Sens rug?

Shaun and I spent about 3 hours at Home Depot today. As many of you know we want to sell our town home in the spring and find something in the west/south end of town, closer to both of our work places. This commute is a bitch, especially for Shaun who works in Kanata. If one of us worked a lot closer we'd stay for sure - we do like the east end a lot - but at this time in our lives it's just not in the cards.

So anyways, before we can list the house we have some renos to do. All cosmetic but important nonetheless. We went today to look at flooring and back splash tile.

The guy that helped us, Marcel, was awesome. We've ordered some beige carpeting for the upstairs hallway, stairs, office and guest bedroom. It's a nice pile with an 8oz. underpad. Today they gave us an estimate based on our measurements but they have their own rep come in to do measuring before they order and install. I'm very excited about the new carpeting, and almost wish we could stay to enjoy it. Almost.

For the front hall and kitchen we were looking at this new type of laminate flooring that looks just like ceramic tile but is a bit less expensive and there's no sub-floor needed (just underlay). We'd picked out a really nice charcoal colour to go with the new kitchen countertops we installed, but Marcel suggested, because we're going to move anyway, to go with something a little less costly but still nice-looking and durable.

So we got this new resilient flooring, which has a 25-year guarantee. It's kind of a cross between laminate and peel-and-stick, but there's no underlay required, and you can install and cut it yourself. So we got a very neutral-but-bright creamy colour. We can actually install it right over the peel-and-stick that's currently in the kitchen, but we'll have to rip up the old ceramic in the front hall. Buying this stuff saved us about $400 which we were very happy about.

We checked quickly into the back splash for the kitchen, as I have decided on white glossy subway tiles, but they are temporarily sold out, so we'll save that for another time. We want to wait and see how quickly the Home Depot can have our new carpet installed; we'll wait until they've finished before we work on the front hall and kitchen.

And as we were leaving the flooring department we saw this awesome Senators area rug! I've flagged it for our Senators basement, which will be developed in full once we move into our new house. I've got the whole design mapped out, including NHL paint colours, and it's going to be so awesome for watching hockey games.

An overall very productive day at the Home Depot. Very glad they could help!

Ode to Green Day

Okay so on the aforementioned new Weird Al CD, he does a rendition of "American Idiot" by Green Day, but it's affectionately titled "Canadian Idiot" and while I'm mildly offended by some of the stereotypes, it's just too funny not to post, so here ya go.

American Idiot - Weird Al Yankovic
Don't wanna be a Canadian idiot;
Don't wanna be some beer-swillin' hockey nut.
And do I look like some frostbitten hosehead?
I never learned my alphabet from A to zed.

They all live on donuts and moose meat,
And they leave the house without packin' heat;
Never even bring their guns to the mall.
And you know what else is too funny?
Their stupid Monopoly money.
Can't take 'em seriously at all.

Well maple syrup and snow's what they export;
They treat curling just like it's a real sport.
They think their silly accent is so cute;
Can't understand a thing they're talkin' a-boot.

Sure they got their national healthcare,
Cheaper meds for prime rates and clean air..
Then again, well they've got Celine Dion.
Eat their weight in Kraft macaroni,
And dream of drivin' a Zamboni
All over Saskatchewan!

Don't wanna be a Canadian idiot.
Won't figure out the temperature in Celsius.
See the map? They're hoverin' right over us;
Tell you the truth it makes me kinda nervous.

Always hear the same kinda story:
Break their nose and they'll just say "Sorry!"
Tell me what kinda freaks are that polite?
That's gotta mean they're all up to something,
So quick, before they see it coming...
Time for a preemptive strike!

White and Nerdy

Yep, Shaun and I like Weird Al Yankovic. He's funny, there's no denying it. His latest tune, titled above, is a mock of "Ridin' Dirty" by some rapper I don't know. It's heeelarious. No lyrics yet, but give me time.

Happy 2008 to everyone! Hope you all had wonderful Christmases with your friends and families.

Our Christmas was spent primarily on the road. First, en route to Kingston, then Elgin, then Prescott, then Kingston, then Ottawa. Two days of rest for Shaun while I headed back to work, then back to Elgin again for a mock New Year's Eve on the 29th where I got sufficiently hammered and had a blast. We loved seeing all of our family over the break, had candid conversations about everything from what new cross-over vehicles are on the market, to farts and poop (and related pranks and jokes), to nature and wild animals (courtesy of our Planet Earth DVD set). Much turkey was consumed, many naps taken.

We had a quiet New Year's Eve after spending five hours at the Queensway Carleton Hospital that morning (no need for alarm - we're both fine) and driving all the way there with a flat tire that wasn't discovered until we parked at the hospital. How we didn't damage the rim on poor Mitsu is beyond me. Shaun was out in the snow, putting on the spare... poor guy! What a handy husband have I. Fortunately for us we'd scheduled an oil change for 9:30 that morning and because it was just a screw in the tire tread, they were able to patch the tire for us. Yippee! A New Year's miracle. So by the time we got back home we were both exhausted and in no mood to party. After napping for 4 hours, we watched Shrek 2, courtesy of CBC, then turned on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and played Scrabble until about 1am.

I am looking forward to 2008 and hope it has much to offer... or at least that I can make it a great year. Let's take a quick run-down of the year to come, shall we?

January - Mom's birthday. She'll be mad if I disclose her age and even though I'm 28 years old, I still can't lie to her. Oh, whatever..she's in Cancun for two weeks! She'll be 61 and is planning on retiring in June.

February - Dad will be 65! No chance of him retiring soon - he likes his job too much. Besides, if the two of them were at home, together, all the time...well let's just say it wouldn't be pretty. Also in February comes the new stat holiday, Family Day! Yahoo!

April - I'll be 29. Yikes! And friends Lee and Kari are getting married!

May - Mikey will be 6, which is close to or over 50 in dog years (more for him because of his size). I'll probably get him started on glucosamine for his joints, just to take some preventative steps. He's sleeping a lot more lately, but he's probably feeding off my winter blahs.

June/July/August - Summer is welcomed with open arms and multiple camping trips.

September - Our one-year wedding anniversary! And more chocolate wedding cake...mmm...cake...Also my nephew Owen will be 6 and probably starting grade 1.

October - Shaun will be 31 and officially "in" his 30s.

Obviously there are lots of other things coming up in 2008 but I'm too sleepy to remember them all. So with these tired eyes and clumsy fingers, I bid you goodnight... and cheers to a great year ahead.