No VIP? NO Hitman!

Bret Hart is coming to town!

I'm going to MEET Bret Hart!!! Uh ... I mean ... The BOYS are going to MEET Bret Hart!

Or at least I thought we were going to.


One night last week, around 2am when I couldn't sleep, I caught a commercial that pushed thoughts of sleep right out of my head, and replaced those zzzzzz with visions of black leather jackets, aviator shades, and pink leotard.

It was an advertisement for the Maritime Wrestling Expo, featuring WWE Superstar and Hall of Famer, the legendary Bret "Hitman" Hart!


So anyone who's been around the Korner awhile, knows the boys are HUGE WWE fans.

Mama, on the other hand, despite a 15 yr hiatus, is old school, and was a HUGE Bret Hart fan, back in the day.

Yes. I just said, 'back in the day.'

And now that he's buried the hatchet with McMahon, and has been making a comeback on the WWE, he's become a FAMILY favourite.

Oh yeah, this good Canadian girl still has a small thing for Canada's first son of wrestling!

Just a small one ...

Did I mention ... Bret Hart! In MY back yard! WooHoo!


The Promoter for this event is Mainstream Wrestling Entertainment.

It's the organization's 10th anniversary, so to commemorate the event, they have organized a Wrestling Expo which will feature merchandise, matches with worldwide competitors, nostalgia, and of course, the picture and autograph session with Bret Hart, as well as the 'salutation and ceremony' honouring him.


The day after seeing the commercial, I checked out Ticketatlantic.com

Compared the prices, and decided for this particular event, I'd go for the floor seats.

Usually I go for the cheaper lower bowl seats, but I wasn't sure what security was like at this venue, and at the Metro Centre, they won't let the kids down on the floor when the wrestlers are coming in and out, unless you have a seat ON the floor.

So ... for this particular event, a possible 'once in a lifetime' view of Bret Hart. I wanted the floor.

The website divided tickets into VIP (first 5 rows on floor), floor, (row 6 to bowl) and bowl/bench.

I figured for the sake of five rows, I'd save myself a few bucks, and the boys would still have the opportunity to get close enough to the Hitman and the other wrestlers.

At lunchtime, I went to one of the ticket outlets, and got our tickets.

Oh yeah, Baby!!! Happy Dance!!!

Row 6! SIX people!!!!

Seats 6, 7 & 8.

WOOHOO!!!

After I picked up the tickets, I then emailed the guy I met back in May, Armband Dude, who I had purchased the Jeff Hardy Armbands, and Rey Mysterio masks from.

Remember, the guy who let the boys go into the wrestling ring for their birthdays?

I was curious if his organization had anything to do with this expo.

Wasn't long before I got a reply back, letting me know that, 'YUP!' it was HIS show!

At dinner that evening, I had the boys close their eyes, and placed the tickets next to their plates.

They opened.

They saw the word WRESTLING.

They freaked.

They saw the name Bret Hart.

They freaked even more.

Then ... THEN I told them about the autograph session.

The Meet & Greet.

Adam looks at me, and says, 'You mean ... I'm going to be RIGHT next to him, and I can say Hi Bret Hart, my name is Adam!'

I'm not sure which one of us was more excited when I replied, 'YUP!!!'

Now, when I first purchased the tickets, seeing the only difference listed between VIP and the rest of the floor, was that it was the first five rows, I just ASSUMED that the autograph session was included in the 'overall' ticket price.

Imagine my surprise, when later that evening, I'm on the website for Mainstream Wrestling Entertainment and it jumped out at me, NO VIP ticket, no admission into the autograph lineup.

No VIP? No Hitman!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

You're KIDDING ME!

Don't get me wrong, as much as I'm sure the boys would enjoy any LIVE wrestling match, it was Bret Hart, and the possibility of them being 'that close' to him, that was the reason we were going.

Well DAMN!

Mama screwed up!

BIG TIME!

Now ... how was I going to fix it?

I couldn't bring the tickets back and exchange them for VIP. The vendor wouldn't allow me to do that.

Should I go out and buy three more tickets? And try to sell the regular floor ones I had?

Maybe if I had that kind of extra cash.

Or ...

Or ...

OR ...

If there was ONE person in the world who might be able to swap my tickets for me, it was the promoter!!!!

Suddenly, I could hear my mother in my head.

'Kimberly, you never know unless you ASK! All they can say is NO!'

And so, I asked.

I emailed the guy from Mainstream Wrestling Entertainment, who had given the boys so much fun for their birthday, and I asked.

I asked if he'd be willing to swap my tickets for VIP ones.

I explained how I hadn't realize that the regular floor did NOT include the meet and greet, and now I was going to have a VERY unhappy couple of boys on my hands when I had to tell them the difference.

Before I contacted the promoter, I mentioned my Operation Ticket Swap to a couple of people at the office.

They weren't very optimistic I'd be successful.

I believe one quote was 'He won't do that!'

I had to try.

I have a little boys who asked me 'You mean ... I'm going to be RIGHT next to him, and I can say Hi Bret Hart, my name is Adam!'

To which *I* had replied, 'YUP!'

I asked.

And you know what he said?

'No sweat.'

NO SWEAT!!!!

Oh believe me my friends, this mama was SWEATIN'!!!!!

And so, we did the swap.

Before we met, I wasn't really concerned WHERE our seats would be.

I figured anywhere in the first five rows would be VERY cool!

The whole point of upgrading the tickets was to make sure we got into the Meet & Greet, however, an inevitable seat upgrade in the process would be an added bonus too!

I gave him my tickets, he opened his envelope and asked, 'Do you think the boys are going to mind these seats?'

Later, I asked the boys, 'OK, so would you be really upset if we got to meet Bret Hart, but ended up getting kind of crappy seats instead?'

Adam gave me a full out, 'Yes!'

Alec was trying to be more understanding, but I could see the disappointment already registering on his face.

That's when I pulled out the new tickets, and said,'Sorry, this was the best he could do. But remember, we STILL get to see and MEET Bret Hart ... OK?'

I then handed this to Alec ...

UM ... YEAH ... that's row ONE!!!!!

ONE!!!!

Row one, seats 1,2 & 3!

OH. YEAH. BABY!

(If you're REALLY interested where that is, you can view the Seating Plan.)


I couldn't believe it!

Something in the first five rows, I expected.

Row ONE?

Knocked me flat!


Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Devin!!!!!

You came to my rescue and saved the day, and my butt!


AND put it in the FIRST row!

Now, the ONLY thing that might make that day/night any better, is if Mr Bret Hart says YES, when Adam invites him to come out for pizza with us after the show.

Cause ya KNOW he's gonna ask him!

Oh ... and Mr Co-worker, remember ... NEVER doubt a woman when she says she really wants something, and more importantly, the power of asking nicely ;-p

K.

P.S. Due to my latest 'adventure', the Ticketatlantic.com has since updated their info on what's included with the VIP tickets. Yeah. That me. Changing the world, one website at a time! ;-p

Freakin’ Ghosts! Messin’ With My Head! AND My Clock!

Remember awhile back, I told you about (what I considered to be) the paranormal activity going on in my basement one night?

Remember, I also mentioned that sometimes strange things happen around my house?

Yeah?

Good! Cause I have ANOTHER tale for ya!


There seems to be ‘someone’ in my house who likes to mess with my alarm clock.

At first, I thought it was me.

Sleepclocking.

Since the ex and I split, I have been known to turn my alarm off in my sleep, and jump up in panic mode on more than one morning.

However, lately, I’ve had a few alarm clock related incidents that now have me thinking it’s NOT me … AT ALL!


Last night before going to sleep, I checked the clock. I KNOW I did, because I’ve become somewhat OCD the past six years about the alarm clock.

I don’t wake up easily, so I NEED to make sure the clock is set, and LOUD so I’ll hear it in the morning.

This morning, I opened my eyes and was already facing the clock.

The display read 9:07am


GROAN! Roll over. Snuggle down into the warm blankets.

Wait a minute …

WHAT?!??! WHAT?!?!? Did that say 9:07am?!?!??! HOLY CRAP!!!!


I usually get up at 6:30am.


I shot out of bed, taking note that it didn’t seem light enough outside for 9:07am yet … but that means nothing, when you’re stumbling out of a dark room with only one eye open, focusing on trying not to trip over the dog, as opposed to actually looking out the window.

Made it to the kitchen to see that it was actually only 7:03am.

7:03am! PHEW!!!!!


Once I had Adam up and out of the house for the bus, I went back to my room and checked out the clock, to see what the heck was up with it.


Not only was the time ‘off’ by two hours … the alarm was turned off, AND the volume had been turned all the way down.

OK, I can work with the fact that most likely … maybe … *I* was the one who turned it off in my sleep.



However … there’s not a chance in hell I changed the time by two hours, AND turned the volume all the way down, AND turned the alarm off in my sleep.

JUST. DIDN’T. HAPPEN.

And as I said … this is NOT the first time I’ve woken up to a messed up clock.

Not fun!

Knock it OFF, Ghosts! If I’m late for work, or the kids are late for school, I don’t think the boss or teachers are going to accept ‘my ghost messed with my clock’ as an acceptable excuse.

Yeah.

Not so much.


Freakin’ Ghosts! Messin’ with my head! AND my clock!

But ... according to my co-worker … I just need a new clock ... ;-)

K.

Bite Me, Tree! You too, Earl! You Owe Me A Bike Rack!

Around here, people started talking about Hurricane Earl about a week before he (sort of) hit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining that it wasn't worse than it was.

I just think that since Hurricane Juan, in 2003, people in Nova Scotia have a heightened sense of awareness, of just how much damage one of those 2+ category suckers can do.

So, in comparison to Juan, Earl who was either a tropical storm, or cat 1 depending on who you talk to or what you read, was thankfully on the weak side.

Somewhat like our experience with Bill, last year.


Throughout the week, people followed Earl on Stormpulse, and prepared.

I was one of them, to a certain degree :-)

I wasn't like the couple in front of me at the grocery store, who left with $400 worth of 'just in case' groceries and supplies.

But by Thursday night, I was ready for the expected landfall on Sat...


I had canned food, snacks, water & juice.

Rope to tie down the trampoline, new flashlights and a new little gadget to hopefully cook the mini ravoli on, if we lost power ;)

Check out the tiny little 'stove' I picked up at the Dollar Store.

I figured, 'What the heck?'.

For $2, if we need it, and it works, WOOHOO!

If not, I'm out the price of a coffee, learn my lesson and we have PB&J.

Turns out we didn't need it.

However, when Johnny's* mom later picked him up, I showed it to her, and she happens to have one too!

They WORK!

She said she had used it to make breakfast for four, last time they went camping.

Alrighty then! Looking forward to trying this little baby out during the NEXT hurricane!

LOTS of batteries (which I forgot to take a pic of) ...

& candles.

I was either ready for Earl ... or a really good night with myself!

Bring it ON, Baby! ;-p

The next morning, around 9:30am, Adam was invited down the street to a friend's house.

It was raining, and windy, but certainly not too bad to go out in.

I dropped him off, and about 45 minutes later had just finished taking the hash browns out of the oven for brunch, for Alec and his friend Johnny*, when the power went out.

It was raining ... hard, and the wind was now roaring through the trees like they were nothing more than blades of grass.

I've got to say, for about an hour, it was pretty wild to watch!

Alec, Johnny* and I were sitting at the table, only about 10 minutes into the meal, when a sound drew me to the living room window.

Something out of the corner of my eye made my brain go ...'What the ?!?!?'

There was a piece of a tree sitting on the back end of my car!

DAMN!

From the angle I had at the window, it looked like a HUGE portion of the tree between the neighbours house and mine had fallen on the back ass of my car.

I couldn't tell if there was any damage.

I ran outside for a closer look.

Bad idea.

The rain was not only falling hard and fast, but ... sideways and diagonally.

Five second inspection, resulting in a 'OK, doesn't really seem too bad', and I was soaked.

Suddenly a HUGE gust of wind shook everything around me, and I heard a loud snap.

I looked up at the tree the car and I were under.

Bad idea.

It was swaying, and cracking, and leaning and ...

I was ducking and running back to the house lol.

After a few minutes, seeing as I was already soaked, and I knew I'd have to get pics of this, simply to memorialize the fact that CRAP like this happens to me, I ran back out with the camera.

AND moved the car.

After I was back in the house, another branch fell.

That snap I heard perhaps?

After the rain stopped, I was was able to get a good look at it.

I couldn't believe it! The bulk of it had barely touched more than the bumper!

The back windshield, intact.

The trunk, intact.

The bike rack, on the other hand? May it rest in peace.

Seriously. The bike rack took the WHOLE impact of the piece of tree that fell on it.

And I say piece, because that sucker was alot bigger than just a branch!

Thankfully the piece that landed on the rack was only a portion of THAT.

Looking at it from the window, my only concern was that the bike rack might have been pushed down into the trunk a bit, possibly denting it.

Once the boys got the tree off, and we later removed the rack, I could see that it had only slightly dented the trunk in two places.

The bike rack was completely warped on one side. Unusable.

UGH! Bite me, Tree! You too, Earl! You owe me a bike rack!

However ... That I could definitely live with.

Could have been MUCH worse, had it gone through the front or back window.

And here's the funny thing.

When I got back from dropping Adam off at the friends house earlier, I parked the car a few feet ahead of where I normally do.

Not realizing at the time that I was doing it.

Later, standing there, looking at the position of the branch and the position of the car, I realized that had I stopped where I usually do when I back in, that thing would have most likely come down on the back window.

Hopefully not through it, but that's definitely where it would have landed.

Thank you, Sixth Sense.

Four houses in a row lost parts of their trees, that I know of.

A big branch landed on the roof of the house next door.

There were branches in everyones yards.

One neighbour had a chainsaw going as soon as the rain stopped, and by 3:30, the mess in my yard was cut and gone :-)

And the neighbour who owns the tree, took the bike rack to try and fix it.

I told him not to worry about it, as the season is almost over anyway and I'd just get a new one next year.

He insisted I give him a shot ... I said sure.

Today, Earl was let off the hook.

I arrived home this afternoon, and as I was getting out of the car, Mr Neighbour pops out from behind the hedge with a 'Helloooooo', hoping not to scare me;

... and scaring the shit out of me!

Once I got my breath back, checked to make sure I wasn't wearing my coffee and he stopped chuckling, he gave me this ...

At first, I thought he'd fixed it.

Not so.

It was a new one he picked up at a yard sale this morning.

For $5.

WOOHOO!

Gotta love yard sales!

Gotta love nice neighbours who wouldn't accept the $5 I wanted to give him ;-)

And yes, all the pieces are there, fully functional and safe.

It's awesome.

In better shape than the old one.

Thank you, Mr Neighbour!

Earl? You can still bite me!

Hope everyone has a safe hurricane season!

K.

*Johnny is Alec's friend who slept over the night before the storm, but of course that's not his real name.

And The Winner Is ...

Last week, I asked you all to tell me What Would YOU Label?

Twelve of you gave me GREAT answers! (twelve, btw?!?!? come on, people! I KNOW more of you than that told me you would love to have that labeller!!!)

Thanks to Brother Canada, ONE of you will be the winner of the new P-touch 90 labeller because you chose to tell the world what you'd label.

And I have to say ... LOVED all your answers!

After discussing it with the Brother Rep, due to the numerous, creative answers, the only fair way to choose would be to use a random number generator, from Random.org

So, at 11:00pm this evening, I held my first ever giveaway in the Korner.

I took a screenshot of how many comments were there, minus my two well wishes.

(click on each image to see them more clearly)

Entered the number of entries into the random number generator.

And the winner is ...

#2

heather@actingbalanced.com said...

I would label all of my son's food containers to let people know they are gluten free!
August 21, 2010 10:25 PM

WOOHOO!!! Congratulations, Heather!

And thank you Brother Canada, for donating the new P-touch 90 labeller for my first ever giveaway!

Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who entered, and took the time to leave me thoughtful, creative comments.

I really did love everyone's answers! You all have VERY good reasons to use labellers lol!

K

What Would YOU Label?

I've seen many, MANY bloggers hold giveaways.

I'm not one of those bloggers. Usually.

I think I've entered only one, two at the most, blog contests in the three years I've been doing this.

And I have nothing of value to give for a contest of my own, other than my two kids, and ebay and Children's Services frown on that practice, so I haven't.



However, after my post on the P-touch 90 Labeller®, I was approached by Brother Canada, asking if I'd be willing to hold a contest.

A GIVEAWAY, PEOPLE!

I get to GIVE SOMETHING AWAY!

To YOU!

Well, to one of you who likes to label things :-)



Brother Canada and I want to know, 'What Would YOU Label?'

All you organized people. Those of you who like to label things; toys, school/office supplies, food containers... wouldn't it be nice to OWN one of these P-touch 90 labellers®?

SURE it would!

Simply tell me what you would label with it.

It's THAT easy!

I'm sure you can find SOMETHING!!!

Your kids?

Your pets?

Your friends?

Your favourite treat?

Your BOSS?

(Yes, I have his permission to use this picture! ;-p

You've GOTTA ask when you want to put the Boss on the Blog!)

Come on! I'm sure you can think of SOMETHING!!!!

Let me know what you'd label and YOU could be the owner of a NEW P-touch labeller®!

Just leave me a comment.

It's that easy.

I'll leave the contest open for one week, then with the help of one of the Brother representatives, a winner will be picked, and announced on the blog next SATURDAY! (most likely AFTER I get the kids to bed).

Thanks to Brother Canada, for offering me the opportunity to give the new P-touch labeller® to one of YOU!

And for enabling me to hold the FIRST EVER contest in the Korner!

Come on! Play!

What would YOU label?

K.

P.S. Yes, we DO spell Labeller with two L's here in Canada.

WHAT? Why Give Money, When Dog Pee Advice Is Free?

I was on my way into Walmart (yes, Walmart) tonight and noticed this kid, about 12yr old (or so), standing out front with his friend.

Pic taken from HERE.

He was beating on one of those big round poles, like a bongo drum.

Goin' to town!

When I got up next to him, I said 'Good Beat!'

He looked at me, paused for a second, then whipped his hand out, and said with a big grin, 'Tip?'

I sort of half turned, pointed my finger at him, said 'SURE! Don't eat yellow snow!', gave him a wink & grin of my own & kept on walkin'.

Don't think he was expecting THAT!

WHAT? Why give money, when dog pee advice is free?

K.

P.S. Feel free to leave your favourite tip in the comments, and I'll be sure to share the wealth ;-)

Hello Muddah ... Hello Faddah ... My Stuff Is Labelled ... Thanks To Brother ...

The summer before Junior High, I went to camp.

I didn't know anyone when I got there, spent a week doing the sports, cookout, crafts, campfires, life lessons thing, and had a blast.

We sang the ever popular camp theme song ... Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah ... (Camp Grenada)

I made friends.

It was a wonderful experience.


When I left for camp, my mother was sure I was prepared.

Clothes, towels, face cloths, toiletries ... you name it, she packed it.

And to ensure I came home with everything I had left with, she labelled everything.

And I mean everything ... the old fashioned way ... piece of tape and a pen.
Thanks, Mom!

Now, Adam is leaving for camp for the first time.

My 10yr old baby boy, who (unless he's with dad or my mom) has never been away from mom for more than a couple of nights when I've had to travel for work, is going to camp for NINE whole days!

I'm nervous for him. I'm nervous for me!

I know he's going to have a GREAT time, make friends, do the sports, campfire etc. thing and learn some wonderful life lessons.

I also hope he's going to have a memorable experience, like I did.


And ya know what? The rules haven't changed.

I've been asked to label ... EVERYTHING!

Originally, I was going to do it the same way dear 'ol ma had done so, those many years ago ;-)

But as I've said many times, you just never know what's going to happen in the Korner.

Or in this case, what email will end up in your Inbox.


A few weeks ago, I received a request from a marketing company, to try the PT-90 Personal "Simply Stylish" Labeller®, and write a post about it.

Well now. How's THAT for timing!

I told the rep that normally, I would have declined the request. Simply because I'm not a labeller.

LOVE the idea of organization ... don't have the discipline.

But ... I happen to need to label a bunch of camp stuff in the near future and I've always wanted to try one of these gadgets, so I said 'Sure!'


So, I waited.

When it didn't arrive after the first couple of weeks, I contacted the rep to let her know.

I didn't hear back from her.

I waited another week and contacted her again.

I was disappointed now. I wanted my snazzy new labeller!

But, I also understand that nothing is ever a 'done deal' until it ends up in your hands.


Shortly after I sent the second message, the phone rang.

It was a representative from Brother Canada.

He was following up on the message, directly from the manufacturer in Montreal, on the unanswered message I had sent to the marketing rep in New York.

Well now. That was nice!


We spoke on a Friday.

He assured me I would receive my snazzy new labeller very soon.

A few days later, it arrived! With a nice little letter from the rep.

It's a PT-90 Personal "Simply Stylish" Labeller ®

It features:

• 3 changeable faceplates for personalizing your machine's look


• 8 Deco Mode Patterns for extra-stylish labels


• Uses durable "M" series tapes - available in 2 widths


• Easy view, 12-character LCD display


• Prints 1 or 2 lines of text


• 8 Type Styles and 7 Framing options


• 173 Symbols

Info taken from HERE

I put in batteries and cartridge, changed the face place, turned it on, printed the first label on my first attempt, and then the little message popped up in the display ... 'Low Battery'.

Side Note: Do NOT use cheap ass dollar store batteries in your new labeller!

I started off with something easy.

Name only, in whatever font it decided to give me.

Knowing Adam would want to try it, and not knowing how many more labels it would print on the cheap ass batteries, I decided to put it aside until he got home.

That would also give me time to read the manual, and figure out which key combinations I would need to print the skull and crossbones pic that I knew he'd want as soon as he saw it.

Of course, as soon as he walked through the door I heard, 'MAMA! Did you figure out how to use it! Does it work? Can I try it?'

Do I know my kid or do I know my kid? ;-)

Once I gave him the rundown on how he could change the text size and add the cool characters, he managed to get a couple out before the labeller finally said 'PULEEZE!' to our battery choice, rolled over and labelled no more.

Next day, I picked up the expensive good recharagable batteries.

I've got NINE days worth of crap to label, I don't want to see 'Low Battery' again!

And we didn't.

And we labelled.

Almost everything.

Face cloths, towels and more towels

Yeah ... clothes too ...

I got him a little address book,

so he can keep track of all the info of his new friends ...

He labelled that too!

Yes ... we even labelled the suitcase!

Everything ... including the labeller, with bubble border (thanks to Adam)

As you can see, one of these hand held labellers is literally easy enough for a child to use.

Once you figure out the key combinations of what you want.

It took both boys only going through the motions once, to print out a label that had a pic, their name, and the pic at the end again.

It was like second nature to them, watching their fingers fly over the keys after only a couple of labels.


With one exception ...

The label prints out of arrow 1.

You push the little cutter lever next to arrow 2.

But ... for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to use that freakin' little slot next to arrow 3!!!

You're supposed to be able to put your label in this hole, twist and pull and it will self-peel.

Yeah. I'll have to take their word for it on this one.

None of us could get that sucker to work for us. So we peeled the old fashioned way.

All and all, it's a great little gadget.

If you're a labeller, I think you'll like it.



To be honest, Adam will probably get more use out of it than I will.

Like I said earlier, the discipline for that type of organization just isn't there on a full time basis for me.


But ... I agreed to review this product specifically to label Adam's 'stuff' for camp, and for that, it absolutely did what it was supposed to do.

Until we used the entire tape cartridge.

Then ...

I went back to labelling the old fashioned way ...

Thank you Brother Canada, for offering to send me the PT-90 Personal "Simply Stylish" Labeller® at the exact time I needed a labeller, and for reacting so quickly when you discovered I hadn't (at first) received it.


My baby left for camp this morning.

Nine days.

Sigh.

I wonder when he'll discover that label I stuck on his butt ... ?

K.

P.S. If the title of the post didn't make sense to you, scroll back up and watch the video. Or, go to camp. M'kay? M'KAY!