Tag Archives: birthday

“No, someone wrecked it”

What I've Been Up To, ,

I tried to repeat last year’s birthday dinner for my Mom.

I called in a pizza order for her from her local pizza delivery joint, complete with wings and salad and pop and Jos. Louis for dessert (who knew Joe Looeys are spelled Jos. Louis).

pizza

But when I asked if I could pay in advance with my credit card?

“No, someone wrecked it”

“So I can’t pay with my VISA?”

“Nope, someone wrecked it for everyone. Cash only on delivery.”

F’n scammers. Trying to wreck Mom’s birthday dinner.

Now what was I going to do. I couldn’t really order dinner and have a surprise delivery and have the driver waiting for his cash. I said I’d call him back.  Our internet was out. I couldn’t search for any other restaurant to see if they deliver.

Luckily Julie had just arrived at Mom’s for the birthday celebrations, so I was able to not-discretely-at-all get her on the phone to pick up the order and pay for it for me.

This birthday plan will need a serious overhaul for next year.

By the way, anything awesomer than seeing a pic of your Mom with a birthday candle in a Jos. Louis?

momcake

Birthday Weekend!

What I've Been Up To, , , ,

Highlights of my birthday weekend:

Stacking Wood: It’s no secret that I’m shockingly out shape, so I look forward to stacking wood because it is awesome exercise.  Wood stacking was delayed for months this year. I was out of commission this summer after surgery, and Jeff has had awful foot problems this fall.  Finally conditions aligned yesterday and the ground was frozen enough so drive the ATV across the back yard so we started stacking.

We have 2 piles, 2 cords in each to get from the driveway over to the wood shed.  This wood is mostly for next year, but depending on how the rest of the winter goes, we may have to dip into it in a few months.

How this works… Jeff and I stand on either side of the wagon behind the ATV and we pick wood up out of the pile that was dumped there by a wood supplier guy, and we stack it up in the wagon.  When it is full and the small little rubber tires are bulging, Jeff drives it across the back yard and backs it up into the wood shed.

Then we take the wood and stack it up in the wood shed on top of wooden pallets.

It was cold and snowing, but a few winter clothes and there were no complains. Didn’t even drop a single piece on my toe. Although the wood was mostly frozen, and lots of it was stuck together. That made it a little trickier.

We did 9 loads over a few hours getting one of the 2 piles almost eliminated but then the ATV made us quit.

Something electrical seems to be wrong with the ATV and now it won’t reverse without cough and banging and backfiring and stalling. Jeff has an appointment for it tomorrow so it will need to be repaired.

Hopefully we have another semi-mild day or two so we can get the rest stacked.

Movie and Dinner:  After the wood stacking was cancelled for the rest of the afternoon, and it is my birthday weekend, we decided to go see a movie and go out for dinner in New Glasgow. It was snowing badly, but I tried to ignore it and Jeff couldn’t care less if it was stormy, so off we went.

We saw The Hobbit.  Jeff is a huge fan of the books. I am not. I tried to read the Hobbit a few times as a kid but I could never get into it.  But I knew he wouldn’t want to see any other movie, and I’ll watch almost anything.  So $40 later (movie tickets and popcorn and a pop big enough to do a back stroke in) we were watching The Hobbit. The theatre wasn’t even half full.  So either the snow kept everyone away, or they were all waiting for the 3D version that was starting 30 minutes later.

The movie was good. Beautiful scenery and interesting characters.  I’m glad I knew ahead of time though that it wasn’t going to end.  It was only part of 3 I think. They are all filmed, but I’m sure they’ll release them once a year just to soak every penny they can out of the series.

Jeff found it really blurry.  I did think a few times that it would have looked better on our TV. There is a lot of computer animated characters and scenery in it to, so that might have played a factor.

Dinner was a bit of a disappointment.  We’ve been waiting for weeks to hit Swiss Chalet for their festive special that I love, but the parking lot was full and the line was back to the door.  We decided to hit the Wendy’s drive-thru next door instead and headed back in the snow for home.  Wendy’s really isn’t very good.  Poor Dave Thomas would be so ashamed of his legacy.

Flowers: Both Mom and Jeff got me flowers for my birthday. I’m a huge fan of flowers and vegetation :-)

Birthday Gift: Jeff got me something for my birthday that I’ve been looking for for a long time. It is the Harrowsmith Cookbook that is long out of printing, and is hoarded like gold. Seriously. You should see some of the prices this big thick book is listed for in online bookstores. Somehow Jeff found one.  And now I will cook and bake :-) Or just read the wonderful recipes. Time will tell. I love it!

Brunch: Jeff was out of coffee cream this morning so we had to go to town so he could have coffee.  Instead of having breakfast, we decided to grocery shop first so we could have lunch out instead.  What a great time to grocery shop! Hardly anyone is getting groceries on Sunday morning!

After shopping it was still shy of 11am, so we went to the Prissy Pig.  Jeff had a farmer’s breakfast and I went for lunch and had a chicken wrap and garden salad.

Then I spent a couple hours on the phone and on Facetime getting birthday greetings from my family. I love Facetime.  My little nephew is so cute with his bare legs, munching on a pickle, wishing me a happy birthday.  And my niece always has so much to show me!

Then there is Facebook. The only day of the year that everyone wishes you well.  Love it!

Football: And now it is Sunday afternoon. This is the time of the week Jeff waits for all week.  His Broncos are playing, and we get it in HD, and he is so so so excited.  And that makes it all the much sadder that he is currently passed out on the couch, like a cat in the sun, and he is sleeping right through his Bronco’s game.

I just ordered a pizza delivery from 3 provinces away

What I've Been Up To, , ,

It is my Mom’s birthday and I was racking my brain what I could send her for her birthday. Something special. Something quirky. Something to make her smile. This year my Grandma is living with Mom and she has been sick so I wanted to do something for Mom that Grandma could enjoy too.

So I thought of a million different things, and settled on one.

I was going to make them dinner.

Only I’m in Nova Scotia and they are in Listowel, Ontario.

So I started my research last week. Who could I rope into bringing them food? Or maybe I could get a cake delivered? What about an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen? Who would deliver it? Bribe the kids who work there to swing it by Mom’s after their shift?

Nah….

I decided to go way simpler.

I remember once Mom and Grandma Stock came to visit me in the Sault and I went to their hotel room over looking the St. Marys River to play cards with way too much pizza and chicken wings and we had a riot.

So I decided I was going to surprise them with pizza and wings.

A couple days I started to narrow down the plan, and I found the menu to one of the local pizza places in Listowel that I knew wouldn’t lead me astray. I browsed all the specials and the menu and started the plot. How was I going to find out if Mom would be home and then how was I going to convince her not to cook?

So I started poking Mom with text messages, trying to find out what she was doing for her birthday. She had no plans, and no visitors.

So I told her I would be making her dinner.

That was a day or so ago.

Today all day Grandma has been telling Mom she is so silly and would she just take a pizza or something out of the freezer for dinner?

Mom said No. Lisa and Jeff are making dinner.

Oh you are so foolish, Grandma Stock said. They are in Nova Scotia. They can’t make you dinner.

All day long I was anxious. When would I call in the order? Will they answer a call from a different area code? Would they take payment over the phone? Could I put a tip on for the driver on the phone?

When it was close to the time, I put the menu on my computer screen, and the number from the pizza place’s website, and the address for Mom’s house.

Then I placed the call.

I was so nervous. What if I didn’t pull this off? Then it would be Mom’s birthday and she wouldn’t get anything from me!

Ring. Ring. Then it went to an auto answer and said it would redirect my call to their closest restaurant to me.

No!!! That won’t work! Click.

I remembered seeing another number for them on one of their website, so I dug around and found a new number.

A young foreign fellow answered the call. He was kind, but slow, and stumbled around. He took my order, and then asked for Mom’s address. I gave the house and street number, but then he wanted to know if it was North, South, East or West on that street. He said he wasn’t from there. I said I wasn’t either, and I calling from Nova Scotia, but I thought the street was short so the driver should be able to find it.

I slowly gave him my credit card number, and he slowly read it back out as I delivered it, with the expiration date, for everyone in the restaurant to jot down (garlic fingers on us I guess. haha)

7 minutes and 33 seconds after he answered the call, the order was complete and the pizza was on the way into the oven!

25 minutes later, like clock work, a jubilant Mom was on the phone. She said Grandma was in tears. Stuck between laughter and crying, Grandma couldn’t believe I just made them dinner, and she was off to fetch dinner plates. Mom sounded so tickled. Funny thing is – they were playing cards when their dinner arrived, just like that night in the Sault.

I got them 2 medium pizzas, BBQ wings, Caesar salad, 4 pops, and some Brownies.

Mom said they are full and have enough food for a couple more days (so if you are in the area, swing by :D ).

Well I said I wanted an adventure on my birthday!!

What I've Been Up To, , ,

Metal DetectorI ask, I receive!!

Jeff got me such a great present, my jaw dropped and I couldn’t close it for awhile.

But I didn’t want to drool on my present, so I had to bring up my dragging chin so I can assemble it.

It is a METAL DETECTOR!!!!

WOW!

We both had the day off, so we impatiently watched the 19 minute instructional video, and then we headed into the woods to find some treasure!

Our property was a farmer’s field once, and there is an old foundation up in the woods behind our house, so we knew we’d find some really awesome treasure!

So far we’ve found:

  • crushed beer can
  • crushed and rusted tin can
  • pieces of beautiful old dishes with a pink floral pattern (not metallic, but dug up on the way to treasure)
  • piece of wire
  • some more wire

So we can’t retire yet.

But I’m pretty sure we’re aren’t far from buried treasure!! Hopefully the ground doesn’t freeze any time soon or else our treasure hunting days will have to wait until spring!

The metal detector has a great electronic display that indicates if it found iron, foil, a pull tab, penny, nickle, dime, or silver 1/2 cent or dollar coins. You can turn off any of the items or use the preset jewelry or coin settings. There is also a sensitivity scale that can be turned up or down. The great thing is it also says if the item is 2 inches down, 4, 6, or over 8.

I’ve been reading on the web about tips and techniques, and great finds people have made. Sounds like we really need to put in 100+ hours to really to know our machine, the different indicator noises, and to really polish our technique.

WANTED: An Adventure. Or two. Or 36. Whatever.

What I've Been Up To,

Today is the day! MY DAY!

And Jeff is off work, so maybe I should take the day off too.

But what should we do?!?!

I’m starting to feel the winter claustrophobia/hibernation/isolation/routine already kicking in. I go to work, I go home, and the sun is only up while I’m at work.

Today I should DO something. Just haven’t figured out what it is yet.

Nova Scotia is small and I’m starting to feel like we’ve already explored everything within an hour’s drive of our house. Surely that can’t be true.

There must be SOMETHING to do, rather than going to work.

But since it is just 39 minutes into my 36th birthday, it is time for me to sleep on it first :-)

Philips Fidelio Docking Speaker – My Review

Product Reviews, , , ,

Philips Fidelio dock

Jeff bought me the Philips Fidelio Docking Speaker with Bluetooth for me for my birthday! It is a speaker dock for my iPhone.

I thought I’d give you a little review in case you were looking for a similar product.

PROS

  • Charges my iPhone – Now I don’t have to plug my iPhone into the wall with the charging cable it came with. While I’m using the speakers, it charges my iPhone. Love this!
  • Internal Battery – Not only does it charge my iPhone battery, but the entire speaker dock has an internal battery, estimated at 5 hours, that allows me to unplug it from the wall and take it anywhere! Like upstairs so I can sing and dance in the shower, and downstairs so I can be entertained while I’m starting a fire, or exercising on the treadmill.
  • Sound Quality – I really enjoy the sound of these speakers. I’m no a professional audiophile, but the sound is deep and rich with plenty of bass.
  • Bluetooth – Jeff specifically went hunting for a speaker dock for me that had Bluetooth. He said that is because I can never seem to put my iPhone down, so how would I leave it in a speaker dock. Ha! Many he had a point. Anyway, I just have to turn on the Bluetooth signal on my phone, and quickly sync it with the speaker dock, and presto! I’m listening to my iPhone without it even physically connected. The range is supposed to be rather limited, but I tried it from my bed when the speaker dock was in the bathroom, and it worked! The Bluetooth is neat if you are playing a game, so you can hold your iPhone in your hand, but hear the great quality sound from the speaker dock.
  • Input Jack – The speaker dock has an input connection so you can plug other items into the dock to use the speakers.
  • Light and Portable – There is a nice finger hole in the back where you can cup all of your fingers into it to carry it around. The unit is really portable and my iPhone seems well connected and doesn’t fall off when I’m rockin’ out around the house. Because it has the internal battery, and our WiFi reaches outside the confines of our house – I can see myself using this to listen to Sirius satellite radio outside on the deck and while I’m gardening next year!
  • iPads too! – I don’t have an iPad, but if I ever do, or if Mom is visiting with hers, I’ll show her that this speaker dock is designed to also allow an iPad to be docked. A separate iPad stand came in the box to secure an iPad to the dock.
  • Remote Control – This speaker dock also comes with a remote control! So I can adjust the volume, or flip to the next song, even if I have it sitting out of reach.
  • App – There is a free Apple App for this speaker dock. It has a couple of displays, with the time, or battery level, and you can play your iPod through one of the displays. It can also be used to use the speaker dock and your iPhone as an alarm clock!

CONS

  • Stupid Packaging – This speaker dock had product information firmly stuck to the top of it with some sort of sticky, stiff tape. When I pulled it off, it pulled the finish on the back under the adhesive. Nothing more aggravating than wrecking the smooth and sexy look of a brand new toy thanks to the manufacturer’s packaging oversight.

If you are shopping for this item, I have the Philips Fidelio Docking Speaker – Model number 8550/37.

Point Pleasant Park, Halifax

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I had an INCREDIBLE birthday.

Jeff and I got to spend the entire day together. After he visited the dentist, we drove along the mighty St. Marys River to see how high the river is with the run off from the massive deluge of rain we received earlier in the week, then we travelled to Halifax along the water, went shopping, and hiked in Point Pleasant Park before we went to see The Fighter movie.

St. Marys River

I’ve heard of Point Pleasant Park for years – both for its devastating tree loss during Hurricane Juan, and while I worked at the Canadian Forest Service because of the brown spruce longhorn beetle (Tetropium fuscum) outbreak.

The park is a large area at the southern tip of Halifax and there are paths and trails for walking and hiking – even areas where dogs are allowed off-leash!


There are also many old military batteries in the park. Some of them were fixed up for tourists, and some look like they were just being unearthed and preserved.

The brown spruce long horn beetle is a wood boring insect that likely came to Canada in wooden shipping containers in the Halifax harbour. The beetle is native to northern and central Europe and western Siberia where it typically attacks stressed or dying spruce trees.

The first beetles were found in Point Pleasant park in 1998. By the year 2000, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency wanted to quarantine the outbreak, and planned to cut 10,000 red spruce trees in the park to control the outbreak. Unfortunately, the Friends of Point Pleasant Park challenged the harvest in courts resulting in a temporary injunction. Eventually less than 2000 were allowed to be cut.

Then in September of 2003, Hurricane Juan hit Halifax and blew down nearly 75% of the trees in the park. The park was closed until the following June. Many Acadian tree species have been replanted in the park.

Here are some pictures we took while we walked around. It was sad Monty was there – he would have LOVED running around off-leash with the other dogs! I would love to live near this park – what a treasure for Halifax, even without the forest it once had.

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Beetle exit holes:
Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Point Pleasant Park

Learn more about Point Pleasant Park: http://www.pointpleasantpark.ca

Happy Birthday Jeff!

General,

It’s Jeff’s birthday today!! He got to open the box this morning before I went to work. I think he liked his gifts! He’ll have to tell you about them.

He’s off for a week starting today. He’s going to pick up Mom and Julie at the airport this afternoon. I’m working, and then making his cake.

I predict a long day at work for me.

I’m torturing my husband

What I've Been Up To, ,

Jeff has a birthday coming up so I shopped at one of his favourite stores a week or so ago.

His birthday present arrived in the mail. A big cardboard box from Cabelas. He already saw the slip that came in the mail that I had a package to pick up, so I really couldn’t lie and make it disappear, could I?

So now Jeff is being tortured by a cardboard box with a beautiful Cabelas label on it and he’s counting down the days until he can open it.

I was thinking I could do a special blog feature – I could take Jeff’s picture with the box every day. Jeff sitting at his laptop with the box beside him. Jeff watching tv with the box beside him. Jeff eating dinner, with the box beside him. He wasn’t game though. He’s actually rather miserable about it.