All in a days work

Ahhh thanksgiving.
A weekend full of turkeys, pumpkin pies and pure over indulgence.
Mine was relatively tame, with my new found sobriety, a husband eager to work on the house (halleluia!!!) and visiting my parents on Sunday. Saturday was very busy for us in a ambitious way; we woke up early and headed off to Anola for breakfast with Willie and Angie at the hotel. From there we continued on to the city in search of home improvement items like plastic storm window covers, a new shower faucet to replace the vise grips currently operating mine, and a toilet repair kit. My my, I remember the good old days when I couldn't care less about home depot and certainly didn't get my heart a fluttering over bathroom faucets. Usually a night out with a hot guy, or a big bottle of Canadian club tickled my fancy, not anymore. I have never been so enthralled with catalogs as I have been since we bought our house. I spend countless hours, memorizing the newest Ikea catalog and marking pages in the Sears wishbook. Somebody help me!!!
Anyways, we went and got the Home Depot, Habitat, and such taken care of, we braved Superstore and then headed to Value Village on a search for large canning jars. I walked out with at least $40 of goodies. One other thing that I have noticed of late, is my new found enjoyment of Halloween and the prospect of "costuming" up. This coming from the girl who retired from trick or treating at age 9. I have always disliked Halloween but it seems I am finally getting over it.
I'm not even sure where we are going but we are going to dress up. I'll keep you posted on my decision and maybe post a pic or two on here of the Joss's all Halloweened' up....
After Value Village ( where we encountered a very intoxicated man being led through the store in handcuffs by another man who wasn't a cop ?!?!?!)We headed home and were due at a social for our friends Dave & Sharon in Transcona, however after a full day of running around, and rushing home to repair a toilet, clean the house, we passed out early.
Movies of note from the weekend were "Lords of Dogtown" and "Amityville Horror" I loved the first one and Dan almost peed himself because of the latter.

Boys are such wimps.

How have you been?

I will make myself scarce
I will make myself scarcely me
but I'll be outside your window at night
pull up your shades
leave on your light
I don't want to come in between
I just want to know
how have you been

Tearing Toronto a new asshole...

ok, so i have been MIA for a few weeks. this is a good thing people! this means i am not sitting at home bored waiting for dan to get home.

to recap the last few weeks

went back to the fert. doc. he said i need to lose more weight before our next steps..put me on two prescriptions and i go back in december....i totally chickened out and didn't say any of the things i said i was going to i just showed up there and i felt like my tongue was cemented to the floor. the little 90 lb doctor wins again.

went to toronto.....blew it out like only a blowout would. stayed in the hot westin harbour castle, went to richtree for lunch, checked out the hockey hall of fame went and had floor seats to the U2 concert at the acc....checked out the guvernment, ran into the ottawa senators (more specifically dany heatley)in the hotel lobby, slept in a heavenly bed, on heavenly sheets with heavenly pillows, had lunch at sightlines, enjoyed my first mlb baseball game, went back to pearson and flew home. sounds short and it was but there was a whole lot more that happened which was work related (which i am not prepared to write about for fear of the dooce

what's going on now you ask?
well other than trying to diet, only to be struck down by the evil buger king last night....(damn you evil jr. whopper!!!) i am trying to be crafty and therefore spend an unnecessary amount of money at michael's last night. which reminds me if anyone sees any large quart sealers with lids either in their basements, garage sales or at their grandma's please save them for me... i'm also on the look out for large decorative mirrors with a large frame. circle mirrors would be perfect. i'm going to give martha a run for her money!!

ps. listen to red right ankle from the decemberists i guess you could call that my song of the day or week or year.

later kids.

EMJAY

Congratulations

To Erik and Alana....they got engaged last weekend (finally !!) I am very excited to hear their plans. Erik has been one of my best friends since high school and Alana is so awesome...I love her and she's so perfect for Erik and makes him very happy... Congrats you guys!

also Congrats to Jasmine and Dwayne on their upcoming wedding and a little one coming in April. Jasmine is one of my oldest friends since I was in Nursery School and we walked to school together. Although I haven't had an opportunity to get to know Dwayne very well (which is silly....we live 7 miles from each other!!) I hope we'll become as good of friends as Jasmine and I have always been. Congratulations!! I can't wait to be an Auntie!!!

I'm not sick, but I'm not well

Honestly ...... Nausea is a form of torture
"No, I am NOT pregnant"
How do I know? it's called a pregnancy test, and I used one last night.

I am feeling crappy 2 days before leave for Toronto....grrrrrrrrrrr

If I wasn't so sick I would just jump on the floor, lay down and deliver the best tantrum I know how to.

He will sleep till noon but before it's dark,

He'll have every picnic basket that's in Jellystone Park

I’m a big fan and cheerleader of the animal. I’m against animal testing in all forms, I’m against hunting, I don’t eat at KFC, I purchase “Dolphin Safe” tuna and always cut my plastic six pack rings before putting them in the garbage. However, last night my views on hunting and controlling the current bear population has changed dramatically.

I was driving home through Anola and turning down Hwy 302 when suddenly I see off in the distance a small bear cub and it’s mother. It was exciting to see them and I was totally psyched I slowed down and they headed back into the bush and waited for me to pass by. I did, slowly and continued on my way cautiously. Half a mile further I see a large dark figure on the side of the road on my left. I thought it was a dog at first but as I got closer I realized it was another black bear. I thought it would move when I got closer so I reduced my speed, in case he jetted out in front of me. I was surprised when he didn’t even budge as close as I was and eventually my car was within a few feet of it. It looked right up at me, unconcerned and then as I slowly made my way past he put his head back down and continued to nibble at the long grass on the edge of the road.
My heart pounding, I continued on my way, being only 6 miles from home. This was the closest encounter of any kind with any type of wildlife (the exception being the little fawn they had at Whyte Ridge that we used to go and visit) and although I was really excited, I was upset to see these animals so unafraid of people. Thinking back to that couple in Ontario who were mauled by that bear last weekend as well as countless others who were killed or seriously hurt by these beautiful animals, I was worried for my own safety, As I pulled around the corner into town I saw 3 more in the distance.
There has to be a humane way to control these animals and keep them away from populated areas. 6 bears in a distance of 7 miles is unusual and concerning. Also moose in mall parking lots, like the one in Sobey’s parking lot this morning is concerning too.

Poor moosey’s, poor bearies. :(

Guess what day it is.............

Season 3 Baby!!
I am so excited I might pee my pants. This is the happiest day in weeks.

HOURAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY

Too little, too late

"I stood and watched my daddy die
No one could help his plight
He was trying to save our home
On the day that the river rose
Well, it came alive
I heard them say
and there was nothing we could do
as he washed away"

I'm not sure how this post will turn out. I had written most of it when the most horrific events were happening in New Orleans, and I couldn't finish it. I don't handle disasters well. I was emotionally wrecked for September 11th. It was an event that although I was not at all involved, I lived so far away and I really had no connection to it, it affected me deeply. The horrors of Hurricane Katrina has had the same effect. I try to put myself in their shoes and I can't. I try to imagine how I would survive, what I would do if I had children to care for during it and it's impossible to know what you would do yourself. I despise looters but yet I cannot guarantee you that I would not loot for clean water and food for my kids (if I had them)It makes me sick to my stomach to see them hauling off with 7 boxes of Nike shoes, cases and cases of beer, stereos....Their pictures are all on national news shows, splashed across the internet. I hope that after everyone is rescued and they start investigating how this all happened, I hope they track down these people and make them each work at least 1000 hrs of community service. Give them the choice between that or jail time.

As for the government and administration I won't dignify them (or people that feel the need to drag people down with their comments) with my opinion on the relief effort. People far more eloquent than me have said it better and their opinions very closely match mine (check out Dooce, Blurbomat, Suburban Bliss. People that know me well know my position on this matter.

My thoughts are with those devastated by this disaster.

This will be the only post on this matter, enough has already been said.

Sing ....Sing a song.....

Sex (I'm a)- Lovage



mmmmmmmmmm baby. You have to hear it for yourself and you will know what I mean.

Jungle babies for you, jungle babies for me.

Truth is the flame we must burn

Didn't do very well on this song of the day thing now did I?

Well here's today's song of the day. No one ever said I followed the rules. Even my own rules.

Love Song- Sheila Nichols

good song about a bad breakup. It has a very ethereal beachy feel to it and would be a fantastic song to listen to on a verandah on a late candelit night. Go get it people!!!

ps. check out my flickr I put some new pictures up.

Wish you were here

"I dig my toes into the sand
the ocean looks like a thousand diamonds
strewn across a blue blanket
I lean against the wind
pretend that I am weightless
and in this moment I am happy, happy"

Awesome weekend at the beach with Diane and Austin (5) & Alicia (3). We were lucky to have Dan go out to the campsite early and set up so that once we arrived we just made dinner and chilled out. The kids were excited to sleep in the trailer, especially Ally who proclaimed that "it's dark, need go bed now" at 7 o'clock. We cooked some hot dogs and marshmallows on the campfire put the kids to bed (to which they went happily and fell asleep so quickly!) Diane, Dan and I stayed up and consumed a few wobblies and then staggered off to bed. The trailer is pretty neat. There is a little kitchenette complete with sink, propane stove and cupboards. A small table and double beds at each end. Diane had to squish in with the kids mostly because they sleep like Dan (spread out like they own the place) but we were so tired we didn't care. Saturday morning the kids woke up about 6 and Diane was nice enough to take them for a little walk around the campsite to let Dan and I catch a few more winks. This ended up being a good thing as Dan seemed to have drank more than he remembered and was a grouchy old bear until about supper time. Regardless, we woke up and Dan made a great breakfast (hole in egg, bacon, hashbrowns....mmmmm)About lunchtime we discovered that Dan's truck had a flat tire and we could actually see and hear the hole where the air was coming out. So we all walked to Diane's van packed in, and headed off in search of a garage. This proved to be more difficult than we thought. Grand Beach certainly isn't what it was. Bad weather over the years has certainly caused a downfall in business in Grand Beach, everything is either boarded up or else up for sale and run down. It sure isn't the Grand Beach I grew up with.
We finally stumbled across a small dilapidated garage but their compressor was not working so they sent us to another scary garage and they said they fixed it and they did ...sort of.....it was leaking again (although more slowly) by the time we got back from the arcade and ice cream in Grand Marais.
We also went for a long walk along the beach picking up cool stones and finding seashells. The kids were really good about walking as far we did, even when Ally's pockets were filled with rocks she and I had picked up.
We got back in the afternoon, stopped by the showers, Austin fell off the slide and got a sand face painting....( picture will be uploaded soon) he was ok and we headed off back to the campsite for a gourmet meal....Dan cooked us up some gorgeous ribeyes and some baked potatoes. Allies ate hers in a river of barbecue sauce ( that girl must have some French blood in her) and Austin ( Mr. Hollow leg) did awesome as well. The kids had a slight bit more of candy and junk food in their system so as expected bedtime didn't go as smoothly as it did on Friday, but still reasonably well. Diane, Dan and I stayed up as long as our eyelids would let us and we crawled into our beds and fell fast asleep.
Sunday morning came quickly and the kids were up at the crack of dawn but again everyone let good old Auntie Mindy sleep a little longer. We had a fantastic breakfast again with some amaretto coffee and started to pack up the trailer. The kids did really good helping Dan pack it up. It was so cute to see Ally bent over, imitating Dan underneath the trailer. It didn't take us very long to pack everything up and we were back on the road at 10:30. Taking the 302 back home sure gets us home quickly. It takes about 40 minutes exactly to leave the campground to my front door. Which is wicked since it takes me closer to an hour to get to work.
Well it sure was an awesome weekend. It was so nice to go camping again. Just seeing Dan so happy and content being outside is so perfect, and I love Diane and those kids so much. It's so refreshing to be around such genuine good people.
I can't wait to go again.

It's a sad song...about Tigers !

It's song of the day people!! Isn't this fun?!

Tigers Have Spoken - Neko Case
Sad, beautiful. It was the song I was listening to as I was rushing to the hospital right before my grandma died. It still brings tears to my eyes to hear it even though I love it so much. I thought it would be fitting to pick that one as it reminds me of my grandma and it would have been her birthday tomorrow. She was a hell of a lady, she certainly was a tiger.

One more song the radio won't like

I am going to a song of the day post......just to get in the good habit of posting everyday.
So here goes.....


Today's song of the day is : Goodnight and Go - Imogen Heap
It's the cutest song and makes my toes curl everytime. Such a good girly giggle song. Also featured on the O.C (yummy)

Soulful Shade of Blue

"Dressmaker, dressmaker,
I'm singing at the hall next saturday night and he'll be there.
He's been gone for so long, i want him back again,
Make me the sweetest dress you can"



2 more sleep till Dan is home....

blogger help

if anyone knows how to put a photoshop banner on my blog....please help......

fuck you html....really.

Born to be wild

Pops Bradshaw bought me a fucking bicycle, people !!!!

After a lovely saturday with my mom, (shopping with a nice lunch, talked like girls & booked a makeover at Clinique) Pops phones and asks us to come over to Olympia Cycle on Portage and meet him there. I got a wicked bike ( Trek Ladies Sole Ride 300) with a back rest!!! Yay for me and yay for my back that never gets a break! Yay for being spoiled!!! The picture above it exactly it, same color and all. So after Pops loaded it in to his car, we all went in mine and checked out a few Volkswagons for sale in the St. James area (We are both looking for a VW Golf Diesel....damn you $1/Litre gas...grrrr) and stopped by Lone Star to drool over the cool Mercedes and Smart Cars and then headed back to go out for dinner.
Sunday was nice too. I woke up and cleaned up the yard a bit, played with the doggies and cleaned my car. Mom & Pops stopped by to bring me said bicycle and have a little visit and take my poor old stepper. After they left I commenced a major spring cleaning in my house, renouncing my pack-rat ways. All old christmas cards, gone. All fancy gift bags, gone. ALL CRAP I DON'T NEED ANYMORE.....GONE. Danny is going to be so proud of me..... :)

tick tock tick tock....

you arrive home in 7 days
i am one part excited
i am one part concerned
i always seem to fuck it up when you gets home.

30 days gone
i am worried and
i hate that we are getting
used to being apart

up until may
the longest time we had
been apart was 12 hrs
now a month (?)

we are in such limbo
between a rock
and making a baby
i can’t wait
to be living the married life
rather than just getting by
and living
just to pay bills

sometimes i have to stop
and take a breath
and remember why
and remember what
and remember who
everything just blends into the days
sometimes

i woke up this morning
26 years old
missing out on so much
my list doesn’t seem much
shorter
it’s been amended along the way

i wish i could say “fuck it” to responsibilities too…..

Pennies From Heaven

Who the fuck wouldn't want to buy an airfreshner that smell like Mini-Donuts......

mooooooooooohahahahhahahahah

I'm going to be rich.

One Year Recap

At this time last year I had a dress, I had shoes, I had a veil and I was three days away from marrying Danny. Three days away from the most important day of my life. Three days away from the day that would forever change the friendship between my self and someone very close to me. Three days until, after a year, all of the fighting, tears, and hurt feelings would finally come to an end.

Although I complain about it a whole lot, my wedding (the actual vow saying, marrying part) was awesome. Although we used the vows from our JP, Patty, the words reflected what I felt about marriage and the promises you make. I haven’t been known to be the most religion of people so our ceremony was in our own way pretty symbolic and pretty spiritual.
My opinion of my marriage is this: if I can get through this there is no way I will give up down the road. I still love him more today than I think I ever did (and no it’s not just because I haven’t seen the guy in 17 days!!!) We’ve endured money problems, infertility (and still dealing with that), learning how to be in a long distance relationship, moving to the middle of nowhere, career changes, living with our in-laws, illness, the fact that he’s completely accident prone, the fact that I am always sick…and we are still going, and going strong.
Dan has always kept me grounded. When I am freaking about something stupid (in my usual Mindy way) he reminds me to calm down. When I think things are at their worst, he reminds me of what I do have. He reassures me when I think that we will never get pregnant. He makes me feel like I am the only wife and woman a man has ever loved, and he does this every day.

I keep hearing this Rascal Flats Song on the radio. I’m sure you have heard it. Until they actually play the death out of that song on the radio, I’m going to love it……I’m going to love it because it is the exact story of Dan and I. I have never regretted anything I have done in the past. I know that everything that happened was a part of a bigger plan to bring Dan and I together, and this song is just about that. (see below)

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Baby……
You are still a bit of alright, even after all this time.

Xo

Mindy


Bless The Broken Road - Rascall Flatts

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

Take me out to the ballgame

Beautiful sunny Winnipeg!!!

I had a blast this weekend and is settling in to my new rig-wife lifestyle. Friday after work I rushed home and met up with Chad who was nice enough to come over and cut my grass for me. I made a kick ass dinner (Jerk Chicken, Baked Potatoes and Salsa Supreme Salad) ran to Richer and picked up some beer and relaxed and had a few bevies. Chad was looking into getting his own house and had found a perfect one just 12 minutes away from us. We took a ride out to check it out and also drove around Ste. Genevieve and our neighborhood and then came home when it got dark. Chad had some leftover fireworks from the parties the weekends before...... so we lit those up and teased the neighbors.... they were having a slightly bigger party across the field. Dory ran away (I'm guessing because of the fireworks) and I had a hell of a time finding her and she didn't find her way back home till about 3 am.....Not impressed!!! I roasted a chicken to make soup for when my parents came for lunch the next day and then headed off to bed.....
Saturday morning I woke up and began to make soup and tidy up a little bit before the parents came over. My dad was coming to fix my dog kennel to deter two naughty doggies from escaping so I was pretty psyched, plus I really enjoy it when my parents come over. They don't do it enough.... So they come over and then shortly after my Auntie Cheryl calls and then my two Aunties and two Uncles come over to check out the place and have a visit.... My mom and dad and the A&U's take off and I head to my mom & dad's to be a nerd and hang out in the airconditioned trailer and play Sims 2. I wasn't supposed to stay because Erik ( my ex-conditional fiancee....isn't that a great title?!) and I had plans to go to a Goldeyes Game on sunday so I had to go home.....however a brutal storm brewed up and I had to spend the night..... People were pulling over on the highway and everything. Mom & Dad were out for the night so they called and told me I was staying because the roads were so awful....
Sunday morning I was up at 9 and got ready to pick up Erik and head off to the ballgame. It was already pretty warm when I woke up so I was glad I had semi cool clothes...... I arrive at Erik and Alana's Condo pretty much by autopilot due to the years and years of practically living there in my early twenties....it was nice to see that the old faithful Spindler beer garden palace now looked like a home. Good Job Alana!! we had a nice visit....Reminisced, saw some pretty funny pictures from years back that I had never seen and then took off for the game.
This was my first Goldeyes Game and first time setting foot in our ballpark so I was excited. We had wicked seats too so that was cool too. The game started off slow but then suddenly they had a bunch of good hits and a bunch of home runs so it was pretty exciting. We walked around when it got too hot in our seats and bought a few lemonades from the best place in the world........Lemon Heaven!!!! Yay!!! Erik is now convinced
that Dan isn't really working on the rigs but is rather a ballplayer for the Goldeyes...I wish! Those dudes look hawt in those red pants.... meow....
After the game ( which we had won 17-12) we headed for our old hangout spot; Grapes on Kenaston..... had a few beers and some appies and talked and talked .....it was great!!! We are definitely hanging out again soon...

Ciao For Now Kiddies.......