Another Twilight Blog - A Rant

So I'll try to remember the words of my grade 5 English teacher and KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)...

I know that I'm a bit late to jump on this Twilight bandwagon. Most people have read Twilight to Breaking Dawn at least a year or so ago and I'm late to clue in on this. What bothers me? When people write their blogs raving about the series or ranting about how it sucks but then they go on to mention DETAILS of things that are happening in ALL the books!

Seriously, do you think the entire world has already read the books? Do you think that people want to be spoiled? What is so wrong with saying "SPOILER" in your blog title so that someone who hasn't read the entire series won't know what is goin on?

Last night I was with my sister and best friend and we were talking about the book very vaguely because I'm nearly finished with New Moon, my best friend just started New Moon, and my sister was about to crack open Twilight. We discussed things about the book and movie very generally but not enough to spoil my sister. How is it that people don't have respect for others?

So I log on to Networked Blogs two days in a row and see a post about Twilight and of course I go to read it because...well... I'm FINISHED with Twilight....and within the first two paragraphs I'm finding out what happens in book 4. Ummm Excuse me? Isn't that called Breaking Dawn?

Like, I'm not going to read a blog called New Moon or Twilight pt 2 until I finish the book. I don't want to be spoiled and look forward to NOT being spoiled but now I basically know how the entire series ends and I fucking hate it.

So, here is my suggestion ladies and gents who want to write blogs about books and movies. If you are going to give away plot details how about you write: SPOILER in your title so I know not to read it!

*grumble grumble*

Stupid is ...Stupid does

So I seem to have fallen into some kind of blog writing rut. Well to be honest, I've fallen into a rut when it comes to all aspects of my writing. Reading has sort of taken over right now. I'm reading the Twilight series and reading a lot of Derryan's writing. The story is coming along so great I'm excited and very happy to be a part of it. A part of it as his agent, a part of it as his creative inspiration, but the biggest part of it because we are cell mates. :) Friends for ever and I'm so proud of him.


Anyway this blog isn't about Derryan and his writing (although for a sneak peak you guys should make friends with 'Angel Morland' on Facebook). I spent a lot of time today reading blogs and I noticed a common thread on most of them: STUPID PEOPLE. No I don't mean the writers were stupid, but they were complaining about stupid people and who am I to ignore such a delectable topic?

I've had a lot of recent run ins with stupid people but the one from a couple of weeks ago really really stood out. I was home sick for 3 days with gasto (seriously the most unfun sickness you could have. You can't do anything but stay close to the bathroom!!) So since I was home Georgie called me and asked me to call Bell Canada about our satellite upstairs. For some reason the satellite in our bedroom would constantly lose the signal and more than half the channels wouldn't show up. It was the most annoying thing ever but we never had time to call because we only watch tv up there for like 20 minutes before bed. I was home so I might as well call them.

Now before I get to the phone call let me give you some backstory to me. When I was 13 years old I was diagnosed with a disease called myasthenia gravis. It's an immune disease where my body produces too many antibodies and therefore gets bored of me not being sick and attacks my ATP cells which totally reduces my energy and my strength. It is managable but when I am sick or stressed my disease completely skyrockets and I feel like I'm dead. It ends up affecting my muscles so I'm pretty weak and have hard time going up and down stairs etc. When my disease acts up it can be bad to the point that you'd think I am physically disabled. In fact, the goverment of Quebec seems to think so and I have a handicap parking tag. Don't worry about me, I've come to terms with it...anyway.... By now you should know HOW I felt when I called Bell.

So I'm downstairs in my living room watching TV when George calls me to talk to Bell. I sit down and dial their number and go through this whole automated thing where I enter my phone number, say why I'm calling and blah blah. The lovely automated operator, Emily, informs me that I must be in front of the tv that I am calling to trouble shoot. I hang up the phone and drag my sick ass up the stairs and have my puppy nipping at my heels. Heaven forbid he be downstairs alone!

Now I'm in front of the tv that isn't working properly and I call Bell and when I get a human on the phone I realize that the trouble is starting, not the trouble shooting process. I get a guy named "Sam" on the phone and I can tell you one thing. Wherever "Sam" comes from Sam is NOT a common name. A more common name in his area is probably something along the lines of Harminder or Abu. His accent is really thick and heavy and I'm just trying to understand him clearly. We start trouble shooting by pushing a bunch of buttons on my remote and checking the settings on the receiver and all kinds of other not fun things. Finally "Sam" decides that it is not something he can fix by having me push buttons and now its time to see if the problem is with the receiver or not. He asks me to unhook this receiver and take it downstairs to see if it will work there. At this point I proceed to tell "Sam" that I am physically disabled and unable to move heavy furniture, disconnect the receiver, struggled down the stairs where I would have to move more heavy furniture, disconnect the currently set up receiver and reconnect this one.

At this point "Sam" tells me that it is protocol and that he can not skip a step in the trouble shooting process. I tell him that I work for a company that also has a lot of calls for customer service and that we too have protocol but there are special circumstances that require us to skip our protocol and just make executive decisions. I told Sam that I think he should send a Bell tech out to my house in order to replace the receiver to fix this problem as it is not the first time I am having the same problem with the same reciver. Sam basically tells me to go fuck myself and that he can't skip any steps. I ask to speak to a manager. I get a floor supervisor named "Dan". Believe me he wasn't a Dan either. After explaining the situation to him and getting the same result my blood is pumping and I'm furious. I want to beat the living shit out of everyone where Dan and Sam work. I ask to speak to someone else and then I must have gone though 5 customer service reps /pseudo tech agents and I start to demand to speak to someone in CANADA. I tell the last person I'm on the phone with, "John" that when I pay my bill I pay it in Canadian dollars at a Canadian bank for a Canadian service and I'd like to speak to someone in my country which is when I get a line like "Yes Jenny, I understand but Bell Canada has many offices all over the world if you hang up and come back into the queue you may get your call answered by someone in Canada or India." I roll my eyes and hang up the telephone. Are these guys serious?

I pick up the telephone again and start the process again. Instead of asking for tech support when Emily asks why I'm calling I say CANCEL. Wouldn't you know that within 10 seconds I had a lady named Sarah on the phone, and guess what, she probably was a real Sarah, from Canada! Sarah asks why I'm canceling since I'm such a valued Bell Canada customer and I explain to her how Sam over in India wanted me to risk my life, at the very least, my face, in order to save Bell some money by having a tech come out to my house. She's completely horrified at the situation and schedules an appointment to have a tech come to my house early the next morning and gives me 30% off of my entire Bell bill for the next 12 months.

What I don't understand is how you can ask someone who is telling you they are HANDICAPPED and UNABLE to go down the stairs to still do it just because the script on their screen tells them to. I was completely shocked.

A few days later I get an apology letter from Bell telling me they are sorry for my experience calling their call center and they gave me a telephone number to call in case I have any further problems with their services which they hope I don't.

So yeah, I kind of found that to be pretty fucking stupid. How does one go about asking a cripple to hobble down the stairs? And for those of you who know me, I can be really descriptive. I was explaining to Sam, Dan, and John how much work it would be for me to get the reciever and carry it down the stairs without me misstepping, falling, rolling down a flight of stairs before landing on my face and hitting my nose so hard that fragments of broken nose bones get into my brain and render me dead within seconds....

Ah, the wonders of outsourcing for cheap labour.

iLife in iMusic

RULES:
1. Put your iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.


IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
"'Lonely World" -- Bryan Greenberg (LOL How fitting considering my mood today)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
"I'm Still Breathing” — Katy Perry (What is this the depression playlist?)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Shy Girl" — Tyler Hilton

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Number One" — Skye Sweetnam (Damn straight...)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Enemies” — Ryan Cabrera (Wow how sweet!)

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
"Shut Your Mouth” — Automatic Loveletter

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Freckles” — Natasha Bedingfield (How funny they always comment on my cute little nose freckles!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Hollow" — Forty Foot Echo (Wow....thats harsh)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Short of the World” — Ben Jelen

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"Before He Cheats" — Carrie Underwood

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Blue Suitcase" — Erin McCarley

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Sober" — Kelly Clarkson (Well I guess that means I'm not a freakin drunk!)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Cellophane Girl" — Graham Colton

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Consider This” — Anna Nalick

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Just For the Record" — Jordin Sparks

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Chemical Party” — Gavin DeGraw

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Unbelievable — Kaci Brown

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"Fairytales — Sara Bareilles

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
“Beautiful Soul” — Jesse McCartney (shhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone I'm actually nice deep down inside)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
“Love” — Matt White (Awwwww how super duper sweet!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Kindly Unspoken” — Kate Voegele (A very fitting song!)

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy pt.2

So besides having a last minute party today at my sister in laws house my husband and I are going to be entertaining my parents tomorrow. We figured we could either take them out to a really expensive steak house and then argue with my parents over who pays the bills or we could have them over here to have steaks that we had our butcher cut to order (yes daddy, you get a 1 3/4 inch thick steak! EWWW).

So tomorrow we are grilling steaks on the BBQ grill, making some baked potatoes, Tzatziki, an eggplant spread, some homemade rosemary bread and this delicious sage stuffed pancetta wrapped shirmp.

We made this for Christmas and people went bonkers over it.

Want some ingredients? You should know this is made to serve 4. Adjust your ingredients accordingly.

12 jumbo shrimp, peeled, de-veined and partially butterflied, tails left on
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided (You'll need more later for drizzling)
24 sage leaves
12 slices pancetta, unraveled

For the salad:
1 bag croutons **
2 carton multi-colored cherry tomatoes, halved
2 shallot, minced
2 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 cup basil, chopped
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

What do we do now that we have the ingredients?

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of your olive oil

Open up the butterflied shrimp and season them with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil Place two sage leaves into the slice along the back where the shrimp has been de-veined and butterflied, then wrap each shrimp from head to tail with a slice of pancetta.

Transfer the pancetta-wrapped shrimp to the hot skillet and cook until browned and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side.

While the shrimp are cooking, make the panzanella salad: Combine the croutons, tomatoes, shallots, red pepper sand basil in a large bowl. Toss the ingredients together with the red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil , salt and freshly ground black pepper.


Divide the salad between the plates and top each with three shrimp.


Want some tips?

I hate using crutons out of the box! C'mon we can all make our own stale bread but why does it have to be stale? I make a lot of fresh bread at home by myself. When I need to make crutons I just take a hunk out of my loaf of bread and cut it into cubes and drizzle it with olive oil and then season it the way I want to (salt, pepper, oregano, and some rosemary) then I put it on a cookie sheet and bake it until its dry! Tada! Insta-cruton! If you don't make your own bread you can always buy fresh bread and then make your own crutons! (Also if the bread goes stale before we get a chance to eat it I cut it into cubes and put it into the magic bullet and I have my very own bread crumbs!)

You should also considering using Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it does have a better flavor then just regular olive oil but don't fret, if you don't have EVOO then just use whatever type of olive oil you have! I sometimes like to mix it up and use something special like avacodo oil! Yummy!

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy!

So yesterday afternoon I was on Facebook and I saw a discussion on Networked Blogs about blogs that have to do with cooking and I kind of snorted to myself because that was my original intention for this blog. Hence, my second post on here being some chicken dish that Rachel Ray convinced me to try! I don't think mine turned out as good as hers but hey lets chalk it up to experience and guess what, I finally got a regular freaking wine opener so I don't struggle like an idiot!

Anyway, my sister in law called me last night to inform me that her and her husband are throwing a little impromptu party at their house today. She wants to know if George and I can whip something up for it. Its officially spring and they want to start their BBQ season. So since its Spring I figured I'd make a little speciality of mine to bring over to their house. It may sound weird but I swear its oh so good!

Watermelon Feta Salad

So how do you go about making this wonderful creation? Oh c'mon stop grimacing, I swear its tasty! The sweet and salty do a little jig on your tongue!

Cut a watermelon in half and use a melon baller to scoop out little balls of watermelon. If you don't have a melon baller you can just cut the watermelon into little square cubes. Put your melon balls or cubes into a large bowl. When you've balled the entire half of the watermelon drizzle the bowl with olive oil and vinegar and then crack some freshly ground black pepper over the top. Don't add any salt because your feta is already salty enough (if you didn't buy the cheap kind!)

Now take your feta and use a knife to chop it into small bits or if you are feeling daring just take it in your hands and crumble it all over the salad. Then take some mint and chop it into fine ribbons and drizzle that on top of the salad as well.

How you should use two wooden spoons in order to mix this well. (Again you can use your hands if you are feeling daring and have washed your hands!) After this is mixed put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes in order to fuse all the flavors.

Now get your serving platter ready.
1. You can put it on a serving platter covered in a bed of romaine lettuce leaves and then use a slotted spoon to put it on the platter and serve.

So how about some measurements?

1 watermelon about 20 pounds (you will only use half)
1/2 pound of feta (try to use Greek or Bulgarian as they are the best)
4 teaspoons vinegar
4 tablespoons of olive oil
5 sprigs of mint leaves (only use the leaves).
Pepper to taste

*right before putting it in the fridge you should taste it to make sure it has a savory flavor. It's not meant to be too sweet or too salty. It's a perfect balance!

How about some additional ideas?

Some places actually are lucky enough to get watermelons in more than one colour. If you have access to red and yellow meat watermelons then instead of getting one big 20 pound melon, get two smaller 10 pound melons and mix the colors. It looks beautiful when being served.

Instead of serving the watermelon feta salad on a bed of romaine lettuce you can make sure to clean the outside of the watermelon that you've balled and clean up the inside with a knive to make it a nice smooth surface inside and just pour everything from your mixing bowl into the empty watermelon half. I find this is a much better presentation but doesn't work well if your watermelon doesn't have a flat bottom.

Get the door....its opportunity.

So as most of you know I have been doing some wedding/event planning courses in order to basically tell people, "Hey I know what I'm doing, I have this piece of paper!" I do know what I'm doing with or without the certificate but whatever lets move on.

Lately, a fire was lit under my ass in order to complete my courses. I had really been putting it off and I shouldn't have. I wanted to have my certificate by this wedding season but it looks like I'll be ready in time for next years!

Either way, last night I went to a reception hall with my mom in order to book my sister's wedding shower (Yeah we don't do surprises in my family, she totally knows but is going to pretend to be surprised for her groom's family's sake!) and while talking about the shower I was asking a lot of questions. Apparently I was asking the right questions because the guy just kind of looked at me like HUH!?! So I kept on speaking and giving my ideas for the menu, how the hall should be decorated, what time she should show up, basically the entire time line of the event and he asked me what I did.

I explained to him how I work for EHEIM and what I do at my job but how I'm doing wedding courses in order to become an "official" wedding planner because right now I am an "unofficial" wedding planner! So the guy got all interested and leaned forward on his desk and started asking me if I'd like to work for him as a wedding consultant. Meet with the potential customers, explain to them the different menu options, help them find florists, DJs etc. Basically work as a wedding planner with people who come to him. He even mentioned the word EXCLUSIVELY which kind of scared me but I remembered that he owns 4 different reception halls so there are plenty of couples to meet and deal with.

He asked how I was at decorating and I just laughed and told him how I was a visual person. I can see what I want the end result to be but unfortunately, I can not actually be the one doing the decorating. That's when he said that he could get someone to train me. I'm not sure I'm really interested in doing that kinda stuff hands on. I'm more like the person who hires someone else to make my vision jump to life...

So I thought that was interesting and a pretty awesome opportunity to knock at my door while I was booking my sister's wedding shower!

To sell or not to sell

So my mom just called me because she just picked up my wedding dress from the dry cleaners. (Yes I know its been there almost a year, I don't plan on wearing it again so I wasn't in any rush to pick it up). But here is my thing, my mom suggested that I sell it.

It's a beautiful wedding dress with a lot of pretty details but I don't think I could sell it. I mean, yes I know I won't be wearing it again but the thought of just selling it to someone freaks me out a bit. Right now its in a huge storage box all air sealed and protected from the elements that could possibly hurt it at my moms house. I'm going to pick it up tonight and most likey shove it in my attic or one of my closets and never look at it again.

I guess I just have a real emotional attachment to my dress. It was the first dress I tried on (but I must have tried on 100 that day just to make sure I really did love my first choice) and its from the happiest day in my life. I feel bad that its just stored up in a box that no one will get to see but I don't know if I like the idea of someone else wearing my wedding dress. My parents paid really good money for that dress and I obviously can't get that money back but at the same time, maybe I can help someone who is on a budget get an amazing wedding dress at a really good price.

What do you think? Should I sell it or keep it?

Let it live in a box until the day I die or help someone else's dream wedding come true?

I've attached some picture so you can see the dress (not amazing pictures as my wedding pictures on my work computer are pretty limited.