Looooong Weekends!

YAYAYAYA! The long weekend is finally upon us. PHEW! Didn't think I'd make it! I never really enjoyed the beauty of weekends before. Not until we moved in to our new office digs and I started to coming to work 8:30am to 4 or 5pm Mon-Fri. I had never worked that many hours at The Cave. I would split my time between there and working from home. But I have to say, the new office has made me way more productive.

Anyway, working so many hours now has made me realize how much I love getting off of work during the week, and my weekends. I appreciate the time that I have now and surprisingly, I'm more productive in my personal life now as well. Go figure!

I don't really have plans this weekend which is kind of nice. Sunday we're going to Hastings Horse Track with some friends, Chris & Holly. I can't wait to go bet on the ponies!!!! Ok, I know they're not ponies, but it's much more fun saying "ponies" then "horses". On Monday I'm making my all famous ribs for some friends, Diesel and Mike. I CAN'T WAITTTTTT!!!!!

I'm at work and that's just what I need to do now, work. My phone is ringing, my BlackBerry is buzzing and Outlook just informed me that I have new mail. Sigh, maybe I won't be able to get out of here early today. :(

Swimming Pools

As some of you may know, I signed up for a triathlon - My First Triathlon. It's a 400m swim, 20K bike ride and a 5K run. It's also in two weeks. Did I mention that I haven't done a single thing to train? Well, that was the case until this week.

My friend Chantal asked me if I would like to ride my bike while she rollerblades around the Seawall. I of course said yes because I figured now is as good time as any to perhaps dust of my bike, find my helmet and gloves and go for a ride. So on Tuesday after work I met her for a lovely ride. We went around Stanley Park back to the Bay Shore where she works. I then took the long way home, making sure to get as much ride time in as possible. It felt good to get back on my bike. So I know that the 20k isn't going to be a problem.

My friend Holly invited me to join her at the new pool located at Nat Bailey Stadium Wednesday night. She would partake in the aqua class while I would do mind numbing laps. I figured that now is as good time as any to get over my fear of water, but mostly public swimming pools.

I can swim. I can swim like no other. But I hate, HATE water where I can't see the bottom. But what do I hate more than that? Public swimming pools. Um, gross. There's something wrong with being in water with strangers. There's cooties, unidentified objects, little kids that pee, etc. I especially stay away from hot tubs. Cooties Soup. Now to be fair to swimming pools and the people that actually enjoy them, I didn't develop this fear over night.....

Back in 1996 I got a job with an internet provider, Internet Direct. I worked in the billing department which was kind of fun. Anyway, when they opened up to Alberta customers, my shift changed to a start time of 7am - 3pm. The greatest shift time ever! <- not being sarcastic. With my new early morning wake-up call, I decided to go swimming before work. I would get up at 4:30, go to the pool for a 5am - 6am swim. Get ready there then head into work. I did this for about 7 months... until May of 1997.....

It was a week before my best friend-at-the-time's wedding. I went to Harrison Hot Springs and went for a dip in the hot pool. I had a great time, for about an hour, until I looked over and saw an old couple sitting on the steps. They were looking at his leg. Upon closer inspection I discovered that they were picking at a scab and stuff was oozing out. Did I mention that the steps were in the pool? arf arf barf vomit OMG GROSS.

Now, you might think that I'm being a tad dramatic but what you don't know is that night I woke up around midnight with a raging fever AND my left eye was swollen shut and full of puss. This was five days before my friends wedding!!! I saw a doctor and they confirmed that it was probably from the pool. If the water is hot and not properly filtered or whatever, you can get infections. Now, many years later, my left eye lid has never fully recovered and I'm suppose to go for an operation to fix it (covered by medical, but not my right eye. Go figure).

Needless to say I didn't go back to a pool for about a year. Then I decided to try again. I went to my rec centre to swim some laps. About lap two I looked over and saw a corn pad float past me. I immediately got out and didn't go back, until last night.

So I shall share some tips of How to Get Back In The Pool if you have a fear like me.

#1. Go with a buddy. At a time like this you need a buddy system.

#2. Whatever you do, DO NOT look at the tile floor on the way to the pool. You're probably in your bare feet and the LAST thing you want to see is your feet touching the copious amounts of hair stuck to the tile.

#3. DO NOT look in the water to see what's below you. I did that mistake last night. Right below me I spied a band-aid. Good thing Holly was there, she kept me focused and calm, slowly moved me away from the area and gave me a ball to float on.

That's all I can think of for right now because just thinking about it makes me tense!!!!

Going for a walk

Yesterday pretty much sucked ass. Yes, ass. I didn't really get any sleep the night before and no, not because of any "fun" reasons. I just_couldn't_sleep. My head was spinning. I was hot. Then I was too cold. Yuck. After three hours of sleep, I dragged my butt into work only to have a crap day. Everything and anything that could go impossibly wrong, did. I went home and did my best to stay up. Napping only screws up my sleep cycle even more so I just don't nap.

One nice thing though, I managed to have the Loft to myself. After a long crap day it's nice being able to sit in front of the tv and watch my bad shows in peace and quiet. No comments from the peanut gallery, just uninterrupted viewing time. A cat on my lap, a gin martini to sip and the Real Wives of OC or MasterChef keeping me company..... lovely. So lovely.

After I finished my shows I took pups for a nice walk. Nothing like fresh air on a beautiful evening in Vancouver to brighten up one's mood. After a few blocks I started to relax. My faith in humanity was coming back. My shoulders started to relax, the tension in my neck lifting.... It had only been a few blocks but I was feeling better already.

Until Sadie and I heard a weird sound then some Seagulls making weird bird sounds. Sadie had stopped dead and was looking up, so I naturally looked up. And there, dangling by one foot, was a Seagull who obviously didn't get the Bird Memo that you're not suppose to touch the transformer part of the pole (I of course attached a picture). His Seagull friends were flying around making sad sounds. :( The tension crept back into my chest and shoulders and I felt, well, sad. So much for a nice relaxing walk.

Reminds me of the horrible Christmas that I once had many moons ago. Ray, my beloved boyfriend at the time, got me a kitten about a week before Christmas. I named him Early because he would meow around 5am every day. I took Early for his free vet visit where the vet informed me that Early had an incurable disease and had to be put down. I was so sad. I loved him. Two days later, on December 19th my step-sister passed away from her long battle with cancer. UGH.

So on the 24th of December, I decided to cheer myself up and walk on over to Safeway to get some Cindy donuts for Ray and I. A nice walk would cheer me up, it usually did. However, about half way to Safeway I heard this horrendous screech. Piercing, awful, made your blood curl. I looked over just in time to see a hawk swoop down and snatch a baby squirrel from the tree it had tried to hide in. It then flew up to a branch and started to kill it.

For those of you who don't know me, this has scarred me for life. I love animals and I don't believe in the food chain. Logically I know we have to have one, but I don't have to be exposed to it. So seeing this event pretty much sent me into a crash. I didn't go to Safeway. I went back to Ray's and I can honestly say that I have no recollection of Christmas that year. I don't know what we did, or didn't do. What we gave or got as presents. Nothing.

So it shouldn't really surprise me that my nice walk that was suppose to relax me would end in horror.

Summer

Summer finally feels like it's here! Thank goodness. I kind of missed the warm weather. I really missed the variety of veggies/fruits that you only seem to get in the summer months. For cheap. :)

I have some friends that live across the street, Steve & MJ and their wonderful dog Jayden. They are lucky because they have a community garden on their roof and they have an extraordinary garden!!!! I got to reap some of the benefits tonight!!! Steve so kindly loaded up a bowl of wonderful garden delights; lettuce, arugula, spinach, radish's, green onions, rosemary the size of me (I'm not kidding).... so many wonderful things!!!! I came home, washed it and now it's drying on my counter. You wouldn't believe the harvest I got!!! It also included two ants, an aphid and a daddy long-leg spider that doesn't seem to want to be rescued from my kitchen. I eat salad daily so this is a complete treat!!!

-SIDE NOTE- As I'm typing this, I'm sitting out on my deck on top of my lovely garden storage box, drinking a gin martini and the best part......... my boy Fred is sitting next to me giving me the look of love and purring. LOVE IT!

My beautiful friend Heather (and I'm not just saying that because she reads my blog) has taken up a fantastic job on-the-side. It mixes her favorite, hrm, hobby is the wrong word, but LOVE for jewellery and is now doing it p/t and making some coin!!! Heather was made to wear jewellery. No matter how big the piece, she can somehow pull it off. Maybe because she's graceful.... Not sure. Anyway, for the past year I've been thinking about doing something in my spare time. As you might recall from previous blogs, I'm bored. I love my job, but I'm bored. I need something else in my life that's fulfilling.

Let me back-up a bit here... Every time I turn a new decade, I come out with new goals for myself to accomplish that year. In my 20's, it was to buy a car, a house and be financially secure. I bought my car by myself, I saved up and bought a house and I was financially secure until the house I was living in previously burnt down and I lost everything. It's really really really really super expensive to start life again. Especially when you went from paying $450 a month to $1500 in a mtg + + + + +. You also had to buy everything again. I didn't even have a toothbrush!!!

When I hit 30, I decided to go back to school, do a triathlon and complete some things on my bucket list (mainly go to PEI and eat a lobster). So I went back to school, I went to PEI and guess who just signed up for her first triathlon???!!!!! OMG. It's August 6th and the only reason I'm freaked is the swimming part. I_do_not_like_water. I can swim like a hot damn but it's the getting into the water part that's hard. 400m swim, 20K bike ride, 5K run. NO SWEAT!

So now I'm doing a ton of research on nutrition and what I should be eating. Being a vegetarian for 14 years, I know all about veggies, fruits, beans, grains, blah blah blah. But when you are running as much as I am and now about to compete in a triathlon (plus my fabulous left kidney that goes on vacation once in awhile) nutrition is at the top of my list. I need protein, I need a certain combo of protein/carbs. I can only eat at certain times, etc. So in the past month I've done so much research.

'Alive' is the most amazing magazine that I have ever read. Truly, I have yet to encounter another or a website for that matter, that has as much info on nutrition, health, environmental studies, etc EVER. Amazing. I found out that they offer a diploma program through their own school which is recognized!!!! THAT'S RIGHT! You could actually get a diploma and USE IT. And one of the diploma programs is on Sports & Nutrition. Well hells bells, I found my calling. My friend Deniege is doing this course already, she brought her books camping in Tofino. Lucky for me, it references a lot of articles from 'Alive' and seeing as how I am completely loyal to this mag, I'm bound to pass with flying colours!!!

After I'm done I can do consultation as a nutritionist, specializing in sports. HELLO. That would satisfy me like nothing else.

So that's my plan. I just need to save the money for the tuition and then I'm off!!!! It wouldn't even seem like school because I research and read all of this anyway while I sit in front of the TV and haphazardly watch Real Housewives of OC. :)

-SIDE NOTE- Some random guy just peed in my alley. Gross.

Well, time to go read more in 'Alive' about Genetically Engineered pigs and Atlantic salmon. It's very interesting. I HAVE NO OPINION. Not enough information yet to form one. But if you get a chance, look it up, it's pretty interesting.