Animal Antics

Immediately after Christopher replaced his laptop keyboard with the new one I gave him as an "Advent Present" (see previous post) the cat suddenly decided that this would be her new favourite perch. She had never sat on his old laptop keyboard before.


Bizarre - does anyone else's cat do this?

Advent Presents

For Christmas and his birthday this year I am treating Christopher to a trip to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon & Florida in January. This left me with nothing to leave him under the tree for Christmas morning. And for someone like me who LOVES to buy gifts for people I was completely distressed.

So I decided that I would surprise him with Advent Presents (they're not Christmas presents). Starting on December 1st through the 25th, everyday I presented Christopher with a little something. Nothing fancy since I had promised him that I wouldn't spend any more money on him over the holidays. But just a little treat - here is the list:

1. Advent calendar
2. Double chocolate muffins
3. Set of drill bits
4. Caprese salad (his favourite)
5. New keyboard for his laptop
6. Chocolate chip granola bars
7. Pizza from Harry's Pizza, the best pizza joint in West Hartford
8. Gift card for a Java Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks
9. Shoelaces (to replace the one he had broken the day before)
10. White cake with chocolate chips & chocolate icing
11. Rubber feet for the laptop (to prevent it from sliding off the table)
12. Winter gloves
13. Dark chocolate bar
14. Tickets to Warren Miller's Playground
15. 3 new shirts from Jos. A. Bank (they were having a Christmas door-crasher and I couldn't help myself - they were such an amazing deal)
16. Dinner from his favourite wing place
17. 25 ft. RCA cable to connect his subwoofer with (handmade by yours truly!)
18. New Order CD - Singles
19. Ski gloves
20. Gift card for a McDonald's hot fudge sundae
21. IOU for FATBURGER in Las Vegas
22. UCONN hoodie
23. IOU for pizza @ Grimmaldi's in Las Vegas (supposedly the best around)
24. Book (Now I Can Die in Peace) by Bill Simmons (aka ESPN's Sportsguy, one of his favourite sports columnists)
25. Wii rental for 5 days + 2 games to entertain us over the holidays. This sure was a hit with my cousin's kids!

Trees

Trees are nice to look at and picnic under. But it wasn't until we moved into this home that we realized how much work they are!

Raking: Never in my life have I raked so many leaves! Every weekend in the fall both Christopher and I would spend an entire day raking leaves. You have to in order to stay on top of things. I think this fall we must have raked enough leaves to fill 80-100 30 gallon yard waste bags. At an average of 30lb per bag (they are to hold a maximum of 60 lb each) that's 1.6-2 tons!

DISH: Tired of over-paying for cable, when we moved we decided to give satellite a try. However the large trees on our property have precluded this for us. The installation guy was up on our roof trying to find the signal, but had no luck. Comcast owns us!

Arborists: The trees on our lot were in desperate need of trimming since they had been neglected for many years before we came along to give them some TLC. These arborists don't come cheap: two guys + 1 chipper = $1000 for a day's work.

Branches: After an evening of freezing rain, a very large tree branch broke off and crashed through our phone and cable lines. We're lucky it didn't take out our electricity! Kudos to AT&T and Comcast for getting everything back up and running within 48hrs though. I thought it would have taken longer.

Mouse Hole for Cat

This weekend's special project was to cut a hole in our basement door for the cat. We used to leave the door ajar for her, but our basement seriously lacks insulation. So we need to keep the door shut to keep the hot air upstairs and the cold air down (I'm trying to pre-empt a potential heart attack from an oil bill for $1000!). However her litter box and food is in the basement, thus our need for the mouse hole.

I borrowed a jig saw from a coworker of mine (thanks A) and we went to work. For my first time using a jig saw, I think I did a pretty good job (especially since we didn't have any scrap wood to practise on).



Bango really likes her door. She likes to hide behind the door peeking out from behind the opening. It took all of 5 minutes and a half-dozen Whiskas Temptations Savory Salmon treats and she was trained. Smart kitty!

Next I'm going to work on making a little flap for the hole with the cutout wood for further energy savings. Now I'm putting my handiness to the test!

Giving Thanks

Since we live (sorry USCBP - "temporarily reside") in the US we now celebrate Thanksgiving in November instead of October. Oddly enough, we have spent every American Thanksgiving in Canada though. But you're supposed to spend this holiday with family and friends we headed North since that's where ours are.

Each year our list of things to be thankful for grows a little longer. Hera are two new additions for 2007:

• NY Bar Exam: props to Christopher for passing the NY Bar Exam this summer (Christopher - I don't say it nearly enough, but I'm super proud of you. I have no idea how you have the patience to memorize even half of those crazy Bar/Bri mnemonics). Is it really effective to expend precious brainpower trying to remember the made-up mnemonic AND all the rules themselves? I guess if you spend enough time griping about how ass-backwards it all is, something ends up sticking in your brain.
• Friends with Toys: since we don't have a system of our own, we have to leech off of our friends with the latest toys. On Thursday night after dinner at the pub we kept S up way past his bedtime (on a school night!) playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live. And after the 3 hours of Rockband we played with M & C on Saturday night we couldn't stop talking about investing in a system of our own!

Hoagie Haven

I am a huge fan of the independent sub shop. I think it started with the heated corned beef subs I would scarf down after my Saturday morning French lessons at Alliance Francais on the way to my piano lesson. (Don't laugh - this was my Saturday routine for 12 years of my childhood. Which meant that my Friday evenings were spent doing French homework and trying to cram a week's worth of piano practising into one night.)

Back in Toronto I satisfied my sub cravings with Belly Buster (on Yonge, just north of Lawrence). The past 3 weeks I have been travelling to Princeton, NJ for work (which has a surprisingly charming downtown in fact). And what has almost made up for being on the road is this fabulous student hangout that I discovered on Chowhound - Hoagie Haven.

I don't really know what makes I good sub, but here are the things that Belly Buster & Hoagie Haven have in common:

• late hours: key for midnight cravings
• uber-fresh bread: delicious pillowy-soft goodness
• veggies: interestingly enough, both these shops offer the standard lettuce, tomato, onion, & hot peppers, but that is all. Not like the other big franchises that supply a laundry list of vegetables (green pepper, cucumber, black & green olives, etc.). A classic sub shop will focus on what counts not wasting their time on the small stuff
• mayo: it's probably just a bizarre coincidence, but both these joints spread their mayo on with a spreader versus depositing it via squirt bottle

I always try the shop's "specialty" cold sub. In places like these, it's usually the first item on the menu board. Or it is named after the store itself. Top it off with mayo, a little mustard, oil & vinegar, and salt & pepper - heaven in my belly!

I still have not managed to find my new favourite sub place close to our home in West Hartford. There used to be a Jersey Mike's 15 minutes away, but it has since closed :(

Five

Five: pumpkins carved
Five: bags of candy purchased
Five: o'clock was when I left work to get home in time for Halloween
Five: the number of trick-or-treaters that visited our house :(

I love Halloween. I think it's a fun low-stress holiday for everyone to enjoy. Unlike Thanksgiving & Christmas there is no pressure to create some Martha Stewart inspired meal. In fact, if you're one of those people that gives out homemade treats you should know that they are just going in the garbage because parents think you could be one of those child poisoning psychos and/or kids prefer store-bought candy.

Last year we had over 80 trick-or-treaters and I was hoping for a similar turnout. Unfortunately I was let down.

I can even list all the costumes this year (on one hand no less):

• 2 x spiderman
• superman
• cowboy
• some sort of black and grey caped crusader ( I suppose I was too crushed by our low turnout to care at this point)

Good thing Wal-Mart let us return our unopened bags of candy!

Anti-Room Service

I despise room service. When I travel I almost never order it. But the other night I had no choice. And in so many ways it reminded me of why I had made such a point of avoiding it.

The Place: downtown Atlanta
The Date: Sunday, October 21st
The Time: 10pm

Having just arrived into the city I was looking to grab a quick bite to eat and then head to bed. I was just looking for something light and simple. I figured Atlanta was such a world class city (yes I am still habouring a little resentment that Atlanta won the 1996 Olympic bid over Toronto) that it had to have something around to eat, even if it was 10pm on a Sunday (since there is no doubt that I would have a variety of delicious cuisines to choose from on a late-Sunday-night food run in Toronto).

I knew I was sunk when even the concierge had no recommendations for me. Even to grab some take out or whatever. I quickly hit the street to see if I could find anything suitable.

Now I rarely and I mean rarely get nervous walking in large cities alone in the evening. I have gone out for slices of pizza in NYC at who knows what hour of the night and late night Vietnamese in Dallas. I should stop here before I make Christopher nervous... But for some reason, when I was walking around Peachtree & Andrew Young International I didn't like it. So I decided to admit defeat and head back to the solace of my hotel room. So with my only other choice being the , I decided to order room service. Here is a picture of my "Confetti of Field Greens Accompanied by Crispy Potato Crostini"

Yum - salad from a bag topped with ridged potato chips. For $9.50 no less! This was definitely enough to keep me off room service for another decade.

Beat the Bank

The first thing we did when we began our whole home buying process was go to our bank to get "pre-approved" - which means nothing really, but that's a whole other story.

When we went in to the Bank of America to meet with a mortgage advisor we were introduced to the "Best Value Guarantee". In nutshell, if you are approved for a mortgage by the B of A and then decide not to close with them, they will give you $250.

Sound too good to be true? Well I am ecstatic to announce that we received our $250 cheque today! Of course the B of A doesn't make it *easy* for you to collect on their guarantee. But with a little legwork it becomes well worth the hassle, IMHO.

For any of you out there who stumble across this posting, here are the steps I went through to get our reward:

• Figure out how to apply for the redemption. Though the pamphlet that we were given at the bank doesn't have any details on how to go about collecting, a quick Google search reveals that you need to phone 800.870.3206 to answer a brief automated phone survey
• At the beginning of the survey they tell you that at the end they will provide the fax number and mailing address to send in a copy of your HUD-1 to prove that you actually closed and closed with another lender (in addition to giving them all the details they ever wanted to know about their competition). Note: write down BOTH the fax number and the mailing address. I planned to fax, so I only wrote down the fax number. But the fax number was bogus so I had to do the whole survey over again to get the mailing address
• Fax Number: 800.272.0562 When I first did the survey I swear the fax number they listed was 800.272.0576 which is disconnected and made me very cynical. However when doing the research for this blog post it seems to have been fixed, so I'm slightly less cynical than before)
• Mailing Address #1 Bank of America Best Value Guarantee, Attn: Pauly Bradshaw, 1375 North Highway Drive, Fenton, MO 63099
• Mailing Address #2 Bank of America Best Value Guarantee, Attn: Pauly Bradshaw, 1375 North Highway Drive, Fenton, MO 63026-1929
• Why 2 mailing address you ask? Well, the curious cat that I am, I was interested in knowing where this Bank of America location was and I looked up Mailing Address #1 on Google Maps. However, I was slightly confused when the zip code came up as 63026. So I looked up the zip on USPS.com and found it listed as 63026-1929 which matched Google Maps. Just to cover my bases I mailed a second letter to Mailing Address #2

And after 29 days of patience, my efforts were duly rewarded with a cheque in the mail for $250 :)

I Like Caulk

Some people look at old houses as so much work - I see ours as a puzzle. I am continually fascinated by the craftsmanship and intricacies of our home. In some instances "they don't build 'em like the used to" is quite true - many of our walls are a very solid lath and plaster and our foundation is a double-thick stone monstrosity. However our 20+ oil burning boiler leaves much to be desired in regards to heating efficiency.

This weekend I gained an appreciation for the double-hung sash window. Save for 7 vinyl replacement windows upstairs, all the windows in our home are original (read: cracked/loose panes, broken/missing sash cords, and painted shut/open). In an effort to keep this winter's heating oil bills to a manageable level (see aforementioned oil boiler) as soon as we moved in we began the first phase of our process of window rehabilitation.

Our windows have an outside track where winter storm windows as well as summer screen inserts fit. These tracks have carefully placed notches to help you get the window/screen in easily. I was probably doing it wrong before, but in every other place I have lived when I needed to remove the screens it was a struggle and usually ended up with me slightly bending the screen to get it in/out.

This weekend we focused on the storm windows, next spring we'll work on the screens (our home repair is definitely on an on-demand basis). We carefully removed 4 cracked storm windows which I will bring in to the glass repair shop tomorrow morning to be fitted with new panes ( I draw the DIY line at cutting my own glass). One of the storms had glass that was in good shape, except its seal to its metal frame had deteriorated. So we set off to Lowe's to buy some silicon caulk to seal it with. Mind you with so many choices found in the sealant aisle we have no idea if what we used is optimal (we didn't really do much research on this project), but it was inexpensive and it seems to be doing the job. I am not one to argue with either of these two scenarios, especially when they happen to coincide :)

For a first-timer I think I did a pretty good job with the caulking gun. I managed to keep the smearing of caulk on the window to a minimum and didn't wreck anything else in the process (of which there was a high potential since I was doing this on our living room floor!) So right now I am enjoying a personal high of DIY prowess, or could this be fumes from the caulk curing beside me...

PS. Thing brings the list of Tools My First House Taught me to Use to a grand total of 3: electric hedge trimmer, reciprocating saw, & caulking gun.

I put some new shoes on...

"I'm wearing my brand new shoes"

Tyson now wears shoes around the house. It prevents him from scratching the hardwood floors. Nancy wanted some sneaker-style ones with flames on them, but I was concerned about the quality of those ones. I have to admit, these ones aren't the most flattering. Maybe he'll get something a little more stylish for his next pair.

Tyson now bears an even stronger resemblance to his favorite toy, Camel.

Good things come in threes

This past weekend is tough to top. They say that good things come in threes and this weekend was no exception.

Golf: On a beautiful sunny fall day Christopher and I played in a end-of-season golf tournament for the golf league at my work. It was just best-ball so it was just for fun. We had a great time and both of us made some contributions to our team's shots so that was good. I sunk a 15 foot put for eagle on one hole and Christopher drove the green on a short par 4.

Home Improvement: As new homeowners our latest hobby is fixing all the deficiencies in our old house. And there are plenty to keep us busy! Christopher's parents were down for the weekend; his mom is a decorating fanatic and his dad is a keen handyman - a killer combination! While we were golfing they busied themselves with some chores around our home: hanging paintings, putting up the Roman shades that had just been delivered, fixing wonky light switches, weatherstripping our front door, assembling our new tool chest. The place is really starting to take shape and we can't thank them enough for all their hard work!I don't exactly know which mechanism local businesses use to get information on new home sales, but since moving in we have received several coupons and offers at our new house welcoming us into our new home. One of the coupons was 10% off at Lowe's so on Sunday the four of us headed off to make good use of it and filled two shopping carts with goodies for the house. And what was invaluable was having Chris's dad help us select what we needed - without him we would have had to do hours of research to find out which products suited our application.

Paolo Nutini: Last night we headed off to Tarrytown, NY for the Paolo Nutini concert. The Tarrytown Music Hall is a fabulous venue. It reminds me of the Music Hall on the Danforth in Toronto, but better! It seats only 843 people so it is a very intimate setting and the architecture on the old building has that shabby-chic sort of thing going for it. In between acts you can just head outside for a breath of fresh air and grab a soda or snack from the volunteer-run snack bar.
Tarrytown is a quaint little town - population of less than 12,000 I believe. But it's convenient for us to get to, which is nice and parking is easy to find. Within 2 blocks of the Music Hall here are several charming restaurants that look very tasty as well as the requisite homemade ice cream shop.The concert was great. I really enjoyed both of the opening acts: Jon McLaughlin & Serena Ryder and bought both of their CDs for $15.

It was fun to see Paolo perform live - and we had great seats too! His Scottish accent is much stronger in person - probably due to a combination of some pre-show drinking along with not being in a formal recording studio. When he spoke between songs (which was not often) the audience probably caught about 10% of what he said because he speaks very quietly and his speaking accent is extremely thick (as a sidenote it always amazes me how people don't have an accent when singing - bizarre).I'll definitely look for more shows in Tarrytown to check out. While Boston and NYC are fun for a weekend trip - Tarrytown is perfect for a dinner & show type evening.

The inlaws are coming!

Chris's parents are coming down for a visit this weekend to see our new house. I don't care how much of a neatnik you are, when your inlaws come for a visit you are BUSY getting things ready for their arrival.

This past week the UPS guy has delivered packages to our home Monday - Thursday with all sorts of things we have purchased online for the house.

Scrambling to get as much done as we could, here is what we managed to accomplish:

• weeded flowerbed and planted 6 mums & covered with mulch
• assembled bench and shelf for our entryway
• assembled and hung a train shelf in our bathroom
• swept up pine needles & miscellaneous debris from the driveway

And on top of this there was of course the standard laundry, cleaning, tidying, and grocery shopping to prepare for any houseguest.

All this being said you would think that I don't like to have people over. But in fact it's quite the opposite - I really enjoy playing hostess. And if nothing else it forces us to give the house a good cleaning!

Summer Summary

Wow it has been a long time since I have blogged. Same goes for the last time I have been to the gym. So as this post ends my blogging procrastination, maybe it will guilt me into returning to the gym also. Well, we'd better start off slowly - don't want to over-tire ourselves now. This post is a step in the right direction.

Here is a recap on our summer - I think I left off at the beginning of July.

July 4th
Christopher and I celebrated our first Fourth of July in the US this year. Each year one of my coworkers hosts the social event of the summer, which we were lucky enough to receive an invitation to (via the posters that went up around our office no less!). Americans sure to the Fourth up right. Lots of food, keg beer, and fireworks that would rival the displays put on by many Canadian July 1st cities. It was a small miracle that nobody was injured during the lighting of the fireworks - non-stop drinking all day long combined with matches and gunpowder - stand back!

House Hunters
Our landlords decided to move back into their home, which meant that we needed to find another place of residence. Which is not easy when you own a dog in West Hartford.

The real estate market looked somewhat appealing so we decided to see if we could find something in our price range to buy. Now I would never recommend looking for a house on a timeline. It was not fun.

As first-time home buyers we didn't really know what to look for in our first home so it was kinda funny to see us look at houses. We had a general idea of lot size, square footage, # of BRs, # of baths, etc. but we didn't really have strong opinions on quirky things in the house and how much they would drive us crazy.

I found myself getting attached to several homes and was heartbroken when they sold before we had a chance to put in an offer. But looking back now, I am ecstatic with the house we ended up buying. I honestly think I wouldn't be as pleased with any of the other houses that I had thought was perfect at the time. But Christopher just laughs when he hears this - he says that I would say this about whatever house. I guess that makes me an optimist?

Rest of July = Study Procrastinate Study Procrastinate
Since Christopher was preparing for the NY Bar exam at the end of July, for the rest of the month all he did was study like mad. And when he wasn't studying he was probably procrastinating from the studying that he should have been doing.

I also did my fair share of procrastinating. From packing - boy to I despise packing. But it's over now and we're not moving again for a long loooong time, so I can write about this without raising my blood pressure (see below for details).

Wedding Escape
The weekend before the bar exam I headed home to Toronto for friend's wedding, leaving Christopher with by himself to study and get stressed out before his exam. It's marital support like this that's the reason why we're still married - just kidding!

The wedding was beautiful and it was nice to visit friends and family (and all my favourite Chinese restaurants also).

SoCal Vaca
The day after the NY Bar exam Christopher and I brought the dog to his summer sleepover camp and the cat to her kitty spa as we escaped for our summer vacation to Southern California. My good friend from Hammertown (whom I have known since I was 3yrs old) invited us to his wedding in Orange County so we decided to make a trip of it since I had never been to Southern California before (except LA) and it had been a long time for Chris.

In typical Nancy and Christopher style, we just rented a car and drove around seeing and doing things recommended by our guidebook. We hit Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, La Jolla, San Diego, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and LA in about 11 days. And as can be expected, the weather was picture-perfect. Recommendations: boogie boarding in Huntington Beach, Baja Lobster restaurant in San Diego (not to be confused with the Rockin' Baja Lobster in the Gaslamp District), Getty Center in LA, sunsets in La Jolla and a Thai restaurant called Rama in the San Diego Gaslamp Distric with killer pad Thai!

August: Moving + Humidity = YUCKY
The month of August was a whirlwind. We purchased a home so we were busy shopping around for a mortgage, gathering supporting docs for the mortgage application (which is more painful if you have a short credit history in the US like I do), and several inspections of the property and the repairs that the Seller agreed upon.

Being the procrastinating type that we are, we didn't really prepare for our move very well. And by prepare I mean pack. We packed some things, like books, & CDs, but not much else... So when moving day came we worked until 3 am on moving day and then 4am the next day (after I had gone to work) shuttling our belongings to our new home. Laundry baskets, suitcases, and Rubbermaid Roughneck totes became our new best friends: fill with stuff in old house, put in car, drive to new house, empty contents onto floor of new house, repeat.

Christopher has an interesting perspective about the time spent on the entire move. If we had spent more time upfront packing more things, we could have spent less time on moving day. But the overall time spent packing + moving would be about the same. And with less boxes that means less time is spent taping them up, cutting them open, breaking them down for recycling...

Anyways, moving day sucked - like it has any other time I have moved (even company-sponsored moves aren't much more pleasant). But it is all a distant memory - ahhhh....

Bike Geeks

Christopher phoned me this afternoon at work sounding a little dejected. His bike broke on the way home today (luckily he was on our street when it happened).

Poor Christopher has to bike to his NY Bar exam prep course everyday (except when it rains and I give him a ride). It is so cute to see him ride off each morning with his backpack overflowing with books. He is the only one in the class (of ~60 people) that rides a bike each day. His first week a girl saw him walking in with his bike helmet and exclaimed "Don't tell me you ride your bike all the way here! Wow - that's so good". The next few days he noticed a few more bikes in the bike rack, but that was short-lived and now Christopher gets his choice of the prime bike-locking slots.

Anyways, today Christopher's rear derailleur made a nose-dive into his spokes. So I left work early to pick him and the broken bicycle up to be repaired. We took his bike to *exactly* the type of store one would want to have their bike repaired.

As soon as we walked in, one-by-one sales and service people came by to check out the bike and comment on which parts they all thought were salvageable. They were really into the whole thing - which was nice to see, but I couldn't keep myself from thinking these guys were taking this whole thing a little too seriously.

At one point, Christopher's bike was hanging from some repair stand thing with 3 guys crowded around inspecting the carnage. One guy kept asking Christopher all sorts of questions, determined to figure out how it happened. And unlike most bike shops I've been to, these guys were trying their hardest to keep the price down. They almost winced when they said that it was going to cost $90 to fix.

This was probably the best bike shop I've ever been to. I'm looking forward to our next trip there to pick it up :)

Chi-town

Last week I was in Chicago for work. People often say that Chicago and Toronto have alot in common. I can see some of the similarities. It is very clean and the Magnificent Mile is quite similar to Bloor Street.

There's also no shortage of great restaurants there. I had a nice meal at Frontera Grill as well as my new favourite restaurant - Shaw's Crab House. A place that serves seafood, has a fabulous oyster bar, and makes great sushi as well - I couldn't ask for anything more!

Surprisingly enough, I didn't get the opportunity to savour some Chicago deep dish pizza, and a Chicago-style hot dog. I'll save that for my next trip. Like I said - no shortage of great restaurants!

While in town some old colleagues of mine made the trip in from Naperville, IL to have dinner with me one night. The traffic in Chicago would put Toronto to shame, so I truly appreciate them making the trek in to see li'l ole me - thanks guys! And Chris's friend M was in town just for the day to attend the telco trade show I was working at, so that was a nice surprise as well.

Bean-town

This past weekend Christopher's friend G drove down from Toronto for a weekend visit. We don't get many house guests, so I had fun playing hostess.

On Friday night Chris & G headed out to Foxwoods to play some poker. And on Saturday G mentioned that he had never been to Boston, so we decided to drive in for the evening.

Christopher and I have lived in Connecticut for almost 10 months and we hadn't been to Boston once in this time! On the other hand, we have been into NYC a bunch of times.

Boston is a beautiful city. We drove to the Boston Common, parked there and just wandered around. The city has so much character and charm. We started off in a nice part of town filled with some high-end shops and hotels. Then we headed back through the Common to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall Marketplace. And after that we walked to the North part of town, filled with so many little Italian restaurants that all look like they could be my next favourite hidden gem.

On the drive back G was going through the CDs we have in the car - which are mostly mine since Christopher is riding his bike to school this summer:

G: [picks up my Jesse McCartney CD] Who is this, Paul McCartney's son?
C: [laughing] No G, don't do it!

Ouchie!

I have a canker sore in my mouth right now and it's driving me nuts! These things totally suck. I think I have really low tolerance for oral pain. I seem to remember a lot of complaining and feeling sorry for myself whenever I had my braces tightened... And don't even remind me about my wisdom teeth - I was KO'd for over a week.

Christopher did a little online research about some things that have been linked to causing canker sores. One of the things he found was that a foaming agent in toothpaste, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), has been known to cause canker sores (or aphthous ulcers) in people.

He then decided that I *might* be one of these types of people and headed off to the drugstore to buy us a new type of toothpaste - sans SLS. (yes I know, this guy will do anything to procrastinate from studying for the bar exam! I can't say I blame him though - I've seen the study materials, 6-7 books each with at least 1000 pages - yikes!)

I guess Christopher was tired of hearing me complaining about my canker sores yesterday and was kind enough to head back to the store to buy me some Anbesol (an oral anesthetic) to numb my pain. I have never used it before, but I have to say that it works fairly well. The only down side is that it wears of super fast.

The day when these things are all gone can't come soon enough!

Why is spinning in the dark?

First off, I'm not one of those super-hardcore spinners that wears the spandex cycling shorts and the clip-in shoes to spinning classes at the gym. However, I have on occasion frequented a spin class or two...

One thing about spinning perplexes me - why are spinning classes done in the dark? The only thing I can think of is that since spin classes are almost always setup in a semi-circle fashion, this means that some of the participants end up facing one other head-on.

My experiences with spinning have always had me getting quite the workout - sweating a fair bit and probably making funny faces as I agonize over the sprint sections (those always kill me - way more than the hill climbs). So, I'm thinking that spinning is done in the dark so people don't have to be self-conscious about others looking at them directly when they are struggling to climb to the top of some imaginary hill...

I guess having the room dark could also help spinners focus on the exercise and not the others in the class. And for the true cycling enthusiasts, maybe the darkness helps them picture themselves on the road or in a race? Plus, unlike step aerobics, there is no safety concern with having the class in the dark.

The other thing about spinning is that the music is fairly loud. This leads me to my final hypothesis about the dark beat-pumping classes - mystique. These blackened bass-filled spin classes make the workout seem like more than it actually is - pedalling a stationary bike!

I mean, as far as bike riding goes - the stationary bike has to be as boring as it gets. To jazz it up, they lower the lights, pump up the tunes. I've even heard of some clubs that have disco balls in their spin rooms as well as black light and glow in the dark bikes - sheesh!

Spinning is great in the winter or on a rainy day - but on good-weather days, a real bike ride outside (on a bike that actually takes you somewhere) is tough to beat.

The Start of Summer

In Canada, Victoria Day long-weekend unofficially marks the beginning of the summer season. In the US, the same can be said for the following weekend - Memorial Day. Victoria Day is celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24th and Victoria day is the last Monday in May.

Christopher and I returned to Canada both of these weekends for weddings back home. It always amazes me how much of a temperature difference there is between Toronto and West Hartford. It's a 7.5 hr drive and yesterday there was a 7 degree Celsius difference in their highs (22 in Toronto, 29 in West Hartford). Typically, West Hartford is ahead of Toronto by 3-4 weeks weather-wise.

I think if they Memorial Day and Victoria Day could be swapped that would be a good thing! I remember celebrating many Victoria Day weekends where cold and rainy conditions prevailed on our camping trips. And for all those who wait until Memorial Day to open their pools, they could have had two extra weeks to enjoy them (in Connecticut at least). The states that are further south would probably have no problem with this, and the colder states - well we can only do so much, if the colder weather bothers you that much you should think about moving south...

Oh well - since I celebrate US holidays now, at least my Memorial Day holidays in CT will be BBQ & pool friendly :) (hopefully I haven't jinxed myself by saying this!) If you're ever in the area for a Memorial/Victoria Day weekend feel free to stop by our place for a cold one and a BBQ (or cookout as they call it in New England).

Vegas Vacation

I know I am super-late in posting about our trip to Vegas, but I needed to wait until our friends told their families that they got married in Vegas. Yes, that's right - married in Vegas! How much fun is that?!?

So 3 other couples joined Christopher and I in Las Vegas the week following a trade show I was working at Mandalay Bay. Out of the 4 couples, 1 wasn't married and prior to the trip I was scheming as to how we could convince them to get hitched. (BTW - the couple had been together for 9 years I believe, so they were practically married as it was) But these two had it planned all along - and it's a good thing too because my plans were all pretty weak - most involved pumping them full of cocktails and insisting that they accompany Christopher and I to a cheesy wedding chapel to renew our vows, hoping to pull off a drunken bait & switch.

One afternoon the (newlywed) couple met the rest of us us by the pool at the Bellagio (fabulous pools with several water temperatures available to please everyone. My only complaint would be that they're too shallow, but I've found this in other hotels in Vegas as well and wonder if it's a preventive measure to keep the drunks from drowning...) . After we asked what they had done that afternoon they responded with an oh-so-casual "walked around a bit, got married". Needless to say, we were all quite excited and ordered some fancy poolside cocktails to celebrate :)

After so many trips to Vegas, I finally got around to riding the rides at the Stratosphere. Christopher and I rode all three:

• Big Shot: shoots you up 160 ft in the air, from the platform on the Stratosphere 921 ft high
• X-Scream: a large roller-coaster-type car that teeters back and forth, erratically dangling you over the edge (this one made me the most uncomfortable - I was quite glad when it was over)
• Insanity: sort of reminds me of those circular-swing rides like Swing of the Century at Canada's Wonderland, except over 900 ft high

I love amusement park rides - when I was younger I used to get a season pass to Canada's Wonderland. But the rides at the Stratosphere made my heart rate race and my palms sweatier than anything I've ever been on before. If you're a thrill seeker I totally recommend them!

I have yet to visit the Six Flags in Agawam, Massachusetts (about 40 minutes from our house), but it is definitely on the to-do list for this summer.

Cheated!

I know it's just a stupid TV show, but I can't help but feel cheated from last night's 2 hour Grey's Anatomy. It was more like 30 minutes of Grey's Anatomy and 90 minutes of the lame spin-off that ABC was shamelessly trying to pawn-off on Grey's viewers.

Personally, I was not impressed by the prospects that the new show "Private Practice" has to offer. It will be interesting to see if it takes off...

Neglect

I know, I have shamelessly been neglecting our blog. I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post.

Here's a little catch-up on what's been going on with me since my last entry:

• I was in Las Vegas for about 2 weeks for work (hence the lack of blog posts)
• I caved and decided to join Facebook (hence the lack of blog posts)
• Christopher is finally finished school and has returned home to Connecticut (hence the lack of blog posts)

Vegas was fun - probably one of the most fun trips for work I have been on. It's a huge trade show so lots of people attend. I heard from some people that our company alone sent 450 employees... insane. Needless to say, there was no shortage of people to party with - new colleagues, old colleagues, college/random friends that happen to work in the same/related industry, and miscellaneous friends I have made over time with competitors/partners/etc.

I'm actually leaving for another work trip this Saturday, back to Vegas. This time Christopher will be coming with me - yippee! We're planning to stay for the weekend afterwards for a little holiday and some friends are flying in to join us. Should be a blast - I'm looking forward to some fun times!

The Legion

Yesterday a few of us planned to head to the Legion for a little Happy Hour after work. One of my coworkers tends bar there part time and was working that evening, so we decided to go along with him for a couple of beers.

I was just finishing up something at my desk, so I told everyone to go on ahead and that I would meet them there (after asking for directions).

Now I have only been to the Royal Canadian Legion a handful of times back home, for a couple of stag & doe parties or similar-type events. But walking in (alone!) to the American Legion in this small town made me feel a little weird. As I entered, I felt like I was wearing a huge sign over my head saying "CANADIAN" and that the people inside knew I wasn't "one of them". (When I first moved to the States I had this feeling almost everywhere I went - the bank, grocery store, library, etc. But I've since become more comfortable and secure in my new surroundings. So it was a little odd to have this feeling again...)

I just want to make it perfectly clear, that this was all 100% in my head. There was no reason for me to feel like I wasn't welcome there at all. Everyone there was polite, helpful, and friendly to me the whole time.

While the part of the Legion that we were in was decorated with their emblem and some tributes to the American Forces, it really was a bar more than anything else (which I don't think we have in the Canadian Legions). The prominent feature in it was a nice old wooden bar with lots of people sitting on barstools chatting with each other, watching TV, and playing some sort of KENO-type game, etc. A place where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came... CHEERS!

Sushi = crowd pleaser?

I LOVE SUSHI. I think I *need* to have sushi a minimum of once every 2 weeks. And I could easily have it 2-3 times a week :)

As much as I love sushi, for some reason when I'm going out to eat with a crowd I am hesitant to suggest Japanese. I generally offer up more traditional crowd-pleasing options like Italian or Mexican. But I'm not really sure why... Of course, there is the whole raw-fish thing - but there's lots of sushi that is fully cooked, plus there are other things like teriyaki and tempura.

I think maybe in the back of my mind I don't want to suggest Japanese because that's what I really like and it seems too selfish?

But really that's absurd because:

1. I am constantly surprised at how many Japanese/sushi restaurants there are in just about every city I have been to in the US


2. Sushi is even carried in at least 50% of the grocery stores I have been in (even though it may not be the greatest)


3. Any cocktail party/food station-type dinner I've been to where sushi has been served it has always been very popular


4. The other day I asked my two colleagues (one from France, the other from small-town Massachusetts) if they liked sushi and they both said they LOVED it. If these two people from very different backgrounds (age, hometown, job type) could both like sushi - it obviously has some widely-enjoyable attributes


5. There are sushi bars in many US airports and even in a prototype Wal-Mart

Even though I have so rationally (read: nerdily) analyzed the mass-appeal of sushi, I'm not sure this will make me more likely to offer it up as a dining choice for a group meal. But if you like sushi and we have plans to go out - feel free to suggest it :)

Phone down!

This week I am in Orlando for CTIA Wireless - the largest wireless trade show in the US. The biggest booths are occupied by the major handset manufacturers, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia, LG, Samsung, and Motorola. These booth designs are probably the most eye-appealing I've seen compared to other trade shows I've been to. The LG booth featured a prominently-displayed DJ spinning tracks. I guess it makes sense since the mobile market is ruled by both technology and handset form-factor.

One interesting point to note is that my T-mobile phone was pretty unusable today. I have a voice and data device and it was unable to send/receive any e-mails after noon today. When I talked to T-mobile customer support they told me that 16 data towers had crashed in my area and that their engineers work working hard to get things back up and running.

I can't help but think that 50,000+ conference attendees concentrated in the Orlando area, ~90% of which are heavy users of PDA voice and data devices might have had something to do with it - hmm....

On the the road again...

An excerpt of "The Littlest Hobo" theme song:

There's a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road is where I'll always be

Every stop I make, I'll make a new friend
Can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

So if you want to join me for a
Just grab your hat, come travel light
That's hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want settle down,
Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

I've been travelling a ton this past month. Way more than usual. I'll probably be in the office for 3 days in all of March. I have to say, I don't really mind it since Christopher isn't around. But the doggie daycare bills are starting to get a little out of control and I haven't seen the inside of my gym in what seems far too long...

Last week I was in DC and NY, and this week I'm in Denver. There was originally supposed to be 7 cities in 2 weeks for this tour that we're doing, but due to time constraints it was cut down to only 3 - I can only imagine how messed up my time zones would be if that were the case! Next week I'll be in Orlando for a big wireless show. I'm looking forward to that - there's several good restaurants near the Orange County convention center and a mall and outlet mall nearby as well. I probably just jinxed myself and there will be no time to eat nor shop at all next week!

PS. While I was in NY last week I enjoyed one of the best Vietnamese sandwiches I've ever had in my life from the Saigon Bakery. Highly recommended!

Tucson, AZ

Is it Tuscon or Tucson? I never seem to know which is the correct spelling. Just for the record, it is TUCSON. But funnily enough, Tuscon gets 1,530,000 hits when you Google it.

Last week I enjoyed the balmy weather of Tucson, Arizona for work. We stayed at the Starr Pass Marriott, which is a super nice resort that I would recommend to anyone. In fact, Bill Clinton also stayed there for one night. He was the keynote speaker for some convention that was taking place there. Hey, if it's good enough for Bill, it's good enough for me :) Several of the folks from our group even got to shake his hand!

This was my first trip to Arizona. I have to say, the landscape was stunning. It was crazy to see those huge cactuses everywhere. And while I love the all the trees we have in New England, I was actually surprised at how much I liked the look of Arizona.

The balcony off my room overlooked a 27-hole golf course that had lush green grass. And not the Bermuda grass or the bluegrass that they grow on courses in warmer climates, but 'real' grass like we have back home. The juxtaposition of the green fairways and the desert made the course look super impressive. And while it was impressive, I couldn't help but wonder in the back of my mind how much water they use to keep grass that green in the middle of the desert.

While we were enjoying the wonderful warm weather, back home they were enduring highs of 0F - yikes! Naturally, this being a sales meeting, there was plenty of good food and drink to go round. One night at the restaurant they had set up a bunch of food tasting stations. And you just spent the entire evening running around to sample little appetizer-sized portions of dishes. They even had an oyster bar and it was here that I rediscovered my love of raw oysters!

The resort as a beautiful patio with chimineas, outdoor firepits, and gas heaters. It became the natural place for people to congregate after a long day of meetings to enjoy a few drinks under the clear night sky.

Amazing Race: Family Edition

There was a little excitement returning back home from our family ski vacation.

Saturday, February 24th
The Parents: flying direct from Denver to Toronto
Christopher: flying to Toronto, connecting through Montreal
Nancy: flying to Hartford, connecting through Lincoln, Nebraska & Chicago (it was cheap!)

Check-in: We were greeted by some of the longest airport check-in lines I have ever seen. United was experiencing some power outages with their computer system and having great difficulty checking passengers in. Fortunately we had arrived at the airport in plenty of time (we were worried about the road conditions after a storm that didn't end up materializing), plus Christopher and I had dropped off our parents and their luggage before returning the rental car, allowing them even more time to make it through the check-in line. So when we got back from dropping off the car, we just hopped in line with them.

Amazingly enough, we all made it through check-in and security in time to make our flights - not that it mattered...

The Parents: we dropped them off at their gate as boarding had started
Christopher: his flight to Montreal was delayed, meaning he would miss his connection. But he managed to phone Air Canada and secure a seat on the next flight out
Nancy: the flight from Lincoln, NB to Chicago was cancelled (bad storm in Chicago), so I decided to stay in Denver in hopes of getting on something else out. I didn't think Nebraska was exactly the hub of airline activity either...

The Parents: mechanical problem with plane - flight cancelled. Everyone was re-booked for a flight the next day and given vouchers for a hotel & meals
Christopher: made it home - luck boy!
Nancy: although the first confirmed seat that I could book back to Hartford wasn't until Monday (two days later) I made it on standby for a flight to DC, and could standby for the connection from DC to Hartford. However, the flight to DC was held on the ground for over an hour as 2 marshalls removed 3 passengers from the plane and they also had to dig through all the baggage to remove their checked luggage. Needless to say, I missed my standby connection to Hartford and was forced to spend the night in DC

Sunday, February 25th
The Parents: were scheduled to leave at noon, their flight was delayed, and delayed, and eventually cancelled. Apparently someone ordered the wrong part to fix the mechanical problem.
Nancy: though I did not have a confirmed flight from DC to Hartford until Monday, I went to the airport first thing in the morning to try and get on a flight via standby. Unfortunately DC was hit by a brutal storm and no flight were getting out at all. So Christopher booked me another room on Priceline and I went back to the Holiday Inn to wash my clothes in the bathroom sink - nice!

Monday, February 26th
The Parents: finally made it out on their flight, with an extra 50,000 Aeroplan points to compensate them for the delay
Nancy: managed to get on an earlier flight to Hartford on standby and didn't have to wait in the airport until 9pm, thank goodness!

The whole time this was going on I kept on thinking that this is what it's like to be on the Amazing Race. Running around through the airport, trying to get booked on flights, get on standby lists for other flights, wear the same clothes for days. Although it doesn't seem nearly as fun and exciting as it does on TV, I think I could do it. Rob & Amber - look out for Nancy & Christopher!

I also can't believe that our parents spent over 48 hours straight with each other without Christopher or I to 'manage' them. Apparently my dad was teaching Christopher's mom some tai chi in the airport to help calm her nerves. Oh to be a fly on the wall...

Family Ski Vacation

For President's Day-Week (is that what people in the US call it?) Christopher and I met up with both his parents and my parents in Vail, Colorado for the first ever Ma-Schwartz joint family vacation. We had rented a 3 bedroom townhouse in East Vail at the Vail Racquet Club for the week. While most of the action is in West Vail, the Racquet Club is conveniently located along one of Vail's free bus routes to the Village and has a really nice fitness center with outdoor hotubs, wet and dry saunas, and a 75-meter swimming pool. We also dined at their Bighorn Bistro one evening and enjoyed a fabulous meal.

My family and I have been to Vail a few times before, but this was Christopher's family's first time. It was fun to see what they thought of the resort and our favorite restaurants. We had lunch at my all-time favorite place to eat in Vail - Sweet Basil. Though it's not what would be classified as an inexpensive restaurant the food, service and ambiance is really fabulous. I think lunch is a bit easier to justify on the pocketbook than dinner, and also easier to get a table - this place is everything but a well-kept secret!

Since we had rented a 4-wheel drive Suburban, Christopher and I put it to good use trying some of the other nearby ski hills. We visited Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain, and Breckenridge in addition to skiing 3 days at Vail. At Copper we took advantage of their free snowcat skiing to access Tucker Mountain - skiing Chute #3 of the Fremont Glade. After waiting in line for over an hour for the Cat, it was finally our turn for the 10-minute ride up. We then followed that up with a 20-minute hike (at over 12,000 ft. - I was quite short of breath at that altitude) up the ridge to access the chutes. It was super windy along the hike - when we stopped to take a pic I was afraid I was going to get blown over! As was to be expected, there was a ton of snow on the run due to the limited access. By the time we got to the bottom we were quite tired and ready to meet up with my parents for lunch - and we had only done one run!

Although I was slightly apprehensive about how my parents and Christopher's parents would get along for an entire week together, everyone seemed to enjoy their vacation. Vail was a good location for all of us, giving us each a different way to spend our time as we saw fit. This was the first ski vacation for Christopher's parents in 10 years, so they took things easy ski-wise, spending alot of their time strolling through Vail Village and relaxing in the pool & hot tub at the Racquet Club. My parents skied quite a bit and as usual my mom took a day off to shop shop shop at all her old favorite stores in the Village. And of course Christopher and I skied skied skied! In the evenings we all dined together, enjoying all the fabulous culinary gems that Vail had to offer, and recapping each of our highlights of the day. Hopefully the first of many joint family vacations to come :)

Snow Day!

This morning I phoned our Employee Information line to see if my office would be closed or have a delayed opening due to this winter storm that hit the east coast today.

And... to my surprise, the recording announced that the office was closed - SNOW DAY!!

Yippee!! All those fond memories of snow days when I was in school came flooding back. It's funny - I love my job just like I loved school (yes I know, I'm a geek), but there is something decadent about being able to stay home during the week on a stormy winter day, watching daytime television and drinking hot chocolate.
Strangely enough, I have this urge to go outside right now and make a snow angel :)

Night in NYC

This past weekend Christopher came down to visit and planned a surprise trip to New York City for my birthday. He made arrangements for Tyson to go to Doggie Daycare for the night and we took the Metro-North train into Grand Central Station. It is fairly reasonable to visit New York at this time of year and Christopher was able to book us into the Millennium Hilton (where we have stayed in before and I really like) on Priceline.

That night we had tickets for Translations - a show that just opened on Broadway a few weeks ago that received good reviews from the New York Times. Now, one thing we have yet to master is the subway system in New York. Christopher is excellent at reading the map and figuring out which line we need to take and where we need to get off. But one thing we haven't quite figured out is how much time to budget when taking the subway. Since we're often in the city on the weekend, when we take the subway we run into some lines being closed, stations being closed, and infrequent trains.

After waiting awhile to take the subway to Times Square for our 8pm show, we came to the realization that we wouldn't make the show if we continued to wait for this subway that didn't seem to be making an appearance anytime soon. So even though we had already paid our fare, we decided to head above ground to catch a cab to have any chance of getting to the theatre on time.

Unfortunately, it being a Saturday night, it was tough to find a cab. On every street corner we saw other people struggling to catch a cab as well. With a little bit of luck, we managed to flag one down after not too long and were surprised to find out that we had snagged the best cab driver we've ever had in the city. Once we told him where we were going, he knew we were trying to catch a show and drove like a madman. He was honking his horn at cars that were lingering in intersections and drivers that weren't doing the right thing. I never felt that our driving was being a jerk to other drivers with his driving or his horn.

Since there was a bit of traffic closer to the theatre, we decided to get out a few blocks away and run the rest of the way. Christopher ran up ahead to go pick up the tickets, while I paid the cabbie and gave him a big tip. We managed to make it to our seats with minutes to spare!

After the show we had reservations at Tao for dinner, so we walked uptown to the restaurant. When we got there the place was packed. Even though we had a reservation we still waited for quite awhile in the bar area. After awhile we were quite hungry and I had a craving for some galbi, so we decided to leave and head to 5th Ave. & W. 32nd St. where there are many Korean restaurants that stay open late into the night.

The next day we had lunch in the East Village before heading home. It was great to just go for one night - we each packed a small bag that we could easily carry with us on the subway and around town. This way we didn't have to worry about checking our bags with the bell desk and then going back to the hotel to pick them up. Plus, going for one night keeps the expensive hotel costs down - this is something we should definitely do again!

Thanks Christopher for planning such a fun weekend!

When your nose doesn't know...

For the past little while I've been fighting a cough/cold. My nose is all red and sensitive and I have gone through so many boxes of tissues! I don't feel bad other than this though. But what annoys me the most is not being able to smell. And more importantly, not being able to taste. I really feel crippled by the

loss of these two senses. Well, I can still taste very basic categories of sweet/salty/sour/bitter, but eating isn't very fun.

Now, you would think that not being able to taste anything would make me less interested in eating. However, I have been going through the opposite - I am craving food more! What's happening is that my brain still remembers what it is like to taste things. And it wants them. But when I eat the things that it wants, it can't taste those flavours so the craving isn't satisfied. So crazy!

Longboat Key

Last week I was in Orlando for work. I was staying in one of the hotels on Disney property. Now, I haven't been to Disney World in what must be 20 years (boy does that make me sound old), but it sure is different from what I remember. The property is unbelievably large! My hotel was right across the road from Downtown Disney, which is filled with overpriced restaurants and shops selling candy, toys, souvenirs, etc. Next to Downtown Disney is Pleasure Island, a place for adults filled with bars/nightclubs. You have to pay cover at the , but they sell these passes at the entrance that allow you to bar hop for a flat fee (or a tiered pricing structure for 3, 5 or all bars).

One thing that I couldn't help but notice was how expensive everything on the Disney property was. Looking at the menus of the restaurants in Downtown Disney (Fulton's Crab House, Portobello Yacht Club) the prices must have been at least 30-50% more than non-Disney places, for the same food. It makes me kinda sad to think that there are lots of kids that won't ever get to visit Disney World because it's too expensive... Or if they do get to go, they'll just see all these fun things in the stores, at the many kiosks throughout the area, or candy/treats that are out of their family's budget. But then again - this is something that pretty much everyone has to learn at some point in their lives. There are very few people in this world that actually have more money than they can spend in their lifetime. We all need to learn to live within our means.

Since Christopher's parents were renting a condo on Longboat Key for the month of January, we thought it would be nice to visit them for a few days. So after I wrapped things up in Orlando, I drove my little rental Saturn ION towards the Gulf coast to visit them and Christopher flew into Sarasota from Buffalo. Their condo overlooks the beach, so we went for nice walks up and down the beach and enjoyed wonderful sunsets each evening. We also played 27 holes of golf - 18 holes at Oak Ford which was recommended by Golf Digest for its value and we thought it was a great course for the money. In typical Florida-fashion, we also enjoyed a fantastic Early Bird Special at Cafe on the Bay - dinner for 2 (3 course meal) plus a bottle of wine for $42.97 - highly recommended! We also went for a light dinner at Euphemia Haye so we had enough room to enjoy their extensive dessert selection.

Hot Water Woes

Our main bathroom upstairs doesn't get the hottest water. Christopher has turned up the temperature on the hot water heater a couple of times, but we still haven't found the optimal setting.

Generally this isn't a problem for daily showers. The only time it's really an issue is when I want to take a bath. While I do enjoy the odd bubble bath, I rarely have the time for them. When I travel for work I'll often enjoy one - taking advantage of the nice soaps that are supplied in my hotel room :)

At home though, one time when I really need a bath is when I'm sick. I often get the chills and a nice hot bath that just envelopes me in warmth is the best way for me to feel better. On Thursday I started to feel a little achy and had a bit of a fever, so I thought I'd draw a bath for myself.

Since we've moved into this house I've only tried to have one other bath and it was a complete disaster - the water simply wasn't hot enough. Desperate for a decent bath, this time we used the stove to heat water in several of our largest pots and also boiled water in our electric kettle. It was alot of work, but so worth the effort. I felt like a princess in medieval times as Christopher shuttled up and down the stairs to add hot water into my bath - thanks Christopher, you're the best!

When the cat is away...

...the mice will eat mussels?!?

Now don't get me wrong - Christopher is extremely good about eating whatever I prepare for dinner. But there are a few things that he would prefer not to eat. And while he is always telling me that I can make whatever my heart desires for dinner, it just seems much too selfish to go through the trouble of making a meal that only I will enjoy, leaving him to fend for himself.

Now that I have to prepare dinner for one these days, I am taking advantage of this opportunity to make some things that Christopher would rather not eat. Like my dinner last night - a huge bowl of Steamed Mussels with Leeks, Garlic, Thyme, White Wine & Butter. While Christopher will eat a few mussels, there's no way he would be able to eat an entire bowl as his meal. But don't these look good?

Spring Cleaning in January!?!

This past weekend Christopher and I took full advantage of the balmy weather in West Hartford to do some outdoor spring cleaning. Christopher treated our car to a thorough wash and wax while I filled 15 yard waste bags of pine needles and leaves that we had never gotten around to raking up. It was nice to be outside and get these much-needed chores done. There is something immensely satisfying about completing a task that you've procrastinated on for far too long!

On Saturday night we went to see Children of Men. I thought it was really well done. Most science-fiction movies that have been released recently involve aliens that are threatening the earth or some space mission. I really like movies like this that give you a glimpse as to what the future could be like (though depressing and over dramatized it may be).

Sunsay evening I had to take Christopher to the airport :( This semester he has to finish up some mandatory classes at U of T. He has classes Mon-Wed so we have scheduled a few visits for him over the term, using up a bunch of Aeroplan points I had. Combining this with a couple other trips we have planned (Florida at the end of this month & skiing in Vail over President's Day-Week) we should see each other every 2 weeks at a minimum.

Since Christopher won't be here as much and I will still need to travel a fair bit for business, I have been taking my dog to several "interviews" at doggie daycare/boarding facilities for when I am away. Since Tyson is a social dog that likes to play with other dogs when we "board" him we choose to put him in a doggie daycare facility. This way he can have tons of fun during the day with all the other pups and then he's good and tired in the evenings. While this style of care may not be good for all dogs, if you have a dog that is fun-loving and enjoys being around other dogs, I highly recommend it. Most places will ask you to bring your dog for an "interview" to see if they are suitable for the doggy daycare environment - making sure that they aren't a bully nor are they being bullied.

On Saturday I took Tyson for an "interview" at a new place and they said he would be just fine. It's funny checking out these doggie daycares. Some charge alot more than others (over 40% more in some cases!). And as a general rule - the ones that charge more tend to be nicer - but from a human perspective, not necessarily a dog's perspective. For example, will Tyson care/notice that there are colorful murals of dogs having fun on the walls? Does it bother him if there are grammatical errors in their flyer? What about if the person handling them has bad teeth?

As a human inspecting boarding facilities for my pet, I often have to remind myself that what is most important is that Tyson has a good time. Do the other dogs there look like the kind of playmates Tyson would have fun with? Do the other dogs look like they're having a good time/are well taken care of? Is the facility clean and well-kept? Is there a variety of toys/treats available? Does he like the people that work at the place and do they like him?

After introducing Tyson to several doggie daycares (just in case one is booked up) it's nice to find some places that we're both comfortable with. That way I don't have to worry about him while I'm away and he's too busy playing with all the other doggies to worry about where I am!