Do you know true terror?

So, THIS happened!

Jessie and I went to Canadian Tire today to do some long awaited stuff shopping for yard thinks and such. We also needed to buy a new lawnmower as the landlord had promised a new one in the lease. We decided to go to the new Canadian Tire at 7th and Cambie since the road work is pretty much done down there and you can finally get around a bit. We parked in the rooftop parking area and walked in to the store. I will admit we were pretty stupefied by all the shiny lawn furniture and assorted yard accessories. When we first walked in we saw some really nice fire pits for the yard and we kind of fantasized about how cool it would be to have one. When we got to the place that they were stacked on the shelf it looked like they might be on sale. I grabbed the big box and stuck the UPC code under one of those price check thingies and sure enough it was half price. The regular price was $99 and it was on for $49.99! Well shoot, I'd buy it.

We piled all our purchases into a couple of buggies and eventually went to check out. They have a self serve check which involved several episodes of a clerk coming over to help us continue, much lifting boxes and finding codes and other pain in the ass stuff until finally we were checked through.

We piled the stuff into the car, swung through the Wendy's drive through and headed on home. Once we got back to the yard we decided to sit in the sun and eat our lunch and then unpack all of the goodies from the car. When I grabbed the box for the outdoor fire pit (some assembly required) I noticed there was a hole in the back of the box. I took one look and recognised it right away. Only one thing makes a hole like that. Rodents.

After I started to cut the box open we could really see all of the damage, tons of chewed up styrofoam and shredded paper and plastic and to our relief, small droppings from a mouse, not a rat. We started picking the pieces of the fire pit out of the box when it happened. Mouse running around in box! I screamed like a little girl and ran the opposite way and the mouse started running towards Jessie who was kind of frozen in place but no less freaked out than me. The mouse headed straight for the stairwell towards Jessie's apartment door, luckily it was closed or it would have run straight in. So now we are just shitting ourselves trying to think of what to do.

By this time Superman had come out to see what was going on and while him and Jessie made some sort of plan I decided to call Canadian Tire and see what they had to say. The first guy I spoke to in the outdoor living department responded by saying "Holy Shit, no way! He suggested I bring it back for a refund but I told him I wasn't touching any of it, it was full of mouse shit and urine, you could see it on everything. I asked to speak to the manager and when I told him what happened he said, "Jesus Christ!" He suggested I call pest control they would be happy to pay for it. By this time I could tell the the mouse wasn't going anywhere and had wedged itself between two layers of rugs. I told him that it looked like we would be able to catch/kill it and we wouldn't need pest control so he told me to bring in the receipt and he would give me a full refund but I could keep the fireplace. So, free fireplace, that's cool.

Superman conducted some rather gruesome maneuvers involving his big Dayton boots and a garden hoe which resulted in the death by squishing for Mr. Mouse. I hid behind Jessie the whole time prancing in place like a prized pony.

This is a picture of the box with all the nest materials and delicious styrofoam, mouse shit and mouse pee. Gross.

This is where he ran and eventually lost his life to a well timed boot heel.

This is where he is now along with the two mats he was rolled up in.

This is the nasty bag of styro feces and pee pee that was left in the box.

Bottom line, Jessie and I were traumatized for a couple of hours and now we have no faith in our ability to handle any type of stress or excitement ever again. That mouse was in the box when I lifted it in the store put it through the checkout and rode home with us in the car. I'm not scared of spiders and insects but rodents do me in.

Tomorrow it's back to Canadian Tire for our refund and possibly a dry cleaning bill because Jessie may or may not have peed her pants a little.

Now excuse me while I go wash my hands again and try to recover from the adrenalin rush I just experienced.

I wonder if I should sue?

For Me???

I got my new toy!!!

Lorna and I both ordered these little beauties with our Avion points. It's an Apple iPod 80 GB with Special Edition iSkin Claro. I know, right? 80 freakin' GB! It still has that new electronics smell and I can hardly wait to fill it with heaps of music and pictures and, and I dunno, games? This feels a bit like one of those life altering pieces of technology. I've never had a personal music thingy before, it's just too exciting. So far I've put my entire catalogue of Gram Parsons on it, I loaded Adele and Duffy on it too because it came recommended and I rarely listen to "New" music. Sounds pretty darn good.

Between this little puppy and my cell phone and my digital camera that I never leave home without, I will have one heavy, technology laden handbag. I might need to start using my new Heyes suitcase as a purse. Just enough points left over to get this little gem of a suitcase I have always wanted.

I am a certified spoiled brat. I hope that if you knew me you might think I deserved it but I wouldn't blame you if you thought I was spoiled rotten.

I can live with that.

Can I have a ride?

We survived another weekend! This summer has sure been shaping up, what with the great weather and the parties and all.

Saturday was interesting, as we were puttering around the apartment we noticed there were some loud motorbikes coming and going. When we went onto the deck we were greeted by quite a site. This is only a fraction of the bikes parked outside. They went all the way down the block and around the corner. COOL!

Of course the event brought a spirited bunch of folks with it and by the time we went out at 9 there was a lot of tire squealing and general monkey business taking place. I wish we could have stuck around to see it all go down and maybe go over for a beer or two, it looked like good fun.

Instead we headed off to a house party and it was a good one. Friends of ours have a house in East Vancouver that time seems to have forgotten. The house is on a huge lot buried in a little chunk of old growth forest. The house itself is around a hundred years old and has never been upgraded or renovated. It's a slice of east Van history and the folks that live there are hip retro style people from the clothes they wear to the decor of the house, it's a pretty cool place to be. Not to mention the number of amazing musicians that were there, there was live house-rockin' music in the living room stuffed full of sweaty happy dancers. And cheese puffs too. Good times.

Moving pretty slow on Sunday but managed to get myself going with a trip to Costco to do some shopping. What the hell was I thinking? It's almost impossible to actually buy anything there if your not buying for a family of four. I can't get my head around all the massive quantities that everything comes in. I simply cannot store that much food. I know I might be sad in the event of a disaster but we do live above a grocery store so I figure we should be good for a while.

Today was just a bit of a silly one with a morning filled with phone calls and sad stories, dealing with little details at work and buying office supplies. Had a lovely lunch date though, good food and great company. Not bad at all.

how do you feel about shoes?

This is a photo of an ad by the company that used to sponsor my Dad's softball team in the 60's and 70's. I think that's pretty cool. I don't know why, I just do.

Soooo it's Friday! A funny thing happened today. Let's be clear, I love shoes and I got rid of over 25 pairs when we moved to the new smaller digs so I figure I have just about the right amount now except they keep making cute shoes and I keep looking. Today I was out with my BFF helping her get a few things together for a trip she's taking and I was falling in love with shoes left right and centre. I just kept telling myself that I didn't need new shoes and that I couldn't afford new shoes. Then it happened. My shoe broke in a shoe store!! The strap just ripped right in two and there I was one shoe short of a pair. What the hell! Wouldn't you just know it, I didn't see one pair of shoes in that store that I wanted. What would you do?? I consider myself an industrious woman and I had to do something. So, I asked the clerk for her stapler, stapled the strap together so I could walk to the store where I saw something I liked and I bought myself these...

http://goshopping.thestar.com/shop/product--catId_1002563__locale_en__catCrumbIds_1000002-1002563__productId_3802793.html

I think they are super cute and they are comfy like a sneaker but cute like a flat. finally a shoe to wear with skirts and dresses that I can walk in for hours comfortably. That's kind of a big deal for me. When I went to pay for them, it turns out they were on sale. Bonus! Still, I felt a bit bad about buying them, did I mention I couldn't really afford to be shopping? Anywho, I get home and there is a big stack of mail sitting on the table as my man* has the only mail key and tends to check the mail only once a week or so. For the first time in many years I am getting a refund on my income tax and wouldn't you know it there was that little cheque. It covers my unplanned shoe purchase and helps out with some expenses that I need to clear up. Is it wrong that I believe in a Shoe God??

* you may have noticed that I haven't used any names in referring to people in my life so far. I think I want to keep it that way but I need to figure out what I am going to call the man I live with and am engaged to marry. I have a lot of names that I call him. When you live with someone for a long time you tend to stop using their actual name and just go with nicknames, unless it's something serious. Here are some of the nicknames I actually call him in daily life.

#1 Monkey
#2 Monkey Man
#3 Monka
#4 Man of La Monka
#5 Mr. Bo Dangles (don't ask)
#6 Superman
#7 Asshole
#8 Asshat
#9 Jerk Ass
#10 Fart Knocker

Wow, we are so weird. I can't believe I'm actually putting these out there. I think from now on I will refer to him as Superman or SM. It's not too sucky and it's not one of the names I call him when I'm pissed off at him. I do love him so. You may have guessed I have finally told him about my blog. He hasn't read it yet but I want to be sure to let you know that he is a lovely man and he actually smells pretty good most of the time.
Happy Friday ya'll!
Hope you're enjoying my blog.