Yay! Yay! Yay!

OOoooo....is was even more exciting than i thought!

Last week i opened my mail box to find an unusual package from someone i didn't know. For a second, i was perplexed ("i didn't order anything from that province...") and then it dawned on me: "my ornament, my ornament!!!"

Mat looked at me like i was nuts, but i quickly recapped it for him: "remember i told you about how i was participating in that bloggy ornament exchange?? Well, i think this is IT!!"

I couldn't tear open the package fast enough.

And look how cute the two ornaments are that were inside!

Cute, sweet puppy. Emma over at www.emmmamcdon.blogspot.com read on my blog that i have 2 Westies, and although she couldn't find a Westie ornament, she found this really sweet sleeping puppy. He is so cute, and I've named him Farley.




This adorable snowman handmade by one of her daughter's fellow pathfinders (i was a pathfinder!) Aaaannd, all proceeds go to the SPCA. So great!

Emma: if he doesn't look exactly the same as when he left your place, it's because he had a bit of a rough travel over to Ottawa and i helped him get back together as best as i could.




The two ornaments together on the tree :)




And a few more pictures for good measure:


Christmas tree and decorated mantle



Nutcracker from my work gift exchange...he's perfect for the mantle.


Close up of Mr. Nutcraker




Sweet Santa that i've had since i was about 3. He winds up and moves his head to the music



Thanks again Emma for the lovely ornaments. They are perfect for me :)

And, thank you Julie, for putting this on. Can't wait for next year!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

You MUST make these

If you only bake one thing this Christmas, make it these cookies....so so SO good!

Breaking up is hard to do.

I have a new job.

You might ask yourself "didn't she just get a new job??

Well yes. Yes i did. 8 months ago.

I was so thrilled when i got my "new" job, now my "old" job. Actually, i was ecstatic.

My pay went through the roof compared to the near-minimum wage rate i was being paid before. I was making a salary. I had benefits. I had paid vacation. I had a pension plan.

I worked in an environment where i was surrounded by talk of women's health, babies, sex, new trends, new procedures, latest studies and findings.

This job opened my eyes to how nurses and midwives and doctors worked together and how women had choices when it came to who, what, where and how they wanted to give birth.

I loved my new work place. I love the level of responsibility i was given. I loved that i was being looked to for answers. I loved that i was being trusted. I loved that i was praised and accepted.

So why did i decide to leave this job? Good question. I still don't know.

For the entire 8 months, i struggled with myself for not LOVING my job day-to-day.

On paper, my job was awesome. When someone asked me about my job it was awesome. But when i sat at my desk......i was unhappy.

I had every reason in the world to be motivated - working for top tier associations who do wonderful work. I was on the ground level. I had challenges facing me.

But alas, i would come into work every day, and not want to work.

And so began my casual search for a job.

As with the last 3 jobs i've had, i applied for one that i was qualified for and seemed interesting, and i landed the position.

It used to be, back when i was fresh out of university, that i could. not. find a job. No one would hire me.

Now here i am with the tiniest bit of experience, and i pretty much know that if i apply, i'll get it. And i do. And i did.

And then the worst part comes - breaking up with your employer.

This was especially hard because it was the first time that these associations were able to hire someone to work for them (they are all volunteer based). They LOVED that i was there to help them advance their issues. That i knew how to run an event. That i knew how to manage websites and create newsletters. That i had ideas.

So, when the email went out to all of those concerned, a wave of shock swept over them.

And i got phone calls.

And i got emails.




"What??? Roz, WHHHHYYY???!!!!"

"We NEEEEEEEEED you!"

"What are we going to do without you???!!!"

"You're kidding"

"i'm so sorry......for me!!"


It breaks my heart to hear them ask these questions and listen to the sound of shock in their voices.

It was one of the hardest things i've had to do.

I felt bad because i love them all and i wish i could love the position more.

I just don't know what it is. I just don't.

Actually i do, but it's a ton of the small things, that i guess when added up, equal unhappiness.

For example:

• I worked alone. This surprised me the most. Usually i'm quite happy to work on my own without having to worry about asking someone else what they think, or waiting on someone else. Turns out i dont' like to work in solitude.
• I stopped learning. Yes i was learning new things about women's health, but i stopped learning how to better myself in terms of my career. I had no one to learn from. I had no one to ask questions. I needed to have a mentor and to keep learning.
• In the office, no one really knew me. I had a unique setup. I worked for two associations, but out of the office of another larger association. The people i actually worked for did not work in the same office as i did. I liked the people i worked for, but i never interacted with them. The people in my office barely knew my name, barley knew if i was in the office. FORGOT MY BIRTHDAY (gee, can you tell i'm still bitter about that one? They still haven't remembered my birthday...more on that one later).
• I never felt totally secure in my position. Yes everyone loved me and yes i had passed my probation, but i could not be sure that there would be enough money to pay my salary next year or the year after. Kinda scared me.

Is that it? Is that enough for me to want to leave? I guess so.

I have to say. with my new job, i will be back to working in a team environment, which seems to be the most important aspect of a job to me. Also, from what i've heard, it is extremely busy, which is what i think i need in order to stay motivated.

It was a hard, hard decision, but i hope i've made the best one for me, and i hope the door will always be open for me if i ever want to return.

Where I'm From

Thanks DaniGirl

I am from a brightly coloured one-piece snowsuit, from Sunlight dishsoap and Green Giant vegetables.

I am from the tall brown brick house with the wavy driveway that burned my feet in the summer.

I am from the apple tree in my backyard, the fresh grass clippings on the lawn.

I am from cutting down our own Christmas tree with my sister every year and a love of perogies. From Anastazia and Arthur and Joan.

I am from being stubborn, laughing loud and hard, and singing wherever I go. From shopping for clothes at Eaton’s and visiting Batchawana Bay each year and roasting marshmallows at the bonfire.

From “help your sister” and “you can do anything you want in life”.

I am from kneeling for God for 3 minutes a week. Even if it’s easier to rest my butt on the pew.

I'm from the trillium province, Marchuts and Wisharts, Christmas pudding en flambé and pumpkin pie on the floor.

From the time my dad’s best friend died suddenly and the first and last time I have seen my dad cry, the scary playroom and basement, and the success of all my siblings.

I am from the white fireplace mantel, music box for every birthday, the guest house and the den in the cottage and how the look, sound, touch and smell of each of them are ingrained in my mind forever.

(Find out where you're from here)

If you love Christmas...

Have you heard about the Secret Holiday Ornament Exchange?

It's happening over at Abbilyeverafter and you should seriously get involved...but quick!

I'm going to give you not one, but 3 excellent reasons for you to participate:

First of all, who doesn't like a secret??? Secrets are fun therefore you should participate.

Second of all, who doesn't like Christmas and Christmas trees? (ok, i realize that there are plenty of people who don't celebrate Christmas, but just bare with me folks). Christmas trees are pretty and you can help make one even prettier therefore you should participate.

Third of all who doesn't like to get things in the mail?? Exactly. It's like a bonus gift therefore you should participate.

There is no way that this can't be fun, but it can certainly be more fun if you sign up and participate!

You have until Wednesday November 21st to sign up.

Can someone make a button for this?

saving myself

Did i not just commit myself to a whole foods diet last week?

Did i not tell myself that i wouldn't drink ANY alcohol unless it was a special occasion??

Did i not tell myself that i was doing this so as not to get cancer which scares the crap out of me?

And were you not all of my witnesses to said attestments and resolutions???


::



It never occured to me that the fact that my mom was coming to stay with me for a week would make me miss (need?) wine so badly.

And it never occured to me that i would say "screw cancer" just for a sweet, sweet glass of robust red wine.

At least the wine will save my mom and i from each other if not cancer....

Imaginary Friends

Have you ever had imaginary friends?

I don't know why this thought just popped into my head, but it really did "pop" out of no where. Seriously, i just leaned back for a stretch and into my head popped the thought of my sister's imaginary friends.

Yes, folks. My little sister had imaginary friends when she was little.

Is this strange to you? It is to me now that i think about it, but when i was little it never occured to me that this was odd.

In fact, i was quite jealous that she had imaginary friends and i didn't! I wanted so badly for her imaginary friends to also be my imaginary friends, but my sister said "no". Too bad for me, i thought.

My sister's imaginary friends' names were Tina and Ralphy. God knows where she got those names from. No one in our family knew of anyone named Tina OR Ralphy or anything close to those names.

Tina and Ralphy were brother and sister and they lived on the hill in our backyard.

Again, bizzare...i wonder now why they didn't live in the garage or in the sandbox or even in the car in the driveway that we never used. But no, Tina and Ralphy lived on the hill in the backyard.

I can't remember if Tina and Ralphy ever came inside the house to play. Probably, but then i'm sure they left when they were done playing to go back to the hill. Tina and Ralphy lived for many, many years.

My sister also believed in unicorns. Unicorns were her favorite "animal" growing up and she had everything unicorn. Unicorn figurines, unicorn stuffies, unicorn stickers, unicorn books. Everything.

Not only was this something that she collected, but as i mentioned earlier, she believed in unicorns. So much so that she promises that she saw a unicorn on our front lawn one day. Of course, she was the only one in the front yard when the unicorn appeared, but she kept stating convincingly that Yes. She SAW a unicorn. A REAL LIVE unicorn on the front lawn.

I'm sure she would kill me if she knew i just told everyone about her imaginary friends and her unicorn sighting but what are sisters for if not to remind each other of how nerdy and funny we once were?

*snicker

Approaching life with a different perspective

A few things:

I'm back after 3 long weeks on the road for work. I wanted to write while i was on the road but i was just so. darn. busy! Damn you, work!!!

So updates are all i can offer you my friends...

:::::

I've gained weight. It's not my fault i SWEAR. I was in Quebec City for a familiarization tour (if you have never been then get yourself on a familiarization tour!!) and in Quebec City, all they eat is c-u-i-s-i-n-e.

Only the finest ingredients go into the meals in Quebec City. I've never been to Paris, but i would imagine that it would be very similar.

Oh! the cheese, and the wine, and the tartar and more wine and more tartar. Every. Day!

Foie gras and champagne and sugar pies - oh my!

They certainly know how to eat in Quebec City. I'm sure they also know how to eat in moderation. Unfortunately, i do not.

::::::

On the same thread as eating, i recently read an article in the Globe and Mail about how a poor diet is directly linked to cancer. CANCER people. You can read the article here and i urge you to read it and ~ahem~ digest it.

For some reason, it hit home for me. I've always wanted to weigh less, but only because of vanity. Now, according to this article, you should be as lean as possible. On top of that, it says people should cut back on red meat, alcohol (all kinds!), processed meat (and i'm sure most other processed foods), fast food and high sugar foods.

Ok then. I've started eating as many whole foods as i can. We'll see how long i can keep this up. Now i feel like i need to lose weight. I don't want to get cancer. I want to be as lean as i can.

Mat and i have also decided to stop eating processed meat (or avoid it whenever possible). This is going to be a big challenge for us as we make sandwiches - with deli meat - almost every work day. This week we're eating tuna. After that, i'm switching to salmon. I love salmon, but Mat...not so much. He can't get past the bones-thingy and i don't blame him. They are pretty gross all crunchy and stuff.

Now before you all go waving your finger at me for eating so much tuna because of the mercury risk thing - i've done my research. The benefits of eating tuna far out-weigh the risks of mercury posioning. Same goes for pregnant women (i should know as i work for Ob/Gyns, Nurses and Midwives).

A little more on the food subject and i'll move on. I'm committing myself to drinking water. Again, guys - HUGE. For some reason i can't drink plain water unless i've just been exercising. I've always had to add crystal light. I've changed this. I am trying as hard as i can to get away from fake sh*t that i put in my body. The best trick i've learned is to put sliced cucumbers in my water. It tastes like i'm eating cucumbers when i drink water...amazing!!

Here's a breakdown of my resolutions (for your reading pleasure of course!)

• No junk (except on the rarest of rare occasions)
• No crystal light
• No fast food
• More veggies and fruits
• No processed foods especially deli meat
• No alcohol on a "regular" night (ie: no wine at dinner unless a special occasion)
• Red meat only on rare occasions
• Only chicken and fish and much smaller portions
• Less honey in my morning coffee (i'm trying to train myself to enjoy things less sweet)

I think that's it. Oh, and i'll be continuing my gym routine at lunch time.

:::::

Mat is the most wonderful person i know. Mat, i'm sorry that i'm not capable of writing more eloquently, but i just wanted you to know that i truly appreciate everything you do.

You see folks, while i was away working / vacationing (ok, in my defense it was 90% work), Mat held down the house and looked after the two doggies without one complaint (ok, i think he complained once that it was lonely all by himself, but i'm not counting that). He was always awake when i would call him late because i kept forgetting about the time difference. He decorated the house for Halloween and handed out candy all by himself because i told him it was important to me that our house participated even though i wasn't home. The house was spotless when i came home. He did all of my laundry, made sure the fridge was full of groceries, picked me up from the airport - with the doggies -- on a work night - well past bedtime. Had flowers waiting for me at home, planned our anniversary dinner, then still gets up extra early to walk the doggies and make me lunch before he leaves for work so that i can sleep in.

I'm sure there's a few things i'm forgetting, but i am so lucky and so grateful that Mat is in my life and that *soon* i'll be able to call him my husband. I hope he feels the same about me...

Just as an aside, Mat and i celebrated our 9 year anniversary on Monday :)

:::::

I think that's all i have today. I do need to get some "work" done. I'm mentally drained, but hoping my new whole foods diet will help boost my energy and brain power.

I can't get this out of my head

Need your help guys (like, what else is new...) :)

I was watching Dragon's Den last night and there's a preview for next week's show.

They showed a clip of a woman promoting "Spice World".

As soon as i saw her i sat up and exclaimed to Mat "i KNOW her!!"

He looked at me and said "you KNOW her??"

"Yes!" i said but i couldn't remember from where. I searched every dark corner of my brain and finally the pieces came together: She has or did have a french cooking show.

There is one piece missing before i can sleep soundly at night. What's the name of the show???

Here's the bits of information i have:

• I'm pretty sure it's a local Ottawa cooking show
• It's in French
• She and a man host it (not sure if it's her husband or just another "host")
• She is clearly the "chef" and this man is more of a helper and person to ask questions
• The title of the show is in French (obviously) and i think it translates into something like "second helping" or "second serving" or something along those lines

Any ideas??

Coincidence?

While shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart today to buy some Tampax Tampons, I see these hanging in the middle of the shelf....

Coincidence? I think not.

Emmy Rossum's Slow Me Down Video

Sarah, this is especially for you!

Emmy Rossum's video for Slow Me Down is now on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0eGe-VV7I8

You can see my brother's name - Stuart Brawley - in the "About this Video" section on the right hand side. As i said in this post, he wrote and recorded the whole album.

I also thought you should know that my little sis works for Emmy and she was at the shoot for this video. I've *heard* that it was her idea for Emmy to come out of the water at the end of the video gasping for air - and they used her idea!

Yay... all of my siblings are so cool and have such cool jobs.

What kind of blogger are you?

I don't think i would consider myself an "expert"...

i Saw this on J's blog.

I took the quiz because i thought the button was cute but it got me thinking about ads on people's blogs. How do those work? Do companies approach you or do you submit your name to a list to have ads on your blog?

The sky didn't fall, Turkey Lurkey

Well, THAT was a busy weekend.

Mat and i have always had busy holidays rather than relaxing ones. Actually i can't remember one holiday in the last 10 years that's been relaxing, unfortunately.

We both have, not large, but - complicated - families. My parents are divorced so there has always been 2 separate dinners with my family, and Mat's dad now has a common-law wife so there has always been 2 dinners with his family. Every holiday we have 4 dinners to attend. On top of that, we always have to travel back "home". The last 3 years we have both lived in Ottawa (I've lived here for the past 7 years) and so we drive 4 hours each way to eat 4 huge meals. ugh.

There's never enough time and no matter how hard we try to divide our time equally between all of our family members, people seem to "complain" that they don't see us or spend enough time with them.

I know what you're thinking...poor us...everyone wants to be around us. But honestly? It does wear on you especially when you are tired from long car rides and crummy sleeps in crummy beds that aren't yours.

This weekend was no exception. In fact, it was probably 10 times more stressful for several reasons, but mainly because i decided to host my dad's family at my new house for thanksgiving.

Here's a quick rundown of the situation:

My dad's side of the family has had 2 recent deaths of close family members: My grandmother and my aunt within a week of each other this past Easter. Since my parents divorced (10 years ago) my dad's family has had all of our holiday meals at my aunt's house (who passed). My dad got the feeling that his brother (my aunt's husband) wasn't ready to host everyone at his house for thanksgiving which is understandable. So, my Dad thought we could all go to a restaurant for thanksgiving. I didn't want us to forego a traditional thanksgiving weekend and although Mat and i have no dining room furniture, and barely enough plates and cutlery for everyone, we thought we would invite my dad's family up on Saturday for a thanksgiving dinner.

I moved our kitchen table into the the empty dining room, brought another table up from the basement, covered them in matching table cloths and gathered all of the chairs in the house.

There were six of us in total, and i made a traditional thanksgiving dinner from scratch.

Here's the menu:

• Fresh, free-range, organic turkey
• French bread and herb stuffing
• Braised red cabbage with red wine, cloves and orange juice
• Yams with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and brown sugar topped with baby marshmallows
• Mashed potatos
• Butter, garlic and rosemary infused mushrooms
• Cooked baby beets from the Byward market
• Market-fresh steamed yellow and green beans sautéed with butter and slivered almonds
• Fresh, homemade cranberry sauce and gravy
• Homemade pumkin pie with fresh whipped cream

It was more than i was going to make but i couldn't help myself. These are the foods that make up thanksgiving for our family and i couldn't NOT have one of them.

If i do say so myself, everything turned out wonderfully. My biggest fear was the turkey wouldn't be done properly or it would take forever, but it was done "early" and it was so tender and juicy.

It took a lot of prep work, but when you break it down and tackle things individually, it's quite manageable.

And i really suck because i didn't take one picture. I was too busy basting the turkey and wanted to serve everything while it was hot that i completely forgot. I'm quite disappointed in myself for not taking pictures of my first thanksgiving, but my dad took a couple with his "old fashioned camera" so i can scan them when i get them next year!

So that was Saturday night and afterwards, since everyone was from "home" which is 4 hours away, they all stayed at our house on couches and air matresses.

The next day, Sunday, we all woke up and drove back "home" to have dinner with my mom and then dinner at Mat's house. Immediately after dinner at Mat's house yesterday, we started back to Ottawa.

So. Tired.

How was your Canadian Thanksgiving?

Yay Day

Edited because i'm a retard for forgetting something....(thanks Jennie) How could i forget? i don't deserve to be in any of the office FB groups anymore...

I'm stealing borrowing Dani Girl's awesome-o idea. She has "Yay Days" every so often where you celebrate something that's going well or great in your life today or recently.

Can i get a YAY for getting married in exactly ONE YEAR from TODAY??!!

YAY!!

A few other things:

• Seeing my wedding dress charge on my credit card statement didn't make my stomach turn...it made me smile and i couldn't help but stare at it and be happy about it.
• i've been making it to the gym every day for a few weeks now (ok, so there was one day i couldn't go because a meeting ran late, but i was going to go).
• i'm having the whole fam-damily up on Saturday for thanksgiving dinner. This is the first holiday in my new house
• i found my drivers license which i had lost for almost a week
• The office is on tonight!

So YAY things are good around here. What about you? What do you have to be happy for today?

Jumping on the bandwagon

Ok, BIG SURPRISE!

i'm jumping on the de-lurker bandwagon because i'm a follower and she did, and she did, and i'm sure some of my other bloggy friends did, but my google reader can be slow to update sometimes and anyway, i want to be just like them as much as possible.

I have to say, i used to lurk around the blogosphere quite a bit myself. One person described how i felt perfectly: "I never thought bloggers thought much about comments from readers they don't know personally. I follow about 25 blogs daily and I don't think I've commented once on any of them. You guys seem so untouchable. Even smaller bloggers seem to know the blog celebrities in the real world. It's like you're all part of the cool club but you let us less cool people listen in on the fun. I guess thats why I've never delurked before. The less cool aren't supposed to interupt the club's conversations..." - "Becky"

That's exactly how i felt. But then i started to feel like i "knew" the blogger and i started leaving small comments like "cool pic" etc. etc. Now i try to comment as much as possible, but i try not to leave fluff. I like to be able to give my opionion or, if it's a really good bloggy friend, encouragement when they need it.

I'm not really putting the pressure on the few people who lurk here. Hell, i know Mat is one of them!! But it would be nice to "meet" you. Don't you want to be my bloggy friend?? No? ok, then *sob*. Just kidding...but i DID make it easier for you to comment. I opened it up to everyone - not just blogger / blogspot people! No excuses people, NO EXCUSES!

p.s. did you see the awesom-o button on my right side bar? isn't it perrrrrrty?

As promised

Here are the pics i promised you yesterday.

Of the Wreath i made:





Wreath detail:






Gardening results:




Our "new" couches:







I was very worried about liking the red couches, but i really like them. It's not typical for me to go with red couches (i would normally choose browns, leather, whites etc.) but i didn't have much choice and i'm glad because it adds life to our otherwise mostly brown house :)

V is for Victory!

Warning: Fromage ahead....

Well, the drama is over. The images are down...thank GOD.

It feels great to know that we are surrounded by people - many of whom we have never met - who support each other and stand up for each other. There truly is a connection out there and i can't quite put my finger on it, but we must all have something in common. Something that's deeper and bigger than the fact that we all blog and that most of us are women and that most of you / us have kids. Something else...it's that uknown *thing* that makes people friends.

SAJ received over 140 comments from her post yesterday and it helped - both in getting the images removed and in keeping her strong. I'm very proud to be a part of this community of people who stand up for each other.

Shame shame, double shame.

Dear Adriana Calderon,

I can't believe what you did. You hurt my friend and you made tons of other people mad. You know what i'm talking about. You know what you stole.

Shame on you. What a poor, poor example you are setting for your children.

What makes you think that you can steal something that doesn't belong to you and then try to make money off of it?

Lame. Really lame.

Funny, how your "contact us" and "feedback and comments" links don't work today......

I wonder what you have to say for yourself? We'll probably never know because you are that flaky.

Wishing the weekend was still here

The weekend rundown:

Did some gardening, made a wreath, rented 2 movies, baked peanut butter cookies.

Waiting for the couches to arrive tonight.

Pics to follow tomorrow :)

buyer's remorse

I have serious issues with commitment when it comes to making purchases.

I am still shocked that i was able to buy a wedding dress in 2 hours.

I can barely buy underwear without worrying that it's too big or too small and that it's a final purchase. I usually buy a couple smalls and a couple mediums so that at least i have a couple that will fit properly.

I've been on the hunt lately for a gym bag. A nice, roomy, gym bag with separate compartments for shoes and wet stuff and pockets because i LOVE pockets. Oh, and of course stylish...i don't want a frumpy ugly gym bag.

So, i went to sport check...they had a couple of Nike bags, but they were mostly the big one-pocket duffel bag. no thanks.

Then, i thought about Lululemon and how they carry exercise / yoga gear. Now, they have some nice bags!

I visited the store, and hummed and hawed over their line up of gym bags. I think they had about 5 or 6 different kinds each in 2 different colour choices. I spent a good 30 minutes inspecting each one and checking all the pockets and imagining where all of my things would go. I finally chose the warm up bag. At first i wasn't crazy about the colours because the colours were crazy (navy all over with purple straps and lining), but it started to grow on me and then i really liked the colours.

I put my things in my new bag and took it to the gym to test it out (i left the tag on). It was ok. All of my stuff fit, and everything had it's own cozy home, but my stuff only just fit so i wouldn't be able to put anything more in it or anything bigger like a bigger towel, or a sweatshirt or sweatpants. PLUS, it didn't have a shoulder strap. Although my arms fit through the handles, it was still a bit awkward because it was quite bulky and my arm had to hang over the side of the bag. AND what about in the winter? with a huge winter coat (and yes, my coat is huge...even my fellow canadiens make fun of it eh?) i doubt i would be able to get the straps over my arms.

So back to the store i went to review the bag options. I had gone back to the website to check out the bags in order to maximize my time spent in the store. As soon as i arrived in the store for a second time i picked up 4 bags. The one i had now (to compare against the other contenders) and 3 others that could work.

Again, i carefully inspected each bag and visualized where all of my stuff would go. The problem was, each one had a different feature about it. 2 had shoulder straps, but one of those only had one big middle pocket with no dividing compartments. Another one had nice divided compartments but no shoulder strap, and mine didn't have a shoulder strap, and was not quite long enough, but i loved the way it looked and all of the compartments.

I could not make up my mind. I wanted one that looked like mine in colour, but was a bit longer like number 2, but has as many compartments as mine, but with a shoulder strap.

Not one had all of the features together. I reluctantly exchanged the funky one i had originally bought for the rollercoaster bag that was slightly longer and had a shoulder strap. It didn't have as many compartments as the one i originally had, but it had a separate compartment for my shoes which was the most important. Oh, and i forgot to mention...it's black...they did have a brown one 2 days ago when i first went to the store, but they have since sold out of brown which is one of my favourite colours.

I know black is the most versatile, but i really don't like black. AND my winter coat is brown, so brown would have been the best. AND the strap is red and i'm not a huge fan of red either. AND i especially don't enjoy the combination of red and black together. But sadly, i had no choice as this was the most practical in terms of function.

So there you have it. It took me 3 days to buy a gym bag and i'm still not 100% satisfied with it, and it only took me 2 hours to buy a wedding dress which is more important and way way WAY more expensive, and non-refundable yet i have no desire to even look at another dress because i am 150% satisfied.

weird eh?

Hurtin'

Hi my lovelies,

I'm sorry for taking off and not saying anything.

I don't really have time for this post, but i miss you guys, so i thought i would just bang this out for now.

Lady x responded by basically saying "thanks for all your work on this, but there are still a lot of items we haven't received for the syllabus so we're going to hand it over to one of our locals so that we can easily go back and forth with her which wouldn't be fair to you." (That was not a direct quote from her, but i summed it up for you). Clearly she was not happy with my recommendation and wanted to do it her way (who knows what the rest of the committee thinks). I'm sure when i see the final product it will have all kinds of 'And's, 'In's and 'Of's . Oh well, it actually doesn't bother me as much as i would have thought. I'm actually pretty proud that i have a high standard and i won't have my name attached to just anything. I mean, what if she wanted me to misspell words just because she wanted them that way even though it's incorrect. idontthinkso.

So...i've been hitting the gym lately. Yay! It's about freaking time. I've been taking advantage of my lunch hour and it's been working out nicely. Although it means my lunch is a bit extended with the short travel time and shower time factored in, i make up for it by eating my lunch at my desk and not taking any other breaks (note: many people here are smokers and take several smoke breaks a day).

I'm taking group classes at the gym (like aerobics, step, weights etc. etc.) It changes every day which is great because i'm working everything (if i go everyday that is....) but MAN, it has not been easy. The first two days i was hurting BAD. My legs and arms are b-u-r-n-i-n-g!

On top of that, i suck with a capital S at coordination. This is a huge surprise to me as i play a ton of sports that require coordination AND i played the piano for 10 years which required that i could follow a beat. But for some reason when i'm trying to do the aerobics and step classes, i can't keep up with what the instructor is doing and i end up looking like an idiot. Where everyone is facing one direction, i end up facing the opposite and i end up looking at people when we shoud all be looking at each others backs....very embarrassing. I'm always totally off and i'm getting really really frustrated.

Well my dears, i'm sorry this is such a lame and quick post, but i have some deadlines hovering over my head that i need to attend to.

Please keep me in your thoughts when i'm at the gym - i need all the strength i can get!

p.s. i need a new gym bag - something cool and roomy and with lots of compartments. Anyone have advice on ones they love?

it hurts...continued

So, you'll be happy to know that i took your advice and decided i should tell the woman the error in her ways.

I drafted an email almost verbatim to what Sarah said. My manager just so happened to walk by before i sent it off so i asked her opinion because i was worried (I'm always worried about things like this) that i was being rude, too bold, or too assertive.

She read it and she said: "you're not being assertive enough. You have to tell her what you think in a way that doesn't ask for her approval. If she has a problem with the way you're doing things, then she can contact you."

I was shocked because i thought i was being too assertive, but this is what i wrote to her:

Hi X,

Please find attached to this email the second draft of the syllabus.

I noticed that you had made changes to the capitalization of some words in the titles. I have consulted with my colleagues who write collateral for publishing and along with my past experiences in writing and publishing event documents, it is not correct to capitalize words like "A", "As", "In", "To, "The" etc. The opposite is also true: The "major" (for lack of a better word) words in a title should be capitalized. Therefore, I did not make those changes.

When you have the other documents and information for the syllabus, just send it along and I'll insert it as quickly as I can.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Oh my gosh, i'm still shaking after hitting send...

It hurts, it hurts!

What do you do, when someone asks you to do something that you KNOW is wrong?

You KNOW it's wrong, and it pains you to do it, but you feel you can't speak up or say anything about it?

Now, before you start thinking that someone has asked me to kill someone else for them, it is nothing like that. At all.

I am a coordinator. I plan events and do almost everything in between for an event. One of those things is building a syllabus or program guide for an event / conference. Most of the events i organize are conferences for the healthcare industry.

When i build a program guide or syllabus, i take the info someone gives me which usually comes in the form of a word document and i flash it up, take out extra spaces, make corrections etc. etc.

With this syllabus i'm currently working on, it had a lot of small errors like capitalizing Every Word In A Title Including The 'Thes' And 'Ands' And 'As' And 'Ins' etc. etc.

I corrected them so that only the appropriate words in the titles were capitalized.

I sent it back for review, and she sent it back to me with a ton of track changes and she changed back ALL of the words i had de-capitalized.

It looks stupid, and unprofessional and it pains me to go back and make every insignificant word start with a capital.

Should i say something or let it go? This isn't my conference, and techincally i just carry out their wishes and make happen what they want, and if they want their titles to be capitalized and incorrect, i guess i should let it be, right?

This person is older, and supposedly has done this before, but she's a nurse and so that tells me that she hasn't had to do a lot of writing and editing etc.

Thoughts?

p.s. i KNOW i'm horrible about things like that when i write here, but when i'm making something that goes to print, it's different....k?

I'll take it!!

Ok,

I've calmed down considerably since Saturday when it seemed as though i had rushed into a huge decision.

I should add that it seems to have been a weekend filled with quick and impulsive decisions.

I got my hair cut on Friday and i didn't expect to. I went in thinking i would get a trim, and the next thing i knew i walked out of there looking like victoria beckham.

i liked it initially, but then the fear set in that i wouldn't have "long enough" hair for my wedding and i've been stressing all weekend about it and how my hair is now "too short".

Update: today, monday morning, i like my hair again, and if i have to, i'll get extensions for my wedding...kidding!!

ok, so that was friday. Saturday, my mom and i had plans to see the Phantom of the Opera. It's her birthday and she's been staying with me for the past week to help with the gardening. I treated her to the Phantom for her birthday (and because i have this weird obsession with the Phantom of the Opera...)

I wanted to maximize my mommy and me time so i made appointments for us at a couple of bridal stores. We had one appointment last Tuesday, and it was ok. The woman had beautiful gowns, but for what i was looking for it was going to be crazy expensive (or at least, an amount that i would not be comfortable spending). Again, she was nice, and showed us some less expensive alternatives, but i knew they weren't what i was looking for.

On Saturday morning, my mom and i went to our second appointment before the Phantom. I really didn't know what to expect as i found this store on the internet after doing a google search for a designer dress i saw in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. She is the only one in Ottawa who carries this designer. I called her to see if she had that particular dress (in the magazine) she said "no, because that line ranges from $15,000 - $20,000 and there really isn't the market for that kind of dress in Ottawa"

No shit.

She did add that she carried a lot of this designer in a much lower price range and invited me to come and see if there is anything else i liked.

I agreed, thinking it couldn't hurt.

On saturday, my mom and i drove downtown and parked the car. We started to walk towards the store and my mom asked why i wasn't bringing my wallet. I told her "well, i'm not going to buy anything today". I honestly thought i would be shopping for a dress for months. I had also planned to make a trip to Montreal and Toronto, as well as make several outings with my sister and bridesmaids.

In the end, i ran back to grab my wallet "just in case" but mumbled a few more times how i "really don't need it".

When we arrived in the store, we were greeted by the sweetest woman, Rena. She started off by pulling out the catalogue for the designer i said i liked. We flipped through it and i pointed out dresses that i thought i would like to try on. I chose maybe 8 dresses that i wanted to try on. As she was taking me back to the dressing room, i saw this dress on a mannequin and stopped to stare at it. I said "Rena, i LOVE this dress, i really want to try it on". She said "ok, but i'm surprised, because it's not what you said you wanted, and you didn't even make a peep when we flipped by it in the catalogue". I said "hmmmm" and said again, "i really want to try this one."

So into the change room i went. I tried on two full lace empire waist gowns. Both beautiful but not "IT". The next one i tried on was also full lace with an a-line skirt but didn't do anything for me. I was getting worried. These were all dresses that i knew i wanted and the were actually beautiful dresses but i wasn't getting that "This is it!!" feeling from any of them. When i put on the third one, my mom starting crying and telling me how beautiful the dress was and how perfect it was. i was Really getting worried at this point because i thought for sure if my mom was crying then it was supposed to be "the one" but i just didn't love it on me.

After standing around in that third dress for about 30 minutes while both my mom and Rena kept fiddling with it to try and convince me that this was the dress, i finally said "i would really like to get out of this dress now and try THAT one on (pointing to the one i saw on the mannequin). Rena obliged (although i knew she thought the one i currently had on was the best) and took it off the mannequin for me to try on.

As soon as i emerged from the change room and looked in the mirror, I. KNEW.

immediately i said "yup, this is the one".

My mom had her mouth on the floor and exclaimed how "stunning" it was and how it looked a thousand times better on me than on the mannequin (thanks mom).

She kept her mouth open and her eyes wide as she walked around me touching the dress exclaiming that it was "just perfect" and "exquisite". She couldn't say anything more than that.

I just stood there looking at myself in the mirror with a huge grin on my face and said "i'll take it"

(thank GOD it was well under my budget...how lucky??)

OMG

i bought my dress















my WEDDING dress













Today












i tried on 4 dresses and had to have this one













am i crazy????

The pics i promised

Hi All,

Here are the pics i promised.

Here's a picture of the guest room before we moved into the house:

Clearly they had 2 little girls who loved pink...

Here's the guest room after we painted it but before we did anything else to it:

Here's what it looked like when it was all finished:

Ha know i know you're all dying to get an invitation to stay over at Chez Roz's Boutique Hotel!

;)

Tattle tale Roz

OH GOD.

I'm one of THOSE people.

I'm pretty sure i just got one of my colleagues in trouble. I didn't mean to i swear!!!


Here's the scoop: I was very suddenly given a new role at work: to be a coordinator for a committee. Like i said, it was very sudden and very weird for lack of a better word. I'm obviously the best person to handle it because of my other role in the organization but i was not made aware of any thoughts or discussions around this new role being given to me until it happened and i was one of the people on the email that said "please note Roz is now the coordinator for this committee."

Okaaaaaay......

So i'm thinking, whatever, i'll just do what i'm told and if i mess up i'll say that it's because i had no idea what i was even supposed to do because no one told me.

The girl who used to be the coordinator of this position sent out an email to the members of the commmittee making them aware of the change. There just so happens to be a teleconference today with the committee and i'm supposed to head it (just so you can get a better understanding of the timeline, i was made aware of my new role two days ago).

So my manager pays me a visit today and says "i just want to let you know that i spoke with the girl who used to have this position and i told her i didn't want her to just 'dump' everything on you. She'll be by later to see you and go over things with you".

I said "oh, ok, ya she came by and there's a teleconference tonight that i'm supposed to head up and take minutes for". Well my manager just flipped out and said "WHAT??? YOU??? but you don't know anything about the committee!! She shouldn't have dumped this on you!!". She made me follow her to this girl's desk while she told her - in front of me - how it's not very professional of her to just dump this on me without giving me some more guidance and a longer transition period.

I felt so bad. My face must have been 10 shades of red. It sounded like i went to my manager and cried to her about how i had to head the teleconferece tonight which wasn't the case at all. I mean, i've done many-a-teleconference and although i wasn't thrilled about being given 2 days notice, it wasn't something that i couldn't handle. I mean, this girl did come and see me and although i still have no idea what this committee is about, i just figured i would pick it up as i went along. I had no intention of getting this girl in trouble and it totally looks like i went to my boss to tell on her.

This couldn't have happened at a worse time for me. I was just starting to feel somewhat integrated into the organization. I mean, no one asks me to join them for lunch or anything yet, but at least people smile at me in the hallway and compliment my outfits once in a while. I was JUST starting to feel comfortable making small talk with these people. And on top of all that, this girl is one of the nicer people and probably closest to my age whereas most of the other people are nearning retirement.

Why oh why did this have to happen to me and why did it have to be with that nice girl?

I feel horrible now and i want to send her an email "apologizing" but i also don't want to bad mouth my manager.

sigh.....

what i've been up to and what i like to do

Hello Jello!

Sorry (again) for being MIA. I've been up to a few things.

Last week i had this burning desire to do a puzzle. I don't know why i wanted to do a puzzle so bad since i think i've only ever done one puzzle before in my whole life. But i felt like it so i went to the store and bought a $10 puzzle and worked on it non-stop until it was finished for 2 days. I will post pics of it soon!

My mumma is visiting me this week. It's her birthday on Saturday and i invited her to come to Ottawa to see the Phantom of the Opera. So she came up a week early (since she's retired) to visit, and make my front lawn into a garden. I love putting my retired mother to work!

So in preparation for her arrival, Mat and i have been busing completing the guest room. It. looks. awesome. if i do say so myself. I also took pics of it and will post soon.

I know you're all dying to see photos of the go-onings this week and last and i promise i will get them up soon and by soon i mean when i feel like getting off my lazy ass and uploading them to the computer because i need the space back on the memory card.

So for now, i thought it would be fun to play a game. Feel free to play along. It can be quite humorous!

The Game:

Go to google and type your name and "likes to" in quotations. eg: "Tom likes to". Write copy and paste the first 10 things that come up.

1. Roz likes to travel light and seize the moment
2. Roz likes to think of it as a modern day Bill Withers or Hall and Oats
3. Roz likes to show patients what she's learned and would be happy to meet with you
4. Roz likes to look for information and then organize it in a useful manner
5. Roz likes to make out in my living room and then tell me i should mack it!
6. Roz likes to supervise her "dad's" work
7. Roz likes to keep herself groomed
8. Roz likes to tell the stories about the animals that appear from thin air, strange spiritual presences, and how "weird things happen around here"
9. Roz likes to have her picture taken
10. Roz likes to meow at us in a grumpy way and i meow right back

ok, so some of them i just don't get, but a few of them are kinda funny. What do "you" like to do?

Do you remember where you were?

It's one of those pieces of history that was so important that you recall exactly where you were and what you were doing at the moment that you heard the news.

I was 15.

I had a paper route.

I remember getting up at 5am to open the bundles of newspapers that had been dropped off on my front porch a few hours earlier.

I remember cutting them open and reading the huge headline that seemed to punch you in the face: "DI DEAD".

It seemed completely surreal to me at the time, and in some super-cheesy way, i felt that it was my duty to let the 100 people on my route know the sad, horrible news. I felt i was playing such an important part, delivering such news to people's doorsteps before they were even awake. Before they could know the outcome of the night before when she was still in hospital.

Obviously i didn't know Diana. I dont' think anyone did. And i suppose it was all of the attention the media still paid her even in her death, but i was glued to the tv for the entire week leading up to her funeral. Would it be a state funeral? Would the Queen have something to say? What would Charles be doing? And most importantly, what were her boys feeling? I tried to imagine myself in their shoes especially since my sister and i are the same age as the princes.

Like everyone else in the world, anything Diana interested me and got my attention. I went to the Diana exhibit at the ROM, i bought magazines with her picture on it. She was fascinating and so much like the rest of us, that it was hard not to want to know more about her.

As you all know, Diana loved fashion and always looked stunning no matter where she was or who she was with. My favorite image of Diana is of her in this dress. It is my favorite dress of all time and whenever i think of Diana, this is the image that pops into my head.

So, do you remember where you were when you heard the news exactly 10 years ago?

I DON'T WANT TO BE ON AN EFFING DIET

i just want to eat and enjoy it all.




:'(

WW so far

So it's been let's see...(counting on fingers) one, two, three, four, five....

Today is my sixth day on WW.

I'm sure you're all wondering how it's been.

Let me tell you, it's been a rough start.

Day one (Wednesday) was the day i signed up, so i didn't feel like exactly starting that day.

Day two (Thursday) was tough. I was sooooo hungry and kept telling myself i didn't need to count things like fat free mayo on my sandwich. I also tried to make this recipe and couldn't believe how bad it sucked! Do not make this. You will end up eating something that tastes like very un-chocolatey, floury, tough, stale Tim Bits. I don't care if they're only 1 point each. They are not worth even that. This recipe, on the other hand, is a-w-e-s-o-m-e :)

Day three (Friday) also tough. The dinner i chose to make took forever to cook and Mat who was being a good sport at waiting for the meal to come out of the oven finally got too hungry and ate hotdogs while i waited for the WW meal to finish cooking

Day four (Saturday) was better. I kept myself busy as much as i could and didn't exceed my daily point limit.

Day five (Sunday) Better again. Discovered these (so delicious and so convenient) and these (Hi, 6 cups = 2 points?? Deal!)

Day six (today) Decided it's time to "beef up" my sad little sandwiches with tons of cukes, tomatos and lettuce.

So all in all, i'm doing ok. Still hungry at times, and being at work makes things difficult because i can't run to the fridge to grab some veggies when i feel like it. But i find if i keep myself busy and not think about eating, i'm ok.

It's really weird how your mind works. When you know you can't have something you can't stop thinking about it. It's torture!

Haven't lost any weight yet, but i'm sure it's too early to tell. I'm used to the Bernstein's diet where you lost 10 lbs in 3 days lol.

New mantra: Keep on keepin' on....

co-sleeping

This post is the result of a comment i was going to post on Porters Ponderings. Let's just say i exceeded the maximum number of characters for a comment so i decided to post it here.

I was the EXACT SAME WAY when we got our doggies.

When we got Oscar (our first doggy) we were very adamant about him sleeping in his crate. Oscar didn't care, he liked his crate and happily retired at the end of the day to it all on his own. But that darn puppy was so cute and it wasn't long before i would snuggle him for 5 minutes before bed, then 10 minutes before bed, then i would pass out while snuggling with him. Then the whole crate idea went out the window and my fiance and i were sharing our double bed with our doggy.

Then when we got our second doggy, Bonnie, it started out the same way. She slept in her crate and was happy to do so until i felt bad that we were playing favorites with Oscar by letting him sleep on the bed and not Bonnie.

It came about that during the summer in our one-bedroom apartment with no central a/c, Bonnie would pant loudly in her little crate and the only thing that would let any of us catch any zzz's was to let her out when she got hot so she could sleep on the floor and cool off.

The next thing i knew, we were buying a foot stool for the doggies so they can climb up onto the bed on their own.

So now we have me, my fiance, Oscar and Bonnie all sharing a double bed every night.

I've gone through phases of being mad at myself for letting them start to sleep on the bed, but now i just embrace that i have two precious dogs who want to be close to my fiance and i as often as they can. Considering we both spend the whole day away from them, it's nice to know i have two warm little doggies sleeping at my feet.

They are the sweetest things to wake up to in the morning, all sleepy and wanting to cuddle. They are the perfect start to my day, and no amount of duvet-cover-washing can make me regret letting them sleep on our bed.

Oh, and the double-size bed? We just replaced it with a King size :) Hey, we needed a bed for the empty guest room anyway...

THAT'S IT!

I am committing myself to losing weight.

I am tired of looking this way, and worrying about picking something to wear every morning because i'm afraid it's going to be too tight.

And here's the really shallow part: I'm tired of seeing people i know who weigh less than i do. I'm horrible, aren't i?? I should be happy for these people, but instead i'm jealous, and i want to be skinny too.

So i'm going to start with WW online because i feel it will give me the flexibility to choose what i want to eat. I know i'll be miserable if i can't have my coffee with cream and honey in the morning and i'm willing to sacrifice other things for it. I also want to be able to eat out on occasion and not sit there eating a lettuce with lemon juice for dressing while other people are eating regular meals. I have enough time to do WW, so i'm going to do it.

On top of this, i'm going to attend some cardio classes. I'm very bad at going to the gym and doing a routine, but i don't mind going to the gym and attending a one-hour class. So that's what i'm going to do.

Now, i need all of you to keep me honest and on track, OK???

Sarah: good idea about being buddies...how do we do this exactly?

Mat: you better put your tough skin on, because i think there's going to be many-a-day with cranky Roz...

Apples 'n' Oranges

Warning: Product Promotion

This is long overdue *wink, but i would like to send a big CONGRATULATIONS to Lara and her business partner Vicky for the launch of their new online store, Apples 'n' Oranges.

Apples 'n' Oranges specializes in Canadian childrenswear for ages 0 - 5.

Now, i should let you know that by writing about Apples 'n' Oranges and putting their link in my sidebar, i have been entered into a contest....twice.

BUT this isn't a completely selfish blog.

First of all, Lara is my friend (right Lara??) and i really want to see her company get off the ground.

Second, all i read are "mom blogs" so i'm hoping those people visit my blog and find Apples 'n' Oranges fitting their need for unique clothes for their children.

Last, I am a huge supporter of small business as i once had my own small business. I feel that anyone who has the courage and willpower to start their own company and follow through with it is top-notch in my books, and for that, i support them.

So click on the button on my sidebar, and visit their site. If nothing else, at least you'll get to see some pictures of some really really cute kids!

Etiquette

Question for you folks:

As you know, i'm getting hitched next year (yay!).

My sister who's the maid of honour wants me to send her a list of people i would like to be invited to my bachelorette party.

My problem is....can i invite people to my bachelorette party if they're not invited to the wedding?

My first initial answer is no. It's rude to invite someone to one part of the wedding and not to the wedding itself. right?

But then i started thinking, and now i'm wondering if it's ok to invite them to one and not the other.

here's why:

1. We're trying to keep our guest numbers down as much as possible and i think most people can understand that
2. The bachelorette party isn't a cash or gift grab. It's a night out to drink and get silly with a bunch of girls
3. The bachelorette party is going to be in Vegas, so if someone wants to go, why not
4. It's not like me getting married is a secret so if they're not invited to the wedding they're still going to know about it anyway
5. I don't think i would be offended if i wasn't invited to a not-so-close-friend's wedding but someone invited me to their bachelorette party

What do you think? How would you feel if you were invited to an acquaintance's bachelorette party and not her wedding (keep in mind that obviously all close friends and family are invited to the wedding)

Come On In!

Welcome to my home. It's not completely finished yet, but i thought i'd give you a sneak preview. I know it took a while for us to let you in, so we thank you for your patience.


Welcome!


Oh, if you don't mind closing the door so the doggies don't get out...thanks.


So what do you think of the colour? I think it goes well with my Lawren Harris print.


That door leads to the powder room and the stairs go up to the second floor and down to the finished basement


If you turn to your left a bit, you'll see the door to the garage. I'm glad i painted the doors a darker colour than the walls and the trim white...what do you think? It was really hard trying to get a colour to look good with those tiles. The previous owner painted the walls a peachy-brown (yuck) and painted one of the doors the same red / purple as the tile *shudder* she painted the garage door and trim all the same peachy-brown...it looked really really bad, but now i don't mind the tile at all with the gray :)


And then right in front of you is the closet. Go ahead, open it...



Surprise! Baby Bonnie likes to nap in little corners :)


Oh, and just before we leave the foyer, take a peek in the powder room and let me know what you think of the colour. It's a greeny-gray. Yes, i love the group of seven...



Ok, i'll run you upstairs to see the 2 spare rooms we painted. First, the guest room...
It's hard to see in this light, but it's a pale gray-blue...i think it'll look nice once i get all the white and tan furniture and accessories in here.


And here's the office. It's a steely-blue colour. That desk will be gone soon as well...


The colour looks more gray from this angle...


Alright, we haven't done anything with the other rooms so i won't show you those yet.
For now, let's go sit outside on the patio. Pull up a chair with me...we'll bbq!




Oscar loves his yard :)


He loves watching the people and dogs who walk by occasionaly.


So thanks for stopping by my house. It's been hard work these last 2 weeks. Come back again soon!

It's Time

I need to lose weight.

20 lbs to be exact...

I was putting it off until October because then the wedding would be a year out. But now i'm a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding in June, which means i have to start N.O.W.

well that's just GREAT!!!

so, the question now becomes which diet do i do? I've honestly done every diet under the sun (no, seriously, i have). I've done WW, Bernstein, Curves and South Beach. I've also been to see a registered dietician and worked out like crazy. The only one that actually worked for me was the bernstein diet and that's because i literally starved myself (i lost 20 lbs in 7 weeks. i KNOW, i KNOW, it's not healthy, but it worked, ok?)

Anyway, I don't want to do the bernstein diet this time, mainly because it's too expensive ($150 a week) and because it takes a LOT of planning in advance.

So, i think my two options are either South Beach or WW.

I've heard great things about both diets (mainly that they do work). The thing is, i've tried both of them and never been able to stick with them. I don't know if my motivation right now is strong enough or not. I mean, it should be, but you just never know with my non-existant self discipline.

The thing that worries me about each diet is: On WW i'm worried that i won't see results fast enough and i'll get discouraged. But on SB, i'm worried that it'll be too restrictive or too complicated that i won't want to stick with it.

I'll have to really think about it. I guess i could start with WW and if it doesn't work, i could switch to SB. And if THAT doesn't work, i could revert to Bernstien's for an emergency weight loss.

Any advice?

Saturday BBQ

Edited to add pics of our prezzies :)

Our Saturday bbq was great. It was a lot of hard work, but it was well worth the effort.

Saturday started with me rising at 6:30 am (it's hard for me to sleep in with a crappy mattress and the sun beaming in the window). I made my way downstairs and instinctively made coffee (thank god i worked at Second Cup for 6 years because i can actually make coffee with my eyes closed which comes in handy at 6:30 am). Sat outside with the doggies while i drank my coffee and planned my day. Mat eventually made his way downstairs and helped himself to a cup of joe and sat outside with me. We discussed our plan of attack and i was out the door to get groceries and booze before 8:30 am. I quickly realized there was a problem: the stores didn't open until 9 am...crap!

I eventually got all of the groceries but had to run them home before i could get the beer and wine, especially since i was risking the frozen burgers (which turned out to be a good decision after all) and ice cream bars melting since the woman in front of me in line was arguing about a price of an item. For chrissake lady...i have 2 boxes of ICE CREAM BARS sitting here and it's already 25 degrees outside and it's 9:30 am!!

It also didn't help that the cashier was the slowest ever!!

So i raced home, ran two bags of groceries in the door. Yelled upstairs to Mat to "help me with the groceries PLEASE" and then ran back outside trying to get all the groceries inside without them melting.

Finally got all of the frozen food into the freezer safely and all of the other perishable items into the fridge.

FYI: i bought 40 frozen hamburgers and 24 hotdogs. I also bought 50 ice cream bars. Yes, we ended up with waaaay too much food and we'll be eating burgs, dogs and ice cream bars until christmas...

Then i was off to the beer store and liquor store to buy 2 2-4's of beer and 5 bottles of wine. I wasn't exactly sure how much booze to buy for 30 people. We already had a 2-4 of beer at home and another bottle of wine. I hoped it was enough. (again, we won't need to buy beer or wine for a good, long time especially since we got a ton of wine as housewarming gifts AND people brought their own beer to drink even though i said we would provide...sheesh!)

The rest of the day for me was spent making veggie pizza, making humus, cutting up veggies, cutting up the condiments for the burgers, and then stuffing everything into the already full fridge like a crazy woman trying to go on vacation for 2 weeks with only one suitcase. The hardest thing to do on my list was cut all of the corn on the cob that i bought (and i bought 12), into discs for a recipe i found on Martha Stewart.com. Ok, cutting corn on the cob is NOT easy!

Finally and miraculosly, everything gets done....except that it's 4:30 and i'm supposed to pick someone up at 5 and it'll take me 30 minutes to get there and i'm sweating like a pig! So...i hope into the cold shower, towel off, pull my hair in to a pony-tail (not how i wanted to wear my hair) and drive like a maniac. I'm late, of course....

And then, the party starts. The doggies are clean and got their nails clipped. People start pouring in. I give everyone a 10 minute tour of the house. They oooo and ahhhh and then i offer them a drink and shuffle them outside where there's appetizers and chairs, and immedately greet the next group coming through the front door.

I'm fortunate to have such a great bunch of friends! Everyone got along great and thankfully needed very little of my attention to make sure they were talking.

It was great to see people whom i haven't seen in too long.

It was also very nice to get a bunch of bottles of wine ;) we also got a gift card and a "cleaning bible" and a serving platter. Our friends are great.

And before you ask....yes i did take pictures! But only of the gifts because i was too busy to take pictures of the party.

I was going to post them today, but realized that i left the usb cable for my camera at home. I promise to post them tonight.

Oh, and i also took some pictures of the house and the rooms we painted so stay tuned for those too.

Needless to say, i spent almost the whole day on Sunday sleeping. I didn't mean to, but after i got up again at 6:30, went to church, had breakfast and strolled around Westboro, i needed a nap. I immediately crashed on my bed around 1 pm and didn't wake up until 5:15!! eek. I immediately felt bad for having "wasted" the day, but i think my poor body really needed the rest. There's not much else we can do to the house anyway after the last 2 weeks of painting etc.!

Now our house feels livable having finished the majority of the painting and having our friends over to give it their blessing :)

All of our housewarming gifts (not present in photo: homemade cookies from Bonnie (my friend, not my doggy) and a bottle of wine from Meg and David which we were given the day we moved in and - of course - consumed)

Card from Meg and David

Bottle of wine from Bonnie and Garry (again, Bonnie also made dee-licious homemade cookies but most of them were devoured at the bbq and then Mat and i polished them off at breakfast Sunday morning...)

Bottle of wine from Shannon and Justin complete with beautiful and luxurious wine cozy

Bubbly from Eric and Christina

Bottle of wine from Mat's co-worker Veronica and Husband

Bottle of wine from Mireille and Nicolas

Bottle of wine from Mat's cousin, Jeff


The Cleaning Bible, also from Mireille and Nicolas

Gift card to HBC from Phil, Helen and Tuan. Gift card hold hand-made by Helen

And a close up of the beautiful hand-made holder

Serving platter from Yasmine and Camila