Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

My favourite book from 2012 was The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.

I know I like a book when I can't sleep. I either stay up way too late reading page after page, or I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about a part of the story. With this book I did both of those things.

The plot surrounds a small town council, an empty council seat, and all those involved in vying for power. The plot initially reminded me of Game of Thrones, but instead of seeking the Iron Throne, these characters are fighting to be elected to local government. Not all the characters are likeable, and there are a lot of bad things happen, but I couldn't put the book down.

I think this book works because Rowling is such an excellent storyteller. Each page made me want to know more about these people and made me anxious for what could happen to them. She even made me care about characters I didn't like, which I find amazing.  There are some heavy themes in the book, including domestic violence, child abuse, drug addition, mental health issues, poverty, and classism, but these themes didn't make it any less enjoyable to read. Rowling writes in such a way that despite the tragic elements, I was still enthralled by the story and desperate to know how it would play out.

The Casual Vacancy had the potential to be a complete disaster, and I'm filled with "Team Rowling" pride that it wasn't. Writing anything after of the success of Harry Potter had to be a gamble, especially in a different genre, and the pressure for it to be 'good' had to be great. Not everyone liked the book, but I really enjoyed it and I applaud Rowling for having the guts to go for it and try something new. It find that very inspiring.

This book review was part of the Author Appreciation Day Blog Hop, happening over at Book Reviews by Sus.

 

Fish On Friday

After an amazing afternoon at the beach, we went to our local Chip Wagon so I could let my Bro experience all the joy that is Perky's Fish and Chips. Every time we go there it is the best fish and chips we have ever had. And after a good long swim, it was even more perfect!! Super Yum!!!

Haddock + Chips + Coleslaw

Still Kicking It, Lego Styles!

So I am still super obsessed with Lego games or "silly games" as my mother calls them.  Do they take up a lot of my time? Yes. Am I getting repetitive eye strain from staring at the screen for hours on end? Probably. Are they part of my balanced lifestyle? Of course.

Back in February I completed Lego Indiana Jones.  I found it the hardest of the Lego games, with too many enemies constantly attacking and causing me to lose all my studs! Getting "True Adventurer" status was pretty much impossible and it took forever to earn enough studs to unlock things that could help.  So I wasn't a huge fan and kept it on the shelf with only 7% completion. At some point I remembered you could enter cheat codes and I decided to enter the cheat code for Invincibility.  And from then on the game was awesome and super fun! Which is great because I love Indiana Jones and I really wanted the game to be fun.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - 100%

Over the past few months I have been playing Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7.  I picked it up in May when I realized it had dropped in price to $19.99.  That is my preferred price for video games and it only took six months for HP 5-7 to get there.  It was worth the brief wait.  I completed it last night:

Lego HP: Years 5-7 - 100%

I still have yet to complete Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (91.3% complete) and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (79.9% complete).  Lego Star Wars is all challenge now, as the 8.7% I have left to play is finding 10 hidden Blue Canisters, throughout the entirety of every single level, with only ten minutes per level to do it. So I basically have to play the whole game again and do it super fast.  I was attempting it the other night and the words "Out of Time" popped up on the screen so often that I had to turn it off for a while.  TCS might be incomplete for some time to come.  As for Lego Pirates, it is my least favourite of all the Lego games.  One reason is that I never really got into the Pirates movies (I've watched them all, but must not have paid attention because I don't know who anyone is!).  In order to complete Lego Pirates, I need to collect all the Ships in a Bottle and find all the Compass items.  I wasn't a big fan of the use of the Compass, so not sure when I am heading back to complete this one either!

But there are more games on the horizon!  Lego Batman 2: DC Superheros was just released, and it has gotten some pretty stellar reviews.  I am saving my pennies for that one.  And coming this fall will be Lego Lord of the Rings!  I am super excited about that one because I love the Lord of the Rings.  The trilogy is our go-to set of movies for when there is nothing on; it always satisfies.

In the mean time, I just realized there is another Lego Star Wars game about the Clone Wars.  I never watched that series, but it is only $19.99 so I'll probably get it to fill the void until Lego Batman 2 comes down in price.  Super Lego Fun!

I Like What You've Done With The Place!

I visited the great city of Toronto yesterday to attend my beautiful friend Natalia's wedding.  The bus schedule got me to town earlier than needed, so I took the opportunity to explore the city I used to call home.  A spot I have been itching to check out, which happened to be a 5 minute walk from the wedding, was the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws.

I love groceries and I love grocery shopping, a trait I inherited from my mother.  I love checking out the weekly flyers, I love walking down the grocery store aisles, I love looking at all the possible foods I could eat! Or deals I could get! I just love the whole experience.  So my love of groceries coupled with some high expectations about the new Loblaws based on some photos I had seen, got me pretty excited to be on Carlton street in Toronto yesterday.  And my excitement and expectations were met entirely by what I encountered throughout my twenty minute visit!  First case in point: when I walked into the store I was greeted with the sites and sounds of an Elvis impersonator doing a show.  Amazing!!  And Like a good tourist, I took a bunch of photos!!

Elvis was just doing a show in the lobby. Obviously.

The place is gigantic and beautiful.  There is a full LCBO, a coffee shop, a Joe clothing store, and many incredible specialty sections.  Oh and just an entire regular grocery store as well.  I was completely overstimulated by the site of so many fresh foods and prepared treats, countless varieties of meats and cheeses - my heart be still till the next time I'm in the T-Dot.  Oh and they have free wifi if you want to surf the web while shopping. I loved it.

Wall of Cheese!  So many choices!!

Classy meals to go section.

An actual deli in the grocery store - did I mention the Loblaws is really big??

 Everything in the store is classy.  Even the signs that indicate what aisle you are in are classy.

Looking for ice cream cones has never been so upscale!

They also pay homage to the history of Maple Leaf Gardens with a giant blue maple leaf made out of the former seats.  It was a neat touch.

Go Leafs Go!

I live in a small town, so the other highlight for me was the variety of foods in the international foods section - and how inexpensive they were!! Next trip I am bringing some reusable bags and loading up!  Memo to Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws: I will be back!

Have you checked it out?  What do you think?

A New Favourite

Lately I have been obsessed with the idea of making my own spicy sushi maki rolls.  Spicy tuna roll is my favourite roll to eat at a sushi restaurant, and any roll that has spicy sauce in it is my second favourite.  I have previous experience making California rolls, and I am really excited about adding spicy sauce to the mix.  I was not 100% sure what the spicy in Spicy sauce was, but I did some Googling to find a recipe and many sites suggested something called Sriracha Sauce mixed with mayo. I went searching in Midland and Food Basics had a bottle of the stuff!

I didn't know of Sriracha Sauce before yesterday, but now I am completely obsessed with it! I'm not waiting until I make my spicy sushi rolls, I am currently adding it to everything I consume.  Last night we added it to a pack of drained Mr. Noodles and it was glorious!  I couldn't help but have more Sriracha soaked Mr. Noodles again for lunch today.  The sauce adds an amazing flavour with the perfect amount of spice.

I was home alone for dinner tonight, and when that happens I often find myself eating the weirdest assortment of foods.  When I lived alone I was able to make my own meals regularly (and be really good at it), but now if John's away I'm likely to eat things like Mr Noodles for dinner (even if I had it for lunch).  My eclectic meal from this evening was pretty much anything that could be a vehicle for the Sriracha sauce. I had half a can of baked beans in tomato sauce (drenched in Sriracha sauce), 2 egg rolls (that I dipped in Sriracha sauce), and 3 hash browns (which I also dipped in Sriracha sauce).  Super yum!  I kind of want to bring the bottle with me to Easter dinner tomorrow and put it on...everything!  I hope I have some sauce left for when I get around to actually making maki rolls!!

Have you tried Sriracha Sauce?  What do you think? 

Also check out this comic from The Oatmeal that also expresses a love for Sriracha sauce!

Paying With Plastic

I never have cash on me, and if I do, at most it's a twenty.  Everything is either debit or credit, unless there is a "get 10% off" deal if you pay in cash.

Because I spend so little time with cash, I was surprised to learn that Canada now has a new $100 bill.  I had the pleasure of holding one today and looking at all the neat security features, which includes being made out of plastic instead of paper.  Wild!

I then watched this video on the new bill from the Bank of Canada to learn more about it:



Canadian readers, have you seen or held one of these yet?  What do you think about them?  My first thought was that they are props from some futuristic/Sci-Fi movie.

On A Lego Kick

I just bought my fourth Lego based video game (thanks Amazon.ca!).  In 5-7 business days I will be the proud owner of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4.  The second game in the series is being released in November, so I was able to score the old one for $19.99.  Seriously, I will buy almost any video game if it is under $20, but especially if it is Lego themed.   

I bought my Nintendo Wii in August and almost immediately got addicted to the Lego games.  It stated with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (I'm about 25% finished), then I got thoroughly obsessed with Lego Batman (and still am - I'm over 90% finished and have over 3 billion studs!).  I haven't really gotten into Lego Indiana Jones yet (I need more vacation time!), and I just saw the deal Lego Harry Potter today, so I will be getting obsessed with that in the near future.  It is also already decided that whenever Lego Pirates of the Caribbean falls to the $19.99 mark, it will be added to the collection as well.

And because I am so into Lego right now, I google searched for this awesome website that lets you create your own Lego character.  So this is me if I was in a Lego game - my accessories are a lightsaber and a coffee!! Not sure what my ability would be, but I'm sure I'm super fun!

#Winning

I have joined to ranks of my friends Tasha and Joanne and won the Canadian Living Craft Blog Weekly Giveaway!  The prize is perfect for me -  an adorable knitting pattern book to knit farm toys!  Having grown up on a farm, and as the aunt of two young and adorable farmers, I will definitely be making all of these projects.  There is even a pattern to make a barn!  I am so excited!

Too cute!!

If you have never entered the Canadian Living Craft Blog giveaway contest, here is my overwhelming endorsement that you should.  There is normally a new giveaway announced every Monday, and prizes vary from books to supplies for many types of crafts.  For your chance to win, all you have to do is comment on the "Weekly Giveaway" blog post.  They usually pose some sort of question for you to answer, so it's pretty easy to think of something to say. The winners are chosen randomly, and I love that you don't have to sign up for anything to leave your comment.  Also, I think the odds of winning are pretty good, as I've never seen more than 180 comments on a giveaway post, and most times the number of comments is far lower than that.  The contest I won had only 30 comments and they had two copies of the book to giveaway, so I had a 1 in 15 chance to win...and I won!!  Also, there is no moratorium on entering the contest after you've won, so if win and you like the following week's giveaway, go ahead and enter that one too!

Here is the link to the current giveaway: Giveaway for the week of April 25, and as of now (9:30pm on Monday night), there are only 10 comments!  Readers have until 11:59pm on Sunday May 1st to write a comment.  Be sure to read all the guidelines on how to comment (you can only comment once) to ensure your entry is part of the draw.

Good luck!  I hope you win a cool book too!! :)

Sunbeam Humidifier: Remarkable Customer Service and an International Adventure

We bought a Sunbeam Humidifier in Barrie in November.  It was on super sale, only $17.99, so it was worth the drive to go buy it.  The store return policy was within two weeks of purchase, and wouldn't you know the humidifier started causing problems a day or two before the return window was to end.  We were set to return it, but a giant snow storm got in our way and we missed our window. The other return route was to contact the manufacturer (Sunbeam) and try to get the problem resolved with them.

Enter phone phobia.

I'm great when I'm on the phone (my hours of used in-plan minutes can prove that), but depending on the nature of the call, actually picking up the phone and dialing can be a problem for me.  Especially if I perceive the call as having a conflict.  In the case of calling Sunbeam, I just avoided doing it, convincing myself it was an added hassle to my day that I just didn't need.

Until two weeks ago.  I woke up with a take no shit attitude and dialed.  And it was the best customer service experience I have ever had.  I don't remember the woman's name, which is unfortunate, because she was kind, funny, attentive, knowledgeable, and she really wanted to help me.  I explained the problem (the unit kept shutting off on it's own) and she trouble shot with me for a few minutes and then said: "We'll send you a new one."  She then said that the model I had was no longer available and she would tell me the details of another model and see if I would "accept it".  The model she described was amazing, and retailed at over twice the price I paid.  I told her that and she said: "In replacing your unit we are comparing features not prices, so we want to ensure you get the features you wanted."  Amazing!  I asked about the old one, and she said not to return it, just put it out at the side of the road.  I told her that she won at customer service, and she said: "We're Sunbeam.  We stand behind our products."

Once off the phone I discussed it with John and we hypothesize that the original unit we purchased must be a trouble unit and it is probably easier for them to just send out a new one rather than go through the hassle of trying to fix something that might not be fixable.  Whether that is the reason or not, my $17.99 humidifier turned into a $44.99 humidifier, and I still have the broken one!

Not only did I have the best customer service experience, they sent my humidifier over 2000km via UPS.  Starting in Missouri on Feb 8, I tracked it's journey across America and into Canada, and I am awed by the complexity and efficiency of the shipping process.  One week after departing, it arrived at my door right on schedule.  I Google Mapped my humidifier's journey, and I can't believe all the effort that was made to send me a free humidifier!


View Larger Map

I have been running the humidifier steadily since I got it yesterday and so far so good.  I can't imagine they would ship a broken one 2000km, but if they did, I know that their customer service is excellent and I will have no trouble phoning them.

Extreme Couponing

Did you happen to catch the TLC show about the extreme couponers?  It was a few weeks ago, but there are some clips online.  The show profiled people who are really good at using coupons to get free groceries/products.  Check out this clip of a woman saving a pile of money at the grocery store:

I love the idea of couponing but I haven't really gotten into it beyond checking the weekly grocery flyers.  I have clipped coupons, but only for products I already buy, and often coupons that come in the mail are for things I would never purchase.  The show was inspiring though, and it made me search around the internet to see what kinds of deals/coupons are out there.  The internet is FULL of couponers, and the following are some links to some Canadian couponing sites/deals.


BLOGS/FORUMS:

Red Flag Deals: I've known about this site for a while, but the Extreme Couponing show pushed me to take a closer look.  I noticed a section called Freebies and I clicked the link to check out what was currently available.  One of the available freebies was free photos from Walmart PhotoCentre.  By ordering online, I got 50 free photos just for signing up and I was also able to use a promo code to get another 50 free photos.  Grand total of 100 photos for $0.00.  They were ready for pick up the next day at my local store.  When I picked them up I felt like an extreme couponer because I got $19(+tax) worth of photos for free!

Smart Canucks: This is a deal blog/forum with links to coupons, shopping deals, and a forum where you can brag about the deal you just got!  I love that.  The only thing better than getting a deal is telling other people about the awesome deal you got!!

Grocery Alerts: This site will go through the weekly grocery store flyers and point out the best deals.  They will also show you how you can get some of the deals for even less by providing the appropriate coupon (they tell you where to get the coupons too!).


COUPONS:

There are tonnes of Canadian coupon sites on the internet.  I have surfed many of them, but have yet to order any coupons, as I don't often want the items that are being offered.  New coupons are added as they become available, so I'll keep checking the sites in case something of interest pops up.
Some coupon sites worth checking out:   Save.ca,   Gocoupons.ca,   Couponclick.ca,   Brandsaver.ca


DEALS:

Flyerland.ca:  If I ever miss a flyer or recycle one prematurely, I check out Flyerland to see what is on sale.  It is not just flyers, they also have links for featured deals, coupons, and contests.

Wag Jag: I haven't bought one yet, but there are deals to be had on this site.  Basically they post a deal of the week, and if a minimum number of people buy it (5 or 10, etc.), the deal becomes 'active' and everyone can get the deal for that low price.  I'm sure I'll try it at some point, I'm just waiting for the deal to be something I actually want to buy!

Are you a couponer? Do you chase after deals?  Have you gotten any awesome deals lately?

Christmas Confession

You know all those people who go to the mall and curse the Christmas music blaring from every store sound system? I am not one of those people.  I love Christmas music.  I hate being at the mall in December, but it is not because of the music.  The music I like.

This year I am filling the house with Christmas cheer via internet radio.  John let me know about something called SHOUTcast, and it has an entire page of Christmas radio stations.  The one that I keep returning to is called Christmas Melody.  It is a crazy mix of songs that will transition from Elvis to NSync to The Andrews Sisters to Pavarotti to John Denver. It also includes comedy songs and original classics - it is fabulous and I have been playing it non-stop.

Listening to Christmas songs all day makes me think about favourites.  Jingle Bells is pretty classic - it is catchy, fun to sing, and is full of memories of elementary school sing-a-longs.  What's not to like?  There are so many fun songs - Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, Holly Jolly Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Jingle Bell Rock - it is hard to choose the best, as there are so many that I like.  The following is a list of a few tracks I absolutely must hear over Christmas and some that I try to avoid altogether.

My Christmas Favourites:
Rocking Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - The Pretenders
Baby it's Cold Outside - I like the Tom Jones + Cerys Matthews version, but any will do.
Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
Christmas Time is Here Again - The Beatles

My Least Favourite Christmas Songs:

12 Days of Christmas - Bob and Doug McKenzie -- The beer in a tree thing drives me nuts!
The Christmas Shoes - NewSong -- The worst of the worst.  Completely gag-worthy.
River - Joni Mitchell -- I actually love this song but I find it way too depressing for Christmas.

What are your favourite Christmas songs?  Which ones drive you crazy?

Why Pay More?

Because sometimes you get more.  Or you save more over time.  Or both.

I'm really frugal so I'm always looking around for the best deal, and sometimes the best deal is more expensive on the front end.

Being the proud owner of a new used car, I want to do everything I can to take care of it and extend its life.  Now that it is winter time, that means rust proofing it from salt.  Rust proofing is new to me, so I called around to a few places to see who could do it and how much it cost.  Walmart and Canadian Tire were two places I knew of that did it, and I found out they both offer a treatment for $89.99 that covers the entire car, not just the undercarriage.  I made an appointment at Walmart (they had the earliest time available), but they told me the appointment could be conditional on the weather.  The technician let me know that if it was too snowy/slushy, they weren't able to remove the snow/slush from the car before they did the oil application.  It was a snow storm the day of my appointment, and they said I was welcome to still get it done, but they would have to spray the oil OVER the snow/mud/salt that was on the car, so they recommended I reschedule for a less snowy day.  I don't think there is going to be a less snowy day until March.  I called Canadian Tire and asked if they remove the snow from the car before application.  They told me that the heat of the garage melts the snow off and then they apply the oil.  The snow melts off on its own?  How long does that take?  Doesn't anyone have a hose and some warm water to rinse the car off?

Krown does.  I was complaining to my brother about getting rust proofing done in the snow, and he told me to "just go to Krown".  I'd never heard of them, but Bro said they are the best.  I called the Barrie location and they are indeed the best!  When I asked if they clean the snow from your car first, they said they spray it off with hot water.  No letting it melt away on its own?  No just putting the oil on over top of it?  Nope.  They clean the snow from your car before they apply the oil treatment.  That is all I wanted.  The price was higher - $119.95 - but that also included drilling into the car so they could put the oil deep into the vehicle.  They give your car a rinse after the application, and they guarantee the price you paid for the life of your car.  So even if their rate goes up, I'll always pay $119.95 on the Mazda.  The best part was the staff were super friendly and helpful and it only took 25 minutes.  I mentioned that my brother went there too and they gave me $10 off for a family rate.  Seriously?  It was a bonus that has me singing their praises and now my Dad is going to go there next year too.  I was really impressed with the whole Krown experience and it was only twenty dollars more than the other places.  For the professional service I received, I think it was well worth it in the long run.

Also this week I paid more up front for new Christmas lights.  My previous lights were regular bulbs and half the strand was dead when I plugged them in.  I only used them twice and I already had to replace them.  I went in to get a new strand last night, and I had to decide between the $5 regular strand and the $15 LED strand.  The LEDs use less power and are said to last ten times longer than the regular strands.  I gave them a try and I frickin' love them! They are so bright and festive.  From what I have been reading about LED lights, I am pretty sure when I plug them in next year they are still going to work.   And the year after that and the year after that.  I had to pay $10 more up front, but I'll save money on my hydro bill and by not having to replace them as frequently.

Pay more now, save more over time.  Sounds like a plan.

Double (Let) Down (All the Way)

I had suffient warning before I tried the KFC Double Down.  My brother didn't like it.  My friend James didn't like it.  I had a pretty good idea it was not going to be good or worthwhile.  However I am a craver of pretty disgusting foods from time to time and this had the potential to be a disgusting food that I would enjoy.

The Double Down experience was a let down from the start.  The staff didn't anticipate so many people ordering the sandwich and it took an incredibly long time to prepare.  Believe me, I want my food cooked, but it took over twenty minutes from the time we ordered it to when we were back in the car with our 'sandwich'.  Twenty minutes was too long of a wait for something that was probably going to be gross.  So this kind of doubled our disappointment.

Next was the price.  We got one Double Down sandwich to split, and it was $7.90.  No fries, no drink - just the sandwich for $7.90.  I think that is really expensive, and my frugal brain only let me buy it because it was a novelty and (most likely) a one time thing.  Plus John and I split it - so it was only a $4 extravagance.

So it cost too much and it took to long to make, and when we finally got home to eat it... it was mediocre.  It wasn't as awful as everyone said and it absolutely wasn't as good as it could have been.  It was just mediocre.  And it didn't do much to quash my hunger.  We split the sandwich, so each of us only got half of the 30g of fat and the 1700mg of salt, but even if I had eaten a whole one, it just didn't seem like a lot of food.  Maybe I am biased by the $8 I spent on it, but there are many other things we could have spent $8 on that would not have left me hungry.  And would not have been mediocre.  If I could do it over I would have gotten a rotisserie chicken from the Real Canadian Superstore deli - it's the same price and a hell of a lot more satisfying.

Our Double Let Down

Summer Surf...and Turf

Armed with gift cards from Christmas, Mom, the Bro, and I headed to the Keg in Barrie for an atmospheric meal of champions.  We went a few Wednesday's ago, and it was absolutely packed!  We were only there because we had gift cards (one person spending $50+ on dinner is easy) - not sure where everyone else came from.  Isn't there supposed to be an economic downturn right now?  Definitely not evident at the Barrie Keg on a Wednesday night.

Here are some illustrated highlights from the evening:

Appetizer: tempura snap peas and asparagus.  Tasty!

I ordered a half lobster - this is my "dipping butter" tea light!

Half lobster, sirloin steak, sweet potato fries.  I ate it all - no problem!

The aftermath of my fight with the Lobster.

Summer Reading List

There have been many books on my coffee table this summer - most of which I actually got around to reading.  Thought I would share some titles with you.  What have you been reading lately?


Fiction

Storm Front, Fool Moon, and Grave Peril, all from Jim's Butcher's Dresden Files. Love, love, love, this series so far!  It's the little details about this Wizard detective and his adventures that are so much fun.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I have the next two books in the series on hold at the library and I can't wait for them. It was a long book for me (500 pages) but I read it in no time. I also watched the European movie based on the book and it was a pretty good interpretation. Plus I love sub-titles - they make movies more fun for me.

Bitten by Kelly Armstrong. I haven't started this one yet, but I Googled "urban fantasy" and she was one of the people who came up. The series has 11 titles, so if her first book is good, I'll have tonnes more to read. Also she is a Canadian from Ontario, so I already like that about her.

Non-Fiction

On Writing by Stephen King.  I've only finished the first third of this book, which is the autobiography part, and I have to say Stephen King is an awesome dude and a helluva writer.  I have to pick up this book again to see his thoughts on writing - I am sure it will informative.  I have also been catching King's articles in Entertainment Weekly - I am a sucker for Uncle Stevie's commentary.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.  It's an autobiography and I only got through the first three chapters before I was too disturbed by the horrors of her childhood to continue reading.  She's a good writer, though, so I will try to get back into it sometime soon.

What's been on your coffee table this summer?

I'd Take the Summer Heat Over a Summer Cold

Achoo!   *Blows nose*  
Achoo!   *Blows nose*  
Achoo!   *Blows nose*

Blurgh.  :(

I woke up yesterday with a runny nose and a scratchy throat.  And I blew through an entire box of Kleenex, pun intended.  I have a stupid summer cold!  It is not completely debilitating but it is definitely irritating!  My nose is already bright red from having to blow it so much.  Boo!  That is my reward for having a fun weekend, I guess!

On the positive side of things, I haven't had a cold since last November, so way to go immune system for keeping me healthy for so long!  Great job!  Another positive is that I spent my sick time yesterday reading Fool Moon, the second of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.  Butcher writes fun stories and being sick isn't so bad when there is an entertaining book to read.

I'm taking it easy, dosing myself with Tylonel, vitamin C, and green tea, and trying to stay positive.  Here's hoping I feel better soon! :)

Summer Sales and Family Fun

I slid down to Barrie over the weekend for Canada Day/Promenade Days with my family.  Promenade days in Barrie is like a giant sidewalk sale, where the whole downtown is blocked off (in a fun way, Toronto!) and shop owners and artisans are out on the street hawking their wares.  We were there for about an hour, and it wasn't much to write home about - or blog about for that matter!  Although my multi-talented brother David has an amazing camera and an amazing eye for shots, so the photos make the day look really interesting. :)  I did get a deal on some Nag Champa incense, and seeing my family is always a good time, so it was worth the trip to Barrie. :)

The best part of our day was lunchtime spent at Applebees (Mom's treat! Wahoo!).  That restaurant is a family favourite of ours and I ate something called the Southwestern burger, which was loaded with bacon, deep friend onion sticks, BBQ sauce, and probably 3900 calories (my estimate).  It tasted like bliss and I didn't eat again for nine hours! :)

The following are some of the photos my brother took of our adventure at Promenade Days!

Downtown Barrie!

It was Canada Day weekend,

so the Beavers were out in full force!

Do you think these two businesses

are in cahoots? 

There's another one!

More downtown fun!

There was even a midway!

Garden 2010 - Six Weeks Later

Six weeks into our growing season we have some positive results and some not so positive ones.

On the positive side of things we have already been able to eat some beans, peas, cilantro, basil, and romaine.  It is still early for the Romaine, but we have used some leaves to make sandwiches and burgers even better.  Super Yum!

Our tomato plants have a few little green tomatoes growing on them, even though the plants are quite sad looking (yellow in some spots).  It looks like we will get tomatoes regardless.

Sad tomato plants...

...but happy tomatoes!

The carrots, zucchini, peppers, and spinach all seem to coming along nicely, though something ate one of the spinach plants.  If it was a rabbit, hopefully it was a really cute rabbit.

On the negative side of things, we started about 25 new seeds in our peat pellets, but for whatever reason none of them sprouted.  We started a few more after that, and only a few bean, corn, and cucumber sprouts were able to be planted.  Once the cucumbers were planted, they instantly died.  For us, this was definitely not the year to grow cucumbers!

On the advice of my Green Thumb friend Tasha, I checked out the blog You Grow Girl.  We were looking for a home made pesticide, and found a tip on the site to use Neem Oil.  We found Neem Oil at the health food store and made our own pesticide.

Since spraying the plants, we have definitely noticed less bugs trying to get at our plants.  The website has countless other great tips, so if you have any questions about your garden, You Grow Girl is a great place to look for answers!

Previous Garden 2010 Blog Posts:

Plants in the Ground, Plants in the Ground
Garden 2010 - Day 12
How Does Your Garden Grow

One Thing is For Sure: I Have Six Seasons of LOST to Re-Watch

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT!  With Lost finally coming to a conclusion, the internet has been a-flutter with vocal lovers and haters.  Kudos to the tonnes of bloggers that have already put forth their reviews. Other than saying that I loved the final episode and I am satisfied with how it fits into the rest of the series (regardless of all the unanswered questions and who Sayid ended up with), I'm going to leave it to the many more hard core fans on the internet to write the reviews.  I want to give myself the opportunity to watch the entire series again before I thoroughly judge it beyond my initial reaction.

I celebrated the series finale at my Bro’s, making a few party favours to honour this show that has provided 120 hours of excited "what-is-going-to-happen-next" entertainment.

Following some suggestions from  The Ack Attack, I made the Bro’s and I each a boarding pass to attend the party:

I also picked up some snacks and re-labeled them with the Dharma logos (print your own here):

I am really looking forward to watching all six seasons again so I can experience some “Ooooh!!!  I get it now!!” moments on previous episodes.  Should be fun.

If you are looking for analysis and reviews, both positive and negative, here are some links you should check out to see what people are saying:

Entertainment Weekly

The Ack Attack

io9 (hated it) or io9 (liked it)

Or just Google "Lost Review" and you'll come up with about 300,000 results.  Lots of people are talking about it.


So long Lost! See you in DVD/reruns!

Eating Healthy - One Day at a Time

Did you watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution?  There were only six episodes from March to April, and the episodes I saw drew me in and kept me glued to the television.  I am always inspired by passion, and Jamie Oliver is extremely passionate about educating people about healthy eating.  He has critics, naysayers, people telling him he can't do it - but I find some people tend to name-call the person starting the revolution.  For too many, change is easier to ridicule than embrace.  Jamie Oliver was out there, using his passion to try and help people for the better.  I applaud him for that.

It was timely for me to watch the Food Revolution, as I have recently started making myself more aware of what I am eating and actively trying to make healthier food choices.  I'm not on a diet, but I am cutting back on all the junk that I have been eating for the past while.  I have a few bad habits when it comes to food, the worst of which is late night snacking.  The later I stay up, the worse it is.  And it isn’t just snack food that I have - many times I have ‘second dinner’ late into the night.  I am well aware that this isn’t the best way for me to treat my body.  With summer on it's way, I needed to change my bad habits. So far I have made three specific changes regarding what I consume.

First, I made a Do Not Eat list.  Basically I brainstormed a bunch of foods that I should not eat on a regular basis.  Some foods that made the list are: doughnuts, chips, pop, fried chicken, fast food, and entire bags of candy.  I am not yet willing to completely cut these foods from my life, but I don’t want to eat them very often either.  My new mindset is that treats should be just that - treats.  Believe me, I love food.  I find it to be one of the most satisfying, comforting, and social things to do.  So for one day a week (generally a weekend day) I have set myself a ‘treat day’ where I can eat any of the bad foods on my list.  The other six days in the week, I respect the Do Not Eat list. 

Second, I scheduled healthy snacks and keep them on hand. I know that I love to eat late at night, so I have scheduled snacks to eat late so I don’t just eat a hot dog.  My favourite snacks currently are almonds, applesauce, yogurt, fruit smoothies, air popped popcorn, and granola bars.  Having these options in the house has definitely kept me from making bad choices.  The logic is simple: if the decision has already been made before I get hungry, I won’t impulsively eat something unhealthy. 

Third, I (mostly) measure my food.  I don't follow any real guidelines, I just have either 1/2 cup or 1 cup of most things.  Or if there is an option to have more than one of something, I try to stick with just one (i.e. potatoes, dinner rolls, etc.). I feel full when I eat, so I am not starving myself by any means, I am just not eating a giant plateful of food now.

I have been on this ‘plan’ for about two months and I like that it is simple and easy going.  I am too obsessed with food to have strict rules about it, but having some general guidelines has been beneficial.  Some days it is incredibly easy to stick to the plan, other days it is practically painful.  I just have to remember to take it one day at a time.  I recently made an amazing discovery that is encouraging me to keep with it, though: my thin jeans fit.  Those jeans have not fit for a few years now, and it definitely feels good to get back into them.  Beyond that, I’m pretty sure my body is happy to not have to process french fries while it is trying to fall asleep.  On the whole I would say, so far so good! :)