So, naturally, it would take a water mishap in my basement to kickstart my room cleaning operation. But, here I am, boldly digging into the dusty corners, unearthing stuff that I didn't even know that I had. In other house news, the beautification project has come to a temporary halt. My parents are feeling a bit guilty about the amount of work my uncle has been putting in, including some sweltering work up in our attic (which, after 24 years, I discovered was not quite so scary...or littered with dead bodies). In any case, after a week and a half, we have a new bathroom floor, new faucets, a new exhaust fan in the kitchen, and a new light fixture/ventilation unit in the upstairs bathroom. As a TLC junkie, I have to admit that it's not incredibly impressive, but hey, we don't have half the resources that Trading Spaces has, but we do have more than $1000. Not that we've spent that much, but we still have a kitchen floor to tile.

"There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to"

This city still surprises me. This was discovered as I was walking around on Saturday, wandering into various famous and not-so-famous buildings in a popular downtown area. The box seats at the Canon Theatre really suck in terms of the view. Walking up a neverending claustophobic circular wooden staircase up to the bell tower of the Metropolitan United Church gave me France flashbacks. Old City Hall was a great history lesson, not just about the city but also in a personal way (it's where my parents were married). Osgoode Hall is apparently a popular place for wedding photos (we saw three different parties). Mountain Equipment Co-op's rooftop garden is quite impressive, and adds to the whole environmentalness of the building (which, if you didn't know, consists of around 60% recycled or reclaimed materials). Plus, it was a cool experience to be on a roof in the middle of downtown Toronto. If you've never participated in Doors Open, I highly recommend trying it next year.

The beautification of the Lee household continues. The floor of the downstairs bathroom is almost retiled, and once the sink faucet is replaced we'll be able to use it again. I know I should be used to sharing one bathroom with five people, but it's different when everyone wants to shower at the same time of day. One week to go, with two other rooms to complete.

Lesson of the day: Origanum vulgare is apparently not good to use for cooking.

"Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city"

All things happen in three's, both good and bad. I'm happy to report that this time, it's all about the good things. What good things have happened to me lately?

1. I am back in the black, since I received my tax return a couple of days ago. Quite possibly the fastest return EVER, especially since I did it the old-fashioned way.

2. I received a phone call yesterday regarding employment. Not to jump the gun or anything, but there is a chance I may be relocating to la belle province. We'll see if they like me.

3. The marks are in, and I MADE IT. No more worrying, no more stress...I will be going to Convocation in June.

"Can't wait for tomorrow, I might not have that long"

I said a little while ago that the more things change, the more you realize things are changing. At the same time, some things are forever frozen in time. In this case, it's friendship. It's a rare thing to be able to pick up where you left off ten years ago. But there we were, the EVIL, reunited and having adventures just like we used to. Except this time we were wandering around in the forest, running out of Smarties, attempting to cross a swamp without getting dirty, encountering deer without hitting them with a car, somehow finding ourselves on the other side of the highway, and being honked at as we walked along the side of the road littered with, among other things, discarded toupees. Good times.

My mother is desperately determined to get rid of my beloved turtle. Well, not necessarily beloved, but he's a survivor (he outlasted his two brothers) and he is now the size of...I can't think of anything that could compare, but let's just say that he's damned huge. He used to fit neatly in my palm, and now I can't even hold him by the shell with one hand anymore. Poor thing spends his day trying to climb up the glass of the tank. And yet when he's released in the backyard, he doesn't move an inch, even after three hours. Sadly, I'm starting to think that maybe he would be better off in a roomier, more turtle-friendly environment. Anyone interested?

Lesson of the day: There's no such thing as a "simple renovation".

"Here I am, stuck in the middle with you"

Call me a girly-girl if you want, but whenever I get a new pair of shoes I become all giddy and excited. I don't really understand why. Even if they're just running shoes, for christ's sake. And it rarely happens for any other clothes, unless it was an incredible bargain. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I guess it could be labelled a "fetish", but it's not an uncontrollable obsession. Maybe the infrequent purchasing of footwear leads to my being all happy about it when it happens.

Today is a day of cosmic freebies. First up, a few days ago I received free passes to an advance screening of "Down With Love" that is taking place later tonight. Where did they come from? According to the envelope, I was blessed by MuchMoreMusic. I have no recollection of even attempting to obtain these passes, but whatever. I have this habit of entering every useful contest I can find. When I say "useful", I mean that I would actually want the prize if I won it, and as long as I don't have to do anything other than give them my name and a way to contact me. Plus, this seems to be a very appropriate belated NoMan event, since the festivities were unfortunately postponed this year. I can't wait to be immersed in the gaudiness of the Sixties.

Today is also the day of the Matrix Reloaded. My brothers and I went to see it this afternoon, and were surprised when, during the ticket purchasing process, we obtained $15 worth of free food. How, you ask? It just so happens that whoever used the ticket machine before we did bought a concession ticket but it had remained hidden in the machine. When we bought our tickets, it popped out. Whoever was before us probably thought they were ripped off and were hopefully compensated by the establishment. Nothing beats guilt-free free food.

Lesson of the day: No matter how full you are, there's always room for popcorn.

"I like it here, it's nice in here, I get everything for free"

A Tribute to my Mother:
A little while ago someone told me that my mothering instincts are...I believe the word was "staggering". It got me thinking yesterday about how the hell I turned out this way. Looking back, I should really be the biggest spoiled brat on the planet. My mother did everything for me when I was growing up: cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, health care, etc. And she continues to do so. I never had a real job until I got to university. She always bought me things, and even now she always asks me if I have enough money and offers to give me more. At dinner she would always eat the less desirable parts of the chicken or fish and leave the tastier morsels for the rest of us. My mother dedicated her life to caring for me and my brothers ever since I was born, putting aside her career. These days, significantly fewer people can say that. So then, why am I not a horribly selfish, self-involved person? I guess what ended up happening is that I didn't take advantage of my mom, but I learned by her example. Another possibility would be that it's an inherited trait, in which case I have my mom to thank for that (partially) as well. I can only hope that I'll be as successful when it's my turn.

Happy Mother's Day to all your moms. Please give her a hug for me.

"I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life"

Adventures in Vanity: Like all Chinese people, I'm inherently drawn to discounts, and when I received one for a local salon and spa that I had visited in the past, I was thinking, why not get a facial? I had recently gotten my hair cut and coloured, so those options weren't very feasible. Utilizing the spa aspect didn't seem like a bad idea. For those of you who may have experienced facials before, you will probably understand when I say that, at one point during the procedure, I suffered through some unanticipated pain. While this was going on, I had two main thoughts. 1) This was not in the brochure, and 2) Thank God I decided to stick with the half-hour facial and not go along with the full hour that the lady had tried to sucker me into at the beginning. The lady actually joked with me about that last point while she continued to puncture my face. Evil. So, I emerged from the salon a little redder than when I had walked in, contemplating whether I was ever going to subject myself to that again. I think that if I ever do venture down that road again, I'm definitely going to prep my face in advance.

"I am beautiful, no matter what they say"

Interesting sight on the highway. There was a cube van-type vehicle driving beside us, except the cube part was silver metallic and there were were windows on each side. Within the cube you could see rows of seats similar to those on school buses. Nothing else was weird about it, except the driver side door of the van had the name of a company, which mentioned something about "live bait".

As far as I could tell, there were no specimens in the cube.

Three other things were observed today as I was either walking or driving around my neighbourhood.
1) I have to make sure that I live somewhere near a park when I grow up. Preferably a park with a water source.
2) Goaf's house, or what I think is Goaf's house, has been sold. It's funny that I still think of him as "Goaf" first, and "Ian Gardiner" second.
3) I drove past what my mother has dubbed the "homicide house" on Lloyd Manor on my way to the grocery store. The windows are boarded up and it's still surrounded by yellow police tape.

Lesson of the day: The more things change, the more you realize that things are changing.

"I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems, got to open my eyes to everything"

Have you noticed that there are certain people in your life that you bump into in the most unusual places? I discovered today that I have one of those. His name's Arthur, a guy I know from a conference that I used to help organize. Today, as I was exiting from a washroom corridor in one of the more obscure areas of the Eaton Centre, he was just passing by at that exact moment on his way to Indigo. We chatted a bit before we went our separate ways. The last time that I randomly bumped into him (other than at the aforementioned conference) was in a ride line at Canada's Wonderland almost two years ago. I've been experiencing a number of cosmic coincidences lately. And...that's all I have to say about that.

Lesson of the day: The Chinese translation of "Black Hawk Down" has the number 15 in it.

Now I leave you with this:

Me: "Hey Dad, Bush is on TV again."
Dad: "Do I care?"
Me: "It's cutting into the regular programming."
Dad: "Oh, then I DO care!"

As it turns out, there was no disruption to the hockey broadcast. My daddy's funny.

"Everytime I look around, it's in my face"