Goal List Update

Working On:

#14 Take Vitamins every day for 90 days 63/90

Whoa!!! Almost had a slip up this past weekend! I was driving out of town for the weekend when I realized I had forgotten to take my vitamins. I figured I would just grab some at my friends house.....and then I forgot to ask her.....and we left for a few days. Bah! We stopped at a grocery store and I bought some! I WILL complete this goal dammit! I'm going to keep these extra ones in my purse just in case.......

#35 Read all of the unread books on my shelf 13/35

And of course I'm still reading.....slooooowwwlly as I haven't even finished a book at all this month.....for shame!!! I am in the middle of two though.....

Completed:

#6 Try Snowboarding

So J, S and I decided to give snowboarding a go. We didn't have much time so we opted for the quick lesson deal which was a good idea. It was a lot of fun and hilarious and of course difficult but not horrendous as I had imagined. J's board needed some wax and would not glide as it should have, I was good to go until we hit the one hill (and by hill I mean smaller than the bunny hill) I fell hard on my ass and then had a hell of a time getting up. S took out the instructor and smashed her board into his shin......oops!! Way too much fun and definitely something I would like to try again!

#57 Go on a minimum of 5 dates 5/5

You know I must say I'm glad that I decided to make this one of my goals. I wasn't out there per se and was content to keep to myself. I've met some cool people, had some laughs, nice meals and good conversation. I remember that girl with the "mermaid" disease had said she wanted to be a dating kind of girl...it made me giggle as I thought that was sweet of her.....but she knew what she was talking about!! It's fun and hopefully I'll continue to keep myself out there!

You know what's funny, my coworkers will often ask ME for advice regarding their computers. How do I do this......where does this file go.......which absolutely baffles my mind as I am not a whiz with computers. I'm lucky I know how to turn the bloody things on. It's a sad state of affairs when I'm the computer techy!

Case in point, as I'm sure you've noticed I've decided to try a new template for my lovely blog. It only took me all of ohhhhhh an hour perhaps longer to figure out how to load the fucking thing. There were four steps in the instructions...FOUR and yet it managed to take me quite some time to figure it out. Computers are quite maddening if you ask me and oftentimes I've been tempted to toss mine out the window and not look back.

I chose to trek on this evening and voila it eventually worked in my favour however I am a creature of habit and I'm not sure I love the new layout as all of my items are on the opposite side and where the hell did Sami the Sloth go???

As well what is up with that "search" bar and contact.......and rss feed.....is there any way to remove those items or is it too bad sucka use as is???

Ugh ohhhhh I woke up this morning sneezing with a bit of a stuffy nose. You know how you can just tell when a cold is coming on and you want to do everything in your power to prevent it from happening but it's already too late! I searched and searched my cupboards for some Cold FX but to no avail. I haven't a clue if it would even work though some people say that it helps. I guess I'll have to go the old fashioned route......vitamin C and sleep!



I have a ridiculously busy week ahead including 4 birthday parties (side note... is it smart to eat cake AND go out for dinner 4 days in a row....probably not!) as well as a weekend getaway in the snow. I might not be able to fit into my gear if I eat cake at every party.....



I'm just hoping (you'll never EVER hear me say this again) that there is snow on the weekend. It's currently overcast and raining which isn't conducive to snow making weather however they appear to have all of their runs open today so weather be damned it might be a go.



Rawbean wrote a post recently and is thinking about posting more during the Olympics. I made a comment that I dislike the Olympics and could feel every eyeball on the internet glaring my way like "no she didn't" as everyone seems to LOVE them! I felt like Elaine in that Seinfeld episode where everyone loves the English Patient and she hates it!

I feel like I'm in bizzaro world today! For some reason I have had more compliments today than in the past few years combined......it's making my head puff up just a wee bit!

It all started with the lovely parking attendant. He's a much older jovial man who always gives patrons candy. I'm often greeted with a "hello beautiful" and a great big smile. They have a no in and out (sounds mildly dirty) policy however I absolutely had to leave and return so I sheepishly asked if this would be okay. He started to laugh at me and shrugged his shoulders "Sweetheart, you're beautiful you can do whatever you like"! I love this man I mean who doesn't want to hear that a few days a week!

Once inside I was told that a certain someone was checking me out! Yay for me! And not an hour later I had to speak to this certain someone whom I've seen a bazillion times but have never had a reason to talk to. Today I had to talk to him about a client.....odd how the world works!

I was leaving my satellite office when a man stopped me "where did you get that purse I love it" I told him I was flattered as everyone thinks it looks like a 90 year old womans bag and he completely disagreed. As we parted he yelled out "And I'm a straight male for the record" it was so random and hilarious I loved it!

Oh I'm not done! I left the purse man and got into the elevator when a woman looked at me and told me how much she loved my jacket.....Seriously people by now I was certain that I would be stuck in the elevator due to my ballooning head!

I arrived at my other office and as I was talking to a coworker she stopped in mid sentence "you have the most beautiful teeth I've ever seen"! She kept on telling me how white and perfect they were, Oh why thank you :)

I'm not sure what I've done to deserve such praise and all in one day but let me tell ya I'll take it!! I've always been one of those people who poo poo's compliments like "oh it's not that great" or "oh I think they're totally yellow" but not today. I decided to try something new, I smiled at each and every person and simply thanked them!

I often will go out of my way to compliment a stranger on whatever I love that they have... shoes.....jacket...purse....hair cut....I figure it makes them feel good and I'm always genuine about what I like so why not let them know.

Task for everyone today.....compliment at least one person in your travels and see the smile it brings!

Something that brought a smile to my face yesterday was this hilarious clip (Jan 19 Police Call) played on a radio show. The man had called a police station to ask if he would get a "promise to appear" if he decided to masturbate on a firetruck. It's long but funny as shit and worth a listen, the cops responses killed me!


Enjoy the weekend!

Well if I learned one thing at all from this past weekend it's that I have the most fabulous friends in the whole wide world! Seriously I do! They're lovely and understanding and help me out whenever I need a hand and I'm forever grateful to have them in my life. Awwww!!!


Friday night I spent time with P and she took me to this really yummy restaurant that had a thousand veggie options! It was absolute heaven! We also wandered around her part of the city which was full of drunks and rather entertaining. It was nice to be able to just walk around and enjoy the warmer weather as they don't have much snow up there and it's been ages since I've taken a walk outside. She even cut up some mangoes and pomegranates for us to munch on which was nice as my fruit intake as of late seems to consist of apples and pineapples.


Saturday I was a bit transient. My plans I thought I had got buggered up and apparently they were cancelled only I had no idea they were cancelled so I showed up anyway. I went to dinner with the canceller and then met up with J and K for pints at our favorite pub. We had a million laughs and I as I checked my camera this morning I noticed some rather interesting photos that neither myself nor J or K took....or at least I hope they didn't take this one photo Ha!


We then watched a Jersey Shore marathon while eating yummy bagels and stinky cheese. I can't believe I'm even admitting to that (the show not the cheese)! I'm embarrassed to say I'm addicted!!

I had some nice big belly laughs which always lift my spirit! Speaking of which I really need to start that bloody gratitude journal. It's probably not a good sign when one refers to their gratitude journal as "bloody" as if it's a chore. I don't mean it that way, it's just something I've wanted to start for quite some time and have pushed it aside to do other things.

Of course my heart goes out to the people in Haiti right now ....... there are no words....

I ran outside today to toss something in my trunk and it was so LOVELY and WARM outside that I decided to scrape off my car then and there in my t-shirt. Did I mention that it’s 1 degree today? I think it’s hilarious that it’s been sooooo cold lately that 1 degree seems heavenly! I do realize that I was in fact scraping ice off of my windshield so in reality it wasn’t THAT warm……but it was warm to me!

It’s also very sunny which I’m quite enjoying and I’m surprisingly in a rather sunny mood myself. It seems for the past few days I’ve been on edge and rather miserable so this is a nice change.

I’m going out of town again this weekend and will spend Friday evening with one of my gals, lazing around in our comfies, eating yummy take-out and of course talking the night away. I’m looking forward to doing absolutely nothing with her!! I was going to see an exhibit the following afternoon but am doubtful that will be happening so dinner and drinks it is for Saturday night! I’d also love to catch up with K who we went to visit in Africa . She’s in town for the weekend so I must track down her whereabouts so we can have a few laughs!

I also had a good laugh today when I came across an article regarding No Pants Subway Ride Day! Check out the video on this site, I love it! Such a fun idea, I'd probably ride the subway all day long watching (with my pants on of course)! Ha! Have a great weekend!

So it FINALLY stopped snowing here! I know I know it's January, I live in Canada.....I get it! For whatever reason though we've been hit relatively hard in the past week while other places not 25 mins away have no snow on the ground at all, it's rather bizarre. Oh and it's been quite cold to boot minus 20 with the windchill has been the norm, that's bonkers brrrr!

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I went to see Nine recently and while I heard it didn't get great reviews I myself enjoyed the film as I like singing and dancing......well not me personally doing those activities.....but watching other people sing and dance of course. I especially loved Marion Cotillard's portrayal of Luisa and thought she was just absolutely stunning in her role; there's just a certain je ne sais quoi about her. Now I want to rent "Le Vie En Rose" as she may be my new fav!

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I went to Curefest which was just like Depechemode fest only we spent most of our evening in the retro room rather than the actual room playing The Cure. I got sucked in by the old tunes I used to dance to when I was 19! It was lovely and I ran into a guy from high school ..... the same one I ran into a DMF funny enough considering I was in a completely different city. There were some rather interesting folks there and I was VERY jealous of the cute outfit/long legs on this one gal. She was dressed up as a school girl and had legs as long as the eye could see.....we talked to her outside briefly.....turns out she was a dude.....she still had the best body and the cutest outfit in the entire bar. Must get my ass to the gym.......

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I went for some yummy cake with a certain someone and also had a good hour long chat with a friend via telephoone that I haven't talked to in quite some time. I'm hoping to catch up with her on Friday, have a girls night in lazing around in our comfies but we'll see how her schedule is. I hope it's open as that sounds delightful right about now!

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Clearly I need to go back to school as I just realized I started almost every paragraph with "I went" Doh!!

Goal List Update

Working On:

#14 Take Vitamins Everyday for 90 Days 35/90

I'm REALLY trying hard with this one! It's like a thorn in my side and it's taken me more effort it seems to remember to take the vitamins than it would have to complete a triathlon. For the love of God I hope I can remember to take these bloody things for 90 days straight. Fingers crossed people!!


#57 Go On A Minimum of 5 Dates 4/5

I already wrote about #4 so let's skip back to #3. I'm not much of a dater (clearly it's taken me like 2.5 years to go on 4 dates). I just find the whole process painful and generally don't like to put myself in such situations. It's funny though as I've only had one experience that I would label interesting in a bad way and the rest over the years have always been lovely (not for this list but just in general). And the "bad" one wasn't bad per se but I certainly wasn't dying to see him again.

Anyway back to date #4, I had a good time albeit I was quite nervous. Of course my insecurities are creeping in....am I smart enough....cute enough....you know the usual list of things that make me want to crawl under a rock. We have however talked about getting together again. We were even going to try for New Year's shenanigans but uncertainties over travel and flights got in the way, I made alternate plans and then found out he was going to be available after all. No worries though, plenty of time to get to know one another and of course with no expectations though I am quite interested in this bloke.

Completed:

#24 Try a New Recipe Once a Week for 4 Months 16/16







Roasted Asparagus with Caramelized Shallot Dressing

Can you say yummmmm! This dish was lovely and flavourful and did I mention yummy! I'm definitely making this side dish again as it was super quick and easy to whip up.

Shrimp Picadillo

This dish was also easy to make granted it was much less flavourful than I had anticipated. Nothing a little Asian Chili Paste couldn't take care of, few squirts of that and my tongue was on fire (in a good way).

I've really enjoyed trying these new dishes and will continue to do so in the future. I've always limited myself with my safe plain veggie dishes (pasta anyone?) so I'm glad that I've branched out and tried to use more lentils and spices. I'd normally just steam some asparagus and eat it blah so it's nice to have a variety of different ways to eat my veggies as well.

#43 Use My Juicer

I can't even tell you when I bought this thing....seriously....like ohhh maybe 10 years ago and I swear I used it once. Since I made this list I've hauled it out on several occasions and have made yummy fresh juice. It's actually really good for using up fruit that's been sitting out a bit too long that you'd otherwise toss out. The only downside is it takes like 3 apples to make this tiny cup of juice.

I'd like to do a lovely year in review type of post but to be honest I'm a bit too lazy and a bit too tired today. I've been dealing with a nasty eye issue that seems to be getting worse with the antibiotic drops. Before the drops it was just sore and teary, now it's swollen, sore, teary and wait for it....there's puss oh yes puss! Apparently that's a good thing as the infection is coming out but I for one think it's disgusting and just had to share it with my lovely readers! My eye was actually sealed shut this morning.......

Gross

Anyway onto the upbeat beautiful life is fuzzy and wonderful part of this post. I've been fortunate enough to spend this year with many amazing friends and of course my wonderful family! I love them all to bits even during the maddening times they've all taught me something. I was fortunate enough to do some soul searching with guidance from an amazing teacher which to be honest really changed my outlook on myself and life in general. I feel like I'm in a much better place than I have been in a very very long time and for that I will be forever thankful!

I've met some amazing new people and have rekindled some old friendships! I've laughed, cried and I'm finally getting my ass in shape with the help of my lovely trainer.

2009 was very good to me and I'm hoping that 2010 will be even better! I can't wait to see what it has in store for me! So I raise a glass to all of my wonderful friends out in cyberpace wherever it is you may be! Cheers and a very happy new year to each and every one of you!

I'm still working on my resolution......

Lame-o it's okay-o! That's going to be the extent of this post as it's been a very busy week much like I'd imagine everyone else has had. Visiting with family and friends, shopping, parties.....I'm just about ready to spend an entire day in bed.

I've stuffed myself silly with dips and pies and of course have been neglecting the gym. I'm apparently going to make up for it this week though as I have that dreaded
2nd session with the trainer. I desperately wanted to cancel it but decided to suck it up instead.

I'm off all week but it doesn't seem there will be much time to rest. I was hoping to get to some of these goals but alas they may have to wait. It seems December 31st is quickly coming upon us and I have yet to make plans. I'm more of a house party type of gal when it comes to New Year's Eve. You can wear your comfies, play silly games and no one has to worry about driving or cabs or spending a lot of money. I'm keeping my options open this year and who knows where I'll end up as I was thinking a change of pace might be good. I haven't even thought about resolutions .... I should really get to those! So what are your plans for the big ole day and what will you resolve to do?

I had a fabulous weekend that included a date (maybe 2?), yummy Indian food, dancing with great friends and crawling in at 5am. It was busy busy busy and I loved the music the DJ's played at the Blow Up! I forgot about this song:



There were no Asian Patrick Swayze sightings but I saw a few of the old cats in suits out and about but the place was jammed so it was hard enough to manoeuver around let alone look for people. We went for food afterwards and a person I had met at the bar happened to be on the street so we invited him along. Apparently I'm on a roll in this department.....it's taken me long enough!! Can that be counted as date #4 for my goal list??? It involves a stranger, food, phone number.....(date #3 happened earlier in the day but more on that on my goal list update I'm definitely interested in #3).

I had a lot of fun however Sunday was a very lazy day, I didn't do much at all other than go out for dinner. I had wanted to check out these cute Fluevog sandals that were on sale but really had no energy to drive all the way down there and try to find parking.

I also tried this new workout the other day with a trainer and this may be TMI but it's seriously hard to sit and/or get out of the sitting position....I'm talking in the car, in a chair.....on the toilet! It's brutal everything hurts! I look ridiculous trying to walk up and down the stairs.....so yeah I signed up for another session at the time of the 1st one which I'm now regretting! Do I cancel, do I suck it up??

It's that time of year....where I stay *gasp* away from malls and stores. I know it's hard to believe but I'm VERY serious about this! I can't stand the crowds nor the incessant looping of horrific Christmas songs. I mean really.....really.....(I'm making one of my WTF faces)people enjoy this???

I don't understand the appeal however I will admit to enjoying a few holiday songs! When these come on the radio my face brightens up, I get a bounce in my step and yes I sing along. While I do love Wham (Wake me up before you go go anyone, anyone?) I'm really not a fan of Mariah at all though I do love this song. Go ahead Judgey McJudgers, I can take it. I like a Mariah Carey song....there I said it!



All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey




Last Christmas by Wham



They also play a lot of these song during the season which I enjoy:

Happy Christmas by John Lennon & Yoko




Santa Baby by Madonna




Please Come Home For Christmas by Bon Jovi (or the Eagles I like both)




Hmmmm I guess I like a lot more "Christmas" songs than I thought I did shhhhh don't tell anyone! What are your favourites? Even the Scrooges out there....you must like one or two.

Enjoy the last weekend before the madness begins! I shall find myself out of town whooping it up in the big city!! Our old haunt is having a reunion of sorts so I expect to have a fabulous time.....I'm dying to see if Asian Patrick Swayze will be there!!! Oh how I've missed him so and the various other characters we'd see on a Saturday night!

Maybe it's just me but I'm finding a lot of people annoying/rude lately. Some I know, others are complete strangers but for the love of god people STOP complaining, especially about things you cannot change. Example, LD and I were in line recently at a store buying gifts, there was a family in front of us and a man behind us. As soon as the man got in line he started whining to no one in particular "ugh, they should have more than one register open at this time of year." (please note said store was NOT busy). He continued to sigh loudly, mutter to himself and we thought that surely his head would pop off when the cashier called for a price check. Eventually a 2nd register opened up.......now one would assume the next people in line IE us would be the first to enter that line.....nope....the big whiner made a run for it. Neither of us particularly cared as clearly the whinger was in a much bigger hurry than anyone else in the store. I felt like turning around and telling him to shut the fuck up! Pissing and moaning wasn't going to make his or our waiting in line experience any better and it wasn't going to accomplish a whole hell of a lot.

I've also been to stores with people who are rude to the sales people and it drives me bonkers. I get it everyone is tired, we're over worked, have a million things to do and very few hours in which to get them done. Maybe I've just become overly sensitive to such things but a lot can be said of someones tone and facial expressions and sometimes I find it horrifically embarrassing the way the sales people are being treated. Every now and again I'll point this out to the ill behaved patron and once in a while I'll get a "did I?" but more often than not they defend themselves, tell me I'm wrong.....ad nauseum.

I took a course recently which I won't get into but it had a lot to do with working on ones soul, getting to the nitty gritty of ones beliefs, where they come from and things like gratitude and really living life to the fullest. It did change me ever so slightly and I find I have less tolerance for negativity, I want to surround myself with light and love and positive energy. I just find excessive complaining/rude behaviour extremely draining and I don't care to be around it.

We're all going to have bad days and yes even yours truly uses her horn more than the average person whilst driving but if your pattern is to constantly bitch and complain, make comments about every single thing going on around you "he cut me off" "hurry up, what's taking so long" etc etc it's time to take a breath and just relax. I remember sitting at a light once in a car with a friend while this guy just stood on the corner. He looked as though he was going to cross in front of us (on his green light) but didn't. When our light turned green he decided to walk right in front of our car as if he had the right of way. We both stared for a moment, shrugged and continued our conversation. We even got a giggle out of the situation and such things have happened several times since. I'm not sure what hanging my head out the window screaming "it's not your turn!" or "can't you see the light!" would have accomplished other than raising my blood pressure. Hence why I did not tell the man in line to shut it, it just would have made both of us angry. Maybe I'm just mellowing out in my old age!

Please take note that I'm well aware of the fact that I'm complaining about how I dislike people complaining :) It would be much different if every post was me bitching and moaning incessantly.

Goal List Update

Working On:

#24 Try a new recipe once a week for 16 weeks 14/16

I was convinced that I had found the secret recipe for Anna Olson's amazing lemon squares and I was thrilled!!! Umm yeah dream on sucka these turned out NOTHING like her delightful treats, they were okay but not what I had hoped for ... les sigh...

These two recipes were a flop as well as far as I'm concerned. Chile encrusted Scallops with a Cucumber Cashew salad. I wasn't a fan of either.

Yay finally!! This recipe was lovely, a veggie curry! You know I've never made curry myself and it wasn't bad at all in fact I'm looking forward to making this again. It was super easy and super good! (Hey BB you forgot to mention I say super wayyyy too much) I might even try the President's Choice Naan bread to accompany it next time.

I was due for a good smoothie recipe and I found one yay!!! This one has frozen raspberries, peaches and vanilla yogurt. Seriously, it was so bloody good, I haven't had a smoothie in eons and this one was just delightful.

14. Take vitamins every day for 90 days (10/90)

Ugh! Enough said!!!


#35 Read all of the unread books on my shelf 13/35

I have very minimal room for my books at the moment and I'm trying to read some of the ones that I've been given or borrowed for the hell of it. I will most likely read them and then donate them to the women's shelter sale or wherever and thus will free up space on my bookshelf for the ones I will keep and enjoy. Swimming in the Ocean by Catherine Jenkins was one that I took from a friend, it sounded relatively interesting and I suppose that it was in it's own way. Actually at first I disliked it very much and wondered how I was possibly going to get through the whole book. In the middle I got used to her writing style and started to enjoy the novel a bit more than I had imagined I would. Will I keep it....certainly not. I'll pass it along to the next person perhaps someone that will appreciate it more than I was able to.

Completed:

22. Whiten my teeth at the dentist office

Good thing I know some swanky friends as these suckers cost upwards of $350 for a silly plastic (or whatever it's made of) tray. Mine is going to cost me a few vanilla sprinkle donuts instead so I certainly can't complain. The one thing I like about myself is my teeth.....and now they're going to be even more lovely and white! Yay!!!

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Sidenote: What the fuck is up with this weather?? It's -7 and the winds are reaching 90 km/h brrrrrrr makes me want to curl up and stay in with a nice cup of tea!! Or a fancy drink from starbucks....I'm drooling for an eggnog latte right now! Enjoy the weekend!

So I opened up my email and saw they had added some new seats to an Andrea Bocelli/David Foster concert. I wouldn't snub my nose at these two men so I clicked on the link for the hell of it. To my surprise the 5th row popped up as my choice (man this is getting better and better) the concert Gods have smiled upon me not once but twice in the past week. I quickly called my mother and then burst out laughing when she answered.....never mind I said. Turns out I forgot to look at the price of said tickets......ummm yeah they were over $500 a ticket.....$1034.00 for two. Thankfully I was smart enough to let my eye wander down to that part of the page, sometimes I'm a bit lax with such things and in the excitement of it all press the purchase button and THEN look at the price. That would have been a bit of a surprise!

My time off has been fabulous and I still have a few more days left before I go back yay!!! The salvation army will surely love me as I've been doing a spring cleaning of sorts and have bags and bags of goodies to donate. I haven't gotten to as many goals as I would have liked, figured I would spend my time reading and such but I've been quite lax in that area granted I've run about a thousand errands it seems this week.

I went with the gals this weekend to the King Tut exhibit which was really quite amazing. I was fascinated by his sandals, the jewelry the statues and just everything in the exhibit it was quite surreal to see. We hit up T & T's for some dim sum and grocery shopping woo hoo and then went back to J's for some pre drinking (it's like we're 19 again) and then off to a pub. It was a great night and we slept in till ohhhh the noon hour at which time we woke up to J bringing us super yummy bagels. Thanks doll!!!

LD and I went shopping downtown and I bought these super cute earrings though the picture does not do them justice. They're little skulls make with swarovski crystals and they shine like crazy. Love them!!! I also found some lululemon sweats to replace my old ones yay!! I've been looking for a thicker pair and finally found some pants as well as a comfy hoodie! Good thing as it was time for a new pair, my previous jacket and pants had been VERY well loved and had been fading and looking rather worn. Anyway I had a great weekend stuffing my face, hanging with the girls and of course shopping!!! It looks like I might have to do it all over again next weekend....yay!!!