May 6, 2010

Digs

So yeah. I've moved. This ones gettin' a little tired and long in the tooth. Its not another Mother Nature's Daughter but its got a huge yard and a finished basement.

My Hot New Real Estate (hint, clicky clicky)

March 24, 2010

On The Road Again

I'm cruisin' through Manitoba tomorrow and I am pretty durn excited about it. I love Manitoba. I don't see enough of Manitoba. And even though the places I'm going tomorrow are all places I've probably been to or driven through, I don't care. I am happy to go see them again. I am driving around with a coworker to see how their day is. We will probably be stopping in at a handful of teeny tiny towns with fabulous little restaurants and horrible burnt coffee. We will accumulate hours of small talk and shop talk and without question weather talk. We'll marvel at the landscape, inspect the landscape, grumble about the landscape and inevitably blame mother nature for the state of the landscape. I'm sure I'll go through my phases of being super wired and chatterboxy in the truck, then quietly observing in the truck, then barely staying awake in the truck, the pretending to listen in the truck, then hopefully back to buzzed and wide awake in the truck. I can sense that I will find a hidden gem tomorrow, perhaps the best BLT in Manitoba or maybe the best place to sit and stare under a tree. Either way, I'm out of the office, on the road and cruisin' through Manitoba tomorrow. And life is good.

March 17, 2010

The Opposition

So in the past, McK was all over getting her picture taken. She would pose, be patient, let me adjust her, adjust the camera, adjust the scene. She would smile, re-do whatever she had done that I might have missed, all the while happily checking out the final product. But now? I fear I have used up all her patience with me and my cameras. Her willingness to pose is minimal and I can get one or two out of her before she looks away, covers up, or moves around so much they're blurry. Me thinks "disgustingly rich supermodel" is not in her future.


March 15, 2010

Oh No I Didn't

So. I had a cold all last week. Sick like dog. And I didn't write one whiny post about it!! Not one! I remember seeing my old posts and realizing that when I'm sick, I whine about it and let the world know how sick I am. But not this time. I did not write about my illness, my sniffles, nothing. Ok so I actually didn't write a single post at all, but hey, semantics.

March 10, 2010

With No Degree of Certainty, Maybe

So today I had just about all I could take of trying to figure out a wee little two thousand dollar step in my budget misery and finally, after exhausting all avenues that I knew of, I went to go see Finance.

Finance is a funny gal. Very proper. Very focused. Not a great sense of humor but a nice personality. Heres the thing about Finance, or what I figured Finance to be. It likes an answer. It likes an answer that makes sense. It likes an answer that has a trail that can lead them back to the beginning of the question and its uniform and concise and has a definite conclusion that MAKES SENSE. My idea of Finance is that they need things to make sense.

So I took my issue to Finance. I was pretty certain I knew what I needed to know. I was pretty certain that I explained myself in a manner that made sense to Finance. So we looked here. We looked there. Finance pulled up screens that showed this and screens that showed that. But nothing that showed the dollar amount I was looking for. We found a dollar amount that was close. Close. Not the same. But close. And Finance figured that must have been it. I made her dig around and even though it clearly showed that the dollars she found went to someone, she said "chances are" that it was "probably" it. That she's "guessing" that thats the money that I'm looking for. And that I could "probably" code it there.

What?

What happened to Finance being precise and correct and not being comfortable with maybe's and probably's and since when is guessing good enough??? I kept digging, finding myself dissatisfied with the maybe's and probably's and figured out where it was. And I let Finance know. And she was cool with that. Probably.

March 8, 2010

Stress Relief

Today more than one person came to me with their stressful situations. I sometimes wonder if they come to me because I am open-minded, non-judgemental, easy going and able to assess a situation without adding to the stress. Or is it because I end my lengthy advice column with "and then call them all beyotches".

March 6, 2010

Memory, Or Lack Thereof

Sometimes I wonder if its a girl thing, this whole having a good memory schtick. And I don't mean remembering teensy weensy things versus hugely important things. I mean, in general.

Tonight I went to get us Subway for dinner. My instruction from Pat? "That new one from the commercial". Thats it. Thats what I had to go on. Yet I knew exactly what to get. Chipotle Southwest Steak and Cheese. And what does he have on it, you ask? I have that one down pat, regardless of the fact that he orders something different every time I go. Now heres the funny thing. Me? I always, ALWAYS, get turkey breast with the following: no cheese, tiny bit of mayo, lettuce, green pepper, onion and a dash of pepper. Its a small order, not entirely complicated, never wavering. But do you think I could simply say to Pat, "I'll have my usual" and get what I normally have? Oh hell no.

I can even simplify this one step further. Lets take Tim Hortons for example. I generally opt to "eat in" when we go if Pat's driving just to avoid the unavoidable stress that will come if he needs to place our order in the drive thru. You see, its complicated, this order of mine. Lately its been ok as I have been getting the exact same thing as him but a few months back? Stress. Pat would order himself an everything bagel, toasted with plain cream cheese. He had McK's order down pretty solid. Plain bagel, not toasted, plain cream cheese. Now heres where it gets really complicated. I would ask for an everything bagel, just like pats, toasted, just like pats, but with butter, no cream cheese. And that is where it went horribly wrong, time and time again. I can't count the number of times I would end up with cream cheese on my bagel, which I refuse to eat. (side note: cheese is not meant to be spreadable. Peanut butter, yes. Margarine, yes. Cheese, no. Cheese is meant to be in a big block of orange goodness. But I digress.)

So is it a female vs male thing? Am I just better at remembering than he is? I have our chinese food order tucked away up there, our pizza order safely stored, his chicken preferences (all ribs even if it costs more), I even have noted the new found love for Wendy's chili. So why then, is it so hard for him to remember medium TRIPLE TRIPLE. Ugh. Men.

March 2, 2010

Me In 2026

This will be me, in 2026, in the Canadian version. Only I will have a bullhorn and will be borderline obnoxious.

March 1, 2010

Olympic Withdrawl. Major Heavy.

So the Olympics are over. I came home from work and didn't have to fight with mck for the remote. I didn't have to park myself on the couch and cook supper looking over my shoulder so as not to miss anything. There were no highlights of the day of goodies I may have missed. There were no montages of our athletes winning and shining. There was nothing. And I am going through a little withdrawl.

I almost forgot what I did every evening pre Feb 12. I took mck shopping to get over it. It helped a little.

I wonder if I loved the Olympics as much as I did because they were in Canada. But I'm not sure thats it. I think no matter where we would have competed, we are always considered the underdogs. I was just really ready to cheer for Canada. Really ready. I liked the Opening Ceremonies, glitches and all. I liked the Closing Ceremonies, kitschy and all. I liked that we won the most gold medals, not only this year but in history. I liked it all. And I wish they were still on.

February 27, 2010

Clunk

With all of the advances in technology and engineering etc going on constantly in the world, why on earth does it still make such a prehistoric racket when planes let down their landing gear? Guaranteed that first-time flyers shit their pants every time it happens. You'd think they'd have found a quieter, smoother mechanism by now. No? Just me?

February 19, 2010

Almost, But Not Quite

I visited my friend Jaclyn last night. Or rather, I sat in silence for about an hour and a half on her couch last night. No, we were not watching the Olympics, though they were on. No. We sat there, staring, at the newest bundle of joy in our worlds.


Ocassionally, I would feel bad and every once in awhile would try to break the spell and start a conversation with her but always found myself drifting off, staring into the pools of dark, dark blue that are his eyes, so blue they're almost navy. I stared at this creation, this beautiful boy that was just two weeks ago in the belly of my friend sitting on the other couch and I marvelled at that.


I could not remember. I could not remember McK ever being so tiny, so light, so delicate. I could not remember what that felt like. And part of me was sad, that little mothering part who loves newborns and wee babes and tiny sleepers and fuzzy heads and that soft, soft, EVER so soft spot right at the nape of their neck. I miss that. Not enough to have another one, mind you. Almost, but not quite. :)

February 17, 2010

Compulsion

Why is it, that EVERY time someone comments or compliments me on what I have on or a piece of jewelery or something I have, I compulsively tell them where I got it. Especially if its at a place you wouldn't think. Or if it was super cheap. I NEED to tell them how much it was. Am I weird?

Take the other day. I had on my black boots. They look nice, stylish, like boots you could get at a fancy shoe store. Someone commented on them, "Great boots!". My reply? "Thanks! Giant Tiger!" Whats up with that? Why can't I just say Thanks! And then zip it?

Today, someone commented on my pants. "Thanks, they were $2.99!" Seriously? I just told you I paid less for my pants than for a Big Mac? Why do I feel the need to do this? Is it because I'm not a showy person, I'm not flashy or fancy in any way shape or form so I justify any new purchases with the fact that I didn't pay that much for them? I do love the fact that I always find a good bargain and rarely pay full price for much but why the need to tell the world about my incredible savings?

February 15, 2010

How to Keep a 6 Year Old Busy for an Hour

The One Where the Videographer Bites It

End of the Trail. Start of the Rapids.

A Walk in the Woods

Yesterday we went to the Whiteshell. It felt like we hadn't been there forever. And yet, once we started walking, I remembered every turn, every sight, every part of the trail that let me know how far there was to go or how far we had already gone.

I could hear the wind. I heard it in the treetops dancing, whispering secrets, telling tales. "Just look at these three", it must have said up there, "Walking in the woods on a winters day. Searching for that spot where they won't feel us. No wind, only sun."

We found it. That spot with no wind, only sun. On a cold, cold winters day. In the middle of the woods. By a rushing river. Its always out there. Sometimes you just need to take a walk in the woods on a winters day to find it.

Pine Point. Valentines Day. Love. Perfect.

February 13, 2010

Our Trip Down

One Tired Kitty

On the drive home after being in the sun and wind and snow for four hours. Shes a tobogganing fiend.

A Little Breath of Fresh Air


Today we went to Birds Hill Park and played outside. Top of the hill? Windswept and chilly. In the trees making a fire? Cool but calm. On the south side of the trees? Virtual tanning bed. That is where we made ourselves at home. Sitting in the snow, the sun beating down with a thousand watts, hearing the wind on the other side but not having to invite it to our party. It was perfect.

Hi How Are You Today

So I watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night. At first I was a little torn. Was it slow? Was it boring? Where was the flashiness? Where was the pomp? And then it settled in me. Thats not us. Thats not Canada. We're not flashy. We're not all pomp and circumstance.

Our pomp and circumstance came in a different form. It came in the form of storytelling. Of history. Of respecting the land that we're on. When the four first nations group came dancing in I thought "thats not alot of people" but then they kept coming. And then the First Nations of the Prairies came in in their headdresses and their hoops and they knocked the socks off of the other ones that came out. The ceremonies was alot of that for me. Thinking huh, thats not that spectacular. And then the realizatin that wow, that really WAS spectacular. In a creative and thoughtful and very Canadian way.

When Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams sang I thought, meh, a little kitschy. But then I thought, Bryan Adams has been a solid and proud Canadian forEVER. And when Sarah McLauglin sang next I thought well THATS more like it. When the dancers on stage were dancing I thought who can really SEE them? And then I realized, I can see them. And thats enough.

But the true start of the ceremonies for me? The part that I'm sure resonated with the younger viewers? When the fiddlers and tappers came out in their plaids and fishnets and leathers and mohawks and they Ripped. It. Up. I watched it, loving it, but thinking wow, why would they leave Ashley MacIsaac out of THIS? And then voila. There he is. His four minutes of playing unfortunately outshined the SHIT out of the other players but OH MY GOD was he fantastic.

And then, the barefooted voice of a thousand singers in one body came out and she FILLED the stadium with magic. The sea of lights, just a piano, and one woman. KD Lang sang that song at the Juno's a few years ago. And I thought wow, thats the best thing I've ever heard. And then she did it last night. And yes, it was even better. Hard to imagine. But so, so true.

But the biggest surprise? The spoken word poet rapper type guy. I don't remember his name but holy smokes he NAILED IT. He said everything about Canada that any proud Canadian has ever said or wanted to say. He made Canada sound like the best place in the world to live, and it IS. He brought truth to the things that other people used to make fun of us for. And he said it in a way like it all just came to him, right in that moment, with the rythym and flow of something that had been practiced for months but the delivery of a proud and patriotic spokesperson.

The glitches at the end? Unfortunate but hey, what can you do? We're Canadian, I'm sure we're apologizing for it all over the world.

February 11, 2010

Oh Canada

The olympics start tomorrow. I've never been overly overwhelmed by the olympics. I would watch this and that, nothing religiously, everything halfheartedly. But this year? I gotta say. They planned their media spot on.

I love the commercials. I love that its Donald Sutherland narrating. I love that he appears in the last commercial. I will always remember the ad for the speed skater who, two olympics ago still skated even though his sister had just died and he wiped out on the track and just sat there with his head in his hands and the next olympicshe was back skating for his daughter who was named after his sister.

I love the ads that talk about winning on home soil. The ad with the downhill skiier. The ad with the brother speed skaters. I love the ad with Ryan Reynolds and Steve Nash and Michael J Fox that make British Columbia look like one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

I haven't even gotten sick of the slogan. Who ever came up with that earned their paycheque. So this year I will watch a little more closely, follow along a little more intently, and not waffle and secretly cheer for the US. I am rooting for them, for our athletes. And thanks to these well timed and well made commercials, I actually know who some of them are.

Do you believe??

February 9, 2010

MIA Like Whoa

Since you been gone:

I went to New Orleans. Best new memory ever? Sitting in Maison Bourbon, listening to the most amazing live jazz, like, EVER, and the leader of the band announces that not only is there a birthday in the house but its a birthday of a guy heading BACK to Iraq two days from then. *choke* Everyone in there stood up, raised their glasses, and sang happy birthday at the top of their lungs while the band played on. Patriotic much? I wanted to be American right then.

The Saints won the Superbowl. Oh. Em. Gee. I have loved them since last year when I saw them play live. New Orleans was buzzing when we were there, just about vibrating by the time we left. They played like rockstars. They ripped it up. They blew the haters and the doubters out of the water. It wasn't even a close game. They earned it.

I kept track of 54 people for 4 days. Well. Except for the last morning. Remember in the movie Home Alone where they are already at the airport and they realize they left Kevin at home? Well, we left Kevin at the hotel. And his name was actually Kevin. Which was a little creepy weird. When he finally answered his phone and asked what he was supposed to do I told him he needed to get on his big boy pants, get himself to the airport and talk to the ticket ladies to find a way home. Ok, maybe I left out the big boy pants part. But it was implied.

I have realized that my budget saviour, the one person who would finally be able to get me out of budgety, spreadsheety hell, had NO IDEA WHAT I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT. Nelly. That was one hugely disappointing moment in my world. I sent her the spreadsheet that I had been talking about THIS WHOLE TIME and got a resounding "Yeahhhhh......I've never seen that before" in reply. *ack* Looks like its just me and my spreadsheet. Again. I need to just embrace the spreadsheet, love the spreadsheet, BE the spreadsheet. Fuck.

I watched an episode of the Buried Life. I hadn't watched it from the beginning of the season because I knew what a tear-jerker it would be. And this episode, they wanted to help a woman deliver a baby. It was rather humorous, having delivered a baby of my own. What single 20-something guy would want to see THAT? But the stock in Kleenex went up in the last part of the show where they earned money to get a woman from New Orleans, who lost her mom in the Superdome after Katrina, to her grave site. She had never been there. They got separated and the mom ended up getting buried in Denver. What parent could watch that dry-eyed? What parent??

So work has been nutty, home has been nutty, life has been nutty and that, well, thats where I've been.

January 25, 2010

Today I stayed home from work because a) we had a blizzard thing going on around here and b) McK had some hivey thing going on. I got alot of work done, including a power point for a committee I am on that needs to be presented to the big wigs. McK decided that she needed to do a power point also. Because after all, they do them at school.

What?

Yes. At school. In her grade one class. She is learning to do Power Point Presentations.

So she sat, quietly working away, picking themes, designing, searching the net for just the right images, inserting them into the appropriate pages. Shes done 3 now. Not pages. Entire presentations.

I didn't have the energy to let her know it could be set to music with crazy effects. I just don't have the patience after the crap my presentation pulled on me. Maybe tomorrow.

January 22, 2010

Get Off the Phone

On Thursday McKinley came home and said a pal at school had given her her phone number to call for a playdate. I figured the chance of it being the right number was sort of slim but said to go ahead and call. She said she was nervous and didn't want to.

I went upstairs for a minute and when I walked down I saw her holding the phone out in front of her talking to it. I thought she was rehearsing what she wanted to say to Tahlia so I asked her what she was doing. She said the machine said to leave a message so thats what she was doing. After she sighed a bigh sigh of relief.

Today I thought about the odds of her calling the right people so I emailed the dad to see if they got the message. He did, he said, on his cellphone. She didn't say who it was that was calling though so they had no idea who to call back. We made the playdate arrangements.

When I got home today I told McK that it was pretty much arranged but that she could call Tahlia and confirm. She was PUMPED. She got on the phone and this is what I heard:

Ring, ring.
(Them saying hello.)
McK: Hi
(Them saying hi back.)
Mck: Is Tahlia there?
(Them saying she's not there)
McK: Darn. Bye.

I stopped her and told her to see if she could leave a message and the dad on the other end obviously knew why mck was calling so he had a conversation with her but clearly she needs a little more practice. How friggin cute is that? Darn.

January 21, 2010

Coming Home

I think I say this everytime I go away, whether its for a night or a week, its fun being away but WOW there's nothing like your own bed with your own pillows and coffee made YOUR way and toast from your own toaster and a selection of foods that YOU chose.

Its weird to feel almost a little jaded from work trips. Steak, yeah, medium well thanks. Wine, ok, white, as per. Big breakfast, sure, we'll just expense it. I tell ya, its a happy happy morning when I walk in the meeting room and there is a selection of cold cereals for breakfast.

Maybe that makes me simple. Maybe it makes me jaded. But at dinner last night, when one guy ordered a chicken pasta dish and actually said, "Oh MAN I am SO looking forward to this chicken, I'm SO sick of steak all week", I totally got him.

January 19, 2010

Wattaryadoin?

Why is it that when my old boss calls me and asks what I'm doing, I am compelled to say, "Nothing". He ALWAYS questions it, tells me it must be nice to sit around and get paid to do nothing. And yet, I still say it. And not in a "I'm available to help, what do you need" kind of nothing way. Nope. In a smart assy way.

Once, when he called and asked, I told him I was painting my nails and eating bon bons. What is WRONG with me?

January 18, 2010

IT Guy

So heres the thing. Our IT guys at work are pretty good. Not stellar, and not always readily available. But pretty good. Generally I think they put up with a lot, and I mean a LOT, of bullshit from morons like me who call them in a tizzy wondering why I don't even get a light on my computer and it just won't "go". I generally FEEL like I've tried EVERYTHING before I call them and inevitably its the most elementary, Windows-for-Dummies kind of thing that fixes the problem. I'm usually left with a feeling of "Duh!" when I get off the phone and a mental note to try more things before calling them next time.

Downside is, people (myself included because sometimes you just never know) will call on them for absolutely anything that has to do with the computer. Have a question about Power Point? Call them. Need to move a formula in excel? Call them. Word layout keeps moving when you hit enter? Call IT. And every time its the same thing. "I don't know much about Power Point/Publisher/Visio etc etc etc. I can INSTALL it for you, but I don't use it so I don't know." Which, when you've taken a moment to think about it, makes sense. Why, if they don't ever have to use any of these programs, would they go out of their way to learn them for us morons who muck about in them and bugger it all up, thus requiring the rescue. I get that now. I no longer ask.

It bugs me when I hear people get huffy about that.

Anywho. I have spent the weekend bothering our IT guy about this and that and bit torrents and music downloads and ethernet cables and xbox updates. They gave me a new blackberry and now I am connected to them all the time. Poor guys. Though its kind of ironic. Teach me how to communicate and voila, I'm pestering you through messenger, communicator, email AND text. Good job guys!

Dookie

A couple of months after Pat and I started dating, we got a dog from the Humane Society. On the drive home he shit in the car and took off in a Walmart parking lot. We loved him anyway.

His name came about strictly by fave band at the time and thus, Greenday began his life with us. Greenday was an awesome dog. Not too big, not too small, very very smart and very very protective. He LOVED hiking. He would get uber excited when he would see me starting to load up the car with packs and gear but let me tell you, when he saw his OWN little pack come out? You'd swear he was having a heart attack. He would hike in front of us on every trail, run ahead a bit, scout it out, run back to us, run ahead, sniff this and that, stop and wait for us to catch up, and run ahead some more. He loved it out there. He was an outdoor dog. This was his element.

Greenday saved Pat's bacon more than once (lost in the bushes and completely directionless, arguing with a dog who ended up being right in his insistence that they go HIS way, and just about dying in a warm up shack that filled with smoke while Pat slept until Greenday made the most god awful gutteral noises and woke him up.) He has also kept me company in the car and on the trail when I've had to work and meet up with everyone out in the woods later on. While not entirely chatty, he was someone to talk to and kept me awake.

When McKinley was born, we were super pumped to get the two of them together and bonding. We waited awhile to introduce them and when we did....spots. Not sparks. Spots. In the form of little red bumps on my sweet little newborns skin. Ugh. Allergy. Super. So after much talking and worrying and wondering what to do, we decided that Greenday deserved more than being a second thought and a constant "don't let the dog touch the baby!" worry and we chose to try and find a new home for him. We had a few people respond to our ad and then one day, in walked a family from the country. They had an outdoor dog named Rogue who they desperately wanted a companion for. Greenday and Rogue met each other in the confines of our garage and hit it off like they had known each other forever. The family lived on a big piece of land in the country and Greenday would spend his days running around outside with Rogue, his new BFF.

We got letters and updates from the family for awhile and when the last one read, "our vet is astounded that these two aren't related. He has never seen two unrelated, non-sibling dogs have such a close bond and connection", we knew it was time to butt out of his new life and let him be with his new family.

We have told mck endless stories about Greenday and while she still is not super comfortable around dogs, she's getting there. She may very well have grown out of her allergy but its hard to tell when she doesn't really pet any. But my point to this whole story is.........I think Greenday is living in Sage Creek now!!!!!!

Just after we moved in I saw a man walking a dog. I commented to myself, "Wow, that looks like Greenday". I would watch him in the backyard (it faces the street) and think it again. And then one day, I saw the man again. And he was walking TWO dogs. Now, I don't honestly remember exactly what Rogue looked like other than that he was brown. But if ever there were two dogs that looked like Rogue and Greenday, these were the two! Yesterday as we drove past, "Greenday" was outside. I told Pat to back up because he didn't believe me. He does now. I rolled down my window and called out the name and the dog looked up but I would think any dog would look up if he heard a lilty voice calling out. So while I don't discount it, I don't hold alot of hope to it. I think all we can do is try and come across the guy as he's walking them and ask their names. I'm guessing they probably changed Greenday's name unless they, too, were big fans.

Who knows. Maybe he's here. Maybe we get to see him in his later years. How freaking cool would THAT be???

January 17, 2010

Whoa. Where The Eff Have I Been?

Work = Gongshow

Result of above = Uber tired and straight to bed

Brain capacity in evenings = Zero

Result of above = No new posts


And in the time since I last wrote, you ask? Well here you go from 1 to 10:

I have had one birthday. And oddly enough, the day after my birthday where I felt neither any older or my actual age, my back siezes up and I feel like an old woman.

I have watched 2 documentaries on the Antarctic. While I would love to be around the beautiful ice bergs and the cool temperatures and the endless photographic landscape, the water water everywhere freaks me out.

Thanks to Christmas and the above mentioned birthday I now have 3 bottles of Reisling chilling in the fridge.

There were 4 huge moves at work. One invlolved my old boss that I was super sad to have lost. Now? Not so sad when I see who his replacement is.

Had 5 retarded email exchanges with someone who just can't quite bring themselves to be honest with anyone. Kept complete composure and remained very "adult" about it.

Only 6 days until my friend is due to have her baby. I sense that they'll be early but who's to know.

Saw 7 of the most amazing outdoor adventure movies at the Film Fest yesterday. So motivating, so inspirational, so made me go organize my gear and begin planning.

Came up with 8 new places I want to go, including but not limited to a B&B in Thunder Bay, the aquarium in Victoria, the emergency response headquarters in Courtney, my works office in Hawaii and more.

Yeah. I'm lost for 9 and 10. So tired. Must sleep.