Productive

What a week...and it's only Wednesday. I feel really good about this week, I feel like I have gotten (is that a word?) so much accomplished.
Not only do I feel productive at work and actually getting some old issues resolved, I've also been productive on the home front.
Since Monday, I have done my taxes (we'll not go into that because for the first time in my life I OWE money and it's quite a large sum...must be the whole switching jobs and transferring RRSP's and s%^*) caught up on some paperwork including filling out forms to start more rrsp's so I don't have to pay in taxes next year. I have finished ALL my laundry, since last week was a complete write off AND packed away all my winter clothes and took out all my summer clothes (well whatever was remaining that didn't go to Cuba with me)
Mind you, I still have a tonne of things to do around the house, spring cleaning, finish painting the main floor, and general odds and ends that never go away but overall I feel good about my progress this week.
Tonight is our last night of volleyball for the season :( and if we win tonight we get a prize for the year! If we lose, then that's it, we're just finished without anything to "show" for it. Only our memories.....lol.
Tomorrow night Kristen's ball hockey season begins with the Inglewood Ball Hockey League not sure if I'm going to tomorrow night's game because Ugly Betty & Grey's Anatomy are new episodes. Now that I think about it...probably not ;)
And there goes my momentum of my productive week since it'll tv night...oh well, I still feel good about what has been accomplished. Maybe this weekend I'll pick up where I'm leaving off. See how that goes?!?!

Happy Sunny Thursday

Today...is a good day. The sun is shining, it's going up to 15 degrees, you can tell spring is in the air and it's going to be a great weekend...what more could you ask for?
I love all seasons, I really do, I appreciate the change. But I have to admit I am pretty biased when it comes to summer cause I LOVE the hot weather. And as much as I miss home, good 'ol Nfld, I love that Ontario has such hot summers and that the warm weather starts MUCH earlier than Nfld. It's one of the "pro's" of living here and one thing I would REALLY miss if I ever did move back to the Rock.
And to top off the summer mood, Kristen is going to smoke some ribs for me tomorrow night. He is such a good bbq cook, he really does make great ribs, they take at least a couple hours of slow cooking on the bbq and when they're finished the meat falls off the bone...mmmmm. When we were grocery shopping Monday night I noticed the ribs on sale and I was like "Kristen if we get ribs will you smoke them for me?" He said "sure"...and totally made my day. I'm really not much for "pork" per se but boy do I love ribs :)
So tonight is tv night, and I still can't figure out if Ugly Betty & Grey's Anatomy are new episodes or not, the way they described tonights shows on their websites makes me think it's a re-run but on the other hand could totally be a new episode. Either way I'll be watching regardless.
What else...oh I've been reading Memoirs of Geisha and so far it's a great book. Kristen keeps reminding me how big of a nerd I am, but oh well...I love to read and I have come to terms with being a nerd. It's all good.
And back to the cooking/bbq thing...remember how I used to post recipes once a week? A looonnnggg time ago?....well for this summer I think I'll try to post a recipe once a week and include pictures of the concoctions...most of these will hopefully be Kristen's great grilling recipes but we'll see how that pans out.
Stay tuned and Bon appetite!

We're back from Cuba

What a trip! We stayed in Varadero, at the same resort and had a completely different trip than last year. We were much busier, actually had rain, met lots of people, and just enjoyed being on vacation!! We've already started our 2008 Vacation Fund :)
On the plane to Varadero...woo-hoo!

Saturday: spent the first night taking pics around the resort, this is my fav of Kristen and I...and it's a palm tree not an elephant trunk..yes, I was asked that :)

Sunday: Went to Varadero Market, Kristen bought a Humidor (a wooden box usually made out of cedar used to preserve cigars from drying out) I bought a silver ring and a wooden face artsy fartsy type wall thing.

Monday: Relaxed on the beach and went to the Italian a la Carte for Dinner. This is Kristen by the palm trees outside the villas where are next to the a la carte. That night we also went to the International Disco...lots of fun.

Tuesday: Rented the Mo-Ped's with another couple that we met at the resort. Here's Kristen gassing up and then we headed over to Al Capone's mansion. The whole side of the river has houses that used to by owned by him.

Kristen also spent a LOT of time snorkelling

Wednesday: We got the storm :( No beach time but still didn't ruin our vacation it was actually pretty neat to see how quickly the storm came on and how strong the winds were. Kristen was still in the water when the sky was that black. Not to mention lightning in the background....that boy!

Thursday: Jeep Safari....which was AMAZING!! We started out driving the jeeps through the backroads of Cuba, going through some small villages where the kids would run out to the road and we would give them candy. Then we went to a coral reef to snorkel (those pics are on our water camera and not scanned yet) then to a cave where we swam. Then on to a ranch for lunch, then we drove through Mantanza City and then on to another ranch to horse back ride (Kristen and I just watched everyone else ride the horses since they're so thin there) then on to a boat ride which is on a river which looks like you're in the Amazon and then you finish the river on Seadoos' and then back in the Jeeps to off road again back to the resort. Soooo much fun! We left around 9am got back to the resort at 7pm and were in bed by 9pm...we were exhausted.

This was our group! We were awesome...lol. Rest of the groups were grumpy and would try to avoid the puddles and bumps...I thought that was the whole purpose of a "safari"

Kristen at the cave

Me at the Ranch where we ate, that's a train track in the background.

Then at the Ranch where we watched people horseback ride. The cowboy with the horses is my FAVOURITE Cuba picture!

Friday: Rented the Mo-Peds again, Kristen bought his cigars, then we spent the day on the beach just relaxing and trying to get a bit of colour since it rained on Thursday as well while we were riding the seadoo's.

And Friday night we drove into town on the mo-peds to a bar called Calle 62 which is also the street name. A local band starts singing and before you know it all the local cubans are on the street dancing. Then a there's a fire show, I have that on video..I'll try to post that later which is great! And before you know it the WHOLE street are tourists and locals just dancing away.

Very early Saturday morning we were up and back at the airport to fly home. The week went way too fast but we had a GREAT time!

In True Facebook Lingo

Christa is sorry she didn't blog all week.
Christa is glad today is the last day of the work week.
Christa is SO EXCITED about going to Varadero, Cuba in 2 sleeps!
Christa has officially spent all of her birthday money :(
Christa got really good deals with her birthday money :)
Christa didn't go on Facebook yesterday because she had volleyball and is suffering withdrawl.
Christa wonders why Facebook talks in "3rd Person"
Christa wants to say again how excited she is that she's going to Cuba!
Christa wishes all her friends were going with her :(
Christa is sad that Ugly Betty & Grey's Anatomy are re-runs tonight.
Christa wishes her Aunt Bernice a Happy Birthday tomorrow.
Christa cut her finger on Kristen's bbq yesterday & it hurts to type.
Christa is aggravating herself because she's using this lingo.
Christa is wondering if you're aggravated by her using this lingo?
Christa wishes you all a very Happy Easter!!