Love and Marriage go together like a horse and carriage...

THE AMAZING RELATIONSHIP TESTING SHOW!

The only good reality show on TV is the Amazing Race. Survivor is past its prime, and everything else is just crap. Although The Apprentice isn't bad... it isn't what it was the first season. The Amazing Race is incredible. Teams running around the world racing against each other, completing challenges for $1,000,000. Plus, the audience sure does learn alot about the different countries they travel to.

However, the thing that most amazes me about the race is the contestants. You've got siblings, dating couples, married couples, parents and their children, gay couples etc. all a mish mosh of groupings on the show. These people set out to win $1 million and "test" their relationships. Granted most of the testing is done by couples who are dating, but the whole point of testing the limits of their relationship is pretty silly if you ask me. What sort of relationship goes through the incredible stress of racing around the world every day. Granted relationships have stresses... but can you unequivocally say that your relationship has such stresses as trying to win a roadblock or pick the right detour and get a camel to run a race course? Don't think so. So why are you testing your relationship's maximum stress levels? Truth be told, these "couples" end up perhaps not being together after the race because they get on each other's nerves so much, they come to the conclusion that they aren't meant to be together. That is a load of horse poop.

The couples that I admire, are the older ones that have been together so long and run the race as if it is a game, not a test of their lives together. Which was why I was saddened today to see the older couple get eliminated. They raced for fun, cheered each other on in a positive way, and in the end, know that the race wasn't a test of their relationship, but more of a challenge for them to succeed at together.

Relationships...

are hard. They require dedication and work. Men love to be needed and Women need to be loved. That is something I've learned so far in my paltry 27 years of life. Imagine what knowledge I will amass in another 27 years. Probably not too much. The key to successful relationships is communication and that is a hard thing to do effectively. I'll readily admit that I'm a lousy communicator when it comes to relationships. Why? I'm not the best when it comes to on the spot sharing of my feelings/emotions. I can't satisfactorily communicate my feelings at the time when they need to be communicated and so my better half ends up winning all the arguments or just gets the silent moody treatment from me. Don't really know why that is. I guess I'm perhaps afraid to offend or say something that will get scrambled and misconstrued. So then later on, when I am able to accurately convey what I want to say and how I felt, it is pretty much too little, too late. Argument is over, and then at that point, I'm just rehashing old things which really doesn't help. I hate bringing up old arguments or things people have done in the past. The past is the past. Let it be.

So back to relationships. They are tough. Not always sugar and spice, but I always say that as long as you love your significant other, then that is all you need to fight for the relationship when the chips are down. Sometimes it may seem that it isn't worth the fight, or sometimes you may feel like you are the only one fighting, but trust me, as long as you can honestly tell yourself that you love the person you are with and that you can't imagine life without them, and that you see yourself growing old with them by your side, then you need to fight... and fight hard dammit!!

Stress & Relaxation

I had a lousy work day today. A job I was working on in November kind of turned sour today and because our client was breathing down our necks, my boss decided to breathe down mine. I understand his position, but boy did I feel lousy. My only bright moments today were getting my income tax refund, and getting a wedding gift from Tanya's mom's friend. Two return plane tickets from YVR to Paris. Wow. We were so utterly amazed and excited. Such a generous and kind gift to give. We're hoping to cash the tickets in for a summer trip in 2007... we'll have to see. I've already started thinking about where I want to go. Obviously the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, etc., but hopefully we'll have time to travel the French countryside, perhaps get to the Palace of Versailles, Normany coast, Nice, French Riviera. Wow. Amazing!!! We are really excited and very grateful for the tickets and the chance to travel to France. Kind of made all the bad stuff go away. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. As Mike Myers as Wayne does when things are kinda crappy, just smile and put your thumbs up!!!

Wayne's World!! Party Time!!

Excellent!!

Wedding Planning is Easy!!!

First off, here is a picture of Tanya and I eating ice cream at Coombs last year.


Okay, so there are some difficulties with wedding planning. They say most couples end up having disagreements over the guest list or the table seating arrangements. I won't got into any details, but let's just say that Tanya and I had our disagreements, but that they have been resolved. Wedding planning for us though, wasn't as difficult as movies, television and others make it out to be. Perhaps because Tanya and I are practical people who don't go out of our way to ensure that we have the most rare and exotic flower for our wedding or that our cake was baked by a world famous chef (not that we know any). But for the most part, our wedding planning was pretty smooth sailing. Granted we did have our bumps along the way, but we have constantly been asking ourselves if there is more to it that we are missing since we have almost finished the large planning part. We just need to find a cake which Tanya and her sister will be doing very soon.

I must confess however, that our planning would have probably been "bumpier" had it not been for the BC Wedding Directory. A must have for anyone getting married in BC. It lists venues, florists, bakers, etc. throughout the magazine and in the middle, provides you with a budget template to calculate how much you want to spend on flowers, cake, food, alcohol, etc. As well, it lists out all the tasks you need to think about and when you need to think about them. For example: 12-16 months before, find a venue. 1 month before, purchase your wedding license. As you can see, it is really helpful, and Tanya and I sing nothing but praises towards this magazine.

If you are getting married in BC, and there is one thing you invest in, let it be the BC Wedding Directory!!!

The NEW S-M-R-T

So Family Guy is my favourite cartoon show on TV. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge Simpsons fan, but Family Guy is just so much funnier now than the Simpsons. Case in point. The recent episode where Peter is on Wheel of Fortune ("I take thee Quagmire") and chooses the "letters" as you see in the above picture. Genius of the creators of Family Guy to create something just as funny as Homer Simpson's famous "I am so smart" quote.

Someone not so S-M-R-T...
I heard recently that George W. Bush is the president most likely to push the big red button that will launch nuclear missiles in every direction around the world before his term is up. I also heard that if the Democrats win back the house in these 2006 mid-terms, they'll try and impeach him and remove him from office. Wishful thinking or truth? We'll have to find out.

Island Drivers...
don't honk their horns at all!! I'm serious. I moved here from Vancouver almost 2 years ago, and I have heard only one car honk it's horn and that would be mine. Seriously. You can be sitting in your car at a red light behind 10 cars and when the light changes to green, the first car could be sitting there for like 10 minutes and no one will honk at them. Island life is quite different. Sometimes it is great and relaxing, but other times, when you are rushing to make an appointment, the pace here can be very annoying. Don't get me wrong though; I don't miss the 1 hour trips from home to the corner store that I would have to suffer through in Richmond or Vancouver, but sometimes, people realizing a light has changed colour, would be beneficial.

To the IDIOT!!!...
That decided that he'd put his high beams on while driving behind me on the Duke Point Highway when I was going to pick Tanya up... you are an IDIOT!!! You don't need high beams when I'm driving in FRONT OF YOU!!! Bastard.

Tim Horton's...
Rules. Especially on the Island. There are so many of them around and when you have a job like mine that requires you to be on the road at 6am in the morning, a coffee or tea from Timmy's is a great start to the day. Especially on those cold winter 6am mornings. Oh, and try their bagel with peanut butter and jam. Really yummy as a once in a while treat!!! One complaint though. I hardly ever win the Roll up the Rim to Win contest. I want more than the occasional free coffee or donut. I want the car to follow me home like in the commercial. Is that too much to ask for?

WEll, that's it for today. Stay tuned true believers for another exciting blog tomorrow!!!

p.s. - Jeremy. You can't drive... and Gloria has LOST more masculine wiles than you will ever have!!! =) No offense Glor.

My First Posting... wow!

So, here I am, my name is Terry, and I am writing my first blog posting. Why? I have no freakin' clue, but I do know that it is freakin' sweet. Well, maybe not, but I had to say it. Yeah, I know. Shut-up Jeremy. I started this as I figured I may as well jump on the bloggin band-wagon. Especially since the Canucks' bandwagon died last week.

So what am I going to write about? I have no idea. Someone named seakrait said I should talk about comics and how Iron Man is cooler than Batman. Well let me tell you something... I'll just say that Batman can kick Iron Man's a$$ and we'll leave it at that.

But seriously. I think this blog will kind of be something of a random jumbling of musings about current events, sports, my life, and yes, perhaps comics. Basically the stuff that interests me. May not interest you, but that is okay because it isn't your blog now is it!!

I think though, that I shall be posting a lot of commentary regarding my upcoming wedding. Yes, I am getting married in just over 2 months. Planning has been going quite well which has myself and my fiancé (Tanya) kind of questioning if we have everything done. I'll get into that in a future post.

So, with it being almost midnight and me having to get up early to go to Victoria for work tomorrow, I'll leave you with a random thought for the day:

If a cat is always supposed to land on its feet, and buttered toast always lands butter side down, what would happen if you tied a slice of buttered toast (butter side up) to the back of a cat?

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