The Bob.

The Bob has been without a cell phone for a long time, he's been going bonkers. In fact I've been going bonkers listening to him complain.

A new phone wasn't exactly something we could afford straight away especially not a new Blackberry or iPhone.

I know that there are used and refurbished phones out there so I started making some calls, and low and behold I found a slightly used iPhone. (8gig 3g)

Can you guess the price?

$49.00!

You heard right...

I had stopped into the Fido store at Scarborough Town Center and asked if they had any used or refurbished phones on the premises (every store does the inventory varies)

and low and behold they had 1 iPhone.

They wouldn't sell it to us with out a contract but that's ok, I knew I would be getting into another contract, and I was ok with that.

Now that The Bob has his iPhone he won't leave me alone!

lol

That's what you get for trying to be nice.

One day I'll get into the whole ordeal that lead to getting a month free services for his line in a different blog post (assuming I can work up the energy)

The Bob is now part of the Darkside :D Brought him over from Blackberry, and to think he thought that would be impossible.

Night.

Wow.

Words to disceibe my past month:
Wow
Tired
On the go
Last minute
Family
Scans
Dr. McDreamy
Catching up
Falling behind
Sleepless
Vomit
Stress
Release
Leaving behind
Forgiveness

There's alot to discuss. There's not enough time.

Christine
~Sent from my iPhone~

In Sickness & In Health...

Saturday night the Bob and I had planned to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. I think we were going to do the quiet at home dinner just the 2 of us.
Instead we got to spend it in Toronto East Generals Emergency Department with a ton of strangers. Sigh.

Things have been a little tight around here, so I figured I won't put any pressure on Bobby to buy gifts or take me out for an expensive dinner (even if I'm STILL craving steak). It was going to be a perfect evening and maybe we'd get a drive in.

Unfortunately someone up there had some other divine design... Bob became so totally ill I had to rush him to the hospital.

I felt so bad for him. He was so incredibly sad and grumpy and a great big sick child.

Bobby has gout.
He had an attack that began a week ago.
He didn't have any meds for his attack until half way through the week.
The emergency anti-inflammatory gout meds started to make bobby feel more ill almost immediately.
It began with one bout of diarrhea, then it slowly began to affect him every time he took the emergency anti-inflammatory (every two hours). It was horrible. I took a trip to the pharmacy to see if there's something I could get for him and what I should be doing to help relieve his pain. When I explained the situation to the pharmasist and he told me straight out "take him to the hospital right away!"

So... Off to the emerg we go.
I felt so bad for him.
He hates needles.
They had to put in an iv and he looked at me like I was the most evil person on the face of the planet. he was looking up at me with these big puppy dog eyes, and he was so cute, I felt so bad for him.
It's always the big burly guys that are afraid of needles. :D
We were at the Hospital until 3am.
Got home at 3:30, and I couldn't fall asleep until 5am...
I was so worried about him.

Any how. He's better now, and I'm glad that the ordeal is over.

No... we didn't get to celebrate our anniversary in the traditional sense but, we spent time together as a couple...
Like we would in the future as we grow older, through sickness and health.

Happy Anniversary Bobby. I love you & I'm sorry you were ill.

Stuff sucks.

I need to get shit off my chest.
STUFF SUCKS.
I am so tired of stuff. Mine, yours and everyone's.
I'll get to why this has come up in just a moment.

I know that life has funny ways of trying to bring people together but sometimes the end result is more drama than when they weren't speaking.
I HATE FAMILY POLITICS.
Just shoot me.

This is going to a long bumpy ride. Hold on.
So...
2 weeks ago My husbands father was more or less diagnosed (it was in a weird roundabout way & the Dr. used the "if it walks like a duck" theorem) with Lung Cancer.
Since the roundabout diagnosis I've been taking him to the hospital for all of his appointments (which comprise of tests... a lot of tests and scans and things that get jammed into his arm)

PREQUEL-
This past year my mother in law and sister in law have NOT been speaking to my father in law.
Infact there was a HUGE blow out not so long ago. During this blow out the MIL & SIL said some real nasty stuff to the FIL. They didn't regret it UNTIL NOW!

2Weeks ago(around the time of the roundabout diagnosis):
My MIL instructed me not to say anything to my SIL until we knew for sure. Well seeing as it walks like and duck and quacks like one too, it's fair to say that we know sorta for sure.
My MIL told my SIL, and guess what... She was mad at me for not telling her. WTF????
Like I want to be caught up in the middle of this stupid shit, but guess what here I am.

Fuck me.

Back to today.
A couple of days ago as a result of the news reaching the SIL, the SIL made up with the FIL ( or at least she thinks she did, he's still not acting as if he's happy to be around her)
Now suddenly the MIL and SIL decided that they want to join us for his respiratory testing this afternoon. I told each of them more than once that there won't be a doctor at the respiratory exam and there won't be any one there to speak to (other than the exam technician who can't divulge anything anyway) .
I know from experience that they won't have any results from this test for a while, just like the others and that they shouldn't expect anything to come out of this visit.
I should have known this would end in disaster.
SOOOOO....
My SIL doesn't drive. How is she going to get the appointment from her job at Markham and Progress to Toronto East General Hospital you ask? It's ok. I'll pick her up. I figure this is a nice gesture.
Then we pick up the MIL & FIL & and my husband and head to the hospital for his respiratory testing.
Every other test I've had to go to with my FIL, we joked and laughed and tried not to be to serious about the whole thing. I know it is serious, but I also know that he doesn't want to be around people with the doom and gloom attitude while we go through all this testing. I mean you have to understand that the testing is hard enough.
Worst of all I am sure they (the SIL & MIL) don't want to be there for the hard stuff, watching my FIL suffer through the endless pokes in the arm by technicians and nurses who can't find his veins, or when he's crying because he's in pain from the cardiac stress test, they just want to be there to talk to the doctors. It's ok that I get to see him suffer, because I'm just a peice of shit that they use so they don't have to go through all this stuff.

Did I mention that in the blow out my SIL, told my FIL that she would be happy to bury him?

Moving On.

So we get to the appointment and I'm translating for the technician, all of a sudden my SIL storms out of the exam room. Like seriously WTF???
At first I thought she was just upset that her Dad is going through all this trouble, and found it difficult to watch, but I found out later it was because I was doing all the translating for the technician, and my father in law.

Fuck me.
Seriously?
After all the appointments I've been to with the old man, and all the stress I go through to get him there, and never mind the cost of driving every one around she want's to cause drama?

I just want to say I QUIT.

/rant

Halloween Haunt @ Canada's Wonderland

A group of us went to Halloween Haunt last year and decided that we would make it an annual tradition. I really enjoyed it last year. they had decorations and creepy creatures hiding behind every corner. It was incredibly fun.
This year we made it to the haunt on Halloween as opposed to any other week end. I found I was disapointed. There weren't as many creepy creatures roaming around this year, and I found that didn't work as hard to scare us.
There was this awesome graveyard thing they did last year, I was looking for it. I was sad not to see it.
Here's a list of the Mazes (Haunted Houses) we made it to:
Club Blood.
I found it entertaining and well planned from the entrance to the dancefloor and Go-Go dancer in her cage. This one of the Haunted Houses I hope stays around for a while.
Blood Shed.
Get it? Blood Shed you see what they did there? Blood Shed. My friend Nelson must have said that like 20 times last night.
Asylum.
Obviously about a loony bin. It was enjoyable nothing out of the ordinary.
Mother Noose.
This was one of 2 3D mazes that Canada's Wonderland has to offer. The glasses sell for $1.00 a piece and you're told they will enhance your experience. I might just be getting old but I found the 3D glassed did nothing but blur your vision and enhance your headache. The Maze was fun as they always are but I think next year I'll just skip the glasses.
Clowns at Midnight.
This maze had an incredible entrance, I love it! In fact this maze had some of the most interesting creatures and I really enjoyed the time we spent there. I would easily say this was my favorite one out of the bunch.
The rides awesomeness as always:
Behemoth
Backlot Stuntcoaster
Dragon's Fire
The Fly
(those were just the ones we got to ride. next year Vortex here we come.)
The funnel Cakes and footlong hot dogs were AWESOME, and I can't picture a trip to Canada's Wonderland with out these orgasmic goodies.

Shows:
Fangs.
Ok so we decided to catch this show seeing as I had heard from alot of people that it was wicked and funny.
Honestly I didn't thing it was THAT funny. It was short so the script sucked. The music was good and what the hell was with the dancer that kept screwing up? Any how the show was an overall MEH!

Oh Canada's Wonderland how I love Halloween haunt.. but next year can you bring some more enthusiastic creepy creatures and bring back the graveyard.
kthxbai.

Check out their website for further information
Canada's Wonderland Halloween Haunt

Making Παστιτσιο (Pastitsio)

I got my mom to come over this week end and I wanted to try my hand at something that I haven't made in eons, and I wanted to make it healthier than usual. So I attempted to make a lower fat version of the Greek Traditional dinner called Pastitsio.

It's also important for the reader to know that when working from a Greek moms recipe there aren't any real measurements so I will try to add them as we go.

First things first.

You'll need to start boiling water in in your favorite Pasta Pot, and you'll also need to preheat your oven to 350 F. I don't know what size casserole dish you'll need but a medium sized one is what I used. You'll need to grease the casserole dish before you add your pasta and meat to it.

Olive oil in a large pot. Chop 2 whole onions and 2 garlic cloves and saute them together. I usually use high heat for this. (I love this smell.)

Once the onions and garlic look translucent then add one pound of extra lean ground beef.

Not every one likes to add vegetables to this dish but I love mushrooms, so in they go. :D I try to add them when the beef is browned so they don't break up too much and are barely noticeable in the dish later.

After you've added the mushrooms you can turn the heat down to about half the temp. You will need to add 2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste.

Mix in the tomato paste and add 1 1/2 cups water. At this point turn the heat down low and let the pot simmer for a while. I'm sure that the water for the pasta has come to a boil by now. You'll need to add 1 package of whole wheat spaghetti to the water. I know it's not the traditional big fat white spaghetti but these are our options.

You'll need a small bowl, and 4 eggs. Crack the eggs and add them to the bowl (whites & yolks) and beat them together. You'll need them for the pasta.

Once the Pasta has boiled, and been strained add two tablespoons of grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese and two tablespoons of butter or margarine.

Mix the pasta butter and cheese together.

Add the beaten eggs and mix into the pasta.

add half your pasta to the casserole dish, and spread it evenly through out. Once you've spread out the pasta add all your ground beef and spread it evenly through out the dish.

The next step is adding the remainder of your pasta to the casserole dish. Again spread it evenly on top of the ground beef mixture.

Now to make the cream topping. For this you'll need 3 cups of milk. I used 1% a small mixing bowl and a small sauce pan. Add 2 cups of the milk to the sauce pan and place on high heat you'll need to bring the milk almost to its boiling point.

In the small mixing bowl add 4 heaping tablespoons of Yiotis cream powder mix, and one cup of milk. Whisk the two together, when the milk in the sauce pan is close to boiling add the mixture to it while whisking the milk in the pan. once the two are combined take it off the heat and slowly stir until it's thinkened.

This is now going to to constitute your last layer of the pastitsio. Pour it ontop of the last layer of pasta and spread it out evenly with a spoon.

Sprinkle some Grated Romano or Parmesan on top.

Now to bake. You'll need to place it in the oven for 1 hour, if the top hasn't browned then leave it just a little longer.

A nice side dish for this is a typical, light & easy greek salad ... sans Feta and Olives.
Sliced Tomato, Cucumber, and onion. Olive Oil, Salt, Basil, and Oregano. Simple and tasty. Some might add a touch of Balsamic vinegar. (the seasoning is to taste add ass you like.)

TADA the finished Product.

Next week I am going to attempt Mousaka.

This post is as much for me as it is for any one else. As you all know I have problems remembering things so I will be able to refer to this in the future when I decide to make it again.

If you don't want to do the low fat version, then use the big fat white noodles that are typical in pasticho and go for the thick layer of cream on top and add as much cheese as you like to pasta and eggs and butter. Some people even add the cream to the past too. :D

So here are the updates.

I've been looking for work for a while now.
I've landed a job as a producer for an insurance brokerage.
I'm enjoying the work but I can't start selling until they pass on my business cards and get me ready to present my self to people as a member of the brokerage. It's hard to approach people with out something verifying who I am & who I work for.

I look like a real ass right?

Moving on:
Personal Front:
Things are good Bobby and I are moving toward our 2nd anniversary. November 4th. :D I can't wait. I'm thinking keeping it small. Just a nice dinner, and some alone time.

My parents went on vacation for almost 2 months. I missed them like crazy. I'm so glad they're back home now.

Bob's parents are fighting like crazy. Bob's is ill and I'm responsible for taking him to all his hospital appointments so we can figure out whats wrong.

That's the update.

This is the actual truck he drove.

Crazy huh?

Well Bobby Said He Was Going To Get A New Truck...

I love this photo. I wish i could have been there but I had class. He
actually got to drive it.
It turns out that the air horn is located on the floor so when he
first got in he accidentally stepped on it.
He scared the crap out of everyone around him. Including himself.
I have to say I can't get over it... I think he would have made a good
firefighter ... That's just me.