Day 11 - Dead mouse, thunder and a Happy Birthday

If it wasn't for the fact that I've been numbering my blogs to match the number of days that I've been doing the whole "work from home", "social isolation" and "social distancing" thing, I'd have no idea how long I'd have been at home. It's been nine work days.

It was a grey, rainy, dull kind of day. Work was quiet. I did chat online with a few co-workers and we were able to review some documents via email so on the whole things are working well and we're saving trees in the process.

The rain cooperated and let up in time for me to go for a walk at lunch, without getting wet or having to take my umbrella. On the way out of my driveway, I saw a dead mouse. Thankfully, it wasn't a real mouse. I truly had to do a double take. The cardinals were very vocal again today which is beautiful to hear. But so were the crows. Not sure what had them all riled up. I kept looking to see if there was a hawk or something larger in the area but I didn't see anything. Just a couple Vs of geese returning home for the season.

The "dead mouse" I found at the end of the driveway

My walk and I are a bit funny. Thanks to my knee, every single step I take hurts. It's mostly a dull ache or throb unless I step funny or am not paying attention and twist suddenly, then it's a very sharp pain. When I first start walking, everything from my waist down hurts. My lower backs, hips, knees, legs...feet were ok today. But I keep moving, because I know, it will all loosen up. Sure enough, by the time I've hit the halfway mark and I'm on my way back home, all the pains are gone, except the injured knee and today my lower back wouldn't stop for some reason. My head feels clearer, my sinuses are clearer, my breath feels stronger and I feel more energetic. All of the positives out weigh the pain from my knee. I don't forget it's there, but enjoying my time outside helps me focus on something besides it.

This afternoon we were graced with a single roll of thunder. Apparenlty there was some lightening too but my back is to the window so I didn't see it. Sure heard the thunder though. It was one of those good ones that you can hear rolling across the sky.  Guess there was a single storm cloud passing by. Thunder storms are one of my favourite things. Nature can be really cool sometimes.

Today is my niece's 8th birthday. I do feel bad for her that she didn't get to have a party and see all of her friends but she didn't see bummed out about that. She was more excited about the fact that she got an ice cream cake for her birthday and got to have it for lunch. The simple joys of an 8 year old. We did a puzzle together over video chat, which was as difficult as it sounds. LOL. We got it though! She's a pretty fun kid with a very incredible imagination. I hope she never loses it. I'm sure it will serve her well later in life. It amuses me that she's inherited the stubborn streak that runs in my family. My brother is going to have fun with that when she's older. It was nice to be able to see and talk to her.

Had a quick video chat with my parents too. They had a rather large bunny in their yard this afternoon/evening. They've been throwing leftover veggies and fruit out into their garden so that might explain the size of the rabbit.

I have tomorrow off. Not sure what I'm going to do other than attempt to sleep in. I'm sure I can find something to keep myself occupied. I don't need geoceries yet so I most likely will not venture out to the store, though a Bulk Barn run out we nice. It's not necessary though so I'm not sure if I'll attempt it or not.

I definately feel better today. I'm hoping for some sunshine tomorrow to help keep my spirits up.

"I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Day 5 - Wild Weather, Dogs and Seafood

This day went so differently than I thought it would have gone a week ago. I was supposed to have checked into the hospital at 8 this morning. Somewhere around 9:35am, I should have been leaving surgery, with my knee fixed. I should have spent a groggy afternoon worring about what my parents were doing to my apartment while I was incapasitated. Instead of eating alone while watching the news, I should have been having dinner with my Mom and Dad. Clearly the Universe had different plans. I am sad. I am disappointed. But I have no control over the situation or circumsances that lead to the change in plans. So I have to just let it go and roll with it. My surgery will be rescheduled at some point and I'll get to see my parents again soon. Trust me, if this social distancing thing goes on longer than a few weeks, I'm out of here. I'm running away and am going home!!

Over all, I think today was the best day of the week. Partly because I'm starting to adapt to my new norm and partly because it's normal to feel happy that it's Friday. While my plans for the weekend really aren't all that different than my plans for the week, the major difference is that I don't have to work :)

Given that things were a wee  bit slow on the work front, I decided to make muffins, so that I'd had something yummy for my morning snack. I ended up making Oatmeal-Orange muffins with dried canberries. I gotta say, they're one of the best muffins I've made. I swapped out the sugar and used Splenda instead and they were still awesome. I ate three of them today (not all at the same time!).

Oatmeal Orange Muffins with dried cranberries

Our weather was a strange one. Started the morning off at +2, hit+14 this afternoon and we're currently sitting at -2 (feels like -9 with the windchill), on our way down to -10.  We had rain earlier and now we may see flurries. Welcome to spring in Canada. If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

I got out for a walk during the warm but windy part and made it home before it rained. I saw a lot more people today. Probably close to a dozen people plus five dogs and three people on bikes. I watched one guy on a bike almost wipe out on some ice on a pathway. People smiled and said hi. Some even stopped for a moment and chatted, all while keeping a respectable distance.

This evening, I supported a local food truck. They've set up shop in another local business' parking lot and for the first time, are offering delivery! So I got my seafood fix tonight with some tender calamari and flakey battered fish. It was nice. I think I've met my deep fried quota for the week though. LOL.

Fish with veggie chips and calamari fritti

I also only watched the news once today. I watched it for a bit this morning. Other than hearing the top of the hour news update on the radio, that was all I exposed myself to today.

I did a lot of reading this afternoon/evening/night. I'm hooked on the Outlander series. I started with the tv show and then several people told me how awesome the books are so I stopped the show and started in on the books, which are 900-1000 pages long. Anyhow, I'm on book two, Drangonfly in Amber and I finally reached the point in the book where I passed where I stopped watching the tv show. Up to now, I had an idea of what was going to happen. Now I don't, so I got much more engrossed in the book. It's a lovely way to kill time.

Tomorrow should be interesting. I have to leave my nest (aka, my apartment) and I have to go to the bank and to a grocery store. I'd better make a good list, I don't want to have to go out again mid-week. Should be an interesting time.

"Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won't have a title until much later." - Bob Goff

More Weather Venting and A Bus Caused Power Outage

I made it through the wilderness. Somehow I made it through. Didn't know how lost I was....because the damn snow/ice pellets were in my eyes. It was definitely a brutal day. Those bloody little ice pellets really hurt when they're coming down. The wind whipping them around didn't help. The funny part is that the ice pellets actually were providing some traction on the sidewalk. There'd been some freezing rain earlier. Thankfully that had stopped before I left for work. It's zero and raining right now. Our "Winter Storm" warning ended at 10:18, so about a 20 minutes ago. We still might see some freezing drizzle overnight and possibly some more tomorrow morning but it sounds like we're in for just normal rain and above zero temps tomorrow. My apartment is still damn cold though. It's kind of like being at my parent's house. My poor nose has been cold since I got home from work. Looks like we have a rainy week ahead of us too.

Work was good today. I was kept busy doing research on requests and getting some late finance things done. It was relatively quiet in the office as a lot of people had taken the day off and even more didn't make it in today due to the weather. We had an office "coffee break" which involved getting coffee and doughnuts for the staff. I think everyone liked that. We even managed to get some for the evening shift and they were happy. Unlike parts back home, we lucked out and didn't lose power at all today. The storm caused power outages back in Southern Ontario. Only one part of Ottawa lost power and that was thanks to a city transit bus. It slide off the road and took out some power poles in the process. Our buses are talented like that. And it's the second time one of those particular style of bus has slide off the road this winter. I think the City of Ottawa needs to "Winter Road Test" any new style/type of bus that they're thinking of purchasing. That was they'll know that they can survive our winter weather.

I'm in for a quiet weekend. First up on the agenda is a frequent item: sleeping in. Once that is accomplished, I really have to get my ass in gear and finish getting this place cleaned up. I need to re-organize the clutter and then sweep/swiffer/wash the floors. I also need to wash the towels and bedding. Lots of fun, right? Curling up with my book or a good movie might be in the cards too. I think some Chinese food might be as well. I'll have to see what I feel like tomorrow. Here's hoping that the productivity fairy comes to visit and I can get a lot accomplished. My bedroom is pretty much a lost cause (always is) so I'm not going to worry about that right now. Besides, no one but me sees it!!

Since my eyes seem to be closing on their own, I think it's time to log off and go burrow down under my blankets and see if I can get warm. Which will probably backfire and I'll wake up at 3am, hot and sweaty. LOL.

Good Night!

Sarah

Snow be gone!!

More Ranting About The Weather and Random Thoughts.

For a long week, it's gone by surprisingly quick. It's been a very busy and stressful week too. Plus I've got PMS. I'm kind of impressed that I haven't snapped and tore someone's head off. But tomorrow is going to be a tricky one. We're in for a very nasty storm, full of snow and ice pellets and maybe even my favourite thing of all: Freezing rain. Stupid weather.

I was in bed a little after 9 last night. I curled up and decided to read for a bit but I'd put my book away and was asleep before 10. I haven't made it to bed that early in quite awhile. I sure made a difference on my day today. French class was good. We had a quiz and I made it through the quiz in one piece so that was good. In fact, the class seemed to fly by today.

I just keep telling myself that I only have to make it through tomorrow. Then it will be the weekend. I've stocked up on food so I don't have to go out (but I still might as I think I'm going to make mussels again this weekend). I'm going to focus on cleaning all weekend and get my apartment in tip-top shape again. It might not look/feel like spring but my spring cleaning is in full swing. I still need to find something for my friend to sleep on while she's here. I'm pretty sure I saw some air beds on sale in the Canadian Tire flyer for this upcoming week.

My winter boots are ready to go for tomorrow but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the storm misses us all together (yeah, I'm delusional) or at least doesn't hit as bad as it's supposed to or maybe just brings us a little snow and no ice. Or just rain (normal rain). Sigh. I'm so ready for spring to be here.

Time to hit the hay and dream of sunshine. Oh, and my little blog here now has over 8000 page views. That's  crazy awesome. And still incredibly unbelievable.

Good Night!

Sarah

Sarah + PMS = this photo :)

You call this Spring? Oh Look! Firemen!

This has to be one of the worst springs that we've had in years. The weather just can't seem to even out. I got used to this roller coaster type weather when I was in Alberta but this is very odd for Ontario. Environment Canada is calling for a significant snow event on Friday. This isn't good.

We had some excitement this morning. I'd gone on a coffee run. When I came out of Tim Horton's, there was smoke in the air and I could see it rising from the back of the restaurant across the street. By the time I got a block away, the fire trucks were arriving. So I dropped off the coffees and headed back out with 2 co-workers (it was only a block away). So we got to stand there on our break, watching the firefighters in action. I have to say, some of them were on the very handsome side of things. LOL. Sadly, that was the highlight of my day. Who am I kidding? That's been the highlight of my month thus far. Luckily, the restaurant wasn't heavily damaged. It was a fire in their exhaust system.

An alarming number of people in the office seem to be sick at the moment, coming down with spring colds. Given our wacky weather, it's not surprising. I just really hope that I don't come down with a cold before or during my trip to Montreal. I don't really want to get sick after it either, but if I'm going to catch the cold, I'd like to do so after the trip. I still have a lot of cleaning/organizing to do before Michelle gets here. Guess what I'm doing this weekend? Yeah. Cleaning.

I think I'm going to go and crawl into bed and try to get warm. It's a little chilly in my apartment this evening.

Good Night!

Sarah

How I feel some days.

Sunny Saturday and Sleep

Since I haven't blogged for the last couple of nights, I thought I should probably do so. Frankly, I've been too damn tired to Blog. After the no sleep Wednesday, Thursday night wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be. Despite being crazy tired, it still took a long time to fall asleep. Thankfully, last night was a bit better. I'm still waking up a lot in the night but I got to sleep in this morning, so that was very nice. I also had a nice can of Pear Cider this evening so I'm hoping that helps with the sleep too.

It was a beautifully sunny day here today. Too bad it was breezy and that breeze was stupid cold. Stupid weather. We're in for flurries this evening and freezing rain early in the morning then it's going to warm up and the freezing rain will change to normal rain. Looking at the week's forecast, it appears that spring might just be here. Heck, it's supposed to be 20C with rain on Wednesday. Go figure. Weather people are predicting that we'll have a long, hot and humid summer. I'm ok with the long and hot part. The humid part I could do without.

My day was pretty good. I went downtown and cashed in my coupon for a free bottle of perfume that I got for Christmas. The lady said I could have the small bottle for free, or pay $11 and get the big bottle. So, 35ml for free or 60ml for $11. Big bottle it was. I ventured into the market and went to my favourite butcher shop. They had some lamb souvlaki skewers, so I decided to have a Greek night. I bought them and I made some Greek rice and made a Greek Vinaigrette for the Greek salad I made. It was all very good. I also picked up a bottle of my new favourite wine and a couple cans of the Pear Cider I discovered last month. I ran a couple more errands and hit up the grocery store before returning home to bask in the sun coming in my windows.

I started to watch Madagascar 3 this evening. It made me laugh so that's good. I'll watch the other half in the morning.

Since tomorrow is looking like it's going to be a dreary day, I'm going to use it to clean my kitchen. I'm going to make a pasta dish for dinner. It's on the cover of the April issue of Food Network magazine. Looks easy enough. They have a truly kick-ass cake in this issue. It looks just like a flower pot with flowers in it! So cool.

My friend Michelle and I head to Montreal in 13 short days. I'm excited and not excited all at the same time. I have a lot of house work to do before she gets here and work is crazy busy right now so I have to make sure everything's all organized before I leave. That being said, I'm only actually missing 3 days of work and the break will be really good for me and I really am looking forward to seeing Michelle again. It's been a very, very, very long time since I've spent this much time with her, so I'm slightly apprehensive about it too. I'm sure everything will be great. I just hope that Mother Nature co-operates too and gives us some nice weather while we're there. The long range forecast isn't looking very good. But it's still a good ways out.

WTF?? It's 11:30pm and it sounds like someone is walking around upstairs with a peg leg. I swear, I have some of the most disrespectful and inconsiderate neighbours ever. Earlier, I got to listen to the couple down the hall yelling at one and other, again. It's pretty much a weekly event. It's one of the things I miss about my apartment in Calgary. Other than the dude that used to watch porn with the volume up and the naked people who lived in the building beside me, the neighbours were pretty awesome and very quiet.

Anyhow, I can hear my bed calling, so I think it's time to hit the hay and see if I can not only fall asleep quickly, but stay asleep until morning.

Good Night!

Sarah

Super Woman and Snow

I don't even know where to start with today. It's been all over the map and despite a rocky ending, I'm kind of laughing about it. But that might just be because I'm really sleepy right now.

So, I took the day off. I had 2 holiday days left at work and they're "use them or lose them" ones so I decided to use one. I arranged a shopping date with one of my very best friends(NB) and her adorable child (Baby F).  I got to sleep in this morning, which was awesome. Sadly, sleep did not come so easily to NB and Baby F, but he went down for a nap early so things were looking up. Mother Nature was cooperating at the time but soon decided that throwing ice pellets at us would be fun. I took the bus out to Kanata to meet up with them, which was quick and painless. Walking through the mall parking lot while being pelted with little ice chunks was the hard part. Once inside, we got our shop on. Baby F got to pick out a new toy and seemed very happy with all the new things to look out. He even helped me pick out a bottle of hair dye (he had some help from his mom). We then ventured onto Chapters which involved a caffeine stop at Starbucks for NB and I. I got a new book and we headed out to find lunch.

By now the ice had stopped but the snow was picking up and the roads were getting messy. We opted for a drive through and eating lunch at home. Apparently shopping tired out Baby F and he passed out about 5 minutes from home. As a result, NB and I had a peaceful lunch. Once the baby was up, it was time for a changing and a feeding. Both were a little rocky as someone was cranky after their nap. NB got through it all in fine form and with minimal swearing. I doubt she'll ever know just how impressed by her I am. After lunch Baby F seemed quite happy and crawled all over the room playing with all the toys, leaving time for the grown ups to chat and catch up - which was my favourite part of the day.

After a couple of hours, I went out to shovel snow out of the way so the garage door would close properly and so that the car would get out and then it was time to go and pick up Mr. NB. The four of us then headed out for dinner. By now, the roads were a mess, traffic was a mess. the buses were all fucked up, broken down, delayed or jack knifed so we figured that waiting until after rush our would see a smoother trek home.

Dinner was nice. Baby F inhaled it. It was incredible to see. LOL. And our server just kept screwing up. The irony was that he was training someone new!! Towards the end though, Baby F started to get cranky and it was time to jet. I got dropped off at the park and ride and they headed home. When I got into the bus shelter, there was a good number of people there so I was taking that as a good sign - I hadn't missed the bus. Turns out I didn't have to worry about missing the bus simply because there hadn't been one yet......and one wouldn't appear for another hour and 26 minutes!!! We kept seeing "out of service buses" coming into the west end and letting people off but nothing was heading back east. I saw 5 local routes too. It was very frustrating. I could have stayed the night out there but I figured I could last a little while longer and it paid off. The ride home was relatively quick and only slightly nerve racking. It did end was my less than graceful exit off the bus and through a snowbank rather than over it, but nothing was bruised other than my ego so I"m fine. I managed to successfully make it over the next 2 snowbanks I had to traverse on my trek home.

Once home, I got out of my wet clothes and checked my email and then went and had a nice, long soak in a hot bath with some Lavender Epsom Salts. I finished reading my book while I was in there and had a chance to reflect on  the day.

With the weather aside, it was a great day. I didn't have to work and I got to spend several hours just relaxing and hanging out with a very dear and awesome friend who I don't see nearly enough. She's such a wonderful and amazing person, even more so now that she's a mom.Just getting to hang out and chat made the day a great one. Despite being very tired thanks to yet another sleepless night, she just kept going, making sure Baby F was taken care of. I couldn't do it. Watching Baby F play and crawl around was great. He's adorable and highly entertaining but I don't know how she does it. She's Wonder Woman. I honestly don't think I'd have the patience and capability to be so selfless that's required when you're a mom. And she certainly has it in spades. I'm in complete awe of her (and her husband). They're amazing people and kick-ass parents :) And I can't wait to see them all again. But next time, the weather had better be much, much better!

Good Night!

Sarah

This is the only place I like seeing snow!

Monday - Monday

It was a pretty typical Monday for me. While most people in the province had the day off, I did not and it was off to work for me this morning. I have to admit that it was rather nice having a seat on the bus on the way to and from work today. I could handle that every day. Usually the bus is crammed so it was a very nice change of pace. And just for fun, I phoned and woke up my parents this morning before leaving for work this morning. LOL. I'm such an awesome daughter!

Work was crazy busy today. I spent most of the day trying to process refunds (I'm covering for one of the finance admins this week) but I kept getting interrupted or distracted. Crazy. I'm thinking tomorrow will be a little less crazy, so that's good. Mondays are usually a little nutty. And long. It's pretty said that it's Monday night and I'm already looking forward to the weekend. Oh dear.

It was also friggin' cold here today. It was -29 with the windchill when I left for work this morning. I really hope those ground hogs got it right and that this is the last blast of winter and we'll see an early spring. The forecast for the rest of the week is looking good, other than the slight chance of freezing rain tomorrow.

LOL. Cyber hackers posted pro McDonalds tweets on Burger King's Twitter feed today. That's pretty funny. I'm sure Burger King was pissed but it drove a whole mess of people to their Twitter feed. I guess what they say is true: There's no such thing as bad press.

Ok, I'm heading to bed. Despite being cold outside, it's crazy warm in my apartment, except in my bedroom. So I need to go and cool down and then I can get to bed.

Good Night!

Sarah

This is the only place I like seeing snow!

It's Called Winter In Canada People!!

Welcome to winter ladies and gentlemen.

So the weather was a wee bit on the crazy side today. About 25-35cms of cold, white, blowing sideways crazy. But I still prefer this to the freezing rain. I lucked out with my buses today and didn't have to wait long going to work or coming home from work. They buses were running so late that they were almost on time. Just the drivers were different :) Ottawa is still under a snowfall warning. We'll probably see another 3 or so hours of it before it tapers off and the skies clear. We're in for one beautiful weekend though. The sunshine after the storm.

I don't understand the whole brouhaha about this storm. While it's being billed as the biggest one in 4 years, this is Canada. It's winter. This is what happens. It shouldn't come as a great surprise to anyone. It happens every year. And yeah, it's been snowing for 24 hours straight and yes, it was damn windy. It still isn't anything unexpected. It's not like a level 5 hurricane blew through or anything. And it's no where near as destructive as the ice storm was so many moons ago. I made sure I had on my warm winter boots, my warm coat, mittens, a scarf and my warm fleece hood. I walked slowly and watched where I was going. It's how we deal. It's a snow storm people, not the end of the world. The east coast is going to get it much worse than we did.

And a special thanks goes out to my buddy Cam for calling me and telling me how warm and sunny it is in Calgary today. I'll return the favour in May when the mountain throw a snow storm at you guys and we're +12 and sunny :) Hope you found Jen!

Other than having to go out in the storm 4 times today, it was a good day at work. The day flew by and I'm very tired. My friggin' sinuses are pissing me off and it's getting very annoying. If things aren't better by Monday, I think I'm going to have to go and see my doctor. This morning I couldn't wear my glasses because they were pressing on my right sinus, which was causing pressure, which lead to pain and then it lead to my nose dripping like a tap. And my eye watering. I haven't worn eye make up in a week!!

I am very much looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. I have a whole mess of house work to catch up on. Sounds like a thrilling Saturday for me.

I think it's time for bed. I know, I'm such a party animal!!

Good Night!

Sarah

This was 5 years ago but you get the idea.

Stupid Sinuses

Some days I feel like I'm living a real life game of Tetris. All these pieces come at me and I need to figure out where to fit them all in. Today was one of those days. Except I was literally trying to fit pieces in, actually it was people. Musical chairs...without the music :) It's an interesting predicament went you have more people than chairs. And it's a good thing that I like puzzles.

My day went well until around 2pm when my left sinus got all plugged up. I've felt like crap since. I really hope that I'm not coming down with another sinus cold. I just got over one in late December. With how wacky the weather's been, I wouldn't be surprised if I am getting sick.

Not much on my mind tonight as I'm very sleepy. I'm still trying to recover from my late night on Wednesday. The older you get, the harder it is to recover. I think I'll head to bed early tonight and hope that I feel better tomorrow.

Good Night!

Sarah

I can't wait for winter to be over!

Robbie Burns

Today is Robbie Burns Day. It's a day to celebrate the works of a great author and enjoy a little bit of haggis. I had sushi for dinner instead but that doesn't really matter. Robert Burns was born in Scotland on January 25th 1759 and is know as Scotland's favourite son. He was a poet and lyricist. Most people probably know him for his poem "Auld Lang Syne" which was then set to some traditional folk song and now we all sing it while ringing in the new year. Bet you didn't know that the song was that old.

Now I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not, but I can hear a lot of running water tonight. We have hot water heat so I hear it in the heaters all the time, but tonight I can hear it in the pipes in the bathroom/closet and the heaters in the hallways outside the apartment sound like they have rivers running through them. And every time I flush the toilet, I can hear it echo in my bath tub, quite loudly. While sitting here writing this blog, I've heard the bath tub echo, twice. I'm guessing someone else at this end of the building flushed their toilet too. I can't see any water coming up into my bath tub. Maybe I'll put the stopper in it, just in case....

It's still very cold here but not as cold as it was. We're stilling at a balmy -15 right now (feels like -21 with the windchill) which is a notable improvement from the -39 that we had earlier this week. The part I'm not liking is the fact that there's a risk of freezing rain in the forecast for Tuesday. I wish that would go away. The cold weather has been really good for the Rideau Canal. The full length of it opens up tomorrow. Or maybe it was today. I don't remember. Either way, I won't be going on it. Ice and I do not get along.

I think I'm going to venture off to the bed and try to ignore the sounds of running water.

Good Night!

Sarah

Photo of the gardens inside the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas

Cookies And A Deep Freeze

I had a pretty good day at work. I was in a training session today (and it continues tomorrow) and the session is going really well. The guys running it are great and really laid back and the stuff we're learning is pretty interesting so it's keeping my attention. Hopefully I remember everything and can apply my knowledge soon.

As a result of training, I actually got to leave work at a normal time.I did a quick tour through Walmart ( I forgot half the stuff I wanted to buy, so it must not have been important ) and found a very nice top on the clearance rack for $7. So that was a nice discovery. After that, I headed home and made dinner.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been craving chocolate chip cookies. I don't really know why. Since there wasn't anything good on tv tonight, I decided to bake. My apartment smells wonderful and I have a nice pile of home made cookies in my kitchen. I think I'll take some to my training session tomorrow and share with my fellow classmates. And the instructors of course.

It's been a long time since I've felt like baking. I love doing it just haven't had the desire. I'm taking this as a positive sign. Engaging in activities that I enjoy is the sign of a happy person. The next step on the improvement list is getting out more. Interacting with other human beings more. That one is going to be a bit of a dozy, seeing as I do love my alone time. I suppose that's why the experts say that we need to step outside of our comfort zone. I've been very chatty with the others in my training session, so that's good too :)

Little positive steps every day. Oh! And I managed not to freeze today, despite the temp being -39C when I left this morning and then being -35C when I came home. Stupid weather. Ottawa was the coldest Capital City in the world today. Novosibirsk, the capital of  Siberia, was warmer than us!! Heck, even Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut in Canada's North was warmer than Ottawa. If you threw a pitcher of boiling water into the air, snow would form. The tried it on the local news at 6pm and it worked. LOL. Insane. Tomorrow should be slightly warmer at -27. Lucky us.

I'm going to go and crawl into my warm bed and dream of spring now.

Good Night!

Sarah

I was more bundled up today than I was in this photo!

Hockey and Tofu

Man, I've missed hockey. I've been watching the Ottawa-Florida game on commercial breaks during my other shows. LOL. Ottawa is winning with 10 minutes left to go. Let's go Ottawa!!

Work was good today. Steady but not crazy, which was nice. It was nice to just keep moving from one task to the other and actually be able to finish something. I have a seminar tomorrow morning which sounds interesting. It's about mental health and stress in the workplace. I love that my employer holds seminars like this. I think it's very important.

I made a kick ass soup for dinner. It had tofu in it :) I marinaded some extra firm tofu in some toasted sesame oil, soya sauce and minced garlic and then I fried it up until it was a little crispy and tossed it on top of my soup. It was sooo good! I could have eaten to tofu as is. The soup was just mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, chicken broth, onion power, garlic and Udon noodles. Oh and and come chili pepper flakes. I've got some left for lunch tomorrow. I'm quite happy as to how my first attempt at using tofu turned out.

My lower back is quite sore tonight. Not sure what I did to it. Maybe I slid on some ice this morning and twisted and didn't notice. I dunno. I'll try walking around a bit more tomorrow and see if that helps. An ibuprofen gel cap before bed is a good plan too.

It's friggin' cold here. And we're in for it all week. It's weeks like this that makes me think that global warming just might be a myth. But then when I realize that 100 years ago, they had several weeks a winter that was this cold, I think that maybe it isn't such a myth.

6 minutes left in the hockey game (and I've been writing this blog for more than 4 minutes, got to love "sports time".) and I think it's time to head to bed. Maybe I'll leave the game on while I wash up and brush my teeth. Then I can just listen to the game.

Good Night!

Sarah

Ottawa scoring on NJ a couple years ago :)

Freezing Rain and Cheese

It was a busy day at the office, which made the day fly by! I like when I'm busy but not crazy.

We did get some of the freezing rain that was forecast. In fact, we're still under the freezing rain warning. The temp just doesn't seem to want to warm up enough. I guess the warm front has stalled a bit. The commute home wasn't bad. The sidewalks downtown were good. I didn't run into any slippery bits until I hit the front walk of my building. No real surprise there. I grabbed the salt bucket from the lobby and salted it for whoever came along next.

Hopefully all the freezing rain leaves soon. We're in for rain tomorrow and a temp of +8. I can handle that :) I still need to focus on getting my apartment re-organized. Walmart has some nice home items on sale this week so I might buy a few new things for my place. Maybe. Or maybe I'll get my nails done. LOL. I haven't done that in a very long time. I feel like doing a little pampering. God knows I'm way over due for a hair cut!

Between the teachers and the natives, it seems like no one is happy these days. I'm getting a little tired of turning on the news to see stories about who's mad at whom today. And both groups seem to be doing a wonderful job of pissing off the people who's support they're trying to get. I just hope both issues can get resolved soon. It would be nice if everyone would stop and remember what they do have rather than focusing on what they don't.

On a completely un-related topic, I'm in love with the garlic and herb variety of Boursin cheese. That stuff is amazing. I could eat it every day. That's not a good thing. LOL. Oh well. I suppose it's better than french fries or potato chips.

That's enough rambling for one night I think. My book is getting very interesting so I'm going to log off and read for a bit before bed. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Good Night!

Sarah

Stupid Weather

Wow. Almost forgot to blog again. I must not be in a writing mood as of late.

Nothing thrilling to report on today. It was a pretty standard day. I got some groceries after work and made butter chicken for dinner. That also happens to be what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

I'm really hoping that the weather forecast for tomorrow changes. As it stands right now, we're in for freezing rain in the afternoon. Lucky us. Seriously, what the hell gives with the damn freezing rain?? Rain or Snow. Pick one and stick with it. And I don't even have a prince charming I can call to come and rescue me so I'm stuck slip-sliding my way home from work. "Due to the deeper cold air in the Ottawa Valley, the freezing rain will most likely persist into the early evening hours." Dammit. That will make for a fun commute home. Stupid weather. It's also supposed to be +9 on Saturday. Go figure. Everything melts during the day and then freezes overnight so all the sidewalks become ice rinks again. I just can't win. I need to win the lottery so I can spend my winters somewhere warm, where there isn't any ice.

Sigh.

I'm going to bed.

Good Night!

Sarah

Gracious People

I was a much warmer day today so I was able to wear one of my new dresses to work. I'm not crazy enough to freeze my ass off, waiting for the bus in tights when it's -25 with the windchill. Doing it at -1 is much more reasonable.

More people managed to hunt me down today but that's ok. It was all easy to deal with stuff. Our office is very, very full. While walking the floor today, there was people everywhere. And we're missing a bunch of people too. Everyone's sick. It's crazy. I think we're going to have to start building bunk-bed style desks soon :)

I made another awesome dinner tonight. I made pork chops in mushroom sauce with sauteed brussel sprouts and cumin basmati rice. It was really good. I made the mushroom sauce from scratch with fresh mushrooms. I think it was the best part of the meal. There was some onions and garlic in there too. I've been doing a very good job of cooking from scratch lately. I'm quite enjoying it. I don't know what I'm making tomorrow night yet but I don't think I'm going to be home for dinner. I'm supposed to go to the movies after work. I'm finally going to see Breaking Dawn Part 2. It's at the cheap theatre so paying $3 to see it is a pretty good deal.

Sometimes people surprise me. I got one of those surprises this afternoon. One of my favourite musicians is going through a hard time in his professional career, yet he continues to be so incredibly position and gracious. And he's a younger guy too. So many rock and roll musicians are all about partying, sex and drugs. But not this one. He's definitely not your stereotypical rocker. Might be part of why I like him so much. I'm also a fan of his killer guitar skills. But yeah, he's being so professional and so patient, it's incredible to watch.He seems mature beyond his years. I'd like to think that he's like that in real like too and not just putting on a public show, but it's great to know that people like him still exist.

I hear my book calling me so it's off to bed I go. And yes mom, I did do you my dishes. LOL!

Good Night!

Sarah

Blog 2 Of The Day

Seeing as this is my 2nd blog of the day, it's not going to be a very long one. Not all that much has happened in the last 12 hours to warrant writing about.

It's been snowing on and off all day. Just what we needed. More snow. We were supposed to get up to 4cms today and now we're supposed to get another 2 overnight. That's just swell. On the upside, there's no snow in the forecast for tomorrow. In fact, we should see the sun and that's awesome.

I had a very quiet day today. I got some cleaning and re-organizing done. Not nearly as much as I wanted to but for having slept for almost 9 hours last night, I was on the tired side today and just couldn't find the energy to keep cleaning. So I watched some tv, checked FB, surfed Pinterest, killed some Zombies and went back to doing dishes. LOL. I've discovered a new show on Netflix. It's the BBC's show "Sherlock" which is set in modern day London. The guy playing Sherlock is very easy on the eyes and the shows have pretty decent story lines. The issue is that each episode is an hour and a half long. So watching them takes up a large chunk of time.

My computer keeps acting up and is pitching a small fit so I think it's time to end this and see if I can trouble shoot the issue without having to resort to calling one of my buddies for help.

Good Night!

Sarah

Home!

I know, I know, I didn't blog last night. By the time I even thought of my blog, I was already in bed, all cocooned up in my blankets and there was no way that I was getting back out of that warmth again until I absolutely had to.

I made it home, safe and sound, with no thanks to Mother Nature. When I woke up yesterday, Ottawa resembled the inside of a snow globe. Steph made it to my house and while I was taking out the garbage and watering my plants, she was shovelling out the end of my street where the plow had made a nice pile from plowing the main road. When we were ready to go, Steph had me stand on the corner, in the snow and watch for traffic on the main road. It's 5am and we're in the middle of a snow storm, there's no traffic! But I did as I was told and I gave her the all clear and she gunned it out of my street, through the snow pile and onto the main road. YAY! I then had to run around the snow bank and get into the car.

Partway there, we saw police lights in the distance. As we creeped closer, we saw that both of our lanes were blocked by an accident. Thankfully, being insanely early and a snow storm, we were able to drive in the other lane and go around it all. It was a van vs tow truck crash. Steph said "I wonder who was the cause of that" and her husband and I both said "Tow Truck" at the same time. But judging by where the van was, I think it might have been the van.

We got to the train station at a good time. In fact, we beat the attendant to the station. Most people were huddled around the front door but it was in the wind. I stood by the back door, where it's protected and I could watch the snow fall. I also lucked out since this was the door the Via guy used and I was the first person to be let into the warmth of the train station.

Via Rail has come a long way in the last 10 years. They've introduced seat assignment and are fixing up their cars. But when it comes to holiday travel, Via sucks. The seat assignment goes out the window. They just tell everyone to "sit where ever" This really sucks if you're travelling in pair because it means that you might not get seats together. Anyhow, the boarding announcement said to get on at car 3. So we hustled there. An elderly lady and I had been hiding under a covered area until the train was ready for boarding, so we were one of the last ones to get to the car. Once there, another lady said to go down to where the man was sweeping, car 5. So we trudged through the storm to that car. I was the 2nd to last to get one. First problem - no more room for luggage. Despite Via advertising the hell out of their new baggage policy, people ignored it. So I told the Via guy that there was no more room for luggage. He said not to worry about it and to leave it on the floor and he'd take care of it. This is code for "I'm going to hide it somewhere and you're going to spend 30 minutes in Toronto searching the train for it". Sigh. Next problem, there was only 1 seat left on the train. It was in a 4-seater, with 3 young University guys. Oh hell no. I got back to the Via guy (who was looking increasing frazzled) and said "There are no more open seats on this car" and I put my hand on my hip for good measure. So he said "I can let you onto car 4, there are seats there". So I followed him into the oasis that was car 4.

Those of you who read this regularly know that I never get the new cars on the train. Call it a Christmas miracle, but Car 4 was one of the new refurbished cars. And it only had about 12 people in there. Ahhh. I ended up having 2 seats to myself until Coburg. It was great. I did got back to the other car and grabbed my suitcase and brought it onto my car, which had lots of luggage room still. I sat back and enjoyed the ride. I also gave the Via guy a tip when he came around selling food and drinks later.

Of course, when I changed trains in Toronto, I was back to crappy old cars but I didn't care anymore at this point. The ride was a smooth one and we got into Kitchener only about 4 minutes late. When I got off the train, I looked around and couldn't see my mom. So I waited a bit thinking she was having a smoke somewhere or was late getting to the train. I started to walk down the platform towards the parking lot and I finally see her pop out from the train station. I make my way over to her and give her a kiss and a big hug and then someone comes out the train station behind her - it was my dad! What an awesome surprise!

I haven't seen my family since August. I've gone longer without seeing them but any length of time seems long. So for weeks, all I keep thinking of is that one perfect moment when I get off the train and I get to see my mom and see her smile and I get to give her a kiss and wrap my arms around her. Whenever I was having a bad day or work was really stressing me out, that's what I'd think about. No matter how old I get or how independent I am, the second I get to rush up to my mom at the train station and hug her, everything feels right with the world again. The stress and anxiety of the trip just melt away. Tears of happiness spring to my eyes, my heart soars and my soul sings because I'm just so happy! And yesterday I got to do that twice!!
My mom was worried that the weather here would be bad so my dad took the day off to driver her to the train station, but she didn't tell me. I'm pretty sure that will be my favourite Christmas gift this year :)

After picking me up, we headed to Arby's for lunch and then stopped at a surplus store where mom bought me a meat thermometer and then we headed home. After a short rest, dad and I headed back out to do a little shopping. I got to check out the new Shopper's Drug Mart that was built in town and we ran into my grandparents along the way. I got to make my grandmother's day since she didn't know I was back in town yet. So that was nice.

We had a nice dinner, which mom made. I was just happy not to have to cook for myself for once! And then the 3 of us watched a "Duck Dynasty" mini marathon. OMG. That show is funny and those guys are insane. At 9 mom switched to Ghost Hunters and I almost didn't make it to the end of the show. I'd been running on just 4 hours of sleep. So I made my way to the even colder upstairs and got ready for bed. My parents' house is cold. I've mentioned this before. But the upstairs is down right chilly. It was crazy windy last night (still is this morning) yet the window in my bedroom is open a crack. Mom likes having fresh air. Being way too tired to fight with the window, I left it as is. But damn, it was chilly in there. I nearly froze to death getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The toilet seat is so cold that you don't really want to sit, you're more inclined to just hover. And by the time I got back into bed and tried to get the covers on my again, I couldn't feel my fingers. Oh yeah, no hot water in the bathroom. You have to run the sink for a good 2 minutes before you get hot water. Brrrr.

I was the first one up this morning though and here I am, blogging. Or hogging the computer as my mother muttered and wandered off.

So I should wrap this up and go get some breakfast. Not sure what we're doing today other than braving the mall and Walmart for a few final items. This should be fun :)

Good Morning!

Sarah

Where's The Pause Button?

So much to do, so little time to do it in.

Why is it that the closer you get to the start of your holidays, the busier everything seems? Shouldn't it be going in slow motion? Dragging on and on as you count the minutes until your vacation starts? I kind of wish that was true.

I have 2 days of work left and they're jam packed. There's a holiday office party and secret Santa gift exchange somewhere in there as well. Plus I really need to clean my apartment and get some more laundry done.

My attempt to get into work early this morning was thwarted by the local transit peeps. The roads this morning were actually worse than they were yesterday. And the bus was uber late. And then it kept getting stuck in the snow. I had the same problem tonight when trying to get to a doctor's appointment and then to the pharmacy afterwards. Crazy. I hope the roads are better tomorrow and the buses are running better so that I can get into the office at a decent hour.

I also still need to pack and figure out how I'm getting it all packed. Plus what clothes to take home. It's always cold in my parents' house but packing my warm sweaters take up so much room in my suitcase. It's very annoying. I'm sure I'll figure it out. I always do. I might just have to get a little creative.

My eyes are closing by themselves so it's time to log off and sleep.

2 more sleeps :)

Good Night!

Sarah

Working Girl

So I'm sitting here, and in an attempt to find something on tv that isn't a reality show or a Christmas movie, I end up watching "Working Girl". You know, the movie from 1988 with Melanie Griffth?
I haven't seen it for a long time and I can't help but think "What the hell is up with the hair and outfits!?!?!"

I'm convinced that everyone was high in the 80s. It's the only way to explain those hair styles. And clothes. Crazy. It's like the Jersey Shore exploded all over a decade.

I survived another slippery and sloppy Monday. We had more freezing rain and rain which resulted in very slippery roads and sidewalks. I'm terrified of ice, so this doesn't go over well with me. What sucks is that we're not out of the woods yet. We're still under a freezing rain warning as it may re-develop overnight. And then turn to snow. Snow I can handle. It's the ice that I hate.

It's going to be a short blog tonight. I have to get to bed as I need to be at work early tomorrow. It's going to be a long and busy day. And I have a doctor's appointment after work too. Lots and lots of fun.

But only 4 more sleeps until I'm homeward bound!

Good Night,

Sarah