Funny Looking Rain

Nothing special to report about today. I worked some overtime and ended up working longer than I planned. I ended up helping one of our teams, since they needed assistance and helping them would be more productive for the office as a whole, so I jumped in and learnt a hand. And now I have a new "skill" to add to my resume :)

Environment Canada really screwed up out forecast today, which did not impress me. They said that it would be +4 with rain. So I dressed for rain. Around 9:30, the rain turned to big, wet snow clumps. Not snow flakes, clumps. And it did that off and on all flipping day. Even at 3pm, after almost a solid 2 hours of snow, Environment Canada still said "Rain occasionally mixed with wet snow". WTF? So I got to slip and slide my way home since I was in runners. That was super fun.

I was a little productive when I got home. I managed to get 2 loads of laundry done and I've written up a bunch of my Christmas cards. I think I'm going to need more stamps. Maybe I'll be able to get the rest done tomorrow. I need to have a very productive day tomorrow. There's lots to get done and I'm running of days before Christmas to do them.

I can hear my bed calling so it's time to log off.

Good Night!

Sarah

Garlic and Ornaments and Planes, Oh My!

Work was just a typical Friday. Lots to do and hyper people everywhere. LOL. Steph came in for a "surprise" visit. I knew she was coming but some of the peeps she used to work with didn't know so that was the surprise part. Especially Giggles. Their reaction was by far the best :)

Steph kidnapped me with the promise of free admission to a rather large craft show and sale. Can't say no to that. But en route to dinner, I got us side tracked. As we were driving and chatting, I suddenly told her "pull in here!". I've been looking for a specific item for my brother for Christmas and figured that this particular store would have it.

OMG. I have to say, that was the most poorly laid out store I've ever been in. Not only could you not find anything, but we couldn't find staff to help either. I'm convinced we could have played hide and seek in there for hours. By some miracle, we found what we were looking for and it was in the "Clearance" section. Except it wasn't marked down. Didn't care. I found what I wanted. Next trick: find the cashier. That was actually harder than you think it should be given that stores typically want you to pay for things. We finally found a till an thankfully, there was a staff member there. I asked her about the shirt since it was in the clearance section but wasn't marked down. She was nice and went and asked a manager. The manager knocked $15 off the price. Sweet. I paid for my purchase and the clerk put it in a ridiculously oversized bag. In fact, Steph asked if she could get in the bag and have me carry her out of the store.

We continued on our way and made it to a mall to grab some dinner. We both must have been rather hungry as it only took us 2 minutes to decide where to eat. This is usually a much longer and drawn out process. While eating, we had a bird's eye view of Santa's Village and got to watch people having their photos to Santa. It was rather entertaining, especially when the two teens girls got their photo done and Santa keep squeezing them in close to him.

Now that we had some food in our system and had the energy to shop and explore, we hit the Craft Show and Sale. It really was quite large. One of my former co-workers was working at a booth there so she took our coats for us, so that was handy. We wandered and explored and bought some gifts and ate a bunch of free samples, a surprising number of which contained garlic. Since we were both going to be in the same car together, we felt it was safe for us to eat the garlic. Nothing's worse than smelling garlic on someone else. But if you both eat it, it's all good! It was very nice and a good way to spend a cold, rainy evening. Even better was that Steph got the admission tickets for free! Before we left, we hit up the bathroom (no great shock there). Since the show was getting ready to close, several women made the same pit stop as us.

While we were in the stalls, a cleaning person came in and she was talking to a supervisor on her walkie talkie. The man said "once we have evacuated the facility..." What now? The lady in the stall next to me said "Well that doesn't sound good." Everyone laughed. I said "I wonder what they're not telling us" and she replied "I don't know but it can't be good. Pee faster!". The woman on the walkie talkie was now laughing at us all. I'm sure the supervisor meant that once the facility emptied out, not evacuated. But still, it was amusing.

Once we got to the car, Steph was getting bottles of water from the trunk and we're just chatting away. All of a sudden, a jet takes off from the airport (which is literally right across the street from where we were) and both of us jump a good foot in the air. Since it was so cloudy, the sound was really bouncing back and it sounded like the damn plane was in the parking lot with us. And it kind of startled us. I guess we were on the jumpy side tonight.

I really need to get to bed. I'm still sleepy from my late night last night and now from my long day today. Sleep is sooooo good!

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas Lights and Beavertails

I feel like a bit of a rebel. I stayed out quite late this evening, especially since I have to work tomorrow. LOL. It's funny. I'm a grown woman and can come and go as I please yet I still think it's naughty or whatever to stay out late on a "work night". I know, crazy. As I was coming in my neighbour down the hall was heading out to hockey so I guess I'm not all that late.

It was a very fun evening. Myself, Xtina and 3 co-workers all headed up to Parliament Hill to see the kick off celebrations for "Christmas Lights Across Canada". They were very nice.

It started with someone doing a mini-concert on the Peace Tower Bells and then a youth choir sang (they were really good) and there were a few speeches, more singing, and then they lit the lights and some fireworks went off and the capital was all lit up.

We all managed to get candles too, so that we could be part of the "lights" on the hill. I'm pretty sure everyone of us got wax on ourselves and/or out mitts/gloves.

 

 

 

 

After the show, we did a quick tour of the back of Parliament Hill and then went to the Chateau Laurier to warm up and see the Trees of Hope. One of us attempted to turn the hotel into a wax museum but dropping not one, but two candles on the floor, each of which left a nice pile of hard wax behind. And it wasn't me. I swear.

 

Once warm, we opted to hit up the Beavertail stand since the line up on the Hill had been way too long.

So off we went. Despite it being friggin' cold, we all took off out mitts to each the wonderful creation that is the Beavertail. I had apples and cinnamon on mine and it was amazing. I haven't had a Beavertail in about 2 years so it was a real treat. Factor in that I was really hungry and cold and that made the Beavertail seem like the most delicious thing ever.

We then decided that we needed real food so we wandered over to the mall and ate at the restaurant there. It was very nice. They stuck us downstairs next to a group having an office Christmas party so we had a little bit of entertainment along the way. Atleast I think it was a Christmas party. Who knows.

All in all, it was a great evening/night spent with some very cool people. We got to participate in a some very Canadian activities, kept re-lighting each other when the damn wind kept blowing our candles out, player tourist, got a little sticky, had some good food and had quite a few laughs. That's definitely my kind of fun. Except for the cold. That wasn't very nice. LOL.

Good Night!

Sarah

C'est Fini!!

It's been 13 long weeks, but I'm finally done. Until February. LOL.

Yes, today was my last french class of this session. And the even better news is that I "met" the course objectives which means I get to move onto the next level in February. I'm on my way to being bilingual. It's a long and frustrating road but it's worth it in the end.

My afternoon was a blur. Playing catch up from being in class all morning :) It's going to be a little strange next Wednesday, being in the office in the morning. I'm sure I'll re-adjust quickly.

I did something kind of cool this evening. The lead guitarist, Sal Costa, from one of my favourite bands, My Darkest Days, did a live web chat to answer questions about his new clothing line. He's released a few items so far and will be releasing more tomorrow. The really wicked part is that he donates partial proceeds to charity. And the charity changes every so often too. I think that's awesome.

Anyhow, he was answering questions from the fans and I got 2 questions answered and a request answered. LOL. One of my questions was the last one he answered and it was the most important one. Sal is a very big proponent of healthy living and eating. He gave a very honest and straightforward answer to my question, which was "What's the most important healthy eating tip you can give". And he answered it! He reminded everyone that if you eat garbage, you'll feel and look bad. You are what you eat. He recommended staying away from bad fats and to eat 6 small meals through out the day to get your metabolism up. It makes sense and I've definitely heard that recommendation before.

It seems like a simple concept, but putting it into place is the trick. Especially is you're rather set in the way you live/eat already. The "diet" industry in North America is a multi-billion dollar industry. There is just so much out there. Shakes, pills, vitamins, diets, work outs, equipments, meal plans, drugs... and there's so much hype around all of them. It's very hard to wade through all of that noise and figure out what is real, what works and what makes the most sense for me. Just because something works for one person, don't mean it will work for me.

I definitely have something to mull over for a little bit. Maybe simplicity is the key?

Good Night!

Sarah

My, What Beautiful Eyes You Have

Ok. So that's not exactly what Little Red Riding Hood said to the wolf but I'm allowed to have some creative licence here.

One of the screws on my glasses came loose today and nearly feel off. This is the 2nd time in the last couple of months that this has happened. Which means, it's time for new glasses. In order to get new glasses, I needed to go for an eye exam. Since my last eye exam was in early 2009, I was definitely due for a visit.

I lucked out. Unlike general practitioners, optometrists seem to be readily available. I was able to get an appointment for the same day. Turns out it was a very nice lady with a very unpronounceable last name. LOL. I underwent a new test that I hadn't had before where a puff of air is blown into my eye to test the pressure. That was kind of neat. And I had a very wicked photo taken of both eyes, so that they can see the inside of the eye and retina. It looked a lot like an egg yolk with veins in it. Or Mars with a lot of rivers. Not sure if I'm going to be able to eat eggs for a bit. All in all, it was a painless and quick visit and ended with good news!

Not only are my eyes perfectly healthy, by my vision has improved! Yeah, that can happen. News to me. But the doctor said that it does happen and that why my eyes are getting blurry at night or if I've read for too long. My prescription it too strong and the extra strain is making my eyes tired. Who knew?

I picked out 2 new pairs of glasses tonight (it was a buy one, get one free promotion) which is awesome. This way I can leave one pair at work and have one pair at home and not have to keep taking a pair back and forth. And I'm pretty excited about them too. One set of frames are really awesome and kind of funky. The other pair are more reserved and sophisticated. I still only need to wear them when I'm on the computer or reading but I was told that I can wear them anytime really. So that's good to know. I can't wait to get my new glasses.

Tomorrow is a special day. It's the last French class!!!!!! Just one more. I can do it. LOL. It should be a good class I hope. I think it's mostly just review. Yee-haw!!!!!!

Good Night!

Sarah

This has nothing to do with eye exams, it's just a funny photo!

Just Another Ordinary Day

I have absolutely no idea what to write about tonight. I'm very sleepy and no ideas are coming to me. It was a rather normal day with nothing interesting happening. I went to work, went to the grocery store, came home, made dinner, watched Castle and Bones and now I'm sitting here, writing this. No strange people on the bus tonight. Nothing overly crazy at work, except for a minor advent calendar freak out and then having to explain to a couple people what exactly an advent calendar is. Pretty normal, typical day.

I jut realized that if you look around my apartment, you'd have no idea idea that Christmas is only 22 days away. I no decorations what so ever up. Not even a window cling. I keep seeing all kind of pictures on Facebook that friends and family have posted of their brightly colours lights and their well decorated Christmas trees and I've got nothing. And more to the point, I have no desire to put any of it up. Why bother? I'm the only one who'll see it. I suppose I should at least put my wreath on the door. I made it myself and I think it's rather pretty.

The Christmas spirit seems rather elusive this year. Maybe I'll find some Thursday night. It's the kick off to "Christmas Lights Across Canada" on Parliament Hill. It's usually a pretty magical event.

Right now, I need sleep more than anything. I slept like crap last night. Not quite as bad a friend of mine who was up all night with a sick baby (who I hope is all better really soon!), but bad enough. It took me nearly 2 hours to actually fall into a good sleep and then I kept waking up every 2 hours and then I woke up a half hour before my alarm was set to go off. That sucked royally!

So I'm going to log off and head to bed early now. I don't think my nail polish is 100% dry yet but I'll take the risk of getting sheet patterns in it.

Good Night!

Sarah

Sharbot Lake, 2010

It's A Wonderful Life

So I'm thinking that the Christmas spirit might have found me.

After a very productive morning, I braved the cold to do some more Christmas shopping. And it was fucking cold out. Still is. It was the stupid wind. Cut right through you. It was so bad that when I topped at Mark's to look for a gift, I ended up buying myself new, warm mittens because my gloves weren't keeping my hands warm enough.

Anyhow, I was in Canadian Tire and I took a tour though the Christmas decoration section. It was so beautiful. Shiney and sparklie and it made me smile. I also caught myself humming "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" as I wandered the isles. They have some pretty cool lights now. I have to admit that I'm still not a fan of the LED lights. The old school ones are prettier and the colours are better but some of the new ones are interesting and fun.

After Canadian Tire, I bought a wonderful fruitcake from the Lions Club. It's a dark one. My favourite. My mother is quite the fan of fruitcake too, so maybe I'll see if I can hold off eating it and just take it home with me at Christmas and share it with her.

Now I'm at home, resting and relaxing and watching "It's a Wonderful Life". The original one, in black and white. I'd forgotten how long this movie is though. But it means that I must be getting in the Christmas spirit. I'm even thinking about decorating. I didn't put up my tree last year. Didn't really decorate either. I got to visit my family at Christmas so I figure that I don't need a tree here. But I think I might put mine up for me this year. We'll see.

Back to the movie for a minute. Watching this old movie reminded me of a family friend, Mr. B. Today was a very special day for him. He turned 100 years old today. Amazing. Simply amazing. I can only imagine all the things he's seen and experienced over the last century. He lived through 2 world wars (and fought in the 2nd one), lived through the great depression and the cold war. He saw the development of cars, television and computers, not to mention cell phones and the internet. I can't fathom it. All the people he's met, all the memories he's made. It just blows my mind. I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he has many more happy and healthy years ahead of him.

I'm going to sign off and go and see if George Bailey can sort things out and see if Clarence can get his wings.

Good Night!

Sarah

Christmas at home 2 years ago.