Mandy's Minutes

Looking for a movie?

2009-01-06T22:31:00.000-05:00

Since I tend to lend out plenty of movies at the office, I thought I would start a list of what I have. I am breaking this down into a few categories so you might need to search for what you are looking for.

Movies A-Z (does not include best picture winners or animated/Disney movies)

10 Things I Hate About You
12 Angry Men
50 First Dates
About a Boy
About Schmidt
Across the Universe
Adaptation
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Airplane!
Airplane II: The Sequel
American History X
American Psycho
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: Goldmember
The Aviator
Babel
The Basketball Diaries
Batman Begins
Bed of Roses
Benny & Joon
Betsy's Wedding
Birth
Black Hawk Down
Blazing Saddles
Bobby
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Boys on the Side
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Brokeback Mountain
Burn After Reading
Clash of the Titans
Closer
Cruel Intentions
The Day After
Dead Man Walking
Dirty Dancing
Donnie Darko
Dreamgirls
Edward Scissorhands
Election
Empire of the Sun
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Ever After
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* - *But Were Afraid to Ask
The Family Stone
Fatal Attraction
Finding Neverland
A Fish Called Wanda
The Fog (1980)
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Godfather Part III
Grease
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
A Hard Day's Night
Haven
Heathers
History of the World: Part I
A History of Violence
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (this is a Disney movie but it is in this list anyway)
Hoosiers
The Hours
The Ice Storm
Identity
The Illusionist
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Inventing the Abbotts
Juno
King Kong (2005)
Lady in the Water
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
The Libertine
The Lion in Winter
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Women (1994)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Love Actually
The Machinist
The Man in the Moon
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
M*A*S*H
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Meaning of Life
Meet Me in St. Louis
Mermaids
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Mr. Deeds
The Music Man
My Life
Mystic River
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear
The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
Ned Kelly
The New World
Nine Months
The Ninth Gate
Notting Hill
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Pan's Labyrinth
The Patriot
The Pianist
Pleasantville
The Prestige
Pump Up the Volume
The Queen
Quills
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reign of Fire
Rescue Dawn
Reservoir Dogs
Roman Holiday
Saturday Night Fever
Saved!
School of Rock
School Ties
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Sheepsh*t (movie made by a co-worker's brother)
Sideways
Singin' in the Rain
Sleepy Hollow
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Spaceballs
St. Elmo's Fire
Startup.com
Star Wars
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Steel Magnolias
Sunrise
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Swing Kids
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Taps
That's Entertainment!
The Thin Red Line
This is Spinal Tap
Top Secret
Troy
U2: Rattle and Hum
A Very Long Engagement
Waitress
Walk the Line
The Wedding Singer
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
Wild Hogs
X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand

I am not certain if this is completely updated, I need to double check the shelf vs. what I have here, I am trying to add new movies by memory, it isn't working out so well. :)

Animated/Disney/Family Movies

2009-01-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

101 Dalmatians
101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
101 Dalmatians (Live Action)
102 Dalmatians (Live Action)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
The Adventures of Milo and Otis
Aladdin
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Alice in Wonderland
An American Tail
An American Tail : Fievel Goes West
The Aristocats
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Bambi
Bambi II
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bee Movie
Belle's Magical World
The Black Cauldron
The Brave Little Toaster
Bridge to Terabithia
Brother Bear
Brother Bear 2
A Bug's Life
Cars
Chicken Little
Chicken Run
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Cinderella
Cinderella II
Cinderella III
A Cinderella Story
Corpse Bride
Dinosaur
Dumbo
The Emperor's New Groove
Escape to Witch Mountain
E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial
Fantasia
Finding Nemo
The Fox and the Hound
The Fox and the Hound 2
Fun and Fancy Free
The Great Mouse Detective
Happy Feet
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Haunted Mansion
Hercules
Home on the Range
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
Ice Age
Ice Age The Meltdown
The Incredibles
James and the Giant Peach
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book 2
Lady and the Tramp
The Last Unicorn
Lilo & Stitch
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
Leroy & Stitch
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mary Poppins
Meet the Robinsons
Melody Time
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Muskateers
Monsters, Inc.
Mulan
Mulan II
Nanny McPhee
National Treasure
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Night at the Museum
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Oliver & Company
Pete's Dragon
Peter Pan
Piglet's Big Movie
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End
Pocahontas
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Ratatouille
The Rescuers
The Rescuers Down Under
The Return of Jafar
Return to Never Land
Robin Hood
Robots
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Shark Tale
Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek 3D
Shrek the Third
Sleeping Beauty
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Surf's Up
The Sword in the Stone
Tarzan
Tarzan II
Tarzan & Jane
The Three Caballeros
Tinker Bell
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Treasure Planet
Tron
Two Brothers
Underdog
Valiant
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
WALL-E
The Watcher in the Woods
The Wild
Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo
The Wizard of Oz

Collection of Best Picture Oscar Winners

2009-01-06T17:13:00.000-05:00

I currently have 78 of the 80 winners. (The titles are listed as they appear on the Oscar web site)

Here we go...

The Broadway Melody (1929)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Cimarron (1931)
Grand Hotel (1932)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Rebecca (1940)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Casablanca (1943)
Going My Way (1944)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Hamlet (1948)
All the King's Men (1949)
All about Eve (1950)
An American in Paris (1951)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Marty (1955)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Gigi (1958)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
West Side Story (1961)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Tom Jones(1963)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Sound of Music (1965)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Oliver!(1968)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Patton (1970)
The French Connection (1971)
The Godfather (1972)
The Sting (1973)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Rocky (1976)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Ordinary People (1980)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Gandhi (1982)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
Out of Africa (1985)
Platoon (1986)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Rain Man (1988)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Unforgiven (1992)
Schindler's List (1993)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
The English Patient (1996)
Titanic (1997)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
American Beauty (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Chicago (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Crash (2005)
The Departed (2006)
No Country for Old Men (2007)

What I am Reading Now...

2007-05-31T17:19:00.001-04:00

Well, I am still working on The Falls, I am hoping to finish that up this weekend.

I finally finished The Penelopiad while I was on vacation. I don't really know what to say about this book, it was an interesting look into what could have been Penelope's side of the Odyssey. If you have read the Odyssey, you may want to check this out.

My new purse book is War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, I've seen the movie and already know the premise of the story, of course I knew the premise even before I saw the movie, I think most people already do. I figured for $5.00 I'd buy it and throw it in my purse and get around to reading it eventually.

What I am Reading Update...

2007-04-29T19:36:00.000-04:00

I finished The Book of Ruth and then went right on to reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, this is Oprah's latest pick and was a pretty quick read. I found the writing style a little strange at first, but got over it... I really couldn't stand the lack of apostrophes, I didn't exactly get over that bit, however it did not take away from the story. I was puzzled by the book's end and sort of wished that it went a little further, I suppose that is the sign of a great book, if it keeps you wanting more. I have already passed this on to a co-worker and I suspect that he will already have it back to me by tomorrow. I am now currently reading The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates, this book is close to 500 pages and I am currently 60 in, so this may take a while. I have read We Were the Mulvaneys by Oates as it was an Oprah pick back in 2001. As with many Oprah pick authors, I decided to give the author another try and so far I am not disappointed with this choice.

I still have The Penelopiad in my purse, still with little opportunity to actually crack open my purse book, it is slowly being read. Perhaps I will complete this book on my next Disney trip, which is quickly approaching.

Quick Book Update

2007-03-27T22:33:00.000-04:00

As I suspected, I finished For One More Day very quickly, I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

I am currently working on The Book of Ruth, this is another Oprah pick, I am more than half way through and it's okay. There are spots that I find a bit slow but I totally feel for Ruth and am glad that I'm not her. Just picturing her husband makes me feel sick.

I am still working on The Penelopiad, the opportunity that I thought I had to get through the rest of the book did not present itself, so the book just waits in my purse for me to eventually get around to looking at it again.

Coming Soon...

2007-03-08T18:34:00.000-05:00

July 13th will mark the return of one of my favourite fellows. Check here to see who I mean.

July 21st will mark the final chapter.

Baby Sister Turns 18... Almost

2007-03-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

My little sis, Laur, will be turning 18 tomorrow and I can hardly believe it. Where has the time gone? Since there is no longer grade 13 (shows how old I am) , she will also be graduating from high school this year.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Love ya! xoxo

What I'm Reading Now...

2007-03-05T21:14:00.000-05:00

I finished reading The Measure of a Man on Friday night and moved on to For One More Day by Mitch Albom. I have spent very little time reading this and I am already a third of the way through. I found that I was able to read Albom's other offerings, Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, just as quickly. They are all good stories that often bring tears.

I am almost certain that I will be finished For One More Day and The Penelopiad by the end of this coming weekend. More news to come on what's next on my reading list.

Updates

2007-02-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

It has been about a month and a half since I last posted. I have had the opportunity to post but just didn't feel like it, sorry.

I finished reading The Corrections and am currently reading The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier. The Measure of a Man is Oprah's latest pick and I am little over a third of the way through it, this is an interesting look into the life of an incredible man. I am about half way through The Penelopiad, I haven't recently required my purse book but I manage to get a page in every now and then.

I recently had a Pampered Chef party, I am looking forward to the delivery... now I just need to find a place to put my new stuff... ah, a citrus peeler, I am soooo looking forward to that. :)

I have recently become obsessed with completing my Best Picture collection of DVDs. I owe this all to a trip to Future Shop which had a bunch of Best Pictures on display and on sale. I think I am about half way through, there are a few movies that I am not currently able to locate so I will focus on what I can get for now and work on the rest later.

Yesterday I booked my next Disney vacation. This time I will be going with my brother and sister and we will be hanging out with my friend Julie and her family. We will be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, this is mostly due to the bunk beds, it is worth the extra money for everyone to have their own bed. :) Julie and her family will be staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort, I have not stayed there yet, maybe next time. :)

That's about all that is new and exciting for now.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

I haven't been online much lately, so this would explain my lack of posts... for updates from our trip to Vegas you can check out Ken's Blog ... our trip to Disney World was good, we did plenty of walking and a little standing in line, it wasn't too bad at all actually, we planned things well... I have added more pins to my collection, now I need an album or something to keep them in, both of my lanyards are pretty full... I'll get one on my next trip.

I finished my first book of the year, I had actually started reading this a while back but it is my first addition to my library bookshelf for the year... The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald... the story was pretty good, the book itself is quite long, so if a large number of pages puts you off, I recommend giving it a try despite the page count. I found that the story kept me interested enough that I didn't really notice how long it was and then of course when it gets to the end I hoped for the story to continue.

I am currently reading The Corrections... I am reading it because it was on Oprah's list and Jonathan Franzen can stick that in his pipe and smoke it... the fact that Oprah announced it as part of her book club is the only reason I am reading this and because of the way Mr. Franzen shunned the sticker, I won't bother to read anything else by him... too bad for him, I might have bought some of his books that no one has heard of, not like he cares, since I tend to own quite a few books by Oprah authors... thank you Oprah for introducing me to Barbara Kingsolver.

My current purse book is The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus by Margaret Atwood, I have not yet had the opportunity to sit and read from it yet, but I expect I will soon.

Thank You

2006-11-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Seeing as it is a day to honour our Veterans, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the men and women who have put their lives on the line for the sake of the rest of us.

Thank you!

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sheesh, I could barely see for all the glare coming off of those rocks...

2006-10-10T21:58:00.000-04:00

This morning I was presented with some awesome news... my sales support buddy, Ambie, is getting married... she received the most beautiful ring, picture to come, and she was still all giddy with permagrin, such an awesome time... I look forward to hearing all about the planning... I loved planning my wedding, I wish I could throw a party like that every year. :) Perhaps I should start playing the Pay Day Lottery and if I won, I could.

Our office is full of rings and babies, it's great... I already have the one but not the other yet, I still have a trip to Vegas and a trip to Disney to enjoy before I even start to think about such things :)

Of course this is the second big engagement news for me this year, the first of course was Channywee and Jason, I never thought I would see the day, but I am so glad that it finally arrived, good thing I was dateless for that one Christmas Party. :)

Hey... it is the year of the Jason, Ambie and Jason and Channy and Jason... how sweet. :)

Will Trade for Land...

2006-10-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

It seemed to work once before...

I don't even have a red paperclip to offer, although I do have some pretty cool Nightmare Before Christmas pens. :) I'll post a picture later.

What I am looking for is at least 2 acres of land somewhere within the Region of Waterloo, no more than a 30 minute drive from Waterloo (hubby is not a fan of commuting, so 30 minutes could be pushing it). I would like to build this house, it's my dream home and it is a place we could stay forever since it is a bungalow, once we are too old to climb stairs, whichever kid is living in the basement at the time can bring us whatever we need... okay, yeah, first we need kids.

We have also bought a ticket to hopefully win this house, we could live here while figuring out where to build our next place... take the tour... I really love the kitchen, ensuite and attic, we would lose a bedroom, but I could sacrifice a bedroom for that kitchen. :) Please take a moment to support The Rotary Club of Kitchener-Conestoga as the funds raised go towards KidsAbility, the son of my co-worker/friend, Rina, is one of the ambassadors for this year, representing Cambridge. Josh's story deserves it's own post and I will talk to Rina about posting it.

112 and counting

2006-08-30T21:51:00.000-04:00

I now have 112 books listed on LibraryThing and I still have 3 shelves to add and then I suppose I could also add all of the kids books that I have as well, so I think that is another 3 shelves.

Cross-stitching for old ladies?

I have a co-worker, my lunch time card partner even, who just loves to poke fun... I had mentioned watching the Emmy Awards and he couldn't understand how someone could watch an award show for 3 hours. I mentioned that I listen more than watch as I am generally cross-stitching when I am watching tv... instantly I became an old lady... sheesh, I have been cross-stitching since I was a teen, I hardly thought of myself as an old lady then. I enjoy working on patterns and seeing the finished project, for the most part what I work on is given away as gifts... besides, this is a great hobby to have when you want to avoid snacking. :)

Everything came out in the wash...

2006-08-26T11:59:00.000-04:00

It appears I didn't need hubby's help after all, it seems everything corrected itself, guess my blog just needed a little rest. :)

Just taking a little rest from cleaning, Ken is still out in the yard moving some Black-Eyed Susans around.

Oh, I am currently up to 80 books in my library.

Hmmmm...

2006-08-25T23:36:00.000-04:00

Okay, I don't know what's going on here, will have to wait until morning to see if hubby can help me... it looks like LibraryThing should be on my page and yet when I publish and view my Blog, it just isn't there... hopefully this will be fixed shortly. :)

New Feature

2006-08-25T23:17:00.000-04:00

Check out my LibraryThing search... I have only entered 25 of my book titles thus far but I will go through my library and enter everything. Now family and friends/co-workers can check to see if perhaps I have a little something they might like to borrow. My late fees are pretty reasonable. ;)

If you would like to see my whole catalog at once, you can visit it here. I promise to get it up to date as quickly as I can... I still haven't downloaded everything onto my iPod yet, so I guess I'll be lucky if I get my books all entered by Christmas of next year. :)

Doh!

2006-08-21T20:18:00.000-04:00

How could I forget...

The Nightmare Before Christmas would have to be my number pick for favourite movie, I must have been having a brain fart or something when I wrote my last post.

If you want to see Sandra's Top 5, check it out here.

Well, I feel a little under the weather right now, so best to get off of the computer, just had to send a quick email and correct my little mistake. :)

A Saturday Alone

2006-08-19T16:34:00.000-04:00

Ken is at a wedding in Kingston this weekend. I declined on the trip since we have been on the road so much lately I just wanted a weekend at home.

Side Note: Last Saturday we went to see Spamalot at the Canon Theatre in Toronto, I definitely recommend catching it before it leaves on September 10th. Having seen The Holy Grail many, many, many, many times in highschool, I was quite excited about seeing the stage version. We took my brother and sister and they also both enjoyed the show. Laur is not a fan of the movie, but she bought a ticket anyway, she prefers the theatre. :) The only thing that I disliked about the show was the venue, the inside of the theatre is wonderful, however there are not enough washroom facilities and you have to make a mad dash at intermission to make it to the line and get through in time to get back to your seat before the second act starts. Laur and I had similar issues when we went to see Wicked.
Oh yeah, Wicked is coming back in October, I recommend seeing it... just make sure to use the washroom before you head to the show and don't drink too much while you are there. :)

So, back to my Saturday alone at home...

I got out of bed around 8:30... I was awake earlier to bid Ken farewell at 7:00 or so... I put on some "work" clothes and headed to our powder room, where I torn down the wallpaper, removed the medicine cabinet (which I found was fastened to the wall with 4 mismatched screws, none of which were secure in the wall), cleaned down the walls and then cleaned the paper up as well as cleaned the sink and toilet. I then decided to give the cats a bath, Zuzu is a treat in that she doesn't cry, she just wants to cuddle into me, so basically I have a wet cat curled into my shoulder the whole time. Cleo on the other hand, the cat that loves to drink water and will often jump into the tub after somone comes out of the shower, she cries and cries and cries, you would think she was being killed. They both survived and now smell so pretty. :)

After getting myself cleaned up, I made myself some lunch and watched a little tv. I've tidied things up a bit and then decided to go back to the tv... I found that High School Musical was on, this is a movie I have wanted to see since I saw the review in People ... it's a Disney movie, there is a cheese factor to it but I couldn't turn it off, the music was catchy and I could see why this movie has become such a hit. The main character, Troy Bolton, played by Zac Efron is not hard to look at (if you're a teenage girl that is.. uh, yeah, that's it) ;)

Now I sit here blogging and loading songs onto iTunes, I still haven't gone through my whole CD collection yet.

After reading Sandra's blog, I was thinking about my top 5 movies... I don't think I could pick just 5 movies that I really like, so here are 5 that come to mind right now...

So I Married An Axe Murderer - this movie makes me laugh every time I watch it, and I have watched it many, many, many, many (you get the picture) times. This was the post bar, pizza watching movie when I was in University, I can pretty much recite the whole thing, it brings back to many great memories that I can't help but love it.

The Man in the Moon - this is not the movie about Andy Kaufman (that was Man on the Moon). This is the debut movie of Reese Witherspoon, again a movie I have seen many times and each and every time I see it I cry like I didn't know what was going to happen.

The Sound of Music - I can't help it, I love this movie. This is my feel good movie, how can you watch this movie and not sing? The Will & Grace episode with the sing along Sound of Music was awesome.

It's A Wonderful Life - An annual tear jerker, that helps to remind me just what is important.

The Little Mermaid - there is just something about this Disney flick that adds it to my list here. I think the memories that are tied to it along with the great songs (I've got a thing for musicals :) ) make this a natural choice for me. This is a movie that I have watched over and over again, thanks in part to spending a good portion of a semester in the 10th grade watching it at lunch... I wasn't the only one watching it. :)

I will be watching one of Sandra's five, Waking Life, tonight as my co-worker, Saibal, lent this to me months ago and we haven't watched it. Usually if we get a chance to watch a movie on a Saturday we tune into TVO for Saturday Night at the Movies.

Well, I think it is now time to get some dinner and perhaps watch Waking Life before 8 so I can still catch tonight's TVO flicks.

As usual...

2006-07-31T14:10:00.000-04:00

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything.

To update on my previous post...

I am walking the Weekend to End Breast Cancer solo this year, I am almost at $2600, so I am still looking for $2400 in donations... please sponsor me. :)

Weight Watchers and working out have been put on the back burner and so all of the weight I lost plus a few pounds decided to reappear. The whole loving food, especially things that are not good for me, really causes a problem when it comes time to weigh in. I'll be taking measurements again tomorrow, haven't done them for a few months and will see where things stand/sag. ;)

Once Again...

2006-03-25T21:57:00.000-05:00

Here I am finally writing something.

Hmmm, what updates to provide...

Well, we now have 2 new kittens, okay they are almost 5 months old so I guess they aren't so new anymore, they are sisters and are named Cleo and Zuzu. Cleo is all black and Zuzu is grey and white. They will be going in to be fixed soon and we will see how much they love us after that.

I received an iPod for Christmas and I love it, I am still copying my cds onto iTunes so that my whole collection will be able to be carried around with me. I have the 60G latest and greatest and am very happy. I purchased for myself a docking station so that I can listen to my music at work without commericals, so awesome.

I am back at Weight Watchers, this time I am going back to the old format of going to meetings, so far so good, unfortunately my loss has not been as great as the last time I went to meetings, prior to getting married. I am just hoping that slow and steady will be successful. As well as WW I am getting some exercise in with The Biggest Loser Workout DVD and with Billy's Boot Camp. I really love Billy Blanks, he definitely provides a good workout. Inches are definitely being lost even if the number of pounds I would like are not.

I will also be participating in The Weekend To End Breast Cancer, so far I am walking on my own, my sister still needs to decide if she ready to make a go of it again, although the number of spaces is rapidly decreasing. I have decided to try and raise $5000 this year, so if you would like to make a donation I would greatly appreciate it.

Today Ken and I tried out Curling for the first time, the opportunity was provided by the NDI Social Committee, and it was a good time. My right knee is quite bruised and swollen but it's all good, I will live. After having a bit of a rough start, yes I fell but hey so did one of my teammates, things went okay with the exception of my hardly being able to get the rock in the house, I always had a little too much power. I did manage to get one rock in but it was knocked out by my own team, it's okay though we still got some points. I am looking forward to playing again. My team won 2 out of 3 games which I thought was pretty good since we had 2 newbies and 2 not quite newbies but it seemed to work for us. Cheers Karen & James!

We were suppose to go to Bhima's for dinner after curling, but there was pizza & beer so Bhima's will wait until next week.

Well, I think that's it for this quarterly report... no really, I will post more frequently. :)

Cheers!

Back to Blogging...

2005-11-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted... seems like most things I add here start something like this...

Only 27 more days until Christmas and I have almost finished my shopping, just a few things left to buy, hopefully I will get lucky and find some deals online. I find purchasing for Grandparents is one of the most difficult things to do since they have so much stuff to begin with and they don't really want any more "things/dust collectors". What does one buy for Grandma and Grandpa?

My office "Holiday" Party is this coming Saturday, it will be the first one for me at NDI and I am looking forward to spending some quality socializing time with my co-workers outside of the office.

The following weekend we have our Annual Open House, not certain if the turnout will be as large as in previous years but it's still great to see everyone who can make it out. That's the downfall of living in Waterloo when most of the friends and family live elsewhere.

The weekend after that we have Ken's office "Holiday" Party and then the 30th Birthday Party of my friend Channywee... we are all getting so old.

The next weekend is then Christmas... this year has certain zipped by, hence why I haven't spent much time publishing... oh, that and the fact that I would need to beat my hubby over the head with a stick in order to get any significant computer time. ;) Just kidding dear! :)

This Thursday I will be attending a Murder Mystery dinner so perhaps I will be back on Friday to give an update...

Well, off to get dinner on the stove... still waiting for a big lottery win so that I can hire that professional chef. :)

Life goes on...

2005-08-23T18:48:00.000-04:00

After much guilt and some sleepless nights, I think I have come to terms with the fact that Shadow is gone and it was something that was inevitable. Does accepting this make me miss him less, not at all... I have now opted not to come home at lunch, which I would do everyday... spend some time with Shadow and catch up with Days of Our Lives. My lunch hour now consists of me going for a walk around the industrial park where I work and then eating my lunch. The extra walking will come in handy for my walk weekend and will also, hopefully, help me get back on the wagon of weight loss. So wishing it were two years ago.

2005-08-19T22:01:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I have posted something. Unfortunately I have decided to come out of my hiatus with sad news.

Today, shortly after 6:30 pm, Ken and I said our final farewells to our boy, Shadow. We were in the room and tried to comfort him as he received his fatal injection. He had had a steady decline for the past 5 months, going from not using his litter box to walking in circles to not seeing, breaking our hearts the whole time. We tried as many different treatments as we could and 2 weeks ago the vet suggested that we had done all we could and unfortunately there was nothing else we could do. We had to decide whether or not to keep him alive, was it worth it for us to constantly clean up his messes and watch while he circled nonstop or else slept with this head against the wall trying to release the pressure on his head... was it fair for us to do this to him, his quality of life had decreased to the point where he would end up sleeping in his own puddles while we were at work, that is no way for any being to live.

We will miss the cat we adopted nearly two years ago, who was big on giving kisses and being affectionate, until he got sick, who loved to have baths and ride in the car. He also loved to bully dogs and take their food, poor little Ozzie.

Our boy who had no fear is in a better place now where he will no longer be given needles and fed pills or other medications. He can forever rest peacefully.

We did decide to do a private cremation and will receive his ashes back in the next week, I will place them next to the portrait I received of him for my birthday, which I display on my mantle.

Love you Shadow, miss you already boo.

Looking for Sponsors

2005-03-18T22:07:00.000-05:00

I am big on doing fundraisers and this has to be one of the largest I have taken on yet. I will be participating in The Weekend to End Breast Cancer the weekend of September 9-11, 2005. The weekend consists of a 60km walk along with Opening and Closing Ceremonies, which are suppose to be extremely emotional... I can believe it... I was bawling during the orientation session. I am hoping that my sister will join me on the journey, as it would be nice to have a tentmate that I know as well as being able to spend some "quality" time with my little sis.

I am required to raise at least $2000 to participate in the walk, otherwise I can help out as a volunteer...I need your help... you can sponsor me by clicking here.

Thanks!

(As of today I am at 17% of my goal... I would like to reach 100% by the beginning of June)

Weekend Report

2005-03-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

The first couple weeks of work have been okay. The people are super nice and I enjoy going into the office everyday so I guess I'll stay. :) I do enjoy going home at lunch and catching some Days of Our Lives... I am pretty sure I could watch it in the cafeteria as well but I spare my co-workers the agony.

Today I went to a 4th Birthday Party for little miss Madison, my friend Julie's oldest... there was just the right mix of adults and children, unfortunately I had to take off right after having a piece of cake, which was after a 2.5 hour visit--I didn't dine and dash, since I had promised to take my brother and one of his friends to see ThePacifier , it wasn't as bad as a Bennifer flick but I don't see any Oscars in the future. I wanted to go see Robots, I guess Ken and I will have to go see that one eventually, or rent it. During the previews we saw the trailer for Sahara and my brother said it's a movie we must see, so I guess we'll be making a trip out to see it when it eventually makes it out.

Tomorrow I have an orientation session for The Weekend to End Breast Cancer, I haven't registered yet since I wanted to hear what they had to say. I think this will be a solo mission since my sister didn't think she would be able to raise the required funds. The walk takes place September 9-11, so I would like to end it off by going to see U2 in Toronto the evening of the 11th, but I will just have to play that by ear.

A Must See...

2005-02-27T11:34:00.000-05:00

Rain - The World's Greatest Beatles Tribute... go now and buy tickets... you have to see this show.

We had a great time last night singing along, dancing, clapping and enjoying the atmosphere... these guys look and sound like the Beatles and they put on an amazing show that could easily go on for hours longer than it did. I will definitely go again, as will my father... he's looking forward to another show. Next time I might look closer to home since I found out there was a show in Kitchener and there was one in Hamilton, although the Saturday night made this particular show, along with the chance to get tickets before the public, more attractive.

We did dinner preshow at the Hard Rock Cafe... good food, just a little too loud for carrying on a conversation with everyone at a table of 6.

Our brief visit to Toronto reminded me of why I am glad I don't live there anymore... although it's okay to visit every now and then... next time I definitely have to go to Sushi Time, I miss that place more than anything. ;)

Back to Blue Jeans...

2005-02-16T17:33:00.000-05:00

I was given an offer today by NDI, which I am going to accept... I am so excited that I will be able to wear jeans to work again, it has been a long 2.5 years without. My start date will be February 28th, day after the Oscars...I'll be sad to leave Sara and Amanda but it's for the best, having a less than 10 minute drive to work without having to go near Hwy 7, Hwy 8 or the 401 is absolute heaven.

Call Back

2005-02-10T17:25:00.000-05:00

NDI called me today, so Tuesday I am going back for a second interview...with a test, ack! Hopefully things will go well... if not I also got a call to set up a phone interview with Capital Paving... so many opportunities. :)

Interesting Photo....

2005-02-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

For those interested in eye candy...a little something for everyone.

Orlando minus Kate equals...

2005-02-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

Happy women all over the world (because I'm sure some mere mortal has a chance)... I guess the same could be said for Brad minus Jennifer (ditto for this). (:

See Orlando here... he's so dreamy. ;)

Ken's Blog

2005-02-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

Check out the "Ramblings of a suburban computer programmer" at Within Our Ken, my husband's place to talk about tech stuff as well as other things... you can see the nifty workout equipment we bought... I'll get to it one day. :)

Another Interview

2005-02-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I will be going to NDI for a job interview for an entry level administrative position, Junior Sales Support is the job title. This company looks like it could be a cool place to work and the team that I could be a part of is small and self directed. The phone interview I had today went well enough to get me an interview spot tomorrow, now I just hope that goes well.

If I got the job I would be working just up the street from Ken which means we could commute to work together... anyone looking to buy a Buick Century ;)

Fingers crossed!

Got Work?

2005-01-28T22:31:00.000-05:00

Well, with respect to the job I mentioned in my previous post, I was given a call for a second interview but declined to go as I had also received a call from Open Text.

Open Text just happens to be minutes from our house verses the trip to Elmira, now it is just a matter of receiving a call for a second interview from them. I thought the initial interview went well, definitely better than the Monday 8am interview I had with Bend All Automotive, who actually posted the position again.

The temp agency I am registered with has also been giving me quite a few calls with opportunities and I hope that something permanent will come up soon, but I am just waiting in hopes of hearing from Open Text or winning the Super 7 draw, whichever comes first.

Third Time's a Charm?

2005-01-21T08:27:00.000-05:00

Last week I had job interviews on Monday and Friday, this week I had an interview yesterday. It seems that I may have finally found something... it is with a family run business in Elmira, home of the Maple Syrup Festival. It is an admin assistant type job and I will provide more details if I happen to get some good news. :)

Too Much TV

2005-01-12T09:30:00.000-05:00

I love TV...poor Ken... he at least gets some time to do some blogging while I destroy some brain cells.

Here's my schedule:

Monday

8:00:Fear Factor Couples or 7th Heaven (if ever both shows are new episodes the vcr goes to work, although I don't always watch the tapes)
9:00: Medium (this is a new show and I just started to watch it) or 24 (I don't know why they gave it this time slot, although I still haven't watched the tape of the 4 hour season premier... what was up with that)

Tuesday

8:00: The Biggest Loser
8:30: (this is taped when the The Biggest Loser is on) Degrassi: The Next Generation
9:00: The Amazing Race

Wednesday

8:00: Lost
9:00: The West Wing
10:00: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

Thursday

8:00: Survivor Palau
9:00: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
10:00: ER

Friday

8:00: Joan of Arcadia
9:00: Third Watch (I don't watch this every week and I don't tape it, I watched it faithfully when it was on Monday nights, not so much now... guess they were trying to kill it with such an terrible time slot)

Sunday

8:00 am: Coronation Street
7:00: 60 Minutes ( this is more of Ken's show... I don't have to watch it)
8:00: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00: Desperate Housewives

I do have a daytime show that I like to keep on top of and that's Days of Our Lives, I have watched this show since I was at least 11... I don't watch everyday, I listen to it during my lunch break on my car radio while I eat lunch, catching half the episode is about as good as watching the whole thing.

I have also been keeping tabs on Entertainment Tonight and The Insider lately since I am a sucker for Hollywood gossip, sorry Jen and Brad.

I admit I am attached to the couch from fall to spring but the summer is free and clear. (:

Another Day, Another Dollar

2005-01-05T17:01:00.000-05:00

I am currently working temporarily, doing data entry, for a company called Agline/TI (they don't have much of a web site) which happens to be located in Cambridge.

Today was about the worst commute I have had, worse than some of the days of riding the TTC or driving to Hamilton. I left the house at 7:30, I start work at 8:30 but I like to leave earlier than necessary because you just never know what traffic will be like...today it was like a nightmare. There was an accident on Hwy 8, the main artery to the 401, which is fine since I generally don't take that route to get to the 401 but due to the accident Hwy 8 was closed which meant every other alternate route was packed. I made the mistake of changing my course to try and find a better one and what ended up happening was I showed up at the office at 10:00 because the better route had me sitting in stop and go traffic for over 1.5 hours (it took me over an hour to go 1 km).

How much do I love being back at work... perhaps that question is best answered another day.

Welcome!

2005-01-03T01:38:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Ken has been the long time blogger in our family and he suggested that perhaps I start one of my own....tada, consider it done. I joked that this might be the only way we'll communicate with one another but I am sure that won't be the case... right dear?

I am hoping to post something every day or so. I hope you will check in often and leave comments, I always like hearing from people.

I hope the new year is going well for everyone thus far.

Cheers!

Mandy