Our Afternoon Excitement.

You know what's weird?! When your apartment begins to smell like smoke and you have no idea why. You proceed to do a check. Did I leave the oven on? Nope. Did I forget to blow out a candle in living room? Nope. Is someone smoking in the hallway? Nope. Are any of the apartment windows open? Nope. Is a nearby building on fire? Don't think so. Maybe I should go on the balcony and look around. Oh - LOOK! It's not ANOTHER building on fire. IT IS OURS (or at least a WEE part of it)!

For some bizarre reason, there was a small fire happening on the balcony below ours. I immediately tried to call our neighbour. No answer. Tried again. No answer. Tried calling Phil. Nothing. Ran and knocked on the neighbour's door. Nothing. Panicked for five minutes about how to proceed. AH HA - I decided to rally up the Huffho's! Thank goodness I did. Ian had the brilliant idea of pouring water on it to extinguish the flames (hmmm....isn't that the FIRST rule about small fires? I conveniently forgot this small lesson in the midst of the chaos). THANK GOODNESS for those RELIABLE HUFFHO'S!!!!

Ian to the rescue!!!

Phewwf! Thank goodness for neighbours who say "NEVER SAY NEVER to being a hero"!!!

P.S. The neighbour is supposed to be on his way home now. The flames are gone but there is still a lot of smoldering going on and it's making our apartment smell like it's own bonfire! I might as well throw on a hoodie, get out the marshmallows and sing some campfire songs. CHRISTMAS campfire songs that is! BAHA.

Something to Organize?! YES, PLEASE!!!

So the man that DID NOT want to go into school today is STILL THERE and LOVING IT. He sure does change his tune when he happens upon an organizational project! Phil has been at school for five hours so far - organizing the elementary P.E. storage room. When I was ready to go, I stopped by the gym to pick him up and saw that the entire storage room was taking over the gymnasium! I knew at that minute that I was going home solo. "I want to stay longer, hun," he said with a big grin on his face!!! Haha.

He's so cute.

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley Opening CMA 2011

While we don't have the joy of watching the full show over here, we sure do thank YouTube for posting the best bits and pieces for our viewing pleasure!

What excellent hosts! Check out their opening act!

HUGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lindsay: Ugh....I have such bad stomach pains.

Phil: You know what will solve that? A HUG!!!

Lindsay: (mid-hug) You're right!!! But I like to call it the Christmas spirit!!!

Phil: WHAT?! (laughs) No one was talking about Christmas, Lindsay. We were talking about stomach pains.

Lindsay: Yes....but stomach pains are cured by hugs which are part of the Christmas spirit....

Phil: (rolls eyes and smacks his forehead)

Lindsay: (smiles)

Holiday Snail Mail.

This morning we went on a mission to find Christmas cards for y'all. Well, GREAT NEWS! We are happy to report that Christmas cards (of 4 different varieties!) were SECURED and this afternoon I will be writing warm wishes to all of you!!! Please remember to email me or Phillip with your mailing address if you have moved OR if you are one of those rare few that has YET to send it to us in the first place! We want all of our friends and family to receive some holiday LOVE :)

P.S. Any wishing, hoping, and praying you can do regarding a successful postal delivery would be appreciated ;)

(Identity) Theft Schmeft.

Phil and I have two old laptops that have been collecting dust on a shelf for over a year now. Neither computer works, it's just that we didn't exactly know how to dispose of them. Especially since "identity theft" is such a big deal these days.

Well, during our big clean yesterday, we decided to get rid of these laptops once and for all! How, you ask? Well, this is how my paranoid hubby decided to handle this matter:

1) Throw away cords.
2) Throw away batteries (the only part you can remove without a screwdriver).
3) Get out toolbox and attempt to unscrew other pieces of laptop. Fail. No screwdriver was small enough.
4) Get out an assortment of small knives to use in place of screwdrivers. Success!
5) Not-so-carefully unscrew the different compartments on the bottom of each laptop.
6) Get out hammer and take out life's frustrations on removed compartments.
7) Consider throwing each individual compartment in various dumpsters outside. Too much work. Instead, throw out pieces into different garbage bags INSIDE.
8) Laugh at the ridiculous measures taken to protect our (desirable???) identities. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Let's hope there's no criminal out there bored enough to find all of the pieces, repair the hammer damage, reassemble the laptops and then find information that could make THEM the new US!!!!

On visiting a doctor elsewhere....

COOL: Being called in to see the doctor 35 minutes BEFORE your appointment. We love NOT waiting.

NOT SO COOL: Paying up front and crossing your fingers that you get reimbursed.

COOL: Getting to keep your X-rays.

NOT SO COOL: Reminding the X-ray technician that you need some sort of barrier to protect your "other parts".

COOL: Entering an office that is very homey and decorative.

NOT SO COOL: Being told to return to your OWN home to pick up a health card that you actually DO NOT NEED.

COOL: Family doctors that have office hours until 11 p.m. (Not that we would ever schedule an appointment THAT late at night!)

NOT SO COOL: Having to return to the clinic on the weekend to retrieve your results.

Skype Date!

Tonight we had the pleasure of speaking with my brother Graeme for almost an HOUR on Skype!!! It was so exciting to SEE him and do a virtual tour of his apartment in India. It was also nice to see him without that dreadful beard he sported all summer long! He looks YOUNG and HAPPY and WONDERFUL :)

Ah - and now we get to make hot chocolate (with mini marshmallows!) and enjoy a beautifully decorated Christmas tree :) The only thing that could possibly make this night any better is......CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!!!

It's "DECK THE HALLS" DAY!!!

(A.K.A. Be-REALLY-nice-to-Phil Day so that he will let me put up Christmas decorations on November 8th).

Appropriate for Work?

Please say yes! They are so sporty/cute :)