Did y'all enjoy Valentine's Day? I did. Ken and I agreed to skip the flowers and fancy dinner thing; we went to the mall and had lunch in the food court instead. I enjoyed some kick-ass poutine. Ken went to the Chinese food counter for a styrofoam clamshell full of batter-fried bits. We watched a couple of previously unacquainted four-year-olds flirt with each other while their exasperated parents exhorted them to please just sit down and eat your fries. No, not that fry, it's dirty; it fell on the table. ANY OTHER FRY, just, IT'S DIRTY NO PUT IT DOWN.
The sporting goods store had some sad, wrinkly lingerie on display, in the ridiculous print that I suppose is meant to be "ladies' camo". For when you're hiding in a pink forest?
Camo Cami
This outfit of a camisole plus a g-string was $46.99. Sheesh, for that much the least they could do is steam the wrinkles out. Incidentally, I just looked up "What does the g in g-string stand for" and apparently we're not sure, but it might be groin, or girdle.
This week it has been ridonkulously cold in Toronto. I'm talking about temperatures around -20 C with wind chills around -35 C. (That's -4 F and -31 F respectively in 'Merican.) I am happy to bundle up as much as it takes to maintain the average body temperature of the living, however at a certain point my lungs draw the line. That's usually around - 15 C (5 F). I start to feel that I can't catch my breath, and my heart races (probably trying to pump enough warm blood into my lung tissues to prevent them from freezing). Trying to wade through calf-deep snow under those circumstances feels like asking for a heart attack. I love to walk in all kinds of weather, but at this point I draw the line and take a car. (Ken has been kind enough to chauffeur me, and there's a taxi stand a two minute-drive from home.)
This is a long weekend in most of Canada, thanks to "Family Day". Due to the extra day, my friends celebrated with double Game Night! (i.e. we usually just do Saturday nights, but we met on Sunday too this week.) It's a good way to pass the time indoors without buying things or watching TV.
The boys have been playing this new game involving zombies. It is ultra-complicated. Look at all those cards and dice and pieces! I don't know what the rules are, but it takes them around 2 hours to play through a game.
While the zombie game was taking forever, the girls' side of the table played Ticket to Ride, and Carcassonne. We don't always split the gaming up by gender, but it worked out like that this time. I'll get around to learning the zombie game pretty soon, I'm sure.
Of course, the best part of the evening is always Cards Against Humanity. It's a game of fill-in-the blanks. The winner of the last round is the judge of the next. The judge reads a black card, and everyone else submits a white card. The judge gets to pick which white card wins. The judge can use whatever process s/he wishes to pick the winning answer. We usually go for whatever is silliest or gets the most laughs. As you can see here, we make up our own cards. When we get tired of a card, we write over it. Here is one of my wins from last night:
There has been online controversy surrounding CAH, because it is irreverent to the point of being offensive to some people. I can understand their opinion. But in our group of friends, where we know and trust each other, and know what not to take too seriously, it's all good.
14 comments:
Ah, the FAP! I love it. Seems like a wise thing to implement. I've wondered if it's ever cold enough to just...shut down. Once, many years ago, I worked for a company who closed due to extreme cold when the weather's mean temp was -35F. (That's about -37C, or, 'Nadian. ;) )
And CAH went overboard this past holiday season, offering real, boxed cow feces for sale. You'd be shocked to learn the whole story. I...was made sad by it. (Google for deets.)
Happy Family Day, Spark!
I did follow the CAH Holiday B.S. story. On one hand, it was a yucky-gross prank that didn't need to happen. On the other hand, the CAH website was 100% up front about the product they were selling. People got exactly what they paid for. The poop was heat-treated so that it was not a threat to anyone's health any more than clean potting soil. The blame is half on the kids at CAH, and half on silly consumers who thought that they would ignore the warnings and type in their credit card information anyway. http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/12/cards-against-humanity-sells-30000-boxes-of-actual-poop-to-mock-holiday-consumerism.html
I have CAH, but I rarely end up playing. Lazy.
I'm all for staying inside, though. it's like one degree out here. Ick.
Completely agree with your assessment of the CAH holiday prank, Spark. I, actually, think it's more like 90/10 on the consumer. The prank didn't need to happen, like you said, but they WERE 100% upfront about what was happening with it. So, caveat emptor, say I. :)
My wife thought so too.
OH I agree, corned beef IS an emergency! Quick! Call for reservations! LOL Sounds like fun. :D
I'm glad you had such a fun time with friends - those are priceless things - good times AND good friends to share them with. You are blessed!
I am SO with you on the cold thing, too. I hate when you take a breath and it feels like your lungs are shattering like little glass ornaments. Not long after I moved here, as a teen, I went out once when the wind chills were around -80, to see what it was like. As they say, good judgment comes from experience, which usually comes from bad judgment.
Stay warm, sweetie! The world still needs you! *hugs*
That lingerie is just crazy - wonder if anyone bought it?
Your game night sounds fun - I used to do that with some friends. I like the thought of the CAH game - I've never heard of any of these, but did click on the red links to check them out. :)
ummm... you mean the lingerie was for women??? I assumed that since it was in camo it was for men... explains why everyone was so quiet around the campfire that night.
I feel like a dunce (which I surely am in this instance) because I overlooked the ring you use as a picture, and stupidly assumed from the first post that I read by you—the sports’ show post—that you were a guy, and I have therefore had this image of you as male. Your last comment on my blog would have been a bit rare for a male by which I mean more courageous than most males are capable of, and I very much admired you for it. Now, I realize that you’re a woman. So much for attentiveness.
I’m surprised that -4 (American) is that cold for Ontario. I’m from the Gulf Coast, but have lived in Oregon’s Willamette Valley for nearly three decades except for two winters in Minneapolis. I realized while in Minneapolis that zero degrees (American) really wasn’t that bad if the sun was out and there was no wind, and many days were like that. Still, I’m not a cold weather person, and am pleased that winter temperatures in this part of Oregon are no colder than where I grew up despite the fact that I’m just below the 45th parallel.
Peggy and I have been married for…let’s see…(I really do have to count it up, sometimes) 43 years, and we don’t even notice that it’s Valentines, nor do we get gifts for other occasions except for small things at Christmas. It’s not that we’re no longer close—because we are—but simply that the desire for some things has just naturally fallen away, and I mean for both of us.
Gia: CAH is a good game for the lazy. Not much setup, and not much thinking/strategy required. ;-)
Darc: :-)
Vanessa: -80? That reminds me of Peppermint Patty in the Peanuts comics when she got a -Z on her assignment. "That's not a mark. That's sarcasm." I say that's not a temperature for planet earth. That's sarcasm.
Lynn: Oh good, I'm glad that you checked the links. I actually spent a fair bit of time trying to find good pages to link to.
Ron: LOL :-)
Snowbrush: It's not so cold in Toronto relative to the rest of Ontario, or even the rest of Canada, because we're so far south, but we get whiny when the temperature drops below -10C. Maybe it has to do with having to wait for the bus outside, because many people in the city don't have cars. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. (The people who live in Winnipeg and Calgary think we're just a bunch of wusses.)
"It's not so cold in Toronto relative to the rest of Ontario, or even the rest of Canada, because we're so far south...
I understand. Minneapolis is called the "banana belt" of Minnesota because its weather is so much warmer than northern Minnesota. Since you're a good bit further north than northern Minnesota, I figured your area would be way cold, though certainly nothing like northern Ontario. When I look at a map of Canada, I always imagine that everyone lives along the border so that in an especially bad winter, they can flee Canada enmasse.
I don't do much for Valentine's Day simply because my wife's b'day is the day before, so I have more than my fair share of "headaches" on that day and I don't need anymore the next.
That prank sounds like a classic. Reminds me of what MTV did back in the 80's, when on April Fool's they started playing some Slim Whitman instead of its usual rock music.
Just looking at that lingerie and hearing about your chilly temperatures makes me feel cold!
There seems to have been a revival of board games here. A few years ago nobody seemed to play them.
We used to like a game called Consequences - did you ever play it ? it just requires folding down a sheet of paper .. well, too complicated to explain in a comment but if you played it you will know it I guess....
I would give anything for family close enough to have game night:-)
CAH - the best game to play with people who you aren't afraid will judge you too much. :-) I played this summer with people I had just met in a workshop. Luckily I think we were all okay with the sense of humor...I think...
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