Friday, February 23, 2007

Long time no post...

Sorry for the long silence, it's been a little hectic recently... To make up for it, here's a link to a test I found really interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/index_cookie.shtml

My result was at the 25 mark on the female side. I had a lot of fun filling it out too :)

We don't really have any plans for the weekend, just hanging out and relaxing. Last weekend we had some friends over, and next week we're hosting another dinner party, so this weekeng we're taking it easy. It's been a hectic two weeks, so we need some rest.

Last night we went to the movies and saw "Ghost Rider", which I would recommend you avoid if you can! I don't usually mind comic book based movies, but this one had absolutely no substance. Nicholas Cage didn't do too bad, but the lead female actor, Eva, was pretty one-dimensional...

Later!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Another weekend over...

Where does the time go? We had another super busy weekend. Friday night I babysat our friends' twin girls - soooo cute!!!! Had a lot of fun with the little tykes, they're getting so big, and so independant. And they're starting to say some words! It was my first time alone with the girls, and it went very well. I was introduced to the delicious snack of goldfish (yummy), interspersed with raisins :)

On Saturday we went over to a friend's place for an evening of card playing (the distinguished game of a$$h@le), and that ended pretty late. And this morning I had brunch with a few friends. In between all this socializing, we managed to do some more cleanup in the house, emptying out the closed in one of the guest rooms, using the handy new wardrobes that we have installed in the basement. So we now have a nice clean and uncluttered room, which is really good, as we haven't been able to use it much lately...

Here's a shot of the aligned wardrobes:


And now it's the end of the weekend again... I wish I could say I'm ready for another work week, but I think I could use an extra night of sleep ;)

As promised a few weeks ago, here's a shot of the latest basement renovations: notice the post cover, complete with the baseboard covers on the bottom, as well as the baseboards and quarter rounds at the bottom of all the walls:



Before I sign off, I'd like to recommend a movie we saw last week: Pan's Labirynth. It's a spanish movie released last year that's making the rounds in local theatres. It's pretty gory at times, we both looked away during a few scenes, but overall it's a great movie. Wonderful fantasy sequences, juxtaposed with civil war era Spain, it is beautifully filmed, with great acting. Hollywood quality production, with independent quality narrative. Highly recommended!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Gloomy wednesday

Here we go again... My company announced another round of layoffs... Not that it was completely unexpected, or that we shouldn't do any trimming... But it's always so unpleasant to go through another round. Was chatting with some coworkers today and we all agreed that it's hard to tell what the "best" outcome is, as getting a package sure has it's own attractions. So it's not so much being worried about losing our job that gets to us. It's the uncertainty, not knowing who goes and who stays, hard to get any work (or even worse, planning) done. People cancel their vacations, people hold off on major purchases... It's a big disruption. And then when the axe falls, it's always hard to say goodbye to friends and coworkers... Of course this year quite a few people have quit, so we've been saying lots of goodbyes anyway!

So that's my sob story for the day. Oh, and it's pretty darn cold outside too. Though luckily I haven't had to spend much time outdoors lately. Our wood pile is getting small, it'll soon be time to cut and split some more wood, but it's definitely not the kind of work I feel like doing when it's -25 outside :) Yesterday my car had the check engine light on, and I was starting to get worried, but I gassed it up and it's fine now, so I am assuming the cause for the light was just little gas in the tank combined with the frigid weather. That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;)

On the family side, still no news from FIL. He's stable and waiting. Hoping to come and visit us around March 31st, to celebrate his Mom's 97th birthday. DH's brother and his wife are also planning to fly in, with the twins, for a big family reunion :) In the meantime, my own folks are traipsing through Chile - sounds like a lot of fun: active volcanoes, lots of trees and flowers and lots of opportunities to practice their spanish!

Hope you're all keeping warm and having fun.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Football cake

Quick update on the football cake: the shape is a little less than perfect (slightly lumpy), but I managed to produce something vaguely resembling a football. I just hope it tastes good :)

And now I'm ready to sleep. Too much cake and icing and running around trying to get this thing assembled. But I'm glad I took a picture, so I can have a reminder :) This is the first time that I've attempted something cooky like that.

Welcome to February

And so it is February. Winterlude, Ottawa's yearly winter festival has started. The canal is filled with people on skates, taking advantage of the mild-ish weather. DH went skating earlier this week, but I haven't had the chance yet. Instead, today we went to the National Gallery, to see a traditional Haida dance performance. A friend from the McGill alumni choir had invited us, and it was definitely worth the visit. Both DH and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I'd never had a chance to see anything like this in person, and I found it very captivating. I was expecting to be entertained, but came out spiritually rejuvenated. I'd certainly recommend it. Although it seems like this is a fairly rare event, so unless you live on the west coast of BC you may not often get the chance to see something like this. I certainly gained a better appreciation for the Haida carvings. Seen in a museum, they may be interesting, but when worn in a dance, they take on a life of their own, and seem to communicate a lot more. Or at least that's been my experience... So I am very thankful to my friend for letting us know this was happening (it didn't seem to be a very publicised event).

Tomorrow we're going to a friends' house for a Superbowl party. I am attempting to make a football shaped cake - hope it comes out ok :O

Later,