being left-cheeked finally pays off...

i have an update on my story about my left-cheeked-ness...you know, how i have holes in two pairs of my pants in the very same spot?

well, the dress pants that ripped were barely a year old. i purchased them at club monaco, so i went back to replace the pair that had ripped. i bought the new pair and didn't even think about asking for a store credit even though the pants are quite expensive. when i went back to get them hemmed, i remembered to tell the salesperson my embarassing story and asked if she could do anything for me. she said she couldn't promise anything, but to bring them in to show her.

so i did today. and the nice lady gave me a full store credit because i still had my receipt. yay! this is why i love club monaco. and this is why i never throw away receipts.

woe is me

the oilers traded ryan smyth today. i'm so so so sad. i think i would prefer that they trade joffrey lupul over smyth. ryan was the blood and guts of the team, not very flashy and kind of a funny skater, but he got the job done. who else is going to create traffic in front of the net and tip shots in and piss off the goalies?! who else?! no one. sadness.

yesterday, i was complaining about tim horton's watery hot chocolate. today, the oilers are torn apart. i hope tomorrow is a better day.

rrrroll up the rrrrim to...be disappointed?

roll up the rim at tim horton's has begun again. i don't particularly like tim horton's coffee - i much prefer starbucks. and tim horton's often disappoints me through their service (or lack thereof) and/or the absence of hot chocolate powder in their hot chocolate machine, making my half coffee-half hot chocolate watery...and leaving me empty inside.

but roll up the rim means i may win a donut. or a flat screen tv. neither of which i actually need, since donuts are unhealthy and we already have a flat screen tv. but still. i have to try. even if it means drinking coffee that i don't like for a month or two. just like i have to try to win breakfast in barbados or becoming a member of the 680 news insider club to possibly win lack-lustre prizes. i just can't help it. for this, my loving husband calls me a mini-idiot. i'm not sure if he means mini in terms of my physique or if he just thinks i'm just kind of an idiot. nice.

a poor attempt at people who look like people, part v

last night, i went out with a bunch of friends from high school. we went to the madison, where we coincidentally ran into 3 other people from mitchell. small world.

one of my childhood friends had a haircut that made him strongly resemble nelson, from the simpsons. i'm SO upset i didn't bring my camera! he would have been a perfect candidate for people who look like people. the most upsetting thing is that everytime i see this friend, he never looks the same. i guess this means that you'll just have to take my word for it. "HA HA!"

grumble grumble

my pet peeve about grey's is when the writer's blog turns into an acceptance speech that could be heard at an awards ceremony.

i guess my gripe is technically not about grey's, the show. but it still bugs me. why bother writing anything at all if you're just going to blather on about the people you work with? i am not that obsessed about this tv show to care. and that's saying something.

re: some kind of miracle

i knew it! she lives! yay.

i wish dylan - so hot - would have played a bigger role in meredith's fight. i guess it makes more sense that denny do it since everyone loves denny (except me, he was only so-so to me) and he had more contact with meredith. and dylan's kind of an ass. kyle chandler seems to play gruff, cranky characters, which is part of his charm. *makes googly eyes at dylan*

the whole afterlife set-up was a bit much. it was good, and made logical sense (rather than having meredith die and come back with no real reason why. of course we knew the writers wouldn't do that to us), but it was like the superfluous suspense from the previous episode. it dragged on a little too long, you know?

so sad at the end when addison realized that derek never loved her like he loves meredith. and addison is SO sleeping with alex in a future episode. but i really hope she doesn't. i hope her and mcsteamy work out - at least her broken marriage wouldn't be for nothing.

cristina's development was interesting. and her trip to the dollar store was hilarious! it is amazing what you can buy for a dollar. for those who care, i think dollarama is the best dollar store of them all. i'm glad cristina was there for meredith at the end, although i did find her man voice "TRY. AGAIN." was inappropriately funny.

i really liked the closure with mer's mother. now meredith can move on. richard can move on. we can all move on!

abominable miko, the good samaritan

this morning, i was supposed to accompany a student at the kiwanis festival at yonge and st. clair. i decided to take the ttc in to avoid rush hour and parking dilemmas.

i had to be there at 9am, so i woke up at 6:45am. i don't usually have to be up at a certain time; if i sleep in, it's just a nice start to my day and doesn't result in chaotic panic since i don't usually start work until noon. so i was paranoid i was going to sleep in or miss the alarm. i woke up every hour starting at 1:30am. at least i didn't sleep in or miss the alarm.

i got ready and was out the door by 7:30am. i didn't have to be at yonge and st. clair until 9am, so i had given my plenty of time, which i tend to do.

i got to the subway station and found a plethora of parking spaces since it was still pretty early. i got my credit card to pay for a ticket for the lot i was in. the machine wouldn't take it and kept telling me the transaction was finished when there was clearly no transacting happening. there was a woman also wanting to get a ticket, so she offered to use her credit card. the machine promptly ate her credit card. she started to panic (she actually stamped her foot, it was cute since she was probably 45 years old) and saying things like "oh shoot!" and "darn! WHAT am i going to do?" - when i type it now, it doesn't seem like she was very upset but she was visibly agitated. she explained to me that she had an important appointment at the hospital downtown, hence her angst. i told her to call her credit card company and cancel the card, and that i would go to another machine to buy both of us parking passes. she didn't even really hear me because she was still panicking. after 3 credit cards at the other machine (and praying that the machine wouldn't abduct my cards), i finally got the tickets needed. i brought the panicking lady her parking pass and she thanked me profusely, wanting my phone number so she could arrange to pay me back. i told her not to worry about it. it's nice to receive random acts of kindness from strangers.

did i mention it was snowing huge fluffy snowflakes? the whole process took at least 20 minutes, so by the time it was done, my jacket and head both were covered with a thick layer of snow. my hair was actually soaking wet as i got on the subway and people were staring at me. i was trying discreetly to comb through my hair with my fingers while pulling out chunks of ice and snow.

i ended up making it with 5 minutes to spare (did i MENTION that i gave myself 1 hour and 30 minutes to get somewhere that should only take 30 minutes?!) only to find out that the student i was accompanying was not there yet. she ended up being almost an hour late and barely made it in time to compete.

the moral of the story? no matter what the credit counsellors say, it's a good idea to have 3 credit cards. oh, and it's normal and recommended to give yourself triple the time that you think you need to get somewhere.

ugly comrie

i hate mike comrie. not only did he request to be traded from the the best hockey team ever, but he scored the winning shoot-out goal in the oiler vs. sens game tonight.

he was my favourite oiler. he was hot. now, he stinks. and ugly...kinda...okay, not really. but he's ugly on the inside, which is what really matters.

R.I.P. big brown

the keyless entry to my car doesn't work anymore. it's sad how much i have come to rely on the buttons to lock and unlock my car. i actually have to put the key in the keyhole and turn it to restrict and gain access to my car! sometimes i forget to lock it because i just press the button and walk away.

i remember the days that i drove a brown pick-up truck to school. big brown didn't have keyless entry and i did just fine back then. oh, how times have changed...

a hair-raising sunday

my cat, scout had a fecal malfunction today.

she went poo in her litterbox but had a piece that was stuck in her, erm, butt. first i tried just picking it off, thinking it needed some encouragement. it wouldn't come out and scout was wailing in agony while i was doing this. so i decided to leave it and maybe it would come off on its own. then scout kept licking her bottom to try to dislodge the poo, which was both digusting and ineffective. her bum was starting to get swollen and gross(er) looking, so we decided to see a vet.

we had some issues with our previous cat, so we're well aware of the ridiculous costs of going to the emergency clinic. i was able to find a regular vet that was open on sunday, and very close to us. yay!

the appointment wasn't for an hour and a half, so i had to distract her from licking herself. everytime, she swung her leg above her head to lick, i would throw her favourite toy, a fleece ball with pieces of crinkly plastic woven in and she would chase it. this amazingly worked for the entire hour and a half wait. cats are so funny, how they are enthralled by the simplest things, and for mass amounts of time.

the vet saw her and said that it could be a string that she ate, and it was good that we didn't pull it out because it could have damaged her intestines. they clipped off the piece of poo and gave her an enema so she can safely pass whatever it is she ingested. we were in the waiting area, and heard these horrid sounds coming from one of the rooms...it sounded like a dog had been possessed by the devil. the sound was coming from our little angel - she clearly didn't enjoy having fluid injected up her butt, strangely enough. the vet came out to say she will be fine and that they are just struggling with getting her back into her carrier so we could take her home. he went back into the room, and as he opened the door, we saw three employees gingerly poking her with a swiffer to try to guide her into her carrier. we were told later that not only was she hissing, but she was also lunging at them, trying to attack, which they had never seen before. that's my girl!

she's home now, and doing fine. oh, and the incriminating thing that she ate? my hair. apparently she ate a bunch of it and it all balled up in her intestines.

oops?

they should be called the edmonton soilers...or spoilers...foilers...

the oilers came to toronto last night. although we couldn't get tickets, it was still exciting to know that they were here. i had to go to a bachelorette party so couldn't watch the game on tv. later on in the evening, the festivities finished off at the brant house and they were re-playing the game on tv. i asked someone who won the game...he said toronto, and i expressed my disappointment. he asked me if i was an oiler fan, to which i said yes. he said that the two tables next to his were reserved for the oilers (!!!!) and that they may be coming later in the evening. i even validated his story by asking one of the servers since my source was a bit of a shady character. his story was confirmed, and apparently the oilers are staying in the city until tuesday. it turns out they didn't end up coming. for the second time in the evening, the oilers let me down.

then we find out today that they traded marc-andre bergeron for a nobody player, who promises to be a "long-term upgrade" (read: throwing in the towel on the season because they're not going to make the playoffs). i liked bergeron - a spry, firey player who delivers fantastic checks and has an incredible shot from the point. he will be missed.

the oilers deliver disappointment. again.

re: drowning on dry land

what a sad episode. i cried like a school girl, thanks for the warning for many tissues, hayley! it makes up for the fact that you spoiled the ending for me...juuust kidddding!

back to grey's.

i found the beginning to be too disjunct - too many short scenes of too many things going on. especially since we knew that meredith was sinking lower and lower...yes, it was building suspense, but it was like gratuitous suspense, the kind that ryan seacrest creates on american idol. *wrinkles nose*

so meredith is dead, she sees dylan and denny. my prediction: they will tell her to fight, and she will come back and everything will be pink and squishy again. wait, that's only on the gynie squad. well, you get the idea.

i'm so glad dylan came back. i think kyle chandler is so hot in a yokel texan kind of way. i remember reading shonda's response to people criticizing grey's for killing off dylan and not addressing it later - like it never happened. she said if there's one thing that we should learn, it's that they don't leave loose ends, and that every plot line is carefully calculated. after denny died, izzie asked meredith what it was like, when dylan died. i figured that was their way of tying up the loose end that is dylan, but of course not...of course he is going to be the one to keep meredith alive, like he did in the bomb episode.

in season two, after addison returns, meredith asked derek what she was to him - a fling? he said she was a breath of fresh air. he was drowning, and she saved him. of course he wasn't really drowning, but this time meredith was. and he is trying to save her. **i just have to add that i wrote this last night but didn't post until today...shonda talks about this moment from season two in the writer's blog, which i didn't read until today, which makes me feel all cool, and almost like an english major**

lastly. when i was younger, the absence of having a middle name encouraged me to make up my own. such examples were "love-a-lot," "angela" and "yoko ono". my newest middle name? "tupperware"!

look out world, there are two of me!

i received information tonight that we have a spy amongst our ranks. i won't go into details - i can't, otherwise i would have to kill you - but this is not good news.

all joking aside, i wanted to see if perhaps i was the reason for the leak because of this here blog. so i googled myself. no, my blog didn't come up, but i did find out there is a person that has my exact name that exists in this world. not that i'm overly self-righteous or anything, but my name isn't terribly common, first or last. this person lives in chile and is apparently a vampire. i'm not so sure how i feel about my namesake.

i suppose this is giving me reason to change my last name to my married name, which would be even more rare...

going back to the infiltration; sometimes i hate people.

mysterious enough for you?

people who look like people, part iv

okay...i'm SO convinced that i'm right about this one that i've got a few photos to prove it. did i mention i also have way too much time on my hands?

my two specimans today are: hayley, my kindred spirit from kindergarten and tina majorino, aka "mac" from one of my favourite tv shows, veronica mars. because i have a hard time believing that actors are just playing a role when they're on a tv show, i will refer to tina as mac instead of her given name. i'm sure she won't mind. oh, and although mac's face can look chipmunk-y, which does not resemble hayley's face, i think the similarity is still strong - i believe this is my best work yet!

exhibit A:

hayley with her husband, justin.



mac with pieces of a random guy.




exhibit B:

hayley is the adult in the middle. cute babies!



mac is on the right hand side.




exhibit C:

hayley with one of her adorable cats...please note the piercing blue eyes and neatly groomed eyebrows.



so mac's hair isn't the same...please note the piercing blue eyes (not as noticeable) and neatly groomed eyebrows.

ta-daa!

roses are orange...

i teach two brothers and when they had their lesson on monday, they brought me flowers for valentine's day! aren't they pretty?

happy thoughts

please think happy thoughts for kris' mom tomorrow.

thank you.

re: walk on water

i've received a request for my thoughts on last week's episode of grey's anatomy. you love me! you really love me!

so here it is:

as i mentioned in one of my previous posts, i hate 3-part episodes. it just means that the first episode is all about building the setting, and you KNOW all the excitement is going to happen in the last three seconds before the end. i was tempted to just record this week's episode and watch it right before next week's episode. but i didn't. because that would take will power, which i don't have.

i don't understand why the writers always want to put meredith in peril. sure, i guess it's good for ratings, but since it's called grey's anatomy, of course they won't kill her off. so it's suspenseful but it's not.

does anyone else think that the crushed pregnant woman's face looks like meredith's step-mother's face? pats on the back to the make-up people - i couldn't even look at this woman's face even though it wasn't real. ugh.

richard's hair. oh dear, richard's hair. at times it looked like it had a purple-ish hue! i think that grey hair is attractive on men (what a double standard!) and he should have left it as is. perhaps he will take mcsteamy's advice and put in highlights? my hairdresser was telling me about how he has male clients that flat-iron their hair. ha, the chief should grow his hair and then borrow meredith's flat iron. that'll definitely have the ladies calling.

and WHY can't burke and cristina ever be happy?! there are snippets of their happiness, but it doesn't usually last long. and it seems burke likes to use his position of authority to punish her - when she wanted to get the donor heart for denny in season 2, he let alex come with him even though she asked first...i can't remember the reason why, but he was mad at her so he didn't let her get the heart with him. and this episode, he wouldn't let her scrub in because she didn't tell meredith about their engagement? stupid burke. why don't you go cry in the corner by yourself while everyone ignores you - wait, you already did that. tee hee. there need to be more happy moments between them otherwise their romance/engagement/future marriage won't be believeable.

that's all, folks. until next time...

facebook express...next stop: memory lane

i signed up for facebook this week. as if i need another reason to be addicted to the internet...there's something so mesmerizing about it, and it's way better than myspace. i'm connecting with all these people that i haven't spoken to in years!

erm...that's both a good and bad thing...

what i would do for breakfast in barbados...

i'm trying to qualify for breakfast in barbados. i have to say, it's not going very well. for those of you who don't know, you're supposed to listen to the radio station, listen for the sound of the jet and be one of the first 5 people to call in. well. the radio personality actually TELLS you when they're going to fly the jet - right down down to the minute. and in case you missed that, the times are listed on the website. so my quick reflexes pose a very small advantage. it's evening the playing field and that bothers me!

i have literally dialed BEFORE the jet sound (quick reflexes + knowing what time the jet will fly + desperately wanting a free vacation = a neurotic miko), and the line is always busy! ALWAYS BUSY. to make it worse, for some reason, when i use my landline phone to call, it always rings at least once, and then goes to the busy signal. sometimes it rings 3, 4, even 5 times before going to the busy signal! those are precious seconds wasted! so i tried using my cell phone, but because telus doesn't do per second billing anymore, i am probably over on my minutes. which means, not only do i not get a free vacation, but i will have a huge cell phone bill.

but of course you know i will keep trying. at least the contest only runs until the end of february...then i will have my life back. *sob*

coincidink...i think not

seriously? a dr. shepherd and a dr. burke on BOTH grey's anatomy and lost? are there no other doctor-sounding names lost could have used? grey's anatomy clearly had dibs on dr. shepherd and ESPECIALLY dr. burke.

and i hate 3-part storylines!

callie o'malley = mrs. doubtfire?

i meant to blog about after last week's episode of grey's but forgot.

i wonder if callie's middle name, iphegenia, was taken from the movie mrs. doubtfire. i remember once shonda rhimes, the show's creator/executive producer, said that she gets inspiration for character's names from real people or other characters. for instance, for mcvet, she liked the name finn, and has a poster of dorothy dandridge above her desk and so finn dandridge it was. iphegenia is a ridiculously uncommon name...this means shonda is a fan of mrs. doubtfire...another reason why i like her so much!

heaven in a cup

i used to be a fan of the mcdonald's "fruit'n'yogurt parfait". i enjoyed this for a little while, until i found the fruit to be consistently frozen. i stopped being a fan. fast forward to a few years later...i've recently been craving mcd's fruit'n'yogurt parfait, and went to greath lengths one afternoon to get one. three macdonald's restaurants later, i remembered why i didn't like it anymore. the fruit was frozen and the yogurt had a rubbery texture. craving un-sated.

i tried the tim horton's "yogurt and berries," but their fruit tasted like a mixture of dirt and the inside of a freezer. craving un-sated.

then i noticed that starbuck's had a "fruit, yogurt and granola parfait," so i tried it and it was wonderful. tragically, it doesn't seem worth it to buy it regularly since it is so pricey. so i decided to make my own. my secret ingredient? cherry pie filling! mixed with strawberries and blueberries, along with vanilla yogurt and granola on top. i call it "heaven in a cup"! craving...sated. ahhh.

a taste of winter - blech

we attended a wedding this weekend in listowel, ontario. the weather, although very cold and with more snow than in toronto, was pretty tame when we got there. we checked into our hotel and got settled into our "suite" - we were upgraded due to overbooking. but remember, this is listowel, population 6,000, so we weren't expecting anything extravagant. our "suite" turned out to be a nice room with a king-size bed and heated bathroom floors. otherwise it was a normal room, which makes me wonder what the standard rooms looked like. when i think of a suite, i imagine a multi-room, big bathroom, big bathtub, pretty woman kind of room. this definitely was not that, so it's a good thing i lowered my expectations...otherwise i would gone to the office demanding to know where richard gere was and what about the champagne and strawberries? and the hooker?!

we got to our room, cranked up the heat and watched the oilers beat the pants off colorado. tee hee. it was very cosy and warm in our room. we got ready, made sure we had everything, then opened the front door to leave to be greeted by a blizzard. this is what happens when you draw the curtains and hole yourself up in a hotel room! both kris and i forgot our gloves at home - d'oh! the roads were terrible on the way to the church and eventually were closed, but we made it to and from the wedding with no problems.

the wedding was nice. i played pretty well, although there was a timing malfunction so i thought i had to rush when i didn't, and ended up having to fill time in the end. the reception was fun, although i have to say the most awkward moment of the evening came when i was on the dance floor with my ex-boyfriend's mom and my ex-boyfriend's wife. eep.

today's weather wasn't much better, but of course once we arrived in toronto, there was no snow and the roads dry and bare. three cheers for smog to keep the snow away!