The Kite Runner

I have just finished reading a beautiful story called The Kite Runner. It tells the tale of a young boy growing up in Afghanistan prior to what is going on now. He deals with a tragic event that haunts him for several years. I highly recommend this book as it gives great insight as to what the people of Afghanistan are going through currently and it's a tragic story of family and loyalty.

Hairspray

I finally got to see Hairspray (it just came out on Friday) and it was fantastic! I had seen the broadway musical live this past March and I was expecting it to be different. They didn't use all the songs (and Will was disappointed for his song not showing up) and there were some scenes that didn't happen in the musical. I wished that certain characters had a few more scenes, but you have to condense it for the interest of the movie-goer.

I haven't yet seen the 1988 original film which the broadway musical was based on, so I can't compare the two movies to each other.

I thought it was very colourful and there were lots of stars in it. There were even a few small parts to people who were in the original film: Ricki Lake & Jerry Stiller.

It was a very light-hearted movie with a strong message and I was trying very hard not to sing along. I'm sure the people beside me wouldn't have appreciated that.

Jane Eyre

I just finished reading Jane Eyre. It wasn't as predictable as the other classics I've read. I was very surprised throughout the book, but I was very happy with how it ended. It is the sad tale of plain Jane Eyre and her rough upbringing and how she deals with falling in love when it is the worst situation possible at that time. I love how the story is told from her point of view, and I love how she is always concerned about what the reader needs to know. I absolutely LOVED it!

Next book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Monopoly

I was recently playing Monopoly and discovered that I'm not very good at it. My trading offer ended very badly for me - and caused the other player to win!! I only owned 3 properties in the end with 2 being Boardwalk & Park Place plus a railroad. You'd think I'd be able to get some $$ from those, wouldn't you?

I searched online, and I think I know the reason that I lost. It was because of my token: the battleship. There is a token personality quiz to determine what type of player you are and searching under the battleship I learned that I was an aggresive player. I was determined to get Boardwalk & Park Place not thinking about the rest of the board in play. Maybe aggression wasn't the way to go.

The winner was the shoe. It's personality is that the scruffiness of the shoe masks a player whose property dealing is methodical and focused. It definitely was!! It took us so much time to make any little trade that we ended up putting in more than what it was worth in the long haul.

The runner-up was the cannon. That personality is to place as much emphasis on defensive strategy as they do in attacks. I would land on the cannon's property and lose most of my money to roll (after doubles, of course) and land on the shoe's property to go bankrupt. Yippee!!

Third place was the money bag, which isn't in the old-fashioned Monopoly games but in the newer edition ones. I think that choice may just have been doomed from the start. I almost knocked him out, but my properties were mortgaged at the time, which meant that I got to be bankrupt first.

Next time, I don't think we'll be playing Monopoly until I learn a better strategy - or atleast have ladyluck on my side.

Hockey Day in Canada

The schedule for the 2007-2008 hockey season has been posted - and this year none of the Canadian teams from the West will play the Canadian teams from the East.

That means - there is no "Hockey Day in Canada" which was when all Canadian teams would play each other on that day only! It's kind of an exciting day to know that they would all be playing the same day, and against each other.

But, ever since the NHL lock-out there has been devised a new rule that causes two divisions to not play each other the whole season. All the Eastern Canadian teams are in the same division and all the Western Canadian teams are in the same division - and this is the year they do not meet up in regular season games.

The only way they would play against each other is if one from each group made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Rainy day

Today started out very hot and humid and then sometime in the early afternoon it got very dark. It looked like it was 1o:oo pm - then the storm came. I love thunderstorms no matter where I am, as long as I'm inside. The downpour was so strong!! Then - as quickly as it arrived - the rain was gone, the dark was gone, and it was just as it was earlier in the day. Hot & sticky!! Atleast we got some rain.

Dog Sitting

I would say that I was blessed this past weekend to be asked to dog/cat/house sit for my sister and her husband.

Their house is out in the country and with no one living on either side of them. It is such a quiet area - even when there was a horse show going on behind them.

Chelsea is the cutest dog and still has the spirit of a puppy. And sometimes Tucker can be a nuisance with her constant "meowing" but as soon as she sits in your lap - she's as happy as can be.

There was a slight setback with having a perfect weekend - and that was their fridge not working properly for me. It limited myself on what I could eat.

It was like a mini-vacation for myself, and it gave me lots of "me time".

Overall, I would just like to say to them - If you need someone to watch the house/dog/cat again - I would seriously love to do it again!!

Fifa U-20

Friday night, Will & I had tickets to see the Fifa U-20 round robin competitions. Our match games were Argentina vs. People's Republic of Korea and then the next game was Brazil vs. United States of America.

The first game started early and there was a constant flow of people coming in. It was a fantastic game and Argentina ended up winning it 1-0 causing them to be the top of their group. It was very well deserved - they played really tough and defensively as Korea was putting out their best efforts.

We had some time in between games but we weren't allowed to leave the stadium. Luckily the warm-ups for the following game began immediately - so we watched that.

The second game did not show the same type of talent as the first game - but it was good none the less as atleast 50% of the fans were going for Brazil. There were people with drums and cowbells and it just went non-stop.

US ended up winning 2-1 to put Brazil in third place of their group. It was pretty intense and nerve-wracking. We were really rooting for the South American teams.

In between the games there was a group of Brazil fans that were singing/dancing/drumming outside that we could see from our seats - such passion!!

It took us awhile to get out of the stadium, then to get to our car, then to get out of the area, then to get home.

Dog Day Afternoon

I'm sitting here dog/cat/house sitting for my sister and her husband - as they are off to a weekend getaway. I wished that I was going away for the weekend.

As I reflect over my "duties" I realize that in every house that my sister has lived in - I have stayed overnight with the dog atleast once. I guess I'm just a reliable sitter. I'm THAT good!!

It's so quiet out here. Even the bus ride home was so much more peaceful than my regular route. This weekend is going to be like a mini-vacation for me. It'll be very relaxing and easy-going.

Tomorrow after work we are heading downtown to the final round robin of the FIFA U-20 games going on here in Ottawa (and all over the country). It is quite the phenomenon. We are seeing a double-header: Argentina vs. Korea & Brazil vs. USA. We are cheering for the South American teams because we know how intense and talented they all are. I will have pictures and details tomorrow night!

Stay tuned...

Canada Day

I woke up super early Sunday morning to support Steph with her 10km race downtown. The race began and ended at Jacques Cartier Park. So, I waited for her there as she sped her way past the tourist sites of Ottawa. She ended up beating her time from the race back in May. Yay for her. Unfortunately for me - it was the coldest day ever, and I was completely frozen sitting on the sidelines waiting for anyone to finish.

After a quick nap at home, we decided to check out the local festivities going on around us. One park didn't have too much going on - and another one had a few bit more things, but by the time we got there, it was time to finish up.

We waited for Will to finish work and decided to head down to Kanata for supper to watch the FIFA U-20 Canada vs. Chile game. Unfortunately Canada lost, but it was lots of fun to watch. The game and our supper finished just as the fireworks were about to start. I was so glad that we went out to see them - it was a great spectacle.

Afterwards, we headed towards the mini amusement park going on that had been going on all day. Steph & I went on a very spinny ride that I wouldn't stop screaming and she wouldn't stop laughing. My hands were so sore from hanging on to the metal bars so tightly.

We drove home and saw a beautiful moon glowing and attempted several times to get a picture of it, but ended up just getting blurs.

It was a great Canada Day - and hopefully next year we'll be able to experience it downtown at Parliament Hill, as we both have never done that - and it would be quite event!!