I received an email from PP recently that made me laugh so hard. You see I'm a very social person and tend to go out quite frequently. Like everyone else I'm either making the plans or I've been invited out by somebody else. It drives me bonkers when I make the plans, call one or two other people to join me and then receive calls the next day from others asking "why didn't you invite me, I would have gone". There's always a reason for such things, perhaps I just want one on one time with a certain person, maybe it's a weekend away in which another friend is putting us up and only has so much room for guests or perhaps making driving arrangements for three people is much less of a hassle than making plans for 7 people.

I get that question a lot in regards to concerts and I have tried in the past to accommodate a fair amount of people.....which ultimately screws me over because trying to seat 6 people together is more difficult than say 2. You always get better seats when seating less people. So I have to be stuck in the nosebleeds because 5 other people want to come......I don't think so!

You'll often hear me say "Why do I have to invite everyone I know everywhere I am going?" when I get the "why didn't you invite me out, I would have gone" question.


So PP sends me the following email with the subject line "It's official you're the George"


Im hanging out cleaning, and Seinfeld comes on..... It's an episode ive never seen about a parking spot? Anyway, George is standing on the side of the street and I actually looked up the script to copy and paste it in here.


KRAMER: By the way, thanks a lot for inviting me to the flea market.


ELAINE: What?


KRAMER: Yeah, Jerry, he told me all about it.


GEORGE: Oh great.


JERRY: I didn't know.


ELAINE: Oh, so that's why you were acting so funny.

GEORGE: Well I didn't know you wanted to go to the flea market.



MIKE: A flea market? You went to a flea market??

GEORGE: Hey, who's talking to you?


ELAINE: We just didn't think of you.


KRAMER: You said it, sister.


GEORGE: What? Every time I leave my house now I have to call everybody I know and ask them if they want to do what I'm doing?



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - how many times have you said that???????? You say that all the time. PFFFFFFFFFFfff. You're the George!!!!!! HAHAHAHA




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Ugh, how did I become the George?? I've been told by countless people that I'm Elaine.....but now George.....what the hell!!! Ha!

I feel a bit like a vase that has been shattered into a million little pieces. It doesn’t matter how hard you try to glue the pieces back together, they’re not whole anymore but rather broken and fragile. I’ve been feeling a bit melancholy and empty as of late for one reason or another. I’ll snap out of it eventually as these feelings seem to come and go as sure as the sun rises and sets, so I’m not too concerned about them. They’re mere speed bumps in my journey nothing more and nothing less. I'm just thankful that mine are minute in comparison to the bumps that other people must face.

For that I am grateful.

An addendum, I wrote this a few days ago.....and then I watched an episode of Oprah. She had on two guests, the first was a woman who was shot in the face by her partner and therefore needed a face transplant. The second was a little girl with "mermaid" syndrome. Both women had an amazing outlook on life, were strong and very inspiring. They have persevered through the unthinkable and made me realize that I really need to be more thankful for all that I have. In fact I felt like a ginormous asshole for writing the above after I watched the show, I always feel bad for feeling bad, like oohhhh poor me when I see stories such as theirs. So now not only do I feel like a broken shattered vase but an asshole at that!

I'll be fine.

I had a lovely weekend visiting with my gal pals that I don't get to see very often. L and I spent a leisurely Friday getting cute pedicures at this quiet little shop. As if that wasn't relaxing enough we then headed over to this Japanese restaurant to have lunch and catch up some more. It was great as the waitress sat us on the opposite side of the restaurant from everyone else so it was super cozy and again nice and quiet.


We then went shopping and eventually ended up at her friends place......this like 70ish year old man that loooovveesss to party. He has this crazy bar set up in his living room full on with a 200 CD changer, flashing lights and bizzaro nick nacks. We stayed there for a few brewskis and then headed on our way. I'm not going to lie I would have stayed there all night but it was dinner time, he was already trashed and we both had to get home.


On Saturday a few of us got together with a friend who we rarely get to see as she lives a few hours away. We went for lunch and the conversation just kept a flowing. We reminisced about old times, laughed about current goings on and of course our inappropriate thoughts IE Why don't we date someone who is in AA.....then we'd have a DD......terrible I know but kinda funny nonetheless. Clumsy me of course catapults my chopstick off the table and it flips and flips through the air and thankfully lands right beside me. I seriously thought it was going to hit someone behind me in the face....I would have died had that happened. It was really great to have lunch with the girls as we laughed so hard tears were streaming down our faces. We're all absolutely ridiculous I love it!!


LD and I heard that there were baseball tournaments going on all weekend so we hit up the Wrinkle Ranch to check out the talent. She got hit on by a 43 year old man and Burt Reynolds twin asked me to dance.....I declined. That place is fantastic for entertainment as the clientele are VERY interesting and run anywhere from 19 to 85 years old. The old men line up near the washrooms to oogle the women, cougars are everywhere and the pieces of clothing people wear are priceless. They played old tunes like Funky Cold Medina, Strokin and Just a Friend by Biz Markie. Seriously what could be better!!!!

We finished off the weekend on a patio bar for lunch. The weather was phenomenal and we figured the place would be packed but we were sooooo wrong. It was like a ghost town down there which was surprising as it's the place to be in the summer and it was nice and hot out. We could have cared less as we got a prime parking spot and our choice of table so it was perfect.

Clearly my waistline isn't enjoying my eating in restaurants everyday as I seem to have magically gained ohhhhh 8 pounds back this summer. I mean when you think about that calorie wise it's really quite disgusting as 3500 calories equals one pound. Spin class tonight anyone??

So I was at the park recently with a child (not mine obviously) and it was absolutely barren, just the two of us which was nice. No screaming kids running around and lots of room for us to play. Anyway a work truck pulled up and I recognized one of the workers as a guy I used to go to high school with. We were friends, hung out a bit and lost touch once everyone went their separate ways to Uni/College.

I saw another girl that I used to work with 10 years ago at this same park about a month ago. I avoided her at all costs....not because I didn't like her....but because I hate seeing people so many years later as I've grown a bit sideways instead of vertically and am terribly self conscious about it. I also hate small talk and answering trivial questions about my singledom.

Back to high school guy, clearly there was no avoiding this interaction as it would have been far too obvious had I jumped behind a tree or crawled under the jungle gym. There were no crowds to get lost in....so of course he came over and said hello. We did the usual pleasantries, where do you work, what's new etc. Of course the conversation turned to relationships:

HSG: So are you married?

MA: No

HSG: Are you seeing anyone?

MA: No

HSG: Really? Come on Miss Ash, why not? You gotta get out there!!


He then went on to talk about his baby that is on they way etc etc etc. It was nice running into him.....but made me once again feel inadequate as you see I get asked this question all of the time by people I haven't seen in a long time. My answer is always "no" and they always wonder why.


I used to volunteer at this place and became friends with one of the workers. He moved jobs, I stopped volunteering and we lost touch for a good year. Anyway, we eventually reconnected and he was like "for the love of God please tell me you've had a relationship in the past year" cause he had had a few and had even been engaged in the few years I had known him and yet I had always remained single. Same answer "nope" he was like "WTF??"

What the fuck indeed sir!!! There's a point to all of this.....I swear. So I have a friend who has joined a few dating websites and she's been bothering me to do the same. She's also told me that I have to go on at least one date before the end of this year. I was also talking to a fellow blogger about this and the possibility of trying the whole online thing. We both know a few cool couples who have hooked up this way which makes me feel a bit better.......like there are some interesting (not creepy interesting) but interesting cats out there. I'm sooooo close to giving it a whirl but I have a feeling my self consciousness will take charge and I'll end up with a shitload of internet friends as I'll refuse to meet any of them due to my insecurities. Bah!! What to do what to do.......

Wiwille recently posted a horrendously embarrassing story where he felt the need to intervene and stand up for some Subway workers while a man yelled his order at them. Go over and read the story as it's quite funny in an oops I was trying to be helpful but became a jackass sort of way.


It reminded me of this one time I was about to board a streetcar. As people were exiting and I was waiting to get on I notice this young boy ripping up pieces of paper and throwing them out of the window and onto the street. What the fuck??? For those of you that don't really know me, I despise and I do mean despise litter bugs. Not only was he throwing shit out of the window but he was ripping the garbage up into teeny tiny pieces. Maybe he didn't get the memo .... there was no ticker tape parade going on that day.


So I finally get on and as I do I glare not only at the child but at the adult sitting beside him. I then sit directly across from them and as I'm about to ask how the hell they think it's okay to throw shit out the window and how disgusted I am with them both the kid starts freaking out. He grabs the adults hair (which is long) and starts to rip it out of her head and won't let go. Another woman from the back of the street car runs up to try and help her before I can even move an inch. They seem to know one another and the child's name, put him in a non violent crisis intervention move and interlock their legs with his and bend his head over. I look around and realize there are a lot of younger kids on the car with a few adults scattered in between...they're all on some type of excursion.


Turns out the litter bug was autistic and I am really really happy that I kept my mouth shut granted it was not on purpose but only because he started to grab that woman's hair. Otherwise I would have gotten on my soapbox and started telling him he was an asshole and that the "mother" should have taught him better and how the youth of today are not respectful. So sometimes it's best to keep ones mouth shut regardless of what's going on!

Sidenote, I went to school with a guy who turned out to be schizophrenic. He got himself into trouble with the law recently and some jackass wrote a letter to the editor about how he should rot in jail etc. The guy from school broke a few windows people....okay quite a few but not residential properties. Anyway I felt like writing back to the jackass about how you don't always know what is going on and everything is not as it seems. His mental health issues were never printed in the paper so this guy just figured he was some hooligan wasting a Saturday night trashing other people's property. I was absolutely livid and wanted to rip him a new one telling him to get all of his facts straight and to learn the meaning of compassion.

Okay so my posts have been a bit cranky rather than glass half full lately for whatever reason. For Yrautcas sake I'll try to make this one a little less Debbie Downer!

This past long weekend I went up to a friends cottage for 4 days and had a blast. We drank appalling amounts of alcohol, sat around a blazing fire and played a few silly games (which of course landed me with a gigantic bruise on my arm and I now have to wear longer shirts to work this week.....only it's 30 degrees outside and I don't really have any 3/4 length shirts...fuck). We also met a bunch of 20 year old boys errrr men who loved nothing more than to hear their own voices. Of course us ladies secretly named a few of them: (Please note NONE of us were interested in them they just wanted to party with some old folks and try to impress not only the women but the men as well with their ridiculous stories)

Chatty Kathy, loved loved loved to talk about himself and how wonderful he was, how great his work was and how much he knew about everything.

Dirty Stache, also loved to talk non stop however was more tolerable than CK. I would assume his nickname would be self explanatory ..... but if you don't get it, he had a wee bit of peach fuzz above his top lip.

Those two were brothers and had a father up there who was nice enough.....to the men....but seemed to dislike the ladies. He gave all our male friends shirts from his bar, wanted to take them tubing (or toobing) etc. Where the fuck is my shirt buddy???

FNG: fucking new guy.....he came up later than the rest, seemed pleasant enough though could barely stand up as he was soooooo wasted. I didn't really talk to him as he wasn't able to function much less carry on a conversation.

There was another one who let's just say LD dubbed my boyfriend....I'll leave it at that because it's super mean....but kinda funny all at the same time! He really seemed to look up to one of our male friends and would repeat everything that he said which after a few cocktails made the ladies laugh. It's funny how we can just look at one another and automatically lose it with a glance.

So anyway for whatever reason this group of people kept coming over to our fire and hanging out with us. I forget how they originally showed up or how we became their new best friends but they were around a lot. They were great for entertainment albeit slightly annoying as "I hate them" was uttered more than once from the gals but I did laugh like crazy more than once.

There's also an embarrassing story about yours truly that I shall never repeat but I was crying I was laughing so hard at myself. Partly mortifying and partly fucking hilarious!

I've vowed to take it easy after the 20th and tone it down a bit as I really enjoyed this summer a little too much if you know what I mean. Too much partying and random bruises do not do a body good! It's time to get back to my goals, read some books, get my ass to the gym and relax a bit. Unfortunately my throat started to feel a bit odd last night, tight (if that makes any sense) like it's swollen and hurts when I swallow. Cross your fingers it's just a sore throat and nothing worse like strep cause I have a long long day at work tomorrow and no time for Dr's appointments! Oi!

Things that annoy me:



I don't care how long it takes me to type a proper text or a proper email but for the love of God people PLEASE stop using ridiculous short forms. I cringe every time I see U, R, gr8 or ur in one of these forms of communication. Guess what....I only have 140 characters to type per text as well and I still manage to type you, are, great, your or you're in there.



I've been single for ages but I can guarantee when I do get a partner that I won't ignore the friends I used to be close with. I know a few people like that they're all consumed by their relationships and spend every waking breathing hour with their boyfriend/girlfriend. It kind of makes me laugh when things fizzle because my phone starts ringing again.......only I don't care to go out of my way to hang out with my newly single friend.


This next one sort of goes hand in hand with the above pet peeve. I also don't understand when I invite my friend somewhere that they think it's an automatic invite for their significant other as well. It's like nooooo I asked you to the movie or for a drink or whatever. It would be different if there was a group of people going, but sometimes you just want Q time with a certain person. I had a friend that was soooo stuck to her boyfriend that she invited him to our friends birthday luncheon.......that was specifically for the girls! The birthday girls husband was not even there.....but our friends boyfriend was!



It really gets under my skin when I answer the phone "hello" and no one answers back. If you're lucky I may say hello one more time before hanging up but it's not very likely. I figure if it's important the person will call back and actually put some words together so I can hear them.

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Anyway I'm heading up north tomorrow for the long weekend and am hoping that the highway is not jammed......cross your fingers!!! Enjoy whatever it is you are doing for this last bit of summer as it's already getting chilly down here brrrrr!!!!

Love it or hate it facebook really is a magical tool. I had somehow managed to change my keyboard to the Canadian Multilingual option and was unable to type a question mark without é popping up. Of course there was a super simple solution but I hadn't a clue what it was; that was where facebook came in handy. I changed my status to explain my conundrum and within seconds I had 2 messages and a phone call telling me how to fix it! Yay for technology!!


I bought a rather large picture the other day and had to maneuver my way through the mall to get to the car while carrying this very cumbersome box. You would think that people would notice such a thing and I don't know maybe move out of the bloody way but of course not. What the fuck is wrong with people? I had one guy get off of the escalator and actually clip the corner of the box as he walked right into me.....another man was walking right towards me and I had to jump out of his way.....two girls cut me off.....it was amazing how fucking rude people were. My friend was beside me the whole time yelling at everyone who got in my way and that made me laugh!! I honestly thought that someone might see how awkward it was to carry the gigantic box and offer to help, instead they just kept knocking into me. I hate people!



A bouquet to my friends for helping me with the facebook question and a brick to the assholes at the mall!

I wasn't able to read blogs this week or do much of anything internet wise as I did not have access during the evening. Clearly I'm super reliant on this bloody thing as it was torture....pure torture for me to go without......sad but true!! I did however get a lot of reading done that I never would have otherwise gotten around to.

Anyway it's late and I'm a bit knackered so I've filled out a meme that I got off of Jlee. I've deleted some of the questions as they're silly so the #'s won't match up. I'm sure no one will care much about my answers to begin with but does anyone really care if I've kissed anyone named Matthew.....or if I can play guitar hero?? No! I didn't think so! Have a great weekend!!


1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Oh the things I could say......but I won't!! It was a water bottle people a big silver water bottle!

3. Where was your profile picture taken? Yonge Street outside of a pub, I was searching through my purse looking for my phone and had no idea the photo was being taken.

5. Name someone that made you laugh today: Kelly....I had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so hard!

6. How late did you stay up last night and why? Midnight, I usually try to be in bed between 12am and 1am.

7. If you could move somewhere else, would you? Of course.....somewhere warm....and fun....and exciting.....with hot guys.

10. Do you believe ex's can be friends? Maybe though I've not gone that route, why bother I figure it's over for a reason.

11. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? I feel nothing....

12. When was the last time you cried really hard? Last week....I was obviously feeling a little sorry for myself.

14. What bed did you sleep in last night? Not mine......intrigued?? Nah I didn't think so......

15. What was the last thing someone bought for you? Lunch....dim sum....it was yummy!!

16. Who took your profile picture? Good ole Moe

17. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Do felines count??

18. Was yesterday better than today? YES!!! I was stuck in ridiculous traffic today AND my brakes started making bizzaro grinding noises....

19. Can you live a day without TV? I can but I probably wouldn't like it!

20. Are you mad about anything? YES, my brakes!!! I don't know if it's my driving or what but I seem to go through them like crazy!

22. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Maybe....but at the moment I'm not so sure. It just seems like one would take too much effort and energy that could be put to better use.

24. Night out or night in? Night out....I love love love going out! I love listening to music and dancing and laughing with friends and at strangers and playing TYB and eating grease at 4am!

25. What items could you not go without during the day? Lip gloss, water, sunglasses & of course my cell phone.

27. What does the last text message in your inbox say? 307...I actually sent that to myself so that I would remember what page I was on as I didn't have a bookmark when I was reading last night.

36. Name something you have to do tomorrow? Get a massage (my neck is fucking killing me), get my brakes fixed and celebrate J's bday!!

37. Do you think too much or too little? Waaaay too much and lately in the evenings when I'm trying to go to bed. I find sleeping a tad bit difficult lately as my mind seems to be on overdrive.

39. Who was your last missed call on your Mobile phone? PP, I had my phone on silent.

40. Is there something you always wear? Yes the colour black! To be more specific my black shirt with the buttons......those who are sick of it will be happy.....I discovered that one of my buttons is gone *sniff*

41. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Driving, I was enjoying myself, sunroof open singing along to my CD until I turned the music low. Then I was cringing while I listened to this horrific grinding sound coming from my car. It's probably been doing this for weeks.....I always have my music on and of course rather loud.

42. Did you have an exciting last weekend? Exciting no, relaxing yes!

43. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes as a kid I would sometimes forget my keys and have to crawl through the kitchen window which I might add was not low to the ground.

47. What's something that can always make you feel better? Curling up in my bed listening to Trent belt out a few tunes and having a good cry!

48. Will this weekend be a good one? I anticipate a gong show, lots of laughs and drinks and great company!

Just in case there was any question as to how much of a loser I am......this might help to remind you.....I spent Saturday night curled up in my bed alone watching Fiddler on the Roof!!! I seriously wanted to jump up and start dancing when Tevye started shaking his shoulders and singing away; it was wonderful!! It's been ages since I've seen the movie and I loved every second of it! I also Tivo'd West Side Story though have yet to watch it. I must be in a musical sort of mood!






I also watched Sleepy Hollow and of course Johnny Depp made me laugh in his portrayal of Ichabod Crane. He always plays these bizarre, quirky characters (Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka, Sweeny Todd) and never ceases to amaze me. I am super excited for his Alice In Wonderland debut in March as A) I think he will make a fantastic Mad Hatter and B) I freaking love love love Tim Burton films!! Ah something to look forward to......







Friday I spent the evening sitting by a fire with some high school pals. We all brought munchies (grown up munchies brie cheese with pepper jelly, baguettes with oil and basil...fancy stuff) and made some interesting drinks that involved Chambourd (yum). The one girl I've been terrible at keeping in touch with, another I see periodically though we're good friends and the last one I talk to quite regularly. You know how some friendships don't need constant attention....you don't talk for months and then get right back to where you left off with ease; it was like that.

It felt good to just chill out around the fire with great company, no loud music or drunk people bumping into you, no need to get all dressed up or worry about catching a cab home......I need to spend more evenings like this!!

I was walking one of my clients up the stairs to my office recently when I felt my foot get caught on something. I pulled it forward (dumbest idea ever) and heard this horrific ripping sound. "Oh fuck" I screamed out, then made an oops face and covered my mouth. I didn't want to look down as I knew what had happened but I forced myself to anyway. There crumbled around my feet were my favorite pairs of shoes.....strap dangling....completely irreparable.

I put on a happy face for my client, pretended it was no big deal and got down to business; meanwhile inside I was seething! As soon as he left I found the designers website and emailed the folks there to find out if the strap could be replaced (I doubt it but wishful thinking). Then I called the store where I purchased the bloody things and low and behold they had my size in the same pair and they were on sale!!! *Squeal*

I was extremely thankful that I was able to at least replace the shoes regardless of the fact that the original pair were fairly new. The bleh news is that this little incident is sort of reminiscent of the direction my week has been going. I haven't had much sleep in the past four days (like 4 hours a night if I'm lucky) and for whatever reason people have been driving me absolutely bonkers. I know that I'm losing my patience when I get really really stern with clients and even yell at them as I'm a pretty easy going gal. I mean can you blame me; one guy asked how he was going to find a place after I had SHOWED him on mapquest and GAVE him the address AND directions. There was really nothing else I could do asides from driving him down there myself which I wasn't about to do.

Let's just say I've uttered "you've got to be fucking kidding me" to myself at least 10 times this week as people I've been trying to contact for over a year are finally coming out of the woodwork expecting me to work magic in less than a week for them. It's exhausting!

I also found a great big spider IN my bed and had to sit through a nasty lightning storm this evening (you all know how much I love those) but I can't complain as other places quite close by had possible tornadoes, blackouts, downed trees & streetlights. I say possible tornadoes as Environment Canada has to make that judgement however I saw videos of funnel clouds and more than one house missing a roof so I'm pretty sure of what their conclusion will be.

Anyway, here's to hoping that the weekend brings me a little happiness and cheer and of course a much needed break from the daily grind! Happy Friday!!

Are you all familiar with the Simpsons episode where Sara Gilbert plays the neighbour Laura?? I'm sure many of you are. Anyway it reminds me every once in a while of my life.......probably a terrible analogy but whatever it's mine and I think of that episode often. Usually when someone of the opposite sex makes me feel like an asshole. Perhaps I'm being overly dramatic (most likely) but I get this vision of the person ripping out my heart and stomping on it (not like the episode where she mearly throws Bart's heart against the wall) but full on stomping!!! That's what I envision happening to me!!

My friends that read this will surely be saying WTF, who is she talking about, what's going on??? Believe me (belief) I'm fine, but for whatever reason anytime that anything goes even remotely awry.....that's what I picture and I can't help it!! Kinda funny, bit bizarre but seriously that's what I think of! Don't worry ladies and gents nothing like that his happening at the moment, just thought I'd share with you one of my oddities...is that a word ???? Miss Ash getting personal since 2009!!

It was another busy weekend away with friends. I've posted some photos of the jail we took a tour of:


(Main area)



(Escape attempt)

(Where the hangings would take place. The open brick area is where the trap door used to lay and the people would fall down below)



(Cells)

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We went out for dinner and drinks afterwards and stayed at the Duke for a good 8 hours enjoying the sun and each others company. I also really enjoyed this deep fried mars bar (I took the photo a few bites in I just couldn't help myself) so delightfully yummy!! Apparently so was the beer as I managed to drink my fair share over those 8 hours and have a few apologies to make.....oops!!

The next day I got a little tour of the area where PP has her apartment as we had to grab a few items before heading out. It's super cute and full of life, little boutiques, my fav quick yummy Asian restaurant, the kind of place you could spend a leisurely afternoon window shopping and eating ice cream. We then went to a BBQ at a friends house who I haven't seen in quite some time. There was some karaoke, poker and catching up with one another. Another friend also showed up whom I haven't seen in a good year so it was great to be able to hang out with him as well. We dropped him off downtown and then headed home in the wee hours of the morning arriving close to 2am. I actually thought the drive would be much longer due to construction and well my luck but surprisingly traffic was flowing in our favour.

On Sunday I went swimming at a friends place and sure enough another friend that I haven't seen in a very long time came by for a visit with her new baby girl. We made plans for a girls night this weekend as we have much more catching up to do. Apparently I'm terrible with keeping in touch and seeing some of my friends but I sure as hell made up for it this weekend!

I freaking loved being able to lounge by the pool enjoying the sun and just being able to relax in the city. I've been sort of here there and everywhere lately either on mini road trips or visiting friends out of town that it's rare to find me actually situated near home hanging out, it felt great!

Of course the next few weekends are full as well ( I anticipate being away for the next four as there birthdays galore out of town and a long weekend) but I really can't complain, once mid September hits I'll surely be craving the sun and some fun as things tend slow down around that time. I've been SLACKING on my goal list like you wouldn't believe and hope to get back to working on my list once the summer has ended granted I have a lot of items that need to be completed in the summer. Bah!! Hope you all had a great weekend as well!!!

Wiwille mentioned Bel Biv Devoe in his latest post and it reminded me of a time many moons ago. I was on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach, probably around age 12 or so. I never had cable growing up and spent a good part of my vacation in the evening watching MTV so I could see all of the latest videos. It was heaven for me!! I was also a HUGE New Kids on the Block fan (shut it!) and saw a commercial where they were performing live on the tube and I desperately wanted to tape it, only hotels didn't really have VCR's or anything for guests to use. (Please note I taped fucking everything back then....seriously I had over 100 VHS tapes full of crap).

My mother and I went on a mad search for a recording device when this lovely hotel employee offered to tape the show for me at his house if I brought him a tape. So off we went to the local drugstore and purchased a tape. The employee kept to his word and brought me the recording the very next morning. There were a lot of other videos as well as the guy seemed to let the tape run and run. I remember Bel Biv Devoes "Poison" being on the tape:


Hearts "All I want to do (is make love to you)" as well:



I was also a huge fan of Roxettes Joyride CD, Paula Abduls Cold Hearted video and Poison cira the Unskinny Bop days! Don't completely judge me.....I had good taste back then as well, I did go to a Cure concert when I was 13 after all!!!

Anyway I can't believe that I was so addicted to taping everything that I had an employee tape my bloody show and for NKOTB to boot!!! Such a nerd...... I probably still have that tape somewhere.........and really what the hell am I talking about (WAS so addicted??) I bought a Tivo last year so that I could tape two shows at once! At least I don't save all that shit anymore I just watch and delete!!

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The weekend once again is booked up as there's never a dull moment in the summer. On the agenda: a tour of a jail, dinner and drinks with my gals (hopefully at this bar where we always seem to meet/sit with ridiculously entertaining people lest we forget Leslie the homophobic conservative who liked to invade personal space....he was a treat) and then off to a BBQ the next day where I plan to work on my wrinkles errr tan! Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh Jennifer you would have been so proud of me today, I saw the hottest man ever standing on the street while I was waiting to turn from a parking lot. He was nice and tall, dark hair, muscles and a great tan. He had on a tank top but was putting on a t-shirt over it. I literally sat and stared at him while he did this and felt like it was happening in slow motion. I wouldn't have moved however some biatch was trying to get into the parking place and I was in her way so I had to go. Anyway I continued to stare as I drove by and then I smiled at him (people I'm the worst flirt EVER and not that smiling is flirting but you know what I mean, normally I would have gawked from a far and drove off, which I kinda did but at least I smiled). Of course he gave me a nice big grin back *sigh* so yummy!!! (Please note: Jennifer will not be impressed at all by this story as I didn't wind my window down and whistle or throw my business card at him)

(pic by C. Dennis of Sunday evenings storm.....look at that menacing cloud)

Severe thunder storms imminent, wind gusts up to 110 Km/h, large hail and torrential downpours. Remember some severe thunderstorms produce tornadoes.

That is what I saw staring back at me last night on the weather network website, oh fuck!

I'm sure some of you remember that I am horribly afraid of thunderstorms, I'll take the wind and hail........even the tornado.......but please please please leave out the thunder and lightning. To make matters worse I was watching a friends dog and went over to her place just before the storm hit. She has two large glass doors with no curtains in her kitchen and sheer curtains in her living room. I lasted all of 5 minutes upstairs before the booming/light show became too much for me to handle. Seriously it sounded like it was right above her house taunting me, rattling the windows and some glasses on the table, it was so strong the house shook. It was unbelievable from what I'm told, flashes every few seconds for over an hour. I wouldn't have a clue, I perched myself on her basement steps with a flashlight in one hand and cellphone in the other. I eventually grabbed a magazine to help pass the time but it was hard to concentrate as my heart was pounding and my hands shaking. It lasted a good hour or more but felt like 10. Apparently the storm did a little damage as trees were knocked down, rooftops were ripped off and many people were still left without power on Monday morning.

I got very little sleep that night as the storm ended close to 1am. I checked the local newspaper on the web this afternoon and what do I see but a "severe thunderstorm" warning AGAIN. UGH!!! I left work an hour early as the sky was getting black and I was lucky enough to only hit the tale end of the storm.

(Pic of the nasty sky from my cell on the way home, it's like sunny to the right and gloomy in front)


I'm happy to report it was less lightning and more rain though the highway was completely flooded, people were driving like 2 km/h and a transport truck totally cut me off on a bridge. I had to slam on my brakes (we were actually moving at a good pace at that point) and try to swerve out of his way while laying on my horn and cursing the son of a bitch.

I've never been embarrassed per se about my fear as I don't think it's completely out of the norm. It's other peoples reaction to my phobia that makes me feel embarrassed......like they think it's completely irrational. Either way I really don't care what they think though I have toyed with the idea of getting some type of help for this issue of mine. I don't think I'd consider CBT as they would most likely make me stand out in a storm to face my fear....maybe some type of hypnotherapy. Suggestions anyone, anyone??