Scale Whore - here I go again!

Herbal Magic & Elizabeth Manley

Trish — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:14:04 +0000

Today I saw an ad for Herbal Magic, is this available in the US? I know a few people who were successful with the program but have never considered it for myself as it seems like from what they said it was a lot of pill popping.

Anyways, the ad had Elizabeth Manley in it. For those not in the know Elizabeth is a former Canadian Figure Skating champion who silver medals at both the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 1988 World Championships.

Do you think it is a coincidence that she has shown up on TV a week before the Olympics? Pretty good strategy for Herbal Magic as she was Canada’s darling.

Baby, it is cold outside!

Trish — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:04:49 +0000

It is so damn cold here right now! It was so cold that I opted not to take Bruiser out to the dog park today. Sure he could probably stay warm with his coat and his running around but me…I was not born with fur and the need to smell dog bums so I opted out.

I’m sure he was not a happy dog, but he’ll live. Maybe we should move…go someone place warmer! I always say I should have been born in Australia, I could live happily with their weather easily! Or I could go to California, mingle with the stars…I heard that Newport Beach real estate is hot right now.

I guess I should be thankful that we have not had any snow storms yet this year, unlike the Washington DC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc. But this cold? This -17C…I could sure live without.

I heart IKEA

Trish — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:00:38 +0000

I was at Ikea yesterday (I took Friday and Monday off for a small breather), as I was picking up two cupboards for my tv unit and was marveling at how fast they can get their customers through checkout, unlike my local Metro grocery store. I think one reason is the cool ls2208 hand scanners they use rather than having drag an item over the scanning device.

Also, their customers are pretty good at aligning their purchases UPC front so it goes much faster. At my local Metro, no one is minding what way they put their groceries on the belt and of course then there are items that need to be weighed.

Oh, and let us not forget the slow moving cashier…I don’t think Ikea hires any. By the time you get to the cashier at Ikea, you just want to leave…you’ve already been there fore oh…4 hours traipsing about their warehouse.

I did get my two cupboards and a DVD organizer (Inreda DVD Rack) which I think I am going to hack, I just need to figure out how and what would make it better. I’m thinking plexiglass and a pull of some kind.

Mortgage or Life Insurance

Trish — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:40:40 +0000

There is talk on my future home’s group wall on Facebook that my condo should be ready for occupants in May and that they hope to have everyone moved in by the end of September. You have never seen someone move so fast to try to get their finances in order and to implement some kind of workable no frills budget such as I did the day I heard this.

I have managed to cut things back on some services to save $76 a month and have paid off and down some credit cards and also using some balance transfer low interest rates to save interest.

I am now got my brain on finding a new mortgage broker (one that is local rather than 55km away and as well as checking out term life insurance quotes as I plan on going that route rather than mortgage insurance that banks try to gouge you on.

Unlike my previous job who had life insurance on their employees for the wage x 2, mine is maxed out at 25K and unfortunately that won’t even cover 25% of my mortgage.

I was just wondering, what do my American friends do with their mortgages? I know our mortgages are very different than the US and I’m wondering about what happens if something were to happen to you or your spouse. Mortgage insurance or life insurance?

Owie!

Trish — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:48:18 +0000

I noted on Sunday that I had spent the day cleaning and now I am spending the days in pain. Muscle pain that is.

I have this bad problem of not bending my knees when doing things low to the ground and unfortunately it is not felt until a day or two later that you overly stretched some very unused muscles.

I wanna groan every time I use the washroom and any time I put socks on, lol. Two days and counting…

Black Friday vs. Boxing Day

Trish — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:43:47 +0000

In Canada our Black Friday is not at Thanksgiving (btw our Thanksgiving is in October) but on Boxing Day.

Boxing Day is a bank and public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ghana, Switzerland, Germany, Greenland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population.

In Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and some states of Australia, Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. Many people get at the crack of dawn or earlier (eek!) and stand in line for supposedly once a year deals. Many of our stores will also have limited ‘door crashers’ as well. With the advent of the internet and especially as of late, many people wait for 12:01am for the deals to appear online rather than braving the winter chill.

Burnin’ Them Calories

Trish — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:45:13 +0000

Today I burned some calories (I hope!) from cleaning for 4.5 hours. Sunday’s are my normal cleaning day but I took it up a notch and reorganized the living room and started to tackle the storage room.

My storage room has unfortunately become a dumping ground of things not used or not wanted over the two years I have been here (March 08). Tomorrow I am going to grab a few shipping boxes from work and continue on my purge.

I didn’t get around to making my soup but I hope to do so tomorrow or Tuesday evening along with some more purging. You should see some of the drunk in my kitchen drawers! Why I would put some of the stuff there is a question unto itself…

No Soup For You!

Trish — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:34:54 +0000

I’ve still not found my mojo…but I can say that I am trying to watch what I eat and make better choices. My jeans around my waist are definitely looser…even after washing so I am doing something.

Work has been super duper busy for the last week and a half. A lot going on and so I’ve been working through my lunches and a few extra hours each night.

For lunch I found some Campbell’s Healthy Request soups on sale so have been eating those. I love soup in the winter. What I want to do though this weekend is make my own. I make a mean soup and stew if I have the ingredients!

I’m going to go to Food Basics and pick up some no name chicken breasts and make a nice chicken soup. Some peas, corn, beans and past should make a yummy combo and pretty cheap too!

Keep your easy and inexpensive food ideas coming! They are all appreciated.

Small Premium Please…Like my smart Car!

Trish — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:30:48 +0000

Uggh! I have still not received my auto insurance renewal package. It is normally received in December but I’ve still not seen it. I need to find some time to call them to get it sent out as I really, really, really need it so that I can get some different auto insurance quotes. I mean my insurance is just over $200 a month, and that is ridiculous!

I know I drive a smart car and you think that if I got in an accident the whole car would have to be replaced as it has earned the highest rating in front-end and side-impact testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

So there! Now give me lower rates!

Update:
I just looked at my pink slip (proof of insurance) and actually my renewal is for May 1. Not sure why I thought March 1. No wonder I’ve not received anything from my agent regarding renewals.

Well that gives me time to look around :)

Collectors

Trish — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:19:38 +0000

I went to Dad’s on Sunday to drop off some old tax papers and current banking information (his printer won’t print since his last Vista auto update, spooler issues that I just cannot figure out) and he handed me some bottles of face cream that my sister left behind. My sister and her fiance moved in with him in November to get back on their feet but since they seemed to be spending the money they were suppose to be saving by not paying rent, he asked them to leave.

Anyways, it seems that my very young looking 30 year old sister is looking for the best anti wrinkle cream as she had bottles of every conceivable brand available, so my father says. My other sister who was down a week before I was took the majority but left me with a few bottles from St. Ives. Oh and she seems to collect Avon. She had a whole cupboard full of their deodorants (male/female), perfume, body lotion, etc. I think I see where her money goes!

I used to collect lipstick like she now collects face cream. I had every colour of pink you could imagine and from every brand available when I was in my teens (no Rimmel or Mac then!). I don’t seem to collect anything anymore and in fact when I moved to my current residence, I actually purged all my makeup.

What about you…do you collect makeup, face creams?