Thursday, February 28, 2008

Halifax Here We Come!

Thanks to WestJet and their insane seat sales ($160 for a roundtrip?!?), we'll be going from June 13-23. Woah

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Breadmaker

I will foray into the world of breakmaking today.
(Of course, it's pizza dough we bought at the grocery store, but that's besides the point)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Slow Soft!

That would be the anti-chant for my curling team. So I went curling with some folks at work to practice for the annual Health Inspector Curling Bonspiel in Guelph this weekend.
Curling is fun, and even funner when you have a fun team. Oh heck we ain't gonna win anything, but I'm sure it'll be fun. Funfunfun!
Then we went to Beaver n' Bulldog for wings. Good times

Goaaaallllllllll!!!!!

Scoring a goal in my soccer league is much like scoring 10 pts. in my basketball league. It's thrilling, a great individual achievement, an absolute high, but...
...much like my basketball league, my team ended up losing the game. D'oh! There goes the unbeaten streak.
In all fairness, they were the number one team and they had been playing with each other for years. And my goal was an absolute gimme. And I should've scored at the very least one more time but I screwed up my other chance. You may think I'm being hard on myself, but I expect more from me.
And I'm getting more and more motivated to lose the 9 lbs. by August.
Gogogogogogogogogogogo....

Monday, February 25, 2008

Work Time!

Here I go again...lots o' work to do
* * *
Sorry for the lack of imaginative posts lately and the real lack of pictures. Lazy/busy much

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Okay, So We Keep Losing

So my basketball team sucks...I shouldn't care too much, right? It's just supposed to be all about exercising, right?
I think that elusive first win would satisfy me. Talk about having high goals! (I did score 10 pts. in a losing cause, but it's a "team game". Apparently)

Friday, February 22, 2008

CoughCough

wink
* * *
I'm a lifelong Raptors fan. I've been a fan since the very beginning. I've watched horrible, horrible teams and season, and my fandom has not wavered.
Why, then, is this season perhaps the most irritating and frustrating one I've watched thus far? It's not like they have a losing record or anything. I think it's because since last year, I've had these expectations that they would be doing better this year. Or maybe the fact that I know that the team they have right now will not be going anywhere (they aren't built to win).
Blah.
(Mind you, this rant prolly wouldn't have happened if they hadn't lost to the New York Frikin' Knicks today)

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Well, That Was Original

Went to Original's for the first time in a long time with Sharon and Arvin. While the wings might've changed (not "amazing" anymore, just "good"), still a good time.
Of course, it gets me further away from my goal of 155. Oops

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

155

I am 73% committed right now as a goal for the tentative end of August.
Gotta find that other 27% somewhere...

Monday, February 18, 2008

Happy Family Daying

Great holiday this is; I always wanted a stat holiday in February. So what did I do?
Four hours of ironing!
* * *
My soccer team is as good as a highway. 4-0-1!
We won 3-0, and I set up a goal. Of course I'd feel a bit happier if I actually converted my three chances today. Oh well (which really means "argh")

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Cross-Border Shoppin' And...

...it wasn't the best experience.

First, the good:
-got two pairs of pants for work for pretty cheap
-bought different flavour Doritos that they don't have here in Canada

But, the bad:
-excitedly went to The Olive Garden for lunch. Service sucked, the food wasn't that great, and really, it was a little expensive. Basically, we should've went to the Cheesecake Factory, Mighty Taco, or Ponderosa
-the weather sucked, which made the drive gloomy
-went to Walden Galleria. Didn't buy anything
-what normally would've taken about 20 minutes to get from the Walden Galleria mall to the Fashion Outlet Mall took about 2 hours. Every single turn where I had to pick between left or right, east or west, north or south...I got wrong. On top ot that, the address and directions I got for the Outlet Mall were beyond wrong; it turned out to be on the complete other side of town! It was frustrating, most of all for Sharon who was driving
-the great deals I was semi-hoping for never really surfaced
-Buffalo is a depressing place. Something about it; everytime I go there, it's raining and gloomy, and the ambience in general is pretty depressing to me. And the locals? Yikes...

So, would I go back? Perhaps. But not anytime soon (well until at least after Lent, so Sharon can eat a dessert at the Cheesecake Factory).
I think I've also changed...before, I would buy things for the heck of it. But nowadays, I don't feel like shopping just to shop. Am I getting older?
(Maybe just cheaper. Hello? Mortgage!)

Buffalo!

Hopefully, with weather pending

Friday, February 15, 2008

Four Day Weekend

Starts today! And what productive things have I done so far?
Nothing!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

To My Love...

...we don't celebrate anything.
Romantic, I know.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Bone-Chilling

My body is on the fritz lately. That, or it's just crazy cold.
This is turning out to be quite the winter. In an odd way, I like it
* * *
Soccer game was cancelled last night. Boooooo

Monday, February 11, 2008

Two-A-Days

I'm trying out this whole exercise thing on Monday a new way: basketball in the morning, soccer at night. So far my body is holding up. Although we'll see tomorrow, what with our late night game tonight (11:15pm). I did it last week; hopefully I can do it again this week. I am, however, teaching tomorrow morning. Good luck to those students!

Saturday, February 09, 2008

At Least We're Consistent

Another loss in basketball! This time we lost by 25. It would've been by 38 if I didn't score 13 points.
Despite all this losing, I'm still enjoying myself. I think.
* * *
My wife amuses me. Case in point: to measure how much meat in weight to put into a recipe, she first weighs herself on a scale. Then she carries the meat and goes back on the scale.
According to her, it doesn't work.
According to me, it's typically my wife.

Friday, February 08, 2008

After 1000 Games...

...I'm still conditioned to think the Raps are going to lose. And to no ones surprise, tonight -- they did.
Out of the 1000 games they played in the course of their franchise history, I believe I watched at least 910. I think that's a good ratio, if not a long, frustrating time.
It's really tough being a Raps fan. But I'll be around for another 1000 games.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

As Always, Life Gets In The Way

Tabico's dad fell ill the past few days, so the New York New York trip may be a no-go. In the big scheme of things and keeping it in perspective, I'm not even the slightest bit upset about it. I'm just hoping his dad makes it through.

* * *

It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people could be when it comes to driving after a snowstorm. Case in point:
This numbnuts didn't wipe off the snow from the sides of his van and was driving like a madman. Times like that makes me wish, as bad as it seems, that he would get into an accident.
(And yes, I realize the hypocracy of not being safe of driving in this weather and taking a picture. BUT...I needed to prove a point. Do as I say, not do as I do)
This guy has the right idea. I also found it somewhat amusing:
I said SOMEWHAT... I know it's not that funny

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Exceeding Some Expectations

So I had my annual review at work today, and according to my Supervisory staff, they believe that I am "Exceeding Some Expectations" overall (on a scale of "Meets Below Expecatations" to "Meets Expectations" to "Exceeds Some Expectations" to "Exceeds Most Expectations" to "Excellence"). Which got me thinking: if I somehow trick them into not expecting anything from me at all, and I do just a little bit of work, wouldn't that mean that I "Exceed Most Expectations"? And to extend that thought, if I do a little more than a little more work, would that means I get to "Excellence"?
Not that I'm complaining; I'm satisfied with thinking I'm a little above average (I think most people just "Meets Expectations", which I got my first year that made me really, really angry back then). I've come to expect that in the government, you are rarely noticed for your work, unless, of course, you screw up. And I figure that the less I do each year, the less they expect from me, which in turn when I actually do work hard (like this past year), they would be plesantly surprised. Okay, that last sentence was a lie (I've always been hardworking and always trying hard, despite me saying otherwise).
It really comes down to the fact that the better on the scale I do, the more of a raise I get. But I figure I'm going to reach the top of my payscale by next year, so really, it doesn't matter if it's a 3% raise or a 7% raise (trust me on this).
We'll see how hard I try this year

Well, It's Not A Loss...

...but it's also not a win. My soccer team went the way of the Patriots and our perfect season came to an end (okay, so we went 3-0 before we had a draw as opposed to 18-0, but still).
I didn't get a chance to shoot. Okay, I lie, I did have a chance but missed the damn ball. I'm kinda upset with myself, but I think I made a few good plays. Which means squat of course if there's no results, but I have to hype myself up somehow.
And to top it off? These 11:15pm games are totally gonna screw me up. I bet I won't go to bed until at least 2:00-3:00am. Luckily I don't need a lot of sleep to function.
* * *
Finally our government has done something somewhat good for us in the short term: Family Day weekend in February. Tentative plans with Tabico and Mel to go to New York New York are in the works...

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Rebozo's Is Reyummy

So Sharon and I ended up in Toronto looking for furniture and the likes, when we conveniently ended up near a Mexican restaurant, Rebozo's. For some reason, my favourite cuisine has always been Mexican. So putting one and one together, we ended up eating there.
Dang good stuff:

Mouth...watering...right...now...
Shout out to Rowena for suggesting the spot. The ghettoness of the joint made it all the much more better.
* * *
And the streak continues...we lost our basketball game today. The only difference is, we lost by three points. Much better than our usual 20 point drubbings.
I was mighty pissed off in the second half cause I only got to play like five minutes, to the point I shouted at my teammates. On top of that, I was also really mad at myself for not playing better (too many missed layups). I have to start playing smarter and better, and control my temper and emotions better. It's only a game, I suppose.
At least I have soccer to look forward to (I hope I didn't just jinx myself and the team)

Friday, February 01, 2008

Welcome To Canada

Well, it's February. Which only means we were meant for some of this:
That would be snow
I wrote in one of my previous posts how I was so intrigued by the big machinery that cleared the snow from my neighbourhood. Being the geek that I am, I took a couple of shots, trying my hardest to be discreet so the operator didn't, you know, be suspicious or anything and run me over:

This neighbourhood is so unique to me. Sure all the trucks idling and the physical snow removal add to atmospheric pollution (don't feel like any global warming to me at this moment right now anyhow), but dang, it's a departure from my old neighbourhood.
I think I love living here...almost can't wait for the springtime so we could start working on the outside of the house. (Oh yeah, and so that I don't have to shovel anymore)