3053 Words

Remember that surprise birthday party 6 weeks ago? At first, I was waiting until it deflated before I tossed it. Now I'm wondering if it will last all year.

The green cloth is shade cloth - my backyard gets a lot of sun.

The clover is a little spotty, but it's growing.

A zoo of a weekend

This weekend was Doors Open Ottawa.  Building around the city that aren't usually open to the public open their doors.  Some offer tours, others allow you to look around at your own pace.

I haven't been in several years, in part because for the last three years, some fool keeps booking Spark camp for the first weekend in June. (Yes, it is me.)

This weekend was also Spark camp at the Papanack Zoo.  We decided to make it a day camp - it's cheaper, and a lot less packing - so we all met at the zoo at 10 (except one girl who was sick, one girl who was MIA, and one girl who got scared by the rain).

It was pouring when I left my house, but when we got to the zoo, it wasn't nearly as bad.  There was some drizzle, but not too bad.

After lunch, it progressed to misting - constant really light rain. Everyone was a pretty good sport about it, but by the time we got to feeding the animals at around 3, it was raining pretty hard.  We packed it in and went for pizza early.

(We went to the Friendly Restaurant and Pizzeria in Rockland, and the pizza was really good, so keep that in mind if you're ever out that way.)

Last night, I put away most of the camping stuff (although my hiking boots really need to be cleaned and put away, and I still have a cooler of drinks in my living room), and this morning, I headed out to Doors Open Ottawa.

The old Ottawa train station was open to the public and I've always wanted to go in, so we started there. After we looked around (and ate some popcorn), we went through the tunnel to the Chateau Laurier and took a tour there.

We didn't get to look in any of the guest rooms, but saw the drawing room, heard about the history of the hotel (including the Titanic connection) and visited the pool.

As we were hearing the history of the pool, and older woman felt the need to put up her hand and say that she had swum in the pool.  That prompted two other women to tell us about how they used to swim in the pool. I didn't really care, since I naturally assumed that people I don't know had swum in the pool at some point. If not, they really didn't need to keep full of water.

Overall, it was a good weekend.  I might even make it to work tomorrow.

But I should really clean my hiking boots first.

50th Anniversary

The community association in my neighbourhood turns 50 this year.  Yesterday, there was a parade throughout the community to kick off the celebration. The local groups (Scouts, Guides, the two schools, and various other organizations) were asked to participate, and so my Sparks got to march in the parade.

I cleaned out the Sparks box a couple of weeks ago, and one of the things I found was a stack of pages of Girl Guide stickers, so I cut them up so that they were one per sheet. We were following a vintage car in the parade, and I gave each girl a stack of stickers with instructions to run out and hand them to any kids they saw, as long as they could make it back to the group before we were too far ahead.

They loved it.  They must have run three times the parade route by the time we were done. We didn't have trouble keeping up with the car in front of it. In fact, there were a couple of times when I had to remind them to stop before they ran into the car.  The girls all were pleasantly surprised to see their parents (although ... I'm not sure why, what else were their parents going to do?), and they were super proud of themselves.

We were one of the first groups, so when we got to the end, we ducked into the parking lot and watched the rest of the parade come in. The Shriners were there, as was the RCMP marching band and a bunch of other local groups. There were clowns, who then did a little show for the Sparks. (One of the Sparks, upon seeing a clown - "I was in the parade".)

The girls' parents met us at the end of the route, and then everyone took part in the other activities. They had some games (like whacking a lever to try to get a plastic frog into a bucket) as well as inflatable slides and obstacle courses.

I left at 3, and when I came back at 6 (to work in the kitchen), two of my Sparks were still there.

I miss Tuesday garbage day

These days, Thursdays mean work, boxing, then house cleaning. It's the perfect day to do it, since garbage day is Friday.

Today was no different. I went to work, hung around an extra 45 minutes, then went to boxing. (You know it's hot when the coaches bring super soakers. We all looked like lobsters by the end. It's been 2 hours and my face is still red.)

After that, I came home, ate, and then took the garbage out.

Then I came back in the house, consulted the calendar to find out whether it's blue box or black box week, and discovered garbage day has been moved to Saturday.

Crap.

I went back outside and brought the garbage cans (one can for garbage, one for yard waste, and the green bin) back to the house.

Friday is far too long after Monday for me to remember that last weekend was the long weekend.

The part that puzzles me is that they're clearly moving garbage day so that they don't have to pay the garbage collectors for working on the stat. holiday, but ... then they have to work on Saturday.  It must be cheaper to have them do that then to make them work the stat. - it's certainly not better for the workers.

I should ask my city councillor. I bet he'll be at the community anniversary celebration on Saturday.

Is it Monday yet?

You know, it seems like every Sunday night I say "I had so much more I wanted to get done today. I wish this were a long weekend."

This weekend is  long weekend and I have to say, I don't think I could survive this on a regular basis.

So far, I've:

• Bought groceries
• Bought bedding plants
• Planted the vegetable garden
• Planted the flower garden
• Went to Lee Valley and bought shade cloth
• Set up the shade cloth
• Helped a friend with her air conditioner
• Went down to the market
• Went to IKEA (to pick up one thing - it took 20 minutes, which I thought was pretty good)
• Turned on the outside water
• Dug the hose out of the shed
• Watered the vegetable garden
• Fixed the wall in Wanda's room
• Did laundry and hung it outside to dry
• BBQed (3 times, which might be a record for a weekend)

Left on the list for tomorrow:

• Fix the front door
• Organize the craft supplies
• Type up recipes
• Cook something for lunches
• BBQ the corn on the cob that I just realized is still in the fridge
• Plant clover in the lawn
• Pull grass out of the perennial gardens
• Paint the downstairs bathroom door
• Touch up the windowsill in my bedroom
• Hang the pictures I took down three weeks ago (during the first paint session)
• Paint the back step

To be clear, it's not like I've worked constantly - there has also been a reasonable amount of watching TV / playing wii / messing around on the internet. However, much like the week I took off, I'm going to be glad to go back to work to recover.

And that will be $0

Many years ago, I bought some Tupperware containers.  I had six of one type and four of the other, and I use them to bring my lunch to work.

Before Christmas, I noticed that some of the lids were peeling, so I e-mailed Tupperware and explained I wanted to exchange them.  They put me in touch with one of their reps, so I e-mailed her and explained the situation.

She replied and asked me to call her.

I hate calling people - particularly people who work out of their home - but I called her. She told me she was going to order the replacements and they would be about 10 days - which would have been the last week in December.

I followed up in January.

And February.

And then I started asking around to find another rep.

A friend recommended one, so I e-mailed her (... and she asked me to call her) and eventually I met up with her and dumped what had turned into 5 dishes & lids in her lap.

That was about 2 weeks ago.

Today, she dropped by my workplace and gave me replacements.  Yay! (Somehow, she gave me 6 replacements, so I need to get on that.)

While this whole saga was going on, my laptop cord died.  That would have been back in January, because I bought a replacement - 3 year warranty - on January 16.

It died yesterday. I had visions of having to send it off to get a replacement and not being able to use the laptop for weeks. (That would mean no internet AND no Kobo ... unless I walked downstairs or used Wanda's laptop, which clearly would be too much to ask.)

I've started putting the receipt into the packaging when I bring something home so that I only have one thing to find, so today I hunted down the package and read the warranty information. It said, "Bring it back to the retailer", so off I went.  Ten minutes later, I had a replacement power cord.

It was a productive day. And my laptop is fully charged again.

Good fences

Last year, one of my neighbours started playing a radio - loudly.

Now, I don't mind occasional noise - you're having a party, for example - but this was every nice day.  I'd go outside and be forced to listen to their music. I'd come inside and, if there was a window open in the house, I'd be forced to listen to their music.

I like quiet, especially when I'm reading outside.

(It wasn't a teenager - I'm pretty sure the culprit was a man in his sixties.)

If it was the people on my left or my right, I would have walked over and said, "Hey, can you keep it down?" However, it was the people whose backyard meets mine - which means they live on a totally different street.  I never got to the point of walking over (but I did daydream about "accidentally" using the hose to water their entire yard until the radio shorted out).

Fall came, and I forgot about it, until last weekend.

That's right, it started again.

I decided to take the direct - albeit lazy - approach and yelled "Please turn the radio down" every time I was outside.

The next step in my plan was to walk over, follow the loud music to find the right house, then ask them to keep it down. (I also mused on twitter about blasting Barney's "I love you, you love me" back at them for a while, but sadly that would probably just escalate things.)

Yesterday and today? It was quiet.  I got to sit outside and read a book for the first time in 2 years.

Man, I hope this lasts.

Sigh

Every spring and fall, there are camp clean-up days for the local Girl Guide camp.  I try to go if I can.

Today was one of those days.  I had to be there at 8:30 (In the morning, On a Saturday.),  so I got up and got ready.  When I got there, I was assigned to a site.

(The camp has 15 or so sites within it, so a bunch of groups can be up there at once.)

On our site, we had five things to do:

1. Chop up felled trees and stack the logs in the woodshed.
2. Fix the drain on the outdoor sink.
3. Find and uncover the grey-water disposal pit.
4. Fix the front steps to the building.
5. Fix the back steps to the building.
6. Fix the railing on the bridge to the next site.

Hmm, that's six things.  OK, we had six things to do.

We started with #6.

That task involved the following:

• Tear down the current railing.
• Pull out the nails from the old boards.
• Cut 20 new posts.
• Put notches in 20 new posts (4 got one notch, 16 got 2).
• Attach 20 new posts.
• Brace 20 new posts.
• Add top rails.
• Add lower rails.

 It took ... I'm not sure exactly because no one had a watch and cell phones don't work there, but I'd say it was about 5.5 hours.

About 5 hours in, I made a mistake.  I was sitting on the edge of the bridge, leaning out to attach a brace. I had the cordless drill (being used as a screwdriver) in my left hand and was holding the board with my right (dominant) hand.

The drill slipped.

I lost half the fingernail on my middle finger, and prompted a discussion about where the nearest first aid kit was.

It's nothing serious - just an annoyance - but it makes it tricky to type or drive. On the way home, I kept accidentally turning on the windshield wipers with the top of the gauze on my finger. It also prompted a stop at a drug store for those bandages that go over the tip of your finger, and for more gauze as I have already exhausted the entire supply in the house.

(I currently have gauze wrapped around the finger and taped down. I'm hoping to move to the bandages by Monday, when I have to type for work.)

But it's amusing to say "the drill slipped" when someone asks what happened to my finger.

Titanic

The Chateau Laurier is next to the Parliament Buildings.  It opened almost 100 years ago - a little later than expected because the man who commissioned it (Charles Melville Hays) was on the Titanic.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary, they have a special menu available on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until the end of May. Tonight, Wanda and I went down to the Chateau Laurier for the Titanic Dinner.

When we ordered, the first thing our waiter did was switch the order of our forks - because on the Titanic menu, the salad arrives after the main course.

The first course was Oyster a la Russe (Raspberry Point Oyster, Vodka Vinegarrette, Caviar). It was fine - mostly, it tasted onion-y.

The second course was Consomme Olga.  The waiter brought us soup bowls with a small pile of vegetables (glazed carrots & celery root).  She also brought a small metal teapot.  Once the bowls were on the table, she poured the beef broth from the teapot into the bowl.  The resulting soup was very tasty.

We had the choice of Beef Lili or Roast Duck. We both got the beef, and it was absolutely amazing.  I've never had beef that was that good. The beans, potatoes, and carrots were good as well, but the beef was definitely the best part.

Next was the roasted squab salad. (I didn't know what squab was at the time, but I googled it when I got home.) Even without knowing what squab is, I wasn't a huge fan, but the rest of the salad was very tasty.

Last was the dessert - Waldorf pudding, chocolate eclairs, and vanilla ice cream. The desserts were fine - not exceptional, but adequate.  The raspberry sauce the plate was decorated with was quite good, though.  I'm not really a dessert person, so I'm not the best person to judge.

It was expensive - $64 a person - but I really enjoyed it, and it was fun to do something out of the ordinary.

A Conversation I Had While Painting

Wanda, concerned: "I heard ow ow ow ow ow?"
Me: "Yes, I ran into the top of my closet."

Me, explaining further: "It's on the floor."
Wanda, now totally confused: "So what I'm hearing is that the top of your closet is on the floor."

Things I did today

• Moved most of the furniture out of my bedroom.
• Went to the paint store.
• Vacuumed.
• Washed down the walls.
• Found my paint tray and roller.
• Painted the ceiling.
• Thought "Oh, I can move the ladder with the paint on it."
• Discovered I could not move the ladder with the paint on it.
• Wiped up paint.
• Figured out how to open the door when the handle has been removed ... while covered in paint.
• Combed paint out of my hair.
• Painted the ceiling again.
• Painted the trim.
• Returned excess bricks.
• Bought new cordless phones.
• Shoveled dirt.
•  Painted the trim again.
• Took three showers.
• Sat down after shower #3 and discovered my entire forearm was blue.

The best birthday present ever

Today is my 40th birthday.

I didn't really have any plans. People kept asking me what I wanted to do, and I mostly shrugged. I wanted to get my raised gardens built, and that was taking my focus.

The before picture

The bricks were delivered Saturday morning. I totally would have taken pictures of the forklift delivering them, but I had left my camera in the house.  After that, I had a hair appointment, then I was meeting a friend for lunch, then we were going to move a piece of furniture she was giving me.

I wouldn't be able to really get started with the bricks until Sunday, but I was reluctantly willing to wait.

After we finally got the furniture loaded (it fit in my friend's Yaris better than in my Protege), my friend ran inside to get an ice cream cake because she had somewhere else to go that night, and we went to my place.

(I thought nothing of it, because I am very gullible.)

We got to my place, I went inside, and ... there was my mom, 2 of my sisters from Regina, my cousin from Woodstock, his wife, and their daughter and granddaughter from Ottawa.

I was a little surprised.

And then I went outside to finish moving the furniture. 

Sunday, we started on the raised garden beds, and my family started wishing they had told me they were coming. (If I'd known, I wouldn't have planned to do the gardens, but since that's what I was doing, I guilted them into helping.)

There was digging.

My sister, who is much better at leveling than I am.

 And leveling.

Bed #2. Not yet totally exhausted.

And digging.

My sister, wishing she had made other vacation plans.

And leveling.
It took 4 of us 7 hours and two trips to the hardware store, but we got it done.

And then I realized they look like wishing wells.

This would be when I realized they look like wishing wells.

There's still more to do - I need more dirt, I have leftover bricks to return and I'll probably put stepping stones between them - but it made a huge difference to have three more people helping. 

Biting off more than I can chew

Every year, I think, "I should really change my vegetable garden", and every year I procrastinate long enough that it's too late to do anything about it.

This year, I decided to make a change.

First of all, I get vacation, plus I still work stat holidays on occasion, which means I have to take those off as well.  I'm also getting an income tax refund that will pay for the cost of the work.

(I know if you're all about the math that it makes more sense to adjust your income tax so that you don't get a refund.  However, life is more than math, and I'm OK with getting a refund.)

The plan started as an easy project, which then morphed into a more difficult/expensive project of building 4 raised beds using landscaping stones. I've been doing some shopping online for the stones I'll need, but I needed to see them in person before I could make a final decision as to which way to go.  On Wednesday, I checked out a couple of places.

Did you know that garden centers opened this weekend?

In other words, most garden centers weren't open on Wednesday.  Still, I got some ideas. On Friday, I went out again and checked another couple of places.

Yesterday, I got up, determined to stake out the areas for the beds.

Naturally, it was raining.

I waited (im)patiently for the rain to stop, then went outside and measured and staked the area.  Once I had the dimensions, I went back to the store and placed my order.

It arrives on Saturday, and I have the next week off.

Wish me luck.

I bought these flowers for Easter

They are still very pretty.

Dear cold virus, I have stuff to do. Please go away.

I'm taking a sick day today. I think this is my first sick day since 2007.

Of course, I've been sick since 2007, but I usually just work from home. Now, though, I have sick time, I didn't have anything critical, and my eyes felt like someone had sanded them while I was sleeping.

(I'm pretty sure no one actually sanded my eyes while I was asleep.)

I was sick all weekend, which was really, really boring. I spent the weekend reading/watching stuff about the Titanic, playing Super Mario, and moaning about how sick I was.

I'm feeling better today (except for the eyeball thing), so hopefully I'll be able to go back to normal life tomorrow.

Cabbage roll update

On Saturday, I made the cabbage rolls.

I mixed ground beef and ground pork and added some minced onions (the dried ones you buy in the spice aisle - I'm way too lazy to actually mince onions) and rice.

Then I started rolling.

Some of the cabbage worked well, but some of it was too stiff and broke, so eventually I gave up and made lazy cabbage rolls. I layered the cabbage, then the meat, then cabbage, then meat.


I then stuck the whole thing in the fridge.

On Sunday, I pulled it out and poured a can of tomatoes over it. I then stuck it in the oven for a couple of hours while the turkey roasted.

It was very good.

But it's possible that that casserole dish will never be the same.

They're in my hair!

I can always tell it's spring when the spiders move in.

For some reason, they live in tiny webs up where the wall meets the ceiling.

I'm not a huge fan of spiders - unless I'm at camp, then I'm all "oh, the spiders live here, this is their home" - so I usually try to weasel someone else into killing them, but if that's not possible, I'm quite capable of doing it myself.

The thing is, though, when the spider is on the ceiling, there are really only two choices:

• vacuum
• broom

The broom is easier - it's usually closer, to start with, and it doesn't require an electrical outlet, but if you take that route, you end up with an angry spider on a broom, and that tends to end with an angry spider in an undisclosed location.

I usually go for the vacuum.

Or I go for the unofficial third choice - pretend you didn't see the spider and go somewhere else.

On Tuesday night, I took the relocate approach. You see, I went into the kitchen. In one corner, there was a spider. In the opposite corner diagonally, there was another spider.

I assumed I'd stumbled into some sort of turf war.

I backed away and hoped they'd settle it without my involvement.

When I came home yesterday, the kitchen was spider-free.

At least, I hope it was.

Sour

A couple of weeks ago, I had the brilliant idea that I wanted to make cabbage rolls for Easter.

Now, in my family, cabbage rolls are made with sour cabbage, so the first step would be to make sour cabbage.

I called my mom and explained my plan. She reassured me that making sour cabbage only takes a week, and she gave me the recipe for sour cabbage, which I wrote down on an extremely secure location - the back of last month's water bill.

I planned to make the sour cabbage in the crock of my crock pot, so when I did my grocery shopping I bought a head of cabbage. I came home, only to discover that it was too tall for the crock pot. I needed another location to make the sour cabbage.

I went out to the grocery store again and found a set of stacking plastic canisters. I brought them home, and the head of cabbage fit in the third biggest one.

I followed the recipe, which involved hacking out the core of the cabbage, adding salt and vinegar, and filling the container with water. I'd share the proportions, but am unable to do so due to the extremely secure location of the recipe.

When that was all done, I weighted it down with a plate ... except I have wimpy Corelle plates, so I added a bowl to keep the cabbage under the brine solution.



I waited a day, then hauled the cabbage out of the water and rinsed it off. Back in the brine it went.

I repeated that every day, pulling off loose pieces of cabbage whenever possible. It was a slow process.

On Saturday, I forgot to rinse it until I got home from a movie. That's the day it really started progressing - a bunch of leaves loosened that day.

Today, I was able to loosen all of the leaves, which made the cabbage much bigger than the jar.

I stuffed the cabbage into sterilized jars and filled them with the brine. When that was done, I processed them in the canner.

Now I'm sitting in the living room, listening to the pop of the jars sealing. (We're at 5 of the 6 so far).

This weekend, I'll open a jar and make cabbage rolls. I've never done that, but I have a recipe.

It's in an extremely secure location.

Ninety five

Today would have been my grandpa's 95th birthday.

He was the youngest boy in a family of 15. His parents immigrated from "the old country" before he was born. They had seven or eight kids before they immigrated. (My sister, the informal family historian, thinks the eighth child was born on the way.) By the time he was born, they had a homestead. He grew up there, and when he became an adult, he took over the farm.

He married my grandmother in 1939. They had a double wedding. At the time, you couldn't eat between the time you got up and the time you took communion at mass, so weddings were often held in the morning, but they couldn't afford to feed their guests both lunch and supper, so they waited and got married in the afternoon.

They had three children and sixteen grandchildren. My family lived in Regina (a 2 hour drive away), and we visited roughly every second weekend. When I was twelve, my parents bought an old house in the tiny town 1/2 a mile away from the farm, and we were there every summer as well. (The joke was that we doubled the population of the town when we went out for the weekend.)

He loved horses. When we'd look at old pictures, he didn't always recognize the people, but he knew the names of every horse. I was the oldest grandchild, and when I was about five, he bought a pony. (Her name was Blondie. She had three colts, and when I was twelve I fell off one of them, landed on a fence, and broke my arm.)

For years, they had a dog. They were farm dogs - bigger dogs who stayed outside and followed my grandpa around while he did chores. (I did the same thing, but I got to go in the house, too.) When I was probably around 8, the dog was Charlie. Charlie was part-collie, liked people, and when we climbed a tree, he climbed the tree with us. He could also climb the ladder into the hayloft.

Sometime after Charlie, they had Amos. I was probably around 13 at that point, and Amos was my dog. It used to drive my grandparents crazy, because when I was out there, he'd come to our house and live there. He'd never bark when someone drove into their yard, but he'd wake the entire town if someone drove by on a road that might eventually allow them to reach our house. I spent hours petting that dog, and I held his head while grandpa pulled out the quills from his latest tangle with a porcupine.

The farm was full of fascinating things - an old blacksmith shop, old farm equipment, dozens of places to explore. They had a ... thingy that you use to make rope out of twine (I feel like there should be a word for that), they had a butter churn, they had crow bars and air compressors, a drill press and vises. The basement contained shelves of books. I spent hours lying on the bed reading.

Grandpa always made sure we had snacks - Old Dutch chips or bugles, usually - and sometimes we'd get a whole bottle of pop to ourselves. He was also a big fan of stopping for soft ice cream when we were in town. I never objected.

On the farm, you do pretty much everything yourself, and I remember helping reshingle the barn roof and put siding on the garage. (I'm not sure I was actually any help in either situation.) We weren't allowed on the barn roof normally, so this was exciting. (Um, and if you're reading this, mom, we never went on the barn roof except that one time.)

We rode in the back of the truck and in the front-end loader on the tractor. I got to drive the garden tractor - which was exciting when I was eleven, but now just looks like a big scam to get me to mow the grass. They had some old bikes that we could ride. One of them was one of those bikes with the high handlebars, but the handlebars wouldn't stay up, so we had to lean over to ride it. We called it the jelly roll. (Looking back, I'm not sure why they didn't just weld it into position.)

When I was sixteen, grandpa let me drive his new truck. When I was pulling into the (also new) garage, I hit the side of the door. He had to go out and use a sledge hammer to get it back in line.

My grandma died in 1994. My grandpa was lost without her, and he died in 1997. It's weird, but I still dream about him.

Things I Saw People Wearing Today

Things I Saw People Wearing Today:

• Shorts
• Tank tops
• Flip flops
• Sandals
• Skirts
• Tube tops

Things I saw people doing today:

• Cycling
• Sitting on the grass
• Playing catch
• Reading a book outside
• Buying hot dogs from a sidewalk vendor
• Eating on a patio

When the seasonally appropriate weather returns, there will be so much whining.

Ouch

This weekend, I went over to a friend's house and tried the Wii Fit.

Long story short, I now have a Wii Fit. (Oddly, I don't actually have a Wii. Luckily, Wanda does.)

I'm enjoying it, although I wouldn't really consider it a workout. I mean, it's better than sitting on the couch, but I used it for a couple of hours this weekend and I never broke a sweat.

I also went for a long walk yesterday since it was so nice out.

Between the two, I'm so sore today. The muscles in my upper back are sore (Rythym Kung Fu), my forearms are sore (the marching one with the drums), and the muscles on the outside of both ankles are sore (that might be the walk).

Do you know what the problem with having two sore ankles is? That's right, it's hard to limp.

Tonight I tried the one where you're flying (Bird's Eye Bull's eye, I think).

I shudder to think how sore I'll be tomorrow.

The weekend

The main topic of conversation in Ottawa this weekend is the weather.

I think it was four years ago when we got a foot of snow on March 9. This year, it's March 18 and 23 C. It's beautiful. I hung my laundry out to dry (which reminds me that I should bring it back in), opened the windows (since it was warmer outside than in) and went for a walk in sandals, a tank top, and jeans rolled up to the knees.

It's a little strange to be wearing sandals and dodging snowbanks, but it is what it is.

Based on my walk, it's "take your Christmas lights down" day in Ottawa. Bikes, scooters, and ice cream are also popular.

The playground near my house has a new play structure, replacing the two that were there before. Apparently I'm out of the loop on local playgrounds, because that was a surprise to me.

All over the city, BBQs are being fired up. (Not at my house, I'm too lazy to pull it out of the shed, and I'm planning to have a sandwich for supper, so a BBQ is overkill.)

It feels like May, not March.

In Which Gravity Asserts Itself

Last Friday, I bought groceries.

I'm ... kind of lazy, actually, so it's my habit to carry in as much as possible at once so that I can make fewer trips. When you add that to the fact that I buy groceries on the way home from work - and thus I also have my laptop bag and my gym bag - I'm carrying a lot of weight.

The walk in front of my house ends in two steps down to the driveway. Since it was the beginning of March and I live in Ottawa, the walk was icy. In particular, walk was covered in 3 inches of ice, and the bottom step wasn't so much a step as it was a slide. Most of the ice was well-sanded, but that ramp of ice leading to the bottom step wasn't.

I picked up the groceries and my bags and stepped onto the ice.

I slid back down.

I tried again.

Same result.

I tried a different angle.

This time I got two steps onto the ice, which just made it more comical when I slid back down.

Finally, I gave up and walked across the lawn in snow that was deeper than my boots. (You didn't think I was going to put down some groceries, did you? Please see "too lazy to make many trips" above.)

That was six days ago.

Today, the ice is gone and large portions of the lawn are snow-free.

Spring is here.

Of course, I've said that before.

Why I Can Never Change Jobs

Now that I'm a regular employee, I can access the company gym for free. Free.

There's more.

Not only is it free, but it's at work. This means I can go to the gym at lunch. I can even do classes at lunch.

Over the past week, I've done four classes - circuit, strength and stretch, core, and body toning.

You know, I used to think I was in pretty good shape. That was before the day when my lower back was sore - not because I injured it, but because I'm not used to working that muscle. I'm not actually sure I knew there was a muscle in my lower back.

Since I'm taking a little longer for lunch, I stay a little later. That means I don't leave until 5, and I don't get home until 5:30.

At the other gym, my classes didn't start until 5:30. My evenings are endless. I'm going to need some new hobbies.

Happy Birthday

Today is my niece's second birthday.

She's eight.

I was there when she was born. We brought her home, set her on her blanket (the very first baby quilt I ever made) and she promptly rolled over ... except for her head, since she didn't have the strength to hold it up.

A couple of years later, I went to visit and every day she said "I don't like you anymore. Go back to Ottawa." The last day we were out on the front step and a plane flew over. I said, "See that? Tomorrow I'm going to be on a plane like that." She looked at me and said, "I miss you."


She came to visit three times before she was two, then she didn't come to Ottawa for a few years. I think she was five when she decided she liked my house and declared, "When our house gets too old, we will come and live with you."

She's changed her mind since. Now she is never moving to Ottawa ... but she'll come to visit so we can go to Calypso. (And, of course, to go on trains and boats. She doesn't get to do that much at home.)


She loves animals - so much so that she refuses to watch the movie Up (which she's seen once) because it was too sad when they caught the bird.

Right now, she's on vacation in Hawaii. Apparently she wants a monk seal for her birthday. I think that means I get the dog.

I asked her if she was going to go in the ocean. She said no, she was just going to go swimming at the beach.

I gave her my old boxing gloves last summer, and now every time I see her we have to box.

Happy birthday, monkey. Keep your wrist straight.

I Don't Know My Own Strength

In January, I went to tie my cross-trainers for boxing and one of the holes the laces were threaded through ripped.

These weren't old or cheap shoes - they're 6-month-old Nikes that I only wear once a week - so I was not impressed. I considered taking them back or complaining to the company, but I'm in a really good mood after boxing and never got there.

On Saturday, I went to tie my new Sorel boots (bought in January) on the way to boxing and the loop the lace was threaded through ripped.

Now, I don't recall becoming a superhero, so I don't think this is expected behaviour.

On the way home from work today, I stopped at The Shoe Company (which is where I bought the boots six weeks ago) to see what they could do for me.

They replaced the boots with ones that were supposed to be the same ones, but which are actually a little different. The stitching is different, the fur at the top of the boots are different, ... and the loops the laces thread through are now nylon, not leather.

The old ones are prettier, but I can tie the new ones, so I'll take it.

If it keeps snowing, I'll need them.

More baby quilts

When I first started making baby quilts, it was a big deal. I only made them for people I was especially close to.

Now, I'll make them for anyone. I've gotten much faster (or possibly, less concerned with perfection).

Here are some of my more recent ones:

Now that I look at this one, it's pretty clear that the bottom diagonal square is 90 degrees off. Oops.



My first rainbow quilt - a.k.a. a good way to get rid of lots of scraps. (Don't tell anyone, but the green checked fabric is an old tea-towel. The pink backing is left over from some pajamas I made my niece.)

A mixed-up rainbow quilt. This one is more square. The orange patterned fabric is leftover from my kitchen curtains, and the navy and white checked fabric is from an old dress of my grandmother's.

I expect a giant snowstorm tomorrow

The light has changed.

I don't know how to describe it, exactly, but the sunlight seems sunnier.

The ice is melting. Around the edges of the ice on the walk or the driveway, there's a perpetual darkness from the water melting underneath. Some places even give a satisfying crunch when you walk on them. OK, the driveway is still a skating rink, but now it's a skating rink with a big spot of bare pavement.

Spring is coming.

The view is different from this side

As I said earlier, I started a new job on Monday.

Usually, when you start a new job, you get a few days to adjust - figure out how to login, find the bathrooms, etc. When you start a new job but sit in the same desk as your old job, it doesn't work that way.

I didn't get to do much of my new job this week. Not only was I still doing my old job, but I was also interviewing people for my old job. One of my colleagues and I did the first round of interviews. We had two yesterday, three today, and a couple more will take place next week.

We had a list of 21 questions and asked the same questions of everyone. (Of course, we also asked clarifying questions when necessary.)

It was an interesting experience. The applicants are people we already work with, so we know a little bit about them already. I'm kind of rooting for all of them.

The New Job

I started my new job today.

Well, actually, I started my new job last week as a contractor, but I didn't become a regular employee until today.

I still sit in the same desk and work for the same manager, but the name on my paycheck is different.

I was a little concerned that they'd cancel my contractor's badge over the weekend and I wouldn't be able to get in today, but that didn't happen. (I still have it, as a matter of fact. I assume I'll get a new one this week.)

My contract was supposed to be up on January 30, but it was extended while they did a background check (as my now-current job wasn't official until the background check was complete). The background check took two full weeks.

(I didn't really expect they'd find anything, but at the same time, the new job wasn't a sure thing until it was done.)

I'm in a slightly different role - one that involves being opinionated and telling people what to do, which are some of my main skills - and I have lots of ideas for how to develop this role.

And I can stop preparing for my contract to end every 2 months.

Level 5

This week was week six in boxing.

So far, I'm enjoying this new level - it's a challenge, and I feel like I'm working hard. Surprisingly, the hardest part is remembering what we have to do.

In every class, we do these stations:

• skipping (4)
• reflex bag (1)
• heavy bag (4)
• speed bag (2)
• shadow boxing (1)

The heavy bag, shadow boxing, and reflex bag are the same combinations, which leaves me three stations I need to remember.

This week, here's what we did for the heavy bag:

• Combination 1 - jab, right, upper cut, upper cut, slip, hook to the body, hook to the head
• Combination 2 - jab, right to the body, hook, duck & rotate, hook to the head, upper cut, slip, hook to the body, hook to the head
• At 30 seconds, hit & move

I can do all of that, my problem is remembering it.

I think I'm going to suggest temporary tattoos we can put on our arms so that we have something to refer to when we get to the station.

What I did today

• Put boots on
• Took boots off
• Put boots on
• Took boots off
• Put boots on
• Took boots off
• Put boots on
• Took boots off

How long until spring?

On blogging

The thing I like about blogs is that it lets you really understand what it's like to live someone else's life.

If you want to know what it's like to be a nurse or raise 5 children in New York City or work in an inner city school, then change careers, there's a blog that can show you.

Of course, there are also blogs with a more specific theme - like job hunting/career advice, human resources, or genealogy.

There are dozens of personal finance blogs.

Need help figuring out how much money you need to buy a house?The internet has you covered.

There are pop culture blogs and fashion mockery blogs,

Some are professionally written, some are not, but they all open up the world a bit more.

Please stand on my left

Things that have not cured my sore shoulder:

• Strength training
• Zumba
• Rest
• Heat
• Boxing

It's actually the upper part of my shoulder near my neck. It's muscle pain, and I didn't do anything in particular to cause it.

This is not the first time this has happened - in grade 4, I used to have stiff necks all the time. If I wanted to turn to look at a classmate, I had to turn my entire body.

In retrospect, I probably should have mentioned it to someone. I mostly grew out of it, though.

That's not much of a consolation when it hurts to turn my head.

More babbling about the gym

I finally got back to the gym.

My typical schedule is BodyPump (i.e. strength training) on Mondays and Thursdays. Tuesdays I don't go to the gym. Wednesdays is boxing - or, when I procrastinate enough that I have to box on Saturdays, I either do a spin class or do my own thing on the bikes. Friday I either do Zumba or an abs class - although so far in 2012, this is only theoretical.

My Monday and Thursday classes haven't changed in two years - until now. This session, my Monday class is unchanged, but my Thursday class has moved from an hour to 45 minutes, and they've added a new CRX class afterwards (for another 30 minutes). Many of the people in my pump class stay for CRX. Last week, I stayed as well.

CRX is an ab/core workout. It's only half an hour - if you can use the word "only" in reference to a 30 minute ab class.

The first week, I had trouble following the instructor, so this week I moved up to the front of the class. It was definitely easier to follow - not such much easier to do, but easier to follow.

The surprising thing about this class is that there's no stretches afterwards. I guess that in theory you're supposed to stretch on your own.

(In practice, I forget about it long before I reach the shower.)

I haven't decided whether I'll continue with this one. I'll probably give it at least one more week before deciding.

Zzzzzz

Sparks camp was awesome. The weather was great, there was minimal whining, and we managed to eat 6 meals in 24 hours.

We do mother/daughter camps - that way I don't have to worry about who has brushed their teeth or who left their sock in the middle of the room, and there are lots of adults around to clean vegetables and wipe down tables.

There's this song we've done twice this year. It's called "An Old Austrian", and it's about a man sitting on a mountain yodeling. Yesterday, we were sitting around during quiet time, and some of the girls started singing it.

This was impressive - I didn't think they knew the whole thing - and funny, because ... they think it's "An Old Ostrich". You know, about a giant flightless bird sitting on a mountain yodeling. As they do.

I really need to write out the words for them sometime.

We had three campfires during the weekend (because all 5 & 6 year olds should know how to start a fire in the snow), they built inukshuks out of pieces of the top level of snow/freezing rain that covered the entire campsite, and we went snowshoeing.

We had a space theme, and we made space goo, alien cupcakes, star marble magnets, and space ships. We looked at the stars and found Orion, Cassiopeia, and the Big Dipper.

It was an action-packed weekend. And now I have 2 days to get ready for Tuesday's meeting.

Does anyone remember the unseasonably warm December we had? The one where everyone was wondering whether we'd have a white Christmas?

I miss that.

I mean, I'm glad we have snow now, but we've hit the part of the winter where it's cold. I'm taking the Sparks to camp next weekend, and our camp planning contained a lot of "... and if it's too cold, we'll just do that inside". We'll still spend time outside, but it'll be active time - no sitting around the campfire.

The snow has also made it clear that I should have done more trimming of the bushes and trees around the house. The snow makes the branches bow down and block the sidewalk. On Friday, I took the clippers outside and lopped some of them off.

That's right, I'm gardening in winter.

I hardly recognize myself.

Back to the gym

The week before Christmas, I planned to go to the gym on Monday. My flight was on Wednesday, so I knew I'd miss my classes at the end of the week, but Monday was totally doable.

Except ... I was starting to get a cold, and I had a lot of stuff to get done before I left, and it was the week before Christmas. I didn't go.

The next week, of course, I was out of town. No gym visits that week.

When I got back, I totally intended to start back at the gym right away.

But ... the first day back was the New Year's Day stat. No point in going then, the schedule'd be all messed up.

The next day, January exhaustion set in. I didn't have the energy to go.

Wednesday I was still really tired. I didn't go.

I had physio Thursday morning and my ankle was hurting. Clearly I needed to rest it.

Friday ... well, I could have gone Friday, but I'd already missed the whole week ....

Saturday was the first boxing class of the session.

I went back to the gym today.

Haven't seen the weird guy in tights yet

I believe I've mentioned before how dissatisfied I was with Solo Mobile. This fall I did my research and decided to go with Koodo.

The last weekend in October, I went to the Koodo kiosk in Bayshore and picked out a phone. I chose the $15/month plan, plus the $10 add-on for voicemail, caller ID, and unlimited texts. The total bill (with tax) is in the $28 range - which is $3/month less than I was paying with Solo, where I did not have voicemail, caller ID, or unlimited texts. Also, there are no long distance charges within Canada - this isn't a big deal for me as I don't make a lot of long distance calls on my cell phone, but it's a nice extra. The Koodo rep transferred my phone number and moved my contacts from my old phone to my new one.

The phone cost $100, which is on my Koodo tab. With Koodo, you aren't locked in to a contact, so they have the tab concept. Every month, 10% of your bill (in my case, $2.50) comes off your tab. If you want to change providers, you have to pay the rest of the tab. Also, if you recommend Koodo to someone and they switch, you both get $25 off your tab, so, um, let me know if you're thinking about switching.

It was a totally painless switch (except when I locked my phone and couldn't figure out how to unlock it), and so far there have been no surprises. My bill is what I expect, the phone works everywhere I need it to, and I'm a happy customer.

(As a note, if you travel to the U.S. a lot, their rates are really high. I don't, so it's not an issue for me.)

Solo did the prorated bill thing in November as expected, but then sent me an e-mail in December saying that since I cancelled my service as of November 28, they'd be charging a pro-rated fee in December. Sigh.

Resolving

So how did I do on my 2011 resolutions? Unlike 2010, I didn't do a 6-month recap, so it turns out I'd forgotten about some of these. Oddly enough, the one I didn't do is one I remembered, I just ... didn't do it.

1. Go to at least 3 social events at which I know fewer than 10% of the people.

This one I remembered, but I thought it was 2 events. I went to a career fair, the funeral for a neighbour's father (which wasn't strictly social, but was still anxiety-inducing), and BOLO. (OK, technically the career fair wasn't social either. Oh well, I'm still calling this a pass.)

2. Go on two bike rides. (Seriously, I haven't even taken my bike outside in three years.)

Um. Well, we all know I went on one bike ride, but that's it. It turns out I don't like purposeless bike riding. Maybe I should ride to work.

3. Patch the hole in the bathroom wall (from the plumbing debacle this fall).

It took longer than it should have, but this one is done.

4. Go through my closet (again) and actually donate the clothes I cull.

Done, mostly, although I could stand to do it again.

5. Make it to level 5 in boxing.

Done.

6. Do a first aid course. I need to just bite the bullet and give up a weekend to do this.

I totally forgot about this one, but I did it anyway.


Now for 2012:

1. Be employed for at least 10 months of the year (ideally 12, of course, but my contract is up January 30, so that may not be possible).
2. Come up with a workable, challenging exercise schedule.
3. Reconsider home phone service, reduce the monthly cost.
4. Increase my emergency fund by $8000 (which will be easier if I pull off #1).
5. Organize/clean the sewing/Sparks room. Man, that room is a disaster.
   

What I Did on my Christmas Vacation

I was back in Saskatchewan for Christmas. It was lots of fun, even if my niece wouldn't let me bring her dog back to Ottawa with me. (She's mean like that.)

It was a good trip - Christmas shopping with my niece, laser tag with the extended family, mini-golf, hanging out with the dog, making my niece watch The Muppets, building a treasure box, seeing friends and family, and eating my year's allotment of cookies.

(As an aside, taking a dog for a walk makes you realize how incredibly interesting the world smells.)

Boxing Day

On Thursday, my mom had to take her car in. Since we'd otherwise be marooned at home, my sister left her Prius for us.

My mom went to the dealership and said she'd call if she needed a ride. Half an hour later she called, so I got the key fob and put on my coat. Kasey the dog wanted to come too, so I grabbed her seatbelt and we went out to the garage.

That's when I realized the Prius was on the driveway. I closed the garage door and we got in. I buckled Kasey in the passenger seat and put the key fob into its slot. I pressed the "Power" button and the radio started playing.


So far, so good.

I put the car into "R". Nothing happened.

I pressed the emergency brake. Nothing happened.

I pressed it again. Still nothing.

I pressed "Power" again. This time, the dashboard lights came on. Back into "R", still nothing.

The dog was staring at me by this point, wondering why we were in the car if we weren't going anywhere.

I called my mom's cell. She didn't answer.

I started looking through the owner's manual. The answer was on page one hundred and something - you need to have your foot on the brake when you press "Power". This time it worked. Finally, we were on our way, Kasey standing on the seat beside me despite repeated suggestions to sit down.

The roads weren't great, so I took it easy, but at one point, I had to hit the brakes. Kasey slid off the seat. I reached down and picked her up by her harness, but I was losing speed fast and didn't know why. I found the hazard lights and turned them on and then put the car back into gear. Luckily, that worked and I was able to get back on my way.

We got to the dealership where mom was waiting, which Kasey explained was the most exciting day ever. (To dogs, every day is the most exciting day ever.)

Christmas To-Do List

• Decorate tree ✔
• Last Spark meeting of 2011 ✔
• Buy gifts ✔
• Last boxing class of 2011 ✔
• Make gifts for coworkers ✔
• Plan Boxing Day laser tag ✔
• Prepare appropriate food & attend potlucks ✔
• Make chocolates ✔
• Arrange for coverage at work ✔
• Get that cold that's been hovering since October ✔

Rats.

Losing my marbles

This year, I'm making marble magnets for my coworkers. I got the idea here. It seemed like the perfect idea - inexpensive, yet something I could customize for each person.

I started by picking up the basic supplies - marbles (small and large), magnets, and glue. I got two sizes of marbles simply because I wasn't sure how well the small marbles would work. I needn't have worried - there were plenty of pictures that worked at that size.

Most of my generic pictures (such as the stripes you see in the above picture) came from flyers and magazines around the house. Since I wanted to customize the magnets, I also printed out clip art from the internet - wine glasses, tents, running shoes, stacks of books, etc. to match my coworkers' interests.

As you can see by the above picture, I'm not great at cutting circles. That didn't really cause me any problems - unless the picture was really off, adding the magnet to the back covered any flaws. Since the marbles (purchased at the dollar store) are not uniform, I cut the picture to match the specific marble it was going to end up on.

Once the picture was cut, I brushed on some silicon glue, put the marble on top, then pressed the center of the marble down to work out any bubbles. (A few especially flimsy pictures got glued to some thicker paper, but most of the time I didn't bother.)

As a note, I tried the Mod Podge but found it left the picture too shiny, so silicon glue it was.

The next step was the hardest - waiting until the glue dried. Once it did, I used a glue gun to glue the magnet to the back, then used nail polish remover to clean any misplaced glue off the marble.

I tried two different kinds of magnets - from Michael's and from the dollar store. Interestingly, the dollar store magnets were cheaper and stronger. However, they were a smaller diameter than the marbles, and they're a little rougher. (I can hear scratching when I move the magnet on the fridge.) I definitely recommend the more expensive magnets.

In the end, I only made one of the bigger marbles, but if I were making these with children, I'd definitely use the bigger size.

I packaged the magnets (in groups of six) into baby snack containers and tied a ribbon around them, ready to take into work on Tuesday.

There were a few that didn't turn out - not centered properly, too many flaws in the marble, etc. When that happened, I simply removed the picture from the marble using the nail polish remover.

Spoke too soon

Remember a few weeks ago when I was quitting boxing?

I'm moving up to level five. As soon as I heard that, all the bitterness and resentment disappeared. It started to be fun again.

This week, I got a plaque for finishing level four and a trophy for showing up for five years. It was a really good class - so insanely hard that at times I wasn't sure I'd be able to lift my arms again.

And now I'm registered for the next session - even though the only available class is on Saturdays.

The teapot I bought today makes me smile

Last night, I took eleven 5 & 6-year-olds to the grocery store.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

You see, my Sparks group couldn't meet at our usual meeting place, and our other ideas for field trips (fire station, Home Depot, Humane Society) didn't pan out. We've been talking about healthy food choices, so I said, "Let's go to the grocery store and let each girl choose $5 worth of healthy food for the food bank."

It probably would have gone more smoothly if one of my fellow leaders hadn't gotten stuck in traffic. If she'd been there, we would have divided into 3 group instead of 2. That would have made it easier - because, you see, kids that age look with their hands, not their eyes. If you have one or two, it's not bad. Three is manageable. Six is crazy-making.

Having said that, they were quite good (within the bounds of what is age-appropriate). Several parents stayed, so we had multiple adults with each group. The girls excitedly picked out canned fruits and vegetables, rice, pasta, tuna, juice boxes, rice crackers, and beans. They passed up cookies (albeit reluctantly). Each girl could point to the items in the cart and tell me exactly what she had chosen. And our total came to less than $47, so we didn't spend the camp money.

I didn't even see any other customers run screaming from the store.

Well, not personally.

Happy Birthday, Wanda!

It's Wanda's birthday, which means it's time for another mysterious project of mystery. As usual, I was more excited than she was.

This year, it was the skirt above - three layer of material (pink, blue sequins, blue pattern) with pointy ends.

Unfortunately, I left it far too late - I started Sunday night. Luckily, it wasn't too complicated, but still, it would have been nice to have a bit more time.

She liked it, though, so I guess all is well.

And it was

I did a first aid course on the weekend. Wanda, on the other hand, did hers yesterday and today.

Since her course was near where I work, I dropped her off. We both brought our gym stuff so that if she was done when I was, we could both go to the gym for the 5:30 class.

She was done on time, so I went to pick her up. Traffic was ... pretty much stopped. It took me a half an hour to get there.

As we sat on the Queensway, we had this conversation:
Me: Wouldn't it be sad if we didn't make it to the gym and just went to Quizno's instead?
Wanda: No, it would not be sad. It would be tasty and delicious.

My "s" key doesn't work consistently. Let's talk about now.

It snowed last night. I know a lot of place have already had snow this year, but this was our first snowfall of the winter.

(Naturally, the zipper on my new winter coat broke last night, but that is a different story.)

The forecast had been for rain, freezing rain, or snow, which seemed to cover the bases. When I woke up way too early for physio, I looked out the window and was tentatively glad to see snow.

Of course, that didn't mean there wasn't freezing rain under the snow, so at 6:30 I went outside, shoveled the walk, and cleaned off the car. Luckily, the freezing rain hadn't happened. My appointment wasn't at 7, so I came back inside and got ready (brushed my teeth, turned on my work laptop so it would be ready for my 8:00 conference call, etc.).

At 6:45, I went out and cleaned off the car.

Physio went well, and at 7:45 I was done. I went outside, cleaned off the car, and drove home.

It's going to be a long winter.

Procrastination at its finest

A couple of years ago, I complained that my foot wasn't going in the same direction as the rest of me. It wasn't until a month or two ago that I realized the the result of that injury was that I have no balance when I try to stand on that foot.

I started physio yesterday.

You know you've done a good job when the physiotherapist repeatedly says, "This is really interesting." Apparently, my joint was really stiff and my ankle wasn't bending properly. She worked her magic and gave me some exercises to do at home.

The interesting part to me is that my foot didn't hurt until I started physio. After physio, it hurt - well, more of an ache, actually. The exercises also make it ache.

But I can balance on that foot again.

My Doctor Is Trying To Kill Me

Last Wednesday, I had a checkup. I also had bloodwork done. Nothing unusual there.

So Tuesday when Wanda texted me to tell me to call my doctor's office, I knew they had the results in.

The thing is, my doctor only calls if something is wrong. If you don't hear from them, everything is fine. I immediately tried to call the office.

The line was busy.

I waited a couple of minutes and tried again.

Still busy.

I waited even longer and tried again. I got the standard greeting and listened until I was told to press 0 to speak to someone.

I pressed 0. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

After a minute or so, I ended up back at the greeting. I pressed 0 again. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Greeting. Press 0. Ringing. Repeat about another three times.

By the time I got to talk to someone, I had come up with about 5 different things that could be wrong. I had mentally rearranged my week to accommodate a doctor's appointment (because they don't give you bad news over the phone).

The results? My iron is a little low (which I told the doctor, hence the blood test in the first place) but within normal range.

My imagination is also fine, apparently.

Goodbye, My Love

I think this will be my last session of boxing.

As anyone who's ever made the mistake of asking me "How's boxing going" knows, I used to love it. It was the event I worked my schedule around. Boxing was the reason I went to the gym the rest of the week. It was the way I dealt with stress and the reason I was in such a good mood the day after class.

I'm in level four. I've been in level four for about a year and a half.

After the May/June session, my coach K offered me a choice - move up to level 5 or stay in level 4 one more time. I chose to stay - I didn't feel ready to move up.

I did the summer session. No one moves up in the summer, so I did level 4 again in September/October. I had a different coach, C, and with him it was a straight "not ready to move up yet, you need more intensity".

Up to that point, I had been going in and working as hard as I could. Once I found out I was not moving up, I stopped. I still showed up, but I just didn't try as hard. Now he says things like "good intensity" when in my mind I'm only working hard enough to stay awake.

Yes, I know I'm sulking. I'm also bored, and I'm not getting a good workout.

It's time for something else.

I'm picky, though. It has to be an intense workout. Classes work better for me than doing something on my own.

Roller derby still appeals to me, so that's a possibility (if you can start in January), but I'm not sure what else is out there.

Any suggestions?

How to Survive a Layoff (Even If You Lose Your Job)

Understand that it can happen to you.

You're not indispensable. If you don't own the company, you could be one of the ones shown the door. Plan accordingly. This means knowing what skills you have that you can apply to other jobs (or at least recognizing that you have skills that would apply to other jobs).

It also means knowing what your monthly expenses are, as well as having an emergency fund that will carry you for several months while you look. (You may not find a job in two weeks - and that's good, if it gives you time to figure out what you want to do.) Knowing what you actually spend also tells you if you can take a pay cut for a new job - and it shows you where you can cut if you need to. Cable? Not essential. Food? Essential.

If it happens to you, it's not personal.

Well, OK, maybe it is, but most likely you are a dedicated, productive employee who was in the wrong place at the right time. (And if it is personal, do you really want to work there anyway?)

If it doesn't happen to you, it's still not personal.
Keep that in mind. Wish the newly unemployed good luck, and help them if you can. Layoffs are not contagious.

If you're employed, understand that your former co-workers don't owe you anything.
Yes, they were the only one who knew how to make widgets. The company obviously decided that widgets weren't important any longer. Wish them well and let them go - their focus needs to be on what comes next.

You don't get to hold a grudge.
Grudges hurt you, not the company.

If you've been laid off, resenting the company that let you go will just hold you back. It's giving your past power over your future.

If you haven't been laid off, resenting your company for letting other people go will poison your work. It's OK to be sad. It's OK to disagree. But when it comes right down to it, it was a business decision, and the people who made it did the best they could with the information they had. There's no guarantee you would have made a better choice.

Open your eyes.
One of the fascinating things about job hunting is finding out what kinds of companies are out there. There are companies in Ottawa that make barcode readers, and interactive voice response systems, and electronic clipboards for doctors' offices, and HR software, and video production equipment. What have you missed while you were doing your job?

Connect with people.
Your neighbour, your former co-worker, a friend of a friend. Linked-In is a great resource for tracking down people you worked with years ago (as well as people you worked with days ago). Find out what they do and what the company they work for does. You're not asking for a job, you're asking for a their perspective. Maybe you'll end up employed, maybe you'll just end up knowing where you want to go.

And if you're still employed, this is one of the ways you can help people who aren't so lucky - "Sure, I know someone at company X, let me put you in touch with them".

Listen to advice (and then do what feels right to you).
Get someone you trust to look over your resume and give you feedback. Obviously, it would be good if that person were someone who has hired people before, but anyone with a good grasp of the English language can at least point out typos.

You don't have any perspective on your own resume, so consider any changes they suggest - but it's your document, so ultimately it's your decision.

Know yourself.
What will make you happy in a job? You can find a lot of information on the company's website before you even apply for the job.

All things being equal, if I have to pick between two jobs to apply to, I'll apply for the job closer to my house. I don't want to spend a couple of hours a day commuting and I would not be happy in a job that was on the other side of town.

Know yourself (part 2).
What are you good at? What have you done that was a huge success?

Now ... what skills did you use? And what jobs use those skills?

Exercise every day.
It's good for you, it helps you cope with stress, and it gives you a reason to shower and put on pants. (Sure, you should be networking and working on getting a job, but that may not be an every day thing.)

Tell people what you need (but understand if they can't provide it).
An introduction to someone who works at the widget factory? Meeting at a coffee shop instead of a restaurant? Proof-reading your resume? Most people want to be helpful, give them a chance.

Be thankful.
Sure, you don't have a job, but lots of other things are going right for you. Potable running water. Safe neighbourhoods. Lights that come on when you flick the switch. Friends. Family. Focus on what you do have instead of what you don't. No one likes to spend time with someone who's constantly telling you how hard life is.

(I'm still employed. How was your day?)

How I Failed Online Shopping

A couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Air Miles Shops. Now, normally I ignore marketing e-mails, but this one offered a 5% -20% discount and bonus Air Miles at Chapters. I had been planning to buy a few things at Chapter, so I figured this was a good opportunity. The discount was available until Monday.

On the weekend, I went through the site and accumulated a shopping cart full of stuff - a Kobo cover, a DVD set, and some kids' books for Christmas gifts. I followed the instructions, put in the promo code, entered a gift card number and a credit card number for the balance, and got the message that the promo code wasn't valid on that order.

I went back to Air Miles Shops and checked the offer. There were no restrictions.

I sent off two e-mails - one to Air Miles Shops and one to Chapters. In both cases, I gave them the promo code and explained what I was trying to do. I asked how I could get the discount.

Both promised a response within 24 hours.

Chapters responded first - on Monday (the last day of the offer). Here's part of their answer: "If you were unable to redeem your coupon at the time you placed your order, we can certainly help. ... we can only adjust your order after it has shipped. Once you receive your shipping confirmation email, please let us know and we will apply the coupon to your order at that time. ... Please note: If the items on your order do not qualify for the discount, we will not be able to process the coupon to your order."

That was nice, but didn't actually help because I still didn't know what items on my order were disqualifying me for the discount. (In fact, I didn't know that it was an item on my order - it could have been the total cost of the order or my mailing address or the zodiac sign I was born under.)

Air Miles Shops took longer to get back to me - five business days, in fact - but they did have the answer. They gave me some Air Miles and blamed the restriction on Chapters, saying that Chapters didn't allow the discount to be applied to electronics and accessories. That's right, it was the Kobo cover that was disqualifying me. However, it was 4 days too late for me to get the discount anyway.

I gave up.

Fast forward to tonight, when I decided to go through the accumulated mail. As is usual for this time of year, I received a Lego catalog. This was on the cover. It was expensive - $79.99 - but I really liked it.

I started checking out that site. I picked a few specific bricks I know my niece will enjoy, then I added that set to my cart.

I wasn't planning to buy today, but before I left the site I decided to see what the price on that set was in US dollars. The answer? $59.99.

I checked out the current exchange rate. $79.99 CDN is $78.58 US.

I walked away.

And that's how I failed at online shopping.

Last week was busy. I had my usual activities, of course, but that wasn't it.

Part of it was Halloween - we had our party at Sparks on Tuesday, then I brought the first load of Halloween stuff to work on Wednesday.

Wednesday was Diwali, and my group covered for our colleagues in India by answering the phones all day. We had been afraid that it would be crazy, but it actually wasn't bad.

Adding to the busy-ness, I went to a career fair on Wednesday night.

Thursday was basically just a chance to catch my breath before Friday.

To start with, Friday was a scheduled fire drill at work. Normally, that wouldn't be a cause for concern, but I had a job interview scheduled that morning. Since I park under the building, I was afraid that if the fire alarm went off at the wrong time, I wouldn't be able to leave.

I worked from home instead.

The interview went well, I think - in the sense that I think they got a good view of what I've done. I didn't get as good a view simply because they have a long screening process, so they aren't really hiring for a specific job so much as a pool to fill jobs from.

Of course, Friday was also our Halloween party at work.


My group was doing Hansel & Gretel. We had a cardboard house that we put up over the door to a conference room, a dog cage in the corner, a fireplace in the corner, and a table full of goodies. I was the witch. (A friendly witch - I got to invite people in to have goodies and check out the cage.) This meant I had to bring my costume, some goodies, and a few other things that didn't make it in on Wednesday - as well as my work bag with my laptop and lunch and my briefcase for the interview.


We didn't win - apparently, we came in second - but the finger cookies got rave reviews.

By the time I got home again, I was exhausted. You know that kind of exhaustion you feel after you've been far too busy (even if you weren't doing anything strenuous)? I was that kind of exhausted.

Even I'm surprised I followed that by shopping for five hours on Saturday. I'm still not sure how that happened.