One scream-fest to another

Taking pictures of butterflies is a fun way to get out of house-work or getting an oil change.

Just got back from holidays. The Senators didn’t win the Stanley Cup but I’d like to be the one millionth person to say THANK YOU to the team for so much excitement. I had to take holidays just to recover from all the screaming and the shouting. Maybe I shouldn’t scream and shout quite that much.

My week off was quite un-eventful. At the cottage, I weeded gardens, went for a few boat rides, chased a deer away from the road, shooed a snapping turtle away from the road, basically spent a lot of time keeping things off the road. That was about it. Oh yeah, and I got hit by lightning. Well, sort of. I was standing in the kitchen, wiping excess pina colada off the kitchen counter, with an electrical storm brewing nearby. Suddenly I heard a huge C-R-A-C-K. Then I realized that the ‘cr-r-a-c-k’ noise was actually coming from my body. This made me scream at the top of my lungs. My scream was then followed by a giant thundercrack, the house shook, and my husband ran into the room. He knew something was wrong because normally I scream AFTER a thundercrack. This time I screamed BEFORE the thundercrack. As it turned out, I had been a conducter for an electrical surge caused by lightning. I had no idea this could happen while you’re in your cottage wiping pina colada off the counter. For the next 15 minutes, I was a bit zombie-like but that was about it. I’m still waiting for some sort of super-power to kick in. I would love to be able to start the barbeque with my eyes.

THE PARTY MUST CONTINUE!!!!

NEVER GIVE UP!!!
Ok….so the Senators are down 3 games to 1. Its not impossible! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Today is Mike Fisher’s birthday. Wonder what gifts he’s going to get. Thank you to the listeners who called to suggest that Mike gets a Stanley Cup. Pretty good idea!

I had a theory about national anthem singers. I always thought that the best anthem singers were the people who were classically trained, ie opera singers. Pop singers always seem to destroy the anthem because they ‘try to make it their own’. Put their own little twist on it. Well, I was wrong! I thought Alanis Morrissette’s versions of both the American and Canadian anthems last night were the best yet! She genuinely seemed happy to be back in her hometown, belting out the words for all the world to see. Well, all of North America. Well, ok, how about all of Canada. And 30 of 40 American viewers.

Speaking of which, how much more ‘sucking up to NBC’ can we possibly do during the NHL play-offs? Having our games switched to Saturday AFTERNOONS to accommodate NBC was one thing….but I couldn’t believe it last night when CBC actually SWITCHED OVER to the NBC coverage of between-period chatter…yeah sure, Don Cherry was a guest on NBC but I like Don Cherry on CBC, not on NBC. I find he’s far too polite on NBC, he’s out of his element, he even wears clothes that match on NBC. He doesn’t pop a vein on NBC. That’s not the Don Cherry we all know and love.

Hey, are there really other things going on besides the Stanley Cup play-offs? Huge congratulations to everyone who worked tirelessly over the weekend – AND raised tons of cash during the CHEO telethon , as well as the ‘Weekend to End Breast Cancer’. These two events really put things into perspective, don’t they?

Our ‘Morning After’ correspondent Rick Currie has been doing a great job covering the various rallies and parties and ‘Red Zone’ rambunctious-ness (is that a word?) over the past few weeks during the play-offs. But, soon it will all be over, and we need to find some new assignments for Rick and his microphone. If you have any suggestions, email us mornings@939bobfm.com
For the most part, Rick has been interviewing people that have been drinking heavily. We hope that he is still capable of making out what a sober person is saying.

Tomorrow morning, the swans are being released onto the Rideau River! Yes, the ‘royal swans’ have been penned up for two years now, not seeing freedom last summer because someone decided there was the danger of avian flu or something like that……..
A word of advice, from someone who has had this experience. When I was a kid I used to ride my bike to Billings Bridge and bring a bag of bread with me to feed the swans right near the bridge. It always started off great, first the ducks would come for their pieces of bread, then the swans would show up. Then, before long, all heck would break loose. The experience would often end with me being chased across the lawn by an angry swan. Do not ever show favouritism towards one swan, give every swan equal amounts of bread, or you too will end up being chased across the lawn by a really mad swan. Just a word of advice. But those swans sure are beautiful.

Ouch!! We lose game 2 in Anaheim, series is now at 2 - 0 for the Ducks.
Just wait til they get to Ottawa!

Ok. Second period is over. Still no score. Ray Emery should get the Order of Canada for the way he's playing.

Mike Fisher enjoys a quick stop to the Anaheim Aquarium

First period is over. Phew!!! No score. The highlight of the period had to be, when Mike Fisher went without a helmet for a while.

Game 2 pre game show

As I write this, game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals is less than ½ hour away. I am wearing a ‘Be Red’ shirt. The Ottawa Senators lost the first game to the Anaheim Ducks. I have tried to block out the statistic that everyone keeps repeating: the team that wins the first game in the Stanley Cup finals goes on to win the Cup 84 percent of the time. To that I say…..PPPHHHTTTTT!!!!!
Why did our beloved Senators lose the first game? Was it the 9 day lay-off? The jet lag? Maybe its because Spartacat wasn’t in the building. Maybe its because the pairing of Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger and Don Cherry caused asteroids to collide, which in turn affected the molecular properties of the inside of the Honda Arena in Anaheim.
Or, maybe its just because the Ducks played better.
Nawwww……
The game’s coming up. Its already a really good sign of things to come: at least CBC is sparing us another sparring match between Ron McLean and Gary Bettman. See you after the first period.

Dany Heatley Doesn't Have extra tickets either

Some nights are just better than other nights. Ran into Dany Heatley at the Sterling Steakhouse by the Gatineau River last night. I blabbered on for a bit then he agreed to pose for a photo. He has a great sense of humour. He was also very relaxed, heading into the biggest hockey series of his life. Oh well, I’m still desperately trying to get my hands on Stanley Cup tickets like everyone else. Dany didn’t have any with him. Darn!!

Will Work For Senators Stanley Cup Final Tickets

Mike Fisher enjoys a well-deserved break in the garden

YAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAHOO!!!!!!!
WOO HOO!!!!!!!
Can you believe it? We are in the Stanley Cup finals! Just one more team to beat!!
I’m still in shock. I was born in Ottawa, and have lived in Ottawa my entire life. I consider myself one of those long-suffering Ottawa sports fans, you know the ones….the people who cheered and applauded and bought tickets and sat in the rain or sat in the bleachers, whether it was an Ottawa Rough Rider game where the score was 49 to 2 for the ‘other guys’, or whether it was a Renegades game, with some inane Gleiberman marketing debacle taking place in the upper level, or whether it was our beloved Senators, with so much promise heading into the play-offs, and somehow it was just not to be……….UNTIL NOW!!!!!
Now!!!!! Now its just a matter of getting tickets. This will be the hardest ticket in town. Of course, BOB FM will have a pair of tickets to give away for the first Stanley Cup Final home game. So good luck, and good dialing. I have to figure something else out. I have a few ideas up my sleeve. Can’t give them out, or someone might steal ‘em. Let’s just say it may or may not involve my jars and jars of spare change, and a couple of people who may or may not remember me from high school.

Phew! Close call! IF there was a Senators game this coming Saturday, there could’ve been quite a scene on Elgin Street. Its fantastic that Elgin Street has been deemed ‘Sens Mile’, and fans sure showed up in droves after our historic win last weekend. Well, this weekend is ‘National Capital Race Weekend’. And the 10K race is Saturday. The route for the 10K? Elgin Street! Sens Mile party vs runners in the 10K. I know it wouldn’t take much for me to tear off my racing bib and plunk myself down on a patio with all the other revelers. But I’d still finish the race. Just a little later.

This is a busy weekend coming up….its also the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Canadian Guide Dogs. Sunday morning, it’s the Guide Dogs Walk at Andrew Haydon Park by the Ottawa River. It’s the only day of the year that dogs are allowed at Andrew Haydon Park so bring your four legged friends and raise some funds for a special cause. For more information, go to www.guidedogs.ca

Calling all Elvis’!!! Elvis-es? El-vie? Whatever the plural of Elvis is…..Elvis Presley Enterprises is searching for the BEST ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTIST in the world!!! And the contest is making a stop right here, one of only 2 places in Canada…July 6th at the Casino du Lac Leamy in Gatineau! If you can curl your lip and snarl ‘thank you very much’, then shake everything you got, why not enter this contest!!! You may find yourself at Graceland! For complete details, check www.UltimateElvisTributeContest.com!

There's only one Buffalo

(above left) JR and Sandy and Stanley the Buffalo

(above right and yes, left , too

Rick Currie and Stanley

We found the country’s biggest Ottawa Senator fan, and he’s a BUFFALO!! What are the odds of that? Stanley the Buffalo (ok, his real name is ‘Dakota’, but we changed it for the series)!! Stanley the Buffalo is a rescued buffalo who now lives at the Big Sky Animal Sanctuary in Kemptville. (www.bigskyranch.ca)

As you can see from these pictures, he just loves the Ottawa Senators. He has completely turned his back on the Buffalo Sabres. Smart buffalo. JR and I along with morning show correspondent Rick Currie went out and visited Stanley recently, and he’s pretty pumped about the way the Ottawa Senators are playing. We let Rick interview Stanley, as he is the only one of us who speaks buffalo.
We are currently getting Rick ready to interview either a ‘duck’ or a ‘red wing’.

Talk is now turning to the Stanley Cup in Ottawa. As I write this, we have yet to clinch ‘round 3’ , but the energy is incredible in the city. I have lived in the Ottawa area my entire life and I join other true-born Ottawans when I say…….whats the best way to celebrate? We don’t really know. We have never had anything to celebrate….well, nothing of this magnitude anyway. Do we march up and down the street? Shout from our cars? Run amok? Scream things out of windows? Drop water balloons from roof-tops? Ride a horse into a hotel lobby?

If you were at the last Senators home game on Monday night, did you happen to see the giant red sasquatch…er, I mean, ‘Sens-quatch’? This guy was too funny. About 7 feet tall, red from head to toe, incredibly hairy. I heard that his costume earned him some seats behind the players’ bench. Unless of course, it wasn’t a costume.

The May Long Weekend is coming up!!! Yahoo! Do they still call it the May 2-4 weekend? Seems fitting to call it that. Time to open up the cottage, get out the camping gear, do some gardening. Maybe put in a brand new lawn because grubs ate your last lawn.

I have three apple trees to plant. I bought these really cool ‘4-in-one’ trees. Each tree will bear four different kinds of apples. I figure once my three apple trees are mature, I will get a crop of about 1000 apples each fall. And my husband hates apples. I’m the only one who eats them. If I have ever met you even just once six years ago, you will get a bag of apples from me.

But, I digress. Back to the Ottawa Senators!!!! GO SENS GO! Bye bye Buffalo. Ain’t it great to be Canadian?!!

Tail-gaters have more fun

There’s a new phenomenon that I’ve noticed during this particular Stanley Cup play-offs. Well, its not quite a phenomenon. I know two people that are doing it. They are both huge Ottawa Senators fans who absolutely refuse to watch the Sens play-off games, because they are TOO NERVOUS!! John Brenner, our morning news guy, is one of them. John loves the Ottawa Senators but he can’t watch the games right now. Too nerve-wracking. Doesn’t feel a sense of relief until the game is over, and he finds out the score, and he finds out that we won. Then he looks forward to the next game that he won’t watch.
At least he doesn’t buy a ticket to a game then wander around the concourse at Scotiabank Place until he hears some wild cheering. I hope for the Senators’ sake, that during the Buffalo series, John doesn’t watch the best game he never watched.

The Senators are having their third car rally on Saturday, and its going to be great! All cars gather at Lynx Stadium then form a convoy out to Scotiabank Place. Prizes for best decorated car!! Does this mean, once all the cars reach Scotiabank Place, that a ‘tail-gate party’ may break out?! If you’ve ever been to a concert or a sporting event in a place like New Jersey or Detroit or (gulp) Buffalo, tail-gate parties are HUGE! People have coolers filled with beer, barbeques, burgers! I’ve seen tail-gate parties where people even set up hot tubs and trampolines and giant sheds and they have refrigerators hooked up to generators. Its crazy!!! Here in Ottawa, a tailgate party consists of 2 guys, 2 lawn chairs, and 2 foam beer holders. We know we can beat Buffalo at the game of hockey, but we can’t beat their tail-gate parties. But I’d rather beat them at hockey.

Paris Hilton is going to jail! Another crazy National Enquirer headline!! Ha ha ha good one. Wait a minute……she really ‘is’ going to jail? Didn’t uber-rich people always used to get away with stuff? What’s the world coming to? I hear that Paris is not allowed to have her blackberry while she’s in jail. Isn’t that punishment enough? Right now, her ‘people’ are trying to have Governor Schwarzenegger grant Paris a pardon, so she won’t have to spend one precious moment in jail. If all that fails, they have a call in to the Pope.

This week, JR and I debuted our latest song, a duet called ‘Emery and Stanley’. Of course its about Ray Emery and the Stanley Cup, and we sang it to the tune of ‘Ebony and Ivory’. Within minutes of the song debuting on BOB FM , our phone lines lit up. We thank you so much for your passionate response! Everyone feels quite strongly that we should not be allowed to sing anymore. Even my Mother told me that JR and I should never sing. My own Mother.
That hurt. Whatever happened to ‘believe in your dreams, and they will come true’? My dreams include singing. Just not in a key that actually exists.

‘Dancing with the Stars’ is coming to Scotiabank Place on July 10th. Joey Fatone, Drew Lachey and the gang will be here. Its incredible how popular this show is! I’ve watched ‘Dancing with the Stars’ a few times….I really liked seeing ‘Cliff Claven’ from Cheers (John Ratzenburger) on the show. But he got voted off. Maybe he’d still be on the show if they matched him up with ‘Norm’.


Its blackfly season already! At the cottage so far, I’ve swallowed about five blackflys. They are quite flavourless, really. Except for the hint of Deep Woods Off. Always remember, wear dark clothing, use mosquito coils, make sure you eliminate any source of standing water for breeding mosquitoes, use candles, electronic buzzers, and of course, just stay inside.

The TSN Monkey likes us! He really likes us!!

This is a picture of a crab I took in Barbados. No real story behind it, I just really like the picture.

The boys in ‘The Police’ are back together again and you could win a trip to see them in either Montreal or Toronto! ‘BOB GET ME THE POLICE’ is the phrase you need to know, and you want to keep your radio on 939 BOB FM, as always!
I’ve been reading a lot of buzz about the Police, who are feverishly rehearsing for their upcoming tour in Vancouver. Word is they’ve never sounded better! But, as we know, all good things in life are created from conflict. Apparently Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland have comfortably returned to their age-old habit of fighting constantly. As legend has it, while on tour many many years ago, Stewart Copeland painted the words ‘Sting is An Idiot’ on one of his drums. He strategically placed the drum so that Sting couldn’t see it while on stage, but the entire audience could read the message. Don’t you just love rock ‘n roll?

What’s going on with the Tulip Festival? It starts next week, but this year there are NO bands! NO concerts! NO live music! Its really a shame….but the Tulip Festival has had back luck with weather on concert nights. Its hard to have a concert series be financially successful when your showcase acts are on stage in driving rain, thunder, lightning, high winds, and bone-chilling cold. So, we can’t exactly blame Tulip Festival organizers for pulling the plug on live shows.
But how have they replaced the concerts? With ‘spoken word’ gatherings. So instead of seeing Randy Bachman or 54-40 or The Trews perform, there will be speakers on-stage ‘talking’ about the bands. And what it would be like if they played. Oh well, at least its free.

I ran my first 10K this week. I finally got this running thing all figured out. When I start to run, I’m in instant pain. Then after about five minutes the pain goes away. Then, pain again. Then no pain. Pain again. Then no pain. So the trick is to just keep going through the pain, because eventually it goes away, and before you know it, 78 minutes has gone by, and you’ve just accomplished your first 10K.
Well, it took me 78 minutes. But I didn’t have the wind at my back.

So, Don Cherry has picked the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim for the Stanley Cup Finals. That’s good! And the TSN monkey has picked Ottawa to take this series over New Jersey. Also good! I was also surprised to see the story in the Ottawa Sun this week, pointing out that each and every city of Ottawa councillor says that the Senators are going to win this series! Yahoo!!! Our City of Ottawa councillors are predicting that the Sens’ will be victorious! That makes me feel much better about our chances.

Go Sens Go! I got a pair of tickets for Wednesday’s game, bought them on-line and boy, are they ever high up in the stands! I think we’re sitting about 2 rows from the last row in the place. You know you’re up there when the Scotiabank Place organist is lower than you are. But I’m not complaining, I can’t wait to get to the game, nice and early so we can enjoy all the fun that’s outside the arena before-hand. See you there! I’ll be the one wearing red!

Don't Forget Your Lucky Underwear

Here in Ottawa we have been ‘in our glory’ the past few days. It’s a proven fact that Canadians love two topics. One, is the weather. The second, is hockey. So it was pretty exciting that right smack dab in the middle of our first play-off series between the Penguins and our beloved Senators, we also got one heck of a spring snow storm. Its not unusual to get the odd snow-flake in April, but we were on the receiving end of a good old fashioned snow storm yesterday, 17 cm!!!! Enough to cancel school buses and send workers back to bed. Of course, the ‘work from home’ people were completely unaffected.

I have a couple of friends who work from home. I can see why it would be great to work from home: no need to battle rush hour traffic, you can stay in your teddy bear pyjamas, get a bit of work done, grab a free coffee anytime you want, have your dog lie at your feet, check in on Days of Our Lives, get some work done, go to the super-box and get your mail, make a salad, do a bit more work, write captions under last summer’s vacation pictures, stare out the window, surf E-bay, walk the dog, do some more work, pressure wash the walk-way and maybe even the house, call it a day, have a glass of wine. I think that must be what its like working from home. Let me know if I’m wrong.

I’m starting to seriously think about staying away from Ottawa Senators home games during the play-offs. I love play-off hockey. I love the Senators. I love going to Ottawa Senators play-off games. But every time I go to a game at Scotiabank Place, they lose. If I’m not at Scotiabank Place, they win. Am I prepared to stay away, for the good of the team? Should I be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice….no live action Sens play-off hockey for me, unless I watch it on tv or listen to the radio? Hmmmm……let me think about that…….hmmm….not a chance. Besides, how do I know its not the guy in section 101 row 29 who forgot to wear his lucky underwear to the game? How do I know its not THAT GUY that caused the Sens to lose?

I have an official ‘food’ of the Ottawa Senators play-off run. Its spicy jerk chicken on a bun with mango salsa. It has absolutely nothing to do with hockey. I just really like it. Its healthy, too. Last year, the official play-off food in our house was chicken wings. 2 pounds a game. By the time the hockey season was over, neither me or my husband could fit into our shorts.

Next week, April 22nd to 28th, is ‘Organ Donation Awareness Week’. On Thursday April 26th at 6 pm, the A-Channel is hosting an event in conjunction with the Kidney Foundation. There will be an auction of t-shirts, each painted to promote the ‘Living Green Ribbon Campaign’. The Living Green Ribbon is the symbol for organ donation. Everyone is invited to the party, come on out – and please….if you can….please bid on our t-shirt. Yes, ‘the Morning After’ painted a t-shirt for the cause. The artwork is not good, not good at all. But it’s the thought that counts. For more information, www.kidneyfoundation.ca

Rocky Balboa Rocks!!!

Happy Easter! May there be many chocolate bunnies to consume today. I was at a shop the other day that was selling all kinds of traditional Easter treats, including chocolate Bart Simpsons and chocolate Homers. They were right next to the chocolate Nascar race cars. Now..’that’s’ Easter!

There’s a staff NHL play-off pool taking place tomorrow evening. I work with a lot of people who take their sports knowledge and love of hockey statistics quite seriously. These are the kind of guys who can watch a hockey game and size up the drama with a doozy of a statistic. For instance….did you know that if the Penguins are down by one goal in the second period, and the Senators Chris Neil has already had 3 fights, and Sidney Crosby has broken 2 hockey sticks with his slapshot, and the referee got a puck in the ankle just before the buzzer, that 77 percent of the games where this happens, the first goal of the third period is scored by Ottawa within 43 seconds.
I work with guys who talk like that.
It might be kinda fun to enter a play-off pool, where my player choices are based on their hair.

I’m not sure why I didn’t race out to see the movie ‘Rocky Balboa’ when it was in theatres last fall. Considering the fact that the original ‘Rocky’ is still my favourite movie of all time, I should’ve gone to see this one. But I didn’t, and I guess it was because I was too scared to see it. After the original ‘Rocky’, all the other Rocky movies just seemed to be attempts at ‘cashing in’. They were ridiculous. And each new Rocky movie just seemed to chip away at the integrity of the original. But, when I saw the DVD ‘Rocky Balboa’ staring back at me at the video store yesterday, I grabbed it. My husband and I watched it from the comfort of our couch….I could turn it off at any time should it start to be inane like Rocky 2, 3, 4, and 5. Well, I didn’t turn it off. I loved every minute of it. Sylvester Stallone completely re-captured the decency of his beloved Rocky character. Rocky as an aging fighter was pure grit and passion. If you haven’t seen ‘Rocky Balboa’ yet, possibly for the same reasons that I took so long to see it, do yourself a favour and rent it. You’ll love it. And keep Kleenex handy.

Genesis fans are already a-buzz about the big show coming to Scotiabank Place on September 15th. Tickets go on sale in a week but we will be giving a pair a day away all this week on ‘the Morning After’. Genesis has not graced a stage in Ottawa since their Abacab tour in December 1981. Were you there? I’d love to read a review of the ’81 show. This September’s Genesis show should be one of the biggest concerts of the year in Ottawa. But once you have your tickets, try not to think about it too much, because the show is in the FALL, and no one wants to wish summer away. Not everyone will agree with this last statement, but some people will. I hope.

The Word 'Gullible' is not in the Dictionary

The Juno Awards are coming up on Sunday, this year they are taking place in Saskatoon! I’ll bet Saskatoon is going to be hopping all weekend. This is the Canadian Music Industry’s biggest deal, and it’s a ton of fun to partake in some of the events if you’re lucky enough to be in the host city. When the Junos were in Ottawa a few years back, every bar in the Byward Market was booked by a record company. I walked from bar to bar with some friends (one bar actually let us IN) ..but since I didn’t have invitations I just waited til someone famous would walk out. I saw…hmm…lets see…Shania Twain, Jim Cuddy, Raine Maide and Chantal Kreviazuk, Chad Kroeger from Nickelback, and Sam Roberts. All of them going from one party to another. I tried to sneak into one party behind Chad Kroeger because he’s quite tall, but it didn’t work.

One of my biggest cringe-worthy moments also stems from the Juno Awards in Ottawa. At the last minute, I got a ticket to go to the show, and my seat was exactly in the last row on the floor (about 60 rows back). Tom Cochrane was being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and he was giving quite a heart-felt speech. It was a spectacular speech, in fact. Unfortunately, I had to use the ladies room so I quickly squeezed down my row of spectators, then stood at the back of the arena wondering how to get out to the nearest bathroom. I then noticed that Tom Cochrane’s speech was no longer being delivered with as much conviction. To my horror, I realized that I was standing in front of a teleprompter, which Tom Cochrane was reading. My body was completely blocking the words to Tom Cochrane’s once-in-a-lifetime speech. I got out of the way as fast as I could. And Tom picked up where he left off. It was a night I’ll never forget. I love the Juno Awards.

Approximately $100,000 dollars was raised at the Humane Society Fur Ball last Saturday!!! Thank you to the organizing committee, the sponsors, and of course the Fur Ball attendees, who definitely opened their wallets for the animals. Honorary chair Laureen Harper looked stunning in a gorgeous black gown. Its one of the only fundraisers in Ottawa where everyone seems to have dog or cat hair on their elegant clothes.

Uh oh….this Sunday is April Fools Day. It’s a scary day of the year for me, as I seem to be fooled by someone or something 365 days of the year, and it is quite easy to trick me. I tend to believe everything I read, as well as everything I hear, and everything I see. So, I feel that I should be exempt from being a victim on April Fools Day, because I am such an easy target. As my friend, councilor Rob Jellett used to say, ‘hey Sandy, did you know the word ‘gullible’ is NOT in the dictionary’………

Glad to hear that ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ , with Don Cherry and Ron MacLean, has been re-newed for six more years. How could they ever cancel Hockey Night in Canada? It would never happen. Although I must say that since I got a high-def television, Don Cherry’s suits are becoming even harder to look at. A friend of mine had a touch of the flu last weekend, and when she saw Don Cherry’s suit, she had to flee the room. Funny how a ‘Don Cherry’ fashion line has never taken off. Not for the faint of heart.

All Weather Televisions

And just one more sign of spring…..’The Spring Home and Garden Show’, Lansdowne Park! This year the ‘Dock Dogs’ will be at the show, check out the Dock Dogs at www.dockdogs.com. These are dogs that jump off docks, into water, and they travel everywhere to compete against each other for the biggest jump. This Saturday, I will be in a jump-off against the Dock Dogs. I’m up for the challenge. I think I’m more worried about being in a bathing suit in public.
After I jump in the pool, I’m going to go up to the nearest person and shake all the water off right onto their clothes.

I love the Home and Garden Show. I’ve been working on my flower garden for about 9 years now, making every mistake I can possibly make. At the Home and Garden show, the most amazing gardens are put together just for the show, indoors, complete with ponds, gazebos, water fountains, etc. These gardens are in place for just 4 days. I wish I could have a helicopter air-lift one of these gardens and transplant it at my place.

The big trend right now is ‘outdoor living rooms’. Blurring the lines between ‘indoors’ and ‘outdoors’. The idea is that our ‘outdoor room’ has furniture, art pieces, an outdoor fireplace, etc. The only difference with the ‘outdoor room’ is that there is the possibility of having bird poop on the couch. And I wonder how long it will be before they come up with a weather-proof giant screen plasma tv.

The ‘Terminator’ is coming to town! Arnold Schwarzennegger will be here at the end of May to talk about the environment, gas emissions, etc. I hear that he no longer drives a Hummer. With the possibility of extra tariffs on gas-guzzling vehicles, it looks like ‘Hummers’ are becoming one of the targets of the environmental movement.
My beef with a ‘Hummer’ is that it takes up three parking spots.

My Mom passed along something she saw on the Martha Stewart show. It sounds like fun, think I’ll try it. For Easter, you take a dozen eggs and wrap each egg with the outer shell from a red onion, using a twist tie to keep the onion on the egg. Then you drop the red-onion-covered-egg into boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Let cool, take the onion off, and ‘shazam’! You have purple eggs! Then hide the purple eggs all over the house. Since these are real eggs, you may want to make sure you and the kids FIND all the purple eggs. Otherwise you may need

Pucker Up! Time to Kiss the Blarney Stone

Go to Barbados! Then once you’re in Barbados, go to Berts Bar!!! It is the absolute perfect combination for a Canadian! Escape winter, head to the sun and sand of Barbados, then, while in your t-shirts and shorts, with your face a wee bit sunburnt, go to Berts Bar by the ocean and watch the OTTAWA SENATORS kick the Toronto Maple Leafs’ collective butts! I highly recommend this vacation, as I just got back from doing that. Along with Sens army Captain Ryan Guthrie, his brother Murray, and a great group of people that gathered with Sens owner Eugene Melnyk and Bert himself, what a blast!!!!

Next to watching the Senators via satellite, one of my favourite excursions was the ‘Cool Runnings’ catamaran, loaded up with excitable party animals INCLUDING Spartacat himself! There’s something to be said for this visual: Spartacat clutching the steering wheel of a huge catamaran charting a course down the Barbados coast-line, his red hair flowing in the wind, a majestic Ottawa Senators flag flapping above him. That cat is the ultimate chick magnet.

I’ve had three animals on my ‘must see in their natural environment’ list. One is the wolf (yet to see), the humpback whale (yet to see) and the other was the ‘sea turtle’. Well, not only did we see sea turtles, we swam with sea turtles, and we even touched their backs gently, which they seemed to enjoy. Or maybe I just imagined them enjoying that. Come to think of it, their shells are as hard as a rock so petting a turtle was probably a useless exercise. To the turtle. For me, it was the thrill of the year. Now I just have to pet a wolf and a humpback whale.

Sitting at the Barbados airport waiting for our flight home, someone pointed out that Jean Beliveau was sitting in the airport lounge with his wife. The great Jean Beliveau himself! That was cool. Over the P.A, his name was announced to board the plane first, and when he stood up everyone burst into applause. A lesson to be learned here: if you work hard and become a highly regarded hockey player spanning an incredible career, you get to be the first on a plane.

St Pattys Day is on a Saturday this year!! That’s a wonderful thing…for the most part. But having St Pattys Day fall on a Saturday does mean that we will miss out on one thing: the people leaving their workplaces to head to a pub for a St Pattys Day lunch….a sea of career suits and skirts and dress blouses and shirts and heels….the intention is to have ‘one pint of Guinness’ then head back to the office….hah! By around 4 pm the shoes are off, the jackets are piled high on hooks, and the accountant is wearing a flashing neon ‘kiss me I’m Irish’ button. Happy St Pattys Day, and remember, before you kiss the Blarney Stone, find out where its been.

I’ve become absolutely hooked on a TV show that is no longer running. I used to watch ‘Arrested Development’ on occasion , before it was cancelled by the network. I think it was on FOX TV. Anyway, its now in syndication on CBC every day at 4:30 pm and I drop everything to watch it, because it is the funniest, most creative, most well written and acted show of all time. (or is that ‘most BEST written’?) I laugh out loud from beginning to end, on the couch, all by myself, unless you count my card-board cut-out of Mike Fisher. He loves Arrested Development too.

My name is Sandy and I'm a Costco-A-holic

Chicks rule, boys drool! That’s the first time I’ve ever used that saying. But somehow it seems to fit for this season’s ‘American Idol’. The women are amazing! The guys…not as amazing. This season there are going to be huge ‘celebrity guests’ on American Idol, which I find kinda amusing. You can be sure that Jennifer Lopez wouldn’t have touched American Idol with a ten foot pole on the first few seasons – but now that 37 million people are watching every week – she’s somehow signed on to the show. Every time they announce the ‘upcoming celebrity guests’ for American Idol, I get nervous. I’d shudder to think that one of my favourite musicians has signed on to the American Idol monster. So far, there are no signs of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, U2, Neil Young, Jet, The Killers,
Ryan Adams, David Bowie or Chrissie Hynde appearing on American Idol. Phew!!!!

There was a story in the paper last week about Mayor Larry O’Brien bringing his dog to work every day. The story was somewhat negative, focusing on the fact that the Mayor’s driver was walking the dog a few times a day, and his salary is of course paid by Ottawa taxpayers. The driver said he walked Mayor O’Brien’s dog in his off-time, and he did it because he wanted to, not because he was expected to. So where’s the problem? I have always thought we should have a ‘Bring Your Dog to Work Day’, throughout the city!! Studies have shown that having your dog by your side while you work gives you a certain contentment, thus you are more productive. Plus, with a dog by your side, people are more likely to chat with you, making the workplace a more congenial atmosphere. What do you think? ‘Bring Your Dog To Work Day’! I think we’d have the Mayor’s blessing on this one. It would be fantastic! Everyone could bring their dog to work….with the possible exception of people who work in a cat daycare.

Congratulations to Ryan Guthrie, who was crowned the ‘Sens Army Captain’, and has won a trip to Barbados! Finalists Sean Urich and Beth Evans have also been awarded trips to Barbados, to enjoy the Sens – Leafs match-up from Berts Bar. Sens owner Eugene Melnyk surprised everyone with a trip! Good guy, that Mr Melnyk.
I met Eugene Melnyk and Bert Innis (from Berts Bar, Barbados) last week and they are what you call ‘salt of the earth’ people! Between periods of the Sens – Carolina game, Eugene and I talked horses. We have quite a bit in common when it comes to horses. Eugene owns 550 horses, and I have pictures of other people’s horses that I’ve taken from the side of the road.

I went to Costco the other day. I don’t have a membership but I went in on the coat-tails of my Mom’s membership. I needed to go to Costco because it’s the only place that sells these certain doggie treats that my dogs are crazy about. I promised myself that I would buy ONLY the dog treats, and nothing else. I would not get caught in the vortex of crazed spending that often occurs when you go to Costco. I did pretty well, I think. I bought 3 bags of dog treats. And a seven piece patio set.

Least Favourite Past-time: Shopping for a Bathing Suit

March 24, 2007: mark it on your calendar! It’s the Humane Society’s ‘Fur Ball’ ! This year it takes place at the beautiful National Gallery and the 4-course meal Is being prepared by chefs from the Prime Minister’s residence, the NAC, the Governor General, and more. It’s a fabulous evening with a ‘Mardi Gras’ theme, so bring your masks! There will be very unique auction items available, including a flight in a vintage de Havilland Beaver! For ticket information, see www.ottawahumane.ca!

Gotta get my car washed. Right now there is 3 inches of salt covering every inch of my car. I couldn’t even find my car in the grocery store parking lot the other day. It was completely camouflaged. My friend bragged to me that she got her car washed, hot wax, the works. It took exactly one drive to work for her car to look as dirty as it was before. Maybe I’ll just stick to what I’ve been doing……when I’m at the gas pump, I grab the windshield sponge-y thing and wipe down the car as fast as I can. Its temporary, but I saved $13.00 on a hot wax.

The Oscars are on tonight! I’m so glad that Ellen de Generes is hosting. I think she’s amazing. She always seems to be the same, naturally funny and nice, no matter who she’s interviewing, whether it’s a woman who has the world’s largest collection of Gumpy and Pokey memorabilia, or whether she’s talking to Barbra Streisand. Speaking of the Oscars, again another year goes by where I did not get out and see all the ‘best picture’ nominees. Actually, this year is my worst record yet. I’ve only seen ‘The Departed’ and ‘Babel’. Mostly because they both came out on DVD. I also saw ‘Borat’ but for some reason it was not nominated for best picture.

I’m very much looking forward to the Ottawa Senators game Wednesday night, February 28th, as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes. At that game, the winner is determined for the ‘Hockey Night in Barbados’ Contest! Three semi-finalists will show off their Sens Army Captain videos during intermissions. The winner will be crowned ‘Sens Army Captain’, and will enjoy a trip to Barbados – complete with bragging rights at BERTS BAR in Barbados to watch the Sens take on the Toronto Maple Laffs! The panel of judges for the contest Wednesday night will be Sens owner Eugene Melnyk, Bert Iniss of Berts Bar, and yours truly! I’ve never met Eugene Melnyk before but I hear he is fun and down-to-earth. Anyone who wears a Senators shirt with palm trees all over it has to be fun.

For any woman who is going on a trip down south this winter…I’m sure you can sympathize. Is there anything worse than shopping for a bathing suit? Bathing suit shopping is horrible. There is no bathing suit on the face of the earth for me. One piece, two piece, three piece. Do they make a bathing suit that looks like jeans and a sweatshirt?

Hot Tub People are Different

The concept behind ‘Pal-entines Day’ swept the city! Ok, well….maybe it swept 5 or 6 people. But everything has to start somewhere. In case you don’t know (which at this point is 99.9 percent of the population), Palentines Day appears on February 13th, day before that ‘other day’. Giving someone a ‘Palentines Day’ card means ‘hey, glad we are pals’. There is no pressure of romance or anything. You can give a Palentines Day card to anyone, even your best friend’s wife or husband! For those of us who didn’t get that many cards in grade 4 on that ‘other day’ that rhymes with Palentines….THIS DAY IS FOR YOU!!!!

My husband and I and another couple spent last weekend at Mont Tremblant. This was the result of a decision that we needed to make: buy some RRSP’s, or go skiing at Mont Tremblant. We chose the hill. Buying RRSP’s just isn’t as much fun! The accommodations were beautiful! There was an outdoor hot tub!!! All we had to do was put on our bathing suits and our Sorel winter boots, and walk about 4 minutes through the snow in –34 C temperatures, a bit chilly in your swimwear, but the pay-off was going to be amazing! When we arrived at the hot tub gate, it was of course, locked, to keep the riff raff out. But we had our room key which we confidently swiped to open the gate. Uh oh, the key didn’t work! The hot tub was filled with people that collectively looked the ‘other way’, ignoring our pleas for help! We weren’t going to give up! Help us, please! There’s a problem with our key! We are wearing bathing suits and boots and its –34C, -45 with the windchill! That’s when I noticed the looks on the hot tubs people’s faces. ‘WE’ were the ‘riff raff’! This hot tub was not for US! It was only for the people from room numbers 701 to 730! We were in room 690! The ‘700 block’ people would rather let us freeze to death than let us in the hot tub. We had no choice but to give up. There was a lesson to be learned here. Stay in school, graduate at the top of your class, make the right financial decisions, buy investments, buy RRSP’s! Then you can go into the hot tub!


I’ve shaved 3 minutes off my running time! I can now run 1.2 km in 15 minutes, according to my microwave timer. Two weeks ago the same distance took me 18 minutes. National Capital Race Weekend, here I come!!!



One of our listeners, Michael Milsom, challenged me to go skating on the canal during Winterlude. (I haven’t skated on the canal since I was a teenager!) He offered to donate $50.00 to BARK (Bytown Association of Rescued Kanines) www.bark-ottawa.com) …if I strapped on my skates and went for a whirl on the canal. The idea actually gripped me with fear. Its been so long since I skated, PLUS, I could never really skate anyway! But, having $50.00 go to one of my favourite charities was too much to pass up. So, Michael, fire off that cheque to BARK! I skated for 15 minutes on the canal yesterday, fell three times, and nearly took an eye out . Someone else’s eye. An out-of-towner, thank goodness, so I’ll never have to see him again.
I hope.

Its a bird! Its a plane! Its David Lee Roth!

Wow, there have been some weird match-ups in Hollywood lately. Scarlett Johannsen and Justin Timberlake. Matthew Perry and Meg Ryan. Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy. Heather Locklear and David Spade. For some reason, these all strike me as odd couples. Not ‘easy to see why they’re together’ couples like Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock…oh wait, bad example…Alanis Morrissette and Ryan Reynolds…oops, they’re finished too….Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe…they didn’t work out either. Come to think of it, just when we start getting used to seeing a celebrity couple together, boom! Its OVER! I wonder what Valentines Day is like in Hollywood. I’m holding out for some romantic news from the celebrity set. Keeping my fingers crossed that Tom Green and Drew Barrymore get back together.

Kudos to the Ottawa City Councillors who participated in the ‘Toque Tuesday’ challenge, hitting the streets to sell as many ‘Raising the Roof’ toques as possible. And thank you to Mayor O’Brien for buying the first toque, and his is definitely a head that needs a toque. For the month of February, these toques can be bought (just 10.00 each) at all Home Depot stores, downtown Starbucks and The Body Shop. All proceeds go to ‘Cornerstone’ womens shelter here in Ottawa.

I’ve taken up jogging. So far, I’ve set out to run 1.2 miles a day. I set the timer on the microwave then I run out the door and down the street until I reach the neighbourhood Super Mailboxes, then I turn around and run back. According to the odometer in my car, this is a distance of 1.2 miles. My running time for 1.2 miles is currently somewhere between 18 minutes and 16 minutes. My goal is to get it down to 14 minutes. Then I will be ready for National Capital Race Weekend.

Van Halen is getting back together! The Eagles are putting out a new album in the next couple of months. Genesis is going on tour. The Police are opening the Grammy Awards show. Don’t you just love what’s happening? I do!! I can’t wait to see these acts on the road. This could be another one of those years where my monthly Visa card bill looks like this:
Clothing: 0.00 Restaurants 0.00 Car Rental 0.00
Hotels 0.00 Tickets/Events $845.00. Oh well. Good thing I can get a refund now with my wine bottles!