linkity-links

Mat and i have been busy (as usual) around the house. Last weekend, while it poured rain, we each tackled our own "little" hands-on project.

Ok, so mine was little and Mat's was... not so little.

I refinished a cutlery box (what else would you call those wooden boxes that you keep your good cutlery in with dividers that separate each kind??) and Mat built shelves in the garage.

The shelves?? They are AWESOME! all the junk is off the floor and onto the shelves all neat and tidy like. I'm a very proud wife and even more proud that Mat didn't lose any fingers with the scary saw. I swear - everytime he turned on the saw, i would stop what i was doing, frozen, until i heard it go off without any screaming like "OWWW I JUST CUT OFF MY FINGER!!"

Seriously people, i am a worry wart when it comes to these things and my stomach was in knots the whole time Mat was in the garage building these shelves. Even when i had to leave the house to get something i was worrying to myself that if something DID happen to him, he would be alone...who would drive him to the hospital? Would he know to put pressure on the wound? Would someone pack his finger in ice and bring it to the hospital?? I kid you not, this is what i thought about until i was back home. And then, when i was home, i worried about him cutting off his finger(s) while i was home because, honestly? I would have panicked and fainted and that wouldn't have helped anyone especially Mat and his severed finger....

Clearly you can tell i'm happy that the shelf-building is finished and the saw is put away for a good long while...

I'll post pics soon, but mine isn't complete yet, and i want to show you the before and after.

So you see how much i care about Mat (see above worrying) now i want to do something for him that shows how great of a wife i am. I want to prove my husband WRONG. Because what marriage isn't about who's right??

You see, La Petite Chic is having a giveaway. She's giving away a wii fit AND I WANT IT BADLY. I want it because it would be so cool and i could work out and have fun at the same time, but i mostly want it to prove Mat wrong. I have asked Mat for a wii fit for a while now, and everytime i do, he laughs at me and says "No, because you will never use it. Just like that treadmill we have sitting over there". But internets, i P-R-O-M-I-S-E you that i wiiiiiill use it :)

So keep your fingers crossed for me. If i win it, you can come over and work out with mii :)

Before i go, i want to say a few belated congratulations to Sara on the arrival of her adorable baby boy, Emery who was born on October 5 (one day after my wedding!) and to Lara who just learned she is having twins! Congrats ladies :)

Well that was fun, wasn't it??

Things seem to have sorted themselves out with the car....or at least my dad did most of the sorting out for me.

I left the car back in Oshawa because i didn't want to risk damaging the engine by bringing it back to Ottawa.

We weren't sure exactly what we were going to do with it, but our options were to get it fixed or cancel the deal.

Cancelling the deal seemed like the safest answer, but it definitely would have been the most difficult and time consuming. I spent a good chunk of Monday morning trying to figure out what my rights are as a consumer (very hard to tell) and seeking advice from my lawyer colleagues.

Cancelling the deal would have had the most repercussions including the bank having a lien on the car because they gave us the loan. I was also worried about being charged with theft since i had the car in my possession (i would have returned it obviously) but cancelled the cheque.

It was all so very confusing.

In the meantime, my dad took the car to a mechanic to have the etest redone (he was suspicious that the results the dealer gave us had been doctored). The etest came back exactly the same as the results the dealer gave us. Afterwards, they hooked the car up to the car computer thingy and determined what the problem was.

In the end, i talked with my dad and Mat and we decided that the repair that needed to be done did not indicate that the car was a lemon or that it had been abused or misused. It could have happened to any car and it was probably (hopefully) just a terrible coincidence that it showed up the day i drove it away.

We decided to go ahead and get the car fixed (still hadn't heard back from the dealer at this point) and try to get the money back for the repairs from the dealer.

I know it was very hopeful and naive of me to think that the dealer would pay me back for repairs that i did to the car before giving him the opportunity for him to fix it himself, but i didn't want him to fix it anyway and if he wasn't going to reimburse me the $380 for the repairs, then i could - if i wanted to - take him to small claims court or swallow the cost and still have the car for a decent price.

When the repair was done, i called the dealer. He answered my call (!) and i started to explain everything that happened. How the misfiring started before i even got back to Oshawa, how the check engine light was on, how we tried to call him and left 3 messages, how i had to leave the car in Oshawa, how we took it to a mechanic, what was wrong with the car, and how i decided to have the car repaired. I told him it cost $380 and just as i was going to tell him that i expect him to pay for the repairs, he interrupted me and said "not a problem. Please send me the bill and i will send you a cheque for the cost."

Ummm


That was not what i was expecting. I was ready for a fight and an argument. It had taken me almost 10 minutes of staring at the phone and deciding what my argument points were before i picked up the phone and called him.

"ok...." i responded. "thanks".

He apologized and again said to fax him the bill and he would send me a cheque.

After that, it made me feel a lot better. I sincerely hope this guy is as honest as he seems and now i'm just glad to have a nice new car.

Thanks for all your support, guys. It means a lot :)

We are stronger than me

I am not a strong person, probably in any sense of the word.

I rely heavily on the people in my life to help me through most of life's situations.

Yesterday was no different.

Everything was going so well. I had done my research, i had test-driven the car, i had brought my dad out with me to ask questions, look it over and give me his opinion. And then yesterday when i picked it up, hoping just to drive it straight home, my worst nightmare was realized.

The car has problems. I called the dealer right away and told him that the check engine light was on and that the car was misfiring. He told me to bring it right back and he would look at it.

"It's just bad gas making the car misfire" he said. "I'll just put some gas line anti-freeze in to dry up the water that's causing it to misfire". He did, it ran fine and the check engine light went off.

~phew~ i thought as i drove away for the second time.

The trip back to my parent's house from the dealer was 2 hours. By the time i got home, the car was misfiring again and the check engine light was on.

I felt like i had been kicked in the stomach.

I felt like i had been had.

For most of the ride home the hairs on my body were standing on end and the back of my neck felt white hot.

"What have i done??", i thought to myself.

Needless to say i was very upset. I felt powerless.

Over and over i asked myself "what have i just done??"

I was so upset, i knew i couldn't call the dealer again. I would not be able to stay composed. And although my Dad said he wanted me to fight my own battles, he could see how upset i was, and called the dealer for me.

There was no answer, so my dad left a message and called the dealer two more times and left messages.

My dad called his friend who is a mechanic and explained the problem. He advised us not to drive the car because you could cause further damage.

My sister was there and i asked her for a hug. A hug that i needed badly. She told me it would be ok in the end and wanted me to explain why i was so upset.

I couldn't really explain it, except for the fact that i am a very emotional person and lots of things make my upset, but i tried to explain that i felt like i had been had by this guy and that i just spent a lot of money on a lemon and i didn't know what my rights are at this point.

Can i put a hold on the cheque until this problem is resolved?
Can i take it to a dealership and have it repaired and make him cover the costs?
Can i cancel the deal based on the fact that the car is not in the same condition as when i agreed to buy it?

I'm not sure where i'm going with this, but last night i realized that by myself, as a single person, i am weak.

When i am surrounded by my supporters, my family and my friends, i have strength and i have confidence.

If it weren't for Mat's calm and reassuing attitude that when it's fixed, everything will be ok, i would be a wreck.

If it weren't for my dad's take charge attitude to talk to the dealer and get this resolved, and for his determination to gather as much information by calling people he knows, i would be lost.

If it weren't for my sister's loving and positive attitude, i would still be upset.

There are a lot of things i can do on my own, but for things that i can't, i am happy to have "Team Roz" on my side.

Hitched

JUST back from our honeymoon in Turks in Caicos only a few hours ago.

I know some of you are about to kill me, so i'll leave you with a few pics taken by various members of my fam and friends.

I'm DESPERATELY waiting for the professional pics from these guys (i know, i know, it takes time to go through 3000 shots right???) and i promise to write a bit about the day very soon.

For now, please accept these....

And now i'm a Mrs.....

Vegas Baby

I'm back from Vegas for my 1st bachelorette party.....




Wow.




2 days of non-stop partying and to my surprise, i was up for every minute of it.

If you know me, you know that i'm hard to motivate to go out clubbing. For the most part i like it when i get going, but any of my friends will tell you that i'm terrible at actually agreeing to get out and go.

The weekend was a combined bachelor/ette party for Mat and I with guys and girls out separately on Friday night and then everyone out together on Saturday night.

The party extravaganza started on Thursday night when Mat and i drove from Ottawa to Oshawa and then on to Buffalo on Friday (approx 8 hour drive in total).

We landed in Vegas around 7pm which gave us barely enough time to grab our rental car, head to my cousin's house where we "slept" for the weekend, change and get to our respective places.

Mat headed to the hard rock for an outdoor poolside concert and then off to Olympic gardens for who knows what exactly...

I headed to my sister's hotel room to start the party. We started off with the usual bachelorette party shenanigans of pin the penis on the man, and other penis related games. Very funny.

Then the rest of the night just seemed to fly by. First we stopped at a new vegas night club, Jet where we had VIP passes and an open Bar...sweet!!

Then we made our way to the Palms where we also received VIP treatment (skipped the snaking line AND didn't have to pay the $40 each cover charge) where we were ESCORTED to MICHAEL PHELPS' VIP SUITE

OMG

OMG

OMG


i am a HUGE Michale Phelps' fan. i couldn't believe our dumb luck.

After the Palms, everyone headed back to their resepective hotels (i think it was around 3 am) except for my cousin and I who wanted to meet up with the guys at Olympic Gardens.

When we got there we only found 3 of the 5 guys. Mat and his friend were missing and the other guys assumed that they went home. My cousin and i convinced the 3 guys who were my brother, my cousin's brother and her husband to come upstaris with us to see the male performers. Needless to say, someone bought me a lap dance which took place on stage. i was DYING. Have you ever been given a lap dance in front of your brother and male cousin? It's awkward even when you're drunk...lol

After a couple of hours we decided to call it a night and head home. When we got home, Mat was no where to be found. I was FREAKING out and started to call everyone. Finally my brother and my cousin found Mat - he had passed out in the bathroom and was being kicked out of the club just as they were leaving. Finally Mat made it home.

I think my head hit the pillow around 6am which would have been 9am Ottawa time...

I'll tell you all about Saturday night tomorrow. i even have pictures!!

Can't get enough of this song

Love, love, love this song.

The story of the stamps.

aaaaannnd.....exhale........

Our biggest conference is finally over! It's been a long few months scrambling to get everything done for our conference in Quebec City but it's done. Finito.

I came home from a long 1.5 weeks in Quebec City. I love Quebec City, but man, were those days ever long. From 6 am to midnight every day. I'm zonked.

It's been tough planning the wedding and this huge conference at the same time, but for the next 6 weeks (SIX WEEKS!) i can focus on wrapping up the wedding stuff.

Did i mention the wedding is only 6 weeks away??!!

I never did tell you the story of the stamps, did i?

Well, if you didn't think i was a bridezilla before, this should change your mind.

So, i'm a bridezilla as my friends often tell me. But i'm not the mean kind of bridezilla. I don't boss my friends around and tell them they have to buy a certain shoe, or buy a certain dress or wear their hair a certain way. But i AM a bridezilla when it comes to the details of my wedding (which, by the way, i often don't think of as my wedding when i'm in planning mode, but just another event that i'm planning). I'm pretty detail-oriented.

So, yes, the stamps. One element of the invitations is of course the stamps on the outside envelope and on the reply card. I wanted to get stamps custom made which you can do through Canada post, but it works out to being about twice as much as buying a regular stamp. It doesn't seem like a lot, but if you normally put a 52 cent stamp on an envelope and that doubles to over a dollar and you need to send out about 70, that's of course, over $70 bucks.

On stamps.

To go one direction.

Of course, double that because you need the reply card to come back which brings you to over $140 (probably closer to $150). Add to the fact that your invitations are HEAVY and bulky and you can probably double that again so add another $70 and you're up to (gone to get the calculator) $220. And don't forget about the international guests so you're looking at about $300.

$300 bucks on stamps. And that doesn't include thank you notes.

NOT IN THE BUDGET.

Sooooo, i nixed the custom stamp idea right away.

However, you know i'm not going to put a crummy regular-old stamp on the invitations that i spent so many hours crafting and perfecting. For some reason the queen's face just doesn't go well with chocolatey autumn flowers.

So i scoured the internet and the canada post website for nicer stamps.

And i found them.

And they were PERFECT!

OH! i was SO HAPPY to find such lovely stamps that cost the same as a regular stamp.

They are commemorative stamps of Ottawa being the capital of Canada for 150 years. They had a gold background (um, perfect fall colour?!) with a beautiful picture of parliament (we live in Ottawa!). They cost 52 cents -------> IN THE BUDGET!

I count out how many i need taking into consideration the distance my invitations need to travel, the weight of my invitations and the reply cards. I enter in the quantity and click submit.

A message pops up: "unavailable"

hmm....maybe i've ordered too many. I try fewer. Still the message reads: "unavailable".

I try to order just one, because surely they have just one of these stamps. Message reads: "unavailable".

fak.

Now, i admit to being a pretty stubborn person and when i decide i want something, damnit, i WANT IT!

i drive to the nearest post office and describe the stamp i'm looking for. The girl says they came out a year ago and that they don't have any left.

I drive to the next post office. Same thing.

And the next one, and the next one. They are completely sold out.

Remember how i said i was stubborn? Still not convinced that i can't have what i want.

i call my mom and my dad who live in another city and tell each of them to scour every post office in the city for these stamps. i put a message on my facebook. i tell everyone i know to look for these stamps.

And then. My director comes to me and says she has a friend who works for Canada Post. Her friend is the executive assistant to the CEO.

She calls her friend.

Her friend calls THE DIRECTOR OF STAMP SERVICES.

I get a call from THE DIRECTOR OF STAMP SERVICES AT CANADA POST.

He wants to know how many of these stamps i need because he can get some for me and can have them RUSH DELIVERED.

*blink*

*blink*

I got my stamps the next day and i'm as happy as a clam.

All i had to do was ask the Director of Stamp Services at Canada Post. Who knew?