Canada's Wonderland

A Canadian right of passage for all kids living in Ontario, is a summer of endless rides at Canada's wonderland thanks to their ever popular seasons passes. I remember the year my sister and I got seasons passes and litterally wasted the entire summer away on rollercoasters. Braving the stand up multiple times in one visit. Days upon days standing in line ups for over an hour at a time surrounded by teenagers who took the opportunity of a place sans parents to make out while waiting to get on the rides. Followed by 45 seconds of a thrill and on to the next.

After almost a decade Shannon and I desided on a whim to go to wonderalnd and take in some rollercoaster fun. We hopped in the car and drove for what seemed to be mere minutes and arrived at the gate.. (why do I remember it taking so long to get there when I was younger??)

Canada's Wonderland has gone corporate! Holy Moley, The place hardly looks as it did in my youth. There is a dairy Queen on every corner and well you know Coke has to get in on it too.. you can visit the Coke Oasis where you get sprayed with a fine cold mist while you make your Coke purchases... Frakly I think this is Cokes way of keeping you "cool" while you are depositing your $4 for the pleasure of enjoying their cool beverages!

On to the rollercoasters....

The bat is one of my favorites from my younger days. /this rollercoaster brings you up 80- 100 ft and drops you through two upside wown twists and a loop before catching the cars on the other side and releasing you backwards through it all again. its a really wild ride! I was more than surprised to see kids as young as 7 braving this ride as I did not work up the courage until I was a teenager.

Next is the Fire Fly... A classic ride. This is most Canadian kids first Loop to Loop rollercoaster. It is quick and fun but hold your head back tight against the headrest or you are sure to go home with a bit of a headache.

If you ever have the nopportunity to visit Canadas wonderland you have to wait in the line up for the Top Gun. Trust me It is well worth the wait! The Top gun is a wild ride, you are suspended from the track above your head with your feet dangling below you. When you go over the loops all you see are your feet and sky. This ride has stolen the thunder from the Bat for me. The bat will forever have a place in my heart but my new favorite is Top Gun.

If you are coming by remember to bring a lunch and keep it in the car you can exit the park and return after you have eaten. The food available in the park is gross to be polite and will cost you enough to put a serious dent in your wallet. Other than that Wonderland is amazing it offers both an amusement park and a waterpark in one and I will guarantee you will have an amazing fun filled day!

Tale of a pound pup

Meet Marley. After 7 wonderful years with our Chinese Crested Hairless dog Scoop we desided it was time to get another dog. We had to put Scoop down because he had gone blind and developed a respratory illness. That was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. But it was all in an attempt to stop our poor little puppys suffering. After the deed was done I proclaimed that I never wanted a dog again. I never wanted to have to do that again! But it wasn't long before I started to crave the company of a lovable pooch. So after many discussions Shannon and I desided we would check out the Humaine society. Before heading out I checked out their website and there was a story of this little black pomeranian pup who was ready for a good home and i fell in love he was so cute. In true Humaine sociey form when we arrived it turns out that pup was not ready to leave and we would have to find another dog.... So we walked around for a while and Shannon fell in love with this little guy with a bandana around his neck. So we filled out the paperwork and were told to come back on monday because he was a stray and they wanted to give the oeners a few more days to claim him. Shannon was depressed and disapointed. I desided to go back the next day to see if he was still there and sure enough he was gone.

So started the search again. I must have walked around that humaine society for a good hour looking at all the dogs and determined to find the right dog. I wanted to come home with a nice dog for Shannon and one that would fit well into our lifestyle. That is when I came across "No Name" no name was in a cage with unfinished paperwork. He was a stray with no birthdate, name, breed etc.. but he was so cute. When I kneeled down beside his cage he stuck his nose between the bars and licked my hand then he was so happy to see me his tail was wagging so much he was making music on the bars on either side of the cage. I HAD to have him. So I enquired. I have to mention that the day before we delt with this weird guy who gave us nothing but the run around. Guess who I got to deal with again? I took weirdo over to no names cage and said this is the dog I want. Weirdo began giving me all the reasons he thought I could not have this dog and went to talk to someone named Will. Finally after some further run around I left weirdo where he stood and walked directly over to Will. Will seemed to be the only one with answers. He walked with me over to No Name's cage and we began to talk. Will also started telling me that he had only been in the humaine society for a few days etc etc... So I changed the subject to discuss why I thought No Name would be perfect for my family. We are campers and hikers we are always out in nature and this dog would be perfect. After more discussion like this Will seemed to have warmed up to me, saying I seemed like a good candidate for No Name, however because he was a puppy they needed more than one application and had to pick the best candidate. He took my paperwork and once again sent me home empty handed but this time told me to sit by the phone because I MAY (Wink) get a phone call by the end of the day. So off I went back home empty handed. I told Shannon all about little No Name what he looked like, that he licked me through the cage etc... Then it happened the phone rang and it was Will! He said come pick up your dog! OMG We got him! Shannon and I sprinted to the car and I could not drive fast enough for Shannon. When we got there I showed Shannon where our dog was and went over to find Will to complete the adoption process. shannon was in love! She wouldnt leave No Names side.

As I was filling out the rest of the paperwork a young family was trying to get No Name ans Shannon told them he had been adopted, they were not impressed! Will left me and went to get our dog. As we were sitting at the table with our new dog the above mentioned family passed and the dad yelled out to his kids "say goodbye to your dog kids... " How rude. I had payed the adoption fee and driven back and forth 3 times. He was our dog!

No Name is now Marley, and he is a great dog! He is fun and loving, he is great with kids and for a puppy surprisingly patient. He is part black lab and part pointer hound which poses a problem when we take him off his leash because the hound in him likes to follow his nose. But we are working on that. He loves to camp and had a great time hiking. It is nice to come home each day to a wagging tail and licks. There is nothing in the world like the love a dog gives you. And Marley is the perfect match for us.

Scratch That!

Last nights plan to go to the baseball game was scrapped last minute for a spur of the moment desire to share a nice quiet dinner together and retire home with a nice bottle of wine. We desided that fighting traffic for over an hour then scrambling to find parking and a place close to the dome to eat sounded just way to stressful... So we went to Montana's Cookhouse for Strawberry Daquiries and ribs.

We started with these things.. I cant remember what they are called but they are very good with a little bit of a kick. We shared these and some good conversation until our meal arrived. It is nice to get out every now and then just the two of us. To have a meal without a dogs nose in your face begging, or the telephone ringing, or distractions like TV. For two adults to just sit and talk over dinner was really nice.

The Ribs at Montana's are excellent! And filling. Wow, I nearly had to roll out of there I was so full. I am a picky rib eater If they are tough I wont eat them but these ones were just right, they were tender and they had a nice sauce on them.. Yummm..

We spent most of the evening talking about a little girl we met on the weekend. This child is in a bad place. You know it is one of those situations that make you feel so helpless. She was abandoned by her birth parents and left to be raised by her maternal grandmother and aunt. The grandmother has since passed on and she is now the sole responsibility of her aunt. The concern with this is that her aunt is a fall down, black out drunk. She starts first thing in the morning and continues straight through the day and into the night. Unfortunately we were witness to this behaviour on the weekend. The little girl is 12 years old and well aware of the ways most people behave, she is extreamly reserved and was quite obviously embarrased by her caregivers behaviour. She barely spoke the whole day except to contradict some of the things her aunt was talking about. This young girl was behind in her cognative development and we fear has seen just too much of the nastiness that is possible on this earth. It was a cold night and we were all huddled around a campfire . At one point in the evening this little girl offered to let someone in the group borrow her blanket saying she was warm. The aunt freaked out! I mean freaked out. yelling at the kid. Saying that her mother had given her that blanket and that she had given it to the little girl and she was not to be giving it away. Woa hold your horses there drunkie! The kid was mearly offering to SHARE it. She was not giving it away. Amazing how a case of beer will cloud your perseption. Anywho, what are we to do?? We dont know where they live or what their full names are and they are gone back to NB. We would like nothing more than to see this child being raised by someone responsible and caring but it seems out of our hands. Hmmm...

At the end of the night drunkie got up and desided that she was pickled enough so it was time for her to hit the hay. As she was making her rounds of hugs and kisses (for people she had just met that evening) she stopped at our friends mother ( a nice quiet Cathlic lady in her late 50's) and gave her what I thought was a little too long of a hug for someone she didnt know. When our friends mother sat down she looked horrified, and leaned over to me saying "get her the fuck out of here!!" When I had her ushered off the property and headed towards her bed I returned and asked what happened... Apparently drunkie started wispering something in mothers ear then bit her ear... LMFAO.. That was it I cracked up. Who bites a strange older womans ear??? The look that went with the story was pricelss. I havent laughed so hard in ages. Poor Momma!

Fun and Games

Tonight for the first time in my almost young life I am going to a baseball game. Well at least my first professional baseball game. Funny for a girl who played baseball for years and years. The players strike happened right around the time I was old enough to go to the games (without parents) and I lost interest while they were striking. To be completely honest I still am not that interested, I got free tickets from work and thought... Well they are free and it gives me something to do Tuesday evening besides watching tv or playing on the computer, so why the hell not?
So this is the plan so far... I get off work at 4 the game is at 7 so I will go home and change then Shannon and I will be heading downtown.. We havent desided yet if we will drive (lots of traffic) or take the TTC... When we get there we are going to go to dinner somewhere close the the dome. Then grab a cold beer and hit the stands. The seats are not that bad so we sould be able to see well. Toronto is playing Oakland.. Hmmm who to cheer for??? Seeing as I am not a fan of either team I guess I can cheer for whomever is winning...LOL.. Some Toronto fans would have my head for that one, but really does it really matter who wins?? I mean do I have to cheer for Toronto because that is the city I live in?? I prefer the Yankies to be honest.. Well heres to hoping that the evening is worth the trip downtown.. Pray for a good game! Whoever wins!