My best friend’s 15 wedding anniversary is this month. She and hubby are heading to Vegas and I’m so jealous – I would love to join them, there is still a lot of Vegas I haven’t seen!

I remember her wedding vividly and I think it is also that start of the decline of my boyfriend and I’s relationship as we had been together for 3 years by then and all our friends were getting married starting with this wedding. I had so much fun planning the shower and my bf and I also planned the stag and doe and I still remember both events pretty well.

I cannot remember what the groomsman got as their gifts from the groom but I did get a nice gold bracelet as a thank you for being in the wedding and I still have it. Actually it is only one of two, gold pieces of jewelry I own, another being a gold necklace my grandmother got me for 18th birthday.

I’m pretty much sure no aisle is in my future but it is interesting to see that ideas for a gift for your best man hasn’t changed much though maybe has gotten a wee bit better.

To my best friend and her hubby…I wish her another 15 times 2.

It is nice (in a bad way) to know that I am not the only one who got hit with a large increase in auto insurance premiums when I moved here to Mississauga. My monthly cost went up $40! This year I took a stand and from a carinsurancelist I got off of a board I frequent, I was able to bring my premiums down by $800 a year which is no small drop in the bucket.

So being a nice neighbour I gave him my insurance contact and hopefully he can save too.

I received my confirmed occupancy date for the condo I purchased July 2008. On my purchase agreement, it had a tentative date of June 17/10. In March I received my first letter of delay and it moved my occupancy date to Dec 17th. I was pretty sure I would be in then so I was planning my Christmas holidays around that so I could be off from the 17th through to the new year.

Yeah…no such luck! Thursday’s letter is my ‘confirmed’ date which is Feb 17/11 (not sure why they are all on the 17th) and they have even set my PDI (pre-delivery inspection) to Jan 28th.

My condo is one of the many glass and metal buildings around this growing city and one of the few that are almost done completion. But there are quite a few more new developments just starting their construction stage.

Since my condo won’t be ready for Christmas, I can use some of my saved vacation days (I had required 7 to have from Dec 17th through to Jan 4th off) and maybe I will take a full week off just for myself. I don’t need much time off at Christmas just enough to go visit Dad and my Brother.

Feb 17/11 – six more months. Please, please, please, don’t delay any more!

I have a friend who is pregnant. I love looking at her growing belly, amazed that there is a baby in there. It seems that this pregnancy she is growing a lot faster than her first one and is looking for a good stretch marks cream this time around. She says she came outout almost unscathed from her last pregnancy but fears for the worst this time around.

I used to have a lot of stretch marks on my belly, though from weight gain, not a baby. My way of removing them? Tummy tuck! But um, I don’t think I will recommend that to her. She’s bound to bop me one.

I was doing some receivable collection today and ended up talking to a US client. We were talking about work and benefits as well as stat holidays. Our benefits are paid for by work which I pay nothing for. Her employer offers North Carolina health insurance too except that she pays close to $500 a month for her family of 5. That is a car payment or 1/2 a months rent! Wow…I’m still shocked.