Back to the Gym!

So I'm probably the world's worst blogger as I never have anything interesting to write about.  I have been pretty much doing nothing but working for 2 weeks - mainly 12 hour days.  Big legal brief due and I had to put it all together...was stressful because of course everything is left to the very last possible second.  I'm all about procrastinating but this is a whole new level.  So working nights mean I also haven't made it to the gym in almost 3 weeks. Well, until tonight at least.  Tonight I did a BodyPump class which may not have been such a good idea as I still need to walk tomorrow but fun nevertheless

There wasn't that many people in my class of course but same idea.  I need to start lifting more weight though as I've been going a few months now and don't lift too much yet.  I need to get to the gym more regularly anyways though.  I found out this week that my friend is getting married in Mexico in February and that the trip to the wedding is going to cost me $2600...FOR ONE WEEK!!!   Wow, I've no clue how I'm going to afford it but thinking this may take two credit cards and a line of credit to pay in full.  I could skip it and go another week for half the price but I'd love to see him get married as he was almost like a brother to me growing up.  Decisiosn decisions....

The Facebook UNfriending

So trying to figure out when it’s ok to un-friend someone on facebook. How long do you have to go without speaking before you’re not friendly enough to be on someone’s list? I think I’ve only ever unfriended 3 people and all of them were people I either had never met in person or had only met once or twice through someone else who I rarely spoke to. I always just feel so guilty. Like today I saw an old high school friend in a picture in someone else’s album and was thinking that I hadn’t seen any pictures of her wedding that last time I’d seen her status update she had been planning for the summer. So I clicked on her profile only to see that I had been unfriended. I sat here wondering if I had done something to piss her off or to upset a friend of hers. Spent 20 minutes trying to figure it out when I realized that I hadn’t spoken to her since last winter and that’s probably all it was. Wow, I’m a bad friend that I can’t talk to all my 500 facebook friends on a regular basis. When is it ok to unfriend someone? Am I the only one that gets hurt and offended by this? Yeah, think I worry too much!

Mmmmmm SANGRIA!!

So today was MUCH better than yesterday....I finally learned to ask for help (at least for today) and it made my day way less stressful.  No need for ativan-induced sleep tonight.  May even head there early.  BUT  I had some leftover sangria from the weekend so I thought I should finish it off....yum.  It's been a few days so I thought it wouldn't taste as good but really it tastes even better now.  

Normally I make red wine sangria like that (that was from a sangria party I had in July)  It's my favourite drink.  It's all the things a good drink should be...strong, full of alcohol, sweet, fruity and intoxicating!  But my friend Ania who is usually part of my sangria parties hates red wine...well hate is a strong word and she's so wonderfully sweet she would never use that word.  It's probably not even a word that she learned in English when she moved here from Poland (I'm exaggerating of course because she knows english, just that she'd never tell you that she hated something you made for her).  Lets just say she prefers a nice chardonnay or champagne to red wine.  When it comes to sitting down and drinking wine I'm with her as I find white wine much smoother than it's coloured counterpart.  But LOVE sangria with red wine because it takes the best part of red wine (the deep flavours) and then infuses it with citrus to make it refreshing (which unfortunately, is not a word I would normally use to describe red wine).  Usually when I have my sangria parties (and 'parties' is used lightly as it's usually just myself, Ania and her husband, Rafal) I make a double batch of red wine sangria.  Ania has one glass to be polite but usually not much more than that so when I make the batch I'm sure to put in a TON of lemons.  She loves lemons and eats them (rind and all) a lot.  That way, when she's done her one drink she can eat the lemons that have been sitting in wine, brandy and liqueurs for 2 days and still get a bit tipsy.  Last time, I promised her that I would make her a white sangria next time.  I've never made white sangria before so wanted to be sure I could try out a good recipe.  I had my friend Keith over for a roast chicken dinner on Saturday so I tried out white sangria recipes I found on the internet and I must say..... SUCCESS!!!

Yummy!  Excuse the dirty glass..this is glass #2 tonight so I didn't scrub off all the fruit pulp from the last glass!  I also didn't have any peaches or oranges which the recipe called for so I settled for apples, lemons and limes.  Still fantastic if I do say so myself.  I think next time I will get an orange and maybe a splash of pineapple juice and grand marnier.  I find softer fruits like peaches and berries get mushy and sort of take away from the sangria experience. 

I imagine I will be drinking too much of everything tomorrow as it's my friend Kylie's going away party - she's moving to Toronto.  She's my only unmarried, single girlfriend in Calgary so I'm not really sure what I'll do without her.  Maybe I need to put an ad up somewhere and beg for friends....lol  I shouldn't laugh, a month without her and I will be seriously considering it.

It's sort of nice for tonight to come home and relax with a great drink and put my feet up!  Ahhhh Life is Good!!!

This Too Shall Pass

What a horrible day.  A day filled with unrealistic expectations, confrontations, anxiety, tears and pain..how I hate days like this.  On top of everything, a coworker of mine had her home broken into and all her jewellery and electronics stolen - even family heirlooms.  I hate hearing things like that.  She was obviously devastated but so was I....on top of an unbelievably stressful workday I had this overwhelming empathy for her where I literally got sick thinking of how easily someone's life can be turned upside down and their sense of security violated.

This has happened to me many times before and it's always a horrible feeling but I find that when something happens to someone I care about, it hurts me more than if it had happened to me.

I supposed the only constant in the universe is that everything changes.  That no matter how bad the situation or obstacle, it is always surmountable.  I have proven this many times in my 30 years as I've moved forward after the worst possible situations.  It's sad how we always forget how quickly things will change for us.  When we're down, it's hard to remember that the situation is going to get better and when we're happy, it's hard to remember not to take it for granted because it's going to turn bad again.  In every situation we have to be grateful for what we have and not worry so much about what we don't have because this too shall pass.  If only I could remember that some days -  I worry too much!

Anyone for Spam?

So random fact for today! Hawaii is the biggest consumer of Spam products in the USA!

Apparently, McDonalds in Hawaii even have both a McSpam breakfast sandwich and a Spam McGriddle breakfast sandwich (I actually had to google it to be sure and came up with this photo) …Yuck! I will stick with my bacon and egg McMuffin for any breakfast sandwiches from McDonaldsI just can’t understand how ANYONE would enjoy a product which has an ingredient list of: Pork, ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrate. Sounds…..um…. Salty (actually 790mg of salt in a 56g serving - but that‘s only 1/6th of a can). . I guess I shouldn’t knock it until I try it. I’ve never actually TRIED Spam I don‘t think. If I have, I have mentally blocked out the experience due to taste bud trauma or some sort of PTSD experience! I totally shouldn’t joke about PTSD for fear that karma will throw it my way again. I’ve already had one experience with it that lasted almost an entire year when the love of my life committed suicide almost 4 years ago and I’d rather avoid it for the rest of my life.


Well…..I WAS hungry before I started writing about Spam; however, now I think I will forego my snack. Maybe I need to start reading ingredient lists of disgusting food more often it might keep me from snacking at night. My intention was to go to the gym tonight but I didn’t make it except for a 20 minute walk/jog on the treadmill in the building here. I think my New Year’s Resolution of learning to run this year is going to have to be rolled over to next year (just like it was rolled over to 2010 from my goals in 2009 and 2008) I’m just so completely out of shape. I run for about 90 seconds and I’m pretty sure I’m dying from lack of oxygen. The Couch to 5K says that I’m supposed to start with 60 seconds and move slowly up from there but I am so impatient! I’m all about instant gratification and if I can’t get something right the first time I hate trying again, especially at the gym where I watch people run for an hour without stopping and so I’m embarrassed to be the one person who runs for 60 seconds and has to stop before I fall on my face. So what’s the best way to start running? Outside or treadmill? The Couch to 5K plan or the plan that you’re supposed to run telephone pole to telephone pole? I should’ve just hired a trainer at the gym but they said in order to get skinny and fit again it would cost me $7000.…no thanks, that’s a lot of new shoes.

Stressed week +aerosmith = good friday!

So the day was CRAZY!!!!  But now at least I have something to look forward to for tomorrow.  Going to go to my coworker Maeghan's bar admission after work and the AEROSMITH CONCERT FOR FREE!!!  This girl I met online from the UK is apparently the manager of the box office at the Saddledome and said she had a few tickets to give away to anyone that could tell her why they deserved them.  I honestly didn't give her any reason at all other than that I saw what she thought was a personal message to her other friend and felt the need to butt in and tell her she was replying to all...oops!  lol  So she said she will put a couple of tickets aside for me tomorrow....woo hoo!  At least with all the stress of trying to pump out 4 briefs and 4 motions in 2 weeks I will have something to look forward to in the end.

The boss man is actually not going to be around tomorrow.  Apparently a very important Jewish holiday I know nothing about.  I really have to start reading up on other faiths because I'm completely in the dark.  I know his son came from L.A. to go to church with them....wait, I'm not allowed to call it church as it is a synagogue (did I even spell that right?  Wow, I'm from a small town).  So anyways his son D. came from LA to go to church  hmmm... synagogue service? prayer service?  what is it called?....anyways so he came from LA and brought his suit but apparently forgot to bring a tie.  So boss's wife calls Harry Rosen to have them deliver a couple of ties to the office so that D can pick one to wear with his suit.  Does anyone shop at Harry Rosen?  Do people really know how insane their prices are?  I knew Holt Renfrew was expensive but had no idea that 2 ties at Harry Rosen (on sale) cost $275....um what?  Yep, that is $137 per tie!  What makes a $137 tie any better than a $50 one you buy at a department store??  I can't imagine ever spending $137 on a piece of fabric that small and insignificant!  Shoes on the other hand....that's another story entirely.

Today was a good day.... comparatively speaking.

Today was a pretty good day for me.  I made plans for lunch on friday, dinner on saturday and drinks on Sunday afternoon so it's always nice to look forward to a fun weekend!  Also, today I finally have groceries so I could eat real food when I got home which usually puts me in a good mood.

Started off good because I'm usually stuck standing on a crowded train where people push and shove and everyone is grumpy.  But today my bus wasn't late so I was able to get off the train at Anderson Stn and catch the empty train that comes along around 7:20!!  Woo hoo!

Today I had a bit of time lapse because it was busy at work.....

Oh, and also there is a new post on Hyperbole and a Half today which is the BEST BLOG IN THE UNIVERSE and always makes me smile.

So yes, I amuse easily but sometimes you have to take the little awesome things and forget about all the shitty stuff.  There was lots of shitty stuff happen too; but I prefer not to focus on that for today.  I think we can always find something good about each and every day....even the worst ones.