grape

i would like to introduce you to the newest member of our technology-family, grape:



she's a purple iPod shuffle that i received for christmas (thanks c&s!) i took her running for the first time last friday and was so impressed. i can't tell you how nice it is to have music but to not have to hold my iPod mini in my hand. you just clip grape onto your clothes and away you go! brilliant!

two pictures of grape with j's green oliver.





cute, eh?

not so resolute

i'm not big on new year's resolutions. i really believe that you should be what you want to be all the time and not need the coming of a new year, which really is just the next day in the continuum of time, to make change. new year's resolutions just aren't for me.

i am however a big fan of lists. back in january 2004, the 7th specifically, i made a big list. it's called 101 things to do in 1001 days. if you're a math whiz you might know that the 1001st day passed recently. not that i noticed on the day of. but still, it happened. 1000 and 1 days passed and i accomplished nowhere near the 101 things on my list. in fact, i accomplished 41.5 of them.

now that i've done this once, i know how to make a better list. i need to be more specific in my tasks. so i've made a new 101 things to do in 1001 days. the first day was december 26 and i'm not even done making my list yet. it's not easy coming up with 101 things, believe me.

my first list didn't have some pretty big things i DID accomplish on it, like buying a house. i obviously wasn't thinking about a house all that much back then. it's about thinking long-ish term, 1001 days in the future specifically. that's not an easy thing to do, though i think it gets a little easier the more stable your life becomes. back in january 2004, i was still in school, engaged, and had a temp house. now i'm married, have a permanent job and my own house. my life is obviously different and so too are my "things to do".

my challenge to you is this: make a new year's resolution to NOT make any resolutions. make small changes that better your life that you can live with and sustain. small things really make a difference. and try something more long term, like the 101 things to do in 1001 days and report back at the end of it. you might find out something about yourself. i would rather learn what i really want to do instead of learning to make resolutions and then break them. look at any gym in january and look at the same gym a couple of months from now. the gyms are laughing.

be the change you want to see in the world.

project365

just over a year ago, i read about a fun little project where you take one picture a day for a year. project365 sounded intriguing so i jumped in. most people wait until the beginning of the new year - not me, i started on december 28th.

i started taking the camera with me everywhere. it became an extension of me. i learned to always have it ready because a random shot of something out in the world was often more fun that a last-minute shot of something in my house. i learned that taking a picture every day made the days go by slow but that after a while the effect was amazing.

the project wasn't always easy and i sure didn't take 365 masterpieces, but looking over the set as a slideshow puts a smile on my face. i get to see just how much i did over the past year. you get to see our house go from an empty shell to what it is now. you get to see the places we visited and the people we saw. you get to see random tidbits of our lives.

now the 365 days is done and i can't imagine myself without my camera near-by, especially now that i have a new one. i don't think i will stop taking a picture a day - or as close to it as i can - for a while. taking pictures has become part of my life.

so here you have my project365, from december 28, 2006 to december 27, 2007. what a year!

december 26 - cativersary

boxing day three years ago is the day we brought our cats home. poor sandy didn't handle the move well and promptly lost all of her fur.



they were troopers but especially liked spending time with each other.



it didn't take them long to warm up to us though.



sandy eventually got her fur back and we were surprised to see how orange she was!



j and i are very happy to have cats, these two especially. they're fun to have around. they are very talkative and playful. they love water and seeing us when we come home. our house would be much different without them around.

more pictures and story telling

i got a chance to see sylvia before she left for home. i went out with a&s and s&l and had pho near where they live. because of the snow and the crazy traffic it took my well over an hour to get there from work. j didn't come with me because he had to work late. later on, alan showed us how to rock out using a fake version of guitar hero and his computer keyboard.



(alan: you must have known your picture would make it onto my blog!)

i finally got my christmas cards done and sent out. i know i missed some of you this year - some i don't have your new address, others, it was too late to catch you at home. sorry about that.



i played hockey last friday night with a bunch of guys from work. this is the fourth game but only the second that i've played. the first time i played i got knocked around. this time was much better. after the game all i wanted was a quarter pounder with cheese. i stopped at the first mcd's on the way home and, after waiting in the drivethru line for a while, got to the window to learn that the only accept cash. i had no cash. of course. and, of course, this was the kind of drivethru with a concrete wall stopping you from leaving. i had to wait in the damn line for 10 minutes. i know that's not a long time in the grand scheme of things but i really wanted that sandwich. i finally did get my sandwich but i went to another mcdonalds.



the sign should say "drive thru open 24 hours but only if you pay with cash".

that was friday night. saturday night we went to the annual christmas party at richard's house. it was fun but i have no pictures because my camera battery was dead. i'm still not used to only having one battery.

sunday night was my family's christmas party. we ate lots of food, had a $5 gift exchange where both me and j came out with awesome loot. i got a huge mug with a plush reindeer guy and j got the babeh spiderman that he bought.



guitar hero was a big hit with almost everyone taking a turn.

we had to work christmas eve, but not a lot of work got done. everyone was so cheery and chatty. we left before 12 noon and did some family stuff, including some last minute shopping.

this was our first christmas in our new house so we opened our stockings and our presents for each other by ourselves. it was nice. i guess i complained enough about my point-and-shoot camera so j got me the newest model and i love it!



the cats also loved their feathered toy.



we went and did the christmas thing with j's family next. he got a ladder from his parents.



and we both got iPod shuffles - good for running. mine is purple and j's is green.



after that we went to see my parents. they seemed to like the little camera we got for them. they're off to cuba in a couple of weeks and only had an old camera that they didn't know really how to work. we found them the simplest camera out there.

boxing day they stopped by and demonstrated that they were both able to take pictures and show pictures. they hadn't tried putting the pictures on the computer yet though.

we did some more family stuff yesterday and even braved the stores. it was nice to finally be home, just the two of us again and then we remembered that it was exactly three years to the day that we've had our cats. our crazy little cats.

pictoral follow-a-long - things i've done lately

went to see beowulf. wore the goofy glasses. left about 20 minutes in. went shopping instead.



found out unsuccessful at work competition for own job. drank rum and used little ladies from cuba.



went a different way home from work. saw a spectacular sunset.



was granted permission to sign off on certain forms at work. last competency at higher level. same level of unsuccessful competition. what gives?



annual work christmas luncheon. danced like no one was watching when everyone was watching.



crazy party with j's coworkers. learned about the mystery basement toilet.



watched as huge amounts of snow turn two-car-wide driveway into narrow lane. shoveled.




shoveled again.



shoveled some more.



pigged out at work potluck lunch.



now we're here.

remarkably unremarkable week

a week has passed and i have very little to say about it. unfortunately.

- i played hockey and didn't get a penalty or get injured. this is good.
- it has already been a long month at work. though i did take a couple hours off wednesday and spent all of thursday on the couch playing guitar hero.
- i managed to get a 490 note streak by myself and over 1000 notes with j.
- j stayed home too and thought for a while that he had shingles again, but now he thinks he was just sick.
- i went to a lesbian party... i mean a hockey party. let's just say that i was in the minority.
- where do babies come from?
- i'm feeling like it's time to get organized. can you believe that we still have stuff in boxes almost a year after moving? is this normal?
- i have hockey tonight and next sunday night. but then i think we're done until the new year.
- christmas parties will pick up where hockey leaves off.
- thankfully i am almost done my christmas shopping.

random random.

me, not the boss

when did life get so busy that i can't find time to update this blog?

let's go in chronological order, because i am me.

tuesday - the broken picture frame, c/o rolo:



wednesday - i had training (day 3 of 4) at work and a hockey game at night. training was fine. i partially avoided the annoying guy and still managed to get some work done on my breaks. hockey was good. it had been 3 weeks since i'd been on my skates. it felt nice to zoom around the ice. but i should tell you that 15 seconds into the game i had scored... myself a penalty. oops. i went out with the team afterwards. the new heart and crown is nice but they should really serve some cheap bar food instead of overprices hoity-toity food.

thursday - training, day 4 of 4 at work. and then i was supposed to see my parents but the snow, oh the snow. the driving was horrific and after an hour in the car for the 12km drive from work to home, i said that i would see them later and spent the night with my cats instead. i had been neglecting them so they were appreciative of the warm lap.

friday - friday was meet the big boss and tell her my decision about whether i wanted to be the little boss for the month of december or january. i chose january and she agreed. january it is, with the possiblity of spill-over into february. i left work late, knowing that i was probably headed straight to the airport to pick up j, and that's exactly what i did. i read the paper and watched the people. then i talked j's ear off on the drive home about all the boss and coworker crap that's been going on this week. poor guy. at least the cats were excited to see him.

saturday - and then he was called into work from 1-6am saturday morning. i slept. he slept for a bit and then was called in again so we went, he worked while i read in the car. that night was chris and silvia's wedding reception party thing at their apartment downtown. it was the strangest thing. their apartment is half the third floor of an old house. it reminded me of kingston houses. and seeing lots of drunk people dancing to hey ya brought me right back to university. it was fun though. congratulations to chris and silvia.

sunday - most of the afternoon i spent baking cookies for the cookie exchange. we took a break to greet j's sister at the airport, back from a 6-month rotation in afghanistan, civilian-style. it was obvious she was super tired after 24 hours of travel. too bad that we couldn't go to dinner, but we had to get back before people came over. there were 9 or us for the cookie party. the cookies were tasty and the night was fun. i have about 6 million cookies if anyone wants any.

today - there is tons of snow. we woke up early and shoveled and we'll have to shovel again when we get home. welcome to winter in canada. at least the drive in wasn't bad. i think a lot of people stayed home. i was looking forward to coming to work today to see how my coworker who is the boss this month would be, but it didn't go down the way i thought it would. i thought the big boss would pull my coworker into her office but instead my coworker was told she was expected at a meeting NOW and was told after the fact. then she came to me asking why i didn't warn her. she's all smug, which is better than the sarcastic b*tch she was before, but still no fun. it's going to be a long december.

lacking in the visual

i've been out more in the past half-week than in the past couple of months and taken hardly any pictures. i guess that's the way it goes.

saturday night was chris' bachelor party and silvia's bachelorette, or so i thought. we got dressed up and went downtown. j dropped me off at the bar. the girls weren't there. i called chris to find out where silvia was and found out the party was the next night. so i called everyone i knew but no one was downtown. thankfully sylvia had already asked me over so i called her and headed over.

j headed to the drunk tank. let's just say the bachelor party was like any other and j had a good time. and i had a good time with sylvia, and later alan. we got home just before 4am and slept in like champs.

sunday we had the usual dinner with j's grandparents and then i went back downtown but this time met up with the girls. there were 5 of us at a swanky martini lounge. it wasn't what i was expecting.. more of a girls night out than a bachelorette party, but i had a great time. it was a good mix of people and a lot of fun. i still giggle thinking of silvia asking the hot bartender for a 'sexual pleasure' and then later asking for an 'easy tiger', you know, to lead him on and then turn him down. it was funny.

last night i had dinner made for me again. with j out of town (oh, j's out of town this week) his family must feel bad for me and is cooking me meals and hanging out with me. it's very nice. this time it was his parents. i really appreciate it. cooking for one just isn't any fun.

and on that note, i invited sylvia and lindsay over for a girls night in and we ordered chinese food. again, good times. rolo got a little cranky that we were hanging out in the living room and knocked over a picture frame we got in costa rica. i was surprised at my own reaction: it's totally fine. i know that j will try and fix it and he'll probably do a really good job and it'll be more us because it's broken and we have cats who knock things over.

and now i get to veg out on the couch. i have enough left over chinese food to last me for a while, though i might need to buy some salad to counteract the deep fried goodness that is chinese food, but i have lunch for tomorrow and likely for the rest of the week.

and i'm getting another dinner made for me thursday night when i go and mooch off my parents... i mean, when i go visit them. i'm on a mission though: book them a trip somewhere hot for right after christmas. they deserve a vacation. to ward off high blood pressure, the cold ottawa winter and such.

and i can dream about what i'm going to do with my remaining 5 vacation days. hmmm...

trans-siberian orchestra

j and i went to see the trans-siberian orchestra last night. they do nice christmas music and that was about all i knew about them. holy crap, was it ever a fantastic show.



we had seats on the floor and were snowed on twice.



the music was awesome and loud and perfect. j liked the pretty girl singers, though they were porn star-ish at times.



if you ever get a chance to see these guys live, do it! we were blown away.

this and that

- i just got an email from alan about human remains being found right near where we were hiking saturday. that's only a little creepy.

- i just set the date for my third annual cookie exchange party. i haven't been extremely social this fall and was wondering if anyone even remembered that it was coming up and then i got a message about it on my facebook. people do remember and even look forward to it. that feels nice.

- i have a four-day training course coming up. tomorrow and thursday and then next wednesday and thursday too. it's leadership for first time managers. it couldn't have better timing with my acting coming up december 1st.

- it gets dark early with the time change and i'm finding that i'm getting tired earlier and i'm crankier. maybe i just need more chocolate.

- i'm almost at the point where i'm going to break down and go and see my doctor. my body still isn't right after cuba. i thought whatever it was would pass. it didn't and i broke down last week and talked to a pharmacist who gave me some drugs. the drugs helped somewhat but i'm still not right.

- i just found out that our friend chris proposed to his girlfriend and is getting married next wednesday. so we have bachelor/bachelorette parties to go to friday night. crazy.

saturday fun

we went on a hike with L, S and A yesterday. beaver trail is part of the ncc's greenbelt. it was chilly but fine when you're moving.



we were on the lookout for beavers, but instead saw tons of chickadees. they would fly right up to you, swerve and fly away. but then we stopped at a little lookout point and i put my hand up, joking that they would just come and land in my hand, and then ONE DID! i freaked out because it felt like something bit my finger. everyone was laughing at me, but then they all put their hands out hoping one would come to them.



it was fun.

cuba

cuba was a whirlwind trip. we went to playa caleta in varadero. it was a 3.5 star resort but was beautiful. it was the beginning of high season so the resort was pretty empty when we got there. we had an ocean view.



we spent most of our time lounging beside the pool but also chasing around these guys:



we called them spring-tailed lizards because when they ran, their tails wound up behind them. they were fun.

we went to the city of matanzas, which was the cultural center of cuba before the capital, havana city, took over. matanzas was our glimpse of actual cuban life. we also saw the bellamar caves, the biggest tourist attraction in cuba. the cave was enormous and the weird part was that it was hot and humid in the cave unlike here, where caves are generally cool.



the resort had a different show every night, and joe, one of the guys from the animacion team would come into the lobby right before 10pm and shout "show time!" over and over. he was fun. the shows were much better than we were expecting. there was dancing and singing and aquatic ballet... everything that j wants to do when he grows up. unfortunately they weren't accepting applications. he contented himself with watching the pretty cuban girls in thongs.



it was interesting learning about cuba and how things work down there. we finally got the nerve to ask our waiter how cubans can afford cars when the salaries range from (the equivalent of) $10-20 US a month. (the answer: it isn't easy.) we enjoyed it but probably wouldn't go back to varadero, not that it wasn't beautiful and fun, just in a been-there-done-that kind of way. i would recommend cuba, but bring some anti-diarrheal medicine. take it from someone who knows.

quick note

a quick note to let you know that we're back from cuba. it was beautiful and fun and relaxing.. and i can say all that even though my stomach hated the food and my body is still protesting.

j is on training all week and i'm catching up on the million and one things i have to do at work. funfunfun.

it's official

i've been dreaming about cuba for a while now and tonight we made it official: we're going to cuba this saturday! like in 48 hours! FOR REAL!!!

monday i went off on a trip-tangent and researched churchill, manitoba for a bit until i realized that you have to book WELL in advance. definitely something to keep in mind for future travel, but this trip is all about cuba. cuba cuba cuba.

we're going to playa caleta in varadero from saturday to saturday. it's rated pretty high and has windsurfing included (j's happy). we'll take lots of pictures.

one more day of work and then play.

crazy week, kinda

it feels like last week was a crazy week but it wasn't really. we had lots of plans but a lot of them feel through or we just didn't go.

i started going to the gym across the street from work and managed to go three times last week. i biked and did weights and ran. the gym is small and so not-goodlife but it's cheap and it's convenient. two things that matter to me.

i played hockey all the way in arnprior tuesday night. before the game i walked across some concrete and dulled my skates so i had to get them sharpened. we did that friday night.

my parents were supposed to come over wednesday - that didn't happen - and then on saturday - that didn't happen either. my grandfather is gone back to holland now and my parents have a two-day stay at a resort-y place.

there were three halloween parties we were invited to this weekend and we didn't go to a single one. there's something about halloween parties that i don't like.

thankfully, with a brand new xbox 360 j didn't mind staying home either. we played guitar hero II on cooperative mode for hours.

we had dinner with j's parents saturday night and with his parents and grandparents last night. the food was amazing and not having to cook is pretty nice too.

we ran the 5K rattle me bones race yesterday morning. i looked up as i was crossing the finish line and saw a time of 39 minutes. i knew i didn't run as fast as i could have, but 39 minutes was a little demoralizing. turns out that time was for the 10K race that started well before the 5K and i most likely finished under 30 minutes. i'm not sure i'll do that race again - it was mega disorganized. now i'm being talked into doing the resolution run on december 31st. brrrrr!

work has been mega busy and friday, i was asked if i wanted the opportunity to act as section head of my group for a month (at some point over the next 4 months) along with three of my coworkers. it's almost unheard of for someone at my level to get an opportunity like this so i'm taking it. i tell them today.

i read about the polar bears in churchill last night and realized going there would probably be more fun than going to cuba so i looked into it. it would be WAY more expensive than going to cuba and we would have had to book this time last year. shoot. cuba it is.

and that's about it. i'm avoiding the real halloween by having a hockey game this wednesday night. other than that it's just the same old same old around here.

when reading isn't good

reading isn't good when you've got about 150 pages left in a really good book and you stay up until 2am finishing said book and you have to get up at 7am. i think that the lack of sleep sunday night is why i'm feeling like i'm getting sick again. my throat is killing me.

i was able to catch up on sleep a little yesterday (small nap) and last night (8 straight hours of sleep) but my throat still hurts. i'm hoping it will pass.

i played hockey last night. the game was out in arnprior and i barely made it in time... and then i still had to get dressed. i missed the first few minutes and when i was walking to the bench, i walked for a bit on concrete after the padded okay-for-skate-blades flooring ran out. oops! i fell a lot and now desperately need to get my skates sharpened. i'm out of clear tape too.

j and i went and got groceries after work monday and got more vegetables than ever. we had momentum so we cut everything up and have been eating well this week. my hope is that we can keep it up. it really amazes me when couples or families can eat so well when they work all day. i just don't get where people find the time to do it all.

tonight my parents and my grandfather are coming over. my grandfather is moving back to holland and stopped in town on his way. it's also his birthday today. so we'll make him tea and show him our house and send him on his way. i have some tv from last night to catch up on and i'm looking forward to putting on my comfy pants and hunkering down on the couch with a cat or two. and maybe tonight i'll be good like last night and not start another book and get lots of sleep. one can hope.

weekend

saturday night we went to "thong roast 2007" hosted by j&s. it was absolute hilarity. we had a nice sit down dinner, drank wine and played wii.. all while wearing thongs outside our pants. here j gets a wedgie:



sunday, j and went to mud lake to take some pictures. it was absolutely beautiful outside. i can't believe it's almost halloween.







and now we're back to work. we did groceries today and got more vegetables than normal. i'm positive we're going to start eating more fruits and veggies. well, start eating healthier in general.

i went to the gym for the first time today. about two weeks ago i signed up for the gym across the street from work but then i got sick. today i went and biked and did some weight work. you'd think i'd never been to a gym before - i felt lost and didn't remember any exercises. i have to work on that.

hockey tomorrow night. i've been off for two weeks so we'll see how i feel after the game. and then it's halloween and parties galore. we have to start thinking what we'll carve our pumpkin into this year. i can't even remember if we had a pumpkin last year. ah well.

bad week

the first bit of the week i was still sick. the middle of the week i was trying hard not to be sick and failing. the last bit of the week was horrible. and now it's friday and i'm (cautiously) feeling okay.

i had a written exam yesterday afternoon for a level higher than i am now, but for positions at my work. it was incredibly hard and i'm feeling pretty discouraged about it. but i can't spend my time thinking about it when i have to catch up on all the work i haven't been doing for the past week.

a rock and a hard place that's for sure. i hope everyone else is doing/feeling better than i am. if i drank wine, this is where i would ask you to pass me the bottle.

i'm alive!

i'm not dead - just super sick and not up to sitting at the computer much. i left work early last thursday and spent that day, friday, the whole weekend, and all of yesterday on the couch. i only left the house for a couple of hours saturday night for dinner. i'm gross sick, but i still have my appetite so it's not the flu, just a bad bad cold.

i went to work today because i was a little worried about my manager asking for a doctor's note and now that i don't really have a doctor that would be a problem. (i actually currently have two doctors: my real doctor is closing his practice; my potential new doctor i haven't met yet. but still.) my manager doesn't care about a note and wants me to only come in when i feel better. perfect. kiss away mornings for now. mornings are awful. they're awful because sleeping is hard and not restful and mornings are early.

whine whine whine.

i was at work today for about three hours. that was enough. i went through all my voicemails and emails and got rid of one of my files (in my job, i get lots of files but hardly ever get rid of any so this was nice) and left.

i think the cats missed me. except j was home all day because he's now sick (sorry j!) it's definitely going around and i'm sorry if i made you sick.

i just wanted to check in. i will be updating my flickr soon enough and will have posts of pictures for you in a couple days (famous last words or for real... who knows) unless the sick somehow gets worse.

here's hoping it doesn't.

thanksgiving

this was an insanely busy weekend. friday night we went out of town for a pre-wedding party for vik and karen. it was buffet dinner and open bar. needless to say it got a little rowdy.



at least no one puked in our car on the way home.

saturday, we were supposed to go to the aerial park but it was raining so we cancelled that. j is looking for the best version of the xbox 360 so we went to lots of stores looking for one. didn't find one (i keep telling him that christmas is coming up and he should not buy anything but he won't listen). it was his family's thanksgiving dinner that night. the food was really good. then we headed downtown for the bar for vik's last night as a single man. we didn't stay long.

sunday was the big day. the ceremony was early afternoon and was beautiful.



my new black shoes didn't agree with my feet so i'm left with huge blisters on my ankles, but i looked good.



we spent some time with j's family after the ceremony since we had some time to kill before the rest of the wedding. we went back for cocktails and dinner and finally dancing. the whole night was a lot of fun. congratulations to vik and karen!

thankfully monday was a day off. we slept in and didn't leave the house all day. my parents came over for tea in the afternoon but that's it. a much needed break from our hectic week.

sens vs. leafs

at the last minute, we got tickets to the sens vs. leafs game. we went with j's cousin and his girlfriend. we were all clever and remembered that s&l live right near the palladium and asked to park at their place. about an hour drive and then a 15 minute walk, we were there for the beginning of the game.

the sens took an early 2-0 lead but lost it and only scored the third goal late in the game, but held on for the win. it was a good time.

hockey all stars

my hockey team had its first game last night. if it weren't for the first three minutes where we were scored on three times, we would have probably won. the first period, especially those first few minutes, were bad, but then we picked it up. i don't feel like i played my best game, but i like the speed and i will get better.

afterwards, we went to the prescott and as i was looking around for my teammates, a guy at the bar tried this pick-up line on me: look's like you're looking for somebody. no sh*t! i said i was and then he asked me if i had a name. i told him i had three names and walked away. what a winner.

my teammates finally showed up and we ate and drank and watched a period of the sens/leafs game. i like the new jerseys.

i got home relatively early and was in bed well before midnight but i'm still exhausted today. i'm looking forward to sleeping in on monday. our weekend is packed with wedding stuff and family stuff so i'm not sure if i'll be able to sleep in. at least i can count on monday.

picture intensive

here you go: pictures. finally.

teaser from my shopping outing monday night:


before the run for the cure 5K race:


during the race:


at the end of the race:


vik's party:




teaser from meech lake ruins:


first hockey game of the season tonight. i'm looking forward to it.