FOLLOW UP...

Well it seems I was having a highly volatile emotional day yesterday.  I was definitely feeling down and out, and while I do not feel the same today, I am still left feeling a mixture of things today.

As an update to what happened with my aforementioned date, after 4 days he sent me a message to say "how's your week going?" Actually it was almost more like 5 days since the message came very late in the evening. For some reason, instead of being relieved,  I was extremely angry.  Admittedly a lot of that was because of whatever wild hormonal, lunar experience I was going through, but in the light of a new day, where I am somewhat more rational, I still feel at a loss in this situation.  My heart and my gut tell me this guy is just wasting my time.  What I really feel, is that he spent those days of non-communication checking around to see if there was anyone else that was a better option, and when nothing came of that, he messaged me again.  I don't expect him to be exclusive to me after two dates, but I also don't want to be made to be a fall back incase nothing better comes along.  I deserve better.  I also feel like there were some discrepancies in the relationship that were potential deal breakers.  Fundamental things that you can't just compromise your way through.  But there is another part of me that is worried that I am being too rash and blowing things way out of proportion.  Is it possible that he thinks not messaging until late in the day, four days after our date, is actually totally normal?  Is it possible he thinks everything is great?  I mean how can he go from jamming his tongue in my mouth and cupping a breast to nothing for 4 days? So maybe he does think this is ok and progressing at a normal speed.

I honestly think my biggest issue right now is that I am pissed off about the delay in conversation because it makes me feel like he is just dicking me around.   As I said in my previous post, it's not like this was an amazing date and I don't feel like this would probably be more then just a few weeks of casual dating because of the aforementioned deal breakers.  So is it worth it to keep going out with him or are we both just wasting time?  On the other hand, it's not like I have men banging down the door over here so what's the harm….   And then in the back of my mind I just can't get help but worry about what happens in 6 months or 12 months if I don't meet anyone else, will I regret my decision to call it off with this guy?  Am I being rash?  I just don't know what to do.

Why is it so complicated and why am I making it so complicated???

So tonight I'm signing off as confused and irritated.  Hopefully I will have good news and fun stories for you soon.

Cheers,

HERE WE GO AGAIN...

I don't know why, but for some reason this year's impending romance holiday is really getting me down.  Is it the miserable weather we've had this year?  Is it the fact that it's on a Friday so everyone is blowing it wildly out of proportion?  Is it that fact that I came so close to actually having a potential date, but the for reason's unknown to me, I got rejected yet again?  Is it just that I am another year older and no closer to having a family of my own?  Perhaps it's all of the above.

Whatever the reason, I am just feeling a little down this year.  I'm sure this recent rejection is not helping things.  It's not like this guy was fireworks amazing and made me feel like my search had ended.  In fact, I was fairly confident there was no future long term relationship there, but it was nice to go out with someone who I could actually hold a conversation with.  I don't really know what happened, which I think is what makes it all the more difficult.  Granted we only went out twice, and he doesn't really owe me anything, but he did stick his tongue in my mouth and cop a feel at the end of the second date, which did seem a little bold for a 2nd date, and so it seems like maybe I deserve a little more then just radio silence as a rejection.  Then again, would I really feel better if I got the old "you're great, but I just don't see this working out for me" message?   Probably not, and I'd still be no further ahead in wondering what the hell happened.

I think for me, the age thing is a huge factor, but on top of that there is this social pressure and expectation to mate and bare forth children into the world that is weighing on me.  Sometimes I feel like such a failure because I can not meet anyone.  Almost everyone I know has paired up with someone, and yet, in spite of my best attempts, I can not meet anyone.  It certainly makes me feel inadequate.  And now I've met someone who seemed normal, but has now dumped me.  It begs the question what is wrong with me?  I have a friend who insists that I am putting out the wrong energy and I repel men.  I just recently was talking to someone who was telling me about a friend who went on-line and got so many men messaging her she had to shut her account down because it was overwhelming.   I can barely get one person to message me.  I just don't get it, what am I doing wrong?  I have a good job, I have no baggage, I'm not a troll to look at… What is missing?

Everyone has advice, accept they are all people who are married or in couples and don't really understand what it's like to be single anymore.  I constantly hear "you're too picky" well yes, I am picky because I don't want to end up with some slack jawed looser just for the sake of having "a man." I also keep hearing "you have lots of time" but lets face it, time is something that is very quickly running out.

I am very frustrated.  I spent a long time being hurt and angry about a previous relationship, a relationship that damaged me very deeply.  It took a long time for me to let go of that and finally feel ready to allow someone back into my heart.  Unfortunately it seems that maybe it took too long and now I will never have that opportunity again.

This is a lot to unload here, but I'm pretty sure no one I know reads this any more so I'm sure it doesn't matter.  Really I just needed somewhere to vent without being told to stop projecting negative energy, or to try looking somewhere else, or to stop being so choosey.  I just needed to say that I am feeling hurt and alone and like a failure, without anyone trying to tell me what I am doing wrong and how I have to fix it.  Maybe I am just too late and there is nothing left out there for me and maybe I just have to be ok with that.  In any case, it is not easy to do when every other commercial is about valentines and finding your perfect mate.

Signed, sad and lonely tonight

Cheers,

POLAR VORTEX: SUPER VILAIN

As promised, here comes a second blog right into your living room, or bed room, or kitchen or hell, even bathroom.  Who am I to judge what you do in the privacy of your home?

First thing's first people.  It is bloody cold out there, unless you're in Australia, then it is flaming hot out there!  This morning on my way to work I was trying to figure out why it looked hazy when it suddenly dawned on me that it wasn't haze, it was the air freezing.  Yes, it was so cold the that the air was actually freezing.  That is bloody cold.  Fortunately for me I have a co-op student who is desperately trying to impress us so he'll get a job at the end of his co-op term, and subsequently does all the grunt work for me which means I get to sit in the nice warm work truck and watch while he does the out door stuff.  Ahhh ain't seniority great!

I hazard to mention this as I have not really discussed with anyone, so if anyone I know is still reading this it will come as a surprise.  I have a date on Sunday.  Just a coffee date, but a date nonetheless.   This of course leads to a series of hysterical issues to deal with and decisions to be made.  The first major concern is the aforementioned 20lbs I gained between July and now (tomorrow is Weight Watcher's weigh in day so hopefully that 20lbs will be closer to 15lbs).  Now I must find a way to cloak the fat, some kind of clever disguise that makes me look like I have not just swallowed a hippopotamus whole. Also there is the never ending issue of my hair to establish.  Admittedly it was a poor choice to plan a date at 2pm the Sunday after what promises to be an alcohol filled Saturday, so now I have to also concern myself with appearing to be bright eyed and bushy tailed when most likely all I'll want to do is eat McDonald's in my PJ's.  But I am always up for a challenge, especially when it comes to dating, so I'll pull up my boots and put on my big girl pants (or maybe moo-moo if that makes me look slimmer) and get out there!  I'm sure, if nothing else it will make for some blog-worthy material.

In other news I have no idea what to say to 19 year old boys.  I'm not sure I ever did, but now that I am nearly 15 years older them, I REALLY, REALLY don't know what to say to them,  This is to do with co-op student.  There were long award pauses followed by stories in which he used words like"stoked" and "jacked" and I felt like when I was talking I should have been starting every story with  "well in my day…"  Oh the generation gap, it can only get worse…

Well I guess that's all I have to say for today.  Tomorrow is kettle bell bootcamp round 5 so if I'm not too exhausted from that I will give a wee synapsis of what that hell is like.

Cheers,

UH, OK SO IT'S 2014 NOW...

I know, it's been a loooong time and I mean a looooong time since I blogged.  It's so long now that I feel awkward even talking about it.  I mean, how do I address such a long hiatus? If I don't talk about it is that weird, or if I dwell on it does it seem too whiney (whining probably isn't that far off my repertoire from previous posts so maybe this is a moot point)?  I really don't know what the protocol is here.  I think I'm just going to dive in and start typing and see what comes out on the other side.

Big life updates are as follows: I moved
                                                 and I gained 20lbs

That pretty much covers the last several months that I have been MIA.  The move is very good.  The 20lbs is not so good.  In fairness I've lost almost 5lbs of that, but still, it's a huge back slide.  In any case, I'm not beating myself up over that.  I'm trying this new thing where I like and accept who I am for whatever the number on the scale or shape I am.  It's kind of liberating and it makes life a lot easier.

What else… I moved which means I have a bigger house to keep clean, but that's going ok.  It turns out that when you like a house it makes you more inclined to not let it turn into a discussing cesspool of filth.  I vacuum this place like it's my new favourite hobby.  I even bought a new device to steam clean the floors with.  Madness I tell you.

No real news on the man front, at least nothing that happened that was worth reporting, I mean no crazy weird dates that actually stand out.  I am talking with a new gentlemen right now, but who knows where that will lead.

So there it is, an update from the last time I blogged.   A sad 5 paragraph update that brings us right up to now.  Oh admittedly I'm sure there were some ridiculous things that happened along the way, but they are so far lost in my psyche now that I couldn't dredge them up if I wanted to.

So I'll leave you with this, a promise to maintain some kind of regular update of blog.  I don't know what that might look like, but I am hopeful it will be more then an 8 month cycle.

That is all for now,

Cheers

HO HUM

Well there is little to report I'm afraid.  I've wandered into a what appears to be a rare springtime rut and have no new shenanigans or goings-on to report.  Oh sure I've been fighting the urge to go out and lay down a wad of cash on a new summer wardrobe, and yes I am in the middle of a tire fiasco, a topic which could have been blog-worthy, but which just didn't inspire me to write.

Last night I spent about 30 minutes laying awake trying to remember what Jimmy Fallon's first name was.  I figured there was already one Jimmy (Kimmel) in the late night circuit so there wasn't room for two.  Eventually I had to google it.  It turns out that Jimmy K does not have the corner market on that late night handle.

I have also joined a learn to run 5k class.  Last week we learned to walk 2k up and down a hill.  I'm not sure what happens this week but I'm sure it will be good.

Just a few moments ago I tried to log into this blog with the wrong username and became overly disgruntled, firing off a scathing criticism under the feedback button about googles "new format" in which I could not find the "write new blog" button.   It wasn't until after I hit the send button that I saw the comment that said "if you're having trouble seeing your blog, you may want to ensure that you have logged in under the correct username."  Oh dear.  So to the good people at google, I take it all back.  Clearly the problem was user error.

The peanut chicken turned out beautifully.  It was the best peanut chicken I've ever made.  I am equally grateful that I put the recipe on here because I can't remember what the hell I did.

Heres my recipe for spicy hummus (because I'm running out of useless mindless crap to share with you):

1 can of chick peas (also apparently called garbanzo beans)
1/4 cup tahini (also called sesame butter according to the haughty clerk at the Bulk Barn, or "I've never heard of that" by the confused high school student at Sobey's)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 cloves garlic
handful of jalapeño peppers depending how spicy you like it
2-3 tbsp of hot sauce (again, depending how hot you like it)

Throw everything in the Vitamix and blend until smooth.  If you don't have a Vitamix, a food processor will work as will and blender.

Serve with veggies, or sweet potato chips or really whatever.  I like it so much I'd eat it by the spoonful.

Cheers,

THE GREATEST TAI PEANUT SAUCE I EVER MADE

Actually the only thai peanut sauce I have ever made, period, but my god was it good.  You know how when you make cookies the best part is licking out the bowl?  Well tonight I licked out the pan that I cooked the shrimp and sauce in.   It was so good that I'm going to attempt to share it with you all.

Now notice that I say attempt to share, and that is because I am not really one for following a recipe or doing measurements of any kind.  I just kind of wing it and go by taste, i.e. does it need more sweet or tang...  So the following are the list of ingredients that went into the sauce:

Peanut butter
Tahini
Lime juice
Chicken broth
Agave
Ginger
Garlic
Chilli Flakes
Pepper

Now the rough estimate of measurements/instructions are as follows:

Mix 2-3tbsp of peanut butter with 1tbsp of tahini and 2tbsp of lime juice.  This turns into a weird thick paste-like consistency and makes you think "oh good god, what have I done."  Meanwhile, microwave 1 cup of chicken broth until it boils over and causes a huge mess in the microwave.  After you clean up the mess and the chicken broth is cooled down to a temperature you can handle pour about 1/4 of it into the peanut/tahini lime paste and whisk well.  Add one clove of minced garlic, one tsp of grated ginger, 2 tsp of agave and one tsp of chilli flakes.  Whisk some more until the peanut/tahini paste is totally dissolved in the chicken broth.  Now this is the important part.  Taste the sauce and see what you think. I found that it needed more peanut butter at this point to counter act the chicken and tahini flavours.  Then I found that it was a bit too sweet so I threw some more lime juice in.  

Now for the cooking part.  This got a little hairy and I'm thinking that next time I do it, I'll do it differently.  I decided to cook the shrimp in the peanut sauce (raw shrimp).  It turns out that when this concoction gets heated the chicken stock just disappears altogether and the peanut/tahini paste makes a reappearance.  Thinking quickly (or rather panicking a bit, it was burning) I tossed some more chicken broth from the remaining 3/4 of a cup into the pan and stirred like mad until the paste was back to a sauce consistency.  The next large problem I discovered was that it was very hard to tell what colour the shrimp was once it was covered in peanut sauce making it difficult to tell when the shrimp was cooked through.  So I left it on there a bit longer until the paste reared its ugly head and I had to throw more chicken broth in.   In the end I took a guess at how long I thought it should take to ensure the shrimp was not poisonous.  I put the whole mixture overtop of some rice and voila, dinner was served, and, as I've previously mentioned, it was fantastic.  I was worried that, with the excess amount of chicken broth I'd added, that I'd have lost some of the peanut-ty flavour, but it turns out the broth just evaporates right off and eaves the flavour more robust then ever before.

Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at chicken in peanut sauce over rice!

Cheers,

THERE MUST BE SOME KIND OF MISTAKE, THIS CAN'T ALL BE MY JUNK??

Well it is spring, and inevitably ones mind turns to new beginnings and fresh starts.  Some come in the form of renewed diet pledges or goals of long lustrous hair.  Others come in the form of house work and gardening.  Or in some cases, things turn to both.  In any case, there is a sense of renewal in the air and a need for change, big and small.

In addition to this spring cleanse, I am in the unique position of a potential up and coming move which means I am putting forth serious effort into re-arranging things to give the illusion of a house well organized and with loads of space.  In deed this is an illusion as I've just loaded 6 boxes full of crap, four full bags of garbage which went to the dump and two boxes for the salvation army/food bank.  And this is only for the 3 rooms that I've partially started to tackle, one of which being the kitchen.

How on God's green earth does one person accumulate so much crap??  I am one person and a cat (well I have a cat, I am not some weird cat person fusion) and I have only lived in this house for five and half years.  I can not account for this incessant collecting of stuff.  It's like I'm some kind of hoarder only I've gotten very good at hiding what I've hoarded.   Take the fridge for instance. Yesterday I spent two hours gutting and cleaning it, right down to the very last nook and cranny.  Dismantling it and building it back up to what it should be.  Wading into that fridge, was like wading into a foreign land full of hidden jars and preserve that time had forgotten.  Some of which I believe were beginning to breed and form new life altogether.  Perhaps I should have called in a scientist, but then they might have wanted to cordon off the whole scene for the safety of society.  I managed to find four jars of dill pickles, all in various states of fullness.  There were two half full bottles of ketchup that had turned a shade of brown that I do not believe is meant for consumption of any kind, and a plethora of jams and jelly's which made appear as though I'm an active member of the jam and jelly monthly club.  The strangest part about the whole scene was how all this had been hiding in my fridge all this time.  Like these jars managed to find secret hidden caves and build forts out of the hot sauce and milk carton, in which to hide.  How could I possibly have let this colony live for so long??  Nevertheless, they've all been evicted now and I have reclaimed ownership of the fridge and the rest of the kitchen, for the most part.  The pots and pans are still putting up a resistance, but I will break down those walls also.

Next weekend I'll tackle the great and powerful laundry room, aka the room where I put things I have no idea where else to put.  Is it possible to rent HAZMAT suits for the weekend??

Cheers,

WARNING: HAIR RAISING EXPERIENCE AHEAD

I've made a decision.  It's a decision I've made several times over the course of the last several years, and while it may seem trivial to some, to me it is the pinnacle of patience and success.  I have decided to grow my hair.  Yes, that's it people.  No Mount Everest-like conquests for me, just a good old fashioned waiting game and increased consumption of protein in a misguided attempt to aid the growing process.

Now here's the situation as it stands.  For most of my life, my hair was kept short, and I mean very very short, because of unruly while curls that no one could maintain and always seemed to turn into a mullet at the first attempt to grow it out.  So I cut it it short.  Way too short.  For many many years and then, when I was in my late teens I decided to grow it long.   There was a lot of pain-staking styling mishaps over the years, but eventually I found a rhythm.  And then I lost my patience.  5 years of steady growth had got me just below shoulder length.  At that point I decided to cut it, not as short as it had been, but shorter nonetheless.  And I kept it short for quite some time, in a short fun bob.  Now all that has come to a head after years of straightening with flat irons, blow dryers, highlights and die jobs has left my once curly hair, in a straight and scraggly mess.  So I decided to cut the blow drying straight, only thing is, when your hair is short and bob-like, it's very difficult to pull it back into a pony tail and get he scraggly mess under control.  This is what prompted the decision.  Originally, I thought I'd just grow it out enough to be able to put it up so I could stop all the damaging blow drying, but then I decided that I would grow it long.  Longer then ever before.  This is going to take some considerable time, since right now it is just below ear length.   I have sent word to my closest friend, so that when I start to freak out about how slow its going and about how out of control things are getting, she will remind me of  my mission and has been instructed to use whatever means necessary to stop me from making a rash hair cut decision.  With any luck, by next summer I'll be shoulder length and in another 2 years I'll be close to my goal.

Cheers,

THERE WAS A SMALL SPEED BUMP WHEN I ATE THE WHOLE BAG OF SMART POP

I have a confession.  My battle of the bulge has been a loosing battle as of late.  Thing were going along well up until about February, when, I think, the winter blah's got the best of me and let the food monster in me get out.  Things came to a head when I ventured on the scale for the first time a week ago and found that I gained back significantly more then I realized.  I had gained back weight that I had already worked hard to get off and now I have to do it again.  So I'm back on the Weight Watchers plan.  Sometimes we think we're "not really eating that bad" but when you do something like Weight Watchers, it makes you really accountable for what you're putting in your mouth.  Suddenly you realize how far off "not bad" you actually were.  They say that keeping a  food journal is a very good idea for helping with weight loss and I guess I have to agree. I'm on day two of WW and I've gone over my allotted points value both days, only by a little bit, but the fact of the matter is, I have already cut a few things out that I was having pre WW when I thought I was doing alright.  This is going to be tough, but tough love is what we need sometime.

Tomorrow marks the kick off to the weekend, the weekend being a time that I have traditionally struggled with to keep myself on track and not eating like everyday is a carnival.  There's just no structure to the weekend, it's a free-for-all and everything tastes so much better on the weekend!  Not to mention the wine.  I mean, I could skip a whole meal just to be able to have some extra wine on a Friday night!  Also, I'm thinking, just to make things accurate, I'm going to have to start drinking right out of a measuring cup.  Maybe I'll invent my own WW wine glass, it's just a measuring cup with a stem on it.  I feel like the people of WW could really be cashing in on this.

So anticipation of a measuring cup full of wine tomorrow night, cheers!

"IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL PONY, I MEAN, IT LOOKED JUST LIKE A LITTLE HORSE"

Well fellow inhabitants of planet earth, wherever you may be, it's been a rough week for many of us.  The scenes that have unfolded in Boston since Monday's marathon, the terrible explosion in Texas, and now we are hearing of a devastating earthquake in China.  These are troubling times, and it would be easy to hang our heads, throw our hands in the air and say "what's the point?"   The point is, in spite of what might feel like overwhelming odds, we must not give up hope and most of all, we should not turn on our fellow man.  It is times like these where we must learn to lean on each other more then ever.  People are tribal by nature, we need the pack and we are the only ones who can heal each other.  Senseless acts of violence should not been given precedence over the human triumph to push through and find the positive light.  I fear, over the coming weeks, we will be barraged with endless images, stories and analysis of the Boston bombers in the media.  It is more important to remember the survivors and the people who ran into the danger to help others in need.  The reality is there were two bombers, but there were hundreds of people, civilians and first responders, who ran to the aid of others.  That's the true story here.  Around the world, terrible things happen every day, but there are more good people who come to help then there are those who would do harm.  It is time our media and our governments focussed on that and put their energy into shining light on those stories and those people.  If for every two people who are out to do harm, there are 100 people ready to do good, then maybe things aren't as hopeless as we are sometimes led to believe.  Lets all try to keep that in mind and maybe we can be the change we want to see in the world.  I think someone much more wise then I said that...

I really didn't intend to start off like that, but I think it was worth saying.  Now in other, more ridiculous news, I have spent the last few hours battling what will hopefully be the last blast of winter (fyi, two days ago it was 22 degrees c and we had a tornado, today it's a blizzard) in order that I should go maple syrup shopping.   I am blessed to live in a small region of the world where the sugar maple gives us glorious sap which can be boiled down into a delicious golden nectar of the gods.  Each year small communities around the area I live in hold maple syrup festivals.  An entire festival dedicated to the stuff, complete with pancake breakfasts and every kind of derivative of maple syrup you can think of.  Today's expedition saw the purchase of two medium syrups (medium refers to the colour) one jar of maple sugar and, of course, the delicious maple candies, of which I have now had three and am vibrating from the maple sugar content.  I am also quite sure it is the only thing that kept me warm whilst braving the 80km/h wind gusts which make this 0 degree day feel more like -10 (again this is in c).   But it is a tradition and so, wind, rain, shine or blizzard, we will go to the maple syrup festivals to get our yearly dose of sugary goodness.  Here's to hoping next spring will actually be, well, springlike...

Cheers with a big glass of syrup!

I SAID A WAP BAPA LULA A WAP BAM BOOM

Ahoy hoy my good and juste reader!

I am high on exercise and one too many Snackaroons.  Snackaroons you ask?  Well let me tell you; they are my new favourite raw, gluten free, organic and vegan snack.  To be fair, I'm not sure I had a favourite raw, gluten free, organic and vegan snack before, so becoming the was really just a matter of showing up for the job, sort of like some of my co-workers...

Snackaroons, as you my be able to tell from the name, are a branch of the macaroon family.  Little did I know the macaroon family had a branch, but far be it for me to judge.  I found them at my local Bulk Barn retailer, which I have also recently become a regular at.  The thing I like best about the
Snackaroons is that there is not one ingredient on the list of 5 ingredients, that I don't recognize.  Actually not only are they all ingredients I know, they are all ingredients that I have in my pantry.  In theory, with a little experimentation, I could make them myself.  But why go to all that bother when the good people of the Laughing Giraffe company have already gone to the trouble to make them for me.  There are 4 kinds Snackaroon, Vanilla Almond, Banana Coconut, Pineapple Macadamia & Goji Cacao Maco.  My Snackaroon of choice is the vanilla almond.  I like the so much in fact, that last week I devoured an entire bag like they were candies.  I don't recommend doing that.  Tonight I've had three, one in the truck on the way home from the Bulk Barn (road Snackaroon) and then two when I got home, only because the were stuck together and it didn't seem right to separate them when they clearly wanted to be together... Now I'm debating a 4th, but will rain myself in.

I'm realizing that a better title would have been "SHE FEEDS ME LOVE AND TENDERNESS AND MACAROONS."  Of course this is only true if my readers are familiar with the lyrical genius of a scrappy (I'm taking liberties here) Canadian band called The Stampeders.

The point is, nothing beats a Snackaroon after a hard spin class (the first one I've been to in nearly 2.5 months).  Actually a glass of wine would be better, but seems somewhat counter productive.  That is all for now.



Cheers,

SO I WROTE A LITTLE LETTER TO THE PUBLIC BROADCASTER

Well my usual witty banter will have to take a back seat for a moment.  This afternoon I was listening to a radio program that I occasionally listen to, that deals with issues affecting the people of the province of Ontario.  Today's guest on the show was the new Premier of Ontario (this is like a governor of a state for those of you who are not from here, for those of you don't know what that is either, I can't help you).   Now I think its safe to say that around the globe economic issues and debt are at the fore front and we, in the province of Ontario are no exception.  Recently our governing bodies, at both the provincial and national level, have been attempting to reduce the debt by forcing cuts to the public sector. This affects people like nurses, doctors, health and food inspectors, teachers, police and firefighters and many others.  All the people you'd like to be disgruntled and unhappy in their work creating low moral and a lack of care for the quality of their work.  Since the beginning of these "austerity measures" we've already had a massive e-coli outbreak from a meat packing plant that was violating all kinds of health and safety codes which caused illness and deaths (this might have been caught if the inspectors hadn't been cut in half) and now we've had an incident where over 1000 cancer patients have been given a watered down dose of chemo treatment.  Teachers in the province of Ontario had their bargaining rights taken away and had a contract enforced on them.  Much the same for police and firefights.  All and all its not a great environment.  The cherry on this little sundae is that many of the general public, who I can only assume are incredibly short sighted and jealous, would like to see those of us in the public sector have our wages slashed.  On today's radio show, one such man called into ask out Premier what she planned to do about his very cause.  Please find below the comment I sent into the radio station regarding this man's ideas:
Two other things I realize now that I should have mentioned was the reference to the sunshine list and the tax evaders.  The sunshine list is an annual list that comes out stating the names of those who cleared the $100g mark for the year before tax.  As for the tax evaders, a recent list was published of very rich people who've been hiding their money off shore in order to avoid paying taxes.


I'd like to address comments made by one of the callers who called in today to speak with Kathleen Wynn and, in turn, to address the Premier's response.  The gentleman called in to voice his concern over paying taxes for private sector wages and what the government’s plan was to "rein that in" and make it more inline with the private sector.   First of all, this gentleman, who is clearly disgruntled about public sector wages, perhaps should considered (as should the Premier) that those of us who are in high paying jobs are also paying significantly higher portions of taxes to alleviate the strain on those who don't make as much.  Second of all, he also suggested that the sunshine list has ballooned over the last few years.  For as long as I can remember the sunshine list cap has been $100,000.00 while inflation and cost of living has increased at a significant rate.  The reality is that making $100,000.00 (before tax) does not, by any means, make a person rich.  In addition, the people who make those lists, work hard and long hours to get there, providing services that we all depend on.  This gentleman also suggested that public sector wages need to be brought more inline with the private sector.  I can assure you, that the recently published list of millionaires who have been stashing money in off-shore accounts did not get rich by working in the public sector.  Our wages are no more out of line with professionals in private sector doing similar work, in fact, with the latest round of government intervention, in many cases we are now making less.  I'd also like to suggest that, when people think the solution is to cut wages, perhaps they should consider what would happen to their private sector jobs?  Do they not think about the fact that if people are making less, they will intern spend less?  And that suddenly everyone's wages are affected including their own?  I think it's time people stopped being jealous of others and tearing them down, and started supporting each other so we can all help each other up.  To address Ms.  Wynn's comments about wage freezes etc... My contract is currently being negotiated, and I understand that times are tough, and as such I do not have an issue with taking a 3 or 4 year wage freeze to help out, but I do not see a solution to the debt problem on the backs of the working people who are paying some of the largest portions of the taxes for a debt that we did not create.


Petty jealousy is one of my least favourite characteristics in people.  Ignorance and narrow-mindedness are also up there.  I truly believe we are far better off standing united together than standing divided and squabbling over who makes more money.  We can only help each other.  I know that I am fortunate to have the job I have and I am grateful for it.  I work hard and am very conscientious of those who are not as fortunate.  I donate weekly to local charities right off my pay check, I donate to many organizations in need through sponsorship of activities through out the year and I also put a lot of my own time and energy into organizing an annual charity event for a local charity which typically raises between $3500-$4000, every penny of which goes directly to the charity.  These are all things I would have to give up if I was suddenly forced to take a huge cut in pay, now how does that help anyone?  It's very easy to judge and say the "grass is greener" but until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes you are in no position to make accusations.  We are all in this together so stop wishing you had what someone else has and tearing them down because of it.  Be glad they have what they have because it means that you and your children have a chance to have it too.

Cheers,

THE MAN MASSAGE

Now hold on, before you go setting your parental settings let me explain;  in no way has this blog entered into 'R' rated territory.  It is the Easter weekend as you may or may not know, and in order to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, I decided to book a spa weekend, as you do.  You may also recall an earlier blog regarding the ordeal of booking a manicure and hot stone massage.   You may recall I booked the hot stone massage portion of the spa day online.  At the time I booked my massage I was under the impression that Frankie was a female.  I don't think it unreasonable to think that anyone who a) goes by the name Frankie, and b) spells their name Frankie, would be a female.  So you can imagine my surprise when Frankie was in fact an asian man.

Now I am by no means a prude who can not display my ankles in the presence of a man, but I was a little taken aback.  Nevertheless I wasn't about to let this ruin my day of relaxation.  The massage was super relaxing.  The manicure changed my life (shellack is a way of life for me now).  What did very nearly ruin my day, was a misguided attempt to go to Walmart to purchase a few necessary items, such as a new wallet (please see previous blogs).   I drove in, turned around, and drove by back out. That in itself took me nearly 20 minutes (each time I recount this tale it gets a little bit longer, if I tell ten more people I'll have been in the Walmart parking lot for nigh on a decade).  It was madness.  Which leads me to this:  How is it possible that stores being closed for 2 days can cause such mayhem??  Each year we know that the shops will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday and yet somehow we are always caught off guard and we flock like hordes to the shops, be they grocery, pharmacy or otherwise.    And where do these people come from??  It's as if the entire populace has suddenly realized that the stores will be closed and so they crawl out from every nook and cranny and head, with vehemence, to their nearest shopping facility.   Now I know, it seems somewhat hypocritical for me to sit and judge when I have admitted that I was also going to Walmart to pick up some required items, but in my defence, I didn't know I needed some of these things until it was too late.  You see I'm staying at my parents house, getting it opened up for them upon their triumphant return from the southern states.  How was I to know that there would be no detergent, both laundry and dish.  Also, I could not have foreseen the mishap with the smoothie which would result in the need to do laundry in the first place.  In the end I found myself shopping at 9pm at night to avoid the crowds.

And so my weekend took me from spa day, to my first outdoor run of the season, to bad sushi, to movie date, to movie solo date, to fabulous steak dinner with blue cheese cream sauce and sautéed mushrooms, and now, to watching A Knight's Tale on TV.   All and all has been a brilliant and relaxing long weekend and I shall be saddened to say farewell to it, only to begin the countdown to the next long weekend...

Also I nearly burned half my hair off in a mishap with the BBQ.  Perhaps a blog for another day...

So I hope you have all been (or still are) making merry and enjoying the holiday season.  Until we meet again,

Cheers

AND SO THIS HAS BEEN ONE MOTHER OF A DAY

There is no easy way or obvious place to start this blog.  It has been one colossal disaster after another today.  I suppose if I had to put my finger on the pulse of where things began to unravel I'd have to harken back to Wednesday.  It seems a rather unfortuitous incident set the tone for a series of mishaps so epically comical in their occurrence it would seem unlikely that they could even coexist.

It all starts with my refusal to purchase a new wallet in spite of the fact that my current wallet is literally falling apart.  The zipper has become more of an ornamental feature, and on occasion, a hindrance rather then a help when I'm trying to unzip to access various cards, cash and coin.  But I have been soldiering on, limping my little wallet along with each passing day.  You see this wallet has been the best wallet format I ever known.  There is ample coin space, slots for cash or notes or postage stamps and the card storage is beyond compare.  What's more is this tiny suitcase in charge of carrying all my worldly goods, came with a snazzy strap which made for easy transport.  Also, it's red.

Now I know a wallet made from god-only-knows what material, manufactured in China, is in no way going to last the span of an average human wallet-carrying life, but I was hoping I could make it last for just a few more decades.  Unfortunately it had other ideas.  On Wednesday, where this swan song begins, my wallet ended up in a toilet.  And not a toilet in my own house either.  It was a toilet at a coffee shop I had stopped at.  My wallet, was safe and securely (or so I thought) in the pocket of my sweatshirt, where it has resided many times before, but as I made ready to squat down I heard a mighty "sploosh" and when I looked, there was my wallet sinking into the depths.  Without a thought for my own safety I plunged a hand in and retrieved said wallet, then headed straight for the sink.  In retrospect this may have been a cry for help from my wallet.   In a bungled attempt to commit Harry-Karry my wallet leapt from my pocket into the watery abyss, only to be saved for another days service.

Today's episode was a much more dramatic attempt to put an end to the wallet's suffering.  This morning I had plans to meet friends at the One of a Kind Show in Toronto.  This is an arts and crafts show of very high quality and I was very much looking forward to it.  I was up early and out the door with my smoothie breakfast in hand.  When I arrived at the show I still had 3/4 of a blueberry banana smoothie left.  Like a rube I thought "I'll just throw that in my bag with my wallet and drink it later."  Oh what a ridiculous plan indeed, but after a late night followed by an early morning, my brain was not totally firing on all cylinders yet.  I ended up being about 45 minutes earlier then my friends which worked out well since I had a couple of things I specifically wanted to buy and I could get them before it got too busy.  This, my friends, is when things took a tragic turn for the worst.  Somewhere between the tapinade guy and the waxed linen bracelets my smoothie bottle overturned and spewed forth its contents like lava from Mt Vesuvius.  It completely engulfed my wallet, and there I stood trying to pick up a coated dripping mess of a wallet while simultaneously keeping my cool that there was "nothing to see here."  I made a mad dash for the restrooms in a feeble attempt to rescue my wallet once again.   But I was foiled by the motion-sensor technology which sets off the faucet and no matter how frantically I waved my wallet, the sensor would not budge. This time there was no reckoning to be had.  And so I sit on the sofa, while the entire contents of my wallet are airing out all across the kitchen counters.  My wallet, may it rest in peace, is currently at the bottom of a fresh garbage bag where it has finally met its destiny.  Tomorrow I will begin my quest anew to find a replacement, but I do not relish this task.

To add insult to an already injured day, when I returned home I discovered, to my horror, that the satellite dish programming had seemingly been erased.  Thanks again Ma Bell!  Oh well, at least the lapse of television has led to yet another stunning blog.

Also I got butter chicken sauce on my brand new white hoodie.

Cheers,

SNARKYNESS WILL GET YOU NOWHERE

Today was a relatively uneventful day.  Relatively with the exception of the phone call I made to the day spa.

Lets take two steps back in order to take two steps forward, shall we?  My parents are away for the winter in Texas, or as I prefer to call it, the land of pistol packers who would make Charlton Heston proud.  They are planning on returning home from the winter pilgrimage some time in mid April.  This means I will be on my own for the Easter weekend.  Do not mourn for me good blog followers, for while many of you will be indulging in dinners of the turkey or ham or roast variety, I am planning a quiet retreat to my parents empty house to get the water turned back on and plug in the fridge (a big responsibility).  I have decided to make this my long weekend retreat of luxury and pampering and self reflection.  Self reflection will mostly involve watching romance movies wile drinking wine until I am in a self reflective state.  I'll know I'm there when I start thinking that infomercials are a good idea and that I genuinely need those Hollywood Curls ribbons.

So in that light, yesterday I booked a hot stone massage for myself on-line at a local day spa.  Then I thought afterwards, how about a spa manicure (pedicure is currently off the table due to a kickboxing class mishap that resulted in a missing toenail)??  So I left a message yesterday on the spa's voicemail and they called back this morning.  In fairness I did start the conversation off on the wrong foot by saying I wanted to book on Saturday April 30th when I meant Saturday March 30th, but it went downhill from there.  First I told the lady that I had booked a hot stone massage for 10:30 and before I could explain that I had done it on-line she cut me off and told me she didn't see it on the books.  Once we had sorted that out and I told her I wanted a manicure she started booking it, and did not ask me which kind of manicure I wanted.  Yes, there were three kinds of manicure, the regular (boring), the spa (my choice) and the man manicure (for men).  After she started the booking I said that I wanted to do the spa manicure and I also wanted to try the new shellack polish.  This caused a certain amount of sighing and was made out to be clearly an inconvenience on her part.   Next she asked me for my last name, at which point she informed me, in an irritated tone, that I "was not in her system."  I guess new customers are not a normal thing for this woman....  So now she has to take all my information, you can imagine how much of an ordeal this must have been for the receptionist at the spa.  And to top it off, because I live in a different area code, she had to adjust her form.  Oh the horror!

Anyway, here is to hoping that the actual spa experience is better then the appointment set up was.

Cheers,

WHAT I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN...

In no way prepared me for being a temporary supervisor in spite of the inspiring story that typically goes along with how what we learned in kindergarten has carried through are whole lives.  Oh sure, colouring inside the line is a key life skill, but in  no way did Mrs. Attice teach me how to be a mediator, a mentor and a mother, sometimes all at the same time.  If I had the opportunity to re-write that little kindergarten ditty it might go something like this:

What I learned while being the temporary supervisor is that many people are unaware of their limitations and they will make every excuse and exception they can to save face.  Other people who you thought you could trust to be your support and rely on for assistance will turn their back on you merely because you're their "boss."  I have also learned that people who are capable of doing their work will respect your leadership because they are confident in their own abilities, but also aware enough of their own inexperiences to ask for help when they need it.  Most of all, most importantly and eye opening of all, what I learned while being the temporary supervisor is that the only person you can control is yourself.  You can not take ownership of the action of other people, you will end up on a very steep up hill battle in which you have no way to win.  You can control yourself and your reactions and nothing more.  Once you accept this, you will find that life is much easier.  The one other thing, and perhaps the most difficult for many people, is that you have to let go of worrying about what other people think of you.  The reality is, if you do a good job, you will get the approval of people who are far more important then a co-worker who is incapable of doing his/her job.  Ultimately you must please yourself and, at the end of the day, feel good about what you did.

So to summarize, don't worry about what people think of you, be happy, and the only thing you can control is yourself, unless of course you are like me and controlling yourself means not eating a 1/8lb of parmesan cheese immediately before going to your MMA class.  A very unwise decsion.

Cheers,

AND THEN THERE WERE BLUE PANTS

So Target has landed in Canada, and like the rest of the masses, I went in search of new retail treasure over the weekend.  Fortunately, long line ups and my lack of patience prevailed and stopped me from making any crazy "some assembly required" furniture purchases.  Unfortunately, when we followed up Target with a trip to the mall where I was "just looking,"  I ended up making an unexpected purchase.

I think it is fair to say that we all have a "go to" look, a style that we feel confident is out best look, and we don't tend to stray from that.  Hence the advent of shows like What not to Wear and the horrible one wear people's "friends" hire a stylist to get them out the MC Hammer pants and tube tops that they have been wearing since 1993.  Now I seriously hope that none of my friends were thinking of signing me up for that show, but I am fiercely aware that I have a style.  I'm a jeans and sweater kind of person.   Jeans and hoodie during working hours.  It's very difficult to break that mould once you've found something you are comfortable with, but from time to time I wish I had the courage to change it up and do something drastic.  Which leads us to Saturday afternoon at Riki's and the case of the blue pants.

Now when I say blue, that could conjure up any spectrum of colour, everything from navy to cornflour is on the table.   These pants are a vibrant royal blue, like the delicate wings of the eastern mountain blue bird.  On top of that they are of the "skinny pant" variety.  I have not worn pants that tapered at the bottom since pleats were in fashion, let alone pants that are so tight that they fit more like a pair of, well lack of a better word, tights...  They are way out of my comfort zone.  They are not even in the same comfort district, region or country, but for some reason I couldn't stop looking at myself in them.  Sort of like a car crash.  And now I have pants that I do not possess the fashionability to match with a shirt let alone shoes!  I have no idea what I'm going to do with these, but I'm damned sure that I can't go out topless in bright blue pants wearing slippers.  This can only mean one things.  I must return to the mall on a quest for a shirt to match my blue pants.  As far as shoes are concerned, lets just take it one textile at a time...

Also, I was deliberately throwing in as many "" as I could.  It didn't start that way, but then it just kind of "happened."

Cheers,

TIME FLIES

Well once again I have been remiss in my blog duties.  I know, I know, in order for this to be a success and for me to get that book deal I've so been longing for so I can hob-nob with the celebrities and eventually marry well out of my league due to my outlandish fortune, I must be more consistent.

The problem is finding the time to blog, and more importantly the material.  I mean there are any number of monotonous things I could share with you, including the misfortunate incident of the guitar pick which I caught (or rather was given by a friend) at a concert and then tragically lost in a pants-pocket mishap of epic proportions.   Or the terrible decision to eat a piece of cake at the retirement party last Friday, which resulted in stomach cramps and exhaustion which lasted for 3 days.  It's finally time to admit I have a full fledged gluten allergy and I can not have "just a little bit" and be okay afterwards...

Truly the gluten allergy is a tragedy that is far reaching and which I'm sure I have not yet fully felt the affects of.  It's one thing to be gluten free in the safety of your own home, but once you get out in that big bad world full of gluteny deliciousness, compounded by your own weakness for all things gluten, it's a really struggle.  This weekend, for instance,  I am headed to a retirement party on Friday (they are dropping like flies around my work place) and then on Saturday to a friend's place for dinner.  Fortunately my friends are pretty good about my disease and often try to be gluten free themselves, however the retirement party owes me no allegiance and so I will be at the mercy of the veggie platter most likely.  

But this begs a greater issue.  I have long been bitten by the travel bug and have been to several countries, though not as many as I'd like.  How do you convey to someone who doesn't even speak your language that you can not eat their bread?  And what a shame to miss out on traditional fare because my intestines will reject it?? Even all inclusive vacations are loaded with gluten filled food.  It does become a challenge.  Not to mention my mother is already in panic mode because she doesn't know what to feed me.  You know what they say, if it's not one thing, it's a mother, ha!

Okay, that is really all I have to contribute at this time, sad as that may be.  Perhaps tomorrow will  be unabashedly harried and full of exciting blog material.  If it's not then be prepared for one of two things;   1) a very long hiatus between blogs or 2) more drivel like the above about gluten or Tim Hortons...

Cheers,

SHHHH!!! I'M TRACKING A LEOPARD PRINT CARDIGAN, SIZE LG!!

People, it's Friday night and I've had a couple of glasses of red wine (as if there's any other kind) and it finally occurred to me what my subject matter for my new blog post should be.  It came to me in the form of a ridiculous H&M commercial, which is probably fodder for an entirely different blog, but I digress.  I am no stranger to the land of retail, as you've probably noticed by now.  For instance, just last week I made an impromptu, and somewhat long distance, trip to a store that I occasionally frequent for jeans, on the whimsy of a 40% discount I received via e-mail (oooo Lordy, thank god for spell check because it just took me about 5 minutes to figure out why my macbook was highlighting "received" for miss spelling, and I don't even want to tell you how much trouble "because" caused.)  Now I'm watching this absurd commercial for a "biker jacket" being sported by a 16 year old anorexic model with bleach blond hair who has probably never even ridden a peddle bike, let alone a motorcycle.

Albeit the commercial is preposterous, but, as I said already, that is the least of my concerns.  My issue stems from the arrangement of clothing at the H&M store, which seems to be modelled after my arch nemesis Winners.  Look it, shopping is meant to be therapeutic, relaxing and an all around enjoyable experience.  You know what I don't find relaxing or enjoyable in the least?  Hunting for clothes.  This is not an African safari people.  If I find a sweater I like, I want all the sweaters to be in the same location, from extra small up to jumbo-saurus.  I do not wish to stalk my prey through wracks of clothes which have already been picked over and relocated to inappropriate locations.  You know what I mean, you find the fabulous pants you wanted on your size wrack only to discover that some freakish nymph who wears a size 0 (size 0, really?? What's next negative sizes??) decided she no longer wanted the fabulous chords and hung them willy-nilly in the size 14 aisle only for you to discover them, and for a brief moment, be elated to have found them in your size until you realize the sick and twisted truth.  A let down of epic proportions.

And they always put out those teaser displays at the entrance where they have the best of the best of their new collection, but only three to peruse through so that they peak your interest and send you on the hunt, like a shark catching the scent of blood.  I say no more fellow shoppers!!  This madness must end!  For centuries clothing has been organized by style and size in an orderly fashion making it easy to find what you are looking for, or at the very least ending the anticipation of whether or not that satin mango blouse is in fact available in your size, rather then searching feverishly in hopes that the shirt has been "miss-filed."  Let us band together to end this cruelty and rally around the stores that provide us with a simple and satisfying shopping experience.  Yes, I say shoppers unite!! Bring this calamity to an end once and for all, let there be order amongst the chaos!!

And if you really must hunt for something try finding tahini at your local grocer.  I promise you, the challenge will more then fulfil that killer instinct.

Cheers,

MMA STYLE MIDGET BASKETBALL ON ICE

Alright look it, there is nothing challenging about 6' 9" men slam dunking baskets.  They are all tall enough to stand underneath said basket, reach up and touch it.  What I'd like to see is full contact on ice basketball with no one over 5' tall on the teams.  Now that's a sport.

I recently returned from our nation's Capital of Ottawa for a trip to fulfill a life long goal of skating on the Rideau canal.  The skating was fantastic, the food was delicious, the company was terrific and the drinking was of shit show proportions.  Nothing short of what I anticipated.  But the trip brought up an interesting discussion, and that is the "bucket list," which seemingly has become cliched since the release of the major motion picture starting Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.  One of the people I was on the trip with has a friend who is fighting leukaemia.  She has recently been trying new things that she had never done before, from new foods to learning to ski.  It took this fight with cancer to bring that out in her.  So the debate became about waiting to make that list and saving your pennies until you have a massive life altering experience, or is it better make that list and check off those things on your list whenever the opportunity comes along.  I know a lot of people who sit on both sides of the fence.  On one hand, there is a certain risk with trying to fulfill life long goals which can often be costly and sometimes dangerous, say if you're life long goal is to climb Everest or to fight a sumo wrestler, but on the other hand, how do you want to look back on your life? I am no stranger to impulsive decisions, some of which have been costly, such as the purchase of a brand new vehicle on a whim and a trip to Ireland after the trip to Vegas got cancelled because everyone else bailed.   Both of those events took place within two months of each other.  Do I regret it?  Sometimes when the car payments come out I wonder if I made the best decision possible, but ultimately there are few experiences I wish I hadn't had.

When I look back at my life I want to be able to say I did everything I wanted to do and that I wasn't constrained by money or, more importantly, fear.   And while it may be folly to squander away every penny on excess, I would much rather die poor having lived, then die rich having done nothing but squirrel it all away.

As to the case of my friend's friend, I say good for her.  She is taking something challenging and turning it into something incredibly positive, something that gives her purpose.  Regardless of what caused her to make this decision, I can see no downside to it and I wish her all the best in everything.

So as for Ottawa, I can put a big check mark next to skating the canal (one of my less extravagant items on the list) and move onto the next big thing.  I'm thinking maybe hand gliding in the Alps....

Cheers,