtray stench. A lot of cleaning, paint and febreeze plug in noticibles (in hollyberry scent) which is making the place smell even more Christmassy.
And, have I mentioned the weather? It's f-f-f-freezing outside! We even have a dusting of snow. Mr. Mao was hilarious out in his first snowfall. Having been an apartment dweller most of his life, he's never experienced the feel of snow. It was very funny! He was goose-stepping and shaking each paw with every step! I did manage to take one picture before the camera drained the brand new (rechargeable) batteries so I'll try to figure out how to post it.
Christmas shopping is very slow but productive this year. Last year I went out to Walmart on the 23rd and did pretty much all of my shopping there. I suppose I was feeling a bit Scrooge-like and couldn't get into the mood. This year, I am feeling the spirit, and have put some thought into what I am going to get.
I did opt to donate to World Vision this year. I got my mom 2 piglets, and Greg's dad, step-mom and grandmother 2 hens and a rooster. I'm not sure what they'll think of this gift, but I liked the idea.
OK, gotta run off to work!

Garbage Day

There is something that has me a little stressed out since we've moved, and that is garbage day. Every other Friday is recycling, and every other week is regular garbage. Compost waste is every week.

It seems like we have garbage problems every Friday where the guys don't like how we've presented our waste so they leave it behind. This week we have two weeks worth of compost waste because last Friday they didn't like our green garbage can we had put it in. So yesterday I went out and spent 30 Bucks on a pretty green bin with wheels.

Then, there is the issue of regular recycling. The previous owners had left us with a great big blue bin but that wasn't good for the men. They liked the small ones, which then presented us with a problem, because we then had a month's worth of recycling to deal with. (And believe me, our recycling boxes looked nothing like the nice neat tidy little one in this picture.) Every Friday since we've moved here Greg and I have had conversations about whether our garbage was picked up. Today it's pouring rain and because our recycling wasn't picked up two weeks ago, and we have so much of it because of all the boxes we've been unpacking, I improvized and used cardboard boxes as blue bins. Now I'm worried that because of the rain, the boxes have turned into cardboard soup, and the garbage guys won't take them. Which, will leave us with another two weeks worth of recycling that hasn't been taken. I can hear the trucks roaming around the neighbourhood and have run tot he window a few times thinking that they were at our house, but the boxes just keep getting wetter, and wetter, and wetter. I'm thinking that maybe they weill let ME throw the boxes into the truck, if they don't want to take them.

Am I obsessing over this? Is Greg obsessing over this? He's already called me three times to find out if the garbage is gone.

**Update**

Yaaaay! They took all of our garbage!!!

One More Thing.
You know how people talk about a movie being a "Chick Flick?"
Greg came home the other day with a bunch of movies he bought, including "Men of Honor." Now, I had never seen it before so he RAVED about what a great Feel Good Movie it was. OK. I'm all over Feel Good.
I have to say...it was so GAAAY!
It was Fromage.
It was a Dick Flick.
I pissed Greg off . Every time I said it was Gay, he got mad.
Ruined His Movie. Which, of course, made me say it more!

Best $6.99 he ever spent. lol
Dick Flick.

Okay. So it's been one month (minus a day) since we've moved to the Suburbs.
I loved living Downtown. I loved SAYING I lived Downtown. Because Once Upon a Time, I was a Young Hip Chick living in my 'Chickie Pad' in the Hip part of Town. For a few years, I used my location and space VERY well. I went out Dancing, Dining, Pubing, Coffee-shopping, Massage-ing, Pedicure-ing, Manicure-ing, Waxing, Threading, Retail Therapy-ing, Yoga-ing, On-line Dating to my hearts content.
And I was always 10 minutes from home.
The farthest I ventured was to work, 22 minutes Uptown.
I met Greg, and little by little all those Hip Chick Details fell by the Wayside. I still loved living downtown because it was convenient, but all those Single Girl things kinda stopped happening because I was happy being at Home with Greg. I guess I started Nesting.
But I still loved living downtown because I wasn't quite ready to let go of Hip Chick.
Then we started talking of moving.
And we talked some more.
So we sold.
And then we bought.
And now we live in the Suburbs.
We have trees all around us.
I can go places and park for free.
We turn the fan on at night---NOT to drown out the screams of the emergency vehicles, but to drown out the silence. That takes some getting used to.
We have a basement with cool furniture.
We can turn up the TV as loud as we want to.
I feel like a Grown Up...And I Live In The Suburbs!!!

The good and the bad.

I am in L-O-V-E with my new computer! It is so sleek, so quick, so quiet, so new! Who knew that a little box could make me so happy? It came with a printer/scanner/photocopier so it'll take some time to figure that out, but once I do...watch out! I have BOXES of photos that I want to scan and save somewhere in cyberland. That should keep me busy for a while, eh?
Our weekend project includes putting the second coat of Silver Blue paint on the walls of the office/my craft room. Our other project is to set up one of the rooms in the basement, it'll be our tv room. We have a brown leather sectional couch being delivered on Thursday. We decided on leather because that way when Greg has his grungy boys over, I don't have to get upset if something gets spilled on it, it'll just wipe clean. The back cushions can also be removed to allow for overnight guests to sleep comfortably. This will make Veronica happy as she came over the other day to offer us twin bed frames for our guest bedroom. When I told her that we didn't have a guest room she seemed miffed and wanted to know where our guests would sleep...perhaps in the basement, and we could set up some beds there? Uh...no thanks!
Mitey Mite was wondering if I'd painted the kitchen red. I have green floors and green counters, so red walls would make it look an awful lot like Christmas all year round. So, I settled for a neutral colour with red accessories. However, we did paint one wall in the living room a deep garnet red, which looks fabulous.
This week, there has also been some family junk going on. My brother got the shit kicked out of him last weekend, and was pushed down some stairs. He is okay, but surely is feeling ashamed of himself. He got drunk at a strip joint and wouldn't leave the ladies alone. So, the bouncers took care of him. As much as I feel bad for him, I also think that it was just a matter of time that something like this would happen. He is a very annoying drunk, and his drinking has gotten out of control again. Knowing him, he will now be sober for the next six months until he goes on another bender.
Last night, Greg's 16 year old sister didn't come home when she said she would. She stayed out all night without even giving her mother a phone call to let her know she was all right. I got home from nightshift and Greg had been up all night worried and waiting for her to show up. Around noon, Two-Four tracked her down and she was in bed with a local drug dealer. WTF?! Is this what happens to sweet little girls? Since mid-summer she has turned into such a rebel, and all she thinks about is boys. Chronic Depression...my ass. She has missed so much school this year, I doubt that she's going to pass. I wish Two-Four would place a stronger importance on school, but she doesn't. Greg has told me more than a few times, that she doesn't want her kids to be smarter than her. Isn't that sad? Anyway, I was relieved to hear that she was safe.
And can only hope that she will quickly pass through this stage.

Back to Blogging

What to do when nearly a month goes by and you can't get your freakin' computer to work despite having everything uninstalled, debugged, cleaned and reinstalled twice? Well, one gets SO fed-up that on a Monday morning one impulsively purchases a brand-spanking-new computer without viruses, no memory problems, and to top it off, looks very cute--- thereby ending weeks of frustration.
So, I am back to blogging, back to catching up on everyone else's blog. I am one happy woman, and am starting to feel more like myself, with my own down-time. Sigh. No more refurbished computers for me.
The new house is absolutely awesome, we are totally loving it, and settling in very well. Our neighbour, Veronica, still seems to keep in touch with us in some way everyday. At times, she is a little too much, a little too motherly, although I know that she means well. We've been busy painting and decorating and it really is starting to feel like our place. Today was so mild that I actually managed to get around to planting tulip and daffodil bulbs in the front. The squirrels will probably get to them over the winter, but that's okay. It's all part of the grand gardening experiment! While we were out planting, one of the other neighbours came by with her dogs to introduce herself. She seems really nice. One of the things I've noticed, is that all the neighbours speak very highly of one another and mention how wonderful the neighbourhood is. I'll take that as a very good sign.
OK, off to catch up on blogs and then figure out some of the new features on this computer.
I'm so glad to be back!

Arrrgh!!!! Can you tell that my home computer is STILL not working???? I am beyond frustrated. But I am still around, and every once in a while sneak a quick peek while I'm at work.
To all my American Friends, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.
And thanks for being my Blog Friends!
I will be back. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

How frustrating not having a computer at home! For some crazy reason, we have not been able to get it up and running,and boy do I miss it! So, just writing a quick note from work and hoping that no one is looking over my shoulder.
The house is awesome and we are settling in quite well. The lady next door has already worn a path to our front door (no kidding) but she is very nice. She even baked us a cake for our first anniversary! And speaking of cakes, I did recieve Kristi's cake in the mail which was absolutely delicious!
Hopefully, we'll get the home computer working in the next few days so I can get back to blogging. In my mind I've had so many great blog stories. Hopefully, I'll remember some of them when I get back on line at home.

New House, Week One

We all survived the move last weekend and are now sitting amongst the same pile of boxes, but at a new venue. It was pretty stressful, but I only had a few minor little meltdowns, all of which happened at the condo shortly before closing the door for the final time.
The cats are VERY happy and are enjoying their indoor-outdoor digs. The house is awesome, however it seems like I am spending an inordinate amount of time cleaning and trying to get the stench of nicotine out of the walls, blinds, floors, windows etc. Just when I was thinking that things were starting to smell ok, the furnace kicked in and sent a new blast of nicotine vapours into the air. Mr Mao (silly cat) immediately ran to the heat register and plunked his skinny little self overtop of it. I think he thinks the heat feels good against his body, and I suppose maybe he even thinks he's trying to stop the stink, but all that he has succeeded in doing is saturating his fur with the stench. OK, I am exaggerating, but it has crossed my mind that he's gong to start to smell like an ashtray.
The neighbours are very nice, very friendly, and perhaps a little too familiar with my house. V, from next door popped by the other day and when I answered the door, she just opened it wider and let herself in! It did take be aback just a little bit. Then, there's Ignac who sits out on his porch all day but comes limping over the minute he sees some action in my driveway. Then there are the neighbours who do "slow-by's" trying to get a glimpse into the living room through our window. Some of them even wave.
Anyway, I am loving the house, it's great and we are settling in pretty good. My computer didn't survive the move so it'll be a while before I can get all caught up with all you NaMoPomers (sp?) but I'll be back soon.

New House Day 1

We got the keys to the new house late in the afternoon today, and it felt so strange to walk in through the door. It felt like we were breaking into someone's house, just a very odd feeling. Maybe it felt like that because we caught the neighbour on one side peeking through their curtains, and in no time at all, had also met "Veronica" who lives on the other side. Veronica was bold enough to come over and introduce herself. In 5 minutes, I learned that she and her husband are Roman Catholics who go to church every single day, that her husband is 91 with a heart condition, that she packs her garage full of cast-offs for third world countries and the church bazaar, to make sure that we lock the doors and windows, because although it is a good neighbourhood, they had some problems a few years ago with some of the schoolboys breaking in through a screen. She seems like a very nice lady, and she remembered my name right off the bat, and forgot Greg's! Of course, she has a niece named Ramona so I'm sure that helped. Anyway, she'd better keep her garage door locked or I might just mosy over there and have a good look. You know how much I love other people's junk.
The wallpaper started to come down within 10 minutes of us walking through the door. It looks better already.
We discovered a major glitch with out new phone number. I had brought a phone with me to plug in and set our voice mail message. No sooner had I plugged it in when the phone rang! It was the wrong number. Someone thought that they had called a radio station. 5 minutes later, another call for the radio station! 10 minutes later...another call! OMG. By the time we got back to the condo, we checked the messages, and there were 5 more calls! So we looked the number up on line. There is a local radio station whose 1-800# is the same as our home number. Can you believe it?!
Needless to say, we need a new number.

WCB #73

This weekend passed by so quickly that I forgot to Weekend Cat Blog, and you know how much I love to post pics of the kitties. Here is Mr. Mao admiring the New Look of Kross-Eyed Kitty.

The Baby Shower turned out fantastic. Sal managed to get her 5 day post C-sectioned self and Baby Liam to the party, and everyone was thrilled. It really was a nice time. Pez gave me some ideas for games, one in particular that she said was really fun. You get a bunch of different chocolate bars and then melt one in each diaper in the microwave and then you get the ladies to guess which chocolate bar it is. Well, let me tell you...melted chocolate bars really does look like poo. As a nurse, I thought this game was hill-arrrr-ious, however some of the ladies thought it was disgusting and were not all that interested in playing. (Even though I said that they were allowed to taste, smell and touch it if they couldn't determine variety by sight.) Oh well. It forced me to buy boxes of Hallowe'en candy which I normally wouldn't buy. Guess what I had for lunch and dinner yesterday? Mmmm-hmmm...that's right! Hallowe-en candy! It was very tasty, let me tell you. Oh, I also ate leftover Hors D'oeuves, so it was a much more balanced diet. And washed it all down with wine (but that's another story altogether...) Actually, it made watching Bram Stoker's Dracula very fun! I'm not sure why, but I L-O-V-E vampire movies. And am terrified of pretty much any other kind of horror movie.

Oh, but let me back up...because on Saturday night, we went to see The Dixie Chicks! My brother got late release tickets on-line in the morning so we thought WTF, let's go! I'm a little late getting on Chick's Bandwagon, but I do really like them. And our seats were AMAZING. We were side-stage, 3rd row, and honestly, it was like sitting on the stage with them. It was awesome. THEY were awesome. We were so close, that their kids were sitting in the seats across the aisle from us. No guff.

I also found out that I won the much sought after Pumpkin Pay Off Prize over at Kristi's. Does it not look absolutely, divinely, mouth-wateringly scrumptious? I'll tell you all about it when it arrives.

So, after working a slew of nights, today I went back to work for the early shift which starts at 7:30. The clocks changed this weekend, so I should have been bright eyed and bushy tailed with that extra hour of sleep. Imagine my utter panic when I woke up at 6:47 (and I had fixed the clock the night before, so it was the right time.) I was up and out the door in 13 minutes, with coffee in hand and arrived at work 5 minutes early. I'm not sure how I did that, but I do know that I when I got to work, I still had pillow lines on my face and didn't remember the drive.

After work, I stopped at Petsmart to buy new collars and nametags for the kitties, because they are soon-to-be outdoor cats. They will be very excited! Total cost: $2, 228.00

Yes, that's correct.

Collars: $15

Tags: $14

Groovy New Rug from Giant Carpet: $399

42 inch Plasma TV $1700

I only have the cats to blame...

but they do love their new pretty collars!

4 Years Ago

Greg and I met 4 years ago today.

That year I befriended a fellow nurse, Christine. We were chatty, but it was really just the start of a new friendship. She told me that she knew of this Great Guy whom she'd like me to meet, he was a friend of her bf. I asked a few questions and found out that he was 8 years younger than me, had just broken up with a girlfriend and was a musician. It took me two seconds to say "Thanks, but no thanks." Not interested. Turns out that she told him about me anyway but he also was not interested. He wasn't in Dating Mode.

Fast forward 6 months to October 26, 2002.

I was out local bar/restaurant on a dinner date with a male friend. I had put aside a Saturday night to go out with him and was looking forward to it. We had dinner and afterwards were having a few drinks. One of the nurses from work (Grace) happended to show up with her crowd and my dinner date took that opportunity to ditch me. I was a little ticked off with him as it was still early in the evening so I thought "screw it, I'll stay anyway." I bought myself another drink and searched for Grace. Who, I couldn't find because it was so busy. I was just about to call it a night, when who should I run into, but Christine. (Thank god, because I was feeling like a loser at a bar by myself on a Saturday night.) She took one look at me, barely said hi, and pulled Greg over to introduce us. Standing before me was a very handsome, tall drink of water. You know that line from Jerry Maguire "You had me at hello"? Well, that's how it was. From the moment we met, we connected. We gave each other googlie-eyes, and talked up a storm.
Greg's side of the story was something like this: The gang had gotten together for a hockey game earlier that evening. Greg and Christine were talking about Greg's lovelife, and Greg had asked her "what about that co-worker you had mentioned months ago? Is she still single?" Christine said she didn't know, but she'd find out. After the game, the group headed to the bar, and within the first few minutes of being there he remembers looking over Christine's shoulder wondering who she was talking to and then found himself being pulled towards me for the introduction.
So we met. At one point, Greg went to the Men's Room. His buddy followed him in. "Dude! That's The Co-worker!" "That's the Co-worker???"
Christine came scurring over to me. "Well...what do you think? Do you like him? He's The Guy I wanted you to meet months ago!" "He's The Guy????"
What we always liked about this evening, was that it really was fluke. Christine didn't know I was going to be there. We were introduced and liked each other before we realized who the other was. We were never really set up I guess...We set ourselves up.

6 months later, we went to New Orleans and there we professed our love...the rest is history :)

Green Garbage Bags

I have spent the last three weeks packing up the last four years of our life. I bought this condo just before meeting Greg, so really, it has always felt like 'our' place. He was here to help me unpack boxes, hang pictures, paint, install lighting and all sorts of handy-man odd jobs. When he officially moved in a year after we had met, he brought over a small suitcase with a broken zipper, 2 Green Garbage Bags filled to the brim, a wine rack and an assortment of music gear.

Clearly, most of the stuff I'm packing is 'mine' although really, it's 'ours.' At first, I was more than happy to pack everything up because I knew that it would be done properly. The past few days though, I've been getting a little annoyed because it really feels like I've done everything. You could even say that there's some resentment building.

So, last night (ok, it was 5 minutes after Greg got home from work) I thought I'd get it off my chest. Apparently, my timing was not the greatest. Point taken. But I nearly Lost My Nut when Greg said "I don't know why you're getting all freaked out about this. Everything looks really organized and what's not packed on the last day, we'll just throw into Green Garbage Bags."

Uh-huh. Let me tell you from whom he learned this spectacular method of packing.

Six months before Greg and I met, Two-Four decided to move from Toronto to Fergus. She got a crew of her kids together and managed to borrow a truck. Saturday morning everyone arrives...and there is not one single thing packed. She did however, have a large supply of Green Garbage Bags and instructed everyone to "just throw the shit into a bag, I'll organize it at the other end." I wasn't in the picture yet, but I can only imagine from the stories I've heard how happy everyone was. So, all of her junk, including Real Junk, ended up moving with her in Green Garbage Bags. The kids just shoved stuff in bags...pictures, bathroom supplies, food, you name it all thrown together in one bag to be organized whenever Two-Four got around to it.

Now, this story has been told to me a few times because in all of this mess, when it came time to move the bed, Louise's BF lifted the mattress and Lo and Behold did he find a treasure chest! A Personal Adult Toy and the movies to go with it! Not the kind of thing you'd want your kids, or their boyfriends to find, I'm sure! Jeff came out of her bedroom with the thing Buzzing in one hand and Seymore's Bottom Feeders video in the other and nonchalantely asked if 'this was something she wanted packed seperately!' LOL! She was embarassed, but she actually tried to say that they didn't belong to her! Ya. Right.

Anyway, I am not a Green Garbage Bag kind of packer and Greg will no longer be a Green Garbage Bag packer. I don't want to move from one place to another like a Hobo. I want to know exactly what is in each box, and where that box should be placed in the new house.

And, at the end of the day, I'll think I'll be relieved to know precisely where my Personal Items are. I'd hate for them to get into the wrong hands. (wink!)