Wordless Wednesday #9

Geese and Goslings - click on images to enlarge.

Aw Nuts....

Since when did peanuts in the shell become salty? This is a fundamental question of life that has been causing my mind pain in the past while, and so it is probably worthy of a post.

You see, I have not really bought peanuts in the shell in a very long time. I was doing Weight Watchers, and watching what I ate, and that kind of nut did not fit the picture for me at the time. In fact, I think that the last time I bought them was to put in Halloween bags, and even then the nuts were regular unsalted peanuts in the shell.

By chance, I happened to have this particular bag of nuts fall into my shopping cart at the food store *gasp*. I didn't really pay special attention to the bag. When I got home, I noticed that they were now called baseball nuts, or stadium nuts, or something to that effect.

Now, we were not going to be eating them in a stadium or at a baseball game, but I figured it was still fair game for us to be able to enjoy a nut or two.

When I cracked open the first nut, and popped it into my mouth, I was appalled. The salt! A salty shelled peanut! Horrors! And the shell was salty too! So salty that a filmy residue of salty stuff remained on my fingers. What the heck happened here and when did this happen?

In my childhood, peanuts in the shell didn't have anything added. No added salt, and therefore no added sodium and other baddy things, like preservatives.

I am now boycotting these nuts.

*I live in a cave.*

spam-spam-spam-spam

I know this will not make some people happy, but I have been receiving spam comments lately. For the next while, I have enabled Word Verification (sorry Skittles bear with me), and I am also moderating comments (just like my SIL). I hate having to do this, but I don't like people playing in my yard like that.

Does Anyone Else Adore This Man?

I hope that I am not the only one in the universe who absolutely adores Jay Manuel. Don't get the wrong idea either. It's not a lust thing or a sexual thing. It's just an adoring thing. He is so well coiffed, so well put together, so, so...ahhhh.

He was on the cover of our TV magazine this week, dressed in white leather, such perfection, and I may never take that photo off my fridge. Others have come and gone from my fridge, but Jay may stay there for quite some time.

So, needless to say, I am looking forward to the second installment of Canada's next Top Model CNTM, and if Mr. Manuel looks as polished as he usually does, I may not even care who wins.

Ciao babies....

Tag...I'm It (again)

My SIL tagged me a little while ago, and then I got caught up in other nets, so I am finally doing the meme that she tagged me on.

The complete rules:
1. Link to the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Include the state and country you’re in.
3. List your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location (locally).
4. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.

Here goes.....
Terry tagged me.
I am in Ontario, Canada.
My top five places to eat are:

• Lings Cuisine


• McReilly's Pub


• Hollywood Pizza


• The Keg


• I love to eat on our boat

I tag the following 5 people.....
Skittles (woohoo Taylor fan!)
Calabar Gal (long time no hear)
Silver Neurotic (how could I not think of you?)
Jeni (time to put the knitting away and do a little meme)
a different Terry (different from my SIL that is)

Friday's Feast - One Hundred and Forty-Five

Welcome to Feast One Hundred & Forty Five
for
Friday, May 25th, 2007

Pull up a chair and dig in!
Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions
cooked up by the chef each and every week.
Enjoy!

Appetizer
Name a sound you like to hear.

I love to hear the sound of the tree frogs at our house. In the spring and summer, and into fall, the tree frogs sing up a storm in the nearby ravine. It's a beautiful sound,and sometimes even a bit deafening...when they really get heated up and chirp very loudly.

Soup
What's your favourite kind of cheese?

I am not a huge cheese person (guess you could say I'm not a cheeseball). But if I do have cheese, it's either Swiss, Camembert or Brie. No stinky Blue Cheese here.

Salad
Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?

That depends on what you mean by late. For some people, sleeping in til 8 o'clock is late. If that's late, then I am guilty, guilty, guilty! Sometimes I even stretch it out to 9....sometimes. Can't get enough beauty sleep ya know.

Main Course
When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it?

The last time I forgot something was last week. My car keys. I had locked my car keys inside my car and it never twigged on me until we were getting ready to go home. I started fishing around in my Baggalini, but no keys. That was a stunner for me, the elephant who never forgets.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I notice ____________ when ____________.

I notice feet when I am waiting in line.

Reality Show Round-Up

Reality TV is rapidly coming to a close, and with that I thought that I would give my take on what I thought were the ups and downs of the past season...and there were plenty.

America's next Top Model (ANTM)
This is one ending that I cannot blame on the telephone voters. We can only blame Miss Tyra and the judges for naming Jazzzzlene as ANTM for this season. I was rooting for Natasha, and the powers that be deemed that she would not be THE ONE.
My reaction - the season was excellent but the ending was hrumph!

American Idol (AI)
Jordin wins; Blake doesn't. Neither of these were in my fave list. It was always Melinda and LaKisha. Jordin sort of tried to make her way into my fave list, because she seemed to be getting better, but then, last night, I found myself watching the show (which was an amazing finale btw), and actually thinking that Blake would be the better of the two, because he is such an amazing stage performer. Again, it was not to be.

The highlight of the show was, of course, the Taylor man....complete with harmonica and all. *sigh*.
My overall reaction - the season was excellent, as was the finale, but because my Melinda didn't win, it was hrumph!

Survivor
Yau-man what happened??? You were supposed to win! But, with Earl winning, it is almost as if you DID win, because you guys were survivormates. My main hope was that Cassandra would not win the million. At least there was some justice.
My overall reaction - Survivor has been my fave since Day 1, and this season was just as good as the others. Yay!

The Bachelor
Tessa Won! Yay! Bevin is still probably whining and crying, in fact I can still hear the sobs. Heck, she was even whining during the 'after' show. But Tessa remained as the sole bachelorette to get the ring and the rose.....Tessa and Andy looked so happy on the 'after' show....good on them!
My overall reaction - Yay!

So, what's coming up? Canadian Idol is going to ramp up very soon. Canada's next Top Model will also be starting. Survivor's next season, probably in the fall, will be filmed in China.

Now maybe I can get back to blogging on a regular basis, now that TV will no longer be consuming my life ...and my PVR space (which I really need to clean up).

Ciao.....

The Long Weekend

It's a long weekend here in Canada, known traditionally as the Victoria Day weekend. Yay! I am typing this from our boat, through the wireless network. We have the electric heater turned on, as well as the propane heater. While yesterday had scrumptiously warm temperatures, today they are quite chilly....traditionally Canadian I guess. It wouldn't be a Canadian long weekend if we didn't have the four seasonings of weather. That's okay. It's a work weekend anyway, seeing as the boat was only launched last Tuesday. The weekend is full of cleaning, organizing the disorganization that typically accompanies launch, shmoozing, eating, napping. It makes for a great time no matter how you cut it.

As I write this, we are surrounded by various fireworks displays. With the bangs and the booms, and the sky being lit in various shades of red and green, it is really kind of neat to have this tiny window to the world, which only we are privy to.

So happy Victoria Day weekend everybody. Hope you all get to see some fireworks where you are.

Friday's Feast - One Hundred and Forty-Four

Welcome to Feast One Hundred & Forty Four
for
Friday, May 18th, 2007

Pull up a chair and dig in!
Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions
cooked up by the chef each and every week.
Enjoy!

Appetizer
List 3 emotions you experienced this week.

Oh gosh. It was another stressful week, accompanied by frustration, fear, and anxiety, but these emotions are slowly disappearing with the soon-to-arrive long weekend here!

Soup
Name a car you’d love to have.

Now that depends if you are referring to a toy car or a real car. A toy car would mean that I could own anything that I wanted, but with not much purpose. If it was a real car, it would be a Jaguar....or a MB....or a BMW....

Salad
Describe your typical morning routine.
Another quasi decision. Depends if it is a typical weekday morning or a weekend morning. The weekend morning has no routine. The weekday morning is always the same. Get up. Visit the washroom. Got to office and turn on laptop. Check for urgent requests and last minute scheduled meetings. Gather breakfast. Work. Look forward to lunchtime. bla-bla-bla

Main Course
Have you ever emailed someone famous? If so, who, and what did you say to them? Did they reply?

No. Now what would someone famous do with a silly email from little ole me?

Dessert
Do you listen to podcasts? If so, which ones?

Easy, easy, easy....no!

Wordless Wednesday #8

Da Bears

This is a great time of year for us. The weather is warmer (or trying to be that way), and we prepare to launch our boat. To get to the marina, we travel through some nice countryside. It is very quaint and very special.

What is also very special about the trip is something I refer to as Da Bears. We refer to it as Da Bears, even though there are a number of other little animals involved. Da Bears has been going on for many years. Da Bears is a tradition which was started many years ago. I don't know how it started or why, but the tradition continues today, but here's what happens. Throughout the year, for special occasions (Easter, Canada Day), there is a display of bears that appears on a piece of property along our travel route. It is past the small town, and past the elk farm. Once we get past these two landmarks, we start to watch for Da Bears (are there bears?). The people who own the property set up a display of bears. For Easter, they had bears with bonnets, and the bushes had little Easter eggs hanging from the branches. For Labour Day, the bears were sitting at desks getting ready to return to school. For Canada Day, what else, Canada flags everywhere AND the bears were in a parade and had flags in their paws.

This past weekend was no exception. Da Bears were preparing for the upcoming long weekend, also known as Victoria Day. Now, this time I was able to take a few pictures. We actually stopped!

So here is what Da Bears were doing..............

I Forgot What Day It Was

...or rather how much time has lagged between posts (thanks SIL for the little nudge). My mind is in a bit of a cloud these days. Work is busy, which is a good thing because it sort of takes my mind away from last week's Black Thursday. I say sort of, because it still sits heavy with me. I am sure there are colleagues that are gone, and I don't know it yet. Word will trickle down eventually, but right now it's unknown. There's a term that flows around these days. I don't like it very much, as it's kind of rude....they say 'suck it up'.....I prefer 'stiff upper lip' myself.

TV has also been keeping me pretty tuned in....tuned into the reality (or non-reality) shows. ANTM got rid of Dionnne tonight. Good riddance. Sourly faces are not very endearing, dear. She was even sourly when she was being booted off. Too bad. So sad. (I hope Natasha wins). No nay-nay!

What else...AI....LaKisha gone home tonight. Too bad...she was one of my favourites. I was surprised that the bee-bb-bb-bbeee-bop guy Bbbbbbblake made it through to the final three, but I am still rooting for Melinda D. I hope that AI and ANTM don't get their final 3's mixed up, otherwise the AI threesome will be posing on the catwalk and the ANTM threesome will be trying to remember words to songs.

Tomorrow is Survivor night. More continued back-stabbing I imagine. More continued begging to be kept for 3 more days. This season, though, has had many turns and has kept the show alive (it's kept me alive, that's for sure). I am rooting for YauMan.

Anyway, just wanted to post something so that you know that I am still 'here'. I'll be posting something interesting in a few days. You'll just have to be patient I guess for my surprise!

Ciao for now my little chickadees.

Ack! I need to update! I forgot about The Bachelor! Thanks Skittles! How could I forget about The Bachelor! Let's see. Amber went sobbing her way home. Not surprised. Her nasal, whiny speak was getting to me. And the hair flicking! So now we have Bevin, Stefanie, and Tessa. I think my cards are on Tessa....but who knows?

Friday's Feast - One Hundred and Forty-Two

Welcome to Feast One Hundred & Forty Two
for
Friday, May 4th, 2007

Pull up a chair and dig in!
Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions
cooked up by the chef each and every week.
Enjoy!

Appetizer
Name something you would not want to own.

There are many things I would not want to own.....a snake, an SUV, a gun.

Soup
Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).

Texture=thick. Color=varies, but mostly brownish with highlights. Length=also varies (currently trying to grow it somewhat)

Salad
Finish this sentence: I’ll never forget ___________.

Anything (I have the memory of an elephant).

Main Course
Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?

I'd love to be Ellen DeGeneres for just one day. She is such a hoot, and so comfortable with her audience. She makes her audience feel comfortable with her too.

Dessert
Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.

I plan on getting my motorcycle licence and riding my Harley Davidson to Florida.

Black Thursday

For many years I have lived with and experienced the grey suit world at its worst. Prior to this, it was much better. And so, not to let me down, today was Black Thursday. One of our players became one of the non-grey suit world. There are no details to impart, and thus this will be a very short post. Now, one player may not sound like much, and most assuredly it is not, but the deal was that each little group was to relieve one or two souls of their duties. So the souls added up to be a fairly substantial number, you see. A rather stunning number. This is similar to losing someone very close to you. They leave you, sometimes suddenly, sometimes not, and then you grieve for however long that period is. Losing a grey suit player is similar to that process, but not quite. There is usually no communication about any of the proceedings. Not much discussion, but stiff upper lip, and carry on your duties. Pick up the load that they left behind and get on with it. That's what we do.

My ESP alerted me that something was UP for some time now, and something was, but I am safe.

This time.

The 10 Things Meme

Skittles tagged me with this meme. So, here goes, and I may even surprise myself!

Ten Things About Me You Don't Know:

1. When I eat potato chips (only the lo fat kind) I enjoy dunking them in Coca Cola.


2. When I watch stunts on TV that involve tall places, I freak. My palms get real sweaty---hang on, I have to wipe my hands.


3. I can bend my thumb backwards to 90 degrees.


4. I wanted to be a teacher and also an aerobics instructor. Instead I am a computer nerd.


5. My food has to not touch other food on my plate. It's like the food has invisible walls between each one.


6. My shoe size is 7.


7. I'm a Collector - you name it, I collect it.


8. I color my hair.


9. I am the Web guru for my volunteer group.


10. I am secretly in love with American Idol Taylor Hicks (wheeee).

I Tag:
Jeni,
Terry,
Silver,
My SIL,
La Tomate

What to do with a Meme: Copy the questions into a new post and answer them. Tag some different bloggers. Go back and let the person who tagged you know that you did it.

Have fun!.....

Wordless Wednesday #7

Regardez Mes Souliers

Look at my new shoes! They're nothing sexy or special, but they are new and, of course, there is a teeny story to go along with each one. Now, I am a stickler for quality shoes....and of course quality handbags. All of the following shoes are quality, by my standards.

And now...the shoes.


This little pair (above) are made by Columbia. Now there, in my mind, is quality. My old day-to-day runners, which I always wear to the gym, had seen better days. They were lacking support, and, of course, style. The Columbias are beige with a teeny purple accoutrement (I think that's how you spell it. If not pfeh.). Very comfortable.


Above is your typical black lace-up Oxford. They are made by Thom McAn. I liked them because they remind of a slimmed down version of a Doc Martin. They replace my old (and dearly loved) Rockports. The Rockports had both developed split soles, and were tired looking.


The purple number above is very special. They're made by RBK. Very light, with a non-slip sole, but not a lot of support. Good for dancing, and this is exactly what I was looking for. I take a BodyJam class on Monday night at the gym. It's and hour of exercising by dancing to hip-hop, swing, charleston, salsa. Regular gym shoes are way too protective for these types of moves, and the RBK seems to do the trick (they got their initiation last night, and were marvy).

So there you have them. My new shoes. Welcome them into your lives as I have welcomed them into mine.

There's nothing like a new shoe. Wait a minute! Yes, there is...a new handbag.