AUBREEVISION - Observations from the far side of the dial

Spent the whole weekend in class, finishing my basic fitness theory course. When you've been out of school for a while, being desk-bound and lecture-subjected for hours on end, on a weekend to boot, is a serious shock to the system. The course ran from 9-5:30 both Saturday and Sunday, and by noon both days I was already mad with the stir-crazies.

Sunday's class was especially long due to the fact I'd partaken in a bachelorette party on Saturday night. It was a great evening, kicked off by drinks and decadent desserts followed by dancing and general tomfoolery. We festooned Jenn with a "Bridezilla"-emblazoned tank top, pink feather boa, garter belt and veil, then proceeded to assign her a variety of mildly embarrassing tasks. Between a few drinks and the late night, I wasn't exactly in my prime for a bright and early Sunday morning class. Thank God for Canadian crack -- sweet, sweet life-sustaining Tim Horton's coffee.

Speaking of Tim Horton's, check out this dude's eBay listing:




A man after my own heart!

On Monday I felt a bit blah on the mental front but by evening things had turned around beautifully thanks to two happy happenings. The first was scoring a bargain, something which never fails to bring me great joy. I stopped in at a shop near work that was having a sale and found two ceramic Simpsons clocks, which I've seen priced at over $30, on clearance for five bucks each. Behold:





At that price, what Simpsons fan could resist? I don't really need two clocks, so I figure the Homer version will make a nice addition to Eric's desk. There is one issue with the Marge/Lisa number -- it doesn't seem to, exactly, well, work. No matter -- but a minor detail!

The frosting on the bargain-nabbing cake was coming home to an unexpected package. Packages always hold such promise, especially when they're of the surprise variety -- unless, of course, they're full of anthrax. But this one contained not anthrax, but something infinitely better -- chocolate! In a truly bizarro gesture, my phone company sent me a ginormous box of Lindor chocolates as thanks for my patronage. The attached letter said something to the effect of "Dear valued customer, last year we were voted number one wireless service provider in Canada...blah blah...as thanks for your support, please enjoy the enclosed chocolately goodness." And we're not talking a few measly chocolates here -- this was a deluxe box with an assortment of chocolate bars and several dozen individual chocolates, some a bit melted from sitting in the mailbox but otherwise deliciously intact. It was such a strange-but-splendid gesture that I briefly wondered if it was a hoax and I was about to be poisoned. Apparently it didn't worry me that much, because within minutes I was ecstatically surrendering to a creamy hazelnut centre. So thank you, Telus, for your chocolately bribe/wholly altruistic appreciative gesture -- consider me hooked, lined and sinkered!