Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My Latest Purchase. AKA, the reason I should not be allowed to have a credit card.

Remember when, not so long ago, I bragged here about how I had finally, finally paid off my credit card??

I relished that wonderful feeling for all of about 72 hours.

Then I started thinking about things I could buy. Clothes. CDs. Maybe join Weight Watchers. A new camera. New furniture.

And then, the night before last, I had a dream that I was running all over from store to store to store, trying to find the last Wii in the world, because I had to buy it.


Weird dream, right? I mean, maybe five years ago when the Wii first hit the market, this might have been a possible scenario, but now? Why now? Why would I be running from Wal-Mart to Future Shop to Best Buy trying to find the last Wii in the world?

I took it as a sign.

I went to everyone's favourite on-line splurging site. http://www.amazon.com/ . Sure enough, Wii's for sale. (And apparently they had lots in stock, so no worries on hunting down the last one in the world.) Then I decided I was going to buy the Wii Fit Plus, because if I'm going to sink some dollars into this, I might as well get skinny while doing so, right?

Buuuuut maybe that was splurging a little too much... How about just getting a Zumba game for now? I love Zumba. But I only go once a week. Wouldn't it be awesome if I could do it every night, in the comfort of my own home?!? (Shut up, dusty exercise videos on my shelf!! I don't want to hear from you!!) And it's a quarter of the price of the Wii Fit Plus. Save that for a birthday gift. (Family members reading this blog: take note.)

Ahh, but research a little further, and whaddya know, Just Dance 2 is half the price of the Zumba game. (And also cheaper than the original Just Dance. Who needs to start at the beginning? Not me.) Zumba basically is dancing, so this will probably work just as well, right?


Done aaaaaaaaand done.

Two hundred bucks later, and I'm now patiently waiting for my Wii and my Just Dance 2 to arrive in the mail.

And also praying they arrive before the potential postal strike begins. Which I totally forgot about in the midst of my fevered desire to buy a Wii.

God help me.


No, this is not my credit card. Although it should be.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Friday Confessional. Because I'm too busy.

Remember when, for, like, two weeks, I ran my very own Random Fridays?


Today, I don't have time to ramble my random thoughts and feelings. So instead, I'm linking up with Mamarazzi for Friday Confessional.



Photobucket


I confess... that I'm too busy to blog today. But one of the things on my 101 list is to write a blog every weekday for a month, and May is almost over, and this task is almost complete. I'm not going to let this busy Friday ruin it for me!


I confess... that I'm super-excited for the Quyon Canada Day Committee Golf Tournament tomorrow, even though the weather isn't looking that great. Are a few little raindrops going to stop us? Hell to the NO!


I confess... that when I asked my boss for a few hours off this morning to run to the licence bureau in Aylmer, the real motivating factor was getting Chinese food from The Bamboo. I really did need to renew my health card and licence, but the Chinese fit in nicely.


I confess... that I ate half a boston cream doughnut, a flaky pastery, and another doughnut. AFTER the Chinese food lunch. What the F?!?!?!... I'm going to be gigantically fat forever.


I confess... that I'm contemplating getting drunk tomorrow night. Maybe tonight too.


Have a great weekend everybody!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Oprah's Farewell + American Idol Finale = Awesome Night

Remember yesterday when I said that last night was going to be an epic night of TV?

I really had no idea just how awesome it was going to be.

Ordinarily, I would've devoted this entire space today to Oprah's last episode.

It was classy, it was touching - it was, in her own words, "a love letter to her fans". After all the speculation over who the last guest might be, it seemed only appropriate that it was just O, alone on her own stage, thanking her fans for their years of dedication, for accepting her, for validating her, and for giving her the love she never knew as a child.


I missed the first 20 minutes, but once I finally sat down to watch, I was glad I did. I have no idea how people joined together for mass viewing parties. I was a sniveling, snotty mess, and I was glad I was all alone for the final farewell.

It was an historical moment in television history, after 25 years of being on the air, and of her being one of the best-loved talk show hosts ever.

But the epic night of TV didn't end with Oprah's final exit.

Did anybody else want last night's finale of American Idol to never end??

Usually on finale nights, I agonize over them extending it to a super-long episode jammed with filler and mediocre group performances. But about half-way through last night's AI Extravaganza, I realized I didn't even care who won anymore, I just wanted it to keep going. It was so so so awesome!

First of all, can I just say...James Durbin? Live, on stage with Judas Priest?? Incredible. I was also a HUGE fan of Scotty and Tim McGraw doing "Live Like You Were Dying". Tim was lookin' miiiiiiighty fine last night. MMMM!!! And Casey and Jack Black doing "Fat Bottomed Girls" was a riot. I thought the pairings of the Idols with current stars was super-impressive, and I liked that they didn't necessarily do current songs.

Forget about Princess Beatrice & Princess Eugenie's hat - what the HELL was Gaga wearing on her head?!?


JLo once again proved why I want to be just.like.her. She didn't even have to open her mouth and she had the crowd going wild. Quick question though...What exactly does she see in Marc Anthony? I mean, sure, the guy can sing I guess, but I think Jenny from the Block could've done much better in the looks department. (yes. I can be shallow when I want to be.)

Another highlight of the night for me was TLC with the Top 13 girls performing some of their old hits like "No Scrubs" and "Waterfalls". What a throwback to my high school days - took me back to summers and swimming at my friend Tracey's pool with all the girls! So does this mean a TLC comeback?? ...I hope so!

Of course, Lauren's performance was with Mrs. Mike Fisher, and, as usual, when she came strutting out, all toned legs and bronzed up, I wanted to shoot laser beams of death out of my eyeballs at her. But I do envy the bitch's legs.

Oh, oh, and did I mention Beyonce? Bono and the Edge? The Spiderman Kiss? But one of my favourite parts of the night was the Top 13 boys doing the Tom Jones medley. I know, that sounds strange, but Stefano started it off with "Kiss" and I was grinning. Literally grinning. And along the way, Scotty broke into my dad's trademark song, "The Green Green Grass of Home", and I literally got goosebumps. Of course, Mr. Jones joined them on-stage for "It's Not Unusual", and I was giggling watching the guys (and Jack Black in the audience) doing 'The Carleton Dance'.

Also, usually I don't enjoy "the filler", but I thought there were two big pluses in that department last night. First, Casey and James' angst-filled argument over who was the most shocking elimination, which was put to an end when Pia turned up in a tiara and sash that read "Most Shocking". Can't disagree there! And then, there was the other older Idols whining and complaining about how the two "kids" of the season ended up in the finals. Stefano called them sixth-graders. Casey lamented, "They're just learning cursive. I've known cursive for five years. They're just learning it." Totally staged, yet completely entertaining. Loved it.

As you might expect, I've saved the best for last. No, not Scotty being crowned the newest American Idol. (Though I was happy about that, too).

No. It was something better than that. Something that made me squeal in excitement and fist pump in jubilation. (yeah. If you'd been hanging outside my house, watching me through the window, I looked like a complete jackass.)

Steven Tyler.

Singing "Dream On".

Made. My. Life.

I haven't watched Idol in a few years, and I'm so glad I followed this season right through to the end. I will definitely be back in January to start the ride all over again.

I can only pray that the same judges return, because I adored them.

And that finale night is as epic as this one.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Oh, and I almost forgot...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!

Oh Dany. You suck.
GO CANUCKS!!!

Look out!! It's a "Jill's Gonna Ramble" Wednesday!!!

It's "So What Wednesday"! It's "We Want to Know Wednesday"! It's "What I'm Loving Wednesday"!!

Okay. It's none of those things on my blog. It's just "Jill's Gonna Ramble Wednesday"!! Enjoy.

  • It's Oprah's last show today. AND it's finale night on American Idol. Holy epic TV. I think I'll skip my workout after work to go home and watch it all. Oh, who am I kidding. I skip my workout almost every night for no good reason at all.



  • Anybody else a little disappointed with the Glee finale last night? First, they sing a bunch of songs I don't know. Then, they have an awesome performance at Nationals, and don't even make the Top 10. I found it mildly boring and unspectacular. Just sayin.


  • I had Scotty pegged to win it all in the AI finale tonight...Riiiight up until they sang the songs Jimmy Iovine picked to be their first single if either of them won. Scotty's "Love You This Big" was sweet and he sang it well. But Lauren took it up to another level with her song, "Like My Mother Does". Tears. I had real, running down my cheeks, tears, people. It was lovely. I'm still not convinced that Lauren Alaina deserves to win (or even that she should be in the Final 2 - I'd have far preferred a James/Haley showdown), but I think that performance may have put her over the edge.



  • I get to watch a ball game tomorrow night! A real, live ball game! At last!! Well. Unless the rain ruins it. And the rain seems to be ruining my life a lot lately. So I'm sure it will rain.


  • Forget about the rain for a second. The sun is shining bright and beautiful today. These days have been few and far between this spring, so I should just shut up and enjoy it, right? Right.


  • One of my BFF's, Lindsay, is getting married in less than a year. I was so surprised and a little bit bashful to see that she devoted her "Wedding Wednesday" post this week to ME!! To read all about how wonderful I am (HA!), head on over and check it out! (Love ya, dude!)


  • Now the world is going to end in October?? F. Could this Harold Camping guy just stop it already? He's too old to be predicting when the end of the world will be. His math is all messed up and he's prone to making mistakes. All he does is make people who get nervous easily (ie: me) all worked up for NOTHIN'. Enough, Harold!



Happy Wednesday!!

Monday, May 23, 2011

How I Survived the Apocalypse (or, just another May 2-4 weekend)

As I *may* have mentioned around here before, I'm a bit of a worrywart.

So yeah, I was kind of nervous that the world was supposed to end on Saturday at 6 PM. Even though I knew it was absolutely reeeeeediculous. Even though my mother (and others) told me not to worry, because if the world was ending, then at least we were all going together. No biggie, right?

The world didn't end, of course. But I did have butterflies from about 3 PM on, despite reports that Rapture Day had been rather uneventful in other time zones that had already seen 6 PM come and go.

Then I got tied up playing Gardens of Time on Facebook - (yeah. I know. totally cheesy yet oh-so-addictive. how did this happen after all these years of avoiding Farmville??? please come be my neighbour.) - and the next thing I knew, my mother was watching the 6 PM news and nothing happened.



Phewf. I wasn't ready to go.

The best way to celebrate the fact that the world didn't end? Head down the road, where a party was in full swing to celebrate a neighbour's retirement. Once the crowd had thinned out to the true Stagger Road diehards, the music got loud, and we were dancing around the garage, one minute belting out Conway Twitty classics, the next sweating as we danced to Tiesto, the Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, and so on. Wish you all could have seen my very drunk brother dancing to Shania Twain's "Up" like it was the best song he'd ever heard. And he played it three times.

It was a blast.

If Saturday had been that last day on Earth, it was a beaut. Blue skies, bright sunshine, and high temps were a nice reward after all the rain we've endured lately. Got burnt, but it was worth it.

All in all, I must say Rapture Day was a complete success.

In other news, you may have noticed the new button on my sidebar announcing that I'm now a "20-Something Blogger". Well, I kinda have been for a long time now, but I've joined an official society now. If you're a 20-something blogger, hit the link and join me! It's a great way to find other blogs and bloggers you may share interests with.

Last but not least, I'd like to send thoughts and prayers out to one of my best bloggy friends, Nicole at Life's a Beach. The world didn't end this weekend, but Nicole lives near Joplin, Missouri where a huge tornado hit and many lives were lost. Nicole and her family are okay, but needless to say, life there has been completely turned upside down and they are in the midst of a lot of chaos and heartache. Thinking of you, Nicole!!

Friday, May 20, 2011

A Random Friday-of-the-long-weekend

I've been going random the past few Fridays - thought I'd stick with that tradition. I know other blogs do Random Mondays or Random Tuesdays, or whatever, but I'm going with Friday. Feel free to join me.


  • I went to a fashion show put on by a local women's clothing store owner last night with my mom, sister and aunts. I'm far from a fashionista, but I had a great time. Even learned a few things about what's "in" this Spring.


  • ...Not that I am actually buying any clothes this Spring. Because I just paid off my credit card (squeeeeal!!!), and I REFUSE to buy more clothes until I have a little extra saved up and until I've dropped a few pounds. I REFUSE to go up in sizes. I will continue to squeeze myself into clothes that don't fit, until they fit again.


  • On the way home from the fashion show, my mom & I hit a deer. It's the first time I've been in a vehicle that hit a deer. I've hit a groundhog before. And I was with my friend Stacy when she hit a cat once. And of course, you all know I hit other cars from time to time. But I've never hit a deer. Is it wrong that while my mom was going, "Oh, that poor deer! I feel so bad!" -(he jumped up and ran off after the collision)- I was thinking, Wonder if there's any damage to the car... Dad's gonna kill her if she banged up the car... ??


  • Dad did not kill her when we told him what happened. But then again, it was only a small ding in the hood. I was impressed with how calm he was, though.


  • I MISSED GREY'S ANATOMY LAST NIGHT SO SHHHH DON'T ANYONE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS!!! ...Pretty sure from the promos I saw, though, that it wasn't nearly as epic as last season's finale. BUT SHH DON'T TELL ME ANYWAYS!!!


  • It's the long weekend. Most of the people I know aren't even at work today. I'm at work, because I have nothing cool or fun to do this weekend. This makes me depressed. I'm probably going to eat chipstand food to console myself.


  • Don't worry. I'll dance it out with some JLo. And I'll probably have to cut the grass anyways.


Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

A Tale of Grass-Cutting Woe

This is the second time I've written about cutting the grass this spring.

This is the second time I've cut the grass this spring.

This is how you know I have a life. When all I have to blog about is cutting the grass.

Too bad, so sad. That's just the way it is these days.

So, remember the last time I cut the grass? I had all kinds of technical difficulties, which forced me to cut the same grass over and over and over. Which caused people to think I was nuts for cutting the same grass over and over and over.

I hadn't cut the grass since then. We're talking eleven days. And the reason for not cutting the grass in eleven days?

Rain.

It's been raining mother-effin' cats and dogs around here for a bazillion days. And let me tell you, it's starting to take it's toll. I'm realizing this crank I'm in this week is effecting others as well, and we're all directly related to the craptastic weather.

F it all.

So yesterday, we had a slight reprieve from the rain, and rather than working out after work as per the plan, I rushed home to cut my lawn. Also known as my hay field. Rain does that to grass, did you know? I read somewhere that a positive spin to put on all this rain is to revel in the beauty of how everything green has just POPPED.

Yeah. Super-speedy-growing grass is exactly what we need. So that when it's not raining, we're all scrambling to cut it. Awesome.




This is not actually my grass. But it's a hay field that mine could compete with.

Anyways, my front yard wasn't so bad, but my back yard was a complete jungle. I cut grass that had to be at least a foot high in some spots. And had to go back over some spots because it didn't even look cut at all. And at times, the grass and build up of clippings was so much that when I drove over it, my lawn mower was literally chugging, on the verge of death. Oh, and did I mention I have a hill in my back hard that terrifies me when I'm cutting grass on a good day?

This resulted in me, riding back and forth on a dangerous slant, fearing my lawn mower might topple over, muttering encouragement under my breath. "Come on, now, you can do it. Don't die, lawn mower. I love you lawn mower. Pleeeeease don't die lawn mower!"

This was seriously a job for some kind of farm equipment. Something like a big tractor. A hay bailer. I'm not sure if that's the proper terminology, but you know what I mean.

Just as I finished, the skies opened and the rain came down again.

I'll probably have to cut it again tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Single Girl Files: Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

You know what's really tough about being a single girl?

Hearing about how others perceive you. That's one thing that has really bothered me over the years. I live in a small town, as you know, and people talk. People speculate.

It drives me in-saaaaane.

I'm having a hard enough time figuring out why I'm still single all on my own. I don't mind when friends offer input and advice -(and that includes you, my bloggy friends!) - in fact, I'm glad they (and you) do.

But there are some things that you just don't like to hear.

Recently, these comments have ranged from one end of the spectrum to the other, and it's been rather confusing.

For instance - several weeks back, there was a party at our infamous little local bar, Gavan's, for Gail Gavan, the daughter of the former owner (and our very own celebrity!), on her 50th birthday. The place was bursting at the seams with people who had gathered to celebrate with her. Where else would I be on this night? Of course I was there. Everyone was.

I was chatting with a friend of mine, when suddenly he said, "Oh, a guy I work with told me I'm just like you."

Puzzled, I asked, "Oh yeah? How?"

"He asked what I was doing this weekend. I told him I was going to Gavan's. He said, 'Oh you're just like Jill Young, always going to Gavan's'."

I was even more confused. "Yeah? And who is this that you work with?"

"Um, do you know..." and he proceeded to name a guy who I dated a few years ago. And by "dated", I mean we went out a few times, but all the while I was wishing he was someone else, constantly comparing him to another guy that I liked, and knew I was wasting both his time and my own, but gave it a go because my mom was really really hoping he was 'the one'.

And yes, at the time, I was going to Gavan's every weekend, which I guess he must've thought was lame. But frig him! Those were some of the most fun times in my life. In fact, most often, I was turning down dates with him because I would have rather got my drink on with my friends there, than go out with him.

And anyways, as I proceeded to indignantly tell my friend, I'm hardly ever there any more! "Did you tell him that?? That I don't spend every weekend at Gavan's anymore???"

He confirmed that he had, in fact, told him that. But still, I was a little hot under the collar.

Spend all my time at Gavan's...imagine! I have a damned life! I do other things! I go other places!!

I was barely finished calming down from this huff when I was dragged in the total opposite direction.

Without going into a whole lot of detail, I've had my eye on another local single dude, off and on, for quite some time. A friend of mine agreed that he would be a good guy for me, and because she had a close connection to him, she offered to do some ground work for me to see if there was any interest on his part.

A few weeks later, she reported that her close connection didn't think it would work out because he wouldn't like that I go to church.

What?

I mean, seriously... WHAT?!?

One guy is making fun of me because I spend too much time at the damned BAR, and the other is turned off by the fact that I go to CHURCH??

Honestly. What am I supposed to take out of this?

I live in a small town, people. There isn't a whole lot to do. On Saturday nights, yes, from time to time, I go to Gavan's and have a drink or two. Or ten.

And then I get up on Sunday mornings and I go to church.

I respect other peoples' beliefs, and I certainly don't feel the need to force my own on anyone. But I do know for sure that if I'm going to be with someone, they need to respect mine as well. I do not need a man who will come to church with me every Sunday, but he also needs to be okay with the fact that I do. My faith is important to me. It has got me through this past year of complete disaster.

I also need someone who is okay with the fact that if I decide to go out for a fun night, chances are it's going to be Gavan's. I'm comfortable there, and I've had many, many good times there. Yes, once upon a time it was like a second home to me on weekends, but that stage of my life is over now, and ideally, I'd rather be at home with my boyfriend watching movies or going out to dinner or doing something with other couples.

But there will still be nights at Gavan's. That's not going to change.

So what have we learned from all of this?

Well...I guess #1 is that I don't regret the fact that I never ended up with the first guy who thinks I'm a barfly. Real nice.

And #2 is that I've officially crossed off another "potential" who clearly never would have worked out, since I'm never going to give up my faith and beliefs for a dude.

So in conclusion, this leaves me as a confused single girl who is now caught somewhere between heaven and hell.

Ah, the joys.

Monday, May 16, 2011

I'm sooo tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiireed.

I say that in my best whiny bitchface voice.

It's one of those mornings. Waking up in a chilly room, snuggled up in a warm comforter, rain lightly pattering against my window, blinds drawn to make it a nice, dark batcave...

Did I want to get up? Hell.to.the.no.

But I did. Swear to God, my eyes are squinty little slits that I can barely see out of. (That's partly due to allergies, but whatever). I'm currently trying to rejuvenate with a big cup of hot chocolate, but I'm still only half-coherent. And it's after 10:30 Am. I'm thinking of breaking out the iPod to listen to some JLo to energize me. So far, I'm just a zombie who wants to sleeeeep.

And the reason why? It was a busy weekend. And on top of it all, I stayed up late to watch the Survivor: Redemption Island finale last night.

I've been re-capping semi-faithfully all season long, so you're probably going to think I'm nuts for slacking off now, but I only have a few small observations and comments to make.

First of all...It was rewarding to see Boston Rob finally win this game. It was his fourth try. And honestly, was there anyone out there who deserved it more? Absolutely not. Rob was, by far, the most strategic, the most charming, and the most competitive player out there. I was glad to see him win. I still haven't seen last week's episode to see how exactly he got rid of my man Grant, but I doubt it would change my opinion. The Godfather was the best player. Period.


David's speech was my favourite at the final Tribal Council, when he basically stood back and told the rest of the jury they would be nuts not to vote for Rob. Two former players returned this season. One claimed to be the best player in the history of the game, and he was voted out on Day 7. The other sat there in the Final 3. On one side of him sat Phillip, the nutcase who Rob dragged through the game, and on the other sat Natalie, who basically credited Rob for getting her there, too. Really, people? Who is the most deserving of $1M, here? I don't know that the jury really needed David's stamp of approval on Rob's game to hand him the final paycheck, but it was nice to hear someone lay it all out like that.

My least favourite speech was Julie's. Bitter much? I wasn't a big Natalie fan, but when she said that if she was her daughter, she would not be proud of how she played the game, I wanted to slap her right through the TV. This from the woman who stole and hid Phillip's shorts so that he was stuck prancing around in hot-pink undies? Yeah. You really have the right to judge, lady.

Anybody see Grant's adorable haircut? I liked. Much better than the jungle dreads.


Speaking of haircuts, Matt also cleaned up good. I'm not a long-hair-on-dudes fan, so I much appreciated Matt's new 'do. Although, it did kind of make him look like Macaualey Culkin.

Kind of made me sad that Grant and Rob are no longer on speaking terms. They really seemed to be good friends out there, but Rob said that after the first couple of episodes aired, Grant quit returning his calls, texts, and emails. When Jeff tried to press the issue with Grant, he made it quite clear that Rob was not a guy he wished to associate with. Kind of sad that Grant couldn't set aside the game and realize that everything Rob did in the game was pure genius, and in the end, all he did was better the lives of him and his wife and children. Survivor's a cut-throat game. Deal with it, Grant.

Remember when I said there was no way Russell was done with this game? He confirmed that thought when he told Jeff to keep his number. I wish he'd just disappear already...

Anybody else think that David's live proposal to a former Survivor who I did not remember was lame-o? And, even worse, I reallllly don't think she wanted to say yes, but what are you supposed to say on live TV? Eeeep. Awkward....

And last but not least...We still have no idea if Phillip was a former federal agent for the US Government. Not even a current agent who claimed to work with him could convince the masses. Phillip's level of intelligence and past work experience remain a mystery. What is clear? He will forever go down in history as one of the oddest, most ridiculous, and intriguing players ever.

And here, one last time ('cause you know you're going to miss it!)...the infamous Pink Briefs.


That's a wrap on this season of Survivor! That wasn't so short after all.

Now, if I could only find a blankie and quiet corner to curl up in...

Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday Randomness

Phewf! Blogger's working again! I kind of felt like I was missing an arm or leg all morning!!

Here's some randomness to kick off the weekend:

  • James was voted off Idol?!? What the F?!? I missed the performances this week, so I don't know what he might have done to deserve this, but I am so.flippin.mad! The Curse of Jill strikes again - everytime I annoint a winner, they are sent home. My deepest apologies to James!!



  • I'm in on a diet. Not a "real" diet, just watching what I eat and drinking boatloads of water. I have gone two whole weeks without eating at a chipstand. This is a minor miracle. I have also started exercising more. And I don't feel like I've dropped an ounce. Awesome.


  • I know I wrote about it last Friday too, but holy jeez, I love JLo's new album! I've been listening to "On the Floor", "I'm Into You", and "Papi" all week. LOVE it!!


  • I have yet to see Survivor this week either, but I hear Grant was voted off? MY Grant?? What a terrible week for my Reality TV favourites!! When I finally see it, will I hate Rob? I'm sure he must've been the mastermind behind this. Damn you, Boston Rob. DAMN you!!



  • Ball started this week!! The Quyon Flyers have been back in action, starting their season off with two straight wins. Unfortunately, I have yet to attend a game, since they've been playing in far-off locales like North Gower and Manotick. I don't go that far away on a school night. At least, not until playoff time, anyways.


  • Man, this has been a busy week... And I'm staring into a very busy weekend! I'm still not sure how I let myself be convinced into taking the First Aid course here at work tomorrow. It starts at 8 AM. Being up for something that early on a Saturday should be ILLEGAL.


  • Have a great weekend, everyone...And for those of you who can, sleep in for me tomorrow, would ya? :)

    Thursday, May 12, 2011

    I don't need a puppy anymore. I have a whole LITTER.

    You know how occasionally I decide I want a puppy?

    Well, I don't need one anymore. Because last night, I inherited a whole litter of puppies.

    Last night was my grandmother's commital, which is far from a joyous occasion. But my family made the best of it. Afterwards, we joined together at Grandma's for pizza and birthday cake, to celebrate Aunt Marion's birthday, which is on Friday.

    Then, after pizza and cake, the fun really began. My mom, her brother and her sisters have been gradually cleaning out Grandma's house since she passed away, in preparation to sell it. Along the way, they have come across many little treasures in Grandma's cedar chest, closet, and cupboards. They had set out everything that was "up for grabs" for us to peruse, and ordered us to label furniture and other larger items with sticky notes if we wanted them - anything left over will go in a yard sale this summer.

    There were a few really special items, and it was amazing to see how Grandma had written little notes on things to say who had given them to her or how she had come into possesion of them. One thing that was kind of cool was the old slab of wood she used as an ironing board. Once they had stripped off the cover and padding, they discovered a little note on the back: "This piece of wood was from Grandmother Lang's table". Along with that, she had marked the date everytime she put a new cover on it.

    My sister and I had fun when we went upstairs and found the collection of old hats Grandma had. We each were given a floppy yellow hat - the hats that my aunts wore as bridesmaids in my mom's wedding! We wore them around for the rest of the evening (and my brother Luke and cousin David were also both spotted wearing lovely hats, as well...)

    I came home with many treasures - little knick-knacks, candle holders, dishes, another quilt, etc. that weren't of much value money-wise, but hold many memories. I claimed the elephant wind chimes, because I remember Grandma drawing our attention to them when the wind blew: "Listen! Hear the elephants stampeding?" Even when she was on the phone with us, and the window was open, if you could hear the chimes she would say, "Can you hear the heard of elephants outside my house?"

    And then, of course, there were the dogs. Which I really, really didn't want.

    When they first started going through things, Mom had said, "Now if there's anything of Grandma's that you would like, let me know now." I replied that I didn't know what I wanted, but I definitely didn't want the dogs.

    I'm not sure how the dog collection began. I think it was one of the grandchildren who, years ago, gave her a small ceramic dog as a birthday gift, and she told us all how much she loved it. So then we all started giving her dogs, for every special occasion. It gets difficult to buy an elderly woman meaningful gifts, and she seemed to be so pleased with the dogs and displayed them all so proudly!

    But even she got sick of them eventually. She put some away. Then she put a few more away. And eventually, she had to tell us to stop buying her dogs. She didn't want anymore of them. She had no more room in her life for fake little puppies.

    Last night, I chose one of the dogs to take with me, the one that I distinctly remember giving her. And the next thing I knew, my cousin Erin had bestowed upon me the entire collection. Perfect one to look after the dogs, right? I have no hubby, no kids... I can give all of my love and attention to them.

    I won't be an old crazy cat lady. No. I'll be the old crazy lady who sits at home and talks to her fake dogs.

    I'll be sure to find a safe place for them. I think Grandma would want me to take good care of them.

    But, for future reference, don't buy me any more. I have enough now to last me a lifetime!

    Wednesday, May 11, 2011

    It's a "We Want to Know Wednesday"!!

    Today I'm linking up for "We Want to Know Wednesday", hosted by Janette, Mamarazzi, Shawn, & Impulsive Addict.

    Photobucket

    This week's questions are:

    {1} What game show have you always thought you could be on and totally WIN!
    {2} Do you have a tattoo(s)? What are they and what made you chose them? If not, would you get one, yes/no/why?
    {3} What is your favorite piece of jewelry that you own?
    {4} What is your driving pet peeve(s)?
    {5} What was your favorite sitcom growing up that you wish was still on?

    Here we go!

    1. What game show have you always thought you could be on and totally WIN! I WISH I had the stamina and willpower to tackle a new-age "game show" like Survivor or The Amazing Race, but I think I'd probably have a better chance of winning something like Wheel of Fortune. I'd have to study up on my word puzzles first, though.


    2. Do you have a tattoo(s)? What are they and what made you chose them? If not, would you get one, yes/no/why? I do not have a tat - and never thought I'd even think of getting one. Until last summer. Then my cousin Jeff passed away, and a few of the cousins talked about getting a green ribbon tattoo with his initials to commemorate him. My mom thought this was a terrible idea. I still thought I would do it despite her dislike.

    Then, two weeks later, my cousin Troy passed away. And with that, I didn't know what to do about the tattoo. I realized if I got a tat everytime someone I loved passed away, I might be covered in ink. Also around this time, my Aunt Marion (Jeff's mom) told me she didn't like the tattoo idea at all. (As you can see, my mom's side of the family aren't fans of permanent skin ink!)

    A few months later, my cousin Tiffany got a tattoo that said "Forever Young". I saw the pictures and loved it. I've made up my mind that someday, I would like to get a small one like that, but I just haven't decided where. It means something to me, because my family name is Young, I love the Bob Dylan tune by the same name, and it will also make me think of Jeff and Troy, who, in my mind, both get to be "Forever Young".


    3. What is your favourite piece of jewelry that you own? I love the silver celtic-style rings my aunt has bought for me over the past few years. I don't own a lot of jewelry, but I always have one of those rings on.


    4. What is your driving pet peeve(s)? Eeek...people probably have pet peeves about MY driving! But there's absolutely nothing worse than coming up behind someone driving super-slow on the highway, and not being able to pass them. I haaaate that!

    5. What was your favourite sitcom growing up that you wish was still on? Oooh, so many!! I miss those old shows. When I was a kid, I was a big fan of The Cosby Show, Happy Days, All in the Family, and Full House. In my teen years and beyond, I became a Friends junkie. As I mentioned not long ago, I still keep my Friends DVDs in steady rotation. I really wish it could have lasted forever...


    If you would like to play along with "WWTKW" visit any of the blogs I mentioned above and link up!!

    Tuesday, May 10, 2011

    I wrote a blog about my first turkey.

    My family keeps asking me where my Turkey Blog is.

    You see, on Easter Sunday, I cooked a turkey for the first time. Or at least, I mostly cooked a turkey for the first time. My mom couldn't keep her paws out of it, of course, but I tried to keep her out of it as much as possible, unless I needed her expert tutelage.

    Anyways, you can read all about it over at the 101 Adventure blog. And there are pictures. Lots and lots of pictures of me fondling a turkey.

    Enjoy!

    Monday, May 09, 2011

    That lunatic cutting their grass over and over and over? It's me.

    I got my first sunburn of the summer on Saturday.

    It's my first sunburn since Cuba, and it brought back fond memories.

    I only wish I had got it by doing something nice & fun like sitting on a beach sipping some boozey concoction from a coconut.



    Instead, I got it by cutting the grass. Which was an adventure all on it's own. Somehow, between last fall and this spring, the gizmo that raises and lowers the blades had got bumped or readjusted (I have no idea how), so after going back and forth over the front lawn a few times, I realized it wasn't cutting F-all. Nice. I contemplated calling my dad to come down and figure it out for me, but then I stopped myself.

    Think like a boy, I told myself.

    So I stopped the riding lawn mower, and sat on it a few minutes, looking at the buttons and switches, trying to figure out what they all were. There was the turtle-bunny speed switch thingy, and the button to turn on the blades, and the lever to raise and lower the deck, and...

    BOOM.

    There it was. A giant dial with a picture on it that I assume was blades of grass being cut. That must be it, my boy brain told me.

    The only problem? I had no idea which way to turn it. Which resulted in more trial-and-error grass cutting, with me riding back and forth, stopping occasionally to twist the dial, until I finally decided that enough chopped grass was spewing out of it and the paths I was cutting looked like they were actually cut.

    If any of you drove by my house on Saturday afternoon and saw me riding back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, over the same grass over and over and over, you now understand why. I may have looked like a lunatic, but I actually had a process.



    And it worked. I must say, I was pleased with myself.

    Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

    Friday, May 06, 2011

    I want to be a dancer.

    I'm feeling a little random this lovely Friday morning, with lots of little tid bits I want to talk about, so I'm just gonna go with it.

    I started taking a Zumba class on Thursday nights. Last night was my second class, and I felt just as lost and dorky as I did the first week. The instructor, Julia, insists that it doesn't matter if you're perfectly choreographed - as long as you're jumping around and clapping your hands, it's a good thing. But last night, it felt like everybody was in sync, and I was the only one jumping around and clapping my hands. Okay. I didn't really do that. But I was often going the wrong way and doing the wrong thing. Which hurts my feelings. Because deep inside this chubby girl is a skinny-minny dancer extraordinaire waiting to break free.

    This is a picture of a Zumba class. We do not look like this. At least, I don't think.

    Speaking of skinny-minny dancer extraordinaires... Anybody catch JLo's performance on the Idol results show last night?? It completely stole Lady Antebellum's thunder, and even overshadowed the final results. (As I predicted, Jacob was voted out.) She sang her current hit "On the Floor", and it was crazyawesome. Maybe it was because I was all Zumba'd up, but I wanted to bust some moves right there in my living room. Loved it.

    The ladies got Channing Tatum earlier this week. This picture is for the boys. Don't ever say I don't do anything for you.

    Staying with the music and dancing theme for a minute... I haven't bought a CD in a long, long time. In this day in age of digital downloads, I can get most of what I want off iTunes (and, I confess to being an illegal downloader. which is terrible. I know.) But after Ms. Lopez's performance of "On the Floor" last night, and the snippet for her new music video they showed for "I'm Into You", I decided I may just have to pick up that disc. Yes, I'm going through a club dance music phase. So sue me. I add it to my list of CDs I think I need to buy that I've been compiling over the past few months, which includes Bruno Mars' Doo-Wops and Hooligans (haven't heard a song of his I don't like yet!), and Adele's 21.



    It was a big night on Grey's Anatomy last night. Not one, but TWO weddings! And I could just hear the MerDer crazy people screaming at their TVs last night. You see, while Callie and Arizona were getting married in a big, poofy, girl-on-girl ceremony, Meredith and Derek were at a courthouse, quickly rushing through their "I Do's" before a Justice of the Peace, and didn't even seal their vows with a kiss. For them, it was just a formality. They had their post-it wedding a few seasons back, and that was good enough for them. They just needed to make it legit for the adoption papers, as they are attempting to become parents to one of the sick little African babies that Alex brought to Seattle Grace-Mercy Death for surgery. But you see, there are people out there who live and breathe for Meredith & Derek scenes on Thursday nights. If you ever check out any of the GA discussion forums on-line, you know who they are. They write things like: "How come Mer and Der only got 2:58 of screen time together last night?" -(yes, they time it)- "I waited all week to see them, and they only got two minutes and fifty-eight seconds together!! And they didn't even make out or anything!! All they did was talk!! I HATE YOU SHONDA RHIMES!! Why are you punishing the MerDer fans?! I'm NEVER EVER WATCHING THIS SHOW AGAIN!!!!!!" Rinse and repeat. They are disgruntled little crazy people. So I'm sure they were very unhappy with Meredith and Derek's quick and unexciting nuptials. I found myself thinking of them with a little smirk on my face last night.


    See this? The MerDer fans would hate this because Meredith is ignoring Derek's loving gaze. Damn you, Shonda Rhimes

    I think I'm going to open a dance club in my living room this weekend.

    Happy Friday!! And Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful momma's out there :)

    Thursday, May 05, 2011

    A feeble attempt at writing a shorter Survivor/Idol Mash-up

    I have a goal this week. And that is to write a Survivor/Idol blog that does not go on forever.

    A good way to start? Miss the first 20 minutes of Survivor. By doing so, I missed seeing my guy Steve lose the Redemption Island showdown, and thus I miss out on the big money in Stacy’s Survivor pool. But really, I had given up on that a long time ago, seeing the old Ometepe tribe vote out the Zaps one-by-one. Steve-O never really stood a chance.

    I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a physically wearying challenge as this week’s Immunity. I was tired just watching them. Jeff boasted many times that it was 110 degrees farenheit out there, and they had to run up and down a massive staircase of puzzle pieces, finding the right piece for each stair step, one at a time. If they got it wrong, they had to run back down and start again. UGH. Rob lead most of the challenge, with Grant and Andrea threatening him, and literally by the last few pieces, he was dragging himself up those steps. Grant, my ex-NFL player hottie tottie, was skipping up and down those steps like it was nothing. Unfortunately, he’s not as clever at the puzzles as Boston Rob, so he kept getting it wrong, which allowed Rob to win despite dragging his ass at the end.



    What happened next was actually kind of scary. After winning Immunity, Rob collapsed at the top of that giant staircase. Probst offered to bring in medical, but Rob shrugged off the help, demanding water and help to stand up instead. But I seriously think the guy was kind of out of it there for a while. It was a little unsettling to see how wobbly and giggly he was. I still have no idea how he got down that staircase, because they didn’t show it. I have the feeling Grant had to piggyback him down.

    No surprise, they voted Andrea off. Someone from the Ometepe 6 had to go, and even though Rob floated Phillip’s name, I knew it would be Andrea. They need to keep Phillip in there, if for no other reason than entertainment value. Phillip let us in on a secret – that he has a verbal weapon that will decimate Boston Rob should they end up in the Final 2. I don’t want to see Rob decimated. In fact, I hope he wins this thing finally.

    But I’d love to see Phillip there with him in the end, just to see what this magical word-bomb is that he has up his sleeve... Never a dull moment with Phil!

    It’s "current & classic" night on Idol. Who do I think is current & classic?

    You know it.

    STEVEN TYLER, BABY!!



    James Durbin is kicking off the contemporary song section of the night, and after watching him singing with mentor Sheryl Crow in the practice, it made me wish they could do a duet. He’s doing “Closer to the Edge” by 30 Seconds to Mars. Once again, James was slammin’. I didn’t know the song, but he made me love it. He remains my favourite to win this thing.

    Jacob’s going with “No Air”, a track that’s normally done as a duet, but he’s singing both Jordin Sparks' & Chris Brown’s parts. I’m not a huge fan of this performance, and I think the song is a little too high for his register. Jacob can go high, but it felt like he was straining to do so throughout it. Just 'meh' for me.

    Up next, we have Lauren, who’s taking on the rather risky challenge of a hit by a former American Idol. She’s singing “Flat on the Floor” by Mrs. Mike Fisher, aka the woman I want to shoot with laser beams of death from my eyeballs. Lauren’s the country-cross-over power bomb. Just like Mrs. Fisher. She was a little breathless at times, but overall, it was a good song choice for her.

    Scotty’s going up-tempo with Montgomery Gentry’s “Gone”, a little harder-edged country, and it’s the first time in a few weeks that I’ve really enjoyed a Scotty performance. Loved the leap off the front of the stage, and I think someone gave him a lesson in controlling the annoying head swivels, ‘cause he kept it to a minimum. It really did feel like a Scotty concert.

    Somehow, Haley got Lady Gaga’s permission to use one of her unreleased songs called “You and I”. Sheryl called it a super-bold choice. And you know what? Haley killed it. I don’t know the Gaga version, but I would buy the Haley Reinhart version. The judges totally pissed me off by trashing it. Haley looked like she wanted to slap them. If I were her, I would have. Thank God Steven got it.

    And on to the classics we go! James chose “Without You”, and couldn’t even finish the rehearsal with the mentors because the words made him break down. Clearly, he has an emotional connection to it. Real tears, people. Real tears. Absolutely amazing that he kept it together and sang through that emotion. Beautiful.



    Jacob? Doing Nazareth? Interesting choice... Of course, he Jacob-ized “Love Hurts”, giving it almost a gospel-y feel. He has such a powerful voice. My parents would probably love to see him on the Gaither Gospel Hour on Friday nights. It was a great moment for Jacob, but I had hoped he’d break out of his comfort zone a little more with a song choice like that. Instead, it was same ol’ same ol’ Jacob.

    Lauren Alaina’s classic is one of my all-time favourites, “Unchained Melody". I thought Lauren looked stunning, and she did an absolutely gorgeous version of that song. Nothing much more to say. Perfection.

    Oh my gosh, Scotty’s going with another one of my personal faves – Elvis’ “Always on my Mind”. Scotty countrified it, of course, a little more like the Willie Nelson rendition, but again, another beautiful performance. Swear to God, these friggin’ Idols are bringing tears to my eyes.

    Haley’s got the last chance of the night to wow the crowd, and she’s going to attempt to do so with the classic “House of the Rising Sun”. The acapella intro that Sheryl suggested was haunting, and from there, it only got better. Haley got the standing O from the judges that she deserved, and she made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. That was AWESOME.

    I guess if I have to pick, I’m sending Jacob home. And after that, I don’t even know how anyone’s going to choose a winner. What an amazing group this year. It’s almost impossible to pick just one.

    I know. This isn't short. But it's shorter than last week. I tried.

    Wednesday, May 04, 2011

    Feeling like a "SO WHAT" Wednesday...



    Here we go. SO WHAT if...



  • ...the rest of the world is talking about Bin Laden and the Canadian federal election, and I still just want to talk about William & Kate. And talk about them in a British accent.





    • ...the novel I just started writing sounds very much like Crow Lake, which is the novel I just finished reading. I was inspired!

    • ...I'm going to eat macaroni for lunch and supper today. And I ate it yesterday, and the day before, too. I like friggin' macaroni, okay?



    • ...I haven't paid attention to the Stanley Cup Playoffs since Round 1, and even then, my interest was mild at best. Once the Habs were eliminated, I was able to rest peacefully.


    • ...I write mile-long blogs about Survivor and American Idol every week and nobody reads them but me.


    • ...I have no money and had to bum the cash I gave my mom for her birthday to get my hair cut. (Okay, I actually do feel bad about that one. But don't worry, it's almost Mother's Day, she'll get it back. ;) )


    • ...the best party I've been to in a long time was my friend Stacy's grandmother's 90th b-day bash last weekend. Swear to God, if I make it to 90, I want a party like that!



    • ...several times a day, you may catch me murmuring to myself, "I, Jillian Elizabeth, take thee, William Louis Arthur Phillip, to my wedded husband..." *CRAP* - I always screw it up - "William Arthur Louis Phillip"!!!



        This is my first attempt at altering a photo with MS paint. As you can see, I'm not very good at it. I promise to try to do better next time.


        What are you "So What"-ing about today? Play along with Shannon at Life After I Dew!

      • Tuesday, May 03, 2011

        Need something to smile about today? Look no further.

        You might expect that today I'd be blogging about the federal elections here in Canada.

        There's a lot I could say about it, but why bother? What's done is done, right?

        Instead, let's enjoy some eye candy.

        This is something I've been saving for a rainy day. And while I don't think it's actually raining out right this second, it's dark and gloomy, and I think we could all do with something to brighten our day.

        Okay. Maybe it's just for the ladies. Whatever. I'll talk about NASCAR again some day for the boys.

        So, ladies, without further ado, feast your eyes upon this...


        I know.

        Try not to drool too much all over your desks.

        I'm a Channing Tatum fan. He's always adorbs. But this picture? This might be the hottest picture in the history of the world. Right up my alley. I don't remember where I stole this picture from, but I've had it saved for a long time, and everytime I would scroll past it, I would think, "Can't forget to share that Channing Tatum snap someday."

        Today is the day.

        You're welcome.

        Monday, May 02, 2011

        Getting to Know You - Royal Wedding Edition!

        I'm not over the Royal Wedding yet. Not even a little bit. In fact, I'm a little obsessed with it. I mean, the big news this morning is clearly about Bin Laden, but I still want to talk about Wills & Kate.

        And I discovered a fun way to do so - I'm linking up with Keely's Getting to Know You, and all the questions pertain to the wedding of the century!



        1. Did you watch the Royal Wedding? Indeed I did! I didn't get up as early as some, but I made it to the front of my TV by the time Kate was getting into her car to go to Westminster Abbey. I watched right through til it was time to go to work, and then caught the kiss live-streamed over the Internet at the office! (And I got up and watched it all again Saturday morning!!)



        2. Tea and crumpets or coffee and a scone? Tea & crumpets please! (Or, as we celebrated at the office that morning, with Mimosas and Flaky pasteries cut up into bite-sizes!)

        3. Who's cuter..Prince William or Prince Harry? I was a William girl in my teens, and still find him quite attractive, but Harry's really grown into his looks, and I must say I find him to be the the more handsome of the two now. He's got way better hair. Plus, he's a bad boy. Who doesn't love a Royal bad boy?!





        4. Can you speak in an English accent? Hee hee! I don't know if it's a good one, but I completely drove my friends nuts over the weekend reciting the vows (or at least the parts I remembered), simply because I love saying "William Arthur Louis Philip" in my British accent! Oh, and "meegraine"! My new favourite word!!

        5. Do you own a fancy hat? Do ball caps count? I doubt it. So, no. But I certainly enjoyed critiquing the ones I saw on TV Friday morning! (Most specifically, the ghastly ones that Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice wore! Eeek!)



        6. Would you rather live in a castle or an English cottage? Either will do! haha! But I think a nice cozy English cottage would be a lovely place to stay! (I totally just said that in my head in my annoying British accent.)



        7. How old were you when Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married? Were you even born? I wasn't born until '83, so I've only seen footage over the years. But my mom always oohed and ahhed over it, so I didn't want to miss my chance to take in a piece of history and something as spectacular as Charles & Di's day.



        8. Have you found your prince? Negatory. Please refer to The Single Girl Files.