Say Hello to My Little Friend

You may have noticed a new addition on the right-hand side of the page; it's my "Blog Flower" and it is meant to motivate me to post on a regular basis. If I'm a bad blogger and I haven't posted in a while, my poor little flower will start to wilt. If I'm really bad, she'll die.

I've never been great with plants--the only one I haven't managed to kill is a Chinese Evergreen I adopted back in 1993 when I moved into a new apartment and found it on the floor. It had been abandoned by the previous tenant, probably because her cats had mangled it almost beyond recognition. This plant works for me because it thrives on neglect--I water it once a month and stick it in a shadowy corner and in return I have a jungle. I'm hoping I'll have equal success with this little one but only time will tell...

Home Again, Home Again

I made it back safe and sound! No emergency river landings or anything like that, just US Airways running out of food on my flight back yesterday. No worries--I brought my own lunch.

This trip was nice and relaxing--lots of time spent with My Honey watching my new favourite UK import and playing Rock Band (for the purposes of practicing my karaoke skills, of course!) I did some shopping at a Japanese dollar store for Katie's birthday and I scored some cute tops at Ross and new bras and underwear at Tar-jay. We did hit one new restaurant in Mountain View called uWink--the perfect blend of food and games--but the highlight of my trip was visiting The Milk Pail. I picked up these fantabulous scones and some apricot Stilton which I will be sharing with the peeps at Sunday night dinner this weekend. Also worth mentioning is the two trips we made to a booze warehouse aka: Utopia. Why haven't I moved to California yet?

My Honey also introduced me to the best icecream sandwiches I've ever had and on my last night in town a friend of his made us duck a l'orange, asparagus with Hollandaise and mashed potatoes after softening us up with Mojitos which are now officially my favourite rum-based alcoholic beverage.

As I might have implyed in my last post, the weather was splendid--highs in the low 20s everyday and not a cloud to be seen. It was kinda odd though to see leafless maple and oak trees standing shoulder-to-shoulder with big, bushy palm trees. I even saw a lemon tree laden with nearly-ripe fruit! I have to say I never expected to experience the smell of freshly-cut grass in January. Very strange indeed.

THIS IS IT!! FINAL SAVE THE DATE!

Okay guys, my 15 minutes of fame will take place on Saturday, February 7th. I have to be there to register by 8pm but I don't think the "fun" starts until 9. These are semi-finals which means if by some miracle I get chosen to proceed to the finals I'll be hounding you for your continued support on an additional date yet to be determined, but don't hold your breath or anything.

So I guess this means I have to pick a song--I have no idea what to sing. Here are some of the suggestions (the ones I can remember):

The Rose (Bette Midler)
Just Like Jesse James (Cher)
Snowbird (Anne Murray)

Feel free to weigh in, vote or make alternate suggestions. I really have no clue...so...help a girl out...?

I Might Need to Buy a T-Shirt

So I'm woefully unprepared for the weather here in California. For some reason it didn't occur to me to bring summery-type clothes so I'm gonna have to do a little shopping methinks.

I'm sure I get your sympathy on this. What--no?

Regardless, I'm happy to be here where it's 20 degrees Celsius and not back home where it's like this or like this.

I also realize I forgot to bring my bathing suit, so I will have to buy one of those before I can partake of the hot tub in My Honey's apartment complex.

Hate the game, not the player.

More Karaoke News--New Save the Date

Apparently there are 3 dates over which the semi-finals will take place--January 31st, February 7th and February 21st--and I get to pick which date I will sing. So the good news is I don't have to sing on the 31st which means (hopefully) my entire posse will be able to come stroke my ego I mean cheer me on! Isn't that great? I can help Katie celebrate her birthday and she can in turn prove how much she loves me by listening to me caterwaul. It's "win/win." Really.

So I still don't know which February date I will be semi-finaling, but as soon as I do I'll let you know. Does anyone have any requests?

Save the Date! **Corrected and Updated**

I got word that the karaoke semi-finals (aka: my big moment in the spotlight) are set to start on Saturday January 31st at Flanagan's Pub (formerly known as Kopper's).

Many of you have offered your support, so here's your chance! I won't hate you if you don't come to cheer me on, however I will likely bring it up at every opportunity, so stay away at your peril!

Ha ha! Just kidding!

Actually no, I'm serious--you'll never live it down--so come out and suffer I mean enjoy hearing me shoot for "Flanagan's Idol!"

**UPDATE**

It has been brought to my attention that a good chunk of my fan base will be unable to attend as it is Katie's birthday that night and she adamantly refuses to celebrate by making it all about me. Go figure. So that leaves the rest of you who don't know Katie (and will therefore not be standing me up to attend her birthday festivities) to take up the slack.

P.S. Sorry Katie, I can't turn down my (probably only) shot at stardom. I promise I'll get you a totally awesome birthday gift from Cali to make up for not being with you on your special day.

P.P.S Thanks Mindy for pointing out that I'm still in denial about what month we're in.

Break on Through to the Other Side

I made it through a full day at work (barely) and I'm about to attempt another one. I do feel a whole lot better today, although last night I was convinced I was coming down the the same diabolical cold that has claimed Katie, Kiki, Randy and Guy (and possibly my Honey) as it's victims. This morning though, I am clear as a 40 below winter morning in Sudbury so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I dodged that bullet. As long as my throat doesn't get sore I'm probably okay...

If any good comes of this debacle it might be that my appetite is extremely diminished. If it stays that way I might be able to keep the 12 pounds off that I lost as a result of what I'm calling "The Big Purge." I have kinda been using going to the gym as an excuse to allow myself to eat pretty much whatever I want, so if I can stay the course of moderation (well, in regard to food anyway) I might actually see some of the benefits going to the gym affords. Also I have a lot of great clothes I love that I can't seem to squeeze into right now, so getting back into them would be awesome.

Sometimes I think I allow myself to gain weight so I have an excuse to go shopping for new clothes, but eventually this backfires when you have gotten so large that your only option is "Otto the Tent Maker" or going naked. I need to look at losing weight as a opportunity to go "shopping" in my own closet. Or to actually go shopping. Who am I kidding?