It's not easy being red

Wagon? What wagon?

2012-01-30T21:43:00.001-07:00

Back tonight for the first time in months...it was a painful experience. I'm literally icing a shin and hoping the feeling of lungs on fire will fade.

5 and 1s...ugh. 5 minute walks and 1 minute runs
5k in 49 mins

Chasing the wagon 1 week at a time

2011-10-16T22:00:00.003-06:00

Got back to the gym tonight in time to do my 5k on the elliptical only.

I also started some enzymes and a super duper pro-biotic this week to take care of what could be an overgrowth of yeast apparently - causes fatigue, sugar cravings, crazy pms among other fun. However my stomach doesn't love the enzymes or I apparently used them to discover I have an ulcer starting...awesome! Suddenly the yucky yeast cleanse isn't sounding so bad...

5k on elliptical in 31m 55s

Goal is to get back again in under 7 days.

Found the wagon and then found dessert

2011-10-10T07:05:00.002-06:00

Ok so I fell off the wagon for 3 weeks.

It started with trying to get some renos done. Installing laminate flooring actually caused my body to complain more than workouts do.

Then company arrived.

Then some more renos in the form of baseboard installation.

Then company arrived. This company makes the wagon chase her.

So back to the gym I went; on a Sunday morning. Which just seems wrong on many levels.

I had my best elliptical time in ages. Go figure. Then we went to Olive Garden and I ate too much. My weight problem has not improved during my gym hiatus and I have actually been eating pretty healthily. My GP had no explanation either. Starting up vitamins about a month ago does seem to be helping with fatigue.

So for now it's time to revisit chasing the wagon, eating healthier, taking my vitamins and maybe consider a visit to a naturopath.

5k in 31m 34s
most of a weight circuit but the addition of free weights for arms

Still going

2011-09-07T22:18:00.002-06:00

I haven't fallen off the wagon yet...although there have been some missed days here and there.

The latest reno project has taken a bit of a toll so tonight was the first night back since Saturday. Ironically I also had my best cardio workout yet but had to cut my weight circuit a bit short since I struggled to go tonight and got there late.

5k on elliptical in 32:17 m

Annoyingly the weight I've gained isn't peeling off but hopefully that will come.

Odd

2011-08-31T23:05:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I have my most satisfying workouts on my toughest days...go figure!

4.4 k in 31 mins - 2k on the treadmill and 2.4 k on elliptical. Shinsplints are better but still complain during running. Elliptical is much faster than the treadmill so in some ways more satisfying.

Weight circuit - maintaining from my last increase.

Sometimes bad days aren't so bad

2011-08-22T22:17:00.002-06:00

I felt like crap when I dragged myself to the gym tonight. Some months I swear mother nature is delivering a death threat and not a gift. Ironically tonight I had my best time to complete 5k on the elliptical yet. Working out pms and stress must increase the pace somehow!

5k on elliptical in 33:10m
Weights still mostly up - a couple I couldn't remember what I was at....oops

This Thursday will be 3 weeks. I wonder if it will be a habit by then? I haven't seen body size or weight progress so something better be happening.

Not quite a habit

2011-08-20T21:49:00.003-06:00

I was too tired and late home from work on Thursday to manage the gym. Then I felt guilty for the next few days. In future it may be easier to go to the gym.

Tonight:
5k on elliptical in 35:26m
Weights - increases on a few machines - yay me!

Shins and knees are still complaining but less and less so there's hope for a return to the treadmill in the future.

Ibuprofen is my friend

2011-08-16T22:28:00.002-06:00

My lower legs do not seem convinced about this new fitness plan. In fact they seem a bit angry and sulky. Shin splints are back, they've convinced the knees to complain also and tonight I seem to have a sore top of my right foot. It's like a union movement!

Switched to elliptical....5 k without my heart exploding in 38 m
Weight circuit was cut a bit short because I didn't get to the gym until late due to procrastination.

Half the battle is showing up

2011-08-14T19:02:00.003-06:00

I took Friday off which was my "scheduled" gym day. It was a combination of shin splints and pure laziness I think.

Today I made it back...but my shins and knees were not so happy to be there. I managed 3k on the treadmill and switched to the elliptical. I suspect the next while will test my ability to find a new way to get back in shape and stay on track. Tonight....ice.

3k in 26:15 m
2k on elliptical in 15 mins
A few adjustments on weights.

Back to life...back to reality

2011-08-10T22:15:00.003-06:00

1st workout when back at work after a week off. Of course day 1 back at work was busy and day 2, the day I was supposed to work out again was a 12 hr day starting at 7:00 a.m. For those who know me, that is an ungodly hour.

Nonetheless I made it to the gym. I figured if I started finding excuses now I'd be sunk.

5k in 46:43 m (still 5 and 1s)
weights...shoulder press up 10 lbs!

3rd time's a charm

2011-08-08T22:08:00.002-06:00

Well not quite but making it 3 times is actually an accomplishment!

Tonight:
5k in 46:45 m
weight circuit as usual

Sweat seemed double but run didn't feel quite as hard until the end!

All uphill

2011-08-06T17:07:00.004-06:00

At least that's the way it felt. The treadmill actually only said 1% incline.

5k in 47:34 m
weight circuit made me realize that I actually was sore from the other day's workout

And this time I remembered to charge my shuffle so I actually had tunes.

The goal is to consistently try to do 5k and gradually get faster by increasing my run/walk intervals.

And of course fit into some old jeans.

It's a long ways back to where I've been...

2011-08-04T22:27:00.002-06:00

1st time back in the gym in....hmm....let's say....wow...let's just go with way too long.

4.1 km in 40 mins......ugh!
weights back to beginning

However I am feeling strangely...great!

I believe they say it takes 3 weeks to make something a habit. Wish me lots of habit forming behaviour!

Guess what time of year it is?

2011-07-05T21:17:00.001-06:00

Bling and mud

2011-05-15T17:56:00.012-06:00

I finally finished tiling the kitchen back splash. The grout actually looked like Manitoba clay. And felt like dealing with it too. Apparently renos could use some pre-training since my arms feel like spaghetti now.

I had a little trouble with haze but you have to love Google - found a tip that suggested some vinegar in the water and it seemed to do the trick!

Here's the beginning... (well sort of - it was originally an orange kitchen with a hole where the dishwasher went and this was my cost-effective attempt to update it although some doors were duct taped together)

Delivery!

Not all the cabinets were the right sizes...ugh.

Correct size counter:

Tiles up:

With grout:

There is a valance to go above the sink and toe kick to go. There are also cabinets across with the fridge that need an outlet moved up and to be secured to the wall.

The one year project

2011-04-23T22:47:00.009-06:00

A year ago...

And then...

And then it was a comedy of errors of a few incorrect cabinet sizes that took months to finally show up. A countertop measurement mistakenly transposed on a fax that took and extra 6 weeks to remedy. And finally tile decisions and ordering and then the biggie...the motivation to install it.

Grout still to do... and toe kick.

April mini project

2011-04-10T19:04:00.006-06:00

Hmm....I seem to be getting one mini project per month done....

I added inserts to some plain curtains that were/are hanging in the dining room. And I forgot to take a before so just picture them plain.

After:

May have to try for more pictures after dark since they're not lined. I also shortened them since puddling drapes may be stylish but not so much when they are puddling in dog hair.

Ah...much better! (And the fabric on the back of the chair is for another project...)

Mini project

2011-03-13T09:26:00.011-06:00

The kitchen is still in progress...like many things in the reno palace. However I did do a few little tweaks for the wall that never had cabinets before. They now tend to be a dumping ground so I'll have to work on that! I also need to buy some chalk:

I may also make a valance to go over the shade - which would cover the holes left by the previous curtain rod. And yes, the ladder will go back downstairs...although I do need something to reach the top cupboards!

Rose coloured glasses?

2011-03-05T16:37:00.003-07:00

More pillows to come - since I have more fabric! And I'd like to find a low dresser to paint out cream. There's a highboy at the end of the bed now.

Some women change their hair

2011-02-26T18:37:00.010-07:00

after a breakup...I tend to redecorate.

Apparently I'm craving something bright and girly since this is what followed me home from Fabricland yesterday.

And began a transformation of this:

To something a bit more like this:

With the intention of eventually being a bit more like this:

I think the lampshades may need changing up and there is much more sewing to go but it looks like the next project is underway. And I was going to say that this time it doesn't involve paint - but there may be some painting coming up soon too.

Now grapefruit avocado salad is calling and the sewing machine needs to cool down.

I need them more than he does

2011-02-18T21:56:00.002-07:00

I'm a big believer in the homemade and/or heartfelt gift. I may not always be the best communicator with words but I like to think I try to convey my feelings in other ways.

I gave someone Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownies the other day as a belated Valentine.

I want them back.

(and for those familiar with Sex and the City and the post-it episode...it was almost that bad)

Oh Mother!

2011-02-15T20:38:00.003-07:00

So I asked the question what do you do for Valentine's day when you find yourself suddenly single and guess where the reply came from?

My mom.

Every so often I can "hear" my mom's words in my head. Not in the freaky ghost or anything weird way but the way that even daughters whose mothers are still alive sometimes "hear" their mothers. What she said was "You can never go wrong with an apology."

And like most daughters, damn I hate when she's right.

Suddenly Single for Valentine's

2011-02-13T10:10:00.003-07:00

When you suddenly find yourself single just in time for Valentine's Day, what do you do?

Find a slasher movie, get the biggest popcorn they sell AND chocolate and go by yourself
Order enough Chinese food for 2 (or 3) and stay in
Work late and go to bed early
Take the dogs to the off-leash and spend the rest of the evening cleaning the mud off
Stop at Costco, chat with flirty liquor store guy and bring home bottle of wine for 1
Make a batch of brownies; eat same

Other suggestions?

Tropics meet -22

2011-02-07T20:54:00.005-07:00

Adapted from a bunch of recipes to suit what I had on hand...

Peach Mango Bread Pudding

8-10 slices somewhat stale bread
butter or margarine
E.D Smith Peach Mango fruit spread a la Costco
Eggs (or in this case, Egg Beaters)
Milk
Sugar
Brown sugar
vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter one side of enough pieces of stale bread to fit butter side down into casserole dish. Spread with Peach Mango fruit spread. Tear remaining bread into enough pieces to cover bottom layer. Melt about 1/4 cup of margarine and pour over. In mixer, mix together about 3-4 eggs worth and 1.5 - 1.75 cups milk with 1/3 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a tsp or 2 of vanilla. You could add cinnamon at this point too - I didn't. Mix together egg mixture until frothy. Pour over bread in casserole and make sure to dunk any pieces sticking up. Let sit for a few minutes before putting in oven.
Bake for 45 mins to an hour until puffed up and set.

(about 40 mins in I sprinkled it with more white sugar so it would be crispy on top)

Probably best served with ice cream or whipped cream but I even ate it warm...yum!

Have tiles...need ambition...

2011-02-02T20:21:00.005-07:00

The kitchen as we last saw it:

The now purchased "kitchen jewelery" awaiting installation:

Grout color?

Early spring cleaning

2011-01-30T17:26:00.010-07:00

I haven't felt like I have been making tracks on the reno palace in a while. Today was bitterly cold I didn't feel inclined to head out and about but also didn't want to start a huge project.

The pantry in its chaotic state had been bugging me for a while so I thought I'd re-organize it. I emptied it and was shocked how much stuff I'd managed to cram in there (and yes, wish I had a better before pic with it all in the pantry!):

Of course once I had all the "stuff" out I realized how grimy the shelves were and how dingy the paint was and remembered how many crayon drawings there were inside the doors.

Which led to this:

And finally the satisfying end in sight:

Followed by realizing that even with one very jam packed jumbo bag of garbage purged out it's still a pretty full pantry!

Everything I know about Christmas

2010-12-19T16:35:00.003-07:00

I learned from my mom.

The joy of baking and the smell of butter, nuts, chocolate and cinnamon filling the house. That's still the smell of warmth and home-iness for me today.

The pleasure in giving those treats away in pretty packages. And trying to have some on hand by Christmas day!

And the old classics on TV; Frosty, Rudolph, Charlie Brown and The Grinch...guess they weren't "classics" then.

And learning to play carols on the piano and singing badly along.

That adding sparkle and twinkle and color to a house is partly lights and tinsel and partly the same decorations that go up year after year...many homemade and given by others and not about matching or color schemes or themes.

That wishlists are starting points and no guarantee. And they're really just a way to dream and imagine and maybe even realize how little you need.

That the hustle and bustle should be less about shopping and more about stopping in. My mom was not generally a fan of stopping in - that's my dad's domain but at Christmas there was no end of friends stopping by and Christmas Eve was about us going to friends' homes all over the place.

That Santa is more about magic than anything else. And a great motivator for an early bedtime.

And grownups still love cookies and milk.

And stockings are the best part of the gifts.

That Christmas morning is about chaos and mess and unhealthy breakfast and that's absolutely ok once a year.

And that the whole thing should be capped off by family gathered together with hospitality, laughter and thankfulness.

Merry Christmas!

The Physics of Dog

2010-10-12T19:42:00.007-06:00

How does this:

Get out of this:

(note the carabiner holding the door closed at the bottom centre)

I knew I preferred road travel!

2010-10-04T19:46:00.002-06:00

I made what was supposed to be a quick trip back to the home town for a surprise birthday party for my dad. A party for 40 friends at the legion seemed like the right thing to do for someone turning 65. It remained a surprise and was well received.

As much as I love a trip home I honestly don't ever love the pressure of getting packed, finding a spot I trust to leave the dog, asking the neighbors to watch my house and then the whole airport experience. And in the interests of time, air travel generally wins out.

Well maybe not any more.

I took my usual decongestant before boarding the plane although I felt fine. As we were landing my ears crackled, popped and then wouldn't pop and just plain hurt like a bugger. I got off the plane and assumed that my hearing etc. would all return as normal and we carried on with the million and one errands necessary to pull off the party.

By later that evening I felt like I had a cold. Nonetheless I allowed myself to be dragged out for a girl's night out aka a reminder that I am no longer 20. The day of the party I had a smidge of a hangover and still felt like a cold was coming on. Today before catching my flight my sister decided I should check with a pharmacist because I was now having bedspins at night and had one very stuffed up ear and earaches.

The pharmacist said that if I was taking decongestants and my ear still wouldn't clear I should see a doctor. Pshaw I thought but then got "the look" from my sister.

After a 2.5 hr wait at the walk in - they should be called walk in and wait, I saw a doctor who gave me a lecture including sketches on the dangers of air travel when you have injured/ruptured your middle ear membrane and prescribed some nasal spray (yuck!) to try and get my eustachian tubes to open. And a suggestion to see an ENT since this has probably happened before and will continue to happen since he thinks there is something wrong with my septum. All said as though I was an idiot who should know better.

Next up, a ton of phone calls and emails to sort out a plan b.

And a inclineation not to get on a plane again....

Also wondering...where do you get new plumbing for your head?

Commercials I like

2010-06-13T19:56:00.002-06:00

Ok total random thought tonight...maybe too much tv!

Normally I hate "feminine products" commercials but I have to say that the Kotex commercial where she asks men to go into the store to buy tampons for her is priceless. Especially the guy who offers to buy toilet paper instead.

I also love the way dude says "calms" on the Sensodyne commercial. I'm not sure he'd be my choice over Barry White for voiceovers (I have this idea that you should be able to choose the voice for telephone banking, elevators, your car etc) but it still catches my attention.

Winnipeg vs Calgary; the good, the bad and the ugly

2010-06-02T18:30:00.015-06:00

I just returned from a trip across the prairies back to my hometown of Winnipeg. It wasn't my first drive back and forth and it probably won't be the last. It was one of the tougher drives - note to self: the May long weekend can bring snow to Calgary but the rest of the prairies aren't out of the woods either!

I couldn't help but compare the two cities/provinces at times.

The good:

Calgary is green (for Calgary) but Winnipeg has it beat for just how green a city can be - loads of trees, flowers in flowerbeds and pots and green grass. (and check out that sky!)

The Wagon Wheel is open again in Winnipeg and their clubhouse and chocolate shake still beat anything I've found out here. They cook 5 turkeys every morning to make their clubs and if you order gravy with your fries it is real roast turkey gravy! The shakes are made from hard ice cream in the old school shake blenders with metal cups. Awesome. I also had charbroiled pork vermicelli from Pho No.1. It was a huge portion; nicely presented and the pork was amazing. And I think it was around $7 - a price you'd never see in Calgary for anything that size or that good.

Neighbors are often friends in Winnipeg. I know that happens here in some areas but even my dad's new, younger than him neighbors were willing to give him a hand and chat. The longtime neighbors stopped over when they saw my car in the drive and my sister was making s'mores with her neighbors around a firepit when I arrived at their house.

You can't beat the lake...the big lake. We went to Gimli and although the water was still really chilly it was a busy spot; not a surprise being about an hour from the city. And beautiful.

Kids' sports are like mini socials. The games are well attended and people chat while they watch. I had a super conversation with a mom of the opposite team's goalie at 3 on 3 hockey and had never met her before. I don't have kids in sports here but random, pleasant conversations with non-crazy strangers isn't something I've encountered in Calgary.

The bad:

The roads in and around Winnipeg still leave a lot to be desired. Particularly highway 8 to Gimli which is both narrow and rough in spots and the Transcanada which is an embarassment across most of the prairies since it is our national highway. The absolute worst spots were around Moose Jaw SK. Winnipeg also has an interesting habit of marking pavement and putting up barricades where there is clearly no construction actually happening.

Lots of rain in Winnipeg means lots of people get water in their basements. And the City says that it isn't their fault the system can't handle it. Basement flooding has been a problem in Winnipeg for as far back as I can remember my parents rushing around bailing out window wells and hooking up pumps. Torrential downpours happen often enough and the current storm sewer system can't handle them - time to acknowledge that and make some changes which should include backup systems/pumps.

Although Winnipeggers will be shocked to hear this; the increased house prices and high taxes mean that their cost of living is as high or higher than Calgary's - with lower wages. It appears that the real estate market there is still hot, hot, hot. Some things are less expensive but not nearly as many as there were 4 years ago.

The ugly:

The lower speed limits (100 on the highway when it's 110 even in SK), abundance of traffic cameras, high $ tickets and poor traffic flow (including unpredictable drivers which never seem to get pulled over) mean that driving in Winnipeg is not fun. Things may be closer and commutes shorter in distance than Calgary but driving is slow or full of lots of stops (and people stopping on yellow out of fear of those cameras) and is an exercise in frustration and surprise since you will have no idea who is about to cut in front of you, stop suddenly or change speeds randomly.

Downtown Winnipeg also feels grungy and unsafe. I parked on McDermott near Main at 11:30 a.m. and was happy to have another female leaving the parkade on foot at the same time as me. Even walking into the Lombard at Portage and Main didn't feel like the office-crowd spot that it used to and walking through the Exchange to grab a sandwich at prime lunchtime was dodgy at best. I had come to expect the drive along north Main street to be depressing but it seems to have spread right into the rest of downtown.

All in all, I had a great visit which went by way too quickly. And of course the main draw for Winnipeg that you can't beat is that Winnipeg is still home to my closest friends and family.

Hello my name is...

2010-04-30T11:18:00.002-06:00

and I have a fabric addiction...

Dear Mazda

2010-03-26T11:38:00.004-06:00

I used to love you. I loved my 1990 red miata even before you coined the slogan "Zoom zoom".

A couple of years ago I decided to try a new zippy little Mazda. I have to say it doesn't come close to living up to the 1990 miata. I'm sure you don't care but here's how you disappointed me:

It doesn't stick to the road

Hey Mazda - we have this season called winter here. And generally in winter it's pretty important that you don't slide off the road or into other vehicles. It helps if you don't hydroplane in the rain too.

It still doesn't stick to the road

After over $1300 in winter tires, the little bugger still wants to act like a hovercraft. This is not good for my nerves on my lengthy commute amongst big trucks and other vehicles not struggling to stick to the road.

It can't have a remote starter without invalidating my warranty because?

Hey when Santa calls (aka Dad) to find out about getting me a remote starter to make my winter mornings a little nicer you shouldn't tell him that unless he spends a fortune with you, this will invalidate my warranty. Especially when I paid extra for an extended warranty because I thought I would love this car forever. Paying you triple for something that is commonly sold aftermarket is just not cool - although my car is when it's -35.

Regular servicing empties my piggy bank

I know that all manufacturers may be guilty of this one but $300 for a service on a car that involves checking it over and changing the oil is pretty blatantly a cash grab.

There are not diamonds in the air in Alberta

And yet my windows have scratched like crazy. When I ask your dealer about it, the correct response should be "we'll check into it" not "hmm, that's really weird".

Opening the door with a fist should not be a well known approach

The ding on my driver's door above the handle, you know, the one that's there because someone figured out that if you punch the car there it will unlock on the 2006? Well the 2007 looks identical so guess what's been tried on mine. And you won't fix it under warranty...thanks.

My Dad's full size Buick got better gas mileage

Um, it's a little car. And it's a little zippy but not exactly ripping off the line kind of zippy. Why does it go through gas like a 12 yr old boy goes through pop?

It has a recall for what? RUST?!?

Ok, it's not even 3 yrs old. And you're calling me about a voluntary recall for rust? Seriously Mazda, WTF? My 14 yr old Ranger has one teeny tiny spec of rust and I'm not happy about that. How do you think I'm gonna feel about rust on a vehicle that I bought new for mucho dineros?

I don't know about you, Mazda, but I'm starting to feel like this relationship might not be working for me. Just sayin'...

When do you know what you want to be when you grow up?

2010-03-08T19:56:00.003-07:00

When I was little I had a book about a little girl deciding what she wanted to be when she grew up. I didn't really like the book because I couldn't really understand how she was going to decide. That should have been a sign....

I thought deciding in high school what career path you wanted to take (and therefore deciding on University or Community College or trying to talk your parents into a year off) was difficult. Then after postponing it with a B.A. what I wanted to be became kind of an ongoing decision more about how to pay the bills than what I really wanted to do.

There were some boyfriend decisions...do I want to date him? or get serious? and at a fairly young age the decision to move in together and then get married. Four years later was the biggie - the decision to separate and then after years of fighting over what little a couple of 20 yr olds can accumulate, divorce.

Shortly after that came the first big career decision involving a relocation. Out to Calgary for the first time. When the job didn't pan out and income was tight came the decision to return to school and move home. This time I was a little more focused...well, after I decided between Law, an MBA and settled on a 1 yr diploma that seemed a bit risky but with quicker payoff than multiple years in school.

Next up was the decision to relocate again. This time for love. Out to the West Coast I went; just in time for the internet/tech bust. After some job and soul searching and an illness for someone in my immediate family I boomeranged back home. A few job changes followed and a separation then another go of things romantically...rinse and repeat. (In high school I think I once claimed that nothing is irreparable...ok, I was wrong.)

There were a few job changes but I thought I'd mostly decided what I'd wanted to be in the career area, at least for a while. And I thought I still wanted to be part of a couple so then came the dating someone from work decision (not a good idea...just saying in case you wanted to avoid that choice yourself).

And with almost cyclical regularity, another relocation. This one prompted by a new husband - the decision to get married this time seeming like an easy decision since when the question was asked things seemed next to perfect. (Note to self - not being cynical, but beware of things that seem too good to be true.) And the relocation involved remaining with the same company but changing roles so kind of a double whammy on the decision front.

Once relocated there was a few months before a career change - hmm...guess I didn't know what I wanted to be yet after all!

And not too long after that huge fissures formed in the perfect facade of my partner and I faced the difficult decision about what to do next. It became first a decision to just try to hold onto myself. A decision I never thought I'd have to make again. And of course this came bundled with other decisions like keep the house? sell the house? stay out west? crawl back home? file for a protective order? install an alarm? (so if more than one orgasm in short succession is multi-orgasmic then is more than one decision in short succession multi-decisive or a multi-decision?)

I think this was when I learned that sometimes no decision is still a decision which is sometimes ok when you've already made a really big decision. So I kept the house and stayed put and just tried to get it back together with as few additional moving parts to the big decision as possible.

So of course when I was mostly pulled together it was time for....a career change! This time with less decision on my part and more hustle.

And so this brings us to now...after life not requiring a major decision for a while it seems like they've banded together to form a gaggle of decisions to once again make me think about "what do I want to be when I grow up?"

a mom?
a mom by birth more specifically? (per the nurse "at my age")
an out of province auntie?
an in province auntie, sister, daughter (possibly requiring therapy) and friend?
a reasonably well paid Albertan where my increases at least seem to keep pace with the high cost of living
resident of a province where a raise is not considered a requirement and the cost of living seems to be rising faster than the Red River in the springtime?
and if it's an Albertan resident, is it a more rural Albertan battling the ridiculous daily commute or a house poor city dweller close to conveniences but with much less house for more money and possibly requiring a rottweiler companion for security?
a single spinster homebody? (maybe then I wouldn't worry too much about the 30 day challenge and the excess of "assets" I currently possess)
ready to run the dating gauntlet again? (and how does this affect the first two decisions in the list?)

I really think when they start you off thinking about what you want to be when you grow up they need to be really clear that this isn't a one time decision. (Perhaps a focus on decision-making in school starting at pre-school?) And it's not just about being a doctor or firefighter or construction guy or dentist or whatever. I knew that Little Golden Book from when I was a kid oversimplified it. It's a whole frickin' host of decisions!

So guess what, just when you might think you know what you want to be when you grow up or think you're there? Life's got entirely different ideas...

Catching up with the wagon

2010-03-07T22:16:00.002-07:00

Well I've more than fallen off the wagon...I think I fell into a mega-deep pothole and then was run over while being lapped by the wagon. I've given in to cravings, to lazings and when I caught a glimpse of myself in a large mirror today I wasn't totally shocked but wow was I disappointed in myself.

So....I'm thinking that I will start a 30 day challenge. Here's the deal:

30 days of activity - min 1 hr per day
30 days of cleaning up my eating...and an attempt to battle my sweet cravings

The last few days have been good. It has helped that the weather has been great!

Friday I took the dog to the offleash and we walked for an hour - ok, he may have run some too. Saturday we went to visit another hound at the pound and stopped at a different offleash for about 35 mins. A little weak but still better than not moving at all. Today, I tried out a hot yoga class and we went back to the offleash.

So far so good...I need some help with sweet cravings and to get back to incorporating veggies in my diet - love em but seem to have lost em...

Still on the uphill

2010-01-12T22:25:00.001-07:00

5k in 41 mins 30 secs

I'm still at 2 and 1s....that's 2 min walks and 1 min runs. Next up 2 and 2s I think in another week. And more importantly a more regular gym attendance. One week between runs is too much.

In with the new and out with the old?

2010-01-05T22:36:00.003-07:00

I don't know about you but when it comes to resolutions, I rarely look back on past ones. I suspect that's because they tend to be very similar year to year. But in the interest of progress (hopefully) I thought I'd review last year's before making new ones this year.

Last year:

Get my body in better order aka Get my a** back to the gym or into some kind of exercise regime and stop eating the leftover Christmas baking. I did mention Hiphop Abs in passing previously but I was only half joking...it might be worth a shot! A subsidiary of this resolution is to get my closet in order...looks like it's time to pitch some more things and tidy up again. I also need to figure out a better way to store shoes, purses and jewellery so that I actually might use them to better advantage. Of course if the ladies from the Cityline fashion segment want to stop by and help me pull together some outfits that would be fantastic.

Get my financial house in better order - this will involve getting up the guts to speak to one or more mortgage consultants about refinancing with a better rate and shorter amortization which on paper should result in paying down the mortgage quicker as well as decreasing my payments a little. Next up, if I get a raise (which I'm supposed to so I should say "when" not "if") I should increase my RRSP contributions (which are paltry right now) since I can't contribute to a pension plan for another year and a half. And there is always the ongoing battle to pay off the credit cards. I managed not to use them for Christmas purchases so hopefully I am off to a good start. I know that you should pay them off monthly but I haven't ever managed that so that is a big goal for me.

Get my home records in better order - there is a new desk and file cabinet waiting to be put together in my office...in truth the file cabinet is part ways together but it wasn't going well so it needs to be continued. I have lots of filing to do but am hopeful that once I get started I will have a system that I can stick to.

So how did I do?

Well, I fell off the gym wagon sometime in late summer after an attempt at a boot camp. And I bought Hiphop Abs but never felt compelled to bounce around my livingroom to it.

I did kind of refinance the mortgage; I couldn't bite the bullet on the giant penalty but I did blend and extend. Essentially keeping the penalty about the same but making some better progress on the balance...minor but still some progress. I haven't done anything with RRSPs...oops I bought an old pick up truck....but it's shiny red...maybe I could retire with the truck and trailer? I did make some progress on credit cards but there is more to go.

And the filing cabinet is together but the desk is not. I'm due to go through the pile of old bills and mail and file again but there is somewhere to put it. I doubt I will ever be the most organized person in the world but hey, baby steps.

Soooooo what does that mean for this year?

Well I hauled butt at work last year and that has paid off with a new job. So one of my resolutions is to take advantage of that learning opportunity as much as possible. And at the same time try to find some balance.

Which leads to the next resolution - to not fall off the gym wagon altogether. I actually started back at the gym in late November. I even managed 3 times on the treadmill over my Christmas holidays - not stellar but better than nothing. Tonight was 5k in 43 mins. A far cry from where I was but I'm at 2.5 min walks and 1 min runs and hope to get to 2 and 1s and then start increasing my runs.

Beyond that it's to figure out what next. Am I still leaning towards a 5 yr plan with a return to the prairies? 'Cause this Easter I will have been here for 4 yrs already. Or am I starting to settle in here? And if I am, is that in this house/area or am I starting to feel ready to move? And am I happy being a party of 1 or am I going to shift my focus to being a party of 1.5? Or should I work on being a party of 2 and then 2.5?

Maybe this is the year to find the start of the next path I want to be on? And to get my bod and brain in shape to take it.

It's getting there

2009-12-06T14:10:00.011-07:00

I should be out shovelling (it snowed some more!!) but since I did 2 hours of that yesterday I'm finding myself coming up with other things to do today. One of those things was to hang some mini mirrors in my bedroom and kind of finish that room up.

Here are the befores:

And the afters:

Of course not from the same angle...I'm not that organized!

You can't really tell in the before photos but the carpet was a gray-blue; at least where it wasn't stained or where there was a giant bleach spot. I'm not thrilled with the pale cream-beige-gray I chose because now I think it looks a bit dingy but it's still better than the previous stuff. The baseboards before were simple casing and not really baseboard. And last weekend I figured out how to finally replace the lightswitch and outlets to the decora style that was started in the rest of the house. And of course I missed it in both sets of pictures but there is a new light fixture up now and new hardware on the closet doors along with new trim around them. The nice wooden blinds behind the curtains were repurposed from my cousin's house. And the curtains were made for my previous house and have been put up in a few different rooms a few times since then. I finally gave in and bought a new bed this summer when I woke up aching every morning and it's quite high which makes it feel kind of luxurious even without room service.

There are lots of things remaining to do in the house but it's nice to take a look back at the initial photos and realize that I'm getting somewhere.

Now if I could just find someone to replace the kitchen counters, fix the fallout drawers and replace the ugly tub and surround!

This is not my idea of personal growth

2009-11-28T15:46:00.003-07:00

So for the last 2 weeks I have been chasing the wagon...meaning I have been back to the gym 3 times a week. And I've been watching what I eat; well mostly. However, I am still increasing in size. WTF?!?

I have weight in places I have never had before such as a muffin top and a belly going on. Initially I attributed this to stress weight gain since work has taken everything I've got for about the last 6-8 months. But now, although there is still some drama, the pressure is mostly off. Any time the jelly belly and muffin top want to go away so I can fit back into my clothes would be great.

I know in the past my routine of walk/run and weights worked so I'm hoping that it's just a bit early to see results and my body just needs a reset. I'm really not sure what to make of the ongoing increase that I feel in my clothes; I actually bought a size larger jeans today just so I'd have some that aren't cutting into me. Deciding to do that was extremely tough...I'd like to think that I'm headed back for some other jeans in my closet but at the same time, feeling like I have nothing to wear isn't working so well.

So....3 more weeks before I head home. And I'd like to be packing less of me and more of my "mid-range" clothes. Here's hoping that what's worked before will work again!

2.5 miles in 39 mins

Next week is 3 and 1's

Yes I bought Coldfx at Costco

2009-11-08T21:28:00.002-07:00

And it doesn't seem to be helping...I am sick again! I was sick earlier in October too and I'm tired of it. This seems to be a similar bug that involves a splitting headache, body aches, stuffiness and fever and chills. Lovely. This time I toughed out 2 days at work since we had roadshow presentations and then dropped on Thursday. Today is Sunday and I felt even worse this morning including *new!* nausea. Of course I went out on Friday night and ran errands most of the day Saturday mistakenly assuming that I'd done my share of sick days. (On the up side I am down to 1 bank account so less monthly charges!)

This is interrupting my intention to get back on the fitness wagon once work became mainly sane again. Which is worrisome since I don't seem to be slowing down on putting on a few more curves. And yes, the elliptical is still in the living room...with a nice layer of dog hair.

So aside from the coldfx and lots of naps, I'm not getting anywhere too fast.

Tonight I've packed a spinach salad with chicken breast for lunch tomorrow - sounds healthy, right? A step in the right direction I hope. Once the bug is gone I think I have to check out the rec centre again...and try to get back to the routine that used to work for me.

Finding something warm and cozy

2009-10-25T18:33:00.005-06:00

Did I mention I started dating again? If you're not single then I don't think you can possibly know what hell that is...

First there's your own insecurities to deal with - in my case it's the weight gain I can't seem to shake and the fact that if I hear one more time about how independent I seem (this is never a compliment) I might just go independent on their @ss...

Then there's the initial meeting and the fact that very rarely do people seem to resemble their photos. In my case something weird happens between the lens and myself but at least my photos are current, in focus and not me in a group of other people.

Once you actually find the person you are meeting the fun really begins...and in my case the Seinfelding

* odd choice of clothes including very metrosexual boots on a very not metrosexual guy

* british teeth

* extra 30 lbs all held as a beer gut

* sweats

After that it gets more interesting because I have found that because I'm a chatter and I can keep a conversation running for a very long coffee this means that eventually any weirdness they possess is bound to come out.

Some nights...in fact more and more nights, this kind of thing is starting to look like the better option. It's homemade, with lots of non-masculine toppings like tomatoes, red onion, red pepper, spinach, garlic and rosemary in the crust.

If only I hadn't forgotten to pick up some wine to go with....hmm...maybe a boyfriend would come in handy....

Harder than it looks

2009-09-28T20:05:00.003-06:00

So that on-sale elliptical? it needs to have come with a power assist setting.

I am now up to 10 mins. In an evening. Not consecutively. On the lowest tension setting.

To give myself some credit, I could barely manage a minute the first time I got on it. Then 2 was over the top. I'm now at 3 consecutive minutes. Woo hoo!

Ok so there is a ways to go. And no way I am going to be a slimmer me by the time I go to Winefest in Kelowna this weekend. But maybe, just maybe in a few more weeks I'll start to get the scale (and clothing sizes) moving back in the direction I'd prefer.

Ps - that "berry" nice guy? has gone MIA....according to him he had a whole lot of work stress and needed some time to figure things out. So after a few weeks of trying to figure out where he was at with figuring things out I've decided to start dating again. Which puts more emphasis on using the elliptical...it's enough to be nervous about yourself without being stressed about there being more of yourself than you'd like.

Ultimate goal = 20 consecutive minutes of elliptical without imminent death due to lack of oxygen or pain from quads

Personal life goal = a "berry" nice guy with stick-to-it-ness that I don't Seinfeld out

Ta da!

2009-09-19T20:47:00.002-06:00

Or None of the Above

2009-09-19T18:32:00.004-06:00

So the new fitness plan......is coming together....sort of....

Welcome to the Canadian Tire doorcrasher elliptical special. Coming soon to a living room near me once I get all of the pieces together!

Sloth makes waist

2009-09-12T11:45:00.004-06:00

After recently seeing myself in some photos it became clear that my lack of exercise and activity is catching up. I thought some clothes were getting a bit more snug but being someone who has 3 sizes of things in my closet, the truth is easy to hide from yourself and it happens to the best of us.

I've never carried weight around my waist; usually it's on the butt, hips and thigh area but suddenly I seem to have quite the muffin top. I'm a fan of muffins but have decided that this one needs to go!

As a start I'm signed up for Nia classes at work on Mondays. I had never heard of it before and have some trepidation about it but what the heck. What is it?

"A Nia class will provide you with the stretch and stress relief found in yoga, the muscle toning for hips & arms from martial art punches and kicks, and the flexibility and freedom of dance."

But I don't think that's going to be enough. In the past I've found that the weight seems to appear pretty suddenly but it takes a long time and a lot of work to take off. At my leanest I was doing 5km intervals on the treadmill and 30-45 mins of weights 4 times per week. So, I've been looking at some options:

The free treadmill/elliptical at work. The key is free. The downside is usually by the end of my day the last thing I feel like is trekking to another floor in the building, changing in our scary pinky-grey bathrooms and getting on a treadmill. There are no weight machines either which I've found I need to incorporate to "reshape" things. And of course there is no access on weekends. Cost is FREE!

A membership in my area. The challenge there is usually that I need to get home, out the dog and eat dinner before I go...it's tough to go once I've touched down at home. And the facility I've used in the past has gotten busier. Cost is about $445 - $575 per year depending on facility.

A membership at a rec centre in the big city on my way home. An extra stop but could stop right after work when I'm not quite starving for dinner. A little longer wait for the dog but eliminates getting home and then going out again. I don't know what the facility is like so need to check it out - nicely when I'd stop is when I'd be looking at going so I should get an idea of how busy it is. One challenge is that I probably wouldn't drive in to use it on weekends - at least not in the winter. Cost is $443 per year minus $200 I'd get reimbursed through work so definitely a more reasonable option.

Purchasing a treadmill or elliptical for home. Doesn't take into consideration the weights thing so I might need to purchase some of those too. The positive is that it would be right here in the house. I do have some workout DVDs here in the house that I am able to ignore so in the house may not mean much. Cost seems to run about $1200+ for a decent machine.

I think I'll check out the place in the city one evening this week. In the meantime I will start the Nia class and try to haul my butt upstairs to the free machines a couple times. And try to watch my muffin intake and stress eating tendencies!

Berry nice

2009-08-21T10:16:00.004-06:00

I forayed back into the world of dating a little while ago. I mean I actually went out on a date. Usually I chat and chat and chat and eventually discover a deal-breaker so that I don't want to go out with them.

This time the potential date wasn't going along with that plan. He kept asking me to meet and was persistent.

It was actually kind of irritating. So one night I said "Fine, let's go for coffee then!". Of course by the time I said this nothing was open but Tim's which is not my idea of a great date location. And I was fully prepared to go have coffee, some chitchat, confirm that I didn't want to see him again and start drafting the thanks but no thanks email in my head on the way home.

Which was great until just seeing him walk across the parking lot caused a "zing" that I haven't felt in a long time. (aside from the young'un who has since relocated himself back to SK)

Then we chatted for 3 hrs in Tim's. And the man was shifting around on his seat so much at the end I couldn't help but giggle a bit. Tim's seats aren't meant for 3 hr coffee dates.

And for the first time in a long time on the way home I was thinking "well crap, what if he doesn't like me back?"

But so far it seems he does and although there have been some quirks that sometimes cause some confusion - sarcastic and dry humor is hard to read; he seems like a nice guy. So when he laughs that I haven't cut the grass in almost two weeks and asks what I've been doing and suggests I get off my butt - which gets me kinda cranky and irritated, he then follows it up by showing up with 2 buckets of saskatoons. I've been talking about going to get saskatoons for weeks.

Last weekend my range hood fan, new bathroom light and upstairs bedroom lights all got installed - without asking. And when upon pulling out the stove all kinds of grodiness was revealed, he wiped down the sides of the cupboards and the floor without a dig on my cleaning at all.

So it seems I need to figure out how to handle a nice guy...with a dry sarcastic streak.

Maybe I'll start plying him with saskatoon pie.

Leftover fiesta salad

2009-07-26T16:19:00.005-06:00

Some days I have an uncanny ability to make something out of nothing. And today that extended to the kitchen. I think the ability to re-make leftovers comes from those days when the budget was tighter...student days when brocoli with a processed cheese slice was pretty darned good dinner.

It's been really warm here and my desire to cook has gone the way of my mojo. I pulled this salad together from a hodge podge in the fridge and it turned out really well:

1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn drained
1/3 red onion chopped
1 red pepper chopped (1/2 if it's a large pepper)
cilantro chopped - I love cilantro so used about 1/4 of the bunch
2 tbsp jarred jalapeno pepper finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp of canola oil
2 tbsp lime juice

Toss it all together and crumble feta on top if you like. The measurements are not exact since I'm not generally very exact when cooking so go to your taste.

It's a pretty salad and I think it would work well as a take along to a potluck or bbq. For me, it just tastes good and didn't require heating up my kitchen!

Women and heat

2009-07-25T11:05:00.004-06:00

What is it with women and heat? There are all kinds of expressions and concepts that revolve around women and heat, "slaving over a hot stove", "she's a hot babe" or what a "hottie", there's the concept of "being in heat" and then of course later in life we get to enjoy "hot flashes". And the witch in the Wizard of Oz cries out "I'm melting!!!" as she expires.

One of my favorite women is quoted as saying "Women are like tea bags. They don't know how strong they are until they get into hot water." (It's Eleanor Roosevelt in case you wondered.)

Or until the weather is hot for days and the need to haul up the 70lb or so air conditioner from the basement overcomes their disbelief that they can carry it from the laundry/storage room, up 14 stairs, across the dining room and get it in the window.

Last year this resulted in an air conditioner casualty - the air conditioner came from a closet upstairs but sadly jumped out the front window. So far today, this smaller cousin air conditioner seems happily perched on the shelf constructed to dissuade jumping.

30 degrees here today...and no lake or pool...but at least a chance now of not feeling like I am starting hot flashes a little early.

My sleep in is broken!

2009-07-01T13:19:00.003-06:00

When I was a teenager it drove my mother crazy that I could sleep until 2 in the afternoon (or later). And once I was in my 20s that was how I recovered from late nights when I got the chance. I could sleep through pretty much everything too - including the lawn mower being run under my window.

In fact, I can't remember a time when I couldn't sleep in.

Until now.

I don't know if it's because when I'm being smart I recognize that I need 8 hrs a night and do my best to get it so that I'm not perpetually sleep deprived. And that means I don't need to sleep in until noon on the weekends? Because I can't.

And I want to...I love sleep! But the harder I try, the more my body revolts. Sometimes I can convince myself to fall back asleep for an hour but then my back starts to ache. And if I try to push it beyond that I get a headache.

It's really not fair.

But I'm fighting back. I've discovered the afternoon nap. Which is almost as great as sleeping in.

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

2009-06-21T18:55:00.002-06:00

What to make on a gray Sunday when you don't feel like going to the store? And you have a head of cauliflower in the fridge but not a whole heck of a lot more?

Ta-da!

Cozy Cauliflower Chicken Casserole

2 chicken breasts
1 can of soup at hand cream of mushroom soup
1 head of cauliflower
onion flakes
garlic powder
seasoning salt
cheese slices

Thinly slice or grate the cauliflower and place in a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion flakes and seasoning salt. Lay cheese slices over top to cover.
Cube the chicken and saute until fully cooked. Add the soup and stir up any chicken bits stuck to the pan. Pour over the cauliflower in the casserole dish.
Bake at 350 for about 35-45 mins (I did it in a convection toaster oven so not sure of oven time) until bubbly and cauliflower feels tender when poked with a fork.

I enjoyed this with a slice of bread and butter but you could even put it over rice if you'd like.

Now back to my books and bad tv...have to love those rainy, gray days off!

I am my mother's daughter

2009-06-16T20:56:00.002-06:00

I just cleaned my house because a Bathfitter estimator was coming to do an estimate.

The sum of its parts??

2009-06-13T10:56:00.002-06:00

OK so in the past I've talked about loving vehicles. If I had oodles of disposable cash I would probably have a selection of them and a personal mechanic.

But I want to clarify to the universe that this does not mean that I love the parts. Or buying the parts. Or replacing parts. Or paying those bills!

Yesterday was my friday off (a huge perk!) and I had scheduled the car in to first switch out the winter tires at a tire place where I previously paid an exorbitant amount for winter tires and then go for a tuneup at the dealership. I knew what the tuneup would cost and had figured that the tire stop was a short and relatively painless (read: cheap) stop that was necessary because we hadn't had snow for a week and didn't have any in the forecast. (I'm not bitter about the snow in June at all).

Lo and behold, one of the tire guys comes into the shop holding a tire and asked "Didn't you notice this??" while gesturing to a spot on the tire missing a sizeable chunk of rubber. Now I like my car and all but I don't snuggle up to its summer tires over the winter. I carry them in the house in the tire bags and stow them under the stairs and leave them alone until summer.

I then asked what I knew the tire guy would think was a dumb question, "Can't we leave it on for now and I'll get around to replacing it in a few weeks?". Apparently one pothole could have blown the tire and then where would I be blah, blah...may as well just replace them now. And "them" is because you always replace at least 2 tires at a time to keep your car balanced and keep them wearing evenly. I had one other tire that had worn more so presto chango! 2 new tires....for over $400.

That kind of purchase is a bit like a water heater or furnace in your house. It's necessary but hardly exciting or something to boast about and enjoy. You never hear anyone say "You should see the water heater I just put in my house!". Tire guy might boast about his tires but the ones I put on my car aren't anything special even in his eyes. Or maybe they are.

So between the tires and the tuneup, some people would say I could have had a cheap old convertible. Ok, maybe not quite. But I could have definitely spent that money in way more fun ways...like on new counters (ok those aren't fun), or on a new tub (only "fun" when full of bubbles maybe) or a treadmill (also not fun but possibly stress releasing?)...ok, maybe not fun stuff but stuff I could appreciate more than tires.

Guess I'll have to make a point to admire them every day.

Check out those pipes!

2009-06-07T10:04:00.008-06:00

I have a problem. A car problem. I have a thing for them. If I won the lottery I'd be in danger of dropping my winnings on an assortment of vehicles. I have owned a mix of vehicles but some of my favorites were my '86 Camaro, my '90 Miata (both red) and my '96 Ranger. I actually sold a perfectly respectable new 2001 Sentra after owning it about 6 months to buy the Ranger because it was just too dull.

In the last few weeks, I have seen a few new ones to add to my list.

Last week I saw this one:

That's the 2009 Dodge Challenger. Even the gay guy walking down the sidewalk stopped to look at it. It might also have had something to do with the beautiful sound it made.

Then a few weeks back I saw this one:

That's the 2010 Camaro. I saw it in silver but liked this pic of it in yellow even more.

What's interesting about both of these cars is that their body styling hearkens back to the 60s and 70s muscle cars.

And even in this era of environmentalism and high gas prices there is still a demand for them. I like a lot of older or shall we say "vintage" things so it's no surprise to me that I like them but apparently I'm not alone since they're part of the mass market.

One of my girlfriends says that my love of cars and trucks means "you're such a guy!". Actually it just means that I'm the granddaughter of a mechanic who passed on his love of cars and I extended it to include trucks. And it's tough not to appreciate trucks when you live in Alberta.

And for my feminine side, I could use a cabana boy with the ability to detail a car properly and then I could be ogling two kinds of pipes. But I'm not sure I'd let him drive my car...

Price check aisle ?

2009-06-03T21:27:00.003-06:00

While I was visiting in Winnipeg, we stopped at Safeway so I could run in and grab a coffee at the Starbucks. However, being myself I easily got distracted and decided we needed some veggies and then debated what to get for far too long. When I finally headed back to the car my sister was giggling; apparently I missed my older nephew's comments:

"How come she's taking so long? Did she find a boyfriend in there or something?"

Obviously I was shopping for the wrong things while in there!

From the front lines

2009-05-11T20:50:00.003-06:00

Or more like the back of the class...

I'm still going but have missed some classes. I'm less sore than I was during the first 2 weeks. And I now have a puffer so that my lungs aren't on fire nearly as much as they were when we started doing some cardio outside. I think my strength is improving.

But and it's a big butt....my booty is not downsizing. My pants are still more snug than I'd like. I am eating better than I was but still struggle with sweets cravings and munchie cravings.

So this week I'm trying to go 4 times a week. If that doesn't start kicking some butt then I don't know what will.

In other news, my grandmother was evacuated from her home last week (and is still out). She lives in Santa Barbara which is a beautiful place that has been under siege from fire. Apparently she has lost her garage and a motorhome parked in the driveway but the house is intact. Since I've never lived in an area affected by fire, I was surprised to hear that the water lines to the house and plumbing has melted and needs replacement!

I was watching the news carefully last week and have to say I am happy not to be a firefighter. Don't get me wrong, I am impressed with the people who do that job every day. They held fires back from individual homes as though they were their own families' homes. And I suspect that they do way more work than I do at my little boot camp to be able to do their jobs.

Missed Marketing Opportunity

2009-05-02T10:50:00.003-06:00

I watched Nights in Rodanthe last night.

First of all, movies should come with a Kleenex rating. Nevermind the restricted and parental warnings. No single woman in her 30s renting a movie gives a rat's arse about those. But a kleenex rating? Now that would be helpful. We would still rent those movies but we would be prepared.

And because of this rating, movie rental stores could and should also sell kleenex at the till. Instead of asking about snacks (or maybe in addition to) the clerk would ask, "are you sure you have enough kleenex? and maybe you should take some extra chocolate too?"

I have The Reader and Bride Wars yet to watch this weekend...not sure if I'm stocked up enough on kleenex but we'll see.

PS - I also learned something valuable at boot camp this week. Resistance bands hurt like mad when they snap back at you but most importantly, they don't leave a mark for more than a few hours. And you should really make sure you don't just have them under the toe of your sneakers but are truly standing on the wiley buggers.

Omitting the email address to protect the not so innocent...

2009-04-29T20:03:00.001-06:00

Another day, another gem....this time I'm wondering if by emailing this person I would then be inundated by requests for cash or assistance or penis enlargement offers?

Hello Dear, How are you? your lovely profile got me intrigue and i could not hesitate sharing of ideographs and getting to share and know each other, i do not usually check up my account here please contact me at drxxx@yahoo.com for further communications. Thanks as i hope to read from you soonest.TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR SELF. Cheers and Remain Blessed.

Why I'm still single again....in case I tried to forget

2009-04-28T22:26:00.002-06:00

Honestly I have had conversations/IMs/emails online that have gone quite well. Some have been interesting and even intelligent. But usually about the time I'm thinking that it's going well things shift...to the dark side of super ego or strangeness or they become "forward" (that's the way the guy below described it but I think he's understating it just a little bit).

"I have a feeling you might have a closet wild side. But I guess I kind of do. I mean I don't do anything too freaky I'm more about intense love making. I can give someone energy and it's a gift that takes two people that care to share it and explore it. I hate condoms and I hate flings. So even if we just date short term I can let you sample the intensity and vice versa. I'm not desperate and that's why I'm single still. I dont settle for just anyone. But I get impatient."

Actually maybe that is just mildly "forward" because I've also received emails which contained pictures of a saran-wrapped penis and a 45 yr old businessman in a diaper....

Of course when someone asks why you're still single you can't just up and tell them those things...it might just give them the wrong idea or the impression you're just picky....

So that's how the Easter Bunny works!

2009-04-20T21:06:00.002-06:00

I spoke with my nephews the other night. The youngest asked if the Easter Bunny had come to my house. When I told him no there was quite a pause at the other end of the line. Then he suggested that maybe the Easter Bunny had gotten lost coming this direction. I agreed that maybe that was the case. Then he said "maybe it's because you don't have a kid". Not a bad theory....it could also explain Santa's absence.

So of course not being content to leave that out there I said "well, should I get a boy or a girl then?". I should know that I won't get the answers I expect when I ask a seemingly logical next question with the boys; especially the younger one. My nephew then explained, "You should get a boy because then he could be your boyfriend and marry you and then you could have a baby."

And of course it follows that then the Easter Bunny would come. Seems like a long process for some chocolate...

A little too Tammy Faye?

2009-04-15T20:47:00.003-06:00

Has anyone else seen the stiletto mascara commercial and wondered if they were serious? It actually freaked me out a bit the first time I saw it...like spider legs growing out of that chick's face!

I tend to be influenced by marketing...I did actually buy Hiphop Abs after all....but I think it's safe to say that even my blondish lashes are afraid to purchase this product.

Bran...not just for Grandmas any more!

2009-04-14T19:41:00.006-06:00

I am still dragging myself to boot camp. Today it was tough to go but after 5 days off I knew that if I didn't go I might fall right off the wagon. I do feel great afterwards...ah the benefit of endorphins! Too bad they aren't addictive enough to make it easy to go in the first place.

Last week at class I had my measurements taken. Ladies, this is not something for the feint of heart. Some parts of me have moved into the 40s...and it wasn't just my body's water percentage. And when asked for my age I couldn't remember at first. Oh dear.

My dad also visited for Easter and as often happens when I have friends or family around, I easily succumbed to temptation and ate wonderful tasting things that will not be helping those measurements. Today feeling sluggish and snug in a skirt that I didn't remember being snug in the past I realized that I hadn't really eaten veggies since Thursday (unless we count hot spinach dip). In the past this would not have been a big deal. And I like veggies. But the 30s are not what the 20s were and apparently I am heading towards needing my fiber.

By 80 I might just be eating straight bran while doing water aerobics at this rate. Does anyone have a recipe for bran brownies??

Trying to catch the wagon

2009-04-01T21:25:00.002-06:00

Tonight was my second night of boot camp.

I woke up last night in the middle of the night because I hurt in all kinds of places. I'm not sure how or why but I dragged my sad, sore you know what back again tonight. At the moment just clearing my throat sends pain through my abs...or my ab area where one day I hope there will be abs.

The class is basically circuit training with hand weights but the exercises are never the same two nights in a row. I admit it, as the exercises went on I started to approach each new one thinking "what fresh hell is this?" By halfway through the first evening's class I started thinking mean thoughts about the instructor who has lost a very considerable amount of weight but still has a spare tire and how he should be perhaps joining us for what he was dishing out...yes, in far less polite terms.

But I have survived two nights and am hoping to make it through a third. Pray for me.

Lost

2009-03-28T20:10:00.005-06:00

I lost someone important this week.

She was a lady who was a role model for me in many ways. She was one half of the couple whom my parents had indicated would raise me and my sister if anything happened to them - an indication on paper of their trust, admiration and respect. They passed along those feelings to us in other ways; her house was the only place I was allowed to ride my bike to without question, she was the one to call if my mom didn't have a recipe or sewing answer and for medical advice. Her daughter was my best friend growing up and her home was the place that felt closest to my own.

We camped together as families, celebrated birthdays, anniversaries and dropping in for Christmas Eve at their house was one of my favorite traditions which I later tried to emulate at my own home. She made the best scrambled eggs when we camped and the only eggnog I have ever liked.

She was a career woman with ambition and the ability to pass on her knowledge - I have always admired the combination and never mastered it. She was pulled together and a calm head in a crisis. She had the most recipes for zucchini of anyone I know and the biggest garden I have ever seen. She never failed to make time for a coffee and a chat when I dropped by and sitting at her kitchen table was as comfortable as your best pair of jeans.

And yet for reasons I don't know or understand she felt she couldn't stay with us.

Sometimes people get lost. The voices of people who love them seem like they are far in the distance and they lose perspective. The good things are faded and the dark seems darker. Sometimes they aren't able to find their way back.

And we are left a little lost ourselves.

What have I done?

2009-03-24T20:04:00.003-06:00

OMG I signed up for a boot camp!

My"booty" has been getting a little more filled out than I'd like. And although I have had the best of intentions in getting back on the fitness wagon, it hasn't happened. So thinking desperate times call for desperate measures I looked at some boot camps offered locally and somehow was convinced to sign up for this one.

I am not a 5:30 a.m. person. I get up at about 6:15 a.m. and am not human until 9ish and that's with coffee (and yes I start work at 8). So I didn't sign up for the morning sessions - besides they're in the city and what time would I have to leave to do that?? Instead I'll go after work and then go home to curl up and die...after I spend an hour prepping my 5 or 6 meals for the next day...

Don't try this at home

2009-03-21T18:39:00.010-06:00

For anyone considering painting cabinets; I recommend finding out if someone in your area will spray the doors. I know if I ever undertake a kitchen again I will look into it. This time I checked out new cabinets first but decided they were too pricey. The house still has enough projects in it that budget is a big consideration.

Anyways, after the bubbling fiasco with the boxes I decided to prime the doors. I hate priming. And I hate foam brushes (that's what I decided to use on the non-flat parts).

But first I washed the doors. (Because I can take the heat for not doing that with the boxes.) I also removed the handles and taped all of the hinges because I'm not a dainty painter.

Then I primed...about halfway through I wondered about the whole project. And wondered if the uppers looked ok with the doors off...

But halfway through the first coat of "Soho" paint I was feeling better.

Which is a good thing since I'm betting on another 2 coats and these are only the uppers!

Who's coming over for the next round? I've ordered pizza....feel free to pick up slurpees!

Giving up the dream

2009-03-15T20:43:00.003-06:00

I drove to Didsbury today. And about 10 km outside of home I was in pea soup fog. Mother Nature is really not subtle.

The house is across from a gorgeous restored old home which makes it even more obvious that it is in quite a state of disrepair. There is another red brick character house within a couple of blocks but it's price is 100k more - which probably says something about the interior of the house with the star.

So I came home. And made homemade mushroom soup. And am baking brownies...made with pumpkin and whole wheat flour; but still brownies.

And am letting the dream of the house go.

While waiting for another one.

Ok Lion...you've made your entrance

2009-03-07T22:29:00.006-07:00

I went to Home Depot around 6 o'clock tonight for some painting supplies (more on that later) and we had been melting most of the day. I could see brown grass, the sidewalk and most of the road other than some bits of ice at the edges.

Amazing what can change here in a few hours. I looked out the window here and it's snowing and apparently has been for a while.

Mother Nature has been playing the lion or lamb? game here since March began. Calgary weather is a bit like this all year round. Just when you think it's spring or a second summer compliments of a chinook, she wallops you upside the head with her purse and you get snow...possible in every month of the year here!

I used to think that long, cold winters were hard to take. Once I was here, I wondered how I had survived them even. But there is something to be said for predictability. In Winnipeg you know that winter is winter and summer is summer and all of the seasons are well defined. From November to March you'd better plug in your car and have snow tires or at least good all seasons. There is no walking out in crop capris with a spring in your step thinking it's spring and getting inches of snow and -18 under 12 hours later. And let me tell you that there is something cruel and harsh about thinking that winter is over and finding out that it's not...over and over again.

Some of you know I have moved a lot. And changed jobs quite a lot. So I can't say that I don't like change. Actually, I can say that I don't like it but that I have learned it's a means to something better...almost always. And the sooner you embrace that and get on with it - kind of like ripping off a band-aid - the quicker the painful part is done. Except for weather changes in Calgary. A lot of times the something better doesn't stay...which is just unfair!

....Back to the painting...today's warmer, sunny weather made me feel better about winter coming to an end. For me, that inevitably means that my spirits lift and I get more productive and back to renos and plans and all of that good stuff. Which meant that today I found myself hauling up paint from the basement and deciding the kitchen cabinets needed a refresh. I went to the depot for some paintbrushes and looked at other inspirations such as countertops and hood fans.

I came back home and dove right in...just like every other project. I took all of the cabinet doors off and decided to start with only the uppers - I did learn a bit from past jumping into everything at once experiences. I poured "Soho" into the paint tray and began painting the cabinet boxes noticing as I moved on that the paint was kind of acting weird but figured maybe it was the mini foam roller. And so I optimistically continued...loving the new color and congratulating myself for starting a project and getting out of the doldrums. I went over some of the weird looking spots from the beginning and the second coat looked more normal.

And then I thought...what if the cabinets weren't previously painted with latex. (Even though I had done a nail polish remover test that seemed to indicate that they were)

And the weird look is latex reacting over oil.

*&$*%#$@!!!

It was shortly after that I realized that Mother Nature was having a hissy fit of her own.

I wonder what she was trying to remuddle today. Maybe I'll leave her a bowl of chocolate ice cream on the steps...can't hurt.

Do we always want what we can't have?

2009-03-03T21:48:00.006-07:00

Here it is, my dream house
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=7914692 right down to the front porch and I even love the corny star. Want to bet those are lilacs at the corners?

But there it is in Didsbury. Didsbury isn't that easy a commute in the winter. It's not shorter in the summer but definitely less stressful driving at that time of year. And Didsbury is in a pretty area. And has a drive in hamburger joint....and it's halfway to Red Deer.

It's like a tease. It was initially listed at $189,900. I requested the full listing and saw the nice lot size, the picket fence that would even keep my sucky gigantasaurus dog in, the big kitchen and the hardwood floors. What? You don't really see those things? Ok, so it's a project. Those of you who know me know I'm all about projects...sad, seemingly unredeemable projects even. I might be a sarcastic prairie girl with a tough exterior but somehow I'm an optimist-softie at heart.

Then we got snow last week on Tuesday - enough that the highways were inadvisable and I worked from home and realized that an extra 30 mins on the highways would be brutal on days like that. But then the listing price dropped 30k. And it was like I could see the refinished floors, new kitchen and furniture on the porch. I could smell the fresh country air. I could see the pickup in the driveway. Today we got rain and then snow. As if to say, "ok woman, if the snow wasn't enough to make you drop that pipedream take this!".

Of course the more the price drops and the mortgage rates drop the cheaper it would be to own - before renos. Except for this little problem with my mortgage penalty which gets larger the more rates drop. (Huge lesson learned here about mortgage contracts -do not agree to an Interest Rate Differential penalty.) For those of you in the prairies...large is not 2-3k...it's like 10-12k. In a market that has dropped back to what values were when I purchased this project house that's a problem. Especially since my equity was used in no small part to getting rid of the problem vehicle (yes, I once owned an Aztek and not only was it ugly, it had major engine issues that GM was crappy about) and getting rid of the problem ex who had unfixable issues and no warranty either. Most days I figure getting rid of both were well worth the expenses. (Lessons learned here about depreciable assets - cars and husbands have both been in this category for me and about not letting the man in your life pick your vehicle)

It's not practical. It's not wise. It's not new and modern and unlikely to have great resale. It may not even be remotely possible. But I still love that house.

How do we stop falling in love with what we can't have? Or do we follow our hearts and just get good at picking up the pieces when we have to?

Under the wagon

2009-03-01T19:49:00.002-07:00

Well not only has the wagon lapped me but the last few weeks I've managed to let my sugar and carb cravings get the best of me. Including shamefully eating Starbucks caramel on cake and anything else I could think of.

So tonight I'm making cookies...healthy cookies though with oatmeal and all natural peanut butter and flax and dried apricots. And I've been throwing flax seed in other stuff, had oatmeal for breakfast twice this week and made sweet potato fries in the oven.

The exercise thing....well.....that's not going so well. The dog and I have gone for a few walks but other than previewing HipHop Abs I haven't given it a whirl. And although my gym membership is paid up, I haven't been there in quite a while.

Why does it seem like watching what you eat and exercising is easier sometimes than others?

And by the way, those cookies? Kind of blah....guess maybe they need some caramel sauce...

I think the wagon is lapping me

2009-02-16T20:12:00.006-07:00

Alright so I fell off the fitness wagon a while back...maybe even Octoberish. I was definitely off in November especially after I was the picture of grace at the Olympic Oval and fell on my knee..hard...I don't think it's supposed to turn black in under 90 seconds.

But now I have no excuse. After some physio to loosen up my neck and back post car accident (end of Oct.) and geting a little to fix up for the knee I really should have been back to the gym by now. And the last 2 days are showing me that I am way off track and going to need some serious work to get back to where I was at one point. Which still wasn't where I wanted to be!

Yesterday I decided to take my everloving hound for a walk. And because I feel guilty for not walking him more, I decided we would go big before we went home. We walked further than we ever have and were gone for an hour; I even threw in a few stints of jogging. I got home to discover that I looked like I did when I started exercising - the red v on my face and unattractive splotchiness. I also had hives - wtf?

So today I thought we should go again, but maybe not as far since I was hurting a bit. But then we got out there and I thought "you lazy woman - it's only dogwalking!" and so we repeated the same distance as yesterday. My best guess is it was somewhere between 6 and 7 km. I can't keep up with my dog in all honesty and he's been as lacking in exercise as I have.

Right now I'm realizing that you can get shin splints walking the dog, which means that you are in sad shape. And your HipHop Abs tape will probably kill you. And you shouldn't have ordered Chinese takeout on Saturday and still be eating it or you will be hauling it with you on the next walk and maybe the walking would be easier with less of you to haul.

The wagon analogy is sadly appropriate...I remember trying to catch up and get back on a hay ride once. It's so much harder than just staying on the wagon. In fact there is likely to come a day when you wish the wagon would just run you over on it's next lap...

And they ask why I'm still single

2009-02-12T18:45:00.003-07:00

A peek into the world of online dating:

From: panda beer
Subject: i would like to talk to u

i would like to talk ot you you sound a lot like me i am looking for a down to earth pure of heart woman who likes icecream slurrppees getting up and going i like the mountains banff is just one of my many parradises i work 5 days a week and am honest caring of the people how meen the most to me i like to kick back on hte patio with the bbq going and a cold one i am my own person i like things easy not hared i hope to here from you

From: Positive Note
Subject: Beyond Average Can you handle it ?

You are looking for somone like me. Sorry for being so bold as to say that, but the more you allow yourself to get to know me the more you will realize how honest and correct I am.
Dave

From: ed_999
Subject: u never know

hello im ED and i read your profile and think maybe we should try to chat and see if they is something there since we both have the same out look on live and ny pic doesnt do me justice but that is live well ill let u back to what ever u were doing and let u deside for your and hope we can chat bye for now

From: LITTLE PAUL
Subject: Hello

Your words are insperational.

But Having been married for almost 20 years I can tell you that a lady changes a man regardless of his independence before they have met. Its like having not influenced the course of time by simply being there to photograph a crucial momoent in time.

If you are turely looking for a man who is not influenced by a lady, then please do not respond. If you believe that you can change the path of planets and comets that please just smile.
Paul

Resolution procrastination plans busted

2009-02-07T20:09:00.004-07:00

My copy of HipHop Abs showed up in the mail on Friday. It has been staring at me all day today...or maybe I just feel like that because there are 3 dogs in the house so someone is always trying to get something! No, I didn't lose my mind and get Boo a posse; I'm dogsitting (and it could be enough to convince me that 1 dog is enough.)

Now if I could just convince myself to open the DVD player and pop in Shaun T...

Take that, resolution!

2009-02-02T18:06:00.016-07:00

This past weekend I cleared the papers off of my desk in my home office. I also cleared the growing piles of magazines off of the coffee table. It was a sucky job but phew does it look much better...other than the pieces of the new and "simpler" desk...

In theory, that white desk will go between the bookcases and replace the glass and metal desk which can then be sold or given away. That's assuming that I can get it put together in a fashion that will support a computer on top of it. Don't ask how the file cabinet is put together.

The living room with it's new chair now looks like this:

And the dining room has new curtains and may get a new paint job to kind of match the living room drapes and chair...

Yes, I realize that the dog bed and assortment of toys don't go with the decor. And neither does the ottoman but it's a throwback that my grandfather used and we played on as kids and then my mom covered for my first place. Eventually it will go down to the basement or something. The cream chair's matching loveseat sized sofa is down there already but there is no television in the basement and no man in the house to require that the basement become an entertainment mecca.

I have to say that the house is coming along though. Some of you may not remember the purple dining room, red living room, orange kitchen, bright blue and bright pink bedrooms and khaki master bedroom but I do. A quick recap...

Some days I still find it frustrating that I can see so-so workmanship on the trim or light fixtures that I have yet to replace. Another big change in the last almost 3 years is that I now have a kind of affection for my reno palace. It is what it is but it's mine and it's getting there...and so am I most days.

Shell game

2009-01-25T13:55:00.004-07:00

So this mortgage thing is not so easy. Rates are very low but I have learned a lesson about mortgage contracts. Apparently my penalty is based on the Interest Rate Differential (IRD) rather than 3 mos of interest. This means that as rates drop, my penalty actually increases...and not just a little...it's up about 40% from what it was in September. And as the market here slows and house values drop, I'd likely need to insure my mortgage which means CMHC fees. What all of this means is to move my mortgage, I would be backtracking with the hope of getting ahead in the longer term. This is a concept I'm familiar with having done it in other areas of my life and I think maybe I really am an optimist!

I'm meeting with a broker this week to crunch numbers some more. It looks like it would take me almost the full remaining term of my mortgage to break even. The perks would be lower payments (although I'm looking to increase those to what I pay now to try to make some tracks but with the flexibility to drop them if I needed to), possibly being in a position to be at a lower rate in the future when rates are predicted to be high and flexibility based on portability with an institution that lends outside Alberta as well. And of course a chance to renegotiate the terms and review the penalties more closely.

In the meantime I'm working away at the credit cards. They freak me out a bit but are far less complex than the mortgage. And yes, in case you didn't know, finances scare the bejeebus out of me. Change in general used to as well so I'm hopeful that if I keep jumping into the finance stuff it will become more doable...just like job changes and moves.

I'm making slow tracks on the resolutions but haven't given up. I even ordered Hip Hop Abs this week! And I have gotten back to doing the exercises from my physio. I'm hedging on the gym until it quiets down there a bit.

In other news, one of the rotten back gates attacked (blew against) the other side of the car one morning this week and a chip in the windshield turned into a big crack. One of my friends suggested that maybe this car is destined to be a beater...argh! I have also picked out a new color for the dining room. Yes, this room has already been painted once but that was to cover up Barney purple so I'm not sure that really counts. How does "Reflecting Pool" sound?

Technically it's Chinese New Year this week so I'm not really behind on the resolutions...

Time to go walkabout?

2009-01-19T21:45:00.002-07:00

I'm a homebody...a nester even. I'm happiest when surrounded by a familiar environment and people I know. Unless on the odd occasion I have a few drinks and transform into a social butterfly...but that's another story...or stories.

But for a homebody I've moved a lot of times. And a couple of moves have been long distance. The apartment and house moves I can explain...you get to nest all over again when you move. And the others, well, you might think you get to nest closer or better with the person you love if it's just the two of you on your own in a far off place. Of course if you were me, you'd be wrong but hey, it seemed worth a shot at the time.

For the last 2 years I've been playing with the idea of a holiday. Not just a holiday but a find yourself kind of holiday. An "Eat, Pray, Love" experience condensed into a week at a reasonable budget type price.

This kind of holiday:

This week in review

2009-01-18T17:56:00.002-07:00

Parking spot on closest bay gets "plowed" leaving a large windrow behind...good-bye parking spot. Proceed to dig out a space in the back yard and pry open the rotten wooden gates.

Get 5 cm of snow. Shovel space out again.

Slide into corner of gate with car and catch rim on eye-bolt. Go into house and cry about damage to newly repaired car.

Run load of darks in laundry. Go down to switch to dryer and wonder about the smell of bleach. Remember putting bleach in washer last weekend to sit before running rinse cycle....forgot to run rinse cycle! Casualties include 2 pairs of dress pants, many black socks etc.

Tomorrow...tgim!

ps. On the upside, I went to an auction on Saturday and purchased this lovely showhome chair for under $100.

Score one for the resolutions...or maybe a half?

2009-01-11T21:07:00.004-07:00

This weekend I organized my closet...or should I say closets, since I am taking up both of the "jack and jill" closets in my master bedroom. At one point I did share these closets but I've happily overflowed into both of them. I thought I had cleared out the clothes I wasn't wearing a few times before but apparently there were still quite a few optimistic articles of clothing in there. Either I thought they would look better at some point, or maybe I'd figure out what to put with them or they would bring me back to fun days of yore (ok, so those were the miniskirts talking).

So now there is a half of one side of the closets completely open. Hey, it's a start. And of course there's a theory that when you clear clutter out of your life, you make room for new and better things to come in....

I've also managed a couple of walks with the hound. No, that's not exactly getting back to the gym but it's a step in the right direction so to speak. And then there's the exercise ball compliments of my physio...which I haven't fallen off of yet.

Next steps....finish putting together that dam*ed filing cabinet and work up to more walks and setting foot back in the gym.

Sensationalism and the economy

2009-01-09T11:10:00.005-07:00

I notice that the headlines about the economy are getting more and more desperate in trying to convince us all just how horribly the sky is falling. Most of the numbers being published now about job losses and the economic downturn are from November and December. These numbers certainly tell us something about what was happening at that time but they are not predictors of what will happen next. The irony of the media continuing to flog old numbers confirming that the economy took a hit is that these same people have no idea what is coming and that's why we're not seeing anything specific about when things will improve.

They could be improving right now but we won't know until January's numbers are analyzed and published.

Apparently I'm not the only one out there who is feeling optimistic about things contrary to how the media would like me to feel (see this article about surprising consumer confidence numbers in December). I'm not saying that I am not trying to be cautious - per my New Year's resolution I'm working on cleaning up my credit cards, but realistically, I would be trying to do that whatever the economy was doing.

This week one of the articles that made me chuckle a bit was about how the increase in gas prices was going to hurt consumers. This increase was from around 65 cents per litre to 74 cents per litre or a 9 cent per litre increase. Yes, this is a significant increase but it seems like the media has lost sight of the fact that at one point we were paying over $1.35 per litre and we're a long ways from that right now. I do prefer paying less at the pump but I find it funny that at it's highest we weren't hearing a lot about how those gas prices were an indicator of a slumping economy - we were still in an economic party-time apparently. I kind of felt like we were just paying for someone else's party.

It would be nice if the media would lay off telling us that the world is going to come to a crashing end when they don't know what's coming next. There are people out there who are truly suffering from job loss, housing value decreases and stock market crashes and I feel for them.

But I get the impression that months after the economy has improved, the media will be reacting in shock and telling us that it may not last...they're the glass half empty people who always have to tell you the story of the guy who won the lottery and got hit by a bus the next day when you tell them about your own win. I think we all need to remember that they are only able to report was has happened and not what is going to happen - especially since even they admit that this downturn is not following a pattern of any previous downturn.

Have you ever seen little kids playing soccer or hockey? And they're all chasing the puck or ball as a gaggle and when it changes direction they kind of stumble over each other and it takes them a minute to all get turned around and head the other way? Media reporting feels a lot like that to me.

As with most things in life, I think people need to trust their guts. And apparently in December our guts were telling us it was ok to shop...mine told me it was ok to buy new boots on sale this week. And I wasn't the only one out shopping. Those short brown suede boots don't just go with a lot of brown work wear in my closet...they're me showing confidence in our ability to recover....you can show your support with shoes, groceries or whatever makes you happy!

Ah Resolutions or New Year's Optimism

2009-01-03T15:47:00.006-07:00

Well I am finally starting to feel a bit better. Who knows whether it's the ColdFX, Oil of Oregano and Vitamin C combo or just being out of commission for a week and letting the bug run its course that has led to my slow recovery but either way I'll take it!

So now that the fog is clearing, it seems I have some resolution catching up to do. Not that I haven't tried to think of them a bit but it's been impossible to have many solid thoughts with all the crud in my head getting in the way. I'm thinking about working towards being healthy, wealthy and wise in 2009:

Get my body in better order aka Get my a** back to the gym or into some kind of exercise regime and stop eating the leftover Christmas baking. I did mention Hiphop Abs in passing previously but I was only half joking...it might be worth a shot! A subsidiary of this resolution is to get my closet in order...looks like it's time to pitch some more things and tidy up again. I also need to figure out a better way to store shoes, purses and jewellery so that I actually might use them to better advantage. Of course if the ladies from the Cityline fashion segment want to stop by and help me pull together some outfits that would be fantastic.

Get my financial house in better order - this will involve getting up the guts to speak to one or more mortgage consultants about refinancing with a better rate and shorter amortization which on paper should result in paying down the mortgage quicker as well as decreasing my payments a little. Next up, if I get a raise (which I'm supposed to so I should say "when" not "if") I should increase my RRSP contributions (which are paltry right now) since I can't contribute to a pension plan for another year and a half. And there is always the ongoing battle to pay off the credit cards. I managed not to use them for Christmas purchases so hopefully I am off to a good start. I know that you should pay them off monthly but I haven't ever managed that so that is a big goal for me.

Get my home records in better order - there is a new desk and file cabinet waiting to be put together in my office...in truth the file cabinet is part ways together but it wasn't going well so it needs to be continued. I have lots of filing to do but am hopeful that once I get started I will have a system that I can stick to.

There it is! Wish me luck! And of course suggestions as well as encouragement are welcome.

How many Benylin days can you take?

2009-01-01T10:23:00.006-07:00

I have to say that I really hate that Advil Cold commercial where the woman says "If you think a cold can stop me, you don't know me!". After being sick for 4 days now and stopped in my tracks - well other than the tracks I make from the bed to the couch right now I have started paying attention to all of the cold and flu commercials that are on. The Benylin commercial advises us to "Take a Benylin day" and "how about today you just work on feeling better" which seems far more realistic and less pressuring than the Advil Cold people showing me a woman who looked like hell now emerging from a workout and marching on towards work.

I mean, I already feel like crap and pathetic about barely functioning, do I need to be made to feel even worse? And as a note, I've been trying the Advil Cold and I'm not feeling any better so today I'm trying the Benylin...I've also picked up ColdFX, vitamin C lozenges, orange juice, Thai green curry sauce, chicken noodle soup and Thai coconut ginger soup as well as taking my regular vitamin B complex and One a Day vitamins and I've added oil of oregano capsules. Oh and yesterday I soaked in as hot a tub as I could stand in eucalyptus scented epsom salts.

Later today maybe I'll comment on all of the programs that are on about losing weight and getting in shape. I think that they've been created by the same people as the Advil Cold commercial people....

ps - on the other hand, after 3 days of seeing the Hiphop Abs infomercial I might be sold..."how about today we just work on some dance moves and see if you feel better?" seems like a good approach.

Where can you get a Baba when you need one?

2008-12-30T20:22:00.005-07:00

I am struggling with a cold and really wishing that I could find a baba to borrow to make me homemade soup, boss me into bed early and generally coddle me.

In the meantime I've warmed up some M&M cabbage rolls and boiled some perogies which was ok but not the same as homemade and then today picked up some Thai green curry sauce and ColdFX. I've watched bad television - well as much as you really watch bad television as having it on in the background, I've read a bit but my focus isn't great and I've surfed the web. (I got a netbook for Christmas and got wireless set up so I can surf from the couch!)

I think the web is interesting on a number of fronts but today I've noticed that if I want to find in-depth information it's there but if I only want to browse some surface level stuff the web offers that too. Something for everyone really and truly.

Now if only I could find a Baba rental website...

Hello Media? You're not helping!

2008-12-22T12:07:00.003-07:00

"OTTAWA - Canadians have plunged into a "psychology of recession" that could further damage the economy, says the Conference Board after its latest survey found consumer confidence skidding to the lowest level in 26 years."

Hmm....do you think the fact that every news channel and paper has been nothing but doom and gloom for the past month or two has anything to do with this?

I love that later in the article they sneak in:

"While the jobless rise in 2009 will hurt, it's still a far cry from the last two recessions, however. Unemployment hit 13 per cent in the 1980-81 decline, when industrial North America - mainly the steel and auto sectors - went through a painful restructuring.

In the early 1990s the recession hurt real estate and retail sectors and pushed the jobless rate to 10 per cent."

I'd love to see the economy bounce back but I'd also love to see some responsible journalism....or is that about as real as Santa Claus?

**Update** In another gloomy article I found this gem "RBC has revised its GDP forecast to 2.1% for next year, down from a previous estimate of 3%."

2.1% GROWTH....yes, that's still economic growth that their predicting here in Alberta!

I don't know how he fits it all in the sleigh but...

2008-12-22T11:35:00.002-07:00

Gingerbread men…with heads
Chewy ginger cookies
Baby brownies
Lemon poppyseed shortbread
Cranberry shortbread
Pumpkin cookies with frosting
Almond Roca bars
Buttertart slice
Apricot almond biscotti
Cranberry choc chip biscotti
Greek biscotti

Some of the recipes didn't make much...and then there was the sampling factor but it still all needs to fit in a carry-on. No, Air Canada, I do not trust you with my Christmas baking in checked luggage.

Calgary - it's closer to Toronto than you might think!

2008-12-15T20:02:00.004-07:00

Ok so it snowed here on Friday...and Saturday. And yes, it snowed quite a lot. Then it got bitterly cold - really not quite what would qualify as bitterly in Winterpeg but still when the wind chill is -39 here it's a shocker. So we had Sunday to get snow cleared and get used to the temps. Today we didn't have to call in the army but my commute in (on relatively dry pavement) took about an hour and a half. My commute home took 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Were there accidents? You bet. Were some of the intersections slippery? Yes again. Should it have more than doubled the commute? I don't freakin' think so!

Put down some sand and let's get on with things people. Wait, what's this I heard on the radio? It's too cold to put anything on the roads? Who came up with that story? Because in Winnipeg at -50 I have seen sanding trucks and graders out. But apparently here in the metropolis, it's too cold for that.

It is not so cold though that people would want to move into the center of the train to let other people freezing their arses off on the cement platform outside in -30 get on the train. It was a 4 train wait to get on a train going home. And the next time transit tells me it's only 3-5 mins between trains at rush hour I would like to know what kind of math they use since 4 trains = 32 min. Thanks for putting a clock on the platform.

So what do you do on a day like today when you get home? Make 2 kinds of dip (salmon spread and cream cheese with spicy mango chutney) and provide quality control for the buttertart slice; even though you tested it yesterday too.

And then go rant on your blog.

And hope you're not in the ditch tomorrow when you get your car back with it's summer tires still on.

**Update** I should have kept quiet about the commute...Wednesday my commute in also took 2 hours! Today I'm working from home...commute time 0 minutes; work attire - sweats and a Harvard Business School t-shirt that is too snug; multitasking - dog cookies baking in the oven :-)

Merry Christmas from Boo's cousin Bailey

2008-12-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

Santa, we need to talk

2008-12-11T22:42:00.005-07:00

Hey S.C.

I'd say I've been pretty good this year - not perfect, but we all need something to continually strive for and knowing all the behaviour which you must see, I think we can both agree that I'm holding my own here.

So, hopefully I'm not too late to send you my wish list:

a special protective bubble for my car (which maybe I will get back after Christmas?)
a dependable guy - no, I do not mean another ex that makes a repeat appearance - that's not the kind of dependability we're talking about Santa. Kind and attractive would also be part of a nice package.
interesting work with good people - I think that's already covered but I just want to make sure it stays on the list
spruce up the economy - mostly I'm concerned that the house of never ending work may be worth less than what it cost; this is not optimal Santa so let's get that economy straightened out. I'm sure you'll be seeing this on lots of lists. While you're at it - those politicians in Ottawa that seem to have better things to do than to work on this issue should be on your list for coal delivery...or maybe rotten bananas or something.
grace...I could use this in a lot of areas. One of them is on that new exercise ball that the physio suggested I use....
more good times with family and friends; wherever we all are
new episodes of Grey's Anatomy - it's not very fair for me to actually make an effort to watch one show that is on too late on a work night only to find out that it is a rerun - if those people aren't producing new shows then they need to be on the same list as those politicians mentioned above
more pretty sparkly light displays (and less seizure inducing weird representations of the Christmas spirit). If you happen to knock out power to a couple of those here in town it might be a relief.
peace and harmony - mostly at our family Christmas dinnertime but it would be great if you could spread some of this around other places as well
and if you have a spare Miata or Camaro or something fun like that kicking around...well I'd be happy to take any surplus inventory off your hands

Santa, I'm sorry but I can't guarantee that you're getting any of the good baking again this year. I will try but the boys seem pretty convinced that oreos and milk are your fave. And my apologies to Rudolph and the crew; they don't believe they'd prefer ranch dip with their carrots either.

Love to Mrs.Claus and the Elves too,

Shelley

Dating and confused

2008-12-07T15:19:00.006-07:00

"Well, actually, nobody on this planet ever really chooses each other. I mean, it's all a question of quantum physics, molecular attraction, and timing. Why, there are laws we don't understand that bring us together and tear us apart." ~ Annie, Bull Durham.

Ok so is it the timing that's off? Should I have studied more physics? And why does attraction have to be so out of our control? Why can't we be attracted to the person who on paper is the best match for us? Why is it so hard to find a good partner??

I have been seeing a seemingly nice guy in his early 40s. We have lots in common. We can talk for 2 hrs at a time on the phone. But (you knew there was a but, didn't you?) I don't think he's that into me. And ambivalence isn't a characteristic that I find appealing; it's hard on the self-esteem and the confusion it creates sucks up a lot of time and energy for over-analyzing. On the other hand there is a much younger guy (like well beyond my usual 7 yr age limit in either direction) who is the nephew of some friends that I see off and on every so often for social evenings. On paper this is a ridiculous match but the sparks are almost tangible. He's goofy at times and makes me feel young (I know that is totally cliche) and yet seems to have his crap together - owns a house and just started his own construction business, helps out his family etc. But (yep, another but) we never seem to get it together for more than the odd spark filled evening every few months.

And why did god give men radar? 'Cause I swear that they know when there is no man in your immediate vicinity and then they can't be bothered to give you the time of day but if you get just one phone call from a potential suitor they are back to being interested. Even when logged into an online dating site I've noticed it is all or nothing - lots of emails/smiles/instant messages or nada. I would love to know what women's equivalent power is...because understanding men sure isn't it.

Annie: What do you believe in, then?
Crash: Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

Something's missing and I don't know how to fix it...

2008-12-03T22:05:00.006-07:00

Bad case of the pre-Christmas blues compounded by pms, my sister and her boys' departure and some sad goings on of a friend.

I miss:

coffee with friends
shopping on Corydon
snow....hmm, maybe I'm coming down with something!
having company crowded into my little house
not having to think about the packability of gifts
my mom
being part of a couple
believing in Santa and the magical sparkle of the season

I am not the kind of person who is organized for Christmas months in advance which may be a good thing. Maybe as I get into the swing of things the blues will lift. My trip home this year will be very brief since I have no vacation time so I will have to enjoy all of the -30 and visiting that I can!

Like Father, Like Daughter?

2008-11-19T15:37:00.004-07:00

This past weekend my Dad came out to pick up his Ford Explorer - graciously lent to me to try out camping here in Alberta. One of his friends also flew out a day later so that he would have someone to drive back with, which I thought was nice although it did inspire some housework and reno panic.

The thing about my Dad and his visits is that he is determined to help me with things that need doing around the house. No, not cleaning, or painting, or electrical or plumbing...and not always things that are high on my list. Where it gets more interesting is that my dad believes that you should do things yourself but he isn't always very good at doing them. To up the ante, he an I do not work well together but he insists on doing things with me and not on his own.

This visit I suggested that we work on finishing doorframe trim and baseboards. My front door has looked like vandals had at the casing for quite a while and in October a girlfriend hauled out a small compressor, air tank and nailer from my Dad's that I had yet to put to use. We managed to get through Friday with no renos since I booked a dentist appointment and then we had to go to the airport and then a late lunch and so on.

But Saturday the push to get into projects took over my father and by 9 a.m. he was saying the phrase that always gets my ire going "well, we better get started on this stuff or we won't get anything done y'know!". Another thing to know about my Dad is that at home he can't seem to get to bed before 3 a.m. or get up before 11:00 a.m. if allowed to run on his own schedule but when visiting me he is usually up around 8:00. During the week I am up at 6:15 (give or take a few snoozes) but weekends I like to get up about 9:00 and gradually ease into the day after a latte and some HGTV.

Well the funniest moment of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon after I said I didn't want to do more trim and had enough. Dad had been working in the back bedroom for some time and I had heard the usual cursing as he went up and downstairs cutting and recutting boards so I thought I should at least check on him (and encourage him once again to stop and just come and visit). The door was closed and when I inquired how he was doing (alright so I said "have you fallen and can't get up in there?") the door was opened with the sound of wood splintering....yes, he had actually nailed himself inside the room.

After I told a number of friends this story I started to reflect and wonder....how alike are we?

*When I project there is generally swearing involved somewhere around the 2/3 mark in the project when things aren't going how I envisioned
*I don't often read directions
*I tend to rush towards things being "done" and maybe skimp on details and can be a bit sloppy (see recent trim painting)

I do at least feel a bit relieved that I can see some differences too...

*I prefer to project alone
*I refuse to push on when it's not going well and will put things down and walk away (usually this is when I consult the internet)
*I never start a project before 10 a.m. and often start late at night

I have heard that women turn into their mothers but is it possible that in this day and age we're at risk of turning into our fathers too??

I just hope I've also inherited some of the best of both too!

Zoom zoom....boom?

2008-11-07T08:28:00.004-07:00

Is there any chance that it's been a full moon for the past 3 or more weeks?

A week ago this Wednesday I smucked up my poor little Mazda. It had no zoom-zoom after I t-boned a young guy who thought he could make a left in front of me in his parents' Audi. They might be almost as unhappy as I was. After the accident I have to admit most things went well; the police showed up asap, the insurance lady set up a rental for me, the girl at Enterprise came in early the next morning for me so I wouldn't be late AND she didn't try to put me in an itty bitty car...I am driving a Buick Lucerne. Of course I do feel like I should be at least 20 yrs older to be driving that car but driving around in veloured luxury isn't hard to take!

Ironically (yes there seems to be a lot of that in my life lately) I was on my way to a doctor's appointment. So this week when I was rescheduled I had to cover off a bit of a sore neck and back before getting back to the reason for my original visit....hives. While I was in Boston I woke up one morning with my lower legs covered in them which I chalked up to some bad chowder the night before. But the stupid things keep appearing randomly and there has been no chowder since. And no, I did not change my laundry detergent - I have been asked that so often that I am starting to sympathize with detergent companies about the bad rap their products get.

The hives have been one issue but on top of that I loaded on a bunch of weight in about 2 weeks - we're talking about enough that even some of your fat pants aren't fitting! And I couldn't lift anything....I felt like a total weakling. And more shockingly, I was going to bed before 10 p.m. and was still exhausted. I think one night it was before 9!! Being as I'm a night owl by nature that may have been the thing that freaked me out almost as much as the hives. On top of those things I also had woozy moments where I probably couldn't tell you my name. And certain body parts seemed to attract more volume. I wondered how to ask the doctor if there was a disease that turned you into a cross between Pamela Anderson and Kim Kardashian? but itchy...

The good news this week is that my car has only $10,000 in damage. When you think that they may write it off for almost 10k less than you paid for it a year ago, that's good news. And considering replacing the driver's door last year when someone hit it on the street was $3800, suddenly $10,000 doesn't seem like a lot. The other good news is that I'm starting to feel better. Mostly I'm just not as exhausted and a little more clear-headed. And I can fit into my fat pants.

Last night's run: 2.6 miles in about 35 mins. It's bad but since I hadn't been there in more than a month I can't complain too much.

Irony

2008-11-04T19:53:00.002-07:00

.... is when the part for your air conditioner is delivered on the same day as the first snowfall.

I'm not a travelling girl

2008-10-21T19:23:00.005-06:00

I got back from Boston (and Rockport) on Sunday evening. It was a great conference on user experience and the web but I was more than ready to be home. I've suspected for a while now that I am not a traveller at heart.

To start I don't love flying. I remember that I loved it when I was younger but now the stress of all of the airport dealings and then being crammed in with other people for hours just doesn't work for me. Although I did get to watch 2 movies since the flight to Toronto is long enough for that.

Hotels are also not a huge perk to me. Maybe all that "nesting" that an ex's mother accused me of has paid off since I enjoy being in my own space more than almost anyplace else. I like puttering around my kitchen and eating out more than once a week is too much for me. I like having the dog take up too much of the bed. I like knowing how to set the shower temperature without even thinking about it (even though at least one of the taps is backwards). And I even like my monstrosity sectional and my smaller than the new average television.

Before I went to Boston I didn't know that it had a reputation for being unfriendly. I struggle with the descriptor "rude" since that's not totally accurate. There were some people who were outright rude but mostly people were just "inhospitable". Answers to questions were minimal at best; there were no friendly suggestions of what to see or where to eat and for the first time ever none of the cabdrivers I rode with said a word to me. Two of them continued on their cellphones and one just looked put out that I was occupying the back seat. No one asked where I was from (other than other conference attendees) or offered any pleasantries about the weather (which was beautiful), sports scores or anything else.

Further up the coast in Rockport people were friendlier although not over the top. There was a more relaxed feeling there though and it was much easier to find things as it often is in smaller towns. I did arrive by train to discover that cabs only exist in the next town and are never really called which meant a 1 mile walk to the bed and breakfast and the same walk back before dawn on the day I had to depart. The lady who ran the bed and breakfast was kind of eccentric and the place was far from clean but had an eclectic charm. On my last night I found a spot that sold whole lobsters ready to eat - usually out back on the deck but since it was chilly mine got to come back to my room. The navy was in town but they all looked like high school boys so there was no risk of any of them joining me!

It is always nice to see other places and to appreciate them for their differences. The architecture was different and beautiful; Calgary seems to knock down anything old and here was a place that continues to build new homes in the old style! The fall colors included more reds than we see here. And you could smell the ocean.

But I am still happy to be home.

It's a long ways to Boston...

2008-10-13T20:58:00.005-06:00

isn't that how the song goes?

And no, you don't grow out of getting motion sick. Stupid mountains...bumpy all the way to the Saskatchewan border. At least the pilot called it bumpy. I called it a lot of things intermixed with a prayer about not puking in public, on a plane, with no escape from the humiliation...only thing worse would be exposing the waxing mishap results.

Don't try this at home

2008-10-11T15:01:00.004-06:00

There are some things better left to the experts; apparently waxing is one of them.

You know that moment when you think, "Oh crap, I'm going someplace where there might be a pool" (or ocean or waterslides or whatever) and there are areas which will be exposed that are not otherwise out in the public arena. And of course these areas have not been made ready for this exposure and you have no time to find a professional to sort out that situation.

Well, that is not the time to think, "I'm sure I had a couple of wax strips from trying to do my legs left in the cupboard." Because that thought is what will result in you not only dealing with self-inflicted pain but also a mess of sticky goop stuck places other than on the wax strip where it belongs. Which means you will hobble into the shower and think, what were the tricks that mom used to unstick things? and then think, I really can't put peanut butter there when I have to drop the dog off somewhere with another dog and thanksgiving dinner in under 2 hrs.

Pool or no pool, the tears have stopped but there is no way I will be revealing greasy, bruised and bright red areas to the world.

Note to self, tip the esthetician extra in future.

There's only one place they call me one of their own...

2008-10-11T12:28:00.020-06:00

And only one place where time flies and I don't even take much for pictures because I'm busy doing stuff!

"So what, I'm still a rock star, I've got my rock moves..." (and yes, my older brother thinks I'm nuts)

And there was also running....

We also did the 5km Run for the Cure and finished in under 45 minutes somehow. We didn't run the whole way but I suspect it was my sister's insistence that we walk faster and get by people...there were about 5600 people participating.

Now I'm packing and flapping since I am headed to Boston tomorrow on the red-eye. I don't know how I keep ending up on the early flights considering I am not a morning person! On the way home I actually caught myself leaning forward and snoring....so much for the attractive gentleman sitting in the seat next to me!

I also played in a soccer game this week. The other ladies had played the three nights before as well so I'm not real impressed that I kept up....but I kept up! Looks like I will be playing defense...right after I figure out how to pay the fees that are double what they are "back home"!

Not everything needs a hammer?

2008-09-30T22:40:00.003-06:00

I went to a women's soccer practice for an over 35 team tonight. Really, the over 35 part is misleading since I think any of those ladies could kick a 19 yr old's butt any day. So all that running that I've been doing? Also misleading...I was sweating 5 minutes in! And my sore knees...it's going to be payback tomorrow for putting them through their paces tonight and my ankles seem to be feeling a bit like the knees too.

The most amusing part of practice was when the woman who was coaching informed me that "not everything needs a hammer, y'know?". Apparently I try to make up for my lack of skills by giving it my all - I run at the ball hard, I boot it hard (sometimes with no regard for where it's going to end up) and I don't always have a strategy for my plays - rarely, if ever actually. Just give'er could be my motto.

This could explain a lot of things in my life: home renos, my driving style, cooking (sometimes stuff gets on the floor - ok most of the time!), sewing (high speed and limited control), my approach to breaking at pool and even relationships. I generally figure if you just try hard enough it will all come together somehow and of course if at first you don't succeed take a second run at it...just throw yourself into it a bit more.

Do you ever wonder if you're in a patch where life is just chock full of lessons no matter where you turn? I'm getting the message that I need to learn to apply less force and more thought and planning (soccer), take it easy on myself and know my own limits (lean cuts class), and pace myself (running 101). Well tonight my homework involves vitamins and ibuprofen!

Rotten!

2008-09-28T18:02:00.014-06:00

Today I got back to painting the trim on the house. I can't say I enjoyed it or was any better at it than last time. I put a second coat on the lower windows and the front door frame (yes I was too chicken to get back up the later and have at the upper windows). I also started on the lower windows on the back of the house and where I thought I just had a bit of peeling paint...

This is one of those times when a condo looks good; when I understand that what I spend on never ending repairs and renos is probably more than expensive condo fees and about as satisfying. Usually my feelings are expressed as expletives at this point in the job and today was no different.

So once again I headed to Home Depot. No, they still don't have a frequent visitors/buyers program or a speed date while you wander the hardware aisle program either.

However they do sell some stuff that is kind of almost a bit fun for fixing gaps and holes...which is how I decided to categorize this mess. It comes in a can and reminds me a bit of silly string. So now my window frame can look like this:

No, that will not be the end of this project. Apparently once the foam is set I can cut/tool it into whatever shape I need. And what I need is a window frame shape....for now...until the lottery comes through and I can replace all of the windows on this money pit...er, I mean house.

I knew that procrastinating skill would come in handy eventually! You might say it even ties in well with the idea of trying to maintain a budget! Wow, not only am I learning repair skills but how not to overspend....what do you mean that new purse I bought on Friday isn't a necessity??

The screen door is also now re-installed on the front of the house. It didn't get lighter while it sat on the stoop either. And I put new numbers on a few weeks ago too. It is supposed to be better "feng shui" to run them horizontal rather than vertical - I'll take all the help I can get...with my chi or otherwise!

Tonight I know a run is in order but I'm counting some of this stuff as weights....stupid house repairs have to be good for something! Now when is the houseboy showing up to do something about all those leaves?

My run on Weds. was awful! 3.1 miles (5 km) in 39 mins 38 secs and hating every minute of it.

Tonight's run 3.1 miles (5km) in 38 mins 16 secs. I switched to 5 and 1's and dropped my pace to 5.2 for runs and 3.8 for walks.

So this is what work-life balance looks like....

2008-09-23T19:21:00.004-06:00

Today we had a work event at the zoo. The theme was around your environmental footprint and most sessions had that focus but there were some that were just plain fun.

I got to go behind the scenes with the giraffes and even feed 2 of them carrots.

What an interesting way to show your employees appreciation while allowing them to learn some things that they can apply to their personal lives which may also benefit their communities!

True colors

2008-09-14T20:05:00.011-06:00

You know the song, "I see your true colors shining through....and that's why I love you..."

The house and I have an interesting relationship. When I'm working on it, I'm not always sure I love it. And even when a project is done there is occasionally still some doubt. So let's just say we're working on our relationship.

This weekend I decided to suck up my concerns about trim painting and have at it. Before you get too excited, it isn't done. But you can at least see where things are headed in these pics.

when purchased in May 2006

with the blocks in around the flower beds; started last summer and finished this summer (note how overgrown the nanking is getting and how the Christmas lights have been gradually falling off of the house)

today with painting started (bottom windows have a coat on them) and a pruner taken to the nanking (and the screen door off to paint and the Christmas lights removed finally)

So the challenge is the stupid bay window. The ladder doesn't sit solidly on the window because the ladder is too big to sit inside the frame and too small to sit on the edges of the window frame. And of course the nanking is doing a good job of defense on the other side. There were moments today when I contemplated calling a painter. But a little voice inside my head keeps reminding me that I don't have the budget for that....where's the 6/49 when you need it?

And any chance that Star Choice would want to come and take their satellite dish back and fix the resulting hole in the roof left by removing it? Sigh....didn't think so....

I think I can, I think I can...

2008-09-13T14:34:00.002-06:00

Wednesday's run:
3.1 miles (5k) in 39 mins and 45 s and feeling like I had lead boots on.

Today's run:
3.1 miles (5k) in 38 mins and 30 s

Today was a change from 3 min runs and 2 min walks to 5 min runs and 2 min walks. Somehow I thought it would go quicker...like it would be nice to see 35 mins on the timer. The last few weeks I notice that I am sweating more and am very red which I think might be scaring some of the other people at the gym. But as much as I feel like I'd like to keel over I don't think they need to worry.

The run for the cure is in 3 weeks...