Just Call Me Cupid!

On Monday, I did something I haven't done in a loooong time!

I put on the wings, grabbed the bow and arrow, and played Cupid!


Backtrack ... over the weekend, I'm reading something online called 'Missed Connections'.

I read this every few days for a chuckle.

These are local Ad's from people who happened to see another person somewhere, and would like to get to know that person better.

"Saw you in the grocery store, we made eye contact, would like to squeeze your melons!"

OK, I made that one up, but you get the idea ;-)

So late Friday night, I see this Ad ...

'Saw you at xxx today. I think you work in this building. I do too! You were wearing xxx. I think you're gorgeous! Blah Blah Blah.'

... and I RECOGNIZE the person who is being described!


No, it wasn't me. ;-)

But it happened to be someone who works in my building.

Not someone I 'know', but who I see often enough to smile at in passing.

Actually, there are two (young) guys who work together, and it HAD to be one of them.

The person being described, was done so by the shirt they were wearing on Friday.

OK, so it would be a little hard to say 'That's HIM!' based on 'blue jeans and a shirt' - remember Friday's are casual day - but this shirt was pretty specific.

It was a team jersey.

Both of these guys were wearing this particular team jersey on Friday.

HAD to be one of them!!!!

So Monday morning, I walked into their office with my little 'missed connections' printout in hand.

One guy was with a client, so I went to the other one, who was by himself in another area, handed it to him and said ...

'OK, at the risk of being laughed at for even reading these ... I happened to think of you guys when I saw THIS, so I had to bring it down, and start your day off with something you might find interesting.'

He read it.

I waited to see his reaction.

First confusion, then realization, then the big smile, then the ...

"WHAT? WHO? WHAT?"

Looking from me, to the paper, to his buddy serving the customer, back to the paper.

And another smile slowly spread over his face.

Then he looked at me, almost panicked, and said;

'But ... there was ANOTHER guy in the building wearing a jersey that day TOO!'

I laughed, turned around, tossed a 'You have fun then, figuring out which one of you it is!' over my shoulder and walked out.

Leaving the poor guy dazed and confused.

But hey, that's how I usually leave 'em anyway ;-)

K.

Kittens? Kittens? We Can't Smell No Stinkin' Kittens!

So I mentioned in my last post, how we have these kittens.

Claws McPurr

Carley

Smudge

And of course, there's Puss & Belle

Puss is an outdoor cat, but there is still a litter box downstairs in the laundry room for the kittens.

As much as I try to keep on top of it, I can still smell 'animals' at times, in the basement.

Not so much in the rest of the house.

But the basement? Definitely has that 'pets live here' undertone.

I hate it.

I've used sprays.

They only cover it up. And not for very long. Or effectively.

I've used candles.

They're nice while I'm downstairs, but it's not like I can use them to keep the basement fresh while I'm at work during the day.

And then one day, it hit me!

The Procter & Gamble lady!

Shortly after she contacted me, she said that if I had any suggestions of items I'd like to try, to simply let her know.

I was sure Procter & Gamble must have SOME type of air freshener product line.

So I asked her about it.

And I received this.

The bag alone was absolutely AWESOME! Gorgeous!

And just what was in it?

Ohhhhh! All kinds of goodies!!!

EVERYTHING I needed to get rid of the pet smells!

And food smells, and kid smells and ... and ... and ...

OMIGOD! I'm in scented HEAVEN!!!

She sent me the new Febreze Destinations Collection®.

Three Febreze Air Effects® - Moroccan Bazaar, Brazilian Carnaval, and Hawaiian Aloha;

Two 30hr candles - Brazilian Carnaval and Hawaiian Aloha; and

a NOTICEables® plug-in starter kit, and two refills.

I've tried sprays, I've tried candles, but the plug-in, this would be new for me :-)

The sprays are nice.

I'd have to say the Brazilian Carnaval® is my favourite.

They seem to last a little longer than the ones I usually use. Then again, the ones I usually use are pretty cheap.

I lit the Brazilian Carnaval® candle the first night I got the bag.

WOW! I LOVE this scent!

I was able to burn it at least 10-12 times (sorry I lost count), for 3+ hrs each time.

Definitely accurate on it's 30hr burning time! If not more!

What I liked best about it though, is the fact it burned ALL the wax.

Have a look.

Unlike other candles I've used, there is no wax clinging to the sides.

It didn't just burn a hole down the middle, like a little tunnel.

The whole candle burned.

This brand, on the other hand ... tunnel.

Now I'm burning this one. Hawaiian Aloha. More of a tangy scent.

I have to admit, I like the other one, Brazilian Carnival, better.

Guess I like berry over tangy ;-)

So I had determined the candles made my kitchen smell nice.

And the sprays were good everywhere else. But now, it was time for the BIG test.

The basement.

This was a job, for the Plug-in! Within a day, I was able to walk by the door to the basement and smell this making it's way up the stairs.

YES!!!

WOOHOO!!

Now, I can't wait to try the refills!

Hibiscus & Rainforest, and Ginger & Nutmeg.

Really looking forward to trying that Ginger & Nutmeg!

I like spice.

In my air fresheners, and in life ;-)

As with any scented product, these are not for everyone!

However, for me, this whole experiment was definitely a good one! I loved the candles, I liked the sprays, and the plug-in ... heavenscent!

Thanks Febreze!

Now, I can welcome family, friends and strangers into my home, take them into the basement and say with confidence;

Kittens? Kittens? We can't smell no stinkin' kittens! Oh, and don't mind the mess!

K.

Unlikely Friends

Up until last fall, we had two pets.

One dog. One cat.

Belle

and

Puss

And any number of other creatures would occasionally drop by.

In October, Puss had kittens.

Hours old.

One week Old.

We had planned on keeping two kittens from the litter.

Claws McPurr

and

Carley

Six months later, we still have three.

Claws, Carley & Smudge in the back.

Their favourite chair.

And Mama is still with us of course.

Sigh. I've officially become The Cat Lady.

Although they were behind closed doors, in the laundry room for the first few weeks, Belle would occasionally go in to sniff around and see what all the fuss was about :-)

The kittens have grown up, knowing Belle as simply part of the family.

Smudge and Carley still keep their distance from her, unless they feel like playing.

But Claws ...

Yeah. Not so much.

At first, he wasn't sure what to make of Belle.

'I think you missed a spot, right there.'

'MOOOOOMMMM! This big dog is in my personal SPACE again!'

But now ...

Awwww the best of friends!

'No ... really ... trust me'

OK. So we're still working on the 'No Belle, we don't EAT Claws McPurr!' thing ...

K.

You're Punished? Oh Yeah! You're Punished!

My memory sucks at times.

The boys have the memory of an elephant.

Alec always amazes me when he comes out with 'Mom, remember the time that ...' and it's something that happened four years ago.

On a Tuesday.

At 1:47 pm.

Ya know?

Over the weekend, the boys had friends over.

After Adam's friend left, he decided he wasn't having fun anymore, and was going to ... as I say 'act up' and do things that he KNOWS are unacceptable.

So he lost his computer privileges for the week.

I'll take away ipods, psp's, tv, the computer, whatever happens to pop into my head that means the 'most' to them at that particular moment.

Yes. I've even resorted to confiscating the coveted 'blankey'.

I was REALLY pissed off that day!

Tonight after work, the boys were outside arguing.

I was making dinner, and trying to referee their verbal match from the kitchen window, angry with Alec because he was overreacting and just being mean to his little brother.

Which he knows drives me absolutely INSANE!

Adam came into the house upset, I looked at the timer on the stove and saw that dinner would be ready in 5min, gave him a hug and asked him;

'Would you like to play a game on the computer for a few minutes before dinner?'

He heads to the fridge with 'Yeah, I would, but ... aren't I grounded from the computer this week?'

I stopped roaming around the kitchen.

'You're Punished? Oh Yeah! You're Punished!'

God luv 'im.

I totally forgot.

I had said it in the heat of 'I'm fed up to HERE!' the day before, and in everything that had happened that night so far, I totally forgot.

I was just trying to make him feel better.

Between Alec and I, he's third man in line for using the computer, so playing his games are a treat for him.

Sigh.

Damn. Make him feel better for the moment, or be the responsible parent and stick to the punishment?

'You're right', I said. 'Sorry, I forgot, no computer.'

Instead, he patched up his 'wrestling bear' (don't ask), and helped me get things out of the fridge for dinner.

Thank god my kids have memories like elephants.

And that they don't use them against me.

Cause in case I haven't mentioned, my memory sucks at times.

Now, what were we talking about?

K

If You Seek Amy - MY ASS!

When I hit the teen years, Madonna was the musical vamp of the day.

My mother was NOT impressed to hear me singing, at the top of my lungs behind my bedroom door, 'Like A Virgin! Hey! Touched for the very first time! Like a Vir-ir-ir-ir-gin'

Pic courtesy of myidols.com

Yeah.

Sorry Mom.

Sorry neighbours back home.

One time when Alec was about 4, we're cruising through the grocery store, and he starts singing, loudly, part of the the David Wilcox song 'Riverboat Fantasy'.

Specifically, it was 'Cocaine kisses, and Moonshine Missus, that's the life for me!'

Yeah. A couple of heads turned.

OK, totally my fault for being a Wilcox fan and playing his Cd's far too much at that period in my life.

For as long as we've had and will have music, there will be lyrics that drive parents insane.

Especially when sung at those inappropriate moments.

I'd consider Britney Spears one of the musical vamps of today.

Pic courtesy of WHERETOBET.com

She's had her issues.

She's flaunted those issues very publicly.

And I promised myself I wouldn't give her any more bandwidth by commenting on ANY of those actions, or her musical 'comeback'.

But today - I break that promise.

Cause this post is all about Britney. Or, more specifically, Amy.

Now, at the risk of pissing off all the Britney Spears and 'Freedom of Expression!' fans out there, I have to put on my Ugly Mom Jeans, and say:

'WHOA! Backup People! LINE CROSSED!'

And I don't mean only by Britney, but by the radio stations also!

I heard her latest release last week.

It's called "If You Seek Amy."

The boys and I are driving along, it comes on, and two voices from the back seat yell "TURN IT UP MOM!"

OK then.

I liked her last two singles. There. I said it.

I figured I'd see what this one was like.

All of a sudden I hear:

Love me hate me, say what you want about me But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy

Love me hate me, but can't you see what I see?All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy

Love me hate me, la la la, la la la

And a little later ...

So tell me if you see her 'Cause I've been waiting here forever

Oh baby baby if you seek Amy tonight

Oh baby baby we'll do whatever you like

Oh baby baby baby Oh baby baby baby

Now, let's backtrack a bit.

all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy

begging to if you seek Amy

if you seek Amy


Did you catch that?


So the first time I hear this on the radio, I'm thinking "Oh ... no ... I DIDN'T just hear that!

Then the chorus rolls around again. And there's no mistaking it.

HOLY CRAP!

If You Seek Amy - MY ASS!

I know what she's referring to. Alec knows what she's referring to, and when I hit the 'OFF' button on the stereo, with a 'That's enough of THAT!', Adam's suspicions were confirmed as well.

Yeah. I know. He's only 9. But HE can hear that four letter *F* word in the song. He's not stupid. It's all good if it's in a song right?

And MOM! It's only 'If You Seek Amy!'

Unfortunately, that wasn't the appropriate moment to yell 'MY ASS it is!'

I've saved that for all of you ;-)

Seriously tho' ... What happened to having a 'softer' version for the radio crowd?

If we were a society of adults only, I wouldn't care.

But my KIDS and the majority of their friends and classmates all tune into the same radio station.

The one that plays the 'cool' tunes. This song is getting alot of airplay.

In my opinion - and since this post is tagged under 'My Opinion On Stuff' I can give it - this song is VERY uncool!

And to the radio stations who have made the decision to air this song at all?

Bad choice.

Bad bad choice!

Sure. The kids love it.

It DOES have a good dance beat, of course, it's a pop song.

But lets face it, the real pull is getting to spell/sing 'F.U.C.K. me' multiple times throughout the song.

And now, of course, because I've banned it, it has become the forbidden attraction.

'But WHY can't we listen to it mom? It's Britney! You LIKE Britney!'

Adam will hear it somewhere in the distance and say 'Psss ... mom ... listen ... '

Great!

Thanks Britney! Way to be a role model! Good Job!

I wonder if she ever thinks about how the songs she sings, could potentially effect her boys.

I wonder if the following scenario has ever crossed her mind ...


Her boys are on a play date with their friends.

Yes. Superstar kids go on play dates too, People.

And the conversation goes something like this:

B's Boys: Our Mom's a singer.

Friends: Bet she isn't!

B's Boys: YES SHE IS! She's on the radio!

Friends: Oh yeah? What does she sing?

B's Boys: ... all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to F.U.C.K me



Nice huh?

Cause ya know ... that's EXACTLY how it's going to come out!

Now, maybe I'm just getting old.

Maybe I'm overreacting.

Maybe not.

What do YOU think?

Is it any worse than some of the other songs on the radio today, or 20yrs ago?


Since I can't directly embed the video here, at the request of BritneyTV, if you'd like to see it, CLICK HERE.

K

Wrestlemania XXV - Halifax Style

370 days.

That's how long Alec waited for Wrestlemania XXV.

Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

370 days of anticipation.

He has been following WWE Wrestling for about a year and a half now, and has been looking forward to this event for much of that time.

It's a pretty big deal in the wrestling world.

There is even a website dedicated to The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania.

It promised to be a good show.

All the boys favourites were in attendance, an explosive main event, and even a Hardy brother against Hardy brother extreme match was on the card.

And for all of us in the crowd who still think 'Old School is COOL!' , some of the Legends returned to grace the ring once more.

Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, Ric Flair, and my personal favourite ...

Rowdy Roddy Piper!

Then

Pic courtesy of 411mania.com

Now

Pic courtesy of PWTORCH.com

MMMMMM. Ever the Hot Rod!

I remember the first Wrestlemania.

Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

I didn't get to watch it that night.

You could only see it either live, or on pay-per-view back then.

And dad wasn't about to pay whatever it cost at the time for a wrestling pay-per-view.

I did get to see it all eventually, and was sucked in. Completely.

Alec got the Wrestlemania XXIV DVD for a grading present last year.

Pic courtesy of Amazon.com

And even before XXIV aired, he was counting down to XXV.

On Sunday, April 5th, from 8pm to 12am the anniversay show was taking place in Dallas Texas.

Since we couldn't all fly to Dallas for the event, we did the next best thing and watched it on the big screen at Empire Theatres, with about 100 of our closest friends ... as opposed to 77,000.

This was part of the boys birthday presents.

The little Wrestlemaniacs in their wrestling attire - hat, t-shirts and most importantly ... BELTS!

We arrived an hour early, because there were LIVE wrestling matches scheduled to take place in the lobby before the show.

Wrestlemania is a four hour super show.

Yes people, that meant FIVE HOURS of wrestling!

FIVE!

Sigh. The things we do for our kids!

We watched for a couple of minutes, went into the theatre and grabbed PRIME seats in the very back row, then went back out to watch the 'matches'.

Couldn't tell you who these guys were. I think I heard the announcer say one of the guys was from Alberta?

Whoever they were, the kids in the audience LOVED them and were right into the whole show.

Bee Dude makes his entrance. Boys were sitting on the ledge, along the widow for most of the show, and had a great view.

The Blue Dude was intense! So was his hair!

When the kids along the ropes yelled at him, he yelled right back LOL

Check out Dude's hair! It should be an illegal weapon!

OUCH!

Suddenly, the two guys from the previous match came out, and then there were four ...

These wrestlers were no Batista, or Triple H, or Undertaker ... but the kids who were there were completely into it, and cheered them on as if they were WWE Superstars LOL.

The boys got to shake the Bee Dude's hand when he left the ring.

In the 'real' pic, you can see their faces, so it's a nice shot :-)

Just before eight, we headed into the theatre, where we saw this ... which was pretty cool ...

While waiting for the show to start, there was a video game on the big screen.

Some guy was walking around the theatre, giving a controller to two kids, and letting them play.

The boys got to play against each other :-)

The boys with one of their friends, waiting patiently, and playing the video game that was on the movie screen.

On the way out, after the show, we stopped and took a pic by the ring.

My future WWE Superstars!

The boys had a great night! And were absolutely exhausted.

We didn't get home until after midnight, so the next morning, I worked from home, and let them sleep in.

When they woke up on their own, I took them down to school, and went into the office.

And that, my friends, is how we celebrated Wrestlemania XXV - Halifax style!

And the countdown to XXVI is on ... Ring that bell boys!

K

The Best Smellin' Dust Bunnies On The Block!

Growing up, there were a few 'chores' that were expected of me on a regular basis.

More so if we were expecting company.

One of these was the dusting.

I wasn't fond of dusting. It meant moving things. Little things. Then putting them all back.

But it had to be done. And it was up to me to do it.

Mom would hand me an old dishtowel, and the Pledge®.

Yup, mom was a Pledge® girl, all the way. For as long as I can remember, she never changed her 'staple' cleaning products.

Pledge®
Mr Clean®
Tide®
Ivory® Dish soap

I still use Mr Clean®, and Tide® (when it's on sale), but I randomly change my dish soap, and the furniture is lucky to get a swipe with a 'dollar store duster', let alone adding any type of 'product' to it.

Last month, I received the Cascade pacs® and Swiffer Dust & Shine® Furniture Spray from Procter & Gamble, to try.

So I did.

You can read about my experience with the Cascade pacs® here.


I was also sent two Swiffer Dust & Shine® Furniture Sprays .

I have never used this product before.

For this little experiment, I let the coffee table in my living room collect dust for almost a week.

I say almost, because I couldn't stand looking at it any longer than a few days.

Kids, dog, cat, kittens, fireplace and daily dust ... it didn't take long to start looking pretty scummy.

Yes, I do believe those are butt prints on the table

First, I used Lilac and Vanilla Scent

Nice.

Not too strong on the lilac and just enough vanilla.

On the end table, I tried Tropical Sunshine

This one smells very outdoor clean, with a bit of a tangy scent that lingers.

Did it work as far as 'dusting and shining'?

You decide.

I see shine.

Keep in mind, as with any scented product, these may not be for everyone.

I liked them.

With one exception.

After a few sprays, the liquid begins to ooze out and down the nozzle.

Now, for a girl who hates to get 'stuff' on her fingers - anything, mayo, sauce, butter, dish soap, hair gel etc. - that's NOT a good thing.

However, they work both as a cleaner, and air freshener, and in a house with kids, pets and smelly sneakers, that IS a good thing!

And now, there's a new generation of Dusters in town, I've passed down the rag.

Lemon Pledge® will always remind me of home. And mom.

But I think I'm gonna be the Swiffer girl, with the best smellin' dust bunnies on the block!

Be sure to check back, and see what Procter and Gamble product I'll be reviewing next time.

Today, I received this gorgeous tote bag ... come back soon to find out what was inside, and what I thought of it!

K.