My Silence Will be Broken Soon....

I have been quite sick over the past few days. I will write more when I feel better. Keep checking in on me as I will have more adventures soon.....

Did you Ever Wonder What you Eat?

Part of changing my diet has included researching the nutritional value of the food I eat. The goal was to boost my immune system, so I started to research what foods will give me the "biggest bang for my buck", so to speak.

Now, don't get me wrong. I still love eat junk food - particularly if it is made of chocolate. I still eat it, too. Which means I love sugar and fat. Who doesn't love fat?!?

So my love of fat lead me to add cheese to my salads. Then one day I was in the store and thought "hmmmm, I wonder if I can substitute avocado in for cheese?". For me, it was all about taste, and since most food tastes better with fat in it, what better way to add fat to my salad than to add a fatty vegetable like avocado? My little experiment worked, avocado is quite possibly one of natures most perfect foods!

Aside from appealing to the side of me that loves fat, I figured that since it is a natural vegetable it must have other redeeming qualities like vitamins and minerals and stuff. So after supper I Googled the nutritional properties of avocado. In my search for this, I found the NutritionData Website.

This is one of the most useful and easy to use sites on nutrition that I have ever seen. It is not just about nuts and seeds and berries, it will give you information on all types of foods - chocolate included! It gives the nutrient and fat content of whatever food you select, plus different charts and indices. The information is based on the USDA database; I suggest you read the information contained in the "About Us" link at the bottom so that you understand where the data comes from, and how valid it is.

After reading the information on site, I learned that the avocado is more than just a tasty vegetable! It has a lot of highly nutritious properties as well. Check it out and see for yourself!

Happy New Year

Everyone who knows me well knows how much of a love-hate relationship I have with the dawning of a new year. I generally recycle the same resolution every year: "I'll just wing it and see what happens". But over the past couple years I have written a blog entry talking about what I was doing at the start of the year, and I am actually finding it very interesting to go back and read where I was before. This is where I was two years ago, and this is where I was one year ago.

I did not manage to keep the resolution of staying man free. It worked for about 6 months, then I started dating someone for about 4 months. But in the end my instincts told me to let him go, so I did. I'm still not sure if I am ready to have someone in my life right now, but perhaps it is because I am more comfortable in staying single than I am with being in a relationship.

So this year I am keeping with reusing the same resolution of just winging it and seeing what happens, but I have added an addendum to it. I have decided that as long as I feel I am better off now than I was a year ago, I can declare the year a success.

I can definitely declare last year a success. I made it through probation at my job, and I have settled in quite nicely there. I have amassed a lot of knowledge on the systems and processes, and I continue to learn new things every day. It is a very challenging job, but I look forward to going to work every day and at the end of the day I leave knowing that I accomplished something. I have built a great network of contacts, and made a few friends.

My last birthday in my 30's was fantastic! I gathered a group of great friends together to see Evil Dead the Musical and had an absolute blast! I hope the musical comes back to town again someday soon so that I can see it a third time.

The trip to China was probably one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. So much so, that I really want to go back to see more of the country. In fact, you could spend your life touring China and never ever see everything there is to see. But I guess the same could be said of Canada, too.

I did say in last year's blog that anything after China would be anti-climatic. I did not know that it would be drama ridden. My doctor sent me to a specialist for a biopsy in September. The high point was finding out that the biopsy came back negative and I don't have cancer, but I have to be more careful now. I have taken the doctor's words to heart and have tried to eat better and sleep better. I have cut back on how much I go out, and have more strict rules about going out on week nights. I am cooking more and using ingredients from scratch. I still have a tendency to fall asleep on the couch instead of going to bed at a decent hour.

My friends continue to be a large part of my life. I seem to velcro myself to Paul's couch on a regular basis, whether he likes it or not. Lisa still gets me to go to soca fetes when there is something good, and we get together for lunches on an irregular basis.

There were also a lot of get togethers with my other friends. December 19 was the most recent gathering of the crew for a bit of Holiday Cheer. It was a blast to hang out with Trish, Paul, John, Jeremy, Greg, Chris, and Kevin. Although the sketchiness of my recollection of the night's events coincides directly with Kevin's purchase of a couple of rounds of tequila shots. Many thanks to John for convincing me to crash at his place for the night. You were right, it was the better option.

Now as I finish off this entry, here are a few of the things I have to look forward to for 2009:
1. Running my first 5K (ok, the resolution run did not happen, more on that kerfuffle later).
2. My first birthday in my 40's.
3. Making it through my next biopsy and hoping the results come back favourable.
4. Running the Terry Fox Run.
5. Redoing my upstairs bathroom.
6. Going to a country I have not been to before. I'm thinking along the lines of a cruise in the Baltic Sea, but nothing is etched in stone yet.

So I guess in summary, my focus this year will be on my health since I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. I am very optimistic about the year to come, and certainly hope that I end this year better off than I started it. But even if it turns out the same, it will be a pretty good year.

Things to do When it is Freakin Cold Out There

I have FINALLY started to sort all my Beijing photos from the trip now that it is freakin cold outside! I happened upon this photo which gave me a bit of a chuckle.

A Tribute to my Longest Friendship

Today while bustling about the internet I found my grade 1 class photo online. I am in the back row, 5th from the left in the red dress.

It was grade 1 that I learned "The Pancake Song" for Shrove Tuesday. Every time I make pancakes for my nephews and niece I torture them with the song.

But the fondest memory I have from grade 1 is the first day of school. Mrs. Wallace was taking attendence and got to the bottom of the list. She looked up and around, and said "The little Cole girl is not here." Mere seconds after she said that, there was a knock on the door and a little girl was standing there with her Mom. Mrs. Wallace spoke to the Mom, welcomed the little girl into the class, and introduced her as Mary, the new student who would be joining our class. More than 33 years later I am still talking to that little girl, and she has the claim to fame of sharing my longest standing friendship with me.

I'm not sure how we became friends, or stayed friends for so long. Mary is very quiet and follows the rules almost to a "T". I am more outgoing and have a tendency to re-word the rules to suit my needs. That's not to say I do anything illegal, I just push the boundaries out as far as I can and hope I don't get caught. Of course, there were times in elementary school that I pushed the boundaries too far. Mary was my sidekick, and I was the reason that Mary served detentions in elementary school.

I straightened up quite a bit when I went to high school, and we got into a lot less trouble. But I still managed to force her to push her boundaries. Like the time we went to the fair, got some helium balloons, breathed in the gas and talked with those crazy funny voices. Immediately after, I forced her to go on a ride. I'm not sure if it was the helium, the bacteria ridden fair food, or the ride, but within seconds of getting off she puked. In an effort to hide my laughter, I ran off to get some napkins so that she could clean herself up. It was the least I could do for her.

She and I had lunch recently and reminisced about the time we were bored, decided to buy a coconut, drove to a shopping mall parking lot, sat in the middle of a parking space and tried to open it in front of a little crowd that gathered to watch what we were doing. I also reminded her of the time I was driving her Dad's car and almost rolled it - Volkswagen Rabbits don't corner well at 50 km/h!

At the end of high school most people go off to different schools and lose touch with their friends over time. Mary and I were both accepted into the Science Faculty at University of Waterloo and our paths stayed crossed for a while longer. We were roommates for first year and half of second year. Every night we did not have class we would de-stress by watching Jeopardy and keeping score. I think she won more than me, but its hard to remember now.

I was her maid of honour at her wedding, she was a bridesmaid in mine. I visited her in the hospital after the birth of her first child. She was at the funeral when my Dad passed away. She offered condolences when she learned that I was getting a divorce.

Though we are not as close as we used to be, our friendship has withstood all that time has thrown at us. She remained in the town where we first met while I packed my bags and moved off to the bright lights of the big city. Although our lives are very different, we still share a common childhood and a common bond. We can go for months, perhaps even years without speaking to each other, then get together for lunch as if it was yesterday since we last saw each other.

Tomorrow is a very special day. Tomorrow is Mary's 40th birthday and I want to take this opportunity to remind her that I am still in my 30's (Sorry Mary, I just had to get a jab in there somewhere!)

But I really want to say thank you for always being there for me during good and bad, for adding a perspective that is different from my own, and for ensuring that I did not serve as many detentions in elementary school as I could have.

Have a very special Happy 40th Birthday, Mary!