Someone once told me I ate like beast. I never really agreed with him, but I think I might be starting to today.
I think I ate a whole 12 ounce steak all by myself for dinner...I say "I think" because I can't remember...it all happened too quickly.

assembled today:

1 robin 3 drawer dresser (white) from Ikea
1 robin computer desk (white) also from Ikea
1 folding dinning table (beache) of course from Ikea as well

...hope you've caught on....I WENT TO IKEA TODAY!!!!!!

Biz Markie should just NOT sing...and neither my two favorite Brians (Duff and Leukart). As much as I love those two, I am ready to strangle them for singing the chorus of "Just a Friend" about 400 thousand times in my presence when I visited. I've had that horrible song stuck in my head my whole stay in Cleveland, entire 7 1/2 hour bus ride home (not including the 2 hours stuck at the boarder)...and guess what, it's STILL stuck in my head!!! and for some sick insane reason I decided to go download that horribleness....YOU...GOT WHAT I NEED...YOU SAY HE'S JUST A FRIEND, OH YOU SAY HE'S JUST A FRIEND... AGHADDD!!!!!!!!AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I've been away for 4 days and you all miss me right? And in case you were wondering, there have been no holes in the ground (ie ditches) involved with this time's disappearance. In fact I was out of the counrty...oh, and let me express (once again) my "love" for the US/Canadian boarder customs. Spent a good two hours between the two, where officer Febo (...yes that was his name...Febo) took his merry little time checking the 50-some passorts on the bus, ran off and took a break, and then proceeded to try to pick up some girl named Vickie.

But where this week's adventure really started was wednesday, when I had my first encounter with installing a light fixture (or 2)...

All started with a trip to Canadian tire, where I was joined by (the employed, yet somehow doesn't seem to have to go to work) Matt Mark from across the street, in the purchasing of hair dryers, a toaster, laundry basket, kitchenware, bathroom cleaners, of course light fixtures, and other things....which were of course transported to the condo via public transport stuffed into four large bags and a laundry basket.

We arrive at destination after carrying the above mentioned all the way from the bus stop, only to find that I did not have a chair, or a sturdy elevated surface to stand on in the place (we didn't really trust the amon-tabletop/curry-leg sets assembled two nights ago). So I tore the bedsheet off my mom's bed, covered the (new, green, microfibre)loveseat for us to stand on...and as I am much shorter I ended up trying to balance myself on the armrest while holding up the light grabbing only the popcorn ceiling for support...thus covering myself in little white bits.

We had a slight bit of trouble...first of all the wires weren't really standard colored...there was a white one, a red on...and then some yucky brown one. Two of the three were about an inch and a half in diameter...the wires on the light were black and white...so we just randomly guessed and attached them to the big fat wires...but since they were so fat, the wires refused to stay attached. Had to expose about 3 inches on the light's wries to finally get them to stay. Then we turn the fuse back on...and *TADA!*...the light's on...which is strange..because all the switches in the room were off...freaky...so we take it down and rewire...and rewire (and fear that we'll blow the place up)...and of course, the whole time, I'm falling off the couch and little white bits of the popcorn ceiling are falling in our eyes/ears/mouths/noses.

It FINALLY ended up working properly and we jumped for joy...then proceed to installing the next one.

A couple things that I have learned from this experience, and hope you may learn from incase you need to install a light fixture:

1) Unless you're 7ft tall, make sure you have a ladder or chairs or some other sturdy surface to stand on

2) Green microfibre loveseats, with big fluffy cushions and round armrests are meant for sitting on, not standing

3) According to the taste of the little white bits of popcorn ceiling...I recommend that you do not try to lick your ceiling.

OOOOOO the PAIN!!!

we (me, Matt Mark, Yu Ling and Jamie) had a furniture assembling "party" last night. Turns out Yu Ling is a puzzle freak (he used to throw puzzle parties) and has a passion for assembling furniture as well. So we worked on two Amon-table-top/Curry-leg sets and two 3-drawered dressers, while Matt Mark played every possible version of Celine Dion's "A New Day Has Come" and read my mind (supposedly Matt and I have some kind of pseudo psychic connection, but that's another story for another day) till 2 am, and then went to Tim Horton's (where Matt said he was feeling really gross, but then proceeded to order a Canadian Maple, a sandwich and a drink).

Well, this morning I woke up with a finger swollen from a blister (i wouldn't suggest doing the Amon-table-top/Curry-leg assembly without a drill). but a Matesbed/shelf headboard later (this time I had to assemble it all myself...thankfully WITHOUT the Celine Dion), I have a blister on every finger on my right hand, a cut on my left thumb...and i even banged my third finger on one of the bed's drawers. And none of this furniture is my own...Amy, Tammy and my mom owe me big time!

Just think, beer and health. Supposedly beer is good for you now?

“'Well , we’re not saying that beer is the new wonder drug or suggesting that people take two beers and call us in the morning.'...(but it) may help increase bone density, thus decreasing risk of fractures. And it also could raise by 10% to 20% the so-called “good cholesterol” levels in some people, thereby helping to ward off coronary-heart disease and related afflictions such as dementia. Beer...is also rich in B-vitamins and folates (a form of water-soluble B-vitamin found in green leafy vegetables), both of which help keep homocysteine blood levels in check. Homocysteine is a chemical that, in elevated amounts, has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease.”

What a breakthrough...Guess we’ll have to stop associating the yellow bubbly fluid with big bellies and middle-aged men...life will never be the same again...

"breathe in...breathe out"
Need to calm down....no can't calm down...I'm going to Ikea today!!!!!!!! Whoohooooo!!!!!!

THANKS TO MATT MARK AND LYDIA (and a certain piece of yellow rope)............I AM OUT OF THE DITCH !!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday I was still 20, last night I was still 20…then today came.

It seemed like any other old morning; errands to run a new condo to clean and new sheets to wash. All was as usual (not that I get a new condo everyday, but you get the point)…that is until…the ambush.

I was promised dinner for four. I got home Jamie, Ernest and Brian were already there, sitting there waiting for me. I should have felt it coming, but for some reason I didn’t…I blame it on the Tylenol 2 I had taken earlier.

Ernest offers me shotgun in Brian’s car…another clue that should have told me something was up, but I didn’t see it.

We get there, Brian says he has to go park. The three of us go in.

The Texas Armadillo…or was it the Armadillo in Texas…whatever the place was called used those blinking pagers thingies for seating. You know they blink when you’re table’s ready. Jamie asks me what those things are, I explain it to her…she still claims it was a genuine question, but I know better, it was a diversion.

They're taking us to our table, and I'm telling Jamie everything there is to know about this little blinking gadget…and all of a sudden I hear someone say "surprise!". Disoriented, I turn around…I see a table, faces, Asian ones…about 20 bzillion camera flashes later I realize, hey I know these people...they’re talking to me. Too late…I’d been had…they surprised me. And in the midst of the confusion, someone shouts "happy birthday!!!"

Age, it just sneaks up on you, when you’re not looking. You all of a sudden turn around and *surprise* you’re 21.

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I'll say it clear,
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.

I've lived a life that's full.
I've traveled each and ev'ry highway;
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, I've had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

I've loved, I've laughed and cried.
I've had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
"No, oh no not me,
I did it my way".

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

My Way ~ frank sinatra (my dad's favorite song)

Daddy loved my blog. Checked it everyday and read every word. He told all his friends about it and forced his colleagues to read it too. He laughed so hard he’d be in tears. He said I had talent. He was my biggest fan. He was so proud of it…he was so proud of me...but now he's gone...
I thought of stopping...actually, I did stop. But after a long debate with myself (and much convincing from others), I’ve decided to keep blogging. It used to bring a smile to his face…and perhaps it still will.