Just Around The Corner

For a while now Tom and I have been talking about going to a Roughrider game in Calgary. Since his birthday is before a game in Calgary we seized the opportunity! Besides football, it would be a great weekend getaway for us. After we bribed secured a babsitter for the weekend (thanks Tom's mom!)it was time to find a hotel. My being a fancy pants, I smiled my sweetest smile (yes, it hurt) at Tom and begged for something swanky. After all, it's not like we do this all of the time. So we logged on to Hotwire and took a shot. What was to lose? Aside from getting stuck in a cockroach infested hellhole. We decided on a 4-star hotel in downtown Calgary. No idea what we just paid for we eagerly awaited an email. Here is what we reserved...The Westin. Bee-utiful! Not sure I'll ever want to leave. So far Hotwire is not too shabby! Time will tell. And so will my blog.

Weekend Project Complete!

(Completed many weeks ago. But that's neither here nor there.)

Before. An unused and neglected turtle.









After! A frequently used puppy pool.









Yzerman (white puppy) loves it. Cowboy (black and white) is still getting used to the whole idea. Mostly it's just a big water dish for him.

Project: Success!

Weekend Project

Since my lamp project/experiment is taking a bit longer than I anticipated, I've decided to do another project in the meantime. Turning a children's sandbox into a puppy pool! Recently my family has adopted two westie-x puppies (west highland terrier/shih tzu). The one little fella has short hair (reminds me of a webkinz). The other fella has a longer coat and he loves, loves, LOVES water. So! I thought since my girls really don't use the sandbox much anymore that I should turn it into a puppy pool. Many moons ago we used it as a pool for my oldest daughter when she was a wee one and it worked like a charm! Greatest part is that the turtle has a lid so it will keep the bugs out and the water stays warm.

So stay tuned. You know you wanna ;-)

Tapping Into My Inner Designer - Part Deux

Today I officially began searching for ideas for my DIY lamp project. Confident that I'd come across a drum shade no prob while at The Home Depot! No such luck. So far anyway.

Not letting the first roadblock get me down I continued on and began looking at spray paint colours. Red and yellow and black - oh, my! Then I looked to my left and saw the fluorescent colours. I was thinking of being bold but not that bold. Eek! Will have to save that fun for another adventure. One choice that did catch my eye was a chocolate brown. Only if I can find an appealing fabric or wallpaper (yes, I said wallpaper) to go with it. Problem with wallpaper is that I am not dealing with a perfect cylinder shade. To add to the horror, the lamp shades that came with the lamps I have are ribbed. Argh. New lamp shades it is! May not be my desired drum shade but we shall see!

Last stop was the wallpaper section. So many gorgeous large prints to choose from *drool*. Many that would look great with a chocolate brown lamp base. I took many *cough*generous*cough* samples. Fingers crossed that I can find my very much desired lamp shade. Really would prefer to stay away from fabric. I am a person of very little patience. Fabric + Me - Patience = Not a Pretty Sight.

Before I end this post. I just want to post the cutest lamp. I would love to transform my shades to look like that but am not so sure Tom would agree.



Love the daisies but think I'd go with something more colorful like a gerbera daisy. My favorite flower for any of you who feel like sending me flowers. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

Photo taken from Steven & Chris

Tapping Into My Inner Designer - Part 1

Time for another experiment. I'm on the edge of my seat, are you?

Last weekend my mother-in-law was good enough to come in from out of town to babysit. Being typical Diana she had to indulge in some garage sales first. She loves a bargain! She arrived with an armful of clothes for my girls. Then there were the lamps. Dut dut duuuuuuu! Apparently she got a great deal on them and couldn't pass them up. Had intended on taking them home with her but was concerned that my father-in-law would get cranky about it. Gee, I wonder why. So on my deck they stayed. Either we could keep them or perhaps my newly single brother-in-law might want them. Doubtful. That's when my inner designer kicked in. Why not try to fix them up? What's there to lose? My only concern being that my MIL would want them back and no I'm not joking. Once I got past the tacky gold accents and faded burgundy shades, I thought that it just might be possible to fix these bad boys up! The shades, obviously, are an easy fix. Just need to try and curb my expensive taste - tee hee. The shape of the lamp bases are not too shabby. Of course the gold has got to go! Blissful images of spray paint cans swirled around in my head. Do I play it safe and just grab a can of silver? Or dare I be bold and go with colour. Who knew lamps could bring so much excitement to ones life! Can't wait to go shopping!

To be continued...

Do NOT Try This At Home

Here's my first experiment. Not at all planned and never want to do it again. While on staycation last week my cat escaped out of the house and disappeared overnight. Made for a looong night of tossing and turning. Here were some of my thoughts:

Car screeches to a halt on a street - "Oh man, wonder if she's on the road."
Dog barks - "Oh man, wonder if she's by the dog."
Wind blows a bush - "Oh man, wonder if she's in the bush."
Bird chirps - "Oh man, was that her? Nope. Stupid noisy bird."
Rabbit catches my eye outside - "Oh man, is that her? Nope. Kill the wabbit."

Although traumatic and horrible at the time, it's now kinda humorous. Since then I have smothered my cat with tons of affection. Most likely giving her reason to try and escape from the house yet again.

That's a Spicey Meatball

So I've decided to spice things up a bit and start trying new things. Then post about them. I will be a guinea pig, of sorts. Nothing too crazy like sticking any body parts in electrical outlets or standing on a highway counting to see how many cars swerve around me before one finally takes me out, but I promise to do my best to entertain ;)

So stay tuned!

Just Shoot Me

Just need a moment to complain. I hate my allergies. I hate my allergies. I hate my allergies.

Someone please shoot me.

Okay. I feel a bit better now.

There is a problem completing your call

Last week I was emailed by my boss stating that I had to participate in on a conference call. Sadly this idea kinda excited me. Get to stay at home, pretend to pay attention and get paid for it! Just one teeny tiny problem - the call was to take place at noon. The time when I have my three daughters home for lunch. This was either going to go really well or really bad. With one minute to spare I had all my girls fed and occupied with some sort of entertainment.

I dialed the phone number given and entered the access code. Corporate ladder here I climb! Okay maybe not. But a bum can dream. At first I got to listen to some sweet hold music and then was finally transferred to the 'conference room'. Some guy kept asking if a certain so-and-so was there. Ummm, this is a conference call? The guy finally realized what an idiot he was and made a stupid joke about how if we hear from this person to tell him that he is fired. Everyone started letting out horribly fake laughs. I decided to let out my heartiest cheesy laugh I could muster up. How could I let a chance to make fun of others slip away? Just wouldn't be right.

Finally the moderator began the meeting. He asked if everyone had read the material. Ummm, I looked at the pictures? Didn't know we had to read anything. My bad. Of course all of the ass-kissers let out an immediate "yes!" I bet they even had family members quiz them on it.

As the meeting went on I noticed a humming noise on my phone which gradually turned into a high pitched get-into-your-storm-shelters-there's-a-storm-a-comin' screech. Personally I was just relieved it wasn't my children making all the racket. Yay me! I quickly pulled the phone away from my ear before getting permanent eardrum damage. The horrible noise finally subsided so I put the phone back up to my ear only to have it start screeching again. Deciding that I really didn't have time for this since lunchtime for my kids was almost over I helped them with what they needed. Every once in a while checking if the phone was still screaming. Once the kids were off and my youngest was busy playing I checked the phone again. Someone was saying that they were having problems with feedback and to turn our cellphones off. Cellphones? What great luck! Mine had been misplaced (thank-you Tom). Perhaps I could search through my house using the feedback as a guide. Sah-weet!!

After almost a half-hour of 'feedback' the moderator decided to have mercy on us and said that we'd have to try this another day. Aww, too bad! Just please don't have it at noon again. My kids can't always be angels.

Slap Chop!

The other day while getting ready for work the commercial for Slap Chop came on the television. Recognizing the Sham Wow guy I came to a stand still. There's just something about that Vince guy that intrigues me. Vince went on to show how great and how one cannot go on in life without one of these amazing gadgets. After slap chopping up some eggs, ham, green onion and a pickle, Vince went on to say "you're going to love my nuts." Say what in the where now? Another amusing part was the animated sparkles. Bee-utiful! Just when you thought life couldn't get any better, Vince makes the deal even sweeter by whipping out the Graty! Taco, Fettuccine, Linguine, Martini, Bikini. Vince should seriously have his own show. I know I would watch.

Infomercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbWjIKxrrs

Infomercial Parody Remix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaR4LcLbW8I