How to wave on a motorcycle

Okay, I have to start this blog entry by apologizing to my husband-to-be. He once tried to teach me the proper way to wave while riding a motorcycle. I reacted by mocking him and telling him off for trying to teach me how to wave... something I really didn't think I neeed to be schooled in.

However, after finding this site yesterday, I realize he was actually right as I was doing wave #5. LOL.

So, to Vince, I'm very sorry. To everyone else, learn from my mistake and read the following link before hitting the road on your motorcycle :)

http://viewfromthecloud.blogspot.com/2006/08/secret-motorcycle-hand-greetings.html

It's time for another episode of "Movie Reviews with Vicky"

An Inconvenient Truth - (documentary), 4 stars. The information was good but only sometimes convincing. Al Gore, although fairly good at what he does, is a politician. I take every word out of any politician's mouth with a grain of salt. It may have been helpful to have actual scientists back up his presentation instead of charts summarizing what many scientists have discovered. Overall, and considering that it's not the most "sexy" subject matter, it was a good documentary.

Sharkwater - (documentary), 5 stars. Now THIS is what a documentary should be. It was exciting, convincing, heart-breaking, awe-inspiring.... in a word, WOW! Now, it's STILL a documentary so don't go expecting to see car chases and witty banter. But this is one of my favorite documentaries ever and definitely my favorite one having anything to do with nature.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - 4 1/2 stars. Funny story about this one... I went to Blockbuster yesterday to rent it as I've seen the first 3 and wanted to see the 4th before the 5th came out in theaters. So I went to the New Releases section... not there... Drama?... not there... Family?... Kids?... Action?... Comedy?... I couldn't find Harry Potter movies anywhere! I finally found a small section off to the side called "Sequels" where they had Harry Potter, Superman, Spiderman, Lord of the Rings, etc. Now who could have predicted that's where I'd finally find it? LOL. Anyways, good HP movie. They incorporated a lot of the book into the movie but they could have shaved off about 3 minutes of the final "maze" challenge... I got a little bored during that part. Other than that though, very good movie.

Meet The Robinson's - (animated) 4 stars. I wasn't expecting much because the critics had ripped it apart so much before I saw it. Maybe that's why it seemed so good to me (low expectations will do that LOL). Anyways, it was fairly entertaining. A bit confusing at times and they sometimes had scenes that had almost nothing to do with the story... these storyline tangents are what hurt it mostly for me and the critics. However, at the end of the day, it was a fairly entertaining 90 minutes and I'd recommend it to children and adults. A good family feature.

Blades of Glory - (comedy) 3 stars. 3 stars is actually generous. I laughed a bit but it was the classic situation of all the funny parts being shown in the trailers. I felt the same way about Talladega Nights... maybe it's a Will Ferrell thing.

Wild Hogs - (comedy) 4 stars. Not an oscar winner of course, but overall a fun way to spend an evening. Lots of belly laughs in this one. So many that when I saw it on opening weekend (in a packed theater) there was so much laughter that I often could not hear the next line. We'll be getting this one on DVD for sure so I'll eventually get to hear what I missed the first time around :)

Other recommended movies that I've seen in the last month or two.... Ghost Rider (3 stars), Night At The Museum (3 1/2 stars), Shut Up And Sing - Dixie Chicks documentary (5 stars)

Upcoming movies I'm looking forward to.... Hot Fuzz, Fracture, Spiderman 2, September Dawn, Shrek 3, Georgia Rule (chick flick if ever I saw one LOL), Pirates of the Carribean 3, Knocked Up, Ocean's 13, Harry Potter 5..... oh man, I want to see everything! LOL

100 things about me

Sarah and Kelly challenged me and I answered the call :)

1. I usually start working in my pj's and then shower & get dressed when I have a lull in the day
2. I drink a lot of water. 6-8 cups at least on non-work out days but when I work out that doubles.
3. I no longer drink raspberry tea from Tim Horton's as I find about 20% of the time I get an aftertaste of egg.
4. I like to wear thong underwear but not when I go to bed or work out (I have blogged about this before... sorry if it's old information LOL)
5. I enjoy Spoon Sized Shredded Wheat & Bran. I may be the only person that enjoys it.
6. My hands are dry right now and need lotion on them.
7. I have dropped my motorcycle twice and have been unable to pick it up without help from Vince. I'm afraid to ride by myself for just this reason.
8. The empty water bottles on my desk are sometimes referred to as "fallen soldiers".
9. Both my dogs are due for a washing & grooming.
10. I hate being deliberately lied to and deceived.
11. I get my nails done in spite of the risks.
12. My number one frustration in life is that I can't seem to lose any more weight.
13. I used to be very superstitious about the number 13. I'm still not in love with it but I'm less freaked by it now.
14. Nothing makes me go "awwwwwww" more than getting little love notes from Vince. I love that guy :)
15. I have a love/hate relationship with being on call. It sucks SOOOOO much but it gives me so much extra money that I kind of like it.
16. America's Next Top Model, Beauty & The Geek, Survivor, Thank God You're Here, Amazing Race..... I love, love, love my "reality" TV. Speaking of "Thank God You're Here", this is the closest I've seen to the British version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"... including the American version of the same show.
17. Dentyne Ice gum with the liquid center is my favorite gum. I've only tried the blue package so I can't comment on the green package for flavour.
18. I am really, really, really bad at paying bills. Either Vince pays them or he stands over my shoulder while I pay them (it all comes out of the same account but the actual act of paying the bill just sucks and I don't do it unless I have to).
19. I am also really, really, really bad at getting my taxes in. For the last 10 years I think I submitted them more than 3 days before the deadline only once. I mean, they do get done, but not until the very last minute.
20. My favorite colour is yellow but I appreciate all colours in moderation.
21. I really enjoy thinly sliced red onions in a salad but white onions are too strong in that situation.
22. One of my favorite smells is vanilla.
23. One of the worst smells is the smell of cooking bait in my house (just boiled beef with garlic but it stinks SOOOOOOO bad).
24. I enjoy sudoku and kakuro. Strangely, I do NOT enjoy logic problems in variety puzzle magazines.
25. I have a scar on my right leg from walking by a mattress with a spring sticking out when I was a teenager. At the time all the kids thought I got it from shaving my legs.... stupid kids.
26. Yesterday I was in Safeway and Lays chips were on sale. I resisted the temptation and only purchased the items on my list.
27. I really enjoy Lays chips in all flavours but Smokey Bacon is my favorite.
28. I wish I had more confidence on my motorcycle.
29. I love my motorcycle helmet (it has pink flames on it... very girly).
30. Sometimes I'm afraid that I enjoy the IDEA of the motorcycle more than the actual RIDING of the motorcycle. Not that riding isn't fun but it can be scary and overwhelming sometimes.
31. Vince and I are not movie compatible, radio station compatible, hobby compatible, or food compatible. It's amazing we get along so well anyways LOL.
32. My favorite chocolate bar in the whole wide world is "Cadbury's Fudge" which is very hard to find outside of England.
33. My favorite chocolate bar readily avalable in Canada is Skor.
34. I sing like an angel when I'm alone in my car but put an audience in front of me for kareoke night and I sound like crap. How can that be?
35. My favorite activity at the gym is step classes. I'm thinking about being an instructor one day but I'm afraid my teaching efforts will be like my singing efforts.... awesome in private but horrific in front of people.
36. I hate it when my network/internet connection cuts out for no reason. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common occurance.
37. I love our hot tub. I don't just mean I enjoy it. I mean I LOOOOOOOOOVE it. I am actually in love with the wood and plastic and all the inner workings of it. Okay, that was a little weird. Maybe I really do just enjoy it ;)
38. My favorite holiday has got to be Christmas.
39. My least favorite holiday is Halloween.
40. I want to get a t-shirt made that says:
    BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT
    BUT SHUT THE HELL UP!!!
    (I saw a sew-on patch on e-bay with that on it and I loved it)
41. The Office is the best comedy on TV but I haven't been able to watch most of this season's episodes. I'm hoping the season 3 DVD will come out this summer.
42. Laundry and washing dishes are my least favorite chores. I can tolerate dishes now that I have a dishwasher but laundry still sucks.
43. I hate it when strangers or distant acquaintances ask you personal questions and then act like they are entitled to know the answer. If friends ask personal questions that's fine but not strangers.
44. I don't like ketchup or tomato juice.
45. However I do enjoy tomatoes (fresh & cooked), tomato soup, and tomato sauces.
46. I have been called horrible names and been on major guilt trips courtesy of people who have professed to love me. Although not an enjoyable experience, it wasn't as painful as one might have expected because I knew the action I was taking which sparked those outbursts was the right thing to do and I'm a stronger person for the experience.
47. I believe that most people do the best they can with the knowledge they have at the time. Unfortunately we all have different knowledge and experiences (different "realities") which is why I believe there is so much political and religious conflict in the world.
48. When I was a kid, my dad would not allow me to get my ears pierced until I was 18. Valerie (my aunt) convinced him to let me get them pierced when I was 14. To this day I do not know why his rule was 18.
49. I am convinced that my dad and I were never on the same wave length about any issue no matter how trivial. That makes me sad.
50. We recently ordered chinese food which I normally don't really enjoy very much but I ordered the cooked veggies without sauce and the enjoyment factor went way up. I never enjoyed the sauce (which always reminded me of snot or maybe the slime from Ghostbusters) so I was thrilled that I could get the veggies without it.
51. Remember when the movie Titanic came out and everyone went to see it? I had a couple of friends who professed loudly that they would never see that movie just so they could say they had never seen it. I don't understand that. To not see it because it doesn't interest you is one thing. To not ever see it because so many people have seen it is just stupid. Sorry but it is.
52. I don't care how corny or cheesy or immature it is, I really like board games.
53. I have a surprisingly small head. My motorcycle helmet is size Extra Small. I don't think I've had any article of clothing be extra small since I was a fetus! It feels kind of strange but in a good way.
54. I used to love Saturday Night Live back when they had Farley, Sandler, Schneider, and Spade. IMHO, those were the good ol' days (early 90's).
55. I have more freckles on my left arm than my right. Next time you see me wearing short sleeves take a look... it's very noticable.
56. I'm always surprised when people ask Vince & I why we are getting married since we are already living together. By asking that question it makes them seem like they don't value the committment of marriage. Yet most (not all) people who have asked us that are married themselves LOL. Irony anyone?
57. With the exception of my high school career counselors, I have never seen any kind of counselor or therapist or psychiatrist. Sometimes I wonder if should but then I just go vent to a loved one and I feel better again. And I didn't waste any money :)
58. I like my iPod shuffle but I wish it had a display screen. I won't get another iPod shuffle for just this reason.
59. I love my sister. I wish she lived closer to me.
60. I enjoy all genres of music but not every song in each genre. I'm more selective than that.
61. I believe we can "train" our taste buds to enjoy/crave certain foods more than others simply by eating them more often. Since Vince & I have gotten together I have eaten much more red meat than before and I've recently had a hankering for steak... that used to never happen.
62. I would never watch professional wrestling if Vince wasn't so into it. In spite of the half naked muscled men showing off their athleticism (yeah, that part is okay LOL) it's definitely marketed to men and boys. The storylines, rivalries, and parade of half naked women are just not my definition of entertainment.
63. A co-worker referred to our Apr 18th snowstorm as "Mother Nature's PMS". That made me laugh.
64. I am the world's greatest procrastinator (sorry Kelly, I know you thought that title was yours but I really do deserve it more LOL).
65. It really bugs me when Canada Post increases the price of stamps to mail a letter. I mean, I usually have a bunch of "old" stamps so then I have to go and buy a bunch of piddly one cent stamps or I can't mail anything. Makes me sigh.
66. The view from my home-office window sucks. I can see a portion of a neighbour's roof and a bunch of sky... that's it. At least it never distracts me from my work. However, reading and writing blogs is very distracting LOL.
67. My nickname as a child was Sicky Vicky. To this day it gets mentioned whenever I have a cold, stomach ache, PMS, anything.
68. The ring on my cell phone is "Hungry Like The Wolf" but I think it might be time to change it.
69. Planning a wedding is very stressful. You've probably ascertained that from my previous blog posts so I won't belabour the point.
70. I occasionally enjoy using long words even when short ones will do. Today I used the word fruition in an e-mail... it gave me a little thrill of vocabulary-induced pleasure. :)
71. I don't get as much joy out of using highlighters as I used to.
72. 9 times out of 10, doing a dreaded task is not as bad as I feared. It's best to just do it and get it over with. However, given my title of world's greatest procrastinator, I seldom follow my own advice ;)
73. Vince & I don't plan on having any kids but we aim to be the best aunt & uncle that Brighton & Austin could ever dream of (and any future kids that Lethbridge-area family might have)
74. I'm afraid of spiders and thought when I got married that the spider-killing duties would transfer to my husband. As it turns out, Vince would rather save the spider and just take it outside or to the garage (which still qualifies as "in the house" to me so I'm not cool with that). So all spider killing duties still fall on my shoulders. Oh yeah, and there's the added bonus of the guilt trip that Vince gives me every time about how I just killed one of God's creatures that provides a valuable service by keeping other insects away. Holy crap... remind me why I'm getting married again?????
75. I basically taught myself how to play the piano.
76. I would love to go to an Erasure concert one day.
77. When I was a kid I was afraid of dogs and cats. I'm still, to some extent, afraid of cats.
78. Rum is the only drink that gives me a hangover.
79. My standard drink at a restaurant is Club Soda with a wedge of lime (I have to say wedge or they'll put a shot of lime juice in there and that's not what I want)
80. I really enjoyed the Dixie Chicks documentary. I've had the newest Dixie Chicks CD in my van's CD player since I saw it.
81. I really enjoy good Indian food. Sadly, there isn't one Indian restaurant in Lethbridge.
82. I recently learned that I can wear many different colours. I don't look good in white because I'm already so pale but almost any other colour looks ok or better on me.
83. Clothes shopping is tricky for me since my size is in the "no man's land" between regular sizes and plus sizes. I've been to Pennington's and been delighted that everything I try on is too big but then I'll go to Suzy Shier or Le Chateau and everything is too small.... sigh!
84. If we are driving on the same road and I let you in front of me but you don't wave, expect to get the finger!
85. I don't eat meat on the bone (chicken wings, t-bone steak, turkey drumsticks, etc)
86. I don't enjoy word verification security features on websites. Sometimes they are case specific and often they are hard to read. It just stresses me out too much!
87. I did not enjoy my childhood. However, I AM enjoying my adulthood.
88. Being in the hot tub when it is cold is kind of fun. But when it is snowing it's not as much fun.... the snow that hits your shoulders and face feels like little cold needles and takes away the enjoyment factor somewhat.
89. I have a navy blue sweatshirt that I have owned for about 15 years. It has bleach splatters on it and holes in the cuffs but I wouldn't trade it for the world... I LOVE that sweatshirt.
90. However, my new favorite sweatshirt is my Nike hoodie... Vince has a matching one so we wrote our names on the labels so they don't get mixed up.
91. We also have identical motorcycle gloves with our names written on the labels.
92. And we have been known to fight over a Yamaha long sleeved t-shirt. It's really mine but it fits us both and Vince wants it.
93. I'm beginning to think that Vince & I are long lost twins ROFL!!!!!
94. Thinking you are long lost twins with your fiance is not a romantic notion.
95. Well, maybe it is.
96. Can you tell I'm just trying desperately to get to number 100?
97. Home stretch....
98. I'm almost there....
99. Feel the excitement......
100. WOW! That was awesome :)

Okay, anyone who thinks coming up with 100 semi-interesting facts about themselves is easy has obviously never done it LOL.

Bra update and I'm too fat to get married

I went for my second dress fitting today. It seems that I am simply too fat to fit into the dress without some pulling/bunching happening on the front of the dress. I've tried (I swear to God I have honestly and truly tried) to lose weight but my body does not seem to want to cooperate with my efforts. I'm afraid come May 12 I'm going to be a fat bride but oh well... if I'm married at the end of the day then I guess that's all that really matters.

Anyways, the seamstress suggested I might want to try getting a bustiere (not sure how to spell that - boost-ee-ay) to wear under the dress as that may suck me in a bit more. And since I needed to go bra shopping anyways (see yesterday's post) I decided to stop at the mall to see what I could find.

First stop... Sears. No luck. Second stop... La Senza. I asked the staff about bustieres and they said my best bet was to go to a bridal shop (which is where I got the advice in the first place so I'm not going to have any luck there). I then had them measure me and, go figure, I was actually buying the right sized bras all along LOL. So I ended up buying another strapless bra as that may work under the dress better than the strapless bra I have been using. We'll see tomorrow (yet another fitting). Wish me luck.

Oh Sarah, I know the Bust Stop has moved out of the OWF mall but I'm not sure where they moved to. If you happen to see them in your travels, let me know where they are and I'll see if they have anything that might work for me. Thanks :)

I need new bras

Okay, I need new bras. My old ones are stretchy and saggy and they don't fit me very well. I bought some new ones at La Senza a while ago but they are really more just for show and not really for actual support in real life situations. Trust me, when you are wearing a "showy" bra and your nipple pops out (under the shirt but you can still tell that it has made an exit), you won't wear that bra again any time soon LOL.

Anyone know where I can get actually fitted for a new bra? Like where they will measure me to find the right size and everything? Will they do that at La Senza? Thanks in advance for any useful info :)

Vis a vis

How come we pronounce "vis a vis" as VEEZ-a-vee? Presumably the first vis and the second vis should be prounced the same way. Therefore it should be VEEZ-a-veez with the second "s" being audible. Any thoughts?

Follow up on my b'day and True Romance

Since Kelly asked, and I forgot to post it earlier, for my birthday Vince got me a motorcycle cover for my cruiser. Unfortunately, there is no need to use it until the fall when we will put the bikes away for the winter. But it's a good quality one (meant to protect the bike from outside elements only some of which apply since the bike will be in the garage). It is a good and useful present. :)

The other day Vince & I were cleaning the house in preparation for a BBQ we were hosting. I was scrubbing the bathroom counter and trying to put up with the crap (I mean beautiful musical stylings) Vince listens to on his computer as well as the sound of him vaccuuming. Then all of a sudden "our song" comes on his computer. Vince turned off the vaccuum cleaner, dragged me from the bathroom into the family room, and slow danced with me. My hair was sticking up, I had the essence of bathroom cleaner on me, and I was in sweats, but he danced with me to our song. It was the so romantic. Not glamorous LOL, but very sweet and romantic.