Dad

My dad died last Thursday.

He has been in and out of the hospital for 13 years, so it wasn't a total shock - but on the other hand, no one expected it to be last week.

By 10:15 on Friday morning, Wanda and I were in Regina.

By Friday night, the details were sorted out - prayers on Sunday night, funeral on Monday, burial on Tuesday (because he wanted to be buried out of town).

I couldn't begin to tell you how many people dropped off food - which was wonderful, because cooking required more energy than anyone had. Left to our own devices, there is no way we'd have cleaned/acquired vegetables, so veggie trays were especially wonderful.

My niece and her puppy are taking this especially hard. Apparently, the puppy spent the first day wandering the house and sitting in dad's favourite chair. (After I got there, the puppy spent her time following me around looking cute and sitting whenever I had food in my hand in hopes of getting a treat.)

My niece alternates between sad ("Do you have the phone number of heaven? I want to talk to Poppa.") and pragmatic ("Grandpa's dead as a doornail." "Now Grandpa's dead, so we might as well chuck that out."). She's doing well, but it's a hard thing to deal with - especially when you're six.

Things went as well as possible. If I counted correctly, 25 (of 47) of my first cousins were at the funeral. That is especially surprising considering that my dad's brother died 3 weeks earlier and many of them traveled from outside the city (and province) to be there.

I got back to Ottawa last night, completely exhausted. I slept in this morning and then took a nap this afternoon, so hopefully I'll be ready to go back to work on Monday.

Have you seen my sweater?

After the week of rain, this weekend has been mostly sunny. It's wonderful. I don't realize how much I miss sunshine until it appears after days of rain. It's not as summery as last weekend, but still a very nice weekend for April.

I also managed to accomplish a lot this weekend. Yesterday I counted all of the cookie money and took it into the bank. After that, I went to boxing. It was coach's corner week, and I found out that I get to move to level 4! (Part of me still thinks I hallucinated that.)

Yesterday evening, I cleaned out my dressers and closets. I was looking for the sweater I couldn't find at Christmas. Yes, it's still missing. I didn't find it, but I did create a big garbage bag of clothes to be given away. Sadly, I do need new clothes - most of mine are wearing out - but yet I won't wear the ones I'm giving away. I now have a lot of empty hangers.

After that, I buckled down and finished my taxes. I usually do one pass and then wait a week or so that I can go back and look at it with a fresh eye to find all of the stuff that I missed the first time. Yesterday I did my second pass and filed them. What with being unemployed for 5 months of the year, I wasn't sure what to expect, so I was relieved to find that I am getting a refund. I'd prefer to break even - they don't owe me and I don't owe them - but a refund is definitely better than having to pay.

When I moved into this house, there was one of those things on the screen door that makes it close if you leave it open. (I have no idea what they are called and I'm too lazy to look it up.) Anyway, it kept falling off the door, so eventually I took it off until I had time to fix it properly.

*cough*

About a month ago - when I replaced the chain, in fact - I was at Rona and I saw newfangled replacement door-closing thingys. (I really should look up what they're called.) I bought one and started to attach it after I had replaced the chain, but it was cold and I broke a drill bit off in the hole I was drilling and then ... I just let the drill sit by the front door for a month and ignored the half-completed project.

This weekend was my weekend to finish it - in part because my Sparks are meeting here on Tuesday and having a drill sitting by the front door seems like a really, really bad idea. This morning I attached it, only to find out that I couldn't open the door enough.

I went out for an enjoyable lunch with some friends, then I came home and moved it. It is finally finished. (Yay!)

Both last weekend and this weekend have seemed longer than usual. Last weekend, I assumed it was because of Easter, but apparently that's not it. Maybe it's because I'm all adjusted to my new work hours and I'm waking up earlier?

Regardless of the reason, it's a nice situation to be in.

What do you call a sunny day after 2 days of rain?

Well, after the weekend's beautiful weather, the universe has retaliated by making the week cold and rainy - which, let's face it, is the opposite of the way these things usually work.

This week is my first week on the mid-shift. That means I start work at 10 and finish at 6:30.

When I work the day shift (as I have been since I started), I get up around 6:30, get to work by 8, work until 4:30, then go to the gym. Mondays and Thursdays I go to a class at the gym that starts at 5:30, so I finish that at 6:30. Basically, I get home at the same time now.

I went to the gym Monday morning for a 7 a.m. class, only to find out that it was canceled since some people (government employees, mostly) had the day off. Instead, I spent half an hour on the elliptical trainer and managed to mess up my foot. It's my own fault - the machine I picked squeaked if I stepped in the middle of the foot-thingy, so I kept moving my foot to the left. It turns out that that was a bad idea.

Since I hurt my foot, I haven't gone to the gym. As a result, I have tons of time in the morning. This morning I cleaned the house (including mopping the kitchen and bathroom) before I left fr work. Sadly, my leisurely mornings end tomorrow, since my foot is now recovered.

Next week, I'm back on the day shift, but the week after that comes the late shift (11:30 - 8). I'm kind of curious about how I'll like that.

I am completely exhausted. I suspect part of it is because of the time change.

What's that? The time change was weeks ago?

I wish someone had told my alarm clock that. You see, I bought my alarm clock years ago. It changes time automatically - but unfortunately, the dates on which the time changes were shifted a couple of years ago. This means my alarm clock is wrong four times a year - including this morning. Yup, it woke me up an hour early.

Other contributing factors include me being too foolish to go to bed at a reasonable hour, excessive food preparation (for no good reason - it's not like I had people over today), and the fact that I worked Friday, which made Thursday evening exhausting.

This coming week I work from 10 - 6:30. My plan is to get up and go to the gym in the morning. That should (in theory) give me a reasonable amount of time in the evening.

Also, remember the online book club I'm participating in? Our first book was Twilight. Our second book is Moby-Dick.

I need to read 10 chapters by Thursday. So far, I have read one. I'm finding it interesting, but it's harder to read than, say, a book that doesn't mention a spleen in the first paragraph. I think I'll take it to work to read during lunch. The weather has been beautiful lately, so hopefully I'll be able to sit outside in the sun and read. Wish me luck.

Look away, she's talking about food again

Remember the preserved lemons from a couple of weeks ago? They were ready today.

I have other plans for them next week, but this week I decided to make lemon-dill chicken. I finely chopped some dill and one of the lemons, then covered the chicken with the mixture. I took another lemon and put it in the cavity of the bird, then roasted it. It was very, very tasty.

I also made yogurt. When I was a kid, I remember my mom making yogurt. I don't remember how it tasted, I just remember that you needed to buy yogurt so that you could make yogurt. Today I decided to try it myself.

I can't tell you how it turned out - it's not done yet - but it's looking promising. I have to admit I made a lot of yogurt - plus, you know, I bought yogurt to start the whole thing off. The next week will be interesting.

I Read Twilight ('Cause The Internet Told Me To)

One of the pages I visit at lunch time is NPR's Monkey See. A couple of weeks ago, they started the "I will if you will" book club.

The idea was that everyone would read Twilight and then we'd talk about it.

I read Twilight and I have to say, I don't really get it. I found Bella kind of ... boring, the "romance" borderline abusive, and the book almost completely empty of conflict.

However, the discussions have been very entertaining. The latest one included the sentence "I'm just saying that a Viking or two might have helped."

Let's see, what else has been going on ....

Oh yes, last weekend was another show at the NAC. This one was Music & Magic (or Magic & Music? There was music, there was magic.)

That's right, the music was magic themed and they had magic acts perform as well. I really enjoyed it. Of course, I like magic shows - and it made a nice break from reading a book about a vampire.

Musings on health care

Some things puzzle me about the health care debate in the U.S.

Obviously, I'm looking at this from a Canadian perspective, so keep that in mind.

First of all, they're voting on a Sunday? Around here, we have trouble getting politicians to show up during the week. No way could we have a vote on a weekend.

The other thing that puzzles me is the debate itself. Canadians have had health care since before I was born. (I'm too lazy to look up the exact year.)

It's not perfect - wait times can be long and not everything is covered. For example, dental procedures, ambulance rides, and prescriptions are not usually covered. Also, if you're traveling, coverage is limited (if it exists at all). Supplemental health insurance (for example, through an employer) usually covers some portion of the cost for things not covered by the government plan.

Coverage can vary between provinces - the federal government transfers money to provinces for health care, but each province decides what to fund (and how much).

All citizens (and permanent residents, I believe) living in Canada get a health card that is essentially how you pay for your health services. No matter what your income level, if you need to see a doctor, you will not have to pay a cent to do so.

Many countries have universal health care - including Botswana, which has a small population and one of the largest rates of HIV infection in the world.

I haven't been following the American debate very closely, but I don't understand the attitude that it's OK for people to not have access to health care. It seems so short sighted (because minor conditions don't get treated until they become serious conditions) and selfish (the "I'm not sick so why should I pay for people who are" view of the world).

I guess it's similar in a way to some of the people I worked with at the large telecom company a few years ago. We had been going through layoffs multiple times a year for close to 10 years. Over 2/3 of the company had been laid off, but they were still convinced that it couldn't happen to them.

I didn't understand that either.

Hey, there are people around here!

This has been another week of unseasonably warm weather. In fact, the snow on my front lawn is almost gone. The front lawn usually takes forever to melt for two reasons:

1. It's on the north side of the house, and
2. That's where the snow from the driveway ends up.

Due to the time change, it's also light later - it's 7:30 now and the sky is still relatively light out. When I got home at 7, it was still quite light.

You can also tell it's spring by the fact that there are people on the streets. That's right, the winter hibernation is over.

On the way home, I saw two kids playing a game of catch (or something), a kid skateboarding on his skateboard ramp, and kids playing street hockey.

In my backyard, I saw two small rabbits - not babies, but they didn't look full grown either.

It's possible that we'll still get snow, of course, but at this time of year, we know it's not going to last. That makes a big difference.

When Life Gives You Lemons ...

Does anyone remember the episode of The Simpsons where Home becomes a food critic? Soon everyone in town has gained massive amounts of weight because he makes all of the food sound so good.

That's kind of how I feel about Choosy Beggars. Every time I read about something I've never heard of before, I want to try it.

This week, Tina was talking about preserved lemons. I've never had them before - I didn't even know they existed - but they sounded good.

And this week, I happened to find a supply of thin-skinned lemons at the grocery store. It was fate.

I followed the directions on the website, washing the lemons, cutting off the nub on the end, cutting them almost in quarters, packing them with salt, and putting them in a jar.


I was surprised at how many lemons fit into the jar - I thought I'd have a lot left, but I didn't.

I put the salt on the top, filled it with lemon juice, and put the lid on.

Someone remind me in a couple of weeks to use them in something, OK?

Coworkers

I've been reflecting on the different types of people I've encountered in past jobs.

The Visionary
Now, I don't mean the kind of person who can see where a product/company should go and then put a plan in place to get there. I mean the kind of person who, when you ask "Would you like a piece of apple?" starts talking about how to pollinate apple trees and muses about irrigation methods and the kind of bees that should be imported. Ten minutes later, you're still standing there, apple in hand.

The Very Important Person
This is the person who can't answer questions because they're very, very busy. They'd love to help, but their workload just doesn't allow it. Usually, it turns out that it's just as well, since this person is rarely very good at their job.

The Social Butterfly
The social butterfly likes to know all of the gossip. They can spend hours talking to their coworkers. They like to act like everyone is their best friend - at least at first.

The Whole Picture Person
This person wants to understand the whole thing before acting. This works well if, say, you're selling fries, but is extremely ineffective when you're, for example, a software developer working on a product that contains millions of lines of code.

The Information Hog
This person likes to be the only one who knows how to do things. If they told you how they do what they do, it would diminish their power (and you might figure out it's actually really easy).

The To The Letter Person
The "To The Letter" person does exactly what they are asked to do. They don't necessarily know why they're doing it, but they'll do it reliably.

The Go-To Person
This is the person you talk to when you don't know who to talk to. They know everything - or if they don't, they know who does. Usually, this person is in an admin role.

The "Under Control" Person
This type of person can balance multiple priorities. They're legitimately busy, but make time to help out their co-workers.

The "Do The Right Thing" Person
This person values doing the job right over doing the job fast. They take the time to understand the reasons behind the request and find the right solution.


Obviously, many people are a combination of more than one of these types. I've probably missed some types - what types of people have you seen?

Adjusting

I'm starting to adjust to my new schedule.

I made it to the gym after work - although I used one of the recumbent bikes and didn't properly adjust the seat, which was a mistake.

The last two days I stopped off after work to buy supplies for Sparks. Clearly I should have made a list. Last year we made bunnies out of face cloths. This year, we gave the girls the choice of making chicks or bunnies. Most girls chose bunnies, but I have to say that the chicks were really cute.

We also had the Brownies come to visit us - including 5 girls who had been in our unit last year. It was an amazing success. All the girls were super excited and the Brownies taught our girls some games and songs.

Meanwhile, it's definitely spring - if only temporarily. I gave up my boots last week, and I'm down to a spring jacket. (Admittedly, if I were taking the bus, I'd still be in my winter jacket.)

I think I need to start going for a walk at work. Most people in my department eat lunch at their desks, but you miss the whole day that way. I should start going outside to actually see the sun.

Spring is coming

The last few weeks have been pretty warm.

It's nice - the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and the ice that used to coat my driveway is mostly gone. The ice that remains is hollow underneath, since it melts from the bottom. That makes it fun to walk on.

Of course, the other thing that spring brings is a rash of people driving their vehicles (trucks, snowmobiles, etc.) on the ice of the river and falling through. That I do not understand at all. It seems pretty obvious to me that if the snow has been melting for a week, you stay off the ice.

Some people obviously disagree, though, since there have been a couple of instances of people falling through the ice in the last couple of weeks.

I suspect that soon there won't be any ice left, so this will stop being a problem until next year.

Ottawa hasn't had much snow this winter. I suspect winter might not be totally over yet - we could still get a big dump of snow before it's over. The nice part about snow now is that you know it's going to melt soon.

Two years ago we had a lot of snow, and even that year the last big snowfall was March 9. It won't be long now.

Let's talk about work

Let's talk about work - without, you know, talking specifically enough that I get fired.

Week #2 is now over, and I definitely feel like I'm starting to know what I'm doing. I don't know how to do everything, of course, but I am actually able to contribute. Last week, it felt like I was napping while everyone else worked like crazy.

I talked last week about how this office supplies soft drinks, juice, etc. I'm still thrilled with that. Don't get me wrong - most of the time I drink water - but it's nice to not have to worry about bringing other beverages from home or having change to buy them.

This is a customer service job, and I have to say that it's probably the most consistently busy job I've ever had. There's a lot of variety and a lot to keep track of.

There's a parkade under the building and I get a parking pass since I work there. The nice part of that is that I never have to clean off the car after work - in fact, if I had a house with an attached garage, I'd never have to go outside.

Of course, that's not such an issue these days - spring has definitely arrived, if only temporarily.

I'm starting to get into a routine - getting to work by 8, leaving at 4:30, and going to the gym afterward (except on Tuesdays, when I go to Sparks instead). I've decided that two days a week I'll catch a BodyPump class and the other two days I'll just do my own thing. I like BodyCombat classes, but they're all too late for me to go after work, and if I go home first there is no way that I'll go back to the gym.

I'm not nearly as tired as I was last week, due in part to me starting to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Who knows? Maybe next week I'll even be able to update during the week.

Happy (kind of) birthday, B.

Today is kind of my niece's sixth birthday. She's a Feb. 29 baby, so she doesn't really get a birthday this year. Apparently, she had a good day. She called me on skype to show me the play she was putting on with her dolls.

I'm completely out of practice at getting up and going to work every week, and last week left me exhausted. I haven't done much this weekend and I'm still tired.

One thing I did do this weekend was repaint the ceiling in the shower downstairs. You see, Wanda is out of town - she went to see B for her birthday - and the paint on one part of the shower was bubbling and peeling.

Yesterday morning, I sanded down the bubbling paint and re-mudded it. I did a second coat last night.


This morning, I sanded it down again and did the first coat. An hour or so later, I did the second coat. A little later, I did the third coat.

I painted it blue - it had been white before, but I had blue paint left over from the rest of the bathroom, so blue it was.
In the picture above, the flat-ish part is the part that was bubbling.

Other than that, my day was spent watching hockey and playing on the internet.

I have to say that I've watched more of these Olympics than I have of all previous Olympics combined. I've never really gotten into the Olympics before, but this time I've been fascinated by a lot of the events. I still find moguls incredible - how can anyone's knees take that? I'm far more interested in events that involve hurtling down a hill at high speeds than by those that take place indoors.

It will be odd not to have the TV turned to some sort of sporting event this week.

I don't really know how to wrap this up - I'm feeling pretty scattered. I'm going to get to bed earlier tonight in an attempt to start acclimatizing to going to work every day. I hope everyone has a good week.

Random petty thought during BodyPump class

• The instructor is a woman. Who is that guy coming over the sound system? Oh, the sound system is messed up! It's the spin instructor.
• Yes, guy in front of me, she means that no one should have a warm-up weight of more than 5 kg. You have 7.5. It does apply to you, too.
• Hey, where did the person behind me go? Woo hoo, room for lunges!
• Hee. The guy who had 7.5 kg for his warm-up weight is down to 5 kg for squats. That means his warm-up weight will be his highest weight for the night.
• Look, the person over there is doing this wrong. So is the person on my other side ... oh, crap, it's me.
• I can't see my shoes in the mirror. Shouldn't I be able to see my shoes in the mirror?
• Is that woman ... she's wearing a full-body leotard with a thong over it! What made her think that was a good idea?
• What am I going to bring for lunch on Friday?
  
• I really eat more apples when they're free at work. I also eat more chocolate.
• Should I stop at Quizno's for supper? I haven't been there in a long time. Oh, crap, I gave up chips for Lent.
• I'm hungry.

Remembering how to sit still for 8 hours

Let's start with what I did on Saturday (because I took pictures, and they will not be wasted).

You see, a few weeks ago I went to walk out the front door, and the chain at the top looked ... different. I couldn't remember exactly what it had looked like before, but something had changed.

(I admit it, I'm not very observant.)

Eventually I figured out that the springy part of the chain was no longer attached to the door frame.

The spring had actually broken, and I didn't really know how to fix it.

I went to Rona expecting to have to try to explain what I was looking for, but it turns out the replacement chains were easy to find. I removed the old one and replaced it with the new one much more easily than expected (although it probably would have been warmer if I had done it in summer).

Here's how it looks now.


Now, to change the subject completely, today was my first day of work.

When I started my last job, I was in an area with 2 other people. My manager was working from home, so he asked one of my new coworkers to get me started.

The coworker got in at 10. I didn't have a computer, so he gave me a bunch of books to read ... and read ... and read. At lunch time, he got up, asked the other person in the area if she wanted to go for a walk, and the two of them took off while I sat in my cubicle trying to stay awake.

(They continued doing this as long as I worked there, by the way. Sometimes I would barge in on their walk, but sometimes it wasn't worth the effort.)

Today, I arrived on schedule at 9. (I was a little concerned about it at one point because it snowed this morning. We've had relatively little snow this year and the traffic report consisted of "If you can stay home, do so. It's slow everywhere.") I got my badge picture taken, then my manager came to reception to meet me. She took me down to our office area and gave me a bit of a tour.

I didn't have a computer yet, so we walked down to the restaurant in the basement since she wanted to buy breakfast. When we got back, she got one of my new coworkers to walk me through some of the systems.

After a while, we took a break so that I could take care of some paperwork. When I was ready to get going again, I sat with another coworker for a while to start to understand some of what she does.

I was there until lunch, when she and another coworker invited me to go get some lunch with them.

I got my badge and my parking pass. I need to use the badge for the elevator, and that took a while to figure out.

After that, it was more sitting with people, then I got some reading material. Finally, my computer was ready, so I read my e-mail (all 10 or so - the beauty of working for a large company) and started to figure out what software I need to get access to.

All in all, not a bad first day.

The end of my week

Well, as I mentioned, yesterday I took my car in.

As I was getting ready to leave, I realized two things:
1) I had a 7-day read out of the library that was due yesterday (that I hadn't read), and
2) My cell phone battery wasn't fully charged.

I dropped the car off and walked over to Tim Hortons. (It was around 8:30 at that point. Not much else was open at that time.)

I got some food and sat at a corner table to read my book. There is officially a 20 minute limit, but no one asked me to leave (and the restaurant was never full), so I sat there and read my book. Around 10:15, they started coming around to clean the tables, so I packed up and walked over to the library.

I spent a few hours at the library - I finished the first book, returned it, and started reading a second book. I also checked my e-mail, and had nothing important.

Around 1, I started getting hungry, so I left the library to get some food. By the time I was done eating, the car was ready. It was quite relaxing, in part because I wasn't worried about job hunting. I had originally planned to do a few other things (i.e. stop at a couple of stores), but in the end I was happy just sitting and relaxing.

I got home before three, in time for the phone call telling me my background check was done.

I accepted the customer service job, and have a start date of Tuesday.

Today I considered going to the gym, but I was still coughing a lot in the morning, so I skipped it. I did make it to boxing and managed to survive despite not having been to the gym in 2 weeks.

I also got my feedback on boxing. Apparently, my speed and power are improving, but are still not as good as they need to be to move to level 4. I was offered the option of doing "level 3.5" - i.e. one class of level 3, one class of level 4. I'm going to stick with level 3, though. I'm not bored with this level yet, and I just don't have time to do two boxing classes a week without letting something else slip.

Sigh

Well, I finished the last sock monkey a couple of days ago. It's a different colour - blue stripes. They are all ready to go now.

We used the pinata yesterday. It was appropriately hard to break - all the girls got to hit it before it fell apart. In fact, it took a couple of hard blows from a leader to break it. We were out of time, or we would have let the girls take another shot at it.

And ... today the other company I had interviewed with checked my references and asked if I was still interested. It would be more money than the other job, and it would be permanent instead of a contract - but I'm still leaning towards the other one. (I like the people at the other one, and I really am thinking I want to get into a less technical role.) I just wish they'd finish the background check so that I actually would have something concrete. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of days.

Of course, if it happens tomorrow, I won't know immediately. I'm taking the car in, and I will probably spend time in that area - it's easier than getting a ride home and then figuring out how to get back there. Typically, I go in to ITO and work on my java course, but ... I'm not sure I want to do that tomorrow. (No matter which of these two jobs I finally end up with, java is irrelevant.)

Still Feeling Crafty

This week at Sparks we're celebrating birthdays around the world. One of the things we're doing is having a pinata.

Now, we could buy a pinata - that's what we did last year - but I wanted to make one. I figured it might be easier to break (since the bought ones are made of cardboard), and it would certainly be cheaper - if you didn't factor in labour costs.

I started by blowing up a big balloon and a small balloon. I taped half a plastic cup to the small balloon.

I mixed up a cup of flour with 3/4 cup of water and cut strips of newspaper. I soaked the newspaper in the glue mixture, squeezed it between my fingers, and then covered the balloons in the paper.

I let it dry for a day, then added another layer.


Once that was dry, I cut a hole in both pieces, then popped the balloons. I filled the pinata with the treats and taped the two pieces together.

I cut slits in the top and put paper clips in them (so that there is somewhere to attach the rope).

I then added another layer of white paper, paying special attention to the neck and the slits with the paper clips - both of those areas got two layers of paper to glue them together.

When that was dry, I covered it in tissue paper. You can't tell very well from the picture, but it's supposed to be a bird. It's not perfect, but ... it has been specifically created to be hit with sticks, so I'm not going to worry about it. (For future reference, buying a pinata for $10 is totally a bargain - this probably took 3 or 4 hours in total.)

I also made the second of my three sock monkeys. I made the tail on this one half the width (but twice the length) of the other one. Instead of stuffing it with fiber fill, I used a pipe cleaner, so it is somewhat pose-able. Also, note the scary face.

Now, of course, I want to change the tail on the other one.

I've also started watching the Olympics (which I never do). I blame Wanda. I've become unusually interested in the biathalon as well as moguls. Forty eight hours ago, I didn't know what the mogul event was.

Luckily, watching the Olympics goes well with hand-sewing sock monkeys.

Monkeys for the monkeys

I'm still fighting a cold - I'm feeling better today, but I'm still coughing rather a lot. I didn't want to leave the house, but I'm working on a project for my niece's birthday and I needed some fiber fill. I couldn't wait until Monday - it's a holiday here, so I don't want to count on stores being open. (Yes, I could go tomorrow, but will I really be feeling that much better by then?)

Anyway, since I had the fiber fill, I finished my first sock monkey.

I have two more to make for my cousin's daughters (to celebrate the arrival of their new baby brother).

You know, all of these kids can read. One day they'll discover my blog and I'll have to be a lot more careful.

Hopefully today is not that day.

The other thing I did today was make Bocconcini Stuffed Mediterranean Bacon Pull Aparts.


It was good. I poured too much parmesan on top, though - next time I will definitely cut that down. My theory was that bread that contained cheese, onions, sundried tomatoes, and bacon was a full meal, so that's what I had for supper tonight.

A reason to put on pants

Does anyone reading this watch How I Met Your Mother?

There's an episode where one of the characters had been unemployed for a while. He starts not wearing pants around the house. Next thing you know, he doesn't put on pants to go down and pick up the mail. Eventually, he takes a job that's - let's say - off his chosen career path, and he justifies it by saying he needs a reason to put on pants.

I've had days where I could relate.

I got a call this morning - I've been offered the customer service job I interviewed for. Of the two jobs that I've had more than one interview for, this is the one I wanted. For starters, they weren't all bizarre about money. Also, I've met three (of the six or so) people on the team, and I think they'd be good to work with.

Also, by the nature of this job, I'll learn a lot more about how the company functions.

There are downsides - shift work (although all shifts are between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.), it's a contract (so no vacation or sick time), and the pay is less than I would have made elsewhere. (The pay difference is because it's a different type of job, not because of the company.)

The upsides? A bigger company, people I think I'll enjoy working with, different work (and lots of it), and the potential for it to become permanent.

I don't have an official offer letter (or a start date) yet, as they need to do a background check first. I did talk to the manager and she suspects I'll start around Feb. 22.

Oh, you meant turn left?

I went to renew my health card today. Mapquest said it would take me 37 minutes to get there, so I left almost an hour in advance to allow time to get lost. It's a good thing I did. In the above picture, the wobbly green line is the route I should have taken. The wobbly red line is the route I did take. Eventually, I figured out where I went wrong and found the office.

I was still 10 minutes early. I went to the information desk, where I found out that I should have brought the renewal notice with me. I had the printout of my appointment, which told me to bring 4 forms of ID (citizenship, proof of address, name & signature, & supplemental), but did not tell me to bring the renewal notice. Since I didn't have it, I had to fill out another form there.

There was one person in front of me, so I had to wait while he finished. Shortly after my scheduled appointment time of 11, I got in. I was back in the car at 11:07.

When I got home, I looked through the job postings. After that, I called the account manager for my mortgage. It's up for renewal (well, at the end of May), and he sent me an early renewal offer. The end result? It's renewed effective next week at a lower interest rate (because rates have dropped in the last five years), and I didn't have to provide any verification of my income. Since I don't have a real income right now - I was a little concerned about how renewing my mortgage would go.

The other effect is that my payments go up by $14 + change, which I'm not thrilled about - I like having my payments be a nice round number since that makes me have to type fewer numbers when I record them in my chequing account spreadsheet. However, that's pretty trivial over all.

Healthy?

I think I'm coming down with a cold. I've been coughing like crazy all day. It has been a long time since I've had a cold - almost a year, I think. Obviously, I'd prefer to not be sick, but such is life.

Speaking of health, my health card is set to expire in a couple of months.

For those of you outside of Canada, this is the card that needs to be presented for doctors visits, blood tests, etc. It's how the province knows who to pay, basically.

In Ontario, there are two types - the old cards, which last forever, and the new cards, which have to be renewed every 5 years. I originally had an old card, but I had to get a new card when they were still attempting to move everyone to the new cards. The new card has a picture - the old one doesn't.

Anyway, 5 years ago (and 10 years ago) when I had to renew my card, I picked a slow Friday afternoon, drove downtown, and got my picture taken. The process (not counting the driving) took about 20 minutes.

You can't do that anymore. Now, you need to make an appointment online and then show up in your designated 15-minute period. Oddly, there doesn't appear to be an office downtown anymore - I was given the choice of one in Kanata (i.e. west Ottawa), one in Kemptville (30 minutes south), or else ones in the Toronto area.

I tried to book an appointment in Kanata, but their first available appointment was in March. I went back and chose the Kemptville option. My appointment is on Wednesday - assuming, of course, that I'm not too sick. I have no objections to appearing sick in the picture, but I'm not going to drive if I can't keep my eyes open.

Back From Camp

Spark camp was Friday night. We stayed at a local museum. It's quite small, and they are really glad to work with Guiding groups.

I went to the gym on Friday morning, then went out and bought the groceries. Instead of bringing them home, I stopped by and dropped them off at the museum.

Because the girls are so young, we do a mother/daughter camp. Everyone was supposed to arrive at 6 on Friday, so one of my co-leaders and I met back at the museum at 5:30 to get organized. We had ordered pizza, and it arrived promptly at 5:45.

The museum staff had planned a program running from 6:30 - 8. They took the girls on a tour of the museum, had them draw pictures of famous Canadian women, and helped them make beaded bracelets.

Since we weren't running the program, I left shortly before 6 to go to my boxing class. If we had been organizing the program, I would have stayed, but it seemed silly to miss my class to sit around and watch.

I made it back by 8:15. When I got there, everyone was outside making ice cream (and running around). We came back in and ate our snack. By the time we got the beds up and ready, it was well after nine, so the girls went right to bed.

At that point, one of the other leaders helped me get the breakfast in the slow cooker.

We started with 1/2 a package of frozen hash browns. We cubed a pound of cooked ham and put 1/3 of it on top of the hash browns. Next, we sprinkled it with dried diced onions, then put shredded cheese on top. We repeated these layers two more times. Next, we beat a dozen eggs with a cup of milk and poured it on top of the layers, then we turned the slow cooker on low and let it do its thing. It was really tasty.

When we got up in the morning, we packed up the beds, had breakfast, and then made buildings out of boxes and jars covered in construction paper. Each girl made one or more buildings, and then we combined them to make a city.

After that, we went outside to play some games, and then we made smores over a milk carton oven.

To make a milk carton oven, you take a 1 litre milk carton (500 ml would actually work better, but I never have those), cut a slit down it lengthwise, then put in 4 charcoal briquettes and a couple of fire starters. You then cover the whole thing in foil. When you go to use it, you open the foil (and use it to protect the ground), light the fire starters, and let them light the briquettes.

The girls had a good time, but the briquettes were slow to start (as they often are), and the marshmallows kept freezing. Oh well.

The nice part is that I was home before noon on Saturday. I had time to take a nap in the afternoon, and I have all day today free.

Of course, the nap was necessary because I was tired and I was going to Guys and Dolls in Concert at the NAC last night. I enjoyed the show - I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was basically the regular play, but some parts were read out of binders. (I think that's what it was - I haven't actually seen the musical otherwise.)

(Oh, and I put my green bin out for the first time on Friday. It was properly lined with newspaper, and didn't have a lot of wet waste, so it shouldn't be frozen - and yet it wasn't emptied.)

It's Wednesday

Well, it is Wednesday. My brain thinks it's Thursday - I've spent all day correcting myself. (I also at one point thought it was next week.)

I blame Sparks camp, which is fast approaching. From an organizational point of view, this is one of the easiest camps I've ever planned, so I'm not sure why it has broken my brain. The museum staff is doing basically all of the program on Friday night, so we only have to do the Saturday morning program.

We're going to try a hot breakfast cooked in the slow cooker, so that should be interesting. Hopefully, it will save a lot of time in the morning.

I did manage to make it to my interview today. I think it went well. I was interviewed by a member of the team, and we got along well.

Also, remember the green bins? Now that I've started using mine, I'm amazed at the stuff that can go into it. I will have to bring mine out to the curb this week.

Not today, though. It's only Wednesday. If only I can remember that the rest of the evening.

And how was your weekend?

I had a very relaxing weekend.

Yesterday I got my hair cut - it's much shorter and darker than it had been. And ... that's pretty much what I did all day.

Today was quiet too. I did manage to do my laundry, run (and empty) the dishwasher, make supper (cheesy scalloped potatoes and chicken), and sew a patch on to my camp blanket in preparation for camp next week.

I also crocheted a hat that I totally plan to wear at camp next weekend. It was pretty simple, yet it managed to take close to two balls of wool. I'm looking forward to wearing it.

I also read the latest book in the demon hunter series by Julie Kenner. They're fluffy but enjoyable books.

What have you all been up to?

Ouch

This is new release week at the gym. I said on twitter that I suspect that these particular new releases were planned to get rid of anyone who isn't really committed to going to the gym - i.e. the New Year's Resolutions people. I've done body pump twice and body combat once, and let me tell you, these releases are hard. I rarely get stiff after going to the gym, but this morning some muscles in my back were stiff. I'm not sure whether to blame combat (yesterday) or pump (on Wednesday). I'm leaning towards combat because that muscle is used a lot for upper cuts.

And ... that brings us to boxing today. I don't know why, but this week seemed much harder than usual (even though it wasn't a crazy hard week). I'm sore tonight, but it's the kind of sore that will be better tomorrow ... I hope.

On the job hunting front, I got a call yesterday about a job I applied for in Regina. We'll see what happens there.

I also have a second interview next week for the job I interviewed for last week. (How many people did I lose with that sentence?)

Spark camp is coming up - we're doing a winter camp in buildings - and for breakfast we're doing an interesting-sounding concoction of frozen hash browns, eggs, and cheese in the slow cooker. It sounds tasty, so I hope it turns out well.

I admit it, I have a problem with shoes

I have a different bag for all of my regular activities - a red knapsack for going to the gym, a grey knapsack for Irish Dancing (even though I don't do that anymore), a black knapsack for boxing, and a black bag with leopard and cheetah prints and a tiger on it for Sparks.

My Sparks bag is the same bag I used when I used to be a leader with Guides, which is the branch of Girl Guides for 9-12 year old girls. If I remember correctly, I quit in 2004.

That would be almost six years ago.

When I started doing Sparks, I grabbed the same bag, since it already had the essential - cheap runners for in the gym, a pencil case with pens, glue, a stapler, and scissors, and a small notebook for planning.

When I first pulled the shoes out of the bag, I had to laugh - they were old, cracked, and had splotches of yellow paint on them from fish stenciling*. Clearly, it's a good thing I kept them for the 4 years I wasn't a leader.

Making it even funnier was the fact that I had another pair of identical (except, you know, new) runners in the closet that I had probably bought knowing those ones would soon be tossed out.

Just to be clear, I started being a Sparks leader a year and a half ago.

Yesterday, I swapped the shoes and threw out the old ones.

I also took everything out of the bag and vacuumed the bag out. Somehow, a plastic bag that I'd had in there got completely destroyed (i.e. basically, it was clingy confetti) and the pieces were getting on my nerves. (Whatever happened to the bag happened recently - this hasn't been a problem for 6 years.)

Anyway, my bag is now cleaned out and ready to use.

* Fish stenciling - painting yellow fish by the storm drains to remind people that any water washed into the storm drains goes straight into the river without being treated.

Chocolate sushi

It has been a while since I've updated, so let me fill you in on what's been going on.

Yesterday was the annual Winter Carnival in the community. I was scheduled to work in the kitchen in the afternoon, then I had some friends coming over for dinner. When I get together with these friends, everyone brings something. (Yesterday, everyone brought more than one thing, so the food was plentiful.) One of my contributions was chocolate sushi.

I got the basic idea here.

I melted the chocolate chips, added the corn syrup, and refrigerated. When I pulled it out of the fridge, I divided it into four pieces:



It was a littler colder than I wanted it to be, so I microwaved each piece for 5 seconds immediately before rolling.

Believe me, rolling out the chocolate was a pain. I tried parchment paper and wax paper before settling on wax paper on the top, plastic wrap on the bottom. (Did I mention that I finally got my green bin open? The kitchen container was the recipient of the ripped parchment/wax paper.) It would start more easily, but cool as I rolled. Finally I had pieces the approximate size (20 c.m. by 20 c.m.). (Admittedly, I did some patching.)

When I had all of the chocolate rolled out, I mixed up the rice krispie squares, omitting one cup of cereal to make them gooier. They were much easier to roll out.

I stacked them on top of the chocolate, then put a row of dried strawberries and a row of marshmallows on one end.

Then was the easy part - I rolled them up, wrapped them in the plastic wrap they were sitting on, and stuck them in the fridge.


When it was time to serve them, I pulled them out and sliced them. The final product:

They were good, but pretty rich. The dried strawberries were tasty, but fresh strawberries probably would have been visually nicer.

Overall, they were a hit

Another interview

Yesterday morning one of my neighbours called. Her company was looking for someone for a 10-month contract - was I interested?

I'm definitely overqualified, but it sounds interesting and it certainly couldn't hurt to check it out, so I said yes. I had the interview today.

I still think it's an interesting position. It's customer service, not development, so I wouldn't be using many technical skills. It involves shift work, but all of the shifts are between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., which isn't too bad (as long as there's some flexibility to allow me to still do Sparks and boxing).

The only unknown right now is the salary - I have no idea what the salary would be. I'm working with my neighbour at a community winter carnival on Saturday, so I'll see what I can find out then.

In anti-procrastination news, yesterday I fixed my purse. You see, right before Christmas (that day when I was late to meet with the recruiter), I managed to lose the zipper pull for my purse. It's somewhere in the car, but I haven't found it.

When I go out of town, I change purses. I do this for a couple of reasons. First of all, if I put my stuff in an empty purse, I know what liquids and gels I'm carrying. Secondly, my travel purse has an adjustable strap so that I can either carry it under my arm or across my body.

In other words, I didn't use my normal purse over Christmas, so I didn't fix the zipper pull.

When I got back, I was, well, lazy. Yesterday I finally decided to stop being a fool, so I took a zipper pull off of one of the superfluous zippers and put it on the main zipper. It was so much easier to open and close my purse today.

Today's anti-procrastination project was also fixing something that broke before Christmas. The day I left for Saskatchewan, my shredder broke. It would reverse but not advance. I played with it for a while, going from reverse to advance and back. I pulled paper out manually (even using tweezers to pull out some bits). I even took the screws out of the bottom to pull the whole thing apart, but I was unsuccessful in getting the cover off.

I decided to follow my usual method of fixing electronics - i.e. unplug it for a week or two and hope for the best. Today I plugged it back in and turned it on. It still wouldn't advance, so I hit reverse for a while and the paper jam cleared. It now works fine.

Let's do this in chronological order.

Yesterday's anti-procrastination project was to get rid of the batteries that were sitting in the kitchen.

You see, one day I needed to change some batteries. I left the old batteries on the half-wall in the kitchen to be disposed of later. Little did I know that used batteries attract other used batteries. Yesterday, I decided to do something about it. No, I didn't drop them off for disposal. I did find a shoebox and put it in the front hall closet for storage of the batteries until I take them in.

Also, remember how I didn't need to take the toilet paper holder off the wall to fix it? About that .... Yup, today I had to take the toilet paper holder off the wall to fix it.

This morning, one of my colleagues from the big telecom company was online, so I asked him to wish our mutual friend happy birthday. He asked if I was going to come in. I decided to go in, so I baked mini-cheesecakes and headed in for coffee. Somehow, 20 minutes for coffee turned into an hour and a half. It was good to see the guys again.

I also got in touch with the doctor about my biopsy. The results? Benign. Nothing to worry about. (Yay!)

I had Sparks tonight. Our big activity was to make edible campfires. We started with raisins (for a circle of rocks around our campfire). Next we used hickory sticks as kindling, then pretzels as sticks, then cheezies as logs, and finally a red gumdrop as fire. The girls loved it, in part because they got to eat their campfire afterwards.

The weekend update

So the anti-procrastination project is off to a slow start. I did get a few (quick) things done this weekend.

1) I figured out what type of light bulb I needed for the bathroom. bought a replacement, figured out how to remove the old bulb, and replaced it with a new bulb.

2) I took the toothbrush I got during my dentist visit a couple of weeks ago out of my purse and started using it. I had completely forgotten that it existed.

3) I fixed my toilet paper holder. You see, the holder in my bathroom works well, but as time goes on, it tends to loosen and twist. Sometimes it's an easy fix, sometimes I have to practically take it off the wall and start over. This one was an easy fix.

I also made it out cross country skiing today. It snow wasn't the best, since we've had a couple of days of warm temperatures, but if I wait for perfect conditions, I'll never go. I didn't last long - my foot started to hurt, plus I was lazy - but it was good to get outside. Also, now I'm halfway to achieving one of my New Year's resolutions.

Yes, I'm still alive

Let me share some highlights from my week.

1. The job I had the second interview for last week (which is the same job that asked for salary expectations in the subject line of the application) asked for references (which I provided).
2. The appointment to get the results of the biopsy got pushed out a month.
3. I went to the gym 4 days! (Yay! But I do need to work on finding a better schedule, especially for Thursdays.)
4. Two recruiters contacted me about potential jobs.
5. The job from #1 contacted me saying that their salary range was considerably lower than I had stated - should they still check my references?
6. I filled out an application for security clearance for one of the jobs in #4.
7. I procrastinated about starting my anti-procrastination project back up.
8. One of the three bulbs in the light fixture in my bathroom burnt out. I have never replaced them, so now I need to figure out where to buy those weird bulbs. (And I might as well buy three at once.)
   
9. It melted today. It is possible that I might now be able to open my green bin. I haven't tried yet today.
10. I went to leave for boxing and couldn't find my purse. (I had left it in the car after pump class earlier today. It was still there.)
11. The skin on my ankle kind of hurt, and when I finally looked at it a day later, I realized I had a cut that had become infected.
12. I created a bunch of new miis. They are all better at Wii Sports Resort than I am ... even when I'm the one playing them.
    

So, to summarize: I have no idea what's going on job-wise. NBC is continuing to war with people who work for them. And I am re-starting the anti-procrastination project tomorrow.

How was your week?

New Year's Resolutions

(Edited to add #8.)

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions - this blog being the obvious exception.

New Year's just seems like a terrible time to resolve anything. There's not much daylight, it's cold, and I'm usually traveling.

However, here are some resolutions for 2010. Let's see how many I achieve.

1. There are currently 4 different types of body lotion in my bathroom. By the end of the year, I want there to be no more than two.
2. Get a job. (This is actually more important that the lotion resolution.)
3. Make it to level 4 of boxing.
4. Go on a road trip.
   
5. Clean out my closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore. Drop them off to a charity that will use them.
6. Take a first aid course.
7. Go camping (not counting Spark camp).
8. Go cross-country skiing twice.
   

Any other suggestions?

Let's talk about music

I used to listen to music a lot. I constantly had the radio on (or the TV on a video channel). For a while, I had a portable CD player on my desk at work (until I broke it by flinging it off the desk because I forgot that I had my headphones around my neck).

I'm not sure what happened, but I don't really listen to music anymore. In fact, when I'm home I don't usually listen to anything.

I suspect that what happened is that I started spending more time on the internet, and I find music too distracting.

Having said that, I usually like music that contains lyrics. I'm not fond of instrumentals.

Live music is different, though. If it's a live performance, I will enjoy music I wouldn't otherwise listen to.

Tonight I went to see the NAC Orchestra. Tonight was part of their POPS series - it was a tribute to Benny Goodman.

I enjoyed it. There was a featured clarinetist who I wasn't terribly fond of - his music was fine, but he seemed smarmy - but the orchestra did a good job as always.

Yes, she's babbling about boxing again

Today was my first boxing class of 2010. You know, I like being at boxing, but I'm not terribly fond of going to boxing - particularly now that it's dark and cold outside.

Anyway, I got there 15 minutes before the class, and all of the streets around the gym were temporary no parking zones in preparation for snow clearing. I was mentally coming up with possible alternatives (check the other side of Rideau, park in the parkade a block away, etc.) when I remembered that the gym is next door to a parking lot. It turned into a much smaller problem than I was making it out to be.

Since it was week one, it was a relatively easy week. I did try skipping, so we'll see how my foot feels tomorrow. Overall, though, it was a good class. I always leave boxing in a better mood than I get there - and that's what motivates me enough to get me out the door.

Well, I'm gradually getting back into a normal schedule.

I'm very proud that I remembered to go to Sparks on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I actually made it back to the gym. (I really, really did not want to go - but not for any particular reason).

I also had my interview on Wednesday. I didn't feel very focused, so I'm not really expecting much. We'll see, I guess.

I've been a little discouraged about the whole job situation. I hope something comes along soon.

Part of the problem is that the gym schedules all changed this week. Yes, I know that's weird. The thing is that a bunch of my classes have changed times. That means I need to figure out a new schedule - and if I'm going to figure out a new schedule, I'd rather not do it twice, since my schedule will change when I eventually get a job.

I'm working through it, but it's frustrating.

Part of the problem probably is that I've been busy this week, and thus I'm more tired than I'd like to be. I'm still jet lagged, too. And my niece insisted that I leave her puppy there, so I don't have a puppy to snuggle with.

I think I need to re-start my anti-procrastination project. There's still stuff that needs doing around here, and I'm definitely not doing it otherwise.

Back to normal?

I started today with a dentist appointment at 8 a.m. It wasn't as hard to get out of bed to get there as I had expected it to be. My normal hygienist is on maternity leave, so I had a different one today. She seemed very new. Definitely a change.

My appointment finished at 8:35, which left me 40 minutes to kill before I needed to leave for my next appointment. This one was the biopsy. That's right, after waiting for almost 6 months, they called me on Thursday with an appointment for the next business day.

This seems to be common with some medical professionals - they think that theirs is the only schedule that matters. It's annoying - but I wanted it over with, so I went along with it. (Also, I'm still unemployed, so I really have no reason to complain.)

The biopsy itself was OK. They did an ultrasound to make sure they were hitting the right part of the mass, and then used three needles to get what they needed. Somehow, I only see two marks where the needles broke the skin. It looks like I was attacked by a vampire.

The downside is that up to 30% of the time, they don't get a conclusive result from these biopsies, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Decade in review

I'm catching up on various blogs today, and I saw this idea on Lynn's blog. Instead of a year-in-review, here's a review of what I've been up to for the last decade. I'm sure I've missed things, so if you remember things I don't, feel free to remind me.

2000 - Bought a house. Went to PEI for a week. Went to Winnipeg. Went camping in Manitoba and hurt my arm crossing a waterfall, then fell in the lake. Took a pottery class. Continued ballroom dancing classes. Took Irish Dancing. Bought a new car.

2001 - Tech meltdown started. Watched as friends and colleagues got laid off. Had the shingles replaced on the house & the chimney repaired. Went to Niagara Falls and Toronto.

2002 - Not a good year. Another year of layoffs. Went on a canoe trip in Algonquin park. Went to Niagara Falls once and Toronto twice. Had to pull a bird's nest out of the bathroom fan vent. Went to Cornwall a couple of times. Went to New York City twice. Went to Philadelphia, Hershey, and Gettysburg. Went to Sask. for a week. Finally decided to stop traveling for a while. Turned 30. Quit Irish Dancing. Painted the downstairs bathroom.

2003 - More layoffs. Still not me. Was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding. Took a week off to paint the siding on the house. Finished Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon the power went out throughout much of Ontario and the Eastern U.S. Spent the next week on a forced vacation. Bought a computer & had internet at home for the first time. Went to Sask. for the Labour Day weekend. Tried archery, yoga, and belly dancing. Played laser tag for the first time.

2004 - Went to Sask. & was in the delivery room when my niece was born. Started a new job in customer support. Went to Brandon for my aunt & uncle's 50th anniversary. My niece, mom, and two sisters came to visit. Did a bus tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

2005 - Lived through a kitchen renovation. It was painful, but the result was wonderful. Painted the living room. My parents came to visit, as did two sisters. My mom came back in the summer and brought my niece with her. I did a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Spain, Tunisia, and Malta, followed by a week in Italy. My bag (with my camera in it) was stolen in Pompeii. Replaced the shingles on the roof of my porch, which reminded me that I don't like heights. Went back to Sask. for my dad's 70th birthday. Quit being a leader with Girl Guides.

2006 - Went to San Francisco, Sequoia National Park, and San Jose. Spent a weekend in Syracuse & Albany. Started strength training and boxing. Had the bathroom renovated. Spent the year very unhappy at work. Started Irish Dancing again. Went to Sask. for a family reunion. Helped my sister paint her living room.

2007 - Got laid off from the rapidly shrinking telecom company and spent 7 months job hunting. Joined a new gym. Went to Sask. for Easter. Went to Toronto & Niagara Falls. Started a new job doing software development with a small aviation company. Moved to level 2 boxing. Three sisters came to visit (not all at once). Did an aerial trek and realized how weak my muscles still are. Got a new furnace.

2008 - Did at least one new thing every day and started a blog to record them. Went to Botswana twice for work. Spent a day in Munich on the way. Spent a weekend at a game reserve in South Africa. Went to Boston, Sask. and Edmonton. My niece and sister came to visit. My youngest sister moved in with me and took over the basement. Started as a leader with Sparks. Quit Irish Dancing again.

2009 - Started level 3 boxing and learned to hit the reflex bag. Tried fencing. Went on a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece. My mom and niece came to visit. Went on the Wakefield Steam Train. Went to Quebec City. Discovered the basement leaked at the windows and got the window wells re-done to fix the problem. Got laid off from small aviation company. Discovered that there is a lump on my thyroid. Went to many medical appointments. Did 92 days of a 100 day anti-procrastination project. Met my niece's puppy.

Happy New Year

Well, it was a busy trip - much busier than usual.

Part of it was setting up my mom's computer, but I'm not really sure why it felt so busy otherwise.

We came home yesterday. We left the house at 4:30 a.m. and headed to the airport. I was concerned about security, but it wasn't bad at all. By 5, we were in the lounge. It was a self service lounge, so the only food was potato chips, which wasn't so good.

In Toronto, we had a very short stopover, so there was no time to eat anything substantial, so by the time we landed in Ottawa at noon, I was very hungry (as well as sleepy).

We ordered food in, then I took a nap, so by last night I was feeling almost human again. I'm still tired, but I feel much better today. I did laundry and took down the Christmas tree in preparation for a busy, busy week. I'm not looking forward to my 8 a.m. dentist appointment tomorrow. (I am, however, happy that I remember that I have an 8 a.m. dentist appointment tomorrow.)

I hope all of you are having a good new year, and that everyone is ready to go back to a normal schedule tomorrow. (I know I am not ready, but I guess I have to be.)

Let's see, what have I been up to?

On Boxing Day, I went out to my cousin's farm with various family members. We played wii, the kids tobogganed, and we chatted. We drove out in the morning and back after supper, so we were only there for about six hours.

The day after that, we took my niece to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs at the cheap theatre. She didn't want to watch it, but in the end she agreed that it was a good movie.

Monday we went shopping and my mom bought a new computer. I set it up that evening and have been gradually getting more things sorted out on it. I still need to transfer stuff from the old computer, but I think I've finally got the two computers connected properly.

Tuesday I got together with a friend for lunch and then Wanda and I took my niece skating. I didn't last long - I need new skates - but my niece lasted close to half an hour.

Today I babysat my cousin's 5 kids. Well, her oldest didn't really need babysitting - he's twelve and was mostly asleep - but I watched the younger ones plus my niece, who came along to "help". After that, I dropped my niece at home, then met another friend for lunch. After that, a bunch of us headed over to visit some friends of the family.

In other words, I haven't forgotten about this blog, I've just been crazy busy.

On the job hunting front, a recruiter contacted me this week. I've also got a second interview set up for next week.

I'm also watching the airport security news and hoping that they get things sorted out before I have to get on a plane. It appears that none of the new regulations should affect me because I've traveling domestically, but I'm hoping I don't have to get to the airport too early, since I have a crazy early flight as it is. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Christmas

Well, I'm at my parents' place. It took three of us an hour to get the wireless internet working today, but I'm finally able to check my e-mail.

I got in a little early on Wednesday - around 11:10 p.m. - then headed to the house to wrap gifts and chat. I finally got to bed around 2.

At 5 a.m., I met the new dog. By 7, my niece was down in my room. Suffice it to say I'm still a little tired.

Yesterday, I took my niece and my cousin's two girls shopping to buy gifts for their parents. They were really good, but occasionally I did have to ask them, "Who are we not shopping for today?". people around us laughed when they all said, "Us.".

The quillos are finished. Here's a picture of two of them (one unfolded, and one folded).

If you look closely, you can see the edge of the pocket on the red one.

In the afternoon, we painted Christmas ornaments, then headed over to my aunt and uncle's place for supper and gift opening.

Remember that gift I made a while ago? It was a necklace for my sister - she likes elephants, and I found elephant beads. Here it is:

(The small heart-shaped beads are green. The elephants are small and red.)

Today started with brunch, then church and far too much food. My niece, my sister, and I built a giant Lego house (which I'm too lazy to take a picture of, because it's all the way upstairs).

I'm too lazy to come up with a point, so let me end with pictures of my niece and her dog:

Ready to go

Well, so far today I have:
- burned my pictures from 2009 onto a CD
- gone to the bank
- cleaned the kitchen
- de-crumbed the toaster (which is technically part of cleaning the kitchen, but doesn't happen every week)
- glued a plastic leg back onto my glass cutting board
- put the granite-protector stuff on the kitchen counter
- cleaned the bathroom
- finished packing
- mopped the floors

I'm ready to go. I even have an hour to spare.

I suspect my anti-procrastination project will take a nose dive in the next couple of days, since I won't actually be here, but we'll see.

If I don't manage to update tomorrow, have a good Christmas, everyone.

Where is that sweater?

Well, it has been a busy couple of days.

First of all, I have a new house sitter. (My previous one realized that she couldn't do it right now, much to my relief.) I'm now comfortable with leaving.

Many years ago when I was in Ottawa as a co-op student, I worked with a group that had just done their Myers-Briggs personality tests, and my manager got me and another co-op student to do ours as well. When we were getting our results, the woman who was doing the analysis looked at me and said, "I bet you have really organized closets."

Today I organized my closet. There's always some sort of order to it, but it does get lost when I'm lazy putting clothes away. However, I wanted to pack a sweater that I couldn't find, so I went through and organized it today.

I also vacuumed under the couch, since I moved the couch thinking the sweater might have fallen behind it. Then I noticed that the lampshades were dusty, so I vacuumed them.

(I still can't find the sweater.)

Changing the subject, I call my niece a monkey. She usually says she's not a monkey.

When she was about two, I was at their house and we were eating fruit salad. She asked my dad for the bananas from his salad. He gave them to her. She asked her mom for her bananas. She asked my mom for her bananas. She asked me for my bananas - and when she had everyone's bananas, she looked up with a big grin and said, "Only monkeys eat bananas."

Anyway, I always tell her that monkey elbows are my favourite snack. She then bends her arms and, when I go over to nibble on them, straightens her arms out so that her elbows disappear.

Tonight I was talking with my mom on the phone. She was trying to figure out what we were going to have for Christmas dinner, and I said, "You know my favourite food, right? Monkey elbows!"

My niece heard me and said, "Auntie Colette, here are my monkey elbows."

"Can I have some?"

"Oh, they're straight now.... Pointy. Straight. Pointy. Straight."

Soon she'll be too old for stuff like this, but it's fun while it lasts.

She might even stop roaring at me on the phone.

My weekend

Yesterday was my annual Christmas chocolate making extravaganza. This year, I made both milk chocolate and dark chocolate - heavy on the dark chocolate. Some are filled with truffle - plain, or with chopped macadamia nuts or almonds in it. Some have whole almonds in them.

I also made 1/2 a batch of shortbread.

Today I made 1/2 a batch of chocolate shortbread (which sound good, but I'm not terribly impressed with it) and a 1/3 batch of schnecken.

I also made three polar fleece hats for the kids.

I think I'm beginning to figure out what happened to my weekend.

Did I need to make any of this? No, I did not. But I like baking, and I like eating chocolate, and it wasn't like I was super busy this weekend.

Also, I had planned to give some to my house sitter when she came by today - her grandmother is quite sick and not expected to last long.

She hasn't been by yet.

This has been a recurring problem over the last week. I understand that this is a difficult time for her (and I've offered to find someone else), but she says she can house sit. She just hasn't followed through by coming by to familiarize herself with the alarm system.

This is actually a big problem, because my insurance states that I must have someone check the house every day in the winter or I'm not covered if the furnace quits. If she hasn't been able to come by once in the last week, what are the odds that she'll come by every day when I'm not here?

I think I'm going to have to fire my house sitter.

Like I said, I understand why she's flaky right now, but frankly I can't financially afford to be without insurance.

Anyway, back to the anti-procrastination project. Yesterday and today I worked on the furnace room, and it looks much better. It could still use some work, but I'm happy with the state it's in now.

It turns out that working on something every day makes a big difference.

How many times have I learned that in the last two years?

Another post about boxing

I didn't get much done on the anti-procrastination project today - I did tidy the one bedroom a bit, but nothing serious.

This morning, I checked out the job listings and updated my resume on Monster and Workopolis. I went to the gym at lunch, then I spent the afternoon reading The Blind Side. I had started it last night, but the first chapter was very football-centric, so it took me a while to get into the book. Once I did, though, I somehow ended up reading the whole thing instead of doing anything constructive.

I finished just in time to leave for boxing. Today was the last class of 2009, so naturally it was a hard class - 16 stations, 8 of them punch outs, 4 of them driving forward punch outs.

A punch out is basically two or more students taking turns on one heavy bag. Usually we do step in/step out punch outs - i.e. you step in, hit the bag in the appropriate combination, then step out - or standing in punch outs - i.e. you stand in and hit the bag constantly.

Today (as a special Christmas treat), we had 4 driving forward punch outs. Normally, the bag hangs straight down (at a 90 degree angle from the ceiling). In a driving forward punch out, you walk forward as you punch until the bag is at a 45 degree angle to the ceiling. That doesn't sound too difficult, but it means you are hitting an 80 pound bag while trying to keep it from shifting too far left or right. It's a challenge.

This week, we had two people per bag, so out of a three minute punch out, we each were punching for one and a half minutes.

When I got home tonight, I discovered that for the first time ever, I have a blister on my knuckles from boxing. I blame the punch outs, but the truth is that I probably had my hand wrap bunched up or something.

In level one and two, the sessions were very predictable - after I'd done the class a couple of times, I knew what to expect each week. Level three seems to change every time.

An Early Start

I got up early this morning to make it downtown for my 8:30 meeting with the recruiter. (OK, I got up at seven, but these days that is early.)

I ended up leaving a little later than I wanted to, and traffic on the Queensway was slow, so I ended up getting to the area around the building at 8:25. I had no time to spare, so I parked at the first place I saw - which cost $14. I could have looked for somewhere else, but again, I had no time to spare. I figured it was my own fault for being late.

I made it to my meeting just on time. I talked with the recruiter for about half an hour, then I headed back to get my car. The parkade was a lot more crowded than when I had parked. As I went to leave, the attendant asked if I had been there less than two hours. Since it had been less than an hour, he took my parking slip and gave me $7 back. That was much closer to what I had expected to pay, so I was very happy about it.

I had considered taking the bus (which would end up costing me around $4.40), but I decided that I wanted to stop and drop off my old computer and video tapes on the way home.

They weighed my 14 pounds of video tapes, since I had to pay for them to be recycled. The computer recycling gets paid for by the province. It was pretty quick - the longest wait was for someone to come to help me, but even that was only a minute or two.

After all of that, I made it home by 10.

Making room

Well, the anti-procrastination project is continuing. Today I went through all of my old VCR tapes in preparation for disposing of them tomorrow. I'll take in the tapes and my old computer on my way back from meeting the recruiter tomorrow.

It's amazing how many video tapes I had. Since my VCR hasn't been hooked up in over a year, I really, really don't need to keep them. Getting rid of them will leave me with a lot more space in
the entertainment stand.

It will also result in two more items getting crossed off the to-do list. That leaves one outstanding item - cleaning out the furnace room - so apparently that's something I should start focusing on. There are very few days left. Of course, the to-do list doesn't need to be done by the end of the year, but I work better when I have a deadline, so I'm going to try to get it done.

Easily distracted by anything shiny

I met with the recruiter today. It was a good meeting, but the job he had me in mind for is essentially off the table - they made an offer to someone. Still, a good meeting.

On the way there, I stopped at Lee Valley Tools. I'm consistently amazed at the service there. This time, I had ordered my stuff yesterday for pickup. From parking (right in front of the door in the express pick-up spot) to turning on the car to leave, I think it took a minute.

I also returned the call from the other recruiter - I'm meeting with her on Thursday. This could be interesting, because I am having problems concentrating on anything this week, and it's just going to get worse as the week goes on.

In other news, a while ago one of my anti-procrastination projects was going to be to fix a cloth shopping bag I had that one handle had come off of, but I couldn't find it. I found the bag while doing my organizing, and today I sewed the handle back on.

I also finished my Christmas shopping today, as well as putting the rest of my pictures into albums. Since it's almost Christmas (when I won't be home), I'm getting motivated to get a lot done. If only I had an attention span of longer than 10 seconds.