Been a while, hasn't it?

Yes...it has been quite some time since I posted anything. You know how life is...you get busy doing "stuff" and you forget all about the blog.

My update will be short this time. I have been fighting a cold and then in the last few days it got worse. I went to the doctor and as feared, it is a sinus infection. He gave me some antibiotics and some inhaler for my lungs. Let's hope I feel better before Xmas! :)

Last week we decided to go gift shopping after the hockey game. Walmart is open 24hrs during the holiday shopping season so we figured "why not?" After shopping for a few hours and getting home at 1:30am, we discovered the toilet decided to overflow and keep running for almost 8 hours. Guess where all that water went? For the next 3 hours we cleaned up all the water that drained into the kitchen, then into the basement. The only thing damaged was a couple boxes of books. I have been meaning to replace that particular toilet anyway, so I suppose I should get off my butt and just do it.

So at work we always have a pot-luck lunch for the floor, and this year was no different. This year I went with my 5-alarm (actually it was only 1-alarm) chili. It was very tasty! Everyone brought great food and of course we all ate too much. We put on a couple episodes of The IT Crowd for everyone to watch and that went over really well. Much laughter was to be had!

Other than that, we have 1 more week before Xmas, which means almost 2 weeks off for me! YAY! Hopefully I can update this during the holidays and tell you all about the loot I got! :)

Weekend Update!!!

It's been a fairly quiet week...work, hockey, TV...not too much going on. Although, we did find out that Tracey got engaged on the weekend. Congrats!!

Brittany came over last weekend and I went to her soccer game Sunday morning. She almost scored a goal and it was exciting! Played a little RockBand with her and it was all good.

Worked all week and started my on-call on Thursday. Had a busy weekend which was too bad as I was seriously hoping to do absolutely nothing this weekend. Instead, I spent a number of hours at work, and another few hours working from home. However, the pager so far has let me sleep at night and all the work has been during the day.

Brittany came over again this weekend but we didn't play any RB. Instead, she was stuck with me at work on Saturday for more than 3 hours. Sorry Britt! Went to another soccer game - this time at 9am. Too damn early for a Sunday morning!

Another week is upon us...wonder what is in store this week?!?

Another week, another update

So, from the looks of things, this is probably only going to be updated weekly...and even then only if I remember! LOL

So, I had borrowed Brittany's Rockband while she was in Mexico and I decided to invite Sam and Rob over on Saturday to play. On Friday I made the (snap) decision to go and buy Rockband 2 for the Xbox instead of playing Rockband1. I then went and rented Rockband1 for Xbox (so I could download the songlist) and Guitar Hero World Tour (just to test it with the RB controllers)

On Saturday I told the kids I would make supper for them and they were to come over at 6:00. I made a big pot of chili for dinner...and at one point I tasted it and decided it wasn't spicy enough. I added a dash (yeah right) of hot sauce and didn't taste it again until we ate. It was some of the hottest chili I have made in a long time!! Seriously kicked our butts! It was tasty though so it was all good.

So there we were...rocking out to RB2 and GHWT when the doorbell rings. My parents made a surprise visit and brought dessert! So we played more that night and I convinced my Dad to try the guitar and drums, and my Mom did drums and sang. A good time was had by all! Mom and Dad left late (like 11:30 or something) and Sam and Rob didn't leave until after 1.

So...Monday rolls around and I had taken the day off as Tuesday was a day off for me anyway. That gave me a nice 4-day weekend. The phone rings - it's Sam. She wanted to know if her and Sean could come over and play some RB! Of course I said sure! So, there we were, playing RB again until 2am. Once again, a good time was had by all!

I have to say...Rockband 2 is better than Guitar Hero World Tour for the full band experience. GHWT has better Guitar songs (go figure) but both games are still a ton of fun.

So, Tuesday I decide to play a little single player GH for a while and unlock a new song - Hotel California!!! OMG! That song is SO much fun to play! I have decided to add GHWT to my xmas wish list. Don't need the full Special Edition as I can use the RB controllers. All I need is a GH guitar so that I can have 2.

Thursday night the Oilers played the Leafs...at least I think that's what they called it... They lost 5-2 and I have to say - Leaf fans are the worst fans I know. They are worse than Flames and Canuck fans by far. Ignorant and obnoxious and I wish they would all go jump off a cliff! :P

This coming weekend will prove to be a busy one again. Brittany is coming over, there is a hockey game on Saturday night, and I have to go into work on Sunday morning. I am sure I will find time to play some RB with Britt, so it shouldn't be too bad!

Things that go bump in the night

If I actually had anything important to say, I would probably update this thing more frequently...as it is, it is time for another update.

So...last Friday was Halloween and I had the day off from work. :) We decorated the front entrance of our house again with glow-in-the-blacklight spiderweb, and other creepy Halloween type stuff. We also put some up outside the house to enhance the look. Then Michelle took an old pair of cover-alls I have, stuffed them and sat our "man" in a chair in the front yard. I gave him a Jason mask, Michelle built him a cardboard axe - complete with blood - and we were set for the night. Michelle put on a pumpkin costume and I wore my green glowy mask and waited for the kids to come. And waited...and waited some more. We had candy for almost 50 kids, and were lucky if we got 20. VERY dissapointing. About 8:30 we decided to call it a night and went for supper.

Saturday was to be a busy day. With the mother-in-law coming to stay the weekend, we had to tidy up a bit, watch the hockey game and then get ready for the Halloween party at Derek's. As some of you may know I was going as Uncle Fester. With the shaved head it seemed like the thing to do. Covered my head with a green/white mixture of makeup, added the black around the eyes and I was Uncle Fester! Michelle went as a sexy vampire and looked amazing.
We stopped at the liquor store to get a little something to drink. One of the girls working there said "you look just like Uncle Lester!"...yeah...Uncle Lester...exactly what I was going for. LOL I didn't bother to correct her, but I did say "I woke up this morning with a full head of hair and really wanted to make the costume work..." She totally believed me. Not saying she was dumb or anything...
So we get to Derek's house and Derek is dressed in this inflatable Sumo suit. Brilliant!! It was awesome! We were early and there were only a few people there, including someone who said she saw me in the liquor store! Small world eh? LOL
So Derek and Leanne did Jello shots for everyone - in 30cc syringes!!! Ingenious!! Had a couple of those and the party was on.
Almost everyone who came dressed up so it was a great success. The only sticklers were Dave and Amy, some other couple I don't know, a couple of Leanne's friends from work...otherwise the rest of us were in costume.
Halfway through the night the Guitar Hero World Tour was fired up. I was rockin out!! Played some drums, played some guitar and even got to sing a few songs. Good fun was had by all!

Sunday we went for brunch with Michelle's Mom, then the girls wanted to shop for a bit...after I managed to finally make it home we watched the hockey game. The Oil won the game to make it 2 in a row. Chilled out for the rest of the day to finish off the weekend.

May you live in Interesting Times

So...it has been more than a week since I last updated this thing...my bad!

Last Friday we drove up to Grande Prairie for the weekend. We had a number of things planned and we hoped for a fun filled weekend. We were not disappointed.

1. The drive up was fun! 100km/hr winds tossed my car around like you wouldn't believe. Kinda glad we didn't take the SMART car! LOL
2. Michelle's parents took us to see a play - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Over all I think it was good, but I found it to be at least an hour longer than it needed to be. Also, the one actor was SO bad he shouldn't even have been doing commercials! LOL
3. Saturday morning I went to see a couple of potential venues for our GP version of Fragapalooza. That went OK as we hopefully narrowed it down. Once I get all the info I will be able to make a decision.
4. Saturday night we went to my friend's house for "Casino Night". They transformed their basement into a Casino - Baccarat table, Blackjack table and a Craps table. We started off with $110000 in funny money and the person with the most money at the end was declared the winner. With a couple of the guys attempting to circumvent the rules, Michelle and I pooled our winnings and we had the most money - $506000!!! I got to pick a prize from behind door #1 or door #2. I chose door #2 and won a lovely parting gift - Anti Monkey Butt powder. ...
5. Sunday morning was spent watching Emily and Dillon play hockey. It was too early for me, but was still lots of fun. After brunch and early supper we made our way home.

After watching the Oilers lose again, this time to Boston, another week began. Wings on Tuesday and some serious chillaxin tonight should bring us within a day of the weekend. With Halloween almost upon us, and a costume party on Saturday, I am sure I will have some updates after the weekend! :)

Blah blah blah

Well...here we are...it's been a few days since I updated this and not much has actually changed.

OK...so I lied. I picked up an XBOX 360 finally. I had been waiting and waiting and the price was finally right to buy one. Got Lego Batman and DeadRising to play. Both are really fun games and should keep me occupied. (like I need something else to do!)

The other day I wanted to go for Sushi...$130 later Michelle and I were full. YIKES! Can you believe that? $130...for raw fish! If only I could find a nice all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant around here. When we are in Calgary we found one that isn't bad...something like $25/person...that I can live with. Sumo Lounge in Eau Claire Market in case anyone is wondering. Not sure how long it will be around as I have heard rumours that they are tearing the Market down...

In other news...I have been hitting the elliptical machine every couple days and finding it a bit easier now than the first time I was on it. That's good right? LOL Hopefully I can continue to improve and will begin to see some results. Only time will tell.

That's it for now...

Bubble Tea in Edmonton

So...I go out in search of some Bubble Tea last night and two of the 4 locations I know of were closed - at 8:30pm on a Tuesday night! What's up with that?

The Tea Cottage downtown and the Dream Tea House just off Whyte Ave were both closed. The only other locations I know of are in West Edmonton Mall, and by the time I would have gotten there, they would have been closed too. I was sad.

So...I am looking for more Bubble Tea locations in Edmonton! If you know of any, let me know!

Thanks!

My quest begins today for a healthier lifestyle.

So...my last post was all about finding that elusive Burger - you know the one...that burger that makes you close your eyes as you enjoy the first bite. Well, yesterday I purchased my first piece of exercise equipment.

That's right...you can indeed believe your eyes. I said it...I bought some exercise equipment.

Canadian Tire has a WICKED deal on the Horizon E500 Elliptical Machine. Regular price is $1400 and they had it on for $400. how could I pass that up? I talked to the wife and she said she would love to have one so that sealed the deal.

So, today I set it up after wrestling it into the house and down to the basement all by myself. All 165lbs of it. :)

Once it was setup (pretty easy actually), I decided I may as well try it out. 30 minutes later I was DEAD! (as in tired) This machine kicked my ass! Hopefully both my wife and I will continue to use this and it won't become a $400 clothes hangar. Time will tell.

I think I should maybe start tracking my progress (assuming there IS some progress) in my quest to lose some weight and be healthier.

Stay tuned...

The Search for Edmonton's BEST Burger

So...for those of you who watch How I Met Your Mother, you may remember a recent episode where Marshall is searching for the BEST Burger EVER! That got me thinking...

Where in Edmonton is the BEST Burger EVER!??? I have not had a chance to eat everywhere, but I am going to list some of the places where I have eaten. However, I want input as to the location of that elusive piece of heaven.

• Nexxt Act - just off Whyte Ave on Calgary Trail. I haven't been there in years, but from what I can remember, they had GREAT burgers.
• Squires - Whyte Ave and about 106st (give or take). Again...haven't been there in years but they were pretty good.
• FatBurger - meh...good burger but not worth the hype
• Red Robin - decent

Now of course I have eaten at every Fast Food restaurant around, but I don't even consider them to be anywhere NEAR a decent burger. There are probably other places I have gone to, but obviously they have not impressed me enough to remember.

Please feel free to comment on my post if you think you have some insight for me. I would like to keep the suggestions local to Edmonton, or within a 10 min drive from the City in the event there is something close...

Thanks and Happy Eating!