The Laments Of An Alcoholic Sissy

A face-off between me and a glass of ice wine

Much like the slogan of the Kwazulu-Natal country roads in South Africa, I have zero tolerance when it comes to alcohol. Fact is, I can never hold my own when it comes to drinking. A dead giveaway is when I sip something with just a teensy-weensy bit of spirit and my whole face turns tomato red. Every single time. It's either that or I swoon at the sight of liquor. Frankly I do not know which is worse.

Pity though, because I would really love to totally rock it as a social drinker. I am fascinated by the whole art of drink-making and shaking. And I adore watching my friends make me a drink not strong enough to knock me down. Where's the fun in flooring someone so easily plastered, they say? The more challenging part was to keep me from sinking into a drunken stupor.

But I digress. Guess it is just one of those things. I love it; it doesn't love me back. Alcohol, I mean.

So when we bought ice wines on our trip to Niagara on the Lake last year, it was all for temptation.

You see, regardless of how wine makes me feel, I have a select few that I simply can't resist drinking and getting tipsy with. Such is the case here. After my last sip of ice wines in Germany, I've promised myself that the next time I come into close proximity, I am buying myself a bottle. And that I did.

I have been saving the bottle for some time now, trying to determine a good day to have it. I feel that since drinking a whole bottle will surely render me blotto for days, maybe even a good solid week, the occasion to which I drink to must be apt. But then again, of course, like every experience in life, I know that there never is a good day except for the now.

Now is as good a time as any. I'll drink to that. Care to join me?

Brushing My Teeth Electrically

It's been a long time coming.

I've never been able to justify buying expensive toothbrushes before but after having my teeth properly looked at by the dentist recently and the dentist's warning that I must take better care of my teeth since I was getting older, I gave in and scoured the net for some reasonably-priced dental investments.

But of course, it's only fair that I buy one for hubby as well. He's had to do without an electric toothbrush longer than I have. Although I've jokingly told hubby that he does not really need one since he wears dentures and has so few teeth for the brush to work on.

But hey, a tooth is a tooth, right? They need salvation and maintenance, however few they may be.

We've had our his-and-hers electric brushes now for a few months and so far so good. We have not been electrocuted so that must be a really good sign.

Here's to good dental health from here on out....

Netflix On



I knew it was just a matter of time. After queuing on Boxing Day at Bestbuy and walking away with a smart blu-ray player, I had the sinking suspicion that my membership of Netflix was happening one way or the other.

According to Wikipedia, Netflix Inc. is an American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media available to North and South America, the Carribean, United Kingdom, Northern Europe, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States, where mailed DVDs are sent via Permit Reply Mail.

The first month's subscription is free. Methink this is so that they can reel you in to all the benefits of the system. But there was no "reeling in" required on my part. I was already convinced that I wanted Netflix long before I got the smart blu-ray player. I was just biding my time. "You've gotta get it to get it", as Netflix says. And I got it before I even got it, LOL.

Some people have complained though that the selection and ranges are different from country to country, sometimes a bit unfair between Canada and the US. For example, "Most good series are already available elsewhere, why is it not available in our region?", "Why are there more choices in the US than our region?", etc. etc. Well, I suppose, Netflix is not without its faults, but since I have not been a member for too long (just going on 4 months now), the variety still seems endless to me.

After the first 30 days are up, the monthly subscription becomes $7.99 monthly (at the time of going to press, circa April 2014). Termination of services seemed easy enough with just an email stating so and the immediate disconnection occurs at the end of your billing cycle (which is normally within a month).

All you simply need is a smart device (it can be a TV, PC, mobile, table, etc.) and an internet connection.

For a list of supported devices, check out Netflix on Wikipedia. For Netflix sign up, visit their page. So far I haven't been disappointed.

Super-Duper Souvenirs At Souvenir City Headquarters

One of the places we stopped by while we were on our Niagara Falls visit last Spring was Souvenir City Headquarters.

The place consisted of a group of shops that sold souvenirs. Yeah, I know, it doesn't really sound like much. But the gigantic offerings (and I really mean, huge) and photo opportunities were certainly more than enough to hold us up at the place by an hour or two. As always, being a height-deficient person, I am fascinated by all things smaller...or in this case, larger than me.

Well, I don't have much to add here so I will just sit back and let you enjoy the photos.

Mountie Moose

Postcard

Side Dish

Teaspoons

Thimble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flat pendant

Thermometer

Trick Or Treat Springs Up

No, it's no April Fools joke. I am indeed posting a Halloween story in April.

Since I keep insisting on the wrong season here, talking about loving fall at first sight and spending it with pumpkins on my previous posts, allow me to just continue on. Our fall activity antics included Halloween Day. Or Night, since it all happened at sundown, anyways.

Halloween was never really celebrated that much in the Philippines nor in South Africa. For those of you who don't know, last year was our first full year in Canada and so it was a real "treat" for us to experience proper Halloween for the first time.

Never truly understood how excited kids get until I saw my kids in their costumes that day. They went off to school in costumes. And in the afternoon, there was a touch-up make-up session in preparation for the trick-or-treating.

The adults dressed up in costumes as well, but the kids had the biggest kick out of the whole thing. Trick or treat started at around 6pm and although it rained, the kids didn't mind walking around the neighbourhood one bit. They came back with goodies galore - chips, chocolates, sweets, you name it - enough to last them a few years.

Youngest and her goodies

For that day, my youngest was Skelita Calaveras, a Monster High character. I was a "sort of" witch with a big mole in the face. And my eldest, who looked like the Easter Bunny of Halloween in my opinion, was a white polar bear or so she says.

Oh, what an amusing night it was. So vividly captured in my mind!

Do you remember much about your last Halloween?

Me, the odd witch