Weekend Bingo

This past weekend Matt and I went to his family’s cabin at Sandy Hook with his Dad and stepmom.  We went out Saturday afternoon and spent the day garage sale-ing (sailing?) – so much junk, but so many treasures – and walking around Gimli.  I always feel extra Icelandic when I go to Gimli.  It’s [...]

Vacation Highlights

After realizing that my dreams of sandy beaches and fancy drinks with umbrellas in them were not meant to be, I thought that my summer vacation was kiboshed.  But, always the amazing friends that they are, the lovely folks in Montreal responded to my desperate, last minute e-mail request for a possible Montreal retreat with [...]

This Old House

I used to watch “This Old House” with my Dad when I was a kid, and loved seeing Bob Vila turn disasters into dreams in such a seamless, seemingly effortless fashion (and in 22 minutes!). This is no Bob Vila project extraordinaire, but the first stages of the renovations to the new house are almost [...]

Flood this City, pt. 2

After hearing today that without the floodway, we would have flood waters this year as high as they were in 1950 (30 ft, which destroyed many houses in the city, not just in the Red River Valley), I went to CBC.ca to find photographs of the flooding happening outside of Winnipeg.  My photos really don’t [...]

Awkward Christmas Traditions

This past Friday night Matt, my brother, his girlfriend, and I all went to my parents’ house to decorate their Christmas tree.  When my brother and I were kids my parents would get a new ornament each year to hang on the tree.  We’ve stopped that tradition – I would suspect both because we’re older [...]

Remembering

This morning I let myself sleep in a bit, getting up at 8:15 a.m., and took my time getting ready for work.  It’s Rememberance Day and, while most people have the day off, it isn’t a holiday recognized by Manitoba Labour, so I still have to work.  I was reminded of this as I made [...]

Costumed Weekend

Halloween is quite possibly my favorite holiday/special day of the year.  Christmas is good because you get the sweet smells, delicious treats, and eggnog – but the shopping and the pressure and the crowds take Christmas’ awesomeness down a few notches.  Easter is fun because you get the brunches and the pastels, but the religious [...]

Wild Washerwomen

This past weekend was spent cleaning.  The entire weekend.  I cleaned.
First, I helped close down the cottage.  Given that I was not born with a wang, which is apparently the necessary apparatus for lifting heavy things and/or completing tasks that require tools, I was relegated to cleaning the cottage.  I vacuumed, dusted, windexed, and collected [...]

Three decades.

Monday was my parents’ 30th Wedding Anniversary.  Thirty goddamn years.
To celebrate, my brother and I took them out to dinner with Matt and Heather, my brother’s girlfriend.  They came over last night for a pre-dinner glass of wine, after which we went to Charisma, the local Indian restaurant, for a delicious meal.  After dinner we [...]

Never rub another man’s rhubarb

What a strange, yet relaxing week I’ve just had.
I’m at work today for the first day since Wednesday, as on Wednesday evening while hanging out with Meghan and Matt at our apartment, I managed to get a concussion.  Meghan and I were sitting at the computer and I was showing her some photos when I [...]