If you haven’t seen the previews already, Hasbro Inc. (that’s right, the board game company) is coming out with the new Battleship movie. I watched the trailer a few weeks ago in theatres, and am curious as to how it’s all going to play out.
I remember playing the board game back in grade school (remember when the electronic talking version came out?). I was always pumped up when I would correctly guess the location of my opponents ships by calling out the alpha-number pairs… especially when they’d not so strategically clump all their ships together in one quadrant of the playing board.
The fact that Hollywood is basing a movie on a decades old board game, makes me wonder if they’re just strapped for ideas, or damn-near clever for going this creative route. What I’m really curious to see if there will be a Hungry, Hungry Hippo or Operation movie in the near future (I guess with Hollywood, you never know).
The big screen version stars Taylor Kitsch (the hottie, Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), True Blood‘s Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd, and not-Taken-for-granted Liam Neeson. Of course Universal had to throw in the eye candy that is Brooklyn Decker (Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret anyone?) and barely-there R&B singer Rihanna. I’m sorry, could they not get at least one supporting actress (and I use that term loosely) who could actually act?
Though directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Hancock), I have a strong feeling that the majority of Battleship might be sporting some Michael Bay-type special effects. The film’s already been released overseas, and is set to come to North American audiences on Friday, May 18th, 2012.
I don’t know if I’m as pumped up about this one, like I usually am with sci-fi/action movies. With a giant alien invasion, big guns, modelesque cast and lots of explosions, this is sure going to appeal to many.
I think I’d rather stick some coloured pegs into round, plastic holes.
In an attempt to train in the weeks before my CN Tower stair climb for the WWF, I’ve been trying to kick up my exercise intensity level. You know… P90X-style: through muscle confusion by doing a lot of various physical activities.
My body now feels like it’s been run over by a pack of wild clog-wearing wildebeest.
According to the interwebs I am experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). I haven’t felt this sore since the days after my snowboarding stint back in university (and I was only on the beginner hill).
Tuesday, I went kickboxing for the first time in over a year. It was fun getting to put back on my hand wraps and gloves, but when you’re instructed to do 500 swing kicks, knees, and jab-cross combos in a row, it can really take a lot out of you.
I honestly thought I was going to faint in the middle of the workout. Luckily I was partnered up with another girl who totally understood my pain, and I was able to get through it with a few breathers in between.
Wednesday is when the soreness started to happen, particularly in my quads and hamstrings. But that didn’t stop me from going salsa dancing Thursday night! That’s right, I slapped on some muscle cooling gel and danced through the pain.
Friday I took up an offer from a friend of mine to participate in a basketball tournament. It’s been a few years since I was part of an organized basketball team. Even though I was traumatized from my last bout when another girl elbowed me in the mouth as she was going up for a rebound (my lip was swollen for days), but I was happy to play. A bit rusty, but I had a scored couple baskets and even had a Mutombo-style block! Played another game on Saturday night as well (we even scored silver medal)!
I was going to try to make a dance run tonight, but had a family event to attend and loads of work to do for my deadline tomorrow ‘at the office’. Plus, my forearm muscles, back muscles, and strangely enough my gluteus maximus are aching.
A few tips to help alleviate muscle soreness:
Gentle stretching – Both before and after exercise. I really need to work on this.
Get a massage – Since there’s no pool boy to help me with this, I’m going to have to make use of my annual health benefits coverage.
Take a Hot Bath – The heat will help with circulation, adding some Epsom salts and some essential oils like lavender will help with the relaxation process.
Light Exercise – I know, it sounds like fighting fire with fire, but keeping your body active with low-intense exercise (even if you’re muscles are sore) will help oxygen get to the muscles and start the healing process.
Less than a week until I climb up all those 1776 steps. I’ll probably do a bootcamp class this week and sprinkle some salsa in before the big day.
Am I doing too much? I need to remember that I’m not Super Woman, but I’ll make sure to keep the A535 on hand.
Walking through the local Metro I had to do a double-take when I noticed a dark chocolate milk. Why didn’t they think of this before? I just had to pick one up to try.
Compared to regular 1% chocolate milk, Natrel Dark Chocolate Milk is a lot more richer, more chocolatey, thicker and a wee bit sweeter. I’m not much of a milk drinker, but this dark chocolate milk may have me hooked.
At the Grocery Innovations Canada trade show back in October 2011, Natrel Dark Chocolate Milk was voted one of the top 10 most innovative products for 2012. I can see why. Containing real dark chocolate, and presently available in Ontario and Quebec, this premium chocolate milk hits the spot, and doesn’t make you feel too guilty because it contains your needed calcium, vitamin D and protein.
Hello everyone! On April 21st I will be participating in the annual CN Tower stair climb to support WWF Canada. That’s right, I’ll be climbing up all 1,776 steps!
For those who don’t know me that well, I do try my best to keep the environment strong, and now that includes helping with the protection of it’s endangered wildlife and climate change.
Having worked at the CN Tower in my youth for a couple years, I’ve never actually climbed up all those steps (come to think of it, I used to laugh at the people attempting to do it during those events as I escorted them on the elevator down… boy, have the tables have turned). But now’s my chance to achieve a personal goal on my bucket list and help with a good cause as well.
Hopefully all my years of kickboxing and salsa dancing will come in handy, as I think I would probably collapse on step #47 if I don’t start training a bit more (thank goodness there are paramedics on every 10th floor). Perhaps hooking a chocolate doughnut to the end of a pole attached to my headband will be a good motivation as I climb up?
I’m counting on all of you to help me reach my fundraising goal. The money I raise with the help of your generous support will make a huge difference to WWF’s efforts to conserve species at risk, like polar bears, tigers, and pandas (aka all the cute animals I don’t eat) and the habitats they call home.
If you’d like to join me in the challenge by climbing yourself, don’t hesitate to sign up at wwf.ca/cntowerclimb. Feel free to share this page to anyone else you know who may be interested in pledging my climb.
Back on January 18th I got all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Although none were impacted, one was growing on an angle and difficult to clean. Plus I eventually wanted to get orthodontics to correct my smile, so I mustered up the courage, made sure I had proper dental coverage and decided to take those suckers out. Here’s my day-by-day account to how it went down for the first week.
Day 1:
My sister came to the dental surgeon’s office with me as my chaperone, as I didn’t want to end up aimlessly on the streets of Toronto, high of pain pills and Novocaine.
Got to the office on time (around noon), filled out the appropriate forms, tried not to have a panic attack in the washroom minutes before my surgery after thinking about having parts of my body removed while I was knocked out.
Once I was sitting in the chair, the dental assistant informed me of how I’ll feel after the drugs were administered. She asked if I was nervous at all. I told her a little, so she gave me some laughing gas to calm my nerves.
The surgeon walked in and greeted me, then they gave me the anesthetic. The last thing I remember was asking, “Am I supposed to be feeling this dizzy?”.
Next thing you know I start coming to. I distinctly remember my legs twitching as they were finishing off extracting my teeth.
When everything was complete I was gently walked into a separate room and my sister came in and asked me how I was feeling. Obviously I felt like I just had 4 teeth extracted from my mouth (which was full of gauze).
The dental assistant gave me and my sister the rundown of what to expect now that my teeth had been removed, and how to use the syringe to clean out the gaping holes that were now left in my mouth. I was told that I had a few stitches that would dissolve/come out over the next few days. She gave me a care kit and my wisdom teeth! Then I was off. I wonder how much money I’ll get if I put these under my pillow?
I told my sister (through mumbles) to drop me to the grocery store so that I could pick up the food that I’ll need to eat to fit my new liquid/mushy diet. I’m surprised I wasn’t more groggy than I was. I managed to locate the soup aisle quickly, and also got a box of instant mashed potatoes. Also picked up my Tylenol-3 prescription.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t go straight home and rest, so I had to follow my sister to an important meeting at a community center, so I spent the next hour and a half watching kids dive in an Olympic sized swimming pool until she was done (thank goodness I had my laptop with me).
Stayed at the family’s house that night so that I wouldn’t choke on my own blood while sleeping. I was super hungry, as I wasn’t supposed to eat or drink anything prior to the surgery. Managed to down some tomato soup and some baby food (custard is so yummy), with a little baby spoon, while my sister and our friend chowed down on a hearty meal of chicken and rice.
It was around 9pm when I tried to eat a tiny piece of chicken, as I was still hungry). I knew I couldn’t chew it, tried to swallow it whole seagull style, but it wasn’t working, so I just rinsed my mouth out, put in some new gauze and went to bed.
Sleep was uneasy. Woke up a couple hours later and was talking to my sister about a conversation I thought we had, but was really a dream. Turned out it actually did happen. Felt like I was living int he Matrix. Had trouble sleeping as I didn’t want to choke with the gauze in my mouth, yet didn’t want to take it out b/c I was still bleeding from one of the extraction sites a bit.
Day 2:
Changed my gauze again and brushed my teeth in the AM. It’s strange opening my mouth and not seeing teeth where there used to be. Surprisingly there was hardly any swelling. My left side was just puffed up a tiny bit, but I was happy that I didn’t end up looking like a chipmunk. As for the pain, my mouth felt sore, like I was trying to recuperate after being punched in the face. As per the doctor’s orders, I was taking the pain med and the antibiotics alternatively.
I got a nice call from the surgeon’s office asking how I was feeling and again giving me tips for my recovery. I changed my gauze multiple times that day. As for eating, I had some more baby food and mom made me some mashed potatoes. Headed home later and looked forward to eating my pre-made Jell-O-filled ramekins I made prior to the surgery. Jell-O has never tasted so good.
Day 3:
Mouth is still a little sore, but the swelling is pretty much gone. Still on a baby-food diet, as I’m afraid to attempt to eat real food lest it get lodged into one of my mouth holes and cause dry socket. My cheeks still have the faintest tinge of numbness. Had to go into work today, but at least the weekend is here. I found out that pieces of brie inside tomato soup is quite a delicious dish! Still not feeling any major pain (more like discomfort), so I stopped taking the Tylenol-3, lest I became an addict.
Day 4:
I’m not sure how much more soup, baby food, Jell-O and mashed potatoes I can eat. I’m wasting away here! I had a charity auction party to go to at a friend’s house tonight. My awesome friend made me some red pepper soup on account of my condition. :-) Slurped that down as I was bidding on items that I didn’t really need (but it was for charity). I also managed to eat some veggie noodle stir fry. Yum!
Day 5:
The numbness in my cheeks are finally gone! That was my main worry before even having my wisdom teeth removed. Using the syringe is a bit tricky. But I got to make sure that the gums heal properly. Still staying away from drinking anything with a straw, as I heard that the suction can dislodge the needed blood clots in my gums.
Day 6:
Eating real food more regularly now! Although trying to chew with your front teeth is a bit tedious. I think I felt one of the stitches slide out, so I opened my mouth and lo and behold there’s a string hanging from behind my molar. I didn’t dare pull it out (I thought they would dissolve).
Day 7:
I have my follow-up appointment tomorrow. I hope all goes well. Still gingerly eating, syringing, gargling (non-alcohol mouthwash, and with salt water) and brushing! I lost about 5lbs since the procedure (since I’m practically afraid to eat) so I guess that’s a plus!
Day 8:
The follow-up appointment went well. The dental assistant took a look inside my mouth and told me that my gums seemed to be healing well. Although there was a tiny bit if bleeding still in one of the sites. Reason was I wasn’t using the syringe properly: I was supposed to put in right inside the gum. I guess I was still a bit doped up after the initial surgery to remember that tiny fact. I was under the impression that the pressure of the water would be enough to squirt any food out, and that putting it inside my gum would lengthen the healing time. Whoops!
Today:
After a recent visit to my dentist, my mouth has healed great. Looking in the mirror myself, I no longer see the gaping holes that were there just over a month ago. I also was able to get fitted for my Invisaligns… but that’s another post.
I’ve been there a few weeks ago and I’m from The Netherlands so i should know how it would taste and I got a apple crumble pie and it was the best I’ve ever had little expesive but okay it was delicious!
Walking through the local Metro I had to do a double-take when I noticed a dark chocolate milk. Why didn’t they think of this before? I just had to pick one up to try.
Hello everyone! On April 21st I will be participating in the annual CN Tower stair climb to support 
on August 11, 2016