Strawberry Blue Viking

Bean's Room

2009-08-24T20:55:00.005-06:00

So here are a couple pics of Bean's room as it is right now. We just need curtains and another picture for the wall above the change table, but other than that it's done! I love the moon light with the leaves. We've had them all for so long so it's nice to see them up in a room. Finally, they have a home! =D

Four days to go. Of course, that's if Bean is on time. Both Vanessa and I were punctual, but Nathan and Gillian were both 2 weeks late. Maybe we'll average out at a week late. We'll see I guess. But we're ready on our end. Bean just needs to find the escape route...

And yes, I know the room is blue. And no, we don't know anything everyone else doesn't. Blue is just my favourite colour is all... I couldn't even think of another colour that I'd like as much as this one. In case you're wondering, it's Benjamin Moore "True Blue". We used their no VOC paint and it really is odorless. I had to stick my nose within an inch or so of the wet paint in order to smell anything. We can highly recommend it if you can't stand that wet paint smell.

One Week!

2009-08-21T12:40:00.005-06:00

So now we're officially down to the wire I guess! One week to go. Unless Bean's late of course. Nathan's hoping it will be typically Danish and be punctual. =D

We finally got the last piece of furniture for Bean's room, so once we get everything sorted out and things on the walls, I'll take pictures and post them for all to see. I think it looks really cute. Hopefully Bean likes it.

Still doing okay, I guess. I'm pretty much done with being pregnant though. Done with all the aches and pains and awkwardness and inflexibility and exhaustion. Everyone says to me "Oh it just gets worse from here on in" and "Just wait until you have the baby". Umm... Well, I can certainly see that things aren't going to be a walk in the park after I have Bean, but somehow I think having my own body back and knowing my own physical limitations again will make it easier for me to cope with all the new stuff. It's just exceedingly frustrating to see things that need to be done (or that I WANT to get done) and to not be able to do them because I can't bend that way or I need to have a nap.

In other news, Gillian came over last week and took some preggie photos of me, Nathan and Ghost, so I should be able to post some of those soon. It's weird. Since becoming pregnant, I'm not at all self conscious about my body. I could care less really. I'm happy to sit around in my shorts and bikini top with my big ol' belly hanging out, and don't really care who happens to see me. I'm sure I'll go back to being way to critical of myself once this is over, but hopefully I can remember what it's like to not care and hang onto that feeling. It's really quite liberating.

I also bought myself a sewing machine. It's the shit! =D I got a little Brother CE-5000. It's just the right mix of new fancy-dancy technology and old school mechanical. I've hemmed some curtains with it and it's great. I still can't sew in a straight line to save my life, but I'm sure I'll get better with practice. And for less than $200, really, I can't go wrong. I'm especially pumped about the invisible seam stitch, since I usually have to end up hemming pants for work. I can't wait to see how it works, though I suppose I don't really need to buy new work clothes for a while yet.

Anyways, I guess that's all for now. Cross your fingers for a punctual Danish Bean!

T-minus 3 weeks...

2009-08-06T12:25:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I know I've been on maternity leave for almost a month now and you'd think I would have posted SOMETHING, but believe it or not I've been busy. Busy with napping and reading and going for outings with Mom and Dad and Rowena and Geoff. Okay, so it's not corporate busy or anything, but it still fills a day...

Anywho....

Bean will be officially "full term" tomorrow, which means it could be born anytime. Yesterday at our appointment the midwife said I wasn't having a baby in the next week. That's good. Mom and Dad would be so upset if they were still in Switzerland when Bean is born.

Things are still going okay. I'm getting more sore in, ahem, lower areas and I find I have to concentrate really hard on how I move so I don't end up hurting myself more. Rolling over in bed is a huge task. I end up using my face as a pivot point at one stage. Definitely not enjoyable, especially since I have to do it about a dozen times a night. Oh joy. Bean's happy in my belly and quite content to wiggle around, stretch and do other such baby things. It's amazing to think that there's a whole person in there. And it required little effort from me to grow! It's not like I had to consciously think "Okay, today I need to grow kidneys". It just does it. Weird.

I'm ready to be not pregnant though. Watching Nathan sleep on his belly and roll over with ease fill me with insane longing and jealousy. I want to be able to walk Ghost at a good speed, not waddle her around the block and arrive home completely exhausted. I want to be able to lift my leg in the shower to wash my feet. I want to be able to clip my toenails. It's really amazing how much you appreciate all those little things that you don't even think of ordinarily. I mean really, who thinks about the privilege of clipping their toenails? I also get tired so fast these days. I can barely handle a morning of actual activity. Heaven forbid I do a whole day of something. I'm usually a weepy, exhausted basket case by the end and then it takes me at least a day to recover. I'm trying to limit my outings though so I don't over do it. It's getting to the point where I have to consciously try and remember to stay rested, since labour could start anytime. And everyone says the last thing you want to do is start labour already exhausted. So I will endeavour to nap lots, get a tiny bit of exercise and just try and stay relaxed and rested.

The weather is getting to me though. I'm sick of dreary, cloudy, rainy days. Ghost too. She especially doesn't like the thunder. If she hears one little roll, she starts trembling from head to toe and hides in whatever small corner she can find. Poor pup. I don't think she especially enjoys walking in the rain either. She always looks a little irritated by it. I've been trying to find things to do with her inside to keep her entertained. We play fetch and I went online and found some easy dog tricks to teach her. We're working on "sit pretty", "which one?" and "roll over". Roll over seems to be the most difficult right now. We also used Nathan as a hurdle one night and practiced her jumping. She did very well with that, until Daddy's bridge collapsed in exhaustion. =D

Anyway, I must research nursing bras, breast pumps, and a decorating idea for the stairwell. Ahh.... the joys of not having to go to work. Work? What's work? What did I do? Don't remember, don't really care....

Random thoughts and Bean updates

2009-06-24T12:47:00.002-06:00

Do tennis players die a slow, horrible death when they see a dog playing with, chewing on or destroying a tennis ball? Would Belal's efficient shredding and shaving of tennis balls horrify them? Do their own dogs have different balls to play with? And how can they just stand there when said balls are hurtling at them at more than 200 km/hour?

Can you tell I've been watching tennis lately? =D

So Bean is now 3/4 cooked! It's jumping and wiggling quite a bit now. Or maybe I can just feel it more since there's less space in there the bigger Bean gets....

I've got 2.5 more weeks of work left before I start mat leave and let me tell you, they can't pass fast enough! I'm endeavouring to keep my stress level low, but the nature of the job kind of sabotages that effort. I can make it through a week of work still, but I'm usually a weepy, exhausted mess by Friday. I do okay on the weekends since I can go at my own pace and nap/rest when I need to, but the work week is a killer. But soon. Soon.

I had my follow up appointment with the homeopath at the beginning of the month and everything is tickity boo. I was coming down with a cold again and whatever it was that she gave me spared me the worst of it I think. If it was the same cold that so many others got and are STILL dealing with, then I definitely got off lightly. But my sciatic nerve problems are all gone, I'm doing okay with the weepy (not perfect of course, but definitely better), I can sleep pretty decently, and I'm not nearly so worried about everything in the world.

Ghost and I are almost done the 2nd agility class. I've missed a couple since I've been too tired to run around after her, but it has still been quite enjoyable. She's still not so sure about the teeter totter, but she's starting to get the weave poles and the dog walk (bridge thingy) is not a problem for her. I will definitely be continuing with her in the fall. She loves it so much and I think it's doing her a lot of good to learn to be around so many other dogs.

We've painted Bean's room and purchased the furniture for it. We got the changing station home, but had to special order the dresser and the conversion kits for the crib. The crib itself we got a raincheck for since it was already on order, but as far as I know it hasn't arrived yet. At least, they haven't called us to pick it up... The room looks really good. We still have to hang things on the wall and get a new curtain, but I already really like the way it looks. I will post pictures once we get it all set up and decorated.

I washed the clothes that we have already acquired for Bean this weekend. It was so exciting to see little clothes mixed in with ours! I'm starting to get to the point where I just can't wait to meet Bean, cuddle it, hold it, take it places. Mentally, I know it's better if it stays where it is for a while longer, but emotionally I WANT IT NOW!!! But the summer is shaping up to be pretty busy, so the rest of the time should pass quickly. I hope.

For the moment though, I will focus all my energies on finishing everything I need to finish at work before the 10th, getting enough rest to make it through those 2.5 weeks of work, and still find time/energy to do things I want to do like decorate Bean's room, walk Ghost and putter about in my garden. Tall order, I know, but a person's got to have goals right?

Agile Ghost!

2009-05-27T18:53:00.008-06:00

So as promised, here is the video from the last day of the first Beginners' agility class. Being the little noodle that she is, Ghost started refusing to go in the tunnel for some weird reason on the last 2 classes, but she's improved again now. We've started Beginners II, which will run to the end of June. In this one she'll learn the dog walk (bridge thingy), the teeter totter, the weave poles, and the tire.

Watching this just makes me laugh. She's so silly.... and definitely loves the A-frame!

Enjoy!

Bean Updates!

2009-05-21T14:11:00.002-06:00

Time for more updates! And this will be long... sorry... =D

So at our last midwife appointment we were told that they had “sort of” revised our due date to a week earlier – August 28th. This is mostly because at our ultrasound Bean was measuring about a week bigger than it should have been. Of course, we could just be having a big baby. No way to tell really. So let’s just say Bean will be born sometime around the end of August or beginning of September. Heck, no one tells them what the due date is anyway; they come when they want to.

Also, when I had my cold I was talking to Sivan, one of the midwives, and she really urged me to go and see the homeopath that they recommend. I really hadn’t slept well since about February, and the lack of sleep and pregnancy hormones were sending my emotions all over the map. I felt completely overwhelmed at pretty much anything, which made it hard to find motivation for anything. I knew I wasn’t depressed, but I was certainly not Sunshine-y Sheila. So I made the appointment and went 2 weeks ago.

The homeopath is my new best friend!!!

But I should explain. The initial appointment was an hour and a half long. There was a questionnaire to fill out before hand with my “main complaint”. I had four: my sciatic nerve, my lack of/inability to sleep, the emotional roller coaster, and my blood pressure. The BP I wasn’t too worried about, but the midwives wanted me to mention it anyways. So, we chatted for a while about all these different things, going off on tangents if I said something that piqued her interest. After about an hour, she said “I know what I’m going to give you.” Just like that. She flipped through a couple of her reference books, just to make sure, reading out some of the descriptions. Like “for fatigue from lack of sleep during pregnancy” and “managing the emotional ups and downs of pregnancy”. I was like “Ooh! Ooh! Me, me! I need that!”. So she gave me 3 little pellets of pulsetilla (in the crocus family) and then mixed me up a vial of flower essence water that had St. John’s Wort, Red Chestnut, Chamomile, Pink Yarrow and Olive in it. The 3 little pellets should last me for at least a month and I take 4 drops of the flower water 4 times a day and every 15 minutes at night if I can’t sleep.

Let me tell you, I have never felt so much better so fast! I had taken some of the flower drops when we got home and later that night when I was sitting in my chair, I almost fell asleep. And not just dozing, I was falling ASLEEP asleep. I slept better that night than I had in months. I woke up the next day feeling almost giddy with energy. I wanted to run about and do things and work on stuff. Work wasn’t a struggle like it had been. It was the most bizarre thing. So I thought, “Okay, maybe that was a fluke, maybe it doesn’t work that well”. But it’s been a couple weeks and things are still going good. I sleep better and feel a bit more in control of myself than I have. The nerve calmed down after about a week and isn’t painful at all now. I’m certainly not at a pre-pregnancy state, which would be impossible really, but I’m definitely better able to deal with it all and make sure I get enough rest.

So yeah, the homeopath is my new best friend. Everyone should go and see one. I especially like the fact that I take ONE thing, not a bazillion different pills at different times of day. I’m so glad that I went. I can’t imagine getting bigger and more uncomfortable and sleeping LESS than I already was. I don’t think I could have done it.

Bean is jumping about and kicking quite regularly now. Nathan can feel it too, which is pretty cool. There’s definitely starting to be a pattern to the movements though. Bean is usually a bit squirmy on the bus ride to work, then it’s quiet for a bit. Around 11am there’s more movement, then quiet. Then it starts again around 2pm, then quiet. Then some wiggles for the bus ride home, then quiet. Then there’s some movement after dinner and then again just as we’re getting into bed. And of course, once in the middle of the night. It’s kind of fun to recognize it though. I’m hoping this means that Bean will only wake up once in the night to feed…. I’m sure that’s wishful thinking, but I can hope.

We’ve taken to reading Bean stories before bed. We pick a children’s book from our collection and either Nathan or I reads aloud to the belly. Ghost likes story time too – when she’s actually upstairs anyway. She’ll snuffle and snort and sigh contentedly throughout the story. Bean’s usually pretty still through out the reading, but kicks quite a bit at the end, doing a little dance. Then we play the music box we got in Paris – La Vie En Rose – to the belly and then it’s lights out. Bean’s pretty good about quieting down at this point, so this also gives me hope for painless bedtimes – so long as there’s a story and a music box!

We’ve got all the book shelves and books shifted over to the new office. My priority for next week (Nathan and I are taking a week off together to hang out at home) is to finish sorting through the miscellaneous things that are left and then get Bean’s room more in order with painting and wall decorations etc. We’ve kind of zeroed in on a crib and change table that we like and that are able to be converted and used for pretty much the life of our child. It’s a bit more expensive, but solid wood construction and you do get more bang for your buck since the bed converts up to a double and the change table can be a dresser. Not sure if we’ll buy them next week – we may try and wait for a sale…

We’ve been attending prenatal classes too for the past few weeks, with the class ending on June 2nd. It’s been pretty interesting without being scary, and I think we’ve both gotten some good information about different things to try during labour. I think I need to spend some time seriously thinking about my “labour bag”. What I want in it (music, distractions, massage implements, etc.), how I want to progress through labour. I mean, really, I won’t know until I get there, but it’s good to be prepared for different scenarios. We realized that Ghost will also need a “labour bag”. We’ll probably be sending her to either my parents’ or Nathan’s parents’ once I start labour. I don’t want to worry or upset her, and I’m sure she’ll be a distraction for Nathan and me during the parts when we’re still at home. She’ll need a couple meals worth of food, poop bags, treats, a good ol’ toy and maybe a new one. Anyway, it’s all starting to be a bit more real, but I’m not dreading or worrying about it. I’m confident in my own abilities, which helps a lot I’m sure, and I know I’ll be able to deal with it somehow. I just hope Nathan doesn’t get the worry wrinkle in his head. That just kills me….

I’m still having trouble with “slowing down”. It bugs the bejeezus out of me that I can’t walk as fast as Ghost wants to, or go to work AND come home and do stuff, or help Nathan in the yard or basement. It makes me feel lazy and that I’m ordering people to do things for me. I just want to DO things, but I’m still having a hard time realizing that maybe what I need to DO at any particular point in time is have a nap or sit and rest. It’s hard to let go. I’m starting to recognize when I get to that point where if I do more, I’ll pay for it, so at least I’m making some progress. That’s why I’m so tickled to work on Bean’s room next week. Most of it is sitting and sorting and decision making, with just a tiny bit of physical work. So I should be able to do quite a bit, without being blindsided by the Snoozlemonsters. Anyway, I’m not really surprised that I’m having this problem. I am my father's daughter. =D

Anyway, that’s about it for Bean updates for now. I’ve got a video of Ghost doing agility in the making, so hopefully that’ll get posted soon for your viewing enjoyment. We’ve finished the first class and are starting the second one on Monday. She loves it so much and I think it’s really helping her social skills with other dogs.

Ta for now!

Biometric Security Devices

2009-05-12T12:46:00.002-06:00

Occasionally on jobs we run across a client that has WAY too much money and wants to explore the possibilities for installing biometric scanners to restrict access to their server room (or other secure places). This is your typical Mission Impossible stuff: fingerprint scanners, retinal scanners, etc. Now this is mostly an electrical engineering thing, so usually I just nod and smile as the electrical guy winces and grits his teeth. Not that they’re overly difficult or anything. They’re just uber-expensive and generally a pain in the ass to connect to security systems that haven’t been designed to support such things.

Anyway, the following is an amusing tale I was told by an electrical colleague a few weeks ago. We were at a design meeting (with no client reps present) and mockingly discussing said client’s request for biometric information. After we have a good chuckle about how they’re not going to be able to afford this stuff, even though they’re a very high profile law firm, the electrical engineer, let’s call him Bob, tells us this story from a job he had worked on previously.

I don’t remember if it was an oil company or another law firm, but suffice it to say, they certainly had the money to spend on biometrics. Bob dutifully puts together a presentation on the pros and cons for each type of biometric device, costs, and security comparisons to more traditionally devices. This presentation is to the complete design team, as well as a half dozen of the big wigs for the client. It’s a meeting room full of high powered individuals. He’s just gone through fingerprint scanners and is about to move on to retinal scanners.

“So another option you can consider is rectal scanners.”

Stunned silence and blank stares. Bob realizes what he’s said. He has suggested to these people that have way more money and influence and prestige than he’ll ever have that they scan their butts to gain access to their server room. Oops. Eventually there’s laughter as everyone realizes the verbal slip up, but there was a long, painful moment when no one was sure if he was serious or not.

We’re all laughing uproariously at this point, at Bob’s expense. And then he throws in this quip defensively:

“Well, no two rectums are alike.”

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a design meeting before. Doesn’t it just fill your mind with all sorts of goofy images of tech guys dropping their pants and ponying up to the wall to have their rectums scanned to get into their server room?

AND, I have been told that rectal scanners make an appearance in the Dreamworks movie "Monsters vs. Aliens", so my electrical friend must not have been the first to slip up this way...

So now, forever, I will always snicker to myself when a client requests information for biometric security devices.

Ghost's Tummy and the Horrible Evening at the Vet

2009-04-29T14:06:00.002-06:00

Ghost’s has had an upset tummy again. This makes the fourth bout of diarrhea since we got her in the middle of December. The first was giardia, the second was some other parasite, the third we don’t know because we just treated her at home, and now, the fourth happened a couple weeks ago.

She was a little anxious the Thursday morning before Easter and her poop was quite runny when Nathan walked her before work. We came home that night to a mess upstairs, but she seemed okay, so we fed her dinner. BIG mistake. She woke us up repeatedly that night to go out and poop. Good thing Friday was a holiday, otherwise Nathan and I would have been toast. So we didn’t feed her Friday morning and then that night she had some beef broth with her kibble and some pieces of roast pork. Saturday it was more beef broth and kibble for both her meals. By this time, her poops we’re improving, so we thought “great”. I fed her dry kibble Sunday morning and evening. And she woke us up repeatedly that night to go out. Good thing we both had Easter Monday off too. So I decided to try plain white rice and boiled chicken. Did that Monday night and Tuesday. She still wasn’t getting any better. Poops were still runny and she had no energy at all. I mean, she was still happy to go for walks and to agility class, but as soon as we get home, she’d just collapse on the floor exhausted.

So Wednesday I called the vet and they booked us in to their “emergency” slot that night at 6:20 pm. Since Nathan was fencing, I had to take her in myself. Raced home after work, wolfed down a bowl of cereal and then took her down to the vet, about a 30 minute walk away.

I opened the door and was greeted by the sound of a woman WAILING. She was sobbing and wailing and kicking things and yelling at her relatives. From the bits and pieces I overheard and was told, her dog had died quite suddenly. Apparently she had one of those ones with the snub nose and her parents (she was probably mid-twenties) had fed the dog something and it choked and died. I guess it’s actually a fairly common thing for those smushed faced dogs to choke on things. I’m sure she blamed them for her dog dying. It was pretty horrible. And THEN I looked around some more.

There are 4 treatment rooms at our vet. Ghost and I were in one, the sobbing lady and her family in another. Across the way in one of the other two, I saw a man come out with an empty cat carrier and a nurse go into the back with a bundle of blankets that were holding a very still cat. In the other room there was an elderly couple who didn’t have any pet with them at all that I could see. They were just sitting there. And then I heard them ask if they could have their blanket back.

Ick. Ghost was the only pet that was alive in that place. It was horrible. I felt so awful for everyone there, like I was parading my dog that ONLY had diarrhea before their grief. And then I started to get paranoid about Ghost. What if it was something WORSE? What if she wasn’t really fine?

But, the visit with the vet went fine. He thinks they probably just didn’t get all of the parasite/bacteria/whatever from the second time, rather than she’s been unlucky to infect herself AGAIN. So we got some soft food and the powder to put on top and a prescription for some antibiotic-type pills. At the same time we got her giardia vaccination, so that’s good. She was a good girl, just a bit squirmy, but didn’t yelp or anything at the needle.

Of course at this point I just wanted to get the hell out of there with my live pet, but I didn’t know how I was going to get the prescription. I’m sure Shoppers wouldn’t have liked me bringing Ghost inside. So I called Mom. Nathan said afterwards to me “Couldn’t you have left her at the vet’s while you ran over to get the pills?” Well, probably. But did I WANT to leave her? Not on god’s green earth. So Mom came and sat with Ghost in the car while I got her pills and then drove us home. I was so completely exhausted and drained by this point that I just collapsed into my chair and sat for an hour before I dragged myself up to bed.

Now she's almost done her meds and she's definitely back to her usual goofy self. Of course, now I'm sick. I caught the office plague. And being pregnant and sick at the same time SUCKS! I was off Thursday, Friday last week and Monday. I went to work Tuesday morning, cried 3 times in the first hour and then went home at lunch. I've declared I'm taking the rest of the week off work too. I can't get any sleep, I get exhausted showering or going up the stairs, and I just feel icky. Cold wise, I think it's getting better, but still not great. I talked to the midwives today and they said that because my immune system is messed up from being pregnant it could take 2 or 3 weeks longer to recover from a common cold. Oh joy. So in the meantime I'll nap if I can, sit in my chair, read, watch trashy daytime television and hope everything eventually gets better.

Ghost and the Bathtub

2009-04-17T08:44:00.001-06:00

So we’ve discovered that Ghost is afraid of the bathtub. And not just a little bit.

I was having a nice relaxing oatmeal bath the other day (my skin’s been really itchy lately) and she came into the bathroom to see what I was doing. Now, Ghost’s been in the bathroom before, but she’s not been that interested in it. She’s cautiously approached the empty tub with the curtain drawn across it and then beats a hasty retreat.

So now I’m in the tub. In water. She was curious about what I was doing, and quite happy to lick the oatmealy water off my fingers, but then I shifted. The water in the tub sloshed about a bit and she RAN out of the bathroom like something terrifying was chasing her. She ran to get Nathan and then was whining and pacing and generally fretting. Nathan came into the bathroom to show her that I was okay, but she would have none of it. She started to stare at him accusingly, like HE had put me in there and MADE me stay there. She was very anxious for the rest of my bath and not happy till I was out and all the water was gone.

So now the question is, how the heck are we going to bathe her?? It’s a good thing she’s not a naturally smelly dog that needs to be bathed frequently. I don’t know what we’d do then. I think she’s probably afraid of it from when she was at the shelter. I think when she first came in, they bathed her and clippered her quite severely, so she probably associates all of it together as a bad experience.

People have suggested the dog wash, but I don’t know if that would be just as bad as the shelter, since it would probably look and smell similar. I think we may just end up getting a kiddie pool and bathing her in that in the yard. I think that might be the best (and easiest!) option. Time will tell I guess. Once it’s warmer, we’ll have to find out if she enjoys standing in or swimming in water. Then we’ll be able to figure out whether it’s the water or the environment that she doesn’t like.

In the meantime, thank heaven’s for non-smelly dogs!

Bean Updates

2009-04-16T13:21:00.003-06:00

Okay, so now I've accumulated 7 (SEVEN!!!) different things to post about, so I'd better get going. Since I'm sure most of you are interested to know how the pregnancy is going, I'll start there.

Things are going good.

Okay, I’ll elaborate.

The homeopathic remedy that the midwives recommended has done wonders for my sciatic nerve. I have little episodes of pain, but not enough to knock my knee out from under me or make me cry. It really is quite amazing. I just take a little pellet whenever I feel like I need it. I find the aches and pains are worse by the end of the week, when I’ve been sitting still for 5 days. I try and remember to get up and move around lots, but it’s kind of a hard thing to do when your job is mostly sitting in front of a computer.

I’m still more tired than usual and it takes everything in me to make it through a whole week of work. Day by day, I’m usually coherent till around 2:00 pm and then that’s pretty much it, I’m done. I end up staring at the wall or something equally as non-productive for the rest of the day. But I keep the bosses updated on how I’m feeling and they cut me some slack, so things work out okay. I really think that having nice, open communication with them about everything works to my advantage. Then they’re not in the dark if I miss a couple days of work or leave at 4:00 pm instead of 5:00 pm.

We had our 18 week ultrasound on March 30th. It was pretty incredible. AND I got to pee out all the 2 litres of water I drank after about 5 minutes, so that was even better. It was so amazing to see our little Bean moving about and kicking and stretching and drinking amniotic fluid. It kept hiding under my belly button though. Must be shy. =D It was quite keen to show off it’s legs and feet, but kept hiding when we wanted to see its little face. But I will save most of my reflections on the ultrasound for one of my seven posts. In the meantime, you can go to Nathan’s blog and see some of the pics and read his thoughts on the event.

Baby brain has set in with a vengeance. I was going to hand wash our place mats in the sink. I went downstairs for the detergent. I had to make that trip THREE times before I actually remembered to bring it back up with me. One afternoon at work, I did the same thing wrong THREE times in a row. And wrong differently every time. This was after 2:00 pm. I went home early. And then there’s the usual, like forgetting pretty much everything, asking the same questions over and over, and just general DUH moments.

Just in the past few days my belly has POPPED. Like, seriously. I’m sure it’s much bigger today than it was on Friday. I’m starting to actually look pregnant, instead of just maybe-pregnant-maybe-fat. It’s kind of cute. I’ve got some nice outfits that accentuate it too, so that’s fun.

I’m having a bit of a hard time finding a comfortable position to sleep in. Ordinarily, I’m a belly sleeper, which doesn’t quite work so well anymore. My hips get sore from sleeping on my side, even with a pillow between my knees and one under my belly. The yoga-ish position that Gillian showed me works most of the time, but I do find myself tossing and turning quite a bit. I really, really hope I’m not keeping Nathan awake. In other sleep news, I’ve decided that 5:00 am is a ridiculous time to wake up. I’ve reset my alarm for 5:30 am and I can still catch the last express bus and make it to work for 8:00 am. It’s amazing how much difference a half hour can make.

We’ve started moving bookcases and books from the office into the other spare room. The office is bigger, so we decided we’d be nice and give Bean the bigger room. =D And we’re finally merging our book collections! No more Nathan’s children’s books and Sheila’s children’s books. It’s all smushed together. Yay us!

I think I may be starting to feel Bean move. I’ve had a couple days now where I can feel things that kind of feel like gas bubbles in your stomach. It could just be my usually digestive acrobatics, but I swear they were lower than any stomach bits should be. We’ll see I guess. But maybe???

I’ve gained 7.5 lbs since Christmas, and 3 of that has been in the last 2 or 3 weeks. I give all the credit to Ghost. I’m sure I’m losing weight walking her and then gaining back whatever Bean needs. I don’t mind. It means I’m in better shape than I was before we got Ghost, so I should be able to get in even better shape faster, after Bean is born. But 7.5 lbs in 20 weeks is pretty darn good I think! Yay Ghost! And me, for not stuffing my face with everything available. =D Though Easter was exceptionally hard….

The only other thing on the Bean radar (that I can remember anyway…) is that I have to keep an eye on my blood pressure. Mine is high normal, and pretty much always has been. I guess though, high BP in pregnancy can cause some serious complications both for me and Bean, and I could end up on bed rest for months or Bean could be delivered prematurely. So far there’s been no change in the readings. Actually this past week, it was a bit lower than usual. I’m not overly worried since high normal is normal for me. The midwives have given me supplements to take, teas to drink, exercises to do, etc. all in an effort to keep my BP manageable. I’m not to get stressed out or worked up about things and make sure that I get rest when I feel like I need it. This is hard for me. It’s so hard to stop doing things and rest when I think that I should be able to do more. It’s getting easier to let go, but it just goes against my nature to sit in a chair and ask people to do things for me because I need to rest. I’m doing my best at that though and I’m sure by the time Bean is born I will be an expert at delegating. =D

And there’s the Bean update for now! Look for 6 more blog posts coming soon!

It's been medically confirmed...

2009-03-17T12:18:00.002-06:00

I am a pain in the ass. What many of you have suspected for years has finally been confirmed.

Baby/uterus/pelvic bone is squashing my sciatic nerve and giving my left leg horrible pain and making my left knee give out unexpectedly, repeatedly throughout the course of a day. And let me tell you, not having experience child birth yet, this is the worst pain I have ever, EVER had. I was crying as I was crawling up the stairs last night to go to bed.

It all started out as a cramp in my left butt cheek a couple weeks ago. My rear had always given me troubles with cramped muscles, so I didn't think anything of it. Then yesterday, I got up from my desk in the afternoon and started walking towards the plotter room and then WHAM! An excruciating pain shot down my butt, into my left thigh and down to around my knee, which promptly gave out. It was awful. I didn't think much of it though. Thought maybe it was the shoes I was wearing or I'd just been sitting too long or something.

But it did it multiple times when Nathan and I were walking Ghost last night. After we got home, I sat and did our taxes and when I got up the shots in the butt were coming fast and furious. I started walking up the stairs for bed and made it about halfway before I had to put my hands on the steps to help myself up. By the time I reached the top I was crying from the pain. Not sobbing, but just my eyes leaking tears because it hurt so much.

I managed to sleep okay though, with only a couple episodes when I was rolling over. I'm trying to keep myself moving today, getting up every hour to walk around the office. I'm not doing too badly, but I've had a couple, umm, moments.

The good news is that our midwife appointment this morning went really well. I got some good advice about the sciatica and supplements and prenatal classes. My blood pressure was lower than it was last time, but still the "normal" range for me, which is high normal. We determined that their scale is wonky because my weight changed by at least 2 or 3 pounds every time we tried putting the scale in a different place on the floor. And I got to hear Bean's heartbeat again. Well, mostly I heard it kicking very insistently at the Doppler, like it was pissed that we were invading its space. Not just one kick, but multiple ones in a row. Apparently, Bean is nestled quite nicely in the middle of my uterus (which is also poking out nicely) and having a whale of a time. Nadine said that by the next appointment (middle of April) I will be able to feel the kicks. I think I'm going to be in for a very kicky, punchy pregnancy.... Hopefully yoga and homeopathic remedies will get the sciatica under control so I don't have to hobble about AND be kicked in the gut repeatedly. =D

Updates!

2009-03-12T12:24:00.003-06:00

So the more observant of you will have notice 2 things:

1. Strawberries!!! I decided I needed something fresh and springy to chase away the blahs, so we're going back to Strawberry Blue Viking. And I found this awesome template with beautiful pictures of my favourite fruit. Really, it was a no brainer.

2. If you direct your gaze to the left side of the blog you'll notice a new widget. Can you guess?

Yup, that's right, Nathan and I are expecting our first baby. Most of you will already know this (everyone knows I can't keep secrets worth a darn), but I thought it was time to post about it. Our due date is September 4th, but the midwives tell me that might be wrong. Apparently I'm weird.

To start from the beginning, Nathan and I started officially trying to conceive this past September. Our grand plan was to get pregnant around the fall equinox and have the baby around the summer solstice. Well, of course that didn't work. =D Life events got in the way of our success (travel, colds, funerals, etc.). In December I was certain that nothing was going to happen because of the aforementioned circumstances, but I was okay with that because we had finally decided to get a dog. Yay for Ghost (more on her later)! We picked her up December 16th. December 23rd, Nathan suggested I go pee on a stick, just in case, so we'd know if I was okay to drink wine, port, rum, etc. over the Christmas holiday. Well, wouldn't you know it! I was completely shocked. I kept having to go back into the bathroom to look at the test. Like it would change or I read it wrong or something. The next day, I did another test, just to check because I still didn't believe it. Still preggers. So that ended up being a pretty nice Christmas gift to give our parents.

We've decided to go with midwife care for the pregnancy and managed to get in with the same people who deliver Heather and Brad's first baby a year and a half ago. It's a bit pricey, but more the style of care that we were after. As a bonus, as of April 1st midwifery services will be covered by the province. No one's sure quite how much or how it will work, but we won't end up having to pay the whole amount which is kind of nice. We're planning on having the baby at the midwives' birth centre that's on 16th Ave (west of North Hill Mall). We didn't really want to do a hospital and a home birth didn't really appeal either. This should be a happy medium.

I'm feeling pretty good, all told. I'm 15 weeks tomorrow, so I'm finally good and into the second trimester. I never had morning sickness. I was a bit queasy sometimes in the evening, but a licorice cigar cured that, and there was also a week or so where I couldn't eat meat, but other than that not much going on. I've had a couple of hormone dumps which have sent me off the deep end, but I'm pretty aware when they happen so I usually just end up laughing at myself while I'm sobbing and then I take a nap. I was really exhausted for my first trimester and there were a couple days where it was physically impossible to get out of bed. I've still only gained about 3.5 lbs so I'm right on track with what the midwives say I should be gaining.

In the past few days, I've really started to feel more like myself. I can focus on things, accomplish things at work without being convinced that I'm doing it wrong, and I don't feel nearly as tired. I also think I was a tad depressed in my first trimester, but just this past Monday I felt happy all over and like I could smile without forcing it. Must be second trimester bliss or something.

I still don't know if the hugeness of this has completely set in for me yet. Honestly, it's felt more like a university term project than a pregnancy. Fill out forms, get tests done, pay for things, eat this, don't eat that, take these pills, exercise this much and on and on. It's seemed very task oriented so far and I haven't had much time to sit and reflect. Even when we heard the heartbeat of the baby in February, it still didn't hit me. I think as things become more of a routine then I can start to put aside the term project aspect and focus more on the wonder of it all.

Anyway, that's the baby update. I'll probably post more often now with weird little pregnancy experiences or anecdotes or rants.

As for Ghost, she's the best dog EVER! She's doing very well in puppy class and we're working on her recall on an extend-a-leash so we can eventually take her off leash. She's doing pretty good and we carry the squeaker from one of her destroyed toys just in case she's reluctant to come when we call. It works great! She's definitely getting more comfortable with us and with other dogs. I think she's almost realized that she doesn't have to defend herself against every single dog that crosses her path. She's even ALMOST played! We'll get there. It's probably also due to the fact that she trusts us more and if we're not worried, she's not worried. She's definitely a teenager though (the shelter's guess was that she'd be 2 this spring). She challenges us sometimes and can be a bit bossy and stubborn, but overall is very willing to please and affectionate. We've been leaving her at home during the day and she does fine on her own for those 9 or 10 hours. We try to make sure to play with her and walk her a lot in the evenings, but it's been kind of hard with the weather being so cold and icky. It's not her that minds though, it's us! I swear she could care less if it was -30 or -3, but it makes a big difference to us! Now that it's lighter out at night and getting warmer, hopefully we can spend more time outside with her. I think she's starting to blow her coat already... lots of fur at our place, that's for sure!! I'll post a fun picture of her eating icicles when I'm on my own computer.

So there's the update! Now you know what's been up for the past few months...

Ghost's First Day!

2008-12-17T13:52:00.005-07:00

I would like to introduce everyone to the latest addition to Nathan and my family.

This is Ghost.

We picked her up last night from the Cochrane shelter. She's about a year and a half old and pretty darn sweet. The best guess of the shelter is that she's a Husky cross with a Border Collie. She's absolutely precious and we are so happy!

The car ride home was a little scary for her. She was panting and very fidgety. When we got home, we let her have a good sniff around the house and she seemed pretty excited. And then she figured out that she had TOYS!! She had to give them all a good try and then when Nathan took her bed out of it's bag, she had to give that a good drag around the kitchen too. She wasn't too sure about the furnace kicking in. And the holes in the floor that blow hot air? That was pretty scary too. She slept pretty good last night. She spent the first part of it on the landing upstairs and then when Nathan got up to go to the bathroom around 1am, she came into the bedroom and slept on her bed. We didn't hear much from her until it was time to get up, but of course I was in hyper-awareness mode, so I didn't sleep so well.

This morning, I got up to take her out for a potty break and darn it, she wouldn't go. We were out for about 20 minutes and still nothing. She had gone when we left the shelter at 7pm the night before, but hadn't since then, so I knew she MUST have to go. But I gave up too early I guess. As soon as we got back in the door, she promptly peed on the carpet. Oh well. That was as much my fault as hers. I think the outside was still too new for her and she wasn't comfortable. I guess I can take it as a compliment that she finds our house secure enough to pee in? So I took her back out and walked up and down one little section of sidewalk by our mailbox until she did both of her businesses.

When Nathan left this morning, that upset her a bit. She whined and was a little jittery. My goal was to have a low key, quiet morning, since she'll be by herself both tomorrow and Friday morning. I read my book and she played a bit and then napped. Around 11:30, I thought I'd let her have a sniff around the backyard while I shoveled a path to the park pad. She was a little uncertain at first and kept standing by the gate where Nathan had left from. After a bit she started to poke around and then started running around like a maniac. Up and down the stairs, back and forth from the compost bin to the front gate. She's pretty fearless too, she jumped off the top step of the deck to the ground multiple times! Then we went inside and she looked at me like I was crazy. Why aren't we playing outside? So I had some lunch and then decided to take her out for her first walk. It wasn't long (half an hour), since it's still pretty cold out. When we got home, she stood at the door and whined again, like she needed to go out. Here's my inexperience coming into play. She'd gone pee but not poo. So we went out again and sure enough, she needed to go.

Now, we're home again, and she's having a little snooze as I write this. It'll certainly take some getting used to on all our parts, but I think everything will work out good. She seems pretty happy and is eating and playing. One thing I discovered we need to practice at: wiping her feet when she comes in! Anyway, here's a little video of her playing with her toy. There's not much playing (usually she's whipping the thing back and forth, trying to kill the squeaker, I'm sure), but it'll give you an idea of what she's like.

Channelling My Inner Rabbit...

2008-09-10T07:29:00.003-06:00

I think today I must be channelling my inner rabbit. For no reason at all, on the bus this morning my nose got all tingly and then it started twitching. Kind of like how your eye spontaneously twitches sometimes..... except it was my nose. Perhaps it's a sign. Like I should change the colour of my hair or eat more vegetables or chew on wood more often. Okay, maybe not wood. But the others maybe. Or it could just be some crazy unpredictable muscle thing.

Is it possible?

2008-07-17T12:42:00.005-06:00

Today's post is all about things that you might wonder are possible.

#1 Is it possible to give yourself a paper cut with tin foil?

Answer: YES!!! And darn it, it hurts like hell. Much worse than a paper cut. Good thing I've recently had a tetanus shot.

#2 Is it possible to create art unintentionally, while doing the most mundane of activities?

Answer: YES!!

This is my soap art. I was cleaning the bathroom and noticed that our soap dispenser was running low. I fetched the new refill bottle that I had bought. It was clear hand soap. The soap in the dispenser was cream. I thought "whatever, I''m too lazy to clean out the last bit of cream soap. We'll just mix them together." And VOILA!! Soap art. It has since completely mixed together into sort of a hazy clear mess, but it's just soap!

#3 Is it possible to move 15 tons of gravel without lifting a finger?

Answer: YES!!! A million times over, YES!!

Nathan needed to fill in the train bed with gravel to provide a stable, non-organic layer for the tracks. Soil will of course go on top where we need to grow things, but the gravel was the big part. Dad had seen the Rocky Mountain Slinger trucks driving around and looked into it for us. Basically it's a big dump truck with a conveyor belt. I love it! 15 tons of gravel placed that we would otherwise have had to shovel, wheel barrow full after wheel barrow full, day after day, for weeks, all done within about a half hour. Definitely worth the $500. My muscles should send them a thank you card....

#4 Is it possible to be doing such an in depth blog post in the middle of the day on a Thursday?

Yes, if you happen to be at home and not work. As pretty much all the world knows, I have been completely stressed out at work for the past month or so. Things have finally slowed down a bit, enough that I can hear myself think. But of course, this is when my immune system tends to crash and I started feeling like I was getting a cold yesterday. Not bad, just a twinge in my throat and a tickle in my nose and an ache in my head. I felt worse this morning when I woke up, so I decided to make a preemptive strike and stay home. I slept till 11am and when I got up I felt much better. No twinge, no tickle, no ache. Maybe it was all in my head. Who knows? I will still try and have a relaxing day, drinking lots of fluids, eating good-for-me food and working on keeping the yoga-feeling from last night going.

And lastly, a big thank you to everyone that has put up with me this past month and offered sympathy and suggestions. You know who you are. And the biggest thanks goes to my wonderful husband who has put up with my weeping and freaking out more often than anyone else. I'm so lucky! Love to all.

Someone's been sitting in my chair....

2008-05-07T10:57:00.002-06:00

So someone's been sitting in my seat at work. I know who it is too. But he's new, so I shouldn't get all cranky at him. BUT.... he ate my pistachios and left some of the shells in the bag to make it still look full. And my keyboard had gooey marks on some of the keys. Argh. The big, bad, Sheila-bear is going to get angry soon. I'll be the first to admit, I'm very territorial about my space. Especially my space at work, since it's such a small area that I can call my own. And for heaven's sake - eating my snacks?!?!? Where have all the manners gone?

The best pick-me-up in a long time

2008-04-24T15:58:00.002-06:00

So guess what I saw while surfing Amazon earlier this week? Guess, guess guess!!!

The first 2 seasons of Perfect Strangers has been released on DVD! Finally! I've been checking and checking for years now, signing petitions, etc. and now it's finally here! I loved this show when I was a kid. Larry and Balki are just hilarious! Now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy! Do you remember the episode with Larry and Balki trying on downhill ski equipment in their apartment? Soo funny! I think I see an Amazon order in my near future....

And I needed the pick me up. The last 2 weeks have been perfectly dreadful at work. I'm exhausted, not getting anything done and barely managing to not kill certain shoe-collecting members of the staff. I am debating taking a Tom Sawyer day tomorrow, but I don't know. In the past day and half, I've actually started to accomplish some things and I'd like to keep going while I'm on a roll. We'll see I guess. But a day at home, with sleep-ins and baking cookies sounds heavenly... I put it off and decide later.

Things hockey announcers shouldn't say...

2008-04-16T12:43:00.002-06:00

Squirt (as in "the puck squirts free")
PeePee (as in "the Flames are going on the PP")
Bangs (as in "so-and-so bangs so-and-so in the corner. Hard")
Goes down on (as in "goes down on a shot from the point)

In case you hadn't figured it out yet, I was feeling a bit silly while destressing (bad day at work yesterday) and watching the hockey game. I'm sure there's more things that we came up with, but I can't remember anymore. Ahh... Nothing like sleepiness, de-grouchifying and a little alcohol to make pretty much anything hilarious.

Great City

2008-04-15T15:35:00.003-06:00

So I have recently re-discovered one of the things that makes Calgary a great city to live and work in.

I was walking downtown last week, last Thursday to be exact. Thursday was our big spring snow dump of about a 1/2m. I was walking through the +15s back from a meeting which is something I rarely do. It just takes far too long and I'm sure you walk twice as far. Anyway, I saw dozens of professionals wearing their dress pants, dress shoes, ties, and... Flames jerseys. Thursday was our second game of the playoffs. Now, not having worked in a downtown anywhere else, I can't really compare, but I think this is pretty cool. That professionals can wear a sports jersey to work and no one would say two peeps about "dress code". I think that's awesome. It also makes me feel like Calgary is more a community rather than a city of more than a million. It just seems a small town thing to me, supporting your team. Maybe that's just me. But anyway, yay for all the oil companies down here for letting their employees show their team spirit.

GO FLAMES GO!

Earth Hour

2008-03-28T12:29:00.003-06:00

This Saturday March 29, 2008, from 8 – 9pm local time is Earth Hour. People and businesses are asked to turn off all lights and other non-essential electric appliances to bring attention to promote electricity conservation, awareness and lower carbon emissions.

So let's everybody have some fun in the dark this Saturday!

Yoga-ness

2008-03-28T07:42:00.002-06:00

So last night in yoga I finally managed to bind one of the poses!

If you don't know yoga and have no idea what I'm talking about, that's okay. I can demonstrate next time I see you! This is a big thing for me as I haven't been able to do any of the binds yet. Yay me! Of course I can't remember what it was called (some insect I think) and there was no way in hell I could stand up with my arms wrapped around one thigh and behind my back, but hey! I could wrap my arms around one thigh!

Yay me!

Oogachaka....

2008-03-19T15:20:00.003-06:00

Today I was officially Head Hunted.

An interesting experience all in all. I feel like a real professional now. =D The guy left a message on my phone at work wanting to talk about possibilities, etc. I called him back this afternoon. On my cell phone. Outside the building. Not that I'm interested in changing jobs, but it just didn't seem like a conversation to be having at my desk with all my co-workers eavesdropping.

Anyway, like I said, nothing came of it because I'm not interested in leaving ESA at the moment. Until they treat me like crap or an opportunity comes along that I'd be stupid to ignore, I'm happy to stay where I am. Kind of a bit of an ego boost for me though. Yay me! I'm professionally desirable!

New Furniture!

2008-03-08T15:26:00.008-07:00

In my previous post I noted that I had completed my search for the perfect reading chair. And here it is!

Of course, we had to get the matching sofa too. So there's our new living room. They're really nice to sit in, feel nice and are just lovely. For some reason though, now the wall above the couch looks REALLY bare. Hmmm... Maybe time to move the family picture wall up on the to-do list.

In other news, I've posted some pictures in our Picasa album. There's some pics from our ice hike this winter with Mom and Dad and some from our little weekend getaway to Revelstoke.

Thoughts of the week....

2008-02-15T07:37:00.002-07:00

In celebration of the Friday before a long weekend, here are some thoughts I've been pondering this week.

Hockey players get paid huge amounts of money. The justification is that their career length is not as long as the average joe, so they need to make more money in the short term to support them in their, ahem, old age. So if their careers are so short and can be even shorter when you factor in injuries, why don't they take advantage of all the safety equipment available to ensure they play longer and therefore make more money? This is of course brought on by Zednik getting his neck slashed by his teammate's skate and almost dying and the subsequent debate on whether neck guards should be mandatory. Players say they're uncomfortable, etc. Hmmm.... a little chafing on the neck or a severed artery... let me think. This also applies to full face cages. It seems to be you'd have to be pretty dumb to not want to protect yourself. The face cages impeding vision is just ridiculous too. I mean, if goalies can stop pucks hurtling at them from god knows which direction with full face cages on, surely a player can find the puck on the ice. Sheesh.

Why does everything have to go wrong at the same time? I've had a shitty week, with things going wrong left, right and centre. Thankfully, when everything came to a head yesterday I got to go to yoga class that night. I felt much better afterwards, much more zen. I'm trying to hold onto that this morning just to get me through the day. At least it's a short one. I think I'll go winter boot shopping before I go help my gimped husband pack up Teachers Convention.

I am a patient person, but I'm not THAT patient. I have discovered that while I like to teach people and help them solve problems I have no tolerance for people that are dumb as a post. I just can't teach someone that can't even think for themselves a little bit. If you've got some brain cells, some initiative and some willingness to learn, then come and see me. Otherwise, keep your dumb pea brains to yourself.

Nathan and I have lived in our little house for almost 3 years. Looking back, we've done a lot in those three years. It never really seems like a lot at the time, but in retrospect, we've accomplished a lot of things. It's kind of amazing really. And this year we get to the fun things like contructing the model railroad and gardening. I can't wait for spring! But first, we must develop the basement!

I have concluded the search for the perfect reading chair. For a couple months now, Nathan and I have been visiting all manner of furniture stores from snooty to slummy, and I have found the perfect chair. It's the Archer Recliner from Ethan Allen. It's supportive, cushy, has a tall back for head support and of course, reclines. Perfect. We're going on Saturday to take one more look and then order it. And maybe a couch too....

Anyway, that's it for random thoughts. I'm alone for most of this long weekend as Nathan is going to the gift show in Edmonton on Sunday, back Tuesday. I plan to relax, work on the family tree, test drive some digital photo organizing software, nap, watch movies, and read.

Good song

2008-02-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

So for Christmas my sister got me the new Bon Jovi cd. It's FANTASTIC!! Bon Jovi is one of those bands that I can buy a cd, completely unheard, and I won't be disappointed. This song is called "A Seat Next To You". It's my favourite of the ballads on the disc. But if you're looking for a new cd, buy Lost Highway. You won't be disappointed.

We live where?

2008-02-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

This is what I don't get. Calgary has been experiencing a rather nasty cold snap. Fine. This is Canada in January. It's to be expected. What I don't get is that there are business people walking around downtown in thin coats, no hat, no gloves, no scarves, no boots. Are they insane????? When it's -50C with the windchill, I just don't care if I've got hat hair. Are these people so self conscious that they just can't bear to be seen in winter clothing? And these days winter clothing is cool. We have snowboarding to thank for that. I remember when I was a teenager, I wouldn't be caught dead in things like winter boots with my pants tucked in. But now I actually see teens wearing snow pants when it's cold out. So why can't adults (who are supposed to be much more secure and clever than teens) dress for the weather? WE LIVE IN CANADA!!!!! Sheesh.

Multi-topic post

2008-02-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have been extremely neglect in my posting. Sorry. I just always seem to find something else that needs doing or that I want to do for myself. So here is my life since Christmas.

Christmas was good. Kind of odd, since it was the first one without Nathan's parents and sister. It was a little lonely at the Bell dinner, but I guess we managed. I got a whole 11 days off from work which was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

New Year's Eve Nathan and I went to Mom and Dad's. We watched The Trailer Park Boys Movie and then had a marathon canasta tournament. At midnight, we would finish the hand and whoever was ahead won! Nathan and I were leading quite spectacularly all night and then Mom and Dad had a comeback and on the last hand they pulled ahead! Typical for the year really. We counted and I think Nathan and I won twice last year to Mom and Dad's 11 (or something like that, I can't remember the exact number). Lots of fun though!

January was really busy at work. I've got Chinook that I'm working on as well as little tenant stuff here and there. I still manage to not work too much overtime. I'm really not a big fan of overtime and avoid it at all costs. Our office is moving in May to a new building on 8th Street and 6th Ave SW. We're starting to attempt to clean up things as much as possible so we don't have to move boxes and boxes of paper. We'll see how well that goes, but regardless I'm looking forward to a new space. Then we won't have to resort to bunk desks!

Nathan and I went to Revelstoke at the end of the month, which was lovely. We both really like it there. It's on our list of places to retire. =D We went to the train museum and to Halcyon Hot Springs. Sadly, while we were there we found out that Nathan's Grandma Fahey had passed away. It wasn't wholely unexpected, but still a sad event. I will miss her dearly. She was always such a mischievious, loving lady.

As for future plan, Nathan and I are hoping to get the basement developed before spring. It won't be a lot of work, but it will take a certain amount of coordination. We want to get it done now, because as soon as it's warm enough we'll be in the backyard working on the flower beds and the garden railway. I can't wait! Playing in the dirt is the best!

As soon as I find a spare minute I will post some pictures on our Picasa site from our trip and such. And now, it's back to my regularly scheduled lunch break.

A funny thing happened on the way to the bathroom...

2007-12-19T12:52:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it wasn't on the way to the bathroom, but in it. Whatever, close enough for rock and roll.

Yesterday afternoon, just before it was time to go home from work, I headed to the bathroom. We've got 2 stalls in the bathroom at work - one regular, one handicap. Someone was in the regular one, so I went in the handicap one. The other person left. Did what I needed to do and then went to open the door. The handle spun around. No contact inside. Spin, spin, the door not unlatching. Spin, spin, starting to get cranky now. The last thing I wanted was to be locked in a bathroom stall so long that I missed the last express bus. Spin, spin. Almost 5 pm, everyone on our floor is pretty much gone by then. Spin, spin. Wiggle, bang, kick. Still nothing. Well, there was nothing for it but to get down on my belly and slide, push, pull myself under the stall door. There was a good 12" or 14" clearance, so it wasn't difficult, just slightly embarrassing even though there wasn't anyone there to witness it. At least our bathroom is decently clean and I just got a bit dusty.

So there you go. A little story for you to laugh at as you picture me on my belly, wiggling my way under a stall door. =D

(And in case you're wondering, the landlord fixed it right away. I still don't think I'll use it if I can avoid it though...)

Self improvement

2007-11-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I have been doing a fitness/nutrition program since September. I signed up for the TrymGym program at the U of C, and it's been great. I've learned so much about how to eat properly, what to look for, how/when to exercise and all that other good stuff. My main goal in the course was to increase my levels of physical activity, get more energy and lower my blood pressure. And of course lose a bit of weight! =D

Anyway, they're starting to do the final testing to see how far we've progressed in 3 months. I got my blood pressure taken yesterday. In September I was on average 155 over 90. Needless to say, higher than it should be. Yesterday I was an average of 140 over 86. Yea for me! It's still a bit high, but much better than it was. Blood pressure is one of those weird things. I can't FEEL the difference from September to now, but there is one.

In other progress, I've lost about 3.5kg (7.7 lbs). Not a lot, but boy are my pants baggy! I think I've been gaining lots of muscle mass. I also ran more laps (2 as opposed to a half) during our 12 minute walk and/or run test and it didn't take me nearly so long to recover my breath/heart rate as it did in the past. I could also do double the amount of push ups.

All in all, I'm pleased as punch with my progress. I'm also exceptionally proud that I have stuck with this and embraced the lifestyle changes that are necessary for me to be healthier. I've signed up for a yoga class and deep water workout (twice a week) for Jan to Apr to keep going with activity. One of the most important things that I've learned is how I exercise. I'm definitely not a go to the gym by myself kind of person. I like the social part of it. I also get extremely bored quickly, so classes are better for me than just buying a gym membership.

So YAY ME!!

The Best Commercial Ever!

2007-11-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Nathan found me this commercial years ago and I just recently thought about it again. I love it! I NEEEEEEED a house hippo!!

To give everyone a boost...

2007-10-27T16:28:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

I've recently become addicted to this song, "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. I first heard it on that Pantene commercial, and since then I can't stop listening to it. I find it very uplifting. Every time I'm having a bad day or I'm feeling a little down about my life, it always gives me a boost and reminds me that its my life and I can live it however the heck I want.

Then, I found the video for it on YouTube. It's so cute! I'm having a little trouble reconciling the end of it, so any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated!

Anyway, have a listen. I hope it encourages you as much as it does me.

Nova Scotian Thanksgiving

2007-10-16T20:41:00.000-06:00

As most of you probably already know, Nathan and I headed east over the Thanksgiving long weekend to visit his newly relocated parents and sister. It was good to see them all again and nice to see where they're living now. It's very... different... from here, that is. Not that it's different in a bad way though! I can definitely see the appeal of the place, atmosphere, people, culture, etc., but I think you really need to be at a certain stage in life to do it. Semi-retirement - definitely. Prime working years - not so much. I found it quite hard to figure out what exactly people DO out there. But at the same time, I would love to do nothing out there.

That being said, I don't think I could move there. I'd missed the mountains, the prairies and the sunny winters WAY too much. I'm just not cut out for grey and cloudy. I can't handle it without getting extremely depressed. Nice place to visit though. I can recommend a good B&B if you want to go. =D

I've posted pictures from our trip on our Picasa site. And for your viewing entertainment, below is a video of dear little Belal. This was from our trip to Risser's Beach. We were goofing around and Belal suddenly realized that sand was fun to dig in. We all had a good laugh over this. By the time we left the beach it looked like a scene from the movie "Holes"! Enjoy!

I thought the first anniversary was supposed to be paper...

2007-09-17T12:11:00.002-06:00

So as most of you know, Nathan and I like to be different. And as such we also end up having a lot of friends who like to be different. So I really shouldn't be surprised that Heather and Brad gave us the gift of seeing their daughter born on our anniversary. No silly paper thing for us! No, we get a baby! =D

Erin Bridget has a mop of curly dark hair. Her eyes are blue right now, but that could change I guess. I got to hold her when she was all of 20 minutes old. She's a beautiful baby. Just gorgeous. I couldn't be happier for Heather and Brad.

The labour was a bit of a whirlwind. I won't go into all the details, but I'm sure you'll all hear the story at some point from someone. I'll admit though, when I got home I was exhausted and still somewhat twitchy from all the adrenaline. And I didn't do hardly any work at all, comparatively speaking! I had a glass of port and went to bed and promptly did not sleep hardly at all. I still went to work today, but I slept in and came in late. I still feel a bit twitchy today, but that's probably because my mind is not here at my desk. It seems strange to me that the world should not stop what it's doing and acknowledge the fact that this amazing thing happened yesterday. I guess that will wear off with time, but right now it seems absolutely incredible that my friends have made this perfect little person and she will be in all our lives from now on. It seems much too momentous to me and far more important than work.

And as I'm sure some of you are wondering, after having witnessed Heather's labour and Erin's birth, I haven't been thrown one way or the other on the topic of having kids. I don't want one RIGHT NOW, but I'm not vehemently against it either. I have to say that watching Heather go through it and come out the other side her normal self (within minutes really) is reassuring. Just listening to her descriptions I'm pretty sure I could do pregnancy and labour without wimping out, but I have to say it's the mess that gets me. I'm such a neat and tidy person, I can't imagine making that much of a mess and not cleaning it up myself. I mean it would be MY mess! It's probably silly and I'm sure it's the last thing on any woman's mind after they've given birth, but it makes me anxious. I guess I'll have to attempt to be as tidy as possible whenever that time happens to come. =D If that's at all possible....

Anyway, Happy Birthday Erin! Auntie Sheila will see you on Saturday.

And We're Done.... Mostly

2007-09-09T19:52:00.000-06:00

So last weekend we finally finished the last of the hardscaping in the backyard. Mostly. We've still got gates to do and some final cutting of wall stones to fit in the places where a whole stone doesn't fit. But other than that, it's done! Go to our Picasa site to see the latest photos.

Looking at it now, I think we were crazy. I can't believe how much work that all was! I'm glad we did it though. I'm really happy with it. Of course, now Nathan says it looks like we're rich so we might have to get a security system. Let's see.... On either side of us, grass and gravel. Further out, weeds, weeds, weeds, garage, weeds. Hmmm.... Maybe a security system would be a good idea.

And just for fun, here's our baby bunny. He's been kind of scarce lately, but we've seen that all the piles of sand have been inspected, so maybe he's forgiven us the upheaval.

I've Come All Undone and Been Glued Back Together Again

2007-08-30T12:32:00.000-06:00

A tale of emotional strife? No! This is the story of a young woman's battle with a horrific, knife-wielding onion and the sacrifice her left thumb made that she would live to fight again.

Otherwise known as Sheila is a klutz and cut a third of the way through the tip of her thumb.

I was cutting up onion for broccoli salad last night and didn't move my thumb out of the way fast enough and the wonderfully sharp knife cut horizontally across the tip of my thumb. Much swearing and running my finger under water ensued. I could feel it moving under the water stream and it was bleeding a lot and I was starting to wonder if I'd done myself serious harm this time, when Nathan came home. He decided that it was best to go to a clinic to see if I needed stitches or not.

So off we went, the beginning of broccoli salad shoved in the fridge, me pressing a kitchen towel to my thumb. By the time we got to the clinic, the bleeding had pretty much stopped, so that was good. We checked in, went to Safeway for some panini sandwiches and then back to the clinic for my turn.

I didn't end up needed stitches. It had already started to close with all the pressure I had been keeping on it, so the doctor just put that medical crazy glue on it to glue it shut. Then, just to add insult to injury, I had to get a tetanus shot. In the left arm of course. So today, my thumb hurts and I can't put pressure on it and my arm is all achy from the shot.

It sucks and I'm cranky and don't want to be at work doing computer stuff. I can be such a klutz sometimes. Oh well. I'll survive. The tricky part will be getting my nail to grow out fast, so it doesn't snag on everything....

PS Attempting to finish the broccoli salad tonight. Wish me luck!

Because I'm a big geek....

2007-08-25T12:06:00.001-06:00

So this week at work I've been a big geek. BIIIIIIG GEEK! For those who don't know, right now I'm working on the expansion to Chinook Centre (yes, they're expanding again, taking out the Shell station). One of the typical things that we have to have on our mechanical drawings is a detail for the water meter room. This is where the city services enter the building, where the water meter is and all other manner of things. Traditionally, this has been a (boring) schematic drawing that just gets tweaked with each job.

For fun, the project manager and I thought we'd try and do a 3D piping layout for the water meter room, in addition to the plain jane schematic. Well! It wasn't overly hard and it looks fantastic, if I do say so myself! I was so disproportionately happy with it that it was kind of weird. I had to show it off to all my co-workers and now I have to blog about it. I can't help it though! It is so satisfying. I think I have finally come to realize that I'm a big AutoCAD geek and it pleases me to no end when I can do things like this.

Anyway, here it is. And yes, those walls are transparent! Aren't I great? I've got a print out at home, complete with notes, if anyone wants to see it..... =D

More Folk Fest and Yard Work

2007-08-08T19:51:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm a bit late to report on the rest of the Folk Fest. But better late than never!

It was freaking awesome. That's pretty much all there is to say. I heard a lot of groups that I either bought cds for or their cds are on my birthday list. Great Big Sea was fantastic on Saturday night. They are just the best group to see live. So much fun. It was a tad too hot though, and I ended up with heat rash and heat exhaustion after Saturday. I was still feeling crappy on Sunday, so we didn't end up going at all that day but it was still a wonderful way to spend a weekend.

Nathan performing in a workshop session on Saturday. And I mean the band Nathan, not my husband Nathan. =D

Ahhh.... Good times, good times. That's kettle corn that Nathan's eating. It was a great weekend, even more so because we both got a break from yard work. The yard is such a huge undertaking that we were both feeling a little discouraged and overwhelmed by it..... Okay, it was mostly me feeling discouraged and overwhelmed (not to mention cranky!). But we've made quite a bit of progress since then and I feel better about it. The end is in sight. We should be able to finish the hardscaping before the fall gets too advanced. The problem with home improvement projects in summer, is that there's always something else going on, somewhere else to be, something else to do. Ah well, we'll get 'er done eventually. Go to our Picasa site to see the updated photos.

Folk Fest - Day One

2007-07-27T07:37:00.000-06:00

Nathan and I were lucky enough to get 4 day passes to the Folk Fest this year from his Uncle Les (he works for the festival). I've only ever been to one evening before this and I really enjoyed that. So needless to say I was looking forward to having 4 glorious days of folky-ness. This is first summery thing that Nathan and I have done this year. All the rest of our time has been filled with yard work and other such craziness. So even though we have 6 untouched pallets of wall stones sitting in our parking pad, I am revelling in the bliss that is doing nothing important for 4 days. Sigh....

The first thing that I will say about last night was the atmosphere. I don't know what it is, but as soon as Nathan and I had bought our little Folk Fest chairs (worth every penny, BTW) and set them up in the field in front of the mainstage, I felt infinitely more relaxed. There's certainly something about sitting in a field, in the late afternoon sunshine, with a bunch of easy-going people, listening to great tunes. It was wonderful. Soooooo relaxing.

The acts were good. I didn't really hear anything that I didn't like. First up was Lubo Alexandrov and Kaba Horo. They're kind of a Bulgarian, gypsy type band that lives in Quebec. Very cool and fun. I like gypsy music. =D Next up was The Sadies. Despite their awful 70s suits and hair, they were fantastic. Some of their stuff sounded familiar, so I wonder if I've heard it before and just not known who it was. I think I might have to get one of their cds. Next was City and Colour. I have never heard of these people, but apparently they're quite popular. The lead singer has another band, but the music styles are quite different according to Nathan. They were great. Such pure vocals and melodies. There was also just the 3 of them which was neat to see too. Nathan bought me one of their cds. And last, but not least, Rufus Wainwright. I laughed when he pranced on stage in his cute little leiderhosen! So incredibly gay, and he just doesn't give a shit. I love his voice and he's an amazing musician. I have to say though that I'm kind of split on his stuff. Some I really like and others I really don't. His band's pretty cool though too. But he was a good entertainer and he played Hallelujah for his encore.

All in all it was a great night. So relaxing and groovy and just the most perfect way to spend a sunny Thursday evening. And I get 3 more days of it!

Strange days

2007-07-19T12:31:00.000-06:00

It's very weird to not have Rowena, Geoff and Gillian around. I keep forgetting that they don't live here anymore. They left Sunday for the mad dash across Canada to their new house in Canning, Nova Scotia. I swear they've just gone on a holiday and will be back in a couple of weeks. I think it will definitely take me (and everyone else, I'm sure) some time to get used to the fact that they're not coming back and that I won't see them on a regular basis. Very weird.

I've been working on scheduling a "girl's night" with my 2 close friends that I've known since I was 12. Nathan said to me "Have fun going out with the old married ladies!". It took me a while to figure out who he was talking about!! But I suppose it's true, since we're all married now. Thought I think I would argue the "old" part. =D L&A just got back from their honeymoon and H&B are just 7 weeks away from the birth of their first child. Sometimes that kind of wigs me out, but most times I'm excited. I have been known to prance about the house, chanting "I'm going to be an auntie, I'm going to be an auntie!" Nathan reminds me that I already am an auntie (his nephew Caspian). It's funny. Even though I am actually legally related to Caspian, I think I will consider H&B's baby more of a niece or nephew than I do him. Funny how things like that work.

Another odd thing is that all of a sudden I have a couple drafting/design to do for people on the side. Very weird, since both the jobs came up less than a week apart. I wonder why it happened now? Maybe there isn't any reason, but sometimes coincidences are indicators of something more (read the Celestine Prophecy, you'll know what I'm getting at). Really, right now I should be drafting house plans, but I have a hard time forcing myself to do extra drafting at work. I did some at home last night and I was rocking. Today at lunch I was dragging and finally gave up. I think it's the atmosphere....

And on top of it all is the ever present yard work. We're making progress though! That makes me happy. We are planning to stun my dad with how much we got done while he and Mom were on holidays. More pictures to come, I promise!

Anyway, those are my musings for this Thursday lunch hour.

Bad Day

2007-07-11T09:54:00.000-06:00

So today is starting out with a bang. The bang is me hitting my head repeatedly on my desk. Since not many people I know are familiar with AutoCAD, I will just say this:

ARCHITECTS ARE STUPID!!!! I'm not spending HOURS fixing their drawings. Do it yourself!! Especially since we've already discussed the right way to do it and now they've gone back to the old, wrong, horrible, ugly way. And these drawings are going out on Monday.

I was close to being very aggressive with my monitor this morning. Now I get to go to site, which is okay, because it's a completely different job. Except part of my lunch hour will be taken by a meeting. A completely unnecessary, useless, stupid meeting that I have to go to.

I'm going to work out like crazy at the gym tonight. Maybe it will get rid of the cranky ache in my belly. I think I might let my uncoordinated self try the elliptical runner.... In the meantime, I will try to keep my snarky tongue in my head and not direct my crankiness at the other people in my office.

My First EVER!

2007-07-04T15:15:00.000-06:00

Today I received my first ever bit of corporate swag. Not everyone in the office got one, there were only a couple, addressed to specific people and I was one. It was labeled PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL.

Unfortunately, it was cheesy Stampede bandana from Sizeland Evans (interior designer). But it's the thought that counts! I was so proud. Corporate swag addressed to me, because they like me. Yea me!

Cheesy, but fun! I wonder what I'll get for Christmas....

More yard work

2007-06-27T19:16:00.000-06:00

As requested, I have posted some pictures of the yard in progress on our Picasa site.

I must admit, I'm getting a bit frustrated and a bit overwhelmed by the whole process. But if I just think about how far we've gotten already, it makes it a little better. I will be so glad when this part is over and I can think about things like plants. Hard landscaping is just that - HARD! I'm pretty sure they meant the physical and mental effort that it takes - nothing to do with the materials at all!

Anyway, little by little it's getting done. My goal is to have the walls and the patio stones done by the end of July. Then we've still got a month of summer left to relax and enjoy all our hard work!

Yard work

2007-06-21T12:48:00.000-06:00

So our yard looks a bit like a war zone at the moment. We're working on it, but the rain and other obligations are cutting into my carefully crafted schedule. We are supposed to be done levelling by Saturday. We still have to dig up the gravel where the trees will be and then refill that and the weeping tile trench with soil. And then we have to level. Yup, that's right, we haven't started. So I have mentally modified the schedule. So long as we're ready to lay paving stones when Nathan's parents come and stay with us, I'll be happy. Rowena loves to lay pavers, so she's offered to do some while they're here. My ultimate goal is to have all the hardscaping done by the end of July. Then in August we can relax and enjoy the summer!

In other house related news, I finally hemmed the downstairs curtains this past Sunday. It only took me two years.... I've also bought a programmable thermostat that I'm going to replace the standard one with. This will be my first foray into anything electrical. Wish me luck! Don't worry, I'll turn off the breaker. I have no illusions about my clutziness.

Farmor

2007-06-11T11:44:00.001-06:00

I will remember many things about Farmor. I will remember her laugh, which, when I was little, I thought was the most joyous sound in the world. I will remember her smile and her teasing my dad, her baby boy. I will remember her singing, by far the best singer of all her children. I will remember my dad, curled up on our couch with his head in his mom's lap as she knitted. I will remember her asking for us to bring her Canadian Club when we would go to Denmark.

There are so many wonderful things about Farmor that I could even begin to tell them all to you. I admire her greatly. I always think to myself "That's how I want to be when I get old". She lived on her own, in her own little apartment right up until she passed away. She was supposed to be moved to a long term care facility today, but I guess she had decided that that wasn't for her. She had strokes, broken bones, lost her eyesight and still she just kept on trucking. She altered her activities to deal with her new limitations, but she never stopped living and she hardly ever complained.

Now she's gone and I am entirely without grandparents. It's a sad feeling. Even though I didn't know them all that well, it's still a hard thing to deal with. But I have to remember that all of my grandparents had very full lives and they were all ready to pass on.

I will remember them fondly and with laughter, as that's really all I can do.

People are weird

2007-05-30T07:37:00.000-06:00

So the strangest thing happened on Sunday night. Mom and Dad were over for supper and cards and we were a hand or two into our game of canasta, when all of a sudden Dad says "What's that guy doing?".

There was some random guy standing on our lawn, examining our tree (which is completely covered in lovely pink flowers). Then he reached up and took the tag off the branch, which I had specifically left on, because I knew I wouldn't remember what kind of tree it was. Then he walked away, our tree tag in hand.

Dad was all for jumping out the door and calling him on it, but I wasn't overly offended, just perplexed. Our curtains were wide open and I'm sure he could see us all sitting there and he still proceeded to steal our tree tag.

Speculations abound. Did he like the tree so much he wanted one and so, needed to know what kind it was? Does he have one and have no idea what it is? Was he just trolling the neighbourhood for tree tags? There are lots of our kind of tree on our street, but I guess we were the only ones to leave the tag on. You'd think that alone would have given him cause to pause before stealing our tag. If we're the only ones with the tag on the tree, surely it must be there for a reason.

People are very strange. Anyway, I remember the kind of tree: Makamik flowering Crabapple.

France

2007-05-25T21:15:00.000-06:00

Well, here's my promised post about France. Only a week or so late...

The trip was sensational. This is what I say whenever anyone asks me. It was sensational. Not good, not great, SENSATIONAL! I mean we had our rainy days and day where my stomach rebelled, and near the end I was getting a bit tired of living out of a suitcase and doing my laundry in a bathroom, but for the most part (the part that counts, anyway) it was a perfect trip.

I have to admit I was especially enthralled by all the architecture in France. It's quite overwhelming. Everywhere you look there are fantastic old buildings, all with their own unique personalities and quirks. Churches galore, mostly similar if you don't look hard, but they are vastly different if you take the time to walk, stand and admire. I did a lot of this. We'd be walking somewhere and I would just stop and stare for a while. I was on sensory overload for the first few days!

My particular favourites from the trip were Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, Nogent-sur-Seine and Parc Asterix.

Mont Saint Michel was the most organic structure I have ever seen. It was incredibly moving and peaceful. I could have quite happily spent days there and I probably still wouldn't have seen it all. I'm glad they're working on a project to eliminate the causeway and parking lots that are blocking the bay from encircling the mont at high tide. They will have parking on the mainland, and a bridge for tour buses and foot traffic across the bay.

I really enjoyed Normandy as well (Mont Saint Michel is on the border between Normandy and Brittany). I especially liked our tour of Juno beach. We went with a tour company called Battlebus that does tours in minibuses (like a minivan but boxier). They specialize in English-speaking tours and our guide was a Brit. He had a marvelous little flip book with pictures of the towns and of different soldiers that he would show us when he was telling a particular story. The tour was really well done, I highly recommend it. I always find history much more engaging when there's a personal aspect to it and this tour certainly had that.

Nogent was a pretty, sleepy little town with a contrasting nuclear power plant. I think that for a vacation it's much better to be more often out of Paris than not. Paris is such a huge city that moves very fast (except from 12-2pm), that I could definitely feel myself gearing down when we were outside of it. Don't get me wrong, Paris was great and full of things to see and do, but I really enjoyed our time in little towns.

And then... oh and then! Parc Asterix! I could wax poetic about this goofy amusement park for hours! It was like living in a cartoon. Goofy soundtrack, goofy actors, goofy buildings and puns and jokes everywhere! It was completely awesome. If you plan on going to France, read one Asterix book before you leave and then go to this park. It's really great. I was grinning like an idiot and giggling for pretty much a whole day. The perfect thing to do on our last day in France.

So those are some highlights for all of you. Whenever you happen to see Nathan and I, we'll be sure to show you the full range of photos and tell you all the stories.

And Nathan's right about the La Vie En Rose music box. It may be cheesy and totally aimed at the tourists, but whenever I hear it played I can transport myself back to Paris, walking by the Seine, hand in hand with my love.

New Look

2007-05-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

Nathan and I have just gotten back from France, and somehow this led to me deciding that the blog needed a new title and look. As you all know my poor SBV ipod died recently, so I thought a change was in order. Stay tuned for a France post and some pics. Now it's off to get a pedicure!

I figured it out!

2007-05-02T00:26:00.000-06:00

I think I've figured out the secret as to why the French people are not plagued with obesity like the North American populace.

It's the stairs.

Stairs up and down and up and down to get to the metro, stairs in the churches, stairs in the hotels and apartement buildings, stairs in the double decker trains and buses. Stairs everywhere! And not only do they all take the stairs, if there happens to be an escalator, they walk up those too. Or run.

My right knee is protesting a bit at all the stairs, but I think it's getting used to it. At least that's what I tell myself. It also helps that I get rewarded with panoramic views of Paris from Notre Dame or Monmarte, or creepy views of ossuaries in the catacombs of Paris. I think the stairs are worth it. I also think my butt is getting skinnier....

Bonjour all!

2007-04-29T00:19:00.000-06:00

Hello to everyone from Paris!

After a very long flight we arrived in Paris tired and hot and sweaty. We didn't have any problems navigating Pearson or CDG, but we were a little confused about which trains we needed to take to get to our hotel. We were so hot and tired, that our brains were totally NOT working, so it was a little difficult to navigate in French. We got on one wrong train, and ended up walking up and down so many flights of stairs in the subway that we were even more tired and hot. At this point, I was thinking that this might have been a mistake. I was so cranky and confused and overtired and over heated, that all I wanted was to be back in Calgary. But we finally made it to the hotel, which is great. Our room wasn't quite ready, but they fixed it up quick for us. We had showers and then naps and then we went to have dinner on the patio of a nice French restaurant. That's when I started to enjoy myself. Nathan had duck confit and I had cheesy mashed potatoes with a sausage. Yummy!

Yesterday was Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle, the crypt under Notre Dame and the Medieval Museum. Lots of walking and lots to see. Today we're off to walk up the towers of Notre Dame and then to the catacombes.

This place really does have a certain Je ne sais quoi!

T-minus 75 hours and counting....

2007-04-23T07:46:00.000-06:00

Do you think I'm excited? No, of course not...

I can't wait to get on that plane and go. It's going to be such a nice trip. The weather in Paris the past week has been holding steady at about 23-26C, either partly cloudy or full sun. This is going to be so awesome! I also phoned my first French person on Saturday. One of the hotels that we wanted to stay in doesn't have email, so we had faxed a request to them. By the end of last week we hadn't heard back, so Nathan convinced me that we had to call them. I wrote out what I wanted to say (in French, of course) and then I dialed. A man picked up the phone and said 'Allo?'. Not 'Allo, Hotel de la Gare'. So I had no idea if I had the right phone number and of course asking that question was not part of my script. So I said 'Bonjour...ummm....'. And then he said 'I speak English, madame'. Apparently I was quite obviously not French. Oh well, at least I was prepared to make an effort. =D

Now all I have to do is attempt to accomplish things at work in the next three days. Not that I have a lot to do, but I can't just sit here and stare at the clock. Well, maybe for a couple of hours every day I could do that...

I have shoots!!!

2007-04-14T16:32:00.000-06:00

I am so incredibly happy with myself! I have grown plants! Of course, they're bulbs that I just put in the ground and now, lo and behold, I have little shoots coming up! Look, look!

The green ones are crocuses and the purple are tulips. Of course, there are a whole bunch that aren't poking they're heads through right now. These are just the early risers I guess! More pictures to come as my little babies get bigger!

I'm cured!

2007-04-04T07:47:00.000-06:00

I think the last 4 days have cured me of wanting a pet. Thank goodness! I was getting perilously close to being desperate for something furry and cuddly to cuddle. Not that there's anything wrong with Belal and Turtle, but the days of house/pet sitting has reminded me how much work a pet is and how much it restricts your life. All in all, it was a pretty uneventful 4 days. There were only a couple of wigging out episodes. =D I won't go into all the details of my irrational irritation with the pets. In any case, I'm extremely glad to go home to my own little house and my own bed and my own stuff. And my slippers. I miss my slippers.

I can't wait for the 3 day weekend! Lucky Nathan gets 4, since he never works Mondays anyway. At least we'll have 3 days to putter around together and relax in a pet free, fur free, slobber free, soft cat food free house. Ick.

Sleep deprivation

2007-03-30T07:53:00.000-06:00

Oh, to be able to sleep soundly. I have been having a hell of a week trying to get enough sleep. Maybe 2 of the last 5 nights have been good nights' sleeps. Yesterday was bad. I was so sleepy and exhausted (mentally that is), that I actually was snappy at Nathan. Now I'm sure some of you think, so what? Well, we're NEVER snappy at each other. It was only once and it was such a little thing to snap about, but I felt completely horrible the instant I did it. He said it was fine and actually kind of funny, but I still felt bad.

The last 2 weeks have been all over the map for me. My grandmother passing away, my mom leaving to go to Denmark, Nathan's parents almost 100% convinced they're moving to Nova Scotia, the truck not working, working, not working, deadlines at work creeping closer, contemplating changing jobs, the pool at the U having some sort of mechanical problem so no DWW class, etc., etc. I'm hanging on to my sanity and my temper by a thread here people! I resort to using my earphones at work, all day, every day, so I won't completely wig out on certainly guys at work.

I want it to be the 26th of April!! I want to go to France and relax for 3 weeks. At the moment, I'll admit I'm kind of in avoidance mode. I want to go away and forget about all of this, deal with it later. I know some of it will be resolved before we go, but at the moment, I feel like turtling.

And I need to buy some new capris. And socks.

To find the words

2007-03-28T07:37:00.000-06:00

For more than a week now I have been trying to find the words to say goodbye to my grandmother. This has been much harder for me this time around, probably due to worry. I worry about my aunt, who has lost both her parents, her uncle and her husband in the space of about 9 months. I worry about my mom, who is in Denmark right now, dealing with the huge task of cleaning out her mom's little room at the nursing home and sorting all the stuff that was packed away after Morfar died last summer.

I'm sad Mormor is gone, but at the same time, I'm glad it was a peaceful passing and now she can be with Morfar. After living so long with one person (more that 65 years), it must have been extremely hard for her to be without him. But now they are together again, and I can almost feel them out there somewhere watching over all of us.

Goodbye.

Rest In Peace

2007-03-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

It is with heavy heart that I must announce the passing of my dear friend, Strawberry Blue Viking. (For those of you that don't remember, SBV is my ipod)

SBV passed away suddenly on Wednesday night. He was an innocent, caught in the crossfire of a floor and a badminton net pole. For clarity: I hung my coat with SBV in the pocket on a badminton net pole at the university. Said pole promptly fell over with a crash to the floor.

I did not discover this tragedy until this morning, when I whipped out my trusty friend on the bus and discovered one of the headphones was cracked. Disappointing, but replaceable. Then I looked at the screen. A mess of broken digital inkiness. Sigh... So I had to listen to the lady with the bubbly belly laugh all the way downtown.

Time to shop for a new friend I guess... and quick. I can't stand that lady's laugh.

Tah Dah!

2007-03-13T20:16:00.000-06:00

I just found this cool template online! Isn't it perfect? Ever so cute and just in time for spring. Do any of you html savvy people know how to center the blog in the window?

I got the Family Tree Maker software yesterday and had a lot of fun playing with it. It's very good and extremely easy to use. I'm excited about this project. I can't wait to have everything organized and clear (to me anyway!). If you're thinking of doing a family tree, I can recommend this program, even after just one day of usage. Very cool.

But now it might be time for a bed and a book. I had a headache for most of the day (related to the icky perfumey body wash I bought I think), and then I went and swam laps and then I shoveled the walk while Nathan cooked dinner. I am completely exhausted! But in a good way...

Places to go...

2007-03-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Nathan keeps giving me such good blog ideas! After looking at his list of things that he wants to do/see before he dies, I started thinking about my own list. Mine consists mostly of places to go, not surprisingly. I think I must have wanderlust. Anyway, here is the start of my list.

Ride the Trans Siberian Railway. I want to do this so bad! All the way from Moscow to Vladivostok. I don't know what season I want to do it in, but the whole thing sounds so adventurous and romantic.

Go North. In a similar vein, I would like to travel up to northern Canada. The Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut. Mostly, I think I want to see the landscape and the wildlife. Especially the musk ox. They're so cute and shaggy!

Walking tour of Spain. This actually fits quite nicely with Nathan's desire to go on a pilgrimage, and we didn't even plan it that way! I have a Lonely Planet book that is exclusively walking tours and they all look absolutely amazing. Now to pick one...

Australia. I want to go back just as a tourist. I want to go back to Adelaide and Uluru and then I want to go down the west coast. I know that the Great Barrier Reef is on the east coast, but the west is so wild and untamed and unpopulated that I think I would like it better. The natural land formations are amazing.

Fiji. I only stopped there for an hour on my way to Australia, but I've been in love with it ever since. The sunrise was beautiful, the airport was so quaint, and it just had an atmosphere that seeped into my soul. Must go there during the day next time.

Go on an African Safari. I don't care where. So long as there's hippos, I'll be happy. Lots and lots and LOTS of hippos. And yes, I know they won't let me cuddle them.

Develop our family tree. My uncle in Denmark has traced a branch of our family to way back in the middle ages (15th or 16th century, I can't remember) and I would like to expand on what he's done. Also, I'd like to do it was software program so we don't have to worry about losing a page or something. Inspired by these ideas, I bought a program on Amazon yesterday. It's even got website publishing software on it, to publish your findings. I'll keep you posted!

Become a gardener. I will make no aspirations to becoming a GOOD gardener, but I want to be one. I like to play in the dirt and watch things grow. Still hoping this will be my hobby.

Have a dog. I want one of my own. I want to do agility with it and cuddle it and love it. Must restrain myself....

And the big one...

Have a low stress, enjoyable, flexible, well paying job. 'Nuff said.

Well, that's my list so far. Like I said, mostly places to go, but I think it's all attainable eventually. I'd like to tick off the low stress job sooner rather than later, but that requires a certain effort by myself that I'm not quite willing to do yet. For the moment I can cope and my job has 2 of the 4 characteristics: well paying and enjoyable. Of course, the high stress has a negative impact on the enjoyability....

The world awaits. Travel safe!

Snore....

2007-03-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Is it 4:30 yet? I'm really sure it's time to go home now. Besides, all day yesterday I was convinced it was Friday, so that makes today Saturday and I'm working overtime, right? Sigh... I know, it doesn't really work that way. I can hope though...

Joy of joys, I'm going to do my taxes this weekend. I think I will make time for an afternoon nap on Saturday. Mmmmm, nap.

I guess I should at least LOOK like I'm working. The Blogger website just doesn't look like work, no matter how hard I try. Only and hour and a half left...

Happiness... It's all in your point of view

2007-02-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was reflecting today on the bus why I can go from happy, content and satisfied to unhappy, stressed out and discontented within the space of a few days. (insert joke about female mood swings here).

For myself, I think it happens to be what I'm focusing on. Last week it was work, this week it's the murder mystery party we're hosting on Saturday. I don't think I really have less work now than I did then, but I have something else to think about that I consider more important. Yes, I consider a murder mystery party with my friends more important than work.

Also, I can work myself into a dreadful funk and basically convince myself that my life sucks. But then if I step back and look, it really doesn't. I have a nice job, a wonderful husband, a cozy house, caring friends, an upcoming trip to France, etc. My life doesn't suck. So why then are there some days when I think it does?

PERSPECTIVE!!!!!!

I think someone could spend their entire life focusing on negative things and completely miss out on everything wonderful and good. That makes me sad, and at the same time motivates me to keep all those good things in the front of my brain.

So my challenge for everyone out there: Post a comment and list a couple of things that make your life wonderful and that make you happy. Keep these in your head for the rest of the week and I think I can almost guarantee a reduction in stress!

Thanks to everyone for being wonderful things in my life.

Post Blues

2007-02-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Okay. I think I have sufficiently recovered from my bout of the blues. I did not have to work this weekend, so that improved my mood just on its own. This is how my Saturday went: Up at 9:30am. Had breakfast and read my book. Showered at 11am. Played a computer game. Lunch at 1pm and read my book. Baked cookies at 4pm. Made pizza for dinner at 5pm. Had pizza and beer and watched the hockey game with my boy. Went to bed. So, after much relaxing I think I have gotten over the blues...mostly. I'm still slightly stressed about my deadlines at work, but I have roped someone else into helping me out, so that should alleviate the pressure a bit. Also, I'm looking forward to a delicious long weekend when I get to spend 3 whole days with my hubby. Yea for Family Day!

The Blues

2007-02-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Reading Nathan's post this morning put me in mind of the blues. Unfortunately for me, this consists of me feeling down and out. The lack of sun here in Calgary is really starting to get to me. The deadlines at work piling up are really starting to get to me. The looming need to work overtime on Saturday is really starting to get to me. The lack of nice warm tops for work is really starting to get to me. The lack of sleep is really starting to get to me.

All in all, the world is getting me down. I feel incredibly weighted this morning, like there's somebody pushing down on me from above, trying to drive me into the ground.

To attempt to cheer myself up, or at least recharge, I will work extra hard today so (hopefully) I won't have to work on Saturday. I will go to the university after work and either swim laps or go to the gym before home time. Then, if I don't have to work on Saturday I might just say 'screw the chiropractor', sleep in and spend the day doing nothing. Like reading my book. Or watching some episodes of Frasier. I will take great joy in the nothingness of one whole Saturday. Maybe I'll bake some cookies and eat some dough as I do it. In short, I need some me time. I am completely sick of the world right now and it's efforts to drive me under. I will resist as best I can, armed with a good book, a fluffy duvet, flannel pyjamas and lots of napping.

Is It Just Me...?

2007-01-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-01-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-01-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

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.

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.
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.
Eat more fruit and vegetables. This is a perennial resolution for me. Eventually I might get my intake to where it should be...
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!

Not Fair!

2006-12-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

It's simply not fair at all. Why am I sick NOW??? Four days before Christmas and I can barely drag myself out of bed. I suppose the good thing is that hopefully I will be mostly over it by the weekend, but it still sucks. Another good thing is that we have no engineer bosses at work for the rest of the week, and one of the other bosses took one look at me and said "Why are you here?" Because I have a stupid meeting at 9am, that's why. "So you're going home at 9:30 right?" That sounds like a very good idea. I think I'll skip out on tomorrow too. Sigh... I hate being sick..... At least I can play Katamari now. Yes, that's right! Nathan and I bought a Playstation2 with the gift card we got from my work for our wedding. Yea for Katamari!

Sniffles and snorts, Sheila

Fixed! ... mostly

2006-12-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, now Amazon is sending out the items that they have ready (still missing one) and have removed any shipping charges from my order. Whew! So it's only Vanessa who might be missing a present on Christmas Eve. Sorry Ness! I'll mail it up to you if it doesn't come in time.

I can stop panicking now...

Why, oh why

2006-12-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Why is my Amazon order now not going to make it in time for Christmas? I ordered everything on November 18th. They sent me an email TODAY that one item was delayed 4 to 6 weeks, but that the rest should arrive before Christmas. I went in and deleted the delayed item, and now the rest of my shipment won't arrive until AFTER Christmas! How does that work! I upgraded my shipping to the fastest possible, but it's still not for sure. I hope it works out though, otherwise I'm kind of screwed for a lot of presents. Grumble, grumble....

Questions for the universe

2006-12-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

Why do people on the bus in the morning have to be so darn chipper and loud? There are these 3 women on my bus that giggle and talk really loud for the entire ride. It's very irritating. I mean, I'm a morning person, but they're so bad that it even gets to me.

Why do authors take such a long time to come out with the next book in their series? Some are really good and churn one out about every year, which is reasonable to me. Others take 3, 4 or 5 years between books and then I'm so lost I have to read the entire series over again. Not that that's especially bad.... I mean, if they're going to take that long, don't write a series!!

Why do I really, REALLY want to play Katamari?

Why do people insist that Christmas is first and foremost a "religious" holiday, while at the same time going all out with super expensive presents from Santa? This makes no sense to me....

Why do interior designers put sinks where it is absolutely impossible for me to drain them? Why do they get all huffy when I tell them it won't work?

Is it holiday time yet?

Good To Be Home

2006-12-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ahhh.... Good old Canada. I can feel the serenity now....

Well, I got back into town early this morning (4:30am) and promptly passed out until 1pm this afternoon. I was completely unaware of anything going on around me. Nathan showering, Nathan leaving, phone calls, I missed it all.

So the Vegas business trip was good. The conference was awesome, despite some small hiccups. Tuesday I was completely overwhelmed by the 7500 other people, courses that weren't the best (but I knew that would be the case before hand), a headache, bitchy people, couldn't find the shuttle bus, etc. that I just sat down in my hotel room and had a good cry.

The Venetian Shops area.... Nice ceiling

The rest of the week was really good though. I had some really good seminars that gave me a lot of good ideas about how to organize the CAD stuff at ESA and I picked up some good tricks for all of the other drafters in the office. I think it was definitely worth the money, though I would much prefer to be a the hotel where the conference is taking place next time. The shuttle bus was convenient, but it was still one more thing to worry about.
I met a lot of neat people and will keep in touch with some of them I'm sure. Some were completely arrogant and rude, and others were really great. I suppose you get all kinds.
I feel completely naked without my name tag now. I feel like I should be checking my schedule or something...

The Strip

As for Vegas itself, I have NEVER EVER been to such a commercial place. The entire place is centred around getting you to spend money. All of the hotels that I was in, you had to go through the casino to get anywhere. Back to the lobby, the elevators, the conference centre, the shops, it didn't matter. Somehow you had to go through the middle of the casino to get there. I'm not entirely sure HOW they accomplish it, but there it is. Slot machines in the airport, sensored minibar items (if you pick it up, you bought it), shops full of junk, and so on. At the beginning of the week, it was all very impressive, but by the end I was sick of the commercialism, the noisy gambling machines, the guys trying to hand out stripper ads on the streets, the priests who were definitely not priests trying to collect money for the "poor", the guys with their sandwich boards spouting off about the end of the world and redemption... It was a bit too much for me, I'll admit. I like nice little Canada, calm little Calgary. I guess I'm a "country" girl at heart. =D

My hotel, Mandalay Bay.

Very swank... Felt I should dress up to use the bathroom

Has My Brain Exploded?

2006-11-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, I'm a half day into the AU conference, I've had one class and I think I'm on overload already.

Observations so far:

Good to be a female. No line ups for the bathroom.
Good food
Weird town, Vegas is. Completely off the wall. I saw people cheering and crying in the casinos. Poor pitiful gamblers. Also, saw an ad for "Strippers Direct to You". Hmm....

I will try and keep my brain contained.

Out in Deep Water....

2006-11-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the Vegas conference (for those who don't know, Autodesk University) is fast approaching and I'm starting to feel a little out of my league. I'm going to an elite conference with 7000+ people from around the world. I am going to mingle. I am going to be asked for my opinion on multi-million dollar software. I am going to be grilled by people just starting out on Autodesk Building Systems (fancy 3D CAD for engineers). I am I sure this is right?

I can't help but feel a little like there's been some mistake or something. These people that are emailing me, setting up times to meet and chat AutoCAD, don't really want to pick MY brain. After all, if you count SAIT, I've only been doing AutoCAD for 3 1/2 years. Do I know as much as I think I do? Will I be succinct and not embarrass myself? Can I manage to speak to people that I perceive as my elders without turning beet red? Will I learn enough that my bosses won't regret sending me? Did I pack enough business cards for all the door prizes?

Suddenly, I feel very adult. I have a house, a husband, and I'm going on a business trip (all expenses paid of course) to attend a conference. Somehow this doesn't quite seem real. But, I must be doing something right, since my yearly performance review was glowing and the bosses had no complaints. They couldn't even suggest that I tidy up my desk! So, with a second wonderful review and another healthy Christmas bonus under my belt, I will attempt to act the part next week. Wish me luck.

Grating, really....

2006-11-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Ha ha. I had to put in the pun.

I was making pizza for dinner yesterday and (I'm sure you can all see where this is going) I decided to grate the cheese by hand instead of using my Moulinex. Well. That was just a bad idea. I neatly grated into my thumb and cut a nice, deep 'v' shaped cut in the tip, and grated straight through the middle of my nail about a 1/3 of the way down. There were some choice words said. Don't worry, no bits of Sheila made it into the pizza! Now it just hurts and is at that weird stage where it's not bleeding, but it catches on pretty much everything which hurts like the dickens. Ick.

Anyway,

I'm getting pretty excited about going to Vegas next week for Autodesk University. There was a live webcast this afternoon for newbies, which was very helpful and made me even more excited! Whee!!! It'll be weird to travel by myself again though. I haven't done it since Australia which was 8 years ago.

Crazyness anyone?

2006-11-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the sales person at Cedarglen. She just wanted to write a quick note to let us know that they are releasing the final phase of our houses (semi-detatched) and if we wanted to refer anyone to them, etc.

The thing that got me though was the starting price: $320,000.

I was completely floored. I had to go to Cedarglen's website this morning to see if they had changed the size or if it was gold plated or something. Nope. Exactly the same floorplan and size.

So in about a year and a half, Nathan and I have made about $135,000 on our house. Which doesn't do us much good unless we want to move out of Calgary. But it's a comforting thought nonetheless.

So I must give thanks to the Impatience Fairies for making me push to get a house last summer. If we had waited until this year, I'm pretty sure we would have been screwed.

New Blog Look

2006-11-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to switch over to Blogger in Beta. I think it looks pretty good so far, but I'm really looking forward to being able to edit the look of the blog without having to deal with html. Yea! We'll see how it works. If it doesn't, I can always slog through the html edit page. Maybe one of these weekends I'll actually have time to sit and play with it!

Poem to think on

2006-11-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

When I was in Australia I went to the Irish shop in one of the malls and they had this little basket of tiny rolled up scrolls. On each of them there was a quotation. The one that I picked was:

I am the Master of my Fate:
I am the Captian of my Soul.
- William Ernest Henley

I just recently found out that this is actually the end of one of Henley's poems (didn't know he was a poet at the time), Invictus. These 2 little lines gave me much strength during those hard months in Australia, and now I find that the poem is even more inspiring. I thought I would share it with you all.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

~William Ernest Henley

???

2006-11-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

And for something completely different.... Where the heck did my post about feminism go??? Grumble, grumble....

Shopping in Airdrie

2006-11-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Nathan and I decided to boycott Market Mall and went shopping in Airdrie instead. It was great. It may be a city, but it's still got that small town feel to it. We got everything that we went for, plus a free Tuborg beer tray! Yea for Tuborg! Maybe the idea of a supermall in Balzac isn't so crazy after all.... I think I will definately go there instead of Market Mall, once it's built. It took us all of 15 minutes to get to Airdrie, so Balzac will be shorter than that. For all of you that don't know about the Balzac supermall, check it out here. Our office in Toronto is doing the mechanical.

In other news, I've been feeling the pressure of living in a big city, the looming Christmas rush, and the feeling of being stuck in a rut. In an effort to combat such morose thoughts, I've decided to think about one beautiful and amazing thing a day. The thought for yesterday was: Hoar Frost. It's so pretty and I just love it. It gives everything a wonderful "wintery" look. Contemplate the wonders of hoar frost if you get a minute. Isn't it just incredible?

The Best F***ing Movie Ever!

2006-10-19T14:25:00.000-06:00

Can you guess from the expletive which movie Nathan and I went to see?? If you guessed Trailer Park Boys, you would be right!

It was a great movie, though I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen at least a little bit of the TV show. I think you would be too confused and would miss a lot of the innuendos. But it was great. I laughed and laughed. I think there was even some cheering at some points.

For those of you who are looking at me like my head is screwed on backwards, I actually like watching TPB. Nathan introduced me to it. It's just so absolutely ridiculous. It makes no pretention to being semi-serious or even believable, which is what makes it funny. That and it's a Canadian show, so it's always fun to watch for the stereotypical Canadian things. I find this type of comedy much more entertaining than the types that are so popular now. I don't think there's anything funny about all those Jack Black movies, or the large former comedians making movies about how pathetic they are, etc. That type may make you laugh, but it's a "stupid" kind of funny and the writing is substandard.

Anyway, if you want a good laugh and are open to new things and to supporting Canadian movies, go and see it. It will entertain you. Watch for the cameo by Gord Downie at the beginning.

And for those of you who know what I'm talking about..... Julian puts down his rum and coke. I was so shocked!

Why do they make people work on Friday afternoon?

2006-10-06T13:29:00.000-06:00

It's even worse on the Friday of a long weekend, but I always seem to have trouble concentrating long enough to accomplish something on a Friday afternoon. At least today the bosses are away, so most of us are being a little bit slack.

Mark and Kevin are assembling Sherry's new desk. They decided that opening all the boxes first was best. I left when they figured out that each box was a separate piece of furniture and they were trying to sort out which pieces came from which box. Poor Sherry....

Jari sent me a fun game, 'cause he doesn't feel like working either. But from where I'm sitting it looks like work on his screen. Maybe he has more motivation than me? Anyway, here's the game if you want to try it. It insults you when you do badly.

Luckily today was the day Gillian posted all her fun links on her blog. Thanks Gillian! We all enjoyed the bunny movies!

Hmmm.... now it's 1:30. Time for work... maybe.

Evil Gel Nails

2006-10-03T12:04:00.000-06:00

So I finally got my gel nails off on Saturday. They were bugging me to no end. Mostly because they are definately not a good thing to have when you've got contact lenses. That and they were so thick that my nails were practically useless for peeling stickers, getting batteries out, etc.

On Friday night one of my nails started separating at the base, so I had to pry it off. That hurt more that polite words can convey!!! Finally I got it off and my finger was so sore and my nail so ripped up and mangled.

Saturday I went to a salon, expecting them to soak them off or something. But no! All of those darn nails were pried off my fingers!! Ouch, ouch, ouch. Now they are so thin and weak and rough, that I have a hard time undoing the clasp on my necklace!

So, the final verdict on Gel Nails:

Looks really good, but the pain and state of your nails afterwards is not worth it.

Just my own humble opinion..... =D

Back to Reality

2006-09-27T11:00:00.000-06:00

Well, here I am back at home after a very interesting honeymoon and a wonderful wedding. I don't think I could have asked for a nicer day. It was just perfect. I don't think I can really say much more.

As for the honeymoon, I'm sure everyone will be pleased to know that Nathan and I both did some things we've never done before. After you all stop laughing and get your minds out of the gutter I will continue.

So... things we've never done before. Like break down on the side of a mountain.... Ride in a tow truck.... Rent a car.....

Really there were only 2 things that went wrong on our honeymoon. First, we both got sick. From Vanessa and Gillian's blogs it looks like we started a plague... Sorry! So, that was pretty bad in itself. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time being affectionate and romantic when I feel like crap.

AND THEN....

The second day, I was feeling pretty rotten. We toodled around in Kelowna for the morning and then we got ourselves organized and headed out of town in the early afternoon. Nathan was driving the rather hilly highway, when I happened to look in the side mirror and see smoke billowing out the back of the truck. So we decided to pull over. Just as we did the rpms went through the roof and we caught a whiff of the terrible smell of burning metal. So we're on the side of the mountain, no cell phone reception and a truck that's smoking. We decided we'd try and inch our way along a little bit, until we found some cell phone reception. Got back in the truck, stated it, cringed at the terrible noise it was making and then attempted to put it in gear. We just rolled backwards. Ick. So, out we get again and start walking up the highway to find some reception. Luckily, we didn't have to go very far. So we called the CAA and they told us it would be about an hour for a tow truck.

We got to sit in the ditch for an hour while traffic whizzed past, and I tried desperately hard not to burst into tears at the unfairness of it all. Here it is, our honeymoon, and we're sick AND are stuck on the side of a mountain. I did fairly well and only had a couple of crying bouts. I was very proud of myself for being so philosophical about the whole thing, rather than having a raving temper tantrum at the world.

So when the tow truck came, back we went to Kelowna to the transmission shop, where they were incredibly helpful and knowledgable. The called Budget, who came to pick us up with rental and then a mere 3 hours after we had started out, we were on our way to Vancouver again, this time in a rented Buick Rendevous.

The rest of the trip was great. I really liked the Buick. It was a good SUV to drive. The Whistler Mountaineer train ride was wonderful (except for the phone call I got about the cost to repair the truck...) and our stay at Painter's Lodge was great.

Anyway, 10 days, a lot of kilometers, a new transmission and some souveniers later, we're back in Calgary for one day of grocery shopping, recycling, etc. before both Nathan and I have to go to work tomorrow. I have to admit, we're both feeling a little lost without a big event to plan.... I feel like I'm being lazy or something. Oh well. It will be nice to get back to normal.

Thanks to everyone for making our wedding so wonderful and not complaining about the weather!

Tick tock

2006-09-09T22:26:00.000-06:00

I'm such a bad blogger! No new post in more than a month. I suppose I could defend myself with the typical "I've been really busy" line. And in fact, I have! I can't believe it's a week till the wedding. I can't believe how much work we've gotten done on the back yard. I can't believe I cleaned the house today. It certainly seems like I haven't had 2 minutes to myself for the past couple of months, but at least I've been productive. =D I'm starting to get excited about the wedding, but I think deep down what I'm really looking forward to is the time off work! Such a terrible thing to say, I know! The wedding will be wonderful, but the vacation will be bliss. It will be so nice just to be able to spend some time with Nathan and not have to plan anything!! I think I shall avoid planning all winter, in order to be recovered for The Yard, Part II. Anyway, off to bed, so I can be nice and refreshed for the wedding rehersal tomorrow.

Tim Hortons Tragedy

2006-08-09T20:49:00.000-06:00

You know you live in Canada when....

This morning on the bus to work, we stopped and picked a guy up from the stop by Tim Hortons. He had a box full of muffins which he was struggling with, along with his bag and his bus tickets. Just as it looked like he had sorted himself out successfully and was making his way down the aisle, the box kind of sagged at one corner. There was a sharp intake of breath from the other passengers, then a collective moan as one lone chocolate muffin rolled out of the box and onto the floor. I swear the entire bus was crushed by this tragedy! Someone picked up the muffin for him and then the lady sitting next to me offered the guy her seat. Who would have thought that people that don't give a second look to a pregnant lady or elderly person, would be so moved by the tragic loss of a Tim Hortons muffin as to give up their seat? The world is a weird place.....

Praying Mantis Man

2006-08-02T12:03:00.000-06:00

There's this guy on my bus that looks like a praying mantis. No joke! It took me a couple of months to figure out what exactly he reminded me of, but now I know. He's kind of like the Manny the praying mantis in A Bug's Life. He moves very slowly and deliberately. He's freakishly tall and skinny with a really tiny head. His eyes are normal, but the glasses he wears make them look way too big for his face. He also has very thin elongated hands and fingers which he sometimes holds close to his chest with a bent wrist. The whole thing screams "praying mantis"!!! Maybe I should suggest it as a Halloween costume....

Slightly hysterical... but a good ab workout

2006-07-24T21:25:00.000-06:00

So, this evening both Nathan and I were feeling a little goofy..... Okay, I was feeling goofy and he was egging me on. And where to find more sources of hilarity than at Safeway.

Everything was going okay, I wasn't laughing manically or anything until we got to the till. How Nathan and I work this is that he unloads the cart, then goes through the little aisle. He puts all the bags in the cart and I usually pay. Sometimes we do this backwards, but today that was the way it was. I had handed the cashier my club card and Airmiles and then I was supposed to swipe my debit. Nathan was kind of blocking the way with the cart and not really paying attention to me. I didn't want to shove the cart out of my way and run over his foot, so I quietly and nicely asked him to shift a little bit. Now, most of you might be snickering here, but I did ask nicely! Anyway, after this display of courtesy to my grocery shopping companion, the cashier pipes up "Oh! Is that your son? You're so gentle with him!" Well! Let me tell you, I didn't quite know what to say. Of course I went beet red and vehemently denied that Nathan was my son. The cashier was suitably embarassed. When we got out of the store, I couldn't stop laughing! I still can't decide if I should be insulted for appearing old enough to have a full-grown "son", or pleased that she thought I looked so young to have a son so old! Anyway, a car ride home full of giggles and then I decided that I was insulted. Not really insulted, just a little hurt! It's been so long since I've been id'd at a liquor store, maybe I really am starting to look old!

Anyway, we were unpacking the groceries and Nathan was being goofy and egging me on about the "Mom" thing ("Stop embarassing me Mom!", "Why do you have act so silly Mom"). Needless to say we were both laughing pretty hard and then I unpacked the chicken breasts. We had bought a value pack, so I was dividing the chicken up into 2 breasts packages. The last two were kind of stuck at the back of the styrofoam tray, so I said (to them) "C'mere you breasts!" Nathan just sighed and said "You have no idea how many times I've thought that statement, but haven't dared say it out loud." This was especially hilarious after such a weird evening, so we laughed and laughed. So, someday soon I may just hear Nathan say to me "C'mere you breasts!" .... And for more on breasts, visit Vanessa's blog!

Confined by Rigidity

2006-07-20T07:59:00.000-06:00

I think I must have been a nomad or something in a previous life. Lately, I've been feeling the urge to do something different, go somewhere different, experience something new, etc. I feel confined by the boringness that is a Monday to Friday, 8 to 5 job. I want something different! Then, of course I think back on when I had unpredictability: at school, part time jobs, etc. And I remember that all I wanted was to know exactly what I was doing everyday. To know that I would go to work Monday to Friday and always have weekends off. Strange how one's desires change. Of course, there is the question as to what exactly I'm craving. Once I figure it out, I'll let you know..... =D

Boom!

2006-06-22T12:06:00.000-06:00

Early Wednesday morning Nathan and I were woken up by a really loud clap of thunder. And I'm talking really loud. The house shook, and all the car alarms in the neighbourhood went off. It started to pour rain a little while after so we didn't really think any more about it.

On Wednesday night I went to the gym and found out that apparently it wasn't thunder. Two oil tankers crashed on Hwy. 2 by Airdrie and exploded. The "thunder" we heard was them becoming a raging ball of fire. Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt. Only one of the drivers went to hospital and all his injuries were non-life-threatening. Crazy. They had to close the highway because there was a line of flames across it. One of the trucks veered off the road and went down in the ditch and then back up on the other side. When they exploded, it made a nice little fire trail.

I just can't believe we heard and felt it at our house. And it was really loud, much louder than regular thunder. Scary. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be close to them when they exploded.

Adventures in Waxing

2006-06-20T07:46:00.000-06:00

So this past Saturday was my first professional wax. I got a 1/2 leg and underarm wax. Now, I've always been a shaver. I have dabbled in a few of the home waxing kits and found the entire experience painful and not at all rewarding. I always ended up hurting myself AND having hairy legs.

I have to say that the professional wax was much better. It didn't hurt that much and I would say probably 90% of my hair was removed. All in all, quite a satisfactory event. Of course, that was before my armpits swelled up and became all red and blotchy! I have never had such sore armpits before!! Any contact with other skin or pulling or rubbing was complete agony! Sunday I couldn't wear deodorant because it stung so much. And of course, me being the clever person that I am, when I noticed an unappealing odor, my first thought was to spray perfume on my armpits. Ouch. Not so smart. Nathan was laughing at me about all this. Not really laughin out loud, but I know he was on the inside. The comment about me actually having paid someone to do this to me gave him away. =D Oh well. The swelling has gone down down and they're just a bit red. And completely hairless.

Pull the Rug Right Out From Under You

2006-06-18T21:25:00.000-06:00

For those of you who read Vanessa's blog, you'll already have learned that my grandfather passed away last Thursday. Mom called at 6:30 in the morning to tell me, just as I was putting my shoes on to go to work. I had stayed home from work on Wednesday, because I was feeling really crappy, almost like I was getting the flu. So, after talking to Mom, even though I didn't want to, I felt I had to go to work. The bus ride downtown was a nightmare. I pretty much couldn't stop crying. Not sobbing mind you, but certainly a steady stream of tears. It was pretty embarassing, but I couldn't really help it. Good thing it wasn't my usual bus. =)

By the time I got to work, I had calmed down enough that I was okay. I managed to make it thr0ugh most of the day without having a complete breakdown. After I talked to Dad, I had to make a beeline for the bathroom, and again after I talked to Mom before she left for Denmark.

And then of course the timing thing that Vanessa talked about. Rene, our wedding photographer called and said that the copy of the engagement picture we ordered was ready. This was the picture that we rushed to get printed, because Mom said we should hurry because she didn't think Morfar would be with us much longer. Go figure.

So I was pretty much a basket case on Thursday. I didn't tell anyone at work about it, because I'm one of those people that doesn't do well with sympathy. It just seems to upset me more, and then they think I'm really upset and they gush more sympathy, and on and on and on.

Friday was better. I was able to think about Morfar without bursting into tears, and I could actually talk about it with Nathan's mom too.

I suppose it wasn't completely unexpected, but things like this certainly have a way of sending you topsy turvy. I'm glad Nathan got to meet all my relatives this summer, even if the engagement picture didn't get to them before Morfar passed away.

I will always remember Morfar as a gentle man with a wicked sense of humour. He constantly had a twinkle in his eye, the twinkle that Nathan says I inherited. He was a wonderful grandfather, despite the barriers of distance and language, and I will love him always.

Beauty and the Bathroom

2006-06-11T17:10:00.000-06:00

Hmmm.... Now here is something I just don't get. Okay, maybe I do get it, but I can still be irritated by it. I recently went and purchased an actual beauty product. Not just your off the shelf, London Drugs special, but a tiny bottle of face lotion that cost $22. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the lotion! It's wonderful and doing exactly what it said it would do and my face feels great. But here's the thing. Why is it that fancy beauty products usually say "Apply generously" in the instructions? Do we really need to apply generously? Or is it just a ploy to get us to spend even more money on their little bottles, because we use them up twice as fast? So while I love the new lotion I got and I will probably keep buying it, I just don't quite know how much I should actually be using....

As for the bathroom, I was equally perplexed by the the plumbing at the cabin that my Mom and Dad, Vanessa, Mike, Nathan and I stayed at last weekend. The pipes were reversed for some sinks and not for others. So you get hot water coming out the cold tap and vice versa. This, in itself, isn't so bad. It was the toilet that got me. Hot water in the toilet. Water hot enough that you feel the heat and condensation almost the moment you sit down. That was just weird, not to mention kind of gross. Nobody wants a foggy bum. The owner of the place said it sped up the decay process in the septic tank. I suppose this is a good reason, but I really have to wonder if he's saving any time or money, what with having to heat up water for all the toilets.

On another bathroom note, I recently learned that you're not supposed to keep makeup in the bathroom. Something about the heat and steam is not good for it. So are we all supposed to have a powder room? I was looking around my little house, and I can't think of any place that I could keep my makeup other than the bathroom. Of course, seeing how I've done this for 10 years or so already, I don't really think it makes much of a difference. So I will continue to store my makeup in my bathroom, consequences be damned!!

And now for something completely different...

I got a push mower at Lee Valley yesterday and gave it a whirl today. It's awesome! I love it! No more cranky gas mower!! Yea!!

Nathan and I picked up our engagement photos on Thursday. They're awesome! I love them! Not entirely sure if we're going to send them out to people since it's kind of close to the wedding, but they're just great to have anyway!

No Sleep on a Friday Night

2006-05-29T19:38:00.000-06:00

Well, I made it through the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life on Friday night. This is the first time I've done anything this socially active, and I have to say it was an interesting experience.

First of all, the weather sucked. It rained all night and it got really close to zero degrees. It was certainly interesting to walk a relay outside in the rain. The track got really torn up and muddy and all of my joints started to protest very loudly. My muscles weren't really sore, it was everything else!

It was a fun time though. I got to know my team members a lot better and for the first time in I don't know how long, I wasn't sleepy late at night. Usually I don't make it past 10:30pm, but I didn't feel sleepy at all on Friday. So I had been up from 5am, went through the night and finally went to bed at 8:30am Saturday morning. Of course, I wasn't very coherent on Saturday afternoon..... =D

It certainly gives you a feeling of well being and belonging to do something like the Relay for Life. Kind of reminds you that there are bigger problems in the world than your own. It also felt nice knowing that I had contributed something. And of course, there's the willingness to let loose and party with people you don't know for a whole night in the rain! I don't think I've danced or sang so much in a very long time!

In other news, Nathan and I had engagement photos taken today. Our photographer, Rene, is very fun. He's really goofy and I like that a lot better than someone really serious. I hope the pictures turn out good. Rene said we were very good fake smilers.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2006-05-15T12:11:00.000-06:00

Well, it was just one of those weekends I guess.

I was very productive Saturday morning, got a lot of errands done (good). Spend $200 getting fluids changed in the truck (ugly!), but the truck was very happy afterwards (good). Came home and saw that one of our neighbours had started building a fence without asking for our input (BAD!). Talked with the other neighbour who had no real fence plans yet, but works for a lumber company so we can get cheap wood (good!). Weeded and put bark chips around the tree(looks really good). Got really muddy shoes and tracked mud everywhere (bad). Spent 2.5 hours waxing the truck. It looked beautiful (good). Wax created a static field and all the construction dust in our neighbourhood adhered to the truck in nice circular patterns (BAD!)

Sunday I was really sore from the (almost) pointless waxing, so I spend most of the day reading my book (Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier) and finished it.

So yes, it was a good weekend and it was a bad weekend. I think in the end though, I came out on top. I'm looking forward to the long weekend though. It will be nice to have an extra day off again.

The Wonderful World of Weeds & Construction

2006-05-01T13:14:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how many weeds have sprouted up in our backyard in the past 2 weeks. I must get some Round-up and go on a rampage (on a non-windy day, of course). I also can't believe that they're tearing up chunks of curb and sidewalks in our neighbourhood already. There was a memo attached to our door on Saturday saying that we had to have our vehicle off the street by 7 am every day until the 22nd of May. I really can't see anything wrong with some of the sections that they have marked. Ah, the joys of living in a construction zone..... On the plus side, I think all of the lots on our block will be finished this year, so hopefully there will be less construction noise and dirt. They've also started on finished the loop road in our neighbourhood, so soon I won't have to walk 15 minutes to catch the bus! Yea!!!

Musings of a Fencing Wife

2006-04-29T09:02:00.000-06:00

It seemed like an appropriate time to start a blog while I'm killing time at a fencing tournament. It really is quite amazing how many teenagers get up at ungodly hours on a Saturday morning to get poked and whipped and slashed.... and of their own free will too! Hopefully the book sale will go well. Actually, I'm secretly hoping to be sold out by lunch time so I can go home and have a nap. =D Though sometimes I amaze myself that I can actually manage to sleep at a tournament. I guess sometimes all that clanging and beeping can get soothing. =D

On another note, I went to see The Magic Flute last night. This is my second opera (I saw La Boheme a couple of years ago) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was completely bizarre and off the wall. Definately not your usual high-brow opera. The costumes and sets were amazing, and they did some spectacular things with lighting. The Queen of the Night was sensational. During one of her solos I was convinced it was some instrument making the noises and not a human being. It seemed completely improbable to me that such a high, pure, consistent sound could be made by a person. It was beautiful. Next season's line up looks good too: Cinderella, Carmen, a soloist, and one other opera I haven't heard of. I would love to see Cinderella and Carmen though. Stay tuned in the fall for more opera reviews!

As for the blog name, because I'm sure some of you are wondering. This is the name I have engraved on my ipod. I was trying to think of something original to have engraved, something that symbolized me. So I simply ran together three of the the things I like the most and voila! Strawberry Blue Viking! Hopefully I will manage to post entries on a regular basis. I like the idea of having a space on the web where I can post random thoughts and no one can stop me!! A-hah-haaaa!