batman the adventurer

i was invited out for dinner last night and i went. i was told in the afternoon that we were going for sushi. in my head: eeek! in my response: sure! i'm up for that! i didn't think about it much all afternoon or i probably would have psyched myself out.

6:30 comes around and my ride shows up - big T. we pick up k and head out. thankfully this little sushi place isn't far from home.. i like going downtown but it just takes longer. so we pore over the menu for about an hour trying to decide what the hell we were doing. k had been there before i pointed us in the right direction. t and i fumbled until we had chosen 6 types of sushi.

our food came and then the fumbling with chopsticks began! i'm proud to say that i didn't fling a single piece of sushi across the room which i was totally anticipating doing. i definitely was not all kung-fu with my chopsticks, but i wasn't so terrible either. i've decided to stick with my left-hand (for those keeping score from my last post).

dinner was delicious. we had crab and spicy tuna and shrimp and tofu and cucumber.. hmm, and one more to make 6. i can't remember what it was though. i never thought sushi was a meal, i thought it was an appetizer, but we filled ourselves up.

all in all a very adventurous and interesting dinner. big t gets the bill and we get up to go and i, Klutzy girl with a capital K, knock over my chair backwards! who does that? i do. apparently.

then we walked over to dick's drive-in and dairy dip. no joke, that's the actual name of this place. t has always wanted to go and it just so happens her mouth and nose were on fire after a run-in with some wasabi. we sat down outside at a picnic table and ordered. after a while i noticed that i was stuck to the bench. that's right - i sat in ice cream. i was pissed, but not as pissed as when i got up and t and k laughed at me cause it was CHOCOLATE ice cream. all over my ass. right, me the night's entertainment.

we left there and stopped in at an adult store and looked around at all the weird and crazy things they have and laughed at some of the more ridiculous items. i mean honestly, some of those things, who uses them? i made it home without tripping or falling or spilling anything else on myself. i ran downstairs and put my bum in s's face and she laughed at me.

definitely a good night. definitely me being super adventurous (sushi?) and super klutzy.

damn it feels good to be a gangster

damn it feels good to be a gangster.. office space, anyone? anyone?

i was reminded of that song when i was thinking to myself that i'm so glad to be left-handed. i got hit by a pitch last night on the hand and thankfully nothing is broken and i have almost full use of it. my right hand i mean. and then i was thinking that being left-handed has so many perks. it is my belief that lefties are more capable at adapting to using their off hand than right-handed people.

and this isn't that we are more talented or gifted or able to use more of our brains, though i'm sure some lefties would say that is so. it is because the majority of society is right-handed. why? i'm not sure. but as a result, so many things are tailored to the righties. let me give you an example you probably have never EVER noticed: the writing on pens and toothbrushes and other hand-tools is all facing the correct way if held in the right hand. go check. i'm not lying. also, things like zippers on pants and coats and even how your workstation is set up - the mouse for example - all set up for right-handed people. i could go on.

i'm just fortunate that i wasn't born about 50 years before i was. my uncle is left-handed but he would get hit with a stick in school if he ever used his left hand. he is now very ambidextrous. so while this kind of punishment and narrow-mindedness is almost gone from people and society as a whole, there is still the residual ease for the right-handed people and the general lack of alternatives for those who are left-handed. ever try to find a left-handed baseball glove (i.e. one that goes on your right hand)? you'll find a hundred right-handed ones for every left-handed one. i'm talking from experience here.

being left-handed has also taught me to be more open to differences i see in people. it's not only about the physical handedness, it's also how people handle things, how they think and process events and problems. don't they say that we have two sides to our brains and that left-handed people are more artsy while right-handed people are more mathematical? i could have that reversed, but i don't think it's true anyways. i agree that different people approach problems (and life for that matter) using different methods but i do not think that it is one hundred percent related to what hand we prefer. i, for one, can be very vague and out there or i can see only black and white. sometimes i like that there are grey areas and sometimes they make me want to scream.

so while there are many things that i do exclusively with my right hand, i do them by choice and not because i can't do them with my left. you just get used to doing things a certain way and that happens to be things like brushing my teeth. i always use my right hand. does it mean i'm slower with my left? certainly. does it mean i can get by using my left? absolutely. this applies to everything i can think of except when it comes to cutting with scissors. i am completely useless with my left hand... ask my kindergarden teacher who would only let me use the green-handled scissors. i'm sure i got "plays well with others. needs work on her cutting skills. can stay in the lines while colouring" comments on my report cards. that's an example of the narrow-mindedness i was talking about.

i was also fortunate to have one right-handed parent and one left-handed parent. they let me decide which hand i prefered by placing all my tools (fork, spoon, crayon, whatever) in the middle. never on one side or the other. they did this with my brother as well. i became left-handed and he became right-handed. we are definitely different people but it stems from other things i'm sure.

jenga

you know what i would like to do? i would like to convince every single canadian who is working for the government through an agency or on casual - any kind of non-permanent employment - to quit. just walk out. see ya, government!

and i would love to see how badly the whole government would deal with having all these holes. and the best part would be that since most of the temp help is in support roles (admins, it, other support) the government would crumble pretty quickly is my bet. and if a group could deal without their temporary employees they would certainly run out of pens soon enough and not know how to deal.

it's never going to happen and it's not because i couldn't convince everyone. it's because for every temp employee, there are 5 more waiting, without employment, for a job to open up. if i convinced everyone to walk out, the government would find more people to fill the spots. it's a nasty and endless circle. kind of like the no experience no job, no job no experience rut.

the government makes due with temporary employees because they are quick to get in, cheap and plentiful. the temporary employees work contract because they can't afford to not work and they can't find a permanent position. who will break this trend?? it has to be the government. the government is a huge body capable of surviving temporary losses in income/capital whereas your regular temp employee has to feed themselves and possible others.

government, if you're listening, i'm asking, nay pleading, that you look at the situation you have created with temporary help and HIRE ME!

baby kleenex

we went to costco last week and bought new laundry detergent. it smells a lot more than our regular tide and i think i just might be allergic to it because when my head hits the pillow at night i get so stuffed up. i had to have this pointed out to me - i didn't put two and two together.

so i'm sitting here at work sneezing away and all stuffy and runny at the same time. all the clothes i'm wearing were washed using the same detergent! i'm an idiot!

i went to grab a kleenex from a coworker's desk. i took the last one. she's going to be mad but i couldn't care less (she's a crank pot to say the least) but now i'm out of kleenex and still sneezing runny dripping (fun!) snot everywhere. i remember seeing kleenex boxes down in the caf a while back so i grab my pass and my wallet and head downstairs. i wasn't too busy anyway.

i get downstairs and get side tracked by my grumbling belly so i choose a sweet-smelling cinnamon bun - haven't had one in a loooong time and got so distracted that i forgot why i was down there in the first place. finally at the cash i remember and find kleenex. but they don't have boxes of kleenex, not even one. they only have those little packages, you know the ones, the ones that i never would ever be caught dead with.

well i walked out of there with a cinnamon bun and a flowery little rip-off package of kleenex. here, let me tell you the contents of my little pouch: 15 (15??? holy cow! that's SO many!) 2-ply tissues. have i ever mentioned that i don't like the word "tissues" either? ug!

but what is a girl to do? i needed kleenex and now i have some. 14 tissues left to be exact.

new evidence suggests batman a hippy

in light of new evidence discovered today, experts are calling batman a hippy. in a distasteful showing of proper work attire, batman sported a free-styled lack of boobal support. in her defense, batman has this to say: "friday it was my shirt, monday it's my bra - what IS a girl to do??" sources say that batman's choice of clothing are smartly hiding this wardrobe malfunction and that coworkers have not yet noticed. she continues: "i'm clutzy AND forgetful. i haven't fallen yet today, but i sure did forget something important!"

let's just hope that this week continues on a better note and that all clothing is remembered and worn throughout the work day.

-- this has been some top notch reporting by blogger

sick weekend

i wanted this to be a big weekend for going out and doing stuff but it was almost completely the opposite. j is really sick and i'm still getting over my cold/allergies so we stayed in both friday and saturday nights. here's the rundown:

we met my parents saturday at the model home and took them through it. it's amazing how many kids-references they could throw in to an hour long visit. apparently they've been thinking lots about us having kids. thanks, but no thanks. not yet at least. the house was just like we remember it and we still love it. we have another meeting on tuesday to talk about stuff. i'm not very informed but i'll report back later.

big T and bananapants came over last night. we were going to watch a movie but ended up looking at pictures and talking instead. they couldn't stay long, but i'm sure we weren't the best company anyways.

i hate to say that i didn't take part in the WWKNIP day yesterday. it just wasn't in the cards. i really like the idea and hopefully will be able to take part next year. until then, i will knit alone in my basement.. well maybe not always alone. maybe that should read "in the privacy of my basement" - better.

today i managed to go out and get a fender for my bike (i hate the wet-ass you get in the rain without one) and some wool for another baby blanket, this time for my boss. she's expecting at the end of july so i have some time. at least three weeks until she's off work. plus, my coworkers are paying me to make it. it's a good deal.

naked

when i got out of the shower this morning i realized that i had forgotten to bring a teeshirt to work. i had a sweatshirt that i had left upstairs but that was no help getting me from the shower room in the basement to the 16th floor.

i sucked it up and put my stinky biking shirt back on.

as soon as i got to my cubicle i ripped it off and put on my sweatshirt.

thankfully today is cold enough that i shouldn't boil. so far i've been fine.

it's definitely chilly and raining outside. i care so much more about the weather now that i bike (have i mentioned that i'm starting to see some effects in my legs and butt?) i have limited space for what i can bring with me to and from work so i don't want to bring my jacket if it's not going to rain, but can you ever really trust the forecasts? they change by the hour (probably more but they can't update the websites quickly enough).

hmm, i also forgot my lip stuff. this spring has been really harsh to my skin. i've never had dry skin like i do now. my lips and ears are especially dry and usually i use my blistex at least 400 times a day. and now i'm without. i'm coping but i'm licking my lips all the time which will only dry them out more. woe is me.

jobs and laughs

i (finally) heard back about that job i interviewed for early april. i didn't get the job but i got put on a list meaning that i will hopefully get a job within the next 6 months. this is good: no more waiting and a potential job. i'm happy.

that's what i found out at work today. also at work i organized another fundraiser at absolute comedy for my baseball team. june 28th. it's a wednesday night but we did it before. please email me if you're interested in coming.

i am so ready for the weekend i can't even tell you. i want to sleep in so badly and i really need to give my ass a rest from biking. no ms tour for me. i'll settle for sponsoring my teammate.

dry post. interesting, not.

i know what i want for christmas!

this is earth week (didn't know, didja?) and so there are tons of information booths in my building during lunch time. yesterday there was a canadian geographic booth with tons of free magazines and a free map. you better believe i grabbed everything free they had and ran upstairs to start reading. it felt SO good to be reading about sciency-naturey stuff. so that's what i want for christmas - a subscription to the magazine.

it's never too early to talk about christmas present ideas. especially when they're for me. but you know, the older i get, the more and more i want things that i can use. i don't want something that will just sit somewhere. get me some tupperware or something else that i can use! is that so wrong?

so i haven't been feeling so hot since going to port perry. i think it has something to do with being wet and cold for a solid 24 hours. i haven't missed work but i missed my baseball game and in doing so i missed a pretty big spat between the girl we don't like and another player. girl-we-don't-like was trying to give relationship advice, and her only relationship experience is from the "romance with her cousin on the back of a tractor in the country" (not my words, believe me). i laughed real hard and wished i had been there.

tournament a bust: team home early

the forecast said rain and rain it did. it poured. in fact it poured so hard that we never even made it on the diamond. the tournament coordinators had to cancel almost all saturday games and were trying to make a valid schedule cramming all games in on sunday. yeah, no thanks. i want to get home at a reasonable time. plus, it still might have rained sunday.

so we left. we were in port perry less than 24 hours. thankfully. our hotel (the roachhouse motel) was Disgusting with a capital "D". i didn't feel clean for one minute in that place, plus we were soaked the whole time so we all smelled like damp baseball gear. mmmmmm.

we got back to town after some detours - apparently a dam was about to bust and flood the highway so we had to take another route - and then we went out. out on the town. this is unusual for me and it made me feel like i was back in school. we drank at a girl's house and then walked to the bar with "road rockets" and then drank more and danced and got silly all night. we closed down the place and didn't make it home until almost 4am, after some late night puking in the park (not me thank god) and climbing trees (again not me).

after all that i slept like a log and now i'm up and i've been productive today and will be more productive at a practice and then it's chill time with dinner made for us and hopefully some vegging out in front of the tv. oh summer weekends, how i've missed you.

more (slightly less serious) injuries

again with the baseball last night. the players on the team we were playing are a couple of years (10 in some cases) younger than us and so the game was very one-sided in our favour. i had to slide into third at one point and banged up my knee. it wasn't as bad as it has been but it's definitely hurting. i'm letting it breathe though. i'll bandage it this weekend most likely but for now it's out in the open.

i took the day off yesterday. it was not exactly the most honest thing i've ever done. i had an appointment in the afternoon and decided to stay home all day. i called my boss and told her what i decided and she told the big boss that i was sick. not true, but it doesn't really matter since i don't get paid no matter what my reason is for not being here.

so i slept in and then lay in the sun in my bikini for an hour. i went shopping for a bit and stopped by to see my parents. i completely forgot to buy a fender for my bike, but them's the breaks.

my doctor told me that since i no longer eat red meat i was probably missing b12 from my diet so i picked up some pills and started taking them. i've been told they will give me lots of energy. maybe i will even be good at getting out of bed in the morning... wouldn't that be fun. i drag my ass for hours in the morning. there are so many things that i would like to do before work, but i settle for brushing my teeth and getting dressed. those are the only two things i can cram in before i'm late for work. sad.

we're heading to port perry this weekend for a tournament. this is a very competitive tournament with some of the best senior teams from ontario. my team is very optimistic about our games, but i'm more realistic and just hoping that we don't get mercied in all 4. it's one thing to beat a bunch of 16 year olds, it's quite another to play on the same field as these teams we will be facing. i'll report back on monday.

broken bones

we had a game last night. a local one, which is always nice. but one of our players broke her wrist (and sprained the other one) while trying to go through the catcher. i don't get it really because it was a force play - no tag required - but there was still a collision. it's sad really. we play in a very non-competitive league and then this happens.

anyways, that means that we're down one players while she heals, which will likely take her out for the whole season. i feel for her: having a cast when it's hot out is awful. it's weird how you set up a team and think that you have more than enough players and all of a sudden you're not so sure. you have an injury here and some family troubles there and you're close to needing to call up players.

but such is life. you can plan all you want but i don't think you can ever be fully prepared, with contingency plans for every possible outcome. shit happens.

volunteering day - done

yesterday, my alarm went off at 5AM. there still exists a time that early in the morning. incredible.

i managed to get out of bed at 5:15 and was just about ready when jess rang the doorbell. we made it to our station underneath the bronson bridge on queen elizabeth before 6. we had bagels and muffins and started mixing gatorade.

gatorade is a nice little sports drink, but is very very sticky when you are covered in it. we were a little short-staffed and so very busy when the 13,000 runners came by. the half-marathon is the most popular race with something like 9,000 runners. incredible. and they mostly all came in one huge pack that lasted about an hour. that's a lot of gatorade.

i saw a girl i went to highschool with and my gym teacher who also coached field hockey (i played left-handed, yes, it IS possible with a right-handed stick. i also got very efficient at walking on the sticks. i would show you sometime but i don't have one field hockey stick let alone two). both were running the half.

the day went by much faster than last year.. somehow. it was still 8 hours. we were in the shade thankfully. i've seen the burns other people got.

oh, and did you hear about the big scandal where some elite runners went off course for a while and were disqualified? these runners come in from africa and other places and depend on the prize money to support their families. it's an ugly part of having such a big event run by volunteers, who are often high school students with mandatory community service hours to fill. one article i read even pointed out that the volunteers at the post were students, which i don't think is appropriate. anyone could have made the same mistake. i could go on but i won't. just read the papers or the internet and check it out.

my body is still recovering from the physical activity and my mind is still recovering from the lack of sleep and home time. i'm thinking i might need some time off. soon. but we'll see. i don't get paid if i'm not here.

i won!

so i ran in my second race. this year i did the 10K (last year the 5K, remember?) and was happy with my effort.

i had some goals going into this race, and i know i've written these before but i can't find the post so here they are again:
1) finish the race
2) run the whole thing - no walking
3) i'm sure i had a third goal but i can't remember it

i definitely finished the race and i only stopped once to tie my shoelace. when i went across the finish line 1:03:?? was showing. that's the time since the start start, but it took me some time to get to the start line so when the results come out in the paper monday i'll check my chip time (which is the actual time it took me to complete the race - my guess: an hour even).

here's a picture of me right near the end:



j and i had set up a meeting place (definitely key when there are 7000 runners in your race) so i had no trouble finding him. and then we went home. kind of anticlimatic, but i feel good. i'm sore in all sorts of new places. i even have blisters where i never get blisters.

but i'm on that runner's high (could be the alcohol i've consumed) and am looking forward to my next race. can she do a half-marathon? stay tuned.....

oh, and tomorrow i'm volunteering all day at the marathon, just like last year. i'm looking forward to it, but not to the early start. i'm sure i'll post tomorrow of monday and tell you all about it.

i did it!

last night i went to the gym with tina after work. my goal was to runrunrun (remember?) and that's exactly what i did. i ran 10K in an hour and 3 minutes. i was spent afterwards, but I DID IT!!! and then i stretched for about an hour - ten minutes at the gym and another long while at home.

let me tell you: i am SO proud of myself.

today is my day off meaning i didn't bike into work, i won't be running after work and i won't be feeling bad about it.

when i was in school i would make myself plans for which chapters to read and which lecture notes to study on what days.. i never stuck with it. NEVER. not once. but i made myself a plan for training for this race and i've stuck with it. this week at least.

i also beat j at chess last night. i was way down just fending off his attacks and then i got a pawn to his end and was given a castle (the technical term for that piece) and got his queen. it was all downhill for him after that. finally i check-mated him and he knocked down his king. victory was mine!

i put some more pictures up on flickr (batmans camera) last night. i started in january of 2005 and am working my way forward since i have all of 2006 up there. once i'm done with 2005 i'll go back to 2004. we got our first digital camera early early january of that year so we don't have many pictures from before then.

i'm trying

i'm trying to do many things. i'm very intrigued by the second annual world wide knit in public day happening around the world june 10th. i am going to try and take part. there is already something set up for ottawa. it's a neat idea.

i'm also trying to train for my race saturday. i have tonight left. i'm going to the gym and i'm going to own that treadmill! then saturday morning i'm going to run outside. and just so you know, when i say "morning" i really mean "when i get up" which, most likely, will not be in the AM at all.

i'm trying to get work done while i'm at work. this happens in spurts. seems my attention isn't cut out for solid work. i think the only job i've ever had where i actually worked the whole time i was at work was subway. i worked damn hard at that minimum-wage job. i still don't like the smell of subway.

i'm trying to go out more. out with friends, out with j, over to see my parents.. whatever. i'm trying to do it. but i really like lazing around in my jogging pants watching tv. good thing for me most of the shows i like to watch had their season finales and i have been released from my tv's grasp.

i'm sure there are more things i'm trying to do, but that's all i've got for now.

bad news

my bad news is that we have to cancel our australia trip. we hadn't booked anything so this isn't a costly decision, but a tough one either way. we looked at our money situation and decided that, since we just bought a house and will need money in the next 8 months to cover those costs, that we would have to cut our trip short. if i go all the way to australia i want to see most of the country. or at least more than only one city.

this doesn't mean that we won't be going anywhere or doing anything in the next 8 months, it just means we have to find more bang-for-your-buck kind of things. so really, our lifestyles won't really be effected. we already live like that... mostly.

steeeping

i have to admit i'm in a bit of a funk. i'm not the happiest camper i've ever been and i can't seem to shake it. i would really like to go to bed until this passes, but obviously that's not an option. so i come to work and i'll go to baseball like i always do and hope that i can get through without my mood affecting too many of the people around me. that's the hardest part.

i also feel like i have so many things to do and not enough time to get them done. and i'm not even leaving for anywhere, like m is. this week i'm focusing on my training, if you can call it that. my race is this saturday night and i am so ill-prepared. i would like to think that i would be in better shape if i hadn't gotten sick, but you never know.

so here's my plan, partially for you, my readers, partially to keep myself motivated.
today, tuesday: go to the gym and run run run. wednesday: bike to and from work, no running. thursday: go to the gym after work and run run run. friday: off. no biking and no running. saturday: little run in the morning. race at night. think i can stick to that? here's hoping.

dear flickr, i love you. - batman

i broke down and bought a flickr account. i was sick of only being able to upload 5 pictures a month on my free account. and now i am in love (picture me jumping on the couch tom cruise style shouting "flickr, i LOVE youuuuuuuu!"). in.love.

you can see all my pictures so far - and believe me, there will be more - using the link on the right, batman's camera. i'm just delighted with all the features: the tags, the sets, the groups, the friends... everything.

all pictures can be labelled with things called tags and then you can search my pictures (or anyone else's pictures) using their tags. if you were particularly interested in my cats for example, you could click on the kitties tag and see all the pictures with cats in them.

all pictures can also be assigned to one or multiple sets, which is just a different name for album. these are shown on the right-hand side of the page and make searching for events really quick.

and then, the greatest sharing aspect of flickr is the groups part. you can share your pictures with a group. a group is full of pictures from tons of different flickr people who all share something in common. so far, i only belong to one group, the devon rex group. it's the kind of cats we have. but there are so many different kinds of groups, it's unbelievable. i have so much more investigating to do.

but for now, i will continue to upload my pictures so you should, if you're interested, keep checking back to batman's camera.

another new blogger

i have introduced another new blogger to the internet land - meet bananapants. he's one of j's car friends. he's a crazy one, believe me.

anyways, i finally caught up on prison break and 24 last night. i can't believe prison break is leaving us with that. it was intense. very intense. and 24, well 24 is always intense. it was good, except we had to watch the episodes on the computer and our computer chairs suck! we definitely need a new computer chair. maybe this weekend i will indulge myself (i don't think it would come to this: me thinking that a new chair is indulging... maybe i need to get some icecream and indulge in that.)

i am sososososoSO happy it's friday. i really thought yesterday was friday. this has definitely been a long week for me. the weather has been gray and rainy which never helps, and i've been biking to work wearing myself out and then having late baseball games. honestly, my body isn't used to this anymore.

and shit, my race is in one week and a day. i REALLY have to get running. i didn't bike in today so maybe i'll go to the gym (hi gym, remember me? i used to come in all the time but i haven't been much at all in the past couple of months. what's that? you'll take my money anyways? yeah, that's what i thought) and run. runrunrun. a whole 10 kilometers. who was the idiot who thought a 10K race was a good idea anyways? the longest i've ever run is 8K and that was by mistake while i was training for my 5K last spring. i won't make the the-treadmills-are-actually-in-miles mistake again.

what else? what else? this is a long weekend and i have nothing planned. my grandparents are moving again. they are in holland and are stopping in ottawa to pick up a car before driving and eventually arriving in bc, where they will hopefully rest. it's really too bad for my parents who were looking forward to the year's first long weekend and now they have to put all their plans on hold to cater to my grandparents. all this has really impressed on my parents that they will never do this to either me or my brother, which is the silver lining for me.

and back to weekend plans. i have a vague plan that i'm going to have some people over. this will force me to clean the house, which hasn't happened in too long, and see my friends, which also feels like it hasn't happened in a while. maybe i'll squeeze some knitting and/or scrapbooking in there too. i could only be so lucky.

oh, and i've figured out (thanks j!) how to resize pictures and will be uploading WAY more to my flickr account (see link on right) so check there soon!

our lives on holiday

today is one of those gray days when you really don't want to get out of bed. i actually said "what if we just stayed home today?" out loud this morning. i was still in bed two minutes before we are supposed to leave.

and now i'm just hoping the looming thunderstorm will hold off until i get my sorry ass home. that would be nice.

we were pretty luck last night. our game wasn't rained out, even though it sounds like everywhere but nepean had huge storms. we had a bit of rain but it was okay. i can't say we won and i can't say i played all that well (i didn't get one ball in the field so that doesn't count) but we had fun and our coach-prospect seems really nice. i just have to start hitting the ball and i'll be happy.

i am happy that j has come out to two of my games (i've only played in three so far). this is a much different boy than last season. i like it.

just a little thought: it was weird coming home yesterday to an empty house. s is in kingston with a friend. she's been with us for a month and a half and i've gotten used to having her around. i think her cat was lonely last night without her around.

biking

there is something so completely satisfying about biking into work. i think it has to do with the fact that i am powering myself the distance between my house and my building. the only reason i am moving towards my goal is my legs are constantly going round and round in circles which moves the pedals which move the gears which move my tires and propel me to work or to home.

i fly past cars when they're lined up waiting at an intersection. i fly past the busses picking people up. and i'm doing it all myself. and the only waste i'm producing is some minimal carbon dioxide that i exhale every breath.

i feel like an old pro, sitting here at my desk talking about biking, but then i get up and my oh-so-sore muscles remind me that i am still very new to biking and that i shouldn't get so cocky. every trip i learn something about my body or about my bike. i know that i really want a fender for the back. i know that i really want another long-sleeved shirt so i can wash mine every so often. i know that i really should have another pair of shoes at work.

i also know that i really like biking. i like that i am once less car on the road. i like that i'm not on the bus (though the bus, when it treats me well, usually leaves me with the same sort of i'm-doing-good-for-the-environment-by-using-public-transport feeling). i like that i'm getting exercise. and soon i will like my legs, because you know with all this exercise i should have a sexy pair of legs real soon.

mother's day

like sarah, i would like to tell you some things about my mom for mother's day. she doesn't read this, but, as we all know, this blog is for me.

this isn't a memory of mine, i've only been told about it. my brother and i are 18 months apart and when we were really young (i'm talking young here) my mom was still home with us. my dad would get home from work and we would want to tell him all about our day. i would tell him something and my dad would look at my mom who would translate. then scott would tell him something and my dad would look at my mom. my mom would look at me. i would translate and my dad was still lost so my mom would translate.

my dad always worked for the government so it was up to my mom, who worked locally, to be the one to get us from school if we were sick/broken and do whatever other parental duties were required. i think the best parental duty was to pick us up every wednesday and take us to mcdonalds for lunch. we were spoiled. when dad had to work late mom always made us grilled cheese sandwiches and let us eat in front of the tv.

i was also allowed to try all sorts of activities. like most girls my age, i was put in brownies and ballet. unlike most girls my age i hated these "girl" things and my mom was always very supportive when, instead of learning to sew and cook in brownies, i wanted to play dodgeball and go swimming in beavers. i quit ballet and started football. my mom always told me that there was nothing i could not do, especially those things that are typically "boy" things.

going back even farther, mom used to coach our tee-ball and 5-pitch teams. dad took over when we got older, but mom was there when we first started out. 22 years later i'm still playing (scott played until he left for university). also, mom was always the one who drove us to our ridiculously early practices. she also stayed with me all night in the hospital when i hurt my neck. more than once. and the one who helped me wash my hair when i sprained both my elbows in a nasty hockey hit.

somehow, my parents together, kept me and my brother extremely active and healthy. the kept us entertained and happy. the instilled good morals and values and let us make our own choices and decisions and mistakes. they saw us grow and fall and succeed and fail, but they saw us grow up. they still remain in our lives, as interested as ever.

and so for my mom, my brother and i painted our hands and put our colourful hand prints on a white tee shirt that read "World's Best Mom - Hands Down" and it made me think of being in preschool and painting with pudding, except with much less pudding eating. i also gave her a picture frame with some pictures of me and her and me and both my parents.

greg's wedding

thank you to all those who posted last week about what i should wear to the wedding. and, what you've all been waiting for... i ended up wearing... some navy blue pants and a button-up shirt that, unfortunately, stretched a little over my mammoth boobs (if you know me, you know that i do not have anywhere near mammoth boobs) and i ended up losing a button. oops! sorry s, i will find you another one, but thanks for letting me borrow your shirt and your jacket. i can no longer dress myself.

the wedding was nice. the lone star ranch is very ranch-y. the drive way way not paved and was mega pot-hole-y (not good for a lowered car), the parking lot was muddy, and the hall was a nice barn. not where i would choose (or chose in fact) to have my wedding, but it seemed perfect for theirs.

it was really nice to see my family again. they're all local yet i only see them twice a year (the obvious christmas get together and then an annual cottage party in the summer. sad really.) greg and rebecca both looked happy.

i should point out that they actually got married april 18th in cuba (wish i could have been there!) and this was just the reception since not everyone could make it down south.

now, some observations:
1) my little cousing rebecca is getting older and is super pretty and not-awkward for a 15 year old. she does NOT take after me.
2) bride rebecca is a very nice person and i'm glad that her and greg found each other. they seem perfect together.
3) bride rebecca's mom is the meanest person in the world. she actually told my mom that she was "dirty dancing". my mom took offence and was upset a lot of the night.
4) boom boom with the bridesmaids actually does happen, especially when the wedding is in cuba and drinks are plentiful.
5) my grandmother can be pleasant when her dosage of drugs is doubled.
6) i still think j is the best guy for me and feel very fortunate that we found each other.

anyways, congratulations greg and rebecca!

arachnophobia

i, thankfully, do not have arachnophobia. but some days i think i'm very close.

this morning, i had two close encounters with spiders. the first was there was a spider on the ceiling in the bathroom. not a huge deal. so i head downstairs to check my email. i almost walked into a dangling spider on my way to the computer. i managed to kill that one by knocking it on the floor, but not before my heart was racing at almost walking into it. yuck! so that was the second.. little did i know that the first encounter wasn't done.

i go back into the bathroom and was content to see the spider near the ceiling and the wall and not moving. i look up again and he's making a break for my bathrobe, which i will be putting on after i shower. i couldn't stand for that so i get him with a kleenex, but when i pulled the kleenex away he fell INTO MY BATHROBE!!! the horror!

needless to say i didn't use my bathrobe and spent most of my shower calming myself down.

i never used to be like this, but i also never used to have to deal with so many spiders. i tell you, cracks in the foundation of your house lets all sorts of nasty things in. i can't wait to have a brand spanking new house where the only bugs will be the ones that live on our bodies. at least for the first couple of years.

ouch!

my bum is really hurting from the biking. i went out to get a gel seat last night but they didn't have any and i still had to eat and get ready for my ball game.

getting to arnprior isn't really that difficult, but we managed to go to carleton place and were well on our way to perth before we realized we were on the wrong highway. we were 40kms south of arnprior. it took us an hour and a half to get to the diamond. we missed the first inning of the game.

i didn't play defensively but i batted. i didn't think me going on the diamond for the first time in 8 months after the winter and being sick was a good idea. i probably would have hurt myself.

so i got home and i was absolutely exhausted but i had to eat and i had to do laundry (i'm so exciting) so i did that and went to bed. this morning came way too fast and now here i am, at work, with a sore ass. j talked me into biking again even though i was hurting. i'm just hoping it doesn't rain for the ride home.

tonight is s&b and i'm definitely going, but i'm definitely not staying late. good thing i don't have anything to do this weekend that involves me getting up super early. though it is mother's day on sunday and we have that wedding to go to saturday night and my brother is in town and i have a practice on sunday. it will still be a pretty full weekend.

new blogger!

s has joined the blogging world! check it out: the adventures of sj . her blog will get bigger and better but you get the idea. go on over and say hi. don't be shy.

i finally did it. i biked to work today. now that i'm not feeling nauseous anymore, i'm happy i did it. it'll be nice to not have to pay to get to work anymore. i might invest in one of those gel seats though. holy my bum is sore! (i toned that down for you.) i don't think i've ever biked on super busy streets before and even though i had a bike lane (except in the traffic circle - what the eff?) i still felt kinda small at some points. but i'm alive, just more hungry than i would be normally.

did i mention that my new office looks out over dow's lake? it's so nice to be able to look over and see sunlight and the sparkling water and all the people walking around. and then i wish i was one of those people - outside during the day not working. but then i think that they probably have a crappy-paying night job that they hate. i just have an okay-paying day job that i dislike. i win.

j and i played chess last night. we have one of those fancy glass sets (thank you wedding presents). i lost but it was a good game. rolo only managed to knock over one piece so that's not bad.

advice

i have a wedding to go to this saturday evening. it's casual but it's still a wedding. it's a barbeque held at the lone star ranch.

WHAT SHOULD I WEAR???? answer in the comments. seriously.

back to work nanannanananananannaa

me: back to work nanananannananananannanaaaa
j: back to sleep nanananannananaaananananaaaaa

i'm back at work and j has the day off. ironic.

i have changed positions and am finding myself very lost. i don't know what to do. i have so much to do from my old position and the woman who's in that position now isn't here so i really should be picking up the slack. and then there's lots to do in my new position but i still don't know exactly what that means.

i'll figure it out.

friday night j and i went to matt's place to watch the hockey game with matt and julie. it was nice to be out of the house. they even fed us, which was unexpected but super good. i haven't had a hamburger in months! mmmmmmmm.

saturday was my lazy day. j was gone all day doing car stuff so i slept in and went shopping and didn't play baseball. my team did though. they won and they lost and now it looks like our game tonight may be cancelled. i can't say that would bother me any.

sunday was a weird day. our house was on edge and not really talking to each other and i actually left at one point and slammed the door. i was mad. more frustrated than mad, but it was a weird feeling all the same. i don't normally do anything like that and i can't even say it felt good. but then i settled down and the house sorted itself out and we had great chicken burgers for dinner and watched prime time tv and knit.

knitting news: i organized my stash and took everything off the needles and started a new project - a blue and black blanket of my own design. i'm using 10mm circs so i'm doing it all at once, no sewing for me. it's looking good. my only beef with it is that a single row takes 15-20 minutes. that's a long time to not be able to move / keep the cats away.

i'm off to fight my dizziness and try to get some work done.

pub night extraordinaire

pub night was last night. it went really well. seemed like everyone was having a good time and the team made some money.

i went to bed with a very sore throat and a very grumbly stomach and woke up hardly able to talk.

enough whining? okay.

i have no idea what i'm doing tonight. maybe finding my ball stuff seeing as how we have our first tournament tomorrow. games at 8:30 and 3:30. let me just say that 8:30 is early for a ball game. especially this early in the season. let's just hope that the weather is nice (where nice = not raining and warm enough).

maybe i'll mail off the last 6 of my warming grace squares. that's something. and maybe get j, after his much-needed and much-deserved nap, to put my bike together. i'm hoping to make a trial run to and from work sunday. good thing work isn't far.

the couch is calling!

it's not you, it's me

last night, we bought a house! big news! whoooohoooooo! it's exactly what we want and we're super happy. i'm sure when i see you in person i will talk your ear off so i won't say too much here.

we move in at the end of january, so that gives us time to save and buy stuff and go to australia and for me to maybe get a permanent job... though i do also have news about my job.

i'm getting a raise. starting monday, i will be making significantly more money. i will also be expected to work significantly harder in this new position, but who cares! i'm making more money! and the gap between me and j is reduced. and one day it will be gone. i'm the only one who cares and it's funny, because i totally wouldn't care if i was the one making more money. erg.

i went into work today for three and a half hours, which was enough to wear myself out. i'm home now and soon i will be lying on the couch watching tv, saving up my energy for tonight. my baseball team's pub night is tonight. if you live near me you should come. it will be fun.

in knitting news.. yes, i have knitting news, i made a leg warmer for sandy. just one. i wanted to see if it fit before making another and i'm glad i waited. she hates it. but it was so much fun seeing her with it on (that should probably say "with her trying to get it off"), but rolo was even better. he would jump on three paws! i wish i had the camera with me. i'll just have to put it on them again.

tomorrow's friday. friday friday friday. more posting this weekend i'm sure.

i've been sick

i haven't biked to work yet cause i haven't been back to work. i took yesterday off and didn't have a great day. and this morning i just couldn't do it. but tomorrow is the day. i'll go back tomorrow. and when i get there, i will be greeted by a newly renovated little office and a paycheque. at least i think this week is pay week. i prefer getting paid every week. that way you always know when pay week is - it's every week!

the meeting monday night went well. we found the place okay and were told that we have enough money to do what we want with this house and then the traffic wasn't terrible on the way home. and now we're preapproved for a mortgage. tonight we're going out and buying the house. that's right. we're buying a freaking house! this is HUGE!

and then we have to rush home to see the second half of house. it must be the season finale. i'm a little sad that prison break and 24 are close to being done. holy crap what good shows! i'm going to miss them, but it'll be nice to not be controlled by tv as much. just baseball.

baseball starts up this weekend. we have a "tournament". i put the thingys around the word because we only have two games and the rules are very lax - everybody bats and there are unlimited substitutions. it's really just to get out on the diamond and play games. i haven't been on the field yet and am not even sure where my stuff is. i should go and look into that. i think it's going to be a weird season because we don't really have a coach and everybody is trying to be friends. it's somewhat of a mess.

last trip

i took my last bus ride this morning. j and i have a meeting downtown after work so it made sense for him to leave work a little early and then grab me on his way downtown. me biking didn't make sense. so i start tomorrow. i have all new brake pads and all new biking gear (shorts and a peach shirt). i just have to figure out all my shower stuff and whatever else i'm going to need.

and if i'm feeling well enough i'll be biking tomorrow. otherwise i will spending the whole day on the couch in my jogging pants with my kitties. i have my priorities.

i've finished another 6 squares for warming grace. i will send them off soon, but not before i find out if any of the s&b girls have any to send along with them.

s is a certifiable knitting machine. the girl can now knit and purl and cast on and bind off and even went to the store by herself. she bought wool and kneedles and has started a blanket. amazing!

i'm getting excited. excited for a bunch of things. in a couple of hours we're meetnig with a bank dude about mortgages. if all goes well we will most likely be buying a house this week (eek!). i'm on a team for HOPE finally. i've wanted to play in this tournament for years, but it just never happened. and then there's my race. it's sneaking up pretty fast. there's baseball starting this weekend and our pub night this thursday night. and then greg's wedding reception (he's my cousin. the wedding was last month in cuba) in two weeks. throw mother's day in there and everyone leaving for their trips (m and r to australia, a and s just left for holland and greece) and my brother coming to town. SO MUCH STUFF! ooh, and planning our australia trip.

overwhelmed yet? i am some times.

oh, and did i mention that work might be changing? they've asked me to move into a higher position. i didn't quite say yes or no but i know it's expected of me. now if only higher pay was expected of them. and i should hear about that health canada job this month. my fingers are crossed.

how's that for a random, all-over-the-place post? i'm a little crazy.

i almost forgot

i almost forgot. i was at the gym last night and had just run my 5K on the treadmill. i went to get a papertowel to wipe down the machine and read a poster on the wall. it was for the new learn-to-run club at the gym.

the poster first described the club and then listed off the reasons to join. it went something like this:
"perfect for people who want to:
- make new friends
- lose weight
- suffer an injury
- get outside"

i promptly ripped the posted off the wall and brought it down to the front desk with me. i didn't think the club would want to be advertising this way: perfect for people who want to suffer an injury!

i think i know why it was there, but it still didn't sound right. umm, no thanks, i don't need any injuries. how badly are your personal trainers paid anyways?

apparently

so apparently i got sick. i went to bed last night thinking my allergies were finally kicking in, but really i was coming down with something. i could hardly swallow when i woke up and after drowning myself in orange juice i can definitely say that i am feeling better but that i am for sure sick.

some blog news: i got the comments working and got the navigation bar back along the top of the page, which i again removed because of the aesthetic. i've never used that word, but it really was perfect for what i was trying to say. oh yeah, tell me what you think about the little home link above the posts. i still don't know what i think about it, except it's kind of useful after you've left a comment to get back to the blog. but i don't know.

hey! now that i'm blogging from home i can post a picture. hmmmm. how about:


this is a great picture of the cats. they're finally getting along well enough to all be on the perch at the same time. we've decided that s NEEDS a perch when she moves out. she also might just need a little kitten to keep hers entertained.

anyways, the sens are playing so i'm going to go lie on the couch with some kitties and a blanket and some orange juice. i'm lovely.

i'm playing around

i'm just playing around with the template a little. i was sick of the black already. i still have lots of work to do, but you get the idea.

comments are now the little number that appears beside the title of the post.

what do you think about the little home and post links under the top bar? comments? i'm not sure if i like them.

tee minus one month until race day

it's exactly one month until my 10K race. i have not been training as i should have for various reasons, but last night i kicked my ass into top gear. we went to the gym and i ran. oh how i ran. i got on that treadmill and went for 5K in just over 30 minutes.

that said, here are my goals for this year's race:
1) finish the race - a pretty general and hopefully easy goal, nice for goal #1;
2) run the whole 10K - you know, no having to stop to walk;
3) finish in under 60 minutes - now we're getting into my more loftier goals; and,
4) raise $200 in pledges for the Canadian Athletes NOW Fund - their goal was to have 2008 participants each raise $2008 (for the olympics in 2008.. get it?) and perhaps i will get that much, but my goal remains modest.

if you would like to sponsor me please visit my page (here). i appreciate any and all support, but please do not feel obligated.

national volunteer week

this week is national volunteer week, which is great, but let me tell you my beef about volunteering.

i'll start this off by saying that i do volunteer. i was brought up canvassing for a different charity every month, with parents coaching our sports teams and sitting on boards at the local sports centre, and helping out with local politics. and now that i'm older i still volunteer, though in different capacities, but that is to be expected.

my beef with volunteering is that so often it costs you not only your time but your money AND so often they turn people away for lack of skills or knowledge. while i understand volunteering and charities are entities in themselves and need funding and the support of many many people, this just doesn't seem right. has it always been this way?

i suppose you could argue that the people who donate to causes are volunteering some of their money when they can't afford to volunteer their time. but the fact is that to volunteer often requires some money from the volunteer. you have to pay money in order to miss work and take a cut on your paycheque (unless you are fortunate enough to work for an organization who will allow you one day a year to volunteer) in order to volunteer your services.

let's go back to those employees who are allowed a full day every year for volunteering. i wonder how many of those people actually volunteer that day. i'm sure most take the day as a day off. their employer is NOT allowed to ask.

they say that people take a lot away from volunteering experiences, at least that's what the email i received today at work told me.

"Volunteers share their dedication, energy and skills, and, in return, they benefit from shared cultural and social experiences. Many volunteers gain important interpersonal, communication and employment-related skills from their volunteer experience, as well as personal reward from making a difference in the lives of fellow citizens."

in conclusion, i will continue to volunteer in ways that are tangible for me and don't cost too much money. i hope you too can find something that you can do to help someone else, but if you have to stick to holding doors open for people and picking up the random piece of litter GOOD ON YOU. every little bit helps.

the car: she runs

after more than three hours with 6 guys helping, the car finally runs. that's 18 man-hours. but i'll let you in on a little secret: those guys do more standing around than any group of people i have ever known. great guys, don't get me wrong, but lots of standing around. lots of talking about cars. lots of telling of dirty jokes.

this is a picture of j after the car would start and not stall when the gas pedal was pushed:



so he gets in the house after everyone leaves, lies down on the couch, and tells us he's tired. he's spent. this has been weighing heavy on his head for over 2 weeks. i'm guessing he will sleep well tonight. that's my call at least.

obviously. i'm not stupid.

you want more details. i can give you some.

the house we want is in a community 10-15 minutes south of downtown. it's a relatively new community and a brand new development. the house is what they call a "supertown", which really means a semi-detached. but only attached at the garage so we wouldn't share a wall with our direct neighbour. it's right on a corner so the lot is much bigger than the rest of the street and backs onto a road so we wouldn't have any back neighbours.

now for timing. timing is key. we were going to wait for the next phase of development. they do a little chunk of land at a time. the next phase will be a couple of streets over/across from the current phase. as soon as they are done selling the current phase they open up the new one. then they start builing, starting with the model homes and working their way up the street. because we want a supertown, which is located on the corners, it would be a while before one became available, and even longer before they got to building it. while we could theoretically purchase it in the fall - more likely late fall/early winter - chances of them having it built when we need to move out - this time next year - are slim to none. we would need to figure out temporary accomodations = huge hassle.

timing on this phase: we buy now and they delay the construction of the home as long as they can and we move in late december, early january at the latest. which puts us a couple of months earlier than planned. not the end of the world. and actually much better than trying to figure out some temporary accomodation if we bought and couldn't move in until months after we get kicked out of our house now. make sense?

and money: the cost for the house will be higher in the next phase. how much higher? no one knows. is this significant? possibly, but possibly not. but add that on to the timing and the choice seems easy.

the house is exactly what we want. we fell in love with it the minute we walked in. and we've been back and still love it. we've made some large purchases together (the most obvious and biggest being the car) and it was the same thing. we test drove tons of cars but as soon as we got in the 3 we knew it was the car for us. well this is the house for us. you just know. and if you don't just know, you don't just know. and if you just know, you just know what i mean. you just know.

monday we meet with the mortgage guy.

the little weekend that sucked

last weekend and last week we had it all: nice weather, tons of time off, good times... and then the little weekend that sucked came along. the weather was horrible, there wasn't much to do and even less energy to do it. yuck. yuck.

i did accomplish some things this weekend. i looked for brake pads. j stole mine and i want to start biking to work next week. no more bussing for me! this is a sweet thought after having to wait over 30 minutes for my bus this morning. at least there is a bus shelter at my stop.

i got one page done in my 2006 scrapbook and i finished the title page. that's something. julie and i were not in the right mood friday night. we were so not inspired. so we didn't last long.

s finished her skinny gray scarf and ploughed through a fatter red scarf. she's is now a knitting master. and then i taught her how to purl. again with the crying! so, once she gets through more purling and is more comfortable, we'll put the two together and she will be unstoppable.

on my own needles, i sped through 4 more pink squares. no two squares are alike, which is fun and keeps me entertained. some are a little bigger than the required 5"x5", but i'm hoping that doesn't make or break the deal. i'm packing them all up tonight and sending them off tomorrow. i will continue to make and send squares - i have no other use for the pink cotton wool and love that i'm helping in some way, admittedly tiny though.

and the biggest news from the weekend is.... (drumroll please.....).... well, let me tell you the whole story. it won't take long. promise. remember that baby blanket i made about a month ago? we went and saw landon and sheri and brand new baby boy, kalev, on saturday. he is SO tiny. i'm not very seasoned when it comes to babies, i even turned down my chance to hold him, but this was one cute little baby. he slept the whole time we were there. amazing. it gives me hope.

so anyways, we went and had a good time and gave them the baby blanket. on our way home, figuring since we were in the neighbourhood, we would stop by the sales center for the house we like. we talked to the woman there and were almost 100% talked into buying a house. now. yes, probably within the next two weeks.

there are many reasons and factors and contingencies and intricacies and delicacies but i won't get into all that here and now. basically, it works out that it might be best if we bought now instead of waiting until september or october like we previously thought. so sunday, we went back and went through the model again and managed to see an actual house of another of j's coworkers. and we talked and talked and talked some more.

and now that it's monday, j is calling around to mortgage people. hopefully we will meet with one or two this week and figure out which bank/institution to go with and get'er done! this is a little fast, but almost definitely the right move. i will keep you updated.

i'm ready i'm ready

last night was s&b. it was great. i brought s and taught her how to knit (no purling yet) and she's about a foot and a half of the way through a skinny scarf. she's a knitting machine! m, your salsa is great. thanks again for the jar.

there were lots of people there last night, which is nice, but i feel like i hardly got to talk with anyone. i got my second pink square finished though so that's good. i thought we had just over a month and a week to send them in for the contest, but really we have just over a week. so i'm going to try and whip up another square (the more squares, the more entries for the contest) before i send off my 2 and sylvia's 2. sylvia - you need to get me a postcard!

i left work early yesterday because i couldn't concentrate. my maxie, my parent's dog, was really sick and my mom was super upset and i felt helpless (one of the worst feelings in the world). she wasn't eating or drinking and wasn't her usual self (she usually follows my mom around all day and is fun and playful and happy) so my mom took her to the vet and had a bunch of tests done. turns out she has a severe, but treatable, bladder infection. she has antibiotics and is already eating and drinking again. poor puppy.

tonight should be fun. we're going out for dinner with the car guys and then it's the first official meet of the year and then i'm scrapbooking with julie. man, i don't do a single thing for nights and nights and then i cram it all into one friday night. odd.

i cannot believe it!

i was talking in my last post about the race i'm running in may (national capital race weekend). i registered with the Canadian Athletes Now Fund, the charitable partner, and have already raised $50! you can see my progress here. i am so impressed with everyone so far. maybe my $100 goal wasn't lofty enough. wow and thank you.

thursday stuff

i finished my first pink square for warming grace (click link or click the button on the right). i've started my second one. it's a different pattern and i think that's part of the fun. when you're making a bunch of little things that don't require anything but knitting a square, you can play with the pattern and not tax yourself so you can still pay attention to the tv. perfect.

i'm excited for knitting tonight. i missed the last two weeks (maybe even the last three) and s is coming. i'm going to teach her how to knit.

i am also setting up a scrapbooking date with julie for friday night. i haven't done anything on my scrapbook for weeks. i am really getting the urge to finish goliath, just get it done. i have a total of four blank pages and a couple more here and there that need something. i want to eventually have the cover and spine detailed, but it costs money (presents for batman??? <-- excessive use of question marks. i'm looking at you, j. *hint*hint*)

friday night is also the first ottawa mazda club meet. it will be nice to meet these people in person even though we won't be able to bring our carcar there. it still isn't running, though it will start now. it just stalls if you hit the gas. not driveable, but not completely fubared either.

i'm getting geared up for biking to work. i'm not going to get a may bus pass so i have just over a week left of bussing - less if i get my ass in gear sooner. i have to get new brake pads (j stole mine) and possibly a new lock (i think j stole that too). i already figured out where to park my bike and where the showers are in the building. hopefully this weekend i will bike out here and check out possible routes. i've been trying to scope them out from the bus on my way to and from work, but you can only do so much like that. i think it's about 16-20 kms, but probably less with bike paths and such.

i also found out yesterday that there is a running club here that meets every monday at lunch so hopefully i will be doing that as well. i really need to start training for my race, which is in just over a month. eeek! i might die. sponsor me!

last night, s and i checked out this huge jean-and-other-stuff sale. we both got shirts. i'm excited for them. if you're in ottawa, you should check it out. might as well. stuff on the cheap. just beware of the tons and tons of people, all with screaming kids and nasty b.o. they will be there.

smiley faces

let me tell you what i think about smiley faces. i'm against them. i think they're pretty dumb. especially when they are not accompanied by words. but, that said, there have been three occasions - and yes, only three - when i have wanted to use a smiley face. i won't do it. i can't do it.

i'm the same way about internet-speak. you know, all the lol's and rofl's and a/s/l's and iai's - i just made that one up. it stands for "i'm an idiot". i don't think it'll catch on.

and don't even get me started on the how r u's that make me want to run, screaming, from my computer, while ripping out all my hair, to a vat full of rotting grossness and jump in. head first.

i'm not normally a confrontational person. in fact, i do not usually voice my opinions because i don't care enough to maybe offend even one person. but here it is. i'm putting my feelings out there. don't be offended. it's me not you.

if you're trying to communicate with me using the interweb, don't hesitate to use smiley faces and acronyms and other internet speak. i won't hate you. promise. i might cringe and die a little inside, but i won't hate you.

i'm drowning

my skin is dry and i asked a pharmacist about it. she recommended some cream and said to drink lots of water. so that's what i'm doing. i've had two and a half of my nalgenes today already. it's an odd day if i go through a whole bottle at work usually. i've already peed a huge number of times. yuck. i don't feel like i'm hydrating myself: i feel like i'm flushing liquid through my body.

i want an apple.

easter? no. turbo weekend

this weekend was one of the longest long weekends i can ever remember. it felt like it went on and on and i loved it! thursday night we went to vik's place for dinner. yes, i've already mentioned it. friday night was dinner with my parents. it was your typical easter feast of lasagna. screw traditions. it was good. keeping with the food theme, we had turkey dinner with j's grandparents saturday night. we had fun making telus ads with our chocolate bunnies and our cell phones:



and that rounds off our easter dinners.

like you can see in the title of this post, this weekend was turbo weekend. earlier this year we bought a turbo for the mazda and this weekend was perfect for the install. i remember waking up to j getting ready to go outside. it was 8am and he said that it was like christmas morning. yeah, i guess it was. so he spent all day (11 hours to be exact) out in the driveway. a bunch of his car friends came by to help. i helped by getting pizza for lunch, looking pretty, and making dinner. i'm such a girl.



one of the highlights from the day was when gas sprayed into paul's mouth and dave and jeremy's eyes. it wasn't funny at the time, but they'll definitely laugh about it over beers later.

bad news, the car still doesn't start. something's not quite right, but it's okay because it'll get towed to a shop and they'll look at it this week.

today was a pretty relaxing day. we went shopping and i got a shirt for work and j got some shoes - the girl was so great and she even knocked $20 off the price - and we got some house stuff from zellers. i managed to find some 100% cotton pink wool so i'll be taking part in warming grace (see button on the right). now we're just hanging out until michael scoffield and jack bauer come on tv.

back to work tomorrow. not sure how i feel about that, but it is a short week and without work i wouldn't appreciate a huge fat long weekend like this one.

*knockknock* cleaning lady!

that's me. i just cleaned like it's my job. it's not my job, but sometimes i just have to clean. i never imagined that having one extra person and one extra cat in the house would make such a big difference, but we run out of dishes and utensils weekly and the hosue gets messy sooner.

last night we had easter dinner #1 at vik's parent's house. they have a new place in barrhaven. it's really really nice. basically a bungalow with one room on the second level. it had 9 foot ceilings and a huge 20 foot ceiling over the family room. very nice.

anyways, more stuff to do on day off #1 - yay long weekends! i'll leave you with this picture. that's m, j, s, a and b from m's surprise party last saturday night:

i've been doin stuff - i'm interesting, finally!

these titles don't lie - they're like shakira's hips you know. for real.

i've been busy. and this time i don't mean i'm dying at work and coming home, filling my grumbling belly and passing out. monday we went back to the gym - it had been a while - and then we watched prison break and 24. both shows are super good and definitely worth watching if you aren't already. but you should wait until you can catch up before jumping right in. i like how some shows have gone to that format. they're basically like super long movies stretched over a whole season. you really get into it and feel like you know (or want to know.. mmmm, michael scoffield!) the characters. come to think of it, i know some of the characters better than i know some of my own friends.

that's sad.

tuesday night the three of us went out to dinner and then trekked to amc in kanata to see ice age 2 on the cheap. what a smashing idea. the movie was funny and good and dramatic. my only complaint is that it was approximately minus thirty in the theatre. what the eff, people?? it's not summer yet!

last night was the gym again and then dinner and two for the money. another good movie, but much much different from ice age. firstly, it isn't animated. second, it was about gambling and money and making people gamble more with their money and then taking their money. and maybe now's a good time to point out that over there on the right, i have a link to batman's library. that's a site, primarily for me, but feel free to check it out, where i post about every movie i see and every book i read. so if you're mega bored at work, feel free to look, but i make no promises that you will be entertained. like i said, it's more for me than for you.

and now it's today, and because of the fantastic long weekend, today might as well be friday. i have tons and tons of things to do today, but nothing like last week so i'm laughing. plus, today is susan's last day. remember susan (link to post)? well she's leaving and i couldn't be happier. she's super annoying to work with. i wish i had two pillows to squeeze against my head every day that she's here.

oh, quick update on the cats: they are doing well. s's cat, monkey, is out of her room except at night, and is slowly getting used to the house and to having people and other cats around. soon, all three cats will be sleeping together and playing and eventually, monkey will show me some love because everyone knows i need it!

to work or not to work

so last week was intense at work. intense. this week, with everyone back in the office, and the crunch week past, isn't so intense. in fact, i've been here for two hours and i haven't done a lick of work. not one lick! and it feels great!

last night we went to the gym again. for the first time in forever. it felt good, but i feel dumb for not going more often in the past month (or two months even). i don't know what's going on.. it's the same thing for dinner. we've been really crappy at cooking dinner for ourselves and so never have leftovers for lunches. that's bad. we're bad. we're going to get better.

last night s cooked us dinner while we were at the gym. and tonight i think i'm going to cook up a big bunch of this chicken pasta we like so we can have lunches. tonight we're also going to see the travel agent to talk about australia - yes, we are really going - and also head out to kanata to see ice age 2.

i forgot to mention this, but s and i watched walk the line friday night. it was a really good movie. really good. i also finished my book and it was really good. i'm in a transition reading stage because i don't have any more books (novels) to read presently so i'm reading the third darwin awards. they're funny, but it's not the same as reading a story.

dun like dinner

happy birthday goes out to alan! he's 25. he's catching up to the rest of us. we went out friday night for his birthday and i think he managed to choke down half a half-pint and one shot. someone else did all the drinking for him.

i got to sleep in both saturday and sunday and let me tell you i was SO happy. i'm still tired today, but that's because i couldn't fall asleep last night.

we had the first cats-on-cat encounter and i'm happy to say that it wasn't half as bad as we thought it would be. s's cat is all talk and our two don't seem to really care about her cat. there's been more growling and hissing than we've ever had, but i think they're all coming around.

okay, enough about cats. friday night we went to honest lawyer for alan's birthday. like i said, he didn't get pass-out drunk, but that's just not his style. good job sylvia for organizing. it was a little bit of highschool flashback but that happens and isn't always a bad thing.

saturday night was m's surprise party and she was hella surprised. it was great. we all had margaritas and spaghetti (rob must have called me about 25 million times about a meat sauce) and enough swedish berries to make me feel gross. i was supposed to go out to a bar that night, but stayed late at m's and didn't make it out.

yesterday we had a baseball meeting. it was very productive and made me excited for the season to start. our next fundraiser is a play-off hockey pool so consider this your heads up for me contacting you about spending money and supporting my team. then we had dinner with j's grandparents. it was much more stressful than usual and left me worn out.

this is a short work-week because of the long weekend coming up. sweet! and then we have another short week. double sweeet! i'm guessing my brother will be coming home for the weekend, but i'm really not sure. we will see.

wow, what a crazy week

warning: if you don't want to read about my crappy week, skip this post!

this week has been absolutely crazy. the government's year end was last friday and we have approximately 200 contracts ending on that date. now we're dealing with all the paperwork that's coming in. tens and tens of claim forms and invoices are coming in every day.

let me say too that the woman who normally handles all this isn't in this week. the other woman in charge was out sick monday and tuesday. that leaves me. and i have to take care of all this on top of my other work.

i'm exhausted. it's really wearing me right out.

on a much lighter note: happy birthday to both m and kristina yesterday! you're getting old like me! i hope you both had wonderful birthdays. are we partying this weekend?

snow? now?

it snowed this morning. and yesterday i could have sworn it was october or november the way it was cold and gray out and all sorts of leaves were being blown all around. i'm not ready for winter. but really, i don't have to be. it's april! c'mon weather! it's almost baseball season! smarten up!

the wedding show went pretty much the same on sunday. my feet were killing me, but the day passed. and now i'm just fighting off the cold/flu/whatever_bug everyone seems to have. j and sarah are both at home sick today. i took yesterday off, but am back at work today.

i have to go out tonight and get some interview-worthy clothes. you would think i would have something, but i don't. ug. my fingers are crossed for a ride home. that would be excellent.

me

i like this picture of me. and i think i know why. it doesn't show any of my features that i don't like so much. everyone has something (usually more than one thing) that they don't like about themselves.

today went well. we completely messed up the music for the first fashion show but after much meeting and discussing, we figured it out and had a better show the second time. we had to kick out one woman for soliciting so that was kinda exciting, but other than that it was a pretty typical wedding show day.

i thought a bit today about what to wear to my interview wednesday. i had some ideas floating around and decided to look around tonight. why do stores close at 6 on saturdays? aren't they open until 9 on weekdays? i don't get it. don't people stay up later on weekends? or is it that people have lives and go out on weekends.. hmm, maybe that's my problem. ah well, i'm going to get back to my tv. nothing beats lying on the couch watching mindless crap with two warm bodies. oh wait, j could be here.

preparations

run around mode

i got up very early to get j to the airport. i got home and got ready for work, hopped on the bus and got to work at 7:30. it was a crazy day and a crazy long day, but i survived. once i was on my way home on the bus, i knew i needed some sleep. i couldn't concentrate on my book the way i get when i'm tired, not just distracted.

recovery mode

i slept. i slept and slept and slept. i got home and checked my email and the phone for messages and then went to bed. i slept for two and a half hours. mmmmmm.

preparation mode

i filled myself with food and set out to prepare the house for sunday. i knew that since i was working all weekend i was going to be pressed to find time for this so tonight seemed like a good time. i did dishes and laundry and vacuumed and put stuff away. the house still looks messy, but the mess is in piles. there's something to be said for piles. plus i got rid of all the spiders.

me mode

i'm always in me mode. never am i not myself. and you know what.. i'm proud of that.

silly cookie

i was so excited to get my pay cheque and then i forgot to cash it. money does not make you interest while sitting in your pocket. must remember to go to a bank tonight.

it's taken until now (well last saturday was the first time i noticed it) that when you google my first name this blog does not show up. after j's run in with identity theft, i did everything i could to take my personal information off this site and it finally worked. identity theft is more real than you think it is. get yourself a shredder!

well this week is coming to an end very soon. friday brings with it m's last day of work. i will definitely miss our lunches and our ~100 daily emails. friday also brings a pizza lunch for me and my team for a job well done. i have to get up mega early to get j to the airport so i'm sure i'll be grouchy and groggy most of the day, but hopefully i'm not a crank pot for my date friday night.

this weekend is going to be killer. i have to work full days both saturday and sunday and manage to get the house clean - and i mean clean enough for s to move in - by saturday night when they're expecting to get back. those two are crazy enough to try and make the 1800 kilometers in one go. good luck!

monay monay monayyyyy

i got my first government cheque today. sweeeeeet!

today's also a good day because i switched from winter jacket and tuke, mitts and scarf to light spring jacket. it's light green and fits well. it makes me happy.

this week is flying by, which is good. this is a heavy week with fiscal year-end and uncertainty of future due to a new government. but let's not talk politics. we don't even have to say we have. i hate talking politics.

last night j and i had a great dinner with a&s. they cooked us a wonderful meal. i'm looking forward to trying the dessert that i missed out on.

even though i had a great time, i'm looking forward to a night in tonight. i'll get home and we'll go to the gym, but then the night is mine. we have some chicken to cook and there are tons of little things to be done that you really need a whole night to tackle. things like laundry and cleaning. i'm sure there's tv to watch too.

speaking of tv and media and such, i'm still on my no-celebrity-gossip diet and i've lost 10 pounds! (diet - pounds... get it? i haven't actually lost any weight though.. not that i'm trying to lose weight....) i love that i no longer care about people i don't know and will never meet because their world is not the same as my world. my world has people who have to work 9-5 desk jobs to feed and house themselves. people who can shop in no matter what store and only be recognized by long-forgotten high school acquaintances. people who are so much more real than celebrities.

wedding show this weekend. don't forget to tell all your happily-engaged friends!

we're sick of waiting for an answer

on becoming a girl: i broke a nail last night. it was not pleasant.

on stupid drivers: generally, if a car and a bike collide, it's the car's fault. generally.

on work: it's nice to be alone in the swamp (my little office-for-four).

on babies: holy babies! is every woman pregnant?? shitdamn.

on books: i'm loving a short history of nearly everything. it makes me feel good knowing that i'm learning something. kinda like how it felt nice to be tested on biology stuff.

on friends and family: it's nice to have them even if you don't see them or speak to them in a while, it's nice to know that they are there and you will eventually see them again.

on cookies: cookies?! where have you been all my life?

on ridiculous posts: what? you have a problem with my posts?

on the theme of finishing projects, i also finished the scarf for jess. she sold the second most tickets for our comedy night. we went out and picked out some wool and i finally got it all put together and added the fringe last night. she's working with me this weekend at the wedding show so i'll give it to her then.

i wish i could say that i finished goliath - my scrapbook for 2005 - but when i got together with julie saturday night, i worked on my 2006 book. see, the pressure's off for finishing goliath because i'm so close and i'm still waiting on the last pictures (i ordered them from on online print store) so i couldn't have finished it even if i put the title on that one page. i think i'm maturing when it comes to my scrapbooking style. when i go back and look at the first pages i made you can see how far i've come. even j noticed and commented saturday night.. and this was after splitting two pitchers with two other people ("i'm not drunk, i'm just loud!")

j's dad was in town.. basically he flew in and out of here, but spent a couple of days in kingston. so we had dinner twice with j's family so that was nice. maybe i should go and see my family at some point.

the baby blanket

i finished the baby blanket i was knitting for landon and sheri. j used to work closely with landon while in his co-op, but now they just email back and forth with some other guys from the old group. they do this ALL DAY LONG. anyways, sheri is about to pop.

a close-up picture of the wool:



and a picture of the detail around the edges:



whoohooooo being done! and now for jess' scarf. it will finally get the attention it deserves.

shamelessness

i shamelessly plugged my mom's wedding show (link) on the whiteboard in the kitchen at work. this is what i wrote:

ottawa wedding show .com
April 1st and 2nd
Lansdowne
free to get in!

i walked by a couple hours later and someone else had written a smart comment underneath:

however, the marriage will cost you.

i laughed and then i laughed some more.

no white flag above my door

last night i was a party animal. i got home from work, kinda late because the bus stopped but didn't open the doors and drove on. weird, eh? so i was a senior citizen and called to complain. anyways, i get home and have a quick nap standing in the kitchen. we ate food and i watched millionaire, jeopardy and deal or no deal. quite the tv marathon night. i also knit the baby blanket until i had no wool left, which, unfortunately, did not coincide with the blanket being complete. so i put it down and got back to work on the scarf for jess. i'm going to need to get more wool for both projects i think. and then i went to bed at 9:30. i warned you. i'm not the go-out kinda girl i used to be.

i'm also fighting off the cold that's going around. that's my excuse.

i'll post from home with pictures.

dear flickr, i love you

as you can see from my new flickr badge on the right, i have forayed* into the online picture world known to many. flickr is AMAZING. my only beef is the monthly upload limit that is, in my opinion, much much too smal. get it? smal? moving on.

we went to gatineau looking for a walk and some picture opportunities. apparently the ncc doesn't plow their roads in the winter and so the walk to the really scenic places was too long for ill-prepared us. instead, we went to hog's back falls and snapped away to our hearts' content. the falls:



j got some really good pictures of the cats. rolo is the brown one and sandy is the orange one:




i haven't been sleeping enough lately and that's not a good thing with all the sickness going around. so tonight's the night. i'm going to bed early, and since the boss lady isn't in tomorrow, i just might sleep in a little. just a wee bit.

* please note, this is definitely the first time i have used the word forayed

weekend nothingness

friday night for me was a bust. i stayed in and talked on msn - a very strange occurrence for me - to a guy i hardly know. very odd night. i meant to knit and watch a movie. instead i sat at the computer and watched las vegas. does anyone actually watch that show. one of the female charaters irks me so much. she had fake lips and fake boobs. i find it hard to look at her because she is so out of proportion. there is something to be said for the correct proportions on a human body, especially in today's age of plastic surgerizing everything.

yesterday i got up and checked the messages on the phone. i had one from an alarm company saying my parents' place had a burgulary alarm. i couldn't be ahold of them so it was a weird ten minutes until i was able to contact the alarm people. guess i should get the password for that.

last night we went to lick's for the first time. talk about a themed restaurant. i had the best veggie burger i've ever had though. congratulations, lick's, you've really outdone yourselves.

we also bought a new camera. we realized that there are going to be multiple weekends this summer where we'll be apart and both want to have the camera. so we splurged and bought a digital slr. i can give you the specs if you're really curious, but it's basically an entry-level slr, but it's more than we need. it fun to take pictures with and we took ~100 yesterday alone including this gem of sandy:

the week's fun

instead of knitting last night we had a pizza potluck. m (captain pants) made the dough and everyone brought toppings. it was really good.

but i have been knitting. lots actually. i took pictures but none turned out very well. i'll leave you in suspense.

today is st. patty's day, but i'm not going out. my stomach has been bothering me lots today so i'm staying home and watching tv and knitting. yikes, i'm getting old.

i was checking out the race site (link) today and was pleased to learn that ottawa is hosting the first ever canadian wheelchair marathon. huge athletes will be coming from all over. i'm planning on volunteering again this year so hopefully i'll see the race. i also saw a news bit on the hour (link) about how the paralympics get so little coverage. i wonder if that will change.

so, happy drinking to everyone irish (which is every single person today). i'll be with my kitties on the couch watching tv.

do i really want to know?

my johari window (link). please take a minute and tell me what you think about me. i'm really curious.

my nohari window (link). same deal. tell me what you think.

and yes, i do really want to know.

it's cool to love your family

i listened to some music this afternoon from new music canada (link) by the stars and feist. they are both solid bands, but maybe not my favourite. or it could be that they're new to me and i'm tired and working. hmm. i will definitely give them both another honest try and report back.

let's talk about useless meetings. if you work in government you know what i'm talking about. i had two yesterday and one today. why? what is it about the government that makes people want to get together and talk about things that either don't matter, don't matter to everyone, or are just plain useless (like, you could have told me that by email instead of dragging my fat ass* up three flights of stairs!)

i was ultra productive today. i'm earning my keep. i can't wait to leave though so i can read my book.

oh, and by the way, i'm on my third day without celebrity gossip and i'm feeling good. honestly. who needs that crap anyways?

*the fact that i take the stairs should be indication enough, but just to clarify, i do not have a fat ass. in my opinion of course.