It Snowed! It Snowed!

I'm likely the only person in Winnipeg that is excited about this but people, we played OUTSIDE! In the SNOW! With NO BUGS! And it wasn't FREEEZING! COME ON!!

Reasons Why My Kid Is Cool

Sometimes, just when I think my kid must have come from someone else cuz there's no way I could produce something that rotten/whiny/crabby/stubborn, she does stuff that reminds me why she is the COOLEST KID ON THE PLANET.

Take, for example, her three favorite tunes. While I have always been able to convince her to listen to my music by figuring out ways that each song is about a princess, she has only just lately taken to REALLY liking the songs she hears. So much so that she wants to know all the words. Which means playing them repeatedly. Which, I guess, could happen with worse songs. Like anything from Dora. Her three faves currently? Early on Tuesday by Jesse Cook, I'm Your Man by Michael Buble, and Tell Me Baby by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Baby Its Cold Outside with Ella Fitzgerald is a close runner up for third.

I like to forget that she also loves the Pussycat Dolls and Beyonce. I guess I can't have everything.

Falling Into Autumn

Its crisp out these days. Its that time of year where most people get a little mellower, sink a little deeper into themselves, ache to be just a little bit warmer. I hear grumbling wherever I am. Moaning about the chill, groaning about the damp. We have more grey sky than blue right now and the brilliant sun, when out, is already setting by the time I head home from work. But I think, in my animal life, I am a polar bear because none of this seems to bother me.

I won't deny that I enjoy warm weather. I like sitting in the sun sipping a cool beverage. I am not opposed to moderately warm temperatures. But I don't like hot. I like cool. I like layers. I like scarves and mitts and fabulous knit toques. I like that both McK and I are hat people and can rock a fabulous knit toque. I like fleeces in jacket or blanket form. I like down anything but most especially booties. I like 4 season tents and sleeping bags rated to minus 30 degrees celcius. I like comfortable boots that don't dig in where strappy sandals used to.

I like a hot cup of coffee on a cool morning where both my breath and my mug are steamy. I like hearing the crunch underfoot as I wander. I like watching the leaves fall down like rain. I like seeing what's around the bend in the trail just by looking through the bare branches. I like a fire to warm chilled hands and bring color and life to a darkened morning. I like watching puddles freeze over and lakes follow suit.

I like the mist that falls before the snow. I like the wind that makes the leaves dance as they drop. I like the feeling of the weather on my skin once I've come inside from a long walk. I like that the trails are free of bugs and other people. I like that it feels like the woods are my playground and Mother Nature is my babysitter and the rest of the world went out for the evening and left us to fend for ourselves.

And while most people begin to consider their hibernation plans at this time of year, I, like my polar bear kin, am just getting ready to wake up. Yes, its crisp out these days.

Dear You.....Yes, You

To the squealing one:
The high pitch thing only works when you're 2. And even then its not entirely adorable. Today you brought it to a new level and I have no idea who was suffering on the other end of your phone but rest assured, I suffered enough for both of us.

To the gabby one:
When I see you everywhere but at your desk, ALL day long, and you call me to tell me someone made a point about your absenteeism and you tell me how absurd it is, please know I am agreeing with you strictly out of politeness and because I do not want the akwardness of admitting that I agree with them hanging over us. What DO you do all day?

To the helpful one:
Please don't think I'm an idiot for asking you tons of questions. I trust you to know the answer and you have never let me down. Sometimes, when the answer is right in front of my face, I'm not asking you cuz I'm too lazy to see it, I'm asking you cuz I had no idea to look there.

To the pregnant one:
I know you had a scary weekend but I trust that everything will be ok for you. You are SUCH a good person and deserve the happiness that little Blinky will bring you and you will both come through it all with flying colors.

To the candle burning one:
There is only so much you can do whilst burning the candle at both ends before the breeze kicks in and your energy is snuffed out. Slow down. You're doing amazing. Pace yourself.

To the bad email writing one:
Putting "word on the street" in an email and then typing something you know to be fact makes you look like an idiot. Following it up by telling the person conspiring upon the email with you that you believe in recognizing an issue and dealing with it is actually opposite to what you're doing. You think you've mastered passive aggressive but you have no idea. You're just pissing people off.

This isn't really a "things left unsaid" post based on the fact that I have and will tell people most of these things. Even the three doozies. Because yes, sometimes I'm a jerk in disguise.

You Can Deal With This, or You Can Deal With That

So I used to think I was a good prioritizer. But after today I realized I never really had to worry about competing priorities. I just plowed through my to-do list at work and got shit done. It was a list of my creation, a list that often carried itself over into the next day because other things popped up. None of which seemed to compete for space at the top of the priority hierarchy.

Today I began a big job for my direct boss. Its rather daunting, rather dreary, and I can think of many things I'd rather be doing. However, its important and time sensitive so it sits firmly atop the leader board.

Mid-morning my services were half volunteered to another department with another daunting task hanging over them. A quick little training sesh and I knew exactly what I was to do. Mind numbing to be sure, but easy and quick. So I stuck with the easy and quick one. I powered through a good chunk (though in le grande scheme it was more of a tiny nibble) before realizing I needed to think a little harder about my priorities and where I should be focusing my attention.

I had been given instruction on the required spreadsheet for the "big job". I knew what the desired result was and how it was to look once populated. I knew its time-sensitive nature. Yet, I stuck with easy and quick. Because it was easy and quick and thus satisfying in its sense of accomplishment. But I only stuck with it for a moment more. I realized that I needed to bring some truth to that part on my resume where I claim to be "proficient at recognizing priorities and effectively basing my workload on said priorities" or something to that blahblahblah affect. I knew what my priority was and should be. I knew what clearly needed to come in second.

It was just me and my spreadsheet, acting all grown up, working on the boring job cuz it was, like, IMPORTANT or whatever.

Oh, By The Way...

So yeah, remember that spreadsheet issue I was having a few posts ago? Yeah. Turns out I am the one making said spreadsheet. Oh. I am? Yeah. Yeah I am. Crap.

Every Once In Awhile

Tonight, watching Brothers & Sisters, I cried. I didn't cry when Kitty found out about her cancer. I didn't cry when she realized how it would affect her baby. I didn't cry when she told her mother or her husband. I cried when the mom cried at the very end, in the very last minute of the show, when she finally let herself fall apart. I cried when she realized that she was tired of being strong for everyone else and that even being as strong as she had been up to that point, bad things happen and you won't always be strong for them. I cried, a mothers tears for a daughter. I know, I know. Its just a TV show.

I need a vacation.

After Hours

I know a lot of people say they love to get to work early and get stuff done before other people get there. They even go so far as to say that 45 minutes or hour before the rest of the world shows up for work is their most productive time of day. And up until today, I agreed with them.

I would have agreed that yes, the quiet of an empty office is condusive to mass quantities of work getting done. But then I started thinking about it and thinking about when I get my best work done.

You see, if you're there in the early a.m., people are often times connected to work by their phones and you still get interrupted. They slowly start to trickle in and you are inundated with calls of Good Morning and the distraction of people milling about and settling in. Your phone starts ringing before you're ready for it to and suddenly you have a new to-do list of things that just "popped up". Good idea in theory. Buuuuut....

I have grown to be a fan of the "last hour". That sweet spot from 5 to 6 where most people are stuck in traffic or picking up little bobby from hockey or already home making supper. Its that time where slowly but surely, lights are clicked off, doors are closed and feet shuffle on downstairs to head out into the dusky evening. It is then, in the dimness of a darkened office void of people and activity or the buzz of the start of a new day, that the work gets done.

No one bugs me. No one calls me. No one needs something RIGHT NOW. Its just me, my half done to-do list and an hour to power through it. I put my music on, turn on my little desk light and hunker down. And sometimes, as I cross things off my list of tasks, when I know everyone is gone, I might even sing along.

City Girl

So the season premiere of the City was on tonight and much like the Hills, I'm not yet entirely sure who I like.

Of course I love Whitney, even if she IS way too nice for her own good. Sometimes you gotta just learn to say no to people. I hope she figures that out this season, for her own sanity.

I was very glad that I caught the opening sequence that sort of explained where everyone went. If you missed that you might have wondered what the F was going on.

So Olivia. Good old Olivia. Finally. Someone who is not afraid to shut you down. I am not sure if I like Erin yet because she seems to have a bit of a negative attitude but maybe it just comes out because she can sense the idiocy in Olivia. And I love her solely based on the fact that she will basically tell Olivia to go screw herself. An admirable quality to be sure.

Roxy. Hmmm. Thus far, me no likey. I don't like two faced people. Pretty simple. She has no respect for other people, especially Whitney who has helped her tremendously. Regardless of the fact that she did admit to tying a rhinestone belt around a planter, the attitude and poorly covered nastiness needs to go. Her mom is Holly from Brother and Sisters. I wonder if she's proud.

No men have really surfaced yet. Jay and Adam have gone. They were both kind of doorknobs. Though attractive doorknobs to be sure. But the season ahead looks to be full of 'em.

I just can't WAIT till Roxy pisses off Kelly Cutrone. Now THAT?? THAT will be a throw down of epic proportions.

Disclaimer: I am a Reality Show Junkie, Deal With It

So the new season of the Hills started tonight. I'm not sure who I like anymore! I'm a die hard Justin Bobby fan but sweetheart, that HAIR! I didn't mind it all shaggy but under that hat and on that date?!? Chop it. Brody is fast becoming a non-issue and needs to step it up a bit or get more screen time. I think the admiration for him used to stem from his friendship with LC. Now that element is gone so I wonder if he'll fade? I used to hate Lo. Now she's the most sane person on the show. Not sure if that means I like her or if that means she'll become boring quickly. Audrina? Ummm. Hmm. A mind of your own needs to start surfacing. Heidi and Spencer are just ridiculous. While certainly not the bible thumpers they were on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here, they're still obnoxious and annoying. Although Spencer still has a few zingers that make me chuckle. Heidi still lives on her own planet. Stephanie. Oh my. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! That's all I need to say about that dumb tit. Quit freakin meddling. And Kristin. Dear Kristin. Oddly enough I think I like you. Based on the seasons preview I do not think I like your player status or what I think you do to JB, but you take no shit. And I can relate.