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Well, I am feeling a bit better today. The body aching is almost gone and most of what's left of this flu is now in my head..congestion, sore throat, etc. I'm off work again today to rest up and hopefully be back in tomorrow. I honestly do not remember the last time I had a flu that put me out of commission like this one.

I went to PEI last weekend with my friend Cybele to visit my sister, her husband and my nephew, Zachary. He changes a bit every time I see him. He just turned one last May and is walking around like crazy...loves to be on the move. You can already see him trying to exert his independence. This is a picture of him just waking up from a nap. He sure is a cutie patootie!

Canada Day Flu

Well, it's Canada Day today, but all the plans I had made are kyboshed due to my coming down with a sudden flu. It started on Sunday night with a slight sore throat...by Monday morning my throat felt like razer blades. I went home from work early, and now since yesterday afternoon I've slept for about 16 hours. Every joint hurts and aches, although as the day goes on I do feel a little better.
I was supposed to go and take the dog for a swim with a friend and her dog, but I guess that will have to wait for another day. I'm off to bed again to rest up and hopefully feel better tomorrow.

Saturday Morning

Well, it's Saturday morning and i am sitting on my deck drinking coffee, plugging this out on my laptop, wondering when the hell summer is going to begin. Officially, it started yesterday on June 2oth but you would never know it with the weather we have been having. When we do actually get some sunshine it's cold due to winds, and the warmer days are usually cloudy or raining. It's traditional maritimes for you though, so I shouldn't be surprised. We will probably see some decent weather towards end of July and into August and September.
The gardening is coming along nicely this year so far. We have finally given the front of the house some much needed "curb appeal" and as soon as I can save some more money, I will start working on the back a bit more. I am going to do a checkerboard garden in the back which I am really excited about.
More to come on that later.

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Hello everyone!

Well, I guess I've done the whole "life is too busy to write thing again..why is it we let work, housework, and the other everyday hum drum necessities of life take up all of our time and take us away from what is really important, like nurturing our creative souls through artistic expression?I work

I love to paint...I love to write...i love to draw....i love to decorate...and yet, i never seem to have time to do those things because I work 12 hour days and between that, and spending time with partner, friends, keeping up with housework and the dog and cats and everything else, there is very little time left for nurturing myself.

I feel a very huge problem with that and it's something that needs to change.

And today is the day that happens.

Rainy Sunday Morning

It's early, but I am the type that when I wake up, it's time to get up. Especially if I've had a good night's sleep, which thankfully last night I did. It's the first good sleep that I've had all week. Work has been busy for me and somewhat stressful, but I see lights at the end of the tunnel so I am pleased.
I am hoping it's a little nicer out later so I can do some gardening. My neighbour who lived next door in the basement apartment died last November, and the landlords upstairs told us if we wanted to dig up all of her plants. She has a decent garden over there, with lots of lillies, some hostice, and some other stuff that's just starting to grow so I don't know what it is! Anyway, I am going to take her up on her offer, but I need some decent weather to do it, and right now it's rainy and windy.

Hump Day

Well, it's Wednesday. This week was a short week as Monday was a holiday. I actually did not do any work last weekend which is rare for me. I sometimes wonder if having a day off is worth it as it just sets you back a day and you have to work all that much harder when you go back to work. Our culture here in the west punches way to many hours on the work clock with no benefit. Sure, it's great to be a success at what you do, but with only 2 weeks as the standard holiday allottment a year, more and more people are burning out by the time they are 40.
In contrast, if we look at Europe, they have a much higher level of productivity and less health problems and their employees get 5 - 6 weeks holiday each year. AND, some parts still have Siesta, a break in the afternoon. I've been trying to get my boss to introduce afternoon naptime like our cousins to the East, and she chuckles and shakes her head at the same time. I guess if I want an afteroon nap, I have to take a later lunch break (as soon as I start taking lunch break), go on E.I., or move to Europe.
I choose option three...

Sunny Sunday Morning

Good morning!

Well, it's 9:00 am and I am drinking my morning coffee with some music playing in the background; some light mix station with hit's since the 60's up to current day. I completely forgot Kenny Loggins existed until I turned this station on, and I also forgot how tacky love music was in 1985, although it's not any less tacky today depending on the artist; there is just less keyboard generated in the background.

The dog was just lying next to me on his bed but the cat ran by for no reason in particular, and so that prompted him to check things out....obviously it wasn't to interesting, so he has resumed his position and is maintaing his course and speed, which is zero km to doing nothing!

Kenny Loggins has left the building, and John Meyer has entered. I can't believe he and Jennifer Aniston are dating.

I am sitting here tapping this out from my bedroom on my laptop, and the sun is beaming in the window. It's a clear, blue sky, warm light breezy kinda day, and as I sit here typing and drinking coffee on this sunny Sunday morning, I feel grateful, loved and excited for everyone and everything I have and for all of the wonderful things I have to look forward to.

Bryan Adams and Barbara Strisand have just replaced John Meyer on the airwaves, which is a signal for me that I need to change the station!

Bloggy Blog Blog Blog

Wow. Well, almost 4 months since a post...ridiculously unacceptable, although I shouldn't be too hard on myself afterall...

It's been an exciting 4 months. All of our family were together in PEI the past couple of weeks. Some are still there, some have come and gone, but it's the first time that we have all been together (by family I mean immediate family) since Heidi's wedding two years ago. I get to see my nephew Zachary quite often as Heidi and Jeff live in PEI, but not Ryan and Amalia so it was wonderful to spend time with them. Amalia has changed a lot since I last saw her in December, and Ryan is quite the little man at the age of 5 (his birthday was on the 8th). We have a large family and we are close and I am very thankful for that everyday. And hopefully it will get bigger. I would love for Heidi to announce that she is having another baby someday soon. I would love for her to have an aquarian (I personally feel it's THE sign to be :) )

In other breaking news, I finally decided at the ripe young age of 34 that it's time to start taking better care of myself and so I've quit smoking. I am taking a drug called Champix, and I guess it's working because I feel like I've never smoked and have zero desire to have one. None of my usual triggers kick in at all, and there is absolutely no craving whatsoever. Having said that, there are two types of smokers; habitual smokers and nicotine craving smokers, and I fall into the habitual smoker catagory. I've quit in the past cold turkey and never craved, but certain activities were associated with smoking and I would always turn to cigarettes. It's been proven that no matter how you decide to quit, unless you are really ready, it won't happen. I was ready. I was tired of the expense, and of worrying about what my health would be like down the road, and a whole host of other things! I am proud to say I have been smoke free for one week today!

The last big thing at this point is that I got a promotion at work to Corporate Sales Executive. I am excited about this opportunity as it is the direction I was aiming for. I am ready to hit the ground running and see where I will be able to take this!

This post was prompted by my sister in law, Kirsten who missed reading my posts, so here I am, back to the world of blogging and I am going to make a concentrated effort to update as often as possible. Thanks for the nudge, K!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a pretty great day overall. Even though it was that dreaded Monday, and it was minus 17 in the morning with a windchill of minus 30, the sun was out, I was well rested, and as a result extremely productive. I caught up on a lot of outstanding stuff at work, compiled a last minute ad design for our Calgary office, then came home and sealed the grout in our tub surround and started to clean up the den. I love it when my days feel organized and productive. And on another note, I couldn't believe how bright the moon was last night. The full moon is actually tonight, but it always looks full the night before. The sky was completely clear and the moon was bright enough to read by! The way it makes the snow sparkle is one of the very few things I like about winter. I am hoping to get some pictures tonight if it's clear, as I couldn't last night because my camera batteries are charging.

Time for Beer

I decided after Christmas to start making my own beer again. Myself and Stephen like to drink quite a bit of beer and in an effort to save some extra money, we are making it. We used to make it a while back and fell completely out of routine, which happens a lot to all of us in life. Anyhow, I am proud to say that so far I've completed a Pilsner, a Stout, and I currently have a Pale Ale brewing, and I am getting another one to put on this week. To make it, I am using this special enhancing sugar instead of regular corn sugar, and it makes a huge difference with head formation and retention as well as carbonation. I enjoy the productive time as it's "my" hobby, and the beer is really good!

Bathroom is 99% complete!

It's been way too long since I've written on here. It amazes me how time whizzes by and life gets in the way of the simple things we enjoy, like writing in a blog. Oh well, I guess all I can do is endeavor to take the time to keep this updated.

So, we had a bathroom renovation started on December 3rd, and the contractors are still not finished. There is still caulking to do, a piece of tile to fit and a chip in our tub to fix that got there during their renovation work. Which means, of course, that we still can't shower, but at least we can bathe. (And no, I have not gone without a shower or bath since December 3rd...our friend lives next door and we've been going there. Its funny, because I went to Newfoundland on December 1st so I actually haven't showered in my own home for 51 days!

Anyways, pictured you can see the (pretty much) final result. We have dreamed of having a bathroom like this for over two years now, so it's great to see it all finally together. I'm most excited about the closet that was built in to the space (my idea!), as we have no closet space in this house whatsoever. It's going to make a big difference in how things are organized.