Category Archives: Family Life

New Tassimo Beverage Maker

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After a somewhat revealing / disheartening look deep inside my soul, I’ve been told I go to Starbucks too often, and have become addicted to my favorite drink – the Venti sugar-free vanilla Americano. I don’t see where the problem is. Ok, well, I guess at $4.00 each (rounding up for those of us with poor math skills), doing it 4 times a week is (4 x 4 x 52) = $832 per year, there might be a problem.

Yeah, that’s a conservative number and doesn’t factor in the lemon cranberry scone anything else I may pick up at the time.

Chris isn’t exactly blameless. He’s addicted to the Tazo Zen Green Tea and chocolate chunk cookies.

So, in an effort to save our spending and stop (me) going to Starbucks as often, we forked out a HUGE amount of cash all at once and bought me (us) a Bosch Tassimo beverage system.

Tassimo Bosch T65 Single Serve Hot Beverage System
Tassimo Bosch T65 Single Serve Hot Beverage System

It’s not exactly like that one, but super close. In fact, mine is better since it’s red. I’ll post a real picture in a minute. Continue reading →

I speak another language

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Yep, I’m bilingual. Or so I like to think.

Like most people who grew up in Canada, I had the obligatory education partly en francais, and I also took espanol in university. There’s supposed to be accents and crap on those, but I don’t remember enough to handle that properly. Plus I don’t know how to make the keyboard do them.

But that’s not what this is about. Nor is it about the language I tried to make up when I was a Dungeon Master. Yes, I tried to make up a language and I played D&D. I also tried to learn Klingon at one point by audio tape. Yes, I’ve been a geek for a long time.

Nope, this is about my own personal made up language that I run inside my head for the most part. Once in a while it starts to slip out “in polite company” (aka in public) and then it gets embarassing.

What’s really weird is that Chris has started picking up on it. Not only is he learning to understand what I mean, but he actually says things back to me too.

I guess it’s not that unusual. After about 5 years, we must be picking up on each other’s habits. He only wishes I picked up on his habit of cleaning up after I make a mess.

On the flight to Toronto

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Right now it’s 11:18 pacific time but I am 42565 feet above Saskatchewan or Manitoba right now, about to make a stop in Winterpeg (Winnipeg really) on my way to Toronto.

My dad is hopefully undergoing surgery to remove his esophagus due to cancer. I say hopefully because apparently there was a slim chance a pre-op check could put the kibosh (kybosh?) on it. My brother and I decided at just about the last minute that we want to be there for him and Claudia (our step-mother). We won’t make it in time for when he first wakes up but we will be there for him first thing on Thursday morning when he may be more lucid, if only slightly.

I haven’t seen my brother in something like six years. In that time we’ve both married people the other has never met and developed families. Unfortunately neither of us was able to bring our spouses along for the trip. I haven’t seen my dad in about three and half years or so. With any luck, and by very convenient coincidence, my mom and her husband are also in Ontario on Vacation right now!

Loving the leg roomView from the airplane.Our descent into hell, aka Winnipeg, is just beginning so I’m going to save this and finish it on the ground so I can attach a few pictures and get it posted. I tried posting them via the iPhone WordPress app, but they didn’t arrive for some reason, so I’ll insert them manually. TTYL.

Ok, so it’s now about 35 minutes later and I’m sitting in what passes for the concourse of the WestJet area of the Winnipeg airport. It’s everything you would expect and less.

I can’t even find a power outlet to plug into. I’m running on batteries, the airport WiFi connection requires a credit card (wtf?) so it’s lucky I’ve got enough power for a while, and can tether my laptop to my iPhone so I can post this.

About 5 minutes after I landed, my step-mother called to let me know that my dad was out of surgery and it had gone very well. There is a suspicious lymph node that they’re checking out. It’ll be 2 to 3 weeks before they know the status of said lymph, but we have our fingers crossed. I’m glad Claudia called. Since I can’t see dad until morning, it’s good to know he’s doing alright.

And on the downside, my brother just sent me a text. He may run into trouble coming into Canada due to his Canadian passport being expired. DOH. And he’s my ride!

It’s ok, I have a backup plan. I always do.

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

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August 25, 2007 was the date that Chris and I officially took possession of our first home. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of that event and we both marvel at how much time has passed.

A friend mentioned he thought it was just about a year and when I corrected him, he was incredulous. So was I when I started to get in touch with it.

Chris and I couldn’t be happier that we bought a condo when we did. The market changed shortly after and we may not have qualified for the mortgage we got, in fact, they removed that mortgage product eventually. Sure, we might have paid a little less a while later, but probably wouldn’t have been able to get a place we liked. Hard to say.

We’re now talking about the future again. How long do we stay here? Do we try to rent for the Olympics and make some money? Where would we move when we decide to sell? Things like that. We’ve made a “little” money on this place, nothing major so we’re not about to rush off just yet.

2 years flew by in a heartbeat. In some ways, I really hope the next 2 don’t go as fast.

The Importance of Communication

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I’ve known my parents for 41 years now.

I’ve known my brother for 37 years.

I’ve known my boss for 9 1/2 years.

I’ve known my husband for 5 years.

These collectively are my most important relationships (ranked by time) and the most important thing about maintaining them has been communication.

Recently, this has been first and foremost in my mind because of a variety of issues and when I boil them all down, they all come back to communication. The issues and disagreements I’ve had recently with friends and family may have been preventable with better communication and less attempts to “control” on my part. My attempts to control led to getting stressed out with worry, which let to lashing out (in my own way).

Communication has also been important with my dad’s illness. Keeping in touch on the surface just so I know what’s going on, but also communicating the important part he has played in my life. He’s not going anywhere soon, but it’s never to soon to say “I love you” again.

My brother posted an alarming status on Facebook so I had to get in touch with him and get the details. Had I kept in touch more previously, I probably would have been less alarmed.

Talk to the people who are important to you. It doesn’t have to be a 7 page hand-written letter, a simple 2 line email might be enough. Or maybe a heart-felt handmade card is more your style. A trip to visit them after a long absence? or even a 5 minute phone call.

Only you can gauge the size of response needed, but I encourage you to communicate well, and often with anyone who’s important to you.