Life Without Facebook

Facebook has been down since some time yesterday. I had no idea how addicted I was until I realized I could no longer use it. Sad and pathetic as it sounds, I actually went to a news site to see if they knew what the problem was. Nothing.

But I did manage to find the MacLeans.ca site that had an amuzing article titled Words that Ought to be in the Dictionary, '08 Edition.

It turns out well that Facebook is unavailable. I have some housework to do, and I am off to Paul's place this afternoon for a tree trimming party!

YEM has Highjacked my Horoscope

Here is my horoscope for today:

Just because a recent health concern turned out to be a false alarm doesn't mean that you should go right back to eating and (not) exercising the way you were before. Right now, you should take advantage of your increased awareness to make a few changes in your life. Focus on preventative measures and on getting more active. Start playing the sports you enjoy instead of just watching them on TV. And add a few more green vegetables to your daily menu.

Tomorrow I am signing up for the run. I promise! I would provide an excuse for why I haven't done it yet, but I have learned in the past that YEM doesn't accept excuses.

On a happy note, I ate a salad at lunch today. It was tasty, too.

Inspiration

Well, I've been keeping pretty silent about my running progress for two reasons. One is that I thought people would be getting bored of hearing about it all the time. The second reason is that I had a relapse and stopped running for the past two weeks.

There are many reasons why I stopped running. I would offer excuses, but it would just cheapen my lack of action. Plus it doesn't change the fact that I am way behind schedule in my training.

Armed with the knowledge that I am way behind schedule, I decided to confess to YEM that I am thinking of backing out of the run. I did give her the myriad of excuses. I offered to stand on the sidelines to hold her purse, just like I used to do with my friends at the high school dances. I told her that it will take me over an hour to finish, and that I was afraid that all the other children who are running will point at me and laugh. Between the two of us I came to the following conclusions:
1. I am running more now than I was a year ago, so I have made progress.
2. The other children won't be pointing at me and laughing because they will be too far ahead of me and will be home before I cross the finish line.
3. I have never run a 5K before. It doesn't matter how long it will take me to cross the finish line, whatever time it takes me to complete it will still be a personal best.

I have to do this because I am worried that if I just stand on the sideline and hold YEM's purse, she will punish me by putting a 25 pound weight in her purse and tell me not to set it on the ground. Ok, YEM isn't that mean, she actually is very encouraging without making me feel guilty and does not engage in negative reinforcement.

But YEM did convince me yet again that it does not have to be a good run, it does not have to be a pretty run, it just has to be a run. YEM also reminded me that I have told all my friends and everyone in the blog-o-sphere that I am doing this. I have to do it as a matter of pride and honour, I have to do this to save face.

But ultimately when it comes right down to it, I am still going to do it for me.

Horoscopes are Best Read at the Beginning of the Day

I was away most of last week and didn't have time for an update. For those of you who still check in on my blog to see what I am up to - thanks for your patience.

Now that I am back from my days off, things have been very busy at work. Today was insanely busy - I barely had time to forage in the Eaton Centre food court for my lunch. The only good thing is that at the end of the day I have been leaving with the satisfaction of getting a lot accomplished despite the fact that one of my support items just doesn't seem to be resolving itself.

Tonight while I was waiting for my supper to be ready I read my horoscope thinking it would make some kind of prediction of me being busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. This is what it said:

Your creativity is itching for a new way to express itself, and you might just find that new way in the kitchen! Cooking is a wonderful blend of order (measuring, temperatures) and chaos (a little bit of this, a little bit of that), and it lets you really express yourself. Plus, it gives you a great opportunity to do something nice for someone you care about -- feed them delicious food! So start going through some of your favorite recipes -- you've got a good dinner to prepare!

Today's creativity consisted of choosing between a can of soup and a frozen pizza.

Where does your food come from?

I grew up on a farm in rural Ontario. However, somewhere in the midst of moving to a city for school and moving to the big city for a man, I became officially "citified". I make no apologies for it.

When I first arrived at the Royal Winter Fair on Saturday, I saw a woman standing in line for tickets who was wearing a button that said "Farmers feed cities." I stared at the button and blinked a couple of times. Then I thought to myself 'who does this woman think she is coming here to Toronto wearing her little button of protest against city folk'. I was going to say something to her to the effect of "if you don't like the city, don't come here." But I was just too tired, and figured it wasn't worth the energy to start an argument.

I was talking with my brother and told the tale of the protester who had offended me. He stared at me like I was from Mars. I asked him why.
Anson: you really ought to read the newspaper or turn on your television once in a while
Me: Oh, the media is too depressing. It's all about death and destruction. Besides, what does that have to do with the girl who was protesting?
Anson: She wasn't protesting. It is an initiative put on by Foodland Ontario.

So, he went on to explain to me that Farmers Feed Cities is a whole campaign to show people in the city that their food does not just come from the supermarket - it is actually from a farm. It is not in the least a protest against city folk. The whole purpose is to bring city people and farmers closer together.

Now that he explained to me the purpose behind it, I think it's a pretty cool initiative! I went to the website to check it out, and there is some pretty neat stuff on there like a trivia game, a section where you can meet the farm family of the month, and a section where you can send your own personal thank you e-mail to farmers.

Another Week Choc Full of Activity

I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. It sounds scary, so I just call it "that lack of light disease" and it doesn't sound quite so bad. To combat it, I have resumed taking my multi-vitamin and am trying to find more foods that contain or are fortified with vitamin D. Fish is a good source of it, so I made a big pot of seafood chowder this week. It helped my energy levels a bit, but after a week of eating it I am pretty much chowdered out.

I can't totally blame my lack of energy on lack of light. I am a very social person, and spent the week hooking up with various groups of friends. I am also booked well into December with all kinds of stuff to do. For someone who is trying to slow down, I am not doing a very good job of it. I am very thankful, though, that I have the social network that I do.

This week's social events included a birthday celebration and a laying off party all mixed into one. The company that I used to work for just went through a mass layoff and a couple of my friends were given packages. When I met them at the party I asked "should I say congratulations, or sympathies?" They are both quite happy and confirmed that "congratulations" was the appropriate comment. I didn't find it too surprising, considering that I made my own successful escape from the clutches of that evil place just over a year ago.

One thing that surprised me at the party was the number of people who are following my running progress. A lot of us are on Facebook together, and I regularly throw up the status of my runs/progress/lack thereof. Fitness is not something I am generally known for, and I found it encouraging just how many people asked me about it. I am even more committed to doing the run now since so many people know about it and are cheering me on. Its amazing what the power of a group of people can do to lift one of its members.

If I had to pick one moment this week as my high point, though, it would be yesterday's trip to the Royal Winter Fair. Every year I have vowed to go to the Royal Winter Fair but for some reason or another I never have gone. This year was extra special because my niece Kayla was competing in the TD Canada Trust Junior Sheep Show. It was her first time competing in a contest of this magnitude, and I must say that she totally rocked!! There were between 20 and 25 entries in the showmanship contest, and she placed 5th. I had tears of pride welling up in my face as I watched her leading Cindy the Sheep around the arena.

After the competition was over, I made her stand in the pen with her ribbon and Cindy. A complete stranger was walking by the pen and stopped to congratulate Kayla on her placing. To me, it would not matter if she placed first or last, the real accomplishment is the fact that she got up in front of an arena full of people and did her best.

Way to go Kayla! I am very proud of you and I love you honey!

Very Busy Week

Its been a very busy week, so I haven't had time to blog. Last Saturday night I went out to an event with Lisa even though I really wanted to stay home to sleep. I called her at one point while I was in the middle of getting ready to go, and advised her of my revised plan to stay home. She responded with logical arguments like "you already bought the ticket" and "you're almost ready anyway, so just go!" So I did.

I spent the entire day sleeping on Sunday as I have been very drained of energy lately and cannot figure out why, although going out both Friday night and Saturday night last weekend did not help my situation. Unfortunately I did not get much cleaning done and had to do that on Monday night and Tuesday night since my Mom, Aunt, and cousin were coming down on Wednesday night to stay for a couple of days.

I had a great visit with my family. We spent the evenings playing a board game that my Mom loves. I took Thursday off and we went shopping and to dinner. My big purchase was a watch and a hat for running. My new watch is a Roots Pink Ribbon Campaign watch; 10% of the cost goes towards the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

My hat is practical, yet fun. I have trouble with my ears in the winter time when it is windy out - I get very painful ear aches for about an hour or so after I come in from the cold. So I bought one of those hats with flaps on it to keep my ears warm.

With the crazy busy week I have had, I did not get a chance to run but really have to get back into training for the road race. I realized that there are only 52 days left to train which works out to 7 weeks remaining. Taunya gave me the training schedule and right now I am about to start week 4 (given my setbacks of recent weeks) and there are 17 weeks total of training. Although I will not be able to complete the whole training program by the time my 5K comes along, I believe that I will have built up enough endurance that I can at least try. Plus, since it is my first run I figure there is no shame in me walking parts of it if I have to. My goal this time around is just to cross the finish line so that I have bragging rights to say I did it. My other goal is to develop the habit of going out every other day and getting some exercise.

So, armed with the knowledge that 7 weeks is going to pass very very quickly, I must end this post and get back at my training. Wish me luck, and send me some energy while you are at it!

It's not Easy Being Morticia

But I pulled it off with a whole lot of work. And style and grace.... sort of.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to put the costume together cheaply. Unfortunately with my height, finding a long black dress that could pass for a Morticia Addams dress was a daunting task and in the end did not turn out to be that cheap. I went to Sears and found a rack full of dresses on sale, and found a two piece outfit that may have been suitable. I walked over to the changeroom, tried it on, and it was indeed suitable to wear as Morticia.

The girl who let me into the changeroom asked how it went, and I replied with a big grin on my face "Its GREAT! I'll take it!" She looked at me, blinked 3 or four times, put on the most fake smile I have ever seen and said "Oh, that's good. Let me find a cashier for you." Meanwhile I know she was thinking 'I can't believe that girl is buying that dress!' I could have told her it was for a Hallowe'en costume, but in the end I thought it was more fun to let her think I was going to be wearing it to a wedding or Christmas party or something.

Even with the 30% discount, I still spent about $100 on the dress. It is a lot of money considering what the purpose was, but I figured it was worth it since this is the first time in 15 years I have dressed for Hallowe'en.

Bag in hand, I called Paul and squealed with glee about my new purchase. He was out in the Village with Peter, so I told him I would meet him for a quick pint and show him the dress. After showing the dress we sat at the bar and chatted about whatever it is we usually chat about. I noticed a magazine on the bar, so I started to rifle through it and saw an article titled How to be a First Time Drag Queen. Knowing that I never wear makeup or wigs or anything, Paul pointed at the article and said "Oh My God, that's going to be YOU on Hallowe'en!" I laughed because I knew he was right and because I was actually thinking the same thing.

The next barrier to my costume was finding a long black wig. I checked out a few places but they were sold out. I told my wig tale of woe to a friend of mine, and he told me of a store that usually has lots of wigs. I wandered over on my lunch and found the wig.

The last part of my costume was to get the makeup to put my finishing touches on Morticia. I stopped off at Shopper's Drug Mart after work and wandered over to the makeup section. Paul called me:
Paul: What are you doing?
Me: Picking up lipstick for my costume.
Paul: YOU are in a MAKEUP section of a store?
Me: I kind of have to be.
Paul: Oh God.
Me: I can't believe how EXPENSIVE this crap is. Why do women waste their money on it?

The conversation turned to dinner plans, which helped keep my mind off of the frustration I was feeling in choosing just the right lip colour. After multiple attempts to locate a lipstick the frustration welled up inside me and I exclaimed:
Me: How the f*** do you choose a lipstick?
Paul: I don't know, I don't wear that stuff. Hey, you are in Shoppers aren't you? Just ask the beauty consultant.
Me: Ok. I gotta go because I can't stand doing this any longer.

I hung up the phone looked over at the girl, but was too shy to ask her how to choose a lip colour. As a 39 year old woman, I should already know how to survive the makeup counter. However, I grew up with 3 older brothers and have an easier time choosing floor mats for a car.

I oscillated between the different brands of lipstick, and found a small section of ones that looked fairly red. I read the backs of them: Cherry Red, Luscious Red, Berry Red... I must be a guy trapped in a woman's body. Red is red. End of story. Again I looked back at the Shopper's girl, but I just could not admit that I didn't know how to choose a lipstick.

I decided just to try out the tester lipticks on the back of my hand. Twenty five minutes and the application of 8 or 9 different reds later, I settled on one that I thought would be suitable. I looked down at the waxy red stripes all over my hand, fruitlessly russled around in my purse for a tissue to wipe it off, and had to spend the rest of my makeup search making sure I did not get lipstick on my clothes. Picking out black eyeliner was much easier, although it took me a couple of minutes to decide between Onyx and True Black. Given my love for science fiction, it would have been much easier on me if they had one called Black Hole.

I should have gone home right after that, but I went to Paul's instead. After an evening of laughs, Coronation Street, and Jeopardy my makeup shopping hell seemed to be a dim memory. Then I realised merely owning makeup was not enough. I had to learn how to use it, too. But I was too tired, chose to go to bed, and decided to wake up early to learn how to draw the lines on my face.

Friday morning I got out of bed early, plastic bag of makeup in hand, and wandered to the bathroom mirror. I started to outline my right eye, it wasn't really that hard. I was circling around my tear duct, got too close, and my tears pulled the black colour into my eye. It turned black. I was horrified. I washed my eye out and started over. I thought to myself "How can women do this to themselves every day? This is such a pain in the ass. I would rather stay in bed and get the extra sleep, its more useful."

In the end I figured out how to apply the makeup, packaged my costume up and took it in to the office. My intention was to change into it at the office, and wear it all day to get my money's worth out of the dress, but I got paged with a system problem on the way in. I decided that my manager would most likely not appreciate me strolling to my desk 20 minutes late looking like Morticia Addams while the system was going to hell in a handbasket. I could have slept in after all.

The end of the day I went to Paul's place, and started to become Morticia. I put on the bathing cap to cover my hair under the wig, and applied the eyeliner. I walked out of the bathroom looked at Paul and said "I am the worst drag queen ever! Hey, does my eyeliner look okay?" Paul gave me a rumple faced look of confusion since it is a question he probably never thought he would hear from me.

All in all the preparations went well until I went to put on the fake long black nails I bought. The two way tape was not adhering and the nails were not sticking very well to my real nails. Then I would forget the nails were there, reach out to get something (most of the time it was my vodka tonic) and would knock a couple of the nails off. I was getting frustrated. Paul was getting sick of my whining. He wandered off, grabbed some Scotch Tape, and affixed the nails to my hands once and for all. We grabbed our things and went off to the party.

I got lots of compliments on the outfit, and things were going fairly well with the nails. Except that when you are at a party and consuming alcohol, you eventually need to pee. I went into the bathroom, looked at the back of the toilet, and saw a candle burning on it. My initial worry about how to pull my tights and panties down without losing my finger nails was no longer as big a concern. I now was fretting about ensuring I did not catch my long synthetic wig on fire. Or melting it to my skin. Melting or burning were not Hallowe'en tricks I wanted to experience. In the end I did not catch fire and only lost two nails throughout the whole ordeal. Luckily the host had some tape and I just put them back on my hands again.

After the party we were going to go to Church Street and check out the other gouls and goblins that were out for the night. But we decided against it since Paul has been ill and wanted to go to bed. I was a little disappointed, but I was also very sick of the long black wig and the nails that kept getting in the way.

We got back to Paul's place, and I spent the rest of the night watching TV, picking bits of tape off the ends of my fingers, and washing the eyeliner off my face. Being Morticia was a lot of fun. But overall I was very happy to return to my plain, simple, normal self. At least for the next 364 days.

Where DID I Leave my Energy?

So the last few weeks I have had a ton of energy. The last few days, not so much. At the end of this past weekend I was supposed to already have my Hallowe'en costume, completed week 3 of my training schedule for my 5K, have a clean house, and lots of groceries. Those were my goals.

Reality.

My house is a mess, luckily the last time I shopped for groceries I bought enough to carry me over in case I couldn't make it out, and I still do not have the Hallowe'en costume. At least I did manage to clean and reinstall my furnace filter and get the furnace turned on.

Sunday I was supposed to shop for my Hallowe'en costume. I got as far as looking up locations of Value Villages and Goodwill stores, called Paul, and told him I was on my way into town to go costume shopping. I got to Paul's house, and was waiting for him to get ready.

A strange thing happens when I wait for Paul to get ready. I go through the TV Guide to find shows that I would not be interested in, but then wind up getting interested in them. So I spent the afternoon watching trash TV about celebrity breakups, ultimately ending in watching a 1 hour documentary on the relationship between Britney Spears and K-Fed. I seem to recall Paul walking by the TV, looking at me and saying "Why are you watching this stupid s--t?!?!" Or maybe I said that to myself. Or we both said it to me at different times.

I am still running. But I am at the crossroads of developing the running habit where I could turn back and loaf on my couch instead of running. Most of my runs start out with me arguing inside my head. The scary thing is the argument in my head is taking place with YEM. Every excuse I had tonight was countered by YEM's voice saying "It's 20 freakin minutes!!!". Basically, the only way YEM is going to let me off easy is if there is a freak lightening storm in October, or if I break a bone anywhere below my pelvis.

While I was busy arguing with myself, I didn't seem to notice that I was putting on running gear instead of my jammies. At the end of it all I looked down at myself and thought "well I guess I will go then."

I got outside the door and thought about the fact that I still am counting steps and carrying my watch with the dead battery in my purse. Then I came to the realisation that since I am counting the steps, the faster I run, the faster I get through the steps, and the faster I get back home and into my jammies with a cup of tea.

I am quite proud of myself that I was able to push myself a little harder tonight, AND I managed make myself run without the real aid of YEM. (having YEM's voice in my head is another matter that will be dealt with either by therapy or prescription drugs at a later date. But for now I am leaving it there because I kind of need it.)

In the end, I know that running faster to get through my steps is pretty much cheating. But since I am still on a bit of a runner's high, I am going to stay positive and just think to myself "Something is better than nothing" even if I wasn't running for 20 freakin minutes. I'm just not sure what the real YEM is going to say about all of this.

The Verdict

For the most part, tonight was a repeat of last night. I was feeling kind of bummed after work and didn't feel like running. Plus it was cold outside. I really wanted to stay in where it was warm and wallow in self pity.

In an effort to try to convince myself to go out for a run, I thought to myself "What would Taunya do if she were in this situation?" then I realized if she were in this exact situation she would be kicking my butt out the door to go for the run.

So as I changed out of my work clothes, I put on my running gear and headed out the door. I whined to myself about the cold for the first few minutes. I got across the street, started to run, and something magical happened. I warmed up. Plus I managed to complete the run. On top of that, because I still haven't got a working watch I had to count my steps again. I was concentrating on that so much that I stopped wallowing in self pity and felt much better at the end of the run.

The moral of the story: find a good YEM (Your Evil Motivator). And there's nothing like exercise to help you clear your head.

But January 1 still is going to be really freakin cold.

I Was Not Built For This Climate

I look like my Mom, who looks like her Dad, whose father was from somewhere in France. Mom never cared to ask where in France her ancestors were from. Based on my intolerance for cold weather, I am guessing that it was somewhere in the deep south of France like Cannes or Marseille where the temperature rarely goes below freezing.

So it is around this time of year when the weather turns crappy, rainy, and cold that I avoid going outside at all costs. Unfortunately the building where I work is not connected to the underground downtown so I do have to go outside once in a while. Tonight I had to endure the bitter autumn damp chill while walking the 2 requisite blocks to the underground entrance. Those 2 blocks felt more like 2 million miles. As I was walking down the street, I was thinking that I should run tonight but it is cold outside. Then I came to a sudden realization:

I agreed to run in a 5K road race on January 1. If I think today is going to be cold, THAT day is going to be a KILLER! Am I CRAZY?

But alas, try as I might to convince myself to go out and run, it was easier to stay inside with a cup of tea and my triple weave blankie wrapped around my shoulders for warmth. I thought to myself "Oh, tomorrow should be warmer. Meh, who's going to notice anyway."

To ensure I was not spotted by The Evil Motivator, I purposely stayed off of MSN Messenger. My evil plan would have worked had it not been for those stupid kids... er... that stupid Facebook application. As I was casually checking up on what my friends have done over the last couple days, a chat window appeared:

Taunya (AKA The Evil Motivator): How was your run?

DAMMIT! BUSTED! Ok, lie to her or tell the truth. Oh. Yeah. She knows my aversion to cold, so she already knows that I did not go out running. She also knows I am the worst liar in the world. Plus I am not hurting her by not running or by lying to her about not running... I am only hurting myself.

Me: I'm a big chicken. It was cold. My train was late. I know, there is no excuse. But I AM trying
Taunya: wah wah wah. It's 20 freakin' minutes.
Me: I know, I know. But it was kinda rainy too
Taunya: Then you're running at lunch tomorrow?
Me: Not in a suit but after work I will
Taunya: Take alternate clothes. (remember, I broke my leg Feb 28th. Was verrrrry cold.)
Me: lunch is very difficult. what the heck do people wear in the cold to run anyway?
Taunya: Essentially, just more clothes, gloves, and ear protection.
Me: ok. Must remember to get those. On a happy note, I have put my watch in my purse to buy a battery for it
Taunya: I wear tights under wind pants, a wind breaker over a sweat shirt, those mini-gloves and ear muffs.
Me: mini gloves?
Taunya: you know those 99 cent ones that stretch out?
Me: ooooooh. Ok. dollar store gloves.
Taunya: ya
Me: I could buy a pair of those and a watch at the same time if I wanted. I mean, yes of course I am buying both
Taunya: lmao! exactly!
Me: hey, shouldn't you be catching up on your clinical paperwork now that you are done your patho? or are you using me as your procrastination tool?
Taunya: smartie pants. Shouldn't you be running now that it's quit raining?
Me: I just ate. I would get a cramp in a puddle so I have to wait at least half an hour before going into the water. You are correct, I should have run tonight otherwise Jan 1 will really really hurt and it will be much colder that day than it is today so I know I have to train for it.
Taunya: good girl!
Me: tomorrow for sure I will run. I did run on Sunday and all last week.
Taunya: Good girl! uh oh. My uncle just caught me on facebook ... NOT catching up on clinical ... I best log off

At that I was recued from The Evil Motivator by HER OWN Evil Motivator! I just hope that tomorrow is warmer and drier, as I am pretty much committed to having to go for a run now.

This Week's Update

The remainder of my week was been fairly uneventful, and I haven't had a whole lot to talk about.

Paul, Peter, and I resumed the Friday night tradition of going to Peter's house for a good night of chatting and a very delicious meal. Saturday morning I got out of bed early to head downtown to get my hair done.

My stylist is amazing. I walked in without any idea of what I wanted done, except I wanted to go shorter and keep the same colour. So in the end I told him to take 6 inches off. Rather than wait for me to wiffle waffle and change my mind, he just grabbed a pair of scissors and took off a big wad of hair. He noticed me staring at the hair on the floor and said "There's no turning back now, is there!" It was magical. I can't explain why.

When all was said and done, I left the shop and wasn't completely happy with the cut - I thought it made me look like a suburban housewife. So I wandered off to Kokyo Sushi for some comfort food. There is nothing like a Bento Box A to help cheer a girl up! Now that I have had a chance to style my hair myself, I feel much better.

Despite the beautiful weather today, I had to come out of denial and face the fact that the cold weather is coming. My house temperature is slowly dropping and soon I will have to turn on the furnace, so today's big highlight was cleaning the filter. That's just the kind of day it was.

I did manage to get out for a run earlier in the morning. I like the weekend runs the best because it is light out and I get to run through the park. Although I did find it a little annoying that in the midst of my busy run some dude hit on me. I would have been more flattered except that he was pushing a child in a carriage, and I really wasn't in the mood to be hit on. Of course, it is suddenly dawning on me why I am not in a serious relationship.

I am a little worried in that the running and cooking are starting to feel like work, now, and that my inherent laziness will set back in. I think I am getting bored with my food choices, so I bought some haddock and some chicken thighs, and am going to try my hand at making seafood chowder and chicken soup.

My big upcoming project is renovating my upstairs bathroom. Last weekend Bank of Mom loaned me some cash to fix up the bathroom. One of my first jobs is to finish refinishing a cabinet that I started last winter but got sidetracked once the warm weather came.

My other project right now is to choose a Hallowe'en costume and figure out how to put it together very cheaply. I still haven't picked which one I am going for - my original idea of going as Julia from Hellbound Hellraiser 2 just was not practical. Plus, whenever I would tell people they would look at me like "Who?" and confess they haven't seen the movie. Ultimately my decision to not be Julia came down to the fact that if you haven't seen the movie, you would not understand the costume, and it would just look stupid.

After much research and deliberation, I have narrowed down my costume to 3 choices:
1. A court jester.
2. A nun.
3. Morticia from the Addam's Family

Here are some of my thoughts on each costume choice:
1. Court Jester: also called "The Fool" - I don't think I need to go into any more detail there. Plus wandering around with a hat that has bells on it all day would just drive me crazy - not to mention everyone else around me.
2. A nun: I am scared of spontaneously combusting as soon as I put the outfit on. It would be God's punishment for me pretending to be pure and holy. We all know THAT isn't true!
3. Morticia: Gotta find a full length black dress. Sounds like an easy task, and it is for people who are short. Not so easy for a 6' tall girl like me.

You'll find out which one I choose after Hallowe'en.

Thanksgiving Recap

Well I headed off to the country for a few days of rest and relaxation as part of my Thanksgiving weekend. Saturday I went for a run and pretty much lazed around. Played some dominoes with my nephews Johnathan and Daniel, followed by a cut-throat game of Yahtzee with Mom. The rest of the evening was spent dozing on the couch.

Sunday I wound up in a little town called Brigden to see my niece Kayla show the sheep that she raised at the Brigden Fair. The sheep's name is Cindy. Cindy has a mind of her own, and is quite the little diva sheep. Cindy escaped from Kayla a few times during the competition, but Kayla did a great job of getting her back under control. I was very impressed.

After the whirlwind tour to see Kayla and Cindy, I made it back to my brother's place for some turkey and fixens. Unfortunately, there was no jell-o salad. Mom was sick and could not make it, and she did not have the patience to tell me how to do it. Better luck to me at Christmas. But there was trifle, and lots of other things to eat.

I noticed that school charity fundraising coincides directly with Thanksgiving weekend. I wound up ordering a box of teriyaki chicken breasts and a box of popcorn from two of my nephews. It felt good to support their fundraising efforts, though, and I am sure I can put the popcorn and chicken to good use.

Made it back to the big dirty smelly city early yesterday morning. Loafed around the couch all day, got ready and went for my first run of training week number 2, and then loafed around on the couch again.

Today I engaged in the ultimate social responsibility in a democratic society. I did my part and voted in the election. To be quite honest with you, I did not know who to vote for. I really only voted so that I have the right to complain until the next election. It saddened me that I was voting for the person I hated the least.

Well that's pretty much it for what I have been up to the last few days. I am looking forward to tomorrow since I get my first annual review at my current job, plus I get to go for a run tomorrow evening again. I am pleasantly surprised that I actually like the nights I run better than the nights I rest. Hopefully it stays this way, and if it does, I should fare very well at the 5K on New Year's Day. Only 78 days, 3 hours, and 11 minutes left to train!

Turkey and all the Fixens

Not much has been happening over the last couple of days, so I really haven't had a whole lot to say. Tuesday night I slept a lot, beings that I was so tired from running, and Wednesday I had to work late.

Tonight I managed to get out for a SECOND run. I managed to go out and do it without complaining, trying to get out of it, or even having to have been threatened by The Evil Motivator!

Its a good thing I am running, since it's that time of year that we stop and give thanks then stuff ourselves silly like gluttenous pigs. I certainly cannot complain though - I'm always game for a good gluttenous stuffing! Plus I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:
- a roof over my head
- food in my stomach
- lots of people around me who love me
- a great job
- numerous fantastic experiences this year including the trip to Beijing, hanging out at Paul's, hanging out at Peter's, summertime patio fun, summer festivals, Caribana and all the pre-Caribana parties, and my last birthday in my 30's

Hopefully you will take a moment to take stock of all the good things you have. Feel free to put down one, two or your whole list in the comments section!

I'm off to visit my Mom and my brothers this weekend and will be partaking in a fabulous dinner with turkey and all the fixens. I am hoping Mom makes her famous Jell-O salad! It just would not be Thanksgiving with out it, and there is Always Room for Jell-O!

I gotta get me one of these!

Today I happened upon this article:



http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39643/113/



This is the ultimate toy, yet practicle too!

I did it!

I managed to go out for my first run despite a feeble attempt at getting out of it. I managed to buy the shoes, so that wasn't my excuse. My excuse was even better (in my mind) than that. This week I am supposed to run one minute and walk two minutes, alternate that 7 times, and call it a day. Simple. Except that I don't own a watch and could not time myself.

I was proud of my excuse, and the following text chat ensued while I was on the GO Train:
me: not making it out tonight. I don't have a watch that works. I do have new shoes though. I hate them, they are ugly, but apparently they will help me pronate or something.
Taunya: You can run for 100 steps and walk for 200 steps. Repeat 7 times.
me: Ok. But what if I lose count?
Taunya: (Sigh) then start at 1 if you are running or 199 if you are walking.
me: I was only kidding.
Taunya: I know. I just wasn't going to give you any way out.

Taunya and I have been friends since we worked together at an office back in 1994. She and I had many adventures which will be talked about some other day. Taunya learned very quickly how to manipulate me to get me to do things. It was her work avoidance technique. She would say something, I would do all the work, and she would sit at the desk with her feet up singing Garth Brooks songs all day. Ok, well, it didn't QUITE happen like that.

She is, however, an excellent motivator. I believe that one of my text messages that occurred a bit later in the conversation resulted me in nicknaming her "The Evil Motivator". But she got me to go out. And I also realise that there will be very few excuses for me to back out of The Resolution Run, so it is in my best interests to keep this up.

So I got home, changed my clothes, and went out for my first run. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be (ok, I DID use my fingers to count, but I was concentrating on breathing and running, and dodging pets) and I didn't experience any lung burn afterwords. Tomorrow I get to rest. Although I will cherish days like tomorrow, I actually am looking forward to going out again on Wednesday.

What Have I Gone and Gotten Myself Into Now?

Tonight I did the unthinkable. I agreed to go in a 5K run with my friend Taunya on New Year's Day. Doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that I don't run. Yet.

The run I am entering is called the Resolution Run and is offered through the Running Room. When you go to the site, they have a counter that is counting down the days to the race. I have 87 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes and 40 seconds to learn how to run. Tomorrow night will be my first day of training, provided I get shoes. What an adventure this is going to be!

A Sleepless Night of Art in the City

I managed to pick the art I wanted to see for Nuit Blanche yesterday, headed out, and met up with Chunling downtown. We spent the entire time in Zone A and saw 12 different things in this order:
1. Project Blinkenlights
2. Urbanity Humanity
3. Cocoon Garden
4. Euronight 08
5. Concurrence - Emerging Canadian Artists
6. Waterfall
7. Time Piece
8. Dream Home
9. Sitting Ducks
10. House of Leaves
11. 15 Seconds
12. Stock Extravaganza

The night started off with us going to Nathan Phillips Square and observing the world's largest Pong game being played on City Hall. We spent about 3 hours walking around finding the various exhibits and concluded at the corner of Bay and Dundas.

What I enjoyed most about Nuit Blanche was that the evening was beautiful - it was the perfect night to go for a walk around downtown Toronto. My only regret was that I did not have the energy to take in more exhibits. I will be attending next year's Nuit Blanche for sure. I will just make sure I have a really big nap before I go out.

Along the way we saw a historic moment - the Sam the Record Man sign was lit up for the last time on Yonge Street. It will now be moved from its home to somewhere else on the Ryerson campus. I hope whatever Ryerson does with the sign, they will do it justice. That sign is a landmark, an icon, and a fixture in the city. It is almost as famous as the CN Tower. Maybe even more. It was a bitter sweet moment, as I will miss seeing the sign in all its cheesy glory.

If I had to pick a favourite exhibit, it would have been Urbanity Humanity. I understood the art much better there than anywhere else. I also felt that out of the displays I saw, they put the most effort into their display. Although I have no doubt that all artists took pride in their work, I really felt it the most at Urbanity Humanity. Hopefully these artists and the Beaver Hall Artists' Co-Op will have a display there next year. If they do, it will be at the top of my list to see.

Stock Extravaganza was the most bizzaare. I'm not sure if I liked it, or I didn't like it, but it does make for a good story. Chunling and I got to the corner of Dundas and Bay where the exhibit was supposed to be. We saw the Nuit Blanche flag, but could not see any art. We thought it might be inside the Atrium, but no one was going in there. We could hear music playing towards Bay street, and a little crowd was gathered, but all we could see was a garbage can.
Chunling: "People are looking inside the garbage can!"
Me: "Oh yeah, I remember why I picked this now. It is because the exhibit is inside the garbage can."

Chunling gave me a slightly perplexed look. She hasn't known me quite long enough to understand why I chose it. Or she's one of the remaining optimists that keeps hoping my penchant for that which is truly bizzaare will go away.

Chunling: "You want to see this?"
Me: "Yes, but there is a line."
Chunling: "Maybe they will let me just peak inside to see if I want to stand in the line."
Me: "I don't think people will let you do that. We should probably just go to the line or skip the exhibit."
Chunling: "It is getting kind of late. Perhaps I should go home."
Me: "No worries, I'm not sure if I want to stand in line to look inside a garbage can either."

After parting ways, curiosity had the better of me and I just HAD to see what was in the garbage can. Plus, I really wanted bragging rights to say that I stood in line to look inside a garbage can.

So I went back and stood in line. The line moved very fast, I peaked inside, I thought about what I saw for a bit, and then wandered off to see the world's largest pong game displayed on City Hall again. After that, I grabbed a tea, caught my train, and headed home to go to bed.

Sleepless Night

Tonight I will be meeting Chunling, Paul, and Peter to take in some of Nuit Blanche and to enjoy a fun filled night of art in the city. I am really looking forward to it! There are four different zones, and tonnes of things to do in each zone. I have been put in charge of picking what we are going to see, since I was the one who suggested we all hook up in the first place.

The site says that it is impossible to see everything in just 12 short hours. I'm not even going for the full 12 hours, as I plan on getting some sleep tonight and going ice skating tomorrow afternoon. So I best be cutting my entry short for now and get on with picking what art I want everyone to see.

I hope I choose wisely. And I hope I have enough battery power in my camera to last the evening!

"Pink M&Ms"

July 2, 1981: I was sleeping in the bedroom with my cousins Chris, Debbie, and Eric at their house near Chatham. The sound of a car engine woke me up. I looked around, and the others heard it, too. We blinked, stared at each other for a bit, then went back to sleep. We were all tired from staying up late the night before to watch the Canada Day fireworks displays that were off in the distance. A little later Chris got up, left the room, then came back in. The rest of us were awake, he sat on the bed. He looked at us and said "Mom and Aunt Barb left for town early this morning. Grandma died last night."

Every weekend for a couple of months before that day Mom and I made the journey from our home just outside of London to my Aunt Joan's house just outside of Chatham. I visited Grandma once or twice in the hospital. She never let on that she was scared or in pain.

I knew Grandma was sick, although my Mom never told me from what. Her hair had fallen out, and she was very weak. No matter what, whenever I walked in the room she still always had energy to flash me a big smile and spend time talking with me. I had no idea those conversations with her would be my last.

It wasn't until months after the funeral I was looking for something on Mom's dresser and found Grandma's obituary. She had died of breast cancer. She had found some lumps, went to her doctor, and he dismissed her concerns by telling her they had always been there. He went on vacation. By the time he came back more lumps had grown, and his vacation had become her death sentence. And my loss.

It wasn't until years later that my cousin Debbie opened up about what went on during the weekdays when I wasn't there. How she would watch Grandma go for chemotherapy, and then would watch her throw up for the next couple of days.

I was 12 years old when she passed away. I grew up more that summer than I ever had in the past. I missed her Irish lilt when she spoke, her laugh, her smile, her warmth, and her love. I can't miss her spirit because it is still alive in those who knew her.

October is breast cancer awareness month. Tonight I had to stop off at the pharmacy to buy some things, and saw the Pink M&M's on the shelf. I bought a bag of them and have been eating them while writing this post. With each M&M I eat I hope that I help someone else's granddaughter to never have to experience what I did.

But more importantly, each M&M I eat is dedicated to you, Grandma. I still miss you and I will always love you.

The Worst Lunch Break Ever

This past Friday morning I spent the morning learning particulars about batch processes on one of the systems I work with, followed by trying to fix some data on it. After a hefty morning of training me, Balram suggested that we grab some curried chicken and roti. I rummaged through my wallet and realised that I had to stop at the bank machine on the way. I popped the card in, punched in some numbers and waited for my cash to appear. I wasn't really paying that much attention to the screen since it usually says "Please take your cash". Friday, however, was different. I looked, thought "no that cannot be right", then I read the message again:

The security on your card has been violated. Your limit has been reduced. blahblahblahblah.......

Ok, we all know the bank machine really did not say blahblahblahblah. Its just that I saw "security...violated....limit....reduced" and stopped reading after that. It could have said "but that's okay cause Ed McMahon is standing behind you ready to give you a big fat cheque" and I really wouldn't have noticed. All I could think of was:
1. All my money has been stolen.
2. My identity is about to be stolen.
3. I have no lunch money. Of course, at that point I also had no appetite, so I wasn't too concerned about lunch.

I turned around, looked at Balram, told him my dilemma and said "I can't make lunch, I have to sort all this out now." He wandered off to the curried chicken place without me and I ran up the escalator to see what I was up against.

A very kind lady behind the desk helped me out. My money was all intact, hopefully my identity is too, and while I was there I asked her to give me some lunch money out of my account. I was sorely disappointed that I was not able to go get the curried chicken, so I had to find somewhere else to go for lunch.

I decided to go to a deli located in the food court of the building that I was in. This particular deli advertises a special where you can get a half a corned beef sandwich and a small salad for a very nice price. So I happily ordered this. The man made my sandwich, and I went to the cash register. This is the conversation that ensued:
deli dude: "What are you having"
me: "I am having the half corned beef and salad special"
deli dude: "what kind of salad"
me: "the Mediterranean salad"
dd: that's not part of the deal. (he starts to ring it in separately)
me: "what do you mean its not part of the deal? I was not informed of this."
dd with a huge attitude: "If you HAVE a problem with this, YOU can call head office."
me: "I do not wish to have the salad anymore."
dd yelling: "Hey, she's not getting the salad anymore. Don't bother with it."
me: "Just for future reference, when the customer places the order for the sandwich and salad deal, then orders the salad, you should tell them at the outset that this particular salad is not part of the deal so that the customer can choose either another salad or choose not to partake in the deal."
dd with an even huger attitude: "I SAID, if YOU HAVE a PROBLEM with this, YOU can call HEAD OFFICE"
me: "No, I would like to speak with your manager."
dd: "I'll get you the phone number to head office."
me: "No, I wish to speak with your manager now."

At this point he walks off in a huff, beats on the door at the back of the deli and then says to me "Wait over there."

So after waiting a couple minutes the manager comes out and the conversation with her went something like this:
manager: "What do you want?"
me: "I ordered the half corned beef sandwich with a small salad. At the time of ordering I was not told that the Mediterranean Salad was not eligible for the offer. I suggested to your cashier that when people first start to place their order, they should explicitly be told which salads are available for selection. When I made the suggestion I got a severe amount of attitude back from your cashier."
manager: "Well, look at the picture. It has lettuce in it, not peppers."
me: "I'm sorry, I am not an expert in hieroglyphics. Just so you know, you have lost me as a customer and I will be telling all my friends about my experience here. You have lost them as customers too."
manager with shocked look on her face: "Would you like the salad?"
me: "no. I just want to go to a place with good service."

I put my sandwich in my purse, made my way back to my desk, and proceeded to eat the sandwich. It tasted like crap and gave me heartburn to boot. I really must start bringing my lunch to work now. I think that will be my next goal to conquer.

Results of the Kitchen Experiment

Well, the wine emitted a lovely smell throughout my townhouse while it cooked, but in the end the taste of the beef just wasn't as nice as the smell was. But sometimes it isn't about what you soak it in. Sometimes a bad cut of meat is just a bad cut of meat. If I get another rump roast, I will do as Paul suggested, and cook it in the slow cooker next time with different spices and stuff. I'm not disappointed, though, as it was a great learning experience and the leftover roast will make a nice stroganoff.

Kitchen Experiment

Yesterday I made it to the grocery store and decided to pick up a rump roast. That was before I realised that the rump roast is not a very good cut of meat, and requires tenderising. I'm not sure how many ways there are to tenderise a roast, but the two that I do know of are to:
1. Beat the roast with some kind of mallet.
2. Marinate in red wine.

As much as I am enjoying this new cooking habit that I have seemed to have developed, I am still rather lazy in the kitchen. Faced with the two choices, I chose option #2. I figured it would be the easier of the two, although beating the roast with a mallet would have resulted in me releasing some pent up agression. Until I had to clean the mallet, and probably the kitchen, then I would have been filled with it again. I digress.

So tonight as I made my way to Union Station through the underground, I stopped off at the LCBO in First Canadian Place to pick up a bottle of wine. Most of the visit to the store consisted of me wandering around aimlessly while chewing on my fingernail and looking at wine bottles in a way that I thought would make me look like I knew what I was doing. Apparently I was wrong, as the kind man who works at the LCBO wandered over and said "May I help you?"

I think it was a rhetorical question. Or after the whole ordeal I think he wished I had taken it as a rhetorical question. My response was, "Yes. See, I'm cooking a rump roast and I have never done it before. Apparently I am supposed to tenderise it and the best way to do so apparently is to soak it in wine. Except I know nothing about wine. Apparently I know nothing about cooking roasts either."

Luckily we were in the marinating aisle and he pointed out a bottle very quickly. Either that, or he just wanted to get rid of me. I didn't question it, as I was just as happy to get out of the LCBO as he was to get rid of me.

So I carried my bottle in the telltale LCBO bag, and spent the rest of my commute kind of embarassed that it was Monday and I was carrying a bottle of booze around. Sometimes I can be so puritanical.

I got home, changed my clothes, washed my hands, and went straight to work. I threw together a marinade of red wine, mesquite flavoured spices, chiles, and cayenne pepper. I threw it in a Ziplock back with the roast, expelled all the air from the bag, sealed it, and stored it safely in my fridge until tomorrow night. I will let you know how I did on my first attempt at doing a marinade on my own tomorrow.

These are the People in Your Neighbourhood

People are a never ending source of fascination for me and there is no better place to watch people than downtown Toronto. A random sampling of my downtown experiences have included being insulted by a prostitute, and having a homeless man kick litter at me. Just when I think I have seen it all, something new crops up.

Wednesday night when I was on my way to Paul's, I stopped off at the store in Union Station to pick up my requisite bottle of tonic water. I walked out of the store, turned the corner, and right in front of me there were three Amish people. Don't get me wrong, its not that I don't like Amish people, I actually admire their sense of resolve and commitment to their chosen lifestyle. But at the same time, I don't understand how someone could go out into the field and cut wheat by hand with a scythe when it could be done with a combine in a fraction of the time. I just find it all rather confusing.

So as I looked at the women in their bonets and simple dresses, I had no choice but to call Paul.
me: "Paul, there's Amish people in Union Station leaning against a post eating ice cream."
Paul: "So?"
me: "What are they DOING here?"
Paul: "You just said they are eating ice cream."
me: "But why are they here?"
Paul: "I don't know. Why don't you ask them. Try handing them your phone and see what they do."

At that point I realised how ridiculous I was being, and ended the conversation. As I made my way over to Paul's I passed by four or five ticket scalpers outside of the ACC, and balance was restored to my life.

Thursday afternoon I needed a cup of tea, so I made my way down to T-Ho's. Lisa spotted me from across the street and came over to say hello. We were standing in line chatting when all of a sudden Lisa exclaimed "OMG, look across the street, is that what I THINK it is?!?"

I looked over, and a woman was walking North up the street. Normally that wouldn't be much cause for concern, except that she had no shirt on, and had a belt strapped across her chest to hide her nipples. I blinked a few times, looked at Lisa and said "OMG" followed by a joking "Lisa, why do you always do this to me?"

A guy was in line behind us and joined the conversation.
man: "What are you looking at?"
Lisa: "There was a semi-naked woman walking up the street with a belt strapped across her chest"
man: "She must not have been very good looking or I would have noticed."
Lisa: "No she was not"
man: "I'm sorry I missed it though."
me: "Well, let me put it to you this way. I actually wish I could take the memory of it out of my head and give it to you to keep there instead."
man: "In that case, I guess I am not sorry I missed it."
me: "Yeah, don't be."

As I continued to wait in line, I remembered the Amish people from Union Station. As much as they confuse me, I really did wish that it was them walking up the street instead.

Autumn has Fallen Upon Us

Last night Jennifer, Laura, Michelle, Karen, and I all gathered at Paul's place for a fun night of chatting. A great time was had by all. I was going to be sensible and go home around 11:00 but was having too much fun. Some of us went to a piano bar in the village and much to Paul's dismay, I requested Sweet Caroline. Sorry dude, but piano bar is latin for Neil Diamond music must be played here. We stayed there for a while until the pianist played Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me. He did such an amazing job of the song that we left right after to go dancing in the back room.

Today I spent the day loafing on my couch. I was supposed to go to a party tonight, but slept so much that I was going to be scorchingly late. I figured that given how tired I was today, perhaps staying in this evening and spending a relaxing night at home would be a better choice of activities.

I looked out my living room window this afternoon, and one of the trees has changed colour. The leaves are a gorgeous bright yellow and I must take a picture before they all fall off. Usually I am not a huge fan of the autumn season since it means that winter is just around the corner. But this year is different - maybe it is that I am eating better so that my mood is much better and I am able to handle the changing season. And maybe it is that the weather this summer was crap, so I am not going to miss what I did not have in the first place. I'm certainly not going to question it, since it is the best I have felt in ages.

Who Was I?

Its a rare Thursday night that I am at home. Usually Thursdays are Ugly Betty Night at Paul's, dart night at the Maddy, or some other randomly organised event at some fine downtown establishment. I did try to scare up Kim, Trish, Doreen, and maybe another friend or two to go out for a quick Thursday night bevvy, but to no avail. Its probably for the best since I have a great big meeting tomorrow that I have to be sharp for.

Faced with the opportunity of a rare Thursday night by myself, I was at a loss what to do. Ugly Betty is not the same on my TV. You really need to see Betty's braces in HD to get the full effect of the show. So I decided to catch up on some of my favourite blog sites to see what other members of the virtual world were up to.

I got as far as Yaksman's blog and he had a very interesting post from yesterday encouraging his friends to take the Who Would You Be In 1400 AD Test. I barely know who I am in the year 2008, so in an effort to find a clue, I decided to take the test. Here are my results:

The Monk
You scored 34% Cardinal, 51% Monk, 41% Lady, and 46% Knight!
You live a peaceful, quiet life. Very little danger comes your way and you live a long time. You are wise and modest, but also stagnant. You have little comfort, little food and have taken a vow of silence. But who needs chatter when just sitting in the cloister of your abbey with The Good Book makes you perfectly content.

Based on the even scattering of results, it looks like I barely know who I am in 1400 AD either.

I know the quiz is for fun, and it has no basis for reality, but I really must dispute some of the findings.
1. Peaceful quiet life.
2. Vow of silence.
3. Sitting with the Good Book makes me perfectly content.
4. Stagnant.
5. Modest.

Words cannot begin to describe how much I agree with the part about being wise. Of course, that is the reason why I am disputing Modest!

I'm Used to You, You're a Freak

Spending another fun filled night hanging at Paul's place. After a feeble attempt at tormenting him all he could respond was "I'm used to you, you're a freak." I decided to keep to myself for a while and pulled out his laptop and blog.

Yesterday I told you about the new chat toy that is installed on my computer at work. Today I was sitting and working very very hard, and the following message from Paul popped up on my screen:

I was in the bathroom playing with my phone. All of a sudden the radio on my phone started playing music really really loudly. I could not shut it off! Thank goodness I was in a stall so that no one knew who it was. I was so embarrassed.

To which I responded: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

All I could picture was someone walking down a silent hall, getting close to the bathroom, and hearing music starting to blare from within. I further pictured the person stop, give the door a rumple faced look, and then walk away in mass confusion.

I furthered the conversation by responding: What song was playing?

Paul responded with: I don't know.

We then made up the following list of the funniest songs that could have played:

1. Please Release me let me go.

2. One More Try.

3. I'll be Watching You.

4. Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

5. Plop Plop Fizz Fizz Oh What a Relief it is!

After that song was listed, we just couldn't think of one to top it.

Technology

Today I logged into my computer at work, and somehow the administrators in the background had decided to push a special chat program to everyone's workstation in the area. Robert and I decided it would be a fun little toy to see if we could get working. After about 1 minute of superficial chatting I said to him "you sit right next to me. So how is this better than me yelling over the cubicle wall at you?"

As much as I embrace technology, sometimes I can't figure out how certain things are supposed to enhance my life. Tomorrow I plan on yelling over the wall at him again. In light of the fact that I am always yelling over the wall at him, perhaps the technology is there to enhance his life, not mine.

If I Were a Cartoon Character....

... I would be the female cat from Loony Tunes Pepe le Pew! There is a crazy adventurous story out there that I promise to tell soon.

Back in the day a long long time ago, I owned a similarly named blogsite on a different domain. Here are my old comments on my childhood TV.

Tonight I am hanging out at Paul's watching the retro cartoon channel, and "License to Grill". I love License to Grill, not because I own a barbeque, can grill, or have any desire to grill, but because the host is hot hot hot!! Here are things I never though I would hear on a TV show that I would watch:

"rub it like yuh were rubbin yuh saddle!"

"Mr. Pork."

"Mm!"

"I spent half of the day on my back!"

"Burn my pork"

"make sure you oil it down"

"this is going to be a love oven for this pork"

"Allow this pork to rest up. Give it 10 minutes. Time to get my grits on."

"This is great cowboy cookin'!"

Sheep in the City

If you ever thought about going to the Royal Winter Fair, but have needed a reason to go, here it is. My niece has raised a sheep and is showing it at the fair on Saturday, November 15. I don't have the time yet, but will update you as soon as she gives me the details. Come out and cheer her on! 

(After party may or may not include roasted lamb and wool sweaters.)

Reflections

I finally dropped by Paul's place this week to pick up the photos from the trip. I will be posting them soon, except that there are about 2000 pics and it is a daunting task to organise them all. I'm thinking it is a task that is best left for a rainy day. Today is not that day - it is absolutely fantabulous outside and I fully plan on taking advantage of the gorgeous weather.

Last Sunday I discovered a magical almost mythical place. In an effort to eat better I located a grocery store and bought food. I further followed up with actually cooking the food and on more than one occasion! I have spent most of my life avoiding my kitchen, but this week I found some sort of joy out of food preparation. I'm sure the joy will go away soon when the novelty wears off. Or when I burn something.

Work has been crazy busy this week, but I managed to unload my Blackberry onto someone else for the weekend. As I handed the pager over to him I said "Oh, yeah, if a guy named Steve calls, just tell him I am not interested." I got a rumple faced look in return, until he realised it was a joke.

This week marks two milestones in my life. This past Thursday would have been my 9th wedding anniversary. Part of me wanted to stay home and spend some quiet time by myself, but social invitations were aplenty! Immediately after work I hooked up with Lisa and a bunch of her friends at Charlotte's Room, played a quick game of pool, and ran off to meet my old co-workers.

Tomorrow is another milestone in my life, it is the anniversary of me resigning from my old job. I remember that day well. It was bright and sunny and I spent the whole morning frantically trying to hand in my acceptance of the job offer to my new boss so that I could follow up with handing in my resignation letter to my old boss. Around 11:45 I walked across the street to my new office, handed in my acceptance, and walked back to my old office. On the way into the building I had the widest smile on my face you can imagine. I ran into my friends who already new that I had something in the works and it was only a matter of time before it was official. They didn't even have to ask what the smile was all about, the only thing they said was "CONGRATULATIONS!"

Studies have shown that the biggest fantasy people have is the day they walk into their bosses office and hand in their letter - it actually outranks sex fantasies. In the weeks leading up to my resignation date I was no different. But when the moment came that I called my supervisor into a boardroom in downtown Toronto and gave him my letter I felt much different than what I had imagined. I walked over to my supervisor's desk and asked him if I could speak with him privately in the boardroom on our floor. We sat across from each other at the table, I took a deep breath and I said "I have accepted an offer of employment at another firm and am officially resigning. October 4 will be my last day, here is my official letter of resignation." My supervisor gave me a look of shock, and a tear welled up in my eye.

Part of me was surprised that submitting my resignation was not the orgasmic moment I thought it would be. But in retrospect it was hard to leave. I had spent 8 years at my old firm and had a hand in helping it grow. I worked on a team with three other guys, and I could not have asked for a better bunch of people to share a cubicle pod with. I was going to miss them dearly, but my time had come and I felt that I must move forward. I knew from that day forward things were never going to be the same.

I left the boardroom, went back to the pod, and told the guys that my resignation was now official. The news of my resignation spread through the company like wildfire. For the two weeks that followed, every conversation I had went like this:
them: "Hey Lori, I heard you resigned. Congratulations!"
me: "Thanks!"
them: "Where are you going?"
me: "I'm going to **company name withheld**"
them: "There's a big shocker. Are you going to be working with Paul?"
me: "No, I am going to be working downtown."
them: "When's the going away bash?"
me: "October 3."
them: "At the Purple Pig I assume?"
me: "Of course!"
them: "Cool. See you then."

We had my farewell party and I was flabbergasted by the number of people who showed up. Because there was a revolving door of people coming and going throughout the night it was hard to get an official count, but a few of us estimated that between 40 and 50 people had come to pay their respects. I was humbled - I had no idea I had impacted that many people over the years. I was just doing my job. I guess I did it well.

My last day was spent recovering from my going away party and packing up my desk. Because I was going to be working right across the street, I had made arrangements with my new supervisor to be able to drop my things off there instead of carrying them home and back downtown again. I said my goodbyes, handed in my security pass, picked up my box of stuff, and walked across the street to the new office. I didn't look back. There was too much to look forward too.

The first couple of months were tough. I went from being the girl with all the answers to the girl with all the questions. I was used to knowing everyone I worked with, and I now knew only my supervisor, since I had worked with her before. Over time I have amassed a vast amount of knowledge and work on a team with an equally great bunch of people. I finally feel like I have established my place, and I don't have a single regret about changing companies.

Since I left the company, one of my old co-workers has also resigned, one of them changed departments, and one of them moved to Europe. Another is currently in negotiations for a job in Vancouver. We all share a common past, but we all are moving forward.

On Thursday night we got together for a family reunion. As I sat with them, I thought about my two milestones, how far I have come, and how much we had all been through together. We watched people get hired, and watched people get fired. We celebrated births and mourned the death of one of our friends. We attended weddings together and helped each other through divorces together. Birthdays and resignations were key.

As we enjoyed one of the last beautiful evenings on the patio at the Maddy, I noticed how much has changed over the past year. I mentioned my two milestones to them, and we ordered a shot of tequila to toast the moment. It was then that I realised that no matter how much we change, no matter how far we travel, we all share a common bond, and some things will always stay the same.

Finding Balance in an Imbalanced World

At the beginning of the year I attended a staff meeting where we were asked to put down our New Year's resolution on a piece of paper and pass it to the front of the room. I hate New Year's Eve and everything to do with it, so I was at a loss for what to write since I never make resolutions. I mulled it over for a while and wrote down the same resolution I have been using for about 20 years which is "I'm going to wing it and see what happens." It is my basic philosophy of life.

As they read out the various resolutions, one resolution that came up a few times was "Find work-life balance". I had never encountered such a term before. At first I saw it as just some slogan that someone has thrown out there. But the term stuck with me and ever since I heard it I have been thinking more and more about it.

I am a woman of extremes. When I am at work I work hard. When I am at play I play hard. I live life to the fullest because I have watched too many people die. I learned at a very young age that we don't have much time here, so you better make every second count.

Lately, though, I have finally started to feel my age. This week my doctor told me I should slow down. I should eat right, sleep well, and take care of myself. That's a lot to ask of someone like me.

As I sit and ponder what I must do, I keep thinking back to the night at Houhai Lake. If there was one thing I wanted to bring back with me to Canada it was the spirit for living that the people there had. The way they joined without asking or being asked. The amount of fun they had without being crazy. The fact that the entire night seemed to be an impromptu unfolding of events.

So I must find balance. Can life still be an adventure without being crazy? And how do I find balance in my imbalanced world?

I flew half way around the world....

...and all I got was this:

Bodum Chambord Coffee PressPerfecting the ideal blend.
There’s nothing quite like the sensation of being awakened in the morning by the pungent aroma of roasted coffee beans percolating in a Bodum Chambord coffee press. Since 1982, Bodum Chambord’s sleek coffee press has been redefining how people make and savour their coffee. Coincidentally, the coffee maker’s design wouldn’t be out of place being displayed in the Louvre. The coffee press brews 32 ounces of coffee and is simple to operate. All parts are dishwasher friendly. If you like this reward, you need to know:
This reward includes:• One Bodum Chambord Coffee Press

I now have enough Aeroplan Miles to get a coffee press, 12 Big Bertha Golf Balls, or a 3 piece tool set!!!

I am also now suddenly obsessed with air plane catalogues. Please help. Or send me your Aeroplan miles.

Paul, this post is for you...

....memories of the flight to Beijing:



http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=102700431&c=10200



http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=102674371&c=10710

Don't ask me how or why I found it. I will only blame it on the jetlag. For the rest of you reading this post, there are a couple of really good stories here. One centred around my strange but true phobia, and Lord only knows what the other one was centred around.

Jet Lag

Today's activities consisted of arriving at the office, hoping I remembered my network login id, rejoicing that I remembered it and feeling happy that I didn't have to call anyone for a password reset. Happiness was soon replaced with a not-so-good feeling when I saw how high my unread e-mail count is. It was right about that time when I looked up at the ceiling, imagined my mouth opening very wide, and letting out the dreaded proverbial return to work cubicle scream. It was a very busy day, so for every e-mail I read, I believe I received 3 new replacement e-mails. I stopped counting after a while.

Well, I have jet lag pretty bad, so tonight's blog will be very short. I have been awake for 28 hours straight with the exception of the 15 minutes of sleep I got on the GO Train ride home.

Paul has been suffering from jet lag as well. I got in my door, and noticed a missed call on my cell. There was a voicemail from him stating that he woke up and could not tell if it was morning or night outside.

I called him back and he said he was in a panick and he called 4 or 5 different people to find out if it was morning or night. I explained to him that I learned a very important lesson this evening - when I listen to techno on my IPod, I cannot hear the techno ring tone on my new phone that I picked up in Xidan. I will either have to stop listening to techno (which really isn't a bad idea - I swear I was just listening to it on the way home to annoy myself awake!) or change my ring tone.

I'm not sure what I am going to do about the ring tone, but I am sure that I must go to bed. Good night!

Home again.

We made it back safe and sound yesterday, although one of Paul's suitcases seems to have taken a detour. There were a couple of scary moments like when the taxi driver accidentally went into the wrong lane of traffic and we were driving into three lanes of oncoming traffic. Luckily we managed to escape that situation in one piece. In order to keep myself from panicking, I looked up the Chinese word for CRAZY, and that kept me preoccupied for a while.

By the time I got on the plane to come home, I was nursing a very painful sinus headache. The plane took off, and not long into the flight we hit some pretty bad turbulence. Once things settled down, my headache had started to subside and I spent the remainder of the flight sleeping.

This is by no means the end of the stories of the vacation though. We saw and did so many things, and there were times where I did not have the energy or the time to post some stories. The extra stories will have to wait until I get my photos from Paul's computer.

Chinese Magic and the Summer Palace

On Thursday Lori and I decided that we were going to the Summer Palace. However; one task had to be completed first, I needed some painkillers for my arm.

After our little game of hacky sack on Monday night, I managed to strain a groin muscle and, much worse, damage a tendon in my left shoulder. My shoulder was bad on Tuesday and got worse as the day progressed. On Wednesday, my arm was almost non functional. I had to lift my left arm with my right hand to put it on the dinner table or to do anything that required me to use my left arm.

We made our now usual week day trek to Starbucks at Nanlishilu for our morning coffee. On our way to coffee we remembered that there was a pharmacy in a street of stores near the Nanlishilu subway stop.

Once our liquid gold had been consumed and our cigarettes extinguished, we made the trek across the busy street (crossing the street in Beijing is an extreme sport) and went on to the Pharmacy.

As we entered the shop with its glass cases displaying all types of over the counter medicines, I pulled out my handy dandy Mandarin phrase book, given to me by Eddie gave me before I left for China, and pointed to the Chinese characters for 'I need some painkillers'. After reading the phrase I was pointing to, the lady pointed to her head indicating a headache, of which I did have as well from the pain of my shoulder. I responded with the affirmative but also pointed to my shoulder.

The lady in the Pharmacy proceeded to pull out a box of Ibuprofin with a picture of a man on it and various parts of the body highlighted by red and yellow dots indicating the pain relief points. After becoming terribly excited at the prospect of some pain relief, she then started pointing at her shoulder as a request for me to indicate where my pain was. She also wanted to see my range of motion. I was happy to show her that, although I could bend my arm at the elbow, I could not raise my arm to any degree, perhaps a 5% range of motion remained.

With my right hand, I indicated the spot on the front of my shoulder where I could feel the greatest amount of pain. She then began poking at my shoulder to discover the exact source of the pain. With a grimace of pain from me, she was satisfied. Then, unaware of the connection, she requested, through body language, that I try to put my arm behind my back. I was successful in reaching the small of my back, but that was the extent. She sat me down, grabbed my left arm and put it up behind my back until I was doubled over in pain. With a giant smile on her face, she rushed over to a display case, retrieved a box and pulled out two discs that looked to have a heap of Tiger balm on them. As I revealed my shoulder, she poked at me again to obtain the correct spot on the front and had no difficulty locating the spot on my back, right on the shoulder blade.

Once the discs were applied, she gave me two perscription like receipts and sent me off to pay. With payment settled, I returned to this goddess of pain relief and presented my two stamped receipts. With a smile she placed the Ibuprofin and the remaining discs in my hand and sent me off on my way.

Lori and I walked about 100 meters and stopped for a cigarette in the shade before heading back onto the subway. As I was smoking, I realized I was smoking with my left hand and bringing my cigarette to my mouth using my left hand. By the end of the day, I could grab the overhead bar on the subway. Thursday morning I was able to wash my hair without bending over to bring my head down to hand height.

Chinese magic is wonderful and I will never forget that wonderful woman and what she did for me.

On to the Summer Palace........

After a dismal attempt to find Bus 808 to take us to the Summer Palace earlier in the week, Lori and I decided to return to the area we were staying in and take a taxi from there. The Summer Palace is in the North West of the city and we are staying in the West. We hopped into the taxi, showed the driver where we wanted to go and in no time, we were at the gates of the palace. I would estimate the gates at being 24 kilometers away, the taxi starts at 10 yuan and charges an additional 1 yuan for ever 3 km travelled.

Queueing up to purchase the all inclusive tickets (entrance to all buildings) we noticed a fellow Canadian in front of us (it seems as though only Canadians stayed behind after the Olympics were over).

With tickets and souvenier maps in hand, off we went through the gates to Summer Palace.



Once inside, the grandeur of the Palace was immediately evident. There was an expansive lake (Kunming Lake) that was completely man made and had been enlarged and deepened during the Empress Dowager Cixi after the Palace had been raped and pillaged by the Anglo French Allied Forces, twice, once after the Second Opium War and the second time after the Boxer Rebellion.

Cixi used 100,000 workers to enlarge the lake with the removed soil being used to construct hills on the site.

The first marvel we came across was the 17 arch bridge, so named because there are 17 arches on the bridge that link the mainland to the island, South Lake Island (Nanhu Dao).



Once across the bridge and after a wander through the temples and halls, we came by a rather busy area with boats coming and going, dropping off and picking up tourists. We took a boat over to where the Marble Boat and the Tower of Buddhist Incense were.

The first object you see is the Marble Boat that the Empress Dowager had constructed. The Boat is said to represent the solid and unsinkable strength of the Qing Dynasty.



Walking past some more Temples and Halls, there are too many to see in one day, we happened upon a Hall that was used by Cixi to accept Birthday gifts, the majority of which were very unusual and interesting, others were just very beautiful.




On to the Tower of Buddhist Incense. What an amazing place, there were 5 sets of 59 stairs to climb once you were through Cixi's dressing room she used when going up to the Hall. Each landing provided a very unique view of the Palace grounds and the surrounding city.






the Summer Palace was a very spectacular sight that provided a glimpse into the beauty of the surroundings Cixi made sure that she had. She used money set aside for a modern navy to redo the Palace.

With the park closed and twilight coming on, it was time to head back into the city for some dinner. As we left the park, a taxi driver asked us if we needed a taxi, he would only charge us 50 yuan to take us to the nearest subway, we then asked to go to the subway stop close to where we were staying, he wanted to charge us 80 yuan. I laughted at him and said it only cost us 19 yuan to go to the Palace, why would I pay 4 times more to get back. After laughing this off, we headed for the busses. Discovering the buses, we soon found bus 690 that would drop us off at Quinan subway station across from Tian' anmen Square.

Standing on the bus, someone got on at another stop and asked if the bus went to Xidan, the collector said yes and we changed our plans and got off at Xidan.

After an hour and a half bus ride, standing, we decided to have a seat before venturing in to the malls. As we were sitting there, bus 808 came by, and then a second one came by. Oh well, we were not meant to take this bus we were only meant to see it.

798 Art District

A month or so ago when Paul and I were planning what to do while we were in China, we decided that the 798 Art District is one of the areas we should check out while we are here. After our morning ritual of people watching while having a morning coffee, we decided to set out for the 798 Art District. 

Back in the 1990's a group of up-and-coming artists in Beijing took over an abandoned electronics factory and set up shop there. Over the last few years this area has seen a rise in popularity and now boasts a large number of art galleries, restaurants, and coffee shops. 

I thought the area would less trendy than it is. It is composed of a large number of small galleries; each of the galleries is fairly quick to look through. One of the galleries contained an exhibit of contemporary Chinese art that has a mix of paintings, videos, and sculptures. One of the videos was a series of three TVs, one of which contained an empty couch, one contained a woman and one contained a man. The woman and man were each smelling themselves continuously all over. I did not stay to see the complete video since I was finding it rather disconcerting, but Paul stayed and apparently in the end the man and woman left their respective TVs and wound up in the third TV and smelled each other. I don't completely understand it, but yet in the end it is the part of the exhibit that I remember most and wound up finding it fascinating in an odd way.

Another gallery contained a series of photos of the Birdsnest from June 2007. It showed the dwellings that the people who were constructing it stayed in, and it was very interesting to see what the area around the stadium looked like before it was landscaped and made presentable for the Olympics. 

The third exhibit I remember the most was a series of photographs of various huotongs from 1989. Most of these huotongs have since been torn down to make room for more modern buildings. My only regret is that I was unable to find a book that contained the photographs as it would have been a great souvenir.

Although the galleries were interesting, I actually found the buildings much more fascinating. At one point I asked Paul "I wonder if anyone who used to work here has come back to see what the area is like now" As I wandered through the complex, I kept imagining what it would have looked like when it was a fully functional factory. I could visualize the people who worked there. 

Whether you go there for the art, or go there for the architecture, the area is definitely worth a look. No matter what your interests and tastes are, there is so much to see that there is definitely something for everyone.