The Season Are Going To Change

I'm so excited. I can actually feel the season change. I love it! I'm dying to break out my fall clothes. Scarves and coats and turtlenecks. Ian and I had an issue this weekend with it being too cold to have the sliding doors open. YAY!!

So Many To Go...

Murphy - The LOLdog

OR

Super Frustrated

Today I went to Cambridge Memorial Hospital to have lung function tests. I did a whole series of breathing and holding my breath... I had an audible wheeze when I had to push out my breath. At the end, the technician asked me when the last time I took my blue inhaler. I told her it was last night. She said well I don't know why you are on it. Your levels are normal. I said are you saying that I don't have asthma and she said well I don't hear anything (Note: She didn't listen to my lungs with a stethoscope). The test isn't designed to rule out asthma but after I gave you the shots of ventolin there should have been a noticeable jump in your levels. There wasn't.

Uhm... okay??? So you're saying that the issue I've dealt with for most of my life is gone. GREAT! Just one problem... I wheeze daily, I sometimes wake up and need my inhaler in order to breathe deeply. When I took Advair last year, it was the best my lungs ever felt. But I couldn't continue taking it because it gave me severe anxiety. If I don't have asthma than what do I have? After asking her this and her retreating on her diagnosis of non-asthma, she said there is another test that can be done. I inhale a histamine and see what my reaction is. GREAT. Love it. Look forward to it.

Cottage Country

Since moving to Canada, I've heard this term a lot. Coming from California... when I hear the word "cottage" I think... countryside... far away... mid west. What does it mean for here? Areas surrounding major cities usually set on lakes. There are a lot of lakes and rivers around where we live. EVERYONE I work with either has a cottage or rents one. It's a big deal. One of my new co-workers has a cottage built in 1918 complete with working outhouse (meaning only an outhouse for them to use - EW). It's very strange to me coming from an area where you don't usually hear of people "going away for the weekend". Mostly you hear of big camping trips or in the winter trips skiing, etc. You can easily go to the beach of course... but, even working at Amgen, you never heard of people going away for the weekend. It was vacation or nothing.

Here... every weekend people plan to drive up to their cottage. It's not just reserved for Amgen either... in line at the grocery store I heard a woman talking about her cottage and at the bank. I think eventually Ian and I will set up a cottage fund. =P It's been suggested that he and I rent in various locations to get a feel for different areas. The best part is that it isn't too terribly expensive. Renting depending on the area goes from $700-$1000 per week and if you buy, a decent, smaller sized cottage on or near lake can run about 100k (this is according to a co-worker who just bought one). Fixer uppers are even better... I think it would be fun (Ian probably wouldn't!) to find a cottage in need of "some" repair and fix it up on the weekends. Well, one can dream~

I Need A Nap

The caption reads "Why is this sloth smiling? 'Cause he prolly had a 23-hour nap". I need a 23-hour nap.

My Very Bad Thing

Happy Birthday to me... Happy Birthday to me... On Sunday, Ian and I went with his parents to Costco. As those of you who read this may know, Costco is the 7th circle of hell. It is a place where money goes to die. Our total spent for this trip: $606. How on earth did we manage to spend that much? Very easily... I've been wanting a netbook for a long time. What is a netbook? Basically, a very small computer. It has a 10 inch screen. It weighs about 3 or 4 lbs and is about 1 inches tall. This means of course that it has no cd drive. Why would I want something so small? I like to sit on the couch and flip through the news... or write an email. I have a gigantic IBM laptop that Erik had given me. It's huge (I've dropped it a few times trying to hold it in one hand...) and gives me a bunch of errors because it doesn't like Vista on it. This will be really nice to travel with as well. There are many reasons... but anyway... it was the lowest price I had seen at Costco. Most I've seen are $450 or more. This was, if I remember correctly, $339.99 - Happy Birthday to me! (The other portion of the $606 was spent on stuff we really did need... chicken, shampoo, scissors, etc.)

The Thing I Did Is Very Bad...

I Did A Bad Thing

Details to follow later...

8 Ways To Prepare Your Pets For War

You Got Your Math In My Wii Fit

In Wii Fit Plus, there will be a mini-game where you have to move your hips and hit pegs to add up to 10. Other games include an Obstacle Course with lots of running, jumps and squats. There is also Bird's Eye Bull's Eye that apparently involves flapping your arms furiously - in a chicken suit.

My Nephew - Mr. T "NomNom" Walkerson

Off To See The Sox

Ian and I are going to see the Red Sox in Toronto tonight. Yay!

My Cheese Moved Slightly To The Left

It wasn't AS bad as I thought it was going to be. He's definitely doing it just to boost his "numbers" and his perceived status. I could easily stay in the same state I'm currently in and do the job he wants me to do. However, it does give me an opportunity to pursue a flexibility program. This means that instead of working from home on an ad-hoc basis, I will have a more permanent schedule working from home and the office. Probably 2 days in and 3 days home. It just seems more logical than me spending x number of hours on the highway when I spend most of my time in the office looking at my computer screen. The flip side to this is now I am a part of the "management team". I have to go to all of their decision (and I expect non-decision) meetings... I will have a say in some of the stuff that goes on. For now, I'm just really nervous about dealing with this guy. He makes me so nervous. I know how dangerous he can be. If he doesn't like you... he can make your life hell. But I must note something here... everyone he's ever had a problem with since he came to Canada has been a woman. One of them quit, one of them is probably going to quit, and the rest try to fly under radar. He doesn't like it if you're too outspoken, if you're you contradict him, or if you in any way seem more intelligent than him. Sad thing is HR knows this and are "monitoring the situation". Well, I will also "monitor the situation" as he hijacks my job and micro-manages me. I'm a sad panda.

Ian Bets It Was Al Davis

Seriously funny - Raiders coach allegedly assaulted during team meeting. I agree with Ian though.. probably was Al Davis... I think he used his cane to hit him. Lol.

The Who Moved My Cheese Post

Ian and I have made a trade. He was stressed and unhappy with work and now I'm stressed and unhappy with work. I love my job. Part of the reason I even moved to Canada was that fact that I was getting an awesome job. I was going to work for a really nice person... the team seemed great (the 1 person that I met the day I interviewed turned out to be a gaming geek). I was ready to sign on during the middle of the interview I liked it so much. I interviewed not just for the chance to transfer to Canada... but because I wanted a job that was a step up from what I was currently doing. And now it's changing.

I'm the kind of person who, in the work environment, gets along with everyone. Of course I dislike certain individuals but I still get along with them. I'm nice... I'm helpful... not to toot my own horn but I do pretty damn well in my current job. I rarely have huge issues with change... I roll with the flow... give my opinions when necessary... etc. But now... my job is being hijacked by, ironically enough, a person who comes from the same place I did (he's "on loan" from the US). I shouldn't say too much here because I know some people that work with do read this blag... but I'm not happy. Thankfully anyone who does read this from my work knows what position I am in right now and sympathizes. I'm not the only one who dislikes the paranoid dictator.

To be fair, nothing may change... my workload MIGHT increase... but I doubt it. I work on projects that go far outside my job description and I'm okay with that. But why screw with who my manager is? Alright... I'm stop here before I break something. I've worked with difficult people before... I can do it again. Plus, I have to keep reminding myself... there IS an expiration date. It may not be set in stone, but he does have to go back sometime. Thank god for Green Cards. For now I'm just sad.

Ad Spam

I love the wonderful ads you get to see on various websites. Crappy .gifs advertising mortgage scams... or the ever popular extremely easy multiple choice "quiz" where you "win" a free MP3 player that looks like iPod. Your foot is connected to your: a) head b)spaceship c) leg. Pick the right answer and WIN! Classy stuff.

This ad is pretty good... Obama apparently has asked Moms to return to school. I'm sure it was an executive order of some kind.

Might As Well Call Them "Crisps"

Britain and Canada share a few things in common but one of them is just odd. They make very different flavors of chips (in Britain they seem to call them "crisps"). Among the regular flavors you will most likely find Dill Pickle, Curry, Smokey Bacon, Roast Chicken, and Ketchup. This week at the grocery store I found another product that the ketchup flavor extends to - Mini Quaker Rice Crackers. Weird.

Watch Out For Nuclear Accidents

Try and avoid those and you'll live.

So Many Dance Shows On

Ian and I are little behind the times with watching the finale. But I am sooooooo happy that Jeanine won. She was my favorite dancer. Here are my favorite dances of hers... plus one more that I really liked. There were too many good ones to post... this is just a small selection.

This one is not of Jeanine... but I loved it!

Tried Canadian Taco Bell For The First Time

Vomit Count: 3

Something was SERIOUSLY mistranslated when it crossed the border. I am not even exaggerating. Case in point: BRB count going up to 4.

The Fool. He Suspects Nothing.

The Storm Watchers

We've been getting some pretty crazy thunderstorms and lots of rain. On Sunday, the Big Clean Day, we were watching a few storms roll through. I'm still not entirely used to it. I occasionally run for Ian when there is a big crack. Sunday was no exception. Below are a few videos. Each are a minute long and contain some cracks of lightning.

This is the best one I think...

Suggestion For Cooper's Cake

How about a Wishosauras?!?! Lol, too cute.

Butterfly/Moth - 1, Brittany - 0

This morning Ian and I went to Starbucks before I took him to work. While the girl was handing me the drinks a moth flew into her and then flew into my face........... I just happened to freak out and squeeze the lid of the hot chocolate I was holding and spill it everywhere. Boo.

Anyway, I'm working from home today... I have a cold or something. Again, boo.

I Need New Shampoo

Get Well Soon Ma!

Our Future Geek Baby

If we happen to have a boy... he just might have to wear this at one point in his life. That's right... it's a Link costume from Zelda. AWESOME.

Most Played Wii Games Chart

I came across this really interesting chart. It shows the most played Wii Games. Keep in mind that this not the most sold or the most popular but which games, when bought or rented, are played the most. I'm surprised mainly at Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I found it to be very... chaotic... flashy... etc. I'm surprised it's #1.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other...

Baby Albino Sea Turtle. I hope it's carrying sunscreen.

New Shoes Day 2

That's right... more new shoes to wear (I swear I've had these for awhile and just haven't worn them...) They're pretty different... and not exactly comfortable.

Yesterday, I was told no one had signed up for "Chocolate Thursday" so I was volunteered. Basically every Thursday at 3:15pm we stand around and eat chocolate and talk about our upcoming weekend (in the summer we have Summer Hours which is a half day on Friday... normally it would be Chocolate Fridays). Anyway, Ian suggested we go to Reid's Chocolate shop to pick some up. Yeah.... $50 later....... Two words: Maple Fudge.

New Shoes

Yay... finally wearing my new shoes. Ian approves.

Adirondack Chair Project

We finished! Just barely~ About 3 or 4 months ago we saw a set of adirondack chairs at Costco and loved them. Of course, we saw them assembled. We later decided we were going to buy it so Ian's parents went and picked it up for us. Little did we know... it was just a box of unfinished wood and screws. We thought a little construction would be necessary... but not to the extent it ended up being. For one thing... it was all unfinished white pine. So we had to sand and stain every single little piece - not to mention we had to wait until it was above 10 degrees to even begin staining. The wood sat for ages on our dining room floor.

Over a couple of months we slowly sanded the millions of pieces and two weeks ago we stained them.

This week we started assembling the backs of the chairs. Most of the holes were pre-drilled. I say "most" because, to Ian's horror, most the important holes were not already made. Most specifically the back of the chairs... He had to space out each board evenly, put wedges between each, and then drill the holes without moving the boards. (Things were almost broken, tools were almost thrown). This was done inside because of inclement weather.

After that was done we placed the chairs outside and waited for this weekend. The chairs are connected by a little table so construction had to be completed outside. (How we are going to get this sucker out when we move... I have no idea.)

I only got a few pictures of the table construction because my help was actually needed (again, much to Ian's horror).

And the finished result....! Super comfy... last night we sat out after the sun had gone down... very pretty... really nice to actually use our balcony and the good view.

This is the view from my chair.

We have learned 3 lessons from this project.

1. We are not woodworkers. This will not be a "side" business we decide to open up.

2. Assembling outdoor furniture - everything from sanding to staining to assembly - should not be done in a small apartment.

3. Never buy anything that needs to be put together. Ever.

Adirondack Chair Project: Complete

Just What I Always Wanted............?

Not really but it looks funny.

Impression Of Ian This Morning