Culture — Page 69 — You are in My World Now

Tired of hearing about celebrity problems

January 27, 2008 by Tricia

I haven’t been writing in my celebrity blog very much lately. Why? Well for a while there it seemed that just about every star was battling some kind of drug or alcohol addiction or was checking into drug rehab. I simply got sick of writing about it!

Now that a whole crop of new stars are pregnant and or have just given birth perhaps it’s a sign that things are changing on the celeb scene a bit? Maybe I’ll start writing in my blog Celebrity Scoop a little bit more. Actually I hope to start writing about more of the fashion trend and hot items that the stars are buying. Purses, shoes, the latest clothing and try to find comparable products that we, the common people, can afford. Wish me luck?

Our old house

January 26, 2008 by Tricia

Grab the Photo Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Visit participants.

This weeks theme is Old Fashioned

This weeks photo theme is old fashioned and well … my house is of an old fashioned North American style since it was build in 1927.

When we first moved into the neighborhood we met a man who lived across the street at the corner house. He remembered the houses being build and in fact had lived in his house as a child! He moved away as a young adult but bought the house when it was available later in life. So he lived most of his life in that home!

We got a lot of stories about the old neighborhood and what the area used to be prior to housing going up. Basically it was farm land. I guess back then, this was the outskirts of the city, but these days it’s almost downtown!

The photo above was taken a couple of years ago when my husband and I, with the help of some friends, were putting a skylight in the roof of our enclosed porch. That’s why there’s a big hole in the roof … we were only half done the job at that point!

Our house is triple brick and the walls are plaster and lathe – with no insulation! Luckily the house was very well build and it seems warm enough even on very cold winter days.

BTW see our narrow driveway? Our car barely fits in it and it’s a compact car! Believe it or not that’s a shared driveway. We only own half of it! Luckily our older neighbor (Sofie my stalker) doesn’t have a car and doesn’t mind us hogging the driveway all the time. Otherwise we’d have to make a deal with the neighbors to use the driveway half the time or something. No wonder I sometimes think about getting a Smart Car … it would probably fit our half of the driveway easily!

My knees don’t like this cold weather

January 23, 2008 by Tricia

Oh my aching knees!

The weather here in Toronto has been strange this month. January began with a major snow storm, then it warmed up, so much so it seemed very spring like, and then in the last week it’s been like living in the Arctic.

I must be getting older because I’m feeling all these weather changes. Especially when it’s really cold outside. Ok it’s not really aging. I have Crohns disease and it can affect your joints too. I’m sure that’s what it is.

If I’ve been sitting for a while and then have to get up to go upstairs to use the washroom my knees protest. Walking up the stairs really hurts. Of course by the time I’ve been moving around for a little bit knees usually start to feel a bit better, but those first few minutes are bad.

My mom had a bad back and bad knees too. As her pain got worse we started to worry about her walking up and down the stairs. Luckily my parents had set up their home so that they didn’t have to go up and down the stairs all that often, but of course the freezer was in the basement so there would be occasional trips downstairs to get things out of the freezer.

When my father passed away we worried about my mom even more. She got around pretty well – especially when she didn’t have to navigate stairs, but being alone in the house presented new problems. What if she fell on the stairs … there was no one there to hear her fall or to help her.

My husband came up with the idea of installing one of those stair lifts. I think my mother liked the idea, but we could never fully talk her into it.

Now with my knees starting to speak their mind more and more often I almost wish that we’d install a stair lift here. I’m always going up and down the stairs. The main bathroom is upstairs. Now that we have a puppy in the house I’m also going outside and again up and down stairs outside all the time too.

You can bet that if we ever move I’ll be sure to buy a house with a bathroom and maybe even a bedroom on the main floor.

I love Toronto

January 19, 2008 by Tricia

Grab the Photo Hunt code.
Photo Theme. Visit participants.

This weeks theme is Important

There are quite a few things that I hold important to me. My husband, family and friends are at the top of the list, however living in a great city such as Toronto is also important. I love this city!

Enjoying the city is important to me too.

Toronto has lovely beaches, parks, hiking and biking trails, fantastic restaurants and entertainment areas (the theatre district is in the top five largest in the world), great clubs and bars if you’re into the nightlife and a world of opportunities as far as employment goes.

As far as I’m concerned Toronto is one of the best cities to live in. There’s always something going on. Throughout the year there are many different festivals ranging from comedy to photography to simply celebrating the city.

Deep freeze in Toronto

January 19, 2008 by Tricia

I’m my last post I was talking about how rude people kept blocking the sidewalk as I tried to walk to my doctors office the other day.

When I got home the running shoes I’d been wearing were caked in mud. Not only did the rude people tick me off because they blocked the sidewalk but they also gave me a clean up job to do!

I’d been wearing my running shoes since it was above zero that day and it felt fairly nice out for a winter day in January.

Now that we’re in a deep freeze again it’s time to pull out my sheepskin boots. I’ve got to stay warm! Tonight it’s going down to -16 Celsius. That’s 3.2 F .. and that’s darn cold!

I think I might pull out my puffy winter coat too. It’s a short coat, like a ski jacket but it’s stuffed full of microfiber and no other coat I’ve owned has been warmer!