The purple tree was found!

Despite my efforts to call every Superstore from St. Stephen to Moncton, apparently they had trees they weren't aware of. My mother was out shopping this week, happened to see the colored trees, and went digging. At the very back of the shelf was the last purple tree, so she bought it for me. YAY! So I now have a purple tree for decorating this year. It is, of course, not as nice as the picture looks, but I like it nonetheless.

Now to dig out my purple lights and decide which small ornaments I can hang on it.

The purple tree

Having a real Christmas tree sitting around while I'm gone to SoCal is somewhat of a fire hazard. That means I won't be getting a real tree for the house this year. I have been contemplating what to do instead, but didn't want to buy a full-size artificial tree. Then I saw this ad in the weekend flyers:



A purple Christmas tree? Sold! Or more accurately, all sold out. I called every Superstore between St. Stephen and Sussex, and all of the purple ones are sold out.

I'm going to do some digging around online to see what I can find. I see a few on eBay, but I'm getting tired of seeing the cost of shipping be so high just to ship to Canada.

I'm being stalked

I have stalkers at my office. Or, as they are more commonly known, mice. I was sitting at my desk yesterday and saw something gray and dust bunny-looking under my desk on the mousetrap (which was still there from the last time I had mice in my office). I had Scott check it out, and he told me I'd better leave.

Needless to say, I've been having the heebie-geebies for last 24h. Why do they insist on always hanging out around me? I have kept food in plastic containers in here, and never leave food garbage lying around, so I think it must be the warmth from the equipment that draws them to this room. Why, though, do they always end up near my desk instead of elsewhere?

I have somewhat seriously considered suggesting we have an office cat. I have also given some thought to borrowing Zed, as he is a good mouser. ;)

It could be worse... they are only in my office.

Ketchup & Trivia

I'm not a big fan of the Mediterranean restaurant. I haven't eaten a dish there for which there isn't a better version elsewhere in the city. I was there for lunch yesterday and had very soggy fish & decent chips.

What I did like about being at the Mediterranean yesterday was the ketchup. Ketchup? Yes, ketchup. I apparently missed hearing about this, but Heinz partnered with Hasbro at the end of 2006 to produce these ketchup packets. The trivia questions coincide with last year's release of Trivial Pursuit 80s Edition.
I absolutely love this idea, even if it wasn't exclusively 80s trivia. What a great way to pass the time while waiting for your food... even better that the readable place mat or Coffee News. ;)

The Menagerie

I had originally stopped by the Empire Theatres website to see if they were showing The Beatles' "Help!" on November 26th. Unfortunately, Cineplex Odeon is the chain that is doing this special showing. My mother would have really enjoyed that, so I was considering taking her to see it. Alas, no dice. In the meantime, though, I stumbled on this:


I am sooooo pumped to see this. Had I not stopped by the Empire website today, I wouldn't have known anything about it. I also decided I had better sign up for their weekly newsletter so that I don't miss these types of events again.

Original series Star Trek has always been a favorite of mine. I own all 3 seasons on DVD, but seeing this episode on the big screen will be so much fun. John and my younger brother are going with me. My brother is particularly interested in seeing this because he's a fan of Capt. Pike.

To resurrect a phrase: woo yeah, yippee yippee yeah yeah.

Thank you, US$

I just found a steal of a deal on a Christmas present for my mother from me, my brothers, and our spouses. The item sells for $730 at Sears. Today I found it on Amazon.com, on a Friday Sale, for US$269.99. With HST at the border, I am coming in at just under $300. You can't tell me that isn't worth a trip to Calais.

Sometimes...

...I'd like to be asked too.

Post-tropical storm after effects

I took the news of the post-tropical storm seriously. I bought supplies, had my flashlight and candles handy, and was ready for some time without electricity. Luckily, none of that was needed. The winds howled overnight, but not loudly enough to keep me awake.

I got up this morning and went to the bathroom, as is my usual first stop. Walking toward the window, I saw something that wasn't normal... a tree was lying on the ground.


I knew I needed this tree removed because it was mostly dead, but removing a tree isn't something I can do on my own. I was going to get Dad's help, but now it's not really necessary. Post-tropical storm Noel came by and brought it down for me. It doesn't appear to have hit or damaged anything on its way down. I guess this is one of the few conveniences of hurricane-force winds.