Book ~ "Finger Lickin Fifteen" (2009) Janet Evanovich

From Amazon ~ Bestseller Evanovich recycles tired themes better executed in earlier adventures in her latest Stephanie Plum adventure. When Lula inadvertently witnesses the beheading of culinary TV star Stanley Chipotle in a Trenton, NJ, alley, Stephanie's on-again off-again boyfriend, cop Joe Morelli, reluctantly takes the case. Lula, with the help of Grandma Mazur, enters the same barbequing competition Chipotle was in town to promote, hoping to lure the murderers out of hiding. Meanwhile, Ranger has recruited Stephanie to help solve a series of break-ins at properties under the protection of Rangeman Security. The inevitable sparks fly between Stephanie and Ranger, with Morelli grumbling on the sidelines. Evanovich dishes up her usual mixture of shoot-'em-up action (numerous cars explode) and quirky characters (notably a neighborhood flasher with a devoted following), but the lackluster plot will disappoint fans.

I look forward to the release of the latest Stephanie Plum book every June.

This latest one received a lot more negative reviews than positive ones. I had even hesitated to buy it.

But when I read these books, I don't expect much. They are an entertaining distraction.

Yes, the themes are being recycled but I like the characters and think they are a hoot.

What this the greatest novel every written? No.

Is this series getting tired? Maybe.

Did I enjoy it? Yes!

Burrito Boyz

We stopped at Smokeless Joe's for a couple drinks.

Then we headed to Burrito Boyz for supper.

They make the BEST chicken burritos ... here's mine:

They are sloppy and delicious!

Steam Whistle Brewing

After Gord and I got off the Mariposa Belle, we stopped in at Steam Whistle Brewing.

We had a couple free samples ... yay!

Mariposa Belle, Toronto, ON

Gord and I went on a brunch cruise on the Mariposa Belle today.

As we were heading the streetcar to go to the Harbour, it starting pouring rain. Pouring!!

We were soaked by the time we got there.

Here's Gord in front of the boat.

Here's looking out the window of the boat before we set sail ...

Then the rain stopped and the sun tried to come out.

We cruised around the Islands.

There were lots of planes landing at the Island Airport.

Here's Gord and I ...

Here's me at the end of the cruise ...

My crops

I have eight tomato plants ...

And only one has any sign of tomatoes.


I planted them late this year because it was so cold until June.

My next door neighbour has just one tomato plant and she has lots of tomatoes.

She is in Japan visiting her family. Would she notice if I switched plants? Hmmmm.

My chocolate mint is doing well, though.

Book ~ "Take Me Down" (2009) Sylvia Lett

From Chapters.ca ~ After a single mother hires a sexy former Navy SEAL to keep her hotel chain secure, they both learn that love can be a very dangerous game.

I was looking for something light to read and thought this would do the trick.

Woman and man meet and feel attraction instantly ... man blackmails woman into marrying him with the threat that he would take her adopted daughter, who is actually his long lost daughter, from her ... they discover they are in love and settle in to live happily ever after ... until he gets a call that his best friend has been captured in Iran but it turns out to be a hoax by his other friends so they can hold him for ransom ... she loses their baby ... he escapes ... he can't forgive her cuz she can't forgive him ... he threatens to leave her ... they resolve their differences, have a baby, and live happily ever after.

Whatever!

It was a really dumb story with poor writing.

And I felt like correcting all the typos in the book ... doesn't she have a proofreader?

Happy anniversary to Gord and I!

Sarah, Teena, Gord and Ken
July 26, 2002 ~ 5:30pm

City Hall, Toronto, ON

Happy birthday to me!

47 years ago today ... at 2:12pm ... I made my arrival into the world at the Grace Maternity Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Here I am at my first birthday party!

The Ugly Truth

Gord and I saw The Ugly Truth this afternoon.

Abby Richter is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single. She's in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway, a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.

Neither of us was expecting award winning performances and we both thought it was a cute movie.

I was expecting a cute sweet movie ... it gets raunchy at times but in a funny way.

If you are looking for a light movie with a happy ending (oh oh, I gave it away), go see it!

Black Oak Brewing Company

You know how Gord loves beer?

We stopped in at Black Oak Brewing Company in Etobicoke this afternoon.

The president, Ken Woods, gave us a tour.

This is where it starts with the kettles that cook the beer ...

Then it goes to the tanks where the yeast is added, which produces the alcohol ...

Ken took us into the HUGE fridge ...

It was chilly in there ...

Then Ken let us taste three ... Pale Ale, Summer Saison and Nut Brown.


Gord bought two six packs of the Summer Saison.

If you are into beer and want to visit a microbrewery, you should check them out.

Remind me why we're doing this?

As of June, we have to pay 5 cents for every plastic bag that is bought in stores here in Ontario.

So do to our part, Gord and I bought the cloth grocery bags and now use them.

We used to use the plastic bags as garbage bags.

Now we have to buy garbage bags.

Garbage bags cost 5.4 cents.

The plastic bags are 5 cents.

So we are using the same amount of bags for garbage but it's costing us more.

Why are we going this again?

Kensington Market, Toronto, ON

I was feeling restless this afternoon so went for a walk to Kensington Market and back (about a 45 minute walk each way) while Gord snoozed.

Kensington Market is an eclectic neighbourhood with many different shops.

Here is a sampling along my walk ...

New and vintage clothing stores

Fruit and veggie markets

Cheese shops

Meat markets (European makes the best Italian sausages!)

Tom's Place is famous as a place to buy suits, etc. at lower prices

Bakeries

Fish markets

Apparently you can smoke weed at Roach-O-Rama

Dry goods like beans, nuts, etc.

Lots of restaurants

Work clothes

Dentists

Tattoos and piercings

And so much more!!

If you come to Toronto, a visit to Kensington Market should definitely be on your list of things to see!

Coin-op 'za

You know how much I love love love pizza!

I read in today's Toronto Star about a pizza vending machine.

Linda Fok wanted a slice of the hot pizza action. So, in September, the Toronto entrepreneur is rolling out Canada's first pizza vending machines.

A Wonder Pizza machine will deliver a personal pizza into your hands in about 90 seconds. Fok, who owns the distribution rights in Canada and Asia, demonstrates at the recent Ontario launch: She pops in coins, pushes buttons on a keypad, then opens the door to show off the secret workings. Pulleys and levers transfer an eight-inch pizza from a fridge to an oven to the delivery slot. On the monitor, cartoon characters toss pizza dough and seconds count down.

You can read the rest of the article here.

I dunno ... do you think it will catch on?

Have you tried it?

Do you think it would be worth the $4.50 to $5.50 charge?

Hostage situation again!

Remember back in May when our car held me hostage? When I tried to open the door, the power lock would lock and keep me in? And I had to climb over the console and get out the passenger door?

It started doing it again last week.

Gord decided to see if he could unlock the driver's door manually with the key (rather than the clicker) ... and discovered that the lock is gone. It must be inside the door somewhere.

Therein lies the problem, no doubt.

I dropped the car off at the garage this morning ... and, of course, the power lock was working again and the door opened.

I left it with Wayne anyway as it should be fixed once and for all.

Byron's fast!

Gord is home sick today and slept in a bit.

We have a rule that the last one out of bed has to make it ... sick or not.

I'm usually the last out of bed and have learned that I have to make it right away.

If not, Byron jumps in and gets comfy for the day.

I guess Gord doesn't know our kitty as well as I do because when he went to make the bed about an hour after he got up, this is what he found ...

Fire

I got a text message from Gord this morning that there had been a fire in our condo corporation (we have 180 units in three buildings).

The fire started this morning about 6:00 on a roof deck in the building furthest from us.

It was put out in about ten minutes and, on the news, they are estimating about $75,000 in damage. We'll have to wait and see what the fire marshal determines the cause to be.

Thankfully no one was hurt.

I took these pictures when I got home from Deb's ... they were tarping the roof deck.

Here's the yard below the roof deck where the fire started.

Brings back bad memories ... our condo corporation had another fire in July 2002.

I was working from home that day and someone knocked on our door just after noon and said the roof was on fire. I stuffed our cat (who has since died) in a carrier, grabbed our two dogs (one has since died) and my purse and ran out. As I was crossing the street, I heard an explosion ... it was a BBQ propane tank exploding.

It was a major fire that started on one of the roof decks above us. Total damage was about $1 million and again, thankfully, no one was hurt.

We live in a lower unit and I didn't realize the implications until our property manager said that we wouldn't be back in for a while ... we had no fire damage but lots of water damage (where else was the water going to go?).

We were told that we would be out for about two weeks ... we ended up being out for two months. Some residents didn't get back in 'til the spring of the next year.

Gord and I were planning our wedding ... we got married three weeks later. Needless to say, we had to make a lot of last minute changes.