Blog Off!

Well for those of you who know Yvonne and regularly visit her blog...you know what this post is about...for those of you who are totally confused already...let me begin.

I am partaking in a Blog Off through out the month of July. This is in aid of raising funds for Breast Cancer. Courtney who is a friend of a friend of a friend...(confused yet?) is doing the 3 day walk for Breast Cancer in Seattle (I think...). The idea is that a large number of people (at least 20 of us this time) are given a random word on a Tuesday and we need to get our creative juices flowing and post on that word by midnight on the following Thursday. This is just a short one. 4 weeks, no eliminations unless you fail to get your post up in time. Everyone votes for their top favorite three and the one with the most votes at the end of the 4 weeks wins the pot (which is half of our entry fee's as the other half goes towards Courtney's fund raising).

Very cool! I read a lot of the posts (more and more towards the end) of the last blog off that Yvonne partook in and I loved it. It was very cool to see how different people think about just one word. Some of the words were Golden, Kiss, Regrets and even Shampoo! Stay posted and I will have links to all the other bloggers on my link bar on the right hand side so feel free to visit them and read what they have to say.

If you are feeling very generous please donate this weeks beer money to this great cause by clicking on the banner below!

Moose!

Last Saturday Smiley and I went to the Dog Rescue Kennels in the next village to get a dog. We've wanted a dog for a while but kept putting it off because of where we lived and the fact we want to move back to Canada at some point and we didn't want to have to put a pet into quarantine...we were always going to wait. But things just kept happening...so figured it must be a sign for us to get a dog.

We had our house and yard inspected on the Friday to ensure that it would be acceptable for a dog...which it was. We got permission from our Landlord to get a dog as well which is great...as we are still renting. There were a couple of pictures on the mutts-in-distress site and we thought we would have a look at Joost and Pickle. Joost (moose) was the first dog we saw and he was so calm...and cute! A lot of the other dogs were loud (barking) and were jumping up at the gate. Pickle was the last dog we saw...she was a very boisterous and young female but cute as well, but she would have been harder to train and take care of and I know she would have jumped on every last person she would have seen. I hate it when dogs jump at me...so wouldn't ever want to put anyone else through it with my dog.

So we fell in love with Moose and took him home that day. He was so good I couldn't believe our luck! Poor thing was ill though but we did have people over for a bbq and he got into the sausages and who knows what else he was being fed...too much excitement!

We've now had him for a week and he's so lovely and I adore him so much. He is still so very well behaved, hardly barks, only when he's scared or wants us to pay him more attention that we are but we're trying to curb this and he knows he shouldn't bark.

His history is quite sad. He was a stray in Ireland. Apparently in Ireland they put dogs down very quickly, with in a week I believe and sooner if they aren't well. Joost (Moose) was rescued from the pound. He had a sore on his leg and an abscess in his bum and he was rescued the day he was meant to be put down. He had the snip and the abscess sorted out in Ireland and had all his jabs and was then shipped over to England to the good people at mutts-in-distress. He had been at the kennel for about a month before we adopted him. It just makes me so sad that this dog could have been put down as he is so loving and adorable.

Someone loved him at some point this is obvious. He has been well trained, comes to his name, even though we've changed it only a week ago. He does have a terrible scar down the side of his leg. It looks like a burn and his fur will never grow back there.

I couldn't have wished for a better behaved, more loving dog!

New Name

I just want to quickly thank everyone for your suggestions for the name of my blog...ok...not really as there were no suggestions. After many attempts Smiley finally came up with this one which is much better than "Tastes like Fried Chicken..." which is what i came up with...why...I have no idea!

For those of you who require some explination...Evette...Evettie Spaghetti...Spaghetti, Sketti...Can you see the Evolution here? Spaghetti Junction...forget it...It's my...er..."our" blog and we like the name!

Moooo!

This morning I was watching the news while having my coffee (was away for work so had coffee in my hotel room rather than green tea at home). But whatever...on the news was this short piece...very short that I thought I had imagined it. Have a look! Poor cow, just wanted a swim!

http://keyetv.com/watercooler/local_story_164161545.html

Bahston

Ok…here is the promised post. First I want to apologize that it has taken me 2 weeks to get this posted. It seems that from the minute I’ve got back I’ve been so very busy with both work and Band duties.

My good friend Yvonne lives in Boston, but she hasn’t always. When I was 14 we became best friends and stayed that way till I moved to Victoria in 1994. Over the years we seemed to have lost touch, as most people do at that age. In February we got in contact again and she kept me sane while I was stuck at home recovering from my sinus surgery as she was online in the afternoons (that would be the benefit of a 5 hour time difference!)

The beginning of May Smiley and I decided that we were going to Boston for the May bank holiday to see Yvonne and Chris. The flights were expensive but it didn’t matter we were going. At least the accommodation was cheap, we were staying with Yvonne and Chris.

Now I was nervous. I was worried that this was going to be one of those reunion where you meet up with an old friend and once you’ve reminisced over the past you no longer have anything else to say as you’ve both grown in different directions and no longer have anything in common but the past. But I was willing to risk it. Yvonne was the best friend that I ever had and if we could manage to be good friends again, it was worth a try!

Now 12 years is a long time to go without seeing someone and needless to say we’ve both changed, but I believe for the better.

(Yvonne and I - Edmonton Temple - September 1993)

(Yvonne and I - Boston Gardens - 2007)

I love to walk when we go away. I find I see so much more when we walk and it sort of counter balances all the extra food I eat on holiday as well! I felt really bad as I dragged Yvonne and Chris all over Boston.

We arrived late on the Friday much to Yvonne and Chris’s Dismay…as they were starving! We went and had dinner and went back to the flat and chatted and went to bed…we were too tired to make much sense or be good company.

On Saturday we got a good early start and got to the T station (that would be the subway) and into the centre of Boston for 10:00. We booked tickets to go on the duck tour which was great fun. Yvonne and Chris had never done it before and glad that they did. This Duck tour started at the museum and took us all through town and showed us all sorts of sights including the Hancock tower and Mother goose! We then went into the water! So cool! And saw Boston from the river. It was very amusing as we got to “Quack” at pedestrians on the street!
Here is a picture of us in front of our Duck boat thingy!

(Another Duckboat that we passed in the water)

We went to Harvard after that and had a wander round and I have a t-shirt…so does that mean I can say “I went to Harvard” ?

(Statue of John Harvard)

We headed back to the flat as friends were coming round for a bbq. But Chris had put seed on the lawn so we had to sit on the driveway. Was great as you could see what the neighbours were up to…which wasn’t very much. Chris made us some fabulous steak…which I could really do with right now…as I’m starving and they were SO good! Jeremy and Kristin were good fun and played along with our game even though they had no idea why they needed to put their thumb on their forehead except for the fact that if they didn’t the last one would get a slap!

I’ve decided that I don’t like the taxi service in Boston. We called 3 different companies a number of times and they all kept saying a car was on the way and it would be there in 5 minutes. An hour and a half later we walked up to the main street and flagged one down for them…turns out it was a completely different company!

Yvonne and I sat and talked after everyone had gone to bed like a couple of white trash wives drinking our bottles of beer on the driveway till 1:30 in the morning. We talked about the past, the present and the future. Our hopes and dreams and it was like we hadn’t been apart for the past 12 years.

Another early start on Sunday as we were out of the house and on our way to Martha’s Vineyard. This isn’t a Vineyard, it’s an island…in fact a lot of the island is “dry” meaning no alcohol is served anywhere. We took the bus down to one town (one that did serve alcohol!) and had lunch. Being totally unprepared none of us brought a jumper with us and with the wind from the sea it was a bit nippy…so we all bought jumpers from Martha’s Vineyard and looked like a load of tourists! Good thing we were! We went on to the next town and decided to go and look for the lighthouse. Too bad the map we were using wasn’t to scale. We walked for miles just looking for this lighthouse. And it was all up hill! We kept walking on the same road hoping it would take us to a bus stop or the next town. But it was too far…and Yvonne and Smiley had already tried to take a nap. So we flagged down a taxi and went back to the ferry terminal.

(Smiley and Yvonne taking a nap)

(A Beautiful Sunset shot taken at Martha's Vineyard)

It was a lovely day but we were all so tired from all the walking and fresh sea air. We got back into town so late that nothing was open…so Chris fired up the bbq again and we had burgers for dinner…was so nice! (except for the mouldy buns…ew!)

Monday we slept in…then went to IHOP for breaky…and didn’t get into town till around 2:30 or so. We hit up both Cheers bars and did part of the Freedom Trail. We managed to get to the British Beer Company JUST in time for dinner…and I mean just. The kitchen closed at 10 and we walked through the door at 9:55! But we got our fish and chips. We had a late night as we didn’t get home till around midnight and then had to pack as we needed to get up early to catch our flight at 9 back to Heathrow.

We had a lovely time and it didn’t matter what we saw in Boston…as we weren’t going to see the City (although Smiley will tell you that we went to see the Cheers Bar). We went to see Yvonne and meet Chris.

I had a great time and was so happy to see my friend again! It’s been two weeks since our weekend away and both Yvonne and I have been so busy! So busy in fact that neither of us have posted about this weekend till now. We’ve not talked much since we’ve got back and I’m worried that she doesn’t like me anymore…I'm hoping that these are just silly and insecure fears!

It is great to be back in touch with old friends…but something I don’t want to do…is lose touch again…just because I’m too busy!

Yvonne, we had a lovely time, don’t think for a second we didn’t. I’m very glad I got to see you again and can’t wait to see you again!

(Yvonne has been a doll and has posted all of our pictures HERE! Have a look!)

On the side of the road...

In response to my previous post I was sent this picture. Totally gruesome...but very funny! Thanks Mr. Anonymous!

Missing: 1 brown mens shoe

Ok...so I've been driving to Bracknell quite a bit lately...and I've noticed on the westbound M4 there is a shoe...just one...on the shoulder of the inside lane. It's a nice shoe as well...but how do you lose 1 shoe? And on the motorway of all places...

I know I've not posted about Boston yet...and I will...I've just been busy...but I had to post about the shoe as it perplexes me!

Say What????

Well for those of you who have been keeping up with my life...you will know that recently I've not been feeling well. I came down with a cold 3 weeks ago and 2 and a half weeks ago I got a blocked ear. I've been to the doctors twice about it and once to the walk in clinic...and it's still blocked.

The frustrating thing is that I can't hear anything...well, I can, it's just muffled and I can hear what I say louder than what other people say...and no...that's not because I talk so loud.

Tonight I went to band rehearsal, the first time I've played in 3 weeks. It was horrible! I'm not the best player to start with but tonight it was shocking! I couldn't hear what note I was playing and I could hear the vibrations from my instrument in my ear louder than the music.

We have a function on Saturday and I won't be playing if I still can't hear. Fortunately a new guy came to rehearsal tonight and hopefully he'll take my spot so we won't be short.

It is an eerie (no pun intended) feeling not being able to hear properly!