The Rundown: Six Month Crystal Ball

I just got back from taking Cool Hand for a big long walk around the back nine of the golf course down the hill from us. I know... me... walking... about 3 kilometres... I know!

Anyway...

Walking those holes got me looking forward to Spring, breaking out the sticks and playing several unsuccessful rounds of Whack Fuck at this beautiful course.

Thinking about golfing got me thinking about other things I'm looking forward to in the next six months, so I thought I'd run them down for your reading enjoyment here today.

Top Five Things I'm Looking Forward to in the Next Six Months

(Note: New Record for Longest Title to a Rundown! Congratulations!)

5. Ski Season
Not so much for my attempts to learn how to snowboard and the concussions that are sure to follow and not solely for the increased traffic at the restaurant, though that will be nice too. Mostly, I'm looking forward to living out here at a destination for our friends and family to come and visit. We've already got a couple people in line for a little visit in the new year some time and the reservations list is open for anyone else who is interested.

4. The Continued Growth of The Love of Sports
I'm really pumped about this to be totally honest. I truly believe that in the next six months, this site is going to take off in a way that I know I didn't expect when I came on board six months ago. Everything is going really well over there and I know there are bigger and better things planned for the future, so I'm thinking in the next six, you might know this site for more reasons that just my mentioning it here.

3. Golfing Trickle Creek (and every other course I can play)
Just walking this course today gave me some chills and not because it's cold out. The view from the 10th tee is the most incredible view I have seen maybe ever. It's that incredible. Once I find the camera I'll grab a picture to prove it to you. Some of the holes are still green as can be and look like you could play them tomorrow if you wanted. I may stink at golf but it's still gonna be fun.

2. Our Solo Week in Samana
Yes we'll have to do some planning and organizing in preparation of the week that follows, but for the most part, it's just going to be me and Sarah doing things we want to do (read: sleeping in, lounging by the pool, getting a little tipsy) and figuring out what activities we'll have to do with the fam once they arrive.

1. Wedding Day
We passed the five month mark just a couple days ago and seeing as I'm still new at Kelsey's, I end up talking about it fairly regularly. One of the most FAQ is "Are you excited?" Just so everyone knows, if you ask this question, you deserve to be slapped because of course I'm excited! It'll be the best day of my life, hands down and it's less than five months away...

Continue reading ...

10 Things I Learned This Week

1. You Can Call Me a Liar If You Like...

But you'd be dead wrong because I ain't smoked since our plane touched down here in BC. Not one dart, not even for my birthday or anything. In fact, I've even turned down smokes while at work this week. Yeah, I'm patting myself on the back again...

2. Slow Doesn't Quite Cover It

I'm pretty sure that we would be okay at work with just one person, that's how quiet things are up this way right now. I'm on days and days are generally quiet this time of year, but having four people on shift to cover four tables over the "Lunch Rush" is pretty silly. That being said, I rocked two hours solo today and finally made a little money.

3. I'm Not The Same Spencer

It's funny how many people imagine that I'm the same alcoholic retard they knew during university even though that was a long time ago now. Lots of people expected me to be going out and getting blackout drunk, even though I know exactly three people in this town.

4. Johnny Domestic is Coming

Slowly but surely, my alter ego Johnny Domestic is starting to make his mark out here. Vacuuming, dishes, laundry, dog-walking - I do it all. And let us not forget cooking because that's actually where I'm at my best. Two years from now, Johnny Domestic will have taken over...

5. Zack & Miri

Rolled into Cranbrook last night to catch Kevin Smith's latest and were not disappointed. Without spoiling anything, I'll say there were a bunch of laughs and Craig Robinson needs to be in more movies because he was awesome. So was Tisha Campbell-Martin who used to be Gina on Martin back in the day. Weirdest part of the flick - Jason Mewes. Dude looks so different now that he's off the junk. That and he's pretty close to naked for most of the movie, so that there's that too.

6. Two Days Until History is Made

On Tuesday night, the course of history will forever be changed and I am so excited about it. Barring something insane happening, Barack Obama will win the US Presidential Election and we'll witness the first black President of the United States. Expect something later on in the week about this and why I think it is so important to us as a people and a culture, regardless of where we live.

7. Stuff is Expensive

It's easy to plan and budget for big things, the items you know for sure you're going to need. That part is simple. What you never think about is all those stupid little things that you take for granted because they've just been around forever. That stuff adds up. We've spent more money on little things like that in the last two weeks than we have on furniture, entertainment and dining out combined. Stupid can opener and cheese grater...

8. Two, Maybe Three Days Tops

If everything goes according to Hoyle, the landlord will have all his things out of here by Wednesday night at the latest. That means all the boxes that are piled up in front of the window will get unpacked, the new desk (my new desk) will get assembled and my computer - my precious, precious computer - will be back up and running before the weekend. As much as we're going to look super ghetto for the next little while - what with one futon and a foam mattress on the floor being our only furniture - at least it will all be ours and we can start building.

9. Welcome Back Basketball!

Nice to see the NBA back in business and even nicer to see the Raptors out to a 3-0 start thus far. Chris Bosh is playing like a man possessed out of the gate and I truly believe that a healthy Jermaine O'Neal makes the Raps a legit contender in the East.

10. Withdraw Symptoms

I don't know what I'm going to do. There isn't a Chapters even remotely close to us. There's Starbucks and I wasted a great deal of time there on Monday waiting for Sarah to finish work, but it's no where near the same. The only bookstore I've seen so far is a tiny little Coles in "The Mall" which is better described as a shopping center. Malls have lots of stores that you want to buy things in; the biggest store in this "mall" is Zellers.

Continue reading ...

The Adventures of Johnny Domestic

From the time Sarah and I first started talking about settling down together, we've talked about me staying home and being a House Husband.

No, that doesn't mean I'll be sitting on the couch all afternoon watching baseball games and Oprah; it means I'll be working from home - I have the office design already in mind - taking care of Gizmo (if we get him) and the kids (when we have some), making dinner, doing laundry, etc.

Basically, I will be Johnny Domestic.

Today is a practice day for that future life in a way.

Sarah is currently on nights, which means her day is spent sawing logs, leaving me with copious amounts of time on my hands to get shit done. Sadly, I only crawled out of bed at 11 this morning, so I got a bit of a late start. But we're cooking with gas now!

Laundry is ready to roll - both whites and darks, as well as the delicates that don't go in the dryer. Yes, I know what stuff doesn't go in the dryer. It goes on the drying rack.

The house is fairly tidy and now it's time to tackle dinner.

Lemme tell you - this is going to be one bad-ass dinner!

We picked up some Sashimi Grade Ahi Tuna Steaks the other day - they look a lot like the pepper-crusted delicious steaks above - and tonight is the night we feast on them. But plain old Tuna Steaks would be boring.

We're doing Ahi Tuna Burgers.

Well, slabs really, because mincing and mashing tuna like this would be a sin. Instead, it'll get split in two, dipped into some light soy and laid on the barbecue. Since the tuna is the star of the show, I'll going with really thin, fresh buns and a wasabi mayo with fresh avocado and cucumbers.

Then, once Sarah leaves for work, I'll do the dishes, flip the laundry, take out the trash, do a little writing and watch some sports.

This is a day in the life of Johnny Domestic...

Continue reading ...