Christmas Tales

Another Christmas season is done and over with. As usual, it went by in a flash. Left standing is our sad Christmas tree that is (in my mind) begging to come down and be left on the side of the road. I think George would be happy to leave it standing until his birthday.

Christmas was very nice. We spent the day at Christine's with the family, sans Dad. But you were there in spirit. The kids seemed to have received everything they ever wanted except stock in Apple. Dinner was absolutely delicious! Kathy, Keith and Grandma came down on the 27th. Another spectacular dinner.

In the meantime, George's parents are cruising the Caribbean and are heading even further south. They spent Christmas Day in Grenada and, as I write this, are on the coast of Brazil. They will be celebrating the new year in style! George and I are very jealous. We can picture them lying on the deck in Hawaiian shorts, drinking Pina Coladas and going crazy with the camera. Can't wait to see all the pics!

Cierra is doing much better. After about 300 bucks in Vet bills, we were told there is nothing wrong with her and to try feeding her some wet food. So, we ran out and picked up some delicious, high-quality Zellers wet food and mixed it with her dry food. I was going to try and get George to eat some out of Cierra's dish to show how yummy it is but my gut told me he wouldn't. I should have been a vet. Damn sciences.

Anyway, after almost a week of not eating, Cierra has her appetite back. Apparently she's becoming a picky bitch.

We were resigned to the fact that our basement apartment was not going to be rented for the 1st and we were going to be stuck paying the full mortgage. But at the last minute, a woman called and asked if it was still available for Jan 1st. Why yes, yes it is George replied. Three hours later, she dropped by with her daughter (19 years old if that!), took a look, left to see a few more places, then called back 2 hours later to say her daughter wanted it. Sold! It's rented for the next four months. Whew!

Mom has stopped by our place for a few days with her dog Max. Admittedly, George and i were a bit worried about Max (he didn't do too well and Christine's) but we're happy to report he has been a joy! Very calm, playful and hasn't peed in the house once. We pulled up the carpet just in case. For New Years Eve, George, mom and myself are probably going to make a delicious dinner, drink some wine and celebrate the new year sitting in front of our roaring fireplace.

Happy New Year all!

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas, Dad and Grandma!
Hope you guys had a wonderful day. Lots of love from me and George. And a big wet sloppy lick from chin to eyebrow from both Lola and Cierra!

See you soon.

Puppy puke

Our puppy Cierra hasn't been doing too well lately. About six days ago she simply stopped eating. Just like that. And for a dog that needs roughly 6-7 cups a day, to stop eating is a big deal.

So after work on the second day I ran out and bought a different kind of dog food thinking that maybe she has discriminating tastes. But no... she took a couple of nibbles, turned around and rolled up in a ball and fell asleep.

Same thing the next day.

On the fourth day we reverted back to a previous dog food we know she liked. But no luck. So, off to the vet we went. $250 later, nothing. They took some blood tests but as of last night everything was negative. The one suggestion our vet had was to try wet food.

So last night we went out and bought a few cans of wet food. To our amazement, she loved it! A huge sigh of relief, until about an hour ago. She has thrown up all of it, and more i'm sure.

I'm now waiting to hear back from the vet.

Needless to say, George and I are both worried.

Winter is here

Someone mentioned yesterday that technically, it's still autumn. Sure hasn't felt like it! Even before this past weekend's snowfall, we have had quite a bit of snow.

We woke up this Sunday morning and this is what the cars looked like in front of our house. Luckily, we have a driveway on the back and a snowplough did a terrific job. Just a little bit of shoveling on our end. But still, it was fun watching George pull out this morning at 6am.

This year's best movie

Rarely have I ever walked out of a movie and said to myself, "What the fuck?"

But I did (and so did George) after seeing the Coen brothers' latest movie "No Country for Old Men". But it was a "What the fuck," in the good sense of the phrase. It's so not Hollywood, which is such a relief.

Go see it Michelle and Gary! you guys will love it.

Oh, to be a Tree!

Saturday was spent creating more Christmas memories.

We woke up (kinda) early and drove out to a tree farm NEAR GUELPH with the dogs and spent about 30 minutes strolling rows and rows of trees, looking for that one perfect tree. We found it standing near the back of the farm.

Surprisingly, it didn't take much to saw the thing down. George looked very manly.

After throwing it atop the car, we made our way back to Toronto discussing what it must be like for a christmas tree. Just 30 minutes prior to that moment, our tree was minding its own business, doing what trees do. Then, out of nowhere, some guy appears with a saw and cuts it down. The pain it must have felt. Then it got dragged to a machine that basically tied it up (sorry, leather was not used). For the next hour it was forced to endure cold wind at 100km/h along the 401. The final insult? Being dressed with glass bulbs and white lights.

But damn, our place looks fine!

Our trip.

We recently got back from a lovely little vacation with George's parents, my Mom and a friend of George's parents.

Our 4-day cruise with Carnival began in Los Angeles and took us to Catalina Islands and Ensenda Mexico. Weather was terrific, although the smog is disgusting. Some highlights:
- 2-hour trip through Target to buy hangers, backyard lanterns and an ipod. Obviously, things you can't buy in Toronto.
- Me throwing up behind a rental car. And again on the side of a Los Angeles highway. Thanks Harveys!
- Incredible cruise food! A certain someone was known to ask for 2 dinners. No names.
- Arguing with security
- Meeting a really dumb, blonde Canadian Carnival employee who told us to basically accept the things you can't change. She has.
- Watching George win money on the 2-cent slots. Watching my money on the 2 cent slots disappear.
- Sitting in the jacuzzi with Mama Silva
- Watching Mama Newman get harassed by the Mexican merchants. Just say no!
- Walking to the "Casino" in Catalina Islands only to find out that the "casino" is actually a movie theatre. Damn beautiful theatre!
- Driving to Kitchener 3 times.

Important Update!

Apparently i'm not blogging enough.

So you'll be very interested to know that this morning I had corn flakes with... wait for it... a banana! It was delicious!

congratz

Congratulations Michelle!
We had a wonderful time.
The cheque is in the mail :)

Sincerely,
R&G Slum Lords

It's so hot

Well, Cierra finally went into heat. It's everything we expected, but redder. And messier.

We were hoping that she'd be one of those dogs that had very little, how do you say politely, mess. Unfortunately that wasn't to be. Needless to say I got home from work a few days ago to see my poor pup in a diaper. She needs it though! We're hoping this ends very soon.

Our home away from home

Someone once told us that when you buy a house, Home Depot will become your second home.

True dat!

4 visits in 3 days. Except we've been going to Rona for those pesky air miles.

I'm writing this blog update on our upstairs balcony while the sun peeks over the roof of our house and a slight breeze rustles the oak trees. It's gorgeous and it's all ours!

Our move began Wednesday and offically ended yesterday at about 5:30. For the most part it went very well. There was no way we were going to move ourselves so we hired the help of some movers. They showed up at 9:20AM and immediately got down to work. We thought they'd be all done by about 12:30... but we were wrong. They unloaded the last box at about 3 in the afternoon. So we went over our moving budget a wee bit but it was still worth it.

And even after selling our bedroom suite and dining room table and chairs, the truck was still completely full! We had to come back the following day to pick up our jungle of plants. Luckily we had a truck for the week as the car was out of commission (see previous post).


Of course, all was not perfect.

While moving, a building maintenance guy came by to do an inspection. According to him he found a bunch of problems that we're responsible for. However, we refused to sign his document so George and I expect a court date in the near future. Fuckers. I look forward to meeting them in small claims. I always thought I'd be a good lawyer.

Robert & George: We object
Judge: What are you objecting to?
Robert & George: We object to the fact that the plaintiff is wearing white after labour day!
Judge: Guilty!

So anyway, we came back to the apartment on the Thursday to paint over some dark blue and give the place a good clean. Damn,it looked good! In the meantime, we had our new dining room suite and bed delivered to new house. Looks incredible.

Friday was our last visit to apartment... final cleaning and a few more plants plus locker and bikes. As we approached, we found ourselves completely blocked out by the police! The entire neighbourhood was under quarantine because right across from the apartment was the Esso Gas station where the car full of letter bombs was sitting! We had to come by that evening to finish up.

The dogs seem to be handling things well. No more 22 floors of elevators! Peeing on demand! We think squirrels live under our porch since both dogs go crazy sniffing it. Quite funny.

That's it for now!

A Smashing Weekend

A weekend with my parents is always smashing but this past weekend took the cake! Or should I say it took the Sebring.

Friday night, after a most wonderful dinner, we all decided to go for a stroll to the lake. The sun was setting, the birds were chirping and the wind was blowing.

In fact, it was blowing so hard that upon our return to the house, half of a tree was sitting in the back of the car and there was glass everywhere. Needless to say, we were all in shock. The back window was completely smashed.

After a few phone calls we found out that it would be impossible to get the car fixed in Owen Sound. So our drive home to Toronto was in a convertible! The dogs seemed to enjoy the breeze.

Saturday afternoon was spent at a Pow Wow. My mom taught me that if i have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all. The silence is deafening!

house update

Our first new home dilemma!

We move in two weeks. The current basement tenant was scheduled to move out in middle of October. They just announced that they're moving out in 2 weeks.

Frig.

The search for a new tenant begins! How xciting.

Furniture for our new home

The furniture buying spree for our new home has begun!

This past weekend we went to Idomo (I thought I'd never buy from that place!!!!) and picked up the most spectacular diningroom table, chairs, hutch and mirror that will sit on the hutch.

Plus we bought a coffee table that moonlights as a wine rack and storage container. You have to see it to believe it. It's awesome.

Aannnnndddddd we redeemed for some Rona Gift Certificates, which will go towards our new BBQ.

Soon friends and family can enjoy a fabulous steak/ribs/chicken a la George while sitting around a most wonderful table.

Can't wait.

This past weekend was spent camping with some friends at a provincial park on Lake Simcoe.

Despite the rain, we had a great time. Needless to say, there was a lot of beer and marshmellow consumption. And some shrimp. And chili. Who says camping has to be barbaric??

We tried taking a swim but that lasted about 2 minutes. It was freezing!!! Certainly sobered us up. Or was that the 3 hour nap?

Unfortunately we didn't take a hike like last year. Next time.

The dogs had a terrific time and were very well behaved. Even Lola, surprise surprise. We weren't sure how Cierra was going to react since this was her first camping trip but our worries were quickly eliminated. She never left our sides and was a joy to be around. Of course, both came home completely filthy.

Finally - Home Owners!

We did it - we bought a house!

It's a gorgeous detached home in Toronto's east end literally just steps from the Danforth and less than a five minute drive from The Beaches. And we got it for asking! After some previous homes we were interested in going for between 70-100K over asking... we were starting to get pretty down. Highlights include:
- 2 fireplaces, 1 of which is in our bedroom. All that's missing is a bear skin rug. But then again, if Lola keeps acting up she may soon find herself face down in front of the fireplace.
- a huge kitchen with a refurbished 1950s stove, which includes two ovens. George can now make roast chicken and chocolate cookies at the same time.
- built in bookshelves
- bathroom with a tin ceiling
- a canopy of trees over the house
- second floor balcony
- third floor loft/office
- and much more!

Needless to say George and I are on cloud 36. Closing is Aug 28 and tonight I've started going through our stuff and getting rid of the junk we'll never use. We spent the last weekend inspecting BBQs at Rona and found the one we want. I can't wait to have our first Saturday evening steak BBQ with a couple of beers.

Pictures to follow.

Whale Watching

George was working the Victoria flight with a 24-hour stopover a few weeks back so I booked off a couple of days and joined him out there.

With basically one day at our disposal, we decided to do something that has been on both our "to do" lists for years; go whale watching! So we dropped our $80 each and hopped on a relatively small yellow zodiak with 6 others and headed out into the Pacific Ocean in search of Orcas, also known as Killer Whales.

Half the fun was flying across incredibly large waves at top speed and bouncing around. Our tour guide's advice was to pretend you're riding a horse.

After about two hours, we ended up close to the Vancouver's coast and inbetween two pods of whales. Damn, what a site. They must have had a good feeding because they were actually jumping out of the water! And we even saw one calf swimming beside his mother. Marineland has nothing on seeing these incredible animals in the natural habitat.

On our way back to shore we even found ourselves surrounded by dolphins. However, these dolphins weren't the 'friendly' ones you think of... they kept their distance from our boat.

It was the best $80 we ever spent.

Vacation is, sigh, over.

George and I just finished a most wonderful vacation/birthday week.

Our intention was to go to the cottage and visit my folks from Friday through Wednesday, but we were having so much fun we extended our stay till Friday. Seven full days up on the Bruce Peninsula.

Highlights included:
- Visiting the most lovely Dyers Bay on my Birthday and spending the morning walking the shores of Georgian Bay with the pups. Unfortunately the Beaver Tail shack in Tobermory was closed so we dug into some incredibly overpriced fish and chips.
- Playing Scrabble with Mom and Dad while drinking wine.
- Enjoying dinner in Owen Sound
- Hiking along the Bruce Trail
- Lying in bed watching lightening light up our bedroom
- Listening to the frogs
- Watching snakes slither and mate

We returned to Toronto for the Victoria Day weekend. For George's Birthday we went over to Centre Island and had a picnic, which included a collection of cheeses, sausages, fresh fruit and cold wine. Later that evening we drove out to Oakville and went to the Drive-in. Didn't get home till close to 4 in the morning! Fabulous time.

The Monday was spent on our bikes. My bum still hurts.

Here's one for you:

Hi Michelle!

Buying a house, part 2

This sucks.

We found an awesome home with a fantastic backyard last weekend. It was wonderful, and the price was good. We had visions of tomato plants, a BBQ and a gnome.

Tonight was when offers were being accepted.

Sigh. We didn't even come close apparently. And we put in a very good offer, too.

If we're in the friggin apartment for the entire summer I am going to be very unhappy.

Curling

Curling is officially over for another season.

My team tanked, finishing in the middle of the "F" Division. We made it into the playoffs but got our asses collectively whipped. Last night was our end of season banquet so we had a few beers, some chicken and mashed potatoes. Yum.

Next up: George wearing spandex playing ultimate frisbee.

Tragic news.

Our foray into the seedy world of becoming slum lords has come to a crushing halt.

George and I thought everything was a go, but unfortunately the seller (aka shithead) did not initial one line and when it came time for him to sign on that dotted line, he changed his mind. Despite the fact that we had agreed on a set price, he decided that it wasn't enough. He won't budge from his asking price.

So the deal is off.

But then again, we're hoping that no one else will be interested in the place at which time we'll slip in and ask for even less.

But don't fret. We will overcome this injustice and find an even better place with even better tenants. We will be slum lords, damnit!!!

Home Sweet Home

Some people celebrate Christ's resurrection with a prayer. Others, a chocolate bunny. Us? we buy a house. A two storey, detached brick 8year old house halfway between the beaches and danforth. It's the best of both worlds, I'd say. Awesome front yard, lots of space, cute kitchen and much more.

It's the last house on a dead end street so we expect lots of quiet interspersed by an occasional Go Train whistle.

We can open the door in our underwear and let the dogs out to do their thing.

We can throw a load of laundry in the washer and not pick it up for 2 days.

We can compost.

We can walk to the end of our street and buy a sari.

We can plant tomato plants.

We can pay property taxes.

We can get solar panels.

Life doesn't get any better. So excited. We take possession on May 31st but won't move in till middle of month.

Puppy Tails Part 2

We chose not to crate train our puppy. She’s growing by the day, a crate that size is very expensive and besides, having the second dog around should keep Ciera out of trouble.

So we made our spare bedroom into the dog room. When we’re not home, we put up our puppy gate and they would keep each other occupied. Well, that was the theory.

It worked out very well for the first few weeks. Then we got home one day and found both dogs waiting for us in front of the door. Basically, Ciera moved the gate with her huge nose and walked out with Lola jumping along behind her (or that’s how I imagined it).

A few days later I got home from work and found the spare plant in the bedroom completely torn apart. Dirt and leaves were everywhere! Not even a root or two lying around to replant! And to put an explanation point on her gardening, she took a pee on her pillow.

Puppy Tails

After months of discussion, friendly debate and a few kicks to the shin, we decided to get a dog.

But not just any dog. A big dog. A dog that protects. A dog that makes people quake. A dog that can shower you with one big lick. A dog like an English Mastiff.

So we decided to go to rescue foundations and give a dog in need a good, loving home. But unfortunately, it was a little more difficult that we thought. It seemed like all the mastiff rescue organizations were based in the southern States (I found out later that’s because many mastiff puppy mills are down there). And the one place that did talk to us refused to ship their dog on an airplane to Toronto. Why? Because, according to them, it might harm her. That begs the question… how much in need is the dog?? And sadly the Toronto Humane Society had a huge supply of pit bulls... but no mastiffs.

Next thing you know we’re talking with a woman in Seattle. Turns out she had a puppy mastiff in need of a good home. After a few weeks of getting to know each other, she finally offered us the pup.

Next thing you know an Air Canada jumbo jet is landing and we’ve got a Mastiff in the backseat of the car.

We quickly drove home to introduce her to Lola (our other dog) and after a few minutes of playing, we saw them. Yes, them. Fleas. There were so many we could see the suckers jumping off of her.

We. Weren’t. Happy.

Needless to say George spent a good portion of his Sunday scrubbing down the dogs while I scrubbed down the apartment. After a quick trip to the pet store, we also had some flea medication.

A month has past and it looks like our war on terror was successful. Mission accomplished!

Curling sucks.

I was such a poor sport this past weekend.

We had our annual curling Bon Spiel tournament and it's usually loads of fun. This year was looking up to be the same, until we lost our third game which knocked us out of the competition. We didn't even make it to the playoffs. I can deal with that. It was the team that we lost to. Ugh.

And to top it off, George came to watch us play and he had to witness that? So sad.

Anyway, after the game we had a quick beer and then took off to pick up our espresso maker. Spent the rest of the weekend with a caffeine needle hooked up to my arm. Sigh.

Something is rotten in the state of Thorncliffe

Hypothetically speaking... the love of your life casually says to you on IM "can you bring home large buns and cheese," what would come to your mind?

What kind of cheese would you bring home?

Hmmmm?

Shopping for our new home

We're officially in the market for a house and spent a few hours today with our agent/friend looking at open houses.

The first house was a bungalow in a Toronto neighbourhood called The Bluffs, or Upper Beaches. It was in a great little area with a mixture of smaller sized homes and larger, newer mini-mansions. We quite liked it... the basement is rented out so that'll help with mortgage payments. The upstairs, or our home, includes a fantastic livingroom with a fireplace and two bedrooms. Or, our bedroom and the pet's room. The backyard looked quite nice although the snow was made things difficult to get a true sense of potential. Included a great garage for our motorcycles, ATVs, sailing boat and lawn mower.

The second house was a two story semi. Aside from the wonderful skylights and exposed brick, this place didn't have much to offer. The backyard was very small, the basement was locked so we couldn't see it and the foundation was shifting. Yeah, we didn't stay very long.

The third place was even closer to the beaches but in a high-traffic neighbourhood. The upstairs unit was quite ugly so it immediately turned us off. However, the main floor/basement was nice although the ceiling fan in the main bedroom was a recipe for decapitation. Backyard was cute but not very big. Unfortunately it was close to 100K more than the other houses.

So we ended back at the original bungalow.

Oh, and i quickly realized i'm not the best person to go shopping for big purchase items. I would have bought anything if I had my cheque book with me.

My Thighs Hurt

This past weekend we made the trek to my parents home up on the Bruce Peninsula for a weekend of cross country skiing, fine food and our traditional Saturday evening wine party.

But it's amazing what 10 kilometers on a pair of skis will do to your appetite for booze.

After a dinner of curry shrimp, we all found ourselves sprawled out in front of a roaring fire chitchatting. Of course, the dogs hijacked prime location.

By 9:30, my head was bouncing off my chest.By 9:45, I was fast asleep. And by 2:00, apparently I was howling, or so says George.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we look forward getting up there again very soon.

This just in!!!!

Can you imagine being on the front page of the Toronto Star!!!!

A day, a month, a year...

It seems like yesterday that I met the man of my dreams. Simply by luck. or fate. Whatever is was and is, I'm happy.
Never really knew true happiness until now. You know it when you get excited to come home after being away at work. You know it when you get excited when he comes home for dinner.

A day is exciting when simply laying on the couch having coffee and reading the paper. the simple things are what matter.

I thank the Gods for allowing me to share my life with Robert.
Love you puppy
Pookey!

1 Glorious Year

1 year + 1 day ago, I started dating this really cute guy. Today he's my fiancé!

This first post is simply to say: Yo da best. Love you!

Happy 1 year and a day.

Pup