Friday Night Dinner

Raise your hand if you hate Rory's bangs. They didn't work for Sydney Bristow, and they're not working for Rory. Her bangs totally distracted me from the otherwise excellent "Rory Saves the Paper" and "Friday Night Meltdown" segments of tonight's episode of GG.

Keira Knightley gets an Oscar nomination for "Pride and Prejudice". I have mixed feelings about this movie (aka P&P3 in fandom) and her performance. Run, don't walk, to the video store and rent P&P2. Then discuss amongst yourselves.

Today was a crappy work day. I'm going to bed.

Crisis averted

Today I am the proud renter of a PVR from Rogers Cable. Now I can record up to 50 hours of programming and pause live tv. How cool is that!

For example, right now I am watching 24 and updating my blog. My back is turned to the tv. If, perchance, I miss a crucial part of tonight's episode, I simply rewind tonight's show using my remote and catch up on what I missed. I can also record a tv show at the touch of a button.

Think of the possibilities!!

No more videotapes!

No more missing "Gilmore Girls"!

Up to 50 hours of the Olympics!!

The *only* reason I am renting this box is so I don't miss the Olympics. I'm returning it after a month. I mean it. Well, maybe I should keep it so I can keep track of the Scott Tournament of Hearts and the Brier. Then there's more skating in March... But after that, it's totally going back. Honest.

Now, back to "24". Who knew Keifer Sutherland was so cool?

P.S. On a totally unrelated note, the old woman who died last night on "Grey's Anatomy" (and how sad was that?) had a hearing aid. Woot for hearing aids on tv!

London Calling

Today my mom and I sat down to plan our family's trip to London. It's pretty overwhelming, considering the size of the city and all the attractions it contains. I don't think a week is enough time at all. Perhaps I'll have to move there for a while...

Last night I had a great visit with my peeps at the Centre. After the show, I hung out in the office for a bit with Tony and Catherine. It felt like old times! I got caught up on all the Centre gossip.

I'm leaving soon to go back to that other place. Now that I have my winter tires, I'm sure the driving will be excellent.

I can't believe I was laughing at Dumbledore

Last night, Rosey and Laura and I watched the movie musical Camelot. For those of you who haven't seen it, the movie follows the lusty adventures of Arthur the Crazy King, Jenny the Cunning Queen, and Lance the Cross-Eyed Arrogant "French" Guy. And if you haven't seen it, you're not missing that much.

The movie was very very very long, and there wasn't enough singing for my taste. We did spend a huge chunk of time laughing at the costumes ("tinfoil" suits of armour, anyone?) and dialogue. There were some pretty songs ("If Ever I Would Leave You", "I Loved You Once in Silence") and some campy songs ("C'est Moi", "The Lusty Month of May"). I'm glad I got the chance to see it, but I'm definitely not rushing out to buy the DVD to add to my collection.

And here's the kicker- Arthur was played by Richard Harris. Yes, that's right, Dumbledore from the first two Harry Potter movies. After I found that out, I felt really bad for laughing at him, cause you all know how I love Dumbledore. Still, as Arthur in this movie, he left a lot to be desired.

I also must add that it did not feel like a true Musical Night, because Mel was not there with us. It's a pretty long commute from Ottawa just for one night. The pre-movie phone call was great, but no substitute for the real thing.

Today I spent copious quantities of quality time with my family, which was really really good. My littlest brother and I watched "Arrested Development" and played hockey on his PS2 (he kicked my butt). My sister and I went shopping and got groceries. Tonight, I plan to drop in at the Centre to say hi to my peeps. Let the fun continue!

Homeward bound

I don't have to work today.

I get to drive home with my winter tires.

A fun-filled weekend of mayhem will ensue.

Aaron Sorkin, creator of "Sports Night" (one of my favorite shows ever), is returning to tv this fall with a new series about the backstage drama at an SNL-like show. Matthew Perry will be in the cast.

Warning: this blog has been temporarily hijacked by someone who leads an interesting life.

I spent the evening at The Playhouse, enjoying TNB's latest offering, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. It's a musical comedy chronicling the ups and downs of relationships between men and women.

Since moving to the New Centre of the Universe, I've seen quite a few TNB productions. My reaction to the first three productions last year was lukewarm, so I have given subsequent TNB shows a miss, until now. I will say that at times they have made inspired casting decisions. The word "inspired" here means "actors who have been in the Charlottetown Festival". Who could forget Patrick Cook's performance as young Jimmy in "The Chairmaker"? Not me, cause I watched it three times,

Yes, I *paid* to see it three times. Silly girl.

Anyway, I did enjoy tonight's show, which featured another "inspired" casting choice, in the form of Jamie McKnight, aka "Gilbert - 2001" in that show I like so much. You know the one I mean.

A full review of ILYYPNC will follow.

I also have significant plans in PEI this weekend, including a viewing of Cinderella with Rosey and Laura. This means I will not have to spend the weekend contemplating which part of my apartment needs to be decluttered.

Back on my good side

Today, Canadian Tire called me to say my winter tires were in. Cautiously optimistic, I made another appointment to get them installed. Lo and behold, when I went to my appointment, the tires were still in stock and they were installed on my car. I even got my oil changed. Shocking.

So, I have decided to take Canadian Tire off my list of "Places I will Never Go Again Because They are Incompetent and Screwed Me Over", aka my black list.

Following that success, I went to choir practice, where we spend a large proportion of our 2 hour rehearsal standing and singing instead of sitting and singing. Sometimes we would rehearse in sections, while the unsinging sections got to sit. It made me a little paranoid to have the tenors looking at my backside all the time. So imagine how I felt when I checked the mirror when I got home and realized my underwear was showing above my jeans. Meep.

Slacker.

I'm skipping choir tonight. I'm way too tired to go. Last night, I spent copious amounts of time watching election coverage, phoning home to discuss results, and drinking mocktails made with my new martini shaker. I even had two tv's going at once. Getting up this morning was brutal. The people at work think I'm mental.

Perhaps I'm suffering from an election hangover.

P.S. The upside of skipping choir is I don't forget to tape Gilmore Girls.

Happy Election Day!!

They really should have e-cards for this occasion.

Not only is it election day, but it is also snowing.

Beautiful, gently falling snow. No wind. Not too cold. Perfect.

I walked to the polling station, voted, and then spent another hour walking just so I could enjoy the snow. I wore my new sneakers. My foot is not sore.

Just as I was approaching my building, I slipped on some ice and fell. Big splat. However, not even the lingering pain in my side will diminish my spirits today.

Feel the joy, people.

Woot!

CTV has just announced its Canadian Idol audition tour. This year the tour is stopping in Halifax (April 8-9). They have also raised the age range to 16 to 28!!

This is my last chance! This is it!! It has been one of my lifelong dreams (well, more like a really strong desire...) to try out for Canadian Idol. Ever since I watched American Idol, I have wanted to do this. How much fun would it be to be part of a cultural phenomenon!

Who's coming with me?

Farewell, beloved Christmas tree!

Well, last week I took the decorations off. Today, it was finally time to get rid of my tree. The only thing was, I wasn't sure what to do with it. Last year, my super took my tree away for me. However, I wanted my tree gone Right Now, not when he had a chance to do it.

So I decided to chop the tree up into little pieces, disguise the pieces by hiding them in garbage bags, and throw them in the garbage bin. The upside of this was that I got to use my saw! The downside of this was that I now have tree needles all over my apartment.



Here you see the half-finished product. At this point, the branches were tucked away into the garbage bags, and all I had left was the trunk. I also had already gotten rid of most of the needles with my vaccum (not shown).

Since my current vacuum bag was full of needles, I headed to the mall to buy a new one. However, I couldn't find the right sized bags. Grr... By this time, it was past suppertime, and I was starving. I was convinced I needed pizza. So I stopped at a pizza place and got a 16 inch pizza and 12 inch garlic fingers, which is really enough to feed four people, and waaaay too much food for me. After two slices, I was done in. No more food-buying when I'm hungry.

So now I'm still trying to get rid of my tree needle collection. Meanwhile, my Downstairs Neighbor is having a party/gathering tonight. I can tell because I have been listening to a persistent thump-thump through the floor all night long, just loud enough to ruin my evening and make me wish I were at a party/gathering tonight instead of moping around here and wallowing.

Moo.

Indecision 2006/Indécision 2006

Did anyone else watch The Daily Show last night? If you did, you saw Jon Stewart poking fun at Mr. Martin and Mr. Harper in a most amusing way. It's nice to get some notice from our neighbours to the south, eh?

Meanwhile, Election Day continues to loom on the horizon. Are you all registered to vote? Can you feel the imminent doom?

For me, elections are like a sport. There are several teams, some more popular than others, all trying to rack up points (or seats, if you will), so they can win the game and become Prime Minister.

My favourite part is watching election coverage on tv. I love seeing the seat numbers go up and down throughout the night. One year (I think it was 1997), I remember hooking 2 tv's up in the same room just to watch CBC's coverage and CTV's coverage side by side.

It's almost as exciting as curling.

In other news - I have developed taste for Cool Whip. It's a very dangerous substance to have in my fridge. I'm going through it at an alarming rate, just eating spoonful after spoonful. Yum.

Also, I have decided it may be time to get rid of my Christmas tree. It's quite brown and brittle. I definitely have missed pick-up times, so I am thinking of chopping it into little pieces and putting them in garbage bags. That's what saws are for, right?

Up the river, take 2.

I did manage to make it up the river today. Barely. The roads were a wee bit slippy this morning. My car was not too happy. The afternoon drive was much better, and on Freestyle this afternoon, they were speaking to a woman from PEI who was in charge of an art exhibit featuring works of art that were started by one artist and then finished by another. Anyone know anything about this?

Highlight of my day:

Reading Catherine's post about Pride and Prejudice on her blog.

Let's all just have a quiet moment and think happy P&P thoughts.

"Storm" Day

Today I was supposed to work up the river. However, school was cancelled today, and when school is cancelled, I don't have to drive up the river.

Why was school cancelled? They were forcasting snow, then ice pellets, then freezing rain, then rain.

What did we get? Rain.

It was a soft school cancellation, really. They also had a soft cancellation last week, on another day I was supposed to work up the river.

It's tough to find stuff to do at work when you have no patients scheduled.

Plus, my internal schedule is totally thrown off now, and I have no idea what day it is. I have to think really, really hard.

My insides tell me it *might* be Thursday tomorrow, but it could also be Friday.

I wish it were Friday.

Is it Friday now??

Further consultation with the outside world tells me it's Wednesday today, because Lost is on. Woot!

Wake up in the morning...

Last night on CBC, they showed this story. As I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder, what is Jack Layton doing at Degrassi?

I tried to find a picture to corroborate my story, but then I realized that any Canadian child of the late 80's/early 90's recognizes Degrassi High.

Remember when the Zits made their video?
Remember when Wheels went all weird and got kicked out of Joey's house and had to sleep on Snake's porch?
Remember when Erica got pregnant?
Remember when everyone cheated on the science test?

Good times.

Incompetence.

Today I decided to buy some winter tires for my car. There were some nice ones on sale at Canadian Tire. I called them up this morning, told them I wanted new tires, and made an appointment. I spent the rest of the day feeling very proud of myself for accomplishing this great feat.

When I got to Canadian Tire, I identified myself at the automotive service desk and informed them I was there for my 4:00 appointment. The attendant started to set up my service order. When he asked what kind of tires I wanted, I told him, "The Ones in the Flyer". Then he gave me a Look and told me I had better go to the auto parts section and make sure they had them in stock.

Off to the auto parts section, where another guy informed me that yes, they did have the tires, but they were on hold for someone with an appointment.

"But *I* have an appointment," I said. "Maybe they're mine."

He checked. They weren't.

"Ten days till we can get some in," he said.

So I took my raincheck and went back to the automotive service desk to tell buddy I wouldn't be needing my appointment after all.

Now, I ask you, when someone calls you and asks to buy new tires and gets an appointment to install new tires, do you think it's a good idea to check to see if the tires are in stock??

I am not impressed.

And I still need new tires.

Confessions of a packrat

I am a packrat. I tend to develop odd sentimental attachments to many objects, and I have great difficulty throwing anything away. What if I need it again? That's why I have multiple copies of Charlottetown Festival programs dating from 1995. That's why I have several shoeboxes full of ticket stubs and birthday cards in my closet. That's why I still have every assignment, test, and textbook from my university career. It's a sickness, really.

Last night I tried to put away my Christmas decorations. I couldn't open the door to my storage room because it was blocked by all my stuff. So I took the plunge and attempted to declutter, just a little. I decided I don't need the plastic wrapping my mattress came in last year. Nor do I need a box of burned out candles. And, I decided to throw out my empty boxes.

This, I think, was the hardest part (remember, odd sentimental attachments...). Some of the boxes had been with me since I first moved to Halifax in 2000. They have carried my stuff everywhere. When I was at school, I would keep them under my bed, knowing that at the end of the year, I would load all my stuff in them and go home for the summer. They represent the part of me that still lives in PEI, the part of me that always wants to go home.

That being said, they do take up a lot of space. So, reluctantly, I broke the boxes apart and carted them out to the garbage bin. My storage room is a lot tidier, but I'm still a little sad. Sure, they're only boxes, but they're *my* boxes.

That's enough decluttering for today. Time to soothe myself with some skating (you didn't think I could go without mentioning skating, did you?), Season 5 of 24, and Grey's Anatomy.

Where is winter?

Seriously.

It's 14 degrees and raining. It's been raining all day. All. day.

Where oh where is the snow?

In other happenings, I managed to de-decorate my Christmas tree today.

And I watched skating. I am watching skating. I will be watching skating.

Skating skating skating skating

More skating on tv today. Have thus far watched three hours last night, a rerun of same three hours this afternoon (although did nap through a significant portion of it), and three hours tonight. Then watched one hour of reality tv show about skating.

Tomorrow will watch two hours of U.S. Nationals in afternoon, followed by two hours of Canadians in the evening, followed by last hour of three hour broadcast of U.S. Nationals.

Me likey skating.

P.S. Also got hair cut today.

Bring it!

I skipped "Dancing with the Stars" tonight (even though the men were dancing the Quickstep) in favour of watching figure skating.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of skaters TSN chose to show us. Two flights of ladies and almost 2 flights of pairs. Defending champs Joannie Rochette and Marcoux and Buntin were impressive. There is something so thrilling about a national competition that features not only world-level skaters but also those striving to skate their personal bests. Part of me (a big part) really wants to drive up to Ottawa to catch it live. I have to restrain myself. Must. Not. Go.

I did, however, get tired of watching the same commercial for Hershey's Kisses ad nauseum. I mean, the pair-skating kisses were cute the first 200 times I saw them, but enough is enough!

Back to "Dancing with the Stars", regardless of what happened tonight, my picks for the top 2 pairs are Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke, and Giselle Fernandez and Jonathan Roberts, with kudos to Jerry Rice for his outstanding effort. And how sorry do I feel for the adorable and talented Ashly, who got stuck with "Stompin'" Master P. He won't even wear dancing shoes!!!

The great spinach experiment.

During my $30 excursion to the grocery store to buy stamps, I also bought a spaghetti squash. It's the vegetable I am in extreme like with. I don't love it (it's no turnip), but it's pretty darn good. I have been using it to make a spaghetti squash lasagna. Tonight, I was feeling particularly adventurous, and I decided to add some spinach to my creation.

I don't know much about spinach. It's green. It's supposedly good for you. I've had it in Italian wedding soup, and in spinach lasagna. I know of spinach salad, but have never tried it cause the other ingredients scare me off.

First I thawed some frozen spinach. This was my first experience with frozen spinach. To start out, it was, well, frozen. Then I zapped it in the microwave, and it was, well, green and mushy and smelly.


I started to have my doubts.

Generally, if I don't like the smell, I don't like the taste. I tried to salvage it by boiling it with some chicken broth, to get rid of the smell and the green flavour. Still kinda iffy. I put two spoonfuls of it in my lasagna mixture.



The result? Perfectly adequate spinach spaghetti squash lasagna.



Maybe next time I'll use three spoonfuls.

Why?

Why did I forget to tape "Gilmore Girls" yet again?

Why did I go to the store for stamps and come home with $30 of groceries?

Why did our Mr. Plow only plow 3/4 of the parking lot, forcing me to walk ankle-deep in snow this morning?

Why does the tallest person in the the alto section sit directly in my line of sight so I can't see the director?

Why does Stephen Harper think it's a good thing when he smiles in the middle of a sentence?

It's been a crappy day, folks. That's all I have. Actually, I did write about my crappy day, posted it, and deleted it 5 minutes later. No need to show my raw emotions to the rest of the world. It's much better to close them up in a box and repress them.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

It's snowing!



Finally! I've been waiting all winter to see some good snow. I missed PEI's big pre-Christmas snow, and I missed NB's Boxing Day snow. But today, it's been snowing all day, and it's fantabulous! There are few things that make me happier than a significant snow accumulation. I think I was driving the people at work crazy, cause all day long I would stand in front of the window and watch the snow. So pretty!!

In other news, my foot is still sore. One person at work suggested it might be broken, and now I can't get that idea out of my head. I've never broken a bone before, so I don't know what it feels like. So now I'm superparanoid that it's never going to get better. I was going to go the After Hours Clinic tonight, but the driving is not the greatest *and* the leaders debate is on tonight.

Re: the upcoming election - please vote.

And, although it's Monday night, there is no "Arrested Development" on tonight, so feel free to skip the rerun of "House" and watch the debate, too.

Today I committed bird murder and I had to touch my dad's ass. I get extra points for showing up at all.

"Grey's Anatomy" is on tonight. I remember watching the first episode on Easter Sunday 2005 with my sister in her hospital room. The show had good industry buzz, so we decided to give it a shot. Plus, she didn't want to watch the curling game on Sportsnet.

My initial reaction was lukewarm. Not as funny as "Scrubs", not as solidly entertaining as "ER", but somewhere in the middle. As the weeks went on, the show began to develop its own identity, and I became really attached to its characters.

Especially George.

Ah, George. Yes, I know he messed up his first surgery, but I think the open heart surgery in the elevator makes up for that. He's way too good for Meredith. I thought he would do well with nurse Olivia, until she gave him syphilis. Now I'm convinced he needs to wander through the hospital and find the Audiology department. I'm sure there's a nice audiologist for him there. There aren't enough audiologists on tv, really.

Sure, there are things that bother me about the show. Like how two male attending physicians have had romantic attachments to two female interns. Or how all the female interns seem to wear the same style long-sleeved shirt underneath their scrubs. Or how Dr. McDreamy's wife wears ugly salmon scrubs and won't move back to New York.

I think tonight's episode is a recap episode. If you haven't watched "Grey's" before, check it out.

If you're not watching "Grey's" tonight, go rent "Arrested Development". Then write Fox and tell them how much you like it, and would like them not to cancel it. Then write the other television networks and tell them how much you like "Arrested Development", and how they should pick up the show after Fox cancels it. Save our Bluths!!!!

The best laid plans

I had great plans for this weekend. They included taking down my Christmas tree, ice skating, knitting my new scarf, and shoe shopping.

Fate, it seems, had other plans.

Remember when I went running in crappy shoes? Ever since then, my right foot has been very sore. Like, can't walk on it sore. This is most vexing. It is the most troubling of my current injuries, which also include a skinned knee, a sore arm, and a lacerated index finger.

So instead of getting things done, I am sitting on the couch, entertaining myself with Season 1 of Arrested Development on DVD (brilliant, by the way. Save our Bluths!), back-to-back episodes of Much Music's Video on Trial (my new favourite Much Music show), and syndicated episodes of Season 1 of Alias (where Sydney is a non-pregnant super-spy and Vaughn has less prominent forehead wrinkles).

Hopefully my foot will get better tomorrow, so I can leave my apartment. I'm running low on Pepsi.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Intrigue abounds at this year's BMO 2006 Canadian Figure Skating Championships....

2004 Ladies champ Cynthia Phaneuf is out. Who will be Canada's #2 ladies skater at the Olympics? My guess whoever survives the traditional Canadian Ladies free skate splatfest.

Jeff Buttle has gone back to his "Samson and Delilah" free skate from two seasons ago, scrapping his tribute to Glenn Gould. He has not had much success with his new free skate on the competitive circuit this season. Shades of Sale and Pelletier's switch back to "Love Story" in 2002. And we all know how that turned out...

Who will be Canada's #2 dance team at the Olys? Venerable Skate Canada ambassadors Wing & Lowe, or up-and-coming youngsters Virtue and Moir? Do Dubreuil and Lauzon even have a chance at the Olympic podium now that Tanith Belbin's American citizenship came through and she and her partner Ben Agosto are going to the Olympics after all?

As for the pairs... well, it's not that exciting. But I will say that Valerie Marcoux looks *a lot* like my friend Amanda. So I hope she and her partner win.

Is it wrong to enjoy figure skating this much? As a follow-up, is it wrong to be scheduling nighttime activities during my family's trip to London so I can maximize my Olympic figure skating tv time?

See the pretty girl in that mirror there...

Wonder of wonders, I am having a good hair day. Not just a good hair day, but a Really Good Hair Day. I don't want to jinx it by dwelling on it, but I attribute my good fortune to washing my hair with only one hand, while the other was wrapped in a baggie and two grocery bags to keep my dressing dry. Let's just say my hair is parted nicely, has great waves, is decidedly not frizzy, and leave it at that.

Speaking of people with good hair, how much do I love Abby and Luka - The Sequel on ER? This has got to be one of my favorite ER couplings in a while. I had relatively neutral feeling towards them during their first go-around, but I *adore* them now. This surprises me, since I was a hard-core fan of Abby and Jake-the-surgical-intern last season. However, I am concerned re: the kiss-of-death pregnancy storyline. It didn't work on The X-Files during season 8, and it's really not doing anything for me on Alias this season. Is this the end of ER?

And holy cow, Dancing the the Stars is on tonight! Is there anything better than ballroom dancing in primetime? Bring on the Quickstep!

Ready to Run?

As some of you in my vast readership may know, I recently started running. You also may know that my sneakers were recently stolen from my car, along with some other precious items (like my new coat). I finally got a pair of new sneakers on sale from the Source for Sports, but once I got them home, I found they were slightly uncomfortable. So today I left work early and went to the Running Room, where the well-informed salesperson found a lovely, comfy, costly pair of sneakers for me.

So now I have two pairs of sneakers.

And I can't take the Source for Sports ones back, cause they were deeply discounted. I can only exhange them for credit. In Charlottetown. Where I do not live.

But I really like my Running Room ones. Even if they are orange.

Meanwhile, I went running today in sneaker-like shoes I bought at Payless a few years ago.

Here is my playlist I use when I run. Discuss amongst yourselves, if desired.

1. Reel & Roll - Rawlins Cross. A wonderful song, especially when sung by Joey Kitson. It's also exactly 5 minutes, the length of my warmup.

2. Fair Phylis I Saw Sitting - King Singers. A song my UNB choir sang last year. The lyrics are ridiculously engaging.

3. Ice Cream - Anne of Green Gables - The Musical. Is anything more delectable? I think not.

4. Bastarache - Barachois. I lurve me some Barachois. I was very late to join the Barachois bandwagon, but I lurve them just the same.

5. Solla Sollew - Suessical The Musical. The plot of this musical leaves a lot to be desired, but the music is fantastic. I want to go to Solla Sollew.

6. Movin' On Up - Theme Song to the Jeffersons. Being the tv junkie I am, this song is one of my favorite themes, and reminds me of my early years.

7. Make Your Own Kind of Music- Mama Cass Elliot. Yes, that's right, the only song in Canada Rocks that wasn't Canadian. MAPL that, Queen Elizabeth. Don't even get me started. That being said, it's a great song.

8. Overture - Suessical the Musical. Such happiness and energy, contained in a 58 second overture.

9. Lil' Jack Slade - Dixie Chicks. Proof that all country music does *not* suck, and that every song can be made better with banjo.

10. Celtic Alleluia. A song many Catholic churchgoers may recognize. Short, sweet, and appropriate for the approximate midpoint of my run.

11. Peter's Theme Music - Family Guy. Pure happiness again. Never fails to make me smile. I wish I had my own theme music.

12. Callin' Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks. More country and more banjo. Don't even try to diss Garth.

13. California Dreamin' - Mamas and Papas. Another great "Canadian" song. And it reminds me of a certain road trip to Moncton.....

14. Tomorrow - Annie. This is the version from the newest Disney incarnation, the one with Victor Garber. He's a super spy *and* he can sing. He doesn't sing this song, but that's okay.

15. Follow Me - Fraggle Rock. Some of you may know of my deep, deep love for Fraggle Rock. I played this song incessantly for a month my first year away in Halifax, much to the pleasure of my noisy upstairs neighbors, I am sure.

16. And the Glory of the Lord - Handel's Messiah. One of my favourite choir songs of all time, and possible one of my top 100 favorite songs of all time. Not top 10 or top 20, but right up there.

Alrighty, off to choir I go. Woot.

Ow.

So there I was, chopping a turnip for my supper, when all of a sudden I feel the blade of the knife slicing into my right index finger.

"Ouch," I said.

So, when the bleeding failed to stop after a few minutes, I looked up "Cuts- Bleeding" on the symptom checker at WebMD Health. It told me to apply pressure to the wound for 15 minutes. I did.

It was still bleeding.

I called my mom.

After consultation with my mom, and WebMDHealth, I applied pressure again for 15 minutes.

Still bleeding.

Another 15 minutes of applying pressure...

Still bleeding.

At this point, it was longest I have ever been bleeding in my life. Yes, I have led a relatively uneventful life with regard to bleeding injuries. I started to panic just a wee bit, as I did not want to go to the hospital. I don't like hospitals. Yes, I know I work at a hospital, but I just don't like being a patient. I avoid doctors if I can. No specific reason, really....

So, I called NB TeleHealth and spoke to a nurse. After asking me many questions (are you having trouble breathing? are you pregnant? is it still bleeding?), she told me to go to the ER.

I packed a bag with a few books, my iPod, and change for the pop machine, ready to hunker down for a 4 hour stay at my workplace. When I got to the ER, the nurse looked at my finger, and said, "I can glue that for you right now. How about that?"

So, about 20 minutes later, my cut has been glued together, my right index finger is bandaged and throbbing, and my left arm is aching from my tetanus shot. I feel like Gretl from the Sound of Music, who got her finger caught in Friedrich's teeth, except instead of Friedrich's teeth, I was injured with my own knife.

Thus marks my first visit to the ER in Fredericton, my first personal visit to any ER since I injured my ankle pretending my mom's exercise bike was a motorcycle (I believe I was four), and the birth of my blog.