Merry Christmas!

This will likely be my last post before Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous New Year!

I have a potluck at work today, so I made pasta salad last night. My first time ever making pasta salad. I taste-tested it, and I’m not really sure it turned out all that well. I think it tastes too much like egg and mayo. Think deviled egg taste. And I didn’t even put as much mayo in as the recipe called for! I guess I’ll find out at lunch if people like it. It’s alright, just not great. Oh well, it was my first time making it, so I guess I’ll know what to change for next time.

We also have a gift exchange today. I brought a really nice wine box which has a corkscrew, wine topper, wine pourer, and one other wine gadget in a nice box with enough room to put a bottle of wine is as well. So, I put a bottle of my wine that I make in it. I wonder what present I will get from the gift exchange; we are doing that right after lunch.

Can’t wait until the workday is over! I am hoping my boss will let us leave early today, we’ll see. I may be here until 5, I will just have to wait to find out if he’s in a good mood! Last year, he came around at around 2pm and told everyone to have a Merry Christmas and to leave early. I think I was out of the building in 5 minutes flat.

I’ll be spending the evening at my parent’s house working on the scrapbook. Then tomorrow, I have a massage and then back to parent’s house to finish the scrapbook. It sure is a lot of work! But I think it will be fabulous.

Sunday and Monday are 2 family Christmases (mine and CT’s). Then I have the rest of next week off! I’m sure it will go by quickly since I already have plans to visit with several friends and I want to get my house more organized, etc. But definitely looking forward to the time away from the office! I love my job, but I need a break!

EDIT 1:51pm:

WOOHOO! Boss just came around and told everyone to go home. I'm outta here until next year! Yay!

Is this week over yet?

This workweek seems to be going at a snail’s pace. I’m sure it’s because it’s the last few work days before Christmas and I am really looking forward to having next week off! I have a big report that I wanted to get the draft completed this week, not sure if that’s going to happen. Should be close anyways!

This week, I got a letter stating that I have an opportunity to buy shares in the company. The good thing is they are offering me shares at a certain price and I have 3 months to make a decision. They also gave me some financial reports and I had my mom look them over since she just finished her MBA. She said we are doing very well, have a good asset to liability ratio, so it is definitely something worth investing in. I was offered shares at a really good price, and I would get paid dividends on any profits. Definitely an opportunity I can’t pass up. The only problem is this is bad timing for me money-wise since I’m trying to pay for my wedding. But, since I have 3 months, I am going to try to save some money between now and then and my grandmother has offered to lend me some money as well. So looks like I will be a shareholder in the company in a few months!

I am *loving* my new treadmill! I have used it 8 of the last 9 days. It’s great! I love the fact that I can watch tv or a movie while I work out. I even used the little built-in tv on the weekend to watch a movie. I hooked my PS2 up to it, so I can watch movies. I am just not sure if I can watch tv on it since we have satellite, not cable. I’m sure there is a way, but for now, I use the big tv to watch tv (I just have to turn it and turn the volume way up) and the built-in one to watch movies. I am definitely noticing a difference: my clothes fit better, I look like I’ve lost some weight, and I have more energy. The scale doesn’t really show a difference yet, but I’m sure it will soon!

Only 1 week until Christmas!

I had a great weekend. Only 1 week until Christmas! I got the majority of my Christmas shopping done on Saturday. I only have 1 more present to get, and it’s a gift card for my dad, so I will pop out at lunch once this week to get that. I was quite pleased with myself. I got a lot of great deals and spent only about $250 total for all my Christmas presents this year. Not too shabby! I was able to score some really nice picture frames at a liquidation store, 3 for $15 for 5x7 and 8x10 sizes! And they are Martha Stewart brand! So I bought 9 of them ;) I needed 4 of them for giveaways to family with our engagement picture, so that worked out well. I spent the evening wrapping all of my Christmas presents. It felt so good to get that all done!

Mom and I worked on the scrapbook on Saturday, although we didn't get as much done as we would have liked. We got 4 pages done, so we still have a total of 14 pages left to do before Christmas. I am hoping my mom will do a few pages this week and then I guess we will finish it up on Saturday.

So only 5 work days left before Christmas! And I have all of next week off (using vacation days), so after Friday, I won’t have to come back to work until January 2nd! Yay!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Holy big bonus!

You know how I said in my previous post that I was hoping that my winter bonus was large enough to cover some of my treadmill cost? Well, I just got it and it more than pays for my entire treadmill! Wow! I was expecting maybe $300, and I got almost $1,200!!! I am so surprised! I guess my company is doing really well right now. Our bonus is based on the company's profitability for that period, the employee's duration of employment for that period, salary, and level of responsibility. The company only started 7 months ago, and we are kicking butt! We get 2 bonuses a year, one in the winter and one in the summer. I doubt my next bonus will be as high as this one, but still. I am so surprised! What a nice way to end the workweek!

Things I am going to do with my bonus:
1. pay off my Visa balance (I was just complaining this morning that for only the second time in my life, I couldn’t pay off my full balance this month, well now I can!).
2. save the rest to pay for my treadmill which will show up on next month’s Visa bill.

Yay! That extra money couldn’t have come at a better time, since I was already tight this month since I gave the photographer a $750 deposit. This wedding stuff is expensive! I’ve already spend $2,250 (on photographer and reception venue deposits) and the wedding is still 9 months away! But, the good news is, there shouldn’t be any other major expenses until closer to the wedding. The main things are taken care of.

This weekend is a little less busy than the past few, which is what I need since I need to finish my Christmas shopping! Tomorrow, I am going to bottle wine again with mom, this time for a batch for her. Then we are scrapbooking for the afternoon. We’re hoping to get the scrapbook for Oma close to finished since there isn’t a whole lot of time left before Christmas! On Sunday, my mom, CT, and I are going out for dinner with some family friends (that’s what I’m calling them now instead of my ex’s parents). So, it is a busy weekend, but I have some breathing room. I want to have all my presents bought and wrapped by the end of the weekend, that’s my goal!

Check!

The meeting with the photographer last night went really well. I was very impressed. He is very easy going and flexible, but also very focused and professional. The price is right as well. With taxes and everything, he’s about $2,000, which is a good $1,000 cheaper than a lot of the other high-end photographers. His price includes the entire day of photography with him and an assistant (from bride getting ready to an hour after the first dance), all proofs are mailed to me approximately 2-3 weeks after the wedding, I get all full-resolution digital negatives with written release of copyright (so I can have prints made wherever I like), a DVD slideshow to view photos on my tv, a website that I can direct family and friends to so they can view all the photos and order any prints from him directly if they would like to. That’s all I can remember off the top of my head. Mom and I were very impressed, so I gave him a deposit and it’s all set. I now have a photographer… yay! One big detail I can check off the list.

I used my treadmill for an hour both on Monday and yesterday. I love it! It’s so convenient. Yesterday it was 8:30pm before my mom left, and I still had time to work out after that, it was great! I have it set up in the living/dining room, where my bike trainer was, so it’s in line with the tv. CT and I watched tv together for an hour while I was on the treadmill and the time went by really quickly. I think it’s going to be quite easy to fit in an hour a day when I can watch tv at the same time! So, I’m going to make a real effort to use it for an hour almost every day.

What was once lost…

Has now been found! CT found my long-lost boots that I have been missing since the move! Yay! I was so happy to see them! Turns out they were where I thought they were; I guess I just didn’t dig in the pile deep enough the 4 times I looked in that closet ;)

So of course I had to wear my boots on Friday night my company Christmas party. It was a good time! Dinner was excellent and all the wine I could drink. I have never eaten dinner at 10:30pm though… it was midnight before we even left the restaurant. We then went to a martini lounge next door and I had a few more free drinks. I definitely got a little drunk, but I didn’t make a fool of myself, so it’s all good. I got to bed around 3am and then had to be up at 9am to go to the spa with mom. It was very nice… I almost fell asleep during my pedicure though! After that, mom and I went out for sushi and then went to shoppers. Mom got a flyer in the mail saying that she would get $200 of free stuff for using 75,000 points. She was short 10,000, so she offered me half of her total free stuff for giving her 10,000 points. So, of course I did that and then we each got $100 of free stuff! It was awesome! Then we went to her place and started the scrapbook for Oma for Christmas. We only got 2 pages done since it was 4:30 before we got there, but we’re going to work on it again on Saturday, so we will hopefully get 8 or 10 pages done that day. We want to do approximately 20 or so for the scrapbook. It’s a lot of fun! I would like to do a couple of scrapbooks for myself sometime when I have some free time, which is definitely not now!

The get-together between my parents and CT’s parents yesterday went amazingly well! They got along sooo well. My mom had met CT’s parents before, but not my dad. My dad and CT’s dad are like twins, in looks and personality, so they hit it off right away. Very cool.

And I have some news! I did some research on treadmills on Thursday and Friday last week, and I found an awesome one on sale for half price! Regularly $1800 on for $900. Here are some details on it. So, I called the store to see how long the sale was on for, and it was only on sale until Friday night. So, I went in after work, and it was exactly what I wanted, so I got it. I would never be able to find one with all those features for that price. It had everything I was looking for. I wanted: at least 2.0 horsepower continuous-duty motor, power incline, low impact deck, good warranty, steel frame, good sized belt. And this one has all of that and more! It even has a built-in TV! That wasn’t the selling feature for me, but it is a cool bonus! It was still way cheaper than anything else comparable in terms of the features, even if you don’t consider the tv. So, CT and I put it together on Saturday night. I was away most of yesterday, so I haven’t had really used it yet (just tested it to make sure it worked), but I am going to use it tonight! My goal is to use it for an hour approximately 4 or 5 times per week. I put it on my credit card, which means I don’t have to pay it off until mid January, so I think I should have the money by then. I’m getting a Christmas bonus this week from work, so that should pay for a good chunk. And I think I will ask for money from my family for Christmas, so between all that, it should be at least half paid for.

So tomorrow evening, I have the meeting with the photographer. I hope this one pans out since there aren’t too many available photographers on my date! I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

A nudge from nej

I know I haven’t been posting too much, it’s December, what can I say. Things are so crazy busy!

I have my work Christmas party tonight, so I am really looking forward to that. I have saved some flex points for the occasion since I probably won’t be able to say no to dessert tonight!

This week has gone by really quickly at work, which is a good thing! Only 2 more weeks of work before Christmas. I still don’t know how much time I’m getting off at Christmas, but I really should get on that since it’s coming soon. I have 3 vacation days left, so I want to use those for Dec 27, 28, and 29, so that my last day of work would be Dec 22 and then I wouldn’t come back until Jan 2! That would be awesome!

I have been thinking about getting a treadmill. That would be awesome to have one at home because then I could use it almost every day. There are some on sale at Sears right now, but a good one that I can use for running would probably be approximately $1,000. I'll have to give it some thought. I wouldn’t be able to get one until January anyways since I am broke this month. That may be what I need to get my weight loss kick-started though. If I could walk/run for an hour a day, what a difference that should make. And I could do it while I watch tv! I know they have treadmills at the gym, but getting to the gym seems to be rather difficult for me. Unless I am meeting my mom there; then I actually go. Carlos did mention to me that his parents have a treadmill they rarely/never use, so maybe they’d be willing to sell it to us.

Other than that, not too much else new here. Oh, except I got another email from my ex. Strange. 5 years after we break up he all of a sudden wants to be friends with me or something. I’m not sure if his marriage is on the rocks and he’s missing me, or he’s just remembering old times, or what. It is a little strange though. I am not bitter anymore; I am WAY better off now. I just found the timing funny with everything that has been happening in my life (upcoming marriage, great job, new house), NOW he emails me.

Weekend was great!

I enjoyed my long weekend even though it was jam-packed. On Friday, I went to the gym with my mom and then she came over to watch Grey’s Anatomy (which I tape and watch on Fridays). Saturday, was CT’s company Christmas party. It was good, although very disorganized. The invitation said that there was a cocktail hour from 4:30 until 5:30, and then dinner would be served between 5:30 and 6. So, we arrived at 5:15 thinking that would get us there fashionably late, but we were the 2nd couple there! I guess they had changed the start time and not told anyone in CT’s group at work. People didn’t arrive until 6:30 or so, and the dinner didn’t start until 7:30. And they had to have the place cleared out by 9 (it was at a nightclub), so the dinner was very rushed by the time it finally started. But, despite all that, we still managed to have a good time. We stayed until around midnight or so and then walked home.

On Sunday, we went to CT’s parents house for lunch. CT’s mom bought me an 11-piece cookware set for my birthday. It’s really nice! Can’t wait to use it ;) Then, late afternoon, we went to my parent’s house because I had to give my mom high-lights and then was my birthday dinner with my family. I had requested spaghetti with homemade noodles (my mom has a pasta maker), and I guess the motor on it went because what was supposed to be an easy meal ended up being 2 hours of my mom standing over the pasta maker getting very frustrated trying to figure out why it wasn’t working. My dad ended up getting really mad (because we were all starving at this point) and he threw the pasta maker in the garbage and we had the pasta out of the bag after all. Had I known it was going to be such a hassle, I never would have asked for that; usually it is quite easy :S From my family, I got a trip to the spa with my mom (we are going on Saturday). From Oma, I got a bag of radishes. No joke. Actually, she had given me some money last week towards the deposit for my reception venue and told me that was my birthday present. It was just funny since the people at the table didn’t know that, so when she only gave me a bag of radishes, it was strange.

Yesterday, CT and I had the day off and headed to Toronto for some shopping and then went to see The Who. We shopped for hours and intended to do our Christmas shopping, and both ended up just buying things for ourselves. After a whole day of shopping, all I bought was an $18 pair of jeans. I was proud of myself. I almost bought a new pair of boots at Transit, but they were a little small on me and they didn’t have the next size up. I will try the Transit in town here because I really liked them! So, I didn’t get my Christmas shopping done, but I do have it planned in my mind now what I’m going to get everyone. So that’s half the battle.

The concert last night was really good. Amazing, in fact. Every song they did was awesome, but I especially liked Baba O’Reiley and Don’t Get Fooled Again. Man, even though Roger and Pete are old, they can still rock the house! They played for over 2 hours and it was great.

This week will be filled with work, some trips to the gym, and my company Christmas party on Friday. Next weekend is already full since I’m going to the spa with my mom on Saturday morning, then we are spending the afternoon scrapbooking (we are making another scrapbook for Oma for Christmas), and then on Sunday, is the big meeting between my parents and CT’s parents. My mom has met his parents already, but my dad has not. I’m sure they’ll all get along fine. I am looking forward to it actually.

To answer nej's question...

So nej asked what I got for my birthday… So, here it goes:

- from lj: really neat cookbook! It will definitely come in handy and I’m sure CT will appreciate it too.
- from nej: calendar, shotglass, and necklace direct from Paris! Yay!
- from CT: really nice pair of earrings (princess cut to match my ring)
- from Oma: money towards wedding expenses
- from aunt, uncle, and cousins: candle that has a leopard on it, perfect for my jungle-themed bedroom
- from my family: I am having my birthday dinner there on Sunday, so I don’t know yet. I am pretty sure their present to me is to pay for mom and me to go to the spa again (we are going on Dec 9th)

So I totally cleaned up!

Oh, and since tomorrow is December 1st, I am going to put up the little Christmas tree I have in my office and cover it with Toronto Maple Leafs ornaments!

Looking forward to this weekend (it seems I live for the weekends lately). On Saturday, we are going to visit CT’s parents and then in the evening, it’s CT’s company Christmas party. On Sunday, I am doing some high-lights in my mom’s hair and then it’s my birthday dinner with my family. Then on Monday (I have the day off work), CT and I are going to Toronto for the day to *hopefully* start and finish our Christmas shopping and then we are going to The Who concert at the ACC Monday evening. Should be a fun-filled weekend!

Oh, we also booked a dj, so now we have: the ceremony site, officiant, reception site, photographer (still to be finalized, meeting with him on Dec 12th), and dj. I think that’s pretty good.. those are the main things. I think the rest can wait until the new year. Then we can worry about cake, flowers, music, transportation, etc, etc, etc.

I am now a member of the club!

The 26-er club that is. It doesn’t really feel much different than being 25, only that I am now officially closer to 30 than 20 ;)

I have my birthday celebrations really spread out this year. I had the night out dancing with lj, her man, nej, and CT on Saturday in celebration of both lj and me getting older. Today, I am going out for lunch with a friend. Then tonight, CT is leaving work early to come home and make me dinner. And rumour has it he also has a gift for me. I told him he didn’t need to get me anything since the best gift is already on my finger ;) But, he hinted at the fact he got me something anyways. Can’t wait to find out what it is! On Sunday, I am having my birthday dinner with my family. That’s the earliest we could have it since my dad and brothers work out of town and are only home on weekends and Saturday is CT’s company Christmas party. So, with all that, I have a week of birthday celebrations for me!!! YAY!!!

I have been an organizing machine!

I have been having a pretty good week. I have been in a “cleaning up” mood, which doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, I take advantage of it! Ever since I moved in (in MAY), I have been meaning to make some sort of filing system for bills and receipts. Well, 6 months later, still no system, so I was drowning in paper and always losing things. So, on Monday and Tuesday evenings, I created a system and filed 6 months worth of bills and receipts. I also updated my financial software, which I was 2 months behind on. So, I’m all caught up now! It felt so good to finally get that done!

Tonight I’m going to tidy up a bit around the house since I’m having nej and lj this weekend. Yay! And when my house is all nice and clean, I will take some pics and post them on here, as you requested Mrs. JB.

As for the wedding plans, I have a lead on a photographer who is available on my date and who is within my price range. He is from out of town, but does work all over southern Ontario. So, I meet with him on December 12th. If I like him and his previous work is as good as his website makes it look, I will book him. I will be so relieved to have that done since most photographers I have contacted are not available. So, fingers crossed.

And CT is looking into DJs, so hopefully before too long, we will have a DJ booked as well. And then I think that’s all the major stuff. The rest is just details ;)

Another Monday

My weekend was pretty good. On Friday, I totally vegged and watched tv and went to bed early. It was nice to be able to do that. On Saturday, I went to bottle wine and did some other errands and then just hung out for the evening. On Sunday, CT and I went to church and then my mom and I went to the bridal show in town.

The bridal show was poorly-organized in my opinion. It was from 12-4, but we got there at approximately 1:30pm. There were several exhibitors set-up in a large L-shaped room with a fashion show set-up in the middle. So, when we got there, there were already people sitting down for the fashion show, so we figured it started soon. So, we looked at the exhibitors on the one side of the “L” and then sat down for the fashion show, which we figured started at 2pm (we were never told what time it started when we entered). So, we waited, and waited. Finally, the fashion show started at about 2:45pm. Before it started, they announced that the exhibitors would be available after the fashion show as well. The fashion show was almost an hour and then there were draw prizes afterwards. For the draw prizes, what I didn’t understand was why they put someone’s name back in the box once they had won a prize. So 2 girls won 2 prizes, which I didn’t think was fair. Needless to say, I didn’t win a thing. Oh well. By the time that was over, it was 4:00, so we hurried to the other side of the room that we hadn’t been to, and the exhibitors were already all packed up! I was quite disappointed. But apparently there is another show in February, so I will know then to go right when it starts and visit all the booths before the fashion show. I guess I sound like a complainer. I still had a good time and got some neat ideas for a bunch of details, including invitations. We want to make our own and one of the craft places in town has a make your own wedding invitations workshop once a month, so mom and I are going to go in January or February.

By the time I got home, CT had put the wine rack together that we bought at Ikea last weekend, so now I have all the room I will ever need for wine. Yay! He also had bought me flowers while I was at the bridal show with my mom, what a sweetie. So the weekend went by quickly, but I enjoyed it. Now my project for this week is to get the house cleaned up for my guests on the weekend! Nej and lj are coming to visit and I can’t wait!

Wedding talk!

I have a few more things to cross off my wedding to-do list: I have booked the ceremony site and officiant. I wanted to get married in my home church since I have been going there off and on almost my entire life and both my grandmother and mother were married in that church. I was a little nervous asking the pastor to officiate since he’s relatively new there and I wasn’t sure if he would have all sorts of conditions (i.e. pre-marriage counseling, requiring CT and I not live together for awhile first, etc.). But, he didn’t say anything like that. I’m not sure he knows CT and I are living together, and if he asks I will be honest, but he hasn’t asked.

So, next on the list is finding a photographer. Many of them are already booked for my date, which surprised me; it’s almost 10 months away! But, there are a few that are available, so I will have to arrange to meet with them to discuss pricing and to see their previous work. Some photographers are upwards of $3,000 for the day! That’s nuts! I guess I didn’t realize how expensive professional photographers are. I guess they put in a lot of time after the wedding day editing the photos and such. Still, I am hoping to find a good one for about half that price.

There is a “bridal spectacular” here in town on Sunday, so I will have to check that out. Maybe I will get some leads on a good and not outrageously expensive photographer there.

Since CT and I are paying for most of the wedding ourselves, I have to try to get creative on ways to save money. We’ll be making our own invitations, favors, and centerpieces, so that should help. And I already have my dress from when I was engaged before, so that’s a big expense that is already long paid for. My parents are going to help out with paying for the wedding as much as they can, but realistically, I will be paying for at least half of it. And CT will pay for the honeymoon. It’s going to be an expensive endeavour, but I figure since we already have a house, that makes a big difference because it’s not like we are trying to save for a down payment and pay for a wedding at the same time. On that note however, there is going to be an opportunity for me to buy some shares in my company by the end of the year, so I guess I need to somehow scrape some money together for that. I don’t want to let that opportunity pass me by.

Tonight I am having dinner with my ex’s parents. I still see them every few months (usually co-incides with when his mom needs her hair coloured). Here’s my situation. I have been friends with my ex’s parents for years. My ex and I broke up 5 years ago and since then, I never see him anymore (he lives in Utah), but I see his parents every few months. They are also good friends with my parents. Should I invite them to the wedding? I want to, seeing as they are family friends, but is that weird? I wouldn’t introduce them to people as “my ex-fiance’s parents” but as friends of the family. People’s opinions on this would be appreciated because I am on the fence. I would like to invite them, and I’m sure they would be hurt if I didn’t, since it’s not their fault their son is a jerkface.

Date set!

First things first, CT and I have set a date for our wedding: September 8, 2007. Yay!

I went to look at that reception location on Friday, and it is absolutely perfect. Think Canadian Shield rocks and water setting (I included a link to their website in my previous post). The lodge is gorgeous. The style is elegant and it’s not “country” at all, which is perfect. It totally suits my style. The space for the reception is already gorgeous, so I wouldn’t need to decorate all that much. I love it.

Here are some details. I would have the entire lodge for my reception, so no strangers would be allowed to be in the restaurant. There is also a covered porch on 3 sides that we would have as well. And the grounds are gorgeous, perfect for pictures. And there are 9 hotel rooms in the lodge and 8 motel units so if out of town guests did want to stay over the night of the reception, they could. CT and I would get the honeymoon suite (it’s included in the package) for our wedding night.

There is a full-time wedding planner on staff there, so she will help me with all the details. The chef works within your budget to create a meal for the dinner and apparently he is very good (I have heard from other sources). As soon as I saw the facility, I knew it was perfect for my wedding. I was so glad it was available!

On Saturday, CT and I got our engagement photos taken. We will get them back in a couple of weeks. And yes, Mrs. JB, of course you will get one! On Saturday evening, we went to CT’s parent’s house for dinner, which was nice. They live about 45 minutes away, so we only see them a couple of times a month.

Yesterday, we went to church and then headed to Ikea. I wanted to get a wine rack since I will need some space to store wine (we are going to bottle a batch on the weekend). Also, we are considering making some wine for the wedding (even with the corking fee, we would save approximately $5 per bottle), so I wanted some space to store that as well.

Oh, I also completed the survey. Here it is:

1. What is your occupation? Environmental Consulting Project Specialist

2. What color are your socks right now? Light blue

3. What are you listening to right now? Radio

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Homemade bread from my soon-to-be mother-in-law

5. Can you drive a manual transmission? Yes, but haven’t in a very long time. I’m sure I’m a little rusty ;)

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Navy blue

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? You betcha!

9. How old are you today? 25

10. Favorite drink? Diet Coke

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Hockey

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, many times

13. Favorite curse word? Dang

14. Pets? Yes, 2 cats

15. Favorite food? Homemade Caesar salad

16. What was the last movie you watched? The Incredibles. Was it ever good!

17. Favorite day of the year? Christmas

18. What do you do to vent anger? Vent/complain to other people

19. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hmmmm. I loved my cabbage patch baby named Audrey.

20. What is your favorite Fall or Spring? Spring.. a sign that summer is on it’s way!

21. Hugs or kisses? Hugs are good!

22. Cherry or Blueberry? I’m gonna have to go ahead and agree with lj and say rasberry!

23. Do you want your friends to email you back? Post on your blogs!

24. Who is most likely to respond? Nej since she hasn’t done this yet

25. Who is least likely to respond? Nej since she’s on another continent

26. Living arrangements? Me, my fiance, and our 2 cats

27. When was the last time you cried? Right after CT proposed

28. What is on the floor of your closet? Hmmm. Shoes, I think.

29. Who is the friend you have had the longest relationship with that you are sending this to? Hmmm, I have been friends with nej the longest of the girls in this blogging group.

30. What did you do last night? Watched The Incredibles with CT.

31. Favorite smells? I love the smell of Lilac

32. What inspires you? My mom. Over the last couple of years, she has been working full-time, teaching in the evenings, and completing her MBA. She is finished her MBA in 13 days, and I am so proud of her!

33. What are you afraid of? Losing those I love. My Dad’s brain tumour is growing back, so we are all scared of what may happen. He is going for radiation treatment early next year, and we are all hoping and praying that the radiation stops the growth of the tumour.

34. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese!!

35. Country you would most like to visit? If I had to pick just one, I would say Italy. But, I also want to go to Spain and Greece.

36. Favorite dog breed? Golden Retrievers. I also like Border Collies and Malamutes.

37. Number of keys on your key ring? 7

38. How many years at your current job? 2.5. Wow, has it been that long?!?!?

39. Favorite day of the week? Saturday for sure!

40. How many provinces have you lived in? Only 1

41. Favorite holidays? Christmas!

42. Have you ever driven a Motorcycle or machinery? No

43. Favorite quality in yourself? I like the fact that I am organized. That will come in handy with planning my wedding!

Busy weekend ahead!

I’m going tonight to check out a reception location. We have 3 possibilities. I have been to the other two and I am checking out the third tonight. This is where I am going tonight. (As a side note, the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" was filmed at this place.) It sounds like a very nice place and I like the fact that they have an on-site co-ordinator that is present the day of the wedding as well. That takes a lot of the stress out of it, I think. So, I’m going to look at it and if I like it, I will likely take it as it is my first choice of the 3. So, who knows, by tonight I may have a wedding date! It will likely be either September 8, 2007 or September 15, 2007. Once I have a reception location, then I have to book my church for that day for the ceremony and then the rest is just details. Exciting stuff!

Tomorrow, we are having our engagement photos taken, so I am excited about that. We are going to Sears Portrait Studio because I found a coupon online where it’s $8 a sheet. And we can pick a different pose for every sheet if we want. Not too shabby. Then tomorrow evening, we are going to CT’s parents house since we haven’t seen them since before the trip. We called them to tell them the good news, but they haven’t actually seen us since the engagement.

Then on Sunday, I am hoping to take a trip to Ikea if possible since I need to get a wine rack because I am going to bottle some wine soon and I need the space to put the bottles!

So, very busy weekend ahead. I have a feeling that will be my life for the next little while. Wedding planning and Christmas will make for a busy few months!

Gigantic News!!!!!!!!!!!

CT is no longer my boyfriend….. he is now my fiancé!!!!! He proposed last Saturday, November 4th and of course, I said yes!

We had gone ring shopping together almost 3 months ago, but I had no idea if and when he would actually purchase the ring. Well, I guess he got it the day before we left for our trip, and he was considering taking it on the trip, but he was not sure about taking the ring through security without me finding out. So, he decided to wait and propose after our trip.

Saturday was our 9-month anniversary (and also my parent’s 28-year wedding anniversary, so a special day for all). CT wanted to go to the same place we went on our first date, a local pub. So, we went there, had some food, split a pitcher, and watched the leafs game. CT then wanted to go for a walk (to propose), but I said “it’s too cold to go for a walk, let’s just go home”. So, he had to change his plan. We went home, and I decided to light some candles since it was our anniversary. So, in the candlelight, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was very romantic.

So, he had the ring with him all evening and I found out afterwards that he was paranoid that I was going to see the bulge in his coat pocket or feel it when I leaned against him, but I didn’t see or feel a thing. I had no clue. I knew he was acting kinda fidgety all evening, but I didn’t really think much of it.

So there you have it. The ring is absolutely gorgeous. It's the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen in my life; I look at it at least a hundred times a day! I tried to take a picture of it, but it came out fuzzy. But, I found a pic on the internet that is quite close to what it looks like. Here it is:









So, be prepared for lots of wedding talk over the next several months!

As promised...

This one is of the outside of the airport... Isn't it cute?


Hotel Lobby


This is the building we stayed in. Love the open air concept!


Beach at dusk!


Beautiful water.


Looking down the beach in one direction.


Looking down the beach in the other direction.


Me just relaxin.


CT relaxin after breakfast on the beach.


One of the pools with a swim-up bar.

Back to the grind.

So, I’m back at work right now and I really would rather still be on the beautiful beach! Man, is it every cold today. I guess it’s time to try to find my winter jacket!

The trip was just what I needed. October has been a crazy month at work, so taking a week off to go to relax was perfect timing. We arrived last Saturday and were greeted by the warm Dominican sun. We arrived at the resort around 4:30 pm or so and checked in. Our room was really nice with an even nicer bathroom. We got changed and headed to the beach to check it out. Gorgeous! Just like I remembered it. White sand beaches as far as the eye can see and turquoise water. I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

We spent the week lounging by the pools and at the beach. The food was quite good, I ate way too much though! The resort was a little different than last time. The building where the disco used to be is now a cocktail lounge and there is a brand new disco and huge ampitheatre near the lobby. Other than that, the resort was very similar to last time.

One day was really windy and we were in the ocean. A huge wave came along and took the sunglasses right off of my head! I was upset. We looked for about a half hour and could not find them. Luckily, the sunglasses were a $15 pair I had bought at the Bay right before the trip. So, it wasn’t big loss. I bought a new pair in the gift shop. Actually, CT had to buy a new pair too since his broke. So, I guess I know for next time to bring 2 pairs of sunglasses.

The weather was amazing. It only rained a couple of times and the rain only lasted for 15 or 20 minutes, and then it was bright sunshine again. So, no complaints about the weather; it was fabulous!

Our plane got in around 9:30pm on Saturday, so we were home just after midnight. All in all, we had a fabulous time and I can’t wait to go on vacation again. Although I think it will be awhile since I am now broke ;)

On a completely un-related note, when I checked my email when I got home, I had received an email from my ex-fiance. I haven’t talked to him in at least 3 years. I thought the timing of it was strange since we were just talking about hearing from ex’s on Mrs. JB’s blog. The reason for my ex’s email was to let me know that he had put me down as a reference for some “top secret security clearance with the US government” he applied for. He needed someone to verify some of his info from before me moved to the states, so pre-2002. That would be me since I was in his life from 1997 to 2002. He also asked how life was going and that sort of thing. I was totally caught off guard since I haven’t talked to him in so long. I found it strange.

Okay, enough procrastinating, I should get some work done. Happy Monday everyone!

I'm baaaack!

I'm back from the trip, and it was amazing. An entire week of total and utter relaxation. The weather was gorgeous and warm, around 30 degrees each day (almost 40 with the humidity). But, we just lounged by the pools and gorgeous beach, so we just went in the water when it got really hot.

I had a fabulous time! It was an awesome week!!! I'm a little tired today since it was a long day of travelling yesterday, so I will post more about the trip tomorrow.

Here we go!

Well, tomorrow morning, CT and I finally leave for our trip! I think I have everything together, so it should take me less than an hour to pack. I made a list of all the stuff I need to bring, so now I just have to check things off as I put them in the suitcase. Yay!

So, today I have the day off. First, I am going to order some new tires for Zeke since he really needs them! Current tires are pretty near bald. Next, I am going to get a massage. Then, I am meeting my mom and we are going to get another batch of wine started at the wine making store. Then, we are going out for lunch. After that, it's an afternoon at the spa for the two of us. Then, come home, finish packing, watch some tv to make the time pass, go to sleep, and then get up and leave!!

This morning, I woke up at 5:30am and could not get back to sleep because I was so excited about the trip!

So, you won't hear from me again until next weekend. Have a splendid week everyone!

Cheers to clean clothes!

I just received a company credit card today, which is pretty darn sweet! Time to go shopping ;) Just kidding. But it is great that now I won’t ever have to put anything work-related on my personal credit card again. Yay!

I also have some other good news. I am getting a free washer and dryer! One of my former co-workers is re-doing her laundry room and got a new washer and dryer and was going to just throw out her old ones. They still work, but are 12 years old. So she offered them to me. Score! I realize they may only last me a year or two, but maybe by then I will be able to afford new ones of my own. I am really looking forward to being able to do laundry at my house. Sure beats going to the Laundromat! So, I am borrowing my parent’s van on Thursday (since they have a trailer hitch) to go and pick up my washer and dryer on Thursday evening.

Woohoo! Only 5 days now!

Last week, Friday went a heck of a lot better than Thursday, so I was happy about that. It ended up not being as huge a deal as I thought it would be not getting that last well in. I was done by noon on Friday and then had the 3 hour drive back, so I was back at my place at 3pm. Which was really nice. I relaxed for the afternoon and got a chance to un-wind before the trip to visit lj for Oktoberfest on Saturday.

Oktoberfest was fun! Although we all thought about nej and that we wished she were there. But it sounds like she’s having a good time out east!

CT and I got back home yesterday around 4:30pm and it was my bro’s bday, so he came over so I could give him his present. It was funny, when he was leaving, I said “I likely won’t see you before the trip, so the next time you see me I may be all tanned”. He said” What? I didn’t even know you were going on a trip! Man, am I out of the loop!”. I guess he wasn’t paying attention when I was talking about the upcoming trip at Thansgiving ;)

So, only 5 days left now before the trip. And 4 days of work. I am in the office today and tomorrow, and then Wednesday and Thursday, I am in the field. Then Friday, I have the day off and mom and I are going to the spa! I can’t wait! Then, bright and early on Saturday morning (we have to leave the house at 6am), CT and I head to the Punta Cana for a week of fun in the sun! Somehow I don’t think I’ll mind getting up at 5am on Saturday morning since it’s for a vacation; anything else and that would just be nasty ;)

Frustrations galore..

This well installation job I am doing is a lot more difficult than I would have anticipated. Basically, bedrock is a lot more shallow than we would have anticipated, so we have to move around a lot to find good locations. So, it takes a lot longer than I hoped. We did 2 wells today, so we have 3 to do tomorrow. There were supposed to be 6 in total, but I think the last one is a no-go since there doesn't seem to be any area there that would be suitable. Anyways, I am standing behind a drill rig all day in the middle of nowhere, freezing my butt off, and to help myself get through this, I remembered "hey, in 9 days, I will be on a beach!" That helped a lot ;)

Oh, I had some free time yesterday, so I went to a cool Sierra Designs outlet store. I bought myself a touque and scarf, rain pants and jacket (all of which came in handy today), and a gore-tex jacket. All were severely discounted! The gore-tex jacket would probably retail upwards of $400 in a store, and I got it for $129! I was very pleased.

So this weekend is Oktoberfest! Eins, zwei, zoofa! Ein Prozit!

Thanksgiving was good

I had a really good Thanksgiving. Funny thing happened though. I was going to make 2 pumpkin pies, one for my family's dinner and one for CT's family's dinner, and my oven broke! The bottom element went! So, I cooked the first pie with only a top element and the second one I decided to cook at my parent's house.

I'm off to Eganville for a few days for work. I'll be back on Friday evening. I may have internet at my motel, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

A few years off...

You Are 29 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Getting closer... 15 days!

It’s been a long week. I worked the overnight shift on Wednesday, so I left for work at 5pm and didn’t get home until 10am on Thursday. I didn’t have a hard time staying up though. Must have been the 2 trips to Tim Horton’s in the middle of the night. And I wasn’t alone; there was a field tech with me. We had to take water level measurements at 14 wells every hour, so we had about 25 minutes of work every hour and then we sat around for the other 35 minutes. Luckily, we had rented a camper van so we had somewhere to wash our hands and there was a heater as well. So, the night went by pretty quickly.

So, here we are at another Friday – yay! Only 15 days until the trip now! I only have 8 more work days left before the trip and I will only be in the office for 3 of them. The other ones I will be working out of town.

Oh, and I find out today whether I am going to the leafs game tomorrow night. One of CT’s friends has a friend who has a private box, so we are trying to get in on that. We find out today. If we get in, we will get to watch the game from the box and it also includes a buffet dinner. It would cost us $150 each, but I think of it as a once in a lifetime opportunity ;) And with all the overtime I worked this week, I figured I will make an extra $150 easy this week. So, keeping my fingers crossed!

22 days and counting!

The trip is getting closer – yay! And with all the purchases I made on the weekend with the girls, I think I have everything I need for the trip.

I counted and there are a total of 21 work days in October. I will be in the office for 6 or 7 of them. Crazy! Next week, I am in the field on Monday and Tuesday, then I work the overnight shift in the field on Wednesday night (Wed 5:00pm until Thurs 10:00am that includes travel time to and from site). So that should be interesting. I’ve never worked a night shift before. Good thing is I won’t be alone, there will be someone else on-site with me, so we can keep each other sane!

Then, the week after that, I will be out of town Tuesday through Friday. The week after that, I may be in the field surveying on the Monday and Tuesday, in the office on the Wednesday and Thursday, and then I have the Friday off because it’s the day before my trip and I am hitting the spa with my mom! Yay! Then, Saturday the 21st, it’s off to the Dominican Republic for 7 days of fun in the sun!

I have been giving more thought to getting a tattoo lately. I have been wanting one for at least 3 or 4 years now. I would get a wolf paw print, likely on my lower back. I have decided while I am in the Dominican, I will get a henna tattoo of something similar and then if I really like that, I will get a tattoo as a birthday present to myself (my birthday is at the end of November).

So here we are at another weekend! Tonight, I get to watch Grey’s Anatomy and CSI that I taped from yesterday. Tomorrow, a couple of CT’s friends are coming over (the couple we spent the weekend in Toronto with back in April). They are a really nice couple and the 4 of us get along great. So, we will likely go out for drinks or dancing or something in town. Then on Sunday, it’s off to Toronto for a leafs pre-season game against Detroit! Go leafs go!

Yay, only 25 days until the trip now!

I am getting really excited for the upcoming trip. It’s getting pretty close now! Only 3.5 weeks left to go! We got our tickets yesterday, so that was exciting! Everything is set now. We leave on October 21st and return on the 28th.

I had a great weekend. Met up with the nej and lj for a trip out to the Kingdom on Friday. It was a lot of fun! It wasn’t as jammed-packed as it usually is, so that was nice. We actually had a little room to dance. On Saturday, we went for a shopping extravaganza! I bought a lot of cool stuff! Some stuff for the trip and I also bought this really hot black and red silk dress. We were ready to head home and I saw the dress in a store window, and I just had to go in and look at it. So, the girls convinced me to try it on and boy, I loved it. I wasn’t planning on buying a dress, but I just couldn’t pass it up. Total impulse buy, but I love it! I think I’ll take it to the Dominican. It may get wrinkly in my suitcase, but if I hang it up once I get there, it should be okay.

I have so much to do at work before my vacation, so that will make the time go by quickly I think! Hopefully I can get everything done. We are short on field staff, so I have to do well install supervision myself instead of sending a tech to do it. Which is fine, just means I will be out of town for 3 or 4 days, likely the week of thanksgiving. Still need to get it confirmed though.

Have a great week girls!

Woohoo! Another weekend!

This week has been a fairly easy week. I had a bit of a cold earlier in the week, so I worked at home for a couple days so I wouldn’t infect anyone at work. I am on the mend now though. Today is the first day that I actually feel back to my normal self. Just in time for the weekend ;)

Tonight, I am heading up to the nej’s to meet her and lj for a night out at The Kingdom. Our annual September trip to the Kingdom. For the last 3 years, we have gone once a year in September to the Kingdom for a night out. Should be good times. Then, tomorrow, the plan is to go shopping in Toronto. I don’ t have a lot of money to spend, but if I see something I just have to have, that’s what credit cards are for ;)

Only 4 weeks until the trip now! I just got an email from expedia saying our tickets have been sent out by courier, which means we will have them either today or Monday! Yay!

Monday again

I survived the conference. It went well. Very tiring, but I actually enjoyed myself. Standing at the booth was difficult though; by the end of the day on Thursday, my ankles were swollen big-time! I got lots of overtime in though, which is nice. I banked a few hours since I want to take the day before my trip off without using vacation, and the rest of my overtime I will get paid out for. I could really use the extra cash. Things are really tight right now trying to pay for the upcoming trip.

Last night, CT and I took my Dad and one of his friends to see a wrestling pay-per-view live in Toronto. It was our birthday present to my dad. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed myself and CT even bought me a T-shirt of my favorite wrestler. We didn’t get back until 1:00am and then I had to be up at 6:00am this morning for work, so I’m a little tired. I think it will hit me more this afternoon. Then I have pole dancing class tonight, so I won’t get to go to bed early. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow night I can go to bed early.

The trip is less than 5 weeks away now! I’m getting more excited with each passing day.

Wasaga was a success!

As you probably guessed from lj’s post, my triathlon on the weekend ended up being a duathlon instead, due to rough water conditions. I was glad to hear they replaced the swim with an additional run since I was nervous about getting sick from swimming in cold water. So, I was fine with the change. My goal was to finish my race in an hour, and I got a time of 59:54. Doesn’t get much closer than that! I was pleased! My mom did the race too and she beat last year’s time by 9 minutes! I realized after the race that I should have registered as an Athena (over 150 lbs) because then I would have got an award. Oh well, next time!

I spent yesterday in the field as well as this morning (I was there from 6am-8am), and I am leaving this evening for that conference out of town. So, I won’t be back to posting until next week likely. Have a great week everyone!

Race tomorrow!

Well, tomorrow is the big day. My first and only triathlon of the 2006 season. I gathered all my equipment last night and realized I have absolutely no idea where my bathing suit is. I am going to have to tear the house apart tonight to try to find it! I really hope I am successful. Otherwise, I may be forced to wear my 2-piece tankini, which still covers just as much, but is not nearly as practical for racing. But, at least I do have a plan B just incase I can’t find my speedo. Sheesh!

I am a little nervous about my race tomorrow. I haven’t really put as much training time in as I should have. So, I am just going to go and complete the race and do the best that I can. My mom is also doing the triathlon, so it will be fun for us to do this together. And CT is coming too to cheer us on. Should be a fun day!

Then on Sunday, we are having a birthday dinner for my bro who is turning 21 on Tuesday. Sunday is the only day for all of next week that I had free, so that’s when we’re having the dinner. Monday, my pole dancing class starts and then Tuesday evening through Friday, I will be out of town at that conference for work! So, you may not hear from me in awhile.

Poor Smokey is at the vet right now getting neutered. I can’t wait to pick him up after work and comfort him. I’m sure he’s really scared and will be happy to see me!

Hard to believe it’s after labour day already!

My weekend was good. CT and I went to his cousin’s wedding. It was a lot of fun. The food was amazing. We had a 5-course meal which was really awesome. If that wasn’t enough, there was a seafood midnight buffet! I was in heaven! Crab legs, shrimp, and lobster!!! YUM! CT and I danced the night away and we didn’t get home until 4:30am. Which made the rest of the weekend kind of rough because I was really tired. So, we didn’t get much work done on the house but instead just lazed around and watched movies. Which was really nice since we have been so busy lately and will continue to be busy for the next little while. I have no free weekends until November! Nuts!

Last night, we went out for dinner to celebrate our 7-month anniversary. It was really nice. Hard to believe it’s been 7 months already. It’s gone by quickly, but on the other hand, I feel like I’ve known him a long time. Things are still going amazingly between us and it’s less than 7 weeks now until our trip to the sunny south!

Next week is going to be a really busy week for me. On Monday evening, my Level 2 of pole dancing class starts, so that should be fun. Then Tuesday evening through Friday, I will be out of town for that conference. I will be glad when next week is over; I will barely see CT at all! But I guess that will make coming home to him all the better ;)

Yay, so glad it’s Friday!

I’ve had a good week. Having last Monday off sure made for a nice, short work week! Yesterday, we had out company’s first annual triathlon. We were given no details ahead of time other than to wear comfy clothes and to meet at a mall at 2pm. I was a team captain, so I got to pick my teammates, and man, did we have a good team. Out first event was bowling, which was really fun. Our team cleaned up on the first round, but got smoked on the second round. The second event of our triathlon was mini-golfing, which was a lot of good times. I even got a hole in 1! My team won that event. Our third event was go-karting, and I hadn’t done that in years, it was a blast! Our team also won that event, so we were the overall winners of the triathlon. Everyone got a prize, but my team being the winners, we got to pick first. I picked a lovely princess tiara which lights up when you press a button. They were all dollar store prizes, but they were very funny. Of course, the real prize was bragging rights ;)

Then, yesterday evening, we had our first annual company BBQ. I brought CT and it was nice for him to meet my co-workers. He seemed to fit in very well, which is always nice to see.

So, this weekend is a long weekend – yay! Tomorrow, I am going to CT’s cousin’s wedding. The ceremony is in Oshawa and the reception is in Mississauga. Should be good times. They have arranged buses to drive us from the ceremony to the reception and back, so that will be nice. Then, for the rest of the weekend, CT and I will likely do some work on the house. My roommate is moving out this weekend, so we will have some more space to play with. That room is going to be CT’s room to do with what he likes. He has decided to make it into a video game room, which will be pretty cool. I also have a room to myself, which I have made into a sweet home office.

Today is our first official day as a common-law couple. CT is officially moved in now. I thought it may be a little scary, but because I am 100% sure I want to be with CT for the rest of my life, I’m not worried. Of course, there is a part of me that doesn’t really agree with living together before marriage, but I know CT is committed to me and I to him, so I guess getting married is just the legal part. I know it will happen eventually.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone!

Hard to believe it’s almost September

Where has the summer gone? I spent a lot of the summer working on the house, which was very rewarding, but it also feels like I missed summer somehow. It also doesn’t help that I got all of 2 days off this summer, both of which I used banked overtime for. To say I’m looking forward to my vacation in October is an understatement. I can’t wait! Only 53 more days now… I wonder when our tickets will come in the mail, should be sometime this week or next. That will be super-exciting!

This past weekend, I had some good R&R time at the cottage with CT and nej. I had a great time. The weather was really nice on Saturday and yesterday (I had yesterday off work), and Sunday was a cloudy day. It was very peaceful and relaxing and it was soooo nice to sleep in! I haven’t slept that long in months!

So, back at work now. Some exciting things coming up. On Thursday, we are having a company BBQ in the evening, so it will be a good opportunity for CT to meet some of my co-workers. Should be fun!

Also, there is this huge conference coming up in a couple weeks. It’s a 3-day thing and every year, senior management attends to network and schmooze with current and potential clients. This year, they have asked me to attend! So, it will be the president of the company, a senior manager, and me going. Yikes! I’m a little nervous since I don’t think I’m all that good at schmoozing, but it will be a good opportunity for me to get some practice in and network. It’s out of town, so I will get to stay in a fancy hotel and go for fancy meals at the company’s expense and the whole deal. Should be interesting.

Wasaga, here we come!

I just registered for the Wasaga Triathlon which is on September 9th. I decided to only to the Give-it-a-tri length since my hip flexor problems this year really set back my training. If I were to try the Sprint, I think I would have to just about kill myself to finish the race, which is not the way to go, too much of a risk for re-injury. So, I am doing the shorter distance. The bonus is I will be doing the same race as my mom, so that will be cool. We are planning on hanging out at the beach for the rest of the afternoon after the race, which will be fun. The only thing I don’t like is I hope people won’t think I’m strange doing a mini-tri with a hardcore triathlon bike. I guess I shouldn’t really care what people think anyways.

Since I have been able to increase my running with no pain, I am hoping to be able to train during the winter and then be all ready for some Sprint and maybe even a little longer tris next year.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming weekend. I am taking Monday off work and going to the cottage for a long weekend. Nej is coming too and I’m sure we’ll have a blast. Weather may not be the greatest, but we’ll have a good time no matter what.

Whirlwind weekend!

My weekend was full of good times. On Friday, I went to one of my favorite stores in town, Tribal Voices, with my mom to pick out something nice for my brother’s girlfriend. She turned 18 on Friday so we bought her a very nice necklace. I also bought myself a pretty ring as a “I just got a huge raise” reward. I took my mom out for thai food as well to celebrate. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, CT and I went to his apartment to pick up some stuff. All he has left there now are a few smaller items that he can fit into his car. He will be all officially moved in by the 1st. Exciting! I really do like having him around more. It’s quite comforting to have him around all the time and wake up next to him every morning. I could definitely get used to this ;)

We also booked our trip! We are going to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from October 21 – 28. Yay! We are staying at the Grand Palladium Bavaro, the same resort I went to last time. I asked around to a couple of people I know who have been to Punta Cana before, and got some recommendations for resorts, but then I thought, I have been to the Palladium before and know I love that one, why not go to the same one again? I think I may be disappointed in trying another one in the same area since I know the Palladium was awesome. And it’s not as if we are going to “see new things”, we are going to just hang out on a beach and relax, so why not do that at a resort I already know and love? So, I’m going back to the same one. I will have to see if Tony “Dangerous” Thrust still works there, right girls? ;)

Saturday evening, we went to the Festival of Lights, which is a free concert and fireworks show here in town. The Trews were playing and they are really good live. They put on a great show!

Yesterday, CT and I went shopping. I cashed in some of my RBC rewards points for a $50 gift card for Shortscheck, so I wanted to buy a couple new bikinis for my trip. They had some really nice ones on clearance (half price), so I ended up getting 2 really nice bikinis for only $24 once my gift card was used. Pretty sweet deal! If I had paid full price, it would have cost me $150. I love deals like that! I also found 2 pairs of sparkly flip-flops at a store downtown, both on sale. So, I’m all set!

Then we cleaned the house because we had some of CT’s friends over last night to watch the WWE pay-per-view. It was good. The next one in September is in Toronto, and we are going to see it live, so that should be entertaining!

So, here we are at another Monday. Hope everyone has a great week!

I have to pat myself on the back for this one!

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I had a friend of mine (former co-worker) over for a BBQ. We used to work together; she left to go to a different company about a year ago. While she was at my house a couple weeks ago, she mentioned to me that they have a position open that would be perfect for me. Normally, I would not consider leaving since I love my job, am number 4 in terms of seniority, and just got my own office. But, this position would pay approximately $7,000 more per year than what I am currently making. I thought about it, but didn’t do anything. She mentioned the job again earlier this week and said that they are really keen to get me. I likely wouldn’t even need to interview since the manager of that office used to be our manager here.

So, I thought about it and decided that I would like to stay where I am. However, an increase like that I couldn’t ignore. So, I went to one of my coworkers here that I am really close to and told him what was up. I was really open and honest and just said that I had been approached by another company about a position and I normally wouldn’t consider leaving, but it would offer a substantial increase, which I couldn’t ignore. I asked him if he thought there was a possibility of getting an increase here, which would make my decision easy. I couldn’t talk to our manager since he’s on vacation this week. My co-worker (who is like a mentor to me) said “Christine, I personally can’t let you go, so I will talk to the boss and we’ll see what we can offer you; we can’t lose you”.

Today, the boss came into the office for a bit to check on some things, and came to see me. My coworker had apparently called him right up and said “You have to do something, we can’t lose Christine”. So, the boss expressed to me how much he appreciates me being honest and that he has seen a constant increase in my skills and abilities with experience, and they want to keep me. So, he asked me if I was happy here. I said I am incredibly happy here and love my job. So, he said, if it is just the money I am unhappy with, we can fix that. He offered me an increase of about $7,000 (I will get a final number in writing on Monday). So, I am very happy. That made my decision easy. I can stay in a job I love and get the salary the other job was offering. So glad I asked!

It also made me feel really important that my co-worker right away called up the boss and he came in on his vacation to deal with this because they can’t afford to lose me. It’s so nice to be wanted!

Diamonds, Baboons, and Polar Bears!

Well, here we are at another Monday morning. I’m a little tired, but I’ll survive. Nothing that a little cappuccino can’t cure ;)

I had a most excellent weekend. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. CT and I went to the Toronto Zoo on Saturday. As we were getting ready to head out to Toronto, CT suggested to me that we stop at Spence Diamonds on the way (he knows I really like that store). So, we went to the one in Scarborough and spent over an hour there. As we walked in, a sales person greeted us and asked what we were there to look at, and CT without hesitation said “engagement rings”. They have over 4,000 engagement rings there, so there were a lot to look at! For any of you who haven’t been there, it’s a really neat store. All the rings on display are not real gold or diamonds, so they are all in open display cases. So, you can reach in and look at every single one and try them on and wear them around. After looking through almost the whole store, I still wasn’t finding the exact one I wanted. I described to the sales person what I was looking for, so he had a look and pulled out another one for me to look at. And that was the one. Exactly what I was looking for. Princess cut centre diamond with one baguette diamond on either side. I had 3 different ones in my hand at that point, my top 3 choices, and both CT and I agreed on the favorite. So that solidified my decision. We found the ring.

The sales person then took us into one of the “little rooms” and explained all about the 4 c’s of diamonds (cut, colour, carat, and clarity) and we got to look at some diamonds under the microscope as well, which the geology nerd in me really enjoyed! He was very knowledgeable. He also explained all about their coverage and warrantees, which is pretty comprehensive. So, I was certainly impressed and so was CT. The salesperson then asked me to leave the room so he and CT could talk privately. I was a little worried that the salesperson might be pushy with CT once I left, but CT said later that he wasn’t pushy at all. Which is good. I don’t want CT to feel pressured at all, which I don’t think he is since going to the store was his idea! So, now the hard part is done. The ring is chosen, so now the ball is in CT’s court. At least I made it easy for him in helping him chose the ring. I imagine that task can be pretty daunting, so I’m glad we were able to do it together. And it will still be a surprise since I have no idea when he will actually purchase the ring. My involvement in the process is done. And I have no clue when he is planning to pop the question.

After our trip to Spence, we headed to the Zoo. We got in for free since I cashed in some of my air miles for free zoo admission. We had a great time at the zoo. Perfect weather; sunny yet not too hot. We spent the day there and probably walked 20 kilometers… it’s a big place! I think we saw the whole thing. There were a few animal no-shows though, but I guess you can’t see them all! Some of them are bound to be hiding. There were these baby baboons that were super cute. I also loved the polar bears. Lots of cute animals to look at.

Yesterday, we were supposed to work on the house, but I was so wiped from all our walking on Saturday that we just relaxed instead. I did invite CT and my mom to an “I have my own office now so let’s celebrate” party yesterday. We picked up a pizza and headed over to my office for a little get together. My mom gave me a jade plant, which I love. It’s so cool! And I brought my degree in to hang on the wall.

All in all, it was a most excellent weekend!

Another week gone by.

I had a very busy but awesome weekend. On Thursday, I had one of my former coworkers over for dinner and to see my new house. It was a lot of fun to catch up with her again. Good times.

Friday was CT and my 6-month anniversary. We went out to Red Lobster for dinner – yummmmm! After dinner, we went mini-golfing. It was so much fun! I had a wonderful time. It was nice to go out on a date again after months of work on the house. It was nice to get out and just enjoy each other’s company.

On Saturday, CT and I hung out and in the evening, MM and her sis showed up to stay at my place for a couple of days since they were going to a wedding on Sunday. It was nice to catch up with them again.

On Sunday, CT, my mom, and I went to a big sale at a HUGE shoe and clothing store. I got a pair of Birkenstocks for an awesome deal and a really fun skirt for 40% off. We then went to visit CT’s parents, which was fun. It was the first time my mom got to meet them, and it went really well. I’m glad that they all get along.

Yesterday, CT and I went to my parents house for a swim and BBQ. My dad also came to my place to replace my kitchen sink faucet, it was leaking hot water. It’s all fixed up nice now. We also scored some really nice adhesive tiles to put on the kitchen floor for half price. Those will really spruce up the kitchen for now until we have money to really do it up nice. The existing floor is really discoloured and disgusting, so I just wanted something to put down to cover that up until I have the funds to be able to re-do the kitchen, which will likely not happen until maybe 2 or 3 years from now.

So, there’s my weekend in a nutshell. This week should be pretty busy at work, so I am already looking forward to next weekend. It will be filled with more work on the house. I want to get the trim in the entranceway and upstairs hall painted and the adhesive tiles in the kitchen installed. It never ends ;) The house is looking really good though, so all our hard work is starting to pay off!

Have a most excellent week everyone!

C-dub's world

Let’s see, what’s new in my world. Well, I have a man living with me and it’s not CT! Haha! Well, actually, CT stays at my place 90% of the time anyways and will be officially moving in September 1st, but there is another guy living with me right now. A new guy started at work last week and was moving from out of town, so I offered him a room at my place until he finds an apartment of his own. So, he will likely be staying for a month only since most apartments would be available September 1st. So, that’s cool, some extra money for me!

Other than that, I moved into my new office yesterday, and I am super-excited! I love it! My walls are really bare though, I’m going to have to bring my degree in to affix to the wall.

MM and her sis are coming to stay with me this weekend from Saturday until Monday, so that should be fun. They are going to a wedding, so I may go up to the Bancroft Gemboree on Sunday. We’ll see, I may skip it for this year and just make sure I go next year.

One of my former coworkers with whom I am still good friends with is coming over on Thursday to see my new house. Yay! We’re going to have a BBQ and hang out for the evening.

Friday is CT and my 6-month anniversary. Crazy! Hard to believe we have been together for half a year. I couldn’t be happier though. The last 6 months have been amazing. I think we’re going to go out on a date on Friday to celebrate. Maybe go for dinner and then mini-golfing. Sounds like fun!

Moving!

Moving offices anyways. I have just found out that I get to move to an empty office across the hall, so I will have my very own office! It’s one of the kinds with the L-shaped desk coming out from the wall and a few chairs for guests. I will also have my own filing cabinets and my own window! And I will have a door I can close if I need to. I am SUPER excited! WOOOOHOOOO! I will be one of only 4 people here who has my own office like this, and the other 3 are managers. I am moving up in the hierarchy. Yay!

Other than that, it’s been a crazy-busy week with work. I’ve been working a lot of extra hours, but that’s alright. Extra money of time off, so it all works out.

I had a great time at Ozzfest with nej. Both Disturbed and SOAD were amazing! I am so glad I went. Great show.

Whirlwind week!

Well, I got through my really long week at work. I ended up working from home on Friday, which was really nice. I think I will have to do that more often.

Saturday, I had to work during the day and then I went to a party in Orangeville with CT to visit his friends. I had a really fun time, up until the point I started doing shots of rye. So, of course, I spend the next couple of hours in the bathroom. Not pretty. But, oh well, I guess I just can’t drink like I used to. Lesson learned ;)

This is going to be another busy week at work. I have so much work to do and not enough hours in the day to do it in! Tomorrow, I am going to Ozzfest with the nej, so that should be a nice little break from working. I think I will spend most of the rest of the week working, so I am looking forward to the outing tomorrow with nej.

I totally can’t wait until things calm down at work. But, at least I am getting lots of overtime hours, which I can either bank for time off or get paid for. Yay for paid overtime!

This is going to be a killer week!

I am so incredibly busy at work this week. We are doing some public meetings this week, which means, I need to work Thursday evening as well as on Saturday. I will probably end up working 52 – 55 hours this week :S The good news is that I will have some overtime to bank so I can take the time off later without using my vacation days (I am saving those for the trip CT and I are taking in October).

So, needless to say, I can’t wait until Saturday evening rolls around. Then this crazy week will be over.

I had a really good weekend. Went to see “An Inconvenient Truth” with my mom. It was really good! Very similar to the book, but definitely worth seeing. Very eye-opening.

Saturday, I went to watch CT in a baseball tournament and I was quite impressed! He’s quite good. And he had the best-looking fan section ;) On Sunday, it was so bloody hot that we just stayed in for most of the day trying to stay cool.

I have my second physio appointment tomorrow. Should be good. He gave me some exercises to do this past week, and I can see improvements already. When I first started, I could only do maybe half of the reps. Now I can do them all, although it is difficult. I will keep working hard and see if he notices a difference tomorrow!

Man, is it time to go home yet?!? Nope, 4 hours of work still to go… darn.

Edit: My ears bleed! The Leafs just acquired Mike Peca, whom I absolutely dispise. Sheesh!

Physio went well

So, I had my first physiotherapy appointment last night. I went to someone who was recommended to me by a friend. I went for an assessment and it went pretty well. He was very knowledgeable and really seemed to know what he was doing. He said that the problem is that my hip flexor and gluteus medius are really weak. He said that this is an easy problem to fix, should take a couple months and I’ll be back to normal. I am still hoping to be able to do a tri of 2 this summer, they will just have to be little ones, the Cobourg give-it-a-tri and the Wasaga Sprint are the two I am aiming for. I’ll have to wait and see how I am doing in a couple of weeks with the physio.

So glad tomorrow is Friday. It’s been a long week. This weekend, I will be pretty busy. Tomorrow evening, my mom and I are going to Scarborough Town Centre for a little shopping (I am broke, but am in desperate need of some summer clothes, so I want to go to H&M and Old Navy). Then, we are going to watch “An Inconvenient Truth”. I have read the book and I am so excited to see this movie. The closest to me it is playing is in Toronto, so we are making the trek there to watch it.

Then on Saturday, I am taking Smokey to the vet to get his Rabies shot and then I am going to watch CT in a baseball tournament. Should be good. We are then having dinner with his parents on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, CT and I were planning on going to the Toronto Zoo, but it sounds like it may be too hot for that. We will wait and see how we feel then. May have to postpone that trip until it’s not so hot out. All in all, it will be a busy weekend!

Why is it that the workweek always drags on by and then the weekend goes by like a flash?

I had a great weekend. I had Lj, AF, and the nej up on Saturday and they stayed until Sunday. It was so nice to see you girls again; I really missed you! My first overnight guests in my new house (except for CT, but he doesn’t really count as a guest anymore since he stays there 80% of the time and will be living there full-time come September). We went for dinner and to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was pretty good, except for the ending. One of those endings where nothing really gets resolved. They left it totally open-ended for the next movie. Then on Sunday, we went to cheer lj on in the triathlon. I think she had the best cheering section of all the participants ;)

I have my first physio appointment on Wednesday for my hip flexor injury. I am curious to find out what he recommends for treatment. Should be interesting.

It’s shaping up to be another busy week. Have lots of things to do in the evenings (appointments, laundry, gym trips, etc.) and then this weekend, I am going to watch CT’s baseball tournament on Saturday and then on Sunday, if the weather is nice, CT and I are planning to go to the Toronto Zoo for the day. I have all these air miles, so I was looking on the website last week to see what I could use some of them for, and I decided to cash some in for admission for us for the Toronto Zoo. It’s actually pretty neat all the stuff you can get. I am thinking of cashing some of my RBC rewards points in for a SportsCheck gift card so I can get a new bathing suit or two for when CT and I go to the Caribbean in October.

No tris for c-dub :(

Well, I just got back from my appointment with the sports physician regarding my hip flexor. She stretched me this way and that and got me to do a bunch of stuff, and her diagnosis was that yes, my left hip flexor is much weaker than my right and it is inflamed/damaged. So, she said if I were to run while it is so weak, that it would flare up and cause me pain. So, she advised to stop running completely for now and do low impact exercise only. She also recommended that I get orthodics and that I get physio therapy to strengthen my hip flexor. So, I guess I have to figure out how much medical coverage I have here at work for those 2 things and make appointments.

I am really disappointed. She said that I will likely not be able to compete in any tris this summer. I will have to wait and see how the physio goes. Sheesh. This sucks.

The good news is I can still go to the tri on Sunday and cheer lj on like mad! She will have her own cheering section since nej and AF are coming too! Yay! Can’t wait to see my girls again!

Wonderful long weekend

I had a most excellent long weekend. I don’t think it could have been any better. CT and I spent from Thursday evening until this morning together, the longest in one chunk so far. On Thursday evening, we painted the trim in the guest room, so it’s all ready to have the furnature moved in now. It looks amazing! I had to have it all ready for my guests this coming weekend.

On Friday morning, CT and I left for my cottage. It was soooo nice! The weather was gorgeous. We stopped on the way to pick some strawberries; it was so much fun! We got to the cottage and I was so excited to be there, and we discovered that we were locked out! For some reason, my grandmother (who was the most recent person out there before we showed up) locked the door handle as well as the deadbolt when she left. We only have a key for the deadbolt. So, CT had to make use of our MacGuyver skills and found a window that we could slide open and got a ladder from the shed so I could climb through it. I was relieved; I didn’t want to have to leave!

CT and I had a fabulous weekend at the cottage. The weather was unbelievable. It was so nice to be away from all the housework to a paradise with no tv, no computer, just us. It was great; I had the best time. CT even casually mentioned that he would like to know what I like in terms of engagement rings, so that means he has started thinking about that! Yay! It’s so nice to know that we are on the same page in terms of our future. My predictioin that we will be engaged before the end of 2006 just may come true ;)

Here’s to humpday.

I am really looking forward to my 4-day weekend this weekend! CT doesn’t know yet if he can get Friday off, so if he can’t, I guess we will go to the cottage as soon as he gets home from work. Otherwise, if he can get the day off, we will head up Friday morning.

We had a very productive weekend. On Thursday and Friday evenings, I did the mudding and sanding in the guest room. Saturday morning, CT and I painted the ceiling. My mom came over on Saturday afternoon for a bit to help me prime the walls. While she and I did that, CT worked in the backyard. He went nuts with the weed wacker, which is awesome because my backyard was an absolute jungle. He made such progress, it’s amazing. Then on Sunday, CT and I went to church and then did the first coat of paint in the guest room in the morning and the second coat in the evening. So, now all that is left to do in there is paint the trim, which we are going to do tomorrow evening. Then I can move the furniture back in and it will be all ready for my guests next weekend – yay! SOOOO looking forward to having my girls over. It’s been way too long! 2 months since our last visit.

CT’s cat Gino is currently staying at my place too. I wanted he and Smokey to meet before they are officially living under the same roof. Gino is not the most social cat, he hisses at Smokey. Apparently a couple of years ago, Gino had a bad experience living with a cat that beat him up. So, he’s not liking having Smokey around. So, when CT and I are not home, we have to separate the cats. But, I’m hoping with time, they can learn to co-exist and maybe even become friends. It just may take some time.

I had dinner with my ex-fiance’s mom last night. It reminded me that tomorrow will mark 4 years after the day I was supposed to marry her son. Hard to believe it was that long ago! A lot has happened since then. I am so thankful I didn’t marry him. I am MUCH better off now. And of course now I have CT, so everything is just peachy ;)

CT and I are going to take a trip together in October, so I am very excited about that. We are going to do a 1-week all inclusive resort on a beach thing. My top 3 destinations are: Punta Cana, Veradero, or the Mayan Riviera. I think Punta Cana is our first choice, we will have to discuss it further. I have been there before, but it was so beautiful, I would love to go back!

That’s the update from my side of the fence.

Murphy's Law

This weekend, I will be busy with my house, but I am really looking forward to getting the guest room underway so I can finish it up next Friday and then relax for the long weekend.

What a morning I had this morning. It was kind of funny actually. CT and I were talking while I was getting ready for work and we were talking about punctuality. I said “I have never been late for work a day in my life.” Then, I got in my car and started driving to work. I didn’t get far before I realized that something was wrong with my tire. Luckily, my parents live just around the corner, so I stopped in their driveway and got out to have a look. Sure enough, one of my tires was almost completely flat.

So, I called Toyota right away to see if I could get Zeke in today to be fixed. They said yes. Since I missed the first shuttle, the next one wasn’t until 8:30. So, I went in to my parents house to see if my mom was awake yet and if she could drive me from Toyota to work. She was still asleep. So, I called CT at my place and asked if he could. Of course he wanted to rescue me, so he met me at Toyota and drove me to work. So, after all that, I was 7 minutes late to work. The first time in my life I have been late for work and it was not half an hour after telling CT that I have never been late. Make me want to say “I have never been able to lose weight without trying” and see if that works ;)

Anyways, Zeke is all fixed up now; turns out he had a nail stuck in his tire. So, they fixed that and I can go pick him up after work. I was hoping it would be an easy fix. I know I do need to get new tires soon, they are getting pretty warn, I was hoping I could make it a few more months and it sounds like I can. I will get new tires for him in the fall, definitely before the snow hits.

Man, this afternoon seems to be dragging on. I still have another 2 hours of work and I would really like to just go home so I can get the mudding done in the guest room. If I am feeling really ambitious tonight, I may paint the ceiling in the guest room as well. Otherwise, I will do that tomorrow afternoon.

Have a most excellent weekend everyone!

Summer is here!

Well, we are officially in summer and here I am, yet again, sitting at my desk at work when I would rather be outside. I haven’t even been to the cottage yet this year because I have been so busy with the house. This weekend, I am going to get the first coat of paint up in the guest room which means tonight, I am going to do the first coat of mudding, tomorrow night sand and more mudding, Saturday sand and paint ceiling and prime walls, and Sunday first coat of paint. Then, next Friday (the 30th) I don’t work since it’s the day we are observing as a stat, so I am going to do the second coat of paint in the guest room and paint the trim. Then, next Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I am going to spend at the cottage (I have Monday July 3rd off too because I have some banked overtime I am going to use).

CT is going to bring his cat (Gino) to my place this weekend so he can meet Smokey. Hopefully Gino and Smokey get along! We’ll see. Should be interesting.

Various things...

Saturday was so warm to be outside all day, but it was a fun day. The dragonboat races went really well. We ended up getting 15th place out of 24 teams in our division, which we were really pleased with considering that last year we placed 21st out of 24 teams. It was a lot of fun. CT came to cheer us on. We had a few hours between our races, so we hung out and watched some of the other races.

I just got back from the doctors. I had to get a tetanus shot and I mentioned my hip flexor problem to her. She referred me to a sports physician, so I called there as soon as I got back to the office. The earliest appointment I could get is on July 6, a mere 3 days before my first scheduled triathlon. So, participating in the Peterborough tri is definitely a no for this year. Which is disappointing. I will still go to cheer lj on of course! I am aiming to do the give-it-a-tri in Cobourg in August and then the sprint in Wasaga in September, but I really have to wait until after my sports medicine appointment to see what the prognosis is. I don’t want to make any decisions until then. So, in the meantime, I will do low-impact exercising only. This is very frustrating, so I really hope the sports physician can help me.

I need to get back to exercising, pronto. As in I am starting tomorrow. I have been wanting to get back into the swing of things lately and I guess I have some added motivation that I may need to look good for engagement photos soon ;) I was visiting my grandmother yesterday, it was going well (for any of you that don’t know, my grandmother is very rude and critical), and she says “You are putting on weight; you need to eat better and exercise more”. Which is absolutely true, but that was very rude of her to say! Yes, I have put on maybe 5 pounds in the last month or so due to lack of exercise since I have spent almost every waking moment working on my house, but I don’t need her to tell me that! I was in such a good mood and then she had to say that. Grrrr. Like I don’t know I am a little heavier than I was a month ago. Does she not know I have been trying to lose weight for like 2 years? It’s none of her business how much I weigh. That made me so mad. Just a few days prior to her rude remark, my mom and I decided to do a 10-pound challenge. We each want to lose 10 pounds by Sept. 1st and if we both make it, we are going to go to the spa together this fall with the money we raised last time we tried to lose weight. So, I hope we can do it! Losing 10 pounds in 2.5 months definitely seems do-able. I wanted to set a goal that I can actually attain. So, here we go again… fourteenth time’s a charm ;)

Friday - yay!

I just got a laptop and cell phone from work, so that is exciting. Free laptop and cell phone, can’t beat that! My laptop is a dell and is a widescreen, so I like it a lot. Since I got wireless internet at home, I am going to take my laptop home this weekend and see if I can get on the wireless internet from my living room, or out on the back deck... man, that sounds nice!

I am now fourth in line at my company in terms of seniority. Pretty wild considering I have only been here a little over 2 years. It’s pretty common in the consulting world to have a high turnover, so that’s how I got to be number 4, most of the people ahead of me have left. I don’t think I’ll be leaving anytime soon though, I still love it and I want to stay at least until I get my P.Eng., which is about a year to a year and a half away.

So here we are at another Friday. Things are progressing at my house. My entranceway and upstairs hall now have the first coat of paint up, and it looks amazing! I had my painters back to do that yesterday. I’m glad I got them to do it, because they do a really professional job. They are gone now for a few weeks on vacation, but I am going to see if they can come back for a day when they are back in town mid-July to finish the entranceway and hall.

This weekend and next weekend, my goal is to get the guest room done. I’m doing it in a Toronto Maple Leafs theme, so I got the official team colours paint from Home Depot. It will look so good! Exciting stuff. I want to have it all ready in full leafs form for when lj comes to stay with me the weekend of July 8-9 for the tri. I likely have to be a spectator for that one since my hip flexor is still giving me grief. I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday, so I will mention it to her and see if she can offer any advice.

Tomorrow, I am in the dragonboat races in town. It will be my third year participating in them and I’m sure it will be a fun day. A really good cause too; it is to raise money for breast cancer research. It’s supposed to be pretty warm and sunny tomorrow, so I guess I better remember to wear sunscreen! Looking forward to the day of fun in the sun.

Pain!

I am feeling quite discouraged about my triathlon plans for this year. The first one I was planning on doing is on July 9th here in town. I had been doing a lot of training in the spring and had significant problems with my left hip flexor (i.e. it hurt like hell after about 10 minutes). I took the month of May off from training since I was so busy with work on the house. So, I was hoping that this problem would fix itself with rest. So, after a month off from running, I went out for a nice, easy run last night. I was feeling good, things were going well, then bang, 10 minutes into the run, my hip flexor hurts so much that I have to stop. I stretched it out and tried to continue running, but could only run for about 30 seconds before I had to stop again. By that point, I was limping and it hurt to even walk. So, I had to limp the whole way home. I don’t know what to do. I may have to alter my tri schedule for this summer and skip the first one. That sucks large though because the first one is the one that is in town here. This is so annoying!

I’m going to do some good old internet research at lunch today and see if I can find anything out about hip flexor injuries and if there is anything I can do to get better. This has been happening for about 6 months now, so there is obviously something wrong.

Another busy weekend ahead!

Here we are at Friday afternoon… less than an hour and I’m done work and on to fun things… like home renos!

This weekend, I want to get my entranceway/upstairs hall primed. That means tonight I need to sand and do the second coat of mudding. Then tomorrow, sand and prime. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my painters can come back for an afternoon next week to paint those areas. They will let me know in a couple days. Here’s hoping!

I also want to shop around for a window air conditioner for my bedroom, cuz it is warm in there when the weather is hot. Luckily, the last few days have been okay.

I am taking Sunday off from the home renos to go and visit CT’s parents and then go watch the ECW pay-per-view at one of CT”s friend’s place. So that should be good.

Other than that, nothing much new to report. CT is coming up for the weekend (actually, he has been staying with me since Wednesday). We have been trying the sleep-overs on “work nights” and that seems to work well. The only problem is I start work at 8am and he starts at either 10am or noon depending on the day. But, he usually gets up at the same time as me and does some stuff in the morning, that way we can also go to bed at the same time. So, it has been working nicely. I think as it stands right now, he stays over about half the time, so that’s nice. I really do like having him around more. We get along really well; I enjoy just spending a day doing nothing with him. We always have a great time no matter what we do.

Ladies, this is it! I have found the one I want to spend the rest of my life with! After much trial and error, it’s about time ;) I have never met someone I am so compatible with AND that I have so much chemistry with. I like that combination! Not to mention, he’s a HUGE leafs fan, ALMOST as big as me ;) So there ya go, he’s a keeper for sure :)