Because it's my favorite face to make

It was a snow day today! That meant that my work time was decreased...leaving me time to shovel the driveway between 8:20-9:30 this morning. I bet it would have been much easier to shovel when it was freshly fallen and pretty. Instead, there are frozen tire tread tracks that are stuck to my driveway. I broke one of our snow shovels (but only a little) trying to scrape it off. My arms and back are a little stiff...I could go for a massage right about now.

But the snow made this weekend that much more fabulous! It was a bit of a movie weekend. It started on Friday night when Mike and I watched Love Actually, in light of Christmas looming up ahead. If you have not seen that movie, you need to. I have a copy you can borrow.

Saturday held a matinee of Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. Oh, that Jack Black. I can't wait til Heather marries him. We also baby-sat a cute set of twins on Saturday night and that's when all the snow started. I got to use my 4x4 for the first time and I loved it. I feel so much safer than in the Tracker (RIP Ruth)...I can't believe I ever drove that beast in the snow.

Sunday, after church, we snuggled up with some After 8 Hot Chocolate (if you don't know what this is, you're missing out) and Elf. I forgot how much I love some of the lines in that movie! Another must see. And, finally, we ended the weekend off with the James Bond movie Casino Royale. Wayne asked us to go and then jammed out on us. Nice one Wayne. Although, I don't regret seeing it because it was pretty great. I admit, I was skeptical going in but I was a believer heading out.

So there you have it folks. Let's recap your assignments leading up to Christmas, shall we?
1. Watch Love Actually (remember, I have a copy I'm willing to lend you).
2. Watch Elf (you're on your own for this one).
3. Drink After 8 Hot Chocolate liberally through out holiday movie watching. I recommend this one topped with whipped cream. And it's almost Christmas...leave that low-fat crap for January. After all, a small blob of whip cream will not turn you into a giant blob.

Class dismissed!

Graphing Cupcakes

I'm back. I made it through the Great Computer Crash of 11/06. It wasn't fun, I hope to never have to do that again, but it's over! It's all handed in and I feel ok about it. At the very least, I'm the graphing queen (thanks for pointing that out, Cabbage;). 63 graphs over 4 days can spin a girl into that realm.

This morning brought it's own challenges. I tried to print something off for work only to discover that my printer had run out of ink. Where exactly does one find ink at 6:50 a.m. on a Monday? That's beyond me. But I feel pretty good about today and I've crawled out of the stress cave I've been living in for the past week and that, as Martha would say, is a good thing.

On a happier note, I'm going to Cupcakes tonight. We're thinking we might go find the newer one in Kits since we've never been to that one. Cupcakes make the world a happier place.

I would include more details of life but it seems that other people have taken care of that so I'm moving on to more important things...like shaving my legs.

Technology can kiss my...

The hard drive on my laptop just crashed and, although I saved on a floppy as I went along, I'm now faced with creating 20 graphs for the 3rd time because my home computers refuse to recognize my graphs because they have different versions of Excel than my laptop. And then I hated computers.

Must go now. I'm hating life just a little.

What ever happened to the mighty typewriter?

I just wanted more hot water

Mmm we're on the cusp of another weekend and I am ready. Last weekend was fabulous but it was also the Weekend of Horrible Customer Service. Beware that what follows is a rant. Not a very serious one, but a rant none-the-less.

Are You Serious? #1: It started out on Saturday when Mike and I went to The Frogstone Grill in Coquitlam for lunch. Now, before thinking that what follows is an arrogant rant by a grumpy customer, you should know that I waitressed for about 3-4 months last summer/fall. That experience alone has made me Miss Sympathy-for-the-Server...most of the time. This experience proved too much. The restaurant was not busy (it was right after the lunch rush) and we were seated and our orders taken promptly. It fell apart right after we received our food. I needed some more hot water for my tea and placed the pot at the very edge of the table, lid sitting sideways on top. 2 or 3 waiteresses passed by the pot. I finally flagged a girl down and asked her for some more hot water. She took the pot. Next thing I know she is on the other side of the restaurant and cleaned not one but two tables! At this point I'm a little cheesed. I have stopped eating my meal in favour of giving Mike the play-by-play of what this girl is doing and letting him know what she should be doing. Then I had enough. Since I first put the pot out, 10-15 minutes have passed. Nobody has come to check on our meal. I head to the front counter to attempt to get service. As I see somebody heading for me at the counter I spy someone walking with some water towards our table so I head back. The only time someone checked on us is when Mike had finished and they came to clear the plate and finally ask if he'd like another iced tea. Yeah, thanks for coming out guys. I left a very long note on the receipt. Looks like we'll be sticking to the Maple Ridge one from now on.

The rest of Saturday was fabulous and included Borat, some dinner while watching the Canucks game, and ended with a "typical Mike date" to a 60's music laser light show at the Planetarium featuring Hendrix, The Doors, and Zeppelin. Excellent.

Are You Serious? #2: Enter Sunday. Church and lunch (doesn't it look like those words should rhyme?). We head to Meadow Town to see The Prestige. Tremendous. Go see it. I had a hankering for a coffee so we stand in line at the coffee/Yogen Fruz till and plan to buy our tickets there as well since nobody is manning the box office. To our immediate right are typical teenage guy and girl and there are acting out what appears to be Flirting For Dummies...only they are actually employees. Fair enough, hormones, whatever. Girl #1 comes out of back room and walks to other side of concession. Girl #2 goes to drink station to our immediate left, makes eye-contact, leaves with pop. Girl #2 goes back to drink station and Mike asks if anybody will be coming to help us and she informs us that "we don't have enough people...that till is closed" and she walks off again. Our line-up is 3 deep now. As we switch line-ups Mike says loudly and angry-like "Well, were you going tell me?" As people lined-up where we had once waited with baited breath I would shout over to them "That till is closed!". But the movie rocked.

#3 wasn't really anything at all but just the icing on the cake after those 2. We picked up dinner at Timmy Ho's before Bible Study and when we're getting out of the car I asked Mike "Do you have your iced tea?" to which he says "I guess they forgot it."

All in all, I know none of these events are actually a big deal or eternally significant but have just added a little humour and spice to the everyday. Long live customer service in all it's disgruntled and minimum wage glory!