Boom!

Early Wednesday morning Nathan and I were woken up by a really loud clap of thunder. And I'm talking really loud. The house shook, and all the car alarms in the neighbourhood went off. It started to pour rain a little while after so we didn't really think any more about it.

On Wednesday night I went to the gym and found out that apparently it wasn't thunder. Two oil tankers crashed on Hwy. 2 by Airdrie and exploded. The "thunder" we heard was them becoming a raging ball of fire. Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt. Only one of the drivers went to hospital and all his injuries were non-life-threatening. Crazy. They had to close the highway because there was a line of flames across it. One of the trucks veered off the road and went down in the ditch and then back up on the other side. When they exploded, it made a nice little fire trail.

I just can't believe we heard and felt it at our house. And it was really loud, much louder than regular thunder. Scary. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be close to them when they exploded.

Adventures in Waxing

So this past Saturday was my first professional wax. I got a 1/2 leg and underarm wax. Now, I've always been a shaver. I have dabbled in a few of the home waxing kits and found the entire experience painful and not at all rewarding. I always ended up hurting myself AND having hairy legs.

I have to say that the professional wax was much better. It didn't hurt that much and I would say probably 90% of my hair was removed. All in all, quite a satisfactory event. Of course, that was before my armpits swelled up and became all red and blotchy! I have never had such sore armpits before!! Any contact with other skin or pulling or rubbing was complete agony! Sunday I couldn't wear deodorant because it stung so much. And of course, me being the clever person that I am, when I noticed an unappealing odor, my first thought was to spray perfume on my armpits. Ouch. Not so smart. Nathan was laughing at me about all this. Not really laughin out loud, but I know he was on the inside. The comment about me actually having paid someone to do this to me gave him away. =D Oh well. The swelling has gone down down and they're just a bit red. And completely hairless.

Pull the Rug Right Out From Under You

For those of you who read Vanessa's blog, you'll already have learned that my grandfather passed away last Thursday. Mom called at 6:30 in the morning to tell me, just as I was putting my shoes on to go to work. I had stayed home from work on Wednesday, because I was feeling really crappy, almost like I was getting the flu. So, after talking to Mom, even though I didn't want to, I felt I had to go to work. The bus ride downtown was a nightmare. I pretty much couldn't stop crying. Not sobbing mind you, but certainly a steady stream of tears. It was pretty embarassing, but I couldn't really help it. Good thing it wasn't my usual bus. =)

By the time I got to work, I had calmed down enough that I was okay. I managed to make it thr0ugh most of the day without having a complete breakdown. After I talked to Dad, I had to make a beeline for the bathroom, and again after I talked to Mom before she left for Denmark.

And then of course the timing thing that Vanessa talked about. Rene, our wedding photographer called and said that the copy of the engagement picture we ordered was ready. This was the picture that we rushed to get printed, because Mom said we should hurry because she didn't think Morfar would be with us much longer. Go figure.

So I was pretty much a basket case on Thursday. I didn't tell anyone at work about it, because I'm one of those people that doesn't do well with sympathy. It just seems to upset me more, and then they think I'm really upset and they gush more sympathy, and on and on and on.

Friday was better. I was able to think about Morfar without bursting into tears, and I could actually talk about it with Nathan's mom too.

I suppose it wasn't completely unexpected, but things like this certainly have a way of sending you topsy turvy. I'm glad Nathan got to meet all my relatives this summer, even if the engagement picture didn't get to them before Morfar passed away.

I will always remember Morfar as a gentle man with a wicked sense of humour. He constantly had a twinkle in his eye, the twinkle that Nathan says I inherited. He was a wonderful grandfather, despite the barriers of distance and language, and I will love him always.

Beauty and the Bathroom

Hmmm.... Now here is something I just don't get. Okay, maybe I do get it, but I can still be irritated by it. I recently went and purchased an actual beauty product. Not just your off the shelf, London Drugs special, but a tiny bottle of face lotion that cost $22. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the lotion! It's wonderful and doing exactly what it said it would do and my face feels great. But here's the thing. Why is it that fancy beauty products usually say "Apply generously" in the instructions? Do we really need to apply generously? Or is it just a ploy to get us to spend even more money on their little bottles, because we use them up twice as fast? So while I love the new lotion I got and I will probably keep buying it, I just don't quite know how much I should actually be using....

As for the bathroom, I was equally perplexed by the the plumbing at the cabin that my Mom and Dad, Vanessa, Mike, Nathan and I stayed at last weekend. The pipes were reversed for some sinks and not for others. So you get hot water coming out the cold tap and vice versa. This, in itself, isn't so bad. It was the toilet that got me. Hot water in the toilet. Water hot enough that you feel the heat and condensation almost the moment you sit down. That was just weird, not to mention kind of gross. Nobody wants a foggy bum. The owner of the place said it sped up the decay process in the septic tank. I suppose this is a good reason, but I really have to wonder if he's saving any time or money, what with having to heat up water for all the toilets.

On another bathroom note, I recently learned that you're not supposed to keep makeup in the bathroom. Something about the heat and steam is not good for it. So are we all supposed to have a powder room? I was looking around my little house, and I can't think of any place that I could keep my makeup other than the bathroom. Of course, seeing how I've done this for 10 years or so already, I don't really think it makes much of a difference. So I will continue to store my makeup in my bathroom, consequences be damned!!

And now for something completely different...

I got a push mower at Lee Valley yesterday and gave it a whirl today. It's awesome! I love it! No more cranky gas mower!! Yea!!

Nathan and I picked up our engagement photos on Thursday. They're awesome! I love them! Not entirely sure if we're going to send them out to people since it's kind of close to the wedding, but they're just great to have anyway!