Some Wednesday Rambles

It's been so long since I did some random rambling on the blog... time to catch up!

• On Saturday, I decided to pick up some of this new gel nail polish I keep hearing about.  It was a pricey treat for myself - I would normally never pay more than a few bucks for a bottle of nail polish, but with this Sally Hansen Gel Nail stuff, I paid $9.98 for a bottle of colour, and another $9.98 for the top coat - eeeek! - but I think it just might be worth it.  Normally my finger nails start chipping 12-24 hours after I paint them.  I painted my nails Saturday evening, and they are just starting to show signs of wear today.  I know 4 days isn't that long, and a far cry from the 14 days the advertisement promises, but it's like a record in my books!
  
• I've been MIA for a few weeks, which means you haven't heard me babble about my love for Jim from The Office in a long time.  My gosh, you guys... I love him.  And I'm starting to worry.  I'm in Season 8 now... only one more season to go after this.  I know I've gotten over other fictional TV characters in the past... Michael Scofield, Danny Castellano, Coach Taylor, Harvey Spector, and so on... but I'm just not sure there's any way I can rebound from Jim!!
  
• Anyone else into Big Brother this summer?  It is definitely my favourite guilty pleasure of the summer.  I keep thinking one of these years I'll grow out of it, but it hooks me in every year.  This year, I'm Team Paulie... Cody's little brother, how could I not love him?!
  
• This week feels like it's lasting forever.  I kept thinking yesterday was Wednesday.  I went to a ball game last night, and when I got home, I sat down to watch my PVR'd episode of Big Brother... only to realize it was only Tuesday, and not a BB night.  *sigh*
• So, as I said, last night I went to watch the Flyers first playoff game of the post-season.  I was sitting in the bleachers between my mom and my friend Brenda, and at one point, I realized I had a little bumblebee crawling on my pant leg.  I tried shaking him off, but he was a sticky little frigger.  Wouldn't let go.  Then he crawled around to the under-side of my leg and I couldn't see him anymore.  My mom - clearly not paying attention - told me he was gone, just relax.  I was holding my leg up in the air trying to see where he was, and Brenda - clearly embarrassed to be seen with me with my leg stuck up in the air - told me to put my leg down.  So I did, and then the little sonofabitch stung my arse.  Not once, but twice.  I was doing quite the little bleacher dance there for a minute!!  My thanks to Brenda for finally getting the bee off my butt and smushing it for me, a risky move for someone who is allergic to bees!
• We have a new kid on the block here at MVT! One of the owners (and my friend) Jared and his wife Holly welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family while I was on holidays.  I couldn't wait to get back to work to meet Baby Grace!  In the past week and a half, I've had a few newborn snuggles, and man oh man, does that ever stir up the longing for a baby of my own.  She is SO sweet!
• You know what song I'm STILL not sick of?  JT's "Can't Stop the Feeling".  Seriously, I could listen to it 20 times a day and it wouldn't be enough!!
• I kind of can't believe it's August.  July flew by so fast... it's been a really great summer, but I've reached the point when I start to feel torn.  Part of me doesn't want the summer fun to end, but the other part of me can't wait for fall and all the things I love about it.  I can't wait to make a big pot of soup, snuggle up in blankets, bust out my cozy fall clothing, get into pumpkin spice everything... I LOVE FALL!!
• But there's still some fun to come this summer... not rushing it away just yet!

Happy Wednesday, gang! :)

Vacation Photos

Hey friends!  I'm back!  Well... I've been back for a week now, but man oh man, getting back into routine after a week's vacation is rough business.  I felt all outta whack all last week.  Kinda still feel a little outta whack, if I'm being honest.

But I finally got my pictures uploaded and worked on some edits last night!  My vacay was awesome, - lots of time spent with family and friends, had a blast at the revival of the Quyon Tractor & Truck Pull, an awesome four days at the Camp, celebrated a birthday, and just really soaked up my week off.  Here are a few of my favourite pics:

1st up... the return of the Quyon Tractor & Truck Pull!  This used to be a huge event in our town, but the last one was held over 20 years ago, when I was just a kid.  My memories of it are vague, but so happy to now be making new memories!  It was SUCH a fun day!!

 Ellard Kennedy in "Blue Bye U" - this pull was a highlight of the day for me!

 Ben, Ellard, and Randy with "Blue Bye U"

 Brenda, Sue & I wanted a pic with Mark's "Canadian Outlaw" and a cute little fan of his jumped in for the pic too!

 The Pull was held in memory of Donnie Campbell - this is his son Jeff starting things off with an honorary pull

 The second pull of the day was also an honorary pull, by Donnie's daughter Shelly

 The more we drank, the more fun I thought it was to try and get Adam and Wayne to wave at us when they were out grooming the track.  And the more I tried to get them to wave at us, the less waving they did. ;)

I could go on and on about the tractor pull... I have a million more photos that I'd love to share, but I have to draw the line somewhere!  The next morning, though a little groggy from the day before, I was up and at 'em fairly early, because we were off to my happy place for a few days... The Draper Camp!

 Not sure this is what Aunt Marion & Uncle Eric intended when they bought two child-sized kayaks for this year, but at least they were having fun, right? ;)

 Surprise birthday celebration at the camp courtesy of Aunt Marion & Co!

 Camp sunsets take my breath away :)

 Danica caught the biggest fish of the week!  Thankful I got a picture of him before he flopped off the dock into the water, hook & all, never to be seen again...lol

 One morning, Uncle Eric was out doing camp fly-bys, which caused a lot of excitement and stir... far too early in the morning for me. lol!

 This picture of Chris & Kara makes me giggle... sit a little closer together, why don't ya? hahaha!

Once we returned from the camp, birthday celebrations began!  On Thursday, my actual birthday, I took the kids to Boston Pizza for lunch and then we went to see The Secret Life of Pets at the theatre.  That evening, I went to Norway Bay Golf Club with Lindsay for supper and drinks, and after the Quyon golf gang came in from their round, they surprised me with a cake!  So nice of them!!  I wasn't expecting it at all.  The next day we had a family celebration, with a BBQ, Mom's homemade ice cream cake, and presents!  I got a new Blue Jays cap, money to go shopping and towards my art investment, and... dun dun duuuuuun!!! -  A BREAD MAKER!!!  I think I've had a bread maker on my Christmas Wish List for five years, and I finally got one!!  Woo hoo!!!

I rounded the week out with a beach day on the Sunday with some wonderful friends and their adorable kiddos.  It was the perfect way to cap off a great week of vacation!

As I said... there are a million more photos from my vacation week, but I think that's enough for one day... Happy to be back!  Hope you're all doing well!!  Looking forward to getting back in the bloggy groove :)