If Jon can, so can I.

Fitness Test - 2

Last January I participated in my first ever fitness test. Last night I got to see how far I've come in the last few months. Some of the results were better because I am stronger - no doubt about it. Some were the same because I am a lazy ass and don't always do everything in my own workouts. And some were worse because, as you know, I am a lazy ass and don't always do everything in my own workouts. I also think that the time of day played a factor. When we did the test in January it was on a Saturday morning. I'd had a good night's sleep, was refreshed and full of energy. Last night was mid-week, at the end of the day, and also took place after an hour of paddling. (But those are probably more like excuses, the real reason is just that I'm a lazy ass.)

Here's how I did:

The maximum weight I can bench press is 85lbs. (15lbs. more!)
The maximum reps I can bench press in 90 seconds (using 45lbs) is 60 (possibly double what I did in January!)
The maximum reps I can bench row in 90 seconds (using 45lbs) is 77 (12 more!)
I can do a back extension for 4 minutes, 8 seconds (35 seconds less than in January)
I can do 40 sit ups in 90 seconds (exactly the same)
I can do 1 push-up in 90 seconds (I think I must've miscounted by 4 in January)
I can do zero chin-ups in 90 seconds (the same - but just so you know, a couple of the guys could only do 2 or 3, so that makes me feel a lot better)

This is hard

Visited two condos tonight. Both have a lot of potential.

One I liked more than the other but it's not exactly right. The bedroom may not have enough room for even the minimal furniture I have and the dining area wouldn't allow room for my china cabinet or buffet. It is completely ready to move in. Fantastic kitchen, beautiful floors, bright (3rd floor), front and back balcony, office space.

The second place is closer to my ideal budget but it's dark (ground floor), would have to be repainted completely and the living room is minuscule. Kitchen is a good size, bathroom too - but both are slightly dated. Bedroom would fit my furniture and office space is good too. Free parking out the back, nice floors, gas fireplace.

Both are close to the metro, bus and shopping.

I've also prepared a list of 4 other properties on Ridgewood that I should probably have a look at. Gosh - who has time to work? I'm trying to find a place to live!

Potential

Went to an open house on Ridgewood this afternoon. Found a lovely place, within my price range, closed bedroom, balcony, incredible view. Kitchen isn't fab and there's no washing machine but these are things that could be worked into the place.

Big decisions coming up.

Action on my place - somebody's coming to visit tomorrow morning ...

Faster than a speeding bullet

Or at least faster than the time it takes me to pull out my toolbox and open it to find the right screwdriver.

By that point Marc has already added a washer to my doorknob and screwed it in by hand, as tight as it can go.

Thank you, Marc. Now I can open and close the cupboard door without all that wiggling.

Lost Sunglasses

Lost my sunglasses in the basin last night. Not too sure why I had them with me in the boat in the first place but there you go. Had to bike home through the first bugs of the year and hope nothing flew into my eyes. The bright side - a trip to MEC is in order!

More Goodness

Made an apple crisp for our family Mother's Day celebration. Was that ever good. It's all I've been thinking of since. I may have to buy some more apples and make another apple crisp - just for me!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Me!

Holy crap - it's the 3rd anniversary of my blog today.

As it turns out, it's also Mother's Day. So Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and my friends who are moms.

Chocolaty Goodness

Turns out I make a fine chocolate cheesecake. What was I so worried about?

Same Ol' Same Ol'

Remember how last summer I complained that it seemed to rain every Wednesday night when I had dragon boat practice? Looks like I'll be doing the same again this year. Last night was our first time on the water for the season and guess what? It rained!

100 Things To Do Before I Go - Part IV

Sorry I didn't get the chance to post these last ones yesterday. With no further ado ...

Numbers 76 - 100:

76. Teach someone to read
77. Hike through the Grand Canyon
78. Accept myself for who I am
79. Go whale watching
80. Win a trip
81. Learn to drive stick shift
82. Be the first to borrow a book from the library
83. See a Broadway play
84. Ride the Orient Express
85. Buy something at auction
86. Photograph tulips in Holland
87. Take more pictures
88. Go to the Ottawa Tulip Festival
89. Do 2 pull-ups
90. Buy a lottery ticket
91. Drink champagne in Champagne
92. Attend a Habs play-offs game
93. Live in a eco-friendly home
94. Go on a helicopter ride
95. Walk around Red Square
96. Buy myself a diamond
97. Go gliding
98. Ride in a hot air balloon
99. Tango in Argentina
100. Have mehndi (henna) applied to hands

100 Things To Do Before I Go - Part III

Numbers 51 - 75:

51. Walk out of a terrible movie
52. Build a house for somebody in need
53. Take my niece and nephew on vacation
54. Be at peace with the past
55. Learn to install tiles
56. Design my own home
57. Drive an eco-friendly car
58. Win a dragon boat race
59. Tell a person I don’t like what I really think of them
60. Cater a party
61. See a bull fight in Pamplona, Spain
62. Visit all the Canadian provinces and territories
63. Learn to whistle really loud
64. Go to Disney World
65. See my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary
66. Sell my baked goods
67. Have a great big soaker bathtub and use it weekly
68. Read more
69. Leave no cheese untested
70. Recognize when life is really good
71. Learn to sew
72. Drive fast on the autobahn, not just be a passenger
73. Attend the Olympics
74. Learn how to accept a compliment
75. Send a message in a bottle

100 Things To Do Before I Go - Part II

Numbers 26 - 50:

26. Go on a multi-day biking trip
27. Blow bubbles from Jacques Cartier bridge
28. Pyramids at sunset
29. Stay up all night to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
30. Carnival in Brazil
31. Snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef
32. Boat down the Amazon
33. Sail down the Nile
34. Drive around Newfoundland, or at least as far as the road goes
35. Plant a tree
36. Fly first class, internationally
37. Take ballroom dance lessons
38. Sleep in a tree house
39. Hike to Everest base camp
40. Eat sushi in Japan
41. Take a cooking class (preferably sushi, but really any kind will do)
42. Have a front porch swing
43. Vacation with Yvette, outside of Canada and Switzerland
44. Celebrate my 40th birthday in New York City
45. Breakfast in bed
46. Join a book club
47. Make my funeral arrangements
48. Write my Last Will & Testament
49. Visit Grandmaman’s grave
50. Bake a soufflé

100 Things To Do Before I Go - Part I

At last! Finally this weekend I found the last couple of things for my list. Here you go.

Numbers 1 - 25:

1. Be debt free
2. Show my pictures in a gallery
3. Volunteer in India
4. See an author read her/his own work
5. Learn Portuguese in Portugal
6. Help put my niece and nephew through university, if they want to go
7. Own a dog
8. Hike up to Machu Picchu
9. Ride an elephant
10. Do something I think I can’t do (sky dive, hang glide, parasail)
11. Taste durian
12. Not be afraid of PDA’s
13. Stand inside the Taj Mahal
14. Ring a church bell
15. Participate in La Tomatina
16. Have my own garden
17. Go a day without speaking
18. Travel by train across Canada
19. Walk along the Great Wall of China
20. Give $100 to a busker
21. Have a meal under a lemon tree in Lisbon
22. Safari in Africa
23. Ride a camel in the desert
24. Be surrounded by sand, as far as the eye can see
25. Open a Swiss bank account

Spring Tune-Up

Seems this past week has been all about spring tune-ups. Tuesday night Marc came over and gave my bike a tune-up. So I'm all ready to hit the bike path and see if I can beat my 700-odd kilometres of 2007. And today I went to an Ayurvedic yoga workshop. Found out through a tridosha "test" that I'm a pitta, with a healthy dose of vata, and a touch of kapha on the side.

This workshop opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about why we are the way we are, how we can use what we are to our full advantage and help us find the balance we seem to be looking for. All in all, a lot of things that made me sit up and go "hmmmm ..."

It also felt wonderful to do a little yoga on a beautiful day like today. Or maybe it was the act of doing the yoga practice that helped me realise what a beautiful day it was. It's as simple as this for me - practicing yoga makes me happy.

Home Stager

My real estate offers the services of a home stager as part of her deal in getting my condo sold. Having seen my fair share of home decorating and selling house television shows, I had a good idea of what I needed to do to get my place ready for sale.

Yesterday afternoon the home stager stopped by for her one hour consultation. I know my place is small and I never expected her to be here for more than 30 minutes. But apparently I did a good job preparing my place in advance because she was in and out of my place in 15 minutes and all she had to tell me was this:

Update knobs in kitchen, bathroom and hallway
Remove wooden stairway thing leading to window
Add a few accessories to the bathroom
And if I really wanted to, replace the kitchen light

Other than that, she loved how I'd decorated (she is a decorator) and called it "Bohemian Chic" (how cool is that?!), thought it was bright, clean, a "palace" compared to some other places she'd seen, and loved, loved, loved my dining room set. She also asked if I always had it this clean and I was almost embarrassed to say "yes, pretty much".

So I have to spend a tiny bit of money to give the kitchen, bathroom and hallway a little bit more punch and the rest should take care of itself.

After the home staging visit, I headed out to another open house. Located in Les Terrasses Windsor, I saw a great two bedroom place (unfortunately over my budget) and will be seeing a one bedroom condo tomorrow night after work. Very exciting.

Night Flight

Friday night I got to fly over Montreal in a little 4-seater plane. Here are a few pictures from the flight.

It was a beautiful night, almost a full moon and super calm. We flew over my house, over the Olympic Basin at Parc Jean-Drapeau, over downtown Montreal and even the Olympic Stadium (but that wasn't lit up). It was very, very cool.

Wine Fights Female Dementia

In case anyone is looking for more reasons to drink wine, check out this article.

Hockey Fever

In case you haven't heard, the Canadiens have made it to the Stanley Cup play-offs this year. In fact, they were first place in the EasterN Conference this year. First time in a while that they finished in first. (I'm no sports fanatic so I won't bore you with all stats. Besides which, what am I talking about and where is the real Stef?)

Here in Montreal, locals are in the midst not of spring fever, but of Habs Hockey Fever. Many, many cars are driving around with those little flags sticking out the back car window. I didn't know how badly until yesterday when I even saw a cop car with a Habs flag in the back window!

New List Soon

The List of 100 Things Worth Doing was fun (and worth doing!). Along the same vein, I am preparing a list of 100 Things To Do Before I Go, which is proving a lot harder. I've been reading other people's lists (Mighty Girl again for inspiration) and am nearly there. As soon as I've got my 100, I'll start posting them. Until then please be patient.

100 Things Worth Doing - Part IV

Ready for it? Last 25 ...

Numbers 76-100:

76. Waiting in line overnight to buy David Bowie tickets
77. Laughing myself sick with Yvette
78. Brown sugar sandwiches
79. Flying down the dirt path in Dad’s old wagon
80. Meeting my best friend thanks to music class, a clarinet and “Good Night Ladies”
81. Mayor for a Day
82. Meeting my niece and nephew for the first time
83. Having the chance to say “adieu” to Grandmaman about 2 months before she died
84. Girls Night Out
85. Sand between my toes
86. Tasting the salty air when getting off the plane in Mexico, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Grand Cayman
87. Reading in my chair, covered with my blanket, oblivious to the weather
88. Going to summer camp
89. Opening Christmas stockings on my bed with my brothers
90. Writing to my pen-pal for 28 years and counting
91. Discovering live opera
92. Flirting with lovely men
93. Busting a move in my living room
94. Having both sets of grandparents in my life until my 30s
95. Visiting friends all over the world
96. Getting caught in the rain
97. Revelling in being a woman
98. Knocking his socks off
99. Watching and listening to Mom sing the national anthem at an Expos game
100. Writing this list

100 Things Worth Doing - Part III

Numbers 51-75:

51. Keeping my cool and taking a picture of Thom Yorke as he walked by
52. First kiss
53. Skipping class at university to see a movie
54. Getting wet on the Maid of the Mist
55. Sitting on the top of a cliff on Aran Island, nobody else in sight
56. Brushing my teeth and being allowed to spit the toothpaste off the back porch at the cottage
57. Seeing a shooting star during the Radiohead concert, downtown Montreal as the backdrop
58. Laughing when Mom mistook “hot tub” for “hot dog”
59. Napping on my couch, in the sun
60. 1,275 Caribbean sunsets, give or take
61. Painting my own walls, changing my own light fixtures
62. Getting detention in biology class
63. Mini reunions with Anna, Lynn and Yvette
64. Decorating my brother’s car with condoms after his wedding and stealing all his underwear from his suitcase, only to find out his new mother-in-law drove the car home
65. Dressing up in my Mom’s silver shoes and jewelery, back in the days when my feet were still smaller than hers
66. Celebrating Grandmaman’s 90th Birthday with the ENTIRE Volet clan
67. Surprising my parents on their 25th wedding anniversary
68. Being licked in the face by my brother’s dog for the first time
69. Every time I’ve said no
70. Learning to ride a bike
71. Volunteering in Panama, twice
72. Burping better than many men
73. Getting my first tattoo
74. Smoking a Cuban cigar, in Cuba
75. Dancing on the bar

100 Things Worth Doing - Part II

Numbers 26-50:

26. Dropping a frog on Mom’s back
27. Being Sandy in the Club Med version of Grease
28. Signing for my condo
29. Sleeping in the train station
30. Being towed on a sled behind the snowmobile
31. Learning to fly on the trapeze
32. Jumping into the snow in my bathing suit
33. Siesta on the hammock, ocean view
34. Hair dancing
35. Jumping on the beds with my cousins before Charles-André’s wedding, in all our finery
36. Dragon boating
37. Staying in a 4 or 5-star hotel
38. Accidentally turning the lights off in a museum, in Munich, on a Sunday afternoon
39. Taking care of a pet
40. Spending days picking up beer caps after hosting a party at my parents house (Dad still finding some when they got home)
41. Having a great librarian instil in me a love of books
42. Growing my own herbs (not marijuana – honestly)
43. Hiking with Grandmaman
44. Getting my BA
45. Moving to Germany, England, Ireland, Mexico, the Bahamas
46. Reading Amelia Badelia books with Dad
47. Attending the Grand Prix
48. Pillow fight in Bonnie Prince Charlie’s house, in the Lake District
49. Using my cordless drill
50. Eating fresh croissants and strawberries on my birthday

100 Things Worth Doing - Part I

Maggie Mason over at Mighty Girl has inspired me to put together my own list of scenes I hope pop up as my life flashes before my eyes.

I enjoyed reading her list and found myself thinking about things that had happened in my life. It made me realise that I have had some pretty amazing things happen and decided to start my own list. Something about writing it all down and recalling all these events has made me very happy. Although I haven't had the experiences that a lot of people have had (getting married, kids), I have lead a pretty interesting life so far (at least to me) and I have some amazing memories. Everything you're about to read is important to me, some things more than others, but they are all good things. And for somebody like me, a realist (pessimist, cynic), it's been therapeutic to see that I have A LOT to be thankful for.

Numbers 1-25:

1. Making bread with Grandmaman
2. Picking fresh strawberries and raspberries anytime we wanted at Grandmaman & Grandpapa’s
3. Stuffing my mouth full of grapes and laughing in the mirror at the Cottage
4. Catching tadpoles at camp in the spring
5. Coming out of the metro in Barcelona, turning around and seeing La Sagrada Familia
6. Watching Yvette hang there as her shirt got stuck on a horse’s saddle as she was getting off
7. Back-packing and camping my way around Ireland
8. Lip-synching the ABBA mix to rave reviews at the local bar in Huatulco
9. Earning a Certificate in Photography (also becoming a ‘A’ student)
10. Enlarging the photo booth picture at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof
11. Having an article about me published in the paper
12. Singing “Alice the Camel” over and over again to the girls in Panama
13. Discovering the Maritimes on my own
14. Listening to Mom throw bread dough on the kitchen counter
15. Hearing the ocean from my bed
16. Aperitifs and cheese as the sun set
17. Eating fresh caught lobster on the beach
18. Staying up all night to watch the Junkanoo Parade
19. Clean sheets
20. Learning the chocolate chip cookie recipe by heart
21. The FM tapes
22. Kissing a stingray
23. Swimming with dolphins
24. Killing a scorpion
25. Dreaming in German, Spanish, French, at one time or another

Lost Power

The power went off last night at about 2:30am. I know this because my smoke alarm started beeping to let me know it was using it's battery or something. I wondered how long the power might be off and wondered if I would stay awake. About 10 minutes later the power did come back. My fridge started humming and the smoke alarm beeped to let me know it had power (it's so considerate that way). But within a few minutes, it was off again. Didn't want to take any chances, so I turned my phone on, set the alarm and instead of putting on my dresser, beside my bed, I put it back in my purse by the front door. (To be fair, it was about 2:45am when I did this.)

Did I think to check the volume or type of ring? No!

What was I thinking?

You guessed it, I missed the alarm because I didn't hear the bloody thing. Several reasons:
1) it was too far away for me to hear;
2) it was on vibrate.

Sheesh ... sometimes I am amazed I can get out of the house at all.

So I woke up late. So I ran around in a panic for 45 minutes to catch the bus but at least I made it to work on time (meaning I was there 15-20 minutes early).

Back in the Groove

Now that my course is over, I was lucky enough to have a 3-day weekend and have all the time I needed to: go to a show, meet an estate agent, rent a car, spend an afternoon with Viv, go to a bridal shower, buy more groceries than I needed, run some errands, go out to dinner, do all my laundry, clean my house properly, go out to lunch, see a movie, do all my cooking for the week and do all my ironing. Phew! It was busy but it was a good busy.

Although staying home this weekend meant not being able to see my niece and nephew (and brother and sister-in-law), it made the world of difference to me. Especially as my condo will be going on the market within the next few weeks.

Yes - that's right! I've decided to put my place up for sale. My mortgage comes up for renewal anyway in the fall, and I've decided to get a jump on things now. Met with a real estate agent on Friday morning to get things on moving for pictures, staging the place to sell and we shall see what that brings. Exciting, eh?!

TESL Certificate

You may (or may not) have been wondering where I've been and what's been going on with the TESL Certificate.

Here's what I'd started to prepare prior to the first class -

Week 1, Day 1

Started the TESL courses today. It was (good/bad/boring) to be back in the classroom again after a few years off (since the photography courses).

How were the other students? Instructor?

How do I feel about the subject matter?

Time for homework, what's expected, presentations, etc.

Monday off ...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Well, I never got around to writing all that stuff following Day 1 of class because I was busy reading and preparing for Day 2. And then Day 3 and 4. And finally Day 5 and 6. 60 hours of class time in 3 weeks, plus reading the better part of two entire text books and preparing 3 short presentations, as well as my final practicum. It was a lot of work in a short period of time. Totally worth it though.

Now it's done. I have earned a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages / Teaching English as a Second Language.

Congratulations to Me!

Condo Shopping

A few weeks ago I started my search for a new condo. I'm hoping to sell mine and move by October/November 2008.

I started by looking at all kinds of new projects that are going up in the area but have resigned myself to the fact they are out of budget for me (this time). Not one to dwell (so untrue), I have moved on and started looking at places that aren't brand spanking new.

Tonight I'm stopping by another place on Simpson. It's about $20K over budget, but having already seen a few others in the area, I want to compare a little. It's certainly in the right location. Should be fun!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Update - March 5

The place was advertised at 750 sq. ft. Don't know where all the space was though, maybe in the bedroom and bathroom because it sure wasn't in the kitchen and living/dining room. Huh.

Back to School

Tomorrow I start my TESL course. My notebook, pen, pencil and eraser are all ready to go. Very exciting!

Grandmaman

Up at Les Pleiades, in August 2005.

Grandmaman was 94 at the time and for the first time in my life, she didn't outrun me. Even at her 90th birthday, she managed to outpace the entire family on a seemingly endless downhill hike.

Sadly those days are over now. Grandmaman died February 12, 2008, at about 11:00 a.m. (GMT +1)

She taught me how to cook, how to make bread and how to knit, even if I never really caught on to that one.

Here are a few things I will miss about Grandmaman.

I will miss her cooking. Cherry soup in winter with cherries from the trees in the front garden and homemade fried croutons. Tarte au fromage that would stink up the house with the smell from the cheese. Deep fried potato puffs eaten on the terrasse. Fresh out of the oven peach pie after a l-o-n-g hot walk up the road from town, after travelling all night. And above all - Curly Bread.

Then there was always her sheer joy on seeing me after long absences.

Her little giggle when she laughed, with her hand over her mouth.

And so many other fond memories now.

Here's a link to some pictures that have been taken over the years.

Flag Day

Check this out - two of my pictures are presently up on The Gazette's website, to celebrate Flag Day:

Canadian flag

Quebec flag

Butter Fingers

Am thinking of having my name changed. To "Butter Fingers".

Invited my parents over for dinner tonight so I could try out a couple of new recipes from one of my new cookbooks. From The Flexitarian Table, I made a phyllo pie with lemon tofu, winter greens and mushrooms, as well as roasted winter vegetable salad with red onion vinaigrette. Both were delicious. Dad even had two helpings of both dishes!

Anyway, the reason I'm going to rename myself is because as I was taking the roasted vegetables out of the oven, I thought I put the pan on the counter properly. I did not. I put it on very wrongly. It immediately fell to the floor and ALL the potatoes and carrots and olive oil spread themselves across the better part of my entire kitchen floor. Heh. Luckily Mom was there to tell me what to do. Pick the pieces up gingerly and put them in the serving bowl. And that's what I did. Didn't have much choice because it's not like I had a back up pan in the oven or something. We ate them and they were delicious.

This is not the first time I've let a dish of food drop on the floor. Most recently at Nick & Sue's I dropped an entire load of cut fruit. At least that we were able to wash off and serve. It's a bit harder to wash oily potatoes and carrots. And I think I dropped some mini pizzas on the floor last spring. Couldn't do much about those though, the sauce went all over the floor and I draw the line at scraping sauce from the floor into my mouth.

I was very happy with both recipes. Particulary the phyllo lemon tofu and veggie pie. The tofu was delicious and lemony and not "tofu" tasting at all. Dad couldn't get over the dressing on the potatoes and said about the tofu, that if I hadn't told him what it was, he would've never known.

Mom brought dessert. She made some very yummy chocolate pannacotta. Mmm ... Thanks, Mom!

Now the dishwasher is doing its job and I've just finished washing the floor. For the second time. It's tough getting oil off the floor!

At Long Last

Miracles of miracles - my phone works!

After my last call to them at 5pm yesterday, I never thought my phone would be working about two hours later. But it was! All of a sudden, it was on the table ringing and vibrating at the same time and I wasn't quite sure what it was or what to do. Obviously I answered the phone and found out that it was working. I even made several calls to test out this new thing called "a phone that works". It's quite amazing. You dial a number, press send and then somebody talks to you from the other end! And not just a recording saying "3M1 - your telephone isn't connected to the network at this time. Please contact your service provider. This was a recording." (my translation)

I'm happy that this is over. My final comment on the whole thing is that Telus needs to revise their vocabulary. Escalate and expedite don't mean the same thing to them as they do to most other people. For Telus those words mean "we'll get to it when we can, so please stop bothering us." For the rest of the world (or at least me) escalate means to increase intensity and expedite means to accelerate a process or speed up. Silly me.

Still Nothing, Seriously

It's almost comical at this point.

Yesterday, my not-so-friendly customer service rep over at Telus promised me that the phone would be up and running by 11:00 a.m. today.

Well, guess what folks? It's not.

So I called them. Again. Today the rep passed me as quick as she could over to technical support and for the first time since all this brou-ha-ha started last Saturday morning, somebody was able to tell me exactly what happened.

Here's the story -

When I bought the phone and switched plans, the transaction that should normally take about 20 minutes to go through, did not go through. This is what they call a validation error.

How do they fix that? Well, apparently their technical support staff have to manually put through these data changes. And as luck would have it, it seems there were quite a few of these problems last week, so their tech support team is overloaded with these requests.

My ticket number has been escalated twice and that's as high as it goes with them. Now I'll just have to sit and wait for them to get to it. When will that be? It could be tomorrow but she would not guarantee me anything.

On the bright side, this call only last 13 minutes and 43 seconds. The shortest one by far! Yesterday I was on with them for nearly 45 minutes.

Still Nothing

Wednesday, 10:35 a.m.

STILL NO PHONE!

Freaked Out

Maybe I've worked myself into a little bit of a state because of the whole non-phone issue but what happened last night kinda freaked me out.

Went to practice at Parc Jean-Drapeau. As I was leaving, I was walking up the little incline of the parking lot area to the main road, a car drove slowly by, stopped, backed up and waited for me to get up the hill. As I approached the road, the driver opened his window and asked if I needed a lift anywhere. I politely said no thanks and walked around the back of his car and onto the road. He drove on. But then a couple of hundred metres down the road, at the stop sign by the bridge that crosses over to where the metro station is, he stopped AGAIN. And he waited AGAIN. He waited there until I got to the stop sign and asked AGAIN if I needed a lift. So I repeated that I was fine, thanks but no thanks.

This time I crossed over to the wrong side of the road and walked s-l-o-w-l-y across the bridge and this guy drove across it and stopped at the stop sign. As I was walking my snail's pace, I noticed that he was taking an awfully long time to turn and go his merry way.

That's when I decided I would stop on the bridge and would not move an inch until he left. For the first time in a long time, I was scared and did not feel safe. I had two choices. (1) Turn back and return to the gym, even though I knew I was locked out, I might catch somebody leaving. (2) Wait as long as it took for this moron to leave and then run like hell for the metro and tell the ticket collector at the station.

In the end, after the longest minute of my life, the driver lifted his foot off the brake, turned left and drove away. As soon as I saw him go, I walked a normal pace to the end of the bridge, checked to make sure he really was gone. He was. And then I ran to the metro only to discover that there was no attendant at the booth. But I was safe, I was in a well-lit area and there were other people around and that alone made me feel miles better already.

Got home safely and even caught the bus for the last stretch home.

All this to say that in 7 years, I have never, ever had to use my cell for an emergency before. Wouldn't you know, the first time I'm alone, on a deserted road, late at night, without a phone (because I had to make sure everything was against me) - happens to be the the first time some ass decides to get his jollies by freaking me out.

The Letter

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to report a problem following the purchase of a new phone with Telus (see copy of invoice attached).

Telus has been my sole means of telephone communication since September 2000. I do not have a landline telephone. In December 2006, I finally replaced the first Telus phone I had purchased. While I was never pleased with the reception or clarity of the calls, I figured I could last the two years of the contract. However due to the battery becoming less and less efficient, most recently lasting less than one hour, I decided it was time to replace the phone.

On February 1, 2008, I called your toll-free number and was very pleased with the service I received from two of your agents. They were able to match the discount I could have taken with my corporate plan and even upgraded several services for me as thanks for my continued loyalty with Telus. Later that afternoon I went to your flagship store in Montreal to obtain a new phone and thus complete the transfer to the new plan. Once that transaction was complete, I was informed that the phone would be up and running in approximately an hour or two. It was about 6:00 p.m. Some five hours later I turned the phone on and attempted to place a call.

This is where the problems begin. As I placed the first call, I was surprised to hear a recording informing me that the phone was not connected to the network. I hung up, turned this new phone off and decided to try placing a call using my old phone. This phone was still working, despite having been told that once the switch was complete I would not be able to use it other than to scroll through the information in the contact list, etc. I made a second call, this time to your 611 number in an attempt to find out where the problem might be, only to discover that the call centre wasn’t open 24 hours a day.

On Saturday, February 2, 2008, I attempted to make another call using the new phone. I got the same message telling me that the phone was not connected to the network. Once again, I turned on the old phone, called 611 and went through the process of reaching a customer service representative. The agent who answered the call wasn’t able to fix the problem because apparently there were some errors in the file. What type of errors these were, she was unable to explain, except that the call was being escalated to technical support. I then spoke to a support technician who assured me that the problems were being fixed and that the phone would be working in about an hour. However, she also advised that if the phone still wasn’t working by that time, I would need to call back so they could look at the problem again.

Following the instructions I was given and approximately one hour and 15 minutes later, I had my father, who was sitting beside me at the time, call me. The call went directly through to my voicemail even though I had the new phone turned on. (Yes, the old phone was off.) Luckily I was at Promenades St. Bruno shopping mall and was able to stop by your store. Your agent at the service counter was able to check my account and verified that the phone was indeed activated but she too was unable to place a call. She then contacted technical support and ended up with a “Ticket number” because they were investigating the problem. She also told me that it could be Monday (February 4, 2008) or Thursday (February 7, 2008) before the problem would be solved.

I was not pleased with this response and thought perhaps that returning to the store where I bought the phone there might be a better solution available. This was not to be. At the Downtown Montreal store, your agents simply pointed me to a phone that dialed directly to the customer service centre. The first phone I used had so much static that by the time I did get to speak to an agent, I discovered it was almost impossible to hear what the agent was saying, and then after spending nearly 30 minutes on the phone with her, the phone cut out in the middle of our conversation! The in-store agents weren’t terribly concerned with my problem and directed me over to another phone. I started the whole process over again, on an equally static telephone. Call, hold, wait, reach a new agent, explain the situation for what seemed the umpteenth time, and finally was transferred back to the person I had been speaking with originally. As much as I appreciate the agent was being as helpful as possible, there was so much static, and added to that the music playing in the store and the conversations taking place around me, it was extremely difficult to understand what the agent was trying to say about the situation. In the end, I became so frustrated and overwhelmed by the whole process that I had to apologize to your agent and hang up with no idea on how or when the problem may be resolved.

Sunday I tried repeatedly to use the phone to no avail. This morning, Monday, February 4, 2008, I called your toll-free number from my office and was told that the problem had been escalated to a second level technician and might be looked at today but probably only Wednesday or Thursday.

Being that the cell phone is my only telephone, it was unacceptable to me that I remain without a phone for nearly one week. As mentioned above, I do not have an alternate phone that I can pick up and use at will. The Telus cell phone is my only phone. It is my home phone, my emergency phone and to borrow the American Express tagline, I don’t leave home without it. Surely you understand my frustration in being told nothing but "our technicians are working on it." This was categorically the response I got from your telephone agents and your in-store sales representatives. I have been a long-standing and loyal customer for more than seven years. I have paid thousands of dollars in monthly fees during this period and do not feel this is any way to treat a client.

I have now been without a phone for more than 48-hours and have no idea when my phone will be in working order. I don’t know how anyone in my personal life will reach me in the next week. I don’t know how I will reach anyone should an emergency arise. Will a technician or customer service representative try to reach me to inform me that the phone is working? If so, where will they call?

Please understand that I want to remain a Telus customer for many more years to come but this entire process has soured my opinion of your service and your company to the extreme. It is incomprehensible that you have no other solutions to offer your clients other than "our technicians are working on it."

Should you have any questions concerning this matter ...

No Phone

If you tried to phone me this weekend and weren't able to reach me, I'm not screening my calls or ignoring you. Telus messed up the transfer from my old phone to my new phone and so I have basically been without a phone since Friday at 6:00pm. Telus is telling me that it could be fixed by today or by Thursday (nearly a full week later) but in the meantime I better not need the phone, you know, FOR AN EMERGENCY OR SOMETHING!!!

I'm a little upset. Can you tell? All this negative energy I've been harbouring all weekend is taking its toll. I'm exhausted.

Updates to come soon. Primarily in the form of a nasty letter to Telus. It needs some tweaking though because I wrote the first draft in the heat of the moment.

On getting older

You know you're old when the kid you used to babysit gets engaged and sets a wedding date.

Congratulations to Kathryn & John.

TESL

India here I come, baby!!! OK, not quite ...

But I did register today for the TESL certificate I'm going to take in March. It'll take place over 3 weekends. 60 hours of instruction, plus homework and probably a sleepless night or two but then I'll have what I need to take some serious time off work and travel, work and travel.

This work/travel thing is still a long way off (2012 is what I'm aiming for) but this is a step in the right direction.

Yeah me!

Fitness Test

Saturday I took part in my first ever fitness test. All things considered (the minuscule ego after Wednesday's horrific Fat Test), I think I did pretty well.

The maximum weight I can bench press is 70lbs.
The maximum reps I can bench press in 90 seconds (using 45lbs) is ... I don't remember, but possibly close to 30.
The maximum weight I can bench row is 65lbs.
The maximum reps I can bench row in 90 seconds (using 45lbs) is 60 (!).
I can do a back extension for 4 minutes, 43 seconds.
I can do 40 sit ups in 90 seconds.
I can do 5 push-ups in 90 seconds.
I can do zero chin-ups in 90 seconds.
I can do zero dips in 90 seconds.

Of course, the push-ups, chin-ups and dips need some serious work. But these are things that require me to lift my full weight and unless I lose half my body weight or increase my strength dramatically, there are a few things I will never do well or many of, and those will probably always be my weakness. I'm not too worried about that. I have a good cardio routine and my endurance is increasing all the time.

And hey, if I can outpace a couple of Swiss guys (one even called me a gazelle!) on their own territory, I figure I'm doing alright!

Fat Test

Honestly, how can anything called a Fat Test have a good outcome?! Impossible. What I wasn't ready to find out was that if I had another 3% body fat, I'd be considered fat. Who knew?

Last night at practice, our coach did a fat test on each of us in preparation for Saturday's fitness test. I was totally unprepared for this and rather shocked at the results. Even though he did qualify the results by saying it's not really an accurate reading, it does give an idea. An idea of what, I don't know and quite frankly, now I'm not sure I want to know.

Apparently the average woman should have between 20% and 30% body fat. I have 27%. So for me all that means is that I am way too close to being fat than I find comfortable. Accurate or not, it just doesn't sound good to my ears.

Granted, since returning from our fantastic Swiss Christmas Vacation, I have not been to the gym regularly. The first week I was home I didn't go at all (bad cold), last week I only went twice (too damn lazy) and so far I've only gone once this week (sheer exhaustion). Let me state it right here, right now. No more lazy ass, no more colds, no more being tired, no more chocolate (easy one, I've eaten it all anyway) - TOMORROW I am back at the gym. Next week I will be there a minimum of 3 times, working up to 5 times a week again and in two months, when we do our next fitness test I will NOT have 27% body fat.

Or so help me.

Weekend Update

Talk about a whirlwind weekend.

Thursday Toronto
Friday Windsor
Sunday Montreal

I'm beat.

Had some camera problems. Not as many pictures as I really had taken, but here you go - Wesley's Christening.

Pit Scores

Sunday night we finally had our Christmas Dinner. Little bit late but that never hurt anybody.

Christmas Dinner goes hand in hand with the Titcombe Annual Christmas Pit Extravaganza. And so, I will give you the winners, the losers and the boring ol' fart who didn't even score.

Tie for first place: Sam & Me with 175 points each
Tie for last place: Jasmine & Marc with 50 points each
Boring old fart who never scored: Eric

Marc still leads the high score record with 410 points (2004) and the lowest score record with -120 points (2001).

Here I Go Again

Seems I only just got back from one trip and I'm preparing for the next one already.

Thursday morning I'll be heading to Toronto to visit a few friends and then Friday afternoon my brother Marc will pick me up and we'll continue down the 401 to Windsor to celebrate Wesley's christening on Sunday with the rest of the family.

Of course, there will be lots of pictures for posterity.

Like "Buttah"

Have just made the most of my spa gift certificate and had: (1) aromatherapy massage, (2) facial and (3)pedicure!

Feelin' like "buttah". Anybody jealous?

How did that happen?

Last night I started sorting through chocolate and presents that will need to be packed for next week's visit to Toronto and Windsor when I discovered that I didn't have a Christmas present for my niece, Darcy!

How did that happen? I could've sworn that I had all that shopping done before December 1. Guess not. Looks like I'll have to do a bit of shopping this weekend.

Nick, Sue - I'll need a few ideas, please.

Message for Eric and Marc

Please hurry up and get your pictures up on flickr.

I'm waiting.

Not so patiently.

Bits and Pieces

Going through the 700-odd pictures I took over the holidays brought back a bunch of little stories and anecdotes that I thought I'd share. Too bad I didn't actually write any of them down at the time but I'll try to remember a few. (Eric, Sam, Marc, Mom & Dad are all welcome to add their own.)

While waiting to go through security at Dorval airport, I told Marc about the time I'd sent a postcard to Eric with nothing written on it except a small 'S' at the bottom of the card and the post office clerk who asked if I'd forgotten to write it, followed by her shock when I answered "No", this gave Marc the idea to send postcards with nothing but scribbles on it. I added to the idea and included some commas, exclamation points, ellipsis. Funnier still is that I sent two postcards exactly like that!

Arriving in Zurich and shouting at Yvette through the glass while waiting for our bags to arrive. Think I scared off a few small children.

On the train to Leuk, Marc and I had a young goth couple sitting beside us for a while. They were not afraid of a little PDA and that was fine until we went through what seemed like the longest tunnel in the world and suddenly we couldn't pretend we hadn't noticed them making out anymore. All there was to look at was their mirror images reflected in the train window.

Christmas Eve at the thermal baths, 10pm, swimming outside, surrounded by snow and Alps, a full moon overhead. Does life get any better?

After our Christmas Eve under the full moon, Marc and I somehow beat Eric and Sam back to the apartment. Just as we were going up the stairs we saw them arrive and decided it would be good to scare them. So we ran up to our floor, hid against the opposite wall and (in the dark) just as Sam was about to unlock the door - we jumped out and yelled "BOO!!!" Sam nearly hit the roof and Eric a few steps back. Marc and I laughed and laughed and laughed! The next day we found out that a number of our family in the building had heard all the commotion and wondered what was going on. This being Switzerland, the house rule was that there was to be absolutely no noise after 10pm.

Christmas Dinner with Eric, Sam & Marc. We'd been watching some lunatic weight lifting competition and Marc made a joke (that I have long forgotten) about somebody's name that had us doubled over laughing.

Marc slipping on the ice (but not falling) and me telling him "don't do that to me!" Of course, I fell about a dozen times, sometimes even with a full backpack.

Discovering that the old bathing suit I brought was too big for me because all the jets in the pools inflated my top or bottom to either make it look like I had a very large uni-boob, or was about 8 months pregnant.

Falling down the stairs at the pool and getting the hugest, nastiest and blackest bruise on my butt. Mom, Marc, Eric and Yvette will all tell you how gross it was. I did take a picture of it but still don't have it in me to post it.

After an amazing raclette dinner at a restaurant on the ski slope (literally) with my cousin Chantal, her husband Carlos, Eric, Sam and Marc, we sledded down the slope back into town. It was completely black, only our flashlights and the moon to light the way. We may have woken up the whole town with all our screaming on the way down. We were soaked with snow by the time we did make it and struggling to catch our breath after laughing so much.

Spending the day on New Year's Eve in Urnasch following the yodellers dressed up as ugly, pretty and wood creatures around the town. Took 150 pictures in about 3 hours.

New Year's Eve raclette dinner at home with Yvette and her family. Much, much laughing. Possibly I may have spit my coffee out (twice).

New Year's Day in Stein-am-Rhein. Most of the shops closed, precious few people about and lots of beautiful old buildings just waiting to have their picture taken. Yvette, Andy and I had afternoon cake and coffee at a quaint little restaurant. Walking along the river we found a great little spot for some fun and funny pictures.

Day trip to Hasliberg. Friends of Yvette & Andy have a chalet on the side of a ski slope. Spent the day laughing, eating, laughing, hiking, laughing and laughing. Shockingly exhausting all that laughing.

First tripping Yvette on purpose, then bashing her cart into a freezer at the grocery store. I had to run away because I was laughing so hard.

Girls day with Yvette in Zurich. Coffee, laughing, shopping, lunch - just the two of us. Awesome.

Pictures are up!

Better get comfortable, folks. I finished downloading my pictures before leaving for work this morning and got them up on flickr.

Without further ado ... click here for a look at the last 2 weeks.

Home Again, Sigh ...

A quickie to let you know that I'm home again. Post Vacation Depression (PVD) has set in with full force.

Leukerbad was too amazing, beautiful and wonderful for words. Seeing how small and frail Grandmaman is now was heart wrenching. Spending a week laughing with Yvette was some much needed soul-therapy.

Managed to download the first 612 pictures last night but then my battery ran out and I couldn't charge it because I don't have my luggage yet ... Will do my best to get a selection of pictures up on flickr soon. Promise.

D(eparture) Day

8:15am: Do web check-in for Marc and me.

8:16-8:45am: Last blog post and emails, weather checks.

8:45am-1:00pm: Half day at work to finish up a few last minute things.

1:00pm: Friend to pick me up at work and drive me to airport.

1:45pm: Arrive at airport.

4:45pm: LIFT OFF!

I'll do my best to post during the holiday and keep everyone up to date on all the fun we're having 'en famille'. Until then, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

T MINUS 1

My apologies in advance for all the caps on this post and excessive exclamation point usage.

OH MY GOD - ONE MORE DAY!!!

I'M SO FLIPPING EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP I CAN HARDLY SIT STILL!!! (Sorry, Marc - looks like it'll be a long flight for you - heh.)

SEE YOU SOON YVETTE!!! SEE YOU SOON DAD!!!

T minus 2

Didn't get nearly as much done last night as I had hoped. I can thank the stupid STM for that. I had to drop off a book at the library and buy a large bar of Toblerone chocolate on my way home but still made it to the bus stop with a few minutes to spare. The bus had obviously not passed yet as there were 4 people in the queue ahead of me. Fine. Well, 40 minutes there was still no bus and my feet were frozen solid. So I ended up taking the metro and walking the 10 minute walk home. Never seeing a single bus pass me in either direction until I got 4 blocks from my house when I saw what the problem was. Snow removal. Traffic was backed up forever and no cars, buses or trucks were moving anywhere.

Anyway - I did get the cookies for work made. I did get 2 loads of laundry washed and dried. I did clean the counters and sinks in the kitchen. Tonight I go straight home and finish everything else.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Update: It was a struggle to get to yoga today at lunch but once again I'm amazed by the good it does me. Even more so that our instructor gave me a small token of appreciation for organizing the course, year after year. It's funny because really, I feel that I should be offering her something, not the other way around. Guess that what's called good Karma.

T minus 3

Tonight I will clean, clean, clean, flip my mattress and do ALL my laundry. It will be a big job, I can tell you.

T minus 4

Apparently all the snow we've had is making me hibernate. I can't get motivated to clean or do my laundry. I did manage to throw some tops and jeans in my suitcase but I'm in serious procrastinate mode. Curling up in my reading chair with a good book and a pot of tea was the most important thing for me to do yesterday.

Wonder when the panic will hit?

T minus 5

Party was fun.
Got home late.
Got up f-a-r too early.
Snow's started.

T minus 6

You'll all be very happy to know that I am actually getting some Christmas baking done today (2 kinds, to be precise). And everybody can stop their bellyaching that there are no cookies around. Sheesh. Like that's all I have to do!

Tonight's the office party and I am going single AGAIN. I'm working on that. Honest. It's harder than it looks. Anyway, the party. I had decided not to go this year but in the end one of my friends convinced me to put on my Little Black Dress, Strappy Sandals and get 'purrr-ty'. So I am. So there.

T minus 7

One more week!!! This time next Friday I'll be going out of my head with excitement, anticipation and stress.

On to more banal items, such as my lack of willpower.

Seems I have a problem. Yesterday I went out with the full intention of picking up a little som'in'-som'in for my friend's baby. However, the kids clothing shop that I thought was in the Place Ville-Marie shopping centre is gone. I don't know how long it's been gone. In all likelihood, it's been gone a long time. I don't pay much attention to something like a kids shop, you know what I'm saying?

The problem. Instead of shrugging my shoulders and heading over to the Eaton Centre, I went to La Senza and bought 5 pairs of knickers!

Sorry, Selina (and Mamacita Cecilia), no present from Auntie Stef this year as she blew the budget on underwear.

T minus 8

These evening practices must be doing me some good, in more ways than one. The morning after practice and after my cardio at the gym, I find I MUST have chocolate milk. That's really weird for me. Of course, no chocolate milk at home so I've been stopping at the dep to get my fix, as it were.

T minus 9

As I said to Yvette yesterday, depending on the moment, I don't know who I'm more excited to see, her or my Dad.

Haven't seen Yvette since August 2005. Don't get to see her often anyway, and even though we chat online A LOT, it's never quite the same as spending time together.

Then my Dad - he's been away since July 28, gallivanting around India and making me insanely jealous with all his amazing adventures. It's also so strange that he's the one travelling this time and I'm the one staying at home. Quite a role reversal.

Nine days until we leave. Ten days until I see Yvette and then a few hours later, Dad! Can't wait!!!

T minus 10

Oh my God! 10 days until I leave for vacation!!! I'd better get cracking on the list making, packing, unpacking, repacking and obsessing - I'm wayyy behind ;)

T minus 11

Oooh ... look at that! Weekend is gone and the countdown jumps a few numbers.

Had a busy Friday night and Saturday. Spent most of Sunday recuperating. Ready and full of energy for this week! Practice tonight and no snow in today's forecast so I'll be sure to ache tomorrow.

T minus 14

Two weeks to go!

What is it about exercise that is both a pleasure and a pain? I am quickly discovering that while I do have a decent level of cardio endurance, I have no strength. At all. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Wednesday night's practice probably humbled all of us on different levels. Some of the people couldn't paddle for 10 minutes straight, I had no problem. However, as good as I was keeping pace, for the life of me I couldn't do one single, solitary chin-up. Our coach makes all the exercises look ridiculously easy so I really thought that I might get one off at the very least. Never have I been more wrong. Our coach helped me get into the position and then said "OK - Lift!" and I just sorta hung there. If there had been a breeze, I would have been swaying in it. Anyway, not able to lift myself an inch. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't budge. But I did try. Three times. Because humiliating myself once wasn't quite enough, I had to do it three times. Aieeeee ...

Will I ever be able to do this? I don't really know but it will be interesting to see what I can do in six months.

T minus 15

If you need a little bling on a budget for those holiday parties coming up, check out Posh Inc. Online shopping is available for us Montrealers.

So many pretty little rings, bracelets and necklaces ... so little time (or rather money)!

T minus 16

Snowstorm's over so I guess practice won't get cancelled tonight. Tomorrow I'm sure to be aching.

Don't know if it's because I haven't seen the sun in three days but I'm feeling very sleepy today.

T minus 17

For everything that went well yesterday, it is all going horribly wrong today.

The 5:37am bus didn't come, ended up having to walk to the metro, got to the gym late, only did 100 crunches, got soap in my eye (who knew it would burn like that), forgot my lipstick, have hat-head hair.

Is it lunchtime yet? I need my lunchtime yoga. And my after work yoga. Seems I need a yoga day.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Update (2:02pm):
- Lunchtime yoga got cancelled as our instructor got stuck in traffic what with all the snow removal happening, traffic's a nightmare again today.

- I ruined two pairs of stockings this morning (first my favourite funky fishnets and then my back-up pair) and will have to go through the rest of the day with a hole just above my right knee.

- I'm going to miss yoga tonight because I said yes to a special little project. (Can you see all my eye-rolling?)

- It's STILL snowing!!!

T minus 18

Only one thing to talk about today and that is snow. We've had quite a dumping here in Montreal (expecting approximately 35cm). It caused havoc with the roads this morning. At work lots of people decided to stay at home or they did take the chance and ended up spending a long time in traffic and getting in a few hours late.

None of that was a problem for me. I left for the gym at 5:35. The bus was a minute or two late but it didn't change much for me. Caught the metro fine. The only real problem occurred when I got to the gym and discovered that the staff who are supposed to open the facility hadn't arrived yet and so there were about 25 of us early risers waiting for somebody to let us in. We got in a few minutes later and started our workouts about 5 minutes late. Not so bad. Did my workout, showered, walked to work, which I admit took a few extra minutes because the sidewalks weren't plowed and arrived at work without incident. Pretty normal day for me, except for all the missing people in the office. Oh well, I guess some would call this a Snow Day, I just call it Monday.

T minus 19

What did I do to prepare for my trip today? Nothing!

I did some cleaning, some laundry. Mom came for lunch and then we hopped on the bus for some shopping downtown. I have some pasta boiling for my meal o' the week ("Mr. Bowjangles",i.e. bowtie pasta with veggie 'chicken' strips, broccoli and sun dried tomatoes). I will do some ironing after dinner. And that folks, is it.

The problem is, it's winter. I do not have enough pants to get me through the next 19 days if I pack them now. If this was summer ... no problem! I could put aside a few things now and it would all take care of itself. But in winter? No, this doesn't work. So I've been trying to buy a new pair of jeans or casual pants but so far no luck. This drives me nuts. When I'm not looking to buy clothes (shoes, lingerie, fill in the blank really) I find the wardrobe of my dreams. But then, when I actually am looking to buy one specific thing, it apparently doesn't exist anywhere, or it's wayyyyy over budget, the wrong colour, too big, too small. This drives me nuts. I'm trying to mentally put together a travel wardrobe and it's becoming very difficult. Maybe I will stick to preparing all the travel size containers of shampoo, lotions, etc. That at least I can do. And also start the packing list that will accompany me everywhere I go, with a copy in my luggage, a copy emailed to me in case I lose my copy, a copy with someone staying in Montreal and possibly also a copy with Yvette in Zurich. Does it sound like I'm obsessing? Yes, I know, it does. I'm ok though, I'll stop now.

The Countdown, T minus 20

Meant to start this countdown yesterday, exactly three weeks before I head to Switzerland but it just never happened. But here I am now - 20 days until our Swiss Family Vacation! Almost sounds like a movie or a TV series. Which would be worse? Ha, ha.

Spent this morning helping out at the Santa Shuffle. I helped cut and spread cream cheese on 17 dozen bagels for the runners. Never, ever thought we'd go through all those bagels (out of 20 dozen!) but we did. It's always fun to see people's reactions when they find out that the water, hot chocolate, bagels, etc. were all free. Even better is that everybody there, runners, volunteers, organisers, really everybody was happy to be there. Everybody said thank you, everybody smiled. So although it made an early to start to my Saturday and even though it was a cold, cold day, it was a happy morning.

Time now for some warm jammies.

Ouch

Oh dear. I was feeling pretty good yesterday considering Monday's practice. But yesterday's slight stiffness is more of an ever-present ache today. Tonight's practice will focus more on strength exercises so I'm pretty much guaranteed to be crawling by tomorrow and dragging my body by Friday.

Parc Jean-Drapeau Weather

Parc Jean-Drapeau has something against me.

Last night I went to my first winter training for Dragon Boat. We still train at the Olympic Basin, but indoors (of course). Remember how this summer it rained for what seemed like almost all my Dragon Boat practices? See where I'm going with this? Yes, last night it was raining on my way to practice and still raining on my way home. I'm not on the bike anymore so I got to trek from the metro and back. Ugh. Cold winter rain, heavy winter boots, slippery path ... going to be an interesting winter.

And so it begins

Winter, that is. Day after day of static from dry air, hat head, snow-hair, boots, layer upon layer of clothing.

Winter officially (in an unofficial sense) hit Montreal this morning. When I went out to pick up my newspaper it was snowing enough that I felt I needed to wear my boots for the first time this year. As I left the gym and walked to work, I was glad to have them because the sidewalks were very slippery with snow, slush and ice.

It's November 20, remember this. What date will it be when I wear my boots for the last time?

Final Total

Finally took my bike down to my locker this past weekend (after watching it collect dust behind my dining room table for the past 2 months) and was astonished to read on my bike computer that I biked a total of 744.8 kilometres this summer! Is that amazing or what?! The timing of that is from about the beginning of June until mid-September.

So friggin' impressed with myself. Who knew I could do that? Certainly not me!

Leeky Goodness

Yvette sent me a fantastic recipe a little while ago. I finally made it the other night. If you like leeks (Mom, for one) this is for you. This one's a keeper!

Leek and Potato Quiche
(adapted version especially for Stef)

Ingredients:
As much leek as you want. I usually use about 3 big ones.
2 large onions, chopped
2 – 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced finely
3 eggs
1 container sour cream (mine comes in a 180 g pot)
2 tbsp cornstarch
Drizzle of cream or milk, if needed
Ready-made dry bread crumbs
One rolled-out pastry crust

Cut the leek into rings and wash them. I sometimes half them and then cut them. Depends if you want big rings or half rings. Wash the leeks.

Heat some oil in a skillet and fry the leek and onions. Add the diced potato and fry until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Or Aromat if you’re Swiss. Let cool.

Mix together the eggs, sour cream and cornstarch in a measuring jug. Fill up to the 400 ml mark with cream or milk if necessary. Season.

Prepare the quiche dish with the pastry. Either butter the dish first or use parchment paper to line it. Poke the pastry with a fork. Sprinkle some bread crumbs on it. Add the leek mixture, then pour on the eggs and cream.

Bake at 200°C for 1 hour in the lower half of the preheated oven.

Note from Stef: I cheated and bought a ready made pastry, also must've used really big potatoes and leeks because I ended up with enough filling for two pie crusts. Added an extra egg another 60ml of sour cream (to equal 1 cup total), splash of milk and also a sprinkle of nutmeg. I could hardly wait until this came out of the oven to eat it. Let it cool for a few minutes and then dive in - soooo delicious!

Some explaining to do

Seems I have some explaining to do.

Eight weeks ago Yvette introduced me to an old acquaintance of hers via Facebook. After some email back and forth, we met. Went to dinner, had a drink. It was a pretty good night, nice enough guy. A few dates and weeks later I got the first drunken 4am phone call, other dates ended with him telling me he'd gone out "to drink" after our date. Another date where I made sure there was no alcohol involved, had me thinking perhaps this really wasn't going anywhere. The date that decided me once and for all ended with him drinking the better part of two bottles of wine, him leaving to go home but instead taking a taxi downtown to drink and calling me at 4am.

And there you go. I have no intention of getting involved with someone who thinks better of alcohol than he does of me and so ended things.

Check, Check, Check

Break off with guy I've been seeing for last 7 weeks - check
Leave work early - check
Meet up with friend #1, meet kid #3, play with kids #1 and #2, have dinner, good chat, comfy bed, a trip to the grocery store in a car - check
Bake pumpkin muffins - check
Make way to see friend #2 on the ever so civilized train - check
See how baby has grown - check
Eat, talk, laugh - check

It was a good weekend. Got all kinds of stuff accomplished, saw friends that I haven't been able to see in a while (because they live so damn far away!), did some window shopping, treated myself to a little musical melodrama (Bollywood style), ran into my mother at The Bay, made pumpkin soup, went to bed early, slept well. Does it get any better?

Flurries?

According to Environment Canada, they are forecasting a chance rain showers or flurries for today.

Ugh. I hope not. I'm wearing my oh-so-pretty brown dress boots (as opposed to horrible, heavy, clunky, warm winter boots).

Long time no post

Apparently there hasn't been much action on my blog (according to Wild Bill) so I better get a post up before I forget all about blogging.

What's been going on? Bit of this, bit of that. Christmas presents for my friends in the UK have been bought, wrapped and sent (last week). Christmas presents for my friends in Switzerland have been bought and wrapped and will be hand delivered by me in December. Christmas presents for the rest of the family will be very few as most of us are going to be spending all our hard earned money on a Christmas vacation in Switzerland.

I have been doing some good cooking. Great pumpkin muffins (so says Grandma), yummy pumpkin soup and an amazing pizza dinner, where I made pizza dough and served three different pizzas (a starter pizza, a main pizza and a dessert pizza) for dinner. Now I'm thinking of doing a fondue dinner or a "diner gateaux" along the same lines. Reservations are filling up fast, so book your seat now!

Anthony Bourdain Evening

Last night Mom and I went to listen to Anthony Bourdain (he of Kitchen Confidential fame) speak at the Corona Theatre.

The cost of the ticket included a copy of his new book, No Reservations and after the lecture was finished we were able to get our books signed by him!

The talk itself was pretty light, fun and of course filled with all his regular curse-filled vocabulary. He's coarse, vulgar and at times offensive but I really don't care too much because above all, he's honest. He writes the way he talks and makes it interesting and fun to read or listen. I enjoyed the evening and I think Mom did too.

Mom was amazed by the number of people lined up outside when we arrived (she's obviously never been to a rock concert where the people line up all day so that by the time you arrive, the queue is about 2 kilometres long). As the tickets were general admission (no assigned seating), we got there early with the hopes of getting decent seats. It's a good thing we did! We ended up in the third row, almost smack in the middle. Once the talk was over, we lined up to get our books autographed and were out within 15 minutes. All in all, a fun way to spend a few hours on a rainy October evening.

Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays

I'll tell you why.

Because this morning I went to the gym only to discover that I'd left half my clothes for work at home! So I did a shorter workout than planned, threw all my stuff back into my bag, raced home on the metro, jumped into the shower and ended up catching the 8:25 bus back downtown which got me to work bang on time at 8:45am.

Much muttering and cursing there was.

Happy Belated National Grouch Day

Apparently yesterday was National Grouch Day. In some kind of weird way, I must've known, deep down inside, that it was OK to be grouchy. Yeah for grouches like me!

Moving In?

My brother Nick and family arrived last night to spend a week with my Mom. By the amount of stuff they unpacked from their new mini-van, it looks like they may just be moving in.

While Mom went to a meeting, I cooked a quick spaghetti dinner for them and got lots of hugs, laughs and doodling with Darcy. Wesley managed to let go of ALL the gas he'd been building up during the car ride.

How many is too many?

Is 9 too many turtlenecks?

3 black
1 white
1 grey
1 red
1 pink
1 light blue
1 navy blue

An Instant Classic

Check out Nick's blog for one of the funniest stories about Darcy I have heard yet (and there have been quite a few!).

She had a baby!

My good friend Cecilia had her baby today at 10:58am. Baby Selena Michelle Ugarte Dahan weighed in at 7lbs 11oz and is 20 1/2 inches long.

Congrats Super C! You're going to be a Super Mom!

Well, that's never happened before

Last night I actually fell asleep for a few minutes during my massage. That is the first time EVER. I had no idea I could relax that much. Probably it's more likely that my massage therapist is THAT good. Thanks, Sina!

Bjork Concert Recap

Last night I got to experience my second Bjork concert. It was great. It was amazing. It was awesome. That woman has a voice like no other. It is crisp, clear and seem like it must come from another world. There is absolutely nobody else like her. She is wonderfully unique in her voice, her music and her creativity. Thanks, Eric, for a great birthday present.

A couple of interesting notes about the show: the weather was perfect, down at the Old Port we were surrounded by water and there was a nice breeze (not too hot, not too cold, it was just right!), we saw a shooting star or meteor bounce off the earth's atmosphere while we were waiting for the opening band, much to my surprise the crowd wasn't full of the young alternative-artsy-fartsy college crowd (although there were plenty of them too), we were surrounded by a lot of gay men in their 30's or older (I had no idea Bjork would appeal so diversely but there you go), Eric, Sam and I placed bets on when the opening band would start playing (25 cents a bet, I won but I don't remember what time that was anymore) and on when Bjork would finally hit the stage (don't remember any of that now), and finally I did predict that she'd be on stage for 90 minutes. I was close at 86 minutes.

It was a great night but it was L-O-N-G. We met at 6:15pm and basically never sat down again until sometime after 11pm when I was able to sit down for 2 metro stops. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurts. I feel like an old woman. Think my days of general admission concerts are over. I don't like having to stand up for 5 hours straight. I don't like not being able to see the stage clearly. I don't like having to watch the show through a 4-inch gap between the heads and shoulders of the people ahead of me. (You see, what a crabby old lady I am!)

Great night but next time I'll have to bring a lawn chair and a picnic ;)

My Living Will

Thanks to Lynn for sending me this.

My Living Will

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

She got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch ...

Ready for a fun night

Lynn's in town (or will be shortly)! I'm meeting her for drinks after work and we'll hang out, chill and catch up while we wait for Anna & James to meet us. From there we'll all head out to dinner. Somewhere. Still to be determined. Should be fun!

What's it worth?

Do I book my travel online at a cost of $1350, go through Toronto and add a few extra hours to my travel time or pay $1497 to go direct?

For $150 difference, what's it worth to me? Gotta tell ya, I'm thinking I'll pay the extra $150 and go straight there. Probably save my sanity too.

Lots of Pictures

Managed to get the Darcy & Wesley set of pictures uploaded this morning.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls set is up on flickr now.

Home Again

Made it home in good time yesterday despite having rain most of the way.

Made it through my first day back at work and am downloading 485 pictures as I write this. I will add some links to the different sets or something tomorrow.

I did have a lot of fun at Nick & Sue's and amazed that they were okay with me staying so long. But once it's all over, I have to admit that it's good to be home again, in my own space. I cherish the time we had together and will look forward to our next visit. Until then, it's back to my usual quiet little household.

All Packed

Here we are. End of another vacation. I am all packed and ready to leave with Mom bright and early tomorrow morning for the long drive home.

This morning Mom and I took Darcy to the mall while Nick, Sue and Wesley joined us there a little bit later. Darcy loved being at the mall with her auntie and Grandmaman, especially in the shoe store where she rearranged just about every shoe she could get her hands on, and was sure to let us know which particular pair of heels she would like when she's a grown up. Darcy also enjoyed touching all the pretty clothes in one shop and playing with the jewelery. I must be a good influence ;)

After a quick lunch in the food court, Mom & I headed for the outlet stores while the others headed home for naps and feeding. I didn't do very well at these stores, in fact I am coming home with only one sweater, necklace and a pair of shoes - none of which are from the outlets. Grumble, grumble ...

When we got back Mom & I started preparing a roast beef dinner. Roast beast, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, cauliflower, broccoli and corn on the cob (gotta get it while we still can!) and apple crisp for dessert. It was quite a feast!

We ended off the evening and my vacation with one last walk down to the river park. We did have a little accident though. Darcy was running down a sloping path and tripped on a paving stone, falling over, scraping one knee and biting her lip when her chin hit the ground. Tears followed of course. But after some hugs, a handy kleenex in my pocket to wipe off the dirt and blood, it all ended up in laughter when Darcy declared she was feeling ok again by letting me know she had just "tooted" on my lap. Some thanks!

It's been a good two weeks. It was wonderful to spend so much time with Wesley and Darcy, and Nick & Sue too of course. Think I've got about 470 odd pictures (granted 200 are from Niagara) to go through so I'll do my best to get those up as soon as possible.

Thanks Nick & Sue for hosting me these past two weeks. It's been great!

Once Upon a Teacup

This morning we finally had our tea party at Once Upon a Teacup. Sue's friend Jerilee came with her two kids, Alyssa and Joel. We ordered our tea, scones and apple slices for the kids and then proceeded to the costumes. They had piles of dresses to choose from. Darcy got her purple dress, gloves, crown, hat, purse, and feather boa that she'd been harping on about for the last few days. We took some fun pictures and the girls really seemed to revel in the excitement on putting on a princess dress for tea. There were even a couple of dresses there that looked like they might fit me but I managed to hold back.

Wesley slept through the whole affair and Joel sat in his stroller taking it all in. We managed to find pirate hats for both of them, which was pretty funny. Particularly as Wesley's hat was nearly as big as he is!

My mom arrived mid-afternoon after an early morning start from Montreal and had a safe trip back from Switzerland yesterday and good trip today. After an initial game of playing shy, Darcy warmed up to her Grandmaman and pretty soon they were laughing and cuddling like nobody's business.

After a nice raclette dinner (and one incident where Darcy had half a small tomato across her front teeth which made me snort), we took our evening constitutional down to the river park and ended up getting caught in the rain on our way home. Darcy was the only one lucky enough to have an umbrella with her and thought it great fun when the rest of us got wet.

Last day tomorrow and then home on Sunday. Where has the time gone?

Worn Out My Welcome

This morning we headed over to the mall to run a few errands. As we were pulling into the parking lot, Darcy informed me that Stephanie (friend coming to visit Sue this afternoon) was going to take my place in the car and that I would "have to go". Apparently I have worn out my welcome. However, after some negotiating tactics (the promise of making cookies together and more activity books) Darcy came up to me, hugged my legs and said "Auntie Stef, I want you to stay." So I guess I'm back on her good side. Phew! Had me scared there for a minute ;)

Still Laughing

Last night we had quite a funny evening at home. After dinner we were just hanging out in the living room, chatting, watching Darcy play while we waited for Sue to come back down from feeding Wesley. For some reason, still unknown to me, Darcy started racing around from the living room into the dining room, through to the kitchen and then down the hallway to the front door, where she'd bang into the door on purpose and say "Bonk!" It was cute. We laughed a little. Nick decided to take this up a notch when he would try to catch Darcy on her way through. Somehow this lead to Darcy trying to lick Nick's hands or arms. And of course, this just made the whole thing funnier. Darcy was laughing those belly laughs that are contagious and pretty soon Sue was down with us wondering what all the laughing was about.

From there, sadly, things deteriorated rather quickly. First it was just the licking on Nick, but then it moved to Sue and even to me. We were all getting a little a lot silly when, believe it or not, Nick told Darcy that she should moon me and "shake her stink" on me! And she did it too!!! But it didn't stop there - oh no! Darcy then thought it would be funny to continue her racing around with her moon hanging out the back. Well, that's when we lost it. We must've laughed for 5 minutes straight. Our abs were sore , we were crying and nearly hyperventilating from laughing so hard. Eventually we managed to regain control of ourselves and of Darcy and pulled it together again.

Several hours later as I was going to bed, I got a fit of the giggles as I pictured this scene again. I'll post the picture I managed to shoot ... but you'll have to wait another week.

Remarkably, through all of this, Wesley just sat on Sue's lap and slept. Mellow as can be. Not bothered at all by our commotion.

New format

Thought I might change the layout of the blog. Forgot that I might want to copy the links I did have in the side bar. Ooops.

Trouble

I don't know how she does it, or what exactly she does, but when Darcy does something funny with her food and Nick gets mad at her, about all I can do is cover my face with my hands before Darcy sees me burst into laughter.

Happened again tonight. Darcy was getting some help from Nick finishing up her snack of yoghurt and stuck her tongue out to lick at the spoon. OK - I know she was fooling around, I'd been watching her eat it as Nick tidied up in the kitchen. But Nick got all "Darcy, eat properly" as she stuck her tongue out and somehow a snort escaped me. A few shakes of laughter too, of course. And then Nick actually said "Auntie Stef!" to reprimand me! Can you believe it?!

Well, yes, I suppose I can believe it. But it was funny! I had to laugh.