Canadian Fun Facts!

In honor of Canada Day (which is suspiciously close to USA Day, aka 4th of July), I thought I'd blog a few fun facts about our silly neighbor to the north. I know these are authentic, because I got them from the CIA's World Factbook site. And who would know those sly maple leafers better than our country's intelligence agency? Enjoy!

1. Drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic drug market and export to US; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors; increasing ecstasy production, some of which is destined for the US; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering because of its mature financial services sector.

2. International Disputes: sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland; commencing the collection of technical evidence for submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in support of claims for continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from its declared baselines in the Arctic, as stipulated in Article 76, paragraph 8, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

3. Birth Rate: 10.28 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 192 .

4. Education Spending: 5.2% of GDP (2002) country comparison to the world: 63 .

5. Natural Hazards: continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to development; cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains.

6. Major Industries: transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas.

7. Imports (Commodities): machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, crude oil, chemicals, electricity, durable consumer goods.

8. Military Expenditures: 1.1% of GDP (2005 est.) country comparison to the world: 132 .

9. Airports w/ Paved Runways: 514. Airports w/o Paved Runways: 855.

10. Gov't Type: a parliamentary democracy, a federation, and a Commonwealth realm.

I hope you've learned some new information about America's Hat. As you can see, Canada is a glorious nation, just ripe for the picking. O Canada!

In Lieu of Musings: An open letter to the Postal Service

Dear USPS Effbags,

Getting a mail key for my new house should not be the equivalent of trying to smuggle refugees out of North Korea. Please be advised that most people only buy a new house once in their lives, and therefore, are not aware of the flaming hoops of dog shit you require us to jump through just to get a key for our mailbox.
It would also be helpful for everyone involved if your branches would answer their ringing phone every so often. It would avoid a lot of wasted time, gas, and patience on the part of your customers to merely pick up said ringing phone, answer a few basic questions about the mail key acquirementage, and then hang up. Also, charging me $40 for three mail keys is borderline highway robbery. I can only hope that you will use the proceeds from this outlandish charge to better train your people on how to answer phones and treat people like PEOPLE.
Furthermore, making me fill out a form IN PERSON AT YOUR OUT OF THE WAY DISTRIBUTION CENTER and then telling me that I can only pay for those keys with a check or cash is ridiculous. It's 2009, therefore, it's time to install credit card machines in your buildings.

Sincerely (but not really),
Disgruntled Postal Customer #45,600,501

Monday Musings, No. 1, Vol. 15

Ah, the Monday after a vacation week. It's enough to make your brain melt into a puddle of goo. In fact, mine may well have, but it's still functioning (barely) so that must be a good sign. We came back to a half-packed house, a closing date on Thursday, and work emails up the yin-yang. I need a break, so 'tis time for a smattering of Musings...

Boston was fabulous. We made good use of the T and saw about everything we needed or wanted to see while we were there. I'll post about our trip later - with photos! - but maybe not until after the move. We'll see.
My brother-in-law got married on Saturday (yay!) and again, for like, the third wedding in a row, I forgot to eat a slice of cake.
My belly is looking less bloaty and fat and more pregnanty. Which is good, but now I'm getting to the point where I can't ignore the need for maternity pants. Shopping is in order.
NBA draft is on Thursday and I'm very excited to see who gets Pritch-slapped this year. Hopefully it's Travis Outlaw.
Re: the move - do I call Verizon and ask them to move our service now or wait until after we're moved in? I don't want to be cable/phone/internetless for very long.
I'm keeping a closer eye on what's happening in N. Korea than the Iranian election fallout. Pyongyang is a lot closer to Portland than Tehran.
I like the new Jalapeno Cheddar Tortilla Combos a lot. They are quite tasty.
I had a French manicure done for the wedding. My nails look really nice, which is a problem, because now I'm gonna want them to look like this all the time. Manicures = $$$
I was disappointed in last week's Real Housewives of New Jersey finale. I really thought Teresa's table-flipping and subsequent meltdown would have taken longer than it did. Only 3 minutes of that, Bravo? Come on.
I have to get a bit of groceries for the week, but since we're moving on Saturday, I don't want to buy much. I wish there was a Grocery Fairy who could just bring me the food I need and not make me pay for any of it.
Fenway Franks are oddly delicious. I could have eaten five of them, but luckily the husband had more restraint than I did.

Blogging Break

This is my last post before we head out on vacation. First we head to Spokane for a weekend with the in-laws and for bachelor/bachelorette parties for my brother-in-law's wedding. Then we ditch the kids (aka doglets) with the in-laws for a few days while the husband and I head to Boston for our 5th anniversary trip. Back to Spokane for the wedding weekend festivities (both of us are in the wedding party) and then home to Portland. Whew.

Needless to say, I won't have time to blog while we're away. But please take a look at Jen's blog (the link is in my Fave Blogs list) and say a prayer for her sister, Amy. I graduated with both Jen and Amy (and their husbands) from high school.

Upon my return, I'll post about our time in Boston and the wedding too. Hopefully with photos.

Monday Musings, No. 1, Vol. 14

I usually find that writing out the Musings helps me with the Monday Crabbies. I'm one of those people who wakes up on a Monday and decides, before I am even fully awake, that it's bound to be a crappy day...just because it's a Monday. And today hasn't let me down; it's been a crappy Monday. I'm gonna get my muse on now, before I just give up on today...

Lately (meaning the last few days or so), I've developed a lack of appetite. This is a problem because I have to eat in order to properly grow the fetus. It's not that I don't get hungry, but when I try to decide what to eat, nothing sounds good. I also have 'food cost anxiety,' which is probably an issue best left between me and my imaginary therapist. But it's a very real and rather weird problem.
The new season of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List starts tonight. I'm tres excited...I love her show.
We take off soon for our vacation. Which is fantastic, because I need a vacation. I really haven't had one since we went to Italy for two weeks last spring. I guess you could count the week I took off of work after my dad died, but I don't.
Moving party on June 27th. RSVP if you want to relocate our belongings with us. Pizza and beer and other beverages will be provided.
This week, the fetus is the size of a lemon (or a small peach, depending on which source you consult) and making me feel really fat around the middle. It's weird - I've gained around 3lbs but it's all in my waist so far. I guess that's good, but I'm not showing, so I just look bloated all the time. Pretty.
I miss beer. More than I thought I would at this point.
I really want to see The Hangover. I've heard it's as hilarious as I hoped it would be.

Monday Musings - No. 1, Vol. 13

More house drama over the weekend, but thankfully it has been resolved and we forge ahead. We have to do some repairs on our current house's siding, but it's a relatively easy (and kinda cheap) fix, so we can't complain too much. Gotta love inspectors that scare the bejeez outta first-time buyers and convince them at least $12k in repairs are "necessary" before they take possession. Ugh. Musings to be house drama-free...

I've decided to challenge myself to see how cheaply, but well, I can eat. Food is expensive.
Why is Jon & Kate Plus 8 still on? Gads, those people are just a disaster.
I want to start buying cute maternity clothes, but the doctor doesn't think I'll start showing for another 5-6 weeks. Ugh.
Can't wait until Boston. Less than two weeks!
The dogs are in a funky mood lately. Maybe they FINALLY realized that I'm pregnant. So much for those sharp canine instincts.
Scary news today about that Air France flight that just fell out of the sky today. Magoo.
Who wants to bake me some carrot cake with cream cheese frosting? I don't like walnuts. Sure, I could bake it myself, but I'd rather have someone do it for me.
Sometimes I get iPhone Envy. Not often, but sometimes. Mostly when I see a new app advertised on TV.
I'm getting darker on my arms after all the sun we've had recently. My legs, however, are still as white as can be.

Updates Galore

I intended to do a musings post yesterday, but since it was a holiday Monday, I didn't get around to it. Plus, life around the ol' household has been cuh-razy lately. Of course, the pregnancy is still kinda kicking my butt. I hit the 12 week mark tomorrow (according to the last preggo calculator I looked at) which means that by NEXT Wednesday, I should officially be onto Trimester Deux, and - hopefully - feeling better. The fatigue is really getting to me, especially with work and house stuff being so overwhelming for the past several weeks.

Alright, so first the house stuff. We listed our house on May 2nd and it sold two weeks later. Which, in this market, is pretty insane. So then we were scrambling to find the right house, and luckily, we found it pretty quickly, made an offer last Friday, and came to an agreement with the builder/seller (oh yes, we got a NEW house!) on Sunday. Today we got the loan approval from the bank, so all systems are go. Plus, this week we're scheduled to have the buyers' inspection on our current house this week AND the inspection for our new place too. Whew...

Work has been super-busy too. I've been assigned to a pretty big project with NO time to do it. Yay! Corporate America is the best! It's been quite a brain-drain, I gotta say. It's been a good challenge, but my brain doesn't really need a challenge right now beyond the whole pregnancy dealio. I'll be glad when vacation rolls around in a few weeks because I definitely need it.

So let's see: new house, upcoming vacation/brother-in-law's wedding, growing the baby, moving into new house, etc...June is gonna be a busy month. But busy for good reasons, so I can't really complain too much.

Monday Musings, No. 1, Vol. 12

I'm watching this show on Food Network called Unwrapped. I really like this show because I'm always fascinated about how stuff is made, and since I like food, learning how food is made is pretty much awesome, as far as I'm concerned. However, tonight they're showing how relish is made and um, mass amounts of relish slogging along a conveyor belt is NOT appetizing. Blech. Musing should clear the imagery...

I'm glad we have no plans for Memorial Day weekend. Usually we have to drive to BFE, Washington to camp with the in-laws, which is fun, but the drive always takes too damn long.
Counting your pregnancy weeks confuses the shit outta me. I mean, my brain's already working at roughly 34% capacity because of the hormones. Can't the pregnancy books, and websites, and doctors' offices, etc just agree on ONE way of counting? All I know is that I'm due on December 9th, which means my 2nd trimester is just around the corner. And I cannot wait.
Our house is still not sold. I just want one reasonable offer before the end of the month. Just one. I don't ask for much.
Tonight's random craving: Tuna melt. With (shudder) american cheese.
Getting supes excited for Boston. I bought cute 'walking' shoes at the Columbia employee store this weekend and have already started breaking them in.
I'm really surprised that D.Stern allowed the Celtics to lose their Game 7 - at home. The old guy's switching it up on me.
Our realtor let us bring our loveseat back into the house after our open house this weekend. Finally.
I miss wine. On our way back from the casino this weekend, we stopped at a few wineries and the husband got to taste all sorts of delicious varietals. I got to smell them. Fun fact: now that I have the scenting ability of a bloodhound, the different aromas in wine are really clear to me, yet I can't drink any. Ah, irony.
Gossip Girl season finale tonight. Squee!
Speaking of finales, I did like The Office season finale. Yes, I'm worried that the JAM pregnancy storyline will be um, mishandled by the writers, but I hope not. It could actually be fun and not a giant cliche.
I am so excited for the new John Krasinski/Maya Rudolph movie, Away We Go. Only two weeks until its release. And Sam Mendes directed it, so it has to be awesome.
My SUV needs an oil change.
Less than a month until I'm a bridesmaid in my brother-in-law's wedding. In which I wear a very light pink dress. I need to start tanning like, two weeks ago.

Monday Musing...special edition

So here it is: the rough size of the embrytus (embryo + fetus) that is currently residing in my body.

Some sites compare the 9-weeker to other fruits or veggies, but I like the olive imagery, because it reminds me of martinis. I miss booze.

There are a few of you readers who already know about the wee babe, but several of you are just now finding out. When did I find out? How about on April Fools Day...no joke. The husband didn't even find out right away, because he was traveling for work at the time. So I had to wait until a couple of days later, when he came home for the weekend, to tell him. Also please note: It is VERY possible to get pregnant on your first try off the Pill. VERY possible.

Fast forward to May 1st, our initial prenatal appointment. I had them do an ultrasound to confirm that everything was a-okay with the baby because frankly, after the year I've had, I didn't want to have to wait for bad news if some was pending. But all is well with the babe - it has a nice strong heartbeat and is growing right on schedule for my December 9 due date.

I'm probably going to post quite a bit about my pregnancy now that I'm "out", but I'll try not to turn this into a preggos-only type of blog. And since my brain is absolutely mush already, my Musings might even become more entertaining! For example, today I was trying to look through a data model at work and couldn't figure out why the person who made it didn't attach a table to one of the lines on it...turns out they did. I just didn't see the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the window indicating a table was just off to the right. Sigh...

Also, I haven't told my co-workers about the bambino yet, so mentions of the baby on Facebook are verboten until further notice on this here blog. It's close to lunch time now, so me and the olive are gonna hit the road and grub up.

Monday Musings, No. 1. Vol. 11

Now that the basketball season is over (well, for us Blazers fans it is), I have a lot more free time on my hands. Oh wait...no, I do NOT, because now we are in full house-selling mode. Allegedly, homes in our area, in our asking price range, are selling in 30-45 days on average. Holy crap. If we sell our house in a month, we are scuh-rewwwwed. I mean, yes, it would be nice to sell it and be done living in a goddamn showcase - which I'm already tired of, three days in - but we don't exactly have our next dwelling selected yet. Oh well, let's muse...

Time to put the Blazers gear away for the summer. 25 weeks until the 2009-2010 season kicks off. Booyah.
I found the itinerary for our high school reunion today. Feel free to check this site out: www.lewiston1999.com. Note that for the dinner, which they are asking us to shell out $75/couple for crappy Lewiston hotel food, there are NO free adult beverages. Come on. I emailed the reunion chairperson about this, because frankly, that's a shitty idea.
Speaking of, I am really excited for summer to arrive. I normally like May, but so far the weather's been all jank here.
I like drinking earl grey tea at work sometimes, because after I throw away the teabag (heh heh, I said 'teabag'), it makes my office smell good all day. Like a classy English teahouse.
I love Cheez-Its.
Tonight is a new Gossip Girl and I'm excited. But not as excited as I am for the prom episode next week. I'm a dork.
Maddie and Boris are NOT pleased about living in a staged house either. They don't get to lay on the couch anymore.
I'm still worried about the fancy warranty we bought for my Pontiac SUV. I hope they still honor it, since I've got about 5 years left on the thing.
When Sergio and Channing leave, I'll probably have to box up their bobbleheads, which is gonna be a sad day. I don't have a Travis Outlaw bobble...which is just as well.
People are snippy at ye olde workplace today. I've heard more bitching since lunch than I usually here in a whole week. Yikes.
Just over a month until our Boston trip. I've been researching stuff that's within walking distance of our hotel, and realized almost everything in Boston proper IS within walking distance. I think this is gonna be a good trip.