what a game, eh?

Anna and I just got done watching the Gold-medal hockey game between Canada and the U.S. What a game, eh?

The only comparable experience that I can offer is watching a football, or soccer, game in a British pub. Possibly in a sense that was foreign to me, there was a sense of national pride and devotion attributed to a sporting event. We watched this Olympic game amongst our Canadian housemates. We, of course, were pulling for our home country (I wore my USA Olympic shirt) and had a ton of fun.

When the U.S. scored that tying goal with 30 seconds left, I just laughed in how awesome the game had turned out. 

More fun, however, was the inner turmoil our landlords had when their kids were demanding their attention as Canada was in overtime. We laughed at how in Canada, hockey just might prevail over parental duties...  joking of course.

While "we" lost the game, it certainly was an experience Anna and I won't forget soon. I just wish that the American team could have smiled as they received their medals.  Silver isn't that bad.

we don't have a dishwasher.

So, this has become a part of daily life.

We are both guilty of letting messes collect, clutter, and multiply until we can't take it any more and launch ourselves into a cleaning frenzy. This was the result of one such frenzy. I'm pretty sure the dishes included the aftermath of a chocolate pie made from scratch, several rounds of coffee, Toby's bowls, and about five meals including tupperwares full of leftovers.

We aren't alone in the dishwasher-free-zone; none of the three families living above us have one, either.

We're the only family unit with a dog, though, and while everybody does the wash-and-dry routine, not everybody experiences this routine:

daily routine from Anna Dyer on Vimeo.

I am fully aware of my dorktastic sources of entertainment. There's no saving me.

Go Americanada!

While Vancouver is probably further away from Hamilton than, say, Colorado, I still feel a bit closer to the excitement of the Olympics being in Canada. Fortunately we still get NBC's coverage, so we are able to watch both the Canadian and American highlights.

So, in many respects, GO CANADA:


And in many other ways, GO USA!!

The caption for the first pic is: "Who lives in Canada? 'I do!!'"
And the second : "Ssshh. I'm secretly routing for the States..."

Thanks to Ashley and Mike for the apparel. They were included in a lovely care package.

I wear them both, but not the USA one in public. That's not how you make friends.

Oh, and I think that Toby believes I'm going to play fetch in the second picture. He got excited.

Get Your Timmies

This is Bryan posting now. Anna is asleep and I've taken over the blog.

I've decided to take this opportunity to discuss one of my favorite features of our new town - Tim Hortons.

While we were living in Colorado, I always felt that there was one major flaw: there was no legit drive-thru coffee option. While they had plenty of Starbucks, Caribou Coffee and well, more Starbucks locations, these rarely had drive-thru windows and none were all that great. When Anna and I visit family in Illinois, there are plenty of Dunkin' Donuts locations (and their coffee is brilliant). Likewise, when we visit family in Saginaw, there are plenty of Tim Hortons locations.

Well, here in Hamilton there is a Tim Hortons on virtually every corner (although, not any of the corners closest to us... but that's a fluke). In fact, the very first Tim Hortons was in Hamilton, Ontario. Now, it has taken over Ontario, most of Canada and is infiltrating the U.S. (Saginaw has three locations! - Saginaw doesn't have three of anything).

Tim Hortons is literally a Canadian phenomenon and has become closely connected with Canadian culture. Everyone drinks it. And, I have noticed, it has produced its own special words and phrases. So, a term like "double, double" (which means two creams and two sugars) are common when ordering coffee anywhere. Earlier in my Canadian commuting, I incorrectly ordered at a Tim Hortons. I asked for a "regular coffee with Splenda." I meant a "regular" as in, "not decaf." But, "regular" means a non-decaf coffee with cream and sugar. The lady taking my order asked me to repeat myself. She then said, "Then you don't want a 'regular,' you want cream and Splenda?" I was confused.

Since Tim Hortons is so huge in Canada, a trendy person like myself finds himself in a conflict. It's not cool to do what everyone else does or to shop at the company which dominates the market. So in the U. S. going to Tim Hortons can be seen as rebellion against Starbucks. Here in Hamilton, Starbucks are out-numbered like 10 to 1. Buying a Tim Hortons coffee is supporting the man.

And yet I it's just so damn good. Our Canadian friends, the Boskers, call it "liquid crack" (or something along those lines).

Oh, and P.S. Canadians like hockey. FYI.

Happy Family Day!

This holiday has technically only been observed in Ontario since February of 2008. Arizona is the only U.S. state that observes it, but they've been doing it since 1978. How did I miss out on this my whole Illinois life? (Although, we had President's day, which is for all practical purposes the same thing.) Literally everything is closed today- schools and offices, and even grocery stores and gas stations. I, on the other hand, had my first (training, really) half-day of work and I drove past a park and frozen lake crawling with kids playing hockey. So that's where they all are!

Or, if you would like to spend Family Day doing something other than playing hockey, try the local family nudist resort. Yep, it's real. (Here's a question: why is a single female daily pass $10 less than a single male? Thoughts?)

Sunshine State to Land of D-Deficiency

Well, here's a first for me.
"...the one vitamin that is most often deficient in Canadians - Vitamin D."

Their commericals pop up occasionally on local TV channels. Maybe this is marketed elsewhere in the U.S. and I've just missed it, but Vitamin D deficiency would NOT be an issue in Denver.