Weekly blogger

I don't know what it is but I haven't felt much like blogging lately. But that's not all; I haven't felt much like working or going out either. I think it might have to do with the changing seasons.. it's getting colder and darker and I just want to curl up on the couch with the cats.

That's exactly what I did with myself last Wednesday and Thursday nights when J was still out of town on training. I didn't choose to be alone so I was lonely. Really lonely. And the worst part is that he leaves again this Sunday for another course. Another week alone.

But Friday was nice. I got into work early so I got to leave early. I was home maybe half an hour when J got home. It was so nice to see him. We celebrated by spending the night together - we went out for dinner, did some shopping (I got a new coat) and hung out. The cats were possibly more happy than I was to see J, especially Rolo who would not stop purring.



Saturday J convinced me that he should put up the Christmas lights. I'm thinking it's only October, he's thinking Christmas!!! We don't always see eye-to-eye when it comes to Christmas things. He started putting up the lights, but didn't finish. We did a little more shopping before heading over to S&L's for a lazy Saturday.

Sunday was a weird day. We got home early afternoon. The cats were obviously super happy to see us. J was running around like mad trying to do laundry so he would have clean boxers and socks to wear to work Monday. I thought I would nap. I had just fallen asleep when S&L came over. They were looking at open houses and were using our place as home base for houses in our area.

We went and saw the grossest, most disgusting house I've ever set foot in. The previous owners went bankrupt and obviously didn't clean ever. It was so gross. I gagged when we went to the basement because of the smell. Too bad because the house is on a nice street and isn't a bad layout, but to make it live-able, S&L would have to spend big bucks. Not worth it. Things picked up from there when we went through model houses, which are always spotless and decorated all nice.

Next was birthday dinner for J's dad at his grandparents' place. We were both exhausted but lasted through dinner and cake and presents and puppy licks. Not much longer. We left and only stopped to get some much-needed fruit before getting home and collapsing into bed.



Monday (yesterday) night, J decided to change the headlights in the car. One of the HIDs had burnt out (or was otherwise not working) and J wants to put the car back to stock so we can use it as a trade in on a new car (more on that later). I watched tv while he worked away. Changing the headlights is not a small task with our car.



The big news from today is that I had an interview this morning. It was the most relaxed interview I'd ever had. Two managers (females in their early 30s) asked me a bunch of standard questions and since my current job is so similar to this one, my examples were all recent and relevant. I think it went well. I will have to do some soul-searching if offered the position, weigh out my options, but I will deal with that if and when it happens.

It was rainy and gross all day but then it snowed. For the first time this year and it's still going. The snow isn't just melting when it hits the ground, it's coating the whole world in white. Insane.




Now we're all caught up. I can't say it won't be another week before I post again, but you never know.

Lots and lots

Lots has happened since I last posted, and even before that since I was trying to catch up on posting about the wedding. Let's start with Thanksgiving. Since J and I started dating back in 2001, this year's Thanksgiving was the least busy. We had one family dinner and that's it. Good thing too since we were in Hawkesbury for most of the weekend. We were home Sunday for I can't remember how long before heading to my parent's place. My brother, SA, was in town (he was in Slovakia last year so it was nice to have him there) with his girlfriend, M. We did the typical family things: took a group picture, had dinner, played cards.



I had diet coke spilled all over me and J got two magnets caught on his arm hair. Never uneventful. J also made a giraffe out of the pieces holding my wedding bouquet together (the bouquet found a new life in my parent's house).



We didn't have other family dinners because J's family was all out of town.


J and I went for a hike with S&L on Pine Grove Trail. I think that was the holiday Monday. Thank goodness for that day. It was a day of recovery and laundry. The hike was nice.



(Whole set - Pine Grove Trail)

The week after the wedding and Thanksgiving I hardly went to work. I stayed home feeling like crap. At least the cats were happy and I was happy to catch up on all the tv I'd missed the week before.

I was finally feeling more like myself Friday so we had S&L over for dinner. Saturday we went to a party at LS&S's place (J works with LS). I hadn't seen that group of people forever and one of the couples had recently gotten engaged so there was lots to talk about.

Sunday we went to Little Italy for brunch with S&L. We stopped at the Arboretum on the way home. The weather was perfect and I got to climb the big beautiful tree that I had only seen from the street (while driving, biking, busing or running past).



(Whole set - The Arboretum)

After the Arboretum, we picked up J's rental car. Now he's in Toronto for training. He left Sunday afternoon and will be back Friday night. We've been talking using Skype which is really nice.



People have been taking good care of me this week. His parents fed me Sunday night, S came over to hang out Monday night and S&L fed me last night. Tonight was my first night alone.. well, alone with the tv and the cats. Rolo has really been missing J but he cuddled up with me tonight. Sandy is under him under the blanket.



Only two more nights alone.


If you're interested, the Ski Show is happening this weekend.

A&S Get Hitched

We woke up early and started getting ready. Well, L and I did. S woke up, stumbled to breakfast and came back to the room and J didn't get up at all. Slacker.

L and I packed up the car and left the boys. We met the girls at the hair salon. It was three or four hours of standing and sitting and talking and finally getting our hair done.

Then we went to one of A's aunt's houses to get ready. J was super and brought us food while we put on our make up and dresses and got S all ready to go. We did some pictures in the garden outside then hopped in the car and headed to the church.



The ceremony went well. A only cried a little (sorry A, but it was really cute!) and S's voice held up so her vows were not only in Dutch but in a sexy gravelly voice.



Here they are, all married and happy:



After a group shot at the church, we headed to the golf course for the photos. For me, it was a very strange thing. We were hanging out; A&S, their families, the wedding party... and so many of those people were couples. J was at the hall setting up the photobooth and taking pictures. I felt incredibly lonely and I didn't have my camera and feel like I missed about a million great pictures.

After pictures, it was almost time for dinner. We were like celebrities and were introduced as we entered the hall. It was fun. Dinner was good, the speeches were good, the slideshow S's dad did was funny. J MC'd very well, even after a lot of wine. Then we danced. We danced until the hall closed.

It was a great time. Congratulations A&S and thank you for including me in your big day. I can't wait to see all of T's pictures.


My whole set on Flickr.

A&S Rehearsal Day

Rehearsal day started off with almost an entire day of work. J and I left a little before 3pm and took the scenic route to Hawkesbury. We got to town with enough time to check into the hotel before heading to the church. We found the church okay and found our friends. The rehearsal went well: we walked, we stood, we sat, we listened and we talked. It was interesting.. not something I'd ever done before.

We got to meet S's family, which was nice. Then we went to a local restaurant for dinner. After dinner, A&S gave each couple in the wedding party a bottle of wine and an AH Photography original framed picture. I'm hoping it will go over our fireplace.



After dinner, we went to the golf club to finish decorating the hall. There wasn't much left to do so we played around with the photobooth set up.



The original plan was to head out to the only club in town, but with (almost) everyone feeling somewhat sick we opted to go back to the hotel instead. S&L and J and I were sharing a room (the only way L and I could convince the boys to stay in town that night) and I definitely pulled the sleep-over giggle fit when the lights went out. I'm extremely mature.

Everyone was really excited for the big day and it was only one sleep away.

Cirque du Soleil!

I've always wanted to see a Cirque show and last night I finally did! Corteo is playing in town so J and I went with S&L (I should mention that L is NOT sick unlike what I implied in my previous post and J is no longer sick.)

After work yesterday, J and I went to Moore's to buy him a tie for the wedding tomorrow. It's black with orange in it to match my dress. He's going to look sharp.

Because of our stop and some crazy insane traffic we didn't get home as early as expected and so I scrambled to make us food before we had to leave. There was tuna helper in the cupboard so I made that. BIG mistake. J smelled it and remembered that it had made him sick last winter. I ate half of my bowl and felt gross.

With upset bellies we hopped in the car. The show was right beside a big mall so we stopped in and bought Pepto. Friends, my first Cirque show and my first gulp of Pepto all in the same night. The Pepto was disgusting but my stomach did feel better.

Now, the show! The show was incredible! If you can make it out, you really should go. The athleticism, musicality, and strength of all the performers was spectacular. I'm not the gushy kind of person, but it really was an amazing show. Oh, and the abs on the guys... wow.

Maybe because I grew up doing ballet and gymnastics (possibly something you didn't know about me) I left there wanting to run away and join the circus. I'm not sure what I would specialize in exactly, but it would be something cool. It was all pretty cool.

This was our last outing before the big wedding this weekend. We got home from the show after a quick stop at McDonalds (you know, some quality food after the dinner from hell) and started packing. The plan is to leave this afternoon from work, get to town in time for the rehearsal at the church, check into the hotel before dinner and then collapse into bed. I am sick you know. Or maybe we'll hit up the only club in town. I made sure to pack my dancing shoes.

Gatineau Park - Fall Colours

Even though we're all sick, S&L and J and I decided to head over to Gatineau to hike around Pink Lake. This was an afternoon dealie because we (J and K) like our sleep-ins. We met at the info center to get a map. Very useful.

Until you go off the map. That's right, off roading. The Pink Lake parking lot was full so we kept driving until we came to the Mackenzie King Estate. We hiked around the area where Mackenzie King lived (? I'm not really sure. I didn't actually read any of the information plaque things that are everywhere. Oops.) and took some trails that weren't on the little map we had. No matter, we're adventurers.



It was the perfect day though, just chilly enough for me to wear my tuke! There's something so comforting about the first tuke-wearing day of the year. That could be just me....



But really, the weather was beautiful and being outside was a nice break from being a sickie inside. Though after 2 hours or however long we were out there, we were ready for the couch. But not before getting food. We stopped at The Works. I think they should have named the burger I chose the "messiest, don't eat this in front of cute boys" burger. I was covered in sauce but it was delicious.

We watched Iron Man and all tried to stay awake. Party animals I tell you. I had only seen one preview for the movie, but really liked it.


Check out the whole set from our hike on Flickr.

Sharks year-end party, only 3 months late

Our summer baseball season ended a long time ago.. I don't even think we played a game in August so our year-end party was a tad on the late side. But we're all busy and blahblahblah, but we finally picked a date and decided on a potluck. Party was set for Friday night at BC's house.

Because I wasn't feeling well all week I wasn't really looking forward to making something, and let's be honest, I don't like cooking / baking on the best of days. I finally decided on a frozen lasagna that I threw in the oven as soon as I got home from work so it would be mostly cooked by the time I had to leave. We also had baked brie, fruit and cake dipped in chocolate and salad (best salad ever and I have the recipe).



There was cake and cookies for dessert. Good food, as always.



Not everyone could make it and actually only 6 of us were there. It was really nice seeing everyone and seeing BC's new house and new puppy and new turtles. Turtles!

More running

So the 5K race went really well. RS and I made our way over in time for race kit pickup. There were three government departments participating. We were given a long sleeved yellow shirt, our timing chips and our bibs then we stood around until the race started. It was windy and cold and even rained for a bit. If I wasn't sick before, I sure would be after.

We debated over how many layers to keep on. I erred on the side of caution and kept on everything (three shirts and a sweatshirt). I was a huge, yellow marshmallow.

We lined up with the other runners in a sea of yellow. A cannon was fired and we ran. The course took us along roads, through parking lots, through the forest single file, along the river and back to the building. I crossed the finish line in just under 28 minutes, being cheered on by L who came to watch and RS who finished a good 5 minutes before me. He actually finished 15th overall.

Here we are, back at the office, giddy to be big yellow monsters in cubicle land:



It was interesting to run in a small race. There were under 200 people running (almost 500 total for the 5K and the 2.5K walk). Everyone got a door prize (I put my pedometer to use already) and hung around for the awards ceremony afterwards. It was fun.

Big news, well kinda

My big news, BIG news, is that I went and bought new jeans. Whoo! I realize this may not be super exciting for you, but for me, it's a beautiful thing.

Not the whole story

My night didn't end when we left downtown after SW's bachelorette party. The four of us (SK, LP, J and I) went back to our place and kept on going. There was beer and music and chats and a movie. We didn't go to bed until after 6am and it was getting bright out at that point.

Sunday was a day of recovery. I slept for two hours only to wake up with my belly hungry and upset. Great combination. I spent over an hour trying to make it feel better. It finally did and I went back to bed for a while.

When the four of us were finally awake (earlier than I thought we would be), we made peace with the fact that the whole day was a write-off, thanked ourselves for not making any plans, and had a super lazy day. It was so nice to veg all day with nothing to do.

SW's Bachelorette Party

As promised....

For weeks, LP, JB and I planned a whole night of activities for SW for her bachelorette party. First we took her to the MAC store to have her make up done. She looked smokin:



We took the party to Metropolitan for drinks, but not too many.



Then it was off to Cornerstone for dinner with all the girls.



We gave SW a bag full of goodies. We dressed her up in devil horns with a red veil, a shot glass on a necklace and lacy white gloves. We gave her a book full of challenges for her to complete over the night.

After dinner it was off to the first bar for drinking and dancing and a whole lot of fun with a soccer team and a bunch of frosh on a pub crawl. SW was a trooper and got through a lot of the challenges in her book.

The second bar was more of a club so there was a lot more dancing. We all wore glow-in-the-dark bracelets and had a lot of fun.

The night was capped off with a lot of walking in the rain downtown and trying to figure out rides and emotions (girls get a little wonky when they drink). My hope is that SW had a great last night out as a single girl (well, a non-married girl). You looked stunning, S.