Family Traditions: Superbowl Sunday!

Superbowl Sunday is a staple in Pitsanuk family life. How we celebrate changes from year to year but the sentiment is always the same.

As a family we always sit down together and cheer on our favorite team... I am usually highly out-numbered but I do have a tendency to win!

This year was a particularly exciting Superbowl as the New Orleans Saints took on the Indianapolis Colts and the Pitsanuk house was full of excited football fans.... well maybe just full of excited people.

Football may have been the excuse that brought us all together but the reasons were far more.

Food!

The amounts of food that were in my house that night could feed a small army.... or at least a hungry teenage boy... We had chili, veggies, pizza, chips, chili, dip, chili and did i mention chili. We still have a fridge full of the food, which works well for me because I don't have to actually cook anything I can just warm it up!

Booze!

It was the Superbowl... with a house full of adults... enough said.

Commercials!

Only the best part of the Superbowl!!! This year we had the American commercials playing on the TV. This year my I had a few favorite commercials.

Google.



Budweiser.



Doritos.



When anyone was out of the room for the commercials, we had people yelling that they were on and a stampede came into the family room to enjoy the commercials.

And of course the game!

Watching the Colts LOSE to the Saints was amazing!!!! The game itself was exciting and when you added the shots we were taking at each other, the excitement of watching the team I was cheering for win was awesome!

Looking forward to Superbowl Sunday next year when the Patriots are going to win!!!!

Sanity Saver: For the Love of Musicals

I went to Alive on Saturday night and was happily suprised when the live band came on and started to play Footloose. I am now a firm believer that all clubs should play at least one song from a musical everytime I'm there! This song made my night.

Enjoy!

I was... am one of those people who are happily caught in the middle of the romantic vampire craze that seems to be getting bigger by the second. For me it all started with Twilight.

My dear friend Megan spent hours telling me about the series and telling me that I would instantly fall in love with Edward. At this point I didn't even know who Edward was and honestly I wasn't quite sure I wanted to find out. Megan went out and bought me Twilight and it sat on my shelf for a good couple months. After constant pressuring I finally gave in and read to book.

The first thing I noticed was that the writing was a little childish but within about 10 pages, I was hooked. It became almost an addiction. I would stay up all night to read the book, I even brought it to a party and while everyone else sat and socalized I found a little corner and read my book.

Megan was right. I did fall in love with Edward, well as much as you can love a fictional vampire anyway, and as soon as I was finished the book I ran off to Chapters to buy New Moon and Eclipse. I read both of them just as quickly as the first. I loved the little world they put me in where love really did conquer all, even blood-thirsty vampires, werewolf best friends and keeping it all a secret.

When the movies came out I was so excited, but that was quickly followed by disappointment upon watching the first one. Lucky the books had such an effect on me that when New Moon came out this past November, I went and gave the mpvies another chance. New Moon wasn't the best movie i'd ever seen but it was much better then the first.

My love for romantic vampires had been rekindled. Then I happened to notice a new series on THE CW called The Vampire Diaries. The show became addictive very quickly, soon I was watching it every Thursday night. Then my friend Caitlin introduced me to the books, I wasn't going to read them but....

One day after a particularly good episode I decided I couldn't wait for a week to find out what was going to happen. I rushed down to Chapters and bought the first four books in the series. Now all I have to do is find the time in Crecomm to actually read these books.

Here is a little taste of the television show that inspired this blog.

Thanks for the Memories: Love in the Library

Sitting at one of the tables on the second floor of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library at the University of Manitoba, I am hit with memory after memory. Most of the memories are great, some now make me sad but I'm really glad I got to experience them all.

It was at these tables that I met and made many new friends, that I learned to study and most notably it was at these tables where I really first fell in love.

Almost three years ago, when I was in my second year of university I found these tables but had no idea how much they would change my life. I was taking an Intro Stats course, and as the fact that I am currently in CreComm would explain it, was not doing well. Lucky for me I happened to have a friend who not only was good at Stats but was also willy to teach me, even though I am among the mathematically challenged.

We spent day after day studying and eventually I found myself looking forward to studying Stats and genuinely missing the days where he wasn't there. As luck would have it we eventually started dating and continued to meet in the library, to study together every chance we could.

Unfortunately as the years went on our lives changed and the study dates became rare, but that seemed to make them all the more special. Sadly as they became almost non-existent our relationship also fell apart.

Sitting here at these tables now, I truly miss the days where we could not wait to meet each other, even when it was only to study math. Still every time I hear someone pass by I look up to see if it's him. And sometimes when no one is around I can still see him walking towards me in his Senators cap, blue eyes glowing with excitement and the biggest smile so happy just to see me. Then I blink and I';m back to reality, sitting at these tables in the Elizabeth Dafoe Library, on my own. Thankful for the memories and to Elizabeth Dafoe for letting me fall in love.

His Perfect Package Packed a Pair of Pretty Pecks

Today's Sanity Saver is one of my long lost loves. When my sister and I were little... and by little I really mean we were still doing this five minutes ago... we would sing Disney songs when we felt tired, stressed, sad, mad, happy....

After not the greatest day today she came into my room singing a song from Disney's Hercules. My favorite Hercules song Zero to Hero. She made me forget about my crappy day and remember how fun and simple life was when you were little and sitting on the couch singing Disney songs. Thank you Lena!

Now I will share the song with you to make you smile and remember that life is good.... even when you don't know it.

In October Prime Minister Stephen Harper surprised everyone when he showed up on stage at a National Arts Centre Gala in Ottawa. Harper showed up on stage during what was supposed to be the intermission of the Gala, and joined by Yo Yo Ma and a few other musicians and together performed a rendition of The Beatles song, With A Little Help from my Friends.





This "event" was found shocking to some people due to the fact that Harper had made some unfavorable comments about musical galas, much like the one he was at. This "event" also came at a very opportune time for the Prime Minister, as only days later he called four federal by-elections.



This "event", I believe was a ploy to attract voters in the areas having a by-election because Harpers unfavorable attitude towards the Arts is partly blamed for the lack of Conservative voters in Quebec. The "event" worked well for Prime Minister Harper, his popularity went way up after the surprise appearance.

I think pseudo events, much like this one, are a fantastic PR strategy. They get people talking about your product/cause/client and word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to achieve free publicity. If people know about what you're trying to sell/inform them about, they are far more likely to care.

Remember the Sales Associates this Holiday Season

The snow has fallen, the trees are being decorated, Christmas shows are taking over the television, it is that time of the year again. I love the whole Christmas season... with one exception. Shoppers. (dun dun dun)

Being a slave in children's retail around Christmas means taking your sanity and will to live and checking it at the door. Here are a few things you shoppers should keep in mind next time you go to a store and deal with the people working there.

1. We are not there to make things difficult for you. We are trying our best to help everyone, much to your suprise we do not wake up in the morning and think about how we can ruin you day.

2. If we say we don't have it in the back, we really don't have it. Don't ask us if we are sure it's not there. If we've taken the time to go back and check and come up empty handed, we don't have it. We want you to buy it, why would we leave it in the back. Look around the store it is busy, other people have bought your item. Not our fault. I'm sure your daughter really wants it but there is nothing I can do for you, you should have shopped earlier.

3. Yes there is a line. You knew that when you walked into the store. There was a line last Christmas and there will be a line next Christmas. Suck it up and stand in line. And no you don't get to skip ahead because you are busy, you can wait in line like everybody else.

4. Gift Reciepts. When I ask if you need them and you say no, don't tell me after the transaction that you need them.

5. Just because it was on sale last week doesn't mean it will be on sale this week. Don't yell at me about it.

6. After you have just watched me fold an entire table of shirts, please, please don't unfold everyone. It will make me cry.

7. When returning, you get the same amount of money back that was spent on the item in the first place. Its not my fault you thought it was worth more.

8. You cannot barter the prices of the items with me. The price is on there for a reason, an dthat is the way it will stay, no matter how hard you try. I don't have the power to change it.

9. When debit and credit go down, I didn't do it. I would love for it to be working more then you know, and yelling at me about it is not going to fix it.

10. Yes the Christmas carols playing in the store are annoying. Just remember you get to leave the store, I'm stuck there for eight hours.

To all of the customers who don't complain, who understand that we are just doing our jobs, and who don't yell at me becauseit's five pm on Christmas eve, you didn't get all your presents and the mall is now closed. We, the poor sales associates, love you.

Just take the time to say "Have a nice day" and you can make our crazy day a little bit better. When you do your Christmas shopping, have a little respect for the sales associates, we probably want to be there about as much as you do.