Ok, so it's been forever since I posted. Lack of postage is partly due to a case of the blahs and partly due to evil shifts at work. May and June are looking sweet though. I am available to be social - call me!
Speaking of socialness, I'm back in the dating world. EEP. I've had two dates in the last month. One that was horrid and awkward, mostly awkward, and I ended it quite abruptly because I couldn't take it anymore. The second one was quite nice. It was actually too bad I scheduled it with a valid excuse for leaving because I would have liked to stay longer. So we shall see.....
Trying to think of other events that have happened in the past month. My parents came for a visit and we (and by we, I mean mostly my dad) replaced the doors and window casings. Mostly I pulled off trim, including the baseboards, to prepare for new flooring which we will be getting in May. I love the new doors. They are white four paneled doors and I think they make the place look bigger and brighter. It was great having my parents here for a visit. We went shopping, out for supper, and my mom and I went to the gym three times together. I worked almost everyday they were here though, so I didn't spend as much time with them as I would have liked. My dad's coming back in May though.
We had Rodney and Fancy's going away slash Rodney's 30th birthday party way back at the end of March. It was a great party. Tonight, a few of us are going out for one final supper to the Olive Garden. I really only have one thing left to say on this particular issue - BASTARDS! Don't LEAVE!
The running thing is going really well. This week my goal is to do 10 mins run/2 mins walk/repeat. My run is on May 14 and is for the Stollery Children's Hospital here in Edmonton. On the off chance you have extra cash floating around, you can pledge me!! Email me or call me and I'll give you the info. Odds are, if you reading this, you are probably going to get a PLEDGE ME!!!! email in the new few days anyway. :)
So far, good news in the play off world. Oilers and Wings tied 1-1. I entered my work hockey pool twice. One my "realistic" pool where I have Detroit, Carolina, Ottawa, and Dallas as my four picks and my "wishful thinking" pool where I have the four Canadian teams (heavy on the Edmonton/Montreal guys). We'll see which one does better. I did half decent last time, because I actually picked Tampa and Calgary. I had to listen to one game at work, and watch one game at home. I'm really hoping to get together with people for some of the other games this week as I love watching them with people. I like sports bars too for playoff games. I love hockey, but other people are funnier.
Well, it's my day off and productive-ness would be a good thing. So I'm off to do something that doesn't involve my computer. I do have new pictures to post from Todd's weekend visit (very fun, nice to see him and everyone) and I'll try to post them tonight.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Monday, April 03, 2006
I would post in more detail because things happened. I have political comments, social life happenings and more! But right now, all I'm going to say is my hard drive crashed. My last backup is dated January 16, 2005. Stupid me. I'm currently installing programs I need/want and getting it back to normal.
Many, many, many thanks go to Rodney for trying to save my old hard drive, taking me to purchase a new one and installing it. And then coming back over when I told him it still "looked funny".
Many, many, many thanks go to Rodney for trying to save my old hard drive, taking me to purchase a new one and installing it. And then coming back over when I told him it still "looked funny".
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Oops, missed a week
Ack! I forgot to blog last week. Looks like you survived without it though. :)
Mostly I've been working so there isn't too much to say. We saw Walk the Line last weeekend and I highly recommend it. Really good movie and a very untraditional love story. Of course, if you don't like Johnny Cash's music, you might want to skip it. A lot of great songs are played during it and I had several of them trapped in my head for days.
This weekend, Rod, Marc and I had a little mini-pubcrawl down Whyte Ave. The Attic, Monkey Island, the Armoury and BPs. It was a really fun night with too much money spent as usual. The only down note was the attempt to get home. Trying to find a cab after the bars have closed, on St. Paddy's day, in a blizzard - really really hard! We walked from 109 St to 103 St before we found one.
Yesterday, I went to Baby M's first birthday party. I can't believe he's a year old already! There were several other little kids there and lots of family members. It was your standard birthday party - presents and cake, with about a million pictures taken. Good fun and excellent cake.
My big accomplishment this week was I finally cleaned my sewing room. It had become the room of doom, the place where I threw everything I didn't know what to do with. Took me ages to get it all sorted again and I have one giant bag and one box of stuff that either needs to be donated or taken to the eco-station. Anyone need an old bubble jet printer (i have 2 extra ones...) or a laptop without an operating system? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Mostly I've been working so there isn't too much to say. We saw Walk the Line last weeekend and I highly recommend it. Really good movie and a very untraditional love story. Of course, if you don't like Johnny Cash's music, you might want to skip it. A lot of great songs are played during it and I had several of them trapped in my head for days.
This weekend, Rod, Marc and I had a little mini-pubcrawl down Whyte Ave. The Attic, Monkey Island, the Armoury and BPs. It was a really fun night with too much money spent as usual. The only down note was the attempt to get home. Trying to find a cab after the bars have closed, on St. Paddy's day, in a blizzard - really really hard! We walked from 109 St to 103 St before we found one.
Yesterday, I went to Baby M's first birthday party. I can't believe he's a year old already! There were several other little kids there and lots of family members. It was your standard birthday party - presents and cake, with about a million pictures taken. Good fun and excellent cake.
My big accomplishment this week was I finally cleaned my sewing room. It had become the room of doom, the place where I threw everything I didn't know what to do with. Took me ages to get it all sorted again and I have one giant bag and one box of stuff that either needs to be donated or taken to the eco-station. Anyone need an old bubble jet printer (i have 2 extra ones...) or a laptop without an operating system? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Monday, March 06, 2006
i say....sleepy.
Well, it was Oscar night last night and I didn't care. Normally I get into it, but not this year. I think part of it was my work schedule. I'm on nights again and I'm super tired. My motivation for most things has completely disappeared. I also haven't seen any of the movies nominated this year, although there are a few I've wanted to see, but just never did (Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line, Crash...). I'm not even into the dresses this year, and that's just strange! The few I have seen on the news I'm not incredibly impressed with. So far the only one I've gone wow over was Salma Hayek - what a gorgeous colour.
In other movie news, we saw Ultraviolet this weekend. It sucked! I wasn't expecting a decent plot or acting, but even the effects didn't impress. I think I like my cgi so believable that I end up wondering if it was digital effect or stunt work. As for the plot, it kind of had one, but it was so fragmented. The highlights for me were the opening credits and her purple hair. When we left, I said I couldn't decide if it was a 1 or 2 star movie. Ian said it was a crap star movie *g*, so it didn't even get the guy vote.
I finished the history book I was reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact. It was excellent. Depressing in parts obviously, but extremely interesting. One funny thing from it: The technology chief of the Luftwaffe apparently objected to research on radar because if it worked, it would mean flying wouldn't be fun any more. Oh, I also read about the WWII Tokyo Bat Bombs. I certainly had never heard of those before, so an internet research was required. Turns out that the Americans were discussing the possibility of attaching small incendiaries to the wings and feet of bats and then dropping them from airplanes over Tokyo. The idea was they would fly into chimneys and the like and Tokyo would go up in flames. An amusing version of this can be found at Useless Information. See what you can learn from reading non-fiction books? Fun fun facts!
In other movie news, we saw Ultraviolet this weekend. It sucked! I wasn't expecting a decent plot or acting, but even the effects didn't impress. I think I like my cgi so believable that I end up wondering if it was digital effect or stunt work. As for the plot, it kind of had one, but it was so fragmented. The highlights for me were the opening credits and her purple hair. When we left, I said I couldn't decide if it was a 1 or 2 star movie. Ian said it was a crap star movie *g*, so it didn't even get the guy vote.
I finished the history book I was reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact. It was excellent. Depressing in parts obviously, but extremely interesting. One funny thing from it: The technology chief of the Luftwaffe apparently objected to research on radar because if it worked, it would mean flying wouldn't be fun any more. Oh, I also read about the WWII Tokyo Bat Bombs. I certainly had never heard of those before, so an internet research was required. Turns out that the Americans were discussing the possibility of attaching small incendiaries to the wings and feet of bats and then dropping them from airplanes over Tokyo. The idea was they would fly into chimneys and the like and Tokyo would go up in flames. An amusing version of this can be found at Useless Information. See what you can learn from reading non-fiction books? Fun fun facts!
Monday, February 27, 2006
It's called streamofthought for a reason
Wow, what an amazing Olympics for us Canadians. The COC predicted a total medal haul of 25 before the games started and a top three finish. I was personally hoping for a top five finish. What do we get? 24 medals, including 7 golds, and the number three spot in the standings, behind Germany and the USA. We also had 13 athletes place fourth in their events. Just outstanding! We did absolutely amazing. Leading the pack was Cindy Klassen, who won 5 medals in speed skating. That brings her total Olympic medal count to 6, a Canadian record. The 24 medals were a new record, beating our previous high of 17 in the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002. The COC is planning for 35 medals in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and we might actually be able to do it.
On a side note - anyone else think the Torino medals were ugly? They look like discarded CDs.
In the interesting factoid section, the world's population hit 6.5 billion at 7:16pm EST on Saturday night, using estimations/projections. An average of 4.4 people are born every second. When reading about population growth, I always see mention of improved health, economic development, urbanization etc. For the first time, I read an interesting comment about fertilizer in my current book - Hitler's Scientists by John Cornwell (more on this book later). Apparently if Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch (or someone else) hadn't discovered a way to fix nitrogen from air, resulting in a vast supply of artificial nitrogen fertilizer, the world's population would have only been around 3.9 billion in 2000, instead of reaching 6 billion.
This book I'm reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact by John Cornwell - is a discussion of the ethics and morality of science during war, specifically German scientists in the first half of the 20th century. I bought it for about $9 in the bargain section at Chapters and so far, it's an excellent buy. I'm not even 100 pages into yet, but it has me captivated. Haber, the guy I mentioned earlier with regards to nitrogen fertilizer, was also a key figure in the first use of poison gas in April 1915, breaking the Hague Conventions. I'm starting to get into the chapters on racial hygiene and eugenics and it's just bizarre reading the social interpretations rising from both valid science and crackpot "science".
One of the reasons I'm so far into that book already is that I'm sleeping horribly. Last week's nights have really screwed me up. I'm tired all the time, but I seem to be able to only sleep for 4 hour stretches. I somehow managed to be social though, although I wasn't feeling my best. Friday, I had a couple people over for dinner and games - Battle of the Sexes and my new game Artifact. For dinner, I made stuffed mushrooms (good, but more cheese next time), roasted veggies and baby potatos (yummy), chicken provencal (blah), and peaches with berry sauce and vanilla ice cream (died and went to heaven). On Saturday, I went to another friend's house for more games, playing Conjecture (a game based on the sculptorades section of Cranium) and Clue, a game I haven't played since the 90s.
Since I have been awake so much, I've been wasting time on the internet. I did a two question Ennegram test, which doesn't exactly imply accuracy, but some of it seemed to match what I understand of me. I'm apparently an Adventurer - "happy and open to new things". One statement I really agreed with - "Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories." Listen to them over and over again too, while you are at it!! Oh, and thanks to those of you who filled out my Johari window. The validation was lovely. :)
One last thing: Sunday's For Better or For Worse comic really had me laughing. Just picture a grey kitty instead of a bunny and string instead of an extension cord and you've got my sweet yet psycho Fuzzy.
On a side note - anyone else think the Torino medals were ugly? They look like discarded CDs.
In the interesting factoid section, the world's population hit 6.5 billion at 7:16pm EST on Saturday night, using estimations/projections. An average of 4.4 people are born every second. When reading about population growth, I always see mention of improved health, economic development, urbanization etc. For the first time, I read an interesting comment about fertilizer in my current book - Hitler's Scientists by John Cornwell (more on this book later). Apparently if Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch (or someone else) hadn't discovered a way to fix nitrogen from air, resulting in a vast supply of artificial nitrogen fertilizer, the world's population would have only been around 3.9 billion in 2000, instead of reaching 6 billion.
This book I'm reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact by John Cornwell - is a discussion of the ethics and morality of science during war, specifically German scientists in the first half of the 20th century. I bought it for about $9 in the bargain section at Chapters and so far, it's an excellent buy. I'm not even 100 pages into yet, but it has me captivated. Haber, the guy I mentioned earlier with regards to nitrogen fertilizer, was also a key figure in the first use of poison gas in April 1915, breaking the Hague Conventions. I'm starting to get into the chapters on racial hygiene and eugenics and it's just bizarre reading the social interpretations rising from both valid science and crackpot "science".
One of the reasons I'm so far into that book already is that I'm sleeping horribly. Last week's nights have really screwed me up. I'm tired all the time, but I seem to be able to only sleep for 4 hour stretches. I somehow managed to be social though, although I wasn't feeling my best. Friday, I had a couple people over for dinner and games - Battle of the Sexes and my new game Artifact. For dinner, I made stuffed mushrooms (good, but more cheese next time), roasted veggies and baby potatos (yummy), chicken provencal (blah), and peaches with berry sauce and vanilla ice cream (died and went to heaven). On Saturday, I went to another friend's house for more games, playing Conjecture (a game based on the sculptorades section of Cranium) and Clue, a game I haven't played since the 90s.
Since I have been awake so much, I've been wasting time on the internet. I did a two question Ennegram test, which doesn't exactly imply accuracy, but some of it seemed to match what I understand of me. I'm apparently an Adventurer - "happy and open to new things". One statement I really agreed with - "Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories." Listen to them over and over again too, while you are at it!! Oh, and thanks to those of you who filled out my Johari window. The validation was lovely. :)
One last thing: Sunday's For Better or For Worse comic really had me laughing. Just picture a grey kitty instead of a bunny and string instead of an extension cord and you've got my sweet yet psycho Fuzzy.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
It's really Monday
Darn computer just errored and rebooted, eating my post. I thought about just going to bed, but it's technically Tuesday already which means it's a day late in my attempt to post every Monday. In my world though, it's still Monday. I just survived a week of both evening and night shifts and it's not Tuesday until I wake up later. Turns out the autosave feature restored my first two paragraphs anyway. Better than nothing!
This week was a bit of a write off with the return of my old shifts. My sleep schedule was pretty screwed up and I didn't do much. Managed to get some great workouts in though and met the goals I set for Jan/Feb. Need to plan out my next 8 weeks as I'm trying to keep it fresh and challenging. I did get a bit of socialness in as well, although I was definitely not my usual perky self - my apologies to those of you who got caught in the whiny crossfire. I went out for coffee on Friday, a friend's birthday on Saturday, saw Ian for a bit on Sunday and I went out for dinner last night. Hey, I was more social than I thought. Since it was all pre-work stuff though, it just didn't feel like much.
One nice thing about working nights is that I get to listen to my favourite talk radio show - Coast to Coast AM. When I'm not working, I occasionally download it on my computer, but I rarely listen to the whole thing. I don't often work at my computer long enough to listen to a 4 hour show. This week has been nice, catching up on the latest in the world of global warming, space exploration, ghosts and time travelers.
As I said earlier, I was suffering from a horrific case of the emotional blecks this week. I know why (hormones are an evil evil thing) but there was nothing I could do to get rid of that black cloud. I tried working out nearly every day, which often works for me, but not this time. Apparently all I needed was a 10 minute hug. I'm not kidding about that length of time. It went on for so long, I needed to move and re-hug. A hug can really make you feel better, especially the kind of hug where you just know the only thing the other person is thinking about is this moment, this hug. The only other person I know who gives that kind of hug is Todd. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I highly recommend getting one from him next time he's in town.
One final thing - Go Canadian Women! Congrats on the gold! Hopefully, it will help motivate the men...
This week was a bit of a write off with the return of my old shifts. My sleep schedule was pretty screwed up and I didn't do much. Managed to get some great workouts in though and met the goals I set for Jan/Feb. Need to plan out my next 8 weeks as I'm trying to keep it fresh and challenging. I did get a bit of socialness in as well, although I was definitely not my usual perky self - my apologies to those of you who got caught in the whiny crossfire. I went out for coffee on Friday, a friend's birthday on Saturday, saw Ian for a bit on Sunday and I went out for dinner last night. Hey, I was more social than I thought. Since it was all pre-work stuff though, it just didn't feel like much.
One nice thing about working nights is that I get to listen to my favourite talk radio show - Coast to Coast AM. When I'm not working, I occasionally download it on my computer, but I rarely listen to the whole thing. I don't often work at my computer long enough to listen to a 4 hour show. This week has been nice, catching up on the latest in the world of global warming, space exploration, ghosts and time travelers.
As I said earlier, I was suffering from a horrific case of the emotional blecks this week. I know why (hormones are an evil evil thing) but there was nothing I could do to get rid of that black cloud. I tried working out nearly every day, which often works for me, but not this time. Apparently all I needed was a 10 minute hug. I'm not kidding about that length of time. It went on for so long, I needed to move and re-hug. A hug can really make you feel better, especially the kind of hug where you just know the only thing the other person is thinking about is this moment, this hug. The only other person I know who gives that kind of hug is Todd. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I highly recommend getting one from him next time he's in town.
One final thing - Go Canadian Women! Congrats on the gold! Hopefully, it will help motivate the men...
Monday, February 13, 2006
Random News
YAY!! We won a gold at Torino! In women's moguls. Very very exciting because Jennifer Heil is an Alberta girl. Cindy Klassen also received a bronze in the 3000m speed skating. I'm pretty into the Olympics this year. Not in the glued to the tv set way, but I do keep checking the CBC Olympic website. I think part of it is that the next winter Olympics will be held in my hometown.
It turns out I was right when I said that Steven Harper's cabinet picks would be a hot topic. The Fortier appointment seems to have died down (at least out West it sure has), but the Emerson defection is all over the news! There was a rally held on Saturday in his riding calling for a by-election where he would run as a Conservative. 700 people showed up. On Sunday, there was another protest in front of his Vancouver office. I really understand their anger. He won as a Liberal with 43% and only 18% of the people voted for the Conservative candidate. People are saying that they feel like their vote didn't count. There is no formal federal recall legislation but someone has started an online petition. The comments are just crazy on it. Some are aimed at Emerson, some are aimed at voters, and some are downright vicious. I couldn't figure out how many people actually signed the petition at that site, but 15,032 had signed the petition at petitiononline when I checked this morning. I should also point out that the rally was organized by the NDP, the party that placed second in that riding with 34%. A by-election would probably be quite favourable to them, depending on who ends up running in the now empty Liberal spot.
In more amusing news (well, at least for me), Dick Cheney, US Vice President, accidentally shot a fellow hunter with birdshot while hunting quail. Thankfully, the guy is fine, so I'm allowed to laugh. Apparently, he didn't see the other hunter (who was wearing a bright orange vest) when he swung around to shoot at the birds.
I also did a Johari window for fun - if you don't know what it is, you get to pick 5 or 6 words to describe me and then they get mapped against words I picked and others picked. If you are interested - go here.
And just because my cat is so darn cute (also psycho - yesterday he bit Ian several times and decided it would be fun to step on my eye with his full weight) - a picture of the month:
It turns out I was right when I said that Steven Harper's cabinet picks would be a hot topic. The Fortier appointment seems to have died down (at least out West it sure has), but the Emerson defection is all over the news! There was a rally held on Saturday in his riding calling for a by-election where he would run as a Conservative. 700 people showed up. On Sunday, there was another protest in front of his Vancouver office. I really understand their anger. He won as a Liberal with 43% and only 18% of the people voted for the Conservative candidate. People are saying that they feel like their vote didn't count. There is no formal federal recall legislation but someone has started an online petition. The comments are just crazy on it. Some are aimed at Emerson, some are aimed at voters, and some are downright vicious. I couldn't figure out how many people actually signed the petition at that site, but 15,032 had signed the petition at petitiononline when I checked this morning. I should also point out that the rally was organized by the NDP, the party that placed second in that riding with 34%. A by-election would probably be quite favourable to them, depending on who ends up running in the now empty Liberal spot.
In more amusing news (well, at least for me), Dick Cheney, US Vice President, accidentally shot a fellow hunter with birdshot while hunting quail. Thankfully, the guy is fine, so I'm allowed to laugh. Apparently, he didn't see the other hunter (who was wearing a bright orange vest) when he swung around to shoot at the birds.
I also did a Johari window for fun - if you don't know what it is, you get to pick 5 or 6 words to describe me and then they get mapped against words I picked and others picked. If you are interested - go here.
And just because my cat is so darn cute (also psycho - yesterday he bit Ian several times and decided it would be fun to step on my eye with his full weight) - a picture of the month:
Monday, February 06, 2006
New Prime Minister
I'm sitting here watching Steven Harper and his 26 cabinet members (27 total) get sworn in as the official government. Prime Minister Steven Harper *tiny shudder*. It's a minority Conservative government, everything will be ok... Breathe! He's restating all his promises right now. Small cabinet, which I like. 9 from Ontario, 3 from Alberta (including an Albertan as environment minister - oh, the irony). Only 6 women. Peter MacKay (who I like and was deputy leader of the party) got minister of foreign affairs but Stockwell Day (who I don't like) got minister of public safety which is apparently quite important and deals with the US a lot. Jim Flaherty, Mike Harris' former provincial finance minister, is now the federal finance minister. That one scares me, I think. Gordon O'Connor, a former general, is now minister of defence. That certainly implies increased military spending. Oddly, Harper didn't appoint a deputy Prime Minister.
Strangely, I remember reading Harper wanted to go to an elected Senate (currently Senators are appointed), but he appointed an unelected person - Michel Fortier - to the cabinet. This implies he will be appointed to the Senate and wait for an MP by-election or the next federal election. Fortier didn't even run in the election! Ok, he just got called on this. He said he considers this a "temporary" appointment until the next election and considers it worth it because it's important to have a cabinet member from Montreal. He also appointed a Vancouver Liberal - David Emerson - as minister of international trade, which confuses the heck out of me. How do you switch parties within 2 week of an election? Vancouverites voted Liberal! Looks like both of these appointments will be hot topics for a while.
Can't say too much has happened this week. I finally crossed two things off my to-do list - I cleaned out my file cabinet and shredded that giant stack of paper. Still need to clean the sewing room of doom. Probably not today though! I started reading the Prehistoric America series by Michael and Kathleen Gear. So far I've read People of the Wolf and am working on People of the Fire. While not a fantasy series, they do contain certain elements - an unknown society (prehistoric Native Americans and as the authors are both archaeologists, this part is done well) who use the spirit world and "magic". So far, so good! Had a nice weekend as well. Friday was quiet with just a trip to West Ed Mall. Saturday, I went to a pub with friends.
As for the weight loss campaign - it goes well! I lost 4.3 pounds this week which is freakin' amazing. Partly because I weighed in the morning instead of the evening, but the rest is me. I had a really good week working out and sticking to my diet...err....lifestyle change, I mean. :) I had my measurements taken at the gym earlier this week and I'm really proud of how I'm doing. Since I started this whole working out, eating healthy thing, I have lost: 24cm (9.4") off my gluteus, 7cm (2.7") off my right thigh, 12cm (4.7") off my waist, and 15cm (5.9") off my upper abdomen/ribcage. This gives me a waist to hip ratio of 0.8, which means low risk for lifestyle related diseases, assuming this particular indicator means anything. But assuming it does, this is important to me! My motivation for losing weight was completely health related as I come from a high risk family history. The body image stuff is just an added bonus! My BMI is still high, but my total goal will put me in the normal range. Other fun facts (well, for me anyway) - I've lost 39.36 lbs of fat and increased by lean body mass percentage by 8.9%. *happy dance of joy*
Before/Current Pictures
Strangely, I remember reading Harper wanted to go to an elected Senate (currently Senators are appointed), but he appointed an unelected person - Michel Fortier - to the cabinet. This implies he will be appointed to the Senate and wait for an MP by-election or the next federal election. Fortier didn't even run in the election! Ok, he just got called on this. He said he considers this a "temporary" appointment until the next election and considers it worth it because it's important to have a cabinet member from Montreal. He also appointed a Vancouver Liberal - David Emerson - as minister of international trade, which confuses the heck out of me. How do you switch parties within 2 week of an election? Vancouverites voted Liberal! Looks like both of these appointments will be hot topics for a while.
Can't say too much has happened this week. I finally crossed two things off my to-do list - I cleaned out my file cabinet and shredded that giant stack of paper. Still need to clean the sewing room of doom. Probably not today though! I started reading the Prehistoric America series by Michael and Kathleen Gear. So far I've read People of the Wolf and am working on People of the Fire. While not a fantasy series, they do contain certain elements - an unknown society (prehistoric Native Americans and as the authors are both archaeologists, this part is done well) who use the spirit world and "magic". So far, so good! Had a nice weekend as well. Friday was quiet with just a trip to West Ed Mall. Saturday, I went to a pub with friends.
As for the weight loss campaign - it goes well! I lost 4.3 pounds this week which is freakin' amazing. Partly because I weighed in the morning instead of the evening, but the rest is me. I had a really good week working out and sticking to my diet...err....lifestyle change, I mean. :) I had my measurements taken at the gym earlier this week and I'm really proud of how I'm doing. Since I started this whole working out, eating healthy thing, I have lost: 24cm (9.4") off my gluteus, 7cm (2.7") off my right thigh, 12cm (4.7") off my waist, and 15cm (5.9") off my upper abdomen/ribcage. This gives me a waist to hip ratio of 0.8, which means low risk for lifestyle related diseases, assuming this particular indicator means anything. But assuming it does, this is important to me! My motivation for losing weight was completely health related as I come from a high risk family history. The body image stuff is just an added bonus! My BMI is still high, but my total goal will put me in the normal range. Other fun facts (well, for me anyway) - I've lost 39.36 lbs of fat and increased by lean body mass percentage by 8.9%. *happy dance of joy*
Before/Current Pictures
Monday, January 30, 2006
yay me, goal
Sleepy. I should have posted earlier, but my new printer/scanner distracted me. New toys are so much fun. I was very busy scanning in polaroid pics of me and playing with the quality. I reached my latest weight loss mini-goal so I needed new pics to play compare and contrast. I might post them later, but I'm having problems with yahoo right now.
I had a pretty cool week. I got to cover in my old department - urinalysis - which was fun. Back on my regular duties this week though. Had another nice weekend as well. On Friday, I went out with Rod and two of his coworkers to a blues bar. Great band, but I was so sleepy that I had to leave early. In bed by midnight! Saturday, I did the usual housework/trip to the gym and then met up with Ian for his birthday. He's not a fan of birthdays and just wanted a quiet night. We made supper together - Hawaiian Venison (ie venison stew meat with veggies and pineapple over rice) in the slow cooker and then watched King Arthur on DVD. I also gave him his gifts, which I think he liked. He spent a large part of Sunday working on the puzzle while I read and kept checking out the Tiger Woods game. Sunday night, we went to his parents for his birthday supper.
Wow, really I have nothing to say, do I? I need a rant. Too sleepy for one though. Maybe I'll get irritated later in the week.
I had a pretty cool week. I got to cover in my old department - urinalysis - which was fun. Back on my regular duties this week though. Had another nice weekend as well. On Friday, I went out with Rod and two of his coworkers to a blues bar. Great band, but I was so sleepy that I had to leave early. In bed by midnight! Saturday, I did the usual housework/trip to the gym and then met up with Ian for his birthday. He's not a fan of birthdays and just wanted a quiet night. We made supper together - Hawaiian Venison (ie venison stew meat with veggies and pineapple over rice) in the slow cooker and then watched King Arthur on DVD. I also gave him his gifts, which I think he liked. He spent a large part of Sunday working on the puzzle while I read and kept checking out the Tiger Woods game. Sunday night, we went to his parents for his birthday supper.
Wow, really I have nothing to say, do I? I need a rant. Too sleepy for one though. Maybe I'll get irritated later in the week.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Election Night
I'm currently watching the election results come in, even though I really thought I didn't care very much. That same weird urge that makes you stare at a car accident makes me watch it though. So it looks like it will be a Conservative minority government with a strong Liberal opposition. Pretty much how I thought it would turn out. NDP (the really left party) got about 29 seats, which I'm happy about. I think this is really the best case scenario. Guess we'll have to wait and see how it all turns out. Kind of strange though - this is the first Con government since I was old enough to vote.
But there is way more to life than politics, thank god, and in case you really wanted to know, I had a pretty nice week.
I saw The Matador with Pierce Bronson and Greg Kinnear on Monday. I enjoyed it, but it is a very odd movie. I guess it qualifies as a dark comedy, and not a thriller. I love the tagline for it: A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar... I'm trying to decide if it's worth full price (13.95). Not quite I think, but that's because I'm cheap. It would be an excellent choice for half price Tuesday (if you still have that) or a matinee. I'm glad we had free passes, it was most certainly worth that! We also saw Underworld Evolution yesterday. I gave it 3.5 out of 5, although Ian probably gave it 5 out of 5. He enjoyed it a lot. The effects and the action sequences were really good.
I interrupt my typing to announce that Paul Martin is resigning his leadership of the Liberal party. I'm not surprised there will be a new leader - but I'm surprised he's announcing it tonight....
I tried a couple of new recipes this week. Last night, I made Dilly Beloved Chicken from the cookbook I got for Christmas - maple syrup, lemon and dill marinade. I liked it a lot, Ian didn't think it was anything special. I'm going to try it again though, and leave it in the marinade a lot longer. Like all day, instead of barely an hour. I also made venison ribs with hickory bbq sauce, beef broth and some veggies in the slow cooker. After 11 hours of cooking, the meat just slid off the bones and tasted amazing. Hmmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. I wouldn't add the veggies if I did it again, just the onion and garlic for flavour. BBQ sauce flavoured veggies are not tasty, although it would have been okay if I had served the veggies and sauce over rice I think.
I finished a really really great book this week and I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly if you are into medicine, biology or World War I history. By John M. Barry, it's called The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. I really liked the angle he took as he didn't just write about the 1918/19 pandemic itself (although he covers that in detail). He really got into the people involved in medicine and science at the time and you get to know the men who were desperately seeking a solution, any solution, to the crisis. He looked into the links between public health and politics. Although it was 99.9% a book about the United States, it was still really fascinating, especially all the parts about the WWI war machine, how it just consumed all resources, how the censorship affected health reporting and so much more. I now want to read a book about Tammany Hall and books about World War I. I also want to read John M. Barry's other book: The Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which is not something I think I would be usually interested in, but I really enjoyed his writing style. The Great Influenza was a non-fiction book that read like a novel in the sense that I always wanted to get back to it to know what happened next.
I have a few more non-fiction books in my stack to read (The Pagan Christ and Hitler's Scientists are up next I think). I also have a new box of books from Wee Book Inn which is a very happy thing for me. Mmmmmm, books...
But there is way more to life than politics, thank god, and in case you really wanted to know, I had a pretty nice week.
I saw The Matador with Pierce Bronson and Greg Kinnear on Monday. I enjoyed it, but it is a very odd movie. I guess it qualifies as a dark comedy, and not a thriller. I love the tagline for it: A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar... I'm trying to decide if it's worth full price (13.95). Not quite I think, but that's because I'm cheap. It would be an excellent choice for half price Tuesday (if you still have that) or a matinee. I'm glad we had free passes, it was most certainly worth that! We also saw Underworld Evolution yesterday. I gave it 3.5 out of 5, although Ian probably gave it 5 out of 5. He enjoyed it a lot. The effects and the action sequences were really good.
I interrupt my typing to announce that Paul Martin is resigning his leadership of the Liberal party. I'm not surprised there will be a new leader - but I'm surprised he's announcing it tonight....
I tried a couple of new recipes this week. Last night, I made Dilly Beloved Chicken from the cookbook I got for Christmas - maple syrup, lemon and dill marinade. I liked it a lot, Ian didn't think it was anything special. I'm going to try it again though, and leave it in the marinade a lot longer. Like all day, instead of barely an hour. I also made venison ribs with hickory bbq sauce, beef broth and some veggies in the slow cooker. After 11 hours of cooking, the meat just slid off the bones and tasted amazing. Hmmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. I wouldn't add the veggies if I did it again, just the onion and garlic for flavour. BBQ sauce flavoured veggies are not tasty, although it would have been okay if I had served the veggies and sauce over rice I think.
I finished a really really great book this week and I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly if you are into medicine, biology or World War I history. By John M. Barry, it's called The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. I really liked the angle he took as he didn't just write about the 1918/19 pandemic itself (although he covers that in detail). He really got into the people involved in medicine and science at the time and you get to know the men who were desperately seeking a solution, any solution, to the crisis. He looked into the links between public health and politics. Although it was 99.9% a book about the United States, it was still really fascinating, especially all the parts about the WWI war machine, how it just consumed all resources, how the censorship affected health reporting and so much more. I now want to read a book about Tammany Hall and books about World War I. I also want to read John M. Barry's other book: The Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which is not something I think I would be usually interested in, but I really enjoyed his writing style. The Great Influenza was a non-fiction book that read like a novel in the sense that I always wanted to get back to it to know what happened next.
I have a few more non-fiction books in my stack to read (The Pagan Christ and Hitler's Scientists are up next I think). I also have a new box of books from Wee Book Inn which is a very happy thing for me. Mmmmmm, books...
Sunday, January 15, 2006
titles imply purpose
Woohoo - another weekly update! Too bad there's nothing exciting to report.
Mostly I seemed to go to work, go the gym, read and watch tv. It's a thrill ride a minute I tell you! My hips were still bothering me for most of the week, so I didn't feel like doing much. Still got my workouts in though, and I finally did weights today. Up to 58 minutes of cardio now. As for reading, I finished Kage Baker's Graveyard Game and The Life of The World to Come. I really like the Company novels and I need to find the one I haven't read yet. I should also look for Anvil of the World, her non-Company book.
This weekend was mostly relaxing. Friday night, Rod came over and watched a movie - Big Trouble - with Ian and I. Saturday, Ian and I went out to his friend's acreage and I did something I've never done before - moved hay bales! We loaded 153 bales into two pickup trucks (which means the hay was at least twice as high as the truck) and took them back to the farm where we unloaded and moved them into the barn. I somewhat helped load the trucks and helped unload and place them on the conveyor belt. I know I didn't work nearly as hard as Ian and his friend and his friend's girlfriend, but dammit I was still tired at the end. Those things got heavy around 125..... Afterwards, we had lunch and just hung out for a while.
I'm trying to think if there is anything else to add.... nope. Hmmm, I remember when I started this blog and how I needed it to rant about the world. You would think with the election only one week away that I would be full of rants. Instead, I'm apathetic and disillusioned and resigned. On the positive side, it's so much more efficient to watch taped tv instead of "live" tv. I think I might just keep doing this.
Mostly I seemed to go to work, go the gym, read and watch tv. It's a thrill ride a minute I tell you! My hips were still bothering me for most of the week, so I didn't feel like doing much. Still got my workouts in though, and I finally did weights today. Up to 58 minutes of cardio now. As for reading, I finished Kage Baker's Graveyard Game and The Life of The World to Come. I really like the Company novels and I need to find the one I haven't read yet. I should also look for Anvil of the World, her non-Company book.
This weekend was mostly relaxing. Friday night, Rod came over and watched a movie - Big Trouble - with Ian and I. Saturday, Ian and I went out to his friend's acreage and I did something I've never done before - moved hay bales! We loaded 153 bales into two pickup trucks (which means the hay was at least twice as high as the truck) and took them back to the farm where we unloaded and moved them into the barn. I somewhat helped load the trucks and helped unload and place them on the conveyor belt. I know I didn't work nearly as hard as Ian and his friend and his friend's girlfriend, but dammit I was still tired at the end. Those things got heavy around 125..... Afterwards, we had lunch and just hung out for a while.
I'm trying to think if there is anything else to add.... nope. Hmmm, I remember when I started this blog and how I needed it to rant about the world. You would think with the election only one week away that I would be full of rants. Instead, I'm apathetic and disillusioned and resigned. On the positive side, it's so much more efficient to watch taped tv instead of "live" tv. I think I might just keep doing this.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Weekly Update! Only 1 Day Late!
This past week was not a favourite, I tell you. First off, Fuzzy (my 5 year old cat) decided that kitchen twine was really tasty and ate about 18 inches of it. I didn't know about this until he had a lot of difficulty getting rid of it about 2 days after he ate it. I'll spare you the details, but it did involve a trip to the vet's and the blowing of my budget. He is my baby though (yes, I'm one of those people) and I didn't even think about the cost at the time. I also seemed to have screwed up my legs somehow and my hip muscles are killing me (hip flexors? I don't know, it starts in one thigh, wraps up through the hip, across my lower back and down into the other thigh - whatever, it sucks). The weird thing is if I'm walking, it's totally fine. I've been able to work out on the elliptical and the stairmaster (and it doesn't hurt while I'm doing that), but I don't want to bend over at all. Bah, I'm old.
Other than that - it really wasn't too bad. I got trained on a new bench at work which was cool. Went out with the campus crowd for Todd's going away gathering on Thursday. Had an absolutely boring night at home on Friday after my workout and it was great! Sometimes you really need those kind of nights. Saturday was quiet as well, although Ian came over with the perch he had caught and we had a really great supper.
Oh - no more live tv for the next two weeks. I'm only watching things I can fast forward. Election related commercials make me insane, and it doesn't matter what party. I get the urge to throw things at my television . Is it wrong that I want to scream "I hate you all" at them??? Weird thing is.... I'm a decided voter. Ugh, I'd hate to be a undecided voter. How do you pick between Vile 1, 2, 3 and Independent Guy? Hmmm, there's a Marxist-Leninist candidate.... I wonder if she's a viable alternative?
Other than that - it really wasn't too bad. I got trained on a new bench at work which was cool. Went out with the campus crowd for Todd's going away gathering on Thursday. Had an absolutely boring night at home on Friday after my workout and it was great! Sometimes you really need those kind of nights. Saturday was quiet as well, although Ian came over with the perch he had caught and we had a really great supper.
Oh - no more live tv for the next two weeks. I'm only watching things I can fast forward. Election related commercials make me insane, and it doesn't matter what party. I get the urge to throw things at my television . Is it wrong that I want to scream "I hate you all" at them??? Weird thing is.... I'm a decided voter. Ugh, I'd hate to be a undecided voter. How do you pick between Vile 1, 2, 3 and Independent Guy? Hmmm, there's a Marxist-Leninist candidate.... I wonder if she's a viable alternative?
Monday, January 02, 2006
First of the Year
Ok, it's day two of 2006 and it's still looking good. As long as I avoid all news sources, all commercials, and all references to the elections, I'm sure January can be an excellent month.
Managed to keep my resolutions so far (woohoo! Two whole days!) - I'm actually down one pound from before the holidays which is fairly amazing. I worked out both today and yesterday. You are reading my weekly blog entry right now and I think I listened well to a friend today while we shopped. Of course, the shopping didn't help me meet my debt-free goal, but I only used cash, no credit! And the nightie was only $12, I swear!
The real point of this post is to show off the new super cool pic of me. It was taken New Year's Eve and I lovelovelove it. We had a semi-quiet New Year's Eve, as only 7 of us gathered at a friend's house for a typical night of board games. There was more drinking than our usual game night, but not by much. I liked it though, as I wasn't feeling incredibly social and my other invite had been for a gathering of 15-20. As much as I would have loved to see those people, I just wasn't in that kind of mood.
And now for the amazing, fantastic pic - - -
eek...giant head... :)
Managed to keep my resolutions so far (woohoo! Two whole days!) - I'm actually down one pound from before the holidays which is fairly amazing. I worked out both today and yesterday. You are reading my weekly blog entry right now and I think I listened well to a friend today while we shopped. Of course, the shopping didn't help me meet my debt-free goal, but I only used cash, no credit! And the nightie was only $12, I swear!
The real point of this post is to show off the new super cool pic of me. It was taken New Year's Eve and I lovelovelove it. We had a semi-quiet New Year's Eve, as only 7 of us gathered at a friend's house for a typical night of board games. There was more drinking than our usual game night, but not by much. I liked it though, as I wasn't feeling incredibly social and my other invite had been for a gathering of 15-20. As much as I would have loved to see those people, I just wasn't in that kind of mood.
And now for the amazing, fantastic pic - - -
eek...giant head... :)
Saturday, December 31, 2005
End of the Year
Ok, if you don't know me (and seriously, if you don't, why the heck are you reading this? You can't possibly be bored enough to read these rambles.), I love to read. I mean, I read like most people breathe. I always, always have a book on the go, and most often have a book with me. So, on the assumption I'm not going to read any new books today, I present to you my book stats for 2005. I didn't count rereads of old favourites and I didn't count any of the trashy romances I read.
Grand Total: 131 (compared to the grand total in 2004 of 130 - I think that's kind of weird that it's so consistent!)
Mystery/Thriller - 65 (49.6%) (2004 - 45)
Fantasy/Scifi - 52 (39.7%) (2004 - 67)
Fiction - 5 (3.8%) (2004 - 17)
Non-Fiction - 9 (6.9%) (2004 - 1)
I rarely hand out 5 amulets/stars - this year's winners go to Jessica Snyder Sachs for her non-fiction book Corpse, Greg Iles for his WWII mystery Black Cross, Tamara Siler Jones for Ghosts in the Snow, JK Rowling for the latest Harry Potter, and George Martin for the long awaited A Feast of Crows. If you haven't read Ghosts in the Snow, it is the one I recommend the most. A murder mystery set in a medieval fantasy world.
I gave 2 amulets/stars to 5 books, all mysteries/thrillers by authors I've never heard of. My next lowest was a 2.5 to Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, a non-fiction book. While I loved the ideas in this book and the thoughts it generated, I hate this man's writing style. I really really want to read his new one, Collapse of Societies (I think), but I just can't subject myself to his grade 9 essay format.
Most read authors included Suzanne Brockmann (4), Sara Douglass (6), Katharine Kerr (5), Jane Lindskold (4), and Tamora Pierce (4).
As for that other End of the Year Stuff - New Year's Resolutions. To my shock, I have discovered I have actually kept last year's resolutions!!! They were:
1) To Be Healthier
2) To Be More Sociable
In the To Be Healthier category, I joined a gym, worked out almost regularly :), and with the added benefit of diet, I managed to lose almost 60 pounds!
In the To Be More Sociable category, I think I did very well. I got a day job, joined the world of sunlight, and went out more. And then I did the unthinkable and tried Speed Dating. As you know, it worked out quite well for me. No more details are necessary at this time :)
2005 was a very very good year for me.
So - 2006's Resolutions:
1) Reach and maintain Target Weight.
Ok, that's the only one I'm really truly serious about, but it would also be nice to:
2) Blog weekly!
3) Become a better listener. (errr, how do I go about that?)
4) Be debt-free for at least 4 seconds.
Best wishes to you all in 2006!
Grand Total: 131 (compared to the grand total in 2004 of 130 - I think that's kind of weird that it's so consistent!)
Mystery/Thriller - 65 (49.6%) (2004 - 45)
Fantasy/Scifi - 52 (39.7%) (2004 - 67)
Fiction - 5 (3.8%) (2004 - 17)
Non-Fiction - 9 (6.9%) (2004 - 1)
I rarely hand out 5 amulets/stars - this year's winners go to Jessica Snyder Sachs for her non-fiction book Corpse, Greg Iles for his WWII mystery Black Cross, Tamara Siler Jones for Ghosts in the Snow, JK Rowling for the latest Harry Potter, and George Martin for the long awaited A Feast of Crows. If you haven't read Ghosts in the Snow, it is the one I recommend the most. A murder mystery set in a medieval fantasy world.
I gave 2 amulets/stars to 5 books, all mysteries/thrillers by authors I've never heard of. My next lowest was a 2.5 to Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, a non-fiction book. While I loved the ideas in this book and the thoughts it generated, I hate this man's writing style. I really really want to read his new one, Collapse of Societies (I think), but I just can't subject myself to his grade 9 essay format.
Most read authors included Suzanne Brockmann (4), Sara Douglass (6), Katharine Kerr (5), Jane Lindskold (4), and Tamora Pierce (4).
As for that other End of the Year Stuff - New Year's Resolutions. To my shock, I have discovered I have actually kept last year's resolutions!!! They were:
1) To Be Healthier
2) To Be More Sociable
In the To Be Healthier category, I joined a gym, worked out almost regularly :), and with the added benefit of diet, I managed to lose almost 60 pounds!
In the To Be More Sociable category, I think I did very well. I got a day job, joined the world of sunlight, and went out more. And then I did the unthinkable and tried Speed Dating. As you know, it worked out quite well for me. No more details are necessary at this time :)
2005 was a very very good year for me.
So - 2006's Resolutions:
1) Reach and maintain Target Weight.
Ok, that's the only one I'm really truly serious about, but it would also be nice to:
2) Blog weekly!
3) Become a better listener. (errr, how do I go about that?)
4) Be debt-free for at least 4 seconds.
Best wishes to you all in 2006!
Friday, December 30, 2005
Christmas Post
I had a great time over the holidays and I hope everyone else did too.
As per usual, I went back to BC for Christmas. Another very short trip this time, only 4 days. I arrived late on the 23rd, just in time to frantically wrap presents and decorate the Christmas tree with my family.
Christmas Eve day was spent at the gym with my mom and sister, followed by the usual madhouse referred to as Christmas Eve at my grandmother's (my mom's mom). She lives in a tiny bungalow now, instead of the big house, so trying to cram all my relatives in there doesn't work all that well. Good thing that out of the 46-ish possible relatives (not including extra boy/girlfriends that the really brave and/or insane occasionally bring), only 31 showed up. Mostly the island people didn't come and they are the largest branch anyway. It was nice though, roaming around, visiting with various people.
Christmas morning was spent opening presents with my immediate family. As usual, I was greatly spoiled. My haul included new blue sheets, cooking dishes, a china serving platter (woohoo!!!), china bowls, new towels, many books and a subscription to a sewing magazine. My favourite moments that morning were when my sister and mom opened my gifts. I gave my sister a bright red and white nightgown and matching robe. My mom got pyjamas and a nightgown made out of jogging fleece (I think she's insane, but that's what she said she wanted, although she might have been joking...) and a satin robe.
After presents, my dad's mom came over for brunch and the rest of the day was spent getting ready for dinner and visiting with various relatives who dropped in. Christmas dinner was the smallest in years and it was wonderful - only 9 people! After dinner, I went to visit one of my best friends from high school and it was really great to see her.
Boxing day was sheer insanity as it was spent shopping with my sister. Great prices though and I found lots of things. Jeans, a bra, 5 blouses, 2 sweaters, a golf shirt and a skirt for about $250. All very very much needed as due to the shrinking me, I had NO clothes. Ok, some, but not much! My sister bought tons of stuff. She says she loves shopping with me as I go through all the racks and just toss things I like at her. She hates looking for clothes, doesn't mind trying them on. After shopping, my family went out for fish and chips out in Horseshoe Bay. I then met up with my high school girlfriends for drinks. I loved seeing them and catching up!
It was a good holiday as I got to see all the people that mattered to me. My friends, my relatives, and I even had time to visit with each of my grandmothers and have a cup of tea. I had to leave a few of my presents at my parents since they didn't fit in my suitcase, but they are planning to come for a visit in the spring so I'll get them then.
I have a million pictures which I haven't got around to posting yet. Eventually, I swear.
As per usual, I went back to BC for Christmas. Another very short trip this time, only 4 days. I arrived late on the 23rd, just in time to frantically wrap presents and decorate the Christmas tree with my family.
Christmas Eve day was spent at the gym with my mom and sister, followed by the usual madhouse referred to as Christmas Eve at my grandmother's (my mom's mom). She lives in a tiny bungalow now, instead of the big house, so trying to cram all my relatives in there doesn't work all that well. Good thing that out of the 46-ish possible relatives (not including extra boy/girlfriends that the really brave and/or insane occasionally bring), only 31 showed up. Mostly the island people didn't come and they are the largest branch anyway. It was nice though, roaming around, visiting with various people.
Christmas morning was spent opening presents with my immediate family. As usual, I was greatly spoiled. My haul included new blue sheets, cooking dishes, a china serving platter (woohoo!!!), china bowls, new towels, many books and a subscription to a sewing magazine. My favourite moments that morning were when my sister and mom opened my gifts. I gave my sister a bright red and white nightgown and matching robe. My mom got pyjamas and a nightgown made out of jogging fleece (I think she's insane, but that's what she said she wanted, although she might have been joking...) and a satin robe.
After presents, my dad's mom came over for brunch and the rest of the day was spent getting ready for dinner and visiting with various relatives who dropped in. Christmas dinner was the smallest in years and it was wonderful - only 9 people! After dinner, I went to visit one of my best friends from high school and it was really great to see her.
Boxing day was sheer insanity as it was spent shopping with my sister. Great prices though and I found lots of things. Jeans, a bra, 5 blouses, 2 sweaters, a golf shirt and a skirt for about $250. All very very much needed as due to the shrinking me, I had NO clothes. Ok, some, but not much! My sister bought tons of stuff. She says she loves shopping with me as I go through all the racks and just toss things I like at her. She hates looking for clothes, doesn't mind trying them on. After shopping, my family went out for fish and chips out in Horseshoe Bay. I then met up with my high school girlfriends for drinks. I loved seeing them and catching up!
It was a good holiday as I got to see all the people that mattered to me. My friends, my relatives, and I even had time to visit with each of my grandmothers and have a cup of tea. I had to leave a few of my presents at my parents since they didn't fit in my suitcase, but they are planning to come for a visit in the spring so I'll get them then.
I have a million pictures which I haven't got around to posting yet. Eventually, I swear.
Monday, December 19, 2005
December
Ok, perhaps one of my New Year's resolutions will be to update this thing more frequently - but I doubt it.
I had a great time this weekend as I threw my annual (ok, two years in a row!) tree decorating party on Saturday. 17 people again, so it was definitely a full house. I made all the food I consider part of Christmas, as it's the same type of food that was served at my grandmother's Christmas gatherings. Swedish meatballs, cabbage rolls, potatos au gratin and ham, plus the usual veggies, salad, and dinner rolls. The only real difference between my menu and what my family ate at my aunt's this year was the bread. My cousins baked all the traditional breads - hardtack, cardamon buns, cinnamon rings - that I don't know how to do. Besides, there was tons of food already! For dessert, I served various kinds of Christmas baking - marshmallow squares, peanut butter bonbons, butterscotch haystacks, date squares. By the end of the night, my tree had ornaments, the gingerbread house had been decorated, and I had We Wish You A Merry Christmas as sung by three stuffed mice trapped in my head. I had a blast.
I've also been going to the movies a lot recently. I highly recommend King Kong, although I do think the first hour could have been cut a bit more. I only give Chronicles of Narnia 3 stars out of 5 as it dragged in places and I thought the soundtrack was really pompous and distracting. Hmm, I know I've seen more. Oh, Just Friends. Very funny, particularly if you like physical comedy. I also saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - it is one of my favourites. I'm currently on a Christmas video kick and I've watched the Muppet Christmas Carol twice in the last week. I love that movie!
As for other activities - I've been sewing a lot. Some items are top secret until Christmas, but as Lori already opened her gift, I can tell you I made my second quilted item. It is a snowman table runner and I think it looks quite nice. With the exception of one gift left to sew, all my shopping/sewing is done and I can relax until Christmas! Hmmm, I should really go work on that last gift....
If you want to see the new pics, head to http://www.geocities.com/jette_16/pics/thumbs.html
I had a great time this weekend as I threw my annual (ok, two years in a row!) tree decorating party on Saturday. 17 people again, so it was definitely a full house. I made all the food I consider part of Christmas, as it's the same type of food that was served at my grandmother's Christmas gatherings. Swedish meatballs, cabbage rolls, potatos au gratin and ham, plus the usual veggies, salad, and dinner rolls. The only real difference between my menu and what my family ate at my aunt's this year was the bread. My cousins baked all the traditional breads - hardtack, cardamon buns, cinnamon rings - that I don't know how to do. Besides, there was tons of food already! For dessert, I served various kinds of Christmas baking - marshmallow squares, peanut butter bonbons, butterscotch haystacks, date squares. By the end of the night, my tree had ornaments, the gingerbread house had been decorated, and I had We Wish You A Merry Christmas as sung by three stuffed mice trapped in my head. I had a blast.
I've also been going to the movies a lot recently. I highly recommend King Kong, although I do think the first hour could have been cut a bit more. I only give Chronicles of Narnia 3 stars out of 5 as it dragged in places and I thought the soundtrack was really pompous and distracting. Hmm, I know I've seen more. Oh, Just Friends. Very funny, particularly if you like physical comedy. I also saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - it is one of my favourites. I'm currently on a Christmas video kick and I've watched the Muppet Christmas Carol twice in the last week. I love that movie!
As for other activities - I've been sewing a lot. Some items are top secret until Christmas, but as Lori already opened her gift, I can tell you I made my second quilted item. It is a snowman table runner and I think it looks quite nice. With the exception of one gift left to sew, all my shopping/sewing is done and I can relax until Christmas! Hmmm, I should really go work on that last gift....
If you want to see the new pics, head to http://www.geocities.com/jette_16/pics/thumbs.html
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Birthday Week
It's been a nice two weeks since my last update. I sewed like crazy to make my hallowe'en costume - not entirely sure what possessed me to want a leather and velvet corset. Too many Buffy reruns? It was based on Vampire Willow's outfit from season three, not that anyone knew that. It was just kind of goth, I guess, but I knew! *g* It was really hard to make and I didn't even use real leather or velvet. Just some kind of pleather and this stretch fake crushed velvet. The sewing wasn't that hard - even though it was thick! Pleather, interfacing, lining, velvet... Broke 2 needles and I was using special leather ones. It was the eyelets that nearly killed me. 38 of the little devils I think. And to get them to go through so much fabric I was using a full sized hammer and swinging hard! Hit my thumb more than a few times.... I think the end product looked good though and I wore it to The Thirsty Turtle for a night of Hallowe'en bar-ness. My compliments go out to Scott, Erik and Kate for their very good Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach costumes!
This past Wednesday was my 28th birthday. Being in the middle of week, I didn't do much. Booked a table at a restaurant called Flavours that I've been wanting to go to for ages. I wanted to go there specifically for a dish called Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Chicken. I ordered it and it was good, but not nearly enough tomatos. In fact, if there was one piece of tomato, I couldn't taste it. The service lacked though. One waiter, who spent a lot of time hanging out at the bar. Good thing we weren't in any hurry! The coolest part of the night was when we ordered dessert. 6 of us, 6 options on the menu. When the waiter came, we said "one of everything". Who hasn't wanted to say that?? Most of us tried all the dishes - mocha java mousse (Yum!), flourless chocolate cake (too bitter), apple-berry crumple (tasty), triple chocolate bread pudding (a meal in itself, whoa), creme brulee (never tried that before) and vanilla cheesecake (also Yum!). My friends paid for my dinner, which was very nice of them. They also gave me Knife of Dreams (finally, I have it!!!) and a Spike calendar *g*. After supper, we went back to my house and opened the gifts my family had sent. More books (I'm reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes right now, very very good), and a memory card for my digital camera.
Last night, it was a birthday double-hitter. First, I went out for supper with Joey, Rod and Fancy as it was Joe's birthday. After supper, I went over to Pub 1905 to celebrate Todd's and my birthday. It was really great seeing everyone last night as there were a few people there I don't see too often. I spent the night just chatting with everyone - my favourite thing to do! *g* It was a really great night and a nice cap to my week.
This past Wednesday was my 28th birthday. Being in the middle of week, I didn't do much. Booked a table at a restaurant called Flavours that I've been wanting to go to for ages. I wanted to go there specifically for a dish called Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Chicken. I ordered it and it was good, but not nearly enough tomatos. In fact, if there was one piece of tomato, I couldn't taste it. The service lacked though. One waiter, who spent a lot of time hanging out at the bar. Good thing we weren't in any hurry! The coolest part of the night was when we ordered dessert. 6 of us, 6 options on the menu. When the waiter came, we said "one of everything". Who hasn't wanted to say that?? Most of us tried all the dishes - mocha java mousse (Yum!), flourless chocolate cake (too bitter), apple-berry crumple (tasty), triple chocolate bread pudding (a meal in itself, whoa), creme brulee (never tried that before) and vanilla cheesecake (also Yum!). My friends paid for my dinner, which was very nice of them. They also gave me Knife of Dreams (finally, I have it!!!) and a Spike calendar *g*. After supper, we went back to my house and opened the gifts my family had sent. More books (I'm reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes right now, very very good), and a memory card for my digital camera.
Last night, it was a birthday double-hitter. First, I went out for supper with Joey, Rod and Fancy as it was Joe's birthday. After supper, I went over to Pub 1905 to celebrate Todd's and my birthday. It was really great seeing everyone last night as there were a few people there I don't see too often. I spent the night just chatting with everyone - my favourite thing to do! *g* It was a really great night and a nice cap to my week.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Visit!
For the first time since I moved out here ten years ago, my grandma came out to visit me this weekend. My mum also came with her. It was a great weekend as I don't think I have ever spent so much time with my grandma before. It was nice having a girls weekend, just the three of us.
They came in Thursday around lunch. I was very mean and made them take the airport shuttle downtown where I met them at a local hotel. That afternoon we went to West Edmonton Mall for the start of some serious shopping. We managed to complete about 40% of the mall before we got sick of it and went home. I can't even remember what we bought that day! I remember buying wool as mum had forgotten hers at home and can't live without something to crochet. That night we had supper at a nearby fish and chips shoppe. Every time my mum comes out we eat there, which I find funny. She comes out from the coast to eat fish on the prairies *g*.
Friday morning, we went to the Muttart Conservatory, which is basically a giant greenhouse built in the formation of four glass pyramids. Each pyramid is designed around a different landscape - Arid/Desert, Temperate, Tropical and "Show". The show pyramid had a dreamcatcher theme this time and was pretty cool. I really liked this topiary (I think that's the right word) shaped like a giant fish. After the conservatory, we went back to the evil mall for more shopping. This time we covered Phase III and bought quite a bit. My grandma found a really pretty blue coat and certain birthday gifts were purchased for me. We also saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the cheap theatre. We had supper at Tony Roma's, which officially had the slowest service I had ever experienced in my life. Not pleased at all.
Saturday, we walked down Whyte Avenue and went to the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market. I should really go more often, everything looked so great! That afternoon we went to Southgate mall so I could buy jeans (WEM was out of stock) and my mum also bought a sweatshirt. By this point, we were all very sick of shopping!! That night, I made supper for a change - salmon with lemon, baked potatoes and veggies. Basic, but tasty.
Sunday, we just puttered around and walked over to the little shopping plaza by my house. And then it was time for them to go back to the airport. Just a short visit! I had lots of fun though. It was really nice to have them both out here.
Pictures can be found here.
They came in Thursday around lunch. I was very mean and made them take the airport shuttle downtown where I met them at a local hotel. That afternoon we went to West Edmonton Mall for the start of some serious shopping. We managed to complete about 40% of the mall before we got sick of it and went home. I can't even remember what we bought that day! I remember buying wool as mum had forgotten hers at home and can't live without something to crochet. That night we had supper at a nearby fish and chips shoppe. Every time my mum comes out we eat there, which I find funny. She comes out from the coast to eat fish on the prairies *g*.
Friday morning, we went to the Muttart Conservatory, which is basically a giant greenhouse built in the formation of four glass pyramids. Each pyramid is designed around a different landscape - Arid/Desert, Temperate, Tropical and "Show". The show pyramid had a dreamcatcher theme this time and was pretty cool. I really liked this topiary (I think that's the right word) shaped like a giant fish. After the conservatory, we went back to the evil mall for more shopping. This time we covered Phase III and bought quite a bit. My grandma found a really pretty blue coat and certain birthday gifts were purchased for me. We also saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the cheap theatre. We had supper at Tony Roma's, which officially had the slowest service I had ever experienced in my life. Not pleased at all.
Saturday, we walked down Whyte Avenue and went to the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market. I should really go more often, everything looked so great! That afternoon we went to Southgate mall so I could buy jeans (WEM was out of stock) and my mum also bought a sweatshirt. By this point, we were all very sick of shopping!! That night, I made supper for a change - salmon with lemon, baked potatoes and veggies. Basic, but tasty.
Sunday, we just puttered around and walked over to the little shopping plaza by my house. And then it was time for them to go back to the airport. Just a short visit! I had lots of fun though. It was really nice to have them both out here.
Pictures can be found here.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Just Because?
Man, you know you haven't posted in a while when you get complaints!
My apologies to my loyal fan base. *snicker*
I have no rants lately. It is strange. Apparently I'm satisfied with the world. Unless I think too hard, and then I just get depressed. I think the end times are upon us. If you are religious, pray for your soul. If you don't believe in an afterlife, I recommend high levels of partying.
So in the what's new with me department - you may or may not know that I'm really working on losing weight. It's going quite well. I set 5 mini-goals to make it more manageable and at each goal, I give myself a reward and a challenge. The challenges are somewhat like punishments really, but they are meant to get me out of my rut in life. I'm all for trying new things this year. When I hit my first goal, I got a massage and asked out a friend (it was a no). Second goal - great new clothes and my high school reunion (punishment!). Third goal - more clothes (otherwise I was going to have a nakedness issue) and a really new thing - Speed Dating aka six minute dates or whatever version you have heard of.
I officially recommend speed dating to anyone who is looking. How else do you meet so many people at once? I chose one that was for people aged 23-32 and aimed at "young professionals", whatever that means. It was held at a pub near my house, so I just walked over. I also called Rod for a last minute pep talk. His advice? Don't forget to let them talk too! I had a lot of fun that night. There were 13 guys and 10 girls. We started with a little ice breaker session while we waited for everyone to arrive. It was just one of those little sheets that say "Find someone who has a pet", "Find someone who likes hockey", etc etc. Then time for the dates. The girls were assigned tables and the guys rotated through when the bell rang. I only had one date where I was struggling to find something to talk about. Out of the guys I met, I think I circled interested for 7. I was trying very hard to not be picky. One guy I circled solely because as he was leaving he said he liked my red hair (wash out colour btw, normal now).
Later that week I got an email with my matches. I matched with five guys! (I circled them, they circled me....). I decided to be brave and call them and I set up dates with all 5! Crazy me, but it was fun. One was fun, Two bailed on our coffee date but called me several times, Three turned out to be significant, Four was nice but older, Five was young and hot. Although I had fun with the four guys I went out with (and One I went out with twice), Three (who shall now be known as Ian) was by far the most interesting. And turns out he likes me back. We are currently dating and he's even met some of my friends. It's happy fun.
And in other news - my mum and grandma are coming for a visit this weekend. I am so excited! My grandma has never visited me in the ten years I've lived here so this is cool. Hopefully, I'll have pics to put up soon.
My apologies to my loyal fan base. *snicker*
I have no rants lately. It is strange. Apparently I'm satisfied with the world. Unless I think too hard, and then I just get depressed. I think the end times are upon us. If you are religious, pray for your soul. If you don't believe in an afterlife, I recommend high levels of partying.
So in the what's new with me department - you may or may not know that I'm really working on losing weight. It's going quite well. I set 5 mini-goals to make it more manageable and at each goal, I give myself a reward and a challenge. The challenges are somewhat like punishments really, but they are meant to get me out of my rut in life. I'm all for trying new things this year. When I hit my first goal, I got a massage and asked out a friend (it was a no). Second goal - great new clothes and my high school reunion (punishment!). Third goal - more clothes (otherwise I was going to have a nakedness issue) and a really new thing - Speed Dating aka six minute dates or whatever version you have heard of.
I officially recommend speed dating to anyone who is looking. How else do you meet so many people at once? I chose one that was for people aged 23-32 and aimed at "young professionals", whatever that means. It was held at a pub near my house, so I just walked over. I also called Rod for a last minute pep talk. His advice? Don't forget to let them talk too! I had a lot of fun that night. There were 13 guys and 10 girls. We started with a little ice breaker session while we waited for everyone to arrive. It was just one of those little sheets that say "Find someone who has a pet", "Find someone who likes hockey", etc etc. Then time for the dates. The girls were assigned tables and the guys rotated through when the bell rang. I only had one date where I was struggling to find something to talk about. Out of the guys I met, I think I circled interested for 7. I was trying very hard to not be picky. One guy I circled solely because as he was leaving he said he liked my red hair (wash out colour btw, normal now).
Later that week I got an email with my matches. I matched with five guys! (I circled them, they circled me....). I decided to be brave and call them and I set up dates with all 5! Crazy me, but it was fun. One was fun, Two bailed on our coffee date but called me several times, Three turned out to be significant, Four was nice but older, Five was young and hot. Although I had fun with the four guys I went out with (and One I went out with twice), Three (who shall now be known as Ian) was by far the most interesting. And turns out he likes me back. We are currently dating and he's even met some of my friends. It's happy fun.
And in other news - my mum and grandma are coming for a visit this weekend. I am so excited! My grandma has never visited me in the ten years I've lived here so this is cool. Hopefully, I'll have pics to put up soon.
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