Sunday, June 27, 2010

This Sickens Me

What is wrong with this world? Yeah, yeah, the G20 probably should NOT have been held in Toronto in the first place, but what is the point of so much useless destruction?

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Playing Ketchup

Every time I tell my students they need to "catch up" on their work, they think they're hilarious and ask, "Mustard too?" Hardy har har.

Anyway, I'm playing catch up today with pictures from two weekends that I meant to blog about a while back. The first was when my mammy came to visit and the second is when my mammy came to visit (two weekends in a row, aren't I lucky) with my Aunt.

So... let's go!

Here's my mom enjoying a frosty pina colada on a rooftop patio. Next time you order a pina colada, get it with amaretto instead of rum. Ohhhh sooo goooood.
We tried out sushi at a new restaurant that had recently opened near me. Tasted good, but the rolls were very small.
And then we went bike riding to burn all those calories off!
The next weekend when both my mom and aunt came was action packed! We went down to the Harbourfront and took a boat tour that dropped us off midway through at the Toronto Islands.
I had never been to the islands before, so that was pretty fun and was actually a goal of mine to complete for my 36 in 365 challenge.
Here's my aunt, who's either really tiny, or that's quite a large chair.
Next we took the streetcar down to the Beaches and walked along the boardwalk, resting for a few cocktails along the way!
I introduced them to bibimbop at a Korean restaurant. Yum.
Smile!
And yeah, that was exhausting!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

That's Just The Kind Of Guy He Is

A few weeks ago I took my car in to get a recall fixed and the timing belt replaced. $350, okay fine, I can deal with that. About an hour after I dropped the car off I received an email from good ole Bert outlining an "action plan". This, that, and the other thing must be replaced (of course) at the low, low price of $1842.42. Good grief!

I immediately emailed my dad, freaking out, asking what actually needed to be fixed and what they were trying to screw me around for. My dad told me to stick with the original plan and he'd fix a lot of the problems himself (for cheap... err, otherwise known as free). We traded cars last weekend and he's been working to fix my car up for me since then.

Isn't he nice? That's just the kind of guy he is. He'll doing anything humanly possible to help his kids. Thanks, Dad! What would we do without you?!

Monday, June 21, 2010

The One With A Lot Of Pictures

Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day with brunch at my brother's house. I hung out with this little cutie...
and this still little, but bigger cutie.
My mom is the all-time swinging machine.
This guy was tuckered out after the park, and no stroller means Aunty J to the rescue. He weights a ton! Love the facial expressions :)
Popsicle stains and all!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The Furminator

This is Bama. He is one furry fellow.
I hate fur or hair of any sort, which is the main reason I don't like animals. Except, for some strange reason, I love this dog. A lot. I'm pretty much obsessed with him. Good old Bama is coming to live with M and I after we get settled in Chicago :)

If I am going to have a dog though, I must never find dog fur in my morning cheerios. I also dislike fur sticking to my clothes, but Bama's fur isn't the sticking kind, thankfully. I tried using the brush that Bama already has and it did nothing, so I started investigating good brushes. Enter THE FURMINATOR.
It's amazing! It removes the undercoat plus loose hairs and man, does it ever work! It's supposed to reduce shedding up to 90%. If you want to be shocked and amazed, go watch one of the demos on the furminator website.
Here's the pile of fur we collected after furminating for about 10 minutes. I should start a wig business.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Look Out Chicago!

It's official!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Blackhawk's Parade

Perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity - M and I got the chance to watch the Blackhawk's Parade yesterday! M works very close to the parade route, so we headed down to wait for it to begin!
They were a bit behind schedule so we waited some more.
Then newspaper began falling from the sky.
And finally, the trolleys were in sight!
Here's the last trolley with Kane, Toews, and the Stanley Cup!
w00t! Go Hawks Go!
After the parade we headed down to see the rally.
So many people everywhere! Especially that guy's big head.
There were so many people we could only get this close to see the screen.
The news said there were 2 million people down there. Crazy! No wonder we had to wait for four trains to get on the el! History in the making! Next we headed to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs vs White Sox game. Fun day!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Fancy, Fancy

Over the past weekend my mom and aunt came to visit and we went for high tea at The Royal York, because we are just that fancy. Here is the menu you can peruse before entering the Library Bar, where high tea is served.
And here's the cushy couch I sat on, which was sorta a bad idea. I had to put one pillows under me and one behind me so that my chin wasn't so low it was resting on the table :)
To begin, we ordered three types of tea so that we could try different flavours - Cherry, Berry Berry, and Orange Tangerine.. or something like that. When they brought they tea out, they somehow messed up who ordered which flavour, so I'm still not sure which was which. Not that it really matters to a non tea connoisseur like myself. All I know is that the tea was tasty and tasted like tea.
Our first course began with a summer berry cocktail which had perfectly ripened raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. They also served us a toasted crumpet with honey butter that I believe they made themselves on their rooftop (at least that's what the menu said).
Next up were traditional finger sandwiches including 1) lobster with greens and herbs, 2) smoked salmon with dill creme fraiche, 3) brie with strawberries and mandarin oranges, and 4) turkey with some type of cheese and maybe apples. My memory is fuzzy. Yum.
Our third course was scones with organic cream and little jams. This was my favourite. Delectable.
And last, but certainly not least came the dessert tray. I was so stuffed. We had a mini berry tart, fresh cream swans, flourless chocolate cake, a lemon something, and an almond type cookie. Holy jeebus.
And that is that! We are now high tea experts (ha!) and have experienced tea at The King Eddy and now The Royal York. The food here was very good but I missed having the little three tiered trays that look so cute. Our table was waaaaaaaay too small for so many dishes and the atmosphere was a little crowded. It was definitely not as posh as The King Eddy either. Soooo, although our high tea was just lovely, I would recommend The King Eddy over The Royal York.

Mother or Aunt Leah, do you have anything to add?

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Counting Down

Today after school I was writing the date on the board to get ready for tomorrow. Do you see what I see?
Let's get right in there.
Holy smokes, only 18 days of school left! I can't quite believe it. My class this year has probably been the best I've had in my five years of teaching. We've had a lot of fun.

On another note, I've been so confused by this picture in the staff washroom lately. It appeared one day and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was a picture of.
I actually had to ask another staff member. Ha ha, I'm a little slow some days.
It's hard to see in the reflection, but of course it's another countdown! I'm pretty sure teachers are always more excited about summer vacation than their students! By the way, look at the concentration on my face in that pic, lol!

I have some franfreakingtastic summer plans in the works, how about you?