Growing Up, Again

Last night I bought a washing machine and dryer. I don't think I ever fully outlined the 'laundry process' at Rrunuv Bayit - I mentioned it briefly early on, before Kristen and I made arrangements with people upstairs.

At Rrunuv Bayit, the other two apartments in the building each have a washer and dryer in the furnace room. It took a while, but after a couple of months we were able to arrange with the nice couple on the top floor to use theirs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There were some definite issues with this, not just that we only had two days to do laundry each week and that they were work days at that, but also that the way the wiring worked only one machine could be plugged in at the time (which means the people from the third apartment might be using their machines and we wouldn't be able to use the ones we had access to) and also the dryer is an 'apartment style' which means it has very little power and takes forever to dry things.

Anyway, the nice couple are moving out, which is sad because they were good neighbors. However, they offered to sell me their washer and dryer, so I bought them. Now I can do laundry any day of the week! Kristen was over and after scolding me for making such a big purchase when I have no money, she seemed impressed at my 'grown up' purchase. It wasn't that much money; I will definitely make it back when compared to using a landrymat. Using their machines thus far has more than saved me the amount they asked for. It did feel grown up - until I remembered I had bought a washing machine in a similar fashion before moving into Le Manoir, though that time it involved moving it too. So, I guess I am growing up - again.

Lovely Mushtashioed Men

It is almost the end of Movember and I wanted to remind everyone one last time to be sure to donate to this great cause! (Movember raises funds and awareness for prostate cancer, mental health, and other male health issues.) Jason has been participating, please see the picture on the right. These are my Mo Bros this year so please give generously on behalf of one of them or split your donation between them. Thank you so much!

2013 Mo Bros
- Jason Woods, my lovely boyfriend, Jason's MoSpace Page
- Drew Stewart, an Aussie friend of mine, Drew's MoSpace Page
- James Harris, long-time family friend, James' MoSpace Page

Really Sims? Really?

I got the following email today:

This is for the Sims Social which is played on Facebook. I don't like it as much as the real Sims so stopped playing a long time ago - now they are trying to pull at my heartstrings. (I didn't like it because it often suggested paying money and you had to wait to do a lot of things because other Facebook people would need to give you items.) However, my sim looks totally different than the one above so it isn't really working. Though it is making me want to play the normal PC version, which I have yet to load on my laptop.

Christmas Song Showdown

Every year, the WOTS office plays a game with Christmas songs - they listen to CHFI (an easy listening station in Toronto that plays exclusively Christmas songs around the holidays) and keep track of the number of times certain songs are played. If the song picked gets played the most over the duration of the season then that person is the winner; each empolyee has a dedicated song.

Last year was even more intense with a 'special work-out song' that when played the first person to jump up and start working out (lunges, squats, jumping jacks, etc.) got an extra point put on their song tally. Also the whole office would then work-out for the duration of that song. This year that isn't happening since the players are too scattered and some of us are in offices where jumping up randomly would not be as appropriate.

Other specific rules include a two person verification and a specific version of the song declared. Kristen, from her office downtown at her new job, and I are playing by proxy and just hoping that those in the WOTS office a properly keeping track.

Here are this year's songs:
Nicola - "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid
Cailin - "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms
Kristen - "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey
Me - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by Bruce Springteen

Happy Holidays!

I hope you have started to listen to Christmas songs too...

Dying The Hardest

Last night I went to play movie trivia. I recently because a member of The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and part of that is access to a monthly trivia night. I brought Teri, Kristen, and K to be part of my team and we tried our hand at an evening of Action Movie themed trivia - we sucked. In fact, we got last place. The best part was that the lowest score gets a prize so we each got a free beer. The name of our group was also fitting - Dying The Hardest

Great Fact Of The Day

78% of men would rather date a confident plus-size woman than an insecure supermodel.

This is from Glamour magazine's What Men Think About Women's Bodies article, which outlines the results of their survey of 1,000 men on the topic of what they find attractive. It then says, "Let that little nugget sink in for a minute - then allow over 1,000 men to remind you why they always want to leave the lights on."

Top 10 Books Read In The World

---- From Twitter, By Jared Fanning

The Top 10 Books Read In The World

As you know, I love visual representation of data, but for those in a rush I will break down what the above says. Also, this shows once again what a terrible English Major I am. Only read 5 of the 10!!

The numbers are based on the number of books printed and sold over the last 50 years. (Some titles may have had more titles printed, but then they didn't sell so it can be assumed those weren't read.)

- Read - The Holy Bible  (3,900,000,000, almost 4 billion!) In Grade 6, I got the little red version from The Shiners and in the front it outlined a breakdown as to how to read it in a year. I am very glad I took the time each night to read it and got through the whole thing. I don't remember much but it is an excellent base to have when reading anything else.

- Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mai Tse-Tung (820,000,000, also known as The Little Red Book)

- Read - Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (400,000,000)

- Partially/Barely Read - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (103,000,000)

- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (65,000,000) I want to read this, planning on putting it on my Xmas list

- Read - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (57,000,000)

- The Twilight Saga Stephenie Meyer (43,000,000)

- Read - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (33,000,000)

- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (30,000,000) I have never even heard of this one

- The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank (27,000,000) Keep meaning to read this, putting it on my Xmas list too

How many have you read?

Bright Eyed And Bushy Tailed

----- Text from Jason

"When I was walking back from Tim Horton's, I saw a squirrel with a massive scone. I hope your day is as least as good as that squirrel's."