pattyfaye

2007-12-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

Depending on how quickly Joe marks his exams we hope to be leaving for home on Thursday. I can't believe how quickly the last month has gone. I came across this song last weekend and now I listen to it all the time. It's called Driving home for Christmas.

Im driving home for christmas
Oh, I cant wait to see those faces
Im driving home for christmas, yea
Well Im moving down that line
And its been so long
But I will be there
I sing this song
To pass the time away
Driving in my car
Driving home for christmas

Its gonna take some time
But Ill get there
Top to toe in tailbacks
Oh, I got red lights on the run
But soon therell be a freeway
Get my feet on holy ground

So I sing for you
Though you cant hear me
When I get trough
And feel you near me
I am driving home for christmas
Driving home for christmas
With a thousand memories

I take look at the driver next to me
Hes just the same
Just the same

Top to toe in tailbacks
Oh, I got red lights on the run
Im driving home for christmas, yea
Get my feet on holy ground
So I sing for you
Though you cant hear me
When I get trough
And feel you near me
Driving in my car
Driving home for christmas
Driving home for christmas
With a thousand memories

2007-11-24T18:25:00.000-05:00

We finally bought a car and we picked it up today. Here is our new toy, a blueberry Nissan Versa hatchback. We love her already.

2007-11-13T18:17:00.000-05:00

I picked up my new glasses today. I really like them. See what you think.

2007-11-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when Joe goes into work on a Sunday and there is no football!!

It's not much but it's a start ;)

2007-10-26T15:05:00.001-04:00

I blame Facebook. I never update this anymore because I keep up to date with everyone though Facebook. I know there are still people out there not on "the book" including my husband so I will try and update more often.

Well since my last post I got a job. I am employed at the same place as Joe. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. We are both really busy but love our jobs.

We are thinking about buying a car. We got away without owning one in both Kingston and Halifax because everything we needed was close or as was the case in Kingston, never had far to go. Oshawa however is really spread out and things we want to get too are far away. So... we are starting to look for a car. Something small, cute and reliable. We are in the very early stages so if anyone has any recommendations please drop me a note.

We are looking forward to going home at Christmas. Joe got the exam schedule, it sucks but come hell or high water I am getting home for Christmas.

Okay I think that is it. Have a good weekend everyone.

2007-08-09T14:14:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of our new apartment. Please remember that we have only been in it a week so things are still kind of all over the place.

Here is the view from the front door of the kitchen and the dining room

This is the living room view from the front door
more living room and dining room
View from the patio
hallway with the bizarre two bathrooms
spare room/computer room
our bedroom

There you go.

2007-08-02T10:54:00.003-04:00

Well I guess I'm back in Ontario now. The following picture was taken inside our apartment this morning.

2007-07-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

So I really need to update my blog more often. If anyone out there reading this doesn't know, Joe got a job at UOIT in Oshawa, Ontario and we moved there today. We left Hammonds Plains yesterday in the rain and arrived in Oshawa this evening at 5:30. We are both tired and glad to be out of the truck.

We move into our apartment tomorrow and are excited to get in and get settled. We don't get internet hook up until Saturday!!! so we will be without for awhile.

The only picture I got of Oshawa so far is below. Enjoy.

2007-07-06T07:45:00.000-04:00

Is Jeopardy getting easier or am I getting smarter?

Joe and I watch Jeopardy almost every night. The last week or so the questions have been way too easy. I can usually get quite a few in the first round and a few in the next depending on the categories. Well the last few days Joe and I have been getting almost all of the first round and then most of the next. What's up Jeopardy??? you are supposed to make me feel stupid ;)

2007-06-13T07:43:00.000-04:00

I want everyone who reads this to take the time to check out another blog

http://que-sarah-sarah.blogspot.com/

Sarah was someone I never met in person but got to know though a message board. She died yesterday at the age of 30 after a battle with cancer. Her blog was touching and inspiring, please take a chance to read it from the beginning.

2007-06-02T10:21:00.000-04:00

Ahh long time no speak. Which for me is not normal ;)

Lets see what's going on... we gave our notice this week to our apartment building. We had to let them know by the end of May if we were going to continue our lease in September. Joe is applying for jobs out of the province that all start in September so we are being optimistic that we will be moving. If not we will find something else in Halifax.

Not much else, work is good, home is good.

Going over to Mom's for a BBQ today. Dad is in Newfoundland fishing, and Donna and Velvet came to visit mom so we are heading over there for a good time.

Hope everyone is well.

2007-04-07T19:40:00.000-04:00

These pictures were taken a few hours ago, APRIL 7th. It has not stopped yet and it looks much worse out there now.

This picture was taken the other night because it looked cool. The moon was super orange and really big. The picture doesn't do it justice.

2007-04-05T08:41:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone has a very happy Easter and a wonderful long weekend.

2007-03-20T20:10:00.000-04:00

I love CuteTax

CuteTax is the online program that Joe and I use to fill out our taxes. There is no simpler way (that I know of) to file your taxes. You fill in a few boxes and then $17 later you have completed taxes. You can print out a PDF file of the tax return that looks exactly like the regular form but they also give you the file so everything can be NetFiled. So simple, it actually makes me enjoy tax time.

Well now didn't that sound like an ad for CuteTax, I swear I make no money from them ;)

Not much else going on, it was officially Spring about 10 minutes ago. I can hear the wind whipping by my window and I can see little flurries out the window. sigh.

2007-03-17T09:54:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad took myself, Joe and San out for lunch yesterday. We went to a Chinese place on Quinpool. The food was good, and cheap but the best part was the fortune cookies. They were all pretty standard, okay Joe's was weird something about the best presents are in invisible boxes. The best of all was San's though. You can figure out what was meant by the saying but it comes across a little mean, and quite funny.

2007-03-14T19:23:00.000-04:00

I am such a bad blogger. I will blame it on the fact that the main reason I started this was for our families to know what was going on with us in Kingston. Now that we are home they know what is going on, which isn't much.

We have been keeping busy with work and the gym. I also have been taking voice lessons. Mom and Dad got me 4 lessons for Christmas and when those were up I bought 12 more. I really enjoy them, my teacher is the best. She is about my age and has a fantastic voice. She keeps me laughing while we sing so that is fun. It is weird to have a lesson where someone is listening to your voice only, she never says anything bad but if she says "let's try that part again" I know I screwed up somewhere. I have been working on "My Funny Valentine", "On My Own" from Les Mis and we are going to start "Zombie" by the Cranberries next week.

Lets see, what else... I go away at the end of the month on my first "overnight" work trip. It's only for staff meetings but they are taking us down to Oak Island Inn for two days as a kind of "retreat" I'm looking forward to it, it will be the first time I have been in a hotel room by myself.

Speaking of work... my term for my current job is up at the end of this month. That job is turning into a permanent one but that means I have to apply for it and go though an interview process. They will extend me in the position until that is all done since it could take well into April. Hopefully that will work out but if not the position I am currently "filling in for" is going to be posted soon so I will probably apply for that one as well. Yeah, interviews my favourite.

No word on the Postdoc front for Joe yet, he has applied for a new bunch recently though so will let you know if we hear anything.

2007-02-23T07:45:00.000-05:00

Last month Joe and I started watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. We had never watched it when it was on tv but after hearing so many things from friends and then really enjoying Firefly we thought it was finally time to watch it.

The first three seasons went great, we rent them from Video Difference around the corner from our apartment and they let you rent the whole season for a week at a time. As I said the first three seasons were great... then there was a spin off. Angel began airing its first season as Buffy started her 4th. What's the problem you might ask, the two shows tie way to closely together so you have to watch them together. Meaning we have 44 episodes (42 minutes each) of tv to watch every week!!! Man that's a lot of tv. After we finish this week (Buffy season 6 and Angel season 3) we are going to take a break for a little while and have lives again.

The reason I started this post was to write to quote from the guy at Video difference last night. We were renting Buffy and they clean the DVDs before they give them to you. There are 6 discs he has to do so there is a little bit of a wait. The cashiers usually come up with some sort of conversation, the weather, a comment on your movie selection but this guy took the cake. As he was cleaning the DVDs he said... "So, are you really into the Vampire slaying" oh yeah buddy we go out hunting vampires every night :)

2007-02-06T09:19:00.000-05:00

Okay a friend forwarded me these. There were many more but I am only posting the funny ones. If you don't think they are funny blame my father, I get the sense of humour from him ;)

Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," says Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" exclaims Daisy

What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him ..(Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good)..... A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis

And my favourite...

"Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.'" "That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome." "Is it common?" Well, "It's Not Unusual."

2007-02-02T07:25:00.000-05:00

Wii found it!!!

After nearly three months we finally found our Nintendo Wii. We ordered it online so we don't have it yet but it is on the way.

We have been keeping our eye on a website that lets you know when stores like Future Shop or Best Buy get Wii in at there online stores. They have popped up many times but usually when you click on the site it would say "20 in stock" and then by the time you had signed into your account "Sorry we are out of stock in the item" It was a little frustrating but it paid off yesterday when Joe was able to get one.

We should have it sometime next week. I will post some pictures then.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I took today and Monday off of work so I am having a super long weekend. I am leaving soon to go get my hair cut and Monday we have dentist appointments :(

2007-01-31T11:07:00.000-05:00

I have a cold. It sucks.

That's all I have to say about that.

On another note. I'm not sure if I mentioned how dry it was in our apartment. REALLY dry, Mom (Doris) bought us a humidifier for our apartment last weekend. Before we tried it out we went and got a hygrometer so we could see just how dry the apartment is. They say your home should be somewhere between 40 - 55% humidity. Our living room... 20% So we turned the little guy on and got it pumping, yesterday we managed to get up to 32% but the only problem now is that the humidifier pumps out cold air with the moisture. It really cools down the room so we have to turn the heat higher, when the heat is higher it sucks the humidity out and takes us back to around 25%. So it's a nasty cycle, I would like to have more moisture but I don't want to freeze. Sooooo we may just have to go switch this humidifier for one the either doesn't use cool air or one that uses warm air. Sigh.

Okay enough bad stuff. The Superbowl is this weekend, it would be better if the Patriots were playing but I will cheer for the Colts. I have taken Friday and Monday as holidays so on Friday I have a hair appointment :) and Monday a dentist appointment :( On a good note for Monday though I may get to sneak into the back of Joe's class and watch him teach. How fun.

2007-01-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

So we had a big game to watch on Sunday. The Patriots were playing the Colts to see who got to go to the Superbowl. Things didn't turn out so well for my Patriots but I made a cake for the occasion and thought I would share.

Not bad for my first attempt at real cake decorating :)

2007-01-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

I was reminded this morning again about the difference between Kingston and Halifax winters. We have had a little bit of snow this past week, enough that it is still on the ground and on my walk in this morning I noticed that the sidewalks are BARE. I'm not talking plowed but a thin layer of slush and ice remaining like in Kingston but totally bare pavement. It was fantastic. I complained about the Kingston sidewalks the whole time I was there so at least I can't do that here.

2007-01-17T07:38:00.000-05:00

-20°C windchill -33°C where am I Ontario???? These aren't my nice Nova Scotia winter temperatures. I know we have been spoiled this winter but to go from above zero to this is just cruel.

2007-01-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

So I have been watching a bit of the Golden Globes and these awards shows need to do one thing to make them better and more watchable... get rid of life time achievement awards. They are painful to sit though and take forever. I have been sitting here for 20 minutes waiting for Warren Beatty to stop talking so I can see some awards before bed. Oh well I guess I will read about them tomorrow.

Goodnight

2007-01-12T09:11:00.000-05:00

I haven’t updated in so long I think I will just make a fresh start and try to do this blogging thing better.

So what have Joe and I been up to the last little bit. Mostly hunting for a Wii. For those who don’t know a Wii is the new game console from Nintendo.

We wanted to get one before Christmas as our Christmas gift to each other. No such luck, there are none to be found in the stores. We have come really close a few times. Just missing getting one by minutes.

We already have a game for the system as well as an extra controller. All we need now is the stupid machine. They say that it will have saturated the market and just be sitting on store shelves by March but March is not now :)

Okay what else is going on. My Patriots are still in the NFL playoffs. They face San Diego this weekend though which could be tough but I know they can pull it off. Jack starts on Sunday as well, 24 is probably my favourite show, I live for the sound of that ticking clock every week.

We have a birthday party to go to this weekend, little Ella Marie turns 1 tomorrow. I don’t know where that year went it seems like just yesterday we went and saw her at the hospital and now she is one. She is such a little cutie, I will take some pictures at the party and check with Jen to see if she minds if I post pictures of her baby on my blog. I’m sure she won’t though.

We have another little baby on the way in the family. Joe’s cousin Kevin is going to be welcoming a little bundle any day now (if not already).

Nanny Faye has been moved from the Yarmouth hospital to the Shelburne hospital. She is doing well; we are just waiting to see what the next step is. Check mom’s blog for info on that as we have it.

Joe has applied for some postdoc jobs and is looking at more. We are not sure when something will come up but as long as we are doing our waiting in Halifax we are okay with the wait.

We joined the gym yesterday. Irene and Bob got us a 10 week membership for Christmas. The worst part of going to the gym is the walk home. Damn you Halifax and your hills. We are going to try and go to the gym at least 3 times a week and get ourselves in shape. Or as I like to say get ourselves in BETTER shape because I am already in shape… round is a shape :)

Okay I guess that’s it I better go I have rambled enough. I will update soon though. Maybe some movie reviews it has been awhile since I have done one of those.

Bye for now.

2006-12-22T16:15:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

2006-12-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

We put our Christmas tree up today. After weeks of nagging Joe gave in ;)

It's just a little one since we won't actually be in the apartment on Christmas morning but I still wanted a tree of my own. It doesn't have a lot of ornaments on it but we like it. I took two pictures one in the light and one once it got dark with the lights on.

2006-11-26T10:45:00.000-05:00

Joe and I went shopping yesterday. We walked up to Halifax Shopping Centre. It took us about 30 minutes so we were pretty happy that the mall is such a short walk away.

We first went to the Sears "Outlet Centre" used to be the bargain basement to see if we could find some curtains. Up to this point we didn't have any curtains in the living room. We are on the 20th floor so privacy was never an issue but we are finding the sun was becoming a huge problem so we knew we had to get some. Mom and dad have been on the look out for us as well.

We did find some at the "outlet centre" and then curtains happen to be 50% off yesterday so we managed to get these for $9.88 total :)

We then went to Wal-Mart to see if we could find another set of curtains to cover the patio doors. We needed thicker ones for there because it is right beside the computer and Joe works there in the afternoon when the sun is coming right in on him.

We didn't find anything at Wal-Mart so we headed across the street to the mall and the "regular" Sears. It was Sears days and their curtains were 25% off so we managed to get these ones for $30 much higher then the other pair but still a decent price for what we got.

Last night we put up our Christmas lights in the window. I took some pictures inside and then we went outside to take some. They are so pretty. Joe won't let me put the tree up until December but I was able to get the lights on early :) It's hard to see our window in the outdoor pictures but if you click on the photo to make it bigger you can see them.

2006-11-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

Christmas is just around the corner.

As I was going back to my office at lunch today I noticed a few flakes in the air. They didn't last long and have now turned to rain. A lot of rain actually, poor Joe is going to be soaked by the time he gets home from St. Marys.

I am posting so I can show a picture of the two Christmas ornaments I bought a few weekends ago at the Christmas Craft Fair at Exhibition park.

They are Batman and a Patriots player... Made out of walnuts!!!! How cute are they?

The picture is kind of fuzzy but you get the idea.

2006-11-01T20:03:00.000-05:00

Shiny Pretty Fox played their first show Monday night. A local bar here in Halifax has an open mic night called "Rockin 4 dollars" where bands can play a 15 minute set and then at the end of the night you spin a wheel and can win a prize. We didn't stick around to see if we would win on the wheel (the prizes weren't worth the late night) but maybe next time.

The show itself went good. We only did 4 of the 5 songs we planned but they all sounded good. It was fun to be back on stage it has been a long time and now I can't wait to do it again. Here are two pictures that our "#1 fan" Sandra took.

2006-09-28T08:29:00.000-04:00

I am way overdue for an update so here you go.

We got back from our trip last Saturday night. All and all we had a great time but the week was very busy with thesis stuff.

While I was typing my last post Joe was starting to print his thesis. Once he finished that we were going to go to the Hershey factory. Well… our day turned out quite different. It’s a long story so stay with me J

After printing just 3 pages the printer was out of toner and need a new black toner. So Joe contacted the system administrator who would be in charge of getting and installing a new toner. Turns out he had ordered the new toner Monday (it’s Thursday that all this is taking place) and it had still not arrived. He then called and checked the status of the order but it would be a couple of days at least before it arrived.

So now we were running low on options. It turns out there isn’t another printer in the department that we could use so we started to look at outside sources. We started with the Queen’s “printer” I put printer in quotes because it turns out he is really just a photocopier. So the main problem there… we need something for him to copy.

Okay so we then set off on a trek across Kingston to find a cheap place to print the thesis. So we were looking at getting 5 copies, one for the university, one for the Physics department, one each for Joe’s two supervisors and then one for Joe.

Off we went checking out various places all ranging from a place with official quotes and fancy machines to a guy with a printer. The main problem we were running into cost wise was the colour pages we needed. See Joe’s thesis was 188 pages long but 47 of those pages had colour on them. I’m not talking about a lot of colour, mostly one of two lines on a graph. However, no matter how much colour is on a page they need to charge you the colour printing cost which can range from 40 cents to a dollar PER PAGE. The quotes we get for the job range anywhere from $30 - $80 per copy.

At this point we are obviously getting discouraged but head back to the guy who quoted $30 and see what he has to offer. Joe asks for a test page because hey this has to look good. Guy says no problem, sends the file to the printer and… jams. Yep that’s right it printed 2 pages and jammed. The main problem with this is that one of the copies had to be on “special” archival paper. We had 200 sheets of the special paper; the thesis is 188 pages, not a lot of room for error.

So Joe decides he wants to think about it, we will go eat lunch and come back either later that afternoon or tomorrow if we want to get it done.

We head back to Queens and get some lunch. By now it’s almost 1pm and my chocolate factory dreams have gone out the window, this was much more important. We had one more day to get the thesis printed and submitted before we left for Halifax.

So after lunch we are back in Joe’s office and just for fun he looks up the part number for the toner and finds that Staples has some online and that they ship in 1 day. We decide to call and see if they have any at the store in Halifax and see if we can get it earlier. I call Staples and the lady there says they have 2 sitting on the shelf. YEAH!!! Joe’s runs down and tells the System Admin that Staples has two can we order one of those. They go to the lady who orders stuff and find out that when you order from Staples it actually comes from Ottawa or Toronto, not your local store so it would still be a few days. So Joe says “well what if I just drive out to Staples and get it, can I be reimbursed” (the toner cost $155) “Sure”

So back out to Staples we go and get the toner (I buy a big chocolate bar at Staples to make up for my missed factory). We come back to the school; Joe prints all the copies and finishes close to 5. The grad school, where you submit, closes at 4:30 so we will have to wait until tomorrow for that.

So after all day of trying to print we are done, exhausted in fact. We then went out and saw some friends who recently had a baby. I say recently she is 6 months old J and then head back to the hotel and collapse for the night.

Phew you still with me after all of that?

It was a good trip there is more to tell but I’m sure you have had enough reading so I will post more later.

Tricia

2006-09-21T09:50:00.000-04:00

Hello from Kingston

We are in Kingston for Joe's defense this week. All went well we are currently in at the school printing off the final copies so he can officially submit them to the graduate school and he can be done.

The week is going by way to quickly, it's already Thursday. We are having a good time and eating way to much. We have gone out to dinner every night so far and have had some wonderful meals. Last night we went to Jimmy's place for some homemade lasagna. Man was a home cooked meal every nice. Thanks again James :)

Today after Joe finishes with the printing and submitting we are going to the Hershey chocolate factory in Smith Falls. It is one of those things I always wanted to do while we lived her but never got around to.

Okay that's it from Kingston for now. I will probably post again when we get home.

Take care.
Tricia

2006-09-12T19:47:00.000-04:00

Tales of a drummer-less band

So we need a drummer. We realized that we would be a much better band if we could get a drummer. That would allow Fabian to take over the bass and Joe could concentrate on guitar and all I have to worry about is singing. So... We put up some ads at local music places and waited.

Well we had a drummer get in touch with us. She was new to Halifax and hadn't really played in any rock bands but wanted to give it a shot. So we met up with her, she was great. She really knew what she was doing and she really seemed interested but alas she had way too much on her plate so she doesn't think she could commit to being in the band.

So the search continues. Yesterday another drummer got in touch with us and we are going to meet up with her on Saturday. Wish us luck.

2006-09-03T10:27:00.000-04:00

Well we are all moved in. Our move went way better then we could have expected.

On Friday we came to get the keys and move little stuff in to the apartment. There were so many people here and it seemed like everyone was trying to get an elevator. It was nuts. We had our elevator time booked for Saturday and we were hoping that it wasn't as bad.

So Saturday morning at 8am Bob and Irene showed up in Hammonds Plains to help us load our stuff. We managed to fit everything into the van we rented, Dad's truck and Irene and Bob's car. This was the first good thing because that meant that we didn't have to make multiple trips back to Hammonds Plains.

When we got to the apartment building, around 9:45 people were already using the elevator (which is weird since I was told 10am was the earliest I could be moving stuff in). They said they had it booked from 8 to 10 and then there was another group of people (a moving company) that said their client had it booked from 9-12!!!! That is also weird since once again I was told I could have 2 hours.

Anyway we worked it out everyone shared, the moving company was done shortly after 10 so we got going. It all went really smooth once we had a dedicated elevator and we had everything in our apartment and the van returned to the dealer by 11:30. Then we went for lunch, got groceries and started to unpack.

Now it's Sunday 11:30 and we have pretty much everything done. We still need to buy a few things (bookshelf, hangers, garbage cans) but stores aren't open today or tomorrow so it will have to wait.

Now for some pictures. The first is our living room and then others are our awesome view.

2006-08-16T10:01:00.000-04:00

Why oh why do people drive in the fog without their lights on???? Especially when they drive a grey car. People are stupid sometimes.

2006-07-28T10:13:00.000-04:00

Okay time for a big update on what has been going on. First of all we have determined that we won’t be moving from Halifax until at least January so in order for Joe to be able to travel to and from a job (doesn’t have one yet but we are optimistic) we either had to move into an apartment or get a car. Well with the price of gas and insurance it was probably cheaper to get an apartment.

So on September 1st we move to Halifax, into a cute 1 bedroom on the 20th floor!!! The building is on the Halifax Commons. Close to downtown and really close to Quinpool Road. For those not in Halifax Quinpool will have everything we need, groceries, drug store, Canadian Tire, and way too many restaurants. Here is the building, there are 22 floors so we are the 3rd from the top. This is the front of the building and we are around back but you get the idea.

Okay what else... it was our 4th wedding anniversaryay on Wednesday. Damn those 4 years went by pretty quick. Joe has been following the list of traditional anniversaryay gifts every year and I think he lucked out on this one which was Flowers/Fruit how easy is that. So I got 4 beautiful roses and some fruit candy. Gotta love a man who instead of getting actually fruit get me Swedish Berries, Cherry Blasters and Fuzzy peaches. I knew there was reason I married him.

Finally we have decided on a name for our band and actually went to a recording studio and recorded three songs. We are going to use the CD to try and get some shows around town. The recording experience was fun, it could have been better and we now see the mistakes but are still happy.

The name was have decided on is Shiny Pretty Fox and Joe has created a website that can be found at http://shinyprettyfox.wordpress.com/ and if you click under Music you will see the three recorded songs in MP3 format. I suggest listening to Satchel I think it's the best and it's the song I had the most influence on ;) Enjoy.

I think that's it for now as I think of more things I will update.

2006-07-17T10:33:00.000-04:00

You say it's your birthday, nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
It's my birthday too yeah, nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah

Okay that's all I know. I know there are more words but they have escaped me know.

So today I am 27, so far so good. Mom and Dad got me a new watch, I am very happy about that because my current watch is going to die any day now. It's a little big but Dad said he will fix it tonight so my old watch can retire.

San is coming to take me out to lunch and Joe is currently "making" my present. His words not mine so it could mean anything.

Tonight is pizza and cake. Woohoo, birthdays are fun.

2006-07-06T08:25:00.000-04:00

I really need to update this blog and I will soon. But for now I will leave you with a picture of a very unimpressed puppy who just got his hair cut.

2006-06-04T18:06:00.000-04:00

Rain Rain go away, come again another day.

It has been raining ALL weekend. I don't think it has stopped since Thursday night. It really started to pour today just as Dad was going out to BBQ ;)

Bob and Irene got back from their Calgary/Vegas trip. They had a great time, lots of beautiful pictures.

Work is going good, always lots to do so I am never bored. Joe is working really hard on the thesis, the closer he gets to the end the harder he works. I think he can see the finish line and he is really looking forward to just having the thing done. Once he is finished he will have 5 weeks before he goes up to Kingston for his defense. I am really looking forward to the trip up there, once I get the dates I will let everyone in Kingston know.

San just got back from a week in Toronto. She said it was already hot and muggy there and June just started. We had one "muggy" day here last week. I will admit it was more humid then usually but there was always a nice ocean breeze so it was tolerable.

hummm what else is going on. I got my hair cut, I didn't take a picture this time like I did last time but it is quite a bit shorter. It's really cute I like it. It's nice to be able to go into your hairdresser and say "do whatever you want, I trust you" and come away with a nice haircut. I have been getting my hair done by Karen for 9 years now (except those Kingston days and even then I got her to do it on vacation) she did my hair for my high school prom, my wedding and many countless occasions. She knows my hair and my curls like her :)

I think that's it, time to go stare at the rain and will it to stop. I hope to get into the lake in the next few weeks but a couple more nice hot days first, I'm not crazy.

2006-05-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

Ahh Condo living.

Bob and Irene are out in Calgary visiting Tony, so... While they are away Joe and I are staying at the condo. So far so good, the weather is nice today so the lake looks beautiful and we need to get some groceries before supper so we are simply going to walk down the hill to pick those up.

I took a picture on the balcony just a minute ago for those who read this and haven't been here.

Not much else going on, Joe is nearing the end on the thesis so it looks like we will be in Kingston in July. The hottest, muggiest month in Southern Ontario and that's when we are going. Oh well at least he will be done, we will just have to get a hotel with a pool.

Not much else going on our lives are pretty quiet, which is good.

Hope everyone is well.

2006-04-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

One of these days I am going to have the most exciting life so that I can have things to say in my blog everyday.

Lets see… I am now down 13 pounds at TOPS. I think I will start measuring myself too, inches sound more impressive then pounds. The weather is starting to get really nice so exercise is going to get more fun as the tennis nets come up and the bikes come out of the garage.

Joe and I went for a bike ride one day and didn’t “get lost” but didn’t really know exactly where we were either. We estimate our adventure was about 4 or 5 kms.

Jake had an operation on his knee last week. Check out Mom’s blog for the details and a picture. He is doing really good and doesn’t seem to be in pain. Poor guy sure knows how to look sad so he can get a treat though.

The job I started at the Nova Scotia Community College in January on a casual basis has become permanent. I had to go though the whole interview process but it wasn’t too stressful. So now I have my first “real” job, you know one with benefits, vacation time and even a union. I just don’t know what to do with myself.

I think that’s about it. If I think of something else I will write again.

2006-04-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

In January I joined T.O.P.S. with Mom. Tops is a weight loss group - Take off Pounds Sensibly. We go to meetings every week, get weighed and have information sessions. You are on your own as far as exercise and diet routine but they are there to advise and help. They have a program at Tops that once you loose 10 pounds you get a charm bracelet and then every five pounds after that you get a charm to put on the bracelet. Well... last night I hit my ten pounds and can get my bracelet. They had to order some in so I don't actually have it yet but I hope to be able to add a charm to it before that happens. So for those of you who haven't seen me since January I am 10.5 lbs lighter and still going.

Also for those who may be looking for songs by the JPF they are coming soon as soon as our music producer (Joe) is satisfied with them.

2006-03-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

So when we came home Joe and I both said we wanted to work on music again. For those reading who didn't know we were in a band together in high school. So we started getting together with our friend Fabian and creating some music. We are getting pretty excited and think we are actually making some good tunes. Joe has set up a webstie. It doesn't have much on it yet but soon we will be adding some songs that we record. So I will add a link to the side and let you know when there is more stuff on there.

For now for your viewing pleasure - The JPF

2006-03-12T13:21:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, it is almost 20 degrees on the back deck today. A wonderful spring day with a blazing sun. Spring is close I can feel it.

I got my hair cut on Friday. My hairdresser was taking before and after pictures so here they are. Before:

and After:

It's shorter so the curls come out more. I like it. I love going to my hairdresser Karen we have so much fun. I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time I was there.

2006-03-04T09:05:00.000-05:00

So anyone with a keen eye who checks in regularly may have noticed I have changed the look of my blog. Well I haven't changed it Joe did, he designed it himself. Pretty snazzy huh.

2006-02-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

So the Amazing Race starts up again on Tuesday. It is back in it's normal form instead of the stupid family edition that they had last season. In the mean time I have been getting my reality fix with Dancing with the Stars.

I love Dancing with the Stars. I watched it last time it was on and enjoyed it but I am becoming obsessed this year. I have even given up watching Survivor because it was on in the same time slot, now that serious.

I can't wait for Sunday when they reveal the winner. I am rooting for Drew but will be happy with any of the final three.

Now if I can just convince Joe to take dance lessons...

2006-02-14T15:37:00.000-05:00

Okay I guess when people bug me for updates it's time to update.

So first on the job front. I have been working for the last month with the Nova Scotia Community College. Part time in the online learning department and part time downtown at the Department of Education, Apprenticeship division. The job is only until the end of March so I am still keeping my eyes open for a new more permanent job. I have an interview today for one so we will see how that goes.

I've been working on my bass playing. Joe and I have been writing songs and getting together with our friend Fabian. We hope to play some open mic nights in the future.

This weekend I am getting together with some friends I haven't seen since high school. That is kind of fun and scary at the same time. I don't think I have changed too much but you never know right?

Hmmm what else ... Joe and I are going to start swimming again. We need some sort of activity to get us out of the house every now and then and we thought swimming would be good.

Joe's thesis is coming along. He is working hard, gets up early everyday and works until Mom, Dad and I get home at 4 and disrupt the peace. I don't know when he will finish but we are hoping early spring. I am hoping I can take some time off and come up to Kingston when he defends. Who knew that after 5 years of wanting to come back to Nova Scotia I actually miss Ontario I think the people are to blame for that, it's them I miss.

I think that's it. I will try and update more

2006-02-01T15:22:00.000-05:00

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, la la la la la la Let it Snow, let it snow let it snow.

Here are some pictures of my day.

This is out the front door, you can see Dad with the snowblower in the driveway.

Jake trying to get the snowball that Joe threw and Jake missed.
Me after working and playing in the snow.

2006-01-29T09:44:00.000-05:00

I have a new love and his name is Satchel and he is from a comic strip. I have recently started reading the comic Get Fuzzy it is about a guy Rob and his cat Bucky and dog Satchel. It is very humoureous and has made me laugh out loud many times.

You start to feel for Satchel because he is the sweet loving dog who spends his life being tortured by doesn't always know what is going on. I can't seem to explain right now why I enjoy it so much but you should give it a try.

2006-01-28T21:09:00.000-05:00

What a winter we are having this year. Yesterday on the way to work it was -30 with the windchill, today... 8 degrees. What the heck is going on with the world. I'm too scared to think about it.

Not a whole lot going on. I started working two weeks ago for the Nova Scotia Community College, the job is split between there and the department of education. It is going good I will I will easily be kept busy until the end of March when the term is up. I discovered the best thing about working for the government... The pens, they are pretty sweet.

2006-01-17T17:24:00.000-05:00

I just want to add a quick note with a picture of the adorable Ella Marie. The daughter of Joe's cousin Jen and her husband Jason. Ella was born last Friday night and she couldn't be cuter. Here are some pictures Joe took.

Not much else going on. I started a job this week at the Nova Scotia Community College. The job lasts until the end of March and then I will start hunting again.

Hope everyone is well.

2006-01-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

Must. Update. Blog

So I realize I am slacking on my blog. My main excuse is that it was originally set up to keep the rents and the rents in law up to date on what we were doing. Since I see them all the time I suck at updating. I do know that some Ontario people are checking it out though so I will try and update.

So on Wednesday I went for an interview and some testing with a placement agency here in Halifax. I did good on the tests and they seemed really positive. The girl who interviewed me said they needed a "go to temp" that they could feel confident sending out to jobs. In the situation I am currently in (being here for less then a year) temp work is perfect. So after the interview Thursday I told Joe that if I haven't heard from them in a week I will go to a bigger agency (this one was quite small.)

Well... Friday afternoon they called, I have a job Monday. It's only a one day job but hey some work is better then no work.

I think that is about it. If you are reading from the Mississauga-Erindale riding Vote Rupinder everyone else only two more weeks till the election. Make sure you are registered.

2005-12-31T23:10:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year !!!!!!!!!

It is ten after 12 here in Halifax so most of the people who read this are probably still in 2005. Get with the times people :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2006.

2005-12-25T14:26:00.000-05:00

I realize now almost a week late that there may be some people who read this that I don't talk to on a regular basis so I wanted to let everyone know we got home safe and sound with no incident. We ran into snow in Quebec but we just stayed the night and carried on the next day. The U-Haul was great, not a problem with it.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.

2005-12-19T08:35:00.000-05:00

Now I play the waiting game.

Joe has gone in the school for his meeting with his supervisors. He has no idea how long it will be but I get to sit here and wait. I also get to clean while I wait so that should take some time. I have the Christmas music on and I'm ready to go.

The weather looks good , here are links to the places we will pass though so you can keep an eye on the weather.

Kingston
Montreal
Edmonston
Moncton
Halifax

2005-12-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

So tired, must stop moving.

Well, the truck is practically full we only have a few things left in the apartment (the computer is one of them) I took some pictures this afternoon.

We are both really excited now and can't wait to get started. We always have the most fun on trips we take and we travel really well together. Joe does the driving and I keep him entertained with my charm and wit :)

We aren't looking forward to unpacking the truck but that is two days from now so hopefully we will forget.

See all you Nova Scotia people soon, and goodbye to all the Ontario folks who may be reading.

2005-12-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

Weekend plans:
1.pack
2.pack
3.pack
4.watch patriots game
5.pack

You get the idea :)

I have some pictures taken over the last week of various events.

Wednesday night we went out with the crew from Joe's office. We went to Darbar, an Indian restaurant that has slow service but awesome food. It's worth the wait.

Thursday night I went out with all the ladies in my department. We went to Mino's for dinner then back to Sally's for dessert and a gift exchange.

Friday was my last day at work so I went out to lunch with my girls, from left Amy, Sandi, Lil, Cathy, me. We went to the Keg.
It snowed... A lot Thursday night and I took these pictures on my way home from work yesterday. This one shows how much snow it actually was. This was one of the few sidewalks that was actually plowed.
And this shows how lovely the roads were even after 24 hours.

2005-12-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

These are for San. Taken today after we sold our futon!!!

We have made a list of all the things we need to do before we leave, check out Joe's blog for that info. ---------->

2005-12-09T19:51:00.000-05:00

So I needed to do a laundry and we ran out of detergent last laundry day, I didn't want to buy a whole big thing of laundry because I didn't want to lug is to Halifax. I went to S&R today hoping to find a very small amount.

Well I did find a small package of Tide, from China, clearly imported to Canada and on sale at S&R for $1.99. The great thing is the package.

It totally reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer finds he looks like the Mr. Sparkle laundry detergent.

No point to this post, it just made me smile.

2005-12-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

Okay so I some how managed to set my blog so that I was moderating comments. Stupid thing didn't tell me when I had any though so I didn't know. I think I have it fixed now though.

Oh yeah and 12 more sleeps until we leave :)

2005-12-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

IT'S DECEMBER !!!!!!!

Which means it's almost Christmas and almost time to go :)

Lots going on in the next few weeks. We have a lot to pack still, lots of presents to buy, a poker tournament, my Christmas party. Lots to keep us busy for the next 17 days.

Hope everyone is having a happy first day of December. All day I have had a song running though my head. Miss Piggy singing "Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny a half penny will do, if you haven't got a half penny well god bless you" I can still see the album cover with John Denver and the Muppets on it.

2005-11-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know I moved my blog from the Cogeco address to a Blogspot address. When we move we will obviously lose our Cogeco webspace so I wanted to make sure I got it moved here before then. I have set up a redirect for now but if anyone has me bookmarked you may want to change it to http://pattyfaye.blogspot.com/

That's it. Oh and Happy Birthday Velvet :)

2005-11-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

The packing has started.

While I was grocery shopping this afternoon Joe started the nasty job of organizing to pack. He cleaned out the hallway and separated stuff into - get rid of, sell and need until we move/stuff to pack.

He then started on the den where he packed up a bunch of his clothes and the comic books. Not to mention three boxes full of books. It's just a small bite out of it but if we do a little bit as the weeks go on we should just be down to the big stuff when moving day arrives.

2005-11-03T18:32:00.000-05:00

Well I can finally update my blog with news about what we are doing. I'm sure most of the people who read this already know but Joe and I have made a decision. Shocking isn't it!!

Since most of the postdocs he is going to apply for don't start until next fall we had to find something to do with ourselves between now and then. So what are we doing...

WE'RE MOVING HOME!!!!!

That's right starting in December we will be on the coast again. Yippie. Now however the fun begins as we have about six weeks to get everything done. Joe is still working really hard on his thesis so I kindly offered to handle everything!!!! What was I thinking. Not that he won't help if I ask but finishing the thesis is more important then calling to change addresses.

Anyway I think I have finally figured out that we will rent a "10' mini mover" from Uhaul. Looks like this.

That is unless someone has a better option that they can tell me soon because I want to book it soon so I don't have to worry anymore.

Anyway. Once that is done there is a lot of packing to do as well not to mention a lot of stuff that we will sell. But I'm sure I can cover all this in another post. I'm sure there will be a lot of moving stories.

2005-10-27T18:31:00.000-04:00

I thought I better update my blog with some pictures of Tony's graduation for everyone to see.

For those of you who don't know Joe and I just got back from Regina where we watched Tony (Joe's brother) graduate from the RCMP training camp. It was an event filled weekend and I have the pictures to prove it.

First of all the flight. We were excited about the plane ride to Regina because we were on a brand new plane and thought we would have the new in seat entertainment system. We thought wrong.

We arrived in Regina on Saturday only to find that Regina's 10 degrees is a lot colder then Kingston's 10 degrees. So off to the mall where both Joe and I bought jackets. Here is a picture of Joe in his new jacket. Pretty handsome guy!!!

Sunday was a church service and a wine and cheese. Here is a picture of Tony and his Uncle Bob after the church service. The Boy looks pretty snazzy in his uniform.

Monday was the big day. We started with the cadets being sworn in, the two guys sitting down did theirs in French.

Then a noon parade. That Tony sure can march.

We then had lunch and went over to see Tony get his badge and do a drill demonstration. The drill part was really cool, they worked hard and you could tell.

Last but not least was the grad dinner that night. Good food, good people, good times. Everyone is very proud of Tony. His Aunt and Uncle (Bob and Deb) and their kids Angela, Lisa and Paul were there along with Paul's girlfriend Laura and Lisa's boyfriend Russ. Joe's cousin Kim and her husband Dean also came in from Pierceland for the event.

It was a great trip and now after a brief stop at home Tony is off to Cochrane Alberta. Good Luck Boy.

I also stopped at the store they have at Depot and got what I am calling a "sibling bear" I have a bear already that says "I support Naturopathic Medicine" so now I also have an RCMP bear to sit with him. I have two siblings and now two bears that represent them in my home. I still find it hard to believe that the two goobers I love now have people listening to them and respecting them. Not that I don't respect them it's just I've seen them in the morning :)

2005-10-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Yeah I know it's only October and Christmas is two months away but I bought a decoration anyway.

We were making a holiday basket at work for the United Way silent auction and one of the girls brought in two snowmen. I thought they were the cutest thing and couldn't get over them. She had one more so I bought it off her because they were all sold out at Costco.

Here he is

See pretty cute huh.

Only 69 days until Christmas.

2005-10-08T17:41:00.000-04:00

I knew writing that post about how warm it was here was a mistake.

Currently it is 11 degrees outside. burrr, I had to turn the heat on in the kitchen and our bedroom because we have the tv and everything in front of the living room heat. It is helping though... Must go grab sweater.

I think Joe and I will spend the day tomorrow moving the living room around so we can turn the heat on.

2005-10-06T16:54:00.000-04:00

It's October 5th and we have a smog and humidex advisory. It's 27 degrees outside and I had to go get the fan. This wouldn't be a bad thing except fall weather is my favourite. I love nothing more then wearing jeans and a sweater. Oh well at least it's not snowing.

2005-10-01T13:43:00.000-04:00

I don't know how it happened but today is October!!! Man this year has gone by so fast.

I went shopping today, needed some shirts for work and the jeans I wore yesterday were practically falling off so I needed to get some new ones... IN A SMALLER SIZE!! Nothing to drastic just one size down but it's still better then nothing right. So here is what I bought.

A pretty blue sweater, works with dress pants or jeans.

A pair of jeans

and two long sleeve shirts and some socks

Not a bad haul. I guess accepting fall is here is the first step, new clothes help :)

2005-09-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

So it's homecoming weekend in Kingston. For those of you who have never lived in Kingston you won't know the wonders of homecoming. 5000 extra people in Kingston, everyone is drunk and there is a big football game. I am not a big fan of crowds so my goal was to stay off the streets today. I had to go grocery shopping so I went early. Not early enough apparently there were people everywhere.

Anyway I got my groceries and get on the bus to come home. Whenever I go grocery shopping alone I always get too much stuff and it is usually really heavy. Joe usually meets me at the bus stop but he is playing tennis so I was on my own. So I get to close to my stop and ring the bell. The bus driver stops at the red light an intersection and 50 feet away from my bus stop. I don't move because I have a lot of groceries.

So the bus driver opens the door and says "you might as well get off here" I say "I would prefer the bus stop" in my head with all the groceries the bus stop is that much closer and there are A LOT of people milling around (drunk people, at 11:45am I might add) so the driver looks at me and says "you might as well get off here" so I look at him... Nothing so I get off the bus, with all my groceries and pretty angry.

I come into my parking lot only to find a crowd of drunk people. I took this picture though the screen because it is better not to anger the drunk people :)

I had a big 24 pack of toilet paper because it was on sale for $5.49 (good price right?) Anyway I dropped it twice, did any of the stupid punks come try and help me open the door with my big load of stuff... No of course not. Anyway now Joe is home, we are going to stay in the apartment for the rest of the day and ride it out.

2005-09-17T21:47:00.000-04:00

PEARL JAM ROCKS!!!

I'm not even sure if I will be able to describe how fantastic this weekend was. Joe will probably go into a lot more detail and have more pictures so be sure to check his blog out. I will post a few pictures though as well.

Okay so we left Thursday at lunch for Montreal. We arrived there (without getting lost!!!) around 4pm. Checked into our hotel (small, cheap, but right across the street from the Bell Centre). We wondered around Montreal for awhile, got some supper and headed to the show. We were idiots and forgot to take our camera but we had fantastic seats, section 112 - the red line.

They played a bunch of great songs, lots of oldies and a bunch we had never heard live. It was fantastic. We didn't think it could get any better but then there was Friday night in Ottawa...

First I will say that we arrived in Ottawa (also without problems) around 12. We had some lunch and then picked up our tickets for the show. We buy our tickets through the fan club (hence the awesome seats) but can't pick up our tickets until the day of. Anyway... We got the tickets and then went to check into our hotel. Very different from the one in Montreal. This one was what I call "fancy pants" check it out http://www.brookstreethotel.com/

Okay so we made our way to the show around 6 and were in for a treat. I guess they were all having a good night because it was an amazing show.

Our seats were in the Penalty box??? Weird no? Anyway it was still a pretty good view. I circled our seat in blue.

Highlights:
Stone sang "Don't give me no lip"

Jeremy (for those who don't know PJ that's the song not the guy, the guy is my 2nd husband, his name is Eddie)

There were A LOT of people.

Okay last one just because it is such a good shot.

2005-09-11T14:54:00.000-04:00

I forgot to take a picture of my hair yesterday and it is not as cute today so a picture will have to wait.

We has a poker tournament last night. 9 people each paying $10 to play. Payout:
First - $50
Second - $30
Third - $10

So for Joe and I to make our money back one of us had to at lease finish second. The game goes well. Nothing too exciting and eventually we get down to four people. Me, Joe, Justin and Matt. So I know if Joe and I can hold out one more person we more then have our money made. At this point Joe and Justin have the least amount of money, I'm somewhere in the middle and Matt has a whole boat load.

After some boring play with nothing happening Matt takes out Justin and we are down to three. Joe doesn't have much money left so he makes his move and Matt takes him out. Now it's just me and Matt. I have about $20 which means Matt has $70 this isn't going to be easy. I play very tight, only go in when I have the cards and fight my way back to where I have about $49 and Matt has $41. I look at my cards, AD and 10D I go all in, Matt calls. He has A, 8 off suit. Flop comes down, nothing, turn nothing. I'm still in the lead but if Matt gets a spade he wins and I am down to $8. River... 10 I won!!!! Not bad huh :)

That is two of our tournaments now that I have won. Maybe Joe will get a post doc in Vegas and I can be a professional poker player ;)

2005-09-10T09:49:00.000-04:00

Okay mom snitched on me so now I have to post more :)

Not much going on here. The weather has really cooled down, it still gets hot in the day but the nights are wonderful.

I'm getting my hair cut today... Maybe I will post a picture of it when I get home. I also shaved Joe's hair last night so we both have new do's.

We are going to see two Pearl Jam concerts next week. One in Montreal and one in Ottawa. We leave Thursday at noon and will arrive home sometime Saturday. We are both pretty excited. I will post all about it next weekend.

Okay I think that's it.

Later.

2005-08-27T16:08:00.001-04:00

The students are slowly coming back. The only consltation I have is that this should be the last September we have in Kingston. The next two weeks will be full of loud parties, busy grocery stores and garbage on the street. The fun never ends in the ghetto.

Other than that not a lot going on, my contract at work was extended until the end of the year. I told Joe if he is not done by then I'm leaving anyway :)

Tony found out this week that once he graduated he will be going to Alberta. I don't know much about Alberta so I can't give him any advice but I'm sure wherever it is there will be cowboys... Right?

We are playing poker tonight for the first time in months. I hope I didn't forget anything because I was getting used to taking the guys money. We will see what happens tonight.

I rented season two of Chappelle's show for Joe and I to watch this weekend. For those of you who don't know it Dave Chappelle is a young comedian who is quite funny but not to everyone's taste (mom and Irene that means you).

Okay I'm out, Joe keeps pointing out my grammar errors and it is driving me crazy.

2005-08-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

The students are slowly coming back. The only consolation I have is that this should be the last September we have in Kingston. The next two weeks will be full of loud parties, busy grocery stores and garbage on the street. The fun never ends in the ghetto.

Other than that not a lot going on, my contract at work was extended until the end of the year. I told Joe if he is not done by then I'm leaving anyway :)

Tony found out this week that once he graduated he will be going to Alberta. I don't know much about Alberta so I can't give him any advice but I'm sure wherever it is there will be cowboys... Right?

We are playing poker tonight for the first time in months. I hope I didn't forget anything because I was getting used to taking the guys money. We will see what happens tonight.

I rented season two of Chappelle's show for Joe and I to watch this weekend. For those of you who don't know it Dave Chappelle is a young comedian who is quite funny but not to everyone's taste (mom and Irene that means you).

Okay I'm out, Joe keeps pointing out my grammar errors and it is driving me crazy.

2005-08-13T09:54:00.000-04:00

I have to post more often to keep up with Mom :)

I am going though an interesting music phase right now. The crooners phase I started at Christmas has continued thanks to Michael Buble now I have hit a nostalgic childhood kick. I recently bought Seven Spanish Angels (Ray Charles and Willie Nelson) then The Night Time (is the right time) by Ray Charles which is the song that the Huxtables performed for Cliff's parents anniversary on The Cosby Show. Last night I bought He Thinks He'll Keep Her - Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mom, San and I usually sing that on the way to Nannies.

So really I just have to say I LOVE iTunes, being able to buy 1 song at a time is fantastic.

Not much else going on. I go to work, Joe goes to school, we come home, sit in front of the fan and that's about it. The Patriots started their pre-season yesterday which means football season isn't far away. The closer we get to football season the more I tell Joe to get a post-doc in Boston:)

Okay that's all folks.

2005-08-04T17:36:00.000-04:00

Another hot day in Kingston today but I'm not going to talk about that!!!

While we were home in Halifax I sent some pictures up here to the girls I work with. Three of them now have a picture I took as their wallpaper. They all say it looks like a professional photo. Here it is...

In other news my mom now has a blog, check it out - http://dodespace.blogspot.com/

San is writing her NPLEX right now - I am guessing that is naturopathic licensing exams. Anyway she is in Toronto for a week to write 13 exams and then she can go back home and get ready to open her practice. Pretty exciting. She is going to come up to Kingston for a visit this weekend.

2005-07-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

I know I talk about it all the time but damn it is hot. It has been about 3 weeks since I didn't sweat simply by walking away from the fan. I am tired of the stupid humidity. 4 more day Tricia, 4 more days. I can make it.

I look forward to stepping off the plane in Halifax and finally feeling cool, non humid air.

2005-07-17T11:12:00.001-04:00

You say it's your birthday, na na na na na na na na It's my birthday too yeah!!

Okay so I'm 26, I wouldn't say I'm taking it hard but I would much rather be turning 25 still then 26. I'm sure it will be a wonderful exciting year and San assures me 27 is easier so I just need to get over it and realize you are only as old as you act and feel right.

However I will take this opportunity to write a list of things I want to do before 36 in no particular order.

1. Write a screenplay
2. Perform on stage in a band again
3. See the view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower
4. Ride in a gondola in Venice
5. Read a Jane Austen book
6. Take Joe to see the mountains
7. Own a car
8. Have at least one baby
9. Move all my furniture out of my parents house
10. Learn how to use Linux
11. Learn another language well enough to speak in it. (I'm not picky about which language but French would be handy)
12. Take a ballroom dancing lesson
13. Learn to walk in high heels
14. See a sunrise
15. Learn to make nice, soft, edible biscuits

Okay I think that is enough to keep me busy for 10 years.

2005-07-14T18:36:00.000-04:00

This is Tony. I am writing in my blog about Tony because he told me to :)

Tony is the best brother in law I have, plus he has a cat. The cat is fluffy.

Anyway...

Not much going on with us. Two crazy thunderstorms today. One just as I was leaving the house to go to work and the other just as I was leaving work to come home. I have been in a state of "damp" for the whole day. Joe took a picture of himself when he got home, if it looks good and you can see how wet he is I will put it up.

8 more sleepies until we go home. I can't wait to get to the land of jeans and sweaters. It is actually not too bad outside right now, I think a breeze is actually coming in the window.

We have one more softball game left. I feel a win coming on. We were just taking it easy on all the other teams, this time we will kick ass.

My birthday is this weekend. We are going to see Nikki Payne at the comedy club, she is super funny. We are also going to buy the new Harry Potter book. I am rereading the 5th one right now and have a little while to finish since I let Joe read the new books first. He reads faster then I do.

Okay that's it. Peace out people - oh and did I mention I think the heat is going to my brain and I am slowing becoming crazy??? Don't tell Joe :)

2005-07-10T16:05:00.000-04:00

It's back... the heat that is. We has a few days last week where it was nice and cool but the heat showed up today and is suppose to be here for at least a week if not two. It is making the countdown to when we go home even more important. 12 days by the way.

2005-07-01T15:07:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day

It is still pretty hot here so I am taking this Canada Day to relax, stay cool and do the laundry.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

2005-06-25T14:30:00.000-04:00

Okay so we have been talking about buying a laptop for months, probably closer to a year. Well we finally get one today. Joe saw one at Future Shop last week that was a really good deal so he researched it the last week and we went out today and picked it up.

A VERY disappointing sales experience at Future Shop to say the least. We went in knowing exactly what we wanted. We looked at it for 15 minutes waiting to see a sales associate. When they didn't show up I went looking for one. Just as a side note, I know for a fact that they get paid on commission at Future Shop. Okay back to the story, the salesgirl I finally found didn't have the key (Joe wanted to hold it to see how heavy it was" so they found someone who did. When we got a salesman from the department the first (and only) thing he did was ask us if we wanted the "product service program" we listened to him talked, even asked if it was available outside of North America (just in case) but then when he said $399.99 we quickly said no. That was easily 25% of the cost of the laptop, why spend that much on a service program we more then likely wouldn't use.

Anyway after we said no the guy walked away... he went to get our laptop but didn't really tell us that is what he was doing. When he came back he tried scare tactics to make us rethink the service program. Once again we said no. Paid for the laptop and left the store with not so much as a thank you or any acknowledgement that we just made him some pretty easy cash.

The best part though. We were randomly selected by the checkout system to fill out a survey online. I gave them a piece of my mind so no worries. :)

Here he is, I might even get to use it if I can get Joe off it

2005-06-11T18:19:00.000-04:00

Okay three words for you today...

EXTREME HEAT ADVISORY

That's right folks not only do we have the smog warning but we also have an extreme heat advisory. I am looking at the temperature in our apartment right now... 29.6 AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-06-09T19:33:00.000-04:00

My apartment, right now, I hate Kingston

2005-05-26T18:21:00.000-04:00

We played our first softball game yesterday. We tied. It was 23 - 23 after the 7 innings so we played one more, they went first... scored 2, then we went... scored 2. So we tied :)

It was fun, I am quite happy with my hits, I think my batting has really improved. I also ran really hard so my legs are killing me today.

Beautiful day here today, sunny and warm. I won't say much more about the weather as I don't want to tick off the Nova Scotia people who may be reading this.

We saw Star Wars last weekend, it sucked but what else is new. We are going to play poker this weekend, we haven't played in awhile so it will be nice to get back at it.

2005-05-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

So I realized I don't really like being alone. Joe left for Montreal on Friday afternoon, it's Sunday morning and I am already tired of being alone. I got over the scared to be alone part pretty quick and now I just want someone to talk to. The poor sales clerks at the mall yesterday didn't know what they were getting into when they asked me how I was :)

I have managed to watch 2 movies, the entire first season of Sex in the City and it is only 10:30 Saturday morning. I am going to run to the grocery store at some point today and then probably rent some more movies and sit on the couch until Survivor starts.

I can review two movies, haven't done that in awhile. Lemony Snicket - SUCKED, the only funny part was when Jim Carrey was playing a fisherman and he played it like a Newfie. Even said the line "You stay where you're at and I'll come where you're to" that was funny but otherwise I would skip it. I also rented an older movie - A Walk to Remember - oh my goodness I cried so much. I won't say too much as it would give the story away but it was good and I cried a lot :)

Okay I'm off for an exciting Sunday. I will be sure and update with any new movies that I watch.

2005-05-01T18:06:00.000-04:00

I started my new job less then a month ago and they are already talking me into things. On Friday I participated in the Heart and Stroke Foundation's big bike fundraiser. Myself and 29 co-workers got on a VERY big bike and made our way from Confederation basin, up Brock street, across Clergy and down Princess. It was a lot of fun, we made a lot of noise and raised over $5100 for Heart and Stroke. The ride itself was interesting, Brock street has a small incline and we managed to make every red light on the way up it so we had quite a workout.

Here are some pictures of the adventure, I am in the third row wearing a red sweater and a red hat.

This is another one as we were finishing just to show the size of the bike.

2005-04-04T16:01:00.000-04:00

I hate technology... Mainly because I don't understand it. Everything in life should be self explanatory, that would make me happy.

2005-04-04T15:50:00.000-04:00

We had another poker tournament this weekend. I asked one of the guys at work, who actually plays poker for some advise. He told me one nice piece of information, raise or fold. If you are not willing to raise with what you have, fold it. I tried it... I WON!!! $30 not bad for a nights work. Joe came in 4th so he made $5.

I was the only girl playing so winning is even nicer :)

Not much else going on, last week of work before I start a new job so things are pretty slow. I have Thursday and Friday off and plan on relaxing. I may go into Queens to have lunch with Joe on Friday if the weather is nice. He is just excited that I am off for a few days so he can have the iPod.

2005-03-30T18:44:00.000-05:00

So I realized I start most of my blogs with Okay so I'm not going to do that today... Okay :)

Well I have decided to quit my job. I was not enjoying it and for reasons I will not get into on a public blog I am leaving next Wednesday the 6th of April.

Side note - Where the hell did March go??

Anyway, last Thursday I went to lunch with some of the girls I used to work with at Empire Financial. I told them I was on the job hunt again and to spread the word back at Empire. Well, I start there on the 11th of April. I wasn't expecting things to move so fast but they did and I am very excited.

So I will be jobless for 4 days. Oh those will be a good four days.

2005-03-25T08:37:00.000-05:00

Why is it that when you rent a car you can get screwed over and they still make it sound like you got a deal

I booked a car for the weekend about a month ago. So yesterday after work I went to pick it up. I had rented a car similar to a ford Focus and when I got there I learned that was exactly what I was suppose to get.

However, the people who were suppose to return the Focus at 5 o'clock had not done so yet and it was 5:40. I could wait around for that car or I could take the new Ford F150 that they had on the lot. It's a truck so I asked if it seated 4 "yep it seats 5 actually" are you getting the picture as to how huge this thing is?

This thing is a monster, it won't fit in our parking spot, it will be a monster on gas in the city and finding a parking space is fun. I also managed to hurt my ankle climbing out of the thing last night.

I am going to call the rental office tomorrow when they open to see if they have anything that was returned that I can take instead.

2005-03-08T11:06:00.000-05:00

So Tony (my brother in law) is now in Regina training to be an RCMP officer. He started the training yesterday so we haven't learned much from him but he is there and seems good. Now that I can reach him by email we (and by we I mean me) might actually talk to him more.

It is funny how once you know about something it seems to be everywhere. It happened when San first started talking about going to CCNM and I saw naturopathic stuff everywhere, now that Tony is in Regina I am seeing RCMP stuff everywhere. A lot of it is to do with the RCMP officers that were shot last week but I'm not even going there I can't spend all my time worrying about Tony, I will leave that job to Irene :) I know he will do well he's a pretty smart guy, best brother I have.

I lucked out well in the sibling/in law sibling department. San had her feedback from the clinic and the doctor in charge told her she was ready for her own practice. She is so close to finishing I'm sure that just made her want to get out of there even more. She is coming to visit for Easter so that is nice, Joe and I like it when she visits. Amanda (the little girl at Royal Angkor) was asking about her the last time we were in, I think she likes her.

Good thing everyone else has exciting things going on because it's the same old stuff for Joe and I. We are having a poker tournament this weekend, hopefully I will do better this time. I have consistently winning in our weekly games but tournaments freak me out.

I got my hair all chopped off last weekend, I will take a picture and get Joe to show me how to post pictures again.

Okay I'm out.

2005-02-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

Okay so I had a stupid big cyst on the top of my head that I have been avoiding getting removed for years now. Well today I finally did it and got the sucker cut out. It really wasn't that bad the worst part was the needles that froze my head, after that I didn't feel anything, until that freezing wore off. Now I wouldn't say it is excruciating but it hurts, I can feel the stitches I think and they hurt. I'm sure it will be fine tomorrow and Joe is being really sweet and doing stuff for me.

The worst part of the whole experience... They showed me the cyst!! They asked if I wanted to see it, I said no guess doctors really don't listen. It was gross I will leave it at that.

Anyway I am bump free and can finally wear any hair style I want, now I have to find one I like...

2005-02-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

Okay I know, I know I suck at updating this thing. It seems like not much happens so I don't have anything to update and then before I know it a month has gone by.

We got an iPod a couple weeks ago, Joe did quite a detailed write up on that on his blog www.astro.queensu.ca/~macmilla he also seems to update more then I do :)

San comes this weekend, maybe I will take some pictures and post those here.

Okay I'm out.

2005-01-17T20:18:00.000-05:00

Okay so if you read Joe's blog about our trip home and how much Air Canada sucks you understand how we feel about them. So while we were home I wrote Air Canada an email expressing my anger. Today in the mail I received a letter, apologizing for the incident and 2 vouchers of $200 each for our next trip on Air Canada.

I still don't like the company and their policies but we will take the free money. It won't be enough to get us home but it will help.

2005-01-08T14:50:00.000-05:00

Back in Kingston after the holidays. Check out Joe's blog for all the details www.astro.queensu.ca/~macmilla
make sure to read his "Air Canada sucks" post as well.

Not much going on here, Joe and I started watching 24 when we were home for the holidays so this week has involved trying to watch all the episodes of season 2 and 3 before 4 starts tomorrow night. We have 13 episodes left so it might be a late night.

It is snowing right now, a lot actually. It's little flakes too so I'm sure we will get a lot. Famous advice from my mother "little snow big snow, big snow little snow" you know when you write that out it makes no sense :) Oh well she know what I mean.

That's it for now I have to go call San and see if she has luggage. Damn Jetsgo lost her back on her return flight.

Later.

2004-12-15T23:06:00.000-05:00

Train tickets to Montreal - $198
Plane tickets to Halifax - $621
Being with your family for the holidays - Priceless

Okay so advertising was my favourite class :)

One more work day, 2 more sleepies and I am home.

2004-12-08T13:32:00.000-05:00

I am so excited that December is finally here. My goal for the month of November was to just get through the month because once December hit, it was almost time to go home. I think because we went home early this summer it has been almost 8 months since I've been home. I've seen almost everyone since then, except Dad :( so that helps but not much.

We are down to single digits, 9 more days. I like filling my time with things to do so that it will pass quicker, just little things to look forward to so that I can look forward to things closer then the 17th. Here's what I've got.

tonight - work Christmas party
9th - Survivor (it's not much but it will get me through the day)
10th - Secret Santa Party
11th - I think I will get my hair cut, I was going to leave it because it's really long and it hasn't been long for awhile but it looks really messy and I want to look pretty when I go home :)
12th - football and Survivor finale - Joe and I might go see Ocean's 12 as well
13th - 17th - Nothing really planned but it's the final days before going home so the apartment needs to be clean, I am making cookies for everyone at work. I have a lunch with the Empire girls before I go home as well so this week should go by quickly.

Wow that's more then I thought. When you add packing to the mix the time should fly before next Friday.

2004-11-29T14:09:00.000-05:00

Okay this post is for my mother who needs something new in here to read.

Hi Mommy, I love you. Only 18 more days.