Words Words Words

This evening, I was in the mood for a good game of Scrabble. I play Scrabble online quite a bit, but there is a big difference between the Facebook version and the real-life version. The non-virtual kind requires you to play in real time which puts some pressure on!

My opponent tonight was my sister Jo-Anne. To begin, I said we could either draw a tile to decide who would play the first word, or we could just decide who has the bigger word. Since I play a lot and she does not I opted to let her play the first word. I immediately regretted my decision. She played ALL of her letters - a bonus of 50 points! That means she started with an 80 point lead. Yowzers.

After a few moves, Nick came over and asked if I was actually going to let her play the word STINGEY. When I asked why, Nick explained that stingy is actually spelled without an E. Jo-Anne and I were both in disbelief...although more-so me as I could've saved her from getting those 80 points off the top!!

The game progressed at a rather slow pace with Jo-Anne frequently commenting that she should play more often as she was just not seeing the words. For some frustrating reason, the board just did not progress in a good way. I had both the Q and the Z and could have played the word QUIZ (hello? points!) but could not find a place to play it. Augh.

As the time passed, I had to laugh when Jo-Anne commented "when did this board get so obnoxious and ignorant?" I had to laugh! It was just not working for either of us and we were both really just hoping to end it. However, the letters in the bag were multiplying like the loaves and fishes! For this reason, when Jo-Anne asked if re-exit is a word...I agreed that it probably was :) Nick overheard this conversation and asked her to use it in a sentence. (that is always the test!) After a moment, Jo-Anne came up with "well, you know...like with an actress...'can you please re-exit the scene, we need to get that again' ...so, you know...re-exit." Ha ha ha...favourite moment of the night.

We nearly made it to the end of the game, but I'm sad to say we did not actually play all of the tiles. But, a good time was had by all!

Me & Oprah

What do Janice Mills and Oprah Winfrey have in common? A lot, it seems. I have picked up on some interesting facts about Oprah that I have in common with her. Interesting. Included in that list:

• we both LOVE Paul Simon
• we both have a phobia of chewing gum
• we both drive VW bugs
• we both love scrabble
• we both love The Sound of Music

Where is the pause button?

So I'm almost done week two of my last term at schoool. I'm exhausted. This schedule is getting the best of me. Mondays and Tuesdays are spent at United Way before heading in to work. Wednesdays and Thursdays I have class from 8am until I go to work. Fridays are a bit of a reprieve as I just have class from noon - 3pm. However, I think Friday mornings will be spent working on group projects as that is the only time slot available for such things. Augh!

I haven't even taken my Christmas decorations down yet. I have not yet sent a birthday card to my Grammie and her birthday was one week ago. If you know me, you know it is not like me to miss a birthday! So...I will probably disappear for the next few months and see you all in April. Seriously.

2010 Retrospective

I can't quite believe that we are already 10 days into 2011. How did that happen? Life has been busy and I have not posted much on my blog. But, today I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on the past year.

2010 was a transitional year for me. Lots of life changes, but all things that I'm happy to have done. I started the year off by taking 2 online classes at Fanshawe College. I had decided to head back to school in the 2010/2011 school year for Corporate Communications/Public Relations. By taking the online classes, I would free up some time in my fall schedule. I'm so glad I made that choice! So from January - August, I completed a total of four online classes. It kept me busy and got me back in the mindset of reading text books and writing papers.

My sister Connie opened a tearoom appropriately called "Connie's" in January. I am very proud of what she has accomplished in the past year. It is a fantastic little place on Petrolia's main street and she's doing great things there! I've been able to help her out with some design stuff including business cards, etc. so it's been a fun learning experience for me too!

Sometime in the spring, I decided to make some changes in the food I eat. There was a series of events that prompted this change including but not exclusively an episode of Oprah, watching Food Inc., seeing Paul McCartney in concert (he's a veggie) and seeing the changes my sister made in her diet after surviving colon cancer. At first it was a conscious effort but over time, it has just become a natural decision and I feel great!

In May I made the trek to New York City with some friends. It has always been on my "to do" list and it was such a fun trip! It has now made it's way on to my "places to return" list! June saw the annual Moore Reunion, which my family was hosting this year. We planned an Olympic theme and it turned out AWESOME! I spearheaded this venture but was proud of how my family came together and pulled off the best reunion yet. You can check out details here.

As I mentioned earlier, I saw my very favouritest celebrity again in 2010. In August I headed to the big city to see Sir Paul McCartney rockin' out on stage. What can I say? I love Paul. He makes me happy. And speaking of celebrities...it was soon time for the Toronto International Film Festival. Lots of good times spent star gazing this year! Highlights for me included some of my fave TV stars: Dwight Shrute, David Silver, Ross Geller and Kirk from Gilmore Girls!

September was also time to head back to school. Wow, what a transition! It was a little bit scary but mostly fun to sling on my backpack and slip into the classroom. I'm loving my program so the classes are actually cool and don't feel too much like work. I've met some great new friends and been a part of some pretty cool projects. Just fourteen more weeks and I'll be officially finished.

Oh ya...also in 2010 my bestest friend since forever ago found out she's going to be a mom! What an exciting adventure she is embarking on. I know she will be a terrific mom and I can't wait to meet the little bambino.

So another year is officially in the books and another one just opening up before us. Can't wait to see what lies ahead in 2011.