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You are here: Home / Archives for Home and Lifestyle

I can’t wait until the scuzzy neighbors next door leave

November 26, 2009 by Tricia

I can not wait until our renter neighbors next door end up getting kicked out. Note that I didn’t say move out … I’m sure they will have to be kicked out given the stories and history of them we’ve heard from some friends that used to live in the same apartment buildings that they did.

They are just plain scuzzy people. The kind of people that you take one look at and get a bad feeling about.

Now usually I give people the benefit of the doubt even if I have a bad feeling about them when I first meet them. usually my instincts are right – but I still like to give people a chance. Not in this case though … Chris and I just got a bad feeling about them from the start and then we started hearing from our friends that the guy had just gotten out of jail and that he and his wife are hooked on drugs and get this – that the guy actually robbed both his sister and his parents recently!

Chris just came back from the corner store and guess who was there just before him … our scuzzy renter neighbors – the guy, his wife and their teenage daughter. It looks like they pulled a scam while they were there too.

They apparently bought a long distance calling card. The store owner gave it to the teenaged girl and the girl proceeded to walk around the store – I guess while one of her parents were paying for the card. A few minutes later the girls said the card wasn’t in the envelope. So the store owner ended up having to give them another long distance calling card.

I suppose it’s possible that the card wasn’t in the package, but knowing these people’s history it’s more likely that they pulled a scam by distracting the store owner while the girl took the calling card out of the package and then said it was empty.

I only wish that the people that own the home had looked into these people better before renting to them. We apparently have no home owner rental laws here in Ontario where the home owner is supposed to do a criminal background check etc on prospective renters – kind of like a pre-employment screening that some companies do.

Why? Well, if they don’t and it turns out that the renters are doing something illegal in the home like making drugs etc then the home owner will be liable for their renters activities and any damages that the police do when they bust the renters … ie if the renters set up a drug lab in the house and the police bust in and break doors etc or tear up walls the homeowner has to pay for all the repairs because they didn’t do a background check on their renter. I guess if they did do one and the renter didn’t have a criminal history but then did something illegal then the story would be a little different for the home owner.

I don’t know exactly how it all works, but it’s clear that the home owners in this case didn’t check up on anything that the renters next door told them. I mean, not even calling their employers. The guy had told them that he worked for the Toronto Transit commission and that his wife was a social worker … but we hear from our friends that the guy got fired from the TTC a year or so ago and then spent close to a year in jail and that the woman hasn’t worked for a few years.

Arg … I can’t wait for these people to leave. I’m sure it will start with them not paying their bills or their rent and then the home owners will have to kick them out. It can’t happen soon enough for me!

In the mean time we’re keeping all our doors locked and someone is always home. Hey, if the guy would rob his own sister and parents homes then it wouldn’t be a big leap for him to rob his next door neighbors – would it?





Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, Items to Try, The Neighborhood, Toronto Tagged With: bad feeling, bad neighbors, bad people, corner store, criminal background check, employment record, home owners, jail, kicked out, locking doors, neighbors, not paying bills, not paying rent, out of jail, probation, renters, scam, scary, scary neighbors, scuzzy, scuzzy people, sick, stole calling card

I started using my Wii again- Finally!

November 26, 2009 by Tricia

I just started using my Wii again! I bought it last January, but after a few months of using the Wii Fitness game and and a few other games I got busy and stopped using it. I guess summer got in the way?

Anyway, I decided a few days ago that I’d better start using it again. I mean, I spent a lot of money on the console and balance board and a few games to go along with it … so I’d better use it right?

I started using the EA Sports Active that I bought oh … last June or so. I love it. I like it a lot better than the Wii Fit that came with the balance board. I can even use some of my own fitness equipment with it such as a step board, ankle weights, hand held weights or even a balance ball.

I’ve only used it a couple of times so far, but I really like it. I plan to use it at least three or four times a week from now on.

Being at home on medical leave for the last five years has left me in bad shape. My weight isn’t too bad, but my muscles are weak. I’m definitely not as strong as I used to be and I don’t want my muscles to get any more out of shape than they already are!

I’ve also been thinking of getting the new Wii Sports Resort and the upgrade to Wii Fit called Wii Fit plus. Do any of you have those yet? Are they worth getting?

Filed Under: Entertainment, Health Fitness and Beauty, Home and Lifestyle, Items to Try Tagged With: get in shape, getting fit, in shape, Sports Active, Sports resort, using wii daily, weak muscles, Wii, Wii Fit plus

I spent way more money today than I should have!

November 24, 2009 by Tricia

Do you ever have one of those days when you go out to do one thing and end up doing several – not to mention spending a lot of money?

Yeah? Well that’s the kind of day I had today.

Chris had the day off work, so, since we both needed haircuts we made appointments in the afternoon. I got my hair cut first and then while my husband was getting his hair cut and was busy chatting away with our hair dresser I wandered through the mall.

My niece is getting married at the end of December. She was supposed to get married next June, but her fiance joined the armed forces and they are going to have to move to New Brunswick in January … hence the early wedding!

So I was wandering through the mall trying to get some ideas for a gift for her bridal shower and of course a wedding gift idea. She’s registered at the Hudson Bay company, and lucky for me, there’s a Bay store in the mall where we were getting our hair cut.

I did manage to get some gift ideas but I decided to hold off on buying anything until this weekend. I want to talk to my sister about one of the items I saw first. Anyway … if I could afford to buy her everything that I thought about buying she’d definitely need cross country movers come January! LOL I love buying gifts, but I seriously can’t afford much. Our finances are so bad.

I was also looking around for some clothes. I dug through my closets this past weekend and found a nice dress that I might wear to the wedding, but I discovered that I needed shoes. Can you believe that just about all of my dress shoes are opened toed? That won’t do for a December wedding! I’ll freeze my toes off. LOL

So I guess I concentrated more on buying things for me today rather than for my niece and her fiance. I ended up finding a great pair of high heels. They were 30% off! I also bought a nice pair of winter boots.

I really haven’t had a nice pair of winter boots for quite a while. The ones I do have are more like outdoor walking boots (but for winter) and they aren’t very comfortable at all! Luckily, when we do get snow here in Toronto it either melts fast, or the streets and sidewalks are cleared fairly quickly, so I’ve been able to get by using the boots I just mentioned and running shoes most winters.

Still, I wanted a decent pair of boots. You see I’ve been walking our dog more lately and I can see our walks getting longer and longer. I wont be able to keep that up every day through the winter if I don’t have a decent pair of boots … so that prompted me to take a serious look at the boots that were also on sale in the store.

In the end I saved over $60 on the boots and shoes.

I wish I’d saved even more, or that I didn’t need to get the shoes and boots. So much for just getting a hair cut! The money I spent will really put a dent in our finances. Not to mention the wedding and Christmas gifts I still have to buy!

Filed Under: Family, Gifts, Home and Lifestyle, Items to Try, Shopping, Toronto Tagged With: boots, Chris, department store, fiance, Gift ideas, hair cut, heels, husband, mall, Niece, shoes, Shopping, wedding registery

Pleasantly full

November 22, 2009 by Tricia

We just had a great dinner. I’m full, but not so full that I don’t feel like I can do anything. Just full enough.

We had burritos for dinner. Yum!

My husband and I love Mexican food, but for some reason we don’t eat it very often. It’s probably been a year since we last made burritos or tacos at home. Too long.

Considering how much we both like Mexican food I don’t know why we don’t eat it at least once a month. It’s fairly cheap to make too. At least the basic stuff like tacos and burritos anyway. LOL

When Chris and I lived in an apartment we used to go to this great Mexican restaurant regularly. I can’t remember the name of it right now, but it’s located just south west on Yonge street at Eglinton, here in Toronto.

There are a couple of really good Mexican restaurants on the Danforth as well. Very close to where we live now, but of course we haven’t been to either one in ages and likely won’t be going out to dine for a while since we just don’t have any money to spare on eating out.

I’m going to have to find some good recipes for Mexican food so that we can have it more often and of course have some variety.

I do have a great recipe for guacomole (If I can find it!). Several years ago we went to a Mexican restaurant downtown and we enjoyed their guacamole so much we talked the server into getting the recipe for us. He also got permission from the restaurant to sell us one of those big guacamole dishes that are made out of lava rock (I think).

If you know of a good website for Mexican recipes or if you have some favorite recipes of your own that you’d like to share please let me know.

Filed Under: Dining and Restaurants, Home and Lifestyle, Toronto Tagged With: burrito, full, good dinner, mexican food, mexican recipes, pleasantly full, tacos, tasty, yummy

This lady has way more energy that I do!

November 17, 2009 by Tricia

still_got_it

This elderly lady sure had a lot more energy than I do lately! I can only hope that if I reach her age I’ll be able to do a stretch like that! LOL Or at least be somewhat active!

This picture also reminds me that I should look into wrinkle treatments as I age if I want to be a decent looking old lady. wink.

I’ve been overtired for about a month now and being on Benadryl for the last five or so days didn’t help! I had an allergic reaction to yet another new medication – hives, itching and other unpleasant side effects .. so I spent the last several days with a bobbing head as I tried to stay awake.

Then, early this morning I woke up from a strange dream and I couldn’t get back to sleep for a long time. So even though I’m not taking allergy meds anymore I’m still overtired. Sigh.

The way things have been going for me lately I doubt I’ll be as spry as that little old lady in the photo if I ever reach her age! Do you ever have weeks or months were you just feel worn out?

Filed Under: Home and Lifestyle, Inflammatory bowel disease, Items to Try, Trouble sleeping Tagged With: allergic reaction, bad dreams, Benadryl, funny picture, medication, old lady, sleepy, stretching, tired

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