Staycation Starts

I start my "staycation" Thursday.  And as usual I had a ton of stuff to do at work before I got to go on vacation.  I got it done, but took me all day running around looking for people get things moving so I can do my part.

Useless Gaming News:
After work gaming tonight.  Only 3 players tonight.  We played Broom Service.  First game we added the advance clouds.  It changes the whole game with this slight variation.  James won followed closely by Peter.  I was well back.
2nd game we added the Mountain tiles and Amulets.  Another slight change added more to this already awesome game.  We all made mis-plays in the second game.  It was very close at the end where 1st and 3rd were only separated by 2 points.  James won with the end game bonuses because he had all the amulets while Peter and I only had 2 and 1 respectively.  3 more variations to add and we will be playing the full advance game: Forest tiles, Hill tiles, and Map B.

Jelly Legs

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters practice after work today.  Most of the team showed up and we did a small scrimmage.  I was catcher for most of the practice, as I was getting my legs prepared for squatting alot.  When I took a turn at bat and got a hit, my legs were jelly while running the bases.  It usually takes me 1 game to get back into shape, but this good practice might suffice.

Dinner today -> Rideau Take-out.
Went to Rideau after practice.  I got beef chow mein and dry fried beef rice noodles.  I finished the rice noodles dish, but I think I'll save the chow mein for Wednesday.

Rideau Take-out.

Ding Dong Nuts

Lunch today -> Farmboy.
Picked up some salad bar food at Farmboy for lunch along with some coconut chunks. 

Farmboy Salad and Coconut.

Also got some peanutbutter & jam cookies.

PB&J Cookies.

Dinner today -> Discount Sushi.

Susanna and I went to Bayshore tonight to get some discount food.  Only Manchu Wok was on sale when we were there at 8pm, but we didn't want anything from them.  So we went to check out the new Walmart to kill some time.  I found some "Ding Dong" mixed nuts.  I had to get it to try it out later.

Ding Dong Nuts.

At 8:30pm, only the sushi was on sale.  2 for $12 and we got 4 boxes of sushi.  Susanna took the eel one, and I got these 3.  I ate one while watching the new season of Game of Thrones.  I'm saving the other 2 for lunch tomorrow.

Discount Sushi.

Weekend Report: Taxes Done

Finished my taxes this weekend.  Yea, I'm getting money back :)

Food this weekend ->
Went to the new Mandarin Buffet on Hunt Club Friday with CMC group.  I made a reservation but there was still waiting to be seated.  This was just like Mandarin Orleans and it's annoying.  I don't understand why they insist on describing everything on the way to our seats when I told them we've been to a Mandarin before.  Anyways, the food was good, but they didn't have the ribs!  I still ate 5 plates of food, including 2 plates of desserts (unusual for me as I'm a main course person).  I recommend the sugar puffs.  They were awesome.

Seafood Plate.

Roastbeef Perfectly Rare.

Desserts and Mussels.

Saturday, Susanna, Ben, and I went to Chinatown.  I picked up some soy chicken, chicken rice wraps, and vietnamese subs.  They subs were freshly made infront of us and were 6 for $15.  They were very good and I regret only getting 3 subs.

Chinatown Stuff.

Useless Toy News:
Picked up a Lego Dimensions LEDLite at Toys R Us.

LEDLite

It stacks with my other Lego storage bricks and the inside lights up with a touch sensor timer.  Thinking of getting a couple more if they ever go on sale.

Will I Use It For Lego or Transformers?

Lost Broom Service By 1 Point

Lunch today -> Bacon Cheese Sandwich.
More bacon and cheese sandwich.  So quick, simple and good.  This pack of bacon only had 7 slices in it though. So 3.5 bacon slices in each sandwich.

Bacon and Cheese Sandwich.

Snack today -> Hot Wing Ruffles Chips.
Got the limited edition bag of Hot Wings flavoured Ruffles.  It's not bad.  Not very hot, but spicy enough to be hot wings.  There is a hint of a chicken aftertaste, but the taste is mostly vinegar and cayenne pepper.

Hot Wing Ruffles.

Dinner today -> Laksa Ramen.
I found more packs of the Laksa Ramen at T&T.  They aren't found in the spot where the chinese ramen are in.  They are in the eastern asia are near the quail eggs and canned mango (1 row after the freezers.)  They were also $4 a pack.

Laksa Ramen.

Useless Gaming News:
Gaming after work today.  We played Broom Service.  We did a learning game at lunch time and played a full game after work.  This game is really good.  Lots of subtle strategy and you need to be flexable and lucky with every turn.  Positioning of the pawns and what resources each person has influences every turn and play.  When we add the variations, it will be an even better gaming experience.  Tonight's game, I lost by 1 point to James on the very last turn.  Peter was only 6 points back too.

New Rain Jacket

Took a vacation day today (still have 2 more days to use next week).  Hung out with Julie most of the day.  We went shopping at Trainyards and I got a new Columbia rain jacket from SAIL.  It's waterproof and breathable.  The key was breathable.  My old one from the Revlon sale didn't breathe and the inside just becomes soaking wet with sweat.  The tag says this jacket has a hidden pocket to roll the jacket into for travel, but I can't find it!

New Rain Jacket.

Lunch today -> The Corny Dog.
Went to The Corny Dog for a late lunch.  I got the Cowboy dog and Julie got the Canadian Husky.  They were good at first, but we found that there was way too much bacon on both of them.  Too overpowering.  I also got a Piggy Gone Wild poutine.  I hardly made a dent in it and took it home for dinner.

Piggy Gone Wild.

Useless DVD News:
Watched the new Justice League vs Teen Titans animated movie.  It was OK, but the funniest part was when the Teen Titans were in normal clothes and changed into their uniforms for battle.  They each had a transformation sequence just like Sailor Moon!  Starfire's was almost a parallel of Sailormoon's transformation with her uniform coming out of nowhere.  It's right after the DDR battle.

LOL @ the Teen Titan Transformation Sequence.

Archer and Broom Service.

First softball practice of the season today.  It was windy and abit cold, but we toughed it out and had a good practice.  Got rid of alot of rust, but I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  My throwing arm is already sore.

Dinner today -> Leftovers Mash-up
I took stuff out of the fridge, threw it in a bowl and microwaved it.  I had leftover rice, squid, salt & pepper pork chops, sugar snaps, and a McDouble.  It was all going to the same place, and was good.

Leftovers Mash-up.

Useless Gaming News:
Got some new boardgames today on a combined order with James.  I got Archer and Broom Service.  I think they are both great games.  Now to get some sleeves for the Broom Service cards, so I can play it on Thursday after work.

Archer and Broom Service.

Still sick today.  I woke up good, but on the drive to work the cold started to hit me again.

Snack today -> Bangkok Peanut Doughnut.
Reza went to Suzy Q Donghnuts and brought back some goodies.  I sampled the Bangkok Peanut doughnut.  Not bad, but I couldn't really taste the peanut.  It was mostly almond and sugar.  I do still have a stuffy nose so I couldn't taste properly too.

Specialty Doughnut.

Dinner today -> Discount T&T Food.
Susanna and I went to T&T to get discount food.  I got some congee, squid tentacles, and salt & pepper pork chops.  The pork chops were ordered, and the lady kept stuffing the container full of pork.  She almost couldn't get the lid closed!  It was funny and awesome the amount she fit in.

Discount T&T Food.

I re-heated the congee and added some pork chops and squid.  Good stuff.

Dinner.

Weekend Report: Sick with Cold

I was sick all weekend with a cold.  I can't believe I fell asleep at 12:30pm Friday and Saturday nights!  I think I went through almost a full box of tissues too.  I had so much stuff coming out of my nose.  I only started feeling better Sunday night.

Food this weekend ->
Friday at lunch I used up the 2nd half of the bacon pack to make a toasted bacon and cheese sandwich.  It was 5 strips of bacon and a slice of cheese in each sandwich.  I was told later that people could smell the bacon aroma drifting and didn't know where it came from :)

Toasted Bacon and Cheese Sandwich.

Got some more blue crabs for dinner Friday and lunch on Saturday.  These were more feisty than last weeks, but they had a weird habit.  When I picked them up with tongs to move them to the other side of the sink, to change the water, they had a habit of popping off their claws! 

8 Blue Crabs.

These were good, but not as sweet as last weeks.  Maybe I couldn't taste them very well because of my cold?

Made eggs and toast for dinner on Sunday.  I had some leftover shrimp and grape tomatoes to go as sides.

Breakfast For Dinner.

Bacon Sandwich

I got sick Wednesday night.  I had a sore throat all day, but in the evening, I had a stuffy nose, cough, sweating, and felt dizzy (maybe a fever too).  I wasn't dizzy this morning, but I didn't feel like going into work.  I had to go because I had an important meeting.

Lunch today -> Bacon Sandwich.
I was hungry at 11am and ate an early lunch.  I made toast and microwaved a pack of pre-cooked bacon.

Preparing Bacon Sandwiches.

I made 2 sandwiches with 5 strips of bacon in each :)  Eventhough I was sick, these were good.  I had leftover sugar snaps to be my healthy item. 

2 Bacon Sandwiches.

Dinner today -> Eggdrop soup.
Made a quick eggdrop soup with some seaweed and fish cakes.  I thickened it with potato starch.

Egg Drop Soup.

Shockwave Wave.

Lunch today -> Pizza and Sugar Snaps.
Picked up a Hot N Ready pepperoni pizza for lunch.  I also had a bag of sugar snap peas.  I didn't have time to dig into the pizza as I was running late, so I started with the sugar snaps and took them with me to a meeting.  While the pizza got cold sitting at my desk, I filled up on the sugar snaps and in the end I only ate 3 slices of pizza.

Lunch.

Dinner today -> Breakfast.
Late dinner today because it was board gaming night after work today.  We played Dominion again this week.  When I got home, the simplest thing to make was eggs, bacon, and toast.  It really hit the spot.

Breakfast for Dinner.

Useless Transformers News:
At lunch time I went to Toys R Us.  I found the newest wave of Transformers on the shelf.  I got Buzzsaw, Chop Shop, Shockwave, and Pipes.  Shockwave was the key to this wave, as he is considered part of the Combaticon set (a-la the super hard to find Blackjack is to the Stunticon set).

Newest Tranformers.

Ate Junk Food All Day

Snack #1 today -> Chocolate Fudge Nut Coffee.
Used the new Keurig at work to make myself a hot chocolate fudge nut coffee.  It was pretty good.  First time using a Keurig too.  But it's not the same or as cool as the blooming marshmallow coffees in Japan.

New Keurig.

Lunch today -> Taco Tuesday.
It wasn't really Taco Tuesday, we just had nachos and salsa from Lone Star, conpliments of the Social Committee at work (my idea :) ).  I ate this for my lunch instead of going out or home for food.  It was pretty good.

Remains of Taco Tuesday.

Snack #2 -> Chocolate Ice Cream Cake.
It was someones birthday today and there was alot of leftover chocolate ice cream cake.  I had to take a slice to sample it. :) It had chunks of cookie and fudge in it.  All I ate was junk food today.

Chocolate Ice Cream Cake.

Shadows Over Innistrad

Lunch/Dinner today -> Ribs.
I think I'm going to Big Bone BBQ too much.  I drove to Superstore at lunchtime today to get chicken wings to eat, but I realized it was Monday on the way there and I could get the Monday Mania ribs and wings deal at Big Bone instead.  So I detoured and went there.  When I went in to order, the girl at the cash commented that she remembers normally seeing me in the evenings and not at lunchtime.  She also remembered my name.  I've gone there too much and have become a regular :)

Monday Mania Ribs.

I didn't get to eat any of the ribs or wings til dinner time.  I was too busy today.  I ate the fries while testing with Peter, but that was after they were sitting at my desk for an hour and became soggy.

Useless M:tG News:
Picked up the new Magic set on Friday.  I got 2 booster boxes and 1 fat pack of the Shadows Over Innistrad set.  I also the box topper promo card from Miraj.  I have no clue what is in this set or what new mechanics there are, as the Wizards of the Coast site is blocked at work.  I still haven't opened any of my boxes from the last set: Oath of the Gatewatch.

Shadows Over Innistrad Boxes.

Weekend Report: 8 Blue Crabs

Didn't win anything on the Walking Dead lottery ticket.  Too bad.

Food this weekend ->
Picked up a Hot n Ready pepperoni pizza for a late lunch on Friday.  I was impressed with how well it was made this time.  No bubbles in the dough and the pizza was nice and thick.

I bought 8 blue crabs from the little asian grocery store in Kanata.  It was about $14 for 8 crabs.  I think that is a pretty good deal.  They were very "clingy", but big. 

Blue Crabs.

I boiled them in salt water, 2 at a time for 10 minutess.  I slowly destroyed each one, getting all of the meat.  It took awhile to eat but it was worth it.  6 of the 8 were females and they each had alot of roe.

Cooked Blue Crabs.

Useless Aquarium News:
My fish tank has alot of little snails in it, but I've notice that I now have a few large ram snails.  I remember the last time I got some twin fireball tail tetras, there were huge albino ram snails in the tank.  I guess a few of the eggs got transferred into my tank with the water.   A few of my ghost shrimps are getting really big too (see pic background).

Ram Snail and Ghost Shrimp.

Useless Gaming News:
4-Player gaming at Brian's on Saturday.  We started with Broom Service.  The game play has 7 round and each player picks 4 action cards for each round.  The object is to collect points by delivering potions, collecting clounds, or collecting resources.  I like this game and probably going to buy it.  Brian gave up before the 1st turn and then he started playing bad and out of turn during the game.  I don't care anymore when he does this and I should probably just leave.  Maybe next time.

Broom Service.

We also played Pandemic Legacy for the months of March and April.  We won both games.  Good game.  I didn't foresee how Pandemic Legacy was going to evolve.
We finished the night with Roll for the Galaxy.  Ben ran away with the game early as he got lucky with his Tech and World draws.

Happy Birthday Steve!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE!!!

Walking Dead Lottery Ticket

Lunch today -> Ox Head Vermicelli.
Ed, Steve and I went to Ox Head for lunch.  We all got the V17 Ox Head Vermicelli.  It's too good to order anything else.

Ox Head Vermicelli.

Useless TV News:
Found this Walking Dead Lottery Ticket at the pharmacy.  Did know these existed and I decided to buy one.  I didn't scratch it yet because I forgot it at work.  Maybe I'm a big winner and I don't even know it?

Walking Dead Lottery Ticket.

Happy Birthday Gordon!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORDON!!!

Late Birthdays

I only flipped my calendar to April today and I found that I missed a bunch of birthdays!  Sorry.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!
and
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED!!!

Lunch today -> Farmboy
Picked up lunch at Farmboy today.  I got Ceasar salad, Kale Caesar salad, some tomatoes, steak, cucumber, and mushrooms.  Too bad they don't have roasted garlic anymore.  I also grabbed a box of peanut butter cookies for a meeting, and a box of fresh coconut chunks.  Ed got me a coffee from McDonalds.

Lunch.

Dinner today -> Curry Rice.
Made a big pot full of Japanese curry.  I made it with stewing beef, mini-red potatoes, carrots, and sweet onions.  Scooped it on fresh white rice.  The curry was a bit watery, but it thicked up for my 2nd bowl.

Curry Rice.

Useless Gaming News:
After work 3-player gaming today.  Today we played Dominion: Intrigue.  I haven't played this stand-alone expansion before, but it's got some good card combos.  More attack cards too.

Combiner Wars Brawl Found

Dinner today -> Ramen with Fish Cakes.
I bought stuff to make Japanese curry rice, but it takes me a day to prepare the stewing beef to be really tender, and I didn't have time to do it Monday night.  So I made a quick easy dinner today.  Just instant chicken ramen with Korean fish cakes. 

Ramen and Fish Cakes.

Useless Toy News:
Saw these new 8-Bit Plush pillows at Toys R Us.  I like them, but they are way too expensive.  I might get them if they go on sale for 50% off.

8-Bit Plushies.

Useless Transformers News:
The Kanata Toys R Us finally restocked the Combaticon wave from Transformers: Combiner Wars.  I was missing Brawl and I bought him.  I also found a mini Mr.Potato Head with G1 Grimlock parts.  Picked him up too :)

Brawl and Grimlock Potato Head.

Cleaning Delays

Took today off of work for an extra long weekend.  I tried to do some cleaning this morning, but I slept in and I watched some new Dare Devil episodes instead.  I got around to cleaning my study room at 1pm, but I didn't get much done.  I started with my AKB48 stuff and magazines, and my manga.  I kept stopping to look at the magazines and manga :)

Lunch today -> Wendy's.
Picked some Wendy's for lunch.  Got 2 Junior hamburgers, ghost fries, small chili, and a medium strawberry lemonade (not pictured).  The food was good.  The ghost fries had a nice kick to it.  The best was the strawberry lemonade.  It's really good and I recommend it.

Dinner today -> Ribs.
Got the Monday Mania from Big Bone BBQ.  I shared it with Julie and Roger.  Ribs were abit lean today, but were still good.  We ate this while watching RED.  Good movie.  It's got lots of good action and some funny parts.  We watched a few episodes of Fuller House too.  I like the show.  It's different than Girl Meets World, as it has more adult jokes and is more funny.

Weekend Report: Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

I wanted to prank my co-workers with an April Fools joke Friday morning, but my plan didn't pan out.  I bought some mini-cupcakes from Walmart and I wanted to replace the icing with a yellow mustard and mayo mix, but when I removed the icing, the cupcake fell apart and the middle went with it.  Too bad it didn't work.  It would have been hilarious.

Took Friday afternoon of from work (I've still got too much vacation), and I went with Julie to eat Dim Sum and then checked out the Spring Craft Show.  Saw some neat stuff at the show and ate some food samples, but I didn't buy anything.  I was hoping to find some unique garden gnomes, but didn't see any.  We did abit of shopping afterwards and watched some old school Beastmaster TV show.

Food this weekend ->
For Grandpa's birthday, the family went to try out "Ten Sushi" on Bank Street.  They used a computerized ordering system (like they have in Japan).  That was the best thing about the place.  The food was OK, nothing special (Fusion is better), but the service was horrible.  The servers would walk by and drop off plates of food, but they would never pick the empty plates at the same time.  The pad thai and short ribs that we ordered at the beginning of the meal, didn't show up until when we were almost finished eating (30 mins later).  Then when we ran out of tea, we tried to wave down a waiter for 5 minutes before someone finally looked at our table!  I'm never going back.

Sushi and Sashimi.

Mid-Meal.

Mango mousse birthday cake from T&T.

Birthday Cake.