SaraStuff 3.0

new photos!

2009-02-08T18:24:00.001-08:00

whew, it's been a long time since i updated my blog. amazing how busy life gets with an active puppy!

at any rate, here are a few new photos. there are more on my flickr site.

Here's Coba...

2008-12-15T17:52:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we drove to Courtland (near Tillsonburg) to pick up our not-so-little puppy. He's a healthy boy, who turned 2 months old today! I took him to the vet for a checkup, and he already weighs 16 pounds. The breeder and the vet both told me that he's going to be a big dog - somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 pounds. You should see his paws... Niranjan's mom said that he's like a tiger.

So, here's a word of warning to anyone considering a puppy: THEY'RE A LOT OF WORK. I don't think that I slept at all on Satuday (but don't worry, the puppy slept just fine), and hardly had a moment to eat all weekend. But, it gets a little easier each day. Today, I realized that things would be okay when I was cooking dinner and he was just calmly laying by my feet.

We're at the end of Day 3 With Coba, and he (sort of) knows his name, has learned to consistently sit when asked, appears to get the idea of how to walk on a leash, and has begun to understand "stay". He starts puppy school on January 5th. So far, we have not lost any shoes, towels, couches, or personal effects. He's definitely a chewer though... a very busy chewer.

my big news...

2008-11-30T16:21:00.000-08:00

Niranjan and I decided to take the plunge... we bought a puppy. We're bringing him home on December 13th, when he'll be 8 weeks old (he was born on October 15th).

So, our new friend "Coba" will be a very welcome addition to our home. I can't wait, but I'm a little nervous!

Sara and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (and it's only 9:45)

2008-11-13T06:57:00.000-08:00

This post is based on one of my favourite kid books: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

So, this morning, I woke up late. Waaaay late. I decided that I looked like a greaseball, so I had a shower. It was so nice to be in the shower, that I stayed in there a little too long. Then I had to rush to get dressed and get out the door. I forgot to bring the sheets that I said I would wash at dad's house, and didn't realize it until I was on the highway. I tried to put in my contacts, and one of them was being very difficult, so I wound up with a facefull of mascara, and a sore eye. And I didn't eat breakfast, nor did I have time to pack my lunch.

Leaving my apartment, it was raining. Hard. And where was my umbrella? Oh yes, in the car. Got to my car with rainy glasses (guess you guys wouldn't really know what that's like, but it's unpleasant), and I was essentially stuck in my parking spot. I had to parallel park in the plaza, in a spot. there was a car parked perpendicular to mine. Usually, that's not a problem, becaues nobody is suppsoed to park behind that spot. Last night, some genius did. So, I had a car in front of me, and another car behind me. That made me even later. Then, turning out onto Victoria Park to drive to work, the idiot in front of me was trying to turn left out onto VicPark (no light, very busy street), and he decided not to leave any room for a car turning right (like me) to go beside, and make the turn. So, I had to wait until he was able to turn left. Now, I was even later. And I had a sore eye, and rainy glasses, and no food.

I had a meeting at 8:30. Got there at 8:35. The person I was supposed to meet with didn't remember that we had a meeting, so she was meeting with somenone else. I waited until 9:00, when they finished. She was very apologetic, but it was still a big rush, for nothing.

After the "meeting", I went to the grocery store, to buy some cheese (it was on sale, and Niranjan needs it), and pick something up for lunch. That went okay. I was going to get a hot chocolate at Tim Hortons, but then I went into the wrong entrance for the drivethrough, and wound up in a very narrow passageway, where there were people trying to get out of their parking spots. And there were 2 cop cars. I had to back down the passage, and back out into the main part of the parking lot, in order to get out of there. I'm lucky that I didn't get a ticket!! I don't know if it was a one-way where I was, but it may as well have been. Thank goodness I watch Canada's Worst Driver, and I knew how to properly back out of that situation.

Are you all lauging yet? I think that like Alexander (in the story), I will move to Australia.

Have a LOVELY day,
Sara

Gee, I think I'm offended...

2008-10-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

I logged into the Escape-T.O. blog, and got a message that blogger has blocked me from any new posting, because their automated spam detection software suspects that my blog is a spam blog! I had never heard of a spam blog, so I looked into the blogger help section on that topic. Here's what I found out:

"Blogs engaged in this behavior [spam] are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site."

Is my writing really that bad? I thought that it at least made sense.

In other offensive news, the letter that I wrote to my property management company has not been followed up upon, but I did receive a "tenant satisfaction" survey in my mailbox today.

happy October

2008-10-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

October is my favourite month. I love those gloomy days where the sky is grey, but the brightly coloured leaves stand out. And I love when it's a little bit cool, so that I can wear my nice, warm sweaters and drink hot apple cider.

In other news, I'm thinking of starting up a "sister blog"... if it's available, I'm thinking something along the lines of ihateto.com (for "I Hate Toronto")... not sure if I want to use such strong language, but we'll see what's available. I'll keep you posted. ha ha... posted. get it?

UPDATE: here's the new blog: http://escape-to.blogspot.com/ It will not replace this one, only serve to reduce the amount of complaining I do about the city on this space. Enjoy!

ANGER

2008-09-26T09:35:00.001-07:00

I AM VERY ANGRY, SO I AM WRITING THIS ENTIRE POST IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

OPEN LETTER TO THE THUGS THAT FEEL IT NECESSARY TO VIOLATE CARS THAT AREN'T THEIRS:

DEAR THUGS,

IF YOU WANT ANY OF THE ITEMS YOU FIND IN OTHER PEOPLE'S CARS, GO FIND YOURSELVES SOME JOBS. IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO BREAK INTO PEOPLE'S CARS AND HELP YOURSELF TO THE CONTENTS.

SINCERELY,
SARA

okay. feeling a little less angry now.

niranjan's car was broken into. his poker chips and blockbuster card were stolen. we both feel very violated, and i am furious, as this is the THIRD transgression against our cars in 5 months. i called our property manager directly, and gave her a talking to. then, she started to cry, and i felt bad. but not that bad. fortunately, i managed to control myself enough not to go off on her about the fact that i'm still having to park in the plaza across the street.

I F'N HATE TORONTO.

yet another rant

2008-09-18T17:21:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping when I got off of work. I had to buy quite a lot of stuff, since we'd been gone all weekend, and I hadn't been the week before. I bought my groceries, got home, parked my car in the plaza (our parking lot STILL hasn't been repaired... it's only been 4 months... but that's a different rant...), and set about grabbing all of my groceries, my briefcase, and my purse.

I was walking up to the door of the building, and there was a young girl, maybe about 13 years old, about 6 feet in front of me. She must have known that I was there, since there were bags rattling, and I was wearing my boots with high heels.

As we approached the door, this girl opened it up just enough so that she could slide through. The door closed just as I reached it, and she saw me when she turned around. Did she open the door for me? No. So, I had to open the door up, and then fumble around for my key. Meanwhile, this girl was on the intercom trying to reach whomever she was there to see. I got my key, and opened up the inside door. She saw that I'd opened it, and rushed over not to help me, but to push me through faster.

Now, I'm a pretty patient person. And I work with troubled kids all day long. But I must admit, that it took A LOT of will power not to spin around, look her right in the face, and tell her off. What sort of parents would raise a child who would act that way????

In other news, my ethics exam is on Monday...

hottest pepper ever.

2008-09-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Sunday is the day that we usually run errands, such as grocery shopping, or going to pick up things for the house. Today was no exception... it was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. I had decided that I was going to make another attempt at cooking up some curry for dinner, so Niranjan decided that he wanted some vegetable biryani to go with it.

We spent about an hour looking for a place that would have take away biryani... I had not expected it to be so challenging, given that we were driving around Scarborough! Anyway, once we found a place and ordered, we were both looking forward to a delicious dinner.

We were both impressed with the curry and the biryani, so dinner was a success. I had just taken a little bit of the biryani to try, and then went back for a bit more. I wasn't paying attention when I took a bite. What I thought was a large pea or some sort of green bean turned out to be the hottest thing I have ever had in my mouth. I don't know what sort of a chili it was, only that I NEVER want it in my mouth again!

This damn chili was so hot, that there were tears spilling down my cheeks. When I exhaled, I felt like I was breathing fire, and I was coughing when I inhaled. Niranjan was fortuitously in the kitchen at this point, so he got me a big glass of milk. I downed it in about 3 seconds, and required more.

Today I learned that when your mouth is seriously on fire, the best way to fix it is to take a mouthful of milk, and just hold it there for about 15 seconds. Repeat as necessary.

one down...

2008-08-29T09:06:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, I went into work, just to get organized for the upcoming school year. I had a feeling that there would be a letter waiting for me, with the results of my exam.

Sure enough, it was on top of the pile of mail.

And I passed.

YAY!!!!

Adventure Day

2008-08-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, 5 friends set off for an adventure. We weren't exactly sure where we were going, so everyone packed all of the necessities - swimsuits, towels, picnic lunch, passports, board games, lots of drinking water. Where exactly we wound up isn't important... it's the fact that after so many years, we're still having these random adventure days.

There's a comfort in knowing that part of me will never grow up, and get tired of sitting in the car on a road trip to nowhere in particular.

weekend update

2008-08-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

The wretched: Exam last friday. Enough said about that.

The good: Last week, I spent some time in Montreal and Sherbrooke. It was nice to have a little change of scenery, and practice my French-speaking skills (which are evidently a little rusty!). The weekend has been quite exciting as well - Radiohead on Friday (awesome), and a great wedding last night. It was the first wedding of a really close friend, that I've attended as a guest, so it was pretty cool to be there. You could see that there was a lot of love, joy, relief in the room!

The not-so-good: Without going into a lot of detail, someone I am very close to seems to have dropped off of the face of the earth. It began when she left for an amazing vacation. She didn't tell me she was leaving until she had already left. I didn't hear anything from her while she was gone, except for a post card, and she didn't call me or email me to let me know she had returned. She had mentioned that she'd be back at the end of June, so in late July when I still hadn't heard from her, I called her house to see if her parents had heard anything, and mostly to just see if everything was okay. Much to my surprise, she was home, and had been for a while.

The ugly truth: It's disappointing that when you've been friends with someone for most of your life, they can't seem to tell you how they really feel.

montreal calling

2008-08-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

yesterday was one of the longest days of my life. I wrote my (horrible) exam for 4 and a half hours, and for the first time in my life, used every minute available. I don't think it helped.

Then, I had to rush to the mall to pick up a few things, rush home, rush to pack and shower, and then we headed up to Sauble to a friends' trailer. Once we got there, we had a great time building a fire, and making s'mores. And drinking beer/wine in plentiful quantities.

It was a beautiful night - very clear, and we had a good view of the stars. Niranjan elected to sleep in his tent, instead of in the trailer with the rest of us, because he didn't bring his CPAPP machine to prevent him from snoring. So, he went to bed in the tent, and the rest of us got cozy in the trailer. I slept really well... I was so exhausted. I don't know at what time the rain and thunder began, but at some point after dawn, it started pouring. The raindrops pinged off of the trailer's roof, and it was quite noisy, but really relaxing all at the same time. Niranjan came pounding on the door around 8:30, demanding to be let in. It was apparently really loud in the tent with the thunder!

Due to the rain, we weren't able to follow through with the plan we'd made for the day to do a bunch of outdoor activities. We were able to go for a quick trip to Sauble Falls before the rain started up again, and we went for a nice drive. Niranjan and I left at around 2:30, after having to deconstruct the tent in (another bout of) pouring rain. The drive home was wet, but fun - we found an alpaca farm, and Niranjan pulled over so I could get out and see the alpacas. I didn't have my good camera with me, but I did have my phone, so I got a few shots of the adorable alpacas.

Tomorrow, we're off to Niagara with some other friends to visit some wineries, and then I'm off to Montreal for the week. The good times keep rollin'...

when it rains...

2008-08-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you probably know that:
1. My two favourite bands EVER are Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails
2. It has always been my dream to see them both play the same show.

This fantastical situation became a reality (although I wasn't there) in Chicago, when both bands played lollapalooza. Lucky Chicagonians.

While I won't get to see Trent and Thom share a stage anytime soon, I do get to see both bands within the next couple of weeks. This coming Tuesday, I'm taking a study break to go see NIN at the ACC. I've just seen some setlists, and while The Slip is not my favourite NIN release, I can say that I'm looking forward to hearing some With Teeth and Year Zero stuff played live. This will be the fourth time I'm seeing them, so some new stuff will be good to hear. On the 15th, I'll be seeing Radiohead (for the second time - hooray!!), and I just saw one of their current setlists as well. I'll be super, super happy if they play "All I Need", like they did at the show I just read about.

Even though I've thought lately that I'm getting a little too old and cranky (mostly at the other people there) to go see concerts, I'll always make exceptions for these two bands, as long as I can get a ticket.

... and if I happen to meet a certain frontman backstage somewhere, and I don't happen to come back, don't come looking!

It's the final countdown...

2008-08-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

My first board exam is coming up on Friday morning. I've been studying really hard over the last two months, and even though everyone tells me that I'm going to be fine, I'm really not so sure. This exam is a general competency exam, and while I'm quite certain that I'm competent in what I do, I'm expected to know details about every aspect of psychology. it's a pretty big field!! Now I wish I'd paid more attention in those lectures about sensation and perception. Fortunately, I'm pretty comfortable with many of the main areas, which comprise between 10 and 15 percent of the test, which is broken down into 8 subcategories. So, we'll see what happens on Friday...

On an unrelated note: my spider plant, which I have grown from just a very small cutting of my father-in-law's plant over the last 2 years, has sprouted its first spiderette! I'm so proud. Mostly that I haven't killed or damaged this plant yet. I'm up to 8 houseplants now (spider plant, 2 aloe plants, a basil garden, 2 lucky bamboo plants, which are not actually bamboo, and 2 orchids). There's something very satisfying about seeing your plants grow.

Life on Mars?

2008-07-27T05:38:00.001-07:00

... we're still not sure, but it is often sunny there.

The violations never cease

2008-07-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

For the second time in as many months, some idiot has vandalized my car.

When I came back from Thailand, some jackass had spray painted my hood. I managed to fix that problem with some gooey stuff that my dad had in his garage, so that turned out okay.

Yesterday, I drove up to my dad's, and the first thing he said to me was "Oh, you broke one of your lights?". I said "noooo...", and then we went to take a closer look. Someone STOLE my foglamps. I can't believe it. Have I mentioned that I hate living in Toronto?!

Part of the problem I think, is that my car is so common. Pretty much everyone drives a Corolla in my neighbourhood. If I drove something a bit more unique, like a Lotus or a Bentley, maybe that problem would be solved. Of course, it would open up a whole host of other problems.

I've committed Blogicide

2008-07-18T14:15:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's true, but like a phoenix rises from the ashes, so does my blog.

I am going to really try to post at least something every week. And I know that I promised I'd get the pictures from Thailand onto my Flickr account... I'll get to it. In the meantime, here are a few photos from the trip that I especially love.

Photo 1: a long-tailed fishing boat on a beach in Phuket.
Photo 2: yes, that's a real tiger... 5 weeks old. This was taken in Chiang Mai.
Photo 3: figures that adorn Wat Arun, in Bangkok.

People may have given up on me writing anything new, so I'm not sure if anyone is even reading this anymore. If you are, enjoy!