Is It Just Me...?

As I have caught yet another cold and I sit at my computer, struggling to make my eyes focus on the monitor, a thought occurred to me. Am I alone in my strangeness when I'm sick? And yes I know I'm generally strange anyway, but this strangeness is related to my eyes. When I get sick, my pupils become extremely dialated. And fixed. Light levels don't really affect them. The sicker I get the bigger they get. And we're talking huge here people. Over Christmas when I was sick there were times when I only had a couple millimeters of iris showing. Nathan says I look freaky when that happens. And of course, it makes it almost impossible to focus on anything and makes me a little trippy. Does anyone else out there experience this or is it just me?

The Joy of Water

I was contemplating the joy of water this morning on the bus. I'm a big water drinker when I'm at work (not so much at home). It's not uncommon for me to drink a litre and a half or two litres a day. It makes me feel so much better and more awake. Also, last night was my first Deep Water Workout class at the U of C. It was really good, really hard, and I was completely exhausted afterwards, but in a good way. I already feel skinnier and fitter. Funny how that works. After the class, I took off the belt and just floated for a while. There is nothing that makes me feel more relaxed and at peace than floating in a pool of water. It's simply divine. Sound is muffled, your body is weightless and it's just wonderful. I think I will be spending a lot of time in the pool over the next couple of months. Deadlines are piling up for me and I think I will be seeing a lot of OT in the near future. At least I've got the pool.

Witty and Insightful, I'm not

Hmm, we'll after reading the posts of my sister and sister-in-law, I'm afraid I'm quite lacking in the witty and insightful posts. On the other hand, I'm well on my way to the "conversational" style of blogging that Vanessa mentioned.

Nathan and I saw Casino Royale last night. What a good Bond movie! I liked it a lot. The opening chase scene across a construction site was particularly thrilling for me! Of course, I just about wiggled out of the seat because of all the heights. I just can't handle heights, even in a movie. My stomach was plunging up and down as Bond went up and down. I'm surprised I can even get on the skip at Livingston. Bare metal cage on the outside of a building, lurching up and down... shudder... Perhaps that's why I've been taking the stairs lately...

In other news, I went to the chiropractor for the first time in 7 years on Saturday. That was a bit painful. Not too bad, but by mid afternoon I was thoroughly sore. I've been having trouble with my tailbone lately, so I thought maybe it was time to go back.

Another thing that has been occupying my thoughts lately is children. I seem to know so many people who are pregnant, there are tons of people on my bus who are pregnant, and for some reason, the other night I was dreaming about Caspian (Nathan's nephew). Apparently I said his name in my sleep the other night... Don't worry though! No baby plans for Sheila yet! I've got places to go and yards to landscape! =D

I can't wait for spring to see my bulbs that I planted last fall. I acutally bought a potted hyacinth at Safeway, so I could smell it and enjoy the colours. Spring is coming! We're closer than we were yesterday!

Just a quick comment...

Today the temperature has finally dropped and winter has returned/arrived to Calgary. So now here's the question: Why is it that so many people refuse to dress for the weather? Strangely, almost all the people in their teens and twenties are embracing the cold weather wardrobe, and all the downtown, executive types are wearing thin leather jackets, no scarf, no touque and only gloves about 70% of the time. AND, then they walk around with their (sometimes gloved) hands over their ears! This is what I don't get. All these people are supposed to be smart and accomplished and secure in their self image, but they refuse to have hat hair!?! This is Calgary people! Everyone knows what touque hair is! Live with it! I've almost decided to quite styling my hair in the morning, since it looks nothing like what I started out with by the time I get to work.

Anyway, that's my little rant for the morning. Buy touques people! Be warm AND stylish, if you have to. Myself, I just go for warm. =D

Calling all Opinions!

I am searching for opinions everyone! Not about just anything though...

The bookstore is looking to purchase/upgrade the publishing program that it currently uses to make the newsletter. As I have volunteered to take over the making of said newsletter, I was wondering what opinions people had about desktop publishing programs. The current one is Microsoft Publisher (not sure which version). David wanted to know if I wanted something else or just the newest Publisher. Any ideas anyone? This is kind of critical, since a new newsletter is supposed to be out well before Teachers Convention and if I have to make new templates, it could take me a while. Let me know if you have any thoughts, or if you know of any dirt (good or bad) about any of the publishing programs out there.

Back to the Grind

Well, I guess it's all back to normal now. No more Christmas frenzy, no more holiday days, no more staying up late and sleeping till noon. Sigh... For some reason I find this incredibly sad this year. I'm guessing it's because I kind of "missed" Christmas due to my cold. I was just starting to get better and then the whole thing was over. Kind of disappointing. Oh well. There's always next year!

Despite the sickness, I had a good holiday from work. I really like that our office is closed between Christmas and New Years. It gives everyone a bit of a break from insane deadlines, crazy interior designers and completely whacked out clients.

In other news, Nathan and I booked our plane tickets to France yesterday! Wheeeeee!!!!! I can't wait. We leave April 26th and come back on May 17th. We wanted to time it so we had the May long weekend to get over jet lag before we had to go back to work. On our list of things to see and do:

• Go all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower
• the Louvre
• Tour of Notre Dame Cathedral
• Parc Asterix
• Normandy
• Mont St. Michel
• Marnay-sur-Seine
• Northern France to visit the area where Nathan's great grandma was from
• An antique arms dealer that Nathan wants to visit (I'm sure you can all guess what he's hoping to find!)

This is just what I can remember at the moment, but needless to say, we will be having a ton of fun for 3 weeks! In the meantime, I will be working some overtime to save up the extra hours we'll be away over and above my vacation time. Such a flexible company I work for.... =D

Also, in the spirit of the New Year, I have been thinking about resolutions. And having a hard time thinking of anything! Not that I'm saying I'm perfect, but I am quite happy with my life and the direction that it is going in. That being said, I have come up with a couple of things that I want to keep doing and/or elaborate on.

1. Continue to go to the gym 3 times a week. I will be getting a membership to the UofC this year, as I want to start swimming laps again, but still have the option of doing weight training or cardio.
2. Expand my search for a hobby. Everyone I know has at least one thing that they enjoy doing on their own time, and I've been having a problem finding one for myself. I tend to have really short lived hobbies. I will really like something for a couple of months and then lose all interest in it and start something else. I'm hoping gardening will turn out to be "the hobby" for me. I get really excited about pretty much every aspect right now, so hopefully I will have some successes and advances this year to keep my interest piqued.
3. Eat more fruit and vegetables. This is a perennial resolution for me. Eventually I might get my intake to where it should be...
4. Expand my book collection.... Okay, I guess that doesn't really count as a resolution, but if I put it in the list then I'm allowed, right?? =D

All the best to everyone in 2007!