Olympic Tickets and James

It's been a busy week for me, as I've been peddling my Olympic tickets. I am keeping my prices in line with current market value now, so I hope I can make the sale and get the money into my account!

I sold a couple tickets for less than market value, and am happy with that decision. However, I haven't seen any tickets that cheap advertised, so my customers will be quite happy. I will have to work harder to make the next sales though, since everyone's tickets are at the same price point.


I'm using Craigslist, and I have to update my posts and track other posts to see what the prices are like. I'm right there with the other prices. People should purchase from me because I will deliver them (if the price is right) to Vancouver.

My ads are here and here.

Today I visited with Carmella and James in the village. James has a snowsuit with attached mittens.





It was a beautiful day today, with blue sky and clouds. We don't often see the sky here!



When he toddles around, Carmella must make sure she's close since he often tips over. We didn't bring him too close to the snow incase an errant skier or rider lost control and hit him.

There's lots of Olympic action in Whistler now, mostly all construction. Volunteers are getting their free gear, and people are beginning to arrive in town. I used to loathe the coming of the Olympics, but not so much anymore because they give me an unusual oppurtunity to benefit financially!

Olympic Tickets for sale!

I bought a healthy dose of Olympi tickets when they went on sale a few months ago. I got some xc skiing, and some biathlon tickets, four of each.

As the events come nearer, I realize that I'm happy to go to biathlon, but that I don't really need to see the xc skiing.

So, I'm going to try and sell my 4 xc tickets, and two of my biathlon tickets.

Any takers?

Let me know!

Carmella and I go to CBC!

A few months ago Carmella and I toured the CBC in Toronto, with one of her childhood friends Nancy. Here are some pictures!

Glen Gould sits outside on the street, in front of the Glen Gould Studio. Knowing that he was a depressed individual, I pat him on the head to make him feel better.

Nancy and Carmella explore Mr Dressup's tree! Casey and Finnigan are not present unfortunately.

Carmella and I discuss hockey, after giving Ron and Don the boot.

We then move on to the important newsmaking items of the day, subbing in for George.

A great day!

Gingerbread!

Carmella had the idea of making gingerbread houses this Christmas. I don't have much experience with these Christmas mainstays, but I remember Carolyn having an annual gingerbread party when she was in grade school.

I didn't take part in this yearly gathering, but I remember there was lots of candy, and lots of collapsed walls and failed structures. To me, a gingerbread house is something that rarely turns out like you want it to.

Here are some pics documenting our efforts.


First, we must flatten our gingerbread out on the table, or as Aussies and Martha Stewart (we were using one of her recipes, and watched her make it in a video) call it, "the bench". Carmella doesn't have a rolling pin, so we used some empty wine bottles instead.

We concocted our gingerbread from scratch. Martha used a mixing machine to blend all the ingredients, and so did we. Hers was called Kitchen Aid, and ours was called Jon's Muscular and Tireless Arm.

We must use lots of bench flour, so that our pieces lift smoothly off the table. Carmella downloaded and printed off template pieces, which you see around the edges of the frame. We carved around the template pieces, then lifted them off the bench.

Thanks to copious amounts of bench flour, we are able to make and transfer all the necessary parts. We put them on baking sheets.


The gingerbread pieces must now cool down for a few minutes in the fridge. When they're cool, they solidify a bit.

You must now take them from the fridge and put them in the oven. Carmella's pieces go in first, but as you'll see around the edges, they were in there a bit too long. I got the benefit of experience, and my gingerbread was perfectly baked.

We begin building our gingerbread abodes. It's important to prop up the walls during the initial stages of construction, so we found some hardy cans of baked beans that would do the job.

Success! When we remove the cans, the structures are self-supporting! Good thing we used much icing. Its mortar-like qualities enable us to cover up mistakes and fill gaps.

Carmella concentrates, getting her second roof-piece to stick in the proper place. While we made the gingerbread from scratch, we used Duncan Hines icing. It was much more convenient.

Both my roof slats are in situ, thanks to a handy lime. It put just enough pressure on the walls to keep them from falling in. The lime filled much the same role as the cans of baked beans did earlier, but in a smaller more organic package.

It's time to start decorating! Carmella bought lots of candy from 7-11, and we also used candy we got from our stockings. We had lots to choose from.

Placing the candy on was the most exciting part. My magnum opus is my roof. It looks modern and classic, with alternating druppies and peppermints. I found a box of peppermints from Erik and Minke's wedding, and was happy to put them to good, stylish use.

Carmella's house looks fetching with its Twizzler Pull-n-Peel accents, and the jelly butterfly gracing the front. She has an open door, and a yard with trees. There is also a gummy bear family greeting guests out on the front stoop.

Her roof will keep the rain out, but doesn't have the stylishly-cohesive feel that mine does. As a whole though, Carmella's house would attract Hansel and Grettel first.

They're finished! We put them on the avant-guard couches that Carmella's landlords gave her. They make an excellent staging environment for excellent gingerbread houses!

Once again, take the time to admire my roof. So classic! So pleasing to gaze upon! The roof is highlighted by Panda brand (imported from Finland) black licorice eve-troughs and crown molding.

The front of my house has a door bordered by jelly coke bottles, and a window with four shutters made from gum halves. It also has a gummy bear stuck to the middle and hot lips beside the door. There are bushes made from hershey kisses, and shrubs from Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

The finished neighbourhood! Carmella's creation looks very girl-ish, while mine looks like it was made with less care, typical of a boy. A highlight of Carmella's that you can't see is a giant sour key on the back. The back of my house has some bottle caps and jelly fishes.

Success on the gingerbread house front! The key to victory was keeping the houses small, and the gingerbread slabs thin. That way, the ginger slabs weren't too heavy to stick, and were easier to build with.

For all you future gingerbreaders out there, heed Martha Stewart's advice as we did. Even though she's been hardened through jail time, she still knows how to plan and make a mean gingy house!

Christmas Eve!

What a fun Christmas Eve! First, Er called me at about 5am my time to tell me he and Minke had a baby girl! She's just little and is named Anakke. You can seem more pictures that Carolyn took here. Make sure to read Carol's captions!



I went to work, and then when I got off, I went over to Carmella's and started the Christmas dinner we would share. I had most of it ready by the time she got off work at 7. While the chicken was just finishing, we went out with a saw and cut a branch off one of the many evergreen trees in her hood. We decorated it with lights and little Danish flags.

Then, we ate the dinner, which turned out great! After that, we dug into the presents. Mom sent a big box on the bus, which included two stockings and presents from Grandma. We opened them, and it was good times! Here are some pictures.











It was great! Here, Carmella wears the hat I got her. It has little ears on it! Carmella got me a word game and a word calendar. Excellent!

Merry Christmas everyone, and welcome to the world, small Anakke!

What I like about this time of year.

Christmas season is here in Whistler, and that means a few things. First, lots of people! Everyone's here to ski, and the snow is good. People are here to spend money in our little town, so that's excellent.

Because Whistler wants people to feel good about spending their money here, they've put a lot of Christmas lights up. Thousands of blinding LEDs at the village entrance off the highway.

Christmas doesn't have the same feel at it used to, because I rarely get to spend Christmas with the family. However, I still like this time of year because of the good Year End lists that start coming out.

Various media outlets create Of The Year lists and I enjoy them. I don't even have to look very hard to find them. They range from CBC's Newsmakers of the Year to YouTube's Most Watched Videos of the year. The Globe will have some good pieces coming up too, so I'm looking forward to those.

I like these year-end lists because I get a full year's worth of news in one easily-digestible portion. I don't keep up on my real news on a daily basis unfortunatley, so these Year in Review pieces are the next best thing.

So, enjoy the various Year End articles, pictures, and compilations everyone!

Christmas haircut!

I got a hair cut last week, and am happy to have my hair nice and short again. My stylist tried to get creative and leave the top a bit long, which is OK I guess, but I think I'll choose another place next time. Anyway, happy to have shorter coiffed hair!