Yay 4 Uncle Ray!

Today was yet another snowy, dreary winter day but it was totally brightened when this bouquet of flowers was delivered to my office. It was totally unexpected. The ladies in the office were quite jealous that their significant others aren't quite as thoughtful. I've been complaining quite a bit these past couple of weeks about how much this winter is wearing on me and I know these were to put a smile on my face. Ray is hands down the best boyfriend ever and he has such great taste. Check out the cool vase that he picked out and he requested the pink water, great touch I must say. Mr. & Mrs. Delia sure did a great job with this one!!!

Ray's Report

Well, to say that this is a humbling moment would be an understatement. After six months (and 8 blizzards) in Canada, the beautiful Ville de Dieppe has honoured me with an avenue named in my honour in a new development near our home. Whatta country!!! As you can see, I went on a ride-along with upstart FOX News correspondent and Charlie's Adventures (CA) photographer, umm...Charlie, to confirm the action! Note: a small mountain was climbed to secure this photo opp...for you first time readers, tremendous amounts of snow in these parts! Honestly, I think this blog will ultimately get picked up by weather.com for its meteorological insights!

I would have enjoyed "Delia Drive" or "promenade Delia" (French), but I was not consulted on this...I've talked to counsel and was advised to let this slide. My next project will be to land "Logsdon Lane" on the map up here, and I will feel like I will have left our mark on this area! Be sure to stay tuned to Charlie's Adventures as there will be a formal ribbon-cutting with all the trimmings to commemorate "my street" in late-May (weather permitting)...the staff at CA may YouTube this event.

I will try to be more consistent with my "guest posts" in the future as I am getting some heat from the CA publisher about my role in this endeavor. So look for an end of season wrap up & my observations on Year 1 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League sometime next month. Until then, that's the news and I am outta here!

Singing the Winter Blues

I'm making it official - I HATE WINTER! And yes, I know that hate is a strong word. There is not a day in the forecast with a high temperature above freezing...I'm starting to believe that this winter is never going to end. The only way I can tell that it might is that it is staying light out longer every day. Bring it on Spring!!!
Check out this snow pile - it's as high as the light pole. This was taken at the Moncton Coliseum parking lot where Ray works. Do you think that will ever melt???

St. George St. Words of Wisdom

There is a Baptist church located right next to my office building (located on St. George St.) and they update this marquee outside frequently. My favorite message has been "ANGER IS ONE LETTER AWAY FROM DANGER" I'll try to capture these when I see they have been changed. I'm just trying to do my part to spread the good word.

Bowlarama

Well I've got one event behind me at the Cancer Society! I'm happy to report that it was a success. I'm still waiting on a few more pledge sheets to be turned in, but right now I'm $60 off my $10,000 goal (I'm pretty sure I'll get there). Last year the event brought in under $8,000. What's good is that I have several ideas to improve things next year. All-in-all it was fun and a great event. A total of 27 teams came out to participate. In the picture below is my boss Todd, the office manager Julie and myself at the bowling alley. It was great because Ray and the Wildcats participated - big shout out to Willie for coming out as well!!! Ray is in the AZ hat below and Bill is in the black striped shirt (the other guy). They both looked like they were having a great time bowling and have a feeling we will be going back to the Bowlarama to play some more. It was funny because the alley has a bubble hockey machine and the two of them looked like 8 year-olds playing!

WHAT THE MOLD?!?!

WARNING! What I'm about to talk about and show you pictures of is quite troubling...you've been warned.
For the past few months Ray and I have had several physical ailments. I've had a constant headache which I go to bed with and wake up with every morning (along with a chronic sore throat). Many mornings I complain of body aches and sometimes feel almost paralyzed when trying to get out of bed. Also, I feel fatigued, have low energy and my body aches to the touch nearly every day. Ray also has frequent headaches, sore throats in the morning and general body aches.
That brings us to yesterday. We hired a woman to come clean our place. She called me last night to see if I thought everything looked good. She mentioned that she had found quite a bit of mold growing on the window sill in our bedroom. She was quite concerned because breathing it could be fatal. She also said that she didn't check the windows in the other rooms and that we should check them out. I really didn't think too much of it...that was until I went downstairs and saw the field of mold growing on the window sills in the two other rooms. If this woman hadn't come to clean I'm sure the problem would've gotten much, much worse. Because the snow is up higher than the basement windows there's no reason that I would pull the mini-blinds up. I guess everything happens for a reason - I'm so glad that I answered the add in the paper for this cleaning lady.
It's crazy to me that mold was growing here; this is a brand new duplex and we're the first people to live here. The builder of the house (our landlord) lives right down the street and stopped by this morning to check it out. He said that there was too much humidity in the air and said that the exchange valve was set wrong - I still have no clue what he said but apparently what he did should remedy the moisture problem. He probably thinks we're stupid Americans for not knowing this stuff.
I did some research on the internet today and found out how dangerous mold is. There were many warning about cleaning it up as well. I stopped on the way home to get gloves, face mask, safety glasses and mold cleaning solution. Ray is THE MAN for stepping up and cleaning the mold when he got home.

Party on the Pond

This past weekend we took in a bit of the pond hockey action that took place at the annual "Party on the Pond" at Centennial Park in Moncton. The event took place all day on Saturday and until about 1pm on Sunday (I know because we showed up and caught the 5 minute over-time of the final game). It was really cool because it took place on the lake in the park and it had probably 10 sheets of ice cleared off for teams to play pond hockey. It was quite a sight when I saw this huge tractor clearing the snow off the pond, it's obviously frozen solid. I've never seen pond hockey played before so it was quite a treat. The net is much smaller and there isn't a goalie. Although it was cold & snowy, it was really nice to get outside for some fresh air and some real Canadian culture.

Busy, Busy

It's amazing how time consuming a full time job is at times. After a long day at the office, working hard for the money, all I really want to do is put on comfy clothes and veg out on the couch. Unfortunately, this lifestyle has brought on some unwanted weight (I'm not much in the mood these days to brave the cold to get to the gym). Also, I haven't been making as frequent updates to the blog. I know, it's a shame. I understand that I have readers out there just dying to read the lastest post on the exciting life I'm living here in Moncton. The only thing I have to report on is that we're execting yet another winter storm bringing up to 31 centeimenters (about a foot) of snow this weekend. I'm getting to the point that I don't think winter will ever end. Just one more reason for me to stay indoors and pack on the pounds ~ I'm in denial telling myself that I need the added fat to stay warm up here!

Another Great Performance

Last night Michael Bublé put on an amazing show at the Moncton Coliseum in front of a crowd of about 6,000 fans. I saw him a couple of years ago in Phoenix and immediately knew I wanted to see him again when I heard he was coming to Moncton. I love him in concert because he is such a great entertainer. He is very interactive with the crowd and is quite the comedian - not to mention his tremendous voice. If you see that he is coming to concert in your town, you will not be disappointed by the show. I would absolutely pay good money to see him again. In case you have no clue who Michael Bublé is, the video below is of him performing his song "Everything." People love him around here because he is "a nice Canadian boy," eh. The show is fun because even if you've never heard of him before you will still recognize many of the songs that he performs. Although the music isn't really Ray's scene, he did enjoy himself at the show. Oh, and Naturally 7, the group that opened for Bublé, was awesome as well. The group is made up of 7 guys (hence the name) and they guys made all the music with their mouths but sounded like it was a full band with instruments! Great show and I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up!!!