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Whether you've been following my blogging for the past few months, or the past few years, you will have probably noticed something - I am one busy bee. But that's how I roll. When work gets busy, that isn't really by choice. I did, however, choose the career I'm in, knowing it would keep me on my toes. My life outside of work and all that I do, that is 100% my choice! But it often seems that everything happens at once. Like August! I don't where the month has gone and I don't know how I ended up with so much on my plate. Between weddings, sorority life, and dancing August has gone whizzing by and this past week and next week have been and will be beyond insanity.But, like I said, I choose it. I choose to dance, to volunteer, to be a bridesmaid, to be a friend, to be a wife. My busy, crazy schedule has always been part of who I am. It's one of the ingredients that makes me, me.As I get older I find that I have slightly less energy and therefore find it slightly more difficult to juggle everything, but I am not about to give up one of the many things I love about myself to age. I've been told time and time again that as you get older it is very important to keep physically and mentally active. I guess that's why nap time was invented!
I am back and forth about this entry, since it is about work. I usually try to refrain from blogging about work (especially anything negative), but this week has tried my patience. I am following a new mantra in life: to be less critical/judgemental and to be more positive. I have tried and tried to look at the positive side of what has been expected of me at work this week, but it is very hard when you feel like you are being taken advantage of (even on a very, very small scale). What I am going to complain about here may seem petty and small. And in the grand scheme of things, it really probably is. But it's the principle. My director was approached in the spring and was asked if I could cover one or two days at most in front reception in August. Not the whole day, just an hour. I'm not supposed to being covering reception at all; but, for whatever reason, all the people who do normally cover reception all had been granted vacation at the same time. My director said that this one time would be fine. But I'm sure they'll ask again. The reason I am not happy with this is twofold. They see this 'favour' as only 3 hours of my time. But it is three hours of my week where I cannot get my own work done. I can't access the programs I need, and the things I can bring down with me to work on, well I don't get very far because I am constantly interrupted. I was told it would be two days maximum. But someone was granted an extra vacation day during the week that everyone else was away. And no one asked me or my director if I could do a third day. They just assumed and scheduled me in.The other issue came up yesterday, during a week when I am already giving up my own work time to cover others. Again, I question the vacation scheduling. There is a big project that needs to be done this week. The person in charge of this was allowed to take their vacation at this time. Initially, I was simply asked to put an order through for printing. Of course, it wasn't that simple and it began to snowball. What should have taken 10 minutes of my time has taken hours and hours out of my last two days.I don't want to seem selfish. I don't mind helping others. But I have work and deadlines too. Something that was never once taken into consideration this week.
Last night was probably the craziest weather Vancouver has ever seen! And you see some crazy weather living in this city. But I certainly don't recall ever seeing anything like this here before.
The weather forecast had been calling for thundershowers over the North Shore mountains, but that usually means this: maybe a storm that lasts all of thirty minutes, if that, with a few lightning strikes lighting up the sky, and a few claps of thunder.
For anyone who isn't from Vancouver and has experienced a Vancouver thunder storm, well it's down right piddly. But not this one! Fours hours! Fours hours of thunder, lightning, hot, humid, wet weather. Black sky. Orange sky. Lightning forking down and hitting buildings. Lightning streaking across the sky like a crack on a windshield getting bigger and bigger. And I was outside for the whole thing!
I got drenched. The electricity from the storm actually had a few strands of my hair standing on end. It was crazy. It was fun. None of us Vancouverites had never seen anything like it here before.
And I wasn't at the fireworks. I was at a block party in Tsawassen, mere feet from the boat launch at Centennial Beach. So I stood at the boat launch watching lightning rip across Boundary Bay.
After we left the party in Tsawassen, we headed into Richmond to visit Colin's parents, and continue watching the storm. And pestilence was upon us!
We were driving fairly slowly down Gilbert, watching the storm, when Colin noticed something hopping across the street. It was a frog. We stopped and I noticed that there were frogs (and frog parts) scattered all over the road. I guess the storm and humidity drove them out of the ditches. It was biblical!
The amazing show continued as we sat on the patio at Colin's parents'. You could hear people oohing and aahing all along the dyke.
It was so hot, and muggy, and wet I felt like I was in Hawaii out on the lanai.
My only regret. I didn't have my camera.
I'm not really in the mind frame to write today. Unless you want to hear about my bridesmaid dress fitting and grocery shopping at the Superstore. Didn't think so.
Every now and then I go through past blog entries. I find it interesting to go back in time and see what I was up to and what was going on around me. Here's a treat - I wrote this entry exactly 4 years ago today. Check out this entry, July 15, 2005.
I have a few fears in life: death, spiders, clowns, and vacation!!!???
Now, most people who have to take off a month just because they have to, would be pretty darn happy with that. But I was actually scared. Yes. You read that correctly. I was scared of a month off. Scared because I had no plans. Scared because Colin would be spending most of July working on the Island. In front of me loomed thirty days of nothingness.
I had two choices: spend a month bored and depressed; or fill my calendar. If I have nothing to do, I get bored. And curing my boredom isn't as simple as reading a book, watching TV, or anything else. If I get bored, my mind shuts down. And when that happens I become frustrated and depressed. So you may be able to appreciate what I go through and why a month off with nothing planned can be a scary thing for me. I need to keep myself busy and entertained.
So far so good...
I am about ten days in and haven't really stopped. I left work July 3 and headed straight to Sakinaw Lake for the weekend. And because everyone keeps asking: it's just north of Pender Harbour. The ferry coming back from Langdale was so Mickey Mouse I literally had an hour to come in the door and get ready for book club. Since there was no electricity and only an outhouse (with a view) to do your business, I didn't shower all weekend. It was super hot, and while a swim in the lake cooled me off, it didn't clean me very well.
I can't remember what I did last Monday. I know I went to Curves. I think I spent the day at home, but had enough errands to do to keep me busy. I spent all day Tuesday at Metrotown - a truly exhausting day, and I didn't buy anything. But I had fun catching up with a friend I don't get to spend much time with. That evening I had to pack for my mini road-trip to Forks, Washington. This topic probably deserves it's own blog entry, which I may write at some point. I had a fun getaway with Lisa and Sascha. And I got to see a part of Washington I have never seen before: the Olympic Peninsula. A truly beautiful place - it definitely rivals BC - of course, it is the same landscape.
We returned Thursday evening. Friday was another day of exercise, chores, and fun. And yesterday I did nothing. It was okay during the day, but by the time evening rolled around I was heading into that funk - boredsville. Unfortunately Colin is away this week, so he wasn't around last night to help me out. I somehow survived it, knowing I would be busy the rest of the week.
I started my day at the gym and then ran a bunch of errands I had been putting off for months. I spent the afternoon with Thalia and Oliver. Tomorrow is another busy day - I have a bridesmaid dress fitting in the morning, and then I need to go grocery shopping. I'm running out of food, and I need to buy things for our weekend away. Thursday I am having breakfast with Thalia and Lisa (and Oliver and Sascha), and then I need to pack. Colin and I are heading to Osoyoos on Friday.
Okay. I'm going to stop now. My writing is deteriorating.
Oh yeah. We have booked our flight to New Zealand - and that definitely deserves its own blog entry!
142 years ago a group of men got together in a room on PEI, chatted a bit, and a new country was born. Okay, it was a bit more involved than that, but you get the drift. But because of that day, I can sit here now, musing on my computer, in a beautiful land, home to varied and interesting people, with the ability to think and do as I please (within moral & ethical realms of course).
It is very easy to take things for granted and forget how lucky we are to either have been born in or have come to Canada at some point in our lives. It's a country that upholds the values of peace, order, and good government (that last one may be slightly debatable right now...), and the enjoyments of hockey, beer, and doughnuts. Big mountains. Big skies. Big arctic deserts. Life on the land. Life on the sea. English. French. And everything in between. Intelligence. Compassion. Politeness. A drole sense of humour. Take it or leave it, I am happy to call this country my home.
And it's always nice to have a day off...
Things may have settled down at work, but now my social life is out of control, and that isn’t necessarily a good thing. It has been almost two weeks since I have had a night at home. With my birthday and year-end events at the school, it has been one thing after the other.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a social butterfly. I could think of nothing worse than staying in and being anti-social, but lately I’ve had those events you have to go to. Work functions and such, where, if you don’t show up, it doesn’t look good. All I wanted to do last night was go home and chill out, but no such luck. I had yet another work related event I had to show my face at. I was hoping to stay no later than 8:00 p.m., but didn’t manage to escape until after 8:30. I don’t necessarily dislike these events, it’s just that June is such a busy time of year, and sometimes you just need a break, but you have to pick and choose your time to say no. And now isn’t the time. But in mere weeks there will be no more school, no more work functions, no more work (for a month). Then I will be faced with a new dilemma: boredom.
It has been a ridiculously long time since I have written an entry that has anything to do with me; which, in itself, outlines how very busy I have been. Work got hellish in mid-April and didn’t let up until just last week. A number of circumstances led me into one the most stressful periods I have ever been through. None of these circumstances were mine, but I had to deal with them, nonetheless. I knew come June it would be over, and I kept telling myself that all I had to do was get to the end of May and I could breathe. And that was true. I somehow survived it all. The only casualties, apart from my sanity: an extremely disorderly home, which is now in much better shape.
Work is still busy. There are all the post golf event things to go through and deal with, but it is stress free and no deadlines looming. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I have the vacation deadline. I have five weeks to get the 2008/09 year tidied up and start prepping for 2009/10. As of 4:00 pm on July 3 I am officially on vacation, and won’t be returning to work until Tuesday, August 4. The last 6 weeks haven’t been all work though. I have seen some good movies, including Star Trek. I have tried to keep up with Curves and dancing, as best as my schedule has allowed me. I have thrown a baby shower, and am now getting ready to plan a second baby shower, and a wedding shower, and a staggette.
Between my birthday this past Monday and other events this week, I will be busy every evening this week. The sorority also recently re-structured our volunteer system so I have a brand new position (but still of the alumnae persuasion) and with that comes new responsibilities and deadlines – the first of which is right around the corner. But it is fun. And I am really excited about what I am working on.Of course, in the midst of all this, the Canucks were ejected out of the playoffs (the one entry I did write during this time). But I have found great success, yet again, in my [playoff] hockey pool. I have already won, and the final is still going on. It doesn’t matter who wins the cup from that stand point, but I placed my bets (& hopes) on Pittsburgh.
Here’s to the survival of crazy times.
...yabidy yabidy yab, that's all folk! The Canucks are done. Gone in round two. How long are we going to sing this song? How many more years do we have to sit and watch, getting our hopes up, to see the Canucks blow it in Round 2? In their last 38 years of existence they have only made it past the second round twice: 1982 and 1994: they found themselves in the cup final on both those occasions.The worst part is, we actually had a contending team this year. This was it. And they blew it, like every other Canuck team in the history of the franchise (except 1982 and 1994). This city has not seen a Stanley Cup since 1915, yet places like Tampa Bay have raised hockey's holy grail where the people ask isn't a Lecavlier a type of car?At what point does the bandwagon breakdown beyond repair?Of course, come October, this will all be a distant memory, and we will be clawing our way into GM Place and sports bars across the city for another year of just maybe to end in well, maybe not... maybe next year...
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A heavy foot on the gas pedal has cost B.C.'s Solicitor General his driver's license. John van Dongen has stepped away from his responsibilities for ICBC and the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, after being advised his license has been suspended due to a large number of speeding tickets... Read the rest here.
The regular hockey season is behind us and so is my work's regular season hockey pool. I unfortunately was unable to defend my title. I was first at the mid-season point, but ended up in third overall; meaning I walked away with $50 instead of $200. But I shouldn't be too disappointed - my co-workers are definitely impressed with my top 3 finish two years in a row.At the mid-way point we were allowed to change up our players. So I switched Avery for Burrows - good move; and Eric Staal for Getzlaf - good move at the time, but didn't pan out so well overall. Also, a late season injury to Kaberle didn't help much either. But now we are into the post-season, and a whole new pool has begun and I have never been in a playoff pool before. On Tuesday night Colin and I went out for late-night all you can eat sushi and a little post-season strategizing.First, you have to pick one winner from each playoff group. Some we were a no-brainer: Boston over Montreal. Some were really, really tough decisions: Carolina over New Jersey. And some where based on a very strong feeling: Anaheim over San Jose. The rest of my picks are: Detroit, Vancouver, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington.After choosing your winners, you assign a number to each bracket based on your confidence in their winning. You can only use each number once. So I assigned a really high number to Boston, a really low number to Carolina, and I won't bore you with the rest.Wish me luck.And Go Canucks Go!
Colin and I went to see some open houses last weekend. Now before you get all excited, we aren't quite ready to buy yet. Probably later this year, or early next year, but we want to see what's out there.I can tell you that by the end of the day I was feeling discouraged and stressed. The first couple of homes we went into I felt awkward, but that feeling disappeared as the day progressed and we attended more open houses. The other thing that put me off were the Real Estate agents. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a low tolerance level for sales people. If you want to tell the me the roof is new, or the hot water heater is new, that's fine, but don't tell me the bathroom or kitchen was just redone. I'm not blind. And I didn't see anything that really stood out, that said this is 'our' home.Once I spent some time thinking about what we saw, however, I started to feel a bit better. We now know it is not worth seeing homes below a certain square footage, or that we don't need something newly renovated, but we are also not prepared to put money into fixing up a dump either. So those were some good lessons learned. Hopefully next time won't be so overwhelming.
I came home from work yesterday hoping to find the kitchen faucet fixed. When I first glanced into the kitchen it looked like nothing had been done at all. No dishes had been moved; the blue bucket was sitting where I left it; and the tap hadn't been changed. I assumed someone had been in the apartment though, because Welly was curled up on the chair and didn't get up to greet me. He can be a lazy bugger at the best of times, but he usually says hello when I come home. I then went into the bathroom to find a roll of paper towels that didn't belong to us, and everything removed from the sink. Are you kidding me!? Did those hose heads get it wrong!? And even if they did think it was the bathroom sink, wouldn't they have realised there was nothing wrong with it? So I called Colin and told him they 'fixed' the wrong damn faucet. But I decided to go into the kitchen for a closer inspection. I then noticed the small, white bucket that had been catching the drips, was now inside the big, blue bucket. And the dishcloth wrapped around the faucet had been removed. They didn't change the faucet, but they did fix it... and I still have a pile of dishes to do.Later that evening, I blacked out...I came home from dance class, and bent down to take off my shoes and put down my bags. Next thing I know, I was standing up, all dizzy, and fell forward and hit my head on a cabinet in the front hall. I don't remember standing up. Colin thinks I probably stood up to fast, and that's why I felt dizzy and lost my balance. And the memory loss? Hitting your head can cause temporary amnesia. The cure: lie down on the couch, watch one crazy ass hockey game, and get the husband to wait on you hand and foot. I still felt a little out of sorts this morning. And then my worst case scenario personality kicked in, and I started thinking about Natasha Richardson; but then I started to think about all the hockey players who have walloped their heads, and felt a bit better. As long as I don't end up like Eric Lindros...
Our kitchen sink is leaking. Again. We just had the tap replaced about a month ago. At least I think it was about a month ago. I seem to be having a problem with time perception lately.It got to the point where I could no longer do dishes. The towel and bucket under the sink weren't cutting it anymore. It's Colin's job to deal with our landlord and fix-it things. He told her the kitchen tap was leaking, but failed to tell her how urgent a matter it was. She didn't realize this till I was talking with her yesterday - so hopefully some one is in today to fix the leaky tap.I couldn't handle all the dirty dishes anymore though, so I started doing them again last night. I was down to my last plate, last glass, and last straw. Doing them was worth the risk of flooding the kitchen, which didn't happen, thank God. It's a great apartment, but after nearly six years, is starting to wear thin. The slide in the real estate market has come at a good time...
Tuesday night was another one of those moments where Toronto believes it is the centre of the universe. I turned on the TV just before 7:00 p.m. and found the Leafs-Lightning game still in progress, but only a couple of minutes to go. Judging by the score, and the time left on the board, I assumed it would go into overtime; but, I also assumed TSN would switch the feed in the West as soon as the Canucks games got underway. Oh how wrong was I!
I was subjected to not only watching Leafs-Lightning overtime, but then it went to a shootout! The Leafs and the Lightening are two of the worst teams in the East. The Leafs are also the worst Canadian team in the league. Why the hell would I, or any red-blooded Canadian outside of TO want to watch hockey teams with no chance of making the playoffs, versus a gritty showdown in the West, of two of the hottest NHL teams. Dallas was last in the West mere weeks ago, but now they have slid into 8th - that be post-season territory. And the Canucks: a win on Tuesday would tie them for 4th in the West with Chicago, put them only 3 points back of Calgary to nab 1st place in the NW Division, and would break a franchise record for most consecutive wins on home ice...
But the people at TSN kept it on the Toronto game until the shootout was over. I missed almost 7 minutes of the opening period, which included a power play goal by Daniel Sedin - that's like a Sasquatch siting folks, and I missed it. And a good chunk of other Vancouverites missed it too.
During the Leafs-Lightning overtime, TSN kept flashing tune into TSN2 to see the Canucks game. Well, that's all fine and dandy if you have digital or satellite TV. But I don't, and I'm sure many others wanting to watch the Canucks game don't either.
I know TSN isn't regional like the CBC or Sportsnet, but you'd think with all today's tecnology someone could have changed the feed west of the Rockies.
Maybe it was just a bitter Leafs fan working at TSN. Bitter because Mats Sundin is now a Canuck, and lighting it up. And bitter because the last time Vancouver and Toronto met, Vancouver won, in a shootout, courtesy of #13.
This is not Leafs Nation...
...but we are all Canucks.
Yesterday was my first official day of Spring Break. Although with this weather, it feels more like Winter Break. I decided to use my first day of vacation to run a few errands I have put off for the past couple of weeks. I needed to go to Richmond Centre to pick up some more shampoo, conditioner, and facial soap.
My first stop was the Clinique counter in the Bay to purchase my facial soap, then I ventured into the mall to buy my hair supplies. I decided to try a different store, as I was considering looking at a few different brands - I was open to making a change.
The store I went to had a sale on Redken products. Perfect, since that is the brand of shampoo and conditioner I use.
I started by looking at some of the OPI nail polish, and was immediately pounced on by the sales lady. I told I was just browsing the nail polish, but that didn't stop her from giving her spiel. She went on to tell me about the Redken deal, and I told that's what I am here for, but they didn't have the line I was looking for: Redken's smooth down for dealing with frizzy hair.
At that point, instead of leaving me alone, or offering to show my some other anti-frizz hair products, she started rambling on about all these other things I could buy... so I left the store.
She was so desperate to make a sale, she didn't even pay attention to the product I had come into the store to buy. Had she let me be, or showed me a different line of anti-frizz hair products, I would have bought something. But she didn't know when to quit. This isn't the first time I have walked away from a store because of an over-bearing sales person.
Let this be a lesson to all you desperate salespeople out there, if I say I'm browsing, leave me be. If I mention I am looking for a particular product, don't try and sell me something else.
I started a new blog back in mid-January,Blackstock Bookworm, to update and comment on the books I am currently reading, and to share my reading list; but I have done nothing with it, other than write an introductory post. I have been reading so much lately, that I perhaps have had less time to write; and the writing I have done lately isn't in blog form. So take a gander over to the Bookworm. I think you will find my first post very interesting...
This week was a strange week. It went seemingly slow, but very fast. Slow because I was ready for Friday on Monday; and fast, because I can't believe Friday afternoon is already here. ..................I have been on a bit of an exercising frenzy lately. I've been keeping up with Curves three times a week, and dance class once a week; but I, perhaps, went overboard last weekend. I started Saturday with my usual stroll to Marpole, and morning workout. Then Colin and I went for a walk Saturday afternoon. We then went for a swim that evening, and I must have been hopped up on something. I just tore through the pool, completing 30 laps in less than 30 minutes. I thought my arms were going to fall off; and I couldn't have felt better. I suppose exercising is like many other addictions. I love the way I feel afterwards, and the more you do it, the more you crave that feeling. My favourite post-exercise feeling is after swimming. You're soaking wet and cool from the pool, but you can feel the heat on your body, and the sweat pouring of your forehead - that is such an awesome feeling. At least for me it is.My weekend exercise marathon was capped off Sunday morning with an hour of hot yoga.And then it was back to Curves on Monday, a walk on Tuesday, Curves on Wednesday, dance class last night...I'm taking a break tonight, and heading out for dessert with some of the Croftie crew.... perhaps it's a good thing I have been doing all this exercise.
And boy do I ever mean that. I can't remember the last time I had such an insane Friday, and I hope the next one is a long ways down the road.
This whole week has been busy, and today was the icing on the cake, with the cherry on top. For starters it was a short week. Somewhere over my long weekend work just began appearing out of thin air. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around, I was way behind. I'm still trying to figure that one out.
We are getting used to a new system in our office. Our EA went from working five days a week to two, and she is now job sharing with another employee - which has somehow created more work for me. I hope that's just temporary, while we all get used to the change. In that shuffle I finally, officially begun work on Young Alumnae Relations, but that, like some many other things, is on the back burner again.
I have the best blond story to share with you - a personal blond story. Part of the craziness today involved me heading to the Grand & Toy downtown to pick up some clear labels and invitations. A simple task.... I parked in a parking garage only a few blocks from the store. I didn't mind the walk since it was a gorgeous day.
I don't what made me do it, but something compelled me to look for my wallet, even though I didn't need it at that time. As I was digging around in my purse a horrible feeling fell over me - I didn't have my wallet. It was at home, in my gym bag. I checked my change drawer and didn't have enough too pay the parking guy to get out of the parking garage. Luckily Colin was working just a few blocks away. He came over, gave me some change so I could pay the parking garage guy; and his debit card so I could pick up the items for work.
All I could do all day today was keep telling myself it's Friday. And never more than today has the acronym TGIF held so true.
Finally. I think I have beaten this sickness. I went back to work on Monday, but even then I still wasn't a 100 %. Yesterday was the first day I actually felt back to full health, and didn't look like death. I'm glad too. I was getting tired of hearing how pale I was looking.This evening will be my first time back at Curves in almost two weeks. Getting back to exercising is the final piece in getting over my sickness. At least I think it is. I also plan on preparing a half decent meal tonight too. Although I still haven't decided if it will be fajitas or fish. And if it's fish, will it be salmon or sole? I have forty minutes to figure that one out.I'm glad I'm looking a little less like death each day, as I have a big event this weekend and I want to look good (and feel good too).
