Gym

My comfort level went through the roof when I found out my cute little non intimidating gym was closing down for good at the end of this month *sniff sniff*

It's one of those places that has very few members (compared to those fancy shmancy gyms) everyone is very friendly and the people come in various shapes and sizes, not to mention ages. It is far from grandiose and has like 5 treadmills at most but the weightlifting equipment does the job and I am familiar with the machines.....oh and it is super cheap as I've been a member since it opened. New owners took over 6 months ago, moved it into a basement and it has never been the same since. I mean, who wants to stare at a brick wall while trying to stay motivated to continue running for one more minute.

There was chatter in the change room about where to go next; rumours flying around about members trying out other clubs only to be snubbed for not wearing the "cool" workout clothes, or being too old or out of shape not to mention large signing fees and monthly payments. What's a girl to do??

Well I ignored the rumours, pulled up my bootstraps and went a looking (to one of the fancy shmancy places) My jaw dropped at the first gym I went to....the cardio room....oh man....they had over 30 treadmills and ellipticals and bikes and stair climbers and rowing machines ..... the list goes on! The weight room was just as magnificent as was their list of evening classes! It was heaven! Can you believe I worked out a deal and this place is only going to cost me $5 more a month than my previous gym....that's crazy!!!

I went for the first time on Saturday and everyone was extremely nice and friendly. I did a yoga/pilates class on Sunday which was fantastic. The teacher came up to me afterwards to welcome me and ask for feedback ..... I'm really enjoying this new place.

I think I might even be motivated to go more often because I do love it so much! It's fresh and new and exciting. I also enjoy the idea of being able to visit the chain in other cities as I tend to be away from home a great deal. As well they all have different perks some have pools/indoor tracks.

Who knew that an old door closing would open such a new and exciting one!!

(Let's see if my new found enthusiasm lasts more than a week Haha)

Many thanks to Wiwille for making my Friday evening brighter! He sent me the link to this ridiculous video....enjoy!! (I believe it's some type of Indian music video with English subtitles. Not real subtitles, but what the lyrics sound like in English)

Shoes shoes and more shoes

Rawbean wanted fellow bloggers to post photos of their shoe collections, so without further adieu:



These are all cheap sandals I had to purchase for various weddings....I've worn each pair once maybe twice.



This next lot are my old loves ( I was into the chunky shoes years ago) and I can't imagine parting with them. I still throw the patent ones (left hand side) on every now and again for fun!!



I bought these shoes ohhhh about 2 years ago and have yet to wear them *hangs head in shame*



These are my square toed boots, nothing special but they sure are comfy.

Sneakers on the left are for the gym/biking and the ones on the right are Sketchers just to wear when I'm out and about.




I snagged these at Winners years ago and I adore them!

I bought these in Montreal only because they were on sale and kind of fun! ( and clearly needed to add some colour to my collection)



These are my comfy ballet flats!! I snagged the toe and need to find a new pair asap!!

I dig the heels on these!!



I bought these mainly for comfort, I wanted a short heel. *I have yet to wear them*








Ah my Fluevogs!! He makes the most amazing shoes in the world however they are so bloody expensive I only have a few pairs.

These are my not so practical boots! Though I must say the pointiest pair of the bunch (2nd from right) are the most comfortable boots in the world, I could run a marathon in them.



Clearly these have been worn...and worn....and worn, I just find Doc's so comfy!



These are my ugly man sandals! Again, totally for comfort but I am aware that they are rather ugly and resemble something that a 90 year old man might like.




The inside of these are like a warm fuzzy blanket!!

We're at the end I swear!!! These last 3 pair I have yet to wear *I"m seeing a pattern here*


So taking a look back at my shoe collection, it is apparent that I am in need of some cute sexy heels as I tend to go for the more practical comfy shoes.

My roommate and I once hid another person in our basement who payed us a few bucks for the extra room. It was seriously the size of a closet.

Never in my life have I been happy with myself.

High school was fun for me. I got along with the various groups of people and did well in school (if you exclude math and science haha)

When I am nervous I get butterflies in my tummy and my hands get clammy; Especially when I fly.

My hair is getting rather long and I'm loving it!

When I was 5 I was enrolled in dance class and loved it.

By this time next year I hope to have my car paid off.

I have a hard time understanding all of the hatred in the world, the wars the fighting. Underneath everything we are all human beings and more similar than we think.

You know I like you if I fart in front of you, it means I'm comfortable in your presence :) TMI

My ideal breakfast is some veggie bacon, eggs, toast, home fries and fruit!! Oh heck throw in a waffle with whipped cream and strawberries for good measure :)

If you visit my hometown I will be the hostess with the mostest and show you around the city. (at least I think I will be....ummm we can ask Claire about this one)

If you spend the night at my house there will most likely be some booze, laughter and of course TV watching haha!!

My favorite blond is Marilyn.

My favorite brunette is Dita.

The animal I would like to see flying is .....ummm I don't really get this one.....I guess birds are fine flying. I'd rather not see like a cow or anything in the air.

I shouldn't stay up so late on work nights. I am a night hawk and despise mornings; I have a hell of a time getting up when I've had 5-6 hours of sleep.

Last night I chowed down at the Mandarin with good friends and flirted a little bit with the waiter, which really was not much. I'm the worst flirter in the world, Tips people I need tips!!

I've been told I look like Amanda Marshall by some drunk guy at a trade show, must have been the curly hair.

If I could have any car it would be the Mazda RX 8. See I'm not picky or super fancy. I think they are cute and when you think about it not all that expensive......or a cute Audi like 2DP's!! I'm jealous!

Oh and I squealed with joy at the supermarket the other day. Yes people, I found more yummy veggie stuff over the river.......Veggie Corn Dogs woo hoo!!! I believe Jlee wrote about these one time and I finally found some.

Speaking of food, I've been doing really well with watching my eating and getting my body in motion. I've lost about 18 pounds since February (it all started with 2DP's advice) and since then I've just been doing the WW points on my own with a friends old book. Bad news is I just found out my gym is closing at the end of the month, but I have a new prospect on the horizon so hopefully that will work out. I do have a ways to go as I gained 20 (when I quit smoking) which was on top of the other million I had already gained. I am however thrilled that it is all starting to come off *snoopydance* Jennifer commented that my ass didn't look as big when she last saw me :) Thanks Jennifer!!

Poor Piggies

I'm not sure what has been going on lately, but every time I watch the news or read the paper there seems to be animals running amok on various highways......what the fuck???

Photo taken from the CTV website

Within the last month there have been 3 accidents involving big trucks hauling poor defenceless animals to their death. Ok that's a lie, 2 of them involved what I'd imagine to be their death ride, the other one was an accident involving family animals. Anyway, so the first incident happened at the end of March. A transport truck carrying cows overturned near the 427 and 4 steer managed to make their way out of the truck and into a residential neighbourhood. One was shot as it had charged residents and an officer.......hmmm maybe it was terrified??? That's just my guess.

The next accident was a single vehicle that I had the displeasure of driving past on my morning commute. First thing I noticed were Animal Control vans ... yikes, and horses!! Kleenex please!!! Turns out the truck which was carrying a trailer with 2 horses, hit the centre median, flipped over (strangely enough the horse trailer did not flip) and 4 dogs inside of the truck managed to make their way out of the wreck and run freely all over the highway, hence the animal control. Phew, everyone was okay!!

Photo taken from the National Post website

This week it was pigs....yes cute little piggies running amok all over one of the busiest highways in Canada. The truck driver failed to slow down and the rig ended up turned over on it's side after hitting a few other drivers thus letting the piggies escape onto the road. Apparently there were about 50 running around, enjoying one last hurrah before their death.

Perhaps these drivers should pay more attention on the roads! I can't even imagine the hurt, confusion and terror these poor animals must feel when dumped onto the road like a piece of crap, and then people get all up in arms when they charge, or won't go back into a cage .... idiots!!

One Word Meme

You.

Can.

Only.

Type.

One.

Word.

1. Where is your mobile phone? Purse

2. Your significant other? nonexistent

3. Your hair? curly

4. Your mother? peppy

5. Your father? helpful

6. Your favorite thing? sweets

7. Your dream last night? work

8. Your favorite drink? water

9. Your dream/goal? partner

10. The room you're in? basement

11. Your ex? idiot

12. Your fear? death

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? away

14. Where were you last night? bar

15. What you're not? boring

16. Muffins? meh

17. One of your wish list items? TV

18. Where you grew up? here

19. The last thing you did? volleyball

20. What are you wearing? pants

21. Your TV? broke

22. Your pets? scared

23. Your computer? old

24. Your life? tiring

25. Your mood? yucky

26. Missing someone? yes

27. Your car? reliable

28. Something you're not wearing? rings

29. Favorite Store? Fluevog

30. Your summer? exciting

31. Like someone? no

32. Your favorite color? black

33. When is the last time you laughed? today

34. Last time you cried? Saturday

35. Who will/would re-post this? everyone

Alright I was being lazy but feel free to take a shot at this one :)

I bought a Tivo (yay!!) and spent a better part of my day setting the bloody thing up. It's actually quite easy to do however I was not getting a picture on my screen and thought I had mucked up the wires somehow. Turns out my TV broke between yesterday and today, tragic news people!! I can't complain really as it did give me 13 perfect years. I have an old backup that will do for now, however it's time for me to research some options. Any tips would be greatly appreciated IE the differences between plasma and LCD? Is one considered better than the other?

I was finally able to celebrate my birthday last night and had a fantastic time. Lots of friends came out and I was able to stay out all night long unlike last year when I was in bed by 1am! It was great to get everyone together to celebrate my fall into cougardom! Oh and clearly the bathroom photos are alive and well!!

Origami of the.....

So I went to see Puppetry of the Penis a few evenings ago ( Note that is not me in the photo). I wrote a comment on 2DP's blog once regarding this show and he had no idea what I was talking about......so without further adieu.....let me explain!!

Puppetry of the Penis: The Ancient Art of Genital Origami is this hilarious art/comedy performance featuring two naked men......and well their wangs (projected on a big screen so those in the back can see). They push and pull, tuck and mold their members (ewe shudder, the word member reminds me of some Harlequin romance novel "his throbbing member" BLEH) to look like various objects. They do everything from the Eiffel-Tower and a hamburger to a weed wacker and the loch ness monster. My favorite by far were the snail, the hairy tongue and some bizarre one where a frog? or something would "hide" and then pop out again, interesting stuff I tell ya!!

There of course was audience participation at which time yours truly diverted her eyes and looked everywhere but straight ahead so as to not be noticed. Thankfully a girl a few rows back was keen to get in on the action and boy did she ever!!

The men performing were absolutely hilarious which one would have to be in order to get up in front of hundreds of strangers and expose oneself in such a way. "Wow the camera really does add ten pounds" one said as his penis came on the screen. For any men interested, they do have a book published which has detailed instructions including photos so you too can perform origami of the penis!! I looked all over the net for a photo to show you what these men can do, sadly I could not find a single one but believe me it is quite impressive to say the least.

I have been rather stressed out lately and have decided to take a few days off of work in the coming weeks to just relax and rejuvenate myself. In the meantime however I was in need of a quick fix and decided to spend the weekend with Jennifer which is always a good time. We met a few of her friends for dinner at this yummy restaurant and then headed over to the local pub for some pints and conversation. It was a huge sausage fest at the bar and we normally meet rather interesting (and by interesting I mean odd) people at the pub however we were left to our own devices on this particular evening.

On Saturday Jennifer and her boyfriend took me to the most fantastic grocery store in the entire world: T & T Supermarket. Our first stop was the Dim Sum restaurant where we stuffed ourselves silly before venturing down the aisles filled with Asian delights. I bought yummy sweet and sour gluten, some custard buns and a bamboo steamer among other things. The music was quite eclectic and they blared everything from the Beatles to Slipknot over the speakers.....man was it loud and man did I love it!!!

(I did not take this photo, but it shows you what the clam looks like)

I saw an elephant clam shaped like a gigantic penis alongside a king crab and cases of mangoes for $3.98!!! Clearly T & T is my new favorite grocery store.

That evening we went out dancing and drinking and ended up going for chow around 3 am to the place we took Claire when she was visiting!!! LD and I ordered poutine and potato skins to split; the waitress tried to tell us that it was a bad idea but we wouldn't listen and went ahead with the order. Out comes this ginormous poutine (enough for 3 or 4 people) and the biggest potato skins I have ever laid eyes on......Opps, I guess we should have listened. The funny thing is we've been to this restaurant a million times and know how large the poutine actually is.....clearly booze and ordering food are not a good combination!!

Thanks for a great weekend Jennifer :)

Gas and Speed....who knew??

I decided to try a little experiment this week; I wanted to see if driving at a slower speed during my commute would A) drop down my gas consumption and B) get me to work at a later time.
My commute is around 45 minutes long with mostly highway driving. The speed is posted at 100 km an hour however I have a tendency to go around 120 or so. My car is fairly good on gas and I generally fill up every 4 days. Now the test.....

Every day this week I have set my cruise control to exactly 100 km an hour and have felt twinges of embarrassment as even the grannies pass me with disapproving looks. I keep my head held high and proud, I'm a law abiding citizen after all, haha!!

Then something bizarre happens.......I get to work in the same amount of time crawling along as I did when I was a little speed demon what the fuck? I was slightly baffled by this on the 1st day and figured it was some type of fluke. But no, on day 2 the exact same thing happens, how bizarre.

I fill up my gas tank on Friday evening and here I am 6 days later, with a little less than half a tank left. What the fuck?? Normally I would have been empty yesterday, I may even make it the entire week without filling up as my friend drives tomorrow. This is crazy!!

I had no idea I would A) have so much gas left over and B) get to work at the exact same time

What the hell have I been doing for the past 3 years??

Honk at my slow ass, give me the finger or do whatever makes you feel good to show your disapproval of my sloooowwww poke ways, I'm saving me some moolah!!!

(Note I will only drive like a turtle in the slow lane so no worries)