On a snowy day...

All you want to do is sit on the couch in front of the TV with a blanket and watch a movie... which is exactly what I did! I watched Wall-E!

It was sooo cute! I had heard good things about the movie, and a co-worker of mine loaned me the DVD. And, it was only 1-1/2 hours long... which I find is a good movie length of time. Anything more than that seems to just drag on!

I recommend Wall-E!

Attention all Mac users!

The new iLife 2009 was made available today. I don't have it... but I really want it! You can get the upgrade to your current one for a lot less money, but you should check out some of the new features!! :)

~geeky sally

Our friendly neighbour...

His name was Sam. I didn't know his last name, or where he worked, or what he did... just 'Sam'.

Each time I came home to my brother's house, or each time I was leaving and heading towards my car... there he'd be with a "Hello, how are you?". Often times (because he was a dark black man), he would be sitting on his porch late on summer nights, and a voice would just come out from the darkness and startle me "Hello, how are you?". It would freak me OUT, but eventually got used to him being there.

When I became unemployed and Sam was on vacation, he had wondered why I was home during the day, and I told him about my job layoff. The next day, there was a business card (for Coca-Cola) waiting for me at home for a website and telephone number for me to contact. He told me the next time I saw him that he had a lot of friends that worked there, and to let him know if there was anything that interested me there. I thought that was so nice of him!

My brother came home yesterday night and was informed from another neighbour that Sam passed away on Monday. He was 58 years old. He was out for one of his usual walks and at a Hasty Market when he had a heart attack. It amazes me how life can just end like that. It really makes you think and reflect on what you have and appreciate it!

Although I know he's gone, I still come home now to my brother's house and expect the "Hello, how are you?" to welcome me when I look over to Sam's porch. And in my head, I still say "Hi Sam!"... just because.

Mary Poppins...

I've never watched Mary Poppins before. I know, I know, who hasn't seen THAT movie, right?!? well.... ME!

With the snow outside, Ron and I decided to stay in and I finally watched the movie! To be honest, I found it a bit cheesy... but I guess that's what happens when you see it approximately 25 years later than the rest of you! But at least now I know where all those songs come from and the word: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Di's Latin Dinner!

After getting my braces, I decided to head downtown to join the gang for WND (yes, on a Thursday). It had been a while since I joined the gang for one of these.

Saads and Raju joined us as well, so it was a full house! Di made a variety of things (I can't even remember what it was called): rice and beans, fried plantains, shredded beef with tomatoes and green peppers, and for dessert: bread pudding! We washed it all down with a bottle of Jackson Triggs Merlot (a winery close to my heart), while the salsa music played in the background. We even attempted to play a bit of Taboo as the host had requested. Thanks for a yummy and 'brace-friendly' dinner Di!

Full Brace Face!

I finally got my bottom braces today (those aren't my teeth in the photo btw). Here I thought that maybe, just maybe, I may not have needed them. No such luck!

And, it turns out that the bottom teeth are more sensitive than your top teeth when they're moved.... so it was double the pain! Geez! Definitely won't be smiling in any photos anytime soon.

My list is complete!

At the beginning of 2008, I made a mental list of 3 big items I wanted to purchase before I can even think of anything else:

1. the Macbook Pro laptop computer
2. braces
3. a digital SLR camera - specifically, the Nikon D90

I was able to get the first 2 items on my list, before I was laid off from my job in the summer. I had to be smart about my spending during my unemployment days, so my digital SLR had to wait.

I'm happy to say that TODAY, I have finally completed my list!! :)

Meet my new toy: the Nikon D90 baby!! Whooohoooooo!

Nascar-bound!

Zarius celebrated his 3rd birthday today at Nascar Speedpark in Vaughan Mills. The kids had a great time, and Ron and I managed to do a little racing of our own! I've never actually tried go-karting before, but it was fun! The only complaint I had was the kids that were racing with us, kept bumping my car (which wasn't allowed), but I just ended up pressing on my gas to leave them in the dust! :P

Zarius was excited to be there! He was on this one ride over and over again! (We left the speedpark to go around the mall, and he was still on this ride when we got back an hour later!) You have a little racer-in-the-making Tanaz!

Happy Birthday Leonard!

Today I played with my 20 Questions electronic game that I got from my exchange gift last night. Basically, you think of an object and the game asks you 20 questions about your object, and by the 20th question... it guesses it! I was quite impressed when this game guessed the first few of my thoughts! I was then challenged to beat this game, so I decided to try and think of 'dirty' objects... just to see if it would know. It DIDN'T of course, which meant I won!! whoo-hoo! hehe

After having fun with my new toy, I had to get ready for my cousin Leonard's surprise birthday dinner that his girlfriend Irene planned. It was held at Chako, a Korean buffet bbq restaurant in Richmond Hill. She had asked everyone to be at the restaurant for 6:30pm, but of course, with Filipino time I was glad to see the rest of my cousins drive into the parking lot the same time I did! Looks like I wasn't the only one that was running late! The only problem was - I was the only one that parked beside the car that my cousin Leonard and Irene were in!! YIKES!! I didn't recognize the car, as Irene had driven her car... and when Ron looked over, he says: "Uh Sal, isn't that Leo in the car beside us?" I of course, look over, and there they were! I didn't know what to do, so I ended up reversing my car and parking beside my other cousins! It wasn't the best reaction, I know... but I freaked out and didn't know what to do!

A few minutes later, my cell phone rings and it's my cousin Leonard. "Sal, I just saw you park beside us and then you reversed and left!" Being the great liar that I am (not!), I had to quickly think of something to say. I had told him that Ron and I were having dinner at Moxie's (the resto across from Chako), but who knew if he believed me!! In the end, we all had a great time. We were completely stuffed, so we all decided to go Cosmic bowling after to burn some calories (check out the 'special' names that were changed constantly throughout the night on the monitors)! It's always fun to get together with my family! Happy Birthday cuz!

One more holiday celebration!

Tonight I met up with the girls for our holiday get-together! Everyone was so busy with their travels and family get-togethers over the holidays, that we all decided to just meet up in the new year. We had a 'white elephant' gift exchange, which I had never done before... and I dunno if I wanna do it again. :P

Here's why: Everyone puts their gifts into a central area. You pick a number (based on the # of people/presents in the exchange). The first person picks a gift from the pile, and opens it. The second person can either pick a present from the pile, or STEAL from the first person.... and so forth until you get to the last person/gift. Basically, you want to be the last person to pick since you can see what all the presents are to choose from... and you don't want to be the first person - cause then you're screwed out of all the gifts! Guess who was the first person?? YUP, you got it... ME! :P

In the end, I ended up with a $20 Starbucks card in a cute little mitten, a bottle of wine, and the 20 questions game! Not bad for a girl whose gifts were stolen from her twice! Thanks ladies!

Happy Birthday Boys!

Happy Birthday to my lil' bro Terse, and to my lil' man Zarius!

Ringing in 2009!

Happy New Year to all!
Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year!

~ sally & ron