that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • Google Analytics

    Ok, how many of you have set up Google Analytics to scan your site as traffic comes through and give you some half-assed Urchin stats?

    And please, I beg, how many of you have actually have any stats come through? I know I did it right, but I’ve been waiting for +36 hours now for anything to happen! How are businesses meant to rely on Google Analytics? Even mini-tiny businesses want stats within less than 24-36 hours!!!

    For those who may have missed out on the scoop – Google Analytics is the new thingy to track traffic to your site! Mhhmm yeah mom, I know it’s exciting 😉

  • BBC Children in Need

    What? Stars in a Thong?

    Ohhhh Stars Throng to Children in Need.

    Madonna may have been completely and utterly rubbish, and Jordan may have been lip-synching while Peter Andre was singing for real, but hey it’s all for a good cause!

    Truly, what would we do without Terry Wogan? Granted, I turned the TV off before the news so I won’t be seeing Terry (or Natasha) in tights for their breakdancing number, but all in all, Children in Need is a BBC institution and like no other fundraiser I’ve ever seen.

    I’ve been saying this for three or four years now, but I’m amazed at the number of stars willing to make complete fools of themselves for a good cause. (See Eastenders and Catherine Tate. “Do I look bovered??”) And bless the Doctor and Rose for this in-between Doctor-swap episode. Geez, now next season might even make sense! A new, camper and longer-haired Doctor Who!

    Good night kids, and don’t forget to donate! (even if the BT network goes bezerk and becomes too busy, keep trying)

    Last year’s post on BBC Children in Need

  • Owww, it hurts!

    So much work to do, so little brain power time to finish everything!

  • Out of guilt

    I’m posting out of sheer guilt of not having written in a few days… so it’s going to be bullet points tonight!

    • Thursday night was girls’ night with some friends, while the boys went off to play poker. Great night, might just have to become a regular event!
    • Friday, beer at work to cheer to the hard work we’ve done on the new website, followed by a trip to the pub. Followed by a few more drinks at home. Ahoy, gotta love Fridays!
    • Saturday visit to Cambridge to get some new fixtures and bedside lamps to add the finishing touches to our newly repainted bedroom (photos to come once it looks decent!) Saturday evening spent yelling at the TV watching trashy old X Factor and telling Louis Walsh to shove it! (For once, Simon Cowell was right…)
    • Today just flew by, a grey day inside and out. I was an idiot and left the freezer door ajar overnight resulting in loads of wasted food. Grumpy for the rest of the day.
    • Tomorrow going to London, for the World Trade Market expo at ExCeL. Should be an interesting day, to say the least. I don’t really know what to expect other than a whole lot of people. Shall report tomorrow evening!

    For now, it’s sleepy times. London days always require early starts so better get an early night! (any excuse to go to bed early for me!)

  • Already Wednesday?

    How can the week be whizzing by so fast?! I guess I’m just enjoying life these days!

    Sunday night, we took on the challenge of painting our bedroom to get rid of el ultimo nasty lilac colour and the white/lilac/pink border. Yep, genius idea. Except it was a bit more work than predicted…

    Sunday evening was spent scraping the ugly border off, at arm’s length, because I really AM damn short. We started filling in the wall imperfections and putting a magnolia base coat… two base coats, a lot of edging bits, a few rolls of masking tape, a big tub of Natural Straw paint later and 3 evenings later, it’s finally done!

    The bedroom now looks gorgeous, warm and welcoming. With the added bonus that there’s no junk on the floor (yet).

    Monday night, neither me or Andrew worked on the bedroom, as I went karting. It’s been a long time since my last go-kart outing, and this time it was with work colleagues at Kartsport in Caxton. Came second-last in our Team Endurance hour and a half challenge, but who cares, it was fun!

    Anyways… talking about that wonderfully cozy bedroom, I think it’s time to celebrate being able to sleep in the bedroom rather than in the living room by hmm lets see… by going to sleep! Mmmm

  • Didn't blow the town up

    I’ve had such a busy weekend – it’s Sunday night and I’m exhausted, but it was a very fun AND productive weekend, so total success!

    I had Friday off work, and prepared all day for the evening’s fireworks party (a day early for Guy Fawkes day but much more suitable for inviting friends over!) Over 35 people showed up to our little house for the fireworks, BBQ and party. It was brilliant, the fireworks impressed everyone, Andrew didn’t set himself on fire (now that was a surprise…) and we all ate til we were full to the gills. A fantastic time… Just a shame I forgot to take photos, as I was too busy serving food and handling the brouhaha of entertaining everyone. (scuze maman!)

    On Saturday, when the sun came up, we got to admire the mess caused by the fireworks. It wasn’t half as bad as I expected, and we got some help clearing up. Thankfully on Saturday afternoon we got to relax a bit.

    And today, feeling we’d had our day of rest, we put ourselves to the challenge of painting the bedroom. It was a patchily-painted hideously bright lilac room with a white, lilac and shiny pink border. Needless to say, it looked rather too “modern council house”, and we decided to go for the minimalist option of a Natural Straw colour. So after a few hours of scraping the border off and painting a base coat on the walls to even them out and hide the lilac colour, it looks like we’ll be sleeping in the lounge tonight as we can’t yet move back into the bedroom! Tomorrow night, I’ll be off go-karting with some work colleagues so poor Andrew will have to finish the job by himself! I promise I’ll take photos of the room once it’s finished, since I’m sure it’ll be something to be proud of.

    Between layers of paint being applied, I took the time to dye my hair to hide the white hairs. Ok, not really, I just fancied doing my hair in a richer burgundy colour than my natural poop brown one. I should set the record straight, I’m not actually bothered by the 3-4 white hairs, I actually find it quite funny!

    My guess is, between this morning’s energetic jogging session, this afternoon’s wallpaper border scraping and awkward hairdye rinsing-out positions, I’m going to be in complete physical PAIN tomorrow. I can sense I won’t be winning this karting session…

  • Not cool

    I had my hair cut yesterday, yay!
    I’m noticing way more white hairs today. Not good. Not good at all!

    I’m 24, for Dog’s sake! Who the hell gets white hair at 24?!

    It’s decided, I’m dying my hair this weekend. I can probably play the ostrich for a long long time by using hairdye, the best thing since sliced bread. (Or since hair straighteners at least)

  • The Britishness Test

    I’m still just under two years away from being able to apply for Citizenship, but I’m really rather amused by the Britishness Test UK Citizenship Test that every wannabe-Brit has to pass.

    “The 45-minute test – covering government, society and practical issues and costing £34 – comes into force on Tuesday.

    People seeking to become British will take the test at one of 90 centres across the country, before taking part in a formal citizenship ceremony.”

    Puh-lease, what IS Britishness? Being able to say how many seasons of Eastenders there have been? Knowing the latest about Jordan’s private life? Seemingly, it’s knowing the emergency phone number, a somewhat legitimate question, and being aware of a bunch of facts about the Royalty or the Church of England I bet 2/3 of my British-born friends wouldn’t be able to guess in a pub quiz.

    Ask me how to pour a good pint or how to cook Toad in the Hole, and I’ll happily oblige. In the meantime, I’ll pray that, however humourous it may be, the Britishness Test dissapears off the face of Britain before I apply for Citizenship.

    Edit: There! I found my contribution to the Britishness Test! Having to sing the London Underground song from beginning to end!

  • Halloween in Britain

    Halloween in this country really fascinates me. It simply doesn’t catch on! We live in a very family-oriented neighbourhood and have only had a few groups of kids ringing the doorbell. There’s no need to spend the entire evening sitting by the front door, there just aren’t that many kids interested in trick or treating!

    The little devils coming by are genuinely children, no older than 12 or so. They’re all accompanied by parents. They have little pumpkin containers the size of two fists put together, and go home once they’ve filled that up. The idea of running around trying to fill an entire pillowcase worth of candy doesn’t even cross their minds!

    Granted the costumes may not be as amazing as the costumes of SOME North American kids who really make an effort to be original, but the usual Batman, Superman, princesses and ninjas seem to be the most common ones this evening.

    Anyways, I think it’s better this way. I remember when I was a kid, I’d rollerblade to cover as much of the neighbourhood as possible, and would have Halloween candy left over until Easter!

  • How to tell if you are a web nerd

    What a costume! Dressing up as a Google Search Result for Halloween…

    Ricky as a Google Search Result

    (Thanks Patto!)