Archive for February, 2009

  • I *am* calm dammit!

    Date: 2009.02.23 | Category: sometimes I ramble | Response: 5

    I’ll be the first to admit that I can bitchy. I can particularly be bitchy when given bad service. Of course, people’s ideas of “bitchy” varies. To some merely pointing out that you are getting craptastic service = bitchy. To other’s you don’t cross the bitchy line until a certain tone or phrase leaves your mouth. But dude, don’t tell me to calm down when I’m really not a. being bitchy or b. freaking out.

    You see it all started when a stupid flyer came in the mail. (Note to self: destroy all such flyers in the future.) We do not eat out often. When we do eat out it’s usually because of a Chinese/Japanese/Thai craving or because we’re going out for the night to the ballet/concert/movie/hockey game/something. We’re too cheap and eat too well at home to go out to eat just for the hell of it. But this stupid Pizza Pizza flyer showed up and it was all downhill from there.

    I don’t have anything against Pizza Pizza exactly. I mean, it’s not particularly good pizza but I’ve definitely had worse. I’ve also lived in Montreal within the delivery zone for Amelio’s Pizza and I’m sorry but after that all delivery is pretty crappy. Pizza Pizza definitely isn’t my first choice but it’s probably not my last either.

    So this stupid deal was something like two medium pizzas (2 toppings each), 4 cans of pop and 2 2-for-1 movie passes for $19.99. Lee wanted the movie passes. Lee also wanted pizza. It was win-win as far as he was concerned. Me? I was craving Thai but I was ok with pizza. We were out running errands so we figured we’d just run in and do a take out order instead doing delivery.

    First off, when we got there the two guys working the counter looked at us a bit blankly when we asked for the deal. And after we pointed to the deal on the flyer we brought with us. (That should have be clue #1.) After punching at the computer for a minute they found it. No biggie.

    We sat down to wait for our order and not five minutes passes before some guy came in to pick up his order. Seeing as we were sitting by the cash register we couldn’t help but here when the guy behind the counter said, “Um sorry…we’re out out movie passes. Give us your address and we’ll bring it to you tomorrow. We ran out and we won’t have any in until after 10.”

    Say what?

    So I look at Lee and he looks at me and I ask him if he wants to cancel our order. We agreed that if they hadn’t started to make it yet we wanted to cancel because oh, they couldn’t bothered to tell us they were out of the damn movie passes when we ordered minutes before. So we checked, they hadn’t started our order yet and we asked to cancel. When they asked why we told them – we had ordered minutes before and they couldn’t be bothered to tell us they were out of movie passes when we ordered.

    But we can deliver them to your house tomorrow! Just leave us your address!

    Um…no. Can we please cancel our order?

    Ok…we deliver tonight.

    No. Can we please cancel our order.

    At this point the manager comes over and wants to know what the problem is. So we say, again, that we were not told they were out of movie passes even though they clearly knew they were and since our order has not been started we want to cancel.

    Calm down. I can deliver tomorrow!

    No. We just want to cancel our order please.

    I deliver them in 10 minutes!

    No. We just want to cancel our order. (While thinking in our heads, “Are you kidding me? You told the other guy you weren’t even getting more until after 10 tonight. It’s 6:30.)

    Calm down. I deliver them!

    No. We just want to cancel our order.

    Calm down! Calm down.

    Now I have to say, I thought I was being pretty damn calm. I thought Lee was being calm. But his repeatedly telling me to calm down make me very much not to be calm.

    We are cancelling our order.

    Calm down. Fine! I do it. I do it! Calm down!

    Eventually they figured out how to cancel our order and return our money.

    As we got back in the truck and drove away to go search for a parking place near the Thai place I turned to Lee and ask him if at any point I was NOT calm because I thought that I was really quite calm. He replied that I had been calm, that he was waiting for me to completely lose it and show them what “not calm” was.  I said that I was relieved because I really did think that I was being calm and every time the guy told us to calm down made me want to reach over the counter and shove a pizza in his face. I get that he was trying to save a sale but he not only lost that sale but any pizza sale we’ll be making in the next year or so.

    So to sum up we certainly won’t be going to that Pizza Pizza again and it will be a very, very long time before we even thing about having Pizza Pizza again (I haven’t had it in 2 or 3 years, about the same for Lee).  We went out for Thai, spent more money than we would have on pizza, had a fantastic meal and will definitely go back to that restaurant again.

    As a lovely footnote to the evening as we were leaving the Thai restaurant we almost got run over crossing the street by a car running a red light. The guy didn’t even notice there WAS a light until he almost hit us. As we continue to cross the intersection behind the now stopped car Lee was waiting for me to swear colourfully at the guy…or at least flip him the bird. Instead I gave him a thumbs up. I hope the guy caught the sarcasm with which it was intented.

    Not calm my ass.

  • The relationship meme

    Date: 2009.02.22 | Category: meme | Response: 4

    I’m doing this because it will make Lee laugh his ass off when he reads it.

    What are your middle names?
    It’s not that I have anything against our middles names but that’s more info than we want to put online. I will say neither of us dislike them and they are completely common. Mine more so for the era I was born in, Lee’s is just common.

    How long have you been together?
    More than a year. We don’t really have an anniversary and we like it that way. We’ll have been living together for a year soon.

    How long did you know each other before you began dating?
    Hmm we knew of each other longer than we actually knew it other. We worked for the same company but we each worked from home in different locations. I’d say we really knew each other for three or four months before we started dating? I guess?

    Who asked whom out?
    He did. And he was a stubborn ass about it.

    How old are you?
    I’ll be 30 in May. He’s 33.

    Whose siblings do you see the most?
    His. Well, he only has one. I have many, but mine live about 1200km away and he hasn’t met them all yet. (He’s met hmm three of them.)

    Which situation is hardest on you as a couple?
    To date (at least) I think it was moving to Ottawa. Ottawa was home for him. While he “lived” with me in Montreal for a couple of months it wasn’t really a full move in, our stuff didn’t truly mingle until we moved to Ottawa. Everything here was just the same as it always was for him (well, not everything but you know what I mean) but it’s a whole new city in which I don’t have any family or many friends. When we moved here I didn’t work out of the house. He made a comment one day about how he was going out to do something “because it was what they always did” and it really bugged me. Because little had changed for him but everything was (and still is) foreign for me. It’s improving…but still sometimes difficult.

    Did you go to the same school?
    Nope. Not even close.

    Are you from the same home town?
    Nope, not even close.

    Who is smarter?
    We’re smarter than each other in different ways I think.  That’s probably a good thing because if we were smart in the same ways we’re probably argue a lot more. (We’re both a wee bit opinionated…and stubborn…and competitive with each other.)

    Who is the most sensitive?
    I think me. Although he’s far more sentimental and marshmallowy.

    Where do you eat out most as a couple?
    We really don’t eat out often. We both like to cook and eat very well at home. When we do it’s usually Chinese or Thai food. When we were in Montreal we snagged takeout from Boustan a lot. (Mmm Boustan). If we are going out for a “nice” (re: more expensive meal) we tend to favour French restaurants. Usually when we eat out it’s something that we don’t generally make at home.

    Where is the furthest you have traveled together as a couple?
    We travelled there individually since we were coming from opposite directions but we travelled around Europe together. We did Paris, Rome and Venice. Paris was our favourite (even if it did have the stairs from hell everywhere).

    Who has the craziest exes?
    Neither of us has crazy exes. That’s not to say that we’re on amicable terms with all of our exes but that I don’t think that any of them are crazy. Sure I may refer to one of mine as the Evil Ex (or of late my Exhole) but he’s not crazy – he’s just an asshole who broke my cat.(You really don’t want to know.)

    Who has the worst temper?
    Without a doubt, me. Seriously. I keep it under lock and key for the most part but it does occasionally burst out. It ain’t pretty.

    Who does the most cooking?
    Me. I enjoy it particularly when I don’t have to do the dishes and he does the dishes (yes, all the dishes). He does breakfast most mornings because I’m useless until I’ve been up for at hour or two. He is a very good cook though, even if he has a hard time admitting it. If we do Indian or Thai food at home chances are he’s cooked it. He probably cooks dinner one night a week or so and he did most of the cooking in his last relationship.

    Who is the most stubborn?
    We’re both really stubborn but he’s probably the most reasonable in his stubborness, which I guess means I’m the most stubborn. Luckily we tend to be stubborn about different things…

    Who hogs the bed most?
    Neither of us tends to be bed hogs but I am occasionally if I fall asleep first. It can also depend on what side of the bed the cat is on because we really do try not to kick her or kick her off. I will fully own up to being a blanket hog though. I can’t help it. I’m always cold.

    Who does the laundry?
    Lee. I’m a total slacker.

    Who’s better with the computer?
    I think Lee. I’m better with social media/online stuff but I think he’s overall better with computers. I can’t get him into turning our house into a Mac household though…yet.

    Who drives when you are together?
    Lee. After 10+ years of relying on public transit I have no desire to drive. I have a driver’s license and I keep it current but I don’t drive. I drove a bit when we were in PEI this summer. It was weird for both of us.

  • Feeling Foodie

    Date: 2009.02.21 | Category: What's for Dinner? | Response: 2

    Today I am feeling foodie. I’m feeling cooky. I’m even feeling bakey. Months and months have gone by while I’ve heard of the wonder that is Meyer lemons I’ve actually found some. Actually I found some last week in one of the stores at the Jean Talon Market in Montreal but I didn’t buy them. And then I kicked myself in the butt all week because I hadn’t bought them. Last night we went to a local market that we rarely go to even though they have such lovely goodies as farm fresh eggs and milk from a small dairy. They also had…meyer lemons!

    So today I shall make Smitten Kitchen’s Whole Lemon Tart. I’ve actually never made a tart before and yet thanks to a friend who used to run a small catering business I own tart pans. She also gifted me a number of metal bowls, serving dishes, a small pile of ramekins, and containers that are excellent for freezing stock which I never seem to make. Oh and cookbooks. She gave me lots of cookbooks. (You can see most of my cookbook collection here – I haven’t entered the local community cookbooks yet.)

    Then for dinner I will make my bolognese sauce for which I don’t have a recipe. I just throw things together and stir and taste and fiddle with spices until it tastes good. I might even make biscuits (or not…I might not be feeling bakey after the tart). If nothing else we will eat well this weekend.

  • Maple Syrup & Poutine’s 100 Canadian Foods to Consume

    Date: 2009.02.19 | Category: Canada, What's for Dinner?, meme | Response: 0

    I love a good food meme. Found via Confessions of a Cardamom Addict via Alanna.

    1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
    2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
    3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
    4) Post a comment here linking to your results
    Maple Syrup & Poutine’s 100 Canadian Foods to Consume
    1. Arctic Char
    2. Ketchup flavoured chips
    3. Wild Rice Pilaf
    4. Caribou Steak (I’ve had caribou but not a steak)
    5. Gourmet Poutine (I really want to try the foie gras poutine…)
    6. Screech (shockingly no…)
    7. Beaver Tails
    8. Maple Baked Beans
    9. Bison Burger (make them at home with local bison often)
    10. Bumbleberry pie
    11. Nanaimo bar (I don’t like them…does that make me unCanadian?)
    12. Butter Tarts (yum, yum, yummy, yum)
    13. Cedar Planked B.C. Salmon (had B.C. salmon but not cedar planked)
    14. Wild Blueberries (Many memories of picking them while being ravaged by black flies)
    15. Pure Local Cranberry Juice (I’ve had local cranberries though)
    16. Chocolate from Ganong or Purdy’s
    17. A cup of warm cider from your local orchard
    18. Caesar (yum, yum, yummy, yum – also good if you use gin instead of vodka)
    19. 4 of the following types of apples (Cortland, Empire, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Spartan, Greensleeves, Liberty, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Golden Russet, Idared, Gala)
    20. Freshly foraged mushrooms
    21. Dinner cooked by Michael Smith, Susur Lee or Rob Feenie (Susur Lee  at Susur December 2005)
    22. Fondue Chinoise
    23. Dish created from a Canadian Living Magazine recipe
    24. Peameal Bacon Sandwich from St. Lawrence Market in Toronto (Carousel Bakery how I miss you…)
    25. Lobster bought directly from a boat in a Maritime harbour
    26. Handmade perogies from your local church or market
    27. Alberta Beef at an Alberta Steakhouse (the beef yes, but not from an Alberta steakhouse)
    28. Leamington Tomatoes (I think I have but cannot unequivocally say yes)
    29. Roasted Pheasant
    30. Wild Game hunted by someone you know
    31. Ice Wine (recently discovered ice cider – recommend it too)
    32. Habitant Pea Soup – entire can
    33. Any Canadian Artisinal Cheese
    34. Bannock (Mom used to make it)
    35. Tourtiere (yum, yum, yummy, yum – can still remember the first time I had *real* tourtiere)
    36. Flapper Pie
    37. Jellied Moose Nose (sorry, but the thought of it grosses me out)
    38. Saskatoon Berries
    39. Fish and Brewis
    40. Screech Pie
    41. Fiddleheads
    42. Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich (Chant with me now – Schwartz’s, Schwartz’s, Schwartz’s)
    43. Flipper Pie
    44. Montreal Bagels with Smoked Salmon
    45. Toutins
    46. Jam Busters
    47. Bakeapple Pie
    48. Bridge Mixture
    49. Canadian Style Pizza (bacon, pepperoni. Mushrooms)
    50. Shreddies
    51. A cone from Cow’s Ice Cream (yum, yum, yummy, yum – best waffle cones)
    52. Lumberjack or Logger’s Breakfast
    53. Jigg’s Dinner (had very similar dinners but not this specifically)
    54. Rappie Pie
    55. Pemmican
    56. Lake Erie Sturgeon Caviar
    57. Belon Oysters (I’ve had Malpeque’s…)
    58. Brome Lake Duck
    59. Beer from a stubby bottle.
    60. A beer from Unibroue or Phillips Brewery.
    61. Salt Spring Island Lamb
    62. Fry’s Cocoa (is there another kind really?)
    63. A bag of Old Dutch Potato Chips
    64. Every Flavour of Laura Secord Suckers
    65. Chicken Dinner from St Hubert’s or Swiss Chalet
    66. Hickory Sticks
    67. An entire box of Kraft Dinner
    68. Candy Apples (NOT caramel apples)
    69. Corn from a roadside stand
    70. A meal at Eigensenn Farm (no but it’s totally going on my wish list)
    71. Okanogan Peaches
    72. Berkshire Pork
    73. PEI Potatoes
    74. Something cooked in Canola oil
    75. Figgy Duff (I think I have but can’t say for sure)
    76. Blueberry Grunt
    77. High Tea at the Empress Hotel
    78. Fresh maple syrup hardened on the snow (I know, shocking but I haven’t done it)
    79. Oreilles de Christ
    80. Nova Scotia Beer Warmer
    81. A cheese plate containing Bleu Bénédictin, Friulano, St. Maure and Oka.
    82. Black or red currant jam (mmm red currant jam)
    83. Maple glazed Doughnut from Tim Horton’s with a Large “Double Double”
    84. A glass of Mission Hill’s “Oculus”
    85. Alberta Pure Vodka
    86. Chokecherries
    87. Canada Day Cake
    88. Boulettes
    89. Canadian Iced Tea
    90. Mead
    91. Fricot
    92. Grandperes
    93. Local honey (have some in our pantry)
    94. Creton on toast (yes and would prefer not to again)
    95. Glen Breton Rare
    96. A whole box of Smarties, where the empty box is then used as a kazoo (Forgot you could do that!)
    97. Grilled cheese made with Canadian Cheddar
    98. A meal from Harvey’s
    99. Lake Erie Perch
    100. Red Rose Tea
    If you are unsure of what the item is, look it up! Please pass the list on to your friends and fellow bloggers – whether they are Canadian or not.
    Not bad…it’s interesting that most of the baked goods I had growing up but most of the other items I’ve only had in the last ten years or so.

  • I wanna do THAT

    Date: 2009.02.04 | Category: Gym & Fitness | Response: 2

    I’ve been bumping around the internet looking for posts about couples who exercise together for a BlogHer post when I happened on The Great Fitness Experiment. The post that took me there won’t work for my post but I checked out her about page.

    See that picture part way down the page of her doing that crazy yoga move?

    I wanna do THAT -  the scorpion pose.

    You know, without killing myself.

  • February 1, 2008

    Date: 2009.02.03 | Category: sometimes I ramble | Response: 0

    February 1 was our last day in Paris and our last full day of our vacation. We work up early enough to make it downstairs in time for breakfast. This hotel wasn’t our favourite (no elevator, crappiest pillows ever, teeny tiny room) but it did have a couple of resident cats and friendly (if not always helpful) staff. We were debating what we wanted to do that day. The weather wasn’t great so it wasn’t a good day for walking really. We were throwing around the idea of going to Versailles. Before we made any decisions we decided to see how much cash we still had on us.

    Which is when we discovered it.

    Sometime the previous day my wallet had been stolen. We had been carrying it in our backpack. The same pocket as our passports, which were NOT touched thank goodness. (No, it did not happen on the subway. We never took the subway. We highly suspect the Virgin Megastore on Champs-Élysées.)

    We freaked out, tore the room apart and I cried.

    Then we went about the business of cancelling everything. Can I just say, thank you THANK YOU Lonely Planet for putting local numbers for contacting Visa in your guide books? Also, thank you to my inner paranoid freak who was responsibly for me travelling with only the bare minimum of cards on me. Nothing that I lost couldn’t be replaced aside from the money and the wallet itself (which I loved and I eventually replaced with a wallet I like but do not love). Oh and a few receipts of some purchases that were being shipped to me, which thankfully made it to Canada in one piece.

    After we dealt with that I really wasn’t in the mood for sightseeing. I did what any sane and reasonable person would do in my situation. I went out for lunch and then went to the market around the corner from our hotel and bought snacks, a corkscrew and a litre of wine. Then went back to the hotel room, popped a dvd into the player and proceeded to drink the bottle of wine.

    It was far from the most fun day we had. And it was a shitty way to end the vacation. And Lee had to give me money to a. take a cab back from the airport in Montreal and b. money to live on for a few days until the bank opened. Thank goodness his didn’t get stolen as well. And we consoled ourselves with the thought that at least it happened as the end of the trip and not the beginning.

    It was a crappy end but overall we had a wonderful trip. We’d really like to go back to Paris again. Maybe Rome as well (but stay in a different hotel).