So yesterday Facebook comes in handy.......I usually spend a good portion of Labour Day weekend making homemade tomato sauce.....from scratch....yummy. Tomatoes are abundant this time of year and there's nothing better than making homemade sauce from locally grown tomatoes. But in order to make the perfect sauce....one needs roma or plum tomatoes......not those equally delicious gigantic field tomatoes that I've been eating like apples. Now, I can get them at a supermarket, but they might not be Canadian or as fresh........but not every little produce stand or farmer has roma tomatoes.......so I went on Facebook to find out where I could go in my area.....and behold!  Suggestions abound!  Krista, Carol and Linda pointed me to the perfect place...a place I had never been before.....so I headed out north of Lucknow and followed their instructions.....and ended up at the Kinloss Mennonites Farmers Market....awesome. Great looking produce....but I go in only see field tomatoes.....so I ask about romas and the young man there says he has lots, but they're in another barn and not yet really ripe...I tell him that's okay....he asks me how many I need....I say about 10-20 lbs...he informs me most people buy a box and shows me a pretty big box.......he says it's half a bushel.....I say ok......but I have to drive around to get them.....he disappears and I drive around the farm in circles looking for him until he comes out lugging a box spilling over with roma tomatoes......I ask him how much and he says "$8".....I say that sounds about right! I also pick up some pickled beets, a few candy onions, some green beans and garlic bulbs the size of soft balls......great score! I might not have found this place had it not been for my lady friends on Facebook......and to the others who pointed me to supermarkets with boxes of romas....thanks....but I'll take the Kinloss Farmers Market any day. And ladies.....I was so busy yesterday I never got to the Miller Mall.....I'll save that and an ice cream for next week.......

Hey did you miss the teh comedy battle between Shaq and Jimmy Kimmel on Shaq Vs?  If so click...

HERE

So last night I was looking forward to the finale of Shaq Vs. If you haven't seen it, NBA superstar, or former superstar, takes on people in their specialty....he raced against Dale Earnhardt jr....took on a little Asian girl in a spelling bee...you get the drift....last night he took on Jimmy Kimmel in a 5 minute monologue contest and fared pretty well.......and then he took on Justin Bieber in a number of challeneges from basketball and bowling to dancing and singing....but I have let it be known that I am not the president of the Justin Bieber fan club...but then again, how many 49 yr old men love formulaeic pop music targeting teenage girls? Riiiiight. It appears that Justin Bieber is one very talented kid....he plays basketball VERY well.....dribbles like a champ, has a good jump shot.....you should have seen it. He showed us his bowling prowess by doing trick shots and beating Shaq handily. His dancers and friends say that Justin does just about everything well.....I believe it after seeing it last night. This kid is the new Justin Timberlake with WAAAY more talent. Sure his arrogance and confidence comes thru if you're looking for that...but nobody survives in the entertainment business if they don't believe they're better than most others......so I hope he can keep his ego in check. If this kid doesn't get bad advice, start doing drugs or get screwed up by a girl or woman (and that can happen)...then I predict he'll be around for a long time......as for Shaq...his days may be numbered in the NBA, but as an entertainer...we will see much more of him...he's a big kid who likes to pull pranks and have fun....he's funny, irreverant and knows what the people want.........and he has a whack of talent too.......so kudos to one of the dumbest shows I've seen in a long time...and enjoyed it thoroughly!

What more can one say about Manny Ramirez...this guy is the Terrell Owens of MLB......he is a cancer for any team.....why else were the Dodgers so willing to put him on waivers without getting anything for him? Because they couldn't. The Dodgers save almost 4 million while the White Sox absorb the last month of his 2 year $45 million contract. This guy left Boston in a sour way...he leaves the Dodgers the same way.....why would anyone want this guy?  He violated the leagues drug policy last year using performance enhancing drugs..........On Sunday, he topped that bit of despicable behavior by being ejected from his final Dodgers game for arguing the first pitch of a pinch-hit appearance. Really, Manny? The first pitch? Couldn't you have given the Dodgers at least two more? As for Manny and the White Sox......he won't do anything except upset any chemistry they have right now.....he's off the juice and has a bad attitude...pack it in Manny...it's over.

I've been having waaay too much fun and partying too much this summer.....it's been so great. Hot weather...tons of get togethers.....roadtrips south.....plenty of golf (bad and good, mostly bad) I also have been avoiding running or walking...partially because I'm always so busy......but that's not really a good excuse. And now Labour Day is approaching.....what does that mean? It means a different mindset.......summer is over despite what the weather is doing....kids going back to school.......leaves turning.......beer cart girls finishing their summer jobs.....now everyone starts looking towards Thanksgiving as the next big long weekend......what a drag. I attempted to quit smoking this summer after a night where I smoked way too much.....but kept telling myself , "I'll quit at the end of the summer".......I did the same thing with exercise.......I didn't go out walking or use the treadmill.....and I've gained a few pounds over the summer.....now it's time to buckle down and get back to regular exercise....otherwise I'm screwed ......I don't get out much during the colder months so I have to get into a routine or habit of doing something.....before I bloat out.......but with all this awesome weather....I don't "feel" like summer is over quite yet.........I'm trying to create excuses to continue my decadent lifestyle before I get back to eating better, exercising regularly and focusing on some sort of fitness regiment......so I think I'll give myself a deadline of this week's final backyard BBQ.......I have to have some sort of start date or target......so after Labour day weekend, it's goodbye sweet summer......I still have you for a week though....and I promise to make the best of it and go out with 'guns a blazin'........AND HOPEFULLY YOU CAN HANG AROUND A BIT LONGER......like til about Xmas......LOL.....

...so I'm watching TV the other night and there's a show on the family called Kardashian's.......you may have heard of them.....they are the family of the famous lawyer Robert Kardashian who was a defence attorney for the OJ Simpson trial and who passed away a while ago....I guess his wife remarried Bruce Jenner (super Olympic decathelete)......and they had a couple of children....it's all very convoluted to me.....anyway...I was trying to figure out exactly why they are famous and have their own TV show called "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"......they don't seem to really do anything....no real contribution to society.......they're just really rich.  And people I know....actually watch this! They read about them....they look them up on the internet....why? Are our lives so boring that we have sunk so low as to watch the lives of other idiots? The same goes for this Jersey Shore show...but I think that's even dumber. It's a show that pretty much makes fun of the Italian American stereotype.....8 of these losers that don't seem to really work or have jobs live together.....they have names like "The Situation"...yep, that's one of the guys names.....Snooki, Sammi Sweetheart.....these are all people that don't speak proper English......they sound stupid.....and their major life problems are what they are going to wear, who they're going to hit on...and who's driving what to where they are going......unbelievably stupid. If people continue to watch this kind of crap and shows like ET!, The Batchelor or Batchelorette.....their brains will cease to function.......TV is rotting thr minds of everybody these days...not just kids....and it's got to stop

So Hayley Wickenheiser says womens hockey is in serious trouble......at the World Hockey Summit, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge announced in February that women's hockey could not "continue without improvement," ......she says he was not really threatening to remove the sport from the Winter Games.....riiiiiiiight. Wickenheiser told an audience the women's game needs improved access to facilities and stronger international leadership to strengthen the game in some of the weaker countries. Canada and the U.S. have dominated the sport forever. ."Facilities is a huge issue for kids in general, whether you're male or female, or wherever you live in the world -- there's not enough rinks," Wickenheiser said. "You look at a country like Russia, which is hosting the next Olympic Games, and as big and as powerful a hockey nation as it is, there are six arenas where women play hockey in the entire country." And here at home, The Canadian Women's Hockey League and the Western Women's Hockey League have struggled to find stable footing. So...the NHL may have its problems, but it hasn't got the kind of serious problems that womens hockey faces. Without growth in the sport from other countires, it is in serious jeopardy of being eliminated as an Olympic sport.  Can we save it?  I sure hope so!

I have been playing golf VERY poorly this year, and thus, haven't played as much as I'm not enjoying it as much...this hasn't ever happened to me...losing my swing...no timing, no rhythm....it's frustrating...yet I continue to try....a friend of mine sent this to me to remind me of how the game goes sometimes....hope you enjoy it!

IN MY HAND I HOLD A BALL,
WHITE AND DIMPLED, RATHER SMALL.
OH, HOW BLAND IT DOES APPEAR,
THIS HARMLESS LOOKING LITTLE SPHERE.

BY IT'S SIZE I COULD NOT GUESS,
THE AWESOME STRENGTH IT DOES POSSESS.
BUT SINCE I FELL BENEATH ITS SPELL,
I'VE WANDERED THROUGH THE FIRES OF HELL.

MY LIFE HAS NOT BEEN QUITE THE SAME,
SINCE I CHOSE TO PLAY THIS GAME.
IT RULES MY MIND FOR HOURS ON END,
A FORTUNE IT HAS MADE ME SPEND.

IT HAS MADE ME CURSE AND CRY,
I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE.
IT PROMISES A THING CALLED PAR,
IF I CAN HIT IT STRAIGHT AND FAR.

TO MASTER SUCH A TINY BALL,
SHOULD NOT BE VERY HARD AT ALL.
BUT MY DESIRES THE BALL REFUSES,
AND DOES EXACTLY AS IT CHOOSES.
IT HOOKS AND SLICES, DRIBBLES AND DIES,
OR DISAPPEARS BEFORE MY EYES.
OFTEN IT WILL HAVE A WHIM,
TO HIT A TREE OR TAKE A SWIM.

WITH MILES OF GRASS ON WHICH TO LAND,
IT FINDS A TINY PATCH OF SAND.
THEN HAS ME OFFERING UP MY SOUL,
IF ONLY IT WOULD FIND THE HOLE.

IT'S MADE ME WHIMPER LIKE A PUP,
AND SWEAR THAT I WILL GIVE IT UP.
AND TAKE TO DRINK TO EASE MY SORROW,
BUT THE BALL KNOWS,
I'LL BE BACK TOMORROW.

Man! What is this world coming to?  Psycho's beheading people on buses.....pig farmers that are serial killers.......drug cartels in Mexico killing innocent people with criminals let out of jail with guards weapons.....and now this......I read a story yesterday about 2 young 11 yr old British lads that...get this.....were the youngest people ever to be convicted of a sex crime.....they were convicted of attempting to rape an 8 yr old girl. An 8 yr old!  Actually they were 10 yrs old each when it happened. The girl went home after and told her mother about it. The boys' lawyers argued that the boys had only been playing a game. A jury cleared the pair of rape, but found them guilty of attempted rape. Justice John Saunders said Wednesday that the boys will be monitored by social workers for the next three years, rejecting a custodial sentence as counterproductive. What the hell is wrong with these kids.....when I was 10 or 11 I didn't think of sexually assaulting 8 yr old girls.....I don't think I even thought of kissing them....girls had coodies!  Where did the boys get the inclination to do this?  Is it the ability for youngsters to surf for porn on the internet? Is it TV or movies...is it bad upbringing...or no upbringing at all?!   I don't know...but these kids truly are disturbed when they don't know enough to leave 8 yr old little girls alone. Is this just another sign that, indeed, the end of the world is approaching in 2012......I'm beginning to think that the Mayans might be onto something.......

My heartfelt appreciation goes out to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me "forwards" over the past 12 months.

Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed and healthy. Extra thanks to whoever sent me the email about rat crap in the glue on envelopes cause I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope.

Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

Because of your genuine concern, I no longer drink Coca Cola because I know it can remove toilet stains, which is not exactly an appealing characteristic.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone might drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer eat KFC because their "chickens" are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer worry about my soul because at last count, I have 363,214 angels looking out for me.

Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl on the internet who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time).

I no longer have any money at all in fact - but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special on-line email program.

Yes, I want to thank you all so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favour!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 7 minutes, a large pigeon with a wicked case of diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbour's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician.

DO IT NOW OR ELSE.

PS . . Keep on sendin em.