Engaged!
We were in Quebec City. It is pretty. Especially at night.
Vince said he wanted to go out to eat at a nice restaurant, and that I should wear some nice clothes. But we were going to walk a long way, and it was cold, so I told him it would make more sense for me to wear sneakers, not heels, and pants, not a skirt, and a sweater over my shirt. Simply put: I did not look attractive. But he seemed okay with it.
We went out to dinner, and then wandered around for a while. Eventually, we decided to take a horse carriage ride around the city. Vince mentioned something to the driver before we took off, but I had no idea what he said. He told me that the driver said we would stop at some famous g
ardens to give the horse a break and give us a chance to walk around. We drove around for a while, then stopped at the garden. The driver told us there were hundreds of flowers there and the trees smelled really nice. So, I went off to smell a tree. Then I felt stupid because the tree didn't really smell (or at least not any different from any other tree). I turned around and felt even stupider because Vince had a huge grin on his face and was starting to kneel. So I laughed, and said yes, and here we are...engaged!
Here's the ring (very beautiful..and it fit perfectly, even though we'd never even looked for rings together and I never wear rings, so there weren't any for him to steal!)
Canadian Tire...again
I finally got my Ontario license plates (although I've lost the sticker that shows my registration is up-to-date). Unfortunately, I couldn't take off my old Iowa plates. Neither could Vince. Nor his friend. Even WD-40 didn't help.
They even tried to rip the front plate off, and it still didn't work. It was also a little awkward considering that they were doing this in front of a crowded Tim Hortons, in front of our hotel (where an old woman was warily eyeing us...probably memorizing my license plate number and car info in case we showed up on the 6 o'clock news that night), and in front of the hockey arena.
So...I brought it in to Canadian Tire.
Guy at Canadian Tire: "How can we help you?"
Me: "I need you to change my license plates for me"
Guy: Speechless, trying hard not to smile (not successfully). Eventually..."Oh, you mean you just don't have any tools?"
Me: "No...I tried to take it off, but I couldn't do it."
Guy: Clearly thinks I'm a moron and is savouring every minute...will definitely laugh about it with the guys later.
An hour later...I see the guy.
Is my car ready, yet?
No, it's a bit more complex than they'd expected.
It's my turn to smile.
Car troubles
I've had some car troubles recently.
On Thursday I went to get a routine oil change and an emissions check so that I can register my car (yes, I know I should have done that months (years?) ago). Bad news: my car completely failed the test, and they said I needed new tires immediately.
Have you ever had to wait to get your car fixed? It's horrid. There's nothing to read other than brochures on lube jobs. I was bored out of my mind on Thursday, but when they told me more work needed to be done, I made sure I was prepared for Friday...or at least had enough material to keep my mind occupied. There's not much you can do to make your rear happy. In total, I spent 4 1/2 hours in the Canadian Tire waiting room and over $1000 to fix my car.
On Sunday I went through a car wash and managed to destroy one of my hubcaps, only I never got to see how badly I destroyed it because it flew off as I drove home and I wasn't able to find it. My car doors and locks froze so that the next time I had to use my car, I couldn't open either door and I had to crawl in through the trunk. Then I rolled down the window so Vince could clamber through it. My locks are still frozen, so rather than risk not being able to get in my car, I'm just not locking the doors.
I have to go back for a second test at Canadian Tire soon. I'm not looking forward to it.
Gingerbread house
We set out to make a beautiful gingerbread house. But it took a long time. And the timer didn't work on one batch, so we had to guess how long the gingerbread should be in the oven. I think we guessed wrong.
Then the icing didn't work--it never stiffened (is that a word?). I think I didn't add enough icing sugar--I used up the whole bag, so we didn't have any more to add.
So we improvised. Can you see what's "different" about this house?
Then Vince ate it.
Christmas decorations
I came home on Friday, and my apartment was transformed! All I had to do was put on the antlers. (Actually, I had to do a bit more. The first tree stand didn't have screws, so I had to exchange it. Then we put up the tree and decorated it).
Amusing Vince moment: he put the tree in his car instead of tying it to the roof, so his car reeked of pine and the needles covered everything. The poor boy didn't know how to transport a real tree because his mother never let one come within 10 ft of the house--how could she possibly keep the house clean with a tree shedding needles on the floor?
The ears suit me.
Hot chocolate suits me, too!
Casa Loma
Here we are at Casa Loma in Toronto. It's very pretty and we saw a couple of wedding parties getting pictures taken in the garden. Actually, as we walked down one of the paths we saw two groomsmen lounging on a bench in their pinstriped suits, smoking pot. Ahhh...classy.
Vince said he wanted to go out to eat at a nice restaurant, and that I should wear some nice clothes. But we were going to walk a long way, and it was cold, so I told him it would make more sense for me to wear sneakers, not heels, and pants, not a skirt, and a sweater over my shirt. Simply put: I did not look attractive. But he seemed okay with it.
ardens to give the horse a break and give us a chance to walk around. We drove around for a while, then stopped at the garden. The driver told us there were hundreds of flowers there and the trees smelled really nice. So, I went off to smell a tree. Then I felt stupid because the tree didn't really smell (or at least not any different from any other tree). I turned around and felt even stupider because Vince had a huge grin on his face and was starting to kneel. So I laughed, and said yes, and here we are...engaged!
